Global Pulse

分类： politics

  • Bulgaria ex-president wins parliamentary majority

    Bulgaria ex-president wins parliamentary majority

    Nearly complete official results from Bulgaria’s snap parliamentary election confirm a historic landslide victory for former president Rumen Radev’s Progressive Bulgaria alliance, which has secured the first absolute parliamentary majority held by a single political bloc in the country since 1997. The outcome brings an end to nearly four years of chronic political instability that forced the Balkan nation to hold eight consecutive elections since 2021.

    The 62-year-old Radev, a former air force general who stepped down from the presidency earlier this year to run for a parliamentary seat, campaigned on a populist anti-corruption platform aimed at dismantling what he calls Bulgaria’s entrenched “oligarchic governance model”. His coalition captured 44.7 percent of the popular vote with 98.3 percent of ballots counted, putting it on track to control roughly 130 of the 240 seats in Bulgaria’s unicameral parliament. Turnout for Sunday’s vote hit the highest level recorded since 2021, reflecting broad cross-spectrum support for Radev’s pledge to break years of political gridlock.

    The election upends Bulgaria’s existing political order. Longtime pro-EU conservative leader Boyko Borissov’s GERB party, which dominated Bulgarian politics for nearly a decade before 2021, slumped to just 13.4 percent of the vote, barely edging out the liberal pro-EU PP-DB coalition which captured 12.7 percent. Both the far-right Vazrazhdane party and the MRF, a minority-focused party representing Bulgarian Turks and Roma communities, are projected to cross the electoral threshold to win parliamentary seats.

    In his victory address to reporters, Radev framed the win as a transformative shift for Bulgarian politics. “This is an unequivocal win for Progressive Bulgaria – a victory of hope over distrust, a victory of freedom over fear,” he stated. While Radev emphasized that Bulgaria will remain committed to its European integration path, he also pushed back against existing EU policy orthodoxy, noting: “A strong Bulgaria and a strong Europe need critical thinking and pragmatism. Europe has fallen victim to its own ambition to be a moral leader in a world with new rules.”

    Radev’s foreign policy positions have already drawn sharp attention from both Moscow and Brussels. A self-described pragmatist who has emerged as a vocal critic of EU policy, Radev has repeatedly called for the restoration of closer practical ties with Russia, based on mutual respect and equal dialogue. He has opposed Bulgaria’s existing policy of sending military arms to Ukraine, criticized the recent 10-year defense cooperation deal between Sofia and Kyiv, and has argued for a negotiated end to the ongoing conflict. Even so, he has pledged not to use Bulgaria’s EU veto power to block collective EU foreign policy decisions.

    The Kremlin quickly welcomed Radev’s election win. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Monday that Moscow views Radev’s calls for closer ties with Moscow favorably, adding that the Kremlin also approves of his commitment to resolving international disputes through dialogue. For its part, the European Commission struck a measured tone in its initial reaction. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen reaffirmed that “Bulgaria is a proud member of the European family and plays an important role in tackling our common challenges,” adding that she looks forward to working with the new government.

    Political analysts across Bulgaria have framed the result as a watershed moment, but warn that major questions remain about Radev’s ability to deliver on his core promises. Political analyst Teodor Slavev noted that while Radev’s bloc holds an absolute majority that allows it to govern alone, passing sweeping judicial and constitutional reforms required to root out high-level corruption will need a two-thirds parliamentary majority, forcing Radev to negotiate cross-party support. Daniel Smilov, a political scientist at Sofia’s Center for Liberal Strategies, added that Radev will face persistent pressure from Eurosceptic factions within his own bloc and the far-right opposition to shift Bulgaria toward a more openly anti-EU course. “His initial signals are that he will pursue a pro-European policy and will not block the EU… The whole question is whether those signals will actually be followed through,” Smilov told AFP.

    Outgoing long-time prime minister Boyko Borissov congratulated Radev on his victory Sunday, but offered a cautious note: “Winning elections is one thing, governing is another.”

    The election was overshadowed by long-standing concerns about electoral fraud in Bulgaria. Political parties across the ideological spectrum urged voters to turn out to counter the widespread practice of vote buying. In pre-election anti-corruption raids, Bulgarian police seized more than 1 million euros in suspected vote-buying funds and detained hundreds of people, including sitting local councillors and municipal mayors.

  • Iranian woman arrested in US for allegedly trafficking arms to Sudan

    Iranian woman arrested in US for allegedly trafficking arms to Sudan

    Federal U.S. prosecutors have announced the arrest of an Iranian national and U.S. lawful permanent resident on charges that she ran an illicit arms trafficking network brokering Iranian weapons sales to Sudan’s national military, a scheme that violated sweeping American sanctions imposed on Tehran.

    Forty-four-year-old Shamim Mafi was taken into custody by law enforcement officials at Los Angeles International Airport on Saturday, as she prepared to board an outbound flight to Turkey, according to a public statement posted to X by Bill Essayli, First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California. Court documents unsealed following the arrest detail accusations that Mafi coordinated multiple large-scale arms deals directly with Sudan’s Ministry of Defense, moving military hardware produced by Iranian manufacturers into the war-torn Northeast African nation.

    The most high-value transaction cited in filings is a $70 million (€60 million / £52 million) contract for unmanned aerial drones, a deal for which Mafi is alleged to have arranged travel for a Sudanese official delegation to Iran, collected more than €6 million in payments from the Sudanese side, issued official payment receipts, and coordinated logistics between Iranian producers and Sudanese military buyers. Court records also add that Mafi formally submitted a letter of intent to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to broker a separate agreement for 55,000 bomb fuses, alongside additional deals for conventional bombs and millions of rounds of small-arms ammunition.

    To hide the transactions from U.S. regulators, prosecutors say Mafi deliberately structured deals to bypass oversight, repeatedly using unregulated informal currency exchange entities across multiple transactions in a calculated effort to evade American sanctions that ban any U.S.-based person or resident from engaging in unauthorised commercial activity involving Iranian goods or services. Essayli’s public announcement included accompanying images: one shows a woman believed to be Mafi detained by airport security personnel, while others show a military drone on an airfield tarmac and stacks of bundled cash linked to the alleged scheme.

    Mafi, who became a U.S. lawful permanent resident in 2016, has not yet issued any public statement responding to the charges against her. She is scheduled to make her first court appearance for the case on Monday, and if convicted on all counts, she faces a maximum possible prison sentence of 20 years behind bars.

    The allegations come against the backdrop of a devastating three-year civil war in Sudan, which has pitted the country’s formal national army against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The United Nations has labeled the conflict the world’s worst ongoing humanitarian catastrophe, with tens of thousands of civilians and combatants killed, more than 7 million people internally displaced or refuged across neighboring borders, and widespread famine and collapse of basic public services across large swathes of the country.

    For months, global human rights watchdogs have documented widespread foreign arms flows to both warring parties, which international observers say have prolonged and intensified the violence. Amnesty International previously published research confirming that weapons manufactured in countries including China, Russia, Serbia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen have been recovered from battlefields in Sudan. Tehran has repeatedly been accused of supplying military support including weapons to Sudan’s army, allegations that Sudanese government officials have repeatedly denied in past statements.

  • Tired of political turmoil, Bulgarians give ex-president a convincing mandate for change

    Tired of political turmoil, Bulgarians give ex-president a convincing mandate for change

    SOFIA, Bulgaria — In a result that reshapes Bulgaria’s turbulent political landscape, the nation’s central electoral commission confirmed Monday that former president Rumen Radev’s center-left Progressive Bulgaria coalition has won a decisive majority in the country’s latest parliamentary election, bringing a close to five years of fragmented governance and unstable short-lived governments.

    With 96% of all ballots processed by Monday morning, early official data put the Radev-led coalition at 44.7% of the popular vote — a lead of more than 20 percentage points over its nearest competitors. Former prime minister Boyko Borissov’s long-dominant center-right GERB party captured 13.4% of the vote, while the pro-Western We Continue the Change-led reformist bloc followed closely at 12.9%, with the two rival groups running nearly neck-and-neck for second place. Latest projections indicate only two additional political parties will cross the electoral threshold to claim seats in the 240-seat national legislature, streamlining the chamber after years of splintered representation.

    Shortly after results were published, Borissov publicly conceded defeat and extended formal congratulations to the winning coalition. Radev, for his part, framed his coalition’s victory as a defining turning point for the Balkan nation. Addressing reporters, he called the outcome “unequivocal,” describing it as “a victory of hope over distrust, a victory of freedom over fear.” He reaffirmed that Bulgaria will remain committed to its integration trajectory with the European Union, while adding a note of pragmatic critique: “But believe me, a strong Bulgaria and a strong Europe need critical thinking and pragmatism. Europe has fallen victim to its own ambition to be a moral leader in a world without rules.”

    The 62-year-old former fighter pilot, who holds a master’s degree in Strategic Studies from the U.S. Air War College and previously served as commander of the Bulgarian Air Force, resigned from his largely ceremonial presidential post in January, several months ahead of the end of his second term, to launch a bid for the far more powerful position of prime minister.

    Throughout his two terms as president, Radev gained widespread recognition for his open sympathy toward Moscow, repeatedly opposing European Union-led initiatives to supply military aid to Ukraine following Russia’s full-scale invasion. He has long argued that military support for Kyiv risks dragging Bulgaria directly into the conflict, and has repeatedly called for the resumption of diplomatic negotiations with Russia to end the war. His coalition of supporters draws two distinct camps: one faction that backs him as an anti-corruption outsider committed to rooting out entrenched graft, and another that aligns closely with his Euroskeptic, Russia-leaning policy stances.

    Bulgaria, a NATO and EU member state of 6.5 million people, has faced long-standing international criticism for its failure to tackle systemic corruption and address persistent gaps in the rule of law. Since 2021, repeated elections have produced only fragmented parliaments and weak coalition governments, none of which have lasted longer than 12 months before collapsing amid street protests or parliamentary power struggles. The previous conservative administration fell in December after mass nationwide anti-corruption protests drew hundreds of thousands of predominantly young Bulgarians to the capital’s streets. Radev capitalized on this public anger, positioning himself as a staunch opponent of the entrenched oligarchic networks that have long been accused of colluding with top political figures. During his campaign, he made a core promise to “remove the corrupt, oligarchic model of governance from political power.”

    After years of repeated election cycles and constant political upheaval, ordinary Sofia residents expressed mixed reactions to the landslide result. Nikoleta Dimitrova, a 37-year-old shop assistant working in the capital, said she welcomed the shift and hoped for lasting institutional reform. “Above all, we expect a more stable judicial system, and for trust in institutions to truly be restored. Until now, they have been heavily influenced by various figures, many of whom, as we can see from the current results, have now left the government,” she explained. Others remained more skeptical, however. Cveta Gerogieva, a 55-year-old accountant, cautioned that long-term stability remains far from guaranteed. “I hope that we will really live a better life, but I am not sure that there will be stability for a long period. Probably we will vote again,” she said.

  • Japan’s drill role stirs unease

    Japan’s drill role stirs unease

    Japan’s historic upgrade from observer to active participant in the annual US-Philippine Balikatan military exercises has ignited fresh debate across Southeast Asia, with regional analysts warning that the deployment threatens to test the ASEAN bloc’s long-standing commitment to neutrality and force leaders to confront unresolved historical tensions from World War II. Running from April 21 to May 8 on Philippine territory, this year’s exercise will see approximately 1,400 Japanese Self-Defense Forces personnel join the drills, making Japan the third-largest contributing nation behind hosts the Philippines and lead organizer the United States. Additional troops from Australia, Canada, France, and New Zealand will also take part in the multinational exercise, which experts frame as a core component of Washington’s expanding regional security outreach.

    Julia Roknifard, a senior lecturer in law and governance at Malaysia’s Taylor’s University, explains that while participation in the drill does not inherently require full political alignment with Washington for participating nations, Japan’s stepped-up involvement this year marks a distinctly provocative shift. Her criticism comes in the wake of recent inflammatory remarks and policy moves from Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, including provocative statements regarding China’s Taiwan region. For ASEAN member states that have joined the exercise, Roknifard argues, it is critical to explicitly clarify that their involvement reflects routine security partnership rather than a partisan political alignment, to uphold the bloc’s formal neutral posture.

    Hiroshi Shiratori, a professor of political science at Tokyo’s Hosei University, points to a deeper identity shift driving regional anxiety: Japan’s increasingly assertive defense policy marks a visible departure from its post-World War II commitment to prioritizing peace, diplomatic negotiation, and dialogue, a shift that many neighboring states are already viewing with suspicion. If this perception solidifies across the region, Shiratori warns, Tokyo could quickly become framed as a new source of strategic instability in Southeast Asia.

    Not all analysis points to outright opposition to expanded Japanese security cooperation. Lucio Blanco Pitlo III, president of the Philippine Association for Chinese Studies, notes that many ASEAN states are open to Japanese partnership on shared transnational security challenges, including counter-piracy operations and responses to maritime pollution. The friction emerges, he argues, when discussions turn to restructuring the broader regional security order. Pitlo highlights persistent regional skepticism of the push for a so-called “Asian NATO” — a framework that Japan has promoted alongside a small group of like-minded partners. Instead of exclusive, security-focused blocs, he says, most ASEAN members prefer broad minilateral arrangements that integrate security cooperation with investment, technology, and other development priorities.

    Unresolved historical trauma continues to shape regional attitudes toward Japan’s expanding military footprint. Roknifard emphasizes that the scars of Japanese wartime occupation across Southeast Asia have never fully healed, with public tensions flaring regularly in response to high-profile actions by Japanese leaders. She cites the widespread public backlash that emerged in Malaysia after reports that Takaichi visited a Japanese cemetery in Kuala Lumpur during an October ASEAN Summit trip as a clear example of this lingering sensitivity.

    Anna Rosario Malindog-Uy, vice president of the Asian Century Philippines Strategic Studies Institute in Manila, echoes this observation, noting that Japan’s growing military role in the region still carries heavy historical baggage that has spawned what she calls “quiet unease” across Southeast Asian capitals. For ASEAN leaders, she argues, the key challenge is navigating a careful hedging strategy that accommodates Japan’s expanding security engagement without aligning fully with Tokyo’s strategic goals, while preserving balanced diplomatic and economic ties with other major regional powers including China. “ASEAN does not erase history but manages it,” she explains of the bloc’s balancing approach.

    Malindog-Uy also warns that Japan’s upgraded participation this year could set a dangerous precedent, opening the door for more external powers to demand similar active military roles in Southeast Asian exercises, further complicating regional stability.

    Former Japanese senior Foreign Ministry official Ukeru Magosaki, now director of the East Asian Community Institute in Tokyo, contextualizes the drill within Washington’s broader regional strategy. He notes that the Biden administration has framed Beijing as its primary strategic rival in the Indo-Pacific, and the expansion of Balikatan to include active Japanese participation is part of a coordinated policy to link Japan, the Philippines, and China’s Taiwan region in a unified counterbalance to China. Despite this coordinated push, Magosaki argues that the move is unlikely to fundamentally shift the existing balance of power across the Indo-Pacific.

  • India and South Korea agree to nearly double trade to $50B by 2030

    India and South Korea agree to nearly double trade to $50B by 2030

    NEW DELHI – In a high-stakes diplomatic meeting held in the Indian capital on Monday, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi have announced a bold new commitment to expand bilateral economic and strategic cooperation, setting an ambitious target to nearly double two-way trade by the end of the decade.

    Against a backdrop of growing global economic volatility and widespread supply chain disruptions stoked by ongoing conflict in Iran, the two leaders framed the expanded partnership as a mutually beneficial step to shore up economic stability for both nations. Modi outlined that the current annual trade volume between the two countries sits at roughly $27 billion, with the new goal to push that figure to $50 billion by 2030. To hit this target, the countries will focus on reinforcing interconnected supply chains, easing barriers to improve market access for businesses on both sides, and creating more favorable conditions for increased cross-border investment.

    “India and South Korea are going to transform their trusted ties into a futuristic partnership,” Modi stated during the meeting, emphasizing the long-term strategic vision guiding the new agreement.

    President Lee echoed this sentiment, confirming that the two sides had reached a consensus to substantially upgrade their economic cooperation framework, with targeted focus on high-growth, strategically important sectors including shipbuilding, national defense, and artificial intelligence. Beyond these areas, Lee added that the partnership will also broaden industrial collaboration, ramp up trade and investment flows in advanced manufacturing, and deepen cooperation in sensitive, critical sectors ranging from essential critical minerals to civilian nuclear energy.

    To directly address growing risks of supply chain disruptions from Middle East tensions, President Lee revealed that South Korea is proactively moving to increase imports of naphtha, a key crude oil derivative used in petrochemical manufacturing, from India. This strategic shift is designed to cushion South Korean markets against potential supply shocks linked to regional instability. Last year, India already supplied roughly 8% of South Korea’s total naphtha imports, a share that is set to rise in the coming months under the new agreement.

    Following the conclusion of his official visit to India, Lee is scheduled to travel next to Vietnam for the next stop of his regional diplomatic tour.

  • US and allied forces kick off combat drills with Philippines despite Washington’s focus on Iran

    US and allied forces kick off combat drills with Philippines despite Washington’s focus on Iran

    MANILA, Philippines – The United States and the Philippines officially launched one of the largest joint military exercises in their alliance’s history on Monday, rolling out an annual show of coordinated military capability designed to strengthen deterrence against regional aggression, even as Washington remains heavily engaged in ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

    This year’s drills mark a significant expansion, with the Philippine military confirming that troops from several extra nations – including Japan, France, and Canada, all of which have existing visiting forces agreements with Manila – will join the exercises for the first time. Known as Balikatan – a Tagalog term meaning “shoulder-to-shoulder” – the drills bring together more than 17,000 military personnel from the US and Philippines alone, with roughly 10,000 of those being American service members. The 18-day exercise will include simulated battle scenarios and live-fire training drills across multiple locations, including Philippine provinces adjacent to the contested South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait.

    The large American deployment comes even as the US faces heightened tensions in the Middle East, a point US military leaders emphasized to underscore Washington’s unwavering focus on the Indo-Pacific region. “Regardless of the challenges elsewhere in the world, the United States focus on the Indo-Pacific and our ironclad commitment to the Philippines remains unwavering,” Marine Lieutenant General Christian Wortman stated during the official opening ceremony of the drills.

    General Romeo Brawner, chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, framed the multinational drills as a critical step to build collective deterrence and resilience against destabilizing actions in the region. While Brawner did not name any specific country in his opening address, he has previously issued strong public criticism of China’s increasingly assertive military and maritime operations against Philippine navy and coast guard assets in the South China Sea. Beijing claims nearly the entire strategic waterway as its sovereign territory, a claim rejected by multiple other regional governments including the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, and Taiwan. The waterway is one of the world’s most critical shipping lanes, carrying roughly one-third of global maritime trade, and territorial standoffs between Chinese and Filipino forces have grown more frequent and intense in recent years.

    China has repeatedly voiced opposition to the joint US-Philippine exercises, arguing that they are part of a broader Western strategy to contain China’s growing global influence. Philippine military officials have pushed back on this framing, insisting that Balikatan is not targeted at any single nation, and that the drills also include training for rapid humanitarian response to natural disasters, a frequent need across the typhoon-prone Philippine archipelago.

    The US has repeatedly reaffirmed its long-standing mutual defense treaty with the Philippines, its oldest Asian ally, warning that it is legally obligated to come to the Philippines’ defense if Philippine forces come under armed attack in disputed regional waters. “We remain guided by a shared commitment to uphold international law, to respect sovereignty and to contribute to a free and open Indo-Pacific where nations can thrive without coercion,” Brawner added.

    In one of the most high-profile drills planned, Philippine marine colonel Dennis Hernandez confirmed to the Associated Press that Japanese forces will conduct a live missile strike from coastal areas of Ilocos Norte, a northwestern Philippine province, to sink a decommissioned ship acting as a mock enemy target approximately 40 kilometers off the coast in the outer areas of the South China Sea. US marine units will follow up the strike by using an explosive-laden drone to conduct additional bombardment of the target, Hernandez said.

    During a 2025 visit to Manila, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told Philippine officials that the current US administration would work closely with regional allies to ramp up deterrence against global threats, specifically highlighting Chinese aggression in the South China Sea. “Friends need to stand shoulder to shoulder to deter conflict, to ensure that there is free navigation whether you call it the South China Sea or the West Philippine Sea,” Hegseth told Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. during the meeting.

    This report was compiled with contributions from AP writers Joeal Calupitan and Aaron Favila in Manila, Philippines.

  • Starmer admits mistake in appointing Mandelson as UK ambassador

    Starmer admits mistake in appointing Mandelson as UK ambassador

    LONDON – A mounting political crisis has engulfed British Prime Minister Keir Starmer this week, after revelations that former U.S. ambassador Peter Mandelson took up one of the nation’s most critical diplomatic posts despite failing mandatory national security vetting – a critical detail that senior government officials never brought to the prime minister’s attention, Starmer told lawmakers Monday.

    Addressing the House of Commons amid growing pressure to step down, Starmer acknowledged his appointment of Mandelson was a misjudgment, but stressed he would never have greenlit the nomination had he been informed of the failed security clearance. He placed full responsibility for the oversight on senior Foreign Office leadership, saying, “The fact that Mandelson’s vetting process ruled against security clearance could and should have been shared with me before he took up his post.”

    The controversy stretches back months, long before the vetting failure came to light. Starmer, who led the center-left Labour Party to a landslide general election victory in July 2024, selected Mandelson – a veteran former Labour politician and ex-European Union trade commissioner with deep ties to global political and business elites – for the Washington ambassadorship in late 2024, even after his own internal aides warned that Mandelson’s long-running personal friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who died in prison in 2019, posed severe reputational risk. Additional alarms were also raised over Mandelson’s past business connections to Russia and China, but officials ultimately prioritized his diplomatic experience and existing relationships with figures connected to U.S. President Donald Trump’s second administration.

    Mandelson was ultimately removed from his post in September 2025, less than nine months after taking office, when new evidence emerged that he had lied about the true scope of his ties to Epstein. A batch of Epstein-related documents released by the U.S. Department of Justice in January 2025 included 2009 emails suggesting Mandelson shared sensitive, market-moving British government information with Epstein in the wake of the global financial crisis. British police launched a criminal investigation into the allegations and arrested Mandelson in February on suspicion of misconduct in public office; he has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, has not been formally charged, and faces no allegations of sexual misconduct connected to Epstein.

    The explosive new revelation of Mandelson’s failed security vetting was first published by *The Guardian* last week, and it has sparked immediate, widespread calls for Starmer’s resignation from all major opposition parties. Within hours of the report, Starmer dismissed Olly Robbins, the top civil servant at the Foreign Office, which holds oversight over all diplomatic appointments. Allies of Robbins have pushed back against the blame, however, claiming the senior official was never permitted to share sensitive vetting information directly with the prime minister. Robbins is set to present his own account of the appointment process to the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday.

    Starmer has repeatedly maintained that what he believed was proper due process was followed during the appointment, but says he is now “furious” that the vetting panel’s negative recommendation was hidden from him. Opposition leaders have rejected his framing: Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch wrote in the *Mail on Sunday* that Starmer “misled Parliament over Mandelson, misled the country and is taking the public for fools.” Ed Davey, leader of the Liberal Democrats, the United Kingdom’s third-largest party, called the appointment an act of “catastrophic misjudgment.”

    Senior members of Starmer’s own cabinet have publicly defended the prime minister, with Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy affirming that “he would never, ever have appointed him ambassador” if the failed vetting had been disclosed. But unrest is growing among backbench Labour lawmakers, who already face grim national poll ratings less than a year into the new government. Starmer previously defused one uprising over the Mandelson controversy in February, when a small group of MPs called for him to step down. The upcoming May 7 local and regional elections are widely viewed as a midterm referendum on Starmer’s premiership, and political analysts expect the prime minister could face new internal pressure to resign if Labour suffers heavy losses at the polls.

    Critics have framed the Mandelson fiasco as the latest in a string of missteps for Starmer’s government, which has struggled to deliver on campaign promises of accelerated economic growth, repair overstretched public services, and bring down the cost of living for British households. The prime minister has already been forced to reverse multiple key campaign pledges since taking office, and the ongoing crisis has deepened questions about his leadership judgment at a critical moment for British domestic and foreign policy.

  • Four candidates for UN secretary-general audition this week. That’s far fewer than in 2016

    Four candidates for UN secretary-general audition this week. That’s far fewer than in 2016

    UNITED NATIONS — Just four contenders will take part in this week’s public confirmation hearings for the next United Nations Secretary-General, a drastically smaller field than the 13 candidates that competed for the post during António Guterres’ 2016 selection. The race comes as the global body grapples with deep great power divisions that have crippled its core peace and security mandate, a stark shift from the more collaborative global landscape a decade ago.

    The first day of hearings, scheduled for Tuesday, will open with Michelle Bachelet, the former two-term President of Chile and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. Bachelet is one of just two women in the race, and one of three candidates hailing from Latin America — the region widely expected to claim the top post under the UN’s longstanding regional rotation tradition. Following Bachelet’s three-hour question-and-answer session with ambassadors from all 193 UN member states will be Rafael Mariano Grossi, an Argentine diplomat who has served as Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency since 2019. On Wednesday, the lineup continues with Rebeca Grynspan, the Costa Rican former vice president who currently leads the UN Conference on Trade and Development, and closes with Macky Sall, the former President of Senegal.

    Political analysts and UN watchers point to two major factors that have shrunk the candidate pool: the unprecedentedly polarized 2026 geopolitical landscape, and the declining global influence of the United Nations itself. A decade ago, the UN was riding high off diplomatic wins including the landmark Paris Climate Agreement and the adoption of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, agreements that cemented the organization’s role as the central forum for global cooperation. Today, deep rifts between major powers have left the UN Security Council — the body tasked with maintaining global peace and security — deadlocked on nearly every major ongoing conflict, from the war in Ukraine to the Gaza crisis to escalating tensions in Iran. The organization has been sidelined from efforts to resolve these crises, eroding faith in its ability to deliver meaningful change.

    Richard Gowan, UN program director at the International Crisis Group, explained that shifting calculations have also discouraged potential candidates from entering the race. In 2016, many long-shot candidates joined the race simply to raise their own international profiles, as losing carried little diplomatic cost for the contenders or their nominating governments. “There was no real cost associated with losing,” Gowan noted. Today, however, candidates and their backers are far more cautious: misstepping or offending one of the Security Council’s five permanent veto-wielding powers — the United States, Russia, China, Britain, and France — can carry tangible diplomatic consequences. “There is a feeling that if a candidate puts a foot wrong and offends Washington or Beijing, it could cause real diplomatic damage,” he said.

    The selection process follows the framework laid out in the UN Charter, which gives the 15-member Security Council the power to recommend a candidate, who is then approved by the full 193-member General Assembly. This structure gives the five permanent members outsize influence and veto power over the final selection. By longstanding informal tradition, the top post rotates between world regions. Guterres, a former Portuguese prime minister who is finishing his second five-year term on December 31, represents Europe; he succeeded South Korea’s Ban Ki-moon (Asia), who followed Ghana’s Kofi Annan (Africa). This rotation has left Latin America widely expected to get the turn this cycle, even as Eastern Europe — which has never held the post — continues to push for consideration.

    All four candidates taking part in this week’s hearings will face questions about their vision for the UN, their approach to ongoing global crises, and plans to reform the struggling institution. The road to nomination has already held unexpected twists for the contenders: Bachelet, 74, was initially nominated by her home country Chile, Brazil, and Mexico, but Chile’s new far-right President José Antonio Kast withdrew his government’s support shortly after taking office in March, leaving her backed by Brazil and Mexico. Grossi, 65, and Grynspan, 70, both secured nominations from their home countries, Argentina and Costa Rica respectively. Sall, 64, was nominated by Burundi, but has failed to secure an endorsement from his home country Senegal or the African Union, the 55-nation regional bloc which remains divided on his candidacy. A fifth candidate, former UN children and armed conflict representative Virginia Gamba of Argentina, was nominated by the Maldives, but the island nation withdrew her nomination in late March without providing a public explanation.

    Despite the small candidate pool, pressure to select the first woman to lead the United Nations remains strong. Guterres, who has made gender equality a core priority of his administration, has backed the push, as have Britain and France. Two global advocacy groups, 1 for 8 Billion and GWL Voices — a network of nearly 80 senior female global leaders — have also mounted a public campaign for a woman secretary-general. GWL Voices co-founder and president Susana Malcorra, a former Argentine foreign minister who ran for the post in 2016, has led the effort.

    However, Bachelet, the highest-profile female candidate, already faces organized opposition from the United States. In a late March letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, 28 Republican members of Congress called on the Biden administration to veto Bachelet’s candidacy, labeling her a “pro-abortion zealot intent on using political authority to override state sovereignty in favor of extreme agendas.” When U.S. Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz was asked about Bachelet at a recent Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing by Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts, one of the letter’s signatories, Waltz declined to confirm whether the U.S. would formally oppose her, but acknowledged he shared the lawmakers’ concerns.

    Gowan noted that expectations of a female candidate winning shifted dramatically following Donald Trump’s return to the White House. “Before that, there was a feeling that this time a woman had to win, but now a lot of diplomats assume that Washington will insist on a male secretary-general on principle,” he said. “I am not sure that is necessarily correct.” While more candidates could still join the race before the Security Council holds its traditional informal straw polls to narrow the field, analysts expect the current four candidates to remain the main contenders for the top post.

  • France summons Elon Musk over X probe

    France summons Elon Musk over X probe

    French judicial authorities have summoned billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk for a voluntary interview as part of a wide-ranging probe into his social media platform X, a case that has escalated into one of the highest-profile regulatory challenges facing the platform globally. As of Saturday, officials have not confirmed whether Musk will appear for the scheduled questioning in Paris, nor have they released details on the exact timing or location of the interview. The investigation into X first launched in January 2025, opening over initial claims that the platform’s recommendation algorithm had been misused to interfere in domestic French political processes. What began as a narrow probe quickly expanded to incorporate additional serious allegations tied to X’s artificial intelligence chatbot, Grok, including the tool’s role in spreading Holocaust denial and non-consensual sexual deepfake content. In early February, French prosecutors executed a search of X’s Paris headquarters, an action the social media firm has repeatedly denounced. The company, which has forcefully denied any illegal wrongdoing, labeled the office search as a “politicized” raid and an “abusive judicial act.” During that same round of procedural actions in February, prosecutors issued the first summons for Musk and then-X chief executive Linda Yaccarino, identifying both as the de facto and de jure leaders of the platform during the period covered by the investigation. Musk immediately pushed back against the move, calling it a deliberate “political attack.” Yaccarino stepped down from her role as CEO in July of the previous year, after leading the company for two years following Musk’s acquisition of the platform, then known as Twitter. Prosecutor Laure Beccuau confirmed in February that multiple X employees had also been called to give witness testimony between April 20 and 24. In an update provided Saturday, the Paris prosecutor’s office noted that non-appearance by any of the individuals invited for voluntary questioning would not halt or slow the progress of the ongoing investigation. Beyond the allegations of political interference and harmful AI-generated content, the French probe also encompasses suspected involvement in two additional serious criminal offenses: complicity in the distribution and possession of child sexual abuse material, and denial of crimes against humanity. X has repeatedly characterized the entire investigation as politically motivated, pushing back against the allegations publicly in comments made in July. This French investigation is not an isolated action, but rather part of a growing international regulatory backlash against Grok and X. The controversy surrounding Grok erupted after watchdog groups documented that the chatbot could be prompted to generate sexualized deepfake images of women and children using basic, unfiltered text prompts. The London-based nonprofit Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) released a bombshell report in late January finding that Grok generated an estimated 3 million sexualized images in just 11 days. The vast majority of the content depicted adult women, but the report also identified roughly 23,000 images that appeared to show minors being sexualized. Regulators across Europe and the United Kingdom have quickly opened their own probes in response to the revelations. In February, the United Kingdom’s national data regulator launched parallel investigations into X and Musk’s AI firm xAI, citing “serious concerns” about whether the companies violated national personal data protection laws when developing and deploying Grok for deepfake generation. The European Union followed suit shortly after, opening its own formal investigation into X over Grok’s creation of non-consensual sexual deepfake content targeting women and minors. The coordinated cross-national actions mark one of the most significant collective regulatory challenges Musk has faced since his 2022 acquisition of the social media platform, highlighting growing global scrutiny of the company’s content moderation practices and the unregulated rollout of its generative AI tools.

  • North Korea again tests cluster munitions in a launch observed by Kim and his daughter

    North Korea again tests cluster munitions in a launch observed by Kim and his daughter

    On Monday, North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) confirmed that the country carried out a second test-launch of ballistic missiles fitted with cluster bomb warheads earlier this weekend — a move widely interpreted as a deliberate demonstration of Pyongyang’s advancing efforts to develop weaponry capable of piercing joint United States and South Korean defense systems. The announcement aligns with multiple launch detections by South Korean, Japanese, and U.S. military authorities that tracked projectiles launched off North Korea’s eastern coast on Sunday.

    Released KCNA photographs captured North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his teenage daughter Kim Ju Ae, both clad in matching black leather jackets, observing the test from a coastal observation post as the rocket arced over the water, leaving a thick trail of gray smoke in its wake. In recent weeks, South Korea’s National Intelligence Service has assessed that the young daughter, who has appeared alongside Kim at multiple high-profile military events, is being positioned as Kim Jong Un’s eventual successor.

    According to KCNA’s official account, Kim personally oversaw the launch of five upgraded Hwasong-11 Ra surface-to-surface ballistic missiles, each armed with a combination of cluster bomb warheads and fragmentation mine warheads. All missiles successfully struck a pre-designated island target, and Kim expressed full satisfaction with the results, noting that the test carried profound military significance for strengthening North Korea’s high-density strike capabilities.

    This test marks the second cluster warhead-equipped ballistic missile launch North Korea has carried out this month. Earlier tests involved the Hwasong-11 Ka variant, which Pyongyang claimed is capable of turning a 6.5 to 7-hectare area (equivalent to 16 to 17.2 acres) into ash.

    While North Korea has tested cluster munitions in the past, regional defense analysts point to the ongoing Iran-Israel conflict as a key catalyst for Pyongyang’s recent push to showcase its existing cluster stockpiles and accelerate development of more advanced designs. The conflict has thrust the destructive capacity of cluster weapons into the global spotlight: Israel has accused Iran of deploying these munitions to overwhelm its overstretched air defense networks. Cluster warheads operate by detonating at high altitude, scattering dozens of small submunitions across a wide geographic area — a design that makes them extremely difficult to intercept with traditional missile defense systems.

    Globally, more than 120 nations have ratified the Convention on Cluster Munitions, an international treaty that bans the production, stockpiling, and use of these weapons. Notably, North Korea, Iran, Israel, and the United States are not signatories to the agreement.

    North Korea has ramped up its development of nuclear arsenals and advanced conventional weapons since high-profile nuclear diplomacy between Kim Jong Un and then-U.S. President Donald Trump collapsed in 2019. Pyongyang’s current military modernization priorities include multi-warhead nuclear missiles, hypersonic glide vehicles, and submarine-launched ballistic missiles — all systems that would drastically improve North Korea’s ability to defeat layered U.S. and South Korean missile defenses.

    In recent months, Trump has repeatedly signaled his interest in reviving diplomatic talks with Kim, and Kim Jong Un has left the door open for dialogue with the former president, while insisting that Washington must drop its demand for North Korean nuclear disarmament as a precondition for any negotiations. Against this backdrop, Trump is scheduled to travel to Beijing in May for a rescheduled summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Many regional observers argue that North Korea’s recent string of missile tests is a calculated strategy to strengthen its negotiating position ahead of any potential diplomatic opening that could emerge from the U.S.-China summit.