Global Pulse

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  • Aztec document goes on display in Mexico after 186 years abroad

    Aztec document goes on display in Mexico after 186 years abroad

    For the first time in nearly two centuries, one of the most significant surviving accounts of Aztec civilization will be accessible to the Mexican public, as a rare 16th-century pictorial manuscript makes its long-awaited return to Mexican soil this week. The Codex Azcatitlán, a handcrafted document that chronicles the full trajectory of Aztec history—from the founding of their great capital Tenochtitlán to their brutal resistance against Spanish conquistadors—will open to visitors at Mexico City’s iconic National Museum of Anthropology starting Thursday, following an unprecedented cultural exchange agreement between Paris and Mexico City.

    Thought to have been created just years after Hernán Cortés and his invading force arrived in the region that now makes up central Mexico, the codex stands out among surviving pre- and early post-colonial Mesoamerican manuscripts for its unfiltered indigenous perspective. Told entirely through symbolic pictograms that follow traditional Aztec artistic conventions, it preserves a nuanced, insider account of one of the most consequential turning points in American history, including vivid depictions of the 1521 siege of Tenochtitlán that ended Aztec sovereignty. Scholars have long regarded it as one of the most valuable primary sources for understanding pre-colonial Aztec life and the immediate aftermath of the Spanish invasion.

    The document has not been seen in public in Mexico for 186 years, and has resided in Paris’s Bibliothèque Nationale de France since 1898, after being removed from the country decades earlier amid widespread looting of indigenous cultural artifacts by European colonizers. Its temporary homecoming comes as part of a planned cultural partnership to mark the 200th anniversary of diplomatic relations between France and Mexico, a deal personally negotiated by Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and French President Emmanuel Macron during Macron’s official visit to Mexico last year. In a reciprocal arrangement, Mexico will send another irreplaceable Aztec manuscript, the Codex Boturini, to France for public display. Where Codex Azcatitlán documents the fall of the Aztec empire, Codex Boturini traces the centuries-long migration of the Aztec (also called Mexica) people from their mythic ancestral homeland to the shores of Lake Texcoco, where they founded Tenochtitlán, the precursor to modern Mexico City.

    The temporary exchange marks a small but meaningful milestone for Mexico’s long-running campaign to repatriate thousands of indigenous cultural artifacts removed from the country during the colonial era. According to Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the country successfully secured the return of more than 2,000 stolen cultural objects from institutions around the world just last year, as global institutions face growing pressure to return artifacts taken through colonial exploitation. While Codex Azcatitlán will only remain in Mexico on a temporary loan, cultural heritage advocates say the display marks an important step forward in recognizing Mexico’s claim to its indigenous history and making irreplaceable cultural heritage accessible to the communities from which it originated.

  • Yemen’s reignited conflict shows Iran war’s fire is spreading

    Yemen’s reignited conflict shows Iran war’s fire is spreading

    After four years of tentative, fragile calm, long-simmering conflict in Yemen has reignited dramatically, with Houthi rebel forces scoring major territorial gains against internationally recognized Yemeni government troops in recent weeks. The insurgents have seized control of the strategic Red Sea port city of Mocha, along with multiple nearby islands, establishing a military foothold just kilometers from the Bab al-Mandeb Strait — a critical global trade artery that connects shipping lanes between Asia and Europe.

    This rapid territorial push has sent deep alarm through Saudi Arabia, Yemen’s northern neighbor and the primary backer of the Yemeni government, for three interconnected reasons that cut across regional security and global energy markets. First, the Houthi advance marks a clear military defeat for Riyadh and the fragmented pro-government coalition it has supported with billions of dollars in military aid and financial backing since 2015. The retreat of Saudi-aligned forces along the western coast exposes long-running weaknesses in the coalition’s coordination and combat capacity.

    Second, the strategic shift comes at a moment when Saudi Arabia has become far more dependent on the Bab al-Mandeb Strait for its oil exports. Following the 2026 outbreak of open conflict between the United States, Israel and Iran that effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz — the kingdom’s traditional primary export route — Riyadh has redirected nearly all of its energy shipments through Bab al-Mandeb. With Houthi forces now controlling large swathes of Yemen’s western coast adjacent to the strait, the group gains the ability to severely restrict or block Saudi energy exports at will.

    Third, the Houthi movement’s long-standing military and political alliance with Iran means Tehran now holds potential influence over two of the world’s most critical maritime chokepoints for global oil trade. As of June 2026, the Bab al-Mandeb Strait carries approximately 7% of the world’s total seaborne oil supplies, placing a large share of global energy flows within reach of Iranian-aligned forces.

    To understand how the conflict reached this breaking point, it is necessary to trace decades of instability in Yemen. The Houthi movement first emerged in the 1990s as a grassroots organization defending the interests of Yemen’s large Zaydi Shia Muslim community, and quickly entered into armed conflict with longtime autocratic president Ali Abdullah Saleh. After widespread popular protests forced Saleh to resign in 2012, Yemen descended into prolonged political and security chaos, allowing the Houthis to expand from their northern stronghold and seize control of the capital Sana’a in 2014.

    Alarmed by the prospect of an Iranian-aligned movement controlling its southern neighbor, Saudi Arabia launched a full-scale military intervention in March 2015, with the stated goal of restoring the internationally recognized government of Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, Saleh’s former deputy, to full power. After years of grinding warfare that killed hundreds of thousands of people and created one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, the conflict settled into a military stalemate by the late 2010s. Though multiple attempts to negotiate a permanent peace deal failed, all warring parties agreed to a ceasefire in April 2022. While the formal truce expired in October that same year, both sides largely avoided large-scale offensive operations, keeping violence at historically low levels for four years.

    Hopes for a lasting negotiated settlement rose significantly in March 2023, when China brokered a historic rapprochement that restored diplomatic relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran, which had been severed in 2016. But Houthi leaders quickly rejected any suggestion that the Iran-Saudi normalization would lead to a peace deal between the group and Riyadh, asserting their independence from Tehran and dashing initial optimism.

    Prospects for peace eroded further after the outbreak of the 2023 Israel-Gaza war. Shortly after Hamas’ deadly cross-border attack on southern Israel and the subsequent Israeli military campaign in Gaza, Houthi forces launched missiles and drones targeting Israeli shipping in the Red Sea. The U.S. Navy intercepted Houthi projectiles headed for Israeli territory, marking the first direct American military intervention in the conflict on Israel’s behalf. Tensions escalated again in January 2024, when the Houthis carried out a large-scale coordinated attack on multiple U.S. Navy vessels operating in the Red Sea, prompting retaliatory airstrikes against Houthi targets by the U.S. and United Kingdom. A new U.S.-brokered ceasefire mediated by Oman took hold in May 2025, bringing another period of relative de-escalation.

    That fragile peace finally collapsed in July 2026. On July 13, Saudi forces carried out an airstrike on Sana’a International Airport, blocking a plane carrying a Houthi delegation from landing to attend the funeral of Iran’s late supreme leader Ali Khamenei. Riyadh and the Yemeni government justified the attack by claiming the flight violated Yemeni sovereignty. In response, the Houthis launched missile strikes against civilian and military airports in southern Saudi Arabia, declared a full maritime embargo on all Saudi commercial and military vessels, and formally announced an end to the “de-escalation phase” of the conflict via official Telegram channels.

    While global attention has focused on the threat Houthi control of the western coast poses to global energy supplies, the recent offensive carries profound implications for Yemen’s own internal dynamics. The territorial gains represent a major, strategic setback for the Saudi-backed Yemeni coalition, a fragmented alliance far more diverse than commonly understood: it includes forces led by Tareq Saleh, nephew of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, southern separatist groups pushing for regional autonomy, and a loose coalition of tribal and local armed factions.

    For the Houthis, the new territorial gains also create significant new challenges. The group now must administer a much larger swathe of territory and population, while facing near-certain attempts by Saudi Arabia and pro-government forces to retake the newly captured areas. This mirrors an earlier phase of the conflict: in 2015, the Houthis seized large southern territories including Aden, Abyan and Lahj, but were quickly pushed back by pro-government forces and forced to relinquish control of the areas within months.

    In recent weeks, reports have emerged indicating that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has requested direct U.S. airstrikes against Houthi positions to reverse the recent rebel gains. Washington has reportedly declined the request so far, but analysts widely agree that this is unlikely to be the final chapter in a conflict that has stretched for more than a decade, with no end in sight to the confrontation between Riyadh and the Houthi movement in Yemen.

    This analysis is based on reporting and commentary by Vincent Durac, Associate Professor in the School of Politics & International Relations at University College Dublin, originally republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license.

  • Politician ‘will not be deterred’ after assault in Dublin

    Politician ‘will not be deterred’ after assault in Dublin

    A high-profile Irish politician has spoken out against political violence after being physically assaulted in a random daylight attack on the streets of central Dublin this Wednesday, reaffirming his commitment to serving his constituents despite the frightening incident.

    Michael Healy-Rae, an independent Teachta Dála (TD) representing Kerry, was targeted shortly after 4 p.m. local time, when his vehicle came to a stop at a traffic signal on Cork Street. As the politician sat with his car window lowered, an unidentified man approached the vehicle and punched Healy-Rae directly in the face, according to initial accounts of the attack.

    The Kerry-based politician had just left Leinster House, the seat of Ireland’s national parliament, and was traveling home when the assault unfolded. Immediately following the attack, first responders provided initial medical care to Healy-Rae at Dublin’s Kevin Street Gardaí station, before he was transferred to St Vincent’s Hospital for further treatment. The lawmaker required stitches to close a facial wound sustained in the attack, Irish public broadcaster RTÉ confirmed, and he was officially discharged from the hospital just before 9 p.m. the same evening.

    In a public statement posted to social media following his release, Healy-Rae drew a clear line between legitimate political discourse and targeted violence against elected officials. “Disagreement and robust political debate are entirely legitimate, but personal abuse, intimidation and violence can never be accepted or normalised in a democratic society,” he wrote. The independent TD also called for a national reckoning with rising hostility toward people in public office, adding: “We do need to have a serious conversation about the growing toxicity directed towards politicians and public representatives.”

    Despite the traumatic attack, Healy-Rae emphasized that the assault would not weaken his dedication to his role. He stated that regardless of the attacker’s motive, he would not be deterred from continuing to represent the people of Kerry. As of Thursday, Healy-Rae has already returned to his home constituency, and he confirmed plans to resume his official parliamentary and constituency work within the next few days.

    Ireland’s national police force, Gardaí, has launched an investigation into the assault and issued a public appeal for information. Investigators are asking any members of the public who were in the area at the time of the incident and have private security camera or dashcam footage of the attack to come forward to assist with their inquiry.

  • China’s EVs, LLMs and the stopping power of the real world

    China’s EVs, LLMs and the stopping power of the real world

    Four years have passed since 2022, when a first-hand observer moving from Hong Kong to Beijing first encountered a deep crimson BYD Han electric sedan, impressed by its generous dimensions, comparable performance to Tesla’s Model 3, and competitive pricing that undercut the Tesla by 10% and fell 22% short of equivalent U.S. market tags. Today, that 2022 BYD Han already reads as a dated, budget-oriented commuter vehicle – a stark marker of how rapidly China’s electric vehicle sector has evolved.

    This period of rapid transformation mirrors another turning point in late 2022: just days before China lifted its strict zero-COVID public health measures, little-known U.S. startup OpenAI launched ChatGPT to the world, beating more conservative research teams at Google DeepMind to market and igniting a global arms race in large language models (LLMs). For years after that launch, the LLM space became a back-and-forth competition where OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google repeatedly one-upped each other, with smaller players like xAI trailing and Meta stumbling through multiple failed releases.

    Today in 2026, BYD has pushed aggressively into the premium luxury sedan market long dominated by German legacy brands. The new 2026 BYD Seal 08 is significantly larger than the 2022 Han, with game-changing upgrades across every core specification: from battery capacity and horsepower to self-driving systems, air suspension, and rear-wheel steering. The even larger flagship DaHan (Great Han) has moved into the full-size D-segment, a category historically occupied by the Mercedes S-Class, BMW 7 Series, and Audi A8. Even more striking than the technical upgrades is the pricing: the top-trim Seal 08 retails for $35,500, a 25% discount to the 2022 Han’s top trim, while entry and mid-level trims cost 10-15% less at $29,300 to $32,300. The fully loaded D-segment DaHan is priced identically to the 2022 top-trim Han, at just $44,700. For comparison, equivalent premium EV sedans from BMW, Mercedes, and Audi cost three to four times as much in the U.S. market while delivering broadly inferior specs and performance.

    This pricing gap has drawn open criticism from U.S. officials: in a September 2 speech at the Charlotte Economics Club, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent complained that BYD vehicles are “the best $70,000 car $35,000 can buy – it is heavily subsidized.” A similar observation came from *The New York Times*, which tested a top-trim Geely M9 crossover in early 2026 and noted the $35,000 China-market price is less than half what a comparable vehicle from a U.S. showroom brand costs.

    But claims that unfair subsidies explain BYD’s price advantage do not hold up to scrutiny. Analysis from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) shows 79.4% of China’s EV subsidies go directly to consumer purchase incentives such as tax exemptions and government rebates, and historically, per-vehicle EV subsidies in China have been substantially lower than those offered by the U.S. and EU. The key difference is outcome: China’s policy framework has driven 49 million cumulative EV sales since 2009, compared to just 8 million in the U.S. and 12 million in the EU. China’s success stems not from excessive spending, but from aligning industrial policy with the maturation of its higher education pipeline: the country’s EV industry draws from a talent pool of nearly seven times as many new engineering graduates as the U.S. In just a few years, China launched more than 100 EV manufacturers and flooded the global market with over 300 distinct EV models, while the U.S., EU, Japan, and South Korea combined have struggled to field just a few dozen offerings. Even accounting for 2026’s average per-vehicle subsidy of just over $2,000 and 30% renminbi appreciation, the gap in production costs and pricing cannot be explained by government support alone.

    The pace of improvement in China’s EV sector is unprecedented: since 2022, domestic manufacturers have delivered annual hedonic (quality-adjusted) improvement of 20% per year. Over four years, this means new Chinese EVs have more than doubled in effective quality: a 2026 EV with 2022-level specifications would cost less than half the 2022 price today, while a 2026-spec vehicle would have commanded more than twice the 2022 price four years ago. This rate of progress is almost unheard of in Western markets. The 2026 Tesla Model 3 is nearly identical to the 2022 version in core specs; while Tesla’s Autopilot has improved, Chinese self-driving systems have advanced even faster, and most include full self-driving capabilities in the base price, unlike Tesla’s paid subscription model. Even with a 7% price cut for the top-trim Model 3, Tesla has not kept pace. Honda’s 2026 Pilot is marketed as a new generation, with minor cosmetic changes and marginal gains in size and power, but no substantive improvements to core features or technology – yet the automaker raised prices by 9%.

    This pattern of rapid hedonic improvement is not limited to automobiles: it can be seen across nearly all consumer and industrial sectors in China, from budget luxury travel accommodations to a nationwide wave of investment in restaurant design that has brought high-end aesthetic experiences to mid-range dining.

    Parallel to China’s progress in physical manufacturing, the global AI industry has raced ahead, with OpenAI most recently launching its new Astra platform in September 2026. Just three days after Astra’s debut, OpenAI announced that an unreleased internal AI model had produced a solution to the century-old Navier-Stokes problem, sending the AI community into a frenzy over recursive self-improvement (RSI) and triggering existential anxiety that echoes the shock that hit chess and Go communities after AI defeated top human grandmasters. For practicing mechanical engineers, however, the fanfare is underwhelming: the Navier-Stokes equation has long been used as a simplified working model for fluid dynamics, and useful numerical simulations have been generated by commercial engineering software such as Ansys and OpenFOAM for decades. The mathematician-approved solution produced by OpenAI has no practical application in real-world engineering: real fluid behavior depends on hundreds of unaccounted-for variables, not the simplified framework used by mathematicians, and the solution would not improve the efficiency of a single airplane or the stealth of a single submarine.

    This gap between AI hype and real-world impact frames a larger global divide. U.S. frontier AI labs have dominated headlines and led development of cutting-edge LLMs over the past four years, but that leadership has not helped U.S. legacy automakers like Ford and General Motors close the gap with Chinese competitors such as BYD and Geely – a gap that has only widened in recent years. So far, the complexity of the physical world has humbled frontier AI efforts: while labs have rushed to integrate physics, chemistry, engineering, and biology capabilities into LLMs, these advances have yet to deliver measurable gains in real-world applied science. Meanwhile, Chinese universities have expanded their lead in the Nature Index, and Chinese industries outcompete global rivals even when relying on lower-cost open-source LLMs.

    To clarify the current state of AI development, a team of researchers from leading Chinese institutions including Tsinghua University, Bytedance, and Xiaohonghua outlined a five-stage framework for recursive self-improvement, the hypothetical process through which AI can improve itself without human intervention. At the lowest L1 stage, humans design the entire improvement pipeline, and AI only executes pre-defined steps. L2 sees AI autonomously select which components to improve, while humans still set core objectives and evaluation rules. At L3, AI identifies its own weaknesses and designs its own training curriculum to address gaps. L4 adds autonomous real-world feedback collection and self-updating during live deployment, without human curation. The highest L5 stage, full meta-improvement where AI can rewrite its own improvement algorithm, has not yet been achieved.

    The researchers note that the biggest barrier to advancing RSI is the slow iteration speed required for physical science and engineering. Prototyping and testing new car parts, running clinical trials, and validating real-world systems take far longer than testing new AI code. Because of this “stopping power of the physical world,” all applied work in physical sciences and engineering remains stuck between L1 and L2. Even self-driving cars, one of the most high-profile AI applications, illustrate this limit: while geofenced level 4 robotaxi pilot programs operate in cities across China, the U.S., and the Middle East, consumer vehicles for general use still rarely advance beyond level 2, requiring constant human vigilance for most driving scenarios outside limited highway stretches.

    This is not to dismiss the impressive achievements of modern LLMs, nor to downplay legitimate concerns about rogue AI and cyber warfare. But as the author, a former mechanical engineer, argues, AI researchers fixated on artificial general intelligence (AGI) often underestimate how much of economic and technological progress depends on work in the physical domain. For those caught up in AGI hype, the remedy is simple: step outside, engage with tangible physical work, and then return to recognize that real industrial progress depends on far more than breakthroughs in digital AI.

  • Ninth woman’s body found as South African police investigate string of deaths

    Ninth woman’s body found as South African police investigate string of deaths

    A grim new discovery has amplified growing anxiety across eastern Johannesburg, after South African police confirmed Thursday that the body of a ninth woman has been found in the region over the past two months. The latest victim, a woman believed to be in her 30s, was located half-naked, wrapped in a sheet, and dumped along a roadside in Dawn Park, with visible bruising and stab wounds according to local media reports. Authorities have not yet released her public identity as they work to confirm next of kin.

    The discovery marks the latest in a string of unexplained deaths stretching back to mid-July across Ekurhuleni, a populous urban municipality that encompasses eastern Johannesburg suburbs. The first victim’s body was found in Kempton Park on July 15, and a suspect was taken into custody two days after that discovery. To date, investigators have not connected this suspect to any of the subsequent eight deaths, which have been found across multiple communities including Olifantsfontein, Clayville, KwaThema and Kempton Park.

    Three victims have been publicly identified so far: Elizabeth “Tsontso” Moselakgomo, 38, who vanished last week while out for an afternoon run, whose body was recovered three days later behind a local Kempton Park hotel; Itumeleng Kekana, who had been reported missing in July; and Dineo Evelyn Motapane, 38, whose body was found on a KwaThema roadside this past Tuesday. Most of the recovered bodies have been found partially clothed with visible injuries, but official investigators have stopped short of confirming a direct link between all deaths or confirming a serial killer is at large. At this stage, acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia has urged the public to avoid unconfirmed speculation, noting that current evidence points to what appear to be “quite distinct, separate events.” Police have also floated the possibility that a criminal group, rather than a lone offender, may be responsible for multiple deaths, and are currently pursuing a named person of interest, though they have not disclosed which cases the individual may be connected to.

    To advance the investigation, police have assembled a cross-disciplinary task force made up of seasoned detectives, intelligence analysts, forensic specialists and other expert investigators tasked with mapping potential connections between the cases. Top South African leaders have publicly committed to bringing those responsible to justice. President Cyril Ramaphosa has vowed that “no stone will be left unturned” to hold perpetrators accountable, noting the killings have “caused fear and uncertainty in our communities.” Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi echoed that resolve Thursday, saying “Let’s not get emotional, the gloves are off,” and affirming that state authorities have the full capacity to resolve the killings and protect local communities.

    Officials have offered a substantial reward of 400,000 South African rand, equal to roughly $24,000 USD or £18,000 GBP, for any public information that leads to the arrest of additional perpetrators. They have also issued an appeal to families of missing women across the region to come forward to help identify the remaining unidentified victims.

    The string of deaths has sparked widespread alarm among residents of Ekurhuleni, particularly in the Kempton Park area, and has drawn renewed attention to a longstanding national crisis of elevated violence against women across South Africa. While investigators continue to sort through evidence and cross-reference case details, community unease remains high as authorities work to bring clarity and closure to affected families.

  • EU announces plan to restrict social media access for under-15s

    EU announces plan to restrict social media access for under-15s

    The European Commission has introduced sweeping draft legislation aimed at overhauling how minors access social media across all 27 EU member states, placing child online safety and parental control at the center of the new regulatory framework. Titled the EU Kids Act, the proposed policy outlines a phased, age-based restriction system designed to limit excessive and unregulated exposure to digital platforms for young users whose cognitive and emotional development is still ongoing.

    Under the proposal’s core terms, children under the age of 13 will face a complete ban on creating personal social media accounts across covered platforms. For teenagers between 13 and 15 years old, access will be strictly capped at one hour per day, and any use will only be permitted through specialized “mini accounts” that are linked directly to and managed by a parent or legal guardian’s existing social media profile. Only users aged 15 and older will be eligible to register and maintain independent social media accounts under the new rules.

    Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, framed the proposal as a critical intervention to address longstanding gaps in child online protection during an address to the European Parliament on Thursday. She emphasized that the legislation would shift regulatory responsibility back to tech firms while giving parents greater agency over their children’s digital habits. “This move puts parents back in the driving seat, von der Leyen stated, adding that the new rules would equip guardians with the tools to help children navigate a more secure online landscape. “Too many children are being exposed too early to an online world they are not ready to navigate — an environment where bullying can follow you home, where every mistake can be recorded forever, she added.

    Beyond age-based access limits, the proposal mandates that all social media platforms operating in the bloc must adhere to a strict “safety by design” principle for all user accounts belonging to people under 18. This requires platforms to eliminate algorithmic features that are intentionally addictive, remove toxic content pathways, and avoid deceptive design traps that encourage overuse or unintended exposure to harmful material. Companies will also be required to develop and submit detailed, public child safety strategies to European regulators to demonstrate compliance, and an age limit does not mean letting tech companies off the hook for harmful content on their platforms, von der Leyen clarified. To verify user ages, the plan will leverage the EU’s existing age verification application, eliminating the need to build an entirely new infrastructure from scratch.

    The formal announcement of the plan follows months of public debate and preliminary signaling from von der Leyen, who first called for a deliberate delay in children’s access to social media back in May, noting that the conversation around a mandatory minimum age for platform use could no longer be sidelined. The policy was also previewed during the EU chief’s annual State of the Union address to the parliament on Wednesday, one day before its official publication.

    Several individual EU member states, including France and Spain, have already advanced their own national-level restrictions on child social media use. If the EU-wide legislation is approved by the European Parliament and Council of the EU, the new bloc-wide rules will replace these existing national measures, though member states will retain the right to implement stricter local rules that go beyond the baseline requirements set in the EU Kids Act.

    As currently drafted, the proposal does not specify exactly which social media platforms will be subject to the new regulations. Regulators have drawn policy inspiration from Australia, which implemented a ban on social media use for users under 16 across major platforms including Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok last December. That policy has faced notable enforcement challenges, however: Australian Communications Minister Anika Wells acknowledged earlier this month that no tech firms have been fined to date, despite independent research showing large numbers of under-16 users remain active on banned platforms. The United Kingdom is also set to implement its own ban on under-16 social media use when new rules take effect there next spring, adding to a growing global trend of stricter regulation of minor access to digital platforms.

  • US blocks Palestinian leader from UN meeting in New York for second year in row

    US blocks Palestinian leader from UN meeting in New York for second year in row

    Two Palestinian sources have confirmed to the BBC that the United States has refused to issue an entry visa to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, blocking his planned in-person attendance at next week’s United Nations General Assembly gathering in New York City. This latest visa restriction follows a formal US announcement expanding existing visa sanctions on unnamed Palestinian officials, with Washington accusing the targeted individuals of failing to uphold commitments made under the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

    Visa restrictions for Palestinian leadership were first rolled out in August 2025, when 80 Palestinian officials were blocked from accessing that year’s annual UN General Assembly meeting. In its official justification for the expanded sanctions, the US has leveled accusations against both the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), claiming the bodies “glorify terrorism” and seek to “internationalize” the long-running Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This critique comes against the historical backdrop of the Oslo Peace Accords, which established the PA and secured international recognition for the PLO as the official representative of the Palestinian people – an agreement reached in exchange for the PLO’s formal recognition of Israel and commitment to renounce armed violence.

    The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the visa denial in an official statement released Thursday, framing the move as an unjustified action that directly undermines global efforts to rebuild trust between parties, advance constructive Palestinian-US relations, and cultivate the political conditions needed to implement a two-state solution and reach lasting regional peace and stability. Palestinian leadership has uniformly rejected long-standing accusations pushed by both the previous US administration and the Israeli government, emphasizing that under international law, they retain the right to pursue accountability for actions committed by the Israeli occupying force.

    Following last year’s identical visa block for Abbas, a spokesperson for the Palestinian president noted that the US decision ran in clear violation of both international law and the long-standing UN Headquarters Agreement. Under the terms of this agreement, the US – as host country for the UN headquarters – is legally required to grant unimpeded access to foreign diplomats traveling to New York for official UN business. However, the US government has repeatedly asserted its right to deny visa access on grounds of national security, countering extremism, and core foreign policy priorities. Last year, after the in-person access was blocked, Abbas addressed the full General Assembly gathering of global leaders via pre-recorded video link. This week, all 193 UN member states are scheduled to hold a vote on Thursday to approve whether Abbas will be permitted to address the 2026 assembly through the same remote format.

    Currently, an estimated 75% of the UN’s 193 member states formally recognize the State of Palestine, including major global powers such as the United Kingdom, France, Canada, and Australia. Among the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, the US remains the only country that does not extend formal recognition to an independent Palestinian state.

    The US visa decision comes at a moment of extreme humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, with the United Nations repeatedly warning that conditions remain catastrophic despite a ceasefire agreement reached last October. Ongoing Israeli air strikes and ground operations continue to target populated civilian areas, causing repeated civilian casualties, widespread destruction of civilian property, and new waves of forced displacement. On Tuesday alone, Israeli air strikes killed at least five Palestinians, including two young children and a senior Hamas commander, according to local Palestinian health officials and Hamas sources. The Israeli military confirmed it targeted a Hamas commander in southern Gaza and a separate militant fighter in northern Gaza, and acknowledged that child casualties were reported in both strikes.

    In a separate incident, the UK-based medical charity Medical Aid for Palestinians reported that an Israeli drone strike killed a patient at a health clinic the organization supports in Jabalia, located in northern Gaza. A spokesperson for the Israeli military stated that the force had no record of this specific incident.

    The current round of conflict in Gaza began after the Hamas-led cross-border attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which killed approximately 1,200 people and abducted 251 others as hostages. According to the Hamas-run Ministry of Health in Gaza – whose casualty data is assessed as reliable by the United Nations – more than 73,790 people have been killed in Gaza in the 23 months since the conflict began.

  • One dead after torrential rain and flash floods hit Barcelona region

    One dead after torrential rain and flash floods hit Barcelona region

    Torrential downpours and catastrophic flash flooding have swept across northeastern Spain’s Valencia and Catalonia regions, leaving at least one person dead and triggering massive disruption to travel, infrastructure and daily life this week.

    Spain’s national meteorological service AEMET had issued pre-emptive severe weather warnings for eastern parts of the country on Wednesday, upgrading the alert level to a maximum red risk for Barcelona’s heavily populated coastline ahead of the storm’s arrival. By Thursday, emergency crews had recovered the body of a man whose vehicle was swept away by a swollen, fast-moving creek in Olivella, a small town located roughly 25 miles west of Barcelona. Catalan fire officials corrected earlier misinformation in a post on X Thursday, confirming the deceased was a man, not a woman as initially reported.

    Across the two affected regions, the scale of the disaster has strained emergency response resources. Catalonia’s emergency services confirmed they received more than 850 distress calls linked to the flooding and logged more than 500 separate flood-related incidents. Viral social media footage captured scenes of chaos: half-submerged passenger cars stranded on urban streets, and rescue teams working frantically to extract occupants from a vehicle trapped in a deeply inundated underpass. In Barcelona, multiple metro stations were forced to close, bus routes were diverted, regional rail services suffered major delays, and dozens of incoming and outgoing flights at El Prat Airport were either canceled or pushed back to later times.

    Neighboring Valencia recorded similarly extreme rainfall, with local meteorological association AVAMET reporting that several municipalities measured more than 2.76 inches (70mm) of rain in just 30 minutes. “Rarely have we seen such rainfall accumulations in 30 minutes,” the group noted in a social media post. Emergency teams in Valencia province recorded 478 flood-related incidents, most of which involved residential property damage, roof leaks, and widespread traffic gridlock. In Valencia’s regional capital, all metro lines were temporarily suspended, and the city’s main airport was forced to close completely for several hours, forcing dozens of flights to divert to alternate airports. Even scheduled sports events were not spared: a professional football match between Levante and Athletic Bilbao was called off after the playing pitch became completely waterlogged and storm water flooded the player tunnel.

    This extreme weather event comes as Spain continues to grapple with the impacts of a changing climate, fresh off the back of the hottest summer recorded in the country’s history and an unusually warm start to September. Climate scientists have long warned that human-caused climate change is supercharging the intensity of autumn Mediterranean storms that regularly impact eastern Spain. The Mediterranean Sea, which absorbs excess heat throughout the summer months, has higher evaporation rates that in turn add more moisture to developing storm systems, leading to far heavier rainfall and more severe flooding events. This disaster also comes less than two years after catastrophic flooding in the same Valencia region killed more than 230 people, a tragedy that reignited national debates over Spain’s climate adaptation and disaster preparedness policies. As cleanup efforts get underway, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has warned residents that the region faces “very complicated situations” in the coming days as flood waters recede and authorities assess the full extent of the damage, and urged people to avoid all non-essential travel through the affected areas.

  • India’s biggest stock exchange launches mega share sale

    India’s biggest stock exchange launches mega share sale

    After a decade of regulatory delays, market controversy, and shifting investor sentiment, India’s dominant National Stock Exchange (NSE) has finally launched its long-awaited initial public offering, positioning itself as one of the largest share sales in the nation’s history. The IPO, which gives the public its first chance to own a stake in the exchange that handles the bulk of India’s equity trading, is on track to raise up to 225.69 billion rupees, equal to roughly $2.35 billion. If successfully completed at that valuation, it will rank as India’s second-largest IPO ever, falling only behind the 2024 listing of Hyundai Motor’s Indian subsidiary.

    For global and domestic investors, the offering opens a direct pathway to capitalize on the exponential expansion of India’s financial markets, which have boomed as millions of middle-class households shift savings away from traditional assets like gold and real estate toward equities. However, the launch comes at a turbulent moment for Indian markets, with multiple macroeconomic pressures dragging benchmark valuations lower in 2025. Rising global crude oil prices, a depreciating rupee, and sustained capital outflows from foreign institutional investors have created a challenging environment for new share issuances. These headwinds have already forced adjustments to the IPO structure: late last week, existing stakeholders cut the total number of shares on offer by 15%, citing lower-than-expected valuation projections that made full sales unappealing.

    Priced between 1,700 and 1,785 rupees per share, the IPO is structured as a secondary share sale, meaning all proceeds will go to exiting investors including the State Bank of India, state-run insurance firms, and global investment funds. The NSE itself is not issuing new equity and will not receive any revenue from the offering.

    The mega IPO paves the way for another highly anticipated large listing, that of Reliance Industries’ digital subsidiary Jio Platforms, which is expected to hit the market in the coming months. Industry analysts note that these two large offerings carry dual potential for the broader Indian IPO market. On one hand, the combined size of the listings could draw capital away from already listed equities in the short term, creating mild downward pressure across broader market indices. On the other hand, a successful NSE and Jio Platforms offering could reverse a months-long slowdown in India’s IPO pipeline, where dozens of companies delayed listings in the first half of 2025 amid market volatility and rising geopolitical tensions. Analysts project that the two offerings alone could push the total capital raised through Indian IPOs in 2025 above 2024’s full-year total.

    The NSE’s path to a public listing has been anything but smooth. The exchange first filed for listing approval back in 2016, but the entire process was derailed by a high-profile controversy over market manipulation and governance lapses. Senior NSE officials were accused of granting preferential low-latency access to the exchange’s trading system to a small group of private brokers, giving those traders an unfair advantage over other market participants. The scandal led to years of regulatory investigations and oversight, only being resolved enough to clear the way for the IPO in recent months.

    Current market conditions remain far from ideal: the NSE’s benchmark Nifty 50 index, which tracks 50 of India’s largest blue-chip companies, has fallen more than 11% since the start of 2025. Even so, market analysts broadly expect robust demand for the offering, pointing to long-term structural growth tailwinds in India’s capital markets that outweigh short-term volatility. A growing wave of new retail investors entering the market via zero-commission trading apps has driven a sustained rise in trading volumes and market capitalization, and the NSE’s dominant position in the market makes it a pure play on that expansion.

    “NSE remains a play on the long-term growth potential of India’s capital market,” domestic brokerage ICICI Direct noted in a pre-IPO research note, adding that the exchange’s leading market share, consistent profitability, and heavy investment in trading technology make its business model unusually resilient to short-term market swings. Its large planned free-float market capitalization also makes it an attractive holding for both active retail and institutional investors, as well as passive index funds that will be required to add the stock to their benchmark portfolios once listed.

    Indian brokerage Religare Broking echoed that optimism in a recent report, noting that “India’s capital markets present significant growth opportunities, supported by rising investor participation, increasing market capitalisation, expanding mutual fund assets and greater adoption of passive investment products.”

    Still, the offering carries notable downside risks that investors are weighing. The NSE ranks as the world’s largest derivatives exchange by volume of contracts traded, and a large share of its revenue comes from transaction fees on derivatives trading. Indian financial regulators have recently tightened rules for derivatives trading amid growing concerns over widespread losses for inexperienced retail investors who speculate on price moves. Any future additional restrictions on derivatives trading, or a sustained drop in speculative trading activity, could cut into NSE’s transaction volumes and bottom line.

  • Abducted South African journalist found dead with gunshot wounds

    Abducted South African journalist found dead with gunshot wounds

    South Africa is in mourning this week following the tragic killing of veteran sports broadcaster Owen Ndlovu, a well-known figure to sports audiences across the nation, whose death has reignited widespread conversation about the country’s persistent crisis of violent crime.

    According to Gauteng police officials, Ndlovu, a 54-year-old former presenter and producer for the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), was abducted at gunpoint on Tuesday while waiting to pick up his wife after a church service in the Katlehong township, located east of Johannesburg. As his wife approached the couple’s vehicle, three unidentified assailants — one carrying a loaded firearm — ambushed the pair, pushed Ndlovu’s wife aside, and forced the broadcaster into the backseat of his own car before fleeing the scene.

    The abandoned vehicle, a Ford Raptor pick-up truck known locally as a bakkie, was recovered days later in Walkerville, a small town south of Johannesburg. Local residents discovered Ndlovu’s body alongside a road in Thokoza early Wednesday morning, just hours after the abduction. Witnesses reported the body bore visible gunshot wounds, though law enforcement officials note a formal post-mortem examination will be conducted to confirm the official cause of death. Ndlovu’s personal bag was found separately a short distance away on Gauteng’s East Rand, a heavily populated urban and industrial corridor.

    Police have launched an urgent manhunt for the three suspects and opened a formal murder investigation into the incident. Family spokesperson Eugene Mthethwa released a statement saying Ndlovu’s loved ones are reeling from what they describe as a devastating loss, and are currently awaiting updated details from investigating authorities. The family extended gratitude to local residents, law enforcement, and members of the public who joined search efforts after news of the abduction broke.

    Beyond his decades-long career in sports media, Ndlovu leaves behind a multi-faceted legacy in South Africa’s public life. A household name for his years of sports presenting and producing at SABC, he also delivered radio coverage of the country’s top-tier Premier Soccer League for years. Later in his career, he pivoted to advocacy work, pushing for fair royalty payments and creator rights for local musicians, and collaborated with high-profile initiatives including Artists United and the SABC Summer Song of the Year program.

    Fellow journalist Lelo Mzaca paid tribute to Ndlovu in a column for the *Mail & Guardian*, remembering him as a vibrant, energetic personality who brought unmatched enthusiasm and distinctive flair to every segment he hosted. “South Africa has lost a unique and spirited individual whose light shone brightly while it lasted,” Mzaca wrote.

    Ndlovu’s killing has pushed South Africa’s ongoing violent crime crisis back into the national spotlight. Officials from the Gauteng provincial government have called on local communities to share any information that could help investigators apprehend the suspects, emphasizing that combating violent crime remains a top governance priority.

    Data from the latest national crime report, covering the second quarter of 2026 (April to June), underscores the scale of the challenge: the period recorded more than 5,000 murders and nearly 4,000 carjackings across the country. When releasing the figures last month, acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia acknowledged that serious violent crime continues to erode safety and fuel fear in local communities, noting that many high-profile incidents are carried out by well-organized, heavily armed criminal networks that operate with advanced planning and sophistication.