Global Pulse

作者： admin

  • Somaliland recognises Jerusalem as capital of Israel, will open embassy

    Somaliland recognises Jerusalem as capital of Israel, will open embassy

    In a move that is reshaping geopolitical dynamics across the Horn of Africa and the Middle East, the unrecognised autonomous state of Somaliland and Israel have unveiled plans to open reciprocal embassies, with Somaliland locating its diplomatic mission in Jerusalem — a highly contentious decision under international law.

    Mohamed Hagi, Somaliland’s ambassador to Israel, confirmed the development in a Tuesday statement, noting that the reciprocal embassy openings reflect deepening ties built on growing friendship, mutual respect, and strategic cooperation between the two polities. Israel’s embassy will be hosted in Hargeisa, Somaliland’s de facto capital. The announcement comes just months after Israel made history in December 2025 as the first United Nations member state to formally recognise Somaliland’s 34-year claim to independence from Somalia.

    Somaliland first unilaterally declared independence from Somalia in 1991 following the collapse of the Siad Barre regime, and has functioned as a de facto autonomous state ever since, though it has not secured formal recognition from any UN member state prior to Israel’s decision. The territory holds enormous strategic significance: it sits just 30 kilometers south of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the critical narrow waterway linking the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden that carries roughly 10 percent of global maritime trade each year.

    As part of the agreement for Israeli recognition, Somaliland has committed to joining the Abraham Accords, the 2020-2021 US-brokered framework that normalized diplomatic relations between Israel and four Arab states: the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan. Sudan’s normalization agreement remains stalled and unratified amid the country’s ongoing civil conflict.

    The diplomatic breakthrough has already triggered fierce pushback from across the Arab and Muslim world, where leaders have long opposed any expansion of Israeli influence in the strategically vital Horn of Africa, particularly through engagement with an unrecognised secessionist entity. Jerusalem’s status remains one of the most contentious issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: under international law, East Jerusalem is classified as occupied Palestinian territory, seized by Israel from Jordan during the 1967 Six-Day War. Prior to this announcement, Kosovo was the only Muslim-majority state to locate its embassy in Jerusalem, a move that mirrors Somaliland’s own status as a disputed secessionist entity — Kosovo’s 2008 independence declaration from Serbia is recognised by the US but rejected by China and Russia.

    Beyond formal diplomatic ties, reports indicate that senior Somaliland officials have held discussions about hosting an Israeli military base on Somaliland territory, a plan that would dramatically expand Israel’s regional military footprint. This development was previously denied by Somaliland’s foreign ministry, but talks have resumed following Israeli recognition. A military presence in Somaliland would place Israeli forces within striking distance of Yemen’s Houthi movement, which has launched repeated attacks on Red Sea shipping in recent months, framing the actions as retaliation for Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.

    The new partnership between Israel and Somaliland also aligns with Israel’s already deepening security cooperation with the United Arab Emirates, a long-time backer of Somaliland that maintains its own military base at the strategic Somaliland port of Berbera. In recent months, Israel deployed Iron Dome air defense batteries to the UAE amid escalating Iranian missile and drone attacks on Gulf targets, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed he visited the UAE during the Gaza war. Middle East Eye reported Monday that the two countries have also agreed to establish a joint fund for coordinated defense acquisitions. Unlike many other Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia and Qatar, the UAE has refused to join regional condemnations of Israel’s recognition of Somaliland.

  • Man who murdered teen TikTok star in Pakistan gets death sentence

    Man who murdered teen TikTok star in Pakistan gets death sentence

    A shocking case of gender-based violence that roiled Pakistani public discourse has reached a landmark verdict, with an Islamabad court handing down a death sentence to 23-year-old Umar Hayat for the brutal murder of 17-year-old TikTok star Sana Yousaf. The killing, which took place in June of the previous year, followed a pattern of predatory behavior that ended in a devastating act of violence after Yousaf repeatedly rejected Hayat’s romantic advances.

    Investigative accounts from local Pakistani media outline how Hayat, who confessed to the killing in July, developed an unhealthy, one-sided obsession with Yousaf following casual online interactions. Days before the attack, he traveled to Islamabad, where Yousaf lived with her family, to greet her on her birthday. When Yousaf refused to meet him, Hayat forced his way into her family home. A confrontation between the two quickly escalated, ending with Hayat shooting Yousaf dead.

    At the time of her death, Yousaf had built a massive online following: more than one million followers on TikTok and an additional half a million on Instagram. Fans adored her approachable, light-hearted content, which ranged from testing viral fashion trends and lip-syncing to popular songs to candid clips of her spending time with friends.

    Following the verdict, Yousaf’s father, Syed Yousaf Hassan, told local media that the court’s ruling serves as “a lesson for all such criminals in society”. In addition to the death sentence, the court ordered Hayat to pay 2.5 million Pakistani rupees, equivalent to roughly $9,000, in compensation to Yousaf’s grieving family.

    The investigation into Yousaf’s murder was a wide-ranging effort: law enforcement officers carried out raids across Islamabad and the neighboring province of Punjab, reviewing footage from a total of 113 CCTV cameras to piece together the timeline of the attack.

    While the murder sparked widespread national outrage, it also exposed deep-seated misogyny within segments of Pakistani society. A small but vocal group of mostly male internet users launched a backlash against Yousaf, attacking her work as a social media influencer on religious grounds. Some even demanded that her family remove all of her existing content from TikTok and Instagram, claiming the posts amounted to “sinful” behavior.

    Digital rights and women’s rights advocates have pushed back against this dangerous narrative. Usama Khilji, director of digital rights organization Bolo Bhi, noted that the unfair criticism of Yousaf reflects entrenched bias against women creating content online. Prominent human rights activist Farzana Bari labeled the reaction to Yousaf’s murder explicitly misogynistic and patriarchal, pointing out that Yousaf was targeted simply for exercising her right to self-expression. Bari emphasized that the case serves as a stark reminder that social media has become an increasingly dangerous space for female content creators in Pakistan, where systemic gender-based violence continues to threaten women’s safety and autonomy.

    Activists also emphasize that Yousaf’s killing is not an isolated incident, but part of a long-standing, widespread pattern of violence against women across Pakistan that demands systemic policy and cultural change.

  • Liberals going back to basics with ‘Stand with Small’ business pledge

    Liberals going back to basics with ‘Stand with Small’ business pledge

    Australia’s Liberal-National Coalition is launching a bold, pro-small-business policy agenda centered on a landmark Small Business Act, set to be announced Wednesday by Shadow Treasurer Tim Wilson at Canberra’s National Press Club. The proposal, a core pillar of the Coalition’s push to refocus on grassroots economic priorities, aims to resolve longstanding fragmented regulations and amplifies the voices of small and independent business owners that opposition leaders argue have been sidelined by the current Labor government.

    At the heart of the policy is the creation of a single, standardized legal definition of a small business across all Commonwealth legislation, replacing the inconsistent, overlapping definitions that currently create unnecessary administrative burden for operators. The Act also mandates two key new protections: a formal “right to be paid”, which will enshrine legal maximum payment terms for small businesses working with both government agencies and large corporate clients, addressing the pervasive problem of late payments that cripples cash flow for thousands of small operations nationwide.

    Additional provisions embedded in the proposed legislation require that every new federal regulation be accompanied by a dedicated small business regulatory impact statement, creating a formal feedback pathway for small business owners to contribute to policy design before it becomes law. This consultation requirement will extend to all major federal regulators, including the Reserve Bank of Australia, Australian Securities and Investments Commission, Australian Taxation Office, and Fair Work Commission, ensuring small business perspectives are incorporated into key regulatory and monetary decisions that impact their operations. The policy also expands mandatory government procurement quotas, requiring a larger share of federal government contracts to be awarded exclusively to small businesses.

    Wilson will use his address to accuse the Albanese-led Labor government of waging an implicit war on Australia’s entrepreneurs and self-starting small business owners, a critique that comes amid ongoing pushback from small business groups over recent changes to capital gains tax discounts. In prepared remarks, Wilson will emphasize that the Coalition is positioning itself as the definitive political ally for small and independent operators, noting that for decades, Australian economic regulation has been shaped by deep-pocketed lobbyists with access to the highest levels of government, while small business voices were locked out of the process.

    “For too long Australia’s laws have been designed around the influence of those that can hire lobbyists to walk the Prime Minister’s corridor,” Wilson will say. “In generations past, young Australians got ahead by buying property. Young Australians know that to get ahead you need to invest, and build a small business, side hustle, equity or start-up.”

    Wilson will also frame the policy as a response to a fundamentally outdated economic framework, arguing that 12 months of widespread conversations with small business operators across the country have convinced him incremental, marginal tweaks to Australia’s 20th-century regulatory system are no longer enough to solve small business struggles.

    The new Small Business Act announcement builds on earlier pro-small-business commitments the Coalition unveiled earlier this month in Opposition Leader Angus Taylor’s budget reply speech. Those prior pledges include an instant $50,000 asset write-off for businesses with annual turnover below $1 million, and a policy to index the two lowest personal income tax brackets to inflation to curb bracket creep.

    Ahead of Wilson’s National Press Club address, Taylor doubled down on the Coalition’s critique, arguing the current Albanese government is ideologically opposed to small business and actively seeks to replace independent operations with expanded big government. “What they’re planning to do now is going to do exactly that, replace small business with big government,” Taylor said. “Only this government could be so arrogant and so could so badly misunderstand this country as to think that that’s a good idea.”

  • Iran has mapped out US flight patterns for air defence: Report

    Iran has mapped out US flight patterns for air defence: Report

    New intelligence assessments from anonymous U.S. officials have cast significant doubt on the Trump administration’s public claims that Iran’s military capabilities have been completely destroyed after weeks of open conflict, revealing that Iranian commanders have likely tracked and mapped consistent flight patterns of American fighter jets and bombers operating over Iranian airspace. This development substantially increases the operational risks to U.S. military personnel if President Donald Trump follows through on his recent threat to resume large-scale offensive attacks against the Islamic Republic.

    The current state of Iran’s integrated air defense network has emerged as a core factor driving Trump’s ongoing deliberations over whether to restart offensive operations. In comments to reporters earlier this week, Trump confirmed he had approved plans for a major new attack on Iran set to launch just one day after his initial announcement, only to call off the strike at the eleventh hour following lobbying from three key U.S. partners in the Gulf region: Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. “We were getting ready to do a very major attack tomorrow, and I put it off for a little while, hopefully maybe forever, but possibly for a little while, because we’ve had very big discussions with Iran, and we’ll see what they amount to,” Trump told reporters.

    Both Trump and his Secretary of War Pete Hegseth have repeatedly asserted that Iran’s military is crippled and lacks functional air defense capabilities. While U.S. aircraft have generally been able to carry out sorties over Iranian territory without sustained interference, U.S. intelligence confirms American forces do not hold total, unchallenged dominance of Iranian airspace.

    Just days before the two sides reached a fragile ceasefire following the June 2025 conflict, Iranian air defenses successfully shot down a U.S. F-15E Strike Eagle, triggering a large-scale joint operation to recover the downed aircraft’s pilots. Military analysts note that if Iranian forces had captured the surviving pilots alive, Tehran would have gained substantial diplomatic leverage to pressure Washington into concessions. A senior U.S. official told The New York Times the successful downing of the F-15E serves as clear evidence that Iranian forces have learned to identify and predict recurring U.S. flight routes. As the six-week conflict progressed, Iranian defenses grew increasingly adept at targeting and downing U.S. military aircraft.

    Tensions around this capability were already rising earlier this year: multiple defense outlets reported that an F-35 stealth fighter jet suffered damage from Iranian anti-aircraft fire in March, and CBS News confirmed that U.S. forces have lost at least 16 MQ-9 Reaper surveillance and combat drones operating over Iranian territory since the start of hostilities.

    The New York Times also cites U.S. intelligence suggesting Russia may have provided critical assistance to Iran in mapping U.S. flight patterns, allowing Tehran to reposition its air defense assets for more effective interception. This collaboration aligns with a long-standing security partnership between Moscow and Tehran. Multiple independent U.S. media outlets have previously confirmed that Russia has shared valuable satellite intelligence with Iran, including detailed imagery of U.S. warship deployments and military personnel positions in the region.

    Iran’s current air defense architecture combines domestically manufactured systems with advanced hardware purchased from both Russia and China. Middle East Eye was the first outlet to confirm that China supplied integrated air defense batteries to Iran in the aftermath of the June 2025 war, which saw U.S. forces carry out targeted bombing runs on three Iranian nuclear sites.

    The Trump administration’s narrative that Iran’s military has been “decimated” directly contradicts a growing body of leaked U.S. intelligence assessments, which indicate the Islamic Republic’s armed forces retain far more operational capacity than senior White House officials have publicly acknowledged. Just last week, The New York Times reported that Iran still controls approximately 70 percent of its pre-war mobile missile launchers and holds roughly 70 percent of its original missile stockpile. U.S. offensive strikes targeted heavily fortified missile sites hidden deep in underground mountain caves, but the ceasefire has allowed Iranian crews to clear rubble from these facilities and return the undamaged weapons systems to operational status, the report found.

  • ‘Need to be there’: Blues stick solid as Origin champions seek 26-year first

    ‘Need to be there’: Blues stick solid as Origin champions seek 26-year first

    With the women’s State of Origin trophy already secured, New South Wales (NSW) Blues head coach John Strange faced a pivotal decision: hand valuable debut opportunities to rising young talents, or stick with the group that delivered the series win to chase an unprecedented milestone. In a call shaped by hard lessons from last year’s campaign, Strange has opted to keep his entire 20-player matchday squad intact for next week’s decisive third clash, as the Blues chase the first 3-0 clean sweep for a NSW side in 26 years.

    NSW locked in the series title earlier this month with a heart-stopping 14-10 come-from-behind win over Queensland at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium, wrapping up the overall trophy with one match still left to play. Instead of shaking up his lineup to give fringe prospects a taste of senior representative football, Strange said the painful memory of last year’s dead rubber defeat was the driving force behind his loyalty to the group that got the Blues across the line in Brisbane.

    Strange publicly confirmed the unchanged squad during a YouTube livestream on Wednesday morning, confirming the third game, scheduled for next Thursday, will be held on Queensland’s home turf on the Gold Coast. “The reason for that is that I feel like the girls that were selected for both games have done an awesome job,” Strange told reporters and fans during the stream. “We want to make sure they have the opportunity to go up there and win the third game. So it’s about respecting the players that have worn the jersey and deserve to wear the jersey, so there was no thought of changing the team this year. It was a case of going with the girls that need to be there.”

    The upcoming fixture will mark a personal milestone for veteran Blues forward Kezie Apps, who will earn her 20th state cap for NSW when she runs out next week.

    Strange’s decision is rooted in a humbling experience 12 months prior. In 2023, the Blues also claimed the first two matches of the series to secure the Origin trophy early, only to drop a tight third-match dead rubber in Newcastle to Queensland. That defeat, which came despite the Blues winning the first two contests by a combined 20 points, left a lasting impression on the entire program, and Strange is determined to avoid a repeat of that outcome this year.

    “We were in a similar situation last year after two games, and we went up to game three in Newcastle and didn’t get the job done,” he said. “Queensland were outstanding in that game and very desperate and wanted to make sure they got a win, so we fully understand that’s the attitude that they’re going to bring this time around.”

    Reflecting on last year’s misstep, Strange said the squad entered the third game with a celebratory mindset rather than the competitive intensity that carried them to the first two wins. That shift in focus ultimately cost them. “I felt like going into camp for game three last year that there was a lot of excitement from all the players, and so they should have been excited because they’d wrapped the series up,” he explained. “But we probably didn’t go in with the same intensity in game three that we did in games one and two, so that was a really good learning experience for all of us involved. If we were in the same position again that we would go in with a different mindset because we know Queensland don’t want to get beaten 3-0. We know the desperation they’re going to have, and we’re going to make sure we match that desperation and play good footy.”

    The full NSW squad will enter camp this Thursday before travelling to Kingscliff on Saturday to ramp up their final preparations for the history-making clash. The full unchanged 20-player squad is as follows: Abbi Church, Jaime Chapman, Jess Sergis, Isabelle Kelly, Jayme Fressard, Jocelyn Kelleher, Jesse Southwell, Millie Elliott, Olivia Higgins, Ellie Johnston, Kezie Apps, Yasmin Meakes, Olivia Kernick, Keeley Nizza, Kennedy Cherrington, Rima Butler, Teagan Berry, Quincy Dodd, Corban Baxter, and Hannah Southwell.

  • Iran ‘very confident’ about World Cup protocols: federation vice-president

    Iran ‘very confident’ about World Cup protocols: federation vice-president

    As the Iranian men’s national football team makes its final preparations for the 2026 FIFA World Cup co-hosted by the United States, a top Iranian football official has voiced strong confidence in the governance and security protocols laid out by global football’s governing body, even as lingering uncertainty over U.S. entry visas casts a faint shadow over the team’s preparations.

    The Iranian squad touched down in Turkey on Monday to wrap up their pre-tournament training camp, a multi-week stay that will serve as their final tune-up before traveling to North America for the world’s biggest sporting event. This World Cup carries unusual geopolitical weight for Iran: the United States, one of the three co-hosts of this year’s tournament, has been engaged in active military conflict against Iran alongside Israel since late February, a confrontation that has ignited widespread instability across the Middle East.

    Mehdi Mohammad Nabi, vice-president of the Iranian Football Federation and director of the national team program, shared his assessment with reporters on the sidelines of the team’s Turkish training session on Tuesday. Nabi insisted that all logistics for Iran’s participation would follow the formal rules and frameworks set by FIFA. “Everything will proceed properly according to the protocols and what FIFA has stipulated,” he said.

    Nabi noted that U.S. organizers have already established dedicated working groups to handle tournament logistics, including a specialized security committee that coordinates closely with FIFA to manage safety for all participating delegations. Drawing on Iran’s history of competing in multiple previous World Cup tournaments, Nabi said the federation has full familiarity with how these security and operational systems function at the global event. “In past years we’ve experienced all of this and we’re fully informed about how these security committees operate at every World Cup we’ve participated in. In this regard, we’re very confident and we have a clear plan,” he added.

    One key unresolved issue remains: entry visas for the Iranian squad and staff. Iranian officials confirmed earlier that none of the delegation have yet received their U.S. travel authorization, and the team is planning to submit visa applications through the Canadian embassy in Turkey, where they are currently based. Nabi acknowledged that there is no guarantee all members of the delegation will be granted entry.

    However, he pointed to binding FIFA rules that place responsibility on host nations to accommodate qualified teams. “One of the rules that applies to the host country is that they must provide guarantees, according to FIFA’s statutes and the regulations of the competition. One of their commitments is the visas: they have to grant the necessary visa facilities to all the teams that have qualified for the World Cup,” Nabi explained. He added that FIFA has already taken steps to ensure the United States fulfills its obligations to facilitate entry for Iranian team personnel.

    Iran has been drawn into Group G for the 2026 tournament, with a scheduled opening match against New Zealand on June 15 in Los Angeles. The team will face Belgium in the same city next, before wrapping up their group stage play against Egypt in Seattle. Throughout the tournament, the Iranian delegation will be based in Tucson, Arizona, for their training and accommodation.

  • Venezuela plans to free 300 people including some whose detentions are considered politically based

    Venezuela plans to free 300 people including some whose detentions are considered politically based

    CARACAS, VENEZUELA – In a move that comes amid mounting public and international pressure over arbitrary political detentions, Venezuela’s sitting government has unveiled plans to free 300 detainees this week, a cohort that includes dozens of individuals held for years on what rights advocates describe as politically motivated charges. National Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez made the announcement Tuesday during a plenary session at Caracas’ legislative palace, stopping short of explicitly labeling the upcoming releases a political prisoner amnesty. But leading human rights defenders have already confirmed that many of the people named in the government’s release list were arbitrarily detained for their opposition to the current administration.

  • From graduation boos to voter unease: AI anxiety grows in the US

    From graduation boos to voter unease: AI anxiety grows in the US

    Across the United States, a growing backlash against artificial intelligence is reshaping public discourse, political positions, and community attitudes, once-strong early enthusiasm for the transformative technology giving way to widespread unease. The shifting sentiment plays out in every corner of public life: pro-AI speakers are met with jeers at college graduation ceremonies, local political candidates supporting AI infrastructure are ousted at the polls, and even a traditionally AI-friendly White House has softened its unbridled support for unregulated development.

    This rising anxiety did not emerge out of nowhere. It stems from concrete economic pressures and unaddressed fears: persistent inflation has stretched household budgets, while a wave of AI-driven layoffs across the tech sector has reinforced fears of widespread job displacement. For young people, many of whom have taken on crippling student loan debt to earn college degrees, the worry that AI will render their hard-won qualifications obsolete has turned tentative concern into active hostility.

    That hostility played out publicly on two separate graduation stages in recent months. When former Google CEO Eric Schmidt took the stage at the University of Arizona to deliver the 2026 commencement address, he urged graduates to embrace AI, arguing the technology would reshape every corner of modern life from education to healthcare to professional work. Instead of the polite applause expected of such occasions, Schmidt was met with loud, sustained boos from the assembled graduates. Scott Borchetta, CEO of Big Machine Records, faced the same reaction when he told graduates at Middle Tennessee State University to adapt to AI as a useful tool. When he joked that graduates could “hear me now or pay me later,” the crowd responded with resounding boos.

    Public opinion polling bears out this widespread discontent. Cited by news outlet Semafor, recent polling shows 70 percent of Americans believe AI development is moving too quickly, more than half hold negative views of the technology, and just 18 percent of young people report feeling hopeful about AI’s future impact.

    The pushback is not limited to college quads. The rapid expansion of AI has spurred a nationwide buildout of energy-intensive data centers, and this infrastructure has become one of the most contentious flashpoints in local politics. Data centers draw massive amounts of electricity, drive up local utility rates, and put strain on regional water supplies, turning community opposition into a potent political force. In recent months, local officials who have backed AI data center projects have repeatedly lost elections at the hands of angry voters. The discontent has even spilled over into violence.

    In April 2026, as the high-profile civil trial between Elon Musk and Sam Altman opened in Oakland, California, protesters set up inflatable punching bags emblazoned with the images of the two AI industry leaders outside the federal courthouse. Last month, a young man threw a Molotov cocktail at Altman’s personal home in Northern California. Just days before that incident, an Indiana city council member who supported a local data center project found his front door struck by gunfire; a note left at the scene read simply “No Data Centers.”

    Christabel Randolph, acting executive director of the Washington D.C.-based Center for AI and Digital Policy, notes that opposition to local data centers now outpaces even opposition to nuclear power plants. A May 2026 Gallup poll found that 71 percent of Americans oppose hosting an AI data center in their community, compared to just 53 percent who oppose hosting a nuclear power plant. “Americans are really, really angry and upset about AI data centers because of the noise, the pollution, the impact on their electricity bills, on water supplies,” Randolph told Agence France-Presse. She added that AI anxiety is set to become a defining issue in the upcoming November midterm elections, and could even shape the 2028 presidential race. “That existential fear is a very animating anxiety,” she said. “People are thinking about what their future is going to look like.”

    Even the Trump White House, which initially positioned itself as a staunch backer of unregulated rapid AI development, has shifted its stance. After returning to office in 2025, President Donald Trump rolled back strict AI safety rules put in place during the Biden administration, arguing that overregulation would hurt U.S. competitiveness against China. But in recent months, the administration has reversed course: it now calls for pre-release safety vetting of advanced AI models, has urged Congress to pass nationwide AI regulations, and has held discussions with Chinese officials about establishing global AI guardrails. When asked about AI risks on Fox News’ *Mornings with Maria* last month, Trump acknowledged the mixed picture: “There are a lot of good things, but we have to be careful with it.”

  • Taiwan author wins International Booker for ‘slyly sophisticated’ novel

    Taiwan author wins International Booker for ‘slyly sophisticated’ novel

    In a landmark moment for global translated literature, Taiwanese author Yang Shuang-zi and translator Lin King have claimed the 2024 International Booker Prize at a ceremony held at London’s iconic Tate Modern gallery, bringing home the 10th anniversary of the award for their bold postcolonial novel *Taiwan Travelogue*. This win marks two firsts for the prize: it is the first work translated from Mandarin Chinese to take home the honor, and Yang, the 40-year-old multi-talented creator who also pens manga and video game scripts, becomes the first Taiwanese author ever to win the award. Set against the backdrop of 1930s Taiwan under Japanese colonial rule, the novel constructs a clever metafictional narrative: it is framed as a newly rediscovered Japanese travel memoir written by the fictional author Aoyama Chizuko, translated into English for contemporary readers. The plot follows Chizuko across the colonial territory, tracing her food-focused journeys through the island’s landscapes and the quiet, intimate romantic bond that grows between her and her Taiwanese interpreter, Chizuru. Speaking on the win, prize jury chair Natasha Brown praised the work for its deceptive depth and layered storytelling. “This is a book that surprises and isn’t perhaps what it seems like on the surface,” Brown noted, adding that the novel “pulls off an incredible double feat: it succeeds as both a tender romance and an incisive postcolonial novel. It’s a captivating, slyly sophisticated novel.” This year, *Taiwan Travelogue* beat out five other celebrated shortlisted works from around the globe to claim the prize. The shortlist included a story of a suburban witch from French novelist Marie NDiaye, a dystopian tale of a brutal prison colony from Brazilian author Ana Paula Maia, a quiet Tehran-set story from German writer Shida Bazyar, Bulgarian poet Rene Karabash’s *She Who Remains*, and *The Director* from German-Austrian author Daniel Kehlmann — the only male nominee on this year’s shortlist. Established to elevate fiction originally written in languages other than English and introduce new global voices to English-speaking audiences, the International Booker Prize has a proven track record of catapulting winning authors to international acclaim and driving major increases in their visibility and book sales. Several past International Booker winners, including Han Kang, Annie Ernaux, and Olga Tokarczuk, have gone on to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in the years following their Booker win. *Taiwan Travelogue* marks the first of Yang’s works to be translated into English, a project completed by Taiwanese-American translator Lin King. The pair will split the £50,000 (approximately $67,000) prize purse evenly between them. The novel was first published in Mandarin in 2020, and quickly earned recognition within Taiwan when it won the Golden Tripod Award, the island’s highest literary honor. In a lighthearted reflection on the novel’s core themes, Yang joked about the impact of writing the food- and travel-focused story: “The novel’s central themes of travel and food changed my life in two obvious ways: my savings went down; my weight went up.”

  • Acting US attorney general defends fund for prosecuted Trump allies

    Acting US attorney general defends fund for prosecuted Trump allies

    A fierce partisan debate erupted on Capitol Hill this week as Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche defended the newly established $1.8 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund”, a initiative designed to compensate individuals who claim they were wrongfully prosecuted during the Biden administration. The fund, created as part of a settlement ending former President Donald Trump’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over a 2023 tax return leak, has drawn sharp condemnation from congressional Democrats who frame it as an unprecedented misuse of taxpayer dollars to benefit the sitting president’s political allies.

    During hours of testimony before the Senate Appropriations Committee, Blanche, Trump’s former personal defense attorney who took over the top Justice Department role, faced repeated questioning from Democratic lawmakers over the fund’s structure and purpose. Washington Senator Patty Murray called the initiative outright corruption, arguing it amounted to the sitting president draining public treasury for personal political gain, labeling it a corrupt “slush fund” reserved for Trump’s loyalists.

    Blanche pushed back aggressively against these claims, stressing that Trump himself would be ineligible to receive compensation from the fund and rejecting assertions that only Republican allies of the president would qualify. He noted that even individuals like Hunter Biden, the former president’s son convicted of gun and tax crimes during his father’s tenure, would be eligible to apply for compensation if they believe they were targeted by politically motivated prosecutions. When pressed repeatedly about whether rioters convicted for their roles in the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack could receive payouts, Blanche refused to rule out eligibility, stating that any U.S. citizen who believes they were a victim of politically weaponized law enforcement would be allowed to apply.

    Blanche will personally appoint the five commissioners tasked with overseeing the fund, a detail that drew further criticism from lawmakers who highlighted his long-standing professional ties to Trump. Rhode Island Senator Jack Reed drew a comparison between Blanche and a mafia political adviser, calling him the “president’s consigliere,” while Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen argued Blanche was continuing to act as Trump’s personal attorney rather than an independent government official. Blanche defended the fund’s necessity, framing it as a corrective measure for what he described as four years of abusive law enforcement practices under former Biden Attorney General Merrick Garland.

    The fund was established Monday as part of a legal settlement with Trump, who dropped his $10 billion damages lawsuit against the IRS over the leak of his tax returns. A former IRS contractor pleaded guilty in 2023 to leaking Trump’s returns and those of other wealthy individuals to media outlets, and was sentenced to five years in prison for the crime. As part of the new settlement addendum released by Blanche Tuesday, the IRS is formally barred from pursuing back tax claims against Trump, his immediate family members, or any of his corporate entities.

    This move aligns with a broader pattern of action Trump has taken since starting his second term in office: he has moved swiftly to punish perceived political opponents, purge disloyal government officials, issue mass pardons to political allies—including hundreds of January 6 defendants on his first day back in office—target law firms that worked on cases against him, and pull federal funding from universities he accuses of political bias. The two criminal cases against Trump handled by special counsel Jack Smith, one over efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election and a second over improper handling of classified documents, were both dropped after Trump won the 2024 election, with Blanche having served as his lead defense attorney in both matters.