Global Pulse

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  • Eurovision final: Sex, violins and seven other things to look out for

    Eurovision final: Sex, violins and seven other things to look out for

    The world’s most iconic live music competition, the Eurovision Song Contest, will crown its 2026 champion in a star-studded grand final this Saturday night, held this year in Vienna. With acts ranging from rags-to-riches underdogs to A-list pop stars, this year’s contest delivers everything Eurovision fans love: unexpected twists, dramatic stagecraft, viral controversies, and genre-defying music from 25 competing nations. For UK viewers, the full event will broadcast live starting at 20:00 BST across BBC One, BBC iPlayer, Radio 2 and BBC Sounds, with continuous live coverage hosted on the BBC News website. Below is an exclusive preview of the most anticipated acts and storylines to watch for on competition night.

    Few underdog stories hit harder this year than that of Greece’s entry Akylas. Just eight months ago, the 27-year-old singer was working as a waiter in Athens before quitting to busk on city streets to make ends meet. Speaking to the BBC, he recalled the constant doubt he faced while chasing his dream: “I had so many people telling me that I was wasting my time. People would bully me in the street [while] I was busking, trying to pay my rent and my bills. I was struggling – so it’s crazy that now I’m representing my country at Eurovision.” His competitive entry *Ferto* is a high-energy dance anthem that blends rave synths, retro video game sound effects, and traditional Greek string instrumentation like the lyra. Lyrically, the track reflects on his childhood growing up amid Greece’s prolonged financial crisis, honoring the sacrifices working parents make to give their children better opportunities. Bookmakers currently predict he will land a top three finish in Saturday’s voting.

    Australia has become a surprising staple of Eurovision ever since the nation fell in love with the contest following ABBA’s iconic 1974 win. Invited for a one-off wildcard entry for the contest’s 60th anniversary in 2015, the country’s overwhelming enthusiasm earned it a permanent invitation back every year. This year, after an unexpected semi-final elimination in 2025, Australia is pulling out all the stops to claim its first ever Eurovision win, sending platinum-selling global pop star Delta Goodrem to compete with her power ballad *Eclipse*. The track features a powerhouse chorus that rivals the iconic vocal delivery of Celine Dion, pairing a baroque piano interlude with a dramatic final key change that has wowed audiences and bookies alike. Following Goodrem’s smooth advance through the semi-finals, bookmakers drastically cut her odds of winning, elevating her to the ranks of top frontrunners. One lingering question hangs over an Australian victory, however: where would the 2027 contest be hosted, given the country’s location outside Europe? Speaking on the *Wanging On* podcast this week, long-time BBC Eurovision commentator Graham Norton shared insider gossip: Australian broadcasters have a prearranged deal to host the contest in a partner European country if Australia claims the win. When approached by the BBC for comment, European Broadcasting Union (EBU) organizers declined to confirm details, saying only that they are focused on the 2026 grand final, and discussions about 2027 hosting will begin after a winner is crowned on May 16.

    Heading into the final, Finland holds the position of overall favorite to win, with its dramatic love song *Liekenheiten*, performed by chart-topping Finnish pop star Pete Parkonnen and world-renowned classical violinist Linda Lampenius. Lampenius describes the unexpected collaboration as the Finnish equivalent of Harry Styles pairing up with elite classical violinist Nicola Benedetti. All pre-event buzz has centered around one death-defying stunt in the performance: Lampenius must sprint the full length of the stage catwalk in high heels while holding a priceless 1781 Gagliano violin, valued at roughly £500,000, before jumping onto a chair set next to a stage fire effect. “I run and jump up and down on a chair, and I’m standing next to a fire. So I’m quite nervous during those three minutes. I’m thinking about the violin all the time,” Lampenius admitted ahead of the final.

    Moldova is celebrating its return to the Eurovision grand final this year, after missing out on qualification for two consecutive years. The country’s entry, *Viva, Moldova!* performed by 27-year-old singer and amateur boxer Satoshi, is a boisterous patriotic party anthem written to mark the 35th anniversary of Moldova’s independence. Satoshi has an unusual pre-performance routine to prepare: 30 seconds before stepping on stage, he simulates jumping rope to boost his energy. The routine has become such a running gag backstage that a venue microphone handler gifted him his own jump rope to practice with. The track name-checks some of Moldova’s most beloved cultural icons, including poet Grigore Vieru, whose alphabet poetry collection taught generations of Moldovan children – including Satoshi – to read.

    This year’s contest has not been without controversy. Five countries have announced a full boycott of the 2026 event over Israel’s participation, amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza and rising civilian death toll. During Israel’s semi-final performance earlier this week, contestant Noam Bettan was met with a mix of cheers and booing from the live arena audience, and four protesters were removed from the venue by security. Bettan told the BBC he was surprised by the intensity of the reaction, though he added he had already practiced performing through boos during rehearsals, after Israeli contestants faced similar demonstrations in 2024 and 2025. Further protests are expected during Saturday’s grand final, but Bettan’s sincere, soulful ballad *Michelle* – which blends electronic production with traditional Middle Eastern instrumentation – is still predicted to earn a high placing in the final rankings.

    One of the most dramatic pre-final moments involved Sweden’s entry Felicia, who wears a custom protective face mask during performances to address body image insecurities, not public health concerns. During her semi-final performance, Felicia suffered a wardrobe malfunction that caused the mask to slip off unexpectedly. Within 24 hours, she lost her voice entirely and was ordered to undergo strict vocal rest to recover. “It’s a catastrophe for me because I hate being silent!” she shared on social media, adding that she was following doctor’s orders to rest and stay hydrated. Fortunately, Felicia’s voice had fully recovered in time for Friday’s final dress rehearsal. Her entry *My System* uses the metaphor of an infection to describe overwhelming emotion, and could make history if it wins: a Swedish victory would break the country’s current seven-way tie with Ireland, making Sweden the most successful nation in Eurovision history. When asked about the historic milestone, Felicia laughed and said simply, “No pressure. That would be crazy.”

    The UK is hoping to break its years-long dry spell at Eurovision this year, after a string of bottom-of-the-leaderboard finishes that have come despite sending major pop stars and accomplished vocal groups in recent competitions. This year’s hopeful is Sam Battle, better known by his stage name Look Mum No Computer – an inventor, popular YouTuber, and museum curator from Ramsgate with a famously quirky persona. His entry *Eins, Zwei, Drei* was composed on a custom synthesizer he built from scratch in his garage, and blends the raucous energy of British football chants with the minimal electronic sound of Kraftwerk. Battle acknowledges the track is divisive: “What we’re doing is Marmite – you either love it or hate it – but I think there’s a slot open for our sort of thing.” If the act fails to climb the leaderboard, Battle says he’s already prepared to lean into the joke with a custom “Look mum, no points” t-shirt.

    Norway’s entry Jonas Lovv was ordered to revise his raucous rock performance of *Ya Ya Ya* by contest organizers, after the singer did too many hip thrusting movements during early rehearsals. Lovv told reporters bluntly: “Without joking: too sexy.” Mads Tørklep, head of the Norwegian Eurovision delegation, confirmed that the team was ordered to tone down the act’s sex appeal to meet the contest’s family-friendly content guidelines, specifically calling for a reduction in overtly sexualized rhythmic movements. The performance has since been adjusted to meet PG content standards, though Lovv still adds a playful wink and small playful waggle to the camera for long-time fans.

    Beyond the frontrunners, this year’s grand final features a host of standout performances. Bulgarian singer Dara’s entry *Bangaranga* – a high-energy tropical pop track named for a Jamaican patois term meaning “joyful chaos” – features the most creative stage design of the competition, with dancers twitching and shaking on plastic chairs to the song’s shifting tempo, in a sequence that evokes a surreal mix of a twelve-step meeting and a psychological horror film. Romania’s Alexandra Căpitănescu has faced criticism from campaigners over her track *Choke Me*, which they argue glamorizes sexual violence; Căpitănescu counters that the song is actually a metaphor for feeling suffocated by unrealistic societal expectations, with a performance that finds her tethered to her guitarists by giant neon ropes. Ukraine’s gentle ballad *Ridnym* features the longest sustained high note in Eurovision history, clocking in at 30 seconds, while Serbia’s metalcore group Lavina closes their entry *Kraj Mene* with a chilling, audience-shaking scream. Closing out the standout acts is 17-year-old French singer Monroe, this year’s youngest competitor, whose pop-R&B track *Regarde!* features a showstopping operatic vocal. The song carries a message of universal calm, she says: “It’s about taking the busy moments in your life and just saying, ‘Shhhh, everything is going to be fine’.” After a week of covering the contest in Vienna, that quiet, hopeful message feels just as relevant to fans around the world as it does to the teams backstage.

  • What is a ‘safe death’? Mentally ill woman asks for assisted dying in Canada

    What is a ‘safe death’? Mentally ill woman asks for assisted dying in Canada

    For nearly 30 years, 49-year-old Toronto-based performer Claire Brosseau has navigated a devastating path of severe, treatment-resistant bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). A veteran stand-up comedian and actor who has worked across film, television, and theatre worldwide, Brosseau says she has tried every available intervention for her conditions—from talk therapy and pharmaceutical interventions to electroconvulsive brain stimulation. None have brought relief. Today, she is unable to work, leave her home unaccompanied, or maintain consistent connection with her loved ones, describing her own condition as “functionally terminal.” Now, she is at the center of a high-stakes national debate over whether Canada should expand its existing legal medically assisted dying (MAID) framework to include people whose only qualifying condition is untreatable mental illness.

    Currently, MAID is legal in Canada for patients with terminal illnesses and irreversible serious physical disabilities, but it explicitly excludes those whose sole diagnosis is mental illness. Brosseau, who has lived with debilitating mental illness since adolescence and received psychiatric care in four major North American cities over three decades, is now asking an Ontario court for a special exemption to access MAID immediately, arguing that the existing law is discriminatory and unconstitutional. She says she wakes every day consumed by overwhelming dread and crippling anxiety, and she wants a peaceful, controlled death rather than being forced to die by suicide.

    “Stigma is at the root of this exclusion,” Brosseau explained in an interview with the BBC. “If I were diagnosed with terminal cancer tomorrow, I would be immediately eligible for MAID even if I chose to stop treatment. But people like me, living with unbearable, incurable mental suffering, are denied the same right that is already a standard part of Canadian healthcare. I am not asking for special treatment—only equal treatment.”

    Canada first approved MAID for terminally ill patients in 2016, and expanded it to include non-terminal patients with irreversible serious medical conditions five years ago, following a successful legal challenge by disability advocates. The federal government had initially planned to extend eligibility to patients with treatment-resistant mental illness by 2024, but has twice delayed the expansion, most recently pushing any decision to 2026, amid widespread concerns that the Canadian healthcare system lacks the infrastructure, training, and regulatory frameworks to safely implement the change. Prime Minister Mark Carney has confirmed he will not make a decision until he receives the final recommendations from a joint parliamentary committee tasked with reviewing the proposed expansion. “I will base my position on the full evidence presented to the committee,” Carney told reporters recently.

    Over two months of hearings, the cross-party committee heard conflicting testimony from medical experts, disability advocates, and international commentators that laid bare the deep divides on this issue. Critics of expansion argue that expanding MAID to mentally ill patients risks turning assisted dying into a substitute for inadequate social and medical support. They point to reports of Canadian healthcare providers offering MAID to disabled patients who never requested it, arguing that systemic gaps in affordable housing, disability support, and specialized mental healthcare leave many vulnerable people with no other option to end unaddressed suffering. “We are currently investing in ending lives instead of investing in improving lives,” said Krista Orr, president of national disability advocacy group Inclusion Canada, who called on the committee not just to reject expansion but to roll MAID back to only terminal illness cases.

    Other critics warn that medical science still lacks a full understanding of many severe mental illnesses, making it impossible to definitively distinguish between temporary suicidal ideation and irreversible, untreatable suffering. Dr. Sonu Gaind, former chief of psychiatry at a major Toronto hospital, told the committee that none of the core safeguards and assessment questions have been resolved since the expansion was paused. “We now have even more evidence that we are not prepared to safely offer MAID for mental illness,” Gaind said.

    International experience, particularly from the Netherlands—one of the only countries that already allows MAID for patients suffering solely from mental illness—has added fuel to both sides of the debate. The Netherlands requires all patients seeking MAID for psychiatric reasons to undergo a full assessment by a qualified psychiatrist, and approvals for these cases remain relatively rare, accounting for only 2% of all assisted deaths in the country. However, the number of approved cases has skyrocketed from just 2 in 2010 to 219 in 2024. Dutch psychiatrist Dr. Jim van Os warned Canadian lawmakers that this growing trend reflects what he calls a “suicide contagion effect,” arguing the Dutch experience is a clear warning for Canada. But fellow Dutch psychiatrist Dr. Sisco Van Veen pushed back, noting that approved cases remain rare and MAID provides critical mercy to patients whose suffering is unbearable and untreatable.

    The committee itself has faced accusations of bias from supporters of expansion. Brosseau says she requested to testify before the committee multiple times but was denied a spot. One sitting member, Alberta Senator Kristopher Wells, has publicly called the review “one-sided” and says he has no confidence in the final report. Committee co-chairs Marcus Powlowski, a Liberal MP, and Conservative Senator Yonah Martin—both of whom have publicly opposed expanding MAID to mental illness—defended the process in statements, noting that limited hearing time meant prioritizing testimony from medical professionals and industry associations, and adding that the committee has “dutifully listened to both sides” of the debate. The committee’s final report is not expected to be delivered to parliament until as late as October 2025.

    For Brosseau, who says her condition is worsening by the month and cannot wait for years of parliamentary review, the delay is a matter of life and death. Confined to her home, with even short trips to the local grocery store triggering crippling panic attacks, she says her legal challenge is not a campaign for death—it is a fight for equal human rights. “I’m not campaigning for death. I’m campaigning to be seen as not a subsection of human,” she said. “We deserve the same autonomy over our bodies and our suffering that people with physical illness already have.”

    Public opinion polling shows a majority of Canadians support broad access to medically assisted dying, but public opinion becomes far more divided when the question is limited to mental illness. Currently, 96% of MAID approvals in Canada go to patients with reasonably foreseeable death, mostly terminal cancer patients, with only 4% going to non-terminal patients with irreversible serious conditions. As the country waits for the committee’s final recommendation, Brosseau’s legal case is pushing the judiciary to address a gap in the law that the federal government has so far been unwilling to fill.

  • Switzerland to open secret files on Auschwitz ‘Angel of Death’ Mengele

    Switzerland to open secret files on Auschwitz ‘Angel of Death’ Mengele

    For decades, sealed federal files holding clues about the post-war movements of notorious Nazi war criminal Josef Mengele – infamously known as the “Angel of Death” of Auschwitz – have sparked fierce debate among historians and fueled widespread conspiracy theories about Switzerland’s role in hiding one of the Holocaust’s most brutal perpetrators. Now, following a high-profile legal challenge by a determined historian, the Swiss Federal Intelligence Service has announced it will finally open the long-closed records – though it has yet to announce a firm timeline for public access.

    Mengele, a Waffen-SS doctor stationed at the Auschwitz extermination camp in Nazi-occupied Poland during World War II, bore responsibility for one of the worst chapters of Nazi atrocities. He personally selected more than 400,000 prisoners to be sent to the camp’s gas chambers, where an estimated 1.1 million people – 1 million of them Jewish – were murdered. Beyond his role in mass extermination, Mengele carried out grotesque, unscientific medical experiments on live prisoners, most often targeting children and twins, before killing the subjects of his research. When the war ended in 1945, Mengele escaped justice: he adopted a false identity, obtained fraudulent Red Cross travel documents from the organization’s Genoa, Italy consulate – a loophole the Red Cross later publicly apologized for allowing – and fled to South America, where he lived under an assumed name until his death in Brazil in 1979.

    It has long been confirmed that Mengele visited Switzerland once for a private alpine skiing trip with his son Rolf in 1956, seven years after he fled Europe. But lingering questions have persisted about whether he returned to the country after an international arrest warrant was issued for him in 1959. Swiss historian Regula Bochsler, who has researched Switzerland’s role as a transit country for fleeing Nazi war criminals, uncovered key clues pointing to a possible unreported return: in June 1961, Austrian intelligence warned Swiss authorities that Mengele was traveling under a fake name and may have entered Swiss territory. Around the same time, Mengele’s wife rented an apartment in a modest Zurich suburb, a location conveniently close to Zurich’s international airport, and applied for permanent Swiss residency. Local Zurich police records confirm the apartment was placed under surveillance in 1961, and officers once documented Mrs. Mengele driving through the area with an unidentified man – whose identity has never been confirmed.

    For decades, historians repeatedly requested access to federal intelligence files related to the case, but all requests were denied. The files were originally sealed until 2071, with authorities citing national security concerns and privacy protections for Mengele’s extended family. When Bochsler applied for access in 2019, she was turned away. In 2025, historian Gérard Wettstein made another attempt, and when his request was also rejected, he launched a legal challenge against the Swiss government, crowdfunding 18,000 Swiss francs ($23,000) to cover his legal costs. Just days after the public fundraising drive successfully hit its target, the Swiss Federal Intelligence Service reversed its longstanding position, announcing in an official statement that the appellant would be granted access to the file – though it added that access would be subject to unspecified terms and conditions that have not yet been finalized.

    Historians are divided over what the files will actually reveal. Sacha Zala, president of the Swiss Society for History, says he is convinced the files will not contain new evidence confirming Mengele’s presence in Switzerland after 1956. Instead, he suspects the records likely contain sensitive references to Israeli intelligence agency Mossad, which actively hunted Nazi fugitives across the globe in the 1950s and 1960s and may have coordinated with Swiss authorities. Zala argues that keeping 70-year-old references to a widely known Nazi manhunt sealed is unnecessary, and that the arbitrary secrecy has only fueled unnecessary conspiracy theories. “It shows the stupidity of the declassification process without historical knowledge,” Zala said. “In this way, the administration fueled conspiracy theories.”

    Other historians argue that the decades-long secrecy surrounding the files reveals more about Switzerland’s complicated relationship with its World War II history than it does about Mengele. Jakob Tanner, a historian who served on the 1990s Bergier Commission that investigated neutral Switzerland’s wartime relations with Nazi Germany, noted that the country has long grappled with public shame over its wartime actions: Swiss authorities turned away thousands of Jewish refugees at the border during the war, and Swiss banks held onto unclaimed assets from Jewish families murdered in the Holocaust for decades. “It’s a conflict between national security and historical transparency, and the former often prevails in Switzerland,” Tanner explained, adding that it is entirely plausible Mengele did visit Switzerland in 1961 – after Mossad captured another top Nazi fugitive, Adolf Eichmann, in Argentina in 1960, many Nazis hiding in South America feared they would be next, and may have fled to Europe to lay low.

    Even with the announcement that the files will be opened, historians remain cautious about how much new information will actually come to light. Wettstein says he fears the released files will be heavily redacted, leaving key details blacked out. Bochsler shares that skepticism, noting that the decades-long sealing of the records has already created deep distrust among researchers. “Why have these Mengele files been closed for so long?” she asked.

    Mengele never faced trial for his crimes, and his escape from justice has kept rumors and conspiracy theories about his post-war life alive for more than 75 years. While DNA testing confirmed in 1992 that the body buried under a false name in Brazil was indeed Mengele, the question of whether he secretly returned to Switzerland after 1956 remains unanswered. Even if the files are heavily redacted, historians say opening the records will at least bring much-needed transparency to a long-secret chapter of post-war history, and may help clear up decades of speculation.

    “Maybe we will never get to the real truth,” Wettstein said. “We will never know if he was here or not… but maybe we can have at least a clearer idea.”

  • Trump expected to drop IRS suit in exchange for MAGA slush fund

    Trump expected to drop IRS suit in exchange for MAGA slush fund

    In a sharp rebuke of emerging settlement terms for a $10 billion lawsuit President Donald Trump filed against the Internal Revenue Service, top congressional Democrats have accused the sitting president of orchestrating a massive scheme to divert $1.7 billion in public funds to his political allies, framing the deal as an unprecedented power grab that weaponizes federal institutions for partisan gain.

    Citing multiple unnamed sources familiar with ongoing negotiations, ABC News first reported late Thursday that a deal is expected to be finalized in the coming days. Under the reported terms, Trump would drop his pending lawsuit against the IRS in exchange for two key concessions: the creation of a $1.7 billion compensation pool funded through the U.S. Treasury’s Judgment Fund, a taxpayer-backed account reserved for official court judgments and government settlements, and a public formal apology from the agency for the 2020s leak of Trump’s personal tax returns during his first presidential term.

    The lawsuit itself stems from the unauthorized disclosure of Trump’s tax records by former IRS contractor Charles Littlejohn, who pleaded guilty to leaking the documents to The New York Times and ProPublica in 2024. Those leaks exposed that Trump had utilized aggressive, widely criticized tax avoidance schemes and paid no federal income taxes for multiple years leading up to his 2017 inauguration, breaking a decades-long bipartisan tradition of presidential tax transparency by refusing to release his returns voluntarily. Trump and his legal team initially sought a minimum $10 billion payout from the agency over the leak.

    The proposed settlement has already sparked fierce condemnation from congressional Democrats, who warn that the deal’s structure exposes deep conflicts of interest and unprecedented corruption. As sitting president, Trump already exercises full executive control over the IRS, which is currently led by his handpicked appointee Frank J. Bisignano, who reports directly to Trump-aligned Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. The Department of Justice, which is defending the IRS in the case, is also under Trump’s executive authority, leading legal observers to question the legitimacy of the suit, since both nominal opposing parties are ultimately controlled by the plaintiff.

    Last month, U.S. District Judge Kathleen M. Williams, who is overseeing the case in the Southern District of Florida, publicly questioned the lawsuit’s constitutionality, noting that as sitting president, Trump holds authority over the federal entities he is suing. She has ordered both parties to submit legal briefs by May 20 proving a genuine adversarial conflict exists between the plaintiff and defendants, but legal analysts have noted the White House and DOJ can finalize a settlement before that deadline, leaving the judge with little power to block the deal. Beyond the $1.7 billion fund, multiple outlets have confirmed administration officials have also discussed dropping all outstanding IRS audits of Trump, his family, and his business entities—a move that could save Trump more than $100 million in back taxes, per a 2024 New York Times analysis.

    “ This is another installment in Trump’s ongoing effort to turn the federal government into a personal cash machine for his unpopular extremist movement,” Rep. Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, said in a formal statement Thursday. Raskin called the proposed deal “a massive and unprecedented presidential plunder of the American people,” warning that the plan marks “a declaration that the prior payouts were just a down payment, and that he now intends to earmark billions more in taxpayer dollars for his political allies, sycophants, and private militia of unemployed insurrectionists.” Raskin emphasized that Trump holds no statutory authority to divert Judgment Fund resources for this purpose, arguing that “Congress must act immediately to reassert the power of the purse and stop this brazen looting of taxpayer funds before this ‘pilot program’ for corruption becomes the permanent operating system of our government.”

    Other House Democrats echoed Raskin’s criticism. “Real story: Judge was about to throw out the case because Trump controls both parties,” Rep. Dan Goldman of New York wrote on social media Thursday. “Before it’s dismissed, Trump tells both parties to reach a ‘settlement.’ Settlement shields Trump from any future audit and creates a secret slush fund that can dole out money to anyone with no transparency.” Goldman called the arrangement “mind-boggling corruption.”

    ABC News’ reporting notes the proposed settlement includes multiple unusual provisions that raise transparency concerns. Under the draft terms, Trump would be barred from receiving direct personal payments from the three core legal claims at the center of the suit, but no restrictions prohibit Trump-aligned entities from filing future additional claims. More critically, the president would hold the authority to remove members of the commission overseeing the $1.7 billion fund without cause, and the commission would face no mandatory requirements to disclose its award procedures or decision-making, creating what experts describe as an unaccountable, oversight-free pool of taxpayer cash.

    Top Democratic lawmakers have gone even further in their assessments, describing the plan as the largest single instance of public corruption in U.S. history. “Trump is considering stealing billions of dollars from the American people,” said Rep. Don Beyer of Virginia, the ranking Democrat on the Joint Economic Committee. “He’s already the most corrupt president ever by a wide margin, but this would be fraud and theft on a scale even he has never attempted. The largest single act of grand larceny in American history.”

    Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, top Democrat on the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, added that a pre-ruling settlement would amount to “a massive, unprecedented scandal.” Warren has already introduced legislation that would bar sitting presidents, vice presidents, and their immediate families from collecting settlement payments from the federal government, and would require independent court-appointed counsel to defend agencies in claims brought by top executive branch officials. But the bill has failed to advance in the current Republican-controlled Congress.

    The proposed settlement would represent a dramatic expansion of the pattern of self-dealing that has defined Trump’s second presidential term, according to tracking from the Center for American Progress, a left-leaning think tank that maintains a live public tracker of profits Trump and his family have earned through their hold on public office. To date, the tracker estimates Trump and his family have taken in more than $2.6 billion in cash and gifts through their positions, including roughly $1.5 billion from cryptocurrency ventures promoted from the White House, a $400 million luxury jet gifted by the government of Qatar, and more than $90 million in legal settlements from media and technology companies. Beyond the IRS suit, Trump has also demanded the Department of Justice pay him $230 million in damages over prior criminal investigations into his business and political activities.

    Even a partial payout on Trump’s original $10 billion claim would dwarf the self-dealing of Trump’s first 18 months back in office, analysts have noted, potentially doubling Trump’s reported net worth through public funds diverted through the settlement.

    Bharat Ramamurti, former deputy director of the White House National Economic Council under President Joe Biden, called the lawsuit and proposed settlement “a massive scam” that is “much worse” than Trump’s earlier proposal to divert $1 billion in taxpayer funds to renovate his White House ballroom.

  • Russia lures Yemenis with cash incentives to fight against Ukraine

    Russia lures Yemenis with cash incentives to fight against Ukraine

    For nearly a decade, Yemen has been torn apart by a brutal civil war that has gutted its economy, pushed millions to the brink of famine, and left even experienced frontline fighters struggling to feed their families. Now, a new report from independent news outlet Middle East Eye reveals that Russia has turned this widespread economic despair into a recruiting ground, drawing battle-hardened Yemeni fighters to join its invasion of Ukraine with offers of life-changing cash, steady high salaries, and a path to Russian citizenship.

    Multiple on-the-ground sources confirmed to MEE that the recruitment campaign targets young men with prior combat experience across Yemen’s most active battlefields – from the contested cities of Taiz and Marib to the frontlines along the Saudi border – regardless of whether they previously fought for Houthi forces, the internationally recognized Yemeni government, or militias backed by the United Arab Emirates. The financial terms on offer far outstrip any income available to fighters in Yemen, turning service in Russia’s war in Ukraine into a risky but seemingly viable escape from cycles of crippling poverty.

    Ahmed Nabil, a young fighter who previously served with Yemeni Republican Guard forces on the country’s western coast, was one of dozens of recruits who made the journey over the past year. Fawzi, a fellow Republican Guard soldier who fought alongside Nabil, told MEE that even though Nabil already earned roughly $260 a month – on par with the salary of an experienced professional accountant in Yemen – the promise of far higher pay in Russia was too tempting to pass up.

    “In the middle of 2025, around 10 soldiers, including Nabil, decided to travel to Russia. It seems they were in contact with someone who was already in Russia, but we weren’t aware,” Fawzi recalled. “We tried to advise them, telling them that the fighting there is dangerous, but they confirmed they had enough experience to join any front line in the world.”

    Early reports after Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine claimed that many Yemeni recruits were deceived into traveling to Russia, after being promised well-paying civilian jobs only to be forced into military service. But Fawzi emphasized that every one of his former comrades who made the trip understood full well they would be deployed to the Ukrainian front lines.

    The scope of the financial incentives makes clear why fighters are willing to take the risk: Brokers have promised recruits an upfront payment of $15,000, a monthly salary of $5,000, and eventual Russian citizenship – sums that are virtually unheard of in Yemen’s collapsed economy. Even Fawzi, who knew the risks, admitted he considered the offer at first.

    “When I was told about these offers, I myself thought about joining the battles in [Ukraine],” he said. “But when I saw that almost none of my colleagues had returned, I dismissed it, realising that those financial rewards would be paid with my blood.”

    Despite growing reports of Yemeni recruits being killed or going missing in Ukraine, Fawzi added that new groups of fighters continue to depart Yemen every day, confident that their years of combat experience in their home country’s civil war will help them survive the conflict.

    Over the past year, a number of Yemeni fighters deployed to Ukraine have taken to social media to share firsthand accounts of what awaits new recruits, and many have issued urgent warnings to others considering making the journey. Multiple posts have confirmed that recruits who arrive at the front lines are barred from leaving before they complete their mandatory one-year contracts with the Russian military. Many fighters have described conditions on the front that are far harsher and more deadly than anything they encountered during years of fighting in Yemen.

    Dozens of the social media accounts MEE monitored for this report have stopped posting updates for months, leading to widespread speculation that the users have been killed in combat. A small number of surviving fighters have released public video appeals begging the Yemeni government to intervene and help them return home. To date, the Yemeni government has not taken any public action to assist these recruits. There are also no official counts of how many Yemenis are currently fighting in Ukraine, as nearly all travel through unregulated private brokers rather than formal government or military channels.

    The human cost of this recruitment network is already devastating for Yemeni families. Umm Tawheed, a mother whose son was killed in Ukraine after traveling to Russia without her knowledge, told MEE she is still grieving not just his death, but the fact that she cannot even bring his body home for burial.

    “My son was fighting on the border with Saudi Arabia, but five months ago I was shocked to discover he had travelled to fight in [Ukraine],” she said. “I was not happy to hear that, and I asked his wife to tell him to return, but I was told it was impossible.”

    After weeks of begging relatives and neighbors for help to arrange her son’s return, Umm Tawheed received the devastating news she had feared.

    “I heard Tawheed’s wife crying and shouting. At that point I knew Tawheed had been killed,” she recalled. “I don’t remember what happened next, but it seems I fainted for a while before I woke up to find the whole family surrounding me, everyone except Tawheed, who was gone forever.”

    Tawheed, a father of three, had originally joined Yemeni forces on the Saudi border solely to earn enough money to support his wife, children, and mother. Now, his mother’s only remaining wish – to see his body one last time before burying him – remains unfulfilled.

    “My last hope was to see his dead body, but that was also impossible,” she said. Unable to continue speaking through her grief, she offered a warning to other Yemeni families: “Do not allow your husbands and sons to join battles, whether in Yemen or in [Ukraine], because the pain of this loss is unforgettable.”

    While many families fiercely oppose their loved ones joining the war in Ukraine, for the fighters themselves, the decision to travel to Russia is almost always a desperate response to Yemen’s ongoing economic collapse. Mahmoud Al-Sabri, 37, a veteran of multiple Yemeni front lines, told his family in late 2025 that he was taking a civilian restaurant job in Djibouti, a small Horn of Africa nation neighboring Yemen. While he did travel to Djibouti, his family later discovered he had continued onward to Russia.

    “No one is happy to see their son fight in [Ukraine],” Mustafa Al-Sabri, Mahmoud’s father, told MEE. “That is not our war, and I’m not sure what made my son join it.”

    Mustafa said he believes his son may have been manipulated by recruiters, rather than acting solely out of a desire for higher pay. “He told me he was travelling to work in Djibouti, and then we were shocked to discover he was in Russia. I can’t talk to him now, but I hope he returns soon so we can know the truth,” he said. The family last heard from Mahmoud in early April, when he sent a message saying he was stationed in a forest alongside other foreign recruits. “We don’t know if he is alive, dead, or detained, but I hope we hear his voice soon,” Mustafa added.

    Mohammed Ali, a veteran Yemeni journalist and security observer, told MEE that while most current recruits know they will be deployed to fight in Ukraine, earlier waves of recruitment did rely on widespread deception. “The brokers tell the victims they will be doing civilian work, such as working in restaurants or on farms. But when they arrive in Russia, they find themselves in military camps and have no choice but to sign one-year military contracts,” Ali explained. He noted that this deceptive tactic was most common for recruitment groups sent to Russia in 2023 and early 2024, while most recruits who have traveled more recently are fully aware they will be sent to the front lines.

    At its core, Ali emphasized, the trend of Yemeni fighters joining Russia’s war is driven by the country’s catastrophic economic conditions. “The poor economic situation and the irregular payment of salaries within the Yemeni army and other military groups have played a major role in forcing Yemeni fighters to travel to Russia in search of a better income,” he said.

    This is not the first time Russian recruiters have targeted vulnerable young men in the Middle East. Last year, MEE reported that young Jordanian men were promised safe, high-paying civilian jobs in Russia, only to be coerced into fighting in Ukraine through threats, deception, and fraudulent contracts.

    Russian officials have previously denied forcing foreigners to fight in Ukraine. In March, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov acknowledged that foreigners serve in Russian forces in Ukraine, but claimed the Russian government does not recruit people to fight against their will. “Volunteers get there in full compliance with Russian legislation,” he said.

    MEE reached out to the foreign ministries of Yemen, Russia, and Ukraine to request comment for this report, but did not receive a response before publication.

  • Looksmaxxing influencer Clavicular reaches deal in alligator shooting case

    Looksmaxxing influencer Clavicular reaches deal in alligator shooting case

    A rising controversial social media influencer who helped spread the viral “looksmaxxing” trend has avoided jail time after accepting a plea deal in connection to a widely debated alligator shooting broadcast live online. Braden Eric Peters, 20, who goes by the online alias Clavicular, entered a no contest plea to a charge of unlawful firearm discharge at a Florida wildlife sanctuary during a March incident, according to court filings from Friday. The incident that triggered the charges unfolded on March 26, when Peters went live from an airboat in the Everglades Wildlife Management Area, located west of Miami. Footage captured during the livestream shows multiple gunshots being fired into the swamp waters of the conservation area, with online observers alleging the shots were aimed at an alligator. Within hours of the stream circulating online, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission confirmed it had opened an investigation into the video showing multiple people on an airboat appearing to fire at a reptile in the protected Everglades ecosystem. Peters was not the only influencer charged in the case. Fellow online personality Andrew Morales, who is known to his followers as “The Cuban Tarzan”, also entered a no contest plea and received an identical sentencing deal to Peters. A third influencer involved in the outing, Yabdiel Anibal Cotto Torres, who uses the online name “Baby Alien”, is scheduled to enter his formal plea in the case on May 20. Under the terms of the plea agreement reached with state prosecutors, Peters will serve six months of probation. Court officials added that the charge will be completely expunged from his criminal record if he successfully meets all the agreement’s requirements: completion of state-approved firearms and wildlife safety training courses, and 20 hours of court-ordered community service that is explicitly banned from being streamed online or monetized for content. Peters’ legal representation has emphasized that his client has taken accountability for his actions. In an official statement provided to the BBC, defense attorney Jeffrey Neiman said the negotiated plea deal fairly reflects the context and details of the March incident. “He is committed to moving forward responsibly and ensuring nothing like this occurs again,” Neiman said, adding that his legal team appreciated the professional handling of the case by the Florida state prosecution and the court. Prior to the final resolution of the case, Neiman had noted that Peters was following directions provided by a licensed airboat guide during the Everglades outing, and confirmed that no people or animals were harmed in the incident despite the unlawful discharge of the weapon. Peters rose to online fame for popularizing the so-called “looksmaxxing” trend, a online subculture where creators document extreme, often controversial lifestyle and cosmetic changes they make to improve their physical appearance, amassing hundreds of thousands of followers across major social platforms for the content.

  • ‘This is beyond the Oscar’: John Travolta wins surprise Cannes honorary Palme d’Or

    ‘This is beyond the Oscar’: John Travolta wins surprise Cannes honorary Palme d’Or

    The 77th Cannes Film Festival delivered one of its most memorable unplanned moments this week, when A-list Hollywood star John Travolta was presented with an unexpected Honorary Palme d’Or – the festival’s highest honor celebrating a lifetime of extraordinary contributions to cinema – moments before the world premiere of his first directorial feature film.

    Seventy-two-year-old Travolta, whose decades-long career has cemented his status as a pop culture and film icon, was visibly overcome with emotion as the award was announced to a packed theater of cheering fans, critics and industry peers. Fighting back tears during his acceptance speech, the two-time Academy Award nominee called the unanticipated honor more meaningful than a win at the Oscars. “This is a complete surprise,” Travolta told the crowd, opening his speech in fluent French to the delight of attendees. “I can’t believe this. This is the last thing I ever expected to receive here tonight. This is truly a humbling moment for me.”

    Travolta first rose to global stardom in the 1970s, leading iconic productions such as *Saturday Night Fever* and *Grease* that turned him into a household name and defined a generation of American cinema. He later cemented his legacy with a critically acclaimed career renaissance in the 1990s, headlining Quentin Tarantino’s cultural landmark *Pulp Fiction*, a role that earned him his second Oscar nomination. Over his more than 50-year career, he has remained one of the most recognizable and beloved stars in the global film industry.

    The feature that brought Travolta to Cannes this year, *Propeller One-Way Night Coach*, is a passion project decades in the making. A family-friendly adventure set in the golden age of aviation, the film is adapted from the 1997 children’s book Travolta wrote himself. In addition to writing the source material and making his directorial debut with the adaptation, Travolta also co-produced the project and appears on-screen alongside his daughter, Ella Bleu Travolta. Following its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, the movie is scheduled to launch globally on the Apple TV+ streaming platform later this month.

    Travolta is one of three legendary entertainment figures set to receive an Honorary Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes festival. Acclaimed *Lord of the Rings* director Peter Jackson and award-winning singer, actor and filmmaker Barbra Streisand will also accept the honor over the course of the 2025 event. Surprise Honorary Palme d’Or presentations have become a beloved recent tradition at Cannes: last year, Denzel Washington received the unplanned honor, and two years ago, Hollywood icon Tom Cruise was surprised with the award ahead of the premiere of *Top Gun: Maverick* in 2022.

  • Waymo driverless cars become trapped in Atlanta suburb after glitch

    Waymo driverless cars become trapped in Atlanta suburb after glitch

    A recent technical malfunction has left multiple Waymo driverless vehicles stranded in an Atlanta suburban neighborhood, shining a new spotlight on the ongoing challenges of scaling autonomous vehicle technology for real-world conditions.

    The Alphabet-owned self-driving car firm confirmed this week that the AI-powered vehicles experienced an unexpected routing error that forced the fleet into an endless loop. Each affected car repeatedly redirected itself back to the same quiet cul-de-sac, leaving the autonomous vehicles unable to navigate out of the area on their own and requiring manual intervention from Waymo’s technical teams to resolve the issue.

    Local residents reported seeing the unoccupied driverless cars circling the small residential street multiple times before the problem was fixed, with images of the stuck vehicles circulating quickly on local social media channels. Waymo has not yet disclosed how many vehicles were affected by the glitch, nor has it released details on whether the incident caused any traffic disruptions or property damage in the area.

    The incident comes as Waymo continues expanding its autonomous ride-hailing services across multiple U.S. cities, including recent launches in suburban and urban markets outside of its original testing hubs. Routing and navigation remain among the most critical technical hurdles for fully autonomous vehicles, which rely on a combination of AI algorithms, real-time sensor data, and pre-mapped infrastructure to make split-second driving decisions. Industry analysts note that even rare glitches like this highlight the iterative nature of self-driving technology development, as companies work to address edge cases that do not appear during controlled testing. Waymo has stated that it is already investigating the root cause of the routing error to prevent similar malfunctions from occurring in future deployments.

  • US federal watchdog sues Chick-fil-A operator for religious discrimination

    US federal watchdog sues Chick-fil-A operator for religious discrimination

    A federal workplace civil rights agency has brought a lawsuit against a Texas-based Chick-fil-A franchise operator, accusing the company of unlawful religious discrimination after it fired a manager who requested Saturdays off for her religious Sabbath observance. The United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the independent federal body tasked with enforcing anti-discrimination laws in US workplaces, announced the legal action against Hatch Trick Inc. in an official press statement.

    The affected employee, a member of the United Church of God which recognizes the Sabbath as falling on Saturday rather than the more common Sunday observance held by most Christian denominations, first made her request for Saturday scheduling accommodation during her initial job interview in August 2023, the EEOC alleges. For the first several months of her employment as a delivery operations manager at the Austin, Texas Chick-fil-A location owned by Hatch Trick, the franchisee honored the request, with the employee working 45 to 50 hours weekly across Monday to Friday, plus occasional additional shifts on Sunday. That changed in February 2024, when management reversed course and ordered the woman to begin working Saturdays, according to the commission’s court filing.

    When the employee reaffirmed her need for religious accommodation and refused the new scheduling requirement, company leadership informed her that she could not retain her higher-paying managerial role if she could not work Saturdays, the lawsuit claims. Instead, Hatch Trick offered her a demotion to an entry-level delivery driver position, which came with reduced hourly wages, fewer benefits, and shorter scheduled hours. The worker offered multiple alternative reasonable accommodations to keep her management role, including arranging for a trained driver to fill her dispatch duties on Saturdays and adjusting her schedule to only work after sundown on the Sabbath. After she rejected the demotion offer, the franchisee terminated her employment, the EEOC found.

    “Religious discrimination in the workplace is unlawful, and employers must make reasonable accommodations for employees’ sincerely held beliefs,” said Norma Guzman, director of the EEOC’s San Antonio Field Office, in a statement accompanying the lawsuit filing.

    The case draws a particular note of irony from Chick-fil-A’s own well-known corporate policy of closing all locations on Sundays specifically to allow staff to observe the Sabbath if they wish. The company’s official website states that Sunday closing gives employees time “to rest, enjoy time with their families and loved ones or worship if they choose.”

    When contacted for comment by the BBC, corporate Chick-fil-A declined to provide a statement, but told ABC News affiliate KVUE that as a franchise system, all individual hiring and employment decisions are the exclusive responsibility of independent restaurant owners. The BBC has also reached out to Hatch Trick Inc. for a response to the EEOC’s allegations, and had not received a reply as of reporting.

  • Alleged murder of Aboriginal girl highlights Australia’s deep inequalities

    Alleged murder of Aboriginal girl highlights Australia’s deep inequalities

    In the dry, remote outback of Australia’s Northern Territory, a growing pile of flowers, handwritten sympathy notes, and soft cuddly toys has accumulated on the chain-link fence marking the entrance to Old Timers town camp, known locally as Ilyperenye. This impromptu memorial honors 5-year-old Kumanjayi Little Baby, a Warlpiri Indigenous girl who disappeared from her community in April and was found dead five days later. An Aboriginal man has since been charged with her murder, and the tragedy has rippled across the nation, sparking collective grief, widespread public outrage, and urgent demands to address long-buried systemic inequalities facing Indigenous Australian communities.

    Residents of Alice Springs, the small nearby town with a population of less than 30,000, describe a community frozen in grief. Many local residents joined the frantic search for Kumanjayi in the days after her disappearance. “The whole community is numb,” one mourner shared, a sentiment echoed across the region. Alice Springs Mayor Asta Hill notes that even in the depths of this tragedy, the crisis has drawn the tight-knit region closer: “In some ways you could say we’ve actually seen some of the best of the community in the absolute worst of times.” What began as a local loss has quickly become a national moment of reckoning: condolence motions have passed through federal parliament, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has publicly acknowledged the heartbreak of the tragedy, saying “it breaks your heart,” and vigils have been held from Alice Springs to capital cities across the country.

    In a statement shared at an Alice Springs vigil, Kumanjayi’s mother described her young daughter as a beloved “princess.” The 5-year-old loved cartoons and computer games, adored spending time with her older brother, and was eagerly looking forward to starting primary school. “My heart is broken into a million pieces,” she wrote. “I want you to know that I am having trouble knowing how I can repair it and how I can live without my little baby.”

    Kumanjayi disappeared from Old Timers town camp, one of 16 informal Indigenous settlements scattered around Alice Springs. The story of these camps stretches back to the 1880s, when European colonisers displaced Aboriginal people from their traditional lands, forcing them to settle on the outskirts of the growing town. For decades until the 1960s, Aboriginal people were even barred from entering the majority-white town centre. The camps were only formalised as social housing in the 1970s, after residents pushed for basic access to electricity, clean running water, and permanent shelter. Today, the camps remain chronically underfunded: overcrowding is widespread, there are no local grocery stores, frequent power outages disrupt daily life in the desert heat, public transport is limited, internet access is scarce, and unpaved, poorly maintained roads lack basic street lighting. Public health researchers warn that this entrenched poverty fuels higher rates of alcohol misuse and domestic violence in the camps, creating constant pressure for resident families.

    Nina Lansbury, an associate professor at the University of Queensland who researches public health and housing in the Northern Territory, attended a local vigil for Kumanjayi and says the conditions that put the young girl at risk are nothing new. “I have a report from 1978 that I use in my research that’s from the Northern Territory that was citing all these same things – coming up to 50 years. It’s a big issue, it’s 2026 and this is still happening. Let’s hope this is a turning point,” she said, noting that Kumanjayi was never raised in a home environment that supported her family’s health and safety.

    Since Kumanjayi’s death, her community has entered “sorry business,” a traditional period of cultural mourning for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples that can last for days, weeks, or even months, involving cultural ceremonies and practices. Her family has requested that her death be treated with respect and not exploited for political gain, but the tragedy has nonetheless forced a national reckoning with decades of policy failure that have left Indigenous children disproportionately vulnerable.

    Indigenous Australians currently experience stark systemic inequities: they are three times more likely to face unemployment than non-Indigenous Australians, have a significantly lower life expectancy, make up 37% of the national prison population despite accounting for just 3% of the total population, and face higher rates of both experiencing and perpetrating family violence. Prime Minister Albanese acknowledged this legacy of failure in parliament, admitting: “The simple truth is that all governments of all persuasions over generations have not done enough to deal with what are generational challenges.”

    This legacy stretches back more than a century, through policies that targeted Indigenous families and children. The most infamous is the Stolen Generation, which lasted until the 1970s: tens of thousands of Indigenous children were forcibly removed from their families as part of a brutal assimilation policy, with many placed in institutions or foster care where they suffered abuse and neglect. The 1997 landmark Bringing Them Home report estimated that as many as one in three Indigenous children were taken from their families during this period. More recently, the 2007 Northern Territory Intervention, launched to address child sexual abuse in remote communities, was scrapped after 15 years and widely deemed a failure. Catherine Liddle, CEO of SNAICC – the national peak body representing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and their families – says the Intervention left lasting intergenerational trauma: “Men stopped bathing babies, they stopped helping out because what they heard was if you do those things, you’re a paedophile and you’re going to get locked up and your children are going to get taken away. There was fear of even going to authorities for innocent reasons because you’re scared that you’re going to be told that you’ve done something wrong.”

    In response to public outcry after Kumanjayi’s death, Northern Territory Child Protection Minister Robyn Cahill has announced a full review of the territory’s child protection system, alongside planned reforms. “I will not be a minister who abandons yet another generation of Territory kids,” Cahill said. “The reality is we have kids in really difficult situations and for a long time people have been paralysed by the fear that they will be accused of [creating another Stolen Generation]. Children deserve to be safe – every single child in our community has a right to expect that.”

    However, peak Indigenous organisations have harshly criticised the proposed review and reforms, warning they risk deepening the existing crisis. In a joint statement, Aboriginal Peak Organisations Northern Territory (APONT) and SNAICC argued the changes threaten to weaken the Aboriginal Child Placement Principle, a critical framework designed to keep Indigenous children connected to their family, culture, and community. They warn that weakening this principle would amount to “a race-based attempt to blame Aboriginal families for conditions created by government failure.”

    Indigenous leaders are calling for a holistic, community-led approach to address the deep-rooted social inequalities that put children like Kumanjayi at risk. Liddle points to the overlapping failures of multiple systems: “When you look at the prison system in the Northern Territory, it is nearly always 100% Aboriginal children and nearly every single one of those children came out of the child protection system.” She notes that the Northern Territory lowered the age of criminal responsibility to 10 years old in 2024, a move justified by the government as a child protection measure, despite widespread pushback from doctors, human rights groups, and Indigenous organisations. “It’s like paving a road – it’s like putting down pavers and saying here you are this is going to be your journey and by the way we’re going to lock you up at the age of 10 when something goes wrong,” Liddle said.

    Liddle argues that any meaningful reform must be led by Indigenous communities themselves, not parliaments. “Difficult conversations need to be had – but these should also encompass failures in social policy, housing, the prison system and the justice system,” she said. “Those conversations needed to be led from community because the answers to this sit with community, they don’t sit in parliament. You have to find out what’s actually going on and that will change depending on which community you’re sitting in, what state you’re sitting in. You also need to ensure that you’re investing in the services that we need and investing in the services that were designed by us for us.”

    For many local residents, the tragedy also highlights the need to reframe how Indigenous communities are discussed and supported. Jonathan Hermawan, a vigil attendee, notes that while Kumanjayi was a beloved child who lived in poverty and vulnerability, there is a risk of homogenising and unfairly stereotyping diverse Indigenous communities. “Every system has its failures when you homogenise a group that’s very diverse,” he said. “The notion of Aboriginality is like comparing a white person and saying every white person is affected. We are far more diverse than that, we are far more complex than that.” Across the country, many hope that this national moment of grief will finally translate to lasting, meaningful change that addresses generations of inequity and keeps Indigenous children safe.