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  • New Zealand squanders strong starts as England’s green attack strikes at The Oval

    New Zealand squanders strong starts as England’s green attack strikes at The Oval

    On the opening day of the third and decisive Test match between New Zealand and England at The Oval, the Black Caps capped their most productive batting session of the ongoing England tour with a frustratingly underwhelming result, ending Wednesday at 291 for seven wickets after squandering multiple promising starts against a drastically inexperienced English bowling attack.

    England entered the clash holding a 1-0 series lead, having secured an 115-run victory in the opening Test at Lord’s. That result came under intense scrutiny after match officials rated the Lord’s pitch “unsatisfactory”, and the psychological impact of that win appeared to linger in New Zealand’s batting performance Wednesday. On a pitch that shed its early hostile, fast-bowling friendly conditions as the day progressed — matching pre-match expectations — six of the Black Caps’ seven wickets came courtesy of soft, unforced dismissals that gifted the underprepared English side easy breakthroughs.

    The casualty list of wasted starts reads like a who’s who of New Zealand’s batting core: captain Tom Latham, Henry Nicholls, who stepped into the key number three batting slot vacated by retired former skipper Kane Williamson, all-rounder Rachin Ravindra, and wicketkeeper-batter Tom Blundell — the first New Zealand batter to register a half-century in this series — all threw away solid foundations after getting set at the crease.

    By the close of play, only Glenn Phillips remained unbeaten on 49, alongside fast bowler Kyle Jamieson who had notched six runs. The final hour of the day delivered the most dramatic action of the opening session, with star England fast bowler Jofra Archer delivering a relentless, probing spell to test Phillips that had crowds on the edge of their seats.

    England’s bowling unit, which took the field at Lord’s for the first Test, has been decimated by a combination of player suspensions and injury ahead of the Oval clash. That left Archer — playing his first Test match since the Christmas break last year — to lead a vastly inexperienced group: Josh Tongue, Matthew Fisher (playing just his second Test at international level), and Sonny Baker, one of three debutants named in England’s bowling line-up.

    Against expectations, the young group performed far better than many pundits predicted, consistently delivering fast, line-and-length bowling that kept New Zealand batters under pressure. That said, wayward bowling that resulted in 44 extras meant the free gifts from New Zealand’s batters were matched by England’s unforced errors, with the 44 extras tying for the third highest individual score on New Zealand’s innings card at stumps.

    Even part-time spinner Jacob Bethell got in on the action, delivering the first spin bowling of the entire series for England and claiming an eye-catching two wickets for just eight runs from his five overs, further highlighting New Zealand’s generous dismissal rate. Baker, the lively young fast bowler, claimed the wicket of Ravindra, while both Archer and seamers Dom Mitchell chipped in with one wicket apiece. Archer’s final eight-over spell of the day, which conceded just 22 runs without taking a wicket, delivered the high-tempo, high-stakes drama that woke a dozing packed crowd and gave the home side momentum heading into Day Two.

  • Norway’s crown princess undergoes successful lung transplant, palace says

    Norway’s crown princess undergoes successful lung transplant, palace says

    The Norwegian Royal Household has confirmed that Crown Princess Mette-Marit, 52, has completed a successful lung transplant at a hospital in Oslo, bringing a wave of cautious relief across the kingdom after months of declining health.

    Mette-Marit first received a diagnosis of a rare, progressive form of pulmonary fibrosis in 2018, a condition that gradually scarred her lung tissue and caused persistent breathing difficulties. As her symptoms worsened over the past year, she began stepping back from official royal engagements, with her medical team describing her condition as significantly deteriorated and “dangerous” earlier in 2025. Just 12 days before the transplant procedure, the palace confirmed she had been added to the national organ transplant waiting list— a step doctors only take when a patient is estimated to have less than 12 months left to live, with priority given to the most critically ill cases.

    Her last public appearance came on May 17, when she was photographed using a nasal breathing tube connected to a portable oxygen device to manage her symptoms. Following the operation, lead lung specialist Are Holm shared positive updates in an official statement released by the royal palace. “We are delighted that everything has progressed well so far,” Holm said, noting that the Crown Princess will remain under close medical observation in the hospital for the next several weeks, a standard protocol for all recent organ transplant recipients. Holm also cautioned that the road to recovery remains fragile: transplant recipients must take lifelong immunosuppressive medications to prevent organ rejection, and data shows one in eight donor lung recipients do not survive the first year post-procedure, while roughly half are still alive after a decade.

    Crown Prince Haakon, Mette-Marit’s husband of 24 years, has announced he will adjust all upcoming official commitments to be by his wife’s side during her initial recovery. The transplant comes amid an exceptionally difficult period for the Norwegian royal family, marked by two major controversies in recent months. Just two days before the procedure, Mette-Marit’s 29-year-old son Marius Borg Høiby was sentenced to four years in prison following conviction on two counts of rape. Though Høiby—who was four when his mother married Haakon and holds no official royal title—pled guilty to lesser included offenses, he maintains his innocence on the most serious charges, and his legal team has already confirmed plans to appeal the verdict. Prior to the sentencing, Høiby’s lawyers repeatedly requested his temporary release from custody to allow him to visit his ailing mother, but all such requests were denied.

    Earlier this year, the royal family faced another public scandal when documents were released revealing Mette-Marit’s three-year friendship with the deceased disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Mette-Marit later issued a public apology to King Harald V and Queen Sonja of Norway, acknowledged she had exercised “poor judgement” in maintaining the relationship, and stated in a national television interview that she regretted ever meeting Epstein.

    Norwegian royal commentator and historian Ole-Jørgen Schulsrud-Hansen called the successful transplant positive news for both the royal family and the entire nation. “This was one of the most serious obstacles on the road for a better health for the Crown Princess, and I think many people are relieved the transplant was successful,” Schulsrud-Hansen noted.

  • US officials say Iran deal calls for diluting uranium at minimum, waiving sanctions, opening strait

    US officials say Iran deal calls for diluting uranium at minimum, waiving sanctions, opening strait

    VERSAILLES, France — Days after a pre-arranged digital signature and ahead of a planned formal ceremonial signing, former U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed Wednesday he had finalized his signature on an interim agreement with Iran, a deal that rolls out sweeping U.S. concessions to Tehran, pauses the war launched by the U.S. and Israel in February, and paves the way for renewed global oil flows through the strategic Strait of Hormuz. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who led mediation efforts to broker the initial ceasefire framework, confirmed the deal is already taking immediate effect, with a full formal signing ceremony scheduled to take place this Friday.

    Details of the agreement, negotiated over weeks behind closed doors, were first shared with reporters by unnamed U.S. officials, and the text released later by Iranian state media largely aligned with the U.S. account of the terms. The framework includes core commitments from Iran to dilute its existing stockpile of highly enriched uranium on site and reaffirm a pledge not to pursue or acquire nuclear weapons. In exchange, Washington has agreed to immediately waive — though not permanently eliminate — sweeping U.S. sanctions against Iran, a move that lets Tehran resume unconstrained global oil sales starting immediately.

    Additional key terms of the 60-day interim deal open the Strait of Hormuz to toll-free commercial shipping, a critical shift after months of closure that triggered a global energy crisis, and require a full halt to Israeli military operations in Lebanon while affirming Lebanon’s full territorial integrity amid Israel’s ongoing invasion against Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group. The agreement also sets a 60-day negotiating window for parties to reach a permanent, final nuclear agreement.

    Trump confirmed the signing as he departed the historic Palace of Versailles, following a private dinner with French President Emmanuel Macron held after the Group of Seven (G7) summit in France. A video shared online by a White House aide captured the moment: Trump seated next to Macron, signed a physical copy of the agreement, then passed the document and pen to Secretary of State Marco Rubio as attendees in the room applauded. A senior U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity to disclose unannounced details, confirmed Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian also signed the agreement Wednesday, though Tehran has not yet issued an official public comment on the signing.

    As of Wednesday evening, the full text of the agreement has not been formally released to the public. Confusion remains around the discrepancy between Trump’s digital signing of the deal that was announced for Sunday and this week’s in-person signing at Versailles, as well as whether the 60-day negotiating clock officially began with Wednesday’s signing.

    The conflict that preceded this deal began when the U.S. and Israel launched military operations against Iran on February 28, with Trump framing the war’s core goal as eliminating Iran’s ability to develop a nuclear weapon. Over the course of the conflict, Trump expanded stated war aims to include ending Iran’s ballistic missile program, cutting its support for regional proxy groups like Hezbollah, and even calling for the full overthrow of the Iranian government. This interim agreement falls far short of those sweeping original goals, but Trump nonetheless praised the deal Wednesday.

    “Nobody knows what it is, but it’s very strong,” Trump told reporters in France. He also left open the possibility of walking away from the framework entirely, adding: “It’s a memorandum of understanding, and if I don’t like it, we’ll go back to shooting at them, dropping bombs.”

    For the most part, the interim deal restores the regional status quo that existed before the outbreak of war: it ends all active hostilities, reopens the Strait of Hormuz — the critical global energy chokepoint whose closure triggered skyrocketing energy and food prices worldwide — and resumes bilateral nuclear negotiations between Washington and Tehran. The framework delivers substantial immediate benefits to Iran, requiring very few upfront concessions from Tehran in return.

    The terms of this new deal go far beyond the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the Obama-era Iran nuclear agreement that Trump withdrew the U.S. from during his first term, when he famously called it the “worst deal ever negotiated.” Iran has consistently maintained its nuclear program is purely for peaceful, civilian purposes.

    The deal is expected to face fierce political pushback in Washington, and it marks a significant setback for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has already faced growing domestic criticism from opposition groups, media, and even some of his own allies as details of the agreement have emerged.

    A core provision of the deal ends months of fighting between Israeli forces and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, one of the most contentious points of the negotiation. The text of the agreement explicitly requires all military operations in Lebanon to cease immediately and affirms the country’s territorial integrity, with Iran calling for a full Israeli withdrawal from occupied areas of southern Lebanon under the deal’s terms. Israel has so far rejected any withdrawal, but the agreement’s terms mandate an immediate end to offensive operations regardless.

    Pakistani mediators, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the negotiations, outlined that broader concessions to Iran — including the full permanent lifting of all U.S. and U.N. sanctions and the release of billions in frozen Iranian assets — will be implemented gradually, tied to progress in the 60-day permanent negotiation window. Even so, the immediate U.S. decision to allow unrestricted Iranian oil sales strips Washington of one of its biggest negotiating leverage points; under the 2015 JCPOA, sanctions on Iranian oil were only lifted after Iran completed major nuclear concessions, not at the start of talks.

    Unlike the 2015 agreement, which only addressed nuclear-related sanctions, this interim framework opens the door to the eventual removal of all U.S. and U.N. sanctions on Iran, including those imposed over Tehran’s weapons programs and human rights record. The agreement also includes a provision for up to $300 billion in reconstruction funding for Iran, a sum that U.S. Vice President JD Vance says will come from Gulf Arab nations. Trump confirmed Wednesday the U.S. will not contribute any funds to this package, though Gulf states have already signaled reluctance to fund Iran after Iranian attacks during the war damaged Gulf oil infrastructure and other targets.

    For the global economy, the agreement delivers immediate, much-needed relief. Before the war, roughly one-fifth of the world’s traded oil and natural gas passed through the Strait of Hormuz. After the war began, Iranian attacks on commercial shipping and demands for shipping tolls effectively closed the strait to most traffic, driving up global energy prices and raising costs for essential goods including food. Under the terms of the deal, the strait will reopen to prewar traffic levels within 30 days, and the U.S. will lift its blockade on Iranian ports. The framework also acknowledges the need for coordinated demining operations to clear unexploded ordnance from the waterway before full traffic can resume.

    This report includes contributions from Associated Press journalists across multiple global locations: Aamer Madhani in Evian-les-Bains, France; Darlene Superville in Geneva, Switzerland; Angela Charlton in Paris, France; and Munir Ahmed in Islamabad, Pakistan. David Gambrell reported from Dubai, Samy Magdy from Cairo, and Michael Catalini from Morrisville, Pennsylvania.

  • Zelenskyy says G7 leaders pledge more vital help for Ukraine against Russia

    Zelenskyy says G7 leaders pledge more vital help for Ukraine against Russia

    As Ukraine’s full-scale defensive war against Russia’s invasion enters its third year with no diplomatic or military resolution in sight, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced Wednesday that the country has secured new, binding commitments of additional backing from G7 leaders gathered for the group’s annual summit in France.

    The leaders of the Group of Seven — the world’s seven largest advanced industrial economies — have pledged to reinforce Ukraine’s critical air defense systems, shore up the country’s energy infrastructure ahead of future Russian attacks targeting power grids, and ramp up coordinated international economic sanctions to increase pressure on Moscow, Zelenskyy confirmed in a post on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. The Ukrainian president attended the summit in person to push for renewed global backing for his country’s war effort.

    “The G7 Summit in France delivered important results for Ukraine. Most importantly, we agreed on additional strengthening of Ukraine’s air defense,” Zelenskyy wrote. “Our partners will ensure support for our defense and energy resilience,” he added, noting that new restrictive measures targeting Russia would also be implemented.

    Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, Zelenskyy has made global diplomatic outreach a core priority, working steadily to secure military and humanitarian aid from Western allies while isolating Putin and his regime on the international stage. Fresh off the G7 gathering, Zelenskyy was scheduled to travel to Brussels Thursday for a European Union summit, coming just days after Ukraine formally launched accession negotiations with the bloc Monday. The membership process is expected to take years of political and economic reforms, even as the country continues to defend its territory against Russian occupation.

    In a joint official statement released after the summit, all G7 members — Japan, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, and the United States — formally endorsed Ukraine’s resistance, praising Kyiv’s recent advances on the front lines. “We commend Ukraine for its resilience and progress on the battlefield in recent months and emphasize there is now a new momentum” in Kyiv’s resistance, the statement read.

    Western political and military analysts have confirmed that Ukraine’s battlefield capabilities have improved notably in recent months, driven in large part by the effective use of advanced domestic drone technology. Ukrainian drones have successfully pinned Russian frontline troops in occupied territories, choked off critical Russian supply lines, and carried out strikes disrupting oil production deep inside Russian territory — a key source of revenue for the Kremlin’s war machine. These strikes have also brought the reality of the conflict, which Putin labels a “special military operation”, directly to Russian civilians, growing domestic pressure on the Russian president, according to analysts.

    Despite these gains, Ukraine still faces critical gaps in its defensive capabilities: the country is currently facing a shortage of U.S.-made Patriot air defense missiles, a shortfall partially driven by depleted U.S. stockpiles that have been drawn down to support U.S. efforts in the ongoing Iran conflict. The shortage leaves Ukraine vulnerable to Russia’s regular strategic ballistic missile bombardment campaign targeting civilian and energy infrastructure. The G7 joint statement committed to delivering additional air defense assets to Ukraine but did not specify what types of weapons or what volume of supplies would be provided. Leaders also added that they are considering approving license agreements to allow Ukraine to manufacture Western-designed weapons domestically, a longstanding request from Kyiv that includes domestic production of Patriot missiles.

    The G7 summit meeting also came as ongoing conflicts in the Middle East have shifted Washington’s focus away from Ukraine, after more than a year of diplomatic efforts to end the war have failed to produce a breakthrough. On the sidelines of the G7, Zelenskyy held talks with U.S. President Donald Trump alongside key European leaders, as part of his push to sustain U.S. backing for Kyiv. Putin has for his part attempted to bypass both Europe and Kyiv to negotiate directly with Washington over the future of Ukraine.

    On Wednesday, separate reports of cross-border attacks continued: a Ukrainian regional official confirmed that a Russian drone strike hit a children’s equestrian school in the northeastern Sumy region, striking the facility’s stable and killing multiple horses. Preliminary reports indicate no civilian staff were injured in the overnight attack, according to Sumy regional military administration head Oleh Hryhorov. On the Russian side, the country’s Defense Ministry claimed that its air defense systems intercepted and downed 157 Ukrainian drones between late Tuesday and early Wednesday.

    This reporting featured contributions from AP correspondents Illia Novikov based in Kyiv, Ukraine, and Barry Hatton based in Lisbon, Portugal.

  • Putin hosts leaders of Southeast Asia at Russia-ASEAN summit

    Putin hosts leaders of Southeast Asia at Russia-ASEAN summit

    A high-stakes two-day Russia-ASEAN summit has opened Wednesday in the Russian city of Kazan, where President Vladimir Putin is hosting top leaders from the 11-member Southeast Asian bloc to deepen economic, political and people-to-people ties across the partnership. This year’s gathering carries special significance, as it commemorates 35 years of formal relations between Moscow and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, a milestone that both sides have framed as a cornerstone of their evolving engagement.

    ASEAN has maintained official dialogue partner status with Russia for decades, holding annual top-level meetings to align on shared priorities. This summit is tasked with advancing the existing Russia-ASEAN strategic partnership, exploring new avenues for collaboration that span trade, investment, and regional governance. Ahead of the official leadership talks, a pre-summit business forum brought together private sector representatives from both sides. In a welcome message to attendees, Putin emphasized his expectation that the forum would unlock new opportunities for expanding mutually beneficial trade, investment, and industrial cooperation, while strengthening direct, open dialogue between Russian and ASEAN business communities.

    Kremlin foreign policy advisor Yuri Ushakov outlined the summit’s full agenda to reporters, noting that leaders will not only review progress on existing cooperative initiatives but also exchange candid views on pressing global and regional security challenges. A core unifying theme set to emerge from the gathering, Ushakov highlighted, is a shared commitment to building a fair, democratic multipolar global order rooted firmly in the principles of international law and the United Nations Charter. Beyond plenary discussions, the schedule includes one-on-one bilateral meetings between Putin and individual ASEAN leaders to address country-specific priorities and collaborative projects.

    The ASEAN bloc includes 11 diverse member states with varied geopolitical alignments: the Philippines, which currently holds ASEAN’s annual rotating presidency, is broadly aligned with the United States, while other member states maintain deep trade and security ties with both Russia and China. Since global energy prices spiked in the wake of heightened geopolitical conflict that disrupted regional oil markets, a number of major ASEAN economies including the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam have either moved to import Russian crude oil or publicly expressed interest in expanding purchases of the commodity, underscoring the practical economic drivers shaping the bloc’s engagement with Moscow.

  • Equatorial Guinea government resigns after failing to meet targets

    Equatorial Guinea government resigns after failing to meet targets

    The entire cabinet of Equatorial Guinea has stepped down after the government was formally accused of failing to meet its policy targets, enabling systemic corruption, and stalling long-planned economic diversification efforts, according to Vice-President Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue.

    Vice-President Obiang Mangue — who is the son of long-ruling President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, the world’s longest-serving incumbent head of state — confirmed that Prime Minister Manuel Osa Nsue Nsua submitted the collective resignation of all government ministers this week. The outgoing administration, which was only appointed in early 2024, delivered less than 10 percent of its stated policy goals, the vice-president confirmed in a public post on X, the social platform formally known as Twitter.

    While the vice-president did not outline specific unmet targets in his announcement, an official statement from the ruling Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea (PDGE) laid out the full scope of presidential dissatisfaction. According to the party’s statement, President Obiang Nguema Mbasogo identified endemic corruption, misappropriation of public funds for personal gain, and widespread stagnation in national development projects as core failures of the outgoing administration. The president also criticized the cabinet for failing to advance policies to diversify the national economy, particularly a lack of progress supporting growth in the domestic agricultural sector, a key step to reduce the country’s reliance on imported goods that can be produced locally.

    For decades, Equatorial Guinea’s economy has been almost entirely dependent on oil and gas exports, which generate the vast majority of the country’s total export revenue and government budget. Despite its significant national oil wealth, widespread poverty remains pervasive across the country of 1.8 million people, with most residents seeing little benefit from the nation’s natural resource reserves. In recent years, the economy has also faced growing headwinds driven by declining oil production and shifting global demand for fossil fuels, making economic diversification a higher priority for policymakers.

    President Obiang Nguema Mbasogo has held uninterrupted control of the West African nation since 1979, and has drawn longstanding international criticism for concentrating political power in the hands of his family, with multiple close relatives holding key senior government positions. The vice-president framed the mass resignation as a commitment to accountability in public governance, noting on X that “the principle that responsibility in public management must be accompanied by results” demanded the cabinet’s exit. He added that the low level of policy delivery achieved by the outgoing cabinet was “clearly insufficient in relation to the expectations and commitments undertaken.”

    Local political observers expect President Obiang Nguema Mbasogo to announce a new full cabinet appointment in the coming days to replace the outgoing administration, with formal nominations expected to be made public shortly after the resignation is formalized.

  • Taiwan’s foreign minister says Chinese pressure on countries over the island is a ‘new normal’

    Taiwan’s foreign minister says Chinese pressure on countries over the island is a ‘new normal’

    MOMBASA, Kenya and TAIPEI, Taiwan — A fresh incident of Taiwan being blocked from a major international conference has underscored what Taiwan’s top diplomat describes as a persistent, growing pattern of Chinese pressure to shut the self-ruled island out of global engagements. On Wednesday, Taiwan Foreign Minister Lin Chia-Lung publicly condemned the recent detention and exclusion of two Taiwanese delegates from the Our Ocean Conference in Mombasa, Kenya, an incident Taipei attributes directly to coercive pressure from Beijing on Kenyan organizers.

    According to Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry, the two delegates were detained for more than 20 hours after Kenyan authorities seized their passports and mobile phones, barring them from entry on the grounds that their Taiwan-issued passports were not legally recognized. In response to the incident, the entire remaining Taiwanese delegation withdrew from the high-stakes conference, which gathers global stakeholders to tackle pressing ocean governance challenges ranging from climate change-driven ocean degradation to biodiversity loss and plastic pollution.

    Kenyan officials have defended their decision to block the delegates, aligning with Beijing’s longstanding “One China” policy that claims Taiwan as an inalienable province of China. “Our foreign policy recognizes only one China,” Korir Sing’oei, Principal Secretary of Kenya’s Foreign Ministry, told reporters. “Any person purporting to hold a Taiwanese passport would ordinarily not be allowed through our borders for lacking proper documentation and would not in any event be part of a formal state meeting convened by Kenya government.”

    Lin pushed back sharply against Kenya’s justification, arguing that Nairobi had “unilaterally distorted and unwarrantedly expanded” its interpretation of the One China principle to exclude Taiwan’s delegates. “The obstruction of our delegates from attending the meeting is absolutely wrong, and we strongly condemn and protest against it,” Lin stated during an event hosted by the Taiwan Foreign Correspondents’ Club Wednesday.

    The Mombasa incident is far from an isolated case, Lin emphasized: Beijing’s campaign to pressure third-party countries to restrict Taiwan’s access to international forums has become “the new normal” for cross-strait and global diplomatic engagement. The Chinese government has for decades pushed to limit Taiwan’s participation in multilateral bodies, barring the island from full membership in the World Health Organization and forcing it to compete under the altered name “Chinese Taipei” at the Olympic Games. In recent months, however, Lin said Beijing has ramped up these coercive efforts, particularly targeting developing and emerging economies in the Global South that are increasingly vulnerable to Chinese economic influence.

    “Some Global South countries are manipulated by the Chinese government in every way,” Lin said, adding that “some democratic countries are trying to fight against it.”

    A high-profile earlier incident this year laid bare the extent of Beijing’s pressure: In April, Taiwan’s president was forced to postpone a planned visit to Eswatini — one of the 13 countries that still officially recognize Taipei — after three neighboring nations reversed earlier approvals for his plane to fly through their airspace, a move widely attributed to Chinese coercion. The president eventually traveled to the African kingdom days later aboard a chartered plane provided by Eswatini’s monarch.

    The 2024 Our Ocean Conference, hosted for the first time by an African nation, has been framed by organizers as a landmark moment for African leadership in global ocean stewardship. The event draws hundreds of delegates from across the African continent, the United States, the European Union, and small island developing states that are disproportionately impacted by rising ocean levels and climate change. China has not yet issued any public comment on the accusations of pressure related to the Kenya incident.

    Cross-strait relations have been defined by separate governance since the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949, when defeated Nationalist Party forces retreated to Taiwan after the Communist Party seized control of mainland China. The island has since transitioned from decades of martial law to a full multi-party democracy, but Beijing has never renounced its claim to Taiwan and has repeatedly stated it reserves the right to use military force to annex the island if it formally declares independence.

  • Philippine Senate president allied with Duterte removed ahead of his daughter’s impeachment trial

    Philippine Senate president allied with Duterte removed ahead of his daughter’s impeachment trial

    After a bitter two-week leadership deadlock that exposed deep political rifts at the heart of the Philippine government, a close ally of incumbent President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has claimed the top leadership post in the Philippine Senate, ousting an ally of former President Rodrigo Duterte just months ahead of the impeachment trial of Duterte’s daughter, sitting Vice President Sara Duterte.

    Sherwin Gatchalian secured the Senate presidency in a final vote Wednesday, earning the backing of 13 of the chamber’s 24 senators. His challenger, Alan Peter Cayetano — a long-time loyalist of the former Duterte political bloc — formally conceded defeat shortly after the vote result was finalized. The standoff began in early May when both Gatchalian and Cayetano claimed the Senate presidency, each citing conflicting legal interpretations of legislative quorum rules to legitimize their separate faction votes.

    The deadlock broke abruptly Wednesday when one senator previously aligned with Cayetano defected to the pro-Marcos bloc, handing Gatchalian’s side the clear majority needed to formalize his leadership. The shake-up comes against a backdrop of intensifying political conflict between the Marcos administration and the Duterte camp, a once-formidable alliance that collapsed into open hostility in recent months, laying bare the persistent institutional vulnerabilities that have long marked Philippine democracy.

    “It’s a relief,” noted Jean Franco, a political science professor at the state-run University of the Philippines, in the wake of the resolution. But she cautioned that the country’s democratic system, “with its weak and fragile institutions,” continues to face mounting challenges.

    Observers have widely framed the Senate leadership fight as a proxy battle for the broader power struggle between Marcos and Vice President Sara Duterte, the country’s two highest-elected officials. The pair governed as coalition partners for years, but their relationship has fractured dramatically, a split that mirrors the deep partisan divisions that have roiled Philippine politics for decades.

    Tensions escalated sharply after the 2023 handover of former President Rodrigo Duterte to the International Criminal Court (ICC) to face trial for alleged crimes against humanity stemming from his administration’s brutal anti-drug crackdown, which left thousands of mostly low-income drug suspects dead between 2016 and 2022. Sara Duterte has publicly blamed Marcos for orchestrating the arrest and transfer of her father, who has repeatedly denied authorizing extrajudicial killings throughout his time in office. Duterte’s ICC trial is scheduled to open in November.

    In a twist that fueled the initial leadership deadlock, Cayetano claimed the Senate presidency on May 11 after Sen. Ronald dela Rosa — Duterte’s former national police chief and an alleged co-perpetrator in the ICC’s crimes against humanity case — emerged from months of hiding to cast the deciding vote for Cayetano. Hours after Cayetano’s win, the ICC unsealed an arrest warrant for dela Rosa, prompting him to return to hiding, where he remains at large.

    The pro-Duterte bloc has suffered additional setbacks in recent weeks: another of Cayetano’s key allies, Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, was arrested on June 1 on a plunder charge linked to alleged massive kickbacks from a government flood control infrastructure project. Estrada has denied all wrongdoing and was released after posting bail.

    Control of the Senate carries profound political stakes for the Marcos administration, as the chamber is set to convene the impeachment trial of Sara Duterte in July. The impeachment case was advanced last month by the House of Representatives, which is currently dominated by Marcos allies. Duterte faces multiple charges, including allegations of unexplained wealth and public statements threatening to assassinate President Marcos. She has denied all accusations, with her supporters arguing the charges are politically manufactured to derail her already-announced plan to run for the Philippine presidency in 2028, when Marcos’s current six-year term concludes.

  • Litchfield set to miss three T20 World Cup games

    Litchfield set to miss three T20 World Cup games

    As the Women’s T20 World Cup enters its early group stage, defending six-time champions Australia are facing a sudden wave of injury issues that threaten to disrupt their tournament campaign. Left-handed opening batter Phoebe Litchfield, who turned in a standout performance with a half-century in Australia’s dominant 65-run opening win against South Africa, picked up a quad strain during her batting innings in that fixture. The emerging star is now set to sit out Australia’s next three scheduled group matches, team officials have confirmed.

    The injury list does not end there for the Australian side: star all-rounder Ashleigh Gardner also missed the team’s second group fixture against Bangladesh at Headingley on Wednesday after suffering an ankle sprain ahead of the clash. To cover the absences, head coach and selectors called in all-rounder Grace Harris to take Litchfield’s spot in the batting line-up against Bangladesh, while fast bowler Megan Schutt replaced Gardner in the 11-player match day squad.

    Australia is next set to face the Netherlands this coming Saturday, before taking on Pakistan just four days later on Tuesday. Despite the double injury setback early in the tournament, the Australian camp remains optimistic about Litchfield’s timeline for recovery. Team medical staff and management expect the young opener to regain full fitness in time for Australia’s final group stage match against India, which is scheduled for 28 June.

    The defending champions got their tournament off to a flying start with a comprehensive victory over South Africa, but the untimely injuries have created a last-minute test of the team’s depth as they navigate the first half of group play.

  • Protesters block copper exports to China from Rio Tinto mine in Mongolia

    Protesters block copper exports to China from Rio Tinto mine in Mongolia

    On a clear sunny day in southern Mongolia’s Gobi Desert, a small group of activists from the domestic advocacy group Radical Reform Movement erected a makeshift barrier across the only two-lane road leading out of the massive Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold mine, halting all copper concentrate shipments bound for global markets Wednesday. The demonstration has thrown a spotlight on long-simmering public discontent over foreign ownership of Mongolia’s vast mineral wealth, and created an unexpected disruption to a critical copper supply chain that feeds into China’s booming renewable energy and electric vehicle sectors.

    Copper is a foundational material for electric vehicle batteries, wind turbines, and solar power infrastructure — industries where China holds global leadership in production and deployment. Oyu Tolgoi, located just 50 miles north of the Mongolia-China border, is projected to become the world’s fourth-largest copper mine once fully operational, holding one of the planet’s largest untapped reserves of the critical mineral. The project is a joint venture between British-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto, which controls a 66% stake, and the Mongolian government, which holds the remaining 34% share.

    For decades, Mongolian public discourse has centered on inequitable distribution of mining revenue: the country counts extensive deposits of copper, gold, coal and other critical minerals, yet widespread poverty remains pervasive across much of the population. The Radical Reform Movement, the group behind the blockade, has gone as far as calling for the full expulsion of foreign investors from the country’s mining sector, while even more moderate voices within the Mongolian government are pushing to renegotiate the original operating agreement with Rio Tinto to secure a larger share of project profits for the Mongolian public.

    Videos posted to Facebook by the advocacy group showed protesters gathering around the barrier, which included a tire wall and a large tree branch strung with a white banner emblazoned with red text reading “Stop Rio Tinto”, set across the road cutting through the arid Gobi landscape. As of Wednesday, it remains unclear whether the demonstration is a one-day action intended to raise awareness of the group’s demands, or the opening of an extended standoff that could trigger broader economic repercussions for both Mongolia and its key trading partner China.

    According to official statements from the Oyu Tolgoi joint venture, the mine contributes roughly 9% of Mongolia’s total annual government tax revenue. The company warned that a prolonged seven-day blockade would cut into government revenue by an estimated 35 billion Mongolian Tugrik, equal to roughly $13.3 million. Following the blockade, Mongolian Prime Minister Uchral Nyam-Osor directed the country’s justice and internal affairs minister at a weekly Cabinet meeting to uphold existing law, and hold all participants accountable for unlawfully disrupting legally authorized commercial operations, according to a post on the Mongolian government’s official Facebook page.