Global Pulse

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  • Senegal parliament speaker steps down in political crisis

    Senegal parliament speaker steps down in political crisis

    A fresh escalation of Senegal’s simmering political crisis unfolded Sunday, when National Assembly Speaker El Malick Ndiaye announced his resignation just 48 hours after his close political ally, former Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko, was removed from office by President Bassirou Diomaye Faye. The unexpected departure opens a direct path for the ousted premier to seek the speaker’s position, a move that would put Sonko at the head of the legislature and escalate his power struggle with President Faye.

    An official government notice released late Sunday confirmed that all members of parliament have been called to an extraordinary plenary session scheduled for Tuesday morning. The session’s agenda includes two critical votes: first, to restore Sonko’s parliamentary membership, and second, to elect a new speaker to fill Ndiaye’s vacant post.

    The ongoing rupture between Faye and Sonko has thrown the West African nation, which is already grappling with a crippling national debt crisis, into unprecedented political uncertainty. The split comes just months after the pair led their shared Patriotic African Party for the People (Pastef) to a landslide victory in the 2024 general elections, running on a populist platform promising sweeping anti-corruption reforms and a break from the politics of the previous administration.

    Faye’s ascension to the presidency was entirely reliant on Sonko’s political clout. Sonko, a fiery populist who built a massive, passionate following among Senegal’s disillusioned young population, was widely expected to win the March 2024 presidential vote before he was barred from running over a controversial defamation conviction. He threw his full support behind Faye, his former protégé, clearing the way for Faye’s election victory.

    For months, simmering tensions between the two former allies boiled beneath the surface, until they spilled into public view and collapsed their governing alliance. Sonko launched repeated public criticisms of Faye, accusing him of failing to show leadership when Sonko faced pushback from political opponents. He also lambasted the slow pace of corruption investigations into senior officials from former president Macky Sall’s administration, a key campaign promise Pastef made to voters. The pair also clashed over fundamental policy approaches to managing Senegal’s crippling sovereign debt, deepening their rift. On Friday, Faye formally removed Sonko from his post as prime minister.

    Within hours of Sonko’s dismissal, hundreds of his loyal supporters gathered outside his Dakar residence to demonstrate their backing. Sonko remains the undisputed, popular leader of Pastef, which holds a commanding majority in the National Assembly – a fact that leaves Faye’s ability to govern in serious question.

    “Cohabitation between President Faye and the Pastef majority in parliament is going to be extremely complicated,” explained Babacar Ndiaye, research director at West African think tank WATHI. Ndiaye noted that Faye is required to nominate a new prime minister to replace Sonko, and that nominee must receive parliamentary approval within three months of their appointment. “If deputies choose to introduce a motion of no confidence against the new government, they have the numbers to pass it,” he added.

    Complicating the political landscape further, President Faye cannot dissolve the National Assembly until November 2026, two full years after the last parliamentary election. A recent electoral reform passed by parliament several weeks ago also overturned Sonko’s ineligibility for public office, meaning he is now legally allowed to run for president. This sets the stage for a potential head-to-head matchup between the two former allies in the next presidential election, if the rift is not resolved before then.

  • Spurs win to relegate West Ham as Guardiola, Salah say Premier League farewells

    Spurs win to relegate West Ham as Guardiola, Salah say Premier League farewells

    The final matchday of the English Premier League season delivered a rollercoaster of emotion on Sunday, as Tottenham Hotspur secured their top-flight survival at West Ham United’s expense, while two of the league’s most iconic figures said tearful goodbyes and Arsenal celebrated their long-awaited title win.

    Tottenham entered their final home fixture against Everton knowing even a single point would likely be enough to stay up, holding a two-point advantage over West Ham and a far superior goal difference that would swing survival in their favour if results finished level. It took until the stroke of halftime for the pressure that had built across the entire season for the north London side to break, when Joao Palhinha put Spurs ahead. The Portuguese midfielder’s initial header cannoned off the goalpost, but he reacted quickest to poke the rebound into the net, and was immediately swarmed by jubilant teammates.

    A few miles across east London, West Ham delivered a dominant 3-0 victory over Leeds United at the London Stadium, with goals from Valentin Castellano, Jarrod Bowen and Callum Wilson. But the three points proved too little, too late: Tottenham held on to their 1-0 lead, sending West Ham down to the Championship for next season alongside already-relegated Burnley and Wolves. The Hammers, who have been a Premier League mainstay since earning promotion in 2012, will now plying their trade in England’s second tier.

    “This day for us is much more than winning a game,” match-winner Palhinha told BBC Sport after the full-time whistle. “A lot of people depend their lives on this club. It was a tough season but I think this season can help for the future. We can take a lot from it even if we didn’t reach the level Tottenham should.” Tottenham, ranked the ninth-richest football club in the world, have enjoyed a late-season upturn in form under interim manager Roberto De Zerbi, who joined the club in late March as their third head coach of a turbulent campaign. For West Ham manager Nuno Espirito Santo, the disappointment was unavoidable after his side did everything they could to claw out survival. “We knew it was going to be difficult, it was not in our hands,” he told Sky Sports. “We did our part and we hoped for the best — it didn’t happen. We have to pass the sad moment that we are living.”

    The day was as much about emotional farewells as it was about league outcomes, as Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola took charge of his final match at the Etihad Stadium after 10 seasons of unprecedented success. The Catalan coach confirmed last Friday he would leave the club at the end of the season, bringing to an end a decade that delivered six Premier League titles, a Champions League trophy and a host of other domestic and European honours. Before kickoff, City fans unfurled a massive banner over the stands bearing Guardiola’s portrait, with the words “Game Changer” and “History Maker” emblazoned across it. The match ended in a 2-1 win for visitors Aston Villa, the newly crowned Europa League champions, who secured fourth place in the table and a spot in next season’s Champions League with two goals from Ollie Watkins after Antoine Semenyo put City ahead. Addressing the crowd after the final whistle, an emotional Guardiola said: “In the next years, if you see me in the streets in the United States or Europe or somewhere and you are a Man City fan, come to me and hug me. I will need it.”

    Guardiola was not the only Liverpool legend saying goodbye. Mohamed Salah and Andy Robertson played their final match for the Reds, who finished fifth in the table after a 1-1 draw with Brentford, enough to secure the final Champions League spot for next season. Before kickoff, Liverpool’s coaching staff and squad formed a guard of honour for the pair, who were later embraced by club icons Kenny Dalglish and Ian Rush. “I think I cried more than in my whole life,” Salah told Sky Sports. “I’m not really an emotional guy. We lived our youth here, sharing everything from the beginning to the end. We put this club back where it belongs.”

    For Arsenal, the final day was all celebration, as the Gunners lifted the Premier League trophy in front of travelling fans at Selhurst Park after a 2-1 win over Crystal Palace. It is Arsenal’s first Premier League title since 2004, ending a 20-year wait for the top-flight crown after three consecutive second-place finishes. Manager Mikel Arteta admitted he had doubted whether the club would break their drought during those near-misses. “That was beautiful,” he said. “Look at the joy of all of the people, they have been waiting for this for so long. We have had difficult moments along the way but it is all worth it when you see that kind of reaction.”

    Elsewhere, newly appointed Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso will have no European football to contend with next season after the Blues, playing with 10 men for much of the match, fell to a 2-1 away defeat to Sunderland. The win lifted Sunderland into next season’s Europa League alongside Bournemouth, while Brighton & Hove Albion will compete in the Conference League.

  • ‘No Eid’ in Gaza for third year as livestock crisis erases holiday rituals

    ‘No Eid’ in Gaza for third year as livestock crisis erases holiday rituals

    For generations, the weeks leading up to Eid al-Adha in Gaza have been defined by the bustle of livestock markets, where breeders showcase healthy herds for families preparing to fulfill one of Islam’s most sacred religious obligations. This year, that familiar rhythm is gone entirely – reduced to a distant memory by the ongoing destruction of Gaza’s agricultural sector under Israeli military operations and a crippling, long-running blockade.

    Mazen al-Jerjawi, once one of Gaza City’s most prominent commercial livestock breeders, now operates a small café, scraping by on sales of frozen meat that trickles into the besieged enclave under strict Israeli entry limits. Where he once sold upwards of 200 head of cattle and sheep ahead of each Eid, his pastures and barns now sit empty. “No live animals are being allowed into Gaza at all,” he explained in an interview with Middle East Eye. “Israel treats the people of Gaza as if they are living here temporarily, and what is allowed is merely to ‘keep things going’ at a minimal level.”

    Eid al-Adha, one of Islam’s holiest annual celebrations, centers on the ritual sacrifice of an animal for Muslims who can afford the practice, with the meat distributed equally among family members, neighbors, and low-income community members. Before the outbreak of full-scale war in October 2023, Gaza typically imported 40,000 to 60,000 sheep and calves annually in advance of the holiday to meet consumer demand. 2025 marks the third consecutive year that Gazan Palestinians have been barred from observing this central tradition, as Israeli military actions and the ongoing blockade continue to dismantle the enclave’s basic infrastructure and economy.

    Official data from Gaza’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry confirms that more than 90 percent of the enclave’s entire livestock sector has been destroyed or rendered inoperable since the war began, a toll that has rippled across every layer of Gazan society. Along with the annihilation of local herds, Israel’s total ban on live animal imports has snapped already fragile supply chains, pushing what remains of the industry to the brink of total collapse.

    The impact on pricing has been catastrophic. Before the war, a single sacrificial sheep cost between $500 and $600. Today, the handful of surviving private animals that reach the market can fetch as much as $7,000 – a sum out of reach for nearly all Gazan families grappling with widespread unemployment and runaway inflation. Jerjawi says he has ceased selling livestock entirely, and often advises Palestinians living abroad who reach out to buy a sacrifice for relatives in Gaza to reconsider. “I tell them it’s better to buy 50 kilograms of frozen meat instead of spending all that money on one sheep,” he said. “The 20,000 shekels [$7,000] for a sheep could even help pay for a couple to get married.”

    The destruction of herds has come on multiple fronts: many animals were killed directly in Israeli airstrikes, while repeated forced displacement left breeders with no option but to abandon or hastily offload their animals. “Many of my sheep died after a nearby house was bombed,” Jerjawi recalled. “This was the case for most livestock owners; we lost them because of the strikes.” When evacuation orders forced him to flee his home, he was forced to slaughter or sell his remaining flock for a fraction of their value just to afford basic food for his own family. “We did everything we could to keep the animals alive, even feeding them pasta and whatever we could find,” he said. “In the end, how can someone care for livestock while trying to protect your wife and children?”

    Figures from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) underscore the scale of the loss: by November 2024, at least 80 percent of Gaza’s sheep and 70 percent of its goats had been killed during the war. Gaza’s Ministry of Agriculture reports that the total population of sheep and goats in the enclave has plummeted from roughly 60,000 before the war to just 3,000 today, while cattle and calves have almost entirely disappeared. Most of the surviving animals are held by nomadic herders and are not available for commercial sale during the Eid season, according to ministry spokesperson Raafat Assaliya.

    The crisis extends far beyond the loss of animals themselves: nearly all of Gaza’s livestock-related infrastructure – from barns and grazing lands to feed warehouses and veterinary clinics – has been damaged or destroyed in repeated airstrikes. Compounding this, the inability to operate water wells has eliminated any realistic path for the sector to recover, even in the short term. “This has prevented thousands of families from carrying out the Eid sacrifice, in an unprecedented situation,” Assaliya said.

    For Gazan residents, the loss of the sacrificial tradition has transformed the holiday into a muted, unrecognizable event stripped of its core meaning. Muhammed Aburiyala, a Gaza City schoolteacher who has participated in the annual sacrifice for most of his life, says it has been three years since his community experienced a true Eid celebration. “The ritual itself, and the feeling of sharing it with others, has disappeared. Without sacrifices and the ability to share, there is no Eid,” he said.

    The absence of available livestock is just one layer of a far broader food security crisis that has left most of Gaza’s population struggling to access enough food for daily survival. Even frozen meat is out of reach for many: “Many can barely secure daily meals, and some have not eaten frozen meat for more than a year,” Aburiyala said. “What enters Gaza is limited and depends entirely on the status of the crossings, which means prices remain extremely high.”

    A 2025 assessment from the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) estimates that roughly 1.6 million people – 77 percent of Gaza’s total population – are currently facing acute food insecurity. The crisis has been exacerbated by erratic and restrictive Israeli policies on humanitarian aid and commercial imports, even during ceasefire periods, with repeated border closures that leave basic goods regularly disappearing from market shelves.

    Aburiyala argues that the blockade on livestock is a deliberate effort to dismantle Gaza’s local economy and prevent the enclave from achieving self-sufficiency. “If livestock were allowed into Gaza, it would sustain many professions – veterinarians, livestock breeders, farmers who rely on manure, butchers and restaurant owners,” he said. “This is not what Israel wants. They want to paralyze society and prevent it from becoming self-sufficient.”

    Reporting for this article was published by Middle East Eye, an independent outlet covering the Middle East and North Africa region.

  • Ecuador’s president touts US-backed crime-fighting efforts and vows to keep hunting down criminals

    Ecuador’s president touts US-backed crime-fighting efforts and vows to keep hunting down criminals

    QUITO, Ecuador — In his annual State of the Union address delivered before the National Assembly in Ecuador’s capital on Sunday, President Daniel Noboa highlighted the outcomes of his administration’s U.S.-backed anti-organized crime campaign, alongside promising improvements to key national economic indicators. The hardline security push comes as Ecuador grapples with a years-long drug violence crisis that has become the top public concern for the South American nation.

  • Trump tells US negotiators ‘not to rush’ into deal with Iran

    Trump tells US negotiators ‘not to rush’ into deal with Iran

    Diplomatic efforts between the United States and Iran have entered a careful, deliberate phase after US President Donald Trump instructed American negotiators to avoid rushing into a final agreement, even as both sides acknowledge ongoing constructive progress in talks. The emerging framework under negotiation includes three core components: a 60-day extension of the existing ceasefire, the full reopening of the strategically critical Strait of Hormuz, and the launch of expanded negotiations to address longstanding international concerns over Iran’s nuclear program.

    The push for a negotiated settlement comes after months of escalating military conflict in the region. On February 28, the United States and Israel launched large-scale air strikes targeting Iranian positions. Tehran responded in kind, launching a series of drone and missile attacks against Israeli and American assets across Gulf nations, raising fears of a full-scale regional war. An initial ceasefire agreed to in April has been largely respected by both sides, though sporadic exchanges of fire have continued in the weeks since.

    Just one day before his announcement pausing any rush to a deal, Trump told supporters a broad agreement was already “largely negotiated”, sparking widespread speculation that a formal announcement could come within hours. That optimism has since been tempered by conflicting signals from Tehran, where Iranian media reports note that “one or two” key sticking points remain unresolved. While Iranian officials confirmed that discussions have made tangible progress over the weekend, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Esmail Baghaei stressed that this progress does not guarantee final consensus on the most contentious core issues.

    In a Sunday post published to his Truth Social platform, Trump doubled down on his call for cautious diplomacy. “Negotiations are proceeding in an orderly and constructive manner, and I have informed my representatives not to rush into a deal because time is on our side,” he wrote. “Both sides must take their time and get it right. There can be no mistakes!”

    The US president also reaffirmed a longstanding non-negotiable US stance: Tehran must permanently abandon any effort to develop a nuclear weapon. This position is fully shared by Israel and other Western allies. Washington and its partners have long accused Iran of pursuing a covert nuclear weapons program via its uranium enrichment activities, a charge Tehran has repeatedly denied, maintaining that all of its nuclear work is for purely peaceful civilian purposes, including energy production and medical research.

    Trump also confirmed that the US naval blockade of Iranian ports, implemented in early April to pressure Tehran into making concessions, will remain in full effect until a final agreement is reached, officially certified, and signed by both parties. The standoff over the Strait of Hormuz has had global economic consequences: since Iran effectively closed the vital waterway, through which roughly 20% of the world’s total oil and liquefied natural gas shipments pass, global energy prices have spiked sharply, impacting consumers and economies worldwide.

    US Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently offered a measured assessment of the talks, confirming that “significant” progress has been made, but stopping short of declaring the negotiations final. He hinted at positive movement on the Strait of Hormuz file, noting that progress made over the 48 hours prior to his comments could lead to a “completely open strait… without tolls” if the current momentum holds.

    On the Iranian side, Baghaei told state-run television Saturday that Tehran is currently finalizing a memorandum of understanding that would clear the way for additional, more in-depth talks aimed at reaching a binding final agreement. Trump also referenced the planned memorandum in an earlier Truth Social post on Saturday.

    Pakistan, which has served as the third-party mediator for the indirect talks between Washington and Tehran, has struck an optimistic tone. Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar said that recent progress in negotiations creates “grounds for optimism” and that a positive outcome is now “within reach”. Still, multiple US media outlets have cited anonymous American officials reporting that no final agreement is expected to be signed on Sunday, pushing any potential announcement back to a later date as negotiators work through the remaining outstanding disagreements.

  • ‘Nightmare for Israel’: Republican hawks attack Trump’s emerging Iran deal

    ‘Nightmare for Israel’: Republican hawks attack Trump’s emerging Iran deal

    A wave of rare public criticism from senior U.S. Republican foreign policy leaders has targeted former President Donald Trump over emerging details of a proposed 30 to 60-day initial ceasefire framework with Iran, with critics warning the reported deal includes sweeping U.S. concessions that would boost Tehran’s regional power and jeopardize Israeli security.

    The backlash gained momentum Sunday after Trump confirmed that a draft memorandum of understanding to end the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran was largely finalized and only waiting for formal approval. In his comments, Trump highlighted that the agreement would reopen the Strait of Hormuz — the critical global energy transit chokepoint that Iran has held effective control over since the war launched in late February — but made no mention of Iran’s nuclear program, a sharp departure from his repeated prior pledges that Tehran would never be permitted to acquire a nuclear weapon.

    Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei confirmed Saturday that Tehran was putting the final touches on the preliminary framework, which would set a 30 to 60-day temporary agreement. The 14-clause draft covers core sticking points: the Strait of Hormuz status, the ongoing U.S. naval blockade of Iran, and a full ceasefire across all conflict fronts including Lebanon. Unconfirmed reports have also suggested the deal could unlock billions of dollars in previously frozen Iranian assets, but Iranian leaders have repeatedly ruled out including nuclear issues in the current round of negotiations, and senior officials have explicitly denied agreeing to give up Tehran’s existing stockpile of highly enriched uranium.

    Negotiations have stretched for weeks since an initial ceasefire took effect April 8, including landmark face-to-face negotiating sessions in Islamabad, but no permanent peace deal has been reached, and the Strait remains closed. The ongoing closure has triggered the most severe global oil supply disruption in modern history, amplifying pressure on all parties to reach a resolution.

    But the apparent concessions from the Trump administration have sparked deep alarm among hardline Republican foreign policy hawks, many of whom were early and vocal backers of the war. Senator Lindsey Graham, one of the most prominent Republican voices on national security, issued a stark warning Saturday that any deal that leaves Iran’s military capacity and ruling government intact would become a “nightmare for Israel.”

    Writing on social platform X, Graham argued that if a deal is reached that accepts Iran’s ongoing ability to close the Strait of Hormuz and attack critical Gulf oil infrastructure, Tehran will be viewed as the dominant power in the Middle East, fundamentally reshaping the regional balance of power in Iran’s favor.

    Graham’s criticism was quickly echoed by other top Senate Republicans, including Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Tom Cotton, who shared Graham’s comments to his own audience to amplify the rebuke. Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker called the reported 60-day ceasefire framework “a disaster,” warning that all gains from Operation Epic Fury — the Trump administration’s official name for the war on Iran — would be lost. Earlier in the week, Wicker accused anonymous White House officials of pushing Trump toward a hollow deal that holds no real value, rather than allowing him to follow through on his original goal of ending the conflict with a complete Iranian surrender.

    Senator Ted Cruz also joined the growing chorus of criticism, saying he was “deeply concerned” by leaked details of the emerging agreement. Cruz, who explicitly named Trump in his criticism while also blaming unnamed administration advisers for pushing the deal, argued that if the final outcome leaves the Islamist Iranian government in power, unlocks billions of dollars in assets for Tehran, allows Iran to continue enriching uranium and pursue a nuclear weapon, and leaves Tehran with effective control over the Strait of Hormuz, the result will be a catastrophic mistake for U.S. national security.

    Some of the sharpest criticism came from former Trump administration officials: former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo compared the emerging framework to the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the Obama-era nuclear deal that Republicans universally opposed. Pompeo argued the reported deal follows the exact diplomatic playbook of Obama-era negotiators Wendy Sherman, Robert Malley, and Ben Rhodes, and fails to live up to Trump’s signature “America First” foreign policy. He called for the U.S. to maintain harsh economic and military pressure on Iran instead of pursuing negotiations. Former national security adviser John Bolton went even further, dismissing all talks with Iran as “a waste of oxygen.”

    For his part, Trump has sent mixed signals on the negotiations over the past week, alternating between renewed threats of military escalation and optimistic comments about progress on a deal. Over the weekend, he shared an image of Iran covered by an American flag on social media, a clear signal of continued military pressure. In an interview with CBS Saturday, he said the two sides were “getting a lot closer” to a deal, but warned that if no agreement is reached, Iran will face a level of military punishment no country has ever experienced. Speaking to Axios, he put the odds of a deal at a “solid 50-50,” saying “I think one of two things will happen: either I hit them harder than they have ever been hit, or we are going to sign a deal that is good.”

    Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is currently traveling in India, echoed Trump’s optimistic tone Saturday, telling reporters that “some progress” has been made, and that negotiations are ongoing even as he spoke to reporters.

  • Ebola outbreak poses massive challenges, warns nurse

    Ebola outbreak poses massive challenges, warns nurse

    As the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) grapples with a rapidly accelerating Ebola outbreak that has already claimed hundreds of lives, a senior leader from international medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has sounded the alarm over crippling gaps in the global response to the crisis.

    Kate White, an MSF programme manager with hands-on experience responding to previous Ebola outbreaks across Africa, departed Manchester Airport on Sunday to join the international relief mission deployed to the affected region. In the lead-up to her departure, she outlined the cascading challenges that aid groups are facing on the ground, starting with a critical shortage of deployable resources.

    Already, the outbreak has taken a devastating toll on frontline responders: three Red Cross volunteers, who were working to manage remains of Ebola victims — one of the highest-risk roles in any outbreak response — died earlier this month after contracting the virus. Official figures place the current toll at more than 200 suspected deaths and over 850 suspected cases across the affected regions, with the World Health Organization (WHO) confirming last week that transmission is outpacing early projections. The WHO has already designated the event a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), the highest level of global public health alert.

    What makes this outbreak uniquely dangerous, responders and public health officials agree, is the absence of ready-to-use medical tools to fight it. No approved vaccine exists for this specific strain of Ebola, and while experimental candidates are in late-stage development, none have been cleared for widespread deployment. There are also no approved antiviral treatments targeted at this variant, leaving clinicians only able to provide supportive care rather than curative treatment.

    White called the lack of accessible, scalable countermeasures decades after the first major Ebola outbreaks a stark indictment of global public health priorities. “After all these years of responding to Ebola outbreaks across the continent, we still don’t have comprehensive medical countermeasures — vaccines, treatments, rapid-rollout diagnostic testing — that we can deploy immediately,” she said. “That says a great deal about the current state of global health equity.”

    She also raised alarms over additional logistical barriers, including airspace closures that are slowing the movement of frontline workers and critical life-saving supplies into affected zones. “The sheer volume of resources we need to get into the DRC right now is massive, and any delay puts more lives at risk,” she added.

    Beyond treatment and supplies, White emphasized that major improvements to diagnostic capacity are urgently needed across all affected geographic areas. Faster, more widespread testing ensures that patients without Ebola are not unnecessarily held in treatment centres, allowing them to return to their families quickly once they recover from other unrelated illnesses. Current testing gaps mean that goal remains out of reach, she said.

    A years-long pattern of small, contained Ebola outbreaks in remote rural African regions has shifted in recent decades, as urbanization brings growing human populations into closer contact with the natural animal reservoirs that host the virus. Ebola, a viral hemorrhagic fever that jumps from animals to humans, typically causes flu-like symptoms including fever, headache and fatigue that emerge between 2 and 21 days after exposure. As the disease progresses, patients develop vomiting, diarrhoea, and in severe cases organ failure and uncontrolled bleeding. The virus spreads through direct contact with infected bodily fluids such as blood or vomit, making proper personal protective equipment for frontline workers non-negotiable.

    This specific outbreak carries additional unique challenges: the epicentre is located in a conflict-affected region of the DRC, where insecurity complicates access for aid workers, and the virus circulated undetected for a significant period of time before being identified. “By the time we picked it up, it had already been spreading for quite a while, which means we don’t have a full picture of all transmission chains,” White explained. “Without that clarity, getting the outbreak under control becomes far more difficult.”

    As responders on the ground work to screen travellers, trace contacts, and slow transmission, White stressed that immediate scaled-up support from the international community is critical to turning the tide of the outbreak.

  • Dread and denial at heart of deadly DR Congo Ebola outbreak

    Dread and denial at heart of deadly DR Congo Ebola outbreak

    Deep in the mineral-rich hills of Ituri province in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, the town of Mongbwalu sits at the epicenter of a devastating Ebola outbreak that has already crossed international borders and triggered a global public health emergency. For many residents here, fear of the deadly virus is tangled up in decades of deep-seated distrust of the distant, corruption-plagued central government in Kinshasa, leaving communities split between open denial of the disease’s existence and angry criticism of an inadequate official response.

    Unlike many of her neighbors, 26-year-old Laureine Sakiya does not doubt Ebola is real—she has watched the virus kill people living near her home. Located just 100 kilometers from the Ugandan border and 200 kilometers from the unstable South Sudanese frontier, Mongbwalu is a bustling transit hub for gold miners, itinerant street vendors, and motorbike travelers navigating the region’s rutted, muddy roads, making disease surveillance and containment far more challenging.

    Within weeks of the first recorded case, the outbreak has spread to multiple neighboring provinces and reached Ugandan territory, prompting the World Health Organization to declare the epidemic a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. Official data counts 322 suspected infections in Mongbwalu alone, with 86 confirmed deaths, and a national toll of more than 200 fatalities across the DRC’s 17th recorded Ebola outbreak. A critical gap in response remains: there are currently no approved vaccines or targeted treatments for the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola driving this current epidemic, leaving medics scrambling to contain transmission with limited tools.

    At Mongbwalu’s modest local hospital, tucked into a hillside surrounded by tall grass and trees, healthcare workers in full head-to-toe hazard suits, goggles and face masks scrub down floors and walls with chlorine solution, the only standard decontamination measure available. Even basic infection control infrastructure is lacking: workers rely on plastic buckets for handwashing, a stark indicator of how under-resourced the response remains. Medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has stepped in to provide isolation tents for suspected cases, alongside local aid groups operating on the ground.

    “This epidemic is out of the ordinary,” explained Florent Uzzeni, MSF’s coordinator based in the regional capital of Bunia. Uzzeni warned that official caseload and death tolls are almost certainly significant undercounts, as testing capacity across the outbreak zone remains extremely limited.

    Previous Ebola outbreaks in the DRC’s remote regions have been fueled by community resistance, and this event is no exception. Many locals reject the existence of Ebola entirely, with some framing the outbreak as a “mystical malady” rooted in local spiritual beliefs. Early on, the spread was worsened by a misinformation chain that became known locally as the “coffin affair.”

    The first suspected case emerged in Bunia, Ituri’s provincial capital. After the patient died, his family transported his body 80 kilometers back to Mongbwalu for burial. The region’s notoriously rough, potholed roads damaged the casket during the trip, exposing the Ebola-contaminated corpse to the people transporting it. Initial tests conducted at a provincial laboratory failed to confirm Ebola as the cause of death, allowing the virus to spread silently through the community while panic grew unchecked. It was only when samples were flown 1,800 kilometers to the national biomedical research laboratory in Kinshasa that the outbreak was officially confirmed—by which point transmission was already widespread.

    Even traditional leaders and faith healers, who hold enormous sway in remote communities like Mongbwalu, have grown alarmed by the level of denial. “I worry about those who say that this disease is invented,” said Adam Hussein, 35, a representative for local traditional faith healers, who has urged all residents to follow public health precautions to slow transmission.

    As the outbreak continues to expand across borders, public health officials warn that deep community distrust and systemic gaps in the government’s response capacity could turn this into one of the worst Ebola outbreaks in recorded history.

  • China launches Shenzhou 23 spacecraft with 1 of 3 astronauts set for yearlong stay

    China launches Shenzhou 23 spacecraft with 1 of 3 astronauts set for yearlong stay

    In a landmark step forward for China’s ambitious space exploration program, the Shenzhou 23 crewed spacecraft lifted off Sunday night from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center located in China’s remote northwestern Gobi Desert. The three-member crew is bound for China’s fully operational Tiangong Space Station, carrying a mission that blends groundbreaking scientific research, crew rotation, and major progress toward China’s goal of landing the first Chinese astronauts on the moon by 2030.

    Leading the Shenzhou 23 expedition is commander Zhu Yangzhu, joined by crewmates Zhang Zhiyuan and Lai Ka-ying, who is also known by the Mandarin transliteration Li Jiaying. Lai’s presence on the mission marks a historic first for Hong Kong: born and raised in the special administrative region, she holds a doctoral degree in computer forensics, becoming the first Hong Kong native ever selected to fly on a Chinese human spaceflight mission. Her selection underscores the expanding scope of China’s space program, drawing talent from across the entire country.

    Once they dock at Tiangong, the Shenzhou 23 crew will complete a standard in-orbit handover with the incumbent Shenzhou 21 team, which has been living and working on the orbiting outpost for more than 200 days. Over the course of their mission, the new crew will carry out dozens of experiments spanning multiple scientific and applied technology fields, according to Chinese state media. One crew member will make global spaceflight history with a planned 12-month stay aboard Tiangong, a duration that ranks among the longest single continuous human stays in low Earth orbit ever attempted. The extended mission is designed specifically to study how the human body adapts to long-term exposure to the space environment, helping researchers map the limits of human performance during deep space expeditions that will be required for future lunar and Martian exploration.

    The Shenzhou 23 launch comes amid a period of rapid expansion for China’s independent space program, which accelerated after the country was barred from participating in the International Space Station due to national security objections raised by the United States. Instead of halting progress, the exclusion pushed China to develop its own permanent orbiting outpost, Tiangong — whose name translates to “Heavenly Palace” — which hosted its first resident crew in 2021 and has now supported a continuous human presence in orbit for multiple crew rotations. The program has overcome high-stakes challenges in recent years: in 2024, the Shenzhou program executed a rare emergency rescue mission that successfully returned a crew stranded on Tiangong after their return spacecraft suffered unexpected damage.

    Today, China and the United States stand as the world’s two leading competitors in 21st century space exploration. While China targets its first crewed lunar landing by 2030, NASA is currently working toward its own return of astronauts to the lunar surface under the Artemis program, with a current target landing date of 2028. This latest successful launch of Shenzhou 23 demonstrates that China remains firmly on track to meet its aggressive space exploration targets, while opening new opportunities for scientific discovery that benefit the global research community.

  • Trump tempers expectations of a Middle East deal with Iran

    Trump tempers expectations of a Middle East deal with Iran

    Hours after top U.S. diplomat Marco Rubio suggested a historic deal between the United States and Iran to de-escalate regional conflict could be reached as soon as Sunday, President Donald Trump has cooled widespread optimism, saying he has instructed his negotiation team to avoid rushing a final agreement. “Time is on our side,” Trump wrote in a social media post, adding that the current U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports would remain fully in place until any accord is fully finalized, certified, and signed by all parties. This tempered announcement came just days after Trump himself indicated the bulk of the agreement had already been negotiated, with only final touches left to resolve between Washington, Tehran, and other participating mediator nations.

    A fragile bilateral ceasefire between the United States and Iran has been in effect since April 8, as international mediators work to lock in a permanent negotiated settlement. Despite the ceasefire, tensions remain high: Iran has implemented new shipping controls in the Gulf region, while the U.S. has maintained its strict port blockade of Iranian territory. Speaking to reporters during an official visit to India on Sunday, Rubio struck an optimistic note, saying “I do think perhaps there is the possibility that in the next few hours the world will get some good news.” He added that any final agreement would launch a process that fulfills the Trump administration’s core goal: eliminating the global threat posed by an Iranian nuclear weapon.

    Israeli leadership has echoed the U.S. commitment to full nuclear dismantlement. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed Sunday that he and Trump have aligned on non-negotiable terms for any final deal: it must completely eliminate the Iranian nuclear threat. A senior anonymous Israeli official told Agence France-Presse that Trump has made clear he will not back down from his longstanding demand that Iran fully dismantle its nuclear program and remove all enriched uranium from its territory, and no agreement will be signed without meeting these conditions.

    European leaders, who have pushed for a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz to lower volatile global energy prices, were quick to welcome early signs of progress Sunday. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen publicly praised “progress towards an agreement,” while British Prime Minister Keir Starmer pledged to work closely with international partners to “seize this moment” for peace.

    Iranian officials have confirmed that a draft agreement exists, but clarified a key sticking point has been pushed back: negotiations over the U.S. demand to end all Iranian uranium enrichment will be deferred for 60 days after the initial ceasefire deal takes effect. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told state television that Tehran remains “prepared to assure the world that we are not seeking nuclear weapons,” though it remains unclear whether this assurance will be codified in the final text of the agreement.

    According to Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency, the draft text includes major reciprocal concessions from Washington: the U.S. has agreed to release a portion of billions of dollars in Iranian funds frozen abroad under international sanctions, and end its naval blockade of commercial ships traveling to and from Iranian ports. In exchange, the draft outlines that shipping traffic through the strategic Strait of Hormuz will return to pre-conflict levels under Iranian management, and sanctions on Iranian oil, gas, petrochemicals, and related products will be temporarily lifted during the extended negotiation period to allow Iran to sell its exports freely on global markets.

    Prominent Iranian-American academic Vali Nasr has offered a cautious take on the current draft, noting that the terms on the table appear to favor Iran, but that excessive U.S. concessions have sparked deep suspicion among Tehran’s leadership. “The deal in play looks like a win for Iran. But Tehran is not convinced that it is not a dress rehearsal for war now or in 30 days,” Nasr wrote on social media. He added, “In fact, the more generous the terms for Iran the more the suspicion that the US is not serious about peace and wants to distract Iran ahead of another attack. Iran will be focused on evidence of US military backdown.”

    On Saturday, a broad coalition of regional leaders joined a call with Trump to discuss the ongoing negotiation efforts, including the heads of state of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, and Bahrain, plus senior representatives from Turkey and Pakistan. Pakistan, which mediated the landmark first face-to-face talks between U.S. and Iranian delegations in April, is already positioning to host the next round of negotiations “very soon,” according to Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Sharif added that Pakistan’s Army Chief Asim Munir, who just completed a two-day visit to Tehran last week, participated in Saturday’s call, which provided a “useful opportunity… to move the ongoing peace efforts forward to bring lasting peace in the region.”

    Even as diplomacy moves forward, hardline Iranian military leadership has struck a defiant posture. In a rare public appearance at Tehran’s Grand Mosalla mosque covered by state media, Ali Abdollahi, head of Iran’s central military command, reaffirmed that the country’s armed forces remain on high alert. “We are on a war footing and all our armed forces are fully ready, with all their resources and equipment, to confront any enemy,” he said. The warning comes as simultaneous Israeli strikes targeting southern Lebanon sent smoke billowing over the village of al-Mahmoudiye on May 23, underscoring the persistent volatility across the Middle East even as major power talks progress.