Global Pulse

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  • Rare tornado whips through small Australian town

    Rare tornado whips through small Australian town

    A rare and unexpected weather event has disrupted daily life in the quiet coastal community of Ulladulla, located in Australia’s New South Wales, after a powerful tornado tore through the area on [recent date]. Local residents and bystanders captured dramatic footage of the twister as it carved a path through the small town, leaving a trail of structural damage and uprooted vegetation in its path.

    Eyewitness accounts describe a sudden shift in weather conditions, with dark, roiling storm clouds giving way to the distinct funnel shape that is uncommon in this part of the country. The tornado’s strong winds knocked down multiple large trees across residential streets and main thoroughfares, blocking road access for several hours and forcing local transport authorities to deploy cleanup crews immediately. Multiple residential and commercial properties reported visible damage, including broken roof tiles, ripped off siding, and broken windows from flying debris. No immediate reports of serious injuries or fatalities have been confirmed by local emergency services, though several residents were treated for minor cuts and shock at the scene.

    New South Wales has long faced a range of extreme weather events, including bushfires, severe flooding, and intense thunderstorms, but tornadoes remain a rare occurrence in the coastal regions of the state. Meteorologists from the Bureau of Meteorology have confirmed the tornado formation, noting that it developed as part of a fast-moving cold front that swept across southern New South Wales earlier this week. Local emergency management officials have urged residents to remain alert for further severe weather warnings and to check on vulnerable neighbors in the wake of the storm.

    Cleanup operations are already underway across Ulladulla, with work crews working to clear fallen trees from roads and assess the full extent of property damage. Local authorities have advised affected residents to document damage for insurance claims and contact emergency support services if they require temporary accommodation or assistance with repairs.

  • Pro-Israel advocates hound Green Party members over ‘Zionism is Racism’ motion

    Pro-Israel advocates hound Green Party members over ‘Zionism is Racism’ motion

    The United Kingdom’s Green Party finds itself roiled in a bitter national controversy this weekend, centered around a groundbreaking motion that would officially label Zionism as a form of racism. The motion was drafted by Lubna Speitan, a British-Palestinian party member, who is set to see her proposal put to a vote of the party’s conference delegates on Sunday.

    The debate has already spilled beyond conference walls, igniting heated demonstrations on the streets of Brighton, where the annual Green Party gathering is being held. On Saturday, dozens of pro-Israel demonstrators gathered outside the venue, jeering and shouting at delegates as they entered the building. Protesters chanted slogans including “Terrorist supporters off our streets” and “There’s no Palestine,” with many holding aloft Israeli flags. Signs held by demonstrators read “Stand up to racist Greens,” “Anti Zionism = terrorism” and “More trees less Hamas.” One attendee, a self-identified Indian Jew, waved a combined Indian-Israeli flag, while a small number of protesters also displayed Union Jacks.

    Speaking to Middle East Eye amid the demonstrations, Speitan pushed back against the opposition, emphasizing that the motion does not target Jewish people. “There’ll always be opposition… but we have to stand strong and firm and steadfast in the face of injustice. We should confront all forms of racism, discrimination, genocide and the Holocaust. We’ve made explicitly clear in the motion that not all Jews are Zionist and not all Zionists are Jewish,” she said.

    Many protesters expressed deep fears over what the motion would mean for the future of the UK. An Iranian protester outside the conference argued the motion showed the Greens were aligned with radical Islamists, saying “I’ve seen what’s happened in Iran with the radical Islamists, and I’m terrified it will happen to the UK.” A middle-aged white Christian protester called the party antisemitic, and labeled Green Party leader Zack Polanski — who is Jewish — a “self-hating Jew,” adding that “We did the Holocaust. Now, Jewish people are being persecuted by Islam.” A French attendee, who danced during the demonstration, claimed the Greens were Hamas sympathizers, saying “Have you seen what happened in France with the Islamists and the left? I don’t want that to happen here.”

    Separated from the pro-Israel demonstrators by a cordon of police, a group of counter-protesters — most of them Green Party members — held their own peaceful demonstration nearby. Many waved Palestinian flags and chanted slogans calling for an end to what they describe as genocide in Gaza. One prominent banner declared “Jews against Zionism.” Ori, a young Jewish counter-protester, told MEE his group was there to support the motion. “I think it will be a good thing for there to be a mainstream political party in parliament that says that Zionism is racism, and that can hopefully lead to sanctions against Israel,” he explained. Ori rejected claims that passing the motion would make Jewish members feel unwelcome, adding “Often oppressors see themselves as victims of the people they are oppressing. Zionists think they are victims of the Palestinian liberation struggle. It’s completely untrue.”

    If delegates approve the motion on Sunday, the Green Party will become the first major UK political party to formally adopt the position that Zionism is racism, an unprecedented step in British politics that will embed the position as official party policy. The proposal has already secured high-profile backing from prominent Holocaust survivor and activist Stephen Kapos, who stated that “Zionism both as an ideology and practice is harmful and has no legitimacy and must be rejected.”

    However, the motion has also drawn sharp criticism from senior figures within the party. Former Green leader Caroline Lucas publicly condemned the proposal as divisive on Friday, saying she held “serious concerns” over its impact on the inclusivity of the party. “There is no single definition of Zionism, and irrespective of the intentions of the people who put that motion forward, I think there is a real risk that it’ll be divisive and could be seen as a sign that Jewish people aren’t welcome in the party,” Lucas said. Prior to the conference, widespread reports claimed that Jewish members who attended Zionist-aligned synagogues would face internal disciplinary action if the motion passed, but Speitan has dismissed these claims entirely. She explained that the motion is classified as an “E-Motion,” meaning it addresses external policy matters and has no impact on internal party disciplinary processes.

    Polanski, who is Jewish, has said the motion needs amending to explicitly protect the position of Jewish members who hold Zionist views. He argued that even if a member “stands against the occupation, stands against apartheid, stands against the genocide, but happens to be a member of a synagogue that calls itself a Zionist synagogue, they should not be treated any differently within the Green Party.” But Speitan argued that such an amendment would undermine the core purpose of the motion. “We shouldn’t need as Palestinians to have a disclaimer before we speak for the liberation of our people every time that we’re not antisemites, or to legitimise our cause by saying it’s not an attack against Jews, which indeed it’s not. My grandfather lived next to his Jewish neighbor in Palestine, playing cards every morning and never had a problem,” she said.

    Kieran Andrieu, a British Palestinian political economist and Green Party member, supported the motion, arguing that it was necessary to confront the ideological foundation of Palestinian displacement. “If you acknowledge that what has been done to the Palestinians over the past 100 years or more is a long process of colonisation, ethnic cleansing, apartheid and genocide, you have to ask yourself, how can that happen? It was underpinned by an ideology, Zionism. It’s a racist ideology that dehumanises Palestinians,” he explained. Hamza Egal, chair of the internal party group Global Majority Greens, also backed the proposal, noting that “It’s only the Green Party that’s ever come up and said: ‘let’s give the Palestinians their voice, let them speak for themselves.’ And the motion that they created is what we’ve gone with as global majority Greens. We’ve supported the motion because it’s come from our Palestinian members.”

  • Why pastors may not be seen – or heard – preaching on Ghana’s buses for much longer

    Why pastors may not be seen – or heard – preaching on Ghana’s buses for much longer

    In the pre-dawn hush before Accra’s morning rush engulfs Neoplan bus station, the air shifts from the quiet rumble of idling engines to the rhythmic sound of drumming, singing, and prayer. Leading a small group of 13 worshippers – nine men and four women – 61-year-old pastor Boateng Bismark James lifts his voice in blessing for drivers and passengers bound for destinations across Ghana. For nearly three years, Boateng has led this ritual: gathering believers at the station, praying together, then boarding long-distance commercial buses to spread the Christian gospel to travelers who may never set foot in a traditional church on Sundays. But a newly enforced law is poised to bring this deeply ingrained cultural and religious practice to an abrupt end.

    Ghana is a majority Christian nation, where public transport evangelism has been a common sight for decades. On cross-country bus routes, it is not unusual to see pastors standing in the stairwell beside the driver or pacing the aisle, reading from scripture and calling on passengers to repent, their voices carrying over the noise of the engine for hours on end. Many travelers offer voluntary donations to preachers, and for figures like Boateng, these gifts have become a critical source of income – enough to put his youngest child through university, he says. “Not everyone can get to church on Sunday,” Boateng explained to the BBC in an interview conducted before he boarded a bus bound for Kumasi, Ghana’s second-largest city. “There are many passengers who need this message of salvation. We have even prayed for the sick on buses, and people say they have felt healed.” As Boateng moves through the rows of idling buses, his clerical collar marking his calling, some passengers lean in to listen to his message, while others stare down at their phones or chat quietly with traveling companions. “Some people tell me they had never heard the gospel in a church, but through preaching on the bus, they have found it in the Bible,” he says.

    The new regulation, passed by Ghana’s parliament in May and enforced in recent weeks, classifies preaching and hawking on moving public service vehicles as a public nuisance, citing risks to passenger safety and comfort. Anyone convicted of violating the ban now faces up to eight months in prison, a fine of nearly 50 dollars, or both. This is not the first time Ghana has restricted bus evangelism: a 2012 ban carried penalties of up to 30 days in prison, but weak enforcement allowed the practice to continue largely unchallenged. The updated law significantly strengthens penalties to crack down on the persistent activity. Notably, preachers who use megaphones in lorry parks and open-air markets are not targeted by the new rules, leaving that form of evangelism untouched.

    The ban has deeply divided public opinion in one of the world’s most religious nations. Critics of bus evangelism, who support the new rules, argue that unregulated preaching is not just an annoyance but a genuine safety hazard, saying loud, mobile preachers can distract drivers and increase the risk of accidents. “I just want to travel in peace,” says Chery Lokko, a 30-something traveler who spoke to the BBC. “Some preachers spit without noticing when they’re shouting, especially if you’re sitting close to them. It’s a nuisance with the noise and the mess. I just want quiet when I’m on the bus.” This frustration has spilled into public view: a video recently went viral on Ghanaian social media showing a passenger angrily shouting down a pastor who tried to board a minibus, demanding he get off the vehicle before it departed.

    But supporters of public transport evangelism say the ban infringes on constitutionally guaranteed religious freedom, and note that bus preaching reaches people who rarely attend traditional church services. Bernice Nartey, a passenger heading to Kumasi, says she believes preachers should be allowed to speak as long as passengers consent. “Sometimes the message helps people repent,” she says. “If someone is going through a really stressful time, a pastor’s word can give them new hope.” Boateng says he and his fellow preachers are shaken by the new rule, and are calling for a religious exemption that would allow them to preach before the bus departs Accra. “We are very worried because many pastors here depend on the gifts from passengers to support their families,” he says. For Boateng, this is not just a matter of religious calling: it is his livelihood.

    Even within religious circles, opinions differ. The Christian Council of Ghana declined to comment on the new law, but Senior Pastor Enoch Paul Hayes of the prominent International Central Gospel Church says he does not believe the ban violates religious freedom. He has urged fellow preachers to abide by the law and adapt their methods, pointing to social media as an alternative platform that can reach thousands of people with the gospel message, far more than could ever fit on a single bus.

    Ghana’s constitution does guarantee freedom of religion, but it also allows for restrictions on that freedom when public safety is at stake. For Boateng and hundreds of other bus preachers across the country, the new rules leave a difficult choice: find new ways to practice their ministry and give up a key source of income, or continue preaching and risk jail time and fines for breaking the law.

  • Cornell president says university ‘must do better’ after frat house rape allegations

    Cornell president says university ‘must do better’ after frat house rape allegations

    A high-profile sexual assault allegation has thrown Cornell University into the national spotlight, prompting institutional promises of reform and an independent state-led investigation after a 20-year-old former student filed a civil suit claiming she was drugged and gang-raped by multiple members of the campus Chi Phi fraternity. The accuser, identified only as Jane Doe to protect her privacy, alleges that the attack unfolded over hours on October 19, 2024, inside the fraternity’s on-campus housing. According to her claims, the assault involved both alcohol and ketamine, leaving her so impaired that she was incapable of giving informed consent to any sexual activity.

    Two weeks after the alleged incident, Jane Doe filed an official report with Cornell University Police, which launched an internal investigation. Despite the inquiry, no criminal charges have been filed against any of the seven men she named as perpetrators. Frustrated by the outcome of the university’s probe, Jane Doe filed a civil lawsuit against the Ivy League institution last month, arguing that Cornell failed to uphold its duty to protect her and did not take adequate disciplinary action against the accused attackers.

    In response to the public surfacing of the allegations, Cornell President Michael Kotlikoff released an eight-minute video address to the campus community Saturday evening, where he described Jane Doe’s claims as “deeply disturbing.” Acknowledging that the case has sparked urgent, necessary questions about the campus culture surrounding drug and alcohol misuse, as well as longstanding flaws in how the university handles sexual assault investigations, Kotlikoff conceded that the institution “must do better.”

    “Our core work going forward must center on fostering a campus culture where sexual assault is recognized as inexcusable, where every member of our community understands the meaning and necessity of informed consent, and where survivors feel secure coming forward to report harm,” Kotlikoff said in the address. He added that university leadership is tasked with building an environment where survivors “are treated with compassion and dignity” rather than being dismissed or pushed aside.

    As part of broader systemic reforms planned to address campus sexual violence, Kotlikoff called for a comprehensive public review of the role that fraternities and sororities play in Cornell campus life. “Being part of a Greek life organization can never erase individual responsibility for our own actions, how we treat fellow community members, or the obligation to speak up when someone is in danger,” he emphasized. Kotlikoff also confirmed that the university has authorized an independent review of its handling of the Jane Doe case conducted by an outside law firm, and expressed full support for the state’s separate criminal investigation.

    New York Governor Kathy Hochul also publicly weighed in on the case, saying she was deeply disturbed by reports of how the initial investigation was conducted by the university. In response, Hochul appointed New York Attorney General Letitia James to lead an independent state review of the case and oversee a new criminal investigation. The incident has already galvanized Cornell’s student body, with many students expressing long-simmering frustration over the university’s track record of handling sexual assault reports at a recent public hearing on the case.

  • Why Canada is preparing for a (long shot) US invasion

    Why Canada is preparing for a (long shot) US invasion

    Against a backdrop of rapidly shifting North American geopolitics, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has confirmed that his administration has drawn up contingency plans for a once-unimaginable event: a military invasion by the United States. In an interview with *The New York Times*, Carney emphasized that the probability of such an attack remains extremely low, but framed the planning as a necessary act of responsible risk management amid a fundamental redefinition of Canada-US relations during Donald Trump’s second presidential term.

    Trump’s imposition of sweeping global tariffs and his repeated public comments about absorbing Canada as the 51st US state have pushed Canadian defense planners to run war games simulating a US offensive. While Trump stated in 2025 that a direct military attack on Canada was highly unlikely, he has made clear he will continue leveraging economic pressure to advance US political goals. In a recent statement to the BBC, the White House pushed back on concerns, claiming that “President Trump has done more than anyone to protect the great people of Canada.”

    Military analysts broadly agree that a full-scale US invasion remains a remote outcome, pointing to decades of deep defense integration between the two neighboring nations. Both are treaty allies within NATO, which requires members to come to the defense of any ally facing an external attack, and they jointly manage North American aerospace defense through the binational NORAD agreement, sharing real-time intelligence and running regular joint Arctic defense missions.

    Still, anxiety over the possibility of US aggression has seeped into Canadian public consciousness. A Leger poll conducted in January, shortly after US military forces captured former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in a special operation, found that more than 30% of Canadian respondents view a US invasion as a likely future scenario.

    Lieutenant General Christopher Coates, a 34-year veteran of the Royal Canadian Air Force who held multiple senior command posts and served on NATO missions, told the BBC that for his entire career, a military attack from the US was never even considered in Canadian defense planning. Coates noted that if tensions did escalate to conflict, an attack would unlikely begin with a direct armed assault, and would more likely open with stealthy cyberattacks targeting critical Canadian infrastructure.

    Historians of Canadian defense point out that anxiety over US expansionism is not a new trend – it is actually a foundational element of Canadian national identity. Tim Foran, a researcher at the Canadian War Museum, explained that modern Canada grew out of British North American colonies that remained loyal to the British Crown during the American Revolution. US forces attempted to seize these northern colonies as early as 1775, capturing Montreal and nearly taking Quebec City, and launched repeated invasions of Upper Canada, Lower Canada and the maritime colonies during the War of 1812, ending in a stalemate that saw British troops burn the White House in retaliation for US attacks.

    After World War I, as US global power grew, Canadian military planners again secretly drafted contingency plans for a potential war, with generals posing as tourists to cross the border and photograph infrastructure and gather intelligence from local residents. Andrew Burtch, another Canadian War Museum researcher specializing in 20th-century Canadian defense, noted that war was seen as unlikely even then – planning for all possible outcomes is simply a core function of military institutions.

    In the current era, the very fact that Canada is revisiting invasion planning signals a dramatic shift in the global geopolitical order, according to Matthew Schmidt, an associate professor of national security at the University of New Haven. Schmidt explained that the deep bilateral military partnership that Canada has relied on for decades now creates its own risks, as the close intelligence sharing that benefits both nations could also give the US unique insight into Canadian defense vulnerabilities if relations continue to sour. While American voters and political observers often dismiss Trump’s comments about making Canada the 51st state as offhand rhetoric, Schmidt said Canadian leaders are right to take the threat seriously and prepare accordingly.

    Modeling conducted by the Canadian military and reported by *The Globe and Mail* earlier this year lays out a grim scenario for an invasion: key Canadian strategic positions would be overwhelmed by US forces within just seven days, with the vast imbalance in military size forcing regular Canadian troops to retreat and switch to guerrilla tactics. Under the theoretical plan, Canada would call on NATO allies including France and the United Kingdom to intervene to defend Canadian sovereignty. This is the first time in a century that Canada has developed a formal plan for a US assault.

    Coates noted that the current planning is still in early stages, and that Canada has fallen behind allies in developing a robust response to a potential ground invasion, forcing the country to play catch-up in an age of growing geopolitical unpredictability. That gap has been acknowledged by Canadian defense leaders, who recently called for a massive expansion of the country’s military, including the addition of up to 300,000 lightly trained reserve citizen soldiers to bolster domestic defense capacity.

    A full-scale invasion would also pose major challenges for the US, even with its overwhelming military superiority. Schmidt argued that it would be extremely difficult for the Trump administration to secure buy-in from the US military officer corps for an attack on Canada, with many senior officers likely to resign rather than carry out an order they would view as illegal and immoral. Decades of joint training and operational cooperation have built deep mutual respect between American and Canadian service members, making an ordered attack on a long-time ally deeply unpopular within military ranks.

    If conflict does eventually come, Schmidt predicted the US would likely target Canada’s vast natural resource reserves – including oil and critical minerals – and seek rapid political decapitation of the Canadian government, mirroring the 2025 special operation that captured Maduro in Venezuela. Even with the US’s massive military advantage, Schmidt noted that Canadian troops are highly trained and would be able to put up a formidable resistance on home terrain.

  • Father and son smoke shop workers arrested in Mississippi students’ suspected kratom deaths

    Father and son smoke shop workers arrested in Mississippi students’ suspected kratom deaths

    A devastating incident linked to an unregulated herbal substance has rocked the University of Mississippi community, leaving two students dead and leading to the arrest of a local smoke shop owner and his son. The case has reignited long-simmering national debate over the legal status and public health risks of kratom, a plant-based product often sold openly at convenience and smoke shops across the United States.

    Federal prosecutors have filed criminal charges against 51-year-old Yahya Mohamed Mosleh and 18-year-old Islam Yahya Mosleh, the father and son duo who worked at a vape, tobacco and beer retail store in Oxford, Mississippi. The pair face charges of possession with intent to distribute controlled substances, connected to the two student deaths that occurred last September.

    According to official court documents and statements from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Mississippi, the tragedy unfolded on September 21. First, law enforcement responded to a report of an unresponsive student in their on-campus dormitory. First responders pronounced the student dead at the scene, with initial assessments pointing to a drug overdose as the likely cause of death. Investigators recovered open packaging of suspected kratom derivatives at the scene, with several tablets already removed and consumed.

    Roughly 60 minutes after the first death was discovered, a second University of Mississippi student was found dead at an off-campus location. This victim also showed clear signs of an overdose, and identical suspected kratom derivative packaging was found near the body. Investigators traced the packaging back to the Moslehs’ local retail shop, leading law enforcement to execute immediate search warrants at the store. During the search, officers seized a large stock of suspected kratom derivatives classified as controlled substances under U.S. law, and took the father and son into custody shortly after.

    While the official toxicology reports confirming the exact cause of the two students’ deaths have not yet been finalized, public health and law enforcement officials have already issued urgent public warnings about the dangers of consuming unregulated kratom and its synthetic derivatives. Kratom, a tropical herb that produces opioid-like effects on the human body, has grown steadily in popularity across the U.S. over the past 10 years. It is most commonly sold over the counter in pill or liquid form, often marketed as a natural pain reliever or energy booster at gas stations, smoke shops and online retailers.

    The product has been the center of regulatory controversy for years. Anti-kratom public health advocates have long pushed for nationwide bans, pointing to a growing body of evidence linking its use to overdose deaths, addiction and organ damage. Several countries, including the United Kingdom, have already classified kratom as an illegal controlled substance. However, in the U.S., the substance is not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, and remains legal for sale in a number of states — including Mississippi, where the recent deaths occurred.

    Crucially, prosecutors emphasize that the products linked to the student deaths are not natural kratom leaf. The derivatives involved, identified as MGPI, MGM-15 and MGM-16, are classified as Schedule I controlled substances under federal U.S. law. According to prosecutors, these lab-modified derivatives are far more potent than both natural kratom leaves and even morphine, carrying a drastically higher risk of fatal overdose. The tragedy has already sparked new calls for stricter state and federal regulation of kratom products and their derivatives, as public health officials warn consumers of the unregulated risks lurking in products sold openly across much of the country.

  • Yemeni army claims 1,540 Houthi casualties as fighting intensifies in Taiz

    Yemeni army claims 1,540 Houthi casualties as fighting intensifies in Taiz

    After more than two years of fragile relative calm brokered by the United Nations, Yemen’s long-running civil conflict has reignited with intense violence, centered on the strategically critical southwestern governorate of Taiz. The internationally recognized Yemeni government has released new battlefield figures confirming that 1,540 Houthi fighters were killed or wounded in just 24 hours of intensified combat across the governorate.

    According to Yemeni military officials, government-aligned forces launched 474 coordinated operations against Houthi positions, reinforcement convoys, command hubs, and military infrastructure across multiple front lines in the region, with the vast majority of recorded casualties concentrated in Taiz. Military spokesman Colonel Majed Abdullah al-Nazili detailed that the strikes combined multiple assets, including coalition warplanes, unmanned drones, heavy artillery, guided missiles, and rocket launchers.

    In a major development that exacerbates humanitarian risks in the region, government forces announced the closure of the al-Houban crossing last Saturday. This critical crossing connects Houthi-held al-Houban district to government-controlled Taiz city, and its closure marks a sudden reversal of a 2024 humanitarian decision that reopened the route after nine years of shutdown. Military authorities stated the action was taken for security reasons, citing attempted Houthi infiltration, targeted attacks near the route, and a large Houthi military buildup in the surrounding area. The crossing is one of the few formal links between territory controlled by the two warring parties, so its reclosure severely cuts off civilian access to basic goods and movement between opposing sides.

    The latest surge in fighting is part of a growing trend of escalated clashes across Taiz that has unfolded in recent weeks. Government forces have reported continuous engagements in multiple hotspots, including Bani Bakari, Maqbanah, al-Aqroud, and the northern and eastern outskirts of Taiz city. Military officials confirmed the closure is part of a broader strategy to block Houthi advances toward key supply routes and strategic highland positions that overlook much of the governorate. Just days before this latest escalation, the Yemeni military announced it had carried out 71 separate raids against Houthi positions across Taiz.

    This sharp uptick in hostilities follows the total collapse of a UN-brokered truce in July 2024. The truce, first agreed in April 2022, had ushered in the longest period of reduced violence since the civil war began a decade earlier. Prior to the latest Taiz escalation, Houthi forces made significant territorial gains along Yemen’s western coastline in September 2024, advancing around the strategic port city of Mocha. Government-aligned troops later reported they had stabilized most front lines and recaptured key strategic positions lost in the initial Houthi push.

    Beyond battlefield losses, the renewed conflict has triggered a massive new wave of civilian displacement. Yemen’s official Executive Unit for Internally Displaced Persons Camps Management confirmed that by September, at least 198,000 people had already been forced to flee their homes due to the resumption of large-scale hostilities. As the epicenter of the current fighting, Taiz has absorbed the largest share of displaced populations: the agency reported Thursday that 13,925 displaced families totaling 97,529 people are now scattered across 15 of the governorate’s districts.

    Yemen’s civil war first erupted in 2014, when Houthi rebels seized control of the capital Sanaa and expanded their territorial control across most of northern Yemen. A Saudi-led military coalition intervened in 2015 to support the internationally recognized Yemeni government, turning a domestic insurgency into a years-long regional conflict that has become one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. Taiz has remained one of the most strategically important regions throughout the conflict, thanks to its unique location linking Yemen’s interior highlands to the critical Red Sea shipping coast.

  • ‘The entire land is ours’: Ben Gvir escalates calls for annexation of occupied West Bank

    ‘The entire land is ours’: Ben Gvir escalates calls for annexation of occupied West Bank

    Weeks ahead of Israel’s October 27 Knesset parliamentary election, far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir has reignited international and regional condemnation with a set of extreme, inflammatory remarks that escalate his longstanding anti-Palestinian agenda, Israeli media has confirmed. In an exclusive interview with Israel’s Channel 14, Ben Gvir laid out his radical policy blueprint should he secure the coveted position of defense minister in the next governing coalition: dismantle the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority, and facilitate the forced displacement of Palestinian communities from both the occupied West Bank and the blockaded Gaza Strip.

    Claiming without evidence that 60 percent of Palestinians currently residing in the occupied territories wish to leave, Ben Gvir said he would prioritize the initiative as defense chief. “I will dedicate consistent time and resources to this process, holding weekly coordination meetings with all relevant government bodies to advance it,” he stated. Rejecting the decades-old territorial division framework agreed through the 1995 Oslo Accords, which split the West Bank into three administrative zones—Areas A and B with varying degrees of Palestinian self-governance, and Area C under full Israeli control—Ben Gvir asserted complete Israeli sovereignty over the entire region. “There is no difference between Areas A, B and C. The entire land is ours,” he said.

    The United Nations has repeatedly formalized its position that the entire West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is legally classified as occupied Palestinian territory, and that all Israeli settlements built on land captured by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War hold no legal validity under international law. This is not the first time Ben Gvir, a politician with a well-documented history of hate speech and genocidal rhetoric against Palestinians, has pushed anti-Palestinian policy. In his latest comments, he also called for rolling back existing restrictions on the use of force by Israeli soldiers operating in occupied territories. When asked how Israel could deploy additional troops to counter unrest in the West Bank and Gaza, Ben Gvir replied: “It is very simple: The more you allow soldiers to shoot and use force, the less manpower you need.” He added that current military rules of engagement are far more restrictive than those governing Israeli police, and that he would eliminate those limits if given the defense portfolio.

    Ben Gvir also used the interview to publicly critique incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, arguing that the prime minister has lacked sufficient commitment to advancing the policy of displacing Palestinian communities from occupied land. The controversial remarks come amid a wave of highly provocative Israeli incursions into major Muslim holy sites across the occupied Palestinian territories during the recent Jewish holiday of Sukkot. On September 29, more than 950 Israeli settlers entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem, where far-right Israeli groups shared footage online showing participants conducting unauthorized Jewish religious rituals, praying, singing and dancing within the Islamic holy site. Ben Gvir was among the far-right figures who took part in earlier incursions into the Al-Aqsa compound this season, and Netanyahu further escalated tensions with a visit to underground tunnels located beneath the site. During his trip, Netanyahu stated: “It is moving to touch the rock of our existence. We are here very close to the Holy of Holies. We are here, and we will always remain here.”

    Longstanding status quo agreements governing the Al-Aqsa compound recognize the site as an Islamic holy site under the administrative control of the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf, with Israel retaining authority over external security and visitor access. Later on September 29, Ben Gvir led hundreds of Israeli settlers on a visit to the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron, another site sacred to both Muslims and Jews. “When I arrive at the Ibrahimi Mosque, I draw energy that makes me want to sing and rejoice,” Ben Gvir told Channel 14 during the visit. Israeli authorities closed the entire mosque to Muslim worshippers for the duration of the Sukkot holiday, a move the Palestinian Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs condemned as a deliberate attack on the holy site and a violation of Muslim freedom of worship. The Ibrahimi Mosque has been split into separate sections for Muslim and Jewish worshippers since 1994, when an Israeli ultranationalist settler opened fire inside the mosque, killing 29 Palestinian worshippers at prayer.

  • Tennessee prison chief to resign after Christa Pike’s failed execution, governor says

    Tennessee prison chief to resign after Christa Pike’s failed execution, governor says

    A high-profile leadership shakeup has hit Tennessee’s correctional system, after the state’s top prisons official stepped down in the wake of a botched lethal injection attempt that left convicted murderer Christa Pike — the only woman on Tennessee’s death row — clinging to life in a Nashville hospital.

    Governor Bill Lee made the resignation of Tennessee Department of Correction Commissioner Frank Strada public Saturday in a joint statement with the departing official. Strada framed his departure as a decision made for the good of the state, noting that the ongoing probe into the failed execution is “entirely appropriate and necessary.” In his remarks, Lee praised Strada’s years of service, saying the commissioner “has served with integrity,” and thanked him for prioritizing the needs of Tennessee residents amid the ongoing crisis.

    The botched execution took place Wednesday, when execution teams administered two lethal doses of pentobarbital to Pike, who was sentenced to death in 1996 for the brutal 1995 torture and murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer. Now 48 years old, Pike survived the two injections, and was rushed by ambulance to a Nashville hospital for emergency care. According to legal documents submitted by her legal team, medical providers are currently working to flush the execution drugs from her system. As of Thursday night, Pike remained unconscious, intubated and reliant on a ventilator to breathe.

    Pike’s attorneys have detailed harrowing details of the botched procedure, saying that throughout the two doses, “she could be heard crying, whimpering, and breathing loudly.” The legal team had repeatedly warned state officials in advance of the execution that Pike’s pre-existing medical conditions — including thrombocytosis, a disorder that causes excessive blood clotting, and naturally small veins — created a high risk of severe, unnecessary pain and complications during lethal injection. Those warnings went unheeded: multiple last-minute legal challenges to block the execution failed, with the U.S. Supreme Court rejecting two separate stay requests, and Governor Lee turning down a plea for clemency.

    In the aftermath of the failed procedure, the Tennessee Department of Defense has stood by its execution protocol, stating that “the protocol does not allow for additional procedures beyond what was carried out.” To date, state officials have not explained what caused the procedure to fail, nor have they confirmed whether they will attempt to execute Pike a second time.

    Pike’s legal team moved quickly to protect evidence related to the botched execution, filing an emergency motion Friday to preserve all documentation and physical materials connected to the attempt. They are also currently pushing to have Pike’s death sentence commuted to a life prison term.

    In response to the incident, Governor Lee has ordered an independent external review of the attempted execution, and has put a full halt to all scheduled executions in Tennessee for the remainder of the year.

    The case dates back to 1995, when 18-year-old Pike and her then-boyfriend Tadaryl Shipp beat, tortured and killed Slemmer, a fellow student, in Knoxville, Tennessee. The killing drew extensive local media attention, and Pike was sentenced to death the following year, marking the start of her nearly 30-year stay on death row.

  • Medical plane with 6 on board missing off Massachusetts coast

    Medical plane with 6 on board missing off Massachusetts coast

    A multi-agency search and rescue operation is actively ongoing off the coast of Massachusetts, United States, after a medical aircraft carrying six people vanished from air traffic control radars in the early hours of Saturday. The incident unfolded when the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) lost all communication contact with the Gulfstream G-100 aircraft shortly after 1 a.m. local time, prompting officials to immediately issue an urgent alert for search teams to mobilize. According to the U.S. Coast Guard’s Northeast District, the search area is concentrated in waters surrounding Nantucket, a small island located off Massachusetts’ southeastern coast.

    Flight tracking data from industry platform FlightAware outlines the plane’s final journey: the aircraft departed Bermuda’s L.F. Wade International Airport at 11:40 p.m. local time Friday, on a scheduled flight bound for Boston Logan International Airport, with an expected arrival time of 1:30 a.m. EDT Saturday. Records from the flight tracker show that in the moments before contact was lost, the plane suffered a dramatic, sudden loss of altitude, plummeting from a cruising height of approximately 7,300 meters (24,000 feet) to just 3,300 meters (11,000 feet) before all signals went dark.

    Coast Guard officials confirmed that the plane, identified by its registered tail number, is owned and operated by Latitude Air Ambulances, a company specialized in arranging and operating international medical evacuation flights that transport patients back to their home countries for ongoing care. As of the latest updates, search teams combining air assets and coastal cutters are combing the targeted area, with no debris or signs of the missing aircraft or passengers having been reported as found. The cause of the disappearance remains under preliminary investigation by aviation safety officials.