Global Pulse

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  • Western Europe records its hottest June as heatwaves surge: EU monitor

    Western Europe records its hottest June as heatwaves surge: EU monitor

    The European Union’s official climate monitoring body confirmed Thursday that 2025 has brought Western Europe its hottest June ever recorded, capping off a month of unprecedented extreme heat that has underscored the accelerating impacts of human-caused climate change across the continent. The announcement comes as a second intense heatwave already bears down on Europe this summer, following the June record-breaking event and an unseasonably early spring heatwave that struck in May.

    Data from the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service shows the average June temperature across Western Europe hit 20.74°C this year – more than 3°C higher than the 1991-2020 baseline average for the month. The figure shatters the previous regional June record set just two years prior in 2025. For the globe as a whole and Europe as an entire continent, this June ranked as the second hottest ever recorded, Copernicus confirmed, as decades of greenhouse gas emissions continue to drive global average temperatures steadily upward.

    Global average June temperatures this year hit 1.39°C above the pre-industrial baseline (1850-1900), the service reported. The world’s oceans also logged their warmest June on record, compounded by a developing El Niño weather pattern in the tropical Pacific that forecasters project will strengthen in the coming months.

    The record-breaking June heat was driven by a stubborn “heat dome” – a persistent high-pressure system that traps hot air like a lid over a boiling pot – that settled over much of Western Europe, pushing multiple countries to break both monthly and all-time high temperature records. An analysis by Agence France-Presse found that more than 410 million Europeans – over two-thirds of the region’s population – faced temperatures above 35°C between June 15 and 30. Thousands of heat-related deaths were recorded across the continent, concentrated primarily in France, Spain and Belgium, with high humidity amplifying the danger by preventing cooling overnight.

    “It was extremely humid, which then meant people didn’t get relief at night. So we had a number of tropical nights in a row,” explained Samantha Burgess, strategic climate lead at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), which manages the Copernicus program. Warm ocean waters along Europe’s Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts compounded the issue, eliminating cooling sea breezes that typically bring overnight relief. The Mediterranean also saw a record-breaking marine heatwave that put coastal and marine ecosystems at severe risk.

    Dry conditions from the heat also exacerbated drought risks in Eastern Europe and amplified wildfire activity across the Iberian Peninsula and Southern France, Copernicus noted.

    Climate scientists from World Weather Attribution, an international research network, previously classified the June 2025 heatwave as the most severe ever recorded in Europe based on three-day peak average temperature forecasts across the affected region. The group concluded the event would have been virtually impossible to occur without the influence of human-caused climate change; a similar heat event in June 2003 would have been roughly 2°C cooler, they found.

    Burgess warned that heat extremes will only become more common, intense and widespread as global temperatures continue to rise. “We will see more heatwaves in a warmer world. They will be more intense and they will last longer, and they will impact more geographical areas,” she told AFP. She added that climate change is no longer a distant future threat, but a disruptive force already reshaping daily life: “We’re at a transition point where climate change is shifting from being an abstract statistical future problem that you read about in reports, to a concrete present and disruptive feature of daily life.”

    Europe, which is already the fastest-warming continent on Earth, faces unique challenges as it adapts to this new climate reality, Burgess noted. Many of the region’s most iconic historic buildings were constructed centuries ago for a cooler climate that no longer exists, requiring urgent updates to built infrastructure to protect residents from extreme heat. To slow the progression of worsening heat extremes, Burgess emphasized that the world must reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel combustion as quickly as possible. “Heatwaves will only get worse the more (emissions from) fossil fuel we pump into the atmosphere,” she said.

  • 11-month-old child hospitalised with serious injuries

    11-month-old child hospitalised with serious injuries

    A shocking case of alleged infant abuse has left an 11-month-old child fighting for life in a Western Australia hospital, with a family member now facing serious criminal charges over the incident. According to local law enforcement details, the infant sustained life-threatening harm following an alleged shaking attack on July 2. Emergency responders immediately rushed the injured child to Joondalup Health Campus in critical condition, before the young patient was transferred to Perth Children’s Hospital for specialized intensive care. As of the latest update, the 11-month-old remains in a critical but stable condition under close medical observation. Western Australia Police confirmed on Monday that the accused, a 25-year-old man from Two Rocks, a coastal suburb north of Perth, was formally charged with one count of aggravated grievous bodily harm this past Friday. Investigators have also confirmed a familial relationship between the accused man and the injured infant, though no further personal details have been released to protect the child’s identity. The suspect is scheduled to make his first court appearance at Perth Magistrates Court on July 29, where formal legal proceedings will begin. This incident has prompted renewed local discussion about infant safety and prevention of non-accidental head trauma in young children, a leading cause of severe injury in infants under 12 months of age across Australia.

  • Democrat accused of rape exits key US Senate race

    Democrat accused of rape exits key US Senate race

    In a sudden development that upends one of the Democratic Party’s top pickup opportunities in this year’s midterm elections, Graham Platner, the scandal-plagued Democratic Senate nominee for Maine, announced Wednesday he is ending his campaign against incumbent Republican Senator Susan Collins.

    Platner, a 41-year-old Marine veteran, commercial oysterman and first-time political candidate, shocked political observers last month when he won the state’s Democratic primary, propelled by a populist, anti-establishment message that won him a fervent grassroots following. His unapologetic, outsider style quickly drew comparisons to Donald Trump’s disruptive 2016 political rise, as he railed against corporate influence, big-money political donors, and Collins, whom he accused of prioritizing the interests of billionaires over working-class Mainers.

    But his campaign began to unravel just days ago, after outlet Politico published a rape allegation from Jenny Racicot, a 41-year-old Maine resident and former romantic partner of Platner. Racicot accused Platner of forcing her to have non-consensual sex in late 2021, despite repeated protests from her. Platner has forcefully and categorically denied the claim, calling the accusation false, troubling, and unrelated to any actual misconduct.

    “This is incredibly difficult, because I know that some will think it’s an admission of guilt, and it most certainly is not,” Platner said in a video statement posted to X Wednesday. He confirmed he would file formal paperwork to withdraw his candidacy, noting that his hand was forced after top national Democratic leaders pulled all financial and institutional support for his campaign. “We’re not doing it because of the allegations, we’re doing it because of the structures that are being taken away from us by those in power,” he added.

    Even before the rape allegation emerged, Platner’s candidacy had been dogged by a series of personal controversies: inflammatory old social media posts, sexually explicit messages sent to women during the early years of his marriage, a tattoo that resembled a Nazi swastika (which he later covered up), and prior claims of mistreatment of women. Platner has acknowledged past struggles with undiagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder from his military service and alcohol abuse, but has repeatedly denied any physical harm to former partners.

    Within 48 hours of the latest allegation becoming public, support for Platner collapsed across every wing of the Democratic Party. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee chair Kirsten Gillibrand publicly called for his withdrawal, warning that the party’s national campaign infrastructure would not invest a single dollar in the Maine race if he remained on the ballot. Multiple sitting Democratic senators who had previously backed Platner joined the call for him to step aside, and the Maine Democratic Party issued a statement saying “principle does not bend based on party affiliation” while urging his exit.

    Per Maine state election law, Platner’s withdrawal before the July 13 deadline allows state Democrats to select a replacement nominee to appear on the November general election ballot. The state party has until July 27 to name a new candidate, leaving party leaders just weeks to regroup for a high-stakes race that is central to Democrats’ goal of flipping control of the U.S. Senate from Republicans.

    The sudden collapse of Platner’s campaign has exposed deep rifts within the Maine Democratic Party. Progressives are already pushing for a new nominee who will carry forward Platner’s populist policy agenda and grassroots movement, while centrist party leaders are under intense pressure to select a candidate who can appeal to moderate, independent and women voters — blocs that will be critical to unseating Collins. The five-term incumbent Republican, one of the last remaining moderate GOP members of Congress, has long proven resilient in tough Maine elections, and the turmoil surrounding Platner’s exit has handed her campaign an unexpected political reprieve.

    For Democrats, the crisis in Maine comes as the party targets Collins’ seat as one of its most winnable pickup opportunities this cycle. To retake majority control of the Senate, Democrats need to flip multiple Republican-held seats, making the Maine race all the more critical. Platner closed his statement by calling on the Democratic establishment to honor the will and values of Maine’s rural, independent electorate as they move to select a new nominee.

  • US to remove Syria from terror blacklist, in new boost to Sharaa

    US to remove Syria from terror blacklist, in new boost to Sharaa

    In a landmark diplomatic shift that signals a new chapter for post-Assad Syria, the United States announced Wednesday it will remove the country from its decades-old list of state sponsors of terrorism, a major show of support for new Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa. The long-awaited move, formally notified to Congress by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, will go into effect in 45 days, and congressional opposition to the delisting is widely viewed as an unlikely outcome.

    The announcement coincided with a face-to-face meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Sharaa held on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey. Sharaa, a former jihadist who has rebranded himself as a unifying national leader following the 2024 collapse of the Assad regime that ruled Syria with authoritarian control for 50 years, traded his previous guerrilla attire for a formal suit for the high-profile diplomatic encounter.

    “This is yet another historic step by President Trump to give the Syrian people a chance at greatness,” Rubio said in an official statement. He emphasized that removing the terrorism designation, paired with broader sanctions relief, will unlock critical international trade and foreign investment that Syria desperately needs to rebuild its infrastructure and institutions after years of devastating civil conflict. “A stable, unified Syria at peace with itself and its neighbors benefits not only the region, but the entire world,” Rubio added.

    Trump echoed this positive assessment of Sharaa’s leadership during their meeting, saying, “He’s doing an unbelievable job in unifying Syria. What a job he’s doing. Syria was a mess with what happened with the previous government.”

    The delisting comes despite lingering misgivings from Israel, one of Syria’s long-standing regional adversaries that has carried out repeated airstrikes on Syrian territory in recent years. Trump has previously publicly pushed for Syria to reach a formal peace agreement with Israel, but moved forward with the delisting even without tangible progress on that front. Last month, Trump suggested that Sharaa’s Sunni-led government could lead a military campaign to weaken Lebanese Shia militant group Hezbollah, a proposal Sharaa quickly rejected, noting Syria has no intention of repeating the Assad regime’s decades-long military intervention in Lebanon.

    For months, the U.S.’s initial round of sanctions relief had little tangible impact on Syria’s economy because the state sponsor of terrorism designation remained in place. The label left U.S. and international businesses facing significant legal risks for any commercial activity in Syria, effectively blocking most foreign investment. Rubio confirmed that the decision to delist Syria followed “formal assurances” from Sharaa that the new government will not support any acts of international terrorism moving forward.

    With Syria’s removal, only three countries — Iran, North Korea, and Cuba — will remain on the U.S. terror blacklist. Cuba was controversially added to the list during Trump’s first presidential term amid rising pressure on the island’s communist government.

    The U.S. first designated Syria as a state sponsor of terrorism back in 1979, during the rule of Hafez al-Assad, the late father of ousted president Bashar al-Assad. For decades under the Assad dynasty, Syria hosted a number of Palestinian militant groups, and Damascus was accused of direct involvement in high-profile attacks, including a 1986 attempted bombing of an Israeli El Al airliner. In recent decades, the designation was primarily tied to the Assad regime’s close alliance with Iran and its long-standing support for Hezbollah. Today, Syria is in desperate need of international economic assistance to rebuild after years of brutal civil war that allowed the Islamic State extremist group to seize large swathes of territory and triggered one of the worst global refugee crises of the 21st century.

  • Luke Beveridge says AFL’s Will Lewis staging fine sets ‘new precedent’

    Luke Beveridge says AFL’s Will Lewis staging fine sets ‘new precedent’

    A fresh controversy has erupted in Australian Rules Football after Western Bulldogs head coach Luke Beveridge launched a scathing rebuke of the AFL’s decision to uphold a staging fine against forward Will Lewis, accusing the league of dismissing clear medical evidence to set a troubling new precedent for future disciplinary cases.

    The penalty stems from an incident during last Friday’s match at the Sydney Cricket Ground, where the Bulldogs fell to the Sydney Swans. Lewis was issued a AU$1000 fine for alleged intentional staging during the game’s fourth quarter. In a bid to overturn the charge, the Western Bulldogs club submitted official medical documentation proving Lewis had been struck hard in the solar plexus during the play, a blow that left him temporarily unable to breathe and forced him to remain on the ground.

    Despite the submission, the AFL declined to reverse the fine. Beveridge told reporters this outcome now establishes a new, unwelcome standard that all Australian Football League clubs will have to navigate going forward. “In this one, he’s actually copped one in the solar plexus, it’s knocked the wind out of him,” Beveridge explained. “He’s hit the deck and then he’s obviously been charged with staging … what the AFL are saying to us is if you get hit, regardless if you do or don’t, if you stay down you can still be charged with staging.”
    Beveridge emphasized that the medical submission clearly confirmed Lewis could not have gotten back to his feet immediately due to his injury, yet the league brushed this evidence aside. “The AFL has obviously thumbed their nose at it and said, ‘We just think you’ve staged’,” he said. “It’s changed now to what staging is, it’s totally contingent on how long you stay down, not whether or not you actually got hit because he got hit.”
    The coach also came to Lewis’ defense, pushing back against any implication that the forward intentionally faked an injury to gain an advantage. “I feel for him because I don’t want him to be tarred with a brush that he’s put on an act because he hasn’t,” Beveridge said. “It just means now that if doctors from the football clubs, if they put forward submissions that a player is in discomfort, has been hit, the AFL will now ignore that and base it on what they see.”
    Beyond the disciplinary controversy, Beveridge also confirmed that key Bulldogs ruckman Tim English is in fitness doubt ahead of this weekend’s highly anticipated match against the West Coast Eagles. English played through discomfort in last week’s loss to the Swans, and his availability for the upcoming clash remains uncertain. He will need to get through a full training session without issue and pull up well by Friday to be confirmed as a starter.
    Beveridge noted that English has struggled for consistent form this season, a slump he attributes in part to disrupted game time from a recent concussion that has also dented the big man’s confidence. The coach, however, remains optimistic that consistent selection will help English return to his dominant best. “A bit like our midfield group this year, we’ve had some inconsistency through them working together, individuals at times and Tim’s in that,” he said. “But he’s obviously had some disruptions with the concussion, so a part of it might be a confidence thing. I’ve got every thought in my head that he’s going to be able to move towards being influential again – whether that is this week or not remains to be seen.”

  • Iran to bury Khamenei in hometown as US ramps up strikes

    Iran to bury Khamenei in hometown as US ramps up strikes

    As Iran enters the final phase of national mourning for its long-serving supreme leader Ali Khamenei, the country is bracing for a historic burial ceremony in his northeastern hometown of Mashhad on Thursday, even as new U.S. military strikes have sent regional tensions soaring and reignited fears of a full-scale escalation of the ongoing Middle East conflict.

    Khamenei, who led the Islamic Republic of Iran for 34 years starting in 1989, was killed on February 28, the opening day of coordinated U.S.-Israeli strikes that launched the current war. The 86-year-old leader died alongside multiple family members and senior government officials in an Israeli airstrike, and his remains have traveled a multi-city, multi-day funeral route that has drawn millions of mourners across Iran and neighboring Iraq.

    After three days of public lying-in-state in the capital Tehran, Khamenei’s casket was moved first to the holy clerical city of Qom on Tuesday, then to the Iraqi Shia holy sites of Najaf and Karbala for a mass procession on Wednesday. Delays from the Iraq ceremony forced organizers to push back the start of Thursday’s burial events from 6:00 a.m. local time to 2:00 p.m., according to local Iranian media. By Thursday evening, Khamenei will be laid to rest in the Shrine of Imam Reza, Iran’s most sacred Shia religious site, where the 8th Shia Imam— the only one of the 12 principal Shia imams buried in modern Iran— is entombed. He will be buried alongside four family members killed in the same February 28 strike: his infant granddaughter, daughter, son-in-law, and daughter-in-law Zahra Haddad Adel, wife of Khamenei’s son and designated successor Mojtaba Khamenei.

    Per the late leader’s own pre-stated wishes, conveyed to state media by his chief of staff Mohammad Mohammadi-Golpaygani, Mashhad was selected as his final resting place. The Shrine of Imam Reza has hosted the burials of dozens of prominent Iranian figures across centuries, including former monarchs and ex-president Ebrahim Raisi. Mashhad governor Hassan Hosseini told state television that authorities expect up to 15 million mourners to gather for the burial, a turnout that the ruling Islamic Republic hopes will project national unity and domestic strength just six months after a harsh government crackdown on widespread anti-government protests, and weeks after the outbreak of war.

    All eyes remain on Mojtaba Khamenei, the late leader’s confirmed successor, who has not yet made any public appearance since the strike that killed his father. Multiple reports indicate he was injured in the same attack that killed Khamenei and his family members, leaving a period of political uncertainty hanging over the country even as the funeral proceeds.

    The somber occasion of the national burial has been overshadowed by a sharp new escalation in hostilities between Iran and the United States. Just as the funeral entered its final day, the U.S. launched new strikes on Iranian coastal targets, in retaliation for recent Iranian attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic global oil chokepoint that has been a core point of contention between Tehran and Washington for decades.

    U.S. Central Command confirmed the strikes, stating they were intended to degrade Iranian military capabilities to threaten commercial navigation in the strait. U.S. President Donald Trump, who earlier declared the fragile U.S.-Iran ceasefire that paused five weeks of intense hostilities was over, issued a stark warning Thursday: if Iran continues targeting vessels in the waterway, he promised “much worse” consequences to come. Tehran has already responded to the new U.S. strikes by saying it launched attacks on U.S. military bases stationed in Bahrain and Kuwait, raising the stakes of a rapid return to full-scale conflict. Global leaders have issued widespread calls for restraint from both sides, as the region teeters on the edge of a wider war that could disrupt global energy supplies and destabilize the entire Middle East.

  • Trump orders new strikes on Iran over attacks on shipping in Hormuz

    Trump orders new strikes on Iran over attacks on shipping in Hormuz

    Escalating tensions around the strategically critical Strait of Hormuz have erupted into open conflict after US President Donald Trump ordered a new wave of military strikes against Iran on Wednesday, marking a major breakdown of a recently agreed ceasefire between the two nations.

    The retaliatory action came in response to a series of attacks launched by Iranian forces on commercial shipping vessels passing through the strait, a chokepoint that carries roughly one-fifth of the world’s total oil and liquefied natural gas supplies. In a post on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump made clear the strikes were punishment for Tehran’s recent actions, warning that further aggression would draw even harsher retaliation.

    “This is in retribution for yesterday’s bombing of ships by Iran. If it happens again, it will get much worse!” Trump wrote. Speaking later to reporters at a NATO summit held in Ankara, the president reinforced the message, saying, “We’re gonna hit ’em hard tonight. They violate the agreement every day.”

    Despite the aggressive military posture, Trump struck a more conciliatory tone early Wednesday, stating that he expected the latest flare-up of hostilities to conclude rapidly and leaving open the possibility of future diplomatic negotiations with Iran.

    Within hours of the strike order, Iran’s official state news agency IRNA reported multiple explosions across coastal areas in the country’s southern region. Warplane activity was detected over Kish Island, with blasts hitting the major port cities of Bandar Abbas, Konarak and Chabahar. Partial power outages were reported in parts of Chabahar following the strikes.

    US Central Command (CENTCOM), which oversees American military operations in the Middle East, confirmed the new wave of strikes in a post on X, noting that the action was designed to weaken Iran’s capacity to disrupt global shipping through the strait. “The United States is holding Iran accountable for recent unjustified aggression against commercial shipping,” CENTCOM said.

    The current crisis traces its roots to late February, when a joint US-Israeli strike killed Iran’s long-time supreme leader Ali Khamenei, whose funeral is scheduled for Thursday in his hometown of Mashhad. In the aftermath of that attack, Iran moved to assert full control over the Strait of Hormuz, announcing it would impose transit fees on commercial vessels and threatening to target any shipping that did not follow Iran’s authorized routes.

    Over the past week, Iranian forces have attacked at least three commercial ships near the strait, triggering large-scale US strikes on dozens of Iranian targets on Tuesday. Iran responded with retaliatory missile and drone attacks on American military facilities hosted by US allies Kuwait and Bahrain. A US military official confirmed to AFP on Wednesday that no American personnel were killed and no major infrastructure damage was sustained in the Iranian counterattacks, adding that most incoming projectiles were intercepted before reaching their targets.

    Initial casualty reports from the first wave of strikes indicate eight Iranian military personnel were killed, according to Iranian state television. CENTCOM reported that its strikes hit more than 80 targets, including Iranian air defense systems, coastal radar installations and 60 small boats operated by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). The IRGC in turn claims it hit dozens of US military sites in Kuwait and Bahrain. Kuwait confirmed it intercepted two ballistic missiles and 13 incoming drones, while Iran says its forces also targeted the US-run Sheikh Isa Air Base in Bahrain.

    News of the collapsed ceasefire and new strikes sent global energy markets into turmoil, with oil prices jumping 8% in immediate trading following Trump’s announcement that the truce was over.

    The outbreak of renewed hostilities has drawn urgent calls for de-escalation from global leaders and international bodies. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was among the first to issue a public appeal, urging all sides to “exercise maximum restraint.” Pakistan, one of the key mediators that helped broker the earlier ceasefire between Washington and Tehran, echoed Guterres’ call for calm. Qatari mediators, who also played a central role in earlier talks, have reaffirmed their commitment to finding a diplomatic solution, with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Qatar’s prime minister emphasizing the importance of diplomatic channels in a phone call Wednesday.

    The escalating conflict has taken a heavy human toll on civilians and commercial mariners alike. Nawal Saad, a civil servant based in Bahrain, summed up widespread regional anxiety, saying, “the spectre of war is looming once more, and I do not want to go through that experience of fear and anxiety again.”

    Oman, which has long maintained neutrality as a mediator in the conflict and borders the strait opposite Iran, condemned the targeting of both shipping vessels and Gulf states, though it stopped short of directly blaming Iran. The Omani government previously proposed a temporary transit corridor hugging its coastline to avoid the most high-risk areas near Iranian waters, but Iran has refused to allow vessels to use that route. Washington has repeatedly insisted on unfettered free passage for all commercial shipping through the strait, a position that directly clashes with Tehran’s demand for transit fees and route controls.

    Even before the latest collapse of the ceasefire, the ongoing crisis had left thousands of seafarers stranded in the area. International Maritime Organization Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez confirmed Wednesday that nearly 6,000 commercial seafarers remain stuck on vessels stuck in the region, months after hostilities first broke out. While maritime traffic had tentatively resumed after the ceasefire was signed last month, the latest escalation has thrown any return to normal shipping into serious doubt.

  • China sends nuclear missile message as US looks elsewhere

    China sends nuclear missile message as US looks elsewhere

    As the United States redirects much of its strategic and military attention to escalating conflict with Iran in the Middle East, China has carried out a test of a long-range, nuclear-capable submarine-launched ballistic missile, delivering a high-profile demonstration of its expanding nuclear and military capabilities to global observers. The test, conducted earlier this week, comes two years after Beijing launched an intercontinental ballistic missile into waters near French Polynesia, and drew immediate condemnation from Washington and several regional powers. However, just as with prior Chinese military advances that have been overshadowed by other global crises, this demonstration was quickly pushed out of global headlines by the resumption of U.S. strikes on Iran, the latest outbreak of violence between Washington and Tehran that broke a ceasefire reached on April 8.

  • Sam Darcy targets running return as he reveals positive knee injury update

    Sam Darcy targets running return as he reveals positive knee injury update

    For rising Australian Football League star Sam Darcy of the Western Bulldogs, a season-ending anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rupture has done nothing to dim his competitive fire or alter his signature playing style. The 22-year-old superstar, who suffered the devastating knee injury during the club’s round 6 clash against Geelong, has confirmed his rehabilitation is progressing without any unexpected setbacks, and he is on track to begin light running as soon as next month.

    Darcy opened up about his recovery journey Wednesday, stepping away from his training regimen to help the AFL and hardware chain Bunnings launch the first-ever National Footy Sausage Sizzle, a community fundraiser that will see more than 260 local footy clubs host barbecues this weekend to raise much-needed funds for grassroots programs. The young forward said he had completed the hardest phase of his recovery, the initial months spent reducing swelling and relearning how to walk comfortably after surgery.

    “I saw the surgeon today, and he’s really happy with how everything is progressing,” Darcy told reporters. “Everything is on track. I work closely with the club’s physiotherapy team every day, and we haven’t hit any hiccups so far. The first couple of months were definitely the toughest part — getting the swelling under control, relearning to walk — but now I’m moving around comfortably. I’m doing regular work on the spin bike, swimming laps in the pool, and putting in daily work at the club. The hardest part of this process is behind me.”

    From here, Darcy will shift his focus to building strength and gradually reintroducing weight-bearing movement. He is scheduled to begin sessions on the AlterG anti-gravity treadmill at the 16-week post-surgery mark, with full light running set to start in just over a month. The rehab team is taking a conservative approach to ensure the injured knee heals fully and reduces the risk of future complications, a timeline Darcy says he is comfortable with.

    Notably, Darcy has a genetic predisposition that put him at higher risk of a serious knee injury over the course of his career. Even with that context, the 2025 Mark of the Year winner — who earned the award for a spectacular acrobatic mark against Melbourne — says he has no plans to rein in his aggressive, instinctive style of play when he returns to the field.

    “Not at all — I don’t think I need to change anything,” he asserted. “I just need to focus on building my strength, refining my running mechanics, and making sure everything moves efficiently and smartly. I still want to play with aggression, lean into my strengths, play on instinct, and keep a free mind out on the field. I’m not going to spend every play worrying about getting hurt again.”

    Darcy says he draws inspiration from the dozens of AFL and other professional athletes who have returned to peak form after ACL injuries, and he is fully confident he can get back to his best. “I’m confident I can get 100 per cent back to my top level,” he said. “A lot of players have gone through this same injury across AFL and other sports, and that gives me a lot of motivation. I fully believe this whole process is going to go smoothly.”

    The young star admitted that sidelining him for the rest of the season has been a difficult adjustment. Ever since his junior playing days, game day has always been the highlight of his week, and sitting on the sidelines has been a frustrating experience. Even so, he is keeping his focus on his recovery and his eventual comeback, with his competitive mindset fully intact.

  • US man jailed after swapping 17th century manuscript

    US man jailed after swapping 17th century manuscript

    In a case that highlights ongoing vulnerabilities in cultural heritage stewardship at major academic institutions, a 39-year-old California man has been sentenced to 12 months and one day in federal prison for orchestrating a sophisticated scheme to steal a rare 17th-century Qing Dynasty Chinese manuscript from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Library.

    According to official statements from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the perpetrator, Jeffrey Ying of Fremont, used a network of aliases to gain controlled access to a collection of ancient Chinese artworks and texts, some of which date back more than 600 years. The rare manuscripts held by UCLA’s library system are not part of general public circulation; access requires advance reservation and formal check-out, a protocol Ying exploited to carry out his fraud.

    Ying’s modus operandi followed a consistent pattern: after checking out an original rare manuscript, he would return the library several days later with a carefully crafted counterfeit dummy copy in its place. Authorities confirmed that he frequently traveled to China shortly after each successful swap, a timeline that raised immediate red flags for investigators.

    The scheme was uncovered after UCLA library staff noticed that multiple rare Chinese manuscripts were unaccounted for in their collections. A preliminary review traced the last access of the missing items to a visitor using the alias “Alan Fujimori”, a trail that ultimately led investigators to Ying. When law enforcement executed a search warrant at a Los Angeles-area hotel where Ying was staying, they uncovered critical evidence of his operation: blank scrolls and manuscript templates cut to match the size and style of the stolen works, along with prefabricated asset tags matching the library’s labeling system that were intended to finish the counterfeit dummies. Investigators also found a cache of library cards registered under multiple different names, confirming that Ying had long planned his scheme to access the rare collection.

    Ying entered a guilty plea to a single federal charge of theft of the 17th-century Qing Dynasty manuscript, marking the conclusion of the investigation. The case comes amid a rapidly expanding market for historical Chinese cultural artifacts: as China’s middle class grows in wealth and cultural engagement, demand for authentic historical heritage has surged, supporting both a growing network of state-run museums and a robust private art market. For U.S. academic institutions holding global cultural collections, the case underscores the need for enhanced verification and inventory protocols to prevent similar art thefts.