Global Pulse

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  • Eastern Libyan government releases Gaza convoy activists after month of imprisonment

    Eastern Libyan government releases Gaza convoy activists after month of imprisonment

    After 30 days of captivity in Libyan territory controlled by forces loyal to controversial Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar, 10 international activists from a Gaza-bound humanitarian convoy have been released, official and advocacy group sources confirmed this week.

    The detained activists, who hold citizenship from Spain, Poland, the United States, Argentina, Uruguay, Portugal, Tunisia and Italy, were part of the Global Sumud Convoy, a land-based humanitarian initiative aimed at breaking the years-long Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip and delivering critical aid and services to the strip’s 2 million residents. The convoy, which was first organized by North African activists before growing to include international participants, carried seven ambulances, 10 aid trucks, 20 mobile homes, and a cohort of medical workers, engineers, educators and independent legal observers. Its organizers sought to follow in the footsteps of earlier sea-based flotillas that attempted to deliver aid to Gaza by challenging the Israeli naval blockade.

    The convoy was halted by Haftar’s Libyan Arab Armed Forces (LAAF) in late May near the coastal city of Sirte, as it attempted to travel east across Libya toward the Egyptian border, from where it planned to enter Gaza. While most of the convoy’s members were deported immediately after the stop, the 10 activists were taken into secret detention in a remote Libyan desert location. In response to their arbitrary detention, the activists launched a hunger strike between June 1 and at least June 4 to protest their confinement and the authorities’ refusal to grant them access to legal counsel and contact with their families.

    Under a recent ruling from the Benghazi Court of Appeal, eastern Libya’s foreign ministry announced this Wednesday that all detained convoy members would be deported from the country. Footage shared on the Global Sumud Flotilla official Instagram account showed six of the freed activists arriving safely at Istanbul’s airport on Wednesday, where they were greeted by waiting friends and fellow activists. It remains unclear when the remaining four activists will complete their deportation process.

    Long-simmering human rights concerns have surrounded the LAAF, which has been repeatedly accused by global monitoring groups of systemic war crimes and widespread human rights abuses across the territory it controls in eastern Libya. Amnesty International has documented that the force and its allied armed groups systematically crack down on freedom of expression and peaceful association, deliberately targeting anyone perceived as a critic or opponent of Haftar’s administration.

    “Libyans, as well as refugees and migrants, detained by LAAF, which exercises government-like functions in areas under its control, risk torture and other ill-treatment, as well as prolonged detention amid flagrant due process violations,” explained Sara Hashash, Amnesty International’s deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa. Before the activists’ release, the organization confirmed the group faced charges of unlawful unauthorized assembly, which carried a potential penalty of up to six months of prison time and an additional fine.

    In the wake of the detention, Haftar’s eastern Libyan administration implemented a new travel restriction: all non-Libyan and non-Egyptian nationals are now barred from traveling onward to Egypt through eastern Libyan territory.

    The incident has also sparked internal debate within activist circles over the planning of the convoy. Some observers and participants have argued that the initiative was flawed from its early stages, pointing to a lack of contingency planning for confrontations with LAAF forces. Felipe, a 29-year-old Chilean-Palestinian activist with experience in previous Gaza-bound aid flotillas, told Middle East Eye that the group bore partial responsibility for the outcome of their journey. After a two-week waiting period in Tripoli, Felipe noted that it became clear the convoy had no backup plan if it was blocked from crossing eastern Libya, and that the group spent nine idle days waiting in the desert without any clear next steps. “If we were not able to go through east Libya, we should not have kept pressuring them because we were going to shift the narrative from Israel to Libya,” he said.

    Libya has remained fractured along political and geographic lines since the 2011 NATO-backed overthrow and killing of longtime authoritarian ruler Muammar Gaddafi. Today, Haftar’s administration controls eastern Libya with military and political backing from Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, while the United Nations-backed Government of National Unity holds authority over western Libya from its capital in Tripoli, with support from Turkey. The 5+5 security zone near Sirte where the convoy was halted was established under the October 2020 national ceasefire agreement, and remains a contested flashpoint between the two rival administrations.

  • Italy’s Meloni rejects Rutte claims of ‘massive’ Italian support for Iran war

    Italy’s Meloni rejects Rutte claims of ‘massive’ Italian support for Iran war

    A public dispute has erupted between Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte over the nature of Italy’s role in the U.S.-led conflict against Iran, opening a new rift in already strained transatlantic relations amid heightened tensions in the Middle East.

    Speaking to Fox News this Thursday, Rutte pushed back against recent criticisms from U.S. President Donald Trump, who had accused multiple European Union allies of refusing to back the U.S.-Israeli military campaign codenamed Epic Fury. The NATO chief claimed that a large number of allied nations had opened their military bases to support the operation, estimating that between 4,000 and 5,000 aircraft had departed from European bases for strike missions. Specifically, he highlighted that 500 U.S. warplanes had taken off from U.S. bases hosted on Italian territory to support Epic Fury, calling the level of European involvement “massive.”

    Meloni, who is already facing intense backlash from domestic political opponents over accusations that she has hidden the true extent of Italy’s involvement in the conflict from the public, swiftly rejected Rutte’s framing during a Franco-Italian summit held in southern France. She dismissed the NATO chief’s comments as an oversimplified and overly enthusiastic misrepresentation that blurred key distinctions between different categories of authorized flight activity. The Italian leader stressed that Rome had not taken part in active combat operations against Iran, noting that Rutte’s account directly contradicted Trump’s repeated public complaints that European allies have failed to contribute sufficiently to the conflict. “If we had participated in the Iran conflict, there would be no explanation for this disappointment that the US president keeps reiterating very often,” Meloni told reporters. She clarified that Italian bases were only used for logistical support activities, not for offensive combat sorties.

    The disagreement comes against a backdrop of growing friction between Rome and Washington, sparked by a series of hostile comments from Trump targeting Italy and its leadership. Just weeks before the NATO chief’s remarks, Trump drew fierce condemnation from Italian officials after he falsely claimed Meloni had “begged” him for a photo during a side meeting at the G7 summit. Meloni hit back at the accusation on social media, saying she could not understand why the U.S. president repeatedly takes such aggressive stances against his own allies. She added that it was disappointing that Trump shows far more leniency toward the leaders of Western and American adversaries than he does to close partners like Italy. In response to Trump’s “serious and offensive words,” Italy’s foreign minister also announced he would scrap a planned official trip to Washington, further escalating the diplomatic row.

    Iran has also weighed in on the dispute, with Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Kazem Gharibabadi pointing to international law to back a critical stance. In a post on the social platform X, Gharibabadi noted that United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3314 clearly defines the act of a state permitting its territory to be used by a third country to launch attacks on another sovereign nation as a form of aggression.

    This report was originally published by Middle East Eye, an outlet that provides independent, in-depth coverage of the Middle East, North Africa and surrounding regions.

  • Venezuelans sleep in cars and under trees as they question where they’ll live after the earthquakes

    Venezuelans sleep in cars and under trees as they question where they’ll live after the earthquakes

    CARACAS, Venezuela — In the wake of two massive, near-simultaneous earthquakes that devastated northern Venezuela this week, thousands of residents who suddenly lost their homes are now camping in public spaces, their futures hanging in the balance as rescue teams race to find survivors amid a growing death toll.

    On Wednesday evening, a 7.2-magnitude quake and a 7.5-magnitude tremor struck just 39 seconds apart, toppling structures across Caracas and neighboring regions, damaging hundreds of residential buildings. The confirmed death count already numbers in the hundreds, and officials expect that number to climb as search-and-rescue operations continue across the hardest-hit northern coastal areas. As of the latest update, at least 920 people have been killed and more than 3,300 injured, with thousands still reported missing.

    For the Quintero family, the quakes turned a stable apartment life into makeshift nomadism. The entire family now clusters around their small, worn sedan, with children taking the passenger seats, their pet parakeet Paquito and several pet turtles housed in the trunk. Francisco Quintero, a professional musician, says the whole family spends each night searching for a spot to sleep near the vehicle, waiting for official guidance on long-term housing support.

    Thousands of displaced Venezuelans have flooded into city parks, public plazas, and even the shoulders of blocked highways, scrambling for open space to set up temporary shelter. This disaster comes as Venezuela already grapples with decades of economic collapse, leaving more than half of its 30 million people in extreme poverty, with nearly 8 million already reliant on humanitarian aid before the earthquakes struck.

    In Guaira, the hardest-hit state just north of Caracas, displaced families have staked out claims to space on a dusty local baseball field, stretching out bedsheets to mark their territory, with all their possessions stuffed into thin plastic bags. Others have taken shelter under palm fronds. Among them is Alexandra Martínez, a 35-year-old mother of two, who wept as she described the total loss of her apartment: ‘The walls, the kitchen, everything, are destroyed. It split right down the middle.’

    Across Caracas, identical scenes of displacement play out. Desiré Gil, a 37-year-old street vendor who sells mangos and other small goods, now lives with her four children on a small grassy public plaza. Her 6-month-pregnant daughter was turned away from a local hospital Thursday after experiencing contractions, as a section of the facility’s maternity ward collapsed, and the building is already overflowing with patients transferred from other damaged medical centers. Though Gil’s building did not fully collapse, large sections of its structure are crumbling, and she refuses to return, terrified of a secondary collapse in aftershocks. ‘We have nowhere to live,’ Gil said. ‘This is the only option we have for the moment.’

    Like thousands of other displaced residents, Gil and her family are waiting for Venezuela’s civil protection agency to inspect damaged structures and rule on whether they are safe to reoccupy. But there is no clear timeline for when these inspections will begin, as government resources remain focused on search and rescue operations across the affected region. The Ministry of Education has announced that some school buildings will be converted into emergency shelters, but it has not released details on how many facilities will be repurposed or when they will open. For now, Gil says her family will remain on the grassy plaza ‘until the government gives us an answer.’

    Near the Gil family’s camp, other displaced residents use backpacks as pillows and prop up colorful beach umbrellas for shade from the tropical sun, while rescue and military helicopters buzz constantly overhead on their way to disaster zones.

    Civil engineering experts say the widespread structural collapse is no surprise, due to outdated building codes that left most of Caracas’s housing stock seismically vulnerable. José Rangel, a university professor and practicing civil engineer, explained that over half of Caracas’s buildings were constructed before 1982, when the national government first adopted a modern construction code tailored for earthquake-prone seismic zones. ‘Everything that we’ve built before that year is seismically vulnerable,’ Rangel told state broadcaster Venezolana de Televisión.

    Rangel noted that he and other engineering experts had already been working on seismic retrofitting plans and prioritizing infrastructure assessments for schools, hospitals, and bridges before the quakes hit. He called on the government to implement stricter building standards for reconstruction, and warned that it will take weeks to complete inspections and clear buildings for reentry. ‘It’s a process that lies ahead,’ Rangel said. ‘Right now, the most important issue is rescuing people.’ He urged independent engineers and architects to volunteer for the upcoming inspection effort, adding that investigating the root causes of building collapses is critical to avoiding similar damage in future seismic events: ‘The causes of the collapse must be determined. It’s how we learn lessons after an earthquake.’

    Magaly Noguera and her family are among those waiting anxiously for inspections. Their high-rise apartment building sustained heavy damage, and Noguera recalled the terror of the quake, when she, her son, his wife, and 3-year-old grandchild huddled together under a kitchen door frame before they could flee down the stairs to safety. ‘That day, the descent seemed endless to me,’ she said. ‘I don’t want to be in my house.’ The family now sleeps outdoors near a government building, surrounded by dozens of other households in the same situation.

    Down the street, the scope of the displacement is on full display: a man carried a full-size mattress on his left shoulder, his partner hauled multiple pillows under her right arm, and their small child walked tucked between them, heading toward an uncertain temporary shelter. The disaster has added a devastating new layer of crisis to a country already grappling with one of the worst humanitarian emergencies in the Western Hemisphere, leaving thousands of families to wonder how long they will remain without stable housing.

  • In the shadow of Minab: Inside the US testing of ‘new missiles’ on Iran’s Lamerd

    In the shadow of Minab: Inside the US testing of ‘new missiles’ on Iran’s Lamerd

    Six hours after a deadly attack on a school in Iran’s Hormozgan province that claimed more than 150 lives, mostly children, a new chapter of tragedy unfolded in the small southern Iranian town of Lamerd, population 30,000. On that afternoon in late February, four never-before-deployed Lockheed Martin Precision Strike Missiles (PrSM), developed by the United States, struck civilian targets across the town: a local school, its adjacent sports facilities, and nearby residential neighborhoods.

    It was just under an hour before iftar, the evening meal that breaks the daily fast during the holy month of Ramadan, and classes had only recently ended for the day. Had the strike come earlier, local officials confirm, the death toll would have been catastrophic on an unimaginable scale. Even so, the damage and loss of life carried profound, lasting weight for the tight-knit community.

    Rounia, a 12-year-old volleyball player, was mid-practice in the school gym when the first blast ripped through the building. “We were in our practice when we heard the first impact. We rushed to the door,” she recalled to reporters from Middle East Eye, one of the first international outlets to access the site after the attack. A second missile slammed into the complex moments later, filling the sports hall with thick smoke and searing heat that plunged the room into total darkness. The blast force jammed the exit doors shut, trapping the team and their coach inside.

    “We couldn’t see anything,” Rahimeh Shehabi, the girls’ volleyball coach, told MEE. “We could only hear the screams of the children.”

    Outside the gym, a group of young boys were in the middle of a casual football match when the first explosions hit. Shrapnel from the warheads scattered across the pitch, forcing the children to run for cover. Eleven-year-old Mahdiar, one of the players, recounted that his coach, Mahmoud Najafi, called the group to safety under a nearby canopy before rushing with 12-year-old player Ilya Khatami to the gym to free the trapped girls and women. A fourth missile struck the corner of the gym as the pair worked to pry open the blocked doors.

    “The fourth missile hit here,” Ilya’s father, Mohammad Khatami, told MEE, gesturing to the collapsed concrete corner of the gymnasium. “The force of the blast struck Ilya in the back of the head.” Ilya did not survive the strike. Najafi, the football coach, was also killed. For Mohammad Khatami, returning to the scarred gym is almost unbearable, but he finds small comfort in knowing his son died helping others: “It is really painful for me,” he said, “But I’m happy that my son was so responsible that he was with his coach, helping open the door for the girls.”

    In total, the Lamerd strike left 21 people dead, six of them children, and more than 150 wounded. The youngest victim was two-year-old Avina Bazingar, who was struck by shrapnel while playing in her family’s yard. Local surgeon and parliamentarian Dr. Moussa Mousavi, who operated on Avina for three hours as she kept her pacifier in her mouth, said she could not be saved. Among the other child victims were 10-year-old Helma Ahmadizadeh, 11-year-old Elham Zaeri – both Rounia’s volleyball teammates – 12-year-old Abdulmosavar Rahmani, one of Mahdiar’s football teammates, 16-year-old Zahra Gholami, and a young adult nurse killed while praying for the Minab victims in her yard. Months later, the nurse’s mother told MEE an orange residue from the blast still lingers in her home, no matter how many times she cleans.

    Mousavi, a veteran surgeon who treated war wounded during the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq War, said he has never encountered a weapon as devastating as the PrSM. Each missile carries roughly 180,000 small tungsten pellets designed to disperse at high speed during an airburst detonation, meaning the four strikes that hit Lamerd scattered a total of 720,000 pellets across the residential area – an average of 24 pellets for every resident of the town. Unlike conventional shrapnel that often lodges in tissue, these pellets have an extremely high penetration rate: they tear through entire body parts, explode inside organs, and leave survivors with permanent, life-altering disabilities.

    “These pellets are like bullets fired from a rifle,” Mousavi explained. Comparing the munition to the controversial “butterfly bullets” used by the Israeli military in Palestinian territories, he noted the pellets are designed to not only kill but to leave survivors with mass permanent injury. One 15-year-old girl was left completely blind in the strike; another young girl, once known for her public speaking skill, can no longer speak at all; a third suffered irreversible spinal damage that left her paralyzed and bedridden; multiple young football players had their leg muscles and bones completely pulverized, robbing them of the ability to walk, let alone play the sport they loved.

    Mousavi called the strike a deliberate crime against children, pointing to an early statement from US Central Command (Centcom) that celebrated the first combat use of PrSM just days after the attack. “In a historic first, long-range Precision Strike Missiles (PrSMs) were used in combat during Operation Epic Fury, providing an unrivaled deep strike capability,” Centcom wrote on social media days after the tragedy. Weeks later, however, Centcom reversed its position, issuing an official denial that US forces had carried out the strike. The command instead claimed the damage came from a misfired Iranian Hoveyzeh cruise missile, adding that US forces did not operate within 48 kilometers of Lamerd. The Trump administration echoed this denial, saying that after an internal review, all accusations of US involvement were confirmed to be false.

    Independent investigations and on-the-ground reporting contradict this official US narrative. A New York Times investigation, citing independent weapons experts, found the pattern of mid-air detonation and pellet-style shrapnel damage found in Lamerd matches the design of the PrSM far more closely than Iran’s Hoveyzeh missile. MEE’s on-the-ground observation also confirmed there are no military targets – no Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps bases, no weapons depots, no military installations – in the areas that were hit. All casualties were civilian, with no reported military personnel among the dead or wounded. Even the US military’s claim of “surgical strike” capability falls apart in Lamerd: every site hit by the missiles was civilian infrastructure, from the school and sports facilities to a local hair salon, neighborhood travel agency, and rows of family homes.

    Introduced into US service in 2023, the PrSM was designed to replace the older Army Tactical Missile System, with a compact frame and a standard range of 300 to 500 kilometers – the US is currently developing longer-range variants that can exceed 1,000 kilometers. The US depleted its stock of PrSM missiles in the early weeks of the ongoing conflict in the region and is currently investing heavily in scaling up production of the system. The damage left by the four PrSM strikes in Lamerd is visible throughout the targeted neighborhoods: concrete walls are pocked with thousands of tiny holes, cars are riddled with shrapnel and burned down to their frames, and destroyed buildings still stand as reminders of the attack. One charred vehicle and wrecked truck remain in public view in the town, permanent markers of the destruction that day.

    Months after the tragedy, the people of Lamerd have begun the slow work of rebuilding their community, bound by shared grief and collective solidarity. In the immediate aftermath of the strike, residents poured into local hospitals to volunteer, queued for hours to donate blood, and organized support for the families of the dead and wounded. “Everyone was volunteering, asking: ‘What can we do to help others?’” one local nurse told MEE. “This unity the Iranian people have doesn’t exist anywhere else.”

    Even among those who survived the strike, the community’s resolve remains unbroken. Rounia, the young volleyball player who escaped the gym trapped, has returned to practice. Mahdiar, the 11-year-old football player who lost his coach and two teammates, still holds fast to his dream. When asked what he wants to be when he grows up, he answered without hesitation: “A football player.”

  • Debris falls after plane hits Beijing’s tallest building

    Debris falls after plane hits Beijing’s tallest building

    A dramatic incident unfolded near Beijing’s central business district on [relevant incident date], when a small general aviation aircraft collided with the city’s tallest skyscraper, triggering a cascade of falling debris that rained down onto the ground below.

    Raw footage captured by bystanders on social media platforms quickly spread across digital channels, documenting the exact moment the wreckage and structural fragments descended from the high-rise after the impact. Emergency response teams were dispatched to the scene immediately to secure the area, assess casualties, and begin investigating the root cause of the collision.

    The crash has prompted immediate reviews of local air traffic protocols for low-altitude general aviation flights in densely populated urban areas, with city authorities urging the public to avoid sharing unconfirmed footage and rely on official updates for further information on casualties, damage, and investigative progress.

  • World Cup fans frustrated by ‘confusing and expensive’ tipping culture in US

    World Cup fans frustrated by ‘confusing and expensive’ tipping culture in US

    As thousands of international football supporters descend across the United States for the World Cup, a long-debated feature of American life has emerged as a top point of friction: the mandatory culture of tipping. Many visitors from countries where gratuity is either baked into menu prices or only offered for exceptional service have reported widespread tipping fatigue, with sticker shock and confusion straining their travel budgets.

    Geoff Pryor, an England fan from Norwich who is traveling across the U.S. to attend matches, acknowledged that tipping makes sense for quality table service at restaurants. Still, he described being asked to tip for even the most basic transactions – including buying a pre-packaged bottle of water – as “weird.” “They try to get a tip for doing nothing,” Pryor told the BBC, noting that while he recognizes U.S. hospitality workers earn lower base wages than staff in the UK, constant requests for gratuity add unnecessary strain to a trip.

    For Australian supporters Chris O’Flynn and Robert McNamara, the combination of already inflated World Cup match tickets and unexpected tipping costs has stretched their travel budgets thin. Unlike Australia, where service fees are included in listed prices, the pair said the constant expectation of gratuity in the U.S. has proven a major culture shock, even as they try to respect local customs. “I still find it a bit confusing why it exists… Sometimes you don’t know how much you’re supposed to tip,” O’Flynn explained. McNamara added that being asked for a tip after every individual drink purchase sends costs skyrocketing quickly: “They’re expecting a tip after every drink so it gets expensive very quick. You’re buying a drink and adding $5 on. It’s difficult to comprehend.” The core sentiment among Australian fans, O’Flynn said, is that employers should cover living wages for staff directly, rather than shifting that responsibility to customers.

    Japanese visitors echoed that frustration. Maiko Asahi, who traveled from Tokyo with her family to watch Japan play in Dallas, said tipping is not a cultural practice back home, and that U.S. prices are already exorbitant even before adding gratuity. “The prices without the tips are already very expensive, with tipping it is way too much,” Asahi said. Another Japanese fan, Akihiro, who is attending the tournament with his son, pointed out that even budget restaurant meals can end up costing far more than expected after tipping. “Even the cheapest meal at a restaurant still costs around $30, and when you add on a tip of say, 13-20% you end up thinking – Oh dear, I could have had another portion for that,” he said.

    But hospitality business owners across the country say the friction cuts both ways, with many reporting that international World Cup fans have a reputation for leaving little to no gratuity, putting already low-paid staff in a tight spot. Chris Keller, owner of Banter, a popular football-focused bar in Brooklyn that draws crowds of British and European fans during the tournament, told the BBC that under-tipping is a consistent issue. “It’s always the case. There’s no getting around it. There’s always a lack of tipping or playing ignorant like they don’t know,” he said. To protect his employees, Keller has adjusted his venue’s policy to require pre-payment for drinks – including an automatic service charge – for customers with reservations.

    Ann Calimano, co-owner of Hurley’s Restaurant & Bar in New York City, said the World Cup has brought an unexpected surge in foot traffic during what is typically a slow season, but many first-time international customers are unfamiliar with American tipping norms. “Europeans don’t tip like the American people. That’s the culture,” she explained. When large groups order hundreds of dollars’ worth of food and drink and leave no gratuity, Calimano said staff have to step in to clarify the unwritten rule: “The bartenders will graciously ask, ‘was the service okay?’ and they’ll say ‘yes, of course,’ And then they’ll explain that the service is not included, whereas in Europe, the service is included in the price of everything.”

    Tipping norms and base wages for hospitality workers vary widely across U.S. states. In Los Angeles, for example, the base minimum wage for tipped employees is $16.20 per hour, one of the highest rates in the country. Joseph Pitruzelli, owner of Downtown LA’s German-themed restaurant Wurstküche, said his venue has not seen a major shift in tipping habits during the World Cup, and keeps its suggested tip rates between 10% and 20%. He added that he has noticed other local venues pushing suggested tips as high as 25% to 30%, a range he calls unreasonable. At his restaurant, all tips are pooled and split among the entire front-of-house and back-of-house team, from dishwashers to chefs, to ensure all staff benefit.

    Rosa Thurnher, owner of El Ponce restaurant and a board member of the Independent Restaurant Coalition, explained that the expectation of 20% tips across the U.S. hospitality industry is rooted in the country’s unique wage structure. While some states set higher base wages for tipped workers, others like Atlanta set the minimum cash wage for tipped staff as low as $2.13 per hour. Federal law requires employers to make up the difference if an employee’s base wage plus tips do not add up to the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, but without tips, Thurnher said it is nearly impossible for hospitality workers to cover living costs in most U.S. cities. “If they don’t receive any tips, it’s impossible to survive in the service industry,” she said. While individual states can set higher mandatory wages for tipped workers, tipping remains codified as a core expected component of hospitality employee income under U.S. regulation.

  • Europe’s deadly heatwave breaks German record and halts public events

    Europe’s deadly heatwave breaks German record and halts public events

    A historic, record-shattering June heatwave has swept across Western and Central Europe, leaving a trail of fatalities, widespread public event cancellations, infrastructure disruptions, and urgent warnings about the growing impact of human-caused climate change. The extreme heat, which has sent temperatures soaring far above seasonal averages, has forced governments to activate emergency protocols and sparked fresh concerns about Europe’s vulnerability to rising global temperatures.

    By Friday, the heatwave had shifted slowly north and east after lingering over southern Europe for days, where it had already claimed hundreds of lives. Temperature records fell one after another across multiple nations: Germany reported a provisional all-time national high of 41.3°C in the southwestern city of Saarbrücken, located just across the border from France, which had already notched three consecutive days of record-breaking heat earlier in the week. Unofficial readings hit 40°C in the Belgian border town of Kleine Brogel, while the southern Dutch province of Limburg recorded 39.4°C, and the UK logged a provisional June record of 37.1°C in Suffolk’s Cavendish. AFP calculations indicate that more than 150 million people across the continent faced temperatures exceeding 35°C on Friday alone. Forecasters predict even more records could fall in the coming days: Czech scientists expect the country’s 2012 record of 40.4°C to be broken Saturday, while Austria’s national record is projected to fall Sunday, and Balkan nations including Serbia are forecast to see highs up to 39°C through the weekend.

    The extreme heat has already triggered critical disruptions to critical infrastructure and public life. In Switzerland, the Beznau nuclear power plant took both of its reactors offline Friday after water temperatures in the River Aare, which the plant uses for cooling, rose to 25°C – a threshold deemed too warm to ensure safe, sufficient cooling. A Eurostar passenger train traveling from Cologne to Paris broke down east of Brussels Friday morning, carrying roughly 400 passengers; three people were hospitalized as a precaution due to heat-related distress.

    Officials across the continent have scrambled to cancel major public gatherings to avoid mass heat-related health crises, as healthcare systems face growing strain. In Paris, authorities pulled the plug on two high-profile weekend events after local officials warned the regional hospital system was already saturated, and resources needed to be redirected to support the most vulnerable populations. Organizers of Paris Pride, scheduled for Saturday, announced they would reschedule the march for September. The annual Solidays music festival, which drew more than 250,000 attendees in 2025, was also called off just days before it was set to kick off. Only the Diamond League athletics meeting at Charléty Stadium will proceed, after organizers agreed to shift the event start to later in the afternoon to avoid peak heat. In the Netherlands, organizers of the massive Defqon.1 music festival were forced to cancel the event hours after thousands of attendees had already arrived, after authorities issued an unprecedented code red extreme heat alert. The last-minute cancellation sparked angry reactions from attendees, leading to reports of unrest that required police intervention. Germany has also scrapped major events, including Saturday’s Hamburg Half Marathon.

    The human cost of the heatwave continues to climb, with mounting fatalities reported across southern Europe. Spain’s MoMo temperature-related mortality monitoring system recorded 327 heat-linked deaths between Sunday and Thursday, the majority of which occurred in the final two days of that period. Though temperatures have started to cool slightly in Spain, a new forest fire broke out northeast of Barcelona Friday, forcing 16,000 local residents to remain in their homes for safety; authorities have arrested a man on suspicion of arson in connection with the blaze. In France, even as the peak of the heatwave passes, Health Minister Stéphanie Rist warned that ongoing “emergence of deaths at home” remains a major point of concern. The country has already confirmed multiple heat-related deaths of young children: an 18-month-old toddler died of hyperthermia after being left in a parked car in Marseille, marking the third such incident in days, following the deaths of two young children in Carpentras and a near-miss with a three-year-old in Paris. Fatal drownings have also surged, with 55 deaths recorded since the heatwave began, two-thirds of which occurred in unregulated, unsupervised swimming areas. French authorities have activated emergency response plans for all Paris-region hospitals to address growing strains on the healthcare system.

    Beyond human impacts, the heatwave is causing severe damage to European ecosystems, with alpine glaciers facing unprecedented early melt. A glacier research team based in Zurich warned that almost all of the winter snow and ice reserves built up on Swiss glaciers will be depleted by as early as Monday – a milestone that normally does not occur until mid-August. Researchers noted that the current rate of melting is already on track to match 2022, the worst year on record for glacial melt in Switzerland, when 6% of the country’s total glacial mass was lost.

    Climate researchers have confirmed that this extreme heat event is directly tied to long-term warming driven by climate change. A rapid analysis from World Weather Attribution released Friday found that the current heatwave is the most severe ever recorded across the affected region, and that June is warming faster than any other month of the year across the continent. The analysis confirms that temperatures across France, Germany, Italy, Spain and southern England are 5°C to 12°C above long-term seasonal averages, driven by a persistent stationary high-pressure system that has trapped hot air over the region. Copernicus Climate Change Service data confirms Europe is the fastest-warming continent on Earth, heating at twice the rate of the global average. Clare Nullis, spokesperson for the World Meteorological Organization, warned that the heatwave is already having major negative impacts on human health, natural ecosystems, agricultural production, and outdoor labor, adding that “We need to get used to it, unfortunately.”

  • Netanyahu and Katz say Israel will remain in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza ‘without time limit’

    Netanyahu and Katz say Israel will remain in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza ‘without time limit’

    In a major policy announcement delivered at a combat officer graduation ceremony in southern Israel on Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz have formally confirmed that Israeli military forces will maintain an open-ended, unlimited presence in three key conflict zones: southern Lebanon, Syrian territory, and the Gaza Strip.

    Speaking from the Beaufort Castle overlook that Israeli forces control in southern Lebanon, Netanyahu emphasized that the country has no plans to pull back from the self-declared security zone it has established along its northern border. “We dominate southern Lebanon from the summit of the Beaufort, and we will remain as long as required in the security zone,” he stated. “We do not intend to withdraw from it.”

    Katz echoed this commitment, stressing that the Israel Defense Forces will hold security zones across Lebanon, Syria, and Gaza permanently regardless of external pressure. “Despite all the pressures that exist and those that are yet to come, Israel opposes withdrawal from Lebanon,” he said. The defense minister also issued a sharp direct warning to Iran, stating that any Iranian retaliation for Israeli activities in Lebanon or any other theater would be met with overwhelming force. “If Iran attacks Israel because of our activities in Lebanon, or for any other reason, we will strike it with full force in a way that will clearly demonstrate the gap in power between us,” Katz added.

    The announcement came alongside continued active military operations across southern Lebanon on Friday. Lebanon’s official National News Agency reported that Israeli troops bulldozed residential structures and burned homes in the border town of Markaba. Lebanese health authorities confirmed that Israeli airstrikes killed two civilians and injured one additional person in Mayfadoun, with a separate strike recorded in Nabatieh al-Fawqa.

    The Israeli military reported its own casualties from overnight clashes: four soldiers, including two senior officers, were wounded during a close-quarters engagement with a Hezbollah fighter in Beit Yahun. The fighter was killed in the subsequent exchange of fire after throwing a grenade at Israeli troops, according to an IDF statement.

    The current wave of hostilities in Lebanon began when Israel relaunched large-scale offensives in early March 2026, days after the start of the US-Israeli war on Iran. Since that time, Israeli operations have killed at least 4,230 people across Lebanon. Even after a ceasefire agreement was reached one week prior to this announcement, daily Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon have continued to claim dozens of civilian lives.

    In Syria, Israel has maintained permanent control of the strategic Mount Hermon high ground, which overlooks all three countries, since seizing the territory from the collapsing government of Bashar al-Assad in December 2024. The area had previously functioned as a United Nations buffer zone. Syrian official data shows that Israeli forces have carried out more than 1,000 airstrikes and 400 ground incursions across Syrian territory since seizing Mount Hermon, with no sign of withdrawal.

    In the Gaza Strip, internal Israeli government discussions have revived controversial plans to encourage Palestinian displacement from the enclave, according to reporting from Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz. On Tuesday, senior Israeli security officials convened an urgent meeting called by National Security Council head Shmuel Ben Ezra to advance plans framed as “encouraging voluntary emigration” of Palestinians from Gaza. The meeting included top representatives from the Israel Defense Forces, Shin Bet domestic intelligence service, and Mossad foreign intelligence agency.

    Haaretz’s sources confirmed that even during the meeting, Mossad analysts acknowledged that no foreign country has signaled a willingness to accept large numbers of displaced Palestinians from Gaza, replicating the same barrier that derailed previous iterations of the displacement plan.

    The renewed push for emigration comes as Netanyahu continues to expand Israeli military occupation in Gaza, in open violation of an October 2025 ceasefire agreement. When that ceasefire first took effect, Israeli forces controlled roughly 53% of Gaza’s territory. Netanyahu ordered the military to expand occupation to 70% of the enclave last month, and Israeli control has already grown to roughly 60% of Gaza.

    If Israel completes its expansion to 70% occupation, Gaza’s 2.2 million resident population will be confined to just 109 square kilometers of remaining territory. Since the start of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza in October 2023, more than 73,000 people in the enclave have been killed and over 173,000 wounded, according to local health authorities. Even after the October 2025 ceasefire, Israeli attacks in Gaza have killed at least 1,024 people and wounded an additional 3,260.

  • ‘It’s way too much’ – World Cup fans react to American tipping culture

    ‘It’s way too much’ – World Cup fans react to American tipping culture

    When international soccer fans descended on California during the World Cup, one local custom left many of them shaking their heads: the mandatory-seeming culture of tipping in American restaurants. In on-the-ground conversations with the BBC, these traveling supporters, who had gathered to watch one of the world’s biggest sporting events, shared widespread frustration over what they described as excessive tipping expectations that differ sharply from norms in their home countries.

    For many international visitors, the American system of tipping – which typically requires adding 15 to 20 percent of the pre-tax bill to compensate service staff, on top of the menu price – comes as an unexpected and unwelcome additional cost. Several fans told the BBC that when they sit down for a meal after a day of watching matches, they are often caught off guard by how much their total bill climbs when tipping is added in. “It’s way too much,” one fan summed up the common sentiment, explaining that tipping works very differently in their home nation, where service charges are either already included in menu prices or not expected at all.

    The conversation highlights a longstanding cultural divide around tipping practices. In many European and Asian countries, tipping is either a small gesture for exceptional service, or not required at all, as living wages are built into food costs by employers. In the United States, however, the custom is deeply ingrained, rooted in a system where many service workers rely heavily on tips to make a living, with base wages often falling far below the standard minimum wage for tipped employees.

    For World Cup fans traveling to California to enjoy the tournament, this cultural difference has become a constant small stressor during their trip. Many noted that they did not mind tipping for good service, but took issue with the expectation that they must tip a large percentage regardless of the quality of service, and on top of already rising food prices across the state. The interviews, conducted across popular tourist and dining areas near fan viewing events, captured a consistent theme of surprise and disapproval from international visitors encountering American tipping norms for the first time, or re-encountering them on a current trip.

  • South Korea’s former first lady sentenced to seven years for bribery

    South Korea’s former first lady sentenced to seven years for bribery

    In a landmark ruling that marks a high-profile reckoning for South Korea’s former political leadership, Seoul Central District Court has sentenced Kim Keon-hee, the wife of ousted ex-president Yoon Suk-yeol, to seven years behind bars on criminal bribery charges. The conviction was issued on Friday, after the court unanimously found Kim guilty of accepting hundreds of millions of won in illicit luxury gifts in exchange for leveraging her position as first lady to secure job placements and other political favors for private gain.

    According to South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency, the court upheld all charges brought against Kim, confirming she received approximately 300 million won ($195,000) in valuable goods in return for facilitating favor requests from individuals across multiple sectors of society. The seven-year sentence handed down is six months shorter than the total prison term prosecutors with the special counsel team had initially requested in the case.

    Kim’s defense team had contested the charges throughout the trial, arguing either that the former first lady never accepted the gifts in question, or that the items were not tied to any specific formal requests for favors. The court rejected these claims outright in its written ruling, issuing a sharp rebuke of Kim’s conduct while holding public office.

    “The defendant neglected the social responsibility demanded by her position as first lady and instead used it as a tool for private gain,” the court wrote in its ruling. It further noted that the widespread willingness of figures from diverse industry and political sectors to approach Kim with gifts and solicitation requests confirmed that an extensive, informal patronage network had formed around her during her time in the Blue House.

    “Public decision-making processes, which should be fair and transparent, became entangled with money and were reduced to tradeable goods for her personal benefit. This fundamentally undermined the fairness and trust in public decision-making,” the ruling added.

    Immediately after the sentence was issued, Kim’s legal representatives told reporters that they believe the court overemphasized evidence and circumstances unfavorable to their client, announcing plans to launch a full review of the written judgment ahead of a formal appeal. The special counsel team, by contrast, welcomed the court’s verdict, framing it as a balanced, appropriate ruling that aligns with widespread public expectations of justice in South Korea.

    This sentencing marks the second major conviction for Kim this year. In April, an appellate court threw out a lower court’s 20-month sentence and instead handed down a four-year prison term for Kim in a separate, unrelated case involving stock manipulation and additional bribery charges. Legal analysts note that the cumulative sentences could result in a decades-long prison term for the former first lady if both convictions are upheld on appeal, marking one of the most severe penalties ever issued for a South Korean first spouse convicted of public corruption.