Global Pulse

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  • Melania Trump urges ABC to ‘take stand’ on Jimmy Kimmel after widow joke

    Melania Trump urges ABC to ‘take stand’ on Jimmy Kimmel after widow joke

    A fresh controversy has erupted around late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel, after former first lady Melania Trump publicly lambasted a hateful joke he made ahead of the 2026 White House Correspondents’ Dinner – where a would-be attacker later opened fire in an incident authorities suspect targeted senior Trump administration figures.

    The incendiary quip, delivered during Kimmel’s pre-dinner monologue on ABC on Thursday, targeted the former first lady directly. “Our First Lady, Melania, is here. Look at Melania, so beautiful. Mrs Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow,” Kimmel joked. Just two days after the segment aired, 31-year-old suspect Cole Tomas Allen was tackled by Secret Service agents near a staircase leading to the dinner ballroom, which was packed with hundreds of journalists, government officials and high-profile public figures. No attendees were harmed in the incident, and Allen is scheduled to make his first court appearance on Monday.

    In the wake of the shooting, a clip of Kimmel’s joke resurfaced online and ignited widespread backlash across social media platforms, with many critics arguing that the comedian’s harsh rhetoric crossed a line and emboldened political violence. On Monday, Melania Trump broke her silence on the incident with a scathing public post on X, denouncing Kimmel’s comment as dangerous and unfunny.

    The former first lady called Kimmel’s remark “hateful and violent”, describing the joke about herself and her family as corrosive commentary that amplifies the deep political polarization dividing the United States. “His monologue about my family isn’t comedy – his words are corrosive and deepens the political sickness within America,” she wrote. Melania Trump went on to call on network executives at ABC, Kimmel’s long-time broadcaster, to take disciplinary action against the host for what she labeled his “atrocious behavior”. She questioned why network leadership has repeatedly enabled Kimmel’s inflammatory rhetoric, writing: “How many times will ABC’s leadership enable Kimmel’s atrocious behavior at the expense of our community.” She added that commentators like Kimmel should not be given a national platform to “spread hate” into American households each night.

    This is not the first time Kimmel’s controversial political commentary has gotten him pulled from air. Last September, the host was temporarily suspended after drawing outrage for remarks he made following the fatal shooting of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk. During that monologue, Kimmel claimed that Trump’s Make America Great Again movement – commonly nicknamed “Maga” – was attempting to exploit Kirk’s murder for political gain. After a week off the air, Kimmel returned to the show and acknowledged that his comments had been poorly received. “I accept that some people felt my remarks about Kirk’s death had been ‘ill-timed or unclear or maybe both’,” he said at the time, adding “I get why you’re upset.”

    As of Monday, the BBC has reached out to ABC News for a response to Melania Trump’s latest demands, and the network has not yet issued a public comment on the controversy.

  • Archaeologists at Pompeii use artificial intelligence to reveal the face of one of the victims

    Archaeologists at Pompeii use artificial intelligence to reveal the face of one of the victims

    Nearly 2,000 years after Mount Vesuvius’ catastrophic eruption smothered the ancient Roman city of Pompeii in ash and pumice, archaeologists have achieved a groundbreaking first: leveraging artificial intelligence to digitally reconstruct the face of one of the disaster’s victims. The project marks a transformative intersection of cutting-edge technology and classical archaeology, offering fresh, human-centered insight into one of the most iconic natural disasters in recorded history.

    The reconstructed portrait belongs to an elderly man, one of two fleeing victims unearthed during excavations near Pompeii’s Porta Stabia necropolis, located just outside the ancient city’s defensive walls. Archaeologists determined the man died in the early stages of the AD 79 eruption, when heavy volcanic debris first began raining down on Pompeii as residents scrambled to escape toward the nearby Italian coast.

    Archaeologists found the man’s remains alongside a collection of personal belongings that paint a vivid picture of his final minutes. He clutched a terracotta mortar, which researchers interpret as an improvised shield against falling lapilli — small, sharp volcanic stones that bombarded the city in the eruption’s opening phase. This detail aligns with ancient historical accounts, including the firsthand writings of Roman chronicler Pliny the Younger, who recorded that Pompeii’s residents used everyday objects to protect themselves as ash and debris blanketed the settlement. The victim also carried a small oil lamp, a tiny iron ring, and 10 bronze coins, artifacts that add tangible context to both his final flight and daily life in Pompeii before catastrophe struck.

    The collaborative project was led by the Pompeii Archaeological Park in partnership with researchers from the University of Padua, built on detailed archaeological survey data collected during recent excavations. To build the realistic portrait, the team combined AI-powered analysis with specialized photo-editing techniques, which translated structural data from the victim’s skeleton and surrounding archaeological context into an accurate, lifelike human likeness.

    Pompeii, a UNESCO World Heritage Site located near modern-day Naples, has captivated archaeologists and the public for centuries since its rediscovery. The volcanic ash that buried the city preserved entire buildings, art, and even the remains of inhabitants in extraordinary detail, creating an unparalleled snapshot of Roman life in the first century AD. Now, researchers say AI is unlocking new ways to engage with that vast archive of historical material.

    “The vastness of archaeological data is now such that only with the help of artificial intelligence will we be able to adequately protect and enhance them. If used well, AI can contribute to a renewal of classical studies,” Gabriel Zuchtriegel, director of the Pompeii Archaeological Park, explained in an official statement. Beyond advancing academic research, the project’s core goal is to make archaeological work more accessible and emotionally resonant for the general public, all while upholding rigorous scientific standards, the team confirmed.

  • Beijing metro handles 3.58 billion trips in 2025

    Beijing metro handles 3.58 billion trips in 2025

    Beijing’s rapid urban rail transit network closed out 2025 with robust performance, recording a total of 3.58 billion passenger trips across the year as city authorities ramp up investments to enhance service quality and operational efficiency, according to findings from an official third-party assessment.

    Data published on the Beijing Infrastructure Investment website reveals that by the end of 2025, the city’s metro operating mileage expanded to 909 kilometers, connecting more residential, commercial, and industrial hubs across the Chinese capital. On average, the system handled 9.8 million passenger trips per day in 2025, with weekday ridership reaching an average of 11.15 million trips, reflecting the network’s central role in supporting the city’s daily mobility.

    The comprehensive evaluation was commissioned by the Beijing Commission of Transport, and covered 27 operational lines across the network. Newly opened sections that had been in service for less than 12 months — including the southern extension of Line 6, the central section of Line 17, and the full Line 18 — were excluded from the assessment to ensure data consistency. Evaluators focused on three core domains: passenger satisfaction, overall service capacity, and key operational performance indicators.

    Survey results show that passengers gave overwhelmingly positive feedback on the metro system across multiple key dimensions, including accessibility to stations, in-station environment, public order on platforms and trains, and routine facility maintenance. The system also maintained high service standards across ticketing processes, waiting times, and basic passenger support functions. Operational performance was equally strong, with 10 critical metrics — including on-time train service and overall facility reliability — earning perfect scores in the assessment.

    Per the final evaluation report, the Beijing metro management will continue to prioritize user-centered service upgrades, reinforce strict operational safety protocols, and adjust capacity allocation to match real-time passenger demand, all with the goal of delivering safer, more efficient travel experiences for commuters and visitors alike.

    The metro’s strong performance is part of a broader steady expansion of Beijing’s public transport ecosystem. Separate data from the Beijing Bureau of Statistics shows that by the end of 2025, the city’s public bus and trolleybus network included 1,252 routes, covering a total operating length of 28,928.8 kilometers. The bus network carried 1.6 billion passenger trips across 2025, working in tandem with the metro system to meet the mobility needs of Beijing’s large population.

  • Suspects in Scot’s murder in Kenya charged over attack on another man

    Suspects in Scot’s murder in Kenya charged over attack on another man

    A high-profile case linking four Kenyan men to the killing of a Scottish businessman has taken a new turn, as the quartet is now set to appear in court for an unrelated violent robbery charge against an American tourist.

    Campbell Scott Alistair, a 58-year-old businessperson hailing from Dunfermline, Fife, traveled to Nairobi, Kenya’s capital, for a professional conference in February 2025. Shortly after checking into his local hotel, Scott vanished without a trace. Days of frantic search efforts ended in tragedy when investigators located his body concealed inside a sack, dumped in a remote forest roughly 60 miles outside Nairobi.

    Earlier this month, Kenyan law enforcement announced the arrest of Bernard Mbusu, Isaac Kinoti Kobia, Evans Muthengi Mutaki and Kelvin Mwangi Njoroge, publicly naming the four as prime suspects in Scott’s murder. In an official social media statement shortly after the arrests, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations noted that the operation that took the suspects into custody was intelligence-driven and multi-agency, adding the men were tied not only to Scott’s abduction and killing but also to a string of violent robberies targeting foreign nationals.

    What has become a layered legal process now sees the four men facing separate charges for a violent armed robbery that took place on April 11 at a holiday apartment in the Nyali district of Mombasa, a coastal Kenyan tourist hub. Prosecutors allege the group attacked an American man staying at the property, stealing approximately £4,000 in cash alongside personal property including a laptop, smartphone and jewelry with a combined estimated value of £1,100. All four suspects have entered a plea of not guilty to the robbery charges.

    Notably, the Mombasa robbery case has no official connection to the ongoing investigation into Scott’s murder, according to court documents. In a recent ruling, the court granted bail to the four men, setting the total bail amount at 1,000,000 Kenyan shillings, equal to roughly £5,700. The robbery case is scheduled to resume in court on May 27.

    As of press time, Kenyan law enforcement officials have not responded to requests for comment on the current status of the Scott murder investigation, nor have they confirmed whether the four men still remain official suspects in his killing.

  • Pakistan accused of attacking Afghan university

    Pakistan accused of attacking Afghan university

    Fresh cross-border violence has reignited tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan, after Pakistani jets and drones carried out strikes on the eastern Afghan province of Kunar that have left at least seven civilians dead and 75 more injured, multiple informed sources have confirmed to the BBC. Among the casualties are multiple students and one faculty member from Kunar University, with the ruling Taliban administration confirming that 30 of those wounded are currently enrolled university students.

    Local accounts from the strike zone paint a picture of chaos and destruction. A Kunar University professor who was on campus during the attacks described hearing deafening, terrifying explosions that rippled across the entire university grounds. Official statements from Afghanistan’s Ministry of Higher Education later confirmed that university buildings and their surrounding residential and public areas suffered extensive structural damage from the bombings.

    Pakistan’s Ministry of Information has issued a direct denial of the claims, dismissing reports that strikes targeted the university and residential neighborhoods as completely false manufactured information.

    This latest escalation comes just weeks after a far deadlier Pakistani air strike on a drug rehabilitation facility in Afghanistan’s capital Kabul. United Nations officials have confirmed that the earlier attack killed 269 people, making it one of the deadliest cross-border strikes in the region in recent years.

    The resumption of violence breaks a fragile ceasefire that had held across most of the shared border for nearly a month. That truce was brokered through Chinese diplomatic mediation, which brought representatives from both nations to talks in the Chinese city of Urumqi in early April aimed at de-escalating months of growing cross-border conflict.

    Over the past six months, hundreds of people have been killed or wounded in recurring clashes and cross-border strikes between the two neighboring nations. Pakistan has repeatedly justified its air operations inside Afghan territory, stating that all strikes are targeted exclusively at militant hideouts that it says operate from Afghan soil to launch attacks against Pakistani targets. Notably, Pakistan has recently taken on a diplomatic mediation role itself, working to de-escalate tensions between Iran and the United States amid their ongoing standoff.

  • Former National Railway Administration head indicted with bribery

    Former National Railway Administration head indicted with bribery

    In an official announcement made Monday, China’s Supreme People’s Procuratorate (SPP) confirmed that Fei Dongbin, the former director of the National Railway Administration, has been formally indicted on suspicion of bribery following a year-long investigation by national supervisory authorities.

    The case follows a standard legal process for major corruption probes in China: after the National Commission of Supervision completed its fact-finding and investigation, the matter was transferred to procuratorial organs for prosecution review. The SPP first approved a formal arrest warrant for Fei, then designated the Changchun People’s Procuratorate based in northeast China’s Jilin Province to handle the prosecution of the case. The prosecuting office recently submitted its formal indictment to the Changchun Intermediate People’s Court, opening the next phase of judicial proceedings.

    Per official case documents, Fei is accused of abusing a series of senior positions he held over decades of work in both the national railway system and local government to extract illegal gains. His career included senior leadership roles as executive deputy director of the former Beijing Railway Bureau and former Jinan Railway Bureau, director of the former Hohhot Railway Bureau, mayor of Ulaanqab in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, vice-governor of central China’s Henan Province, and finally head of the National Railway Administration starting in September 2022. Prosecutors allege that Fei used his official influence to coordinate with other state functionaries to secure improper business and personal benefits for specific organizations and individuals, and in exchange, illegally accepted an exceptionally large sum of money and high-value assets.

    Throughout the prosecution review process, legal procedural requirements were strictly followed: prosecuting officials informed Fei of all his litigation rights as a defendant, conducted formal interrogations, and accepted and reviewed arguments presented by Fei’s defense legal team. Prosecutors have formally stated that Fei must bear criminal liability for the suspected bribery offense.

    A 55-year-old native of Jinzhou, Liaoning Province, Fei began his professional career in 1991, joining the Communist Party of China five years later in 1996. His entire career was rooted in public service, starting with an entry-level role at the former Shenyang Railway Bureau in his home province, where he rose through the ranks to hold senior roles including deputy director and chief engineer. Following 2017, Fei transitioned into senior local government roles, first serving as deputy Party chief and mayor of Ulaanqab, then vice-governor of Henan Province, before his appointment to lead the National Railway Administration in 2022.

    Fei’s tenure at the top of the national railway regulator ended abruptly when he was placed under official investigation for corruption in 2025. By December that same year, he was expelled from the Communist Party of China and removed from all public office, ahead of the formal indictment announced this week. The case is part of China’s ongoing national anti-corruption campaign that targets misconduct by senior officials across all critical public sectors, including transportation infrastructure.

  • Gunmen raid Nigerian orphanage and kidnap children

    Gunmen raid Nigerian orphanage and kidnap children

    A devastating targeted attack by armed gunmen on an unregistered orphanage in Nigeria’s north-central Kogi State has left 23 people abducted, with eight children still unaccounted for days after the assault, local authorities confirmed this week. The brazen Sunday raid also saw the owner of the unlicensed child care facility taken captive by the attackers, according to Kogi State Information Commissioner Kingsley Fanwo. Following a rapid, coordinated mobilization of local security agencies, 15 of the abducted children have been successfully rescued from captivity, Fanwo stated in an official briefing Monday.

    To date, no armed faction has publicly claimed responsibility for the attack. But senior security sources familiar with regional instability note that Kogi State hosts an active operational cell of the jihadist insurgent group Boko Haram, and the area has already seen a string of violent, opportunistic attacks targeting vulnerable communities in recent months.

    The orphanage attack is the latest high-profile incident in Nigeria’s growing national kidnap crisis, which has plagued regions across the country for years. Transnational criminal gangs regularly abduct civilians, including children, to demand large ransom payments. While the Nigerian federal government has formally outlawed ransom payments to kidnappers, the ban has done little to curb the frequency of these attacks, as criminal networks continue to profit from the practice despite increased security deployments.

    In his Monday statement, Commissioner Fanwo emphasized that the targeted orphanage had been operating illegally in a remote, bushy rural area without the knowledge or official approval of state regulatory authorities. He issued a formal warning to all operators of orphanages, schools, and residential care institutions across the state to complete required regulatory registration and coordinate regularly with relevant government agencies, particularly amid the country’s ongoing volatile security environment.

    Mass abductions of children at educational and care facilities have become increasingly common across northern Nigeria, where long-running insurgency and weak security infrastructure have created conditions for rampant kidnapping. This incident marks the first recorded attack specifically targeting an orphanage in the country. The attack echoes a much larger mass abduction in November 2025, when more than 300 students and their teachers were seized from a Catholic secondary school in neighboring Niger State, also in north-central Nigeria. All captives were eventually released in two separate batches, with the final group regaining freedom more than a month after their abduction. The Nigerian government has repeatedly denied widespread reports that it paid a large ransom to secure their release, or that it swapped two detained Boko Haram commanders for the hostages as part of a negotiated deal.

    Nigerian authorities have reaffirmed their commitment to locating and rescuing the eight remaining missing children from the Kogi State orphanage attack, saying security operations are ongoing in the area. “The government remains fully committed to ensuring the rescue of all the victims,” Fanwo said.

  • Chinese and Kyrgyz defense ministers discuss bilateral military cooperation

    Chinese and Kyrgyz defense ministers discuss bilateral military cooperation

    On Monday, during an official invited visit to Kyrgyzstan, China’s Minister of National Defense Dong Jun met face-to-face with his Kyrgyz counterpart, Mukambetov Ruslan Mustafaevich, for high-level bilateral defense discussions.

    Prior to the formal negotiations, Minister Mukambetov extended a formal welcome to Dong by hosting a traditional honor guard ceremony, where the two leaders jointly inspected the guard of honor to mark the significance of the diplomatic meeting.

    According to an official statement released by China’s Ministry of National Defense immediately following the talks, the two defense chiefs held a thorough, in-depth exchange of views across a wide range of critical topics. These included the current state of bilateral state-to-state and military-to-military relations, evolving dynamics in the international and regional security landscape, and other shared concerns that impact both nations.

    Both sides reached a clear mutual agreement: they will continue to follow through on the consensus that has already been established by the two countries’ heads of state, and work to expand and deepen practical, on-the-ground military cooperation in the coming period. This meeting marks another step forward in strengthening the constructive defense partnership between China and Kyrgyzstan, aligning with long-term efforts to boost regional stability and cross-border mutual trust.

  • China issues alerts for strong winds, heavy rain and convective weather

    China issues alerts for strong winds, heavy rain and convective weather

    China’s top meteorological body has launched a Level IV emergency response as the nation prepares to face a spell of hazardous weather, including strong winds, intense downpours and severe convective activity. On Monday, the National Meteorological Center issued a tiered set of weather alerts: a yellow warning for strong gusts, and blue warnings for both heavy rain and severe convective weather.

    China operates a standardized four-tier color-coded warning system for wind and rain events, where red marks the most severe level, followed by orange, yellow, and blue as the least urgent. For severe convective weather, the country uses a three-tier warning framework.

    According to the center’s forecast, the strong wind event will impact a wide swathe of northern China between 8 a.m. Monday and 8 a.m. Tuesday. Affected regions include the provinces of Shanxi, Hebei, Liaoning and Shandong, the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, as well as the direct-controlled municipalities of Beijing and Tianjin. Sustained average wind speeds across these areas are projected to hit 10 to 20 meters per second, with gusts capable of reaching up to 28 meters per second in hard-hit zones. These conditions are strong enough to uproot fully grown trees and cause structural damage to buildings and infrastructure.

    Over the same 24-hour window, heavy rainfall will lash multiple regions in southern and central China, including Chongqing Municipality, Guizhou, Hunan, Hubei provinces and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Some localities are expected to record total precipitation of 100 to 140 millimeters, with short-duration intense rain events driving the bulk of the accumulation. Hourly rainfall totals are forecast to peak at 20 to 50 millimeters, and the downpours will be paired with severe convective hazards including thunderstorms, sudden wind gusts and hail.

    In specific high-risk zones, the hazards carry elevated risks to life and property. Parts of southwestern Guizhou and western Guangxi face dangerous thunderstorm gales, where gusts could be strong enough to collapse unstable informal housing and damage power transmission infrastructure. In sections of eastern and southwestern Hunan, as well as northern Guangxi, hourly rainfall will climb above 50 millimeters, with some locations even exceeding 60 millimeters of rain in a single hour – conditions that raise the risk of flash flooding and secondary disasters.

    To reduce the risk of harm, the National Meteorological Center has issued a series of public safety guidance. Vessels operating in affected coastal and inland waters are urged to proceed with extreme caution to avoid wind and wave-related accidents. Residents across all impacted regions have been advised to cut back on non-essential outdoor activities, and maintain a safe distance from flimsy temporary structures such as construction scaffolding and temporary market stalls.

    Meteorological officials have also called on local authorities to take proactive preparatory measures. These include stepping up fire prevention work, securing loose or easily moved outdoor structures, prepping urban and rural drainage systems to handle heavy runoff, and putting early response plans in place to manage secondary disasters such as mountain torrents, landslides and mudslides.

  • Camera trap shows Sumatra orangutan using a canopy bridge to cross a public road in Indonesia

    Camera trap shows Sumatra orangutan using a canopy bridge to cross a public road in Indonesia

    For the first time ever, a wild Sumatran orangutan has been recorded crossing a busy public road via a purpose-built artificial canopy bridge, a landmark breakthrough for conservation efforts protecting this critically endangered species, Indonesian environmental leaders announced Monday.

    Decades of rapid economic and infrastructure development across Sumatra have gnawed away at the ancient jungle habitats that orangutans depend on, splitting once-contiguous wild populations into isolated, vulnerable groups and raising the frequency of deadly human-orangutan conflicts as hungry or displaced primates enter settled areas. This latest milestone comes from conservation work focused on a high-stakes stretch of infrastructure in North Sumatra’s Pakpak Bharat district, where the Lagan–Pagindar road serves as a critical lifeline connecting remote local communities to schools, medical care and government services. When the road was upgraded in 2024, the expansion widened the gap in the forest canopy, completely eliminating the natural tree-to-tree crossings that arboreal orangutans rely on to move between forest patches. The road now cuts the region’s estimated 350 wild orangutans into two completely disconnected groups, separated between the Siranggas Wildlife Reserve and the Sikulaping Protection Forest.

    “Development was necessary for people,” explained Erwin Alamsyah Siregar, executive director of Indonesian conservation non-profit Tangguh Hutan Khatulistiwa (TaHuKah). “But without intervention, it would have left orangutans trapped on either side.”

    Working in partnership with the Sumatran Orangutan Society (SOS) and local and national government agencies, TaHuKah rolled out a low-cost, targeted solution: five rope canopy bridges suspended between mature trees on opposite sides of the road, designed to let tree-dwelling wildlife cross safely above moving vehicle traffic. Each bridge was sized and reinforced to support the weight of orangutans— the world’s largest tree-dwelling mammal—and motion-activated camera traps were installed at every site, placed after extensive surveys mapping orangutan nesting sites, forest cover and local wildlife movement patterns. A long-term monitoring program, including regular anti-encroachment patrols, was also put in place to protect the corridor.

    Conservationists waited two full years for the first orangutan to use the crossing. In the months after installation, smaller arboreal species were the first to test the structures: squirrels, langur monkeys and macaques were followed by gibbons, a encouraging sign that the bridges were viewed as safe. Over time, the young male orangutan that would eventually make the crossing gradually acclimated to the structure: building sleeping nests near the bridge edge, lingering to observe the crossing and testing the rope’s stability repeatedly before committing to the full traverse.

    “They observe,” Siregar said. “They don’t rush. They watch, they try, they retreat. Only when they’re certain it’s safe do they move.”

    The brief, historic crossing was captured by the motion-activated camera, which recorded the young orangutan pausing at the forest edge, gripping the bridge rope with deliberate care before stepping out over the open road. Halfway across, it paused to glance down at the traffic below before completing the crossing to the opposite forest. Conservationists emphasize this is the first documented case of any Sumatran orangutan using an artificial canopy bridge to cross a public road. While orangutans have used similar structures to cross rivers and private industrial forest roads elsewhere, busy public roads—with their constant noise, vehicle movement and unpredictability—present a far larger barrier and greater risk to the shy primates.

    For the long-term survival of Sumatran orangutans, reestablishing habitat connectivity is a critical priority. Isolated populations face extreme risks of inbreeding, genetic decline and eventual population collapse, while restored connectivity allows orangutans to access new food sources, find mates and maintain genetically healthy, resilient populations. Once widespread across much of southern Asia, orangutans now survive only on the Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Borneo. Current conservation data puts the total wild Sumatran orangutan population at fewer than 14,000 individuals, alongside just 800 Tapanuli orangutans and roughly 104,700 Bornean orangutans, all three species classified as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

    “This was the moment we had been waiting for,” Siregar told the Associated Press. “We are very grateful that the canopy here provides benefits for orangutan conservation efforts.” Conservation teams now hope this pioneering crossing will encourage more orangutans to use the bridges, and that the successful model can be replicated in other fragmented orangutan habitats across Sumatra and Borneo to reduce extinction risk for the species. “These bridges allow orangutans to move, to mix, to maintain healthy populations,” Siregar said. “It reduces the risk of extinction.”