Global Pulse

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  • Gaza flotilla organisers say 211 activists ‘kidnapped’ by Israel

    Gaza flotilla organisers say 211 activists ‘kidnapped’ by Israel

    A major diplomatic and humanitarian controversy has erupted after Israeli military forces intercepted a flotilla of pro-Palestinian aid vessels heading to the blockaded Gaza Strip in international waters off the Greek island of Crete, with organizers and Israeli officials clashing sharply on the scope and legality of the operation.

    Organizers with the Global Sumud Flotilla, a coalition of 48 national delegations that launched the voyage from ports in France, Spain and Italy over recent weeks, announced Thursday that Israeli commandos had stormed at least 22 of the coalition’s 58 vessels in an operation that took place hundreds of kilometers from Israeli shores — a distance organizers described as unprecedented. In a graphic account of the raid, the group detailed that Israeli military speedboats approached the unarmed aid vessels, pointing laser weapons and semi-automatic assault weapons at activists, ordering crew members to crawl to the fronts of their boats with their hands and knees on the deck. The operation also included jamming of the flotilla’s communications systems, prompting activists to issue an emergency SOS distress call.

    Per the coalition’s accounts, a total of 211 activists have been taken into Israeli custody, an outcome organizers frame as an arbitrary kidnapping in violation of international law. Among the detainees are Paris Communist municipal councillor Raphaelle Primet and 10 other French citizens, with crew members representing all 48 participating national delegations believed to be held. Helene Coron, a spokesperson for Global Sumud France, confirmed the details of the interception during an online news conference, noting that the operation occurred far closer to Crete than to Israeli territorial waters. Yasmine Scola, an activist still aboard one of the remaining flotilla vessels anchored near Crete, echoed the organizers’ claim that the detained activists had been kidnapped by Israeli forces.

    Israeli officials have offered a conflicting account of the operation. The Israeli foreign ministry put the number of detainees at 175, and derisively labeled the initiative a “condom flotilla” — a reference to prophylactics found in a previous aid convoy — adding that 20 of the intercepted vessels were already traveling peacefully to Israeli ports. Activists counter that their vessels were carrying only civilian humanitarian aid, including school supplies and food for Gazan residents who have faced catastrophic shortages of basic goods for decades.

    A spokesperson for the Greek coast guard confirmed to Agence France-Presse that authorities responded to the flotilla’s SOS distress signal, but once a Greek patrol boat reached the interception zone, crews were told no further assistance was needed. As of Thursday, the 36 remaining vessels from the original flotilla remain anchored off the coast of Crete, and organizers have not yet announced what next steps the remaining crews will take.

    This interception marks the second high-profile voyage by the Global Sumud Flotilla targeting Israel’s blockade of Gaza. The coalition’s first voyage in the summer and autumn of 2025 also drew global attention after Israeli forces intercepted the flotilla off the coasts of Egypt and Gaza in early October of that year. That operation, which Amnesty International and organizers labeled a violation of international law, sparked widespread international condemnation after high-profile participants including climate activist Greta Thunberg were arrested and expelled by Israeli authorities.

    The confrontation comes against a long-running backdrop of humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Israel has controlled all land, air and sea entry points to Gaza since 2007, when the territory came under the governance of Hamas. The United Nations and leading international non-governmental organizations have repeatedly accused Israel of strangling the flow of goods into Gaza, a crisis that deepened dramatically after the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas in October 2023. According to official Israeli figures compiled by AFP, Hamas’s cross-border attack on October 7, 2023 killed 1,221 people, most of them civilians. Retaliatory Israeli military operations in Gaza have killed more than 72,000 people in the territory, the majority of them civilians, per data from the Gaza Ministry of Health. A fragile ceasefire has been in place since October 2025, ending two years of devastating armed conflict, but severe shortages of food, clean water, medicine and fuel continue to plague the 2 million residents of Gaza.

  • Zelenskyy says he’s seeking details of Putin’s May 9 ceasefire proposal

    Zelenskyy says he’s seeking details of Putin’s May 9 ceasefire proposal

    Diplomatic developments have intersected with continuing frontline violence in Ukraine this week, after Russian President Vladimir Putin floated a short-term ceasefire proposal to former U.S. President Donald Trump during a Wednesday phone call, drawing a cautious request for details from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

    According to the Kremlin, Putin suggested the ceasefire would align with Russia’s May 9 Victory Day, the national holiday marking the Soviet Union’s defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II. While senior Putin aide Yuri Ushakov confirmed the ceasefire was discussed during the call, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov clarified Thursday that no final agreement or concrete terms have been finalized, with all final decisions remaining with Putin.

    In a public Telegram post Thursday, Zelenskyy announced that Ukrainian diplomatic representatives had been ordered to reach out to Trump’s team to pin down the specifics of the proposal. The Ukrainian leader cast doubt on the plan’s purpose, suggesting it could merely be a temporary security measure for a Moscow parade rather than a meaningful step toward de-escalation, and reiterated Ukraine’s preference for a far longer ceasefire to reduce civilian harm.

    Parallel to these diplomatic negotiations, active hostilities have continued unabated across the region. Overnight Russian airstrikes targeted two major Ukrainian cities: in the central city of Dnipro, a drone strike killed one civilian and injured five others, damaging a local shop, residential apartment blocks and parked vehicles, Dnipropetrovsk regional governor Oleksandr Hanzha confirmed. In the southern Black Sea port of Odesa, waves of Russian drone strikes left 20 people wounded. Though Ukrainian air defense forces intercepted a large share of the incoming drones, falling debris and direct hits damaged civilian sites including residential buildings, a hotel, a kindergarten and an administrative building, sparking multiple fires that emergency crews have since contained.

    For a second consecutive day, Ukraine has carried out retaliatory drone strikes on industrial infrastructure deep inside Russian territory. A senior Ukrainian security official confirmed Thursday that the country’s Security Service (SBU) targeted the Lukoil-Permnefteorgsintez oil refinery in Perm, a region in the Ural Mountains more than 1,500 kilometers from the Ukrainian border, disrupting operations at the facility. Russian regional governor Dmitry Makhonin acknowledged an industrial site was hit but downplayed damage and reported no casualties. Farther west, in the Krasnodar region, authorities said a two-day fire at the Tuapse Black Sea oil refinery—ignited by a Ukrainian drone strike—has been extinguished, though crude oil products spilled onto local city streets during the blaze.

    Ukraine’s Navy also announced a separate overnight strike in the Kerch Strait, which connects the Black Sea and Sea of Azov adjacent to the 2018 Crimean Bridge linking illegally annexed Crimea to mainland Russia. The service said sea drones damaged two Russian vessels: a patrol boat named *Sobol* and a smaller craft named *Grachonok*.

    In a separate diplomatic win for Kyiv, a vessel accused of carrying grain stolen by Russia from occupied Ukrainian territories departed Israel’s Haifa Port early Thursday without unloading its cargo, after a week of escalating tension between the two countries. The ship had been anchored off Haifa for several days, but Israel’s largest grain import firm refused to accept the shipment over its disputed origin, the Israel Grain Importers Association confirmed, forcing the Russian supplier to seek an alternative port to unload.

    Zelenskyy had threatened to impose sanctions on Israel earlier this week if the vessel offloaded the stolen grain, and Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar noted the country’s tax authority had launched a formal investigation into the shipment. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha hailed the outcome, saying it proved the effectiveness of Kyiv’s legal and diplomatic efforts to block the trade of stolen Ukrainian agricultural goods.

  • Why is China banning drone sales in Beijing?

    Why is China banning drone sales in Beijing?

    In recent weeks, new regulations restricting unauthorised drone operations and sales in Beijing have drawn international attention, with observers seeking clarity on the drivers behind the policy shift. Veteran BBC correspondent Laura Bicker has conducted on-the-ground reporting to unpack the motivations behind China’s decision to tighten drone oversight across the capital. According to Chinese authorities, the core impetus for the new rules is rooted in escalating public safety risks that have emerged as consumer and commercial drone ownership has skyrocketed across the country in recent years. Over the past decade, drones have moved from niche hobbyist equipment to widely accessible tools for photography, logistics, and industrial work, with millions of units now in operation nationwide. This rapid proliferation has brought growing safety challenges: unregulated drone flights have disrupted commercial air traffic at major airports, posed collision risks to manned aircraft, and enabled unauthorised surveillance that infringes on personal privacy. In densely populated urban areas like Beijing, the stakes of unsafe drone operation are even higher, with rogue units creating hazards for pedestrians and critical infrastructure. Bicker’s reporting notes that while the new restrictions have sparked some discussion among domestic drone hobby groups, the policy aligns with a broader global trend of governments updating aviation and technology regulations to address the risks posed by the fast-growing drone industry. Chinese regulatory bodies have emphasised that the restrictions are not a blanket ban on all drone activity in Beijing – rather, they are targeted at unregistered sales and unauthorised flights, with provisions for legitimate commercial and recreational operators who complete required registration and safety certification. As drone technology continues to advance and become more accessible, policymakers across the globe are grappling with how to balance innovation and public access with the need to protect communities and critical assets, and Beijing’s new regulatory framework represents one major government’s approach to that balancing act.

  • ‘Once in a lifetime opportunity’ – Kansas City readies for World Cup influx

    ‘Once in a lifetime opportunity’ – Kansas City readies for World Cup influx

    Tucked along the banks of the Missouri River, straddling the state line between Kansas and Missouri, the Kansas City metropolitan area stands as one of the smallest host cities for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, with a population of just 2.5 million. Though it does not rank among the 30 largest urban regions in the United States, this Midwestern hub punches far above its weight in the sporting world: it is home to the recently dominant Kansas City Chiefs NFL franchise, hosts the prestigious Big 12 college basketball tournament, and will take on a critical role in the planet’s biggest soccer tournament this summer.

    Kansas City will play host to six World Cup matches, including a round-of-32 fixture and a high-stakes quarter-final, and will serve as the training base for four competing nations: Algeria, defending champions Argentina, England, and the Netherlands. For long-time locals who have watched the region’s soccer culture grow from humble beginnings, this opportunity feels nothing short of historic.

    Héctor Solorio, a 26-year Kansas City resident and lifelong supporter of MLS side Sporting Kansas City, called the chance to welcome the world to his hometown a once-in-a-lifetime moment. “I never imagined the World Cup coming to my city,” he said, noting he is eager to prove Kansas City’s reputation as a globally recognized soccer city – even as he remains skeptical about the U.S. Men’s National Team’s tournament prospects. Fellow local Alejandro Cabero echoed that excitement, recalling how different the region’s soccer scene was when he first arrived: when the franchise, then called the KC Wizards, drew fewer than 3,000 fans to matches. “It’s amazing how far we’ve come,” he said.

    Local and tournament officials frame the 2026 World Cup as a transformative chance to showcase everything the Midwestern region has to offer beyond sports. “We’re a city that has always punched above our weight in barbecue, in African American music, in sports, in the warmth of our people,” Quinton Lucas, mayor of Kansas City, Missouri, told the BBC. “This summer is our chance to share that with the world on the biggest possible stage.”

    Anticipation has been building for months across the city, with locals already finalizing plans for match week. Solorio has secured a ticket to the opening group stage match between Argentina and Algeria on June 16, while Cabero – who owns a local empanada manufacturing business – is organizing a traditional Argentinian banderazo, a pre-game street celebration, the day before. He is preparing food for an estimated 600 attendees, but expects crowds as large as 10,000 fans to join the party.

    Beyond local fan events, organizers have rolled out large-scale preparations to welcome the expected influx of global visitors. Working in partnership with FIFA and officials from both Kansas and Missouri, KC 2026 organizers have planned a free, 18-day official fan festival at the National WWI Museum and Memorial, one of the city’s most iconic landmarks. The festival will feature live match broadcasts, community-led events, and neighborhood watch parties open to all attendees.

    To ensure small, locally owned businesses can capitalize on the surge in visitors, KC 2026 CEO Pam Kramer and her team launched the KC Game Plan initiative. The program provides a free playbook, available in both English and Spanish, that offers small business owners cyber security training, demographic data on projected visitors, and hospitality guidance, among other resources. “Our goal is to guarantee that when visitors arrive, they encounter Kansas City businesses that are ready to meet demand and confident in showcasing what makes them unique,” Kramer explained. For Cabero, that means crafting new empanada flavors inspired by the competing nations, including takes on paella, bratwurst, and shepherd’s pie, to welcome visiting fans.

    Over the past 15 years, the Kansas City metro has invested nearly $700 million into soccer-specific infrastructure, part of a long-term strategy to position the region as a major soccer destination. The recently renovated Berkley Riverfront esplanade, redeveloped in 2021 by Port KC and NWSL side KC Current, will serve as Argentina’s base during the tournament, and local leaders expect the presence of Lionel Messi and the world champions to deliver a major boost to the area’s economy, with increased foot traffic and sales for nearby local businesses. Port KC communications director Patrick Pierce projects that up to two million visitors will visit the riverfront in 2026, a surge driven largely by World Cup demand.

    Kansas City has also gone out of its way to welcome smaller, less high-profile nations competing in their first ever World Cup. Caribbean nation Curacao will play its group stage match against Ecuador in Kansas City on June 20, and will stay in the city for two nights during their historic tournament run. Curacao Football Federation president Gilbert Martina noted an unexpected cultural connection between the two regions: both share a deep love of jazz, with Curacao hosting the world-famous North Sea Jazz Festival. Martina added that the Midwestern values of resilience, community, and pride that define Kansas City are qualities that resonate deeply with the people of Curacao.

    For all the widespread excitement, not all locals share the confidence that Kansas City is fully prepared for the influx of fans and the economic and social impacts of the tournament. Local community leaders have raised three key concerns: a shortage of available hotel rooms, limited public transportation access to match venues for fans on the Kansas side of the Missouri River, and worries over increased immigration enforcement presence during the tournament.

    Most notably, Doug Langner, executive director of local homeless shelter Hope Faith and a lifelong soccer fan, warned that the city’s unhoused population of roughly 2,000 people could be pushed out of critical support systems. Many hotels that partner with the city to provide temporary housing for unhoused residents will be fully booked by traveling fans, he explained, leaving vulnerable populations without accommodation. With hundreds of millions of dollars invested in tournament infrastructure and security, Langner questioned why marginalized communities have not been prioritized to benefit from the event. “How do we connect the people who could use that bump the most to those opportunities?” he asked, adding that it remains unclear how working-class locals will share in the projected economic benefits of the tournament.

    While Mexico City will host the tournament’s opening match and New York will welcome fans for the final, Kansas City is poised to carve out its own unique place in the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The city’s challenge now is to deliver a world-class tournament that celebrates every competing nation, from global giants to first-time underdogs, while addressing the lingering concerns of local communities to ensure the tournament benefits all Kansas City residents.

  • Inflation hits 3% in Europe as Iran war spreads oil price shock

    Inflation hits 3% in Europe as Iran war spreads oil price shock

    FRANKFURT, Germany — The ongoing conflict between Iran and coalition forces has sent global oil markets into turmoil, creating a toxic economic mix for the 21-nation eurozone that pushes the bloc closer to stagflation, new official data shows.

    On Thursday, the European Union’s statistical body Eurostat released figures showing annual inflation across the euro currency area climbed to 3.0% in April, up from 2.6% recorded in March. The sharp uptick was almost entirely driven by a 10.9% month-over-month jump in energy prices, triggered by massive supply disruptions stemming from the Iran war. Since the outbreak of hostilities on February 28, international benchmark crude prices have surged from around $73 per barrel to above $120 a barrel, as Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz cut off a critical global oil chokepoint. Approximately 20% of the world’s total oil trade passes through the waterway, connecting Persian Gulf producing nations to global markets. The price shock has already hit consumers directly, with higher costs showing up immediately at gasoline pumps and in jet fuel prices for air travel.

    Alongside the unwelcome inflation surge, the eurozone also delivered underwhelming growth figures for the first quarter of 2025. The bloc recorded only a marginal 0.1% increase in output compared to the final quarter of 2024, a result that fell far short of analyst expectations.

    This dual pressure of stagnant growth and above-target inflation has put the European Central Bank (ECB) in an extremely difficult policy position. The ECB has a long-standing inflation target of 2%, and conventional economic policy calls for raising benchmark interest rates to cool overheating prices. However, hiking borrowing costs would further dampen already weak economic growth, creating a risk of a full-blown recession.

    Policymakers widely expect the ECB to leave its key benchmark interest rate unchanged at its Thursday meeting, a position that aligns with other major global central banks that have also hit a policy pause amid the uncertainty. The U.S. Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan both held interest rates steady at their respective monetary policy meetings earlier this week, and the Bank of England is also projected to keep rates unchanged as it assesses the ongoing fallout from the Iran war. The ECB has kept its main policy rate fixed at 2% since June 2025.

    The dilemma for central bankers hinges on whether the current inflation surge will prove temporary. If price pressures are transitory, moving to hike rates now would unnecessarily harm growth, as interest rate changes take months to filter through to the broader economy. But if policymakers wait too long, higher energy costs could push up prices for food, manufactured goods and prompt demands for higher wages, embedding persistent inflation into the economy. Once inflation becomes entrenched, central banks are forced to implement even more aggressive, economically painful rate hikes to bring prices back under control.

    Right now, major central banks around the world remain stuck in a holding pattern, cautiously monitoring the inflation shock as it works its way through the global economy, with no room to either cut or raise rates in the current uncertain environment.

  • Israel intercepts Gaza flotilla near Crete and detains 175 activists

    Israel intercepts Gaza flotilla near Crete and detains 175 activists

    A months-long standoff over Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza has escalated into a new international dispute, after Israeli security forces intercepted at least 22 vessels from the pro-Palestinian Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) carrying humanitarian intent to the blockaded enclave in international waters off Greece’s Crete. Organizers of the aid mission have decried the operation as outright piracy, while Israeli officials frame the action as a legitimate response to what they call a provocative publicity stunt.

    The 58-vessel flotilla launched two weeks prior from ports across Spain, France, and Italy, with the explicit goal of breaking the years-long Israeli naval blockade that has restricted movement and goods access in and out of Gaza since the outbreak of the current conflict. GSF organizers confirmed that the interceptions took place roughly 965 kilometers (600 miles) from Gaza’s shores, far outside of Israel’s recognized territorial boundaries. In a formal statement released Thursday at 04:30 GMT, the group accused Israeli naval commandos of storming the intercepted vessels in open violation of international maritime law.

    An earlier GSF statement detailed aggressive tactics during the operation: Israeli forces jammed all onboard communications, including dedicated emergency distress channels, before forcibly detaining all civilians on the seized ships. “This is piracy. This is the unlawful seizure of human beings on the open sea near Crete, an assertion that Israel can operate with total impunity, far beyond its own borders, with no consequences,” the GSF said in its official remarks. As of the latest update, GSF tracking data shows the 36 remaining flotilla vessels are holding position off Crete’s southwestern coast, having avoided interception so far.

    Israeli officials have pushed back against the organizers’ claims, asserting that all actions taken comply with international law. The Israeli foreign ministry confirmed that roughly 175 activists from more than 20 intercepted boats have been taken into custody and are being transported to Israeli territory. The ministry dismissed the entire flotilla mission as nothing more than a calculated provocation, claiming no actual humanitarian aid was being carried aboard the vessels. In a pre-interception statement Wednesday, Israeli officials went further, alleging that the militant group Hamas is the driving force behind the flotilla, working in tandem with professional protest provocateurs. The goal of the action, the ministry claimed, is to sabotage the second phase of U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposed Gaza peace plan and shift public attention away from Hamas’s ongoing refusal to disarm.

    Israeli media reports add that naval forces issued multiple warnings for the flotilla vessels to change course and retreat before moving in to seize the ships that refused to comply. The Israeli foreign ministry also released its own video footage of the aftermath, which it says shows detained activists moving peacefully onto Israeli naval vessels for transport. This is not the first time Israel has intercepted a GSF mission bound for Gaza: in October of last year, the Israeli military stopped an earlier flotilla before it could reach the enclave, arresting and later deporting more than 470 onboard activists, including high-profile Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg.

    The interception has already sparked new debate over the legality of Israeli military operations far beyond its own territorial waters, as well as renewed international scrutiny of the years-long blockade of Gaza that has severely limited the entry of food, medicine, and other essential supplies into the enclave.

  • The first direct US-Venezuela commercial flight in 7 years is to land in Caracas

    The first direct US-Venezuela commercial flight in 7 years is to land in Caracas

    After a seven-year indefinite suspension ordered by U.S. authorities over unsubstantiated security concerns, the first direct commercial flight connecting the United States and Venezuela is set to touch down in Caracas, Venezuela’s capital, on Thursday, marking a historic turning point in bilateral relations between the two nations.

    This long-awaited resumption of direct air links comes on the heels of a series of rapid diplomatic breakthroughs. Just months ago, the U.S. announced the formal reopening of its embassy in Caracas, a move that followed the restoration of full diplomatic relations between Washington and the South American country after years of severed ties.

    The inaugural flight, numbered AA3599 and operated by Envoy Air, a regional subsidiary of American Airlines, was scheduled to depart Miami International Airport at 10:16 a.m. local Florida time, with a planned three-hour flight time before arriving in Caracas. The aircraft is scheduled to make the return trip to Miami later the same afternoon. Per earlier announcements from the airline, a second daily nonstop flight between Miami and Caracas will launch on May 21 to meet growing travel demand.

    Direct commercial air travel between the U.S. and Venezuela has been frozen since 2019, when American Airlines — the last remaining U.S. carrier serving the country — suspended its routes between Miami, Caracas, and Venezuela’s key oil hub Maracaibo. Larger U.S. carriers Delta Air Lines and United Airlines had already exited the Venezuelan market two years earlier in 2017, amid a deepening political and economic crisis that drove millions of Venezuelans to seek refuge abroad. Over the past seven years, travelers between the two nations have been forced to rely on indirect connecting routes through neighboring Latin American countries, adding significant time and cost to cross-border journeys.

    In a late January statement, U.S. President Donald Trump announced he had notified Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez that the U.S. would fully open commercial air access to Venezuela, clearing the way for U.S. citizens to travel to the country. “American citizens will be very shortly able to go to Venezuela, and they’ll be safe there,” Trump told reporters at the time. When American Airlines first announced the flight resumption plan in January, the carrier emphasized that the restored routes would create new opportunities for separated family members to reunite, while also opening new doors for cross-border commercial and economic activity.

  • Meta in row after workers who say they saw smart glasses users having sex lose jobs

    Meta in row after workers who say they saw smart glasses users having sex lose jobs

    A growing controversy surrounding Meta’s artificial intelligence training practices for its Ray-Ban and Oakley branded smart glasses has triggered regulatory investigations and competing claims over why the tech giant abruptly cut ties with its outsourced contractor Sama, leaving more than 1,100 Kenyan workers unemployed.

    In February, anonymous data annotators employed by Sama gave explosive interviews to two Swedish publications, Svenska Dagbladet and Goteborgs-Posten, revealing that they were forced to review deeply private and graphic footage captured by Meta’s consumer smart glasses. The workers described reviewing everything from users going to the bathroom to sexual encounters, and one account detailed footage of a woman undressing in a private bedroom, captured without her knowledge by her partner’s recording glasses. “We see everything – from living rooms to naked bodies,” one worker told the outlets.

    Less than two months after these allegations came to light, Meta announced it was ending its contracted work with Sama, a US-headquartered B Corp that brands itself as an ethical tech outsourcing provider. The termination left 1,108 Kenyan workers out of a job. The two sides have offered starkly conflicting explanations for the decision.

    Meta has publicly maintained that it cut ties because Sama failed to meet its internal operational standards. “We take [the worker allegations] seriously. Photos and videos are private to users. Humans review AI content to improve product performance, for which we get clear user consent,” a Meta spokesperson told the BBC, adding that the company had paused work with Sama while it investigated the claims.

    Sama has forcefully rejected Meta’s claims, noting that it never received any prior notification of performance issues. “Sama has consistently met the operational, security and quality standards required across all our client engagements, including with Meta,” the company said in an official statement. “At no point were we notified of any failure to meet those standards, and we stand firmly behind the quality and integrity of our work.”

    Kenyan worker advocacy groups have put forward a third, far more critical explanation: that Meta terminated the contract to punish workers for speaking out about the privacy violations and harmful working conditions. Naftali Wambalo of the Africa Tech Workers Movement, who is already involved in ongoing legal action against Sama and Meta over a past toxic content moderation contract, says workers on the smart glasses project confirmed the same pattern of exploitation. “What I think are the standards they are talking about here are standards of secrecy,” Wambalo told the BBC.

    This is not the first time Meta’s partnership with Sama has resulted in public scandal. A previous contract for Sama to moderate Facebook content drew widespread condemnation after former workers described chronic trauma from constant exposure to graphic, violent and extreme content, leading to legal action. Sama later stated it regretted taking on that work.

    Following the February revelations, regulators on two continents have opened investigations into Meta’s practices. The UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) wrote to Meta shortly after the Swedish investigation was published, raising concerns over the reported privacy breaches. Kenya’s Office of the Data Protection Commissioner has also launched a formal probe into the privacy risks posed by the smart glasses content review process. Non-consensual recording of women using the devices has already been linked to incidents in Kenya, amplifying local privacy concerns.

    Meta first unveiled its line of AI-powered smart glasses in partnership with luxury eyewear brands Ray-Ban and Oakley in September 2023. The devices offer AI-powered features including real-time text translation and visual question answering, a tool that is particularly helpful for users who are blind or partially sighted. As the devices have grown in popularity with consumers, concerns over misuse and privacy violations have grown in lockstep.

    The Kenyan workers who spoke to the Swedish outlets were employed as data annotators, a role that involves manually labeling content captured by smart glasses to help train Meta’s AI systems to correctly interpret images. They also reviewed transcripts of user interactions with the glasses’ built-in AI to check that responses were accurate. Meta has stated that human review of content is an industry standard practice intended to improve user experience, and that the practice is disclosed in the company’s terms of service.

    Mercy Mutemi, a lawyer representing the Kenyan worker petitioners and executive director of advocacy group the Oversight Lab, said the controversy should serve as a warning to the Kenyan government, which has positioned outsourced AI work as a pathway into the global tech economy. “We’ve been told that this is our entry route into the AI ecosystem,” she said. “This is a very flimsy foundation to build your entire industry on.”

    The BBC has requested additional comment from Meta on the secrecy allegation, and has not yet received a response.

  • Myanmar reduces ousted leader Suu Kyi’s prison term in new amnesty

    Myanmar reduces ousted leader Suu Kyi’s prison term in new amnesty

    BANGKOK – In a move tied to a major Buddhist religious observance, Myanmar’s military-installed administration has slashed the prison term of ousted democratically elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi, marking the second mass prisoner pardon issued by the regime in just two weeks, according to anonymous legal sources and official state media reports.

    The latest commutation, announced Thursday to mark the full moon day of Kason – the holiday that commemorates the birth, enlightenment, and passing of the Buddha – applies a one-sixth sentence reduction to all remaining convicted prisoners across the country, in addition to the full amnesty granted to 1,519 incarcerated people, 11 of whom hold foreign citizenship. It remains unclear how many of the thousands of people detained for opposing military rule are included in the most recent round of clemency.

    Two legal officials, speaking on condition of anonymity out of fear of retaliation from state authorities, confirmed that the 80-year-old Nobel Peace Prize recipient would see her sentence reduced by an additional one-sixth under the new order. No official confirmation of her remaining term has been released, but calculations based on prior sentence cuts show she is still expected to serve more than 13 years behind bars.

    This latest amnesty follows a broader pardon issued on April 17 that released more than 4,500 prisoners and cut sentences for inmates serving terms under 40 years, which already shaved more than four years off Suu Kyi’s sentence. The sequence of clemency measures comes three weeks after Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, the head of Myanmar’s military, was sworn in as the country’s president. His appointment followed a 2025 election widely dismissed by international observers and critics as neither free nor fair, widely seen as a carefully orchestrated move to cement the military’s authoritarian grip on national power. In his inauguration address, Min Aung Hlaing stated the amnesty program was designed to advance national reconciliation, social justice, and peace across the country.

    Suu Kyi’s current detention stretches back to February 1, 2021, when the military seized power in a coup that ousted her democratically elected civilian government. By the end of 2022, she was convicted on a slate of politically charged charges and handed a 33-year prison sentence. Supporters and global human rights organizations have consistently characterized these convictions as a manufactured effort to discredit Suu Kyi, legitimize the 2021 coup, and permanently remove her from Myanmar’s political landscape. Her sentence was first reduced to 27 years in August 2023, before the additional cuts announced in April 2025.

    Today, Suu Kyi is being held at an undisclosed location in Myanmar’s capital Naypyitaw. Unconfirmed reports circulated last week suggesting the regime planned to transfer her to house arrest as part of the latest clemency, but no official confirmation of this move has emerged. Information about her current health and well-being remains tightly controlled by state authorities. Unverified reports published in 2024 and early 2025 have documented declining health, including recurring low blood pressure, dizziness, and heart complications. Notably, Suu Kyi’s legal team has not been allowed to meet with her in person since December 2022.

    The 2021 military coup sparked widespread popular resistance across Myanmar, which the regime responded to with brutal violent repression. The conflict has escalated into an ongoing bloody civil war that has killed thousands of civilians and displaced millions. As of the latest data from the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a Thailand-based human rights monitoring group, more than 22,000 people remain in detention for their opposition to military rule since the coup.

    For decades, Suu Kyi has stood as the global face of Myanmar’s pro-democracy movement. The daughter of Aung San, Myanmar’s assassinated founding independence leader, she spent nearly 15 years under house arrest as a political prisoner between 1989 and 2010. Her unwavering nonviolent resistance to military authoritarianism earned her international acclaim and the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize, cementing her status as a global symbol of democratic struggle.

  • UK vows to tackle antisemitism ‘emergency’ as police probe double stabbing attack

    UK vows to tackle antisemitism ‘emergency’ as police probe double stabbing attack

    LONDON – In the wake of a fatal terror stabbing last year and a double stabbing that left two Jewish men seriously injured this week, the British government formally declared antisemitism a national emergency on Thursday, committing £25 million ($34 million) to boost security at Jewish community sites across the country.

    The latest violent incident unfolded Wednesday in Golders Green, a northwest London neighborhood widely recognized as one of the hubs of British Jewish life, home to dozens of synagogues, Jewish schools, and kosher businesses alongside diverse Asian and Middle Eastern communities. Two men, aged 34 and 76, were stabbed in the attack; both remain in stable condition as of Thursday.

    Counterterrorism police took a 45-year-old suspect into custody on suspicion of attempted murder, and have officially classified the stabbing as a terrorist act. Law enforcement officials confirmed the suspect, who has not been publicly identified, has a documented history of severe violence and mental health conditions. Detectives executed a search warrant at a property in southeast London Thursday, following reports the suspect was involved in a local altercation in the area hours before the Golders Green attack. Investigators are still working to confirm a definitive motive, and are assessing unverified claims of responsibility and potential links to Iranian-backed proxies.

    The stabbing is also being examined for possible connections to a recent string of arson attacks targeting synagogues and other Jewish sites across London, which began after the outbreak of the Iran war on February 28. No injuries have been reported in the arson incidents, and multiple suspects ranging from teenagers to people in their 40s have been arrested and charged in connection with the attacks. A little-known group calling itself Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia (Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right) has claimed responsibility for the arsons online, and also claimed the Golders Green stabbing. Israeli officials describe the group as a newly formed militant organization with ties to an Iranian proxy, which has also carried out synagogue attacks in Belgium and the Netherlands. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood noted Thursday that authorities are still working to determine whether the group’s claim is legitimate or an opportunistic false claim of responsibility.

    For the British Jewish community, which numbers roughly 300,000 people – less than 0.5% of the UK’s total population – this recent violence marks the latest escalation in a surge of antisemitic activity that began nearly two years ago. Data from the Community Security Trust (CST), a charity that monitors antisemitism and protects Jewish communities, shows reported antisemitic incidents jumped from 1,662 in 2022 to 3,700 in 2025, a surge that followed the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on southern Israel and the subsequent Gaza war. The violence reached a deadly peak in October 2025, when an attacker drove a vehicle into a crowd gathered outside a Manchester synagogue on Yom Kippur, fatally stabbing one person; a second person died during the response after being inadvertently shot by police.

    The sharp rise in antisemitic hostility has ignited fierce political debate over the role of widespread pro-Palestinian protests held across the UK since the Gaza war began. While the vast majority of these demonstrations have remained peaceful, many Jewish community members and political leaders argue that some rhetoric and chants used at the protests – most notably the slogan “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” – cross the line from criticism of Israeli policy to open incitement of antisemitic hatred. A small number of protesters have been arrested for openly expressing support for Hamas, which is classified as a banned terrorist organization in the UK.

    Jonathan Hall, the UK’s former independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, has publicly called for a temporary ban on large pro-Palestinian marches, arguing that the demonstrations have created an environment that “incubates” antisemitic violence. Kemi Badenoch, leader of the opposition Conservative Party, has backed the call for a ban, claiming the protests are routinely used as cover for violence and intimidation targeting Jewish communities.

    Speaking Thursday, Mahmood emphasized that the government is treating the current antisemitism crisis as a top national security priority. “I am treating antisemitism as an emergency – it is the top pressing issue in relation to security that I face,” she said. The new £25 million security funding will be used to expand visible police patrols and upgrade physical protection at synagogues, Jewish schools, and Jewish community centers across the UK. In addition to the new security investment, the government announced Thursday it will introduce new legislation to allow prosecution of individuals and groups that operate on behalf of state-sponsored terrorist organizations, a move widely seen as targeted at Iranian-linked groups operating in the UK.