Global Pulse

作者： admin

  • Canada’s Mark Carney speaks with Artemis II crew on Earth

    Canada’s Mark Carney speaks with Artemis II crew on Earth

    In a high-profile gathering held in Canada’s capital city of Ottawa, Prime Minister Mark Carney has convened a face-to-face meeting with the entire crew of NASA’s Artemis II mission, including Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen. The meeting marks a notable moment of recognition for the upcoming landmark lunar mission, which stands as one of the most ambitious human spaceflight endeavors in decades.

    During the discussion, Carney engaged directly with the crew members, exchanging insights on the mission’s objectives, the role of Canadian expertise in the project, and the broader inspiration the mission aims to deliver to communities across the country. As a participating partner in the Artemis program, Canada’s contribution to the mission, led in part by Hansen, underscores the nation’s growing footprint in international space collaboration. The session in Ottawa gave the prime minister an opportunity to acknowledge the years of training and preparation the crew has completed ahead of their scheduled voyage around the moon, and to highlight how the mission will advance scientific understanding and encourage the next generation of Canadian scientists, engineers, and explorers.

  • US Senate backs Trump on Iran war despite deadline lapse

    US Senate backs Trump on Iran war despite deadline lapse

    In a high-stakes vote that exposed deep partisan divides over congressional authority and America’s ongoing military engagement in Iran, U.S. senators on Wednesday narrowly blocked a Democratic-led bid to curtail President Donald Trump’s ability to wage unapproved war against Iran. This marked the first congressional vote on the conflict since a 60-day statutory deadline for the White House to secure formal congressional authorization expired.

    The resolution, spearheaded by Oregon Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley, represented the seventh failed Democratic effort to rein in Trump’s war powers since the Iran conflict launched more than 10 weeks earlier. The final vote tally came down to a razor-thin 50-49 margin, with the resolution falling just one vote short of passage.

    Democrats argue that under the 1973 War Powers Act, passed in the wake of the Vietnam War to reassert congressional control over military deployment, the Trump administration was required to win formal legislative approval for ongoing strikes against Iran by May 1. The timeline was triggered when Trump notified Congress of the initial Iranian strikes back in early March. By their reading, the president is now openly operating in violation of federal law.

    The White House has pushed back against this interpretation, claiming the 60-day clock was paused when a ceasefire was announced more than a month ago. Speaking to reporters after the vote, Merkley suggested many Republican senators held misgivings about the ongoing conflict but feared political backlash from aligning against the sitting president. “I think many of our colleagues are uncomfortable with where they stand, but they’re also uncomfortable with being on the wrong side of Trump,” Merkley said.

    The ongoing legal and partisan standoff has emerged as the most high-profile test of congressional war-making authority in the half-century since the War Powers Act became law. The conflict is now in its 75th day, with mounting military costs and growing bipartisan concern over the strain the deployment has placed on overall U.S. military readiness. Before the vote, even Merkley acknowledged that the administration’s decision to pause the clock had muddied the political and legal waters for swing voters.

    Despite the resolution’s defeat, Democrats have drawn encouragement from the slow but steady rise in Republican lawmakers breaking ranks with the president to support the measure. Three Senate Republicans crossed the aisle to back the resolution, one more defector than appeared in the previous April vote, shrinking the president’s winning margin to the narrowest possible outcome.

    Democratic Senator Tim Kaine, a longtime advocate for reining in unauthorized war powers, told reporters that Democrats would not abandon the fight. “They’ll have another chance to vote next week, and the week after that,” Kaine said, vowing to keep pressure on Republican lawmakers to defend their positions on the conflict. “We’re going to force this vote every week until the Senate says we shouldn’t be at war. And I do believe that day is coming.”

    Historically, enforcing the War Powers Act has proven extraordinarily difficult, as federal courts have generally been reluctant to intervene in inter-branch disputes over military policy. Even if the resolution eventually secures passage in the Senate, it still faces substantial obstacles in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, and would almost certainly face an immediate veto from President Trump.

  • YouTuber Tyler Oliveira deported from Israel over ‘antisemitic content’

    YouTuber Tyler Oliveira deported from Israel over ‘antisemitic content’

    A prominent right-wing American YouTube creator has been barred from Israel and expelled back to the United States amid formal accusations of spreading antisemitic content, according to a public statement the influencer posted to the social platform X on Tuesday.

    In his announcement, Oliveira shared an image of the official deportation document issued to him by Israeli border authorities, which formally cites “prevention of illegal immigration” as the legal basis for his expulsion from the country. But Israeli officials have openly cited another motivation for the move: Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli confirmed in an interview with Israeli outlet Channel 14 that the expulsion was a direct response to the hate speech Oliveira amplified in his online videos.

    “The party is over. Whoever comes here with the goal of sowing hatred can go back where they came from,” Chikli stated in the interview. “The rule is clear, whoever incites against us simply won’t be here.”

    Oliveira has built a large online following through a gonzo, on-the-ground style of independent journalism that centers largely on conservative and right-wing political issues, with a heavy focus on global and domestic immigration policy. His recent work has included on-the-ground investigations into alleged fraud claims involving Somali diaspora communities in Minnesota, as well as reporting he claims exposes widespread abuse of U.S. visa rules by Indian migrant workers. He also went viral in global conservative circles for a video covering a traditional cow dung-throwing festival in a rural Indian village, a segment that ultimately earned him fierce pushback from India’s domestic far-right movement.

    While much of Oliveira’s early content earned him praise among segments of the American right, multiple videos he published focusing on Jewish communities in New York and New Jersey later sparked widespread condemnation from Jewish advocacy groups, who accused the creator of using coded language to spread antisemitic rhetoric. In the contested videos, Oliveira publicly criticized the high birth rates of Orthodox Jewish communities, repeating conspiracy claims that Orthodox Jews exploit local public resources and intentionally segregate themselves from broader society.

    Oliveira has forcefully rejected claims that his coverage amounts to unfair targeting of Jewish communities, noting that he has published investigative content focused on a wide range of religious and demographic groups across the globe. Just last weekend, the creator appeared on a popular podcast hosted by veteran conservative commentator Tucker Carlson, where he pushed back against his critics by highlighting what he frames as hypocrisy in the accusations against him. During the interview, Oliveira also claimed that a number of Israeli residents had reached out to him privately to voice support for his criticism of Orthodox Jewish communities in the country.

    This report was originally published by Middle East Eye, a media outlet that provides independent, on-the-ground coverage of the Middle East, North Africa and surrounding regions.

  • US and China seek to repair damage from tariff war that sent trade into a freefall

    US and China seek to repair damage from tariff war that sent trade into a freefall

    After a year of heightened 2025 trade conflict that laid bare the deep mutual economic vulnerability of the world’s two largest economies, U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are convening in Beijing for a high-stakes summit aimed at patching over some of the most costly damage from a decade of escalating trade tensions. A 10-year standoff between Washington and Beijing has gutted the once-booming bilateral trade that defined the early 21st century, forcing companies across both nations to restructure global supply chains, seek alternative markets, and adapt to a new era of fractured commercial ties. Many U.S. corporations have relocated manufacturing capacity out of mainland China to lower-wage markets such as Vietnam and India, while Chinese exporters have scrambled to cultivate new consumer bases across Europe and Southeast Asia to offset lost American sales. Yet despite years of decoupling efforts, both sides are increasingly acknowledging that complete economic separation is unfeasible. Former U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who served in Trump’s first administration, noted: “The idea of somehow China being totally independent of us and us being totally independent of China, I think, is a fiction.”

    This week’s leadership summit is focused on stabilizing the bilateral economic relationship, with observers not expecting sweeping, transformative policy announcements. The most widely anticipated outcome is an extension of the temporary trade truce reached between the two powers last October. Additional expected measures include a Chinese pledge to increase purchases of U.S. agricultural goods including soybeans and beef, as well as new orders for American-built Boeing commercial aircraft. U.S. officials have also previewed plans to establish a new bilateral Board of Trade to manage ongoing commercial disputes.

    Stakeholders on both sides are watching the talks closely. For American farmers, who were locked out of the Chinese soybean market for most of 2025, and U.S. manufacturers dependent on Chinese rare earth minerals for products ranging from consumer smartphones to military fighter jets, even modest progress would bring significant relief. On the Chinese side, factory owners are hoping the summit will unlock incremental improvements to commercial ties, even if a return to the record trade volumes of 15 years ago remains out of reach. Michael Lu, founder and chief executive of Dongguan-based gift box manufacturer Brothersbox, noted that the U.S. long served as a far more stable market than many emerging alternative outlets, making even partial easing of tensions a welcome shift.

    ### The Collapse of Once-Thriving Bilateral Trade
    Before Trump first imposed sweeping tariffs on Chinese imports in 2018, the average U.S. duty on Chinese goods stood at just 3.1%, according to data from Chad Bown of the Peterson Institute for International Economics. Even after pulling back from the triple-digit peak tariffs hit briefly in 2025, average U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods still remain near 48% today. In 2016, China was the United States’ largest single trading partner, with bilateral trade accounting for more than 13% of total U.S. global commerce. By 2025, that share had been cut in half to just 6.4%, pushing China behind neighboring trade partners Mexico and Canada to drop to third place.

    The pre-2018 U.S.-China trade boom was long marked by a massive structural imbalance, with China exporting far more to the U.S. than it imported in return. The U.S. bilateral goods and services trade deficit with China peaked at $377 billion in 2018, but fell to $168 billion last year — the lowest level recorded since 2004. Even as its exports to the U.S. declined, however, China expanded sales to other global markets, particularly Southeast Asia and Europe, allowing the country to post a record annual global trade surplus of $1.2 trillion in 2025.

    ### Chinese Firms Adapt With Creative Workarounds
    Many trade analysts note that official U.S. government data likely overstates the actual decline in Chinese goods reaching the American market. To avoid steep U.S. tariffs, a large number of Chinese manufacturers have shifted final assembly operations to Southeast Asian nations including Vietnam and Thailand, then transship finished products to the U.S. under those countries’ tariff quotas. The Trump administration has pledged to crack down on this practice, which it labels tariff evasion. As Chinese exports to the U.S. dropped in 2025, U.S. imports from Southeast Asia surged: rising 42% from Vietnam, 44% from Thailand, and 24% from Indonesia. Zongyuan Zoe Liu, senior fellow for China studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, argued: “It would be wrong to think that China is no longer relevant for the U.S. market. Chinese goods are still coming into the U.S.”

    Velong Enterprises, a Guangdong-founded manufacturer of kitchen gadgets and grilling tools that supplies Walmart and other major U.S. retailers, began diversifying its supply chain shortly after Trump’s first term began, adding new production capacity in Cambodia and India to serve American customers. “Most serious manufacturers did not simply ‘leave China,’” said Velong founder and CEO Jacob Rothman. “Instead, they built multi-country supply chains centered on China.”

    ### Small U.S. Businesses Bear the Brunt of Erratic Tariff Policy
    The prolonged trade war has hit small and medium-sized U.S. businesses particularly hard, due to volatile, unpredictable tariff adjustments that make long-term cost planning nearly impossible. Appu Jacob Varghese, owner of Zion Foodtrucks, a small food truck manufacturer based outside Colorado Springs, relies on imported Chinese equipment for the custom vehicles he builds. “Last year, a lot of my hair turned white,” Varghese said. His business was upended by erratic tariff changes that shifted week to week, at one point spiking to 145% on key Chinese components. Because Zion Foodtrucks signs fixed-price contracts with customers and delivers new vehicles within six weeks, Varghese was unable to pass sudden cost increases on to buyers, forcing him to absorb hundreds of thousands of dollars in unexpected expenses. He has since shifted half of his cooking equipment sourcing to Vietnam and Thailand, and fire-suppression gear to U.S. and Israeli suppliers. While he speaks highly of his former Chinese suppliers, he says he will never return to heavy dependence on them: “Given the testy relations between Washington and Beijing, it’s too risky.”

    ### A Broad Shift in Sourcing Strategies
    Large U.S. multinationals have also joined the push to reduce reliance on Chinese manufacturing. Apple has shifted a portion of its iPhone production to India, while athletic apparel giant Nike has expanded manufacturing capacity across Vietnam. Sarah Tan, a Singapore-based economist covering China for Moody’s Analytics, explained: “Trade tensions can flare up quite quickly, and that makes the U.S. firms hesitant to rely too heavily on Chinese supply.” InStyler, a Los Angeles-based hair appliance manufacturer that once sourced all of its products from China, is moving some high-end production to South Korea and France, with plans to add capacity in Italy, Vietnam and Mexico. While CEO Dan Fugardi said the shift is partially driven by demand for European-made cachet among luxury hotel clients, reducing Chinese dependence “doubles as an insurance plan so that we’re not caught with our pants down” if tensions escalate again.

    ### Tit-for-Tat Escalation Goes Beyond Traditional Tariffs
    The trade standoff has long expanded beyond traditional import taxes, escalating into targeted measures targeting key strategic sectors on both sides. The U.S. has blocked exports of cutting-edge advanced semiconductors to Chinese firms, while China has retaliated by periodically cutting off exports of rare earth minerals critical to electronics manufacturing. Last year, Beijing also restricted exports of tungsten, a high-strength metal used in defense, aerospace, and medical device manufacturing — a sector where China controls roughly 80% of global supply. China also halted all purchases of U.S. soybeans for most of 2025, a deliberate blow to Trump’s political base in rural America. Even after purchases resumed following October trade talks, U.S. soybean exports to China fell 75% for the full year.

    The years of escalating conflict have made clear just how much damage each power can inflict on the other. Now, leaders on both sides are hoping the Beijing summit will de-escalate tensions and lay the groundwork for a more stable commercial framework. “We are the No. 1 trading player. They are next in line,” Ross said. “We have to coexist in some way. The question is, what will be the rules of the road, and who will benefit the most from those rules.”

  • What to know about the corruption probe involving Zelenskyy’s ex-chief of staff

    What to know about the corruption probe involving Zelenskyy’s ex-chief of staff

    KYIV, Ukraine – Two of Ukraine’s leading anti-corruption oversight bodies have named Andrii Yermak, former chief of staff to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and once one of the most powerful figures in the country’s wartime leadership, as an official suspect in a high-stake graft investigation that has already shaken the Zelenskyy administration to its core.

    The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office confirmed that Yermak is formally suspected of participating in an alleged $10.5 million (460 million hryvnia) money-laundering conspiracy, while explicitly clearing President Zelenskyy of any connection to the case. No formal charges have been filed against Yermak, who stepped down from his post in November 2025 amid a wave of public outcry that marks the most significant challenge to Zelenskyy’s government since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022. Prior to his resignation, Yermak served as Ukraine’s lead negotiator in diplomatic talks with the United States.

    Yermak has long been one of Ukraine’s most divisive political figures. His professional relationship with Zelenskyy stretches back more than 15 years, when he was a practicing lawyer expanding into television production, and Zelenskyy was a household name as a comedian and actor. He joined Zelenskyy’s first presidential team as a foreign affairs lead before being promoted to chief of staff in February 2020. In that role, he became the country’s de facto second-most powerful public official, acting as the primary gatekeeper for access to the president and widely credited with handpicking most top government appointments, including prime ministers and cabinet ministers. Zelenskyy placed immense trust in Yermak, bringing him along on every international trip following the 2022 Russian invasion. When the corruption scandal first emerged in late 2025, Zelenskyy initially resisted widespread public pressure to remove Yermak from his post. During his tenure, Yermak also oversaw high-stakes diplomacy with Western partners and drafted potential ceasefire frameworks with Russia.

    The allegations against Yermak center on a luxury construction project located outside Kyiv. Anti-corruption investigators claim the project was used as a front to launder funds through a sprawling network of shell companies, with Yermak and a group of associates allegedly planning to build four private luxury mansions and accompanying high-end amenities. Yermak’s legal team has dismissed the suspicion notice as entirely baseless and denied any involvement in the scheme. During the first court hearing held on Tuesday, Yermak reiterated his innocence, telling the court he only owns one apartment and one passenger vehicle. The judicial proceedings are set to continue through this week.

    The case is part of a much broader corruption investigation that was first made public last year, a sprawling $100 million kickback scheme that has already ensnared multiple senior officials and close associates of Zelenskyy. The public revelation of the scheme last November directly forced Yermak’s exit from the presidential administration. Investigators have laid out claims that high-ranking officials pressured private construction contractors to pay kickbacks of up to 15% to secure public contracts with Energoatom, Ukraine’s state-owned national nuclear energy operator. The probe has included more than 1,000 hours of wiretapped conversations, with targets using coded code names to discuss the scheme. After the details of the scheme became public, Ukraine’s parliament approved President Zelenskyy’s request to dismiss both the country’s energy and justice ministers. The presidential administration also imposed sanctions on several close associates linked to the scheme, including Tymur Mindich, a business partner in the media production company that Zelenskyy co-owned before entering politics. Mindich has reportedly fled Ukraine to avoid prosecution. Prosecutors have not yet confirmed whether any of the funds Yermak is accused of laundering originated from the Energoatom kickback scheme.

    While Zelenskyy is not a suspect in the case, the formal implication of his former closest advisor and right-hand man has cast a growing shadow over the Ukrainian president’s credibility. Endemic systemic corruption remains one of the primary hurdles blocking Ukraine’s path to European Union membership, a top policy priority for Zelenskyy alongside maintaining critical Western military and financial support for the war against Russian invasion. The probe has also drawn in sitting senior officials involved in ongoing peace negotiations mediated by the United States. Rustem Umerov, head of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council and a key figure in U.S.-led diplomatic efforts, has already been questioned as part of the investigation.

    Zelenskyy’s presidential term officially expired in May 2024, but he has continued to lead the country without holding new national elections, arguing that voting is impossible while Russian forces occupy roughly one-fifth of Ukraine’s sovereign territory. Political critics and anti-corruption activists alike note that cleaning up graft is critical to maintaining trust with Western allies, whose ongoing support is indispensable to Ukraine’s war effort and any future negotiated end to the conflict.

  • Court overturns Alex Murdaugh’s murder convictions and orders new trial

    Court overturns Alex Murdaugh’s murder convictions and orders new trial

    In a landmark unanimous ruling that has sent shockwaves through the U.S. legal system, South Carolina’s highest court has thrown out the high-profile 2023 murder convictions of disgraced former attorney Alex Murdaugh, and has ordered a complete new trial for the 2021 killings of his wife and son. The 5-0 decision issued Wednesday centers on widespread jury tampering by the local court clerk who oversaw the original trial, finding that Murdaugh was denied his fundamental constitutional right to a fair trial before an impartial jury.

    Murdaugh, 56, once a powerful member of a prominent South Carolina legal dynasty, has been serving two consecutive life sentences for the shooting deaths of Maggie Murdaugh, his wife, and Paul Murdaugh, his son, who were killed at close range near the family’s rural hunting property dog kennels in June 2021. Separate from the murder convictions, he is also serving additional 27-year and 40-year sentences for a sprawling string of state and federal financial crimes, including years of stealing millions from his law firm and clients to fund an opioid addiction and lavish lifestyle. The state supreme court did not challenge the financial crime convictions in this ruling.

    The case, which drew global public attention due to Murdaugh’s once elite social standing and the salacious details of the alleged double murder and corruption, has spawned multiple documentaries, popular podcasts and published books, with the original murder trial even broadcast live on national television.

    In their written opinion, the justices laid out a damning account of misconduct by Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca Hill, who they found actively undermined the integrity of the judicial process by improperly influencing the jury. “Both the State and Murdaugh’s defense skillfully presented their cases to the jury as the trial court deftly presided over this complicated and high-profile matter,” the ruling read. “However, their efforts were in vain because Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca Hill placed her fingers on the scales of justice, thereby denying Murdaugh his right to a fair trial by an impartial jury.”

    Hill, who already pleaded guilty to multiple public corruption charges including misconduct in office, obstruction of justice and perjury last December, stands accused of multiple improper interactions with the jury throughout the six-week original trial. Multiple jurors submitted sworn affidavits detailing Hill’s comments that pushed them toward a guilty verdict: one juror noted Hill instructed the panel to “watch [Murdaugh] closely”, a comment that ultimately shaped her guilty vote by implying Murdaugh’s guilt. Murdaugh’s legal team further alleged Hill told jurors not to trust Murdaugh’s own testimony, warned them “not to be fooled” by the defense’s evidence, and urged them to speed up deliberations by saying, “[T]his shouldn’t take us long” when they began discussing the verdict.

    Hill’s unethical behavior extended beyond jury interactions, the court found. Months after the conclusion of the original trial, Hill released a tell-all book titled Behind the Doors of Justice: The Murdaugh Murders that detailed her experience working on the high-profile case. The ruling pulled back the curtain on further misconduct, noting “As her book’s title suggests, it turns out Hill was quite busy behind the doors of justice, thwarting the integrity of the justice system she was sworn to protect and uphold.” The book was ultimately pulled from circulation after it was revealed Hill plagiarized large portions of the work.

    While Hill has denied making most of the improper comments attributed to her by jurors, she admitted to making one comment within earshot of the panel on the day Murdaugh testified: she told the bailiff, within hearing distance, that Murdaugh’s decision to take the stand made it a “big day” for the trial.

    The court also highlighted a second major error in the original trial: while upholding the separate financial crime convictions, justices noted that an excessive amount of evidence related to Murdaugh’s financial fraud was permitted in the murder trial, creating “considerable danger of unfair prejudice” that further skewed the jury’s decision against him. Prosecutors had argued during the original trial that Murdaugh killed his wife and son to cover up his years of financial corruption, a claim Murdaugh has repeatedly denied while maintaining his innocence on all murder charges.

    The ruling marks a dramatic turn in one of the most high-profile legal cases in recent U.S. history, setting the stage for a new murder trial that will once again draw international attention to the downfall of the once-powerful Murdaugh family.

  • Gunshots at Philippine Senate as lawmaker wanted by ICC holds out

    Gunshots at Philippine Senate as lawmaker wanted by ICC holds out

    A chaotic incident unfolded at the Philippine Senate complex late Wednesday, when multiple gunshots rang out as fugitive Senator Ronald Dela Rosa, a former police chief wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) over crimes against humanity allegations linked to his role in Rodrigo Duterte’s deadly drug war, holed up inside the building to avoid arrest.

    According to AFP journalists on the scene, at least five distinct gunshots were heard, forcing senators, staff, and journalists to lock themselves in offices for safety. Television footage captured a visibly shaken crying reporter delivering a live on-air report from inside the locked-down building, while Senator Robin Padilla publicly urged all journalists present to evacuate the premises immediately.

    Interior Secretary Juanito Victor Remulla told reporters that no casualties have been reported, and the operation to identify and locate the shooter remains ongoing. Remulla confirmed Dela Rosa remained secured inside the Senate complex, adding that “he is safe. He is with security personnel. He has been informed of our activities. We have assured him that there is no warrant of arrest to be served.”

    President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. released an immediate public statement denying that any government forces deployed inside or around the Senate compound had fired the shots. He clarified that agents assigned to arrest Dela Rosa had already been ordered to stand down earlier that day, following a Supreme Court directive that required the administration to justify its planned arrest and extradition of the senator to the Netherlands, where the ICC is based.

    “The thing to do now is to tell all our people to calm down and we will get to the bottom of this. We will determine who is behind this trouble,” Marcos said in an address broadcast on state television.

    The incident is the latest escalation of a long-simmering political crisis tied to the Duterte-era drug war. Dela Rosa, widely known by his nickname “Bato”, served as chief of the Philippine National Police from 2016 to 2018, overseeing the opening phase of Duterte’s brutal anti-narcotics crackdown that human rights monitors say left thousands of mostly low-level drug users and small-scale peddlers dead. Duterte himself was arrested by ICC authorities last March and is currently detained in The Hague awaiting trial on related charges.

    Dela Rosa had stayed out of public view since November before making a surprise return this week, casting a critical vote that helped Duterte loyalists seize control of the Senate leadership. Just minutes before the gunshots rang out, Senator Vicente Sotto released a statement reporting that protesters had thrown water bottles at his car as he drove alone out of the Senate complex.

    Earlier that same Wednesday, Dela Rosa made a public appeal to current and former members of the Philippine military and police to oppose his extradition, urging uniformed personnel to resist any move by the Marcos administration to hand him over to the international court. “My fellow men in uniform” should “express their sentiment” that the government “should not hand me over to foreigners”, he said.

    Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano, who blocked government agents from arresting Dela Rosa earlier this week, wrote on his official Facebook page that authorities had no leads on the source of the gunfire. “We heard gunshots and we don’t know what is happening. Everyone’s locked in their rooms now. We cannot go out, we cannot secure our other staff,” he added. “Why are we under attack here?”

    Melvin Matibag, director of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), whose agents attempted to arrest Dela Rosa at the Senate on Monday, denied that any NBI personnel were involved in the shooting. “We were on a stand down,” he told ABS-CBN network in an interview, adding there were no NBI agents inside the Senate building when the gunshots occurred.

  • Why is the Princess of Wales in Italy this week?

    Why is the Princess of Wales in Italy this week?

    After months of focused cancer treatment, the Princess of Wales has marked a highly anticipated return to international public appearances, with her first stop this week drawing enthusiastic crowds across Italy. The milestone visit comes as the British royal steps back into official overseas duties following a period of private treatment and recovery from her cancer diagnosis, a health journey that drew global attention and messages of support earlier this year.

    Members of the public turned out in large numbers along the Princess’s public route in Italy, waving flags, holding handwritten supportive signs, and cheering loudly as she greeted well-wishers. The warm, enthusiastic reception from Italian locals highlighted the widespread public interest in her recovery and the broad affection for the British royal family across continental Europe.

    This trip carries significant symbolic weight for the Princess’s public return: it is her first major overseas engagement since announcing her cancer diagnosis, and it signals her gradual resumption of official royal duties as her treatment progresses. While details of the exact itinerary and the private agenda for her visit have been partially kept from public view to respect her ongoing recovery, the public welcome itself has already made the trip a notable moment in her 2024 public schedule. Royal watchers across the globe have framed the warm Italian welcome as a positive milestone in her recovery journey, with many expressing hope for her continued good health as she eases back into public life.

  • A look at the International Criminal Court, which brought charges against a Philippine senator

    A look at the International Criminal Court, which brought charges against a Philippine senator

    A tense confrontation broke out Wednesday inside the Philippine Senate building in Manila after law enforcement attempted to execute an arrest warrant for a sitting Philippine senator, who faces a murder charge classified as a crime against humanity from the International Criminal Court (ICC). Shots were fired during the operation, leaving the complex locked down in an extended standoff as of Wednesday’s initial reports.

    The clash unfolded just 48 hours after the Netherlands-based global tribunal unsealed an arrest warrant first issued in November for Ronald Marapon dela Rosa, 64, who served as chief of the Philippine national police during the tenure of former president Rodrigo Duterte. Dela Rosa was one of the primary architects of Duterte’s nationwide anti-drug crackdown, a campaign that resulted in the deaths of thousands of mostly low-level drug suspects between 2016 and the present. The warrant accuses dela Rosa of direct responsibility for the murder of at least 32 people between July 2016 and April 2018, the period when he oversaw the national police force.

    In public comments following the unsealing of the warrant, dela Rosa has stated he will vigorously challenge the ICC’s authority and pursue all available legal channels to avoid extradition. The ICC has not yet released an official statement in response to the violent standoff in the Philippine capital.

    This latest development builds on years of legal tension between the Philippines and the ICC. In 2019, the country formally withdrew from the court’s Rome Statute, a move that came after then-ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda announced a preliminary investigation into widespread extrajudicial killings tied to the anti-drug campaign. Current President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who took office in 2022, has not reversed the withdrawal, but his administration has previously stated it would honor Interpol red notices — global requests to locate and temporarily arrest suspects — if the ICC issued one for former officials linked to the drug war. It remains unclear whether a red notice has been officially issued for dela Rosa as of Wednesday.

    Duterte himself was taken into custody last year and transferred to The Hague to face his own charges of crimes against humanity connected to the deadly crackdown, and he remains in detention awaiting trial. Last year, ICC judges rejected a bid from Duterte’s legal team to dismiss the case over the Philippines’ 2019 withdrawal. In their ruling, the judges noted that nations cannot misuse their right to leave the Rome Statute to shield individuals from prosecution for crimes already under active investigation by the court.

    Established in 2002, the ICC was created to hold national leaders and senior public officials accountable for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, acting as a court of last resort that only intervenes when a domestic legal system is unable or unwilling to prosecute alleged perpetrators. The court currently counts 125 member states, but three major global powers — the United States, Russia, and China — have never joined. Ukraine became the newest member of the court in January 2025. The institution employs more than 900 people and operates on a 2025 budget of just over 196 million euros, equal to roughly $229 million.

    Both the U.S. and Russia have openly opposed the ICC’s authority in recent years. During his second term, former U.S. President Donald Trump imposed economic sanctions on ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan, several sitting ICC judges, and Khan’s two deputy prosecutors. Trump has repeatedly accused the court of carrying out “illegitimate and baseless actions” that unfairly target U.S. and Israeli officials. During his first term, Trump also sanctioned Khan’s predecessor, Fatou Bensouda, a move that was later reversed by the Biden administration. For its part, Russia has rejected the court’s jurisdiction and issued its own arrest warrant for Khan and the judge who signed the 2023 warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin over allegations of war crimes in Ukraine. Since the warrant was issued, Putin has traveled to multiple non-member states including China and North Korea, as well as Mongolia, an ICC member state, without facing arrest.

  • EU commissioner warns of potential jet fuel shortage in the long term

    EU commissioner warns of potential jet fuel shortage in the long term

    NICOSIA, Cyprus — The European Union’s top energy official has issued a cautious update on global jet fuel supplies amid escalating geopolitical tensions from the ongoing Iran war, acknowledging that while no immediate scarcity is imminent, the risk of a prolonged shortage remains a distinct possibility.

    Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, EU Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen explained that the trajectory of any potential shortage hinges on two key variables: how the conflict in Iran and related disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz develop, and how commercial airlines adjust their operations in response. Already, several major carriers, including Lufthansa’s German parent company, have cut a substantial number of flights to offset mounting costs.

    The Strait of Hormuz, a critical maritime chokepoint through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s daily oil supply transits, has seen shipping and supply networks thrown into chaos by surrounding fighting, pushing jet fuel prices sharply higher across every major global market. Jørgensen confirmed that a shortage has not yet materialized, but revealed that the European Commission, the EU’s executive branch, will open discussions with member state governments to coordinate potential policy responses, though no concrete measures have been finalized to date.

    Data from the bloc underscores the severity of the current cost shock: since the outbreak of the Iran war, EU countries have paid an extra €35 billion ($41 billion) to secure the same volume of fuel as they used previously. Airlines are disproportionately hit by this volatility, as jet fuel makes up one of the largest single components of their total operating costs, with prices more than doubling in some regional markets since late February.

    The warning from the EU follows a stark assessment from International Energy Agency Director Fatih Birol, who told The Associated Press in an exclusive interview last month that Europe holds only roughly six weeks of commercially available jet fuel stockpiles. Birol also cautioned that widespread flight disruptions could begin “soon” if oil exports remain blocked by war-related disruptions in the Middle East.

    Jørgensen used the current crisis to reinforce the EU’s long-term policy push for decarbonization, arguing that the current disruption is not a broad energy crisis but specifically a crisis rooted in global reliance on fossil fuels. He noted that the bloc has already made significant progress in reducing fossil fuel dependence since the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, diversifying supply sources, boosting energy efficiency, and scaling up renewable energy capacity.

    For his part, Cypriot Energy Minister Michael Damianos — whose country currently holds the EU’s rotating six-month presidency — acknowledged that fossil fuels including natural gas will remain part of the bloc’s energy mix for the foreseeable future, even as the EU reaffirms its binding target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 90% by 2050. Damianos added that new natural gas reserves discovered off Cyprus’ southern coast could begin exporting to European markets as early as late 2027 or early 2028, adding a new supply source to the bloc’s diversified portfolio.

    Jørgensen stressed that the EU remains fully committed to rapid decarbonization, emphasizing that “the climate crisis will not go away” even amid immediate energy security concerns. Looking ahead to a post-conflict future, the commissioner confirmed the EU is already in preliminary discussions with Gulf Cooperation Council nations to rebuild stable energy export flows from the region once a negotiated peace settlement is reached with Iran.

    That outreach aligns with earlier statements from top EU leaders. Last month, European Council President Antonio Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the bloc was prepared to partner with Persian Gulf nations on new energy infrastructure projects that would deliver supplies to global markets without the risk of disruption from war or geopolitical conflict.