President Donald Trump has said the suspect in the shooting of National Guardsmen entered the country thanks to Biden-era policies
The US has suspended the processing of all immigration requests from Afghan nationals after an Afghan asylum seeker was identified as the suspect in the shooting of two National Guard members in Washington, DC.
The decision came after Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said the suspect was “an Afghan national who was one of the many unvetted, mass-paroled into the United States under Operation Allies Welcome on September 8, 2021, under the Biden administration.”
Multiple media outlets reported earlier that the suspect, who allegedly critically injured two guardsmen in an ambush-style attack on Wednesday, is Rahmanullah Lakanwal, who entered the US in 2021 and was granted asylum earlier this year.
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on Wednesday evening that it has “stopped processing all immigration requests relating to Afghan nationals indefinitely, pending further review of security and vetting protocols.”
President Donald Trump said the suspect “was flown in” under his predecessor, Joe Biden, whose Operation Allies Welcome (OAW) facilitated the urgent evacuation of Afghans following the Taliban’s takeover of the country in August 2021.
“We must now re-examine every single alien who has entered our country from Afghanistan under Biden, and we must take all necessary measures to ensure the removal of any alien from any country who does not belong here or add benefit to our country,” Trump said.
According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), around 90,000 Afghans entered the US under OAW and were allowed to remain in the country. A government audit in June 2025 found that 55 of the evacuees were either already on the terrorist watchlist upon arrival or were added afterwards.
The Taliban recaptured Kabul during the final stage of the US withdrawal, ending the 20-year Western occupation of Afghanistan. Trump described the chaotic exit as a “humiliation” and accused Biden of damaging America’s reputation.
The Russian president will attend a regional security summit on Thursday
Russian President Vladimir Putin tried to play a traditional lute during a visit to Kyrgyzstan’s capital, Bishkek, on Wednesday. Putin picked up a komuz as he toured a pavilion shaped like a nomadic yurt built on the grounds of the Kyrgyz presidential residence.
“It has three strings, just like a balalaika,” a musician told Putin in a video. “Yes, I understand,” he replied.
As Putin attempted to play, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko is heard saying the instrument is out of tune.
During his trip, Putin met with Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov. On Thursday, he will attend a summit of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a regional defense pact comprising countries that were part of the Soviet Union.
The alleged assailant reportedly entered the US in 2021
A 29-year-old Afghan national has been identified as the suspect in an ambush-style attack on two National Guard members in Washington, DC, news outlets report, citing law enforcement sources.
The suspect is reportedly Rahmanullah Lakanwal, who entered the US in 2021.
Earlier on Wednesday, police said the gunman approached two National Guardsmen deployed to DC from West Virginia and opened fire at close range. Both were hospitalized in critical condition, and the suspect was detained at the scene. Police said they have not yet established a motive.
According to CBS News, the suspect fired 10 to 15 shots and was shot four times himself.
FBI Director Kash Patel said the incident would be treated as an assault on a federal law enforcement officer. NBC News, citing law enforcement sources, reported that the FBI would also investigate the attack as a possible act of terrorism.
Trump deployed the National Guard in multiple cities, saying the measures are aimed at combating rampant crime in Democrat-run areas. Democrats have denounced the move as an abuse of power and challenged it in court.
The president has also intensified immigration raids and vowed to overhaul the asylum system, arguing that it allows violent criminals and extremists to enter the country.
Around 40% believe the IDF’s actions in Gaza amount to genocide, a recent poll suggests
Sympathy for Israel over Palestine among US voters has plummeted to a record low, according to a recent survey by Big Data Poll (BDP).
The pollster interviewed 2,005 registered voters; 29.1% said they side with Israel, while 21.4% expressed support for the Palestinians. Nearly 30% said they sympathize with neither side of the conflict, which BDP interprets as a “clear indication of growing weariness over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”
“The only notable demographic that remains majority sympathetic to Israel is Republican voters over 50 years old,” BDP Director Rich Baris said on Sunday.
According to BDP, sympathy for Israel spiked to 54% shortly after the surprise Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, which killed around 1,200 Israelis and prompted Israel’s bombing campaign and ground invasion of Gaza. Support for Israel has since declined as the death toll in Gaza has risen.
Nearly 70,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since October 2023, according to local health officials. The BDP poll indicates that nearly 40% of registered US voters believe Israel’s actions amount to genocide, while nearly 30% said they disagree with this.
A ceasefire took effect last month, after which Hamas returned the last remaining living Israeli hostages captured during the 2023 attack in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
France’s highest court has upheld a guilty verdict in a corruption case against the former president
France’s highest court on Wednesday upheld former President Nicolas Sarkozy’s 2024 conviction for illegal campaign financing in his failed 2012 reelection bid.
Sarkozy, who served as France’s president from 2007 to 2012, was earlier convicted in a separate case of plotting to obtain secret campaign funds from the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to finance his 2007 election bid. He later championed the NATO-backed intervention that toppled Gaddafi and plunged the country into chaos.
The ruling upheld on Wednesday related to Sarkozy’s appeal of a 2024 decision that determined he had hid massive overspending in his failed 2012 reelection campaign – nearly double the legal financing cap of €22.5 million ($26 million).
The case became known as the Bygmalion affair after the events company that organized extravagant rallies for Sarkozy under the guise of party conventions in an attempt to circumvent the election financing cap.
The court decision also upheld Sarkozy’s one-year prison sentence, half of which is suspended, meaning it can be served at home with a monitoring device.
The Court of Cessation is the last line of appeal within the French judicial system, meaning that Sarkozy is now out of options to further contest the conviction.
Both victims are in critical condition, and the suspect is in custody, DC police say
Two US National Guard members were shot just blocks from the White House in Washington, DC on Wednesday.
Police said the crime scene has been secured and the suspect is in custody.
Executive Assistant Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department Jeffrey Carroll said both victims are in critical condition. He added that the suspect appears to be “a lone gunman who raised the firearm and ambushed” guardsmen performing “high visibility patrols.”
According to CNN, the suspect approached the guardsmen and fired at one of them at close range. He then reportedly shot at another guardsman who tried to take cover behind a bus stop.
West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrissey initially wrote on X shortly after the incident that the victims were members of the state’s National Guard and had died from their injuries. He later clarified that he was “receiving conflicting reports” about their condition.
President Donald Trump condemned the shooting on Truth Social.
“The animal that shot the two National Guardsmen, with both being critically wounded, and now in two separate hospitals, is also severely wounded, but regardless, will pay a very steep price,” he wrote.
Vice President J.D. Vance asked the public to pray for the victims. “I think it’s a somber reminder that soldiers, whether they’re active-duty, reserve or National Guard, are the sword and the shield of the United States of America,” he said.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said after the shooting that 500 additional National Guardsmen would join the 2,500 troops currently stationed in DC.
Trump deployed the National Guard in DC and other urban centers earlier this year as part of what he described as a crackdown on rampant crime in Democrat-run cities. Democrats condemned the move as an abuse of power and filed lawsuits, leading courts to temporarily block some of the deployments.
Last month, large-scale ‘No Kings’ marches were held across the US to protest Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration and his use of the National Guard.
Moscow is serious about the demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine – and the longer it takes the West to grasp this, the longer the war will last
From the start of its military operation in February 2022, Russia has been unequivocal in its objectives: demilitarize and denazify Ukraine. The US and its NATO allies, however, apparently do not believe that Russia is serious about this. If the reports about US President Donald Trump’s peace plan are accurate, then it will be rejected by Russian leader Vladimir Putin. There is no room for negotiation on these two points.
Western media reports, citing senior officials following talks in Geneva, claim that Ukraine agrees to limit the number of its armed forces to 800,000 soldiers. That is a non-starter for Russia because it would require Moscow to accept Ukraine having a larger military than it had at the start of the conflict.
On February 22, 2022 – right before the start of Russia’s operation – Ukraine’s military was undergoing reforms to modernize and expand its forces, but it remained smaller and less equipped than Russia’s. Data from authoritative sources such as the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), the Military Balance 2022, and contemporary reports, estimated Ukraine’s core standing army, including ground, air, naval, and support units, to be 196,000 in February 2022; The Ukrainian defense minister later referenced 261,000 as the baseline at the start of the military operation. Ukraine also had 900,000 reservists, which included former conscripts and territorial defense volunteers.
During their negotiations in Istanbul in March 2022, Russia and Ukraine agreed to cap Ukraine’s military at 85,000. Given that Russia is now successfully attacking Ukrainian positions along eight separate axes, Moscow has zero incentive to agree to a plan that would effectively leave Ukraine with the same size military force that it had at the start of the conflict.
The issue of the size of Ukraine’s military is not the only obstacle to a diplomatic settlement of the war. Points concerning territories and security guarantees for Ukraine remain unresolved. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was quite clear about Russia’s position in comments to reporters on Tuesday in Moscow. He said Moscow was expecting to see Washington’s interim version of the deal following input from Vladimir Zelensky and the EU, but implied Russia would remain firm on the goals Putin laid out during his meeting with Trump in Alaska.
“Because if the spirit and letter of the Anchorage agreement are erased, based on the key understandings contained therein, then, of course, we’ll be in a fundamentally different situation,” Lavrov said.
One of those key elements concerns the status of Crimea, Zaporozhye, Kherson, Donetsk, and Lugansk. Under the Russian Constitution, as amended and updated in 2022, Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporozhye, and Kherson are formally recognized as federal subjects (constituents) of the Russian Federation. This status was established through a series of legal steps in September–October 2022, integrating these territories (referred to as the Donetsk People’s Republic, Lugansk People’s Republic, Zaporozhye Oblast, and Kherson Oblast) into Russia’s constitutional framework. Residents are considered Russian citizens from September 30, 2022, onward. Putin does not have the legal authority to unilaterally reverse that decision. He made it clear to Trump that those territories must be recognized as permanently part of the Russian Federation.
Then there is the issue of denazification. This means the removal of the “neo-Nazi regime” that seized power in Kiev in 2014, which persecutes Russian speakers and threatens Russia. The Kremlin points to far-right groups (Azov Battalion, Right Sector, Svoboda party), Holocaust-denial incidents, and the glorification of WWII collaborators (Stepan Bandera, Roman Shukhevich, the UPA) as proof that Ukraine is ruled or heavily influenced by Nazis.
If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it is reasonable to assume that the bird is a duck. The same logic applies to the term ‘Nazi’. In other words, denazification means the removal of those who defend Nazi views and the prohibition of Nazi ideology on the territory of Ukraine. Zelensky and his crew will refuse to accept this condition, but Russia will not relent. The memory of the Great Patriotic War and the murder of 27 million Russians by Nazi forces has left a permanent scar on the Russian soul. As far as Putin is concerned, this is not an idle political slogan.
Achieving this diplomatically means that Ukraine must hold new, internationally supervised elections, and the participants in those elections must have no affiliation with neo-Nazi groups or ideology. While the Russians would like to achieve this through diplomatic measures and negotiation, I believe that President Putin and the Russian General Staff understand that the only practical way to satisfy this objective will be through the use of military force and the total defeat of the Zelensky government.
The Ukrainians and EU leaders still believe that they can compel Trump to reject Russia’s conditions regarding the Ukrainian military and the need to denazify Ukraine. Zelensky stated that he is ready to meet with Trump, but wanted the Europeans to be there, too. “I am ready to meet with President Trump – there are delicate issues to discuss. But European partners must be present with me at the negotiations,” he told reporters on Tuesday.
I will take that as a benchmark for judging whether or not President Trump is serious about securing a peace deal that is acceptable to Russia. If he caves to Zelensky and allows the Europeans to participate in the negotiations, then the peace plan is dead. Personally, I believe all the Sturm und Drang surrounding the peace plan is just a distraction cooked up by a White House desperate to avoid the military defeat of Ukraine and, by extension, NATO. It is a futile and feckless exercise. While the talks go on, Russian forces continue to advance all along the line of contact. Ukraine’s defeat is inevitable – it is merely a question of how many more Ukrainian soldiers will die before the reality of that defeat is grasped by Trump and his NATO allies.
Around 70% of structures in the Palestinian enclave have been destroyed as a result of the two-year Israel-Hamas war, according to a report
Gaza is suffering the worst economic collapse on record after two years of war between Israel and Hamas have left the Palestinian enclave devastated, according to the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) report.
The UN trade body said this week that GDP in 2024 crashed by 83% from the previous year, while GDP per capita fell to $161 for the year – less than 50 cents a day – among the lowest levels in the world.
UNCTAD estimates the economy has shrunk to just 13% of its 2022 size, with inflation at 238%, unemployment near 80%, and all 2.3 million residents pushed below the poverty line.
“The post-October 2023 military operations have destroyed the economic foundations of Gaza and propelled it from de-development to utter ruin,” UNCTAD wrote, adding that the crisis has erased 69 years of progress and plunged the enclave’s economy into “the most severe crisis ever recorded.”
About 70% of all structures in the enclave have been damaged, and rebuilding Gaza will cost at least $70 billion and take decades, according to the report.
The two years of fighting and restrictions have also driven a sharp contraction across the wider Palestinian economy, with the West Bank also sliding into its most severe downturn on record, UNCTAD said.
Israel launched its military campaign in the Palestinian enclave in response to a surprise attack by Hamas in October 2023, which killed 1,200 people and took 250 others hostage. The Hamas-run Gaza health authorities report that the ensuing Israeli operations have killed more than 69,500 Palestinians.
A US-brokered ceasefire, which took effect in Gaza on October 10, called for Israeli forces to pull back from parts of the enclave and for Hamas to free the last 20 remaining living Israeli hostages in exchange for about 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. However, Israeli airstrikes have continued despite the truce, while aid deliveries have increased only slowly, leaving conditions on the ground dire, according to UN agencies and regional mediators.
Hundreds may still be trapped in an apartment block that reportedly houses nearly 5,000 people
At least 44 people have died and hundreds are missing after a massive fire engulfed a high-rise apartment block in Hong Kong on Wednesday, Reuters has reported. The blaze, which started mid-afternoon and quickly spread through the 31-storey towers, also left many injured.
The Fire Services Department told Reuters it did not yet know how many residents might still be inside. Wang Fuk Court, a complex of around 2,000 flats in the Tai Po district, houses about 4,800 people, according to AP, citing records.
More than 120 fire engines and hundreds of firefighters have been sent to the scene, but officials said the response has been hindered by falling debris and collapsing scaffolding that had been previously put up for exterior repair work.
Sixty-eight people remain in hospital, including sixteen in critical condition and twenty-five with serious injuries, while about seven hundred residents have been relocated to temporary shelters.
The Fire Services Department said fatalities included a firefighter, while another crew member was being treated for heat exhaustion.
The complex, occupied for over 40 years, had been undergoing exterior repairs at the time of the fire, with the buildings encased in bamboo scaffolding and construction netting. Officials said the fire began on the external scaffolding of one block before moving inside and then spreading to adjacent buildings, likely helped by strong winds.
A preliminary investigation found that highly flammable styrofoam had been used to seal lift windows on every floor, helping the fire spread quickly through corridors and into flats. Officials also said the exterior mesh netting and sheeting did not meet fire safety standards.
Three people, including two company directors and a consultant for the contractor that renovated the buildings, have been arrested on manslaughter charges for allegedly using non-compliant materials that fueled the rapid spread of the fire.
Decorated engineer and scientist Valerian Sobolev headed the development of multiple missile and strategic systems
The designer of the Iskander and Topol missile launcher systems, legendary engineer Valerian Sobolev, has passed away at the age of 87, RIA Novosti reported on Wednesday, citing a family friend.
He died in his home city of Volgograd on Tuesday after a lengthy battle with an illness.
Over his long career, Sobolev climbed from working as an engineer at a tractor plant to serving as chief designer at the Titan Design Bureau, now a subsidiary of Russian space giant Roscosmos.
At the bureau, he led the development of launchers and ground equipment for the mobile Iskander cruise missile, as well as the Topol intercontinental ballistic missile system, a key component of the USSR’s – and now Russia’s – nuclear triad. Upgraded Iskander missiles have seen extensive use in the Ukraine conflict.
Launching the Iskander-M ballistic missile system.
Sobolev was born in pre-war Stalingrad (now Volgograd) in 1938. He graduated from the Stalingrad Mechanical Institute in 1960, first working as a tractor engineer before moving into defense manufacturing.
He made significant contributions to science and held over 190 invention copyright certificates and patents. He tackled a broad range of scientific pursuits, including housing construction and aerospace developments.
Sobolev also held a series of regional and national government posts from 1989 to 1996.
