Top South African police officer charged with raping woman, 18, and grooming 16-year-old girl Arrest of Shadrack Sibiya comes as country reels from cases of femicide and alleged police corruption and criminalityOne of South Africa's most senior police officers has been charged with raping an 18-year-old woman and grooming a 16-year-old girl, as the country's police face allegations of corruption and failing to tackle violence against women and girls.Shadrack Sibiya, who was already suspended from his role as deputy national police commissioner over allegations he interfered with political killings investigations, was arrested on Monday. He is facing charges of rape, people trafficking, promoting the sexual grooming of a child and two counts of grooming a child. Continue reading...
Healthcare in Africa 'under growing strain' after US withdrawal from aid programs, report warns Accra Reset's report states countries in the region and global south should take greater control of their health development after USAID debacleThe United States' withdrawal from key aid programs has put healthcare in Africa and the global south "under growing strain" a new report warns.The report says the Trump administration's cuts to programs such as US Agency for International Development (USAID), as well as the Covid-19 pandemic and rising costs of living globally have brought "new urgency" for the need to reform healthcare in the region. Continue reading...
Banished to alien lands: Trump's secret deportation deals After a plane journey in shackles, an Iranian woman found herself in the middle of Africa in a country she did not know existed. She is one of thousands deported from the US on the back of shadowy deals made with dozens of countries. An in-depth investigation reveals the 'show of force' costing American taxpayers millionsNo one would tell the shackled detainees onboard the US immigration plane where they were going. The officers in charge would taunt them when they asked, they said. It was only when the seat-back video screens finally showed a map that the 18 migrants worked it out. Continue reading...
Men deported from US bound and beaten in Equatorial Guinea detention hotel, lawyers say Group trapped at Hotel Bamy after US removal as rights groups sound alarm over poor conditions and violenceTwo men that the Trump administration expelled to Equatorial Guinea were bound, fitted with bags over their heads, beaten and pushed down a flight of stairs, all in plain view of other US deportees, according to witnesses and human rights lawyers.The men - one from Egypt and one from Eritrea - were then taken to a prison. About 30 detainees from the US remain trapped at a hotel in the outskirts of the coastal city of Malabo after being deported from the US. Detainees have said they believe the men were beaten for telling the press and human rights advocates about the poor conditions and violence inside the hotel, and that they are haunted by flashbacks and terrified they will be retaliated against next. Continue reading...
Milei threatens at UN that Argentina will take 'matters into our own hands' on Falklands Argentinian president accuses United Nations of being filled with 'parasites' in bellicose general assembly speechJavier Milei has condemned the UN as he warned that Argentina would take "matters into our own hands" in its dispute with Britain over the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands.In a caustic speech at the general assembly in New York, the Argentinian president criticised the UN for being ineffective when it came to the long-running tensions over the British overseas territory in the south Atlantic known in Argentina as the Malvinas. Continue reading...
Judge weighs White House ban on 3 news outlets but issues no immediate ruling Judge weighs White House ban on 3 news outlets but issues no immediate rulingWASHINGTON (AP) - A federal judge weighing whether to block President Donald Trump's ban of three news outlets from White House grounds expressed some skepticism Wednesday in response to the government's defense of the move. U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, who was nominated by Trump in 2017, didn't rule from the bench after hearing arguments in an extraordinary showdown between Trump and media outlets whose coverage he dislikes. But the judge questioned whether the administration met its legal responsibilities and provided CNN, MS NOW and Politico with adequate due process before banning them, assailing what he called "fake news." More recently, the president has said negative coverage was dangerous for the country. The news outlets argued they were singled out because of their coverage content - in other words, viewpoint discrimination - and called the ban a "blatant violation" of the First Amendment. Kelly said his decision must be guided by prior rulings in comparable First Amendment cases, even if the government disagrees with them. "I think it is fair to say that the processes that the court laid out wasn't followed here," Kelly said. It wasn't clear when Kelly, who ordered a CNN journalist's access restored in a similar 2018 case, would issue a decision on the outlets' request for a restraining order. But he said he'd rule as soon as possible. "These are urgent matters," Theodore Boutrous Jr., attorney for the outlets, said. "We're at war. We have world leaders coming to Washington." CNN, Politico and MS NOW each told The Associated Press they'd have no comment on the emergency hearing.
Prior rulings indicate journalists should be heard before press passes are revoked
Kelly opened by reminding both sides that he's required to apply case precedent. The rulings in two prior cases over press access - including one that went to the U.S. Supreme Court - made clear that journalists were entitled to an opportunity to be heard before they have their press passes revoked. Justice Department attorney Michael Velchik argued that the rulings in the earlier cases were wrong. "Access to the White House is a privilege, not a right," Velchik said. In arguing that Trump was not engaging in viewpoint discrimination, Velchik said the president had criticized other news organizations even more harshly - such as calling ABC "the worst" - but hadn't banned them. "The president should be able to take immediate action to protect national security," Velchik told the court. In response, Boutrous said, "Suddenly it's a national security case," arguing that the president brought up that point only after the lawsuit was filed. Trump "keeps proving our point," Boutrous said, describing how the president has consistently used negative coverage of him as justification for the ban. Boutrous called the ban an "unprecedented, unreasonable punishment" and said there was "not a semblance of due process."
The Trump administration outlined 'reporting incidents' of each news outlet
In a filing late Tuesday, administration lawyers argued that the ban does not violate the First Amendment, which guarantees the right to a free press. It contended that the outlets, in their reporting, violated "standards of professionalism and decorum." The administration went on to detail letters sent to each outlet that identified "a non-exhaustive list of reporting incidents, including those that have threatened national security and spread falsehoods." The "reporting incidents" cited in the filing included: CNN reporting on "'top-secret' construction details related to the East Wing bunker"; MS NOW reporting "on an alleged leak investigation"; and Politico publishing "a document detailing funding for the White House ballroom containing intricate descriptions of how the Secret Service would invest in security improvements." Further examples were given in individual letters. Politico's letter detailed six reporting instances, including in June citing a "senior administration official … granted anonymity" predicting whether a preliminary deal would end the conflict with Iran. That item appeared to reference a background briefing set up by the White House, where an official briefed reporters on condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the White House itself. Several other outlets also reported the official's remarks.
Major networks continue to refrain from covering Trump for the media pool
The ban prompted other media outlets to take action in solidarity. The five-network U.S. network press pool - a rotating cast of news outlets that covers the president, and to which CNN belongs - decided to suspend coverage of Trump events until further notice. After the hearing Wednesday, the networks were poised to continue their ban on filming Trump coverage. At Joint Base Andrews, where the president was to formally welcome Chinese President Xi Jinping later, journalists from Fox News, CBS and NBC were present but not shooting video, and some appeared to be breaking down their cameras. Other television outlets whose crews were present, according to signs on their tripods and cameras, were NewsNation, Newsmax, Right Side Broadcasting Network, One America News and LindellTV. Ahead of Wednesday's hearing, an amicus brief was filed by other news groups, urging the court to immediately restore the three outlets' White House access. The brief - filed by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, the White House Correspondents' Association and 49 media outlets and industry groups, including The Associated Press, The New York Times and Reuters - says "the targeted expulsion of news media from White House grounds injures the public interest." The proceedings are historic, said Katie Fallow, deputy litigation director at the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University. "No president has taken this explicit of a step" to ban entire outlets because he doesn't like their reporting, she said. "There have been various presidents throughout history who have grumbled about the press or threatened to take more major steps, but really there was nothing at this level before Trump." ___ Noveck reported from New York. Associated Press journalists Laurie Kellman in London and Rebecca Boone in Boise, Idaho, contributed to this report.This article originally appeared on Associated Press at https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/trump-administration-defend-ban-three-165451903.html
How state errors mistakenly put more than 30,000 noncitizens on voter rolls How state errors mistakenly put more than 30,000 noncitizens on voter rollsBy David Morgan WASHINGTON, Sept 23 (Reuters) - US states may have added more than 30,000 self-declared non-citizens to the nation's voter rolls since 2000 because of software glitches and clerical errors made while processing their driver's license and state ID applications, according to official records reviewed by Reuters. The cases expose weaknesses in voter registration systems across a dozen US states governed by both Democrats and Republicans, but at numbers that experts said were too small relative to the country's more than 170 million registered voters to impact elections. Reuters was not able to determine how many of these non-citizens actually cast a ballot. The findings suggest that inadvertent bureaucratic failures, rather than organized efforts to register immigrants illegally, are a major source of non-citizen registrations, and raise questions about whether legislative efforts to require proof of citizenship for voter registration would eliminate the issue. President Donald Trump and his supporters have claimed, without evidence, that non-citizen voting is widespread and part of an organized conspiracy led by Democrats who hope to retake Congress in November's midterm elections, and are pushing lawmakers to toughen up voting requirements. New Jersey announced the most recent high-profile case of errant voter registrations over the summer, saying a technology glitch added about 6,600 non-citizens to voter rolls between June 2023 and June 2024, even though they answered "no" when asked if they were citizens while applying for licenses and IDs. Bureaucratic errors have also been reported in at least 11 other states - including Republican strongholds like Iowa, Texas and South Dakota - bringing the nationwide figure above 30,000 since 2000, according to the Reuters reporting. A nationwide tally of such mistakes has not previously been reported. Reuters used data from the Center for Election Innovation & Research, a non-profit group that tracks claims of non-citizen voter registration and voting, to identify states where self-declared non-citizens were registered. Reuters then verified the numbers with state officials, court records, and local media reports. The data showed errors occurred in California, Illinois, Iowa, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, Utah and Virginia. The numbers are inexact because state data is often tentative and subject to revision. Such mistakes are likely a top reason non-citizens make it onto the nation's voter rolls, according to Don Palmer, a senior legal fellow for election integrity at the conservative Heritage Foundation and former Trump-appointed chair of the US Election Assistance Commission. "I think that's the primary issue," Palmer said. "Driver's license agencies often make mistakes, and they often are not taking this as seriously as election officials." He said states also need to do more to verify voter eligibility. SAVE AMERICA? The White House has pressured Congress to pass the SAVE America Act, a proposal to crack down on illegal voting that would require people to show proof of US citizenship to register to vote, and a photo ID to cast a ballot. But it is unlikely such a bill would prevent the kinds of mistakes being made by state agencies, said David Becker, executive director of CEIR. "In each of these instances, the individual did exactly what they were supposed to do. If there was some requirement that you had to show proof of citizenship, these problems would still exist, because the processes themselves failed," he said. Proponents of the SAVE America Act say it is a common-sense way to ensure only eligible voters can cast ballots. Most states don't require documented proof of citizenship. Critics counter that the legislation's restrictions could disenfranchise millions of voters who lack easy access to passports or birth certificates, including low-income people and racial minorities, while creating unnecessary turmoil for the Nov. 3 midterm elections. "This is not a problem," said Elaine Kamarck, an expert on governance at the Brookings Institution. "There's just no evidence that massive numbers of non-citizens are voting." Immigrants do sometimes make false declarations about their citizenship in order to be registered to vote in US elections, according to the Department of Justice. But there is no evidence to show it is widespread. A Reuters data analysis published earlier this year showed federal prosecutors have charged only 129 people under a federal "voting by aliens" statute created by Congress in 1996. In none of those cases did prosecutors allege a coordinated effort to influence an election. The White House said non-citizen voter registrations were proof that US elections have been compromised and cited 11 arrests of non-citizens for illegal voting announced by federal authorities since May. "The real story here is after decades of the media denying that non-citizens register and vote in our elections, they are finally being forced to admit after a flurry of recent arrests nationwide that it does happen," White House spokesperson Lauren Bis said in a statement. AN OLD LAW Underlying the glitches and human errors are state motor-voter systems that register people to vote when they apply for driver's licenses, state IDs and other government services under the National Voter Registration Act. The largely Democratic initiative to address low voter participation passed in 1993 with bipartisan support under then-President Bill Clinton. Voter registration has climbed to more than 86% in 2024, from 62% in 1990, according to Census data and the US Election Assistance Commission. Republicans claim that such state motor-voter systems have become a major problem, however, due to the doubling of the US immigrant population since 1990. Automatically registering people to vote in this way "is irrational when you realize people that are not citizens in the United States are getting driver's licenses," said US Representative Bryan Steil, a Wisconsin Republican who oversees federal election policy as chair of the House Administration Committee. All 50 states allow legal immigrants to obtain driver's licenses, while 19 US states and the District of Columbia also provide driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants. FOREIGN PASSPORTS, BIRTH CERTIFICATES Randall Marquis, a Canadian who lives in California, remembers the day when he got a card in the mail notifying him that he was registered to vote in the 2018 midterm elections during Trump's first term. "I just said, 'Well, this is stupid.' So, I put it aside. But after thinking about it, I decided, no, it's more than stupid. This is bad!" the 71-year-old green card holder told Reuters. He alerted news organizations, and state officials later disclosed that as many as 1,500 non-citizens had been mistakenly registered to vote by the California Department of Motor Vehicles due to a processing error, according to media reports. State officials did not respond to Reuters queries seeking confirmation. Similar problems have happened in Oregon where hundreds of immigrants who presented foreign passports and birth certificates were registered to vote because of clerical mistakes at the Department of Motor Vehicles, according to state records. DMV officials also registered hundreds of American Samoans who presented US passports, not realizing that people from the US territory are nationals but not citizens, and therefore not eligible to vote. In some other states, estimates of registered non-citizens have been initially overstated. Just before the 2024 election, Iowa, for example, announced that more than 2,000 people had registered to vote or had voted in the state after self-reporting to the Iowa Department of Transportation as non-citizens. Six months later, the number shrank to 277. Iowa state officials said 35 non-citizens cast ballots that were counted in the 2024 general election. Overall, more than 1.6 million Iowans voted in that election. The problems are bigger elsewhere. Since 2014, Virginia has reported hundreds of non-citizens each year on its voter rolls who identified themselves as foreign nationals, with a total of more than 4,500 in 2025 alone, according to annual reports by the state Department of Elections. State officials say those numbers include people who later became citizens, and others who were stricken off the rolls. Palmer of the Heritage Foundation said states should be required to address the issue. "There's an obligation to fix the problem. So, take the politics out, and fix the problem," he said. (Reporting by David Morgan; editing by Michael Learmonth and Richard Valdmanis) This article originally appeared on Reuters at https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/thirty-thousand-mistakes-red-blue-100331120.html
Melania Trump insisted that she tells her husband, Donald Trump, how she really feels about his speeches and interviews, even though he "sometimes doesn't want to hear it"
"I always say the truth," she said during an appearance on Fox & Friends on Wednesday, Sept. 23
The first lady made the comments while discussing what she thought about Trump's United Nations General Assembly speech in New York City the day prior
Melania Trump said her husband, President Donald Trump, "doesn't always want to hear it" when she shares her thoughts.Speaking on Fox & Friends on Wednesday, Sept. 23, Melania, 56, praised Trump's speech at the United Nations General Assembly in New York City the day prior when questioned whether he'd asked for any feedback from his wife."I told him he had [a] great delivery, he did very well. And a great speech," the first lady - who was on the show to discuss the launch of Imperia, a network for women CEOs, and her Fostering the Future Together initiative - said.She added of her husband, "So I tell him the truth. Sometimes he doesn't want to hear it, what I tell him, but that's okay. I always say the truth."Melania Trump on 'Fox & Friends' Credit: FoxElsewhere in the interview, Melania also spoke about how Trump, 80, had been handling his second term as president, in comparison to his first term in office, saying, "He's very focused. He has a lot on his plate. It's very different, what's going on around the world now. But I think he's doing the best that he can.""He works nonstop. He has the most energy than anybody. He's from morning [until] evening nonstop working," she added.Trump has previously mentioned Melania giving him feedback, including when he said she wasn't a fan of his onstage dancing earlier this year.Donald Trump speaks during the United Nations General Assembly in New York City on Sept. 22, 2026 Credit: John Lamparski/Bloomberg via GettyMeanwhile, Melania recently ended a 32-day absence from public view with a speech from the White House Rose Garden on Aug. 20, highlighting her Fostering the Future initiative and plans to expand its national network, PEOPLE previously reported.At the time, Melania approached the podium and immediately began her speech, saying, "Good afternoon. I heard you missed me?" The audience laughed before she added, "Here I am."Donald and Melania Trump Credit: Dimitrios Kambouris/GettyNever miss a story - sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.Her comments about Trump on Fox & Friends on Wednesday morning came after the president addressed world leaders across the globe on Tuesday, Sept. 22.During his speech, he boasted about his record as a peacemaker, as well as questioning whether he should "annihilate" Iran.The president also took a moment to address CNN during a press exchange at the event after spotting one of the network's reporters days after he announced a ban on CNN, MS NOW and Politico reporters from the White House."I'm surprised that CNN is here covering me. You shouldn't be here! You should not be here covering me. You said you weren't going to cover me. You shouldn't be covering me," he told CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins.Collins could be heard replying, "The United Nations allowed us in, sir." She repeated her assertion in a post on X, saying that CNN was "credentialed by the United Nations to cover the General Assembly."During her exchange with the president, she asked, "Two thirds of Americans don't think the U.S. is winning the war with Iran. When will it end?"Trump replied, "We're making a lot of progress. Our country is doing really, really well. Thank you very much, everybody."Read the original article on PeopleThis article originally appeared on People at https://people.com/melania-trump-says-donald-trump-sometimes-doesnt-want-to-hear-what-she-tells-him-12136264
China's Xi arrives in Washington and gets a rare planeside welcome from Trump China's Xi arrives in Washington and gets a rare planeside welcome from TrumpWASHINGTON (AP) - Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Washington on Wednesday, where he was met with a rare planeside greeting from President Donald Trump, who was there to welcome his counterpart instead of waiting for him to drive up to the White House. Trump's decision to greet Xi at Joint Base Andrews just outside Washington rather than receiving him at the executive residence shows how far the U.S. president is going to honor China's leader as he made his first state visit to the U.S. capital in more than a decade. A 100-foot (30 meter) long red carpet was unfurled at the bottom of the staircase placed at the door of Xi's plane. A 21-person honor guard was arrayed on the sides of the carpet and Trump and first lady Melania Trump stood near a staircase on the side of the plane, where they greeted Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, with handshakes. Two American children presented bouquets of yellow-colored flowers to Xi and his wife. The welcome ceremony also included a flyover by two B-1 bombers, platoons from each military service, and a presentation of the flags and anthems of both countries. Trump and his wife spoke to their counterparts, but their words could not be heard. Trump, who wore gloves and an overcoat though it was a relatively warm 63 degrees Fahrenheit (17 degrees Celsius) outside, removed one of his gloves to shake hands with Xi. At one point, he slapped Xi on the back and said something to him that was inaudible. The salutation kicks off a three-day visit that's expected to be saturated with pomp, even by White House standards. The state visit, complete with a formal state dinner at the White House on Thursday, is supposed to reciprocate the ceremonial grandeur that marked Trump's May visit to China. But it also is a showy patina at a time when tensions between the two geopolitical rivals are high over trade, artificial intelligence, Trump's war with Iran and China's designs on Taiwan.
The visit comes after Trump's trip to China in May
Beyond using the visit to try to keep "strategic stability" between the two countries, Trump seems to be pulling out all the diplomatic stops to show off for Xi. Trump has lavished praise on Xi as a "great leader" and described a warm relationship with the man he has called a friend. That is all while he has given Xi a pass on many issues. Sen. Roger Wicker, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, criticized the "lavish welcome." Wicker, R-Miss., said during a speech Tuesday in the Senate that Trump should not have invited the Chinese leader "based on all of the troubling issues we have with President Xi and the Chinese Communist Party." Wicker archly suggested a list of topics that Trump could discuss with Xi at the state dinner, such as "the purposes of China's massive military buildup, or about China's clear support for Iran," saying that "during every minute of dialogue" Trump should keep in mind that "his guest is a brutal, unelected and oppressive dictator who seeks to dominate his neighbors and whose massive military arsenal is aimed directly at the United States of America." Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. and China must interact at the highest levels because the countries are "the two largest economies in the world" and "probably the two most powerful militaries in the world." "The idea that we would not interact with them at the highest levels is irresponsible. It's outrageous. We have to," Rubio told reporters Wednesday while he was in New York.
Trump to welcome Xi with 'the most respect'
Trump has made it clear he wants to wow Xi, telling reporters in recent weeks that he was delighted his new "work of art" helicopter landing pad would be ready for the visit while bemoaning that his massive White House ballroom would not. Trump on Wednesday was looking to match the pageantry he was met with in China earlier this year. Xi was not at the airport to meet Trump - Chinese Vice President Han Zheng was there instead. But a red carpet was rolled out to meet Air Force One in Beijing. A military honor guard, a military band and about 300 Chinese youths waving Chinese and American flags and chanting, "Welcome, welcome! Warm welcome!" also were present. The children wore white and light blue uniforms that mirrored the traditional paint colors of the presidential plane. The first lady said earlier Wednesday that her husband decided to personally greet Xi when he arrived in the Washington region because "they have a great relationship." "He's coming on our soil, and we need to welcome them with the most respect," she said of Xi and his wife during an interview on Fox News Channel's "Fox & Friends." The long red carpet recalled a similar extra-long one the U.S. laid out for Russian President Vladimir Putin when he touched down at a U.S. Air Force base in Alaska last summer for a summit aimed at trying to find an end to Russia's war in Ukraine. When Putin arrived in August 2025, he shook hands with Trump while both grinned. They then took the unusual step of climbing into Trump's limo to share a ride to the building where they were holding talks. On Wednesday at the end of the arrival ceremony, Xi and his wife climbed into their own car, and the Trumps retreated to theirs.
A black-tie dinner and visit to the archives will follow
Trump's airport ceremony for Xi will be followed on Thursday by more formalities, including an arrival ceremony at the White House and a review of troops. Before the black-tie dinner, which will feature tech industry leaders like Nvidia's Jensen Huang and SpaceX's Elon Musk, the two leaders are expected to dive into the weighty issues behind closed doors, even as expectations are low that the trip will produce any major breakthroughs in the relationship. On Friday, Xi and Peng will be back at the White House for a private tea with the Trumps before joining them on a tour of the National Archives in Washington. The White House has said they will view historic documents underscoring the relationship between the two countries. ___ Associated Press writers Mary Clare Jalonick, Will Weissert and Didi Tang contributed to this report. This article originally appeared on Associated Press at https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/chinas-xi-kicks-off-state-040347379.html
Iran's president backs diplomacy but rules out surrender after Trump's threat Iran's president backs diplomacy but rules out surrender after Trump's threat[EPA]President Masoud Pezeshkian has said Iran will never "bend the knee" after almost seven months of war with the US and Israel, but is ready for a diplomatic solution to the conflict.Responding to US President Donald Trump's threat to "annihilate" the Islamic Republic if a deal is not reached soon, he told the UN General Assembly: "The resistance of the Iranian people will only increase in the face of sanctions, increased pressure, increased bullying."Pezeshkian also insisted any deal would have to include an end to the US blockade stopping Iranian ships from using a key Gulf waterway."It cannot be the case that everyone benefits from the Strait of Hormuz while we are denied access," he said.There was no immediate comment from the US, whose delegation walked out of the chamber at the start of Pezeshkian's address.
"The US president described us as terrorists. We have been the victims of terrorism," Iran's president told the UN in New York.He then held up a photo of the country's late Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in a strike on his residence when the US and Israel launched a joint attack in late February.He also presented pictures of some of the more than 175 civilians, two thirds of them children, who Iranian authorities say were killed in missile strikes on a primary school in Minab and a sports complex in Lamerd that day. The US has denied striking Lamerd and said it is still investigating what happened in Minab."Our innocent people have been the targets of cowardly attacks and aggressions imposed on our country. And we defended ourselves with utmost strength," Pezeshkian said.Also on Wednesday, an attack on a cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz killed an Indian sailor, the Agence France-Presse news agency reported, citing Omani and Indian authorities. The attack was condemned by India's foreign ministry, which called for unimpeded passage through the Strait to be restored. In February, Iran retaliated for the massive US-Israeli air campaign by launching deadly missile and drone attacks on Israel and neighbouring Gulf Arab states which host US military bases.It also effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of global oil and gas shipments usually pass, by attacking commercial vessels in the Gulf, the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. The US responded by imposing a blockade of Iranian ports and ships in April.In June, the US and Iran reached a preliminary agreement to end the war and reopen the strait, but it collapsed within weeks after the Iranian attacks on shipping resumed and the US reinstated its blockade.Iran wants to retain some measure of control over the strait and collect fees from vessels that use it, which the US has rejected.Watch: Trump threatens to 'annihilate' Iran if no deal reachedIn his address to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, Trump said he faced a "big decision" - either negotiate a deal that would allow Iranians to rebuild their country, or "annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly".Pezeshkian said the threat was "a sign of a bullying mentality"."[Trump] must know that the resistance of the Iranian people will only increase in the face of sanctions, increased pressure, increased bullying. We will never bow our head or bend the knee," he said.But he added: "We are ready for dialogue and diplomacy and negotiations without accepting the language of force."Pezeshkian made clear that the US blockade would have to end as part of any deal."It cannot be the case that everyone benefits from the Strait of Hormuz while we are denied access to shipping through this waterway," he said.He also reiterated that Iran would not give up its right to have a civilian nuclear programme and that it would not seek to develop nuclear weapons."We say it clearly: no nuclear weapons and no limitations on peaceful nuclear technology."Trump argued in his speech that the war had prevented Iran from obtaining a nuclear bomb and demanded that its leaders "relinquish their nuclear ambitions".On Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US envoy Steve Witkoff held indirect talks brokered by Qatari mediators on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.Witkoff said he hoped the discussions - the first since June - would "prove constructive and promising", adding that the mediators would continue their work.But Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baqai said the talks were "not anything new" and that Araghchi had maintained Iran's conditions, including the end of the US blockade and the release of frozen Iranian assets.This article originally appeared on BBC at https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cqvgyjy23ggjo?xtor=AL-72-%5Bpartner%5D-%5Byahoo.north.america%5D-%5Bheadline%5D-%5Bnews%5D-%5Bbizdev%5D-%5Bisapi%5D
The messy tax battle brewing between baby boomers and millennials The messy tax battle brewing between baby boomers and millennialsGetty Images; Tyler Le/BITaylor Scriber, a millennial living in Texas, is trying to join the growing ranks of his generation and buy his first home. He's been scouring listings with his real estate agent, taking a few tours to see what suits him best, and estimating his potential costs, including property taxes.The final piece of that homeowning puzzle has been stuck in Scriber's craw lately. After reading recent headlines about property taxes in the Lone Star state being slashed for older residents and those with disabilities, he started to feel that he may end up shouldering the fiscal burden through his own payments with resulting rate hikes - and costing out worst case scenarios for what the cost of his future home might realistically look like, since so many homes have those abatements. After all, since Texas has no income tax, sales and property taxes are key in funding municipal services, like schools. So as revenue from older homeowners dries up and cities continue to face budget shortfalls, he expects his local government to make up for the cuts in other ways - including taxes on his home-to-be."You're stuck there, and you're looking at an inevitable property tax increase, because a group of people are voting to opt themselves out," he says. Almost 40% of homesteads in Texas pay no property taxes for school districts. That includes about 61% of older and disabled homeowners, up from 44% in 2024. Scriber's family and friends over the age of 65 all seem sympathetic when he brings up the issue - at first. They agree that increasingly foisting more of the cost of a functional society onto younger generations could be a problem, but then they start thinking further."They just kind of thought about it for a moment, and they were like, 'But I want my property taxes to be lowered,'" he says.A generational tax battle has begun to envelop the US. The current beef stretches far beyond timeless "kids these days" and "OK boomer" finger-pointing. It's turning one of America's rare forms of collective support - taxes and the social safety nets they help fund - into yet another individualistic debate, and it could have economic consequences for decades to come.For both the young and no-longer-young, the animus for the tax war comes from the same place: A sense of economic precarity.Older Americans spent decades imagining a comfortable, or at least stable, retirement with Social Security undergirding their personal savings. Instead, boomers' golden years are feeling much more precarious than they expected. For one, they're living on a less-than-hoped-for retirement income: Just over 57% of Americans over the age of 65 have annual incomes under $40,000, according to Business Insider's analysis of the Current Population Survey. Boomers were the first generation to hit the workforce as pensions faded, and their self-directed savings aren't as large as many of them had hoped. Add in rising costs, including hefty property taxes, and things are starting to feel very shaky. Even Social Security, long thought of as the solid lifeline of retirement, is looking less assured. Without congressional action, older Americans could see their benefits shaved in the coming years.For younger generations, the promise of long-term stability seems like a bygone idea. Just a quarter of 18 to 49-year-olds are confident in the future of Social Security, according to an AARP survey, and a separate Gallup poll found that 53% of the same age cohort think it's unlikely that Social Security and Medicare will be available in 10 years. They've hit a "career apocalypse," and their real income growth has dramatically slowed down. As the taxes to keep the social safety net from fraying are increasingly shifted toward them, it feels like a bum deal - especially as the benefits of their tax dollars seem murkier and murkier.The issue is in the balance of power: Both groups feel like they are floundering, but one is more politically potent. Boomers are more likely to be registered to vote than their younger peers: A Census analysis finds that voters ages 18 to 29 and those 30 to 44 were both underrepresented in the 2024 election, while voters 65 and older were overrepresented by 3.5 percentage points."Older people vote at higher rates than younger people. And as long as that's the case, lawmakers are going to be more responsive to the desires and demands of older people than younger people," Emily Ekins, an author of a report on Social Security sentiment from the libertarian Cato Institute report on Social Security sentiment, tells me. A mobilized, dissatisfied constituency holds a lot of sway, and that's played out in targeted carve-outs.Take the example of state income taxes: The left-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy finds that every state with a personal income tax has tax subsidies for seniors, and those subsidies are generally poorly targeted - meaning that higher-income seniors are paying less than lower-earning younger workers. That analysis finds that only 11 states offered credits and exemptions for private pensions, a key source of income for wealthier seniors, in 1977. By 1990, that number had grown to 21 states and hit 27 - a majority of states - in 2023."The plight of low-income seniors gets used as a Trojan horse to push through very, very large tax cuts for senior citizens broadly and often with a very large share of those cuts flowing to the best-off seniors who need them the least," Carl Davis, one of the ITEP report authors, tells me.Even when it comes to potential future changes, the generations are divided. A poll from the Cato Institute illustrates the divide with a single question: Would you favor or oppose raising Social Security payroll taxes to maintain current seniors' benefits, even if current workers would eventually get back less than they paid in? In other words, should people who are working pay more in taxes to ensure retired people get their benefits - even if those people shouldering the increased tax burden may not get "paid back" for doing so? A small majority - 52% - of those 65 and older favor the idea. On the flip side, 60% of 18- to 29-year-olds oppose the potential hike, as do 66% of 30- to 64-year-olds. It's a poll of finger-pointing: Older Americans want subsidies now. Their counterparts, who would fund them, don't want to hand over the cash.
The tax fight is causing a bending and stretching of what Gerald Prante, an associate professor of business and economics at the University of Lynchburg, calls the U-shaped pattern of tax and government spending. In some parts of our lives, particularly in our prime-age working years, we receive less from government services than we pay in taxes. At other times, especially in childhood and old age, we get great value, with the government spending multiple dollars on us for every dollar we pay in.
Americans under 25, for instance, often aren't paying that much in taxes because they are either still in school or have relatively low earnings. They directly and indirectly benefit from subsidies if they're in college, especially if they're at a state school. But things shift dramatically as we reach peak-earnings years. The post-college, pre-family generation, as Prante calls them, doesn't get much from the government. At the same time, this cohort pays the greatest share of taxes compared to household income. The high-tax, low-benefit group is only growing as birth rates fall and Americans marry later in life.Later on, programs kick in that push people up the other side of the U. For those with children, there are things like the Child Tax Credit and first-time homebuyer incentives. Taxes on this group are generally still high, but they're at least - ideally - accruing some wealth. Then there are seniors who receive generous benefits like Medicare and Social Security but pay little in income taxes, or have limits baked into their property taxes.The issue, though, is that more Americans seem set to bounce along the bottom of the U for longer. The things that would build wealth or buttress financial situations are increasingly out of reach, and the relief for those older Americans who do need genuine help is being extended to those who don't really need it.To peak earners like Justin Ober, a 47-year-old in Massachusetts, the older generation's push to roll back taxes is a rejection of the underlying logic that undergirds the U-shaped culture. He's not getting the same dollar-for-dollar value from taxes, but sees it as a straightforward public service. "There are a lot of things that I would probably have to pay a lot more for, and it would be a huge pain in my ass if they weren't being covered collectively through my tax dollars," he tells me.For older Americans, the calculus is different. It makes sense that they want to maintain their spot on the upward slope of the U, especially as Social Security alarm bells ring. But by trying to ease their own burdens, they are unwittingly bending the underlying system. The younger people I speak to like to point out that boomers who are 75 and older are the richest generation and continue to power the economy. So why isn't it unreasonable to ask whether they can help bear some of the burden, too? And thus, the battle continues.The issue in the generational tax war is that, absent political intervention or reckoning with current realities about who is asked to pay for what, it only gets more extreme. Older people, who are the country's most formidable voting bloc, will sign on to cuts that make their immediate lives easier. And younger people feel increasingly disenchanted by the idea of paying anything - a longer-tail legacy that could ripple for generations.Ober, the young Massachusetts Gen Xer, said he'd like to see some adults in the room to address tax and government debt issues."I think a senior citizen arguing against taxation is baffling unless they are independently wealthy and profoundly wealthy, not just well off, but wealthy enough to afford Western healthcare," Ober says."The temptation will always be to put a bandaid on it, but then that's just kicking the can down the road for the next generation after Gen Z," Emily Ekins, one of the Cato report authors, says. Lawmakers and experts need to get honest with Americans, she says, and tell them that everyone either needs to sacrifice a bit - or else the burden will just keep getting volleyed around.
That's kind of nuts to get a tax cut and then functionally a tax raise to the rest of the population so you can hold an asset.
Of course, there are exceptions to every rule. Millennials, despite suffering through the Great Recession and the pandemic-induced contraction, have seen their on-paper fortunes grow. On the flip side, there are boomers who might be wealthy on paper, but since their main assets are property, that wealth doesn't translate into liquidity.Wholesale attempts to resolve those structural issues, such as excising property taxes for older residents, are already having ripple effects. In Texas cities, for instance, legislators are grappling with budget shortfalls, and - ironically - contemplating hiking property taxes where they can. It's a rapid full-circle moment, and one that Scriber, the millennial homebuyer-hopeful, had been dreading."That's kind of nuts to get a tax cut and then functionally a tax raise to the rest of the population so you can hold an asset," he says.Amid all the finger-pointing stands boomer Allison Pickering, a 75-year-old retired educator in California who's been receiving Social Security for the last eight or so years. She rejects a generational divide."You can't blame an older person for having earned their living," Pickering says - and younger workers shouldn't be blamed for the socioeconomic cards they've been dealt.In her view, there's a simple solution: Rather than wringing out more taxes for younger workers, or having older workers fret about balancing their costs with dwindling Social Security, target an untapped base. Currently, Social Security taxes have a cap: everyone pays up to $184,500, and then stops, even if they're making a whole lot more. Lifting that payroll cap could help to resolve the generational tax debate that's instead been foisted into town meetings and budget addenda.Davis, the ITEP author, proposes divorcing taxes from age entirely: "I really don't think it's complicated. Your tax bill should be based on what you can afford to pay. It shouldn't be based on what year you happen to be born." Things like circuit-breaker measures - which are triggered when property taxes start eating up a certain percentage of homeowners' incomes - are one route to take.And when it comes to keeping programs like Social Security, Americans support policies that account for the nuances of individual situations. A National Academy of Social Insurance report finds that Americans across party lines are united in wanting to raise revenues, rather than shear benefits - including a package that would cap payroll taxes at the same rate now, but then implement them on earnings above $400,000, gradually raise the payroll tax rate for current workers, and bring down benefits for retirees with higher incomes. Taken together, it's a glimpse at generational harmony: Some taxes raised on younger folks, some sheared for wealthy older ones."It's imminently unfair," Pickering says. "And the burden does fall on the people who can least afford it - whether it's the elderly or the young people who are trying to get started."If you enjoyed this story, be sure to follow Business Insider on Yahoo.This article originally appeared on Business Insider at https://www.businessinsider.com/generational-tax-battle-boomers-millennials-2026-9
