Global Pulse

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  • Iran supreme leader vows revenge for father’s killing

    Iran supreme leader vows revenge for father’s killing

    A sharp escalation of hostile threats between the United States and Iran has sent regional security concerns soaring over the weekend, just days after mutual exchanges of military strikes derailed a fragile interim ceasefire agreement that was meant to end a conflict launched by massive U.S.-Israeli air operations in late February.

    In his first public statement since assuming the role of Iran’s supreme leader following his father and predecessor Ali Khamenei’s death in the late February U.S.-Israeli strikes, Mojtaba Khamenei issued a firm vow of retaliation Saturday. In a written message released to the public — his first since his father’s funeral earlier this week — Khamenei emphasized that vengeance is a non-negotiable demand of the Iranian people, and its execution is inevitable regardless of leadership changes. “This matter depends neither on my personal existence nor on that of other officials. Whether we are present or not, it will come to pass,” he wrote, adding that Iranian authorities have already compiled a targeted list of individuals for retaliation.

    The fiery Iranian statement came just hours after former U.S. President Donald Trump took to his Truth Social platform to issue a stark warning of his own, threatening catastrophic military retaliation if Tehran makes any attempt to assassinate him. “1000 Missiles are Locked and Loaded and aimed at the Islamic Republic of Iran, with thousands of more to immediately follow, should the Iranian Government act on its threat, pronounced in many corners of the Globe, to assassinate, or attempt to assassinate, the sitting President of the United States of America, in this case, ME!” Trump wrote. He added that full orders have already been issued to U.S. military forces, which he said are prepared to completely decimate all key areas of Iran for a period of at least one year, extendable upon order.

    The rapid back-and-forth of threats comes as regional mediators led by Qatar rush to salvage diplomatic efforts that have stalled since the conflict resumed this week. According to Iranian state media, a Qatari mediation delegation arrived in Tehran on Friday to reinforce Doha’s role as a neutral broker in talks. Qatar’s emir also held a diplomatic call Friday with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, whose country has also joined mediation efforts. Sharif’s office confirmed that the Pakistani leader has also spoken directly to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, urging Tehran to prioritize protecting the region’s hard-won opportunity for peace. Despite these outreach efforts, Iran’s chief negotiator for talks with the U.S., Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, struck a defiant tone in comments carried by Iran’s ISNA news agency. “Ending the war is a priority for the countries of the world, but everyone must know that this confrontation will never end with Iran’s surrender,” Ghalibaf said, noting that the Iranian people are fully prepared to defend their territory and sovereignty.

    The core sticking point preventing a long-term diplomatic breakthrough remains the status of the Strait of Hormuz, the strategically critical chokepoint that carries roughly a fifth of the world’s daily oil trade and is the primary export route for energy-rich Gulf nations. Iran closed the strait to commercial shipping after the outbreak of war in February as retaliation for the U.S.-Israeli strikes, a move that sent shockwaves through global energy markets and disrupted the world economy. Tehran has rejected calls to return to the pre-war status quo of free unimpeded navigation, instead insisting on retaining full authority to control ship transits through the waterway and announcing plans to charge transit fees. This position violates customary international law, which bars nations from collecting tolls on straits used for international navigation, and Washington has flatly rejected Tehran’s terms.

    According to reports from U.S. outlets Axios and Politico, the Biden administration gave Tehran a deadline of Saturday to end all attacks on commercial vessels transiting the strait and formally reaffirm the waterway’s open status to global shipping. This week’s resumption of large-scale hostilities was triggered by Iranian attacks on three commercial ships that Tehran said had deviated from its approved transit route. In response, the U.S. military launched a massive wave of air strikes across Iran, hitting approximately 90 targets across the country. Iran’s health ministry confirmed Saturday that the U.S. strikes left 17 people dead and another 115 injured. The strikes also prompted a wave of retaliatory attacks by Iran against U.S. allied Gulf states that host American military bases.

    On Saturday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi traveled to Oman, the neighboring nation that shares the Strait of Hormuz with Iran, for talks focused on the strait’s future administration. Araghchi has insisted that Tehran has fully complied with its obligations under the memorandum of understanding signed with the U.S. last month, saying “Tehran has so far kept its word. Reality check: There can only be mutual compliance.” Trump, who has said talks with Iran will continue on paper, has publicly dismissed the negotiations as “a waste of time.”

  • South Africa World Cup midfielder Adams dies aged 25

    South Africa World Cup midfielder Adams dies aged 25

    The global football community is in mourning after the sudden passing of 25-year-old South African international midfielder Jayden Adams, who just weeks ago represented his nation at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. A rising talent who had already earned major club and international honors, Adams’ death has prompted an outpouring of grief from players, officials and fans across the country.

    Adams was a core part of South Africa’s 2026 World Cup squad, starting in all three of the nation’s group stage matches as Bafana Bafana made history by reaching the knockout rounds for the first time in tournament history. Their World Cup run came to an end in the round of 32 with a defeat to co-hosts Canada, but Adams’ performances on the global stage cemented his reputation as one of South African football’s most exciting young prospects.

    In a statement confirming the loss, South Africa’s Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture Gayton McKenzie expressed the nation’s collective shock and sorrow. “It is with profound shock and a heavy heart that I have learnt of the passing of Jayden Adams,” McKenzie said. “South African football has lost one of its brightest young talents, and our nation mourns alongside his family, his team-mates and the millions of supporters who watched him grow from a promising academy prospect into a full Bafana Bafana international.”

    Local law enforcement confirmed that a homicide investigation has been launched after Adams’ body was discovered at a residential property in Schotschekloof, a central Cape Town suburb, on Saturday morning. As officials have not yet confirmed the exact cause of his death, McKenzie has called for patience and respect for the privacy of Adams’ loved ones amid overwhelming public interest.

    “The cause of Jayden’s passing has not yet been confirmed, and I wish to appeal to members of the media and the public to exercise restraint and compassion, and to refrain from speculation, while his family and Mamelodi Sundowns are given the space and privacy they need at this incredibly difficult time,” the minister added. “Any official information will be communicated by the appropriate parties in due course.”

    Adams’ remarkable mental toughness was on full display during the World Cup, when he started in South Africa’s 1-1 group stage draw with the Czech Republic just hours after receiving news that his grandmother had passed away. That display of resilience endeared him even further to football fans across the country, who had followed his rapid rise through the domestic and international game.

    Adams earned his first senior cap for South Africa in 2022, and quickly became a regular fixture in the national side. The South African Football Players Union shared its devastation over his untimely death in an official statement this week. “Jayden had only recently represented South Africa at the 2026 World Cup, carrying the hopes of the nation with pride, courage and distinction,” the union said. “His passing is an immeasurable loss to his family, team-mates, clubs, the football fraternity and the country at large. South African football has lost a gifted player, a proud servant of the game and a young life that still had so much to offer.”

    Adams launched his professional career at Stellenbosch FC, before securing a transfer to top-tier side Mamelodi Sundowns in January 2025. In just over a year with the club, he claimed both the South African Premier Division title and the African Champions League trophy, cementing his status as a key player for one of the continent’s strongest club sides. He was also part of the South Africa squad that reached the semi-finals of the 2024 Africa Cup of Nations, earning his place in Hugo Broos’ World Cup squad off the back of consistent, high-level performances.

    The news of Adams’ death broke on 8 June, with tributes continuing to pour in from across the global football community for the young player cut down in the prime of his career.

  • US pays out $3m to victims of mystery Havana Syndrome condition reported by spies

    US pays out $3m to victims of mystery Havana Syndrome condition reported by spies

    Eight years after the first public reports of a puzzling neurological condition dubbed Havana Syndrome emerged from U.S. diplomatic staff in Cuba, the U.S. government has issued nearly $3 million (£2.2 million) in compensation to affected personnel and their families. These payments mark the first formal financial relief granted to U.S. agency staff impacted by the mysterious illness, whose origins stretch back more than a decade to early unreported cases among CIA officers posted to Havana.

    Since those initial incidents, hundreds of “anomalous health incidents” matching Havana Syndrome profiles have been recorded across the globe, from diplomatic posts in China to domestic locations in Washington D.C. Affected individuals have described a wide range of debilitating symptoms: many report hearing unexplained auditory phenomena including persistent low hums, sharp clicks, high-pitched squeals, and what they describe as the sound of grinding metal. Others experience intense pressure around the skull, chronic dizziness, persistent nausea, and lasting cognitive impairment that disrupts daily life.

    The compensation, announced by the U.S. Department of Defense, was authorized under the 2021 Havana Act, federal legislation designed to support personnel affected by the condition. In a statement accompanying the announcement, DoD officials reaffirmed their commitment to prioritizing care for all affected staff moving forward.

    For more than a decade, the origin of Havana Syndrome has sparked fierce public and intelligence community speculation. The earliest reports of concentrated symptoms among overseas diplomatic and intelligence staff led to widespread theories that a foreign adversary was deploying a novel directed-energy or sonic weapon to attack U.S. personnel. Many researchers and observers have pointed to pulsed microwave radiation as a plausible cause of the neurological damage reported by victims, reinforcing the foreign attack hypothesis.

    “My brain is broken,” former CIA analyst Erika Stith, who is among those affected, told CBS News in 2022. “We got this as a result of serving our country. And we deserve to be taken care of.”

    In a 2023 declassified assessment, the majority of U.S. intelligence agencies concluded that it is “very unlikely” that a foreign state actor used a purpose-built novel weapon or prototype device to cause harm to U.S. personnel and their families. A small minority of the intelligence community, however, has not fully ruled out the foreign attack theory, leaving the question of origin formally unresolved.

    Crucially, the 2023 assessment from the National Intelligence Council emphasized that no U.S. intelligence body questions the reality of the suffering experienced by affected individuals. The entire intelligence community agrees that victims reported “genuine, sometimes painful and traumatic, physical symptoms and sensory phenomena” honestly, the report confirmed.

    Havana Syndrome first entered the public consciousness in 2016, when U.S. diplomats in Havana publicly reported falling ill after hearing unexplained piercing sounds at night in their homes and offices. By 2017, rising reports of symptoms led the U.S. government to withdraw more than half of its embassy staff from the Cuban capital. Canada, which also recorded dozens of similar cases among its own diplomatic personnel in Havana, followed suit in 2019, sharply cutting its on-ground presence in the country. While public cases only emerged a decade ago, some researchers and victims have traced similar unexplained neurological incidents back to the Cold War era, suggesting the condition may have been affecting intelligence and diplomatic staff for decades.

  • The US-Iran ceasefire that never was and never will be

    The US-Iran ceasefire that never was and never will be

    For decades, U.S. military engagements in the Middle East have followed a predictable, almost ritualistic pattern: intense military strikes, a public declaration of victory, a high-profile diplomatic agreement signed with much fanfare, and only weeks later, the sobering realization that a signed document cannot erase the deep-rooted conflicts it was meant to resolve. This year alone, Iran and the United States have cycled through this exact sequence twice, with Washington’s foreign policy establishment once again confusing a temporary lull in fighting for a permanent end to hostilities.

    Recent contradictory statements from former President Donald Trump underscore the deeper chaos at the heart of U.S. policy toward Iran. First, Trump declared an agreed ceasefire “over,” then just 24 hours later insisted the U.S. had no intention of launching long-term military action. This is no mere contradiction—it is a visible symptom of a 20-year-long pattern of U.S. policy that swings wildly between maximalist rhetoric and tactical restraint, never once settling on a clear, achievable endgame for Washington’s engagement with Iran.

    To this day, core questions about U.S. objectives remain unanswered. Is Washington seeking regime change in Tehran? Full denuclearization of the Iranian state? Guaranteed unimpeded freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz? Every new U.S. strike appears designed to address a different unspoken goal, a clear indication that no consensus on ultimate objectives exists among U.S. policymakers.

    This lack of direction demands closer examination, particularly given the origins of the most recent round of conflict. Earlier this year, U.S. decapitation strikes that killed Iran’s supreme leader and much of the country’s top leadership were marketed as a move to break the Islamic Republic’s ability to carry out destabilizing actions across the region. Instead, the strikes achieved the exact opposite outcome: they hardened the security-focused authoritarian governance that decapitation strikes are supposed to dismantle. Rather than being intimidated into surrender, Iran’s hardline factions used the public humiliation of losing their leadership to justify the asymmetric harassment of commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz—the very activity that now serves as the pretext for renewed U.S. military strikes.

    This pattern is familiar to any observer of post-9/11 U.S. wars in the region: the application of large-scale military force against a sovereign state does not produce the intended surrender, but instead scatters the threat into more diffuse, harder-to-deter forms that make further escalation all but inevitable.

    Crucially, the costs of this dangerous brinkmanship are not borne primarily by Washington. They fall on Bahrain, which hosts the U.S. Fifth Fleet and now endures repeated air-raid sirens that disrupt daily life. They fall on Kuwait and Qatar, which have been dragged into a conflict over a critical waterway they did nothing to start. They fall on the global economy, which continues to grapple with the worst oil market disruption in modern history, months after a ceasefire was supposed to resolve the crisis.

    Gulf Arab states, which the U.S. has spent decades cultivating as regional partners, are now learning a bitter lesson that neighbors of Iraq learned in 2003 and Lebanese stakeholders learned more recently: proximity to U.S. military power in the Middle East does not equal protection from the risks that come with it.

    Another critical question is almost never raised openly in Washington: what is the de facto Israeli veto over U.S. Iran policy actually costing the United States? This week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered public criticism of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan from the stage of a NATO summit designed to showcase Western unity, while also lobbying against the sale of F-35 fighter jets to a fellow NATO ally. These actions are a stark reminder that Israel’s regional priorities do not always align with Washington’s goal of maintaining a unified NATO alliance structure — and that U.S. presidents have consistently refused to separate the two countries’ agendas, even when U.S. strategic interests clearly diverge from Israel’s. A U.S. foreign policy genuinely centered on American national interests, rather than prioritizing a permanent security guarantee for a single regional partner, would ask far tougher questions about this arrangement than either U.S. political party currently seems willing to pose.

    None of this is to argue that Iran’s actions in the Strait of Hormuz — attacking commercial tankers and threatening one of the global economy’s most critical trade arteries — are justified. They clearly are not, and a regime willing to damage neighboring economies to assert control over the waterway has earned the international pushback it now faces. But acknowledging that Tehran’s behavior is provocative does not mean Washington’s response is wise: a war with no clear objectives, waged in a region where two decades of U.S. military intervention have shown that force alone rarely produces durable peace settlements.

    The core strategic question U.S. policymakers should be asking is not just how to respond to the most recent Iranian attack, but what five more years of this cycle will look like, and whether the U.S. can afford that cost. Based on current policy, no one in Washington has paused long enough to find an answer.

  • Ireland grinds out a 36-20 win over Japan in Nations Championship

    Ireland grinds out a 36-20 win over Japan in Nations Championship

    NEWCASTLE, Australia – Ireland has maintained its perfect start to the newly-launched Nations Championship, grinding out a hard-fought 36-20 victory over Japan on Saturday to secure back-to-back wins following its dramatic 33-31 come-from-behind win against Australia a week prior. The result sets up a highly-anticipated clash against the unbeaten New Zealand All Blacks next weekend at Auckland’s iconic Eden Park, after the All Blacks notched their second consecutive win with a 47-17 rout of Italy on Saturday, following their narrow 34-32 opening-round win over France.

    Following their opening win against Australia, Irish head coach Andy Farrell made the rare call to reshuffle his side, turning over nine starting positions and handing test debuts to four young players on the neutral ground of Newcastle, located north of Sydney. The extensive roster changes showed on the pitch at times, as Ireland struggled for early cohesion against a motivated Japanese side that entered the match off a confident 27-10 win over Italy the previous week and put Ireland under pressure from the opening whistle.

    Japan struck first just three minutes into the contest, as winger Taira Main crossed the try line, with fullback Takuro Matsunaga adding the conversion to jump out to an early 7-0 lead. Ireland responded quickly, however, with flanker Nick Timoney crashing over for a try that flyhalf Ciaran Frawley converted to level the scores at 7-7. Matsunaga slotted a penalty three minutes later to put Japan back ahead 10-7, but Irish prop Tom O’Toole responded with his first career international try to put Ireland into a 14-10 lead.

    Matsunaga notched his second penalty of the half to retake the lead for Japan at 13-12, but Irish center Robbie Henshaw broke through the Japanese defense for a try after a sustained period of forward pressure from Ireland. Frawley’s conversion sent Ireland into halftime with a 19-13 advantage.

    The second half opened with a milestone moment for Irish debutant Sean Jansen, who scored a try in the 51st minute to secure the four-try bonus point for Ireland and push the lead out to 26-13. Japan did not wilt, though, hitting back shortly after the hour mark when replacement forward Hayate Era barged over for a try that Matsunaga converted to cut the deficit to just six points, keeping the upset bid alive.

    The narrow margin forced Ireland to respond, and replacement back Harry Byrne slotted a penalty in the 71st minute to push the lead back out to nine points, putting Ireland beyond the reach of a single converted Japanese try. Replacement hooker Tom Stewart, another of Ireland’s debutants, put the final stamp on the result with a try after the final siren, stretching the final score to 36-20.

    Following the final whistle, Irish captain Tadhg Beirne emphasized the toughness of the win against a persistent Japanese side, noting that the scoreline did not fully reflect how close the contest was. “Very happy with two from two,” Beirne told reporters. “The target is three from three, so we have a big challenge ahead of us in New Zealand next week at Eden Park. We’re going to have to step up our performance for sure.”

    “We had to fight hard for that one, we had to stick in it. Japan kept coming at us, coming at us but we held on well. We got a nice try at the end there to make the score look a little bit more comfortable than it was,” Beirne added. “We’re going to have to build on that and be better again next week.”

    In the next round of Nations Championship matches, Japan will return to Tokyo to face France, who pulled off a second-half comeback to beat Australia 42-26 in Brisbane earlier on Saturday.

  • Indian tourists among 15 killed as speedboat capsizes in Vietnam

    Indian tourists among 15 killed as speedboat capsizes in Vietnam

    A devastating maritime accident off the coast of southern Vietnam has left at least 15 people dead after a speedboat carrying mostly Indian tourists overturned in rough open seas on Saturday, local Vietnamese authorities and media have confirmed.

    The incident unfolded approximately 400 meters (1,312 feet) off the shore of Hon May Rut Ngoai, a small unspoiled island part of the An Thoi Archipelago in the Gulf of Thailand. Located just 10 kilometers south of Vietnam’s popular tourist destination Phu Quoc, the island is a frequent stop on international island-hopping tours that draw thousands of visitors annually.

    According to official statements, a total of 36 people were on board the capsized vessel: 32 Indian nationals and four local Vietnamese crew members. Within minutes of the boat overturning, multiple other commercial tourist vessels operating nearby launched an emergency rescue operation, rescuing 21 survivors from the capsized speedboat, many of whom were found trapped inside the hull.

    Nguyen Tien Hai, a senior local Communist Party official overseeing the region, told local outlet VnExpress that early investigations point to rough weather as the primary cause of the disaster. Strong gusting winds and unusually high waves that struck the area on Saturday likely overwhelmed the small speedboat, causing it to flip suddenly. As of Monday, rescue teams were still finalizing counts of casualties and survivors to confirm official numbers, Hai added.

    “Our absolute top priority right now is continuing rescue operations, getting all people ashore, and concentrating every available resource on delivering urgent emergency care to the surviving passengers,” Hai said in his statement.

    The Indian Embassy in Hanoi has classified the incident as a profound tragedy, and has moved quickly to support affected families. The diplomatic mission published a full list of the 32 Indian nationals that were confirmed to be on the speedboat, and has set up dedicated 24/7 telephone hotlines to share updated information and coordinate assistance for family members of those impacted by the accident.

    Footage captured from the accident site shows emergency response ambulances lined up along the main Phu Quoc pier, waiting to transport casualties and survivors to local medical facilities as rescue teams bring people ashore.

  • Thousands attending Orange Order parade in Rossnowlagh

    Thousands attending Orange Order parade in Rossnowlagh

    Thousands of visitors from across Ireland have converged on the quiet seaside village of Rossnowlagh, County Donegal, for the long-standing annual Orange Order parade, a tradition held every year on the Saturday before Northern Ireland’s main Twelfth of July commemorations.

    The procession, which this year features participating lodges from across four counties – Donegal, Cavan, Leitrim and Monaghan – brought vibrant, rhythmic energy to the village streets as accordion bands, pipe troupes and drummers marched along the route. Beyond the parade itself, the event has been organized as a full day of community gathering, with local craft stalls, food vendors and family-focused activities set up across the village.

    For the Orange Order, the commemoration marks the 1690 Battle of the Boyne, where Protestant King William of Orange defeated Catholic King James II – a moment of deep historical and cultural significance for the order’s members. Donegal Grand Master David Mahon emphasized that the event is open to all members of the community, highlighting the long-standing positive relationship between the Orange Order and local Catholic neighbors in the county.

    “It’s very important because it’s part of our culture and part of our faith,” Mahon said. “We welcome everyone here from across the community.” He added that cross-community cooperation is a regular part of event planning: local Catholic residents often offer the use of their fields and land for event parking and other infrastructure needs. Mahon described the day’s atmosphere as distinctly relaxed and carnival-like, saying “lots of families here enjoying a really good time.” He also noted that the Orange Order continues to grow its presence and engagement across County Donegal.

    To manage the large influx of visitors to the small village, members of An Garda Síochána (the Republic of Ireland’s national police service) are deployed across the area, focusing primarily on traffic management to keep movement smooth for attendees.

    For many attendees, the parade has become a cherished annual tradition. Lorna Walker, a repeat visitor from Randalstown, County Antrim, shared her enthusiasm for the event: “I always love coming to this annual parade every year. I like supporting the lodges in County Donegal. Today the weather is going to make it as the sun is shining from early morning. Let’s hope everyone has an enjoyable day.”

    For the Bates family from Lisnaskea, Fermanagh, this year’s parade carries extra special meaning. “This is the first year our boys Matthew (13) and Jacob (7) are on parade with Cornafanog flute band so they are very excited and we are very proud as a family,” said Samantha Bates, the boys’ mother.

    The relaxed, community-focused event sets the tone for the main Twelfth of July commemorations that will take place across Northern Ireland in the coming days.

  • ‘Ring the bells’: residents recall escape from deadly Spanish wildfire

    ‘Ring the bells’: residents recall escape from deadly Spanish wildfire

    The arid hills of southeastern Spain’s Mediterranean coast, long a quiet haven for retirees and holidaymakers from across Europe, have been reduced to ash by a devastating fast-moving wildfire that has claimed 12 lives and scorched more than 6,000 hectares of land. Survivors of the blaze, which broke out last Thursday amid record-breaking extreme heat that turned dry vegetation into a tinderbox, have shared harrowing accounts of sudden escape and narrow survival as flames advanced faster than many could outrun.

    When the fire’s edge began to encroach on the small village of Bedar, the epicenter of the disaster, 72-year-old local town councillor Manoli Ramos received an urgent, last-minute order from the mayor: race to the village church and ring its bells to sound the alarm for residents who had not yet received official evacuation alerts. “We rang the bells many times so people would know,” Ramos told AFP from her temporary refuge in nearby Los Gallardos, one of hundreds of displaced residents who fled their homes as the blaze moved through the region.

    Official preliminary investigations point to a broken power line as the likely ignition source, with the extreme heat wave that has gripped southern Spain creating ideal conditions for the fire to spread rapidly. Most of the 12 victims killed were foreign residents, many of whom died trapped in their vehicles or while attempting to escape on foot. Officials have noted that many of the foreign residents in the area live in scattered, isolated properties outside the core of Bedar, drawn by the privacy and quiet of the rural hillside — a choice that left many with slower access to emergency warnings and fewer clear escape routes as the fire advanced.

    “Foreigners live scattered outside Bedar,” Ramos explained. “They have beautiful homes and their belongings. They like living a little away from the centre.”

    For 52-year-old Moroccan resident Hassan Oulghazzi, who has called Bedar home for 16 years, the first sign of danger was not visible flames, but an ominous dark cloud hanging over the hills that quickly turned into thick, choking black smoke. Before he could spot the fire advancing, local police were pounding on his front door, ordering him to leave immediately.

    “How could you not be afraid?” Oulghazzi said. “When someone knocks on your door and tells you: ‘Get up, come on, leave here. This is real, you have to go.’” He fled with his wife and daughter with only the clothes they were wearing, leaving all their possessions behind. The family has since taken shelter at a municipal sports hall in the coastal town of Garrucha, where the Red Cross is providing food, medical care and support to hundreds of evacuees. For Oulghazzi, his own fear of displacement pales in comparison to the grief of losing neighbors and acquaintances in the blaze.

    “Everyone was afraid, but I am really touched by the dead and those who were burned. I really am,” he said. “There are some people I know.”

    Local officials have confirmed that some of the victims did not follow official orders to evacuate early or shelter in place once the flames reached their properties, a choice that proved fatal as the fire moved faster than many anticipated. For survivors who did escape, the scale of the destruction is still difficult to process, with many describing the scene as something out of a disaster film, not real life.

    Eighty-seven-year-old British evacuee Austin Crilly, who has lived in the region for years and says he has weathered no shortage of crises, told reporters that Thursday’s blaze was unlike anything he had ever experienced. Crilly was watching television at home when he spotted what he thought was an unusual large dark cloud on the horizon. Minutes later, police arrived at his door with a direct order to evacuate immediately. “Take your money, take your cards and get out,” he recalled officers telling him. Like many other evacuees, Crilly has been staying at the Garrucha sports hall, waiting for updates on when it will be safe to return to assess his home.

    British couple Martin and Elizabeth Smith, who were staying at a local campsite for a holiday, echoed that sense of surrealism. Martin Smith, 63, who has already had to cut his trip short and return to the United Kingdom, said the chaos of the escape was something he had only ever seen on screen. “It wasn’t good. Not good at all. I’d never seen anything like it. You see things like that in films, but never in real life,” he said. Despite the trauma of the disaster, Smith added that the fire has not dimmed his affection for Spain as a holiday destination. “It hasn’t put us off coming to Spain,” he said.

  • Paris landmarks shutter early as quarter of France swelters under heatwave

    Paris landmarks shutter early as quarter of France swelters under heatwave

    As a record-breaking third heatwave bears down on France, a quarter of the nation’s mainland territory has been placed under the country’s highest heat warning, forcing iconic Paris landmarks including the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, and the Musee d’Orsay to shut their doors hours earlier than their usual summer schedules.

    France’s national meteorological service Meteo-France placed 24 mainland departments — home to more than 22 million people, per an Agence France-Presse tally — on maximum red heat alert on Saturday. An additional 59 departments across mainland France remain under an orange heat warning, one tier below the highest emergency level. The extreme heat has hit during a busy national holiday weekend, with millions of travelers crowding national highways and rail networks ahead of the July 14 Bastille Day celebration.

    A spokesperson for the Eiffel Tower, the 324-meter steel monument that draws 7 million annual visitors and typically stays open past midnight during peak summer tourist season, confirmed that the landmark would implement extraordinary early closures at 4 p.m. (1400 GMT) both Saturday and Sunday, a measure put in place directly due to projected extreme high temperatures. Two of Paris’s other most visited cultural institutions have followed suit: the Louvre, the world’s most-visited art museum, will close at 4 p.m. from Friday through Monday, while the Musee d’Orsay will shut at 5 p.m. from Saturday through Wednesday in response to the extreme heat.

    Beyond disrupted tourist schedules, the heatwave has forced widespread cancellations of traditional Bastille Day firework displays across hundreds of French towns. Officials cited elevated wildfire risk and extremely dry vegetation conditions for the cancellations. A senior French official confirmed Friday that wildfires have already burned twice as much land across France in 202X as they did during the same period last year. Speaking on Saturday, President Emmanuel Macron urged the public to remain vigilant, noting that 9 out of 10 wildfires in the country stem from human activity.

    “One single moment of inattention can put families at risk, endanger the first responders who protect us, and destroy our natural landscapes,” Macron wrote in a post on social platform X.

    This heatwave marks the third extreme heat event to hit France since May. A record-shattering heatwave in June pushed official excess death figures above 2,000, with an additional 300 excess deaths recorded during a late May heat event, according to national public health data. The French government has faced growing public criticism in recent weeks, with opponents and climate experts accusing the administration of being unprepared for the rising frequency of extreme heat events, a trend climate scientists have directly linked to anthropogenic climate change. Meteo-France forecasts that high temperatures will persist across the country through Bastille Day on July 14.

  • China braced for second typhoon in a week as Bavi approaches landfall

    China braced for second typhoon in a week as Bavi approaches landfall

    A massive late-season Pacific storm, Typhoon Bavi, is moving toward the eastern coast of China after carving a destructive path across the western Pacific that has already claimed lives and forced tens of thousands of people from their homes. This marks the second powerful typhoon to strike East Asia in just seven days, arriving as communities in southern China still recover from the deadly impact of an earlier storm system.

    Originating as a powerful super typhoon, Bavi first battered Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands last Monday, packing sustained wind speeds of up to 290 kilometers per hour. As the storm moved northwest across the Pacific, it gradually weakened, but retained enormous size that stretches 1,000 kilometers at its widest point, a span roughly equal to the entire width of mainland France. By the time it reached Japan’s remote Sakishima Islands, part of the Ryukyu chain between Japan’s main islands and Taiwan, sustained winds had dropped to 144 kilometers per hour, still strong enough to cause widespread disruption. Southern Japanese islands including Ishigaki bore the brunt of the storm’s impact, leaving at least five people injured and thousands of households without electrical power.

    After passing Japan’s southern island chain, Bavi brushed the northern tip of Taiwan, dumping extremely heavy rainfall across the island’s northern regions. While Taiwan avoided a catastrophic direct landfall, the storm’s intense downpours triggered widespread landslide warnings that forced thousands of residents to evacuate high-risk areas. Local authorities warned total rainfall could reach as much as one meter across worst-affected parts of the island, leading to widespread disruptions: dozens of commercial flights have been canceled, schools across multiple regions suspended classes, and residents rushed to stock up on emergency supplies, leaving supermarket shelves emptied of staple goods.

    Tragically, Bavi has already claimed lives before approaching East Asia’s major population centers. Earlier landslides triggered by the storm’s outer rain bands killed 17 people across the Philippines. No fatalities have been recorded in Japan or Taiwan to date.

    Currently, Bavi has weakened to a Category 1 typhoon, but meteorological and emergency authorities emphasize it remains an extreme hazard due to the enormous volume of moisture trapped in its extensive rain bands. Forecasters expect the storm to make landfall near the major eastern Chinese city of Wenzhou on Sunday morning. Wenzhou, a coastal metropolis with a population of roughly 10 million people, lies directly in the forecast path of the storm. Chinese officials have warned Bavi will bring “exceptionally heavy rains” to eastern Zhejiang province and neighboring northeastern Fujian province, and have ordered the mass evacuation of hundreds of thousands of residents from high-risk coastal and low-lying areas. Authorities note the preemptive evacuation order was implemented to prepare for the worst possible outcome, prioritizing public safety even if the storm’s impact ends up less severe than forecast.

    The arrival of Bavi comes as parts of southern China are still reeling from the widespread devastation left by Typhoon Maysak earlier this week. Maysak left at least 39 people dead, killed massive numbers of livestock, caused hundreds of millions of dollars in agricultural losses, and even spawned two rare tornadoes in central China’s Hubei province, compounding the damage to communities already strained by extreme weather.