Global Pulse

标签： Asia

亚洲

  • China hits back at US sanctions on tech giants, restricting its exports to American defense firms

    China hits back at US sanctions on tech giants, restricting its exports to American defense firms

    In a tit-for-tat response to a recent Washington policy that blocks leading Chinese technology firms from accessing U.S. defense contracts, China unveiled new sanctions against 10 American defense and aerospace companies on Monday, according to China’s Ministry of Commerce.

    The sanctions impose a blanket ban on Chinese enterprises exporting dual-use items — products engineered for both civilian and military applications — to the targeted American firms. The list of sanctioned entities includes major military drone manufacturers and two leading U.S. rare earth mining producers: AVEOX, Red Cat Holdings, Teal Drones, IMSAR, Jaia Robotics, Ball Aerospace & Technologies, Oshkosh Defense, L3Harris Maritime Services, MP Materials, and USA Rare Earth.

    Beyond the direct export ban, the policy also prohibits third-party businesses and individuals from retransferring Chinese-origin dual-use goods to the sanctioned American companies. The Ministry of Commerce noted that exceptions will be considered for exports deemed genuinely necessary, where qualified Chinese firms can apply for special approval to ship restricted items.

    Chinese authorities framed the move as a necessary measure to protect core national security interests, adding that the action directly counters what Beijing calls the U.S. government’s improper expansion of its so-called Chinese Military Companies list. Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Defense added prominent Chinese technology giants including Alibaba and Baidu to the restricted list, claiming the firms maintain unacknowledged ties to China’s military. Baidu has publicly rejected the allegation, calling the characterization of the company as a military-linked entity “totally baseless.”

    The designation of Chinese firms by the U.S. bars the listed companies from securing any federal defense contracts. Beijing has additionally pointed out that the latest American restrictions contradict the bilateral consensus reached by Chinese President Xi Jinping and former U.S. President Donald Trump during Trump’s official visit to China in May, according to earlier statements from Chinese officials.

  • Japan quintuples foreigner visa fees in first price hike since 1978

    Japan quintuples foreigner visa fees in first price hike since 1978

    Japan is set to roll out a landmark fivefold increase to visa fees for foreign visitors starting 1 July, marking the first adjustment to these charges since 1978. Under the new fee structure, the cost of a single-entry visa will jump from the current 3,000 Japanese yen to 15,000 yen, while multi-entry visas will see an equivalent increase, rising from 6,000 yen to 30,000 yen.

    Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi announced the revisions during a press briefing on Friday, noting that the price adjustments are designed to reflect ongoing global inflation and significant exchange rate volatility that has impacted Japan’s economy in recent years. When addressing concerns about the effect on Japan’s booming post-pandemic travel sector, Motegi emphasized that authorities do not expect the fee hikes to trigger an immediate decline in inbound tourism.

    The Japanese yen has faced persistent weakening since 2021, currently trading near 40-year historic lows against major global currencies. This currency depreciation, paired with the broad rebound in international travel following the easing of COVID-19 restrictions, has driven an unprecedented surge in tourist arrivals to Japan. In 2024 alone, the country recorded a new all-time high of 42.7 million international visitors, underscoring the rapid recovery of its travel industry.

    The visa fee revision is not an isolated policy change. Earlier this year, Japan’s Upper House approved a separate bill that raises administrative fees for a range of other immigration-related services for foreign nationals. Under that legislation, the statutory cap for permanent residency application fees will increase 30-fold, jumping from the current 10,000 yen to 300,000 yen. Fees for changing residency status or extending an authorized stay will also see a tenfold increase, rising from 10,000 yen to a maximum of 100,000 yen.

    Proponents of the fee adjustments argue that bringing Japan’s visa and residency-related charges into line with the fee structures of other G7 major economies is a long-overdue correction. As a point of comparison, non-immigrant visa application fees in the United States currently range from $185 to $315, while a standard six-month short-term visitor visa for the United Kingdom costs £135.

  • Salah scores and Egypt downs New Zealand 3-1 for a first World Cup victory

    Salah scores and Egypt downs New Zealand 3-1 for a first World Cup victory

    VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Jubilant Egyptian players danced across the BC Place pitch Sunday night, while thousands of fans clad in the national team’s signature red roared from the sold-out stands, as the Pharaohs claimed a long-awaited milestone: their first victory at a men’s FIFA World Cup.

    The matchup got off to a quick start for New Zealand’s All Whites, who drew first blood in the 15th minute. 6-foot-3 Portland Timbers defender Finn Surman connected with a corner kick from Instagram-famous winger Tim Payne, nodding a flying header past Egypt’s goalkeeper to put New Zealand up 1-0. The score held through halftime, despite a close 35th-minute chance for Mohamed Salah: the star forward collected a laid-off free kick from Omar Marmoush, and his curling effort bent just wide of the post, hitting the side netting before the half-time whistle blew.

    In the locker room between frames, Egyptian head coach Hossam Hassan delivered a rousing pep talk to his squad, doubling down on their commitment to secure the historic win. “In between the first and the second half, we said it’s a no-go, we are not going to leave this pitch unless we claim the victory for ourselves, unless we make everyone proud and happy,” Hassan told reporters after the match. “I told them, I told the players, I am not willing to withdraw, I am not willing to go two steps back.”

    That determination translated into relentless pressure out of the halftime break, and Egypt’s equalizer arrived in the 58th minute. Mostafa “Zico” Mohamed found open space between Surman and Payne to connect with a cross, nodding a header that New Zealand keeper Max Crocombe got a glove to but couldn’t keep out of the net. Zico immediately gestured to the crowd to crank up the volume, igniting the already raucous Egyptian fanbase.

    Nine minutes later, Salah put the Pharaohs ahead for good, collecting a deft back-heel pass from Zico before slotting home the go-ahead goal. The 67th-minute strike was Salah’s 68th international goal, leaving him just one tally behind Hassan, who holds Egypt’s all-time national team scoring record. The Liverpool star celebrated by pumping his fist to the crowd before being swarmed by jubilant teammates. When he was subbed off in the 85th minute, the entire sellout crowd rose to give him a standing ovation.
    Egypt capped off the win three minutes before full time, when Trezeguet scored a diving header to lock in a 3-1 final score. The full-time whistle brought chaotic celebrations: Hassan and an assistant grabbed a massive Egyptian flag, sprinting around the pitch waving it high above their heads, while fans sang and cheered long after the game ended.

    “I always give my best to the national team,” Salah told reporters after the match. “Today I think is a very special day, with our first win in the World Cup.”
    This marks Egypt’s fourth World Cup appearance, after the nation failed to qualify for the 2022 Qatar tournament. Salah previously notched two goals for the Pharaohs at the 2018 Russia World Cup. Egypt was forced to make an early substitution in the first half Sunday, after midfielder Hamdy Fathy picked up an apparent non-contact injury and was replaced by Ramy Rabia.

    The win lifts Egypt to the top of Group G standings, though the squad has not yet secured a spot in the tournament’s knockout round. Up next, the Pharaohs will face off against Iran in a decisive group stage match Friday in Seattle, needing at least a draw to advance to the knockout rounds.

    In opening group play, Egypt earned a 1-1 draw against Belgium, where Emam Ashour scored an early opener before a late own goal sparked by substitute Romelu Lukaku leveled the score. New Zealand, meanwhile, twice took the lead against Iran in their opening match, only to concede and finish with a 2-2 draw, with both of the All Whites’ goals coming from Elijah Just.

    Earlier Sunday in Inglewood, California, Iran and Belgium played to a scoreless draw, leaving both teams with two consecutive draws to open the tournament. New Zealand, still hunting for its first ever World Cup win, will return to Vancouver to face Belgium on Friday. While the All Whites have not yet been eliminated from contention, veteran striker Chris Wood acknowledged the path to advancement will be an uphill battle.

    “You just have to believe and be positive,” Wood said. “We’re still one win away. We can still go in, beat Belgium and go through. I’m not going to lie, it’s going to be very tough.”

  • Ardie Savea picked as captain; 4 new caps in Dave Rennie’s 1st All Blacks squad of 2026

    Ardie Savea picked as captain; 4 new caps in Dave Rennie’s 1st All Blacks squad of 2026

    WELLINGTON, New Zealand – In his first major selection as head coach of the All Blacks, Dave Rennie has built a future-focused 34-man squad for July’s Nations Championship test matches against France, Italy and Ireland, appointing Japan-based star Ardie Savea as the team’s new permanent captain.

    Savea steps into the leadership role vacated by lock Scott Barrett, who is sidelined from the upcoming series with a back injury. Even if fit, Barrett would likely have given up the captaincy under Rennie’s new coaching regime, which prioritizes long-term team building. Barrett took over the captaincy in 2024 under former head coach Scott Robertson, leading the side through 11 test matches throughout his tenure. Savea, who currently plies his trade with Japan’s Kobe Steelers, is no stranger to leading the All Blacks: he has already stepped in as stand-in captain for 13 tests in previous fixtures when Barrett was unavailable, earning the respect of teammates and coaching staff for his leadership on and off the pitch.

    Announced publicly on Monday by New Zealand Rugby chairman David Kirk, the squad features four uncapped first-time All Blacks, three of whom hail from this year’s Super Rugby champion Hurricanes franchise. Prop Xavier Numia, wingers Josh Moorby and Fehi Fineanganofo all earn their first call-ups, joined by Germany-born backrower Anton Segner of the Auckland-based Blues.

    Segner’s path to the All Blacks is an unconventional one. After representing Germany at the under-16 level, he earned a six-month scholarship to Nelson College in New Zealand, where he quickly impressed enough to stay. He went on to captain the school’s top first XV side, represented the Christchurch Crusaders at age-group level, and earned a spot with the Tasman Makos in New Zealand’s domestic National Provincial Championship before signing with the Blues in 2021. Along the way, he represented New Zealand at both the secondary school and under-20 international levels, becoming eligible to wear the black jersey at the senior test level.

    The Hurricanes’ dominant Super Rugby run is heavily reflected in Rennie’s selection, with 11 players from the champion franchise earning call-ups. The team’s standout playmaker Ruben Love, who was named Player of the Match in Saturday’s Super Rugby final, will compete for the starting flyhalf (No. 10) position alongside established veterans Damian McKenzie and Beauden Barrett. Four Hurricanes front-row players – Numia, hooker Asafo Aumua, and props Pasilio Tosi and Tyrel Lomax – give the franchise significant influence over the All Blacks’ starting tight five, while veteran hooker Codie Taylor retained his spot in the squad despite a underwhelming Super Rugby season this year.

    At 35, Beauden Barrett was included in the squad despite only holding an outside chance of making the 2027 Rugby World Cup roster, a decision that rewards his veteran experience in the program. At scrumhalf, Cam Roigard and Cortez Ratima made the cut, along with Kyle Preston, who was selected over his Crusaders teammate Noah Hotham. Veteran midfielder Anton Lienert-Brown returns from his club stint in Japan to join Jordie Barrett, Billy Proctor and Quinn Tupaea as available center options. For Fineanganofo, the call-up comes after a record-breaking Super Rugby season that saw him score 17 tries, the most in the competition this year. He is set to join England’s Newcastle Falcons at the end of 2025.

    Rennie, who assembled the squad alongside assistant coach Neil Barnes and former World Cup-winning All Blacks head coach Graeme Henry, emphasized that the selection aligns with the team’s new playing identity for the 2025 campaign. The side will prioritize a combination of high-tempo attacking rugby and uncompromising physicality, he said.

    “This group has the ability to not only rise to the intense demands of international test rugby, but also play with optimism and brutality,” Rennie said in a statement following the announcement. “We look forward to gathering as a group on Wednesday to begin preparations for three massive tests against France, Italy and Ireland.”

    He extended special congratulations to the four uncapped rookies, noting that all earned their spots through standout domestic campaigns. “Special congratulations must go to our four uncapped players. These men have each had an outstanding Super Rugby season and fully deserve their place in the squad,” Rennie said. “It will be a massively proud time for their families, friends and team mates.”

    Of new captain Savea, Rennie added: “Congratulations also to our new All Blacks captain, Ardie Savea, who we know will do an outstanding job of leading this team on and off-field. Ardie is highly respected by his teammates and cares deeply about the black jersey.”

    The All Blacks’ Nations Championship campaign kicks off at Christchurch against France on July 4, before moving to Wellington for a test against Italy on July 11, and wrapping up in Auckland against Ireland on July 18.

  • BTS fans desperate to catch comeback tour lose more than $100,000 to scammers

    BTS fans desperate to catch comeback tour lose more than $100,000 to scammers

    After three years of pandemic-induced hiatus, global K-pop supergroup BTS has launched a massive 88-date reunion world tour that has sparked unprecedented fan excitement — and a tidal wave of targeted ticket scams that have left hundreds of devotees across Southeast Asia out of pocket and heartbroken.

    The tour, which launched in April and will run through 2027 across 34 cities, marks the first time the seven-member band has scheduled multiple shows in five Southeast Asian nations: Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. With 15 of the total tour stops hosted in the region, demand for tickets has hit extraordinary levels: industry insiders confirm that the number of fans seeking entry outstrips available seats by a factor of 15, prompting organizers to add extra dates in high-demand locations including Jakarta and the Philippines’ Bulacan just to keep up.

    For long-time fans — who call themselves the BTS Army — the tour represents a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see the group perform together again after years of planned solo projects and pandemic disruptions. That desperation has opened the door for widespread fraud, with total reported losses across Southeast Asia already topping $100,000, according to regional law enforcement data.

    Take 26-year-old Indonesian fan Vevee, a logistics worker who had waited more than a decade to see her favorite group perform in her home city of Jakarta. When tickets for the first Jakarta stop went on sale in June, she took the day off work, camped in front of her computer for hours waiting in the Ticketmaster queue, only to be told all seats had sold out when her turn finally arrived. After multiple failed attempts on the official platform, she turned to a ticket reseller she found on X, paying $1,200 — the equivalent of two months of her full salary — for four VIP tickets. Within hours of transferring the money, the seller had vanished without a trace.

    “Right after I sent the money, they ghosted me. It’s horrible. I am so sad and heartbroken,” Vevee told reporters. She admitted that panic had gotten the better of her: “I was about to go into a meeting at work and was so terrified that someone else would grab the tickets. I just wanted to transfer the money quickly to lock them in. If I had just taken a moment to calm down, I might have spotted the red flags.”

    Vevee’s story is far from unique across the region. In Singapore, police have recorded at least 62 complaints of BTS ticket fraud since June 1, with total losses exceeding S$68,000 ($51,000). Local e-commerce platform Carousell has even responded by implementing a full ban on ticket reselling that will remain in place through BTS’s final Singapore show in December. Malaysian authorities have received 28 formal fraud reports, with investigators currently working to trace the mule bank accounts used by scammers to launder stolen funds.

    In Thailand, 126 defrauded fans have brought their collective complaint to national lawmakers, after a prominent X account promised to secure premium seats for fans for a fee, then disappeared shortly before the official ticket sale. Juraluk Kunaruk, a 23-year-old fan who lost 25,000 baht ($760) to the scam, told reporters the account appeared entirely legitimate, boasting thousands of followers and positive reviews from other users. “They have many reviews and followers so they looked reliable. The prices were reasonable too,” she explained. Since falling victim, Juraluk has traveled repeatedly from her hometown to Bangkok to lobby parliament for action, and though MPs have promised to push for fund recovery, she has not given up on seeing the tour: “I still want to go because I don’t know when I will get another chance to see them.”

    Scammers have adapted their tactics to exploit fan loyalty, infiltrating private online fan groups to build trust before offering fake exclusive access or below-market prices. Many fraudsters even go so far as to share fake power of attorney forms to convince targets their tickets are legitimate, a ruse that has worked on even seasoned fans. In the Philippines, 30-year-old customer service worker Cookie thought she had vetted her reseller thoroughly: she checked the seller’s Facebook profile, cross-referenced their education and background, and believed she had avoided common scams. Still, within days of paying, she was blocked and left ticketless. “I feel ashamed. I didn’t even tell my family or my closest friends what happened,” she said. “I don’t want to be judged or hear them say ‘you’re dumb’. It was a desperate move since I really wanted to be there.”

    This wave of fraud connected to a massively popular high-demand tour echoes similar issues seen during Taylor Swift’s record-breaking Eras Tour, which also saw widespread ticket scalping and fraud. Fans have called on tour promoter Live Nation and its subsidiary Ticketmaster, which manages ticketing for most BTS tour dates, to implement stronger protections against scams. In response, Ticketmaster says it has ramped up anti-fraud and anti-scalping measures, deploying new AI tools to block bot activity and implementing stricter verification rules. All tickets are now linked directly to the buyer’s email address, and holders of unofficially resold tickets may be turned away at the venue gate. A company spokeswoman urged fans to only purchase tickets through official channels, noting that “the artist’s website will always be able to point fans in the right direction.”

    Despite the risks, many fans are willing to go to extraordinary lengths to secure entry. In Jakarta, some devotees have rented high-speed internet cafe computers for a full week ahead of ticket sales, and even rent premium smartphones just to improve their odds of beating the digital queue. “In Indonesia, we aren’t just fighting the ticket war,” Vevee said. “We fight to secure the best internet cafe and we even fight to rent high-end phones. It’s a war on every front.” For many long-time fans, the stakes go far beyond a single concert: “Some of us aren’t just trying to attend a concert. We’re trying to finally see the seven people we’ve been rooting for for years,” one Filipino fan wrote on social media.

    For Vevee, that fight finally had a happy ending. After her earlier scam, she tried again for tickets to the newly added third Jakarta show, which falls on BTS member V’s birthday — making it an even more sought-after date. After a failed pre-sale, she and her friends split up across the city, each trying from different locations with separate internet connections and accounts to beat the system. This time, it worked: she finally secured the tickets she had spent years waiting for. The K-pop juggernaut and its label Hybe are projected to earn nearly $2 billion from the reunion tour across ticket sales, merchandise, streaming and licensing revenue, analysts estimate, a testament to the unwavering loyalty of the Army that has turned BTS into a global cultural phenomenon.

  • Currency crash and visa crackdowns force Indian students to rethink studying abroad

    Currency crash and visa crackdowns force Indian students to rethink studying abroad

    For nearly a decade, India has held the title of the world’s largest sender of international students, with more than 1.2 million Indian students enrolled in overseas higher education institutions as of 2025. But a confluence of economic pressures, shifting immigration policies, and dimmed post-graduation job prospects is upending this long-standing trend, forcing hundreds of thousands of aspirational middle-class students to rethink their dreams of studying abroad.

    Pragati Priya, a 29-year-old content creator from Jharkhand in eastern India, spent years planning to pursue a master’s degree overseas. This September, she will finally depart for Rome to study global economic affairs, a step she hopes will unlock high-value professional opportunities across Europe. But her excitement for the adventure ahead is tempered by sharp anxiety, sparked by the Indian rupee’s steep, sustained depreciation against major global currencies including the euro.

    The plummeting rupee has pushed her required student loan balance far higher than she originally projected, leaving her questioning whether she made the right choice. “It has kept me up at night. I don’t want to burden myself with a student loan that I will never finish repaying,” Priya shared in an interview with the BBC. “I considered dropping my plans, but my parents and sister promised to support me. That’s the only reason I’m able to take this risk.”

    Priya’s dilemma is far from unique. It reflects a growing crisis across India’s middle class, where studying abroad has long been viewed as a ticket to upward social and economic mobility. Today, a weakening rupee, bleak post-graduation job outlooks in traditional study destinations like the U.S. and UK, stricter visa rules, and hardened immigration policies have combined to make the cost of an overseas degree far too high for many to bear. Unlike Priya, most aspirants do not have a family safety net to absorb the rising costs, and that shift is already showing up in official enrolment data for the popular September intake at global universities.

    Sushil Sukhwani, founder of Edwise International — one of India’s leading student placement firms that sends thousands of Indian students to overseas universities annually — says the slowdown in demand for traditional destinations is unmistakable. “We’ve already seen enrolments to the UK and US fall by 20% over the last two years, and I expect another 10-15% decline from those levels going forward,” he said.

    Tougher visa requirements have already driven significant declines: 76% of UK universities reported drops in Indian student enrolment for the 2026 January intake, while U.S. institutions saw a nearly 7% fall in Indian student enrolment between February 2025 and February 2026. The rupee’s decline has only compounded these challenges, for both new applicants and students already studying overseas. Since 2019, the rupee has depreciated between 35% and 47% against the currencies of the world’s top study destinations, including a more than 10% drop against the U.S. dollar in just the last 12 months. “Many students who are already abroad have paid part of their tuition fees, but are now having to refinance loans and arrange additional funding to cover future instalments,” Sukhwani explained.

    Beyond rising upfront costs, post-graduation prospects have dimmed dramatically for many Indian students. While a small share of graduates have secured well-paying jobs and built stable careers overseas, climbing into professional roles in trained fields has become increasingly difficult. Sudhanshu Kaushik, founder of the North America Association of Indian Students in Washington, says many graduates now end up working full-time in the gig economy just to make ends meet — a shift that was once only a temporary side gig to fund education. This reality has eroded willingness among Indian families to take on the massive risk of taking on debt for an overseas degree, particularly as the weaker rupee has pushed total costs to record highs.

    Even with these headwinds, overall demand for foreign education among Indian students remains strong. What is shifting dramatically is where students are choosing to go. Forecasts from the 2026 Global Student Flows Report predict that Indian student enrolment in the U.S., UK, Canada, and Australia — the “big four” traditional destinations — will decline by an average of 0.5% annually through 2030. At the same time, demand for alternative European destinations has surged.

    “Countries such as Germany, Ireland, Italy and several other European destinations are attracting increasing interest from Indian students because of lower tuition costs, favourable post-study work pathways, strong employment prospects and a more attractive overall value proposition,” said Mayank Maheshwari, co-founder and COO of student accommodation platform University Living. Edwise International has already shifted its operational focus to these emerging destinations to match growing student interest, and the cost advantage is a major draw for students like Priya, who chose Italy specifically because its tuition costs are roughly half of what she would have paid in the UK, while the U.S. was entirely out of reach due to longer program lengths and far higher price tags.

    For the U.S. and UK, which have built decades of global influence around their world-leading higher education sectors, this trend carries significant long-term risks. India remains one of the largest single sources of international students for both nations, even as enrolment from China has slowed in recent years. Kaushik argues that a perfect storm of overlapping factors — the depreciating rupee, post-pandemic job market weakness, AI disruption to entry-level roles, visa restrictions, and the current U.S. administration’s restrictive immigration policies — has created a lose-lose situation for all parties.

    “No one wins,” Kaushik said. “The students suffer, the universities suffer, college towns suffer and the broader economy suffers. For the U.S. especially, this trend risks undermining one of its most successful sources of influence abroad. We are retreating from the gains we made in promoting higher education as one of our most influential and profitable forms of soft power.”

  • US hopes to turn over ‘new leaf’ with Iran, but Trump threatens to resume bombing

    US hopes to turn over ‘new leaf’ with Iran, but Trump threatens to resume bombing

    A landmark round of technical negotiations between U.S. and Iranian officials got underway Sunday at Switzerland’s Burgenstock mountain resort, marking the first formal in-depth discussion between the two nations in modern history following last week’s landmark memorandum of understanding signed by Washington and Tehran. Leading the U.S. delegation, Vice President JD Vance outlined the White House’s stated goal: to turn a new page in relations between the United States and the Iranian people, extending what he called an “outstretched hand” to Tehran conditional on key concessions.

    Speaking to reporters on the opening day of talks mediated by Qatar and Pakistan, Vance said President Donald Trump has made a full reset of bilateral ties a top priority, contingent on Iran abandoning long-term nuclear ambitions and ending its role as a sponsor of regional instability. “This is a historic meeting,” Vance noted, adding that while the ongoing technical discussions would not resolve every outstanding disagreement overnight, they mark the first time both sides have sat down as collaborative negotiating teams to work through sticking points. The Iranian delegation is led by parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and army chief Asim Munir also present in Burgenstock to support mediation efforts.

    Yet even as negotiators convened for the landmark talks, Trump injected sharp tension into the process Sunday, issuing a public threat of expanded military strikes against Iran via his Truth Social platform unless Tehran halts what he described as destabilizing actions by its proxies in Lebanon. “Iran must immediately stop their highly paid PROXIES in Lebanon from causing trouble,” Trump wrote. “If they don’t, we’ll hit Iran very hard again, just like we did last week, only harder!!!”

    This threat aligned with recent escalatory moves across the region: Iran re-closed the strategic Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, a response to ongoing Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon that came just one day after a tentative ceasefire was reached between Israel and Hezbollah. The Israeli attacks that preceded the Strait closure killed at least 29 people, and Iran reiterated Sunday that it will not move forward with a broader comprehensive agreement with Washington until Israel ends all military operations in Lebanon.

    Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz doubled down on his country’s hardline position Sunday, confirming that Israeli troops operating in southern Lebanon face “no restrictions” on eliminating perceived threats, and adding that Israel has no plans to withdraw from the 10-kilometer deep security zone it currently occupies inside Lebanese territory. Katz’s remarks came alongside startling new polling data that reveals deep public anger in Israel over the outcome of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran launched in late February.

    The survey, conducted by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, found that 92% of Israeli respondents believe Iran emerged as the winner of the conflict. A full 83% of those polled said the war has weakened Israel’s long-term national security, while 86% hold a negative view of the final outcome. Nearly 73% of respondents reject Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s claim that Israel secured significant gains and eliminated an existential threat from Iran, a reflection of growing political uncertainty surrounding Netanyahu’s leadership. The poll results mirror widespread skepticism among Israel’s political and military elite, who widely view the end of the war as a turning point that could erode Israel’s regional influence.

    The talks in Switzerland have also thrown the close but increasingly strained relationship between the Trump administration and Netanyahu’s government into sharp relief. Last Friday, Vance pushed back against the common framing that criticism of the Israeli government inherently equates to antisemitism, noting that the Trump administration holds clear disagreements with Netanyahu on how the Iran war was concluded. “It’s just not the case that every criticism of Bibi Netanyahu’s policy decisions leads to antisemitism,” Vance said. He added that Israel is a valuable U.S. partner, similar to the United Kingdom or France, but that does not require aligned interests on every issue.

    Vance’s comments followed a stark warning he issued just one day earlier, when he argued that Trump is the only major global leader that remains openly sympathetic to Israel, urging Netanyahu’s government to avoid attacking its last powerful ally. “If I was in the cabinet of the Israeli government, I might not be attacking the only powerful ally that I have anywhere left in the entire world,” Vance told reporters Thursday.

  • Ninety-two percent of Israelis think Iran has won war, new poll finds

    Ninety-two percent of Israelis think Iran has won war, new poll finds

    When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched the US-backed Israeli military campaign against Iran in late February, the Israeli government laid out two unambiguous, ambitious goals: dismantle Tehran’s nuclear and ballistic missile development programs and bring about the collapse of the ruling Iranian government. Months later, after Washington and Tehran reached a preliminary agreement and ongoing negotiations continue in Switzerland, a newly released public opinion survey has found that an overwhelming 92 percent of Israeli citizens are convinced that Iran emerged as the winner of the conflict.

    Conducted jointly by the Agam Institute and Hebrew University of Jerusalem between June 17 and June 20, the poll surveyed 3,644 Israeli adults aged 17 and older, using a demographically weighted sample designed to accurately reflect the country’s overall population. Pollsters noted the survey carries a maximum margin of error of 2.2 percentage points at a 99 percent confidence level, lending significant statistical weight to its findings.

    The results reveal deep public dissatisfaction with the war and its negotiated outcome: 83 percent of respondents agree the campaign has eroded Israel’s long-term national security, while 86 percent hold an entirely negative view of the final deal. This widespread public sentiment aligns closely with the perspective of Israel’s top political and military leadership, many of whom frame the end of the Iran war as a pivotal shift that will diminish Israel’s strategic influence across the Middle East.

    Netanyahu has repeatedly claimed the campaign delivered significant strategic gains and eliminated a major existential threat to Israel, but three-quarters of Israelis – 72.5 percent – do not accept this assertion. The widespread skepticism has fueled growing political uncertainty around the prime minister’s hold on power. Overall, nearly 88 percent of respondents say Israel failed to achieve either of its core original war goals, or only met a small fraction of them. More than half – 56 percent – rate Netanyahu’s leadership and management of the Iran conflict as poor or an outright failure.

    Notably, the public’s negative assessment of the Iran war outcome has not translated to broad support for an Israeli military withdrawal from southern Lebanon, a longstanding sticking point in the US-Iran negotiations. Iran has consistently maintained that no permanent ceasefire can hold as long as Israeli forces carry out airstrikes across Lebanon and maintain a forward military presence several kilometers inside southern Lebanese territory.

    The poll found that 48 percent of Israelis back the ongoing Israeli military campaign in Lebanon, which the Israeli government frames as a targeted operation against Hezbollah, the Iran-aligned Lebanese political and military organization. Even among respondents who acknowledge the campaign could spark a direct clash with US President Donald Trump, majority support for the operation holds steady among this group.

    This independent reporting is part of Middle East Eye’s ongoing coverage of conflict and politics across the Middle East and North Africa region.

  • ‘Systemic discrimination’: Veiled women in France face mounting barriers to employment

    ‘Systemic discrimination’: Veiled women in France face mounting barriers to employment

    Across professional sectors in France, a pressing question lingers: do education, professional status and institutional integration shield veiled Muslim women from rising Islamophobia? For Paris Court of Appeal lawyer Slim Ben Achour, a leading expert in equality and anti-discrimination law, the answer is a firm no. Ben Achour, who has represented dozens of Muslim women targeted for workplace discrimination over their headscarves, argues that higher education and greater public visibility actually make educated, professional veiled women more vulnerable to racist targeting.

  • West Indies get past Sri Lanka to set up unbeaten T20 World Cup clash with England

    West Indies get past Sri Lanka to set up unbeaten T20 World Cup clash with England

    BRISTOL, England — The ICC Women’s Twenty20 World Cup is gearing up for one of its most anticipated group stage matches after the West Indies secured a hard-fought five-wicket victory over Sri Lanka on Sunday. The win keeps the Caribbean side’s perfect record intact, setting up a high-stakes showdown with fellow unbeaten team England at Lord’s this coming Wednesday.

    The game got off to a dominant start for West Indies after captain Hayley Matthews won the pre-match toss and opted to bowl first on a turn-friendly pitch ideal for spin bowlers. Matthews made the decision pay off almost immediately, claiming the wickets of both Sri Lankan openers and top-order batter Harshitha Samarawickrama in just her opening two overs. By the end of the mandatory powerplay, Sri Lanka was in deep trouble at 23 runs for the loss of four wickets, with Matthews finishing her spell with impressive figures of 3 wickets for just 15 runs. In total, six different West Indies bowlers registered wickets throughout the innings, showcasing the depth of the side’s bowling attack.

    Nilakshika Silva put up a valiant resistance for Sri Lanka, top-scoring for her team with 30 runs. But once Silva departed, the Sri Lankan lower order collapsed: the team went six consecutive overs without hitting a single boundary, and added three more wickets to the scoreboard via two run outs and a stumping. Sri Lanka was eventually bowled out all out for just 98 runs, a total that quickly looked under par even early in the West Indies chase.

    Despite the solid start with the ball, West Indies made the chase far harder than necessary, stumbling through the middle overs to put their undefeated record at risk. In the very first over of West Indies’ innings, a misfield let batter Deandra Dottin survive when she should have been run out. Captain Matthews was eventually run out for 17, and Dottin followed shortly after for 12, leaving the Caribbean side at 36 runs for 2 wickets at the end of the powerplay. By the 12th over, West Indies had slipped further to 70 runs for 5 wickets, leaving the door open for a major Sri Lankan upset.

    That upset never materialized, thanks to a steady, match-winning innings from experienced all-rounder Stafanie Taylor. Taylor remained unbeaten on 27 runs to guide the West Indies across the finish line in the 17th over, with the winning run coming after Sri Lanka spilled a catch at midwicket.

    Sri Lanka’s unforced errors ultimately cost the side any chance of an upset. Costly mistakes including wayward bowling that delivered 23 extra runs, multiple dropped catches, sloppy wicket-keeping and inaccurate in-field relays, left the team with far too many concessions. The 23 extras ended up as the second-highest individual score on the West Indies team scorecard, a statistic that underscores just how much Sri Lanka’s errors undermined their own performance.

    With the win, both West Indies and England advance to Wednesday’s clash at the iconic Lord’s Cricket Ground holding a perfect 3-win, 0-loss record in group play. In the final match of Sunday’s World Cup slate, South Africa and India faced off in a late game at Manchester, with the result still pending as of this update.

    Reporting by the Associated Press.