Global Pulse

作者： admin

  • When Man City call you don’t say no – Ndiaye

    When Man City call you don’t say no – Ndiaye

    On the final day of the recent summer transfer window, top-flight English football delivered one of its most surprising deadline day twists: Iliman Ndiaye, the 26-year-old winger, ended up at Premier League champions Manchester City for a £60 million fee from Everton, turning down a near-certain move to Tottenham Hotspur that had already been all but agreed.

    A deal between Everton and Tottenham had already been finalized, but the north London club was forced to pull out of the transfer after they failed to offload Brazilian forward Richarlison to clear the wage budget and roster space needed to complete Ndiaye’s signing. What looked like a stalled transfer quickly became a career-defining opportunity for the winger, when Manchester City stepped in to secure his signature.

    In his first public comments since completing the move, Ndiaye made clear that when one of the world’s biggest football clubs comes calling, there is no decision to be made. “You don’t say no when Manchester City comes calling,” he told reporters, adding that competing in the UEFA Champions League — the sport’s premier club competition — at one of the global game’s elite institutions has always been his target. “It was always going to be City. When the move came through, I was buzzing. This is where I think I belong. I have worked hard to get to this point.”

    Ndiaye was thrown straight into the deep end by City manager Pep Guardiola, named in the starting eleven for his debut just days after the transfer completed in the club’s 1-0 Premier League win over Coventry. The winger made an immediate impact on his first outing, attempting eight dribbles over the course of the match — more than any other player on the pitch, offering an early sign of the dynamic attacking energy he will bring to Guardiola’s side.

    The winger’s path to the Premier League title contenders has been far from straightforward. He began his professional career in non-league football, turning out for Boreham Wood before a spell at Hyde United just seven miles from City’s Etihad Stadium seven years ago. He earned his move to the second-tier Championship with Sheffield United, spent a single season at French Ligue 1 side Marseille, then joined Everton for £15 million in 2024.

    Over his two seasons at Goodison Park, Ndiaye became a fan favourite even as the club struggled to a bottom-half Premier League finish in both campaigns, scoring 17 goals and winning over supporters with his creative, pacey play on the flanks. The 26-year-old admitted that leaving Everton was not an easy choice, saying he formed deep bonds with the fanbase and his teammates during his time at the club. “It was difficult to leave Everton. I created a great connection with the fans and the players there, but we have to move on sometimes and it’s how football is,” he explained.

    Ndiaye added that he never felt stressed or panicked when his transfer looked set to fall through in the final days of the window. “There was no stress or panicking. I always say whatever comes, comes. God decides your future – it is already written. I was just being patient,” he said. Looking ahead to his new chapter at the Etihad, Ndiaye said he has no interest in dwelling on his past career steps, and is focused on proving himself at the highest level of the sport. “I don’t really look back. I just look to the future and work hard. I never stop. I just look at the next step and this is a big step to join Manchester City. It is one of the biggest clubs in the world. There are world-class players, a world-class stadium and the fans are brilliant. It’s just the beginning for me here.”

  • Gaza buries the remains of 100 Palestinians, including 62 children

    Gaza buries the remains of 100 Palestinians, including 62 children

    On September 6, 2026, thousands of Palestinians gathered in Gaza City’s al-Zeitoun neighbourhood to lay to rest 100 people whose remains were pulled from the rubble of buildings destroyed by Israeli military strikes nearly three years prior. Among the victims recovered from the collapsed structures, 62 were children, a devastating toll that underscores the far-reaching human cost of the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip.

    According to Gaza’s civil defence service, more than half of the deceased — 55 people — belonged to a single extended family, the Malakas, who were killed in an Israeli air raid on the neighbourhood in November 2023. The remaining remains were identified as members of four other local families: the Irahem, Qanbour, Balawi and Dahdouh. Al Jazeera’s on-the-ground reporting confirmed that no fully intact bodies were recovered from the strike site, with Israeli forces having repeatedly obstructed search and recovery operations in the area in the months after the attack.

    Mourners, including grieving relatives and neighbouring residents, assembled outside the Imam al-Shafi Mosque to begin the funeral procession. Each set of remains was wrapped in a Palestinian flag, and crowds carried the caskets through neighbourhood streets to al-Maamadani cemetery in central Gaza City, where all 100 victims were interred in shared collective graves.

    Palestinian civil defence teams have led incremental search efforts across Gaza to recover trapped remains in the years since the escalation of hostilities in October 2023, but the process has been severely hampered by systemic barriers. Israel has blocked most heavy rescue machinery from entering the besieged enclave, and much of the existing equipment available to Palestinian teams was destroyed in earlier Israeli strikes, leaving crews reliant on manual labour to sort through tonnes of collapsed concrete and debris.

    Official data from Gaza’s health authorities puts the total Palestinian death toll from Israeli attacks across the territory at more than 73,650 since October 7, 2023. Thousands of additional bodies are still believed to be trapped beneath rubble across Gaza, with no clear path to full recovery under current conditions. Omar Nofal, head of Gaza’s government committee for missing persons, told Middle East Eye that roughly 6,000 people have been formally registered as missing since the war began, but he estimates the actual number of unaccounted-for people is closer to 15,000, most buried under destroyed residential and commercial structures.

    This mass funeral is not an isolated event. Just one month earlier, in August 2026, Palestinians buried the recovered remains of 112 members of the Abu Sharia and al-Hasayna families, killed in another massive Israeli air strike on Gaza City’s Sabra neighbourhood in November 2023. That attack stands as one of the deadliest single strikes of the conflict, which has been labeled a genocide by multiple international human rights bodies. Israeli warplanes completely leveled an entire residential block where hundreds of clan members had been sheltering, killing more than 300 people including 44 children, 37 women and at least 10 people with disabilities. Most of the victims remained trapped under rubble for nearly three years, as recovery efforts were stalled from the start by the lack of heavy equipment — destroyed or blocked from entry by Israeli authorities.

  • Peace talks rich in symbolism but fundamental differences between Russia and Ukraine remain

    Peace talks rich in symbolism but fundamental differences between Russia and Ukraine remain

    The first visit by envoys of former U.S. President Donald Trump to Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion carried layers of loaded symbolic meaning, opening a new, highly anticipated chapter of diplomatic outreach to end the devastating 3-year conflict. The delegation, made up of longtime Trump associate Steve Witkoff and the former president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, made the journey to Kyiv by rail, a necessary precaution that highlighted the persistent danger of Russian drone attacks targeting travel across the country — a threat so severe that air travel remained too risky for the high-profile delegation, just hours after the pair held a closed-door meeting with Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin.

    In a deliberate, pointed gesture loaded with historical and political subtext, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky chose to greet the delegation at Kyiv’s Saint Sophia Cathedral, an architectural and cultural landmark that anchors Ukraine’s centuries-long national identity. The choice of location was no accident: the cathedral stands just a short distance from the headquarters of Ukraine’s national security services, which was struck by Russian drones only three days before the meeting. The placement sent an unspoken message about Ukraine’s resilience amid relentless attacks, and its unwavering claim to its sovereign territory and history.

    The discussions between the two sides stretched across several hours, before European national security advisers, including Britain’s top intelligence and security official Jonathan Powell, joined the talks to contribute to the diplomatic process. When the negotiations wrapped up, all participating parties described the discussions as substantive and constructive, with many expressing cautious optimism about reviving the past trilateral negotiation framework that brought together U.S., European, and regional stakeholders to work toward a ceasefire.

    But beneath the positive public messaging, deep, fundamental divides separate the two warring parties, with no obvious path to bridging them in the near term. The U.S. delegation arrived in Kyiv straight from meetings in Moscow, where Putin told the envoys that Russian forces were continuing to make steady, tangible progress along the front lines. That narrative stood in direct contradiction to the account Ukrainian officials presented to the delegation: Ukrainian military officials reported that in August alone, their forces captured more territory than they ceded, while Russian forces suffered an estimated 42,000 dead and wounded casualties over the 30-day period.

    Putin also laid out his core non-negotiable demands to the envoys, framing them as necessary to address what he calls the “root causes” of the full-scale invasion. His longstanding strategic requirements include Ukraine ceding control of occupied eastern territory to Russia, permanently abandoning its bid to join NATO, and reducing the overall size of Ukraine’s national military.

    Following the Kyiv talks, Zelensky pushed back firmly against Russia’s terms, reiterating that Ukraine would only accept any peace deal anchored by strong, unambiguous security guarantees, including the right to maintain a robust, fully functional national army. He gave no indication that Ukraine would be willing to surrender any of its sovereign territory in the eastern Donbas region, calling the issue “difficult” in a measured, clear statement that left no room for misunderstanding of Kyiv’s position.

    Witkoff, speaking to reporters after the meeting, said that tangible progress had been made during the diplomatic outreach, and that all the core elements needed for a final settlement were already on the table. But he acknowledged that both Russia and Ukraine would have to make major compromises to narrow their stark differences on core issues — a step that neither side has shown any willingness to take at this point in the conflict.

    For now, officials and diplomats in Kyiv are bracing for continued fighting through the coming months, with expectations of another harsh winter of Russian attacks on energy infrastructure and civilian targets. While some diplomatic observers see a potential window for a breakthrough peace deal next spring, other analysts and policymakers are far less optimistic about the prospects for a near-term end to the war.

    Zelensky did note one immediate, small benefit of the diplomatic push: both sides agreed to a temporary pause in air strikes to accommodate the high-level visit, giving Kyiv’s civilian population a brief respite from regular drone and missile attacks. But few observers expect that temporary lull in fighting to hold for more than a few days, as both sides continue to mass forces along the front and prepare for new offensive operations in the coming months.

  • Watch: Video shows damaged Amazon cargo plane after crash

    Watch: Video shows damaged Amazon cargo plane after crash

    Newly released video footage has documented the visible damage to an Amazon Air cargo aircraft following a landing incident at Miami International Airport, where the plane overran the runway during its approach. The incident, which has drawn public attention to commercial cargo flight safety at one of the busiest air hubs in the United States, was captured on camera that shows the compromised structure of the aircraft after the crash.

    According to initial reports, the accident occurred when the cargo jet failed to stop within the boundary of the runway while attempting to land. Miami International Airport, a key gateway for both passenger and cargo traffic connecting South Florida to global markets, has not yet released full details on potential injuries, the cause of the overshoot, or the extent of disruption to surrounding flight operations. Aviation authorities have launched a formal investigation to determine what factors contributed to the incident, including whether weather conditions, mechanical issues, or human error played a role. The video evidence of the damaged plane is expected to be a key part of the official inquiry into the accident.

  • Jackie Young leads a gritty US escape in a tight 55-52 women’s World Cup win over Italy

    Jackie Young leads a gritty US escape in a tight 55-52 women’s World Cup win over Italy

    BERLIN – The undefeated United States women’s national basketball team navigated its closest contest at the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup in 20 years on Sunday, grinding out a tense 55-52 victory over a gritty Italian squad that threatened to end the Americans’ historic decades-long winning run.

    Sunday’s win stretched the U.S.’s consecutive World Cup victory streak to 32 games, a run that dates back to a 2006 semifinal loss to Russia. In the 18 years spanning this undefeated stretch, only one other opponent has pulled within single digits of the star-studded American side: Australia, which fell by eight points back in the 2010 iteration of the tournament.

    Entering the matchup with a 2-0 preliminary round record, the U.S. faced far stiffer resistance than expected from Italy, which was making its first World Cup appearance since 1994. The Americans posted their lowest point total in a World Cup preliminary round game since 1971, when the squad notched just 51 points against France. Italy’s disruptive 2-3 zone defense completely threw off the U.S. offensive rhythm, holding the favorites to just 29% field goal shooting overall and a dismal 1-for-12 performance from three-point range.

    After holding a 30-24 lead at halftime, the U.S. saw Italy storm out of the locker room with an 11-2 third-quarter run to grab a 35-32 advantage. The Americans regrouped slightly to take a 42-39 lead into the final frame, but Italy refused to collapse, even after falling to the U.S. by a lopsided 34 points in a March qualifying matchup. With just 4 minutes and 29 seconds remaining in regulation, Italy pulled ahead 50-48, setting the stage for a dramatic closing stretch.

    The U.S. responded with a critical 7-0 game-changing run to retake control. Breanna Stewart, who had missed her first eight shot attempts of the contest, netted her first basket to put the Americans up 51-50. On Italy’s next possession, the U.S. drew an offensive foul call, and Jackie Young capitalized with a fast layup to extend the lead. After a successful defensive stop, Chelsea Gray knocked down a jumper to push the U.S. advantage to five points.

    Italy did not back down: young standout Matilde Villa scored to cut the U.S. lead back to three points with under 60 seconds left on the clock. The U.S. failed to convert on two opportunities to build an insurmountable two-possession lead, leaving the door open for Italy to force overtime. Italian wing Cecilia Zandalasini, who finished the game with a team-high 14 points, received an open look at a game-tying three-pointer as the buzzer sounded, but her shot bounced off the rim, securing the narrow U.S. win.

    Jackie Young led the American squad with 10 points in the low-scoring affair. A loud pro-Italy crowd filled the arena for the matchup, though a number of U.S. fans were in attendance, sporting gear for collegiate and WNBA stars including Caitlin Clark, who led the U.S. to a lopsided win over China in the tournament opener, and UConn standout Paige Bueckers.

    Italy entered the matchup with a 1-1 preliminary round record, having opened its World Cup return with a win over the Czech Republic. In other Sunday matchups, China secured an overtime win against the Czech Republic, Australia defeated Turkey, and Belgium pulled out a victory over Puerto Rico.

    Looking ahead to Monday’s final pool play games, Italy will square off against China, while the U.S. will face the Czech Republic as it aims to extend its historic 32-game winning streak further into the tournament.

  • Mike Huckabee criticised for accusing Jewish UK foreign secretary of ‘Jew hate’

    Mike Huckabee criticised for accusing Jewish UK foreign secretary of ‘Jew hate’

    A major transatlantic diplomatic controversy has erupted after the sitting United States ambassador to Israel unleashed a explosive accusation of antisemitism against the United Kingdom’s Jewish foreign secretary, Ed Miliband, over his calls for tougher action against Israeli policies in Gaza. The confrontation has spilled over to roil relations between key Western allies, with additional tensions emerging around the long-disputed Falkland Islands and British plans to sanction illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

    The dispute traces back to a public statement Miliband released earlier this week, following a meeting with activists and stakeholders with direct experience on the ground in Gaza. In the video address, Miliband described the humanitarian situation unfolding in the blockaded enclave as unequivocally horrific, and argued that the British government must step up and take more decisive action to address the crisis than it has to date. He later expanded on these remarks, confirming that reports of blocked life-saving medication and children dying while waiting for critical treatment underpinned his call for stronger intervention.

    In an unusually harsh public rebuke, Israel’s foreign ministry took to the social platform X to attack Miliband, claiming his comments were tailored for political gain rather than rooted in factual context. The rebuke was amplified by Mike Huckabee, the conservative Christian evangelical serving as US ambassador to Israel, who shared the Israeli post and doubled down with an incendiary remark: “The Brits have lost it. The Jew hate of their government knows no boundaries and knows no facts.”

    The accusation quickly drew widespread condemnation, particularly for its targeting of a senior politician who is himself Jewish, with family history deeply tied to the Holocaust. Miliband was born in London to Jewish parents, multiple of whose relatives were murdered in the Nazi Holocaust. Political analysts and commentators across the globe were quick to call out Huckabee’s remark as baseless and inappropriate.

    Mehdi Hasan, editor-in-chief of independent media outlet Zeteo, highlighted the absurdity of the accusation in a viral social post, writing: “Top US diplomat, Christian evangelical [Huckabee] accuses the Jewish Foreign Secretary of the UK, [Miliband], of ‘Jew hate.’ Funny how the ‘special relationship’ only ever runs one way!” Shashank Joshi, Washington bureau chief for The Economist, echoed the criticism, noting that the Trump administration’s pattern of disparaging close U.S. allies has become increasingly alarming. “Last week, shaming Canadian soldiers for no apparent reason. This week, accusing the (Jewish) British foreign secretary of ‘Jew hate,’” Joshi observed.

    The controversy comes as Miliband’s government prepares to unveil a new package of measures targeting illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, headlined by a full ban on imports of goods produced in the settlements. Israel has already issued blunt threats of retaliation in response to the planned move. Israeli foreign minister Gideon Saar warned earlier this week that “If Britain acts against Israel, Israel will act against Britain.”

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has gone even further, publicly deriding the United Kingdom as the “Islamic Republic of Britain” in a provocative remark. His son Yair Netanyahu, an unofficial but influential public commentator, waded into another long-running territorial dispute this week, claiming the Falkland Islands— a British Overseas Territory— rightfully belong to Argentina rather than the UK.

    The comment drew an unprecedented response from U.S. President Donald Trump, who indicated that the United States could reconsider its longstanding support for British sovereignty over the Falkland Islands. In an interview with GB News, Trump went so far as to say he would not back Britain if Argentina launched an invasion of the territory, citing Britain’s refusal to support the U.S. and Israeli military strike on Iran back in February. “Your country was not there to help me,” Trump told the outlet.

    Argentina’s far-right President Javier Milei has seized on the diplomatic rift to amplify his own country’s longstanding claim to the Falklands. In an address to the nation this Friday, Milei declared that Argentina’s national sovereignty had been violated, and pledged that his government would “defend its interests tooth and nail, no matter who it bothers.” He also threatened to impose harsh sanctions on any international oil companies that pursue drilling operations in waters surrounding the islands, claiming that “the winds of change” are now shifting in favor of Argentina’s sovereignty claim.

    The emerging rift aligns with previously undisclosed U.S. planning: a leaked Pentagon memo dating back to April revealed that U.S. officials have already discussed using the Falkland Islands dispute as leverage to pressure the UK in future bilateral negotiations. Despite the mounting cross-pressure from Israel, the U.S. and Argentina, British officials confirm Miliband will continue moving forward with plans to implement sanctions targeting Israeli illegal settlements in occupied Palestinian territory.

  • Turkish spy chief makes secretive visit to Greece amid rising tensions with Israel, report says

    Turkish spy chief makes secretive visit to Greece amid rising tensions with Israel, report says

    A previously unannounced meeting between the top intelligence leaders of Turkey and Greece has emerged, shedding new light on the under-the-scenes diplomatic and security dynamics playing out across the volatile Eastern Mediterranean. Both Greek and Turkish media outlets have confirmed that Ibrahim Kalin, the head of Turkey’s National Intelligence Organisation (MIT), traveled secretly to Athens last week to hold talks with his Greek counterpart, Themistoklis Demiris, director of Greece’s National Intelligence Service (EYP). The closed-door gathering comes at a moment of rising friction between the two neighboring NATO allies, with disagreements flaring over Aegean Sea territorial claims, deepening defense cooperation between Greece and Israel, and growing broader security uncertainty across the Eastern Mediterranean.

    For decades, Greece and Turkey have been locked in long-running disputes that touch on multiple core strategic issues: competing claims over maritime borders in the Aegean, the status and ongoing militarization of disputed Aegean islands, and the long-running conflict over Cyprus. This latest high-level intelligence contact comes just days after Greece sealed a landmark $3.5 billion defense deal with Israel, under which Israeli defense firms will support Athens in building a sophisticated multi-layered air defense network dubbed the Achilles Shield. The agreement includes the procurement of Israel’s cutting-edge David’s Sling and SPYDER air defense systems, the Barak MX interceptor system, and advanced MMR multi-mission radars. As part of Greece’s broader $28 billion national air defense modernization program, the full upgrade is scheduled for completion by 2036. For Ankara, the rapidly expanding defense partnership between Athens and Tel Aviv has become a major point of concern, as Turkey’s own relations with Israel have deteriorated sharply over recent regional developments.

    Details of the previously undisclosed visit were first brought to public attention by Turkish news outlet Yeni Şafak. In his analysis published in the outlet Saturday, columnist Yahya Bostan outlined the Turkish position conveyed by Kalin during the talks: Ankara maintains that it seeks a constructive working relationship with Greece, but will not back down from defending its established national rights and interests. According to Bostan, Kalin made clear that Turkey will not accept any unilateral Greek moves that create a fait accompli in the Aegean, or alter what Ankara views as the existing status quo through the militarization of disputed islands. The Turkish side also framed Greece’s effort to build a new regional security architecture through its partnership with Israel as a misstep, stressing that Turkey poses no threat to Greece but will not tolerate any actions that undermine its sovereign rights and interests.

    Greek accounts of the meeting offer a different framing, focusing heavily on the potential for expanded bilateral security and intelligence cooperation. Greek City Times reported that the talks centered on cross-border security threats including organized crime, migrant smuggling networks, international terrorism, and espionage. Greek sources specifically noted that discussions covered the presence of roughly 300 Turkish individuals linked to 15 separate organized criminal groups operating in Greece, as well as Turkish nationals accused of coordinating migrant smuggling operations departing from the Turkish coast toward the European Union. Both sides confirmed that the meeting was arranged through the long-standing regular security communication channel that has remained open between Athens and Ankara, even amid broader political disputes.

    This latest exchange is far from the only point of friction between the two nations in recent months. Ankara has also pushed back against Greek policy initiatives in the Aegean, including Athens’ Special Spatial Framework for Tourism. Back in August, Turkey’s foreign ministry publicly stated that the Greek framework held no legal weight for Turkey, and called on Athens to abandon all unilateral actions in the Aegean and wider Mediterranean. “We once again emphasise that attempts to instrumentalise universal values such as environmental protection for political purposes are futile and will in no way affect our country’s established legal position,” foreign ministry spokesperson Oncu Keceli told state-run Anadolu Agency at the time. Keceli added that international maritime law explicitly encourages cooperation between coastal states in enclosed and semi-enclosed seas, including on issues related to environmental protection, rather than unilateral action.

    Kalin, a long-time close confidant of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, took over leadership of MIT in June 2023, following the appointment of his predecessor Hakan Fidan as Turkey’s foreign minister. Prior to leading the intelligence agency, Kalin spent years serving as a senior foreign policy advisor to Erdogan, making him one of the most influential figures shaping Turkey’s current strategic posture. Notably, despite decades of deep political and strategic disagreements between Athens and Ankara, the two countries have consistently maintained open lines of communication between their intelligence and law enforcement agencies, creating a quiet channel for dialogue even when formal diplomatic relations have been strained.

  • AfD celebrate projected win in Saxony-Anhalt

    AfD celebrate projected win in Saxony-Anhalt

    Leaders of Germany’s right-wing populist party Alternative for Germany (AfD) marked a potential turning point in the country’s regional politics on election night, as early exit polling data projected the party would secure a substantial lead in the state election for Saxony-Anhalt.

    The gathering of AfD senior figures, held in the state’s capital Magdeburg on election evening, broke into cheers and celebratory remarks as the first projections from major public polling firms were released. The projected lead, which political analysts describe as larger than most pre-election surveys anticipated, marks a significant milestone for the party, which has steadily grown its support in eastern German states over the past decade.

    Saxony-Anhalt, a former East German state with a population of roughly 2.2 million, has long been seen as a stronghold for AfD’s grassroots organizing. The party has centered its recent campaign on local issues including economic disillusionment, migration policy opposition, and criticism of Germany’s federal ruling coalition’s handling of energy and cost-of-living challenges. If the projected lead holds once all ballots are counted, AfD is on track to claim its first ever state governorship in German federal politics, a shift that could reshape national political dynamics and influence policy debates ahead of upcoming national elections.

    Political observers note that the projected outcome reflects growing voter dissatisfaction with mainstream parties in the region, and could signal further gains for right-wing populist forces across Europe in coming electoral cycles. As counting of absentee and mail-in ballots continues overnight, official preliminary results are expected to be released by the state election commission by early Wednesday morning.

  • German far-right set for big win in eastern state – projections

    German far-right set for big win in eastern state – projections

    Initial exit poll projections have delivered a seismic political shift to the heart of eastern Germany, with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) poised to claim a commanding lead in the Saxony-Anhalt state election, outstripping all long-dominant mainstream parties by a substantial margin.

    According to the early projections, the AfD is on course to capture more than 44% of the popular vote, a result that puts it nearly 26 percentage points ahead of its nearest competitor, the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), which is projected to finish with just 18.4% of the vote. While the final seat count and the possibility of an AfD majority remain unresolved pending full official results, the party’s leadership has already declared it has earned a clear mandate to lead the state.

    The projected outcome marks an unprecedented moment for post-World War II German politics: no far-right party has ever won control of a regional German state since 1945. A governing majority in Saxony-Anhalt would grant the AfD critical regional authority over key policy areas including policing, K-12 education, and cultural policy, giving the party tangible governing power for the first time at the state level.

    Home to roughly 2.1 million residents, Saxony-Anhalt’s regional AfD branch is officially classified as a far-right extremist organization by Germany’s domestic intelligence service — a label the party’s charismatic state leader Ulrich Siegmund has repeatedly rejected. Siegmund has already drawn a hard line on coalition negotiations, confirming he will refuse to enter any governing alliance with other established parties.

    The projected performance exceeded even the most recent pre-election polling estimates, and reaction from the party’s top ranks was immediate. Siegmund joined AfD’s national co-leaders Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla in celebrating the projected result, with all three expressing unbridled elation at the early numbers. When the exit poll projections flashed on screens at the AfD’s election night headquarters in Magdeburg, hundreds of gathered supporters erupted into cheers, before breaking into song with Germany’s national anthem.

    Speaking to the crowd, Siegmund framed the outcome as a watershed moment for the party and the region. “We have made history in this state,” he said.

    For mainstream parties, the projected result has sparked deep concern. CDU lead candidate Sven Schulze quickly conceded defeat, acknowledging the scale of the upset. “This was an extremely tough and intensive election campaign,” Schulze said, adding that his party would now have to reckon with the unexpected outcome. Lars Klingbeil, national leader of the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) — the junior partner in Germany’s current national governing coalition alongside the CDU — described the result as “truly dramatic” and called it a clear “signal to Berlin” that national politicians must address the growing discontent that fueled the AfD’s rise.

    Voter turnout hit an unusually high 78% in the election, a figure that political analysts attribute in part to high enthusiasm among AfD supporters. Many of those voters told reporters the party has filled a gap that established parties have left open. “This man gives us what no one else can give,” Magdeburg resident Ollie told the BBC of Siegmund. “No matter what government, they all just promise things to get better. This is a party for the working people. It is the alternative for Germany.”

    The final fate of an AfD majority hinges on whether one or more small regional parties manage to clear the 5% vote threshold required to gain seats in the state parliament. If a small party falls just short of the threshold, any seats it would have earned are reallocated across the rest of the parliament, increasing the AfD’s chances of securing an outright governing majority. Full official results are expected in the coming hours, which will resolve the question of whether the AfD can make good on its bid to make history as the first post-WWII far-right party to lead a German state.

  • Iran warns of ‘faster, heavier, more painful response’ to US attacks

    Iran warns of ‘faster, heavier, more painful response’ to US attacks

    A week of escalating open conflict between the United States and Iran has sent ripples through global energy markets and heightened fears of a wider regional confrontation, after a six-week ceasefire formally expired last month and fighting reignited rapidly. The latest cycle of violence sparked last Sunday, when US forces resumed targeted strikes against Iranian assets just days after the truce ended — breaking a period of relative calm that had failed to translate into lasting diplomatic progress after six months of ongoing war that began in February.

    On Saturday, US Central Command (Centcom) publicly released combat footage documenting recent US strikes on oil tankers linked to Iran. The strike operation came one day after Washington confirmed it had targeted the vessels in retaliation for Iranian attacks on US warships operating in regional waters. The BBC has reached out to Centcom for additional detail on the strikes, but no further comment has been provided as of publication.

    Top Iranian officials have issued sharp, urgent warnings in response to the US actions, promising severe retaliation as tensions spike. Iran’s top nuclear and diplomatic negotiator has cautioned that any further US attacks will be met with “a faster, heavier, and more painful response” that will reshape the conflict. Speaking Sunday through Iranian state media, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf emphasized that Washington must recognize “before it is too late” that the “rules of the game have changed” amid the escalating hostilities.

    In a separate development reported by Iranian state media Sunday, the Iranian Navy claimed it had attacked a US remote-controlled unmanned vessel that attempted to enter Iranian territorial waters near the strategically critical Strait of Hormuz. Centcom spokesperson Captain Tim Hawkins rejected the assertion outright, telling the Associated Press that the claim from Iranian state media is “a total lie.”

    US leaders have doubled down on their own aggressive rhetoric in response to Iranian warnings. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a blunt threat via social media Saturday, stating: “It’s simple: if Iran shoots at US ships, we will destroy (and sink) their oil tankers.” US President Donald Trump, who is facing political pressure ahead of November’s midterm elections tied to soaring domestic energy costs, has downplayed the duration of the renewed conflict, claiming this week that the expanded fighting will not last “too long” — a repeated talking point he and his administration have used since the war began six months ago.

    Months of bilateral negotiations between Washington and Tehran have failed to produce a durable ceasefire or comprehensive peace agreement, and there are currently few indicators that a new diplomatic breakthrough is imminent. The 40-kilometer Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most critical chokepoint for global oil and natural gas exports, has remained effectively closed to most commercial traffic since the start of the war, giving Iran significant strategic leverage over global energy markets. Tehran has repeatedly stated it will not cede partial control over the waterway, while Trump has insisted the strait must remain “open” and has deployed US military assets to assist commercial vessels navigating the southern alternate route.

    The closure and ongoing conflict around the strait has already driven a sharp spike in global energy prices, creating political headwinds for Trump ahead of the November midterms. As of Friday, the average retail price of one gallon of diesel in the US hit $5.85, a massive jump from the $3.71 average recorded one year prior. On Sunday, US Energy Secretary Chris sought to ease market and public anxiety, telling CNN that approximately 9 million barrels of oil are now moving through the strait daily, when combined with volumes moving through regional overland pipelines. Wright noted that current flows are “probably two-thirds or more of pre-conflict levels,” which could help ease upward pressure on global energy prices. In an additional interview with ABC This Week Sunday, Wright added that US consumers can expect gas prices to begin declining as peak summer travel demand fades following the upcoming Labor Day holiday.