Global Pulse

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大洋洲

  • AFL 2026: Essendon refuses to rule out James Hird as potential Brad Scott replacement

    AFL 2026: Essendon refuses to rule out James Hird as potential Brad Scott replacement

    The Essendon Bombers have made a high-stakes coaching change, cutting ties with senior coach Brad Scott just weeks into the 2026 Australian Football League season following a brutal slump in on-field performance. The decision comes after the club secured only a single win across Scott’s final 24 matches, a stretch that spans the end of the 2025 campaign and the opening weeks of 2026. Almost immediately after Scott’s dismissal was announced, former Essendon coach and club legend James Hird emerged as a fan-favorite candidate to return to the top job – a position Hird held more than a decade ago before his resignation in the wake of the club’s infamous supplements scandal.

    In comments to reporters on Monday, Essendon president Andrew Welsh, a former teammate of Hird’s, declined to give a definitive answer on whether the club legend would be in the running for the vacant role, stopping short of both confirming and ruling him out entirely. “I haven’t spoken to Hird, no. We’re not ruling anyone in or anyone out of this. I am sure that there will be a lot of people interested in this role,” Welsh told media. The Essendon chief added that the club will first lay out clear criteria for the characteristics and qualifications it wants in its next senior coach, before narrowing down the pool of potential candidates.

    Hird, who was a finalist for the Essendon senior coaching job back in 2022 before the board ultimately selected Brad Scott, has remained active in Australian rules football in recent years, currently serving in a coaching role with Port Melbourne in the Victorian Football League (VFL), the top feeder competition for the AFL.

    To steer the club through the upcoming transition period, Essendon has appointed club great Dean Solomon as interim senior coach. The appointment follows Solomon’s move from the club’s board of directors to an assistant coaching role in the pre-season, a shift that fueled speculation the club was already planning for Scott’s dismissal. Welsh rejected those claims outright in Monday’s press conference.

    The Essendon president also pushed back on narratives that the club was determined to fill the role with a so-called “old Essendon” figure – a person with deep ties to the club’s history, along the lines of Welsh and Solomon himself. While Welsh emphasized that he values the passion and institutional knowledge that former Essendon players bring to the table, he noted that the club is open to any qualified candidate regardless of their past connection to the Bombers.

    That said, Welsh pointed to multiple recent successful examples of former players returning to lead their old AFL clubs, arguing that when the right candidate is a former club great, the arrangement can deliver strong results. “I look at other clubs, respectfully Sam Mitchell has gone back to Hawthorn and doing an amazing job,” Welsh said. “I look at Justin Longmuir over at Fremantle, Josh Carr has gone back to Port Adelaide. I think there’s really good history around players going back to clubs and the right people for those groups going to those clubs. I don’t shy away from Essendon people being great people and I want great people – Essendon people – to continually be involved in the footy club.”

    Essendon’s coaching change marks the second high-profile AFL vacancy in just a matter of weeks, coming after Carlton senior coach Michael Voss stepped down abruptly earlier this month. It also coincides with a search for a new coach for the AFL’s upcoming expansion club in Tasmania. When asked if the timing of those other vacancies factored into Essendon’s decision to move on Scott now, Welsh said the club did not consider that timeline at all when making the call. “That didn’t come into our consideration at all surrounding this decision,” he confirmed.

  • Rubio says US ready to mediate as Moscow steps up Kyiv threats

    Rubio says US ready to mediate as Moscow steps up Kyiv threats

    Four years into the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, a sharp new escalation of tensions has pushed the long-running conflict back to the center of global attention, with Washington throwing its weight behind renewed efforts to broker a ceasefire. In the wake of Moscow’s explicit threats to launch systematic, large-scale attacks on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv — including explicit warnings for foreign diplomatic staff to evacuate immediately — US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Tuesday that the United States remains fully prepared to facilitate an end to the war.

    The latest cycle of violence began after Russia accused Ukrainian forces of striking a vocational school in the Moscow-occupied Lugansk region, an attack that Moscow claimed killed 21 people. Following the incident, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his military to carry out retaliatory strikes, triggering a massive weekend barrage across Ukraine that included dozens of drones, conventional missiles, and the deployment of Russia’s advanced Oreshnik hypersonic missile. According to Russian specifications, the Oreshnik can reach speeds of up to Mach 10 and is designed to carry nuclear warheads. The barrage left four people dead in Kyiv, caused widespread damage to civilian infrastructure, and claimed an additional life in the southern port city of Odesa early Tuesday, regional official Sergii Krasylenko confirmed in a Telegram post.

    In a statement released after the strikes, Russia’s Foreign Ministry formalized the new escalation, confirming that Russian armed forces would begin targeting Ukrainian military-industrial sites, decision-making hubs, and military command posts across Kyiv. The ministry explicitly urged all foreign citizens, including diplomatic personnel and staff of international organizations, to leave the capital immediately. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov relayed this warning directly to Rubio during a phone call between the two top diplomats on Monday, though Rubio clarified Tuesday that the evacuation notice was circulated to all foreign embassies in Kyiv, not just the US mission.

    Speaking to reporters during an official visit to India, Rubio framed the latest upsurge in violence as a painful reminder of the human cost of the prolonged conflict. “Every time you see these big strikes from one side or the other, it’s a reminder of why this is a terrible war that’s now gone on longer than the Second World War, and it needs to come to an end,” Rubio said. “The US stands ready and prepared to help do whatever we can to help facilitate the end of this war, and hopefully the opportunity will present itself at some point.”

    This is not the first time Moscow has issued evacuation warnings for foreign personnel in Kyiv. Earlier this month, Russia issued a similar threat of massive strikes on central Kyiv if Ukraine attempted to disrupt the annual military parade on Moscow’s Red Square. On both occasions, Western diplomatic missions and Ukrainian officials have flatly rejected the warnings, framing them as little more than coercive rhetoric designed to sow panic. “We’re used to Putin’s threats. It is out of the question to evacuate,” a French Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Monday. The European Union’s ambassador to Kyiv echoed that sentiment in a Facebook post, writing simply, “We are not going anywhere.”

    Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga echoed the defiance, urging international partners not to give in to what he called Russian blackmail. Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and the conflict has since become the deadliest armed conflict in Europe since World War II. US-led diplomatic efforts to negotiate a ceasefire have stalled in recent months, largely sidelined by competing international crises including the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

  • Dozens of drones crash into Sydney harbour after light show glitch

    Dozens of drones crash into Sydney harbour after light show glitch

    One of the Southern Hemisphere’s most anticipated annual cultural events, Vivid Sydney, hit an unexpected snag on the evening of Monday 25 May local time, when nearly 90 drones plummeted from the night sky over Darling Harbour during the festival’s popular Star-Bound aerial display. Witness footage captured the dozens of unmanned devices tumbling out of formation, with many splashing into the waters of Cockle Bay just a short distance from gathered onlookers, leaving crowds confused by the sudden disruption to the programmed light show. The incident has already forced the cancellation of two scheduled performances, with the future of the remaining 20 planned drone shows still under review. The UK-based drone production company Skymagic, which designed and operates the 1,000-drone display, has pinpointed the root of the failure: an unanticipated shift in radio frequency conditions that occurred after the drones had already taken off. According to a company spokesperson, the frequency change disrupted positional accuracy for affected devices, triggering their pre-programmed failsafe landing protocols that sent them descending into the harbour and surrounding marina areas. Skymagic was quick to emphasize that no drones fell outside the designated safety boundaries set for the performance, meaning no bystanders were injured in the incident. That claim did little to soften the shock of witnesses, however. Robert, a worker at the Darling Harbour waterfront, told Australian public broadcaster ABC that the sound of crashing drones was audible even from 10 to 20 meters away. “You could hear them physically crash and smash onto the cement marina,” he explained. Representatives for Vivid Sydney, the three-week long festival that draws hundreds of thousands of locals and tourists to Sydney Harbour and central Sydney every year, issued a formal apology for the disruption. “We apologize for the disappointment and inconvenience caused to attendees,” the spokesperson said, adding that the decision to cancel upcoming performances aligned with the event’s standard safety protocols. Festival organizers have confirmed that Skymagic will partner with relevant Australian government agencies to conduct a full technical review of the incident. No decision will be made on whether to resume the remaining drone performances until the assessment is complete. The Star-Bound drone display was scheduled to run over 11 nights, with 22 total shows planned as a key attraction for the 2026 festival. This year marks only the second time Vivid Sydney has included drone shows in its official lineup: the festival first introduced aerial drone displays in 2024, drawing massive crowds, but opted to cancel all drone shows in 2025 over public safety concerns related to overcrowding. First launched in 2009, Vivid Sydney brands itself as the Southern Hemisphere’s largest combined festival of light, music, ideas and food. The event’s core attraction is a free 6.5-kilometer walking trail dotted with 43 large-scale light installations, including iconic light projections mapped onto the sails of the Sydney Opera House. Annually, thousands of visitors from across Australia and around the world travel to Sydney to attend the three-week winter festival.

  • Tribunal swamped by migration, student visa application review, hearing told

    Tribunal swamped by migration, student visa application review, hearing told

    Australia’s independent body tasked with reviewing government migration and visa decisions is facing an unprecedented operational crisis, as surging appeals from rejected international student visa applicants have pushed caseloads to record levels amid ongoing political debate over the country’s immigration framework.

    New figures revealed during a recent Senate estimates hearing on Tuesday lay bare the scale of the strain on the Administrative Review Tribunal (ART). In the 2024-25 financial year alone, the tribunal has already received 39,953 applications to review migration decisions, with the full-year projection hitting 46,653. Migration cases now account for 56% of the ART’s entire active caseload, making it the single largest category of work for the body.

    Of these migration appeals, international student visa applications stand out as the biggest driver of growing backlogs. Principal Registrar Michael Hawkins AM confirmed to the hearing that student visa-related cases make up 35% of the ART’s total national caseload. By the end of April 2024, the tribunal had already received 24,545 student visa appeal lodgements, putting the full-year total on track to reach 32,202 across all student and study-related visa subclasses.

    Hawkins explained that the ART has long prioritized processing protection visa cases, which cover asylum seeker claims, each of which requires two to three days of work per application. This focus, however, has left the growing volume of student visa appeals at risk of creating a persistent, long-term backlog. Even though individual student cases take roughly one day to process each, sheer volume has overwhelmed the understaffed body.

    The ART has been grappling with chronic understaffing and resource gaps that compound the caseload pressure. While the tribunal is on track to finalize 60,000 total cases in the 2025-26 fiscal year, this falls short of its 68,000 completion target — and that outcome is only being achieved with 75% of its budgeted staffing levels. Forty-two new tribunal members are set to join the body by early July, but even after new hires start, the ART will still be short roughly 80 full-time equivalent positions. As of July 1, the tribunal will operate with 423 total members, equal to just 347.5 full-time roles, leaving a gap of 82 full-time staff.

    Hawkins noted that the ART is currently prioritizing clearing cases that are more than three years old, a strategy that slows the overall rate of new case completions. “In short, we were budgeted for effectively 60,000 finalisations and we’ve got 90,000 new cases coming in, so we’re always accumulating a 30,000 backlog,” he told the hearing. As of the latest update, 77,938 cases remain waiting for a hearing across all of the ART’s portfolios.

    Between the start of the 2024-25 financial year and the end of April, the ART finalised 18,717 migration application reviews, 18,259 protection visa cases, and more than 4,600 social security-related decisions. Hawkins also thanked Liberal Senator Michaelia Cash for her support in advancing regulatory reforms for the ART through the Senate, pointing out that outdated procedural requirements — including mandatory notice rules for applicants — are currently slowing down decision-making workflows. The revelations come as political tensions over Australia’s immigration policy continue to intensify on the national agenda.

  • Miserly Arsenal face PSG firepower in Champions League style clash

    Miserly Arsenal face PSG firepower in Champions League style clash

    The most anticipated fixture on the European football calendar is finally here: Saturday’s Champions League final will pit two sides with polar-opposite playing philosophies against each other in Budapest, as Mikel Arteta’s pragmatically solid Arsenal lock horns with free-scoring defending champions Paris Saint-Germain.

    For Arsenal, the journey to this showpiece ends a 20-year wait to return to the showpiece European final, an achievement that came alongside ending their 22-year drought to claim the Premier League title this season. While Arteta’s unglamorous, results-first approach has drawn criticism from neutrals and even frustrated some of the club’s own fans at points, the strategy has delivered the silverware that eluded the North London club for decades, after three consecutive second-place Premier League finishes left them empty-handed in recent seasons.

    The Gunners’ identity is built on defensive discipline, tactical structure and aggressive high pressing, designed to cut off opponents’ access to dangerous areas and limit high-quality chances inside the box. No side in England’s top flight conceded fewer goals this term, and in their 13-match run to the final, Arsenal have let in just six goals while remaining unbeaten – a stat that stands in stark contrast to PSG, who have conceded 22 goals across their Champions League campaign this season.

    At the back, a dominant physical centre-back pairing of Gabriel and William Saliba provides a solid foundation, backed up by Spanish goalkeeper David Raya, who matched the competition record of nine clean sheets this run and will be just one shutout away from lifting the trophy if he keeps PSG out on Saturday. Declan Rice anchors the midfield, while the Gunners have also turned dead-ball situations into a lethal, unrivalled weapon under the guidance of set-piece coach Nicolas Jover, poached from Manchester City in 2021.

    This season alone, 27 of Arsenal’s 71 Premier League goals – 38 percent of their total – came from set pieces, earning the side the joking nickname “Set Piece FC”. Jover’s success has drawn strong reactions: Swiss publication Blick even questioned whether his focus on dead-ball mastery was “ruining football”, while former Liverpool defender Jamie Carraghora admitted he has never seen anything like Arsenal’s set-piece proficiency, saying “Every time they get a corner, my head is in my hands.”

    Arteta has remained unphased by criticism of his side’s functional style, noting that “winning ugly” is far preferable to falling short of titles. “I don’t know how you celebrate one goal different to another – maybe for YouTube one is nicer than another,” he said. When the Gunners lifted the Premier League trophy earlier this season, thousands of fans packed the area outside the Emirates Stadium to celebrate, with players partying into the early hours, silencing any remaining internal criticism of the approach.

    Where Arsenal seek to minimise risk and control the game through structure, PSG thrive on organised chaos and attack-minded risk-taking, boasting one of the most dynamic forward lines on the continent. Coach Luis Enrique has built a side that dismantles opponents on the transition with blistering pace, leading PSG to hit 44 goals in the Champions League this campaign – just one short of the all-time tournament record.

    Even after trimming the club’s roster of oversized superstars, PSG still fields a trio of electric attackers in Ousmane Dembele, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Desire Doue, whose movement and unpredictability keep defences off balance. The French champions have put on a series of breathtaking attacking displays in this season’s knockout rounds: they scored eight goals on aggregate against Chelsea, six against Bayern Munich (including a memorable 5-4 first-leg win) and four against Liverpool, showcasing their willingness to throw players forward and outgun opponents.

    Luis Enrique has proven his ability to adapt mid-tie too, shifting tactics in the second leg against Bayern to secure a 1-1 draw that booked PSG’s place in the final, proving the side can win in multiple ways. “We showed that we are a real team, unpredictable,” he said after putting five past Chelsea in the round of 16. For Doue, while the side can win without flashy play, their brand of free-flowing attacking football has been the formula that carried them to a second consecutive final, after they defeated Inter Milan in last season’s showpiece.

    The final in Budapest will be a classic battle of immovable object versus unstoppable force, and the outcome will not just crown a new European champion, but also decide which playing style reigns supreme over the continent this season.

  • ‘I think twice’: Minorities fear World Cup immigration enforcement

    ‘I think twice’: Minorities fear World Cup immigration enforcement

    As the 2026 FIFA World Cup co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico draws near, a historic moment for global football has become a source of deep anxiety for immigrant and minority communities across the US, who fear heightened immigration enforcement will put them at risk of detention or deportation even as they gather to cheer on their nations.

    For Haitian immigrant Emile, a 40-something truck driver based in Ohio who asked to keep his last name private, the excitement of Haiti’s first World Cup appearance in more than 50 years is tempered by constant fear. This year’s tournament marks Haiti’s return to the global football stage for the first time since 1974, a milestone Emile describes as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. “Singing my country’s national anthem in a stadium in front of the whole world is a historic moment that no one would want to miss,” he told Agence France-Presse. “But at the same time, I think twice. I don’t want to be arrested by ICE.”

    Emile, who currently benefits from temporary protected status (TPS) that shields him from deportation to crisis-stricken Haiti, has followed his lawyer’s advice to avoid air travel entirely over fears he will be apprehended by agents from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at airport security checkpoints. He is far from alone in this anxiety.

    Across the country, immigrant communities have grown increasingly wary of ICE’s aggressive enforcement tactics. For years, communities have watched heavily armed, masked ICE agents conduct high-profile, often violent raids in major US cities. Public outrage reached a boiling point after ICE agents shot and killed two American demonstrators during an operation in Minneapolis.

    Monica Sarmiento, a representative of the Virginia Coalition for Immigrant Rights, told AFP the pervasive enforcement has created a constant climate of fear. “Now, people are making sure that they are aware to what they are doing and they don’t feel safe,” she said. “They are afraid. We have seen very aggressive tactics (from ICE) that have gone after not only undocumented communities but also people with protective status.”

    Sarmiento noted that a large majority of immigrants targeted by ICE enforcement do not pose a public safety threat: 70% of those arrested, detained and deported in recent operations have no criminal record, and many have lived in the US for decades, contributing to local economies through tax payments. “Many of them have been here for decades, paying taxes for decades,” she added. “We are living in a fearful and hostile environment across the country, and not only for the World Cup but every single day.”

    Of the 104 total World Cup matches, 78 will be played across US cities between the tournament’s opening on June 11 and final on July 19. That means millions of fans—including hundreds of thousands of immigrant and minority supporters—will travel across the country to attend matches, bringing them into increased contact with law enforcement and immigration officials.

    The US Hispanic community, which makes up 20% of the national population and has large concentrations in World Cup host states including California, Texas and Florida and major host cities Miami, Los Angeles, Dallas and New York, has been particularly vocal about concerns over increased ICE activity around stadiums and fan zones. The roughly 850,000-strong Haitian American community, concentrated largely in Miami and New York, also faces elevated risk: the Trump administration has moved to end the TPS program that protects thousands of Haitian immigrants like Emile from deportation to Haiti, which is grappling with devastating gang violence, political collapse and extreme poverty.

    Fears have been amplified by recent high-profile cases of immigration enforcement targeting sports spectators. Last year, Human Rights Watch documented the case of an asylum seeker who was arrested by ICE and deported after attending the Club World Cup final in New Jersey with his children. Rights groups now warn that foreign tourists traveling to the US for the 2026 World Cup could also be targeted by immigration agents near stadiums and popular fan gathering zones.

    In April, more than 120 US civil rights organizations—including the prominent American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)—jointly issued an official travel advisory, warning all attendees, players, journalists and international visitors of the “risk of serious rights violations” during their time in the US. The advisory outlines a range of potential harms, from denied entry to racial profiling, arbitrary arrest, detention, deportation, and even cruel or deadly treatment while in ICE custody.

    In response to press inquiries from AFP, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees ICE, downplayed the concerns. ICE has a long history of participating in security detail for major US events, including the annual Super Bowl. “International visitors who legally come to the United States for the World Cup have nothing to worry about,” a DHS spokesperson said. “What makes someone a target for immigration enforcement is whether or not they are illegally in the US.”

    FIFA, football’s global governing body, also responded to AFP’s request for comment, stating that it “is committed to respecting all internationally recognized human rights and strives to promote the protection of these rights.” Despite official reassurances, however, many immigrant fans across the US remain unconvinced, choosing to skip the historic tournament rather than risk their ability to stay in the country they call home.

  • Cleaning the chakras of Ecuador’s cats and dogs

    Cleaning the chakras of Ecuador’s cats and dogs

    In the bustling San Francisco market of Quito, Ecuador’s highland capital, a centuries-old Andean spiritual tradition is adapting to meet a modern, 21st-century need. Traditional local healers known as curanderas have carved out a unique new niche, offering energy cleansing rituals called limpias to the furry companions of anxious, doting pet owners.

    What began as a practice to clear physical, emotional, and spiritual blockages for human clients now extends to dogs, cats, rabbits, and even farm animals across the country. For devotees of the ritual, the treatment works to unblock blocked energy centers, or chakras, in animals, just as it does for people. Healers use a blend of ancestral tools: fragrant wild-harvested medicinal herbs, purifying smoke, raw farm eggs, and sacred Amazonian seeds to draw out negative energy and fend off harmful spiritual influences.

    Fifth-generation healer Nancy Correa comes from a long line of female curanderas, and she says her pet cleansing services have grown steadily in popularity in recent years. When 1-year-old golden retriever Lucas arrived at her stall after a frightening run-in with a neighborhood cat left him withdrawn and anxious, Correa pulled together a bundle of wild amaranth, rue, nettle, and eucalyptus to rub over his fur. She selects these specific herbs, she explains, because they grow wild in mountain ravines, absorbing the pure combined energy of water, air, and Andean sunshine.

    Lucas’s owner Ximena Tixi, a 49-year-old Quito architect, says she has already seen dramatic improvements after just two cleansing sessions. “He’s more active now, and he no longer carries that fear he had after the encounter,” she told Agence France-Presse. By the time Lucas showed up for his third session, he trotted willingly into Correa’s stall, his tail wagging with no sign of his earlier anxiety.

    A short walk away at the same market, fellow healer Amparo Lugmana recently led a cleansing ritual for her own 4-year-old mixed-breed dog Copito, who had been listless and “feeling down” for weeks. Lugmana rubbed rose petals, a raw egg, and healing herbs over Copito’s thick white curly fur, before finishing the ritual by tying a necklace of Amazonian huayroro seeds around his neck — a traditional charm meant to ward off negative energy and evil spirits.

    Lugmana is no stranger to treating animal clients: she has worked on cats, rabbits, and even ships post-treatment cleansing kits to rural areas for owners of cows and chickens that have stopped producing milk or eggs. The cost of a pet limpia ranges from just $5 to $10, depending on the size of the animal, making the ancient ritual accessible to many local pet owners.

    For Quito’s pet parents, the practice offers a low-cost, culturally rooted alternative to modern behavioral interventions for anxious or withdrawn pets, filling a gap between standard veterinary care and holistic wellness that resonates with Ecuador’s deep Andean cultural heritage.

  • Rubio to revive ‘Quad’ alliance in India, but staying power unclear

    Rubio to revive ‘Quad’ alliance in India, but staying power unclear

    A pivotal gathering of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, widely known as the Quad, is set to convene in New Delhi on Tuesday, where US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will push to revitalize the four-nation security bloc grouping the United States, India, Australia, and Japan. The meeting comes at a moment of deep uncertainty: growing tensions within the alliance over the recent US-Israeli attack on Iran and lingering questions about the long-term reliability of US commitment to the partnership, which Beijing has long viewed with deep suspicion.

    The summit gathering comes just 10 days after US President Donald Trump completed a warm state visit to Beijing, where he praised the idea of a US-China “G2” partnership. That framing has sparked unease among Quad members, many of whom view China’s rising regional influence as a core strategic threat, and fear a direct US-China grand bargain could leave their interests sidelined.

    For Rubio, who is making his first visit to India as Secretary of State, reviving the Quad is a personal priority. Within hours of his inauguration last year, he held a symbolic first meeting with Quad foreign ministers in Washington, and the group convened again in the US capital in July 2025. But a planned full leaders’ summit last year never materialized, after Trump refused to commit to traveling to New Delhi for the event — a sharp break from his predecessor Joe Biden, who had repeatedly insisted Quad leaders’ summits were a permanent fixture of US Indo-Pacific strategy.

    Rubio’s core goal in New Delhi is to lay the necessary groundwork to finally bring Trump to a Quad leaders’ gathering. In an interview with India Today, he emphasized that the alliance needs tangible progress to deliver results, not just symbolic meetings. “We want to make sure we do the work necessary and position it so, when they do meet, they’ll have very specific deliverables and things that actually they can announce,” Rubio said.

    One key area of consensus the bloc is looking to build out is cooperation on securing critical mineral supplies. The Trump administration has grown increasingly alarmed by China’s dominant market position in the rare earths and critical minerals that underpin the global high-tech and renewable energy sectors, and collaboration on supply chain resilience marks a rare area where the administration has embraced traditional alliance-building diplomacy. The bloc is also set to expand cooperation on maritime security, an issue of particular urgency for Japan, which has repeatedly pushed back against China’s assertive territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific’s contested waterways.

    But the alliance remains fractured by deep divisions over the recent US-Israeli military campaign against Iran, launched in late February after Tehran took control of the Strait of Hormuz in response to escalating pressure. The attack sent global oil prices soaring, hitting energy import-dependent Japan and India particularly hard. Beyond economic fallout, the Trump administration’s decision to launch the strike without consulting allied governments has left deep resentment: no US ally other than Israel has fully backed the operation, prompting Trump to publicly question the reliability of US partners.

    Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has taken the most sympathetic stance among Quad leaders, noting shared global concerns over Iran’s disputed nuclear program, but he has refused to contribute military or logistical support to the war effort. That partial backing was not enough for Trump, who has publicly stated he is “not happy with Australia.” For Japan and India, both of which have long maintained constructive diplomatic and economic ties with Iran, the situation is even more fraught. While the two countries grudgingly complied with US sanctions banning all imports of Iranian oil, they have rejected calls to fully back the military campaign.

    Ahead of Tuesday’s full Quad meeting, Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi met with his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on Monday, where he framed the gathering as a critical response to a shifting global order. “The world is faced with the most significant structural change in the post-World War II era, driven by a shift in the balance of power and the intensification of conflict and confrontation,” Motegi said, adding that it was vital for the bloc to address the “increasingly severe” global security environment.

    Jaishankar, for his part, sought to downplay widespread concerns that the Trump administration’s outreach to Beijing has eroded US commitment to the Quad. He noted that Trump was a strong backer of the alliance during his first presidential term, pushing back against narratives that US interest in the bloc is waning.

    First conceived by former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the Quad was founded on the idea that four like-minded Indo-Pacific democracies could align to counter growing Chinese influence. Under President Joe Biden, the alliance expanded its mandate far beyond security cooperation, adding work on disaster response, global public health, and supply chain resilience as core priorities. Now, as Rubio works to put the partnership back on track after months of stalled progress, the question remains whether the bloc can overcome internal divisions over Iran and persistent uncertainty about US commitment to deliver on its ambitious goals.

  • ‘I wish I did that’: Cameron Munster offers a simple bit of advice to Sam Walker that could spell trouble for the Blues

    ‘I wish I did that’: Cameron Munster offers a simple bit of advice to Sam Walker that could spell trouble for the Blues

    Nine years after delivering one of the most iconic debut performances in State of Origin history, Queensland Maroons captain Cameron Munster is passing on a lesson of self-belief to young rookie halfback Sam Walker, who is gearing up to make his first Origin appearance on Wednesday night. With simple but powerful words, Munster has urged the 20-something Sydney Roosters playmaker to “back yourself” as he steps onto what is forecast to be a rain-soaked field in front of 80,000 raucous New South Wales Blues supporters at Accor Stadium. Walker, widely regarded as a naturally unflappable competitor, will lean heavily on this advice from his experienced halves partner as he prepares for the biggest test of his young rugby league career to date.

    Walker earns his unexpected Origin call-up after incumbent playmaker and 2023 Wally Lewis Medal winner Tom Dearden was forced to withdraw with an ankle injury sustained during a recent North Queensland Cowboys club match. While the young halfback has previously trained and worked with Queensland rugby league immortal Johnathan Thurston, Munster and the entire Maroons squad are clear: they do not want Walker to try to emulate the legend’s playing style or live up to the shadow of iconic former number 7s like Thurston and Cooper Cronk. Instead, they want him to lean into the unique strengths that earned him this opportunity in the first place: his sharp short kicking game and unorthodox, unpredictable playmaking that has caught the eye of selectors and fans alike this NRL season.

    “There’s a reason why he’s been given the opportunity to wear that famous No.7 jersey,” Munster told reporters ahead of the clash. “We’re not expecting him to go out there to be Johnathan Thurston or Cooper Cronk or those type of guys that have been wearing the jersey before him. Go out there and be Sam Walker. Back yourself.” Munster added that the team has given Walker full creative freedom to play his natural game, even if some of his gambles do not pay off. “If it doesn’t come off, it doesn’t come off – that’s rugby league. I’d rather him out there giving it his all and trying his little tricks that he’s got in his bag than just sitting back and at the end of the game going ‘oh, I wish I did this, I wish I did that’,” he said. “We’ve given him full reins and full keys to the car, and hopefully you’ll see Sammy Walker blossom.”

    While Walker has never competed on the Origin’s national stage before, he has already proven his ability to perform under intense pressure at the club level. The young halfback has claimed Man of the Match honours three times in the Roosters’ iconic Anzac Day clashes against the South Sydney Rabbitohs, consistently showing fearlessness when all eyes are on him. He grew up watching generations of Maroons young guns make successful Origin debuts, and Munster’s own 2015 debut stands as the perfect template: in that series-deciding match, Munster ran 136 metres and set up two match-defining tries, cementing his place in Queensland Origin folklore from his very first game.

    Munster says he is confident Walker is ready to write his own Origin story, even if it does not follow a perfect narrative. “I guess you’ve got to sometimes write your own fairy tale. You’re not always going to be given the fairy tale,” Munster said. “It’s for him to go out there and get his game on and play well. There’ll be some times in that game where things might not go his way, and knowing Sammy, he’s that type of person with how calm he is that he’ll get on with his next job and do something spectacular.” The Maroons captain added that the team has no unrealistic expectations for the rookie: “We’re not expecting him to go out there and be man of the match. If he gets his job done, and everyone else in his team gets their job done, then we’re looking really excited and looking really forward to the way we can play.” Beyond Walker’s debut, Munster also expressed confidence in the depth of Queensland’s emerging halves talent, noting that the future of the Maroons program is in “good hands” with the likes of Dearden, Walker, Ezra Mam and Jake Clifford all coming through the development pipeline.

  • Swiatek, Rybakina cruise through Roland Garros openers

    Swiatek, Rybakina cruise through Roland Garros openers

    Opening day of the 2025 French Open at Roland Garros delivered a mix of dominant wins from title favorites and heartfelt farewells from tennis legends, as unforgiving 32-degree heat tested even the fittest competitors across the Parisian clay courts.

    Four-time champion Iga Swiatek, the tournament’s third seed, kicked off her campaign for a fifth Roland Garros crown in commanding form, easing past 19-year-old Australian qualifier Emerson Jones in just 60 minutes with a 6-1, 6-2 victory. The match marked Swiatek’s first Grand Slam appearance since pairing up with Francisco Roig, former long-time coach of 14-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal, a partnership that already appears to be paying dividends. The Pole, who claimed three consecutive French Open titles from 2022 to 2024 before falling to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s semi-finals, will next face Czech prospect Sara Bejlek for a spot in the round of 32. Fresh off a semi-final run at the Italian Open earlier this month that signaled a return to peak form, Swiatek expressed confidence in her opening performance after the match.

    “I’m really happy with the way I played. It was a solid match from the beginning to the end. I technically knew how to play,” the 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2024 champion said.

    Second seed Elena Rybakina, who already lifted the Australian Open trophy earlier this 2025 season, matched Swiatek’s straightforward win, dismissing Slovenian Veronika Erjavec 6-2, 6-2 on the iconic Court Philippe Chatrier. The Kazakhstani star echoed Swiatek’s relief at wrapping up the match quickly in the sweltering conditions, noting that the extreme heat made short, efficient runs through the draw a top priority. “It’s tough conditions but I’m happy things worked, and I’m looking forward to the next match,” Rybakina said, ahead of her second-round clash against Ukraine’s Yuliia Starodubtseva.

    Other women’s singles winners on opening day included Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina, who survived a dramatic three-set scare against Hungary’s Anna Bondar to keep her unbroken 13-year first-round win streak at Roland Garros intact. After dropping the opening set and trailing 3-1 in the deciding set, Svitolina rallied to secure a 3-6, 6-1, 7-6(10-3) win, just weeks after claiming her long-awaited fifth WTA 1000 title in Rome. Former tournament runner-up Jasmine Paolini also advanced with a 7-5, 6-3 win over Ukraine’s Dayana Yastremska, while sixth seed Amanda Anisimova, last year’s runner-up at both Wimbledon and the US Open, beat French wildcard Tiantsoa Rakotomanga Rajaonah 6-3, 6-1. In one of the day’s biggest upsets, 2024 Paris Olympic gold medalist Zheng Qinwen of China suffered a shock first-round exit, falling 6-4, 6-0 to Poland’s Maja Chwalinska — marking Zheng’s first ever opening-round defeat at the French Open.

    The most emotional moments of the day belonged to the departing legends of the sport, who said goodbye to Roland Garros ahead of their planned retirements at the end of the 2025 season. 2015 champion Stan Wawrinka, 41, brought an end to his Paris run with a four-set 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 loss to Dutch lucky loser Jesper de Jong, bowing out in front of a packed, cheering crowd on Court Simonne Mathieu. Wawrinka, who notched one of the most iconic upsets in Grand Slam history when he defeated Novak Djokovic to claim his only French Open title 10 years ago, enjoyed a fairytale run to the third round at January’s Australian Open in his final campaign, but could not replicate that form in the Paris heat.

    After the match, tournament organizers honored Wawrinka’s legendary career with a glass case holding a fragment of Roland Garros clay, followed by two video tributes screened across the venue’s big screens. The second tribute included personal messages from the sport’s all-time greats: Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. “Thanks to all your support, I wanted to go on as long as possible, to 41 years of age, to continue living moments like this,” Wawrinka told the crowd.

    French home favorite Gael Monfils, 39, also played his final opening round at Roland Garros on Monday night, producing a rousing comeback from two sets down before fatigue got the better of him in the deciding set. The former tournament semi-finalist fell 6-2, 6-3, 3-6, 2-6, 6-0 to fellow French wildcard Hugo Gaston, closing out his Roland Garros career in front of his home crowd.

    In men’s opening round action, two-time Roland Garros runner-up Casper Ruud narrowly avoided a major upset against Russian qualifier Roman Safiullin, surviving a five-set thriller that was severely impacted by the day’s high temperatures. Both players called for medical time-outs in the fourth set, and took more than 16 minutes to return to court for the deciding set, with rallies slowing to a walk as fatigue set in. Ruud ultimately found enough energy to secure a 6-2, 7-6(7-5), 5-7, 0-6, 6-2 win, as Safiullin continued to wilt in the evening heat. Teenage Spanish rising star Rafael Jodar, who has rapidly climbed the ATP rankings this season after clay-court title runs and deep runs at the Barcelona, Madrid and Rome Open events, notched a straight-set win on debut, dismantling American Aleksandar Kovacevic 6-1, 6-0, 6-4. Fifth seed Ben Shelton, who has reached at least the quarter-finals at the other three Grand Slams already in his young career, kicked off his Paris campaign with a straight-set win over Daniel Merida.