Abuja, Nigeria – Africa’s long-running campaign for permanent representation on the United Nations Security Council is back in focus at the 81st UN General Assembly, with leaders renewing calls to reform a body whose five permanent members have remained unchanged since 1945.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres used his final address to the General Assembly on Tuesday to renew his call for Security Council reform, saying it must become more representative and better reflect today’s geopolitical realities.

Nigeria’s Vice President Kashim Shettima, delivering President Bola Tinubu’s national statement, called for at least two permanent seats for Africa, with veto powers for as long as the veto exists, as well as five non-permanent seats for the continent.

Ghana’s President John Mahama made a similar appeal: “Security Council reform is not a favour to Africa; it is an imperative for the legitimacy, credibility and survival of the United Nations”.

The renewed calls highlight the scale of Africa’s demand. But translating them into an agreement that changes the Council’s structure remains a far more difficult task.

A reform process that has stalled

The Security Council has 15 members: five permanent members, China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States, and 10 members elected by the General Assembly for two-year terms.

The five permanent members hold veto power, allowing any one of them to block a substantive Council resolution.

No African country has a permanent seat.

Yet Africa remains central to much of the Council’s work. In 2025, the Council adopted 44 resolutions, including 24 under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, which covers measures such as sanctions and authorisations for the use of force.

Eighteen of those 24 Chapter VII resolutions concerned Africa.

For Professor Ibrahim Gambari, a former Nigerian foreign minister and former Nigerian permanent representative to the UN, the issue is not simply one of geography.

“The status quo is not really interested in change,” he told Al Jazeera. “In the appointment of the Secretary-General, you cannot be a candidate unless each of the five permanent members agrees. Therefore, we have the privilege of the unelected P5, which they don’t want to relinquish.”

Gambari said Africa’s absence was difficult to justify given the continent’s size and the amount of Security Council business involving it.

“In the case of Africa, we have a whole continent that has the largest single bloc, yet has no permanent seat on the Security Council,” he said.

The General Assembly launched the intergovernmental negotiations process on Security Council reform in 2008. The talks cover the Council’s size, membership categories, regional representation and the veto, and have continued through successive General Assembly sessions without agreement on the core questions.

Changing the Council’s permanent membership would also require an amendment to the UN Charter. Under Article 108, that requires approval by two-thirds of the General Assembly and ratification by two-thirds of UN members, including all five permanent members.

That gives the existing permanent members a formal role in any change to the system that grants them permanent membership and veto power.

Nigeria wants a permanent seat

Which African countries would eventually occupy any new permanent seats is another unresolved issue.

Nigeria has consistently presented itself as a country prepared to take on such a role. At this year’s General Assembly, the country renewed its call for at least two permanent African seats with all the rights and responsibilities of permanent membership, including the veto for as long as it exists.

Dr Fola Aina, a political scientist and international security expert at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), London, told Al Jazeera the issue also carried particular significance for Nigeria.

“Securing this position would essentially elevate Nigeria’s global diplomatic influence, give Africa a continuous voice in international security decisions and grant Nigeria the power to consolidate its position as a regional hegemon and middle power,” he said.

“The timing of Nigeria’s push is particularly strategic given the current age of strategic competition.”

Nigeria is not alone in seeking a permanent role. Egypt and South Africa have also pursued permanent representation, while other African states have expressed interest.

The African Union, however, has not selected specific countries to occupy the proposed seats. Its common position calls for at least two permanent African seats and five non-permanent seats on an expanded Council, with the AU determining which countries should represent the continent.

The veto question

Even if agreement could be reached on who should represent Africa, another obstacle would remain: the veto.

The African Union’s Ezulwini Consensus calls for any permanent African members to have the same rights and privileges as the existing permanent members, including veto power for as long as the veto remains part of the Council’s system.

African governments have therefore argued that adding permanent seats without equivalent powers would not fully address the imbalance they are seeking to correct.

That leaves two separate questions: whether the Council should expand and what powers any new permanent members would receive.

A question of influence

Gambari argues that Africa’s absence also affects the Council’s day-to-day work.

“All these peacekeeping missions in Africa are based on the mandate of the Security Council,” he said.

“The P5 assign themselves the role of penholders, which hardly allows elected non-permanent African countries to initiate draft resolutions affecting their region.”

He said the imbalance was also visible in the way Security Council missions operate on the continent.

“Even Security Council missions to Africa are not led by Africans nowadays. How can the parties in dispute have confidence in such a team?” he said.

“Even for the Security Council’s continued relevance, it has to be reformed so that Africa can have representatives in the permanent seat category.”

For Favour Aniezi, a Nigerian creative and youth advocate, the issue is also about who has influence over decisions affecting the continent.

“Beyond representation, Africa’s absence from the permanent seats of the UN Security Council is a question of whose voice gets to shape decisions that affect the continent,” she told Al Jazeera.

“As a young Nigerian woman, I think it matters that Africa is not only present when global institutions discuss our challenges but has a meaningful role in deciding how those challenges are addressed. We should not simply be represented at the table, Africa should have a voice with the weight to influence what happens at it.”

For now, the core questions remain unresolved: how many new permanent members there should be, which African countries would take the seats, whether they would receive veto power and whether the existing permanent members would accept the changes.

“As long as they keep sticking to this anachronistic formula, reforms will be hard to attain,” Gambari said.

The Graham Norton Show returns tonight and Hollywood actor Tom Cruise addresses Prince William and Kate Middleton attending the premiere of his new movie, Digger

Tom Cruise has opened up about being joined by the Prince and Princess of Wales on the red carpet at his movie premiere.

Prince William and Kate Middleton attended Tuesday’s (September 22) premiere of Digger, which stars the 64-year-old Hollywood actor. The trio were snapped at the star-studded event with Tom pictured holding Kate’s hand as her husband William wove to fans in the crowd.

Tom is one of the guests of The Graham Norton Show which returned tonight (Friday, September 25) for a new series alongside Oscar-nominated actor Florence Pugh, comedian and actor Lolly Adefope, top comic John Bishop and singer-songwriter Emeli Sandé.

When asked by host Graham about the Royal couple attending the premiere, Tom gushed: “They are amazing – very charismatic. I had such a good time.”

The Mission Impossible star also explained the extensive transformation he had to undergo using prosthetics for Digger, saying: “The makeup was taking so long that I decided to get it down from six hours to one – it was like a ballet getting everything in place. It was just like Formula 1.” Adding jokingly: “I had someone else hold the stopwatch!”

Tom stars opposite Riz Ahmed, Sandra Huller and Jesse Plemons in the film, in which he plays an oil tycoon whose company sets off an ecological disaster before being tasked with a mission to save humanity from his own mess.

He told Graham: “My character is outrageous and unpredictable. He says things that others may be thinking and never say. It’s a timeless story about power, greed, and ego framed in a very timely manner by Alejandro G Inarritu – one of the greatest filmmakers of all time.

“I’ve never read a script like it, and I have never seen a character like Digger.” He also shared his childhood dream to have an “adventurous life”.

Tom explained: “I am always doing something, learning something new which I can add to characters. I want to push every artform. I love the challenge of doing one thing while working on another. To create is life.”

Elsewhere on the show, Don’t Worry Darling actress Florence chatted about starring in the new adaptation of the Steinbeck classic East of Eden, saying, “It is a sweeping epic, and my character is also epic in every way. It has been the most amazing journey working with Zoe (director Zoe Kazan).

“It has been so special and it’s like releasing our baby. I am very protective of it, and really excited.” When asked about playing a character over seven episodes, Florence said, “Because I play a character that goes across several decades the thrill for me was figuring her out as she aged.

“It really was amazing and I had a brilliant time. Creating the series was a dream and I will be talking about this role for the rest of my career.”

The Graham Norton Show continues Friday, October 2 at 10.40pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer

Sept. 25, 2026 7:17 PM PT

WASHINGTON — President Trump is canceling nearly $1 billion in spending approved by Congress, the White House announced Friday, using a rare and contested power to axe funding for immigrant services and diversity-focused initiatives.

Trump’s Office of Management and Budget described the funding cut as focused on “the most harmful government spending.”

Most of the cuts are focused on Health and Human Services programs that serve refugees and unaccompanied minors accused of being in the country illegally. The administration says the funds are no longer necessary because illegal border crossings have diminished considerably.

Also targeted for cuts were a Department of Education program for migrant students, a Department of Justice office focused on reducing racial tensions, a business development initiative for minority entrepreneurs, housing counseling services from the Housing and Urban Development Department and a series of grants from the Health and Human Services Department that the administration called “outright harmful and blatantly ideological.”

A White House news release announcing the funding rescission notes that some of the organizations are led by people who worked in the Obama administration.

Trump’s move was condemned by Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, a Republican in a tough reelection campaign and chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Collins said in a statement that the action came without warning or consultation. She also said she would work to address with colleagues “these illegal actions.”

“Not only is the delay itself an impoundment that was not reported to Congress, but also it is a usurpation of Congress’s appropriations powers,” Collins said. “OMB is an agency of the executive branch. It does not get to decide which programs are worth funding.”

Under federal law, Congress has 45 days to review the president’s proposed spending cuts before they take effect. But Trump made that all but impossible by announcing them with just five days left in the federal fiscal year and the House out of session through the November election. The Government Accountability Office, which is an arm of Congress, says the maneuver known as a “pocket rescission” is illegal.

Collins called it the latest attempt by OMB to “undermine Congress’s Constitutional power of the purse.”

A year ago, Trump issued a pocket rescission for the first time in nearly 50 years by blocking $4.9 billion in congressionally approved foreign aid. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to block that rescission, saying that Trump’s authority over foreign affairs weighed heavily in its decision. This year, Trump is targeting domestic spending.

The use of a pocket rescission fits into a broader pattern by the Trump administration to exert greater control over the U.S. government, eroding Congress’ power.

What was essentially the last pocket rescission occurred in 1977 when President Carter rescinded it, and the Trump administration argues it’s a legally permissible tool, despite some murkiness, since Carter had initially proposed the claw-back well ahead of the 45-day deadline.

The administration has also fired federal workers, imposed a historic increase in tariffs, and started the war in Iran without going through Congress, putting the burden on the judicial branch to determine the limits of presidential power.

Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, the lead Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, described the White House action as “theft from the American people, plain and simple.”

“These are funds Congress has delivered on a bipartisan basis and should be helping people — not cut off by a president more focused on building a ballroom than investing in families,” Murray said.

Murray said that in recent spending negotiations, Democrats fought to include language to prevent the administration from usurping Congress’ power on spending decisions, but Republicans have declined to go along.

“While Trump spends tax dollars on ads promoting himself” — a reference to a taxpayer-paid TV spot that has drawn bipartisan rebuke — “Congress needs to reassert its powers to help people, and it’s past time Republicans join us in that fight,” she said.

In addition to immigrant services, the White House said it was rescinding $70 million for what it called “woke” international education programs, $28 million in grant funding for Health and Human Services research programs, and $9 million in debt relief for foreign countries that fund climate change policies. An additional $10 million was being withheld from a minority business development program.

Freking and Cooper write for the Associated Press.

SAN FRANCISCO — Stephen Curry has agreed to a two-year contract extension worth $116 million that would take him through the 2028-29 season, a person with direct knowledge of the deal told the Associated Press on Friday night.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the team had not announced the terms of Curry’s contract. Curry was eligible to command up to $136 million, so he is giving his team a discount as he backs up his longstanding commitment to finish his career with the Warriors.

Golden State general manager Mike Dunleavy said last month he was optimistic of getting something done with the two-time MVP and NBA career leader in three-pointers.

The 38-year-old Curry will complete a $62.6 million extension he signed for the 2026-27 season in August 2024 before the new contract takes him through 2029 — which would be his 20th season.

Curry averaged 26.6 points, 4.7 assists and 3.6 rebounds but was limited to 43 games last season because of injuries. He has won four NBA titles with Golden State, most recently in 2022.

ESPN first reported Curry’s deal.

McCauley writes for the Associated Press.

Warning: This story contains distressing details

Police in the US state of Mississippi have said that they believe a black woman was already dead before her body was “staged” and placed hanging in a tree.

The disclosure was made in court by a detective on Friday, who also said they believed Tasia Fortune, a mother of four, had been killed in a dispute related to drugs.

The 29-year-old’s body was found hanging from a tree at an abandoned home in Jackson in August.

The discovery sparked widespread fears in the majority-black city, due to the state’s deep history of racial violence and lynchings. After weeks of speculation and demands for information, police made multiple arrests.

In a news release, police said that the medical examiner had determined that Fortune’s death was a homicide and that “the scene and the hanging were staged”.

Officials have not stated the exact cause of death or shared why they believe the hanging was staged.

Fortune’s mother told the BBC that she remembers the coroner telling her: “we’re not treating this as [an] actual hanging.” Her daughter, they told her, was dead before being placed in the tree.

Spivey also recalled police telling her the incident was “drug related”.

Speaking to reporters outside the Jackson Police Department on Friday, Spivey described how she knows her daughter fought for her life till the very end.

“I know she did. I know my daughter,” Spivey told reporters. Fortune leaves behind four young children, ages 7, 5, 4 and 1, she added.

Dressed in a shirt that reads “Justice for Tasia Fortune”, Spivey stressed that she does not want to see any innocent people going to jail.

“I just hope they have the right people,” she said.

Three people have so far been arrested in relation to the case, all of whom are black, including Jarques Ratliff, 51, who has pleaded not guilty. He remains in custody in without bond.

A second person, Earnest Lloyd Jr, 25, was arrested in the case this week.

A third, 45-year-old Eric Clark, turned himself in to authorities on Friday and was charged with murder. He is scheduled to appear in court on Monday.

The 29-year-old’s death is one of several cases in recent years that has prompted lawmakers to call on the justice department and the FBI to investigate all hanging deaths of black people in the country.

Representative Ayanna Pressley, Democrat of Massachusetts, cites at least 10 documented incidents in her September letter to Congress, external, which contained over 50 signatures from US lawmakers.

The most recent incident happened in Prince George’s County, a majority-black suburb near Washington DC, on Sunday. It has been ruled a suicide.

Fox News personality Kat Timpf unveiled a secret to fans at her comedy show over the weekend.

On Wednesday, the late-night “Gutfeld!” co-host shared a clip on Instagram in which she surprised the audience with a twirl and lift of her blouse, revealing a pregnant belly.

“Are you guys surprised?” she asked. “So was I.”

“I shouldn’t have been, though, because I’m married to a veteran, and the Army always does seem to take a while to pull out of something,” she joked. “What he said would be a quick little excursion is looking more like an 18-year commitment.”

The announcement follows an intense couple of years for the stand-up comedian-turned-Fox favorite. In February 2025, Timpf welcomed her first child, a baby boy. Hours before she went into labor, she was diagnosed with what she called “a little bit” of breast cancer.

The “little bit” she referred to was ductal carcinoma in situ: a “preinvasive” cancer that causes growth of cancer cells inside a milk duct in the breast, but the cancer cells haven’t yet spread to breast tissue, according to the Mayo Clinic.

In March 2025, she underwent a double mastectomy, calling the decision one of the hardest she’s ever made.

“The first six weeks of my son’s life, I wasn’t sure exactly what my prognosis was,” she later told People.

“It’s scary, but it’s empowering,” she continued. “Losing your breasts forever is devastating, especially when you just gave birth and everyone asks you about breastfeeding. It’s heartbreaking. But I keep reminding myself that I chose this over the alternative. Because the alternative would’ve been much worse for me.”

Timpf, whom the New York Times called “the most-watched woman in late-night television,” shared her breast cancer journey on social media, podcasts and through appearances on “Gutfeld!”

A year ago, she told the New York Times that she’s been through a lot, but being candid about the trauma has given her purpose.

“If one woman is less embarrassed about her own mastectomy, that’s a win,” she said.

At the time of the interview, Timpf had recently undergone reconstructive surgery, replacing tissue expanders placed during the masectomy with breast implants. In December, she shared on Instagram that her colleague Jennifer Griffin had taken her to get her first tattoo: nipples.

In her recent stand-up appearance at an Orange County-area Improv, she told the audience that she’s welcoming her second child with “such a great guy.” Her husband, Cameron Friscia, is a former Army Ranger who served in Afghanistan with the 101st Airborne Division. Now he works in finance.

“My birthday is coming up next month, and I told him, I said, ‘Babe, you don’t even have to get me anything. Better yet, get yourself something. A vasectomy. I’ve had enough surgery. It’s someone else’s f— turn.’”

Sept. 25, 2026 6:59 PM PT

The White House signaled Friday night that CNN would be left off Air Force One for President Trump’s Saturday trip, the latest media restriction from the administration in an ongoing dispute with 1st Amendment implications.

The news organization was replaced by Real America’s Voice News, a conservative outlet.

The news came just after journalists from three news outlets that Trump banned last week from the White House grounds — CNN, MS NOW and Politico — returned to the executive complex with TV cameras, laptops and microphones in hand.

A judge temporarily struck down the ban in an overnight ruling early Thursday, but his decision didn’t directly address White House pool reporters. The networks continued to refrain from covering Trump as part of the pool, even as reporters from all three outlets were allowed back in the White House.

The temporary order from the judge mentioned only the White House grounds and said nothing directly about Air Force One.

Theodore Boutrous Jr., the news outlets’ attorney, did not immediately respond to an email and phone call requesting comment Friday night.

For a while during the day, the U.S. network video pool for the White House was back in operation for the first time since Trump banned the three news outlets in an extraordinary showdown over media access.

At noon on CNN, viewers could see Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping touring the National Archives Museum along with their wives, Melania Trump and Peng Liyuan. The banner along the bottom of the screen read: “Trump and China’s Xi Visit National Archives.” It was a routine report from a state visit — but for the fact that CNN had not aired live video of Trump in several days.

“As of now, all systems are go,” said a person familiar with the pool, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the fluidity of the situation.

The pool consists of five major U.S. broadcast outlets that take turns shooting and sharing video. When the White House banned CNN — which belongs to the pool — from White House grounds, along with MS NOW and Politico, the other four pool providers declined to participate in a show of solidarity.

CNN was not commenting directly earlier Friday, referring instead to its editorial coverage. But Brian Stelter, the network’s media analyst, posted on X that CNN had a pool assignment at the National Archives event and that the White House had approved the network’s credentials.

Golden and Noveck write for the Associated Press.

Northampton Saints’ Tommy Freeman told BBC Radio Northampton:

“Good start and lots of points on the board which good to see but I think there is loads more in us which is what we said at half-time, but overall a good result.

“Our set piece we need to tighten up a bit on that first phase. Defensively we were caught a bit tight, but credit to Newcastle for stressing us in those areas but we would like to see better movement.

“It is always a challenge and going back-to-back [titles] is not done by many teams. There is a reason for that but we will be looking to take each week as it comes and keep putting our DNA on the pitch.”

Newcastle head coach Dan McFarland told BBC Radio Newcastle:

“We put a lot of good stuff out there but we were tested today by a really, really good team. We know where we stand now and where we’ve got to work. We have a long jounrey ahead of us and that was the first step.

“It was a fantastic score when we had a length of the field try and that was really us and we also had a lot of defensive sets where we had showed really good scramble and stopped them from scoring.

“But the game is up and down. We had that yellow card and then we had three tries which were scored during that yellow, and the try just before half-time was a real killer.

“Maybe we left a couple of tries out there but there is plenty in that that we will take away and see as a real positive.”

Northampton: Pater, Freeman, Hutchinson, Dingwall, Hendy, F Smith, McParland, Iyogun, Langdon, Kundiona, Coles, Prowse, Kemeny, Pollock, Chick

Replacements: R Smith, Fischetti, Neculai, Lockett, Taylor, Mitchell, Belleau, Sleightholme.

Newcastle: Obatoyinbo, Wade, Hearle, Harris, Kok, Connon, Elliott, Rakete-Stones, McGuigan, Millar Mills, Usher, Jordan, Hicks, Christie, Graham.

Replacements: Fletcher, West, Harper, Molina, Leatherbarrow, Cruz, Henry, Sotutu.

Sin bin: Obatoyinbo (14), Rakete-Stones (43)

Referee: Anthony Woodthorpe.

Civilians and senior military officials among 14 dead after an army plane crashes into a residential area in the DRC.

At least 14 people, including senior military officials, were killed on Friday when a Congolese army plane crashed in the southwest of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

The plane was travelling to the capital, Kinshasa, from the southwestern city of Kikwit on Friday when it developed a technical fault and attempted to land in Kenge, in Kwango province.

Remy Saki Bokinda, deputy governor of Kwango, said: “With no landing strip available in Kenge, the plane crashed into a residential plot.”

Congolese military spokesperson Major-General Efomi Ekenge said 14 people had died in the crash.

“All those on board died; 12 were burned beyond recognition, while the pilot’s lifeless body was found outside the aircraft,” he said.

According to the military, among those killed were civilians and members of an official delegation travelling with the two generals, along with other military personnel.

Bokinda also said most of the bodies were burned beyond recognition and the pilot was found dead outside the wreckage.

An investigation has been opened to determine the cause of the accident, Ekenge said.

The DRC, a vast, mineral-rich country in central Africa, has endured decades of conflict, particularly along its eastern border with Rwanda, where several armed groups compete for control of lucrative mining areas.

The Congolese military has been battling a number of rebel groups that have claimed key cities in the country since last year.

US Central Command says they redirected 122 commercial vessels to “ensure strict compliance” with the US blockade against Iran.

At first glance, it looks like a typical Republican campaign advertisement. As images of President Trump flash across the screen, the 30-second spot says, “America will never be a communist country” and boasts about the “largest tax cuts in history.”

But there’s something different near the end — a bit of text at the bottom that says “paid for by the U.S. government.”

According to AdImpact, which tracks media spending, the advertisement cost $14,000 and it ran during conservative shows on Fox News and Newsmax.

The White House said in a statement the ad is “educational and unapologetically patriotic.”

“These public service announcements are about reminding Americans to love their country and understand what makes it worth defending, at home, at our borders, and abroad,” the White House statement said.

Fox News and Newsmax did not immediately return a request for comment.

The White House did not say what agency paid for the spot, which includes background music with singers crooning “love me” over and over.

The advertisement does not say who voters should support in the midterms, but it meshes with campaign messaging from Trump and other Republicans, particularly during the party’s unusual convention in Dallas earlier this month.

Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, who is in line to chair the House Judiciary Committee if his party wins the majority in November, said in a social media post that it’s a violation of the Hatch Act for government employees to work on such a video.

“It is blatantly unethical under numerous federal ethics provisions proscribing the use of government resources for political campaigns,” Raskin wrote.

Republicans also criticized the ad.

North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis, who is not running for reelection, referenced the former right-wing Hungarian prime minister to critique the advertisement.

“It’s inappropriate. It’s not like they need a GoFundMe page to have the dollars to do that sort of ad and they could do it. But using taxpayer dollars, it feels like Viktor Orban,” he said.

Louisiana Republican Sen. John Kennedy said he hadn’t seen the ad but questioned whether it was legal.

“I don’t generally like to see politicians use public money to pay for their own campaign ads,” he said.

Catalini writes for the Associated Press. AP writers Joey Cappelletti and Steven Sloan in Washington contributed to this report.

The International team produced a brilliant fightback in the foursomes on day two of the Presidents Cup to take a 7-3 lead over the United States.

The US had been 3-2 up after the fourballs on Thursday but in a stunning turnaround were beaten in all five matches in the alternate-shot format in Medinah on Friday.

It boosted their hopes of a first victory in the event since 1998 and only a second since the competition began in 1994.

Geoff Ogilvy’s side secured their first point of the day as Sungjae Im and Hideki Matsuyama saw off Russell Henley and Jacob Bridgeman 3&2.

Canadian duo Corey Conners and Nick Taylor then produced a stunning result as they held on to beat world number one Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns by one hole.

Burns almost snatched a half when his 20-foot putt at the last lipped out.

Open champion Ryan Fox and Min Woo Lee also edged a see-saw contest with Collin Morikawa and Wyndham Clark by one hole, before Adam Scott and Christiaan Bezuidenhout defeated Justin Thomas and Cameron Young 3&2.

Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim wrapped up the day with a dominant 4&3 victory over Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele.

There will be four further foursomes matches and four more fourballs on Saturday, with 12 singles games taking place on Sunday.

OpenAI said Friday it had alerted “dozens” of global institutions that their websites may have been impacted by its AI agents acting improperly.

OpenAI agents attempted to get information from “governments, universities, public agencies, and other institutions” through sometimes extreme means, the company said.

While some of the activity was simply due to the tools working to find “authoritative sources of public information,” some went beyond that. Like an AI agent taking and transferring data when it should not have, OpenAI said.

Such activity resulted in at least 53 incidents where an OpenAI agent took an image from ChatGPT user activity and transferred it elsewhere.

The company said that in each instance of a user image being used and transferred by an AI agent, the user had allowed OpenAI to train models using their data.

Nevertheless, OpenAI admitted, “This is not an appropriate use of this data”.

It added that the leak of user images occurred before it had put in place new safeguards on AI training, and it was working to get all the user images transferred to any third-party removed.

The new disclosures came just days after Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced that OpenAI agents had breached non-public files on the website of its government-run health care scheme, Medicare.

Since August, public fears have grown around the potentially serious, even life threatening, impacts of AI tools falling outside of human control.

Reuters first reported the expanded investigations. OpenAI also published details to its public blog.

In certain instances of the agent activity, OpenAI said the tools, essentially AI bots that are designed and trained to operate somewhat autonomously, “bypassed” security controls of some websites.

In other instances, the AI agents showed “misalignment” in attempts to get at information from websites. Misalignment is a term used by AI companies and researchers to describe instances where an AI tool did something that it was not trained to do or was otherwise unintended.

OpenAI said that it was limiting identifying what entities were impacted because many had asked the company to not disclose details.

“Our goal is to give each organization the facts and defer to them on if and when to make the incident public,” it said.

Not all of the instances involved in this incident are being considered a significant security breach, the company noted.

“Some organizations may review what we share and conclude that the information was intentionally public or that the model’s interaction was not concerning,” it explained. “Others may identify a design issue or security weakness they want to address.”

The company said many of the incidents are being referred to as “agent spam”, which it described as “unexpected or concerning” AI agent activity, like posting information to the internet.

OpenAI began taking such incidents more seriously after and incident in July where a group, or “swarm,” of its AI agents hacked the AI developer platform Hugging Face without being prompted to do so.

Hugging Face was first to go public with the incident, with OpenAI publicly taking responsibility for it later.

Clement Delangue, the head of Hugging Face, said Wednesday during a United Nations Security Council session on AI: “I often wonder what would have happened had I decided not to close this attack publicly.”

“Especially now that we know similar incidents had been happening months earlier in secret at a handful of frontier labs without monitoring,” Delangue added.

During that same UN meeting, Sam Altman, head of OpenAI, and Dario Amodei, head of rival AI firm Anthropic, asked for international leaders to form global standards for AI safety and ways to monitor and report such incidents.

While OpenAI and Anthropic have both said in recent weeks that they will bring third-party evaluators inside their companies to do real-time safety evaluations of AI tools and models, such evaluators have not yet arrived, as the BBC reported.

OpenAI said on Friday that it is currently reviewing training activity by its AI agents and going back on a “month by month” basis from when the Hugging Face hack occurred.

“Most cases identified so far have been low severity, with limited or no evidence of meaningful impact,” the company said. “Given the scale of the review required, and the need to verify each case, this work will take months to complete.”

BRIT Hollywood star Jodie Turner-Smith is accused of helping fund her brother’s drug use and sex parties, according to a bombshell lawsuit.

Three women have also filed a complaint against convicted felon Richard Smith – alleging sexual coercion, non consensual sexual conduct, and imprisonment.

One of them, named Jane Doe 2, alleged that Smith referred to her as his “white slave” and described himself as her “master”.

Turner-Smith is named as a defendant in the harrowing case, that is now threatening to derail her Hollywood career.

The actress, the lawsuit claims “knew of significant dangers associated with Smith and, despite that knowledge, continued to provide or make available resources that enabled [him].”

Smith used the housing and money that he received from his sister to carry out the sexual abuse, according to the claimants.

PULLING THE PLUG

Jodie Turner-Smith files for divorce from Joshua Jackson

JODIE GEM HEIST

Jodie Turner-Smith robbed of over £8k of jewellery in Cannes hotel theft

Among Turner-Smith’s gifts to her brother was an Audi that he allegedly used to transport drug packages to USPS that were then moved across state lines.

Smith also used his famous sister to make some of the women feel safe and “lower her defences” during sex parties, it was alleged.

“I used to take care of her, now she takes care of me. She pays all my bills,” he told them, as per the papers.

Turner-Smith denies all the claims made against her.

Some of the more shocking accusations were made by Jane Doe 2, who said she met Smith in 2023 at an after hours party in Los Angeles.

He allegedly pressured her to take drugs where “trays of cocaine… and firearms or other weapons were present”, the papers say. 

The pair engaged in a sexual relationship that later turned “unhealthy” and “controlling”.

Smith is accused of pressuring her to have sex with him as well as multiple other men.

Jane Doe 1 also claimed he pressured her to take drugs and engage in unwanted sexual activity with him.

At times, his own children were present during some of the illicit activities at a 1555 Vine Street residence, the papers say.

Meanwhile, Jane Doe 3 said she did not feel safe in the Hollywood home, and said Smith even pressured her to sell drugs.

He further “forced sexual activity involving himself and a roommate,” she said.

The three women allege that “they have suffered and continue to suffer emotional distress, fear, anxiety, humiliation, trauma, loss of peace of mind, and other damages as a result.”

Representing the three women, Nissan Thomas, said: “This lawsuit raises serious questions about what happened, who knew about it, and what resources continued to be provided after warning signs allegedly became impossible to ignore.

“They are asking the court to examine the conduct of each defendant based on the evidence – not on family relationships, celebrity status or speculation.”

A representative for Turner-Smith told TMZ that this is a “fictional lawsuit.”

“[It] was filed by someone who has been harassing Jodie while hiding behind the name Jane Doe,” the statement said .

“The claims are not true. This is an abuse of the legal system, allowing someone to make up facts and file meritless legal documents.”

Trump’s administration considers measures boosting dyed diesel and pushing for state tax relief, but avoids an outright export ban; such measures aim to ease domestic diesel prices without severe supply crunches or export bans that could spike prices further.

Sept. 25, 2026 12:31 PM PT

TRENTON, N.J. — New Jersey ’s Democratic lieutenant governor has resigned after the governor demanded he step down over sexual harassment allegations and ethical lapses involving his relationships with women.

Gov. Mikie Sherrill had given Lt. Gov. Dale Caldwell an ultimatum that he resign by Friday, though she lacked the power to remove him if he said no. Sherrill announced the resignation at a news conference that afternoon.

“His decision will allow us to move forward with important work serving the people of our state,” she said. “In my administration we are committed to doing what is right, not what is politically expedient.”

Sherrill picked Caldwell, a Methodist pastor and former president of Centenary University, to be her running mate last year. They were elected together and took office in January, but within four months, Caldwell had become the subject of an anonymous complaint about his behavior with women.

In New Jersey, a governor can’t fire the lieutenant governor, as the post is independently elected. But lieutenant governors can be impeached and removed from office by the Legislature. A governor can strip a lieutenant governor of nearly all duties and responsibilities, effectively sidelining them from the administration.

Sherrill hired the law firm of a former New Jersey attorney general, Christopher Porrino, to investigate.

In a report released Thursday, the lawyers said Caldwell had committed several violations of state policy. It said Caldwell, 66, had made an advance toward a staff member’s friend and when he was rebuffed told the staffer, “you young women are looking for young sperm.”

The report also said Caldwell had tried to get a promotion for a state employee he was dating and brought personal guests to the opera and other ticketed events without paying for them, as required by ethics rules.

Caldwell denied any misconduct and said in a letter included in the report that he suspected his relationships with women were being subjected to extra scrutiny because he was a single Black man.

His lawyer, Thomas Calcagni, said Caldwell never made the sperm statement or used his position to further his romantic life. Caldwell did recommend a female friend for a promotion, Calcagni said, but only because he thought she would be a good candidate for the job. Caldwell denied ordering anyone to promote her or knowingly violating ethics rules by failing to disclose their personal relationship when he recommended her.

Sherrill had said Caldwell needed to resign because he committed “serious, repeated violations of state policy,” despite multiple warnings and trainings.

Besides being the first in line to become governor if Sherrill were to die, be removed from office or become incapacitated, Caldwell also had served as New Jersey’s appointed secretary of state. In that role, he had a supervisory role over the state’s elections.

In neighboring New York, a similar impasse has played out over the last year between Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul and her estranged Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado, who launched a caustic primary challenge to unseat her only to withdraw from the race as the election neared.

Hochul is running for reelection in November with Adrienne Adams, the former speaker of the New York City Council, as her replacement lieutenant governor nominee.

Catalini and Marcelo write for the Associated Press. Marcelo reported from New York.

The Sparks fired head coach Lynne Roberts, ending her tenure Friday after two seasons as the franchise continues its search for a return to championship contention.

The move comes after the Sparks finished 16-28 in 2026, missing the playoffs for the sixth consecutive season. Roberts compiled a 36-49 record with Los Angeles after being hired ahead of the 2025 season after nearly a decade leading the women’s basketball program at Utah.

The team has not announced an interim head coach but will conduct a search this offseason.

“We are grateful to Lynne for the commitment and determination she brought to the role, which was evident all the way through our last game last night,” said Sparks special advisor Farhan Zaidi. “Lynne has cared deeply about our organization and for our players and their development. We sincerely thank her for everything she has invested in the Sparks and wish her and her family the best moving forward.”

Roberts arrived in Los Angeles with a reputation as one of college basketball’s top offensive minds after leading Utah to three consecutive NCAA tournament appearances and back-to-back Sweet 16 berths. The Sparks hoped she could oversee a rebuild around a young core led by Cameron Brink and Rickea Jackson while making one of the league’s flagship franchises a contender again.

Instead, the turnaround never materialized.

Los Angeles struggled to find consistency on both ends of the court during Roberts’ tenure, dealing with injuries, roster turnover and uneven play while remaining outside the WNBA playoff picture. Despite flashes from its young talent, the Sparks were unable to build sustained momentum, even after acquiring All-Star guard Kelsey Plum, whom they eventually traded before the deadline in July.

The Sparks fired general manager Raegan Pebley midseason after her offseason trade of Jackson to Chicago for Ariel Atkins, a two-time All-Star who is now on a three-year deal.

Before Thursday’s loss to Golden State, Roberts said she believed she should stay the team’s head coach.

“I think what this org needs is some stability, and a vision and a direction, like a plan,” she said. “Not that we haven’t had one, but I think now that we’ve got people in place, just give us a goalpost, and we’ll march down the field in that way.”

Roberts became the latest coaching change for a franchise that has been searching for stability since its last championship in 2016 under coach Brian Agler. Since then, the Sparks have cycled through four head coaches while missing the postseason every year since 2021.

The decision raises questions about the direction of the franchise entering the offseason with several long-term deals for veterans such as Atkins and Dearica Hamby, but also one of the best young players in the league in Brink.

Diesel prices have hit record highs as the tensions between the United States and Iran, along with the war between Russia and Ukraine, disrupt key oil and fuel trade routes.

On Friday, the average price for a gallon (3.79 litres) of diesel was $6.50, up from $5.61 a month earlier, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA), which tracks fuel prices daily.

The spike has prompted the administration of US President Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers to consider restricting US diesel exports ahead of upcoming midterm elections.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted in August found that 47 percent of voters said the cost of living was the single most important factor in deciding how they would vote in the midterms — more than twice the share who cited the next-most important issue, “democratic values and norms”.

A new Marist poll also found that Americans have more confidence in Democrats than Republicans to handle the economy, with 42 percent choosing Democrats compared with 34 percent for Republicans.

Amid that voter sentiment, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on Thursday that he was in touch with major oil refiners to gauge interest in a potential voluntary restriction on diesel exports, according to the Reuters news agency.

That followed remarks by Trump on Tuesday that he supported restricting diesel exports from the US, the world’s largest diesel exporter.

Energy analysts and industry groups have warned that an export ban could have unintended consequences, potentially pushing up fuel prices in the US and abroad.

Why are diesel prices so high?

Even though the US is the world’s largest diesel exporter, diesel is traded on a global market.

Disruptions to refineries in Russia and the Middle East have reduced the amount of fuel available worldwide, putting more pressure on US producers to fill the gap. In Russia, for example, drone attacks have damaged major refineries, forcing a cutback or halt in production.

“While US refineries are running at full tilt and higher than normal, the global gaps remain,” Rachel Ziemba, senior adjunct fellow at the Center for a New American Security, told Al Jazeera.

It comes as US diesel supplies are also shrinking. As of September 11, inventories had fallen to 107.9 million barrels, the lowest in more than four decades, according to the US Energy Information Administration.

With global supplies tightening, diesel prices have risen around the world — including in the US. Because American producers can sell their fuel into the global market, they are drawn to the soaring global prices rather than simply setting a lower price for domestic consumers.

Why is the US considering an export ban?

In Washington, DC, leaders have flirted with the idea of pushing US companies to stop or slow exporting diesel.

Republicans have been pushing for a slowdown or outright ban of exports in an effort to lower costs for consumers ahead of the pivotal midterm elections, where cost of living is becoming a critical issue.

Such a move, they hope, would reduce local diesel prices, which is significant as diesel is used in trucks to haul food and most products, Ziemba said, adding that US diesel exports are equivalent to about 40 percent of domestic consumption.

On Tuesday, Chuck Grassley, a Republican from Iowa, called on the president to put in place a temporary halt on exports.

“I encourage President Trump to put a temporary embargo on diesel exports through executive action,” Grassley said.

Republican Senator Dan Sullivan of Alaska made a similar call: “The cost of diesel is just too damn high. I’m calling for a temporary pause of American diesel exports so that we can rebuild our reserves ahead of winter,” Sullivan said in a statement on Tuesday.

In the House of Representatives, Congressman Tim Burchett of Tennessee introduced two bills that would restrict US diesel exports: One would impose a ban through January 2027, while the other would restrict exports if the national average price reaches $5 a gallon.

The administration has not made any official policy announcements, and the White House told Al Jazeera that the president is evaluating all options.

Oil and gas industry experts say that a ban could drive up prices rather than bringing them down.

“Diesel trades on a world market, just like corn. farmers don’t sell cheaper to Americans, and refiners can’t either since they buy crude at global prices. force a lower price and they’ll make less diesel. less supply means higher prices, not lower,” Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said in a post on X.

How would an export ban work?

A ban would prevent or restrict US refiners from selling diesel to buyers overseas, theoretically leaving more fuel available in the domestic market.

Analysts at Wood Mackenzie, a research and consulting firm, say that keeping more diesel stateside would ultimately fill up US storage tanks but also force refineries to cut production. That could affect other markets that rely heavily on US fuel, including Latin America and Europe, forcing them to compete with other global buyers for supplies and driving up prices for the global market.

Wood Mackenzie says China is the only major producer with enough spare refining capacity to potentially make up much of the shortfall.

“China is currently the only country with material spare refining capacity that could cover the loss of US refinery throughputs. However, China may well decide it is not in its interest to intercede,” analysts said.

Wood Mackenzie has warned that a ban could quickly fill US diesel inventories, forcing refiners to cut crude runs and potentially increasing US petrol imports.

That was also the view of an S&P Global analysis, which found that a complete ban could also mean that production would be reduced as storage capacity is filled up with unsold diesel. According to the analysis, that could lead to production cuts of as much as 750,000 barrels a day, which could put the US into being a net importer of petrol in the fourth quarter of this year.

Who would an export ban affect?

An export ban would affect US refiners and consumers, as well as countries that rely on US diesel.

“They [export bans] may provide temporary relief, but diesel is a global commodity. Treat one part of the system, and the effects travel elsewhere. Trade-offs are inevitable. Refiners are unlikely to cheer a blanket ban. Voluntary, controlled export reductions would generally be less disruptive in the short term,” Maksim Sonin, visiting scholar at Stanford University’s Precourt Institute for Energy, told Al Jazeera.

Disruptions to US exports could reduce the amount of fuel available on the global market. Wood Mackenzie analysts say countries in Europe and Latin America that rely heavily on US fuel could be forced to compete with other producers for supplies.

“If implemented, it would lead to European and Asian product prices increasing as the buyers of US fuel, mostly in Latin America, scramble to find new supplies, bidding up supplies. European crack spreads could widen, and overall we might see more disruptions,” Ziemba added.

“Given these issues, the US may opt for a mixture of carrots and sticks aiming to incentivise refineries to keep producing, perhaps including penalties if they cut production. There may be voluntary export quotas rather than a formal ban, and there may be exemptions for countries that provide crude oil to the US, like Mexico,” Ziemba said.

That could put pressure on consumers not only at the petrol pump but in the skies as well.

Airlines for America, an airline industry trade group, has also warned that an export ban could lead to higher prices for airlines and travellers, according to the Reuters news agency. The trade group did not respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment.

The broader concern from analysts is that restricting exports could reduce US refinery production rather than simply redirecting diesel to US consumers, potentially putting upward pressure on fuel prices both domestically and internationally.

“It’s unlikely to help US consumers much given how it fails to solve underlying problems and could backfire if refineries hold on to production. The best way to address this is to end the conflicts prompting the shortages,” Ziemba said.