Global Pulse

标签： Oceania

大洋洲

  • ’20 minutes of terror’: AI boosts US voice impersonation scams

    ’20 minutes of terror’: AI boosts US voice impersonation scams

    Across the United States, a new wave of devastating cyber fraud is taking hold, powered by rapidly advancing artificial intelligence that can replicate a human’s voice with unsettling, near-perfect accuracy. For victims like Buffalo, New York, resident Liz Benz, the experience remains traumatic even after the scam is exposed.

    Benz, a 46-year-old insurance broker and mother of six, still remembers the gut punch of answering an unknown number one afternoon. On the line was a voice that was undeniably her 16-year-old son Fred, crying and shaken, begging for help. The caller told Benz that Fred’s friend had been shot dead, and Fred, who was attending a local high school football game, was being held hostage. To secure his release, Benz was ordered to withdraw a large sum of cash and drop it off at a nearby Walmart parking lot.

    For 20 gut-wrenching minutes, Benz believed her son’s life was in danger. It was only when Fred sent a smiling selfie from the stands of the game that she realized she had fallen victim to an elaborate AI-powered scam. “Nothing could have prepared me to hear my son’s voice, and nothing could have convinced me that this was a scam until I saw my son with my own eyes,” Benz told AFP in an interview, her voice still shaking with the memory of the ordeal. “It was a good 20 minutes of terror.”

    Benz is far from alone. As accessible AI voice cloning tools have become widely available online, U.S. law enforcement and consumer protection advocates are sounding the alarm over a sharp rise in family impersonation scams that exploit emotional panic to steal thousands of dollars from victims. According to Federal Bureau of Investigation data released in April, U.S. consumers lost more than $893 million last year to AI-enabled fraud schemes, including voice cloning scams.

    What makes this threat particularly widespread is how easy it has become for even inexperienced cybercriminals to carry out these attacks. A simple internet search pulls up dozens of free voice cloning applications that can generate a hyper-realistic replica of a person’s voice using just a few seconds of original audio, which scammers can easily harvest from public social media posts, voicemail recordings, or online videos.

    “It used to be somewhat hard to make these things. Now anyone can do it in seconds,” explained Brian Long, chief executive of Adaptive Security, a firm that specializes in AI fraud awareness training. “One guy in a room with a keyboard can make an infinite number of attackers. AI tools can build entire scam scripts off of short snippets of audio captured from public online content.”

    The standard scam script follows a predictable, emotionally manipulative pattern: scammers place an urgent call claiming the target’s loved one has been arrested, injured in a car crash, or involved in a violent crime, and demands immediate payment to resolve the situation. To add credibility, scammers often layer in additional AI-generated voices impersonating police officers, attorneys, court clerks, or bank employees, creating a chaotic narrative that pushes victims to act before they can verify the story.

    Cybersecurity experts note that scammers do not even need a perfectly replicated voice to succeed. A convincing distressed voice that triggers an immediate emotional reaction is often enough to bypass a victim’s critical thinking. “A distressed voice saying ‘mom, help me’ or ‘dad, I’ve been in an accident’ may only need to sound believable for a few seconds,” said Amit Gupta, vice president of product management at cybersecurity firm Pindrop. “The objective is not perfect voice replication. The objective is creating enough emotional uncertainty and urgency that the victim acts before verifying.”

    Since Benz went public with her story, she has received hundreds of messages from other scam victims, most of whom choose to remain anonymous out of feelings of shame and embarrassment. Vulnerable populations, particularly elderly Americans, are disproportionately targeted in what have become known as “grandparent scams”, where scammers impersonate a grandchild in crisis.

    FBI data shows that Americans over the age of 60 reported more than $7.7 billion in total fraud losses last year, a significant jump from 2023. For 73-year-old Philadelphia attorney Gary Schildhorn, who fell victim to a similar scam in 2020, the experience was equally shocking. Schildhorn received a call from an AI-generated voice impersonating his son Brett, who claimed he needed immediate bail money after a drunk driving arrest. Schildhorn rushed to his bank to withdraw the funds, only to get a call from his real son mid-transaction, alerting him to the scam.

    “I will go to my grave swearing that it was your voice, it was your cadence, it was words you would use. There was no accent. It was you on the phone,” Schildhorn told AFP, recalling his conversation with his son after the incident. Like Benz, Schildhorn now partners with Adaptive Security to raise public awareness of the growing AI scam threat, and testified before the U.S. Senate in 2023 about his experience to push for stronger consumer protections.

  • Scotland’s Tartan Army to bring ‘the party’ on World Cup return

    Scotland’s Tartan Army to bring ‘the party’ on World Cup return

    For nearly three decades, the iconic chant “No Scotland, no party” has been confined to qualifying campaigns and domestic matches — but this year, the world’s most beloved traveling fanbase is finally bringing its legendary energy back to the World Cup. After 28 years of heartbreak and near misses, Scotland’s men’s national team has secured its spot at the 2026 tournament in North America, marking the nation’s first appearance at the global event since the 1998 finals in France. And while fans are eager to see their team compete on the biggest stage, the Tartan Army itself is already gearing up to steal the show, as it has done at every major tournament it has attended.

    Scotland’s national team has long been defined by a curious legacy: the Tartan Army’s reputation for creating unforgettable, vibrant atmospheres far outshines the team’s on-pitch tournament record. Across 12 previous attempts to progress past the group stage at both World Cups and European Championships, Scotland has never advanced to the knockout rounds. Even at Euro 2024 in Germany, where the side failed to secure a single win, an estimated 200,000 Scottish supporters won global acclaim for their relentless passion, infectious enthusiasm, and ability to turn every matchday into a celebration.

    This time around, tens of thousands of fans are planning to defy soaring costs to travel to host cities Boston and Miami for Scotland’s group stage matches. For long-suffering supporters like 50-year-old Niall Fitzgerald, who spoke to AFP outside Glasgow’s Hampden Park following a recent friendly win over Curacao, the moment feels almost surreal. “If you would have told me 28 years ago that we wouldn’t see another World Cup until now I would’ve burst into tears to be honest,” Fitzgerald explained, dressed in a traditional tartan kilt and a signature Stetson cowboy hat. “But now that I’m going I can barely believe it. Every day I think about nothing else. I’m beyond excited.”

    Scotland’s qualification was sealed with a dramatic 4-2 victory over Denmark, a match that has already entered Scottish football folklore. Midfielder Scott McTominay’s stunning overhead kick to seal the win has been immortalized in a giant mural outside Hampden Park, and even featured on a limited-edition £20 banknote — a testament to how much this milestone means to the nation.

    For the travelling Tartan Army, the campaign gets underway against Caribbean minnows Haiti, a fixture that offers a rare chance to kick off the tournament with a win, breaking a decades-long streak of early tournament exits. But the challenge will ramp up quickly after the opener: Scotland is drawn against 2022 World Cup semi-finalists Morocco and five-time tournament champions Brazil, a tough group that has tempered expectations of a deep run for the side. Still, fans say the on-pitch result is secondary to the experience of bringing the Tartan Army’s carnival atmosphere back to the world’s biggest sporting event. “I think they’ll probably bring a lot of drinking, partying. I think they’ll be some of the best fans there,” said supporter Ivor Much. “I think it’s a perfect match to have Brazil and Scotland together.”

    Not all fans have been able to join the trip, however. The unbridled joy of qualification has been dimmed by the exorbitant cost of attending the tournament in North America, with sky-high prices for match tickets, transatlantic travel, and accommodation pricing out many working-class supporters. Scotland manager Steve Clarke even publicly urged fans to avoid taking on crippling debt just to follow the team. Category-one tickets for the high-profile group stage clash with Brazil are priced at $700 face value, with resale tickets on secondary markets hitting thousands of dollars.

    The cost crisis has left many long-time fans making alternative plans. Steven Webster, a 49-year-old supporter who has not missed a Scotland home match since the end of COVID-19 lockdowns, is one of hundreds heading to southern Spain instead, where fans will gather to watch matches on big screens in bars and still celebrate the occasion together. He points to a banner displayed by Polish fans at a recent tournament that sums up the current state of ticket pricing: “Stolen from the poor, given to the rich.” “The cost of going to America for the games, we could have bought a brand new car for the same sort of money,” Webster said. Though he is excited for the team’s achievement, he admitted he is struggling with fear of missing out on the action in North America.

    Yet for the thousands of fans lucky enough to make the trip across the Atlantic, the party is already gearing up to begin. Even with widespread criticism of price gouging across the tournament, nothing can dampen the enthusiasm of the Tartan Army after 28 years of waiting. “Everybody has got their hand out in this World Cup and it’s been a bit of a shame. But that said nothing would deter us from being there, whatever the cost,” Fitzgerald said. “Everybody loves the Tartan Army. Even if they’ve never met the Tartan Army, they never want them to leave, and they want them to come back again and again. That’s what we are taking to the World Cup — the party!”

  • Turkey raps Kanye West for offending ‘spiritual sensitivities’

    Turkey raps Kanye West for offending ‘spiritual sensitivities’

    Controversial American rapper Kanye West has once again found himself at the center of global criticism, this time from Turkish officials who have publicly denounced his recent sold-out weekend performance in Istanbul, which drew nearly 120,000 attending fans. Unlike multiple European nations that have blocked West’s tour stops over well-documented antisemitic and pro-Nazi remarks, Turkey’s objections center on claims that the show included content that violates the country’s deeply held spiritual and cultural values.

    In an official statement posted to the social platform X, Oktay Saral, senior chief advisor to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, outlined the government’s concerns, noting that the performance featured rhetoric and symbolic imagery that directly clash with Turkey’s national faith and foundational civilizational principles. Saral highlighted one particularly alarming moment: the crowd of tens of thousands of concertgoers enthusiastically chanting lyrics from West’s 2013 track “I Am a God,” a moment he described as a serious issue requiring immediate and thorough review.

    Saral further argued that the Istanbul show was far more than a standard commercial music event, pointing to the participation of 82-year-old eccentric French designer Michele Lamy. Known for her signature gothic aesthetic, heavy kohl eye makeup, full-body tattoos, and ink-stained hands from her work as a designer, Lamy was framed by Saral as connected to occult practices and dark ideological symbols that run counter to Turkish cultural norms. Most concerning, Saral added, was what he framed as infiltration of this “cultural siege” into conservative segments of Turkish society. He called on Turkey’s Ministry of Tourism to implement much stricter scrutiny for future large-scale events that could impact the nation’s shared spiritual and cultural sensitivities.

    West’s 2024 planned tour has faced repeated cancellations and bans across Europe over his pattern of inflammatory, extremist remarks. In recent years, the rapper has sparked global outrage for comments glorifying Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler and repeated antisemitic rants, behavior he has repeatedly attributed to his well-documented diagnosis of bipolar disorder. Last year, West released a track titled “Heil Hitler” and sold swastika-branded T-shirts through his official website, triggering a widespread backlash that has derailed most of his European tour schedule this year.

    In April, United Kingdom border officials barred West from entering the country to headline a major music festival, forcing organizers to scrap the entire set. Just one week later, he postponed a planned performance in Marseille after reports emerged that France’s interior minister was moving to block the show. A Polish stadium canceled a scheduled June 19 performance, with the country’s culture minister stating Poland would refuse to host an artist who promotes Nazism. Italy followed suit weeks later, banning a planned July 18 concert over cited public safety concerns.

    In a bid to repair his reputation earlier this year, West published a full-page open advertisement in *The Wall Street Journal* in January, where he stated publicly: “I am not a Nazi or an antisemite” and “I love Jewish people.” He again framed his past harmful comments as the result of a manic episode connected to his bipolar disorder. Despite the string of cancellations, West still has several un-canceled European performances scheduled: two shows in the Netherlands set for June 6 and 8, a performance in the Albanian capital of Tirana on July 11, and a show in Prague scheduled for July 25.

  • Senior SA doctors use ‘professional development’ fund for expensive watches, iPads and trips to Disneyland

    Senior SA doctors use ‘professional development’ fund for expensive watches, iPads and trips to Disneyland

    An explosive investigation by South Australia’s Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) has exposed widespread misuse of a taxpayer-backed professional development fund, revealing that senior medical practitioners across the state have claimed hundreds of thousands of dollars in lavish, personal expenses through the program.

    Launched to cover legitimate professional development costs for registered consultants, practicing doctors and medical registrars, the scheme allows eligible clinicians to claim up to $23,000 in reimbursements every calendar year. Official data shows that between April 2025 and April 2026 alone, SA Health allocated $64 million in public funds to the initiative, which was designed to help clinicians stay updated on evolving clinical practices and maintain high standards of patient care.

    Instead of supporting legitimate training and education, the ICAC probe uncovered a pattern of brazen abuse, with senior medics filing claims for a litany of personal luxury items and leisure trips that have no connection to professional development. Among the most staggering abuses documented by investigators: one senior medical officer claimed reimbursement for a single luxury watch priced at $23,000, and accumulated a total of $49,000 in reimbursements for four luxury watches over a three-year period. The same clinician also submitted a $68,600 claim for a range of Apple consumer devices, including four watches, five iPads and four smartphones. Other outlandish claims documented in the report include a $3,400 five-day Disneyland trip for four people, $23,000 in flights and accommodation for the French Alps to attend an entirely online conference, a $12,000 personal wellness retreat in Bali, a $7,340 premium workbag and a $1,260 luxury fountain pen.

    ICAC Commissioner Emma Townsend noted that the widespread misuse of funds stems from a critical lack of clear guidelines defining what qualifies as eligible professional development spending. “There is no doubt that the lack of clarity has contributed to the wide range of claims identified during the evaluation, including examples that, on the surface, appear to blur the lines between professional and personal development,” Townsend said in the commission’s official report. She emphasized that while ongoing professional development is an essential pillar of a high-functioning public health system, large-scale public investment requires accountability to the community. “However, with significant public investment comes a responsibility to ensure those funds are used for their intended purpose and deliver value to the public health system and community,” she added.

    In response to the findings, the ICAC has put forward a series of targeted recommendations to curb future abuse, centered on introducing clear, binding definitions of eligible professional development activities and strengthening oversight of the claims approval process. SA Health Chief Executive Robyn Lawrence confirmed that the department accepts all of the commission’s recommendations, noting that the vast majority of participating medical officers use the funding appropriately for legitimate professional development. “However, SA Health accepts all the recommendations outlined in the report, which will provide our medical officers with greater clarity over appropriate professional development spending and ultimately increase protection against corruption, misconduct and maladministration,” Lawrence said.

    Work to update the scheme’s guidelines was initially paused pending the outcome of the ICAC review, but Lawrence confirmed preliminary discussions with the South Australian Salaried Medical Officers Association began last year to develop clear guidance for line managers reviewing professional development funding applications.

  • Protesting teachers in Mexico topple player statues days before World Cup

    Protesting teachers in Mexico topple player statues days before World Cup

    Just days before Mexico City hosts the opening match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup co-hosted by Mexico, the United States and Canada, a high-profile labor protest has disrupted the capital’s pre-tournament calm and drawn global attention. On Tuesday, June 2, dissident teachers from Mexico’s national teachers’ union CNTE took to Paseo de la Reforma, Mexico City’s iconic tree-lined central promenade dotted with skyscrapers, to push their unmet labor demands.

    The stretch of the avenue had been lined with 5-meter-tall plastic statues of international football players, installed as part of pre-World Cup public celebrations. Using ropes, the protesting teachers pulled down three of the giant statues, stripped off the player uniforms draped on the mannequins and set the garments on fire. Graffiti in bright red paint was scrawled across one of the toppled nude mannequins reading “Long live the CNTE”, while another bore the message: “If there isn’t a solution, the ball won’t roll.” Notably, the statue decked out in Mexico’s national team kit remained standing through the action.

    In a sign of the escalating tension between the dissident union wing and authorities, police had already deployed tear gas and sound grenades to break up a separate CNTE march on Monday near Mexico City’s historic Zocalo plaza, the site of the official World Cup Fan Fest. By Tuesday, crews were still reinforcing the perimeter of the plaza with metal barricades to prevent further disruptions. Tuesday’s statue-toppling action itself shut down key thoroughfares, compounding the chronic traffic congestion that plagues the Mexican capital. Notably, on-site police forces made no attempt to intervene to stop the protesters’ action.

    The dissident CNTE faction, which has organized rolling protests across the country in recent weeks, is demanding a 100% increase to base teacher salaries and is vehemently opposing planned federal pension reforms. The group has already rejected a 9% pay increase that government negotiators agreed to with the union’s mainstream, government-aligned national leadership. Protesters have issued a clear warning: if the administration does not address their demands by the tournament’s opening match on June 11, they will stage mass demonstrations that disrupt the opening festivities.

    Juan Pablo de la Cruz, a 44-year-old teacher participating in Tuesday’s protest, defended the group’s disruptive tactics, drawing a direct parallel between the statue action and the government’s labor policies. “If (President Claudia Sheinbaum) calls toppling some statues a crime, what would she call the act of taking away our rights? We need to be more firm,” he told reporters.

    For her part, President Claudia Sheinbaum characterized the Tuesday protest as peaceful in public remarks, and a formal statement from her administration extended an invitation to the dissident union to resume negotiations to resolve the dispute. As the World Cup’s opening draw closer, the standoff between teachers and the government casts uncertainty over the smooth running of the global tournament’s opening activities in Mexico.

  • Scientists find yeast in ancient Iceman’s guts — and make bread

    Scientists find yeast in ancient Iceman’s guts — and make bread

    More than five millennia before the present day, long before the final stones were placed on Egypt’s Great Pyramids, a Bronze Age traveler now known to the world as Ötzi the Iceman was fatally shot with an arrow through the back while crossing the Alpine tundra along the Austria-Italy border. His frozen corpse lay undisturbed deep in glacial ice for 5,300 years, until two German hikers accidentally uncovered his remarkably preserved mummy in Italy’s South Tyrol region in 1991.

    Since that landmark discovery, Ötzi has been stored at a constant -6°C, replicating the frigid conditions of his glacial tomb to preserve his body for ongoing research. As one of the most intact ancient human mummies ever found, he has provided scientists with an unparalleled view of daily life, diet, and health during the Neolithic period. Now, a new study published Wednesday in the journal *Microbiome* has uncovered a surprising twist: Ötzi’s remains host active ancient and modern microbial communities, including four strains of cold-adapted yeast living in his gut, skin, and the meltwater that leaches from his partially thawed body.

    Lead researcher Mohamed Sarhan, a microbiologist at the Eurac Research Institute in Bolzano, Italy, told reporters that the presence of surviving yeast was completely unexpected. “What we didn’t expect to find was yeast,” Sarhan explained in an interview with Agence France-Presse. All four isolated yeast strains are adapted to survive sub-zero temperatures, a rare trait most commonly seen in yeast communities native to extreme environments like Antarctica. Researchers say this confirms the yeast colonized Ötzi’s body after his death, rather than being part of his original living gut microbiome. Genetic testing showed that the yeast’s DNA damage levels are consistent with ancient microorganisms embedded in the Iceman’s tissues, leading the study team to conclude colonization occurred shortly after Ötzi died and froze.

    “These yeasts have accompanied Oetzi on his long journey through the millennia,” said study co-author Frank Maixner in a public statement about the findings. After isolating the yeast strains, the team replicated them in cold laboratory conditions stored in a standard refrigerator. When word of the yeast discovery spread, the team faced the inevitable question: could this 5,000-year-old yeast be used to bake bread?

    Initial baking attempts failed, but after three months of tweaking growing conditions and fermentation techniques, the team produced what Sarhan described as a “very, very good sourdough” loaf. When asked about future experiments, Sarhan joked that brewing beer with the ancient yeast is already “on the list” of upcoming projects. Beyond the novelty of baking with ancient yeast, the discovery holds serious practical applications for environmental science. After Ötzi was first discovered in 1991, conservation teams treated his body with phenol, a common chemical preservative used to stop fungal growth on cadavers. The team found that the isolated yeast can consume and break down phenol, meaning related strains could one day be used to remediate phenol contamination in polluted soil and water systems.

    The yeast discovery is not the only groundbreaking insight from the new analysis of Ötzi’s microbiome. Researchers also identified a strain of gut bacteria in Ötzi’s intestines that is virtually absent in the gut microbiomes of people living in industrialized nations today. The same bacteria has only been found in isolated indigenous tribes across Africa and South America, and in 3,000-year-old preserved feces recovered from a Bronze Age salt mine in Hallstatt, Austria — one of the few other existing samples of ancient human gut microbes. Sarhan noted that Ötzi and the Bronze Age salt miners ate far more fiber and whole grains than the average modern person, a dietary difference that likely explains the presence of this now-rare bacteria.

    The study upends the long-held view of Ötzi as a static “frozen time capsule” of Neolithic life, instead framing his mummy as a dynamic, ongoing complex ecosystem that continues to evolve thousands of years after his death. Researchers note that it remains too early to confirm whether the active yeast communities are causing any long-term degradation to Ötzi’s remains, and have called for additional long-term study to monitor microbial activity in the mummy.

    Not all independent experts have fully accepted the study’s conclusion that the yeast has been active in Ötzi’s body for millennia. Nikolay Oskolkov, a researcher at the Latvian Institute of Organic Synthesis who was not involved in the new study and previously discovered ancient fungus in Ötzi’s gut, called the finding that the Iceman’s microbiome is not “frozen” scientifically interesting. However, he cautioned that yeast samples were only collected in 2010 and 2019, meaning there is limited evidence to confirm the yeast has been multiplying continuously over thousands of years. Oskolkov argued the yeast may be relatively recent colonizers of the mummy’s body rather than long-term inhabitants that survived with Ötzi since the Copper Age.

  • Batch of Allen’s Inside Outs recalled over plastic fears

    Batch of Allen’s Inside Outs recalled over plastic fears

    A popular confectionery line from Australian candy brand Allen’s has been pulled from retail shelves across Australia and New Zealand, after an equipment malfunction at a third-party production facility led to confirmed plastic contamination in some units of the product.

    The recall, which covers 130g sealed bags of Allen’s Inside Outs lollies, was launched as a proactive consumer protection measure following the incident, according to parent company Nestlé. The equipment failure at the contract manufacturer’s production site caused small fragments of plastic to break loose and enter the candy batch during manufacturing, the company confirmed in an official statement published on its website.

    Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ), the regional bi-national food safety regulator, has issued a public warning advising any consumer who purchased the affected batch to avoid consuming the product and return it to the point of purchase for a full, no-questions-asked refund. The recalled products carry a best-before date of 30 June 2027, and fall under seven specific batch identification numbers: 6072T941, 6073T941, 6074T941, 6075T941, 6085T941, 6086T941 and 6088T941.

    Nestlé spokesperson Andrew Lawrey emphasized that consumer safety remains the company’s top priority in responding to the incident. “This recall is a precautionary action, taken in line with our rigorous quality standards,” Lawrey said, adding that company teams moved rapidly to alert food safety authorities and retail partners immediately after the contamination issue was identified. “If you have purchased any of these products, please return it to the place of purchase for a full refund.”

    As of the latest update, no consumer injuries or adverse health incidents linked to the contaminated batch have been reported. The recall is currently ongoing, with major supermarkets already removing the affected stock from store shelves.

  • Trump admin abandons $1.8 bn fund to compensate supporters

    Trump admin abandons $1.8 bn fund to compensate supporters

    In a sudden reversal of one of former President Donald Trump’s most polarizing second-term policy proposals, the Trump administration has officially abandoned plans to establish a $1.8 billion compensation fund that critics widely labeled a partisan “slush fund” for the president’s political backers. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, a one-time personal attorney to Trump, confirmed the decision during sworn testimony before the U.S. House Appropriations Committee on Tuesday.

    “We are not moving forward with the fund. Period,” Blanche told the panel, ending weeks of legal and political wrangling over the proposal that had sparked backlash from across the political spectrum.

    The scrapped initiative, officially branded the “anti-weaponization fund,” was first established as part of an extraordinary legal settlement between Trump and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The settlement resolved a civil lawsuit Trump filed after his tax returns were leaked by a former government contractor. A key addendum to the settlement, which Blanche confirmed remains intact, permanently bars the IRS from pursuing any outstanding back tax claims against Trump, his immediate family, and his business entities dating back to the May 18 settlement date. The settlement structure was highly unusual: rather than resolving the lawsuit through standard financial or procedural terms, it redirected $1.8 billion in potential federal claims to create a fund for people who claimed to have been unfairly targeted by the U.S. government.

    Trump and his administration framed the fund as a corrective for what they call government “weaponization” and “lawfare” — the president’s longstanding framing of law enforcement and regulatory actions against his conservative supporters as politically motivated. But the proposal faced immediate, fierce criticism from opponents, who argued it lacked a clear legal foundation, had almost no independent public oversight, and created a clear pathway to distribute taxpayer dollars to Trump loyalists. Most notably, critics raised alarms that the fund could be used to compensate individuals convicted of crimes related to the January 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol, when a mob of Trump supporters stormed Congress to try to overturn Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential election victory.

    Shortly after returning to office, Trump granted clemency to more than 1,500 people convicted in connection with the Capitol riot. The administration has also moved to purge Justice Department press releases about January 6 prosecutions, dismissing the materials as “partisan propaganda.”

    Legal challenges further stalled the initiative before its official cancellation. Last week, U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema issued a temporary injunction blocking the administration from taking any further steps to launch or operate the fund, as she considered whether to impose a permanent injunction. The proposal also became politically toxic even within Trump’s own Republican Party. Senate Republican leaders were forced to postpone a vote on a critical spending bill for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the U.S. Border Patrol, in large part because of GOP concerns that the fund could open the door to sending taxpayer money to January 6 defendants.

    Blanche’s confirmation that the plan is being fully scrapped marks the end of one of the most controversial early proposals of Trump’s second term, which drew opposition from Democrats, nonpartisan legal experts, and even rank-and-file Republicans who warned it represented an unprecedented abuse of executive power and public funds.

  • Qantas tests new long range Airbus ahead of direct Aus-NY and London flights

    Qantas tests new long range Airbus ahead of direct Aus-NY and London flights

    Australia’s flagship carrier Qantas has moved one significant step closer to launching the world’s longest commercial non-stop passenger flights, after completing the maiden test flight of its custom-built ultra-long-range Airbus jet this week. The milestone comes even as global supply chain headwinds have pushed back initial delivery timelines, with the airline still on track to launch the revolutionary service by 2027.

    The test aircraft, an A350-1000ULR (ultra-long-range) modified specifically for Qantas’ Project Sunrise initiative, departed from Airbus’ industrial hub in Toulouse, France, at local time Tuesday afternoon. The four-hour test flight, operated by an Airbus flight test crew, climbed to a cruising altitude of more than 41,000 feet, successfully validating the jet’s new extended-range fuel system and core performance capabilities. This aircraft is the second of 12 custom ULR jets Airbus is building for Qantas, and will now enter the outfitting phase to install Qantas’ exclusive four-class cabin layout.

    The ULR variant of the A350-1000 features purpose-built modifications designed to extend its maximum range: an additional fuel tank that adds 1,800 kilometers of flying distance, paired with lighter, more energy-efficient galley refrigeration systems to cut unnecessary weight and maximize range. These adaptations will allow the jet to complete non-stop flights of up to 22 hours, a capability no commercial airliner serving Qantas’ routes has held to date.

    Per Qantas’ announcement, the successful maiden test flight kicks off a two-month global flight testing campaign that will accumulate around 80 hours of in-air validation, alongside extensive ground inspections and certification checks for all the redesigned and custom components built into the jets. The first finished jet is still scheduled for handover to Qantas in April 2027, after Airbus confirmed last week that supply chain disruptions had delayed initial delivery by four months. A Qantas spokesperson confirmed that following the first delivery, four additional aircraft will arrive in quick succession, putting the entire delivery program back on its original schedule by November 2027.

    The second ULR jet, earmarked as the first to be delivered to Qantas, is already in advanced final assembly and will exit Airbus’ paint shop in the coming days, before proceeding to cabin outfitting and engine installation. Meanwhile, Qantas has already begun training future pilots to operate the new jets at full-flight simulators based in Sydney, to prepare for commercial launch once deliveries are complete. By the end of this month, Qantas has said it will confirm the exact launch routes and commercial service timeline for the new non-stop flights.

    Project Sunrise, first announced by Qantas in 2017, is the airline’s decades-long initiative to launch non-stop service from Australia’s populous east coast to major global hubs London and New York. Currently, the airline’s longest non-stop route runs between Perth and London at approximately 18 hours of flight time. The new service will cut total travel time by roughly four hours for passengers departing east coast Australian hubs like Sydney and Melbourne, eliminating the need for a layover en route.

    Once launched, Qantas’ new routes will claim the title of the world’s longest commercial non-stop flights, overtaking the two current record-holders operated by Singapore Airlines, which run from New York and Newark, New Jersey, to Singapore. Qantas already holds three spots on the global list of top 10 longest non-stop routes, with its Perth-London, Melbourne-Dallas, and Paris-Perth services ranking fourth, fifth and sixth respectively, and the Auckland-New York service (shared with Air New Zealand) ranking seventh. The new ultra-long-range jets are part of Qantas’ broader $15 billion national fleet renewal program, designed to modernize its long-haul network and open new non-stop connections between Australia and major global destinations.

  • ‘Crazy’: Trump-Netanyahu relationship under growing strain

    ‘Crazy’: Trump-Netanyahu relationship under growing strain

    The long-aligned political partnership between U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has fallen into unprecedented public strain, following reports of a profane, heated phone call that laid bare deep divides over Middle East war strategy just months ahead of critical U.S. midterm elections. The two leaders, who jointly launched the current war against Iran, clashed sharply after Trump reportedly lashed out at Netanyahu over Israel’s planned strikes on Beirut, Lebanon, out of fear that such an attack would derail fragile peace negotiations with Tehran, according to joint reporting from Axios and ABC News.