Global Pulse

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  • Iran soccer body claims fans’ tickets for World Cup games in the US have been revoked

    Iran soccer body claims fans’ tickets for World Cup games in the US have been revoked

    Just three days before Iran kicks off its 2026 FIFA World Cup campaign against New Zealand at the 70,000-seat SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, the Iranian Football Federation announced Tuesday that FIFA has fully revoked its ticket allocation for all three of the team’s group stage matches held on U.S. soil. This development marks a new low in growing frictions between Iranian football authorities, global governing body FIFA, and tournament co-host the United States, tensions that have escalated steadily since U.S. military strikes against Iran in late February.

    Under standard FIFA tournament rules, each of the 48 participating national federations is allocated 8% of the total stadium capacity for every one of its matches, a quota that typically amounts to thousands of tickets per team. These allocations are customarily distributed by federations to their most loyal supporters, who follow the national team across both home and international fixtures. However, in a statement carried by Iran’s semi-official state media, the federation confirmed that it is now unable to release even a single ticket to Iranian supporters following the sudden cancellation of its quota.

    The Iranian federation directly pointed to political interference from the United States, noting that while FIFA holds formal authority over all World Cup ticketing operations, Washington has deliberately moved to block Iranian fans from accessing the host venues. “This incident raises serious questions about the influence of non-sporting and political considerations on the organization of the world’s biggest football event,” the federation said in its official statement. FIFA has not yet issued any public response to the claims, despite multiple requests for comment.

    The revoked ticketing quota is not the only complication Iran has faced in preparation for this tournament, the team’s seventh appearance at a men’s World Cup. Originally, the squad planned to hold pre-tournament training camps in Tucson, Arizona, but those arrangements were scrapped, and the team has instead relocated its base to the Mexican border city of Tijuana. Multiple senior federation officials have also been denied entry visas to the United States for the tournament. Iran is scheduled to face Belgium in Inglewood on June 21, followed by a final group stage match against Egypt in Seattle on June 26.

    U.S. travel restrictions have long complicated access for Iranians ahead of the tournament: Washington has enforced a full travel ban on Iranian citizens since last year, making entry visas for the World Cup all but impossible for fans based inside Iran. It remains unclear how many of the originally allocated tickets had already been sold to members of the Iranian diaspora, including those already residing in the United States, prior to the revocation.

    With the first match just days away, FIFA now faces a tight timeline to resell the roughly 5,600 tickets that had been reserved for the Iran-New Zealand opener. As of Tuesday, the official FIFA ticketing website still showed dozens of field-level seats available for the match, priced at $450 each, though no large blocks of tickets were listed as available.

    The revocation also stands in direct contradiction to public promises made by FIFA President Gianni Infantino back in 2017, when the United States, Canada and Mexico were campaigning for their successful joint hosting bid. At the time, Infantino explicitly stated that unimpeded access for fans and officials is a non-negotiable requirement for any World Cup. “It’s obvious when it comes to FIFA competitions as well (that) any team, including the supporters and the officials of that team, who would qualify for a World Cup need to have access to the country, otherwise there is no World Cup,” Infantino said nine years ago. “That is obvious.”

    Iran’s ticketing dispute is part of a broader pattern of access issues for global football stakeholders ahead of the 2026 tournament, fueled by restrictive U.S. immigration policies. Over the weekend, a FIFA-appointed match referee from Somalia was denied entry to the United States at Miami International Airport, and was subsequently removed from the tournament’s 104-referee roster earlier this week. An Iraqi player was detained for multiple hours upon arrival in Chicago, while a photographer traveling with the Iraqi delegation was barred from entering the country entirely.

    Piara Powar, executive director of the Fare Network, FIFA’s official anti-discrimination monitoring partner, issued a scathing rebuke of the ongoing disruptions Tuesday. “The disruption is such that one has to ask who is running the World Cup. Is it FIFA or is it the U.S. government with its racially charged immigration policies?” Powar said. “Before a ball has been kicked, the sense that this World Cup is anything but the celebration of global humanity a World Cup should be is beginning to take over.”

  • ‘I’ve been diagnosed with severe depression’: Storm stars share personal stories as the club launches historic mental health round

    ‘I’ve been diagnosed with severe depression’: Storm stars share personal stories as the club launches historic mental health round

    One of Australia’s most storied and successful professional rugby league clubs is breaking new ground in athlete mental health advocacy, launching an unprecedented national initiative to confront the stigma that still prevents millions of Australians from seeking support for mental health challenges. Top National Rugby League (NRL) players from the Melbourne Storm have opened up about their own raw, deeply personal struggles with anxiety, depression, and public pressure to encourage people across the country to speak up about their battles rather than suffering in silence.

    For veteran prop Josh King, the relentless mental pressure of early career losses and constant public criticism left him brought to his lowest point. Young utility Alec MacDonald experienced unexplained severe stomach cramps during matches that were later traced to untreated performance anxiety, while winger Will Warbrick battled undiagnosed severe depression for a full year before he finally sought help. These are not isolated stories — they are just a sample of the quiet struggles that many elite athletes face off the field, which inspired the club to host its first ever Mental Health Round, branded “Tackle Tough Together”.

    Scheduled to take center stage on June 21 during the club’s Round 16 home match against the Canberra Raiders at Melbourne’s AAMI Park, the event marks the first initiative of its kind for rugby league in Victoria. The day will feature a public march of Storm legends to raise community awareness, free on-site mental health screenings for all attending fans, and fundraising efforts through the sale of commemorative pins, with 100% of proceeds going directly to leading Australian mental health organization Beyond Blue.

    Melbourne Storm Chief Executive Justin Rodski emphasized that the initiative aims to redefine what “toughness” actually means, both in sport and everyday life. “We know that in men’s sport, and for men broadly, the expectation is that you stay tough on the field,” Rodski explained. “But this round is about changing that narrative: real toughness isn’t hiding your pain. Real strength is checking in on your friends, and speaking up when you need help. We want men to feel safe to be vulnerable about the hard times they’re going through, to share what they’re feeling and work through it together.”

    For King, who joined the Storm in 2022 after a brutal start to his career with the Newcastle Knights, the message comes from years of personal experience. The 31-year-old front-rower lost 20 of his first 21 professional matches, collected two consecutive wooden spoons (for the league’s worst performing team), and faced constant public criticism that left him questioning whether he even wanted to continue playing professional footy. “The mental side of the game really had me on my knees for a while there,” King said. “At some point, everyone goes through a stretch where they’re struggling mentally, stuck in a dark place. For me that was early on in Newcastle. I was young, thrown into the first team too early, getting hammered in the press and on social media, and I didn’t know if I belonged here.”

    King eventually recognized he needed to make major changes to protect his mental health, stepping back from social media to cut out constant negativity, starting a regular gratitude practice, and beginning regular sessions with a psychologist. He also credits his volunteer work as a Starlight Children’s Foundation ambassador with changing his whole perspective on life. The Storm recently raised more than AU$100,000 for seriously ill children and their families through the foundation, and King has been volunteering with children’s hospitals since his time in Newcastle. “It sounds selfish, but those kids gave me more perspective than I ever gave them,” King admitted. “I’d be stressing about having a bad game, and there they are fighting for their lives and still smiling every day. Seeing how resilient those kids and their families are, it puts every little problem I have in its place.”

    MacDonald, now in his fifth season with the Storm, says the high-pressure environment of professional rugby league forced him to confront his anxiety early, and that experience sparked a new passion that could shape his post-playing career. “When I started playing top-level footy, the pressure was so intense that my anxiety started showing up physically — I had terrible stomach pains during games that no doctor could figure out for a while,” MacDonald explained. “It turned out I was stuck in fight-or-flight mode all the time, which stopped my stomach from digesting food properly. That forced me to start working on my mental health, and I’m actually grateful for it now. It gave me the tools I’ll have for life.”

    Like King, MacDonald intentionally limits his social media use, regularly deleting all apps for weeks at a time to avoid the constant negativity that comes with public life. Working through his own anxiety also sparked a passion for mental health, and he is currently studying psychology with the goal of one day helping other athletes and ordinary people work through their own struggles. “I never would have imagined I’d be studying this,” he said. “At first it was just about helping myself play better, but now I see how much good it could do to help other people too.”

    Warbrick, the Storm’s young winger, was diagnosed with severe depression at a young age, but hid his struggle for nearly a year because of the stigma around men talking about mental health. “I grew up around the idea that you just crack on and bottle everything up,” Warbrick said. “I didn’t even understand what I was feeling back then. I didn’t know what depression was, it was just a word to me. I tried to handle it on my own for a year, and it ended up taking over everything.”

    Warbrick eventually took the step of seeing a doctor and getting a formal diagnosis, which allowed him to access counseling and psychological support. His message to anyone struggling is simple: don’t try to handle it alone. “You can’t fix this by yourself. The first and hardest step is recognizing you need help, and then asking for it. That’s not weakness — that’s the bravest thing you can do,” he said. “It’s so important that big clubs with big platforms like the Storm are shining a light on this. Mental health is a serious issue, and it needs the attention to get better for everyone.”

    The inaugural Melbourne Storm Mental Health Round is held in partnership with AIA Australia and supported by Beyond Blue, with organizers encouraging all fans and community members to join the movement to “Tackle Tough Together” on June 21.

  • Dozens dead in Philippines quake

    Dozens dead in Philippines quake

    On a Monday morning in June 2026, a powerful 7.8-magnitude offshore earthquake struck off the coast of Mindanao, the second-most populous island in the southern Philippines, leaving a trail of death, destruction, and displacement across the region and triggering tsunami warnings across Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific.

    Provincial disaster officials have confirmed at least 32 fatalities from the quake, which caught communities off guard as it hit just as schools across the country were reopening following an extended holiday break. More than 200 people were treated for earthquake-related injuries, and at least 12 people remain unaccounted for amid ongoing search and recovery operations, according to national disaster response authorities. Thousands of local residents have been forced to leave their damaged or at-risk homes, with displacement numbers expected to rise as full damage assessments get underway.

    Tremors from the massive quake were felt as far as 420 kilometers away, reaching the Indonesian city of Manado on the island of Sulawesi and shaking structures across a dozen Philippine provinces. The port city of General Santos, home to roughly 720,000 residents, bore the brunt of the damage, with multiple buildings collapsing and critical public and private infrastructure suffering significant damage. In Sarangani Province’s coastal town of Glan, the quake triggered a devastating landslide that alone claimed the lives of 13 villagers.

    Teresito Bacolcol, director of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, noted this event is the strongest earthquake to hit the archipelago nation so far this year. In the hours following the initial tremor, at least nine powerful aftershocks rattled Mindanao, the largest of which registered a magnitude of 6.7, keeping emergency crews and residents on edge amid fears of additional structural collapse.

    The offshore quake also generated small tsunami surges along nearby coasts, with a 1-meter wave recorded along parts of Mindanao’s shoreline and a 0.75-meter surge detected in parts of Indonesia’s North Sulawesi. Immediately after the quake, tsunami alerts were issued for southern Philippines, northern Indonesia, and the Malaysian state of Sabah on Borneo. The U.S. Tsunami Warning System warned the surges could impact multiple countries, while Australian authorities issued an initial advisory for potential small waves on the country’s northern coasts. Japan’s Meteorological Agency also issued an advisory, confirming a 0.2-meter or smaller tsunami had been observed, leading to temporary ferry disruptions and precautionary closures of coastal beaches.

    In the wake of the disaster, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. quickly ordered the cancellation of all classes across affected regions and directed national disaster-response agencies to deploy immediately to the hardest-hit areas. “The national government is moving and we will not leave Mindanao behind,” Marcos Jr. said in a public statement. The Philippine military confirmed its dedicated disaster response units have already been deployed to affected areas to support search, rescue, and relief operations. General Santos’ international airport was forced to temporarily close due to infrastructure damage, resulting in the cancellation of 17 domestic flights, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines.

    This latest major seismic event comes just eight months after the Philippines experienced its deadliest earthquake in 12 years: a shallow 6.9-magnitude tremor off the island of Cebu that killed 79 people. Just two weeks after that Cebu quake, two large quakes, the strongest registering magnitude 7.4, also struck Mindanao, leaving the island already familiar with large-scale disaster response and recovery efforts.

    As of the latest update, authorities stress that the full scope of damage and casualties remains unclear, with systematic damage and needs assessments still ongoing across the affected region.

  • What happened and why?

    What happened and why?

    A historic milestone in global soccer officiating has fallen through at the last minute, after Omar Artan — the Somali referee set to make history as the first official from his country to work at a men’s World Cup finals — was removed from the tournament’s official roster of match officials. The sudden shakeup comes directly after U.S. border authorities denied Artan entry into the country, derailing his preparations for the high-profile global competition. The development was first reported 59 minutes ago under Africa Sport coverage, leaving the international soccer community surprised by the unforeseen barrier that blocked Artan’s once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. No further details on the specific reason for the entry denial or whether a replacement referee has been named have been released as of the latest update.

  • Zelenskyy arrives in Estonia to attend Nordic-Baltic summit

    Zelenskyy arrives in Estonia to attend Nordic-Baltic summit

    In a high-stakes diplomatic visit that underscores continued regional and global support for Ukraine amid its ongoing full-scale war with Russia, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy touched down in Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, on Tuesday. Accompanied by First Lady Olena Zelenska, the trip centers on his participation in a gathering of Nordic and Baltic leaders hosted by Estonia, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the NB8 cooperation bloc. The grouping brings together five Nordic nations and three Baltic states, with this session bringing together the bloc’s national prime ministers alongside Zelenskyy to address issues tied to the war. Estonia’s Foreign Ministry formally welcomed the first lady in an official post shared to the social platform X, marking the warm official reception for the Ukrainian delegation.

    This visit unfolds against a backdrop of growing cross-border friction, as Ukrainian drones have repeatedly drifted into Baltic territory in recent months. The unintended incursions stem from Kyiv’s stepped-up campaign of strikes against Russian-controlled Baltic Sea ports that Moscow relies on for oil exports, a key part of Ukraine’s strategy to raise the economic pressure on the Kremlin for its invasion. Even as Zelenskyy holds diplomatic talks in Tallinn, deadly violence continues to unfold across Ukraine: Russian forces launched a massive wave of overnight airstrikes, sending 166 long-range attack drones and two precision-guided missiles toward Ukrainian targets. Ukraine’s Air Force reports that its air defense systems successfully intercepted and destroyed 146 of the inbound drones. On the ground, the human cost of the latest assault has been steep. In Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region, regional governor Oleh Syniehubov confirmed that three people were killed and 25 more, including three children, were wounded in Russian attacks over the preceding 24 hours. Further south, in the Dnipropetrovsk region, overnight strikes targeting multiple districts left three people injured, according to regional administration head Oleksandr Hanzha.

    The exchange of fire extended across the border into Russian territory as well. Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed that its own air defenses downed 140 Ukrainian drones overnight. In Russia’s Belgorod region, local emergency officials confirmed one civilian woman was killed when a stray Ukrainian drone struck a residential apartment building.

    Alongside Zelenskyy’s summit participation, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha also joined the delegation in Tallinn for bilateral talks with his Estonian counterpart, Margus Tsahkna. The two diplomats covered three core priorities: Ukraine’s ongoing security needs, new strategies to increase international pressure on Russia, and Kyiv’s progress in its bid to join the European Union. Tsahkna reaffirmed Estonia’s unwavering commitment to Ukraine in a post on X, writing, “Estonia will continue to stand by Ukraine for as long as it takes. As Putin intensifies his attacks and shows no sign of abandoning his imperial ambitions, our responsibility is to increase pressure, not offer concessions.” This stance aligns with comments Tsahkna made in May, when he confirmed Estonia’s full support for Ukraine’s EU accession process and called for the bloc to accelerate negotiations.

    Ahead of his arrival in Estonia, Zelenskyy made headlines on Monday for unexpected talks with two U.S. envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, during a refueling stopover in Chișinău, the capital of Moldova. Zelenskyy described the discussions as positive, noting the talks centered on pathways to end the ongoing war. The Ukrainian leader added that the two sides explored diplomatic opportunities ahead of the upcoming Group of Seven summit scheduled for later this month, and that he shared Ukraine’s full intelligence assessment of Russian strategic intentions with the U.S. delegation.

  • Black bear caught in Japan after days of sightings

    Black bear caught in Japan after days of sightings

    Japan is grappling with an unprecedented surge in human-bear conflicts that has pushed annual attacks to record highs, leaving authorities scrambling to contain two rogue bruins that have terrorized populated areas near Tokyo in recent days.

    In Utsunomiya, a city of 500,000 located roughly 100 kilometers north of Tokyo, law enforcement and wildlife officials successfully captured an approximately 100-kilogram black bear on Tuesday, concluding a days-long search that disrupted daily life for the entire community. The operation, which took 1 hour and 40 minutes after the bear’s position was confirmed 2.5 kilometers south of the city’s main railway station, was far from straightforward: a veterinarian’s first tranquilizer shot missed the target, and two additional doses fired 15 minutes apart were required to subdue the animal. Since the bear was first spotted on Saturday, local residents reported more than 20 sightings across residential and public spaces, including near family homes, elementary schools, urban parks, a local river where the bear was seen swimming, and backyards where it scaled privacy fences. The repeated, unprecedented close encounters prompted city officials to close all 94 public primary and middle schools in Utsunomiya as a precaution, and warnings were issued that a second bear may still be roaming the area, urging locals to lock all exterior doors and windows day and night.

    Some 100 kilometers north of Utsunomiya in Fukushima Prefecture, a second bear described by local officials as “extremely intelligent” remains at large after injuring four people in a residential neighborhood last week. Multiple attempts to tranquilize the animal have failed, and it has repeatedly outmaneuvered search teams. In one notable incident, the bruin broke into an electronics factory, then surprised surrounding police officers by unlocking a window and escaping the surrounded building. Fukushima’s mayor added that search teams have even observed the bear drinking from a public water tap, suggesting it may have figured out how to turn the tap handle on its own, cementing the animal’s reputation for unusual cunning. Authorities have now launched a large-scale aerial search using surveillance drones to track the bear across the region’s mixed residential and forested terrain.

    This pair of high-profile incidents comes as Japan faces a growing public safety crisis around bear encounters. Data from Japan’s Ministry of the Environment shows that bear attacks hit an all-time record in 2025, with 238 people injured and 13 killed across the country in encounters with wild bears. In response to the rising casualty numbers, the Japanese national government launched a coordinated response earlier this year, establishing a cross-ministerial task force and rolling out new emergency response protocols to reduce harm to residents. Local governments and private firms are increasingly turning to cutting-edge technology to address the problem, as traditional bear management strategies struggle to keep pace with growing conflicts. One small village in Fukushima Prefecture is currently testing an AI-powered image analysis system that can automatically identify bears in footage from remote trail cameras, cutting down on the time wildlife teams spend reviewing footage. Telecom firm KDDI SmartDrone has developed an unmanned aerial system equipped with thermal imaging cameras that can track bears through thick woodland without requiring specialized training for local operators, allowing teams to follow animals until hunters or police can arrive on scene. Other firms have developed creative non-lethal deterrent tools: Ohta Seiki, a manufacturing company, launched the “Super Monster Wolf” back in 2016, a solar-powered robotic wolf designed to scare off bears and other unwanted wildlife by mimicking the predator’s appearance and calls. The company reports that it has already received dozens of orders for the device in 2026, far exceeding the typical annual demand for the product.

  • Fifa drops Somali referee from World Cup after US denies entry

    Fifa drops Somali referee from World Cup after US denies entry

    A historic milestone for Somali football has been abruptly cut short, after global football governing body FIFA confirmed that top Somali referee Omar Abdulkadir Artan will not take part in the 2026 FIFA World Cup co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, following an entry denial from U.S. immigration authorities.

    Artan, who was named the Confederation of African Football’s Men’s Referee of the Year for 2025, was blocked from entering the U.S. upon arrival at Miami International Airport. He has since traveled to Turkey, where he remains currently. U.S. immigration officials have not released any public explanation for their decision to bar his entry.

    In an official statement shared this week, FIFA confirmed that after consultations with U.S. authorities, the referee would no longer be able to train or officiate at the upcoming June-July tournament. The governing body emphasized that it holds no authority over immigration processes in host nations, noting that as is standard for all FIFA events, host governments retain full control over visa approvals and entry decisions. FIFA added that U.S. officials have informed the organization Artan’s denied entry status will not be reversed in the near term.

    Selected as one of just 52 referees for the 2026 World Cup, Artan has a well-established international officiating resume. He has held FIFA referee credentials since 2018, and has overseen matches at the Africa Cup of Nations as well as top-tier domestic competitions in his home country. Somalia is among the Muslim-majority nations that have been subject to strict travel restrictions imposed by the current Trump administration, a policy that dates back to Trump’s first term in office.

    According to reporting from the BBC, a senior advisor for Somalia’s Ministry of Youth and Sports confirmed the entry denial, and stressed that Artan was traveling with all required, valid travel documentation. A Somali embassy official based in Nairobi added that Artan had been issued a diplomatic passport specifically to smooth his travel after he faced prior visa-related complications. The Somali Football Federation has since reached out to FIFA to request urgent clarification on the situation, the BBC reported.

    Andrew Giuliani, who leads the White House Task Force for the 2026 World Cup, defended the decision in comments to BBC World Service, saying “While I can’t go into the derog [derogatory information] on that I can tell you it was the right decision by customs and border patrol and I support that decision.” The entry denial comes months after Giuliani stated the Trump administration could not guarantee non-U.S. citizens would be safe from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids at World Cup match venues.

    Artan’s exclusion is the latest in a string of visa denials affecting football officials from regions with tense political relationships with the U.S. and its allies in recent months. In April, The Guardian reported that Palestine Football Association (PFA) president Jibril Rajoub and two other PFA officials were denied entry to Canada for the annual FIFA Congress held in Vancouver. Rajoub had been scheduled to address the congress over FIFA’s handling of Israeli football matches held in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, a territory the United Nations recognizes as illegally occupied.

    Following an investigation launched after a 2024 complaint, FIFA issued a ruling that the final legal status of the West Bank remains a complex, unresolved matter under international law, and declined to take any disciplinary action against Israel. In February, multiple pro-Palestinian and human rights groups filed a 120-page complaint with the International Criminal Court against FIFA president Gianni Infantino and UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin, accusing the pair of aiding war crimes through their refusal to suspend Israel from international football competition.

  • Australia ‘ready to provide humanitarian assistance’ after Philippines smashed by earthquake

    Australia ‘ready to provide humanitarian assistance’ after Philippines smashed by earthquake

    A massive 7.8-magnitude earthquake that tore through the restive southern Philippine region of Mindanao on Monday has left at least 35 people dead, sparked widespread damage, and triggered urgent disaster response efforts from both the Philippine government and regional neighbor Australia.

    The powerful tremor caused a building housing popular local fast-food chain Jollibee to collapse, sent terrified schoolchildren fleeing for safety across the Soccsksargen region, and prompted immediate tsunami warnings across the island archipelago. As of Wednesday, emergency search and rescue teams were still working through piles of rubble to recover victims, with at least 12 people remaining unaccounted for.

    In an official statement released shortly after the disaster, Australia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong confirmed the country stands ready to deploy humanitarian assistance to the Philippines should Manila request support. “Our thoughts are with the Australian-Filipino community, the people of the Philippines, and all those affected by the earthquake near Mindanao,” Wong said. “We stand with our close friends at this time of great difficulty.” Wong is currently in Berlin for scheduled bilateral talks with European leaders focused on the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and efforts to reopen the strategically critical Strait of Hormuz.

    Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has moved quickly to coordinate a national response, directing all relevant government agencies to deploy resources to affected areas and suspending all classes across Mindanao until further notice. In a social media update addressed to the public, Marcos Jr. said he remains in constant contact with regional disaster teams and local government leaders on the ground. “The national government is moving and we will not leave Mindanao behind,” he emphasized.

    Mindanao, the southernmost major island of the Philippines that shares a maritime border with Malaysia, has a long history of recurring security and humanitarian crises. For decades, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) waged an armed separatist insurgency against the Philippine central government, while the jihadist criminal network Abu Sayyaf Group has also maintained a persistent presence in the region. In 2017, the Philippine military launched a months-long campaign to liberate the city of Marawi from Islamic State-affiliated militant groups that had seized control of large swathes of the urban area. More recently, the two men accused of carrying out the 2024 Bondi Beach shooting in Sydney are alleged to have traveled to Davao City, Mindanao’s largest urban center, in 2025.

  • ICC suspends top prosecutor after investigating misconduct allegations

    ICC suspends top prosecutor after investigating misconduct allegations

    The International Criminal Court (ICC), the world’s permanent tribunal for prosecuting genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, has announced the immediate suspension of its chief prosecutor Karim Khan amid a prolonged investigation into formal allegations of misconduct. The unprecedented step was taken by the Bureau of the Assembly of States Parties (ASP), the ICC’s top management oversight body, which has formally referred the entire case to the court’s 125 member nations for a final vote on Khan’s future. A special session of member states will be assembled as quickly as possible to deliberate on the outcome, with oversight officials emphasizing that the temporary suspension does not predetermine the final findings of the investigation.

    Khan, a prominent British lawyer who has led the ICC’s prosecutorial division since 2021, has consistently denied every accusation of sexual misconduct leveled against him. His legal team has publicly decried the suspension decision as “unlawful, procedurally unfair and unsupported by evidence,” rejecting the findings that led to the action. Unconfirmed prior media reports have outlined the core accusations, which include claims of unwanted sexual touching and abuse of professional authority.

    The controversy surrounding Khan stretches back more than a year, marking a period of prolonged institutional upheaval for the already strained ICC. The first formal allegations of sexual misconduct involving a female ICC staff member were submitted to the court by an anonymous third party in May 2024. The court’s Independent Oversight Mechanism (IOM) launched an initial probe, but the investigation was quickly closed after the alleged victim declined to participate in the process. The handling of this first inquiry drew heavy criticism from observers who argued the investigation was mismanaged, eroding public trust in the IOM’s ability to conduct a fair probe. Investigators ultimately concluded there was insufficient evidence to support the claims, closing the first case.

    A second formal referral of the allegations was submitted in October 2024, prompting the ICC to transfer the matter to the United Nations Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) for an independent, broader inquiry into claims of both sexual misconduct and abuse of authority. OIOS investigators carried out their probe between November 2024 and December 2025, collecting more than 5,000 pages of evidence and witness testimony over the 14-month investigation. The OIOS findings were then reviewed by an independent panel of three external judges, who were tasked with advising the ASP Bureau on whether Khan’s actions constituted serious misconduct, minor misconduct, or no misconduct at all, leading to the suspension decision announced this week.

    Khan has already been on voluntary administrative leave since May 2025 as he worked to combat the allegations against him. Under ASP rules, upholding a finding of serious misconduct will require a two-thirds majority vote of the court’s 125 member states, followed by a separate standalone vote on whether to remove Khan from his position permanently.

    The unfolding controversy has put the ICC under unprecedented global scrutiny at a moment when the institution is already facing extraordinary external and internal pressures. Within the Office of the Prosecutor, current staff members have publicly warned that allowing Khan to return to his role would cause irreversible damage to public confidence in the ICC, while also raising serious concerns about potential retaliation against staff members who spoke out during the investigation. On the other side of the debate, Khan’s supporters maintain that the multi-year investigation has failed to produce concrete evidence to substantiate any of the allegations against him, framing the process as a politically motivated smear campaign.

    The controversy has also overlapped with already heightened geopolitical tensions surrounding the ICC, particularly in the wake of Khan’s high-profile decision to pursue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes committed during the ongoing conflict in Gaza. In response to that announcement, the United States imposed harsh economic sanctions on Khan, later expanding the penalties to include two of his deputy prosecutors, eight sitting ICC judges, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, and multiple Palestinian organizations that submitted evidence to the court supporting the arrest warrant application. It is important to note that the United States, Russia, and Israel are not member states of the ICC, though the court retains jurisdiction over crimes committed by the nationals of non-member states that occur on the territory of any ICC member nation.

    Even if the Assembly of States Parties votes to remove Khan from office, legal analysts note the process is far from over. Khan has the right to challenge any removal decision before the Administrative Tribunal of the International Labour Organization (ILOAT), the independent body that hears employment-related appeals for all ICC staff. A legal challenge would almost certainly extend the process for months or even years, and if the tribunal finds that the disciplinary process against Khan was procedurally flawed, it could order his reinstatement to the position of chief prosecutor and award him significant financial compensation. Regardless of the final outcome of the vote and any subsequent legal battles, the controversy is widely expected to continue roiling the ICC for the foreseeable future, deepening existing divisions and testing the institution’s ability to uphold its mandate amid internal and external pressure.

  • ‘Acted appropriately’: SA Police Commissioner defends decision to use taser after man’s death in Clare

    ‘Acted appropriately’: SA Police Commissioner defends decision to use taser after man’s death in Clare

    A fatal confrontation in the regional South Australian town of Clare has prompted formal investigations and reignited public discussion over police use of force, after a 44-year-old man died following the deployment of a taser by responding officers.

    The incident unfolded on Opie Street in Clare, where the 44-year-old was reportedly behaving erratically: he was armed with a metal pole, damaging local property, and issuing violent threats to bystanders. Among those threatened were an elderly couple, according to senior police officials. To de-escalate the situation and take the man into custody, officers made the call to deploy a conducted energy device, more commonly known as a taser.

    Immediately after the taser was used, the man became unresponsive. First responding officers administered emergency first aid on scene, and paramedics rushed to provide advanced care — but their efforts were unsuccessful, and the man was pronounced dead at the location of the incident.

    In his first public comments since the Sunday incident, South Australia Police Commissioner Grant Stevens broke his silence Tuesday, defending the responding officers’ actions after reviewing the body-worn camera footage captured during the confrontation. “I am satisfied that a preliminary view of the body worn video shows that the officers acted appropriately and within general orders,” Stevens told reporters. “Having viewed the body worn video, it is clear the responding officers were confronted by an agitated man behaving in a threatening and aggressive manner. This person was also threatening an elderly man and woman.”

    Stevens also praised law enforcement for their response to the dangerous situation, noting that the footage underscores both their professionalism and courage in working to protect everyone present, including the man causing the disruption. He additionally recognized a member of the public who stepped in to assist officers with restraining the 44-year-old.

    The death will now trigger two formal probes: an investigation by the state’s police standards unit, and a separate public inquiry led by the Police Commissioner itself. A full case file will also be compiled and submitted to the South Australian Coroner for a formal inquest into the death. As of Tuesday, the case has not been referred to the Office for Public Integrity or the independent Commissioner Against Corruption, according to SA Police spokesperson.

    Local community leaders have voiced deep concern over the fatal outcome. Allan Aughey, mayor of the Clare and Gilbert Valleys Council, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that he felt “very troubled” by the incident, which has sent shockwaves through the small regional community.