Global Pulse

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  • Man dies after bitten by shark in Western Australia, police say

    Man dies after bitten by shark in Western Australia, police say

    A 35-year-old male diver has lost his life following a brutal attack by a suspected 4.5-meter shark off the coast of Western Australia, local law enforcement confirmed this week. The unnamed victim was engaged in spearfishing alongside family members near Michaelmas Island, a coastal location roughly 45 kilometers southeast of Perth, when the assault unfolded at 11:25 a.m. local time on Saturday, according to official statements.

    Immediately after the attack, companions of the diver transported him back to shore via private boat, where emergency paramedics were waiting to provide life-saving intervention. Despite extensive resuscitation efforts, medical personnel were unable to restart the diver’s heart, and he was pronounced dead at the scene.

    In accordance with standard protocol for unexpected violent deaths, Western Australia Police announced it will compile a full investigative report to hand over to the state coroner, who will oversee an official inquiry into the fatality. The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) confirmed it is collaborating with police and local emergency management teams to respond to the incident, and has issued a public call for coastal users to share any unreported shark sightings with authorities to help update local risk assessments.

    This latest fatal attack comes less than four weeks after another deadly shark incident in the same region claimed the life of 38-year-old Steven Mattaboni, a father of two. Mattaboni was attacked by a 4-meter shark while in the water at Horseshoe Reef, a popular diving spot located northwest of Rottnest Island, one of Perth’s most frequented coastal recreation areas.

    While Australia records more shark interactions than most other coastal nations globally, the vast majority of these encounters do not end in death. High-traffic recreation zones, including popular surf breaks and swimming beaches, typically implement dedicated shark mitigation measures such as aerial patrols, netting, and real-time alert systems to reduce public risk, though remote and less frequented spearfishing and diving spots like Michaelmas Island rarely have the same level of protective infrastructure in place. As of Monday, the BBC confirmed it had reached out to state officials for additional comment and confirmation of the incident details.

  • Lorenzo Lemalu: Slain underworld figure’s funeral service hit by gunshots, burnt car found

    Lorenzo Lemalu: Slain underworld figure’s funeral service hit by gunshots, burnt car found

    A memorial service meant to honor a slain young Australian organized crime figure descended into chaos on Saturday afternoon, when attackers unleashed a barrage of gunfire from a moving SUV into the western Sydney venue hosting the service. The violent incident unfolded at Diamond Venues in Punchbowl, where friends and family had gathered to remember 24-year-old Lorenzo Lemalu, a man law enforcement links to a senior leadership role in the Coconut Cartel, a notorious Sydney-based underworld syndicate.

    Lemalu’s funeral came two weeks after he was fatally shot outside a seafood restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, on May 21. To date, Vietnamese authorities have arrested and charged two Samoan nationals in connection with his killing, with investigators stating the pair were acting on orders from a suspect based outside the country.

    New South Wales Police confirmed that the shooting at the funeral occurred shortly after 2:20 p.m. Witness accounts and circulating footage show that the unidentified attackers fired from a passing SUV before immediately fleeing the suburban neighborhood. Remarkably, no attendees or bystanders were harmed in the attack, despite video evidence capturing more than 24 rounds being fired at the venue’s upper level. Within a short time of the shooting, officers located the suspected getaway vehicle fully engulfed in flames, a common tactic used by organized crime groups to destroy forensic evidence.

    Graphic video of the attack was published online by crime-focused media outlet SCN WorldStar. Audio captured in the footage reveals the attackers coordinating the strike: a gloved, hooded passenger in the back of the SUV opens fire on the building, while the driver urges him on, saying “Keep going, keep going,” before yelling to flee once the shooting stops.

    Lemalu’s formal burial was scheduled to take place the following day, Sunday, after the interrupted memorial service. The attack has underscored the ongoing violent rivalries playing out between Australian organized crime groups, even extending across borders and disrupting funeral services for fallen members.

  • US and Iran exchange strikes in Gulf in latest test of ceasefire

    US and Iran exchange strikes in Gulf in latest test of ceasefire

    The fragile, weeks-long ceasefire between the United States and Iran has been pushed to the breaking point by a new cycle of tit-for-tat military strikes that have raised fears of a wider regional conflict across the Middle East. The latest escalation began when U.S. forces intercepted and destroyed four Iranian one-way attack drones that were heading toward the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global energy chokepoint. U.S. Central Command (Centcom) confirmed the interception, stating the drones posed an unambiguous immediate threat to commercial maritime traffic moving through the strategically vital waterway.

    Following the drone interception, U.S. forces launched retaliatory strikes against Iranian coastal surveillance radar sites located in southern Iran. A Centcom statement clarified the operation was carried out to disrupt Iran’s ability to launch future attacks against regional and international assets. Tehran quickly responded to the U.S. action, according to Iran’s state-run Irib news agency, by firing a volley of seven ballistic missiles at two U.S. air bases in Kuwait and U.S. Navy facilities stationed in Bahrain. Initial U.S. military assessments found that six of the seven incoming missiles were successfully intercepted by defensive systems, while the seventh failed to reach its intended target.

    This new round of violence comes just days after an earlier exchange of strikes that already eroded the truce brokered in April. In one of the most high-profile recent attacks, a Wednesday drone strike on Kuwait International Airport left one person dead and more than 60 others injured, according to local Kuwaiti officials. Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) has outright denied responsibility for the airport attack, claiming the damage and casualties were actually caused by a misfired U.S. missile interceptor. Centcom has rejected this claim entirely, characterizing the airport strike as a deliberate, calculated and completely unjustified act of aggression against a U.S. partner.

    The IRGC has framed its recent attacks on U.S. positions in the Gulf as retaliation for earlier U.S. strikes that hit an Iranian oil tanker and targets on Qeshm Island. Even amid this sharp military escalation, the U.S. has made an unprecedented diplomatic gesture: it has approved and issued visas for Iran’s national men’s football team ahead of their opening World Cup match scheduled for June 15 in Los Angeles. This marks the first time in the history of the competition that a host nation has formally hosted the national team of a country with which it is actively engaged in armed conflict.

    The latest outbreak of violence comes as ceasefire negotiations between the two sides remain stalled, with efforts to reach a permanent peace deal making no tangible progress. U.S. media reports have indicated that former President Donald Trump has requested last-minute changes to the draft terms of a potential agreement, a move that has drawn sharp criticism from Iranian officials. On Monday, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman accused Washington of constantly shifting its negotiating positions and putting forward new, contradictory demands that make a deal impossible to finalize.

    The current cycle of conflict between the two nations dates back to February 28, when the U.S. and Israel launched a wide-ranging series of airstrikes against targets across Iran. Iran responded with attacks on Israeli territory and U.S. allied states across the Gulf, and took the drastic step of effectively closing the Strait of Hormuz — the waterway through which roughly 20% of the world’s daily oil and liquefied natural gas supplies are transported. The closure of the strait immediately sent global energy prices soaring, with ripple effects felt across every major economy worldwide.

    After a ceasefire was reached in early April, the U.S. implemented a full naval blockade of Iranian ports. Trump reaffirmed that the blockade would remain in full force and effect until a final comprehensive agreement is reached, formally certified, and signed by both parties.

  • Kosovo to hold third election in 18 months as frustration grows over political impasse

    Kosovo to hold third election in 18 months as frustration grows over political impasse

    The small Balkan nation of Kosovo is heading back to the polls this weekend, marking its third parliamentary election in just 18 months, as widespread public frustration builds over a seemingly intractable political crisis that threatens the country’s long-held goals of deeper integration with the European Union and NATO.

    This latest early vote, scheduled for Sunday, was triggered when Kosovo’s major political blocs failed to reach a consensus on a successor to former President Vjosa Osmani, whose term of office expired at the end of March. Prime Minister Albin Kurti’s center-left Vetevendosje party already holds a solid majority in parliament following the last early election held in December. However, Kosovo’s constitution requires a presidential appointment to be approved by at least 80 of the 120 sitting lawmakers – a supermajority that neither Kurti’s governing faction nor the united opposition has been able to secure.

    As key political players trade blame for the ongoing gridlock, their repeated failure to broker a compromise has sparked deep disappointment among Kosovo’s roughly 2 million eligible voters, who overwhelmingly prioritize economic growth and improved living standards over endless partisan infighting.

    Vlora Kryeziu, a 52-year-old business owner based in the capital Pristina, summed up the widespread public cynicism, noting that the same political standoff is playing out on repeat. “We will for sure have the same result,” she said. “As a citizen, I have a lot of dissatisfaction, and I think that we as a society are not doing enough to change these things.”

    This cycle of inconclusive elections stretches back to a first vote in February 2024, which left Kosovo without a fully functioning government for most of the year and forced a second snap election in December 2024.

    As one of Europe’s youngest and poorest countries, Kosovo carries a complex geopolitical backdrop: the majority ethnic Albanian state declared independence from Serbia in 2008, following a 1998-1999 armed conflict that ended with a NATO bombing campaign that forced Serbia to withdraw its forces from the territory. While the United States and most European Union member states recognize Kosovo’s sovereignty, Serbia refuses to acknowledge the declaration, backed by its key allies Russia and China. Both Belgrade and Pristina have made clear that normalizing bilateral relations is a non-negotiable requirement for advancing their respective EU membership bids.

    European Council President Antonio Costa traveled to Pristina this week to issue a clear call for Kosovar political leaders to resolve the stalemate and unify around the shared national goal of EU integration. “The European Union can support Kosovo, but it cannot do Kosovo’s own homework,” Costa stated. “Kosovo needs strong, stable and functioning institutions capable of delivering reforms and seizing the opportunities the European Union offers.”

    On the campaign trail, Kurti has urged voters to grant him a new mandate, arguing that opposition parties manufactured an artificial crisis to force repeated elections despite what he calls the “strong and clear will of the people.” In response, Kosovo’s two main opposition parties – the Democratic Party of Kosovo and the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) – have accused Kurti of pushing to consolidate absolute control over all of the country’s governing institutions. Notably, former President Osmani, once Kurti’s political ally, is now running on the LDK’s party list against the prime minister after he refused to support her nomination for a second presidential term.

    Political analyst Artan Muhaxhiri predicts little substantive change will come out of Sunday’s vote, pointing to Vetevendosje’s capture of more than 50% of the vote in the last election. He expects the political deadlock to reemerge after ballots are counted, noting “there are no indications that political leaders are willing to change their actual stances and narrow the existing gap.”

    The prolonged political crisis has already left tangible damage on Kosovo’s already fragile economy, which has been battered by the global energy crisis and soaring fuel prices in recent years. The recurring institutional vacuum has also delayed the country’s access to critical EU and international development funds earmarked for Kosovo, putting key infrastructure and reform projects on hold.

  • US, Iran trade strikes despite visas for World Cup footballers

    US, Iran trade strikes despite visas for World Cup footballers

    A fragile months-long truce between the United States and Iran collapsed into fresh cross-border strikes on Friday, raising new fears of a wider regional conflict just as Washington granted entry visas to Iran’s national men’s football squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup co-hosted by the US, Canada and Mexico.

    The ceasefire, which has held since April 8, was implemented nearly 100 days after coordinated US and Israeli strikes eliminated Iran’s top military and political leadership. For weeks, tense, roundabout negotiations riddled with threats and intermittent violence have failed to produce a permanent peace agreement or secure the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most critical chokepoint for global oil and natural gas shipments.

    Tensions boiled over Friday when US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced it had first downed four Iranian drones headed toward the Strait of Hormuz, then launched targeted strikes on Iranian coastal radar sites located in Goruk and on Qeshm Island. In a public statement, CENTCOM emphasized the attack drones posed an immediate threat to commercial maritime traffic passing through the strait, and that the radar strikes were a defensive measure to disrupt future hostile actions by Iran.

    Within hours of the US strikes, air raid sirens blared across Kuwait and Bahrain, two Gulf Arab states that host key US military installations and are longstanding Washington allies. Agence France-Presse correspondents on the ground in both countries reported hearing loud explosions.

    Early Saturday local time, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) confirmed it had launched a retaliatory missile strike against what it called “enemy bases in the region”, framing the US operation as an “invasion” of Iranian territory near Sirik and Qeshm Island. Iranian state broadcaster IRIB quoted IRGC officials saying the retaliatory strike was a direct response to the US incursion.

    CENTCOM later clarified that Iran had fired seven ballistic missiles toward targets in Kuwait and Bahrain. Six of the missiles were intercepted and destroyed by US and allied air defenses, while the seventh missed its intended target entirely. The command confirmed there were no reported casualties among US personnel, and outright rejected Iranian claims that the strike had damaged the headquarters of the US 5th Fleet, based in Bahrain.

    This sharp escalation of hostilities comes even as the US moved forward with a long-awaited concession to Iran: granting entry visas for members of its national football team ahead of the World Cup. On May 21, Iranian players and delegation members submitted their visa applications at the US Embassy in Ankara, Turkey, and US Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack confirmed the approvals, noting “sports transcends borders, and we look forward to welcoming competitors and fans from around the world.”

    Not all members of the Iranian delegation have secured entry, however. Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency reported that visas are still pending for a number of technical and executive staff members. An unnamed senior US administration official added in a statement that Washington would not allow the team to exploit the visa process to infiltrate terrorists into the US under false cover.

    The Iranian team is scheduled to depart Turkey for Spain on Saturday, before traveling on to its pre-tournament base camp in Mexico, where it is expected to arrive Sunday.

    The latest exchange of fire comes amid a broader breakdown in diplomatic efforts to turn the temporary ceasefire into a lasting peace deal. The ongoing conflict has already roiled global energy markets and amplified domestic political pressure on US President Donald Trump ahead of upcoming midterm elections.

    In comments to CNN Friday, Mohsen Rezaei, a military adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, said negotiations were at a complete deadlock, and called on Trump to unlock $24 billion in Iranian assets frozen by Western sanctions as a confidence-building measure. During an interview with NBC News Friday, Trump acknowledged that Iran still retains roughly 21 to 22 percent of its original missile stockpile, an increase from the 18 percent figure he cited earlier in May, contradicting previous US administration claims that Iran’s military capacity had been permanently crippled.

    The conflict has also spilled over into Lebanon, which was dragged into the wider war when Iran-backed Hezbollah launched an attack on Israel on March 2. Following the collapse of a proposed truce between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam issued a blunt public appeal to Iranian leaders Friday, urging them to end interference in Lebanese affairs. “Have mercy on our south, stop treating it and its people as merely a bargaining chip,” Salam said during a press conference. “We are the people of a sovereign nation that refuses to serve as an open battlefield for their wars.”

    Early Saturday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi pushed back against similar criticism from Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, calling on Aoun to focus on protecting Lebanon from what Araghchi called its “real foe”. Iranian negotiators have repeatedly insisted during peace talks with Washington that the fighting in Lebanon and the Gulf conflict are inseparable, meaning any final peace deal must address both issues simultaneously.

    Days earlier, a strike on Kuwait’s international airport killed one civilian and wounded dozens of people, and Kuwaiti military confirmed early Saturday that its air defense systems were still responding to ongoing hostile missile and drone incursions, though the military did not name the source of the attacks.

  • Three charged after failed break-in exposes ‘treasure trove’ of drugs, cash in Melbourne

    Three charged after failed break-in exposes ‘treasure trove’ of drugs, cash in Melbourne

    What began as a botched attempted burglary has ended with a massive seizure of illicit substances, weapons and hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, and three people facing criminal charges in Melbourne, Australia. On the morning of May 27, a man and a woman attempted to force entry into a locked storage unit in the inner-city suburb of Port Melbourne. Wearing grey hooded sweatshirts, high-visibility safety vests, face coverings and sunglasses to conceal their identities, the pair were caught on closed-circuit television leaving the scene empty-handed when their break-in attempt failed. Local law enforcement launched an investigation into the incident, and what officers uncovered during the probe far exceeded the initial burglary report. “While investigating the alleged attempt, officers from the Prahran Divisional Response Unit located a treasure trove of drugs which led to subsequent searches at apartments in Port Melbourne and St Kilda,” a Victoria Police spokesperson confirmed to media on Saturday. When executing search warrants across the two Melbourne suburbs, investigators seized a large stockpile of controlled substances: 12 liters of 1,4-Butanediol, a chemical commonly diverted for illicit recreational use, one kilogram of methamphetamine, half a kilogram of MDMA. Alongside the drug haul, officers also recovered illegal weapons and more than AU$460,000 in cash. Three people have already been taken into custody and charged in connection with the discovery, while investigators continue to hunt for the two would-be burglers who indirectly led police to the illegal operation. The pair, both described as Caucasian and in their 30s, have not yet been identified, and Victoria Police has released publicly the CCTV footage of the incident to ask for assistance from the public in naming and locating the suspects. Of the three people already charged, a 44-year-old man from St Kilda faces multiple charges including drug trafficking. A 32-year-old St Kilda woman has been charged with possession of a prohibited weapon and granted bail. The alleged ringleader of the operation, also 44, was arrested on June 3 as he re-entered Australia at Melbourne Airport, and is also facing charges including drug trafficking. Both men are scheduled to appear before local courts in August, while the woman is set to appear in November after being granted bail.

  • Traders face big losses after Uganda closes Congo border over Ebola contagion fears

    Traders face big losses after Uganda closes Congo border over Ebola contagion fears

    Along the Uganda-Democratic Republic of Congo frontier at the Mpondwe border post, piles of perishable goods and lines of idling trucks tell the story of a public health measure that has brought cross-border trade to a near-standstill, leaving hundreds of traders and daily laborers facing crippling losses.

    Two weeks after Congolese authorities declared an Ebola outbreak in the eastern province of Ituri, Uganda implemented a full closure of its western border on May 28, a proactive step driven by rising alarm over cross-border transmission of the rare, untreatable Bundibugyo Ebola variant now spreading through eastern Congo. While narrow exceptions are carved out for emergency response, humanitarian aid, security operations, and cargo, local authorities in Kasese district – Uganda’s frontier district bordering the outbreak zone – have ramped up enforcement in recent days as virus transmission in Congo continues to outpace containment efforts.

    The new, stricter controls have left long convoys of cargo trucks stacked on both sides of the border, with perishable shipments at risk of rotting before they can clear inspection. For Leah Masika, a Ugandan trader, her 50-bag consignment of plantain destined for markets around Kampala is already leaking water, and will spoil within hours if the trucks do not move. “Our things are here rotting,” she told the Associated Press, adding that she cannot absorb the estimated $2,200 loss, and has no plans to order more goods from Congo until the outbreak is fully contained. “We are begging them to help us and open (the border). We will not go back to Congo.”

    Traders across the crossing say they understand the need for public health safeguards, but argue the current delays are excessive. Sylvia Asiimwe, a clearing agent at Mpondwe, notes that a queue of trucks stretching more than a mile along the Ugandan side includes seven carriers hauling Chinese-imported fish bound for Beni and Butembo – cities in North Kivu province, hundreds of kilometers from the Ituri outbreak epicenter. “The fish is going to spoil,” she said. “So much money.”

    The economic pain extends far beyond large-scale cargo traders. Mpondwe is Uganda’s busiest hub for informal cross-border trade, which the Uganda Bureau of Statistics valued at an estimated $131 million in 2023. For generations, the border has bound communities together: the Bakonzo people on the Ugandan side share deep family and cultural ties with the Banande on the Congolese side, and trade has long been the backbone of the local economy. Today, storefronts along the border route sit shuttered, and casual laborers who once made their living loading and unloading cargo pass the time idling on stools.

    Ismail Mumbere, a roadside snack vendor who depends on border traffic for customers, summed up the widespread despair: “The situation is bad. A lot of people earn from here, in many businesses. But now the government has told us there is Ebola. Ebola has wasted our work.”

    Public health officials defend the harsh restrictions, noting the unique danger posed by this specific Ebola outbreak. The variant spreading in eastern Congo is the rare Bundibugyo strain, which no existing licensed vaccines or treatments are effective against. Uganda has already recorded 15 confirmed Ebola cases, all linked to the Congolese outbreak, after infected Congolese nationals traveled to Kampala for treatment before the outbreak was publicly declared on May 15. Investigators believe the virus was circulating undetected for days or even weeks before that declaration, putting neighboring Uganda at extreme risk.

    Arafat Bwambale, a surveillance officer for Kasese district, explained that the tightened cargo controls are designed to limit unregulated human movement across the border, which stretches hundreds of miles and is crisscrossed by dozens of unmonitored footpaths outside formal crossing posts. Officials are currently working to block more than 24 informal footpaths to stop unauthorized crossings from Congo. “With movement of cargo, and maybe trucks, is mobility of people, and we want to reduce that,” he said.

    Uganda has a long, traumatic history with Ebola outbreaks dating back to 2000, when an outbreak killed more than 200 people. The virus, first discovered in 1976 in simultaneous outbreaks in what was then Zaire and present-day South Sudan, spreads through close contact with the bodily fluids of infected people or deceased victims. For this outbreak, local health authorities have prepared extensively: the nearest referral hospital in Kasese maintains a fully staffed isolation center and a local lab that can return Ebola test results within six hours. To date, 41 samples taken from suspected cases in the Kasese area have tested negative.

    The World Health Organization, which has classified the current outbreak as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), has openly discouraged widespread border closures, though it acknowledges neighboring countries face extremely high risk of imported cases. Even so, Ugandan officials are expected to impose even stricter, more systematic rules for cargo and truck movement in the coming days, after a meeting of the local Ebola task force.

    For the traders and workers who depend on the Mpondwe border for their livelihoods, the prospect of tighter restrictions only deepens their uncertainty. With perishable goods already rotting in idling trucks, many face financial ruin if the border remains closed for weeks more while authorities work to contain the outbreak across the frontier.

  • What to know about Pope Leo’s trip to Spain, from political scandal to Barcelona’s architectural gem

    What to know about Pope Leo’s trip to Spain, from political scandal to Barcelona’s architectural gem

    VATICAN CITY — When Pope Leo XIV embarks on his seven-day apostolic journey to Spain starting June 6, he will step into a nation once defined by its unwavering Catholic identity, now grappling with plummeting religious participation, deep political polarization, and ongoing reckoning with the Catholic Church’s decades-old clergy sexual abuse scandals. This marks the first papal visit to Spain in 15 years, the last coming from Pope Benedict XVI for 2011’s World Youth Day in Madrid, and it will unfold across three distinct stops, each with a targeted mission that intersects with Spain’s most pressing contemporary challenges.

    Ahead of the trip, the Vatican confirmed late Friday that Leo will make space to meet with survivors of clergy sexual abuse during his visit, a mandatory inclusion for modern papal travel as the global Church continues to confront the fallout of abuse and institutional cover-up. Spain’s national Catholic hierarchy has only recently begun to acknowledge the full scope of abuse committed by clergy across the country over generations, a reckoning that has further eroded public trust in the institution amid already accelerating secularization.

    The first leg of the journey, held in Madrid from June 6 to 8, will make history in its own right: Leo will become the first pope ever to address a joint session of Las Cortes Generales, Spain’s national parliament. Papal addresses to foreign legislatures are extremely rare; the last such occurrence came in 2015, when Pope Francis spoke to a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress, and such speeches often rank among the most high-profile addresses of a pontificate.

    Leo will take the podium in a legislature deeply fractured along ideological lines. Spain’s ruling Socialist Party, led by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, is currently mired in a major political crisis driven by a string of high-profile corruption scandals, while the far-right party Vox has mounted fierce criticism of the government’s liberal migration policies. Beyond his parliamentary address, Leo will also meet with King Felipe VI and the Spanish royal family, and lead an ecumenical prayer vigil for young people in Madrid, a gathering that intentionally echoes the 2011 World Youth Day that brought Benedict XVI to the capital.

    Notably, the pope’s visit to Madrid will overlap with a much-anticipated pair of concerts from global Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny, part of the artist’s 10-show European run. The dual high-profile visits have prompted major traffic disruptions and security closures across large swathes of the Spanish capital, drawing widespread media attention to the unlikely overlap of the world’s most prominent religious leader and one of pop music’s biggest stars.

    From June 9 to 10, the papal trip shifts to Catalonia’s capital Barcelona, where the centerpiece of the visit will mark the 100th anniversary of the death of legendary Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí, a native son of the region whose work is already on the path to sainthood in the Catholic Church. Leo will celebrate open-air Mass at Gaudí’s iconic unfinished masterpiece, the Sagrada Familia basilica, and formally inaugurate the site’s new central spire, the Tower of Jesus Christ, a construction milestone that has earned Sagrada Familia the title of the world’s tallest church. While Gaudí’s sainthood cause will be a backdrop to the visit, the Vatican has confirmed no formal announcement on his canonization is scheduled. Leo will also make a pastoral stop at the Our Lady of Montserrat abbey, a site of deep spiritual and cultural significance for Catalonia, located on a sacred mountain outside the city.

    The final leg of the visit, held on the Canary Islands from June 11 to 12, fulfills a long-held priority of Pope Francis, who had long desired to visit the archipelago to minister to migrants who cross dangerous Atlantic routes from North Africa to reach European soil. Located far closer to the African coast than mainland Spain, the Canary Islands have long been the primary arrival point for irregular migration to Spain. Migrant arrivals peaked at nearly 47,000 in 2024, though numbers have dropped sharply to just over 2,000 in the first four months of 2026.

    Leo will visit two of the archipelago’s seven main islands over two days, meeting with recently arrived migrants and the humanitarian organizations that provide life-saving care and support to new arrivals. The stop comes as the Sánchez government has broken with the dominant policy trend across Europe and the United States, announcing plans to grant legal status to hundreds of thousands of undocumented migrants already living and working in Spain. Sánchez has framed the policy as an economic necessity, noting that legal migration will help offset Spain’s aging population and chronically low birth rate that have strained the country’s labor market.

    During the visit, Pope Leo is widely expected to double down on core papal priorities that cut across each of his three stops: calls for unity in a deeply polarized political landscape, a push for global peace amid ongoing armed conflicts around the world, a message of radical welcome for migrants, and words of hope for young Spaniards navigating the rapid changes brought by the artificial intelligence revolution.

    This Associated Press religion coverage is produced through a collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP retains sole editorial responsibility for all content.

  • Canada bans Texas cattle over flesh-eating screwworm outbreak in US

    Canada bans Texas cattle over flesh-eating screwworm outbreak in US

    A major agricultural emergency is unfolding in the United States’ top cattle-producing state, prompting Canada to enact sweeping border restrictions to block the spread of a dangerous parasitic pest. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) announced a temporary ban this week, barring entry for any cows and horses that stayed in Texas within 21 days of attempting to cross the Canada-US border.

    The emergency measure came shortly after the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) confirmed a second case of New World Screwworm in a Texas calf, marking the first active outbreak of the parasite in the contiguous United States in 60 years. Texas Governor Greg Abbott quickly responded by declaring a state of disaster Friday, warning that the infestation poses an imminent public and agricultural threat that is likely to expand as summer temperatures rise.

    New World Screwworm is a devastating parasitic fly that preys on living warm-blooded creatures, including humans. Female flies deposit their eggs in open wounds and moist mucous membranes; once hatched, hundreds of voracious larvae use sharp mouthparts to burrow through living host tissue, which is almost always fatal if the infestation is left untreated.

    The first confirmed case was detected Wednesday in a three-week-old calf in La Pryor, a small Texas town located just 48 kilometers from the Mexican border. This marked the first endemic case of the parasite in the U.S. since it was declared eradicated from the country in 1966. Just two days later, a second infected one-month-old calf was identified in Zavala County, fewer than 10 kilometers from the site of the first discovery, within the 20-kilometer-wide control zone officials established after the initial case. The USDA confirmed the find during targeted testing of high-risk suspected cases, and has already implemented strict quarantines, movement restrictions, and expanded surveillance across the control zone.

    These cases are the northernmost extension of an ongoing screwworm outbreak that has been spreading through Central America and Mexico for months, a threat U.S. agricultural and public health officials have monitored closely for weeks. Governor Abbott’s disaster declaration frees up additional emergency resources to respond to the outbreak, noting that the infestation poses an imminent risk of widespread harm to Texas’ $100-billion-plus agricultural industry, the backbone of the state’s rural economy.

    While Canadian agricultural officials note that the country’s colder climate makes it unlikely that screwworm could establish a permanent population there — the parasite thrives exclusively in warm, humid environments — they are taking no chances. Canadian authorities have urged livestock producers to regularly inspect their herds for unusual wounds paired with abnormal discharge or foul odors, a classic sign of screwworm infestation, and have asked residents who travel to Texas to check their companion animals for signs of the parasite upon returning home.

    The Canada-U.S. border is one of the most active cross-border livestock trade routes in the world, with cattle and other livestock moving regularly between the two countries for slaughter, breeding, dairy production, and wool farming. According to Canada’s agriculture department, imports of U.S. cattle have grown steadily in recent years, reaching more than 550,000 head in 2025 alone, making rapid border action critical to preventing spread into Canada.

    While the U.S. declared screwworm eradicated in 1966, small isolated outbreaks have occurred since, including a larger incident in the 1970s. Adult screwworm flies can only travel short distances under their own power, meaning long-distance spread almost always occurs when infected livestock or animals are transported by humans. Regional officials across Latin America and North America have worked for six decades to control the parasite, with only inconsistent success in containing its spread.

    To combat the current outbreak, U.S. agricultural and health officials have rolled out a multi-pronged response plan that includes releasing hundreds of millions of genetically modified sterile male flies to curb population growth, alongside deploying specially trained sniffer dogs to detect infestations in cattle herds before they spread. Despite these proactive measures, some agricultural experts have raised questions about whether these existing tactics will be sufficient to stop the outbreak from spreading beyond Texas this summer.

  • Pope to find a secularized, polarized Spain where the Catholic Church has a complex legacy

    Pope to find a secularized, polarized Spain where the Catholic Church has a complex legacy

    VATICAN CITY — A new chapter in Vatican-European relations opens this weekend as Pope Leo XIV launches a week-long historical visit to Spain, a journey that will place the first American pontiff at the heart of a nation grappling with political upheaval, a decades-long Catholic credibility crisis, and shifting religious identity across modern Europe.

    The visit, the first papal trip to Spain in 15 years, marks a deliberate shift in papal outreach. Unlike Pope Francis, who prioritized smaller, far-flung Catholic communities over Europe’s traditional Christian heartlands, Leo is turning his attention back to the continent, which is currently roiled by multiple overlapping crises: the ongoing fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, rising tensions stemming from the U.S.-Israeli conflict in Iran, and widespread public anxiety over the rapid evolution of artificial intelligence. Ahead of the Spain trip, Leo has already made short visits to Monaco and San Marino this year, with a four-day trip to France scheduled for September, all part of his push to spread a message of peace, unity, and universal human dignity across the continent.

    Leo’s visit will kick off Saturday in Madrid, where he will receive an official welcome from King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia, Spain’s Catholic monarchs. The first day will conclude with a prayer vigil drawing thousands of young people, many of whom will experience seeing a pope in their home country for the very first time. In a acknowledgment of the ongoing clergy sexual abuse scandal that continues to hang over the global Catholic Church, the Vatican confirmed late Friday that Leo will meet with survivors of abuse during his visit. Spain’s Catholic hierarchy has only recently begun to confront decades of widespread abuse and institutional cover-ups in what was once one of Europe’s most devoutly Catholic nations, making this meeting a long-awaited step for survivors and church reformers alike.

    The undisputed highlight of the Madrid leg of the trip will come Monday, when Leo becomes the first pope in history to address Spain’s bicameral national legislature, the Las Cortes Generales. No previous pope, including St. John Paul II, who visited Spain five times, and Benedict XVI, who traveled there three times, has ever addressed the national parliament. Papal addresses to national legislatures are rare events, and they often stand as defining moments of a pontificate. This milestone comes as Spain’s legislature faces extreme political polarization: the ruling Socialist Party led by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is currently reeling from a string of high-profile corruption scandals. Opposition parties, including the center-right Popular Party and far-right Vox, have repeatedly called for Sánchez to step down ahead of scheduled 2027 elections, and have harshly criticized his government’s progressive migration policies.

    Madrid has already been overtaken by papal visit fever: Leo’s image covers subway cars, billboards, and metro station advertisements across the capital. Souvenir shops are stocking custom posters, magnets, and other papal memorabilia, while local bakeries are rolling out limited-edition papal-themed cakes and pastries. The pontiff will share the spotlight this weekend, however, with Puerto Rican global music superstar Bad Bunny, who is scheduled to perform two shows of his 10-concert Madrid residency during Leo’s visit. While small protests are expected over the trip’s estimated 15 million euro ($17.2 million) price tag, the parliamentary address still represents a landmark moment for Spain’s Catholic Church, which has been rebuilding its reputation after decades of crisis rooted in the nation’s turbulent modern history.

    Shaped by brutal anticlerical violence during the 1936-1939 Spanish Civil War, the church has more recently faced a severe credibility crisis following widespread revelations of clergy sexual abuse and institutional cover-ups. Spain’s religious landscape has shifted dramatically since the end of Francisco Franco’s 1939-1975 dictatorship. Franco, a devout Catholic who framed his rule as a religious crusade against anticlerical leftist, anarchist, and secular movements, left a church that counted 90% of Spaniards as Catholic. After the transition to democracy, however, that number has plummeted to just 55% in 2025, according to polling from Spain’s state public opinion agency, and only 19% of those identifying as Catholic report attending Mass regularly.

    Despite decades of growing secularization across Europe, sociologists tracking Spanish religious attitudes say there are early signs of renewed interest in spirituality — particularly among young Spaniards. Narciso Michavila Núñez, president of polling firm GAD3, noted that recent surveys have detected a newfound openness to faith among Generation Z Spaniards, a shift highlighted by the massive commercial success of Spanish pop star Rosalía’s overtly spiritual hit album *Lux*. “God is not just a symbolic tattoo in Spanish society anymore,” Michavila said, ahead of the pope’s visit.

    After wrapping up events in Madrid, Leo will travel to Barcelona midweek, where he will celebrate Mass at the iconic Sagrada Familia basilica to mark the 100th anniversary of the death of the basilica’s legendary architect Antoni Gaudí. While Gaudí is currently under consideration for sainthood, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni confirmed no announcement about his canonization is planned during the visit. The Mass will also mark the official inauguration of the basilica’s new central Tower of Jesus Christ; the completion of the spire earlier this year earned Sagrada Familia the title of the tallest church in the world.

    Leo will close out his trip with a two-day stop in the Canary Islands, a Spanish archipelago off the coast of West Africa that has become a key entry point for migrants crossing the Atlantic from West Africa. A legacy of Pope Francis, who made outreach to migrants and refugees a core priority of his papacy, the stop will see Leo meet with migrants and representatives of humanitarian organizations that provide care to new arrivals. He is also scheduled to lay a wreath in the Atlantic Ocean from the Port of Las Palmas, which earned the infamous nickname “Dock of Shame” in 2020 when thousands of migrants were forced to sleep in the open for weeks during a sudden spike in arrivals.

    Leo has continued Francis’s legacy of prioritizing migrant advocacy, repeatedly calling for dignified treatment of migrants in his native United States. For migrants already living in Spain, the visit carries profound meaning. “For those of us who are immigrants with family far from home, having someone as important as the pope come here is truly something extraordinary,” said Constantina Nchama, an Equatorial Guinean migrant living in Madrid, in the days ahead of the visit. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime moment, and I am so very excited.”

    The trip comes as Spain’s Socialist government has broken with broader trends in Europe and the U.S. by announcing plans to grant legal status to hundreds of thousands of undocumented migrants already living and working in the country. Sánchez has framed the policy as an economic necessity for Spain, which faces a rapidly aging workforce and persistently low birth rates.