Global Pulse

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  • Rain dampens France fire, as Spain reports ‘almost no flames’

    Rain dampens France fire, as Spain reports ‘almost no flames’

    A week of catastrophic, record-breaking wildfires across Western and Southern Europe has entered a new phase this week, with favorable weather finally bringing relief to hard-hit regions in France and Spain, while emergency crews continue to battle out-of-control blazes in Greece and Turkey.

    In southwestern France, near the iconic wine capital of Bordeaux, firefighters are breathing a tentative sigh of relief after days of raging flames that have already become the country’s worst wildfire event since 1949. Cooler temperatures and long-awaited rainfall reached the affected coastal pine forest region on Thursday, halting the spread of the massive blaze that has already consumed more than 42,000 hectares of land — an area larger than the entire U.S. city of Detroit. Thunder rumbled over the coastal town of Lege-Cap-Ferret on Thursday, with scattered raindrops falling across the fire zone, a sight welcomed by first responders stationed at the local command post set up in the town’s sports hall.

    Regional firefighting authorities report they are “reasonably optimistic” that the worst of the emergency has passed, noting the blaze has not expanded beyond its existing boundaries since the weekend. Still, regional fire chief Marc Vermeulen emphasized that the battle is far from over: crews will need multiple days of sustained work dousing smoldering hot spots deep within the forest and along the fire’s perimeter to prevent the flames from flaring up again once drier, warmer conditions return. So far, the French blaze has forced more than 220,000 people — including vacationers staying at campsites and coastal bungalows, and permanent residents of the region — to evacuate, and destroyed roughly 240 residential properties.

    For many local residents, the repeated trauma of climate-fueled wildfires has prompted permanent changes of plans. Kevin Montmartre, an Uber driver based in inland Bordeaux who has already been evacuated three times in recent days from his second home in the beach town of Andernos-les-Bains, told Agence France-Presse that growing wildfire frequency tied to climate change has made him rethink his property investment. “Honestly, I’ve talked it over with my wife, and if there’s another one in the coming years, we’ll sell the house,” he said as rain began to fall in Bordeaux.

    Neighboring Spain, which has also faced some of the most extreme wildfire conditions in modern history, is also reporting major progress in containing its blazes. Authorities in the Madrid region announced Thursday that the large wildfire burning on the capital’s outskirts has not spread for several days, with only a small number of smoldering hot spots remaining and “almost no flames” left active. Since the fire began last Wednesday, it has burned 27,000 hectares of land and destroyed at least 100 homes, a toll that officials expect to rise as full assessments begin. By Wednesday, thousands of evacuees had already been allowed to return to their homes, with only around 1,000 people still displaced as of Thursday morning.

    Further west in Spain, the Avila wildfire has already made history as the largest wildfire the country has recorded since national fire tracking began in 1961, having burned approximately 50,000 hectares of land to date.

    While France and Spain see progress, emergency responders across other parts of Southern Europe are still working to contain fast-moving blazes. On the Greek island of Crete, a popular Mediterranean tourist destination, thousands of residents and visitors were evacuated late Wednesday as high winds pushed flames toward resort areas. The fire continued to rage on Thursday, and local official Maria Lioni confirmed that early reports indicate homes, agricultural infrastructure, and livestock have been lost, though full damage counts remain unavailable while the fire is still active.

    In Turkey, officials report the country is currently battling at least 115 active wildfires across its territory, though crews have managed to bring 110 of those blazes under control. Thousands of volunteers have joined professional firefighting crews across the continent to support evacuation efforts, supply logistics, and fire suppression work.

  • North Sea oil fields set to be reopened by Burnham would profit blacklisted Israeli company

    North Sea oil fields set to be reopened by Burnham would profit blacklisted Israeli company

    Weeks after taking office as UK Prime Minister, Andy Burnham is facing growing international and domestic backlash over plans to rapidly approve the reopening of two stalled North Sea oil and gas projects, with campaigners warning the move would violate the United Kingdom’s binding international legal obligations due to key links between a major stakeholder and illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

    The two projects at the center of the debate are the Rosebank field, located off the Shetland Islands in the North Atlantic, and the Jackdaw field off Scotland’s North Sea coast. Both developments were originally approved by the former Conservative government between 2022 and 2023, but court challenges overturned those approvals in 2025, leaving the final decision to Burnham’s new Labour administration.

    Ithaca Energy, which holds a 20% stake in the Rosebank project, is majority-owned by Israeli energy conglomerate Delek Group. The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights includes Delek Group on its official database of companies identified as having links to illegal West Bank settlements, activities that raise “particular human rights concerns.” Further, Delek holds a hundreds-of-millions-of-pounds contract to supply fuel to the Israeli military during its ongoing military campaign in Gaza that has been widely labeled as genocide by human rights groups.

    Investigative reporting by UK outlet The Ferret has found that since 2020, Delek Group has extracted more than $1 billion in dividends from its Ithaca Energy stake across six of the UK’s 10 largest oil and gas fields. If Rosebank is approved, Delek stands to gain an additional £200 million in future profits from the project.

    Karla McLaren, government and political relations manager at Amnesty International UK, told Middle East Eye that approving the project would directly contradict the UK’s long-stated commitments to upholding international law. “It would totally fly in the face of the UK’s international legal responsibilities for the UK to be granting concessions or contracting with any company that has enabled, facilitated or profited from the construction of Israel’s settlements, which are war crimes,” McLaren said.

    The planned approval also comes at a time of unprecedented climate pressure, as Europe grapples with record-breaking heatwaves. It also follows the suppression of a 2025 joint UK intelligence assessment that warned the climate crisis poses a severe, immediate threat to UK national security.

    The push to reopen the North Sea fields has already drawn enthusiastic support from US President Donald Trump, who celebrated the expected move in a post on his Truth Social platform, claiming Burnham’s decision would transform the UK “from a Poverty Stricken Disaster, to one of the Richest Countries anywhere in the World!” Trump had previously criticized Keir Starmer, Burnham’s predecessor as Labour Prime Minister, for refusing to advance the projects, telling The Telegraph in an April interview that “all Starmer wants is costly windmills that are driving your energy prices through the roof” and repeating his signature rallying cry of “drill baby drill.”

    The projects had been blocked by former UK Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, but mounting political pressure led to Miliband’s reassignment to the role of Foreign Secretary in Burnham’s recent cabinet reshuffle, clearing the way for a potential approval. The White House has already expressed deep concern over Miliband’s appointment, with Trump having previously attacked Miliband as a “net zero zealot.”

    From his first days in office, Burnham has moved to align his administration closely with Trump’s foreign policy priorities. On July 20, the day he took office, Burnham called Trump to confirm that securing shipping lanes in the Strait of Hormuz was “at the top of his agenda.” Just two days later, his administration approved the continued use of UK military bases for US airstrikes targeting Iran.

    Rudy Schulkind, a political campaigner for Greenpeace UK, told MEE that the upcoming decision will stand as one of the most defining tests of Burnham’s premiership. “Caving to demands from Donald Trump and the fossil fuel lobby by backing Rosebank would signal that powerful corporate interests still hold more sway than the public interest – it would also undermine the UK’s climate commitments and contradict Burnham’s own pledge to uphold international law in Palestine, given Rosebank’s links to Israeli energy company Delek,” Schulkind said.

    The controversy comes shortly after Burnham issued a public apology for the Labour Party’s “initial response” to the crisis in Gaza, acknowledging that the party “need to do better.” His predecessor, Keir Starmer, faced widespread international condemnation in October 2023 after stating that Israel had the right to cut off water and electricity to Gaza, a form of collective punishment explicitly banned under international law. When Starmer avoided calling for an immediate ceasefire during Israel’s military offensive that began after October 7, 2023, Burnham – then serving as Mayor of Manchester – broke with party leadership alongside London Mayor Sadiq Khan to publicly demand a ceasefire.

    While Burnham has acknowledged the “unbearable suffering” in Gaza as “a scar on our collective conscience,” he has stopped short of labeling the military campaign a genocide, saying the determination must be left to international courts. Political analysts note his recent apology was crafted to address voter anger over Labour’s Gaza policy, after a study found that more than half of former Labour voters who switched to smaller center or left-wing parties cited the party’s Gaza stance as a key factor in their decision.

    Patrick Galey, head of investigations at climate and human rights charity Global Witness, told MEE that Burnham appears to believe voter anger over Labour’s previous policies can be resolved with public relations adjustments, but “actions speak louder than words.” Galey explained that approving the North Sea projects is widely understood within political circles as a concession to the fossil fuel industry, a tactic the Labour Party has used in an attempt to appease powerful corporate interests.

    Data from 2024 investigative work by outlet DeSmog supports this framing: major oil and gas firms are represented by lobbyists who have donated more than £300,000 to the Labour Party, while the opposition Conservative Party received 40% of all its donations during the 2024 election campaign’s first week from fossil fuel interests. “A lot of our political class are bought by the oil and gas lobby,” Galey said, adding that this proximity to fossil fuel interests shapes how political leaders understand climate change – a dynamic he says is on clear display as Burnham prioritizes economic growth even as neighboring France and Spain face catastrophic wildfires driven by rising global temperatures.

    Stella Swain, youth and student officer for the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, told MEE that approving the projects would make a “mockery” of Burnham’s recent apology for Labour’s previous Gaza stance. Mothin Ali, deputy leader of the UK Green Party, echoed that criticism, telling MEE: “Burnham’s half-baked apology for Labour’s complicity in the genocide in Gaza is meaningless if he refuses to back it up with concrete actions.”

    While Burnham’s government has framed the move as a solution to the UK’s ongoing cost of living crisis and a way to strengthen national energy security amid global market instability caused by tensions with Iran, Galey argues that only foreign corporations and their wealthy shareholders will actually benefit from the decision. Because all oil and gas produced from the North Sea fields is sold on the global open market, prices are set by international geopolitical forces – including conflicts stoked by Trump’s policy in the Middle East, which the UK is supporting through its hosting of US airstrikes from British bases.

    Galey added that since Brexit, the UK has grown far more dependent on the United States for energy imports, in contrast to countries like Spain that have invested heavily in domestic renewable energy. That investment has given Spain “political freedom,” Galey explained, allowing Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to push back against Trump’s demands on Palestine and Iran, because energy independence means “you don’t need to pander to the whims of the mob boss in the White House.”

    Galey pointed out that fossil fuel companies often frame regional conflicts and energy crises as unforeseen events that require expanded oil and gas exploration, but these crises are not accidental side effects of a fossil fuel-based energy system – they are inherent features of it. Lauren MacDonald, lead campaigner for the activist group Stop Rosebank, emphasized that approving the project would be a morally indefensible choice. “Greenlighting the oil field would be a morally reprehensible decision that turns a blind eye to the fact that the project could bolster Delek’s activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territories – which the UN flagged for human rights violations,” MacDonald said. “The UK government is well aware of these risks, and has even been warned that it could breach its own obligations under international law if it allows the field to go ahead.”

    The UK’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero declined to comment on the specific projects, saying it cannot prejudice future decision-making. Both Delek Group and Ithaca Energy also did not respond to requests for comment from Middle East Eye.

  • ASX 200 tumbles as mining giants fall on inflation, Wall Street woes

    ASX 200 tumbles as mining giants fall on inflation, Wall Street woes

    Australia’s benchmark stock index, the ASX 200, has broken its three consecutive session winning streak, closing deep in negative territory on the back of growing geopolitical instability in the Middle East and a sharp overnight downturn on U.S. markets that rippled through global trading. By the closing bell, the ASX 200 shed 70.90 points, or 0.78%, to settle at 8967.70, while the broader All Ordinaries index fell 77 points, or 0.84%, to 9122.70. The Australian dollar also weakened in tandem with risk-off sentiment, sliding to 69.50 U.S. cents by market close.

    Nine out of 11 tracked sectors finished the session in negative territory, led by steep drops in materials and consumer discretionary stocks. Among the country’s three largest mining firms, performance was split: BHP fell 1.71% to $59.15, Fortescue Metals Group dropped 1.15% to $18.86, while Rio Tinto bucked the broader trend to gain 1.83% to $168.41. Gold mining stocks also faced heavy selling pressure, with Northern Star Resources declining 3.29% to $20.02 and Evolution Mining falling 3.07% to $11.06, dragged down by a pullback in global gold prices. In the consumer discretionary space, major retail names all posted losses: Wesfarmers fell 1.53% to $89.22, JB Hi-Fi dropped 1.58% to $80.51, and Harvey Norman declined 1.79% to $4.94.

    Against the broad market downturn, the information technology sector emerged as the lone bright spot, posting broad gains to offset some of the broader index losses. Leading the tech rally, logistics software firm WiseTech Global surged 6.67% to $37.89, while accounting software provider Xero gained 1.43% to $71.48 and enterprise software provider TechnologyOne added 1.11% to $30.99.

    Tony Sycamore, senior market analyst at IG, explained that the Australian selloff followed a clear negative lead from Wall Street, where investor sentiment was rattled by shifts in U.S. monetary policy outlook and growing geopolitical risks. “Wall Street’s decline came as investors digested the Federal Reserve’s decision to keep rates on hold, which saw long-end bond yields climb to a 19-year high on concerns about a potential policy error,” Sycamore noted. He added that downward pressure was amplified by two key developments: a rebound in global oil prices driven by renewed Middle East tensions, and a continued pullback in semiconductor stocks that pushed the Nasdaq 100 into official correction territory.

    Despite the day’s sharp losses, Sycamore pointed out that the Australian benchmark remains on track to extend its winning streak to four consecutive monthly gains, with the index up nearly 2% through the first 30 days of July. “July once again lives up to its reputation as the best-performing month of the year, with an average return of 2.73 per cent over the past decade,” he said.

    Geopolitical tensions directly contributed to market volatility, as Brent Crude oil prices rose another 1.3% to $US91.89 a barrel following a new wave of U.S. military strikes against Iranian-backed militias operating in Iraq. The oil price rally stoked fresh investor concerns that persistent energy cost pressures could force central banks to keep interest rates higher for longer, fueling broader inflation risks.

    In individual company news, a handful of stocks outperformed the broader market despite the negative sentiment. National Australia Bank (NAB) gained 0.85% to close at $41.55, even after the bank disclosed that home lending applications fell 15% in the June quarter compared to the preceding three months. Pizza chain Domino’s Australia surged 9.08% to $19.59 after the company released preliminary unaudited results showing underlying net profit after tax would come in between $118 million and $122 million, matching the guidance the firm previously provided to the market. Lithium producer Pilbara Minerals also gained 2.68% to $4.21, after reporting record annual production and sales, with June quarter revenue rising 31% to $743 million.

  • Trump considering AI controls after OpenAI hacking incidents

    Trump considering AI controls after OpenAI hacking incidents

    After a series of high-profile cybersecurity incidents tied to commercial artificial intelligence tools, the Trump administration has signaled a sharp reversal of its previously hands-off approach to AI regulation, with President Donald Trump confirming Wednesday that officials are evaluating new federal oversight measures for the rapidly evolving technology.

    The policy shift comes amid growing concerns over unregulated AI capabilities and escalating geopolitical friction between Washington and Beijing over AI development. Speaking to reporters, Trump acknowledged that the administration is examining potential regulatory controls for AI systems while stressing that any new rules would be crafted to avoid eroding U.S. global competitiveness.

    “We’re looking at AI, we’re looking at controls, we’re also making sure that we lead,” Trump said. “We don’t want to restrict them where all of the sudden we come in second to China. China has virtually no [AI] controls. It’s freewheeling a little bit.”

    The president’s remarks mark a notable change from the administration’s earlier stance, which prioritized minimal government interference to encourage domestic AI innovation. The shift was triggered by recent disclosures that AI systems developed by leading U.S. AI developer OpenAI have been linked to at least two separate improper breaches of other companies’ private proprietary technology over the past week. When asked by reporters Wednesday during a visit to Washington whether additional breaches linked to OpenAI tools could emerge, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman acknowledged “there could be yeah.”

    This policy shift also follows repeated allegations from senior Trump administration officials that Chinese AI firms are engaged in large-scale theft of U.S. AI intellectual property. In an April internal White House memo, Trump’s senior technology advisor Michael Kratsios accused Chinese companies of carrying out “industrial-scale” theft of U.S. AI technology. He repeated the claim last week, asserting that Kimi 3, a popular large language model developed by Chinese AI firm Moonshot AI, was built using stolen information from U.S.-based AI developer Anthropic. The Chinese government has consistently denied all such accusations.

    Earlier this year, the U.S. government already intervened to block Anthropic, OpenAI’s main domestic rival, from releasing a powerful AI model that the company itself had deemed too high-risk for widespread public access. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has also issued warnings that Chinese AI firms could face formal U.S. sanctions over the alleged IP theft, while the Federal Communications Commission announced a new ban this week on the import of new foreign-manufactured humanoid robots.

    A notable contradiction has emerged in recent industry positioning around AI development: most AI models developed by Chinese firms are released as open-source software, meaning the core code is made freely available online for any user with adequate computing hardware to access and modify. Just recently, top executives from nearly all major U.S. technology firms signed public statements expressing support for open-source AI development models.

    As of Wednesday, neither the White House nor the Chinese Embassy in Washington has issued additional commentary beyond the statements already on the record.

  • Timothy Lafaele was a star for Japan at the 2019 Rugby World Cup. Now he’s not sure he belongs

    Timothy Lafaele was a star for Japan at the 2019 Rugby World Cup. Now he’s not sure he belongs

    Japan, a nation that has embraced foreign-born athletes to grow its rugby profile over the past decades, is now facing a bitter controversy over sweeping new eligibility rules that have upended the careers of dozens of naturalized players. Among those at the center of the dispute is Timothy Lafaele, a Samoan-born rugby star who moved to Japan at 18, built his entire professional life in the country, earned Japanese citizenship, and earned 28 caps for Japan’s men’s national rugby team. Lafaele was a key part of Japan’s legendary 2019 Rugby World Cup upset over Ireland, a victory that remains one of the most iconic moments in Japanese sports history, when the host nation’s unexpected run shocked global rugby audiences.

    But when Japan’s top-tier domestic competition, Japan Rugby League One, kicks off its new season in December 2024, Lafaele and dozens of other foreign-born, Japanese-citizen players will be reclassified as foreign athletes under new eligibility regulations proposed by Japan’s rugby governing body. The new rules mandate that to count as a domestic player eligible for unrestricted game time, athletes must have completed at least six years of primary and lower secondary education in Japan over a nine-year period. For players who moved to Japan as young adults, even those who have lived, worked, and raised families in the country for decades, this requirement automatically bars them from domestic classification.

    As a result, domestic squads will now be required to prioritize Japan-born players for roster spots, severely limiting available opportunities for athletes like Lafaele, casting deep uncertainty over their continued careers in the Japanese league they helped build. Currently, 24 affected players have filed a pending lawsuit against the rugby governing body in multiple Japanese courts, represented by Tokyo-based lawyer Seiji Makino. At a press conference held Thursday at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan in Tokyo, both Makino and Lafaele publicly outlined their case, calling on officials to reverse the rule change before the season opener, either through court action or negotiated settlement.

    “This is a very simple story,” Makino told reporters. “It is about players who built their lives and careers in Japan under one set of rules and are now having the ground moved from under their feet.”

    For Lafaele, the rule change was entirely unexpected. “It came out of the blue,” he said. The star player declined to comment on any potential connection to Japan’s shifting national political debate around immigration, nor would he discuss details of how the change has impacted his current playing contract. But he did not hold back on describing the emotional impact of the new classification.

    “It quite saddens us. To come to Japan, having given so much to the rugby here and the community and being treated this way. It just saddens us,” Lafaele said. “Insulted is a strong word as well, but to me, when this first rule came I did feel insulted.”

    Of the 24 plaintiffs in the case, only five have agreed to be publicly named, as most fear professional retaliation for speaking out against the governing body. When asked whether he believed racial bias was a core factor driving the new regulations, Makino said he did not view the dispute as rooted in racism.

    The controversy comes against a backdrop of shifting national immigration policy in Japan, where Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has pushed for stricter controls on foreign immigration amid growing public anxiety about the country’s demographic shift. As Japan’s population rapidly shrinks, policymakers have been under pressure to expand foreign labor to fill critical workforce gaps, but many ordinary Japanese citizens, grappling with stagnant wages and soaring living costs, have voiced growing opposition to increased immigration.

    The past few months have been an extremely stressful period for the affected players, Lafaele explained. “Some players are forced into retirement. Some players are just waiting at home at the moment for this decision to change so they can have the opportunity to provide for their families and get playing contracts. It’s been a tough time for most of the players.”

    Japanese rugby officials have defended the new rules, arguing that the pool of homegrown Japan-born players is shrinking, and limiting foreign-born players’ roster access will help grow the domestic talent pipeline. Lafaele says he understands the goal of nurturing homegrown talent, but he is skeptical that restricting eligibility for naturalized players will deliver that outcome.

    “I don’t think kids will look at this competition and say ‘there are too many foreigners, I’ll stop playing,’” Lafaele noted. “I see both sides of it. I see where the Japanese boys are coming from. They see it as more opportunities for them to play.”

    Global sports governing bodies have a long history of adjusting eligibility rules, often to gain a competitive advantage or meet commercial needs, but rule changes that reclassify already established players almost always face significant pushback from affected athletes.

  • Veteran Ugandan opposition politician collapses in court and in ICU, his wife says

    Veteran Ugandan opposition politician collapses in court and in ICU, his wife says

    A major political crisis has unfolded in Uganda this week after 70-year-old opposition icon Kizza Besigye collapsed unconscious during a high-profile treason hearing in Kampala, requiring emergency admission to an intensive care unit at the country’s largest public hospital. The long-time political rival of incumbent President Yoweri Museveni has been held in state detention since his dramatic abduction from Kenyan territory in late 2024, facing capital treason charges that he and his co-accused have repeatedly denied.

    Witnesses at Wednesday’s hearing at the Kampala High Court confirmed that Besigye was actively protesting the court’s decision to appoint state-aligned legal representatives to act on his behalf when his health suddenly failed. Eyewitnesses report the visibly frail politician repeatedly shouted demands to halt the proceedings over the disputed legal representation, crying out that he was feeling physically unwell before losing consciousness. Prison security personnel immediately intervened and rushed him by ambulance to Mulago National Referral Hospital, the leading public health facility in the country.

    In a public post on the social platform X, Besigye’s wife Winnie Byanyima – the executive director of UNAIDS, the United Nations agency leading global action against HIV and AIDS – provided a grim update on his condition. She confirmed that her husband remained unconscious, unable to communicate, and did not respond to external pain stimuli immediately after being admitted. Adding to the controversy surrounding the incident, Byanyima noted that Besigye’s sister Olive Kobusingye, a trained medical doctor who was present in the courtroom, was initially blocked by security from providing urgent medical care to her brother after he collapsed.

    Since being admitted, Besigye has refused to accept care from government-employed medical personnel, with Byanyima explaining that the opposition leader will not allow any state official to provide medical treatment. She has publicly demanded that Besigye be transferred to a private clinic to receive care from his own personal physician, a request that has not yet been granted by authorities. As of the latest updates, Kobusingye – who also serves as Besigye’s personal doctor – has been granted access to the ICU, which remains heavily guarded by armed Ugandan security forces.

    The legal team representing Besigye has faced a series of official crackdowns in recent weeks that have compounded the political tension around the case. His lead attorney Erias Lukwago was arrested by the Ugandan army last month and charged with failing to report alleged acts of treason. A second prominent lead lawyer, Kenyan opposition figure Martha Karua, was formally barred from entering Uganda last month when she traveled to the country to represent Besigye in the proceedings.

    Prosecutors from the Ugandan state allege that Besigye and his aide Obeid Lutale – who has been held alongside the opposition leader since his abduction – conspired to overthrow the long-standing Museveni government, a charge that both men reject. Treason is classified as a capital offense under Ugandan law, meaning a guilty verdict could result in a death sentence for the veteran politician, who previously served as Museveni’s personal physician before breaking with the president in 1999 to launch his opposition political career. Besigye went on to challenge Museveni in four separate presidential elections over the course of his political career, and had stepped back from frontline political activity in recent years, choosing not to run in the 2021 national election.

    Besigye’s son, Adam Ampa, has issued a public open appeal to President Museveni and his son Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the chief of the Ugandan army, to grant his father compassionate release on humanitarian grounds. “Regardless of politics, no son should have to witness his father reach such a state while standing before the very law he served and dedicated his life to,” Ampa wrote in the open letter shared widely across Ugandan social media on Wednesday.

    Other opposition figures have also spoken out to condemn the treatment of Besigye. Bobi Wine, a prominent Ugandan opposition politician who fled the country in the wake of January’s presidential election over threats to his safety, called forcing a visibly unwell Besigye to appear in court a “shocking violation of his most basic rights.” The unfolding situation has drawn renewed international attention to political freedoms and human rights in the East African nation, as observers wait for updates on Besigye’s health and the progress of his trial.

  • AFL 2026: Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell speaks on his contract extension talks

    AFL 2026: Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell speaks on his contract extension talks

    As the Hawthorn Football Club gears up for a high-stakes push to secure a top-two ladder finish, head coach Sam Mitchell has revealed that ongoing negotiations for a contract extension have proceeded without friction, describing the process as “pretty seamless”.

    Industry reports indicate Mitchell is closing in on a three-year contract renewal that would extend his tenure at the helm of the Hawks through to the end of the 2030 AFL season. Speaking to media on Thursday ahead of Saturday’s clash against North Melbourne, held at Hawthorn’s widely regarded spiritual home base of Tasmania, Mitchell deflected focus from his own contract talks to highlight the meaningful, people-focused side of his coaching role, particularly in the lead-up to young prospect Aidan Schubert’s senior debut this weekend.

    “I love Hawthorn and I am sure there will be something coming out soon enough,” Mitchell told reporters. When pressed on rumors of a three-year extension, he joked “Three? Thirteen. I will let that play out, someone will report on that when it’s been all finalised but it’s been pretty seamless, to be honest.”

    Moving away from contract discussions, Mitchell opened up about the personal rewards that draw him to coaching, emphasizing the joy of supporting young talent as they grow into the sport. “I think seeing the joy in young people and when they improve and it’s not just the players,” he said. “When you’re working with staff and you see someone like Aidan Schubert … when you see his parents, his family and how much they’ve put into him. How many hours by how many people to give him that opportunity and when you see that smile, you have that feeling that you’ve helped that along. I think they’re the parts of coaching that make us do it.”

    Recruited from South Australia, Schubert will make his first senior appearance for Hawthorn this weekend, stepping into the role of second ruck and key forward. The young talent was just 17 when he first joined the club, with his birthday falling in late December. His promotion comes at a critical time for the Hawks, who have lost backup ruck Noah Mraz to the side’s lineup after a kidney laceration injury.

    Mitchell spoke glowingly of the debutant, noting his close family ties and the excitement his promotion has generated among the existing playing group. “But Aidan’s a great young man. He’s very family-orientated. He’s got on the phone (to family) straight away … and the boys are really excited to play with him,” Mitchell added.

    Saturday’s match against North Melbourne in Tasmania stands as a key fixture for Hawthorn as the club pursues a top-two finish on the season ladder, a result that would solidify their position as leading contenders for the premiership.

  • Turkish police detain actor-turned-mayor Erdal Besikcioglu in latest raids targeting opposition

    Turkish police detain actor-turned-mayor Erdal Besikcioglu in latest raids targeting opposition

    ISTANBUL – In the newest round of law enforcement operations targeting Turkey’s main opposition bloc, law enforcement officials have taken into custody Erdal Besikcioglu, a former popular television actor who now serves as mayor of the Ankara district Etimesgut, the country’s Justice Ministry confirmed Thursday. The detention is part of a broader sweep that unfolded across nine Turkish provinces early Thursday, coordinated by the Ankara West Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office. Altogether, 52 suspects, including 42 sitting municipal officials and 13 private sector representatives, were targeted in pre-dawn raids that searched 71 locations spanning homes and public offices. Investigators seized physical documents and digital evidence during the operations, and three deputy mayors were among those taken into custody alongside Besikcioglu.

    Besikcioglu, who was elected to the Etimesgut mayoral post earlier this year as a candidate for the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), faces a series of allegations tied to municipal governance: investigators are probing claims of financial irregularities and document forgery linked to public tender processes, alongside questionable practices in parking lot leasing agreements and construction zoning approvals. All suspects in the operation face formal charges including establishing and operating a criminal network, illicit criminal group membership, embezzlement, bribery, extortion, and bid-rigging for public contracts.

    Prior to his entry into Turkish politics, Besikcioglu was a household name across the country, best known for his lead role as gruff detective Behzat Ç in the long-running hit police drama *Behzat Ç*, which aired from 2010 to 2019. His 2024 election win came as the opposition made significant gains across Turkey’s key urban centers, solidifying control of both the capital Ankara and the country’s largest city Istanbul.

    This latest detention is part of a years-long pattern of arrests targeting opposition-held local governments. Over the past two years, hundreds of elected mayors and municipal officials have been taken into custody as part of criminal investigations, almost all centered on allegations of public corruption. The highest-profile case to date remains that of Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, widely viewed as the most formidable potential challenger to long-serving President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Imamoglu has been held in prison since March 2024, and the multiple criminal cases against him carry the possibility of cumulative multi-decade prison sentences.

    the operation comes amid major upheaval for Turkey’s opposition, just weeks after a court ordered the removal of the CHP’s national leadership. Last Friday, the ousted CHP leader Ozgur Ozel launched a new breakaway political faction, the New Party, which has already drawn 90 defecting CHP members of parliament. This shift makes the New Party the largest opposition bloc in Turkey’s national legislature.

    Erdogan’s administration has repeatedly pushed back against claims that the investigations and arrests are politically motivated, insisting that Turkey’s judicial system operates as an impartial body free from political interference.

  • Cooler weather and potential rain move into the French region torched by wildfires

    Cooler weather and potential rain move into the French region torched by wildfires

    LEGE-CAP FERRET, France — A weeks-long wildfire crisis that has scorched more than 42,000 hectares of land in southwestern France’s Gironde region — an area four times larger than the entire city of Paris — may finally see some relief as shifting meteorological conditions bring cooler air, elevated humidity and predicted rain to the fire-ravaged Atlantic coast.

  • Raid on a Pakistani police post leaves 11 officers and 15 attackers dead

    Raid on a Pakistani police post leaves 11 officers and 15 attackers dead

    In the early hours of Thursday, Pakistani law enforcement and government officials confirmed that the death toll from a devastating overnight militant attack on a frontier police outpost in northwestern Pakistan has climbed to 11.

    The assault targeted the Khazina police post located in Hangu district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, a region that shares a porous border with Afghanistan. According to local police official Irfan Khan, Pakistani security forces responded rapidly to the incursion, triggering an intense hour-long gun battle that left all 15 participating militants dead.

    A formal statement from provincial police confirmed that the casualties on the security side include a high-ranking officer, Diyar Khan, who was killed while leading a reinforcement contingent to the besieged outpost. More than 24 other officers sustained injuries in the coordinated assault. Initial investigative briefings note that the attackers used heavy weaponry to breach the post’s defenses, and the reinforcement convoy sent to retake the position was ambushed before arriving at the scene. The ambush damaged an armored personnel carrier before security forces were able to regain the upper hand in the fighting.

    As of Thursday morning, no militant organization has issued a formal claim of responsibility for the attack. Counterterrorism analysts say suspicion will almost certainly fall on Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), commonly referred to as the Pakistani Taliban, which has ramped up its campaign of attacks against Pakistani security personnel across this border region over the past several months.

    The attack is part of a broader nationwide upswing in militant violence that Pakistan has grappled with in recent years. Pakistani authorities have repeatedly pinned most of this escalating unrest on the TTP, an organization that is operationally separate from but maintains close ideological and tactical ties to the Afghan Taliban, the group that seized control of Afghanistan following the U.S. military withdrawal in 2021.

    For years, the Pakistani government has publicly accused the Afghan Taliban administration of allowing TTP militants to establish safe havens on Afghan territory, from which they plan cross-border attacks. The Taliban government in Kabul has consistently rejected these allegations, stating it does not allow any armed groups to launch cross-border assaults from its soil.