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Politics

The Odyssey Cast, Release Date, Trailer, Rv And Everything We Know

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Matt Damon takes on the lead role of Odysseus in Christopher Nolan's new film

We’re now less than one week away from the release of what promises to be one of 2026′s most talked-about films, Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey.

The whole world has been waiting for the British filmmaker’s take on the Ancient Greek epic since it was first announced in 2024 – and our patience is about be rewarded.

Nolan’s first film since Oppenheimer’s Oscars sweep, The Odyssey is an epic tale of war, love and loss with a stacked all-star cast, and marks the director’s first movie shot entirely with IMAX cameras.

Excitingly, even this close to release, lots about The Odyssey is still shrouded in mystery, but here is everything we do know about one of this year’s most talked-about movies…

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What is The Odyssey about?

The Odyssey is based on an epic poem by the ancient Greek writer Homer, which follows the King of Ithaca, Odysseus, on his harrowing 10-year journey home after the Trojan War.

Over the course of his voyage, Odysseus battles numerous mythical monsters, including a cyclops, as well as sirens and deadly sorceresses, before finally making it back to his homeland and family.

The story predominantly explores the drive to protect one’s family, loyalty and the use of brain over brawn to succeed.

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Matt Damon takes on the lead role of Odysseus in Christopher Nolan's new film
Matt Damon takes on the lead role of Odysseus in Christopher Nolan’s new film

Which stars are in the cast of Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey?

It’s no great surprise that A-listers are queuing up to work with Christopher Nolan, and the cast of The Odyssey is a real who’s who of Hollywood.

Matt Damon is taking on the lead role as Odysseus, with Anne Hathaway playing his wife Penelope and Tom Holland appearing as his son Telemachus.

Robert Pattinson will play Odysseus’ rival Antinous, a suitor for Penelope, and is joined by his Dune and The Drama co-star Zendaya, who will be playing the Greek goddess Athena.

Zendaya is set to play Athena in The Odyssey
Zendaya is set to play Athena in The Odyssey

Also playing pivotal characters are Charlize Theron as the sea witch Calypso, and Lupita Nyong’o, who is also set to play both Helen of Troy and her sister, Clytemnestra.

Rapper Travis Scott also appears in the film, playing a poet figure, with Mia Goth portraying the maidservant Melantho, John Leguizamo appearing as Odysseus’ friend Eumaeus, The Bear’s Jon Bernthal playing Spartan king Menelaus and The Smashing Machine director Benny Safdie taking on the role of Menelaus’ brother Agamemnon.

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Rounding out the cast are Minority Report’s Samantha Morton as the mythical Circe (in what early takes on social media are calling a stand-out performance) and Yesterday’s Himesh Patel as Odysseus’ second-in-command, Eurylochus.

Logan Marshall Green and Elliot Page are also in the film, although neither’s role has been officially revealed.

Christopher Nolan fans will know the director has a penchant for working with the same actors across different projects, and many of his The Odyssey actors have appeared in his past movies.

Anne Hathaway starred in both The Dark Knight Rises and Interstellar, while Matt Damon also appeared in Interstellar, as well as Oppenheimer.

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Robert Pattinson and Himesh Patel both appeared in Tenet, while Elliot Page worked with the filmmaker back in 2010’s Inception and Benny Safdie had a minor role in Oppenheimer.

Anne Hathaway will play a key role in The Odyssey, which marks her third time working with Christopher Nolan
Anne Hathaway will play a key role in The Odyssey, which marks her third time working with Christopher Nolan

What has Christopher Nolan said about The Odyssey?

Compared to many of his peers, Christopher Nolan is known for his love of practical effects and shooting out in the real world, rather than relying on CGI and green-screen technology.

The Odyssey will be no different, with the cast shooting in locations as varied as Scotland, Morocco, Italy and Iceland.

“By embracing the physicality of the real world in the making of the film, you do inform the telling of the story in interesting ways,” the Dunkirk filmmaker told Empire in November last year. “Because you’re confronted on a daily basis by the world pushing back at you.”

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During a recent appearance on The Late Show back in May, Christopher told Stephen Colbert that he considered The Odyssey to be the original Marvel movie.

He claimed: “Even comic book culture, whether you’re talking about Marvel or D.C. or all the rest, a lot of it comes directly from the Homeric Epics.

“The thing about Homer is, nobody knows if that was a person. Homer, in a way, is the sort of George Lucas of his time.”

Christopher Nolan's last film, Oppenheimer, earned him the Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Director
Christopher Nolan’s last film, Oppenheimer, earned him the Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Director

When asked what made him want to adapt The Odyssey for the big screen, he admitted that a subplot involving Odysseus’ dog Argos had really stood out to him.

He explained: “I’m a new dog owner. I’d never had a dog growing up. I didn’t have a dog when my kids were young. We denied that, and then as soon as they left for college, we got a dog.

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“They love the dog, too, when they get to visit. I decided to do The Odyssey because it’s the ultimate dog story.”

What has the cast of The Odyssey said about the new movie?

Lead actor Matt Damon teased to Empire back in November that The Odyssey is “exactly what you want [from] a summer movie”, describing shooting it as “the best experience of my career”.

In a more recent interview with GQ, he shared how the film felt more like the big-budget films he made in the early years of his career.

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He explained: “It was a really weird movie for me personally in the sense that I had almost a nostalgic feeling the entire time I was making it, because it felt like the movies when I started working. And I know that that’s going away.”

Matt theorised that, because of the way that the industry is headed, The Odyssey could well be the last of its kind.

“I knew that this was the last chance I was going to have to do something like this,” he claimed, adding: “I don’t think people are going to be given the resources to shoot movies that way for much longer.”

Tom Holland also called The Odyssey his “proudest achievement” in an April interview with GQ.

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Spider-Man actor Tom Holland will play Telemachus in The Odyssey
Spider-Man actor Tom Holland will play Telemachus in The Odyssey

“I can tell you that it is an absolute masterpiece, and I’m taking myself out of that equation. Chris Nolan’s movie is fantastic,” the Spider-Man actor said. “It’s unlike anything that I’ve ever seen before.”

Tom promised fans they are going to be “blown away by the set pieces and sequences,” thanks to the scale of Nolan’s film.

“I was absolutely blown away by the scale, the scope, his ability to navigate such an intricate and heartfelt story in the middle of this insane kind of action movie,” he enthused.

Charlize Theron also backed up Matt and Tom’s comment about the filming experience.

The Oscar winner told Elle that making the Greek epic was “one of the best experiences that I’ve ever had”, stating: “All of us had a certain personality of wanting to push harder. And when you put a group of those kinds of people together, it’s pretty amazing what they can accomplish.”

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And rewarding though the experience might have been, the stars have made no secret of the fact that the shoot was an especially tough one.

Matt admitted to GQ in June: “Every time we’d go somewhere, we’d be like, ‘Well, Iceland will be easier’. And then it’s raining sideways and it’s fucking freezing. Iceland was like, ‘Yeah, easy? Hey, hold my beer’.

“I’ve never seen people look so exhausted,” Robert Pattinson added about the experience in the same GQ article. “And this was only a third of the way.”

He continued: “I started a third of the way through the movie, and they’d already been to [two] countries by that point and people just looked like… I mean, at the end of every day people were broken.”

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Some critics have already taken issue with The Odyssey’s historical accuracy

Costumes in The Odyssey were certainly a talking point long before the film's release
Costumes in The Odyssey were certainly a talking point long before the film’s release

As soon as The Odyssey’s first trailer dropped in December, sceptics wasted no time pointing out how historically incorrect they felt the armour and costumes looked.

In a Time interview from May, the director responded to his detractors, insisting that his research was thorough when putting together The Odyssey, and pointing out that our knowledge of the Bronze Age is based on “very fragmentary archaeological records”.

He said of the cynics: “Hopefully they’ll enjoy the film, even if they don’t agree with everything. We had a lot of scientists complain about Interstellar. But you just don’t want people to think that you took it on frivolously.”

There was also some discourse during filming, when the director’s location choices were met with backlash.

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Matt Damon and Zendaya were reported to be filming a sequence in Dakhla, a city in the Western Sahara that has been under Moroccan occupation for the last 50 years.

María Carrión, the executive director of Western Sahara International Film Festival, accused the director, his actors and his crew – whether knowingly or unknowingly – of “contributing to Morocco’s repression of the Sahrawi people and to the Moroccan regime’s efforts to normalise its occupation of Western Sahara” by filming in the region.

While the filmmaker has not directly responded to these comments, The Guardian has claimed that The Odyssey’s shoot in Dakhla was completed in around four days, and was already over by the time the festival organisers raised their concerns.

Although some were concerned with the costume and location choices of The Odyssey, there’s also been a separate backlash centred on its casting.

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Some online commentators have questioned why a movie based on Homer’s Greek epic appears to have no Greek actors confirmed in the principal cast.

Greek City Times even published an open letter which argues that Greek people are being ignored in a story so deeply rooted in Greek culture, history and identity.

Similarly, the decision for all of the characters to speak in American accents was one that raised eyebrows.

Unfortunately, The Odyssey has also been met with racist backlash over its casting

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Oscar winner Lupita Nyong'o will play two characters in The Odyssey
Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o will play two characters in The Odyssey

Meanwhile, certain right-wing parts of the internet regrettably exploded when it was revealed that Lupita Nyong’o would playing Helen of Troy, described in mythology as “the most beautiful woman in the world”.

“Casting a Black woman to play a White woman in a foundational work of European literature is no more right than casting a White man to play Shaka Zulu!” the X owner claimed, referring to the South African king, while also Elon branding Nolan “an anti-White racist”.

Right-wing commentator Matt Walsh claimed in another X post that “not one person on the planet actually thinks that Lupita Nyong’o is ‘the most beautiful woman in the world,’” despite the star being named People’s Most Beautiful Woman after first rising to fame.

Lupita has since addressed the racist backlash, reminding those who have an issue with her casting that The Odyssey is a “mythological story”.

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“Our cast is representative of the world. I’m not spending my time thinking of a defence,” she told Elle in May 2026. “The criticism will exist whether I engage with it or not.”

She added: “It spans worlds. So that’s why the cast is what it is. We’re occupying the epic narrative of our time.”

Nolan praised the Oscar-winning actor during the same article, enthusing: “The strength and the poise were so important to the character of Helen. And Lupita makes it look effortless.

“I’m sure there’s a tremendous amount of discipline and training that goes into projecting that kind of poise and feeling the emotion bubbling beneath the character, the layers of the character right there underneath.”

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Has The Odyssey been adapted for the screen before?

While Christopher Nolan’s take isn’t the first adaptation of Homer’s The Odyssey, it looks to be the biggest and most epic adaptation to date.

Kirk Douglas previously starred in an Italian version of the story in 1954 called Ulysses, while the Coen brothers’ 2000 musical-comedy O Brother, Where Art Thou? turned Odysseus into an escaped prisoner in the American South.

The most recent adaptation of The Odyssey came in 2024, with the film The Return.

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Starring Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche, the movie covered only the last act of the story, depicting Odysseus pretending to be a suitor to win his wife back – and killing the men trying to pursue her.

What are the reviews for The Odyssey like?

At the time of writing, official reviews are still under embargo, but those who’ve seen the film at advanced screenings have been sharing their abridged takes on social media. And we’re happy to say, the response has been pretty glowing so far.

Words like “staggering”, “colossal” and “spectacular” have already being thrown around, and while the jury’s still out on where The Odyssey will stand in the wider pantheon of Nolan’s filmography, it sounds as though it’s going to be pretty near the top.

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How long is The Odyssey?

There’s good news and bad news on this front.

What we’re happy to report is that The Odyssey is shorter than Nolan’s last film, Oppenheimer. The bad news? There’s not much in it.

Oppenheimer clocked in at three hours exactly, while The Odyssey’s runtime is the slightly shorter 172 minutes.

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When will The Odyssey release in cinemas?

Mark your calendars – Christopher Nolan’s take on The Odyssey will hit theatres on July 17 2026.

Is there trailer for The Odyssey?

There certainly is. Give it a watch for yourself below:

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Here are the best disease-fighting foods according to science

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Here are the best disease-fighting foods according to science

!function(n){if(!window.cnx){window.cnx={},window.cnx.cmd=[];var t=n.createElement(‘iframe’);t.display=’none’,t.onload=function(){var n=t.contentWindow.document,c=n.createElement(‘script’);c.src=”//cd.connatix.com/connatix.player.js”,c.setAttribute(‘async’,’1′),c.setAttribute(‘type’,’text/javascript’),n.body.appendChild(c)},n.head.appendChild(t)}}(document);(new Image()).src=”https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=19654b65-409c-4b38-90db-80cbdea02cf4″;cnx.cmd.push(function(){cnx({“playerId”:”19654b65-409c-4b38-90db-80cbdea02cf4″,”mediaId”:”150e8cef-1a09-40bd-a8f5-f53040cbd428″}).render(“6a565f79e4b0d0cec7cd918d”);});

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The Murdoch rags & the Mail are at war with Reform UK

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Nigel Farage of Reform uK, Rupert Murdoch, and the Daily Mail logo

Nigel Farage of Reform uK, Rupert Murdoch, and the Daily Mail logo

The observant among you may have noticed that the mainstream media have recently rounded on Reform UK and Nigel Farage. Interestingly, the outlets ganging up on Reform include the Daily Mail and Rupert Murdoch’s the Times:

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Reform: right-on-right violence

The broader strokes of what these outlets are reporting on are things independent journalists began covering years ago. The Times and others have certainly unveiled new information, but said information could have come out years ago had the will been there. As such, it’s understandable people are asking ‘why now?

The Times have broken a series of stories on Farage and Reform’s financial matters in recent months. With each new story comes fresh scrutiny for Reform, and with further scrutiny comes panic. As a result, Reform is looking less and less like the next party of government and more and more like the defendants in an upcoming legal proceeding.

Among those questioning the reality we find ourselves in is author of The Fraud Paul Holden, who said:

This is fascinating to watch. I’m not sure I understand the more subtle dynamics at play on the British right, but it does seem like Farage and Reform and the Murdoch press are openly at war.

It might be at least partially reactive, but it does also seem that Farage, Tice etc. have decided that they can win power without the Murdoch press: that a combination of social media and the support of the Paul Marshall stable (GB News/Spectator) is enough to get them over the line.

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From the outside it looks like the clash of two fractions of the right-wing power structure and eco-system, similar to how Trump faced down (and then subdued) the Fox News/Republican eco-system, and how it is resolved will have massive implications for the viability of Reform and the make-up of the next government.

My strong hunch is that it’s not going to go well for Reform!

Holden was responding to the following tweet from Reform deputy Richard Tice:

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As one commenter noted, Tice is making the above argument while simultaneously using the sort of language he’s complaining about being used against him:

The Daily Mail

It’s not just the Times who are giving Reform UK a hard time; the Daily Mail is also putting the boot in:

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This is despite a big recent donation from the establishment family behind this vilest of vile rags:

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End of the line

Providing a theory on the turn against Farage, the popular commentator known as the Flying Rodent said:

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Clearly, Farage has failed to win the confidence of the billionaires who own the ‘free’ British press. As such, maybe it’s time that the right acknowledge what we did years ago; that for democracy to exist, we can’t have the majority of the media owned by a handful of major c*nts.

Featured image via the Canary

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By Willem Moore

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MPs call for special administration of Thames Water

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MPs Clive Lewis and Charlie Maynard in front of the Thames and London Eye, holding an open letter concerning Thames Water

MPs Clive Lewis and Charlie Maynard in front of the Thames and London Eye, holding an open letter concerning Thames Water

MPs gathered on the banks of the Thames on 13 July, calling for Thames Water to go into special administration.

They’re among the 112 MPs who have signed an open letter to the environment secretary and Ofwat. It calls for Thames Water to be placed into special administration without delay.

The company, which has a debt pile of nearly £20bn, is on the brink of collapse. Since June 2025, Thames Water’s creditors, a group of US hedge funds, have been negotiating with Ofwat to formally take over the utility.

As part of the proposed deal, the creditors want to waive fines until 2030. And they want to suspend or ‘significantly modify’ pollution and performance targets. The creditors also want to raise bills for households beyond the level currently set by Ofwat.

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Thames Water deal is unfair

Last month, environment secretary Emma Reynolds wrote to Ofwat objecting to the current terms of the deal. She stated that it poses unfair costs to consumers. But the water regulator itself has yet to reject the deal.

This comes as the utility approaches the 16 July deadline for submitting its financial results. If the deal doesn’t happen, Thames Water’s precarious finances might trigger a ‘going concern’ warning from the auditor. This could place the utility in special administration.

Prime minister-in-waiting Andy Burnham has previously said that Thames Water ‘should’ be nationalised. And he has put forward a potential 10-year plan for public ownership of the water industry.

53 Liberal Democrats have signed the open letter, along with 46 Labour MPs, six independents (at the time of signing), all five Greens and one MP each from Plaid Cymru and the Conservative Party.

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It argues that allowing Thames Water, which was responsible for a third of the worst pollution incidents in 2025, to set its own rules would create a dangerous precedent for all of England’s privatised water companies.

It also argues that special administration will allow the government to write off a greater proportion of Thames Water’s debts. And this would secure a better deal for the public purse.

Sophie Conquest, lead campaigner at We Own It, said:

Right now, this government and Ofwat are at a crossroads. They can choose to line the pockets of US hedge funds with our money. Or, they can put households and the environment first.

This is a decision which will affect every single household in England. Signing off on this deal would be to sign off on a whole new low in standards across the water sector.

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That’s why 109 MPs, from across the country and from across political parties, have added their names to the open letter calling for special administration.

The environment secretary’s objection to the creditors’ proposal on the grounds of its unfairness for consumers is absolutely right.

The next logical step is to put Thames Water out of its misery, and place it in special administration, where we can slash the debts, and put households and the environment first.

Andy Burnham has promised to secure greater public control of life’s essentials. There is no clearer test of whether he will keep that promise than what happens next to Thames Water.

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Featured image via We Own It

By The Canary

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Big Brother’s Will Best Confirmed For Strictly Come Dancing 2026 Cast

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Big Brother's Will Best Confirmed For Strictly Come Dancing 2026 Cast

TV personality Will Best has become the sixth star revealed to have signed up for Strictly Come Dancing this year.

Will is best known for fronting ITV’s current revival of Big Brother, as well as presenting Hits Radio’s breakfast show.

On Tuesday afternoon he confirmed: “I can’t quite believe it… I’m doing Strictly! What an absolute dream. Albeit a pretty terrifying one.”

“I’ve been lucky to do lots of live telly before, but absolutely nothing like this,” Will enthused. “And I cannot wait!”

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He added: “I have no idea if I can actually dance, but bring on the sequins, bring on the quicksteps, bring on the dance floor! I’m going to try to enjoy every minute of it.”

More celebrities on the Strictly 2026 line-up are due to be announced in the coming weeks.

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Rubio escalates Trump administration’s attack on sanctity of ICC

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Marco Rubio criticises the ICC

Marco Rubio criticises the ICC

Marco Rubio is waging an all-out war against the International Criminal Court (ICC), threatening that the body will learn ‘the full meaning of American resolve‘:

ICC under threat

CNN reported that the opinion piece by Rubio – which is hilariously behind a paywall – says that the US will:

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use all the tools at our government’s disposal, working beside every ally with whom we can make common cause, we will dismantle the ICC—brick by brick, if necessary.

In his opinion piece, Rubio accused the ICC of being:

backed and run by a powerful network of leftist nongovernment organizations, smug globalists, and hostile Third World governments united by their enmity toward the U.S.

Rubio claimed that the court threatens US sovereignty through its ability to prosecute American soldiers and officials.

Those tools include possible travel bans, visa revocations, and increased sanctions, a State Department official told CNN.

Rubio continued:

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We will watch with interest which nations join ranks with us against this threat to Americans who are willing to risk their lives to protect others.

Hague Invasion Act not a joke anymore

Meanwhile, the director of Democracy in the Arab World Now (DAWN), Raed Jarrar told TRT World that

Bush’s ‘Hague Invasion Act’ is not a joke anymore.

Jarrar noted that what was once dismissed as a joke in Washington is now being taken seriously under the Trump administration. And, Jarrar made it clear that he considered Rubio’s threats against the ICC as a signal of a dangerous escalation that makes the unthinkable seem all too real.

Further, Jarrar warned that the administration’s hostility toward international law has reached unprecedented levels, adding that the U.S. is using sanctions, threats, and pressure campaigns to go after the court.

The law in question, officially known as the American Service-Members’ Protection Act, was signed by George W. Bush in 2001 and authorises the U.S. president to protect American military forces against criminal prosecution from the ICC.

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Of course, Jarrar also noted that the U.S. could itself face ICC prosecution for aiding and abetting genocide in Gaza, as well as for obstruction of justice under Article 70 of the Rome Statute.

Jarrar said:

The United States can and should be prosecuted by the ICC under two paths. … The United States aiding and abetting Israeli genocide in Gaza counts as a path. … The other track is Article 70 which actually gives the ICC jurisdiction to prosecute officials in countries even those countries who are not members of the Rome Statute in case they are engaged in acts of obstruction and threatening of the court itself. And that is exactly what this administration is doing.

ICC upheld by vassal states

Last month, three ICC judges sued Trump and his administration over sanctions imposed on them last year, arguing the measures were unlawful.

However, the court has taken no steps to investigate U.S. personnel in recent years, Reuters reported.

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In March 2020, ICC prosecutors opened an ​investigation in Afghanistan that included looking into possible crimes by U.S. troops, but since 2021 it has deprioritized the role of ​the U.S. and focused ⁠on alleged crimes committed by the Afghan government and Taliban forces.

Reuters found the Trump administration backed sanctions against ICC officials in part to head off any future attempts to hold the Republican ​president or his officials accountable for U.S. military action overseas.

The UK is a founding member of the ICC, but as a vassal state of the US, it will likely just fall in line with whatever Rubio has planned.

Featured image via the Canary

Karim Khan

In fact, the UK is not so different than the USA.

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The Middle East Eye revealed that former Prime Minister David Cameron privately threatened Karim Khan, the British chief prosecutor at the ICC, in April 2024, to defund and withdraw from the ICC if it issued arrest warrants for Israeli leaders.

Khan, who sought arrest warrants for Israeli officials over Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, lost an appeal on Tuesday to have his interim suspension lifted by the Bar Standards Board, which regulates British court lawyers.

The New Arab said:

His supporters have suggested that he has become a political target for seeking arrest warrants for Israeli officials over Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.

Let’s never hear the “rules-based order” shit from our leaders who are actively dismantling it again.

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By The Canary

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Painfully slow decline in animal testing exposes a government dragging its feet

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Animal testing: In the background is a picture of a sad looking beagle locked in a cage. In the foreground is an animal researcher who is looking at the camera. They have a white lab suit on, gloves and a mask and are experimenting on a white rabbit. Next to them, on the right, is the Canary logo

Animal testing: In the background is a picture of a sad looking beagle locked in a cage. In the foreground is an animal researcher who is looking at the camera. They have a white lab suit on, gloves and a mask and are experimenting on a white rabbit. Next to them, on the right, is the Canary logo

New Home Office statistics have laid bare the true extent of our government’s broken promises when it comes to animal testing and animal rights.

Researchers in UK laboratories carried out scientific procedures on animals 2.5 million times in 2025. This is a pathetic 4% decrease from 2024, revealing a government that is failing to meet the expectations of the public it supposedly serves.

Despite releasing the Replacing animals in Science strategy in November 2025, the state has still condemned millions of animals to suffer disgusting and painful procedures.

We need to transition to modern, humane scientific methods of testing. Now.

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Animal testing per species

The data shows a horrifying trend for certain species, with the torture having increased for so many.

Use of animals by species in 2025, compared with 2024:

  • Mice – 1,776,506 (-5%)
  • Rats – 126,500 (-16%)
  • Horses – 12,101 (+5%)
  • Rabbits – 5,291 (-15%)
  • Dogs – 2,889 (+ 9%)
  • Monkeys – 2,236 (+15%)
  • Guinea pigs – 1,676 (-38%)
  • Cats – 91 (+11%)

Why the hell are we experimenting on any of these poor creatures?! And where has this 4% decrease you might ask?

The decline only happened because labs have reduced testing on the most common species such as mice and rats. This is alongside a 22% drop in regulatory testing.

Seems like a good thing doesn’t it? But these small creatures still remain the most abused as 1.8 million mice and 126,500 rats were tortured in 2025.

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And to top it all off, needless, curiosity-driven research accounted for 54% of all experiments. Therefore, more hundreds of thousands of animals suffered just to satiate scientific curiosity, rather than to develop lifesaving treatments.

A nation of animal lovers? Far from it, based on the actions of our government.

Broken promises and more bull

Our country’s slow progress is totally and utterly unacceptable. Approved, non-animal replacements exist for a reason!

Cruelty Free International currently maintains a Replace Animal Tests (RAT) list that shines a light on tests still being performed in the UK which have validated, humane alternatives. That means no more sentient beings locked in cages and tortured to death. Ending these specific tests alone could save more than 80,000 animals a year.

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Six months after the state published its transition strategy, this progress remains ridiculously slow. Dr Emma Grange, director of science and regulatory affairs at Cruelty Free international, said:

With 2.54 million uses of animals in British laboratories in 2025, a meagre 4% decrease from 2024, the rate of decline remains painfully slow. We ask that the government now starts to show the sort of bold leadership and ambition promised in its strategy…”

It’s a hard ask from Labour, let’s be honest. It’s not exactly known for following through with pretty much anything.

Whoever our new prime minister is, they need to show some spine and push forward the transition to only use non-animal specific methods.

The UK public wants animal testing to end. It’s time for the government to stop dragging its heels and finally ban these painful experiments.

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We’re a nation of animal lovers and it’s way past time that the government reflected that.

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By Antifabot

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Palestinian father attacked at son’s grave, one year after Israeli settlers murdered him

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Israeli settlers

Israeli settlers

On 11 July 2025, Israeli occupation settlers brutally murdered Sayfullah “Saif” Musallet – a 23 year old Palestinian- American, and his friend, 23 year old Mohammed al-Shalabi, in al-Mazra’a ash-Sharqiya, near Sinjil in the occupied West Bank. Now, a year later, the father of Saif – Kamel Musallet – has been attacked by Israeli settlers when attempting to visit his son’s grave.

A group of journalists accompanying Kamel were also attacked by the unaccountable settlers.

Israeli settler attacks

Several months before the summer of 2025 Israeli settlers set up an outpost amongst Palestinian olive groves in the occupied West Bank. They began to prevent residents from accessing this stolen land. On 11 July 2025, these settlers beat Saif Musallet unconscious, left him for dead, and shot al-Shalabi in the chest. These illegal colonists then blocked the entry of emergency services for over three hours, resulting in the deaths of these two men. 58 Palestinians were also injured due to the violence.

A year after these two Palestinians were viciously attacked and murdered, Kamel Musallet wanted to visit the place where his son took his last breath, to pay tribute to him.

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Journalist and human rights activist Andrey Khrzhanovskiy, better known as Andrey X, was among the group of independent journalists and CNN crew who accompanied him. Talking about the Palestinian land the settlers stole in 2025, he told the Canary:

The land has now been completely taken over by the settlers. According to the Oslo Accords, it is in Area A which should be solely controlled by the Palestinian Authority. Under Israeli military law, settlers are not allowed to enter here, but they have. And they have also taken over Palestinian farm houses. They now literally live in the homes of Palestinians from al-Mazra’a ash-Sharqiya.

The mayor of Sinjil briefed the group on safety and security before they left. He explained there are two known armed settlers in the area – one with an M16 and another with a pistol. He told the group he was concerned they may be targeted and attacked. This is because the settler with the M16 is known for shooting from a distance at anyone who enters the area.

Settlers armed with knives, rocks, and sticks

The group drove to the location where Saif Musallet was murdered to allow his grief-stricken father to spend some time there. But things took a turn for the worst. As Kamel Musallet and the journalists returned to their two cars, they noticed settlers had blocked their only way out of the area. From their outpost they must have seen the group enter the area. They immediately dispatched one car, then another. More settlers joined, and began to launch an attack.

Andrey X told the Canary:

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There were several settlers who really looked like children, who were weilding sticks and held large rocks, ready to throw. They told us to stop the cars. At the beginning, we stopped. But one of the settlers started cutting the tyres of the CNN crew car {which was bullet proof} that was in front of us. At that point we decided to keep the cars moving. Then the settlers switched their attention to our car. They jumped on the hood of it, smashed our windshield with a stick, and started throwing rocks at us. We managed to speed away, but they pursued us. They then called another vehicle and group of settlers who blocked us off further down the road.

Impunity

Luckily the group managed to break through the blockade, although not before the settlers attacked their vehicles once more. When the group made it to the town of Sinjil, there was then a stand off between the two sides, and the settlers began filming using a drone. Among the settlers stood a person dressed in full army uniform, carrying an assault rifle. But there were no military vehicles arriving at that point, and he seemed to appear from nowhere. It was likely that one of the settlers who attacked them had a uniform in his car.

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Andrey X described:

Then the army arrived. They were very aggressive and told us we were not allowed to film, which was blatantly untrue.

But once they realised journalists were present, another group of Israeli occupation soldiers turned up, with their commander:

He was much friendlier, and said it was horrible what had happened to us, and he would pursue it. They did, in fact, arrest four of the settlers. But the only reason this happened is because there was a CNN crew involved, and it would be bad PR for Israel.

There has been no justice for the families of al-Shalabi and Musallet. Nor for others whose loved ones have been murdered by the occupation. Their killers remain free to continue terrorising and displacing Palestinian communities. In many cases, Palestinians know many of the local violent settlers who harass, intimidate, attack, and kill, by name. But as the Israeli occupation government, police, military, settlers, and justice system are all part of the same apartheid colonial project, there is no hope of justice or accountability.

Israeli settlers get away with murder

Andrey X realises luck was on their side. Had the settlers been armed, the situation would have ended very differently. He told me:

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Luckily for us the settlers weren’t armed. Of course, we were scared for our lives. These are very, very dangerous people, who kill with complete impunity. They can do anything they want in the West Bank, there is no accountability. For Saif’s family, any hope for justice is very tenuous, as long as the regime that resulted in his murder is still standing.

Israeli human rights organisation Yesh Din says the occupation has enabled violence against Palestinians by equipping thousands of settlers with military firearms and uniforms. It claims settlers wear these uniforms to appear as though they belong to the military. They can then abuse the power that comes with these  uniforms to commit offenses against Palestinians.

While enabling the violence, occupation authorities fail to hold perpetrators accountable. Complaints are routinely dismissed. The Military Advocate General’s Corps claims the incidents fall outside its jurisdiction because they are not part of military operations. While the Israel occupation police often close cases or argues it lacks jurisdiction because the perpetrators were in military uniform.

US has duty to protect US citizens and secure accountability for deaths

Many Palestinian Americans live in, or regularly travel to, the West Bank. Some were born in the US while others later became U.S. citizens and returned. In some villages, such as Turmus Ayya, Sinjil, and Mazra’a ash-Sharqiya, more than 80 percent of residents hold dual US citizenship. But they have received no help or protection from the US government, unlike American citizens in other countries.

Double standards are involved in the protection of Americans abroad. Its strong support for the Israeli occupation has taken precedence over seeking justice for its own citizens in the occupied territory. Where “Israel” is involved, there is little or no hope of credible, independent investigations, or any accountability. This is true even if the occupation has killed or injured US citizens in Palestine.

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Saif Musallet was one of nine US citizens to be murdered in the West Bank by the Israeli occupation, since January 2022.  US Senators have claimed that in each of these killings:

No one has yet been held accountable by the Netanyahu government, nor has the US government upheld its duty to protect Americans and secure justice and accountability for their deaths.

They say there is “a consistent pattern,” of Americans being killed in the West Bank by the occupation without justice or accountability, despite promises from US officials.

The latest events have only added to questions about the US response. Andrey X tells me:

It’s a funny coincidence that this all came at the same time as senator Ro Khanna’s visit to the West Bank, and the attack on an American CNN crew, which was covering the murder of two American citizens a year ago. It’s a very American story.

Featured image via the Canary

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By Charlie Jaay

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Spanish politicians demand Spain doesn’t extradite Fergie Chambers to US

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Fergie Chambers

Fergie Chambers

Multiple Spanish political parties are calling on the Spanish government not to execute Fergie Chambers’ extradition to the US.

Representatives of several political forces have submitted a letter to interior minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska and Félix Bolaños García, minister for the presidency, justice and parliamentary relations, as well as to several government delegations.

The letter calls on the Spanish executive not to execute the extradition of James Cox “Fergie” Chambers Jr. to the US. And it warns that solidarity with Palestine, in a context of genocide, occupation and apartheid, cannot be criminalised or presented as terrorism.

The MPs come from the CUP, ERC, Comuns, Més per Mallorca, Compromís, EH Bildu, BNG, Somos Asturies, Convocatoria por Asturias, Adelante Andalucía, Izquierda Unida, Podemos and Sumar.

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Fergie Chambers

According to published reports, Chambers was arrested in Eivissa [Ibiza] following a possible extradition request made by the US. It concerned allegations of money laundering and the alleged intention to provide material support to organisations designated as terrorist.

The signatories note that Chambers is known publicly as a donor and activist committed to the Palestinian cause and to humanitarian and social projects supporting the population of Gaza.

In the letter, the signatory forces, represented in various parliaments and in Congress, stress that passive extradition proceedings in the Spanish State are not automatic.

They recall that the law allows the government to refuse surrender even where a court has declared it admissible. This is especially so where there are substantial grounds for believing that the request is intended to prosecute or punish a person for their political opinions.

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The text also recalls that the constitution excludes political offences from extradition. And it notes that the Extradition Treaty between Spain and the US provides for the possibility of refusing surrender where there are indications of political persecution.

In this regard, the signatories warn that the label of “terrorism” cannot be used expansively to criminalise the denunciation of genocide, humanitarian support, internationalist activism, contributions to media outlets or the defence of political campaigns against occupation and apartheid.

The letter states:

Solidarity with Palestine does not constitute any offence. Nor can it be equated, without concrete and individualised evidence of the financing of violent acts, with the financing of terrorism.

Political context

The document places the case in a broader institutional context. It recalls that the Spanish government officially recognised the State of Palestine on 28 May 2024 and that Royal Decree-Law 10/2025 adopted urgent measures against the genocide in Gaza and in support of the Palestinian population.

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It also refers to positions adopted by multiple legislatures in defence of the rights of the Palestinian people, against genocide, against occupation and against the criminalisation of Palestinian civil society. These include:

  • The Parliament of Catalonia.
  • The Parliament of Navarre.
  • The Basque Parliament.
  • The Parliament of Galicia.
  • The General Junta of the Principality of Asturias.
  • The Parliament of the Balearic Islands.
  • Les Corts Valencianes.

The signatories argue that these institutional positions show a clear line. Defending Palestine, cooperating with its civil society, denouncing the occupation and demanding respect for international law are part of the legitimate exercise of fundamental rights and cannot be treated as criminal activities.

The letter also invokes the international framework. It recalls, among other elements, South Africa’s case against Israel before the International Court of Justice for possible violation of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, as well as the arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court against Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.

For all these reasons, the signatories call on the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of the Interior to ensure that no administrative, police or governmental action contributes to an extradition based on the criminalisation of solidarity with Palestine. Therefore, they’re asking the Spanish government to refuse Chambers’ surrender to the US.

The text concludes:

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The fight against terrorism cannot be used as an instrument to persecute the denunciation of genocide, solidarity with an occupied people or support for humanitarian and social initiatives.

Supporting the Palestinian people is not a crime; it is a legitimate expression of solidarity, the defence of human rights and commitment to international law.

Signatories:

  • Laure Vega, CUP.
  • Gabriel Rufián, ERC.
  • Ana Balsera, ERC.
  • Gerardo Pisarello, Comuns.
  • Andrés García Berrio, Comuns.
  • Diana Urrea Herrera, EH Bildu.
  • Irati Jiménez Aragón, EH Bildu.
  • Oskar Matute, EH Bildu.
  • Montserrat Prado Cores, BNG.
  • Néstor Rego, BNG.
  • Covadonga Tomé, Somos Asturies.
  • Delia Campomanes, IU / Convocatoria por Asturias.
  • Lluís Apesteguia, Més per Mallorca.
  • Vicenç Vidal, Més per Mallorca.
  • Isaura Navarro Casillas, Compromís.
  • Agueda Micó, Compromís.
  • Jose Ignacio García, Adelante Andalucía.
  • Enrique Santiago Romero, IU.
  • Agustín Santos Maraver, Sumar.
  • Tesh Sidi, Más Madrid.
  • Ione Belarra, Podemos.
  • Javier Sánchez Serna, Podemos.
  • Martina Velarde, Podemos.
  • Noemí Santana, Podemos

Featured image via the Canary

By The Canary

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How Long Do Scientists Think Life On Earth Has Left?

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How Long Do Scientists Think Life On Earth Has Left?

We’ve got about five billion years ’til the Sun dies, which certainly wouldn’t spell good news for planet Earth.

But researchers have long thought we’d be gone way before that happens. The Sun is always expanding, and will probably swallow our little planet up like a whale does plankton one day. (At least, that’s according to some theoretical models).

Not only that, but it’s getting increasingly luminous and producing more and more energy.

Now, a paper published in the journal JGR Atmospheres has attempted to put a finer point on when we might all be (literally) cooked.

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“The ultimate life span of Earth’s biosphere is limited due to the steady brightening of the sun as it progresses in age,” they wrote, but caveated it “could survive for much longer than indicated in most studies”.

How long does life have left on Earth?

The paper said that as the Sun ages, “Earth’s long-term carbon cycle may respond by drawing carbon dioxide [CO2] out of the atmosphere and into carbonate rocks, thereby reducing the greenhouse effect and offsetting the increased sunlight”.

Previous studies have argued that this would make CO2 levels too low to sustain life on Earth – it’s vital for supporting oxygen-giving trees, for instance. This idea led some scientists to estimate the end of plant life on our planet at about 100 million years into the future.

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In this study, however, scientists used 29 different models to work out what might happen to Earth under different conditions.

They modelled two extremes: one in which the world was too hot for life but had enough CO2, and another in which the temperature was more livable but CO2 levels were shot. They also looked at the range of conditions between these.

And the study authors input data about various plants, like succulents and orchids, which can survive on very little carbon dioxide.

“We show that Earth’s biosphere could survive for much longer than indicated in most studies, noting that some photosynthetic life on Earth can thrive at very low carbon dioxide levels,” the paper reads.

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Their models suggested Earth’s vegetative biosphere could survive up to roughly 1.8 billion years from now, “about the same time that Earth would lose its oceans to space”.

Earth may be more resilient than we thought

Speaking to Live Science, Robert Graham, a planetary science researcher at the University of Chicago (who wasn’t part of the research), said: “The Earth has stayed pretty hospitable in terms of surface temperature for most of the last 4 billion years because it has a built-in thermostat.”

That refers to the CO2-pulling strategy we mentioned earlier – in hotter weather, the world pulls carbon dioxide out of the environment and stores it underground. Therefore, less heat from the sun gets trapped, and the planet cools again (if at the previously-presumed expense of photosynthesis, and as a result, life on Earth).

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But the researchers of this study “have used a sophisticated 3D climate model to show that Earth’s climate may remain hospitable to plant life significantly longer into the future than predicted,” Graham said.

“It’s an advance over previous work and suggests that complex biospheres like that of Earth are more resilient to environmental change from stellar brightening than previously suggested.”

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Panicked Trump trying to depose Democrat senators ahead of midterm collapse?

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Donald Trump sat down in a suit looking unimpressed

Donald Trump is reportedly firing accusations of voter fraud at Democrat senators ahead of his expected catastrophe in the 2026 midterm elections.

The claim comes after years of Trump insisting he was cheated out of the 2020 presidential win.

Trump’s approval ratings are at an all-time low, as even much of his ‘MAGA’ base turns on him. It understands, correctly, that his policies are Israel-first and is dismayed at his disastrous war on Iran. Others are waking up to his grift as he and his family continue to enrich themselves while America circles the drain. This has led to predictions of “doomsday” among Republicans.

Trump clearly fears that even his attempts to control counts and disenfranchise minority and poor voters won’t be enough. So he is now directly targeting Georgia’s Democrat senators, Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, with accusations of voter fraud. The White House is trailing this to DC media without any hint of evidence so far, and despite the senators’ massive majorities.

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Trump: ‘Everything I don’t like is rigged’

Trump has since rowed back slightly, briefing that claims of Georgia election fraud in 2020 will not be the “focus” of his speech on Thursday. However, his aides continue to brief the media that he will claim “foreign interference” in the 2020 elections.

But both Ossoff and Warnock had large wins in 2020. US commentator, Brian Krassenstein, pointed out that these were achieved while the state’s government, and therefore voting systems, were run by Republicans. His point triggered amusement at Trump’s expense.

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Ossoff responded uncompromisingly, describing Trump as a “failed president” in a “spiral” and linking the attack directly to midterm fears.

He posted:

Trump’s attempts to rig elections in his own favour are deadly serious. But they also betray panic and desperation at what he and other US right-wing extremists believe is coming in November.

Featured image via the Canary

By Skwawkbox

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