Jack Hewson

@jackhewson.com

Al Jazeera English Correspondent reporting from Iraq | Past lives in: Ukraine, Africa, South-East Asia | RTS '26 | DuPont '23 | http://jackhewson.com/showreel

A landfill in Indonesia is still burning more than a week after it caught fire, producing thick, toxic fumes that have sickened and displaced nearby residents, and highlighting the country’s longstanding challenges with waste management.

A Landfill in Indonesia Caught Fire Over a Week Ago. It’s Still Burning.

Toxic fumes have sickened nearby residents. Lawmakers and activists say the blaze is an indication of the country’s longstanding issues with waste management.

nyti.ms

Epic crowds on the streets of Najaf for the funeral procession of Ali Khamanei. Id estimate easily over 1m. Many motivated by Islamic solidarity in face of US Israeli aggression. Gaza came up many times as to why people have turned out

🇻🇪 Security camera shows moment twin earthquakes hit Venezuela Security camera footage shows the moment twin 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes hit Venezuela on June 24. The death toll has now risen to nearly 2,000 with more than 10,500 injured and thousands more unaccounted for.

🇮🇷 🇺🇸 A newly signed deal to end the Middle East war was already under strain on Friday, after talks in Switzerland were postponed and fighting flared between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. ➡️ u.afp.com/Szhr

Vessels are anchored in Bandar Abbas along the Strait of Hormuz, on June 18, 2026.

US-Iran talks planned for June 19 at the Burgenstock mountaintop resort in Switzerland will not take place, according to a Swiss foreign ministry statement after US Vice President JD Vance pulled out of the planned trip reut.rs/3SRhHpt

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In #Iraq there's an Arabic turn of phrase that describes the pro Iranian armed factions that are putting down their weapons that sounds like they're taking their clothes off, or "stripping". It's causing some degree of public amusement. Faction press officers not entirely pleased

⚡️Ukrainian FPV giant signs deal to build drones in US. FPV drone and interceptor maker General Cherry reached an agreement with U.S. defense firm Wilcox Industries to produce drones in its New Hampshire factories.

Ukrainian FPV giant signs deal to build drones in US

One of Ukraine's largest drone makers, General Cherry, has signed a deal to produce unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in the U.S., the company said in a statement shared with the Kyiv Independent on Mar...

kyivindependent.com

"Iran plans to turn the strait into a money spinner ... could raise $80bn a year... tankers carrying oil from favoured non-hostile nations such as India, Japan, Pakistan, South Korea and China could be waved through or offered cheaper rates." www.theguardian.com/world/2026/m...

A war of regression: how Trump bombed the US into a worse position with Iran

Analysts fear Iran has played a weak hand well and the US has blundered into a defining strategic failure

theguardian.com

US historian Robert Pape in the Guardian “They [Iran] are forcing the publics in the Gulf to ask: ‘Why are we paying the price of a war that appears driven by expansionist Israeli policies?’” And to a broader extent through oil prices that applies to the rest of the world too