Global Pulse

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  • Trump deletes Jesus post of himself after outcry

    Trump deletes Jesus post of himself after outcry

    Less than 24 hours after it was posted, former and current U.S. President Donald Trump took down an AI-generated image shared to his Truth Social platform that drew widespread condemnation from religious leaders for its blatant blasphemous framing of Trump as Jesus Christ. The controversial graphic, which went viral shortly after being published late Sunday, depicted Trump clad in flowing red and white robes, with a glowing aura emanating from his hand and head as he touched the forehead of a figure that appeared to be ill. In the background, an American flag billowed in the wind, while a crowd of onlookers stared up at Trump in an attitude of reverent worship.

    When pressed by reporters about the inflammatory post, Trump pushed back against claims that he intended to portray himself as Jesus. He claimed the image was meant to cast him as a doctor working with the Red Cross, saying, “It’s supposed to be me as a doctor, making people better. And I do make people better. I make people a lot better.”

    Despite this explanation, the post sparked immediate outrage, even among prominent conservative Christian figures who count themselves among Trump’s most loyal core supporters. Conservative political journalist and commentator Megan Basham condemned the graphic in a sharp post on X, writing, “I don’t know if the President thought he was being funny or if he is under the influence of some substance or what possible explanation he could have for this OUTRAGEOUS blasphemy.” She demanded that Trump remove the post immediately, issue a public apology to the American people, and seek forgiveness from God.

    This is not the first time Trump has leaned on religious imagery to frame his political identity. During his 2023 New York bank fraud trial, he shared a supporter-created sketch that depicted him sitting alongside Jesus inside the courtroom. His closest spiritual and political advisors have also repeatedly drawn parallels between Trump and Jesus to bolster his messianic political brand. Earlier this month, at an Easter luncheon hosted at the White House, long-time Trump spiritual advisor and televangelist Paula White-Cain openly compared the president to Christ, saying, “You were betrayed and arrested and falsely accused. It’s a familiar pattern that our Lord and Savior showed us.”

    Following the failed 2024 assassination attempt against Trump, the president has doubled down on embracing the narrative that he has a divinely ordained messianic mission to save the United States. In his victory speech after winning the 2024 presidential election, Trump told supporters, “Many people have told me that God spared my life for a reason, and that reason was to save our country and to restore America to greatness.”

    Matthew Taylor, a visiting scholar at Georgetown University’s Center on Faith and Justice who specializes in research on Christian nationalism, told AFP that the controversial post comes at a fragile time for Trump’s political base, where existing rifts have already opened over his handling of the ongoing Middle East conflict. Taylor noted that many Catholic supporters have already been alienated by Trump’s very public feud with Pope Leo, who has openly criticized U.S. bombing operations in Iran. “A lot of right-wing supporters were already pushing back against the war in Iran. The rift was already emerging for a lot of his Catholic base, and with the denunciations of Pope Leo this does threaten to alienate that crowd,” Taylor explained.

    However, Kristin du Mez, a historian at Calvin University who studies American evangelical politics, argues that the backlash is unlikely to erode support among Trump’s most die-hard conservative Christian backers. While many of these supporters acknowledge that the image crosses a line into blasphemy, du Mez said their commitment to Trump remains unshaken. “They are keeping their distance from what would clearly count as blasphemy,” du Mez told AFP. “But I also see a lot of dodging. Yes, blasphemy is bad, this is inappropriate, he should take this down. What I’m not seeing is in any way suggesting that they’re not going to continue supporting the man.”

  • North Korean leader supervises missile tests from his naval destroyer

    North Korean leader supervises missile tests from his naval destroyer

    In a fresh demonstration of Pyongyang’s accelerating military modernization push, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised a new series of missile launches from the country’s newly commissioned 5,000-ton-class destroyer Choe Hyon over the weekend, state media confirmed Tuesday. The test activity marks the third round of weapons trials from the recently unveiled warship, as Kim doubles down on his pledge to turn the North Korean navy into a nuclear-capable force capable of projecting power across regional waters.

    According to North Korea’s official Rodong Sinmun newspaper, Sunday’s test involved the launch of two strategic cruise missiles and three anti-ship missiles from the Choe Hyon, a vessel first publicly unveiled in April 2025. The outlet reported that the strategic cruise missiles flew for more than two hours along pre-planned flight paths over North Korea’s western sea, while the anti-ship missiles completed a 30-plus-minute flight before both types of weapons hit their designated targets with pinpoint accuracy. The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), another state-run media outlet, published visual footage of the test, showing Kim and senior military officials observing from a nearby pier as a missile trailed smoke while arcing away from the destroyer’s deck.

    This latest test comes just one month after Kim oversaw two prior rounds of missile launches from the Choe Hyon, when he first announced plans to accelerate the nuclear arming of North Korea’s naval forces. Following Sunday’s successful trials, Kim reaffirmed that his administration remains committed to the “limitless expansion” of the country’s nuclear deterrent forces. He also issued new, unspecified directives to enhance Pyongyang’s nuclear strike capacity and rapid response readiness, and reviewed development blueprints for two additional 5,000-ton-class destroyers currently under construction, Rodong Sinmun reported.

    Kim has repeatedly framed the development of the Choe Hyon-class destroyers as a transformative milestone for North Korea’s military, saying the vessels will drastically extend the operational range and preemptive strike capabilities of his armed forces. State media outlines that the warship is engineered to carry a full suite of combat systems, including surface-to-air defense weapons, anti-ship armaments, and both nuclear-capable ballistic and cruise missiles. While South Korean government officials and independent defense analysts suspect the destroyer program benefited from technical assistance from Russia amid deepening military cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang, many experts have raised questions about whether the Choe Hyon is already fully combat-ready.

    The troubled history of North Korea’s second Choe Hyon-class vessel, the Kang Kon, has added to these outside doubts. The ship was first unveiled in May 2024, but it sustained serious damage during a botched launch ceremony at the Chongjin port in the country’s northeast, triggering a public rebuke from an angered Kim Jong Un. While Pyongyang announced the Kang Kon was successfully relaunched in June 2024 following repairs, independent defense analysts have not confirmed the vessel is fully operational today.

    Per North Korean state media, construction of the third Choe Hyon-class destroyer is ongoing at the Nampo shipyard on the country’s western coast, with completion targeted for October to coincide with the founding anniversary of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea.

    Sunday’s test adds to an unprecedented surge in North Korean weapons testing activity this year, as Pyongyang pushes to expand its arsenal of nuclear-capable systems targeting South Korea against a backdrop of steadily deteriorating inter-Korean relations and a years-long stalemate in diplomatic talks over denuclearization. Just last week, North Korea conducted a separate slate of tests that state media confirmed included trials of new ballistic missiles fitted with cluster-bomb warheads, while senior Pyongyang officials issued harsh public remarks mocking South Korea’s recent overtures for improved cross-border ties.

    Diplomatic dialogue between North Korea, the United States and South Korea has been frozen since 2019, when talks between Kim Jong Un and then-U.S. President Donald Trump collapsed with no agreement on denuclearization. Kim has since adopted an uncompromising hard-line stance toward Seoul, redefining South Korea as Pyongyang’s “most hostile” adversary, and rejected offers from the second Trump administration to resume dialogue, demanding that Washington drop its insistence on denuclearization as a precondition for any new negotiations.

    In recent years, Kim has prioritized deepening strategic ties with major global powers aligned against the U.S.-led international order. North Korea has supplied thousands of troops and large volumes of conventional weapons to support Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, while Pyongyang has also strengthened its longstanding alliance with China, North Korea’s primary economic lifeline. Last week, Kim held talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and publicly voiced full backing for Beijing’s stated goal of building a “multipolar world.”

  • ‘Bad news’? Vance comes up empty-handed on Iran and Hungary, for now

    ‘Bad news’? Vance comes up empty-handed on Iran and Hungary, for now

    US Vice President JD Vance has emerged from a high-stakes diplomatic and political tour facing two major, immediate setbacks, leaving his ambitions as a likely frontrunner for the 2028 Republican presidential nomination facing new uncertainty.

    Last week carried two clear, high-profile assignments for the 41-year-old former Ohio senator: broker a lasting peace agreement to end the war with Iran during negotiations hosted in Pakistan, and shore up support for incumbent Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a key Trump-aligned far-right leader, ahead of the country’s general election. By the end of the trip, neither goal had been achieved.

    Vance departed Islamabad on Sunday after 21 hours of marathon, overnight negotiations with Iranian representatives, leaving without a final deal to convert a temporary two-week ceasefire into a permanent end to the conflict. A self-described anti-interventionist who was one of the most outspoken opponents of the Iran war within Trump’s cabinet, Vance delivered a blunt assessment of the outcome at a short, tightly controlled press conference, where he took only three questions before boarding his return flight to Washington. In remarks to reporters, he confirmed no binding agreement had been reached.

    Before Vance even landed back on US soil, a second defeat arrived. Just days after Vance joined Orban for a high-energy campaign rally in Budapest, the long-serving Hungarian prime minister conceded election loss, despite an all-out push by the Trump administration to keep his government in power.

    The twin losses delivered a blunt reality check for Vance, who political analysts widely name as a top contender to inherit Donald Trump’s political legacy as the Republican Party’s presidential nominee in 2028. As one of the Trump administration’s most vocal advocates for backing far-right, anti-immigration parties across Europe, Vance was viewed as the natural pick to campaign for Orban, who he has previously praised as a “model” for European governance, thanks to Orban’s close ties to both Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Orban’s defeat marks the first major high-profile setback for the administration’s formal national security strategy of aligning with right-wing Euroskeptic parties across the continent, and tied the White House directly to the election loss.

    In comments to Fox News’ *Special Report with Bret Baier* on Monday, Vance pushed back on framing the trip as a total failure, arguing that standing by ideological allies even in defeat was a meaningful exercise. “It wasn’t a bad trip at all, because it’s worth standing by people even though you don’t win every race,” Vance said. “We didn’t go because we expected him to cruise to an election victory. We went because we thought it was the right thing to do.”

    On the Iran talks, Vance struck a similarly mixed tone, acknowledging the lack of a final deal but highlighting incremental progress. “I wouldn’t just say that things went wrong, I also think things went right,” he told Fox. “We made a lot of progress.”

    The future of the US-Iran negotiations remains unclear. Trump has confirmed that Iranian representatives have maintained contact and still expressed interest in reaching a deal, even as the US continues to enforce a naval blockade on Iranian ports. Vance said the “ball is in Iran’s court” for resuming formal talks, but did not rule out future negotiations to reach an agreement.

    The political impact of the two setbacks on Vance’s 2028 presidential aspirations remains unconfirmed. The race for the 2028 Republican nomination is set to begin in earnest following November 2024 midterm elections, where Vance is expected to face a primary challenge from Secretary of State Marco Rubio. While his role as vice president has given him unprecedented national name recognition and access to party infrastructure, it also ties him directly to Trump’s policy agenda, which has grown increasingly unpopular with general election voters in recent months.

  • Advocates slam Angus Taylor’s immigration pitch slammed as Trumpian and anti-migrant

    Advocates slam Angus Taylor’s immigration pitch slammed as Trumpian and anti-migrant

    Australia’s opposition leader Angus Taylor has faced widespread backlash from advocacy groups and the ruling Labor government after unveiling a deeply divisive, hardline immigration policy platform for the center-right Coalition, with critics accusing him of embracing the same fear-driven, exclusionary politics that defined former U.S. President Donald Trump’s approach to migration.

    Taylor outlined the controversial “Australian Values Migration Plan” during a scheduled address to the conservative Menzies Research Centre in Sydney on Tuesday, laying out three core pillars for the policy: centering so-called Australian values in all migration screening, cutting off access for anyone deemed to be abusing the country’s immigration system, and drawing a firm line against radicals seeking entry.

    In his remarks, Taylor framed all potential migrants as falling into one of two distinct categories: a vast majority he described as having “noble, patriotic” character, and a smaller subset he claimed harbored “subversive intent” against Australia. Going a step further, the opposition leader argued that migrants fleeing authoritarian, extremist-ruled states are inherently less likely to embrace Australian societal norms than those coming from established liberal democracies.

    Taylor specifically called out a group of Palestinian refugees who fled intense Israeli bombardment in the Gaza Strip, who arrived in Australia between the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war in October 2023 and August 2024, labeling the entire cohort “high-risk to our nation”. To advance his policy agenda, Taylor proposed amendments to Australia’s federal Migration Act and the creation of a dedicated cross-agency taskforce focused on deporting foreign nationals who have overstayed their visas.

    The policy immediately drew fierce condemnation from refugee and migrant advocacy organizations. Jane Favero, deputy chief executive of the Asylum Seekers’ Resource Centre (ARSC), described the proposal as horrifying, calling it a hateful, targeted attack on Australia’s migrant communities. Favero emphasized that the plan directly undermines the country’s longstanding refugee protection framework and the fundamental right to seek asylum, arguing that it unfairly demonizes families escaping war and political persecution.

    “This is grotesquely out of touch at a moment when the world watches an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe unfold in places like Gaza, Iran and Lebanon,” Favero said in a formal statement. She directly tied Taylor’s rhetoric to Trump’s signature political style, noting that the opposition leader was following the former U.S. president’s playbook of blaming migrants for systemic problems created by sitting politicians, rather than working to solve those issues. Trump’s own immigration legacy is defined by mass deportation campaigns, sweeping crackdowns on both legal and unauthorized migration, and two controversial executive orders banning entry to the U.S. from multiple Muslim-majority nations.

    Favero added that the Coalition’s policy is not just objectionable but dangerous, designed to deepen divisions within Australian society and stoke mutual fear at a time when national unity is most needed. She also noted that the party’s divisive fear-mongering around migration was soundly rejected by Australian voters at the most recent federal election, held in May 2025. At that election, former opposition leader Peter Dutton’s hardline migration agenda was widely cited as one of the key policy failures that led to a historic landslide defeat for the Coalition, with Liberal Party insiders since acknowledging the party paid a severe political price for blaming migrants for the country’s housing crisis.

    The ruling Labor government has also joined the criticism, with Defence Industry and Pacific Island Affairs Minister Pat Conroy dismissing Taylor’s plan as nothing more than desperate dog-whistling designed to win over far-right voters. Conroy argued that the Coalition has no credibility on immigration policy, pointing out that the party oversaw a massive explosion in net migration in the period after COVID-19 lockdowns ended. He accused Taylor of deliberately racing to the bottom to compete with the far-right One Nation party for support, amid sinking poll numbers for the Liberal-National Coalition.

    As Minister responsible for Pacific migration arrangements, Conroy highlighted that Australia’s economy and critical social services rely heavily on tens of thousands of migrant workers from Pacific Island nations, filling gaps in sectors ranging from commercial agriculture to aged care. He challenged the Coalition to be transparent with Australian voters about which industries would be left without critical labor under their proposed policy. “Who’s going to lose doctors, who’s going to lose nurses, who’s going to lose aged care workers?” Conroy asked in an interview with the ABC.

    Conroy contrasted the Coalition’s plan with Labor’s own approach to migration, noting that the current government has already cut net migration by 40% and is gradually returning numbers to pre-pandemic levels in a measured, orderly way. Addressing the question of ensuring new migrants align with Australian values, Conroy said existing screening measures, including formal values tests, are already in place to meet that goal. He noted that at the citizenship ceremonies he regularly attends, he only encounters new migrants eager to build their lives in Australia, contribute to local communities, and embrace their new national identity.

    “What we see here is a desperate distraction from Angus Taylor, who’s desperate for relevance in a world where he’s seeing his vote being eroded by One Nation,” Conroy added.

  • Can this man broaden the appeal of a South African party seen by some as ‘too white’?

    Can this man broaden the appeal of a South African party seen by some as ‘too white’?

    On Sunday, South Africa’s main opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) ushered in a new political chapter with the election of 39-year-old Geordin Hill-Lewis as its national leader, tasking him with solving a decades-old impasse that stumped all three of his immediate predecessors: breaking the party’s longtime reliance on narrow core support drawn primarily from white voters and other racial minority groups.

    Nearly 30 years after the formal end of apartheid in 1994 and the birth of South Africa’s multiracial “Rainbow Nation” project, deep racial fault lines still shape the country’s political landscape. For the DA to eventually claim national power, Hill-Lewis — who succeeded outgoing leader John Steenhuisen — must build bridges across these divides and win meaningful support from the country’s Black majority, who make up roughly 80% of the total population.

    Since the 2014 general election, the DA’s national vote share has stagnated at roughly 20%. The 2024 national election marked a major political shift, as long-ruling African National Congress (ANC) saw its support drop below 50% for the first time since the end of apartheid, forcing the party into a fragile national coalition government that includes the DA and eight smaller political parties. However, the DA’s entry into national power masked its persistent demographic gap: the party still only secured just under 22% of the national vote.

    Hill-Lewis has openly acknowledged the party’s trust deficit with majority Black voters. In an interview with public broadcaster SABC on Monday following his election, he emphasized that closing this trust gap would be his top priority. Speaking to reporters shortly after, he made clear that winning the confidence of more Black South Africans would be a “main focus of mine.”

    The new DA leadership ticket offers a notable shift from previous iterations: Hill-Lewis was elected alongside senior Black politicians including Gauteng provincial party leader Solly Msimanga, Siviwe Gwarube and Solly Malatsi, creating what Hill-Lewis described as “by far the most diverse and young group of leaders the DA has had in its history.” Notably, Gwarube is the only woman to secure a senior leadership position, leaving significant gender imbalance unaddressed in the new party hierarchy.

    This push for greater racial diversity comes after a high-profile failed effort a decade prior. The party’s first Black leader, Mmusi Maimane, resigned from his post in 2019 after just four years in office, claiming the DA was “not the vehicle best suited to take forward the vision of building” a united South Africa.

    Hill-Lewis argued that longstanding rigid racial political silos in South Africa are beginning to fracture, a trend he called encouraging. On policy, the new leader has not yet released a new policy platform designed to broaden the party’s base, but he has signaled he will double down on messaging around government competence and addressing South Africa’s crippling crime crisis. He also clarified the DA’s stance on the ANC’s flagship Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) policy: the party remains opposed to the current framework, but is committed to demonstrating it is genuinely invested in advancing the economic interests of Black South Africans.

    Political observers have framed the new leadership lineup as a promising turning point for the DA. Dr Levy Ndou, a political analyst, noted that Hill-Lewis’ election alongside a cohort of young, diverse leaders “ushers in a new era” and could prove to be a “very good thing” for the party. Ndou added that while race has always been a defining challenge for the DA, the new leadership slate finally “resembles a party that is multiracial.”

    A notable break from his predecessor’s path, Hill-Lewis — who currently serves as mayor of Cape Town — has chosen not to accept a cabinet position in the current ANC-led coalition government, opting to retain his local government post. This unusual positioning puts him in a unique political position: he must navigate the DA’s fraught working relationship with the ANC in national government while leading the party into upcoming local government elections, expected to take place between late 2026 and early 2027, where the DA will campaign directly against the ANC across much of the country.

    The DA has long been a fierce critic of the ANC on economic and foreign policy, and the uneasy national coalition has already faced multiple major hurdles, though both parties have so far managed to maintain the power-sharing arrangement.

    A veteran of DA politics who joined the party at just 18 years old, Hill-Lewis has been groomed for top leadership within the organization for nearly two decades. Fellow political analyst Sandile Swana described him as a product of the DA’s internal leadership pipeline. Hill-Lewis first made political history in 2011, when he was elected to parliament at 24, becoming the youngest lawmaker in South Africa at the time. A decade later, he again made history when he was elected as Cape Town’s youngest ever mayor.

    While he has ruled out a cabinet post for himself, Hill-Lewis made clear he intends to maintain strict oversight of DA politicians serving in the coalition cabinet, announcing that performance reviews will be carried out in the coming months. “No-one is entitled to any office or position. It must be earned through performance,” he said, adding that leadership changes will be made if performance does not meet expectations.

  • Democrats were already scrambling in California’s governor race. Then Swalwell dropped out

    Democrats were already scrambling in California’s governor race. Then Swalwell dropped out

    The 2026 California gubernatorial election, a contest Democrats have long considered a safe win for their party, has been thrown into unprecedented turmoil following the sudden exit of its leading Democratic contender. Representative Eric Swalwell announced his withdrawal from the race Sunday, mere days after multiple women published sexual assault and misconduct allegations against him through major outlets including the San Francisco Chronicle and CNN. Swalwell has forcefully denied all serious false accusations, though he acknowledged poor judgment in past decisions. Hours after the U.S. House Ethics Committee launched a formal investigation into the claims Monday, Swalwell also announced he would resign his congressional seat entirely.

    Swalwell’s departure has amplified a cascade of pre-existing problems that have plagued California’s Democratic party for months in the lead-up to the June primary. Term limit rules bar incumbent Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom from seeking re-election, and high-profile, widely recognized state politicians – including former Vice President Kamala Harris – have opted not to enter the race. That has left a crowded field of eight lesser-known Democratic candidates, all struggling to build name recognition and traction across California’s massive, costly media market. Even before Swalwell’s exit, the fragmented field had split the Democratic base, alarming party strategists.

    A March opinion poll from the University of California, Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies sent shockwaves through state political circles when it found two Republican candidates leading all contenders in voter support, thanks to the fractured Democratic vote. Under California’s unique nonpartisan primary system, the top two vote-getters advance to the November general election regardless of partisan affiliation. That means a June primary outcome could leave Democrats completely shut out of the general election ballot – a nearly unthinkable scenario in one of the most reliably blue states in the U.S., which has not had a Republican governor since Arnold Schwarzenegger left office in 2011.

    Political experts warn that such an outcome would represent an unforced error of historic proportions for Democrats, particularly in a state where former President Donald Trump’s approval rating hovers below 30%. Beyond the state’s borders, the results of this gubernatorial race carry national weight: California is the fifth-largest economy in the world, and its pioneering policies on climate change, consumer protection, and technology often shape regulatory frameworks across the entire country.

    Before his exit, Swalwell had begun to build momentum, pulling ahead of the rest of the crowded Democratic field and positioning the party to lock down a spot in the general election. With his sudden exit, no clear candidate has emerged to absorb his support. Veteran Democratic strategist Garry South, who has managed four gubernatorial campaigns across California, described the current state of the race as unlike anything he has ever witnessed. “The Democratic field was already pretty muddled, even after Swalwell took a small lead,” South noted. “Now, it’s just an outright morass.”

    Two candidates are widely seen as the top contenders to pick up Swalwell’s supporters: former Congresswoman Katie Porter and billionaire climate activist Tom Steyer. Neither, however, is a guaranteed lock to win a spot in the general election. Porter has previously faced public reports of alleged staff mistreatment, though she has pledged to improve how she supports her team. Steyer has poured $89 million into campaign advertising across the state, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, but has yet to see a corresponding jump in poll numbers.

    The remaining Democratic field includes former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, California Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, and former State Controller Betty Yee. None of the current candidates, however, have the statewide star power political analysts say the party needs to cut through the clutter, and many voters report struggling to distinguish between the crowded slate of contenders.

    For many California voters, the lack of name recognition has left them undecided just two months out from the June 2 primary. Joko Tamura, a 58-year-old Santa Monica resident and registered Democrat who plans to vote in the election, says she does not even recognize half the candidates running. While she has heard of Steyer and Porter, she says she lacks enough information to settle on a favorite, with homelessness and the state’s crippling cost of living topping her list of policy concerns. Jacob Casey, a 42-year-old physician, says his busy schedule has left him unable to follow the race closely, and he is still waiting for a candidate to break through.

    Mark DiCamillo, who led the March UC Berkeley poll that first exposed Democrats’ weakness, called the current state of the race unprecedented. “I haven’t seen a primary election for governor with this level of indecision, and lack of voter enthusiasm, with less than two months to go before voting starts to take place,” DiCamillo told the BBC, adding that “voters really don’t have a clear picture of any one of the candidates.”

    In the wake of Swalwell’s exit, both Porter and Steyer have moved quickly to fill the political vacuum. Porter has centered her messaging on California’s ongoing housing affordability crisis, framing policy proposals to speed up construction approvals and cut through red tape to lower building costs and expand access to diverse, affordable housing for state workers. Steyer has also leaned into cost of living issues, releasing a social media video outlining his plan to lower living costs for California residents, and attacking former President Trump over the ongoing conflict in Iran, arguing working-class Californians are bearing the financial brunt of the conflict. That messaging has resonated with some undecided voters like Leila Salem, a 28-year-old independent Los Angeles voter who staunchly opposes the war, though she says she still plans to research candidates before making her choice.

    While Democrats grapple with internal chaos, California’s Republican party is also facing its own divisions. The two leading GOP candidates are former Fox News host and one-time British Prime Minister David Cameron advisor Steve Hilton, and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco. The March poll found Republican voters evenly split between the two candidates, and with Democrats holding a 2-to-1 voter registration advantage in the state, locking the Democratic party out of the general election remains the GOP’s only plausible path to a November victory.

    Many political analysts expected that Trump’s recent endorsement of Hilton would shift momentum in the GOP race, consolidating Republican support behind Hilton and pushing him ahead of at least one Democratic candidate. However, neither candidate secured the official endorsement of the California Republican Party during its recent convention, leaving the two evenly matched among the party’s base.

    Wesley Hussey, a political science professor at Sacramento State University, notes that Democrats have clear reason for anxiety after the collapse of their presumptive front-runner. Still, he added that a conventional general election matching one Democrat and one Republican remains possible if Swalwell’s supporters consolidate behind Porter, Steyer, or even a last-minute entry into the race. “It’s going to take a few days for the dust to settle in this new version of the race,” Hussey said.

  • Top Iran diplomat: Deal ‘inches away,’ Trump team sabotaged talks

    Top Iran diplomat: Deal ‘inches away,’ Trump team sabotaged talks

    High-stakes negotiations between U.S. and Iranian delegations in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad collapsed over the weekend, with Iran’s top diplomat accusing the Trump administration of tanking a near-final preliminary ceasefire agreement through unrealistic, overreaching demands that brought an end to marathon talks aimed at ending a six-week open conflict.

    Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister, outlined the breakdown in a public post to social media Sunday, noting that the weekend discussions marked the first high-level direct engagement between the two nations in 47 years. Araghchi emphasized that Iran entered the bargaining process in good faith to end the ongoing war, but as negotiators closed in on a finalized Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding, the U.S. side shifted its demands, insisted on maximalist positions, and maintained its economic blockade on Iran. “Zero lessons earned,” Araghchi wrote. “Good will begets good will. Enmity begets enmity.”

    This failed talks mark the second time in just two months that U.S. negotiators have been accused of sabotaging a potential deal that was widely seen as within reach. In late February, just hours before U.S. and Israeli forces launched airstrikes on Iranian targets, Oman’s top diplomat—who had mediated earlier rounds of negotiations—confirmed that substantial progress toward a negotiated settlement had already been reached.

    The U.S. negotiating team in Islamabad was led by Vice President JD Vance, alongside special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of former President Donald Trump. During the talks, the U.S. delegation laid out a series of non-negotiable red lines, including demands that Iran permanently end all uranium enrichment activities and dismantle its core civilian nuclear energy infrastructure. Nuclear non-proliferation experts widely note that Iran retains the legal right to conduct civilian uranium enrichment under the terms of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

    Speaking to reporters after the talks collapsed, Vance pushed back against Iran’s accusations, claiming the U.S. side had approached negotiations with significant flexibility. “We just could not get to a situation where the Iranians were willing to accept our terms,” Vance said.

    President Trump echoed that framing in his own social media statement, arguing that most negotiating points had been agreed upon, but the core issue of Iran’s nuclear program remained unresolved. “The meeting went well, most points were agreed to, but the only point that really mattered, NUCLEAR, was not,” Trump wrote.

    Iran’s lead negotiator, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, echoed Araghchi’s criticism, adding that decades of conflict with the U.S. have left Iran with no reason to trust American negotiating commitments.

    Within hours of the single-day talks faltering, Trump announced that the U.S. would implement a naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway that carries roughly a fifth of the world’s daily oil trade. Critics have universally labeled the blockade an illegal act of war that risks dragging both nations into a far wider, more destructive conflict.

    Ryan Costello, policy director at the National Iranian American Council, warned that the U.S. approach continued to prioritize dictating terms over good-faith negotiation. “It is concerning that Vance already suggests that the U.S. has put forward a final and best offer, suggesting that the U.S. is still trying to dictate terms rather than negotiate a better future,” Costello said. “We urge President Trump to walk back his blockade threat and for the U.S. and Iran to reengage and consider implementing practical steps where there is agreement to lower tensions and build on this fragile pause to the war.”

    The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday that the Trump administration is also considering resuming limited military strikes against Iran targets to complement the Hormuz blockade, which is scheduled to go into effect at 10 a.m. ET. The outlet noted that a full-scale return to a sustained bombing campaign remains on the table, though anonymous administration officials said that option is currently less likely.

    U.S. Representative Pramila Jayapal, a Washington Democrat, issued a scathing rebuke of Trump’s actions Sunday, calling the ongoing conflict with Iran illegal, immoral, a war crime, and a catastrophic threat to American public interests. Jayapal called for urgent action to remove Trump from office, saying that impeachment, invocation of the 25th Amendment, or a push for voluntary resignation are all on the table. “This is so grave of a situation,” Jayapal told MSNBC’s *MS NOW*.

  • Eric Swalwell resigns from Congress after sexual misconduct claims

    Eric Swalwell resigns from Congress after sexual misconduct claims

    In a stunning development that has upended California political circles, long-serving Democratic U.S. Representative Eric Swalwell has formally stepped down from his congressional seat, capping a turbulent week that saw him abandon his bid for California governor amid mounting public and political pressure over multiple sexual misconduct allegations.

    The 12-year House incumbent, who represented a Bay Area district adjacent to San Francisco after first winning election in 2012, announced his resignation in a public letter published to the social platform X. In the statement, Swalwell acknowledged poor past judgment while pushing back against the most severe claims leveled against him. “I am deeply sorry to my family, staff, and constituents for mistakes in judgement I’ve made in my past,” the statement read. “I will fight the serious, false allegation made against me. However, I must take responsibility and ownership for the mistake I did make.”

    The crisis that led to Swalwell’s exit erupted last week, when four women came forward with accusations of misconduct spanning a range of behavior, from unwanted sexual advances to rape. The claims triggered an official ethics inquiry by the U.S. House of Representatives, which was already underway when Swalwell made the decision to resign. Prior to his departure from Congress, the lawmaker had already suspended his campaign for the California governorship amid plummeting support from voters and growing calls from within his own party to step aside.

    This is an ongoing breaking news story, with additional details expected to emerge in the coming hours and days. Readers can access real-time updates through the BBC News mobile application, or by following the official BBC Breaking News account on X for the latest alerts.

  • How Orban’s loss could damage the British right

    How Orban’s loss could damage the British right

    For nearly two decades, Viktor Orban turned Hungary from a relatively quiet central European state into a global hub for transnational conservative politics, building a sprawling interconnected network of think tanks, academic institutions, and ideological initiatives designed to unite right-wing movements across Europe and North America while expanding Budapest’s soft power influence across the Western world. Following 16 years in office, Orban stepped down last weekend after opposition candidate Peter Magyar, a conservative newcomer, secured a decisive election victory with more than 53% of the popular vote – a result that has cast the entire future of Orban’s ideological project into major doubt.

    At the core of Orban’s network are two flagship institutions: the Danube Institute, a Budapest-based think tank focused on engaging Anglophone conservative thinkers, and the Mathias Corvinus Collegium (MCC), widely described as Orban’s purpose-built ideological training center. Founded by John O’Sullivan, a former speechwriter for British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, the Danube Institute has become a key meeting point for right-wing intellectuals from the United Kingdom, funded entirely by the Hungarian government through the state-managed Batthyany Lajos Foundation. The institute primarily hosts British and American visiting fellows, who regularly contribute to leading conservative publications across the Anglosphere including *The Spectator* and UnHerd.

    Gavin Hayes, a British visiting fellow at the institute, told Middle East Eye that the center has become more connected to the British right-wing intellectual scene than many domestic London-based institutions. “It’s an intellectual turnstile,” Hayes explained, “I’ve met more prominent right-wing thinkers from London here in Budapest than I ever did in London.” The institute has helped spread interest in the so-called “Orban model” of socially populist, nationalist politics across the British right, he added, providing a space for hard-right British figures to exchange ideas with ideological allies who share their skepticism of mainstream progressive policy. Back in 2019, Tim Montgomerie, former social justice advisor to ex-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, even used a Danube Institute speech to call for a new “special relationship” between London and Budapest.

    The MCC, for its part, has grown into one of the most well-funded nodes of Orban’s ideological network, receiving major state assets during his premiership – including 10% stakes in two large Hungarian companies, among them regional energy giant MOL. The institution has actively cultivated ties with prominent British right-wing figures, including Matt Goodwin, a Reform UK candidate who lost a February Greater Manchester by-election to the Green Party and was scheduled to deliver a talk at MCC just one day after Orban’s election defeat. MCC hosts an annual summit at King’s College London, and has directed more than half a million pounds – over 90% of its total funding – to the Roger Scruton Legacy Foundation (RSLF), an organization named after the late prominent British conservative philosopher.

    The RSLF counts former UK Conservative minister Michael Gove, current editor of *The Spectator*, among its board members, and one of its directors is James Orr, a Cambridge theologian who also serves as a senior advisor to Reform UK leader Nigel Farage. Orr praised Orban’s government during an appearance at a 2023 Hungarian political festival, framing it as a needed counterpoint to what he called the anti-national heritage ideology dominating mainstream British politics. That same event drew a host of other high-profile right-wing figures, including US billionaire Peter Thiel, former Boris Johnson advisor Dominic Cummings, and Goodwin, who hailed Orban’s administration as a rebuke of what he described as “national self-loathing” in British public life.

    Orban’s pan-European conservative project has long found particularly fertile ground in the UK, especially within the rapidly rising right-wing party Reform UK, which currently leads national opinion polls ahead of the next UK general election. Farage, Reform’s leader, has repeatedly praised Orban over the years, rejecting criticisms of the Hungarian leader’s authoritarian tendencies and framing him as the future of European politics. “He actually believes in things. He does not sheepishly, slavishly go along with the European project… he firmly believes in the concept of the nation-state,” Farage said of Orban in 2019, and headlined a 2024 National Conservatism conference in Brussels alongside Orban, an event sponsored by MCC’s Brussels office.

    Orban’s brand of hardline nationalist politics has also drawn support from leading right-wing figures across the Atlantic, and just last month he shared the stage with Argentinian President Javier Milei at a Conservative Political Action Conference held in Budapest, while former US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered pre-recorded video addresses to the crowd. Despite the network’s rapid growth over the past decade, its future is now unclear, as Magyar’s Tisza Party ran on an explicit platform that promised to end the use of public funds to build transnational political networks.

    The party has pledged to draw a clear line between nonpartisan education and ideological propaganda, and has promised to take back state assets currently held by MCC. “No one knows what will happen,” Hayes said of the Danube Institute. “Effectively this is an arm of Hungarian public diplomacy, so the new government could come in and decide there’ll always be the place for an Anglophone institute.” But if the new government follows through on its campaign promises, Orban’s sprawling Budapest-based conservative network will be forced to find new sources of funding and new patrons to sustain its transnational ideological work.

  • Brazil’s fugitive ex-spy chief detained by US immigration

    Brazil’s fugitive ex-spy chief detained by US immigration

    In a high-profile development that advances a major anti-coup investigation in Brazil, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers took Alexandre Ramagem, the fugitive former head of Brazilian intelligence and close ally of ex-president Jair Bolsonaro, into custody on Monday. Ramagem had evaded Brazilian authorities for months after being convicted on charges tied to a failed 2022 coup plot aimed at preventing leftist leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from taking office following his electoral victory.

    The 53-year-old former police officer led Brazil’s primary intelligence agency, ABIN, during Bolsonaro’s far-right presidency, and later won a seat as a federal legislator — a position he was forced to relinquish after his September conviction. A Brazilian court sentenced him to 16 years in prison for three grave offenses: armed criminal association, attempted coup d’état, and the attempted violent abolition of the rule of law. Rather than surrender to serve his sentence, Ramagem slipped across Brazil’s northern border into Guyana, skipping official immigration checks, before traveling to the United States using a diplomatic passport.

    Brazilian federal police confirmed the detention in an official statement Tuesday, framing the arrest as a successful outcome of cross-border law enforcement collaboration between Brazilian federal authorities and their US counterparts. An anonymous police source confirmed to Agence France-Presse that the detainee held in ICE custody, as listed on the agency’s public website, is indeed Ramagem. Brazil formally submitted an extradition request for Ramagem to US authorities back in December.

    The case has sparked immediate comment from Bolsonaro-aligned figures in the US. Paulo Renato Figueiredo, a pro-Bolsonaro influencer and grandson of the last military dictator to rule Brazil during the 1964–1985 authoritarian period, wrote on social media platform X that Ramagem was initially pulled over for a minor traffic violation before immigration officials took him into custody. Figueiredo claimed Ramagem held legal immigration status in the US at the time of detention and had a pending asylum application, adding that supporters expected a quick release and did not anticipate immediate deportation.

    Ramagem’s legal troubles extend far beyond the 2022 coup plot. He is currently the target of a separate federal investigation into allegations that he led a criminal ring that carried out illegal surveillance of political opponents and members of the Brazilian judiciary, on behalf of Bolsonaro and his inner circle. The operation reportedly used sophisticated Israeli surveillance software to target critics. Brazilian federal investigators have already recommended that prosecutors file formal criminal charges against Ramagem and more than 30 other co-conspirators, including Carlos Bolsonaro, one of the former president’s sons.

    The broader conspiracy case has already ended in a conviction for Jair Bolsonaro himself, who received a 27-year prison sentence for his role as the alleged mastermind of the coup attempt. Prosecutors have noted the plot failed only because top military commanders refused to back the putsch. The former president is currently serving his sentence under house arrest, after being moved from prison to a hospital last month for treatment of bronchopneumonia, with officials granting the home confinement arrangement on health grounds.

    The conviction of the former president has not ended the Bolsonaro family’s political ambitions: Bolsonaro has tapped his eldest son, sitting Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, to challenge incumbent Lula in Brazil’s October general election. New polling from the Datafolha Institute, published just one day before Ramagem’s detention, shows a razor-thin lead for Flavio Bolsonaro in a hypothetical head-to-head runoff, with 46% of intended voter support versus 45% for Lula.