Global Pulse

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  • Ukraine strikes cargo ships and admits Romania drone blast as Putin prepares for key speech

    Ukraine strikes cargo ships and admits Romania drone blast as Putin prepares for key speech

    Fresh developments in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war have unfolded rapidly across the Black Sea region, Ukrainian territory and diplomatic circles this week, mixing targeted military strikes, accidental security incidents and renewed calls for direct peace negotiations.

    Ukrainian drone forces announced overnight strikes against five unmarked vessels operating in the Sea of Azov and coastal waters surrounding the Russian-occupied Ukrainian ports of Mariupol and Berdyansk. According to Robert Brovdi, commander of Ukraine’s drone units, the targeted ships had covered their identifying markings and disabled radar transponders to conduct two illicit activities: smuggling stolen Ukrainian grain out of occupied territory and moving military supplies and fuel for Russian forces. Brovdi did not reference any casualties in his statement, and Ukraine has not formally claimed responsibility for any fatalities linked to the strikes.

    The strikes came just one day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made an unexpected public call for a face-to-face summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin to negotiate an end to the nearly three-year full-scale conflict. In an open letter released Thursday, Zelensky argued that waiting for renewed US diplomatic focus on the war was a strategic mistake, and that sustainable peace could only be achieved through direct, high-level engagement between the two warring parties. He also proposed a full ceasefire to take effect for the duration of any negotiations – a condition Putin quickly rejected in comments made hours later.

    In simultaneous Russian strikes across multiple Ukrainian regions over the 24-hour reporting period, local officials confirmed at least 13 civilian deaths and more than 70 injuries. The deadliest single attack targeted a dairy factory on the outskirts of Kyiv, where four workers were killed. Other fatalities and injuries were recorded in Kherson, Kharkiv, Sumy, Zaporizhzhia, Chernihiv and Dnipro regions, with damaged infrastructure including food storage warehouses, a postal facility and a local school, per Zelensky’s account.

    Diplomatic reactions to Zelensky’s peace summit proposal have been divided, with Western powers expressing broad support. US former President Donald Trump told reporters Thursday that a meeting between the two leaders would be positive, adding he expected both sides would make the necessary compromises to advance talks. The European Union and France have also backed the initiative. The Kremlin confirmed it had received Zelensky’s letter, with spokesperson Dmitry Peskov indicating Putin would address the proposal during his planned address at a major St. Petersburg economic forum on Friday.

    Speaking to reporters Thursday ahead of the forum, Putin offered a muted response to the proposal before even reviewing the letter’s text. While he claimed Russia remained “willing to reach an agreement” with Ukraine, he repeated longstanding Russian preconditions for any deal: Ukraine must cede full control of the four partially occupied regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, and permanently abandon its bid to join NATO. He also repeated Russia’s disputed claim that Zelensky’s presidency is illegitimate, arguing no new election has been held since his term expired in 2024 – a claim that ignores Ukraine’s legal suspension of elections under ongoing martial law imposed after Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion. Ukraine has repeatedly rejected territorial concessions, stating any surrender of land would only encourage further Russian aggression.

    Parallel to strikes and diplomatic moves, a stray Ukrainian naval drone exploded off Romania’s Black Sea coast on Friday near the major port of Constanta, marking the third security incident involving stray military ordnance on Romanian territory in a single week. Initial reports from Romanian authorities confirmed the drone self-detonated near an oil terminal, causing significant damage to a moored ship and adjacent warehouse infrastructure but no casualties. Constanta’s regional governor Adrian Teodor Picoiu told local media outlet G4Media that Ukrainian intelligence indicates the drone was one of a five-drone formation, with a second drone detonating inside Ukrainian territory. Ukraine later confirmed the drone belonged to its navy, blaming Russian electronic warfare interference for knocking the vessel off course into neutral Romanian waters. The remaining three drones are still unaccounted for, though officials have stated there is no ongoing public safety risk.

    This incident comes on the heels of two other recent security breaches in Romania, a NATO member that shares a long border with Ukraine. Just days earlier, a stray naval mine washed up on a Black Sea beach 50 kilometers north of Constanta, and a week prior a Russian drone crashed into an apartment building in the eastern Romanian border city of Galati, injuring two civilians. Romanian officials confirmed the Galati drone was Russian, though Moscow has dismissed the accusation as unsubstantiated.

    Complicating the picture of the Sea of Azov strikes, Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry announced Friday that five of its citizens were killed in overnight drone attacks on two cargo vessels, the *Natra* and *Zirkon*, in the Taganrog Bay area of the Sea of Azov. The ministry clarified the ships do not belong to Azerbaijan and did not name the party responsible for the strikes. Russia has pinned the attack on Ukraine, but Kyiv has not issued any immediate response to the Russian accusation, nor has it linked the Azerbaijani deaths to its claimed strikes on looting cargo vessels.

  • Truck breakdown in Niger strands passengers and leaves at least 49 dead in the Sahara Desert

    Truck breakdown in Niger strands passengers and leaves at least 49 dead in the Sahara Desert

    A devastating tragedy has unfolded in the arid Sahara Desert of northern Niger, where at least 49 people have lost their lives to dehydration after their transport vehicle broke down and left the group stranded for days without access to water, local authorities confirmed. All of the deceased were citizens of Niger, traveling back to their homes after attending a major religious gathering in neighboring Mali when the mechanical failure occurred, according to an official online statement released Thursday by the governorate of Niger’s Agadez region. The incident took place more than 80 kilometers west of the remote border town of Assamaka, a location situated near the tri-border intersection of Niger, Mali, and Algeria. Remarkably, two members of the traveling group managed to survive the deadly ordeal. After the truck stalled, the pair trekked more than 50 kilometers across unforgiving desert terrain to reach a water source, then continued on to Assamaka to alert local government officials to the emergency. Investigative delegates dispatched to the remote crash site by Agadez Region Governor General Ibra Boulama Issa have since pieced together key details of the journey: the ill-fated truck originated from the Malian town of Talhandek, located roughly 300 kilometers from the Niger-Mali border, and had been en route for several days before the breakdown occurred. As of Friday, authorities have not yet confirmed the exact cause of the vehicle’s mechanical failure, nor the precise number of days the stranded passengers waited for rescue before water supplies ran out. Officials described the on-scene findings as profoundly distressing: dozens of lifeless bodies were discovered both underneath the immobilized truck and scattered across the surrounding desert sand. Official photographs published by the governorate show the grim scene, with personal clothing and belongings scattered among the remains across the arid landscape. In a detailed statement, the Agadez governorate explained that once the truck broke down, passengers and crew were unable to make repairs despite repeated efforts. Trapped in one of the world’s harshest environments, where summer temperatures regularly exceed 40 degrees Celsius and no permanent water or supply outposts exist for hundreds of kilometers, survival became impossible for all but two travelers. The 49 victims were laid to rest in mass graves at the site of the incident, a recovery and burial operation that local officials described as an exceptionally difficult, emotionally draining mission for all personnel involved. This deadly desert incident comes amid a string of escalating security and humanitarian crises across the Sahel region, with frequent unrest and unregulated cross-border travel leaving many travelers vulnerable to life-threatening hazards in remote border zones.

  • Feared global hunger crisis ‘coming to pass’ as Mideast war lingers: UN

    Feared global hunger crisis ‘coming to pass’ as Mideast war lingers: UN

    Three months into the ongoing Middle East conflict sparked by cross-border strikes in late February, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) confirmed Friday that dire earlier predictions of a soaring global hunger crisis are no longer a hypothetical threat — they are becoming reality.

    When the conflict first erupted and roiled global energy markets, WFP analysts issued a stark warning in March: if oil prices held steady near $100 per barrel through the end of June, an additional 45 million people across the world would fall into acute food insecurity. That would add to the nearly 320 million people already facing urgent hunger at the start of 2026.

    Weeks of fraught negotiations, marked by hostile rhetoric and repeated outbreaks of violence, have failed to secure a ceasefire deal that would reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most critical chokepoint for global oil supplies. Jean-Martin Bauer, director of WFP’s food and nutrition analysis service, told reporters that the worst-case scenario the agency warned of is now materializing. “The closure of Hormuz is translating into increased hunger,” he explained, noting that prices for staple foods including wheat and rice have skyrocketed as costs are passed down global supply chains. “Unfortunately, the pessimistic projections that were made earlier this year are coming to pass, and we need to act.”

    The crisis has sent shockwaves far beyond the Middle East, generating cascading cross-border spillovers that hit vulnerable nations the hardest through fuel price hikes, food inflation, lost income, and disrupted trade routes. When these new pressures combine with pre-existing structural vulnerabilities in low-income nations, they rapidly erode food security and livelihoods, WFP’s analysis found.

    Take Somalia as a pressing example: the East African nation already has 6 million people facing acute hunger. By the end of 2026, WFP projects an additional 2.5 million Somalis will be unable to cover their basic food needs, pushing the share of households unable to afford essential goods to nearly 60%, up from 47% in 2025.

    Bauer warned the world is now facing a return to the crippling global cost-of-living crisis that followed Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine. But unlike 2022, when the global humanitarian community was able to mobilize rapid, well-funded support, the system is now stretched thin by deep cuts to international aid funding, particularly following U.S. policy shifts after Donald Trump’s return to the White House. “In 2022, humanitarian programmes were better funded. Humanitarians were in places where they are no longer,” Bauer said.

    Compounding this strain, logistical disruptions and broad inflation tied to the Middle East conflict have pushed up the cost of delivering aid worldwide. WFP’s analysis warns the humanitarian system is facing an unprecedented double squeeze: rapidly growing demand for assistance paired with soaring delivery costs, which has created major gaps in coverage. The agency now expects to serve 1.5 million fewer people in 2026 than its original planning target. If the conflict drags on for six months, more than 9 million vulnerable people could lose critical food assistance entirely.

    In Somalia alone, the WFP risks completely running out of food to distribute within months, Bauer revealed. The agency is bracing for a “pipeline break” as soon as next month, when no food will be available to distribute to vulnerable communities. The hardest hit will be young children under five, a group already at extreme risk of malnutrition, and one Somali district already faces an active threat of famine. “This is a very serious situation that requires immediate attention,” Bauer said.

    With no clear path to a ceasefire in the Middle East, the global food security outlook is likely to worsen further before it improves. The conflict is far from the only threat facing global food systems, Bauer added: a high-likelihood strong El Niño event is on track to supercharge climate instability in the coming months, which could further disrupt crop production and food markets, adding more pressure on vulnerable populations through 2027.

  • Family questions rescue efforts for Sherpa guide found alive on Everest

    Family questions rescue efforts for Sherpa guide found alive on Everest

    In the shadow of the world’s highest peak, a remarkable story of survival has emerged from Nepal’s Mount Everest, where a veteran Sherpa guide is now recovering in a Kathmandu hospital after spending an entire week stranded on the mountain’s notoriously dangerous upper slopes. The ordeal, however, has sparked fierce anger from the guide’s family, who are blaming systemic negligence and inequity for the costly delay in launching his rescue, and have already initiated formal legal and regulatory action against the responsible parties.

    Fifty-seven-year-old Dawa Sherpa was located by chance on Thursday, crawling across frozen snowfields near the Khumbu Icefall, just above Everest’s base camp, seven full days after he was first reported missing. He was immediately evacuated by air to the capital Kathmandu, where he was reunited with relatives who had already begun funeral rites for him, having abandoned all hope of finding him alive. HAMS Hospital, the facility treating Dawa, confirmed in an official statement Friday that he remains in stable condition despite suffering from frostbite, severe dehydration, and soft tissue damage to his thighs as he recieves ongoing care.

    Dawa was last spotted on May 29 descending from the high slopes, alongside two foreign climbers who both made it safely back to base camp — leaving Dawa unaccounted for. The pair was among the final groups on the mountain as the 2024 spring climbing season drew to a close, when fixed routes and safety infrastructure on the mountain are normally disassembled. His last confirmed position was at the Yellow Band, a rocky outcrop located above Camp 3, roughly 7,200 meters above sea level, far above the 5,300-meter base camp.

    The two foreign climbers with Dawa that day have confirmed the circumstances of his disappearance. British climber Chris Thrall, who was part of the group, posted an explanation to his Instagram account noting that he was forced to prioritze evacuating Polish climber Mariusz Chmielewski, who was already suffering from severe frostbite and declining health. Thrall explained that after Dawa spent 19 hours in Everest’s deadly “death zone” above 8,000 meters, the group made the decision to descend through the Khumbu Icefall, leaving Dawa behind with no option to mount an immediate search. Initial helicopter search efforts launched after Dawa was reported missing failed to locate the stranded guide.

    It remains unclear why Dawa and his climbing party were still on the high slopes after Nepali authorities had already begun removing fixed ladders from the route on May 29. The guide was ultimately spotted by a crew from the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee, an organization that handles installing and maintaining fixed ladders and ropes on Everest’s climbing routes at the start of each season, then removes gear and cleans up waste from the mountain after the climbing window closes.

    Dawa’s family has made clear their frustration over the week-long delay in launching an aggressive search for the guide. They have filed a formal police complaint against Dawa’s employer, Kathmandu-based expedition operator Himalayan Traverse, and submitted an official grievance to Nepal’s Department of Tourism, the government body that regulates all mountaineering activity in the country.

    Speaking on behalf of the family, Dawa’s nephew Karma Gelje Sherpa called the delay a direct result of clear negligence on the part of the expedition company. He also raised allegations of unequal treatment for local guides versus foreign climbers, saying: “If he had been a foreign climber, rescue would definitely have been organized much faster and prompt, but he happened to be an old Nepali.”

    Himalayan Traverse, the company that employed Dawa, did not respond to requests for comment on the allegations when contacted by reporters on Friday. The family’s legal action comes amid growing scrutiny of safety standards and treatment of Sherpa guides on Mount Everest, where overcrowding, poor regulation, and unequal access to rescue resources have been the subject of ongoing debate in mountaineering circles in recent years.

  • Case filed against Equatorial Guinea for sending US deportees to nations where they face persecution

    Case filed against Equatorial Guinea for sending US deportees to nations where they face persecution

    DAKAR, SENEGAL — Human rights legal teams have initiated a high-stakes legal challenge against Equatorial Guinea at the African Union’s premier human rights watchdog, alleging the Central African nation has violated fundamental human rights by forcibly transferring U.S.-deported migrants onward to their home countries where they face targeted persecution.

    The complaint, filed Friday with the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR), calls for the regional body to immediately order Equatorial Guinea to suspend all further deportations, transfers and removals of third-country deportees, overhaul inhumane detention conditions, and award financial compensation to the migrants who have already been forcibly sent to their countries of origin.

    The litigation is being advanced by a coalition of human rights organizations led by the Global Strategic Litigation Council (GSLC), acting on behalf of 14 African migrants who were deported from the United States to Equatorial Guinea between November 2025 and April 2026. Rights advocates frame the proceeding as a landmark test case for migrant rights across the continent, even though the ACHPR’s rulings are not legally binding. The commission has the authority to issue urgent measures and refer contested cases to the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and advocates say the case could build critical pressure on African governments that have accepted U.S. third-country deportations under opaque bilateral agreements.

    Beatrice Njeri, GSLC’s regional litigator for Africa, noted this is the first regional case involving migrants who held formal U.S. legal protection from removal yet were still routed through third countries to persecution zones. It follows a similar ACHPR ruling earlier this year that allowed a challenge to the unlawful prolonged detention of third-country deportees in Eswatini to proceed. One month after that ACHPR order, Eswatini’s Supreme Court ruled that four detained deportees could finally access in-person legal counsel after being denied access for nine months in a maximum-security facility.

    The case grows out of a controversial U.S. immigration policy implemented during the Trump administration: under a series of largely unpublicized bilateral deals, the administration deported thousands of asylum seekers and migrants to nearly 24 countries that are not their nations of origin, as part of a broad crackdown on unauthorized immigration. Immigration attorneys have long labeled this third-country deportation strategy a deliberate legal loophole designed to indirectly force protected asylum seekers back to the countries they fled, in violation of international refugee law. Equatorial Guinea is one of at least eight African nations that have signed such third-country deportation agreements with Washington.

    Just last week, Equatorial Guinean authorities transferred six of the U.S.-deported migrants onward to their home countries in East Africa, a move legal teams describe as “chain refoulement” — the indirect return of protected people to persecution zones, even after U.S. immigration judges barred their removal under federal law. Attorneys confirm the migrants face widespread persecution in their home countries on the basis of political affiliation, religious belief, ethnic identity and sexual orientation. Many had previously faced arrest, detention, torture and sexual violence at the hands of state security forces in their countries of origin before fleeing.

    In the aftermath of last week’s transfers, two of the six deportees have already fled again to neighboring countries and gone into hiding. A third has not been contacted since his forced return, leaving legal teams deeply concerned for his safety and well-being. The remaining three were turned away by their home country, which refused entry because it received no advance notification of their arrival and the migrants lacked valid travel documentation. Stranded, they were sent back to Equatorial Guinea, where they remain trapped in legal limbo.

    “They have effectively been rendered stateless,” said Bella Mosselmans, GSLC’s director, describing the entire process as a “cycle of hell” for vulnerable migrants.

    The controversial deportation arrangement between the U.S. and Equatorial Guinea stems from an opaque $7.5 million bilateral deal that has brought at least 32 U.S.-deported migrants to the Central African nation to date. U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democratic member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has publicly labeled Equatorial Guinea’s government “one of the most corrupt governments in the world.”

    The Associated Press has previously investigated the conditions facing deportees in Equatorial Guinea, gaining exclusive access to a repurposed hotel that the government of long-ruling President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo has converted into an open-air prison for U.S.-deported asylum seekers. While Equatorial Guinea ranks among Africa’s wealthiest countries per capita due to its vast offshore oil reserves, it remains plagued by systemic corruption and widespread human rights abuses, according to senior U.S. officials and global human rights monitors.

    Critical opposition is effectively banned in the country, and the government has repeatedly been accused by rights groups and the U.S. State Department of arbitrary detention, torture and extrajudicial killing of political dissidents and opposition voices. Despite these long-documented concerns, Equatorial Guinea remains a key U.S. partner in Central Africa: U.S. energy companies are the country’s largest foreign investors, and the U.S. government provides funding and training for Equatorial Guinea’s military forces.

  • A maritime drone explodes at a Romanian Black Sea port, no one hurt

    A maritime drone explodes at a Romanian Black Sea port, no one hurt

    On a Friday morning in early 2024, a stray uncrewed maritime drone linked to the ongoing war in neighboring Ukraine exploded at Romania’s pivotal Black Sea port of Constanta, marking the third major security incident to strike the NATO member in less than a month and triggering widespread emergency precautions across the country’s eastern coastline. Romania’s Ministry of National Defense confirmed in an official statement that the drone self-detonated at approximately 10:30 a.m. local time, adding that the craft was not part of the Romanian military’s arsenal and had no connection to recent military drills conducted in the Black Sea region. In the immediate aftermath of the blast, Romanian intelligence services, coast guard units and defense personnel moved quickly to secure and cordon off the affected area, and a full evacuation of the site was completed without any reports of injuries or loss of life. This latest incident comes just one week after a Russian attack drone, launched as part of a massive air assault on Ukrainian infrastructure, veered off course and slammed into an apartment building in Galati, a Danube port city in eastern Romania, leaving two people injured. As a NATO member with a direct border with war-torn Ukraine, Romania has faced a growing stream of stray military ordnance and drone incursions linked to the full-scale Russian invasion launched in February 2022, with incidents involving both Russian and Ukrainian uncrewed vessels and aircraft documented in recent months. Just two days prior to the Constanta explosion, Romanian military assets destroyed a separate stray maritime drone in international waters of the Black Sea. Since the outbreak of the war, the Romanian navy has successfully neutralized nine of the 156 drifting sea mines that have drifted into the Black Sea basin adjacent to Romanian territory, according to defense ministry data. In the wake of Friday’s detonation, emergency officials moved rapidly to secure broader coastal areas. Raed Arafat, head of Romania’s Department for Emergency Situations, told reporters that military helicopters were deployed to conduct sweeping searches for additional stray drones, and national emergency alert text messages were sent directly to residents across the affected region. “There is a possibility that there may be other drones,” Arafat told reporters, emphasizing that the sweeping measures were proactive rather than reactive. “We are not panicking. These are preventive measures. If there are other drones, we want to make sure there is not another explosion in an area where people are not evacuated.” By the end of the day, authorities confirmed that more than 1,300 people had been evacuated from multiple popular Black Sea beach resorts, and all main access routes leading to the coastal areas were temporarily blocked to keep civilians out of harm’s way. Romanian President Nicusor Dan praised the rapid, proactive response from law enforcement and national security agencies, noting that officials had acted before the detonation to mitigate risk. “With a military conflict on the border, it is obvious that the security environment we are in is a sensitive one, which is why we will maintain a high level of vigilance,” Dan said, adding that Friday’s incident was an unavoidable “direct consequence of the war of aggression unleashed by Russia against Ukraine.” The president stressed that the government’s top priority remains protecting civilian lives and critical port infrastructure, which serves as a key logistical hub for Ukrainian grain exports amid the ongoing blockade of Ukrainian Black Sea ports. The international community quickly moved to express solidarity with Romania following the incident. French President Emmanuel Macron issued a public statement of support Friday, reaffirming France’s commitment to defending NATO member territory. “We will do whatever your authorities consider as a necessity in order to protect the sovereignty of the land and the air,” Macron said. “You can count on us.” European Council President António Costa also issued a formal statement of solidarity, noting that the European Union stands firmly behind Romania in the face of repeated security incursions. “The EU condemns the repeated violations of airspace of Member States and reaffirms its unwavering commitment to the security of all Member States,” Costa wrote in a social media post Friday. “This is the third significant security incident in Romania in recent weeks. These incidents are a direct consequence of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.” The report was filed by Courtney McGrath from Leamington Spa, England, with additional contributions from Sam McNeil based in Brussels.

  • Nearly 50 people die of thirst in Sahara desert after lorry breaks down

    Nearly 50 people die of thirst in Sahara desert after lorry breaks down

    A devastating tragedy has unfolded in the remote, unforgiving expanse of Niger’s northern Sahara Desert, where at least 49 people have died from dehydration after the truck they were traveling in suffered a mechanical breakdown and left them stranded without access to water, regional authorities have confirmed. The group of travelers was heading back to Niger from Mali, where they had gathered to take part in a regional Muslim festival, when their vehicle became stuck more than 80 kilometers west of Assamaka, a key border checkpoint connecting Niger and Algeria.

    In an official statement released via Facebook by the Agadez Governorate, regional officials outlined the brutal conditions the stranded group faced. “The travelers found themselves trapped in the heart of a hostile environment where extreme temperatures and lack of supply points make survival extremely difficult,” the statement read. Just two people from the first group managed to survive: after days of waiting for help, the pair undertook a dangerous cross-desert trek to reach Assamaka, where they immediately notified local authorities of the emergency.

    According to the governor’s account, the truck had departed from the Malian border town of Telhandek but drifted off its planned route into an unmonitored, isolated stretch of the desert. For several days, the driver, his apprentice, and all the passengers worked tirelessly to fix the disabled vehicle, but their attempts to repair it failed completely. Cut off from any outside sources of water, the group was left completely exposed to the desert’s extreme heat. “Dozens of lifeless bodies were found under the immobile truck and in its surroundings,” the statement added. Once rescue teams reached the site, they recovered the remains of the victims and buried them in marked mass graves.

    In a startling secondary discovery, the rescue team—made up of local emergency personnel and Nigerien military troops—stumbled on a second stranded group while returning from the first recovery mission. This second truck, carrying more than 60 passengers, had also broken down after suffering a battery failure, and the group had already been stranded without aid for three days. The vehicle had departed from Harouba, another Malian town located more than 300 kilometers from the Niger’s northern border. Rescuers immediately distributed emergency water to the exhausted and dehydrated passengers, successfully repaired the truck’s battery, and helped the group continue their journey safely.

    The Sahara Desert that spans northern Niger remains one of the most dangerous transit corridors for irregular migrants from across West Africa who are seeking to reach Europe via North Africa. Thousands of migrants attempt the crossing every year, despite well-documented risks of extreme heat, dehydration, and vehicle failure in remote areas where rescue can take days to arrive. In the wake of the tragedy, the Agadez governor emphasized that the incident highlights the extreme vulnerability of young people who engage in irregular cross-border migration and informal cross-border economic activity. Many of these travelers are forced to traverse ungoverned, high-risk desert areas out of economic necessity, as they seek to escape poverty and access better living opportunities, he added.

  • Israel strikes Lebanese village after warning to several areas

    Israel strikes Lebanese village after warning to several areas

    Escalating tensions across the Israel-Lebanon border boiled over on Friday, as the Israeli Air Force carried out an airstrike on a southern Lebanese village just hours after the military ordered mass evacuations of multiple population centers. The strike comes after Iran-aligned militant group Hezbollah rejected a conditional ceasefire agreement hammered out by Lebanese and Israeli negotiators in Washington this week, derailing a rare diplomatic push to de-escalate a conflict that has already claimed thousands of lives.

    The cross-border violence erupted on March 2, when Hezbollah launched coordinated attacks on Israeli targets to avenge the killing of Iran’s supreme leader on February 28, dragging Lebanon into the broader regional war that Israel and its key ally the United States launched against Iran. Since that opening strike, Israel has pushed into southern Lebanon with its deepest ground incursion in 20 years, steadily expanding its military operations across the border region.

    In the lead-up to Friday’s strike, Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee, who handles communications in Arabic, issued multiple urgent evacuation orders. First, he called on residents of three villages north of the Litani River to leave their properties immediately, before expanding the warning to six additional towns and villages, including the coastal town of Sarafand located between Tyre and Sidon. Posting on social platform X, Adraee emphasized the risk to civilian life, writing: “For your safety, you must evacuate your homes immediately and move away from the villages and towns by at least 1,000 metres into open areas. Anyone who is near Hezbollah operatives, their facilities, or their weapons endangers their life!”

    Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency confirmed that thousands of civilians fled the three villages named in the initial warning, and later verified that an airstrike had hit the village of Arqoun. Overnight strikes across southern Lebanon’s coastal city of Tyre left seven people dead, a Lebanese civil defence source confirmed to Agence France-Presse. One of those strikes hit near Jabal Amel hospital in central Tyre, killing four people, wounding seven, and causing minor damage to the medical facility. A second strike on a nearby residential neighborhood killed three more people, including two children, and wounded five others. An AFP correspondent reporting from the scene found a local bank, one of only three operating in the city, left heavily damaged by the blast.

    Hezbollah’s leader Naim Qassem explicitly rejected the Washington-brokered truce during a public address on Thursday, rejecting the conditional deal that required the group to halt all cross-border attacks on Israel. “The ceasefire must be comprehensive… without the Israeli enemy having the freedom to kill,” Qassem said, adding that he urged the Lebanese government to end “the farce and humiliation called direct talks” with Israel. The group has maintained its demand for a full, permanent ceasefire and a complete withdrawal of all Israeli military forces from southern Lebanon.

    Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz responded by confirming that military operations would continue uninterrupted. “At this stage, [the army] will continue its fire and ground operations… without the return of the population, while continuing to dismantle terrorist infrastructure,” Katz said, adding that Israeli forces retain full authority to strike targets as far north as the Lebanese capital Beirut if Hezbollah continues attacks on Israeli civilian communities.

    The escalating airstrikes and evacuation orders have sparked a humanitarian crisis across southern Lebanon. After Israel ordered most of Tyre’s population to evacuate, hundreds of displaced residents fled to the city’s small, historic old town, which had not yet faced evacuation warnings or strikes and is home to Lebanon’s Christian community in the area. With all official shelters already filled to capacity, many displaced people have been forced to sleep in their cars or improvised tents. Earlier this week, the Israeli military claimed Hezbollah operatives were operating in the old town, threatening to order a full evacuation if the militants remain, pushing hundreds more residents to flee the area.

    Hezbollah has held a unique position in Lebanese politics since the end of the 1975-1990 civil war, as the only militant faction that refused to disarm, arguing that its arsenal was necessary to oppose Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon. After Israeli troops fully withdrew from the region in 2000, international and domestic pressure for Hezbollah to disarm grew steadily, with current Lebanese President Joseph Aoun’s administration taking the hardest line to date on the issue. The Lebanese government has formally declared Hezbollah’s independent military activities illegal, and the Lebanese Army had been working to disarm the group in areas south of the Litani River near the Israeli border prior to the outbreak of the current conflict.

    Since Hezbollah recommenced hostilities in March, joining the regional war against Israel alongside Iran, cross-border exchanges of fire have killed more than 3,500 people in Lebanon alone, according to official data from the Lebanese Ministry of Health. For civilians on both sides of the border, the collapse of the latest truce effort has erased any remaining hope of a quick end to the violence. “We can’t keep doing this,” a 60-year-old resident of Shlomi, a small town in northern Israel, told AFP. “This is not a life.”

  • Turkmenistan’s ‘heavenly’ horses at the heart of fervent state cult

    Turkmenistan’s ‘heavenly’ horses at the heart of fervent state cult

    Against the backdrop of the tightly controlled desert nation of Turkmenistan, one of the world’s most closed countries, the annual Akhal-Teke horse beauty pageant unfolds as a uniquely vivid display of national and political culture. On the arena floor of the capital Ashgabat’s modern equestrian complex, trainers in ornate traditional uniforms trimmed with white fur headgear lead stallions draped in gold ornamentation around the stage, watched by thousands of attendees and presided over by current President Serdar Berdymukhamedov, the son of former leader and self-styled ‘Father of the Nation’ Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov.

    AFP journalists were granted rare access to the 2024 pageant, a privilege rarely extended to foreign media in the authoritarian Central Asian state. As crowds of men in identical tracksuits waved national flags and clapped in synchronized rhythm, sand-colored stallion Hankerven – adorned with gemstone jewelry and a hand-woven traditional Turkmen carpet – took home the competition’s top honor. For local breeders and citizens, the pageant is far more than a livestock event: it is a celebration of the breed that sits at the core of modern Turkmen national identity.

    “There are no beauty contests for women in Turkmenistan but there are for horses,” explained 70-year-old veteran breeder Ashir during an interview at his stud farm just outside Ashgabat. “We Turkmen are known for our carpets and horses. That is why our flag features carpet motifs and our coat of arms depicts the Akhal-Teke.”

    The fervent state-sponsored focus on Akhal-Tekes, an ancient breed on the global endangered list, is largely rooted in the lifelong passion of former president Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, who has built the cult of the horse alongside pervasive personality cults for himself and his son, who inherited the presidency in 2022. Political criticism of the ruling father-son dynasty is banned in Turkmenistan, an energy-rich former Soviet republic that human rights monitors rank among the most isolated nations on Earth, alongside North Korea and Afghanistan.

    Gurbanguly, an avid equestrian, has written multiple books celebrating the Akhal-Teke breed and even recorded a viral rap song dedicated to his favorite foal, Rovach. In the lyrics, he gushes: “You are like the wind at daybreak, you are like a cherished vision. You are an inspiration… more precious than gold.” Another of his personal horses holds a Guinness World Record for the fastest 10-meter dash on hind legs, completed in just 4.19 seconds.

    State-run media regularly frames Akhal-Teke conservation and breeding as a “strategic national priority” and the “unshakeable foundation of Turkmen national identity.” The country’s official 2026 motto has already been set as “Independent neutral Turkmenistan is the homeland of purposeful winged horses,” and the breed is widely known by the reverent nickname “heavenly horses,” a title drawn from an ancient myth of an Akhal-Teke outracing a falcon in a legendary contest.

    With only an estimated 4,000 to 7,000 Akhal-Tekes alive worldwide, the vast majority reside in state-run Turkmen stud farms. A senior official from the State Organisation for Turkmen Horses confirmed to AFP that the breed remains “on the brink of extinction,” but credited the ruling leadership’s intense personal interest with securing its future. A major milestone for the breed came when UNESCO added the “art of Akhal-Teke horse breeding and traditions of horses’ decoration” to its Intangible Cultural Heritage List, a win that state officials call a “major achievement of national cultural policy.”

    Widely celebrated for their athleticism adapted to Turkmenistan’s harsh desert climate, Akhal-Tekes excel in endurance riding, dressage, and show jumping. Retired 66-year-old veterinarian Sapargeldy, who spoke to AFP on condition of not sharing his surname, described the breed’s distinctive physical traits: “large size, long legs, well-developed musculature, slender and elegant head set on a long, straight neck, expressive eyes, high withers and sturdy hooves.” The breed’s most famous feature, he added, is its unique metallic sheen in sunlight, caused by fine, hollow-core hairs that reflect light differently than other equine breeds.

    The Turkmen government traces its celebration of the Akhal-Teke back to pre-colonial nomadic traditions, when tribes roamed the Central Asian desert before the Russian Empire conquered the region in the 19th century. But in modern Turkmenistan, the horse cult is deeply intertwined with the ruling regime’s politics: monuments to Akhal-Tekes dot every major city, and in 2023 Gurbanguly unveiled a 43-meter-tall golden statue depicting himself riding an Akhal-Teke in a pose modeled after Napoleon Bonaparte.

    The breed also plays a central role in Turkmenistan’s limited diplomatic engagement with the world. When rare high-level foreign dignitaries visit the isolated country, they are often gifted a purebred Akhal-Teke as a gesture of goodwill. Past recipients include former French President Francois Mitterrand, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

  • Uncle of ISIS bride Zeinab Ahmad denounces terror group as ‘evil’ in bail bid

    Uncle of ISIS bride Zeinab Ahmad denounces terror group as ‘evil’ in bail bid

    In a historic Australian court hearing that marks the country’s first prosecution for slavery offences including crimes against humanity linked to the Islamic State (ISIS), a Melbourne mechanic has publicly condemned the terror group in unflinching terms as he pushes to secure bail for his accused niece, offering up a $75,000 financial guarantee and a permanent home in his household.

    Self-employed tradesman Abraham Abbas took the witness stand on the second day of 31-year-old Zeinab Ahmad’s bail application at the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Friday. When asked directly about his stance on the terrorist organization, Abbas did not moderate his views. “I hate those bastards. Sorry Your Honour, I do,” he told the court. “Sorry for the language — they’re evil and they don’t represent anything we believe in Islam at all.” He confirmed he stood ready to house Ahmad and meet all bail conditions if the court granted her release.

    Ahmad and her 54-year-old mother Kawsar Ahmad made international headlines when they touched down at Melbourne Airport on May 7 after more than 12 years living abroad. Both were immediately taken into custody on slavery and crimes against humanity charges — the first time such charges have been laid against suspects in Australia. Court documents outline that the pair had been held at the Al Roj displacement camp in northern Syria, alongside several minor family members, after surrendering to Kurdish forces following the collapse of ISIS’s final territorial stronghold of Baghouz in March 2019.

    Prosecutors laid out the core allegations against the family during the opening days of the bail hearing, which began Thursday. They claim that Zeinab’s father Mohammed Ahmad, who remains detained in Iraq and has not yet been charged, purchased a 15-year-old Yazidi teenager as a slave for $10,000 in approximately June 2017. The victim was captured by ISIS as part of the terror group’s systematic ethnic and religious cleansing of the Yazidi community in northern Iraq, and was passed between 17 different ISIS fighters before being freed in 2019. In testimony before the court, Australian Federal Police (AFP) Senior Constable Marc Clendenning shared the victim’s account, which details repeated beatings, sexual assault, and forced unpaid labor at the hands of Mohammed Ahmad before she was resold to another ISIS fighter in late 2018.

    While Zeinab Ahmad is not accused of directly assaulting the victim, prosecutors allege she participated in the enslavement by mistreating the teenager, ordering her to complete household labor, and failing to intervene during sexual assaults. Clendenning added that social media posts and private communications from Ahmad to relatives in Australia demonstrate what police describe as “open support for Islamic State activities, objectives, and ideological principles.”

    Law enforcement has formally opposed bail, arguing that Ahmad poses an unacceptable risk to the Australian public, in large part because she has never publicly renounced her connection to the terror group. “The accused has never explicitly renounced or stated that she no longer supports the Islamic State since her surrender to Kurdish forces,” Clendenning told the court.

    Court records confirm that Zeinab Ahmad first traveled to Turkey separately from her family, before relocating to Syria to join ISIS alongside her parents, husband, and other relatives in January 2015. Multiple family members, including her husband Dawod Elmir and two brothers, were killed by coalition forces between 2016 and 2017, according to testimony.

    Defense lawyer Grace Morgan centered her cross-examination of Clendenning on the extreme constraints that women faced under ISIS rule, noting that Zeinab Ahmad was forced to marry three different ISIS fighters over a three-year period, a claim the officer confirmed. Morgan also pushed for details about the availability of state-backed reintegration programs and electronic monitoring that would allow for strict supervision of Ahmad if she is granted bail.

    The bail application was adjourned until June 15 to allow the defense to question AFP Detective Sergeant Greg Adams, who recorded a statement from the enslaved victim in Iraq back in September 2019. The court also confirmed that domestic intelligence agency ASIO had alerted the AFP that Ahmad may hold information about another Australian family currently connected to conflict zones in the Middle East. Kawsar Ahmad, Zeinab’s mother and co-accused, is expected to file her own bail application later this June.