Foreign
Trump hammers Biden over New Orleans terror attack
President-elect Donald Trump has condemned the terror attack that left at least 10 people dead and over 30 injured during a festive gathering in New Orleans, describing it as a “pure act of evil” and laying blame on an illegal migrant and President Joe Biden’s immigration policies.
The alleged perpetrator reportedly drove a truck into the crowd, having entered the United States through Eagle Pass, Texas, just two days prior.
While law enforcement officials have yet to confirm the suspect’s citizenship status, Trump seized on the incident to renew criticism of Biden’s border policies.
“When I said that the criminals coming in are far worse than the criminals we have in our country, that statement was constantly refuted by Democrats and the Fake News Media, but it turned out to be true,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
He said, “The crime rate in our country is at a level that nobody has ever seen before. Our hearts are with all of the innocent victims and their loved ones, including the brave officers of the New Orleans Police Department.”
Trump also pledged full federal support for New Orleans as the city grapples with the aftermath of the tragedy.
The attack comes amid heightened debates over border security and immigration enforcement, with critics accusing the Biden administration of lax oversight that they claim endangers public safety.
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell expressed condolences to the victims and vowed a thorough investigation. “We will not let this senseless violence define us,” she said in a statement.
Mail Online reports that President Joe Biden is under fire for what critics call a “tone-deaf” response following the deadly attack in New Orleans on New Year’s Eve.
The incident occurred around 3 a.m. local time when a driver plowed into a crowd on Bourbon Street before opening fire, leaving at least 10 dead and many more injured.
Biden’s first public statement of 2025, posted on X at 10 a.m. ET, was a simple “Happy New Year, folks,” drawing immediate backlash.
However, more than an hour later, the president issued a formal statement condemning the attack as an “act of terrorism” and offering condolences to the victims’ families.
Outraged social media users criticised Biden’s initial post as insensitive and out of touch.
The suspect, reportedly wearing body armor and armed with an assault rifle, rammed a vehicle into the crowd at the intersection of Bourbon and Canal Streets before opening fire.
Police returned fire, and a federal law enforcement source later confirmed that the suspect is believed to be dead.
Graphic videos from the scene shared on social media show multiple casualties as shots rang out, sending terrified revelers fleeing.
Victims were transported to five area hospitals, and authorities have yet to release the suspect’s identity or details about any arrests.
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
An adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, has warned that Tehran could expand the ongoing Middle East conflict to the Indian Ocean if the United States launches further attacks.
Yahya Rahim Safavi, a senior adviser to the Iranian leader, issued the warning on Thursday in a video released by Iran’s Fars news agency.
“Since the conflict has spread from the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz to the Red Sea, it is possible that, in response to more war, the front will expand even further, reaching the Indian Ocean and perhaps beyond,” Safavi said.
The warning comes amid heightened tensions around strategic waterways in the region.
Yemen’s Houthis, who are fighting Saudi-backed government forces, recently took control of the Red Sea coastline, strengthening their hold around the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait, which connects Asia and Europe through the Suez Canal.
Iran has long provided military support to the Houthis but has denied any direct involvement in the Yemen conflict.
The Islamic Republic has also closed the Strait of Hormuz, off its southern coast, in retaliation for US-Israeli strikes that triggered the current Middle East war at the end of February.
Iran and the United States are now contesting control of the strategic waterway, through which a substantial portion of the world’s oil and gas supplies passed before the conflict began.
Iranian officials had previously warned that the geographic scope of the conflict could be widened if US strikes against Tehran resumed.
However, Thursday’s statement is the first time an adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader has explicitly mentioned the Indian Ocean as a potential new theatre of the conflict.
The Indian Ocean is home to the strategic US-British military base at Diego Garcia, located nearly 4,000 kilometres from Iran.
Meanwhile, Iranian and US officials held talks in New York this week on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly as part of efforts to bring the conflict to an end.
Iran has said it is reviewing US response to its proposal to end war.
A senior Iranian official told Reuters that Tehran is reviewing the United States’ response to its proposal to end hostilities, but many differences remain between the Iranian and U.S. positions as diplomacy continues.
Reopening the Strait of Hormuz and lifting the U.S. naval blockade on Iran were discussed during indirect talks with the U.S. Tuesday, the official said.
Tehran previously said it could reopen the Strait of Hormuz within a week if the U.S. eased military pressure and lifted its blockade of Iranian ports.
Iran’s chief national security advisor Mohsen Rezaee wrote in a post the country is tiring of negotiations.
“Iran’s new diplomacy will not return to the past. We will force America to respect the rights of the Iranian nation and act according to the conveyed conditions; otherwise, the Strait of Hormuz will not be opened,” he wrote. “Enough with negotiations, take action.”
Iranian spokespeople say Iran and the U.S. met for two hours of mediated discussion during the United Nations General Assembly.
During the discussion, Iran repeated its conditions for opening the Strait of Hormuz.
The U.S. Army announced the death of an active-duty servicemember Wednesday who was supporting overseas operations in Qatar.
Capt. Bianca C. Wilkerson, 37, of Virginia, died on Sept. 18 as a result of a noncombat-related incident, according to a release. She was posthumously promoted to major.
The incident is under investigation.
U.S. representatives left the room as Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian addressed the United Nations General Assembly Wednesday.
“Yesterday, the United States President described us as terrorists. We have been the victims of terrorism,” Pezeshkian said. “Those who are terrorists and train and protect terrorists describe us as such.”
He says America has hit civilian populations and neighborhoods, including schools, and argued Iran has only defended itself. He compared America and Israel’s war with Iran to Israel’s actions in Gaza, calling for justice for Palestine.
“In Gaza, over 80,000 innocent civilians have been murdered, brutally murdered. They are committing genocide, then they label others as terrorists. We only seek to live independently,” he said. “We cannot speak of peace while ignoring Palestine. Lasting peace in West Asia is impossible without justice for Palestine.”
He said the bombing of Iranian cities will not go unanswered.
Trump tells NewsNation ‘we’ll see’ on whether to ‘annihilate’ Iran
Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said he warned the EU of “severe long-term consequences of facilitating and supporting Israeli-U.S. war crimes” in Gaza and Iran.
“That major folly aside, [NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte] should know by now that groveling never satisfies a bully,” he wrote in a post.
Iran spokesperson accuses Trump of ‘war crime’; Trump threatens to ‘annihilate’ country during UN speech
Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei accused Trump of an “unforgivable war crime” associated with Iranian schoolchildren who he says were killed in a Feb. 28 missile attack by American forces.
“They should have been here today, bright-eyed and joyful, celebrating the start of a new school year. Instead their slain bodies lie buried in the earth,” Baqaei wrote in a post with a video of the children. “The Iranian people will never forget these angelic faces. They will never forgive their killers.”
He criticised Trump’s speech at the UN General Assembly, during which the president said he was weighing whether to “annihilate” Iran if Tehran doesn’t agree to a deal, despite ongoing talks.
“The government whose president mockingly flouts international law from the UN podium bears responsibility for this unforgivable war crime. All who stood silent and looked away share in that responsibility,” Baqaei wrote.
Iran’s armed forces have dismissed Trump’s comments as propaganda and said the country is prepared to deliver “more severe, crushing and unpredictable blows” if attacked.
Two casualties in Strait of Hormuz cargo vessel strike: UKMTO
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations UKMTO says a cargo vessel was struck by an “unknown projectile” in the Strait of Hormuz Wednesday, “leaving it on fire and adrift.” Authorities are investigating.
All crew were evacuated and two casualties were reported.
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