Global Pulse

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  • Drones are making Sudan’s war even deadlier for civilians

    Drones are making Sudan’s war even deadlier for civilians

    Two years into Sudan’s devastating civil conflict between the national military and the rival Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group, experts and international monitors warn that remotely piloted drones have emerged as the single deadliest threat to non-combatant populations, with foreign powers continuing to funnel advanced drone technology to both warring sides despite widespread humanitarian outcry.

    United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk confirmed this week that armed drones are responsible for more than 80% of all conflict-related civilian deaths in Sudan, with at least 880 civilians killed by drone strikes between January and April 2025 alone. Most of these fatalities have been concentrated in Sudan’s central Kordofan region, but deadly drone attacks have spread across seven provinces in recent weeks, targeting vulnerable populations and critical civilian infrastructure.

    The Sudanese conflict, which erupted in April 2023, has already claimed at least 59,000 lives, displaced 13 million people, and pushed large swathes of the country into catastrophic famine conditions. Data collected by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) underscores the rapidly growing toll of drone warfare: between 2024 and 2025, drone-related fatalities surged 600%, while the number of drone attacks jumped 81%, leaving 2,670 people dead across both combatant and civilian groups in 2025.

    Unlike the early months of the war, when drone use was limited to the Sudanese military, the RSF has rapidly expanded its drone capabilities over the past 12 months, using the technology to enable offensive operations in contested territory including the North Darfur capital el-Fasher. In the 2024 capture of el-Fasher, RSF drones employed a coordinated “hunter-killer” strategy that targeted civilians attempting to send distress signals, shutting down communications and trapping populations in densely populated areas before launching strikes. United Nations experts have already labeled the violence in el-Fasher as carrying the “hallmarks of genocide,” with at least 6,000 people killed over three days of fighting. Nathaniel Raymond, executive director of the Humanitarian Research Lab at the Yale School of Public Health, noted that the RSF could not have seized the city without its advanced external drone support.

    Worryingly, both warring parties have systematically targeted protected civilian infrastructure in their drone strikes, including hospitals, dams, schools, public markets, and displacement camps. In one high-profile incident last year, a drone strike on Al Daein Teaching Hospital in East Darfur killed at least 64 civilians. While the Sudanese military officially denied responsibility for the attack, two anonymous military officials later confirmed the strike had targeted an adjacent police station. Recent on-the-ground reports also document 26 civilian deaths in drone strikes across South and North Kordofan in early May, more than 70 civilian fatalities in Kordofan strikes earlier this year, and 36 people killed in nine separate drone attacks on civilian vehicles over a 10-day period in May 2025. Sudanese human rights group Emergency Lawyers has warned that many drones deployed by both sides are equipped with advanced visual target identification technology, raising the disturbing possibility that attacks on civilians are deliberate, not accidental.

    Multiple independent analysts confirm that neither Sudanese warring party produces its own advanced drones, relying entirely on foreign suppliers to build up their strike capabilities. ACLED’s latest assessment confirms the Sudanese military receives drone technology from Turkey, Russia, Iran, and Egypt, while the RSF obtains drones through transnational smuggling networks linked to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), with transit routes running through Ethiopia, Chad, and Libya. Research from The Soufan Center notes that both sides are actively competing to acquire newer, more sophisticated drone models primarily manufactured in China, with satellite imagery from Yale’s Humanitarian Research Lab confirming the RSF operates Chinese-built CH-95 and FH-95 drones – large systems comparable in size to small manned aircraft. The UAE has repeatedly denied supplying drones to the RSF, while Ethiopia has also rejected Sudanese government accusations that it facilitated recent RSF drone strikes on Khartoum International Airport and other capital-area targets. Gabriella Tejeda, a research associate at The Soufan Center, however, notes that the allegations are not unfounded, given Ethiopia’s close strategic partnership with the UAE and clear shared interest in shaping the outcome of the Sudanese conflict.

    Jalale Getachew Birru, ACLED’s senior East Africa analyst, explained that drones have transformed the trajectory of the Sudanese civil war, acting as a “force multiplier” that allows both sides to expand strikes into densely populated residential areas, secure contested territory, disrupt enemy mobilization, and spread widespread insecurity across rival-held regions. The proliferation of foreign-supplied drones has not only driven a catastrophic rise in civilian deaths, experts warn, but has also complicated international peace efforts and stoked fears that the conflict could escalate into a full-blown regional proxy war. With foreign backers continuing to invest in military capabilities and both warring parties ramping up their battle tempo, analysts say there is little indication either side is willing to pursue a negotiated end to the conflict.

  • Some see ‘King of the North’ as UK government’s savior. First he needs a seat in Parliament

    Some see ‘King of the North’ as UK government’s savior. First he needs a seat in Parliament

    The United Kingdom’s ruling Labour Party is facing its deepest internal crisis in years, with embattled Prime Minister Keir Starmer clinging to power amid plummeting public approval, a devastating local election rout, and growing calls from within his own party for his resignation. At the center of the growing push for change is one of the party’s most popular figures — Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester — who just secured a path to challenge Starmer, though the road to Downing Street is still lined with major obstacles.

    To mount a formal leadership challenge, Burnham must first win a seat in the House of Commons, a requirement he currently fails to meet after 16 years as a Member of Parliament ended when he stepped down to take the Greater Manchester mayoral role in 2017. That path opened earlier this week: sitting Labour MP Josh Simons announced he would resign his safe Labour seat of Makerfield, located roughly 20 miles west of Manchester, to clear the way for Burnham’s by-election run. On Friday, Labour’s national executive committee confirmed it would not block Burnham from contesting the vote, which is scheduled to take place within the next two months.

    Widely known by his popular nickname the “King of the North” — a moniker inspired by the *Game of Thrones* character that nods to his fierce advocacy for northern England’s working-class communities and his distance from the London-centric political establishment — Burnham has emerged as Starmer’s most formidable potential rival. The 56-year-old politician, who leans further left than the centrist Starmer, has notched three consecutive mayoral election victories since 2017, proving his broad appeal to voters. His tenure as mayor has reshaped both his public image and political skill: out of office in Westminster, he swapped formal suits and ties for a approachable smart-casual look often paired with sneakers, a small change that helped him build closer rapport with working-class voters. More significantly, his profile rose dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic, when he became the de facto voice for northern England, repeatedly criticizing then-Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson for his government’s London-focused pandemic response that shortchanged northern communities.

    This is not Burnham’s first attempt at the Labour leadership: he ran unsuccessfully twice before, in 2010 and 2015, and was widely criticized for his stiff, unpolished campaign style. But supporters argue his time outside Westminster has turned him into the party’s most effective communicator, a skill Starmer has notably failed to master amid his current slump.

    The Makerfield by-election will be far from a guaranteed win for Burnham, however. Two years ago, Simons took the seat for Labour by a 5,400-vote margin during Labour’s 2024 national landslide that ended 14 years of Conservative rule. But the political landscape has shifted dramatically since then: Starmer’s government has suffered heavy losses in recent local elections, driven by the rise of the right-wing anti-immigration Reform UK party. All local wards in the Makerfield constituency were won by Reform in this month’s local elections, and Reform leader Nigel Farage has already pledged the party will “throw absolutely everything at” defeating Burnham.

    Burnham has acknowledged the steep challenge ahead. “I truly do not take a single vote for granted and will work hard to regain the trust of people in the Makerfield constituency, many of whom have long supported our party but lost faith in recent times,” he said in his announcement.

    Political analysts note the by-election is more than a simple parliamentary race — it is a critical test of Burnham’s national viability. “Andy Burnham is a big name in the northwest. There will be a lot of people who would like to see him get back into Parliament, not least to take down Keir Starmer,” said Tim Bale, professor of politics at Queen Mary University of London. “In some ways, it’s a useful test for Burnham because if he can’t beat Reform in that constituency, then quite frankly, he’s not much use to the Labour Party as leader.”

    If Burnham does win the by-election, the path to a leadership contest will open quickly. Under Labour rules, any MP can trigger a leadership challenge if they secure the support of one-fifth of the Parliamentary Labour Party — 81 out of Labour’s 403 current MPs. Right now, more than 80 MPs have already called on Starmer to step down, and one senior cabinet member, former Health Secretary Wes Streeting, has already resigned. Streeting, who was widely expected to announce his own leadership bid after resigning, instead pulled back and endorsed Burnham on Friday, writing on X that Labour “needs its best players on the pitch.” Other potential candidates include former Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, Defense Secretary Al Carns, and former Labour leader Ed Miliband, all of whom have been reported to be considering a run if a contest opens.

    Starmer has repeatedly vowed to fight to keep his job, and would automatically be included on the ballot to defend his leadership if a challenge is called. But political observers say a Burnham win in Makerfield would likely force Starmer to step down before a contest even begins. “Were Burnham to win the by-election, it’s unlikely that Keir Starmer will actually stand in that leadership contest,” Bale noted. “If Burnham fails, then Starmer might feel he has a chance against Streeting and Rayner.” For now, the entire future of Britain’s government hinges on the outcome of one high-stakes by-election in the northwest of England.

  • These women are training to represent the US in an Olympic sport they’d never heard of

    These women are training to represent the US in an Olympic sport they’d never heard of

    When 27-year-old Los Angeles screenwriter Rylee White first stumbled across a TikTok about open tryouts for the U.S. Women’s Olympic Handball Team — a sport she had never even heard of — with no prior experience required, she knew immediately she had to show up. White was far from alone. Buoyed by the video’s viral spread across the platform, more than 150 aspiring female athletes turned out for the January tryouts, marking a five-fold jump in turnout compared to previous recruitment cycles.

    Five months after that fateful open call, White is one of a small group of recruits who have relocated to Florida to join USA Handball’s national residency program, putting everything on hold in pursuit of a spot on the 2028 Summer Olympics roster, to be held right in her home city of Los Angeles.

    Unlike in much of Europe, where handball ranks among the most watched, high-participation competitive sports, it has remained largely obscure in the United States for decades. The fast-paced full-contact sport pits two teams of six outfield players plus a goalkeeper against each other, with athletes using a resin-coated ball to pass and score. Introduced to the Olympic program for men in 1936 and women in 1976, it regularly draws tens of thousands of fans to top matches in powerhouses like Germany, France, Norway, Denmark, and the Balkan nations of Southeastern Europe, which almost always claim the top Olympic medals in the sport.

    As the 2028 host nation, the U.S. automatically qualifies for a spot in every Olympic event, meaning the women’s handball team will return to the Games for the first time since Atlanta 1996. But building a competitive roster from a tiny domestic talent pool has long been a steep challenge; for years, the U.S. team has primarily relied on dual citizens who play professional handball in Europe to fill its ranks. Unlike most Olympic sports where athletes begin training in childhood, U.S. handball recruits almost always switch to the sport later in life, often coming from other competitive athletic backgrounds.

    For White, that switch came after injuries derailed her planned college career playing basketball and lacrosse, requiring multiple knee surgeries that kept her sidelined from high-level competition. Handball offered a second chance to pursue elite sport. “I think a lot of people would describe me as the most competitive person they’d ever met,” White said. “I definitely was raised in a house where we had big, big dreams.” After her tryout, she told head coach Sarah Gascon she was ready to commit fully, telling her partner she would bring him along to Europe if she earned a professional contract overseas, the end goal for many residency athletes. The final 2028 Olympic roster won’t be finalized until a few months before the Games, and only 14 to 18 spots are available out of dozens of current training athletes — making the entire journey a high-stakes gamble.

    Gascon, a long-time veteran of the U.S. women’s national handball team who recently took over as head coach, has made rebuilding the struggling program her top priority. “We’ve had great successes in my career and some really great moments but still didn’t get an opportunity to play in the Olympic Games because we just weren’t good enough,” she explained. Gascon has found that multi-sport athletes make the strongest handball recruits, as the sport borrows core skills from other popular games: basketball builds ball handling, volleyball teaches blocking, and softball or rugby develop throwing technique. “It’s really about their athleticism,” she said. “Do they have a good foundation that we could build upon? And how are they able to adapt with learning something new at 22 or 23 years old?”

    Despite the wave of new enthusiasm sparked by the viral TikTok, the biggest barrier to the program’s success remains a crippling lack of funding. Gascon confirmed that USA Handball is the only national governing body for an Olympic sport that receives no funding from the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee, and the women’s team is entirely cut off from core support including elite athlete health insurance. The USOPC did not respond to a request for comment from the Associated Press on the matter. Gascon and all her coaching staff are unpaid volunteers, and athletes must hold full-time jobs while balancing the demands of elite training. “Some of our best athletes haven’t been able to go to tournaments or go to events because they can’t afford it,” Gascon said.

    For new recruits like 30-year-old Devyn Holbrook, who had also never heard of handball before the viral tryout announcement, the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity is worth the risk. A self-described “queen of side quests” who trained in ballet, soccer, basketball, softball, and javelin throw growing up, Holbrook became obsessed with the sport after just a few days of play. “I just loved it and then I couldn’t stop watching videos online of past Olympic Games,” she said. “You don’t get a lot of chances to do like women’s team sports later in life. There will never be a chance again that I could go to the Olympics in this capacity. So why not give it everything that I have? And if I don’t make it, then I don’t make it.”

  • Bulgaria wins the 70th Eurovision song contest with the party anthem ‘Bangaranga’

    Bulgaria wins the 70th Eurovision song contest with the party anthem ‘Bangaranga’

    VIENNA, May 17 — The 70th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest wrapped up Saturday at Vienna’s Wiener Stadthalle arena, with Bulgaria securing its first-ever victory in the contest’s seven-decade history. Singer Dara’s high-energy party anthem “Bangaranga” outperformed 24 competing acts, winning over both professional national juries and global public viewers with its infectious rhythm and tightly choreographed stage performance.

    Hosted in the Austrian capital, this year’s anniversary competition brought together 25 finalist acts from across Europe and beyond, showcasing a wildly eclectic range of musical styles that has become the event’s signature. From Finnish fiery violin-pop and Moldovan folk-infused rap to Serbian heavy metal and Italian classic crooning, the 2026 contest delivered the over-the-top stage production and diverse talent that has made it a global cultural phenomenon, drawing hundreds of millions of viewers worldwide.

    While the celebration of music took center stage, the 2026 contest was overshadowed for the third consecutive year by growing political controversy over Israel’s participation, amid ongoing conflict in Gaza. Five longstanding participating nations — Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland, Iceland and Slovenia — withdrew in protest of Israel’s inclusion, marking one of the largest coordinated boycotts in the contest’s modern history.

    Israel’s contestant Noam Bettan ultimately finished in second place with his multilingual rock ballad “Michelle,” though his appearance was met with mixed reactions from the audience: loud cheers from supporters were punctuated by scattered boos, and four attendees were ejected earlier in the week after attempting to disrupt his semifinal performance. Street protests unfolded in Vienna in the lead-up to Saturday’s final, with hundreds of demonstrators marching near the arena holding signs reading “Block Eurovision” and organizers hosting an alternative “No stage for genocide” outdoor concert. “Inviting Israel to this beautiful stage is an affront to everyone who believes in humanity, love and togetherness,” said Congolese-Austrian artist Patrick Bongola, one of the protest organizers. Demonstrations were smaller in scale than those seen at the 2024 contest in Malmo, Sweden and the 2025 event in Basel, Switzerland.

    Despite the political tensions, the 2026 final showcased the genre-blending creativity that defines Eurovision. Finnish duo Linda Lampenius and Pete Parkkonen entered the final as pre-show betting favorites with “Liekinheitin” (Flamethrower), a high-octane blend of pop vocals and virtuosic classical violin backed by dramatic pyrotechnics. Other standout acts included Moldova’s Satoshi, whose upbeat party rap “Viva, Moldova” framed as a love letter to Europe from the aspiring EU member; Greek artist Akylas’ playful commentary on post-crisis economic inequality with “Ferto”; and Australian star Delta Goodrem’s showstopping performance of her ballad “Eclipse,” which featured Goodrem lifted above a glittering grand piano for the song’s climax. Female solo artists dominated the 2026 lineup, with standouts including Germany’s empowering power ballad, Poland’s gospel-infused R&B, Ukraine’s ethereal folk-pop, and Sweden’s pulsing techno-pop. The contest also featured strong male solo performances, from Malta’s R&B to Norway’s rock, plus a retro-techno set from Austrian hometown favorite Cosmo.

    For long-time observers of the contest, political friction is far from a new development. “Eurovision has always had its share of political controversy,” said Eurovision historian Dean Vuletic. “The first boycott came back in 1969, ironically by Austria, which refused to participate in the contest hosted by Franco’s fascist Spain. Every politicized edition in recent years has faced similar tension, but Eurovision persists.” Vuletic added that the contest has always been a platform for underdogs: “It’s never been a competition for already established global superstars. Fans love seeing rising artists, and artists from smaller, less wealthy nations, claim the spotlight.”

    As has become tradition, the winner was selected through a combined voting system that weights scores from professional national juries and public viewer votes. Viewers in participating nations can vote up to 10 times for acts outside their home country, while fans in non-participating nations including the U.S. can cast votes online through the official Eurovision website. The winning nation earns the right to host the following year’s contest.

    The boycott has created tangible headwinds for the event, which drew 166 million global viewers last year, with organizers expecting losses to both viewership and advertising revenue. Even so, the Eurovision organization is moving forward with expansion plans: a new spinoff competition, Eurovision Song Contest Asia, is scheduled to launch in Bangkok this November. Contest director Martin Green urged global audiences to set political disagreements aside ahead of the final, framing the 2026 event as a “brilliant, wonderful, heartfelt celebration of music that brings people across the continent together.”

  • The Vatican has said a lot about artificial intelligence. A primer ahead of the pope’s encyclical

    The Vatican has said a lot about artificial intelligence. A primer ahead of the pope’s encyclical

    As the global race to advance artificial intelligence accelerates amid fierce debate over regulation and human impact, the Vatican is finalizing the public release of Pope Leo XIV’s first encyclical — a sweeping moral document that will frame AI development through a lens of Catholic social teaching, demanding an ethics-first approach centered on human dignity, authentic social connection, and global peace.

    Vatican spokespersons confirmed the pontiff signed the landmark text on Friday, a date intentionally chosen to mark 135 years to the day that his namesake, Pope Leo XIII, signed his transformative 1891 encyclical *Rerum Novarum* (Of New Things). That foundational text addressed the explosive inequality and upheaval of the first Industrial Revolution, outlining the inherent rights of workers, setting boundaries for unregulated capitalism, and defining the moral obligations of states and employers to laborers. It has remained the cornerstone of modern Catholic social thought for more than a century, and Pope Leo XIV has already invoked its legacy to contextualize the current AI revolution, arguing the technology poses the same fundamental existential questions about work, humanity, and justice that industrialization did in the 1800s. The new encyclical will embed discussions of AI within the church’s centuries-old tradition of social teaching, which covers interconnected issues of labor rights, global justice, and peace.

    Meghan Sullivan, director of the University of Notre Dame’s ethics institute and a professor of philosophy, notes the Catholic Church is uniquely positioned to shape the global AI conversation. “I think that the Catholic Church in many ways is going to be the adult in the room on some of these debates about how we are going to integrate AI into the rest of our society,” Sullivan said. “For sure, the pope is going to be one of the most forceful advocates for human dignity in these discussions.”

    Just days after his election in 2025, Pope Leo XIV, the first American-born pontiff from Chicago, told the College of Cardinals that the Catholic Church had a moral duty to bring its “treasury of her social teaching” to bear on the threats AI poses to human dignity, justice, and the future of work. A mathematics major with a documented familiarity with digital technology — he is known to regularly use a smartphone for browsing — Pope Leo is expected to address the issue publicly this weekend, as the Vatican marks its annual Social Communications Day with a pre-released message focused on the hidden human toll of the global AI race. In that earlier message, the pope warned of the urgent need to preserve authentic human connection in an era of chatbot “friends,” protect human creative genius against AI-generated music and video, and defend factual reality against the spread of generative AI deepfakes.

    The public release of the encyclical, expected within the coming weeks, is already projected to create new tension between Pope Leo and the U.S. Trump administration, which has prioritized unimpeded rapid AI development as a core national economic and security priority. The U.S. has repeatedly rejected international regulatory efforts to rein in unchecked AI growth, and domestically the administration has rolled back numerous bureaucratic barriers that slowed technology development. The encyclical’s signing coincided with the conclusion of U.S. President Donald Trump’s official visit to China, a trip focused heavily on AI trade and development. Trump was joined on Air Force One by high-profile tech leaders including Elon Musk, owner of X (which hosts Musk’s AI chatbot Grok), and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, who recently secured U.S. federal approval to sell advanced H200 AI chips to Chinese buyers.

    Since the generative AI boom began with ChatGPT’s public debut, the technology has drawn both widespread awe for its transformative capabilities and growing alarm from experts over its risks. These hazards range from hypothetical but catastrophic long-term threats such as unaligned rogue AI systems to immediate, everyday harms including algorithmic bias in hiring, misinformation, and erasure of human connection. Multilateral discussions have so far yielded limited progress: the United Nations adopted a nonbinding AI governance framework last year after summits hosted by Britain, South Korea, and France also produced only voluntary pledges, while the European Union implemented its binding AI Act in 2024, which uses a risk-based classification system to regulate the technology.

    The Vatican has long sought to insert its moral voice into this global debate, publishing targeted ethical guidelines for AI use across sectors from military combat to education and healthcare. Its core argument has remained consistent: AI should serve as a tool that complements human intelligence, not one that replaces it. The church has also drawn attention to the underdiscussed environmental cost of the AI race, highlighting the massive amounts of energy and water required to power AI data centers and large-scale computational processes.

    Thomas Harmon, a theology professor at the University of St. Thomas in Houston, says the church’s influence on the conversation extends far beyond its 1.5 billion global followers. “There are almost a billion and a half Catholics in the world, so that alone is reason to pay attention,” Harmon said. “But beyond the numbers, the Catholic Church has a deep and sophisticated tradition of thinking through what it means to be human.”

    As early as 2020, the Vatican brought major tech companies together to sign the Rome Call for AI Ethics, a pledge that laid out core principles for responsible AI development including inclusiveness, accountability, impartiality, and user privacy. Major global tech firms including Microsoft, IBM, and Cisco were among the initial signatories. Pope Francis, Pope Leo’s predecessor, spent his final years advocating for a binding international treaty to regulate AI, arguing that the risks of developing AI without embedding core human values of compassion, mercy, morality, and forgiveness were too great to leave self-governance to researchers and developers alone. In 2024, Francis addressed a special G7 session on AI’s perils and promise, urging world leaders to ensure all AI development remains human-centric, insisting that all decisions involving the use of force — even for less-lethal tools — must remain in human hands. He also called for a full global ban on lethal autonomous weapons, often referred to as “killer robots.”

    Within the church, Pope Leo has warned clergy against relying on AI to write their homilies, but his concerns extend far beyond internal practice to the broader global implications of AI for peace, labor, and the very nature of reality. As a member of the Augustinian order, which centers the search for truth as a core spiritual value, he has repeatedly highlighted the unique threat generative AI poses through deepfakes and widespread misinformation. In a June 2025 address to an international AI conference, he acknowledged the technology’s meaningful contributions to medical advancement and scientific discovery, but questioned “its possible repercussions on humanity’s openness to truth and beauty, on our distinctive ability to grasp reality.”

    A consistent advocate for global peace, Pope Leo has also called for increased scrutiny of AI development and use in ongoing conflicts including Ukraine and the Middle East, where automated weapons systems are already deployed across aerial drones, maritime vessels, and ground combat platforms. “What is happening in Ukraine, in Gaza and the Palestinian territories, in Lebanon and in Iran illustrates the inhuman evolution of the relationship between war and new technologies in a spiral of annihilation,” he stated earlier this week during an address at Rome’s La Sapienza University, Europe’s largest institution of higher education.

  • ‘Farcical proceeding’: Mahmoud Khalil’s lawyers want deportation case terminated

    ‘Farcical proceeding’: Mahmoud Khalil’s lawyers want deportation case terminated

    Legal representatives for Mahmoud Khalil, a prominent Palestinian rights activist and former Columbia University student, announced Friday they have submitted an emergency motion to the U.S. Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) requesting the full reopening and immediate termination of his deportation case, building on newly uncovered evidence of widespread procedural irregularities that they argue denied their client due process under U.S. law.

    The motion was formally lodged with the BIA on Thursday, coming roughly one month after the agency issued a final removal order that brought Khalil one step closer to forced expulsion from the United States, where he resides with his U.S. citizen wife and child.

    A core pillar of the legal team’s argument centers on a longstanding structural flaw in the U.S. immigration adjudication system: unlike independent federal judiciary bodies, the BIA and all U.S. immigration courts fall under the oversight of the Department of Justice (DOJ), an agency within the executive branch of government — putting them under the direct control of the sitting presidential administration, in this case the second Trump administration. While immigration courts are nominally required to rule in line with federal law rather than policy priorities, recent reporting has exposed how this structural arrangement can enable political interference in individual cases.

    Last week, The New York Times published an investigation revealing that the BIA’s final removal order against Khalil was marked by multiple extraordinary irregularities that diverge sharply from standard immigration case practice. Internal government documents reviewed by the outlet showed Khalil’s case file was flagged for high-priority processing despite the fact that post-detention immigration appeals routinely take years to resolve. By contrast, the BIA issued its ruling in just nine days. Additionally, three separate BIA judges recused themselves from reviewing the case, a highly unusual move that the outlet noted may stem from prior conflicts related to earlier involvement in Khalil’s proceedings.

    The new motion filed by Khalil’s legal team includes sworn testimony from a former U.S. immigration judge who corroborates the assessment that the procedural shortcuts and multiple recusals are inconsistent with standard adjudication.

    Khalil was first taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents during an arrest outside his New York City home in March 2025. Three months after his arrest, he was released from detention, but his legal battle has remained ongoing. At the time of his arrest, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio revoked Khalil’s permanent resident green card, claiming the activist posed a threat to U.S. foreign policy interests. The Trump administration later added a second claim, alleging Khalil falsified his employment history on his green card application — an accusation Khalil has repeatedly and vehemently denied.

    Khalil’s legal team has long maintained that the push to deport him is outright retaliation for his protected pro-Palestinian speech, a charge the administration has not directly addressed. In a public statement released Friday, Johnny Sinodis, an attorney with Van Der Hout LLP representing Khalil, said the recent revelations of DOJ misconduct confirm what the legal team has argued since Khalil’s arrest: the administration manipulated the entire process to reach a preordained political outcome, weaponizing a broken immigration system riddled with unfair procedural abnormalities.

    Sinodis called on the BIA to throw out the entire government case against Khalil, and demanded increased transparency around the handling of the case. “Transparency also dictates that the government produce any records regarding the handling and adjudication of Mahmoud’s case,” he said. “The apparent interference with the Immigration Judge’s decision making is not only unconstitutional but also violates the government’s own rules and procedures.”

    For the time being, Khalil remains protected from arrest and deportation: he has a separate active federal lawsuit alleging constitutional rights violations related to his arrest and removal proceedings, and a court order bars ICE from deporting him until that separate civil case reaches a conclusion.

  • UAE building pipeline to double oil exports that can bypass Hormuz

    UAE building pipeline to double oil exports that can bypass Hormuz

    Against the backdrop of escalating regional tensions following the US-Israeli military campaign against Iran, the United Arab Emirates has unveiled plans to speed up expansion of its oil pipeline network, a strategic move that will double the volume of crude the nation can export without passing through the contested Strait of Hormuz. The project is on track to be fully operational by 2027, state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) confirmed in an official statement released Friday.

    Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan announced the acceleration of the construction during a recent high-level committee meeting, with Adnoc noting that preliminary work on the new pipeline segment had already broken ground. The pipeline will connect the UAE’s inland oil infrastructure to the port of Fujairah, which sits on the UAE’s eastern coast along the Gulf of Oman, eliminating the need for tankers to navigate the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most critical chokepoint for global oil trade.

    Currently, the UAE’s existing Habshan-Fujairah pipeline boasts a daily throughput capacity of 1.8 million barrels. With the expansion, the country’s total bypass capacity will double, allowing it to restore nearly all of its pre-conflict export volume without relying on Hormuz. Before the outbreak of the current war, the UAE was moving roughly 3.4 million barrels of crude per day to global markets. After Iran took control of the strait and implemented a new regional passage authorization system, UAE exports dropped by approximately 60 percent, according to regional energy data.

    Once the expanded network is complete, the UAE will be able to ship almost all of its pre-war output via the alternative pipeline route. Longer-term, the Gulf nation has set an even more ambitious target: reaching a total export capacity of nearly 5 million barrels per day by 2027, aligning with massive infrastructure investments it has made to ramp up domestic production capacity over recent years.

    The strategic pivot away from Hormuz comes amid a series of disruptive regional developments tied to the ongoing conflict. In the opening weeks of the war, Iran blocked oil exports from other Gulf states while continuing its own shipments, before a U.S. naval blockade imposed last month effectively halted all Iranian crude exports. The move also follows a landmark decision by the UAE just this month to withdraw from the Saudi Arabia-led OPEC cartel, a split rooted in years of disagreements over production policy. For years, Riyadh pushed for aggressive production cuts to prop up global oil prices, while the UAE pushed for looser output limits to capitalize on its expanded production capacity. The UAE’s exit from OPEC gives it full policy flexibility to pursue its 2027 capacity goals, Abu Dhabi officials have said.

    Despite the strategic gains of the project, security risks remain a persistent challenge. The UAE’s close geographic proximity to Iran leaves its critical energy infrastructure vulnerable to attack. Earlier in the conflict, an Iranian drone strike targeted a major gas processing facility located near Habshan, the starting point of the Fujairah pipeline. The port of Fujairah itself has also been hit in previous attacks, forcing a temporary suspension of all cargo operations at the facility.

    The UAE is not alone in moving to diversify its oil export routes away from the Strait of Hormuz. Regional rival and neighbor Saudi Arabia already operates the East-West Pipeline, which enables the kingdom to export up to 5 million barrels of crude per day through the Red Sea port of Yanbu, bypassing Hormuz entirely.

    This independent coverage of Middle East energy and security developments is provided by Middle East Eye, a publication specializing in on-the-ground reporting and analysis of the Middle East and North Africa region.

  • US planning to criminally indict ex-Cuban leader Raúl Castro

    US planning to criminally indict ex-Cuban leader Raúl Castro

    Tensions between the United States and Cuba have spiked dramatically in recent days, after multiple anonymous U.S. Department of Justice sources confirmed that federal authorities are moving forward with a planned criminal indictment of 94-year-old former Cuban leader Raúl Castro, connected to the 1996 downing of two U.S.-linked aircraft that left four people dead. The expected charges, which require formal approval from a federal grand jury before they can be unsealed, come at a uniquely sensitive moment: just one day before the first reports of the indictment plan emerged, CIA Director John Ratcliffe traveled to Havana to hold rare direct talks with senior Cuban security officials.

    Raúl Castro, who retired from the top post of Cuba’s Communist Party in 2011 after leading the island nation for 15 years, closed out six decades of uninterrupted rule by the Castro family when he stepped down. He assumed the presidency in 2006 after his older brother, longtime leader Fidel Castro, resigned due to poor health, and previously served as Cuba’s armed forces minister at the time of the 1996 incident.

    The case that forms the core of the potential indictment dates back 30 years, to February 24, 1996, when Cuban military forces shot down two small civilian planes operated by Brothers to the Rescue, a Miami-based Cuban exile group with a stated mission of rescuing migrants crossing the Straits of Florida and an open anti-Castro political agenda. The group had repeatedly dropped anti-government leaflets in Cuban airspace prior to the incident, and Havana maintained at the time that the aircraft had violated Cuban national airspace. However, an investigation by the International Civil Aviation Organization concluded the shootdown occurred in international waters. All four people on board the two planes were killed in the attack.

    According to unnamed DoJ officials, the public indictment could be released as early as next Wednesday. When asked about the reports during a press gaggle on Air Force One Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump declined to comment on the details of the ongoing investigation, saying he would leave all statements to the Department of Justice. He did not hold back from broader criticism of the Cuban government, however, telling reporters: “But [Cubans] need help, as you know. And you talk about a declining country. They are really a nation, a country in decline.”

    The planned indictment is the latest escalation in a sustained U.S. pressure campaign against Havana that already includes a full oil embargo, sweeping economic sanctions, and open political rhetoric calling for regime change on the island. Trump’s oil blockade has already pushed Cuba to the brink of an energy crisis: just this week, the island’s energy minister publicly acknowledged that the country has effectively exhausted its supplies of fuel oil, leaving essential services and civilian livelihoods at risk. Expectant mothers across Cuba are already reporting severe struggles accessing basic care and supplies amid the ongoing fuel shortages.

    The move to reactivate the investigation into the 1996 shootdown gained momentum earlier this year, when Florida’s attorney general announced the state would reopen its own probe into Raúl Castro’s alleged role in the incident. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis echoed that momentum Friday, praising the planned federal charges as “long overdue.”

    Cuba has not yet issued an official formal response to the reports of the impending indictment, but Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez made clear Friday that Havana would not back down to U.S. pressure. “Despite the [US] embargo, sanctions and threats of the use of force, Cuba continues on a path of sovereignty towards its socialist development,” Rodriguez said, per Reuters.

    Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche, who leads the Department of Justice, has also declined to confirm the reports, telling Fox News: “If and when there’s a time to talk about about that, we will, obviously.” Under U.S. federal procedure, prosecutors must first present evidence of probable cause to a grand jury composed of ordinary citizens before any formal charges can be filed.

    Ratcliffe’s visit to Havana Thursday, which included a meeting with his Cuban counterpart at the Cuban interior ministry, was notable for the attendance of Raúl Rodríguez Castro, the grandson of the former Cuban leader. A CIA official told CBS, the BBC’s U.S. partner, that Washington was open to talks on economic and security cooperation, “but only if Cuba makes fundamental changes” to its governing system. The Cuban government’s official readout of the meeting framed it as an effort to improve bilateral dialogue, and reiterated that Havana does not pose a threat to U.S. national security. The talks also followed a renewed U.S. offer of $100 million in humanitarian aid to help mitigate the harm caused by the American oil blockade.

    The heightened focus on Cuba comes on the heels of a dramatic U.S. action in the region: in January, American authorities indicted Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, and removed him from power in a rapid overnight military operation. Analysts have warned that a similar move to target Raúl Castro could trigger severe consequences for the United States, even as the indictment is widely seen as part of a broader pressure strategy.

    William LeoGrande, a professor of Latin American politics at American University in Washington and author of *Back Channel to Cuba: The Hidden History of Negotiations between Washington and Havana*, described the impending indictment as “one more element of the pressure campaign” that Trump has sustained since returning to office. He warned that further destabilization of the Cuban government could backfire spectacularly on Washington. “If the Cuban economy and social order collapses, it would actually be a disaster for the United States, because it’s likely to touch off a mass migration crisis,” LeoGrande explained. The professor added that the move appears to be a deliberate warning: “It looks like the US is sending a warning to Raúl Castro that he should use his influence to get the government to make concessions. Or else the US military may be coming for him, just like it came for President Maduro in Venezuela.”

  • Wordle heads to primetime as media seek puzzle reinvention

    Wordle heads to primetime as media seek puzzle reinvention

    The global media landscape is undergoing a quiet transformation, as legacy news organizations rush to integrate interactive puzzles and casual games into their digital offerings — all chasing the subscription-driven success that The New York Times has spent years refining, and that is now poised to make the jump to network television.

  • Crackdown on cross-border drug crimes intensified

    Crackdown on cross-border drug crimes intensified

    China has significantly strengthened its law enforcement campaign against cross-border illegal trafficking of drug-manufacturing substances and other sensitive chemicals, China’s Ministry of Public Security announced in an official statement released Friday. Since the start of 2025, authorities have resolved 29 criminal cases linked to this illegal trade and taken 157 suspects into custody.

    Along with the arrests and case closures, law enforcement seizures have been substantial: authorities have confiscated 720 kilograms of illegal drugs, 1.3 metric tons of new psychoactive substances, 0.9 kilogram of stimulants, and 27.7 tons of uncontrolled precursor chemicals — materials that can be repurposed to produce illicit controlled drugs.

    The China National Narcotics Control Commission (CNNCC) has repeatedly issued public warnings to domestic enterprises and individuals, urging them to exercise extreme caution when exporting drug-making substances, new psychoactive substances, and related chemical products to overseas markets, and to remain alert to potential legal risks under foreign jurisdictions.

    In a formal notice issued November 10 last year, the CNNCC’s office mandated that all chemical exporters verify that their overseas buyers complete all required import procedures in compliance with local laws and regulations. This requirement applies specifically to unlisted precursor chemicals and production equipment, which have widespread legitimate industrial uses but can also be diverted to manufacture illegal controlled substances.

    The notice outlined a series of new regulatory requirements for domestic stakeholders. All companies engaged in the production, sale, transportation, import, and export of these sensitive chemicals and related equipment are required to strengthen internal compliance systems, maintain complete and accurate transaction records, and conduct strict background and identity verification for all overseas purchasers.

    Domestic operators have also been warned to watch for illegal recruitment tactics, which often disguise criminal requests as high-value commercial orders or legitimate sample testing requests. Postal services, courier companies, logistics providers, and international freight forwarders have been called on to strengthen screening protocols and assist authorities in intercepting illegal shipments.

    New tighter rules for online information dissemination have also been introduced. Private individuals are completely banned from posting any sales information for non-pharmaceutical precursor chemicals on public online platforms, while all entities and individuals are prohibited from publishing any public online advertisements for pharmaceutical precursor chemicals. Any party that posts sales information for unlisted drug-making chemicals or related production equipment on websites, social media platforms, or e-commerce marketplaces is required to complete mandatory real-name registration and comply fully with all domestic and international legal requirements.

    This is not the first regulatory warning on the issue: the CNNCC issued similar public notices in November 2023 and May 2024, both of which highlighted the serious legal risks associated with exporting drug-making precursors and new psychoactive substances to overseas markets. Despite these repeated warnings, the Ministry of Public Security noted that some domestic offenders have continued to traffic both controlled and uncontrolled precursors, new psychoactive substances, and other sensitive chemicals abroad, gradually building transnational illegal supply chains that create major global drug-related security risks.

    To counter this growing threat, Chinese public security authorities have launched multiple rounds of targeted special law enforcement operations. These operations focus on breaking up major criminal networks, investigating non-compliant enterprises, and holding illegal actors accountable. Officials noted that the campaign has three core goals: eliminating cross-border drug risks, cleaning up non-compliant activity in the domestic online business environment, and protecting the legitimate, healthy development of China’s overall chemical industry.

    One of the major cases resolved during the recent crackdown was a large-scale cross-border drug manufacturing and trafficking ring led by a suspect surnamed Tang, which was uncovered by police in December 2025. In this operation alone, authorities arrested 21 suspects, seized nearly 32 kilograms of illegal drugs, 1 ton of new psychoactive substances, and 15.4 tons of raw drug-making materials. Law enforcement also dismantled one illegal drug production facility and one unauthorized precursor chemical production site, froze approximately 6.92 million yuan ($1 million) in illicit funds linked to the ring, and imposed administrative penalties on three domestic chemical companies that failed to comply with regulatory requirements.

    Investigations into Tang’s operation revealed that he set up two dedicated websites to advertise sensitive chemicals directly to overseas buyers. After receiving orders, he contracted with chemical manufacturers in multiple domestic regions to develop and supply the controlled chemicals, then smuggled the products overseas via complicit international freight forwarding companies, and accepted payment via untraceable virtual currencies to avoid detection. In January 2026, Tang and a second key ringleader, surnamed Chen, were formally arrested on charges of smuggling, trafficking, transporting, and manufacturing illegal drugs.

    In closing, the Ministry of Public Security emphasized that all Chinese enterprises and individuals must strictly comply with domestic and international laws and regulations when conducting cross-border business. It reiterated the importance of proactively guarding against overseas legal risks, to protect both the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies and citizens, and global public safety by curbing the transnational drug trade.