Global Pulse

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  • Are Portugal better without Ronaldo – and is he undroppable?

    Are Portugal better without Ronaldo – and is he undroppable?

    It has been nearly 21 years since Cristiano Ronaldo first stepped onto the pitch as a senior Portugal national team player, a moment that took place in a forgettable-looking friendly against a newly UEFA-affiliated Kazakhstan in the northern Portuguese city of Chaves. The 1-0 narrow win was hosted in front of a sold-out crowd of just 8,000 spectators, on a pitch so poorly maintained that groundskeepers had to paint the grass to improve its visible condition. Few could have predicted that the young Madeira native would go on to build a legacy that would redefine Portuguese football, and make history by qualifying for a sixth FIFA World Cup in 2026 – joining only Lionel Messi of Argentina and Guillermo Ochoa of Mexico in this exclusive club of six-time World Cup participants.

    Today, at 41 years old, Ronaldo holds the record for the most international goals in men’s football history, with 143 strikes to his name. Beyond the statistics, he has reshaped the national team’s mentality and expanded the global profile of the small European nation. As former Sporting CP and Portugal national team coach Joao Aroso told BBC Sport: ‘We are a small country that rarely has global impact outside football. Cristiano allows our small country to be known worldwide for something great – because of all the positive things he stands for.’

    For decades, questioning Ronaldo’s place in the Selecao was widely seen as taboo in Portugal. But since the 2022 Qatar World Cup, public and internal debate over his role has intensified, splitting opinion across the football community in the country. Critics, including 1966 World Cup third-place finisher Antonio Simoes, argue that Ronaldo’s priority has shifted to being the center of attention rather than prioritizing team success, a contrast to legendary Portuguese striker Eusebio.

    Portugal’s head coach Roberto Martinez has repeatedly pushed back on this discourse, dismissing it as inconsequential ‘lift talk’. In all recent press conferences addressing the five-time Ballon d’Or winner, Martinez has highlighted a single key stat: Ronaldo has notched 25 goals in his last 31 appearances for the national side. ‘We are talking about the greatest player of all time. He is here because he is still performing at a very high level, not because of what he achieved in the past,’ Martinez explained.

    Having already scored at each of his five previous World Cup appearances, Ronaldo will get one final chance to prove his critics wrong on the game’s biggest stage. The Al-Nassr forward has eight World Cup goals to his name, just one shy of Eusebio’s all-time Portuguese record, but his ultimate goal remains clear: leading Portugal to their first ever World Cup trophy. Ronaldo himself has already confirmed that the 2026 tournament will be his last World Cup, regardless of the outcome.

    Even as age has slowed his raw physical pace, supporters and former teammates insist his impact stretches far beyond goals. ‘Cristiano understands the big moments better than almost anyone in football,’ former Portugal international Abel Xavier told BBC World Service. ‘That experience can be decisive in a World Cup. His presence is very important. People focus on the physical side, but there is also the technical side and especially the mental side. The younger players look up to him and he always gives something to the team.’

    Ricardo, the former Portugal goalkeeper who was on the pitch for Ronaldo’s 2003 senior debut and now serves on the national team’s coaching staff, echoed that sentiment. ‘The speed may no longer be quite the same. Instead of running at 200km/h, he is running at 195km/h now. It is still incredibly high,’ he said. ‘As long as the physical, technical and mental qualities are still there, he remains a devastating force. With him, danger is never far away.’

    Under Martinez, who took over the Portugal job in 2023 after stepping down from his role with Belgium, Ronaldo has featured in 31 of the manager’s 39 games in charge to date, with most of his absences coming from injury or suspension. Critics have pointed to two of Portugal’s biggest recent victories that came without Ronaldo in the squad: a 9-0 thrashing of Luxembourg in Faro in September 2023, and a 9-1 blowout of Armenia in Porto that November. Those results reignited long-running debates over whether the team performs better without their iconic captain.

    Portuguese football pundit Sofia Oliveira, who works with CNN Portugal, DAZN Portugal and TSF radio, argues that Ronaldo no longer has the elite form to start for a title-contending side, and notes that the national team has not prepared for a tournament without him in the starting lineup. ‘But it is easy to arrive at this tournament and say Ronaldo should not be starting, which I agree with. The problem is that the national team has not been preparing for it,’ she explained.

    Managing a figure of Ronaldo’s cultural and sporting stature has always been fraught with risk. Former Portugal manager Fernando Santos learned this lesson after benching Ronaldo during the 2022 Qatar World Cup. The decision sparked a fierce public backlash from Ronaldo’s family members on social media, and Santos stepped down from his role shortly after the tournament.

    When asked earlier this year if he feared the same fate if he benched Ronaldo in 2026, Martinez downplayed the concern. The star’s outsized influence in Portugal has led to ongoing questions about his influence off the pitch, too: when the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) announced a February 2024 partnership with AVA CR7, a physical recovery company owned by Ronaldo, the move immediately drew criticism over potential conflicts of interest. The FPF has pushed back against these claims, releasing a statement to BBC Sport noting that the partnership complies with all internal and regulatory rules, that Ronaldo himself was never involved in the negotiations, and that all discussions were held exclusively with AVA’s management team.

    As Ronaldo nears the end of his decorated professional career, growing attention has turned to whether the FPF and Portuguese football are prepared for a future without their biggest star. The federation has stated that it is ready for the transition, after closing 13 consecutive financial years in profit and approving a 2026-2027 budget that projects a record €161 million in revenue. FPF president Pedro Proenca noted that Ronaldo’s legacy will forever be tied to Portugal, and confirmed that the federation’s financial stability is secure regardless of the star’s eventual retirement.

    ‘Cristiano will always be intrinsically linked not to the federation, but to Portugal as a country,’ Proenca said. ‘The FPF has always prepared for its present and its future. Of course, we know the importance Cristiano has. The two brands overlap – Cristiano Ronaldo and the FPF – I have to be honest and sincere about that. What I can guarantee is that the federation’s operating revenues are secure for the continuity of a cycle that will happen naturally and normally, which is Cristiano’s departure.’

    More than two decades after that unassuming night in Chaves that launched his international journey, Ronaldo remains the undeniable center of Portuguese football, and all eyes will turn to him as he kicks off what he says will be his final World Cup campaign.

  • Armenians go to the polls under Russian pressure aimed at preventing a drift toward West

    Armenians go to the polls under Russian pressure aimed at preventing a drift toward West

    YEREVAN, Armenia — As Armenians head to the polls for a critical parliamentary election Sunday, the small South Caucasus nation finds itself at a defining geopolitical turning point, with the incumbent government pushing to reorient its foreign policy away from historical reliance on Moscow toward deeper engagement with Western powers – a shift that has drawn escalating retaliation from the Kremlin.

    Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who rose to power in 2018 on a wave of popular street protests, and his ruling Civil Contract party are seeking a solid parliamentary mandate to cement their new geopolitical course. They face a fragmented opposition largely dominated by factions that openly advocate for closer alignment with Russia.

    In the weeks leading up to the vote, Russian authorities have imposed a sweeping set of trade restrictions on Armenian exports, covering everything from cut flowers, select cognac and wine varieties to fresh produce like eggplants and potatoes, dried fruit, and fish. Moscow claims the bans stem from violations of agricultural import standards, but the European Union has decried the measures as blatant political coercion. Beyond economic pressure, top Russian officials including President Vladimir Putin have issued thinly veiled warnings that echo the path that led to open conflict in Ukraine, drawing a direct parallel between Armenia’s Western overtures and Ukraine’s pre-2022 EU integration efforts.

    “If the Armenian people see benefits in joining the European Union then we will certainly have nothing to say against it,” Putin told reporters following Russia’s May 9 Victory Day parade. He quickly added a sharp caveat, however: “We are currently living through everything that is happening in respect of Ukraine. And how did it start? It started with Ukraine’s joining or attempting to join the EU.” Putin has also stressed that Armenia cannot simultaneously remain a member of the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) and integrate with the EU’s customs union, calling the dual alignment “simply impossible by definition.” Moscow also retains major control over Armenia’s energy and infrastructure networks, and has regularly leveraged its supply of subsidized natural gas as a reminder of Armenia’s existing economic dependence.

    In pre-election developments, Armenian law enforcement issued six arrest warrants for members of the pro-Russian opposition Strong Armenia party on the eve of the vote, alleging the group engaged in widespread vote-buying. The country’s Central Election Commission had previously rejected calls from another opposition faction, the Republic party, to bar Strong Armenia from running over corruption allegations, clearing the way for the party to participate. Strong Armenia is led by Armenian-Russian billionaire Samvel Karapetyan, who is currently under house arrest facing trial on charges of advocating for the overthrow of the Pashinyan government – charges Karapetyan dismisses as a politically motivated smear. He has overseen the party’s campaign from detention, with support from his nephew Narek Karapetyan. The faction frames Pashinyan’s course as a reckless push toward conflict with Russia and prioritizes expanding economic and political ties with Moscow.

    Other key pro-Russian opposition contenders include former Armenian President Robert Kocharyan, leader of the Hayastan opposition bloc, who has accused Pashinyan of severely damaging Armenia’s long-standing relationship with Russia. Another major faction is the Prosperous Armenia Party, headed by pro-Russian business leader Gagic Tsarukyan. All major opposition groups have also blasted Pashinyan’s ongoing efforts to normalize relations with neighboring Azerbaijan, a process brokered in part by the West. The two countries have been locked in a decades-long dispute over the Karabakh region, which was held by ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia for nearly 30 years before Azerbaijan reclaimed full control of the entire territory in a 2023 military offensive. In August last year, Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev initialed a framework for a peace deal at the White House, with U.S. President Donald Trump in attendance.

    “I want this government to change because the condition of our country is getting worse,” Sahakyan Elina, a Prosperous Armenia supporter, told the Associated Press at an opposition rally Thursday. “I don’t want to live with my enemies in unity.”

    Pashinyan has publicly framed his foreign policy as a balanced approach that aims to maintain positive relations with Russia, alongside building stronger ties with the U.S., Europe, and regional powers including Turkey and Iran. Despite this framing, his government has been received far more favorably in Western capitals than in Moscow. Notably, Donald Trump has publicly endorsed Pashinyan’s re-election bid, taking to social media to call the Armenian prime minister “a great friend and Leader” who “is making his Country strong, wealthy, and very secure,” and urging Armenian voters to “Make (Armenia) Great Again.”

    Under Armenia’s electoral law, the 101-seat National Assembly is elected for five-year terms, with a 4% vote threshold for individual parties to gain representation, and an 8% threshold for multi-party blocs. A total of 17 individual parties and two electoral blocs are contesting Sunday’s vote. Most independent pollsters and regional analysts currently project that Pashinyan and Civil Contract will emerge from the election with a leading share of seats. “I think Armenians expect, first of all, a peaceful, independent and prosperous Armenia from this election, as we have today,” said Hripsime Grigoryan, an outgoing Civil Contract member of parliament.

  • Kosovo voters return to the polls after parties fail to agree on a new president

    Kosovo voters return to the polls after parties fail to agree on a new president

    PRISTINA, Kosovo — Kosovo’s 2 million eligible voters cast their ballots at polling stations across the small Balkan nation on Sunday, heading to the polls for the third early parliamentary election in just a year and a half. This latest electoral cycle was called to break a months-long institutional gridlock that has stalled the country’s bid for European Union and NATO accession, leaving key policy and governance initiatives on hold.

    The current crisis traces its roots back to an inconclusive February 2025 election that left Kosovo without a fully functional governing administration for most of 2025, forcing a second snap vote that December. The latest impasse emerged after the Balkan country’s major political blocs failed to reach an agreement by a March deadline to select a successor for former President Vjosa Osmani, triggering the requirement for another round of national voting.

    This extended period of political instability has hit Kosovo’s already fragile economy particularly hard. The country, one of the youngest and poorest in Europe, has already grappled with severe headwinds from the global energy crisis and soaring fuel prices in recent years. The ongoing institutional vacuum has also blocked Kosovo’s access to much-needed European Union and international development funds, deepening economic strain for ordinary citizens.

    Kosovo’s modern political history has been shaped by its 2008 declaration of independence from Serbia, a step that came nine years after the 1998-1999 Kosovo War, which concluded with a NATO bombing campaign that forced Serbian military forces to withdraw from the territory. While the United States and most EU member states recognize Kosovo’s sovereignty, Serbia continues to claim the region as its own, backed by key allies Russia and China. Both Pristina and Belgrade have been明确 told by EU officials that normalizing bilateral relations is a non-negotiable prerequisite for advancing their respective EU membership applications.

    The current governing party, Prime Minister Albin Kurti’s center-left Vetevendosje movement, has held a solid parliamentary majority since December’s early election. However, Kosovo’s constitution requires presidential candidates to win the support of at least 80 of the 120 members of the national assembly, meaning no candidate can secure the position without cross-party consensus that has remained out of reach throughout the crisis.

    Kurti and Vetevendosje now face sharp challenges from the country’s two largest opposition blocs: the Democratic Party of Kosovo and the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK). The opposition has levied accusations that Kurti is aggressively pursuing unilateral control over all of Kosovo’s governing institutions, a charge the ruling party has rejected. Former President Osmani, who fell out with Kurti after he refused to support her bid for a second presidential term, is running for parliament in this election as part of the LDK’s opposition candidate list.

    As key political actors have traded blame for the ongoing deadlock, widespread frustration has bubbled up among Kosovo’s electorate. Voters across the country have repeatedly expressed that they want political leaders to set aside disagreements to focus on urgent priorities: boosting economic growth, raising living standards, and expanding access to jobs and public services, rather than being stuck in repeated cycles of electoral conflict.

    Political analysts broadly agree that the outcome of Sunday’s vote is unlikely to deliver a major shakeup compared to December’s election, with few signs of a dramatic shift in voter support that would break the current balance of power between ruling and opposition blocs. Ahead of voting, European Council President António Costa used an official visit to Pristina last week to deliver a clear message: Kosovo’s political leaders must end the stalemate and unify around the shared national goal of EU integration to move the country forward.

  • ‘Corrosive’: Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan calls out sexist ‘Ditch the Witch’ Melbourne campaign

    ‘Corrosive’: Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan calls out sexist ‘Ditch the Witch’ Melbourne campaign

    With less than six months remaining until Victoria’s hotly contested state election, Premier Jacinta Allan has publicly decried a misogynistic political attack targeting her, using the incident to sound the alarm over what she calls the growing corrosiveness of Australia’s political discourse. The attack, uncovered Friday evening in Melbourne’s central business district, came in the form of a mobile billboard displaying the derogatory slogan “Ditch the Witch” — a phrase with a well-documented history of sexist targeting of female Australian leaders, having first been deployed against former Prime Minister Julia Gillard during the divisive 2011 carbon tax debate. This is not the first time Allan has faced such vitriolic abuse: earlier this year, she was targeted with an even cruder misogynistic slogan printed on a fire truck at a public rally. Taking to social media to call out the latest incident, Allan made clear that while political disagreement is a natural and legitimate part of democratic governance, open sexism has no place in public debate. “People are entitled to disagree with me. That’s democracy,” the premier told reporters and followers. “But I care that this attacks women. And I care about who’s next. The political debate in this country has become corrosive over the last few years.” Allan framed the mobile billboard as part of a covert, well-funded opposition campaign, noting that rhetoric and behavior that would have been broadly condemned by all political sides decades ago is increasingly being normalized as just another campaign tactic. She specifically called out media outlets for failing to push back against this trend, arguing that many outlets treat the derogatory attacks as acceptable political theater rather than the harmful escalation they represent. “They report on this like it’s fair game, like it’s normal. But nothing about this is normal,” Allan said. “If you don’t take a stand against this creeping culture, it has a tendency of taking over. You only have to look at America to know that.” The premier stressed that she would not step aside and allow the normalization of misogynistic language targeting women in leadership, or any working woman across the state. “I cannot stand back and let Victoria become a place where this sort of language is fair game against any woman at work – or any woman in leadership,” she said. “If we don’t draw a line, the line will keep moving.” Beyond the immediate political context, Allan tied the incident to her broader vision for gender equity, explaining that she wants to build a state where young girls do not feel pressured to lower their career ambitions to avoid harassment, and young boys are taught that misogyny is never an acceptable path to success. “I want my children to grow up knowing that women deserve the same respect as men,” she said. “I want girls to know that they should never need to aim lower just to feel safer. And, I want boys to know that they don’t have to put women ‘in their place’ to make their own way in the world. Sexism hurts everyone.” Allan, who replaced long-serving, controversial former premier Daniel Andrews when she took office in 2023, is heading into the November election facing steep political headwinds. Her government has seen dropping approval ratings amid ongoing controversy over large-scale infrastructure projects and rising public concern over crime rates, while the far-right One Nation party has posted notable gains in voter support in recent months. In recent days, the Bendigo-based MP has also faced internal and public questions about the future of her leadership ahead of the poll.

  • Employment Minister Amanda Rishworth ‘seeking advice’ over Fair Work Commission stoush

    Employment Minister Amanda Rishworth ‘seeking advice’ over Fair Work Commission stoush

    A high-profile internal conflict rocking Australia’s top workplace adjudication body, the Fair Work Commission (FWC), has drawn federal government attention, with Employment Minister Amanda Rishworth declining to close the door on official intervention as she reviews new complaints surrounding a 2021 homophobic slur incident.

    The controversy dates back to 2021, when FWC Commissioner Jennifer Hunt was recorded using a homophobic slur during an official work function. Then-FWC President Ian Ross subsequently issued formal counselling to Hunt over the comment, after multiple members of staff present raised formal objections to the language. Hunt has since confirmed the incident took place in comments to *The Australian*, but has pushed back against claims the comment was intended to cause harm. She has further alleged that internal details of her counselling and the incident were intentionally leaked as part of a coordinated campaign to damage her professional reputation, tying the leak directly to a long-running personal dispute with FWC Vice-President Ingrid Asbury.

    The conflict escalated when Asbury formally lodged a complaint with Minister Rishworth, calling for Hunt to be suspended or removed from her position as commissioner. The two parties reached a procedural settlement this week, following an independent inquiry led by retired Federal Court Judge Alan Robertson. In a joint public statement released this week, Hunt accepted Robertson’s findings, which dismissed all of her complaints against Asbury and current FWC President Adam Hatcher. As part of the settlement, Hunt agreed to withdraw her formal request for the full public release of the inquiry report and to remove a related public post calling for release that she had shared on her professional LinkedIn account.

    Speaking to Sky News about the ongoing internal dispute, Rishworth acknowledged the FWC’s status as a critically important Australian institution, noting that public trust in the tribunal is non-negotiable. Rishworth referenced a previous independent inquiry she commissioned into earlier allegations related to the incident, which returned no formal actionable findings, requiring no further government action at that time. She confirmed that new allegations and formal complaints have now been brought forward, and that her office is currently seeking formal guidance from her department on how to proceed.

    When pressed on whether she would consider removing any FWC leadership or commissioner from their post over the incident, Rishworth repeatedly stated she would not pre-empt outcomes before receiving official departmental advice, stopping short of ruling out any potential intervention. Asked directly whether any senior officials would face termination over the controversy, Rishworth declined to comment, saying only that “it’s very important that I get the right advice” and that the FWC must retain public respect across the country, while refusing to be drawn into specific details of the ongoing conflict.

  • Israeli soldier kills seven-month-old Palestinian baby, then walks away

    Israeli soldier kills seven-month-old Palestinian baby, then walks away

    On the very day he turned seven months old, a Palestinian baby named Sam Fahd Abu Haikal was killed by Israeli soldiers who opened fire on his family’s vehicle in the Tel Rumeida district of Hebron, in the occupied West Bank, despite the car coming to a full stop as ordered. The fatal shooting has added new outrage to longstanding accusations of systemic impunity for Israeli violence against Palestinian civilians in the region.

    The infant was traveling in the vehicle Friday afternoon alongside his parents, 11-year-old brother, and grandmother Ferial Abu Haikal when the encounter unfolded. Speaking to reporters after the shooting, Ferial Abu Haikal recalled that the family immediately halted their car upon spotting Israeli military personnel positioned along the road. Initially, the family assumed the gunfire they heard was a series of warning shots, but the reality quickly turned devastating. One bullet tore through the baby’s face and exited the back of his skull before becoming lodged in his mother’s cheek, she said.

    The child’s mother remained unaware of her son’s death until Saturday morning, as family members concealed the news to protect her health, fearing the severe shock of the loss would worsen her injury. Sam’s father, Fahd Abu Haikal, a lecturer at Bethlehem University, shared a chilling account of the encounter with Israeli outlet Haaretz, confirming he fully complied with the soldier’s order to stop. “The soldier signalled me to stop. I brought the car to a complete halt and raised my hands on the steering wheel. Immediately afterwards, they opened fire on the vehicle,” he said.

    Fahd Abu Haikal emphasized there was no room for confusion over who was inside the vehicle. The shooting soldier stood just 10 meters from the car, it was broad daylight, and the windows had no tinting, leaving the entire family clearly visible. “You can’t say he didn’t see that it was a family,” he noted. Unlike a formal, marked checkpoint, the soldiers were simply positioned on the open street, he added, and he followed their instructions to stop without hesitation moments before the shooting began.

    Speaking at Sam’s funeral on Saturday, the grieving father described how the Israeli unit withdrew immediately after the shooting and left the scene without any explanation or attempt to assist. “The car was completely stationary when he shot at us, it wasn’t moving at all. A 7 months old infant killed in cold blood. He didn’t deserve this,” he said. He has demanded full accountability for the killing, stating he will not abandon his fight for justice. “I demand and expect, if there is any conscience, any law, any morality, that the soldier who fired the shots will be held accountable for his actions. This case must not be closed without an investigation and without accountability. At the very least, I do not intend to give up,” he added.

    In response to inquiries about the incident, an Israeli military spokesperson only stated that “the incident is under review.” This vague update comes amid a stark backdrop of rising violence in the West Bank: the United Nations reported last month that Israeli forces and settlers have killed more than 1,000 Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem since the start of the Gaza conflict in October 2023, at least 240 of whom are children.

    Widespread impunity for these killings is well documented by Israeli human rights groups. Yesh Din, an Israeli organization tracking military misconduct, found that between 2016 and 2024, fewer than 1 percent of 2,427 complaints of Palestinian abuse against Israeli soldiers resulted in indictments. Few service members ever face punishment for violent acts against Palestinian civilians, a pattern that has fueled ongoing anger across the occupied territories.

  • Messi sits out Argentina’s friendly against Honduras while managing muscle fatigue, hamstring strain

    Messi sits out Argentina’s friendly against Honduras while managing muscle fatigue, hamstring strain

    COLLEGE STATION, Texas — As the 2026 FIFA World Cup rapidly approaches, Argentine soccer legend Lionel Messi was forced to watch his team’s pre-tournament friendly against Honduras from the Kyle Field sideline on Saturday night, sidelined by ongoing management of muscle fatigue and a mild left hamstring strain. The 38-year-old, who will celebrate his 39th birthday just three weeks from the match, did complete warm-up routines alongside his teammates on the Texas A&M University campus before taking up a spot on the bench for the full 90 minutes. He was a spectator as his side secured a solid 2-0 win over the Central American side.

    The Argentine Football Association has noted that Messi’s recovery timeline will be adjusted based on his ongoing clinical improvement and functional progress as he works to regain full fitness ahead of the World Cup. This friendly against Honduras marked the second-to-last warm-up match for the reigning World Cup champions, who will wrap up their pre-tournament preparation with a matchup against Iceland in Auburn, Alabama this coming Tuesday. Following that final tune-up contest, the squad will return to training in Kansas City to finalize their game plans before the tournament kicks off.

    Messi’s hamstring issue first drew attention earlier this week, when he arrived late to team training sessions in Kansas City. Instead of joining full squad drills, the star forward completed individualized conditioning work separate from the rest of his teammates to avoid exacerbating the minor injury.

    This summer’s World Cup is widely expected to be Messi’s final appearance in international soccer, closing out a record-breaking career with the Argentine national team. He already holds the all-time record for the most matches played in World Cup history, with 26 appearances to his name. He is also just four goals away from breaking another iconic World Cup record: Miroslav Klose of Germany’s all-time mark of 16 World Cup goals. Argentina will open its 2026 World Cup title defense against Algeria on June 16 at Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium.

  • Pentagon raises alarm over Israel’s ‘unhinged’ spying on US officials: Report

    Pentagon raises alarm over Israel’s ‘unhinged’ spying on US officials: Report

    A major new intelligence assessment from the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), a component of the Pentagon, has upgraded Israel’s counterintelligence threat rating to the agency’s highest classification, “critical”. The development has pulled back the curtain on deep, previously hidden frictions in a bilateral relationship long framed as an unshakeable cornerstone of U.S. Middle East strategy, with senior American officials decrying widespread, aggressive spying targeting top Trump administration policymakers. The reclassification, first reported by NBC News and The New York Times this past Saturday, comes as sharp public and private rifts have opened between the second Trump administration and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government over the future of the conflict with Iran, escalating tensions between the two supposed closest allies.

    Multiple current and former U.S. officials confirmed to NBC News that the DIA distributed an internal notification marking the upgrade, which pushes Israel’s threat ranking higher than that of any other U.S. ally and even outpaces that of several established U.S. adversaries. The designation is rooted in growing alarm within the Pentagon that Israeli intelligence operatives are actively conducting widespread surveillance of senior U.S. officials to steal classified details about internal Trump administration deliberations on military strategy across the entire Middle East. The full assessment includes a 7-page analytical document plus a classified threat chart, one senior administration official told NBC, with the material explicitly noting that Israel’s capabilities for both human espionage and technical signal collection have now reached the unprecedented critical threshold, and cataloging specific recent operations that triggered heightened U.S. concern.

    According to reporting from The New York Times, U.S. counterintelligence agencies have specifically tracked Israeli eavesdropping efforts targeting a slate of top U.S. national security officials. These targets include Steve Witkoff, Trump’s lead envoy for Middle East diplomacy, Elbridge A. Colby, the Pentagon’s top policy official, and Michael P. DiMino IV, one of Colby’s closest senior deputies. Colby has previously publicly called for a fundamental reset of the U.S.-Israel relationship, a position that has put him at odds with Netanyahu’s government. One senior U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity to NBC News, described the scale and intensity of Israeli intelligence gathering against senior American officials during the second Trump administration as “unhinged”. Current and former officials both emphasized to the outlet that this recent wave of activity goes far beyond the low-level, routine espionage that commonly occurs even between close allied nations.

    The timing of the DIA’s assessment adds a layer of geopolitical friction, as Israel currently pushes Congress to approve sweeping new legislation that would deepen military integration between the U.S. and Israeli defense sectors. The proposed provision would bind the two countries closer together in weapons research, development, manufacturing, and cutting-edge defense technology sharing — a change that analysts widely expect would deliver substantial strategic and economic benefits to Israel. The elevated threat rating is now expected to complicate ongoing efforts to expand joint war planning cooperation between U.S. Central Command and the Israeli military, as U.S. officials may move to restrict the flow of sensitive information to Israeli officers amid the new security concerns.

    The dispute emerges against the backdrop of a major public split over Middle East war policy. Since a ceasefire between Iran and the U.S.-Israel coalition took effect in early April, the Trump administration has pursued diplomatic negotiations to end the open conflict that launched on February 28. But Netanyahu’s government has openly and aggressively pushed for the U.S. to abandon diplomacy and resume large-scale military attacks on Iran. Netanyahu has also publicly clashed with Trump over Israeli military operations in Lebanon, with Trump pushing the Israeli prime minister to scale back strikes in the country.

    This revelation also revives longstanding, unresolved concerns about Israeli espionage on U.S. soil that date back decades. The most famous case dates to the 1980s, when U.S. Navy intelligence analyst Jonathan Pollard was arrested and ultimately served 30 years in federal prison after being convicted of selling thousands of pages of top-secret classified documents to Israeli handlers. For many U.S. counterintelligence officials, the new critical threat rating confirms that these long-running risks have only escalated in recent years, even as the official bilateral relationship has been framed as closer than ever.

    The original reporting was published by Middle East Eye, an outlet that produces independent, in-depth coverage of the Middle East, North Africa, and global affairs connected to the region.

  • North Korea calls the US push for its denuclearization ‘anachronistic dream’

    North Korea calls the US push for its denuclearization ‘anachronistic dream’

    As diplomatic attention shifts to Northeast Asia ahead of a high-profile Chinese visit to Pyongyang, a top senior North Korean official has publicly rejected longstanding U.S. calls for North Korean denuclearization, calling the goal an outdated, impossible dream while reaffirming Pyongyang’s plan to steadily grow its nuclear weapons arsenal in response to what it frames as American-led aggression.

    Kim Yo Jong, the influential younger sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and a key policy advisor within the Pyongyang government, issued the blunt statement on Sunday — just 24 hours before Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in North Korea for his first summit with Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang in seven years.

    In her official remarks, carried by North Korean state media, Kim Yo Jong pushed back against U.S. claims that Washington’s characterization of North Korea’s nuclear status holds any global weight. “The U.S. assertion to backbite the status of the DPRK as a nuclear weapons state has no legally binding force and no one will be bound by the U.S. unilateral rhetoric,” she said, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

    She also outright refuted a U.S. announcement that former U.S. President Donald Trump and Xi Jinping had reconfirmed their shared commitment to North Korean denuclearization during a Beijing summit held last month, labeling the claim completely fabricated false information. “Some officials in the United States have failed to wake from their escapist and anachronistic dream,” Kim Yo Jong added.

    Pyongyang’s accelerating push to expand its nuclear capabilities dates back to 2019, when high-stakes denuclearization negotiations between Kim Jong Un and former U.S. President Donald Trump collapsed without a breakthrough agreement. Regional security analysts widely agree that Kim Jong Un’s core strategic goal is to secure formal international recognition of North Korea as a legitimate nuclear-armed state, a status that would allow him to negotiate for the full lifting of crippling international economic sanctions that have been in place for decades.

    Just last week, Kim Jong Un reaffirmed this aggressive expansion trajectory during an inspection of a new North Korean nuclear materials production facility, where he stated that Pyongyang would boost its nuclear force “at an exponential rate.” On Sunday, state media released additional updates: Kim Jong Un had visited a key weapons manufacturing facility one day prior, ordering that the country’s missile production capacity be increased 2.5-fold over the course of the country’s current five-year development plan.

    Kim Yo Jong framed Pyongyang’s military buildup as a purely defensive response to joint military posturing from the United States and South Korea. She emphasized that her brother’s push for “steadily beefing up the nuclear war deterrent for self-defense” is “an irreversible final conclusion to be carried out unconditionally,” pointing to what she called “ceaseless arms build-ups” from Washington and Seoul that threaten North Korean security.

    Xi Jinping’s upcoming visit carries major regional geopolitical significance. Analysts note that the trip is largely aimed at reaffirming China’s traditional influence over Pyongyang, as North Korea has increasingly shifted its foreign policy alignment toward Russia in recent years. Observers expect Xi will avoid directly pressing Kim on the denuclearization issue during their talks, and instead will focus on offering new economic assistance packages to strengthen bilateral ties.

    In recent months, Pyongyang has provided conventional weapons and thousands of troops to Russia to support its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, according to assessments from South Korean and U.S. officials. In exchange, those officials say, North Korea has received critical economic and military assistance from Moscow to shore up its own struggling economy and defense programs.

  • Pope to lead huge Madrid mass on day two of Spain visit

    Pope to lead huge Madrid mass on day two of Spain visit

    Nearly 14 years after the last papal state visit to Spain, Pope Leo XIV has launched a week-long tour of the majority-Catholic European nation, with the event’s centerpiece — an open-air Mass in downtown Madrid expected to draw more than one million worshippers — scheduled for Sunday, the second day of his trip.

    Spanish King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia are set to join the throngs of devotees gathering at Madrid’s iconic Cibeles Square, where attendees will face warm temperatures for the historic service. Local authorities have rolled out an unprecedented logistical and security operation to accommodate the massive crowd, including constructing a custom main stage, installing seven giant display screens and 608 loudspeakers, placing 2,300 public restrooms and 10 water stations, and erecting over 8,000 safety barriers along the event route.

    Following the Mass, Pope Leo will lead a multi-hundred-meter procession from Cibeles Square along Madrid’s famous Gran Via commercial boulevard before returning to the starting point. Organizers have decorated the entire procession route with an intricate floral carpet featuring more than 30,000 carnations, chosen in yellow and white to match the Vatican flag’s official colors. After the ceremony, crowds of excited pilgrims — who have traveled to Madrid from across Spain and beyond — are expected to line the streets of central Madrid for a second consecutive day, hoping to catch a glimpse of the Pope as he travels along the route in his popemobile.

    The papal visit comes as long-running trends of declining traditional religious observance have reshaped Spanish society, mirroring shifts seen across most of Western Europe over the past decades. On Sunday evening, the Pope will meet with prominent figures from Spain’s cultural, athletic, and economic sectors at a local venue, in an initiative designed to build constructive dialogue between religious faith and contemporary secular civil society.

    The visit officially kicked off on Saturday, when 500,000 attendees, most of them young people, gathered for an overnight prayer vigil with Pope Leo outside Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabéu Stadium. An opening ceremonial reception was held at Madrid’s Royal Palace earlier that day, where the Pope used his opening address to call on global societies to reject what he termed “polarising narratives” and “sterile simplifications” that divide communities. He also offered public praise to Spain for what he called the nation’s “active commitment to peace and solidarity among peoples,” a reference that comes as Spain’s current left-wing government has clashed with Pope Leo’s native United States and Israel over policy regarding ongoing conflicts in the Middle East.

    Looking ahead to the rest of the week-long trip, Pope Leo will travel to Barcelona on Tuesday and Wednesday, where his key scheduled duty is blessing the newly completed tower of the Sagrada Familia basilica. The finished construction has earned the iconic UNESCO site the title of the world’s tallest church. The tour will conclude with a focus on the global migration crisis during visits to the Canary Islands on Thursday and Friday. The archipelago has become a major entry point for irregular migrants traveling from North Africa, with thousands of people dying in Atlantic crossing attempts each year while trying to reach European territory.