Global Pulse

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  • Israeli troops begin intercepting vessels from a flotilla trying to breach the Gaza blockade

    Israeli troops begin intercepting vessels from a flotilla trying to breach the Gaza blockade

    In a tense escalation of long-running tensions over the Israeli-imposed Gaza blockade, the Israeli military initiated interception operations against multiple vessels belonging to the Global Sumud Flotilla early Monday morning. This activist-led fleet has been sailing toward Gaza’s coast in a deliberate attempt to challenge the years-long blockade that has crippled the territory’s civilian economy and access to basic goods.

    The 50-plus vessel fleet departed from Turkey’s Marmaris port last week, marking what organizers framed as the final leg of their high-stakes voyage to Gaza. Live streaming footage broadcast from one of the intercepted vessels captured the chaotic moments before boarding: activists were seen donning life vests and raising their hands in a non-violent demonstration as an Israeli military boat carrying tactical troops approached the civilian vessel. After Israeli commandos boarded the flotilla ship, the live feed cut off abruptly, cutting off public view of the ongoing operation. The majority of the fleet’s vessels remain anchored off the coast of Cyprus as the interception unfolds.

    One hour before military forces began moving in, Israel’s Foreign Ministry issued a public warning to all participating activists, urging them to “change course and turn back immediately.” On the social platform X, the ministry dismissed the effort as a deliberate act of provocation, claiming: “Once again, a provocation for the sake of provocation: another so-called ‘humanitarian aid flotilla’ with no humanitarian aid.” The Israeli military has declined to issue any on-the-record statements regarding the details or progress of the ongoing interception operation.

    This latest confrontation comes months after a similar incident in April, when Israeli forces intercepted more than 20 flotilla vessels near the southern Greek island of Crete, detaining roughly 175 participating activists. That prior interception drew widespread international condemnation, sparked global protests, and reignited legal debate over the legality of blockade enforcement actions carried out by nations in international waters. Israeli officials defended their early intervention in the April incident, citing the large size of the original flotilla as a security justification.

    In the aftermath of the April interception, Israeli authorities detained two participating activists for extended questioning: Saif Abukeshek, a Spanish-Swedish citizen of Palestinian descent, and Thiago Ávila, a Brazilian national. The pair accused Israeli security personnel of subjecting them to torture during their detention—a claim Israeli officials have outright denied. Both Brazil and Spain publicly condemned Israel’s actions, labeling the detainment “kidnapping” of their citizens. After several days in custody, the two activists were finally deported from Israel this past Sunday.

    Following the April interception, flotilla organizers regrouped, repaired their network, and added new participating vessels to the effort for this latest attempt. Organizers confirm that nearly 500 activists from 45 different countries around the world are currently taking part in the mission to break the Gaza blockade, underscoring the broad international support for the effort to challenge Israeli restrictions on the territory.

  • Anglo American sells central Queensland coal mines to UK company

    Anglo American sells central Queensland coal mines to UK company

    Global mining giant Anglo American has announced a landmark divestment deal, agreeing to sell its entire portfolio of five steelmaking coal mines in Queensland, Australia, to United Kingdom-based mining firm Dhilmar for a total consideration of up to $5.43 billion.

    The transaction covers a broad range of assets beyond just the mining operations, including the major producing mines of Moranbah North and Grosvenor, the Capcoal project, Roper Creek, and the Dawson South and Theodore South joint venture holdings. It also transfers ownership of the townsite of Middlemount, where Anglo American has long provided core community infrastructure: employee housing, a local shopping center, childcare facilities, and a public medical center.

    In a statement released Monday, Anglo American Chief Executive Duncan Wanblad highlighted Dhilmar’s deep industry credentials to oversee the assets going forward. “Dhilmar’s leadership brings considerable experience of operating major mining assets, including in steelmaking coal, in Southeast Asia and Canada,” Wanblad said. “We will work together with the Dhilmar team and with our workforce, local communities, government, customers, and partners to ensure a successful transition.”

    The deal is not yet final, however. It remains subject to standard pre-closing conditions, including mandatory competition and regulatory approvals, as well as pre-emption rights held by existing joint venture partners.

    This transaction marks a second attempt to sell the Queensland coal portfolio after a previous deal with U.S. mining firm Peabody Energy collapsed in 2024. Peabody walked away from the original acquisition agreement citing a “material adverse change” to the assets following a fire incident at the Moranbah North mine. Anglo American has disputed Peabody’s cancellation, arguing the withdrawal was wrongful.

    The company confirmed Monday that it is continuing to pursue arbitration proceedings against Peabody related to the terminated 2024 purchase agreement. In a regulatory filing with the London Stock Exchange, where Anglo American is publicly listed, the firm reaffirmed its position: “Anglo American remains confident that the incident at Moranbah North relied upon by Peabody in support of its purported termination of its agreement did not constitute a material adverse change.”

    Anglo American noted that proceeds from the sale to Dhilmar will be allocated to reducing the company’s net debt, supporting its broader balance sheet restructuring strategy.

  • Japan arrests Americans over stunt at baby monkey Punch’s zoo

    Japan arrests Americans over stunt at baby monkey Punch’s zoo

    Japanese law enforcement officials confirmed Monday that two American citizens have been taken into custody following a reckless public stunt that saw one man breach the enclosure of Japan’s most famous infant primate at Ichikawa City Zoo, located just outside Tokyo. The viral baby macaque Punch has drawn massive crowds of visitors to the facility since his rise to global internet fame earlier this year.

    According to local police accounts, the incident unfolded Sunday, when a 24-year-old American man identifying himself as a college student scaled a safety fence and dropped into the dry moat that surrounds the zoo’s monkey exhibit. His accomplice, a 27-year-old American man who says he works as a professional singer, remained outside the enclosure to record the stunt for sharing online.

    Social media footage circulating after the incident shows the trespasser dressed in a full costume featuring a large smiley-face headpiece fitted with dark sunglasses. As the man climbed over the barrier, the entire troop of macaques in the exhibit scattered in panic. A senior Ichikawa Police official, who spoke to AFP on the condition of anonymity, confirmed that the pair never made direct contact with any of the animals, including Punch, and were quickly detained by on-duty zoo staff before they could escalate the incident.

    Police confirmed that the two Americans are currently facing misdemeanor charges of forcible obstruction of business, a charge both men have formally denied. Investigators also noted that the pair carried no official government identification at the time of their arrest, and initially provided false names to responding officers.

    The unauthorized intrusion comes in the wake of an unprecedented surge in visitors to Ichikawa City Zoo, a boom driven entirely by the global viral fame of Punch. The baby macaque captured global attention earlier this year after zookeepers shared photos of the tiny infant clinging to a plush IKEA orangutan toy for comfort, after he was rejected and abandoned by his biological mother shortly after his birth last July.

    After being hand-raised by keepers in a controlled human care environment, Punch recently began gradual training to reintegrate into his troop. His story of resilience resonated with animal lovers across social media, where a dedicated global fanbase has formed around the hashtag #HangInTherePunch, drawing tens of thousands of domestic and international tourists to the previously little-known suburban zoo.

    The incident is the latest in a growing string of high-profile cases of unruly tourist behavior in Japan, a trend that has sparked growing frustration among local residents as the country sees a record post-pandemic boom in international visitor numbers. Last year, a Ukrainian YouTube creator with more than 6.5 million subscribers was arrested after livestreaming himself trespassing inside an abandoned residential home in the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear exclusion zone. In 2023, an American livestreamer known online as Johnny Somali was taken into custody on trespassing charges after he entered an active construction site without permission.

  • Registrations to teach international students in Australia to be paused for 12 months

    Registrations to teach international students in Australia to be paused for 12 months

    In a sweeping move to repair systemic flaws exposed in Australia’s visa framework, the Albanese administration has instituted a 12-month moratorium on new registrations for providers seeking to teach English and vocational training to international students. The policy shift comes in direct response to the damning findings of the Nixon Review, formally titled the Rapid Review into the Exploitation of Australia’s Visa System, which uncovered widespread exploitation of student visa pathways and deep vulnerabilities within the national immigration system.

    The suspension applies to all new applications to two key national regulatory bodies: the Commonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students (CRICOS), which oversees official registration of education providers and programs for international enrollees, and the Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA), the national regulator for the vocational education and training (VET) sector. Critically, the pause does not extend to public education providers, including state-run government schools, public TAFE institutions, and Australia’s Table A public universities.

    Assistant Citizenship Minister Julian Hill framed the decision as a necessary step to protect Australia’s standing as a world-leading destination for international education. He emphasized that long-term success in the international education sector depends on unwavering focus on quality, systemic integrity, and positive student experiences. “Australia welcomes genuine international students seeking a premium Australian education, and the Government is committed to further strengthening integrity and sustainability in the international education sector,” Hill stated in a press briefing Monday.

    The minister added that the 12-month pause was not made hastily, noting that it would give regulators time to root out integrity risks posed by unvetted new entrants and address widespread oversaturation in the VET and ELICOS (English Language Intensive Courses for Overseas Students) sub-sectors. “Frankly, it raises suspicions when at the same time student numbers in these parts of the sector are moderating the regulator continues to see a rush of new market entrants,” Hill said.

    The 12-month suspension will grant ASQA additional time to clear existing backlogs and address long-running integrity concerns raised by both the Nixon Review and the 2023 federal Migration Review. During the pause, the regulator will conduct a full sector-wide assessment to evaluate risks associated with potential new providers and analyze the scope of oversaturation in the two affected segments. Currently registered providers will not be impacted by the change: they will still be permitted to apply to add new instructional locations for existing courses and register updated courses that replace existing offerings.

    The policy forms part of the government’s broader push to shore up public confidence in Australia’s immigration system, as political pressure around migration levels and their impact on national housing supply has grown. The issue has become a key electoral battleground, dominating campaigns for recent state elections in South Australia and the federal by-election for the New South Wales seat of Farrer. Opposition Leader Angus Taylor recently made migration policy a centerpiece of his budget reply speech, where he pledged to tie future national migration caps to annual housing construction completion rates. The government already secured legislative authority for the suspension last year, when it passed the Education Legislation Amendment (Integrity and Other Measures) Act 2025.

  • Escaped tiger shot by German police after attacking man

    Escaped tiger shot by German police after attacking man

    A violent incident near Leipzig, Germany, has sparked fierce public debate over private big cat ownership after an escaped tiger owned by controversial animal trainer Carmen Zander — who calls herself the nation’s “Tiger Queen” — was killed by police following a serious attack on a senior keeper.

    The attack unfolded on Sunday at a private, industrial-zoned animal holding facility just outside Leipzig, near the town of Schkeuditz. A 73-year-old man was mauled while inside the tiger’s enclosed space, leaving him with critical life-threatening injuries, law enforcement officials confirmed. After the large cat broke out of its enclosure, armed responding officers tracked it down within minutes and made the decision to shoot it dead to contain the threat.

    Local media reports confirm the facility is owned by Zander, a long-controversial figure in German animal circles who holds public tiger petting experiences where visitors pay to interact with her collection of big cats. Her official website advertises these encounters as “unforgettable” and “one-of-a-kind,” describing the animals as 250-kilogram “powerhouses” kept in a animal-friendly setting. The site lists eight tigers in Zander’s care, including three that have died over the past nine years; named animals include 190-kilogram Kiara, 20-year-old Aschanti, and two-year-old cub Imana. Social media posts attributed to Zander regularly share images of her tigers playing in their enclosures, framing her operation as humane and responsible. The BBC has confirmed it contacted Zander for a response to Sunday’s incident, and she had not issued a public statement as of reporting.

    Police defended their decision to kill the animal, noting that it had become unmanageable and that lethal action was the only way to eliminate immediate risk to the general public. Officers added that no other animals escaped the facility, and they have scheduled a drone sweep of the surrounding area to confirm the site remains fully secured.

    The incident has prompted immediate calls for reform and relocation from local leaders, residents, and animal welfare groups alike. Thomas Druskat, district mayor for the area, called for all seven remaining big cats at the facility to be moved to appropriate permanent sanctuaries, telling local media it was “unthinkable” to consider what could have occurred if the escaped tiger had harmed members of the public. Local residents speaking to Germany’s DPA news agency described the event as “terrible and worrying,” with one resident claiming the animals have long been kept in inadequate, unsafe conditions.

    Leading international animal rights organization PETA has echoed these concerns, calling on German federal and state authorities to introduce stricter regulations governing private ownership of big cats. The group told DPA that tighter legal frameworks are urgently needed to protect both animals and public safety in cases of private exotic animal keeping.

  • Driver of crashed train tested positive for drugs, Thai police say

    Driver of crashed train tested positive for drugs, Thai police say

    On a Saturday afternoon in central Bangkok, a devastating collision at the Asoke-Din Daeng railway crossing has left eight people dead and dozens more injured, after a freight train slammed into a public bus that became stranded on active tracks, triggering an intense fire that engulfed the vehicle. In the days following the tragedy, Thai authorities have unveiled troubling findings that point to both human error and longstanding systemic failures as core causes of the deadliest railway incident in the country in recent years.

    Officials confirmed late last week that the freight train driver tested positive for illegal substances following the crash, and has since been formally charged with reckless driving. Preliminary data pulled from the train’s black box shows the driver only activated the emergency braking system when the train was roughly 100 meters from the stopped bus — a distance too short to stop the heavy vehicle in time to avoid impact. Beyond the train driver, two other people are also facing criminal charges: the bus driver, who got stuck on the tracks amid peak-hour gridlock, and the manual crossing guard responsible for lowering safety barriers, which failed to deploy correctly because the bus was blocking the mechanism.

    The crash has pulled back the curtain on long-known safety hazards at the Asoke-Din Daeng crossing, a high-traffic chokepoint that connects to one of Bangkok’s busiest downtown intersections. Structural engineers familiar with the site warn the crossing has operated well above its safe capacity for years: Dr. Amorn Phimarnmas, president of the Structural Engineers Association of Thailand, estimates that more than 100,000 road vehicles pass through the crossing every single day, far exceeding the safety threshold for an at-grade, manually operated railway crossing.

    Decades of unplanned urban growth have exacerbated the risks, experts note. The railway tracks were laid decades before the surrounding road network and dense commercial and residential development sprung up around them, creating a persistent conflict between rail and road traffic that has become normalized over time. Local commuters regularly skirt safety rules: motorcyclists frequently weave around partially lowered barriers to cut through crossing, beating congested traffic but creating constant risks of collision with oncoming trains. This routine exposure to risk has led to what Dr. Amorn calls “risk normalization” — a dangerous dynamic where commuters, operators and regulators accept daily unsafe conditions as the status quo, until a disaster strikes.

    In response to the crash, Thailand’s top rail transport regulator has announced immediate new safety rules to prevent similar tragedies. Pichet Kunadhamraks, director-general of Thailand’s Department of Rail Transport, ordered mandatory pre-shift drug and alcohol testing for all train operators and railway staff across the country, a sweeping change meant to rule out impairment on the job. Authorities have also launched a full review of all at-grade railway crossings across Thailand to identify high-risk sites that need upgraded safety infrastructure or full grade separation to eliminate conflicts between road and rail traffic.

  • Argentina’s icy outpost at the end of the world fears the hantavirus will chill tourism

    Argentina’s icy outpost at the end of the world fears the hantavirus will chill tourism

    Nestled at the southernmost tip of Argentina, positioned as the world’s primary gateway to Antarctic cruises, Ushuaia has built a booming tourism brand as the remote, unspoiled “end of the world.” For years, growing legions of adventure travelers have flocked here to spot Magellanic penguins, breach-watching humpback whales, and catch departure ships for bucket-list trips to Antarctica, turning the once-remote outpost into an economic boomtown that relies on tourism for more than a quarter of its annual revenue. Today, that hard-won growth hangs in the balance, after a deadly hantavirus outbreak on an Atlantic cruise sparked unconfirmed speculation that traces the infection’s origin back to this wind-swept Patagonian city.

    The outbreak’s first confirmed fatalities were a Dutch couple, avid birdwatchers who died after falling ill in April. Argentina’s national Health Ministry has launched an investigation into whether the pair contracted the rat-borne Andes variant of hantavirus while staying in Ushuaia before boarding their cruise ship. The case has quickly become tangled in political tension, as the left-leaning provincial government of Tierra del Fuego – which has frequently clashed with libertarian national President Javier Milei – claims it is the target of a coordinated smear campaign. National health officials, meanwhile, have refused to rule out any potential site of infection, noting the couple completed a months-long cross-country road trip through Argentina and Chile before embarking from Ushuaia’s port.

    What makes the crisis particularly fraught for the region is that no concrete evidence has yet linked Ushuaia to the outbreak. The province has never recorded a confirmed local case of hantavirus, but that has not stopped the uncertainty from rippling through the local tourism sector, just as operators prepare for the critical summer booking season. Winter in Ushuaia is the quiet planning period for Antarctic cruises, when wealthy international travelers lock in their itineraries for the upcoming summer travel window. Local travel agents have already confirmed that an untold number of bookings from American and European travelers have been scrapped over fears of hantavirus exposure.

    For local industry leaders, the biggest long-term risk is not immediate cancellations, but the permanent loss of prospective visitors who will pick alternative adventure destinations over Ushuaia. “We have seen a number of passengers canceling trips, but my main concern is not the cancellations but people who were thinking about going to Ushuaia but had two or three destinations to choose from and now may go to Southeast Asia or Africa,” explained Ángel Brisighelli, owner of Ushuaia-based tour operator Rumbo Sur. “That damage won’t be visible until much later.”

    This moment exposes the extreme fragility of Ushuaia’s tourism-dependent economy, which has already faced a string of recent economic shocks under the Milei administration. The national government’s decision to roll back long-standing trade barriers has gutted the region’s core electronics manufacturing industry, while a stronger national peso has made international travel more affordable for domestic Argentines, cutting into critical off-season tourism revenue that supports local businesses through the slow winter months.

    The growth of Antarctic tourism has been transformative for Ushuaia over the past decade. Just 10 years ago, only 38,400 Antarctic cruise passengers departed from the city of 80,000. For the 2025-2026 season, Argentine port authorities project more than 135,000 passengers will set sail from Ushuaia, which handles 90% of all global Antarctic cruise departures. Travelers are drawn to the region by the chance to see Antarctica’s iconic ice sheets before they are lost to climate change, turning the once-isolated military and research outpost into a global adventure travel hub.

    Beyond the economic uncertainty, the investigation itself has drawn criticism for slow progress and a lack of transparent, science-driven inquiry. More than two weeks after the Health Ministry announced it would send a team of researchers to Ushuaia to test local rodent populations for the virus, the team has yet to arrive. International public health experts have expressed confusion over the delayed investigation. “The investigation is going to be key for us to see what we can learn from the outbreak,” said Mark Loafman, a family medicine and public health expert at Chicago’s Cook County Health. “We’d like to see hypotheses based on science, and not on concern over tourism.”

    The Pan American Health Organization, which Argentina still partners with despite the nation’s 2023 withdrawal from the World Health Organization, has defended Argentina’s response, noting it is working with national officials to improve case detection and monitoring. “While the ongoing investigation remains important, its broader public health relevance for the Americas is limited, given that the disease is endemic in the region,” the organization said in a statement.

    Ushuaia authorities argue the most logical origin of infection is the broader Patagonian region that spans southern Chile and three Argentine provinces, where Andes hantavirus is known to circulate in wild rodent populations. But national health officials say there is no record of the Dutch couple visiting these endemic areas during the virus’s 9 to 45-day incubation period before the couple developed symptoms on April 6.

    Local officials across high-profile Argentine tourist destinations have moved quickly to dispel fears as the summer travel season approaches. In Epuyén, a Patagonian village that suffered a deadly 2018 hantavirus outbreak that killed 11 people, Mayor José Contreras has issued a public clarification to counter spreading misinformation. “Tourism operators tell us that many trip reservations have been canceled, so we must make this clarification,” Contreras announced. “Epuyén has no hantavirus this season. People should feel at ease and continue to visit.”

    Back in Ushuaia, some local tourism leaders are framing the crisis as an opportunity to prove the destination’s safety. “We suffered a loss of prestige, yes. But this is also a chance to show that Ushuaia is one of the safest places in the world,” said Juan Pavlov, foreign affairs secretary for the Tierra del Fuego Tourism Institute. For now, though, visitors remain cautious, and the city’s economic future hangs on the outcome of an investigation that has yet to deliver clear answers.

  • G7 finance chiefs meet to seek common stance on unstable ground

    G7 finance chiefs meet to seek common stance on unstable ground

    Against a backdrop of escalating geopolitical tension, global economic volatility, and ongoing conflict in the Middle East, top finance officials from the Group of Seven major industrialized nations kicked off two days of closed-door negotiations in Paris on Monday. The core goal of the summit, hosted by France in its term as rotating G7 president, is to build a coordinated collective stance amid a landscape of overlapping economic and political risks that have put global growth projections on shaky ground.

    Even before the first session convened, French Finance Minister Roland Lescure publicly acknowledged the significant challenges facing negotiators, admitting candidly that reaching full consensus across all topics would not be a simple task. The gathering comes at a moment of unprecedented friction, with trade disputes triggered by U.S. President Donald Trump’s aggressive tariff policies amplifying existing geopolitical divides, alongside the economic shockwaves rippling out from the Middle East conflict.

    One of the highest-priority items on the meeting agenda is a coordinated push to reduce the G7’s collective reliance on China’s dominant position in global rare earth supplies, a critical input for the artificial intelligence boom that has driven much of advanced economy growth in recent years. Lescure outlined his view that the current trajectory of the global economy, shaped over the past decade, is no longer structurally sustainable. He highlighted a series of interconnected threats: the rapidly expanding U.S. federal budget deficit, stagnant technological progress across European economies, and China’s efforts to counter falling domestic consumer demand and persistent industrial overcapacity by pushing its domestic firms to increase their market share in international export markets.

    “Multilateralism can work,” Lescure told reporters ahead of the summit, “but these discussions are not easy — I’m not going to tell you that we agree on everything, including obviously with our American friends.” Trump’s combative, transactional approach to international relations with both allies and adversaries has left many G7 leaders uneasy, as they simultaneously grapple with dual threats of stagnant growth and persistent elevated inflation fueled by the Middle East war.

    German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil emphasized that the G7 serves as the ideal forum for discussions with the U.S. focused on bringing the conflict to an end, noting that the war has inflicted severe damage on global economic development. “This war is massively damaging economic development. That is why everything must be done to bring the war to a permanent end, to stabilise the region again, and to ensure free shipping lanes through the Strait of Hormuz,” Klingbeil said in a pre-summit statement. The G7 finance chiefs are scheduled to wrap up their talks with a closing press conference at midday on Tuesday.

    For the French presidency, even a collective shared recognition of the core challenges on the table would be counted as a major success. Officials aim to release two joint statements following the conclusion of negotiations. To set the stage for the full G7 heads of state summit scheduled for June 15-17 in Evian, France, finance ministers from four major emerging and advanced economies — Kenya, Brazil, India, and South Korea — have been invited to join Tuesday’s discussions.

    The meeting comes just days after Trump’s high-profile trip to Beijing for talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping failed to deliver a clear breakthrough on two critical issues: rolling back U.S.-China tariffs and advancing progress on ending the Middle East conflict. In recent years, China has expanded its economic influence across regions traditionally aligned with G7 powers, and as a key global supplier of both critical raw materials and low-cost finished goods, it has become increasingly willing to take hardline stances in trade negotiations.

    Pierre Jaillet, a senior researcher at France’s Institute for International and Strategic Affairs (IRIS), explained that the G7’s approach to global economic imbalances has shifted dramatically in recent years. “Up to now, the problem of macroeconomic imbalances was addressed… with regards to global financial stability,” Jaillet told AFP. “But now officials are looking through the optic of economic security: trade surpluses or deficits can reflect vulnerabilities or dependencies, in particular with critical minerals or energy, and the risk of supply chain disruptions.”

    While Lescure avoided publicly naming China, he made the G7’s goal clear: “The G7 goal is to ‘ensure that we don’t depend on any one country… for our rare earth supplies.” Beyond critical minerals, energy security has moved to the top of the agenda as well, driven by the ongoing conflict in the oil-rich Middle East. Lescure framed the current challenge as parallel to the global energy crisis of the 1970s, saying “We must do for critical materials what we did with energy in the 1970s,” and build a shared framework to respond to future crises.

    To address these risks, the French presidency is pushing for the creation of a “common toolbox” that member states can use to counter market disruptions affecting key raw material supplies. Proposed measures include targeted strategic trade agreements, and interventionist policy tools such as price floors, import quotas, and targeted tariffs. France is also seeking to promote multilateral collaborative projects to build out domestic rare earth extraction and refining capacity across G7 nations. A key example currently underway is a joint French-Japanese factory under construction in southwest France that will produce and recycle rare earths, magnets, and other critical minerals. The French state has already committed 106 million euros ($124 million) to the project, which is on track to meet 100 percent of France’s domestic rare earth demand by 2030. Leveraging public development finance to secure agreements in developing countries that encourage private sector investment in critical mineral supply chains is another core policy path on the table, Lescure added.

  • The Flying Kiwis: No longer flightless, spreading football fandom at the World Cup

    The Flying Kiwis: No longer flightless, spreading football fandom at the World Cup

    WELLINGTON, New Zealand – When the New Zealand men’s national soccer team steps onto the field at the upcoming FIFA World Cup, one small, passionate contingent will stand out among the crowds, ready to cheer their side on with unapologetic, signature Kiwi spirit. Known as the Flying Kiwis, this ragtag, globally dispersed group of supporters has turned a lifelong love for the underdog national side into a movement that transcends sports, built on grassroots camaraderie and a deliberate, playful irony: the kiwi, the flightless native bird that gives all New Zealanders their nickname, can’t actually fly.

    The story of the Flying Kiwis begins back in 2009, during a do-or-die World Cup qualifying series against Bahrain for a spot in the 2010 South Africa tournament. After the first away leg finished in a goalless draw, New Zealand needed a victory on home soil to secure their place at the World Cup. It was in this high-stakes moment that Matt Fejos, then a university student who describes himself as not being a die-hard football fan at the time, decided to create something special for the side.

    Charging an entire block of tickets to his $1,000-limit credit card, Fejos gathered 32 of his friends, sourced custom banners, printed branded coveralls emblazoned with the new name “Flying Kiwis,” and packed out a section of the stadium waving New Zealand flags. That match, which ultimately secured New Zealand’s World Cup spot, became a foundational moment for football fandom in the country, Fejos says, and a memory that sticks with everyone who was there that day.

    From that small, spontaneous beginning, the group has grown far beyond that original group of university friends. As the original members scattered across the globe for work and life, they drew new supporters into the Flying Kiwis fold, building a network of fans that follows the All Whites – as the New Zealand men’s team is known – to matches both at home and in every corner of the world. For Fejos, who spent a decade living in the United Kingdom, a 2017 Confederations Cup trip to Russia drove home the deeper meaning of the group beyond matchday support. There, local Russian fans organized a friendly match between traveling Flying Kiwis and local supporters, an experience that showed Fejos how the group acts as informal ambassadors for their small island nation.

    “You’re doing it for your team, but actually in far away places you might be the first New Zealanders they’ve ever met, so you’re kind of representing your country,” Fejos explained. “To connect with the world through the global language of football is a beautiful thing and a beautiful way to travel.”

    Unlike large football-mad nations where generations of soccer fandom are woven into national culture, New Zealand’s biggest sporting spotlight has long been dominated by rugby. With no long-established homegrown traditions of organized soccer support to follow, Fejos and the Flying Kiwis set out to build their own brand of fandom. While their section is almost always far smaller than the opposing side’s packed fan bases, Fejos says that small size comes with an unexpected strength: unmatched unity.

    Heading into the World Cup, New Zealand enters as a clear underdog: ranked 85th globally, drawn into Group G alongside higher-ranked sides Belgium (9th), Iran (21st), and Egypt (29th). The All Whites will need every bit of support they can get, but Fejos says this current squad is far more prepared for the pressure than any previous New Zealand side. Today, a majority of the national team’s players compete in top European and global leagues, cutting their teeth in packed, high-pressure stadiums week in and week out.

    “There’s so much more belief among the New Zealand team because of where the players are playing,” Fejos said. “There’s so many more playing at a top, top standard and in these difficult environments, these really charged atmospheres with crazy passionate fans. So they’re used to playing under that pressure as well.”

    For the Flying Kiwis, their name and mascot carries a powerful metaphor that goes far beyond a playful joke about a flightless bird. Unlike ferocious national mascots such as eagles or lions that frame teams as dominant forces, the unassuming kiwi has become a symbol of defying the odds for the New Zealand side. Given the country’s geographic isolation, its young professional soccer ecosystem, and the lack of elite youth development academies compared to larger soccer nations, just qualifying for the World Cup is a historic achievement.

    “Sometimes it can seem a bit funny or deprecating but it’s a thing that means a lot,” Fejos said. “Despite that, I think it’s incredible for some of those New Zealand players to play in some of the best leagues of the world and to take it to the world at a World Cup. The metaphor means a lot, defying expectations overseas.”

    With most of the world writing the All Whites off before the tournament even begins, that underdog status is exactly what fuels the team and their fans. “People think of us as a rugby country, and probably as hobbits, but that allows us to go in with that underdog mentality, fearless,” Fejos said. “We want to stamp our mark and show them something different.”

  • Israel expands death penalty regime in the occupied West Bank

    Israel expands death penalty regime in the occupied West Bank

    On Sunday, Israel formally activated a controversial new law that mandates the death penalty as the default sentence for Palestinians convicted of killing Israelis in the occupied West Bank, following the signing of a required military order by Central Command Major General Avi Bluth.

    Under the terms of the new regulation, Israeli military courts — the only judicial bodies with jurisdiction over Palestinian residents of the West Bank — are required to hand down death sentences to Palestinians found guilty of murdering Israeli occupation soldiers or civilians. Life imprisonment can only be applied in rare, explicitly defined exceptional circumstances, shifting the entire sentencing framework to favor capital punishment as the standard outcome.

    First approved by Israeli lawmakers in March, the legislation codifies a dual-track legal system that operates exclusively along identity lines in the occupied territory. Israeli citizens and permanent residents living in West Bank settlements fall under the jurisdiction of Israeli civilian courts, and are thus entirely exempt from the new law’s provisions. This separation reinforces a longstanding legal structure that has been widely labeled by human rights groups as an apartheid system.

    The law’s wording further expands its reach to target acts of Palestinian resistance to occupation: one of the criteria for applying the death penalty requires only that the convicted person’s act was intended to “negate the existence of the State of Israel or the authority of the military commander in the area” — a broad standard that human rights advocates say overwhelmingly criminalizes Palestinians opposing Israeli occupation.

    Top Israeli officials have welcomed the activation of the measure, framing it as a critical tool to counter Palestinian resistance. National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, leader of the far-right Jewish Power party, celebrated the order as a campaign promise fulfilled. “We promised and we fulfilled,” Ben Gvir said, adding, “we do not capitulate or contain murderous terrorism, we defeat it.” Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz also endorsed the move.

    The new law has sparked fierce condemnation from Palestinian, Israeli, and international human rights organizations, which warn it formalizes systematic discrimination against Palestinians and erases what remains of their basic legal protections. Critics say the policy deepens the already entrenched apartheid-style dual legal regime in the West Bank, where two separate populations live side by side under entirely separate systems of justice.

    Multiple human rights groups have labeled the move a dangerous escalation of Israeli repressive policy in the occupied territories, pointing to a sharp surge in mass arrests of Palestinians on broad, vague security charges in recent months. Since the intensification of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, rights monitors have also documented a steep rise in reports of torture, abuse, and deaths of Palestinian detainees in Israeli custody.

    Palestinian prisoners’ rights organizations have described the legislation as an “unprecedented act of savagery,” accusing Israel of codifying state violence against detainees at a time when conditions for Palestinian prisoners have deteriorated dramatically. Even leading Israeli human rights advocacy groups, including Adalah, the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel, HaMoked, and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, have joined the condemnation, warning the law creates a deliberately “discriminatory punitive framework” that denies Palestinians equal protection under the law and removes legal safeguards against abuse.