Global Pulse

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  • ‘Even the coke is big’ – Foreign World Cup fans take in American culture

    ‘Even the coke is big’ – Foreign World Cup fans take in American culture

    As the 2026 FIFA World Cup brings thousands of international football supporters across North America, with three-quarters of all tournament matches hosted across the United States, many visitors are leaving the stadium stands to explore a side of American culture that has proven far more surprising than any on-pitch upset. For Ayoub Baghdad, a Moroccan fan who recently arrived in the U.S. to cheer on his national team, the most striking first impression had nothing to do with soccer, and everything to do with the sheer scale that defines everyday American life.

    “Everything is big, even the coke is big,” Baghdad said, noting that roadways, commercial trucks, and city buildings are far larger than the infrastructure he is accustomed to back in Morocco. He is far from alone in this observation: conversations with dozens of international fans reveal that the size of American consumer and public life has become one of the most talked-about unexpected takeaways of their trip, with viral clips flooding social media showing supporters reacting to oversized supermarket aisles, massive restaurant portions, and multi-purpose mega-retailers.

    Scottish vlogger Shaun captured widespread sentiment after a visit to Buc-ee’s, the beloved Southern U.S. convenience store chain that combines fuel, a full restaurant, a grocery store, and novelty merchandise under one roof. “A place like this could ONLY exist in America and I LOVE it,” he told reporters, echoing the wonder many visitors feel at the uniquely American approach to large-scale retail.

    Food has become a central part of many fans’ cross-cultural exploration, with visitors lining up to try chains and regional dishes they have only seen on television or in films. Ire Balogun, a traveler from Oxford, England, said he was caught off guard by how flavorful American food is compared to what he can get back home. “I’m surprised even with their fast food, there’s just so much more flavour. I’m sure it’s not good for you in many other ways … but the flavour comes through across the board, whether it’s Chinese or Hispanic food,” he explained.

    A group of Portuguese graduate students traveling from Madrid echoed that excitement, saying they have prioritized trying U.S. chain restaurants unavailable in their home countries, including Tex-Mex favorite Chipotle and celebrity-favorite burger chain Shake Shack, alongside small local eateries. “It what we are used to seeing in movies or TV shows,” said group member Lourenço Silva. “It’s a part of the experience of coming to the US.”

    Even small cultural norms have left an impression on visitors. Christian Boateng, a Ghanaian fan based in England, noted he was stunned not just by the oversized portions at American restaurants that left his group unable to finish their meal, but also by the common U.S. practice of excluding sales tax from listed retail prices — a system that works very differently from the standard pricing model in the United Kingdom. Many fans have also expressed surprise at the free perks U.S. restaurants regularly offer, from complimentary chips and salsa at Mexican eateries to free refills on soft drinks at nearly every dining establishment.

    Beyond food and size, many fans have noted a more muted overall World Cup atmosphere across the U.S. compared to past tournaments they have attended, including the 2018 Russia World Cup and 2022 Qatar World Cup. Balogun, who attended both prior tournaments, explained that this low-key energy is just another part of American culture: soccer has never claimed the title of the country’s most popular sport, and it is currently competing for public attention with the ongoing Major League Baseball season and ongoing conversation around the U.S.’s most-watched sport, American football.

    That competition between major sports even created an unexpected highlight for two England fans visiting New York City. Jason Barnes and Harry Beckley, traveling from Portsmouth, accidentally stumbled into a massive street celebration in Times Square after the New York Knicks defeated the San Antonio Spurs to claim their first NBA championship in 53 years. “It’s the craziest celebration I have ever seen or even been a part of,” Barnes said. “We know basketball is huge in America, obviously not so much in the UK. It was unreal… I might even start following basketball now because of it.”

    Unlike past World Cups where fans tend to stay close to match host cities and major coastal hubs, many international supporters this year are branching out into the American heartland to seek out one-of-a-kind “only in America” experiences. One group of Portuguese fans is heading to the Southern U.S., including Georgia, Florida, and the Carolinas, to sample iconic regional cuisine. “We are gonna eat some more normal and more traditional American things like barbecue and maybe a seafood boil,” said group member Tomás Soares. “That’s the thing that like most of us are looking forward to.”

    While many fans note that travel and accommodation prices in the U.S. are higher than they experienced at the 2022 Qatar World Cup, most agree the experience is well worth the cost. Baghdad, the Moroccan fan, summed up the widespread perspective: “You can make your own budget to come watch maybe one game or two games and have the experience with you for your whole life because it is not gonna happen again.”

  • UK actress charged with importing meth worth almost $300m into Australia

    UK actress charged with importing meth worth almost $300m into Australia

    A 34-year-old British performer, whose credits include a popular *EastEnders* spin-off and a Hollywood action film starring Jason Statham, is facing life imprisonment after being charged with orchestrating one of the more brazen recent illicit drug importation attempts in Australian history. Emaa Hussen made her first scheduled appearance in a Sydney courtroom Thursday, following her arrest on charges of attempting to bring a commercial-scale shipment of methamphetamine into the country from West Africa.

    Australian law enforcement authorities allege Hussen worked alongside a South Australian couple to smuggle 320 kilograms of meth hidden inside shipments of charcoal contained in shipping containers that departed Ghana for Sydney. The seizure of the narcotics puts their estimated street value at roughly AU$296 million, equal to approximately US$208 million or £157 million. If convicted on the charges, Hussen faces a maximum sentence of life behind bars. She was previously denied bail during an earlier court hearing and is scheduled to reappearance for further proceedings in August.

    Hussen’s acting resume includes a role as the character Naz in *E20*, the youth-focused *EastEnders* spin-off that first premiered on British television in 2010. She also held a supporting role in the 2013 Jason Statham action thriller *Hummingbird*, which was distributed in the United States under the title *Redemption*.

    The investigation that led to Hussen’s arrest was launched back in April, when border security officials detected unusual density inconsistencies during scanning of two shipping containers that had arrived at Port Botany in Sydney from Ghana. The containers were officially declared to hold only bags of charcoal, but x-ray scanning revealed the presence of an unidentified white crystalline substance hidden inside the cargo. Subsequent forensic testing confirmed the material was methamphetamine.

    Undercover law enforcement personnel monitored the shipment after seizing the drugs, allowing the container to be delivered to a pre-arranged storage facility in Girraween, a suburb in Western Sydney. Police investigations allege Hussen traveled to the storage facility to oversee the unloading process, where several co-conspirators unloaded the charcoal bags containing the drugs before transferring them to a private vehicle. The group then traveled to a residential property in the Sydney suburb of Blacktown, where officers moved in to arrest Hussen. During the arrest, law enforcement seized a number of electronic devices and a handwritten notebook as evidence.

    As part of the cross-state investigation, officers also arrested and charged a 30-year-old woman and 32-year-old man in Adelaide, the capital of South Australia. The pair are accused of using false identification documents to rent the Sydney storage units where the drug shipment was intended to be delivered before distribution.

    In a statement following the arrests, Acting Detective Superintendent Trevor Robinson of the Australian Federal Police highlighted the massive public impact of the seizure, noting that the 320 kilograms of meth would have been split into roughly 3.2 million individual street deals that would have reached communities across Australia. “This seizure keeps hundreds of thousands of deadly illicit drug doses off our streets, and eliminates a huge revenue stream for transnational criminal syndicates,” Robinson said.

    Jared Leighton, Superintendent of the Australian Border Force, commended his agency’s officers for their vigilance in detecting the carefully hidden shipment. “Organized criminal groups will go to extraordinary lengths to disguise their illicit contraband, even hiding narcotics in common, everyday goods like charcoal to avoid detection,” Leighton said. “But our highly trained, experienced officers have the skills and technology to see through these deceptive tactics and stop these dangerous drugs before they enter our communities.”

  • Mangione’s lawyers reverse course on psychiatric defence in state murder trial

    Mangione’s lawyers reverse course on psychiatric defence in state murder trial

    In a sudden procedural shift that has reshaped the upcoming state murder trial for the man accused of assassinating UnitedHealthcare Chief Executive Brian Thompson, defense attorneys for 28-year-old Luigi Mangione have announced they will no longer pursue a psychiatric mitigation strategy for their client.

    The about-face came just 24 hours after Mangione’s legal team informed New York State Supreme Court Judge Gregory Carro that they intended to argue their client acted under extreme emotional disturbance when the shooting occurred, a development that caught legal observers and prosecuting officials off guard. The reversal was finalized ahead of a Thursday deadline requiring the defense to turn over all supporting evidence and expert documentation for the psychiatric claim to prosecutors from the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, which has declined to comment on the sudden change. The BBC’s attempts to reach Mangione’s attorneys for additional clarification on the decision have so far gone unanswered.

    Mangione has maintained a plea of not guilty in both the state murder case and separate federal charges stemming from the December 4, 2024, killing of Thompson, a 50-year-old father of two. The fatal shooting took place in midtown Manhattan, as Thompson arrived at a local hotel to attend UnitedHealthcare’s annual investor conference; witnesses reported a masked gunman opened fire from behind before fleeing, and Mangione was taken into custody by law enforcement just days after the attack.

    Legal experts explain that abandoning the extreme emotional disturbance argument drastically alters the trajectory of the case. Had the defense moved forward with the strategy and convinced a jury to accept it, Mangione would have faced a reduced conviction on manslaughter charges rather than first-degree murder, carrying a significantly shorter prison sentence. Unlike an insanity plea, which seeks full exoneration and typically results in commitment to a psychiatric facility instead of prison time, an extreme emotional disturbance defense still requires the defendant to acknowledge they carried out the killing, only arguing mitigating circumstances that reduced their criminal culpability at the time of the offense, according to criminal law expert Richard Schoenstein, who spoke to CBS about the case.

    Mangione appeared in court Wednesday for a pre-trial hearing where Judge Carro addressed the then-planned psychiatric defense. His next scheduled court appearance is set for August 11, with the full state murder trial slated to begin on September 8. In addition to the state murder charge, Mangione also faces federal stalking charges, which carry a maximum possible sentence of life imprisonment if he is convicted.

  • India’s rapidly expanding cash transfers need to be cheaper and smarter

    India’s rapidly expanding cash transfers need to be cheaper and smarter

    As the world’s fastest-growing major economy, India has increasingly turned to direct cash transfer programs to shield its most vulnerable populations from extreme poverty. Over the past 10 years, these targeted cash handouts — initially focused on women and farmers — have evolved into a central pillar of the country’s anti-poverty strategy, with allocation growth outpacing spending on longstanding flagship welfare schemes.

    New data compiled by Indian policy research groups illustrates just how dramatic this expansion has been. According to ProjectDEEP, an organization focused on advancing evidence-based cash policy across India, combined federal and state funding for cash transfer initiatives has surged more than 20-fold since 2015, climbing from less than $2 billion to nearly $30 billion today. These outlays now account for just under 1% of India’s total GDP and more than 10% of all national social sector spending, a larger share than traditional food security and employment guarantee programs.

    The reach of these programs has also expanded sharply in just five years. Crisil Intelligence data shows that as of 2026, 17 of India’s 28 states plus the federal territory of Delhi now offer regular monthly cash transfers to eligible residents. That is up from only four states back in 2019. While critics often dismiss the schemes as politically motivated vote-grabbing or wasteful spending, analysts say they have emerged as an effective tool to address two of India’s most persistent economic challenges: sluggish household consumption and long-term structural unemployment.

    Monthly transfer amounts vary by state, ranging from 1,000 rupees (roughly $10.5) to 2,500 rupees per beneficiary. A 2026 Crisil report found that the median 1,500-rupee monthly transfer covers 74% of regular monthly spending for the bottom 20% of rural households, and 51% for low-income urban households, creating a much-needed new buffer for household consumption at a time of widespread economic volatility. This safety net has proven particularly valuable amid persistent inflation driven by high global energy prices and disruptions to agricultural output from the El Niño weather pattern, the report added.

    In recent years, the scope of these programs has expanded beyond women and farmers to target another vulnerable group: unemployed youth. Nearly 10 state governments, including Bihar — India’s poorest state — have launched new cash transfer schemes for jobless young people seeking work, with almost all of these programs launched within the past three years. “Unemployment is a particularly big question in India, with the rise of AI and climate shocks making income streams more uncertain. These schemes are typically designed to create bridge income,” explained Pankhuri Shah, co-founder of ProjectDEEP, in an interview.

    For all their short-term benefits in stabilizing household finances, the rapid growth of cash transfers has sparked growing concerns about unsustainable fiscal costs for state governments. India’s annual Economic Survey, a pre-budget policy document published by the federal government, has identified these expanding programs as a key driver of growing fiscal stress across states, noting that half of all states running cash transfer programs currently operate with a revenue deficit. Crisil data shows that gross state market borrowing jumped 15.2% year-over-year in fiscal 2026 — a faster rate of increase than borrowing by the federal government — and 12 states offering cash transfers recorded double-digit growth in borrowing. A 2025 analysis by Axis Research found that most cash transfer programs are funded either by cutting spending in other areas or by expanding state deficits, meaning rising outlays for cash transfers are coming at the direct cost of reduced investment in other priority areas. The Economic Survey warns that this trend leaves increasingly limited room for productive capital spending that generates long-term income growth, and calls for regular independent reassessments of all active programs.

    Shah agrees that structural gaps in program design remain a major unaddressed issue. Most current cash transfer schemes have no set end date, and their primary impact is short-term consumption stabilization rather than helping low-income households permanently exit poverty. “Impact assessment is virtually non-existent and that leads to big gaps in design,” Shah said. For example, if a program’s stated goal is to support elderly consumption but only provides 200 rupees per month, the benefit is too small to deliver meaningful impact and needs to be revised. Shah also noted that policymakers need to evaluate when cash transfers can replace inefficient in-kind subsidies, such as livestock, maternal care kits, or energy and agricultural equipment subsidies. Streamlining benefits this way could cut administrative costs and eliminate overlapping payments to the same beneficiary, making the entire system more financially sustainable. There is already proven precedent for this approach: when India converted its LPG cooking gas subsidy from in-kind distribution to direct cash transfers, the policy saved the country between $7 billion and $8 billion, according to ProjectDEEP analysis.

    Pilot programs run by research organizations like ProjectDEEP are already testing alternative design models that could boost the long-term impact of cash transfers. In 2022, Shah and her team launched an experiment in drought-prone Krishanpur, Maharashtra, giving a one-time lump-sum transfer of 65,000 rupees to 50 low-income households, rather than spreading payments out in small monthly installments. Over three years, the program expanded to six additional villages, with more than $500,000 in private corporate funding deposited directly into the bank accounts of 3,500 low-income families across India. The results have been promising: nearly 90% of participating households used the lump-sum funds to invest in long-term livelihood improvements, pay down high-interest debt, and build permanent income-generating assets. For example, Shobha, a rural woman from Maharashtra’s Shelkui village, used her transfer to buy a small flour grinder. The investment cut down on time and travel costs she previously spent getting grain milled in a nearby town, while also creating a new steady source of additional income for her family. Unlike monthly transfers that only cover daily consumption needs, the lump sum acted as seed capital to kick off a cycle of self-sustaining investment. Comparative research from Kenya has found similar results, with lump-sum transfers delivering a higher rate of return per dollar spent than incremental monthly payments.

    Shah argues that as cash transfers become politically entrenched and their fiscal costs continue to rise, Indian policymakers need to adopt more creative design models that prioritize investment in long-term self-sufficiency rather than just short-term consumption support. However, scaling this model nationwide poses significant practical challenges. “A lump sum is irreversible, so targeting must be near-perfect. A large amount concentrates the risk of capture and misuse. Also, the cost must be borne by the government within a single budget year,” explained Dr. Vidya Mahambare, an economics professor at the Great Lakes Institute of Management in Chennai. Mahambare added that at its core, the Indian government cannot rely on cash transfers to solve the country’s biggest economic challenges. “Cash can cushion consumption, but it cannot substitute for employment. And once families become dependent on transfers, they are very difficult to withdraw,” she said. For the many Indian states that have already locked themselves into expansive, costly welfare promises, this balancing act between short-term support and long-term fiscal and economic sustainability remains one of the most pressing policy challenges they face.

  • Exclusive: ICC member states to vote on Karim Khan probe in New York on 24 July

    Exclusive: ICC member states to vote on Karim Khan probe in New York on 24 July

    The International Criminal Court (ICC) is set to face a pivotal moment on July 24, when 123 member states will gather in New York City for a historic special vote that will decide the future of sitting chief prosecutor Karim Khan, multiple diplomatic sources have confirmed exclusively to Middle East Eye. The vote stems from misconduct allegations that have roiled the global court, and will mark the final step in a process that has already sparked deep controversy over institutional process and political interference.

    The path to this special session began in May 2024, when unpublicized allegations of sexual misconduct against Khan first emerged. Khan has repeatedly and forcefully denied all wrongdoing connected to the claims. When the original complainant declined to cooperate with the ICC’s internal investigative mechanisms, the court’s governing body, the Assembly of States Parties (ASP), commissioned an independent probe led by the United Nations. Over the course of more than a year, UN investigators collected and vetted evidence, with their findings then passed to a panel of independent judges appointed by the ASP Bureau — the 15-member executive steering committee of the ICC’s member states.

    Working to the strict legal standard of proof beyond a reasonable doubt, the judicial panel delivered a unanimous ruling in March 2025, following three months of review of the 150-page UN investigative report and its 5,000 pages of supporting evidence. In a conclusion viewed by Middle East Eye, the panel confirmed that the evidence presented “do not establish misconduct or breach of duty under the relevant framework.”

    In a move that has alarmed legal observers, however, the ASP Bureau simply set aside the judicial panel’s independent finding when it met on June 8. By a qualified majority vote, the Bureau moved to suspend Khan from his post, and in a confidential decision obtained by MEE, a two-thirds majority of voting Bureau members went a step further, formally recommending a finding of “serious misconduct” against the prosecutor. That recommendation cleared the way for the full ASP to hold a final vote on the matter, scheduled for the New York special session this month.

    Under the ICC’s existing governing rules, the 125-member ASP is the sole body with authority to issue a final binding determination on the misconduct allegations and rule on whether to remove Khan from office permanently. When member states convene, they will first vote on whether to uphold the Bureau’s recommendation, with three possible outcomes on the table: a finding of serious misconduct, a finding of less serious misconduct, or a ruling that no misconduct occurred. Any finding of misconduct will require approval from a two-thirds majority of member states present and casting a vote.

    If a majority endorses a finding of serious misconduct, the ASP will move to a second, separate vote on whether to remove Khan from his position permanently. To remove the prosecutor, the motion will need the support of an absolute majority of all 125 ICC member states — a minimum threshold of 63 votes.

    The entire process has thrown the ICC into a state of unprecedented institutional uncertainty, with unregulated media leaks about the allegations compounding instability around Khan’s leadership. Legal experts have raised sharp alarms about the Bureau’s decision to disregard the independent judicial panel’s finding, warning that the move risks turning a disciplinary process into a politicized exercise that undermines the court’s credibility.

    Critics have also drawn attention to the timing of the allegations, which have unfolded alongside a sustained diplomatic campaign by the United States and its allies to block Khan’s ongoing investigation into alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Israeli officials in Gaza, where the UN and multiple human rights groups have documented widespread civilian death and humanitarian catastrophe.

    Khan, a British barrister who was elected as the ICC’s third chief prosecutor in February 2021, has made pursuing high-profile cases against sitting and former heads of state a central priority of his tenure. His office has secured arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin over the illegal invasion of Ukraine, for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over actions in Gaza, for junta leaders in Myanmar accused of genocide against the Rohingya people, and for senior Taliban officials over targeted attacks on Afghan civilians.

    Khan’s aggressive pursuit of these high-stakes cases has already triggered retaliation from major non-member states. In 2025, the Trump administration reimposed and expanded harsh economic sanctions on Khan, later extending the measures to target two deputy prosecutors, eight sitting ICC judges, the UN Special Rapporteur on Palestine, and multiple Palestinian non-governmental organizations that provided evidence to the court’s Gaza investigation. Russian courts have also issued an arrest warrant for Khan in absentia in retaliation for the Putin warrant. The ICC holds jurisdiction over crimes committed on the territory of its member states, even when the accused are nationals of non-member countries like the United States, Russia, and Israel.

  • Tay Keith, producer who worked with Travis Scott and Drake, found dead

    Tay Keith, producer who worked with Travis Scott and Drake, found dead

    The global hip-hop community is mourning the sudden passing of 29-year-old Grammy-nominated producer Tay Keith, whose innovative work shaped some of the biggest rap hits of the last decade. Born Brytavious Chambers in Memphis, Tennessee, Keith was found unresponsive in his Nashville residence on Wednesday after local police conducted a routine welfare check. Law enforcement officials have confirmed no foul play is suspected in his death, though a formal cause of death has not yet been released to the public. An official autopsy is currently underway to clarify the circumstances of his passing.

    Over his 10-year career, Keith built a reputation as one of the most sought-after producers in the industry, collaborating with A-list hip-hop and pop artists ranging from Drake, Travis Scott and Eminem to Beyoncé, Cardi B and Lil Nas X. He earned his first career Grammy nomination in 2019 for co-producing Travis Scott’s chart-topping hit Sicko Mode, a track that redefined modern trap production and cemented his status as a breakout talent. He picked up a second Grammy nod earlier this year in the Best Rap Song category for his work on Drake and 21 Savage’s 2023 hit Rich Flex.

    Beyond his work with established superstars, Keith was widely recognized for lifting emerging talent into the mainstream spotlight. Most notably, he produced breakout tracks for rising female rapper Sexyy Red, including her viral hit Pound Town and recent single Get It Sexyy, the latter of which was featured on the hit HBO drama Euphoria. He was also celebrated for his distinct Memphis-influenced production style, which blended heavy 808 bass lines and dynamic rhythmic patterns that became a signature of 2010s and 2020s hip-hop.

    Keith’s career path defied common industry wisdom, as he prioritized completing his college education alongside his booming music career. While studying at Middle Tennessee State University, he balanced studio sessions with coursework, eventually graduating with a degree in integrated studies and media management. In a 2020 interview with the university’s alumni magazine, he explained his commitment to finishing his degree: “There wouldn’t be any point for me to come to college if I didn’t want to finish it — I could have just focused 100% on music. By my last week of college, I had my first No. 1 single, so it didn’t make any sense to drop out.”

    In 2023, Keith’s industry impact was formally recognized when he was named to Forbes’ annual 30 Under 30 Music list, honoring the most influential young talent in the industry. Tributes have already begun pouring in from across the hip-hop community: Memphis rapper BlocBoy JB, who has been close with Keith since they were both 14 years old, shared an emotional tribute on Instagram that included a screenshot of their frequent phone conversations, writing: “We talked everyday yeen tell me you was leaving.”

    As the music community processes the news of his unexpected passing, fans and peers alike are celebrating Keith’s outsized contribution to modern hip-hop, which will leave a lasting impact on the genre for years to come.

  • World Cup: New Zealand’s viral soccer star Tim Payne signs with Olimpia in Paraguay

    World Cup: New Zealand’s viral soccer star Tim Payne signs with Olimpia in Paraguay

    WELLINGTON, New Zealand — In a career turn that traces back to an unexpected viral spotlight during the 2022 FIFA World Cup, New Zealand men’s soccer defender Tim Payne has formally confirmed he will continue his professional career at one of South America’s most storied clubs, Paraguay’s Club Olimpia, on a one-year contract.

    Payne’s rapid rise from relative obscurity to global social media fame began when Argentine soccer influencer Valen Scarsini, known publicly by his handle El Scarso, highlighted him during the World Cup as the tournament participant with the smallest personal social media following. At the time, the defender had only 4,700 followers on his Instagram account. Within days of the influencer’s video going viral, that number skyrocketed to 5.8 million, turning Payne into an overnight name among soccer fans worldwide.

    This sudden surge in global profile caught the attention of professional clubs across multiple South American nations and North America, with sides from Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Mexico all registering formal interest in securing Payne’s signature. On Friday, Payne verified an earlier report from the Associated Press confirming his deal with the Paraguayan giants, closing out a seven-year tenure with Australia’s A-League side Wellington Phoenix, where he made 149 first-team appearances.

    Reflecting on his departure from the only professional club he had called home for nearly a decade, Payne called the choice to move a difficult one. “To the fans, my teammates, and all those who have supported me throughout my career, through the highs and the lows, thank you,” he said in a statement Friday. “Without you I would not be here representing my country at the World Cup — the very pinnacle of the sport.”

    For Payne, the move to Club Olimpia represents a long-sought chance to test his abilities against elite competition outside of Oceania and Australia. “I’ve always pushed myself to be the best footballer I can be,” he explained. “To test myself at the very top of South American football, competing in the Copa Libertadores and the Copa Sudamericana, is one of the most incredible opportunities I could have asked for as a professional.”

    Club Olimpia is no stranger to continental success, most recently claiming its 48th Paraguayan Primera Apertura title, cementing its status as one of the most decorated clubs in South American soccer. Payne highlighted the club’s legacy as a core reason he jumped at the opportunity. “Club Olimpia is one of the biggest clubs in South America, with an incredible history, passionate supporters and ambitions that match its stature,” Payne said. “I am looking forward to rising to that challenge.”

  • Trump presents the Medal of Honor to 3 veterans for heroism in Vietnam and Afghanistan

    Trump presents the Medal of Honor to 3 veterans for heroism in Vietnam and Afghanistan

    WASHINGTON, D.C. – In a solemn and moving White House ceremony Thursday, former President Donald Trump presented the Medal of Honor, the U.S. military’s highest decoration for valor, to three veterans whose extraordinary acts of bravery saved countless lives and turned the tide of enemy advances during conflicts in Vietnam and Afghanistan.

    Two of the honorees, retired Marine Corps Maj. James Capers Jr. and Army Maj. Nicholas Dockery, accepted the award in person, while the third, retired Marine Corps Col. John W. Ripley, received the honor posthumously more than 15 years after his 2008 passing. Opening the ceremony, Trump paid tribute to the three men, saying, “These are great men, great people. We thank you and we will never, ever forget you.”

    At 88 years old, Capers was recognized for his selfless leadership during a fatal 1967 Vietnam ambush. What began as a routine reconnaissance mission targeting a suspected North Vietnamese Army base camp quickly devolved into days of brutal close-quarters combat in the thick, unforgiving Vietnamese jungle. On the fourth day of the operation, Capers’ small team was surrounded and outnumbered by enemy fighters, and a hidden land mine blast left the major with a broken leg and severe abdominal wounds. Despite his life-threatening injuries, Capers insisted on retaining command after receiving a dose of morphine, Trump recounted. “He took over like nobody’s ever seen before,” the former president said.

    Capers immediately called in targeted air support to repel the attacking force, and when a rescue helicopter arrived to evacuate the unit, he insisted all wounded Marines be loaded onto the aircraft before he boarded himself. A heartfelt, unscripted moment unfolded during the medal presentation: after pinning the Medal of Honor around Capers’ neck, Trump adjusted the decoration to sit straight against the veteran’s chest, pulling him forward in a gesture of respect. The 88-year-old, who had held a composed expression up to that point, broke into a warm smile when Trump grinned back at him.

    The second posthumous honor went to Ripley, celebrated for a one-man mission that halted a massive North Vietnamese advance in 1972. When more than 30,000 enemy troops and 200 tanks advanced toward a critical strategic bridge in the village of Dong Ha, Ripley took on the high-risk task of destroying the crossing single-handedly. Over five grueling hours, he repeatedly climbed across the bridge’s exposed steel beams while under constant enemy fire, placing a total of 500 pounds of explosives in key positions. “John completed not one, not two, but five such trips,” Trump noted, calling Ripley a “very strong guy.” After placing the final charge, Ripley said a prayer before triggering the detonation, sending the entire bridge collapsing into the river below and stopping the enemy advance in its tracks. Ripley’s three sons and other extended family members attended the ceremony to accept the medal on his behalf.

    The final living recipient, Dockery, was honored for his extraordinary courage during a 2012 Taliban ambush in Afghanistan’s Kapisa Province, where his platoon was tasked with guarding a local compound. Outnumbered by an estimated 150 attacking insurgents, Dockery immediately sprinted across open, enemy-exposed ground to rally his scattered troops, then set out to locate missing service members. After carrying one wounded soldier out of active gunfire, he spotted two enemy fighters moving to kill a second wounded American troops trapped in an alley. Dockery eliminated the two insurgents before administering CPR to the wounded soldier, restoring his breathing, according to his official citation.

    After calling in mortar support to target enemy positions, Dockery used his own body to shield the wounded soldier from incoming blast shrapnel. After hours of intense urban combat, Dockery deployed smoke grenades to mark enemy positions for U.S. attack gunships, and he refused to leave the battle site until every last wounded service member had been evacuated to safety. “You were the last man to depart the battlefield that day,” Trump told Dockery. “and you left it a legend and a hero.”

  • Israeli drones hit Lebanon soon after Trump, Iran sign peace deal

    Israeli drones hit Lebanon soon after Trump, Iran sign peace deal

    On Thursday, just hours after the United States and Iran signed a landmark memorandum of understanding to guide negotiations ending a regional war launched in late February, the Israeli military launched two targeted drone strikes across southern Lebanon, leaving one person dead and three others injured, according to local official media.

    Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency confirmed the details of the attacks: the first strike hit the town of Beit Yahoun, where an Israeli drone dropped an explosive device that wounded two local residents. A second attack targeted a vehicle at a roundabout connecting the villages of Kfartebnit and Arnoun, killing one passenger and leaving a second in critical condition.

    The unprovoked attacks have immediately raised urgent questions about the future of the new US-Iran peace deal, whose text explicitly includes provisions for Lebanese security and requires an immediate end to all military operations across the country. The MOU, signed by both leaders during a diplomatic gathering in France late Wednesday, formalizes a binding commitment to end all active hostilities on every front—including Lebanon—between the two nations and their respective allies. It also requires all signatory parties to abandon threats of force, respect each other’s territorial sovereignty, and guarantee the full territorial integrity and political independence of Lebanon.

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has long faced accusations of actively working to derail diplomatic progress between Washington and Tehran, and he has openly defied the terms of the new framework, refusing to issue any commitment to withdraw Israeli military forces currently occupying large swathes of southern Lebanon. Since Israeli military operations against targets in Lebanon began on March 2, Lebanese official data records that nearly 3,800 people have been killed in these attacks, hundreds of whom are children.

    Reuters reported Thursday that Israeli officials are currently holding closed-door negotiations with the United States to push for permission to maintain a permanent military presence in southern Lebanon. An anonymous senior Israeli official close to Netanyahu told the outlet that the Israeli government would not back away from its demands, including keeping troops deployed in the strategic area south of Lebanon’s Litani River. A second senior Israeli official added that the final outcome of these negotiations will depend entirely on whether US President Donald Trump is willing to pressure Israel into compliance, by threatening concrete repercussions if Jerusalem refuses to adhere to the interim peace pact’s terms.

    During a press conference held Wednesday, one day after the MOU was signed, Trump struck a diplomatic tone when speaking about Netanyahu, calling the Israeli leader “a very good man” and an “amazing prime minister.” He did, however, acknowledge the ongoing rift over Lebanon, saying, “We have a little dispute over Lebanon. I say, ‘You can do a little softer touch, Bibi. You don’t have to knock down a building every time somebody walks into it that’s from Hezbollah.’”

    Iran has already issued a clear warning that the entire MOU will be invalidated if Israel refuses to fully withdraw all its forces from Lebanese territory and end all military attacks. Speaking Thursday, Esmaeil Baqaei, spokesperson for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, said that the United States bears full responsibility for forcing Israel to uphold the commitments Washington made to Tehran in the signed document, saying “It is the responsibility of the US to force Israel to respect the US commitments to Iran in this document.”

  • Israel ‘will be at war with Syria sooner or later’, says Likud minister

    Israel ‘will be at war with Syria sooner or later’, says Likud minister

    A senior far-right Israeli cabinet member from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling Likud party has stoked regional tensions this week with explosive comments forecasting that Israel will ultimately go to war with Syria, and outlining a sweeping new anti-Israel alliance he claims is taking shape across the Muslim world.

    Amichai Chikli, Israel’s Minister of Diaspora Affairs, laid out his controversial assessment in a series of radio interviews conducted across Wednesday and Thursday, framing the emerging bloc as a far greater threat to Israeli national security than Iran and its recently finalized ceasefire agreement with the United States.

    Chikli centered his criticism on the new government led by Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, claiming its jihadist ideological roots tied to the Islamic State and al-Qaeda, paired with its stated goal of securing the unification of Jerusalem, make peaceful coexistence with Israel impossible. From that foundation, he argued that a full military confrontation between Israel and Syria is inevitable. “There is no way that a jihadist regime rooted in Isis and al-Qaeda, whose aspiration is the unification of Jerusalem, can live in peace alongside the State of Israel,” Chikli stated.

    The minister went on to identify a three-country coalition he calls the “radical Sunni axis of evil”, made up of Pakistan, Turkey, and Qatar. In remarks to Israel’s Army Radio, he emphasized that this unreported new alliance poses a far more acute danger to Israel than Tehran, even as he acknowledged that Iran has secured major strategic gains through its U.S.-brokered ceasefire. “What is far more troubling is the new axis emerging in the Middle East,” Chikli explained.

    He argued Pakistan and Turkey earned their place in the bloc through their outsized influence during U.S.-Iran negotiations, while he dismissed Qatar as the global public relations mouthpiece for jihadist movements during an interview with Kol Barama Radio. Chikli reserved his sharpest criticism for Ankara, describing Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s regional ambitions as “an extremely dangerous combination” for Israel. He claimed Turkey has effectively installed a protectorate over much of Syria, and doubled down on his assessment by saying “Turkey and Syria are ten thousand times more concerning than Iran.”

    Chikli’s comments come amid a sharp upward trajectory in bilateral tensions between Ankara and Jerusalem. Erdogan earlier this month declared that Israel’s ongoing military strikes in Syria and Lebanon constitute a direct threat to Turkish national security, stating that “Israel must be stopped, this is the duty of humanity.” Just weeks prior, Turkish Interior Minister Mustafa Ciftci publicly called for the “liberation” of Jerusalem, further ramping up rhetorical hostility between the two countries.

    Chikli is not an outlier in his hardline stance toward Turkey among senior Israeli political figures. Last week, fellow Likud lawmaker Ariel Kellner officially labeled Turkey an “enemy state,” while Israeli Culture and Sports Minister Miki Zohar argued last month that Israel must reclassify Turkey as an enemy state, warning that Ankara would face devastating consequences in any future conflict with Israel. Even former Israeli Prime Minister and opposition figure Naftali Bennett backed that framing back in February, declaring that “Turkey is the new Iran.”

    Outside of his regional security assessments, Chikli used his recent media appearances to defend a high-profile far-right British political agitator. After UK police detained Tommy Robinson, whose legal name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, and seized his electronic devices upon his return from a trip to Russia, Chikla called the action an attack on free speech. “One of Britain’s clearest voices against real Islamic terrorism is now being hunted under anti-terrorism laws. At this rate Britain will become the second Islamic Republic in Europe,” he claimed.

    Chikli also pushed back against the idea that the region is set for a long period of peace after two and a half years of continuous conflict. When asked if Israelis could expect an extended period of calm, he said he hoped for that outcome but did not expect it to hold. He argued that Turkey has open regional ambitions that directly undermine Israeli interests, though he was careful to clarify that Israel has no intention of capturing the Turkish capital of Ankara, and would welcome lasting peace with both Syria and Turkey. He closed by referencing the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel as a lesson: “When the enemy says something, I listen.”

    For years, Chikli has worked to build close working relationships with far-right political figures and governments across the globe, aligning with their anti-Islam and anti-immigration policy platforms.