Global Pulse

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  • 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.

  • Australian shares fight back from sharp falls as retailers rally against miners

    Australian shares fight back from sharp falls as retailers rally against miners

    After a volatile, stomach-churning opening drop that sent the Australian benchmark index down 134 points at Tuesday’s opening bell, Australia’s sharemarket staged a remarkable afternoon recovery, driven by shifting investor sentiment around Middle East tensions and growing expectations of an Australian interest rate cut. While both the benchmark ASX 200 and broader All Ordinaries still closed in negative territory by session end, the partial rebound erased much of the early session’s steep losses that followed widespread global market downturns over the prior two trading days. The ASX 200 finished the day down just 0.24% (20.90 points) to settle at 8604.20, while the All Ordinaries closed 0.35% lower (31.10 points) at 8824.80, a far better outcome than the catastrophic opening numbers had forecast. The Australian dollar also gained ground against the U.S. dollar, rising 0.25% to hit 70.54 U.S. cents by market close.

  • Blow for Kenya’s ex-deputy president as court upholds his impeachment

    Blow for Kenya’s ex-deputy president as court upholds his impeachment

    In a landmark ruling that reshapes Kenya’s political landscape months ahead of a general election, the country’s High Court has formally upheld the 2024 impeachment of former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, permanently barring him from holding any public office. The decision comes after months of legal wrangling following Gachagua’s dramatic ouster, which capped a bitter public falling out with his former political ally, President William Ruto.

    Three presiding High Court judges rejected all of Gachagua’s legal challenges to his impeachment, including his core claim that the entire removal process was driven by political bias and manufactured to sideline him. While the court did acknowledge a procedural violation—finding Kenya’s Senate had infringed on Gachagua’s right to due process when it refused to adjourn impeachment proceedings after he fell ill mid-hearing—judges ruled this error did not rise to the level of invalidating the final removal result. As partial redress for the rights violation, the court awarded Gachagua 50 million Kenyan shillings, equivalent to roughly $386,000, in damages.

    Gachagua, who once ran alongside Ruto on a winning joint election ticket in 2022, had been expected to attend the 350-page ruling’s public release but was absent from court. His legal team has already announced plans to appeal the decision, framing the outcome as a politically motivated miscarriage of justice.

    The impeachment of Gachagua followed a rapid and public collapse of his political partnership with Ruto, just two years after the pair won the presidency by leveraging Gachagua’s deep popularity in Mount Kenya, the traditional political heartland of the Kikuyu ethnic community, Kenya’s largest voting bloc. After splitting from Ruto, Gachagua reemerged as one of the president’s fiercest public critics, building a large and loyal grassroots following in his home region and repeatedly rallying opposition to Ruto’s administration. Kenya’s Senate voted by an overwhelming majority to remove Gachagua from office last year, advancing charges of corruption, incitement of ethnic conflict, and sabotage of government operations. Gachagua has repeatedly denied all accusations, calling them baseless, politically motivated attempts to end his career.

    Alongside upholding Gachagua’s removal, the court’s ruling on Monday formally confirmed the appointment of Kithure Kindiki, Gachagua’s replacement as deputy president, cementing the executive branch’s new leadership structure ahead of 2027 general elections. For Gachagua, the ruling delivers a major blow to his long-rumored ambition to run for president in next year’s election, as the lifetime ban on holding public office rules out a presidential candidacy.

    Ahead of the verdict, Gachagua publicly urged his supporters to avoid unrest, saying he was prepared for any outcome and hoped the court would deliver justice both for him and his millions of supporters across the country. He also signaled his intent to continue challenging Ruto through the electoral process, telling followers to prepare to “express their anger at the ballot box” when Kenya heads to the polls next year.

    Gachagua’s impeachment last year took place against a backdrop of growing public unrest across Kenya. Months before his ouster, widespread anti-government protests rocked the country, triggered by unpopular new tax hikes that the Ruto administration ultimately was forced to roll back. Protesters breached parliamentary security and set part of the building on fire during the demonstrations, and a subsequent crackdown by security forces left dozens of protesters dead. Public discontent with the administration has persisted in the months since, with new large-scale demonstrations held just last month to protest skyrocketing fuel prices.

  • Xi Jinping and Kim Jong Un vow stronger ties as North Korea visit wraps up

    Xi Jinping and Kim Jong Un vow stronger ties as North Korea visit wraps up

    After a seven-year gap since his last official trip to North Korea, Chinese President Xi Jinping has concluded a high-profile two-day state visit to Pyongyang, an encounter that has underscored the complex, long-standing alliance between the two neighboring socialist nations amid evolving global power shifts.

    North Korean leader Kim Jong Un extended an exceptionally warm welcome to Xi following his arrival on Monday, rolling out the ceremonial red carpet and staging elaborate acrobatic performances to honor the visiting head of state. While no binding, concrete policy agreements were announced publicly after the closed-door talks, both leaders emphasized the symbolic weight of the meeting, according to reports from North Korea’s state-run news outlet KCNA. Kim framed Xi’s selection of Pyongyang as his first state visit of the year as clear evidence of the “utmost importance” Beijing places on the bilateral relationship.

    The visit comes at a moment of growing strategic repositioning for Beijing: as North Korea has deepened its diplomatic and military ties with Moscow in recent years, China has moved to reassert its influence over its strategically critical, often unpredictable neighbor. Analysts note the trip allows Xi to reinforce a core message for Pyongyang: that China remains North Korea’s primary political and economic benefactor, a lifeline that has sustained the country through decades of harsh international sanctions imposed over its nuclear weapons program. For Kim, hosting a major global leader like Xi just weeks after Xi held separate summits with U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin serves as a high-profile demonstration that North Korea maintains influential international partnerships despite its continued isolation over its nuclear program.

    In remarks carried by China’s state news agency Xinhua during an official state banquet on Monday evening, Xi emphasized the deep geographic and historical bonds between the two nations, noting that “China and North Korea are linked by mountains and rivers and share a common destiny.” Kim echoed the sentiment, affirming that North Korea will continue to prioritize its friendship with Beijing and reaffirming Pyongyang’s unwavering support for China’s One China principle. Against a backdrop of widespread global geopolitical upheaval, Kim stressed that the visit serves as a reminder of the enduring strength of the two countries’ friendship. Xi added that the two leaders reached “important consensus” on advancing high-level diplomatic exchanges and expanding people-to-people connections to align with shifting global trends.

    The 2026 visit also marks a notable milestone: this year celebrates the 65th anniversary of the China-North Korea defense pact, the only active mutual defense agreement China holds with any nation globally. Beyond diplomatic rhetoric, the trip also included symbolic gestures honoring the shared history of the two countries. On Tuesday, Xi and Kim traveled to Pyongyang’s Friendship Tower, a monument honoring Chinese soldiers who fought alongside North Korean forces during the Korean War. They also visited the country’s top leadership training academy, where the two leaders planted a fir tree to represent what both sides described as an evergreen, enduring friendship between the two nations. Throughout his stay, Xi was hosted at Pyongyang’s exclusive Kumsusan State Guest House, a purpose-built facility completed in 2019 ahead of Xi’s last visit to the capital that has since hosted other visiting global leaders including Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.

    Notably absent from all official state media readouts of the talks was any public discussion of North Korea’s nuclear program and the longstanding goal of Korean Peninsula denuclearization — an omission that observers say was entirely expected. In recent years, China has significantly softened its public calls for denuclearization, rarely raising the issue in official joint statements with North Korean leadership.

    Xi was accompanied by a high-powered delegation of top Chinese officials, including his closest political advisor Cai Qi, Defense Minister Dong Jun, Foreign Minister Wang Yi, and Commerce Minister Wang Wentao, signaling the high priority Beijing placed on the engagement.

    Despite the lavish displays of shared friendship and solidarity, underlying strategic and ideological differences between the two countries remain visible in the official readouts of the visit. In his public remarks, Xi referenced working together to open “a brighter future for the socialist cause of both countries” — a nod to a longstanding point of friction between Beijing and Pyongyang. For decades, China has encouraged North Korea to adopt Beijing’s own model of socialist development: maintaining rigid one-party rule while opening its markets to foreign trade and investment. Sydney Seiler, Korea Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, noted on social platform X that key details in Chinese official reports suggest Xi may hold frustration over Pyongyang’s rejection of this path. “North Korea still refuses to learn from China’s developmental experience,” Seiler wrote, pointing to the complete absence of any reference to economic reform in Kim’s public remarks during the visit.

  • Highly effective prevention drug arrives in South Africa, which has world’s highest HIV burden

    Highly effective prevention drug arrives in South Africa, which has world’s highest HIV burden

    In the South African township of Secunda, 19-year-old Olwam Plaatjie carries a personal motivation for embracing a revolutionary new tool in the global fight against HIV. Growing up surrounded by the havoc the virus wreaked on her family and neighbors—watching loved ones lose weight, battle repeated illness, and rely on daily antiretroviral pills to survive—she made the decision to start on pre-exposure prophylaxis three years ago, eager to avoid the same fate.

    Today, Plaatjie is among the thousands of South Africans who participated in clinical trials for lenacapavir, a twice-yearly injectable HIV prevention medication that solves one of the biggest drawbacks of standard daily oral prevention pills: consistent adherence. Even after experiencing mild side effects including night sweats, she has continued her participation, and this month, her country made global health history as one of the first nations in the world to roll out the new drug broadly.

    South Africa bears the world’s heaviest HIV burden, with more than 8 million people currently living with the virus and between 140,000 and 170,000 new infections recorded every year. At the official launch of the national rollout, President Cyril Ramaphosa told a stadium crowd that lenacapavir marks a long-awaited turning point for the country’s decades-long HIV public health response.

    Developed by U.S. pharmaceutical firm Gilead Sciences, lenacapavir’s efficacy was validated through large-scale clinical trials conducted across South Africa and Uganda. A landmark study based in Johannesburg found that the six-monthly injection delivers 100% protection against HIV, a result senior clinician Dr. Nkosi Ndlovu of the Wits RHI research institute called “groundbreaking.”

    Right now, the South African government has secured enough doses to treat 456,000 people for one full year, supported by a $29 million grant from the Global Fund. After this initial phase, Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi confirmed the country plans to transition to independent domestic funding for the program, with continued backing from international donors. Ramaphosa has set an ambitious target to reach 3 million at-risk South Africans with the drug over the next three years, though he has not released detailed funding or implementation plans to meet that goal.

    Despite the historic milestone, public health advocates and civil society organizations argue the current rollout is far too small to move the needle on national infection rates. Groups estimate South Africa needs at least 2 million doses annually to generate a meaningful reduction in new HIV cases. Advocates also point out that South Africa’s central role in developing the drug—from hosting trials to enrolling thousands of community participants and generating the critical efficacy data—should guarantee the country broader, faster access than it has received so far.

    “Our communities participated in the research, our clinics hosted the trials and our scientists helped produce the data,” explained Tian Johnson, health strategist for Johannesburg-based advocacy group African Alliance. “Yet we are still waiting for Gilead to determine how much of the product we receive, when it arrives and how quickly access can expand.”

    On the manufacturing front, progress is underway to expand access and lower costs for low- and middle-income nations. Gilead has already committed to granting a voluntary manufacturing license to a South African drugmaker, following six similar licenses issued to firms in other countries last year. Once a national committee selects the local manufacturer, lenacapavir will be produced domestically as a low-cost generic, priced at just $40 per person annually—a dramatic drop from the original list price of $28,000 per year.

    For the initial rollout phase, South Africa is prioritizing distribution to six provinces with the country’s highest HIV prevalence, with the first batch of 37,920 doses already sent to 360 local health facilities. Doses are being directed first to the groups at highest risk of infection: people who inject drugs, sex workers, transgender people, adolescent women aged 15 to 24, and pregnant or nursing people.

    Reaching these vulnerable key populations presents unique challenges, however. Years ago, sweeping cuts to U.S. global health aid under the Trump administration forced the closure of 12 specialized clinics that were the primary safe, confidential care sites for many at-risk groups. These groups often avoid standard public clinics due to stigma, long wait times, and negative interactions with staff, leaving many at risk of being left out of the new program.

    “Key populations, sex workers, people who use drugs, they don’t normally use public clinics,” noted Bellinda Thibela, international policy and advocacy coordinator for the Health Global Access Project. “So it means that we’re going to lose them unless the government acts fast and ensures that they put the resources to reach those people.”

    Minister Motsoaledi confirmed that patients from the closed U.S.-supported clinics have been transferred to existing public health facilities, and the government is currently working to train staff and create private, stigma-free spaces for vulnerable patients. Even so, he acknowledged that the unique safe environment the specialized clinics provided has not yet been fully replaced.

    “What we have lost is that confidentiality, where they were going to these clinics that are very special to them, where they feel very safe,” Motsoaledi said. “So we are trying to train our doctors to take over.”

    Leila Mansoor, a senior scientist at the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Center for the AIDS Program of Research in South Africa, said equitable large-scale access to lenacapavir could reshape the country’s HIV epidemic. “If South Africa can deliver it equitably and at scale, it could make a meaningful contribution to reducing new HIV infections,” she said.

  • Congo’s Ebola outbreak rises to 100 deaths out of 550 cases after a month

    Congo’s Ebola outbreak rises to 100 deaths out of 550 cases after a month

    BUNIA, Democratic Republic of Congo – A devastating Ebola outbreak, declared less than a month ago in the eastern region of the country, has already claimed at least 100 lives, local health authorities confirmed. The crisis is being compounded by a series of interconnected obstacles that continue to hamper efforts to curb transmission and save lives. As of Monday evening, the latest official situation report documents 550 confirmed cases of the virus, with 101 recorded fatalities and only 19 people who have recovered so far. Public health officials warn that the true scope of the outbreak is likely far higher than documented, because the spread of the virus went undetected for weeks before the outbreak was formally declared. Complicating response efforts even further, the outbreak is being driven by the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola – an uncommon variant that, unlike the Zaire strain which caused most of Congo’s previous 16 Ebola outbreaks, has no currently approved vaccine or targeted treatment available. Local unrest has also become a major barrier: armed conflict is raging in key transmission hotspots, and angry resident attacks on frontline health workers have disrupted critical vaccination, testing and contact tracing operations. Widespread skepticism about the disease among local communities has further slowed public health interventions, creating additional gaps in efforts to contain the spread of the deadly virus.

  • Business, unions unite against Swiss immigration cap push

    Business, unions unite against Swiss immigration cap push

    As Switzerland prepares for a high-stakes public referendum this Sunday, an unusual coalition of top business leaders and major trade unions has mobilized in force to defeat a controversial proposal to cap national immigration and cap the country’s total population below 10 million by 2050. The initiative, spearheaded by the hard-right Swiss People’s Party (SVP) — Switzerland’s largest political party — has sparked widespread fears of severe damage to the country’s employment market, economic prosperity, and critical trade ties with the European Union. Dubbed “No to a Switzerland of 10 million!”, the proposal frames current immigration levels as “out of control”, claiming unchecked population growth is responsible for a raft of national issues, from overcrowded public transit and soaring rental costs to unregulated urban expansion. While the initiative faces broad, unified pushback from the Swiss federal government, national parliament, and the entire business community, recent public opinion polls indicate the final vote result could be extremely close, leaving both sides bracing for a tight outcome. Leading employer associations and trade unions have jointly labeled the plan the “chaos initiative”, warning it threatens to erode the foundations of Switzerland’s decades-long economic prosperity. Much of the country’s core economic sectors — from cutting-edge medical research and large-scale construction to public healthcare — rely heavily on foreign labor, the vast majority of which comes from neighboring European Union member states. Martin von Moos, head of the national hospitality industry group HotellerieSuisse, emphasized that more than half of all employees in Switzerland’s hotel and tourism sector are foreign workers. He warned the cap would dramatically worsen the chronic labor shortages already plaguing the industry. Beyond domestic labor market disruptions, critics warn the initiative puts at grave risk the sweeping bilateral agreements that bind Switzerland to the EU, its largest trading partner by far. Most critically, the proposal would violate the 1999 Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons, a cornerstone of Swiss-EU trade relations. In 2023 alone, more than half of all Swiss exports — totaling more than 147 billion Swiss francs, equal to roughly $185 billion — were shipped to EU markets. For export-focused Swiss firms, maintaining unimpeded access to the European single market and a flexible cross-border labor pool is non-negotiable. Pierre-Yves Bonvin, chief executive of Vionnaz-based textile machinery manufacturer Steiger, which exports 100 percent of its production to the EU, told reporters that his firm simply could not operate without foreign specialist workers. While the company has moved low-value manufacturing to China, it retains all high-value-added production at its Swiss facility, where more than a third of its 40 local employees are foreign nationals. “In Switzerland, we can find engineers to design and assemble our machines, but we lack the specialized expertise to test and calibrate them,” Bonvin explained. “There is no longer any vocational training for this skill set in Switzerland, so we have to recruit these specialists from France and Germany. Without that expertise, we could not continue producing these machines here.” The SVP has dismissed widespread criticism of the plan, noting that the proposal includes annual immigration quotas that would allow roughly 40,000 new foreign residents to enter the country each year. But industry leaders reject that defense, arguing the proposed quotas are far too small to meet Swiss labor demand and would prioritize social sectors over manufacturing, leaving business stranded. Simon Michel, CEO of leading medical technology firm Ypsomed — based near Bern and a producer of diabetes injection systems — and a right-wing Liberal legislator, warned that the quotas would prioritize hospital care and elder care, leaving industrial recruitment at the back of the line. Facing growing global demand for obesity and diabetes treatments, Ypsomed plans to hire 100 new precision mechanics over the next three years for its Solothurn factory. Even with a robust domestic apprenticeship program, Michel said the company cannot train enough qualified workers locally, and will need to recruit from France, Germany, and Poland to fill roles. Trade unions echo business concerns, adding that the cap could push struggling export firms to relocate production entirely abroad, leading to widespread domestic job losses. Switzerland’s largest union, Unia, also warned the initiative would weaken longstanding national labor protections, eliminate anti-discrimination rules that guarantee equal treatment for resident and foreign workers, and open the door to widespread wage dumping that would drag down pay for all Swiss workers. In a statement, the union cautioned that the SVP’s xenophobic campaign around the initiative would put downward salary pressure on every working person in the country, regardless of their origin.