Global Pulse

分类： politics

  • The many snags in Erdogan’s many strategic wins

    The many snags in Erdogan’s many strategic wins

    Over the course of his decades-long leadership, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has demonstrated formidable strategic skill in rebuilding Turkish influence across territories that once formed the core of the Ottoman Empire. What makes this expansion even more striking is that Ankara has achieved these gains with a gross national product far smaller than that of traditional European regional powers like Italy, outpacing Rome in influence across several key theaters.

    Today, Turkey has effectively replaced Italy as the primary external power in Libya’s Tripolitania region, gaining a critical foothold that lets it share control over the strategic Sicilian Channel. It has also cemented its position in Somalia, and extended its sway across the majority-Muslim “green backbone” of the Balkans, a central geographic corridor for the entire region. These shifts have sparked sharp comparisons: either Turkish statecraft is extraordinarily effective, or Italian foreign policy has squandered its resources to little gain.

    But Erdogan’s string of diplomatic successes has now set the stage for new, unforeseen challenges, rooted in the landmark strategic treaty Ankara concluded recently in Jeddah alongside Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. This new alliance opens unprecedented possibilities for reshaping the power dynamics of the broader Middle East. Militarily, it unites Pakistan — the world’s only officially recognized nuclear-armed Islamic state — with Turkey, a country that boasts NATO’s second-largest land army and a cutting-edge defense industry that pioneered modern drone warfare. Economically, Saudi Arabia’s massive energy wealth gives the bloc the capacity to fund even the most costly defense innovations and sustain long-term strategic conflicts.

    This concentrated alignment of major Islamic powers has immediately raised alarms in Israel, particularly because Erdogan has positioned himself as one of the most vocal global champions of Palestinian statehood. Just days after signing the Jeddah agreement, Erdogan launched international legal proceedings against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, cementing the perception of the new bloc as a direct strategic threat to Jerusalem.

    The alliance also threatens to disrupt the long-running movement toward an Arab resurgence, often referred to as the Arab Risorgimento. This movement grew out of the uprisings that swept the Middle East and North Africa decades ago, rooted in a century-old vision first outlined by T.E. Lawrence in *The Seven Pillars of Wisdom*: the unification of the entire Arab Sunni world under a single political banner. Originally, this project was explicitly anti-Ottoman, as the Ottoman Empire controlled the vast majority of Arab lands for centuries.

    It is no coincidence, then, that Egypt — the Arab world’s most populous state, home to roughly half of the global Sunni Arab population and the de facto leader of the Arab League — has refused to join the Jeddah Pact. Cairo is widely believed to be advancing its own competing regional projects that clash with the goals of the new three-party alliance.

    Shia Iran has also reacted with immediate hostility to the agreement. Tehran views Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey as too closely aligned with the United States to trust their stated intentions, and has spent years building its own regional influence during its long-standing standoff with Washington and Jerusalem. Iran now holds sway over multiple smaller regional states and maintains deep ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and its affiliated movements across the Middle East.

    These competing blocs have created a tangible risk of a deep split within the global Sunni world. One camp would center on Turkey, driven by Erdogan’s ambition to restore a sphere of influence matching the Ottoman Empire’s historic reach. The other would likely be led by Egypt or factions aligned with the Muslim Brotherhood, focused on advancing the century-old goal of a unified Arab Sunni state.

    For Israel, this shifting landscape carries unambiguous negative implications. Israel’s strategic perimeter has expanded far beyond its traditional borders, creating new vulnerabilities that will grow increasingly difficult to defend. The country now faces a bloc of three hostile mid-sized powers, all poised to challenge the regional order that Jerusalem has sought to impose at the first available opportunity.

    This analysis is by Giuseppe Cucchi, a retired lieutenant general and former military adviser to Italian prime ministers Romano Prodi and Massimo D’Alema, originally published by the Appia Institute and republished with permission.

  • Norwegians line up at churches for emotional memorials remembering the late King Harald V

    Norwegians line up at churches for emotional memorials remembering the late King Harald V

    OSLO, Norway — Thousands of Norwegians gathered across the country at dawn on Sunday, queuing outside cathedrals and parish churches to attend nationwide memorial services honoring King Harald V, who passed away on Friday at the age of 89 after a decades-long reign.

    Opening the central memorial service at Oslo Cathedral, Dean Pål Kristian Balstad acknowledged the shared loss gripping the nation, telling attendees: “This Sunday is different. His Majesty King Harald is dead. A nation grieves, and a family has lost their spouse, father, grandfather, and father-in-law.” While the royal family attended a smaller service at Asker Church, located southwest of the capital, the core service in Oslo was broadcast live to audiences across the country via Norway’s public broadcaster NRK.

    Since the announcement of Harald’s death on Friday morning, tens of thousands of Norwegians have traveled to central Oslo to lay flowers, leave handwritten condolence cards, and light candles outside the Royal Palace, where Harald’s coffin was transported from the local hospital late Friday. While an official date for the state funeral has not yet been finalized, the entire nation has entered a formal period of national mourning. NRK reports that hundreds of Norwegians have voluntarily postponed major personal celebrations, including weddings and christenings, to respect the period of national grief.

    On Saturday evening, Harald’s son — now formally styled King Haakon VIII, who immediately succeeded to the throne upon his father’s death — delivered his first public address as Norway’s new monarch, offering a heartfelt eulogy to his late father. Fighting back tears during the live televised broadcast, Haakon spoke emotionally of his loss, saying: “I’m going to miss him. I’ll miss his laughter. His good-natured way of dealing with people and situations.” Haakon committed to carrying forward his father’s legacy of dedicated service to Norway, stating: “That means — in the ultimate sense — being willing to risk everything, even one’s life, for Norway’s freedom and independence.”

    The new monarch has adopted the royal motto “All for Norway,” a phrase with deep roots in Norwegian royal history that was first used by his great-grandfather after the restoration of the Norwegian monarchy in the early 20th century. Haakon’s wife, Mette-Marit, has assumed the title of Queen, while the couple’s eldest child, Ingrid Alexandra, is now formally recognized as Crown Princess and first in line to the throne.

    In the coming months, Haakon will face the immediate challenge of rebuilding public confidence in the Norwegian monarchy, which has been rocked by recent controversies. Queen Mette-Marit previously faced public scrutiny over past connections to deceased disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, while Haakon’s stepson, Marius Borg Høiby, was convicted of rape in 2024, drawing widespread condemnation and calls for royal reform.

    The Norwegian monarchy traces its uninterrupted lineage back to King Harald Fairhair in the 9th century, making it one of the oldest continuing monarchies in the world. When Norway regained full independence from Sweden in 1905, a national public referendum saw 75% of voters endorse the restoration of a native monarchy. Today, the role of the Norwegian monarch is largely ceremonial, with all governing power held by an elected parliament, but the royal family remains a widely recognized cultural institution that supports Norwegian trade, tourism, and global diplomacy for one of the world’s wealthiest nations.

  • Norway’s churches hold services to late King Harald

    Norway’s churches hold services to late King Harald

    Two days after the passing of former King Harald V of Norway, the Scandinavian nation came together Sunday to honor the late monarch, with memorial services held in churches across the country, led by newly ascended King Haakon VIII.

    As Haakon, 53, arrived alongside the extended royal family for the primary service at Asker parish church, located just south of the capital Oslo, hundreds of ordinary Norwegians gathered along the route to catch a glimpse of the new king and pay their respects to his father. Outside Oslo Cathedral, where government officials gathered for a separate commemoration, crowds began forming before sunrise, with many waiting hours for a chance to secure a seat inside to join the national mourning.

    Many attendees shared that showing up to honor Harald felt like a natural act of community grief. “I’ve been deeply affected by the fact that King Harald has died. I felt a desire to be part of the community and to share the grief over his passing,” Aud Ragnhild Skar, a lecturer at the University of Oslo, told Agence France-Presse while waiting in line. Fellow mourner Sissel Engedal, a nurse, echoed that sentiment, describing the late monarch as “a very significant and important and beloved king.”

    A national period of mourning has been formally declared across Norway, though no official date for Harald’s state funeral has been announced to the public. Next week, Haakon will take the formal oath of allegiance to the Norwegian constitution before the national parliament, marking the official completion of the royal succession. Unlike historical European coronation rituals, Norway abolished formal coronation ceremonies for monarchs in 1908, so Haakon and his wife Queen Mette-Marit will not hold a crowning. Still, following the tradition set by his father and grandfather, Haakon is expected to hold a optional consecration service at Trondheim Cathedral, the historic site of Norwegian royal coronations between 1814 and 1906.

    Across his 35-year reign, Harald earned widespread public affection and respect, widely viewed as the living embodiment of Norway’s values of openness, tolerance, and modest governance. He was widely praised for steering the Norwegian monarchy toward a modern, approachable model that aligned with the nation’s egalitarian culture. Even amid a series of high-profile scandals that hit the royal family in the final years of his reign, Harald retained broad public support.

    In his first public address as king, broadcast Saturday, Haakon paid tribute to his father’s legacy. “Above all, you were a person who remained committed to your values and dedicated to your duties,” Haakon said. The new monarch added that he had been “deeply moved” by the outpouring of public grief, noting that “it gives us consolation and strength to know that there are so many who are grieving with us” as the royal family processes the loss.

    Harald had been hospitalized in Oslo since August 17, receiving treatment for haemolytic anaemia, a blood disorder that causes the premature breakdown of red blood cells and leads to chronic fatigue and breathing difficulties. The late king, 89, had faced a series of declining health issues in his final years, which forced him to gradually reduce his official public duties and engagements.

    The past 12 months have been marked by significant turmoil for the entire Norwegian royal household, beyond Harald’s declining health. Queen Sonja, Harald’s wife, also 89, was briefly admitted to a hospital for heart-related care in May. New Queen Mette-Marit has faced ongoing public scrutiny over her past connections to disgraced deceased American sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. In June, Marius Borg Hoiby, Mette-Marit’s son from a previous relationship, was sentenced to four years in prison on two counts of rape, a conviction he is currently appealing. Mette-Marit, who lives with a chronic serious lung disease, underwent a life-saving lung transplant just one month after the verdict in July.

  • Zambian opposition leader charged with treason

    Zambian opposition leader charged with treason

    Amid rapidly escalating political tensions following Zambia’s recent presidential election, opposition presidential candidate Brian Mundubile has been formally charged with treason, according to his legal representation. The charges cap a week of escalating unrest that began after official results confirmed incumbent President Hakainde Hichilema won a second consecutive five-year term.

    Official election data released by Zambia’s electoral body shows Hichilema secured 60% of the vote in the 13 August poll, while Mundubile, running for the opposition National Restoration Party of the United Progressive (NRPUP), won 38% of the national vote. Mundubile immediately rejected the official outcome, raising unsubstantiated claims of irregularities in the vote-counting process.

    In response to the opposition’s challenge, Zambian authorities accused NRPUP of plotting to launch an armed insurgency to overthrow the elected government, an allegation the party has repeatedly and vehemently denied.

    The situation turned deadly one day after the election, when Zambian security forces carried out a raid on a Lusaka property linked to Mundubile. The operation left one former cabinet minister dead and multiple other opposition figures in detention. In the wake of the violent raid, Mundubile and his running mate Makebi Zulu fled to seek safe shelter in a local United Nations compound in the capital, where they remained in hiding for several days.

    President Hichilema’s administration subsequently put diplomatic pressure on the United Nations to hand the two opposition figures over to local authorities, leading to their detention shortly after. On Saturday evening, Mundubile’s defense attorney Milner Katolo confirmed to local outlet *Zambian Eye* that his client had been served with a formal treason charge. Katolo added that Mundubile is prepared to contest the accusation publicly in an open court of law.

    Katolo also confirmed that 17 additional people, including Zulu himself, face the same treason charges alongside the opposition leader.

    The opposition’s efforts to formally challenge the election results through the country’s judicial system were ultimately blocked, after authorities sealed off access to all court buildings on Monday — the final legal deadline for filing election petitions. This move left opposition figures with no formal avenue to contest the outcome through institutional channels.

    As Zambia prepares for Hichilema’s 1 September swearing-in ceremony for his second term, the political fallout continues to draw regional and international scrutiny. While most regional and international election observers assessed that election day itself was conducted in a largely peaceful manner, the Zambia Human Rights Commission has opened a call for accountability, demanding investigations into the cases of dozens of people who remain unaccounted for following post-election arrests and security operations.

  • Iceland set to reject talks to rejoin EU, national broadcaster says

    Iceland set to reject talks to rejoin EU, national broadcaster says

    Reykjavik, Iceland – In a closely contested national referendum that concluded Saturday, Iceland appears poised to reject a proposal to restart stalled accession negotiations with the European Union, according to preliminary results from Icelandic national broadcaster RÚV, putting an end to one of the Nordic nation’s longest-running political debates for the second time in a decade.

    With all but one southwestern constituency fully counted, the “no” camp holds a thin but steady lead of 52.5 percent to 47.5 percent over supporters of resuming talks. RÚV analysts noted the outcome is nearly irreversible: the remaining uncounted ballots come from the same southwestern district where the pro-EU proposal is already trailing, making a last-minute reversal of the lead extremely unlikely. This result closes a chapter that first ended in 2015, when a euroskeptic Icelandic administration formally terminated previous EU accession talks that had launched more than a decade earlier.

    The snap referendum, originally scheduled for 2025, was moved up to 2024 by the newly elected left-leaning coalition government following a high-profile gaffe from former U.S. President Donald Trump, who incorrectly referred to Iceland multiple times during remarks about his stated interest in gaining control over Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory located near Iceland. That incident stirred fresh security concerns among Icelandic voters, even though the Nordic nation has long been a member of the NATO defensive alliance.

    Proponents of restarting negotiations argued that full EU membership would strengthen Iceland’s geopolitical security, giving the small island nation greater collective protection from great power expansionism should Trump ever turn similar territorial ambitions toward Iceland. Beyond security, backers framed membership as a boon to Iceland’s economic stability: they noted that adopting the euro would replace the highly volatile Icelandic króna, bringing down persistent inflation and lowering domestic interest rates. They also added that full membership would give Iceland a stronger seat at the table to address transboundary challenges like climate change, a pressing threat to the island’s unique glacial ecosystems.

    However, opponents of the proposal successfully rallied voters around two core arguments centered on national sovereignty and existing economic benefits. Opponents pointed out that Iceland already enjoys preferential access to the EU’s single market, allowing frictionless trade in goods and services, and is part of the Schengen Area that enables free movement across most of Europe. Full membership, they argued, would force Iceland to make unacceptable compromises on national governance, particularly its lucrative fishing industry, a cornerstone of the Icelandic economy that would come under EU common fisheries policy if Iceland joined. Opponents further argued that Iceland’s small population would leave its interests with little representation in the European Parliament, and that the nation retains more flexibility by negotiating independent trade deals, such as its existing agreement with China, outside of EU trade frameworks.

    The result confirms what opinion polling had suggested for years: a narrow majority of Icelandic voters remain skeptical of full EU integration, preferring to retain the semi-detached status that has served the small Nordic economy for decades.

  • Guinea-Bissau votes in a referendum to grant expanded presidential powers ahead of election

    Guinea-Bissau votes in a referendum to grant expanded presidential powers ahead of election

    Nearly a year after a military takeover plunged West Africa’s only Portuguese-speaking nation deeper into regional democratic backsliding, Guinea-Bissau opened polling stations Sunday for a high-stakes constitutional referendum that will shape the balance of power ahead of December’s planned general election — a vote billed by military leaders as the final step back to civilian rule.

    The current military junta seized control of the small nation of 2.2 million people in November 2023, following a bitterly contested presidential election where both incumbent former President Umaro Sissoco Embaló and opposition challenger Fernando Dias claimed victory. The coup was widely dismissed by African regional leaders as a staged power transfer; skeptics have long argued that Embaló struck a deal to step aside peacefully after projecting he would lose the official vote count, leaving the military in control of the transition process.

    At the center of Sunday’s vote is a new draft constitution crafted by the military-appointed National Transitional Council. If approved by voters, the charter would expand executive authority granted to the presidency, cut the size of the national parliament from 102 seats to 65, and explicitly cement the president’s supremacy over the office of prime minister.

    Military leaders frame the changes as a long-overdue fix for the chronic political instability that has plagued Guinea-Bissau since it gained independence from Portugal in 1973. “In a community, there is only one leader. No community or village can have two leaders,” General Tomás Djassi, head of Guinea-Bissau’s armed forces, explained in defense of the reforms. “We revised the constitution to avoid constant conflict between the president of the republic and the prime minister. We clarified the law and helped the public understand that the president of the republic is the national symbol, elected directly by the people.”

    The junta argues that a smaller legislature will streamline legislative debate and eliminate gridlock, while clearer separation of authority between the presidency and prime minister’s office will end the power struggles that have repeatedly toppled governments over the past five decades.

    But opposition groups have rejected the framing, and have organized a widespread boycott of the referendum, warning that the changes are little more than a power grab designed to cement military influence through an allied executive. The reforms, they argue, systematically weaken the office of prime minister, subordinate the national legislature and independent political parties, and erase the will voters expressed in last year’s disputed election — creating exactly the kind of deep political division the junta claims it is trying to fix.

    “This constitution significantly weakens the Prime Minister and the government, subordinates the National People’s Assembly and political parties, and devalues—or even ignores the popular will expressed at the polls, carrying all the attendant risks of political and social division and tension,” said Muniro Conté, spokesperson for the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde, one of the nation’s largest opposition blocs.

    Public sentiment toward the referendum reflects deep division and widespread confusion across the country. Roughly 915,000 voters are registered to cast ballots, but polling data suggests most registered voters do not view constitutional change as a pressing priority, and many remain unfamiliar with the full text of the proposed reforms.

    Bacar Camará, a high school teacher in the capital Bissau, announced he would boycott the vote entirely, arguing the transitional government should prioritize national reconciliation over restructuring power ahead of the planned general election. “The transitional government should focus on creating conditions for better understanding and reconciliation among Guineans,” he said. Other voters who plan to cast ballots say they will reject the charter, simply because they do not have enough information to support it.

    “I’ll go vote on Sunday. However, I’ll vote ‘no’ because — honestly, and I think this is the case for many other citizens — I don’t know this new Constitution well, so I can’t vote ‘yes’,” said Bissau resident Carolina Djeme.

    Independent political analysts share the opposition’s core criticism, noting that the unelected transitional government lacks the democratic legitimacy to rewrite the national constitution. “The fundamental question is: Who drafted this Constitution, and on whose behalf? To protect which interests or institutions? Who stands to benefit from this Constitution?” asked Paulino Quadé, a prominent Guinean political analyst.

    For West Africa, the referendum comes at a moment of deepening democratic crisis. Last year’s coup in Guinea-Bissau added the country to a growing list of nations in the region now under military rule, extending a trend that began with the 2020 coup in Mali and has since spread to Burkina Faso, Niger, and Gabon.

    Guinea-Bissau’s long history of political instability is well-documented: since independence in 1973, the country has weathered more than a dozen successful and attempted coups, with a failed coup attempt recorded just one month before last November’s successful takeover. While the World Bank ranks the country as having the highest per capita share of natural wealth in West Africa, more than half of its 2.2 million residents live in extreme poverty. Experts also widely note that the country’s strategic location between Latin America and Europe has made it a major transshipment hub for international drug trafficking, an illicit trade that has funded political corruption and fueled repeated power grabs for decades.

  • Iceland EU referendum on a knife edge as counting continues

    Iceland EU referendum on a knife edge as counting continues

    Iceland’s historic public vote on restarting European Union membership negotiations remains too close to call Saturday, with early partial counts showing the two opposing sides separated by a razor-thin margin of just 435 ballots. As counting continues across the small North Atlantic island nation, the tight result has underscored how deeply divided Icelanders remain on the question of deepening their integration with the EU after more than a decade of frozen accession talks.\n\nWith 153,197 of the 270,000 eligible ballots counted so far, public broadcaster RUV reports that 50.1% of voters have rejected the proposal to resume negotiations, while 49.9% have voiced support for moving forward. The outcome will not be confirmed until all remaining ballots are processed, leaving the country waiting for a final result in one of the most closely watched political events in Iceland’s recent history.\n\nThe snap referendum, originally scheduled to take place no later than 2027 under Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir’s centre-left administration, was moved forward amid growing international security tensions across the North Atlantic. These tensions include Russian military’s increased maritime activity near Iceland’s territorial waters and repeated public interest from former U.S. President Donald Trump in acquiring the autonomous Danish territory of Greenland, which sits close to Iceland.\n\nHowever, far from security concerns driving public debate, the core of the campaign has centered on the future of Iceland’s $4 billion fishing and marine industry, which accounts for nearly 40% of the country’s total export revenue. Opponents of restarting talks have repeatedly warned that joining the EU would require Iceland to cede partial control of its lucrative exclusive fishing grounds under the bloc’s Common Fisheries Policy, a policy that many Icelandic fishers and industry leaders argue would threaten the country’s most economically vital sector.\n\nIceland first launched its EU accession process back in 2009, in the immediate aftermath of the 2008 global financial crisis that collapsed Iceland’s entire domestic banking system and plunged the country into a deep recession. At the time, joining the EU was widely seen as a path to economic stability and deeper integration with European markets. By 2013, accession talks were well advanced when a Eurosceptic government won national elections and immediately paused negotiations, with fishing rights emerging as the single biggest sticking point that remains unresolved today.\n\nCurrently, Iceland already participates in two key EU frameworks: it is a full member of the EU single market for goods and services and part of the Schengen Area, which eliminates border checks between participating European countries. If voters approve resuming talks and a final accession deal is reached, Iceland would join the EU customs union and eventually adopt the euro as its national currency.\n\nAfter casting her vote in the capital city of Reykjavik on Saturday, Prime Minister Frostadóttir emphasized that the referendum itself represents a key milestone for Icelandic democracy, regardless of the final result. “This is a great day, we’ve been waiting for this for years to be able to have a vote,” she told reporters, adding that her administration will continue its governing agenda no matter which way the result falls.\n\nVoters were asked a direct question on the ballot: “Should Iceland resume accession negotiations with the European Union?” Importantly, a Yes vote would not finalize Iceland’s EU membership; instead, it would only authorize the government to begin negotiating an accession treaty, which would then need to be put to a second public referendum for final approval. Similarly, a No vote would not permanently close the door to EU membership, leaving the possibility open for future governments to revisit the question.\n\nBeyond the dominant economic and fishing debates, security considerations did play a role in campaign discourse. Iceland is a founding member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) but maintains no standing military of its own, relying entirely on alliance allies for national defense. The country has been a strong backer of Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022, and Icelandic officials have grown increasingly concerned over Russian military activity near the island in recent years. Trump’s repeated comments about seeking control of Greenland have also added to regional security anxieties that influenced the decision to hold the referendum earlier than planned.\n\nAs counting continues, the entire country is on edge waiting for a final result that will shape Iceland’s political and economic trajectory for decades to come.

  • Canada installs large Lake Ontario sign in latest jab at US

    Canada installs large Lake Ontario sign in latest jab at US

    A fresh diplomatic and political standoff has erupted between Canada and the United States after U.S. President Donald Trump issued an executive order unilaterally renaming the shared Great Lake, Lake Ontario, to “Lake America” — triggering a fiery response from top Canadian officials led by Ontario Premier Doug Ford.

    Ford, the head of government for the Canadian province that shares its name with the iconic waterway, hit back at Trump’s provocative move over the weekend by unveiling a massive, permanent sign along the Canadian shoreline of the lake emblazoned with the defiant message: “Lake Ontario. Now and Always.” In remarks delivered directly in front of the newly installed sign, Ford made clear that Canada would not back down on the long-standing name. “Long before President Trump, this lake was called Lake Ontario. Long after President Trump is gone, it will still be called Lake Ontario,” Ford said, adding that Trump’s action was driven by retaliation for Canada’s refusal to back down in trade negotiations.

    The dispute comes on the heels of collapsed bilateral trade talks that have already sparked a new trade war: after the talks fell apart, the U.S. imposed a steep 50% tariff on $20 billion worth of Canadian goods, and Canada has pledged to implement “dollar for dollar” reciprocal counter-tariffs starting next month.

    When signing the executive order Thursday, Trump claimed the name change would take effect immediately. While the U.S. president holds broad authority over how domestic geographic features are recognized within U.S. borders, no international regulation requires other sovereign nations to adopt U.S.-imposed names for shared waterways. Canadian officials across all levels of government have uniformly rejected Trump’s order as invalid and meaningless.

    To amplify his announcement, Trump shared multiple AI-generated videos on his social media channels over the weekend. One edited clip shows the president kicking over an existing Lake Ontario sign and replacing it with one that reads “Welcome to Lake America.” A second even more outlandish video depicts a flock of Canada geese edited to have Trump’s signature hairstyle, holding rifles and patrolling the shoreline of what the video labels the newly renamed lake.

    Ford’s public rebuke echoes a statement released earlier by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who also pushed back on the renaming. “Things must be called by their name, and this lake is called Lake Ontario – today and forever,” Carney insisted.

    For context, Lake Ontario is the smallest of the five North American Great Lakes, with a shoreline spanning both the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. state of New York. Four of the five Great Lakes draw their names from Indigenous North American languages, including Ontario, Huron, Michigan and Erie; the fifth, Lake Superior, takes its name from an anglicized French term.

    Under the terms of Trump’s latest executive order, the U.S. Department of the Interior has 30 days to update the name in the Geographic Names Information Service, the U.S. federal government’s official database of domestic geographic names. This is not the first time Trump has unilaterally renamed a shared international body of water: shortly after returning to the White House in 2025, he issued a similar order renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America.”

    That earlier move also sparked widespread international pushback. The Mexican government rejected the change entirely, arguing that no single nation can unilaterally rename a shared international waterway. The dispute also spilled into the private sector, leading to a legal battle between Mexico and tech giant Google, which opted to adjust its mapping platform to reflect the change for U.S. users. Currently, Google Maps displays “Gulf of America” for users located within the U.S., “Gulf of Mexico” for users in Mexico, and a combined label “Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America)” for users in all other countries.

    The latest renaming clash has further inflamed already tense bilateral relations between the U.S. and Canada, compounding the growing trade rift that preceded the naming dispute.

  • Former Ecuadorian president imprisoned for corruption

    Former Ecuadorian president imprisoned for corruption

    In a landmark corruption ruling that underscores Ecuador’s ongoing crackdown on graft among former top officials, ex-president Lenín Moreno has been convicted of bribery linked to the $2.7 billion Coca Codo Sinclair hydroelectric dam project, receiving a five-year prison sentence that will be served under house arrest.

    The 73-year-old former leader, who held Ecuador’s presidency from 2017 to 2021, was found guilty alongside 19 other co-defendants by a court in the capital Quito. Due to his advanced age and documented disability, the court ruled he would serve his sentence at his private residence rather than a state prison. Immediately following the verdict, Moreno confirmed he intends to file an appeal to challenge the conviction, maintaining his complete innocence throughout the trial.

    Prosecutors from Ecuador’s anti-corruption unit laid out allegations that China’s state-owned engineering firm Sinohydro funneled a total of $76.1 million in illicit bribes through a network of anonymous shell companies to intermediaries, officials, and connected figures to secure the contract for the dam construction. Among the 19 other individuals convicted alongside Moreno are his immediate family members—his wife, daughter, and brother—former senior project managers, acting Sinohydro representatives, and a former Chinese ambassador to Ecuador. While prosecutors confirmed Moreno personally received only a small portion of the illicit funds, they documented that his close family members received tens of thousands of dollars in illegal payments from the scheme.

    As part of the sentencing, all convicted individuals are required to repay three times the value of the bribes they received as a form of judicial restitution to the Ecuadorian state. For Moreno, an additional permanent ban from holding public office was also handed down by the court.

    Moreno has repeatedly denied any involvement in the bribery scheme, shifting blame to his predecessor Rafael Correa, under whom he served as vice president before ascending to the presidency. Correa was already sentenced to eight years in prison in a separate high-profile corruption case in 2020. Moreno argues that Correa oversaw the full negotiation and approval of the Coca Codo Sinclair project, and that when he took office in 2017, he launched an official investigation into irregularities surrounding the dam’s construction.

    This conviction marks a major milestone in Ecuador’s anti-corruption campaign, making Moreno the third former Ecuadorian head of state to be sentenced on corruption charges in recent years. The project itself has been mired in controversy long before the bribery trial: the Ecuadorian government launched formal legal action against Sinohydro in 2021 after widespread structural cracks and multiple technical failures were discovered in the completed dam. Earlier this year, the government reached a $400 million settlement with Sinohydro to resolve the construction defect claims.

    The BBC has reached out to both Sinohydro and the Chinese embassy in Ecuador to request a formal response to the conviction, but no comment has been released as of the ruling. The case continues to draw international attention as a high-profile test of judicial independence and anti-corruption accountability in Latin America.

  • Netanyahu condemns settler attack in flashpoint West Bank village

    Netanyahu condemns settler attack in flashpoint West Bank village

    Nearly three weeks of simmering unrest in the northern occupied West Bank boiled over on Saturday, when dozens of Israeli settlers launched a coordinated attack on the Palestinian village of Qusra, prompting an unusual public rebuke from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

    Tensions in the area first flared in early August, when a cohort of settlers blocked vital supply routes to Palestinian homes on Qusra’s outskirts, near the city of Nablus, trapping local residents inside their properties. The blockade already drew unusually sharp public criticism from the United States’ ambassador to Israel, yet weeks later, Israeli military operations continue in the region, and settlers still freely roam the surrounding hilltops.

    On Saturday, both Qusra residents and Israeli military officials confirmed that dozens of settlers advanced into the village, hurling stones at local residents before barricading themselves inside a residential building that still had Palestinians trapped inside. According to Wafa, the official Palestinian news agency, a second attack unfolded in the nearby village of Jalud, where settlers targeted a Palestinian family and a group of foreign journalists accompanying the household.

    In an official statement released following the incidents, Netanyahu said: “I strongly condemn the criminal acts of violence committed in the villages of Qusra and Jalud by a handful of rioters who are violating the law, causing a grave injustice to the law-abiding Jewish community, interfering with the IDF in carrying out its missions, and harming Israel’s standing in the world.”

    Qusra resident Yussef Abdul Kareem Hassan told AFP that the confrontation began when a small group of settlers approached a handful of local villagers who were carrying out renovation work on a local home Saturday morning. The initial group of settlers called for reinforcements, and dozens more arrivals quickly surrounded the home, trapping the Palestinians inside and launching a barrage of stone throwing, Hassan explained.

    AFP on-site footage captured Saturday shows hundreds of Israeli security forces deployed across Qusra to contain the unrest. The Israeli military confirmed in a statement that soldiers and border police units were dispatched to the village “following reports that Israeli rioters had arrived in the area and that violent clashes had occurred, including stone-hurling toward Palestinians and additional civilians.”

    “Upon their arrival, the security forces identified dozens of rioters who had barricaded themselves inside a Palestinian home while Palestinian residents were inside,” the military statement added, noting that officials were “aware of reports of Palestinian injuries” from the attack. Security forces worked to evict the settlers from the occupied home, separate the two opposing groups, and seize vehicles suspected of being used to transport settlers to the village, the military said. These vehicles will be held as evidence for an open police investigation into the violence, and forces remain deployed in the area “to prevent further disturbances and restore order.” The statement closed with the military’s official line that it “strongly condemns all forms of violence.”

    Settler violence against Palestinian communities in the West Bank has been a persistent issue for decades, with perpetrators rarely facing meaningful legal consequences, but regional observers have recorded a dramatic surge in these attacks in recent months. Today, more than 500,000 Israeli settlers reside in settlements across the West Bank, settlements that are universally recognized as illegal under international law, alongside a local Palestinian population of approximately three million. Israel has maintained military occupation of the West Bank since the 1967 Six-Day War.

    An AFP tally compiled from data provided by the Palestinian Ministry of Health shows that since the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023, Israeli forces and settlers have killed at least 1,103 Palestinians in the West Bank, a count that includes both combatants and civilian non-combatants. Over the same period, Israeli official data records that at least 48 Israelis, including civilians and security personnel, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations in the region.