Global Pulse

作者： admin

  • Taiwan briefly slows its mobile internet to text-only speed as part of defense drill

    Taiwan briefly slows its mobile internet to text-only speed as part of defense drill

    As cross-strait tensions remain at heightened levels, Taiwan has rolled out its most realistic and public-facing annual Han Kuang military exercises to date, bringing unprecedented disruption to daily civilian life across multiple urban centers as part of preparations for a potential crisis. The 30-minute slowdown of mobile internet services across Taipei and six other cities and counties on Thursday was a central component of the exercise’s final phase, a scenario-based drill designed to test the island’s ability to function under degraded communication conditions amid a simulated military incursion.

    Telecom providers across the affected regions deliberately throttled mobile data speeds to a maximum of 256 Kbps, a dramatic reduction from the widespread 5G connectivity most urban residents rely on daily. The speed cap left only basic text-based messaging functional, cutting off access to streaming, social media, and most cloud-based services for half an hour. Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te publicly apologized for the inconvenience the controlled disruption caused, framing the measure as a critical, non-negotiable step for national preparedness. “We ask for your understanding and support, as this is a necessary drill,” Lai stated, after the exercise drew public attention for its tangible impact on daily routines.

    This year’s drills mark a clear shift in approach from previous years, with Taiwan’s military expanding the scope of exercises to actively integrate reservists and civilian populations into realistic crisis scenarios, moving away from the low-disruption, largely unnoticeable drills held in past iterations. Previous urban preparedness drills, for example, included low-key air raid exercises in Taipei subway stations that did not interrupt regular passenger flow, attracting little public notice. This year, by contrast, closed subway station entrances and held passengers inside for the duration of the air raid simulation, mirroring conditions of a real emergency.

    Local outlet the Taipei Times confirmed that civilian participation and interagency coordination with local government bodies were core priorities for the 2024 iteration of the drills. One detained passenger, Allen Hsieh, a Hong Kong tourist, told reporters he was surprised by how authentic the simulation felt, and said the minor disruption was understandable given regional security dynamics. “I did not expect it to be so real. I thought I would only receive text messages,” Hsieh said, adding “The exercise did not cause me any inconvenience. I know that Taiwan needs to conduct exercises, given the current situation. I can understand that.”

    Alongside the communication and civilian evacuation drills, President Lai also visited a local Taipei hospital that was running its own simulation: testing the process of relocating critical medical services and operations to pre-prepared underground facilities, a key preparedness step for preserving healthcare capacity during a potential conflict.

    The increasingly rigorous exercises come as Taiwan steadily boosts its defense training and military procurement in response to steadily rising tensions with Beijing. China continues to claim Taiwan as part of its sovereign territory, and maintains regular military presence near the island, with daily sorties by military aircraft and regular patrols by Chinese Coast Guard and naval vessels. Large-scale combat exercises near Taiwan’s borders are also conducted on a periodic basis to assert Beijing’s territorial claims. In the latest display of this sustained presence, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense reported that between Wednesday and Thursday morning alone, 18 Chinese military aircraft and 11 People’s Liberation Army Navy vessels were detected operating in waters and airspace surrounding the island.

  • Taiwan says AI agents used in cyberattacks targeting island

    Taiwan says AI agents used in cyberattacks targeting island

    In a formal statement released Thursday, Taiwan’s Ministry of Digital Affairs confirmed that a coordinated wave of cyberattacks targeting the island’s government agencies in July utilized artificial intelligence agents to boost the scope and efficiency of the intrusions. While Taipei has long pointed to Chinese actors as the source of the vast majority of the millions of daily cyberattacks that hit the self-ruled island, officials stopped short of naming a specific perpetrator in their update on this latest incident.
    Cross-strait tensions have risen steadily in recent years, as Beijing maintains its claim that Taiwan is an integral part of Chinese territory and has ramped up military, political and diplomatic pressure on the island. Taipei has repeatedly accused Beijing of leveraging a range of so-called “grey zone” tactics – actions that stop short of open military conflict – including persistent cyber intrusions to wear down and harass the island’s government and institutions.
    According to the ministry’s statement, affected agencies have already completed all necessary response and remediation measures to contain the breach. Officials did not, however, release additional details about the total scale of the attacks, the level of damage caused, or which specific agencies were targeted. What the ministry did outline is the novel hybrid approach attackers used: combining traditional hacking methods with AI agents, most notably the open-source AI agent platform OpenClaw, to streamline and scale their operations.
    “AI agents can rapidly chain together multiple attack techniques and use secondary systems — such as backup and testing systems — as jumping-off points, giving the attacks the characteristics of high speed, low cost, and large scale,” the ministry explained in its statement. Notably, Chinese technology firms have capitalized on growing interest in the open-source OpenClaw platform, offering low-cost, simplified installation and coding packages that help users deploy the platform’s AI agents on cloud servers, making these enhanced attack tools more accessible than ever.
    The ministry’s confirmation came in response to a recent report from the Financial Times, which first named Taiwan as the target of an autonomous AI-powered attack linked to suspected Chinese hackers. Citing researchers from Israeli artificial intelligence firm Dream, the FT reported that hackers built a fully autonomous attack tool using open-source AI agents, which deployed up to eight independent agents to map 21 separate government systems, identify unpatched vulnerabilities, and automatically adjust tactics when attempts to access systems were blocked. The outlet called the incident the first publicly documented attack of its kind.
    Kenny Huang, chairman of the Taiwan Network Information Center, noted that while AI integration in cyberattacks is not a new development, this breach marks the first publicly confirmed incident where multiple coordinated AI agents were used to carry out a large-scale intrusion against government targets. For years, the United States and other major powers have raised growing alarms over state-backed hacking operations attributed to Beijing that target government agencies, military infrastructure and private sector businesses around the globe. Beijing has consistently denied these accusations, maintaining that it formally opposes all forms of cyberattack and actively enforces crackdowns on malicious cyber activity.

  • Japan’s Crown Prince Akishino has ‘mixed feelings’ about male-only imperial succession law

    Japan’s Crown Prince Akishino has ‘mixed feelings’ about male-only imperial succession law

    In a rare public break with government policy, Japan’s Crown Prince Akishino, heir apparent to the Chrysanthemum Throne and younger brother of sitting Emperor Naruhito, has publicly stated he holds “mixed feelings” about the conservative Sanae Takaichi administration’s recent update to the Imperial House Law that codifies a strict male-only, paternal-line rule for imperial succession.

    The comments, delivered during a pre-travel press conference Thursday ahead of Akishino’s upcoming visit to Paraguay to commemorate 90 years of Japanese emigration to the South American nation, mark an unusual intervention from a senior imperial family member, who are traditionally barred from making public political statements. Akishino struck a carefully measured tone in his remarks, but pushed back against the gendered exclusion at the core of the new law revision.

    “There is no difference between men and women” when it comes to fulfilling imperial family duties and meeting the needs of Japanese society, Akishino told reporters. When pressed on the government’s final decision, he added: “I have mixed feelings about it, and it’s rather strange if I don’t. It is a difficult question, and the reality is that I can’t talk about it. The society needs to keep making progress, and I believe it is important for people with different views to keep thinking what’s best.”

    Akishino’s remarks come just weeks after the Takaichi government passed the historic revision to the 1947 Imperial House Law, which retains the 1890s mandate that only men born to a paternal imperial line can ascend to the throne. The change has drawn widespread condemnation from activists and members of the public as anachronistic, sexist, and a existential threat to Japan’s already shrinking imperial institution.

    Under the existing male-only succession rule, Emperor Naruhito’s 24-year-old daughter Princess Aiko — a widely popular figure among the Japanese public, a majority of whom have supported allowing female succession in opinion polling — is barred from inheriting the throne. The current line of succession designates Akishino as next in line, followed by his 19-year-old son Prince Hisahito, and then the emperor’s 90-year-old uncle, leaving a major gap in heirs after Hisahito.

    While the new revision includes a small, widely welcomed provision that allows princesses to retain their royal status and duties if they marry commoners (requiring their husbands and children to remain non-royal), the most controversial provision codifies a plan to adopt unmarried male descendants aged 15 or older from distant paternal imperial branches into the immediate royal family to produce new heirs. Critics argue the policy explicitly prioritizes retaining a strict patriarchal bloodline over allowing the popular Princess Aiko to ascend, embedding gender discrimination into Japan’s core royal institution.

    Historical records show Japan’s imperial tradition has long included female monarchs: eight women have held the throne throughout Japanese history, with the last being Empress Gosakuramachi, who reigned from 1762 to 1770. The formal mandate for male-only paternal succession was first written into law only in the 1889 Imperial House Law, a policy rooted in the strict patriarchal social order promoted by Japan’s Meiji government, and was largely carried over unchanged into the 1947 post-war Imperial House Law that remains the governing framework for the monarchy today.

    Beyond concerns over gender equity, critics warn the government’s hardline stance on male-only succession threatens the legacy of former Emperor Akihito, who abdicated in 2019. Akihito, who spent his reign working to make amends for World War II-era aggression carried out in his father’s name, worked to open up the traditionally aloof monarchy to the Japanese public — a reform project continued by his son Emperor Naruhito. Many worry the Takaichi administration’s revision pulls the monarchy backwards toward outdated hierarchical norms, undermining decades of work to modernize the institution and align it with contemporary Japanese values.

    Public backlash to the revision has already sparked widespread protests across Japan, with demonstrators arguing the policy ignores public will, sidelined the wishes of the royal family themselves, and perpetuates a discriminatory patriarchal system that places the importance of a centuries-old male bloodline above the needs and values of 21st century Japan.

  • Putin pays his first visit to Pacific island chain claimed by Japan, drawing a protest from Tokyo

    Putin pays his first visit to Pacific island chain claimed by Japan, drawing a protest from Tokyo

    In a high-profile move that has reignited a long-running territorial dispute between Russia and Japan, Russian President Vladimir Putin traveled Thursday to the Russian-controlled Kuril Islands chain — a territory claimed by Tokyo — marking his first public visit to the contested Pacific archipelago. The trip immediately drew a sharp diplomatic rebuke from Japanese officials.

    Putin’s itinerary on Iturup, one of the four southernmost islands at the heart of the disagreement, included stops at a local fish processing facility, a public hospital, and a regional primary school. During the visit, he held brief informal exchanges with local residents and held official talks with Valery Limarenko, the governor of Russia’s Sakhalin Oblast, which administers the island chain.

    The territorial standoff over the four southern islands stretches back to the end of World War II, when Soviet forces seized the territories from Japan at the close of the conflict. To this day, Japan refers to the four islands as its Northern Territories and maintains they are part of its sovereign territory. The unresolved dispute has prevented the two nations from signing a formal peace treaty to officially end World War II-era hostilities between them.

    Despite more than seven decades of diplomatic negotiations aimed at resolving the disagreement, no breakthrough has been reached. In recent years, Moscow has significantly strengthened its military deployments across the Kuril Islands, a step widely interpreted as a demonstration of its unwavering claim to sovereignty over the chain.

    Following news of Putin’s visit, Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi issued a formal statement announcing Tokyo’s “strong protest” against the trip. “The Northern Territories, including Etorofu (Iturup) Island, are Japan’s inherent territory both historically and from the perspective of international law,” Motegi said. This is not the first time Japan has issued such a protest: in 2021, Tokyo similarly condemned a visit to Iturup by Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.

    Putin’s trip to Iturup is part of a wider tour of Russia’s Far Eastern and Siberian regions. Ahead of arriving on the disputed island, the Russian president traveled to Sakhalin Island to observe the concluding phase of large-scale military drills conducted by Russia’s Pacific Fleet.

  • Scott Pendlebury and Jordan De Goey cleared for blockbuster clash against Hawthorn

    Scott Pendlebury and Jordan De Goey cleared for blockbuster clash against Hawthorn

    Ahead of one of the most anticipated AFL matchups of the late season, Collingwood Magpies head coach Craig McRae has delivered a much-needed dose of positive news for the club’s fans: veteran star Scott Pendlebury and dynamic playmaker Jordan De Goey will both take the field against Hawthorn this Saturday. The announcement comes at a critical time for the Magpies, who have been decimated by a crippling injury wave that has sidelined several of their top players through the closing rounds of the campaign. High-profile names including captain Darcy Moore, Patrick Lipinski, Jeremy Howe, Brayden Maynard, Harry Perryman and Jamie Elliot all currently sit on the sidelines, leaving the club’s depth severely tested heading into the blockbuster clash. The return of the two experienced midfielders marks a substantial boost to a squad that has been forced to dig into its reserves in recent weeks. Pendlebury, a 440-game club icon, was forced to miss Collingwood’s away trip to Perth last round while managing a persistent calf complaint. Off the field, the veteran has been the subject of widespread speculation in recent days: the 2027 contract is still unsigned, and multiple rival clubs have been linked to a potential move for the champion midfielder, coming just days after fellow Collingwood legend Steele Sidebottom announced his retirement after an 18-year storied career with the club. Speaking to media this week, McRae made clear the club has no intention of rushing Pendlebury into a decision about his future, confirming the veteran will be given all the time he needs to make a call by the end of the season. Addressing recent reports suggesting Pendlebury intends to continue his playing career beyond this season, McRae noted that while he had not personally confirmed those reports, the widespread interest from other clubs comes as no surprise given the midfielder’s ongoing impact both on and off the field. “We’ve had Pendles as a core part of our group for the best part of a decade, and the value he brings to our club environment is incredible,” McRae said. “It makes total sense that other teams would see that same value. All the speculation right now is just around what he could bring to any playing group – the culture he builds, the leadership he provides, the way he mentors younger players. That’s a rare quality.” McRae, who has worked closely with Pendlebury since taking over as head coach in 2022, highlighted the midfielder’s unmatched impact on the club’s emerging talent, adding that his support for young players has become one of his most important contributions to the Magpies’ program in recent seasons.

  • Messi plays for Inter Miami after father’s death

    Messi plays for Inter Miami after father’s death

    Eight-time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi has made an emotional return to competitive football for Inter Miami, just days after the passing of his father Jorge, while publicly revealing he is uncertain how much longer he will continue his legendary playing career.

    Jorge Messi, who had served as his son’s long-time agent and closest confidant since Lionel was 14 years old, passed away last week at the age of 68 in the family’s hometown of Rosario, Argentina following an extended battle with illness. After attending Jorge’s private funeral in Argentina on Sunday, the 39-year-old Argentine forward cut short his leave to return to the United States, and stepped onto the pitch as a half-time substitute for Inter Miami in their decisive Leagues Cup group stage match against Mexico’s CF Monterrey. The soccer legend received a thunderous standing ovation from the Miami crowd when he entered the game, a show of support that underscored the global respect for him during this difficult period.

    In a heartfelt social media statement shared after his father’s passing, Messi opened up about his uncertainty surrounding the future of his career. “I’m really not sure if I’ll carry on doing it for much longer,” the 2022 World Cup-winning captain wrote. He also shared that even as his health declined, Jorge urged him to compete in one final World Cup tournament, a request that speaks to the elder Messi’s lifelong dedication to his son’s career.

    Messi had missed Inter Miami’s previous Leagues Cup group match against CF Monterrey, a 2-1 loss that left the club needing a win against Leon to advance to the knockout stage. Despite Messi’s second-half appearance, Inter Miami fell 3-2 to the Mexican side, marking the first time the club has been eliminated in the group stage of the Leagues Cup since the tournament expanded in 2023 — the same year Messi joined the franchise and led them to their first ever major title.

    Teammates have praised Messi’s decision to return to the squad so soon after his loss. Yannick Bright, Inter Miami’s midfielder who scored the club’s second goal against Leon, called the captain’s availability “incredible.” “I wasn’t expecting it. It shows how much he cares. When I saw he was here, all I was thinking about was to give my 150% for him,” Bright told reporters after the match. “It’s a tough situation. We try to stay close to him and support him as much as we can, but it’s a lot.”

    Even opposing coaching staff expressed admiration for Messi’s choice to rejoin his team under such strained circumstances. Leon head coach Javier Gandolfi noted that while Messi stands out as an unparalleled talent in global football, his choice to play through grief highlights his character. “Messi is a human being that is different to the rest,” Gandolfi said. “Today he demonstrated once more what he’s made of.”

    For nearly three decades, Jorge Messi was a constant presence at his son’s side throughout every milestone of his historic career, from his early breakout at Barcelona to his World Cup triumph with Argentina in 2022. Most recently, Messi joined the Argentina squad for this summer’s Copa America, where the team advanced to the final before falling 1-0 to Spain in extra time, fulfilling the final wish his father shared with him amid declining health.

  • Slowing housing market offers Reserve Bank a path to pause rate rises

    Slowing housing market offers Reserve Bank a path to pause rate rises

    Australia’s housing sector is facing its sharpest monthly downturn in nearly two years, and that cooling trend is shaping the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) upcoming monetary policy decisions by easing pressure for additional interest rate increases, senior central bank officials have confirmed.

    Speaking at the LSEG Insight Series in Sydney, RBA Assistant Governor Christopher Kent outlined that slowing housing activity is already dragging down household spending, a key component of aggregate demand that the RBA targets to bring inflation back to its 2-3% target range. “All else equal, these changes will tend to reduce the extent to which monetary policy needs to constrain the growth in aggregate demand to help bring inflation back to the RBA’s target,” Kent explained.

    Kent noted that the housing market acts as a critical transmission channel for monetary policy: changes in the cash rate directly impact how much prospective homebuyers can borrow, and in turn, housing market conditions such as price shifts and credit growth give the RBA valuable real-time insight into how financial conditions are evolving across the economy. A cooling housing market therefore signals that existing rate hikes are already working to dampen economic activity, reducing the need for further restrictive policy action.

    Kent’s comments come after the RBA’s monetary policy board unanimously voted to hold the official cash rate at 4.35% for the second consecutive meeting in August, following three consecutive rate hikes earlier in 2024. RBA Governor Michele Bullock has pushed back on the idea that the slowing housing market was the direct driver of the rate pause, emphasizing that the board held rates steady to allow time for previous hikes to fully flow through to the broader economy. “What’s keeping us on hold is that we’ve already raised three times, and we are still waiting to see because it takes time for those to come through,” Bullock said.

    She also clarified that the RBA does not set monetary policy to directly influence property prices, and that interest rate cuts are not currently under consideration amid ongoing inflationary pressures. “The housing market wasn’t a constraint, and I would not say that the housing market is not, we didn’t consider an interest-rate cut,” Bullock said. “The housing market in terms of cutting interest rates – that’s not entering the equation.”

    Official data shows national Australian property prices fell 0.7% in July 2024, marking the largest single monthly drop since December 2022. Economists at ANZ Bank say the downturn is unfolding faster than their earlier projections, with forecasts calling for a 4.3% drop in capital city property prices over the 2024 calendar year, and a peak-to-trough drop of as much as 14.5% for Australia’s largest property market, Sydney.

    Kent attributed the current housing downturn to three overlapping factors: the cumulative impact of earlier cash rate hikes, a natural correction after a prolonged period of rapid price growth, and policy changes introduced by the Albanese government that have dampened investor demand for established properties. The government’s controversial changes to capital gains tax (CGT) and negative gearing, set to take effect in the 2027-28 financial year, will restrict negative gearing tax offsets to only newly built properties, replace the existing 50% CGT discount with an inflation-adjusted discount, and introduce a minimum 30% CGT rate.

    “Higher interest rates reduce the net present value of all assets, lower borrowing capacity, increase repayment burdens, and encourage saving,” Kent said. “In addition, tax changes announced in the federal budget appear to have contributed to reduced demand in the established housing market by lowering the after-tax return from housing for investors.”

    As of August 2024, Australia’s headline inflation sits at 3.8%, still above the RBA’s target range, while the trimmed mean core inflation rate (which strips out volatile price swings to measure underlying inflation) stands at 3.6%. The RBA’s dual mandate remains holding inflation between 2 and 3% while sustaining full employment across the country.

  • Indian actor’s video with endangered gibbon sparks investigation

    Indian actor’s video with endangered gibbon sparks investigation

    A viral social media incident involving one of Tamil cinema’s biggest stars has sparked a formal investigation by Indian wildlife authorities, shining a new spotlight on the country’s ongoing challenges with exotic wildlife regulation and illegal trafficking.

    Last Monday, award-winning actor Vikram — whose real name is Kennedy John Victor and boasts a three-decade career of acclaimed, physically demanding roles — shared an Instagram clip showing himself hugging and playing with a lar gibbon, a small endangered ape native to Southeast Asia. The footage spread rapidly across digital platforms, with many outlets reporting the animal as the star’s new pet, before it was removed from his account within hours.

    Officials from Tamil Nadu’s forest department confirmed this week they have launched a probe into how the primate ended up at a private Chennai home belonging to one of Vikram’s relatives. The investigation is focused on tracing the gibbon’s journey through multiple Indian states and verifying whether all legal requirements for possession, transfer, and import were followed at every step. Authorities have not yet made any accusations of trafficking, nor have they claimed Vikram owns the animal or was involved in smuggling it into the country. As of this reporting, the actor has not issued any public comment on the controversy; his public relations representative Yuvaraj told BBC Tamil that any statement from Vikram will be shared with media outlets once it is prepared.

    Lar gibbons, recognizable by their light or dark brown fur and distinct white facial ring, live in small family groups in Southeast Asian tropical forests across Thailand, Myanmar, and Malaysia. The species is formally listed as endangered by global conservation bodies, with wild populations decimated by habitat destruction, hunting, and the unregulated illegal pet trade. The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists the species as endangered, and international trade in lar gibbons is strictly restricted under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), an international agreement that India has integrated into its national wildlife protection laws.

    Under Indian law, individuals may legally keep CITES-listed exotic species only if they obtain all required permits and register the animal with national wildlife authorities. Rakesh Kumar Dogra, Tamil Nadu’s Chief Wildlife Warden, explained to BBC Tamil that importing protected exotic animals into India requires approval from the Directorate General of Foreign Trade, a no-objection certificate, and final clearance from a senior wildlife conservator. “An investigation is under way into where the lar gibbon came from. Only then can we say whether it was brought illegally,” Dogra said.

    The probe has already uncovered a paper trail that stretches more than 2,000 kilometers from Chennai to the northeastern Indian state of Manipur. A senior Tamil Nadu forest official, speaking anonymously to BBC Tamil, said investigators have linked the gibbon in Vikram’s video to a group of eight lar gibbons — four males and four females — declared by a Manipur-based individual on India’s PARIVESH portal in 2020. PARIVESH is the federal government’s official platform for registering exotic animals and securing environment, forestry, and wildlife-related permits; government records list Malaysia as the origin of this group of primates.

    According to portal records, three of the gibbons — one male and two females — were transferred from Manipur to an individual in Perundurai, located in Tamil Nadu’s Erode district, for the stated purpose of adoption this past June. Investigators have so far not found documentation proving that required approval from Tamil Nadu’s Chief Wildlife Warden was obtained to bring the primates into the state. Two months after that initial transfer, on August 5, one male and one female gibbon were moved again from Perundurai to Vikram’s relative in Chennai, forest department investigators confirmed.

    Wildlife conservation activists have raised additional questions about how the original group of eight gibbons entered India in the first place. Manipur shares a long border with Myanmar, and India’s northeastern region has long been identified as a major transit route for illegal exotic wildlife trafficking into the country. Still, authorities stress they have not reached a final conclusion that the gibbons in this case were trafficked. India’s federal Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB), which specializes in investigating organized wildlife crime, has also joined the probe. Thenmozhi, Deputy Director of the WCCB’s Southern Zone, told BBC Tamil the agency has requested Chennai wildlife officials to verify all existing documentation and take appropriate action based on their findings. “The lar gibbon is classified as a protected species under this agreement. They should only be handled as protected animals,” Thenmozhi said, referencing CITES regulations.

    This investigation comes amid growing national concern over rising illegal imports of exotic animals into India. In recent years, Indian customs officials have repeatedly intercepted smuggling attempts, with passengers arriving from Southeast Asia often hiding live reptiles, birds, and primates in their luggage. Just in July 2025, authorities seized more than 350 exotic animals originating from Bangkok at Mumbai and Pune airports over a two-month period. Gibbons have been targeted by traffickers before: last November, Bengaluru customs officials recovered a lar gibbon among a shipment of exotic animals brought in by a Bangkok-bound passenger. Chennai has also seen its share of high-profile seizures; this past February, customs officials intercepted 31 exotic animals — including tortoises, iguanas, and snakes — from a passenger arriving from Bangkok.

    As the investigation progresses, authorities continue to work to trace the full origins of the gibbon, verify permits for every stage of its transfer, and determine whether any individuals violated India’s strict wildlife protection laws.

  • Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell refuses to dwell on horror loss to Lions

    Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell refuses to dwell on horror loss to Lions

    Ahead of one of the most anticipated matches of their 2026 AFL season, Hawthorn Hawks head coach Sam Mitchell has opened up about how his squad has processed their humiliating 67-point loss to the Brisbane Lions at the Gabba last weekend — revealing the side has already put the disappointing result firmly in the rearview mirror.

    The defeat marked the heaviest loss the Hawks have suffered so far this 2026 campaign, a lopsided result that saw third-placed Hawthorn fail to live up to their usual high standards against a dominant Lions side. But speaking to reporters on Thursday morning, just two days out from Saturday night’s clash against Collingwood at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Mitchell made it clear the club is refusing to dwell on the upset.

    Mitchell explained that after the defeat, the coaching and playing group spent a short period reviewing the match, identifying key mistakes and taking away lessons to improve future performance, before intentionally shifting their full focus to the upcoming round. “You guys will keep talking about it, and rightly so, that’s your job – but for us we assess what happened in the game, we learn some lessons and we move on,” Mitchell said. “I haven’t thought or done anything about the Brisbane game for two days now. We spent a couple of days reflecting, analyzing, getting better, but then we move on.”

    When breaking down where the Hawks went wrong against Brisbane, Mitchell pinpointed wasteful finishing and a failure to convert scoring chances as the main cause of the lopsided scoreline. He added that he expects the squad to address that issue when they take the field against Collingwood this weekend.

    This weekend’s match at the MCG will be Hawthorn’s final home game of the 2026 regular season, adding extra stakes to the encounter. Preparing to face off against the Pies, Mitchell acknowledged the strength of the opposition, noting Collingwood’s tight tactical structure and well-drilled game plan under their coaching staff. He highlighted star defender Nick Daicos as a particular threat, noting the player demands constant attention from opposing defenses, and confirmed the Hawks are working on a game plan to balance limiting Daicos’ impact while leaning into their own on-field strengths.

    Following the Collingwood clash, Hawthorn will close out their regular season with a trip west to Perth, where they will face off against the West Coast Eagles in round 24.

  • A punishing European drought shrivels crops from Dutch potatoes to Bosnian corn

    A punishing European drought shrivels crops from Dutch potatoes to Bosnian corn

    Across sweltering European farmlands this summer, an unprecedented drought fueled by human-caused global warming and an amplified El Niño event is pushing agricultural production to its breaking point, leaving even adaptive farmers scrambling to mitigate staggering losses. From the fertile coastal plains of the Netherlands’ southwestern Zeeland Province to the river basins of the Balkan region, the extreme heat and prolonged dry spell have scorched staple crops, drained critical water reserves, and threatened livelihoods that depend on predictable growing seasons.

    In Zeeland, Maarten Janse has spent years adapting his 150-hectare farm to worsening climate volatility: he uses no-till farming methods that leave soil undisturbed to retain moisture, plants year-round cover crops to prevent dehydration, and adds organic compost and manure to boost soil health. He even diversified his income stream by opening a popular lakeside campsite and began growing salt-tolerant samphire to combat rising soil salinity from prolonged dry conditions. But even these proactive measures are failing to hold back this year’s extreme drought. As he drives his tractor across parched fields, spreading nutrient-rich organic matter to revive cracked soil, the lack of rain has left even his salt-resistant samphire stunted—this crop that evolved to withstand brackish conditions still requires periodic fresh water to grow, a resource that has all but vanished in 2024.

    Zeeland farmer Hendrik Jan ten Cate counts himself among the lucky ones: he still has official permission to irrigate his potato crop, grown to supply frozen French fries to major global chains including McDonald’s. Even so, his harvest is coming a full month earlier than usual, and nearly all of his potato plants are already withered and stunted. Most of this year’s crop is too small to meet the demand for long, full-cut French fries that consumers prefer, and he projects his total yield will drop by one-third compared to average growing years. “It’s not just the lack of rain that’s killing our crops,” ten Cate explained. “It’s the combination of relentless sun, bone-dry air, and record consecutive hot days. Potatoes simply cannot survive that mix.”

    The crisis extends far beyond the Netherlands, leaving agricultural sectors across the continent reeling. In Bosnia, where agriculture accounts for 5% of national GDP and 10% of total employment, grain farmer Slavisa Lukic stares out across a field of limp, heat-stricken corn stalks. Where he once harvested 6 to 7 tons of corn per hectare, he now expects just 1.5 to 2 tons—if he can even bring a full harvest to market. Clover pastures that once fed local livestock have completely vanished from his property in northeastern Bosnia. “They literally do not exist now,” Lukic said. “Nothing is left.”

    Even the Czech Republic’s iconic beer industry is at risk, as drought stunts the annual hop harvest that supplies the country’s world-famous breweries. Plzeňský Prazdroj, the nation’s largest beer producer, projects significant financial losses this year due to reduced hop yields. Jakub Zaoral, the company’s sustainability manager, noted shifting rainfall patterns have made harvests increasingly unpredictable: long dry spells are broken only by intense, short storms that run off parched soil instead of replenishing groundwater reserves. “We’ve had to accept that one year will be great and the next will be a loss,” Zaoral said. “But if this stretches to three consecutive bad years, that could become an existential threat for small hop growers across the country.”

    In the Danube River basin, the drought has created cascading crises beyond crop failure. While Romania’s heat and drought-resistant sunflower crops have fared better than most staples this year, record-low water levels on the Danube have brought grain transport to a near-standstill. Congestion at river terminals has left silos overflowing, with farmers unable to store or ship their existing harvests ahead of the upcoming sunflower and corn harvest. “Farmers are already in full panic mode,” said Cezar Gheorghe, founder of Romanian grain consultancy Agricolumn. “They have nowhere to put the crops they already have, and the next harvest is just 10 days away.” In Hungary, Sándor Molnár’s dairy farm has seen no rain since late May, turning cattle grazing plains to dust and forcing him to buy expensive supplementary feed for his 130 dairy cows. “We keep hanging on and hoping next year will be better,” Molnár said. “To be honest, we’ve been saying that for years now. But we’re still hoping this time it will be true.”

    Even large, well-resourced farming operations that invested heavily in climate adaptation are feeling the strain. The 10,000-acre Elveden Estate on the Suffolk-Norfolk border in the United Kingdom built a massive reservoir capable of holding water equal to 200 Olympic-sized swimming pools, opening the facility less than a year ago to protect against drought. Today, that reservoir is nearly empty, and a second on-site reservoir holds just 20% of its capacity. While the investment in water storage has allowed the farm to keep irrigating through the current crisis, managing director Andrew Blenkiron warned that supplies are running critically low. “If this hot, dry weather holds, we only have enough water left for six more weeks of irrigation,” Blenkiron said.

    The economic damage from this summer’s extreme conditions is projected to last for years, according to a new analysis from Dutch sustainable bank Triodos. The report estimates that repeated heatwaves and droughts across the continent could cut the European Union’s total GDP by 1% by 2026, equal to roughly 180 billion euros ($208 billion). Farmers are positioned to bear the brunt of the damage, with many regions already implementing strict water restrictions that bar farmers from drawing water from streams and drainage channels to irrigate fields and orchards. As climate change continues to increase the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, European agricultural producers are facing a new normal where even the most proactive adaptation strategies are often no match for the scale of the crisis.