Global Pulse

作者： admin

  • What to know about Prince Harry’s move back to Britain with Meghan and the kids

    What to know about Prince Harry’s move back to Britain with Meghan and the kids

    Six years after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex stepped down from their official royal roles and relocated to North America, a shocking new development has emerged: Prince Harry, his wife Meghan, and their two young children are preparing for an extended stay in the United Kingdom – a move that has fueled widespread speculation about a potential thaw in the long-running rift between Harry and his immediate family, including King Charles III and heir to the throne Prince William.

    The 41-year-old prince, who remains fifth in the line of British royal succession, has not publicly addressed details of the upcoming move when approached by the Associated Press during a public event Wednesday evening. But insiders close to the couple confirm that key preparations are already underway: Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5, have been enrolled at British schools and are set to begin classes this coming September. Multiple sources familiar with the Sussexes’ plans, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the topic, have confirmed the enrollment to the AP.

    Contrary to early rumors that the couple might be seeking a return to official royal duties, the Sussexes have no plans to resume working roles within the monarchy. The family will reside in a private, non-royal residence outside of London, while retaining their existing luxury home in the exclusive Montecito enclave of Southern California and their vacation property in Portugal’s Costa Terra resort. The couple will continue their independent commercial ventures: Meghan will oversee her lifestyle brand As Ever – which produces premium jams, teas, and wines – from the UK, while Harry will expand his work with UK-based charitable organizations.

    Since relocating to the US in 2018, Harry has only made sporadic, short trips back to the UK, many of which were tied to his ongoing legal battles with British tabloid publications. A notable shift came just last month, when Harry, Meghan, and their children made a private visit to meet King Charles and Queen Camilla at the monarch’s Highgrove House country estate. That meeting marked the first time Archie and Lilibet had seen their grandfather since the late Queen Elizabeth II’s platinum jubilee celebrations in 2022.

    According to British media reports, King Charles was only officially notified of the couple’s extended stay plans this past Sunday – a detail that has surprised veteran royal commentators. “If I was the king, I’d actually be thinking, ‘Hang on, you came to tea with me, and we sat down and we chatted, and you didn’t even mention this?’” former BBC royal correspondent Jennie Bond told Sky News. “I find it entirely odd.” Buckingham Palace has maintained its longstanding policy of declining to comment on private matters involving non-working members of the royal family, and has issued no official statement on the news.

    The extended stay comes after Harry has publicly pushed for reconciliation with his family, particularly as King Charles undergoes ongoing treatment for an undisclosed form of cancer. “I would love reconciliation with my family. There’s no point in continuing to fight anymore,” Harry told the BBC in a 2023 interview, adding “I don’t know how much longer my father has.” While relations between Harry and Charles have warmed noticeably in recent months, mending ties with Prince William is expected to be far more complicated.

    The rift between the Sussexes and the royal family widened dramatically after the couple’s 2021 tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey, in which they alleged that a senior royal had made racist comments about Meghan – who identifies as biracial – during her first pregnancy, and that senior palace officials had failed to address Meghan’s struggles with mental health. The divide deepened further with the 2022 release of Harry’s unflinching memoir *Spare*, in which he claimed William had physically attacked him during an argument over Meghan, and labeled Queen Camilla a “dangerous” figure who cultivated ties with tabloids to improve her public image at the expense of other family members.

    Veteran royal journalist Peter Hunt, another former BBC correspondent, argues that the unexpected announcement of an extended stay will put enormous pressure on William to engage with his brother. “In the short term, Harry will be able to deepen his rapprochement with his father,” Hunt told the Press Association. “And his presence back home will make it harder for his brother to duck a reconciliation.”

    The return also raises major questions about Harry’s long-held stance on security. For years, Harry has argued that the removal of his automatic publicly funded police protection detail when he stepped down as a working royal was the “heart” of his dispute with the palace. Citing the 1997 death of his mother, Princess Diana, in a car crash while being pursued by paparazzi, Harry has long insisted that he and his family face ongoing threats from the media, and previously stated he could not imagine bringing his wife and children back to the UK without formal security guarantees. It remains unclear whether the UK government’s VIP protection committee has revised its risk assessment for Harry, or if he will rely solely on his privately funded security team during his extended stay.

    Harry’s high-profile legal battles with British tabloids over phone hacking and privacy invasion have concluded for the most part, with mixed results. He secured a favorable ruling against the publisher of the *Daily Mirror*, and reached a settlement with News Group Newspapers, publisher of *The Sun*, that included an unprecedented public apology. But last month, Harry and a group of co-plaintiffs that included musician Elton John lost a high-profile privacy case against the publisher of the *Daily Mail*. A judge is set to rule this Friday on how much the plaintiffs will be required to pay to cover the *Daily Mail*’s 34.5 million pound ($47 million) in legal costs, leaving Harry facing a potentially massive financial bill on top of his own team’s legal fees.

    While former correspondent Bond has suggested the move is driven primarily by Harry’s desire to be closer to his father during his cancer treatment, noting that “Perhaps Meghan is taking one for the team here, because I’m not sure this is her life’s desire to live back in the U.K.”, the full implications of the Sussexes’ extended UK stay for the future of the monarchy remain to be seen.

  • Brazil great Ronaldinho arrives in Italy for beach ceremony after signing for third-tier Ravenna

    Brazil great Ronaldinho arrives in Italy for beach ceremony after signing for third-tier Ravenna

    MILAN, Italy — One of the most decorated and globally recognizable soccer stars in history, Brazil’s Ronaldinho, has touched down in Italy, kicking off a highly anticipated return to the country more than 12 years after he retired from top-tier professional play. The small northern Italian city of Ravenna, best known for its sun-soaked Adriatic coastline rather than its competitive soccer program, is gearing up to welcome the 46-year-old icon on what local organizers have officially named “Ronaldinho Day” this Thursday.

    Ronaldinho’s surprise move to Serie C, Italy’s third-tier league, first sent shockwaves through the global soccer community when the deal was announced back in June, more than a decade after he hung up his boots following a 20-year legendary career. The Brazilian great arrived via private jet at Forlì Airport, located roughly 19 miles outside Ravenna, around midday local time on the eve of his official welcome. After landing, he stopped to sign autographs on a pair of soccer balls for airport staff before heading directly to his vehicle on the runway, bypassing a small crowd of fans waiting in the terminal arrivals area.

    Joining Ronaldinho on his arrival was Ignazio Cipriani, president of Ravenna Calcio and heir to the globally renowned Cipriani restaurant hospitality brand. The public is set to get its first look at the soccer legend at a star-studded ceremony held on Ravenna’s iconic waterfront on Thursday evening. The event will double as the official seasonal presentation of the entire Ravenna squad, with event planners confirming that Ronaldinho will be the final player introduced to the crowd, building up to a highly anticipated moment of fanfare.

    A formal press conference with the Brazilian star is scheduled to take place ahead of the public beach ceremony. While excitement is running high, the club has confirmed that Ronaldinho will not feature in Ravenna’s opening Serie C match of the 2024-25 season, an away fixture against Reggiana scheduled for Monday. To date, details remain unconfirmed regarding how much match time the 2002 World Cup winner will see during the campaign. Still, Cipriani has shared that his personal dream for the historic deal is to see Ronaldinho score the final goal of his legendary professional career with Ravenna.

    Ronaldinho’s last appearance in top professional competition came in 2015, when he played for Brazilian top-flight side Fluminense. This new spell with Ravenna marks Ronaldinho’s second run of play in Italy, having previously suited up for Serie A giant AC Milan from 2008 to 2011. Over his career, Ronaldinho has claimed the sport’s highest honors, including a FIFA World Cup title with Brazil in 2002 and the Ballon d’Or award for the world’s best men’s player in 2005.

  • North Korea launches missiles, Seoul says, after Trump floats Kim meet

    North Korea launches missiles, Seoul says, after Trump floats Kim meet

    On Thursday, North Korea launched multiple short-range ballistic missiles, South Korea’s military confirmed, just hours after former U.S. President Donald Trump revealed he planned to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un later in 2025. The missile tests came as Washington and Seoul held a truncated version of their annual joint military drills, Ulchi Freedom Shield, after Trump ordered the exercises to be scaled down.

    Pyongyang has a long history of denouncing U.S.-South Korea joint military drills as invasion rehearsals, and regularly test-fires missiles in tandem with these exercises. Trump, who is seeking to rebuild the personal rapport he claims to have built with Kim during his first presidential term, told reporters at the White House on Wednesday that a meeting with the North Korean leader was scheduled for later this year. He added that building a positive working relationship with Kim was a critical priority, and noted that Pyongyang currently possesses an estimated 57 highly capable nuclear weapons – a figure that conflicts with Seoul’s estimate of between 80 and 120 nuclear devices.

    South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff reported that more than 10 short-range ballistic missiles were launched from the Pyongyang region at approximately 5:00 p.m. local time, headed toward the East Sea. Each missile traveled roughly 300 kilometers, the JCS added, noting that South Korean and U.S. national security agencies are currently conducting a deep analysis of the missiles’ technical specifications.

    Following the launches, South Korea’s presidential office convened an emergency national security meeting, where officials condemned the tests as a clear violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions and ordered a dramatic increase in military readiness across the country.

    Trump’s unexpected renewed focus on Kim and his decision to cut the joint drills short have already sparked alarm among U.S. allies in Asia, with political analysts speculating that the move is an attempt to secure a high-profile foreign policy victory amid stalled negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program.

    Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of North Korea’s leader, released a statement Wednesday saying that Kim Jong Un retains positive memories and personal feelings toward Trump, and that the relationship between the two leaders remains strong. However, she also clarified that there is no awareness of any ongoing diplomatic communication between the two sides at this time.

    Her comments came just hours after Seoul confirmed that Ulchi Freedom Shield would wrap up on Friday, roughly one week ahead of its originally scheduled conclusion, following a formal suggestion from the U.S. to cut the exercises short. Pentagon officials have pushed back against concerns, saying the reduced scale of the drills does not undermine U.S. military training goals. The drills are formally structured to prepare allied forces for a potential large-scale attack from North Korea.

    The U.S. currently stations roughly 28,500 military personnel in South Korea to reinforce the country’s defensive capabilities, a lingering security arrangement from the 1950-1953 Korean War, which ended in an armistice rather than a formal peace treaty that would formally end hostilities.

    South Korean Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back has confirmed that Seoul remains firmly opposed to officially recognizing Pyongyang as a legitimate nuclear-armed state. When asked if Washington had abandoned its long-stated goal of North Korean denuclearization, Ahn said he does not believe that is the case. South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, who has long pushed for stronger indigenous South Korean defense capabilities to reduce reliance on the U.S. security umbrella, said Wednesday that his administration will do everything in its power to support Trump’s diplomatic outreach to Pyongyang.

  • Congo to receive 70,000 doses of Ervebo Ebola vaccine which has been effective in past outbreaks

    Congo to receive 70,000 doses of Ervebo Ebola vaccine which has been effective in past outbreaks

    BUNIA, Democratic Republic of Congo – The World Health Organization, alongside global health partners, announced Thursday that the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) will soon receive 70,000 doses of the Ervebo vaccine, a move widely regarded as a critical reinforcement for local efforts to curb what health officials have called the fastest-moving Ebola outbreak on record.

    Ervebo, a vaccine that has proven effective at stopping Ebola outbreaks in previous public health emergencies, is formally approved to provide protection against the Zaire ebolavirus – one of the viral species that causes Ebola disease. It has not been authorized for use against the Bundibugyo virus, the specific pathogen driving the current outbreak in eastern DRC.

    In an official statement, WHO noted that while the full extent of Ervebo’s ability to protect against Bundibugyo remains unconfirmed, early findings from laboratory and animal studies indicate the vaccine could offer at least partial immunity against this strain. Of the 70,000 doses being allocated to Congo, 20,000 will be deployed for a Phase 3 clinical trial designed to formally measure how effective Ervebo is against the Bundibugyo virus. The remaining 50,000 doses will be prioritized for frontline medical workers and response teams, under guidance from WHO technical experts.

    As of the latest update, the ongoing outbreak in eastern Congo has recorded 5,208 confirmed cases, with 2,476 recorded deaths. The outbreak is spreading at an unprecedented pace: it has infected and killed more people more rapidly than any previous Ebola outbreak in history, moving roughly three times faster than the 2014-2016 West African Ebola epidemic, which remains the deadliest on record with more than 11,000 fatalities across the region.

    Responders have faced major structural challenges since the outbreak began. No vaccines or therapeutic treatments have ever been formally approved for the rare Bundibugyo virus, leaving response teams with few evidence-based tools to slow transmission. Further complicating containment efforts, the majority of new confirmed cases are being detected in communities that were not under active public health surveillance, a sign that the virus has spread widely and left contact tracing teams scrambling to contain undetected chains of transmission.

  • Germany identifies far-right suspect in deadly 1970 antisemitic attack

    Germany identifies far-right suspect in deadly 1970 antisemitic attack

    Fifty-four years after one of the deadliest antisemitic attacks in post-World War II German history, German law enforcement officials have announced a major breakthrough: they have formally identified a far-right extremist with deep Nazi sympathies as the likely perpetrator of a 1970 arson attack on a Munich Jewish community retirement home that killed seven Holocaust survivors.

    The targeted building, which operated both as a residential retirement home for Holocaust survivors and a guest house for Jewish visitors to Munich, was set ablaze on February 13, 1970. The attack left seven residents dead and 15 others injured, four critically, and stood as an unsolved stain on Germany’s efforts to confront its Nazi-era legacy for more than half a century.

    For decades, the case confounded investigators, who circulated a wide range of theories about the perpetrator’s identity, with speculation falling on everything from Middle Eastern terrorist groups to far-left militant factions. The original investigation was officially shelved in 2017, with no conclusive leads to move the case forward. That changed last April, however, when a new tip from a female witness breathed new life into the cold case. The witness came forward shortly after the death of a relative who had been close to the suspect, sharing new details that prompted investigators to reopen the probe.

    Following months of renewed investigative work, Munich police and state prosecutors announced Thursday that the overwhelming evidence points to a 25-year-old German man with an admitted obsession with Adolf Hitler, who died in 2020. “The new investigations conducted after the reopening of the case strongly indicate that the suspect was the perpetrator,” the two agencies said in a joint official statement.

    Unfortunately, German legal bars any posthumous criminal prosecution, meaning a formal, conclusive legal ruling on the case will never be possible. Investigators also noted that while they have not found concrete evidence that the suspect acted as part of a larger organized group, they cannot definitively rule out that other co-conspirators assisted him in planning or carrying out the attack.

    Investigators confirmed the suspect was embedded in Germany’s far-right extremist milieu at the time of the attack, and multiple witnesses have attested to his open antisemitism. While law enforcement has not released the suspect’s full name, German news magazine Der Spiegel has publicly identified him as Bernd V. According to case records, the suspect openly remarked to associates that “the Jews had everything” just 15 minutes before the fire broke out, and was confirmed to be in the immediate vicinity of the Jewish centre on the day of the attack. Investigators believe he doused the building’s wooden staircase in gasoline before igniting the blaze, which spread rapidly through the structure.

    Further investigation into the suspect’s background reinforced investigators’ suspicion: he was documented listening to Hitler’s speeches regularly as a young man, and was sentenced to juvenile detention in the 1960s for bombing two Munich telephone booths. Former associates described consistent patterns of antisemitic hostility, and his former headmaster recalled he carried a dagger originally issued to the Nazi Youth organization and used it in a street fight, marking him as cold and calculating from a young age.

    The breakthrough in this decades-old cold case comes as German authorities continue to rank far-right extremism as the most significant domestic security threat facing the country, surpassing the threat posed by Islamist extremism. Despite decades of official efforts to atone for the atrocities of the Nazi regime, far-right and antisemitic violence remains a persistent crisis in modern Germany. The latest data from Germany’s Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), the country’s domestic intelligence agency, shows that the number of people classified as active right-wing extremists rose 17% year-over-year to 58,700 in 2025. The number of far-right extremists deemed likely to engage in violent action also increased, hitting 15,600 in the latest annual report.

  • Boy, 13, arrested following alleged attempted sexual assault in Kooyong after dogs filmed chasing him away

    Boy, 13, arrested following alleged attempted sexual assault in Kooyong after dogs filmed chasing him away

    A quick-thinking pair of pet dogs have been credited with saving their owners from a terrifying alleged attack, after they chased off a 13-year-old boy accused of attempting a sexual assault in a suburban Melbourne park. The incident, which unfolded on the morning of July 14 along the Gardiners Creek trail in Kooyong, has triggered a five-week long investigation that concluded with the teen’s arrest earlier this week.

    Victoria Police confirmed in an official statement that local detectives arrested the 13-year-old suspect at a residential property in the Boroondara area just after 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday. Following his arrest, the boy was transported to a nearby police station for questioning by members of the Bayside sexual offences and child abuse investigation team. He has since been released from custody, with no formal charges laid as of yet, as investigators continue to probe the case and explore potential links between the suspect and any other similar unsolved incidents in the region.

    According to initial police accounts, the two victims were out on a routine morning walk with their dogs when the 13-year-old approached them and launched the alleged attack. Before the situation could escalate further, the dogs reacted immediately, rushing the suspect and forcing him to flee the scene. The women, visibly shaken but unharmed, were able to contact emergency services shortly after the encounter.

    Acting Detective Senior Sergeant Andrew Wise, who leads the local sexual offences investigation unit, publicly thanked members of the community for their cooperation throughout the probe. He noted that investigators received dozens of tips from the public, including multiple submissions through the national Crime Stoppers hotline, that provided critical leads to narrow down the suspect pool. “Over the past five weeks, detectives have pursued multiple lines of inquiry, all built on the information shared by local residents,” Wise said in the statement. “That community support has been invaluable to moving this case forward.”

    Police have not released further details about the suspect or the ongoing investigation to protect the integrity of the probe and the privacy of the victims, and have asked anyone with additional information about the July 14 incident to contact investigators or Crime Stoppers anonymously.

  • Iran dismisses US economic threats, and other developments in the Middle East

    Iran dismisses US economic threats, and other developments in the Middle East

    On a single Thursday, multiple interconnected developments unfolded across the Middle East, touching on long-running conflicts, diplomatic standoffs, and fresh rounds of international condemnation. From Tehran’s rejection of U.S. pressure to a somber mass gathering in Gaza for long-unrecovered victims, the day’s events underscored the region’s persistent volatility. The full breakdown of these updates is as follows.

    First, Iran pushed back sharply against escalating economic threats from former U.S. President Donald Trump. Hours after Trump pledged what he called unprecedented, crushing economic measures and widespread isolation for the Islamic Republic, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi dismissed the threats as a failed tactic that would only deepen public hostility toward the U.S. and lead to further American setbacks. In a public social media statement, Araghchi argued the threats were designed to distract U.S. voters from growing domestic economic problems inside the United States. He added that what he labeled U.S. “economic terrorism” poses a broader threat to the global economy and the national sovereignty of nations across every region.

    Across the Israeli-occupied West Bank, a long-planned Israeli settlement expansion project drew sharp condemnation from multiple world capitals. Israel’s Construction and Housing Ministry had recently issued a tender for more than 1,200 new residential units on open land east of Jerusalem, advancing a proposal that has sat under consideration for more than 20 years. Critics warn the project would effectively split the occupied West Bank into two disconnected segments, eliminating any possibility of forming a geographically contiguous Palestinian state, a core goal of long-stalled two-state peace negotiations.

    British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband called the tender’s publication “an unacceptable and destructive act,” and also denounced ongoing settler violence against Palestinian communities in the occupied territories. The British government summoned the Israeli chargé d’affaires to formally demand an immediate reversal of the tender. Egypt and Jordan joined the condemnation, with Cairo noting the project would cut off East Jerusalem from surrounding Palestinian communities. In response, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar defended the plan, asserting the Jewish people hold a historic right to build a national home across all of what Israel considers the Land of Israel, including the disputed area east of Jerusalem. Saar also criticized the British government for singling out Israel for blame while ignoring what he called Palestinian extremism.

    In Gaza City, thousands gathered for a somber mass funeral for 50 Palestinians who were killed in Israeli airstrikes during the opening months of the Israel-Hamas war, but whose remains were only recovered from collapsed rubble in recent weeks. Mourners carried the flag-draped remains through streets still strewn with debris from three years of conflict, many holding portraits of the deceased to honor their memory. Lina Karam, who lost her father and multiple other family members in the 2023 strikes, spoke to reporters about the long wait to lay her loved ones to rest. “We were able to recover them after three years of war, after three years of anguish, pain and torture,” Karam said. “We were able to recover them, and dignify them in their final resting place.” All 50 victims belonged to three extended families killed in airstrikes carried out in November and December 2023. Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry reports that the nearly three-year conflict has killed more than 73,400 Palestinians, a count that U.N. agencies and international observers consider broadly reliable. While the toll does not distinguish between civilian and combatant deaths, the ministry notes that women and children make up roughly half of all those killed.

    In northern Syria, a recent Israeli airstrike on the Abu Duhur air base sparked diplomatic pushback from Turkey. The strike, carried out early Tuesday, caused significant infrastructure damage but no reported casualties. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office justified the attack by claiming Syria was close to violating long-standing security arrangements by allowing Turkish troops to deploy to the base. While Syrian officials claimed a Turkish military delegation had visited the base to inspect ongoing rehabilitation work before the strike, Turkey issued a formal denial of the claim, and pledged to continue supporting Syrian efforts to rebuild its national military.

    Meanwhile, Syria’s top diplomat, Foreign Minister Assad al-Shibani, traveled to Islamabad, Pakistan for talks focused on de-escalating regional tensions across the Middle East. His visit comes just days after the Israeli airstrike on the northern Syrian air base. Pakistan has taken a leading diplomatic role in efforts to calm tensions between the United States and Iran, following the expiration of a 60-day ceasefire and talks window that was agreed to in a June memorandum of understanding brokered by Pakistan with backing from other regional states. Pakistani political and military leaders remain in regular contact with both Tehran and Washington to push for a resumption of diplomatic negotiations. In a separate development related to regional tensions, Pakistan has repatriated the bodies of two Pakistani sailors killed in a recent Houthi attack on a Tanzanian-flagged commercial cargo ship transiting the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. Six other Pakistani sailors injured in the attack have also returned safely to Pakistan, Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar confirmed in a post on social media platform X.

  • Belgian car salesman becomes prince after royal parentage confirmed

    Belgian car salesman becomes prince after royal parentage confirmed

    A new chapter of unpublicized change has emerged in Belgium’s royal household, more than half a year after Prince Laurent quietly completed legal proceedings to recognize 26-year-old Clément Vandenkerckhove as his biological son and official heir. Details of the quiet town hall ceremony held six months ago have only recently come to light, shedding new light on the decades-long secret relationship between the royal and Belgian singer Wendy Van Wanten, whose real name is Iris Vandenkerckhove.

    Clément’s journey to becoming an officially recognized prince is a years-long story of gradual connection. Born out of Prince Laurent’s relationship before his 2003 marriage to Princess Claire, Clément grew up unaware of his father’s true identity. It was not until he turned 16 that his mother revealed the royal lineage running through his blood. A chance unexpected encounter with Prince Laurent in a Belgian shopping center in 2013 passed without Clément recognizing who the man in front of him was. Four years after learning his father’s identity, Clément gathered the courage to reach out by phone, and a series of conversations eventually led to an in-person meeting. To confirm their biological connection, the pair agreed to take a DNA test at a local hospital. Clément later recalled that Prince Laurent volunteered to give his sample first to put him at ease. When the results came back, they confirmed a 99.5% match, cementing their paternal bond.

    Now formally recognized as a prince of Belgium, Clément’s new status comes with significant limitations. Unlike Prince Laurent’s three children with Princess Claire – Princess Louise, Prince Aymeric and Prince Nicolas – Clément holds no place in Belgium’s official line of royal succession. He also will not participate in any official public engagements on behalf of the monarchy, and per Belgian royal financial rules, he will not receive any annual public royal allowance, a provision that aligns with 2013 changes to Belgian law that restrict public royal funding to only a small circle of core royal family members: currently King Philippe, former King Albert II, Prince Laurent himself, and Princess Astrid.

    The 26-year-old former car salesman, who rose to public attention after a Flemish VTM documentary chronicled his story last September, has made clear he holds complicated feelings about adopting his father’s family name, Saxe-Coburg. In an interview with local newspaper Het Nieuwsblad, Clément explained that while he has not ruled out taking the royal name in the future, he remains deeply proud of his existing surname Vandenkerckhove, which he shares with his mother. Giving up that name, he said, would feel like a betrayal of everything his mother has done for him over the course of his life.

    This recognition echoes a high-profile paternity case that rocked the Belgian monarchy just a few years ago, involving Prince Laurent’s own father, former King Albert II. After a years-long public legal battle, King Albert II formally acknowledged in 2020 that he had fathered an out-of-wedsted daughter, artist Delphine Boël, during an extra-marital affair. Boël eventually won her court fight for official recognition, gained the title of princess, and now uses the royal surname Saxe-Coburg. The ongoing paternity scandal was one of the key factors that led Albert II to abdicate the Belgian throne in favor of his son Philippe in 2013, marking a major turning point in modern Belgian royal history.

  • Brotherly touch and English flavor could see Inter dominate Serie A, Como looks to surprise again

    Brotherly touch and English flavor could see Inter dominate Serie A, Como looks to surprise again

    As Italy’s top football division prepares to kick off its new campaign this weekend, all eyes are on defending champion Inter Milan, where rookie head coach Cristian Chivu’s unconventional, brotherly leadership style has emerged as an unlikely catalyst for continued dominance.

    When Chivu was tapped last year to replace seasoned incumbent Simone Inzaghi at the San Siro, the appointment sparked widespread skepticism across the football world. The Nerazzurri were still reeling from a historic 5-0 Champions League final thrashing at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain, and critics questioned how a coach with only 13 prior Serie A matches under his belt could steady a fallen giant. As Inter midfielder Hakan Çalhanoğlu recalled in a recent interview with beIN Sports Australia: “Everyone was thinking that Inter was, let’s say dying, after what happened.”

    What followed defied all expectations. Chivu’s fresh tactical vision and people-first approach reinvigorated a demoralized squad, steering Inter to a historic domestic double of Serie A and Coppa Italia in his first full season in charge. Unlike more autocratic managers who separate leadership from personal connection, the 45-year-old Romanian has built his program on close, trusting bonds with his players. “With Chivu it is something different, he cares more about the person, not about the football,” Çalhanoğlu explained. “For him it’s more important how you are, how you feel, and he’s open to everything. He gives you the confidence to feel good. Of course, he has tactical things … but outside of the football he’s like a brother or a friend, you can talk to him about whatever you want, he’s always close to you. That helped me a lot.”

    Inter has further strengthened its title credentials this offseason with a notable injection of English talent. The club has already secured the signings of England defenders Djed Spence and John Stones, and is closing in on a deal for Liverpool and Three Lions midfielder Curtis Jones to add further depth to its starting lineup. Inter will open its title defense at home against newly promoted Monza this Saturday, kicking off what is shaping up to be one of the most unpredictable Serie A campaigns in recent memory.

    While Inter enters the season as the favorite, multiple challengers are poised to push for the Scudetto, with off-season coaching changes reshaping the competitive landscape. Last season’s runner-up Napoli, who were held back by a crippling injury crisis that prevented them from mounting a closer title fight, is now led by Massimiliano Allegri, the veteran former Juventus and AC Milan manager. The appointment comes after Antonio Conte stepped down at the end of the last campaign, marking Napoli’s sixth head coaching change in just over three years. Allegri himself is returning to management after being fired by AC Milan last season following what the club called an “unequivocal failure” of a campaign.

    AC Milan, which finished fifth last season after a late-season slump, has turned to Rúben Amorim, the highly rated young Portuguese coach whose stock dipped during a disappointing spell at Manchester United. The Rossoneri have already made a major statement in the transfer market, smashing their club record to sign Portugal forward Gonçalo Ramos from Paris Saint-Germain for more than €70 million ($80 million) to add much-needed attacking firepower.

    Coaching turnover has hit other top half sides too: Lazio and Atalanta both appointed new managers this off-season, with long-time Lazio boss Maurizio Sarri switching to Atalanta in its first full campaign after legendary manager Gian Piero Gasperini’s departure. Former Italy head coach Gennaro Gattuso has stepped into Sarri’s old role at Lazio.

    Against this wave of change, two top contenders have leaned into stability to mount their title pushes. Roma, which secured Champions League qualification for the first time since 2018 in Gasperini’s debut season at the club, is retaining the veteran manager despite a high-profile public falling out with former special adviser and ex-coach Claudio Ranieri that ended in Ranieri’s exit from the club. Gasperini has added exciting young talents Santiago Castro and Rodrigo Mora to his squad, putting Roma in position to challenge for its first Serie A title in more than 25 years. At Juventus, Luciano Spalletti will lead the side in his first full campaign after taking over in October last season. Though the Bianconeri narrowly missed out on Champions League qualification and finished sixth, Spalletti earned a new two-year contract for the club’s strong late-season form.

    The most surprising contender to watch this season is Como, the Cinderella side that shocked Italian football last term by pipping Juventus and AC Milan to fourth place and the final Champions League spot. It is a staggering rise for the 119-year-old club: just seven years ago, it was competing in Italy’s fourth division, and it had never qualified for any continental competition in its history until last season. This remarkable turnaround has come under the leadership of Cesc Fàbregas, the former Arsenal, Barcelona and Spain midfield legend who has taken the club to new heights in just two years in charge.

    Last season’s success was no fluke: Como boasted the tightest defense in the league while playing an expansive, attacking style of football that won plaudits across the country. This off-season, Fàbregas has strengthened his backline with the €30 million signing of Chelsea defender Trevoh Chalobah, and pulled off a major coup by retaining star playmaker Nico Paz for at least one more season. After last year’s historic overachievement, few are willing to count out an unlikely Como title push. The big unanswered question remains, however: how will the club’s young, inexperienced squad, almost all of whom have never competed in Champions League football, handle the increased physical and mental demands of balancing European and domestic competition?

  • Vietnam police charge man with rape after American woman alleges attack

    Vietnam police charge man with rape after American woman alleges attack

    A 24-year-old Vietnamese-American woman who was raised in the United States has helped secure formal rape charges against a 23-year-old Vietnamese man following a sexual assault that occurred during a group resort trip in northern Vietnam, a case that has thrown a rare public spotlight on the stigma and barriers facing survivors of sexual violence in the country.

    Nguyen Thi Quynh Tam, a Houston native who moved back to Vietnam in May to complete a banking internship and reconnect with her cultural heritage, joined a group of acquaintances for an Independence Day weekend trip to a resort in Phu Tho province, located roughly 80 kilometers northwest of Hanoi. When Tam was locked out of the room she had planned to stay in after the group’s late-night gathering, she found an empty bedroom to rest in and fell asleep with the door unlocked. In the early hours of July 5, she woke to find the 23-year-old man assaulting her, she told the Associated Press in a series of on-the-record interviews.

    Despite Tam repeatedly pushing him away, shouting verbal refusals, and fighting back, the man pinned her arms above her head and completed the assault, according to her formal police complaint, documented text messages shared with AP, and recorded communications. Hours after the attack, Tam messaged her boyfriend, who was based in the United States, to confirm she had been raped; AP has verified the content of those messages.

    In the days following the assault, Tam faced mounting pressure to abandon any formal legal action. Members of the travel group told her the accused man came from a wealthy, politically well-connected family, leaving her uncertain how to proceed. On July 9, the suspect apologized twice: once in a written note and once in a phone call, a recording of which AP has reviewed. Six days later, at a meeting arranged by mutual acquaintances, the suspect’s father directly asked Tam what sum of money she would accept to avoid involving law enforcement, she said. He followed up with another offer of financial compensation five days later.

    When contacted by AP via email, the suspect’s father acknowledged the pair had been “intimate” but declined to provide further comment, denying that his family ever pressured Tam to drop the case. The suspect himself has not responded to multiple requests for comment from AP sent via social media platforms.

    When Tam ultimately filed an official complaint with local police on July 21, she faced additional pressure to resolve the case privately, she alleges. During the initial investigation, officers forced her to reenact the assault on the exact site where it occurred, a process that left her severely emotionally distraught. “A part of me is gone. And it’s in that room,” Tam told AP. The following day, police pressured her to meet with the suspect and sign a document stating she had voluntarily declined both a forensic rape kit and legal representation, a request she refused. Even while Tam was receiving inpatient mental health care at a Hanoi hospital, law enforcement continued to push her to settle the case out of court, she said.

    Tam also reported receiving limited initial support from the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi. She said officials only advised her to either file a report with Vietnamese authorities or return to the United States, and discouraged her by referencing a previous sexual assault case that took more than a year to resolve before ultimately being dismissed. After Tam’s father reached out to their home senator, Texas Republican Ted Cruz, embassy officials called Tam to apologize. In an official statement to Cruz’s office, the embassy claimed it had already supported Tam and facilitated her contact with Vietnamese authorities, but Tam’s father called that claim “inaccurate” in a July 29 email exchange reviewed by AP.

    The U.S. State Department has confirmed it is aware of Tam’s case, but declined to comment further, citing privacy constraints and ongoing domestic legal proceedings. The department added that the safety and security of American citizens overseas remains its top priority.

    It is extremely rare for survivors of sexual violence to speak publicly about their experiences in Vietnam, where cultural stigma around sexual assault keeps most cases out of public discourse and often unreported to police. The Associated Press follows a standard policy of not publicly identifying survivors of sexual assault, but Tam made the intentional decision to share her full name and story openly, in the hopes of protecting other women from similar harm. “I’m doing this not just for me. But for everybody else that has been harmed,” she said.

    Following weeks of advocacy and external pressure, Vietnamese authorities confirmed Thursday that they had formally filed rape charges against the 23-year-old suspect. Vietnamese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Pham Thu Hang confirmed that legal proceedings have been launched “in accordance with Vietnamese law,” but declined to answer questions about the alleged pressure from police to settle the case privately.