Global Pulse

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  • Israel bars US contractor from Gaza, blocking base for Moroccan and Kosovan troops

    Israel bars US contractor from Gaza, blocking base for Moroccan and Kosovan troops

    Months after the Trump administration’s Board of Peace awarded its first construction contract for a controversial international stabilization force base in Gaza, the project remains stuck on the drawing board, as Israeli authorities have refused to grant access for contractors to enter the besieged enclave, British newspaper The Guardian has reported.

    The initiative, launched after the 10 October 2025 ceasefire agreement that was billed by former U.S. President Donald Trump as a step to end Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, awarded the contract to U.S. construction firm Arkel International back in August. The company’s mandate was to build a fortified 10,000-square-meter temporary outpost fitted with earthen defensive barriers, designed to accommodate rotating deployments of 150 troops drawn from a 500-strong contingent sourced from Morocco and Kosovo. These troops were positioned as the vanguard of an international stabilization force assembled exclusively from countries deemed friendly to Israel, a plan that has sparked fierce international and domestic backlash.

    Two months have passed since the contract was awarded, and no progress has been made. A source familiar with the inner workings of the project told The Guardian that Israeli officials have refused to open border crossings to allow the contractor, equipment, and supplies into Gaza. Without Israeli approval, even basic infrastructure and life-support utilities cannot be installed, leaving the entire initiative dead in the water. “There’s no security. There’s no deliveries of construction equipment. You can’t even start putting utilities. You can’t start putting in basic life-support facilities you know because without the ISF (International Stabilization Force) you can’t go in,” the source explained.

    The stalled project lays bare who holds ultimate decision-making power over the Board of Peace, an initiative Trump hailed as a landmark step toward ending conflict in the blockaded coastal strip. Despite the ceasefire that established the board, ongoing violence has persisted: since the truce took effect, more than 1,488 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces, with at least 5,281 wounded. UN data shows that the violence has claimed the life of nearly one Palestinian child every single day in this post-ceasefire period. To date, Israel’s military campaign in Gaza has killed more than 74,377 Palestinians and wounded over 175,398, with thousands more still missing and presumed dead under the rubble of destroyed buildings. Thousands of additional deaths have also been attributed to Israel’s ongoing blockade of critical medical aid and basic supplies into the enclave.

    The plan to deploy Moroccan and Kosovar troops to Gaza has already stirred intense controversy in both countries. Civil society organizations and academic communities in both nations have widely condemned the deployment, arguing that it amounts to aiding and abetting Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory.

    The Israeli government’s current leadership has openly pushed for policies that amount to ethnic cleansing of Gaza’s indigenous Palestinian population, with the goal of replacing existing Palestinian communities with exclusive Jewish settlements. Senior Israeli cabinet members, including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, have publicly advocated for policies designed to make daily life so unbearable for Palestinians that they have no option but to flee Gaza entirely.

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

  • Letters with ‘suspicious substances’ sent to US election offices

    Letters with ‘suspicious substances’ sent to US election offices

    Weeks before the critical U.S. midterm elections that will decide congressional power balance, federal law enforcement agencies have launched a full investigation into a wave of potentially hazardous suspicious mailings targeting election offices and congressional facilities across the country. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) confirmed Thursday that they are working to trace the origin of these suspicious packages, a number of which were successfully intercepted before reaching their intended destinations. While authorities have not released an official count of targeted locations, multiple state secretaries of state and congressional offices have publicly confirmed they were either targeted or received the suspicious correspondence.

    Several high-profile targeted locations have already been documented in initial reports. This week, both the Oklahoma State Election Board and the office of Louisiana’s secretary of state confirmed they received letters holding an unidentified white powder. In Louisiana, the entire office was evacuated on Tuesday after a staff member opened the package, but operations have since resumed after law enforcement testing ruled out any harmful substances. For Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, his office was marked as the intended recipient of a similar white-powder letter, but USPIS agents intercepted the package before it arrived. Connecticut Democratic Senator Chris Murphy also had a suspicious substance letter addressed to his office intercepted before delivery, according to his spokesperson.

    Emergency responder scanner feeds reviewed by the BBC further show that suspicious packages were also detected at the New York State Capitol in Albany and the Wyoming State Capitol in Cheyenne. This recent wave of security scares is not an isolated incident, but echoes a pattern of similar threats targeting U.S. election infrastructure in recent years. Ahead of the 2024 presidential election, election officials in 17 states received suspicious packages. Just one year prior, at least five states reported suspicious envelopes sent to election offices, some of which were laced with the deadly opioid fentanyl.

    In their official joint statement, the two investigating agencies reaffirmed their commitment to protecting democratic processes. “The FBI and the US Postal Inspection Service will continue to safeguard the public and secure elections for American citizens,” the statement read. As investigators work to identify the perpetrator or perpetrators behind the mailings, election officials across the country have heightened security protocols to prepare for the upcoming vote.

  • Sally Rooney’s books to be withdrawn from sale in UK over Palestine Action support

    Sally Rooney’s books to be withdrawn from sale in UK over Palestine Action support

    Bestselling Irish novelist Sally Rooney has had all her works pulled from distribution in the United Kingdom, after the author openly declared her continued support for Palestine Action — the direct action pro-Palestinian group that Keir Starmer’s Labour government outlawed as a terrorist organisation in July 2025. Under current UK counter-terrorism law, any individual or entity that provides material support to a proscribed group can be charged with a terrorism offence, a development that has forced Rooney and her UK-based publisher Faber & Faber to take the unprecedented step of removing her books from the British market.

    Rooney, whose works including *Normal People*, *Conversations With Friends*, and *Beautiful World* have topped UK bestseller lists and been adapted into hit BBC television series, confirmed the decision in a public statement Wednesday. She noted that while Palestine Action remains a legal, unproscribed organisation in her home country of the Republic of Ireland, she had publicly stated her intention to continue supporting the group with proceeds from her book sales — a move that would make continued distribution of her work in the UK a criminal violation for her publisher.

    “After a process of consultation and deliberation, and with my full agreement, my publisher Faber has therefore determined that it can no longer supply my work within the UK,” Rooney said. “I have made every effort to be honest with the public about my beliefs and intentions, and I am wholly prepared to accept the consequences.” This is not the first time Rooney has altered her plans over her pro-Palestinian advocacy: she canceled a September 2024 trip to England to accept a major literary award over fears she would be arrested on charges linked to her support for the group.

    Faber & Faber echoed Rooney’s statement, explaining that UK legislation leaves the press in an impossible position: current rules bar the publisher from passing any earnings from UK book sales to Rooney, given her stated support for the proscribed group. “To sell a writer’s work and not be able to pass on earnings is an unconscionable situation for a publisher,” the publisher said. “As such, and in full agreement with Sally, we have taken the decision that we can no longer supply her works in the UK in any format. We remain the proud publisher of her remarkable body of work, which we will continue to sell in other territories.”

    Palestine Action, the group at the center of the controversy, organizes non-violent direct action targeting companies that manufacture and supply weapons to Israel for use in the Gaza conflict. The Labour government’s proscription of the group criminalizes membership in or public support for Palestine Action, with violations carrying a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison. Since the ban went into effect, thousands of people across the UK have been arrested merely for displaying placards voicing support for the group, according to critics of the policy.

    The ban has faced widespread condemnation from human rights groups, who have labeled it an overly draconian restriction on free speech. Palestine Action co-founder Huda Ammori is currently appealing the UK Court of Appeal’s ruling that upheld the ban’s legality, with the case set to be heard by the UK Supreme Court later this year. Even senior members of the ruling Labour government have acknowledged the unforeseen harms of the policy: Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said last month that the government is reviewing whether the ban was politically prudent, admitting that officials never intended the proscription to lead to mass arrests of peaceful activists.

    “I don’t think anyone’s intent was to have those people criminalized, but obviously the Supreme Court has got to look at this issue, and obviously it’s something we keep looking at as government,” Miliband said.

    Amnesty International UK chief executive Kerry Moscogiuri warned that the removal of Rooney’s books sets a dangerous precedent for political expression in the UK. “Whatever one’s views on Palestine Action, we should all be concerned when laws intended to combat terrorism end up silencing artistic freedom and the ability to engage in peaceful political dissent,” Moscogiuri told *The Guardian*. “Writers should not find their books disappearing from shelves because of their political beliefs. Nor should people have to choose between expressing their conscience and pursuing their livelihoods. Sally Rooney’s willingness to accept the personal consequences of her convictions deserves recognition. There is a real danger that others, seeing the price she has paid, will decide they cannot afford to speak out.”

    Labour MP Ian Byrne, who voted against the proscription of Palestine Action, said the outcome for Rooney vindicates critics’ warnings about the ban’s authoritarian consequences. “When I voted against the proscription of Palestine Action, I and many others warned of the draconian consequences it would bring,” Byrne wrote on social platform X. “Since then, thousands have been arrested and criminalised simply for holding a sign. Now this injustice against one of the finest writers of her generation. An utterly disgraceful attack on freedom of expression. This ban must be overturned.”

  • What we know about the criminal investigation into US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar

    What we know about the criminal investigation into US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar

    In a stunning development that has roiled American politics just weeks before the November midterm elections, federal law enforcement agents executed a court-approved search warrant at the Washington D.C. home of Minnesota Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar this week as part of an ongoing federal criminal probe. The incident has immediately ignited fierce debate over the weaponization of law enforcement, political targeting, and the Justice Department’s longstanding precedent of avoiding high-profile actions against sitting candidates close to an election.

    Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents carried out the search on October 12, while Omar and her husband, Timothy Mynett, a former Democratic political consultant, were present at the residence. According to reporting from The Wall Street Journal, investigators seized multiple personal items from the home, including Omar’s cellphone, personal notebooks, laptop computers, and passport. Fox News later confirmed that investigators have since issued more than a dozen subpoenas to members of Omar’s extended family as the probe expands.

    While the Department of Justice has only confirmed the search is part of an active criminal investigation, multiple U.S. media outlets have outlined the core focus of the inquiry: Omar’s path to U.S. citizenship and potential misstatements made during her 1995 immigration application. Omar, who was born in Somalia and fled the country’s civil war with her family to a Kenyan refugee camp, entered the United States in 1995 and naturalized as a U.S. citizen in 2000. The investigation centers on unproven claims that Omar’s father, Nur Omar Mohamed, misstated her age on the immigration application—allegedly writing she was 17 instead of 18. If proven true, the discrepancy could have meant Omar was required to file a separate immigration application as an adult rather than being included on her father’s petition, laying the groundwork for a future denaturalization lawsuit.

    Additional scrutiny has also been placed on Omar’s marital history and financial disclosures. Former President Donald Trump and other Republican critics have repeatedly claimed Omar previously married her brother to fraudulently obtain citizenship, an accusation she has forcefully denied. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro has also confirmed her office is reviewing inconsistencies in Omar’s financial disclosures tied to her current marriage to Mynett.

    New reporting from the New York Post has further amplified questions about Omar’s family background, citing Oxford University doctoral researcher and historian Mohamed Haji Ingiriis, who claims Mohamed was never a working educator as Omar has stated. Instead, Ingiriis alleges Mohamed was a full colonel in the military regime of former Somali dictator Siad Barre, who seized power in a 1969 coup and oversaw widespread human rights abuses before being ousted in 1991. The report also claims Mohamed misrepresented himself as a refugee to gain entry to the U.S., a claim that has not been independently verified.

    Mynett has pushed back against all allegations, confirming Omar arrived in the U.S. at age 12 as a war refugee and saying he has “no concerns” about the validity of her citizenship. Omar herself has repeatedly denied all claims of wrongdoing, dismissing the entire investigation as a “complete sham” and a politically motivated attack.

    The search has already drawn sharp condemnation from Omar and her Democratic allies, who frame the raid as the latest escalation of a years-long smear campaign led by former President Donald Trump. Omar wrote on social media platform X following the search: “I’m ok. Make no mistake: this is an attempt to target political enemies and weaponize federal law enforcement. For ten years, Trump has targeted me with baseless lies and smear campaigns. I will not be silenced.”

    Trump, who has spent years attacking Omar publicly and repeatedly called for her deportation, has denied any involvement in the investigation. Speaking at a campaign rally in Ohio shortly after the raid, Trump claimed “I don’t know what they’re doing with it, but I can tell you this: she’s a disaster.” He went on to denigrate Somali immigrants living in the U.S. broadly, drawing chants of “deport” from the crowd in attendance.

    The investigation comes amid a broader shift in immigration enforcement during the Trump administration, which has prioritized the detention and deportation of undocumented immigrants and overseen a surge in denaturalization lawsuits, according to data from nonpartisan research group Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse. Denaturalization, the process of revoking citizenship from a naturalized American, requires the Justice Department to prove an applicant knowingly lied about a material fact during the application process, which matches the core questions being raised in Omar’s case.

    This is not the first time Republican lawmakers have sought to scrutinize Omar’s immigration records. Earlier this year, South Carolina Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace introduced a measure to subpoena Omar’s immigration records, which ultimately failed to pass. Many political observers have noted the probe’s timing violates longstanding Justice Department norms that avoid controversial law enforcement actions against sitting members of Congress within close proximity to a general election, a point that has further fueled claims of political bias from the left.

  • Maduro pleads not guilty to new torture-related charges in New York

    Maduro pleads not guilty to new torture-related charges in New York

    In a high-profile court hearing held in New York federal court on Thursday, ousted Venezuelan former president Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores formally entered not guilty pleas to newly added charges of conspiracy to commit torture. The proceeding marks the latest development in a long-running legal confrontation between the U.S. government and the former Venezuelan leadership, which has sparked heated debates over international law and sovereign immunity.

    The U.S. Department of Justice first brought charges against Maduro in connection with alleged narco-terrorism, large-scale drug trafficking, and weapons-related criminal activity. Last week, federal prosecutors expanded the indictment to include the new torture conspiracy charges against both Maduro and Flores, bringing the couple back into the courtroom for this latest hearing.

    Maduro and Flores were detained back in January during a U.S. military operation, after which they were transferred to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York, where they have remained in custody ever since. During Thursday’s hearing, both defendants repeatedly rejected the allegations leveled against them. Speaking through a court translator, Maduro dismissed the charges as fabricated, telling the court “I deny the false accusations and false testimony behind me” before adding “I reject this document entirely.” When Maduro continued his remarks beyond standard plea procedure, presiding judge Alvin Hellerstein interrupted the former leader and formally entered a not guilty plea on his behalf. Flores also asserted her innocence through a translator, stating clearly “I am completely innocent. I am not guilty.”

    Observers noted that both Maduro and Flores wore standard beige jail uniforms for the hearing, and appeared to have experienced noticeable weight loss during their months in detention at the Brooklyn facility. The new 10-count indictment outlines brutal, systematic abuses allegedly orchestrated by the pair, saying they built and sustained a violent repressive apparatus that targeted thousands of Venezuelan citizens. Prosecutors claim documented torture methods used in the system included electric shock, asphyxiation, sexual violence, forced nudity, prolonged solitary confinement, starvation, abusive placement in punishment cells, and systematic psychological torture. The indictment further alleges that Maduro personally authorized torture against specific targeted individuals, and that a number of U.S. citizens were victimized under this repressive system.

    Long before the new torture charges were added, federal prosecutors had already accused Maduro, Flores, their son, and a network of alleged associates of running a large-scale cocaine trafficking conspiracy, and of forming criminal partnerships with drug cartels that the U.S. has designated as foreign terrorist organizations. Maduro has long framed all U.S. charges against him as a cynical political tool designed to advance what he calls “imperial” ambitions to seize control of Venezuela’s vast, untapped oil reserves.

    A core legal argument from the defense centers on the question of sovereign immunity. Maduro’s legal team has insisted that he was the sitting head of a sovereign Venezuelan government at the time of his detention, making him immune from prosecution in U.S. courts. The defense has also repeatedly argued that the United States’ use of military force to capture Maduro on foreign territory violates fundamental international law, and has called for the entire case to be dismissed entirely.

    Flores had previously filed a motion seeking to be released on bond ahead of the scheduled trial, citing preexisting heart conditions and other unaddressed health issues that she claims have worsened during her detention at the notoriously overcrowded and harsh Metropolitan Detention Center. That motion was ultimately rejected by the court. Currently, the trial for Maduro and Flores is scheduled to commence in June 2025, and legal analysts expect the case to involve months of complex pre-trial arguments over jurisdiction, immunity, and the admissibility of evidence before proceedings get underway.

  • Iraqi Kurds suggest peace process between Iran and Iranian Kurdish opposition

    Iraqi Kurds suggest peace process between Iran and Iranian Kurdish opposition

    Against a backdrop of repeated cross-border drone and missile strikes that have left dozens dead and put Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan Region on edge, a top Iraqi Kurdish political leader has publicly revealed ongoing negotiations with Tehran to broker a peace deal between Iran and exiled Iranian Kurdish opposition groups, a move that has caught the opposition off guard and drawn on a history of fraught, often deadly past talks.

    Bafel Talabani, leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), one of the major political blocs in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, announced the proposal Monday during the annual Middle East Research Institute (MERI) forum held in northern Iraq. Talabani drew a direct parallel between the proposed process and the landmark peace dialogue launched in October 2024 between the Turkish government and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a decades-long insurgent group. Under that existing Turkish framework, the PKK would disband in exchange for expanded constitutional rights and the release of its imprisoned long-time leader Abdullah Ocalan.

    Talabani confirmed that the proposal had already been thoroughly discussed with senior Iranian officials during an official visit to Tehran last month, where he met with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on September 16. Official readouts released by Iran’s foreign ministry following the meeting made no mention of a peace process, however; Araghchi only emphasized the need to deepen bilateral security cooperation to secure the shared Iran-Iraq border in line with existing bilateral agreements.

    Reactions from Iranian Kurdish opposition groups, most of which have maintained a decades-long armed and political exile in Iraqi Kurdistan since the 1980s, have ranged from complete ignorance of the talks to outright skepticism. Multiple groups contacted by Middle East Eye either declined to comment or stated they had received no formal offer of dialogue from either Tehran or Iraqi Kurdish mediators. “At present, there is neither any groundwork for dialogue between the Kurdish nation and Iran nor any indication that such dialogue is forthcoming,” a senior source with the Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK) told Middle East Eye, adding that the opposition would not fall for what he called Tehran’s deceptive political maneuvering and false promises.

    Fariba Mohammadi, deputy secretary of the left-wing Komala Party, echoed that sentiment, confirming Komala had also received no outreach regarding a potential peace process. “Establishing the conditions for dialogue with a regime that has spent nearly half a century violating Kurdish rights, militarising Kurdistan, and executing thousands of young Kurds may not be easy,” Mohammadi said, though he stressed that the opposition has never rejected dialogue as a tool of political struggle.

    The push for a negotiated settlement comes amid a rapidly shifting security landscape in northern Iraq. In late September, the U.S.-led anti-ISIS coalition withdrew its military presence from the region, leaving Iraqi Kurdish forces without dedicated air defense capabilities. Since that withdrawal, Iran has launched three separate drone strikes targeting Iranian Kurdish opposition positions in Iraqi Kurdistan, including one strike that coincided with the MERI forum itself. This escalation follows a long-standing pattern: Iran has repeatedly blamed exiled Iranian Kurdish opposition groups for inciting the 2022 “Woman, Life, Freedom” nationwide protests, and carried out widespread cross-border strikes targeting the groups throughout the recent period of heightened regional tension, which killed 32 people, 19 of them opposition members.

    Back in March 2023, Baghdad and Tehran signed a bilateral security agreement requiring Iraq to push exiled opposition groups back from the shared border and disarm them. Multiple regional reports, including from Rudaw, confirm that senior officials from Iraq, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), and Iran are scheduled to meet this coming Monday to discuss the future of the opposition presence in Iraqi Kurdistan.

    KRG President Nechirvan Barzani also addressed the topic during the MERI forum, confirming that the status of Iranian Kurdish opposition has been a permanent fixture in all of the KRG’s diplomatic meetings with Tehran. Barzani, however, publicly criticized the opposition for what he called highly irresponsible actions during the recent period of regional conflict, saying their public statements and social media activity gave the impression an incursion into Iran was imminent, unnecessarily exposing the Kurdistan Region to devastating retaliatory attacks. He added that the PUK and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), the KRG’s two ruling parties, had prevented any such escalation by deploying military forces to seal the border from the first day of heightened tensions.

    This is not the first time Iran has attempted to negotiate with exiled Kurdish opposition groups, and the history of these talks has been marked by violence and failure. In 1989, Abdul Rahman Ghassemlou, leader of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI), was assassinated by Iranian agents during peace talks in Vienna. Three years later, PDKI’s subsequent leader Sadegh Sharafkandi was also assassinated by Iranian operatives in Berlin during a new round of negotiations. More recently, a 2011 ceasefire agreement was reached between the PKK-affiliated Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK) and Tehran: PJAK agreed to halt armed attacks in exchange for Iran ending the execution of Kurdish political prisoners. In 2019, a fourth round of talks facilitated by a Norwegian conflict resolution organization in Oslo between four major Iranian Kurdish opposition factions and Iran collapsed, with opposition sources blaming Iran for refusing to make meaningful concessions.

    Shamal Bishir, a Stockholm-based Iranian Kurdish analyst and former head of external relations for PJAK, noted that Barzani previously served as a mediator between the opposition and Tehran back in 2011. Bishir added that the trajectory of any new talks will largely depend on the outcome of the ongoing peace process between Turkey and the PKK. Bishir said there are already indications that Ocalan has discussed the prospect of a similar process with Iran with delegates from Turkey’s Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), and has suggested Talabani and Barzani mediate talks between PJAK and Tehran. “If Ocalan gives his approval, I believe PJAK could take the lead in pursuing such a process,” Bishir said. DEM Party co-chair Tuncer Bakirhan echoed that logic during the MERI forum, saying Iran could resolve its long-running Kurdish conflict if it follows the same path Turkey has taken.

    Still, analysts and opposition figures warn that any Iranian peace process will face far greater structural hurdles than the Turkish process. Jabar Yawar, former secretary general of the KRG’s Ministry of Peshmerga, pointed out that unlike Turkey, which only negotiates with a single main group (the PKK), Iran faces a fragmented opposition landscape with multiple distinct groups including PJAK, Komala, PDKI, PAK and others. While five of the largest groups formed the Coalition of Political Forces of Iranian Kurdistan earlier this year, Yawar noted that the groups hold deep ideological and strategic differences on the question of talks with Tehran, meaning there is no single unified negotiating partner for Iran. Even if PJAK enters talks independently, that could split the newly formed opposition coalition, Yawar added.

    Mohammed A Salih, a Kurdistan expert and non-resident senior fellow at the U.S.-based Foreign Policy Research Institute, says the ball is now entirely in Tehran’s court to prove its good faith. “Kurdish political demands are neither new nor particularly ambiguous. They include recognition of Kurdish linguistic and cultural rights, the freedom to engage in political activity and peaceful assembly, and some degree of meaningful self-governance,” Salih explained. “If Tehran demonstrates a genuine willingness to accommodate these demands and creates credible conditions for political engagement, there would certainly be grounds for cautious optimism.”

  • Trump calls off livestream of Fort Hood attacker’s execution by firing squad

    Trump calls off livestream of Fort Hood attacker’s execution by firing squad

    In a dramatic reversal of his earlier position, U.S. President Donald Trump has scrapped a controversial plan to livestream the upcoming firing squad execution of Nidal Hasan, the former Army psychiatrist responsible for one of the deadliest attacks on American soil in modern military history. The decision comes after weeks of widespread condemnation from human rights organizations, global leaders, and even members of Trump’s own administration over the unprecedented proposal to broadcast a military execution to the public.

    Hasan’s execution, scheduled for December 3, 2026, marks the first military execution in the United States in more than 60 years. He was convicted for the November 5, 2009, mass shooting at Fort Hood, Texas, that left 13 unarmed U.S. soldiers dead and 32 others injured. The attack unfolded in a crowded medical facility where deploying troops were waiting for routine check-ups and vaccinations, shocking the nation and prompting a years-long legal process that has now culminated in a scheduled death sentence.

    Initial plans put forward by Pentagon leadership included a public livestream of the execution, a proposal that was immediately met with fierce pushback. The United Nations labeled the idea “abhorrent,” while human rights groups pointed out that public executions are extremely rare globally, with only two countries — Iran and Afghanistan — carrying out documented public executions in 2025, according to Amnesty International data.

    President Trump initially voiced support for the livestream, arguing that it would serve as a powerful deterrent to terrorist actors by demonstrating how America handles violent extremists. “I think streaming the execution for all to see might have been a strong deterrent for the World to witness how America deals with Terrorists and SCUM like Hasan,” Trump wrote in a public statement Thursday. But after acknowledging broad opposition from across the political spectrum and global community, Trump walked back the plan, confirming that “He will die, as scheduled, by firing squad, but this event will not be streamed.”

    Trump did note that families of Hasan’s victims will still be allowed to attend the execution in person if they choose, adding “They deserve to witness JUSTICE!”

    The proposal split the administration early on. Vice President JD Vance cast public doubt on whether the livestream would ever happen, saying he would not watch it personally. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth initially defended the plan, arguing that the public needed to see the serious consequences of extremist violence against service members. As criticism mounted, Trump appeared to hedge his support last week, saying he “absolutely” approved of the idea but that the Pentagon would make the final determination.

    Hasan’s legal team has long pushed back against the livestream plan, calling it a violation of Army regulations and a public relations stunt that has left a permanent stain on the U.S. military justice system. John Galligan, one of Hasan’s attorneys, told the BBC that Trump’s reversal “comes as no surprise.” Galligan argued that the initial decision by Hegseth to approve the livestream was “dumb” from the start, and violated existing Army rules governing executions. He also noted that Hasan has been paralyzed from the chest down, a detail he claims Trump “allegedly didn’t even know” when he first backed the plan.

    “The damage has already been done – the Army is now just trying to clean up the mess,” Galligan said. “It will permanently remain a stain on our military justice system.” Galligan added that it was unclear whether Hasan had been informed of Trump’s decision to reverse the livestream plan as of Thursday.

    During his 2013 court-martial, Hasan openly admitted he was the gunman and told the court he carried out the attack to protect Muslims and the Taliban in Afghanistan from U.S. military operations. Under U.S. military law, any military execution requires presidential approval and appellate review by a higher court to confirm the legality of the sentence before it can be carried out. The scheduled 2026 execution has already gone through all required legal processes, meaning Hasan’s death sentence will proceed as planned regardless of the livestream cancellation.

  • Investigation launched after male body found in County Cork

    Investigation launched after male body found in County Cork

    Irish national police, Gardaí, have opened a full criminal investigation following the discovery of an unidentified man’s body in the County Cork town of Mallow this Thursday. The grim find was made around 1:30 p.m. local time in the Ballyellis area of the town, according to official police statements. Local public broadcaster RTÉ first reported details of the case, confirming the deceased bore visible injuries when he was found. The body was located by members of the public who were using a public walking path that runs along the banks of the River Blackwater, RTÉ added. Forensic teams have left the body undisturbed at the discovery site to preserve all potential evidence ahead of official forensic testing. Investigators have established a dedicated incident command room at Mallow Garda Station to coordinate the probe, and a post-mortem examination has been scheduled to help detectives clarify the cause of death and guide the next steps of their inquiry. As of Thursday evening, authorities had not released any further details about the identity of the deceased or potential persons of interest connected to the case.

  • School headscarf ban sparks rare protests in Azerbaijan and row with Turkey

    School headscarf ban sparks rare protests in Azerbaijan and row with Turkey

    A rare wave of public dissent has swept across Azerbaijan after the government introduced new school uniform rules that bar Muslim girls wearing Islamic headscarves, or hijabs, from entering state classrooms, triggering widespread pushback that has now strained Baku’s long-standing alliance with Turkey.

    The controversy began on October 14, when Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Education began enforcing new uniform regulations approved in late September. The rules ban any clothing that violates the country’s constitutionally mandated secular principles for public education. While the hijab is not explicitly named in the text, enforcement has focused exclusively on turning away female students who wear the religious head covering. Similar restrictions were extended to teachers in early October.

    Footage captured at a Baku school entrance shows a teenage girl in a navy blue hijab confronting a school staff member, asking: “You are telling me, I can’t come to school? Why should I have to give up my religion?” The video, shared widely across Azerbaijani social media, shows a group of fellow hijab-wearing students standing behind her applauding her challenge. Protests quickly erupted outside state schools in the capital Baku, as well as several southern districts including Masally and Jalilabad, concentrated mostly in religiously conservative neighborhoods near the Iranian border.

    Public demonstrations are uncommon in Azerbaijan, a country of 10.5 million people rich in oil and gas reserves, where President Ilham Aliyev has held power since 2003 and tolerates almost no public dissent. The government has a long track record of detaining opposition politicians and independent journalists, and strictly enforces the country’s secular constitutional order.

    Azerbaijan’s geographic and geopolitical position puts it between two powerful neighbors: Turkey, its closest political and military ally, and Iran, which shares a 765-kilometer southern border with Baku. While Azerbaijanis are a Turkic-speaking people with deep cultural ties to Turkey, more than 60% of the population identifies as Shia Muslim, matching the religious identity of majority-Iran.

    Since the protests began, authorities have moved quickly to crack down on demonstrators. Azerbaijan’s Interior Ministry confirmed it had detained 37 people by Monday on charges of obstructing the new rules and “grossly violating public order.” Shahiza Huseynova, a mother who joined protests outside a school in Baku’s Mashtaga district, was detained on Tuesday. In an interview with German-based independent Azerbaijani outlet Meydan TV, Huseynova’s husband Agha said she was given an explicit ultimatum: “Either you take off your child’s hijab and send them to school, or you go to prison.”

    Authorities have also targeted activists organizing alternative support for barred students. On Tuesday, activist Ilkin Huseynov launched an online platform called “Let Leyli Go to School,” which connected students barred from class with volunteer teachers offering free lessons. But on Wednesday afternoon, Huseynov left his Baku home with a group of unidentified men and has not been heard from since; his phone remains switched off, and the platform’s Instagram page was taken down by Thursday. Azerbaijani internet users have also reported being blocked from accessing Instagram and TikTok without a virtual private network, a common tactic Baku uses to restrict access to protest content.

    Azerbaijani officials have defended the new rules, framing the ban as a defense of secular education. “A child has no freedom to choose a religion. This is a conscious prerogative of adults,” ruling party MP Nigar Arpadarai told local outlet 1news.az, arguing that children were being pressured by their families to wear hijabs rather than choosing them of their own free will.

    In recent days, the dispute has spilled across the border into Turkey, creating an unprecedented rift between the two closest allies, who describe their relationship as “one nation, two states.” Turkey provided critical military support to Azerbaijan during its 2020 war with Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, but Ankara has emerged as the most vocal critic of Baku’s hijab ban.

    Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, a devout Muslim who has campaigned on building a “pious generation” in Turkey, has seen senior members of his ruling AK Party publicly condemn the restrictions. Oktay Saral, Erdoğan’s chief adviser, called the Azerbaijani policy “unacceptable” and urged Baku to “reverse this mistake” in a post on X, writing: “A headscarf is not an obstacle; it is a requirement of one’s faith!” Several AK Party MPs joined in the criticism.

    Small demonstrations have also been organized outside Azerbaijan’s embassy in Ankara and consulate in Istanbul by Turkish Islamist groups. Azerbaijan’s ruling New Azerbaijan Party has hit back, accusing Turkish officials of waging an “openly defamatory” information campaign based on “baseless accusations” and warning that Saral’s comments risk damaging bilateral ties. Baku has repeatedly cautioned Ankara against interfering in its internal affairs, with Aliyev himself saying earlier this month that no one should “stick their noses into our way of life.”

    Geopolitical friction adds another layer of tension to the dispute. Turkish protesters have linked Azerbaijan’s strict enforcement of the hijab ban to Baku’s close diplomatic and economic ties with Israel, which purchases Azerbaijani oil and sells Baku advanced weaponry. Turkey’s own relations with Israel have collapsed in recent weeks over the ongoing conflict in Gaza, leaving Azerbaijan caught in the middle as it tries to maintain good relations with both countries. This delicate balancing act was on display Thursday, when Israeli President Isaac Herzog addressed a regional security summit hosted in Baku – delegations from Turkey, Iran and several other countries walked out of the hall in protest.

    Azerbaijan has long been wary of growing religious influence from Iran, where a larger ethnic Azerbaijani population lives than in Azerbaijan itself. Earlier this week, a pro-Iranian hacker group calling itself the 313 Team (Cyber Islamic Resistance) claimed responsibility for a cyberattack that took down more than 100 Azerbaijani state websites.

  • Man with suitcase full of snakes stopped at German airport

    Man with suitcase full of snakes stopped at German airport

    In a startling bust at Germany’s Cologne Bonn Airport, customs officials have foiled an attempt to smuggle more than 90 wild reptiles — including dozens of live venomous snakes — into the country, uncovering a grim case of illegal wildlife trafficking that has highlighted ongoing gaps in global border enforcement of protected species laws.

    The smuggler, a 45-year-old Mexican national working as a firefighter, first drew the attention of border agents when he behaved oddly while approaching the airport’s green exit lane, reserved for travelers with no goods to declare. Officers noted he appeared conspicuously nervous, prompting them to pull him aside for additional screening. A preliminary drug test returned a positive result for cocaine, leading authorities to conduct a full search of his checked luggage — but what they found inside was not narcotics, but a hidden cache of protected wildlife.

    Customs investigators discovered vipers, rattlesnakes, iguanas and dozens of other lizard and snake species crammed into tiny, unsuitable containers: the reptiles were tucked inside empty shampoo and lotion bottles, small plastic canisters, and wrapped tightly inside bundles of cotton socks. According to Jens Ahland, a spokesperson for the Cologne regional customs office, airport teams are accustomed to seeing unusual souvenirs in checked baggage, but this seizure was unprecedented. “My colleagues at the airport are used to a lot when it comes to souvenirs in suitcases, but we’ve never had 37 live venomous snakes and 55 lizards from Mexico before,” Ahland confirmed in a statement Wednesday.

    Many of the trafficked reptiles were kept in shockingly inhumane conditions during their long journey from Mexico City, which routed through Istanbul before reaching Germany. A number of the animals did not survive the trip, Ahland said, dying from dehydration, overheating or starvation mid-transit. The surviving reptiles have since been removed from the smuggler’s luggage and transferred to a licensed German snake farm, where they are receiving specialized care to recover from their ordeal.

    Questioned by authorities after the seizure, the unnamed smuggler claimed he was only transporting the reptiles as a favor to an acquaintance from Brazil, and did not have personal plans to sell the animals on the black market. German authorities denied the man entry into the country immediately after the incident, and put him on a return flight back to Istanbul, his last point of departure before arriving in Germany.

    This bust is far from an isolated incident in Germany, according to national customs data. Ahland noted that over the past year alone, German customs officers seized more than 1,300 shipments of illegally trafficked protected wildlife and wildlife products across the country, totaling more than 56,600 individual endangered or protected specimens. This is also not the first time a large reptile smuggling ring has been broken at Cologne Bonn Airport: six years prior, customs teams discovered 26 rare reptiles (10 of which were already dead) hidden inside toy and candy parcels shipped from Mexico, destined for private reptile collectors in Germany.

    Illegal wildlife trafficking is a multibillion-dollar global criminal enterprise, and reptiles are among the most commonly trafficked animal groups, driven by high demand from private exotic pet collectors across Europe and North America. Many trafficked reptiles are captured from wild populations, threatening vulnerable ecosystems and endangered species, and nearly all are transported in cruel, unsanitary conditions that result in high mortality rates before they ever reach buyers.