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UN Says Basic Services in Afghanistan Are Collapsing

A Taliban fighter sits on the back of a vehicle with a machine gun in front of the main gate leading to the Afghan presidential palace, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, Aug. 16, 2021. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
A Taliban fighter sits on the back of a vehicle with a machine gun in front of the main gate leading to the Afghan presidential palace, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, Aug. 16, 2021. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
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UN Says Basic Services in Afghanistan Are Collapsing

A Taliban fighter sits on the back of a vehicle with a machine gun in front of the main gate leading to the Afghan presidential palace, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, Aug. 16, 2021. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
A Taliban fighter sits on the back of a vehicle with a machine gun in front of the main gate leading to the Afghan presidential palace, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, Aug. 16, 2021. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

Afghanistan is facing the collapse of basic services and food and other aid is starting to run out, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Tuesday.

OCHA spokesperson Jens Laerke told a UN briefing that millions of Afghans were in need of food aid and health assistance, urging donors to give more ahead of an international aid conference for Afghanistan on Sept. 13, Reuters reported.

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Australian PM Visits Bondi Beach Hero in Hospital 

In this photo released by the Prime Minister office, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese meets Ahmed al Ahmed at St George Hospital in Sydney, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025. (Australian Prime Minister Office via AP)
In this photo released by the Prime Minister office, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese meets Ahmed al Ahmed at St George Hospital in Sydney, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025. (Australian Prime Minister Office via AP)
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Australian PM Visits Bondi Beach Hero in Hospital 

In this photo released by the Prime Minister office, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese meets Ahmed al Ahmed at St George Hospital in Sydney, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025. (Australian Prime Minister Office via AP)
In this photo released by the Prime Minister office, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese meets Ahmed al Ahmed at St George Hospital in Sydney, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025. (Australian Prime Minister Office via AP)

Australia's prime minister visited Bondi Beach shooting hero Ahmed al Ahmed in hospital on Tuesday, lauding his efforts to help stop the nation's deadliest gun attack in decades.

A father and son killed 15 people at Bondi Beach on Sunday, targeting a Jewish festival that marked the start of Hanukkah.

Footage showed the fruit seller ducking between parked cars as the shooting unfolded and then wresting a gun from one of the assailant's hands.

"He was trying to get a cup of coffee and found himself at a moment where people were being shot in front of him," Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said after a bedside visit with heavily bandaged Ahmed.

"He decided to take action and his bravery is an inspiration for all Australians," Albanese added.

Ahmed was shot several times in the shoulder after tussling with one of the gunmen.

Albanese said he would "undergo further surgery" on Wednesday.

"At a moment where we have seen evil perpetrated, he shines out as an example of the strength of humanity," the prime minister said. "We are a brave country. Ahmed al Ahmed represents the best of our country."

Bedbound and with tubes in his nose, Ahmed briefly thanked well-wishers in Arabic in a video circulating on social media on Tuesday morning.

"I appreciate the efforts of everyone," he said, according to an English translation provided by Turkish public broadcaster TRT World.

"May Allah reward you and grant you wellbeing," he said. "God willing, we will return to you with joy. Thank you for your efforts."

The father-of-two came to Australia from Syria almost 10 years ago, local media reported.

His mother told Australian broadcaster ABC on Monday that she kept "beating myself up and crying" when she received the call that her son had been shot in "an accident".

"He saw they were dying, and people were losing their lives, and when that guy ran out of ammo, he took it from him, but he was hit," she said. "We pray that God saves him."

There has been a global outpouring of support for Ahmed, including from US President Donald Trump who praised his incredible courage.

An online fundraiser has received more than Aus$1.9 million ($1.2 million) in donations for Ahmed's medical fees.

World

US Military Says Strikes on 3 Boats in the Eastern Pacific Ocean Kill 8 People 

This combination screen grabs from a video posted by US Southern Command (Southcom) X account on December 15, 2025 shows what the US military says are lethal strikes on three separate alleged narco-trafficking vessels (top) as they get hit (middle and bottom) in the eastern Pacific Ocean on December 15, 2025. (AFP photo / US Southern Command's X Account / Handout)
This combination screen grabs from a video posted by US Southern Command (Southcom) X account on December 15, 2025 shows what the US military says are lethal strikes on three separate alleged narco-trafficking vessels (top) as they get hit (middle and bottom) in the eastern Pacific Ocean on December 15, 2025. (AFP photo / US Southern Command's X Account / Handout)
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US Military Says Strikes on 3 Boats in the Eastern Pacific Ocean Kill 8 People 

This combination screen grabs from a video posted by US Southern Command (Southcom) X account on December 15, 2025 shows what the US military says are lethal strikes on three separate alleged narco-trafficking vessels (top) as they get hit (middle and bottom) in the eastern Pacific Ocean on December 15, 2025. (AFP photo / US Southern Command's X Account / Handout)
This combination screen grabs from a video posted by US Southern Command (Southcom) X account on December 15, 2025 shows what the US military says are lethal strikes on three separate alleged narco-trafficking vessels (top) as they get hit (middle and bottom) in the eastern Pacific Ocean on December 15, 2025. (AFP photo / US Southern Command's X Account / Handout)

The US military said Monday that it attacked three boats accused of smuggling drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing a total of eight people as scrutiny over the boat strikes is intensifying in Congress.

The military said in a statement on social media that the strikes targeted “designated terrorist organizations,” killing three people in the first vessel, two in the second boat and three in the third boat. It didn't provide evidence of their alleged drug trafficking but posted a video of a boat moving through water before exploding.

President Donald Trump has justified the attacks as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the United States and asserted the US is engaged in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels. But the Trump administration is facing increasing scrutiny from lawmakers over the boat strike campaign, which has killed at least 95 people in 25 known strikes since early September, including a follow-up strike that killed two survivors clinging to the wreckage of a boat after the first hit.

The latest boat strikes come on the eve of briefings on Capitol Hill for all members of Congress as questions mount over the Trump administration’s military campaign.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other top national security officials are expected to provide closed-door briefings for lawmakers in the House and Senate.

The campaign has ramped up pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who has been charged with narcoterrorism in the US.

In a sharp escalation last week, US forces seized a sanctioned oil tanker that the Trump administration has accused of smuggling illicit crude. Maduro has insisted the real purpose of the US military operations is to force him from office.

The US military has built up its largest presence in the region in decades and launched a series of deadly strikes on alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean. Trump says land attacks are coming soon but has not offered any details on location.

World

Trump Sues BBC for $10 Billion over Documentary Speech Edit

A person walks with an umbrella outside BBC Broadcasting House, after Director General Tim Davie and CEO of BBC News Deborah Turness resigned on Sunday, November 9, following accusations of bias at the British broadcaster, including in the way it edited a speech by US President Donald Trump, in London, Britain, November 14, 2025. REUTERS/Isabel Infantes
A person walks with an umbrella outside BBC Broadcasting House, after Director General Tim Davie and CEO of BBC News Deborah Turness resigned on Sunday, November 9, following accusations of bias at the British broadcaster, including in the way it edited a speech by US President Donald Trump, in London, Britain, November 14, 2025. REUTERS/Isabel Infantes
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Trump Sues BBC for $10 Billion over Documentary Speech Edit

A person walks with an umbrella outside BBC Broadcasting House, after Director General Tim Davie and CEO of BBC News Deborah Turness resigned on Sunday, November 9, following accusations of bias at the British broadcaster, including in the way it edited a speech by US President Donald Trump, in London, Britain, November 14, 2025. REUTERS/Isabel Infantes
A person walks with an umbrella outside BBC Broadcasting House, after Director General Tim Davie and CEO of BBC News Deborah Turness resigned on Sunday, November 9, following accusations of bias at the British broadcaster, including in the way it edited a speech by US President Donald Trump, in London, Britain, November 14, 2025. REUTERS/Isabel Infantes

US President Donald Trump on Monday filed a lawsuit seeking at least $10 billion from the BBC over a documentary that edited his 2021 speech to supporters ahead of the US Capitol riot.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Miami, seeks "damages in an amount not less than $5,000,000,000" for each of two counts against the British broadcaster, for alleged defamation and violation of the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act.

Trump, 79, had said earlier on Monday that the lawsuit was imminent, claiming the BBC had "put words in my mouth," even positing that "they used AI or something."

The documentary at issue aired last year before the 2024 election, on the BBC's "Panorama" flagship current affairs program.

The video spliced together two separate sections of Trump's speech on January 6, 2021 in a way that made it appear he explicitly urged supporters to attack the Capitol, where lawmakers were certifying Joe Biden's 2020 election win.

"The formerly respected and now disgraced BBC defamed President Trump by intentionally, maliciously, and deceptively doctoring his speech in a brazen attempt to interfere in the 2024 Presidential Election," a spokesperson for Trump's legal team said in a statement to AFP.

"The BBC has a long pattern of deceiving its audience in coverage of President Trump, all in service of its own leftist political agenda," the statement added.

The British Broadcasting Corporation, whose audience extends well beyond the United Kingdom, faced a period of turmoil last month after a media report brought renewed attention to the edited clip.

The scandal led the BBC director-general and the organization's top news executive to resign.

Trump's lawsuit accuses the edited speech in the documentary of being "fabricated and aired by the Defendants one week before the 2024 Presidential Election in a brazen attempt to interfere in and influence the Election's outcome to President Trump's detriment."

The BBC has denied Trump's claims of legal defamation, though BBC chairman Samir Shah has sent Trump a letter of apology.

Shah also told a UK parliamentary committee last month that the broadcaster should have acted sooner to acknowledge its mistake after the error was disclosed in a memo, which was leaked to The Daily Telegraph newspaper.

The BBC lawsuit is the latest in a string of legal action Trump has taken against media companies in recent years, several of which have led to multi-million-dollar settlements.