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Eswatini receives 11 people deported from the US as part of migration crackdown

MBABANE, Eswatini – The southern African kingdom of Eswatini has welcomed a fourth cohort of deportees transferred from the United States under a bilateral third-country hosting agreement, with 11 new arrivals entering the country this week, the Eswatini government confirmed in an official statement released Thursday.

Acting government spokesperson Thabile Mdluli stated that the majority of this latest group hail from other African nations, and will remain in Eswatini on a temporary basis while the government upholds their fundamental human rights. “The government reaffirms that, during their temporary stay in the Kingdom, the fundamental rights of the third-country nationals will be respected and protected in accordance with the laws of the Kingdom of Eswatini and the Kingdom’s international obligations,” Mdluli noted in the statement.

Mdluli also added that Eswatini has put in place layered security protocols to protect both the nation’s territorial integrity and the safety of its permanent residents for the duration of the deportees’ stay. Multiple officials familiar with the arrangement have confirmed that the 11 new arrivals will be temporarily housed at Matsapha Maximum Security Prison.

The Trump administration launched the third-country deportation program as a core part of its broader immigration enforcement crackdown, with rights advocates reporting that thousands of migrants who cannot be directly returned to their home countries have been transferred to nearly 24 nations around the globe, most across the African continent. Alongside Eswatini, countries including the Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Sierra Leone, and the Democratic Republic of Congo have accepted groups of third-country deportees under these often-unpublicized bilateral deals.

Eswatini, a landlocked southern African nation of roughly 1.2 million people that shares borders with South Africa and Mozambique, first began accepting these U.S.-deported third-country nationals in 2025 when the bilateral agreement entered into force. To date, this newest group marks the fourth cohort of deportees received by the kingdom, making it one of the most active African participants in the Trump administration’s program.

To date, Eswatini has not publicly released the full terms of its agreement with the U.S. government, nor has it disclosed key details including the full nationalities of all deportees, their individual immigration legal statuses, or the exact length of time they are expected to remain in the kingdom. Only two previously transferred deportees have left Eswatini, returning to their home countries of Cambodia and Jamaica.

The deal has sparked significant pushback from both international human rights organizations and domestic Eswatini civic groups, with critics calling out the lack of transparency around the agreement and the absence of formal parliamentary oversight. Domestic civic groups have already launched legal action against Eswatini authorities, challenging the legality of detaining foreign deportees in prison without formal criminal charges. Eswatini officials have confirmed that the deportees can be held for up to 12 months before they are repatriated to their home countries.

Mzwandile Masuku, a prominent Eswatini human rights lawyer, argued that the ongoing transfers highlight deep gaps in institutional accountability within the kingdom. He warned that the untransparent practice could risk becoming normalized as a global immigration policy precedent if left unchallenged.

In response to criticism, the Eswatini government has defended its participation in the agreement, framing the arrangement as an expression of the kingdom’s humanitarian commitments while emphasizing that all activities under the deal adhere to Eswatini’s national sovereignty and domestic laws.

Associated Press reporter Michelle Gumede contributed reporting from Johannesburg, South Africa.

9 7 月, 2026
Morocco’s unfinished business with France

As the 2026 FIFA World Cup quarter-final showdown between Morocco and France kicks off in Boston, this fixture is far more than just another high-stakes knockout match. For the Atlas Lions and their millions of passionate supporters across the globe, it is a long-awaited rematch carrying decades of history, unfulfilled ambition, and an opportunity to prove their 2022 Cinderella run was no one-off miracle.

The story of this encounter traces back four years to Qatar 2022, when Morocco made history as the first African and Arab nation to ever reach a World Cup semi-final. Their extraordinary tournament run was cut short by a 2-0 defeat to France, ending their dream of lifting the world title. Even in that moment of defeat, observers recognized something seismic had shifted: the global football community had rewritten its expectations of Moroccan football. Back then, reaching the semi-final felt like an overachievement beyond anyone’s wildest dreams. Today, anything short of that same milestone would fall short of the standard the team has set for itself.

“This is a revenge match for the Moroccan national team, especially for the players who were part of that 2022 squad,” explained Moroccan sports journalist Hamza Chtioui. “They felt that loss deeply, and now they’re looking to settle the score – for themselves and for the entire nation.”

This newfound confidence is no empty bravado, nor is it built on nostalgia for past glory. Since their breakthrough in Qatar, Moroccan football has continued to deliver impressive results that validate its growing status: the national under-20 side claimed the U-20 World Cup title, while the senior men’s team has climbed to 6th place in the official FIFA global rankings. These wins are the payoff for decades of deliberate, long-term investment in youth development led by the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (RMFF), a strategic project that has now come to fruition.

“What happened in Qatar wasn’t a fluke,” said veteran Moroccan journalist Hameed Bel Hassan. “It was the result of years of strategic planning and programmes put in place by the RMFF. This has been a national project, and we now have a formidable national team that can compete with anyone.”

Throughout the 2026 tournament, Morocco has lived up to that billing, proving they are no longer the unexpected underdogs. They have held their own against some of the world’s top football heavyweights, securing wins against Brazil, Scotland, the Netherlands and Canada to book their quarter-final spot against France. The surge of support for the team has been unmatched: thousands of fans are traveling from Morocco to the U.S. for the match, with Moroccans from across Europe and the globe converging on Boston to back the side. “I dare say Morocco will have the stronger support in the stadium,” Chtioui noted.

Standing in their way is a French side widely regarded as the most complete squad in this year’s tournament. Led by global superstar Kylian Mbappe, Les Bleus have turned in consistently fluid, dominant performances to reach the last eight. Chtioui acknowledges France’s individual talent advantage, but argues that Morocco can neutralize that edge with cohesive team play: “Morocco’s midfield is about equal. If they can press France early, like they did against Brazil, they can create real problems. The 11 players just need to perform as one cohesive unit.”

Beyond tactics and technical skill, Morocco draws unique strength from an unusual, heartfelt team culture centered on family. During the 2022 World Cup, viral images of defender Achraf Hakimi embracing his mother after matches, and winger Sofiane Boufal dancing with his mother on the pitch, became the defining emotional moments of the team’s historic run. That tradition has continued in 2026: after scoring the game-winning penalty against the Netherlands, Ismael Saibari ran straight into the stands to celebrate with his emotional mother.

Far from being spontaneous, this focus on family is a deliberate strategy by the RMFF. Federation president Fouzi Lekjaa has framed having players’ mothers present at major tournaments as one of the team’s most effective psychological tools, noting it gives players a unique, powerful sense of motivation. “When the player sees his mother in the stands, it’s a huge boost and motivation,” Bel Hassan explained. “The players themselves have spoken about how supported they feel. A mother’s prayer, nothing really comes close.”

This match carries layers of meaning that extend far beyond the 90 minutes of football, rooted in the long and complicated shared history of France and Morocco. Shaped by colonialism, migration, and one of the largest Moroccan diaspora communities in Europe, the fixture carries deep identity significance. Multiple current Moroccan internationals were eligible to play for France’s senior national side, having come up through French youth system, but ultimately chose to represent the country of their parents and grandparents. That decision adds an extra layer of emotional stakes to Thursday’s encounter.

The most high-profile example of this dynamic is the head-to-head between Hakimi and Mbappe, who are close friends and club teammates at Paris Saint-Germain, but will be rivals on the pitch in Boston.

The core question ahead of kickoff is not simply whether Morocco can beat France. It is whether the team that shocked the world in Qatar can prove that 2022’s historic run was not the peak of their ascent, but just the first step in their emergence as a permanent global football powerhouse. In Qatar, Morocco made history. In Boston, they have the chance to prove that history is only just beginning.

9 7 月, 2026
At Denmark’s World Santa Congress, festive spirit isn’t just for Christmas

As much of Europe swelters through the height of summer heatwave season, a uniquely cheerful holiday tradition is unfolding hundreds of kilometers north of the European continent’s warmest regions, in the fourth-largest city of Denmark: Aalborg. For decades, this Nordic country has hosted the annual World Santa Claus Congress, a one-of-a-kind midsummer gathering that has drawn dozens of professional Santa Claus performers, Mrs. Clauses and elf actors from every corner of the globe to celebrate festive spirit far outside the traditional December holiday window.

The iconic event traces its origins back to 1957, when it was first launched at an amusement park on the outskirts of Copenhagen. After decades at its original venue, the congress relocated to Aalborg, located on Denmark’s Jutland peninsula, just two years ago, and has quickly settled into its new home. This year, attendees clad in thick, traditional red Santa suits found the warm Danish July sun made their iconic costumes surprisingly sweltering — a small price to pay for the chance to connect with fellow festive performers. Next year, the beloved gathering will mark its 70th anniversary, a milestone that organizers and attendees are already planning to celebrate in style.

What began as a small initiative to bring extra joy to children has evolved into a must-attend professional and social gathering for Santas who work in department stores, shopping malls, and private events across the world during the busy Christmas season. Held roughly five months before the annual Yuletide rush begins, the four-day event gives professional performers a rare opportunity to exchange industry stories, compare iconic flowing beards, refine their holiday craft, and compete in a series of lighthearted, playful competitions long before families start drafting their naughty-or-nice lists.

This year’s agenda was packed with beloved holiday-themed activities, including gingerbread eating contests, speed gift wrapping challenges, balloon modeling workshops, and multiple boisterous parades through the streets of central Aalborg. Photographs from the event captured participants posing for group photos, waving at onlookers, and snapping selfies with fellow Santas from across the world, showcasing the warm, inclusive energy of the gathering.

Peter Gislund, the event’s organizer and a part-time Aalborg-based Santa during the Christmas season, shared that public reaction to the mid-year holiday gathering is often split. “The grandmas say: ‘Oh, it’s too early to come here’,” he explained. “The kids say: ‘Hooray! Santa’s here already.’”

While the event has drawn attendees from as far afield as Australia, Hong Kong, Canada and the United States over its decades-long history, most of the roughly three dozen Santas and Mrs. Clauses participating this year came from Scandinavian countries. Even so, several international guests made the long trip to attend, including Paradise Yamamoto, a Santa performer traveling all the way from Tokyo. After parading through downtown Aalborg waving a Japanese flag and dancing along to the Christmas classic *Feliz Navidad*, Yamamoto laughed and shared his impression of the event: “This is very fun, so many children … Ho, ho, ho!”

For first-time attendee Robert Hercz, a 64-year-old Santa from Oslo, Norway, the gathering proved that despite different national backgrounds, all professional Santas share a common core. “We all share a gene” for generosity and spreading joy, Hercz explained. “You have it or you don’t. We have the true Santa spirit. And it’s all about giving, sharing, and putting a little bit of joy in people’s hearts.”

Beyond the fun and games, the congress serves an important purpose for working Santas, Gislund noted. “It’s not all ho-ho-ing and belly rubs. When Santas are together, they always mingle and talk a little bit,” he said. Attendees exchange tips for everything from maintaining the perfect beard shine to interacting with shy children, making it a valuable professional development opportunity as well as a social gathering. “That’s the good part of meeting some Santas from all over the world.”

For 33-year-old Danish Santa Simon Brøns, the annual gathering drives home a simple but powerful message: festive spirit is not limited to the month of December. “Christmas is not a season. It’s a feeling you have in your stomach,” he said with a smile. “So if you want, you can have Christmas the whole year.”

9 7 月, 2026
Uganda judges push back against lawyers’ bid to scrap ‘colonial titles’

A fierce debate over decolonizing Uganda’s legal system has erupted after the Uganda Law Society (ULS), the national body representing the country’s practicing advocates, ordered its members to abandon two longstanding colonial-era courtroom customs: addressing judicial officers as “My Lord”, “My Lady”, “Your Lordship” or “Your Worship”, and bowing to judges before entering or exiting the courtroom.

In an official statement signed by ULS president Isaac Ssemakadde, the association framed the new directive as a core step toward dismantling archaic colonial structures that it argues have undermined the functionality and accessibility of Uganda’s justice system. The society described the traditional honorifics and practice of physical deference as “feudal and colonial” constructs that improperly position judicial officers above ordinary Ugandan citizens, who the ULS emphasizes are the actual employers of public officials. The statement added that these outdated customs force ordinary Ugandans into positions of unnecessary humiliation, while granting unmerited deference to judicial leaders. Going forward, all ULS members are prohibited from bowing to judges, and are instructed to use plain, egalitarian forms of address instead: alternatives include “Mr Justice”, “Madam Justice”, “Mr Judge”, “Madam Judge”, “Mr Magistrate”, or direct reference to a judicial officer by their surname in appropriate contexts. The ULS concluded that all advocates and litigants appearing before Ugandan courts should stand upright and speak as equal, free citizens.

The directive has drawn immediate pushback from Uganda’s independent judiciary, which rejected the ULS’s authority to set courtroom rules. Judiciary spokesperson James Ereemye told the BBC that the ULS has no legal standing to dictate to judicial bodies what procedures or decorum to require, noting that the judiciary remains an independent branch of the Ugandan government separate from professional legal associations. Ereemye added that courts will continue to demand adherence to long-established courtroom decorum, and dismissed the ULS’s directive as an unstructured move by “a section of young people who have failed to know the principles of agenda setting in management and administration”. He argued that any proposed changes to court procedure should be raised through official, established consultation channels rather than via a public directive from a professional association.

As a former British colony, Uganda inherited its entire legal framework and most core courtroom traditions from the United Kingdom. This current clash is part of a much broader, decades-long debate across the African continent over whether to discard colonial-era legal customs as part of broader judicial decolonization reforms. In 2011, Kenya’s then-Chief Justice Willy Mutunga drew international attention when he publicly criticized traditional judicial dress codes that require judges to wear British-style wigs and robes, and chose to take his oath of office in a standard formal suit instead. Similar conversations around reforming colonial court practices have taken place in Zimbabwe, Malawi, and Ghana, where critics argue that these outdated, imported traditions are no longer appropriate or relevant for independent modern African nations.

9 7 月, 2026
Two thirds of EU faced harmful ozone levels during heatwave: report

Last month’s historic heatwave that baked Western Europe left an alarming hidden public health crisis in its wake: a new report from environmental non-governmental organization Global Witness has found that two-thirds of the European Union’s population were exposed to dangerous, above-guideline levels of ground-level ozone pollution between June 21 and 28.

The analysis, which combines data from 162 cross-continental air quality monitoring stations, atmospheric modelling from the EU’s Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) and regional census data, estimates that nearly 298 million EU residents — including 100 million children and elderly people, groups that are disproportionately vulnerable to air pollutant harm — faced ozone concentrations exceeding the EU’s recommended maximum daily eight-hour average of 120 micrograms per cubic meter. Even more starkly, around 87 percent of the EU’s 450 million total population were exposed to levels above the World Health Organization’s stricter safety guideline of 100 micrograms per cubic meter, with 72 million people hit by concentrations crossing the 150 micrograms per cubic meter threshold, classified as the most dangerous range. Two-thirds of all monitoring stations recorded ozone readings in the top 1 percentile of all June measurements dating back to 2013, with a peak reading of 233.7 micrograms per cubic meter recorded in Germany’s North Rhine-Westphalia on June 27.

This widespread exposure event comes just hours after the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service confirmed June 2024 was the hottest June ever recorded in Western Europe, amplifying longstanding concerns about how climate change is worsening dangerous air quality events. Unlike the stratospheric ozone layer that shields Earth from harmful solar radiation — which is slowly recovering from decades of damage caused by chlorofluorocarbon refrigerants — ground-level ozone is a toxic primary component of smog that poses severe risks to human health. Exposure can trigger acute breathing issues, permanent lung tissue damage, asthma attacks, and a range of other chronic respiratory and cardiovascular complications. Data from the European Environment Agency shows that ozone pollution was linked to more than 63,000 premature deaths across Europe in 2023 alone, alongside billions of euros in damaged agricultural crops.

Ground-level ozone forms when nitrogen oxides (most often released from vehicle traffic) and volatile organic compounds (largely tied to human-caused methane emissions) react under high temperatures and intense sunlight — conditions that were widespread across the continent during last month’s heatwave. “If these chemicals are not emitted in the first place, then ground-level ozone does not form,” explained CAMS director Laurence Rouil, whose agency provided modelling data for the Global Witness report. Rouil noted that the scale of this ozone event, occurring so early in the summer season, is particularly concerning when compared to the devastating 2003 European heatwave, calling it “really remarkable and worrying.” She added that coordinated international action is essential to address the root causes of rising ozone pollution.

While the EU has made significant progress cutting nitrogen dioxide emissions over the past several decades, the report highlights a critical policy gap: methane, which contributes one-third of all ground-level ozone formation, currently has no binding reduction targets for agricultural sources in the bloc. Global Witness senior campaigner Flossie Boyd framed the widespread exposure as an “invisible threat” driven by fossil fuel dependence. “People are being forced to live through very dangerous conditions as a result of our dependence on fossil fuels,” Boyd told AFP, calling for immediate policy action to cut precursor emissions that drive both rising global temperatures and toxic ozone pollution. “We need to stop these initial emissions driving up dangerous temperatures and driving the ozone and other forms of pollutants that are making our cities and beyond dangerous places to live,” she added.

Independent climate scientists not involved in the report have echoed its findings, noting that the pattern matches on-the-ground data across the continent. James Weber, a climate scientist at the University of Reading in the UK, told AFP that his own independent research found more than half of UK air monitoring stations exceeded the WHO’s ozone safety guideline during the heatwave’s peak. Weber warned that ozone pollution creates an extra layer of health risk during heat events, when human bodies are already strained by high temperatures and humidity. “Ozone is a problem when there are already pressures on people’s health from humidity and temperature,” he said, noting that ongoing climate change will only increase the frequency and severity of these overlapping extreme heat and ozone events. For the general public, he recommends avoiding strenuous outdoor activity during the hottest hours of days when high ozone levels are forecast.

9 7 月, 2026
Indian state on the boil after raped girl’s body fished out of pond

Two months after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) made history by winning its first majority in India’s West Bengal state, a horrific crime has thrown the region into chaos, reigniting long-simmering public anger over failures to protect women and children.

The tragedy unfolded in Surjyapur village, located in the Baruipur area on Kolkata’s outskirts, when an 11-year-old girl left her home Saturday afternoon to purchase a birthday gift for a friend and never returned. Her family filed a missing person report with local police at 8:30 p.m. the same day, but law enforcement dismissed their urgent plea, saying they would launch an inquiry the following morning. Frustrated by police inaction, the girl’s relatives and local residents reviewed closed-circuit camera footage from nearby shops on their own, identifying the child walking alongside Prabhash Mondal, a local resident of the village.

Early Sunday, a crowd of villagers gathered at Mondal’s residence, detained him, and turned him over to police custody. Hours later, investigators recovered the girl’s body from a nearby pond, with local media reports confirming Mondal led officers to the exact location of the remains. A post-mortem examination determined the child’s cause of death was drowning, leading her family to insist she was still alive when dumped in the water — and would have survived if police had responded immediately to their report. “Had the police acted earlier, she could have been saved,” the victim’s relatives stated publicly.

In the hours after the body was recovered, public fury boiled over into widespread violent unrest across Baruipur. Protesters vandalized public roads, local shops, and a regional railway station, leaving three separate police cases registered and 40 people detained. In a tragic turn of violence, an innocent young man was beaten to death by the angry mob, a fact later confirmed by West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari. Multiple police officers were injured, and dozens of vehicles were damaged as officers worked to regain control of the area. To prevent further unrest, authorities have implemented a ban on public gatherings and deployed hundreds of additional police and paramilitary forces to the tense region.

Less than 24 hours after Adhikari visited the victim’s family to promise swift justice, Mondal was killed in what police described as a justified encounter shooting. In an official statement released Wednesday morning, Baruipur police said Mondal was being taken to the pond to reconstruct the crime scene as part of the investigation when he attempted to grab an officer’s service weapon and opened fire on the law enforcement team. Officers returned fire, striking Mondal, who was pronounced dead after being rushed to a local hospital. Shockingly, Mondal’s own mother publicly disowned her son following his death, refusing to claim his body and saying he deserved his punishment. “My son has been punished for what he did. I will not accept his body, I will not even bring his body home,” she told news agency ANI.

Three other men suspected of involvement in the crime remain in police custody, and charges have been filed under India’s Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, the country’s harshest legislation for child sexual abuse crimes. The case has also raised alarming questions about potential police negligence, and a local BJP politician has been dragged into controversy after accused of aiding the suspects. Sushant Mondal, whose home was attacked and ransacked by an angry mob, has denied all claims, asserting he actually assisted in catching the perpetrators. The incident has also threatened to escalate along religious lines: the victim was from the Muslim community, while the three men arrested are Hindu, stoking sectarian tensions in the already volatile region.

The horrific crime has quickly snowballed into a major political firestorm for the new BJP government. Opposition parties have slammed the administration for failing to deliver on its core campaign promise of making West Bengal safe for women and children. Political analysts note that the BJP’s historic May election victory — which ousted three-term incumbent Mamata Banerjee and her Trinamool Congress party — was partly fueled by public anger over Banerjee’s poor handling of the rape and murder of a junior doctor at a state government hospital, a case that also centered on failures in women’s safety.

Critics, including human rights activists and opposition leaders, have also questioned the legitimacy of Mondal’s encounter killing, arguing it violates fundamental rule of law principles. Ranjit Sur, a leader with the Association for the Protection of Democratic Rights, called the circumstances of the death suspicious, noting a familiar pattern in extrajudicial police killings across India: the accused almost always tries to snatch an officer’s weapon before being shot dead. The 2026 West Bengal killing echoes a 2019 incident in Hyderabad, where four men accused of raping and murdering a young woman were killed in a controversial police encounter that sparked national debate over extrajudicial justice.

So far, West Bengal police have not held any public press conference to address the growing list of allegations against the force. In response to the mounting pressure, the state government has formed a special investigation team (SIT) to lead a full inquiry into the child’s death and the allegations of police negligence surrounding the case.

9 7 月, 2026
Italy expels two Russian diplomats accused of spying: minister

In a sharp escalation of diplomatic tensions between Rome and Moscow, Italy has ordered the immediate expulsion of two Russian military attaches found to be engaged in espionage activities on Italian soil, senior government officials confirmed Thursday. The move comes just 48 hours after Italian law enforcement announced the arrest of two former Italian intelligence agents, who local media reports are accused of leaking highly sensitive military information related to Italy’s support for Ukraine to Russian handlers.

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani made the announcement of the expulsions official via a post on social media platform X, confirming the identities of the expelled diplomats as Ivan Petrovich Gorbachev and Mikhail Vasilyevich Astakhov. Tajani said the pair have been given a three-day deadline to leave Italian territory, noting they were directly tied to the espionage ring uncovered by prosecutors in Rome.

In his statement, Tajani issued a firm condemnation of Moscow’s actions, saying: “Moscow continues to use hybrid warfare to attack the West and Italy — acts of interference that are serious and unacceptable to Italian institutions and national security.”

The espionage investigation unfolded after Rome police revealed the arrest of the two ex-agents earlier this week. Details released by law enforcement show one of the detainees, a 59-year-old former Italian intelligence operative, was regularly paid by a Russian handler. Over the course of his collaboration, he passed classified information through a network of six sources, four of whom are currently active-duty military personnel assigned to high-security posts, police said.

Local media reports have shed further light on the scope of the leaked information. The network allegedly passed details to Russia about the SAMP/T, a joint Italian-French air defense system, along with Aster missiles that Rome planned to deliver to Ukraine for field testing in 2024. Russian handlers also sought intelligence on a NATO deployment based in Bulgaria and Avio, the major Italian defense manufacturer that produces engines for military drones and supersonic missiles, according to the reports.
Leading Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera added that the 59-year-old suspect also disclosed the identities of Italian counter-espionage agents assigned to monitor Russian intelligence operatives working in Italy. Another major national outlet, La Stampa, reported that the former agent shared thousands of separate intelligence documents with his Russian contacts over a 12-year period of collaboration, based on recordings of the suspect’s phone conversations seized by investigators.

A legal representative for the former agent has rejected all accusations of treason against his client. The lawyer claims the suspect only collected information that is already available in the public domain, and the former agent is scheduled to undergo formal questioning by investigators on Friday.
Details of the second arrested Italian ex-agent, including their identity and the specific accusations against them, have not been released to the public as of Thursday.

Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto framed the uncovered ring as just a small part of a much larger pattern of Russian activity earlier this week, saying the case is “just the tip of the iceberg” of Moscow’s ongoing hybrid warfare campaign across Europe amid its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
This is not the first such diplomatic clash between Italy and Russia in recent years. In 2024, an Italian court sentenced a serving Italian navy captain to prison after he was caught selling classified documents to the Russian embassy. That incident also resulted in Italy expelling two Russian officials, followed by Moscow retaliating with the expulsion of one Italian diplomat from Russia.

9 7 月, 2026
China’s passenger car exports are up 80% in June as EV demand grows, while sales drop at home

HONG KONG – China’s automotive industry is facing a stark divide in 2024, with booming overseas electric vehicle (EV) demand driving explosive export growth even as a prolonged downturn drags down domestic sales, new industry data shows.

Data released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) reveals that Chinese passenger car exports jumped 80% year-on-year in June alone, climbing to 905,000 units from May’s 809,000. For the first half of the year, total exports have surged 72% to more than 4.4 million units, a staggering increase that cements China’s position as the world’s top exporter of passenger vehicles. By comparison, domestic passenger car sales over the same January-June period reached nearly 8.3 million units, with 1.5 million sold in June – still a larger total volume than exports, but down 26% from last year’s levels.

Multiple overlapping pressures have weighed heavily on China’s domestic auto market. The crowded, saturated landscape has ignited cutthroat price wars that have squeezed margins and left many potential buyers waiting for deeper discounts before committing to a purchase. A long-running slump in the country’s property sector has eroded household wealth and disposable income, cutting consumer willingness to make big-ticket purchases like new cars. Compounding these headwinds, the rollback of government EV purchase incentives has also dampened domestic demand for electric vehicles.

Global consulting firm AlixPartners projects that total light vehicle sales, which include passenger cars, will drop by roughly 10% this year, as consumer expectations of further price declines push purchase delays across the market. Against this backdrop, expanding into international markets has shifted from an opportunity to a survival imperative for most Chinese automakers. “In China’s highly competitive environment, companies that don’t venture overseas will face immense difficulties in surviving,” Wei Haigang, president of GAC International, the overseas arm of Chinese automaker GAC Group, stated at a June auto expo in Hong Kong.

Leading domestic brands like BYD have already moved aggressively to capture global market share, opening new production facilities in key high-demand regions to scale up output and reduce trade costs. This rapid global expansion has lifted long-term profit outlooks for Chinese automakers, but it has also sparked growing trade tensions with major trading partners.

The divide is particularly clear in the North American market. In a recent positive development for Chinese brands, Canada approved an annual import quota that allows 49,000 Chinese-made EVs to enter the country at a preferential low tax rate, opening a new foothold for Chinese manufacturers. Industry analysts are now closely watching the Canadian market to see if this access paves the way for future entry into the U.S. market, where steep punitive tariffs have effectively blocked most Chinese EV exports to date. Even so, trade barriers continue to harden in some regions: last month, Polestar, the Sweden-based EV brand controlled by China’s Geely Holding Group, announced that the U.S. Commerce Department has banned Polestar from selling vehicles in the U.S. starting from the 2027 model year.

Industry analysts hold largely positive long-term outlooks for China’s auto export growth. Stephen Chan, an analyst with S&P Global Ratings, projects that full-year Chinese passenger car exports will grow between 30% and 50% annually through 2026. AlixPartners forecasts that total Chinese vehicle exports will rise from roughly 7 million units in 2025 to around 10 million units by 2026.

Analysts also note that geopolitical tensions tied to the ongoing conflict in Iran have pushed global gasoline prices higher, which is expected to further boost consumer and fleet demand for electric vehicles worldwide – a shift that plays directly to the strength of Chinese EV manufacturers, who have built significant cost and production scale advantages in the global EV supply chain.

9 7 月, 2026
PepsiCo says economic concerns weighed on customers in North American during recent quarter

Leading global food and beverage conglomerate PepsiCo has outperformed Wall Street revenue projections for the second quarter of the fiscal year, even as softened consumer spending in its key North American market created headwinds amid ongoing economic anxiety. The Purchase, New York-based firm announced its second quarter results Thursday, revealing net revenue climbed 6.4% year-over-year to hit $24.2 billion. This figure edged past the consensus analyst forecast of $23.9 billion compiled by financial data firm FactSet.

The quarterly results cap a period of shifting consumer behavior that has forced PepsiCo to adjust its pricing and product strategy. Earlier this year, ahead of the Super Bowl, the company implemented an aggressive price cut of up to 15% on popular salty snack lines including Lay’s, Doritos, Cheetos and Tostitos. The move came in direct response to growing consumer frustration over years of steady price increases across the grocery sector, and it delivered a noticeable bump in North American snack demand during the first quarter.

However, the second quarter brought new economic pressures tied to escalating conflict between Iran and Western powers. A sharp spike in global oil prices driven by the war pushed gasoline costs higher across the U.S., forcing many households to further tighten discretionary spending. By the end of the quarter, PepsiCo’s North American snack sales volumes had stalled entirely, while beverage volumes fell by 4% compared to the previous year.

Though gas prices retreated temporarily to deliver a small uptick in consumer economic sentiment, the improvement has not shifted overall negative public outlook. Recent escalations in Iranian hostilities have already pushed gas prices back upward over the past 48 hours, signaling ongoing volatility for consumer budgets in the quarters ahead.

Against the challenging North American landscape, PepsiCo’s international divisions delivered stronger performance that offset domestic weakness. Globally, the company recorded a 3% increase in snack volumes and a 2% rise in beverage volumes, driven in part by innovative themed marketing tied to a major international sporting event. Limited-edition World Cup product offerings, including unique regional Lay’s flavors such as Portuguese Chorizo and Onion, resonated with consumers across global markets and lifted overall sales.

Looking ahead, PepsiCo says it will maintain its focus on making core products more accessible to budget-stretched consumers, with continued investments in pricing and production to keep costs manageable. The company is also expanding its portfolio to meet growing consumer demand for healthier packaged goods. Earlier this year in March, it launched Gatorade Lower Sugar, a new formulation of its iconic sports drink that contains no artificial flavors or coloring additives.

On the bottom line, PepsiCo reported strong net income growth that saw quarterly profit more than double year-over-year to $2.98 billion. When adjusted for one-time accounting items, the company posted earnings of $2.18 per share — a figure that came just one cent short of the average analyst forecast of $2.19 per share. In premarket trading on Thursday following the earnings release, PepsiCo’s share price dipped less than 1%.

9 7 月, 2026
Labour leadership contest takes Burnham closer to UK PM’s office

The path to 10 Downing Street cleared a major milestone for veteran British politician Andy Burnham on Thursday, as the nomination period officially opened for a new leader of the UK’s ruling Labour Party following Keir Starmer’s resignation last month.

At 56 years old, Burnham stands as the only sitting Labour Member of Parliament that has publicly declared their candidacy to replace Starmer, who stepped down on June 22 after losing the confidence of his parliamentary party amid sustained criticism over repeated policy flip-flops and questions about his decision-making. Thursday morning saw a steady stream of Labour MPs file into the party’s parliamentary headquarters to submit their nominations for their preferred leader, with most insiders already signaling their backing for Burnham.

With no other declared candidates in the race after a string of potential challengers dropped out in recent days, political observers widely expect Burnham to be formally confirmed as Labour’s new leader – and the UK’s prime minister-in-waiting – at a special party conference scheduled for July 17. He would officially take up residence at 10 Downing Street just three days after the confirmation vote. If a contested leadership election were called, however, a result would not be announced until August 29, after a ballot of rank-and-file Labour members and representatives from the party’s affiliated trade unions.

Burnham’s path to the top job became all but guaranteed late Wednesday when former armed forces minister Al Carns announced he would not enter the race, ending any last speculation of a contested contest. Carns had initially suggested a leadership race could give Labour a chance to hold a full policy debate, but ultimately backed out and threw his support behind Burnham, arguing that extended internal party infighting was not what the British public needed amid ongoing economic and social challenges. “Months of internal Labour politics isn’t what the country needs right now. We’ve got to get on with the job,” Carns said in his statement.

To qualify as an official candidate, Burnham only needs the backing of 81 of Labour’s 402 sitting MPs – a threshold that political insiders confirm he will pass far more easily than required. Nicknamed the “King of the North” for his three consecutive election wins as Greater Manchester mayor, Burnham returned to parliament last month after winning a by-election, a move that cleared the way for his leadership bid. He previously served as an MP between 2001 and 2017, and this marks his third attempt to secure Labour’s top leadership post.

In a keynote policy speech delivered in June, Burnham laid out his early policy priorities, promising to deliver “the biggest rebalancing of power our country has seen” by devolving more authority to regional and local communities. “We need to put power in the hands of the people and places who can use it best,” he said, adding that raising living standards for all UK residents would be his core priority. “To fix the economy and the country, we need to change politics and we need to do it now,” he added. He has already moved to reassure financial markets by committing to the outgoing government’s current borrowing limits, pledging fiscal discipline and promising to reduce the UK’s growing welfare spending. One of his signature proposals is the creation of a “No. 10 North” regional prime ministerial office to drive devolution across northern England.

Carns’ withdrawal follows another high-profile exit from potential candidacy, after former health minister Wes Streeting announced he would abandon plans to run and also back Burnham. Multiple opinion polls rank Burnham as Labour’s most popular national politician, positioning him as slightly left of the more centrist Starmer. Many Labour MPs see Burnham as the party’s best bet to recapture lost voter support from Nigel Farage’s right-wing Reform UK, which has led Labour in national opinion polls for more than a year. Recent polling has narrowed the gap, however, amid growing scrutiny of Farage’s personal finances.

On the day Starmer announced his resignation, Burnham was sworn in as a Member of Parliament, and more than 200 Labour MPs turned out for a celebratory group photo with him at Westminster, a clear public signal of the party’s overwhelming support for his leadership bid. One anonymous Labour MP told reporters that the party was right to back Burnham, arguing that “he couldn’t be worse than Starmer” and describing him as a potential “breath of fresh air” for British politics. But not all MPs are fully confident: another anonymous lawmaker who backed Burnham expressed concern that the incoming leader will only have a matter of weeks to prepare to take control of government before he officially becomes prime minister.

9 7 月, 2026