Global Pulse

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  • ‘He’s the reason I’m here’: Apa Twidle shares emotional journey to the NRL and heartbreaking loss that inspired him

    ‘He’s the reason I’m here’: Apa Twidle shares emotional journey to the NRL and heartbreaking loss that inspired him

    Rugby league fans across Australia and New Zealand are still buzzing after Apa Twidle’s sensational NRL debut for the Parramatta Eels on Easter Monday, a performance that delivered two tries in his first two touches and cemented his name as one of the most exciting new prospects in the competition. But beyond the on-field highlights, the 20-something winger’s journey to the top of the sport is a story of sacrifice, loss, and unwavering family support that has captured the hearts of rugby league supporters everywhere.

    Before the blockbuster clash against the Wests Tigers, few casual fans knew Twidle’s name. Just one week prior, he had turned heads in the lower-tier NSW Cup with a four-try haul against premiers Penrith Panthers, but he was still expected to ease into first-grade football off the Eels’ bench. That changed when starting winger Bailey Simonsson dislocated his ankle early in the match, forcing the rookie into the game far earlier than planned.

    What followed was debut magic Twidle and NRL fans will not soon forget: he scored a brilliant, boundary-hugging try with his very first touch of top-level football, then crossed the try line again just two minutes later. By the end of the match, clips of his debut were circulating widely on social media, and he was even named the NRL’s fan-voted Tasman Try of the Week for Round 5 just days later.

    But for Twidle, the moment was far more than a career breakout – it was the culmination of a years-long journey that began when he left his home in New Zealand at just 16 years old to pursue his dream of professional rugby league in Australia. Moving alone to Brisbane to play school football at Marsden State High School, the young teen struggled profoundly with loneliness and homesickness, even calling his mother begging to book a return flight home after his first weekend away.

    “I’d be lying if I said I didn’t get homesick. I got homesick every day,” Twidle recalled after Monday’s match. “I was young and dumb, it was one of the hardest times in my life. But my mum, dad, and brothers kept pushing me to stay the course. My brothers are my idols – they taught me you don’t get anywhere without hard work, and that’s what stuck with me.”

    After finishing high school, Twidle signed with the Parramatta Eels’ underage program and moved to Sydney at 18 to live with his aunt, continuing to work his way up through the club’s ranks. Through his early years in Brisbane, he was fostered and trained by Paul Brown, a local coach who took him in without asking for anything in return, pushing him to train harder than he ever had before. Brown, who kept his terminal cancer diagnosis private from even Twidle, passed away last year – just one week after Twidle’s daughter was born.

    “I wouldn’t be standing right here right now if it wasn’t for that guy,” Twidle said. “He was the reason I stayed in the game, he got me where I am. I wrote his initials on my strapping for the debut – he’s with me everywhere. I never even got a photo of him with my daughter. That’s something that hurts me still. When I found out he’d passed the morning after my daughter was born, I was bawling my eyes out all day.”

    Monday’s debut was full of other emotional surprises for Twidle too. His mother Pura, who still lives in Hamilton, New Zealand, had originally been told not to bother coming by Twidle, who did not expect to get much game time in his first match. But after his aunt pressured her to make the cross-Tasman trip, she booked a last-minute flight on Sunday morning and flew into Sydney just hours before kickoff, bringing Twidle’s seven-month daughter – who Brown never got to meet – with her to CommBank Stadium.

    “When we met after the game, we didn’t even say anything, we just started crying,” Twidle said. “Tears of joy, obviously. That emotion just came pouring out – this is what all the hard years were for.”

    As with any remarkable debut, Twidle’s big day came with a bitter twist: he suffered a Grade 3 AC joint tear, a complete ligament rupture to his shoulder, during one of his tackles, and left the field with his arm in a sling. The injury rules him out of selection for the Eels’ next round clash, but the young rookie says he is already looking ahead to what comes next after a rollercoaster debut he will never forget.

  • US lawmakers call to remove Trump after ‘civilization will die’ threat against Iran

    US lawmakers call to remove Trump after ‘civilization will die’ threat against Iran

    A growing coalition of Democratic U.S. lawmakers is demanding President Donald Trump be stripped of executive authority through the 25th Amendment, a little-used constitutional mechanism that allows the vice president and cabinet to remove a sitting president deemed unfit to fulfill their official duties. The unprecedented call comes amid an escalating war in the Middle East that has now entered its seventh week, driven by Trump’s increasingly extreme rhetoric targeting Iran that critics have labeled a threat of genocide and war crimes.

    In a social media post Tuesday, Trump issued an ultimatum to Iran’s leadership: by 8 p.m. Washington local time, Tehran must agree to Washington’s demands to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, halt all nuclear enrichment activities, and end its domestic missile production program. If his conditions are not met, Trump vowed to “obliterate” Iran’s critical civilian infrastructure—including energy grids, communications networks, and public water systems that millions of Iranian civilians depend on for survival. In his most alarming remark, he warned that “a whole civilization will die tonight” if the Islamic Republic refuses to comply.

    Iranian leaders have flatly rejected Trump’s non-negotiable preconditions, countering with demands for a complete end to all U.S. and Israeli military hostilities across the region and full financial compensation for damage already inflicted by ongoing conflict.

    As of Tuesday afternoon in Washington, D.C., at least 30 sitting members of Congress have publicly and explicitly called for Trump’s immediate removal through the 25th Amendment process. California Congressman Ro Khanna laid out the urgency of the demand in a video posted to X Tuesday, arguing that Trump’s public statements cross fundamental moral and legal lines.

    “If the United States Congress has any life left in it, every member of the House and Senate must be calling for Trump’s removal today, based on the 25th amendment,” Khanna said. “He is threatening the entire destruction of a civilisation. He is calling Iranians ‘animals’. He is showing a total disregard for the humanity of people in Iran, in Gaza, in Cuba. This is a moral crime. It is a war crime. We need to be demanding that Congress convene today, and we need to be invoking the 25th amendment.”

    When questioned by reporters Monday about whether targeting Iran’s civilian infrastructure could constitute a war crime given its direct impact on civilian survival, Trump dismissed all concerns out of hand.

    Colorado Congresswoman Diana DeGette added that if Trump’s cabinet refuses to act to remove the president, Congress should immediately launch new impeachment proceedings. “Donald Trump is openly threatening war crimes against the entirety of Iranian civilization. 25th Amendment proceedings must begin immediately, but if the Cabinet is too cowardly, the House should begin the impeachment process,” she wrote on X.

    Illinois Congresswoman Delia Ramirez echoed DeGette’s position, accusing Trump of deliberately escalating the conflict to advance his own political and financial interests. “He is a warmonger, escalating the conflict for his own profit and consolidation of power,” Ramirez added.

    Congress has already seen one impeachment effort against Trump launched earlier this year, on December 10 by Texas Congressman Al Green. The measure currently has only two co-sponsors and has failed to gain momentum, largely because both chambers of Congress are held by Republican majorities—any impeachment trial in the Senate would almost certainly result in acquittal. If November’s midterm elections flip congressional control to Democrats, however, a third impeachment (following 2018 and 2021 efforts) becomes a distinct possibility.

    Arizona Congresswoman Yassamin Ansari, who is of Iranian descent, went a step further Monday, announcing she will introduce articles of impeachment against Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, one of the most prominent public advocates for expanding the war into Iran. “Trump is escalating a devastating, illegal war, threatening massive war crimes and targeting civilian infrastructure in Iran…the rhetoric has crossed every line. Pete Hegseth is complicit,” Ansari wrote. “It’s clear he’s unfit to be president.”

    Michigan Congressman Shri Thanedar called out Republican lawmakers for their silence, writing on X: “If Vance, Rubio & the others continue to be spineless cowards, Congress must do everything possible to stop Trump & this war.” Fellow Michigan Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib called Trump a “maniac” who “should be removed from office,” adding: “After bombing a school and massacring young girls, the war criminal in the White House is threatening genocide. It’s time to invoke the 25th Amendment.”

    Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, who has been repeatedly targeted by Trump’s anti-Somali rhetoric, called Trump an “unhinged lunatic” and issued a two-word demand: “Impeach. Remove.” Wisconsin Congressman Mark Pocan warned that Trump poses an immediate existential risk: “He is too unhinged, dangerous, and deranged to have the nuclear codes!” California Congresswoman Sydney Kamlager-Dove labeled Trump’s rhetoric “pure evil,” urging Republicans to break with the president. “Republicans, if there were ever a time to stand up, it’s now,” she wrote. “I’m sick to my stomach. Trump’s genocidal language and indiscriminate warfare cannot be normalized or accepted.”

    Multiple other Democratic lawmakers have echoed these condemnations, with Massachusetts Congressman Seth Moulton arguing that the threat cannot be dismissed as typical Trump behavior. “This is not just ‘Trump being Trump’. This is an insane man who is unfit for office,” Moulton said. Delaware Congresswoman Sarah McBride noted that Trump’s threat crosses an unprecedented red line even for a presidency defined by controversial rhetoric. “In a political career defined by grotesque statements, this president’s horrifying, illegal, and genocidal threat this morning is among the most dangerous and appalling,” she wrote Tuesday. “You can’t shout ‘fire’ in a crowded theater and a president cannot be allowed to threaten genocide with the United States military.”

    Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey went even further, urging active-duty U.S. troops to refuse to carry out any orders that qualify as war crimes, noting that the current conflict was never authorized by Congress. “To the members of our military: remember, you do not have to follow illegal orders,” Markey wrote.

    No sitting Republican lawmakers have publicly expressed support for removing Trump, but one high-profile former Republican member of Congress, Marjorie Taylor-Greene of Georgia, broke with party lines to back the 25th Amendment push. “25TH AMENDMENT!!! Not a single bomb has dropped on America. We cannot kill an entire civilization. This is evil and madness,” she wrote on X.

    The 25th Amendment, ratified in 1967, outlines the formal constitutional process for transferring executive power in the event a sitting president is deemed unable to carry out their duties. The mechanism has never before been used to permanently remove a sitting president; past uses have only involved temporary transfers of power while presidents underwent medical procedures requiring general anesthesia.

    To initiate the process to remove Trump, Vice President JD Vance and a majority of Trump’s cabinet (or an alternate congressional body created for this purpose) must first formally agree that the president is unfit to serve due to mental or physical incapacity. That declaration must be submitted in writing to the Speaker of the House and the Senate President Pro Tempore, the second-highest ranking Senate leader who presides over votes when the vice president is absent. Immediately upon submission, Vance would assume the powers of the acting presidency.

    Trump would then have the right to submit his own declaration to Congress asserting he is capable of resuming his duties, which would allow him to retake power immediately. Vance and the cabinet would then have four days to submit an appeal to Congress, at which point lawmakers would convene to vote on the question of removal. A two-thirds majority vote in both the House and Senate is required to formalize the president’s removal, after which the vice president would serve as acting president until the next scheduled presidential election. Without that two-thirds majority, Trump would remain in office.

  • New twist in case of man who stabbed brother

    New twist in case of man who stabbed brother

    A violent family altercation in suburban Adelaide that once carried an attempted murder accusation has taken an unexpected turn in court, with the accused accepting a reduced charge to resolve the case. The incident dates back to April 1 last year, when 36-year-old Kane Swift became engaged in a physical confrontation with his brother, Raymond Drechsler, in the neighborhood of Elizabeth Park. After stabbing Drechsler in the abdomen during the clash, Swift attempted to make a rapid escape from the scene. He stole a red Ford SUV, reversed the vehicle at high speed, but lost control and crashed straight into a tree along Billing Street before he could get away. Drechsler was left with critical, life-threatening injuries after the attack, which Swift has never denied committing. When the case first moved through the judicial system, Swift was hit with a slate of serious charges, top among them attempted murder. Additional charges included assaulting his mother, who intervened to stop the fight, driving without the owner’s consent, and reckless dangerous driving, all of which Swift had already pleaded guilty to in earlier court proceedings. On Tuesday, during a hearing at South Australia’s Supreme Court, a key development unfolded: the prosecution agreed to drop the original attempted murder charge, and Swift was instead arraigned on the lesser count of aggravated infliction of serious harm with intent to cause harm. Swift formally entered a guilty plea to this reduced charge, bringing the main accusation in the case to a close. Noah Redmond, Swift’s legal representative, confirmed to the court during the brief session that the entire matter had been resolved through this plea deal, noting that the arrangement had been approved by the director of public prosecutions. Judge Sandi McDonald has since adjourned the case to June, when the next stage of the legal process will get underway. At that upcoming hearing, which is scheduled to run for one hour, prosecution and defense teams will present their sentencing submissions, and formal victim impact statements from those affected by the attack will also be delivered to the court.

  • Tributes after British teenager dies while visiting Vietnam

    Tributes after British teenager dies while visiting Vietnam

    A 19-year-old British woman on a pre-university gap year trip through Southeast Asia has died following a road accident in northern Vietnam, in a tragedy that has been followed by an extraordinary act of cross-border compassion from her grieving family. Orla Wates, who was set to begin her degree studies at Durham University later this year, was traveling the popular Ha Giang Loop mountain route when she fell from the back of a motorcycle, local Vietnamese media has confirmed.

    After the accident, Wates was rushed from the remote northern mountain region to Hanoi’s major Viet Duc Friendship Hospital for emergency care. Despite medical teams’ best efforts, she died on April 2, with her parents Henrietta and Andrew Wates at her side.

    In the wake of their devastating loss, the Wates family made the deliberate decision to donate Orla’s organs to five critically ill Vietnamese patients at the hospital, a choice they say aligned with their daughter’s generous character. “Orla was beautiful, independent and very funny, with a sharp wit,” Henrietta Wates told Viet Nam News. “She loved to look good and lived life to the full. We chose to donate Orla’s organs, as we believe that if there were a way to give opportunity to others, this is what Orla would have wanted. Knowing that she is living on through them brings us great comfort.”

    Orla’s father added that his daughter had held deep affection for Vietnam, making the choice to give back to the country meaningful for the whole family. Hospital representatives praised the family’s selfless decision, noting that it crossed lines of nationality and race to give vulnerable patients a second chance at life. “In the face of profound grief, her family made a deeply compassionate decision that transcended nationality and race – to donate her organs, giving others a chance at life,” a hospital spokesperson said. “One journey has come to an end, but her life continues quietly and resiliently in others who have been given a second chance.”

    The UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has confirmed it is in contact with local authorities and providing consular support to the Wates family during what it called this “hugely difficult time.” “Our thoughts are with the family and friends of Orla Wates, following her tragic death in Vietnam,” an FCDO spokesperson said.

    The 350-kilometer Ha Giang Loop, which winds through rugged northern Vietnamese mountains, is one of the country’s most popular adventure routes for international tourists. It is common for visitors to ride pillion on a motorcycle driven by an experienced local guide, especially for those with no experience riding on Vietnamese roads. Vietnam has long struggled with high traffic fatality rates: government data shows more than 10,000 people were killed and another 16,000 injured in road accidents across the country in 2024.

  • Forest’s Igor Jesus eyes Europa League ‘dream’, Villa brace for Bologna in quarters

    Forest’s Igor Jesus eyes Europa League ‘dream’, Villa brace for Bologna in quarters

    As European football enters its spring knockout stretch, two English Premier League clubs carry the country’s hopes into the first leg of the Europa League quarter-finals, with one unlikely goalscoring sensation chasing a personal and collective fairytale.

    Nottingham Forest finds itself in a tricky domestic bind this 2024-25 campaign: locked in a battle to avoid relegation from the top flight, sitting 16th in the table with just a three-point buffer over the drop zone. For manager Vitor Pereira, that fight for survival has naturally taken priority over the club’s first European campaign since the 1995-96 season, even leading him to rest key starters for the previous round against Midtjylland. Yet it is on the continental stage that Forest have turned in their most impressive performances of the year – and no player embodies that contrast more than 25-year-old striker Igor Jesus.

    Since joining Forest from Brazilian side Botafogo in the off-season, Igor Jesus has struggled for goals in the cutthroat Premier League, netting just three times in 30 league outings. But in Thursday night Europa League action, the 2024 Copa Libertadores winner has exploded into form, notching seven goals to draw level as the competition’s outright top scorer. For the Brazilian, lifting the trophy and ending the campaign as the tournament’s leading marksman would be the realisation of a lifelong goal.

    “Getting to the final and winning the Europa League would be a dream come true, especially as the top scorer,” Igor Jesus told UEFA’s official website on the eve of the first leg. His side travels to Porto’s iconic Estadio do Dragao for Thursday’s opening fixture, and the striker made clear he is under no illusions about the challenge ahead: Porto sits comfortably atop the Portuguese Primeira Liga and boasts a squad packed with top-tier talent, even if Forest can claim bragging rights from a 2-0 group-stage win over the Portuguese side earlier in the campaign, a result that makes Forest the only club to beat Porto in European competition this term.

    “Porto have got a great team. They’ve got a lot of quality. We’ve also got quality,” Igor Jesus said. “We know it won’t be an easy game — in fact, it’ll be really tough. However, we’re willing to fight. We will go into Thursday’s first leg really focused and looking for a positive result to take home and defend for next week’s second leg.” Forest are chasing a first European title in 46 years, a milestone that would make their underdog run all the more memorable.

    Across the quarter-final draw, another Premier League side, Aston Villa, also heads into Thursday’s first leg targeting silverware, with Unai Emery’s men facing a tough away trip to Italy to face Coppa Italia winners Bologna. Domestically, Villa has fallen out of the Premier League title race in recent weeks, leaving the Europa League as their only realistic shot at ending the 2024-25 season with a trophy. If any manager is built for success in this competition, it is Emery: the Basque coach has lifted the Europa League trophy four times throughout his career, and has now guided Villa to three consecutive quarter-final appearances across the Champions League and Europa League.

    After booking their quarter-final spot with a dominant 3-0 aggregate win over Lille, Villa captain John McGinn said his squad is hungry to go all the way this term. “They want more now,” the Scottish midfielder said. “We need to take it one game at a time and keep pushing on, all the way.”

    Bologna, however, are not just making up the numbers in the last eight. After pulling off a major upset to eliminate fancied Italian side Roma in the previous round, head coach Vincenzo Italiano is targeting another shock result against the Premier League side. Bologna have lost both of their previous meetings with Aston Villa over the last two seasons, and will enter the tie as underdogs once again – but that status has not stopped them before. “We will be the underdogs again but we will try to surprise again,” Italiano said after his side’s 5-4 aggregate win secured their quarter-final spot.

    Beyond the two all-Premier-League-involved ties, the rest of the European quarter-final fixture list kicks off across the week. In other Europa League first legs on Wednesday, La Liga side Real Betis will travel up the Iberian coast to face Portuguese club Braga, with Bundesliga outfit Freiburg hosting Celta Vigo of Spain on Thursday. Over in the UEFA Conference League, the pick of the quarter-final first legs, all scheduled for Thursday, sees Crystal Palace host Fiorentina at Selhurst Park. Other Conference League ties see Rayo Vallecano welcome AEK Athens, Shakhtar Donetsk (playing their home fixture in Krakow, Poland due to ongoing conflict in Ukraine) host AZ Alkmaar of the Netherlands, and Strasbourg travel to face Mainz.

  • In Algeria, Saint Augustine’s city anticipates Pope Leo’s visit

    In Algeria, Saint Augustine’s city anticipates Pope Leo’s visit

    On Algeria’s sun-dappled Mediterranean coast, the eastern city of Annaba is buzzing with quiet anticipation and open excitement as it puts the final touches on preparations for a momentous occasion: the first ever visit by a sitting Catholic pontiff to Algeria, scheduled for April 13–15. The visit, which holds deep religious and historical weight, comes after Pope Leo XIV openly embraced his connection to Saint Augustine, one of Christianity’s most influential theologians whose life and work are deeply rooted in this corner of North Africa.

    Since his election to the papacy in May of last year, Leo XIV has repeatedly emphasized his admiration for Saint Augustine, even calling himself a “son” of the famed thinker in his inaugural address. Saint Augustine was born in 354 CE in Thagaste, an ancient settlement that is today the Algerian town of Souk Ahras, roughly 100 kilometers south of Annaba. Annaba itself sits on the ruins of Hippo Regius, the Roman city where Augustine served as bishop starting in 391, wrote his iconic autobiographical work *Confessions*, and died in 430 CE. That historical tie makes Annaba the focal point of the papal visit, and the site of the most intensive preparations.

    At the Basilica of Saint Augustine, the city’s primary Catholic shrine perched on a hill overlooking ancient Hippo’s archaeological remains, preparations have been underway for months under the direction of rector Father Fred Wekesa. Municipal maintenance crews, working alongside volunteers from the Order of Saint Augustine, have spent weeks repainting interior walls, polishing historic religious statues, and touching up the grounds to welcome the pontiff. For Annaba’s small Christian community, the visit is far more than a ceremonial event—it is a long-awaited moment of recognition.

    Father Wekesa described the upcoming arrival as an occasion of profound joy, noting that Leo XIV is the first pope to prioritize a visit to the Algerian Christian community. “We are what I call a ‘small flock’, a minority. But that does not mean we are forgotten,” he said. “On the contrary… the Pope’s presence supports us as a minority. It carries a message of encouragement and solidarity.”

    Across Annaba, which sits roughly 550 kilometers east of the capital Algiers, the entire city has joined in preparations. Roads leading to the basilica, which overlooks the ruins of the ancient Basilica of Peace where Saint Augustine once preached, are being resurfaced and repainted, transforming swathes of the city into an active construction zone in the best of ways. For many local residents, both Christian and Muslim, the visit is a point of national and civic pride. Imad, a 54-year-old Annaba resident, called the trip “a great honour for us, the Algerians of Annaba, because it is an important symbol of peace, not just for our community but for all Christians and Muslims.”

    Algerian national authorities have echoed that sentiment, attaching major strategic and symbolic importance to the visit. Preparations have been personally overseen by President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, and Father Wekesa said he has been deeply moved by the widespread spontaneous enthusiasm from ordinary Algerians, who moved quickly to extend a formal invitation as soon as the pope expressed his desire to visit.

    For Father Wekesa, the visit also offers a chance to reintroduce the world to modern Algeria, pushing back against outdated narratives that still frame the country through the lens of its 1991–2002 civil conflict, a bloody period between Islamists and state security forces that killed an estimated 200,000 people. Between 1994 and 1996, 19 Christian clerics were killed in targeted attacks, including Oran’s bishop Pierre Claverie and seven Tibhirine monks, who were beatified by the Catholic Church in 2018. Father Wekesa lamented that “all too often, some people view this country only through the lens of the ‘dark years’,” but expressed confidence the papal visit will reveal Algeria’s “true face” to the global community. “With the Holy Father’s visit… the whole world will see the hospitality and generosity of the Algerian people, and that we are capable of living together in peace,” he said.

    Not all commentary surrounding the visit has been celebratory, however. Three prominent international human rights organizations—Human Rights Watch, EuroMed Rights, and the MENA Rights Group—published a joint open letter on Tuesday calling on Pope Leo XIV to raise the issue of religious freedom repression during his meetings with Algerian authorities. The groups have documented ongoing targeting of religious minority communities in Algeria in recent years, and asked the pontiff to “call on the authorities to end discrimination against religious minorities and respect their right to freedom of religion or belief, including practicing their religion freely.”

    Despite those calls, members of Annaba’s Christian community remain focused on the unifying potential of the visit. According to Father Wekesa, most of Annaba’s Christian population is made up of sub-Saharan African scholarship students, foreign workers, and a small number of Algerian converts. Students from the University of Batna, located 270 kilometers south of Annaba, have even traveled to the city to help with final preparations ahead of the papal arrival. For Patricia Kouago, a 22-year-old student taking part in the preparations, the visit is an opportunity to build cross-community connection. “It is an occasion for Christians and Muslims to come together,” she said. “It is also a sense of solidarity that we are building. His arrival could strengthen the bonds between us.”

  • Iran ceasefire deal a temporary win for Trump – but it comes at a cost

    Iran ceasefire deal a temporary win for Trump – but it comes at a cost

    Just 90 minutes before a self-imposed deadline that would have triggered massive U.S. airstrikes against Iranian energy and transportation infrastructure, a last-minute de-escalation has pulled the region back from the brink of full-scale war. On Tuesday Washington time, U.S. President Donald Trump announced via his social media platform that Washington and Tehran had made substantial progress toward a definitive peace agreement, and he had approved a 14-day ceasefire to create space for negotiations to move forward.

    The ceasefire is not a one-sided commitment: it requires Iran to also suspend all offensive operations and fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most critical oil chokepoint, for unimpeded commercial shipping. Tehran has publicly confirmed it will meet these conditions. The breakthrough comes as a surprise to many global observers, since earlier the same day, Trump had issued an unprecedented, inflammatory threat that he would wipe out Iranian civilization “never to be brought back again” – a statement that shattered long-held norms of diplomatic rhetoric from sitting U.S. presidents.

    It remains unconfirmed whether this extreme threat pushed Iran to accept a ceasefire it had rejected in earlier talks. What is undeniable is that the president’s rhetoric marks a profound break from decades of U.S. diplomatic practice. Even if the temporary ceasefire paves the way for a lasting peace deal, experts say Trump’s threats and the brief conflict have already reshaped how the international community views the United States. A nation that long positioned itself as a global guarantor of stability is now seen as destabilizing the core foundations of the existing international order, as Trump, who has built his political brand on breaking domestic norms, extends that approach to global diplomacy.

    Domestically, the president’s comments have sparked sharp bipartisan backlash. Congressional Democrats have been quick to condemn the threats, with some even calling for Trump’s removal from office. “It is clear that the president has continued to decline and is not fit to lead,” Congressman Joaquin Castro posted on X. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, the top Senate Democrat, added that any Republican who refuses to vote to end the Iran war will be held responsible for all consequences of the conflict.

    While most members of Trump’s own party have rallied around him, defections are far more widespread than in most previous controversies. Georgia Republican Congressman Austin Scott, a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee, publicly rejected the president’s rhetoric, telling reporters “The president’s comments are counter-productive, and I do not agree with them.” Normally loyal Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson called a full-scale bombing campaign a “huge mistake,” while Texas Congressman Nathaniel Moran wrote on social media that he could not support threatening the destruction of an entire civilization. “This is not who we are, and it is not consistent with the principles that have long guided America,” Moran said. Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski, a frequent critic of Trump, added that the threat “cannot be excused away as an attempt to gain leverage in negotiations with Iran.”

    The White House has already pushed back against critics, arguing that Trump’s high-stakes leverage worked to force Iran to the negotiating table. In his ceasefire announcement, Trump claimed the U.S. had “met and exceeded” all of its initial military objectives in the conflict. U.S. airstrikes have degraded Iran’s conventional military capabilities and killed multiple top Iranian regime leaders, though the Islamic fundamentalist government remains in power.

    Many core U.S. objectives remain unfulfilled, however. The status of Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile – the core material for a potential nuclear weapons program – remains undisclosed, and Iran still retains significant influence over regional armed proxies including Yemen’s Houthi rebels. Even if Iran fully opens the Strait of Hormuz, the crisis has underscored Tehran’s ability to disrupt global energy supplies by closing the chokepoint, strengthening its geopolitical leverage going forward.

    In his official response to the ceasefire announcement, Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Aragchi confirmed Iran would suspend its defensive operations and allow safe commercial passage through the Strait of Hormuz, coordinated with Iranian armed forces. He added that the U.S. had accepted the general framework of Iran’s 10-point peace proposal, which includes full withdrawal of U.S. military forces from the Middle East, lifting all economic sanctions on Iran, war reparations from the U.S., and formal Iranian sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz. It remains unclear whether Trump will agree to any of these sweeping demands, leaving the 14-day negotiation period facing major potential pitfalls.

    For the immediate term, the ceasefire delivers a political win for Trump, who followed through on his high-stakes threat to force a negotiation. But the truce is only a temporary pause in hostilities, not a permanent resolution. The full long-term cost of the president’s unprecedented rhetoric, the conflict, and the norm-breaking that preceded the ceasefire will not be clear for years to come.

  • Trump-backed Republican Clay Fuller wins election to replace Marjorie Taylor Greene

    Trump-backed Republican Clay Fuller wins election to replace Marjorie Taylor Greene

    A high-stakes special runoff election in northwest Georgia has delivered a critical win for Republicans and former President Donald Trump, with Clay Fuller projected to claim the vacant 14th Congressional District seat over Democratic challenger Shawn Harris. The victory, called by major election observers including CBS News, the BBC’s U.S. partner, shores up the Republican Party’s fragile 217-214 majority in the U.S. House of Representatives – a margin so narrow that a single flipped seat could upend the party’s legislative agenda.

    The race was triggered earlier this year when Marjorie Taylor Greene, the district’s former Republican congresswoman and once a staunch Trump ally, resigned after breaking publicly with the former president. Fuller, a lieutenant colonel in the Georgia Air National Guard and a former White House fellow during Trump’s first term, will immediately step into office to serve the remainder of Greene’s term, which expires in January 2027. He will not get a grace period, however: he must immediately launch a new campaign to defend the seat in November’s midterm general elections, where he is widely expected to face Harris once again.

    The path to Tuesday’s runoff began with an all-candidate special election held on March 10, where a crowded field of Republican contenders split the conservative vote. In that initial contest, Harris edged out Fuller by a narrow margin, but no candidate reached the 50% vote threshold required to win outright, forcing the head-to-head runoff.

    Political observers across Washington monitored the race closely as a critical bellwether for Trump’s remaining influence over the Republican base ahead of November’s midterms. Fuller’s rise to become the GOP’s consensus candidate was driven almost entirely by Trump’s early and unwavering endorsement. In a last-minute appeal to voters on the eve of the election, Trump took to social media to urge turnout, writing, “I am asking all Republicans, America First Patriots, and MAGA Warriors, to please GET OUT AND VOTE for a fantastic Candidate, Clay Fuller, who has my Complete and Total Endorsement!”

    Political science professor Andra Gillespie of Emory University noted that Trump’s endorsement of Fuller, rather than a more hardline MAGA-aligned candidate, was a deliberate strategic calculation. “In general, part of President Trump’s strategy in endorsing Fuller was this recognition that the most red meat, MAGA-affiliated candidate in this particular instance, might be off-putting to voters in the middle,” Gillespie explained. “This was an attempt to not lose those voters.”

    For Democrats, the race represented a rare pickup opportunity in a deeply conservative district. Democrats argued that low off-cycle turnout, a common dynamic in special runoffs, would play to their advantage if they could mobilize enough Democratic and independent voters. The party invested early in the race: former Democratic presidential candidate and cabinet secretary Pete Buttigieg held a public town hall with Harris in March to boost his name recognition and turnout. After advancing to the runoff, Harris reached across party lines to court voters who had supported other Republican candidates in the March special election, saying, “Everybody who voted for any other candidate […] I want to talk to every last one of them, and say: ‘Give me a chance.’”

    Gillespie noted ahead of the vote that a Harris win would have required a series of unlikely missteps from Fuller and a massive Democratic turnout effort. “Several things had to go right for Harris – and wrong for Fuller – for the Democrat to win this race,” she said.

    Geographically, Georgia’s 14th Congressional District stretches from the outer northwestern suburbs of Atlanta all the way to the Tennessee state line. It is a mostly rural constituency that has long been a safe Republican seat, though it holds small but concentrated pockets of Democratic support in the Atlanta-adjacent suburbs and around the city of Rome. With Fuller’s win, the district remains in Republican hands, reinforcing the party’s narrow control of the House as the country heads into a contentious midterm election cycle that will determine control of Congress for the next two years.

    Fuller’s policy positions align closely with Trump’s national agenda, most notably his hardline stance on curbing illegal immigration and advancing mass deportation policies, a key priority for the former president’s base.

  • Aussie dollar up, oil tanks on news of US-Iran ceasefire

    Aussie dollar up, oil tanks on news of US-Iran ceasefire

    The Australian equities market delivered a sharp early rally on Wednesday, driven by plummeting global oil prices following the announcement of a conditional two-week ceasefire agreement between the United States, Iran, and Israel. By the first hour of regular trading, the benchmark ASX 200 index jumped 2.6 percent across the board, with technology and materials sectors leading the upward momentum, as geopolitical tensions that had rattled global markets for days eased unexpectedly.

    The ceasefire deal, brokered by Pakistan, is set to reopen the critical Strait of Hormuz—one of the world’s most vital oil shipping chokepoints that handles roughly 20 percent of all global crude trade. The news sent international oil prices falling as much as 19 percent, triggering a sharp pullback for Australian energy stocks. Major domestic energy players posted steep losses in early trading: Woodside Energy and Viva Energy both dropped 10 percent, Santos slid 5.6 percent, and fuel retailer Ampol fell 4.25 percent.

    Lower oil prices, however, injected fresh optimism into the aviation sector, which has been squeezed by rising fuel costs. Qantas Airways saw its shares climb 9 percent, while rival Virgin Australia recorded an even larger 13 percent gain in early trading. Beyond equities, the Australian dollar also strengthened against the U.S. dollar, rising 1.5 percent to 70.70 U.S. cents, while spot gold prices gained 2.3 percent as reduced geopolitical risk supported broader risk-on positioning across assets.

    The ceasefire came after global financial markets braced for potential military escalation, waiting for the expiry of a U.S. deadline for Iran set by former President Donald Trump that passed at 10 a.m. Australian Eastern Standard Time. Analyst Stephen Innes, who commented on the market reaction, noted that the decision by the White House to step back from the brink of conflict came as a major relief to regional and global markets.

    “Once the White House stepped back from the brink and replaced imminent escalation with a conditional two-week ceasefire, oil stopped acting as a lever of global fear and began to revert to something closer to flow and balance,” Innes explained in a market note. “That matters enormously for Asia. Lower oil prices remove the chokehold that has weighed on regional risk sentiment, especially in markets that feel imported energy shocks first and hardest.”

    Innes added that Asian markets entered Wednesday trading primed for volatility, with all asset prices positioned around the high-stakes deadline. “The market walked into Asia like a spring wound too tight, every asset calibrated to a single moment on the clock,” he said. “It walks out of the open with that tension released, not resolved, but eased just enough to let air back into the system. The two week ceasefire buys time, and in markets, time is oxygen.”

    Official details of the agreement confirm direct talks between U.S. and Iranian negotiators will be held in Pakistan this Friday. Iran’s foreign ministry confirmed the country will allow unimpeded transit of oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz for the duration of the 14-day truce, with security oversight managed by Iranian military authorities. The ceasefire announcement follows a recent missile strike on the Thai bulk carrier Mayuree Naree near the strait on March 11, which had stoked fears of disrupted shipping routes and spiked oil prices in preceding days.

    Australia’s energy market dynamics make the truce particularly impactful for domestic investors: the country relies heavily on refineries in Singapore, Malaysia, and South Korea for processed transport fuel, while many Asian economies depend on Australian natural gas exports, creating a direct link between Middle East geopolitics and domestic market performance.

  • North Korea launches a second projectile in 2 days, Seoul says

    North Korea launches a second projectile in 2 days, Seoul says

    South Korea’s joint military command confirmed Wednesday that North Korea has conducted a second projectile launch off its eastern coastline, coming just one day after a similar unidentified weapons test near the country’s capital area. The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff did not release additional details on the latest launch, including estimates of how far the projectile traveled or confirmation of what type of weapon system was tested.

    The launch activity follows a key weapons development announcement made earlier this week by North Korea: state reports confirmed leader Kim Jong Un personally oversaw testing of an upgraded solid-fuel engine designed for strategic weapons, a development Pyongyang framed as a major breakthrough for its national military arsenal.

    Solid-fuel missile technology represents a significant strategic advancement over older liquid-fuel systems. Unlike liquid-fuel weapons, which require on-site fueling immediately before launch and cannot remain stationary for long periods, solid-fuel missiles are far easier to transport, can be deployed faster, and are much harder for enemy intelligence agencies to detect and destroy prior to launch. This latest engine test marks the first test of its kind conducted by North Korea in seven months, and aligns directly with Kim Jong Un’s stated goal of developing a more maneuverable, stealthier missile force capable of striking targets across the United States and its regional allies.

    According to South Korean lawmakers who attended a closed-door briefing this week, Seoul’s National Intelligence Service has assessed that the solid-fuel engine work is part of a broader effort to develop a more powerful intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of carrying multiple independent nuclear warheads.

    North Korea has accelerated its expansion of nuclear and conventional weapons capabilities since high-stakes denuclearization negotiations between Kim Jong Un and former U.S. President Donald Trump collapsed in 2019. During a ruling Workers’ Party Congress held in January of this year, Kim indicated Pyongyang remained open to the possibility of dialogue with the U.S., but set a key condition: Washington must abandon its demand that North Korea commit to nuclear disarmament before any formal talks can resume.