Global Pulse

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大洋洲

  • Noskova’s glimpse of Wimbledon trophy inspired title glory

    Noskova’s glimpse of Wimbledon trophy inspired title glory

    On a dramatic Centre Court Saturday at Wimbledon, 21-year-old Czech rising star Linda Noskova pulled off one of the most memorable comebacks in recent women’s singles history, clinching her first ever Grand Slam title with a 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 victory over compatriot and close friend Karolina Muchova. What made the win even more extraordinary was the unlikely moment of motivation that reignited her fighting spirit: a passing glimpse of the iconic Venus Rosewater Dish during a mid-match bathroom break.

    Noskova’s path to the trophy looked all but guaranteed in the second set, when she held a commanding 5-2 lead and held five match points to close out the win without a decider. But a chaotic collapse saw her squander every chance, allowing Muchova to claw back and level the match at one set apiece. Crushed by frustration, the ninth seed buried her face in a towel to wipe away tears before trundling off court to the locker room, desperate to reset her mind and body for the final set.

    It was on that walk through the Centre Court corridors that Noskova’s perspective shifted. Glancing into a display cabinet, she saw the gleaming championship trophy sitting beside the smaller runners-up shield. The stark visual of what she stood to lose jolted her out of her slump. After splashing cold water on her face in the bathroom, she resolved to leave everything on the court rather than settle for second place.

    “I was just telling myself that the match is starting over,” Noskova told reporters after the match. “But what really helped me, the first step I took off court, the trophies were there. I was like, ‘I’m not going to take the small one, I’m taking the big one. I have been so close. This will probably be the heartbreak of my life. If I’m going to leave my soul on court in the third set, whatever that be.’”

    That renewed focus paid off immediately. Staring down three break points in the opening game of the decider, Noskova held serve before landing a critical break of Muchova’s serve to seize control of the set. When her next match point arrived, she did not falter, closing out the win and collapsing to the grass in a mix of joy and disbelief.

    Noskova’s win makes her the youngest women’s singles Wimbledon champion since another Czech great, Petra Kvitova, lifted the trophy in 2011. Fittingly, two-time champion Kvitova – who Noskova idolized as a young player – was watching on from the royal box, and personally congratulated the new champion in the Centre Court lounge after the match. Her victory also extends Czech Republic’s stunning recent streak at Wimbledon, following Marketa Vondrousova’s 2023 win and Barbora Krejcikova’s 2024 title.

    Off the court, the moment carried deep personal meaning for Noskova, who lost her mother Ivana to cancer two years ago. Unable to hold back tears during her post-match speech, she paid tribute to her late mother, blowing a kiss to the sky after lifting the silverware. “Having shown her heart and desire in spades, Noskova had done her mother proud,” the original report noted.

    Reflecting on the rollercoaster nature of her win, Noskova acknowledged that the pressure of her first Grand Slam final had gotten to her in the second set, leaving her hands frozen and her feet slower than usual. “A final is a final. No matter what you do, there’s always the pressure. You always want to keep your cool, be okay, be like nothing is happening. But deep inside of you you know it’s very important,” she said. “Just winning it this way, really having to fight for it, having all these ups and downs, it matters a lot, but I do have to learn a lot from this match, definitely.”

    For the self-described down-to-earth 21-year-old, the dramatic Wimbledon triumph opens a new chapter in her young career, leaving her with the tennis world at her feet. The match also echoes one of Wimbledon’s most iconic moments of Czech tennis history: Jana Novotna’s 1993 final collapse against Steffi Graf, which saw the Czech cry on the Duchess of Kent’s shoulder before eventually claiming her own title five years later in 1998.

  • How a viral seal called Neil caused mayhem in Australia

    How a viral seal called Neil caused mayhem in Australia

    A five-year-old male elephant seal, now known globally by the name Neil, has become an unexpected viral internet sensation after bringing widespread disruption to a small community on the coast of southern Tasmania, Australia. What began as a routine resting stop for the young marine mammal, who came ashore to molt and recover from months at sea, quickly turned into a major local incident as crowds of curious onlookers flocked to see the 1,000-kilogram animal.

    Local authorities were forced to close popular coastal roads and cordon off multiple residential and recreational areas to prevent risky interactions between humans and the seal, a protected species in Australia. The closure disrupted daily commutes, local business operations, and planned community events for several days as Neil remained on land. Despite the disruption, Neil quickly won over social media users around the world, with viral photos and videos racking up millions of views and turning the seal into a global household name.

    Wildlife experts explained that young elephant seals regularly come ashore to rest, a natural behavior that is critical for their health and survival. They urged the public to maintain a safe distance of at least 50 meters to avoid stressing the animal, which can become aggressive if it feels threatened. After nearly two weeks of resting on Tasmania’s southern coast, Neil eventually returned to the open ocean, leaving behind a trail of viral content and a community that had adapted to its unexpected famous visitor.

  • Noskova survives tearful meltdown to win first Wimbledon title

    Noskova survives tearful meltdown to win first Wimbledon title

    On a historic Saturday at the All England Club, 21-year-old Czech star Linda Noskova wrote her name into Wimbledon folklore in one of the most breathtaking women’s singles finals the tournament has ever seen. After squandering five consecutive match points and suffering a tearful mid-match meltdown that seemed set to end her run, the ninth seed summoned extraordinary mental fortitude to defeat 10th-seeded compatriot Karolina Muchova 6-2, 5-7, 6-3, claiming the first Grand Slam title of her burgeoning career. The 2-hour-28-minute clash delivered enough twists and turns to rival a Hollywood blockbuster, capping a fairy-tale run for a player who had never advanced past the quarterfinals of any major before this year’s tournament.

    Noskova dominated the opening set with ease, putting Muchova under constant pressure and closing it out 6-2 to put herself one set away from the crown. When she earned the chance to serve for the match in the second set, she quickly built a 40-0 lead, holding four match points that appeared to seal the win. But a sudden collapse of nerve saw her waste every opportunity, allowing Muchova to break back and level the set. When Muchova held serve to make it 5-5, Noskova dropped a fifth match point, overwhelmed by emotion. She buried her head in a towel to wipe away tears before Muchova closed out the second set 7-5, leaving the Centre Court crowd stunned. A visibly shaken Noskova stormed off court for the decisive break ahead of the third set, a timeout that would prove to be the turning point of the match.

    Pulling herself from the depths of despair, Noskova refocused during the break, breaking Muchova early in the third set and holding firm to close out the match. When the final point landed, she collapsed to the grass in disbelief, finally processing that she had claimed the sport’s most prestigious singles title. This victory makes Noskova the youngest women’s singles champion at Wimbledon in 15 years, echoing the 2011 success of her childhood idol and compatriot Petra Kvitova, who won the first of her two Wimbledon crowns at the same age. Fittingly, Kvitova watched her protégé’s breakthrough from the royal box during the trophy ceremony, completing a full-circle moment for Noskova, who first picked up a tennis racket inspired by Kvitova’s 2011 win.

    The result also extends a remarkable run of Czech dominance at the All England Club: Noskova’s win marks the third time in four years that a Czech woman has lifted the Venus Rosewater Dish, following Barbora Krejcikova in 2024 and Marketa Vondrousova in 2023. Off the court, the 21-year-old has already endeared herself to fans with her quirky personality: she is an avid baker, relies on a series of lucky pre-match rituals, including drinking matcha prepared by a friend every morning during the tournament, and has opened up about the painful grief that shaped her 2024 Wimbledon run, when she competed just weeks after her mother’s death from cancer. That bittersweet memory has now been replaced by a far happier one, easing a small measure of that pain.

    In her post-victory speech, Noskova paid tribute to her opponent and reflected on the grueling physical and mental toll of the tournament. “All these matches have been so tough physically and mentally tough, today especially. It’s never easy to get the last point. Karo, you really made me work for it. All the sad tears, happy tears, sweat, blood and it’s all worth it. I will never forget these two weeks,” she said after lifting the trophy. Muchova, who was competing in her second Grand Slam final, was also emotional after the defeat, but paid tribute to her long-time friend in a lighthearted, gracious speech. “Really tough to find any words, but I’ll start with Linda, my ‘ex-friend’. I’m kidding obviously, kinda! The way you handled it is really unbelievable. Beyond this you are a very kind person. You deserve it,” Muchova said.

    Noskova takes home the £3.6 million ($4.8 million) winner’s prize, cementing her status as one of the most exciting rising stars on the WTA Tour. Notably, she only competed in her first professional grass court match in Birmingham back in 2023, but has since won more grass court matches than any other player on the tour over the past two years. With her first Grand Slam title secured, the 21-year-old has firmly established herself as a force to be reckoned with in women’s tennis for years to come.

  • Typhoon makes landfall in China after forcing nearly two million to flee

    Typhoon makes landfall in China after forcing nearly two million to flee

    A powerful typhoon that carved a destructive path across the Pacific has made landfall in eastern China, forcing nearly 2 million people across multiple regions to abandon their homes for safer ground in one of the largest pre-storm evacuation efforts in recent years. Typhoon Bavi came ashore around 11:20 pm local time Saturday in Yuhuan, a city in China’s coastal Zhejiang province, carrying maximum sustained winds of 144 kilometers per hour, according to the provincial meteorological observatory in a report carried by China’s official Xinhua News Agency.

    Before reaching the Chinese mainland, the storm system already left a wake of disruption across northern Taiwan and Japan’s remote southwestern Ryukyu Islands, toppling urban trees, cutting electrical power to tens of thousands of households, and forcing widespread shutdowns of businesses and transport links. The landfall comes as China has already faced a week of devastating extreme weather across its central and southern regions, where earlier storms killed at least 39 people, swelled dozens of rivers past flood stages, and caused a reservoir dam to collapse.

    Meteorologists forecast Bavi will continue tracking northwest after landfall, gradually weakening as it moves inland. As of Saturday morning, Chinese authorities had already relocated 1.72 million residents in high-risk zones to emergency shelters. In anticipation of the storm’s arrival, Zhejiang suspended all in-person classes, non-essential work, public transport and outdoor events, canceling more than 400 flights and dozens of intercity train services to minimize risk.

    Wenzhou, a major Zhejiang metropolis home to nearly 10 million people, emphasized in an official statement that its full-scale, proactive mobilization left no resource spared, with all efforts focused on preparing for the worst possible outcome. Footage from state broadcaster CCTV showed local residents reinforcing shop shutters with wooden planks and applying protective tape to windows, as forecasters warned Bavi would bring exceptionally heavy rainfall to eastern Zhejiang and neighboring northeastern Fujian province.

    Further north, torrential pre-emptive rainfall prompted Beijing authorities to evacuate more than 100,000 residents, as the capital increased water discharge flows from the strategic Miyun Reservoir to create extra storage capacity for incoming floodwaters. State media reports show an additional 130,000 residents have been evacuated across Fujian, while roughly 34,000 people left high-risk and coastal areas of Shanghai.

    In northern Taiwan, streets sat largely empty as businesses remained closed for a second consecutive day, battered by strong wind and heavy rain. The storm forced the evacuation of more than 14,000 residents across the island, canceled hundreds of flights, and left more than 170,000 households without power. Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration warned of extremely torrential rain across northern sections of the island and dangerous coastal waves reaching up to 10 meters as Bavi passed just north of Taiwan’s coastline.

    The storm system’s origins stretch back to earlier this week, when it made landfall in Guam and the Northern Marianas as a powerful super typhoon before weakening to a standard typhoon as it moved west across the Pacific. The death toll from Bavi has already climbed to 18 in the Philippines, where the storm triggered deadly landslides and flooding, mostly on the southern island of Mindanao. Nearly 11,000 Filipinos have fled their homes, dozens of ports remain closed, and more than 300 vessels have been forced to seek shelter in safe harbors.

    In Japan, thousands of households and public facilities across Okinawa Prefecture lost power when Bavi pounded the southwestern islands, with the Miyako region suffering the worst damage. Japanese carriers canceled dozens of domestic flights, disrupting travel plans for more than 26,000 passengers.

    Climate scientists have linked the increasing intensity of tropical storms like Bavi to rising ocean temperatures. Last week, the European Union’s Copernicus Marine Service confirmed that oceans globally recorded their hottest June on record, with projections that new temperature records will be set in the coming months. Warmer ocean waters fuel more rapid intensification of tropical cyclones and add more moisture to storm systems, which translates to heavier rainfall when they make landfall. This year’s weather has been further amplified by the return of El Niño, a natural climate pattern that warms Pacific surface temperatures and occurs every two to seven years.

    Initially, forecasters predicted Bavi would become the strongest typhoon to hit Taiwan in more than 30 years, but CWA senior forecaster Jason Cheng noted the storm’s strong wind radius has since shrunk to 350 kilometers. The shifted forecast and scaled-back impact left some Taiwanese residents frustrated with the early government warnings that prompted widespread shutdowns. “Look at how it caused people to scramble for groceries and clear out supermarket shelves. Honestly, there hasn’t even been much wind or rain these past two days,” said Li, a breakfast shop owner in the northern coastal city of Keelung.

  • Merlier wins eighth stage of the Tour de France in bunch sprint

    Merlier wins eighth stage of the Tour de France in bunch sprint

    The 2024 Tour de France delivered yet another thrilling display of sprinting prowess on Saturday, as Belgian rider Tim Merlier pulled off a remarkable comeback victory to claim the eighth stage title in a chaotic bunch sprint finish in the Dordogne region. This win marks Merlier’s second consecutive sprint stage victory and his fifth overall Tour de France stage win across just three appearances in cycling’s most prestigious grand tour.

    Long before the finish line came into view, the stage was widely predicted to end in a mass sprint showdown. The 175.6-kilometer route through Dordogne, a region famous for its rolling hills, medieval castles, and prehistoric cave art, offered few natural obstacles to break up the peloton, setting the stage for the sport’s top fast finishers to compete for the win.

    Early in the stage, a three-man breakaway formed, featuring Belgian Liam Slock, Czech rider Jakub Otruba, and Frenchman Thibault Guernalec. The escape group built a lead of more than two minutes over the peloton at its maximum, but as the race approached the final climbs, their advantage began to melt away. On the 2.2-kilometer Cote du Buisson-de-Cadouin climb, Otruba launched an attack, only for Slock to power past him and strike out on his own solo bid for victory with 40 kilometers remaining.

    Slock, who went viral on social media last month after securing his first pro win despite crashing meters before the line at the Gippingen Grand Prix in Switzerland, held off the peloton valiantly for more than 30 kilometers. But the combined pressure of sprinters’ teams chasing a bunch finish dragged him back just 1.3 kilometers from the line, ending his fairy tale bid for an upset win.

    In the chaotic final kilometers, Merlier looked certain to miss out on the win after getting boxed in and caught out of position heading into the final turn. Former world champion Mathieu van der Poel worked to lead out his Alpecin-Premier Tech teammate Jasper Philipsen for the sprint, and Merlier was caught on the wrong side of a split when van der Poel accelerated early. But the Soudal Quick-Step sprinter dug deep, launching a searing long-range charge from distance to overhaul every rival ahead of him.

    In the final dash to the line, Merlier crossed first ahead of Ethiopian star Biniam Girmay, who finished second, while Dutch sprinter Olav Kooij—winner of the Tour’s first sprint stage on Wednesday—took third. Speaking after the finish, Merlier downplayed claims that he has established himself as the dominant sprinter in this year’s race, highlighting the fight he put in to secure position.

    “I needed to fight for my position all the time until the last minute,” Merlier told reporters. “Just before the corner, I was a bit boxed in, and then they almost crashed. I thought it was over, so I gave it a try to come back off the guys who did the lead out. I was coming with so much speed.”

    With this back-to-back sprint wins, Merlier now sits just 15 points behind green jersey leader Mads Pedersen of Denmark in the battle for the sprinters’ classification. Reflecting on his performance so far in this year’s Tour, Merlier said: “If you win one, you can win a second, and I’m happy. Three sprint stages, I won two. This is definitely my Tour de France.”

  • Russian strikes kill six in Ukraine, officials say

    Russian strikes kill six in Ukraine, officials say

    A new barrage of Russian missile, drone and guided bomb attacks across Ukraine on Saturday left at least six civilians dead and dozens injured, Ukrainian authorities have confirmed, marking the latest escalation in Moscow’s ongoing full-scale invasion that began in February 2022.

    In the capital city Kyiv, regional officials reported that 12 people were wounded in the strikes, including two minor children. AFP correspondents on the ground in Kyiv confirmed hearing two distinct waves of explosions in the early hours of Saturday, with a nationwide air alert siren activated only minutes after the first blast rattled the city.

    While Russian forces have launched near-daily airstrikes against Kyiv since the invasion began, a recent surge in deadly attacks deploying large volumes of ultra-fast ballistic missiles has stretched Ukraine’s overstretched air defense network to breaking point. In a public post on social media platform X Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed that Russia launched more than 120 drones and 12 missiles overnight, with half of those projectiles being hard-to-intercept ballistic missiles.

    “Civilian infrastructure was hit even before the air raid alert was issued,” Zelenskyy said, alongside shared footage showing first responders and emergency crews searching for survivors through smoke and rubble of destroyed structures. He added that apartment blocks, commercial office buildings and a theological academy in Kyiv sustained heavy damage, with search and recovery operations ongoing across multiple affected regions.

    Casualties were reported in two other major Ukrainian cities outside the capital. In the northern city of Sumy, a guided aerial bomb strike killed four people, including a young girl, Sumy Mayor Artem Kobzar confirmed. A separate missile attack on the southern port city of Odesa left two more civilians dead, regional governor Oleg Kiper announced.

    Zelenskyy noted that Ukrainian air defenses successfully intercepted the majority of incoming Russian targets, but struggled against the faster ballistic missiles. He renewed his longstanding plea for Western military allies to speed up and expand security assistance to help Ukraine fend off the invasion, which has entered its third full year of conflict. Specifically, he called on the United States to quickly finalize a pledge to allow Ukraine to domestically produce Patriot air defense systems. Earlier this week, U.S. President Donald Trump announced the U.S. would approve Ukrainian domestic manufacturing of Patriot missiles, though Zelenskyy noted Thursday that key technical details of the agreement are still being negotiated.

    Saturday’s pre-air-alert strike on Kyiv marks the second time in less than a week that Russian projectiles hit targets before sirens could be activated. Sergiy Sternenko, an advisor to Ukraine’s defense minister, wrote on Telegram that the early impacts suggest Russia is repurposing its S-400 anti-aircraft systems to conduct ground strikes, a tactic that makes incoming projectiles far harder for Ukrainian radar systems to detect in advance. “There is no military logic to such attacks. It is simply terrorism for the sake of terrorism,” Sternenko added.

    Moscow has denied intentionally targeting civilian populations in Ukraine, claiming in a statement that its Saturday strikes only hit “military-industrial facilities in Kyiv and seaport infrastructure in Odesa.” The attack comes one day after Ukrainian drones struck multiple oil refineries in southern Russia, part of Kyiv’s recent campaign targeting Russian energy infrastructure to disrupt its war machine.

  • ‘I can’t tell the future’: Jason Ryles leaves the door wide open for Jarome Luai to join the Eels where he can nurture the club’s young halves

    ‘I can’t tell the future’: Jason Ryles leaves the door wide open for Jarome Luai to join the Eels where he can nurture the club’s young halves

    The Parramatta Eels, a National Rugby League (NRL) side brimming with highly touted junior prospects, could find the perfect short-term solution to develop their rising talent by landing star playmaker Jarome Luai on a one-year deal, according to head coach Jason Ryles. The speculation around Luai’s move to Parramatta gained momentum earlier this month after his current club, the Wests Tigers, confirmed the playmaker had been granted an early release from the final year of his contract, making him a free agent for the 2027 NRL season. Luai is already set to join newly formed expansion franchise PNG Raiders as their marquee signing in 2028, opening the door for a one-year interim stop at the Eels that aligns perfectly with the club’s long-term development strategy. This is not an untested model for Parramatta: the club already executed an identical one-year deal for young playmaker Jonah Pezet this season, before Pezet departs for the Brisbane Broncos in 2027. Ryles has confirmed the club remains open to replicating that structure for Luai. Speaking to reporters after a recent narrow loss to the Sydney Roosters, Ryles declined to give an immediate confirmation of the signing, noting that recruitment discussions would take place away from match week hype. “Tonight’s about the game, not recruitment. I’ll sit down with club decision-makers and we’ll make a call on this going forward,” Ryles told media. The Eels have a clear gap to fill: they are searching for an experienced halves partner to line up alongside incumbent starting halfback Mitch Moses, and Luai already has a proven track record of chemistry with Moses from their time together representing the New South Wales Blues in State of Origin. When asked if a Luai-Moses pairing could unlock the Eels’ attack in 2027, Ryles simply replied, “I reckon it might.” That veteran presence is exactly what Parramatta’s spine needs right now: the club has locked in a core of young rising stars on long-term contracts, but most are still unproven at the top NRL level. Moses, fullback Isaiah Iongi, young forward Tallyn Da Silva and utility Ryley Smith are all contracted for multiple seasons, with Ryles confirming the club is in the process of extending more young talents as it builds towards sustained long-term success. “When elite players become available, we are always interested, and we are in a position to pull off a move like this,” Ryles said. “We have a really clear long-term strategy we’re working toward. We’ve got Izzy signed for five years, Mitchell for five years, Tallyn for four, and we’ve extended Ryley and a host of other young players. Any elite talent that becomes available that can help us develop our future core will get our full attention.” Promising young playmaker Lorenzo Talataina is widely viewed as the future centerpiece of Parramatta’s halves lineup, but he remains a raw prospect who still needs more game time in lower-grade competitions to refine his skills before making the step up to first-grade NRL. That is where Luai’s experience would provide the most value, Ryles explained, pointing to Iongi’s development pathway at the Penrith Panthers as a blueprint. Iongi spent dozens of games in the NSW Cup learning from champion Panthers fullback Dylan Edwards, a mentorship that prepared him to succeed once he got his shot at first grade. Luai, a seasoned State of Origin and premiership-winning playmaker, would provide that exact same guidance for Parramatta’s next generation of halves, who are not expected to be ready to take over the starting lineup full-time until 2028 at the earliest. When asked if the club’s young crop would be ready for NRL first-grade action next year, Ryles said: “I’m not a fortune teller, I can’t predict what will happen. But we are incredibly lucky to have some very talented young players coming through our system. They just need match reps and time to grow. I use Izzy as an example: he played 60 Cup games behind one of the best systems in the league, and that gave him the best possible chance to get to where he is today. We’re only in year two for him, and he’s still nowhere near his ceiling. Development just takes time.”

  • Iran supreme leader vows revenge for father’s killing

    Iran supreme leader vows revenge for father’s killing

    A sharp escalation of hostile threats between the United States and Iran has sent regional security concerns soaring over the weekend, just days after mutual exchanges of military strikes derailed a fragile interim ceasefire agreement that was meant to end a conflict launched by massive U.S.-Israeli air operations in late February.

    In his first public statement since assuming the role of Iran’s supreme leader following his father and predecessor Ali Khamenei’s death in the late February U.S.-Israeli strikes, Mojtaba Khamenei issued a firm vow of retaliation Saturday. In a written message released to the public — his first since his father’s funeral earlier this week — Khamenei emphasized that vengeance is a non-negotiable demand of the Iranian people, and its execution is inevitable regardless of leadership changes. “This matter depends neither on my personal existence nor on that of other officials. Whether we are present or not, it will come to pass,” he wrote, adding that Iranian authorities have already compiled a targeted list of individuals for retaliation.

    The fiery Iranian statement came just hours after former U.S. President Donald Trump took to his Truth Social platform to issue a stark warning of his own, threatening catastrophic military retaliation if Tehran makes any attempt to assassinate him. “1000 Missiles are Locked and Loaded and aimed at the Islamic Republic of Iran, with thousands of more to immediately follow, should the Iranian Government act on its threat, pronounced in many corners of the Globe, to assassinate, or attempt to assassinate, the sitting President of the United States of America, in this case, ME!” Trump wrote. He added that full orders have already been issued to U.S. military forces, which he said are prepared to completely decimate all key areas of Iran for a period of at least one year, extendable upon order.

    The rapid back-and-forth of threats comes as regional mediators led by Qatar rush to salvage diplomatic efforts that have stalled since the conflict resumed this week. According to Iranian state media, a Qatari mediation delegation arrived in Tehran on Friday to reinforce Doha’s role as a neutral broker in talks. Qatar’s emir also held a diplomatic call Friday with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, whose country has also joined mediation efforts. Sharif’s office confirmed that the Pakistani leader has also spoken directly to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, urging Tehran to prioritize protecting the region’s hard-won opportunity for peace. Despite these outreach efforts, Iran’s chief negotiator for talks with the U.S., Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, struck a defiant tone in comments carried by Iran’s ISNA news agency. “Ending the war is a priority for the countries of the world, but everyone must know that this confrontation will never end with Iran’s surrender,” Ghalibaf said, noting that the Iranian people are fully prepared to defend their territory and sovereignty.

    The core sticking point preventing a long-term diplomatic breakthrough remains the status of the Strait of Hormuz, the strategically critical chokepoint that carries roughly a fifth of the world’s daily oil trade and is the primary export route for energy-rich Gulf nations. Iran closed the strait to commercial shipping after the outbreak of war in February as retaliation for the U.S.-Israeli strikes, a move that sent shockwaves through global energy markets and disrupted the world economy. Tehran has rejected calls to return to the pre-war status quo of free unimpeded navigation, instead insisting on retaining full authority to control ship transits through the waterway and announcing plans to charge transit fees. This position violates customary international law, which bars nations from collecting tolls on straits used for international navigation, and Washington has flatly rejected Tehran’s terms.

    According to reports from U.S. outlets Axios and Politico, the Biden administration gave Tehran a deadline of Saturday to end all attacks on commercial vessels transiting the strait and formally reaffirm the waterway’s open status to global shipping. This week’s resumption of large-scale hostilities was triggered by Iranian attacks on three commercial ships that Tehran said had deviated from its approved transit route. In response, the U.S. military launched a massive wave of air strikes across Iran, hitting approximately 90 targets across the country. Iran’s health ministry confirmed Saturday that the U.S. strikes left 17 people dead and another 115 injured. The strikes also prompted a wave of retaliatory attacks by Iran against U.S. allied Gulf states that host American military bases.

    On Saturday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi traveled to Oman, the neighboring nation that shares the Strait of Hormuz with Iran, for talks focused on the strait’s future administration. Araghchi has insisted that Tehran has fully complied with its obligations under the memorandum of understanding signed with the U.S. last month, saying “Tehran has so far kept its word. Reality check: There can only be mutual compliance.” Trump, who has said talks with Iran will continue on paper, has publicly dismissed the negotiations as “a waste of time.”

  • ‘Ring the bells’: residents recall escape from deadly Spanish wildfire

    ‘Ring the bells’: residents recall escape from deadly Spanish wildfire

    The arid hills of southeastern Spain’s Mediterranean coast, long a quiet haven for retirees and holidaymakers from across Europe, have been reduced to ash by a devastating fast-moving wildfire that has claimed 12 lives and scorched more than 6,000 hectares of land. Survivors of the blaze, which broke out last Thursday amid record-breaking extreme heat that turned dry vegetation into a tinderbox, have shared harrowing accounts of sudden escape and narrow survival as flames advanced faster than many could outrun.

    When the fire’s edge began to encroach on the small village of Bedar, the epicenter of the disaster, 72-year-old local town councillor Manoli Ramos received an urgent, last-minute order from the mayor: race to the village church and ring its bells to sound the alarm for residents who had not yet received official evacuation alerts. “We rang the bells many times so people would know,” Ramos told AFP from her temporary refuge in nearby Los Gallardos, one of hundreds of displaced residents who fled their homes as the blaze moved through the region.

    Official preliminary investigations point to a broken power line as the likely ignition source, with the extreme heat wave that has gripped southern Spain creating ideal conditions for the fire to spread rapidly. Most of the 12 victims killed were foreign residents, many of whom died trapped in their vehicles or while attempting to escape on foot. Officials have noted that many of the foreign residents in the area live in scattered, isolated properties outside the core of Bedar, drawn by the privacy and quiet of the rural hillside — a choice that left many with slower access to emergency warnings and fewer clear escape routes as the fire advanced.

    “Foreigners live scattered outside Bedar,” Ramos explained. “They have beautiful homes and their belongings. They like living a little away from the centre.”

    For 52-year-old Moroccan resident Hassan Oulghazzi, who has called Bedar home for 16 years, the first sign of danger was not visible flames, but an ominous dark cloud hanging over the hills that quickly turned into thick, choking black smoke. Before he could spot the fire advancing, local police were pounding on his front door, ordering him to leave immediately.

    “How could you not be afraid?” Oulghazzi said. “When someone knocks on your door and tells you: ‘Get up, come on, leave here. This is real, you have to go.’” He fled with his wife and daughter with only the clothes they were wearing, leaving all their possessions behind. The family has since taken shelter at a municipal sports hall in the coastal town of Garrucha, where the Red Cross is providing food, medical care and support to hundreds of evacuees. For Oulghazzi, his own fear of displacement pales in comparison to the grief of losing neighbors and acquaintances in the blaze.

    “Everyone was afraid, but I am really touched by the dead and those who were burned. I really am,” he said. “There are some people I know.”

    Local officials have confirmed that some of the victims did not follow official orders to evacuate early or shelter in place once the flames reached their properties, a choice that proved fatal as the fire moved faster than many anticipated. For survivors who did escape, the scale of the destruction is still difficult to process, with many describing the scene as something out of a disaster film, not real life.

    Eighty-seven-year-old British evacuee Austin Crilly, who has lived in the region for years and says he has weathered no shortage of crises, told reporters that Thursday’s blaze was unlike anything he had ever experienced. Crilly was watching television at home when he spotted what he thought was an unusual large dark cloud on the horizon. Minutes later, police arrived at his door with a direct order to evacuate immediately. “Take your money, take your cards and get out,” he recalled officers telling him. Like many other evacuees, Crilly has been staying at the Garrucha sports hall, waiting for updates on when it will be safe to return to assess his home.

    British couple Martin and Elizabeth Smith, who were staying at a local campsite for a holiday, echoed that sense of surrealism. Martin Smith, 63, who has already had to cut his trip short and return to the United Kingdom, said the chaos of the escape was something he had only ever seen on screen. “It wasn’t good. Not good at all. I’d never seen anything like it. You see things like that in films, but never in real life,” he said. Despite the trauma of the disaster, Smith added that the fire has not dimmed his affection for Spain as a holiday destination. “It hasn’t put us off coming to Spain,” he said.

  • Paris landmarks shutter early as quarter of France swelters under heatwave

    Paris landmarks shutter early as quarter of France swelters under heatwave

    As a record-breaking third heatwave bears down on France, a quarter of the nation’s mainland territory has been placed under the country’s highest heat warning, forcing iconic Paris landmarks including the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, and the Musee d’Orsay to shut their doors hours earlier than their usual summer schedules.

    France’s national meteorological service Meteo-France placed 24 mainland departments — home to more than 22 million people, per an Agence France-Presse tally — on maximum red heat alert on Saturday. An additional 59 departments across mainland France remain under an orange heat warning, one tier below the highest emergency level. The extreme heat has hit during a busy national holiday weekend, with millions of travelers crowding national highways and rail networks ahead of the July 14 Bastille Day celebration.

    A spokesperson for the Eiffel Tower, the 324-meter steel monument that draws 7 million annual visitors and typically stays open past midnight during peak summer tourist season, confirmed that the landmark would implement extraordinary early closures at 4 p.m. (1400 GMT) both Saturday and Sunday, a measure put in place directly due to projected extreme high temperatures. Two of Paris’s other most visited cultural institutions have followed suit: the Louvre, the world’s most-visited art museum, will close at 4 p.m. from Friday through Monday, while the Musee d’Orsay will shut at 5 p.m. from Saturday through Wednesday in response to the extreme heat.

    Beyond disrupted tourist schedules, the heatwave has forced widespread cancellations of traditional Bastille Day firework displays across hundreds of French towns. Officials cited elevated wildfire risk and extremely dry vegetation conditions for the cancellations. A senior French official confirmed Friday that wildfires have already burned twice as much land across France in 202X as they did during the same period last year. Speaking on Saturday, President Emmanuel Macron urged the public to remain vigilant, noting that 9 out of 10 wildfires in the country stem from human activity.

    “One single moment of inattention can put families at risk, endanger the first responders who protect us, and destroy our natural landscapes,” Macron wrote in a post on social platform X.

    This heatwave marks the third extreme heat event to hit France since May. A record-shattering heatwave in June pushed official excess death figures above 2,000, with an additional 300 excess deaths recorded during a late May heat event, according to national public health data. The French government has faced growing public criticism in recent weeks, with opponents and climate experts accusing the administration of being unprepared for the rising frequency of extreme heat events, a trend climate scientists have directly linked to anthropogenic climate change. Meteo-France forecasts that high temperatures will persist across the country through Bastille Day on July 14.