Global Pulse

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  • Tracking USS Lincoln’s months-long mission as concerns about conditions grow

    Tracking USS Lincoln’s months-long mission as concerns about conditions grow

    In an unprecedented fact-checking and monitoring effort, BBC Verify has leveraged cutting-edge commercial satellite imagery to follow the movements of the USS Lincoln, a United States Navy aircraft carrier currently embarked on one of the longest extended maritime deployments in recent U.S. military history.

    The multi-month mission has sparked growing public and policy-focused concern over a range of critical issues, from the operational wear and tear on the warship itself to the physical and mental well-being of the thousands of service members deployed aboard. Unlike routine deployments that typically last between six and seven months, the USS Lincoln’s current assignment has stretched well beyond standard timelines, leaving observers questioning the strategic rationale and the toll of the extended tour.

    BBC Verify’s satellite tracking initiative offers unprecedented public visibility into the carrier’s movements across global waters, filling information gaps left by limited official U.S. Defense Department updates. As the deployment continues, questions surrounding the sustainability of the mission and the working conditions for crew members have intensified, prompting calls for greater transparency from military leadership about the carrier’s operational objectives and timeline for return to home port.

  • Trump labels Strait of Hormuz ‘US territory’ as Iran says Israel is biggest obstacle to negotiations

    Trump labels Strait of Hormuz ‘US territory’ as Iran says Israel is biggest obstacle to negotiations

    A rapidly escalating standoff over the strategically critical Strait of Hormuz has sent shockwaves through global markets and international diplomacy, after former U.S. President Donald Trump reignited tensions with a provocative claim declaring the key waterway as new American territory.

    Trump first floated the idea of claiming the strait last week, tying the move to an expected Iranian surrender that never materialized. On Tuesday, he doubled down on the threat, sharing a map of the waterway on his social platform Truth Social with the simple caption: “New US Territory”.

    Far from backing down to Washington’s pressure, Iran has responded with firm defiance, linking any reopening of the closed strait to the United States fulfilling its obligations under a previously agreed interim memorandum of understanding. Tehran’s demands include an end to U.S. naval blockade measures, the full lifting of crippling economic sanctions, and the release of billions of dollars in frozen Iranian assets held overseas.

    Iranian Parliament Speaker and chief nuclear negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf cemented Tehran’s position in remarks Tuesday, leaving no room for compromise. “Let me state clearly: Until all the commitments made by the United States in the memorandum of understanding — including the lifting of the blockade, the release of frozen assets, the lifting of oil sanctions, the end of threats and military operations on all fronts, and other conditions to which America agreed — are fully implemented, the strait will not be opened,” Ghalibaf said.

    The ongoing closure has already gutted commercial traffic through the waterway, which handles roughly 20% of global oil and 30% of global liquefied natural gas trade. Preliminary shipping data from analytics firm Kpler shows that only six commodity vessels transited the strait on Monday, split evenly between inbound and outbound journeys. This marks a steep drop from the 10-day average of around 11 vessels, with even steeper declines recorded over the weekend: just three vessels crossed on Saturday, and only two on Sunday. No supertankers or LNG carriers appeared in public tracking data, though Kpler noted that vessels operating with their transponders turned off would not be counted in these figures.

    Tensions spiked further Tuesday when the UK Maritime Trade Operations agency confirmed that a commercial vessel departing the strait had been struck by an unknown projectile. “The Company Security Officer has reported that the vessel was struck by an unknown projectile while conducting an outbound transit of the Strait of Hormuz,” the agency said in a statement. “The impact caused damage to the engine room and resulted in a crew casualty,” it added, noting that Omani coastguard vessels were already on site providing assistance to the uninjured remaining crew.

    In response to the attack, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi blamed Israel for orchestrating the incident to derail ongoing negotiations and prolong the regional conflict. “The Zionist regime was and remains the biggest opponent and obstacle to the implementation of the memorandum of understanding. They made every effort to prevent such an agreement from being reached, every effort to make this agreement fail, and every effort to prevent it from being implemented,” Araghchi told Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency.

    Araghchi also pushed back against Trump’s earlier demand for Iran’s unconditional surrender, arguing that Tehran had turned the tide of the conflict to force Washington to negotiate on Iranian terms. “It was us who said we would not accept a ceasefire and continued the war until we reached a point where they accepted a ceasefire and negotiations on Iran’s terms,” he said, adding that those who initially demanded unconditional surrender were now begging for talks just weeks after the conflict began.

    Qatar, which has led regional mediation efforts, announced that diplomatic negotiators would resume work to end the wider conflict and restart stalled talks after Iran and Oman reached a separate bilateral agreement governing maritime transit through the strait.

    Domestically, U.S. Democrats have criticized Trump’s handling of the standoff, arguing that his hardline tactics have failed to produce any progress on curbing Iran’s nuclear program. Democratic Senator Chris Murphy said Tuesday that it was now clear Tehran had outmaneuvered the Trump administration. “It’s crystal clear that there is no current path to get Iran to give up its nuclear program,” Murphy wrote on social platform X. “They are toying with Trump and his diplomatic ingenus. They know they can get complete sanctions relief and all their frozen money without a single nuclear concession.”

    The persistent disruption to global shipping has already spilled over into the global economy, pushing up energy prices and creating supply chain bottlenecks. In a sign of shifting trade flows, China’s refined fuel exports rose 6.7% in July after Beijing adjusted wartime supply controls it had put in place to protect its domestic market from potential shortages.

    For Iran, the prolonged conflict has come at a severe economic cost. Latest domestic data shows Iran’s annual inflation rate has hit 66%, with food and beverage prices skyrocketing 128.1% compared to one year ago, deepening hardship for ordinary Iranian households.

  • Take a timelapse ride along the IndyCar racetrack in Washington

    Take a timelapse ride along the IndyCar racetrack in Washington

    Motorsports fans across the United States are gearing up for a groundbreaking event this summer, as Washington DC is set to host its first-ever professional IndyCar race, the Freedom 250 Grand Prix, on August 22 and 23. Ahead of the highly anticipated inaugural event, organizers have released a stunning timelapse video that gives racing enthusiasts a first-person preview of what it will feel like to scream around the capital city’s custom-built racetrack.

    For decades, major IndyCar races have been centered in other regions of the United States, from the iconic Indianapolis Motor Speedway to street courses in major metropolises like Long Beach and Toronto. This marks the first time a top-tier motor racing event has been awarded to the US capital, opening a new chapter for IndyCar’s national expansion and bringing world-class motorsports directly to the heart of American politics and culture. The timelapse footage, captured along the full layout of the temporary street circuit, highlights the track’s unique features—including straights that run past some of Washington DC’s most famous landmarks, tight technical turns that will test drivers’ skill, and elevation changes that promise exciting overtaking opportunities.

    Industry analysts note that hosting the Freedom 250 Grand Prix is expected to bring significant economic benefits to Washington DC, drawing tens of thousands of out-of-town visitors, filling local hotels and restaurants, and raising the city’s profile as a host for major international sporting events. Racing fans have already begun snapping up tickets for the two-day event, which will include practice rounds, qualifying sessions, and the 250-lap main race that will crown the first-ever IndyCar winner in the nation’s capital.

  • American Airlines to bring back TV screens on US flights

    American Airlines to bring back TV screens on US flights

    Almost seven years after removing seatback televisions from all its U.S. domestic flights, American Airlines has announced a major course correction: the carrier will restore built-in seatback displays across its entire domestic fleet, alongside an expansion of premium seating offerings.

    The shift marks a full reversal of a cost-cutting efficiency strategy the airline rolled out throughout the 2010s. At the time, American Airlines argued that most travelers preferred to stream personal entertainment via their own smartphones, tablets, or laptops. Removing the heavy built-in screens also cut aircraft fuel consumption and reduced long-term maintenance costs, priorities for carriers chasing operational efficiency in a tight-margin industry.

    But the decision quickly sparked widespread passenger frustration that persisted for years. Frequent flyers repeatedly complained that relying on personal devices created a host of avoidable problems: drained batteries mid-flight, awkward cramped viewing angles, and inconsistent in-flight Wi-Fi that interrupted streaming content. The strategy also left American Airlines out of step with key competitors, who have taken the opposite approach in recent years. Rival Delta and United have poured investment into upgraded onboard entertainment to elevate their premium cabin experiences, while low-cost carrier JetBlue has retained seatback screens as a standard customer perk all along. Industry analysts note these competing choices have reshaped passenger expectations, repositioning seatback displays from an unnecessary luxury to a baseline expected amenity on most U.S. commercial flights.

    The restoration forms part of a broader cabin modernization investment American Airlines unveiled this week. The airline says the upgrades are designed to improve the overall customer travel experience while also driving higher revenue, a goal that comes as major U.S. carriers work to stabilize passenger demand in a cooling post-pandemic travel market.

    Advancements in display technology have also made the reversal feasible for the airline. Modern seatback screens are far lighter, use less power, and have lower upfront installation and maintenance costs than the models American Airlines removed years ago, making the investment far more justifiable for carriers today. American Airlines plans to begin rolling out the new displays immediately, with full installation across its domestic Boeing 737 and Airbus A320-family jets expected to be completed by the early 2030s.

    Raymond James industry analyst Savanthi Syth told the BBC that strategic positioning plays a key role in how quickly airlines roll out new customer amenities. Syth noted that Delta, which was the first major U.S. carrier to introduce a basic economy fare, has continued to roll out new customer offerings steadily, putting it further along in its commercial product development than many peers. For American Airlines, the decision to restore seatback screens reflects a push to stay competitive in an increasingly crowded market, betting that improved and more reliable onboard amenities will help the carrier win over both leisure and business travelers, while retaining appeal for budget-conscious passengers who still expect core in-flight comforts.

  • UN atomic watchdog says found tons of nuclear material at Syria site

    UN atomic watchdog says found tons of nuclear material at Syria site

    In a landmark development marking a new chapter of nuclear transparency in Syria, the head of the United Nations’ atomic watchdog confirmed Tuesday that international inspectors have recovered several tons of nuclear material from an undeclared site that Syria’s new administration formally reported to the agency last month.

    Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), made the announcement during an official visit to Syria, where he traveled to inspect two locations: the long-controversial Al-Kibar site in Deir Ezzor in eastern Syria, and the second undeclared location where the nuclear stockpile was discovered. The announcement came just one month after Damascus notified the IAEA of the stockpile, which it says was left behind by the ousted government of former leader Bashar al-Assad.

    During a joint press conference in Damascus with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani, Grossi commended the current administration for what he called a “courageous decision” to voluntarily disclose the previously unreported site. “We are talking about a few tons of nuclear material that could be put to bad use,” Grossi told reporters, adding that the IAEA would immediately bring the material under full international safeguards to eliminate any proliferation risks.

    Shaibani confirmed that Syria sent an official notification of the stockpile to the IAEA on July 17, stating that the government chose to declare the materials of its own free will as part of the legacy left by the former regime. He added that initial technical evaluations have concluded the materials do not pose an immediate active risk, and that the stockpile will remain under national Syrian ownership while adhering fully to the IAEA’s safeguard protocols.

    Grossi reaffirmed the IAEA’s commitment to overseeing the material, saying “this material will be accounted for, will be put within the international safeguards system.” He noted that IAEA and Syrian technical experts will collaborate on developing protocols for the long-term safe storage of the nuclear materials, framing the disclosure as a turning point in relations between Syria and the global non-proliferation body. “We are starting to turn a page, and turning a page does not mean forgetting the past,” he said.

    The discovery of the material draws new attention to the long-standing controversy over Syria’s former nuclear activities, centered on the Al-Kibar site in Deir Ezzor that has been shuttered for 18 years. In 2007, Israel carried out a secretive air strike that destroyed the uncompleted facility, a mission it only publicly acknowledged in 2011. A year after the strike, U.S. officials publicly accused Syria of constructing a secret nuclear reactor at the site, with alleged assistance from North Korea. The IAEA formally concluded in 2011 that the site was “very likely” a functional nuclear reactor under construction.

    Pierre Razoux, academic director of the French FMES Institute think tank, told Agence France-Presse the newly discovered material is “most likely… linked to the Syrian nuclear program, which was halted in 2007 after the Israeli raid on the Al-Kibar site.” He added that another potential origin for the stockpile could be nuclear materials that Iraq disposed of at the beginning of the 2000s following the U.S.-led invasion.

    Grossi said the find confirms the IAEA’s long-held suspicions about undeclared nuclear activities in Syria, noting that extensive excavation and investigation work is ongoing at the Deir Ezzor site. Last year, the watchdog confirmed that inspectors had detected particles of enriched uranium at the site during a 2024 inspection.

    Grossi’s high-profile visit comes one week after U.S. news outlet Axios reported that Washington and the IAEA had reached a deal to remove nuclear material from the clandestine Syrian site, following closed-door understandings with both Syria and Israel. According to the Axios report, Israeli officials had closely monitored a location dubbed “Site 99” where the Assad government was believed to have stored nuclear material leftover from the Al-Kibar project, and Israel had issued public threats to carry out a new bombing campaign on the site if the material was not secured.

  • Man in doll-mask chases and threatens Philadelphia residents, police say

    Man in doll-mask chases and threatens Philadelphia residents, police say

    Residents of Center City Philadelphia are on edge this week after a string of frightening, unprovoked attacks carried out by a man wearing a disturbing creepy doll mask, law enforcement officials confirmed Tuesday. The Philadelphia Police Department has launched a public appeal for assistance to track down the suspect, who is accused of threatening and chasing at least six separate victims in the area surrounding City Hall over the past week.

    One of the most alarming incidents unfolded on the morning of August 12, at approximately 5:30 a.m. local time. Surveillance camera footage from the area captured the masked suspect chasing a woman who was out for her regular morning run. According to police accounts, the man kept one hand hidden behind his back while shouting menacing remarks at his target, causing the woman to trip during her escape and suffer injuries. Immediately after the attack, the suspect fled into a nearby SEPTA underground rail station, disappearing before responding officers arrived on scene.

    In another high-profile encounter documented by witnesses, runner Luanda Marinho told CBS News—BBC’s U.S. media partner—that she and a friend came across the masked man while meeting for a morning workout. Marinho recalled that the suspect repeatedly pestered the pair to challenge him to a race, saying “Do you guys want to race me? I bet I am faster than you. Want to race?” When the two women ignored his advances, he did not press further, but the interaction left them deeply unsettled. Marinho noted that she and her friend are now planning to alter their regular running route to avoid the area, describing the encounter as “some twisted game” that felt deeply off-putting and dangerous.

    Philadelphia Police Department Captain Jason Smith told reporters that the suspect appears to be recording each of his encounters, as he has repeatedly been spotted holding a cellphone with its flashlight activated during the attacks. Investigators have not yet ruled out the possibility that the incidents are linked to a dangerous new social media prank trend that has spread across other U.S. cities in recent months, Smith added, but no definitive connection has been confirmed at this stage.

    To aid in the public manhunt, police have released surveillance photos and a short clip of the suspect captured during the attacks, urging anyone who recognizes the man or has information about his current whereabouts to contact law enforcement immediately. If apprehended, the suspect will face multiple criminal charges including terroristic threats, simple assault, and other related offenses, according to police. Local residents have been advised to stay alert in the City Hall area, especially during early morning hours when most of the incidents have occurred.

  • Japan and OAS award Haiti $3M to help troubled country prepare for long-awaited elections

    Japan and OAS award Haiti $3M to help troubled country prepare for long-awaited elections

    PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI – In a critical push to advance democratic processes in the crisis-battered Caribbean nation, Japan and the Organization of American States (OAS) formalized an agreement Tuesday that delivers a $3 million grant to Haiti, earmarked for voter registration efforts ahead of the country’s first general election in over 10 years.

    The OAS outlined in an official statement that the funding will support two core immediate needs: updating Haiti’s outdated national voter rolls and procuring 350,000 blank national identification cards, a foundational requirement for eligible citizens to cast ballots. This intervention comes as Haiti grapples with a catastrophic wave of gang-related violence that has already displaced a record 1.5 million people across the country. Most of these displaced residents fled their homes suddenly amid armed attacks in the capital Port-au-Prince and outlying regions, leaving behind official documents including their identifying paperwork in the chaos.

    Beyond updating voter rolls and printing ID materials, the grant will also address longstanding bottlenecks in Haiti’s civil documentation system. It will cut the growing backlog of Haitian residents waiting to receive official identification, expand access to registration services in underserved rural communities, and upgrade critical infrastructure—including power and internet connectivity—at government registration offices across the country’s decentralized regions.

    Haiti’s transitional government launched official voter registration operations last month in Port-au-Prince, where an estimated 70 percent of the capital’s territory is currently under the control of armed gang factions. The first round of the long-awaited general election is currently scheduled for December 13, but regional policy and security experts have repeatedly warned that persistent, widespread gang violence could force yet another delay to the vote.

    Haiti has operated without a sitting head of state since July 2021, when then-President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated at his private residence. Moïse, who took office in 2017 after winning the country’s last general election held in November 2016, has left a prolonged power vacuum that has compounded the country’s ongoing political, security and humanitarian collapse.

  • Musiala collapses during match for second time

    Musiala collapses during match for second time

    Bayern Munich midfielder Jamal Musiala has opened up about his ongoing health scare, confirming he is receiving care for a diagnosed neurological dysfunction that triggered two on-pitch collapses within a four-day window during the club’s pre-season friendly fixtures.

    The first incident unfolded during Bayern’s 3-1 friendly win over RB Leipzig in Munich on Saturday, with a second episode occurring just six minutes after Musiala entered the game as a substitute in Tuesday’s 4-2 away victory against 1. FC Heidenheim. Following the second collapse, the 23-year-old German international was visibly disoriented while receiving on-site medical attention before being assisted off the pitch by club medics, in a moment that saw opposing and home players alike surround him to support the treatment process.

    To allay widespread concern from fans, teammates and football observers across the globe, Musiala shared a transparent public statement on his official Instagram account shortly after the match. The playmaker explained that medics have identified his collapses as temporary, brief absence seizures linked to his neurological condition.

    “These can lead to the recent episodes, like the one against Leipzig or now in Heidenheim,” Musiala wrote. “I know they seem scary at first glance – but for me, they’re currently just part of my everyday life. I’m receiving excellent medical treatment and am very optimistic. FC Bayern and my family and friends are always by my side and supporting me on this journey.”

    Bayern’s sporting director Max Eberl confirmed ahead of Musiala’s statement that club officials had been aware of the condition long before the recent public episodes, noting that the player planned to address the situation publicly himself. “We knew about it and we are aware of the situation,” Eberl told reporters after Tuesday’s fixture. “Jamal will speak out. He’s in the dressing room, getting changed and taking a shower.”

    This is not the first major health setback Musiala has navigated in recent months. The star midfielder missed the first six months of the 2025-26 season after suffering a broken ankle during the 2025 Club World Cup. He successfully worked his way back to full fitness in the second half of the campaign, and went on to start three of Germany’s four matches at the 2026 FIFA World Cup this summer, cementing his status as one of the most promising young talents in global football.

  • US moves to open vast tracts of pristine forests to logging

    US moves to open vast tracts of pristine forests to logging

    On a Tuesday announcement, the administration of former U.S. President Donald Trump tabled a landmark regulatory change that would undo two decades of protections for some of the nation’s last untouched wild landscapes, clearing the way for road construction and commercial logging across 44 million acres of undisturbed national forest.

    The proposed rule would formally revoke the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, a signature environmental policy implemented in the final days of the Bill Clinton administration that banned almost all industrial development across vast swathes of public forests and grasslands categorized as “inventoried roadless areas.”

    U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins justified the rollback in an official statement, framing the existing protections as outdated barriers to critical forest management that the U.S. Forest Service needs to reduce wildfire risk. “Across the country, we’ve watched preventable conditions — overgrown stands, insect outbreaks and disease — turn healthy landscapes into tinderboxes,” Rollins said. “For too long, outdated restrictions have kept tens of millions of forested acres off-limits to the very treatments that improve forest health and reduce wildfire risk to our communities.”

    Early drafts of the regulation outline that the change will shift authority over decisions on road construction, reconstruction and timber harvesting in protected roadless areas to local state officials, aligned with site-level forest management planning. More than 95% of all inventoried roadless areas are located across 10 Western U.S. states: Alaska, Arizona, California, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. The proposed rule does not extend to Colorado and Idaho’s national forests, due to pre-existing state-specific roadless conservation regulations.

    The proposal has drawn immediate fierce pushback from environmental conservation organizations, who have already signaled they intend to mount legal challenges to block the change. Randi Spivak, public lands policy director at the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), a leading nonprofit environmental group, called the move the largest rollback of public land protections in U.S. history, noting it runs counter to widespread public opinion.

    Conservation groups warn that opening these roadless areas to development will cause irreversible damage to critical endangered species habitats. The CBD notes that Northern Rockies roadless areas act as essential lifelines for vulnerable populations of grizzly bears and Canada lynx. The proposal would also threaten ecologically critical salmon spawning streams and old-growth centuries-old Sitka spruce in Alaska’s Tongass National Forest, the nation’s largest national forest, which was explicitly named in the draft regulation. The targeted rollback for the Tongass follows an executive order Trump issued on the first day of his second term focused on “Unleashing Alaska’s Extraordinary Resource Potential.”

    Public opinion polling shows the administration’s proposal is deeply out of step with voter preferences. A recent survey conducted by Susquehanna Polling and Research found that 77% of likely U.S. voters rank conserving roadless national forests for current and future generations as a top priority, while only 11% support opening additional protected land to timber harvesting and mining.

    Critics also reject the Trump administration’s core argument that rolling back protections is necessary to reduce wildfire risk. Prior to the 2001 Roadless Rule, more than 370,000 miles of roads had already been built through U.S. national forests, leaving the federal government with a multi-billion dollar backlog in road maintenance. The CBD points to peer-reviewed research to refute the administration’s claim: a 2020s nationwide study published in the journal *Fire Ecology* found that wildfire ignitions are nearly four times more likely in lands within 50 meters of roads compared to untouched roadless areas, and that the majority of wildfires are human-caused, most often near existing developed areas.

    Critics further note that the Trump administration has consistently rejected policies to address climate change, the primary driver of increasingly frequent and severe wildfires across the American West, which has created hotter, drier conditions that amplify wildfire risk.

  • Liberia agrees to take 1,200 deportees from the United States

    Liberia agrees to take 1,200 deportees from the United States

    MONROVIA, Liberia – In a major expansion of the Trump administration’s aggressive campaign to curb unauthorized migration into the United States, the West African nation of Liberia has formally agreed to take in up to 1,200 third-country deportees over the next 12 months, national officials confirmed in a press briefing Tuesday.

    The first group of 20 deportees is scheduled to arrive in Liberia as early as this Thursday, according to Information Minister Jerolinmek Piah, who addressed reporters on the agreement. Unlike traditional deportation arrangements that send individuals back to their country of origin, this deal covers migrants from a broad range of regions, including other African nations, North America, South America and the Caribbean, Piah clarified.

    This agreement is far from an isolated policy. The Trump administration has negotiated a number of comparable third-country deportation arrangements with other African nations in recent years. Immigration rights advocates estimate that thousands of migrants have already been sent by the U.S. to roughly 24 countries that are not the migrants’ home nations, as part of a sweeping, largely covert crackdown on unauthorized immigration.

    One of the most contentious issues surrounding these deals centers on migrants who have already received formal protection orders from U.S. immigration judges. These orders prohibit sending the individuals back to their home countries due to documented risks to their personal safety, but there is no clear guarantee that third-party host nations will honor these protections. Piah declined to answer questions about whether any of the 1,200 deportees bound for Liberia hold such court-ordered protection.

    Upon their arrival in Liberia, Piah said, deportees will have two primary options: they may choose to submit formal asylum applications to remain in the country, or they are free to depart for another destination at any time, with no restrictions placed on their movement by Liberian authorities.

    Liberia will not be responsible for bearing the full costs of managing this deportation intake program, Piah added. The U.S. has committed to providing financial and logistical support to help Liberia process the arrivals and reinforce its national migration management infrastructure.

    Framing the agreement as a reflection of the nation’s long-standing identity, Piah emphasized that Liberia’s decision to accept the deportees is rooted purely in humanitarian principle, aligned with the country’s historic traditions of offering safe haven to those in need.