Global Pulse

分类： society

  • Driver of crashed train tested positive for drugs, Thai police say

    Driver of crashed train tested positive for drugs, Thai police say

    On a Saturday afternoon in central Bangkok, a devastating collision at the Asoke-Din Daeng railway crossing has left eight people dead and dozens more injured, after a freight train slammed into a public bus that became stranded on active tracks, triggering an intense fire that engulfed the vehicle. In the days following the tragedy, Thai authorities have unveiled troubling findings that point to both human error and longstanding systemic failures as core causes of the deadliest railway incident in the country in recent years.

    Officials confirmed late last week that the freight train driver tested positive for illegal substances following the crash, and has since been formally charged with reckless driving. Preliminary data pulled from the train’s black box shows the driver only activated the emergency braking system when the train was roughly 100 meters from the stopped bus — a distance too short to stop the heavy vehicle in time to avoid impact. Beyond the train driver, two other people are also facing criminal charges: the bus driver, who got stuck on the tracks amid peak-hour gridlock, and the manual crossing guard responsible for lowering safety barriers, which failed to deploy correctly because the bus was blocking the mechanism.

    The crash has pulled back the curtain on long-known safety hazards at the Asoke-Din Daeng crossing, a high-traffic chokepoint that connects to one of Bangkok’s busiest downtown intersections. Structural engineers familiar with the site warn the crossing has operated well above its safe capacity for years: Dr. Amorn Phimarnmas, president of the Structural Engineers Association of Thailand, estimates that more than 100,000 road vehicles pass through the crossing every single day, far exceeding the safety threshold for an at-grade, manually operated railway crossing.

    Decades of unplanned urban growth have exacerbated the risks, experts note. The railway tracks were laid decades before the surrounding road network and dense commercial and residential development sprung up around them, creating a persistent conflict between rail and road traffic that has become normalized over time. Local commuters regularly skirt safety rules: motorcyclists frequently weave around partially lowered barriers to cut through crossing, beating congested traffic but creating constant risks of collision with oncoming trains. This routine exposure to risk has led to what Dr. Amorn calls “risk normalization” — a dangerous dynamic where commuters, operators and regulators accept daily unsafe conditions as the status quo, until a disaster strikes.

    In response to the crash, Thailand’s top rail transport regulator has announced immediate new safety rules to prevent similar tragedies. Pichet Kunadhamraks, director-general of Thailand’s Department of Rail Transport, ordered mandatory pre-shift drug and alcohol testing for all train operators and railway staff across the country, a sweeping change meant to rule out impairment on the job. Authorities have also launched a full review of all at-grade railway crossings across Thailand to identify high-risk sites that need upgraded safety infrastructure or full grade separation to eliminate conflicts between road and rail traffic.

  • Argentina’s icy outpost at the end of the world fears the hantavirus will chill tourism

    Argentina’s icy outpost at the end of the world fears the hantavirus will chill tourism

    Nestled at the southernmost tip of Argentina, positioned as the world’s primary gateway to Antarctic cruises, Ushuaia has built a booming tourism brand as the remote, unspoiled “end of the world.” For years, growing legions of adventure travelers have flocked here to spot Magellanic penguins, breach-watching humpback whales, and catch departure ships for bucket-list trips to Antarctica, turning the once-remote outpost into an economic boomtown that relies on tourism for more than a quarter of its annual revenue. Today, that hard-won growth hangs in the balance, after a deadly hantavirus outbreak on an Atlantic cruise sparked unconfirmed speculation that traces the infection’s origin back to this wind-swept Patagonian city.

    The outbreak’s first confirmed fatalities were a Dutch couple, avid birdwatchers who died after falling ill in April. Argentina’s national Health Ministry has launched an investigation into whether the pair contracted the rat-borne Andes variant of hantavirus while staying in Ushuaia before boarding their cruise ship. The case has quickly become tangled in political tension, as the left-leaning provincial government of Tierra del Fuego – which has frequently clashed with libertarian national President Javier Milei – claims it is the target of a coordinated smear campaign. National health officials, meanwhile, have refused to rule out any potential site of infection, noting the couple completed a months-long cross-country road trip through Argentina and Chile before embarking from Ushuaia’s port.

    What makes the crisis particularly fraught for the region is that no concrete evidence has yet linked Ushuaia to the outbreak. The province has never recorded a confirmed local case of hantavirus, but that has not stopped the uncertainty from rippling through the local tourism sector, just as operators prepare for the critical summer booking season. Winter in Ushuaia is the quiet planning period for Antarctic cruises, when wealthy international travelers lock in their itineraries for the upcoming summer travel window. Local travel agents have already confirmed that an untold number of bookings from American and European travelers have been scrapped over fears of hantavirus exposure.

    For local industry leaders, the biggest long-term risk is not immediate cancellations, but the permanent loss of prospective visitors who will pick alternative adventure destinations over Ushuaia. “We have seen a number of passengers canceling trips, but my main concern is not the cancellations but people who were thinking about going to Ushuaia but had two or three destinations to choose from and now may go to Southeast Asia or Africa,” explained Ángel Brisighelli, owner of Ushuaia-based tour operator Rumbo Sur. “That damage won’t be visible until much later.”

    This moment exposes the extreme fragility of Ushuaia’s tourism-dependent economy, which has already faced a string of recent economic shocks under the Milei administration. The national government’s decision to roll back long-standing trade barriers has gutted the region’s core electronics manufacturing industry, while a stronger national peso has made international travel more affordable for domestic Argentines, cutting into critical off-season tourism revenue that supports local businesses through the slow winter months.

    The growth of Antarctic tourism has been transformative for Ushuaia over the past decade. Just 10 years ago, only 38,400 Antarctic cruise passengers departed from the city of 80,000. For the 2025-2026 season, Argentine port authorities project more than 135,000 passengers will set sail from Ushuaia, which handles 90% of all global Antarctic cruise departures. Travelers are drawn to the region by the chance to see Antarctica’s iconic ice sheets before they are lost to climate change, turning the once-isolated military and research outpost into a global adventure travel hub.

    Beyond the economic uncertainty, the investigation itself has drawn criticism for slow progress and a lack of transparent, science-driven inquiry. More than two weeks after the Health Ministry announced it would send a team of researchers to Ushuaia to test local rodent populations for the virus, the team has yet to arrive. International public health experts have expressed confusion over the delayed investigation. “The investigation is going to be key for us to see what we can learn from the outbreak,” said Mark Loafman, a family medicine and public health expert at Chicago’s Cook County Health. “We’d like to see hypotheses based on science, and not on concern over tourism.”

    The Pan American Health Organization, which Argentina still partners with despite the nation’s 2023 withdrawal from the World Health Organization, has defended Argentina’s response, noting it is working with national officials to improve case detection and monitoring. “While the ongoing investigation remains important, its broader public health relevance for the Americas is limited, given that the disease is endemic in the region,” the organization said in a statement.

    Ushuaia authorities argue the most logical origin of infection is the broader Patagonian region that spans southern Chile and three Argentine provinces, where Andes hantavirus is known to circulate in wild rodent populations. But national health officials say there is no record of the Dutch couple visiting these endemic areas during the virus’s 9 to 45-day incubation period before the couple developed symptoms on April 6.

    Local officials across high-profile Argentine tourist destinations have moved quickly to dispel fears as the summer travel season approaches. In Epuyén, a Patagonian village that suffered a deadly 2018 hantavirus outbreak that killed 11 people, Mayor José Contreras has issued a public clarification to counter spreading misinformation. “Tourism operators tell us that many trip reservations have been canceled, so we must make this clarification,” Contreras announced. “Epuyén has no hantavirus this season. People should feel at ease and continue to visit.”

    Back in Ushuaia, some local tourism leaders are framing the crisis as an opportunity to prove the destination’s safety. “We suffered a loss of prestige, yes. But this is also a chance to show that Ushuaia is one of the safest places in the world,” said Juan Pavlov, foreign affairs secretary for the Tierra del Fuego Tourism Institute. For now, though, visitors remain cautious, and the city’s economic future hangs on the outcome of an investigation that has yet to deliver clear answers.

  • Ultra Tune boss Sean Buckley accuses ex-girlfriend Jennifer Cruz Cole of blackmail in private prosecution

    Ultra Tune boss Sean Buckley accuses ex-girlfriend Jennifer Cruz Cole of blackmail in private prosecution

    A high-profile Australian automotive industry leader has launched a rare private criminal prosecution against his former model girlfriend, alleging a series of targeted blackmail attempts that saw her demand as much as $16 million or an engagement to suppress damaging audio recordings.

    Sean Buckley, executive chairman of national car service and roadside assistance provider Ultra Tune, has brought five formal blackmail charges against Jennifer Cruz Cole, his ex-partner and the mother of one of his children, which were officially filed with Melbourne Magistrates’ Court this Monday. Martin Amad, Buckley’s own solicitor, is leading the prosecution in the case, a unique arrangement permitted under Australian private prosecution rules that allow private citizens to initiate criminal proceedings instead of state law enforcement agencies.

    Cole, who previously worked as one of Ultra Tune’s well-known “rubber girl” promotional models, appeared in court in person following the service of charges on April 12. She was not required to enter a plea at this early procedural hearing.

    Court documents outline that between October 2019 and December 2020, when the former couple’s relationship was coming to an acrimonious end, Cole made five separate “unwarranted demands with menaces” against Buckley. The court ordered Buckley’s name be redacted from public charge sheets. The first charge details an October 2019 demand for $10 million, with a threat to damage the unnamed victim’s reputation via the high-rating current affairs program *A Current Affair*. The most serious allegation dates to late 2020, when Cole is accused of demanding either $16 million or a formal engagement agreement in exchange for withholding “reputationally damaging” audio recordings of the victim.

    Magistrate Gerard Lethbridge confirmed during the preliminary hearing that the severity of the charges means the case will eventually be transferred to the higher County Court for trial, a process that requires the state Director of Public Prosecutions to formally approve and sign the indictment.

    Cole’s legal team, led by barrister David Hancock, requested an interim gag order to temporarily block media from reporting case details, but the magistrate rejected the application, ruling a media ban would not be appropriate in this matter.

    This prosecution is the latest in a string of overlapping legal disputes between the former couple, who dated from 2017 until their split in December 2020. Buckley and Ultra Tune currently have an ongoing civil claim before the Supreme Court against Cole, centered on her alleged publication of a secretly recorded conversation between the two that took place in a Crown hotel room in early 2020.

    In a separate prior criminal matter, allegations that Buckley stalked, secretly recorded, and assaulted Cole in 2020 were dismissed by Melbourne Magistrates’ Court last August, four years after the claims were first filed. Buckley’s legal team has long maintained the allegations were a deliberate set-up by Cole.

    Speaking to reporters outside the courtroom, Amad confirmed Buckley’s decision to pursue a private prosecution was a choice he was legally entitled to make, and that the case would proceed through the courts according to due process. Hancock has stated he will not make any public comments on the matter at this stage. The case is scheduled to return to Melbourne Magistrates’ Court for a further procedural hearing on August 10.

  • Tributes flow after Australian shark attack victim named as father-of-two

    Tributes flow after Australian shark attack victim named as father-of-two

    A devastating shark attack has claimed the life of a 38-year-old Australian father of two, sparking an outpouring of grief and tributes from across Western Australia’s coastal community over the weekend.

    Steven Mattaboni was spearfishing alongside a group of friends roughly one kilometer offshore from Horseshoe Reef, a popular spot located northwest of Perth’s iconic Rottnest Island, when the incident unfolded around 10 a.m. local time on Saturday. The massive predator, measuring approximately 4 meters (13 feet) in length, bit Mattaboni on his lower leg in what law enforcement has described as a horrific attack. He was around 20 meters from his anchored vessel when the attack occurred, leaving his friends to witness the traumatic event firsthand.

    Mattaboni’s companions immediately rushed him back to shore in a desperate bid to save his life, but emergency responders were unable to resuscitate him. Western Australia Police will prepare a full report for the state coroner to formally document the circumstances of the fatality.

    In a heartbreaking statement released after the attack, Mattaboni’s wife Shirene opened up about the irreparable loss her family has suffered, remembering her husband as an incredible parent to the couple’s two young daughters — a child turning three next month and a four-month-old baby. An avid fisherman who was deeply passionate about ocean life, Mattaboni “lived and breathed the water,” his wife said. “Fiercely loyal, endlessly generous, and the kind of man who would give you the shirt off his back,” she wrote. “The world has lost a truly one-of-a-kind gentleman, and our daughters have lost an incredible father far too soon. Our hearts are irrevocably broken.”

    Tributes quickly extended beyond Mattaboni’s immediate family to the local community groups he was part of. The Kingsley Amateur Football Club, based in Perth’s northern suburbs where Mattaboni played for the team, remembered him as a much-loved friend to many members. “Mattas was one of the most genuine people you could meet,” the club shared in a public online post. “He had a smile and presence that could light up a room, and he will be remembered fondly by all who had the privilege of knowing him.”

    Graham Henderson, president of the Australian Underwater Federation, the national peak body representing spearfishing enthusiasts, said the entire community was reeling from the unexpected loss. “My heart goes out to his family, the club members and the people who were supporting him out on that dive,” Henderson told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

    Henderson noted that while spearfishing inherently carries some level of risk, the community works proactively to mitigate threats. For organized competitive events, safety protocols include on-site patrol boats and drone surveillance to spot sharks in surrounding waters before they reach divers. “But of course when people are doing it recreationally… that is probably when they are most vulnerable,” he added.

    Reece Whitby, Western Australia’s police minister, acknowledged the courage and quick action of Mattaboni’s friends, who put themselves at risk to get him back to shore, as well as the first responders who attempted to save his life. “I want to acknowledge the diver’s friends who played a critical role in doing the best they could to bring him back to shore,” Whitby said Saturday. “They all witnessed a very confronting, disturbing and tragic scene.”

    The WA Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development has confirmed it received an official report of the attack by the 4-meter shark, marking another tragic reminder of the risks that come with recreational ocean activity along Australia’s well-known shark-populated western coast.

  • Luke Sayers and wife Cate battle in court over ‘dick pic’ scandal trial

    Luke Sayers and wife Cate battle in court over ‘dick pic’ scandal trial

    A high-profile legal dispute has erupted in Australia’s Supreme Court between former Carlton Football Club president Luke Sayers and his estranged wife Cate Sayers, centered on a viral explicit image scandal that played out on social media platform X earlier this year. The conflict centers on an explicit photo of Luke Sayers that was posted to his personal X account in January, which also tagged one of Carlton Football Club’s major sponsors. The image was taken down just 15 minutes after it went live, but not before it sparked widespread public and media attention across the country.

    Both sides have vehemently denied responsibility for the post. Luke Sayers, who has stepped away from his leadership role at the AFL club, claims he could not have uploaded the image because he was showering at the time of the post. He has previously alleged that one day after the incident, Cate Sayers made comments implying she was behind the post, saying words to the effect of “let’s see how you get out of this one”. Cate Sayers has firmly refuted this accusation, noting she was not staying at the same hotel as her estranged husband when the post went live, and has outright denied sharing the image.

    The legal fight has now expanded beyond who posted the photo to include cross claims of defamation, as well as a dispute over where the trial should be heard. Luke Sayers’ legal team, led by prominent barrister Matthew Collins KC, is pushing to have the case transferred to the family court division of the Federal Court. Collins argued in court that the original X post itself constitutes a defamatory act against his client, noting that Luke Sayers faced relentless negative media attention in the days after the image was published. A separate internal inquiry conducted by the Australian Football League (AFL) cleared Luke Sayers of any intentional wrongdoing in connection with the post.

    For her part, Cate Sayers is pushing to keep the proceedings in the Supreme Court, and has launched her own defamation counterclaim. She argues that a statutory declaration submitted during the investigation into the X post defamed her, with legal representatives noting that the reputational damage she has suffered extends across the entire country. Last week, the *Herald Sun* revealed that Cate Sayers had issued formal subpoenas to both Carlton Football Club and the national AFL governing body as part of her case.

    During opening procedural hearings on Monday, Supreme Court Justice Andrew Watson ordered a temporary closure of the court for early closed-door arguments over whether the full trial should proceed in open court. Watson previously ordered that live streaming of the proceedings be halted, after Collins argued that heightened public and social media attention around the salacious case could complicate fair judicial proceedings. While stressing that “we don’t want to exclude the media from being able to report”, Justice Watson also shared concerns that members of the general public attending the open trial may not be prepared for the explicit nature of the evidence and legal discussions in the case.

  • Fighter jet crews parachute safely after collision at US air show

    Fighter jet crews parachute safely after collision at US air show

    A shocking mid-air collision between two U.S. Navy EA-18G Growler fighter jets has disrupted the final day of a popular Idaho air show, leaving military officials and event attendees shaken but relieved after all four crew members escaped before the crash. The incident unfolded Sunday afternoon approximately two miles northwest of Mountain Home Air Force Base, on the second and closing day of the biennial Gunfighter Skies air show.

    Military spokespersons confirmed that all crew members on board both jets safely ejected from their aircraft immediately following the collision. In an official social media statement posted Sunday, Mountain Home Air Force Base Gunfighters confirmed that all aircrew involved are currently in stable condition, with responding emergency personnel transporting the team for mandatory medical evaluations. U.S. Navy Commander Amelia Umayam told CBS News that the crew remains in the care of on-base medical staff for routine checks, adding that it has not yet been confirmed whether any crew sustained injuries during the ejection or collision.

    The collision sparked a post-crash fire at the crash site, prompting base officials to enact a brief lockdown as emergency response teams worked to secure the area. Following the incident, event organizers made the immediate decision to cancel all remaining activities for the 2026 Gunfighter Skies air show. In their statement, base officials thanked attendees for their cooperation during the emergency response, noting that public patience allowed first responders to work quickly and effectively to contain the situation.

    The two aircraft involved in the crash are assigned to an electronic attack squadron based out of Washington state. According to U.S. Navy data, each EA-18G Growler carries an approximate price tag of $67 million, meaning the collision resulted in an estimated $134 million in military aircraft losses. Kim Sykes, a representative for Silver Wings of Idaho—the local organization that co-organized the event—confirmed that no base personnel, event staff or attendees on the ground suffered any injuries in connection with the crash.

    This is not the first fatal accident linked to the Gunfighter Skies air show: the event was last held in 2018, when a glider pilot lost their life in a separate accident during demonstration activities. As of Monday, military officials have launched a formal investigation to determine the root cause of Sunday’s collision, with no further details on potential contributing factors released to the public. The BBC has reached out to both Mountain Home Air Force Base and event organizers for additional comment on the incident.

  • Thai PM urges swift response to fatal Bangkok collision

    Thai PM urges swift response to fatal Bangkok collision

    A devastating collision between a freight train and a public bus in central Bangkok has left eight people dead and 25 others injured, prompting Thailand’s prime minister to demand rapid support for victims and a sweeping probe into transport safety across the capital. The deadly crash unfolded at approximately 3:40 p.m. local time on Saturday, in the immediate vicinity of the Airport Link Makkasan Station, one of the capital’s busy transit hubs.

    Eyewitness accounts confirm the public bus became trapped on the railway tracks after gridlocked city traffic forced it to stop in the train’s path. The force of the collision was so severe that the bus burst into flames, billowing thick black smoke across the surrounding neighborhood and damaging multiple vehicles parked or stopped nearby. Emergency response teams including urban search and rescue units, fire crews, and advanced medical teams were immediately dispatched to contain the blaze, extract survivors, and triage casualties.

    Official updates from Thai authorities later confirmed all eight fatalities were passengers aboard the public bus. All injured victims have been transported to adjacent medical facilities for urgent care, with several still listed in critical condition as of Sunday morning. The Thai Department of Rail Transport has formally launched a full investigation to determine the root causes of the disaster.

    Preliminary evidence points to chronic urban traffic congestion as a contributing factor, which left the bus unable to clear the railway crossing before the oncoming freight train arrived. Investigators are also conducting a full inspection of the crossing’s infrastructure to confirm whether warning signals and automatic safety barriers were operating correctly at the time of the crash.

    Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul visited the accident site Saturday evening to meet first responders and oversee the response effort. During his visit, he issued explicit instructions for all relevant government agencies to accelerate victim assistance efforts, ensure full coverage of medical care for all those affected, complete a transparent full investigation, and conduct a comprehensive review of existing safety protocols for all at-grade railway crossings across the country.

    The tragedy has reignited long-simmering public concern over transportation safety in Thailand, particularly in densely populated, heavily congested urban centers where existing infrastructure has struggled to keep pace with growing road and rail traffic volumes. Many safety advocates have called for urgent upgrades to aging crossing systems and new traffic management strategies to reduce the risk of similar incidents in the future.

  • New York rail strike continues as commuters brace for Monday chaos

    New York rail strike continues as commuters brace for Monday chaos

    As the first work stoppage on the Long Island Rail Road in three decades stretched into its second day Sunday, hundreds of thousands of daily commuters across the New York metropolitan region braced for crippling travel disruptions at the start of the workweek, after union and management officials failed to schedule new negotiations to resolve a bitter dispute over wages and working conditions.

    Around 3,500 unionized workers walking off the job at LIRR — the busiest commuter rail system in North America — launched the strike Saturday, when contract talks between labor leaders and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which oversees the rail line, collapsed without a resolution. It is the first full strike on the line since a two-day stoppage in 1994, ending a 30-year period of uninterrupted service.

    MTA officials have issued urgent warnings that there is no viable replacement for regular LIRR service, advising daily commuters to plan for remote work whenever possible to avoid gridlock. Limited shuttle bus service is being operated for passengers who have no alternative travel options, but the agency has cautioned that widespread severe congestion and lengthy delays are unavoidable throughout the affected region.

    The work stoppage has already upended travel plans and public events across the city and Long Island. The New York Mets, who play their home games at Citi Field in Queens adjacent to LIRR lines, issued an advance alert to ticket holders for weekend games warning of significant transit access challenges.

    Commuters already began feeling the impact within hours of the strike’s launch. Ramses Brye, a Queens resident, told CBS News — the US news partner of the BBC — that he learned of the walkout mid-trip on his way to an overnight work shift. “I took the train at midnight. That was the last time, and then I looked at the TrainTime app at like 12:30, and, like, yeah, they’re definitely on strike,” Brye said.

    Another regular commuter from Long Island reported that his usual daily trip into Manhattan took far longer Saturday, forcing him to take two connecting buses from Port Washington to reach the city center.

    New York Governor Kathy Hochul has publicly pushed both sides to return to the negotiating table, warning that a prolonged shutdown would spill over to impact local businesses and disrupt the routines of hundreds of thousands of residents who rely on the line for daily travel.

    Union representatives have framed the strike action as a last resort after years of frozen wages for their members. “To every LIRR passenger whose trip is disrupted, know that the MTA left us no choice but to strike,” said Gil Lang, General Chairman of the LIRR General Committee at the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, one of the unions participating in the walkout. “After three years without raises, we cannot make any more compromises to cover for the MTA’s mismanagement,” Lang added.

    MTA chair and CEO Janno Lieber pushed back on the union’s demands in his public comments, arguing that the agency cannot responsibly approve a contract that would destabilize its operating budget. “And we refuse to make a deal that puts it on riders and taxpayers to fund outsized wage increases – far beyond what anyone else at the MTA is getting – and for folks who are already the highest-paid railroad workers in the country,” Lieber said.

    With no formal talks scheduled for Sunday, the prospect of the strike continuing into Monday’s morning rush hour — the busiest travel period of the workweek for the line — grows increasingly likely.

  • With North America’s largest commuter rail system shut down, NY governor begs unions to resume talks

    With North America’s largest commuter rail system shut down, NY governor begs unions to resume talks

    As North America’s busiest commuter rail network remained locked down for a second day on Sunday, New York Governor Kathy Hochul issued an urgent public plea to striking Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) unions to return to the bargaining table, warning that both workers and hundreds of thousands of daily commuters would face deep harm if the work stoppage drags into the workweek.

    This work stoppage, the first shutdown of the LIRR in 30 years, began just after midnight on Friday, when five unions representing roughly half of the railroad’s total workforce walked off the job after months of stalled contract talks with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), the state-run agency that manages the system. Legally permitted to strike starting at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, the action has already upended travel across the New York region, with a critical weekday rush hour now looming.

    Speaking at a Sunday press conference alongside MTA CEO Janno Lieber, Hochul extended an open invitation to union leaders to restart negotiations ahead of Monday’s morning commute. “This is my official invitation. We didn’t want you to leave. You left. You’re welcome to come back. I’ll provide refreshments, whatever you like. Just c’mon back,” the governor said, emphasizing the LIRR’s outsize role in regional daily life. “We all know that the railroad is the lifeblood of Long Island. Without it, life as we know it is simply not possible. The bottom line is, no one wins in a strike. Everyone is hurt.”

    In a joint statement released after the press conference, two of the major striking unions — the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers and the Transportation Communications Union — pushed back on framing the strike as an unnecessary action, noting that their members have gone years without a raise and are only fighting to keep pace with the New York area’s skyrocketing cost of living. Disagreements over salary increases and healthcare premiums have been the core sticking point in the months-long negotiations, with the Trump administration having previously attempted to broker a compromise before talks fell apart.

    Union leaders have confirmed that no new bargaining sessions have been scheduled, with the two sides still far apart on core demands. “We’re far apart at this point,” Kevin Sexton, national vice president of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, said Saturday. “We are truly sorry that we are in this situation.”

    Lieber, for his part, has countered that the MTA already met the unions’ stated demands on pay, and claimed that union leaders always intended to walk out rather than reach a deal. The MTA has warned that the unions’ original salary demands would force steep fare hikes for commuters and create unsustainable pressure in upcoming contract talks with other MTA worker unions. Unions, which represent locomotive engineers, machinists, signalmen and other on-the-ground rail staff, argue that significant pay increases are a necessity to offset decades of stagnant wages and years of high inflation that has driven up housing, food and utility costs across the region.

    The shutdown has already transformed one of Manhattan’s busiest transit hubs: Penn Station, the LIRR’s central terminal located directly beneath Madison Square Garden, was eerily quiet over the weekend, stripped of its usual bustling crowds. Departure boards that usually list upcoming LIRR trips instead displayed entries for “ghost trains” marked “No Passengers,” barricades blocked access to LIRR platforms, and MTA police officers were posted throughout the concourse to direct displaced travelers to alternate transit options. Only a handful of travelers, most connecting to unaffected Amtrak intercity trains, moved through the usually crowded main hall Saturday afternoon. The strike also disrupted weekend leisure plans, throwing off travel for sports fans coming into Manhattan for New York Yankees and New York Mets baseball games and the New York Knicks’ playoff run at Madison Square Garden.

    As policymakers and negotiators remain deadlocked, attention has already turned to the impact of a prolonged shutdown on weekday commutes. Roughly 250,000 passengers rely on the LIRR for daily travel between Long Island suburbs and New York City, and a continued shutdown would force most of these travelers onto the region’s already notoriously congested highways. The MTA has only been able to arrange limited shuttle bus service connecting Long Island communities to New York City subway stations, which officials acknowledge cannot come close to matching the LIRR’s regular capacity. To reduce crowding on alternate transit and roads, Hochul has called on all employers with LIRR-commuting staff to allow remote work starting Monday if at all possible. “It’s impossible to fully replace LIRR service. So effective Monday, I’m asking that regular commuters who can work from home, should. Please do so,” she said.

    The shutdown has also sparked a high-profile political fight between incumbent Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul and former President Donald Trump. Hochul has blamed the Trump administration for cutting off mediation efforts early and pushing the talks toward a strike. Trump, who has already endorsed Republican-leaning Long Island politician Bruce Blakeman in his challenge to Hochul’s 2022 reelection bid, pushed back on his Truth Social platform, claiming he had no involvement in the lead-up to the strike. “No, Kathy, it’s your fault, and now looking over the facts, you should not have allowed this to happen,” Trump wrote. “If you can’t solve it, let me know, and I’ll show you how to properly get things done.”

  • Italian PM meets victims of Modena car incident

    Italian PM meets victims of Modena car incident

    A violent car ramming incident in the northern Italian city of Modena that left eight pedestrians wounded has sparked political friction, even as the country’s top leaders rushed to visit victims and law enforcement worked to untangle the motives behind the attack.

    The episode unfolded on Saturday afternoon, when a 31-year-old local man of Moroccan heritage drove his vehicle at high speed into a busy downtown street crowded with pedestrians and cyclists, according to official accounts and security footage broadcast by local media. After striking multiple people, the driver crashed into a storefront, colliding head-on with one woman who later required a double amputation. Four of the eight injured people remain in serious condition as of Sunday.

    After attempting to flee the scene, the suspect was cornered by four bystanders who intervened to stop him. He pulled a knife during the confrontation and wounded one of the good Samaritans before being detained. Investigators later confirmed the driver is an Italian citizen and an economics graduate who had no prior criminal record. Authorities confirmed he had a documented history of mental health challenges: he received treatment at a local mental health facility in 2022 for schizoid disorders, but was lost to follow-up care after an initial observation period. Tests ruled out the influence of psychotropic substances at the time of the attack, and searches of his home near Modena have found no evidence of ideological radicalization, ruling out a terrorist link to date.

    Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, head of the country’s far-right-led governing coalition, canceled a scheduled official trip to Cyprus to travel to Modena on Sunday alongside President Sergio Mattarella. The pair visited injured victims at local hospitals, and Meloni took to social media to praise the courage of the civilians who detained the suspect, calling the attack “extremely serious.”

    Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi told reporters Sunday that early investigations point to the incident being driven by psychiatric issues, stressing that it appears to be an isolated, tragic event. “There are sometimes situations in which reasons overlap, so we will let investigators complete their work,” Piantedosi said. “But from what we know now, the city can be reassured that this is not part of a broader threat.” He joined other officials in commending the quick action of the civilians who stopped the suspect.

    But even as investigators worked, political factions quickly moved to leverage the incident for their own policy goals. Far-right parties in Meloni’s coalition — including the League, led by Matteo Salvini — seized on the attacker’s migrant heritage to push for harsher immigration controls, even though he is a native-born Italian citizen. Salvini claimed the attack proved that integration of second-generation immigrants in Italy had “failed,” and the League called for new legislation to revoke residence permits from immigrants who commit crimes.

    These moves drew sharp pushback from Modena’s center-left mayor Massimo Mezzetti, who pointed out that two of the four bystanders who stopped the knife-wielding suspect were Egyptian nationals. Mezzetti called on residents to gather for a unity rally in the city center Sunday evening, framing the event as a rebuke to bad-faith political actors. “We need to unite against those who want to divide and sow hatred,” the mayor said. “This is the best response to the vultures on social media who are trying to use this extremely serious incident for political ends.” Elly Schlein, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, also planned a visit to the city Sunday to meet with local officials and victims.