Foreign
Trump shot in ear in rally assassination attempt
Former US President Donald Trump was rushed off stage after gunshots erupted at a rally in Pennsylvania in an apparent assassination attempt.
Footage showed him grimace and raise a hand to his right ear, before ducking as sharp cracks – a series of shots – broke out.
He was quickly swarmed by US Secret Service agents and dragged off stage to a waiting vehicle. He raised a fist as he was bundled into the car.
In a post to his Truth Social network, Trump said a bullet pierced the “upper part” of his right ear. Earlier, his spokesperson said he was “fine” and receiving treatment at a local medical centre.
“I knew immediately that something was wrong in that I heard a whizzing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin,” Trump wrote. “Much bleeding took place, so I realized then what was happening.”
Blood was clearly visible on Trump’s ear and face as protection officers rushed him away.
The suspect was shot dead at the scene by US Secret Service officers, the agency’s spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi said. He added that one bystander was killed in the shooting and two others were critically injured.
Republican Congressman Ronnie Jackson told the BBC that his nephew was injured in the shooting. He sustained a minor wound to his neck and was treated at the scene, Mr Jackson said in a statement.
Law enforcement sources told the BBC’s US partner CBS News that the male attacker had been armed with a rifle and had fired from an elevated structure a few hundred metres away outside the venue. They added that the attack was being treated as an assassination attempt.
Mr Guglielmi said Trump was safe and that measures for his protection had been implemented. He added that an active investigation – which is being led by the FBI – was under way.
The Republican candidate for president had just started addressing his supporters in Butler, Pennsylvania – a crucial swing state in November’s election – when the shots started.
Multiple bangs rang out as Trump spoke about his successor, President Joe Biden, and his administration.
Several supporters holding placards and standing behind Trump ducked as the shots were heard.
Bystanders who spoke to the BBC suggested the gunshots may have come from a one-storey building to the right of the stage where Trump was speaking.
One witness – Greg – told the BBC that he had spotted a suspicious-looking person “bear crawling” on the roof of the building about five minutes after Trump took to the stage. He said he pointed the person out to police.
“He had a rifle, we could clearly see him with a rifle,” he said. “We’re pointing at him, the police are down there running around on the ground – we’re like ‘hey man there’s a guy on the roof with a rifle’ and the police did not know what was going on.”
Tim – who was also at the rally – told the BBC that he had heard a “barrage” of shots.
“There was a spray which we initially thought was a fire hose, and then the speaker on the right-hand side started coming down,” he said.
“Something must have hit the hydraulic lines [which caused it to fall]. We saw President Trump go to the ground and everyone started dropping to the ground because it was chaos.”
Warren and Debbie were at the venue and told the BBC they heard at least four gunshots.
They said they both got on the ground as Secret Service agents came through the crowd, shouting for the attendees to get down. People remained calm, they said.
“We couldn’t believe it was happening,” Warren said.
Debbie said a little girl beside them was crying that she didn’t want to die and saying “how is this happening to us?”
“That broke my heart,” Debbie said.
Witness says he saw gunman on roof
Speaking from his home state of Delaware, President Biden deplored the attack, calling it “sick”.
“There’s no place in America for this kind of violence,” he said. “Everybody must condemn it.”
The White House later said President Biden had spoken with Trump before returning to Washington DC.
Trump remains locked in a tight contest with President Biden – the presumptive Democratic nominee – in a re-match of the 2020 election.
Politicians of both parties joined Mr Biden in condemning the apparent attack.
Former President Barack Obama said there “is absolutely no place for political violence in our democracy” and that he was “relieved that former President Trump wasn’t seriously hurt”.
Trump’s former vice-president Mike Pence said he and his wife were praying for his former ally, adding that he urged “every American to join us”.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said in a statement: “My thoughts and prayers are with former President Trump. I am thankful for the decisive law enforcement response. America is a democracy. Political violence of any kind is never acceptable.”
UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer led international condemnation of the shooting, saying he was “appalled by the shocking scenes at President Trump’s rally”.
“Political violence in any form has no place in our societies and my thoughts are with all the victims of this attack,” he said in a statement.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida called on people to oppose violence that “challenges democracy”.
And Canadian leader Justin Trudeau said he was “sickened by the shooting at former President Trump”.
Trump was set to accept his party’s nomination for president at the convention in Milwaukee on Monday. Some had speculated that he had been set to reveal his running mate at the Butler rally.
Some Republicans were quick to blame President Biden over the shooting, accusing him of stoking fears about Trump’s potential return to office.
Senator JD Vance, who is thought to be on the shortlist to become Trump’s vice-presidential candidate, said the rhetoric from the Biden campaign had led directly to this incident.
Mike Collins – a Republican congressman – accused the president of “inciting an assassination”.
Meanwhile James Comer, the chair of the powerful House oversight committee, said he would summon the director of the Secret Service before his panel.
TikTok on Friday agreed to pay Alabama at least $100 million and enact time limits and other restrictions for teen users, avoiding trial with a settlement modelled on Instagram-owner Meta’s recent agreement with US states.
A trial had been set to begin Monday in the southern US state over claims by Alabama that TikTok misled parents about tools meant to shield children from harmful content.
Attorney General Steve Marshall hailed the settlement as “a great day for Alabama parents.”
“Tonight, they can rest easier knowing real protections are in place to shield their children from the dangers of social media addiction,” he said.
Under the settlement, TikTok will send $100 million to Alabama and could possibly pay up to $300 million in total if other states accept similar agreements.
Alabama’s suit was the latest in a wave of litigation targeting social media companies across the United States over the harm their apps allegedly cause young users.
In August, Meta agreed to pay $18 billion to settle a sweeping lawsuit brought by US states accusing it of designing Instagram and Facebook to get children addicted.
TikTok’s settlement with Alabama mirrors safety provisions agreed by Meta, including a two-hour daily time limit for teens, restricted access from midnight to 6:00 am, and suspending notifications during school hours.
It will also strengthen age verification, ban beauty filters for teenagers, and offer young users a non-personalised content feed.
In addition, it includes a conditional restriction that Meta also agreed to: expanding the nighttime shutdown period to 10:00 pm to 7:00 am, if other platforms also commit to do the same.
– More suits pending –
“TikTok’s priority has always been fostering a safe and positive space where people can be creative, discover what they love, and connect with their community,” a company spokesperson told AFP.
“This builds on our commitment and core objective to continually enhance our robust safety tools to protect teens,” the spokesperson added.
More than a dozen other states, including California and New York, still have active suits against TikTok.
The company has previously settled cases against it that were headed for trial, including a Los Angeles lawsuit brought by a young woman and a suit from a Kentucky school district.
Meta, by contrast, has taken its chances in court — with bruising results.
In March, a jury in New Mexico ordered the Facebook and Instagram owner to pay $375 million after finding it had misled the public about the safety of its platforms for children.
That same month, a Los Angeles jury found Meta and Google’s YouTube negligent in the case of a 20-year-old woman who said she became hooked on social media as a child, awarding her $6 million.
Going to trial would have exposed TikTok to unprecedented public scrutiny of how it handles safety internally, with company documents and executive testimony potentially aired in open court.
Alabama originally sued TikTok and its Chinese parent company ByteDance in April 2025, alleging the app was engineered to hook young users “just like a sophisticated gambling machine.”
The state later narrowed its case to claims under Alabama’s Deceptive Trade Practices Act, focusing on whether TikTok misrepresented the effectiveness of features such as “Restricted Mode” and “Kids Mode.”
Despite TikTok’s assurances that users in that mode should not see mature themes, the accounts were quickly served videos about suicide, self-harm, eating disorders, alcohol and sex, according to the filing.
AFP
Iranian airlines are facing mounting international restrictions after new US sanctions disrupted flights to several neighbouring countries, while fresh Houthi missile attacks on Saudi Arabia sent global oil prices sharply higher.
The United Arab Emirates on Thursday suspended all flights operated by Iranian airlines until further notice, citing the impact of new US sanctions targeting Iran’s aviation sector. Oman also moved to restrict Iranian flights, while services to destinations including Georgia, Azerbaijan and Baghdad were reported to have been disrupted.
The measures followed a September 23 deadline set by Washington under which companies and service providers around the world could face sanctions for continuing to do business with Iranian airlines.
The US campaign is aimed at extending sanctions pressure beyond Iran by targeting companies in third countries that continue providing services to Iranian carriers.
Iran’s aviation network has already been affected, although international flights have not been completely halted. Flight-tracking data and airport schedules showed Iranian carriers continuing to operate some routes, including services to countries such as China, Afghanistan and Turkey.
Iran has reacted angrily to the restrictions, warning that countries cooperating with the US campaign could face consequences.
A senior Iranian official threatened that airports in countries blocking Iranian flights could eventually become “unusable”, escalating concerns over the potential impact of the sanctions on regional air travel.
Oil prices surge after Saudi missile attacks
The aviation restrictions came as escalating military tensions in the region continued to unsettle global energy markets.
Oil prices jumped on Thursday after Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement launched missile and drone attacks against targets in Saudi Arabia.
Saudi authorities said their air defences intercepted six ballistic missiles fired towards Taif and Yanbu, two cities in western Saudi Arabia. The Houthis separately claimed attacks on targets in Riyadh and facilities belonging to Saudi Aramco in Yanbu.
The attacks renewed concerns about possible disruptions to Saudi oil exports and major shipping routes in the region, particularly because Yanbu is an important Red Sea outlet for Saudi crude.
Brent crude futures settled at $106.60 per barrel, up $3.52, or 3.4 per cent, while US West Texas Intermediate crude gained $2.45, or 2.7 per cent, to close at $94.61.
Both benchmarks had risen by about five per cent at their session highs before retreating as reports emerged of possible diplomatic efforts between Washington and Tehran.
Strait of Hormuz remains key to oil markets
The possibility of negotiations between the US and Iran also helped limit the rise in crude prices.
Reports indicated that Washington and Tehran were exploring a possible phased arrangement that could involve reopening the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for a relaxation of some US economic restrictions.
The waterway is one of the world’s most important oil transit routes, making any prolonged disruption a major concern for global energy markets.
Saudi Arabia has also been relying on its East-West pipeline to move crude towards the Red Sea as disruptions affect traditional Gulf shipping routes.
The latest developments have therefore placed oil markets under competing pressures: further military escalation around energy infrastructure and shipping routes could increase supply fears, while progress in US-Iran diplomacy and improved access through the Strait of Hormuz could ease those concerns.
For Iran, meanwhile, the new US measures threaten to further isolate its aviation industry and reduce the country’s already limited international air connections.
Dozens of envoys from across the world walked out of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to the UN on Thursday in protest at the Israeli leader.
Delegates jeered and booed, while Netanyahu’s own team stood and applauded, and the speaker of the session shouted for order.
“If there are any other moral cowards who haven’t left this hall, please do so now,” Netanyahu said.
Some attendees and delegation members walk out as Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during the 81st United Nations General Assembly at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, on September 24, 2026. (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP)
The hall, sparsely filled earlier in the session, gradually filled up before Netanyahu’s speech.
The Palestinian delegation had called in a memo for other missions to join their own act of protest.
Netanyahu called the Israeli youths who target Palestinian communities in the occupied West Bank “juvenile delinquents” during a speech Thursday to the United Nations.
“What (the media) cover is a handful of young juvenile delinquents, about 150 in number, who go or throw stones, who chop down olive trees,” Netanyahu said.
“I can’t stand that. I won’t stand for vigilantism.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the 81st United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York on September 24, 2026. (Photo by ANGELA WEISS / AFP)
He called Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan a “tyrant” during a speech at the UN on Thursday, accusing Ankara of harboring Hamas militant leaders.
“The latest country to become a super spreader of antisemitic lies (is Turkey)… Erdogan is a tyrant. He also hosts the Hamas terror chiefs,” he said.
The Prime Minister also claimed that “many Jews” no longer feel safe in New York since leftist Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s election.
“Since you were elected mayor of this city, many Jews no longer feel safe in New York,” he said.
“You falsely, repeatedly accuse Israel of genocide.”
AFP
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