Global Pulse

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  • Trump cancels Iran strikes subject to deal being made ‘rapidly’

    Trump cancels Iran strikes subject to deal being made ‘rapidly’

    In a sudden reversal of escalating military rhetoric, U.S. President Donald Trump announced Saturday that he has called off planned large-scale military strikes against Iran, on the condition that a new diplomatic agreement is reached “rapidly” between the two nations. The announcement comes just days after multiple U.S. media outlets confirmed that Washington and its ally Israel had finalized plans for one of the most intense bombing campaigns against Iranian energy infrastructure in the history of the ongoing conflict.

    The breakthrough announcement, shared via a post on Trump’s social platform Truth Social, revealed that Iran and regional Middle Eastern stakeholders had requested Washington delay military action after agreeing to the core outlines of a potential new deal. “We are locked and loaded and ready to go against the Islamic Republic of Iran, at levels of Military Terror, Strength, and Power not seen since World War Two,” Trump wrote in the post. “I have been asked to hold off any attack, and I have agreed. Cancelling this strike will serve the future benefit of the world, and likewise the survival of a successful and prosperous Iran.”

    This pattern of bellicose threats followed by a last-minute turn to diplomacy is not unprecedented for the current U.S. administration. Back in April, Trump issued an apocalyptic warning that “a whole civilisation will die tonight” if Iran refused to enter peace talks, a threat that included open promises to target civilian infrastructure and power plants – a move widely condemned by international legal experts as a potential war crime. That warning did ultimately lead to historic face-to-face negotiations between U.S. and Iranian delegations in Pakistan, led by U.S. Vice President JD Vance. For Trump’s political supporters, the outcome validated the president’s unorthodox “Madman Theory” approach to nuclear and regional diplomacy, where extreme threats push adversaries to the negotiating table. However, those earlier talks collapsed without any agreement, as irreconcilable differences over core red lines on both sides left no path to a deal.

    The latest military escalation plans were first confirmed by multiple U.S. sources during Trump’s closed-door cabinet meeting at Camp David held last Friday. Speaking with reporters still present in the meeting room, CBS News – a U.S. news partner of the BBC – captured Trump telling attendees, “We’ll be hitting them [Iranians] very hard. At some point, they’re going to say, ‘We just can’t take it anymore.’” In the days leading up to Trump’s announcement, the U.S. State Department had also issued an urgent alert urging all American citizens across the Middle East to remain on high alert and prepare for immediate evacuation if regional tensions escalate further.

    As of Sunday, Iranian officials have not confirmed any request for new talks or any preliminary agreement on deal parameters, nearly five months after the current open conflict began with joint U.S. and Israeli strikes on February 28. Speaking publicly Sunday, Iran’s acting Defence Minister Majid Ibn al-Reza stressed that Tehran treats every threat from its adversaries as “real and credible,” even when framed as psychological warfare. “We will neither be caught off guard nor remain passive,” he added, reaffirming Iran’s commitment to responding to any military attack.

    Regional powers have moved quickly to push for de-escalation in the 48 hours after Trump’s announcement. On Saturday, a day after the Camp David cabinet meeting, Saudi Arabia’s official SPA news agency confirmed that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman held a phone call with Trump focused on reducing regional tensions. The statement added that the crown prince “emphasised the necessity of prioritising dialogue to reduce tensions and the importance of exerting all possible efforts to achieve a truce that paves the way for diplomatic solutions.”

    Gulf U.S. allies, including Bahrain, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates, have long expressed deep concern over any major escalation of the conflict: unlike the U.S. mainland, which lies outside the range of Iranian conventional missiles, these regional states host critical infrastructure – including water desalination plants that supply the majority of drinking water for local populations – that are widely considered prime targets for Iranian retaliation. The Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most important chokepoint for global oil exports, also runs through the region, and Iran has already targeted commercial shipping in the waterway since the ceasefire collapsed in June.

    The current conflict between Washington and Tehran dates back to an April ceasefire that paused open hostilities, only to collapse in June, triggering a new cycle of escalating strikes and counter-strikes. The U.S. has enforced a full blockade of Iranian ports and carried out repeated bombing raids on Iranian military and infrastructure targets, while Iran has responded with missile and drone attacks on U.S. military assets across the Middle East and disruptions to global oil shipping. The ongoing instability has already triggered significant volatility in global crude oil prices, a trend that threatens to push up energy costs for consumers around the world, including in the U.S.

    Domestically, Trump faces growing headwinds over his handling of the conflict as crucial U.S. midterm elections approach. Data from the Pew Research Center shows that roughly 60% of American voters disapprove of Trump’s handling of the war with Iran, a factor that has contributed to the president’s falling overall approval ratings. Political analysts widely note that any major escalation of the conflict would almost certainly drive up global oil prices, further squeezing household budgets for U.S. consumers and amplify political risks for Trump’s party in the upcoming elections.

  • Fire toll mounts in Greece as blazes spread

    Fire toll mounts in Greece as blazes spread

    Greece is grappling with an expanding wildfire crisis that has left vast swathes of forest and agricultural land destroyed, with top officials warning that the most challenging days still lie ahead as high gale-force winds hamper suppression efforts.

    Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis noted that the nation has been battered by unprecedented extreme weather, with wind speeds regularly hitting 62 miles per hour — speeds so intense that even the dozens of aerial firefighting assets deployed across the country cannot operate safely. “There are moments when nature and the intensity of weather phenomena surpass any human planning and any operational capability,” Mitsotakis wrote in a public post on Facebook Sunday.

    As of Sunday, nearly 500 firefighters were focused on containing a major blaze burning near Porto Germeno, a popular coastal village located roughly 45 miles northwest of the Greek capital Athens. The fire crossed a mountain range overnight, and crews are working around the clock to stop its advance toward Athens’ western outskirts. Additional blazes are burning across the country: 100 firefighters are tackling a second large wildfire in Aigialia, located in the northern Peloponnese peninsula, while a new outbreak was reported on the Ionian Sea island of Cephalonia late Saturday.

    Early damage assessments from the National Observatory’s climate tracking service meteo.gr initially estimated that more than 16,000 acres of land had been burned in outbreaks across the Gulf of Corinth region, which includes the Porto Germeno blaze. But Theodore Giannaros, a wildfire meteorologist and senior researcher at the National Observatory, said Sunday that the actual burned area for the Porto Germeno fire alone is likely over 24,700 acres — nearly double the initial estimate. “Unfortunately, it is highly likely (if not almost certain) that this particular wildfire will be classified as a megafire,” Giannaros wrote on Facebook.

    Evacuation orders were issued for Porto Germeno and neighboring villages on Friday when the fire first broke out, but local authorities confirm that dozens of residential properties have already been damaged or destroyed. Nikos Georgopoulos, a forest management researcher at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, told Greek state broadcaster ERT that the speed of the blaze took observers by surprise. “We could not believe what we were seeing, the fire spread extremely rapidly,” he said, adding that the same area was hit by a smaller wildfire just three years ago.

    The crisis has stretched Greece’s emergency response resources to breaking point. Civil Protection Minister Evangelos Tournas confirmed Saturday that the national fire department has been “pushed to its limits”, after crews have responded to dozens of new fire outbreaks every day this week. Three firefighters have already died in the line of duty this week: two on the island of Crete, and one in the Peloponnese. Tournas explained that extreme wind and turbulence have grounded most aerial firefighting assets for much of the crisis, leaving ground crews to handle fast-moving blazes without air support.

    While winds moderated slightly late Saturday, the Greek civil protection ministry warned Sunday that the greater Athens metropolitan area, nearby Voiotia region, and the island of Evia all remain under near-maximum wildfire risk. Like much of the Mediterranean basin, Greece faces increasing wildfire risk every summer due to rising temperatures, more frequent and intense heat waves, and prolonged drought driven by human-caused climate change. Earlier this week, separate wildfires on the Greek islands of Crete and Paros burned another 14,800 acres of land, according to meteo.gr data.

  • Cuba hit by partial power outage affecting western provinces

    Cuba hit by partial power outage affecting western provinces

    A partial failure of Cuba’s national electric grid has left multiple western provinces of the island nation without power on Saturday, according to an official statement from the country’s National Electric Union. The grid disruption began at 18:07 local time, caused by an unexpected tripping of major transmission lines that carry electricity to the affected regions, which stretch from the province of Matanzas along the northern coast westward all the way to Pinar del Río at the island’s western tip.

    Cuba’s energy sector has faced persistent systemic strain for years, a crisis largely exacerbated by long-running U.S. sanctions that have severely restricted the country’s ability to import critical resources. These restrictions block access to the fuel required to power generation facilities and the specialized equipment needed to upgrade and repair Cuba’s fleet of heavily aged power plants, many of which have operated far beyond their original design lifespans.

    This latest outage is not an isolated incident. Since October 2024, Cuba has endured multiple widespread blackouts across the entire country, triggered by a combination of interconnected factors: aging power infrastructure failures, intense hurricane activity that damages transmission and generation assets, and ongoing fuel shortages that leave utility operators unable to meet peak domestic and commercial energy demand. The recurring outages have placed additional strain on Cuban households and businesses already navigating economic challenges tied to international trade restrictions.

  • Man, 20s, found fatally-injured at bus stop in Australind, Western Australia

    Man, 20s, found fatally-injured at bus stop in Australind, Western Australia

    A violent early-morning incident in a small Western Australian country town has left a young man dead and sparked a full homicide investigation, with two suspects already taken into police custody. Emergency responders were dispatched to a bus stop on The Boulevard in Australind, a regional community located roughly 150 kilometers south of Perth, at approximately 1:20 a.m. on Sunday following reports of an injured person at the location.

    When first responders arrived at the scene, they found the man, who was in his late 20s, unresponsive with life-threatening critical injuries. He was immediately transported by emergency ambulance to Bunbury Hospital for urgent medical intervention, but medical staff were unable to save him, and he was pronounced dead shortly after arrival.

    In the wake of the young man’s death, Western Australia Police has deployed specialist homicide squad detectives to lead the investigation into the circumstances surrounding his injury and death. As of the latest update Sunday, two men, both aged in their 30s, have been arrested and are currently in police custody. No formal charges have been filed against either suspect at this time, as investigators continue to piece together details of the incident and collect forensic and witness evidence.

    Western Australia Premier Roger Cook publicly addressed the shocking incident on Sunday, describing the event as horrific and saying he was deeply saddened by the loss of life. “We’ve received reports there has been an assault, an alleged assault, in Australind,” Cook told reporters. “It would appear to be a very violent incident, and I’m very pleased that the police were able to get on top of that situation quickly. I think everyone in Australind will be shocked by this news today, and our thoughts are with the friends of the individual.”

    The crime scene remains sealed off as forensic officers continue their examination, with police expected to release further updates as the investigation progresses.

  • Island residents fear delays to emergencies amid changes to fire service

    Island residents fear delays to emergencies amid changes to fire service

    Off Ireland’s northwest coast, the remote inhabited island of Arranmore is facing a growing conflict over emergency services, as locals push back against Donegal County Council’s plan to phase out the island’s last retained paid firefighters and transition to an all-volunteer fire brigade once the current personnel retire.

    For decades, Arranmore’s fire service has operated under a hybrid model: two full-time paid retained firefighters backed by a team of local volunteers. But that structure is set to change, with the council moving to an entirely volunteer-led service to fill upcoming vacancies created by retirement. For island residents, the shift raises urgent questions about the reliability of emergency response during a high-risk season for wildfires.

    Longtime local firefighter Finbar Gallagher, one of the most vocal critics of the plan, explained that the island’s unique geography and seasonal population swings make an all-volunteer force unworkable. Arranmore is particularly prone to fast-spreading gorse fires during the warm summer months, when the island’s permanent population of roughly 500 swells to as many as 900 people as tourists descend on its Atlantic coastlines. Gallagher noted that many current volunteers already split their time across multiple critical emergency services, serving on both the RNLI lifeboat crew and local ambulance service in addition to fire brigade duties.

    “The days of relying solely on volunteers for an essential service like fire response are gone,” Gallagher told BBC Radio Foyle. “Every community on the mainland has access to retained paid firefighters, and there’s no logical reason why Arranmore should be different. The additional cost to the council is negligible, especially when weighed against the risk to human life.”

    Residents have already launched a formal petition demanding the council reverse its decision and commit to hiring six full-time retained firefighters for the island. Siobhan Cox, a member of the community committee organizing the petition, said locals are united in their deep concern over the proposed changes. She pointed to a recent gorse fire that was extinguished in just 10 minutes by the existing on-island crew – a response time that would be impossible if the island had to wait for reinforcements from the mainland.

    Cox explained that rough Atlantic seas regularly suspend ferry services to Arranmore, meaning mainland fire crews could face delays of up to an hour or be unable to reach the island at all during an emergency. That window, she said, is more than enough for a small gorse fire to spread to residential areas and cause catastrophic damage. Beyond emergency response, Cox added that creating new paid positions would also support long-term efforts to attract young people to move to the island, boosting its declining permanent population. She also noted that the Aran Islands, another inhabited Irish island group, currently receive funding for 12 retained firefighter positions, making the council’s refusal to approve six posts for Arranmore even more confusing.

    For its part, Donegal County Council has defended its plan, arguing that current volunteer recruitment efforts meet and exceed the requirements laid out in national government policy for fire services on inhabited offshore islands. The council noted that five new local residents have already expressed interest in joining the volunteer brigade to fill the gaps left by upcoming and recent retirements. It added that the island’s fire equipment has essentially the same functional capability as that used by mainland retained brigades, with only minor differences in water capacity and ladder size.

    But community leaders remain unconvinced, accusing the council of ignoring their concerns and attempting to sweep the issue under the rug. As the peak summer wildfire season gets underway, the fight over Arranmore’s fire service highlights the ongoing challenges facing remote island communities in Ireland, as local authorities balance budget constraints with the need for reliable, accessible emergency services for year-round and seasonal residents alike.

  • Victorian Premier Ben Carroll calls for Build Build royal commission before election, says he’s ‘happy’ to appear

    Victorian Premier Ben Carroll calls for Build Build royal commission before election, says he’s ‘happy’ to appear

    Just days after being sworn in as Victoria’s new state premier following Jacinta Allan’s sudden resignation, Ben Carroll has moved quickly to upend his predecessor’s policy approach, announcing plans to launch a royal commission into widespread corruption claims plaguing the state’s flagship Big Build infrastructure program — and confirming he would voluntarily appear to give evidence if summoned.

    Carroll, who took office last Tuesday after a party leadership shakeup that forced Allan out of the top job, laid out his timeline for the inquiry in a press briefing on Sunday, saying the probe must get underway before Victoria’s state election scheduled for November. “This is something that needs to be done now,” Carroll told reporters.

    The new premier confirmed that calling a royal commission into the construction sector will be his first official act in office — a sharp break from Allan, who rejected calls for a full public inquiry during the final months of her short tenure. The Big Build initiative, one of the state’s largest ever infrastructure pushes, includes major new public works such as upgraded roads, new urban tunnels and expanded train stations, but it has been roiled in recent months by persistent allegations of organized criminal infiltration linked to the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU).

    Carroll said he has already directed the incoming head of the Department of Premier and Cabinet to begin drafting the inquiry’s terms of reference, which are set to be publicly unveiled next week. When asked if he would be willing to testify before the commission, he made his position clear: “I would be happy to give evidence if called to do so. Everyone should be questioned that the royal commissioner believes had a role. That will be a matter for the commissioner and the terms of reference – they will be wide and they will be exhaustive.”

    Carroll’s announcement came hours after Victorian Opposition Leader Jess Wilson published her party’s proposed terms of reference for the inquiry, which includes a demand to call 25 high-profile witnesses, including two former premiers: Daniel Andrews and Jacinta Allan. In comments Sunday, Wilson claimed the corruption scandal surrounding Big Build is the worst in Victoria’s history, having already cost state taxpayers an estimated $15 billion. “Yesterday we wrote to the new premier Ben Carroll outlining our non-negotiable terms of reference for a real royal commission into the largest corruption scandal in Victoria’s history,” she said.

    When asked about the Opposition’s proposal, Carroll admitted he had not yet reviewed the document, joking that media outlets received copies before his office did. “I think the media got a copy of it before I did and I’ve asked my office to track down a copy,” he said. “I am not going to run a commentary on the royal commission … I’ll have more to say next week.”

    Beyond the corruption inquiry, Carroll is moving rapidly to consolidate his control of the state government, with a new front bench cabinet expected to be announced imminently. The state Labor caucus is set to meet Monday to finalize ministerial appointments before Carroll assigns portfolios. Already, two senior ministers aligned with Allan’s Socialist Left faction have resigned from cabinet and announced they will retire from politics at the November 28 election, with political speculation mounting that additional departures will follow. Health Minister Harriet Shing and Energy Minister Lily D’Ambrosio confirmed their exit from cabinet just two days after the leadership change that ended Allan’s premiership.

    Carroll has also moved quickly to shake up the state’s top public service ranks: he has dismissed Jeremi Moule, the long-serving Department of Premier and Cabinet secretary who held the role under both Andrews and Allan, and replaced him with Treasury secretary Chris Barrett.

  • Dry, hot summers are putting Dutch dikes at risk and threatening German river trade

    Dry, hot summers are putting Dutch dikes at risk and threatening German river trade

    Across sweltering Western Europe, a record-breaking summer drought has left iconic infrastructure, agricultural sectors and key shipping routes reeling, with the low-lying Netherlands — a nation defined by its centuries-long battle to hold back water — facing an unprecedented test of its famed flood defense network. As wildfires rage across southern France and Spain, and major waterways including the Danube and Rhine drop to historic lows, the Netherlands has mobilized hundreds of volunteers to patrol its thousands of kilometers of dikes, hunting for hidden cracks and weaknesses that could spell disaster in future rain events.

    Near the small agricultural town of Waddinxveen, located east of The Hague and roughly 5 meters below sea level, volunteers Jeroen Wouda and Dirk Boom follow a slow, methodical route along an inland peat dike, probing the bone-dry earthen embankment with metal rods and scanning parched grass for subtle patches of green that signal an unseen leak. This modern patrol echoes the centuries-old folk tale of the Dutch boy who plugged a dike breach with his finger, but today’s monitoring uses 21st-century tools: volunteers log potential flaws directly in a mobile app, alerting water authorities who can dispatch repair crews within hours.

    Peter van Duijvendijk, flood defense manager at the Schieland en de Krimpenerwaard water corporation, one of 21 regional water management bodies that oversee flood protection across the Netherlands, says 140 trained volunteers in his district alone patrol 100 kilometers of dikes throughout the dry season. So far, no major structural damage has been detected, but patrols will remain active through the fall as soil conditions stay unstable. “These volunteers are our eyes and ears on the dike,” van Duijvendijk explained to the Associated Press. Unlike concrete coastal flood barriers, inland dikes in the Netherlands are often built from peat, a porous organic soil that relies on consistent moisture to retain its structural strength. When peat dries out, it shrinks and weakens, creating gaps that can allow water to breach the barrier and flood low-lying reclaimed polder land during periods of heavy rain. “Because it is so dry right now the peat loses moisture, and because of that it becomes weaker,” van Duijvendijk said. “If that peat becomes weaker, then there is a chance that water will flow through the dike.”

    The drought’s impacts extend far beyond dike integrity, rippling through regional economies and critical transport networks. The Rhine, Europe’s most vital inland freight waterway that connects North Sea ports to industrial heartlands in Germany and landlocked Central Europe, dropped below its 2018 record low near Cologne, Germany, over the weekend. Marcel Beck, manager of the western German ports of Neuss, Düsseldorf and Cologne for logistics firm RheinCargo, called the low water levels “devastating” for commercial shipping. Whereas a single cargo vessel can typically carry 2,000 to 2,500 metric tons of freight along the Rhine, water depths are now so shallow that most ships can only load 400 to 600 metric tons to avoid running aground on sandbars. “This places an enormous burden on the entire transport chain to reorganize everything in order to still get the goods inland,” Beck said. In the eastern Netherlands, the Waal river — the main Dutch branch of the Rhine — has receded so far that long-submerged items like rusted bicycles and discarded shopping carts are now exposed on the dry riverbed, and dozens of houseboats are sitting directly on the exposed sandy river bottom. Frans Schilte, a houseboat owner in the city of Nijmegen, has observed that low-water seasons have grown longer and more severe in recent years, extending from the historic one-month average to three full months. His own steel-hulled boat now rests on the riverbed, sitting slightly off-level as a result. “It’s not a big problem,” Schilte said, “but it’s the negative effect of climate change.”

    For the Netherlands, a country where roughly one-third of total land sits below sea level, managing water has always required a delicate balancing act: winter brings the constant threat of catastrophic flooding, while extended summer droughts increasingly bring the opposite problem of water scarcity. Deltares, an independent Dutch water research institute, says the country has enough total annual freshwater to meet all needs, but seasonal distribution is the core challenge. “In the winter we drain it away quickly because we want to keep our feet dry and we don’t want water on the land,” explained Vince Kaandorp, a groundwater hydrologist at Deltares. “How can you ensure that you do that slowly and give water time to sink into the ground?” Kaandorp notes that solutions don’t require massive high-tech infrastructure: simple adjustments like adding hedgerows along river banks can slow runoff, giving rainwater more time to seep into deep groundwater reserves. Dutch water authorities are currently researching how to modify agricultural and riparian soil to act like natural sponges, holding more moisture through dry summer months.

    Even with these adaptive measures, the drought has already caused significant disruption for Dutch agriculture. Some regions have banned farmers from pumping canal water for crop irrigation as authorities work to preserve freshwater supplies and prevent saltwater intrusion into low-lying reclaimed lands. Western Dutch polders, which produce much of the country’s fruit and vegetable crops, are facing increasing salinization as freshwater levels drop and seawater seeps into groundwater reserves. Farmers are warning of reduced harvests and higher consumer prices for summer fruit this year. “It is an extremely challenging year for growers,” said John Kusters, chair of the Netherlands Fruit Growers’ Organization, in a public statement.

  • Trump says US, Israel to hold off on Iran strikes

    Trump says US, Israel to hold off on Iran strikes

    In a sudden shift that has eased immediate fears of a major regional escalation, former President Donald Trump revealed Saturday that the United States and Israel have agreed to hold off on planned new strikes against Iran, on the condition that a diplomatic deal to end five months of open conflict is reached quickly.

    The announcement comes amid widespread international anxiety that fighting would reignite on a large scale, after Trump previously threatened to hit Iran “very hard” and U.S. officials were reportedly weighing targeted attacks on key Iranian energy infrastructure. Just days prior, U.S. embassies across the Middle East issued urgent alerts to American citizens, warning of “unforeseen escalation” and urging them to prepare for immediate evacuation. Multiple U.S. outlets including CBS News had reported that joint U.S.-Israel strikes were scheduled as early as this weekend, with oil refineries and power plants identified as potential targets.

    In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump confirmed that U.S. military forces remained “locked and loaded and ready to go against the Islamic Republic of Iran,” but explained that the decision to pause strikes came in response to direct requests from Tehran and multiple other regional governments.

    “Based on this request, I have agreed, for the future benefit of the WORLD and, likewise, the survival of a successful and prosperous Iran, to cancel the attack, subject to being able to rapidly make a DEAL,” Trump wrote. He outlined two non-negotiable terms for any final agreement: the “Immediate, Complete and Total OPENING OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT,” and a permanent end to what the U.S. describes as Iran’s nuclear threat. “The Country of Israel joins me in this commitment. Get to work, everybody, and get it DONE,” he added.

    The current conflict, which opened on February 28 when U.S. and Israeli forces launched the first wave of strikes against Iran, has dragged on for more than five months with no clear path to resolution. A previous ceasefire agreement, which included identical provisions to reopen the strategic Strait of Hormuz, collapsed after only a short period. In the weeks since hostilities resumed, Iran has tightened its grip on the waterway, requiring all passing vessels to obtain official permission and pay transit fees to access the route, which carries roughly a fifth of the world’s daily oil supplies. Data from maritime trade analytics firm Kpler released Friday confirmed that traffic through the strait has dropped “sharply” amid the ongoing tensions. The collapse of the first ceasefire and resumption of attacks has already pushed global oil prices back upward, reversing the dip recorded during the brief ceasefire period.

    Regional pressure played a central role in Trump’s last-minute decision to call off strikes. According to reporting from Axios, which cited anonymous U.S. officials, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman held a phone call with Trump Saturday specifically to voice opposition to the planned strikes, urging the U.S. president to prioritize de-escalation. The White House has not yet issued any official comment confirming or denying the contents of that call.

    U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio struck a cautiously optimistic tone in comments earlier this week to Fox News, arguing that months of U.S. military action had “wiped out” much of Iran’s defensive capabilities, leaving Tehran more open to negotiation. “Tehran was now willing and in some cases seem eager to do a deal on denuclearization, to do a deal on the straits,” Rubio said, though he warned that Iran retained the capacity to “still do damage” to regional and international interests.

    Recent weeks have seen a series of unsettling attacks linked to the broader regional tensions that have raised alarms globally. On Wednesday, an unmanned drone hit a U.S.-owned gas tanker anchored in an Egyptian port, sparking a large fire; Egyptian authorities have launched an investigation but have not yet attributed responsibility for the strike. Separately, a British maritime agency reported Saturday that an “unknown projectile” struck another commercial tanker off the coast of Oman. In a separate development Saturday, Iran-aligned Houthi rebels in Yemen denied reports that they planned to impose transit fees on vessels passing through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a key alternative route for Saudi oil exports that connects the Red Sea and Indian Ocean.

    The decision to pause strikes comes just three months ahead of U.S. midterm elections, where control of Congress is at stake and the conflict is expected to be a core campaign issue for both major parties, posing a potential political challenge to Trump’s Republican Party.

  • New PBS drug for brain cancer two months after Richard Scolyer’s death

    New PBS drug for brain cancer two months after Richard Scolyer’s death

    Two months after the passing of iconic Australian cancer researcher Richard Scolyer, a long-awaited breakthrough treatment for one of the most prevalent adult brain cancers has been added to Australia’s Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS), marking the first new approved option for the condition in more than two decades.

    On Saturday, Voranigo (generic name vorasidenib) became accessible through the national drug subsidy program for eligible Australian patients diagnosed with Grade 2 IDH-mutant glioma. This specific form of brain cancer is the most common diagnosis among adults under 50, with most patients receiving their diagnosis between the ages of 20 and 45. While slow-growing, the disease is currently incurable, and it gradually progresses over years, causing severe long-term impairment for those living with it.

    Australian Health Minister Mark Butler emphasized the profound burden this cancer places on patients, noting that it robs young adults of their health and quality of life at the peak of their working and personal lives. “It’s deeply, deeply debilitating,” Butler explained in an interview with News24. “Patients often live with repeated seizures, gradual cognitive decline, and permanent physical disability. Tragically, it hits people in very young adulthood, usually in their 20s and 30s.”

    Before this PBS listing, eligible patients would have been forced to pay up to $28,000 per month out of pocket to access the treatment – a sum Butler confirmed is well out of reach for the vast majority of Australian households. Now, thanks to the national subsidy, patients will only pay the standard PBS co-payment for the drug. Officials estimate approximately 130 patients will be able to access this life-changing treatment immediately following the listing.

    This new drug listing is part of a broader round of PBS updates rolled out in August, which also added new subsidized treatments for thyroid cancer, blood cancer, and Crohn’s disease, expanding access to critical care for thousands of Australians living with chronic and terminal conditions.

    The announcement carries particular emotional weight, coming just eight weeks after the death of Professor Richard Scolyer, a pioneering cancer researcher whose work transformed global melanoma treatment. Born in Tasmania, Scolyer received his own diagnosis of aggressive grade 4 glioblastoma in June 2023, just months after being named 2024 Australian of the Year alongside his long-time research collaborator Georgina Long. The pair had spent decades leading groundbreaking work to improve immunotherapy outcomes for melanoma patients before Scolyer’s cancer progressed earlier this year. He died on June 7 at the age of 59, leaving behind a legacy of advocacy for expanded access to innovative cancer treatments.

  • ‘Rubbish’: Health Minister Mark Butler lashes ABC Gina Rinehart skit

    ‘Rubbish’: Health Minister Mark Butler lashes ABC Gina Rinehart skit

    A violent, graphic satirical segment targeting Australian mining magnate Gina Rinehart, aired on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s (ABC) *Race Around The World* series three weeks ago, has erupted into a major public and legal controversy, drawing sharp condemnation from senior members of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s government. The four-minute segment closed with an incendiary voiceover that explicitly described a graphic act of violence against Rinehart, framing it as an action for a coming political revolution. The violent language has triggered widespread public outrage, official rebuke from cabinet ministers, and formal legal action from Rinehart’s company, Hancock Prospecting.

    Senior government figures have publicly denounced the skit as inappropriate for broadcast, even for a public media outlet funded by Australian taxpayers. Health Minister Mark Butler, one of the most senior ministers in the Albanese cabinet, publicly described the material as “rubbish” and “pretty revolting” in comments to media on Sunday. Though Butler acknowledged he had not viewed the full segment personally, he said he had reviewed widespread public reporting of the violent closing passage, which he said had no place on any Australian television network—whether public, commercial, or subscription.

    “Regardless of who it’s about, this sort of violent content should never be broadcast to the public,” Butler said, noting that while ABC’s decision to refer the segment to its independent internal Ombudsman for investigation was appropriate, the existence of such content on public airwaves remained unacceptable. Communications Minister Anika Wells had previously condemned the segment as “unacceptable” earlier in the week, joining Butler in criticising ABC for allowing the content to air.

    The segment’s creator, Kate McGuinness, a contestant on the *Race Around The World* series, issued a public apology via the ABC last Thursday. McGuinness emphasised that she never intended to incite real violence against Rinehart, framing the graphic language as over-the-top satirical commentary that was never meant to be interpreted literally. “Unfortunately, jokes do not land with everyone. Its purpose was never to be taken literally. I apologise to anyone I’ve offended,” she said in her apology statement.

    ABC’s initial response drew further anger from Rinehart and her company: the public broadcaster initially defended the segment, claiming it met editorial standards and was editorially justifiable for its satirical context. It refused to remove the content from its digital platforms or issue a public apology for more than a week after Hancock Prospecting first made formal requests to the ABC board for these actions. Last week, after growing public pressure, ABC reversed its initial stance and agreed to refer the full matter to its internal Ombudsman for an independent review.

    That shift was not enough to avoid legal action. Last Friday, Hancock Prospecting issued formal legal letters to ABC leadership, including ABC Chair Kim Williams AM, Deputy Chair Lisa Caffery, and Managing Director Hugh Marks, outlining a series of alleged criminal and civil law breaches stemming from the original broadcast and the broadcaster’s decision to keep the material online. A company statement noted that a full week after Hancock Prospecting first submitted formal demands to the ABC board, senior leadership had failed to issue a substantive public or private response, nor had they taken steps to remove the harmful content from ABC platforms despite widespread public condemnation. The statement also highlighted the serious safety risks that continued publication of the violent threats poses to Rinehart personally.