Global Pulse

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  • NASA launches Roman telescope on cosmic mapping mission

    NASA launches Roman telescope on cosmic mapping mission

    In a landmark moment for space exploration, NASA launched its next-generation flagship observatory, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, on Sunday from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Lifting off aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket at 7:26 a.m. local time (1126 GMT), the 12-meter-tall telescope begins a multi-year mission to construct the most comprehensive map of the cosmos ever created and tackle long-standing unsolved questions in fundamental physics.

    The $4 billion project, more than a decade in development, honors Nancy Grace Roman, a pioneering American astronomer widely known as the “Mother of Hubble” for her foundational work on NASA’s iconic Hubble Space Telescope. Speaking at a pre-launch ceremony at NASA’s Houston headquarters Friday, former President Donald Trump emphasized the telescope’s transformative potential, noting it will open new windows into understanding the universe’s deepest secrets.

    Unlike existing space observatories, Roman boasts a revolutionary field of view more than 100 times larger than Hubble’s, and far wider than that of the James Webb Space Telescope. Positioned at a vantage point 1.5 million kilometers from Earth — a journey that will take roughly 100 days to complete — the telescope will work in tandem with other leading observatories, including Webb, to advance multiple branches of astronomical research.

    Among its core science goals, Roman is tasked with discovering thousands of exoplanets outside our solar system and cataloging tens of thousands of supernovae, the violent death throes of massive stars. “It will be the biggest catalog of astronomical objects anybody’s ever produced, and it will help us understand how common solar systems like our own are,” Dave Content, Roman’s technical manager, told Agence France-Presse.

    The mission’s highest-profile objective is unpacking the nature of dark matter and dark energy, two invisible phenomena that together account for roughly 95 percent of the entire universe. While dark matter is hypothesized to act as an invisible gravitational glue holding galaxies together, dark energy is the repulsive force driving the accelerating expansion of the universe. Equipped with advanced infrared capabilities, Roman can detect light that originated from celestial objects billions of years ago, effectively allowing astronomers to peer back into the universe’s earliest history and trace the evolution of these mysterious forces.

    Roman’s data will also complement ongoing work by the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile and the European Space Agency’s Euclid probe, and scientists say the mission could upend long-held models of cosmic evolution. Senior project scientist Julie McEnery noted that recent astronomical observations have cast doubt on the standard cosmological model that underpins modern understanding of the universe’s early expansion. “Recent observations hint that our standard model of the universe is incorrect,” she told reporters Saturday ahead of launch. “Roman will definitively say, ‘Yeah, the model works, or it doesn’t.’ And if it doesn’t, it’s going to provide us with the precision and quality of data that will allow us to start to distinguish between those options.”

    All data collected by Roman will be made publicly available to scientists and casual enthusiasts worldwide, though the scale of data collection presents unique logistical challenges. The telescope will generate roughly 1.3 terabytes of new data every day, a volume too large for most personal computing devices to store or process. For McEnery, however, the massive dataset is part of the mission’s greatest promise. “I very much hope, and in fact expect, that the most exciting science from Roman will be a surprise, something we couldn’t predict, and that will set the stage for the next deeper set of questions for future missions to address,” she said.

  • Norway’s churches hold services to late King Harald

    Norway’s churches hold services to late King Harald

    Two days after the passing of former King Harald V of Norway, the Scandinavian nation came together Sunday to honor the late monarch, with memorial services held in churches across the country, led by newly ascended King Haakon VIII.

    As Haakon, 53, arrived alongside the extended royal family for the primary service at Asker parish church, located just south of the capital Oslo, hundreds of ordinary Norwegians gathered along the route to catch a glimpse of the new king and pay their respects to his father. Outside Oslo Cathedral, where government officials gathered for a separate commemoration, crowds began forming before sunrise, with many waiting hours for a chance to secure a seat inside to join the national mourning.

    Many attendees shared that showing up to honor Harald felt like a natural act of community grief. “I’ve been deeply affected by the fact that King Harald has died. I felt a desire to be part of the community and to share the grief over his passing,” Aud Ragnhild Skar, a lecturer at the University of Oslo, told Agence France-Presse while waiting in line. Fellow mourner Sissel Engedal, a nurse, echoed that sentiment, describing the late monarch as “a very significant and important and beloved king.”

    A national period of mourning has been formally declared across Norway, though no official date for Harald’s state funeral has been announced to the public. Next week, Haakon will take the formal oath of allegiance to the Norwegian constitution before the national parliament, marking the official completion of the royal succession. Unlike historical European coronation rituals, Norway abolished formal coronation ceremonies for monarchs in 1908, so Haakon and his wife Queen Mette-Marit will not hold a crowning. Still, following the tradition set by his father and grandfather, Haakon is expected to hold a optional consecration service at Trondheim Cathedral, the historic site of Norwegian royal coronations between 1814 and 1906.

    Across his 35-year reign, Harald earned widespread public affection and respect, widely viewed as the living embodiment of Norway’s values of openness, tolerance, and modest governance. He was widely praised for steering the Norwegian monarchy toward a modern, approachable model that aligned with the nation’s egalitarian culture. Even amid a series of high-profile scandals that hit the royal family in the final years of his reign, Harald retained broad public support.

    In his first public address as king, broadcast Saturday, Haakon paid tribute to his father’s legacy. “Above all, you were a person who remained committed to your values and dedicated to your duties,” Haakon said. The new monarch added that he had been “deeply moved” by the outpouring of public grief, noting that “it gives us consolation and strength to know that there are so many who are grieving with us” as the royal family processes the loss.

    Harald had been hospitalized in Oslo since August 17, receiving treatment for haemolytic anaemia, a blood disorder that causes the premature breakdown of red blood cells and leads to chronic fatigue and breathing difficulties. The late king, 89, had faced a series of declining health issues in his final years, which forced him to gradually reduce his official public duties and engagements.

    The past 12 months have been marked by significant turmoil for the entire Norwegian royal household, beyond Harald’s declining health. Queen Sonja, Harald’s wife, also 89, was briefly admitted to a hospital for heart-related care in May. New Queen Mette-Marit has faced ongoing public scrutiny over her past connections to disgraced deceased American sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. In June, Marius Borg Hoiby, Mette-Marit’s son from a previous relationship, was sentenced to four years in prison on two counts of rape, a conviction he is currently appealing. Mette-Marit, who lives with a chronic serious lung disease, underwent a life-saving lung transplant just one month after the verdict in July.

  • Manhunt in Switzerland after fatal rave shooting

    Manhunt in Switzerland after fatal rave shooting

    A massive manhunt is ongoing across northern Switzerland Sunday after a gunman or group of gunmen opened fire on a large annual techno rave early Saturday morning, leaving one 22-year-old woman dead and five other young people wounded, Swiss law enforcement officials have confirmed.

    The attack unfolded shortly before 3 a.m. local time at the Aarauer Rave, a yearly electronic music event hosted at the Aarau racetrack roughly 50 kilometers outside Zurich. The event drew approximately 3,500 attendees between Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning, turning the normally quiet racecourse into a crowded celebration before the gunfire erupted.

    Witnesses initially mistook the sounds of gunfire for fireworks, before multiple attendees realized the danger and began fleeing for cover. Many partygoers took shelter in a nearby gymnasium to wait out the violence, with video posted to social media by local residents showing empty, locked-down streets near the event site, with repeated bursts of gunfire audible in the background.

    Local police confirmed in a post to X that the 22-year-old female victim died of her injuries at the scene. The five other wounded people — four men and one woman between the ages of 24 and 27 — were transported to area hospitals, with injuries ranging from minor to life-threatening. All victims are Swiss residents, authorities confirmed.

    In the hours following the shooting, Swiss authorities launched a large-scale multi-agency response to locate the perpetrator or perpetrators. Armed police units were deployed along highways up to 30 kilometers from the attack site, an army helicopter was brought in to assist with the search over Aargau, the cantonal capital, and hundreds of police officers, rescue workers and medical personnel were dispatched to the area. Authorities have cordoned off the entire attack site to preserve evidence while the investigation proceeds, and have urged local residents to avoid the region. Police have also asked any attendees who captured photos or video of the incident to share the material with investigators to help advance the case.

    As of Sunday afternoon, the identity of the attacker or attackers remains unknown, and law enforcement has not released details on how many suspects are being sought or what type of firearm was used in the attack. Authorities have also stated that no potential motive for the shooting has been confirmed, and that the full circumstances of the incident are still under active investigation.

    The shooting marks a rare outbreak of deadly gun violence in Switzerland, a country with a long cultural tradition of widespread civilian gun ownership tied to its military reserve system. Under current Swiss law, army reservists are permitted to keep their service weapons at home, though they are required to store ammunition separately at government facilities. Unlike many European nations, Switzerland does not maintain a national public register of firearms, making it difficult to track the total number of civilian-held weapons. A 2017 study from the Geneva-based Small Arms Survey estimated that Swiss civilians held more than 2.3 million firearms, equal to roughly three guns for every 10 residents, ranking the country 16th globally in per capita gun ownership.

    The last high-profile mass shooting in Switzerland occurred more than two decades ago in 2001, when a lone gunman killed 14 members of the cantonal parliament and local government in Zug, a city near Lucerne, before dying by suicide.

  • The missing in Nepal-Tibet flash floods

    The missing in Nepal-Tibet flash floods

    ### Over 3,000 Unaccounted For, 750 Killed in Catastrophic Cross-Border Flash Floods
    Deadly flash floods and massive landslides that tore through the Nepal-Tibet border region have left a staggering humanitarian toll, with updated official counts from Sunday putting the number of missing at more than 3,000 and confirmed fatalities at 750. Disaster response officials warn these numbers are almost certain to shift amid the widespread chaos and ongoing search operations that follow large-scale natural disasters, a common dynamic in the immediate aftermath of such events.

    As of the latest update, Nepal’s national disaster management agency has raised the count of missing people on its side of the border to 2,498, with 734 confirmed deaths recorded in the country. Across the border in Tibet, China’s state broadcaster CCTV reported Sunday that 546 people remain unaccounted for, with 16 additional confirmed deaths. Combined, the total number of missing people across the two regions stands at 3,044.

    A striking feature of this disaster is the large number of foreign nationals among the missing. Nepal’s disaster agency confirmed Sunday that 589 foreigners are unaccounted for on Nepali territory, an increase from the 517 reported just two days prior, though officials have not yet released a detailed breakdown by nationality. Chinese officials also reported Sunday that at least 261 foreign nationals are missing on the Tibetan side of the border.

    In neighboring India, authorities have recovered seven bodies from cross-border rivers originating in Nepal that authorities believe are flood victims, though these remains have not yet been added to the official disaster toll.

    #### Breakdown by Region and Nationality
    On Nepali soil, disaster officials count 1,909 local citizens among the missing, with the hardest-hit district of Rasuwa accounting for 562 unaccounted for residents. Critical infrastructure workers make up a large share of the missing Nepali nationals: 933 employees working on hydropower development projects, 45 Nepali Army soldiers, 40 police and armed police officers, and 19 customs and immigration officials are still missing. CCTV also reports that 104 Nepali nationals are unaccounted for in Tibet.

    For Chinese nationals, China’s foreign ministry confirmed Thursday that nearly 100 are missing in Nepal, while the Nepal Tourism Board records eight Chinese citizens unaccounted for on Nepali territory, with 18 others already rescued.

    Multiple countries have confirmed large numbers of their citizens missing in the disaster. India’s foreign ministry reported Saturday that 275 Indian citizens are missing in Nepal, with an additional 128 people of Indian origin also unaccounted for. Notably, around 900 other Indian nationals on the Tibetan side of the border have been confirmed safe and reachable. Chinese state media reports that 49 Indian nationals are missing in Tibet.

    The United States State Department confirmed Thursday that 90 U.S. citizens are missing, with three already rescued, and no confirmed U.S. fatalities reported to date. That figure differs from the Nepal Tourism Board’s Friday count of 65 missing U.S. citizens in Nepal with two rescued. Chinese state media adds that 18 U.S. citizens are missing in Tibet.

    Ukraine’s embassy in Nepal revised its count of missing citizens upward to 62 on Friday, matching the Nepal Tourism Board’s count of 61 missing in Nepal, with one additional Ukrainian national missing in Tibet, per CCTV.

    Other countries with citizens missing include Malaysia, with 51 missing in Nepal and three in Tibet; Australia, with 42 total missing as of Sunday; the United Kingdom, with 33 missing in Nepal and 15 in Tibet; Latvia, with 29 missing in Nepal and 33 in Tibet; and Canada, where the foreign ministry counts 30 total missing across Nepal and Tibet, compared to the Nepal Tourism Board’s 25 missing in Nepal, with six additional missing in Tibet.

    Smaller numbers of missing citizens from more than 20 other countries have also been reported, including South Korea, Singapore, Germany, Russia, South Africa, Japan, New Zealand, France, Spain, Belgium, Hungary, Portugal, the Netherlands, Italy, Ireland, Kazakhstan, Finland, Israel, Lithuania, the Philippines, Serbia, Switzerland, Sweden, Vietnam, and Estonia, with counts varying slightly between Nepali and Chinese official sources as of Sunday’s updates.

    As search and rescue operations continue across the rugged border region, candlelight vigils have already been held for victims, including an event in Kathmandu on August 29 that was attended by Nepali scouts and community members mourning those lost to the disaster.

  • Rescuers dig into tunnel as missing toll from Nepal, China flood over 3,000

    Rescuers dig into tunnel as missing toll from Nepal, China flood over 3,000

    Rescue teams across Nepal and southern Tibet continued their life-or-death search operation Sunday, struggling through thick, sticky mud and the ever-present threat of new flood surges to locate victims of a catastrophic flash flood triggered by a glacial collapse that swallowed entire Himalayan villages earlier last week.

    The latest joint death toll from both countries stands at 750 confirmed fatalities, with 3,044 people still unaccounted for as of Sunday. Reports indicate that some bodies may have been carried downstream by the powerful torrent as far as northern India, where local officials have already recovered seven bodies believed to be flood victims from transboundary rivers.

    The disaster struck the remote China-Nepal border on Wednesday morning, when a massive glacial fracture sent a 10-story-high wall of mixed water, ice, and rock debris rushing downstream through mountain valleys, the U.S. Geological Survey confirmed. China’s official state news agency Xinhua clarified that the collapse originated on the southern slope of Nepal’s Lirung Peak, triggering an ice-rock avalanche that quickly morphed into a massive debris flow. The destructive surge traveled more than 20 kilometers before slamming into Gyirong Port, a key border crossing between China and Nepal, devastating communities and energy infrastructure along its path.

    In Nepal, one of the most high-stakes rescue efforts is underway at the Trishuli 3A hydroelectric project, where multiple workers are believed to be trapped inside an under-construction tunnel. After days of digging, engineering teams managed to insert a pipe into the blocked passage, and rescuers have already begun pumping oxygen to potential survivors, Nepal’s Home Minister Sudan Gurung announced in an official statement. However, ongoing rainfall and swelling river levels have slowed progress, with national disaster authorities ordering all rescue teams to prioritize safety amid unstable conditions.

    The region is a hub for large-scale hydropower development, and 933 of the missing in Nepal are workers at various energy infrastructure projects, according to official records. Among the unaccounted for are 589 foreign nationals, including trekkers and Hindu pilgrims traveling to Tibet’s sacred Mount Kailash. The Isha Foundation, an Indian spiritual organization led by guru Sadhguru, confirmed Saturday that 80 of its members were on a group trip in the affected area, and the organization said there were no hopeful signs of survival for the group near the border immigration checkpoint.

    For survivors who escaped the initial flood, the aftermath has been devastating, with many left homeless and waiting anxiously for news of missing loved ones. “All the settlements near the river were swept away. There is nothing left,” said Buddhi Ram Dangol, a resident of Nepal’s Nuwakot district, speaking to AFP. At an army-run rescue coordination hub in Bidur, dozens of relatives gathered outside a base wall covered in lists of rescued survivors, scanning the pages for any trace of their family members. “I have come here looking for my son,” said Kalka Sharda, her voice thick with desperation.

    The disaster has also sparked a global humanitarian response, with multiple countries and international organizations stepping forward to provide emergency aid. The U.S. and Canada have each committed $3.6 million in assistance to Nepal, while the UK has pledged $6.8 million. The UN has released $2.5 million in emergency funding, and the European Union promised $2.3 million Friday. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) has allocated more than $1 million for immediate response and launched a global emergency appeal for $31 million to support long-term relief efforts.

    Nepal’s already fragile economy, which has been under significant pressure in recent years, lacks the resources to handle a disaster of this scale. Nepali Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal estimated that the total reconstruction cost could reach “billions of dollars,” and he has made an urgent appeal for specialized international support. Key needs include heavy-lift drones and location technology to find trapped survivors, forensic testing kits to identify recovered bodies, and freezer units to store remains, as bodies submerged in warm river water decompose at an accelerated rate.

    One ongoing secondary risk has complicated rescue operations on both sides of the border: the flood created massive natural dams of debris that formed new unstable lakes, one of which threatened to burst and trigger a second catastrophic flood. In Tibet’s hardest-hit Gyirong County, Chinese authorities temporarily paused rescue operations over the weekend due to this risk. But late Saturday, China’s state broadcaster CCTV reported that the lake had begun draining naturally and had been “essentially drained,” according to the country’s Ministry of Water Resources. More than 2,100 rescuers have been deployed to the Gyirong area, including over 500 working in the most devastated zones, Xinhua reported, and authorities have already evacuated 555 stranded tourists and 499 Chinese residents from affected areas.

    As of Sunday, official data from Nepal puts the national death toll at 734, with 2,498 people still missing. Across the border in Tibet, 16 people have been confirmed dead and 546 remain unaccounted for, per Chinese official reports.

    UN climate chief Simon Stiell called the disaster a devastating wake-up call for the international community. “The sudden glacial collapse and flash flood is a devastating reminder of how fragile these mountain environments can be,” he said in a statement, highlighting the growing risk of glacial disasters driven by global climate change in Himalayan regions.

    Officials from both China and Nepal confirmed that the two countries’ foreign ministers held a telephone conversation Saturday to coordinate response efforts, agreeing to share real-time satellite imagery and hydrological data to monitor ongoing flood risks and support rescue operations.

  • Educators keep 9/11 memory alive for next generation, 25 years on

    Educators keep 9/11 memory alive for next generation, 25 years on

    A quarter-century has passed since the catastrophic September 11, 2001 attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people across New York, Washington D.C., and Pennsylvania, but a growing network of educators, volunteer groups, and charitable organizations are racing to preserve the legacy of the tragedy for a generation of American young people born long after the planes struck. Today’s teenagers and younger children have no personal memory of the deadliest attack on U.S. soil, and systemic gaps in national education standards have left many of them with incomplete or fragmented knowledge of the day that reshaped modern U.S. history.

    Unlike core historical events that are embedded in standardized national curricula, there is no federally mandated framework for teaching 9/11 across the United States. Only a small number of U.S. states require 9/11 education, resulting in an uneven patchwork of instruction that varies widely from district to district. To close this gap, independent volunteers, frontline teachers, and nonprofits have stepped forward to lead targeted educational initiatives that bring the tragedy to life far beyond textbook pages.

    One of the most prominent efforts is centered at Wantagh High School, a Long Island institution whose local community lost 12 residents in the 2001 attacks. For years, school leaders noted that students learned about 9/11 the same way they studied World War II or the 1941 Pearl Harbor attack: as a distant historical event that occurred before their lifetimes. Wantagh High Principal Paul Guzzone explains that classroom lectures and online videos can never match the impact of a first-hand visit to the site where the Twin Towers once stood. “You can’t compare the experience of visiting the site with just hearing stories in the classroom or seeing videos online,” the 41-year-old principal said.

    That hands-on impact resonated deeply with 17-year-old Max Avena, who visited the National 9/11 Memorial and Museum on a school trip organized through the initiative. Though Avena grew up hearing stories from close family friends who served as first responders during the attack, he said the on-site visit left him speechless and fundamentally changed his understanding of the tragedy. “You never really realize how real it is, and how the feeling is, until you’re on site in the memorial,” he told reporters.

    To cover the cost of annual student trips to the downtown Manhattan memorial, the Gary Sinise Foundation — a charitable organization best known for its work supporting veterans and first responders — stepped in to fund the visits, later expanding its support to include on-campus memorial projects and expanded educational programming. The foundation already ran a well-regarded World War II education initiative that brought Wantagh students to a New Orleans museum, so expanding to 9/11 education was a natural next step.

    James Ravella, the foundation’s executive vice president, noted that even many new teachers graduating from U.S. colleges today have no personal memory of the 9/11 attacks, making structured outside support even more critical. “It just kind of makes it important that we tell this story and educate as many people as we can, while we can, and while [survivors and first responders] are here,” Ravella said. Guzzone echoed this concern, adding that first-hand, lived memory of the attacks fades a little more each year. Beyond its Wantagh partnership, the foundation now runs professional development programs for teachers in collaboration with the National 9/11 Memorial and Museum, and organizes student trips to both the Pentagon attack site and the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where passengers and crew overtook hijackers en route to the U.S. Capitol, crashing the plane and killing all on board.

    For younger elementary school students, organizers have developed age-appropriate digital educational resources to introduce core concepts of the tragedy, sacrifice, and memory. One example is “OOPA’s World of Words,” an online video series created in partnership with the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF) that teaches basic vocabulary tied to 9/11 — including words like “anniversary,” “emergency,” “hero,” “memory,” and “service” — to children as young as five. The five-part series features first-hand accounts from people touched by the attacks, including an 11-year-old girl whose grandfather was a first responder at the Pentagon.

    Series creator Rupa Mehta, a teacher who plays the titular character OOPA, said she was inspired to launch the project after seeing a young child interviewed on the news on a 9/11 anniversary. The girl expressed deep sadness that her school did not teach about the attacks, saying she felt her family’s legacy of sacrifice had been ignored. “It was in that moment… I thought that we could lend a hand and be a powerful potential partner,” Mehta said. NFFF chief executive Victor Stagnaro noted that the digital resource will remain accessible “for generations to come,” allowing 9/11 first responders to share their stories with their grandchildren while they are still able to do so.

  • Netanyahu condemns settler attack in flashpoint West Bank village

    Netanyahu condemns settler attack in flashpoint West Bank village

    Nearly three weeks of simmering unrest in the northern occupied West Bank boiled over on Saturday, when dozens of Israeli settlers launched a coordinated attack on the Palestinian village of Qusra, prompting an unusual public rebuke from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

    Tensions in the area first flared in early August, when a cohort of settlers blocked vital supply routes to Palestinian homes on Qusra’s outskirts, near the city of Nablus, trapping local residents inside their properties. The blockade already drew unusually sharp public criticism from the United States’ ambassador to Israel, yet weeks later, Israeli military operations continue in the region, and settlers still freely roam the surrounding hilltops.

    On Saturday, both Qusra residents and Israeli military officials confirmed that dozens of settlers advanced into the village, hurling stones at local residents before barricading themselves inside a residential building that still had Palestinians trapped inside. According to Wafa, the official Palestinian news agency, a second attack unfolded in the nearby village of Jalud, where settlers targeted a Palestinian family and a group of foreign journalists accompanying the household.

    In an official statement released following the incidents, Netanyahu said: “I strongly condemn the criminal acts of violence committed in the villages of Qusra and Jalud by a handful of rioters who are violating the law, causing a grave injustice to the law-abiding Jewish community, interfering with the IDF in carrying out its missions, and harming Israel’s standing in the world.”

    Qusra resident Yussef Abdul Kareem Hassan told AFP that the confrontation began when a small group of settlers approached a handful of local villagers who were carrying out renovation work on a local home Saturday morning. The initial group of settlers called for reinforcements, and dozens more arrivals quickly surrounded the home, trapping the Palestinians inside and launching a barrage of stone throwing, Hassan explained.

    AFP on-site footage captured Saturday shows hundreds of Israeli security forces deployed across Qusra to contain the unrest. The Israeli military confirmed in a statement that soldiers and border police units were dispatched to the village “following reports that Israeli rioters had arrived in the area and that violent clashes had occurred, including stone-hurling toward Palestinians and additional civilians.”

    “Upon their arrival, the security forces identified dozens of rioters who had barricaded themselves inside a Palestinian home while Palestinian residents were inside,” the military statement added, noting that officials were “aware of reports of Palestinian injuries” from the attack. Security forces worked to evict the settlers from the occupied home, separate the two opposing groups, and seize vehicles suspected of being used to transport settlers to the village, the military said. These vehicles will be held as evidence for an open police investigation into the violence, and forces remain deployed in the area “to prevent further disturbances and restore order.” The statement closed with the military’s official line that it “strongly condemns all forms of violence.”

    Settler violence against Palestinian communities in the West Bank has been a persistent issue for decades, with perpetrators rarely facing meaningful legal consequences, but regional observers have recorded a dramatic surge in these attacks in recent months. Today, more than 500,000 Israeli settlers reside in settlements across the West Bank, settlements that are universally recognized as illegal under international law, alongside a local Palestinian population of approximately three million. Israel has maintained military occupation of the West Bank since the 1967 Six-Day War.

    An AFP tally compiled from data provided by the Palestinian Ministry of Health shows that since the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023, Israeli forces and settlers have killed at least 1,103 Palestinians in the West Bank, a count that includes both combatants and civilian non-combatants. Over the same period, Israeli official data records that at least 48 Israelis, including civilians and security personnel, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations in the region.

  • Australia usually hosts the world’s biggest cuttlefish mating event – not this year

    Australia usually hosts the world’s biggest cuttlefish mating event – not this year

    Each winter, a narrow stretch of South Australia’s iconic Cuttlefish Coast becomes the global stage for the world’s largest aggregation of breeding Australian giant cuttlefish, a one-of-a-kind marine species found nowhere else on Earth. In abundant years, hundreds of thousands of these color-changing, shape-shifting cephalopods gather in the area’s shallow coastal waters to mate, drawing thousands of enthusiastic recreational and scientific divers eager to witness the spectacular natural event. This year, however, that yearly gathering has hit an unprecedented historical low, triggering urgent warnings of a potential catastrophic collapse of the local population.

    Official population data published this month puts the total number of breeding cuttlefish at just 1,811, marking a staggering 97% drop from the 63,000 counted during last year’s mating season. State environmental officials point to a persistent toxic algal bloom that has ravaged South Australia’s coastline for more than 18 months as the most likely driver of this sharp decline. The plummeting numbers have also reignited calls for the species to be formally listed as endangered under Australian conservation legislation.

    Unlike many marine species, adult giant cuttlefish have an extremely short lifespan of just 12 to 18 months, and die immediately after breeding. This means every annual mating season is make-or-break for the next generation of the population. This year, survey teams only counted 440 cuttlefish eggs across the entire breeding grounds, a stark contrast to the millions of eggs that are typically laid during a healthy season.

    Manny Katz, a 28-year-old diver commissioned by South Australia’s Department of Environment and Water (DEW) to conduct the underwater egg survey, explained the urgency of the work. “Because there have been so few cuttlefish, DEW thought it would be worth going out and trying to do an assessment of how many eggs there currently are around the coastline to understand what the population is going to be next year,” he said. Over two days in July, Katz and three other divers completed eight hour-long dives, combing the undersides of rocky reefs across 8 kilometers of coastline to count every egg. “Along the eight kilometers of coastline, there would normally be millions of eggs, because each female can lay dozens of eggs and tens of thousands usually turn up to breed,” Katz noted. “We pretty much looked under every single rock that we could have and we only found about 440 eggs.”

    With the species’ one-year lifespan, the outcome of this breeding season will directly determine the size of next year’s population, leaving the future of the aggregation uncertain. “Under our current circumstances, with there being so few eggs along the coastline, we don’t know if the population is ever going to be able to recover,” Katz said. While it will take 12 to 24 months to confirm the long-term impact of this year’s low numbers, Katz said the result aligns with expectations, given the ongoing damage from the toxic algal bloom first detected in South Australian waters in March 2024.

    During his survey, Katz also observed unusual behavior in the small number of adult cuttlefish his team encountered. Where tens of thousands would normally be visible, the team spotted only around a dozen individuals, all of which were far more skittish than usual, spending most of their time hiding under rocks. “Because there’s so few cuttlefish hanging out at the moment, they don’t have strength in numbers,” he explained.

    While toxic algal blooms are a naturally occurring phenomenon, the current prolonged event is driven by a combination of ocean warming, marine heatwaves, and nutrient runoff, all of which are being amplified by human-caused climate change. For conservation advocates, the plummeting cuttlefish numbers are a warning sign of broader systemic damage to Australia’s coastal marine ecosystems. “Our marine habitats have been getting wiped out for the past year and a half now… this is an indicator that our marine ecosystems are in real big trouble – the canary in the coal mine, so to speak,” Katz said.

    Last year’s breeding season was largely unaffected, as the algal bloom had not yet reached Cuttlefish Coast by winter 2024, but low concentrations of the toxic algae have been recorded in the area since late last year. Cuttlefish, along with other cephalopods including octopus and squid, are uniquely sensitive to the toxins produced by the bloom, making the spread especially concerning for the species.

    Stefan Andrews, co-founder of the Great Southern Reef Foundation, has formally called for the Australian giant cuttlefish to be listed as a threatened species in response to what his organization describes as a catastrophic decline. Andrews acknowledges that while the algal bloom is the most plausible explanation for the collapse, current data does not yet confirm it is the sole cause. Even so, he warned that the lack of breeding activity this year will almost certainly lead to a very small cohort of young cuttlefish entering the population next year. “That will make the next breeding season especially challenging,” he said.

    In response to the findings, a spokesperson for South Australia’s Department of Primary Industries and Regions noted that giant cuttlefish populations have naturally fluctuated significantly in response to changing environmental conditions in the past. Previous surveys have recorded population lows of 13,500 in 2013, and highs of 247,000 just seven years later in 2020. “The cuttlefish population estimate rebounded to more than 100,000 just two years following the low numbers in 2013,” the spokesperson said. “While it appears likely the algal bloom has impacted cuttlefish numbers, researchers are working to determine whether this contributed to the reduced population or was just one of the potential impacts.”

    Professor Mike Steer, executive director of the South Australian Research and Development Institute, which assisted with the 2025 underwater surveys, called the unprecedented low count “disheartening.” But he echoed the government’s cautious optimism, pointing to the species’ history of rapid recovery when environmental conditions improve. “We know from the past that this population has the capacity to recover when conditions are favourable,” Steer said, adding that there are early positive signs: adult cuttlefish are still successfully laying eggs, meaning the population could rebound over the next several years if conditions improve.

  • Munoz saves Iraola in Liverpool draw, Hull extend dream start

    Munoz saves Iraola in Liverpool draw, Hull extend dream start

    The new English Premier League matchweek delivered a series of dramatic twists and standout results on Saturday, headlined by a last-gasp equalizer that spared Andoni Iraola a first defeat in his maiden home game as Liverpool manager. Spanish coach Iraola, who took over the Anfield hotseat in the close-season after the club sacked Arne Slot, looked set for a disappointing opening at his new ground’s first competitive match, as Nottingham Forest twice took the lead to keep their impressive recent Anfield streak alive.

    Nottingham Forest’s Dan Ndoye opened the scoring for the visitors, and after Liverpool found an equalizer, Morgan Gibbs-White converted a penalty to put Forest back in front. Alexander Isak responded to level the scoreline for the Reds once again in the second half, but it was 19-year-old winger Victor Munoz who snatched a late, deflected effort to lock in a 2-2 draw – marking the second time in two matches that Iraola has rescued a point from a drawn fixture, after an identical 2-2 result away to Newcastle United on his debut last weekend.

    Acknowledging his side’s underwhelming performance, Iraola admitted after the match that his squad struggled for control in the opening 45 minutes. “It’s quite clear the first half has been poor, we haven’t controlled the game,” he told reporters. “We improved a lot in the second half, much more intense, much quicker on the ball but not enough to win the game.”

    Off the pitch, Iraola hinted that a blockbuster new signing could be available for Liverpool’s next fixture against Ipswich Town next Friday. The club has been locked in talks with Paris Saint-Germain for France international winger Bradley Barcola for months, and reports indicate a deal worth an initial £106 million ($144 million) – a fee that could climb to £123 million with add-ons – is in the final stages of completion. When asked about the transfer, Iraola remained tight-lipped: “I cannot tell you anything right now. There are still things going on at this moment. Now we have to wait and look forward to having the squad on September 2, when this is who we are and can work with certainties.”

    Elsewhere in the division, newly promoted Hull City continued their fairy-tale return to the Premier League with a second straight win to open their campaign, beating fellow Championship promotion winners Coventry City 1-0 at Coventry’s home ground. Substitute winger Liam Millar netted the decisive goal with just eight minutes remaining to secure all three points for Hull. The result comes one week after Hull stunned Manchester United with a 2-0 home win in their opening fixture, leaving Sergej Jakirovic’s side with a perfect six points from their first two matches back in the top flight, their first since the 2016-17 season.

    For Coventry, managed by former England international Frank Lampard, the result leaves them still searching for their first Premier League point in 25 years, after a opening-week defeat to Arsenal. The Sky Blues won the Championship title last season to end their lengthy exile from England’s top division.

    Another late equalizer came at the Vitality Stadium, where Everton defender James Tarkowski scored a stoppage-time goal to earn the Toffees a 1-1 draw against Bournemouth, leaving Marco Rose still waiting for his first win as Bournemouth manager. Alex Scott put Bournemouth ahead in the 41st minute, but Tarkowski pounced on a defensive mix-up between Ryan Christie and Marcus Tavernier to drill home a corner in the final seconds of the match. The result keeps Everton unbeaten after they opened their season with a 2-0 win over Crystal Palace, while Bournemouth remain without a point after Rose’s first game in charge, a 2-1 defeat to reigning champions Manchester City.

    The weekend got off to a strong start for Manchester City on Friday, as the champions ran out comfortable 4-1 winners away to Crystal Palace, with Rayan Cherki and Erling Haaland each grabbing a brace to secure all three points. On Saturday evening, big-spending Tottenham Hotspur were set to face Newcastle United, as De Zerbi’s side looked to bounce back from a humiliating 3-0 opening-week defeat to Brentford.

  • Clashes rock Niger capital, junta says back in control

    Clashes rock Niger capital, junta says back in control

    The capital of Niger, Niamey, was thrown into chaos on Saturday morning when heavily armed mutinous soldiers from the national armed forces launched coordinated assaults on high-value strategic locations across the city, including the presidential palace and the country’s main international airport complex. Hours of sustained gunfire and explosions echoed through residential and government districts before the ruling military junta announced that its security forces had quelled the uprising and reestablished full control over all targeted sites.

    The unrest began shortly after 1:00 a.m. local time, when witnesses reported the first bursts of heavy weapons fire near the city’s core. Mutineers quickly blocked road access to the presidential palace and the headquarters of national broadcaster Tele Sahel, forcing the network off air for more than an hour before service was restored at approximately 10:00 a.m. GMT. A senior anonymous security source confirmed to Agence France-Presse that the mutineers had attempted to force entry into the presidential palace, but were repelled by elite units of the presidential guard, which remains loyal to junta leader General Abdourahamane Tiani, according to an African diplomat based in the capital.

    In an official address broadcast on state television, Niger’s Defense Minister General Salifou Mody outlined the details of the uprising. He confirmed that a faction of disgruntled soldiers had taken fellow service members hostage at a Niamey barracks before opening fire on multiple sensitive sites across the capital. “The swift, decisive response of our defense and security forces contained the outbreak of violence and allowed them to gradually retake full control of all occupied sites,” Mody stated, urging civilians to remain calm and resume their normal daily activities. By late Saturday morning, residents in districts close to the presidential palace reported that all shooting had ceased and the situation had stabilized.

    Multiple witnesses confirmed that intense exchanges of gunfire and explosions also rocked Air Force Base 101, the military installation integrated into Niamey International Airport. Videos posted to social media by local journalists showed armored military vehicles deployed to reinforce security around the airport perimeter, while residents described heavy weapons fire that continued through the night until dawn. One local resident noted that the caliber of weapons heard during the clashes was far larger than the small arms typically carried by motorcycle-borne jihadist insurgents, distinguishing the uprising from the frequent extremist attacks that have plagued the country for a decade.

    This uprising comes against a backdrop of long-running instability in Niger, which has been under military junta rule for three years as it grapples with a sprawling jihadist insurgency that has killed thousands of civilians and displaced hundreds of thousands across the country. Niamey International Airport has already been targeted twice by major extremist attacks in 2024: first in January by the Islamic State in the Sahel (EIS), and again in June by its main rival, al-Qaeda’s Sahel affiliate the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM). Both attacks were repelled by Nigerien forces, but left dozens of soldiers, civilians, and attackers dead. The two extremist groups are locked in a violent struggle for territorial dominance across the Sahel region, where they operate not only in Niger but also in neighboring Burkina Faso and Mali.

    Notably, all three Sahel nations are currently ruled by military juntas that came to power via coups, have withdrawn from the regional bloc Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), rejected security cooperation with traditional Western partners most notably France, and aligned themselves more closely with Russia. Air Force Base 101 holds particular strategic significance as the location of both the headquarters of Russia’s Africa Corps in Niamey and the command center for the joint military force of the Alliance of Sahel States, the mutual defense pact formed by Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mali. The base has also been holding a large shipment of uranium concentrate since the end of 2023, which has remained stranded in Niamey awaiting export with no new movement reported to date.

    As of Saturday afternoon, the junta has confirmed that the situation across Niamey is under control, and has urged citizens to avoid spreading unconfirmed information about the uprising on social media.