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大洋洲

  • Crisis-hit Bulgaria votes in eighth election in five years

    Crisis-hit Bulgaria votes in eighth election in five years

    On Sunday, Bulgaria went to the polls for its eighth national election in five years, a historic stretch of political gridlock triggered by years of mass anti-corruption mobilization that has toppled one government after another across the Balkan nation. As the European Union’s poorest member state, Bulgaria has entered this prolonged period of instability after 2021, when widespread public protests against graft ended the 10-year near-continuous rule of veteran conservative leader Boyko Borissov, and no administration has managed to hold a stable majority since.

    Leading the race going into election day is the newly formed centre-left bloc Progressive Bulgaria, headed by former nine-year president Rumen Radev. A former air force general who stepped down from the presidency in January to lead his electoral alliance, Radev has campaigned on a hardline platform of rooting out systemic corruption and dismantling what he calls Bulgaria’s long-standing “oligarchic governance model”. His anti-corruption rhetoric has resonated with a public deeply frustrated by persistent graft: it was the latest wave of anti-corruption protests in late 2024 that brought down the previous conservative-backed government, clearing the way for this snap vote. Pre-election opinion polls put Radev’s bloc on track to win roughly 35% of the popular vote, positioning it as the clear front-runner to form the next government.

    Radev’s foreign policy positions have become a central point of controversy in the campaign. Unlike most major Bulgarian pro-European parties, Radev has openly called for restoring closer bilateral ties with Moscow, has repeatedly voiced opposition to Bulgarian military aid for Ukraine following Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion, and recently publicly condemned a 10-year defense cooperation agreement between Sofia and Kyiv signed last month. He drew widespread outrage from political opponents during his final campaign rally when he displayed photos of his past meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin to a crowd of 10,000 cheering supporters. Radev has also publicly rejected the European Union’s current green energy framework, calling it naive in what he frames as an unpredictable “world without rules”, though he has clarified he would not use Bulgaria’s veto power to block collective EU policy decisions.

    Coming in second in pre-election polling is Borissov’s long-standing pro-European conservative party GERB, which is projected to win roughly 20% of the vote, outpacing the centrist liberal coalition PP-DB. Borissov, who led Bulgaria from 2009 to 2021, has pushed back against Radev’s narrative of radical change, arguing that his party delivered on the core ambitions of 1990s post-communist transition, most notably securing Bulgaria’s accession to the eurozone in 2025. Speaking at his final campaign events, Borissov dismissed Radev as offering no meaningful new agenda for the country.

    Voters interviewed by AFP on election day expressed a wide range of frustrations and hopes. Many voters aligned with Radev’s anti-corruption message: 57-year-old Sofia resident Decho Kostadinov told reporters after casting his ballot that he voted for change, arguing that corrupt politicians “should leave — they should take whatever they’ve stolen and get out of Bulgaria”. Dozens of voters lined up outside polling stations in Sofia even before voting began at 7 a.m. local time. Other voters, like 60-year-old Sofia accountant Elena, who backed Borissov’s party, said she voted to “preserve what we have”, noting “we are a democratic country, we live well”.

    Still, many Bulgarian voters remain deeply disillusioned with the entire political class. 55-year-old taxi driver Miglena Boyadjieva, who showed up to vote, summed up a common sentiment: “The problem is that there is no one to vote for. You vote for one person and get others. The system has to change.” Public distrust in political institutions has dragged down voter turnout in recent cycles, hitting a low of just 39% in 2024’s last election. However, polling analyst Boryana Dimitrova of the Alpha Research institute noted that Radev’s high-energy campaign has mobilized frustrated voters, leading analysts to predict a higher turnout on Sunday.

    Authorities have stepped up efforts to combat systemic vote buying, a long-standing issue in Bulgarian elections. In coordinated raids over recent weeks, police seized more than 1 million euros in illicit campaign funds and detained hundreds of people, including sitting local councillors and municipal mayors. Political parties across the ideological spectrum have urged voters to turn out to the polls, in part to dilute the impact of vote buying on the final result.

    Polling stations closed at 17:00 GMT on Sunday, with exit polls expected immediately after voting concludes. Official final results are not expected to be released until at least Monday. Radev has announced he is aiming to secure an absolute majority in the 240-seat National Assembly, a result that would allow his bloc to form a government alone without entering coalition negotiations with rival parties.

  • Australia’s most-decorated soldier vows to ‘fight’ war crime charges

    Australia’s most-decorated soldier vows to ‘fight’ war crime charges

    One of Australia’s most celebrated military figures, Ben Roberts-Smith, has broken his silence for the first time since being hit with five war crime-related murder charges last week, issuing a public statement emphatically rejecting every allegation against him.

    The 47-year-old former Special Air Service (SAS) corporal, who is Australia’s highest-decorated living soldier and a recipient of the Victoria Cross, was granted bail this Friday following his arrest earlier this month at Sydney International Airport on April 7. In his first public remarks since the charges were filed, Roberts-Smith said he remains unapologetically proud of his military deployment to Afghanistan, and is ready to use the upcoming criminal proceedings as a platform to permanently clear his reputation of wrongdoing.

    “I understand this journey will be difficult. But I can promise everybody that I have never run from a fight in my life,” Roberts-Smith told reporters, adding that while he never wished to face these criminal charges, he welcomes the chance to resolve the allegations once and for all.

    Across his years of service in Afghanistan between 2009 and 2012, Roberts-Smith stands accused of involvement in the unlawful killings of unarmed Afghan detainees, prosecutors allege. The charges include one count of murder, one count of joint murder, and three counts of aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring murder. Roberts-Smith has pushed back forcefully against these claims, asserting that every action he took during his deployment aligned with his personal values, his military training, and the official rules of engagement governing Australian forces.

    The former soldier also criticized the circumstances of his arrest as an unnecessary, over-the-top media spectacle, and declined to answer any follow-up questions from journalists after reading his prepared statement.

    In granting bail, the presiding judge noted that Roberts-Smith’s case is highly unusual. If bail had been denied, the judge explained, the veteran could have waited years in pre-trial custody before his case even went to trial, an outcome that could not be justified under the circumstances.

    The criminal proceedings mark the latest chapter in a years-long legal battle over the allegations against Roberts-Smith. The case traces its origins back to 2018, when Nine Entertainment newspapers first published reports detailing the alleged war crimes. Roberts-Smith subsequently filed a civil defamation suit against the outlets, and in 2023, the Federal Court ruled that on the balance of probabilities, several of the murder allegations held substantial truth. Roberts-Smith’s appeal against that ruling was rejected in 2024, setting the stage for the criminal charges that were filed earlier this month. This high-profile case also marks the first time any Australian court has ever considered formal war crime allegations against members of the country’s military deployed overseas.

  • ‘Hard to put a number’ on people targeted by Coalition’s new immigration policy: Duniam

    ‘Hard to put a number’ on people targeted by Coalition’s new immigration policy: Duniam

    Australia’s federal political landscape has been roiled this week by a heated debate over the opposition Coalition’s hardline new migration proposal, after the party’s senior home affairs spokesman declined to provide clear, concrete figures for how many people could face deportation or visa cancellation if the party wins the next national election. The plan, dubbed the Australian Values Migration Plan, was unveiled earlier this week by Opposition Leader Angus Taylor during an address at the Menzies Research Centre. Taylor framed the policy as a bold intervention to fix what he calls a broken immigration system, centering it on stricter checks for prospective migrants and a crackdown on people the party describes as threats to national social cohesion.

    In his launch speech, Taylor argued that migrants coming from established liberal democracies are far more likely to embrace what the Coalition terms “Australian values” than those arriving from nations governed by extremist groups, religious fundamentalists, or authoritarian regimes. The policy outlines two key changes: an expansion of social media background checks for all visa applicants, and the creation of a dedicated inter-agency task force that would coordinate with Australia’s leading national security and border agencies – including the Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation, Australian Federal Police, Australian Border Force, and the Department of Home Affairs – to remove migrants who have overstayed their visas or are found to violate the policy’s values requirements.

    When pressed on Sunday by journalists to outline the expected scale of deportations under the new plan, opposition home affairs spokesman Jonno Duniam repeatedly conceded that producing a specific numerical target was not feasible. “It is very hard to put a number on these things, because there are global events shifting migration patterns constantly,” Duniam told Sky News’ *Sunday Agenda*. “Conflicts in different regions of the world change how many people move, so we can’t lock in a fixed figure. If we do our job correctly and stop people who pose a risk from entering the country in the first place, the number of people we have to deport after arrival should be minimal anyway.”

    Duniam pushed back against widespread criticism that the proposal duplicates existing immigration rules, noting that all visa applicants are currently required to sign the Australian Values Statement, but arguing that the current framework lacks enforceability. Under the Coalition’s plan, the Migration Act would be amended to embed a legally binding values test as a formal condition of all visa grants, giving authorities clearer power to reject or revoke visas for people who fail to meet the standard.

    The policy has already sparked fierce backlash across Australia’s human rights and refugee advocacy sectors, with major groups including Amnesty International, the Refugee Council of Australia, and the Asylum Seekers’ Resource Centre all issuing scathing condemnations. Critics have widely labeled Taylor’s rhetoric as deliberately divisive, accusing the Coalition of stigmatizing and demonizing migrants from non-Western backgrounds to court political support. Sitting Labor government officials have echoed this criticism: Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke has challenged the Coalition to provide even one example of a case where existing ministerial powers would not already allow a visa to be refused or cancelled for the kind of high-risk individuals the party says it is targeting.

    Duniam dismissed this widespread criticism, telling reporters that critics would always oppose changes to immigration policy regardless of their content. “Critics will always criticise, won’t they? Or else they wouldn’t have much to say,” he said, adding that the Coalition would commit sufficient resources to the relevant enforcement agencies to root out potential risks before migrants enter Australia, and rapidly deport any high-risk individuals who do manage to arrive despite screening.

  • Labor claims victory in Liverpool by-election after Liberal challenger concedes defeat

    Labor claims victory in Liverpool by-election after Liberal challenger concedes defeat

    A closely contested by-election for a seat on Liverpool City Council’s South Ward has ended in a victory for the Australian Labor Party, after Liberal candidate Azam Dabbagh conceded defeat earlier than formally expected despite thousands of outstanding votes still left to count.

    The by-election was triggered last month following the resignation of sitting Labor councillor Betty Green, forcing voters back to the polls on Saturday to elect her replacement. Eleven candidates total stood for the vacant seat: eight independent contenders, one representative from the Community Voice of Australia, and one candidate each from the state’s major Labor and Liberal parties.

    By Saturday evening, election officials from the New South Wales Electoral Commission had counted nearly 49,000 ballots: more than 44,000 in-person votes cast on election day, alongside roughly 4,800 returned postal votes. The partial count put Labor’s candidate Zeli Munjiza ahead of Dabbagh by a margin of more than 6,000 votes, giving her 37.2% of the counted first-preference votes compared to Dabbagh’s 20.7%.

    Shortly after the partial results were released, Dabbagh took to his public Facebook page Saturday night to confirm he had contacted Munjiza to formally concede the race. “I’ve called Zeli and I’ve congratulated her. I’ve conceded so congratulations Zeli,” he wrote in the post. “It was an awesome experience and it was lovely meeting you and your family. It was a pretty short experience – it’s two weeks to organise all this so thanks to all the supporters. Liverpool, I just want to say thank you for all your support.”

    While the official final result will not be confirmed until counting wraps up next week, the projected outcome delivers a major political blow to Liverpool’s Liberal mayor Ned Mannoun, who openly endorsed Dabbagh’s candidacy. Currently, the Liberal Party holds five of the 11 total seats on the council, while Labor holds four and the remaining two are held by independents. Munjiza’s win will bring Labor’s seat count up to five, tightening the already competitive split of power on the local governing body.

    Responding to the concession, Munjiza shared her own victory post on social media, noting that both Dabbagh and Mannoun had reached out to congratulate her campaign. “It’s a win that belongs to all of us,” she wrote. “Now the real work begins! I’m excited to join my Liverpool Labor colleagues on Council where we will work together every day for you.”

  • Blues clues: James Tedesco dominates as Roosters veteran mounts his case for an Origin recall

    Blues clues: James Tedesco dominates as Roosters veteran mounts his case for an Origin recall

    With just four weeks remaining until the New South Wales Blues name their starting 13 for the 2026 State of Origin opening clash, veteran fullback James Tedesco delivered a career-defining performance on Sunday that has thrown his name back into contention for the coveted number 1 jersey, powering the Sydney Roosters to a thrilling 38-24 comeback victory over the Newcastle Knights at Allianz Stadium.

    The former NSW captain entered the weekend avoiding questions about his Origin selection hopes, but his masterclass on the pitch sent an unmistakable message to Blues coach Laurie Daley just when selection conversations are heating up. Against the Knights, Tedesco put up stat lines that rarely appear outside of video game simulations: 24 carries for 223 running metres, 17 broken tackles, one individual try, three try assists, and three line breaks. The standout, all-around performance ranks among the most impressive individual displays of the entire 2026 NRL season.

    Tedesco’s standout showing comes at a pivotal moment, as Dylan Edwards has long been framed as the presumptive starter at fullback for the Blues. The last time Tedesco wore the NSW fullback jersey was 2024, when he stepped into the role after Edwards was sidelined by an injury. On Sunday, he proved he still has the speed, power, and playmaking ability to compete at the highest representative level, dominating the second half to flip the game on its head after the Roosters got off to a sluggish start.

    His influence on the try sheet was undeniable: he threw the final pass for the Roosters’ opening four-pointer, put a pinpoint grubber kick through for winger Hugo Savala to score his first try of the afternoon, crashed through the Knights’ defensive line to score a try of his own, and flicked a deft offload to set up another score off a well-drilled scrum move. Throughout his representative career, Tedesco has never let the Blues down, leaving Daley with a difficult selection call that pits a proven veteran in red-hot form against the competition’s current favourite for the role.

    While Tedesco stole the headlines, Newcastle young gun Fletcher Hunt turned in a breakout first-half performance that nearly secured a massive upset for the away side. Making his first start after recovering from a season-opening knee injury, the 22-year-old left centre scored a first-half hat-trick and pulled off two game-changing try-saving tackles to keep the Knights in the driver’s seat at halftime. Hunt crossed for his first try in the ninth minute, reeled in a spectacular airborne catch off a Dylan Brown kick to put the Knights up 12-6 midway through the half, then finished off a break from late inclusion Francis Manuleleua to complete his three-try opening 40. Late in the half, he came up with huge stops on both Mark Nawaqanitawase and Siua Wong to send Newcastle into the break with a 24-12 lead.

    However, the Knights could not carry their momentum into the second half, barely registering an attacking opportunity as the Roosters seized complete control of the match. The result means Newcastle coach Justin Holbrook and key former Roosters players Sandon Smith and Dom Young missed out on a fairytale win over their old club.

    For the Roosters, Hugo Savala also turned in a standout performance in his new role at left centre, a position he shifted to after the club signed star halfback Daly Cherry-Evans in the off-season, which had sparked widespread speculation about Savala’s future at the club. The towering playmaker proved he has settled comfortably into his new spot, scoring a try in each half. His first came off a Sam Walker kick that Daniel Tupou knocked back into his path for an easy walk-over score, and he proved far more than a stationary edge player, roaming across the pitch to create overlaps that kept the Knights’ defence scrambling all afternoon.

  • Australia has not been asked, formally or informally, to aid US Hormuz efforts: Conroy

    Australia has not been asked, formally or informally, to aid US Hormuz efforts: Conroy

    A sharp public disagreement has erupted between former U.S. President Donald Trump and Australia’s federal government over claims of an unmet request for military support in the strategically critical Strait of Hormuz, a dispute unfolding against a backdrop of renewed regional tension after Iran reimposed shipping restrictions on the key global energy waterway.

    Trump has repeatedly targeted Australia in public criticism since recent joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran, launching his fourth public rebuke of the country this week during a press briefing. The former president told reporters he was deeply dissatisfied with Australia’s refusal to join a U.S.-led naval coalition in the Strait of Hormuz, saying, “I’m not happy with Australia because they were not there when we asked them to be there. They were not there, having to do with Hormuz. So I’m not happy, I’m not happy with them.”

    This public callout follows an earlier inconsistent outburst on Truth Social, where Trump first claimed the U.S. had achieved such overwhelming military success that it no longer needed or wanted assistance from allied nations, even writing “WE NEVER DID!” before singling out Australia, South Korea, and Japan for their reluctance to back U.S. military actions. He had previously told reporters he was caught off guard by Australia’s unwillingness to join the effort.

    But top Australian government officials have pushed back forcefully against Trump’s claims, uniformly denying that any request for naval support in the Strait of Hormuz — either formal or informal — has ever been received from Washington. Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy reiterated this position during an appearance on Sky News’ *Sunday Agenda*, declining to engage further with Trump’s personal criticism but confirming that no ask for naval assets has been made. “What I can say to you and your viewers is we’ve had no formal request to provide naval assets to the Strait of Hormuz,” Conroy stated Sunday.

    According to Conroy, the only recent military assistance request from the U.S. was for Australia to deploy an E7A Wedgetail airborne early warning and control aircraft to provide defensive support to the United Arab Emirates, a request that was also made directly by the UAE government itself. When pressed to confirm whether any informal request for Strait of Hormuz support had been extended by U.S. officials, Conroy responded, “Not to my knowledge.”

    Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has previously echoed this denial, noting that the Australian government maintains regular, open communication with U.S. counterparts and that no request for coalition participation has been raised.

    The political dispute comes as regional tensions flared again overnight, when Iran announced it would reimpose shipping restrictions on the Strait of Hormuz — just less than 24 hours after the waterway was reopened to commercial traffic. Iranian officials cited “repeated breaches of trust” by the U.S. during a recent temporary ceasefire, and demanded that Washington lift its ongoing blockade of Iranian ports and its coastline. The closure of the strait, which handles roughly a fifth of global oil supplies, has already triggered disruption to international energy markets.

    Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles described Iran’s decision to reclose the strait as a “disappointing development” in comments to ABC’s *Insiders*. “Clearly, this is a situation which is in flux … I think what we need to see now is every diplomatic avenue being pursued to turn this temporary ceasefire into one that is permanent, open the Strait of Hormuz to return the global fuel supply chain to normality, and to put events on a pathway to peace,” Marles said. He added that de-escalation and reopening the strait aligns with both Australia’s national interests and the broader interests of the global community.

    Marles declined to comment on Australia’s position regarding the U.S. blockade of Iran, saying only that “Iran blocked the Strait of Hormuz, and America has reacted. I’m not about to second guess America’s reaction in the context of that.”

    The story remains developing as diplomatic efforts continue to address the regional crisis.

  • Harry and Meghan’s trip felt like a royal tour – except many Aussies weren’t interested

    Harry and Meghan’s trip felt like a royal tour – except many Aussies weren’t interested

    After four days of tightly curated engagements mixing charity work, cultural outreach and private commercial ventures, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have concluded their first private visit to Australia’s east coast, a trip that stands in stark contrast to their high-profile 2018 royal tour when the pair still served as working members of the British monarchy.

    In 2018, a nine-day cross-country official tour drew tens of thousands of well-wishers lining streets across the nation. This time around, as private citizens, the tour followed a far quieter script: most Australians surveyed by the BBC said they had little to no awareness of the visit, and public turnout for unscripted public appearances remained minimal. Despite its low profile, the trip has sparked heated debate over two key issues: potential taxpayer-funded security costs for the couple’s public events, and the blurred line between charitable outreach and commercial money-making activities amid Australia’s ongoing cost-of-living crisis.

    The itinerary echoed the structure of traditional royal tours, with stops to engage with Indigenous Australian communities, honor fallen service members at the Australian National War Memorial, celebrate national sporting culture, and advance the couple’s longstanding focus on mental health advocacy. Unlike official royal tours, every engagement was planned and executed by the Sussexes’ private team, with a deliberate focus on controlled, low-risk encounters to avoid public backlash or confrontation.

    Giselle Bastin, an associate professor at Flinders University specializing in Australian-monarchy relations, noted the tour’s carefully curated format was designed to minimize negative pushback. “They didn’t organize large, publicly advertised walkabouts where crowds could turn out to see them, so they’ve managed to cut down the risk of negative reactions, heckling or booing,” Bastin explained. “It’s been very carefully controlled, with spontaneous-seeming appearances at pre-vetted locations.”

    Even with the controlled structure, the pair displayed their characteristic warmth in small, personal interactions that aligned with their public brand. The BBC witnessed multiple warm encounters, including a meeting at the Sydney Opera House between Prince Harry and Michelle Haywood, daughter of Daphne Dunne — a 99-year-old war widow and long-time royal acquaintance who died in 2019. Haywood had waited days to present Harry with a vintage photo of her mother posing with him in army fatigues from a 2015 visit. “He just said, ‘Oh my gosh’ and then he gave me a big hug,” Haywood recalled. “He went through every time he’d met her, and even remembered the meeting where it was pouring rain. He remembered it perfectly.”

    Meghan similarly connected with attendees at multiple stops: she listened compassionately to survivors of the 2024 Bondi Beach attack, and chatted with a young boy about her children’s love of the popular Australian children’s book *Diary of a Wombat*. A review of daily press releases from the Sussexes’ media team found the word “connection” was used 30 times across post-day briefings, while “community” appeared 21 times and “wellbeing” eight times. Notably, the word “royal” only appeared once — in the official name of the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne, which the couple visited at the start of the tour.

    Mental health advocacy formed a core pillar of the public agenda, including a roundtable with young people focused on the harms of online bullying. During that discussion, Meghan opened up about her decade-long experience as what she called “the most trolled person in the world,” sharing personal stories of persistent online harassment and abuse.

    The couple’s 8.7 million-follower @sussexroyal Instagram platform remains a major asset, and the tour comes as the pair actively pursue new commercial opportunities following the end of their high-profile content deals with Spotify and Netflix. This shift to independent income has left the public with little clarity around which engagements are charitable and which are paid commercial appearances.

    Prince Harry headlined a high-profile mental health summit where he spoke candidly about grieving his mother Princess Diana while serving as a working royal. While tickets were heavily discounted, they still cost nearly AU$1,000 per person. Organizers repeatedly declined to confirm whether Harry received a speaking fee, only noting that all ticket proceeds were donated to Australian mental health charity Lifeline. Meghan did confirm a paid appearance at an exclusive, women-only luxury retreat, where VIP entry cost AU$3,199 per person. She also publicly announced her investment in OneOff, an artificial intelligence fashion platform that curates celebrity-inspired style recommendations, with creators and celebrity investors earning a small commission on sales generated through their profiles. The Duchess’s profile already features clothing she wore during the Australian tour.

    Compared to the 76 engagements the couple completed across 16 days of the 2018 tour (which also included stops in New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga), this four-day visit had significant gaps in the public schedule. Most notably, Meghan had no public appearances on the Wednesday of the tour, and it was later revealed she had been filming a guest spot on *MasterChef Australia*. It is understood she received no payment for the appearance, though she has a food-focused lifestyle brand, As Ever, which holds Australian trademarks for a range of products including cookware and table linens.

    The only mention of commercial activity on the tour came in a footnote of a five-page pre-tour briefing, which stated: “As with many visits of this nature, a small number of private engagements are included to support broader commercial, charitable, and community objectives.” As private citizens, the couple are under no legal obligation to disclose earnings or publicize every private engagement.

    Critics have argued the commercial focus of the trip is out of step with Australia’s current economic struggles. Bastin described many of the commercial ventures as “tone deaf in a cost-of-living crisis,” while a Sydney Morning Herald columnist wrote that “Australia was good to Harry and Meghan. Now they want to use us as an ATM.”

    Supporters push back against that framing, however. Michael Hartung, chief executive of Invictus Australia, the national arm of Harry’s Invictus Games for wounded and ill veterans, said the criticism overlooks the tangible positive impact of the couple’s charitable work. “A lot of criticism is thrown their way, but what we’ve seen this past week is they do an enormous amount for charity and for organisations like ours,” Hartung told the BBC. “Their presence here has moved our work years forward, something that would have taken us countless hours of outreach and effort to achieve on our own. It really does make a difference.”

    Fans who met the couple during the tour echoed that sentiment, noting the pair are entitled to earn a living as private citizens. “They’ve chosen their path in life and if that’s their brand and they need to make a living and do it how they wish, they should be allowed to do so,” said Lisa Perry, a Sydney visitor who got a selfie with the couple. Vida Benic, who met the pair in Melbourne, said she avoided negativity around the visit. “They’re welcome to come here any time. Our big Australian arms and hearts are fully open to them – and to their children hopefully one day.”

  • Man Utd beat Chelsea as Spurs stunned by Brighton equaliser

    Man Utd beat Chelsea as Spurs stunned by Brighton equaliser

    The 2024-25 English Premier League matchday delivered a collection of dramatic twists and pivotal results that reshaped the fight for Champions League qualification and the battle for top-flight survival on Saturday. The most high-stakes outcome came at Stamford Bridge, where Manchester United edged out Chelsea 1-0 to put themselves firmly on course for a return to Europe’s elite club competition after two seasons outside the top four.

    Matheus Cunha scored the match’s only goal just before halftime, sweeping a clinical finish past Chelsea’s goalkeeper from Bruno Fernandes’ precise cross. The result leaves United third in the table, 10 points clear of sixth-placed Chelsea, whose own Champions League aspirations are now effectively ended after a fourth consecutive league defeat. Pochettino’s side were unable to capitalise on a United defensive unit depleted by a string of injuries and suspensions, wasting multiple chances to get back on level terms. For United, a remarkable turnaround under interim manager Michael Carrick has put a return to the Champions League within touching distance, with the club set to bank hundreds of millions in prize money and commercial revenue should they hold their position in the final weeks of the season.

    At the other end of the table, Tottenham Hotspur suffered another gut-wrenching setback in their fight to avoid relegation, blowing a two-goal advantage twice to concede a 2-2 draw at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium against Brighton & Hove Albion. The result leaves Spurs still stuck in the relegation zone, one point behind 17th-placed West Ham United, who hold a game in hand that will see them extend their advantage if they pick up three points against Crystal Palace on Monday. A win for Tottenham would have broken a 14-match winless run in the league for the north London side, and looked increasingly likely after Xavi Simons scored a stunning long-range strike with 13 minutes remaining to restore their lead. But five minutes into second-half stoppage time, Georginio Rutter blasted home a squared pass from Jan Paul van Hecke, who outmuscled defender Kevin Danso to create the equaliser. The late blow leaves Tottenham on the cusp of dropping out of the top flight for the first time in nearly 50 years, but new interim manager Roberto De Zerbi, in his first home match in charge, remained defiant after the final whistle. “Everyone of us knows it’s a tough moment, it’s a difficult situation, but we have another five games, 15 points,” De Zerbi told reporters. “And this team is able to win five games in a row.”

    Brighton’s late equaliser had an unexpected knock-on effect for Wolverhampton Wanderers, who avoided official relegation on Saturday despite a 3-0 heavy defeat to Leeds United at Elland Road. Wolves’ eight-year run in the Premier League is still all but certain to end this season, but the draw at Tottenham delayed the confirmation of their drop to the Championship. For Leeds, the result is near enough enough to secure their top-flight survival in their first season back after promotion, compounding Wolves’ misery. Fresh off their first away win against Manchester United at Old Trafford since 1981 the previous week, Leeds got two goals in two first-half minutes from James Justin and Noah Okafor to take full control, before a stoppage-time penalty from Dominic Calvert-Lewin rounded off the scoring.

    Leeds’ successful survival bid bucks a recent Premier League trend that has seen all three newly promoted clubs relegated straight back to the Championship in each of the last two seasons. Daniel Farke’s side have not only secured their long-term future in the top flight, but also have a chance to reach their first FA Cup final since 1973 when they face Chelsea in the semi-final next weekend. Fellow promoted side Sunderland have also impressed this season, putting in a far stronger campaign than most pre-season predictions expected.

    Elsewhere, Eddie Howe’s position as Newcastle United manager came under further pressure after Bournemouth secured a 2-1 win at St James’ Park, extending the Cherries’ unbeaten Premier League run to 13 matches. The result came despite confirmation earlier this week that Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola will leave the club at the end of the season. Goals from Marcus Tavernier and Adrien Truffert earned the south coast side all three points, lifting Bournemouth to eighth in the table, just four points adrift of the top four Champions League places. Newcastle, by contrast, remain stuck in 14th place, with their own hopes of qualifying for European football next season all but over.

    In west London’s local derby, Brentford missed a golden chance to jump above Chelsea into the top six after being held to a goalless draw by Fulham at Craven Cottage. All eyes now turn to Sunday’s title decider, where league leaders Arsenal travel to the Etihad Stadium to face second-placed Manchester City. Mikel Arteta’s side hold a six-point lead at the top of the table, but City hold a game in hand and home advantage, meaning the clash could effectively decide who lifts the Premier League trophy at the end of the campaign.

  • Pope arrives in Angola on Africa tour overshadowed by Trump

    Pope arrives in Angola on Africa tour overshadowed by Trump

    Pope Leo XIV touched down in Angola on Saturday, kicking off the third stop of his 11-day four-nation African pilgrimage, even as he expressed regret that the entire trip has been overshadowed by a public verbal dispute with former U.S. President Donald Trump. After arriving in the coastal nation’s capital of Luanda, the pontiff made his way through cheering crowds lining motorcade routes in his popemobile for a scheduled meeting with Angolan President Joao Lourenco, following a concluding open-air mass that wrapped up his previous stop in Cameroon.

    Speaking to reporters aboard his flight from Cameroon to Angola, Pope Leo pushed back against widespread media narratives that framed a recent speech he delivered as a deliberate jab at Trump. During an address in Cameroon’s restive northwestern city of Bameroon, the epicenter of a 10-year separatist insurgency that has claimed thousands of lives, the pontiff condemned authoritarian tyrants for laying waste to global order. U.S. media outlets widely interpreted the remarks as a direct response to earlier criticism of the pope from Trump, but Pope Leo clarified that the full text of his speech was finalized long before Trump launched his public critique.

    “There’s been a certain narrative that has not been accurate in all of its aspects,” the pope told reporters. “And yet it was perceived as if I were trying to start a new debate with the president, which doesn’t interest me at all.” The dispute traces back to April 12, when Trump stated publicly that he was “not a big fan of Pope Leo,” and accused the American-born pontiff of recklessly engaging with Iran as the country pursues nuclear development capabilities. Pope Leo emphasized Saturday that he has no intention of engaging in a public back-and-forth with the U.S. political figure, noting that the focus of his African tour is meant to center on the challenges and needs of the continent, not transatlantic political sparring.

    Beyond the unwanted controversy, Pope Leo has used his tour, which launched in Algeria earlier this month, to deliver sharp warnings on a range of pressing global and regional issues: endemic corruption on the African continent, the systematic plunder of African natural resources by foreign and domestic actors, and the unregulated risks posed by rapid artificial intelligence development. In his opening address to Angolan government officials Saturday, the pontiff doubled down on these themes, condemning the destructive “logic of exploitation” that has created widespread social and environmental harm across the resource-rich nation.

    Angola ranks among Africa’s top crude oil exporters and holds vast reserves of diamonds and other minerals, but decades of extractive economic policy have left the country with crippling systemic inequality. World Bank data shows that roughly one-third of Angola’s 36.6 million residents, a majority of whom are young people, live below the $2.15-per-day international poverty line, with little of the nation’s natural resource wealth trickling down to working-class and low-income communities. Pope Leo also used his address to urge Angolan authorities to embrace open discourse, telling officials they “should not be afraid of dissent.”

    Lourenco’s socialist MPLA party has governed Angola continuously since the nation gained independence from Portugal in 1975, and human rights groups have repeatedly criticized the government for cracking down on freedom of expression, including harsh responses to peaceful public demonstrations. Last July, a three-day wave of looting and unrest broke out amid a national strike over fuel price hikes; roughly 30 people were killed in a subsequent police crackdown that drew widespread international condemnation, with hundreds of protestors arrested and jailed.

    For many of the hundreds of Angolans who lined the motorcade route Saturday, the papal visit carries personal significance: roughly 44% of Angola’s population identifies as Catholic, making the nation one of the largest Catholic-majority states in southern Africa. Pope Leo is only the third sitting pontiff to visit the country, following trips by John Paul II in 1992 and Benedict XVI in 2009. “There is a lot of suffering, a lot of poverty in Angola. I hope the pope will see with his own eyes the needs of the youth here,” said 33-year-old Luanda-based engineer Antonio Masaidi ahead of the visit.

    Looking ahead, Pope Leo is scheduled to lead a large open-air mass on Sunday in the Kilamba suburb of Luanda, before traveling by helicopter to the historic village of Muxima, a key Catholic pilgrimage site home to a 16th-century century church located roughly 130 kilometers southeast of the capital. On April 20, the pontiff will journey more than 800 kilometers from Luanda to Saurimo, where he will visit a local retirement home and celebrate a second mass before departing the next morning for the fourth and final stop of his African tour in Equatorial Guinea.

  • China sex toy makers cautiously embrace AI wave

    China sex toy makers cautiously embrace AI wave

    At a recent adult product exhibition held in Shanghai, attendees were captivated by a new wave of AI-integrated intimate wellness products, as China’s leading sex toy manufacturers begin to tap into the global artificial intelligence boom. As the world’s largest manufacturing hub for adult products, China’s tech-driven innovation has already reshaped countless other industries, and the intimate wellness sector is now starting to explore AI’s transformative potential — though many players are moving cautiously to avoid running afoul of existing regulatory frameworks.

    During a visit to the exhibition by AFP on Friday, a clear divide in approach emerged among participating companies. While some firms were eager to showcase their AI-enhanced offerings, others openly acknowledged wariness over the legal and privacy risks associated with machine-generated sexual content.

    Across the sprawling exhibition floor, banners advertised Guangzhou-based firm Luvmazer’s “AI character dating” app, which syncs conversational interactions with virtual partners to real-time pulse adjustments on connected vibrators, with marketing copy promising responsive, immersive experiences that “leave you trembling with one sentence.” At the Cydoll exhibition booth, a life-sized cyberpunk-themed silicone doll with adjustable metal joints was displayed as a working prototype. According to factory manager Zhou Yuanqing, the prototype is engineered to deliver natural conversational responses and simulate authentic emotional expression, filling a growing demand for companionship amid shifting social habits. “Nowadays, many people don’t go out to socialize or meet friends anymore, they’d rather stay home alone playing games on their phones or computers,” Zhou explained to AFP. “But that doesn’t mean they don’t still need connection and companionship.”

    Several other manufacturers showcased AI-powered tools that use machine learning to analyze adult video content, translating on-screen action into dynamic adjustments to device pressure, vibration speed, and pulse patterns — a feature that was little more than a niche novelty just a few years ago. “Almost every brand offers video syncing now,” noted an employee at Amorlink, a leading teledildonics brand that showcased its new connected vacuum cups built with high-performance processing chips at the event. Domestic condom giant Jissbon exhibited a two-in-one suction vibrator equipped with equally impressive AI features: long-distance remote control access, a library of customizable virtual “boyfriend” personas, and the ability to match vibration frequency and intensity to surrounding environmental noise.

    Beyond consumer-facing products, some companies are also developing AI tools for back-end operations, offering AI-powered customer service agents for marketing and running offline adult retail stores, while others provide custom development solutions for brands looking to build their own smart intimate products. A promotional poster for Hong Kong-based firm metaXsire, which did not have a physical booth at the exhibition, advertised an AI-powered adult image and video generator capable of generating sexually explicit dialogue in over 80 languages. The company’s website claims its tool can swap the faces of celebrities or personal contacts onto pornographic video content, which can then be synced to connected smart toys. While the app’s terms of service prohibit users from leveraging the deepfake feature to shame or harass others, it provides no clear details on how the company will verify consent for the faces used in generated content.

    Despite the rush to innovate, many exhibitors emphasized that caution remains the watchword for integrating AI with adult content, particularly given China’s strict regulatory landscape around explicit material. Pornography is technically illegal in mainland China, and most international adult video platforms are blocked by the country’s national internet firewall, only accessible via unauthorized virtual private network services. For many manufacturers, this regulatory environment means balancing innovation with risk mitigation.

    Sam Xie, founder of Shanghai-based adult toy manufacturer Magic Motion, said his company’s products are compatible with third-party AI agents, but the firm carefully vets all software development partners to avoid compliance issues. “We have to be extremely careful, otherwise we can face all kinds of problems, even getting reported by consumers,” Xie told AFP.

    For China’s $XX billion sex toy industry, the integration of AI represents both a major market opportunity and a complex regulatory balancing act, as manufacturers work to bring cutting-edge smart products to both domestic and global consumers while navigating uncertain legal terrain around AI-generated explicit content and user privacy.