Global Pulse

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  • A bruising week for Bolivia’s President Paz as scandal and setbacks test his presidency

    A bruising week for Bolivia’s President Paz as scandal and setbacks test his presidency

    Nine months into his term, Bolivia’s President Rodrigo Paz is facing the most severe test of his young administration after a catastrophic seven-day stretch of political fractures, public outrage, and high-profile scandals that have left his already fragile governing coalition on the brink of collapse. Since taking office last year after winning election on a platform to break nearly 20 years of one-party socialist rule, Paz has navigated near-constant turmoil: mass street protests, repeated cabinet reshuffles that have left just six of his original 15 ministerial posts filled, a public falling-out with his own vice president, and a public health and economic crisis after contaminated gasoline damaged more than 10,000 vehicles nationwide. Through it all, the president has managed to hold onto power, but political analysts agree the string of crises that unfolded this week could be his most dangerous challenge to date.

    The first major blow to Paz’s authority came when his key congressional partner, the center-right National Unity party, cut ties with his administration over his overreliance on executive presidential decrees to pass policy, fracturing the already thin majority he needed to advance his legislative agenda. The loss of this ally immediately exposed Paz’s weakness in the legislature, a weakness that was laid bare just days later when Congress voted to oust his top economic strategist, Economy Minister José Gabriel Espinoza.

    Espinoza, the architect of the Paz administration’s sweeping pro-market economic overhauls designed to pull Bolivia out of post-socialist economic stagnation, became a lightning rod for widespread public frustration over the country’s ongoing economic struggles: persistent double-digit inflation, chronic shortages of gasoline and diesel, and dangerously depleted foreign currency reserves. Lawmakers moved to force Espinoza out amid a growing scandal over his purchase of a luxury Audi Q4 SUV for $5,000, far below the vehicle’s market value. Prosecutors have since opened a criminal investigation into allegations that the minister falsified financial documents and misstated his income to secure the below-market deal; Espinoza has denied all wrongdoing, blaming the discrepancy on a routine clerical error.

    Paz initially defended his minister, calling the congressional vote unconstitutional and vowing to keep Espinoza in his post. But facing a lack of legislative support after National Unity’s exit, the president quickly backed down and dismissed Espinoza on Friday. The ousting comes at a critical moment for Paz’s economic agenda: his administration is currently pushing Congress to approve a $1.9 billion financing agreement with the International Monetary Fund, unlock a $200 million World Bank loan, and pass new legislation to attract much-needed U.S. dollar reserves to the country, all while public discontent grows over the pain of his fiscal austerity reforms.

    Last year, Paz’s government cut long-standing, generous national fuel subsidies that had kept consumer prices low for decades, driving up immediate cost-of-living increases for working-class Bolivians. This week, the administration compounded that anger by hiking the price of bulk-purchased diesel by 84%, a move that infuriated farming and transport groups and sparked new calls for a national mass strike. Political analysts note that while Paz has secured preliminary agreements with multilateral lenders, these policy wins have yet to translate into improved affordability or tangible economic relief for ordinary Bolivians.

    The most explosive development of the week came on Tuesday, when Bolivian national police arrested Fernando Cerimedo, an influential Argentine political strategist with deep personal and professional ties to Paz. Cerimedo, who has worked on digital campaign strategy for high-profile right-wing leaders across Latin America, including Argentina’s President Javier Milei and former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, has been charged with attempted femicide in connection with a shooting attack on his ex-partner, Bolivian lawyer Nadia Beller. Two men disguised as food delivery workers shot Beller three times outside a La Paz hotel earlier this month. From her hospital bed, Beller, who is 33 and between four and six weeks pregnant, has accused Cerimedo of orchestrating the attack to silence her, claiming she holds concrete evidence of corruption implicating Cerimedo and close associates of President Paz. A medical report shared with the Associated Press confirms Beller suffered severe wounds to her breast, arm, neck, and shoulders, including a shattered bone that requires major surgery. Cerimedo has repeatedly denied any involvement in the attack.

    Following Cerimedo’s arrest, prosecutors raided four properties linked to the strategist after Beller published photos showing drawers full of untraceable cash. Authorities seized more than 500,000 bolivianos (roughly $44,000) in local currency, plus undisclosed sums of U.S. dollars and euros, as well as equipment for a “bot farm” — an automated network of fake social media accounts used to manipulate public opinion and sway political discourse.

    Bolivia’s government has attempted to downplay Cerimedo’s role, framing him as a key campaign adviser who only consults with the administration occasionally. But critics, including Paz’s own vice president Edman Lara (whose populist appeal helped deliver the president’s election win last year, before their partnership collapsed into open hostility), have pushed back on that narrative, describing Cerimedo as a powerful shadowy figure who controlled government communications and influenced senior administration appointments.

    Opposition lawmakers warn that the corruption and violence allegations tied to Cerimedo could bring down the entire administration. “This case could shake the government, so they need to respond to these allegations,” Senator José Manuel Ormachea told reporters Tuesday. “Otherwise, this chaos will leave them hanging by a thread.” Political analysts across the board agree that while Paz may ultimately survive this latest wave of crises, his ability to govern moving forward will be severely hampered. “Paz may survive all of this, but it’s going to be very, very bumpy,” said Casey Cagley, a senior Bolivia-focused adviser at Seattle-based strategic consultancy Red Telescope Global.

  • Watch: How does the US national debt affect consumers around the world?

    Watch: How does the US national debt affect consumers around the world?

    The United States has crossed a staggering fiscal milestone: official Treasury Department data confirms the country’s total national debt has surged past $40 trillion (£29.4 trillion) — more than doubling over the past 10 years. This unprecedented growth in America’s outstanding obligations has sent ripple effects through global financial markets, leaving economists and consumers alike questioning what this ballooning debt load will mean for everyday people across every region of the world.

    For decades, US sovereign debt has been viewed as the global financial system’s safest asset, underpinning interest rates, currency exchange rates, and investment flows on every continent. Shifts in America’s fiscal position therefore do not stay contained within US borders. The current unsustainable trajectory of debt growth already pushes up borrowing costs for governments, businesses, and individual borrowers across the globe. As the US government issues more debt to cover its ongoing spending and deficit gaps, competition for available capital increases, driving up interest rates for all types of loans, from home mortgages to business expansion capital, for consumers in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas alike.

    Another key channel of impact runs through exchange rate dynamics. Persistently rising US debt can create downward pressure on the value of the US dollar over time, though the dollar has retained its status as the world’s primary reserve currency for the moment. Even so, currency volatility stemming from debt uncertainty drives shifts in the price of imported goods, energy, and commodities that consumers buy every day. For nations that peg their currencies to the dollar or rely heavily on dollar-denominated trade, the instability linked to America’s growing debt burden can lead to higher inflation and eroded purchasing power for working households.

    For US consumers, the immediate impacts are equally tangible. Higher debt levels increase the government’s interest payment obligations, which can crowd out public funding for social programs, infrastructure, and other services that rely on federal support. Over time, sustained debt growth also raises the risk of future austerity measures or tax increases that directly reduce household disposable income.

    Economists are divided on the long-term outlook: many argue that the current trajectory poses significant systemic risks to global economic stability, while others note that the unique position of the US economy and the dollar have allowed the country to sustain higher debt levels than many predicted. Regardless of differing viewpoints, the passing of the $40 trillion milestone has reignited global conversations about fiscal responsibility and the far-reaching influence of US fiscal policy on the everyday financial well-being of consumers around the globe.

  • Guilt, grief and strength: Gaza’s ‘sole survivor’ children face life alone

    Guilt, grief and strength: Gaza’s ‘sole survivor’ children face life alone

    In the early light of each Gaza morning, 13-year-old Jana al-Motouq wakes to an empty space beside her. Where her mother once stirred to wake the family, fry flatbread for breakfast, and braid her hair before school, only silence remains. Today, al-Motouq cooks her own meal, folds her own clothes, and walks to school alone — a daily routine no child should ever have to learn. On November 17, 2023, an Israeli airstrike on the Jabalia residential neighborhood flattened her family’s home, killing every member of her immediate family: parents Ahmed and Heba, her twin sister Saja, 8-year-old brother Hossam, and 4-year-old brother Mohammed. Thirty-five more extended family members, including uncles and childhood cousins, also died in the attack. Al-Motouq lived only because a sudden illness the night before had led her to sleep across the street at her grandmother’s house.

    When the pre-dawn blast rattled the neighborhood, she ran outside to find nothing but crumbled concrete and twisted metal where her home had stood. “I sat on the rubble calling for my mum and dad. Nobody answered,” she recalled. For days after, she returned to the ruins each morning, digging through debris until she found a bloodstained family blanket. She held it to her chest, kissing the fabric, before heartbroken relatives pulled her away from the unstable wreckage. “I wished I had been with them,” she told Middle East Eye. “I thought, if I had died with them, maybe I could rest.”

    Al-Motouq is far from alone. More than two years of sustained Israeli bombardment across the Gaza Strip has killed more than 73,000 people, displacing most of the territory’s 2.2 million residents and destroying the homes, schools, and daily routines that once anchored community life. Official data from the Palestinian Ministry of Social Development confirms the staggering human cost: more than 68,000 children and adults are now the only surviving members of their once-large families, and over 75,000 children have lost one or both parents. Local medical workers have even created a new clinical acronym, WCNSF — “Wounded Child, No Surviving Family” — to categorize the dozens of injured, alone children who arrive at overcrowded hospitals each week. The result is a generation of young Palestinians growing up not just amid violence and displacement, but crippling grief, unresolved trauma, and a constant uncertainty about what tomorrow will bring.

    Survivor guilt is a near-universal experience for these children, explains Sereen al-Absi, a Gaza-based psychologist who has worked with dozens of sole survivors like al-Motouq. “They always ask themselves: Why did I survive when they didn’t? Why couldn’t I protect them?” the 29-year-old therapist explained. “Even when they logically understand they had no control over what happened, their pain doesn’t follow logic.” Today, al-Motouq lives in a displacement tent with her maternal grandparents, the life she knew reduced to scattered memories. Before the war, she and her twin Saja were inseparable: they wore matching clothes, shared homework, and dreamed of memorizing the Holy Quran together. Al-Motouq still smiles faintly when she remembers: “If one of us wore something different, we’d both get upset. She wasn’t just my twin — she was my life partner.” Now, she often accidentally calls classmates by Saja’s name, and reaches for a pencil out of habit, expecting her sister’s hand to meet hers.

    Eighteen-year-old Dima Junina, a Gaza City resident, carries a similar loss. On October 30, 2023, an Israeli bombing campaign collapsed a neighboring building onto her family home, killing her father Ahmed, mother Noor, and three younger brothers Anas, Baraa, and six-year-old Mufeed. Trapped beneath rubble, a fallen door shielded Junina from death, and for hours she clung to the hope that her family was still alive, begging rescue workers to pull them out. It was only at dawn that relatives told her the truth: everyone she loved was gone. “I wasn’t even able to cry,” she said. “It still feels like they’re going to walk through the door any minute.”

    Unlike many who label her an orphan or a sole survivor, Junina rejects being defined by her loss. “I don’t want people treating me differently because I’m an orphan,” she said. Unthinking reminders of her grief are everywhere: classmates offhandedly mention their mothers, school activities require parent signatures, and even one teacher, mid-sentence, forgot her loss and ordered her to bring her mother to school after an illness-related absence. She never went back to that class, but found other educators who allowed her to grieve without turning her pain into a public spectacle.

    Today, both teenagers carry the weight of adult responsibilities their parents once bore. Al-Motouq makes tea for her grandparents before school, studies by the dim light of a camp generator, and pushes forward with her education because that is what her parents always wanted. She has now memorized nine of the Quran’s 30 parts, holding fast to the dream she once shared with her twin. Junina, who recently graduated high school, says she has become “five people in one” — handling all the work her father once managed and all the care her mother provided. “The war made my personality stronger,” she said. “It had to.”

    But strength does not erase trauma, al-Absi emphasizes. For many sole survivors, grief manifests in two extremes: either intense attachment to people who remind them of the family they lost, or deep social withdrawal. The trauma is also far more complex than typical grief, she explains: these children carry the grief of multiple loved ones, all lost in a single, violent moment. “It’s caused by losing one, two, three or more people, and it can create a complex form of trauma that is hard to treat even in stable conditions, let alone when you’re living in a camp with no access to consistent care,” she said.

    Against all this pain and loss, both girls refuse to give up on their futures. Junina is considering studying psychology at university, and plans to build a water well in Gaza as a lasting charity in her family’s name. When asked what she wants more than anything, al-Motouq did not ask for an end to war, though that is the foundation of every wish she has. Instead, she asked for the simple things children in other parts of the world take for granted. “A home, a school, a place where we can live without fear,” she said. “We have the right to learn. We have the right to play. We have the right to have dreams.” For Junina, the request is even simpler: “Treat me like a person,” she said. “Not just as the girl whose family was killed.”

  • Turkey requests Interpol red notice for Netanyahu over Sumud Flotilla

    Turkey requests Interpol red notice for Netanyahu over Sumud Flotilla

    In a sharp escalation of diplomatic tensions between Turkey and Israel, Turkish Justice Minister Akin Gurlek announced Friday that Ankara has formally asked Interpol to issue international Red Notices for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a second Israeli official, Afek Moskovitch, on charges of genocide and multiple other crimes against humanity. The legal action stems from Israel’s 2026 intercept of the Global Sumud Flotilla, a civilian vessel carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza that was raided by Israeli forces in international waters earlier this year.

    Gurlek confirmed in an official statement posted to the social media platform X that the request follows arrest warrants issued by Turkish courts on July 14, 2026. “Pursuant to the arrest warrants issued on 14 July 2026 for Benjamin Netanyahu and Afek Moskovitch on charges of genocide, our Ministry of Justice requested that the Ministry of Interior seek Interpol Red Notices for their international apprehension. The relevant documents have also been forwarded to our Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” Gurlek said.

    The two Israeli figures face a broad array of charges in addition to genocide, including crimes against humanity, aggravated unlawful detention, intentional bodily harm, torture and cruel treatment, property destruction, aggravated robbery, and hijacking of civilian transport. All charges are directly linked to the Israeli military operation against unarmed civilian activists delivering humanitarian aid to Gaza in international waters, and the subsequent detention of those activists, Gurlek added.

    The Turkish government’s legal move comes just days after a major escalation in regional hostilities: Israeli warplanes carried out strikes earlier this week on the Abu al-Duhur military airbase in northern Syria, a facility located roughly 70 kilometers from the Turkish border. The airstrike was followed by a thinly veiled public threat from Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz directed at Turkish leadership on Thursday.

    In a social media statement, Katz claimed that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan “is dragging Turkey into dangerous adventures in Syria.” He added that Israel would not permit any actor to threaten its national security, and urged Erdogan to rein in what Katz called anti-Israel rhetoric rather than “attempting to test Israel’s resolve to defend itself.”

    Israel justified the airstrike with unsubstantiated claims that Syria was on the brink of violating a long-standing security status quo by allowing Turkish military personnel to deploy at the Abu al-Duhur base. Both Turkish and Syrian officials have categorically rejected these allegations. Turkey’s defense ministry emphasized that there had been no Turkish military presence at the facility either before or during Israel’s “unacceptable” attack, and called for an immediate end to such reckless Israeli actions.

    Syrian officials told Middle East Eye that only a Turkish civilian technical team was present at the base to conduct repairs on the runway and air traffic control tower, with no military personnel deployed to the site. The Turkish presidency issued a statement Wednesday arguing that the Israeli airstrike was motivated by domestic political considerations, noting that the attack was timed ahead of Israel’s general election scheduled for October, and served Netanyahu’s personal re-election campaign.

    Netanyahu pushed back against these claims Wednesday, confirming that Israel had pre-warned Syria against allowing any Turkish presence at the base. “Our message was very clear: Don’t. I guess they didn’t quite understand the message,” he said. Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani rejected Israel’s justification entirely, stating that the bombing had no legitimate legal or strategic basis.

    In the wake of the Tuesday airstrikes, the United States has moved to de-escalate tensions between the three regional actors. Tom Barrack, the U.S. special presidential envoy for Syria and Iraq, told Reuters that Washington is currently working to establish a formal deconfliction mechanism that will prevent unintended clashes between Israeli, Turkish, and Syrian forces operating in northern Syria.

  • ‘Bloodline punishment’: Iranian family faces ongoing punitive ICE detention

    ‘Bloodline punishment’: Iranian family faces ongoing punitive ICE detention

    More than four months have passed since a Los Angeles-based Iranian family of three lawful permanent residents was taken into Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody, detained not for any crime they committed, but over a relative’s political role during a 1979 diplomatic crisis decades before two of them were even born.

    In an open letter published in *The Nation*, Maryam Tahmasebi, an Iranian scholar and one of the three detainees, described the family’s treatment as a clear case of “bloodline punishment.” Tahmasebi, her husband Eissa Hashemi — also an academic — and their 16-year-old son, who has lived most of his life in Southern California, all hold clean criminal records. Their green cards were revoked following a targeted online campaigning against the family, and they have remained behind bars since early April.

    The basis of the government’s action traces back to the 1979 Iran hostage crisis, when 53 American diplomats and citizens were held captive by militant student groups in Tehran. Hashemi is the son of Masoumeh Ebtekar, a former Iranian politician who served as a translator for the hostage takers that year — years before Hashemi was born. Tahmasebi emphasized in her letter that the U.S. government chose to punish her husband exclusively for his maternal family connection, not any action of his own.

    Hashemi was first arrested on April 9 and transferred to the South Texas Detention Center in Pearsall, where he remains in custody. The following day, Tahmasebi and their teenage son were detained while en route to the boy’s school. The pair are now held at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center, a for-profit ICE facility in South Texas designed primarily to detain women and children. For years, lawmakers and immigrant rights activists have pushed to shut down this detention center, citing extensive documentation of systemic abuse, neglect, and psychologically traumatizing conditions for detainees, especially minor held in custody.

    When Tahmasebi requested a transfer to be held in the same facility as her husband, she was told family separation is an official U.S. government policy that would not be waived, per her account. In a striking turn, even the family’s request for voluntary departure — a standard legal process that allows people facing deportation to leave the U.S. voluntarily without a permanent deportation order on their record — was rejected by federal authorities.

    Tala Alfoqaha, the family’s lead legal counsel, told Middle East Eye that the government’s refusal to approve voluntary departure confirms the detention is purely punitive, with no legitimate immigration or national security purpose. “This is a case that stands for the idea that you can do every single thing right and still end up in ICE detention,” Alfoqaha said. “They’re not being detained on the basis of what they’ve done, but who they are as Iranians with parents who’ve lived and worked.”

    Alfoqaha drew a parallel to one of the darkest chapters of U.S. history, noting the case echoes the mass internment of Japanese American citizens during World War II, when thousands were imprisoned solely based on their ethnic ancestry, not any unlawful action. In a statement to NBC Los Angeles, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security defended its action, claiming the three family members’ presence in the country “posed a clear threat to our national security and foreign policy.”

    In her letter written from detention, Tahmasebi warned that the case sets a dangerous precedent for all immigrant communities in the U.S. “If this could happen to us, a law-abiding family of two professors and a young boy, it can happen to anyone,” she wrote.

    As of December 2024, federal data shows at least 577 Iranian nationals are currently held in ICE detention facilities across the country, a trend many immigrant rights advocates frame as part of broader political retaliation against Iranians amid ongoing U.S. geopolitical tensions with the Iranian government.

  • Supreme Court temporarily unfreezes Trump ballroom construction

    Supreme Court temporarily unfreezes Trump ballroom construction

    In a high-stakes legal ruling released Friday, US Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts has issued an administrative stay that temporarily clears the way for work on the Trump administration’s $400 million White House ballroom expansion project to continue, as the nation’s highest court prepares to review a full legal challenge aimed at halting the development permanently. The temporary order will remain in effect until the Supreme Court issues further guidance on the case.

    The legal battle stems from a lawsuit originally brought by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, a leading heritage advocacy group that argues the construction project inflicts irreversible damage to the historic White House complex. The case reached the Supreme Court after a federal appeals court issued an order earlier this month to halt all work on the site. In that appeals court ruling, judges held that sitting presidents are only “temporary tenants” of the White House, and lack the authority to carry out major structural alterations without explicit approval from Congress. The ruling gave the Trump administration two weeks to file an appeal with the Supreme Court, setting the stage for Friday’s temporary action.

    The preservation group responded to the stay in a statement to the BBC Friday, noting that the court’s action does not constitute a final ruling on the merits of the administration’s request to keep construction moving. “To be clear, this is not a final decision on the merits of the government’s stay application, and we await further action,” a representative for the group said.

    For the Trump administration, Friday’s ruling delivers at least a temporary win. President Trump has pushed for the expansion for years, arguing the White House currently lacks sufficient event space to accommodate large-scale official gatherings. He has more recently framed the project as a critical national security priority, a claim amplified after an assassination attempt targeting the president at the April White House Correspondents’ Association dinner.

    Administration legal officials, including US Solicitor General D. John Sauer, emphasized the urgency of continuing construction in an emergency filing submitted to the Supreme Court ahead of the stay. Government lawyers argue the new facility’s integrated underground security complex is designed to defend the White House against emerging threats including drones, ballistic missile attacks, and biological hazards, protections they say are essential to safeguarding the president, his family, and all White House staff. Trump has publicly stated the expanded ballroom is needed to host large state visits and official celebrations, framing the upgrade as long overdue.

    When the project was first announced in July 2025, plans called for a 650-person ballroom that would integrate with existing White House structures. Those plans have since been revised twice, expanding capacity first to 900 attendees and then to 1,000. The current scope calls for full demolition of the existing East Wing to make way for the new structure, which will combine a large above-ground event space with a secured underground complex. The ballroom project is not the only controversial infrastructure initiative the Trump administration has advanced in Washington DC; it is paired with a new helipad under construction on the White House South Lawn, a major renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, and a planned “Arc de Trump” that would be larger than Paris’s iconic Arc de Triomphe. Across all of these projects, the administration has faced repeated accusations that it bypassed legally mandated environmental review and public comment processes, claims the president has repeatedly rejected. Congress was not consulted on the ballroom project before demolition work began, a core point of criticism from the plaintiffs.

    Had the Supreme Court declined to issue the stay, the administration would have been legally required to halt all construction work by the end of Friday. The legal fight now moves toward a full hearing on the merits of the challenge, with the future of the multi-hundred-million-dollar project hanging in the balance.

  • Ceuta begins burials for migrants who died attempting to cross into the Spanish territory

    Ceuta begins burials for migrants who died attempting to cross into the Spanish territory

    Three weeks after Spain’s deadliest modern migrant border crisis, the first group of unidentified victims of the disaster were laid to rest on Friday at a Muslim cemetery in Ceuta, the Spanish North African territory that became the flashpoint for the mass crossing event. As an Islamic cleric recited traditional funeral prayers over the plots, workers lowered plain white body bags into cinderblock graves, each marked only with a numbered stone — a temporary measure to enable future identification and recovery by surviving family members. All 18 migrants interred on Friday were men, and their burials followed Islamic tradition, with bodies positioned to face Mecca, just a short sea crossing away from the mainland Europe the migrants had hoped to reach.

    The 18 buried Friday are part of a death toll that has surpassed 90 people, all of whom died amid the mass influx of more than 72,000 people who crossed into Ceuta from neighboring Morocco in late July. Most of the deceased lost their lives either by drowning or in a chaotic stampede as crowds pushed to cross a breakwater barrier at a key border checkpoint.

    The mass migration event was driven by a toxic combination of deep-rooted economic hardship, limited economic opportunity for young people in the region, and widespread misinformation spread across social media platforms, according to official accounts from both Spanish and Moroccan authorities, who have also pinned blame on criminal human smuggling networks. Migrants who made the crossing have repeatedly cited systemic unemployment and poverty-level wages in Morocco as the core push factors that forced them to attempt the dangerous journey.

    The burials have sparked controversy, as the Moroccan Association for Human Rights (MAHR), a prominent left-leaning non-governmental organization, has called for an immediate halt to interments in Ceuta. The group is demanding that all possible efforts be made first to identify the deceased and repatriate their remains to Morocco, where most of the migrants originated, so their families can bury them according to local custom and with full dignity. In a formal statement, MAHR described the ongoing burials in Ceuta as a “new human tragedy” that adds to the broader “disaster of displacement and missing persons” plaguing the region. The NGO has also called on Morocco’s foreign ministry to take active steps to secure the return of all remains to their home communities.

    The dispute over repatriation comes amid conflicting claims over why the bodies have not been returned. A spokesperson for Ceuta’s city government confirmed last week that all administrative paperwork required to repatriate the deceased migrants’ bodies had been finalized, but that Moroccan authorities had not yet accepted the transfer requests. Morocco’s foreign ministry has not responded to repeated requests for comment from the Associated Press, either regarding the Friday burials or allegations that it is blocking the repatriation process.

    While the vast majority of the more than 72,000 people who crossed into Ceuta in late July returned to Morocco within days, thousands remain stranded in the small territory, prolonging a severe humanitarian crisis that has stretched local resources thin. Ceuta’s local government estimates that between 8,000 and 10,000 migrants — including vulnerable women and children — are still present in the territory, while Spain’s national government puts the figure at around 5,000. Both local authorities and Ceuta’s resident population are struggling to provide adequate shelter, food, and basic care for the remaining migrants, leaving thousands in limbo as officials on both sides of the border debate what steps to take next.

  • Uber fined nearly $1 billion by Dutch regulators over automated suspensions of driver accounts

    Uber fined nearly $1 billion by Dutch regulators over automated suspensions of driver accounts

    In one of the most substantial penalties for violating European Union privacy rules to date, Dutch data protection officials have ordered ride-hailing giant Uber to pay a record-breaking €825 million ($964 million) fine for breaches of the bloc’s landmark General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The Dutch Data Protection Authority (DPA) announced the penalty Friday, detailing that the violation stems from Uber’s use of fully automated decision-making software to suspend and even permanently deactivate driver accounts between 2018 and 2022, with no mandatory human oversight to catch algorithmic errors. Under GDPR’s strict provisions, entirely automated processes that have significant negative impacts on individuals are explicitly prohibited. The regulator also added that Uber failed to meet its transparency requirements, neglecting to properly inform drivers that their account status decisions were being made entirely by algorithm with no human input before suspension. This penalty marks the fourth time the Dutch DPA has levied a fine against Uber, and it is far larger than the previous largest penalty issued to the company by the same regulator: a €290 million ($324 million) fine handed down in 2024 over unauthorized, inadequately protected transfers of European drivers’ personal data to servers in the United States. In response to the new ruling, Uber immediately pushed back against the decision, saying it disagrees with both the finding of violation and the size of the fine, and confirming it plans to file an official appeal against the penalty. In a formal written statement, the company emphasized that the policies under investigation were discontinued years ago. “We take decisions that affect drivers’ ability to earn extremely seriously and we’re fully committed to fair treatment,” the statement read. “This includes human reviews, robust safeguards, and the opportunity for drivers to appeal our decisions if they believe we made a mistake.” The massive penalty has drawn broad attention to ongoing enforcement of GDPR rules, particularly around algorithmic decision-making that impacts gig workers, who have increasingly raised concerns about opaque automated systems that can suddenly cut off their income with no avenue for immediate review.

  • ‘He hates Palestine’: West Ham urges fans to drop chant about Solomon’s pro‑Israel stance

    ‘He hates Palestine’: West Ham urges fans to drop chant about Solomon’s pro‑Israel stance

    English Premier League club West Ham United has made a public appeal to its fanbase to abandon an offensive, divisive chant targeting new winger Manor Solomon that carries an explicit anti-Palestine message, just days ahead of the club’s 2025-26 FA Cup clash against Charlton Athletic.

    Solomon, a former Israeli soldier who moved to West Ham from Tottenham Hotspur in August 2025, has long courted controversy for his repeated public defense of Israel’s military occupation and its large-scale military operations in Gaza, making him a polarizing figure across European football. The chant that has drawn condemnation from West Ham’s leadership, which labels the lyrics ‘Manor Solomon’s on my mind and he hates Palestine’, has followed Solomon throughout his recent spells in European leagues. The same chant was first aired by Leeds United supporters during his 2024-25 loan spell at the Championship club, before reemerging after his transfer to West Ham.

    In an official statement released Thursday, the club made clear that the chant violates its core institutional values of unity and inclusion. The statement emphasized that all individuals associated with West Ham—from players and coaching staff to matchgoing supporters—are expected to uphold the club’s commitment to respect across all backgrounds and beliefs. ‘We are as our name says: United,’ the club’s statement read, reinforcing its expectation of inclusive behavior from its fanbase.

    What has been less widely reported until now is the long track record of controversial pro-occupation and pro-military statements that Solomon has made throughout the current Gaza crisis, aligning him with the most hardline factions of Israeli public opinion amid the conflict. As far back as October 2023, leading Israeli sports outlet Sport 5 openly described Solomon as a leading figure in Israeli state propaganda, praising him for amplifying content that framed Israel as the justified party in the conflict.

    One of the most high-profile incidents of Solomon taking a public stance came hours after the deadly October 17, 2023 explosion at al-Ahli Arab Hospital in central Gaza City, where thousands of displaced Palestinians had taken shelter to escape Israeli airstrikes. Gaza’s Ministry of Health recorded 471 deaths and 342 additional injuries from the blast. Immediately after the attack, Solomon parroted the Israeli government’s false claim that Palestinian armed groups were responsible for the explosion, writing on social media: ‘They kill their own people, then blame Israel.’ Open-source investigative agency Forensic Architecture later debunked Israel’s core claims, confirming that the projectile that caused the explosion originated from Israeli positions.

    In the 18 months following the hospital explosion, Israel’s military campaign in Gaza has systematically dismantled the strip’s entire healthcare system. Forensic Architecture’s research has found that Israeli military operations have forced 35 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals to suspend services at different points of the campaign, with 31 hospitals directly targeted in airstrikes, 11 placed under full military siege, and 10 invaded by ground forces.

    Solomon again aligned himself with Israeli military policy during the planned invasion of Rafah in May 2024. As millions of people around the world shared the viral slogan ‘All Eyes on Rafah’ to draw attention to the more than one million Palestinian civilians sheltering in the city—then the last remaining unoccupied area in Gaza—Solomon pushed back against critics of the planned assault, responding: ‘Where were your eyes on October 7?’ The subsequent Israeli ground invasion of Rafah reduced large swathes of the city to rubble and displaced hundreds of thousands of additional civilians. Israeli outlet Walla later praised Solomon for continuing to defend Israeli military action on social media despite widespread international backlash against the operation.

    The most recent controversy involving Solomon came in October 2025, during his brief spell at Spanish side Villarreal ahead of his transfer to West Ham. Ahead of a league match in Sevilla, Solomon claimed that the presence of Palestinian flags in the stands made him feel ‘threatened’, and added that he was motivated to score ‘in the faces’ of Sevilla’s supporter group ultras.

    Solomon’s public support for Israeli policy stretches back years before the 2023 Gaza war. During the 2021 Israeli-Palestinian crisis, when Israeli courts ordered the forced expulsion of Palestinian families from the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of occupied East Jerusalem and Israeli forces stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque during Ramadan—firing tear gas, stun grenades, and rubber bullets at worshippers—Solomon openly backed Israeli military action. After Hamas fired rockets in protest of the Israeli incursions, Israel launched an 11-day aerial bombardment of Gaza that killed at least 256 Palestinians, including 66 children, wounded almost 2,000 more, and displaced more than 70,000. Amid global outcry over the civilian death toll, Solomon declared: ‘I support Israel’s right to defend itself.’

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

  • Russian double-tap drone strike kills 15 in Ukrainian mall, officials say

    Russian double-tap drone strike kills 15 in Ukrainian mall, officials say

    A brutal Russian double-tap drone assault on a crowded shopping center in the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih has left at least 15 people dead and more than 130 others injured, according to local Ukrainian officials. Multiple additional people remain trapped beneath the rubble of the city’s largest mall, raising fears that the final death toll will climb higher in the coming hours.

    The attack, which unfolded in broad daylight on Friday, was carried out in two sequential waves, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed. The second drone strike was deliberately timed to hit the mall after first responders had already arrived on scene to rescue injured civilians, targeting emergency personnel who were working to pull survivors from the wreckage. Zelensky, who was born in Kryvyi Rih, condemned the assault as “absolutely cynical and despicable.”

    Verified footage obtained and authenticated by the BBC captures the moment the second drone impacts the already burning multi-story shopping center, located in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region. As of Friday evening, regional administration head Oleksandr Hanzha confirmed that 15 fatalities have been recorded, two of whom succumbed to their injuries after being transported to local hospitals. Of the 130 injured people, 23 are children, and 29 remain in critical, life-threatening condition.

    Oleksandr Vilkul, mayor of Kryvyi Rih, reported that Russian attack drones flew at extremely low altitudes to evade air defense systems ahead of the strike. In a public statement, he called the attackers “animals” and confirmed that multiple unaccounted-for civilians are still missing, with no response to rescue team communications. Search and rescue teams from four other Ukrainian regions have been urgently dispatched to Kryvyi Rih to assist in the search for any remaining survivors trapped in the debris.

    Friday’s attack comes just 24 hours after a large-scale Russian missile and drone barrage targeted Ukraine’s capital city of Kyiv, killing 17 people and injuring more than 40 others. Overnight strikes on Kyiv hit residential apartment blocks and commercial warehouses, and caused damage to a local children’s hospital and a nearby school.

    The assault on Kryvyi Rih also follows a Friday morning announcement from Ukraine’s military that it had carried out its own strikes against an oil refinery and a military airfield located deep inside Russian territory. In recent months, Kyiv has stepped up long-range attacks against Russian energy infrastructure, as well as logistics and storage facilities belonging to Wildberries, Russia’s largest online retailer. Ukrainian officials maintain that all targeted sites are legitimate military-related assets that contribute directly to funding and supporting Russia’s full-scale invasion.

    Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine was launched by President Vladimir Putin in February 2022. As of the current date, Russian forces maintain control of roughly 20 percent of Ukraine’s sovereign territory, concentrated primarily in the country’s southeastern regions. The Kremlin has not yet issued any official comment on the Kryvyi Rih shopping center strike.