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  • Trump says ceasefire between Israel, Lebanon to be extended by 3 weeks

    Trump says ceasefire between Israel, Lebanon to be extended by 3 weeks

    On April 23, 2026, at the White House in Washington D.C., U.S. President Donald Trump made a key announcement: the fragile 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, which went into effect on April 16, will be extended by an additional three weeks. The announcement came just hours after the two nations wrapped up their second round of ambassador-level talks in the U.S. capital, a meeting that brought together senior diplomatic leadership from both sides alongside top U.S. officials.

    Trump confirmed the meeting took place in the White House Oval Office, with attendees including U.S. Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Israel’s Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter, Lebanon’s Ambassador to the U.S. Nada Hamadeh Moawad, and U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa. In a post published to his social media platform Truth Social, Trump simply stated, “The Meeting went very well!”, offering no further specifics on the discussions that unfolded during the closed-door session.

    The U.S. leader also outlined Washington’s planned next steps in the region, noting the United States will partner with Lebanon’s national government to help the country build its defensive capacity against Hezbollah, the Iran-aligned political and military group that holds significant influence in southern Lebanon. Trump further shared his long-term diplomatic goal, saying he remains eager to host senior leadership from both nations in the near future: Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun. This plan aligns with comments Trump made last week, when he said he expected the two leaders to visit the White House within one to two weeks to work toward a comprehensive permanent peace agreement that would resolve ongoing tensions related to Hezbollah.

    The original 10-day truce was implemented after weeks of escalating cross-border hostilities that unfolded amid the broader U.S.-Israeli military campaign against Iran. It is important to note that Israel and Lebanon have never maintained formal diplomatic relations. For decades, Israel has classified Hezbollah as an Iranian proxy force, and current negotiations are being conducted exclusively between the Israeli government and Lebanon’s official national government, with Hezbollah not participating directly in the talks.

    Despite the pause in large-scale fighting that the ceasefire brought, the truce has remained unstable throughout its first week, with low-level tensions persisting along Lebanon’s southern border, leaving regional observers cautious about the long-term prospects of the newly announced extension.

  • First ever talks to ditch fossil fuels as UN deadlock deepens

    First ever talks to ditch fossil fuels as UN deadlock deepens

    Against a backdrop of rising global temperatures driven by decades of fossil fuel consumption and repeated deadlock at United Nations climate negotiations, around 60 countries have convened this week in Santa Marta, Colombia, for a landmark gathering aimed at forging collective action to phase out coal, oil, and gas — a goal that major UN climate summits have repeatedly failed to deliver.

    The participating nations collectively account for approximately one-fifth of the world’s total fossil fuel production, counting major producers including Colombia, Australia, and Nigeria among their ranks. Notably absent from the talks, however, are the world’s largest fossil fuel-consuming and producing powers: the United States, China, and India.

    For years, progress on cutting fossil fuel dependence has stalled at the annual UN Climate Change Conference (COP), the global governing body for climate action. The consensus-based rule structure of COP negotiations means every participating nation holds veto power over final agreements, allowing large fossil fuel-producing blocs to block ambitious targets. This gridlock left many delegates deeply frustrated after last November’s COP30 held in Belém, Brazil, where efforts to adopt a formal global roadmap for a full fossil fuel phase-out collapsed in the face of opposition from major oil-exporting countries.

    Organizers emphasize that this new Colombian gathering is not intended to replace the COP process, but rather to complement it by building momentum that can break long-standing impasses. The urgency of this effort has been amplified by leading climate science, which warns that the window to limit global warming to the 1.5°C threshold — the safe guardrail set in the Paris Agreement to avoid the worst, irreversible climate impacts — is rapidly closing.

    “ We are inevitably going to crash through the 1.5°C limit within the next three to five years,” Professor Johan Rockström, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, told BBC News. “Breaking through 1.5°C means we enter a far more dangerous world — with more frequent and intense droughts, floods, fires and heatwaves — and we are already approaching critical tipping points in major Earth systems.”

    Beyond climate science, shifting global geopolitics is reshaping the global energy conversation, adding new urgency to the push for transition. Under the second Trump administration, the world’s largest economy, the United States, has ramped up aggressive policies to expand domestic coal, oil, and gas production, creating global uncertainty about the pace of decarbonization. Many middle-power nations have since adopted a wait-and-see stance, hesitant to commit to fast transition without clearer global direction.

    Participants in the Santa Marta talks say the gathering’s core goal is to demonstrate that a critical mass of nations is already committed to shifting to renewable energy, giving hesitant countries the confidence to move forward. “We are committed to working with other countries to support those wishing to drive forward their transitions to clean and secure energy,” said UK Climate Envoy Rachel Kyte, who is in attendance. “We have the experience of our transition to share and the recent experience of driving to energy security with our clean power mission.”

    Recent geopolitical unrest has underscored the risks of continued fossil fuel dependence, pushing energy security back to the top of the global policy agenda. Ongoing conflict in the Middle East, combined with rising tensions in the strategic Strait of Hormuz through which 20% of the world’s daily oil shipments pass, has sent global oil prices climbing in recent weeks.

    “The urgency is multiplied. What’s happening has worsened the fossil fuel crisis we’re already in,” said former Irish President Mary Robinson, a founding member of the elders group of former global leaders, who is attending the talks. “This is exactly why this conference matters now.”

    These market disruptions are already shifting consumer and industry behavior, Rockström reported. After a recent advisory board meeting with automotive giant Mercedes-Benz, he noted that the company had seen a sharp uptick in European consumer demand for electric vehicles, driven by growing public desire for energy independence away from volatile global fossil fuel markets.

    The formation of this new “coalition of the willing” has sparked debate about whether it signals a permanent shift away from the consensus-based COP process. But observers and organizers alike argue it can instead revitalize global climate action. “Ultimately you don’t need all countries to drive global progress. You need a starting point,” said Katerine Petersen, a climate analyst with think tank E3G who is attending the gathering. “Then you need a coalition that can expand over time and show how it can and will be useful. And I think that’s what we’re expecting to see from Santa Marta.”

    Organizers stress the meeting remains complementary to COP, and key leaders from last year’s COP30 in Brazil are in attendance in Santa Marta. Conclusions from the Colombian gathering will be integrated into Brazil’s national fossil fuel phase-out roadmap, which the country will release ahead of COP31 scheduled to take place in Turkey this November. Even as domestic protestors in London rallied this week against plans for new UK oil and gas exploration, the Santa Marta meeting marks a key test of whether smaller, committed blocs can push the world faster toward a clean energy future when global negotiations stall.

  • Steve Rosenberg: Kremlin’s tightening grip on internet fuels public discontent

    Steve Rosenberg: Kremlin’s tightening grip on internet fuels public discontent

    Near the heart of Moscow, steps away from the Kremlin walls, dozens of Russian residents stand in an orderly line outside the presidential administration building. They have gathered not to protest openly, but to exercise one of the few legally permitted forms of civic action: submitting a formal petition urging President Vladimir Putin to roll back the Kremlin’s escalating crackdown on online access. What should be a routine act of democratic input, however, carries palpable risk in Russia’s increasingly authoritarian political climate. From across the street, uniformed security officers openly film both the petitioners and the reporting team documenting the event, a quiet but clear reminder that speaking out carries consequences. When asked if she feels afraid, Yulia, a small catering business owner waiting in the queue, admits openly: “Very scared. I’m shaking.”

    The Kremlin has been steadily tightening its grip on Russia’s digital cyberspace for years, but recent weeks have seen sweeping new restrictions that have upended daily life for millions of users. Access to globally popular messaging platforms including WhatsApp and Telegram has been sharply limited, while widespread mobile internet disruptions and full blackouts have been reported across multiple regions of the country. President Putin has publicly acknowledged the connectivity problems, framing the measures as necessary “operational work to prevent terrorist attacks.” He has also issued formal instructions to officials to preserve “uninterrupted operation” for critical internet services, but stopped short of promising to roll back the broader crackdown.

    For small business owners like Yulia, the restrictions are not just an inconvenience – they threaten her entire livelihood. Her catering operation runs entirely online, relying on global messaging apps to coordinate with clients and a public website to accept orders. “There were times recently when our website was not accessible. We couldn’t generate revenue,” she explained. “We are losing money every time there is a blocking of the internet, a blocking of Telegram and WhatsApp. Without internet access, my business in this form will not exist.”

    Russian officials defend the curbs as a matter of national and public safety. They claim that mobile internet blackouts help disorient attacking Ukrainian drones, a justification critics point out is undermined by the fact that drone strikes have continued in regions where connectivity has been fully shut off. Authorities also accuse international messaging platforms of refusing to comply with Russia’s strict local data storage laws, which require user information to be held on servers within Russian borders. Alongside restricting global services, regulators have launched a crackdown on virtual private networks (VPNs), tools that thousands of Russians use to circumvent government censorship and access blocked content.

    As the centerpiece of the Kremlin’s push for a “sovereign internet” – a closed, state-controlled network cut off from much of the global web – the government has aggressively promoted MAX, a new homegrown, state-backed messaging app. But the Russian public remains deeply skeptical of the platform. Many users worry the app is designed specifically to let security services surveil private communications, a concern echoed by opposition figures. “Many people think that this messenger is made especially by the government to check our messages,” said Boris Nadezhdin, a former member of parliament who was barred from running against Putin in the 2024 presidential election.

    Across much of Russia today, only government-approved websites and services are accessible to mobile users. Opposition analysts warn that a digital equivalent of the Cold War-era Iron Curtain is being constructed around the country, designed to cut Russian citizens off from outside information and unapproved content. “The idea is to divide Russia from the outside world,” said Andrei Kolesnikov, a columnist with independent opposition outlet Novaya Gazeta. “This world is believed to be poisonous to the brains of Russians. Russia was always blocked, primarily from the West, which was the source of ‘bad, revolutionary, liberal ideas’. It was always like this.”

    Unlike the Soviet era, however, generations of Russians have fully integrated the open internet into every part of daily life, making the new restrictions feel like a sudden and disruptive shock to routine. For many, the anger over the crackdown stems less from ideological demands for free speech and more from the loss of ordinary convenience that most people now take for granted. “It’s less to do with freedom of speech and more about habit,” explained Yulia Grekova, an activist based in Vladimir, a city 190 kilometers outside Moscow. “People have got used to paying for things and ordering taxis with their mobiles. They sit in the bus messaging friends. There are very few people who don’t use mobile internet for work, public services and to keep in touch with family. That’s why there’s such an angry reaction. Everyone’s affected.”

    Grekova has firsthand experience of how the Kremlin responds to public pushback against the internet restrictions. She recently attempted to organize a public rally in Vladimir to protest the curbs, but authorities blocked the event through a series of procedural stalling tactics. When she submitted applications for 11 different potential rally locations, officials rejected every site claiming street cleaning was scheduled for the requested date. City hall offered an alternative venue, only to reverse that approval a short time later, citing the risk of a Ukrainian drone attack. Grekova was later visited at her workplace by three police officers who served her a formal warning prohibiting any unsanctioned protest. “They filmed me signing the official warning from the prosecutor. I felt like some kind of terrorist,” she said. Similar attempts to hold protest rallies have been rejected across dozens of Russian cities, with authorities offering a range of absurd justifications, from scheduled roller-skating classes to residual COVID-19 restrictions.

    During a visit to central Vladimir, the impact of the crackdown was immediately visible: state media sites and domestic taxi apps functioned normally, but Google searches failed to load, and all independent news sites were completely inaccessible. Local residents described constant small disruptions that have upended ordinary routines. “It’s much harder to communicate,” said Maria, who was out walking with her infant child. “We want to keep across the latest news and trends. Instead, we’re lagging behind.” For some, the restrictions have compounded existing fatigue over the ongoing war in Ukraine. “In the past, when there was no internet, the world seemed a brighter place, because we knew less,” Maria said. “I try to avoid news about the war. I don’t want to fill my head with it. We’re tired of news about people being killed.” Other residents described far more practical disruptions: “Today I couldn’t pay for petrol. And my satnav is glitching,” said local resident Denis. Small business owners have been hit hardest, said Alexander, another local resident: “People are annoyed. Especially those with small businesses. They lose customers when they can’t access the internet.” For Grekova, the crackdown feels like a deliberate step backwards into a pre-digital era. “It feels like we’re going backwards, sliding back to the past,” she said.

    Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov defends the restrictions as a temporary necessity driven by the current security environment. “In the current situation, security considerations dictate the need for certain measures,” Peskov told reporters in Moscow. “These are being taken and most of our citizens understand the need for them. It’s clear that internet restrictions inconvenience many people. But this is the period we’re in. Once the need for such measures disappears, services will be fully restored and return to normal.” But critics warn that the new restrictions have already become the permanent new normal, and that the Kremlin will only continue to ramp up controls rather than roll them back. “I don’t think that this regime is ready to go back,” Kolesnikov said. “They can only go forward in terms of more repressions. What is bad for the authorities is an accumulation of discontent and it could play out in the future. We don’t know in what shape. But it is evident that irritation and discontent are accumulating.”

    That discontent is already starting to bubble into public view. In recent weeks, a viral video posted to Instagram by prominent Russian celebrity blogger Victoria Bonya criticizing the internet crackdown has amassed tens of millions of views. While Bonya did not directly blame Putin, she told him directly: “There is a huge, thick wall between you and us, the ordinary people.” Under growing public pressure, Putin acknowledged last week that he could not ignore the connectivity problems facing Russian citizens, and instructed security officials to find ways to accommodate the “vital interests of citizens.” But the statement stopped far short of a policy reversal, with no mention of ending the broader restrictions.

    Public opinion polling suggests that Putin’s approval ratings have fallen to their lowest level since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, with internet restrictions just one of multiple sources of growing public unease. Russians are also facing rising food prices, strained public services, and growing war fatigue. “People begin to understand there is a direct connection between their everyday problems, like healthcare, food prices, problems with internet, and the politics of Vladimir Putin,” Nadezhdin said. “And this is a new situation in Russia.”

    After submitting her petition outside the Kremlin, Yulia has returned to work baking bread at her catering company, already planning how to adapt to the new online restrictions. Like many Russians, she says her family has a long history of adapting to massive political and social upheaval. “My great-grandfather was wealthier than average. In a Soviet village that was considered a sin. His property was taken away from him and he was moved to Siberia. But his family adapted. My parents went through the collapse of the Soviet Union: they adapted to a market economy. Now it’s my turn to adapt. Then it will be my daughter’s turn.” When asked what she expects for the future, Yulia says long-term planning has become impossible. “The future is not even mentioned in day-to-day conversations with friends and relatives. It’s like: what are we doing in three days, in a week, in a month? Nothing more than a month.” Across Russia, as restrictions tighten and daily life grows more unpredictable, a deep, pervasive sense of uncertainty is quietly rising.

  • Benjamin Luke Johnston revealed as gun for hire who shot and killed Rebels bikie boss

    Benjamin Luke Johnston revealed as gun for hire who shot and killed Rebels bikie boss

    A long-standing court-ordered publication ban that concealed the identity of a contracted hitman has finally been lifted by Western Australia’s Supreme Court, allowing the public to learn the name of the former soldier who murdered the leader of the Rebels outlaw motorcycle gang in 2020.

    Thirty-nine-year-old Benjamin Luke Johnston was recruited by a rival faction of outlaw motorcycle gangs to carry out the targeted killing of Rebels national president Nick Martin, court documents confirm. On a December day in 2020, Johnston positioned himself hundreds of meters away from the Perth Motorplex, where Martin was attending a public event alongside his family, and fired a sniper round that struck Martin in the chest, killing him instantly in front of onlookers and his loved ones.

    Johnston pleaded guilty to the charge of murder in 2021 and was subsequently handed a 20-year prison sentence for his crime. Beyond his own conviction, Johnston also served as a key prosecution witness in the separate murder trial of David Pye, another bikie figure linked to the assassination plot. Johnston testified during Pye’s trial that Pye was the person who arranged and paid for the contract killing. A jury ultimately found Pye guilty of murder, and he remains in custody awaiting his sentencing hearing.

    The suppression order on Johnston’s identity was in place for more than three years, originally put in effect out of concerns for his personal safety while he was serving his sentence and cooperating with authorities. However, when the matter came before the Supreme Court of WA on Friday, the court heard that those safety concerns no longer hold any weight. Johnston’s legal representative, David Merena, told the court that his client planned to enroll in a university degree program in health science while incarcerated, a goal that required him to use his legal name. The gag order had also created unnecessary barriers for family and friends to schedule prison visits to see Johnston, Merena added.

    Counsel for Pye pushed back against the request to lift the order, arguing that the suppression should remain in place in case Johnston is required to give testimony during any future appeal proceedings for Pye’s conviction. Despite that objection, Justice Joseph McGrath ruled in favor of lifting the publication ban. In his ruling, Justice McGrath noted that Johnston’s name is already widely known among the prison population, and Johnston himself has stated that he no longer fears for his personal safety behind bars. The judge added that WA Police had been consulted on the request, and state authorities no longer argued that the suppression order was necessary to protect Johnston’s security.

  • What to know if your flight is canceled amid rising jet fuel costs

    What to know if your flight is canceled amid rising jet fuel costs

    A wave of flight cancellations is spreading across the globe, sparked by jet fuel supply strains and sharp price hikes tied to ongoing conflict in the Middle East – and the ripple effects are leaving travelers navigating inconsistent, confusing rules for compensation and rebooking that shift dramatically depending on their departure and destination regions. What makes this wave of disruptions particularly impactful is its timing: it comes as the summer travel season begins to ramp up, with high-profile global events set to put additional strain on already stretched airport and airline infrastructure.

    “These pressures are arriving at a time when summer travel demand is ramping up, with major events such as the World Cup expected to put additional strain on airports,” explained Eric Napoli, chief legal officer at AirHelp, a passenger rights advocacy organization that supports travelers seeking compensation for disrupted travel plans.

    Unlike sudden weather-related cancellations that often leave passengers stranded with little advance notice, most fuel-linked flight cuts are being announced weeks or months ahead of schedule to give travelers time to adjust plans. German aviation giant Lufthansa Group, for example, recently confirmed it would cut 20,000 short-haul flights across its entire network through October, one of the highest-profile industry adjustments to date.

    If your flight is canceled, industry experts say the first step is to check your carrier’s official digital channels immediately. For passengers flying with U.S.-based airlines, the airline’s app or website typically offers the fastest, most streamlined path to rebooking, according to Tyler Hosford, security director at International SOS, a leading global risk and travel security firm. For non-U.S. carriers, however, digital self-service tools are often less robust, so Hosford advises travelers to pursue multiple channels simultaneously, including dedicated customer service phone lines and in-person assistance at airport check-in desks.

    In nearly all cases, passengers are guaranteed at minimum a choice between a full refund or a rebooking on the next available flight, though exact regulatory requirements differ by country. For example, under U.S. consumer protection rules, if a cancellation leads a passenger to choose to abandon their trip entirely, the airline is legally required to issue a full cash refund, regardless of the reason for the cancellation. While carriers may offer travel credits as an alternative, passengers are legally entitled to full repayment for unused airfare and add-on fees, including checked bag charges and paid seat upgrades.

    Passenger protection rules are not uniform across the world, ranging from the cross-border liability standards set by the Montreal Convention, which applies to over 140 countries, to individual national regulatory frameworks in the U.S., Canada, the EU, UK, Turkey and Brazil.

    Europe boasts some of the strongest passenger protections globally, including mandatory compensation for eligible disrupted flights. These rules apply to all flights departing from any EU airport, regardless of where the airline is based, as well as all inbound flights to the EU operated by EU-based carriers, even for journeys starting outside the bloc. The United Kingdom retains a nearly identical regulatory structure to the EU.

    By comparison, the U.S. and Canada offer far more limited statutory protections for passengers facing cancellations. Across Asia, rules vary wildly from country to country, and in many markets, travelers must rely on individual airline policies rather than binding formal government regulations. To avoid confusion, experts recommend researching the passenger rights rules of your departure country before starting your trip.

    The question of whether you are entitled to additional compensation beyond rebooking or refund usually hinges on whether local regulators classify the disruption as within the airline’s control. Even if airlines cite fuel shortages or price spikes as the reason for cancellation, Napoli notes that EU regulations still require carriers to fulfill their duty of care to stranded passengers, which includes providing necessary support such as accommodation, meals and rebooking assistance.

    “While airlines are citing fuel shortages as a reason for upcoming cancellations, travelers need to know that this does not automatically waive their rights” under EU laws, Napoli emphasized.

    To minimize stress and complications if disruptions occur, travel experts recommend a handful of proactive steps before your departure. First, always sign up for official flight alerts from your carrier to get real-time updates, and book your ticket directly through the airline rather than third-party online travel agencies: resolving issues directly with the carrier is far faster and simpler than going through an intermediary. Mapping out backup options ahead of time can also cut down on stress if your original plans fall through.

    If you need to file a compensation claim or formal complaint, thorough documentation is non-negotiable. Travelers should save every relevant document, including original boarding passes, receipts for extra expenses incurred due to the cancellation, official cancellation notices, and all communication with airline representatives. Experts advise taking screenshots of all digital updates and messages, writing down key details from phone calls with customer service, and requesting a written confirmation of the disruption from the airline that includes the official stated reason for the cancellation.

    One common mistake travelers make is accepting the first alternative flight offered by the airline without exploring other options. Experts advise checking other flights, alternate routes, and even nearby airports to find a faster or more convenient connection that fits your schedule.

    If the airline’s offered rebooking does not meet your needs – particularly if the next available flight is days after your original departure – you are permitted to book an alternative flight independently and request a refund from the original airline. However, travelers should be aware that they will likely need to cover any fare difference upfront, and there is no guarantee that the difference will be reimbursed later.

    Additional practical tips to avoid getting stuck include booking the earliest flight possible on your travel day, which leaves more time to rebook the same day if your flight is canceled; setting up independent flight alerts through third-party tracking apps like Flighty, which often notify users of cancellations or delays before the airline sends out an official alert; and maintaining a calm, polite demeanor when interacting with airline staff, who are far more likely to go out of their way to help respectful passengers.

    “Ultimately, the shortage is squeezing the entire system, from travelers to airlines, and is something to watch as the industry looks for any relief ahead of the summer travel season,” Napoli said.

  • Mass MS-13 trial held at El Salvador mega-jail

    Mass MS-13 trial held at El Salvador mega-jail

    In a historic, high-security proceeding at El Salvador’s controversial Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) — the world’s largest mega-prison — hundreds of alleged members of the transnational criminal gang Mara Salvatrucha, better known as MS-13, appeared before the court this week to face charges of mass murder, torture and organized terror. On Thursday, Agence France-Presse reporters granted access to the restricted facility witnessed a stark scene: 220 defendants, all clad in matching white t-shirts and shorts, heads shaved, secured by chains, sat motionless and silent in orderly rows of plastic chairs arranged across CECOT’s main assembly hall. Hundreds of additional co-defendants joined the proceeding remotely from other blocks of the facility. Among those on trial are roughly 20 alleged high-ranking MS-13 leaders, including Borromeo Henriquez (known by the alias “The Little Devil of Hollywood”) and Carlos Tiberio Ramirez (“Snaider of Pasadena”), alongside dozens of mid-level gang lieutenants. Most defendants bore the gang’s signature tattoos across their faces, necks, hands and scalps, with some staring directly at visiting press as heavily armored security guards bearing riot shields formed a protective perimeter around the courtroom. Prosecutors allege the group collectively carried out more than 29,000 brutal killings across El Salvador over decades of gang rule. During Thursday’s testimony, graphic accounts of the gang’s violence played over the courtroom’s public address system. One witness recalled, “We burned her genitals and buttocks,” describing a targeted killing ordered by gang leadership. Additional testimony from two witnesses confirmed that MS-13 commanders continued to order murders from inside prison walls, even amid widespread state crackdowns. Prosecutors have directly linked the two top accused leaders to roughly 9,000 crimes, and the men showed no visible reaction as the chilling charges were read aloud. The mass trial is the centerpiece of Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele’s high-profile “war on gangs,” a sweeping security crackdown launched in 2022 that has seen more than 90,000 suspected gang members arrested under a prolonged state of emergency. Bukele, who has openly styled himself as the “world’s coolest dictator” in media appearances, has compared the CECOT mass trial to the Nuremberg Trials that prosecuted Nazi leadership after World War II. CECOT director Belarmino Garcia echoed the government’s framing, telling reporters, “These individuals caused mourning and pain to our society for many years.” A uniformed CECOT security agent, who spoke on condition of anonymity, added of the witness testimony: “It’s a horrifying account that makes your hair stand on end.” The Salvadoran government invited international journalists to observe the fourth day of proceedings, though access was tightly controlled under strict security protocols. For Bukele, the crackdown on gangs has proven politically transformative: supporters credit him with turning El Salvador from a nation once labeled the murder capital of the world into a safer country, and his hardline approach has become a template for right-wing political candidates across Latin America seeking to capitalize on widespread public anger over violent crime. Yet the mass trial and Bukele’s broader security campaign have faced sharp international criticism, particularly from human rights organizations that warn the sweeping dragnet of arrests has inevitably swept up thousands of innocent people, many of whom were detained for months before being cleared of any links to gangs. The process of mass trying hundreds of defendants at once has also raised alarms about due process violations. Controversy extends beyond El Salvador’s borders as well: Last year, former U.S. President Donald Trump authorized the transfer of 140 alleged Venezuelan gang members to be incarcerated at CECOT, a move that U.S. courts later ruled was unlawful. In 2021, U.S. authorities also leveled allegations that undermined Bukele’s carefully cultivated tough-on-crime image, claiming his administration held “covert negotiations” with MS-13 and other gangs, offering financial incentives in exchange for reduced gang violence and political support for Bukele’s ruling New Ideas party. The CECOT mega-prison, purpose-built to hold tens of thousands of suspected gang members, and the ongoing mass trial have become defining symbols of Bukele’s polarizing approach to public security, dividing supporters who hail his success in curbing violence from critics who warn the campaign is eroding democratic norms and civil liberties in the country.

  • Soviet architecture vanishes as Central Asia drifts from Moscow

    Soviet architecture vanishes as Central Asia drifts from Moscow

    Thirty-five years after the collapse of the Soviet Union left the five Central Asian states independent, a quiet erasure of Soviet-era architectural and artistic heritage is accelerating across the region, driven by a growing ideological shift away from Moscow and state-led efforts to cement distinct national identities.

    In Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, one striking example of this trend sits on the facade of a soon-to-be-demolished apartment block: a massive mosaic honoring Soviet cosmonauts and engineers, celebrating the union’s mid-century scientific breakthroughs. Like thousands of other Soviet relics across Central Asia, the artwork is set to be destroyed to clear space for a luxury new residential development. Local resident Rakhmon Satiev told AFP he holds out hope the mosaic could be carefully removed and reinstalled at the new site, but that wish has little chance of being fulfilled.

    Over the past decade, deliberate neglect and intentional demolition have gutted the region’s Soviet built heritage, from iconic architectural landmarks to public artworks including mosaics, frescoes, and monumental sculptures. “If a building is old and does not fit into the new city plan, it is torn down. The city is being rebuilt and renovated, and the past is vanishing,” Dzhamshed Dzhuraev, a prominent Tajik mosaic artist, explained in an interview with AFP. Behind his Dushanbe studio, a once-prominent monument to Soviet founder Vladimir Lenin stands hidden from public view, a relic of an era regional leaders now deem out of step with modern national narratives.

    Following their 1991 independence, the five Central Asian former Soviet republics — Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan — have seen their urban landscapes transform into a disjointed mix of gleaming new high-rises, crumbling Soviet-era buildings, informal shanties, and half-finished construction projects. For preservation advocates, the rate of heritage loss is alarming. Altynai Kudaibergenova co-founded Artkana, one of the region’s few independent groups working to save Soviet-era architectural heritage in Kyrgyzstan. She says the number of destroyed monuments is “striking,” and warns that Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan’s capital, still holds dozens of magnificent examples of socialist-modernist architecture — a style that has grown popular with international tourists and design fans on social media — that are now at risk of demolition.

    The widespread demolition is rooted in ideological change, as long-serving regional leaders have worked to position themselves as the founding fathers of new independent nations, prioritizing new symbols of national power over leftover markers of Soviet rule. Rarely do officials frame the campaign in explicit ideological terms, however. Even as the region balances enduring economic dependence on Russia with growing Chinese investment, government leaders cast the demolition drive as a practical, cost-effective measure. They argue that renovating aging Soviet-era structures is more expensive than building new developments from scratch, noting the region’s total population has grown to roughly 80 million, creating urgent demand for new housing.

    In Dushanbe, where the mayor is the son of long-ruling president Emomali Rakhmon, the push for urban renewal has centered on replacing Soviet-era landmarks with symbols of the current government. Prominent Tajik sculptor Safarbek Kosimov told AFP that the city’s administration “is doing everything possible to make the buildings as beautiful and comfortable as he can,” adding that Soviet-era mosaics are simply “no longer necessary.” Portraits of the 73-year-old incumbent leader have already replaced many of the demolished Soviet artworks on public building facades across the capital.

    Critics of the campaign say it erases important cultural history for private and political gain. “Most Soviet mosaics were designed to convey an ideological message, but their artistic value is also important,” preservation advocate Kudaibergenova said. “Unfortunately, businesses are rarely receptive to such considerations. Their main priority is selling square metres at a high price.” Multiple nonprofits and international monitoring organizations have documented widespread corruption and opaque collusion between government officials and real estate developers driving large-scale urban renewal projects across the region.

    In Bishkek, local painter Erkinbek Bolzhurov is currently fighting to save the city’s historic House of Artists, which sits adjacent to the former national printing house — a structure that has already been reduced to nothing but its outer walls. “We want the city to develop, of course, but not at the expense of our memory,” he said. “Great artists worked inside these walls. That is what makes the building unique — it has a history.”

    Across Central Asia, tight government control over public expression means authorities rarely consult local communities or preservation groups before approving demolition projects. Still, some artists hold out hope for a future shift in attitudes. Tajik mosaic artist Dzhuraev says he believes “the time will come” when public art like Soviet-era mosaics will again be valued as part of the region’s layered history. “Architects and urban planners should pay them more attention,” he said, adding that a revival of appreciation for this heritage is still possible.

  • China to send giant pandas to Atlanta again

    China to send giant pandas to Atlanta again

    BEIJING – Decades after the end of its first giant panda partnership with China, Zoo Atlanta is poised to welcome a new pair of the beloved endangered species, marking a fresh chapter in Sino-U.S. panda diplomacy even as broader bilateral relations remain strained. The announcement came Friday, just weeks before U.S. President Donald Trump’s widely anticipated official visit to Beijing for high-level talks with Chinese leadership.

    The China Wildlife Conservation Association (CWCA) confirmed in an official statement that the two new arrivals — male Ping Ping and female Fu Shuang, both raised at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, China’s leading giant panda conservation facility — will launch a 10-year collaborative conservation program under a bilateral agreement signed between CWCA and Zoo Atlanta in 2024. While the exact departure date from China for the pandas has not yet been released, preparations on the U.S. side are moving forward at full speed.

    According to the CWCA, American teams are currently completing final upgrades to the giant panda enclosures to ensure the new pair will have a comfortable, secure habitat, with Chinese conservation experts providing ongoing technical guidance throughout the renovation process.

    Zoo Atlanta first shared the news of the upcoming arrival Thursday, expressing overwhelming enthusiasm for the new partnership. “We can’t wait to meet Ping Ping and Fu Shuang and to welcome our members, guests, city, and community back to the wonder and joy of giant pandas,” said Raymond B. King, the zoo’s president, noting the institution was deeply honored to be chosen as stewards for the new pair.

    This new agreement comes after the conclusion of Zoo Atlanta’s original giant panda program in 2024. During that first cooperation period, the previous pair of pandas, Lun Lun and Yang Yang, successfully birthed seven cubs during their tenure in Atlanta. By October 2024, all seven cubs had been relocated to China, with the original adult pair and their two youngest offspring departing for their return that same month.

    For more than half a century, China’s global giant panda loan and conservation partnership program has served as a core pillar of Chinese soft-power diplomacy, widely known as “panda diplomacy.” Giant pandas first became a symbol of unofficial Sino-U.S. friendship back in 1972, when Beijing gifted a pair of pandas to the National Zoo in Washington D.C. shortly after the normalization of bilateral relations. Today, even as geopolitical and trade tensions between the two powers remain high, conservation experts and officials frame the renewed panda partnerships as a rare area of shared cooperation. Both Washington’s National Zoo and San Diego Zoo received new giant pandas from China in 2024, signaling a broader restart to the program after previous panda pairs returned to China amid shifting bilateral dynamics.

    The CWCA emphasized in its announcement that the new decade-long cooperation with Zoo Atlanta will advance critical joint work across multiple key conservation and scientific areas, including giant panda disease prevention and treatment, joint research, and academic exchanges between Chinese and American experts. Officials from both sides highlight that beyond its diplomatic significance, the program carries major global value for the long-term survival of giant pandas, a species that has rebounded from endangered status thanks to decades of cross-border conservation work.

  • Man, 45, charged after allegedly kicking at airline staff, biting passenger while being restrained on Perth-bound flight from Canberra

    Man, 45, charged after allegedly kicking at airline staff, biting passenger while being restrained on Perth-bound flight from Canberra

    A chaotic mid-air incident that endangered the safety of passengers and crew on a domestic Australian flight from Canberra to Perth has led to criminal charges against a 45-year-old Queanbeyan resident, Blake Antrobus, Australian Federal Police (AFP) have confirmed.

    The disruptive incident unfolded on 16 April, when Antrobus allegedly began engaging in aggressively disorderly conduct mid-flight: he shouted profanities, repeatedly ignored explicit safety directives issued by cabin crew, and physically kicked and shoved the seat positioned in front of him, which was occupied by a female passenger. When the woman asked him to cease the disturbance, his behavior escalated into open aggression.

    After crew members reported the unruly conduct to the flight captain, authorization was granted to restrain Antrobus to prevent further harm to other people on board. During the restraint process, AFP allege that Antrobus kicked a senior cabin crew manager and bit the arm of a fellow passenger who was assisting in holding him down.

    Following the aircraft’s landing, Antrobus was taken into custody. He faces three distinct criminal charges: one count of assaulting an aircraft crew member, one count of failing to adhere to a legally required safety instruction from cabin crew, and one count of engaging in offensive, disorderly conduct on an aircraft. He made his first appearance at Perth Magistrates Court the day after the incident, on 17 April, and returned for a brief further hearing this Friday.

    In an official statement following the case, AFP Acting Superintendent Peter Brindal emphasized the serious risks that unruly, anti-social behavior poses to the entire aircraft cabin. “Being in the air does not give anyone a free pass from the law and consequences on the ground,” Brindal stated. He added that the AFP maintains close collaborative partnerships with Australian airlines to protect the safety of all domestic air travelers, and any individual accused of endangering that safety will be brought before the courts to answer for their actions.

  • India criticizes ‘poor taste’ Trump post against immigrants

    India criticizes ‘poor taste’ Trump post against immigrants

    A fresh diplomatic row has erupted between the United States and India after former President Donald Trump shared an incendiary social media post that branded India a “hellhole” and attacked Indian immigrants to the U.S. The controversy comes just weeks ahead of a planned official visit to New Delhi by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, whose trip was already framed as an effort to de-escalate recent bilateral tensions between the two long-time strategic partners.

    The inflammatory post, shared by Trump late Wednesday, targets the long-standing U.S. constitutional principle of birthright citizenship, echoing decades of far-right anti-immigration rhetoric. Beyond attacking birthright citizenship, the post spread two false and harmful claims about Indian immigrants working in the U.S. technology sector: first, that they systematically refuse to hire white, American-born workers, and second, that they lack adequate English language proficiency. The post went on to generalize its attack, claiming that birthright citizenship allows immigrants to bring entire family chains into the U.S. from what it called “hellhole” countries including China and India.

    India’s Ministry of External Affairs issued a swift and sharp rebuke of the comments on Thursday. Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal dismissed the remarks as “obviously uninformed, inappropriate and in poor taste,” emphasizing that they do not align with the long-standing foundation of the India-U.S. relationship, which is built on mutual respect and overlapping strategic and economic interests.

    The post has also drawn widespread condemnation from American political and advocacy groups. Democratic Congressman Ami Bera, whose parents immigrated to the U.S. from India, called the comment “offensive, ignorant and beneath the dignity of the office” of the U.S. presidency. He added that Trump, who was born into immense wealth and privilege, has never experienced the daily struggles that shape the lives of millions of immigrant families across the United States.

    The Hindu American Foundation, a leading advocacy group representing Indian-American communities, also issued a statement saying it was deeply disturbed by the “hateful, racist screed.” The organization noted on social media platform X that the president’s endorsement of such bigoted rhetoric fuels rising xenophobia and racism already at record levels in the U.S., putting Indian-American and other immigrant communities at direct risk of harm.

    Cracking down on illegal and legal immigration has been a signature policy priority for Trump throughout his political career, and he has repeatedly targeted the H-1B temporary work visa program that is widely used by skilled Indian technology workers. This is not the first public friction between Trump and the Indian government: for months, Trump maintained steep punitive tariffs on Indian imports after taking offense to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s muted response to his offer of mediation during a military conflict between India and Pakistan.

    Trump’s confrontational approach to India marks a clear break from decades of policy pursued by successive U.S. administrations of both major political parties. For decades, U.S. policymakers have prioritized building cooperative bilateral ties with the world’s largest democracy, framing New Delhi as a key strategic counterweight to an increasingly assertive China in the Indo-Pacific region.