Global Pulse

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  • AP Was There: 1975 summit at French castle plants seed for future G7 club of wealthy nations

    AP Was There: 1975 summit at French castle plants seed for future G7 club of wealthy nations

    Fifty years after the first gathering of top Western industrial leaders that laid the foundation for one of the world’s most influential global policy blocs, the upcoming G7 summit in France has drawn fresh attention to the historic 1975 meeting that started it all. On November 15, 1975, U.S. President Gerald Ford joined the heads of government from France, West Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, and Japan for three days of closed-door economic brainstorming at the Château de Rambouillet, a sprawling 14th-century royal retreat 30 miles outside Paris. That initial gathering of six nations would expand one year later with the addition of Canada, giving rise to the Group of Seven, a bloc that would shape global economic, diplomatic and security policy through the Cold War and beyond. To mark the upcoming 2024 summit, the Associated Press is republishing key excerpts of its original on-the-ground reporting from the 1975 inaugural summit, filed by veteran correspondent Arthur L. Gavshon.

    Opening the first session of the summit against the backdrop of Rambouillet’s gilded royal history—where Louis XV once relaxed and Napoleon Bonaparte spent his final night in France before exile to Saint Helena—President Ford laid out an ambitious goal for the assembled leaders: pull the global economy out of a crippling mid-1970s slump and return to full prosperity by 1977. A senior presidential aide told reporters that Ford categorically rejected the growing narrative that major industrial economies could never return to the pre-recession growth rates that had defined the post-war decades. He added that the U.S. economic recovery was already outpacing early forecasts, projecting that American growth would hit between 6% and 7% through 1976.

    After nearly three hours of open, informal talks, the leaders adjourned for dinner, and host French President Valéry Giscard d’Estaing offered an early optimistic assessment to waiting reporters. “I am optimistic. I think we can arrive at something concrete,” he said. A French presidential spokesperson echoed that positivity, noting that the leaders had already achieved a “remarkable convergence of views” on core challenges. Senior British officials signaled a growing consensus among attendees that the worst of the global downturn had already passed, while U.S. Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger echoed the upbeat tone, telling reporters the first day of talks “went very well.”

    True to the French government’s deliberate low-key framing of the event as a working seminar rather than a lavish state occasion, the opening night dinner was intentionally simple, a stark departure from the opulent banquets that usually mark high-level French state events. Stuffed chicken served with solid but unexceptional French wine was the featured main course, a deliberate choice aligned with the gathering’s focus on practical problem-solving over pomp. Even the attire of the participating leaders reflected this casual working tone: Giscard d’Estaing wore a soft greenish tweed weekend suit, West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt opted for a casual light gray suit, and only Ford dressed in more formal attire—a dark blue three-piece suit paired with a white shirt.

    The event’s organizers pulled out all stops to prepare the historic chateau for the high-profile gathering, hauling priceless art, furniture and statuary from the Louvre Museum in Paris to restore the chateau’s stately rooms, with moving crews working into the early hours of Saturday morning to finish setup. More than 3,000 armed French police officers were deployed across the chateau’s hundreds of acres of wooded grounds and manicured gardens to secure the meeting. Each leader was assigned a custom-furnished private apartment in the chateau: Ford took the top suite in the Francois I tower, the chateau’s most comfortable quarters, outfitted with a Spanish-made bed, a working fireplace and a direct hotline to the White House. Harold Wilson of the UK received a mahogany-and-satin suite overlooking the garden ponds, Takeo Miki of Japan took a wood-beamed apartment with period Louis XVI furniture, Helmut Schmidt stayed in a Directoire-style suite, and Aldo Moro of Italy was assigned rooms decorated in Empire-era furnishings.

    A number of key priorities emerged from the first day of discussions. Japanese Prime Minister Takeo Miki, who opened his remarks by noting that Japan’s export-reliant economy had been hit particularly hard by collapsing global trade, immediately pushed the group to prioritize commitments to expand and liberalize cross-border international commerce. British Prime Minister Harold Wilson, working through senior aides, called on fellow leaders to back a new, strengthened global non-proliferation framework to slow the spread of sensitive nuclear technology, equipment and weapons. On the second day of the summit, Ford was set to join Giscard d’Estaing and Moro for a religious service at the local Roman Catholic church in the nearby village of Poigny la Forêt, a short 10-minute drive from the chateau.

    Unlike large multilateral summits that target binding final agreements, the 1975 Rambouillet gathering was framed from the start as a collaborative working retreat, where leaders would not reach firm final decisions but instead align on shared policy directions to tackle the era’s most pressing economic challenges: double-digit inflation, rising unemployment, and shrinking global trade. White House Press Secretary Ron Nessen told reporters aboard Ford’s transatlantic flight to the summit that the meeting could ultimately deliver tangible benefits to American consumers, noting that the president had always framed the gathering through the lens of practical impacts for everyday households.

    Four core policy domains anchored the talks, each highlighting deep shared interests and occasional disagreements between the six nations. The first was long-running Franco-American tensions over reform of the global monetary system: French officials opposed the existing regime of floating exchange rates and pushed for a return to a more rigid fixed-rate system, while the U.S. and UK favored retaining the flexibility of floating rates. Second, leaders aligned around the need for a coordinated common energy policy, with Ford earning broad backing for his argument that industrial democracies could not allow their economic and political futures to be held hostage by oil-producing nations, calling for rapid joint development of new energy supply sources and collective conservation programs. Third, the group discussed the broader global economic outlook and coordinated strategies to curb inflation, which was already eroding political stability in dozens of countries. Finally, leaders debated how to structure more cooperative relationships between three tiers of the global economy: advanced Western industrial nations, newly wealthy oil and raw material exporting states, and the world’s lowest-income developing countries.

    Over the decades since that 1975 retreat, the G7 has grown into one of the world’s most consequential global forums, with rotating annual hostings that consistently draw global headlines thanks to the bloc’s combined economic, industrial, military and diplomatic weight.

  • Woman critically injured in shark attack off Sydney’s Coogee Beach

    Woman critically injured in shark attack off Sydney’s Coogee Beach

    SYDNEY, Australia — A series of concerning shark encounters along Australia’s coastline has continued, with a woman in her 30s sustaining life-threatening critical injuries during an attack off one of Sydney’s most frequented recreational beaches on Saturday.

    According to official police statements, the attack unfolded at 11:15 a.m. local time in waters adjacent to Coogee Beach, where the victim was swimming when the shark struck. She sustained severe, penetrating wounds to both her legs and arms, prompting immediate action from bystanders who pulled her from the ocean and initiated emergency first aid on the sand before emergency medical personnel could reach the scene.

    Following initial stabilization, the injured woman was transported to a nearby rugby field, where a rescue helicopter airlifted her rapidly to a major metropolitan hospital. As of the latest police update, her condition remains classified as critical.

    This weekend’s attack comes in the wake of an unusually high cluster of fatal shark attacks that have rocked Australian coastal communities since mid-May. Three professional and recreational spearfishing divers have been killed in separate shark encounters across the country in just over a month, bringing the total number of fatal shark attack fatalities in Australia in 2024 to four, not including the critically injured victim from Saturday.

    The string of recent fatal incidents began on May 16, when a 4-meter great white shark fatally attacked 38-year-old spearfisher Steve Mattabonni off the coast of Perth, Western Australia. One week later, on May 24, 39-year-old diver Michael Jensz suffered fatal head injuries during a shark encounter on the Great Barrier Reef off Queensland’s northeast coast, where bull sharks had previously been spotted in the local area. Most recently, just one week before Saturday’s attack at Coogee Beach, 35-year-old Daniel Turpin was killed by a 4.5-meter great white shark while spearfishing with family members off Michaelmas Island, near Albany in Western Australia.

    Australia’s fourth fatal attack of the year occurred far earlier, in January, when a 12-year-old boy died in a Sydney hospital several days after being mauled by a bull shark in Sydney Harbor. Last year, the country recorded five total fatal shark attacks, exceeding the long-term national average.

    Long-term data collected by the Australian Shark Incident Database — a collaborative project between Taronga Conservation Society Australia, Flinders University, and the New South Wales state government — shows that Australia has averaged between 2 and 3 fatal shark attacks per year since the turn of the 21st century. Experts have attributed the gradual rise in reported attacks over recent decades to multiple shifting factors: steady population growth along coastal areas, and a sharp increase in participation in ocean recreation activities including surfing, scuba diving, and spearfishing, which bring more people into contact with sharks on a regular basis.

  • AP exclusive: Doctors Without Borders report found cases of abuse and exploitation by staff in Chad

    AP exclusive: Doctors Without Borders report found cases of abuse and exploitation by staff in Chad

    A confidential internal investigation from global humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has uncovered a widespread pattern of sexual abuse and exploitation targeting vulnerable displaced populations on the Chad-Sudan border, exposing deep systemic failures in the group’s safeguards against misconduct in crisis settings. The 59 verified and alleged abuses, first brought to public attention by Associated Press investigative reporting, include exploitation of underage girls, transactional sex for food and work, and even indicators of potential organized trafficking among both local and international MSF staff.

  • Married at First Sight Australia stars not told partners had drug and violence convictions

    Married at First Sight Australia stars not told partners had drug and violence convictions

    A landmark investigation by the BBC has uncovered serious safety and duty of care failures on the hit reality dating series *Married At First Sight Australia*, revealing that multiple female contestants were matched with male co-stars who had undisclosed criminal convictions, leaving them feeling unprotected and at risk. The revelations come on the heels of a separate scandal involving the UK adaptation of the format, MAFS UK, which was thrown into crisis after BBC Panorama published rape accusations from two female participants — claims that all men named have denied.\n\nNine former cast members from the Australian iteration of the show, which is produced by Endemol Shine Australia and broadcast domestically on the Nine Network (Channel 9), have spoken out to the BBC, calling for sweeping overhauls of the series’ background vetting protocols and a ban on casting individuals with prior criminal convictions or formal allegations of harm. Unlike MAFS UK, the Australian production is operated by an entirely separate production team.\n\nThe format of MAFS sees consenting single people agree to a ceremonial, non-legal “marriage” to a complete stranger, who they meet for the first time only at their on-screen wedding. After the ceremony, couples go on honeymoons, move into shared accommodation, and have their daily relationship interactions filmed almost 24/7 for broadcast.\n\nOne of the contestants speaking out is Sierah Swepstone, who appeared on the 2025 season of the show. Swepstone told the BBC she was never informed that her on-screen match, Billy Belcher, had a 2014 conviction for multiple drug-related offenses in Perth, Australia, and only discovered the details after filming wrapped. \”There should be informed consent,\” Swepstone said in an interview. \”You shouldn’t be left alone with a stranger with a criminal record. At the very least, there should be informed consent. They should let us know. Why is the show accepting that risk on our behalf? We should have the choice.\” Swepstone added that she now believes the production failed its duty of care, saying plainly: \”Brides are not safe on MAFS Australia.\”\n\nIn response to queries about Belcher’s casting, Channel 9 and Endemol Shine Australia said Belcher had been fully transparent with production about his conviction, which he received as an 18-year-old and resulted in a suspended sentence with a good behavior bond. They also noted Belcher has never been convicted or accused of any form of violence or abuse. Belcher himself did not respond to the BBC’s request for comment.\n\nA second female contestant, speaking to the BBC on condition of anonymity under the pseudonym Anna, shared a far more alarming account. Anna said her on-screen partner disclosed to her during filming that he had a history of aggressive behavior — information that she says producers already knew about when they matched them. \”I was terrified the whole time,\” Anna said. \”I thought I’d be safe, that’s why I signed up to the show.\” She described multiple angry outbursts from her co-star, including an incident where he threw a microphone pack into a wall, smashing it, and another where he threw an object at production staff. The BBC has verified a photograph of a bruise Anna sent to her co-star during filming, to which he responded, \”Shit! I’m so sorry.\” Anna says the experience left her traumatized.\n\nChannel 9 and Endemol Shine Australia countered that the male contestant only had one isolated reported incident in his background from several years before filming, that he has no criminal record, and that the production has no documentation of the outbursts Anna described. The contestant has \”categorically denied every allegation\” made by Anna, calling the claims entirely false, malicious, and a distortion of reality. Anna said her primary criticism is directed at the production, not just her co-star: \”Channel 9 are making money off people who are vulnerable. They did the checks and they knew about his background, and they cast him anyway as it makes ‘good TV.’\”\n\nThe BBC’s investigation also uncovered three other male cast members with criminal convictions that were not disclosed to their on-screen matches: 2025 groom Adrian Araouzou, who was convicted of affray in 2017; 2024 contestant Timothy Smith, who served one year in a U.S. prison for drug trafficking; and 2026 series contestant Chris Nield, who was found guilty of common assault more than a decade prior.\n\nAraouzou called the BBC’s reporting on his conviction false and said the details of his past were none of the outlet’s business. The BBC confirmed the affray conviction through publicly accessible Australian court records, and understands Araouzou’s on-screen bride was never told about the conviction. In response, production said all contestants complete extensive background checks including police screenings, and noted Araouzou’s conviction was nine years old, resulted in a $400 Australian fine (around £210), and fell on the lowest end of the court’s sentencing spectrum for the offense.\n\nSmith, who describes himself on his personal website as a \”cartel pilot to corporate leader,\” confirmed his drug trafficking conviction to the BBC. Production said Smith did not disclose his U.S. criminal conviction until after the 2024 series finished airing. Nield did not respond to the BBC’s request for comment, and production noted his 11-year-old assault conviction stemmed from a one-off altercation with no repeated offenses since.\n\nMultiple other former cast members told the BBC they have deep concerns about the speed and thoroughness of the show’s casting vetting process. One anonymous male groom said only two weeks passed between his application and the start of filming, leading to what he described as \”rushed\” checks. When he was unable to locate official documentation confirming he had no criminal record, he said producers told him they would \”just take his word for it\” to keep production on schedule. \”I didn’t have a criminal record, but it raises the question over what happens if they put someone on the show who does have a history,\” he said.\n\nOther former contestants who were not personally matched with convicted individuals say they have been aware of the gaps in vetting for years. Katie Johnstone, a 2025 cast member, said: \”If you’re with someone who has a sketchy background, then you should be made aware of that. Especially considering you’re expected to be alone and share a room with this person. You need to know and it’s not fair that women are being placed in these positions.\” Tahnee Cook, who appeared on the 2023 series, added: \”These checks can’t just be a tick box. I don’t think you should be allowed on with any previous offense. I think it’s unsafe.\”\n\nAustralia’s Our Watch, a leading non-profit organization focused on preventing violence against women, told the BBC that reality TV productions must treat prior convictions or allegations of harm \”as a serious safeguarding issue, and not withhold from the people most at risk.\”\n\nIn its official response to the investigation, Channel 9 and Endemol Shine Australia say they take participant safety, health, and wellbeing \”extremely seriously,\” and maintain they have \”strong protocols\” in place, including a multi-stage vetting process that covers police and criminal background checks across all countries a contestant has lived, independent psychological assessments, medical screenings, legally binding disclosure statements, and digital and legal due diligence. The production also confirmed that their current protocols do not require sharing personal background information between matched participants, a policy the BBC specifically asked about and did not receive a revised answer on.\n\nWhile the series is a ratings juggernaut in its native Australia, it also boasts a large international fanbase, particularly in the UK, where it airs on Channel 4. After the MAFS UK scandal broke, Channel 4 pulled all episodes of the UK adaptation from its streaming service All 4, but the Australian version remains available to stream. Channel 4 said it does not participate in production of the Australian series and holds no editorial control over its content, but that it ensures all acquired programming aired on its networks adheres to the Ofcom Broadcasting Code.

  • UAE paid Iran billions of dollars to halt strikes: Report

    UAE paid Iran billions of dollars to halt strikes: Report

    In a dramatic reversal of its long-held hardline stance toward Iran, the United Arab Emirates has reached a landmark agreement that includes billions of dollars in payments to Tehran in exchange for a permanent halt to Iranian attacks on Emirati territory, multiple international news outlets have reported. The development marks one of the most significant geopolitical realignments in the Persian Gulf in recent years, reshaping long-standing regional power dynamics in the wake of the US-led conflict against Iran.

    Details of the agreement remain fragmented across multiple anonymous sources, but the core framework has been confirmed by reporting from Reuters, Bloomberg, and Middle East Eye. According to two regional insiders cited by Reuters, the UAE has already transferred $3 billion to Iran as an initial installment, with the total value of the deal projected to reach as high as $10 billion. Two other anonymous sources, however, put the eventual total payout at $20 billion. It remains unclear whether the funds were drawn from frozen Iranian assets held in Emirati financial institutions or from the UAE’s own sovereign wealth funds, a question Reuters did not pursue in its initial reporting.

    The shift comes after years of the UAE positioning itself as one of Iran’s most vocal critics in the Gulf. Abu Dhabi once led regional lobbying efforts in Washington to push for continued aggressive US policy toward the Islamic Republic, and joined the US and Israel in launching dozens of strikes against Iranian targets during the recent regional war. It even took punitive measures against Pakistan when Islamabad hosted mediation talks aimed at ending the conflict, calling in outstanding debt obligations that forced Saudi Arabia to step in with a new emergency loan to stabilize Pakistan’s economy.

    In recent weeks, however, the rapid reversal of this policy has been impossible to ignore. Just days after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a high-profile wartime visit to Abu Dhabi that resulted in a new joint defense acquisition deal between the two countries, the UAE’s powerful national security adviser and Abu Dhabi Deputy Ruler Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed al-Nahyan hosted senior officials from Iran’s US-sanctioned Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps at his private guest house. This meeting was followed by a new round of face-to-face diplomatic talks between Emirati envoys and senior Iranian leaders this week, held to further de-escalate cross-border tensions, Bloomberg confirmed. A Gulf diplomat told Middle East Eye that the discussions were aimed explicitly at securing guarantees that the UAE would not be targeted in Iranian retaliatory attacks.

    The new arrangement has already played out in regional security dynamics: as Iran has launched retaliatory strikes against smaller Gulf states including Bahrain, Kuwait, and Jordan in recent weeks amid a fragile US-Iran ceasefire, the UAE has faced no attacks, and has refrained from joining new strikes against Iran. Analysts say the deal signals that Iran has emerged from the recent conflict in a strengthened regional position, despite coordinated pressure from the US, Israel, and Gulf allies.

    For decades, the UAE has served as a key financial and trade hub for Iran, with deep economic ties that have often outlasted periods of geopolitical tension. Iranians hold major stakes in the UAE’s lucrative real estate sector, and even after the outbreak of the US-Israeli war on Iran, when Abu Dhabi publicly considered freezing billions of dollars in Iranian-linked assets, it never followed through with a public implementation of that threat. Esfandyar Batmanghelidj, chief executive of the Bourse & Bazaar Foundation, noted on social media platform X that the agreement is likely the first step toward revitalizing these cross-border economic bonds. “Everyone needs to remember that the UAE is Iran’s most important trading partner. By ‘releasing’ funds to Iran, the UAE ensures those funds will be spent in the Emirates,” Batmanghelidj wrote. “Both countries will double down on economic interdependence and the multiplier effects of bilateral trade.”

    The deal also carries implications for US diplomacy in the region. One source told Reuters that the arrangement allows Iran to secure the financial concessions it demanded for a ceasefire, while enabling the Trump administration to publicly claim it did not directly pay Iran for the agreement. A former US intelligence official told Middle East Eye that it is nearly impossible that Washington was unaware of the IRGC meeting hosted by Sheikh Tahnoun, given the extensive US intelligence footprint in the Gulf. The shift in UAE-Iran ties comes as the US and Iran are on the verge of finalizing a 60-day memorandum of understanding to negotiate over security in the Strait of Hormuz and Iran’s nuclear program.

    The Reuters report follows a similar recent development reported by the Washington Post, which claimed Qatar agreed to shut down its Ras Laffan refinery in exchange for Iran halting attacks on Qatari territory. Qatar has since denied any such coordination with Tehran.

  • Watch: Peru police dress up as World Cup mascots during drug raid

    Watch: Peru police dress up as World Cup mascots during drug raid

    In a clever and unconventional sting operation that has caught global attention, law enforcement agents in Peru pulled off a high-stakes drug raid with a surprising twist: officers disguised themselves as official mascots for the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup to gain entry to the residence of a suspected drug trafficker. What made the operation even more notable is that the target of the raid is an avowed football fan, a detail that law enforcement leveraged to lower his guard and pull off the surprise entry. The brazen, creative approach to police work has been shared widely across social media, with footage of the disguised officers showing them leaning into the full mascot costumes to avoid tipping off the suspect before they could execute the search warrant. While unusual tactics, the disguise proved to be a successful strategic choice, allowing officers to enter the property without immediate suspicion before moving in to apprehend the suspect and seize any contraband on site.

  • US kills leader of Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua gang in airstrike, Trump says

    US kills leader of Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua gang in airstrike, Trump says

    In a Wednesday announcement made via his Truth Social platform, former and current U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed that U.S. military forces have eliminated Héctor Rusthenford Guerrero Flores — widely known as Niño Guerrero, the long-serving leader of Latin America’s most feared transnational criminal syndicate Tren de Aragua — in a targeted airstrike.

    “At my direction, the United States Southern Command delivered a swift and lethal kinetic strike to successfully execute Niño Guerrero,” Trump wrote in his social media post. Accompanying the announcement was video footage appearing to capture the strike itself, which shows a green two-story building and an adjacent outbuilding erupting in a massive explosion, with debris hurled into the air in the immediate aftermath of the blast. Trump added that the operation was “coordinated closely with our friends in Venezuela, with whom we are working very well” following January’s raid that removed former Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro from power.

    For years, Niño Guerrero has topped U.S. law enforcement’s most wanted lists, with the State Department offering a multi-million dollar reward for any information leading to his capture. Under his decades-long leadership, what began as a small prison gang inside Venezuela’s Tocorón Prison evolved into a sprawling transnational criminal organization that the Trump administration formally designated as a foreign terrorist group earlier this term, placing it in the same classification as the Islamic State. Trump has repeatedly accused the syndicate of waging what he calls “irregular warfare” against the United States.

    A career criminal who cycled in and out of Venezuelan custody for decades, Niño Guerrero first catapulted to notoriety in 2012, when he bribed a prison guard to escape custody, only to be recaptured a year later. Upon his return to Tocorón Prison, located in Venezuela’s northern Aragua state, he transformed the overcrowded, under-governed facility into a self-contained criminal compound equipped with a private zoo, full-service restaurants, a public nightclub, a betting parlor and a swimming pool. It was not until September 2023, when then-president Maduro deployed 11,000 soldiers to retake control of the prison, that Niño Guerrero escaped once again, going off-grid while continuing to direct his sprawling criminal network.

    Under Niño Guerrero’s leadership, Tren de Aragua expanded far beyond Venezuela’s borders, establishing operational nodes in eight countries across the Americas including Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, and the United States. The syndicate diversified its criminal revenue streams away from its origins extorting vulnerable migrants moving through Venezuela, expanding into sex trafficking, contract killing, kidnapping, illicit gold mining, and international drug trafficking. The group seized control of unregulated gold mines in Venezuela’s southern Bolívar state, key drug trafficking corridors along the country’s Caribbean coast, and unpatrolled clandestine border crossings between Venezuela and Colombia, often partnering with established local criminal groups to expand its reach. In Ecuador, the gang has been linked to factions aligned with Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel, while in Colombia, reports have tied it to fighters from the left-wing National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrilla group.

    This targeted killing of Niño Guerrero is the latest escalation in a series of aggressive U.S. counter-criminal operations launched by the Trump administration against Tren de Aragua and other drug trafficking groups. Since September, U.S. forces have launched dozens of airstrikes against maritime vessels the administration claims are smuggling drug shipments bound for the United States, many of which are linked to the Venezuelan syndicate. U.S. media reports estimate that more than 200 people have been killed in these maritime strikes to date.

    The campaign has sparked significant controversy and legal scrutiny, however. The U.S. military has yet to release public evidence confirming that the targeted boats were actually carrying drugs or affiliated with drug smuggling operations, leading critics to question the legality and ethics of the ongoing campaign. Multiple international law experts have argued that the strikes violate fundamental norms of international law, as they target individuals — including potentially civilian bystanders — without affording them basic due process protections. The Trump administration has pushed back against these criticisms, asserting that all operations are legally justified. In a formal statement to Congress last year, the White House confirmed that President Trump had formally determined the U.S. is in a state of armed conflict with transnational drug cartels, meaning that crew members of suspected smuggling vessels are classified as enemy combatants, legalizing targeted lethal force against them.

  • Turkey captain Hakan Calhanoglu says his ‘more talented’ team will ‘dominate’ Australia in World Cup

    Turkey captain Hakan Calhanoglu says his ‘more talented’ team will ‘dominate’ Australia in World Cup

    VANCOUVER, British Columbia — A tense pre-match war of words has emerged ahead of Turkey’s long-awaited return to the FIFA World Cup, as captain Hakan Calhanoglu has declared his side will dominate their opening Group clash against Australia this Saturday at BC Place. For Turkey, this tournament marks their first appearance on the world’s biggest football stage in 22 years, having failed to qualify for the previous five editions of the competition despite consistent strong performances at the continental level through much of the 21st century. The 32-year-old Inter Milan midfielder, who lifted the Serie A title with the Italian giants just this past season, doubled down on his confidence in comments made Friday. “I think we will dominate Saturday’s game, because we have more qualities and a more talented team,” Calhanoglu said. “So we will see what happens this weekend.”

    Australia, by contrast, heads into this match as a seasoned World Cup competitor, appearing in their sixth consecutive finals tournament after advancing to the knockout round at the 2022 Qatar World Cup. The Socceroos were quick to respond to Calhanoglu’s bold claim, with midfield star Aiden O’Neill saying the Turkish captain was entitled to his perspective while emphasizing his own side’s competitive strength. “He’s allowed to have his own opinion,” O’Neill said Friday. “We’ve got quality players on our team, too, so we’re ready.”

    Not all interactions between the two camps have been tense, however. Turkish manager Vincenzo Montella, who previously managed top-flight clubs across Europe, offered a complimentary nod to Australia’s playing style, noting that he found the Socceroos’ tactical approaches compelling. “I would like to use some of their techniques because I think they are interesting techniques,” Montella said.

    This opening match is set to be a test of two teams with contrasting recent World Cup trajectories: a Turkey side hungry to prove it belongs back among the world’s elite after two decades away, and an Australia side looking to build on their impressive 2022 run and silence their opponent’s pre-match bravado.

  • Iran and US confirm they are on cusp of new ceasefire, as they fight to frame terms

    Iran and US confirm they are on cusp of new ceasefire, as they fight to frame terms

    After months of indirect negotiations mediated by Pakistan, the United States and Iran have moved to the brink of signing a landmark memorandum of understanding (MOU) that could reshape geopolitics across the Middle East, though stark public disagreements over the agreement’s core terms have cast uncertainty over its final shape.

    On Friday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi offered the clearest confirmation yet that a final deal is imminent, writing on social media that the so-called Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding is closer than ever. He urged media outlets to avoid unfounded speculation ahead of the text’s formal finalization. US President Donald Trump quickly shared Araghchi’s statement, but hours later launched a scathing rebuke of Iranian claims about the MOU’s content.

    The dispute broke into public view after Iran’s Mehr News Agency reported the draft agreement would unlock $24 billion in Iranian assets frozen by international sanctions, codify Iran’s long-held control over the Strait of Hormuz, and include a full ceasefire across regional hotspots including Lebanon. A senior Iranian source later confirmed that account to Reuters, adding the deal would also lift restrictions on Iranian oil exports and require an end to hostilities on all regional fronts. Multiple Iranian officials have long maintained that any ceasefire agreement must include an end to Israel’s ongoing military campaign in southern Lebanon, where Israeli forces have expanded ground operations in recent weeks.

    The Trump administration has pushed back forcefully against Iran’s version of events. In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump dismissed Iranian leaks of the deal’s terms as entirely disconnected from the written agreement under negotiation. “Very dishonorable people to deal with,” he wrote. “They better get their act together, and FAST!”

    A senior anonymous Trump administration official outlined a far different set of agreed terms to reporters, saying Tehran has committed to five core pillars, including the destruction and permanent removal of all its enriched nuclear material from Iranian territory. The official confirmed that some Iranian assets are tied to the agreement, but stressed no funds will be released until Tehran fully meets all its performance-based obligations. The administration’s version also states the MOU will require the Strait of Hormuz—a critical global energy chokepoint through which 25% of the world’s oil supplies pass—to be kept open to all international shipping, and bars Iran from providing military funding to regional proxies including Lebanon’s Hezbollah. US Vice President JD Vance echoed that pushback in a post on X, emphasizing that no Iranian funds will be released immediately upon signing the MOU, calling widespread reports to the contrary “fake information.”

    Despite the conflicting public narratives from the two negotiating parties, Pakistan—the key third-party mediator facilitating the indirect talks—has confirmed that both sides have reached a final agreed text. “We can confirm that a final, agreed upon text of the peace deal has been reached,” Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif wrote on X Friday. “Pakistan is now working closely with both sides to finalize the next steps. Peace has never been this close as it is now.”

    International markets reacted swiftly to the news of progress: global oil prices dropped sharply, while equity markets surged, as investors priced in the possibility of a broader breakthrough that could ease geopolitical tensions and open up new Iranian oil supplies to global markets. The possibility of a diplomatic breakthrough also gained further cred Friday when Switzerland’s foreign ministry confirmed it had been in contact with both parties and offered to host the signing ceremony if both sides agree to the venue.

    Senior US officials have struck a cautiously optimistic tone, saying a formal signing could come as early as the next several days, with Trump floating the possibility of a ceremony in Europe. One senior US official told reporters on a background call that the likelihood of a final agreement had climbed throughout the day, from an estimated 75% that morning to between 80% and 85% by Friday afternoon, stopping short of declaring a done deal. It is not the first time Trump has announced a near-completed agreement with Iran; past announcements of impending deals have ultimately collapsed before reaching a final signing.

  • Woman suffers horrific injuries in Coogee Beach shark attack

    Woman suffers horrific injuries in Coogee Beach shark attack

    A series of deadly shark encounters in Australian waters has taken another alarming turn, with a woman in her 30s sustaining catastrophic injuries in an attack at one of Sydney’s most frequented coastal stretches on Saturday morning.

    The incident unfolded just after 11 a.m. local time, when the victim was swimming approximately 30 meters from shore — right within the patrolled swimming area marked by beach safety flags — when a shark bit her, multiple official and witness accounts confirm.

    Witness Sharni Gotterson told local outlet The Daily Telegraph that she initially dismissed screams coming from the water as playful noise from beachgoers, before spotting urgent signals from a woman on a nearby paddleboard. When Gotterson looked closer, she saw a large pool of blood spreading across the surface of the near-shore water.

    Other bystanders reported spotting a shark fin cutting through the water, before a lifeguard issued the universal danger signal by raising his arms into an X shape and triggering the official beach shark alarm.

    More than a dozen members of the public sprang into action immediately, pulling the injured woman from the ocean and starting life-saving first aid before emergency responders arrived. NSW Police officers who arrived on scene also administered additional first aid to the victim, who suffered severe lacerations to both her arm and leg, ahead of NSW Ambulance paramedics taking over care.

    As a critical safety precaution following the attack, local authorities closed Coogee Beach along with two adjacent popular beaches, Clovelly and Bronte, to prevent further risk to the public. As of the latest updates, the woman remains in critical condition.

    This attack marks the fourth reported shark encounter in Australian waters in just four weeks, and the third that has resulted in a fatality. Just seven days before the Coogee incident, 35-year-old Daniel Turpin was killed in a shark attack off the coast of Albany, Western Australia. Earlier in May, two other men lost their lives to shark attacks while spearfishing: 38-year-old Steven Mattaboni off Rottnest Island on May 16, and 39-year-old Michael Jensz in waters near Cairns on May 24.