Global Pulse

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  • Asian benchmarks are mixed in cautious trading amid uncertainty about US-Iran ceasefire talks

    Asian benchmarks are mixed in cautious trading amid uncertainty about US-Iran ceasefire talks

    Global financial markets traded with caution on Wednesday, as investors held their breath for developments in U.S.-Iran diplomatic efforts following a last-minute extension of a temporary ceasefire that was scheduled to expire.

    The day of trading kicked off in Asian markets, where benchmark indexes delivered a mixed performance amid ongoing uncertainty. Japan’s Nikkei 225 notched a 0.3% uptick to close at 59,530.64, while South Korea’s Kospi followed suit with a 0.4% gain to reach 6,413.62. Mainland China’s Shanghai Composite also edged up 0.3% to end the session at 4,096.59. On the downside, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dropped 1.2% to 8,841.00, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 1.3% to settle at 26,140.05.

    Sentiment shifted lower across the Atlantic in U.S. trading after U.S. Vice President JD Vance announced the cancellation of a planned trip to Pakistan, where he was set to lead a U.S. negotiating delegation in talks with Iranian representatives aimed at extending the ceasefire. The S&P 500 wiped out early gains to finish 0.6% lower at 7,064.01, while both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq Composite also recorded 0.6% drops, closing at 49,149.38 and 24,259.96 respectively. Less than 10 minutes after the U.S. market closed for the day, former President Donald Trump confirmed he would extend the ceasefire to give Iran additional time to draft and submit a formal proposal to end the ongoing conflict.

    Energy markets also saw muted movement after weeks of volatility tied to the conflict. Benchmark U.S. crude slipped 19 cents to trade at $89.48 per barrel during Wednesday’s Asian session, while Brent crude, the global benchmark for oil pricing, lost 12 cents to settle at $98.36 per barrel. These small shifts stand in sharp contrast to the extreme swings that roiled markets in the early days of the conflict, when Brent crude briefly spiked above $119 per barrel and the S&P 500 dropped nearly 10% below its previous all-time high.

    Much of the market’s focus has centered on the Strait of Hormuz, the critical narrow waterway running along Iran’s coast that carries a large share of the world’s daily oil shipments out of the Persian Gulf. Net oil importers such as Japan, which sources nearly all of its crude through global shipping lanes, have already taken proactive steps: the Japanese government has released strategic petroleum reserves and is evaluating alternative shipping routes to mitigate potential supply disruptions.

    Despite the lingering uncertainty, U.S. stocks remain near the record high set just the previous Friday, a signal that investors still hold cautious optimism that Washington and Tehran will avoid a full-scale escalation that would trigger severe economic damage. Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at KCM Trade, noted that Trump’s last-minute extension preserves the current uneasy standoff rather than resolving the underlying conflict. “While the pause has reduced immediate tail risks, the absence of a genuine breakthrough means traders remain inclined to tiptoe rather than trade with real conviction,” Waterer explained.

    In other asset classes, the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield rose to 4.31%, up from 4.26% recorded at the close of Monday’s session, with gains accelerating through the day alongside modest movement in oil prices. In foreign exchange markets, the U.S. dollar edged slightly lower against the Japanese yen, falling to 159.33 yen from 159.38 yen. The euro also slipped marginally to $1.1740, down from $1.1744 in the previous session.

  • ‘Hoodoos’: Souths aim to end crazy losing streak in Melbourne against Storm side that is in all sorts

    ‘Hoodoos’: Souths aim to end crazy losing streak in Melbourne against Storm side that is in all sorts

    In the brutal, unpredictable world of National Rugby League, few hoodoos loom as large or as unbreakable as the South Sydney Rabbitohs’ staggering 20-match losing streak against the Melbourne Storm on Melbourne home soil. Yet, as the two clubs prepare to clash on Anzac Day, the Bunnies find themselves presented with the best possible opportunity to finally slay this decades-long ghost, taking on a Storm side mired in a five-match losing slide and lingering near the bottom of the 2026 NRL ladder.

    The grim numbers behind the streak paint a picture of complete dominance from the Storm across every era and venue in Melbourne. Across seven clashes at the old Olympic Park stadium, Melbourne outscored South Sydney by a lopsided 288 points to just 42. Since the Storm moved to AAMI Park, the result has remained the same: the Rabbitohs have dropped all 13 matches played at the venue, with three of those losses coming by a single, devastating point that has only added to the curse’s reputation.

    Despite the weight of this historic failure, South Sydney’s leadership and playing group say they have deliberately avoided discussing the streak inside the change rooms, choosing instead to focus on the task at hand rather than the ghosts of matches past. Fresh off a dominant victory over the St. George Illawarra Dragons, where star fullback Latrell Mitchell turned in a career-defining performance with four tries, captain Cameron Murray says he refuses to give the hoodoo any extra mental weight.

    When asked what could finally make the unwanted streak change on Saturday night, Murray downplayed the significance of past results, pointing to the New Zealand Warriors’ recent end to their own 17-match losing skid against the Storm as proof that old records can be broken. “I honestly try not to think too much about records or any hoodoos or anything like that,” Murray told reporters. “It’s always a big challenge going down to Melbourne. They’ve been the top team, the pinnacle of this competition for a long time. Playing them in their backyard has proven to be a little bit extra hard coming up against a team like that. They’re always strong, Melbourne. We always have to be on our A-game and we have to be ready to work hard for a win.”

    While the Storm’s aura of invincibility appears to have fractured in the 2026 season, ravaged by a long list of key injury absences that have left the perennial powerhouse sliding down the ladder, Murray warned against underestimating Craig Bellamy’s side. He noted that the 2026 NRL season has been the most competitive in recent memory, with any side capable of pulling off an upset on any given weekend, rendering traditional form guides all but useless.

    “I haven’t been keeping too close an eye on how they’ve been going, but the competition’s hard now,” Murray said. “It’s probably more even than it has been in the past, and we’ve always maintained the fact that any NRL team who turns up on their day is a hard team to beat. I guess that’s just proven this year with the mixed results. Staying true to that mentality, Melbourne have got the talent and the skill across the park to be dangerous regardless of how they’ve started the season. They’ve got some world-class players in that team, so we certainly won’t be taking them lightly and we’ll certainly be preparing for a good Melbourne team.”

    For the Rabbitohs, one bright spot heading into the clash is the incredible try-scoring form of record-breaking winger Alex Johnston against the Storm. Across 15 career matches against Melbourne, Johnston has crossed for 17 tries, a haul that most strike forwards would envy over an entire career. Like his captain, Johnston says he has no interest in dwelling on the club’s historic losing streak, focusing instead on executing South Sydney’s game plan to get the win.

    “That’s the past and we’re here to do a job this week,” Johnston said. “It should be a good little trip down there and we’re in a good space. We’ve just got to focus on playing good footy ourselves. We haven’t spoken about it until now when you brought it up. We haven’t really spoken about it and we’re just here to play and focus on ourselves and play good footy.”

  • Iranians have long sought work and relative stability in Turkey. The war could force some to return

    Iranians have long sought work and relative stability in Turkey. The war could force some to return

    For thousands of Iranians who built fragile new lives in neighboring Turkey, regional conflict has turned a precarious temporary existence into a daily fight for stability, separating families and forcing impossible choices between staying and returning to a homeland mired in violence.

  • Child safety staff suspended after bombshell review finds foster kids housed with triple-murderer Regina Arthurell

    Child safety staff suspended after bombshell review finds foster kids housed with triple-murderer Regina Arthurell

    A catastrophic failure of child protection protocols in New South Wales (NSW), Australia has sparked widespread public anger after a damning independent review revealed two vulnerable foster children were placed in the home of a convicted triple killer, despite an explicit warning raised with official child protection services.

    The NSW Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ) launched the review after Sydney radio outlet 2GB broke the story of the shocking placement last month. The investigation uncovered that a concerned individual first contacted the state’s official child protection helpline in December last year to flag that convicted serial killer Regina Arthurell, formerly known as Reginald Arthurell, was already living with one foster child.

    Rather than launching an urgent risk assessment, department staff dismissed the warning based on unsubstantiated assumptions about Arthurell’s age, wheelchair use and existing supervision arrangements. Shockingly, just three months later in March, a second foster child was approved to move into the same home.

    Arthurelle’s criminal record is one of the most serious in New South Wales justice history: the 50-year-old (who transitioned from male to female while serving a 24-year sentence for the 1995 murder of his fiancée) has three separate homicide convictions. In 1974, he was found guilty of stabbing his stepfather to death, followed by a 1981 conviction for killing a man during an armed robbery, before his 1995 conviction for bludgeoning his fiancée to death with a wooden plank. He was released from custody prior to the foster placement.

    The DCJ’s official review concluded that child safety was never made the central priority of the decision-making process that led to the placements. The investigation confirmed existing departmental policies and protocols were completely ignored, and required cross-checks within the department’s own case management system were never completed.

    “The offender’s history stood out as a clear indicator that they should not have been residing with children without a thorough, holistic risk assessment,” DCJ Secretary Michael Tidball stated in the official review report. “The safety of the children was not placed at the centre of decision-making. The review identified significant failures in casework practice, highlighting shortcomings in risk identification and assessment, triage, and safeguards within the child protection response for the children.”

    Following the release of the review’s findings, two senior child protection workers involved in the placement decisions have been suspended from duty. Tidball has referred the full report to the DCJ’s internal conduct division to launch a formal misconduct investigation, though no official findings against the workers have been published at this stage.

    NSW Minister for Families and Communities Kate Washington described the incident as an unacceptable failure that should never have occurred. “I was just so sorry that it had,” Washington told 2GB. “Not only have they made a determination based on unverified information about age and capacity, you know, the fellow was a serial killer.”

    Washington emphasized that the failure stemmed from individual wrong decisions that directly violated departmental rules, not a lack of system capacity or resources. “To be really clear, we had capacity in the system at the time for an investigation to be undertaken, we had the resources,” she said. “It was wrong calls made at the wrong time, but they are working in very difficult, complex environments. Our DCJ child protection caseworkers see the worst of the worst in our society, they walk into homes where parents are harming their children. There are difficult decisions made daily by our case workers, but we do expect them to follow department policies and procedures, and that’s what didn’t happen on these occasions that led to this awful situation.”

  • Trump extends Iran ceasefire with fate of Pakistan talks left uncertain

    Trump extends Iran ceasefire with fate of Pakistan talks left uncertain

    Hours before a two-week U.S.-Iran ceasefire was scheduled to expire on Tuesday, former U.S. President Donald Trump announced a vague extension of the truce, throwing the future of planned bilateral peace talks into deep uncertainty.

    In an official White House statement, Trump explained his decision to extend the ceasefire came at a formal request from Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff Asim Munir and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. He argued that Iran’s ruling government is “seriously fractured” and requires additional time to coalesce around a unified negotiating position to present to U.S. mediators. As part of the extension, Trump confirmed he has ordered U.S. military forces to maintain the ongoing naval blockade of Iran, with the truce remaining in place until Iran submits its formal proposal.

    The two-week initial ceasefire has largely held across the region, bringing a much-needed reprieve to both sides. For Iran, which has endured heavy airstrikes from the U.S., Israel, and U.S.-aligned Gulf Arab allies, the truce halted widespread destructive attacks. For oil-rich Gulf states, which faced thousands of incoming Iranian ballistic missile and drone strikes in preceding weeks, the ceasefire similarly ended persistent security threats.

    Instead of continuing offensive strikes, Trump adopted a strategy of naval blockade, framed as a response to Tehran’s seizure of partial control over the Strait of Hormuz and its selective permission for commercial vessels to transit the critical waterway. On Tuesday, the U.S. military carried out its first high-profile action under the blockade: U.S. troops boarded the crude oil tanker *Tifani* in the Indian Ocean via helicopter, seizing the vessel that had already been sanctioned for transporting Iranian crude oil to China. The U.S. Department of War published official footage of the operation to the public.

    Speaking to CNBC on Tuesday, Trump asserted that the blockade was delivering successful results, claiming “We totally control the Strait, just so you understand, for all the fake news out there.” However, his claim directly contradicts reporting from independent maritime intelligence groups, which confirm Iranian commercial vessels continue to transit the Strait of Hormuz and Gulf of Oman – areas where U.S. naval forces are concentrated. Leading maritime publication Lloyd’s List reported that at least 26 vessels have successfully bypassed the U.S. blockade to date, including 11 tankers carrying Iranian oil cargo.

    This conflicting account is just the latest example of inconsistent messaging from the Trump administration on its Iran policy. The collapse of planned talks has further muddied the outlook: just this week, global attention was focused on Vice President JD Vance, who was widely expected to travel to Pakistan for a second round of direct negotiations with Iranian delegates. CNN later reported Tuesday afternoon that Vance remained at the White House alongside Trump, joined by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth for emergency consultations.

    Iran has already ruled out participation in the planned talks, blaming excessive U.S. demands for the breakdown. Semi-official Iranian news agency Tasnim reported Tuesday that Tehran had already canceled plans to send a negotiating delegation to Islamabad, arguing that engaging with U.S. mediators would be a waste of time while Washington continues to obstruct any mutually acceptable agreement.

    Tensions have further escalated amid new Iranian threats. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) warned Tuesday that it would shut down all oil production across the Persian Gulf if any new attacks against Iran are launched from Gulf Arab states. “The southern neighbours should know that if their geography and facilities are used in the service of the enemies to attack the Iranian nation, they should bid farewell to oil production in the Middle East,” Fars News Agency quoted IRGC Aerospace Force Commander Majid Mousavi as saying.

    The breakdown of talks has sent a shockwave through the Middle East, reintroducing widespread uncertainty across the region just one week after rising diplomatic optimism. Last week, hopes for a diplomatic breakthrough grew significantly after the Trump administration announced a ceasefire in Lebanon, a core precondition Iran had set for advancing negotiations.

    This report was originally compiled by Middle East Eye, an independent outlet specializing in coverage of the Middle East and North Africa region.

  • Trump extends US ceasefire with Iran

    Trump extends US ceasefire with Iran

    WASHINGTON D.C. – U.S. President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he will extend the ongoing temporary truce between the United States and Iran, just one day before the original two-week ceasefire was scheduled to expire Wednesday evening.

    In a public post shared to his social media platform Truth Social, Trump outlined the key factors that led to his decision to extend the pause in offensive actions. He cited two core drivers: the well-documented, widely anticipated deep internal political fracture within Iran’s governing institutions, and a formal request from top Pakistani leaders to hold off on any planned military strikes against Iran.

    “Upon the request of Field Marshal Asim Munir, and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, of Pakistan, we have been asked to hold our Attack on the Country of Iran until such time as their leaders and representatives can come up with a unified proposal,” Trump wrote in the post.

    The U.S. president confirmed the ceasefire will remain in place indefinitely for the time being, staying active until Iranian representatives submit their unified proposal and bilateral discussions reach a conclusion, regardless of the final outcome of those talks.

    While offensive military operations will remain on hold, Trump emphasized that the U.S. military will maintain its current blockade of Iran and will stay fully postured to respond to any emerging threats. He noted U.S. forces remain “ready and able” to carry out any necessary actions if the negotiated process fails to deliver an acceptable outcome.

    The extension marks a temporary de-escalation of tensions between the two nations, which had spiked in recent weeks ahead of the original truce taking effect, and leaves the window open for diplomatic efforts to resolve ongoing disputes through negotiation rather than military conflict.

  • ‘She’s insane’: NSW squad unveiled for State of Origin opener, with star making shock move to forwards

    ‘She’s insane’: NSW squad unveiled for State of Origin opener, with star making shock move to forwards

    The New South Wales Blues have dropped a major selection bombshell for the opening match of the 2024 State of Origin women’s series, with superstar outside back Tiana Penitani Gray set to make an unprecedented positional shift to the forward pack. The announcement, made by head coach John Strange at the iconic Sydney Opera House, has turned pre-series expectations on their head just one week out from kickoff in Newcastle.

    Strange said the call to move Penitani Gray into the starting second row was anything but a gamble. The coach revealed it took just 13 minutes of an internal trial for him to be convinced that the versatile Sharks star, who has previously played wing, centre and five-eighth for NSW, had all the tools to excel in an unfamiliar forward role. Calling the selection a “no-brainer”, Strange pushed back on any criticism of his unorthodox approach to team selection, noting his eye for matching player attributes to untraditional positions has worked in the past.

    “I know I look at football differently to most coaches and most people, but I just look at the physical attributes they’ve got and the mindset they have,” Strange explained. “If you sit down and put all those down on a list, she ticks every box to be an outstanding back-rower. We’ve seen her in the centres, she loves running lines, which is a courage thing that not everyone has. She’s also a great defender, a really good communicator – which you need in the back row to coordinate the middle and edge on defense – and she’s incredibly aggressive.”

    Strange pointed to his successful conversion of former sevens winger Yasmin Meakes into a top-tier back-rower during his time coaching the Roosters as a precedent for the shift. “I did the same with Yasmin Meakes when I coached her at the Roosters,” he said. “I just said to her one day, ‘I’m going to put you in the back row because I think you’re going to be very good there because of those personal characteristics and a mindset’. Tiana, it’s a no-brainer for me. I think she’ll be outstanding there.”

    To accommodate Penitani Gray’s promotion to the starting forward line, Strange moved veteran edge forward Kezie Apps to an interchange spot. He also passed over the chance to select his own daughter Jasmin, who participated in the squad’s six-week pre-series camp, in favour of the high-risk, high-reward move for Penitani Gray.

    Another major feel-good story in the 17-person squad is the return of front-rower Millie Elliott, who is back in the Blues side 12 months after stepping away to give birth to her first child, Gigi. Elliott, who missed last year’s victorious series, has impressed throughout pre-selection camps, with NSW captain Isabelle Kelly revealing her fitness testing results are already identical to her pre-pregnancy levels.

    Rounding out the squad is young speedster Teagan Berry, who will make her State of Origin debut off the interchange bench. Berry earned her call-up after a stellar NRLW season with the Dragons, where she notched a prolific try-scoring record to catch the selectors’ eyes. Aside from Penitani Gray’s positional shift, the squad remains largely settled, retaining most of the core group that secured a 2-1 series win over Queensland last year.

    Kelly, who has played alongside Penitani Gray for years, has thrown her full support behind the positional experiment, saying the team’s vice-captain has all the qualities to thrive in the new role. “I think wherever ‘T’ plays, she’s incredible,” Kelly said. “I spoke to her as soon as the selection started… I just said, ‘Hey, big back-rower!’ There’s no one else I’d rather trust there. When you see the way T plays and how she can run the ball with the strength and the physicality that she has, it’s second to none. She’s a vice-captain to me and really helps me out with a lot of leadership skills, and I think when she plays, she showcases why she’s such a great leader. So no matter where that girl plays, she’ll always be incredible.”

    Of Elliott’s return, Kelly added: “She’s insane. We had a few compulsory sessions for the Roosters leading back in the back end of last year when she started with a lot of testing, and I’m pretty sure her testing results were the same before she went away to have the baby, so she’s insane. I think Millie’s mindset is something that’s very unique. She’s able to push herself in the times that a lot of people can’t and finds those one-percenters to be better every single time. I think her hard work and how many minutes she can play at that intensity is something that can help us really out there. She’s going to be great, and she’s got that extra motivation now with Gigi and wanting to be performing at a high level as well to showcase to her when she’s eventually older what she can do.”

    The first game of the 2024 State of Origin women’s series will kick off next Thursday in Newcastle, with the Blues looking to defend their 2023 title against a yet-to-be-announced Queensland side.

  • The AP Interview: Cyprus president says EU needs a clear playbook on helping members under attack

    The AP Interview: Cyprus president says EU needs a clear playbook on helping members under attack

    As European Union leaders gather in Cyprus for a high-stakes summit this week, the island nation’s president is pushing for urgent progress on a long-unaddressed collective defense rule that has suddenly moved to the top of the bloc’s security agenda. In an exclusive interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday, President Nikos Christodoulides outlined his priority for the gathering: building a concrete operational framework for the EU’s mutual defense clause, Article 42.7, which has never been activated despite its placement in the bloc’s founding treaties.

    The treaty clause legally obliges all 27 EU member states to provide all possible aid and assistance to any member that faces armed aggression on its territory. However, decades after the clause was written, no standardized protocols exist to guide how member states should respond if a nation formally invokes the provision. “We have Article 42.7 and we don’t know what is going to happen if a member state triggers this article,” Christodoulides explained ahead of the summit, which will also host leaders from four Middle Eastern nations and focus heavily on the ongoing Iran war and its regional spillover risks.

    For Christodoulides, this push for clarity comes from direct, recent experience. Just one month ago, a Shahed drone struck a British air base on Cyprus’ southern coast, located only 129 miles from the Lebanese capital Beirut, from where Cypriot officials assessed the drone was launched. The incident marked the first drone attack on EU territory linked to the Iran war, prompting Christodoulides to activate a call for support from bloc partners. In response, Greece, France, Spain, the Netherlands and Portugal quickly deployed anti-drone capable naval assets to help bolster the island’s defenses, highlighting both the willingness of members to assist and the lack of pre-planned coordination for such events.

    Two key unresolved points top the agenda for drafting the new playbook. First, Christodoulides noted that the majority of EU member states also hold membership in NATO, which has its own collective defense Article 5 that defines an attack on one ally as an attack on all. The EU’s new framework must clarify how dual-member states can coordinate their responses to an EU Article 42.7 call without conflicting with their existing NATO obligations. Second, leaders will need to resolve core unanswered questions: whether any response to an invoked Article 42.7 would be a collective bloc-wide effort modeled on NATO, or limited to neighboring states of the affected country, as well as what types of resources and tools would be deployed for different categories of security crises.

    Beyond the mutual defense planning, the summit will also advance a key Cypriot priority for the bloc’s current presidency: deepening strategic cooperation between the EU and Middle Eastern nations. Christodoulides said he has been encouraged by growing recognition among fellow EU leaders of the urgency of closer ties, which he is advancing through initiatives like the Mediterranean Pact, which delivers targeted programming in health, education and energy across regional partner states. Leaders from Egypt, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan will attend the informal summit this week, creating a rare opportunity to turn dialogue into tangible, elevated strategic cooperation. Cyprus, he noted, holds unique trust as an intermediary between the Greater Middle East and EU institutions in Brussels. “We can represent the interest of the countries of the Greater Middle East to Brussels, but at the same time, the countries in the region trust Cyprus to represent them in the European Union,” he said.

    Christodoulides also used the interview to champion the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC), an ambitious connectivity project designed to link European markets with India via the Middle East, which backers say will boost regional peace, stability and economic integration. Under the Cypriot EU presidency, a new “Friends of IMEC” working group has been launched to advance the initiative, which currently lacks a roster of specific actionable projects. One priority project, the Great Seas Interconnector — an undersea electricity cable that would link the power grids of Greece, Cyprus and eventually Israel — has faced repeated costly delays. Christodoulides added that he sees strong potential for collaboration with the United States to move IMEC forward, framing the project as a mutual benefit for both the EU and Washington.

    The ongoing Iran war has also refocused attention on the EU’s urgent need to diversify its energy supplies, a topic that will feature in summit discussions. Christodoulides confirmed he is in active talks with EU executive leaders about developing Cyprus’ offshore natural gas deposits as a stable alternative supply source for the bloc. He added that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will unveil detailed new proposals on Friday addressing energy costs and advancing the bloc’s goal of greater energy independence.

    Finally, Christodoulides called for faster progress on EU enlargement, noting that the bloc’s repeated delays in accepting new prospective members over the past two years has eroded trust among candidate nations. “So we have a strong geopolitical tool that we are losing mainly because of our mistakes,” he said. While he acknowledged that decision-making has accelerated in recent months, he stressed that enlargement remains one of the EU’s most critical geopolitical tools, requiring concrete, timely action in the near term.

  • A specialized tour at the Berlin Zoo brings joy to people living with dementia

    A specialized tour at the Berlin Zoo brings joy to people living with dementia

    BERLIN — Standing before a foggy aquarium tank at Berlin Zoo, 86-year-old Christel Krueger stared through thick glass at a mother hippopotamus and her calf resting peacefully on a sandbar, caught in a moment of quiet wonder. Krueger was one of several dementia patients participating in a specialized guided tour organized last month by Malteser Deutschland, the German branch of the global Catholic humanitarian organization Malteser Order of Malta.

    On the same excursion, Ingrid Barkow observed roaming elephants from her wheelchair, while 85-year-old Monika Jansen stood on her tiptoes to catch a clearer glimpse of a rhinoceros. “When I get home, I’ll still be thinking about it,” Jansen said. “Maybe even at night, while I’m sleeping and dreaming about it.”

    These three women are part of Germany’s 1.6 million population living with dementia, per data from the country’s National Dementia Strategy office. Experts project that this number will climb to 2.8 million by 2050, mirroring a global growth trend that has pushed cultural and community institutions to develop more accessible programming for affected individuals.

    Over the past decade, cultural venues across the world have expanded their offerings to include barrier-free, specialized guided experiences for marginalized groups. These programs range from sign-language tours for Deaf and hard-of-hearing visitors, touch-focused exhibits for guests with blindness or low vision, to sensory-friendly outings for people on the autism spectrum. It is within this growing movement that Malteser Deutschland’s Berlin chapter launched its dementia-focused cultural program last year.

    “People with dementia aren’t very visible in our society. It’s still a major taboo subject, yet it actually affects a great many people and it’s important that they continue to be at the heart of society,” explained Christine Gruschka, the project’s coordinator. “They have a right to participate, just like everyone else.”

    Dementia is an umbrella term for a range of progressive cognitive conditions that cause gradual decline in memory, reasoning, language skills and other core brain functions. It can also alter personality, emotional regulation and even visual perception. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form, but dozens of other variants exist, each with distinct symptoms and underlying biological causes, affecting hundreds of millions of people globally.

    Malteser Berlin currently runs its dementia-friendly tours at four popular Berlin locations: Berlin Zoo, the Museum of Natural History, Britzer Garden and Charlottenburg Palace, with plans to expand the program to more sites in the coming months. Gruschka noted that standard public tours are rarely suited to the needs of dementia patients: “‘Normal’ tours — so-called normal tours — are often too fast, too loud, with too many people and too many distractions. That’s why we’ve made it our goal to create programs specifically for people with dementia: Where they still feel seen, where they feel comfortable, and where they can still show that they’re still here and can still be part of it.”

    During the Berlin Zoo excursion, tour coordinator Carola Tembrink deliberately skipped most of the zoo’s extensive collection to focus only on the hippo, rhino and elephant habitats, a choice designed to avoid overwhelming participants or leaving them fatigued. Tembrink explained that the zoo holds unique value for this program: “almost everyone who grew up in Berlin has been here as a child. And especially for people with dementia, childhood memories are often still present — they just need to be jogged a bit — and that happens naturally when they see the animals, smell the air as they enter the zoo, or when they go into the rhino house and catch a different scent.”

    Beyond the benefits for participants, the specialized tours have become a critical resource for family caregivers. For those navigating the daily challenges of caring for a loved one with dementia, these outings create space to connect with other people sharing similar experiences.

    Krueger received a formal dementia diagnosis just last year, though her daughter and caregiver Kerstin Hoehne said symptoms first emerged more than two years ago. “What’s nice is that it’s also with, let’s say, like-minded people, that you’re not alone, but that you have a sense of belonging because everyone else might have the same problem,” Hoehne said.

    Manuela Grudda, whose mother Ingrid Barkow participated in the tour, said the outing deepened the bond between them. As Grudda pushed her mother’s wheelchair through the zoo, she pointed out animals and gently rested her hands on her mother’s shoulders. “I can’t really communicate with her in a normal way, of course, but I see that when I show her something, she looks at it, she’s paying attention, and that’s important,” Grudda said. “And it just makes me happy that she’s not just in her own world, but also in this one.”

    This report was produced by the Associated Press Health and Science Department, which receives funding support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP retains full editorial control over all content.

  • Phone tracking shows how Colombian mercenaries backed Sudan’s RSF – report

    Phone tracking shows how Colombian mercenaries backed Sudan’s RSF – report

    Three years into Sudan’s devastating civil war between the regular national army and the powerful Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group, a groundbreaking new investigation has delivered the first definitive proof of direct United Arab Emirates (UAE) backing for the RSF through a network of Colombian mercenaries. A new report by the Conflict Insights Group (CIG), an independent security analysis organization, ties this mercenary network directly to the RSF’s brutal 2025 capture of the strategic North Darfur capital el-Fasher — a turning point in the conflict that triggered some of its worst atrocities.

    CIG director Justin Lynch emphasized that while the organization has long tracked growing evidence of extensive Emirati military support to the RSF, this investigation marks the first time that link has been proven beyond doubt. “We are making public what governments have long known — that there is a direct, operational link between Abu Dhabi and the RSF’s war effort,” Lynch said in the report’s introduction.

    To build its case, CIG combined multiple open-source intelligence methods, most notably tracking more than 50 mobile phones belonging to Colombian mercenary operatives active across Sudan between April 2025 and January 2026. The tracking relied on commercially available location technology originally built for targeted advertising, supplemented by flight logs, satellite imagery, social media content, and peer-reviewed academic research. The team traced mercenary movements through a clear logistical and training pipeline originating in Colombia and routed through UAE-controlled facilities.

    One of the most striking pieces of evidence comes from the devices themselves, which were overwhelmingly configured to Spanish, Colombia’s official language. Investigators traced one device from Colombia to Abu Dhabi’s Zayed International Airport, then to a dedicated Emirati military training facility in Ghayathi, where four other Spanish-language devices were also detected. Two of these devices later traveled to Sudan’s South Darfur state, with one moving on to Nyala, the RSF’s de facto capital in the region. While in Nyala — already identified by analysts as a key hub for RSF drone operations and Colombian mercenary activity — the device connected to public Wi-Fi networks explicitly named “ANTIAEREO” (Spanish for “anti-aircraft”) and “AirDefense.” In total, CIG documented more than 40 Spanish-language devices linked to mercenaries across the Nyala area.

    In another high-profile case, CIG tracked a Colombian mercenary’s device directly to el-Fasher during the final weeks of the RSF’s 18-month siege, which ended with the group seizing the city in October 2025. While operating inside el-Fasher, the device connected to a Wi-Fi network named “ATACADOR” — Spanish for “attacker.” Multiple other Colombian-linked devices were also detected in the city during the takeover, the report confirms.

    The mercenary network operates under the banner of the Desert Wolves brigade, with fighters serving as drone pilots, artillery operators, and combat instructors for the RSF. Multiple devices linked to brigade members connected to Wi-Fi networks named “DRONES” and “LOBOS DEL DISIERTO” — a Spanish spelling of “Desert Wolves.” According to Colombian digital outlet La Silla Vacía, the brigade is led by retired Colombian army Colonel Alvaro Quijano, who is based in the UAE and already subject to U.S. and UK sanctions for his role recruiting Colombians to fight in Sudan. The CIG report confirms the Desert Wolves are employed and funded by a UAE-based company with documented direct ties to senior Emirati government officials, matching evidence obtained by La Silla Vacía.

    Beyond Sudan, CIG also detected Spanish-language mercenary devices at two key regional logistics hubs tied to the UAE: a port in Somalia and a town in southeastern Libya that analysts have long identified as a key transit point for weapons flowing to the RSF, allegedly facilitated by the Emirates.

    The capture of el-Fasher stands as one of the bloodiest episodes of Sudan’s three-year civil war, which has already spawned the world’s worst active humanitarian crisis. Tens of thousands of people have been killed across the country, and more than 10 million have been forced to flee their homes. After the fall of el-Fasher, International Criminal Court prosecutors categorized the accompanying mass violence as war crimes and crimes against humanity, while United Nations investigators found the atrocities bore the “hallmarks of genocide.”

    “The scale of atrocities and the prolonged siege of el-Fasher would not have been possible without the specialized drone operations that these Colombian mercenaries provided to the RSF,” Lynch said, noting the mercenary network also directly supported the siege operation. The CIG report concludes that both the UAE and the Colombian mercenary network share responsibility for the war crimes committed in el-Fasher.

    The UAE has long rejected all claims that it provides military backing to the RSF, describing previous allegations as “false and unfounded” and condemning el-Fasher atrocities in the strongest terms. The BBC has requested comment from the Emirati government on the CIG’s new findings, and no response has been issued as of publication.

    Colombian President Gustavo Petro has previously condemned the recruitment of Colombian citizens to fight in Sudan, calling the mercenaries “spectres of death” and framing the recruitment network as a form of human trafficking. Estimates place the total number of Colombian mercenaries fighting for the RSF in the low hundreds. U.S. authorities have already imposed sanctions twice on Colombian nationals and linked firms for mercenary recruitment activity in Sudan — most recently just last week — and have confirmed Colombian fighters supported the RSF’s el-Fasher capture, but have not yet drawn a direct official link to the UAE.

    Independent analysts have long agreed that sustained foreign military and financial support for both the RSF and Sudan’s regular army has been the single most critical factor allowing the civil war to continue and expand over the past three years.