Global Pulse

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  • Why police are seeking to arrest billionaire K-pop mogul behind BTS

    Why police are seeking to arrest billionaire K-pop mogul behind BTS

    South Korean police have formally asked prosecutors to secure an arrest warrant for Bang Si-hyuk, the legendary entertainment industry executive who built global K-pop supergroup BTS and founded HYBE, one of the world’s most valuable entertainment conglomerates. The charges stem from allegations of fraudulent stock manipulation ahead of HYBE’s $7.3 billion initial public offering on the Korea Exchange (KRX) in 2020.

    Investigators allege that in 2019, while Bang was secretly advancing plans to take HYBE public, he intentionally misled early investors and venture capital stakeholders by claiming an IPO was off the table. This deception, police claim, induced early stakeholders to sell their HYBE shares to a private equity fund with undisclosed ties to Bang. After HYBE debuted on the Kospi index in October 2020 – with its IPO price doubling on the first day of trading – the private equity fund sold its stake for massive gains, and Bang is alleged to have taken a 30% cut of the illicit profits, totaling roughly 200 billion won ($136 million).

    Bang, 53, has repeatedly and vehemently denied all wrongdoing, maintaining his actions were fully legal and transparent. His legal team released a statement this week saying, “We regret the police’s decision to request an arrest warrant. We will continue to cooperate fully with all legal procedures and make every effort to clearly demonstrate the legitimacy of our position.” HYBE has also pushed back against the allegations, noting that a copy of the disputed profit-sharing agreement was provided to IPO underwriters, who advised that no public disclosure was required.

    The investigation into Bang is not a new development. It has dragged on for months, with police executing search raids at HYBE’s Seoul headquarters, freezing a portion of Bang’s personal assets, and imposing a travel ban that has barred him from leaving South Korea since August. Industry calls for him to step down as HYBE chairman have also circulated amid the probe.

    The news of the arrest warrant request comes at a pivotal moment for HYBE, just weeks after BTS – the group that drove the company’s explosive growth and global fame – launched their first world tour in nearly four years following an extended group hiatus. The tour, which will stop at 34 cities across the globe, is already completely sold out, with industry analysts projecting HYBE will earn more than $1 billion from ticket sales, merchandise, and associated tour revenue. When the tour was announced in January, HYBE shares surged to a four-year high, adding more than 1 trillion won to the company’s total market capitalization. In a recent interview with Billboard, Bang reflected on BTS’s unprecedented cultural impact, calling the group “a tourist attraction… widely recognised and embraced by the global public.”

    Bang’s journey to becoming one of the most powerful figures in global entertainment began decades ago, rooted in an early love of music. He performed his own original compositions as a member of a middle school band, and honed his songwriting craft during his university years. In 1997, he co-founded JYP Entertainment, now one of South Korea’s “Big Four” K-pop powerhouses, alongside Park Jin-young, earning the iconic nickname “Hitman Bang” after producing a string of chart-topping hits for early K-pop act g.o.d.

    He left JYP in 2005 to launch his own independent label, Big Hit Entertainment, the precursor to today’s HYBE. In 2010, he began developing a seven-member hip-hop focused boy group, eventually shifting to a traditional K-pop idol model to align with industry market demands. That group, launched in 2013 as BTS, would go on to redefine global pop music: the act became the first Korean group to top Billboard’s Hot 100 chart and the first Asian act to surpass 5 billion streams on Spotify, cementing their status as one of the most successful musical groups in history. Today, HYBE also represents other top global K-pop acts including Seventeen, Le Sserafim, and newest breakout group Katseye.

    When Big Hit launched its IPO in 2020, shares debuted at $235, more than double the original $110 offering price, and Bang’s net worth skyrocketed as a result. A 2019 Bloomberg estimate pegged his net worth at $770 million; as of last month, data from Seoul-based corporate research firm Korea CXO Research Institute shows Bang holds more than 13 million HYBE shares, worth roughly 5 trillion won, pushing his total net worth past $2 billion.

    In December 2024, South Korea’s financial regulator launched a formal probe into the undisclosed profit-sharing agreements between Bang and private equity funds ahead of the IPO, expanding the existing investigation. Following the announcement of the arrest warrant request this week, HYBE shares closed 2.3% lower on Tuesday, defying a 2.7% gain in the benchmark Kospi index. Shares of the other three major K-pop conglomerates also fell in tandem with HYBE’s drop.

    The case against Bang comes amid a broader government crackdown on stock market manipulation in South Korea. In recent years, penalties for illicit trading have historically been relatively lenient, limited mostly to administrative fines and formal warnings. But current President Lee Jae Myung has pushed for far harsher sanctions for market misconduct. In August, authorities launched a new joint task force staffed by officials from national financial regulators and the Korean Stock Exchange, tasked exclusively with investigating illegal trading activity. The task force operates under a strict “one strike and you’re out” policy, which mandates immediate suspension of any accounts linked to illegal activity, and allows for fines of up to twice the value of illicit gains.

    Bang is not the first high-profile South Korean figure to face stock manipulation charges. In recent years, other prominent public figures including Samsung chairman Lee Jae-yong, Kakao founder Kim Beom-su, and former first lady Kim Keon-hee have all been indicted on separate stock rigging charges, and all were ultimately acquitted. Under current South Korean law, however, anyone convicted of illicit gains totaling 5 billion won or more faces a minimum of five years in prison, up to a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

  • Hotpot, bubble tea and sportswear: China’s new exports take on the world

    Hotpot, bubble tea and sportswear: China’s new exports take on the world

    Walk through any major shopping center in Singapore today, and you will almost certainly encounter long, winding queues outside brightly branded stores with catchy, memorable names. Bubble tea chains from China, including Mixue, Chagee, and Molly Tea, are drawing massive crowds not only across Southeast Asia, but also in far-flung global hubs from Sydney and London to Los Angeles. This growing global footprint is part of a far larger trend: Chinese companies are evolving beyond their historic role as low-cost contract manufacturers for Western firms, and building globally recognized consumer brands that compete directly with long-dominant industry leaders.

    Many of these new global players cut their teeth in China’s massive, fast-growing consumer market – the second largest in the world – building impressive scale and operational expertise early on. But cutthroat domestic competition, combined with a slowing domestic economy and shifting consumer demographics, has turned global expansion from an opportunity into a strategic necessity for most large Chinese consumer firms. As they enter international markets, these brands are pushing past the long-held stereotype that “Made in China” equals low-quality, low-cost goods.

    “China has moved beyond a replication economy,” explains Tim Parkinson, a consultant at Storyteller China. “Its products now meet the expectations of a new generation of demanding global consumers.” For decades, China served as the world’s workshop, producing goods for Western brands to market and sell globally. In that process, local suppliers and manufacturers learned far more than just assembly: they mastered large-scale branding, global distribution networks, and mass-market sales strategies that now power their own global growth.

    Retail giant Miniso, which produces licensed toys and merchandise for entertainment brands including Disney, Marvel, and Warner Bros., has leveraged this institutional knowledge to build a presence in more than half of the world’s countries. “Consumers aren’t particularly concerned about where the brand comes from,” says Vincent Huang, Miniso’s general manager for overseas markets. “They’re more focused on the shopping experience – the designs, value for money, and enjoyment.” Fast turnaround from factory to shelf and strategic global licensing partnerships sit at the core of Miniso’s successful global model.

    The shift toward globally competitive Chinese brands extends far beyond fast-moving consumer goods. Electric vehicle manufacturer BYD recently overtook Tesla to become the world’s largest EV producer by volume. The company gained its edge by betting on core EV technology early in the global transition, then used China’s huge domestic market to scale production and drive dramatic cost efficiencies. Today, BYD is expanding beyond vehicle manufacturing, developing ultra-fast charging infrastructure that can add hundreds of kilometers of range in minutes, as it works to build a full mobility ecosystem around its brand.

    China’s central government helped accelerate the EV sector’s growth through targeted subsidies and consumer incentives that boosted domestic demand, but that support has drawn fierce criticism from policymakers in Europe and the United States, who argue it gives Chinese firms an unfair competitive advantage. Beijing rejects these claims, noting the sector’s growth is a reflection of China’s industrial innovation and manufacturing leadership, not unfair support.

    Sportswear giant Anta offers another example of this global rise. The firm now operates nearly 13,000 stores worldwide, and has climbed to become the third-largest sportswear brand on the planet, trailing only Nike and Adidas. After dominating China’s domestic market, Anta expanded its global footprint through strategic acquisitions of established international brands including Salomon and Wilson, and most recently purchased a 29% stake in German sportswear brand Puma.

    For many Chinese brands eyeing Western markets, Southeast Asia has served as a critical testing ground for global expansion. The region is home to more than 650 million young, increasingly affluent consumers, offering both scale and market diversity, while intense competition from established Western brands pushes companies to maintain high quality standards. Leading hotpot chain Haidilao opened its first overseas location in Singapore back in 2012, and today is the world’s largest hotpot operator with 1,300 restaurants across 14 countries.

    “Haidilao’s story is not just a restaurant success,” says Zhou Zhaocheng, vice chairman of Haidilao International. “It reflects China’s 30 years of economic transformation and internationalization.” Zhou notes the chain’s global success relies on a strong core brand, a robust operational ecosystem, and a loyal global customer base. Each overseas market brings unique complexities shaped by different cultures, legal frameworks, and consumer preferences, he says, making intentional localization of menus, ingredients, and service non-negotiable for success. To that end, Haidilao is currently pursuing halal certification for its operations in Indonesia and Malaysia, a move that will open the door to expansion across Muslim-majority markets in the Middle East.

    Other Chinese consumer brands are expanding at a staggering pace. Mixue, the budget bubble tea and ice cream chain, now operates more global store locations than either McDonald’s or Starbucks, while competitor Molly Tea has built an international footprint just a few years after its founding. Market research firm Euromonitor International reports that more than 70% of Chinese firms already operating in Southeast Asia plan to expand their regional footprint further in coming years.

    Southeast Asia is also home to some of the world’s fastest-growing smartphone markets, and widespread social media adoption has supercharged the popularity of Chinese consumer brands, often with almost no traditional advertising. Collectible toy brand Pop Mart’s Labubu figurines, for example, became a global viral sensation through organic social media engagement. Since 2024, Pop Mart’s sales in the United States have grown by a staggering 900%. Even as the company’s share price has dropped sharply in recent months amid investor questions about long-term growth sustainability, Pop Mart still boasts a higher market valuation than the combined worth of U.S. toy giants Hasbro and Mattel, plus Japanese entertainment firm Sanrio, the owner of the Hello Kitty brand.

    This outward push, known in Chinese as “chuhai” or “going out to sea”, has been accelerated by mounting pressure at home. A sluggish domestic economy, saturated consumer markets, intense competition, and a declining birth rate have all squeezed domestic growth margins, pushing companies to seek new customer bases abroad. Even long-established global brands operating in China are feeling the impact of rising local competition. Starbucks’ domestic market share in China has more than halved since 2019, as local chain Luckin Coffee now operates almost four times as many stores across the country as its U.S. rival. Luckin’s mobile-first business model keeps overhead costs low and service speeds high, resonating with domestic consumers.

    In November 2025, Starbucks announced a deal to sell a controlling stake in its China operations to Hong Kong-based private equity firm Boyu Capital. Even after a major accounting scandal in 2020 that forced Luckin to delist from the Nasdaq exchange, the brand has continued rapid expansion both at home and abroad, opening new locations in Singapore, Malaysia, and New York, and is reportedly preparing to relist on a U.S. stock exchange.

    Industry analysts note that global consumer perceptions of Chinese brands are shifting dramatically. Where “Made in China” once carried an automatic association with low-cost, low-quality goods, Chinese brands are increasingly seen as innovative, design-forward, and competitive with established Western players. “Brands like BYD combine superior quality with emotional storytelling and local adaptation,” says marketing expert Foo Siew-Ting.

    Even with this progress, significant challenges remain for Chinese brands expanding globally. Tariffs, political scrutiny, and ongoing debates over data security continue to complicate expansion efforts, as seen in high-profile cases of Chinese technology firms like Huawei and TikTok. Questions also linger over whether fast-growing cross-border platforms like Shein and Temu can maintain their rapid growth momentum in competitive Western markets over the long term.

    Despite these headwinds, the broader trajectory is unambiguous: Chinese companies are no longer defined by low prices alone. Today, they are innovating rapidly, capitalizing on emerging global consumer trends, building recognizable global brands, adapting their offerings to fit local market needs, and competing directly with – and in some cases outpacing – long-established legacy global players.

  • Israeli forces block Palestinian student protest after barring access to school

    Israeli forces block Palestinian student protest after barring access to school

    In the occupied West Bank south of Hebron, a peaceful student demonstration demanding unimpeded access to education was broken up by Israeli forces on Sunday, capping more than a week of blocked school access for dozens of Palestinian children in the village of Umm al-Khair.

    The crisis began more than 10 days ago, when Nivo, a settler leader who serves in a security role at the adjacent Israeli settlement of Carmel, erected a 50-meter barbed wire fence across the only direct, safe road connecting Khirbet Umm al-Khair to the local school. The 1.5-meter-wide thoroughfare is the primary route for residents to access school and other essential external services, leaving no viable alternate routes that do not put children at grave risk.

    The only alternative path cuts through an unauthorised Israeli settler outpost, a site stained by recent violence: it was here that an Israeli settler fatally shot Awdah Hathaleen, a prominent Palestinian activist and English teacher. Settlers have pushed this dangerous alternate route as a so-called solution, forcing children to walk 3 kilometers across terrain that local residents describe as incredibly hazardous. This proposal has been uniformly rejected by local families, who say they will not compromise on their children’s right to a safe education.

    In total, 55 students have been barred from reaching their classes for a second straight week, including the two children of Khalil Hathaleen, a local education official. Speaking to Middle East Eye, Hathaleen outlined the community’s core demands: “Our message is clear: today, they are attempting to take away our right to education. Our goal is clear: we demand the right to education for our children through safe routes, a safe learning environment, and an end to home demolitions in Khirbet Umm al-Khair.”

    When local residents, led primarily by school-aged children, organized a peaceful protest to demand action, heavily armed Israeli forces accompanied by security dogs and military vehicles were deployed to disperse the demonstration. Local resident Ahmad Hathaleen framed the road closure as part of a broader pattern of intimidation rather than an isolated incident. “This issue is more than just a route closed off by a settler, because these settlers do not stop at a certain point,” he explained. “These children are being denied a simple and vital right to education, which children all around the world are entitled to have. The actions settlers have committed in Khirbet Umm al-Khair are a violation and consist of vicious acts against children, aimed at depriving them of the most basic right: education.”

    Umm al-Khair, located in the Masafer Yatta region of the southern occupied West Bank, has long been a flashpoint for displacement and settler aggression. The village’s current residents are descendants of refugees displaced during the 1948 Nakba, when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were forcibly expelled by Jewish militias during the creation of Israel. The community has lived on the land, which they purchased more than five decades ago, while the neighboring Carmel settlement was built on privately owned Palestinian land in the 1980s.

    Settler violence targeting Palestinian communities in the West Bank, which has long received implicit backing and protection from Israeli military forces, has accelerated dramatically since the start of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. A United Nations report released on March 17 documented a sharp surge in attacks: between November 2024 and October 2025, more than 36,000 Palestinians were displaced across the West Bank amid a wave of settler violence that included arson, infrastructure vandalism, property destruction, and targeted shooting at civilians. Over the same period, 1,732 violent incidents resulting in casualties or property damage were recorded, marking a 25% increase from the previous year. Since October 2023, more than 1,150 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank by either Israeli forces or armed settlers, according to collective data from regional monitors.

  • NDIS savings to be redirected to scrapping aged-care co-payments

    NDIS savings to be redirected to scrapping aged-care co-payments

    Ahead of the 2024 Australian federal budget, the Albanese government is set to roll out sweeping reforms to the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), redirecting projected savings from the overhaul to eliminate out-of-pocket costs for essential aged care services for older Australians. The policy shift will be detailed by Health, Ageing and NDIS Minister Mark Butler during a highly anticipated address to the National Press Club on Wednesday, marking one of the most significant social policy changes ahead of the budget release next month.Starting October 1, core personal care supports including assistance with showering, dressing and continence care will be reclassified under the Clinical Care category of the government’s Support at Home aged care program, fully scrapping all required co-contributions that older Australians previously paid. Aged Care Minister Sam Rae emphasized that these basic daily care supports are non-negotiable for dignified ageing, noting the policy change directly responds to community feedback from older people, their families and aged care providers.

    “Showering, dressing, continence care – these aren’t optional extras, they’re the basics of ageing with dignity and no older Australian should miss out because of cost,” Rae said. “Older Australians, their families and providers told us these services needed to be protected. We’ve listened and we’re acting.”

    First launched by the Gillard Labor government in 2013, the taxpayer-funded NDIS was designed to deliver essential support to Australians living with permanent and severe disability. Today, the scheme carries an annual price tag of $50 billion, with independent projections showing that spending could double to $100 billion within the next decade without intervention. The rapid unsustainable growth of NDIS expenditure has placed the scheme at the center of federal government efforts to rein in public spending, with Treasurer Jim Chalmers confirming the scheme is a core focus of pre-budget negotiations. Chalmers has stressed the government remains fully committed to the NDIS mission, but acknowledges the urgent need for structural change to secure its long-term future.

    Government officials have defended the reform push, arguing inaction is not a viable option. Labor MP Josh Burns told media that without changes, the NDIS would eventually become the single most expensive government program in Australia, a financial trajectory that is unsustainable. “The reason why we have to [reform] is because the NDIS is there for people with a severe disability, a permanent disability, and it needs to be there for the future,” Burns said. “If we don’t do anything, if we let it just grow, it’s going to be the biggest government program, the most expensive thing government does in Australia, and it’s just not sustainable, so it needs to be there for the future.”

    While opposition figures have agreed that the NDIS requires structural repair, they have pushed back against what they warn could become a cost-shifting exercise, arguing the reform must address deep-rooted design flaws in the program. Nationals Senator Bridget McKenzie, the opposition’s spokesperson on the issue, said the NDIS’s challenges stretch beyond unsustainable spending, pointing to widespread concerns about unregistered providers, compliance gaps and systemic rorting. McKenzie noted that even NDIS internal estimates find 10 percent of claims are non-compliant, totaling $5 billion in misspending annually.

    “The NDIS was suffering from a ‘design problem’ and must be addressed as more than just a ‘cost-shifting exercise’,” McKenzie said. The opposition is open to cross-party collaboration to get the scheme “under control” to guarantee its long-term sustainability for disabled Australians, she added, but warned: “It can’t just be a cost-shifting exercise from the government back onto states. It needs to fix the problem at its heart, which is around design.”

    The peak body for Australia’s disability sector has already alerted providers to expect sweeping changes when the federal budget is released next month, as the government looks to lock in the savings needed to fund the aged care policy overhaul.

  • Peru’s election chief resigns over logistical problems in hotly disputed presidential contest

    Peru’s election chief resigns over logistical problems in hotly disputed presidential contest

    LIMA, Peru — More than a week after Peruvians cast ballots in one of the nation’s most contentious presidential elections in recent memory, the top leader of the country’s national election agency has stepped down, taking responsibility for widespread logistical failures that have thrown the vote count into chaos and deepened public uncertainty over the outcome.

    Piero Corvetto, who led Peru’s national election institution, announced his resignation in an official letter delivered to Peruvian government authorities on Tuesday. While Corvetto explicitly denied any personal wrongdoing tied to the election mismanagement, he argued his departure was a necessary step to shore up public trust ahead of the June 7 presidential runoff, which is already scheduled to take place after no candidate secured an absolute majority in the first round.

    The April 12 first-round vote brought more than 30 presidential candidates into the race, alongside hundreds of contenders vying for seats in Peru’s national congress. But the process quickly unraveled when election officials failed to deliver critical voting materials to more than 12 polling centers across the capital city of Lima. The logistical breakdown blocked more than 52,000 eligible voters from casting their ballots on the originally scheduled election day, forcing authorities to extend voting for an extra 24 hours.

    As of this week, official vote counting remains ongoing, with election workers still processing tally sheets arriving from remote Andean regions and Peruvian consulates operating across the globe. Peruvian electoral law requires a runoff between the two top-finishing candidates if no contender wins more than 50% of valid votes, a threshold that no candidate came close to meeting in this crowded field.

    With 93.8% of all ballots now counted, preliminary results place conservative leader Keiko Fujimori firmly in the lead with 17.04% of the vote, a standing that all but guarantees her a spot on the June runoff ballot. In second place, holding 12.01% of counted votes, is nationalist congressman Roberto Sánchez, a former minister under imprisoned ex-President Pedro Castillo who has campaigned on a pledge to partially nationalize Peru’s vast natural resource sector. Sánchez holds only a razor-thin lead over ultraconservative former Lima mayor Rafael López Aliaga, who has captured 11.91% of the vote so far.

    López Aliaga has already pushed back against the partial preliminary results, leveling unsubstantiated claims of a “gigantic fraud” orchestrated by election officials. He has publicly called for a “complementary election” that would allow hundreds of thousands of Peruvians who were unable to vote on April 12 to cast their ballots after the fact.

    These fraud allegations have been rejected by independent international observers. An electoral observation mission deployed by the European Union noted last week that while the first round faced significant logistical disruptions, it found no credible evidence of systemic fraud in the vote counting process.

    On Monday, Peru’s top electoral tribunal set a firm May 15 deadline for officials to complete the full vote count and officially confirm which two candidates will advance to the June runoff. The winner of this election will make history as Peru’s ninth president in just 10 years, taking office amid a prolonged period of political instability that has already seen multiple interim leaders rise and fall. The current interim president, José María Balcázar, was appointed to the role in February, replacing another interim head of state who was removed from office over corruption allegations just four months after taking power.

  • The US counterterrorism czar without a counterterrorism plan

    The US counterterrorism czar without a counterterrorism plan

    March 2025 emerged as an unplanned, high-stakes stress test for U.S. counterterrorism authorities, with a rapid string of violent incidents that put years of warnings about eroded national security capacity to the test. The month began with a gunman wearing an Iranian flag shirt under his outer layer opening fire at a Texas bar, leaving three people dead. It continued with a homemade explosive attack outside the New York City mayor’s residence, followed by a fatal shooting on a Virginia college campus and a car-ramming targeting a Michigan synagogue, both occurring on the same afternoon in mid-March. By the end of the month, federal agents had taken a man into custody for threatening to carry out a mass shooting at an Ohio mosque.

    For dozens of current and former national security officials who spoke to ProPublica on condition of anonymity over fears of administration retaliation, this string of attacks is not a random coincidence—it is the warning sign they predicted when President Donald Trump redirected massive amounts of counterterrorism resources to his mass deportation campaign shortly after returning to office in 2025. They had long cautioned that shifting personnel and cutting funding would leave the U.S. vulnerable if rising global tensions sparked domestic threats, a risk that has become immediate now that the U.S. is engaged in open war with Iran, a nation long designated a state sponsor of terrorism. Today, with leadership turnover widespread and critical institutional expertise gutted from security agencies, officials warn the country is facing a dangerous and underprepared standoff.

    At the center of growing scrutiny is Sebastian Gorka, the White House counterterrorism adviser tapped to draft a national strategy to tackle both international and homegrown extremist threats. Gorka first promised the strategy was “imminent” nearly a year ago, repeatedly pushed back its release date—claiming it was “on the cusp” of being unveiled in July, October, and January—and as of mid-2025, no public document has been released, and no explanation for the delay has been offered.

    Current and former counterterrorism personnel say when the strategy is finally released, it will likely prioritize political positioning over evidence-based intelligence, offering little actionable guidance to address threats that have grown sharper after a year of deep cuts across national security agencies. A former senior official who served in the first Trump administration summed up the widespread concern: “Strategies are only worth the amount of resources you put into them. We’re entering very dangerous territory.”

    Gorka’s path to this high-stakes role is a study in the transformation of U.S. counterterrorism policy during Trump’s second term. Born in the United Kingdom to Hungarian parents, Gorka built his career in the post-9/11 cottage industry of self-styled terrorism experts, where he gained a reputation for hardline, often inflammatory rhetoric framing counterterrorism as a civilizational conflict between the West and Islamist militants. Civil liberties watchdogs and former colleagues have long criticized his framework for maligning Islam and targeting ordinary American Muslims, claims Gorka has repeatedly dismissed as absurd, framing his work as focusing on radicalization rather than the faith as a whole.

    Gorka’s first stint in the first Trump administration ended after just seven months, when he was forced out by moderate White House staffers amid widespread criticism over his ties to a Hungarian far-right group with historic Nazi ties (ties he continues to deny) and questions over whether he could obtain a full security clearance. After leaving office, he hosted a right-wing podcast and appeared in commercial ads before the 2024 election that returned Trump to power paved the way for a phoenixlike comeback. His unwavering loyalty to the MAGA movement earned him the top counterterrorism role, a position he has called a 25-year dream job.

    In the first year of Trump’s second term, Gorka largely flew under the radar as the administration focused on dismantling federal agencies and building a restrictive, heavily armed immigration enforcement force. But the outbreak of war with Iran has pushed his role back into the spotlight, as experts warn that depleted security capacity leaves the U.S. exposed to retaliatory attacks at home and abroad.

    The extent of that depletion has become increasingly clear in recent weeks. CNN recently reported that just days before U.S. military operations against Iran began, FBI Director Kash Patel purged a dozen counterintelligence agents focused on monitoring Iranian threats, part of a wider purge that has removed roughly 300 counterterrorism specialists from the bureau. Former officials say losing this many trained experts at once has been devastating for the granular, relationship-driven work of preventing terrorist attacks.

    A former senior Justice Department official explained: “I don’t think about it in raw numbers. I think about the wealth of expertise and knowledge that has been cut across all levels. What you lose is that nuance — with a smaller team, you can only go so deep.” An FBI spokesperson defended the bureau’s work, noting that agents disrupted four domestic terrorist plots in December 2024 alone and saying the bureau continuously realigns resources to protect the American public.

    Leadership turnover has compounded the resource gaps. Gorka’s original supervisor, former National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, was reassigned to the U.S. mission to the United Nations following the Signalgate scandal, leaving oversight to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is already overwhelmed by managing the Iran war. Just last month, Joe Kent, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, resigned in protest of the Iran conflict, arguing it was pushing the U.S. toward decline and chaos. Gorka publicly condemned Kent as an “utter disgrace” and has since been reported by The Washington Post to be angling for the open role himself, a move that would give him expanded power but likely face a contentious Senate confirmation fight.

    Government budget documents confirm the widespread strain: the Justice Department’s National Security Division has openly acknowledged it faces “unprecedented personnel constraints,” with a 40% drop in the number of national security prosecutors and growing struggles to keep up with rising caseloads. At the State Department, former officials say the entire dedicated counterterrorism Iran threat prevention team was eliminated, and remaining Iran specialists were reassigned to regional offices where counterterrorism is just one of many competing priorities. While some specialists shifted to immigration enforcement have been reassigned back to counterterrorism following the outbreak of war, experts say the sudden reshuffling has disrupted ongoing investigations, as personnel must spend weeks or months catching up on stalled cases.

    Ben Connable, a former Marine Corps intelligence officer who now leads the nonprofit Battle Research Group, explained the risk: “If you’ve dropped all the cases and have taken people off the target set for an extended period of time, you can’t just drop back in and pick up where you left off. The men and women who are back on that portfolio are going to have to play catch-up, and that conveys risk.”

    Even basic public transparency around threat levels has stopped. The Department of Homeland Security has not issued a public national terrorism advisory bulletin, the regular update that alerts the public to changing threat levels, since September 2024, and has not released its annual mandatory Homeland Threat Assessment since Trump returned to office. A DHS spokesperson blamed the delay on a Democratic-led shutdown of the department.

    Gorka’s leadership style has deepened concerns among serving and former officials. A mercurial, bombastic figure with a thick British accent, Gorka has openly reveled in U.S. counterterrorism strikes, describing targeted militants as “human filth” and bragging about watching a 2025 strike in Somalia that turned a recruiter into “a cloud of red mist,” a description he has repeated dozens of times in public appearances. He often screens declassified footage of strikes for audiences, leaving multiple State Department staffers who attended one event horrified by what they described as glee over graphic violence.

    Counterterrorism analysts say Gorka’s claims of massive battlefield success—including his claim that the administration has killed 759 “leading jihadis” since taking office—are heavily exaggerated. Colin Clarke, executive director of the Soufan Center, noted that there are fewer than 10 high-profile leading Islamist militants active globally, making Gorka’s count implausible, and most of those killed are likely low-level foot soldiers. Critics also note the administration eliminated the Pentagon office tasked with tracking civilian casualties from U.S. strikes, leaving uninvestigated reports of civilian harm in Somalia, Yemen, and other active operation zones.

    When ProPublica reached out to Gorka for comment for this report, he declined, responding with insults on social media and calling the inquiry a “putrid piece of hackery.” He defended the administration’s record, noting it has rescued more American hostages in its first year than the Biden administration rescued in four full years. White House spokesperson Anna Kelly defended Gorka’s work and the administration’s restructuring, arguing that the changes have made the U.S. foreign policy apparatus more responsive to threats and claiming “our homeland is more secure than ever.”

    Even as pressure builds to release his long-promised national counterterrorism strategy, Gorka has sidelined traditional interagency input, telling colleagues he is drafting the entire document himself with no input from partner federal agencies. One official briefed on an early draft described it as little more than a superficial listing of broad threat categories, with no actionable plans to address gaps in capacity. When asked most recently about the release date at an event hosted by the Council on Foreign Relations, Gorka said he had been told to cut the massive document down to a shorter length and would submit the revised draft for presidential approval, asking the audience to “keep your fingers crossed” for a timely release.

    For national security analysts, the delay, depleted resources, and leadership chaos add up to a dangerous moment for U.S. homeland security. Writing in an op-ed, Clarke and terrorism scholar Jacob Ware noted that a clear public strategy could help address uncertainty at a time when “defenses are divided, disorganized and under-resourced.” As they put it: “In counterterrorism, inattention can be deadly.”

  • UK: Newham council investigates Labour mayoral candidate’s past flat purchase

    UK: Newham council investigates Labour mayoral candidate’s past flat purchase

    As campaigning intensifies ahead of England’s critical local elections on May 7, a high-profile dispute over a former council property has upended the mayoral race in London’s Newham borough, placing Labour’s lead candidate Forhad Hussain under increasing scrutiny.

    The controversy centers on a one-time council flat that Hussain, then a senior sitting councillor in Newham, purchased in 2016 with financial support from the local authority he served. Last month, a public interest referral was submitted to Newham Council’s monitoring officer, chief executive, and independent external auditors, calling for a formal probe into the transaction. The referral requests investigation into “the acquisition and disposal of a council-derived housing asset by an individual who held elected public office within the authority [Newham] at the relevant time,” a document obtained by Middle East Eye (MEE) confirms.

    Hussain has issued a firm denial of any improper conduct in the deal. Correspondence dated April 17 from auditors Ernst & Young to a local resident, also seen by MEE, confirms that the council’s monitoring officer has launched an inquiry into the complaint. The letter notes that after the complainant raised the issue with the council’s interim chief executive, the local authority committed to a full investigation, and the monitoring officer has agreed to update auditors on the probe’s progress.

    Earlier reporting from local outlet London Centric pointed out that Land Registry records indicate the property was transferred via a process typically reserved for Right to Buy, a UK government scheme that allows sitting council tenants to purchase their rented homes at significant discounted rates. London Centric also highlighted that the purchase price Hussain paid the council for the publicly owned property in 2016 is not listed on public Land Registry records. Three years after purchasing the flat, Hussain sold it for £255,000.

    In an interview with MEE, Hussain pushed back against these claims, rejecting the characterization of the purchase as an improper Right to Buy transaction. He explained the flat was an empty council property offered to eligible buyers through the council’s own Newham New Share shared ownership scheme, a program open to all qualifying Newham residents. “My wife and I were registered for that scheme, expressed interest in the property, and were successful through the same process available to other eligible Newham residents,” he said.

    Hussain added that the council independently valued the property at £190,000, and he and his wife paid their agreed share of the full market value, with no negotiation and no discount comparable to those offered through Right to Buy. He clarified that when the couple later paid off the council’s remaining stake in the property, as outlined in the terms of the shared ownership scheme, they did so at the property’s current increased market value. “Any suggestion that I benefited from my position is categorically untrue. I did not receive preferential treatment at any stage,” Hussain said.

    The candidate also disputed claims that an investigation is currently active, saying, “I have been informed that no new investigation is taking place, and any previous enquiries into this matter have already been concluded.” Newham Council declined to provide any comment on the dispute when contacted by MEE, and the national Labour Party also did not respond to requests for comment.

    The controversy has broken as mayoral campaigning in Newham reaches a fever pitch. During a recent local radio debate, Green Party mayoral candidate Areeq Chowdhury raised questions about the transaction, arguing that “there are serious questions about why that was issued as a Right to Buy. It was an empty flat, apparently an empty flat, issued as a Right to Buy.” Chowdhury confirmed that the council’s monitoring officer has launched an investigation, rejecting Hussain’s claim that the matter is already closed: “the idea that it is a closed matter is false.”

    In response, Hussain dismissed the allegations as entirely baseless and accused Chowdhury of engaging in “gutter politics.”

    The May 7 elections will see more than 5,000 council seats up for grabs across 136 English local authorities, in what is widely viewed as the first major electoral test for Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour government since he took office in July 2024. The Green Party is positioning itself as a left-wing challenger to Labour, and Newham is one of the key target boroughs where the party hopes to seize control of both the council and the mayoralty from Labour. Independent candidate Mehmood Mirza, representing Newham Independents and backed by Jeremy Corbyn’s Your Party, is also contesting the mayoral post.

  • A Kashmir tourist hotspot became a deadly bloodbath. A year on, the pain remains unbearable

    A Kashmir tourist hotspot became a deadly bloodbath. A year on, the pain remains unbearable

    It has been exactly 12 months since a brutal militant attack targeting tourists in the scenic Himalayan town of Pahalgam, Indian-administered Kashmir, snatched 26 innocent lives and shattered dozens of families forever. The attack, counted among the deadliest assaults on civilians in the restive region in decades, did not just trigger a dramatic escalation of cross-border tensions between nuclear-armed neighbors India and Pakistan – it also left a generations-long trail of private pain that time has not erased, only reshaped. For the widows and parents of the victims, learning to live with absence has become a daily, quiet act of resilience, carried out in vastly different ways that all bear the weight of unthinkable loss.

    The contested region of Kashmir has been claimed in full by both India and Pakistan since the 1947 partition of the subcontinent, with the two nations splitting control of the territory and fighting multiple full-scale wars over it. On April 22, 2025, militants opened fire on civilians visiting Baisaran Valley, a stunning alpine meadow that draws thousands of tourists to Pahalgam every year. Most of those killed were young Hindu men, many of whom were at the very start of their adult lives: newlyweds, rising professionals, whose futures were cut down in an act of targeted violence.

    In the immediate aftermath, New Delhi formally accused Pakistan of enabling the attack, claiming the assault was carried out by a militant group based on Pakistani soil – a claim Islamabad quickly and firmly denied. Two weeks after the killings, India launched preemptive air strikes targeting what it said were militant group training bases inside Pakistani territory. The strike set off four days of intense cross-border shelling and aerial exchanges that pushed the two nuclear-armed powers to the brink of full-scale conflict, until a widely unexpected ceasefire was announced to de-escalate tensions. While international attention has long moved on from that crisis, for the families of the 26 victims, the grief remains an unshakable daily presence.

    For 26-year-old Aishanya Dwivedi, the attack stole her husband Shubham just two months after their wedding. Today, in the Kanpur home she once shared with Shubham, the bedroom they lived in remains frozen in time. Every item – the unmade bed, the standing cupboard, even the small wall mirror Shubham installed after she joked about the empty space above their dresser – sits exactly where it was the day they left for their Kashmir holiday. “That side of the bed is still Shubham’s,” Aishanya explains, gesturing to the unused half she keeps piled with pillows. “I never sit or lie there. I even avoid it in my sleep.”

    Aishanya still recalls the day of the attack in sharp, unwavering detail. After arriving in Kashmir with a group of 11 family members, the couple ventured alone to the Baisaran Valley meadow while the rest of their group stayed behind in Pahalgam. As they walked through the grass, a man approached them, asked Shubham what his religion was, and opened fire. Aishanya says she begged the attackers to kill her too, but they left her alive, alone with the grief that would shape the rest of her life.

    “I didn’t get enough time to build a lifetime of memories with him,” Aishanya told BBC Hindi in an interview marking the one-year anniversary. “But the memories he did give me are enough to carry me through the rest of my life.” Her phone lock screen still holds an unposed candid from their wedding day, and she often scrolls through her photo gallery to find old pictures of Shubham, replaying old voice notes and videos to hold onto the smallest details: the sound of his laugh, the way he would giggle at bad jokes.

    In the months after the attack, Aishanya found that speaking publicly about Shubham and her grief became a form of quiet therapy. What started as answering questions from reporters and family friends became a way to keep his memory alive, even when it drew harsh online backlash. After she publicly called out Prime Minister Narendra Modi for failing to name the Pahalgam victims in his parliamentary address following India’s air strikes, she was targeted by online trolls who criticized her public grief. But the harassment has not silenced her. “I will speak, I will go out, I will do everything I want,” she says. “Those people have no right to tell me how to grieve my husband.”

    Every evening, Aishanya sits with her in-laws for an hour, and the three of them talk about Shubham, circling back to the same small stories and memories, each time softening the edge of the pain just a little. She has started writing down her feelings, and even though she often ends up crying mid-entry, she says releasing the pain is a necessary part of healing. A trained classical dancer, she has not yet been able to return to the stage – “My feet just won’t move,” she says – but she holds out hope that she will find her way back to the art one day. Small, unexpected moments still feel like signs Shubham is with her: a rainbow visible from a plane window while playing one of his favorite songs, a glance at the full moon from her balcony that brings a split second of feeling he is right beside her. “The grief of losing a husband will never go away completely,” she says. “But that doesn’t mean we have to stop living.”

    For another family, grief takes a far quieter form. Rajesh Narwal lost his 26-year-old son Vinay, an Indian naval officer who was just six days into his honeymoon in Kashmir when he was killed in the attack. In the hours after the shooting, a photograph of Vinay’s bride sitting motionless beside his body spread virally across Indian social media, becoming a searing symbol of the attack’s senseless brutality. Today, back at the Narwal family home, none of Vinay’s belongings have been unpacked from the bags he brought on his honeymoon. Most family members still cannot bring themselves to say his name out loud, and the family has not hung a single photograph of him anywhere on the walls.

    “None of us can find the courage to talk about it,” Rajesh says. “We can’t even bear to put his photo up.” But the memories do not stay buried. Rajesh still finds himself automatically falling into old routines: when he comes home from work every day, he still half-expects Vinay to be waiting in the courtyard, ready for their daily game of cricket, a ritual they kept from Vinay’s childhood through his early adulthood. “We just don’t know how to process this pain. We’re still grieving, every single day,” Rajesh says. “I can distract myself at work, but the second I walk through the front door, it feels like someone presses on a raw nerve. The pain is unbearable.”

    One year after the attack that upended their lives, both families have carved out different ways to live with the hole the violence left behind. One keeps memory alive through open, unapologetic speech; the other holds it close through silence. Both are learning to rebuild their lives around the absence of the people they loved, carrying their memories forward even as they learn to breathe again. The attack that shook South Asia and brought two nuclear powers to the edge of war is now remembered most vividly not in official statements or security briefings, but in the frozen bedrooms and quiet courtyards of the families who will never be the same.

  • Trump says he expects ‘great deal’ with Iran, unlikely to extend ceasefire

    Trump says he expects ‘great deal’ with Iran, unlikely to extend ceasefire

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a candid interview with CNBC on Tuesday, former U.S. President Donald Trump shared his latest outlook on diplomatic negotiations with Iran, saying he remains confident that Washington will ultimately reach a favorable agreement with Tehran even as he ruled out extending the current temporary ceasefire, which is set to expire this Wednesday.

    When discussing the shifting landscape of Iran’s leadership, Trump argued that the removal of the country’s top former figures has created an unexpected shift in the negotiation dynamic. “We’ve taken out their leaders, frankly, which does complicate things in one way, but these leaders are much more rational,” he told the business news network. Trump also suggested that Iran has little alternative but to reach a negotiated settlement with the United States, adding “I think they have no choice.”

    Pressed on whether he would consider extending the current truce to create more time for diplomatic dialogue, Trump offered a definitive rejection of the idea, saying “Well, I don’t want to do that.” The comment comes amid heightened tensions in the Middle East, with the clock ticking down on the temporary ceasefire that has paused active military clashes between the two sides in recent weeks. The rejection of an extension has left regional observers watching closely to see whether diplomatic progress can be achieved before the truce lapses, or whether active hostilities will resume after Wednesday.

  • Young talent time: Maroons name five rookies for women’s Origin opener as life begins without the legendary Ali Brigginshaw

    Young talent time: Maroons name five rookies for women’s Origin opener as life begins without the legendary Ali Brigginshaw

    The Queensland Maroons are entering an unprecedented new chapter of women’s State of Origin rugby league, headlined by the selection of five first-time contenders for next week’s opening series clash in Newcastle. The major squad shake-up comes as the side adapts to life without Ali Brigginshaw, the legendary playmaker who defined a generation of Maroons football and retired from the Origin circuit this offseason, compounded by a season-ending knee injury to star half Tarryn Aiken that forced new head coach Nathan Cross to make sweeping, high-stakes selection calls.

    Stepping into the critical playmaking roles left vacant by Brigginshaw are experienced utility Lauren Brown and exciting young rookie Chantay Kiria-Ratu, tasked with steering Queensland’s charge to reclaim the State of Origin shield. Brown, who stepped into the halfback role for the third and final match of last year’s series, retains the number seven jersey – a position she has already delivered iconic results in, slotting a match-winning field goal in wet, challenging conditions during 2024 to secure a critical victory for the Maroons. Her veteran leadership will be paired with Kiria-Ratu, who turned heads with a standout 2024 NRLW season for the Cronulla Sharks and now faces the biggest test of her fledgling professional career on rugby league’s biggest women’s state stage.

    Cross’ appointment itself marks a break from the Maroons’ recent past, taking over from long-serving coach Tahnee Norris after Queensland surrendered the series title to New South Wales last year. Along with the new-look playmaking duo, four other new faces will get their chance to shine: winger Phoenix-Raine Hippi is named in the starting 17 for her Origin debut, while forward Otesa Pule will make her first Queensland appearance from the interchange bench. Young talents Ivana Lolesio and Destiny Mino-Sinapati round out the five rookies, earning spots in the 20-person extended squad as the side chases an upset to end NSW’s growing dynastic ambitions.

    Star power remains at the core of the Maroons’ lineup, with Brisbane Broncos standouts Tamika Upton and Julia Robinson named in the starting side, forming a dangerous attacking edge that looms as the primary threat to NSW’s hopes of back-to-back series titles. The full Queensland squad will assemble for pre-match camp this Thursday, as Cross and his group look to prove that a youth-focused rebuild can deliver immediate results on the Origin stage. The full 20-person squad for game one is: 1. Tamika Upton, 2. Julia Robinson, 3. Rory Owen, 4. Shenae Ciesiolka, 5. Phoenix-Raine Hippi, 6. Chantay Kiria-Ratu, 7. Lauren Brown, 8. Makenzie Weale, 9. Jada Ferguson, 10. Jessika Elliston, 11. Sienna Lofipo, 12. Romy Teitzel, 13. Keilee Joseph, 14. Emma Manzelmann, 15. Otesa Pule, 16. Chelsea Lenarduzzi, 17. Brianna Clark, 18. Ivana Lolesio, 19. Destiny Brill, 20. Destiny Mino-Sinapati.