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US Lawmaker Rashida Tlaib Condemns Cartoon Showing Her with Exploding Pager

US Representative Rashida Tlaib, Democrat of Michigan, protests during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech to a joint meeting of Congress at the US Capitol on July 24, 2024, in Washington, DC. (AFP)
US Representative Rashida Tlaib, Democrat of Michigan, protests during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech to a joint meeting of Congress at the US Capitol on July 24, 2024, in Washington, DC. (AFP)
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US Lawmaker Rashida Tlaib Condemns Cartoon Showing Her with Exploding Pager

US Representative Rashida Tlaib, Democrat of Michigan, protests during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech to a joint meeting of Congress at the US Capitol on July 24, 2024, in Washington, DC. (AFP)
US Representative Rashida Tlaib, Democrat of Michigan, protests during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech to a joint meeting of Congress at the US Capitol on July 24, 2024, in Washington, DC. (AFP)

Palestinian American US lawmaker Rashida Tlaib on Friday condemned as racist a cartoon published in the conservative magazine National Review showing her with an exploding pager - a reference to an attack this week against members of the Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah in Lebanon.

"Our community is already in so much pain right now. This racism will incite more hate + violence against our Arab & Muslim communities, and it makes everyone less safe. It's disgraceful that the media continues to normalize this racism," Tlaib wrote on the social media platform X.

Tlaib, a Democrat who represents a district from Michigan in the US House of Representatives, is the lone Palestinian American lawmaker in the US Congress.

The Muslim American advocacy group Emgage Action, Democratic US House members Cory Bush and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, some local officials in Michigan and human rights groups also criticized the cartoon.

National Review did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The cartoon, published on Thursday, showed a woman sitting next to an exploding pager. The woman's desk in the cartoon had a name card saying "Rep. Tlaib" while the woman herself is shown saying: "ODD. MY PAGER JUST EXPLODED."

The cartoon was created by Henry Payne, a Detroit News auto critic. Payne's X account titled the cartoon as "Tlaib Pager Hamas." The Detroit News said it was not involved in its creation and distribution, and chose not to run it.

Thousands of pagers used by members of Hezbollah in Lebanon exploded on Tuesday. That was followed a day later by the explosion of hand-held radios in Lebanon, with dozens killed and thousands wounded in the incidents.

Security sources have said Israel was responsible. Israel did not take responsibility.

Israel's military offensive in the Gaza Strip has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians, according to health officials in the Hamas-ruled enclave, and created a humanitarian crisis. Israel's assault followed an attack by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, that killed 1,200 people and in which about 250 were taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.

Tlaib has been a fierce critic of Israel's actions in the war and American support for the longtime US ally.

Human rights advocates have cited rising dehumanization of Arabs, Muslims and Jews amid the war.

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World

WHO Appeals for $1 Bn for World’s Worst Health Crises in 2026

Displaced Palestinian children gather at a tent camp in Gaza City, February 3, 2026. (Reuters)
Displaced Palestinian children gather at a tent camp in Gaza City, February 3, 2026. (Reuters)
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WHO Appeals for $1 Bn for World’s Worst Health Crises in 2026

Displaced Palestinian children gather at a tent camp in Gaza City, February 3, 2026. (Reuters)
Displaced Palestinian children gather at a tent camp in Gaza City, February 3, 2026. (Reuters)

The World Health Organization on Tuesday appealed for $1 billion to tackle health crises this year across the world's 36 most severe emergencies, including in Gaza, Sudan, Haiti and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The UN health agency estimated 239 million people would need urgent humanitarian assistance this year and the money would keep essential health services going.

WHO health emergencies chief Chikwe Ihekweazu told reporters in Geneva: "A quarter of a billion people are living through humanitarian crises that strip away the most basic protections: safety, shelter and access to health care.

"In these settings, health needs are surging, whether due to injuries, disease outbreaks, malnutrition or untreated chronic diseases," he warned.

"Yet access to care is shrinking."

The agency's emergency request was significantly lower than in recent years, given the global funding crunch for aid operations.

Washington, traditionally the UN health agency's biggest donor, has slashed foreign aid spending under President Donald Trump, who on his first day back in office in January 2025 handed the WHO his country's one-year withdrawal notice.

Last year, WHO had appealed for $1.5 billion but Ihekweazu said that only $900 million was ultimately made available.

Unfortunately, he said, the agency had been "recognizing ... that the appetite for resource mobilization is much smaller than it was in previous years".

"That's one of the reasons that we've calibrated our ask a little bit more towards what is available realistically, understanding the situation around the world, the constraints that many countries have," he said.

The WHO said in 2026 it was "hyper-prioritizing the highest-impact services and scaling back lower-impact activities to maximize lives saved".

Last year, global funding cuts forced 6,700 health facilities across 22 humanitarian settings to either close or reduce services, "cutting 53 million people off from health care", Ihekweazu said.

"Families living on the edge face impossible decisions, such as whether to buy food or medicine," he added, stressing that "people should never have to make these choices".

"This is why today we are appealing to the better sense of countries, and of people, and asking them to invest in a healthier, safer world."

World

Moscow: Russian Soldiers Helped to Repel Niger Airport Attack

A drone picture shows the main street of a suburb following the attack on the international airport in Niamey, Niger January 30, 2026. REUTERS/ Mahamadou Hamidou
A drone picture shows the main street of a suburb following the attack on the international airport in Niamey, Niger January 30, 2026. REUTERS/ Mahamadou Hamidou
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Moscow: Russian Soldiers Helped to Repel Niger Airport Attack

A drone picture shows the main street of a suburb following the attack on the international airport in Niamey, Niger January 30, 2026. REUTERS/ Mahamadou Hamidou
A drone picture shows the main street of a suburb following the attack on the international airport in Niamey, Niger January 30, 2026. REUTERS/ Mahamadou Hamidou

Russian soldiers helped to repel an attack on Niger's main airport in the capital Niamey last week which was claimed by the ISIS group, Moscow said on Monday.

Niger's ruling junta earlier said "Russian partners" helped to fend off the rare assault on the capital, which saw 20 attackers killed and four army soldiers wounded, AFP.

"The attack was repelled through the joint efforts of the Russian Ministry of Defense's African Corps and the Nigerien armed forces," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

"Moscow strongly condemns this latest extremist attack," it added.

ISIS said it staged the attack and released a video of events through its propaganda agency Amaq. The video shows several dozen attackers with assault rifles firing near a hangar and setting ablaze one plane before leaving on motorbikes.

Niger's junta accused Benin, France and Ivory Coast of sponsoring the attack on the airport, which also houses a military base.

Junta chief Abdourahamane Tiani visited the Russian military base to express "personal gratitude for a high level of professionalism", the ministry said.

Russia rarely comments on its military activity in the Sahel region, where Moscow has been increasing its influence in a region that has seen a series of coups.

Facing isolation since its invasion of Ukraine, Russia has tried to build new military and political partnerships in Africa.

Apart from Niger, Russian troops or military instructors have been reported to be deployed in Burkina Faso, Equatorial Guinea, the Central African Republic and Libya.

Russia's African Corps has taken over from the Wagner paramilitary group across the continent.

According to Moscow, the corps helps "fighting terrorists" and "strengthening regional stability" in the Sahel.

Niger's authorities have been fighting the Al-Qaeda-linked Group and the Islamic State in the Sahel (EIS) for the past decade.

World

Shamkhani: Iran Does Not Seek Nuclear Weapons

Ali Shamkhani, advisor to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei (AFP)
Ali Shamkhani, advisor to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei (AFP)
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Shamkhani: Iran Does Not Seek Nuclear Weapons

Ali Shamkhani, advisor to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei (AFP)
Ali Shamkhani, advisor to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei (AFP)

Ali Shamkhani, adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, spoke on the nuclear issue late Monday saying that Iran does not seek nuclear weapons and suggesting that if the talks with the US happened, they would be indirect at the beginning, then moving to direct talks if a deal appeared to be attainable.

The pan-Arab satellite channel Al Mayadeen, which is politically allied with the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, aired the interview with Shamkhani.

He also said that the US “must offer something in return” if Iran were to reduce the level of enrichment.

Shamkhani, who now sits on the country’s Supreme National Security Council and who in the 1980s led Iran's navy, wore a naval uniform as he spoke.

He suggested if the talks happened, they would be indirect at the beginning, then moving to direct talks if a deal appeared to be attainable.

Direct talks with the US long have been a highly charged political issue within Iran's theocracy, with reformists like President Masoud Pezeshkian pushing for them and hard-liners dismissing them.

The talks would solely focus on nuclear issues, he added.

Asked about whether Russia could take Iran's enriched uranium like it did in Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, Shamkhani dismissed the idea, saying there was “no reason” to do so. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov on Monday said Russia had “long offered these services as a possible option that would alleviate certain irritants for a number of countries.”

“Iran does not seek nuclear weapons, will not seek a nuclear weapon and will never stockpile nuclear weapons, but the other side must pay a price in return for this," he said.

Iran had been enriching uranium up to 60% purity, a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels. The International Atomic Energy Agency had said Iran was the only country in the world to enrich to that level that wasn't armed with the bomb.

Iran has been refusing requests by the IAEA to inspect the sites bombed in the June war.

“The quantity of enriched uranium remains unknown, because part of the stockpile is under rubble, and there is no initiative yet to extract it, as it is extremely dangerous," Shamkhani said.