Global Pulse

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  • France’s youngest PM Attal to run for president

    France’s youngest PM Attal to run for president

    France’s political landscape has been upended by a historic announcement: 37-year-old Gabriel Attal, the youngest person to ever hold the post of French Prime Minister, officially declared his candidacy for the 2025 presidential election on Friday. The centrist contender made his announcement against a backdrop of clear blue skies in the small rural village of Mur-de-Barrez, a strategic choice aimed at addressing longstanding criticism that centrist parties lack deep roots in France’s countryside ahead of a contest that will likely be defined by the battle against the rising far-right National Rally (RN).

    In his opening remarks to supporters, Attal pushed back against the stagnation that has come to define mainstream French politics in recent years. “I can’t take this kind of French politics anymore, where it’s just 50 shades of managing decline,” he told the crowd, positioning himself as a fresh alternative to both establishment gridlock and far-right populism. When he took office as Prime Minister in 2024 at age 34, Attal made history as France’s youngest head of government, and his rapid ascent through the political ranks has already drawn widespread comparisons to current President Emmanuel Macron, who won the Elysee Palace at 39 in 2017, becoming France’s youngest head of state since Napoleon. Attal will turn 38 in March, just one month before the scheduled April presidential vote, which Macron will not contest as he steps down after two terms.

    Attal’s entry into the race creates a crowded field of high-profile candidates from across the political spectrum. He joins former center-right Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, 55, who now leads his own Horizons party, and 74-year-old hard-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon as major declared contenders. For the far-right RN, the 2025 election represents the party’s strongest chance to seize the presidency in its history, with either party leader Jordan Bardella, 30, or former candidate Marine Le Pen expected to stand as the party’s nominee.

    A product of France’s elite education system and an openly gay politician raised in Paris, Attal has opened up about his personal identity in recent months as he lays groundwork for his campaign. In a book published last month, the candidate dedicated an entire chapter to his partner, Stephane Sejourne, a European Commissioner and former French minister whom Attal describes as “the man of my life.” Attal has also spoken publicly about his mixed cultural background and experiences of prejudice: his father is Jewish, his mother follows Russian Orthodox Christianity, and he has said he has faced both anti-Semitism and homophobia throughout his life and career.

    Attal’s short tenure as Prime Minister came to an abrupt end last year when President Macron dissolved the lower house of parliament and called snap legislative elections, a risky political gambit designed to halt the RN’s growing momentum that ultimately backfired spectacularly. The result was months of crippling political deadlock and a hung parliament, where the RN emerged as the largest single party in the legislature. Shortly after the dissolution, Attal formally distanced himself from Macron’s government, clearing the way for his independent presidential bid.

    On the campaign trail, Attal already faces stiff competition from within the centrist and center-right space, most notably from Philippe, who led Macron’s first government as Prime Minister and has built a strong independent political base. Current polling consistently shows Philippe performing better than other centrist candidates in a hypothetical runoff against the RN nominee. Still, Attal has wasted no time in positioning himself as a candidate connected to working and rural French voters, a contrast to the common critique that Macron’s Renaissance party is too rooted in Parisian elite circles. “The day we stay locked in Parisian offices, in ministries, is the day politics stops,” Attal said in his launch speech. After entering politics in his early 20s, Attal climbed the ranks quickly: he won a seat in the National Assembly in 2017, the same year Macron was first elected, before going on to serve as government spokesperson, budget minister, and education minister between 2023 and 2024. During his time as education minister, he gained national attention for his work addressing school bullying and his controversial ban on the abaya, a loose full-length garment worn by Muslim women, in public schools.

    Closing his launch speech, Attal struck an optimistic tone about France’s future, pushing back against narratives of inevitable national decline. “Having travelled a lot in France and met many French people, I’ve come to a conviction — a very strong one — that our finest chapters are still ahead of us,” he said.

  • Ukrainian protesters in Kyiv urge veto of a bill families fear could declare missing soldiers dead

    Ukrainian protesters in Kyiv urge veto of a bill families fear could declare missing soldiers dead

    On Friday, hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets of Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, to push the Ukrainian government to reject controversial draft legislation that relatives of missing service members argue would enable premature declarations of death for their unaccounted-for loved ones. The demonstration centered on Bill No. 13646, a proposal designed to formalize the legal status of people listed as missing in the ongoing conflict. Protesters warn that specific clauses in the bill would grant Ukrainian courts the authority to rule missing military personnel legally dead before conclusive evidence of their fate is uncovered.

    “Today all the families came out so that the missing are not equated with the dead,” explained 27-year-old Mariana Yatselenko, one of the participants in the Kyiv march.

    According to Artur Dobrosierdov, Ukraine’s commissioner for missing persons, the country’s unified registry of people disappeared under extraordinary special circumstances currently lists more than 90,000 unaccounted-for individuals. The registry, which launched in May 2023, combines decades of case data covering both military personnel and civilians who went missing during active combat, as a result of Russian armed aggression, or within Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories. While the vast majority of these cases stem from Russia’s full-scale invasion that began on February 24, 2022, some unclosed investigations date back to 2014, when Russian forces seized the Crimean Peninsula and pro-Moscow separatist groups launched an insurgency in eastern Ukraine. This is not the first public demonstration against the bill, highlighting sustained and growing pressure from missing soldiers’ families on the Ukrainian government.

    Beyond the domestic protest, violence on the Ukraine-Russia front has escalated sharply in recent days, with long-range strikes targeting territory deep inside both countries. On Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed that Ukraine had carried out its fourth strike on Russia’s Yaroslavl oil refinery, located roughly 700 kilometers (440 miles) from the Ukrainian border, as part of a sustained campaign to disrupt Russian oil infrastructure and cut off funding for Moscow’s invasion. Meanwhile, Russian officials reported that a Ukrainian drone strike on a college dormitory in occupied Starobilsk, Luhansk Oblast, left four people dead and 39 others wounded, with up to 18 people still potentially trapped under rubble. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the attack a “heinous crime,” and Ukraine has not issued an official response to the claim. The Russian Defense Ministry also announced Friday that it had intercepted 217 Ukrainian drones across multiple Russian regions, including the Moscow area and St. Petersburg, Russia’s second-largest city.

    On the Ukrainian side of the border, Russia launched a massive overnight drone barrage that targeted civilian infrastructure across the country. Ukraine’s air force reported that it successfully shot down or jammed 115 of the 124 Russian drones launched in the attack, the latest in a months-long escalation of regular Russian strikes on Ukrainian civilian areas. The United Nations has verified a 21% increase in Ukrainian civilian casualties over the first four months of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024, with 815 civilians killed and 4,174 wounded. Friday’s strikes left one civilian dead in Kherson and 11 people, including one child, wounded across Sumy Oblast, according to local Ukrainian officials.

    On the battlefield, Western analysts note that Ukrainian counteroffensive operations have retaken more than 400 square kilometers of southern Ukrainian territory from Russian control since the end of 2024. Analysts attribute these gains to Ukraine’s rapidly expanding domestic drone and missile manufacturing industry, as well as Russian forces being cut off from access to Starlink satellite services, which are widely used to guide drone strikes. In Washington, the Trump administration approved a modest $108 million arms package for Ukraine Thursday evening, which includes components for ground-based Hawk midrange air defense systems, spare parts, and logistical support. The approval marks a small new tranche of support after the Trump administration made deep cuts to U.S. military aid for Ukraine over the past year.

    Diplomatic efforts led by the U.S. to end the full-scale conflict have failed to deliver meaningful progress and have largely stalled in recent months, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed during a diplomatic trip to Sweden. “They were not fruitful, unfortunately,” Rubio said of talks held over the past year with both Russian and Ukrainian delegations. He added that no active negotiations are currently underway, though the U.S. would be open to resuming talks if a path to progress emerges.

    Ukrainian officials are also increasingly warning of potential new military threats from the north, where Russia could launch fresh incursions into northern Ukraine from neighboring Belarus. Zelenskyy wrote on social media Friday that Moscow “is eager to draw (Belarus) deeper into this war,” and warned of “consequences” for the Belarusian government if it allows Russian forces to use its territory as a launching pad for new attacks. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha raised the alarm over the growing threat during a recent NATO meeting in Sweden, calling on allied nations to implement deterrence measures against the Minsk government. Russia and Belarus completed joint nuclear military exercises earlier this week, and the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War has highlighted that Russia retains the capability to use Belarus as a staging ground for future large-scale operations, noting Moscow’s increasing de facto political and military control over the country.

    Reporting for this article was contributed by Matthew Lee in Washington, D.C. and Barry Hatton in Lisbon, Portugal.

  • Plymouth striker Oseni’s ‘disbelief’ at Nigeria call-up

    Plymouth striker Oseni’s ‘disbelief’ at Nigeria call-up

    For 23-year-old forward Owen Oseni, the 2025-26 League One campaign has already exceeded every possible expectation he held when he joined Plymouth Argyle last summer. The first-year EFL striker, who wrapped up his debut season with 10 goals in 33 appearances for the third-tier side, has earned a surprise call-up to Nigeria’s senior men’s national team, and he says the news left him utterly stunned.

    Oseni, who will join the Super Eagles for a pair of upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup warm-up friendlies against Poland and Portugal next month, is also set to feature in the upcoming Unity Cup hosted in London later this month, where Nigeria will face off against India, Jamaica, and Zimbabwe. In an exclusive interview with BBC Sport, the rising forward opened up about his reaction to the call-up, describing the honor as a life-changing moment he never dared to anticipate.

    “I know I put together a solid season, but to get selected for a country of more than 240 million people, where roughly half the population would jump at the chance to represent the Super Eagles, this is a huge deal for me – I was absolutely buzzing,” Oseni said. “The national coaching staff had been scouting me, and they clearly took notice of the form I found in the closing stretch of the club season.”

    That late-season form was impossible to miss: Oseni found the back of the net three times in Plymouth’s final four League One matches, a hot streak that almost dragged the club into the promotion play-offs before they ultimately fell just short of a spot. Before joining Argyle, Oseni plied his trade at Scottish Premiership side St Mirren, following a stint with National League outfit Gateshead. The forward was one of the first signings made by current Plymouth head coach Tom Cleverley, the former Manchester United and England international midfielder, shortly after Cleverley took the helm at the club.

    Born in Ireland, Oseni holds complex international eligibility: he qualifies for Nigeria through his Nigerian father, and can also represent the Republic of Ireland and Ivory Coast (his mother’s home country). When the Super Eagles reached out to secure his commitment, the striker says the opportunity was too good to turn down, even with other options on the table.

    “Representing any nation at the international level is a dream for any player, it would be massive for my development and my entire career,” Oseni explained. “When the Super Eagles came calling, it was a decision I simply couldn’t say no to. I never even thought this kind of opportunity was on the table for me this early in my career. All I’ve ever focused on is putting in the hard work and trusting that good things would follow – but I never imagined I’d be the one getting this call so soon.”

    In the coming weeks, Oseni will share a training pitch with some of the biggest names in global football, including Nigeria stars Victor Osimhen and Ademola Lookman. When Nigeria faces Portugal in their pre-World Cup friendly, he could even share the field with Cristiano Ronaldo, while a match-up against Poland will pit him against Bayern Munich legend Robert Lewandowski. That high-level experience is something Oseny believes will give him a huge confidence boost heading into Argyle’s 2026-27 League One campaign, where he aims to lock down a permanent starting spot at the Home Park.

    “Going into pre-season next term, this call-up will definitely raise my confidence levels,” he said. “My goal now is to come back to Plymouth and cement a starting place for next year, and this opportunity is going to help me so much to reach that.”

    Oseni also used his call-up as a chance to push back against common misconceptions about the quality of England’s third tier. Many football followers dismiss League One as a lower-standard competition, but Oseni insists the division is packed with top talent that deserves more recognition.

    “A lot of people look at League One, as England’s third tier, and write it off as not the highest standard because of where it sits in the pyramid,” he said. “But there are so many great players in this league, and so many current internationals plying their trade here who go on to perform incredibly well for their national teams. I think this call-up shows that League One gets the recognition it deserves – the individual quality across the league this season has been really high, and the division is much stronger than people give it credit for.”

  • Oil and gas prices to remain high in Europe at least until the end of 2027, officials say

    Oil and gas prices to remain high in Europe at least until the end of 2027, officials say

    NICOSIA, Cyprus — Top European Union economic policymakers issued a sober updated forecast Friday, warning that regional energy costs are set to stay above pre-Middle East conflict levels at least through the end of 2027, dragging broader consumer prices upward across the bloc’s economy. The updated projections mark a sharp downward revision from earlier growth estimates and a notable upward shift for inflation forecasts, as the ripple effects of geopolitical instability continue to reshape Europe’s economic outlook.

    EU Economy Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis told reporters following a gathering of eurozone finance ministers, collectively called the Eurogroup, that surging energy prices are the single biggest driver of the bloc’s revised inflation outlook. The commission now projects annual eurozone inflation will hit 3.1% this year and cool only to 2.4% in 2027, a marked jump from the earlier 2025 forecast of 1.9%. Dombrovskis noted that the inflationary pressure from energy markets is not contained to the energy sector alone, saying that “this energy inflation will gradually also trickle down to different sectors of the economy.”

    European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde echoed that long-term caution, noting that even an immediate end to the ongoing Middle East conflict would not reverse the upward pressure on prices immediately. Lagarde explained that “lagging effects” from the existing energy price shock would keep consumer and producer costs elevated for years. “And it’s probably a fact that price levels will be higher at the end of this crisis, when we see the end of the crisis,” she added. The ECB chief reaffirmed the central bank’s commitment to hitting its long-term 2% inflation target, saying the institution would take “all the necessary measures” to maintain price stability. She also noted that the bloc holds substantial strategic petroleum reserves to buffer against unexpected supply disruptions.

    For the EU, a full resolution to the current energy market uncertainty hinges on one key geographic chokepoint: the Strait of Hormuz. Eurogroup President Kyriakos Pierrakakis said a lasting end to the crisis would require a full return to unimpeded, toll-free navigation through the strait, which carries roughly one-fifth of the world’s total annual oil and gas supplies.

    On the growth front, Pierrakakis said the bloc is still set to avoid a recession despite the downward revision to output projections. The eurozone is now expected to post 0.9% economic growth this year and 1.2% growth in 2027, numbers that are lower than previous forecasts “but clearly far from a recession scenario,” he emphasized.

    While many market analysts have raised interest rate hike expectations following the higher inflation projections, Lagarde declined to tip the central bank’s hand on future monetary policy moves. She stuck to the ECB’s long-stated guidance, saying “We will continue to follow a data-dependent and meeting-by-meeting approach in order to determine the most appropriate monetary policy stance in order to deliver on our 2% medium-term target.”

  • Tennis players ‘ignored’ but ‘united’ in Grand Slam pay dispute

    Tennis players ‘ignored’ but ‘united’ in Grand Slam pay dispute

    As the 2025 French Open prepares to kick off at Roland Garros this Sunday, professional tennis is facing a growing rift between the sport’s top athletes and Grand Slam organizers, centered on long-simmering discontent over unfair revenue sharing for tournament prize money. The growing movement for reform has led dozens of the tour’s biggest names to organize a coordinated protest that will cut short their media commitments during the clay-court major, demanding a larger, more equitable slice of the multi-billion dollar Grand Slam revenue pie. Currently, players say they only receive 15 percent of the total revenue generated by the four Grand Slam tournaments — the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and US Open — and are pushing for that share to be raised to a more just 22 percent, a change that would particularly benefit lower-ranked and emerging players.

    World number eight Taylor Fritz, one of the leading voices of the protest, told reporters in Paris on Friday that players have made repeated moderate, patient efforts to engage organizers in dialogue, only to have their concerns completely dismissed. “It’s not about greed, it’s about getting what we are owed,” Fritz said. “We have been incredibly mild and patient with our requests, and it feels deeply disrespectful to be ignored at a time when tennis has never been healthier, when the partnership between players and tournaments should be built on open communication.”

    The push for change has drawn support from across the top ranks of both men’s and women’s tennis. Men’s world number one Jannik Sinner was among the first high-profile players to call out organizers, demanding they show basic respect to the athletes who draw global audiences and revenue to the sport. Women’s world number one Aryna Sabalenka went a step further earlier this month at the Italian Open, warning that players could ultimately escalate to a full boycott of all four Grand Slam events to defend their collective rights. While Sabalenka acknowledged that top-ranked players like herself already earn a comfortable living, she emphasized the protest is first and foremost for lower-ranked competitors, young emerging athletes, and players recovering from injury who struggle to cover travel and training costs on their current earnings. “It’s not easy to make a stable living in tennis with the small share of revenue we currently get,” she said. “As the top player in the world, I have a responsibility to stand up for those who don’t have the platform to speak out for themselves.”

    Fritz noted that a full boycott has not yet been seriously debated among players, but he stopped short of ruling out the action as a potential next step if organizers continue to refuse to negotiate. “If our concerns keep being ignored, change has to happen, that conversation will have to happen eventually,” he said. “I don’t want to throw the word boycott around lightly; I only want to say it when I mean it.”

    Not all top players are joining the demonstration, however. 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic, who is not participating in the protest, suggested tennis could learn lessons from how golf navigated the emergence of the breakaway LIV Golf circuit, noting that change in professional sports is inevitable, and expressing hope that tennis can resolve its current dispute with minimal disruption to the sport.

    French Open organizers have already made their position clear: tournament director Amelie Mauresmo announced Thursday that Roland Garros would not increase the total prize pool for this year’s event, sticking to its existing payout structure. Russian star Andrey Rublev, a consistent Grand Slam contender who has joined the protest, slammed organizers for their complete lack of communication in response to players’ concerns. “They don’t hear you, they don’t answer,” Rublev said. “When we send official inquiries, no one responds for months. We just want one thing: are we in this together, or do you not care enough about us to even talk?”

    Four-time French Open women’s champion Iga Swiatek, who confirmed her participation in the protest, explained the specific terms of the action: players will cap all media interviews at 15 minutes, a symbolic limit chosen to represent the 15 percent revenue share they currently receive. She stressed that the protest is not targeted at media outlets, but at tournament leadership. “We have nothing against the media, this is just our way to show we need change,” Swiatek said. “We are ready to step up our action if organizers don’t step up to meet our demands.”

    Nineteen-year-old women’s world number eight Mirra Andreeva said the most striking part of the movement is how unified players are across ranks and generations. “We all have a clear, fair reason for this, and every single one of us is on the same page,” Andreeva said. “It’s really powerful to see all players stand together with the same goal.”

    For this year’s tournament, the French Open has raised the men’s and women’s singles champion prize to 2.8 million euros ($3.3 million), up from 2.55 million euros in 2024. While that payout is higher than the champion’s prize at the Australian Open, it remains lower than the top purse at both Wimbledon and the US Open, underscoring the gaps that exist even between the four Grand Slam events as players push for broader industry-wide reform.

  • UK scientists developing new Ebola vaccine that could be ready in months

    UK scientists developing new Ebola vaccine that could be ready in months

    A rapidly escalating Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), driven by a rare, untreatable strain of the virus, has spurred urgent vaccine development work from a team of researchers at the University of Oxford, with the candidate potentially ready for field deployment within months.

    The ongoing outbreak, centered in northeastern DRC, has already been linked to 750 suspected cases and 175 confirmed deaths, according to latest outbreak tracking data. The pathogen at the center of the crisis is Bundibugyo, an understudied Ebola species that has only caused two recorded outbreaks in the last 20 years and has no licensed, proven vaccine currently available. The virus kills roughly one-third of all people it infects, making swift containment a top global health priority.

    In response to the crisis, the World Health Organization (WHO) has upgraded the risk level of the outbreak from “high” to “very high” within DRC, with regional risk across central Africa also elevated to “high.” International risk remains low, however, and the WHO declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) over the outbreak over the weekend, explicitly noting that the event does not rise to the level of a pandemic.

    Oxford’s vaccine candidate leverages the same ChAdOx1 platform the university’s vaccine group refined during the global COVID-19 pandemic – a flexible, easily adaptable genetic vaccine technology that can be rapidly modified to target new pathogens. During the COVID response, the platform was loaded with coronavirus genetic material; for this Ebola candidate, it has been reconfigured to carry genetic code from the Bundibugyo strain.

    The platform relies on a modified chimpanzee common cold virus, genetically edited to be safe for human use, that delivers Bundibugyo genetic material to human cells. This trains the immune system to recognize and neutralize the actual Ebola virus if exposure occurs, without causing Ebola infection or symptomatic disease. Preclinical animal testing for the new candidate is already underway at Oxford’s facilities, and the Serum Institute of India has been pre-positioned to scale up mass manufacturing as soon as the university provides clinical-grade vaccine material.

    Professor Sarah Lambe, head of vaccine immunology at the Oxford Vaccine Group, emphasized that speed is the top priority for the project. “People are worried about this outbreak, generally, you prepare for the worst case scenario – hopefully contact tracing and quarantine is all that’s needed, but we can’t take our foot off the gas,” Lambe told BBC News. Once the research team delivers initial starting material to the Serum Institute, Lambe noted that the manufacturer can ramp up production both quickly and at large scale. The WHO projects that the candidate could be ready for human clinical trials in affected regions within two to three months.

    This outbreak poses unique challenges to global health responders because of the rarity of the Bundibugyo strain. Of the six known Ebola species, only three are known to cause large human outbreaks, and Bundibugyo had not been detected in more than a decade prior to this event – its last outbreak occurred in DRC in 2012, following an initial 2007 outbreak in Uganda. While existing effective vaccines are available for the more common Zaire Ebola strain, none have been approved for Bundibugyo. A separate experimental Bundibugyo candidate is also in development, but that effort is not expected to produce testable doses for another six to nine months, making Oxford’s accelerated timeline a critical asset for outbreak response.

    If authorized, the vaccine will not be deployed in mass public vaccination campaigns like COVID-19 vaccines. Instead, it will be used in the targeted ring vaccination strategy standard for Ebola outbreaks, which prioritizes immunization for people at highest exposure risk: close contacts of confirmed cases, and frontline healthcare workers treating infected patients. The Oxford team had already been working on related vaccine candidates for other dangerous filoviruses, including Sudan ebolavirus and Marburg virus, prior to this outbreak, allowing them to adapt their work rapidly to address the new Bundibugyo emergency.

  • Palestinian UN ambassador withdraws General Assembly vice presidency bid after US pressure

    Palestinian UN ambassador withdraws General Assembly vice presidency bid after US pressure

    In a move that underscores deep diplomatic pressure on the Palestinian mission at the United Nations, Palestinian UN Ambassador Riyad Mansour has formally pulled his name from contention for the vice presidency of the UN General Assembly, following explicit threats from the United States to revoke the entire Palestinian delegation’s entry visas if he refused to abandon the race, National Public Radio has reported.

    Citing an anonymous source with direct knowledge of the internal developments, the outlet confirmed that Lebanon’s ambassador will now take Mansour’s place on the ballot. The Palestinian UN delegation communicated through a third Arab nation that Mansour would not seek the vice presidential position for the 2024-2026 term, according to the report. La Neice Collins, spokesperson for the sitting UN General Assembly president, later issued a public statement confirming the withdrawal, cementing the outcome of the behind-the-scenes pressure campaign.

    Documents show that internal communications from the US State Department, dated Tuesday, had explicitly instructed American diplomatic staff based in Jerusalem to ramp up pressure on Palestinian leadership to force Mansour out of the race. The cable argued that Mansour’s candidacy ran counter to former US President Donald Trump’s ongoing policy proposals for the post-conflict future of the Gaza Strip. The department’s message was uncompromising: “We will hold the Palestinian Authority responsible if the Palestinian delegation does not withdraw its VPGA candidacy.”

    The cable also carried a veiled reference to past punitive visa actions, reminding recipients that Washington had already denied entry visas to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and 80 other senior Palestinian officials ahead of last year’s UN General Assembly gathering in New York. It noted that “it would be unfortunate to have to revisit any available options” — a clear signal that the US was prepared to enact new restrictions if its demands were not met.

    As of press time, the Palestinian UN mission has not issued an immediate response to requests for comment from Middle East Eye, the independent outlet that first expanded on the reporting of the incident.

    This latest withdrawal marks the second time in 2024 that a senior Palestinian candidate has stepped back from a top UN leadership post amid foreign pressure. Back in February, Mansour withdrew his candidacy for the presidency of the UN General Assembly after coordinated lobbying campaigns from both the United States and Israel. At that time, the Palestinian mission framed the decision as a response to “the prevailing conditions in Palestine.”

    The election for UN General Assembly president and the 21 vice presidential seats from regional groups across the world is scheduled to take place on June 2. The current controversy comes on the heels of a landmark May 2024 vote in the General Assembly that delivered expanded participation rights for the Palestinian Authority. In an unprecedented outcome, delegates overwhelmingly approved a measure granting Palestine enhanced standing beyond its current status as a non-member observer state, including the right to speak on all General Assembly agenda items, co-sponsor resolutions, and propose amendments to draft UN texts. The assembly also voted by a wide margin to back Palestine’s bid for full UN membership, marking a major diplomatic breakthrough for Palestinian statehood efforts that has drawn sharp pushback from the US and Israel.

  • WHO chief says Ebola outbreak in Congo is ‘spreading rapidly’ and upgrades risk assessment

    WHO chief says Ebola outbreak in Congo is ‘spreading rapidly’ and upgrades risk assessment

    GENEVA, Switzerland – In a stark update delivered to reporters on Friday, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced a troubling escalation of the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, raising the national risk assessment from high to the most severe tier of “very high” amid evidence of accelerating transmission.

    Tedros clarified that while the domestic risk has worsened, the threat of regional spillover still holds at a high level, and the global risk of widespread Ebola spread remains categorized as low. Official counts place the number of confirmed cases at 82, with seven confirmed fatalities recorded so far, but the WHO leader emphasized that the true scale of the epidemic far outpaces these confirmed numbers. Currently, more than 750 additional cases are classified as suspected, with 177 suspected deaths linked to the outbreak across affected areas of the country.

    Neighboring Uganda has so far avoided widespread community transmission, with the situation there remaining classified as stable. Two confirmed Ebola cases have been recorded in the country, both tied to travel from the DRC, and one of those patients has died.

    The rapidly deteriorating situation has prompted immediate action from the global humanitarian community. Earlier on Friday, the United Nations confirmed it had disbursed $60 million from its Central Emergency Response Fund, a reserve pool of emergency funding designated to speed up outbreak response efforts across the DRC and the broader Great Lakes region. The United States also announced a pledge of $23 million in new funding to support response operations in both the DRC and Uganda, alongside a plan to finance the construction of up to 50 new Ebola treatment clinics across affected zones in both countries.

    Notably, Ugandan health authorities have publicly stated that they have no knowledge of planned U.S.-funded treatment centers being established within their borders, creating a small point of discrepancy in the announcement of international support.

  • ‘Hard to win’: Taiwanese react to uncertainty over US arms sales

    ‘Hard to win’: Taiwanese react to uncertainty over US arms sales

    When former U.S. President Donald Trump recently suggested that longstanding American arms sales to Taiwan could be used as a bargaining chip in negotiations with Beijing, it sent shockwaves through global diplomatic circles. For ordinary residents of Taipei, however, the moment has underscored a bleak reality: the island’s security trajectory is ultimately out of their hands.

    One week has passed since Trump made the controversial remarks during interviews with Fox News and on Air Force One, and intense speculation continues to swirl over whether decades of consistent U.S. policy toward the democratically governed island could be fundamentally upended. The context of this uncertainty stretches back nearly 50 years, when the United States officially shifted its diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing. Even without formal diplomatic ties, Washington has remained Taiwan’s most critical international security partner and primary arms supplier, a commitment codified in the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act passed by U.S. Congress, which legally requires Washington to provide defensive arms to the island.

    Despite widespread anxiety among Taiwanese government officials, who have spent weeks anxiously awaiting Trump’s final decision on a new pending arms package, public reaction on the streets of Taipei has been marked by a quiet, fatalistic calm. Many residents have long held deep reservations about the practical value of additional U.S. weaponry in the face of China’s persistent claims that Taiwan is an inalienable part of its territory, and Beijing’s repeated threats to use force to assert control if necessary.

    Nicole Lee, a 46-year-old nurse in Taipei, said she does not believe advanced military hardware would shift the balance of power significantly if a conflict were to break out. “Even if they give us weapons, if we really had to use force against China, I don’t think there would be much we could do,” she explained.

    Ben Wu, a 41-year-old delivery driver, echoed Lee’s sentiment, framing U.S. arms sales as little more than a costly “protection fee” for the island. Even with the most advanced weaponry the U.S. can offer, he noted, “it would still be very hard to win” against China’s far larger military force.

    To date, Taipei has poured tens of billions of dollars into purchasing advanced U.S. military equipment, including fifth-generation fighter jets, precision high-tech missiles, and reconnaissance drones, all to bolster its defensive capabilities against a potential cross-strait attack. Taiwanese officials have repeatedly reminded the Trump administration of Washington’s binding legal commitments under the Taiwan Relations Act, while top U.S. officials including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer have publicly insisted that no shift in longstanding U.S. policy toward Taiwan is underway.

    Still, many ordinary Taiwanese remain deeply skeptical of Trump’s approach to the issue, with many arguing that the former president prioritizes U.S. interests above all other considerations, with little regard for longstanding alliances or commitments. Cynthia Kuo, a 29-year-old elementary school teacher in Taipei, described Trump as the “kind of person who just says whatever pops into his head.” “So I feel like whatever decisions he makes, he only makes them if he thinks they’re good for the United States,” she said. “He’s not going to take other countries into account.”

    A 78-year-old retiree, who requested anonymity to speak freely, said the only certain takeaway from the current situation is that Trump cannot be counted on as a reliable partner for Taiwan. “He’s totally untrustworthy,” she said. “I often feel that Trump is a hooligan in international politics.”

    Across age groups, residents of Taipei echoed a shared sense of powerlessness in the face of the current uncertainty. No matter the outcome, the final decisions on the pending arms package will be made in Washington, and any subsequent response from Beijing will be shaped thousands of kilometers away from Taipei. For 22-year-old university student Matt Lin, that reality makes personal anxiety feel pointless. “I’m not that worried,” he told AFP. “Whether we worry or not doesn’t really change anything.”

  • Tennis players ‘ignored’ in pay dispute, says Fritz

    Tennis players ‘ignored’ in pay dispute, says Fritz

    As the 2025 French Open prepares to kick off at Roland Garros this Sunday, a growing rift between elite tennis players and Grand Slam tournament organisers has erupted into open conflict, with top stars accusing governing bodies of ignoring longstanding calls for fairer revenue sharing.

    World number eight Taylor Fritz, one of the most vocal leaders of the player movement, told reporters in Paris on Friday that players have maintained a measured approach to their demands but have been met with complete disregard from organisers. This dismissal has prompted a coordinated protest: the majority of the world’s top-10 ranked players will scale back their required media commitments throughout the clay-court major in a show of collective force.

    At the heart of the dispute is the share of Grand Slam revenue allocated to player prize money. Currently, players receive just 15 percent of total revenue generated by the four Slams, and they are pushing to increase that allocation to 22 percent, a change they frame as a matter of basic fairness rather than excessive demand.

    “It’s not about wanting more money. It’s about just wanting what’s fair,” Fritz said. “As the tournaments make more money, we obviously want to see the revenue shared back to the players reflect that. I think obviously when it’s going the opposite direction and going down, it’s disappointing to see. We have been pretty patient and mild with our requests, and I think all of us feel it’s a bit disrespectful to just be ignored when the sport is the healthiest, when there should be a very fair partnership and open dialogue between the players and the tournaments.”

    The call for reform has gained widespread support across both the men’s and women’s games, with many of the sport’s biggest names backing action. Men’s world number one Jannik Sinner earlier this month urged Slam organisers to show basic respect to the athletes who draw global audiences to the tournaments. Women’s world number one Aryna Sabalenka even raised the possibility of a full boycott of all four Grand Slams to force organisers to address player demands, a comment that sent shockwaves through the tennis community.

    Fritz clarified that a full-scale boycott has not been formally discussed among the player group, but he stopped short of ruling out the drastic measure if organisers continue to refuse to negotiate. “Something does have to change if we are ignored, so that’s a conversation to have, I think,” the American star said. “Right now I’m not ready to start tossing that around, because I want to really mean it if I’m going to say it.”

    Russian 10-time Grand Slam quarter-finalist Andrey Rublev echoed Fritz’s frustration, calling out organisers for their complete lack of response to official player inquiries. “They don’t hear you. They don’t answer,” Rublev said. “When you send the mail in, no one responds to official mail for months. Come on, guys. We are together, or you completely don’t care that much that you cannot even communicate.”

    So far, organisers have shown no willingness to compromise. French Open tournament director Amelie Mauresmo stated Thursday that Roland Garros officials would not budge on their current prize money structure, rejecting calls for an immediate increase.

    Despite the hardline stance from organisers, young women’s star Mirra Andreeva, ranked eighth in the world, emphasized that players remain fully united in their push for reform. The 19-year-old noted that the collective stand has reinforced solidarity across the tour, saying: “I do think that we have a reason behind it, and I do think that all of us are united. It’s also nice that players are all together and they have the same opinion about that.”

    This year’s French Open singles champion will take home 2.8 million euros ($3.3 million), up from 2.55 million euros in 2024. While the champion’s purse is higher than that of the Australian Open, it remains lower than the top prize at both Wimbledon and the US Open, highlighting the disparities that have fuelled player discontent across the tour.