Global Pulse

作者： admin

  • Israel kills chief of Hamas armed wing in Gaza strike

    Israel kills chief of Hamas armed wing in Gaza strike

    In a targeted strike that has further escalated tensions amid a fragile current ceasefire, Israel announced Wednesday that it has killed Mohammed Odeh, the newly appointed leader of Hamas’s Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian militant group. Odeh’s assassination marks the fourth time Israel has eliminated the top commander of the Brigades since the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023, underscoring Israel’s sustained campaign to decapitate Hamas’s leadership structure.

    Odeh was appointed to the role just weeks earlier, following the Israeli killing of his predecessor Ezzedine al-Haddad on May 15. The confirmation of his death came in a joint statement from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Shin Bet domestic security agency, which noted Odeh was killed in a strike on Tuesday. Hamas later publicly confirmed Odeh’s death, referring to him as a martyred leader of the Palestinian resistance in a defiant statement that condemned the attack as a “cowardly assassination.”

    The strike did not end with Odeh: the entire family was killed in the attack, including his wife and three children — two adult sons and a minor daughter. The assassination took place during Eid al-Adha, one of the most important religious holidays in the Muslim calendar. Bassem Abu Odeh, a cousin of the deceased leader, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that Odeh and his family had been making preparations to celebrate the holiday when Israeli missiles struck their location. “They were ready to welcome Eid, but instead the criminal Zionists welcomed and targeted them with missiles,” he said.

    On Wednesday, hundreds of mourners gathered in Gaza City for Odeh’s funeral. An AFP journalist on the ground reported that an AK-47 rifle was placed atop Odeh’s casket as the procession carried his body to a local mosque for traditional funerary prayers before burial.

    Prior to taking command of the Brigades, Odeh served for years as the head of Hamas’s intelligence division and was one of the highest-ranking remaining Hamas leaders still operating in the Gaza Strip. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz reacted to the killing with characteristic belligerence, writing on social media platform X that Odeh had been “sent to meet his associates in the depths of hell.”

    The strike on Odeh came hours before the IDF announced another targeted operation in northern Gaza Wednesday evening, saying it had hit two senior Hamas operatives, identified by Israeli media as a brigade commander and his deputy. Local rescue officials from Gaza’s Hamas-run civil defence agency reported that the central Gaza City strike left 10 people dead and multiple others wounded, with a medical source confirming five children were among the fatalities.

    Odeh’s assassination is the latest in a years-long, systematic Israeli campaign to eliminate top Hamas figures across the region, launched in response to Hamas’s October 7, 2023 cross-border attack that triggered the current war. Israel has already killed a long list of senior Hamas leadership in recent months: former political chief Ismail Haniyeh, Yahya Sinwar — widely labeled the mastermind of the October 7 attack — longtime armed wing commander Mohammed Deif, and Mohammed Sinwar, who succeeded his brother Yahya as Hamas’s Gaza leader, have all been killed in Israeli strikes.

    In his social media statement, Katz reaffirmed Israel’s commitment to eliminating all Hamas leaders responsible for the October 7 attack. “We committed ourselves to eliminating everyone who led the October 7 massacre, and that is what we will do: they are all marked for death, wherever they may be,” he wrote. IDF Arabic spokeswoman Lieutenant Colonel Ella Waweya echoed that messaging, joking that the position of Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades commander “has become the shortest-lived job in Gaza.” She added, “The question is no longer who’s next — but how long they have left.”

    Katz also reiterated Israel’s core war goal of dismantling Hamas’s rule over Gaza, and alluded to a controversial Israeli plan to push for the forced displacement of Gaza’s civilian population. “The plan for voluntary migration from Gaza will also be implemented — everything will be done at the right time and in the right way,” he said. The displacement proposal is heavily backed by far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, and gained brief support from former U.S. President Donald Trump before he walked back the position. The United Nations’ top human rights official, High Commissioner Volker Turk, condemned such plans in February, denouncing proposals “aimed at making a permanent demographic change in Gaza.”

    Hezbollah, the Lebanese armed group and key Hamas ally, released a statement of condolence following Odeh’s killing, dismissing Israeli efforts to break Palestinian resistance through leadership decapitation. “All Israeli attempts to undermine this resistance by targeting its leadership and fighters will end in failure,” the group said.

    Despite a formal ceasefire that has been in place since October 10, daily violent incidents continue to rock the Gaza Strip, with both sides repeatedly accusing one another of truce violations. Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, whose casualty figures are deemed reliable by the United Nations, reports that more than 900 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli military action since the ceasefire went into effect. Israel currently maintains full military control over roughly 60 percent of the Gaza Strip, including all border entry and exit points, while the vast majority of Gaza’s civilian population is confined to a narrow coastal strip.

  • Legal bid to block UK-backed French migrant detention centre

    Legal bid to block UK-backed French migrant detention centre

    A looming legal appeal against a UK-supported migrant detention centre near Dunkirk has emerged as a major threat to a landmark £660 million bilateral agreement aimed at curbing illegal small boat crossings across the English Channel. The ongoing legal challenge, brought by a French environmental advocacy group, casts uncertainty over the timeline of the facility’s opening — a key prerequisite for the UK to release its pledged funding for the project.

    The 140-bed detention centre in Loon-Plage, currently under construction and targeted for operational launch by the end of 2026, was first greenlit by French interior authorities in July 2025. Within months, local environmental group Association pour la Défense de l’Environnement du Littoral Flandre-Artois (ADELFA) contested the construction permit, arguing the facility breached multiple local and national regulations. After an initial challenge was dismissed, the group escalated the case to the Administrative Court of Lille in February 2026, opening the current appeal process.

    ADELFA’s legal arguments center on four core claims: first, the site falls within an industrial zoning district where permanent residential accommodation is prohibited under local planning rules, and the detention centre qualifies as residential use; second, the facility sits in close proximity to industrial sites including an ammonia-cooled warehouse, creating unacceptable public health hazards for detainees; third, the interior ministry failed to comply with mandatory fire safety consultation requirements; and fourth, the ministry neglected to post the approved building permit in a publicly visible location as required by French law.

    While the appeal is not automatically suspensive, meaning construction work can continue throughout the legal process, legal experts warn a ruling in favor of ADELFA could result in the permit being revoked — and in the most severe scenario, require the partial or full demolition of the completed facility. Even an unsuccessful challenge, however, would almost certainly delay the centre’s opening, a common outcome for legal disputes over migrant detention infrastructure in France.

    This facility is a central pillar of the new bilateral migration deal signed by UK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood and French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez last month, which expands on a 2023 agreement struck between the UK’s former Conservative government and France. Under the terms of the new £660m arrangement, the UK has set aside £160m in dedicated funding directly tied to measurable results in reducing Channel crossings, with payment for the detention centre explicitly conditional on the facility opening and delivering proven outcomes within its first year of operation. If the centre fails to meet performance benchmarks, or does not open as scheduled, the UK has confirmed the allocated funding will be withdrawn.

    For UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, the France agreement is a core policy response to mounting political pressure to reduce the persistent flow of small boat crossings that have become a defining political issue in recent years. Once operational, the new centre will house migrants intercepted while attempting to reach the UK, before they are deported to their countries of origin or EU member states they previously transited. The facility will prioritize deportations of migrants from the 10 most common origin countries for 2025 crossings: Eritrea, Afghanistan, Iran, Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, Iraq, Syria, Vietnam and Yemen. A pilot of the new detention and deportation model is already set to launch this month at an existing removal centre in nearby Coquelles, while construction of the permanent facility is completed.

    ADELFA president Nicolas Fournier said the group acknowledges a favorable ruling is not guaranteed, but remains committed to disrupting the project through the legal process. Fournier argued that the current approach of increasing law enforcement and detention capacity — what he described as overinvestment in repressive measures — has repeatedly failed to curb crossings, and that policymakers must pursue alternative, more humane solutions to address the risks migrants face when attempting the dangerous sea crossing.

    French legal experts have offered differing perspectives on the appeal’s potential outcome. Francois Benchendikh, a senior public law lecturer at Sciences Po Lille, noted the court’s central debate will revolve around whether the detention centre qualifies as residential accommodation under zoning rules, and that the nearby ammonia storage facility could be enough to justify annulling the permit. By contrast, Paris-based urban planning lawyer Alice Darson said the facility should be classified as a public service facility, which would exempt it from the residential zoning ban, though failure to properly consult fire safety officials could still lead to the permit being canceled.

    Migration policy analyst Dr. Mihnea Cuibus, a researcher at the UK’s Migration Observatory, noted that even if the centre opens on schedule, there are significant structural barriers to scaling up deportation operations from the facility, and that the project’s success will likely remain a contentious sticking point in bilateral relations between London and Paris. As of this reporting, the French government has not responded to requests for comment on the ongoing legal challenge, and has not released public figures for the total construction and operational costs of the facility. A recent report from the French Senate, however, estimated that a standard 140-bed migrant detention centre costs roughly €40 million (£36 million) to build. A UK government spokesperson reaffirmed that France remains committed to completing the project, and that the UK will only release funding once construction is finalized.

  • How my brother went from liberal Hollywood actor to manosphere ‘messiah’

    How my brother went from liberal Hollywood actor to manosphere ‘messiah’

    A year-long investigation by BBC World Service has uncovered a sharp, underdocumented surge in the popularity of misogynistic manosphere content across the Global South, tracing how algorithmic amplification, financial incentives, and shifting gender dynamics have turned once-marginalized anti-feminist rhetoric into a mainstream, lucrative industry. At the center of the trend is Luis Castilleja, a former aspiring Hollywood actor who now goes by the alias El Temach—Latin America’s largest manosphere creator, boasting more than 11 million followers across social platforms and an annual income from content alone that tops $1.5 million.

    A decade ago, Castilleja was a free-spirited creative living a liberal lifestyle in Los Angeles, pursuing work as a performer after studying theater in Mexico City. But after struggling to land consistent roles and experiencing a painful breakup, he returned to Mexico and launched a social media channel in 2020 focused on male self-development. According to his sister Alex Castilleja, a Mexico-based design engineer, his early mission was rooted in good intentions: he wanted to help other young men process feelings of inadequacy and disappointment after life setbacks. That initial purpose quickly warped, however, as Castilleja realized the viral and financial potential of content that blamed women for men’s struggles.

    Alex, who has not spoken to her brother in two years, says Castilleja openly admitted he was copying the playbook of Western manosphere figurehead Andrew Tate, whose controversial content had already gone viral globally. As algorithmic engagement rewarded increasingly extreme rhetoric, Castilleja doubled down on misogynistic talking points: he attacks single mothers as poor life choices, labels women who reject traditional gender roles as promiscuous unfit partners, and frames feminism as a movement that erases men’s legitimate struggles. Alex says her brother now suffers from a “Messiah complex,” convinced he is the sole figure who can fix modern men’s issues, and that much of his extreme rhetoric is tailored purely to game social media algorithms. “He believes some things – and others, he’s just experimenting what works best with the algorithm,” she told the BBC, describing his transformation as shocking and tragic, turning a once-close sibling relationship toxic.

    El Temach is far from an isolated case. The BBC investigation analyzed 15 leading manosphere influencers based across Latin America, South and East Asia, and Africa, finding that their combined follower counts have tripled on average over the past three years. In Kenya, for example, influencer Andrew Kibe has become a household name, attracting more than 500 million views across hashtags linked to his content, with a fanbase of young men hungry for messaging about male empowerment. Like El Temach, Kibe repeatedly labels women gold diggers, attacks single mothers, and frames gender equality progress as discrimination against men.

    Both influencers deny their content is misogynistic. El Temach initially agreed to participate in the BBC documentary before pulling out last minute, launching a profanity-laced rant against the outlet on a live YouTube stream. When confronted by reporters after his sold-out Las Vegas show, his security blocked access. His team has called the BBC’s estimates of his income “highly irresponsible” and categorically denied allegations that he promotes misogyny, calling the claims unfounded and out of context. Kibe went further, disputing the very existence of misogyny as a concept, telling the BBC: “No man hates a woman. We love you – we are like gods to you, worship us.”

    Experts say the rapid growth of manosphere content in the Global South is directly tied to recent, rapid gains in gender equality across these regions. As more women enter higher education, the workforce, and positions of leadership, a subset of young men feel disenfranchised and invisible, a gap manosphere influencers have been quick to exploit. A 2025 global survey from King’s College London of more than 23,000 adults found that 57% of Gen Z men agree with the statement: “We have gone so far in promoting women’s equality that we are discriminating against men.” That belief is the foundational tenet of nearly all leading manosphere creators’ messaging.

    “He focuses a lot on men as having been dismissed by society, and [the narrative that] women have, you know, been the stars of the show,” explained Dr. Ali Siles, a gender and masculinities researcher at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. “He has this message of: ‘You do matter, believe in yourself.’” For many young men who feel abandoned by traditional support systems, that message resonates. The BBC gained full access to the multi-year social media histories of two Gen Z followers—19-year-old Mexican Julian, and Kenyan university student Ryan—to trace how users drift into manosphere content. Julian, who first started engaging with fitness and car content at 16, encountered El Temach via Instagram’s recommendation algorithm within months; today, he has liked more than 3,000 videos from manosphere creators, and says he believes “feminism has made men’s problems invisible.” Ryan, raised by a single mother, turned to Kibe’s content while searching for guidance on masculinity and success from a father figure, calling the influencer a surrogate for the parental guidance he lacked.

    But that validation of men’s struggles comes at a steep cost, researchers warn: it is built on the dehumanization and subjugation of women, rolling back decades of progress toward gender equality by pushing women back into restrictive, stereotypical roles. The investigation found real-world harm linked to this content, including intimate partner abuse. Fernanda, a doctor based in Mexico City, told the BBC her ex-partner—also a doctor—used El Temach’s messaging to justify years of controlling behavior. On the day they separated, she says he locked her in a room and forced her to watch four hours of El Temach’s videos, telling her she was the one at fault for their relationship problems, before threatening to kill her. “I think [my former partner] was already a sexist who was hiding it. But El Temach influenced him to no longer feel bad about it,” she said.

    For Alex Castilleja, her brother’s rise is a personal and public warning: it shows how the allure of fame and fortune can push even the most unlikely people into promoting harmful rhetoric that damages lives. “I think he knows what he’s doing on some level. I think that he sees and realises that if he ever owns up to what he did, it’ll destroy him,” she said. “He drifted… into this weird dystopic hell and he’s just this… violence robot. It’s very sad.”

  • Ravindra and Blundell hit centuries as NZ and Ireland meet for 1st time in a test match

    Ravindra and Blundell hit centuries as NZ and Ireland meet for 1st time in a test match

    In a groundbreaking moment for cricket between two longtime cricketing nations, New Zealand staged a remarkable comeback on the first day of its maiden test match against Ireland in Belfast on Wednesday, powered by back-to-back centuries from Rachin Ravindra and Tom Blundell that lifted the Black Caps to a dominant 361 for five wickets by the close of play. The historic one-off four-day fixture at Belfast’s Civil Service Cricket Club got off to a dream start for the Irish side, after captain tossed the coin correctly and opted to put New Zealand into bat first to exploit early pitch conditions. Irish pace bowler Mark Adair turned this opening advantage into an immediate breakthrough, dismissing New Zealand skipper Tom Latham for a duck off just the second ball of the entire match. Adair followed that up with a second early wicket, removing Devon Conway for just four runs, leaving the Black Caps reeling early in their innings. By the time the fourth wicket fell, New Zealand had struggled to 86 runs on the board, leaving the match perfectly poised for an Irish fightback. That was when Ravindra and Blundell joined forces to turn the tide of the game completely in New Zealand’s favor. The pair forged a match-defining 217-run partnership that silenced the Irish bowling attack and rebuilt the innings from its shaky start. Ravindra’s impressive knock of 121 runs finally came to an end when he was caught off the spin bowling of Harry Tector, by which point New Zealand had moved to 303 for five wickets. Blundell remained unbeaten at the close of play on 142 not out, anchoring the innings and carrying New Zealand to its imposing final total heading into the second day. Beyond this historic fixture, the match serves as critical preparation for New Zealand ahead of their upcoming high-profile three-test series against England, which is scheduled to get underway on June 4 at the iconic Lord’s Cricket Ground in London. Wednesday’s opening day delivered a dramatic display of cricketing resilience, proving that even with an early setback, top-tier batting can turn a match on its head in test cricket.

  • What it was like inside court as Matthew Perry’s assistant was sentenced

    What it was like inside court as Matthew Perry’s assistant was sentenced

    When the gavel fell in a Los Angeles federal court this week, a chapter tied to the tragic 2023 death of beloved *Friends* actor Matthew Perry came to a pivotal close. BBC correspondent Shaimaa Khalil, one of the journalists present inside the courtroom, witnessed the sentencing of Kenneth Iwamasa, Perry’s personal assistant, who received a 41-month prison term for his role in supplying and administering the ketamine that caused the actor’s fatal overdose.

    The proceeding unfolded with quiet tension as family members of Perry and court observers filled the benches, waiting for the judge’s ruling. Prosecutors had argued that Iwamasa’s repeated actions—procuring the illicit ketamine and administering the injection to Perry just days before his death—directly contributed to the actor’s accidental overdose. Iwamasa, who previously plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine, stood silent as the sentence was read, showing little visible reaction to the ruling.

    Khalil reported that the courtroom maintained a somber tone throughout the 90-minute hearing, with prosecutors emphasizing the dangerous ripple effects of illicit drug distribution that ends in the death of a user. Defense attorneys had argued for a lighter sentence, citing Iwamasa’s cooperation with federal investigators and his own history of substance use struggles, but the judge ultimately determined that the severity of the crime warranted a substantial prison term.

    This sentencing marks one of the final major legal steps in the case stemming from Perry’s death, which shocked fans across the globe and renewed public conversation about addiction treatment and the risks of illicit recreational ketamine use.

  • The world’s carmakers are struggling to compete with China

    The world’s carmakers are struggling to compete with China

    The global automotive sector is undergoing a seismic shift, as long-dominant American, European, and Japanese car manufacturers rapidly lose market share to ambitious Chinese rivals that are leading the industry not just in electric vehicle (EV) production, but across batteries, intelligent design, and automotive software.

    During on-the-ground reporting at Chinese manufacturing facilities in Beijing and Hefei, conducted alongside 2026’s Auto China — the world’s largest automotive exhibition — the BBC observed industry-leading levels of production automation and unprecedented speed in software development. These capabilities have left once-dominant foreign brands scrambling to catch up in the world’s largest single car market.

    Following a tour of a highly automated Shanghai EV factory, Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe told Japanese media bluntly: “We have no chance against this.” Ford CEO Jim Farley has similarly issued a stark warning, noting that Western automakers are “in a fight for our lives” as Chinese brands expand their footprint across global markets.

    After decades of structuring their Chinese operations around joint ventures with local partners to access the massive domestic market, global carmakers are fundamentally restructuring these partnerships to remain competitive in the new EV era.

    Shanghai-based automotive analyst Bill Russo argues that the developed world has fundamentally misunderstood this industry transition. “The biggest mistake that the developed world is making is believing that the transition is only about electric cars,” he explained. “It’s about who will lead the next generation of mobility technology.”

    China’s competitive advantage extends far beyond finished passenger vehicles. Data from the Rhodium Group shows that China is now the top exporter for over 315 product categories, up from just 163 in 2016. A large share of these categories are core components of the EV supply chain, including lithium-ion batteries, critical manufacturing equipment, and specialized vehicle parts.

    Analysis from the International Energy Agency confirms that producing a small electric SUV in China costs at least 30% less than manufacturing the same vehicle in advanced Western economies, a gap driven largely by lower battery production costs and China’s highly integrated, efficient domestic supply chain network.

    This massive competitive advantage was built over decades of targeted policy support. Rhodium Group estimates that China has directed tens of billions of dollars in public support to EV and battery manufacturing in just the past few years alone. These subsidies, which have faced fierce criticism from policymakers in the European Union and United States for distorting global markets, have allowed Chinese firms to scale production rapidly and bring down consumer prices.

    Intense competition within China’s domestic market has also accelerated the pace of innovation. Major Chinese technology giants including Xiaomi, Huawei, and Alibaba have all entered the EV space in recent years, bringing deep expertise in consumer technology and software integration to the automotive sector. Russo notes that Chinese manufacturers are no longer focused on catching up to Western rivals — instead, they are competing directly with each other, driving constant improvement. “They’re not racing the West anymore, they’re racing each other,” he said.

    As modern vehicles become increasingly software-defined, from advanced driver assistance systems to in-vehicle entertainment and connectivity, these technology firms have given Chinese automakers a critical edge. The pace of progress is on clear display at Xiaomi’s EV factory outside Beijing, where a fully completed vehicle rolls off the production line approximately every 76 seconds. Though Xiaomi only launched its first electric vehicle in 2024, it has already climbed to become one of China’s top 10 best-selling EV brands. Its signature strategy integrates vehicles with smartphones, mobile apps, and smart home ecosystems to create a seamless connected user experience.

    At Nio’s production facility in Hefei, large sections of the assembly line operate almost entirely without human intervention. Industry leader BYD has developed an ultra-fast charging technology that can add 400 kilometers (249 miles) of driving range in roughly five minutes, bringing EV charge times close to the length of a traditional gasoline refueling stop.

    XPeng founder and CEO He Xiaopeng told the BBC that his company is now prioritizing research and development into humanoid robots and flying cars alongside its core EV business. “In the next decade, any car company will also be a robotics company,” he predicted.

    Global automakers already depend on China as a manufacturing and export hub for international markets: Tesla exports Shanghai-assembled Model 3 sedans to customers across Europe, while BMW produces electric Mini models in China for global distribution. Despite this, most foreign brands have struggled to maintain their position within China’s own domestic market.

    Data from automotive consultancy Automobility shows that foreign brands’ combined share of China’s domestic car market has plummeted from 64% in 2020 to just 32% in 2026. This steep decline has hit bottom lines at General Motors and major German manufacturers, which once relied heavily on China for a large share of their global profits. Even luxury automotive brands are facing growing pressure: Huawei’s Maextro S800 luxury sedan is now the best-selling vehicle priced above $100,000 (£74,145) in China, outselling the combined total of one-time market leaders including the Porsche Panamera and BMW 7-series.

    Today, China exports roughly seven million finished vehicles annually, with nearly half of those shipments being electric vehicles. For decades, the dynamic between foreign and Chinese automotive firms followed a clear pattern: global brands brought advanced technology and established brand recognition, while local partners provided manufacturing infrastructure and access to the Chinese market. That model is now obsolete, and industry relationships are being redefined from the ground up.

    Stellantis recently finalized a €1 billion ($1.16 billion; £863 million) agreement with state-backed Chinese automaker Dongfeng to produce Peugeot and Jeep models in China for both domestic and global sales. As part of the deal, Stellantis will also bring Dongfeng’s Voyah electric brand to the European market, and is currently exploring the possibility of producing Chinese-designed vehicles at its existing manufacturing plant in France.

    Volkswagen has invested $700 million to access XPeng’s software architecture and autonomous driving systems to accelerate development of its next-generation EV line — a move that marked an implicit acknowledgment that the German giant could not develop the technology quickly enough on its own in its home markets. XPeng’s He framed the partnership as mutually beneficial: “We study each other, so we trust each other, so we help each other.”

    Toyota, Hyundai, Ford, and Nissan have all followed similar paths, expanding their Chinese research and development centers or exploring plans to build Chinese-designed vehicles at their overseas factories, tapping into local Chinese innovation and engineering talent rather than just using the country for low-cost assembly.

    Not all global automakers have successfully adapted to the new landscape. Audi has been forced to offer steep discounts on its E5 model, a vehicle specifically designed and engineered for the Chinese market, after demand fell far short of company projections. General Motors has written down billions of dollars in value from its Chinese operations, and reported a more than 21% drop in sales in China during the first quarter of 2026.

    Japanese automakers have been particularly slow to transition to fully electric vehicles, leaving them exposed to competition in China and increasingly in Southeast Asia, where Chinese brands are rapidly capturing market share. In early 2026, Volkswagen briefly reclaimed the title of top-selling car brand in China, but industry analysts attribute the shift largely to the phase-out of Beijing’s EV subsidies, which temporarily weakened domestic Chinese rivals.

    China’s domestic automotive market is also cooling after years of breakneck expansion. Industry growth has slowed, while persistent overcapacity and an intense industry-wide price war are squeezing profit margins for nearly all players. This market pressure is a key driver of Chinese automakers’ push into overseas markets: major brands including BYD, Chery, and SAIC are aggressively expanding into Europe and emerging markets across the Global South, even facing EU tariffs as high as 45% on Chinese EV imports.

    Chery’s Jaecoo 7 has already become one of the United Kingdom’s best-selling new passenger models within just 14 months of its launch. However, tariffs of more than 100% have effectively blocked Chinese EV brands from accessing the large US market for the foreseeable future.

    Industry analysts warn that as more vehicle production, battery innovation, and automotive software development shifts to China, established manufacturing hubs in Southeast Asia and Europe could face sustained disruption, putting local jobs and regional economic growth at risk. Trade tariffs will not be enough to shield domestic industries from this shift, says independent automotive consultant James Pearson: “If you lock them out of one market, they will just find another.”

    Russo argues that the global automotive industry’s center of gravity has already shifted irreversibly toward China. Companies that are willing to collaborate and adapt to the new landscape have a chance to remain competitive, he says, while those that focus solely on blocking China’s rise will almost certainly fall further behind.

  • Search for victims continues as death toll rises in Washington chemical explosion

    Search for victims continues as death toll rises in Washington chemical explosion

    A catastrophic chemical tank rupture at a Longview, Washington paper mill has left two workers dead, seven other people injured, and nine crew members unaccounted for, in what state officials have called the deadliest industrial accident in modern Washington state history. The incident unfolded Tuesday at the Nippon Dynawave Packaging facility, located roughly 130 miles south of Seattle, when a tank storing white liquor — a highly corrosive alkaline chemical used in paper manufacturing — suffered a catastrophic failure.

    By Wednesday, emergency officials confirmed two fatalities, after one injured worker initially hospitalized following the blast succumbed to injuries. Seven employees and one responding firefighter were among those hurt in the incident, and rescue crews have not given up the slow, painstaking work of locating the nine still missing. However, officials have cautioned that they do not expect to find any additional survivors, given the force of the blast and the extreme hazards at the site.

    First responders have faced extraordinary challenges throughout the recovery operation. The accident site remains an active, extremely hazardous zone, with persistent slow leaks of corrosive chemical from the damaged tank. While hundreds of thousands of gallons of white liquor have already spilled, an estimated 25,000 gallons remain trapped inside the compromised structure, and ongoing concerns about the tank’s structural integrity have forced repeated delays to search efforts. Recovery operations were halted entirely overnight Tuesday due to the combined risks of darkness and unstable conditions, resuming at dawn Wednesday.

    Search crews are outfitted in specialized chemical protective gear, but Longview Fire Department Battalion Chief Matt Amos noted that even top-tier equipment cannot eliminate all industrial hazards present at the site. “Operations will be slow, methodical and deliberate… while treating every victim with the greatest dignity, care and respect as possible,” Amos told reporters at a Wednesday news conference. As any remains are recovered, they will first go through mandatory decontamination before being transferred to the Cowlitz County Coroner’s Office for formal identification and family notification. One of the two confirmed victims has been publicly identified by his family as Gilbert Bernal, a grandfather and long-time employee who was set to celebrate his 32nd wedding anniversary just weeks after the blast. Bernal’s daughter Geovana remembered him as a hardworking, selfless man who deeply loved his family. The second victim’s identity has not yet been released.

    A large volume of chemical contaminants from the spill have entered the nearby Columbia River, but state and local officials have confirmed that local drinking water supplies and regional air quality remain unaffected by the release. Cowlitz Fire and Rescue Chief Scott Goldstein told reporters that authorities still do not know the exact location of all nine missing workers, as large portions of the facility remain too dangerous to access for search teams.

    The Nippon Dynawave Packaging facility, which employs roughly 1,000 workers and produces a range of paper goods including tissues, printer paper, disposable food packaging and cardboard cartons, has a prior record of industrial incidents: in July 2023, a large multi-day fire broke out at the site, burning piles of stored wood for several days. In response to the blast, Washington Governor Bob Ferguson has deployed the state National Guard to assist with recovery and cleanup efforts. As operations continue, local community members have gathered near the site to support first responders and the families of the missing and deceased.

  • Jill Biden says she thought husband was ‘having a stroke’ during 2024 debate

    Jill Biden says she thought husband was ‘having a stroke’ during 2024 debate

    The 2024 U.S. presidential election, one of the most turbulent in modern American political history, has yielded new behind-the-scenes revelations from former first lady Jill Biden, who opened up about her panic during Joe Biden’s disastrous first debate against Republican nominee Donald Trump. In a forthcoming interview with CBS News Sunday Morning, set to air this weekend, Jill Biden shared for the first time her immediate visceral reaction to her husband’s faltering performance that upended the entire election cycle.

    “I was frightened, because I had never ever seen Joe like that before or since. Never,” she told CBS correspondent Rita Braver, as confirmed by the BBC, CBS’s partner for U.S. political coverage. “I don’t know what happened,” she added. “As I watched it, I thought, ‘Oh, my God, he’s having a stroke.’ And it scared me to death.”

    That June 2024 debate, held just five months before the November general election, was supposed to be a critical moment for incumbent President Joe Biden to make his case for a second term against his predecessor Trump. The two candidates clashed on defining national issues, from immigration policy and post-pandemic economic recovery to abortion rights, but any policy arguments Biden made were quickly overshadowed by his shaky on-stage demeanor. Then-Vice President Kamala Harris later described the performance as a “slow start”; Biden spoke with a raspy, strained voice (his team attributed this to a lingering illness) and at one point lost his train of thought mid-answer, leaving viewers and party leaders stunned.

    Long before the debate, voters had already raised widespread concerns about Biden’s age and mental acuity — he was 81 years old at the time, the oldest person ever to serve as sitting president — and that poor performance amplified those anxieties exponentially. Within hours, Democratic Party leaders began privately and publicly pressuring Biden to drop out of the race, warning that his candidacy would put not just the presidency but down-ballot congressional and gubernatorial seats at risk. Major U.S. media analysts echoed those concerns, arguing that Biden’s standing against Trump had deteriorated to a point that threatened the party’s chances of holding the White House.

    At first, Biden’s campaign pushed back hard against calls for him to exit, insisting the president would remain the Democratic nominee and would participate in a second scheduled debate against Trump. Political analysts also widely noted that replacing an incumbent nominee just months before a general election would require a chaotic, divisive process that could split the party and derail its campaign entirely. But a series of subsequent missteps, including awkward gaffes at a NATO summit in the weeks after the debate and a visibly frail appearance following a COVID-19 diagnosis, convinced Biden that he could not continue. He ultimately announced he would end his re-election bid and endorsed Harris, his vice president, to take his place as the party’s nominee.

    Jill Biden, who has been a constant presence alongside her husband through his 50-plus-year political career — from his early days as a U.S. Senator from Delaware to his four years in the White House — was widely recognized as one of Joe Biden’s most trusted and influential advisers during his presidency, and multiple reports have confirmed she was among those who encouraged him to step away from the 2024 race.

    Three months before the general election, Harris officially secured the Democratic nomination, but she ultimately failed to overcome the late start and lost the general election to Trump. In the aftermath of her defeat, Harris offered a scathing rebuke of Biden’s decision to run for a second term in her memoir, calling the choice an act of recklessness. “‘It’s Joe and Jill’s decision.’ We all said that, like a mantra, as if we’d all been hypnotized,” Harris wrote. “Was it grace, or was it recklessness? In retrospect, I think it was recklessness.”

    Jill Biden’s new comments offer the most intimate look yet at the moment that changed the trajectory of the 2024 election, laying bare the fear that gripped even Biden’s closest inner circle in the aftermath of the debate.

  • Canada signs landmark LNG energy deal with Germany

    Canada signs landmark LNG energy deal with Germany

    On a Wednesday announcement held in Vancouver, Canadian officials unveiled a historic long-term energy agreement that will open a new transatlantic energy corridor, shipping 1 million tons of Canadian liquified natural gas (LNG) to Germany every year for up to two decades. The deal, struck between the proposed Ksi Lisims LNG project on British Columbia’s northwest Pacific coast and Germany’s state-owned energy utility Securing Energy for Europe (SEFE), marks the first permanent LNG export route from Canada to Europe, addressing dual strategic priorities for both nations.

    For European partners, the agreement comes amid a years-long push to replace unreliable fossil fuel supplies following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, as the continent continues to shore up diversified, stable energy sources amid ongoing global geopolitical volatility including the Middle East conflict. For Canada, the deal delivers a long-sought win for trade diversification: 2024 data from Canada’s national energy regulator shows nearly 100 percent of the country’s current LNG exports are delivered exclusively to the United States, making this new route a significant shift away from overreliance on a single trading partner.

    Canadian Energy Minister Tim Hodgson framed the pact as a defining milestone for the country’s global energy role during the announcement. “This is an exciting and important milestone that proves the world trusts Canada,” Hodgson said, noting the country’s standing as a stable democratic nation with abundant untapped natural resource reserves that can fill critical gaps in global energy markets. He added that the binding export commitment is expected to unlock the final investment decision for the Ksi Lisims project within months, with construction set to begin shortly after funding is secured. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who prioritized the project during a 2025 trade mission to Berlin with his cabinet, has designated Ksi Lisims as a project of national importance, qualifying it for a fast-track regulatory review process.

    Despite the federal government’s celebration of the deal, the Ksi Lisims LNG project faces substantial headwinds on multiple fronts. More than 15 Indigenous and environmental organizations have pledged to block the development, arguing the project carries unacceptable environmental risks and faces unresolved legal challenges. “Ksi Lisims is not a future Canadian export success story,” explained Alex Walker, a campaigner with Environmental Defence, one of the leading opposition groups. “This is a high-risk, legally contested fossil fuel project that has failed to attract private capital for decades.” While the Nisga’a Nation, on whose traditional territory the export terminal would be built, supports the project, multiple other First Nations groups have already launched formal legal challenges to stop its development.

    Domestic political friction is also growing within Carney’s own government over climate policy. Just last week, 14 Liberal Party Members of Parliament signed an open letter to the prime minister expressing “deep concern” over what they characterize as a rollback of the federal government’s stated climate and environmental commitments. On the same day the LNG deal was announced, former Canadian Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault — a prominent Greenpeace activist before entering electoral politics — confirmed he will resign from the Liberal caucus this summer to focus on climate advocacy outside of government. “These seven years, intense, demanding and deeply meaningful have been among the most formative of my life,” Guilbeault told reporters from Parliament. “It is time now for me to find new ways to pursue my life’s work.” Responding to Guilbeault’s departure, Hodgson framed the Liberal Party as a “big tent” that accommodates a range of ideological perspectives, saying “At the end of the day we come together, form a collective view and execute on that.”

    In a separate announcement made the same day, Carney confirmed Canada will purchase new early-warning aircraft technology from a Swedish defense manufacturer, rejecting bids from competing U.S. contractors. The decision aligns with Carney’s previously stated pledge to reduce Canadian military spending on American-made equipment, telling audiences last April that “the days of our military sending 70 cents of every dollar to the United States are over.”

  • How a Gaza-bound aid convoy unravelled attempting to enter Haftar-controlled eastern Libya

    How a Gaza-bound aid convoy unravelled attempting to enter Haftar-controlled eastern Libya

    Last week, international headlines focused on Israeli forces intercepting a sea-bound pro-Palestinian aid flotilla heading to Gaza. What gained less immediate attention, however, was a parallel disruption 2,000 kilometers to the west, where a land-based wing of the same Global Sumud solidarity movement saw its journey to the besieged enclave collapse into detention and chaos.

    More than 200 activists with the Global Sumud Convoy pushed into the 5+5 security zone outside the Libyan city of Sirte, a buffer zone established under the country’s 2020 ceasefire agreement that has remained a contested flashpoint. The group’s goal was simple: negotiate safe passage through eastern Libya to Egypt’s Rafah crossing, the primary entry point for aid into blockaded Gaza.

    After days of camping in the zone, armed forces arrived at the encampment and broke up the convoy. Most participants were forcibly escorted back to the capital Tripoli under armed guard, but 10 international activists from Spain, Poland, the United States, Argentina, Uruguay, Portugal, Tunisia and Italy were taken into custody and remain held by Libyan authorities.

    Speaking to Middle East Eye from her home in Johannesburg, South Africa, activist Jessica Breakey, who returned after the dismantling, described the group’s reluctance to leave their detained comrades behind. “We just didn’t want to leave without them,” she said. “It was always like we were in this together, like this convoy was moving together – and I think the worst part about the camp being dismantled and us having to go back was that we were going back without them.”

    Libya has been fractured along political and geographic lines since the 2011 NATO-backed overthrow of former ruler Muammar Gaddafi. Eastern Libya is controlled by the Libyan Arab Armed Forces (LAAF) led by commander Khalifa Haftar, backed by Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, while a UN-supported unity government governs the western half of the country, including Tripoli.

    The Global Sumud Convoy, launched by North African activists and later joined by hundreds of international participants, set out from Mauritania with a clear mission: deliver tangible, practical aid to Gaza that would go beyond the largely symbolic impact of previous sea-based flotillas. The convoy carried seven ambulances, 10 aid trucks, 20 mobile homes, and a team of medical professionals, engineers, educators and legal observers. Its progress across North Africa was largely uneventful until it reached the Sirte security zone.

    Negotiations for onward passage hit a breaking point on Sunday, when the convoy’s negotiating team was arrested. The following day, security forces arrived at the camp, forced the remaining activists onto buses at gunpoint, and even fired tear gas into a nearby mosque where some activists had taken shelter. It remains unclear which authority the security forces were directly affiliated with.

    Breakey noted that the treatment in Sirte stood in sharp contrast to the warm welcome and widespread public support the convoy received from Libyan civilians on its journey from Tripoli westward. She also criticized the Libyan Red Crescent, which had publicly expressed support for the convoy but failed to attend planned negotiations with Haftar’s representatives, effectively going “missing in action” as the crisis unfolded. “It’s crazy looking back at a time when we actually were very, very hopeful,” she added.

    Shortly after the raid, the eastern Libyan government’s foreign ministry announced new restrictions barring non-Libyan and non-Egyptian travelers from moving onward to Egypt. The ministry defended its actions, saying it handled the situation “within the framework of legal and humanitarian responsibility,” and claimed all detainees “are receiving the necessary care and medical and humanitarian follow-up.” It also reaffirmed Libya’s formal support for the Palestinian cause, but stressed that “respect for national sovereignty and the legal regulations governing the movement of individuals across borders is non-negotiable.”

    Human rights monitors have repeatedly documented widespread abuses in areas controlled by Haftar’s LAAF. Amnesty International reports that the LAAF and its affiliated armed groups severely restrict freedom of expression and association, targeting anyone perceived as a critic or opponent of Haftar. “Libyans, as well as refugees and migrants, detained by LAAF, which exercises government-like functions in areas under its control, risk torture and other ill-treatment, as well as prolonged detention amid flagrant due process violations,” explained Sara Hashash, Amnesty International’s deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa.

    Despite repeated reassurances from eastern Libyan officials, friends and fellow activists have grown increasingly anxious about the conditions and extended detention of the 10 activists. The coinciding timing of Eid al-Adha has reportedly slowed diplomatic progress and limited contact with detainees.

    On Thursday, Italy’s consul general in Benghazi confirmed he had visited the two Italian detainees held at a police barracks in eastern Libya. Following the visit, eastern Libyan authorities agreed to minor improvements to detention conditions, allowing access to showers, clean clothes and better accommodation, but have not released any information about possible deportation or release procedures.

    Not all criticism of the incident has come from outside the convoy: some participating activists say the mission suffered from fatal planning flaws from its start. Felipe, a 29-year-old Chilean-Palestinian activist with experience on previous sea-based aid flotillas, argues the convoy’s leadership bore partial responsibility for the outcome.

    During a two-week wait in Tripoli, Felipe said it became clear that organizers had made no contingency plans for detentions or a confrontation with the LAAF. “If we were not able to go through east Libya, we should not have kept pressuring them because we were going to shift the narrative from Israel to Libya,” he said. “We were waiting in the desert for nine days doing nothing.”

    He added that leadership sidelined critical voices ahead of the push into the security zone. “The day before [the raid], when they decided to go to the [eastern Libyan] border, I was not invited to the meeting because I was being critical. Their plan was basically to have a permanent camp or to do a hunger strike on the border,” he explained. Felipe added that the group was camped at an abandoned, bullet-riddled gas station that was once used by the Islamic State group, and many participants did not grasp the severity of their location or the risks. After the arrests, he argued, the convoy should have retreated to the western city of Misrata, as it had no resources or leverage to secure the detainees’ release. The entire experience, he said, left him disillusioned with land-based aid efforts: “Our people risked their lives to end the siege on Gaza… we came here and we risked our lives for nothing.”

    Analysts and rights advocates warn the incident could mark the end of any future land-based aid convoys attempting to cross Libya to reach Gaza. In recent years, Haftar has repeatedly signaled his interest in building diplomatic and economic ties with Israel, including through reported secret visits to meet Israeli officials, though it is unclear whether this influenced the LAAF’s handling of the convoy.

    Estelle Allemann, a legal researcher at the Mena Rights Group, called the new restrictions imposed by eastern Libyan authorities “a deeply troubling attempt to weaponise border control against humanitarian solidarity with Palestinians.” She added, “Restricting the movement of aid convoy activists under the guise of travel policy raises serious concerns about the criminalisation of civilian support for Gaza, and would fit a broader regional pattern of suppressing pro-Palestinian activism.”

    Middle East Eye attempted to contact the eastern Libyan foreign ministry for additional comment, but had not received a response by the time of publication. In a formal statement released Thursday, the Maghreb Sumud Organisation, one of the convoy’s lead organizers, issued a clarification of recent events. It confirmed that all non-detained participants have been instructed to return to their home countries, with only a small team of senior officials remaining in Libya to continue diplomatic and legal efforts to secure the release of the 10 detainees and coordinate the delivery of the planned aid. The group emphasized that the Global Sumud Convoy was never intended as an act of confrontation, but rather an independent, civilian humanitarian initiative to show moral solidarity with Gazans facing ongoing siege, widespread starvation, and total humanitarian collapse.