Global Pulse

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  • At least 10 injured in shooting at Louisiana shopping centre

    At least 10 injured in shooting at Louisiana shopping centre

    A midday argument between two rival groups erupted into a deadly shootout at a popular Louisiana shopping mall this week, leaving at least 10 people wounded — several of them innocent bystanders caught in the crossfire, local law enforcement confirmed Thursday. The violence unfolded at the Mall of Louisiana in Baton Rouge, starting in the facility’s busy food court before spreading through the common area, according to Baton Rouge Police Department officials.

    During an emergency press briefing shortly after the incident, Police Chief Thomas Morse Jr. confirmed that unintended casualties were among those hurt. “Unfortunately there were some innocent people in the area who might have also caught some rounds,” Morse told reporters. Of the 10 victims transported to area hospitals, at least two required urgent surgical intervention, he added. Crucially, no fatalities have been reported as of Thursday’s update, and authorities have already cleared the mall of any ongoing threat, declaring the active shooter situation resolved.

    Investigators have quickly ruled out random violence, framing the shooting as a targeted confrontation tied to a preexisting dispute between the two groups involved. “This was not a random act of violence, but a targeted disagreement between two groups of people,” Morse said, as law enforcement teams launched a manhunt for the at-large suspects. To aid the investigation, police have issued a public call for witnesses to share any cell phone footage or security recording of the incident that could help identify and track down the shooters.

    Local leaders have issued sharp statements condemning the violence and vowing to bring the perpetrators to justice. “To the thugs that did this, we’re going to catch you,” Baton Rouge Mayor Sid Edwards said in a public address. Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry also confirmed that his office is working in full coordination with state and local law enforcement to support the response and investigation, and urged local residents and visitors to avoid the mall area while the investigation proceeds. On social media, Landry shared a message of solidarity with those impacted: “I’m praying for those affected and am grateful for the quick response by our law enforcement officials,” he wrote.

    The shooting marks the latest high-profile incidence of gun violence flaring in a public crowded space in the United States, reigniting ongoing conversations around public safety and gun regulation across the country.

  • China finds new moon mineral in first domestically recovered lunar meteorite

    China finds new moon mineral in first domestically recovered lunar meteorite

    In a landmark breakthrough for planetary science, Chinese researchers have confirmed the discovery of a previously unknown lunar mineral from the first lunar meteorite ever recovered within China’s borders, a finding that pushes global lunar material knowledge to new heights. This newly recognized substance, now the 11th confirmed lunar mineral documented across the world, brings China’s total count of identified lunar minerals to four — tying the country with the United States for the highest number of lunar mineral discoveries globally.

    Officially named Magnesiochangesite-(Ce), the new mineral has received full formal approval from the International Mineralogical Association’s Commission on New Minerals, Nomenclature and Classification, the globally recognized governing body that verifies and formalizes the naming of all newly identified minerals. Geochemically classified as a rare-earth-bearing phosphate, Magnesiochangesite-(Ce) displays distinct physical traits that set it apart from other known lunar materials: it is colorless, transparent, and carries a bright glass-like luster. It is characteristically brittle, forms distinctive shell-like fractures when broken, and emits visible fluorescence when exposed to ultraviolet light, properties that helped researchers isolate and confirm its identity.

    The mineral was extracted from Pakepake 005, the 44-gram spherical lunar meteorite recovered by Chinese researchers in 2024 from the Taklamakan Desert, located in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The stone’s dark outer fusion crust, a signature feature of meteorites formed when friction superheats the rock’s surface during its high-speed passage through Earth’s atmosphere, confirmed its extraterrestrial origin before detailed analysis began.

    Wang Yanjuan, a doctoral graduate at the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences and the lead researcher who first identified the new mineral, emphasized the far-reaching scientific value of the finding. “This discovery provides critical mineralogical evidence that helps us unpack the moon’s origin and long-term evolutionary history, and it expands the overall boundaries of human understanding of the material composition of our solar system,” Wang explained. She added that analysis of the mineral’s unique crystal structure and precise chemical composition is already yielding new insights into ancient lunar volcanic activity, as well as the geochemical processes that drive rare-earth element separation during planetary formation. Even beyond planetary science, Wang noted that the mineral’s unusual luminescent properties could inform the development of innovative new luminescent materials for industrial and commercial use.

    A key enabling factor behind this discovery, researchers note, is China’s domestic development of high-precision scientific instrumentation. Che Xiaochao, an associate researcher at the Planetary Science Research Center of the Institute of Geology under the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, explained that the analysis of the rare meteorite sample relied on a domestically developed high-resolution secondary ion mass spectrometer. Unlike traditional analytical methods that require dissolving or altering valuable samples, this instrument uses a tightly focused ion beam to map surface composition at the microscopic level without damaging the specimen. “This process is analogous to doing a CT scan of the rock,” Che explained. “Without altering or dissolving the sample, we can accurately capture its internal chemical information and precisely measure nearly all elements and isotopes it contains.” Che also highlighted that the technology has broader cross-sector applications, including use in semiconductor manufacturing and new energy materials development.

    Yang Zhiming, director of the Institute of Geology, stressed that access to advanced, domestically controlled instrumentation is foundational to advancing cutting-edge research on rare extraterrestrial samples. He added that the same domestic high-resolution instrument has already been used to analyze lunar samples collected by China’s Chang’e 6 mission, as well as other samples from the country’s first domestic lunar meteorite recovery. The breakthrough, Yang noted, underscores the critical importance of developing and mastering core scientific equipment and analytical techniques domestically to expand global and national planetary research capabilities.

  • Amal Khalil: The fearless journalist, killed by Israel, who embodied southern Lebanon

    Amal Khalil: The fearless journalist, killed by Israel, who embodied southern Lebanon

    Forty years after she was born into the decades-long Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon, seasoned Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil was killed in that same region by invading Israeli forces while on assignment, leaving a deep gap in local journalism and a nation mourning a fearless storyteller who dedicated her life to amplifying marginalized voices.

    Khalil, 42, was targeted and killed last Wednesday while traveling to al-Tayri to cover an earlier Israeli strike on the southern Lebanese town. According to Lebanon’s health ministry, an initial Israeli strike hit a vehicle ahead of Khalil and freelance photographer Zeinab Faraj, forcing the pair to seek shelter in a nearby residential building. A second Israeli strike then directly hit the structure. Rescuers managed to pull out Faraj, who suffered a severe head injury, but came under Israeli gunfire when they attempted to reach Khalil. Her body was recovered hours later, pulled from the rubble of the destroyed home.

    Born in 1984 in al-Baisariyah, a village in Lebanon’s southern Saida district, Khalil grew up steeped in the realities of conflict and occupation. Her hometown had just been retaken from Israeli control shortly before her birth, and she spent her childhood looking out at nearby occupied villages while Lebanon was mired in civil war. Her early exposure to the struggles of southern Lebanese communities shaped her lifelong commitment to on-the-ground, people-centered reporting. As a young girl, she secretly read the now-defunct Lebanese newspaper As-Safir, where she first learned about ordinary people’s struggles, detained activists, forcibly disappeared citizens, and the human cost of Lebanon’s civil war. She went on to study Arabic literature in Saida, and without her parents’ knowledge, traveled to Beirut to become involved in communist activism — a step that launched her professional writing career, starting with early features for al-Hasnaa magazine. In one notable early piece, she profiled how queer people navigated and celebrated love in Lebanon’s conservative society for a Valentine’s Day special issue, she recalled in a January 2025 interview with Beirut-based outlet The Public Source.

    In April 2006, just months before Al-Akhbar newspaper published its first issue, Khalil joined the newly launched outlet, where she would remain for nearly 20 years. Only weeks after she joined, Israel launched its 33-day 2006 war on Lebanon, a turning point that shifted her focus from planned coverage of women’s and cultural issues to documenting the experiences of people displaced and targeted by Israeli strikes. This focus on public interest storytelling, particularly for communities in southern Lebanon, became the throughline of her entire career. For most of her professional life, she was based in Tyre (known locally as Sour), where she investigated corruption and highlighted social injustices without sparing powerful figures — even when that put her own safety at risk. “Going after corruption cases and social issues in the area, sparing no one – not even my family – led to confrontations,” she once said. “I was threatened, assaulted, and intimidated. The pressure to break me was relentless, but I didn’t yield.” Though Al-Akhbar has a longstanding editorial alignment with Hezbollah and its resistance against Israeli occupation, Khalil repeatedly emphasized she reported without imposed limitations, pointing to the outlet’s 2011 decision to publish WikiLeaks documents referencing parliamentary speaker Nabih Berri, despite a request from then-Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah to withhold the material. Over time, she became the newspaper’s lead field correspondent for all of southern Lebanon, covering areas including Sour, Bint Jbeil and Nabatieh.

    Khalil was well aware of the risk Israeli forces posed to Lebanese journalists, having already mourned one of her own colleagues killed in Israeli shelling: in 2010, she wrote the obituary for Assaf Abu Rahhal, recalling the moment a Lebanese soldier handed her Abu Rahhal’s blood-stained identification, the only personal effect that remained of him. “It was all that remained of Assaf. I will never forget that day,” she wrote.

    Throughout her career, Khalil remained unwavering in her commitment to left-wing politics and resistance against Israeli occupation. In recent years, she taught herself video editing to produce on-the-ground reporting, though she refused to appear on camera herself, saying: “For me, it was simple: I’m here to tell the stories of the people, not to become the story myself.” When the 2023-2024 Israel-Lebanon conflict broke out — after Hezbollah launched attacks on Israel in solidarity with Palestinians under assault in Gaza — Khalil spent months documenting evidence of Israeli targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructure across southern Lebanon. Following a February 2024 ceasefire, she continued to report on near-daily Israeli violations of the truce. She survived multiple close calls, the most recent in November 2024, when Israeli forces opened fire to force her and her colleagues to retreat from the border. Friends and colleagues said she never bowed to Israeli restrictions on her movement, refusing to stay out of areas Israeli forces sought to bar journalists from entering. After that 2024 close call, she said people had repeatedly urged her to limit her travel for safety, but her beliefs and upbringing taught her to stand “in the face of oppression.” “My alignment with the people of the south, my presence among them since the July 2006 war, has always been the right choice. They have always lived up to that faith placed in them,” she said. “They will grow stronger, more steadfast, and more committed to this unwavering compass, toward truth, and toward Palestine.”

    In the days after her killing, tributes poured in from across Lebanon and the global journalistic community, with friends and colleagues remembering her generosity, courage and pioneering spirit. “Amal was present in every home. Every home in Lebanon has lost her,” her brother Ali Khalil said tearfully. “Amal resembles the south in all its details – its sweet breeze, its valleys, its mountains, and its old houses. She resembles all of that.” For younger Lebanese journalists, Khalil was a beloved mentor who freely shared her decades of knowledge and connections even with professional competitors. “She was so generous even if we were competitors. She never hesitated in sharing a contact, a key – and she had all the keys in the south. She knew it like the palm of her hand and she shared this love and dedication with everyone who needed it,” Hussein Chaabane, a Lebanese investigative and legal journalist, told Middle East Eye.

    Lebanese filmmaker Bachir Abou Zeid framed Khalil as far more than a conventional journalist, saying her devotion to her people and her land guided all her work. “Amal was not a journalist in the conventional sense of the profession. Her love for the land and for her people outweighed everything,” he said, calling her “a journalist of resistance” who was targeted specifically for her unflinching reporting. “The killing of Amal was the killing of a woman of resistance. Israel killed her because she was a journalist of resistance, not simply because she was a journalist.” Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has labeled her killing a war crime, saying Lebanon will use all available international channels to hold those responsible accountable. Chaabane said Khalil’s death leaves an enormous void in Lebanese journalism, one that surviving colleagues must work to fill. “Amal never accepted what the Israelis tried to impose as limitations; she pushed their limits,” he said. “Her death will leave a vacuum, a huge one, which we need to fill.”

  • Turkey and UK to sign strategic partnership agreement during Fidan’s visit

    Turkey and UK to sign strategic partnership agreement during Fidan’s visit

    On Thursday morning, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan touched down in London, kicking off a high-stakes two-day diplomatic visit that will culminate in the signing of a landmark UK-Turkey strategic partnership framework agreement by Thursday afternoon.

    Fidan’s first scheduled engagement of the visit is a formal meeting with British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper set for 4 p.m. local time. While the full scope of the upcoming strategic partnership framework remains under wraps ahead of the signing, preliminary outlines of the agenda have emerged from diplomatic and media sources.

    Turkish state-affiliated broadcaster TRT World has confirmed that Fidan plans to open the discussion by highlighting the steady upward momentum of bilateral ties between Ankara and London, and to lay out Turkey’s ambition to deepen cooperation across multiple priority areas. One key bilateral issue Fidan is expected to raise is the ongoing delays Turkish residents in the UK face when processing applications for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR), a long-term residency status that impacts hundreds of thousands of Turkish citizens currently living in Britain.

    Defense industry collaboration and expanded energy sector partnership are also set to be core topics on the meeting agenda, with both sides expected to formalize a shared commitment to advancing work in these two critical areas. Beyond bilateral concerns, Fidan and Cooper will also turn their attention to regional and global tensions, particularly the ongoing standoff between the United States and Iran. The two top diplomats are expected to explore pathways to advancing a diplomatic resolution to the conflict and align on shared goals for de-escalation.

    This visit marks the second high-level meeting between Fidan and Cooper in less than a week, following Cooper’s attendance at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum in southern Turkey last weekend, where the pair held preliminary talks. Beyond his meeting with Cooper, Fidan’s packed two-day schedule includes engagements with British members of parliament, a public address at the University of Oxford’s Global History Centre as part of the university’s Changing Global Order Program, and a closed-door meeting with representatives of the UK’s large Turkish community, which is estimated to number between 350,000 and 500,000 people across the country.

    The visit also comes on the heels of stark remarks Fidan delivered at the Antalya Forum regarding shifting security alliances in the Eastern Mediterranean. During that appearance, Fidan warned that Muslim nations across the region are growing increasingly alarmed by the expanding military partnership between Israel, Greece, and Cyprus, noting that Greece’s participation in the alliance is notable given its status as a fellow NATO member. “Israel has been pursuing an overtly expansionist foreign policy in recent months, so Turkey’s security concerns are not without justification,” Fidan stated at the forum.

    In recent months, Turkey has worked to rebuild and expand regional diplomacy, launching regular formal dialogue mechanisms with key regional powers including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Pakistan to coordinate on shared regional security and policy challenges. This current diplomatic outreach to the UK represents another step in Ankara’s broader strategy of strengthening ties with both regional and Western actors amid a shifting global security landscape.

  • US boards ship carrying Iran oil as Trump threatens mine-laying vessels

    US boards ship carrying Iran oil as Trump threatens mine-laying vessels

    The United States has launched another provocative naval operation targeting Iran, with U.S. defense officials confirming that American forces have boarded the M/T Majestic X, a sanctioned vessel carrying Iranian crude oil, in the Indian Ocean as part of a widening maritime interdiction campaign. This interception marks the latest in a string of seizures implemented after the Trump administration imposed a full naval blockade on all maritime traffic entering and exiting Iranian ports on April 13.

    According to a public statement from the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), the operation qualifies as a formal maritime interdiction – a military action where naval forces intercept and inspect vessels suspected of hostile activity or violations of international sanctions. U.S. Central Command (Centcom) reports that under the current blockade, it has already ordered 33 vessels to return to their ports of origin, and the DoD has pledged to continue intercepting any vessel suspected of providing material support to Iran, regardless of where the ships are operating in global waters.

    This latest interception comes on the heels of a dramatic order from President Donald Trump, who directed U.S. Navy forces to “shoot and kill” any boat caught laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz, the strategically critical global shipping chokepoint that connects the Persian Gulf to the Arabian Sea. Trump’s aggressive stance is part of a broader strategy to cripple Iran’s economy by cutting off the country’s core oil export revenues, as well as blocking toll revenues that Iran began collecting from commercial vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz.

    Speaking at a White House event on Thursday, Trump claimed the blockade is already “100% effective” and asserted that Iran is currently “getting no business” from its oil exports. He also made the surprising announcement that he rejected a recent Iranian offer to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, stating that the waterway “will open when we make a deal” on a broader peace agreement.

    Iran has pushed back fiercely against U.S. operations, labeling an earlier U.S. interception of an Iranian-linked vessel this week as outright “piracy.” On Thursday, Hamidreza Haji Bababei, deputy speaker of the Iranian Parliament, claimed that the first batch of toll revenues collected from commercial vessels using the Strait of Hormuz had already been deposited with Iran’s Central Bank. No additional details have been released regarding the total amount of the toll, how it is being collected, or which shipping companies have paid, and the BBC has not been able to independently verify this claim.

    The heightened U.S. military activity comes even after Trump agreed to extend a temporary two-week ceasefire at the request of Pakistani mediators, raising questions about the sustainability of the truce. Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who led Iran’s first round of peace negotiations with the U.S., stated that it is “not possible” for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz under the current blockade, which Iran says already amounts to a ceasefire violation by the U.S.

    In a post to his Truth Social platform on Thursday, Trump claimed that U.S. military forces now hold “total control” over the Strait of Hormuz, and repeated a baseless claim that Iranian leaders are in disarray, saying Iranians are “having a very hard time figuring out who their leader is.” This comment references the fact that Mojtaba Khamenei, who succeeded his late father Ayatollah Ali Khamenei – Iran’s supreme leader of 34 years who was killed in the opening day of the U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran on February 28 – has not been seen in public since taking office on March 8.

    Just one day before Trump’s post, Iran’s navy announced it had seized two commercial cargo ships in the Strait of Hormuz and escorted them to Iranian territorial waters, following reports that three vessels had come under fire from Iranian forces. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Iran’s elite revolutionary military force, claimed responsibility for the seizures through its affiliated Fars News Agency. BBC Verify conducted an independent analysis of aerial footage released by the IRGC purporting to show the seizure, and confirmed that the two vessels – the MSC Francesca and the Epaminondas – are correctly identified, but found that the footage was filmed several hours after the reported initial attack. Greek authorities have denied that the Epaminondas was seized, saying the vessel’s captain remains in full control, though transponder signals for both ships have been switched off, an unusual move for commercial vessels operating in open waters.

    Expanding on his earlier order, Trump confirmed Thursday that he had issued a formal order to the U.S. Navy to “shoot and kill” any boats caught laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz, saying “There is to be no hesitation” in carrying out the order. He added that U.S. minesweepers are already actively clearing mines from the shipping lane “right now.” The order comes after unconfirmed reports suggested that U.S. military assessments estimated it could take up to six months to clear all mines from the strait if it were heavily mined, a claim the Pentagon has strongly rejected.

    “One assessment does not mean the assessment is plausible, and a six-month closure of the Strait of Hormuz is an impossibility and completely unacceptable to the Secretary,” Pentagon Chief Spokesman Sean Parnell told the BBC in a statement.

    In a nearly five-minute phone interview with the BBC’s North America editor Sarah Smith, Trump insisted that Iran is “dying to make a deal” and argued that his hardline approach “seems to be working very well.” He announced a two-week extension of the ceasefire earlier this week to give Iranian officials time to draft a “unified proposal” to end the ongoing conflict, but declined to specify how long the extended truce will remain in place. He also pushed back against reports that he is eager to wrap up the conflict quickly, writing on Truth Social that while he has “all the time in the World …Iran doesn’t – The clock is ticking!”

    Despite the severe economic pressure the conflict has placed on Iran, whose economy was already struggling before the war, and has now seen massive layoffs and a sharp collapse in consumer spending, Iranian officials have shown no public sign of backing down. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a statement on X that the country is “united, more than ever before,” and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and lead negotiator Ghalibaf echoed that claim, highlighting what they called Iran’s “iron unity” in the face of U.S. aggression.

    Israel, which joined the U.S. in launching the initial attack on Iran on February 28, has also maintained a hardline stance. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Thursday that his country stands ready to immediately resume hostilities and return Iran “to the dark and stone ages.” Katz added that Israel is “waiting for the green light from the US…to complete the elimination of the Khamenei dynasty.”

  • Beijing museum launches immersive showcase of lunar farside exploration

    Beijing museum launches immersive showcase of lunar farside exploration

    To mark China’s annual Space Day, which fell on Thursday this year, a groundbreaking immersive exhibition focused on China’s far side of the Moon exploration missions opened to the public at the China Science and Technology Museum in Beijing on April 24, 2026. Jointly organized by the China Science and Technology Museum and the China National Space Administration, the showcase blends traditional artifact displays with cutting-edge large-scale virtual reality (VR) experiences to offer visitors a one-of-a-kind journey through China’s decades-long lunar exploration program. Unlike standard science exhibitions that rely on static displays, this dual-format event invites guests not only to view landmark technological achievements, but also to step into the landscape of the Moon themselves.

    Among the physical exhibits on display are two key examples of China’s indigenous aerospace innovation: the high-strength, high-toughness steel developed entirely in China for Chang’e series lunar spacecraft, and a decommissioned rocket engine. These tangible artifacts serve as concrete proof of the major leaps forward China has made in space technology over the past two decades. Complementing these core pieces, the exhibition also features high-resolution satellite imagery captured during actual lunar missions, original documentary footage of mission operations, and ultra-high-precision scale models of Chang’e spacecraft. Curators arranged these materials to trace the full evolutionary timeline of China’s lunar exploration program, breaking down complex scientific principles and critical technological breakthroughs that made far side lunar exploration accessible for a general audience.

    The centerpiece of the showcase is the dedicated VR zone, built using real, authenticated data from China’s past lunar exploration missions to deliver a hyper-accurate simulated experience. This immersive zone lets visitors step into a hypothetical 2049 mission to the Tianshu Base located at the lunar south pole, a long-term goal outlined in China’s deep space exploration roadmap. Guests can walk through every step of a full lunar mission: from feeling the rumble of a rocket launch, to transitioning between Earth and Moon orbits, completing a lunar spacewalk, and conducting the first crewed landing on the lunar surface. The simulation also recreates the harsh natural conditions of the lunar environment, including visual renderings of meteorite impacts, cosmic radiation bursts, and intense solar storms, giving visitors a realistic sense of the challenges that deep space exploration poses.

    Running through August 16, the exhibition was developed with a core outreach goal: to ignite widespread public enthusiasm for space science, exploration, and technological innovation, particularly among children and young people who are the future of China’s space program.

  • Canada’s US booze boycott could be resolved if Trump addresses tariffs, Carney says

    Canada’s US booze boycott could be resolved if Trump addresses tariffs, Carney says

    As the mandatory July 1 review of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) draws near, trade tensions between Canada and the United States have escalated sharply, centered on retaliatory Canadian provincial bans on U.S. alcohol imports imposed in response to sweeping Trump-era tariffs. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has outlined a clear negotiating position: Ottawa is ready to begin detailed trade discussions with Washington immediately, but it will not rush an unfavorable deal and is prepared to wait for the right conditions if necessary.

    The current standoff traces back to 2025, when former U.S. President Donald Trump implemented new tariffs on key Canadian export sectors including steel, aluminum, automobiles and agricultural goods, a measure he claimed would protect American manufacturing and create U.S. jobs. In response, multiple Canadian provinces – led by Ontario, home to the world’s largest single alcohol purchaser, the Ontario Liquor Control Board – pulled all U.S.-produced alcoholic beverages from store shelves. Ontario Premier Doug Ford has remained unwavering in this policy, confirming that U.S. liquor will not return to shelves until the targeted tariffs are fully lifted.

    Carney confirmed Thursday that the reversal of provincial alcohol bans could happen rapidly once progress is made on resolving the core tariff dispute, telling reporters, “Issues such as decisions on which alcohol to put on the shelves – we can make progress very quickly on that with progress in other areas.” He emphasized that the Trump administration’s tariffs violate the terms of the existing USMCA free trade framework, and pushed back against U.S. demands for unilateral concessions, noting “We’re not sitting here taking notes and taking instruction from the U.S.”

    In recent days, senior U.S. officials have ramped up pressure on Canada over the alcohol ban. U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick called the restriction “disrespectful” Wednesday, while U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer threatened consequences if the issue is not resolved. Lutnick also dismissed Canada’s cautious, wait-and-see negotiating approach as “the worst strategy I’ve ever heard,” pointing to the vast size discrepancy between the U.S. and Canadian economies.

    Ford, speaking to CNN Thursday, countered that the U.S. is already suffering steep economic losses from the dispute, noting that Canadian consumer boycotts of U.S. goods and reduced cross-border travel are costing the American economy “tens of billions of dollars.” “This can come to a quick end, everyone can thrive and prosper,” Ford said, if Washington agrees to roll back the tariffs.

    Under Canadian law, liquor regulation falls under provincial rather than federal jurisdiction, meaning provincial leaders hold final authority over whether to restore U.S. alcohol sales. Candace Laing, newly appointed to Carney’s Canada-U.S. trade advisory committee and president and CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, confirmed that Canada is open to using the alcohol issue as negotiating leverage to secure tariff rollbacks, but will not make unilateral concessions outside of a balanced reciprocal agreement. “Canada is not going to give any concessions that aren’t in the context of a real negotiation,” Laing said.

    Many policy analysts argue that Canada’s negotiating position has strengthened considerably in recent months. Fen Hampson, a Carleton University international affairs professor and co-chair of the institution’s Canada-U.S. relations expert group, noted that Trump’s domestic political standing has eroded amid widespread public opposition to the U.S.-Israel military campaign in Iran, a factor that could shift control of Congress in upcoming midterm elections. At the same time, Carney has consolidated power, with recent special elections and parliamentary defections granting his government a stable majority in Parliament.

    Hampson argued that Canada’s willingness to wait is a deliberate, strategic choice that gives Ottawa a “last mover advantage,” allowing Canadian negotiators to see what terms Trump secures with Mexico and other trading partners before finalizing any agreement. He added that Canada also holds key structural advantages, as it supplies the U.S. with critical goods including energy, base metals and critical minerals that American industry depends on. “The Canadians are very smart here,” Hampson said. “They’re ragging the puck, they’re running the clock down.”

    Washington has identified a handful of ongoing trade irritants with Canada, including the alcohol ban and access to Canada’s protected dairy market, that it hopes to address during the upcoming USMCA review negotiations, which must conclude by July 1 under the terms of the existing agreement.

  • Exclusive: UK’s Aviva Investors bought $108m of Israeli government bonds in January sale

    Exclusive: UK’s Aviva Investors bought $108m of Israeli government bonds in January sale

    Exclusive data obtained by Middle East Eye (MEE) has revealed that Aviva Investors, the asset management subsidiary of the United Kingdom’s largest general insurance provider, acquired $108 million in Israeli government bonds during a major $6 billion international bond issuance in late January, a move that defies a growing trend of divestment from Israeli assets among major British institutional investors.

    The transaction, documented by Amsterdam-based sustainability research firm Profundo in a dataset shared exclusively with MEE, saw Aviva Investors take up positions across all three tranches of the January issuance: $45.7 million in five-year bonds, $25.7 million in 10-year bonds, and $36.4 million in 30-year bonds. This purchase marks the largest single British investment in Israeli sovereign debt captured in Profundo’s dataset, which tracks international investor participation in Israeli bond sales between late 2024 and early 2026. Only a small handful of non-UK firms – including German insurer Allianz and American investment giants BlackRock, Vanguard, and Wellington Management – placed larger orders in the January issuance, and Aviva Investors’ acquisition ranks as the 16th largest non-Israeli investment in Israeli bonds over the full period tracked by the research.

    Following Aviva Investors, the next largest UK buyers in the January sale were asset manager Schroders and banking group HSBC, whose combined purchases amounted to only a small fraction of Aviva’s total holding. US and German investors currently dominate the international market for Israeli sovereign debt, according to Profundo’s analysis.

    When contacted by MEE for comment, parent company Aviva plc confirmed the holding but sought to separate its own brand from the transaction, noting that “Aviva plc has no exposure to Israeli government debt.” A company spokesperson added that Aviva Investors manages portfolios on behalf of third-party clients, and that the firm’s aggregate client exposure to Israeli government debt is “very limited” and has been “significantly reduced” since the end of January. While the company declined to provide further details, MEE has confirmed that Aviva Investors’ current holding stands at roughly $40 million, down nearly 63% from its original $108 million purchase.

    Aviva Investors manages approximately £262 billion ($353 billion) in assets for more than 25 million customers across the UK, Ireland, and Canada. Industry data shows that 39% of UK adults hold at least one policy from the Aviva group, giving it a larger customer base than most major British high street banks.

    For Israel, international sovereign bond sales have become an indispensable source of funding for its ongoing military operations across Gaza, Lebanon, and Iran, as the country grapples with a rapidly expanding wartime fiscal deficit. Israel issued a historic $75 billion in bonds in 2024 and followed that with $60 billion in new issuance in 2025, with roughly 15% of annual government financing coming from foreign investors. Sovereign bonds are generally viewed by institutional investors as a low-volatility asset that delivers steady fixed interest payments, but human rights advocates argue that Israeli sovereign debt carries unique ethical, legal, and financial risks that set it apart from ordinary government debt.

    “There is a well-documented link between the proceeds of Israeli bond deals and the country’s military spending in Gaza and beyond,” explained Anne-Marie Brook, an economist and co-founder of the Human Rights Measurement Initiative. “This creates a substantially different risk profile from ordinary government financing – and makes continued involvement by bondholders significantly harder to defend, both in terms of ESG [Environmental, Social, and Governance] obligations and potential legal exposure.”

    Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has publicly confirmed this link, framing last year’s national budget – which is funded in large part by international bond issuances like the January offering Aviva joined – as “a war budget. And with God’s help, it will also be the victory budget.”

    The January $6 billion issuance, Israel’s first major international bond sale after a ceasefire took effect in Gaza, drew overwhelming global demand, with an order book totaling $36 billion – six times the amount offered – from more than 300 institutional investors across 30+ countries. Israeli officials framed the strong demand as proof of ongoing international investor confidence in the country’s economy, and a return to prewar borrowing costs. The strong demand came even though all three major global credit rating agencies have downgraded Israel’s sovereign credit rating over the past two years amid rising wartime fiscal risks.

    The speed of Aviva Investors’ post-purchase drawdown is notable: Profundo’s data confirms the firm held no Israeli government bonds prior to the January issuance, meaning it entered the market, built a position, and cut it by more than half within just a few months. There are multiple plausible financial explanations for the rapid reduction: it is common for investors to purchase bonds at initial issuance and sell quickly to lock in capital gains if borrowing spreads tighten, while client redemptions, benchmark index rebalancing, or internal risk limit adjustments could also drive a rapid sell-off. Israel’s January bonds were initially priced with a large premium to compensate investors for wartime risk; as that premium shrank in subsequent weeks, early buyers were able to sell at a profit, a path Aviva Investors may have taken.

    Regardless of the motivation, the purchase puts Aviva Investors at odds with a clear shift among large UK institutional investors, a growing number of which have moved to divest Israeli assets amid grassroots and activist pressure. In August 2024, for example, the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), the UK’s largest private pension fund with over 500,000 members, sold £80 million ($108 million) in Israeli assets including government bonds after sustained pressure from scheme participants.

    The Aviva group as a whole has already faced years of activist pressure over its financial ties to Israel, and has already moved to cut other links to Israeli-related defense businesses. In January 2025, Palestine Action activists occupied Aviva’s Bristol offices over the firm’s insurance coverage for UAV Engines Ltd, a British manufacturer whose drone components were linked to an April 2024 Israeli air strike that killed seven aid workers, including three British military veterans. A March 2025 report from the Boycott Bloody Insurance campaign, endorsed by 22 civil society organizations, named Aviva as one of the top global insurers complicit in Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. By late 2025, Aviva had ended its insurance coverage for Elbit Systems UK, a major Israeli defense contractor’s British subsidiary, after months of protests, and the firm’s liability insurance for UAV Engines Ltd expired in September with no renewal.

    This makes Aviva Investors’ decision to purchase Israeli government bonds even more notable: the transaction came even as other parts of the broader Aviva group were cutting financial ties to Israeli arms manufacturers.

    The broader political and regulatory landscape around Israeli sovereign bond investment has shifted dramatically across Europe in recent months. In September 2025, the Central Bank of Ireland stepped down from its role as the European Union’s designated approving authority for Israeli government bond prospectuses, after mounting pressure from activists and elected officials. Israel subsequently moved its EU bond approval process to Luxembourg, an outcome that underscores how Israeli bond sales have become a deeply contested political and legal issue across the continent.

    The International Court of Justice’s January 2024 provisional ruling that Israel’s actions in Gaza could plausibly amount to genocide has prompted dozens of European financial institutions to seek formal legal guidance on whether holding Israeli government bonds aligns with their fiduciary duties and international human rights obligations. A recent report from the Amsterdam-based Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations notes that under global standards for responsible business conduct, financial institutions should avoid investing in sovereign debt issued by governments suspected of committing war crimes.

    For UK asset managers that market their funds to clients on the basis of strong ESG performance, the legal and reputational risks of holding Israeli sovereign debt have grown sharply in recent months. New UK greenwashing rules implemented by the Financial Conduct Authority in May 2024 require all regulated financial firms to ensure their client communications around ESG are clear, fair, and not misleading. For a firm like Aviva Investors, which positions itself as a leader in responsible ESG investing, holding Israeli sovereign debt while its parent company cuts ties to Israeli arms manufacturers creates an inconsistency that could attract regulatory scrutiny.

    Aviva’s attempt to frame the holding as a client-driven decision offers little protection under these rules: as an asset manager, Aviva Investors retains ultimate responsibility for investment allocation decisions for client capital.

    At its core, the transaction confirms that Aviva Investors chose to participate in one of Israel’s largest ever international bond issuances, only to cut its position dramatically within weeks. Whether that rapid reversal was driven by market forces, client pressure, growing reputational and regulatory risk, or a combination of all three, remains unclear.

  • Hundreds of wildfires burn across Florida and Georgia

    Hundreds of wildfires burn across Florida and Georgia

    Two southeastern U.S. states, Florida and Georgia, are currently grappling with an extensive wildfire crisis that has left hundreds of blazes burning across their landscapes. Local emergency management officials from both states have identified a combination of extreme environmental factors that are turning this fire event into an increasingly challenging disaster to contain. Long-term drought has parched vegetation across large swathes of both regions, turning forests, grasslands and brush into tinder-dry fuel that ignites easily and spreads rapidly. Persistent high winds are further exacerbating the situation, carrying embers for miles to spark new blazes and pushing existing fires to expand at unpredictable speeds. These unfavorable dry weather conditions have created a persistent high-risk environment that has stretched firefighting resources thin across both states, as crews work around the clock to contain the hundreds of active fires and protect at-risk communities.

  • Guangdong city football league agrees raft of sponsorships

    Guangdong city football league agrees raft of sponsorships

    Ahead of its much-anticipated debut this weekend, the Guangdong City Football Super League has locked in sponsorship partnerships with dozens of enterprises, marking strong commercial momentum for one of southern China’s most ambitious regional amateur football tournaments.

    Organizers formalized the multi-tiered sponsorship deals at a signing ceremony held in Shenzhen, Guangdong province on Wednesday, capping months of preparation for the province-wide competition that brings together representative teams from all 21 of Guangdong’s prefecture-level cities. The opening match is scheduled to kick off this Saturday at Guangzhou’s iconic Yuexiushan Stadium, bringing together amateur football talent from across the economic powerhouse province.

    As a leading amateur football event in Guangdong, tournament organizers have built a structured, inclusive sponsorship framework designed to accommodate businesses of all scales. The layered system includes title sponsorship, strategic partnership tiers, official sponsorship, official supplier agreements, and dedicated support slots for micro-enterprises.

    Chen Xuhui, chairman of the Guangdong Sports Development Corporation, noted that the clear tiered structure has allowed the league to attract investment from both major local technology manufacturing leaders and small, community-focused micro-businesses, creating mutually beneficial opportunities for all participating partners.

    Beyond corporate support, the tournament has already seen explosive growth in fan interest ahead of kickoff. Lei Jianjun, deputy director of the Guangdong Sports City League Organizing Committee, shared that more than 80 companies of varying sizes have also signed on as sponsors at the individual city level across the tournament structure. Fan engagement has outpaced early projections: the league’s official ticketing WeChat mini-program drew more than 30,000 registered users on its very first day of launch, and total registrations surpassed 72,000 by Monday, just days before the opening match.

    The strong commercial and public turnout for the league underscores the rising popularity of grassroots amateur sports in China, as regional competitions increasingly draw both business investment and fan attention outside of top-tier professional leagues.