Global Pulse

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  • AFL 2026: Melbourne will way up parachuting Jack Viney in for Western Bulldogs clash

    AFL 2026: Melbourne will way up parachuting Jack Viney in for Western Bulldogs clash

    Ahead of this Saturday’s high-stakes AFL clash against the Western Bulldogs, the Melbourne Demons are grappling with a tough selection call: whether to bring star vice-captain Jack Viney straight back into the senior side after his long-awaited return to match play.

    Viney, a hard-tackling midfielder who has been sidelined for the entire season to date by a frustrating string of Achilles and back injuries, stepped out for his first competitive match of 2024 last weekend with Melbourne’s Victorian Football League (VFL) affiliate Casey Demons. The comeback outing went off without a hitch: Viney notched 20 disposals, 10 clearances, and a goal, proving his fitness after months of rehabilitation work.

    Interim Demons coach Steven King confirmed that the coaching staff is feeling the pull to fast-track Viney’s return for this weekend’s critical fixture, but he stressed that the club’s first priority is ensuring the veteran is fully prepared to handle the intensity of senior AFL football.

    “First and foremost, it’s just great to see him back out on the park after everything he’s been through this year,” King told reporters. “We’ve got a lot of factors to weigh up here, starting with how he pulled up from the VFL match, and then team balance, too. Let’s be honest, we’ve hit good form lately, winning six of our last seven outings, so we don’t want to disrupt the chemistry we’ve built.”

    King added that the selection call balances the needs of the team and the long-term interests of Viney himself, noting that having the vice-captain available for selection is ultimately a huge boost for the club. “When you get a player of Jack’s caliber available, it’s only a good thing. I just want to make the right call for the team, the club, and most of all for Jack. We need to be sure he’s really ready to come back in. Is that this week? We’ll just have to wait and see,” he said.

    The outcome of Saturday’s match will have a major impact on Melbourne’s final ladder position heading into the AFL finals series. A win could see the Demons climb as high as fourth spot on the ladder, securing a valuable double chance, while a loss could drop them as low as the wildcard round, forcing them into an immediate knockout fixture.

    One big advantage Melbourne holds heading into the clash is in the ruck division: star ruckman Max Gawn will take on a Bulldogs side missing key big man Tim English. King seized the opportunity to sing Gawn’s praises, as the 34-year-old pushes for a historic ninth selection to the All Australian team, and his first as captain of the side.

    “It’s amazing what Max has done for our club and what he’s achieved across his whole career,” King said. “If he gets the nod as a nine-time All Australian and All Australian captain, it’s incredibly well-deserved. He’s been our club captain for years now, and he’s already broken the club record for most wins as captain. To be doing what he’s doing at 34, carrying our team to where we are on the ladder right now, is extraordinary. I’m biased, of course, but I can’t think of anyone more worthy of the honor. It’s a privilege to coach him.”

  • Premier League’s new bosses brace for battle

    Premier League’s new bosses brace for battle

    As the new English Premier League season prepares to kick off this Friday, the top flight is facing an unprecedented wave of managerial turnover not seen in nearly 80 years, with nine clubs set to start the campaign with a new head coach. No Premier League manager faces higher stakes or closer public scrutiny than Enzo Maresca at Manchester City, Andoni Iraola at Liverpool, and Xabi Alonso at Chelsea — three rookie bosses at the league’s most iconic clubs stepping into roles defined by legendary predecessors.

    The scale of this offseason’s change is staggering: even Michael Carrick, who only took the Manchester United job in January, already ranks as the 10th longest-serving manager in the division. The last time the top flight saw this much managerial churn ahead of a new campaign was the 1946/47 season, the first full campaign played after the end of World War II.

    For Enzo Maresca, his appointment at Manchester City represents a full-circle homecoming, and one of the most daunting jobs in world football. The 46-year-old Italian already has two previous stints at the Etihad Stadium: he served as lead coach of the club’s elite development squad in 2020/21, then as an assistant coach during City’s historic 2022/23 treble-winning campaign. After leaving City, he guided Leicester City to an immediate promotion back to the Premier League from the Championship, then spent 18 turbulent months at Chelsea, where he delivered the club’s first UEFA Conference League title and Club World Cup trophy before moving back to Manchester.

    City’s hierarchy has long viewed Maresca as the ideal heir to Pep Guardiola, who departed after a glorious decade that brought 20 major trophies to the club. Maresca has described stepping into Guardiola’s role as both a “privilege” and the challenge of a lifetime, but an early warning sign emerged in the recent Community Shield, where City fell to a underwhelming 3-0 defeat to reigning league champions Arsenal. Maresca now faces an uphill battle to end Arsenal’s title defense and deliver City’s first league crown since 2024.

    At Anfield, 44-year-old Spaniard Andoni Iraola is tasked with reviving Liverpool’s fortunes after a disastrous title defense campaign under Arne Slot. The Dutch manager was sacked just 12 months after delivering Liverpool’s 20th English league title, matching the club’s historic record, after a catastrophic second half of the season sent the team plummeting down the table.

    Iraola was hired for his sharp tactical approach, with club officials hoping he can restore the aggressive, high-intensity “heavy metal” football that made Jurgen Klopp — Slot’s predecessor — a fan favorite at Anfield. The Spaniard earned Liverpool’s attention through three increasingly successful seasons at Bournemouth, where he improved the club’s league finish in every campaign, culminating in a sixth-place finish last term that secured the south coast club’s first ever qualification for European competition. In his opening press conference as Liverpool boss, Iraola spoke of the unique “magic” of the role and said he aimed to “earn the right to be one of you” for supporters, but he is under no illusions that the pressure of this role will far exceed any challenge he has faced in his career to date.

    For Xabi Alonso, the 44-year-old Spaniard and former Liverpool Champions League winner, his next managerial chapter takes him not to Anfield (a job he was repeatedly linked to over the offseason) but to Stamford Bridge, to take charge of Chelsea. Alonso made his name as a rising managerial star at Bayer Leverkusen in Germany, where he masterminded an unprecedented unbeaten domestic double during the 2023/24 Bundesliga campaign. That historic success earned him the top job at his former club Real Madrid, but his tenure at the Bernabeu quickly collapsed, and he departed in January after less than eight months in charge.

    Alonso has admitted that his early exit from Real Madrid left a “scar” on his career, but says the wound has healed as he turns his focus to restoring stability at Chelsea. The Blues went through a chaotic 2024/25 campaign, beginning with Maresca in charge before a short, underwhelming spell under Liam Rosenior, and ended the season in a disappointing 10th place in the league. Chelsea has already invested heavily in the transfer window this offseason, breaking the record for the most expensive British player ever to sign Morgan Rogers from Aston Villa.

    The fact that Chelsea will not compete in any European competition this season could give Alonso valuable time to reshape the squad around his own tactical philosophy, without the intensity of a packed midweek fixture schedule. However, the reduced fixture list also creates new tensions, as it makes it far harder to keep a bloated senior squad satisfied amid limited game time — a major challenge as Alonso works to bring much-needed calm to a club that has been in constant flux for years.

  • Veterans Minister admits he ‘got it wrong’ after veterans snubbed

    Veterans Minister admits he ‘got it wrong’ after veterans snubbed

    A political firestorm has erupted in Australian politics after Veterans Affairs Minister Matt Keogh publicly acknowledged he made a critical error when he initially turned down a meeting with a group of veteran advocates pushing for the scrapping of a controversial new annual $5,000 cap on allied health services for former service members. The Coalition of Veterans’ Voices, which travelled to Canberra to press their case, had requested a meeting with both Keogh and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, and last week, Keogh’s office informed the group the minister had no availability to meet with them on the scheduled Monday. Following public backlash, Keogh reversed his decision and held a closed-door discussion with the delegation later the same day. On Tuesday, the minister took responsibility for the misstep in a public statement. “I got it wrong in not agreeing to meet with them last week when that initial request came in,” Keogh told reporters. “I own that, and I met with them and I heard their concerns last night.” Keogh also pushed back against accusations from the group that he had displayed disrespect during parliamentary question time the previous day, where he avoided acknowledging their presence in the public gallery and did not greet them with handshakes ahead of the meeting. Looking directly toward the veterans’ seating area in the gallery, Keogh thanked the group for their willingness to sit down with him. “When he came into that room and I met with them and I was sitting down, I said ‘relax and I want to hear what you have to tell,” Keogh said, denying claims he acted with dismissiveness. “I shook hands with those people who attended that meeting as we finished that.” Keogh added that he valued the input the delegates shared, drawing on their unique lived experiences as both veterans and people navigating the veteran health system. “I am grateful for the information that they imparted to me, given the diverse range of experience that they had, both medically and as veterans,” he said. “I, of course, take all of that feedback on-board as we will take on the feedback as part of our consultation process.” The minister emphasized that the Albanese government’s core goal remains eliminating gaps in veteran care coverage. “I said to them (the group) last night, and I’ve said with every veteran group that I’ve met with after this announcement, it has always been the government’s intention to make sure there is no gap in services,” he explained. Keogh also pushed back against widespread criticism of the cap, which is set to take effect in July 2027, noting that only a small share of veterans would hit the annual spending limit, and that a government discussion paper outlining the policy would be released shortly. The government has framed the cap as a measure to reduce unnecessary spending on non-essential services. The policy itself has drawn fierce condemnation from the opposition, with senior conservative politicians joining the delegation in Canberra this week to amplify their demands. Nationals leader Matt Canavan ripped into Keogh’s initial refusal to meet, describing his conduct as a display of unearned arrogance rather than the respect veterans are owed. Canavan called on Prime Minister Albanese to step in and meet with the delegation directly. “Respect should be shown to our nation’s veterans,” Canavan said, speaking alongside members of the group. “Given the inadequacy of what you’ve heard from our veterans and their lack of trust and competency in the Veterans Affairs Minister, I think the least the Prime Minister could do is meet with them.” Nationals Senator Susan McDonald described the cap as a cruel policy that was never recommended by the Royal Commission into Defence and Veterans’ Suicide, and said the prime minister should apologize for advancing the measure. “This is a tidal wave of outrage because these people did not vote for a government to be cruel to the people we rely on,” McDonald said. Former Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack joined the criticism, labeling the cap insidious, unnecessary, and harmful, and echoed calls for Albanese to scrap the policy and meet with the delegates on the spot. “He could do that today on Long Tan Day, on Vietnam Veterans Day, and it would be wholly appropriate,” McCormack said. “So, it’s up to the Prime Minister to do the right thing, not just for these veterans, not just to all veterans, but to our nation, because our nation deserves it. These veterans deserve nothing less.” The delegation has confirmed that they have not yet submitted a formal written request for a meeting with Albanese, but Canavan said that the demand is now public, and the group is ready to arrange a meeting at the prime minister’s convenience. “Well, he’s going to hear it now,” Canavan said when asked if the prime minister was aware of the request. “So, he can respond. He can get on to me, anyone else, and we’ll arrange it.” Keogh defended the government’s broader record on veteran health care, noting that the administration has nearly trialled a $170 million investment to raise reimbursement rates for allied health providers, the largest such increase in two decades. He argued that this change will actually expand access to care by addressing longstanding complaints from providers that low fee rates were leading many to stop accepting veteran patients altogether. “We have been hearing for a very long time that providers have been cutting back on providing these services or threatening to cut back on these services because of the fees paid to them, and so we have committed nearly $170m to make the biggest increase in fees being paid to allied health service providers in 20 years,” Keogh said. Delegation members have pushed back on Keogh’s account, describing his initial response as dismissive and brusque, with one member noting that the eventual handshake after their meeting was only extended as a matter of basic courtesy.

  • Australian households ‘deeply pessimistic’ despite confidence boost from RBA rate hold

    Australian households ‘deeply pessimistic’ despite confidence boost from RBA rate hold

    Australia’s household economic sentiment has posted a minor uptick following the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) decision to hold official interest rates steady, yet broad-based pessimism about personal financial circumstances and the nation’s long-term economic trajectory remains deeply entrenched among Australian consumers.

    The latest monthly Westpac-Melbourne Institute Consumer Sentiment Index, one of the country’s most closely watched measures of household economic mood, recorded a 6% gain in August to reach 88.9. While this rise marks the first improvement in sentiment in months, the reading still sits well below the 100 threshold that divides prevailing pessimism from optimism, confirming that negative outlooks continue to dominate public opinion.

    Westpac’s chief economist Luci Ellis noted that cost-of-living pressures continue to squeeze household budgets across the country, even after the small improvement in mood. “This is still a weak result and noticeably lower than the readings recorded last year,” Ellis explained. “While consumers are feeling less pessimistic than last month, pessimists still outnumber optimists, especially about their current finances.”

    Survey data shows the shift in sentiment happened almost immediately after the RBA’s monetary policy board announced it would keep the official cash rate unchanged at 4.35% on August 6. Responses collected before the announcement showed no change from July’s weak reading, with the entire monthly gain coming from surveys completed after the decision was made public.

    The RBA’s announcement came with a hawkish undertone, however: Governor Michele Bullock confirmed that board members had discussed a potential rate hike during the meeting – a step the board did not take during its May 2024 gathering. Bullock also warned that additional rate increases remain on the table as the central bank works to prevent currently elevated inflation, which sits at 3.8%, from becoming permanently embedded in the Australian economy.

    Markets and economists broadly expect the RBA will hold rates steady again when the board next convenes for its September 28-29 policy meeting. A softer-than-expected labour market and only one new monthly inflation reading due before the gathering have reinforced expectations that policymakers will leave policy unchanged for another month. Ellis noted that the RBA already has lifted rates three times in 2024 to bring the cash rate to a restrictive level, giving policymakers room to pause and assess how previous tightening has impacted economic activity across the country.

    “Having already raised the cash rate three times this year to a restrictive level, the monetary policy board has scope to keep the cash rate on hold while it monitors the effect of policy tightening across the economy and confirms whether underlying inflation has peaked,” Ellis said.

    Most of the confidence gains were concentrated in assessments of current economic conditions, with attitudes toward long-term economic prospects remaining firmly negative. The report also revealed uneven sentiment shifts across demographic groups: sentiment among renters rose in the days after the RBA meeting, but weak readings from before the announcement left overall renter sentiment slightly lower for the month as a whole.

    Two key sub-indexes posted notable improvements in August: the gauge of attitudes toward major household purchases rose 8.1% from 86.8 in July to 93.8 this month, while the index measuring year-over-year changes in household financial pressure improved 12.6% to 80.0. Even with these gains, however, both measures remain in pessimistic territory, underscoring that Australian households are still feeling significant economic strain.

  • Russia warns UK over supplying drones to Ukraine

    Russia warns UK over supplying drones to Ukraine

    In the wake of confirmed use of British-manufactured drones in Ukrainian strikes against targets inside Russian territory, Moscow has launched a sharp rebuke of London, accusing the United Kingdom of intentionally fueling an escalation of the ongoing Ukraine conflict.

    The Russian Embassy in the United Kingdom issued a formal statement labeling Britain as an accomplice and co-perpetrator of what it calls “bloody crimes and terrorist attacks” carried out by Ukrainian forces. The diplomatic warning emphasized that London’s deepening involvement in the conflict would carry unavoidable consequences, noting that the greater the UK’s participation, the heavier the price it will ultimately be forced to pay.

    The strikes in question, which have hit a range of military and industrial infrastructure across Russia, include a recent attack on a Wildberries logistics facility at Koledino Industrial Park near the city of Podolsk, that left plumes of smoke rising from the damaged site. Built by two independent British companies, the drones have been successfully deployed in widespread strikes against key Russian assets, from energy refineries to storage and logistics hubs. Wildberries, Russia’s largest e-commerce retailer often described as the domestic equivalent of Amazon, has become a repeated target for Ukrainian strikes; Ukrainian officials confirm that seven out of the company’s 10 largest logistics centers have been rendered non-operational. A military source speaking to the BBC verified that British-made drones were used in these attacks, which are estimated to have caused more than £35 billion in total economic damage to Russia.

    Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova previously drew attention to the use of drones with UK-built components and configurations in strikes against Russian territory, including an attack on a fuel storage depot in the Kamensky District of Rostov Region.

    Moscow’s latest warning comes amid a sharp escalation of cross-border drone attacks from both sides. On Monday, one Ukrainian strike across the border killed nine people and wounded 23 others, including one child. Just two days prior, on Saturday night, Ukrainian forces launched a massive drone barrage targeting Russia, firing 822 drones in total—600 of which were directed toward Moscow, according to the capital’s regional governor. He described the assault as “one of the most massive drone attacks in recent memory,” which left seven people dead across multiple Russian regions. That same night, retaliatory Russian strikes against Ukrainian territory killed at least seven people and injured more than 39 others.

    In response to Russia’s condemnation, a spokesperson for the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) reaffirmed Britain’s unwavering support for Ukraine, stating that the UK stands “shoulder to shoulder” with Kyiv. The spokesperson made clear that Russia should not underestimate the UK government’s resolve to oppose Russian aggression, both in Ukraine and in defense of the UK and its global allies. The statement added that London remains committed to supplying Ukraine with all the military equipment it needs to defend itself against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s illegal full-scale invasion, which launched in February 2022.

    Back in April, the MoD announced its largest-ever military aid package for Ukraine, which included the supply of tens of thousands of drones, among them long-range strike capabilities that can reach deep into Russian territory. Russia currently maintains control of roughly one-fifth of Ukraine’s internationally recognized territory after more than two years of full-scale war.

  • Boehly and Walter consider selling Chelsea stake to Clearlake Capital

    Boehly and Walter consider selling Chelsea stake to Clearlake Capital

    Fresh ownership turbulence has emerged at English Premier League giant Chelsea, with senior club figures Todd Boehly and Mark Walter confirming they are exploring the sale of their combined minority stake to majority owner Clearlake Capital, multiple industry sources reported Monday.

    The discussions mark the latest chapter in a tense two-year relationship between the co-investors that purchased the west London club from Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich in a £2.5 billion ($3.3 billion) deal in May 2022. At the time of the acquisition, California-based private equity firm Clearlake Capital took a controlling 62% stake in the club, while Boehly — who serves as Chelsea’s chairman — fellow American billionaire Walter, and Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss held the remaining 38% through their joint holding vehicle Blueco Holdings.

    According to insiders familiar with the negotiations, Boehly has grown increasingly frustrated with the club’s strategic direction in recent months. His dissatisfaction centers on three key areas: transfer market recruitment strategy, managerial decision-making, and long-term plans for a proposed new stadium to replace the club’s iconic 118-year-old Stamford Bridge home.

    This is not the first time tensions between the ownership factions have spilled into public view. Reports have circulated multiple times over the past 24 months that both sides have attempted to buy out the other’s stake, as disagreements over the club’s trajectory persisted.

    If the transaction moves forward, Boehly and Walter have valued their combined holding at a total club valuation of £5 billion, nearly double the price the group paid just two years ago. The pair have a long-standing professional and personal relationship, having collaborated on major sports investments including Major League Baseball’s Los Angeles Dodgers and the Women’s National Basketball Association’s LA Sparks.

    The ownership shakeup comes as Chelsea enters a critical new season. The club turned in a dismal performance in 2023-24, finishing 10th in the Premier League and missing out on qualification for all European competitions. In response, the club appointed former Liverpool and Real Madrid midfielder Xabi Alonso as its new manager, tasked with turning around the side’s on-pitch fortunes. Chelsea is set to kick off its 2025-26 Premier League campaign with an away fixture against west London rivals Fulham on August 24.

  • US pauses construction of border project in Texas national park

    US pauses construction of border project in Texas national park

    A high-stakes border infrastructure project in one of America’s most ecologically diverse national parks has been put on hold, after days of bipartisan local pushback and growing legal challenges over its potential environmental harm. The $1.7 billion project, pushed forward by the Trump administration as part of its broader border security initiative along the U.S.-Mexico boundary, broke ground earlier this month at Big Bend National Park in southern Texas. On Monday, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Rodney Scott announced the construction pause in a video posted to social platform X.

    Big Bend National Park draws visitors from across the globe for its dramatic, one-of-a-kind landscape: it blends arid desert ecosystems, the winding Rio Grande, and towering mountain ranges, including the iconic Santa Elena Canyon. The protected area hosts extraordinary biodiversity, home to hundreds of native bird species, bobcats, black bears, and dozens of other threatened and endemic wildlife. The administration’s plans call for new vehicle barriers, expanded patrol roads, enhanced lighting, and high-tech detection systems to be built across the park’s public lands. Official project maps show the proposed patrol route and technology corridor cutting across the rugged slopes of Mariscal Mountain, a stretch that critics warn would require widespread dynamite blasting to clear, leaving irreversible damage to the fragile terrain.

    In his announcement, Scott confirmed that all construction activity within the park has been halted pending an on-site review. “Last night, I put a pause on all activity in that park as far as construction goes, until I get down there and do a personal evaluation,” Scott said, noting he would meet with local stakeholders and share additional updates later this week.

    The project has sparked unified, cross-party opposition from local communities and officials since it was first unveiled. All 14 Texas border county judges signed an open letter affirming their support for responsible border security while rejecting the current proposal, calling for more practical, less environmentally destructive alternatives. Data from CBP itself undermines the project’s core security justification: between January 2024 and July 2026, just 9,624 migrant apprehensions were recorded in the Big Bend Sector, a fraction of the 23,080 apprehensions recorded over the same period in the Swanton Sector along the far less contested U.S.-Canada border.

    Local opponents emphasize that the rugged, remote terrain of Big Bend is already nearly impossible to traverse from Mexico, making the new barriers unnecessary. “It’s quite literally impossible to traverse, whether on foot or in a vehicle, from the other side into this area. Furthermore, this is not the will of the people of this region,” Jake Knight, executive director of the Big Bend Protection Alliance, told reporters during on-site protests.

    Critics have also raised alarms over the procurement process and the scope of environmental rollbacks used to approve the project. The Trump administration has waived dozens of longstanding federal environmental protection laws to greenlight the construction, which was awarded through a no-bid, non-competitive contract – a provision that has drawn anger from local residents. “There’s a no-bid contract for $1.7 billion in our national park. And that’s an awful lot of money to spend. So we know that they will destroy things. They’re already in there right now,” 63-year-old local teacher Bernadette Devine said at a recent protest against the plan.

    Legal challenges are already moving forward to block the project permanently. The Center for Biological Diversity, a national nonprofit conservation group, has filed a lawsuit against the federal government arguing the sweeping environmental waivers violate the U.S. Constitution. The group plans to submit an emergency injunction request Monday to halt construction permanently if the pause is lifted.

    Laiken Jordahl, a national public lands advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity, noted that local opposition has reached an unprecedented level of unity. “I’ve never seen communities so outraged and unified on a single issue, this has become a serious force to be reckoned with,” Jordahl told AFP. While activists have welcomed the temporary halt to construction, they have cautioned that the fight to protect the park is far from over. “And while it’s certainly welcome news that the bulldozers aren’t carving in the national park today, it is very likely that the pause will be lifted, we’re not considering this a victory yet,” Jordahl added.

  • Discord suspends livestreams in Brazil after teen’s suicide

    Discord suspends livestreams in Brazil after teen’s suicide

    Less than three weeks after Brazil’s national data regulator ordered the US-based messaging platform Discord to restrict live broadcasting functions over systemic failures to protect minors, the company has confirmed it has fully complied with the government mandate, cutting off Brazilian users’ access to livestreaming, screen sharing and video calling as of Monday. The regulatory action was triggered by the horrific suicide of a 13-year-old girl in a small central-western Brazilian town, where a group of users allegedly goaded the teen into ending her own life during a live broadcast.

    According to Brazilian law enforcement details, the coordinated abuse unfolded over 45 minutes: the group first pressured the girl to harm an animal, and when she refused to complete the act, they turned their coercion toward convincing her to die by suicide. In the aftermath of her death, Brazilian authorities have arrested six people linked to the incident—five teenagers, including one just 14 years old, and one adult. A senior law enforcement official described the incident as a “real-life horror show”, laying bare the severe dangers of unmoderated harmful content on social and messaging platforms.

    Brazil’s National Data Protection Agency (ANPD) issued the suspension order on August 12, arguing that Discord had repeatedly failed to implement adequate safeguards to prevent minors from being targeted with violence, harassment, and incitement to self-harm and suicide on its platform. The regulator gave the company until Monday night to implement the restrictions, and Discord co-founder Stanislav Vishnevskiy confirmed compliance in an official blog post. “We’re complying with the order and working with the ANPD in good faith, which means that screen sharing and video calls will be unavailable for Brazilian users starting now,” Vishnevskiy wrote.

    In his statement, Vishnevskiy pushed back on the claim that Discord was solely responsible for the tragedy, noting that the “coordinated sadistic harm campaign…was carried out across multiple platforms.” He added that the company has already removed the private invitation-only group at the center of the case and is actively working to reverse the restrictions as quickly as possible while updating platform safety measures for teen users. “We are working hard to restore access to these important features as quickly as possible,” he wrote, adding that the company is committed “to make Discord safer for teens.” Brazilian users will retain access to core platform functions including direct messaging and audio calls while the suspension is in place.

    The incident has reignited fierce public and political debate over online platform regulation in Brazil, where authorities have ramped up efforts to protect children and crack down on harmful digital content in recent months. Rosangela da Silva, wife of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, called for a full permanent shutdown of the platform, urging “the judiciary to remove this horrible network from the Internet.” Meanwhile, many Brazilian users have expressed anger over the broad suspension of services, framing the action as an overreach by regulators. “Here in Brazil they allow mobile phones in prisons. This Discord case is a big joke,” one user wrote on social media in response to the restriction.

    Prior to this incident, Brazil had already passed new regulations requiring digital platforms to link the accounts of all users under 16 to parental accounts and implement mandatory age verification to protect minors online. The country’s Supreme Court has also led high-profile efforts to crack down on disinformation and harmful content, a campaign that has drawn fierce criticism from right-wing groups both in Brazil and abroad. Discord, which counts more than 150 million active monthly users and over 90 million active daily users globally, has previously said it was disappointed by ANPD’s order and rejects the regulator’s characterization of its platform’s safety record.

  • Elderly far more at risk from rising heat than thought: study

    Elderly far more at risk from rising heat than thought: study

    As the Northern Hemisphere grapples with a record-breaking summer of deadly extreme heat, a new modeling study from United States researchers has delivered a stark warning: the public health risk that rising global temperatures pose to elderly communities has been drastically underestimated for decades.

    Published in the journal *Lancet Planetary Health* and led by a team from Stanford University, the research addresses a critical gap in earlier climate and heat-related health studies. For years, researchers have relied on wet-bulb temperature — a metric that combines air temperature and humidity to measure how much heat the human body can tolerate before experiencing fatal heat stress. But the foundational data for this metric was collected exclusively from trials on young, healthy adults, failing to account for the biological vulnerabilities that come with age.

    Older adults over the age of 60 naturally sweat less than younger people, often live with pre-existing chronic health conditions, and frequently have weakened cardiovascular systems that make it far harder to regulate body temperature during heatwaves. To correct for this gap, the Stanford-led team used updated data from recent wet-bulb experiments that specifically tested heat and humidity tolerance among adults over 60. The researchers then integrated global population aging trends to model heat exposure risks for three separate age groups by the end of the 21st century, under multiple different global warming scenarios.

    The study’s core conclusion upends previous projections: “Intolerable heat will be experienced at much larger scales and for longer durations, affecting far more people than previously estimated.”

    Breaking down the projected risks, the team found that if the world limits average global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels — the more ambitious target set by the Paris Climate Agreement — 22 percent of all people over 60 globally will be exposed to unsafe levels of heat for at least one month every year. For every additional 1°C of warming above this threshold, roughly an extra one billion older people will face at least one additional month of heat and humidity that exceeds their body’s ability to cope.

    In a worst-case scenario where global average temperatures rise by 3°C by 2100, elderly populations in the hardest-hit regions — including South Asia and the Arabian Gulf — could face round-the-clock dangerous heat for three consecutive months each year. The nations at greatest overall risk are those with high poverty rates and limited access to affordable cooling technology: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, and Niger top the list of most vulnerable countries.

    Beyond the immediate public health death toll, the study warns that widespread unmanageable heat could trigger a new wave of global displacement. “These results suggest that uncompensable heat could increasingly drive internal displacement and transboundary climate migration, raising new policy and humanitarian challenges,” the authors noted.

    To avoid these grim outcomes, the research team issued two key calls to action. First, nations must accelerate deep cuts to greenhouse gas emissions to slow the pace of global warming. Second, local and national heat action plans must explicitly prioritize vulnerable older populations, particularly since the majority of heat-related deaths occur indoors. Expanding access to affordable air conditioning and other cooling solutions for low-income and elderly households is a critical public health intervention, the team emphasized.

    The findings come as the world already sees the deadly impacts of extreme heat: this summer, a record-breaking heatwave across the Northern Hemisphere has already contributed to tens of thousands of deaths, with Europe — the world’s fastest-warming continent — facing devastating concurrent wildfires, drought, and sustained high temperatures that are on track to make this the hottest summer the continent has ever recorded. Climate scientists project that 2025 will be even hotter than 2024, as rising greenhouse gas concentrations continue to push global average temperatures higher.

  • Signings tracker: Kelma Tuilagi heading to the Storm in 2027 as the Warriors re-sign star half

    Signings tracker: Kelma Tuilagi heading to the Storm in 2027 as the Warriors re-sign star half

    The NRL 2027 off-season player market is already picking up steam, with two major roster announcements shaking up the competition this week. The Melbourne Storm have continued their strategic squad building for upcoming campaigns, securing the return of Victorian-developed forward Kelma Tuilagi from the Parramatta Eels on a deal starting in the 2027 season.

    Tuilagi’s rugby league journey has deep roots with the Storm. Born in Samoa and raised in New Zealand, he moved to Melbourne at a young age and rose through the club’s famous youth development pathways. Though he did not take the field for the Storm in 2020, he was a member of the club’s premiership-winning squad that year, and stayed with the entire team throughout their pandemic relocation to Queensland.

    After leaving the Storm’s development system, Tuilagi made his senior NRL debut with the Wests Tigers in 2021, before moving to the Parramatta Eels three seasons ago. At the Eels, he cemented himself as a consistent regular starter on the right edge of the forward pack, earning a reputation as a physical and reliable contributor.

    The signing makes solid strategic sense for Melbourne, which is set to lose starting edge forward Shawn Blore to the Brisbane Broncos ahead of next season. With the club currently grappling with a long-term absence of key forward Eli Katoa this year, mid-season recruit Oryn Keeley has already stepped up to fill the gap, and Tuilagi’s arrival will further boost back-row depth for the coming years.

    Melbourne Storm’s director of football Frank Ponissi expressed clear enthusiasm about the homecoming signing in a statement this week. “We’re delighted to have Kelma returning to Melbourne Storm and Victoria in 2027,” Ponissi said. “Kelma has a strong connection to our club. He was part of our 2020 premiership-winning squad and came through the Victorian rugby league system, so it’s fantastic to bring him back after he’s established himself as a regular NRL player. He’s a powerful, athletic forward who has continued to develop over the past few seasons. He’ll add experience and physicality to our forward pack, and we’re excited to see him back in a Storm jersey.”

    In a separate announcement from across the Tasman, the New Zealand Warriors have locked in one of their star playmakers for the long haul, extending Chanel Harris-Tavita’s contract through to the end of the 2029 NRL season. The new extension comes just months after Harris-Tavita originally signed a one-year renewal that would have kept him at the club through 2027.

    Andrew McFadden, the Warriors’ general manager of recruitment, pathways and development, said the club jumped at the chance to secure the halfback for a longer tenure. “Initially Chanel renewed for just the one season but we couldn’t be happier to have him with us for a longer term,” McFadden said. “It secures his future and ensures he will continue to be a critical part of our plans for at least the next three seasons. He has worked so hard at improving his game and has become one of the game’s most accomplished halves.”

    The dual announcements round out an early flurry of off-season moves across the NRL, as clubs look to shore up their rosters long before the 2026 campaign gets underway.