'Online diplomacy': How Trump narrates war in Iran on Truth Social

There's lots of focus on the growing cost of US President Donald Trump's war in Iran. The Guardian puts forward one figure: $12.7 billion, or the total amount spent by the US on the sixth day of the war. That sum is likely to have exceeded $18 billion now. The paper asks: where are America's war dollars going? It says that the same amount of money could have funded new subsided housing, the annual salary of half of America's firefighters or annual medical coverage of 3.6 million children.

Amid growing criticism of the war, Trump has taken to his own social media platform, Truth Social, to narrate the conflict and defend his actions, whether that means threatening Iran or railing against NATO or the media. It is what The Wall Street Journal calls a new form of "online diplomacy". Trump has posted 90 times about Iran, Israel and war-related topics since late February. The Journal explains that never before has a US president so openly shared his thoughts about war planning and decision making in real time.

Staying on Iran, the Times of London talks about Monica Witt, a former US counterintelligence agent-turned-Iranian spy. She was a decorated US veteran with access to top secret information who was recruited as an Iranian spy by agents linked to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. In 2013, Witt defected to Iran, in what was one of the biggest intelligence betrayals in recent American history. Experts say she could be a deadly secret weapon for the Islamic Republic and could be guiding or informing some elements of Iranian military strategy. A six-month stint in Iraq proved pivotal: this was when Witt started taking an interest in Islam, eventually converting to Islam.

Patrice Lumumba, the first prime minister of what is known today as DR Congo, was assassinated 65 years ago. A Brussels court ruled this week that a former Belgian diplomat should stand trial over his murder. This story makes the front page of the French-language version of German daily Deutsche Welle. Former Belgian diplomat Etienne Davignon, 91, is the only person alive of the 10 people accused by the Lumumba family of involvement. He was charged with war crimes this week. A former vice president of the European Commission, Davignon has denied the charges.

The New York Times recounts Lumumba's brutal assassination in 1961. He was beaten, tortured and executed by firing squad. His body was dissolved in acid and a UN report blamed Belgian mercenaries and local officials. Lumumba had led a national political party pressing for independence. As the first prime minister of independent DR Congo, his government failed to gain control of the military and, as a result, was never stable. Nonetheless, he is revered as the Nelson Mandela of his day: charismatic, with a distinctive style and incendiary speeches – including one delivered before Belgium's royal family, in which he described Belgium's rule as "humiliating slavery".

Finally, The Guardian reports that a little possum found its way onto the most improbable of shelves at an Australian airport. The little brushtail possum nestled up among plush toys at the Hobart Airport gift shop this week. A passenger reported that the possum had taken up residence amid the most Australian of plush toys: kangaroos, bilbies, dingoes and Tasmanian devils. The little marsupial remained calm as it was escorted out of the terminal. Staff at the shop say they will vote on a name and put up a photo of the possum in remembrance!

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