The World Health Organization warned on Tuesday that the “black rain” and toxic compounds in the air in Iran after strikes on oil facilities could cause respiratory problems, and it backed Iran’s advisory urging people ‌to remain indoors. The UN health agency, which has an office in Iran and works with authorities on health emergencies, said it has received multiple reports of oil-laden rain this week. Tehran was choked in black smoke on Monday after an oil refinery was hit, in an escalation in...

Tuesday will be the “most intense day of strikes” inside Iran so far, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said, adding that President Donald Trump will ultimately decide the war’s timeline. The Pentagon chief’s remarks follow the president’s comments on Monday, suggesting the war could be over sooner than expected. For now, fighting appeared to be ramping up. “Today will be yet again our most intense day of strikes inside Iran – the most fighters, the most bombers,” Hegseth told reporters on...

A star of the massively popular Canadian show Heated Rivalry has hit back against an avalanche of hateful online posts, with the hockey drama’s success stirring up a frenzy online. The show about the budding careers and secret relationship of two young male hockey stars – one Canadian, one Russian – over a series of years, has become a global phenomenon. But it has also inspired particularly intense fan engagement across social media, including homophobic and racist comments. Lead actor Hudson...

Canadian police are investigating after the United States consulate in downtown Toronto was hit by gunfire early on Tuesday morning. Nobody was injured. Royal Canadian Mounted Police Chief Superintendent Chris Leather called it a national security incident and said the national police force is working with Toronto police to understand the motive. Leather said the American and Israeli consulates, as well as embassies in Ottawa, will see an increase in security. Toronto Police Deputy Chief Frank...

[The content of this article has been produced by our advertising partner.] Professor Muammer Ozer, Director of the Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) programme at the City University of Hong Kong (CityUHK)’s College of Business, looks at what AI does to learning and reaches an unfashionable conclusion. Information is no longer scarce, he says, but judgement still is. A doctorate, in his view, is earned where work cannot be “cut and pasted”, where an answer has to be able to address a...

Russian and Ukrainian officials are making contradictory claims of battlefield successes in their four-year-old war, with Ukraine saying it has pushed Moscow’s forces back in some places on the front line but the Kremlin insisting that Russia’s invasion of its neighbour is making progress. At the same time, Russia’s almost daily aerial attacks on civilian areas of Ukraine continue. Three powerful glide bombs struck the centre of the eastern Ukrainian city of Sloviansk, killing four people, the...

The US war against Iran may have handed Beijing some fresh rare-earths leverage over Washington, with roughly three weeks until US President Donald Trump’s expected visit to China. Washington’s heavy reliance on the Chinese minerals for its advanced weapon systems means China could dictate how long US strikes on Iran can go on, according to sources and analysts. Sources told the South China Morning Post, on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue, that Washington had only...