What started out as a joke on social media, has now got the US President’s backing. Donald Trump said he supports the idea of changing the name of Immigration and Customs Enforcement - or ICE - to a new acronym, “NICE.” This comes as the immigration agency continues to face mounting scrutiny over its operations, funding and a record-high death of detainees in custody. 

Since returning to office, Donald Trump has plastered his name, likeness and signature across a series of US government buildings and documents. In the latest on this list, the US State Department announced that to mark the USA’s 250th birthday, it was unveiling a limited-edition “patriot passport” featuring President Trump’s portrait. It's sparked criticism of "megalomania" and "vanity" from US lawmakers and average Americans alike.

Social media was flooded with conspiracy theories after a gunman's thwarted attack at the White House Correspondents' Dinner on Saturday, with both left-wing and right-wing accounts claiming - without evidence - that the attack was "staged." By midday Sunday, the term "staged" appeared in over 300,000 posts on X, according to social media analytics firm TweetBinder.

On Wednesday, Donald Trump claimed that out of respect for him, Iran had agreed to spare the lives of eight young Iranian women facing execution. But he was quickly struck with accusations that the images of the women were AI-generated. Iran itself gave conflicting information, both mocking the AI claims but also declaring that none of the women faced confirmed death sentences. The reality – as confirmed by two NGOs – is that all parties shared incorrect information. 

The US Navy has fiercely denied claims that its warships in the Middle East are running low on food and leaving its sailors “hungry all the time,” as Washington’s blockade in the Strait of Hormuz continues. Photos showing dismal, mostly-empty trays of food circulated online, with the claims that shortages are rife after a month and a half of war.

Former CIA analyst Larry Johnson alleged on a podcast this week that US President Donald Trump wanted to use the nuclear codes against Iran during an emergency White House meeting, but that he was stopped by General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Johnson described the interaction as "quite the blow up." It comes as concern mounts over the US president's unpredictable behaviour, as many lawmakers voice doubts about his mental state.

The Israeli military confirmed a viral photo of one of its soldiers smashing a statue of Jesus with a sledgehammer in southern Lebanon is "authentic," and said its launched an investigation into the incident. Taken in the Christian village of Debel, close to the Israeli border, it's one of the few villages where residents remained during Israel's campaign in southern Lebanon. Locals say the statue was on a crucifix outside a family home.

The Foreign Press Association has accused the Israeli military of discrediting a Lebanese journalist it killed in March, by using an AI-generated photo to present him as a “Hezbollah terrorist.” The Israel Defence Forces claimed responsibility for killing Ali Shoeib in a targeted Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon. It then shared an edited photo of him on social media, overlaying his press vest with a Hezbollah uniform, saying a “press vest is just a cover for terror.”