Author: Elizabeth Jenrola Oso

More than 220 million children worldwide could be living with obesity by 2040 unless urgent action is taken, an international report has warned. New figures from the World Obesity Federation show a sharp rise from current levels. In 2025, an estimated 180 million children globally were classified as obese. By 2040, that number is projected to reach 227 million among 5 to 19-year-olds, with more than half a billion children expected to be overweight. According to the federation’s 2026 World Obesity Atlas, at least 120 million school-age children are likely to show early signs of chronic disease linked to high…

Donald Trump on Tuesday sought to quell a growing backlash in Congress and among his own supporters over the US decision to attack Iran, rejecting claims that he had been manoeuvred into military action by Israel. Facing criticism from both Democrats and factions of his Maga base, the president denied suggestions that Israel had already decided to strike Iran and that Washington was merely dragged along. Speaking to reporters, Trump insisted the decision was his alone. “No. I might have forced their hand,” he said. “We were having negotiations with these lunatics, and it was my opinion that they were…

Israel carried out intense airstrikes on Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs of Beirut in the early hours of Monday, after the Iran-backed group launched missiles and drones towards Israel. The attacks followed Hezbollah’s claim that it was retaliating for the killing of Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, in the escalating US-Israeli war with Iran. Residents of Beirut were woken at around 3am by a series of explosions. About a dozen strikes hit three locations in the southern suburbs. Bombardments continued into the morning, with another strike reported close to noon, by which time the area had been largely abandoned. The blasts shattered…

Numerous airlines cancelled or suspended international flights across the Middle East through the weekend after India’s civil aviation authority classified large parts of the region as a high-security risk zone at all altitudes. The warning covered airspace over several countries, including Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon, prompting widespread disruption to international travel, particularly routes linked to Dubai and Tel Aviv. Air India announced the cancellation of all flights to Middle Eastern destinations. Turkish Airlines suspended services to Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iran and Jordan until Monday, while also halting flights to Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Oman. In…

Joe Biden has warned that his successor, Donald Trump, will attempt to “steal” the upcoming US midterm elections, delivering the accusation in a rare public address on Friday. Speaking in South Carolina, where he was honoured for a lifetime of public service, the former president said the United States was facing “dark days”. His remarks came just hours before the Trump administration launched military strikes on Iran. Addressing an audience at the Columbia Museum of Art, Biden revived a line from his successful 2020 campaign, saying the “battle for the soul of this nation is one that’s never really over”.…

California regulators have warned that any takeover of Paramount will face close scrutiny, regardless of which bidder ultimately prevails. Rob Bonta, the state’s attorney general, said the deal was far from settled. He stressed that the companies involved had not yet cleared regulatory hurdles and that California intended to conduct a thorough review. “It is not a done deal,” Bonta said. “These two Hollywood titans have not cleared regulatory scrutiny, and we intend to be vigorous in our review. The proposed WBD transactions must receive a full and robust review, and California is taking a very close look.” Under the…

Previously unreleased FBI memoranda contain explicit but unsubstantiated allegations that Donald Trump sexually abused a woman when she was a minor in the early 1980s, with the involvement of Jeffrey Epstein, according to a review by the Guardian. The documents relate to four interviews conducted by FBI agents in 2019. They were not included when the US Department of Justice (DoJ) began releasing millions of pages connected to Epstein in December. Their absence was first reported by the independent journalist Roger Sollenberger and later confirmed by NPR, prompting anger in Washington and an inquiry by congressional Democrats. The Guardian obtained…

Larry Summers, the former president of Harvard University, will step down from teaching at the end of the academic year, a university spokesperson has confirmed. A Harvard spokesperson, Jason Newton, said Summers’s formal resignation is linked to an ongoing university review of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein that were recently released by the US government. Summers has also resigned as co-director of the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government at the Harvard Kennedy School, a role he has held since 2011. He will remain on leave until the academic year concludes. The development was first reported by the Harvard Crimson,…

The United States will, for the first time, provide on-site consular services in two Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, a move that breaks with long-standing US policy and has drawn sharp criticism from Palestinian officials. In a post on X, the US embassy in Jerusalem said it would offer routine passport services to American citizens in the settlement of Efrat on Friday, describing the move as part of activities marking the 250th anniversary of US independence. The service will be available “for one day only”. Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967, are…

Nick Reiner has pleaded not guilty to two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of his parents, Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner. The plea was entered on Monday morning during an arraignment in a Los Angeles courtroom by his new attorney, public defender Kimberly Greene. Reiner appeared behind glass during the hearing. He stood in an enclosed custody area wearing brown jail clothing. Unlike a previous court appearance in December, he was not dressed in a suicide prevention smock, according to the Associated Press. Proceedings in the case had been delayed last month after Reiner’s former lawyer, Alan…