Global Pulse

作者： admin

  • North America wildfires burn millions of acres in western US and Canada

    North America wildfires burn millions of acres in western US and Canada

    Across the western expanse of North America, a growing climate-driven crisis is unfolding as dozens of intense wildfires scorch vast swathes of land in two major regions: the U.S. state of Oregon and Canada’s western province of British Columbia. Fueled by steadily climbing regional temperatures that have dried out vegetation and turned vast forested areas into tinder, these uncontrolled blazes have already consumed millions of acres of land, and show no signs of slowing their advance.

    The ongoing wildfire season, which has become increasingly severe in recent decades amid global climate shifts, has put local communities, emergency response teams, and ecological systems under extreme strain. Rising temperatures create a feedback loop that exacerbates fire risk: higher heat evaporates moisture from soil and plant life, making even normally resilient forests far more flammable. With warm weather patterns persisting across the Pacific Northwest, fire managers have warned that the spread of active blazes will likely continue in the coming weeks.

    This disaster is not contained within a single national border. Both Oregon and British Columbia share extensive ecological corridors and weather systems, meaning smoke and fire risk can cross international boundaries, impacting air quality and public health across a far wider area than the burned zones themselves. As emergency crews work around the clock to contain the blazes and evacuate at-risk communities, the event underscores the growing threat that climate change poses to wildfire frequency and severity across western North America.

  • Sudan RSF leader ‘unleashes’ fighters after army gains in Kordofan

    Sudan RSF leader ‘unleashes’ fighters after army gains in Kordofan

    The long-running brutal civil conflict in Sudan took a sharp new turn this week, after Rapid Support Forces (RSF) commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo ordered his fighters to operate with full freedom, just days after the Sudanese army reclaimed control of a strategic highway connecting the capital Khartoum to the contested city of El-Obeid in North Kordofan.

    Daglo, whose paramilitary force has already been formally accused of carrying out genocide in Sudan’s western Darfur region, announced the new order in a pre-recorded video address released to the public on Monday. “From today, I no longer hold the reins, I have released the reins to you,” he told frontline RSF fighters, a declaration that came just 24 hours after the Sudanese army pushed RSF fighters off the critical 400-kilometer highway after a multi-day offensive.

    For weeks, United Nations officials have issued urgent warnings that the RSF was preparing a large-scale assault to encircle and seize El-Obeid, the largest city in the Kordofan region, raising fears of widespread mass atrocities against the civilian population. The ongoing conflict between Daglo’s RSF and Sudanese army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, which broke out in April 2023 between the two former coup allies, has already triggered what the United Nations describes as the world’s worst humanitarian catastrophe. Aid worker estimates place the total death toll from the conflict at more than 200,000 people, with millions more displaced and facing acute hunger across the country.

    The RSF traces its origins back to the notorious Janjaweed militia, which carried out widespread mass killings and ethnic cleansing in Darfur during the early 2000s. Last year, the RSF completed its full takeover of Darfur, an offensive that UN investigators confirmed bears all the “hallmarks of genocide”. After consolidating control over Darfur, the RSF turned its attention to neighboring Kordofan, where it has been locked in a deadly stalemate with the Sudanese army for months. Both sides have carried out relentless drone strikes in the region, which have killed more than 1,000 civilians since the start of 2024.

    Two anonymous Sudanese army sources confirmed to Agence France-Presse on Monday that after days of steady advances across North Kordofan, army forces successfully pushed RSF fighters west of the Khartoum-El-Obeid highway over the weekend. El-Obeid, a critical crossroads hub that currently hosts around one million people including hundreds of thousands of displaced people from other conflict zones, sits at the intersection of two key trade and military routes: a north-south highway connecting Khartoum to Sudan’s southern border, and an east-west corridor linking RSF-held Darfur to army-controlled central and eastern Sudan. For months, both factions have fought to cut off the other’s supply lines around the city.

    On Monday, the Sudanese army released footage showing Burhan visiting Jabrat al-Sheikh, one of the last RSF strongholds along the recaptured highway, flanked by the top leaders of the two main allied militias that supported the army’s offensive: Darfur governor and Joint Forces commander Minni Minawi, and Sudan Shield Forces commander Abu Aqla Kaykal.

    For civilians trapped in El-Obeid, where hundreds of thousands of people are already in desperate need of life-saving humanitarian aid, the reopening of the highway has raised tentative hopes of improved access to food and basic goods. Sabreen Mohamed, a long-time El-Obeid resident, told AFP that “the highway opening means goods can flow” into the besieged city. For most of the war, civilians have been forced to rely entirely on a single eastern route leading to the White Nile, a road that is regularly targeted by deadly RSF drone attacks, and remains closed to large-scale civilian movement.

    Early on Tuesday, RSF drone strikes hit multiple locations inside El-Obeid, destroying the local branch of the Agricultural Bank of Sudan and the headquarters of the local lawyers’ association. No casualties were reported in the attack, but the damage to key public infrastructure underscores the ongoing risk to civilian life in the city. Mohamed dismissed the strikes as the “death throes” of the retreating RSF, noting that retaliatory attacks on civilian targets have become a predictable pattern after every army advance. “We’re used to it, every time the army advances, they retaliate against North Kordofan,” she said.

    While both the army and the RSF have been credibly accused of committing war crimes, including indiscriminate bombing of civilian areas, the army is broadly viewed more favorably by civilians in regions that have born the brunt of RSF atrocities. El-Obeid was fully besieged by the RSF from the start of the war in April 2023 until February 2024, when the army first broke the siege. Since then, repeated RSF attacks on roads, residential neighborhoods and critical infrastructure including power stations have deepened the humanitarian crisis, with the UN confirming that only a small fraction of the city’s population has consistent access to enough food.

  • The tough choices Andy Burnham faces on Iran war as US pushes for more UK involvement

    The tough choices Andy Burnham faces on Iran war as US pushes for more UK involvement

    When Andy Burnham campaigned to become Britain’s prime minister, he centered his platform on a sharp pivot to domestic priorities, promising a break from the previous Keir Starmer administration’s foreign policy approach that had alienated much of the party’s base. But barely seven days into his tenure, a sudden dramatic escalation of tensions between the United States and Iran has forced the new leader to confront an unexpected geopolitical crisis that immediately throws his policy agenda off course and tests his political judgment.

    In the lead-up to taking office, Burnham had already signaled a clear break from Starmer’s stance on Middle Eastern affairs. He issued a public apology for Labour’s early backing of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza and announced his government would explore banning imports of goods produced in Israeli-occupied settlements. Political observers widely framed the remarks as a calculated move to win back disillusioned Labour voters who had abandoned the party over its perceived unwavering pro-Israel policy amid the Gaza humanitarian crisis. No one anticipated, however, that a major US-Iran escalation would arrive before Burnham could advance any of his promised domestic reforms.

    As the new government moved to rapidly assess its position, Burnham immediately opened diplomatic consultations with key Gulf allies over the weekend. In a phone call with United Arab Emirates President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the prime minister thanked the UAE leadership for its ongoing support for the roughly 200,000 British citizens residing in the country amid rising regional unrest. He also spoke with Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, where he commended the two nations’ deep defense partnership—a cooperation that saw British fighter jets deploy to defend Qatar against Iranian missile strikes earlier this year. Finally, Burnham reaffirmed UK backing for Kuwait against potential Iranian attacks in a call with Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Meshal.

    The central political and diplomatic challenge for Burnham, however, remains his fraught relationship with US President Donald Trump. Earlier this year, Trump and former prime minister Starmer entered a very public falling out after Starmer delayed approval for US forces to use British military bases to launch strikes against Iranian missile sites. Trump responded with relentless public criticism and mockery of Starmer on social media, creating an extremely tense dynamic between the two allies.

    Complicating Burnham’s choice is stark public opposition: a YouGov poll released just last week found a majority of British voters oppose allowing the US to use UK military bases to launch attacks on Iranian targets. To avoid a high-profile clash with Trump that would overshadow the start of his premiership, Burnham would have to openly contradict the will of the British public. Ultimately, the new prime minister opted to maintain Starmer’s original policy, granting the US access to RAF Fairford, a Royal Air Force base in Gloucestershire, to carry out strikes on Iranian missile infrastructure.

    Critics have already argued Burnham failed his first major test of standing up to the White House. The prime minister pushed back on these accusations in a weekend interview, declining to say he trusts Trump and insisting he will not hesitate to publicly call out the US president when their positions diverge. While the decision has helped Burnham avoid an immediate public confrontation with Washington, it has opened the UK up to new security risks.

    The Burnham government maintains that US strikes on Iranian missile sites are defensive in nature, meaning Britain is not party to any offensive military action against Iran. That interpretation is rejected outright by Tehran. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) last week labeled Britain an “accomplice” to US aggression and warned that it considers British military bases in the region legitimate military targets.

    In response to Iran’s threat, new British Defence Secretary Wes Streeting affirmed that the UK is “ready to respond to any attacks Iran wishes to wage against this country or our allies and we will continue to do that.” Streeting clarified that “we have not joined and will not join offensive US military action in Iran. That’s an area where we have not agreed with the United States. But when it comes to securing maritime freedom and free commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, that’s where we are absolutely aligned.”

    Over the weekend, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth held a call with Streeting, where he reportedly urged the UK to host a London summit for a new multinational maritime coalition tasked with protecting commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global chokepoint for energy trade. Hegseth also confirmed he would attend the summit if it moves forward. The proposal faces significant headwinds, however: major European nations have so far been reluctant to join the effort, fearing it will draw them deeper into the escalating conflict.

    The previous Starmer government had committed to deploying British naval assets to the strait only after a lasting ceasefire was in place. But Streeting announced over the weekend that the UK is now prepared to lead a naval mission “when the conditions are right.”

    It remains uncertain whether the proposed summit will actually take place, but analysts warn the Burnham government could struggle to resist growing US pressure to deepen British involvement in the conflict if hostilities continue to escalate. If the UK does expand its role, it will face renewed criticism from opposition groups including the Green Party, which has opposed granting the US access to British bases for strikes on Iran from the start.

    Green Party leader Zack Polanski slammed Burnham’s position in comments Sunday, saying: “The illegal war in Iran should do a lot more than ‘concern’ Andy Burnham. And if he’s not holding back – when is he going to tell Donald Trump that the UK wants nothing to do with this war and to ban the US military from UK soil?”

    Burnham also faces growing unrest within his own party: many Labour backbenchers who supported his bid for the premiership have already called on him to take a much firmer stance against Israel’s actions in Gaza, and are likely to oppose deeper involvement in the US-Iran conflict. Last week alone, 80 cross-party MPs and peers—including dozens of Labour politicians—issued an open letter urging Burnham to formally recognize Israel’s actions in Gaza as genocide, impose sanctions on Israel, and ban all trade that supports illegal Israeli settlements.

    The issue of UK-Israel military cooperation also creates internal tension: last year, while serving as Starmer’s health secretary, Wes Streeting privately accused Israel of committing war crimes and backed imposing sanctions on the country. Now, Streeting is facing growing calls from within his own party to suspend Britain’s long-running secret military agreement with Israel.

    Chris Doyle, director of the Council for Arab-British Understanding, predicted in an assessment that Burnham will largely maintain the cautious path set by his predecessor. “I think Prime Minister Burnham will continue to navigate a similar policy to his predecessor, namely that he will not wish to have British forces engage actively on any war on Iran and will continue to allow limited use of RAF Fairford and Diego Garcia,” Doyle said. On the topic of the UK’s potential role in the Strait of Hormuz, Doyle added: “There may be some sort of role in terms of de-mining and escorting in a very defensive capacity, but not one that is offensive. I think that’ll be where they draw the line.”

    For the Burnham government, which campaigned on putting domestic issues front and center, the sudden escalation of Middle Eastern conflict has already created an unavoidable early crisis. What the new prime minister hoped would be a first week focused on his domestic agenda has instead become a high-stakes balancing act: caught between majority public opposition to deeper involvement, pressure from the left of his own party to take a harder line against both the US and Israel, and relentless pressure from Washington to back the US campaign against Iran. For a new administration eager to set its own agenda, the crisis has already emerged as a severe early political and diplomatic headache that will not fade anytime soon.

  • Trump defends tariffs in hard-hit Michigan as Canada tax hike looms

    Trump defends tariffs in hard-hit Michigan as Canada tax hike looms

    On a high-stakes campaign-focused stop in Michigan, a critical Rust Belt battleground that shifted to Republican control in 2024, former and current U.S. President Donald Trump doubled down on his signature economic agenda, defending the sweeping tariffs that have roiled the state’s dominant automobile manufacturing sector.

    Speaking to workers at a General Motors facility in Milford, Trump framed his so-called “historic” tariff measures as a transformative intervention for American auto manufacturing, arguing that the import levies are pushing multinational companies to shift production facilities back to U.S. soil from overseas locations. “The rule is straightforward: Build your trucks or cars outside the United States and you’ll pay a fee for the right to sell them here and profit,” Trump told the assembled crowd Monday. “Build your plant in Michigan or anywhere else in America and produce the vehicles right here at home, and you’ll face no tariff at all.”

    The White House sought to back up the president’s claims ahead of his appearance, pointing to a $6 million investment in domestic U.S. manufacturing by General Motors, alongside smaller production commitments from other major U.S.-based automakers including Ford, Stellantis and Detroit Diesel as tangible proof of the policies’ success.

    But the reality on the ground in Michigan tells a far more complicated story. The state’s economy is deeply interconnected with neighboring Canada, the United States’ largest trading partner in the auto sector, which has been targeted by a series of escalating Trump administration tariffs. Under current rules, a 25% levy applies to non-U.S. content in Canadian-assembled passenger vehicles and auto parts that do not meet origin requirements under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), with additional tariffs on imported steel that have pushed up production costs for domestic manufacturers across Michigan. Tensions are set to rise further in August, when the administration plans to implement a planned increase to 50% tariffs on a range of Canadian goods, including finished automobiles. Canada has already retaliated with matching 25% tariffs on U.S.-built vehicles and non-compliant auto content, creating a tit-for-tat trade dispute that has disrupted cross-border supply chains.

    Official labor data underscores the growing economic strain on the state. Over the 12-month period ending this past June, Michigan added just 500 net new jobs, a stark contrast to booming growth in other major industrial states like Texas, which added nearly 178,000 jobs over the same window. In May, Michigan’s unemployment rate ticked up to 5.1%, placing it among a small group of just seven U.S. states with unemployment rates at or above 5%. A recent TD Bank analysis also found that vehicle production fell across all three North American nations last year, with Canada recording the steepest drop at 5.4%, prompting major automakers to restructure their cross-border production networks.

    For Michigan communities, the trade friction has been compounded by broader economic headwinds: persistent inflation, soaring gas prices driven by the ongoing conflict in Iran, and slowing consumer demand for new vehicles have all combined to deepen economic anxiety across the state.

    Undeterred by the grim economic data, Trump used his appearance to frame his policies as a long-overdue win for blue-collar auto workers, blaming decades of “globalist” policies from previous Washington administrations for selling out American manufacturing jobs. “Now, at long last, Michigan finally has a president who stands up for Michigan autoworkers,” he said.

    The president’s Michigan visit, which comes as he ramps up rally-style campaign events to boost Republican candidates ahead of November’s midterm elections, coincided with a landmark moment in cross-border infrastructure: the official opening of the new Gordie Howe International Bridge, which connects Detroit and Windsor, the core auto manufacturing hubs of the U.S. and Canada. The first commercial truck carrying auto parts bound for Michigan crossed the bridge just hours before Trump spoke at the GM plant, a symbolic moment that highlights both the deep interconnectedness of the two nations’ auto sectors and the growing trade tensions that threaten that relationship.

  • US mother’s mental health was getting ‘worse and worse’ before her children’s murders, ex-husband says

    US mother’s mental health was getting ‘worse and worse’ before her children’s murders, ex-husband says

    The closely watched murder trial of Lindsay Clancy, a Massachusetts woman accused of killing her three young children in January 2023, has begun with starkly conflicting narratives about her mental state in the months leading up to the tragedy. The case, which is scheduled to unfold over several weeks, has already sparked debate over mental health care access and postpartum complications, after Clancy’s legal team launched an insanity defense centered on claims of severe psychosis.

    Clancy, 32, faces three counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of 5-year-old Cora, 3-year-old Dawson, and 8-month-old Callan. She has pleaded not guilty to the charges, and does not dispute that she caused the children’s deaths, but argues she was not criminally responsible due to her mental condition at the time. If convicted, she will be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

    The first witness called to the stand was Patrick Clancy, Clancy’s ex-husband, who delivered emotional testimony about his wife’s gradual mental decline in the months before the killings. Patrick told jurors that Clancy had long struggled with anxiety and depression, and had intermittently sought treatment from medical providers while taking multiple psychiatric medications. He recalled that Clancy had shared growing suicidal thoughts with him, and that her condition steadily deteriorated despite efforts to adjust her care, including switching to a new psychiatrist when her original treatment failed to improve her symptoms.

    By December 2022, one month before the children’s deaths, Patrick said Clancy’s mental health entered a severe downward spiral. “She started to lose a lot of weight, and she became very depressed, and she was having a really hard time,” he testified, adding that watching her struggle was an incredibly stressful experience. “She kept getting worse and worse.”

    Prosecutors have rejected the defense’s framing of the tragedy, arguing that Clancy made a deliberate, calculated choice to kill her children and was fully aware of her actions when she carried out the attack. In opening remarks, Assistant District Attorney Shanan Buckingham told the 12-member jury that Clancy acted “intentionally, rationally, and swiftly to accomplish a very specific goal – to kill.” “She is criminally responsible for the murders, because the evidence will prove to you that she knew exactly what she was doing,” Buckingham said, prompting a visible emotional reaction from Clancy, who shook and cried in the courtroom as the prosecution described her children.

    The defense has pushed back aggressively against the prosecution’s narrative, painting Clancy as a loving, involved mother who had no motive to harm her children, and whose breakdown was the result of untreated severe postpartum psychosis – a rare, life-threatening emergency that impacts approximately 1 in 1,000 new mothers after childbirth, according to the UK National Health Service. Symptoms of the condition include delusions, hallucinations, extreme mood swings, and cognitive confusion, and Clancy’s legal team argues that she was completely overcome by psychosis at the time of the killings.

    “This is a woman that did not get the medication, did not get the medical treatment, that she so deserved,” defense attorney Kevin Reddington told the jury. While prosecutors asked jurors not to frame the trial as a broader debate on women’s mental health care, Reddington pushed back on that framing, telling the court “It sure as hell is,” arguing that the core question of the trial is what was happening in Clancy’s mind at the time of the deaths. In opening arguments, the defense displayed graphic evidence of Clancy’s subsequent suicide attempt, including photos of her self-inflicted wounds, the weapon she used, and images of her intubated in a hospital bed after the attack.

    Over the coming weeks, both sides will call a wide range of witnesses, including law enforcement officers, first responders, family members, friends, and psychiatric experts, to build their cases for the jury. The case has already drawn widespread attention for its disturbing details, and for its focus on gaps in mental health care for postpartum people, a leading public health advocacy topic across the United States.

    A public warning accompanies all coverage of the case: this story includes distressing details of violence, child death and suicide. Anyone experiencing suicidal thoughts or mental distress is encouraged to reach out to a local medical provider or a global support organization such as Befrienders Worldwide, which maintains a directory of support services across the world at www.befrienders.org.

  • China asks US to remove unilateral tariffs

    China asks US to remove unilateral tariffs

    In a formal statement released Monday, China’s Ministry of Commerce has called on the United States to immediately withdraw all unilateral tariff measures targeting Chinese goods, following Washington’s recent implementation of a new 12.5 percent additional tariff under Section 301 of the 1974 U.S. Trade Act.

    A ministry spokesperson emphasized that the U.S. move, framed under the false pretext of addressing so-called “forced labor”, represents a textbook example of unilateral protectionist trade policy that Beijing firmly rejects. The spokesperson pushed back against Washington’s politicized claims, noting that China has long maintained a comprehensive, robust legal framework regulating labor practices and has enacted strict enforcement measures to prevent and crack down on forced labor globally. In contrast, the spokesperson pointed out that the U.S. has never ratified the 1930 International Labour Organization’s Forced Labour Convention, and has a long track record of politically manipulating the forced labor issue for geopolitical and trade gains.

    The spokesperson further clarified that Washington introduced the new Section 301 tariffs to replace two earlier sets of duties that were invalidated by the U.S. Supreme Court: tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, and a separate import surcharge enacted under Section 122 of U.S. trade law. During previous rounds of China-U.S. economic and trade consultations, U.S. negotiators explicitly made a binding commitment that any replacement tariffs placed on Chinese goods would not exceed a 20 percent rate, a threshold the new 12.5 percent tariff currently falls under.

    Despite this, Beijing’s existing countermeasures in response to the U.S.’s earlier rounds of tariffs over fentanyl policy and reciprocal trade measures remain fully in effect, the spokesperson confirmed. The ministry added that Chinese trade authorities will continue to closely monitor any further trade actions from the U.S., conduct full impact assessments, and retain all legal rights to implement additional necessary countermeasures if Washington escalates trade tensions.

    “China urges the U.S. to correct its erroneous practices and revoke all relevant unilateral tariff measures,” the spokesperson said, adding that Beijing remains open to continued dialogue and consultation with Washington on bilateral trade issues, so long as discussions are rooted in the principles of mutual respect, equality, and shared benefit. China also called on the U.S. to work alongside Beijing to uphold the consensuses already reached during previous trade talks, resolve outstanding disagreements, expand the scope of mutually beneficial cooperation, and lay the groundwork for a constructive China-U.S. relationship defined by long-term strategic stability.

  • ‘Almost certain’: Key figure every Aussie household should watch

    ‘Almost certain’: Key figure every Aussie household should watch

    Australian mortgage holders already grappling with elevated borrowing costs are bracing for fresh financial pressure, with top economists warning that stronger-than-expected inflation data due Wednesday could trigger another Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) interest rate increase as early as August. The warning comes as spillover effects from the US-Iran conflict continue to ripple through global supply chains and domestic price pressures, complicating the central bank’s long-running fight to bring runaway inflation back to target.

  • Wildfires ‘stark reminder’ of extreme climate challenge, says William

    Wildfires ‘stark reminder’ of extreme climate challenge, says William

    As ferocious wildfires scorch large swathes of Western Europe and the United Kingdom, and a new intense heatwave builds on the horizon, Prince William, the Prince of Wales, has highlighted that these ongoing disasters are a clear wake-up call for the growing threat of climate-driven extreme weather.

    Across France and Spain, the wildfire crisis has already forced more than 300,000 residents to evacuate their homes as blazes continue to spread unchecked. Spain has recorded its most destructive wildfires in the Madrid region’s modern history, while France is facing its worst fire season in 20 years.

    In the UK, the scale of the crisis is already significant. A full major incident was declared over the weekend for an out-of-control wildfire burning across the Cairngorms in Scotland, while dozens of smaller blazes have ignited across the nation. In north Wales, a major wildfire burning across the Rhinogydd mountains produced plumes of smoke thick enough to be detected from satellite imagery, and two people had to be rescued after they put themselves at risk to capture drone footage of the blaze. On the Isle of Wight, a single fire, believed to have been sparked by an unattended campfire, burned an area equivalent to nearly 13 standard football pitches over five days. Over the weekend alone, London Fire Brigade responded to more than 1,300 fire-related incidents, including hundreds of grass and property fires, alongside rescue operations. The UK’s Met Office has warned that hot, parched conditions across southeast England, eastern England and London could lead to catastrophic wildfire outbreaks by Wednesday, and has issued amber heat health alerts for most of eastern England as a fourth annual heatwave approaches the region. Provisional temperature data shows July 2026 is already running 3°C above the long-term average across the UK, putting it on track to become one of the hottest Julys ever recorded.

    In a public post on the social platform X, Prince William shared his solidarity with communities impacted by the blazes. “Our thoughts are with everyone affected by the devastating wildfires across France, Spain and the UK,” he wrote. “We are deeply grateful to the firefighters, emergency services and volunteers working tirelessly in extraordinarily difficult conditions. These events are a stark reminder of the challenges posed by an increasingly extreme climate and the importance of protecting both people and nature.”

    Long-term climate data confirms the urgency of this warning. Europe is warming at twice the average global rate, according to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service, making it the fastest-warming continent on Earth. This rapid warming has directly fueled a sharp rise in the frequency and intensity of summer heatwaves, strained regional water supplies, and created far more dangerous conditions for devastating wildfires to ignify and spread. London Fire Brigade has issued a public appeal for people to avoid using disposable barbecues in dry open areas, properly dispose of cigarette waste, and take litter home rather than leaving it in natural areas to reduce the risk of accidental wildfire ignition.

    Prince William has continued the decades-long environmental advocacy work of his father, King Charles III. In 2020, he launched the Earthshot Prize, a 10-year global initiative that awards £1 million in funding annually to five innovators developing scalable solutions to climate and environmental challenges facing the planet.

  • ‘Do the right thing’: Savannah Guthrie makes another plea to mom’s kidnappers

    ‘Do the right thing’: Savannah Guthrie makes another plea to mom’s kidnappers

    Six months have passed since 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie vanished from her Tucson-area home against her will, and her daughter – prominent US television host Savannah Guthrie – has issued a urgent new emotional appeal directly to the people responsible for her abduction, begging for information that could lead to Nancy’s recovery.

    In a video posted to social media this week, Guthrie laid bare the unending pain her family has endured since Nancy’s disappearance in late January. “It has been months since our mom was taken from us,” Guthrie said in the video address. “Our family is in agony. We are trapped in a nightmare that will not end. Nothing about our situation has changed. We have done everything in our power to find her, and we will never stop looking. We will always ache for her and carry that empty hole in our hearts forever.”

    Looking directly at the camera, she issued a plea to anyone holding information about her mother’s location: “I’m asking you, begging you, to do the right thing now. Help us find her – tell us where to look for her. Help us bring this suffering to an end. For all of us, no matter where we’ve been and what we’ve done, I believe there is always a chance to make things right. Please make the right choice.”

    Investigators with the Pima County Sheriff’s Department and the FBI have been working the high-profile case for six months, but the investigation has hit a dead end with no suspects arrested and no clear publicly disclosed motive for the abduction. Nancy, who requires daily prescription medication, was dropped off at her home by relatives on the evening of January 31. When she failed to arrive at a friend’s home the next morning to join a virtual church service, family members raised the alarm.

    Authorities previously released surveillance images of an armed, masked suspect who was captured disabling the front door security camera at Nancy’s home shortly before she disappeared. Multiple ransom notes have been sent to the family and leaked to news outlets, two of which law enforcement have deemed credible. The first, sent the day after Nancy’s disappearance, demanded a multi-million dollar ransom paid in Bitcoin for her safe release – it included specific, accurate details about the layout of her home, her bedroom and the surrounding property, according to law enforcement statements to CBS. A second credible note sent days later claimed the 84-year-old had already died. Savannah Guthrie has previously acknowledged that some other ransom communications were confirmed to be hoaxes, and has gone on public record saying she accepts her mother may no longer be alive.

    Law enforcement requested that media outlets delay publishing details of the ransom notes during the early stages of the investigation, a request that major US outlets including CBS honored. The Pima County Sheriff’s Department has declined to publicly confirm the contents of the notes, but confirmed in a statement that the investigation “remains active and ongoing” more than half a year after Nancy was taken.

  • HIV progress in ‘real danger’ as global funding plummets

    HIV progress in ‘real danger’ as global funding plummets

    As the 26th International AIDS Conference opens in Rio de Janeiro, global public health leaders are sounding an urgent alarm: decades of progress in the fight against HIV are now at serious risk, driven by a dramatic, unprecedented collapse in international donor funding that began after the Trump administration returned to power in the U.S. and was followed by sweeping cuts from major European nations.

    Beatrice Grinsztejn, president of the International AIDS Society, opened the gathering by highlighting the severity of the crisis, noting that donor funding has never contracted as far or as quickly as it did in 2025, with the world’s most vulnerable communities already bearing the cost of these cuts. “This conference comes at a moment of real danger for the global battle against HIV,” Grinsztejn said.

    The paradox at the heart of the current crisis is hard to overstate: scientific advances have never been more promising, turning what was once a universally fatal diagnosis into a manageable chronic condition for millions of people around the world. UNAIDS chief Winnie Byanyima emphasized that ending AIDS as a public health threat is no longer held back by a lack of scientific progress — researchers have already delivered the tools needed to turn the tide. Instead, the barrier is political failure and deep systemic inequality.

    “We are living through one of the most exciting moments in the history of HIV science,” Byanyima explained, pointing to new prevention medications that offer effectiveness on par with many vaccines. But even with these game-changing tools available, millions of people at risk still cannot access them. “When prevention disappears, infections rise. When treatment is interrupted, people die. We know exactly how this story ends if we fail to act now,” she warned.

    New data released by UNAIDS at the conference lays bare the scale of the funding collapse. In 2025 alone, international HIV financing directed to developing nations dropped by 18%. Since 2011, total HIV funding from European donor countries has plummeted by 58%, a decline that has shifted the bulk of the global funding burden to the United States. Even with the Trump administration’s deep cuts last year, the U.S. still accounts for 74% of all donor government funding for HIV programs worldwide.

    Against this backdrop of shrinking international support, low- and middle-income countries hardest hit by HIV — most of them in sub-Saharan Africa — have stepped up their own domestic investments. Domestic funding for HIV responses rose by 4% in 2025, and now makes up nearly 60% of total global spending on HIV. But Byanyima cautioned that this increase still amounts to “a drop in the ocean” compared to the total resources needed to meet global targets. For many low-income African nations, up to 90% of their HIV response still relies on international aid, leaving them extremely vulnerable to donor cuts.

    Experts note that the full impact of the 2025 funding cuts will not be visible for some time, but early warning signs are already emerging. While global new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths dropped to their lowest levels in over 30 years in 2025, new infections have already started rising in 21 countries. The world remains far off track from meeting its 2030 goal of ending AIDS as a public health threat: the report found that nearly half of all children living with HIV still do not have access to life-saving antiretroviral treatment, falling short of the target to reach 20 million people on treatment.

    The conference is also shining a light on ongoing efforts to expand access to breakthrough new HIV medications, with public health advocates and global health bodies pushing major pharmaceutical companies to lower prices and expand generic manufacturing access. Ahead of the Rio conference, U.S. pharma giant Merck announced a landmark plan to permit generic manufacturers in Africa and India to produce cheaper versions of its once-monthly antiretroviral pill alimatravir, which is still awaiting final regulatory approval.

    But activists are calling for more action from other drug makers. Last week, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) issued a public call to U.S. pharmaceutical firm Gilead Sciences to expand access to lenacapavir, a long-acting preventative HIV drug that has been hailed as a game-changer because it only requires two injections per year. MSF pointed out that several countries where lenacapavir clinical trials were conducted — including Brazil, Argentina, Mexico and Peru — are currently excluded from existing agreements that allow generic production of the drug. Independent research shows lenacapavir can be manufactured for just $40 per patient per year, but in the U.S., the drug costs up to $28,000 annually per patient, a price tag that puts it out of reach for nearly all low-income nations.