Global Pulse

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  • US accuses Russia of trying to kill Ukrainian allies overseas

    US accuses Russia of trying to kill Ukrainian allies overseas

    In a sweeping announcement that has escalated cross-border tensions between Washington and Moscow, the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) unveiled charges Tuesday against five men with alleged ties to Russian intelligence services, accusing them of orchestrating a far-reaching conspiracy to murder individuals aligned with Ukraine across the United States and Europe.

    Three of the accused are named as senior operatives within Russian intelligence circles. The group includes 63-year-old Yuri Khrameev, a retired colonel in Russia’s main intelligence service, and his 27-year-old son Kirill Khrameev, an active officer in Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB). Rounding out the three high-ranking suspects is Oemis Romagoza Durruthy, a 35-year-old Cuban national who U.S. officials describe as a well-connected member of the pro-Russian Cuban diaspora, tasked with coordinating violent operations on behalf of Russian intelligence. The remaining two defendants are 35-year-old Yaidel Delgado Suarez and 22-year-old Angel Eduardo Castro.

    According to DoJ filings, Suarez and Castro allegedly directed a targeted assassination plot against a high-profile Russian dissident residing in the U.S. as recently as this summer. Court documents detail how the pair recruited a U.S.-based individual to conduct surveillance of the victim, providing explicit instructions on monitoring protocols and offering an initial payment of $1,000 to $1,500 for the work. The two men reportedly promised an additional $40,000 payout if the recruit successfully “eliminated” the dissident. The plot ultimately collapsed when the recruited individual backed out of the plan, prompting Suarez to reach out to multiple other people within the U.S. in search of a new operative, the DoJ says.

    A separate 2025 plot detailed in the charging documents links Kirill Khrameev to a plan to kill an individual in Lithuania who spoke critically of Russia. His father Yuri allegedly offered a U.S. recruit $25,000 to carry out the killing, saying the target was spreading misinformation and “dirt about my country” that distorted Russian history. The senior Khrameev framed the operation as part of a broader effort to target people in nations that support Ukraine, according to the DoJ.

    All five defendants face charges of conspiracy to finance terrorism, a crime that carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison. Yuri Khrameev, Suarez and Castro face additional charges of conspiracy to commit murder for hire, which adds a potential maximum 10-year prison sentence if convictions are obtained. As of the DoJ’s announcement, all five accused remain at large, with no confirmation of their current location, whether inside the U.S. or abroad.

    U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche emphasized the gravity of the alleged plot in a statement, saying “It is our job to stop America’s adversaries from unleashing violence and terror on American soil.” FBI official James Barnacle added that the network “conspired to intimidate, threaten, or murder people on US soil and around the world.”

    Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov responded Wednesday to the charges, saying Moscow would withhold comment until it is presented with “credible evidence” and “tangible facts” supporting the U.S. accusations. This aligns with the Kremlin’s past response to similar allegations: in 2024, when U.S. intelligence warned German officials of a purported Russian plot to assassinate Armin Papperger, CEO of leading German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall, Peskov dismissed the claims as a “fake story” not worthy of serious consideration. More recently last month, Polish authorities detained a suspect accused of working for the Kremlin to kill an American-Ukrainian activist in Warsaw, a plot Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk framed as consistent with the Putin regime’s pattern of eliminating people it finds inconvenient.

    The new charges come at a notable diplomatic moment: just weeks before the DoJ announcement, CIA Director John Ratcliffe made an unprecedented trip to Moscow for talks with Russian intelligence leaders, a meeting that followed U.S. President Donald Trump’s 2025 return to the White House and sparked widespread speculation about a potential thaw in U.S.-Russia relations. Trump has described the closed-door meeting as “semi-routine,” while the Kremlin confirmed the talks took place but has not released details of what was discussed.

  • Kosovo’s former president sentenced to 25 years for war crimes

    Kosovo’s former president sentenced to 25 years for war crimes

    In a landmark verdict delivered this week at a courtroom in The Hague, former Kosovo president Hashim Thaci has received a 25-year prison sentence following his conviction on multiple charges of war crimes tied to Kosovo’s 1990s independence campaign against Serbia. The 58-year-old ex-political leader was found guilty of a slate of offenses, including murder, unlawful detainment, torture, and inhumane treatment of civilians and opponents, after a marathon three-year judicial proceedings.

    Thaci’s conviction stems from his time as a co-founder and senior military commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), the ethnic Albanian militant group that waged an armed struggle for separation from what was then Serbian territory. The 1990s conflict that pitted KLA fighters against Serbian forces ultimately claimed the lives of over 10,000 people, according to official records. Prosecutors had accused Thaci of orchestrating the deaths of nearly 100 people and carrying out enforced disappearances alongside other atrocities; however, a panel of judges ruled that several additional allegations against him could not be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

    Founded in the early 1990s, the KLA emerged to push for Kosovar independence from Serbian rule, with the group alleged to have targeted the region’s ethnic Serb minority during the conflict. Following Kosovo’s 2008 declaration of independence, Thaci rose to become the new nation’s first prime minister, and later assumed the presidency — a post he stepped down from in 2020 to surrender to the war crimes tribunal in The Hague. He was not tried alone; three other former KLA commanders are standing trial alongside Thaci on nearly identical war crime charges, with verdicts for those co-defendants still pending.

    The verdict has sent deep ripples across Kosovo, where Thaci remains a widely celebrated figure for his role in securing independence. Thousands of Kosovo residents gathered in public spaces across the country on Wednesday to watch the ruling broadcast on large outdoor screens. In the capital city of Pristina, visual footage from the scene shows supporters of the former leader openly weeping as the sentence was announced.

  • Legendary Nigerian actor Olu Jacobs dies aged 84

    Legendary Nigerian actor Olu Jacobs dies aged 84

    One of Nigeria’s most legendary and beloved entertainers, Olu Jacobs, who built a decades-long career that shaped the trajectory of Nollywood across theater, television, and film, has passed away at the age of 84. His death was confirmed by his wife, fellow veteran actress Joke Silva, in an official statement, where she asked that the public grant the grieving family space and privacy during this difficult period.

    In her statement, Silva honored Jacobs with the title “The Lion of Lufodo,” reflecting his towering status in Nigerian performing arts, and reflected that he had lived a full, purposeful life marked by unwavering dedication to his craft. Across his more than 50-year career, Jacobs built an extensive body of work, with standout roles in well-known projects including *My Kingdom*, *Covert Operation*, and *One Fine Day*.

    Widely regarded as a foundational father figure of Nollywood, Nigeria’s world-famous film industry, Jacobs commanded universal respect and admiration from audiences, peers, and industry stakeholders across the nation. Beyond his on-screen work, Jacobs and Silva co-founded the Lufodo Group and the Lufodo Academy of Performing Arts, institutions that have nurtured generations of new performing talent across Nigeria, expanding his impact far beyond his own screen credits.

    Born on July 11, 1942, Jacobs received formal acting training at the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. He launched his professional career with roles in British television series and international film productions before returning to focus on Nigeria’s growing entertainment sector, where he would emerge as one of the defining figures of the national film industry. He earned a reputation for his commanding on-screen presence and remarkable versatility, seamlessly moving between theater, television, and feature film roles across decades.

    Throughout his career, Jacobs collected numerous prestigious honors in recognition of his contributions. He won the African Movie Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role and received multiple lifetime achievement awards for his work elevating African cinema. In 2011, the Nigerian government awarded Jacobs the national distinction of Member of the Order of the Federal Republic (MFR), one of the country’s highest civilian honors, in recognition of his decades of service to Nollywood.

    Jacobs had stepped back from public life in recent years, as he managed ongoing health challenges. In her statement, Silva reiterated the family’s request for privacy, calling on digital content creators and social media users to honor the family’s wishes as they mourn. For more coverage of African news and entertainment updates, visit BBCAfrica.com or follow BBC Africa on social media platforms including Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

  • Colombia and Brazil deadliest countries for environmental activists, report says

    Colombia and Brazil deadliest countries for environmental activists, report says

    The global crisis of violence against land and environmental defenders reached another grim milestone in 2025, according to the latest annual investigation from advocacy organization Global Witness. The report confirms that Latin America has retained its unenviable title as the world’s most dangerous region for climate and land rights activists, holding this status every year since Global Witness began publishing its annual tracking data in 2012.

  • South Africa prosecutors drop case against suspended police chief

    South Africa prosecutors drop case against suspended police chief

    South African national prosecutors have formally announced the withdrawal of criminal charges against the country’s suspended national police commissioner, General Fannie Masemola, after a full evidence review found no solid basis to secure a conviction in court. The 62-year-old top law enforcement official was first indicted in April this year on allegations of dereliction of duty, charged with failing to exercise adequate oversight over a controversial multi-million-dollar police health services tender that later triggered a wide-ranging corruption investigation. Masemola has maintained his innocence on all counts since the charges were first filed.

    Shortly after the criminal case was opened, President Cyril Ramaphosa placed Masemola on administrative precautionary suspension pending the outcome of the legal proceedings. On Tuesday, the National Director of Public Prosecutions Andy Mothibi confirmed that after a thorough assessment of evidence collected by the Independent Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC), his office had determined there are “no reasonable prospects of a successful prosecution” against the suspended police chief. Mothibi emphasized that moving forward with a criminal trial on the basis of insufficient evidence would run counter to the public interest.

    The charges against Masemola stem from a $21 million health tender that was ultimately canceled after corruption allegations came to light. The tender, which was meant to secure medical services for South Africa’s police force, has already led to formal criminal charges against a dozen senior police officers for their roles in the awarding process. The allegations were first uncovered during a national public inquiry into systemic corruption within the national police service, the Madlanga Commission, which Ramaphosa established in September of last year. The commission was launched in response to explosive claims from Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, a provincial police commissioner, that transnational organized crime syndicates had infiltrated the highest levels of South Africa’s national government.

    In a surprising development following the withdrawal announcement, Mothibi also confirmed that the National Prosecuting Authority will launch a separate internal probe into the circumstances that led to Masemola being charged in the first place. The investigation will examine whether any misconduct occurred during the initial evidence assessment and legal application processes that resulted in the charges being filed. Even with the withdrawal ordered, Masemola is still required to make a scheduled court appearance for the withdrawal to be formally entered into the official court record.

    Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia has publicly expressed support for the prosecution’s decision, and confirmed that Masemola will meet with President Ramaphosa in the near future to discuss the next steps for his career. As of Tuesday, the presidency has not issued any formal statement confirming whether Masemola will be reinstated to his position as national police chief.

    Masemola’s case marks the third time that a sitting South African national police chief has been the subject of a criminal investigation during their tenure, highlighting the long-running battle against systemic corruption within the country’s law enforcement institutions. Jackie Selebi, the longest-serving police commissioner in South Africa’s post-apartheid history, was convicted in 2010 of accepting bribes from Italian drug kingpin Glen Agliotti in exchange for ignoring Agliotti’s criminal operations, and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. In 2017, former commissioner Khomotso Phahlane was hit with corruption charges; those charges were dropped in 2018, but he was rearrested on similar allegations in 2019, charges he continues to deny.

  • Mbappe, Vini and Konate obscure Real’s Ceuta message

    Mbappe, Vini and Konate obscure Real’s Ceuta message

    A pre-match display of solidarity with the Spanish North African autonomous city of Ceuta has stirred unexpected controversy in La Liga, after three of Real Madrid’s star players obscured the official message printed on unity T-shirts ahead of their dramatic Tuesday clash against Elche.

    Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior and new signing Ibrahima Konate rolled their pre-match T-shirts up to chest level, hiding part of the slogan that read “Todos somos caballas” — translated as “We are all Ceutans” — that had been distributed to both squads to show support for the territory amid an ongoing migration crisis. While the three Real Madrid players adjusted their shirts, all other members of both Real Madrid and Elche kept the garments fully visible through all pre-match formalities. Mbappe and Vinicius went a step further, removing the shirts entirely before the traditional pre-match handshake between the two sides, while Konate left his on for several additional minutes. Representatives for all three players have been approached for comment on their choice to modify the solidarity garment.

    The pre-match tribute was organized as part of a broader La Liga-wide campaign to back Ceuta, which faced an unprecedented migration emergency in late July. Over two days, July 30 and 31, more than 72,000 migrants crossed the border from Morocco into the small Spanish territory, many swimming around the fortified border fence that divides the two territories. Ceuta’s mayor confirmed that at least 100 migrants lost their lives during the dangerous crossing. While the vast majority of arrivals have returned to Morocco, an estimated 5,000 people remain, staying in unregulated makeshift camps or sleeping rough on city streets and public beaches. The unplanned influx has sparked social unrest in the city, with local residents voicing widespread public safety concerns, and some locals taking extreme action including destroying migrant shelters and blocking humanitarian aid convoys.

    This is not the first public show of support for Ceuta from Real Madrid as a club. Earlier this season, ahead of a Champions League group stage match against Inter Milan at the Santiago Bernabeu on September 8, fans in the stadium’s south stand arranged a card display featuring Ceuta’s official coat of arms, and the entire crowd joined the tribute with a unanimous round of applause.

    The controversy over the T-shirts emerged minutes before a memorable match for Real Madrid, who fought back from surrendering an early two-goal lead to secure a last-gasp 3-2 win. Carlos Espina scored the decisive winning goal in second-half stoppage time, with Mbappe among the club’s goal scorers on the night, and Vinicius named in the starting lineup.

    The incident also brings to light divides across La Liga over the Ceuta solidarity initiative. Barcelona declined to participate in the T-shirt campaign entirely, while players at most other top-flight fixtures across the league wore the garments as planned.

    As a side note, Real Madrid has enjoyed a blistering start to the current season, winning six of their seven matches across all competitions, cementing their position as one of the title favorites for the 2025-26 La Liga campaign.

  • Philippines’ Duterte seen in person for first time at International Criminal Court

    Philippines’ Duterte seen in person for first time at International Criminal Court

    Eighteen months after his arrest at Manila’s international airport, former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has made his first in-person appearance before the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, where he has been detained since March 2025. The 81-year-old, who is facing charges of crimes against humanity stemming from his signature anti-drug campaign, arrived at the court on Wednesday dressed in a dark suit and untucked white shirt.

    Duterte, who led the Philippines from 2016 to 2022, launched a brutal nationwide war on drugs immediately after taking office, which rights groups and ICC investigators say resulted in the extrajudicial killing of tens of thousands of low-level drug suspects and small-time dealers. The court’s investigation into the killings spans more than seven years, starting in November 2011 when Duterte served as mayor of the major southern city Davao, and ending in March 2016 when Duterte withdrew the Philippines’ membership from the ICC.

    Prior to this week’s hearing, Duterte had only appeared remotely before the court and had repeatedly skipped scheduled in-person proceedings, with his legal team arguing that his declining health leaves him unfit to participate in a full trial. Wednesday’s status hearing was called specifically to address the defense’s claims that Duterte lives with severe memory impairment that prevents him from collaborating effectively with his legal team. Prosecutors have pushed back against this claim, disputing that Duterte is unfit to stand trial. The former president first disclosed his diagnosis of myasthenia gravis — an autoimmune disorder that causes nerve and muscle dysfunction — back in 2019, when he was still in office. When he was elected in 2016 at the age of 71, he was the oldest candidate ever to win the Philippine presidency.

    Duterte’s appearance at the ICC comes as his political dynasty is locked in a high-stakes power struggle that reshaped the country’s political landscape and cleared the path for his arrest. The alliance between the Duterte and Marcos political families, which delivered a landslide election victory for incumbent President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. in 2022, has collapsed in a very public feud between Marcos and Duterte’s daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte. That falling-out, which fractured the ruling coalition, is widely seen as having enabled the arrest of the former president in 2025.

    Sara Duterte, currently the frontrunner in polling for the 2028 presidential election (for which Marcos is constitutionally barred from seeking a second term), is also fighting for her own political future. She is currently undergoing an impeachment trial on charges that include misappropriation of public funds and making threats to assassinate President Marcos, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, Marcos’ cousin. If convicted in the impeachment proceeding, she will be permanently disqualified from holding any public office, ending her presidential bid before the 2028 campaign even begins. Duterte’s formal trial on the ICC charges is currently scheduled to begin in November.

  • Watch: Will Ed Sheeran cancel his tour as support acts quit?

    Watch: Will Ed Sheeran cancel his tour as support acts quit?

    The future of Ed Sheeran’s highly anticipated United States tour has been thrown into serious question following a sudden wave of departures that has sent shockwaves through the live music industry. In an unexpected turn of events, every member of Sheeran’s touring backing band and all scheduled opening support acts have confirmed their withdrawal from the upcoming run of shows, leaving fans and industry observers scrambling to understand what comes next for the global superstar’s tour.

    The mass exit, which was not accompanied by an official public statement from either the departing performers or Sheeran’s team explaining the underlying motivations for the decision, has sparked widespread speculation across social media and entertainment outlets. Ticket holders who have already purchased access to the shows have taken to online platforms to share their concerns, with many asking whether the entire tour will be scrapped entirely, or if Sheeran will move forward with a last-minute reshuffle of his touring lineup to salvage the schedule.

    Industry insiders note that a full withdrawal of all support acts and backing personnel is an extremely rare occurrence in major arena touring, adding another layer of uncertainty to the situation. While Sheeran has not yet issued a public response to the departures as of this reporting, fans around the world are waiting anxiously for an update on whether the tour will proceed as planned, be rescheduled, or be canceled outright. The situation remains fluid, with no clear timeline for an official announcement from the singer’s camp.

  • EU chief opens door for Canada to become ‘associate member’

    EU chief opens door for Canada to become ‘associate member’

    In a landmark address to the European Parliament this week, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has thrown her full support behind a transformative proposal that would grant Canada status as the European Union’s first-ever associate member — a move designed to deepen cross-Atlantic collaboration across critical policy and economic sectors at a moment of growing global instability.

    The announcement comes one week after Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney publicly outlined his ambition to build what he called a “unique alliance” between Canada and the bloc, a push that follows a sharp breakdown in trade negotiations between Ottawa and Washington last month. Those collapsed talks triggered the imposition of new reciprocal tariffs between the two North American neighbors, worsening already tense relations between Carney’s government and the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump. Carney was present in Strasbourg for von der Leyen’s annual State of the Union address and is scheduled to deliver his own address to the European Parliament on Thursday.

    Von der Leyen was careful to frame the associate membership proposal as a collaborative, defensive initiative rather than an antagonistic move, stressing that closer EU-Canada ties are not aimed at opposing any third country. “This is not a partnership against anyone else, but for our common strength,” she told the assembled parliamentarians. She added that expanded strategic partnerships represent a core policy choice for the EU, one that directly addresses growing fractures in the long-standing global rules-based international order.

    Highlighting the deep alignment between Brussels and Ottawa, von der Leyen noted that the EU and Canada share common perspectives on nearly every major global challenge, from artificial intelligence governance and climate action to geopolitical competition. The two sides have already coordinated closely on a range of pressing priorities, including support for Ukraine’s sovereignty, defense cooperation, raw material supply chain resilience, and the defense of democratic governance. “But above all…Europe and Canada believe in democracy,” she emphasized. Key sectors targeted for expanded future cooperation include energy, critical mineral extraction, battery manufacturing, artificial innovation, cybersecurity, and broader economic security.

    The push for closer Canadian ties also coincides with growing friction between the EU and the Trump administration, which has imposed sweeping new trade tariffs on European member states in recent months, mirroring the aggressive trade policies it has deployed against Canada.

    In addition to the associate membership proposal, von der Leyen used her wide-ranging address to unveil plans for a new European Security Council, a coordinating body that would bring the United Kingdom, Ukraine, and other key partner nations including Canada and Norway into core European security planning. She argued that the rising threat of Russian aggression on the continent has made the creation of this new leadership-focused security framework an urgent priority. “For a long time, we have discussed a leaders’ format focused on the security of our continent, with partners like Canada, Norway, Ukraine, the United Kingdom and others involved,” she said. “This is even more urgent now, given the nature and scale of the risks at play. This is why we will set out our ideas to make a European Security Council a reality.”

  • Athletes can’t stretch their legs in container beds at Japan’s Asian Games, official says

    Athletes can’t stretch their legs in container beds at Japan’s Asian Games, official says

    As the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi Prefecture and Nagoya, Japan prepares for its official opening this Saturday, a heated controversy over athlete housing has dominated pre-Games discussions, with delegations from across the continent voicing sharp criticism of the makeshift wooden container accommodation built for 2,000 competitors.

    The root of the housing crisis stretches back to last-minute changes to the Games’ sporting program. Initially, organizers planned for 15,000 registered athletes and officials. But when the Olympic Council of Asia added two new sports — teqball, a hybrid of football and table tennis, and padel — in mid-August, the total number of attendees surged to more than 17,000, leaving organizers scrambling to source additional beds. With a fixed budget and limited workforce already allocated for the original headcount, Aichi Governor and organizing committee president Hideaki Omura initially stated that the region had “neither the manpower nor the budget” to accommodate the extra participants, even suggesting that unaccommodated attendees arrange their own lodging. After public pushback, organizers confirmed last month that all 17,000-plus registered participants would receive Games-approved accommodation, claiming final preparations were progressing smoothly for what they billed as “the most spectacular Asian Games held for generations.”

    Unlike traditional major multi-sport events that build a dedicated, centralized athletes’ village, Nagoya organizers opted for a distributed temporary housing model. The most controversial option is the fleet of wooden container huts, designed to be repurposed as disaster evacuation facilities after the Games. But the compact units have drawn near-universal criticism from visiting delegations.

    Jung Jae-yong, vice-president of the Korea Basketball Association, described the container accommodation as the “worst it has ever been” in an interview with AFP, highlighting a critical size flaw: “Athletes who are over two metres tall cannot even stretch their legs out on the beds. It’s unreasonable.” Jung added that dissatisfaction over the substandard housing is shared by representatives from many other participating nations, not just South Korea. A member of the South Korean basketball team amplified these complaints by posting a viral video showing a leaking pipe and completely soaked floor in his container unit, captioned simply “Please help me.”

    The housing issues were compounded by extreme weather last week, when record rainfall triggered widespread flooding across Nagoya. All athletes staying in the container huts were briefly evacuated, and water leakage was also reported in some competition venues. To help their athletes adapt to the unexpected living conditions, Indian sporting authorities even built full-size replicas of the container huts back home for training and acclimatization.

    Beyond the container units, organizers are housing an additional 4,000 to 5,000 participants on an Italian cruise ship that docked in Nagoya earlier this week, while the remaining attendees are placed in local hotels. Even with all athletes guaranteed beds, some delegations still report uneven arrangements. Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham Tolentino confirmed to AFP that while all of the country’s competitors have secured accommodation, some team officials and coaches have been placed in separate hotels and private Airbnb rentals.

    In response to the growing wave of criticism, accommodation manager Yuta Matsuo told Reuters that local organizers are “fully aware of the dissatisfaction and concerns voiced by the athlete delegations” and are “taking concrete steps to improve the environment for the athletes.”

    While preliminary matches for basketball and football have already kicked off, the official opening ceremony of the 2026 Asian Games will take place this Saturday, with competition running through to the closing ceremony on October 4.