Global Pulse

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  • Spain superstar Lamine Yamal declared fit to make his World Cup debut against Cape Verde

    Spain superstar Lamine Yamal declared fit to make his World Cup debut against Cape Verde

    ATLANTA — As Spain prepares to kick off its 2026 World Cup campaign against Cape Verde on Monday, head coach Luis de la Fuente has confirmed that teenage sensation Lamine Yamal has been given full medical clearance to feature in the match, putting to bed recent concerns over the young star’s hamstring injury.

    The 18-year-old, one of the most hyped young talents in global soccer, was forced to sit out the final weeks of his club season with Barcelona after picking up the soft tissue injury. While he will be available for selection, De la Fuente confirmed that Yamal is not expected to get the start in Monday’s tournament opener in Atlanta, with his game time set to be determined by how the match unfolds.

    “Our medical and fitness teams have worked in lockstep with the medical staff at Barcelona to manage Lamine’s recovery every step of the way,” De la Fuente told reporters at a pre-match press conference. “All the signs point to him being fully ready to play tomorrow. We don’t know exactly how many minutes he will get just yet – that will depend on the flow of the game, the situation we find ourselves in – but what we can confirm is he is in ideal condition to take the pitch.”

    Yamal first announced himself to the world as a core part of Spain’s victorious 2024 European Championship run, turning 17 just hours before the tournament’s final. In the two years since that breakout, he has cemented his status as arguably the most exciting emerging talent in European soccer, with widespread pundit and fan expectation that he will eventually succeed Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as the face of global soccer.

    Yamal’s massive global appeal has been on clear display since the Spanish squad arrived in Georgia for the World Cup. A towering billboard advertisement featuring the winger overlooks Mercedes-Benz Stadium – rebranded as Atlanta Stadium for the tournament – where Spain will play its first match. On the day before the opener, dozens of fans gathered outside Spain’s training base at Kennesaw State University to catch a glimpse of the star, with multiple young fans even showing up sporting his signature blonde curly hairstyle.

    For supporters hoping to see Yamal take the pitch, De la Fuente offered a promising update: the teen will be on the match day bench, and is cleared to play minutes if called upon. “Lamine Yamal is fit enough to play some minutes tomorrow, and our entire medical team backs this decision,” the coach said. “If he wasn’t, he wouldn’t even be on the bench.”

    Spain enters this World Cup in a familiar position: the side won its last World Cup title in 2010, when it also entered the tournament as the reigning European champion. Currently ranked as co-favorites alongside defending champions France to lift the trophy, De la Fuente says his squad is keeping a grounded mindset ahead of their first match.

    “Being labeled as co-favorites is just recognition of the work we have put in to get to this point,” he said. “But we are humble. We know how hard it is to win even one match at this tournament, let alone the whole thing.”

    Monday’s opponent, Cape Verde, is making its first ever appearance at a men’s World Cup, and is widely considered the heavy underdog heading into the matchup. But De la Fuente warned against any complacency from his side, noting that underdog upsets are common in major international tournaments.

    “There is no chance we are underestimating Cape Verde,” he said. “They have quality, and they could easily be one of the teams that springs a surprise on a bigger opponent at this World Cup.”

  • Ebola cases in eastern Congo climb to 782 and deaths reach 181, authorities say

    Ebola cases in eastern Congo climb to 782 and deaths reach 181, authorities say

    In a Sunday evening update posted to social platform X, the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Ministry of Health has announced a sharp upward climb in confirmed cases of a rare Ebola outbreak, pushing the total to 782 documented infections and 181 confirmed deaths across the country. While these are the official numbers, public health officials warn the true scale of the epidemic is far larger than recorded. The outbreak was only formally detected on May 15, weeks after the first suspected infections emerged, and critical contact tracing efforts — a core strategy to halt Ebola spread — have dropped to just 56% coverage, a significant decline from rates reported the previous week.

    This latest outbreak differs from most previous Ebola events in Congo in a key way: it is driven by the little-seen Bundibugyo virus, rather than the Zaire strain that caused the nation’s 16 prior outbreaks. Unlike Zaire, Bundibugyo has no globally approved vaccine or targeted treatment available to frontline health teams, limiting intervention options. As of the latest update, 56 infected patients have recovered, putting the current official fatality rate at 23% for the outbreak.

    Nearly all confirmed cases — over 90% — are concentrated in eastern Congo’s volatile Ituri Province, with smaller clusters also detected in the neighboring North Kivu and South Kivu provinces. The virus has already crossed international boundaries, with cases confirmed in neighboring Uganda, raising regional public health alarm.

    A web of long-standing crises has created major barriers to containing the spread, according to United Nations humanitarian officials. Ituri Province already hosts nearly one million people displaced by ongoing armed conflict, and constant population movement as communities flee violence makes tracking transmission chains nearly impossible. The province’s geography adds further obstacles: vast stretches of dense forest, poorly maintained road networks, and remote rural communities that can take multiple days to reach slow response teams.

    Additional challenges come from the region’s large population of artisanal miners, thousands of whom move regularly between remote mineral extraction sites across the area, creating constant unmonitored movement that facilitates virus spread. Compounding these issues, attacks on frontline health workers by angry local residents, widespread misinformation and community skepticism about public health measures, and ongoing active armed conflict in transmission hotspots have all derailed containment efforts.

    The outbreak has already sparked controversy beyond Congo’s borders. Last month, U.S. officials announced plans to construct a dedicated Ebola quarantine facility at Kenya’s Laikipia Air Base, with capacity for 50 beds, to treat Americans exposed to the virus in the region rather than repatriating them to the United States for care. The proposal sparked large public protests across Kenya, and the plan was ultimately halted by a court order.

  • Can Tunisia finally break through at the World Cup?

    Can Tunisia finally break through at the World Cup?

    The old adage holds that consistency paves the way for long-term success, but for Tunisia’s national men’s football team, decades of reliable qualification have turned into a heavy burden of unmet expectation ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

    For nearly 30 years, the Carthage Eagles have outperformed most of their North African and regional rivals in major tournament qualifications. Since 1998, they have booked their spot at twice as many World Cup finals as any neighboring nation, and hold an unmatched continental record: 17 consecutive Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifications dating back to 1994. This streak of steady performance earned them the nickname “the Germans of Africa” among football observers.

    Yet for all their routine qualification success, Tunisia has failed to carve out the iconic, memorable legacy that smaller, less consistent teams from the region have built. Algeria captured global admiration for its deep run at the 2014 World Cup, while Morocco made history by reaching the semi-finals in 2022. Even Saudi Arabia, which has suffered multiple lopsided defeats at World Cup tournaments, boasts one of the biggest upsets in the competition’s history: a 2-1 victory over eventual champion Argentina at the 2022 Qatar World Cup.

    Tunisian fans have long craved a similarly unforgettable milestone, but once-steady hope has gradually shifted to cynicism. Simply reaching the World Cup — a feat that eludes dozens of capable football nations every cycle — is no longer celebrated as an achievement on its own. For a side that has delivered consistent results for decades, fans expect more than just early-round exits, and frustration has grown over the team’s pragmatic, often uninspiring style of play.

    “If this team wins a game, it will never be by more than one goal. Given how they play, the maximum we can hope for is two points from three group stage matches,” veteran Tunisian journalist Maher Mezahi noted, echoing the sentiment of many disappointed supporters. One African football journalist added to Middle East Eye earlier this month: “A young football fan watching the World Cup at home will never pick Tunisia as their second favorite team. They have no breakout star players catching the global eye, and they don’t play attractive, exciting football.”

    It is important to contextualize Tunisia’s achievements, however. The core of the nation’s decades-long consistency has been an unshakable team spirit, a trait that has proven critical in the grueling, physically and mentally draining African qualification cycle. Away matches in African qualifying are notoriously hostile, and success often comes down to a squad’s ability to stay united under extreme pressure. That is a challenge that more star-studded sides have failed to overcome this cycle: both Cameroon and Nigeria, packed with globally recognized talent, missed out on the 2026 World Cup largely due to internal disarray and poor cohesion. Tunisia, by contrast, sealed its qualification without conceding a single goal.

    This unyielding determination has a name among fans and analysts: grinta. Borrowed from Italian, the term is widely used across the Mediterranean to describe courage, grit and unrelenting fighting spirit — qualities that have defined Tunisian football for generations.

    What many local supporters overlook is the steep structural disadvantage Tunisia faces compared to its regional rivals. With a total population of just over 12 million, the nation has a far smaller talent pool than neighbors Morocco (37 million) and Algeria (45 million), both of which also have much larger European diasporas to draw elite talent from. Wealthier rivals like Saudi Arabia and other Gulf nations have far deeper financial resources to invest in football development, while the World Bank classifies Tunisia as a lower-middle-income country.

    Two decades of persistent economic stagnation have forced Tunisian football to operate with tight budget constraints, forcing smart, frugal investment to stay competitive. Top-flight Tunisian clubs rarely offer large contracts to players, and foreign managers have become increasingly rare: as of 2026, only two of the 16 clubs in Tunisia’s top division employ a foreign manager.

    These financial limitations have also pushed clubs to prioritize youth talent development over buying established stars, a strategy that has turned Tunisian football into a respected talent incubator for overlooked players across the African continent. For example, Baghdad Bounedjah, Algeria’s all-time leading men’s international goalscorer, was ignored by clubs in his home country before signing with Tunisian side Etoile du Sahel in 2013. Just one year later, he earned a call-up to the Algerian national team, and moved to Qatari side Al Sadd for a $3.8 million transfer in 2016. In recent years, Tunisia has expanded its talent export market to Europe, with promising young players moving abroad earlier in their careers — a trend born of economic necessity, as government funding for football has declined and revenue from television rights and merchandising remains limited.

    In the wake of Morocco’s historic 2022 World Cup run, Tunisian fans are more eager than ever to see their side reach the World Cup knockout stage for the first time in the nation’s history. Many local analysts hold out cautious optimism for the 2026 tournament. “I am naturally an optimistic person when it comes to our chances,” said the founder of ActuFootTunisie, a leading local outlet covering Tunisian football. “Tunisia is capable of finishing second in the group, but we have to stay realistic. A third-place finish that earns a spot as one of the best third-placed teams is achievable. It would be a first for our country and a fantastic result for us.”

    This year, however, the traditional grit and cohesion of the squad is facing an unprecedented test, after new manager Sabri Lamouchi launched a complete overhaul of the national squad. Only five players from Tunisia’s 2022 World Cup squad retained their spots for 2026, and several senior stars — including former captains Ferjani Sassi, Ali Maaloul and Yassine Meriah — were left off the roster entirely.

    One of the most controversial new additions is Germany-born midfielder Rani Khedira, who previously rejected overtures from the Tunisian Football Federation (FTF), telling German media in 2015, “There was never any thought of playing for Tunisia.” Khedira’s selection over fan favorites Aissa Laidouni and Mohamed Ali Ben Romdhane has angered many supporters. The ActuFootTunisie founder notes that the decision is frustrating, given that other candidates played every minute of the qualifying campaign, and Khedira’s last-minute call-up can come off as opportunistic. “But now that he’s here, he represents our country, he’s Tunisian, so we support him,” he added, noting that the rest of the squad selection is strong. “It’s a good group with lots of young players, unlike previous squads that relied too much on veteran players. This group has real potential.”

    The 2026 squad reflects this youth focus: 12 of the 26 players were born in the 21st century, including teenager Khalil Ayari, who had only been a professional for 18 months before moving from Stade Tunisien to Paris Saint-Germain ahead of the 2025-26 season.

    The squad renewal came after a string of underwhelming results that made clear the old approach was no longer working. Tunisia turned in poor performances at two major tournaments in the lead-up to 2026: at the 2025 FIFA Arab Cup in Qatar, the side opened with a 1-0 loss to Syria, then blew a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2 with Palestine, crashing out in the group stage. The Carthage Eagles did reach the knockout round of the 2025 AFCON a month later, but turned in unconvincing performances and were outclassed by top African sides. After Tunisia’s Round of 16 elimination at the hands of Mali, star midfielder Hannibal Mejbri did not mince words about the state of the nation’s football program.

    “We are behind in our football development, that’s the plain truth — we lag behind in so many areas,” said the Premier League star. “All of the leaders of Tunisian football need to sit down together and ask the hard questions, honestly.”

    The FTF’s response to that call for change came in January 2026, when the body hired Lamouchi, a former French international of Tunisian descent, to lead the national side. The hire was widely seen as an effort to appease fans who had grown frustrated with six straight local managers holding the job since 2018. When Lamouchi was introduced to the press, he promised sweeping change, and the heavily reshuffled 26-man squad delivers on that promise.

    Even with the promised renewal, the squad selection has not been without controversy. A recent investigative report claimed that some of Lamouchi’s selections were forced by FTF executives, who mandated a quota of players from Tunisia’s biggest clubs to secure more FIFA compensation. FIFA pays participating clubs $10,950 per player per day for releasing their players for the World Cup, with total compensation for the 2022 tournament exceeding $209 million globally.

    The claims are a serious black mark for the new FTF leadership, coming on the heels of a major corruption scandal that brought down the federation’s previous regime. Former FTF president Wadie Jary was arrested in 2023, and is currently serving a four-year prison sentence after being convicted of corruption and match-fixing. Many members of the new leadership — including current FTF president Moez Nasri and vice president Hussein Jenayah — were close allies of Jary during his tenure.

    As Tunisia prepares to travel to the 2026 World Cup in North America, questions far outnumber answers regarding the inner workings of the FTF, the long-term financial health of Tunisian football, and whether a heavily reshuffled squad can retain the grinta that carried the team to qualification for decades. This is Lamouchi’s first major tournament as Tunisia’s manager, and only five veterans remain from the 2022 squad that had no shortage of the famous fighting spirit, even with its other flaws.

    Only time will tell whether a new manager and a youth-focused squad overhaul can deliver Tunisia’s first-ever trip to the World Cup knockout stage. But for critics like Mezahi, the outlook is not positive. “If this team wins a game, it won’t be by more than one goal,” he said. “And given their style of play, the ceiling might be just two points from three group games.”

  • Israeli strike on Beirut kills three

    Israeli strike on Beirut kills three

    On a tense Sunday in the Middle East, an Israeli drone strike on an apartment building in Beirut’s southern Ghobeiry neighborhood of the Dahieh district killed at least three civilians and left 15 others injured, sending shockwaves through already fragile regional peace negotiations and drawing sharp condemnation alongside explicit threats of retaliation from top Iranian government and military officials.

    Lebanese media confirmed the targeted structure was a municipally owned apartment building in the densely populated Dahieh area, a district that has long been a stronghold of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. The attack marked the latest escalation in a cycle of cross-border violence that has gripped the Israel-Lebanon border for months, coming just hours after three unmanned aerial vehicles launched from Lebanese territory struck northern Israel earlier the same day. In response to that initial incursion, senior Israeli cabinet members immediately called for forceful, aggressive retaliation targeting Beirut directly.

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz issued a joint statement confirming the Sunday strike was a deliberate targeting of Hezbollah assets in Dahieh, carried out in direct response to the earlier drone fire on Israeli territory. This latest attack fits a consistent pattern of Israeli military activity that has persisted since a temporary ceasefire went into effect across the region on April 16: Israel has conducted daily bombardment operations across southern Lebanon, while its ground forces have progressively expanded their occupation of southern Lebanese villages and carried out widespread demolitions of local residential and civilian infrastructure.

    Early Sunday, the Israeli military had already issued a broad evacuation order urging residents of at least 30 towns and villages across Lebanon’s Nabatieh and Sidon districts, located north of the Litani River, to leave their homes immediately ahead of planned military operations. The timing of the Beirut strike carries particularly high stakes, as it comes at a critical moment when Washington and Tehran appeared to be on the cusp of finalizing a landmark US-Iran agreement designed to de-escalate the broader regional war. As recently as this weekend, both US and Pakistani leaders publicly predicted the deal could be finalized and signed as early as Sunday.

    Just last week, a separate Israeli strike on the Dahieh district already triggered a full exchange of cross-border fire between Israeli and Iranian forces, bringing regional tensions dangerously close to a full-scale conflict that would have collapsed the ongoing negotiation process entirely. Iran has long listed a full cessation of Israeli hostilities in Lebanon and a complete withdrawal of Israeli occupying forces from all southern Lebanese territory as non-negotiable conditions for any final wider agreement with the United States. On Friday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi reaffirmed that the imminent deal would explicitly include commitments to end all hostilities in Lebanon and enforce the full withdrawal of Israeli troops from the south.

    Sunday’s strike has thrown these plans into complete disarray. Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf, Iran’s chief nuclear and negotiation negotiator, argued that the attack exposed a critical failure on the part of the United States: either Washington lacks the political will to uphold its own commitments to the emerging deal, or it does not have the capability to rein in its Israeli ally to meet the agreed terms. In a public post on the social platform X, Ghalibaf warned that the current path toward negotiation would become completely unworkable if the US cannot deliver on the obligations it has put forward.

    Senior Iranian military leadership has further raised the threat of direct retaliation. Brigadier General Mohammad Jafar Asadi, deputy commander of Iran’s supreme military command, told Iranian state media that what he labeled Israeli “crimes” in Lebanon would not remain unanswered, signaling that Tehran is prepared to take direct military action in response to the strike.

    Adding another layer of complication to the negotiation process, Israeli Defense Minister Katz has already explicitly rejected the core Iranian condition for the deal: he confirmed earlier this week that Israel has no intention of withdrawing its forces from the areas of southern Lebanon it currently occupies. This stance puts Washington in an impossible position, as it tries to reconcile its unwavering military and political support for Israel with its diplomatic goal of reaching a de-escalation agreement with Iran to prevent a wider regional war.

  • England loses another pacer for 2nd test vs NZ with Robinson injured after Stokes, Atkinson dropped

    England loses another pacer for 2nd test vs NZ with Robinson injured after Stokes, Atkinson dropped

    Just days before England hosts New Zealand for the second Test match of their bilateral series at London’s iconic Oval ground, the home side has suffered another major blow to their fast bowling unit, with seamer Ollie Robinson ruled out of the clash by a lingering knee injury. The announcement of Robinson’s withdrawal came Sunday, marking the third high-profile absence from England’s squad this week.

    Robinson was one of the standout performers in the series opener at Lord’s last week, where England secured a hard-fought 115-run victory over the Black Caps. The right-armer picked up an impressive combined match figures of 7 wickets for just 77 runs, forming a devastating opening bowling partnership with fellow pacer Gus Atkinson. Atkinson, meanwhile, tore through New Zealand’s second innings to claim 5 wickets for 30 runs, closing out the win for the home side.

    But Atkinson will not feature at The Oval, after he and England captain Ben Stokes were dropped from the 2nd Test squad earlier this week amid an ongoing internal investigation into a post-victory nightclub incident. The pair were on an authorized night out following the Lord’s win when the incident occurred, which the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has described as a breach of the team’s internal protocols. Multiple reports indicate the altercation started when a player from English professional rugby union side Saracens struck a member of England cricket’s security detail during the night out.

    For Robinson, the knee injury will not force him to leave the squad entirely. The fast bowler will remain with the group to begin immediate rehabilitation work on his injury, with the aim of being fit for the third and final Test of the series, which kicks off on June 25 at Trent Bridge in Nottingham. To cover Robinson’s absence for the Oval Test, the ECB has called up uncapped pace bowler Henry Crocombe to the senior squad for the first time. Crocombe has impressed for Sussex in domestic red-ball cricket over the past two seasons, earning his first international call-up as injury cover.

    This latest wave of off-field and on-field disruption has thrown fresh scrutiny on the culture and professionalism of England’s men’s Test side, coming just months after the team’s humbling defeat in the 2023 Ashes series against Australia. Following that disappointing tour, reports confirmed that the ECB imposed a mandatory midnight curfew on all players and staff during home and away series to enforce greater off-field discipline.

    With Stokes sidelined for the second Test due to the investigation, former England captain Joe Root will step in to lead the side at the Oval. Root, who remains one of the team’s core performers with both bat and ball, has captained England in more than 60 Test matches previously, giving him extensive experience leading the side at the highest level.

  • Protesters clash with police ahead of G7 summit in Geneva

    Protesters clash with police ahead of G7 summit in Geneva

    In the hours leading up to the high-stakes G7 summit in Geneva, tense confrontations between demonstrators and law enforcement boiled over into violent street clashes, forcing Swiss police to deploy aggressive crowd control measures to restore order. The unrest unfolded as thousands of anti-globalization and anti-G7 activists gathered in the Swiss city to voice their opposition to the agenda of the world’s most powerful industrialized nations. What began as a planned demonstration quickly escalated into physical conflict between the two sides, prompting authorities to respond with significant force to contain the unrest. In a statement released to the press, Swiss police confirmed that officers used water cannons to push back advancing crowds and fired tear gas to disperse groups of protesters who had engaged in violent acts against law enforcement and public property. The summit, which brings together heads of state and senior government officials from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States, was already surrounded by heavy security in anticipation of widespread protests. Local officials had warned demonstrators ahead of the gathering that any unauthorized actions or acts of violence would be met with a firm response from security forces. As of the latest updates, there have been no immediate reports of serious injuries or fatalities, but multiple arrests have been confirmed in connection with the clashes. The unrest has added a layer of volatility to the start of the summit, which is expected to cover a range of pressing global issues including climate change, economic policy, international security, and global public health coordination. City officials have urged residents and visitors to avoid the area around the protest zone as police continue to work to clear the streets and reestablish calm ahead of the official start of summit proceedings.

  • UEFA head Čeferin criticized for allegedly saying expanded World Cup creates uninteresting matches

    UEFA head Čeferin criticized for allegedly saying expanded World Cup creates uninteresting matches

    A cross-regional backlash has erupted against UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin following reported comments dismissing matches involving lower-ranked teams at the newly expanded 48-team FIFA World Cup as “completely uninteresting”, drawing joint condemnation from governing bodies across Africa, Asia and the Caribbean.

    The criticism, organized and released by South Africa’s national soccer federation, brings together six associations — Cape Verde, Congo, Curaçao, Haiti, Jordan and Uzbekistan — in a show of solidarity with 10 other African federations including Algeria, Egypt, Ghana, Morocco, Senegal and Tunisia. The joint statement pushes back against Čeferin’s reported remarks, which were first published by Slovenian outlets Zurnal 24 and Dosi following a conference in Ljubljana a week before the condemnation.

    While Čeferin also reportedly acknowledged that the 2026 format expansion opens the door for smaller nations to experience the thrill of the world’s biggest soccer tournament, his take on the quality of matches involving debutants and long-absent sides struck a nerve across global soccer communities. For many of the nations signing onto the statement, the current 48-team tournament marks a historic milestone: Cape Verde, Curaçao, Jordan and Uzbekistan are making their first-ever World Cup appearances, while Congo and Haiti are returning to the global stage for the first time since 1974.

    “Football does not belong to a select group of nations. Its strength comes from its universality,” the statement reads. It goes on to emphasize that for emerging soccer nations, qualifying for the World Cup is far more than a simple sporting entry: it is a generational moment that can inspire young players, accelerate grassroots and professional soccer development across the region, and leave lifelong, meaningful memories for entire populations.

    The statement adds: “To suggest that these matches are somehow less important is deeply disappointing and fails to recognize the efforts, sacrifices and aspirations of players, coaches, clubs, football leaders and supporters across the world. For Cape Verde, Curaçao, Jordan and Uzbekistan, qualification for the FIFA World Cup represents a historic achievement and the realization of a dream shared by generations. For nations such as Congo and Haiti, returning to football’s biggest stage after a long absence carries a special meaning for millions of supporters who have waited years, and in some cases decades, for this moment.”

    Notably, the joint statement does not directly name Čeferin or explicitly quote his reported comments. As of Sunday, neither UEFA nor the signatory federations have issued immediate responses to requests for additional comment on the controversy. The condemnation comes the same day that Curaçao, one of the debutant signatory nations, played its first ever World Cup group stage match against Germany, falling 7-1 after notching the underdog side’s first-ever World Cup goal.

  • Thousands of Palestinians buried under rubble in Gaza ‘may never be identified’, says Red Cross

    Thousands of Palestinians buried under rubble in Gaza ‘may never be identified’, says Red Cross

    Two years into the ongoing Israeli military campaign in the Gaza Strip, a grave new humanitarian crisis is emerging, with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) issuing a stark warning that thousands of Palestinians buried under collapsed infrastructure may never receive formal identification, leaving grieving families without closure. The warning, first reported by The Guardian on Sunday, comes against a backdrop of cripplingly slow body recovery efforts and a catastrophic scale of destruction that has left the enclave unrecognizable.

    Pat Griffiths, ICRC spokesperson based in Jerusalem, explained to the outlet that the mounting delay in retrieving human remains directly amplifies the risk of permanent identification failure. “The longer it takes for human remains to be recovered, the more difficult it can be to identify them,” Griffiths said. “The longer the deceased lie beneath the rubble, the more likely they will be in advanced stages of decomposition – even skeletonised – when eventually recovered. Forensic experts lose access to circumstantial evidence that can be used to corroborate their identity.”

    The ICRC emphasized that critical identifying markers — including intact fingerprints, dental records, and personal belongings that can link remains to missing people — degrade rapidly as time passes. Gaza’s environmental conditions only worsen this challenge: high humidity in the coastal enclave and scavenging animal activity steadily erode what little forensic evidence remains, making the work of identification teams increasingly futile.

    Official UN data underscores the unprecedented scale of destruction Gaza has suffered after two years of conflict. Some 61.5 million tonnes of debris now cover the territory, with 75% of all Gaza’s residential and public buildings reduced to rubble. The United Nations Environment Programme has confirmed that this volume of wreckage is 20 times greater than the total debris generated by all conflicts in Gaza combined between 2008 and the start of the current campaign.

    Local Gaza residents add another layer of concern: they fear Israeli military bulldozers operating in areas under Israeli control are moving and disturbing remains still trapped under rubble, scattering evidence and making it even harder for families to locate their missing loved ones.

    Official casualty figures put the total number of people killed in Israeli attacks across the besieged enclave at nearly 73,000, a toll that has continued to climb even after a nominal ceasefire took effect in December. Back in February, the Palestinian Civil Defence reported that roughly 8,000 bodies remained trapped under rubble across Gaza, even after months of exhaustive recovery work by local teams. An additional 3,000 people are still listed as missing, with no clarity on whether they are alive, dead, or being held in Israeli detention.

    Since the ceasefire was implemented, recovery operations have been crippled by systemic shortages of essential heavy machinery. Rescue teams have been forced to rely on basic hand tools — shovels, pickaxes, wheelbarrows — and even bare hands to sift through millions of tonnes of wreckage, as repeated requests to Israel to allow excavators and other heavy recovery equipment into Gaza have been denied.

    Griffiths stressed that unimpeded access and proper resources are non-negotiable for the recovery effort to succeed. “Search and recovery teams need access to all sites where human remains are thought to be located,” she said. “We know that much of this machinery and equipment remains almost impossible to bring into Gaza right now. And it remains our call, and part of our ongoing direct dialogue with the relevant authorities, to allow the entry of these items and equipment into Gaza.”

    For thousands of grieving Palestinian families, the growing risk of permanent unidentified burials adds another layer of unending trauma, as they face the prospect of never being able to properly bury and mourn their loved ones lost to the conflict.

  • 11 skydivers and pilot killed in plane crash

    11 skydivers and pilot killed in plane crash

    A devastating aviation incident in rural Missouri has claimed the lives of 11 skydivers and one aircraft pilot, local emergency officials confirmed this week. The fixed-wing plane, which was leased out to a local skydiving operation, departed from Butler Memorial Airport at approximately 11:20 a.m. local time on Sunday, according to a spokesperson for Bates County Emergency Management.

    Witnesses and initial on-site assessments show the aircraft failed to climb to a safe altitude shortly after takeoff. It quickly banked hard to the left before plummeting into terrain roughly 200 yards from the airport runway, the spokesperson told the BBC in an initial media briefing. Tragically, there were no survivors among the 12 people on board the aircraft.

    The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has identified the downed plane as a Pacific Aerospace P750, a utility aircraft commonly used for recreational skydiving operations. The agency also confirmed that no active air traffic control services were being provided to the airport at the time of the crash, which occurred around 50 miles south of the Kansas City metro area.

    Early local media reports noted that first responders initially conducted a sweep of the surrounding area to check whether any skydivers had managed to exit the plane before the crash, though officials have since confirmed all casualties remained on board. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the U.S. federal body responsible for probing civil aviation accidents, has taken lead of the ongoing investigation into the cause of the crash. The BBC has reached out to the NTSB for additional comment on preliminary findings as the investigation progresses.

  • Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney says US AI restrictions underscore risks of dependence

    Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney says US AI restrictions underscore risks of dependence

    WESTPORT, Ireland — On the eve of the G7 leaders’ gathering in Evian-les-Bains, France, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has issued a stark warning about the systemic risks of overreliance on a small cohort of American artificial intelligence developers, following new U.S. export restrictions that forced AI firm Anthropic to pull its most advanced models offline.

    The controversy began Friday when San Francisco-based Anthropic confirmed it had taken its two cutting-edge AI models, Fable 5 and Mythos 5, offline to comply with a Trump administration directive barring access to the systems by foreign nationals. This move marks the most sweeping restriction the U.S. government has imposed to date on access to state-of-the-art AI technology.

    Anthropic had only just publicly released a limited version of Fable 5 earlier that same week. The more capable Mythos 5 model, first announced by the company on April 7, had already been restricted to a small pool of pre-vetted customers over serious cybersecurity concerns: Anthropic itself has acknowledged Mythos 5 is so “strikingly capable” that it can outperform experienced human cybersecurity experts at identifying and exploiting software vulnerabilities, making unregulated access a major global security risk.

    Speaking to reporters during a visit to Ireland on Sunday, Carney framed the shutdown as a cautionary tale for nations around the world. “The situation we’re in collectively right now with Mythos and Fable is exactly the kind of disruption that can happen when you overrely on a narrow set of providers from a single country,” Carney said. He emphasized no party involved acted improperly in this instance, but argued that global powers would be making a critical mistake if they failed to learn from the event: “We will have done something wrong if we just accept this, don’t take the lesson, don’t build out and diversify our own AI ecosystems.”

    “It is never a good idea to have only one option,” Carney repeated, doubling down on his call for global diversification in AI development and supply chains.

    The Prime Minister noted that AI policy will top the agenda for Monday night’s working sessions at the G7 summit, adding that he held a 45-minute bilateral discussion on AI governance and strategy with French President Emmanuel Macron Friday evening. Carney cautioned against expecting sweeping, final agreements from this gathering, noting the complexity of AI regulation and cross-border coordination means there will be no “mission accomplished” moment after the summit.

    Carney connected the AI export restrictions to Canada’s broader long-term strategy to diversify its trade and technology partnerships, a policy push he has championed amid ongoing trade tensions with the U.S. More than 70% of Canada’s total exports currently flow to the United States, and Carney has set an ambitious national goal to double the volume of Canadian exports to non-U.S. markets over the next 10 years. The Trump administration’s ongoing trade war has already created significant uncertainty that has cooled cross-border investment in Canada, he added.

    On another key bilateral topic, Carney confirmed he does not have a formal one-on-one meeting scheduled with U.S. President Donald Trump at the G7, even as the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) approaches its mandatory renewal. Instead, negotiations at this stage will be led by senior trade officials: Canada’s Minister responsible for U.S. Trade Dominic LeBlanc and chief negotiator Janice Charette will meet with U.S. Trade Ambassador Jamieson Greer and U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on the sidelines of the Evian summit. “The right way to do it at this stage will be between the principal negotiators, which is going to happen in Evian,” Carney explained.

    Sunday’s appearance in Ireland came after Carney visited his family’s ancestral village of Aghagower in County Mayo earlier in the day. Both of his grandparents, Robert Carney and Nora Moran, were born in the town before immigrating to Canada in the 1920s. Local resident Owen Morgan, who brought his 17-month-old son Malachy — dressed in a Montreal Canadiens hockey jersey — to meet the Prime Minister, said locals in County Mayo take great pride in Carney’s career. “People are very impressed,” Morgan said. “He’s very much standing up for Canadians and I think that’s very much admired.”