ISTANBUL – X CEO Linda Yaccarino announced Wednesday she would step down from her role in the social media platform, a day after the company’s AI chatbot Grok made offensive comments that sparked global backlash.
“After two incredible years, I’ve decided to step down as CEO of X,” Yaccarino said on X.
The 61-year-old media executive, who assumed the CEO role in 2023, credited Elon Musk with providing her “the opportunity of a lifetime” to lead the company’s transformation.
Grok controversy precedes announcement
Yaccarino’s departure follows Tuesday’s incident when X’s AI chatbot Grok published offensive content across the platform. The company acknowledged the problem Wednesday, stating it was “actively working to remove the inappropriate posts.”
There is no immediate concrete link between Yaccarino’s decision and the Grok incident.
In her farewell message, Yaccarino highlighted the company’s business turnaround and safety improvements during her leadership.
“We started with the critical early work necessary to prioritize the safety of our users—especially children, and to restore advertiser confidence,” she wrote.
Yaccarino indicated X would enter “a new chapter with xAI” following her departure.
A girl looks on as she takes shelter inside a metro station during an air raid alert amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine, July 8, 2025. REUTERS
KYIV, July 9 – Russia targeted Ukraine with a record 728 drones early on Wednesday, hours after U.S. President Donald Trump pledged to send more defensive weapons to Kyiv and aimed unusually sharp criticism at Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The attack was the latest in a series of escalating air assaults in recent weeks that have involved hundreds of drones in addition to ballistic missiles, straining Ukrainian air defences at a perilous moment in the war.
Kyiv’s military downed almost all the drones but some of the six hypersonic missiles launched by Russia had caused unspecified damage, air force spokesperson Yurii Ihnat said on Ukrainian television.
Officials reported one person killed by drone debris in western Ukraine. Russia’s defence ministry said it had struck military airfields.
Closer to the battle zone, eight people were reported killed by drones and guided bombs in the Ukrainian-held part of the frontline Donetsk region.
GAZA/JERUSALEM, July 9 – At least 33 Palestinians were killed by Israeli shelling and gunfire in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, Palestinian sources said, while the Israeli army said it struck over 100 targets throughout the Gaza Strip.
Mahmoud Basal, spokesperson for the Civil Defense Authority in Gaza, told Xinhua that Israeli warplanes and drones launched dozens of raids on various areas of the Gaza Strip since the early hours of morning, targeting residential homes and tents housing displaced persons.
Basal said that 10 people, including two children, were killed and about 30 others injured when Israeli aircraft targeted the home of the Jouda family in the Al-Shati refugee camp, west of Gaza City. Also in the city, one person was killed, and five others injured in an Israeli airstrike on a gathering of Palestinians in the Tal al-Hawa neighborhood.
He added that 10 people were killed and several others injured in an Israeli airstrike on a tent housing displaced persons from the Shaaban family in the al-Mawasi area, west of Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, he added.
In central Gaza, four persons were killed, and another injured from separate Israeli strikes, according to Basal.
The Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis reported in a statement that it had received the bodies of eight people and several injuries. It stated that they were attacked by Israeli army gunfire while waiting for food in front of the U.S.-backed aid distribution center north of Rafah, the southern Gaza Strip.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement on Wednesday that IDF troops, guided by intelligence, continue to operate against the “terrorist organizations” in the Gaza Strip.
“Over the past day, in cooperation with ground troops, the IAF (Israeli Air Force) struck over 100 terror targets throughout the Gaza Strip, including terrorists, bobby-trapped structures, weapons storage facilities, anti-tank missile launch posts, underground tunnels, as well as additional terrorist infrastructure sites,” it added.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces intensified their assault on Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip on Wednesday, the military said, following the deaths of five soldiers in an explosion involving improvised explosive devices in the area.
In a statement, the military said that the Givati Brigade combat team had joined the 99th Division in operations aimed at encircling Beit Hanoun. “The forces are operating to eliminate terrorists and to dismantle terrorist infrastructure and Hamas’ military capabilities in the area,” it said.
On Monday, five soldiers were killed and two others severely injured when explosive devices were detonated during a raid in Beit Hanoun, in one of the deadliest incidents for Israeli forces since the beginning of the offensive.
Since Israel resumed its intensified military campaign on March 18, at least 7,118 Palestinians have been killed and 25,368 injured, bringing the overall death toll in Gaza since the conflict began in October 2023 to 57,680, with a total of 137,409 people injured, according to health authorities in Gaza on Wednesday.
TEHRAN, July 9 – Iranian Health Minister Mohammad-Reza Zafarghandi has said close to 700 civilians were killed in Israeli attacks on Iran during June 13-24.
He made the remarks in an address to reporters in a visit to a medical center in the Iranian capital Tehran on Tuesday, according to the Health Ministry.
The Iranian minister said nearly 5,000 civilians were also wounded in the Israeli attacks, adding that 18 members of medical staff, including six physicians, were among those killed in the airstrikes.
Zafarghandi noted that seven hospitals in the country were directly targeted by Israel, and a number of medical centers were evacuated due to emergency circumstances.
He stressed that Israel also hit 11 ambulances, adding all those Israeli actions were in violation of international principles and laws and human rights.
On June 13, Israel launched major airstrikes on several areas in Iran, including nuclear and military sites, killing senior commanders, nuclear scientists and many civilians. Iran responded with multiple waves of missile and drone attacks on Israel, causing casualties and damages.
On Tuesday, Iranian Deputy Health Minister for Treatment Seyed Sajjad Razavi said Iran’s death toll from Israeli attacks reached nearly 1,100 people, putting the number of the wounded at 5,750 people, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency.
JERUSALEM, July 9 – Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said on Wednesday that Israel would be willing to negotiate a permanent ceasefire in Gaza if a temporary truce with Hamas is reached.
According to a statement from Sa’ar’s office, the minister made the remarks during a joint press conference with Slovakia’s Foreign Minister Juraj Blanar in Bratislava.
“Israel is serious in its bid to reach a hostage deal and a ceasefire in Gaza,” Sa’ar said.
He added that an Israeli delegation remained in Doha, Qatar, for indirect talks with Hamas on a proposed 60-day truce that would include the release of 10 living hostages and the return of the remains of several others.
The statement followed two meetings in Washington between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald Trump, the second of which took place on Tuesday.
WASHINGTON, July 9 – The White House rejected criticism that the Trump administration’s recent staffing cuts to the National Weather Service (NWS) contributed to the deadly floods in Texas, calling it “a depraved lie.”
“This was an act of God. It is not the administration’s fault that the flood hit when it did,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Monday, noting that the NWS “did its job” by sending “early and consistent warnings.”
“Unfortunately, in the wake of this once-in-a-generation natural disaster, we have seen many falsehoods pushed by Democrats such as Senator Chuck Schumer and some members of the media,” Leavitt said. “Blaming President Trump for these floods is a depraved lie, and it serves no purpose during this time of national mourning.”
Schumer, the Senate Democratic Leader, on Monday called for an investigation into whether “staffing shortages at key local NWS stations contributed to the catastrophic loss of life and property during the deadly flooding.”
Over 500 workers were reportedly cut by the Trump administration or left on their own, leaving NWS short-staffed. According to its website, six of 27 positions are listed as vacant at the NWS office for Austin/San Antonio, which covers the region that includes hard-hit Kerr County, including a key manager responsible for issuing warnings and coordinating with local emergency management officials.
Officials said at least 110 people have died in the flash flooding, with over 170 still missing.
In this image taken from video, a house carried away by flash flooding is seen behind a house in Ruidoso, N.M., Tuesday, July 8, 2025. AP
SANTA FE, N.M. – At least three people were missing in a mountain village in southern New Mexico that is a popular summer retreat after monsoon rains triggered flash flooding Tuesday that was so intense an entire house was swept downstream.
Emergency crews carried out at least 85 swift water rescues in the Ruidoso area, including of people who were trapped in their homes and cars, said Danielle Silva of the New Mexico Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.
No deaths were immediately reported, but Silva said the extent of the destruction wouldn’t be known until the water recedes.
“We knew that we were going to have floods … and this one hit us harder than what we were expecting,” Ruidoso Mayor Lynn D. Crawford said during a radio address Tuesday night.
Crawford said that some people were taken to the hospital, although the exact number was not immediately clear. He encouraged residents to call an emergency line if their loved ones or neighbors were missing.
The floods came just days after after flash floods in Texas killed over 100 people and left more than 160 people missing.
In New Mexico, officials urged residents to seek higher ground Tuesday afternoon as the waters of the Rio Ruidoso rose nearly 19 feet (2.7 meters) in a matter of minutes amid heavy rainfall. The National Weather Service issued flood warnings in the area, which was stripped of vegetation by recent wildfires.
A weather service flood gauge and companion video camera showed churning waters of the Rio Ruidoso surge over the river’s banks into surrounding forest. Streets and bridges were closed in response.
Kaitlyn Carpenter, an artist in Ruidoso, was riding her motorcycle through town Tuesday afternoon when the storm started to pick up, and she sought shelter at the riverside Downshift Brewing Company with about 50 other people. She started to film debris rushing down the Rio Ruidoso when she spotted a house float by with a familiar turquoise door. It belonged to the family of one of her best friends.
Her friend’s family was not in the house and is safe, she said.
“I’ve been in that house and have memories in that house, so seeing it come down the river was just pretty heartbreaking,” Carpenter said. “I just couldn’t believe it.”
There were also reports of dead horses near the town’s horse racing track, the mayor said.
Two National Guard rescue teams and several local teams already were in the area when the flooding began, Silva said, and more Guard teams were expected.
The area has been especially vulnerable to flooding since the summer of 2024, when the South Fork and Salt fires raced across tinder-dry forest and destroyed an estimated 1,400 homes and structures. Residents were forced to flee a wall of flames, only to grapple with intense flooding later that summer.
“We know that the water levels seemed to be higher than they were last summer,” Silva said. “It is a significant amount of water flowing throughout, some of it in new areas that didn’t flood last year.”
Matt DeMaria, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Albuquerque, said storms formed in the early afternoon over terrain that was scorched last year by wildfire. The burn scar was unable to absorb a lot of the rain, as water quickly ran downhill into the river.
Preliminary measurements show the Rio Ruidoso crested at more than 20 feet (6 meters) — a record high if confirmed — and was receding Tuesday evening.
Three shelters opened in the Ruidoso area for people who could not return home.
The sight brought back painful memories for Carpenter, whose art studio was swept away during a flood last year. Outside, the air smelled of gasoline, and loud crashes could be heard as the river knocked down trees in its path.
“It’s pretty terrifying,” she said.
Cory State, who works at the Downshift Brewing Company, welcomed in dozens of residents as the river surged and hail pelted the windows. The house floating by was “just one of the many devastating things about today,” he said.
HUNT, Texas – More than 160 people are still believed to be missing in Texas days after flash floods killed over 100 people during the July Fourth weekend, the state’s governor said Tuesday.
The huge jump in the number unaccounted for — roughly three times higher than previously said — came after authorities set up a hotline for families to call.
Those reported missing are in Kerr County, where most of the victims have been recovered so far, Gov. Greg Abbott said. Many were likely visiting or staying in the state’s Hill Country during the holiday but did not register at a camp or hotel, he said during a news conference.
The county’s lowlands along the Guadalupe River are filled with youth camps and campgrounds, including Camp Mystic, the century-old all-girls Christian summer camp where at least 27 campers and counselors died. Officials said Tuesday that five campers and one counselor have still not been found.
Search-and-rescue teams are using heavy equipment to untangle and peel away layers of trees, unearth large rocks in riverbanks and move massive piles of debris that stretch for miles in the search for the missing people. Crews in airboats, helicopters and on horseback along with hundreds of volunteers are part of one of the largest search operations in Texas history.
The flash flood is the deadliest from inland flooding in the U.S. since Colorado’s Big Thompson Canyon flood on July 31, 1976, killed 144 people, said Bob Henson, a meteorologist with Yale Climate Connections. That flood surged through a narrow canyon packed with people on a holiday weekend, Colorado’s centennial celebration.
Public officials in charge of locating the victims are facing intensifying questions about who was in charge of monitoring the weather and warning that floodwaters were barreling toward camps and homes.
The Republican governor, who took a helicopter tour of the disaster zone, dismissed a question about who was to blame for the deaths, saying, “That’s the word choice of losers.”
July 9 – A Ukrainian drone attack on a beach in the Russian city of Kursk killed three people, including a Russian serviceman engaged in rescue operations, and injured seven, acting regional Governor Alexander Khinshtein said early on Wednesday.
Khinshtein, writing on the Telegram messaging app, said the attack had been carried out deliberately in an area frequented by families in the region that borders Ukraine.
Five of the seven injured, including a 5-year-old child, were in a serious condition in hospital.
He said one of the dead was a member of Russia’s National Guard who had been trying to evacuate people from the scene.
“He had arrived at the beach with his comrades after people began reporting about the drone attack,” Khinshtein said. “The senior sergeant had begun to evacuate people when a second explosion occurred. Unfortunately, he did not survive.”
Reuters could not independently verify the account and there was no immediate comment from Ukrainian officials.
Khinshtein also said a Ukrainian drone had attacked a hospital in the town of Rylsk, closer to the Ukrainian border than the city of Kursk, injuring two people, blowing out windows and setting a roof ablaze.
Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of targeting civilians in the course of the war, now well into its fourth year, something that both sides deny.
Ukrainian forces staged a large incursion into the Kursk region nearly a year ago. The Kremlin has said all Kyiv’s forces have since been ejected from the region, but Ukrainian officials say their troops are still carrying out operations there.
The Lebanese Ministry of Health confirmed Tuesday evening that six people were martyred and over a dozen others wounded in a series of Israeli airstrikes and drone attacks across southern and northern Lebanon.
According to the ministry’s statement, one person was martyred in an Israeli drone strike on a vehicle in the southern town of Babliyeh, located in the Saida district. Local sources had earlier reported that an Israeli drone had struck a civilian car in the area.
Meanwhile, three individuals were martyred and 13 others wounded in a separate Israeli drone attack that targeted a vehicle in the town of al-Ayrouniyeh, near Tripoli in northern Lebanon. The strike marks a significant geographic expansion of Israeli aggression, moving beyond its usual targets in the south.
Additionally, two more people were martyred in Israeli air raids on Monday that struck the southern towns of Deir Kifa and Beit Lif.
