Rescuers in Laos have found five villagers alive inside a flooded cave after they were trapped for a week following heavy rain and landslides. Two people are still missing, rescue teams said. Footage shared by the rescuers showed cave divers crawling through narrow, muddy passageways. The seven people were part of a group of villagers who had gone into the cave in search of gold deposits and wildlife, but could not get out as the cave's entrance was blocked. Could a football match soften North Korea-South Korea relations?

At least 82 people have been killed and two are missing after a coal mine blast in northern China, officials have said. The gas explosion at the Liushenyu Coal Mine is the worst mining disaster in China since 2009, and Chinese President Xi Jinping said no effort must be spared in the search and rescue operation. Early on Sunday morning, rescuers deployed mine inspection robots underground, equipped with gas sensors and infrared cameras, state media reported. The BBC's China correspondent Stephen McDonell is at the scene of the blast in Shanxi province. Could a football match soften North Korea-South Korea relations?

Forum members discuss their discomfort with mass deportation efforts, debate how federal agents have interacted with civilians, and complain about their working conditions. Every day, people log in to an online forum for current and former Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) officers to share their thoughts on the news of the day and complain about their colleagues in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). "ERO is too busy dressing up as Black Ops Commandos with Tactical body armor, drop down thigh rigs, balaclavas, multiple M4 magazines, and Punisher patches, to do an Admin arrest of a non criminal, non-violent EWI that weighs 90 pounds and is 5 foot 2, inside a secure Federal building where everyone has been screened for weapons," wrote one user in July 2025. The forum describes itself as a space for current and prospective HSI agents, "designed for the seasoned HSI Special Agent as well as applicants for entry level Special Agent positions." HSI is the division within ICE whose agents are normally responsible for investigating crimes like drug smuggling, terrorism, and human trafficking.

These digital surveillance abilities have received less attention than the internet blackouts that the government imposed during the violent crackdown to end the protests last month. But as authorities slowly restore some online access, they have detained people who were believed to have attended protests and subjected them to hours of interrogation based on facial recognition and phone data, according to accounts from Iranians and a government security official in the country. Some people who posted on social media about the protests and other political topics have had their phone SIM cards suspended -- effectively shutting off access to mobile networks -- while others received warning phone calls and faced banking service interruptions, according to a report that was released this week by Holistic Resilience, a digital rights group focused on Iran. The authorities' hope was to hunt down the "leaders of the riots" and arrest them, according to the government security official, who declined to be identified. "They can follow you to the streets," said Mahdi Saremifar, a researcher with Holistic Resilience.

Elon Musk's X Appears to Be Violating US Sanctions by Selling Premium Accounts to Iranian Leaders While publicly supporting protesters in Iran, Elon Musk's X appears to have been selling premium accounts to regime officials. Check marks were removed from certain accounts after a WIRED inquiry. In recent weeks, Elon Musk has followed president Donald Trump's lead, slamming Iranian government officials and supporting the thousands of protesters railing against the regime. He even provided free access to his Starlink satellites in the midst of a nationwide internet blackout . But while publicly proclaiming his support of the protesters, Musk's company X appears to be profiting from the very same government officials he railed against, potentially violating US sanctions in the process, according to a new report from the Tech Transparency Project (TTP) shared exclusively with WIRED.

The US and Iran have agreed to hold nuclear talks in Oman on Friday, as President Donald Trump issued a blunt warning to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that the meeting would start at 10:00 (06:00 GMT) in Muscat. US officials also confirmed it would happen there. The talks had appeared to be in jeopardy, with the two countries at odds over the location and parameters. Trump has built up US forces in the region and threatened military action if Iran does not agree a deal on its nuclear programme and stop killing protesters.

Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in his secret hideout these days, knows he is now a marked man. He will not be sitting on his veranda anytime soon. When discussing what the United States might do next to help the protesters in Iran, US President Trump has mentioned Qassem Soleimani and Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The former, Iran's all-important military strategist in the Middle East, was killed on 3 January 2020 in a drone strike just outside Baghdad's international airport on the president's order. The latter, who was the leader of IS, killed himself and two children by detonating a suicide vest on 27 October 2019 when US forces raided his hideout in northern Syria after the approval of the president.

In a world where ICE agents are shooting US citizens on the street, the need for militias and extremist groups like the Proud Boys to support far-right interests has evaporated. Whether it was protesting Covid lockdowns, attending school board meetings, or facing off against Black Lives Matter protesters, the far-right Proud Boys were always on hand to support Donald Trump's first term in office. When Trump left office in 2021, the group's leaders languished in jail for their role in the January 6 attack on the Capitol. With reported infighting destabilizing the movement, it looked like the group's glory days were behind it. But Trump's return a year ago, and his release of all January 6 prisoners, signaled that a Proud Boy comeback could be in the cards.

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The'Surge' of Troops May Not Come to San Francisco, but the City Is Ready Anyway San Francisco is preparing for federal law enforcement's invasion of the Bay Area, whether it happens or not. Citizens protesting the threat of federal troop deployments in the San Francisco Bay Area held a rally on Thursday at SF City Hall. After months of deployments by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the National Guard across American cities, federal agents have been preparing to descend into San Francisco . Local resistance groups have been coordinating with activists in other cities across the country that have been besieged by federal law enforcement. Thousands of volunteers, coordinating through Signal group chats, Zoom calls, and social media posts, planned protests and spread the word that federal troops are on their way to San Francisco.