Global Pulse

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  • A history of Israel’s invasions of Lebanon

    A history of Israel’s invasions of Lebanon

    ### Decades of Conflict: Israel’s New Occupation of South Lebanon and Lebanon’s Push for Sovereignty

    Nearly 80 years of overlapping invasions, broken ceasefires, and unfulfilled peace agreements have culminated in a fresh crisis along the Israel-Lebanon border, where Israeli forces have established a new 10-kilometer deep security buffer inside Lebanese territory and rejected calls to withdraw. The latest escalation has reignited long-simmering tensions over Israeli occupation, with Lebanon’s new leadership reaffirming its commitment to reclaiming full sovereignty over its southern lands.

    In a public address last week, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun declared he was ready to take any steps necessary to end Israel’s ongoing occupation of south Lebanon. He emphasized that the Lebanese government has, for the first time in almost 50 years, reclaimed full control over the country and its independent decision-making. Aoun’s comments came just one day after former U.S. President Donald Trump announced plans to potentially host Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House to solidify a 10-day ceasefire Trump brokered between the two parties. This truce paused six weeks of open fighting between Israeli forces and Hezbollah, and coincided with the first direct bilateral talks between Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors in Washington since 1993.

    The current crisis traces its origins to a large-scale Israeli air campaign launched on March 2, 2026, followed rapidly by a full ground invasion of southern Lebanon. Official casualty figures document more than 2,290 people killed, over 7,500 wounded, and 1.2 million Lebanese displaced – a full 20 percent of the country’s total population. Upon launching the ground incursion, Israeli officials announced plans to hold large swathes of southern Lebanon and barred displaced Lebanese residents from returning to their homes. For weeks, Israeli forces have systematically demolished entire border villages, using bulldozers to clear structures and rigging remaining homes with explosives for large-scale controlled detonations. Even after the ceasefire officially took effect, Israeli troops continued offensive operations, carrying out additional demolitions, artillery strikes, and land-clearing work in multiple border areas in direct violation of the truce terms.

    Over the weekend following the ceasefire, the Israeli military announced it had established a new “Yellow Line” roughly 10 kilometers inside Lebanese territory, a separation barrier modeled after the buffer zone Israel created in Gaza between Israeli-held areas and Hamas-controlled territory. In public remarks, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that Israeli forces would remain permanently in the reinforced security buffer, stating: “This is a security strip ten kilometers deep, which is much stronger, more intense, more continuous and more solid than what we had previously. That is where we are and we are not leaving.”

    To contextualize the current standoff, independent outlet Middle East Eye has traced the long history of Israeli incursions into Lebanon dating back to the founding of the Israeli state in 1948. One day after Israel declared independence in historic Palestine on May 14, 1948, Lebanon joined a coalition of Arab states including Syria, Egypt, Jordan, and Iraq in military intervention, responding to the mass displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian people by Zionist paramilitary groups. Approximately 750,000 Palestinians were displaced in the period surrounding Israel’s founding, and around 100,000 of those refugees resettled in Lebanon.

    Lebanese forces played only a limited role in the 1948 war, but by the end of October that year, Israeli troops had crossed into Lebanon and occupied 15 southern villages. In the village of Hula, Israeli forces carried out a documented massacre, gathering between 34 and 58 civilians in a single building before detonating explosives that killed everyone inside. Israel later withdrew from these 1948 occupied villages under a UN-brokered armistice agreement signed with Lebanon in March 1949, which marked the end of the first Arab-Israeli War and the defeat of the Arab coalition.

    Unlike 1948, Lebanon did not participate in the 1967 Six-Day War, in which Israel seized East Jerusalem, the West Bank, Gaza, Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, and Syria’s Golan Heights from a coalition of Arab states. In the wake of its 1967 victory, Israel withdrew from the 1949 armistice agreements it had signed with Lebanon and other Arab states, and proceeded to occupy the strategic Chebaa Farms area of southern Lebanon, a territory it continues to hold to this day. The 1967 defeat of Arab states also catalyzed the rise of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), a coalition of Palestinian factions dedicated to armed struggle to reclaim Palestinian territory. By 1971, Lebanon had become the PLO’s main base of operations, with Palestinian fighters launching intermittent strikes against Israel from south Lebanon. The PLO’s growing influence also made it a key actor in the Lebanese Civil War that broke out in 1975.

    In March 1978, Israel launched its first large-scale invasion of southern Lebanon aimed at pushing PLO fighters north of the Litani River. The offensive killed roughly 1,000 Lebanese and Palestinian people, most of them civilians, along with 18 Israeli soldiers. Under international pressure following the passage of UN Security Council Resolution 425, Israel withdrew from most of southern Lebanon by June 1978. The resolution established the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), tasked with verifying Israeli withdrawal and helping the Lebanese government reassert its authority in the south. Despite this, Israel transferred control of occupied territories to a pro-Israel proxy militia rather than returning full control to the Lebanese army, and the PLO retained positions south of the Litani River.

    Israel launched a second, far larger invasion in June 1982, codenamed “Operation Peace for Galilee,” which advanced all the way to the Lebanese capital Beirut and occupied the city by September. The invasion killed an estimated 19,000 Lebanese and Palestinian people, most of them civilians, and forced the entire PLO leadership and thousands of fighters to evacuate Lebanon. Israel’s rapid military reshaping of Lebanese politics brought its ally Bachir Gemayel to the presidency, but Gemayel was assassinated just weeks after taking office. His brother Amin succeeded him, and his new government entered U.S.-brokered negotiations with Israel that concluded with a 1983 agreement aimed at securing Israeli withdrawal. The agreement ended the formal state of belligerency between the two states but stopped short of being a full peace treaty, and faced fierce opposition from major Lebanese factions including the Shia Amal Movement and Progressive Socialist Party, which were backed by Syria – a power that had maintained troops in Lebanon since 1976 and viewed the agreement as a threat to its regional influence. Opponents argued the deal undermined Lebanese sovereignty by granting Israel extraordinary security arrangements in the south. Backed by Damascus, the opposition factions launched an armed uprising that seized control of West Beirut in 1984, forcing Gemayel to scrap the agreement and align his government more closely with Syria.

    While Israel withdrew from Beirut and the Chouf Mountains, it retained control of all of southern Lebanon. A new round of bilateral withdrawal talks held in Naqoura between 1984 and 1985 failed to reach a compromise. Amid ongoing guerrilla attacks and mounting casualties, Israel approved a unilateral partial withdrawal in 1985, pulling out of major population centers including Saida, Nabatieh, and Sour but retaining control of a narrow border strip that it labeled a “security zone.”

    After the end of the Lebanese Civil War in 1990, Syria emerged as the dominant power in Lebanese politics, and Beirut aligned its negotiation position with Damascus under what became known as the “unity of tracks” framework. Under this approach, Lebanon refused any separate peace deal and called for a comprehensive agreement that would require Israel to withdraw simultaneously from southern Lebanon and Syria’s Golan Heights, which Israel had occupied since 1967. Lebanon and Syria joined the U.S.- and Soviet-sponsored Madrid Peace Conference in 1991, and bilateral talks between Lebanon and Israel resumed in Washington in 1993 – the first such talks in decades – but produced no meaningful progress.

    Throughout the 1990s, Hezbollah, the Shia resistance group formed in 1982 in response to the Israeli invasion, ramped up its guerrilla campaign against Israeli occupation positions and the pro-Israel South Lebanon Army (SLA) militia. By 1999, the SLA had withdrawn from dozens of villages in the Jezzine region, and in May 2000, the Israeli army completed a full withdrawal from southern Lebanon, ending 18 years of continuous occupation. Under UN supervision, Lebanon and Israel agreed to a withdrawal boundary called the Blue Line, though the formal international border between the two countries has never been fully demarcated. Israel retained control of the Chebaa Farms and Kfar Shouba Hills, and Hezbollah continued periodic strikes against Israeli positions in those contested areas. The 2000 withdrawal also broke the “unity of tracks” framework with Syria, as Israel continued to hold the Golan Heights after failed peace talks between the two countries brokered by U.S. President Bill Clinton earlier that year.

    The next major escalation came in 2006, when Hezbollah carried out a cross-border raid that abducted two Israeli soldiers, intending to exchange them for Samir al-Qontar, a Lebanese prisoner held by Israel since 1979. Israel responded with a 33-day large-scale war that included another ground invasion of southern Lebanon. The conflict killed roughly 1,200 Lebanese, most of them civilians, and 160 Israelis, most of them soldiers. Israel failed to achieve its stated goals of releasing the two soldiers and dismantling Hezbollah, and the war ended under UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ordered a cessation of hostilities, expanded UNIFIL’s mandate to monitor the truce, and called for the disarmament of all non-state armed groups in Lebanon. Israel withdrew from most of the territory it occupied during the 2006 war, retaining only control of part of the village of Ghajar in addition to its ongoing hold on Chebaa Farms and Kfar Chouba Hills. Hezbollah retained its arsenal but moved most of its operations underground, and in 2008, Israel released Qontar in exchange for the remains of the two abducted soldiers.

    The current round of conflict began in October 2023, when Hezbollah opened fire on northern Israel in solidarity with Hamas after Hamas’s October 7 attack on southern Israel. For nearly a year, the two sides exchanged intermittent cross-border fire, before Israel launched a full-scale ground invasion and air campaign targeting Hezbollah in October 2024. A ceasefire brokered by France and the United States went into effect that November, which required Israel to withdraw from all occupied Lebanese territory within two months and required the Lebanese government to dismantle Hezbollah infrastructure south of the Litani River. While Lebanon completed the first phase of its obligations, Israel retained control of five military positions inside Lebanon and continued carrying out strikes across the country.

    Today, as Israeli forces dig in to maintain their new 10-kilometer buffer zone, Lebanon’s leadership remains firm in its demand for a full end to occupation, marking a new chapter in one of the Middle East’s longest-running unresolved conflicts.

  • Lanzhou lily takes nine years to grow, expands into global markets

    Lanzhou lily takes nine years to grow, expands into global markets

    In a sunbaked, freshly harvested field on the outskirts of Lanzhou, the capital of northwestern China’s Gansu province, 54-year-old veteran lily farmer Jin Yougang kneels in dark loamy soil, gently prying apart a plump, ivory-hued bulb he has just unearthed. “This isn’t the bitter ornamental lily most people know,” Jin explains, brushing flecks of dirt from the layered scales. “Lanzhou lily is naturally sweet — crisp enough to eat fresh, just like a piece of fruit.”

    Jin makes his home in Agan Town, Qilihe District, a region celebrated as the most ecologically ideal growing area for this unique crop, which thrives in the district’s cool, well-drained loess soil and dramatic diurnal temperature shifts. In 2025 alone, Qilihe District’s total Lanzhou lily output hit 33,000 metric tons, with a total output value reaching 1 billion yuan, equal to roughly $140 million.

    Widely acclaimed as the only naturally sweet edible lily in China — and potentially the entire world — the Lanzhou lily’s one-of-a-kind flavor and delicate texture come at a remarkable cost of time. Unlike common agricultural crops that reach maturity in a single growing season, the journey from a tiny bulblet to a harvest-ready, full-sized Lanzhou lily takes up to nine full years. Local growers summarize this patient process in a simple proverb: “Three years to sprout, three years to grow, three years to mature.”

    With more than four centuries of documented cultivation history rooted in local agricultural tradition, the Lanzhou lily has evolved far beyond a small regional specialty. Today, it has grown into a robust, multi-billion-yuan industry that sustains the livelihoods of tens of thousands of rural farming households across Gansu. A wide range of value-added products — from dried lily slices for traditional Chinese cuisine to lily-infused health supplements and snacks — have pushed the total national market value of the Lanzhou lily industry over 6.1 billion yuan, according to new data from the Qilihe District Agricultural Industrialization Office. What is more, the premium crop has expanded beyond China’s borders, finding loyal consumers in export markets including Japan, South Korea, the United States, and multiple countries across Southeast Asia, as international demand for unique, high-quality Chinese agricultural goods continues to climb.

    Yet alongside growing global demand and rising market opportunities, the industry faces pressing structural challenges. Decades of reliance on traditional propagation methods have led to gradual variety degradation, with bulbs accumulating pathogens over generations that drag down both product quality and overall crop yield. To address these bottlenecks and support the industry’s long-term growth, local agricultural experts have turned to cutting-edge propagation technology to revitalize the iconic crop.

    “Through lab-based propagation techniques such as virus-free seedling cultivation, we remove harmful pathogens from Lanzhou lily germplasm, then purify and rejuvenate the stock to restore the crop’s natural vitality,” explained Li Bin, a senior agronomist at the Qilihe District Agricultural Technology Extension Station. “This process improves overall bulb quality and lays a solid foundation for the industry’s shift toward high-end, value-focused development.”

    Li added that researchers are combining both sexual and asexual breeding strategies, paired with rapid propagation protocols, to systematically upgrade the Lanzhou lily variety. “By integrating these different methods, our goal is to build a far more stable and efficient cultivation system that meets the needs of large-scale commercial production,” he said.

    Most notably, optimized propagation systems could cut the crop’s notoriously long growing cycle from nine years down to approximately six — without sacrificing the signature sweetness and dense nutritional profile that makes Lanzhou lily so sought-after. “Our ultimate goal is to leverage agricultural technology to boost both quality and productivity,” Li noted. “That means higher incomes for local farmers, and a consistent, premium product for consumers around the world.”

  • Korir defends Boston Marathon title with course record

    Korir defends Boston Marathon title with course record

    The 130th edition of the Boston Marathon delivered historic drama and unforgettable performances on Monday, as Kenya’s long-distance running elite once again dominated the world-famous race, with John Korir breaking a 14-year course record to claim his second consecutive men’s title and compatriot Sharon Lokedi holding off challengers to defend her women’s crown.

    Korir, 29, delivered a masterclass in pacing and endurance to cross the finish line in 2 hours 1 minute 52 seconds, an astonishing 1 minute 10 seconds improvement on the previous Boston course mark set by fellow Kenyan Geoffrey Mutai back in 2011. This stunning result already ranks as the fifth fastest marathon time ever recorded globally, capping a remarkable winning streak for the athlete that includes victories at the 2024 Chicago Marathon and the December 2024 Valencia Marathon.

    For Korir, the triumph was even sweeter after a chaotic 2024 race, where he fell early in the route before battling back to claim victory. This year, he faced no such disruptions. “This year was a breeze for me because I had no problems at the start or at the finish,” he told reporters after the race. “It felt like a race back home with all the people cheering. It was in my mind to set the course record and I thank God that he fulfilled my wishes.”

    On the women’s side, Lokedi matched Korir’s back-to-back feat, finishing with a time of 2 hours 18 minutes 51 seconds. While she fell short of breaking her own 2024 Boston course record of 2:17:22, the 2022 New York Marathon champion held off a tight challenge from fellow Kenyan Loice Chemnung, crossing the finish line 44 seconds ahead of her second-place compatriot.

    Lokedi credited mental grit and a sweet moment with a young spectator for carrying her to the finish line. “I just kept telling myself ‘Be patient, be humble, you can do this’,” she said. “And then I saw a little girl who said ‘You got this, ladies!’ And it was so cute, and that was what I needed.”

    The race also made headlines for a remarkable display of athleticism from British runner Calli Hauger-Thackery, who completed the full 26.2-mile course at 22 weeks pregnant, finishing in 2:43:58. This is not the first high-profile marathon finish for the 33-year-old during pregnancy: she won the Honolulu Marathon four weeks into her current pregnancy, followed by a win at the Houston Marathon just one month later.

  • Black beauty queen who represented South Africa at Miss World during apartheid dies aged 76

    Black beauty queen who represented South Africa at Miss World during apartheid dies aged 76

    South African entertainment and cultural pioneer Cynthia Shange, who made history as the first Black woman to represent South Africa at the global Miss World pageant during the apartheid era, has passed away at the age of 76. Her daughter, prominent media personality Nonhle Thema, announced the news of her mother’s death in a heartfelt social media post shared Monday, asking the public for privacy and prayers for her family as they grieve.

    According to local South African media reports, Shange died early Monday morning at a local hospital following a prolonged illness. Alongside the announcement, Thema shared a celebration of life graphic featuring a warm, smiling portrait of Shange, paying tribute to her mother’s gentle character and enduring legacy. “A graceful and compassionate soul whose presence brought warmth, dignity, and kindness to all those who knew her,” the tribute read. “We honour her journey, her strength, and the love she shared so generously.” Funeral arrangements are still being finalized and will be released to the public at a later date.

    Born Cynthia Philisiwe Shange on July 27, 1949, Shange rose to national and international prominence in the early 1970s, when she broke through racial barriers to compete on the world stage. Under the brutal segregationist system of apartheid, Black women were barred from competing in the official, state-sanctioned Miss South Africa pageant, so independent Black organizers created parallel competitions including Miss Africa South. Shange claimed the Miss Africa South title in 1972, earning the right to compete alongside the official white South African representative at that year’s Miss World competition held in London. She finished in fifth place, marking a historic milestone as the first Black woman to represent South Africa at the global contest. While Pearl Gladys Jansen had competed as Miss Africa South two years prior in 1970, Jansen was classified as “coloured” (mixed racial descent) under apartheid’s strict racial hierarchy, making Shange the first Black woman to claim the spot.

    Beyond her trailblazing work in pageantry, Shange built a decades-long, respected career as a film and television actress, becoming a foundational figure in South Africa’s emerging Black film industry. One of her most notable roles came in *Udeliwe*, widely recognized as one of the first Black-led feature films produced in South Africa. She also earned widespread acclaim for her performance in the hit historical drama series *Shaka Zulu*. In recognition of her decades of contributions to South African performing arts, Shange was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2024 KZN Simon Mabhunu Sabela Awards just months before her passing.

    Tributes have begun to pour in from across South Africa’s entertainment industry, honoring Shange not only for her professional achievements but for her role in opening doors for future generations of Black South African women in arts and public life.

  • Police gunfight with favela gang traps 200 tourists on hilltop

    Police gunfight with favela gang traps 200 tourists on hilltop

    A routine anti-criminal operation in one of Rio de Janeiro’s most well-known favelas turned into a frightening ordeal for roughly 200 sightseeing visitors early one morning, when an exchange of gunfire between police officers and suspected gang members left the group trapped at the peak of a iconic tourist viewpoint. Morro Dois Irmãos, the hilltop site where the incident unfolded, draws hundreds of hikers and casual visitors daily thanks to its sweeping, postcard-perfect views of Rio’s famous Ipanema Beach, with the main hiking trail to the summit starting just east of the Vidigal favela neighborhood.

    The operation was a joint effort led by investigators from the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Bahia and Rio de Janeiro’s Civil Police force, who launched the raid targeting alleged high-ranking members of the Comando Vermelho criminal gang, a notorious organized crime group that maintains a heavy presence in many of Rio’s informal communities, according to reporting from leading Brazilian broadcaster TV Globo. Law enforcement teams entered the neighborhood believing the targeted gang members were hiding within Vidigal, but a confrontation between officers and the suspects quickly escalated into active gunfire near the entrance to the Morro Dois Irmãos trail. The crossfire blocked the only main access route to the summit, trapping the crowd of tourists who had already climbed to the top to watch the popular sunrise over Ipanema.

    Footage of the incident shared widely across social media captures the tense scene: the large group of stranded visitors huddling on the ground at the hilltop as the sun rose over the Atlantic, while a police helicopter circled overhead and the distant echo of gunfire could be heard across the neighborhood. For many of the tourists, the experience was a sudden shock to a planned morning excursion. Matilda Oliveiro, a Portuguese traveler who had climbed the hill with her sister Rita to watch the sunrise, recalled that local trail guides quickly ordered the entire group to take cover once gunfire began. “We had waited for sunrise and, suddenly, the guides asked us to sit down and we started hearing gunshots,” she told TV Globo in an interview after the incident. She added that the guides responded quickly to the crisis, noting “It’s always scary, but it was controlled as much as possible. We passed the police on the way, and the situation was already under control.”

    According to local media reports, the entire group of stranded tourists was able to begin descending the hill roughly 30 minutes after the shootout broke out, once police secured the access route and brought the situation under control. Multiple visitors confirmed that local trail guides had received advance notice of the planned police operation, and had coordinated with law enforcement units on the ground to manage the crowd once the confrontation began. Danielly Nobre, a 25-year-old visitor who was part of the stranded group, told Brazilian daily newspaper O Dia that the group was already at the summit when the shooting started, and guides immediately began coordinating to keep everyone safe. “We were caught by surprise. We were already at the top when we started hearing gunshots, and the guides were already telling us what was happening,” Nobre said. She added that guides repeatedly reassured the crowd that the situation was under control, and a passing police helicopter also issued instructions for the group to stay calm and remain in cover. “In the end, everything worked out. Everyone went down in a single file, everyone helping, and we managed to finish the trail, see the sunrise, and experience that adrenaline rush,” Nobre added.

    The incident shines a light on the persistent presence of organized crime in Rio de Janeiro’s favelas, where groups like Comando Vermelho have evolved far beyond their origins as drug trafficking organizations. Today, these criminal groups enforce strict local rules and hold de facto monopolies over the provision of basic services including residential gas delivery, cable television, internet access and local public transport in the communities they control, making anti-gang operations a frequent but high-risk part of law enforcement work in the city.

  • Slovaks to vote in a July referendum on lifelong payments for Prime Minister Fico and others

    Slovaks to vote in a July referendum on lifelong payments for Prime Minister Fico and others

    BRATISLAVA, Slovakia — Slovak President Peter Pellegrini announced Monday that the nation will hold a nationwide referendum this coming July 4 to let voters decide on two high-stakes, widely debated issues tied to Prime Minister Robert Fico’s populist government: ending the controversial lifelong benefit payments granted to Fico and other senior former leaders, and reinstating the dissolved special prosecutor’s office that targeted large-scale corruption and organized crime.

    The referendum move comes after a grassroots petition drive organized by the Democrats, a pro-Western opposition party that currently holds no seats in parliament, crossed the legal required threshold of 350,000 valid citizen signatures. While public pressure has mounted for a vote on snap parliamentary elections amid widespread discontent with Fico’s administration, Pellegrini confirmed that question will not appear on the ballot. He cited a 2021 binding ruling from Slovakia’s Constitutional Court, the nation’s highest legal body, which deemed a public vote on early elections unconstitutional.

    The lifelong payment policy at the center of the referendum was expanded in 2024, just after an assassination attempt left Fico gravely wounded during a pre-election campaign event. The shocking attack on the prime minister sent ripples across the small Central European nation and the entire European continent. Previously, this lifelong benefit — which grants eligible recipients a monthly payment equal to the full salary of a sitting member of parliament — was only available to former presidents. The revised rules extended the perk to any prime minister or parliamentary speaker who has served at least two full terms in office, framed by the government as a measure to enhance long-term security for former top officeholders.

    The second referendum question addresses the fate of the special prosecutor’s office, which Fico’s ruling coalition shut down through legislative action in 2024. The independent body was tasked with prosecuting high-level corruption, transnational organized crime and violent extremism, and its elimination drew fierce condemnation from both domestic critics and international observers. Thousands of Slovak citizens gathered in repeated street protests to oppose the closure, which came as multiple individuals with close ties to Fico’s ruling party were facing active corruption prosecutions from the office.

    Fico, who returned to the prime ministership in 2023, has emerged as one of Slovakia’s most polarizing modern political figures. His government’s pro-Russian stance on the ongoing war in Ukraine and a series of domestic policy shifts that critics say erode democratic checks and balances have already sparked mass, sustained protests across the country. This referendum marks the latest flashpoint in the growing tension between the populist government and its opponents.

    It is worth noting that only one referendum has ever succeeded in Slovakia’s post-independence history: the 2003 vote that approved the country’s accession to the European Union. Every other public referendum held in the nation has failed to meet the required voter turnout threshold, a hurdle that could still block the results of this year’s vote from taking effect even if a majority of participating voters back the opposition’s proposed changes.

  • China forecasts higher grain output, lower soybean imports in 2026

    China forecasts higher grain output, lower soybean imports in 2026

    Released on April 20, 2026, the latest China Agricultural Outlook (2026–35) report has laid out a clear trajectory for the country’s agricultural sector over the coming decade, projecting modest growth in domestic grain output this year alongside a rare drop in imports of key bulk agricultural commodities such as soybeans.

    According to the report, which is compiled annually by the agricultural market analysis and early-warning team of China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, China’s total grain output is set to reach 716 million metric tons in 2026, marking a 0.2 percent year-on-year increase. Driven by ongoing gains in crop productivity, national average grain yield is expected to cross the 6,000 kilograms per hectare threshold this year, while output of oil-bearing crops will climb 2.6 percent to hit 42.04 million tons.

    “Large-scale improvements in crop productivity will continue to support stable grain supply,” noted Xu Shiwei, director of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs’ key laboratory for agricultural monitoring and early warning technology. This domestic production growth is translating to a shifting trade landscape: the report forecasts a 6.1 percent year-on-year decline in soybean imports for 2026, the first such drop recorded in recent years. Other major agricultural imports are also set to shrink, with pork imports projected to fall 8.2 percent and dairy imports down 4.1 percent. At the same time, exports of China’s competitive high-value agricultural products are expanding, with 2026 vegetable exports forecast to rise 6.4 percent and fruit exports up 5 percent.

    Even with these projected import declines, the report emphasizes that global agricultural markets will remain an important complementary source of supply for China. Imports of products such as poultry, for example, are still expected to climb this year.

    The report also frames the strengthening of domestic production as a strategic response to growing global uncertainty. Li Ganqiong, head of the agricultural monitoring and early-warning research center at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, pointed to rising geopolitical risks, including ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, that have driven up global energy prices, fertilizer costs and international shipping expenses. These disruptions have increased volatility in global agricultural production and trade, creating heightened risks to global food security, Li explained. Strengthening domestic output, he added, remains a critical buffer against these external shocks.

    Looking ahead to 2035, the report projects steady long-term growth in China’s grain output, which is forecast to reach 733 million tons by 2030 and 753 million tons by 2035. Over the coming decade, average grain yield per hectare is expected to increase by 6.3 percent. National grain consumption is projected to grow slowly before peaking at 842 million tons around 2032, after which it will stabilize and see a gradual decline.

    As domestic productivity and international competitiveness of China’s agricultural sector continue to improve, the country’s reliance on imports for major agricultural commodities will gradually decrease, Xu said. By 2035, total grain imports are projected to fall to 115 million tons, a 25.5 percent drop from the 2023–2025 average. Soybean imports will decline to 82.55 million tons over the same period, a 21.5 percent reduction from recent averages.

    The report also lays out long-term projections for other key agricultural sectors. China’s dairy industry will see steady expansion, with domestic milk production forecast to reach 45.07 million tons by 2030 and 51.17 million tons by 2035, an average annual growth rate of 2 percent, driven by rising consumer demand for fresh milk and growing use of cheese and butter in processed foods. The pork sector, by contrast, will see a gradual production decline over the next decade as it transitions from rapid expansion to a focus on higher-quality, more efficient production, with output reaching 55.11 million tons by 2035, an average annual decline of roughly 0.5 percent.

    First launched in 2014, the annual China Agricultural Outlook report has become a foundational reference for tracking Chinese agricultural trends, supporting market forecasting and informing national agricultural policy planning, the ministry noted.

  • Senior UAE scholar says US bases are ‘a burden and not a strategic asset’

    Senior UAE scholar says US bases are ‘a burden and not a strategic asset’

    Against a backdrop of escalating regional conflict that has inflicted severe economic and security damage on the United Arab Emirates, a senior Emirati academic with close ties to the country’s leadership has sparked renewed debate over the future of U.S. military presence in the Gulf by calling on Abu Dhabi to shutter all American bases, arguing they have become a liability rather than a strategic advantage.

    Abdulkhaleq Abdulla, one of the UAE’s most prominent public scholars, first shared the position in an interview with Reuters, before doubling down on the claim in a post on the social platform X on Sunday evening. Abdulla argued that the UAE has evolved beyond its reliance on U.S. security guarantees, pointing to the country’s capable defense against waves of Iranian attacks in recent months. “The UAE no longer needs America to defend it, as it has proven during the Iranian aggression that it is capable of defending itself with distinction,” Abdulla wrote. He added that the UAE’s only remaining priority for its defense partnership with Washington is access to the United States’ most advanced military hardware, not permanent basing for foreign troops. “Therefore, it is time to think about closing the American bases, as they are a burden and not a strategic asset,” he concluded.

    The proposal comes amid a wider reevaluation of U.S. military posture across the Middle East. According to data from the Council on Foreign Relations, the U.S. maintains at least 19 military sites across the region, eight of which are classified as permanent installations. Prior to the outbreak of the current regional war, U.S. defense officials estimated there were roughly 40,000 American troops deployed across the Middle East. Around 3,500 of those personnel are stationed in the UAE, which hosts the strategic al-Dhafra Air Base, a joint facility used by the U.S., UAE, and French militaries.

    The current conflict, which began on February 28 with joint Israeli and U.S. strikes on Iran, has triggered retaliatory attacks from Tehran targeting Israel and Gulf states that support Washington’s regional agenda. The UAE has borne the brunt of these retaliatory strikes, facing hundreds of drone and missile attacks since the war began. By late March, Iranian forces had launched 398 ballistic missiles, 1,872 drones, and 15 cruise missiles targeting positions across the UAE.

    While the vast majority of incoming projectiles have been intercepted by UAE defense systems, falling debris has still caused damage to key civilian and economic infrastructure in major Emirati cities including Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Affected sites include iconic landmarks such as the Burj Al Arab hotel and the Palm Jumeirah development, as well as critical infrastructure like Dubai International Airport and the Fujairah oil industrial zone.

    Beyond physical damage, the wave of attacks has triggered the UAE’s most severe economic crisis in decades. The country’s economy is built largely on four sectors that are acutely vulnerable to security instability: tourism, real estate, logistics, and international finance. Over the past few weeks, combined market capitalization on the Dubai and Abu Dhabi stock exchanges has fallen by more than $120 billion. More than 18,400 commercial flights to and from Emirati airports have been canceled as airlines reroute services to avoid the conflict zone. By the end of March, Dubai’s key real estate index had dropped by at least 16% since the start of the war, erasing billions of dollars in property value as investor and buyer confidence plummeted.

    This report was originally published by Middle East Eye, a media outlet that provides independent, on-the-ground coverage of the Middle East, North Africa, and broader global affairs.

  • Chinese researchers propose near-zero-emission coal power technology

    Chinese researchers propose near-zero-emission coal power technology

    As global energy systems grapple with the dual challenge of meeting rising power demand and cutting greenhouse gas emissions, a team of Chinese researchers has introduced a groundbreaking new approach to coal-based power generation that promises near-zero carbon dioxide output. The innovation, led by Xie Heping, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and professor at Shenzhen University, was officially published in the academic journal *Energy Reviews* on Thursday, according to an official statement released on the university’s website.

    Traditional coal-fired power generation relies on thermal combustion to heat water into steam, which then drives turbines to produce electricity. This centuries-old approach is inherently inefficient, and it releases massive volumes of carbon dioxide that drive climate change. By contrast, the new zero-carbon-emission direct coal fuel cell (ZC-DCFC) technology skips the combustion step entirely. Instead, it converts the chemical energy stored in coal directly into electrical power through a controlled electrochemical oxidation reaction, eliminating the carbon emissions associated with burning fuel.

    For decades, coal has remained the backbone of global energy supply, meeting roughly one-third of the world’s total energy demand even as renewable energy capacity expands rapidly. Current leading advanced coal power technologies, such as Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC), top out at energy conversion efficiencies of around 45 percent, and still produce more than 800 grams of CO2 for every kilowatt-hour of electricity generated, according to the research team’s analysis.

    The research team began developing the ZC-DCFC concept in 2018, and over eight years of iterative development, they have delivered key breakthroughs in three critical areas: high-performance reaction materials, specialized pre-treatment for coal fuel, and optimized electrode design that enables stable, efficient power output. Beyond cutting emissions, the technology opens new possibilities for utilizing coal resources that were previously considered uneconomical or high-impact to develop. As easily accessible shallow coal reserves are gradually depleted around the world, the innovation could unlock deep underground coal deposits while transforming coal from a major climate liability into a fundamentally cleaner energy source to support the global energy transition.

  • FBI Director Kash Patel files $250m lawsuit against The Atlantic

    FBI Director Kash Patel files $250m lawsuit against The Atlantic

    A high-stakes legal battle has erupted in U.S. political and law enforcement circles, as Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Kash Patel has launched a $250 million defamation lawsuit against the major American magazine The Atlantic. The suit centers on what Patel calls deliberately false, reputation-ruining claims published by the outlet about his professional conduct in office.

    In the formal court filing, Patel alleges the magazine printed a series of fabricated and harmful assertions, including unproven accusations of habitual excessive drinking and repeated unexcused absences from his official duties. The lawsuit argues that the entire piece was constructed with intentionally false, manufactured allegations crafted explicitly to destroy Patel’s professional standing and force him out of his leading role at the FBI. Beyond disputing the story’s core claims, the suit accuses The Atlantic of failing to provide Patel with sufficient time to respond to the detailed list of allegations before publication, and of disregarding a pre-publication warning letter sent by his legal team. According to the filing, the outlet only granted Patel’s side a mere two hours to prepare a response to the claims. “They were on notice that the claims were categorically false and defamatory. They published anyway,” Jesse Binnell, Patel’s lead attorney, shared in a post on social platform X, alongside the full text of the pre-publication letter his team sent to the magazine.

    The original article, published by The Atlantic, drew on anonymous sources to claim that Patel’s on-the-job conduct posed a tangible risk to U.S. public safety and national security. The outlet has stood firmly behind its reporting, noting the piece was rooted in interviews with more than two dozen sources familiar with the situation. In an official statement released after the lawsuit was filed, the magazine said: “We stand by our reporting on Kash Patel, and we will vigorously defend The Atlantic and our journalists against this meritless lawsuit.”

    The story’s reporter, Sarah Fitzpatrick, pushed back against Patel’s claim that the outlet failed to properly seek comment for the piece, pushing back on that allegation in an interview with MSNBC. “We reached out for comment to The White House, and to the Justice Department, neither of which disputed anything,” Fitzpatrick said. “We gave multiple opportunities, including 19 detailed, detailed questions. So we stand by every word.” Notably, the published article even included a direct response attributed to Patel himself, in which he dismissed all claims outright: “Print it, all false, I’ll see you in court—bring your checkbook.”

    Under longstanding U.S. defamation law, established by the 1964 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in *New York Times Co. v. Sullivan*, public officials like Patel are required to meet a high legal bar to win a defamation suit: they must prove that the publishing outlet acted with “actual malice” — meaning the organization either knew the published information was false, or deliberately ignored critical fact-checking steps that would have revealed the falsity before going to print.

    The White House has publicly thrown its support behind Patel in the dispute. When reached for comment by the BBC following the lawsuit’s filing, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt highlighted the Trump administration’s law enforcement record under Patel’s leadership at the FBI. “Under President Trump and Director Patel’s leadership at the FBI, crime across the country has plummeted to the lowest level in more than 100 years and many high-profile criminals have been put behind bars,” Leavitt said, adding, “Director Patel remains a critical player on the Administration’s law and order team.”

    Patel first publicly addressed the allegations during a Fox News interview this past Sunday, where he first confirmed he would pursue legal action against the magazine. As of press time, the FBI has not issued an immediate response to the BBC’s request for comment on the ongoing lawsuit.