Global Pulse

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  • World ski president Eliasch loses election by one vote and alleges IOC influence

    World ski president Eliasch loses election by one vote and alleges IOC influence

    BELGRADE, Serbia — In a stunning upset that has sent ripples through global winter sports, longtime International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) president Johan Eliasch has been removed from his post by a razor-thin one-vote margin, capping a chaotic campaign that pitted the incumbent against a coalition of traditional skiing powerhouses and elite athletes.

    The Thursday election ended with Alexander Ospelt, a little-known lawyer from the Alpine principality of Liechtenstein, securing a 65-64 victory over Eliasch, a Swedish-British billionaire and owner of global sports equipment brand Head. Ospelt will now take the helm of FIS for a four-year term, after the vote went his way at the governing body’s general congress held in the Serbian capital.

    For Eliasch, the defeat comes with an additional high-profile consequence: he immediately loses his seat in the International Olympic Committee (IOC), one of the most exclusive and influential bodies in global sport. The 64-year-old, who served as FIS president for five years, had previously run for IOC presidency 15 months ago, a race ultimately won by Kirsty Coventry.

    In his immediate concession address, Eliasch made a bombshell allegation against the IOC, claiming the Olympic governing body had interfered to sway the election result. “The IOC tried to influence the outcome of today’s vote. Against this we must stay firm,” he told delegates, before urging FIS to defend its institutional independence and extending congratulations to his opponent.

    The writing was on the wall for Eliasch from the opening moments of the FIS congress, as delegates moved quickly to signal their dissatisfaction with his leadership. By an 88% majority, members voted to rearrange the official agenda and advance the presidential election to the first order of business, an unusual move that reflected widespread discontent. Later, another 60% vote approved a shift from electronic voting to paper ballots, a change widely interpreted as a vote of no confidence in Eliasch’s outgoing administration over transparency concerns.

    Unlike international soccer governing body FIFA’s one-member-one-vote system, FIS uses a weighted voting framework that grants larger, more established skiing nations two or three votes apiece. That structure worked against Eliasch, who had spent half a decade locked in bitter public disputes with the sport’s traditional heartland nations in Europe and North America over his autocratic management style and controversial decisions around spending FIS’s cash reserves.

    Even his home national federations of Sweden and Great Britain refused to back his re-election bid. To comply with FIS nomination rules, Eliasch ultimately secured a nomination and citizenship from Georgia to appear on the ballot. His campaign was opposed by a coalition of leading winter sports nations that secured the backing of many top professional skiers, including American skiing legend Mikaela Shiffrin, one of the most decorated athletes in the sport’s history.

    Under FIS bylaws, Ospelt will not officially take office until one full day after the election, allowing Eliasch to oversee the remaining congress business on his final day in the role. Framing the outcome as a positive result either way in pre-election comments, Eliasch struck a measured tone in his closing remarks. “It’s been a great privilege to serve you,” he said. “Either way I am very happy,” adding that a loss would let him “get my life back.”

    Ospelt, who has served as a member of the FIS Council under Eliasch’s leadership, struck a unifying tone in his first remarks as president-elect. “I will start my new job with great joy and humility,” he said. “I will be the president for all of you. Let’s be united.”

    Unlike his predecessor, Ospelt will not automatically gain IOC membership immediately after taking office. However, as the head of FIS — the governing body that oversees roughly half of all medal events at every Winter Olympic Games — he is widely expected to receive an invitation to join the IOC in due course.

  • A mass funeral is held for 22 Pakistani soldiers who died in a helicopter crash in Kashmir

    A mass funeral is held for 22 Pakistani soldiers who died in a helicopter crash in Kashmir

    On Thursday, Pakistani officials confirmed that rescuers have recovered the remains of all 22 service members who were on board a military helicopter that crashed in Pakistan-administered Kashmir one day earlier, bringing a tragic end to search operations and verifying that there were no survivors from the incident. Senior political and military leaders joined a mass funeral service for the fallen troops in the regional capital of Muzaffarabad, where the crash took place.

    Initial assessments from Pakistan’s military indicate that the crash was likely caused by a technical malfunction, though a full formal investigation is still ongoing to pinpoint the exact root cause of the accident. An Associated Press journalist on site at the funeral counted 22 coffins, each covered with the national flag of Pakistan, honoring the deceased personnel.

    Witnesses and local administrative officials confirmed that all remains were pulled from the heavily charred wreckage of the downed aircraft. Two unnamed security officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity as they lacked authorization to share details publicly, confirmed the ranks of the deceased include one colonel and two majors.

    The helicopter was en route to deploy personnel for security assignments ahead of a planned protest march on Muzaffarabad organized by the Joint Awami Action Committee, an alliance of regional groups that was recently banned by authorities. To date, however, officials have not found or announced any link between the planned protest action and the crash itself.

    Regional tensions have been elevated across Pakistan-administered Kashmir since earlier that weekend, when members of another outlawed extremist group carried out targeted attacks against police and security forces, leaving four law enforcement officers dead. In response to the rising unrest, Pakistan has deployed additional security detachments across the region to maintain public order.

    Military aviation accidents are not an uncommon occurrence in Pakistan, where rugged mountain terrain and challenging weather conditions often increase operational risks for military flights. In a separate incident just months prior in September 2024, an army helicopter conducting a routine training flight crashed in the mountainous northern region of the country, killing all five people on board — two pilots and three technical crew members.

  • Iran warns Mideast truce ‘practically meaningless’ after US strikes

    Iran warns Mideast truce ‘practically meaningless’ after US strikes

    A new cycle of tit-for-tat military strikes between the United States and Iran has collapsed months of fragile ceasefire efforts in the Middle East, pushing the region to the brink of a wider full-scale conflict and raising alarm over global energy security at the Strait of Hormuz.

    The current round of unrest traces back to a three-month conflict that erupted on February 28, when a joint strike operation by the U.S. and Israel targeted Iranian positions. A ceasefire agreement brokered in April paused large-scale hostilities, but attempts to negotiate a permanent peace deal have repeatedly stalled. Sporadic cross-fire has kept the truce on the edge of collapse for weeks, until the latest escalation that broke the fragile calm.

    The latest confrontation began Wednesday, when U.S. President Donald Trump—who had repeatedly claimed a peace deal with Iran was within reach—accused Tehran of “playing us for suckers” and warned it would face consequences. Hours later, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed it launched a second consecutive day of strikes early Thursday, deploying dozens of Tomahawk cruise missiles to hit Iranian surveillance, communications, and air defense facilities across the country. Iranian state media reported multiple explosions across southern Iran, with at least three civilians wounded in Tehran province.

    Tehran quickly responded with what its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps called a “punitive operation.” Iran targeted a U.S. military base in Jordan, while multiple Gulf states reported incoming hostile fire. Jordan’s military announced it shot down 20 Iranian missiles, and Kuwait’s air defense forces engaged and intercepted unidentified aerial targets. In Bahrain, which hosts a major U.S. naval base, falling debris from the attacks injured an 11-year-old girl and damaged multiple residential properties and vehicles, with Bahrain condemning the attack as “sinful Iranian aggression.”

    In the wake of the U.S. strikes, Iran’s foreign ministry issued a sharp rebuke, stating that the illegal U.S. attacks are not only a blatant violation of international law and Iranian sovereignty, but have also rendered the April truce “practically meaningless.” U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth doubled down on Washington’s hardline stance, telling reporters that if ordered by President Trump, “we’ll negotiate with bombs.” He also confirmed the strikes could extend into a third consecutive night, promising future attacks would be strong and unambiguous. Fox News reported Trump threatened that if Iran refuses to accept U.S. peace terms, “We’ll bomb the S out of them tomorrow night.” Iranian officials quickly denied Fox’s report that Iranian leadership had called Trump directly amid the bombing, calling the claim completely false.

    The escalation has also put global energy supplies at direct risk. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard aerospace force commander Majid Mousavi warned in a social media post that if the U.S. makes the Strait of Hormuz—one of the world’s most critical chokepoints for global oil and natural gas transport—unsafe, “We will make the region hell for you.” Iranian military officials claimed the waterway is now “completely closed” and all commercial vessel traffic would be targeted, and confirmed Iranian forces had already struck two civilian ships attempting to transit the strait. CENTCOM pushed back on the claim, stating late Thursday that commercial shipping continued to move through the strait normally.

    The escalation has already claimed civilian lives beyond Iran and the Gulf. On Thursday, India’s shipping minister confirmed that three Indian civilian sailors were killed Wednesday when the U.S. struck the commercial vessel MT Settebello off the coast of Oman. India’s foreign ministry summoned a senior U.S. diplomat in New Delhi to lodge a formal strong protest over the incident.

    Despite the sharp escalation, regional mediators have not abandoned diplomatic efforts. A Qatari delegation was actually in Tehran holding talks when the U.S. strikes began, with a diplomatic source confirming the discussions were held “in coordination with the United States.” The Qatari team only departed Tehran after talks that extended into the early hours of Thursday morning. Pakistan, which co-mediates talks alongside Qatar and hosted the first round of direct negotiations between the two sides, said it has not completely lost hope for a negotiated solution. Still, Pakistani foreign ministry spokesman Tahir Andrabi acknowledged that “It is hard to be an optimist in the new exchange of hostilities.”

    International powers have called for an immediate de-escalation. Saudi Arabia, which faced Iranian attacks earlier in the conflict, issued a statement Thursday calling for renewed negotiations under the mediation of Pakistan and Qatar. China, Iran’s largest crude oil customer, also urged an immediate end to all military operations. “We call on relevant parties to immediately cease military operations, respond to the mediation efforts of relevant countries, and achieve a comprehensive and lasting ceasefire,” a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said Thursday.

  • Nearly 118 million people were displaced by conflict and persecution last year, UN says

    Nearly 118 million people were displaced by conflict and persecution last year, UN says

    In its 2025 annual Global Trends Report released Thursday, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has delivered a mixed update on the global forced displacement crisis: for the first time in 10 years, the total number of people displaced by conflict, violence and persecution has declined — yet the overall figure remains at a devastatingly high level that demands urgent global action.

    By the end of 2025, the global count of forcibly displaced people stood at 117.8 million, encompassing refugees, asylum seekers, internally displaced persons (IDPs) and other groups requiring international protection. Tarek Abou Chabake, UNHCR’s chief statistician, outlined two key drivers behind the historic drop: a rise in the number of people returning to their regions of origin, and growing numbers of refugees gaining citizenship in their host countries. Even with this milestone decline, UNHCR leadership stressed that the scale of displacement is far too high to ignore, with ongoing conflicts continuing to uproot millions of vulnerable people globally.

    Breaking down the report’s key demographic and geographic data, children made up 39% of the world’s 41.6 million total refugee population in 2025. While Colombia, Germany and Turkey each hosted more than 2 million refugees, the vast majority of the global refugee population resides in low- and middle-income nations. Even with a 3% drop from 2024 levels, 5.4 million people crossed international borders in 2025 to seek safety from persecution and violence.

    A deeply concerning long-term trend highlighted in the report is the persistence of protracted displacement: seven out of every 10 refugees worldwide have lived in exile for five years or more, many trapped in overcrowded, under-resourced camps in low-income countries. “Humanitarian assistance has saved lives,” said UNHCR High Commissioner Barham Salih. “But it was never intended to sustain generations of people indefinitely.” To address this systemic issue, UNHCR has set a target to cut by half the number of refugees in protracted displacement who rely on humanitarian aid by 2035.

    IDPs make up the largest single segment of the displaced population, totaling 68.7 million globally in 2025. The ongoing conflict in Sudan drove the world’s largest single new wave of displacement, pushing 9.1 million people to flee their homes within the country. Colombia, Syria, Yemen and Afghanistan follow Sudan with some of the world’s largest IDP populations.

    Looking ahead to 2026, projections offer little reason for optimism. Following the outbreak of conflict in Iran in February 2026, 3.2 million Iranians had been internally displaced by March, and an additional 1 million people were displaced within Lebanon by mid-May. “This is truly unacceptable and we must make sure this doesn’t become a new normal,” Salih emphasized.

    The report also tracked returns of displaced people in 2025: 4.4 million refugees returned to their home countries, the second-highest annual number since UNHCR began record-keeping six decades ago. Ninety percent of these returns were concentrated in just three nations: Syria, Afghanistan and Sudan. An additional 10.3 million IDPs also returned to their regions of origin last year. But Salih issued a stark warning that many returns were not voluntary, with returnees facing a lack of basic infrastructure and livable conditions to rebuild their lives. “Voluntary returns to post-conflict Syria and returns under pressure to Afghanistan are not the same thing,” he noted.

    Statelessness remains another unresolved crisis, with 4.5 million people around the world currently lacking citizenship of any nation. Myanmar’s Rohingya community make up the largest single stateless group, with most stateless people residing in Bangladesh, Ivory Coast, Thailand and Myanmar. Just 46,000 stateless people gained citizenship in 2025, a tiny fraction of the total population in need of this legal status.

    Finally, the report highlighted steep cuts to global refugee resettlement: only 82,000 refugees were resettled to new host countries in 2025, down sharply from 188,000 in 2024. Salih noted that this number represents only a tiny fraction of the millions of refugees in need of resettlement, and urged national governments to expand legal pathways for refugee relocation. “Every dangerous sea crossing and every death in the desert represents a failure of the international community,” Salih said. “The human cost of the failure is measured not with statistics but with lives.”

  • Ryanair investigated over charging parents to sit with children

    Ryanair investigated over charging parents to sit with children

    The UK’s top competition regulator has opened a formal probe into budget airline giant Ryanair over its policy of charging parents additional fees to sit alongside their children during flights, triggering a fierce public pushback from the carrier that has labeled the inquiry politically motivated and groundless.

    The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the body responsible for enforcing UK consumer and competition rules, confirmed this month that it is examining whether Ryanair’s standard seat charges—an average of £8 per passenger per one-way trip—violate existing consumer protection legislation. Under Ryanair’s current terms of service, adult passengers traveling with children between the ages of 2 and 11 are required to reserve a paid “mandatory family seat” to sit with their minor travel companions, aligning with the airline’s own policy that requires guardians to be seated next to young children for the duration of a flight.

    A core focus of the CMA’s inquiry is whether Ryanair is wrongfully charging passengers to meet pre-existing safety and accessibility obligations laid out in global and UK aviation regulations. Regulators also noted that Ryanair stands out among major airlines operating out of UK airports as the only carrier that imposes these mandatory charges for family seating. Most other major airlines either automatically assign adjacent seats to families at no extra cost during the booking process or allow guardians to select seats next to children without charging additional fees.

    Ryanair has rejected all of the CMA’s preliminary implications, calling the investigation “bogus” and insisting that its family seating policy adheres fully to all applicable UK and aviation laws. The airline pushed back on the regulator’s description of its pricing structure, clarifying that adults only pay for one reserved seat when traveling with children, while up to four additional children on the same booking can reserve adjacent seats at no cost.

    Beyond defending its policy, Ryanair attacked the inquiry as a political distraction from the current Starmer government’s failure to eliminate Air Passenger Duty (APD), a tax that the airline argues drives up ticket prices for all travelers and suppresses growth across the UK’s aviation, tourism and broader national economy. The carrier said it is confident it will disprove the CMA’s claims over the course of the investigation.

    The CMA is also probing two additional potential consumer protection issues: whether the mandatory family seat fee is “drip-priced” — meaning it is only revealed to customers partway through the booking process, rather than disclosed upfront as part of the total advertised price. CMA Director of Consumer Protection Hayley Fletcher explained that these hidden extra charges can quickly erode the affordability of family summer holidays, a key concern as households across the UK continue to grapple with persistent cost of living pressures.

    “For the past year, we’ve told businesses to ensure their customers are shown the total price upfront – those who don’t face the very real possibility of action from the CMA,” Fletcher said, adding that the investigation is in its early stages and no final conclusion on whether Ryanair broke the law has been reached. If the CMA finds Ryanair violated consumer protection law, the regulator’s new enforcement powers allow it to levy fines of up to 10% of the airline’s global annual turnover.

    Leading UK consumer rights organization Which? has welcomed the CMA’s probe, noting that it has repeatedly raised alarms about Ryanair’s seating policies that separate families unless extra fees are paid, even for children as young as three years old. Rory Boland, Which? Travel Editor, called on Ryanair to proactively change its policy before the investigation concludes. “Ryanair doesn’t have to wait for the outcome of the CMA’s investigation, it could stop charging these unreasonable fees today and we would encourage them to do that,” Boland said.

    The investigation is part of a wider CMA initiative to reduce financial burdens on UK households by cracking down on unfair consumer pricing practices amid ongoing economic pressure.

  • French singer Patrick Bruel charged with rape, attempted rape and sexual assault

    French singer Patrick Bruel charged with rape, attempted rape and sexual assault

    PARIS — One of France’s most celebrated entertainment figures, 67-year-old singer and actor Patrick Bruel, has been charged with multiple counts of rape, attempted rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment spanning an 11-year period from 2008 to 2019, Nanterre’s public prosecutor’s office confirmed in an official announcement Thursday. The celebrity has repeatedly denied all allegations against him.

    The legal process moved forward this week after Bruel completed two days in police custody. On Wednesday, he was brought before four investigative judges at the Nanterre court, located in the western suburbs of Paris, to hear the formal charges. The ongoing formal investigation covers a specific set of documented accusations: a rape allegation from 2008 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, an attempted rape reported in 2010 in Brussels, and multiple counts of sexual assault and sexual harassment that allegedly took place in 2019 in the southern French city of Perpignan and Ajaccio on the island of Corsica.

    Prosecutors added that the judicial inquiry will also expand to examine additional claims of rape, attempted rape and sexual harassment that occurred between 2010 and 2019 across three other French cities and Nyon, Switzerland. Notably, several accusations that were previously closed without further action have been reopened and added to the current case file.

    Following the hearing, Bruel was released from custody but placed under strict conditional judicial supervision. The terms of his release include a ban on exiting French territory, a requirement to surrender his passport to authorities, a mandate to complete ongoing psychological assessment and treatment, and a €500,000 ($576,760) bail payment. He is also prohibited from making any contact with his accusers or their family members, and barred from entering massage parlors — the location where some of the alleged offenses are said to have occurred.

    In a statement released after the hearing, Bruel’s legal team confirmed that their client will fully cooperate with the ongoing investigation and remains compliant with all requests from judicial authorities.

    The case gained public momentum in recent weeks, after French investigative outlet Mediapart published a series of reports highlighting accusations from multiple women against Bruel that date back decades. Those reports prompted additional accusers to come forward and file new formal complaints with authorities. Prosecutors noted that even accusations from other women that fall outside the applicable statute of limitations have been added to the case file, to allow investigating judges to build a full, comprehensive picture of the claims. Complaints filed in other jurisdictions may also be consolidated into the Nanterre-based investigation at a later date.

    A towering figure in French popular culture, Bruel rose to massive fame across the French-speaking world in the late 1980s and 1990s. His unprecedented popularity earned the nickname “Bruelmania” from French media, a comparison to the global Beatlemania frenzy that surrounded the Beatles in the 1960s. Hit tracks from his 1989 second album became enduring staples of French popular music, exploring relatable universal themes of love, heartbreak, nostalgia and childhood that resonated with cross-generational audiences for decades. Alongside his music career, Bruel built a successful parallel acting career, appearing in dozens of French film and television productions over the course of decades. In response to the emerging allegations last month, Bruel canceled all scheduled public performances planned for this summer across France, Canada, Switzerland and Belgium, as well as his end-of-year tour dates in Canada.

  • Thai court sentences 2 Uyghur men to death over 2015 Bangkok bombing that killed 20

    Thai court sentences 2 Uyghur men to death over 2015 Bangkok bombing that killed 20

    Nearly nine years after a deadly bombing ripped through one of Bangkok’s most popular tourist sites, a Thai criminal court has handed down death sentences to two Chinese Uyghur men convicted over the attack that left 20 people dead and more than 120 injured. The August 17, 2015, blast targeted the Erawan Shrine, a spiritual and tourist landmark that draws large crowds of visitors from China annually. The two defendants, Yusufu Mieraili and Bilal Mohammad (also known as Adem Karadag), were taken into custody by Thai authorities just days after the explosion.

    Both men faced a sweeping array of criminal charges, including premeditated murder, attempted mass murder, and unlawful possession of explosive materials. Prosecutors told the court that evidence linking the pair to the attack includes surveillance video footage, fingerprint matches, and additional forensic evidence. The guilty verdict issued Thursday by a four-judge panel at Bangkok South Criminal Court relied on what the court called overwhelming incriminating evidence, noting that the defense failed to present credible substantive evidence to disprove the prosecution’s claims.

    Shortly after the ruling was delivered and judges exited the courtroom, Mieraili—who has learned conversational Thai while in detention—proclaimed his innocence in broken Thai, rejecting the court’s decision. “I mourn for Thailand,” he told reporters in the courtroom. “I did not receive justice … I ask Thai people to help me.” Court records show Mieraili, who also speaks English, was called on to translate trial proceedings into Uyghur for Mohammad, as only an English interpreter was provided for the proceeding. The years-long trial was repeatedly delayed due to longstanding challenges securing qualified Uyghur interpreters, a key point of criticism from rights advocates.

    Lead defense attorney Chuchart Kanpai confirmed immediately after the ruling that the legal team would file an appeal, arguing that multiple critical aspects of the case were not properly considered by the court. The procedural history of the case has been fraught: the two men initially confessed to the crimes during early interrogation following their arrest, but entered formal not guilty pleas when the trial opened in 2016. The proceeding was originally held in a Thai military court before being transferred to the civilian Bangkok South Criminal Court in 2019 amid broader judicial reforms in the country. The defendants have long alleged they were subjected to mistreatment and torture while in custody to force their confessions, but the ruling Thursday stated no credible evidence of coercion or torture was presented to the court, and investigators’ conduct did not meet the definition of forced confession.

    The case has drawn international scrutiny from human rights organizations, which have repeatedly criticized the lengthy procedural delays and unfair trial practices. In 2023, the Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights submitted an official petition to the United Nations highlighting alleged systemic violations of the defendants’ human rights and due process, including lack of legal justification for the initial arrests and discriminatory treatment based on the men’s ethnic identity.

    Thai law enforcement named a total of 17 suspects in connection with the 2015 bombing, but only three were ever apprehended. All criminal charges against a Thai national who was initially detained in the case were dismissed in early 2024 due to a complete lack of evidence linking her to the attack. According to the official narrative presented by Thai authorities, the attack was carried out by a transnational people smuggling gang seeking revenge for a major Thai law enforcement crackdown on human trafficking operations earlier that year. The crackdown was launched after authorities discovered abandoned migrant camps in the jungle along the Thailand-Malaysia border, holding Rohingya refugees fleeing persecution in Myanmar and economic migrants from Bangladesh. Police have alleged that Mohammad left the explosive-laden backpack at the shrine, and Mieraili detonated the device minutes later.

    However, independent analysts have put forward an alternative competing theory that frames the attack as the work of Uyghur separatists, retaliating for Thailand’s forced repatriation of dozens of Uyghur asylum seekers to China just one month before the bombing, in July 2015. Many Uyghur people, who face systemic repression and restrictive governance in China’s Xinjiang region, work with smuggling networks to flee the country and seek asylum in third countries. The Erawan Shrine’s widespread popularity among Chinese tourists has been cited as additional evidence supporting the theory that the bombing carried a political motive. It is worth noting that a separate 2025 deportation of 40 Uyghur asylum seekers from Thailand to China also drew widespread condemnation from the international community.

  • Australian stocks fall as Middle East crisis fears rattle the market

    Australian stocks fall as Middle East crisis fears rattle the market

    Escalating geopolitical tension in the Middle East, triggered by new United States military strikes on multiple Iranian targets, has roiled Australian financial markets, driving a sharp jump in global crude oil prices and pulling Australia’s benchmark stock index lower on Thursday as investors braced for potential further conflict.

    The Australian Securities Exchange’s benchmark S&P/ASX 200 closed down 20.10 points, or 0.23%, at 8633.20, while the broader All Ordinaries index dropped by an identical 0.23% to settle at 8836.70, shedding 20.3 points. Against this broad market downturn, only four of the exchange’s 11 major industry sectors finished the trading session in negative territory, with losses in technology and large banking stocks offsetting gains for energy and healthcare equities. The Australian dollar bucked the downward trend, edging 0.14% higher to trade at 70.03 U.S. cents by market close.

    Tech stocks led the declines across the market. Leading accounting software firm Xero fell 3.58% to close at AU$74.07, logistics technology firm WiseTech Global dropped an additional 2.79% to AU$36.99, and data center operator NextDC plunged 4.23% to AU$14.50. The country’s four largest banking giants also weighed heavily on the benchmark index: Commonwealth Bank of Australia slipped 2.38% to AU$156.42, Westpac fell 2.57% to AU$34.50, while both National Australia Bank and ANZ Group dropped 1.79% to AU$35.68 and AU$33.80 respectively.

    The price surge in crude oil came as a direct response to the new U.S. military strikes, compounded by Iranian reports that it had intercepted two commercial vessels attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint that carries roughly a fifth of the world’s daily oil supply. By the close of Australian trading on Thursday, Brent crude had risen to $US94.08, equal to around AU$134 per barrel.

    Tony Sycamore, a market analyst at IG Group, noted that oil market volatility has remained muted so far, for three key reasons. First, he highlighted that former U.S. President Donald Trump has a well-documented pattern of stepping back from full escalation at the last moment. Second, any large-scale direct U.S. attack on Iran carries significant risk of Iranian retaliation targeting vulnerable energy infrastructure along the Persian Gulf, which would send global oil prices skyrocketing. Finally, Sycamore pointed out that Trump recently highlighted ongoing U.S. military escort operations that have already moved more than 100 million barrels of non-Iranian oil safely out of the region, keeping critical supply flowing through the strategic waterway.

    Even with relatively contained volatility in oil futures, Australian energy producers posted clear gains on the back of higher crude prices. Top Australian liquefied natural gas exporter Woodside Energy climbed 1.55% to AU$31.52, upstream oil and gas producer Santos rose 2.02% to AU$8.07, and fuel retailer Ampol added 0.30% to close at AU$36.77.

    Healthcare stocks emerged as another bright spot in an otherwise soft trading session. Biotech giant CSL rallied 4.16% to AU$107.23, medical imaging firm Pro Medicus gained 0.75% to AU$162.79, and medical device manufacturer Fisher & Paykel Healthcare closed up 0.22% at AU$31.77.

    Beyond the two outperforming sectors, several individual stocks posted notable moves. Retail chain operator Super Retail Group gained 0.73% to AU$12.35 after its annual shareholder day unveiled a new five-year strategic growth plan, which includes adding 110 new store locations to expand its national footprint to 900 stores, with a focus on under-served regional areas and expanding the product range of its discount auto brand Super Cheap Auto.

    In contrast, Southern Cross Media Group saw its shares slump 4.24% to AU$0.56 after parent company Seven West Media announced plans to cut between 250 and 300 full-time positions across its assets, which include the Seven television network, The West Australian newspaper and Southern Cross Austereo. The restructuring is aimed at delivering annual cost savings of between AU$145 million and AU$150 million.

    Infrastructure developer Lendlease was one of the day’s top large-cap gainers, jumping 4.58% to AU$2.74 after the firm announced that Nick O’Neil will take over as chief executive officer, while also reaffirming its full-year earnings guidance of 28 to 34 cents per share across its investment, development and construction divisions.

  • Mahomes to become NFL’s first $500m player

    Mahomes to become NFL’s first $500m player

    In a landmark deal that reshapes the ceiling of professional athlete contracts in North American sports, star Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is poised to make history as the first player in National Football League history to sign a contract with total guaranteed earnings exceeding half a billion dollars.

    The 30-year-old field general, who has already cemented his legacy by steering the Chiefs to five Super Bowl berths and three championship titles, has agreed to a two-year contract extension that pushes his total guaranteed compensation to $504.75 million. The new deal extends his tenure with the Kansas City franchise through the 2033 season, locking the generational talent into the organization for the rest of his professional playing career.

    Mahomes’ prior contract, a 10-year agreement signed in 2020, carried a base value of $450 million, with up to an extra $50 million available through performance-based incentives. Under the restructured extension, the average annual value of Mahomes’ contract will hit $64 million starting in 2027. That figure surpasses the previous NFL record for average annual pay, the $60 million per season deal Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott signed in 2024 that made him the league’s highest-paid player at the time.

    For Mahomes, the extension cements his lifelong connection to the only NFL franchise he has ever played for. “I’m just so excited to be here for life and to be a part of Chiefs kingdom for even longer,” he said in a statement following the announcement. “We have so much more to do. Let’s go out and do it. Let’s go win some more.”

    The new deal comes nearly seven months after Mahomes suffered a season-ending anterior cruciate ligament tear in his left knee during the 2025 regular season. That injury cut the Chiefs’ campaign short and kept the team out of the NFL playoffs for the first time since 2014, ending a historic run of sustained success that Mahomes led.

    That run of dominance included Super Bowl victories in 2020, 2023, and 2024. The Chiefs came within one game of becoming the first NFL franchise to win three consecutive Super Bowl titles, falling to the Philadelphia Eagles in the 2025 championship game.

    Chiefs chief executive Clark Hunt framed the extension as a no-brainer for the organization, praising Mahomes both for his on-field dominance and off-field impact. “Over the past decade Patrick has become one of the most iconic, beloved sports figures of all-time,” Hunt said. “He has helped lead our franchise to five Super Bowl appearances and three championships, he has been instrumental in shaping the Chiefs brand and putting Kansas City on the world stage, and on top of it all he has been an outstanding role model in the community.”

    Hunt added, “Patrick is a generational talent and an elite human being, and I’m so excited he will continue to lead our team into the future.”

  • ‘Not on my bingo chart’ – Tharp smashes 110m hurdles record

    ‘Not on my bingo chart’ – Tharp smashes 110m hurdles record

    In a stunning upset that has sent shockwaves through the global track and field community, 20-year-old Ja’Kobe Tharp, a junior sprinter-hurdler at Auburn University, has broken the long-standing men’s 110m hurdles world record during the preliminary heats of the 2025 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships held in Eugene, Oregon, on Wednesday.

    Tharp crossed the finish line with an official time of 12.75 seconds, beating the previous world record of 12.80 seconds set by fellow American athlete Aries Merritt back in September 2012 at the Brussels Diamond League. The new mark also improves the long-standing collegiate record of 12.98 seconds, which was set by reigning Olympic champion Grant Holloway back in 2019.

    This historic achievement marks the first time in half a century that an athlete has set a new senior world record at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Championships, a testament to the rising talent and competitive depth of collegiate track and field in the United States.

    Coming into the national meet, Tharp held a personal best time of 13.01 seconds. While he acknowledged he had prepared extensively and was confident he would lower his own best mark, he never anticipated cutting more than a quarter of a second off his previous top time to claim the world record.

    “I knew I was ready to drop something crazy,” Tharp told reporters after his historic run. “I knew what I was capable of, but I didn’t know about that. It wasn’t on my bingo chart for this meet, not at all. I’m speechless, seriously.”

    Tharp, who hails from Auburn, Alabama, will now advance to the 110m hurdles final, scheduled to take place this Friday. He is gunning for his second consecutive NCAA individual title, a feat no hurdler has achieved since Grant Holloway claimed back-to-back titles in 2019.