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- Saskatchewan received wildfire report months before public release, claims NDP
- George W. Bush reflects on 9/11, urges Americans to heed its lessons
- Israel conducts military invasion in southern Syria amid ongoing conflict
- Four people hospitalised following stabbing incident in Bromley High Street
- Scientists uncover evidence of early psychoactive drug use in Indonesia
- Greek authorities investigate Giorgos Mazonakis’s sudden death at clinic
- Five dead and dozens missing in Philippine ferry fire off Palawan
- Hong Kong court rules Dow Jones attempted to prevent journalist’s union role
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Saskatchewan received wildfire report months before public release, claims NDP
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Get you up to speed: Sask. had wildfire report months before release: Opposition
Saskatchewan‘s NDP released emails obtained through a freedom of information request that contradict the timeline of the province’s independent review into its 2025 wildfire response. The information suggests discrepancies in the handling of the wildfire situation by provincial officials.
Saskatchewan’s NDP has indicated that emails obtained through a freedom of information request reveal discrepancies in the timeline of the province’s independent review regarding its 2025 wildfire response. The government has not disclosed when the final report will be made available to the public.
Saskatchewan’s NDP has highlighted discrepancies in the timeline of the independent review into the province’s 2025 wildfire response, as revealed by emails obtained through a freedom of information request. The party is urging the provincial government to prioritise transparency and accountability in the wake of these findings.
What remains unclear — The discrepancy between the timeline provided by the NDP and the findings of the independent review has not been explained.
Saskatchewan received wildfire report months before public release, claims NDP
Saskatchewan’s NDP say emails received through a freedom of information request paint a different timeline on the province’s independent review into its 2025 wildfire response.
George W. Bush reflects on 9/11, urges Americans to heed its lessons
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Get you up to speed: George W. Bush says Americans “don’t pay attention to the lesson of 9/11”
Former President George W. Bush spoke at his presidential library in Dallas, discussing the lessons of the September 11 attacks as the anniversary approaches. He highlighted the need for the U.S. to support those struggling against tyranny and reflected on the impact of the attacks on national security.
George W. Bush delivered his remarks at his presidential library in Dallas alongside Condoleezza Rice, the national security adviser at the time of the 9/11 attacks. He highlighted the long-term implications of the events of 2001, specifically noting the ongoing struggle for freedom faced by women in Afghanistan after the eventual return of Taliban rule in 2021.
Former President George W. Bush expressed concern on the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, urging Americans to reconsider the importance of international events on national security, stating that isolationism undermines the lessons learned from 9/11. Bush’s remarks came during an event at his presidential library in Dallas, where he emphasised the need for the U.S. to support those “struggling against tyranny” without necessarily sending troops.
What remains unclear — The specific implications of Bush’s comments on America’s foreign policy approach in light of current global conflicts have not been detailed.
George W. Bush reflects on 9/11, urges Americans to heed its lessons
Former President George W. Bush gave rare remarks on Wednesday as Americans mark 25 years since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, saying that Americans “don’t pay attention to the lesson of 9/11.”
“Our nation occasionally goes through isolationist periods, where the attitude is, ‘Well, we’ve got too many problems at home. Therefore, who cares about what happens overseas?'” said Bush, who was nine months into his first term when the attacks occurred. “Which really means to me they just don’t pay attention to the lessons of 9/11, because what happens overseas matters to our national security at home.”
Bush spoke about it at his presidential library in Dallas with Condoleezza Rice, who served as national security adviser at the time of the attacks and then went on to become secretary of state.
He said that as people are “struggling against tyranny, it makes sense” for the U.S. to get involved.
“We don’t have to send troops,” Bush said. “We ought to at least stand with them and stand beside them because this is what we went through 250 years ago. And again, it’s a belief that everybody wants to be free and we saw that in Afghanistan.”
Bush launched the war in Afghanistan after the Sept. 11 attacks, and then supported the development of a democratic government after years of humanitarian abuses by the Taliban. But the conflict dragged on for 20 years, becoming America’s longest war, until the U.S. withdrew and Afghanistan came under Taliban rule rule again in 2021.
Bush said he disagrees with the view of some Americans who say people there “don’t know the difference” of what it is like to live under freedom.
“Of course they know the difference,” Bush said. “Young girls going to school for the first time in their lives know the difference. Women becoming doctors and professors know the difference between a free society and a tyrannical society. And sadly, these women who begin to realize their full potential no longer have a chance to realize their full potential.”
Bush recalled on Wednesday that he had been visiting an elementary school on Sept. 11, 2001, when his then-chief of staff Andy Card told him about the attacks.
In that moment, “I became a wartime president,” Bush said. “This was a war, and that the job of the president and the country and his team is to rally the nation and to do what’s necessary to protect our people.”
Bush and Rice recalled that on 9/11, “every plane had become a missile,” so there were orders for all planes to land or they could be shot down. Then-Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta, they said, was “trying to land planes on a legal pad” and they worried about whether Flight 93 had been shot down by the U.S. military — though that did not turn out to be the case. The plane crashed in a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after passengers tried to wrest control from the hijackers.
“There was this horrible moment where the vice president kept trying to get confirmation as to what had happened, and for about 10 minutes, we thought we’d shot down a civilian aircraft,” Rice said. “And that always to me represented just how hard the decisions that you had to take under a lot of pressure.”
Bush said that in the aftermath of the attacks, he “had a sense there was a lot of trauma” but didn’t realize “how bad it was ’till I went there.”
He visited and gave a speech at Ground Zero, the site of the World Trade Center, on Sept. 14, 2001 — standing amid the wreckage with first responders. He said Wednesday that helping the country returning to normal was his highest priority.
Eric Draper / White House / Getty Images / The White House 
“I didn’t want us to lose our soul,” Bush said. “I wanted, as we defended our freedoms, I wanted people to remember how precious they are.”
He also also recalled how he visited a mosque shortly after the attacks “because I was deeply concerned about stories of women of color being harassed at shopping centers, particularly in Michigan.”
“It became clear to me that this is an ideological struggle, which is what I viewed it as, and we forego one of the most important parts of our ideology, which is the freedom to worship the way you want to worship,” he said. “All of a sudden, the enemy has won a victory, and so that was part of my thinking.”
Bush and Rice also recalled how they had to shift to a “Sept. 12” mentality because “we needed to go on the offense” to prevent another attack.
“People now don’t understand the heaviness of the days after 9/11 in trying to protect the country,” Rice said.
Israel conducts military invasion in southern Syria amid ongoing conflict
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Netanyahu visits troops in occupied Syria as Damascus slams ‘blatant violation’ of sovereignty
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, accompanied by Defence Minister Israel Katz, visited Israeli troops in southern Syria on Wednesday, asserting that Iran’s regime is nearing collapse. This visit has drawn condemnation from the Syrian foreign ministry, which described it as a violation of Syria’s sovereignty.
Israeli troops have been stationed in southern Syria since December 2024, following the fall of Bashar al-Assad. Defence Minister Israel Katz recently reiterated Israel’s commitment to maintaining a presence in the area, rejecting any plans for troop withdrawal.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, during a visit to troops in occupied southern Syria, reaffirmed that the “main task is to bring down the terror regime in Iran,” while Defence Minister Israel Katz stated that Israeli forces would not withdraw from the security zone. In response, the Syrian foreign ministry condemned Netanyahu’s visit, deeming it a “provocative move” that violated Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
What remains unclear — It is uncertain how the legal and diplomatic implications of Netanyahu’s recent visit to Syrian territory will unfold, but Israel is preparing to take control of that territory it holds.
Israel conducts military tour in southern Syria amid ongoing conflict
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu once again claimed during a visit to Israeli troops in occupied southern Syria on Wednesday that Iran’s Islamic republic was on the verge of collapse, as fighting in the six-month Middle East war intensifies.
“There is still work to be done – the main task is to bring down the terror regime in Iran. We are very close to that,” he said on the Syrian side of Mount Hermon on the Israel-Syria border during a visit with Defence Minister Israel Katz.
“We know that the entire axis will ultimately collapse,” he added, referring to Iran-backed armed groups across the Middle East.
In southern Syria, Israeli troops have been stationed in a so-called security zone since they pushed deeper into the country following the fall of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.
They occupy what was previously a buffer zone patrolled by the United Nations that had separated Israeli and Syrian forces in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights since 1974.
“We will not allow any terrorist army to establish itself on our border,” Netanyahu reiterated on Wednesday.
His trip across the border drew condemnation from Damascus, which slammed it as inflammatory and a violation of the country’s sovereignty.
“The Syrian Arab Republic strongly condemns the illegal entry of Israeli occupation Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into Syrian territory and his tour of Mount Hermon, in a provocative move and a blatant violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic and of international law,” the Syrian foreign ministry said in a statement.
The premier was accompanied by Defence Minister Israel Katz, who addressed Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in a video message filmed atop Mount Hermon, vowing that troops would not withdraw.
“We are here sending a very strong and clear message to the President of Syria, who sits 35 kilometres away down there in his palace in Damascus: we are here on Mount Hermon, we are in the security zone, and we are not moving from here,” he said.
Katz also threatened Iran.
“Iran is in the background; we struck it twice, and when necessary we will strike it a third time, in order to continue thwarting the threats,” he said.
Netanyahu had already visited troops in Syria at least twice in the past, once in December 2024, shortly after Israel took control of the buffer zone, and in November 2025.
Katz visited Israeli troops stationed in southern Syria two weeks ago, prompting condemnation from Damascus.
Syria had been a staunch ally of Iran under the leadership of Hafez al-Assad and his son Bashar, and hosted pro-Tehran paramilitary groups, but the alliance came to an end with Bashar’s fall.
Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in Syria since Islamist leaders took over from Assad, and has made repeated incursions into Syrian territory.
Officials have also repeatedly vowed to keep troops in the occupied zone, where Israel says it is seeking a broader demilitarised area.
Four people hospitalised following stabbing incident in Bromley High Street
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Get you up to speed: Four in hospital after ‘knife attack’ on Bromley High Street | News UK
Four people were taken to hospital following a knife attack on Bromley High Street in south London shortly before 2.30pm. Emergency services, including the London Ambulance Service and London’s Air Ambulance, responded to reports of the incident at 2:19pm.
Police are conducting an investigation into the incident and have established a cordon on Bromley High Street as they gather evidence. Four victims were treated on-site and transported to hospital shortly after emergency services were alerted at 2:19pm.
A London Ambulance Service spokesperson confirmed that four patients were treated at the scene and taken to hospital following a stabbing on Bromley High Street. The WTXpolitan Police are likely to conduct a detailed investigation as local authorities closely monitor the situation.
What remains unclear — The identities and conditions of the four individuals taken to hospital following the stabbing have not been disclosed.
Four people hospitalised following stabbing incident in Bromley High Street
Four people have been taken to hospital after being stabbed on a busy high street in south London.
Police and paramedics were called to Bromley High Street shortly before 2.30pm today following reports of a knife attack.
Photos taken at the scene show crowds of shoppers gathering by a police cordon.
A London Ambulance Service spokesperson said: ‘We were called at 2:19pm today to reports of a stabbing on Bromley High Street.
‘We sent ambulance crews, a paramedic in a fast response car, an incident response officer and an advanced paramedic. We also dispatched London’s Air Ambulance.
‘We treated four patients at the scene and took them all to hospital.’
Scientists uncover evidence of early psychoactive drug use in Indonesia
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Get you up to speed: Scientists find the ‘first known humans’ to use psychoactive drugs | News World
Researchers have identified the earliest known human use of psychoactive drugs from two skeletons discovered on the island of Sulawesi, Indonesia, with one dating between 16,000 and 25,000 years ago and the other approximately 7,000 years ago. The skeletons showed evidence of habitual sucking on betel nuts, which is linked to dental wear patterns and traces of the psychoactive compound arecoline found in their teeth.
The findings from the research, published in Science Advances, indicate that habitual sucking of whole betel nuts may have been an early form of psychoactive drug use dating back 25,000 years. The analysis revealed traces of arecoline within the dental tissues of two pre-agricultural foragers, suggesting this practice predates the known use of alcohol and other substances.
Adam Brumm and his team from Griffith University propose that the findings surrounding ancient betel nut use indicate “the use of betel nut as a drug has more ancient origins than previously supposed.” The research suggests that these early practices may have contributed to a longer timeline of human experimentation with psychoactive substances, prompting a reevaluation of drug use in prehistoric societies.
What remains unclear — The extent to which the use of betel nuts as a psychoactive substance influenced the behaviours and cultures of early human foragers remains unexamined.
Scientists uncover evidence of early psychoactive drug use in Indonesia
The skeletons were discovered on the island of Sulawesi (Picture: Science Advance)
Scientists believe they have found the earliest known human use of psychoactive drugs among foragers who lived 25,000 years ago.
Two skeletons discovered on the island of Sulawesi, Indonesia, show signs that their owners routinely sucked on betel nuts, used in some parts of the world today as a recreational drug.
The rare remains belonged to pre-agricultural foragers found at two separate archaeological sites.
One lived about 7,000 years ago, but the other dates to between 16,000 and 25,000 years ago – putting their use of betel nuts long before the first human use of alcohol or other substances.
Both had unusually deep, rounded grooves in their teeth, with the wear exposing the dental pulp. They also found traces of arecoline, the psychoactive compound found in betel nuts, in the teeth.
The tooth damage was likely from sucking on the nuts repeatedly (Picture: Science Advance)
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Writing in Science Advances, led by Adam Brumm and his team from the Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution, Griffith University, Brisbane, suggest this was likely caused by repeatedly sucking on the nuts.
‘With the earliest forager dating to 25 to 16 thousand years ago, our findings suggest the use of betel nut as a drug has more ancient origins than previously supposed,’ he said.
They say that unlike users today, who chew processed nuts, our ancestors sucked the nuts whole to release the psychoactive compounds contained within.
The modern custom of chewing betel nuts is practised by around 1 in 10 people worldwide.
Betel nuts are actually the seeds of the Areca catechu palm. They are commonly called betel nuts because they are traditionally wrapped in leaves of the betel vine before being chewed.
Ancient people would suck on betel nuts to get high (Picture: Cover Images)
The researchers wondered whether people may have used betel nuts in a simpler form before discovering that adding slaked lime released more of the psychoactive compound and produced a stronger effect.
To put this to the test, they soaked betel nuts in artificial saliva. The liquid quickly accumulated enough arecoline to produce a psychoactive effect, although the researchers say it would have been weaker than that produced by chewing processed nuts.
The findings could push back the known history of deliberate drug use by thousands of years.
Humans are likely to have experimented with mind-altering plants long back into prehistory, but the oldest known instances of psychoactive substance use have until now been associated with fermented drinks.
The Sulawesi discoveries suggest that the search for altered states of consciousness may have begun much earlier, among hunter-gatherer communities experimenting with naturally occurring plants long before the development of agriculture allowed them to cultivate and process plants with that effect more easily.
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Greek authorities investigate Giorgos Mazonakis’s sudden death at clinic
1:00 pm
Greek authorities investigate Giorgos Mazonakis’s sudden death at clinic
Medical procedure
Giorgos Mazonakis, prior to his collapse, was scheduled to undergo plasmapheresis at a private medical practice in central Athens.
Giorgos Mazonakis, prior to his collapse, was scheduled to undergo plasmapheresis at a private medical practice in central Athens.
Medical Oversight
The investigation into the medical facility reveals it was not licensed to perform plasmapheresis, raising significant concerns about patient safety and regulatory adherence in private practices.
The investigation into the medical facility reveals it was not licensed to perform plasmapheresis, raising significant concerns about patient safety and regulatory adherence in private practices.
Official statement
Greek Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis emphasised that “plasmapheresis is a very heavy procedure that should only be carried out in a hospital setting.”
Greek Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis emphasised that “plasmapheresis is a very heavy procedure that should only be carried out in a hospital setting.”
Giorgos Mazonakis: Interrogation over Greek star’s death in a private clinic
In the aftermath of the shock, many questions remain unanswered. The investigation into the sudden death of Giorgos Mazonakis, one of the most popular Greek singers of the past three decades, is at the centre of public debate in Greece and Cyprus.
The death of the 54-year-old artist remains the leading story in the news in both countries, where Mazonakis enjoyed huge popularity, while media outlets across the Balkans are also following the case.
Attention has now shifted to the circumstances that preceded his death. Giorgos Mazonakis had gone to a private medical practice in central Athens for a scheduled plasmapheresis, a specialised therapeutic procedure to remove blood plasma, before suddenly collapsing.
The authorities must now answer a series of critical questions: what exactly had been planned, whether the procedure had in fact begun, who was in charge of it, what medical assessment had preceded it, and whether the premises had the required licence, the appropriate equipment and specialised staff.
At the same time, the forensic examination is expected to determine the cause of death and help clarify whether there is any link to what happened at the practice.
Three decades on the Greek music scene
Giorgos Mazonakis was born in Nikaia, Piraeus, in 1972 and stood at the forefront of Greek music for more than 30 years.
He began singing professionally at a young age. In 1992, while performing at a night-time venue in Patras, he was spotted by the record company PolyGram and the following year released his first album.
In the years that followed, he became one of the most recognisable figures in contemporary Greek laïko music, a pop-folk Greek music style from the 50s and 60s, delivering a string of commercial hits and maintaining a constant presence on the country’s nightlife and live music circuit.
Beyond Greece, Mazonakis had a strong fanbase in Cyprus and among Greek diaspora communities, with performances in Germany, Australia and the United States.
In recent years, he has also been a judge on the popular programme The Voice of Greece.
His appeal extended beyond Greek-speaking audiences, particularly in the Balkans. He had appeared in Sofia as early as 2012 and returned for a concert in 2023, while in December 2024, he performed in Tirana.
News of his death was reported immediately by media outlets in Bulgaria and Albania.
What happened before the cardiac arrest
One of the main issues the authorities must clarify is what exactly occurred before the cardiac arrest and whether the scheduled treatment had begun.
According to reports in Greek media, the doctor said to have been responsible for Mazonakis’s treatment testified that the plasmapheresis had not yet begun and that his condition deteriorated abruptly during the preparations for the procedure.
The same reports, citing her testimony, say that Mazonakis had visited the practice the previous day as well. The doctor is said to have described his condition as already burdened and to have referred to difficulties in his speech.
The authorities are therefore expected to examine which symptoms had been recorded, which tests had been carried out, what medical history had been taken, and on what basis it was considered that the planned procedure could go ahead.
The two doctors were released after giving their statements on Wednesday night, while the preliminary investigation is continuing.
The information published so far by Greek media does not yet paint a fully consistent picture as to whether the plasmapheresis had begun. Exactly what had been carried out, by whom, and under what conditions is among the key questions the authorities must answer.
Greek health minister: ‘A very arduous procedure’
A separate inspection is underway into the licensing and operating conditions of the premises.
Greek Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis said that the facility was registered as a simple internal medicine practice and not as a clinic.
In his initial comments, he stated that, in such a practice, performing plasmapheresis is not permitted, according to him, and he ordered an immediate inspection by the Athens Medical Association.
On Thursday, he returned to the issue, describing plasmapheresis as a “very heavy” procedure which, he said, is carried out “only in a hospital setting”.
The minister has stressed from the outset that the precise causes of death and whether there is any liability will have to emerge from the forensic and wider investigation.
The position of the Athens Medical Association
For his part, the president of the Athens Medical Association, Giorgos Patoulis, is focusing on the practice’s licence and equipment.
Speaking to the public broadcaster ERT, he said the facility was licensed as an internal medicine practice, while in the Association’s file, “we have not recorded such a plasmapheresis machine”. He added that in two previous inspections, no plasmapheresis machine had been found and that a new Association committee is currently checking the premises.
He also stressed that plasmapheresis is “a specialised medical procedure” which requires not only appropriate machinery but also specialised staff and specific standards.
On the other hand, the doctors’ lawyer has stated that the machines had been duly declared to the Medical Association and that the practice was operating lawfully.
At the same time, Greek reports are also raising questions about the institutional framework governing specialised medical procedures in private practices. The Central Health Council is expected to look into the issue and the conditions under which such therapeutic interventions may be carried out.
What is plasmapheresis?
Therapeutic plasmapheresis (therapeutic plasma exchange) is a procedure in which blood passes through a special device that separates and removes the plasma, while the red and white blood cells and platelets are returned to the body. The plasma that is removed is replaced by a special solution.
According to doctors Konstantinos Giannakas and Thanos Dimopoulos of the Therapeutic Clinic of the University of Athens, who spoke to the Athens-Macedonian News Agency, the method has specific therapeutic indications, including for certain serious haematological, neurological, and immunological diseases.
It requires an assessment of the patient’s condition beforehand and continuous monitoring of blood pressure, heart rate and oxygen saturation. It is generally considered safe when carried out under the prescribed conditions, but it can cause adverse effects, ranging from a drop in blood pressure and hypocalcaemia to, more rarely, allergic reactions, bleeding or arrhythmias.
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