Global Pulse

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  • Wildfire spreads near popular French tourist town as thousands are evacuated

    Wildfire spreads near popular French tourist town as thousands are evacuated

    A fast-spreading wildfire burning through Gironde region forestland along France’s Atlantic coast has forced roughly 20,000 residents and vacationers to flee their homes and resorts, in what marks the latest major wildfire event to hit Southern Europe amid a season of record heat and prolonged drought.

    The blaze, which ignited near the coastal town of Lège-Cap Ferret, roughly 60 kilometers southwest of Bordeaux, has already scorched more than 31 square kilometers of vegetation, regional authorities confirmed Thursday. As of the latest update, no injuries have been documented, but the fire has advanced to within 300 meters of residential neighborhoods in the town of Lège, prompting urgent emergency action.

    More than 700 firefighters, including reinforcement teams deployed from the Paris region, have been assigned to contain the blaze, with water bombers called in to drop massive amounts of water on the fire line from the air. By Thursday evening, regional prefect Sophie Brocas’ office reported that while the fire has not yet been fully extinguished, it has been successfully contained to the northern area of Lège, limiting further spread for the time being.

    Evacuation efforts unfolded in two phases overnight and through Thursday: first, roughly 11,000 people, including tourists staying at coastal holiday camps and campgrounds, plus more than 1,000 permanent residents living along the forest edge, were moved to safe zones. As a precautionary measure, authorities later ordered a full evacuation of the nearby village of Claouey, which hosts multiple additional campsites, adding another 8,800 people to the total evacuation count. Local municipalities have set up dedicated reception centers to provide shelter, food, and basic support for displaced evacuees.

    This Gironde blaze is just one part of a far wider wildfire crisis that has engulfed Southern Europe this summer, a disaster climate scientists link directly to human-caused climate change, which is amplifying the frequency and severity of extreme heat and prolonged dry conditions across the Mediterranean region. France has already faced a cascade of heat waves starting earlier than usual this year, bringing record-breaking high temperatures and leaving vegetation so parched that wildfire risk has jumped dramatically. French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez reported that as of this week, more than 12,500 wildfires have burned across France since the start of 2024, consuming nearly 44,000 hectares of land.

    The crisis extends far beyond France’s borders. In Italy, wildfires continued to spread across Sicily on Thursday, just one day after a veteran fire department chief, Alessandro Marchì, died while battling a blaze in the province of Caltanissetta. Italian President Sergio Mattarella released a formal statement of condolences to Marchì’s family and fellow first responders following his death.

    In Spain, firefighters are working around the clock to contain dozens of active blazes amid an ongoing severe heat wave that is projected to push temperatures as high as 44 degrees Celsius (111 degrees Fahrenheit) in the country’s southeast. A blaze near Alcalá de Henares, just outside of Madrid, forced a temporary suspension of high-speed rail service between the capital and Barcelona on Thursday, disrupting travel for thousands of passengers. In the province of Guadalajara, crews continue to battle a week-old blaze that is already the second-largest wildfire recorded in modern Spanish history, having burned 320 square kilometers of land. Other active fires in central Spain, including one near the city of Toledo, have destroyed roughly 20 residential structures and forced additional evacuations of local communities.

  • Trent Bridge to kick off the 2027 men’s Ashes as England hosts Australia

    Trent Bridge to kick off the 2027 men’s Ashes as England hosts Australia

    LONDON – The England and Wales Cricket Board has officially locked in the full schedule and confirmed the opening venue for the highly anticipated 2027 men’s Ashes series against defending title holders Australia, a announcement that has already sparked debate over regional representation.

    Trent Bridge, the iconic Nottingham-based cricket ground, will play host to the first Test of the five-match series, scheduled to run from June 18 to 22, 2027. The venue has emerged as a lucky ground for England in recent Ashes history, with the home side claiming victory in three consecutive Ashes Tests at Trent Bridge, most notably a 2015 win where Australia was bowled out for just 60 runs in one innings.

    Following the opening clash, the series will move to London’s historic Lord’s ground for the second Test, held from June 30 to July 4. Just four days later, the third Test gets underway at Birmingham’s Edgbaston from July 8 to 12. The fourth Test will mark a historic milestone for the tournament: Southampton’s Rose Bowl will host its first ever men’s Ashes Test from July 21 to 25, becoming the 10th different English ground to host a men’s Ashes series match. The five-match series will wrap up at London’s The Oval from July 29 to August 2.

    All five venues were shortlisted in 2023, but the selection drew immediate criticism for the exclusion of two major northern English grounds: Old Trafford in Manchester and Headingley in Leeds. While both venues were already confirmed to host matches in the 2031 Ashes series, their absence from the 2027 lineup made Nottingham the northernmost host venue for the 2027 tournament. Following the 2023 selection announcement, the mayors of Greater Manchester and West Yorkshire sent official letters of disappointment to the ECB. Even England men’s skipper Ben Stokes, who represents the northern county side Durham, called the lack of northern Test venues for the 2027 series “a shame” in comments made during England’s 4-1 Ashes defeat in Australia earlier this year.

    To soften the impact of the exclusion, Old Trafford has been assigned a high-profile preparatory fixture: it will host a warm-up match between Australia and the England Lions from June 7 to 10, 2027. The schedule for this warm-up will be adjusted if Australia qualifies for the World Test Championship final, which is set to take place at The Oval from June 9 to 13 that same year.

    Alongside the men’s fixture announcement, the ECB confirmed that the 2027 women’s Ashes series will run concurrently with the men’s tournament. The women’s series will open with a Test match at Headingley from June 24 to 27, marking the first women’s Ashes Test hosted at the ground since 2001, followed by three Twenty20 matches and three One Day Internationals concluding on July 20.

    The announcement also included details of other upcoming home Test and limited-overs series for England’s national sides. In May 2027, the men’s team will host Pakistan for five One Day Internationals, followed by England’s first home Test match against Bangladesh at Lord’s since 2010. That September, New Zealand will tour England for three Twenty20s and five One Day Internationals as both sides prepare for the 50-over Men’s World Cup hosted in southern Africa that October. The England women’s team will also host Bangladesh for six white-ball matches in September 2027.

  • Anthony Albanese holds first talks with yet another new British PM

    Anthony Albanese holds first talks with yet another new British PM

    Just over two years after taking office as Australia’s Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese has held his first official conversation with Andy Burnham, the United Kingdom’s newest prime minister – marking the fifth different British leader Albanese has been paired with since he won federal office in May 2022.

    Burnham, the former long-serving Mayor of Greater Manchester, moved into 10 Downing Street early Monday after being selected as the new leader of the UK Labour Party, following the resignation of former Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, who held the post for just over two years after Labour’s landslide 2024 general election victory.

    The introductory call, held shortly after Burnham’s formal appointment, saw Albanese extend warm congratulations to the new British premier alongside a formal invitation to visit Australia in the coming months.

    The wide-ranging discussion covered nearly every corner of the deep, decades-long bilateral relationship between Canberra and London. Key topics on the agenda included the ongoing implementation of the AUKUS trilateral security partnership, progress on post-Brexit trade and bilateral economic investment, and Australia’s pioneering policy banning social media use for children under a minimum age.

    Beyond domestic and bilateral policy, the two leaders aligned on the importance of joint UK-Australian action to address pressing global challenges, ranging from the ongoing armed conflict in the Middle East to the complex risks and transformative opportunities presented by the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence.

    In a lighter moment, the pair also bonded over their shared enthusiasm for rugby league.

    Albanese’s string of introductory meetings with successive UK prime ministers is a direct product of the extraordinary political instability that has shaken British politics over the past two and a half years. When Albanese first entered The Lodge in May 2022, Boris Johnson was already three years into his premiership. Johnson resigned just months later, replaced in September 2022 by Liz Truss, whose tenure infamously ended after just 49 days – shorter than the shelf life of a head of lettuce that became a viral social media sensation mocking her short-lived time in office.

    Truss was succeeded by Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who held office until Labour’s 2024 general election landslide. Starmer then took the reins until his resignation earlier this month, clearing the way for Burnham’s appointment and the latest introductory meeting for the Australian prime minister.

  • Around 12,000 people evacuated in France fires

    Around 12,000 people evacuated in France fires

    A wave of destructive, heat-fueled wildfires is tearing across multiple regions of Southern Europe this summer, leaving three firefighters dead, forcing mass evacuations of thousands of residents and tourists, and destroying vast swathes of forest and land. The crisis unfolded just weeks after a landmark climate report confirmed Europe is the world’s fastest-warming continent, amplifying concerns over the growing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events driven by climate change.

    In southwestern France’s Gironde region, local officials confirmed that roughly 12,000 people have been evacuated to escape advancing flames, with 10,000 of those displaced being tourists visiting the popular coastal and forested area. As of Thursday, the wildfire has already burned through more than 2,000 hectares of land, just days after two firefighters lost their lives battling blazes near Bordeaux Airport. No new civilian injuries have been reported as of Thursday, but authorities have enacted strict emergency measures to slow the spread of the fire: all combustion and electric engine use has been banned in heavily forested zones, multiple major roads have been closed, and all high-risk leisure sites in exposed forest areas will stay shut through Thursday evening. Gironde remains under red wildfire alert, as the region grapples with the same prolonged, record-breaking heatwave that has raised fire risk across much of Western Europe.

    French officials have held formal tributes to the two fallen firefighters this week. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez shared images from a Wednesday memorial, describing the occasion as one marked by “immense emotion” and extending “infinite gratitude” and “unwavering support” to the firefighters’ families.

    Across the Mediterranean, Italy is also reeling from a deadly wildfire crisis of its own. On the island of Sicily, a 60-year-old firefighter Alessandro Marchi died Wednesday while battling a large blaze in San Cataldo. Another firefighter was injured in the same operation, and Sicilian President Renato Schifani has publicly wished the injured first responder a “speedy recovery.” Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi honored Marchi’s sacrifice in a post on X, writing that the firefighter died “in service to the community” and that “He will not be forgotten.”

    Sicilian Civil Protection head Salvo Cocina confirmed Wednesday that the island has recorded more than 350 separate wildfires in recent days, including 10 major blazes that have already triggered precautionary evacuations. Cocina noted that nearly all of the fires were caused by human activity, and warned that repeated large-scale wildfire events have turned firefighting into a persistent public order and social crisis for the island.

    In neighboring Spain, wildfires have reached the outskirts of Madrid, forcing the evacuation of hundreds of residents earlier this week. Overnight, most displaced residents were allowed to return to their homes, though one neighborhood in Villa del Prado remains off-limits as an adjacent fire continues to burn. Roughly 90 emergency personnel and one firefighting helicopter have been deployed to contain the remaining blaze, with emergency crews launching a “direct attack” on the flames to stop it from spreading further. Spanish weather service AEMET forecast maximum temperatures will reach 36 degrees Celsius across the region on Thursday, and local authorities have continued to warn of an “extreme risk of fires” for the coming 24 hours.

    The current wave of wildfires comes amid a longer-term trend of rising temperatures and increasing fire risk across Europe. A April 2025 report from the Copernicus Climate Change Service confirmed that at least 95% of Europe recorded above-average annual temperatures in 2025, and the continent is warming faster than any other major region on Earth. The report also found that both the total area burned by wildfires and fire-related carbon emissions reached all-time record highs across the continent last year, highlighting the growing threat climate change poses to European communities.

  • White House readies fresh tariffs as 10% levy to expire

    White House readies fresh tariffs as 10% levy to expire

    As U.S. President Donald Trump’s temporary 10% global tariff is set to expire this Friday, the White House is moving forward with plans to roll out a new slate of import duties targeting dozens of trading partners, top American trade representative Jamieson Greer confirmed Tuesday. This renewed tariff push comes as the Trump administration works to rebuild its core trade policy agenda after a series of major legal setbacks earlier this year that invalidated many of its earlier tariff measures.

    In February, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a large portion of Trump’s original tariffs, prompting the administration to implement a temporary 10% global import levy to maintain its trade pressure while drafting new policy. That temporary measure will expire at the end of this week. According to trade analysts, the incoming tariffs, framed around allegations that trading partners fail to crack down on forced labor, will replace the expiring temporary levy, with rates set to range between 10% and 12.5%.

    The new round of tariffs is expected to cover the majority of U.S. trade volume, Greer confirmed Tuesday, telling CNBC “We expect to see some action soon” when pressed for details on the new measures, though he declined to share a specific timeline for implementation. The European Union has already pushed back against the planned measures, stating publicly that it considers tariffs imposed on forced labor grounds by the U.S. to be completely unjustified.

    The Trump administration has already moved to implement new targeted tariffs against key trading partners in recent days. Last week, Washington announced a 25% duty on select Brazilian goods set to take effect Wednesday. While exemptions have been carved out for products the U.S. does not produce domestically, as well as goods including beef, coffee and certain aircraft components, the measure still impacts more than $11 billion in Brazilian exports to the U.S. The Brazilian government has issued a sharp rebuke of the policy, and the American Chamber of Commerce in Brazil has warned that the tariffs place Brazil among the nations facing the most restrictive access conditions to the U.S. market.

    On Monday, the administration unveiled a 50% tariff on a wide range of Canadian products, scheduled to go into effect in 30 days. In response, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney told reporters in Ottawa Tuesday that his government is currently considering “all options” to respond to the measure, though he added that he and President Trump have agreed to intensify bilateral negotiations over the coming weeks to reach a potential negotiated settlement.

    The new 50% Canadian tariff also comes as the U.S. engages in high-stakes renegotiation of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), the trilateral trade pact governing North American trade. The Trump administration recently rejected calls to extend the current terms of the agreement, and Greer is scheduled to travel to Mexico for negotiations tied to the joint USMCA review from Wednesday through Friday.

    In an additional major trade announcement Tuesday, Trump disclosed a new phased tariff schedule for imported generic pharmaceuticals. Starting in August 2028, a 100% sector-specific tariff will go into effect on imported generic drugs, rising to 200% in 2029. To create a window for drug manufacturers to shift production to the U.S., the president added that the tariff will be set at zero for imports between August 2026 and the start of the 2028 levy. Swiss generic drug giant Sandoz confirmed Wednesday it would continue holding talks with U.S. policymakers to address the impact of the new policy.

    Trade experts have warned that the broad new slate of tariffs risks reigniting global trade tensions, with high chances of retaliatory measures from U.S. trading partners that could escalate into a wider trade conflict that disrupts global supply chains and raises costs for American consumers.

  • Deadly wildfires force thousands from homes in parts of Europe

    Deadly wildfires force thousands from homes in parts of Europe

    As a brutal heatwave pushes temperatures past 40 degrees Celsius across the Mediterranean, fast-moving wildfires have ripped through populated and forested areas of Italy, France and Spain this week, leaving three firefighters dead and forcing tens of thousands of residents and tourists to flee their homes and accommodations. The ongoing disaster comes as climate scientists have long warned that human-caused fossil fuel emissions are intensifying extreme weather events, making heatwaves and wildfires more frequent, longer-running, and far more destructive than historical averages. In Italy, the island of Sicily has become one of the hardest-hit regions, where roughly 6,000 first responders including firefighters, forest rangers and civil protection personnel have battled dozens of blazes that have burned uncontrolled for days. Even with the support of water-bombing aircraft, crews have struggled to contain the flames, fueled by extremely high temperatures and parched, drought-stricken soil that acts as kindling for wildfires. Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi confirmed one firefighter died after suffering a medical emergency while on the fire lines, with the nation’s Civil Protection Agency describing the overall situation on the island as “serious.” To the northeast of Sicily, the adjacent Calabria region has recorded more than 160 separate blazes, with local civil protection chief blaming most of the fires on intentional arson perpetrated by “malicious individuals.” In one shocking allegation, he claimed arsonists tied flammable liquid-soaked rags to the tails of stray cats to ignite new fires across the region. Across the border in southwestern France, more than 10,000 tourists were forced to evacuate campgrounds and holiday rentals near Bordeaux on Thursday after a wildfire tore through a coastal pine forest. The Le Porge blaze has consumed more than 2,000 hectares of land – an area roughly three times the size of Gibraltar – since it ignited on Wednesday. Two firefighters were killed on Tuesday while battling a separate blaze near Bordeaux Airport, a loss that came as fire department unions warned crews were already stretched to breaking point, facing widespread exhaustion and critical shortages of resources. Wilfried Schneider, a fire captain on the ground in Le Porge, described the blaze as having an intensity rarely seen in the region, fueled by densely packed pine stands that burn hot and spread quickly. “We saw a big cloud of black smoke spread across the sky in the middle of the afternoon,” said Julie Leonard, a 30-something Bordeaux resident who traveled with her family to a safe observation point outside the evacuation zone. Bernard Roche, a 75-year-old long-term resident of the area who evacuated his cabin, noted that conditions had been exceptionally dry for weeks. “If I’d been brave, I would have stayed in my cabin, but it was too hot. I got in my car and left,” Roche said. While Le Porge mayor Martial Zaninetti suggested the fire may have started from a machine used to clear forest tracks, no official cause has been confirmed. Local authorities confirmed that 700 residents evacuated their homes as a precaution, with an additional 3,000 campers relocated to safer areas further from the fire. Further north in Spain, emergency officials reported Thursday that progress on containing a large wildfire south of Madrid has allowed most displaced residents to return to their homes. That blaze ignited Wednesday near Toledo, roughly 75 kilometers from the Spanish capital, prompting immediate evacuation orders for multiple communities as flames advanced toward residential areas. Only residents of El Encinar del Alberche in Villa del Prado municipality remain under evacuation orders as of Thursday. Fire crews called overnight containment progress “very positive,” though the blaze has not been fully stabilized and multiple regional roads remain closed. Hundreds of firefighters continue to battle a much larger, older blaze in Guadalajara province, roughly 100 kilometers north of Madrid, which has burned nearly 32,000 hectares since it started one week ago. According to data from the European Forest Fire Information System, Spain has already lost more than 393,000 hectares of land to wildfires in 2025 – the worst annual wildfire toll in the country’s modern recorded history.

  • Seinfeld actor apologises to reality star for ‘inappropriate’ sketch when she was 17

    Seinfeld actor apologises to reality star for ‘inappropriate’ sketch when she was 17

    More than a decade after a controversial comedy sketch that featured a minor as the butt of sexualized jokes, veteran Hollywood actor Jason Alexander has issued a public apology to Courtney Stodden, the reality TV star who was just 17 years old when the segment was filmed. The 2012 sketch, produced by digital comedy platform Funny or Die, parodied daytime talk shows in the vein of *Dr. Phil*, and has resurfaced in recent weeks to renewed public backlash over its inappropriate content.

    In the resurfaced clip, Alexander — best known for his decades-long fame as George Costanza on the iconic sitcom *Seinfeld* — performs a crude bit where he rubs a mobile phone across Stodden’s chest, joking that there was “no signal” on her head but “plenty of signal” in her breasts. The sketch closes with another problematic joke, where Alexander quips that he would take Stodden behind a couch and “have his way” with her once she turned 18. Stodden also confirmed that Alexander was credited as one of the sketch’s writers, adding a layer of accountability to his involvement.

    Earlier this month, Stodden, now 31, reposted the clip to her Instagram with a heartfelt reflection on the harm the experience caused her. “The older I get, the more impossible this is to understand,” she wrote. “Looking back now, I don’t see comedy. I see a 17-year-old girl whose body became part of an adult joke. I was a minor. I didn’t have the legal power to decide whether I wanted to participate… I was the only child in the room. I felt so alone.” Stodden went on to question how a room full of adult industry professionals could deem the sexualization of a minor acceptable content for a comedy sketch.

    After Stodden’s public post drew widespread media attention, Alexander released a formal statement to multiple major U.S. entertainment outlets acknowledging the sketch was wrong. “Looking back at the comedy sketch in which Ms Stodden and I participated in 2012, I completely agree that it was inappropriate and I truly regret it,” Alexander said. “But more importantly, I am deeply sorry for any harm or distress it has caused Ms Stodden. I offer her my sincerest apologies.”

    This conversation comes amid Stodden’s ongoing advocacy work to end child marriage in her home state of California. Stodden herself was married at 16 to 51-year-old actor Doug Hutchison in 2011, a union that was legally allowed at the time because her parents granted consent. The pair finalized their divorce in 2020, and Stodden has since become a prominent voice for reform. Currently, 33 U.S. states still allow 16- and 17-year-olds to marry with parental approval or a judicial waiver, a practice Stodden has spent years fighting to eliminate.

    California is currently considering AB 1267, a bill that would set the absolute minimum age for marriage at 18, eliminating all exceptions for underage marriage. Stodden said she appreciated Alexander’s public apology, but pushed for more concrete accountability. “People keep asking if he’s apologised privately, and he hasn’t. A private apology would be meaningful, but meaningful action would be even more powerful,” she told reporters. “If he truly regrets what happened, I’d invite him to support [campaign group] Unchained At Last and the fight to end child marriage through AB 1267. That’s how we turn accountability into lasting change.”

    Beyond his breakout role on *Seinfeld*, Alexander has built a decades-long career in Hollywood with credits on hit series including *ER* and films like *Pretty Woman* and *Shallow Hal*. Stodden, who rose to fame following her 2011 marriage, has built a public profile through appearances on reality shows including *Couples Therapy*, *Celebrity Big Brother*, *Reality Ex-Wives*, and *Celebs Go Dating*.

  • Hundreds hospitalised in Japan heatwave ‘disaster’

    Hundreds hospitalised in Japan heatwave ‘disaster’

    Japan is currently grappling with an unprecedented extreme heatwave that has officially been labeled a national disaster, leaving at least 14 people dead and forcing hundreds of residents and visitors into hospital care for heat-related illnesses. On Thursday, Tokyo Fire Department officials released staggering daily figures confirming that 453 people required emergency hospital treatment for heatstroke and related complications on Wednesday alone — the highest single-day count recorded since the city began tracking such statistics 16 years ago in 2008. Emergency service callouts for heat-related incidents also hit a record high not seen since consistent record-keeping began in 1963.

    The unprecedented surge in heat-related hospitalizations comes as much of the island nation bakes under consistent high temperatures, with the death toll rising to at least 14 across the country over the past seven days, per data from Japan’s Fire and Disaster Management Agency. In Tokyo prefecture, home to roughly 14 million residents, one person has already died from heat-related causes in this event, with four more in critical condition and 18 others classified as seriously ill.

    “We are urgently urging people across the capital to stay consistently hydrated and run air conditioning whenever possible to avoid heatstroke,” a fire department spokesperson told reporters. The spokesperson added that patient numbers have climbed steadily alongside rising temperatures, with sharp, worrying increases reported on both Tuesday and Wednesday.

    Tourists visiting popular Tokyo attractions have described the conditions as punishing, with many altering entire travel itineraries to prioritize access to cool spaces. Nick Estes, a 35-year-old American tourist visiting Tokyo’s historic Asakusa district with his family, noted the extreme conditions felt even more intense than his trip last summer. “We’ve planned every part of our day around staying cool: spending time on the air-conditioned metro, popping into small air-conditioned souvenir shops, doing anything we can to bring our body temperatures down,” Estes explained. “Especially with young kids, it’s been absolutely brutal. I was here last summer, and somehow it feels even hotter this year.”

    Central Japanese regions have seen some of the worst heat, with Aichi Prefecture — home to the major city of Nagoya and Toyota Motor’s global headquarters — reporting 116 hospitalizations on Wednesday alone. Nationwide, heatstroke alerts have been issued for nearly all of Japan’s 125 million residents, and the disaster management agency has formally categorized the event as a disaster.

    “Temperatures have climbed steadily since mid-July, and severe heat is forecast to continue across the entire country,” the agency stated in an official release. “It is no exaggeration to call this extreme heat a disaster, given how many people are being rushed to hospitals or even losing their lives to heatstroke.”

    By early afternoon Thursday, at least six locations across Japan recorded temperatures of 40°C or higher, with three more sites hitting 39.9°C. The highest reading was logged in Hamamatsu, located in central Shizuoka Prefecture, which hit 41.1°C. Toyota City followed at 40.8°C, and Kuwana in Mie Prefecture reached 40.7°C. Japan’s all-time record high temperature of 41.8°C was set just last month in Isesaki, north of Tokyo.

    This year, Japanese authorities introduced a new official term for days with temperatures exceeding 40°C: kokushobi, which translates to “cruelly hot day.” The label was created to draw greater public attention to the severe risks of extreme heat, though it does not trigger mandatory nationwide emergency measures.

    Climate scientists have repeatedly warned that human-caused climate change is steadily increasing both the frequency and intensity of extreme heat events across Japan and the globe. Last year, Japan experienced the hottest summer on its national record, a trend that visitors and residents alike say they are noticing firsthand.

    “You leave your hotel at 8:30 in the morning and it already feels like midday, and it just gets hotter and hotter as the day goes on,” said Yesenia Gueta, a 47-year-old tourist from Los Angeles. “Now I understand why Japanese clothing is loose, and why people carry umbrellas to block the sun all the time. This heat is extreme, and that new name ‘cruelly hot day’ fits perfectly.”

    Many Japanese residents are also expressing growing anxiety about what the coming weeks of summer will bring, with temperatures already hitting record levels in mid-July. “Since it’s already this hot in mid-July, I’m worried about what August will be like,” said 24-year-old Japanese university student Nukochama, who carries a fully charged portable electric fan at all times to stay cool.

  • Nonproliferationists demand Congress reject Trump-Saudi nuke deal

    Nonproliferationists demand Congress reject Trump-Saudi nuke deal

    A bombshell report from Reuters has triggered widespread condemnation and urgent warnings from global nonproliferation specialists and U.S. political leaders over a leaked proposal from former President Donald Trump’s administration that would greenlight a U.S.-Saudi Arabia nuclear cooperation agreement, raising severe risks of nuclear weapons proliferation across the Middle East.

    According to reporting from anonymous sources familiar with the draft text, the framework crafted by the Trump administration would permit the transfer of sensitive U.S. nuclear power technology to Saudi Arabia, while omitting critical nonproliferation safeguards designed to prevent nuclear materials from being diverted to weapons development. Most notably, the proposal does not include the widely accepted “Gold Standard” provisions that would ban the kingdom from enriching uranium and reprocessing spent nuclear fuel — two core capabilities that can be directly repurposed to build nuclear weapons.

    Kelsey Davenport, director of nonproliferation policy at the nonpartisan Arms Control Association, was among the first to publicly criticize the plan, issuing a warning in a Tuesday social media post that the draft agreement “sets a terrible precedent.” Davenport explained that the proposal breaks with decades of bipartisan U.S. policy that has required strict prohibitions on enrichment and reprocessing in all bilateral nuclear cooperation pacts. “If the deal is inadequate, which it seems to be, Congress should vote to disapprove it,” Davenport added.

    Andrea Stricker, deputy director and research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Nonproliferation Program, echoed that call, urging Congress to immediately block the agreement. Stricker warned that the weak safeguards would not only put Saudi Arabia on a clear path to potential nuclear weapons development but could also trigger a regional nuclear arms race, prompting neighboring states to pursue their own nuclear weapons programs. If Congress fails to halt the deal, Stricker argued that any future U.S. administration should reverse the policy “before too much damage is done in terms of watering down safeguards, setting negative precedents for other states, and failing to contain the spread of enrichment and reprocessing.”

    James Acton, co-director of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s Nuclear Policy Program, went even further, arguing that the reported deal is “tantamount to the United States giving up on nonproliferation.” Acton noted that Saudi officials have publicly acknowledged their potential interest in developing nuclear weapons, adding that “the United States should do nothing to facilitate enrichment or reprocessing in the Kingdom.”

    Emma Ashford, a senior fellow at the Stimson Center, agreed that the agreement would effectively end decades of U.S. efforts to curb global nuclear proliferation, pointing to a striking policy contradiction at the heart of the Trump administration’s approach: the same administration pursued military pressure and airstrikes against Iran to block its nuclear enrichment program, while offering the same capability to Saudi Arabia.

    Rosemary Kelanic, director of the Middle East Program at Defense Priorities, also labeled the proposal a “terrible idea” that breaks with 70 years of U.S. nonproliferation policy, which has never permitted the transfer of enrichment technology to a country that does not already possess the capability. Kelanic warned that the deal could create long-term national security risks for the United States, empowering Saudi Arabia to hold Washington hostage to its demands.

    “Aside from the proliferation risks, uranium enrichment would give Saudi Arabia a potent source of leverage to extract future concessions from Washington, including new security guarantees, by threatening to weaponize its program unless the United States promises enhanced military protection,” Kelanic explained, noting that this dynamic played out previously with U.S. allies South Korea and West Germany, where the U.S. exchanged expanded security guarantees to convince the nations to abandon their indigenous nuclear programs.

    Top congressional Democrats have also joined the chorus of criticism. Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, voiced “deep concerns” about the reported deal, saying it “would significantly erode existing nonproliferation standards.” Meeks emphasized that any valid U.S.-Saudi nuclear agreement must include strict limits on enrichment and reprocessing, as well as full compliance with the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Additional Protocol, which grants the global nuclear watchdog enhanced inspection powers.

  • House approves GOP-supported US-Israel military integration

    House approves GOP-supported US-Israel military integration

    On a Wednesday vote almost strictly split along partisan lines, the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives has advanced a landmark $1.15 trillion fiscal year 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), HR 8800, advancing a package that has sparked fierce backlash over a divisive provision deepening U.S.-Israeli military cooperation and a last-minute partisan maneuver attaching a contentious voting policy measure to the must-pass national security legislation.

    The final vote tally settled at 219 in favor to 206 opposed. Republicans backed the measure by an overwhelming 213-1 margin, with only Kentucky Representative Thomas Massie breaking with his party to vote no. On the Democratic side, five members crossed party lines to support the bill: North Carolina’s Don Davis, Jared Golden of Maine, California’s Adam Gray, Vicente Gonzalez of Texas, and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington. Independent Representative Kevin Kiley of California also joined supporters of the legislation.

    A core point of controversy centers on Section 219, a provision that formalizes deeper integration of U.S. and Israeli military research and development initiatives. Massie and Democratic Representative Ro Khanna of California introduced an amendment to remove the provision from the final bill, but the House Rules Committee blocked any debate on the change, leaving Section 219 intact in the legislation sent to the Senate.

    A second contentious provision, Section 622, also remains in the bill: the measure would expand and strengthen intelligence sharing cooperation with Israel, while rolling back existing restrictions on that partnership.

    Critics across the progressive wing of the Democratic Party have launched sharp attacks on the Israel-focused provisions, framing the deeper integration as a threat to U.S. national sovereignty and democratic governance. New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez labeled the full NDAA “an existential threat to American sovereignty and democracy” ahead of the vote. Massie, the lone Republican opponent, added that the nation’s founding fathers “would be appalled at what Congress is doing now.” Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar went further, describing Section 219 as “an outrageous threat to our country’s security and autonomy,” and arguing that “Americans want no part in Netanyahu’s genocidal regime. Congress cannot continue to bankroll Israel’s campaign of violence.”

    Following the House Rules Committee’s decision to block debate on the amendment, Khanna said that opponents would shift their focus to removing the provision during the conference committee process, where House and Senate negotiators will reconcile differences between the two chambers’ versions of the NDAA. “We need to now fight to strip this amendment in the conference between the House and the Senate,” Khanna said.

    Beyond the controversy over Israel policy, the main driver of unified Democratic opposition was a procedural move by Republican leadership to attach the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act to the defense spending bill. Championed by former President Donald Trump, the SAVE Act requires voters to provide formal proof of citizenship to register for federal elections. Democratic lawmakers universally condemned the decision to attach the hotly contested voting policy measure to a must-pass national security bill.

    Another high-profile amendment, which would have permanently codified Trump’s prior executive order barring transgender people from serving openly in the U.S. military, was narrowly defeated after four Republican lawmakers broke ranks to vote against the provision: Pennsylvania’s Brian Fitzpatrick, Mike Lawler of New York, Northern Mariana Islands Delegate Kimberlyn Kay King-Hinds, and Guam Delegate James Moylan.

    Now that the House has passed its version of the 2027 NDAA, the legislation moves to the U.S. Senate, where lawmakers will take up their own iteration of the defense spending package. Independent Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont reiterated widespread progressive opposition to the bill following the House vote, saying “Americans are saying loudly and clearly: No more US military support for the extremist Netanyahu government. That is why Congress must vote NO on the defense spending bill, which brings the US and Israeli militaries even closer together.”