Global Pulse

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  • Israel arrests 10 settlers over attacks on US journalist and European officials in West Bank

    Israel arrests 10 settlers over attacks on US journalist and European officials in West Bank

    A wave of coordinated violent attacks by Jewish settlers targeting civilians, a veteran American journalist and European diplomatic personnel in the occupied West Bank has prompted Israeli authorities to arrest 10 suspects, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported Monday.

    The arrests were carried out in a joint operation by Israeli national police, the Israel Defense Forces, and internal security agency Shin Bet. Alongside taking the suspects into custody for interrogation, security forces seized vehicles linked to the accused and removed illegal settler encroachments on a Palestinian village, per official statements.

    The mass arrest of Jewish settler suspects marks an unusual step for Israeli officials, coming against a backdrop of soaring international pressure on the Israeli government following widespread condemnation of the attacks from both the European Union and the United States. Both blocs condemned the assaults after their own citizens were directly targeted.

    Despite the arrests, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has publicly cast doubt on the details of the incidents, repeatedly describing both attacks as “alleged” even amid verified visual evidence documenting the violence.

    The first attack unfolded on Friday in the Palestinian village of Abu Falah, located northeast of Ramallah, where dozens of masked settlers ambushed Palestinian farmers harvesting olives. Among those caught in the assault was 64-year-old veteran Washington Post photojournalist Heidi Levine, who was knocked to the ground, beaten with wooden sticks, and repeatedly kicked by the attackers. The Washington Post confirmed that Levine required surgery to treat injuries from the attack.

    Speaking to reporters from her hospital bed, Levine described the terrifying ordeal: “I was attacked, pushed to the ground. Luckily I had my flak jacket and helmet, otherwise I probably wouldn’t even be here.” Video footage of the attack circulated widely across global media, sparking international outcry and forcing the U.S. government to publicly demand a full, transparent investigation from Israeli authorities.

    A day after the assault on Levine and Palestinian farmers, a second incident amplified global anger. A group of Israeli settlers attacked a European diplomatic delegation that was visiting the Palestinian village of Taybeh, also northeast of Ramallah, during the annual olive harvest season.

    Following the attack, an EU spokesperson issued a formal statement saying: “We expect full accountability as well as effective measures to prevent continued acts of violence and violent harassment against Palestinians.”

    Haaretz reports that Israeli police have compiled substantial physical evidence tying the 10 arrested suspects to both attacks, and that the accused will soon appear before an Israeli court for formal processing. However, the arrests have not quelled criticism of the Israeli government’s broader approach to settler violence, which human rights groups say is defined by systemic impunity for perpetrators.

    In a separate announcement Monday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz confirmed he would not reverse a longstanding policy that excludes Jewish settlers from being subjected to administrative detention, a controversial practice that allows Israeli authorities to hold detainees indefinitely without formal charges or trial, often based on undisclosed secret evidence. For years, administrative detention has been routinely used against thousands of Palestinians in occupied territory, but it has not been applied to Jewish Israeli citizens accused of violence.

    According to data from leading Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem, as of June 2026, Israel was holding 3,198 Palestinians in administrative detention. Israeli independent outlet HaMakom found that half of these detainees have been held for longer than a year without ever being formally charged with a crime.

    The broader context of the recent attacks is a sharp surge in settler violence against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. A June 2026 B’Tselem report found that between October 2023 and June 2026, Israeli military personnel and Jewish settlers killed 1,087 Palestinians in the territory, including 242 children and 21 women.

    The human rights group documented that Israeli soldiers, police officers, and settlers enjoy “broad impunity” for violent crimes committed against Palestinians, with perpetrators rarely facing arrest, investigation, or prosecution. Between 2016 and 2024, B’Tselem recorded 2,427 formal complaints filed against Israeli soldiers for alleged crimes against Palestinians. Only 22.7 percent of these complaints led to formal investigations, and just 0.9 percent resulted in criminal indictments.

  • World Food Programme stops provision to half a million people in Gaza over lack of funding

    World Food Programme stops provision to half a million people in Gaza over lack of funding

    The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has delivered a devastating announcement: it is forced to terminate life-sustaining food assistance for more than 500,000 Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip, a decision driven entirely by a crippling shortage of funding. This dramatic cut to aid comes at a moment when nearly the entire population of Gaza already depends on outside humanitarian support to meet their most basic daily nutritional needs.

    Shaun Hughes, WFP’s country director for Palestine, confirmed the reduction in an interview with Agence France-Presse, stating, “As of this month, we’re now cutting half a million people from the number of people that we’re assisting.” Following the cut, the total number of Palestinians receiving either in-kind food parcels or cash-based assistance from WFP will drop to 1.1 million, down from the previous 1.6 million people the organization supported before the funding shortfall.

    The aid cut unfolds against a backdrop of unrelenting violence and collapsing living conditions in Gaza, where Israeli military operations have continued unabated despite the implementation of a widely brokered ceasefire. Gaza’s Ministry of Health released the latest casualty updates confirming that at least five people were killed in fresh Israeli attacks across the enclave in the 24-hour period preceding the announcement. Cumulative casualty figures now stand at no fewer than 74,480 Palestinians killed by Israeli actions in Gaza, with an additional 175,539 people wounded since the start of the current conflict. Even since the ceasefire agreement took effect, the ministry reports that at least 1,552 Palestinians have been killed and 5,421 more wounded in ongoing Israeli strikes. Emergency search and recovery teams have also recently recovered 839 additional bodies from the rubble of destroyed residential and civilian infrastructure across the territory.

    Hughes painted a grim picture of daily life for displaced Gazans, emphasizing that security remains out of reach for the vast majority of the population. “People are not safe. Air strikes continue on a daily basis. People continue to be displaced,” he said. “Almost everybody remains without a permanent home to live in. And the humanitarian conditions are brutal.”

    The current crisis of food insecurity in Gaza dates back to at least August 2023, when the United Nations Integrated Food Security Phase Classification officially confirmed that famine conditions were widespread across the enclave. That famine designation was lifted in December 2023, two months after a U.S.-brokered ceasefire was first announced. The partial ceasefire, which has been violated thousands of times by Israeli forces, did allow WFP to temporarily expand its operations, enabling the organization to reach between 1.5 million and 1.8 million vulnerable Gazans each month at its peak. The latest funding-driven cut reverses that hard-won progress and plunges hundreds of thousands more people into life-threatening food insecurity.

  • US bans DeepSeek AI from government use as tech tension with China continues

    US bans DeepSeek AI from government use as tech tension with China continues

    In a sweeping move that escalates tensions in the global artificial intelligence race, the United States has ordered the full removal of AI technology developed by Chinese firm DeepSeek from nearly all federal civilian government systems, according to a public order issued by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

    The ban, which took effect at the end of July but was only disclosed to the public this week, prohibits civilian agencies across the federal government—including the Treasury Department, State Department and Department of Justice—from using any DeepSeek tools or any technology built using DeepSeek’s open-source AI models. Notably, the restriction does not apply to agencies under the Department of Defense, a detail that has not been explained by DHS officials.

    The action comes amid growing criticism of Chinese AI development from the Trump administration and leading U.S. AI firms, even as DHS has not publicly outlined specific security vulnerabilities tied to DeepSeek. The White House has ramped up rhetorical pressure on Chinese AI companies throughout 2025, with President Donald Trump repeatedly identifying China as Washington’s primary strategic rival in the AI sector, a technology he has framed as critical to long-term U.S. economic and national security. Earlier this year, White House technology advisor Michael Kratsios wrote in an internal memo that Chinese rivals have been engaged in widespread “malicious exploitation” of intellectual property developed by U.S. AI companies.

    Two of the biggest U.S. AI developers, Anthropic and OpenAI—both preparing for initial public offerings in the coming months—have publicly accused DeepSeek and other Chinese AI firms of directly copying proprietary core model architectures developed by U.S. companies. DeepSeek has not yet publicly responded to these allegations, and as of Tuesday, requests for comment have been sent to DHS, DeepSeek, and the Chinese Embassy in Washington D.C., with no official statements released by any of the three parties.

    DeepSeek has rapidly emerged as a disruptive force in the global AI ecosystem since its first public launch in early 2025, driven by its open-source business model that makes its core models free for most developers to access and adapt. For startups and independent developers, the cost of building tools on DeepSeek models is just a small fraction of the cost of licensing closed, proprietary models from U.S. providers like OpenAI, Google and Anthropic. The cost advantage extends to DeepSeek’s own development: the company revealed last year that it spent just $6 million to train its original flagship model, compared to the roughly $100 million price tag for OpenAI’s GPT-4 training. That announcement sent shockwaves through global tech markets last year, dragging AI-related stock prices down as investors re-evaluated the cost of competing in large model development.

    DeepSeek’s popularity has surged in recent months, even amid growing political scrutiny in the U.S. Its free consumer chatbot ranks among the most downloaded apps in Apple’s U.S. App Store, and its models have already been integrated into customer-facing products from major U.S. tech companies including Snowflake, Vercel and OpenRouter. Just last week, the company released its newest updated model, which has garnered widespread praise from developer communities online for outperforming OpenAI’s most advanced tools on common tasks like software coding.

    The ban marks the most significant restriction the U.S. has placed on a major Chinese AI provider to date, and it comes as the Trump administration is weighing additional restrictions on Chinese AI access to U.S. cloud infrastructure and venture capital funding. Industry analysts warn the ban could complicate cross-border AI collaboration and raise costs for thousands of U.S. startups that rely on DeepSeek’s low-cost open-source tools, even as the administration frames the move as critical to protecting U.S. technological advantage.

  • CNN anchor Christiane Amanpour to leave network after 43 years

    CNN anchor Christiane Amanpour to leave network after 43 years

    After 43 landmark years reporting from front lines and global hotspots across the world, Christiane Amanpour, CNN’s iconic chief international anchor, has revealed her plan to depart the network in 2025.

    In a public statement shared this week, the 68-year-old veteran journalist opened up about the months of deliberation that led to her choice. “After many months of thought and a few sleepless nights, I have decided to separate from CNN, my partner of 43 fantastic years!” she wrote. Looking ahead to her next chapter, Amanpour shared that she is eager to pursue new professional projects, while remaining a steadfast supporter of the network and its decades-long commitment to independent journalism. She closed her statement with a signature call to action for the industry: “Remember: always be truthful, not neutral.”

    Amanpour’s career at CNN traces back to 1983, when she joined the organization as an entry-level assistant on the international news desk. Over the following decades, she climbed the ranks to become one of the network’s most recognizable and respected correspondents, building her reputation through unflinching on-the-ground coverage of some of the most consequential conflicts and crises of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Her resume of major assignments stretches from the First Gulf War — her first breakthrough big-story beat — to the bloody ethnic conflicts of the Bosnian War, the Rwandan genocide, decades of unrest in Afghanistan, the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, and political upheaval in Iran, among many other global events. Since 2009, she has helmed her own eponymous nightly interview program on CNN International, drawing interviews with global leaders, newsmakers, and cultural icons.

    CNN Chairman Mark Thompson echoed widespread admiration for Amanpour across the network and the global journalism industry in an internal memo sent to CNN staff on Monday. Thompson confirmed that the decision came after months of private discussions between him and Amanpour, noting that the anchor had weighed her choice thoughtfully. “Like so many CNNers who will hear the news today, I’m very sorry to see her go, but I’ve come to accept that this is the right time for her, both personally and professionally,” Thompson wrote. He called Amanpour “one of the most trusted and beloved journalists anywhere” in the world, and confirmed that the network will plan a series of celebrations to honor her decades of work before her departure next year. Thompson also extended thanks on behalf of CNN’s entire leadership team for Amanpour’s 43 years of extraordinary journalism, unwavering loyalty, and deep friendship.

    In her reflections on her decades-long career, Amanpour paid tribute to the colleagues and teams that supported her work through every high-stakes assignment. She expressed gratitude to “all the amazingly talented people I’ve worked with throughout this incredible journey. Especially my beloved show teams and field crews.” Recalling the shared work of delivering accurate, unflinching news to global audiences, she emphasized that team camaraderie was the backbone of CNN’s award-winning international coverage. “It’s the teams and the camaraderie that counted so much,” she said. “as we together battled to seek the facts, the evidence and the humanity, so that CNN could always broadcast the truth about the world and to the world, without fear nor favour.”

  • Warning signs over threats to Australian politicians were rising before MP hit by car

    Warning signs over threats to Australian politicians were rising before MP hit by car

    For years, as high-profile assaults on elected officials have grown more common across the globe, Australia has carried a quiet, conflicting anxiety: that such chaos could never take root in its traditionally peaceful political culture, yet that it was only a matter of time before the country faced its own deadly incident. That moment arrived this Monday, when independent Member of Parliament Helen Haines suffered severe injuries after being hit by a vehicle outside her electoral office in Wangaratta, a regional town in the state of Victoria.

    Local law enforcement took a 43-year-old male suspect into custody at the scene and seized a knife from his possession, though investigators have not yet publicly confirmed that Haines was targeted intentionally. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, however, has publicly stated that the incident appears to be a deliberate attack, following a briefing from federal counter-terrorism officers who are assisting local investigators with the probe. Albanese, who was evacuated from his official residence earlier this year over a bomb threat and currently has roughly 20 violent threat cases against him working through Australian courts, spoke emotionally of the pervasive fear that has spread among the nation’s political class in recent years.

    Long perceived as a largely peaceful nation with a civil tradition of public discourse, Australia has until recently treated political violence as a rare anomaly. The botched 1966 assassination attempt on Labor Party leader Arthur Calwell has faded into a distant, almost forgotten piece of national history. But for years, elected officials and security experts have sounded the alarm over a steady buildup of threats, fueled by fraying social cohesion, deepening political polarization, and increasingly heated public rhetoric around key policy issues. Monday’s incident, many warn, has turned long-held worst-case fears into reality.

    A closer look at recent data paints a stark picture of the growing crisis. In the 12-month period ending in June, Australian authorities recorded 1,067 reports of harassing and threatening behavior targeting high-level elected officials, marking a continued increase from the previous year. That trend extends far beyond threats against the prime minister: in recent years, politicians have received bullets in the mail; female MPs and even their minor children have been targeted with sexual violence threats; a Jewish lawmaker’s office was firebombed; a Sydney mayor’s vehicle was set on fire; and hundreds of other elected officials have had their constituency offices vandalized. Just one week before Haines’ injury, Small Business Minister Anne Aly revealed she had been inundated with death threats after an opposition politician publicly called for her to be “shamed and stoned in the square” over a tax policy dispute.

    Josh Roose, a Deakin University professor specializing in violent extremism research, told reporters that Australia has spent far too long ignoring the slow creep of political violence, dismissing warnings with the refrain “it can’t happen here.” He explained that multiple interconnected factors have driven the dramatic escalation of threats since the COVID-19 pandemic, including widespread socioeconomic strain, rising unaddressed mental health needs across communities, bad-faith actors that profit politically and financially from stoking public anger, and a toxic online discourse that normalizes violent rhetoric against public figures. Roose added that the political class itself bears partial responsibility for the shift, noting that long-held unwritten rules against targeting individual politicians and their family members have been abandoned by actors across the entire political spectrum. He also warned that politicians are not the only targets: journalists, academic researchers, judicial officials, and other public figures also face growing risk of violence.

    Australia’s top intelligence officials have been sounding the alarm on this growing threat for years. Mike Burgess, director-general of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, reiterated the warning in the agency’s 2026 annual threat assessment, comparing rising political violence to climate change: while specific attacks cannot be predicted, broader systemic shifts make politically motivated violence, including potential terrorist attacks, far more likely than in decades past. Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett added earlier this month that ideology is not the only driver of radicalization today. Many attackers are motivated by personal grievance, she explained, feeling disconnected and isolated from their communities and turning to political violence to give their anger purpose.

    Many members of Australia’s parliament have grown frustrated with the slow pace of security reform, arguing that existing protection protocols have not kept up with the changing threat landscape. If the attack on Haines is ultimately confirmed to be politically motivated, experts warn, one of the core traditions of Australian democracy could be put at risk. Unlike many other Western nations, Australia has long prided itself on the accessibility of its politicians: it is common for constituents to run into their local member at a grocery store, chat with them at a local football match, and walk into their constituency office at any time to share concerns. Haines, Prime Minister Albanese emphasized, was particularly well-known and respected for her commitment to open, accessible community engagement.

    “That accessibility is a core strength of our democracy,” Albanese said Monday night. “I don’t want to see a system where we can’t have open conversations with constituents in the supermarket, on the street, at public meetings and forums. That’s what makes our democracy work for Australians.” The attack on Haines has now forced the nation to confront a growing crisis that many have spent decades ignoring, leaving open questions about how the country will protect its elected leaders while preserving the open political culture it has long cherished.

  • ‘Walk away from drugs’ urges family of Waterford arson victims

    ‘Walk away from drugs’ urges family of Waterford arson victims

    A somber wave of grief has swept across the city of Waterford in the Republic of Ireland, as hundreds of mourners packed Sacred Heart Church to lay to rest four members of the same family, killed in a suspected arson attack last week that has shaken the entire nation.

    Philip and Kim English, the couple at the center of the tragedy, were buried alongside their two young sons — 12-year-old Callum and 9-year-old Jayden — after a funeral Mass that drew senior political leaders, local community members, and ordinary citizens united in shock and sorrow. Two other children from the family, who escaped the initial blaze at their Birchwood Estate home, remain in critical condition in hospital, their futures still uncertain.

    Irish national police, known as Gardaí, have concluded the fire was an intentional arson attack tied to drug debt intimidation. According to a statement from another of Philip English’s sons to Irish public broadcaster RTÉ, the entire family was targeted not over their own debts, but over unpaid drugs debts belonging to a third party. By Saturday, two individuals had already appeared in court to face charges connected to the deadly attack.

    Inside the church, the scale of the loss was visible to all in attendance: four coffins, two small white caskets for the children and two light brown for the parents, arranged at the front of the sanctuary. Beside them rested a full family photograph capturing all six members of the English household, flanked by four glowing white candles. When mourners brought offerings to the altar, each gift reflected the unique personality of the person it honored: a Minecraft-themed t-shirt and children’s toys for playful young Jayden, a Gaelic Athletic Association club jersey for Callum, a Liverpool football club shirt and a Carlsberg beer can for Philip, and a delicate bouquet of white lilies for Kim.

    In an address that echoed far beyond the church walls, Philip English’s cousin Raymond Power used the final moments of the service to issue a urgent plea to young people across Waterford and the entire country. Standing before the gathered congregation, he called on those caught in the grip of the illegal drug trade to step away before it destroys more lives.

    “Please walk away from drugs,” Power said. “Please ask for help when it comes to addiction. Please ask for help if you’re being led down a bad path. Please choose a life, choose hope and please, most certainly, choose a future.”

    The Mass was led by local parish priest Fr Gerry Chestnutt, who spoke openly about the raw emotions that have consumed the tight-knit Waterford community in the days since the attack. Senior Irish political figures were represented at the service, with aide-de-camps attending on behalf of President Catherine Connolly, Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Micheál Martin, and Tanaiste (Deputy Prime Minister) Simon Harris. Sitting alongside ordinary community members were elected officials including local junior minister John Cummins and Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald, all there to pay their respects.

    Fr Chestnutt described the community as collectively heartbroken, calling the four victims the “salt of the earth” — the quiet, hardworking backbone of the area. He called the arson an “act of total evil” that has left both the extended family and the entire neighborhood devastated, noting that “forces of darkness” stole the lives of four completely innocent people.

    “Last Tuesday morning, an act of total evil left a family and community devastated and heartbroken,” he told the assembled mourners. “We are all feeling heartbreak, shock, devastation and, yes, anger.”

    The priest remembered Philip as a funny, warm, approachable man who would stop to chat with everyone he met, whether he was out at the local supermarket or walking through the parish. Kim, he recalled, was a vocal, feisty woman who was also deeply loving and kind to everyone she met. As parents, their whole world revolved around their children, even as three of their four children battled long-term illnesses. Fr Chestnutt emphasized that through every challenge, the family remained completely united.

    Callum, the 12-year-old victim, was remembered for his signature mischievous smile and the affection he earned from everyone who knew him. “A dark deed took life from you but your light will shine forever. Because in our hearts, you are a star and you are a winner,” Fr Chestnutt said of the boy. Nine-year-old Jayden, the youngest victim, was celebrated as a constant “force of love” whose energetic spirit brightened every room he entered.

    After the conclusion of the funeral Mass, the four family members were laid to rest at Kilbarry Cemetery, as the community continues to grapple with the senseless violence that cut their lives short.

  • Obama blasts federal probe of congresswoman Ilhan Omar as ‘so appalling’

    Obama blasts federal probe of congresswoman Ilhan Omar as ‘so appalling’

    A fierce political firestorm has erupted over a federal criminal investigation into Minnesota Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, with former US President Barack Obama sounding a sharp alarm that the probe is nothing more than political retaliation for Omar’s unflinching criticism of current presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump. In a public post Sunday on X, the former two-term president argued that the full coercive power of the federal government is being deployed against a law-abiding elected official solely because she has dared to speak out against Trump, labeling the investigation “so appalling.”

    The investigation, which gained public attention last week when Department of Homeland Security agents executed a search warrant at Omar’s Washington, D.C. residence, centers on inconsistencies related to Omar’s immigration history and 1995 entry to the United States. Born in Somalia, Omar relocated to the U.S. as a child with her family, and federal investigators are examining whether she misstated her age on her citizenship application. Multiple U.S. media outlets have confirmed the probe specifically questions whether the birth date listed on her naturalization paperwork deviates from her actual date of birth.

    Obama laid out a key legal context in his post, noting that Omar’s father became a naturalized U.S. citizen when she was 17 years old, when she was still a legal minor, a status that automatically granted her citizenship under federal immigration law. He argued the current administration is pushing to deport Omar based entirely on an unproven claim that she was actually 18 when her father naturalized, which would disqualify her from automatic citizenship. “If this becomes the new normal,” Obama warned, “there’s no reason to believe it will stop with her – or that future presidents, in either party, won’t do the same.”

    Under U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services rules, a child born outside the U.S. automatically gains citizenship if at least one parent is a naturalized or birthright citizen, the child is under 18 years of age, holds lawful permanent resident status, and resides in the U.S. under the custody of the citizen parent.

    The White House has pushed back hard against claims of political motivation, defending the investigation as a legitimate exercise of law enforcement. White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis asserted in an emailed statement to the BBC that unlike President Joe Biden, Trump has never weaponized the Department of Justice against his political opponents. “The Department is focused on restoring law and order and keeping Americans safe,” Bis said. Notably, Trump himself has repeatedly claimed that past federal criminal investigations launched against him during his 2020 re-election campaign were politically motivated efforts to undermine his candidacy.

    If investigators prove Omar submitted material false statements during her naturalization process, the Justice Department could move to revoke her citizenship and initiate deportation proceedings. This is not the first time Omar has faced partisan backlash from congressional Republicans: in 2023, the GOP caucus removed Omar from the high-profile House Foreign Affairs Committee over controversial comments she made about Israel, a move that drew bipartisan criticism at the time.

    Omar has long pushed back against Trump’s attacks, saying he has targeted her for years with “baseless lies and smear campaigns” and framing the current investigation as “the latest escalation in his campaign of political intimidation.” Trump has countered that the investigation has “nothing to do” with him, while still describing Omar as a “terrible person” and a “complainer.”

    According to CBS News, the BBC’s U.S. news partner, federal agents seized Omar’s phone, personal computers, notebooks, and passport during the raid last week. Omar’s legal team has since demanded the federal government return the seized materials, arguing in a Friday legal filing that the seizure violated restrictions a judge put in place to protect Omar’s legislative work as a sitting member of Congress. The legal team also alleges that agents failed to properly notify both Omar and the House of Representatives general counsel ahead of the search, and blocked Omar from contacting her legal counsel for more than an hour after the raid began.

    Along partisan lines, congressional Democrats have framed the raid as an unconstitutional attempt by the executive branch to interfere with the work of the legislative branch. Republicans, by contrast, have argued that Omar is not above the law and should face the same regulatory and investigative scrutiny as any other American.

    A key unmentioned context in Obama’s Sunday post adds layers of irony to the current debate: during Obama’s first presidential campaign and throughout his two terms in office, Trump repeatedly pushed the racist “birther” conspiracy theory that falsely claimed Obama was not born in the United States and was therefore ineligible to hold the presidency. Obama ultimately was forced to release two official birth records confirming his birth in Hawaii to put the baseless claims to rest, though he did not reference this history in his recent statement about Omar.

  • Egyptian construction firms surveyed sites in Gaza for ‘Green Rafah’ project, sources say

    Egyptian construction firms surveyed sites in Gaza for ‘Green Rafah’ project, sources say

    Months after Israel’s full-scale military campaign reduced most of Rafah to rubble, Egyptian construction companies have completed initial site assessments for a new residential development dubbed the ‘Green Rafah’ project in the ruins of the southern Gaza Strip, two anonymous Egyptian sources confirmed to Middle East Eye.

    Once a vibrant hub of 250,000 Palestinian residents, home to crowded refugee camps, lively local markets and sprawling agricultural green spaces on Gaza’s southern border, Rafah has been left nearly unrecognizable by the war. Israeli military operations have demolished at least 80% of all structures across the governorate, displacing nearly the entire population and leaving hundreds of thousands homeless.

    A senior Egyptian military source stationed in North Sinai told MEE that Egyptian engineering teams accessed multiple survey sites in eastern Rafah, accompanied and supervised throughout the entire mission by Israeli ground and air forces, before exiting the blockaded Palestinian enclave. Under current plans, the first phase of the development will house approximately 20,000 displaced Palestinians, the source said, with long-term oversight to be carried out by a multinational peacekeeping force that will deploy across multiple regions of Gaza under the terms of the Sharm el-Sheikh agreement.

    Debris clearance and full construction work will likely not begin until after Israel’s upcoming national elections, the source added, to avoid the project being politicized by opponents of incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and disrupting the electoral process.

    A second source, an employee of the Organi Group, a conglomerate linked to powerful Sinai-based businessman and tribal leader Ibrahim al-Arjani, confirmed the details of the mission, noting company leadership had ordered teams to deploy to the earmarked residential site to complete surveys. Arjani, 49, has well-documented long-standing ties to Egypt’s national security establishment, and has been accused over the years of leveraging those political connections to expand his multi-sector business empire across North Sinai and broader Egypt. Two of his connected firms already hold extensive control over cross-border movement of people and goods through the Rafah border crossing: Sons of Sinai, a construction and contracting firm, manages exit permits for cargo trucks, while Hala for Consulting and Tourism Services holds exclusive rights to coordinate traveler transportation between Egypt and Gaza.

    “The survey of the designated area has already been delivered so that the necessary engineering drawings and studies can be prepared ahead of construction, including rubble removal and land preparation,” the Organi Group source said. “Work would proceed once we get the go-ahead to clear the debris and level the land so we can begin construction. Green Rafah is intended to fall under international administration, separating Gaza from Israel.”

    Both sources confirmed that construction firms linked to Organi are positioned to secure the majority of the reconstruction work assigned to Egypt, with smaller sub-contracts expected to be awarded to other Egyptian construction companies. MEE requested comment from both the Organi Group and Egypt’s State Information Service prior to publication, but received no response.

    The Green Rafah proposal is not an isolated initiative: it aligns with a broader US-backed Gaza reconstruction vision, the ‘New Gaza’ plan, unveiled by former US President Donald Trump’s senior advisor and son-in-law Jared Kushner at the World Economic Forum in Davos earlier this year. Kushner’s framework calls for a full-scale redevelopment of Gaza, including over 100,000 new permanent housing units concentrated in a redeveloped Rafah, 200 new educational facilities, new industrial zones and upgraded transport infrastructure. The plan has faced widespread criticism for its lack of clarity on critical issues: it makes no mention of transferring land ownership deeds to Palestinian residents, provides no framework for allocating new housing to displaced families, and does not explain how thousands of Palestinians still living in intact structures in central Gaza and western Gaza City would be relocated to make way for planned redevelopment.

    Details of the Green Rafah project first emerged publicly in August, when Israeli Army Radio reported that Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz had approved preliminary infrastructure work in eastern Rafah, on the Israeli-controlled side of the Yellow Line, for a residential development for Palestinians living outside of Hamas governance. The report added that the project would include full excavation and connection to water, electricity and sewage networks, and that all Palestinian contractors and workers would be required to pass security screenings by Israel’s Shin Bet domestic intelligence agency before being allowed to enter the work site. Netanyahu’s office later walked back parts of the report, clarifying that Green Rafah is a UAE-backed pilot initiative that had already been in development for several months, with all infrastructure work to proceed under Israeli military oversight.

    According to the senior Egyptian military source, the entire survey operation in Rafah has full backing from the United States, with formal instructions conveyed by CIA Director John Ratcliffe during his recent visit to Egypt. During a September 20 meeting in Cairo with Ratcliffe and Egyptian General Intelligence chief Hassan Rashad, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi emphasized the need to fully implement the second phase of Trump’s Gaza peace plan. Public statements released by the Egyptian presidency after the meeting only noted that Sisi called for a consolidated permanent ceasefire, protection of civilian lives, and unimpeded access for humanitarian aid into Gaza, while Ratcliffe praised Egypt’s role in brokering the current truce and ongoing mediation efforts. No public mention was made of the Green Rafah project during the readout.

    To date, progress on large-scale Gaza reconstruction remains severely stalled by a massive funding gap. A joint assessment published in April by the United Nations, World Bank and European Union estimated that Gaza will require $71.4 billion over the next decade to recover from the war and rebuild, with $26.3 billion needed in the first 18 months alone. The Board of Peace, the body overseeing the New Gaza initiative, has confirmed that only $280 million in funding has been committed to date. Kushner stated at a Board of Peace event in late September that any company interested in participating in reconstruction will be able to bid through a “transparent bid process”, but the organization declined to answer MEE’s questions about the potential role of Egyptian firms including Organi-connected contractors. MEE also requested comment from the White House, CIA and Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, and received no responses prior to publication.

    Thus far, only one reconstruction contract has been awarded for work inside Gaza: US-based Louisiana firm Arkel International has been tapped to build a military outpost to house 150 international peacekeeping troops.

  • In pictures: French landmarks damaged and destroyed by violent protesters

    In pictures: French landmarks damaged and destroyed by violent protesters

    France is moving to implement targeted local curfews in multiple towns across the country after a weekend of widespread civil disorder that left a trail of destruction in major urban centers. The protests, organized largely around the yellow vest movement, saw demonstrators take to the streets to voice frustration over soaring fuel costs, a rising cost of living, and declining quality of public services including public education.

    While the majority of protesters engaged in peaceful demonstrations, a faction of radicalized demonstrators, many clad in black clothing and hiding their identities behind masks and balaclavas, carried out coordinated acts of arson, vandalism, and looting that shocked a nation long accustomed to street protest movements. The scale of damage, which extended even to historic landmarks, marked a sharp escalation in unrest that caught security forces off guard.

    In Paris, the capital, the destruction was widespread: storefronts were smashed, retail locations were looted, and vehicles, public kiosks, and small businesses were set ablaze in iconic central districts including Place de la Republique and Champs-Élysées. The 19th-century Statue of the Republic at Place de la Republique was defaced, with protesters draping a yellow vest, a symbol of the movement, around the statue’s neck. Rioting groups built barricades on the Champs-Élysées, burned rental bicycles in the middle of city streets, and set fire to parked vehicles near Porte Saint-Denis. French security forces deployed tear gas and stun grenades to disperse crowds, but struggled to contain the roving, small groups of attackers that targeted commercial infrastructure across the capital. The full scope of the damage was only revealed at sunrise on Sunday.

    The unrest was not limited to the capital. In the southern port city of Marseille, protesters used a metal fence as a battering ram to storm the city hall, ransacking the building and damaging a bust of Marianne, a longstanding symbol of the French Republic. Marseille Mayor Benoît Payan publicly condemned what he described as an “almost total lack of control” by security forces, stating “The world’s sixth largest power does not deserve this. The world is watching us, this morning we are the shame of Europe.”

    In Lyon, the city’s 19th-century tourist office was burned to the ground, an act Mayor Grégory Doucet called “a tragedy.” In Limoges, rioters deliberately set fire to the city’s 143-year-old town hall, causing a partial collapse of the structure that led local officials to declare the building “largely lost.” The historic spire atop the ornate town hall was completely destroyed in the blaze. Haute-Vienne department prefect Maurice Barate described the attackers as a “wild horde” that intentionally targeted public infrastructure.

    French national authorities have acknowledged that security forces lost control of urban areas during the worst of the unrest. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez submitted his resignation following the disorder, which Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu rejected. Lecornu has now granted local mayors the authority to implement partial curfews in their jurisdictions, a measure designed to protect civilian residents and local businesses. As France works to clean up the damage from the weekend’s violence, the nation remains on edge, with organizers planning another round of protests next Saturday.

  • Tennis star Svitolina says emotional toll of Ukraine war led to Monfils separation

    Tennis star Svitolina says emotional toll of Ukraine war led to Monfils separation

    One of women’s tennis’ most consistent competitors, Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina, has made a stunning personal announcement: she and husband Gaël Monfils, the retired French professional tennis player, are ending their four-year marriage. The 32-year-old world No. 6 attributed the difficult decision to the profound emotional toll that the ongoing full-scale war in her home country has taken on her mental well-being.

    In a vulnerable, heartfelt public post shared to her Instagram channel, Svitolina opened up about the private inner turmoil she has carried since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a struggle that most of her global fanbase never witnessed. “This is the most difficult thing I have ever had to share,” she wrote in the post. “I need to find my way back to myself, and I have come to understand I cannot do that while remaining in our marriage.”

    Svitolina, a four-time Grand Slam singles semi-finalist who paired with Monfils to reach the mixed doubles semi-finals at the 2025 US Open earlier this year, was careful to praise her former partner for his empathy through her struggle. She noted that Monfils, 40, listened to her needs and accepted her decision with a level of grace and strength she will always remember.

    “Some battles happen deep inside you, and no amount of love from someone else can win them for you,” Svitolina reflected. She added that ending her marriage to the man she loves has been the hardest choice she has ever had to make. While the world has long understood how deeply Ukraine’s fate matters to her, a vocal advocate for her country throughout the conflict, few saw the private toll: the repeated sleepless nights, the steady creep of self-doubt, and the slow, painful feeling of losing touch with her core self.

    The high-profile athletic couple tied the knot in 2021 and share one child together: four-year-old daughter Skai. Svitolina emphasized that her daughter will always remain her top priority, and stressed that the end of her romantic relationship with Monfils does not mean the end of their family unit. “Our marriage is ending, but our family is not,” she wrote.