Category: 2. World

On Saturday, August 30, 2025, the US flag above the White House was lowered to half-staff, immediately fueling speculation and conspiracy theories online.

Social media users began questioning whether the gesture was linked to unverified rumours about President Donald Trump’s health, which have been trending under the hashtag #TrumpIsDead on X.

In reality, the flag-lowering is unrelated to those rumours. The White House confirmed earlier this week that President Trump issued a proclamation on August 27, 2025, directing all federal buildings, military posts, and embassies to lower the US flag through sunset on August 31.

The proclamation honors the victims of the Annunciation Catholic School shooting in Minneapolis, where two children were killed and 17 others injured.

Still, the overlap in timing, with the White House livestream temporarily offline and the flag flying at half-staff, has heightened confusion online.

Posts misinterpreting the gesture as a signal of presidential death have spread rapidly, even though no credible reports support those claims.

The White House flag will remain at half-staff nationwide until Sunday evening.

30 August 2025

Climate Action Network (CAN) stands in solidarity with the Global Sumud Flotilla, which will see about 50 boats with activists from across the world once again trying to break the Israeli siege of Gaza and deliver humanitarian supplies to the famine-ridden strip.

Jacobo Ocharan, CAN International’s Head of Political Strategies with Thiago Ávila of the Global Sumud Flotilla in Barcelona ahead of the launch.

Watch the video here: https://x.com/CANIntl/status/1961721296896577599

CAN points out that the Gaza blockade is a form of collective punishment and a blatant violation of international humanitarian law. Starving over two million Palestinians intentionally, half of whom are children, has been condemned by UN officials as a war crime and has now also been officially declared a famine. Denying humanitarian access to Gaza is complicity.

The Global Sumud Flotilla will embark on this mission fully aware of previous incidents where such missions have been attacked by Israeli forces and activists killed or arrested. Despite these risks, the activists are demonstrating a unified act of moral courage and defiance, bringing life-saving items including baby food, medical supplies, foodstuffs, and water desalination units for those besieged in Gaza.

Tasneem Essop, Executive Director of Climate Action Network International, said: “We thank the brave activists who are departing on the Global Sumud Flotilla and wish them well. The world should not allow the Global Sumud Flotilla to suffer the same fate at the hands of Israel as past flotillas. States are obligated by international law to ensure safe passage for humanitarian vessels. To take no action if Israel repeats its aggression is to be complicit in the starvation, suffering, and genocide of the Palestinian people.”

CAN calls for:
• Governments to ensure the safe and unhindered passage of the Global Sumud Flotilla and all humanitarian vessels.
• Civil society and people of conscience to stand in solidarity and take action in support of Gaza and the volunteers aboard the flotilla.
• Media outlets worldwide to cover this mission with integrity, resisting disinformation and silence.

The Global Sumud Flotilla is not only bearing aid, it is bearing an international call for an end to the blockade, an end to the genocide, and a guarantee of fundamental Palestinian rights in dignity, freedom, and security.

As a global network of more than 2,000 civil society organizations in over 130 nations, Climate Action Network once again asserts that there is no climate justice without human rights and no peace without accountability. We repeat our call for an end to the genocide. We will be following the journey of the Global Sumud Flotilla and amplifying its messages across our network. Silence puts the activists and the mission at risk.

We demand that the Global Sumud Flotilla arrive safely in Gaza and unload its cargo without obstruction. All eyes are watching.

Watch the video here: https://x.com/CANIntl/status/1961721296896577599

Contacts:

Contacts:

media@climatenetwork.org

CHICAGO: More than 2,000 Microsoft employees have accused the US company in a signed petition of supporting Israel’s genocide in Gaza using technology it produces, and are demanding that it cut ties with the country’s military.

Microsoft has fired employees who have openly criticized it for providing the Israel Defense Forces and its infamous Unit 8200 with artificial intelligence technology that helps target Palestinians using data on the company’s Azure cloud storage system.

At a press conference attended by Arab News, the fired employees accused Microsoft of “complicity” in the genocide that has killed more than 65,000 Palestinians, including thousands of women and children.

They said they have organized “non-violent” protests at the company’s Redmond, Washington headquarters, including a sit-in on Tuesday at the offices of Microsoft President Brad Smith.

“I was fired the next day through a voicemail from Microsoft,” said Riki Fameli, a Microsoft software engineer who participated in the sit-in dubbed “No Azure for Apartheid.”

He added: “I recognize the emergency that’s happening in regards to Microsoft’s complicity in this genocide, and I realized long ago that Microsoft won’t do anything to address it without unrelenting pressure from both the public and from its own workers.”

In a statement to Arab News, a Microsoft spokesman said it was made aware of “new allegations” about Israel’s use of Azure by 35 protesters on Aug. 19.

Company officials said they are pursuing “a thorough and independent review,” and will “uphold its human rights standards in the Middle East, while supporting and taking clear steps to address unlawful actions that damage property, disrupt business or that threaten and harm others.”

Microsoft claims that protesters returned on Aug. 20 “and engaged in vandalism and property damage. They also disrupted, harassed, and took tables and tents from local small businesses at a lunchtime farmer’s market for employees.” The company praised Redmond Police for arresting and charging the former employees.

In response, the fired employees called the Microsoft investigation into possible misuse of their technology to target and kill Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank “a sham.”

They vehemently denied engaging in vandalism or violence during the sit-ins. Seven employees, including Fameli, were arrested at Tuesday’s sit-in.

Microsoft engineer Anna Hattle, who was also fired this week, said she has tried to make the company aware of how their technology is being used to “kill people.”

She added: “When I joined this company as a software engineer five years ago, I never expected that my employer would have me literally dragged out of my own workplace for taking a stand for ethics and human rights.

“Microsoft is attempting to paint protesters in a negative light in order to distract from the fact that it is Microsoft itself, not the protesters, that is the perpetrator of mass violence and crimes against humanity.”

Hattle and Fameli were arrested and taken to South Correctional Entity in Des Moines, where they were charged with trespassing and obstructing law officers. They were released on bail along with the others who were arrested at the sit-in.

“I’ve sat through so many internal employee meetings in which questions about Israel’s deep connections to Microsoft have been blocked from being brought up, or given non-answers,” Fameli said.

“Microsoft has dragged its feet at every opportunity to hold the Israeli military accountable, but has acted with incredible haste in repressing worker sentiment about the issue of Palestine.

“It’s completely insane to me that the Israeli Intelligence Corps Unit 8200 has been able to continue operating on Azure without restriction.”

Fired employee Nisreen Jadarat said she and others tried to present Microsoft officials with the petition this week, but it was physically taken from them and torn apart.

“This violent response to a paper with the names of workers who are calling for an end to an abetment to genocide is a reflection of what Microsoft truly thinks of its workers’ opinions,” Jadarat said.

“While Microsoft insisted that we should follow the proper channels instead of protesting, last May Microsoft simultaneously banned the use of the words Palestine, Gaza, genocide and apartheid from all (internal) email communications in a brazen, self-described attempt to silence email-related protest, effectively preventing us from following those channels.”

Jadarat added: “Emails containing those words would either not be delivered, or they’d be delivered after hours of delay, after what was presumably a manual review with no transparency on who was reading emails besides the intended recipients.”

Fired employee Joe Lopez said: “They’ve attempted to silence myself and others by firing us, brutalizing us via police force, and spreading a false narrative about us in the media that we’re violent or aggressive.

“I was tackled and apprehended by four officers as I attempted to leave last week’s encampment.” He added that the protests will continue.

Fameli said: “Microsoft has dragged its feet at every opportunity to address the mass death that’s directly enabled through its technological infrastructure.

“Our drastic action is a direct response to its drastic inaction in cutting ties with customers that have continually violated international law and Microsoft’s own human rights standards.”

In a strong response to the United States’ decision to impose high tariffs on Indian goods, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said that “India will neither bow down nor appear weak” in trade talks. His remarks have underscored the determination to protect the nation’s economic dignity while staying open to fair negotiations.

Recently the Trump administration has raised tariffs on Indian exports to a huge 50%, as India is continuing to purchase Russian oil. This measure of the Trump government has doubled the earlier 25% tariff, igniting tensions between the two nations which also delayed the scheduled trade talks.

(Also Read: US Tariffs On India: Will Trump’s Trade War Trigger A Ripple Effect?)

Goyal called the move unfair and unjustified by saying that India’s energy arrangements are rooted in strategic and commercial necessity not political alignment. He also said that New Delhi is committed to forging its own path, keeping national interests at the forefront.

While firmly rejecting any pressure, Goyal assured businesses and exporters that the government is taking active steps to soften the impact. Authorities are working rapidly to support affected industries and maintain economic stability.

At the same time, India is looking beyond the U.S., seeking new global markets for its goods. Goyal stressed that the country is ready to sign free trade agreements with interested partners. 

(Also Read: How Russia Reshaped India’s Oil Trade Map As Middle Eastern Giants Held Ground)

He also highlighted the ongoing efforts to finalise free trade agreements with partners such as the European Union and Oman, aiming to diversify export opportunities and reduce dependency on any single market.

Ultimately, Goyal made it clear that India won’t bend under pressure. With consistent resilience and strategic outreach, the country is aiming  to emerge stronger, he stated through his statements.

The White House has instructed the General Services Administration (GSA) to fast-track the approval of Elon Musk’s Grok chatbot for federal procurement.

The internal emails obtained by WIRED authenticates the news. 

In emails, officials used a directive “ASAP” that signals a sudden reversal after the Grok was removed earlier due to consideration for espousing antisemitic content.

The Federal Acquisition Service commissioner, Josh Gruenbaum, wrote in the email, “Team: Grok/xAI needs to go back on the schedule ASAP per the WH. Can someone get with Carahsoft on this immediately and please confirm?”

It highlights that the staff is instructed to coordinate with government contractor Carahsoft to add Grok to the GSA Advantage Marketplace.

“Should be all of their products we had previously (3 & 4),” the email continued.

The GSA Advantage Marketplace is an online portal for federal agencies to purchase goods and services. On Friday, August 19, 2025, the products were listed and available for government purchase.

The move came months after a planned partnership with xAI collapsed. The primary reason for the cancellation of the deal was Musk’s social platform X (formerly known as Twitter) was reported to have praised Adolf Hilter and promoted other antisemitic beliefs.

Considering this, GSA officials removed Grok from its list of approved vendors.

The sudden shift in decision has raised eyebrows among the federal workers, given the chatbot’s history of erratic behaviour.

It also confirms the persistent influence of Musk’s associates within Trump administration specially in the Department of Government Efficiency (DODGE), which supports the AI-first agenda considering it a cost-cutting solution.