Author: Admin

PAPHOS, Cyprus — European Union officials announced Friday a pair of groundbreaking strategies designed to help the bloc’s island and coastal communities thrive — the first time the EU has taken such a comprehensive approach to addressing the unique challenges these regions face.

More than 17 million people reside on over 4,000 islands throughout the EU, including three member nations that are islands themselves — Ireland, Malta, and Cyprus. An additional 95 million people live along the coastlines of 22 EU member countries.

Speaking at a conference focused on strengthening island and coastal communities, European Parliament Vice President Younous Omarjee declared, “Islands have been overlooked in the past, but now that comes to an end.”

Raffaele Fitto, the European Commission’s executive vice president for cohesion and reforms, said the new strategies replace scattered, one-off approaches with a unified framework for tackling the distinctive hardships these communities endure.

Because islands are far from mainland markets and depend heavily on air and sea travel, residents and businesses there face significantly higher costs for transportation, housing, and public services compared to those on the mainland.

“This is what we call the cost of insularity — a cost that millions of EU citizens and businesses pay every day, simply because of where they live and work,” Fitto said.

The island-focused strategy rests on four main pillars: upgrading transportation links and digital infrastructure, addressing climate change impacts and energy needs, tackling shrinking populations and housing shortages, and strengthening security and emergency preparedness.

“From the Baltic to the Mediterranean, islands are on the front line of geopolitical challenges,” Fitto added.

At this stage, no specific projects have been identified for funding. Member nations will submit proposals once the EU’s next budget is released. Fitto indicated that desalination plants and housing construction would be among the top priorities considered.

Fisheries and Oceans Commissioner Costas Kadis noted that EU coastal communities contribute approximately 265 billion euros — roughly $302 billion — to the bloc’s economy each year. However, he said those same communities are under growing pressure from climate change, declining populations, a lack of affordable housing, and limited access to essential services.

The coastal strategy seeks to reduce these communities’ dependence on a single income source by broadening economic activity and generating new employment opportunities. Among the proposals Kadis highlighted is a blue carbon credit program that would provide funding for carbon-absorbing coastal wetlands, marshes, and mangroves.

Additional proposals include the OceanEye initiative, which would position the EU as a global leader in ocean monitoring and research, as well as efforts to promote dual-use technologies and vessels capable of serving both fishing and tourism industries.

The strategy also calls for making coastal areas more resistant to climate change and severe weather events through investments carried out in partnership with the European Investment Bank.

BUCHAREST — Three centre-right parties that made up Romania’s outgoing ruling coalition have put forward European Parliament member Siegfried Muresan as their pick for prime minister, though whether they can secure the votes needed to confirm him remains an open question.

The political turmoil began when the leftist Social Democrats — Romania’s largest political party — walked away from the coalition and joined hands with far-right opposition lawmakers to bring down Liberal Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan in early May.

The prolonged standoff raises the possibility of a snap election in Romania, where the hard-right Alliance for Uniting Romanians is currently ahead in opinion polls by double digits. That party opposes a European Union rearmament initiative and has been critical of providing aid to Ukraine.

The Social Democrats have nominated their own leader, Sorin Grindeanu, for the prime minister post and have made clear they will not support any government that does not include them. On the other side, the Liberals — who form the centre-right bloc alongside the Save Romania Union and the ethnic Hungarian UDMR party — have ruled out entering another coalition with the leftists.

Leaders from all four parties in the outgoing coalition were set to sit down with centrist President Nicusor Dan on Friday evening to discuss a possible path forward for a minority government.

The Alliance for Uniting Romanians, which holds the second-largest share of seats in parliament, recently voted against legislation that would have authorized the shooting down of Russian drones crossing into Romanian airspace near the Ukrainian border. The party has also been a consistent critic of the European Union.

Earlier this week, a Liberal politician designated by President Dan as prime minister — without prior consultation with the Liberal Party — was unable to win a parliamentary confidence vote.

Under Romanian law, the president has one remaining nomination he can make. If two prime ministerial candidates fail to win parliamentary approval within 60 days of a government collapse, the president is permitted to dissolve parliament and call an early election.

The political gridlock is also putting pressure on Romania’s broader economic goals, including efforts to reduce what is currently the largest budget deficit among EU member states, secure access to EU funding, and improve its sovereign credit rating, which sits at the lowest level of investment grade.

Romania’s next regularly scheduled parliamentary election is not due until 2028.

Tensions are running high in South Africa as an anti-immigrant movement has given undocumented foreigners until Tuesday to leave the country, with large-scale rallies expected that many worry could turn violent.

Thousands of African migrants have either begun making their way home or are sheltering together in makeshift camps out of fear of being attacked. The group organizing the demonstrations, called March and March, insists its actions are peaceful.

Here’s a closer look at what’s driving the protests, how widely shared these views are among South Africans, and whether the claims being made actually hold up to scrutiny.

What Are the Protesters Angry About?

Groups opposed to immigration argue that South Africa has been overwhelmed by undocumented foreigners who are stealing jobs, draining public resources, and driving up crime. On June 24, Musa Hlongwa, president of the anti-migrant civil group United South Africa, addressed reporters directly on the issue.

“South Africans are tired of standing in long queues in hospitals … competing for spaces in public schools with illegal immigrants … competing for jobs with foreign nationals … tired of Nigerians who are selling drugs to youth of this country,” Hlongwa said.

How Many South Africans Feel This Way?

Three separate surveys conducted last year all pointed to a growing wave of anti-immigrant feeling in the country. A Human Sciences Research Council poll found that hostility toward immigrants has reached record levels — only one in six adults said they would welcome all foreigners, while 42% said they would welcome none at all, a jump from one-third who held that view in 2021.

An Afrobarometer survey revealed that seven out of ten South Africans view immigrants’ economic impact as harmful, and a striking 85% believe authorities should reduce or completely halt the number of refugees entering the country. Meanwhile, an Ipsos poll found that nearly three-quarters of respondents said they did not trust African immigrants “at all.”

Do the Claims Hold Up?

Claim 1: South Africa Is Being Overrun With Illegal Immigrants

According to a 2023 national statistics office survey, there were 3.1 million migrants living in South Africa — roughly 4.1% of the total population, actually down from 5.6% a decade earlier. By international comparison, that figure is relatively low: the United Kingdom’s migrant share stands at 17%, Canada’s at 22%, and Australia’s at 30%, based on 2024 United Nations data.

While some campaigners argue the official numbers undercount undocumented arrivals, StatsSA uses census methods specifically designed to capture those individuals as well.

“The impression is that there are … hordes of people coming into the country, but the data points to the contrary,” said Anthony Kaziboni, a senior researcher at the University of Johannesburg’s Centre for Social Development in Africa.

Claim 2: Foreigners Are Behind South Africa’s High Crime Rate

Police in South Africa do not publish data on the nationalities of convicted criminals. However, justice department prison figures from 2017 showed that 11,842 foreign nationals were held in South African prisons — about 6% of the total prison population. Of those, 1,380 were incarcerated specifically for illegal entry into the country.

“All evidence suggests immigrants are disproportionately law abiding. Most of their crimes are immigration violations,” said Loren B. Landau, Professor of Migration and Development at the University of Oxford.

Claim 3: African Migrants Are Taking Jobs From Locals

A 2018 World Bank report found the opposite to be true — for every migrant who finds employment, approximately two jobs are created for South African workers through the resulting business activity. That’s because migrants earn wages and then spend most of that money locally on goods and services.

“If you own a restaurant in South Africa … (you) have more customers available to you,” said Lauren Gilbert, director of political science data at GeoQuant. “If migrants are living with dubious kitchen facilities (for example) because migrant housing is often bad … they’re more likely to eat street food.”

Claim 4: Undocumented Migrants Are Draining Public Services

Kaziboni noted that undocumented migrants are very unlikely to use public hospitals or schools — both of which require registration — out of fear of being identified and reported. Economists point to chronic underinvestment and widespread corruption as the real culprits behind the country’s struggling health and education systems.

“To squarely blame immigrants for a failed healthcare crisis is unjust and it’s unfounded. There is no evidence that supports that,” Kaziboni said. “We should blame poor governance, maladministration and corruption,” he added, pointing out that 1.5 trillion rand ($91.27 billion) was lost to corruption during former president Jacob Zuma’s time in office, with an additional 1 billion rand spent just to investigate it.

So Why the Deep-Rooted Hostility?

Historically, the apartheid government relied on migrant labor from across Africa to suppress wages in gold mines and weaken labor unions — a legacy that has left a lasting mark on the national consciousness. Today, one in three South Africans is unemployed, one of the highest rates anywhere in the world. Poor public service delivery contributed to the ruling African National Congress losing its parliamentary majority in 2024 elections, and inequality remains among the worst globally by some measures.

Those conditions create fertile ground for frustration that often gets redirected toward migrants. Politicians have also been known to fan those flames, particularly around election season — and local elections are expected by November of this year.

“Immigrants are by no means the reason why services and the economy have faltered, but people remember what confirms their biases,” Landau said. “What they don’t see is the foreigners investing, trading or providing skills the economy needs.”

DURBAN, South Africa — Long lines of Malawian migrants gathered at a temporary processing camp in the South African city of Durban this week, while hundreds of Zimbabweans spent nights sleeping on the sidewalk outside their country’s consulate in Cape Town — all hoping to escape before planned anti-immigrant protests erupt into violence.

Ebrahim Moosa, 37, stood in a winding queue alongside his wife, some carrying babies on their backs, waiting to board a bus bound for Malawi. “We are scared because you never know what people are planning to do to you. It’s not right to wait and see what will happen,” he said.

South Africa has experienced a surge of xenophobic protests and sometimes deadly attacks in recent weeks, forcing many foreign nationals to flee their homes or be driven out by mobs. Anti-immigrant groups have set June 30 as a deadline for all undocumented migrants to leave the country, and several cities are preparing for potential unrest. The government has urged citizens not to take immigration enforcement into their own hands.

“We are appealing to all those who will be marching to respect the police,” said Phumelele Makoba, the acting police commissioner for KwaZulu-Natal province, considered one of the likely flashpoints for violence.

Law enforcement officials have pledged a major deployment across the country to keep the peace. President Cyril Ramaphosa stated Thursday: “Our security forces are ready.”

The primary organization behind the protests, March and March, has publicly stated it is not calling for violence — but has also said it will not be held responsible for any harm that occurs on June 30.

Neighboring countries including Malawi, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique have been working to bring their citizens home by bus, but have struggled to meet the overwhelming demand.

Mozambican national Antonio Njive, who had been doing odd jobs in South Africa since 2019, fled on June 1 after his home was burned down during a wave of violence that killed five of his fellow Mozambicans. Speaking by phone from Chibuto, Mozambique, he said: “I left home without clothes. Everything was burned.” Njive, along with his wife and 6-year-old daughter, were among hundreds of Mozambican citizens repatriated by bus.

Outside the Zimbabwean consulate in Cape Town, Amina Chiwoko, 30, described the desperate scene. “We are sleeping outside waiting for buses. Everyone just wants to go home,” she said.

For some, however, going home is not an option. Leanne Sefu, 25, is an asylum seeker from the Democratic Republic of Congo who arrived in South Africa at just three years old. “The entire world knows that there’s a war in Congo, so me going back, it feels like going back to death,” she said.

After being attacked at the nail salon where she worked in Durban and forced out of her home, Sefu is now camped outside the Home Affairs office. Sitting on a mattress on the pavement alongside dozens of others, she expressed hope that the government would step in. “What I’m hoping is that maybe the government can help us find a shelter. From yesterday we’ve been hearing people are being attacked and they’re coming here,” she said. “There’s no safety here.”

Xenophobic violence is a long-standing problem in South Africa, where some citizens blame immigrants — largely from other African nations — for crime, unemployment, and overcrowded public services. President Ramaphosa has cautioned against making foreigners scapegoats, attributing the country’s deep social and economic inequalities primarily to the legacy of apartheid. Despite years of sluggish economic growth, South Africa still holds the largest economy on the continent and continues to attract workers from neighboring countries.

Iran doubled down Friday on its claim to control maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, while also issuing a warning to Gulf nations not to take sides with the United States — all of this coming just one day after a ship was struck near Oman, casting doubt on a shaky preliminary peace agreement.

Tehran was firing back at what it described as an “interventionist, irresponsible and provocative” joint statement issued by the U.S. and six Gulf nations, which rejected Iran’s position that it could collect tolls from vessels passing through the strait.

Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi took to X to make his country’s position clear: “Safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz cannot be guaranteed under ambiguous arrangements, parallel routes or decision-making that does not take Iran’s role as a coastal state into account.”

Oil prices slipped lower on Friday, even as conflicting interpretations of last week’s interim agreement between Iran and the U.S. circulated, and shipping traffic through the strait — a critical corridor through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas typically flows — continued to slow.

Meanwhile, Saudi Aramco restarted crude oil loading operations Friday at the Ras Tanura terminal in the Gulf, the largest oil port on the planet, following a suspension that had lasted nearly four months, according to shipping data.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who was concluding a visit to Gulf nations aimed at easing regional concerns about the interim agreement, told reporters Thursday that any Iranian move to threaten or block ships in the strait would mean “we’re going to have a problem.”

In their joint statement, Rubio and the Gulf Cooperation Council called for “free, unconditional, and unrestricted navigation” through the Strait of Hormuz, rejecting any tolls or “attempts to assert control.” They also stated that a lasting peace agreement must address Iran’s ballistic missile program, drone capabilities, and backing of proxy forces in the region.

Iran’s foreign ministry responded Friday by pointing to the U.S. military presence in the Gulf as the root cause of regional instability and division, and argued that the strait should be governed jointly by Tehran and Oman under the terms of the interim deal.

“We warn against the continuation of hostile and interventionist policies in the region,” the ministry said in a statement.

Iran gained effective control over the waterway after U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28 sparked the war, sending shockwaves through global energy markets and the broader economy.

Taiwan’s Evergreen Marine announced Friday that its Singapore-flagged vessel, the Ever Lovely, had been struck by an “unknown object” near Oman on Thursday while traveling a route recommended by the British navy agency UKMTO. No one aboard was injured, and the ship eventually continued on its way out of the strait.

Two U.S. officials told Reuters that Iran had fired on the vessel. Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority — a body established by Tehran to oversee ship transit requests through the strait — responded by stating that travel through unauthorized routes would be “the responsibility of the owner, operator, and vessel commander.”

No immediate response came from the U.S. government. Earlier this month, U.S. President Donald Trump had warned that if Iran failed to honor the interim deal — including reopening the strait — the U.S. would likely resume bombing the country.

Beyond the dispute over the strait, other unresolved issues continue to cloud the framework ceasefire agreement, including disagreements over financial incentives for Iran, nuclear inspections, and Israel’s ongoing military campaign in Lebanon. The deal has established a 60-day window for negotiations on these more complex matters, including Iran’s nuclear program.

Back in the United States, the conflict is becoming an increasing political concern for President Trump as November midterm elections approach, with control of Congress at stake.

The International Maritime Organization, a United Nations agency, temporarily halted its ship escort operations through the Strait of Hormuz following the Oman incident. Earlier in the week, the IMO and Oman had unveiled a new southern transit route through the strait to help clear hundreds of vessels stranded by the conflict — a move that drew sharp criticism from Tehran.

South Korea’s President Lee Jae Myung announced Friday that three South Korean ships would depart the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend, after the country’s Oceans Ministry reported that eight additional South Korean vessels had already exited the waterway.

Shipping data showed two Very Large Crude Carriers operated by Saudi Arabia’s shipping arm Bahri loading crude at Ras Tanura, with a third vessel waiting nearby. Each of these massive tankers is capable of carrying 2 million barrels of oil. Ras Tanura, located on Saudi Arabia’s eastern coast and west of the Strait of Hormuz, previously exported more than 5 million barrels per day before the conflict began.

MOSCOW — Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is pushing back against U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, demanding that Washington clarify exactly what role it is playing in attempts to bring the war in Ukraine to an end.

In written responses to media questions released Friday, Lavrov intensified a public dispute with Rubio over whether Presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump had reached some form of understanding during their meeting in Alaska last year — an encounter Russia has repeatedly referred to as “the spirit of Anchorage.”

Rubio told reporters Thursday that no deal was struck at that summit. “There was a proposal in Alaska, but there was no agreement in Alaska. If there had been an agreement, we would have had an end of the war,” he said.

Lavrov offered what he described as the most thorough account yet of what took place at the Alaska meeting last August. According to Lavrov, Putin went through a list of U.S. proposals that Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff had brought to Moscow just days before the summit, going point by point and checking with Witkoff — who was present alongside Trump and Rubio — that he was accurately recalling each proposal. Lavrov, who was also at the meeting, said Witkoff confirmed each point.

“Therefore, when my colleague M. Rubio says that there were only proposals in Alaska but no agreement, it raises a question regarding what we actually mean by ‘agreement,’” Lavrov said.

He continued: “If one side — in this case, the U.S. — put on the table its proposals for a settlement and a way to approach this crisis, and the other side expressed its consent to those proposals, then claiming there was no agreement seems rather inelegant.”

Lavrov added that the “entire situation” surrounding the U.S. role in the peace process needed to be clarified.

The pointed remarks from Lavrov and other Russian officials this week suggest a shift in how Moscow views Washington’s peace efforts, which have stalled since the U.S. and Israel launched military action against Iran in February.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told Trump and other Western leaders last week that Ukraine was gaining the upper hand in the conflict, pointing to deep strikes inside Russian territory targeting oil refineries and industrial facilities.

Russia disputes that assessment, maintaining it will achieve battlefield victory if diplomatic efforts fail. Russian forces currently hold roughly one-fifth of Ukrainian territory after more than four years of fighting.

The Kremlin said Friday that it continues to value Trump’s mediation efforts and hopes they will resume. However, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, when asked whether Russia views the U.S. as a neutral mediator, said true neutrality is impossible given that the U.S. is still supplying weapons and technical support to Ukraine.

A pair of devastating earthquakes struck Venezuela back-to-back on Wednesday night, bringing down buildings, claiming hundreds of lives, and leaving thousands of people unaccounted for across the northern region of the country. Officials fear the death toll will climb even higher.

In response, governments, nonprofit organizations, and members of the Venezuelan diaspora worldwide have begun mobilizing relief efforts following the magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 quakes. Their focus is on locating the missing and delivering medical care and humanitarian assistance to the many thousands who have been injured or displaced.

According to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the most urgent needs include search and rescue operations, emergency housing for displaced families, emergency medical attention, and eventually access to clean water and sanitation.

Michael Capponi, president of Global Empowerment Mission (GEM), noted that aid organizations will face significant hurdles, including airport closures and the need for expedited visas for relief workers. “No single organization can meet all the needs alone,” he said. “Collaboration across governments and NGOs is critical to ensuring we cover all ground efficiently and swiftly.”

The nonprofit evaluator Charity Navigator advises donors to protect themselves from fraudulent campaigns by confirming that any organization they support has a track record of working on this type of disaster and in this region, and that it holds 501(c)(3) nonprofit status. Charity Navigator has also released its own curated list of vetted organizations assisting Venezuela.

Below are several organizations currently responding that you can support:

Global Empowerment Mission: This humanitarian relief organization, based in Doral, Florida, is teaming up with its longtime nonprofit partner, the We Love Foundation. GEM began immediately packing food, water, hygiene products, medical supplies, and other emergency essentials for shipment Thursday to Caracas, where it has established a distribution hub. The organization has previously responded to crises in Venezuela, including in 2018 and 2019.

CORE: This humanitarian nonprofit is sending staff and partnering with The Wayuu Taya Foundation, which supports Indigenous Wayuu communities in Venezuela and Colombia and already has people on the ground in Caracas. Together, they plan to distribute cash assistance to affected families along with food, drinking water, hygiene kits, and other essential supplies. CORE was originally established following the 2010 earthquake in Haiti.

Direct Relief: Based in California, this medical humanitarian organization is funding the deployment of a team from Spanish Bomberos Unidos Sin Fronteras (BUSF) to support search-and-rescue operations. It is also prepared to ship medical supplies to local healthcare partners as the need arises. Direct Relief has responded to multiple earthquake disasters, including the 2023 disaster in Syria and Turkey.

International Red Cross: Although the Venezuelan Red Cross’ own national headquarters suffered damage, its countrywide network of hospitals and clinics remains operational and continues providing care. Rescue teams are supporting evacuation and search efforts and mobilizing pre-positioned relief supplies. Red Cross Societies in Ecuador, Colombia, Mexico, Costa Rica, Honduras, and Argentina — nations home to large Venezuelan communities — have activated services to help people reconnect with loved ones.

Airlink: This global humanitarian organization specializes in coordinating transportation and logistics for nonprofits sending relief and personnel to disaster zones worldwide. It is working to mobilize airlines and logistics companies to deliver search-and-rescue teams, medical responders, and supplies such as medicines, water filters, and food to Venezuela.

World Central Kitchen: The nonprofit founded by Chef José Andrés is mobilizing to provide hot meals to affected families and first responders as quickly as possible. The organization has led multiple relief efforts in Venezuela, most recently in 2024 when families in the state of Sucre were displaced by Hurricane Beryl.

Catholic Relief Services: The international aid arm of the U.S. Catholic Church is working alongside local partner Caritas Venezuela to provide emergency shelter, food, water, and medical care to impacted families.

Global Impact: This philanthropy adviser and intermediary has created a Venezuela Earthquakes Response fund that will channel donations to multiple vetted organizations, including UNICEF USA and Save the Children.

BERLIN — A 51-year-old Saudi doctor has been convicted of murder and handed a life prison sentence for carrying out a deadly vehicle attack on a Christmas market in the German city of Magdeburg in 2024 that claimed six lives.

The defendant, identified as Taleb al-Abdulmohsen, stood trial at the state court in the eastern German city beginning in November. According to German news agency dpa, the court determined that he bears “particularly serious” guilt — a designation that bars him from being considered for release after 15 years, which is the standard provision under German law.

The attack took place on December 20, 2024, and lasted just over one minute. Six people died — five women and one boy — while many others suffered injuries.

Investigators determined that al-Abdulmohsen used a rented BMW X3 to carry out the attack, reaching speeds of up to 48 kilometers per hour, or roughly 30 miles per hour, as he drove through the crowded market. Authorities stated at the time of the indictment that he was not under the influence of alcohol. They believe he acted alone and was motivated by frustration over the outcome of a legal dispute and the failure of various criminal complaints he had filed.

Officials noted that the suspect does not match the typical profile seen in extremist attacks. Al-Abdulmohsen described himself as a former Muslim who was sharply critical of Islam, and his social media activity showed support for far-right views. He had previously drawn attention from authorities due to threatening behavior, but had no known history of physical violence.

The Magdeburg attack was among several incidents involving immigrants that elevated migration as a central issue heading into Germany’s national election in February 2025. Al-Abdulmohsen had come to Germany in 2006 and had been granted permanent residency.

SEOUL, South Korea — A South Korean court sentenced the wife of ousted former President Yoon Suk Yeol to seven years behind bars on Friday, finding her guilty of accepting high-end luxury items from business figures and others who were seeking political and business favors in return.

The Seoul Central District Court issued the ruling, which comes on the heels of a separate appeals court decision that sentenced Kim Keon Hee to four years in prison on charges related to accepting gifts from the Unification Church and profiting from a stock price manipulation scheme.

Judge Jo Soon-pyo delivered a pointed rebuke of Kim’s conduct in announcing the verdict. “Given the nature of the position, a president’s spouse must exercise the highest degree of self-restraint and vigilance,” the judge said. “Nevertheless, defendant Kim Keon Hee neglected that social responsibility and repeatedly accepted valuables by exploiting her influence as a means of brokering favors.”

As part of the ruling, the court ordered the seizure of luxury items Kim had received, among them a Van Cleef & Arpels diamond necklace, a Tiffany brooch, a Dior handbag, a storage case for a gold turtle figurine, and a painting by well-known Korean artist Lee Ufan.

Kim, dressed in a gray suit and wearing a white face mask, sat quietly with her head lowered as the verdict was read. While she has acknowledged receiving the gifts, she has maintained they were not connected to any exchange of favors. Her legal team did not immediately indicate whether they plan to appeal Friday’s decision. She has been facing trial in several cases since her arrest last August.

Her husband, former President Yoon, was removed from office in April 2025 following his impeachment, which stemmed from his brief declaration of martial law in December 2024. That move came after a clash with the liberal opposition, which held a majority in the legislature and had repeatedly blocked his policy agenda. Yoon was arrested in July 2025 and is currently standing trial in multiple cases. He has appealed a life sentence for rebellion as well as a separate 30-year prison term connected to charges that he ordered drone flights over North Korea’s capital in an effort to stoke tensions and provide justification for imposing martial law.

Liberal President Lee Jae Myung, who won a special presidential election to succeed Yoon, has authorized numerous investigations into the former president’s martial law declaration and other allegations involving his administration and his wife.

A special prosecutor brought bribery charges against Kim in December. Among the allegations was that in 2022 she received the Van Cleef & Arpels necklace and additional jewelry totaling 138 million won — roughly $90,000 — from Seohee Construction Chairman Lee Bong-kwan, in return for helping secure a government position for his son-in-law. The court found Kim guilty on that count and also sentenced Lee Bong-kwan to one year in prison, suspended for two years.

Kim was additionally convicted of accepting a luxury watch from businessman Seo Seong-bin, who was seeking government backing for his robotic dog business; a Dior handbag and other gifts from Pastor Choi Jae-yong, who hoped to participate in a civilian diplomatic delegation and other government-funded programs; a gold turtle and a traditional painting from former National Education Commission chief Lee Bae-yong, who had lobbied for her appointment; and a painting by Lee Ufan valued at 140 million won (approximately $90,900) from former senior prosecutor Kim Sang-min, who was seeking the conservative party’s nomination ahead of the 2024 legislative elections.

The court handed Seo and Lee Bae-yong suspended prison sentences, while Choi was fined 8 million won, equivalent to about $5,200.

KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysian customs authorities announced Friday that they had stopped an attempt to smuggle advanced artificial intelligence chips worth 52.9 million ringgit — approximately $12.93 million — through the nation’s primary international airport earlier this month.

The seizure comes after Malaysia put export controls in place last year on high-performance chips of U.S. origin. That move came after pressure from the United States, which has been working to prevent advanced chips critical to AI development from reaching China.

On June 5, inspectors at Kuala Lumpur International Airport discovered 72 server units packed with advanced AI chips that had been flown into the airport’s free trade zone. The airport’s customs director, Zulkifli Muhammad, shared the details with reporters.

According to Zulkifli, early investigation results indicated the servers were destined to be re-exported to another country in Asia — a transaction that would have required a permit under Malaysia’s Strategic Trade Act.

The shipment had been falsely labeled as “computer components” in an apparent effort to avoid scrutiny, Zulkifli explained. Malaysia was listed as a transit point as a way to work around export restrictions before the goods reached their final destination. He declined to provide additional specifics, noting that an investigation is still underway.

The servers have been confiscated, and a Malaysian company that was involved in arranging the shipment has been asked to cooperate with investigators, Zulkifli added.

This is not the first time Malaysia has been linked to potential chip smuggling activity. Last year, the country investigated reports that a Chinese company operating within Malaysia was using servers equipped with Nvidia chips for AI-related work, though no evidence of illegal semiconductor trading was found.

In a related development from last August, the United States charged two Chinese nationals with illegally shipping tens of millions of dollars’ worth of AI chips from their El Monte-based company to China, allegedly using shipping and freight forwarding companies in Malaysia and Singapore as intermediaries.

In an unrelated case at the same airport, Zulkifli said customs officers on June 10 also seized six boxes containing 4,760 cartridges of vape liquid valued at 1.19 million ringgit (approximately $290,953). The cartridges were hidden inside the casings of central processing units.

Testing revealed the vape liquid had been laced with methamphetamine. The shipment was reportedly bound for export to a neighboring country, though Zulkifli did not identify which one.

($1 = 4.0900 ringgit)

PARIS — France’s national statistics agency, Insee, has confirmed that a cyberattack resulted in a breach of personal data from its internal directory, impacting approximately 12,800 current and former employees, as well as members of civil service corps connected to the organization.

According to officials, the information exposed during the breach was limited to names and professional contact details. Insee stated that no sensitive data — including passwords, personal contact information, banking details, social security numbers, or health records — was accessed during the attack.

Paris police on Friday gave organizers of the city’s Pride March an ultimatum: voluntarily cancel Saturday’s event because of an extreme heatwave, or face an outright ban.

The warning came as the exceptional heat has pushed emergency services and hospitals in the French capital to their limits. The Pride March typically brings tens of thousands of participants into the streets of Paris each year.

Authorities extended the same cancellation request to two other large gatherings expected to draw similar crowds — a music festival known as Solidays and an athletics competition scheduled at Stade Charlety.

BEIJING — Chinese President Xi Jinping announced Friday that his country is ready to forge a security partnership with Cambodia, making the declaration during a face-to-face meeting in Beijing with Hun Sen, who serves as president of Cambodia’s Senate.

According to China’s state-run news agency Xinhua, Xi described the current international and regional climate as going through “complex and profound changes,” and said the two nations should join forces to bring greater stability to peace and development across the region.

Several key points emerged from the meeting:

Xi stated that China has consistently treated Cambodia as a top priority in its relationships with neighboring countries, and that Beijing stands firmly behind Cambodia’s right to protect its own sovereignty and national security.

The Chinese president urged both sides to elevate their foundation of strategic trust “to a new height.”

Xi also commended Cambodia for its efforts to combat telecommunications and online fraud, pledging that China would partner with Cambodia to wipe out what he referred to as the “tumour” of such criminal activity.

Hun Sen’s trip to China, which Beijing had previously characterized as an official “goodwill” visit, is scheduled to last from June 25 through June 27.

The two countries held their first-ever meeting under a “2+2” Strategic Dialogue Mechanism back in April, bringing together foreign and defense ministers from both nations to address political and security matters.

A court in Magdeburg, Germany, handed down a life sentence on Friday to a Saudi doctor convicted of killing six people and injuring hundreds of others after he drove a rented BMW into a crowd at a historic Christmas market in the eastern German city in late 2024.

The attack, which occurred just days before Christmas, rattled the entire nation and inflamed an already heated national debate over immigration — coming just months before a general election that took place in February 2025.

The convicted man, identified under German privacy laws only as Taleb A., was a psychiatrist originally from Saudi Arabia. Officials described him as someone with a documented history of anti-Islamic rhetoric and far-right sympathies.

Prosecutors charged him with the murder of six individuals and the attempted murder of hundreds more. According to the prosecution, the attack was carefully planned over several weeks and lasted one minute and four seconds. Among those killed were five women between the ages of 45 and 75, as well as a nine-year-old boy.

Investigators believe the attacker acted alone, driven by deep frustration over the outcome of a civil legal dispute and his repeated failures in pursuing various criminal complaints, prosecutors said.

Russia’s Defense Ministry announced Friday that its air defense systems intercepted 660 Ukrainian drones during a large-scale overnight attack targeting 12 Russian regions, the Russian-controlled Crimean peninsula, and the waters of the Black Sea and the Azov Sea.

The strike is believed to be among the largest drone attacks Ukraine has launched against Russian territory and illegally annexed Crimea since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than four years ago.

For months, Ukraine has been deploying long-range drones to strike targets well behind the front lines — including oil production sites and energy infrastructure — deep inside Russia. Western officials and analysts say the campaign has constricted Russian fuel supplies and disrupted military logistics, slowing Russian battlefield operations and putting increased pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The massive drone barrage was launched just hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted on X that he had ordered what he called “a 40-day influence operation” — widely interpreted as a significant escalation of strikes — with the goal of “compelling (Russia) to end the war,” following more than a year of U.S.-led peace efforts that produced no meaningful results.

In the Tula region, located just south of Moscow, Tula Gov. Dmitry Milyaev reported in an online post that a private residence was damaged and a woman was injured in the attack. He also noted that a power line was knocked out along with an unidentified industrial facility in the city of Novomoskovsk.

Russian independent news outlet Astra reported that a chemical plant and a hydroelectric facility in Novomoskovsk were hit and caught fire, though The Associated Press was unable to independently confirm those claims and no official acknowledgment was issued.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin reported that 47 Ukrainian drones were intercepted as they approached the Russian capital. He did not report any injuries or structural damage in the city.

Meanwhile, in northeastern Ukraine, two people lost their lives and seven others were wounded in Russian attacks on the Kharkiv region over the previous 24-hour period, according to regional head Oleh Syniehubov. Russian forces struck the city of Kharkiv and 16 surrounding communities using guided aerial bombs and multiple types of drones, he said.

Ukraine’s air force reported that its defense forces overnight intercepted 174 out of 189 Russian drones. However, four of the seven Iskander-M ballistic missiles fired by Russia managed to break through Ukrainian air defenses and hit various locations.

A father gently holding his daughter’s hand as she wore a fairy costume. A 24-year-old man dressed in a pilot’s uniform, gazing confidently at the camera. A family wrapped in each other’s arms on a soccer field.

These are just some of the photos being shared online by relatives — both inside Venezuela and living abroad — who are desperately trying to locate family members who have gone silent following two devastating earthquakes that struck the country Wednesday night.

Health Minister Carlos Alvarado announced late Thursday that the death toll had climbed to approximately 235, with more than 4,300 people reported injured. The number of victims is expected to continue rising after the two quakes, measuring 7.2 and 7.5 in magnitude, caused widespread destruction — making them among the most powerful earthquakes to hit Venezuela in over a century.

Because communication networks have been severely disrupted, many Venezuelans are relying on social media platforms and online registries to gather information that the government has not provided. Independent registries tracking the missing have documented as many as 40,000 people — a number that dwarfs the official government count.

While some survivors rushed to dig through the wreckage of collapsed buildings, others turned to digital tools, creating flyers on WhatsApp, Facebook, and X listing the names and faces of their missing relatives.

One of those people is Vanesa Marcano, 31, who posted photos from Madrid of her uncle and aunt, who reside in La Guaira state, north of the capital Caracas — an area that suffered some of the worst damage and loss of life. Marcano shared the images hoping the couple was simply unreachable because of downed communication lines. Her uncle’s daughter and his 7-year-old grandson, who were visiting from the United States, are also among the missing.

MELBOURNE, Australia — Australia’s government is working to beef up a law that prohibits children younger than 16 from using social media, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced to Parliament.

Observers noted on Friday that the government’s push came in response to growing evidence that the ban — which took effect on December 10 of last year — has not been working. Australia was the first nation in the world to pass such legislation, though several other countries have since moved in the same direction.

Speaking to Parliament on Thursday, Albanese said his government was actively looking at ways to make the ban more effective.

“We’re working on that as a priority because this is something that other generations didn’t have to deal with, which is why it’s complex,” Albanese said.

On Friday, Albanese told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. that the government is asking whether the current laws are as strong as they can be, and whether eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant — Australia’s top online safety official — has all the tools she needs to do her job.

The announcement follows Britain’s declaration last week of plans to prohibit children under 16 from accessing a range of social media platforms, citing concerns about harmful content and too much screen time. Canada, Brazil, and Indonesia have also introduced legislation or announced age-based limits on children’s social media use. France, Spain, Denmark, Thailand, and South Korea are among the nations studying or developing their own approaches.

Back in April, Inman Grant said she was weighing potential court action against Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube, claiming those platforms were not doing enough to keep young Australian children off their services.

Those platforms, along with X, Kick, Reddit, Threads, and Twitch, could face fines of up to 49.5 million Australian dollars — roughly $34 million U.S. — if they fail to take reasonable steps to remove accounts belonging to underage users.

Lisa Given, an information sciences expert at Melbourne’s RMIT University, said the government’s proposed changes are a direct response to evidence that the current law is falling short. She pointed to data released by eSafety in March showing that seven out of ten underage children still had active accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok after the ban went into effect in December.

Given also cited a study published Wednesday in the British Medical Journal, which found that 85% of a group of Australian 12-to-17-year-olds were still using the restricted platforms.

“I do think it’s failing,” Given said. “Many kids in the media have reported that they also think that this is really a failed exercise.”

The Sydney Morning Herald reported that Inman Grant said in an interview from early June: “I don’t have potent powers.” She was also quoted as saying, “What I would say is a regulator is only as good as the tools and the resources that they’re given.”

The Associated Press reached out to Inman Grant’s office on Friday to verify the accuracy of those reported comments, but did not receive an immediate response.

Given said Inman Grant faces a difficult challenge in enforcing a law that the platforms themselves are pushing back against.

“Either the eSafety Commissioner needs more powers or we’ve got to have some other approach to enforcement,” Given said.

Given also expects the courts will ultimately need to weigh in on what counts as the “reasonable steps” platforms are legally required to take to keep children off their services.

Albanese said his government will also move forward with what he called digital duty of care legislation, which would hold social media platforms responsible for foreseeable harms caused by their content and algorithms — part of a broader effort to enforce the social media ban.

ROME — Italy has confirmed it will participate in the U.S.-led Pax Silica initiative focused on artificial intelligence supply chains, even as tensions linger between Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and U.S. President Donald Trump, according to an Italian foreign ministry official.

Ambassador Armando Varricchio, speaking to the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera on Friday, said that Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio are expected to sign a memorandum of understanding “at the first available opportunity.”

“This provides a political basis that demonstrates the willingness to resume from where we had temporarily left off,” Varricchio said.

Pax Silica is a U.S. State Department program that brings allied nations together to protect and strengthen supply chains tied to artificial intelligence. The initiative spans a wide range of sectors, including energy, critical minerals, advanced manufacturing, and AI development. The European Commission formally joined the effort on Thursday, while the Netherlands signed on earlier in the week.

Varricchio, who serves as Italy’s special envoy for innovation, attended a Washington summit on the initiative Thursday in an observer capacity. He also put his name to a joint declaration on AI opportunities alongside representatives from countries including Britain, Germany, Japan, India, and South Korea.

Italy had originally been scheduled to officially join Pax Silica on Monday in Miami. However, Foreign Minister Tajani canceled that trip after Meloni and Trump had a very public disagreement, stemming from the U.S. president’s complaints that Italy had not sufficiently supported the war against Iran.

TOKYO — The head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog agency declared Friday that the recently signed interim agreement between the United States and Iran requires international inspectors to be granted access to Iranian nuclear sites.

The U.S. and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding last week, setting the stage for 60 days of negotiations aimed at resolving more complicated sticking points, including questions surrounding Iran’s nuclear program. However, Iran’s deputy foreign minister, Kazem Gharibabadi, stated Wednesday that there were no current plans to allow inspectors into those facilities.

International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi pushed back on that position during a press conference in Japan on Friday, making clear that inspections are required under the agreement.

“There is an agreement and to comply with that agreement, the IAEA will have to have access and inspect,” Grossi said. “We hope to be there soon.”

Grossi confirmed that IAEA inspectors have already conducted an initial meeting with Iranian officials to work through technical details. He said the first priority of any site visit would be verifying that IAEA seals on previously inspected nuclear material are still intact and confirming that no material has gone missing.

“Intentions are not enough. We have to have a very strong verification system in place,” he added.

Iran has not disclosed to the IAEA how much of its enriched uranium survived recent U.S. and Israeli military strikes, nor has it revealed where that material is currently located.

Before the conflict began, the IAEA estimated Iran held approximately 440.9 kilograms of uranium enriched to up to 60 percent purity. If enriched to a higher level, that quantity would be sufficient to produce roughly 10 nuclear weapons, according to IAEA benchmarks.

Belgian police announced Friday that they have pinpointed the suspects believed to be responsible for a March attack on a synagogue in the city of Liege — an incident that authorities have classified as an antisemitic act.

Despite the announcement, officials declined to release any information about the suspects, and a spokesperson for the agency refused to elaborate further.

The attack occurred in the early morning hours of March 9, when an explosion rocked the synagogue at approximately 4 a.m. The blast shattered windows at the synagogue and also blew out windows in a building directly across the street. Fortunately, no one was injured.

JAKARTA — Social media giants TikTok and YouTube have together shut down approximately 4.7 million accounts belonging to children under the age of 16 in Indonesia, the nation’s communications minister announced, as the country’s new social media restrictions begin to show results.

TikTok, owned by Chinese tech firm ByteDance, removed roughly 4.1 million accounts, while YouTube — operated by Alphabet’s Google — deactivated an additional 600,000. Communications and Digital Minister Meutya Hafid made the announcement late Thursday, expressing hope that other platforms would take similar action. Neither company immediately responded to requests for comment.

The closures stem from a regulation Indonesia put in place in March, which mandates that social media platforms classified as high-risk must deactivate any accounts held by users younger than 16. Platforms already brought under the rule include X, Meta’s Instagram, and the videogame platform Roblox.

“We’re not just delaying a child’s access, but we want behaviours from platforms to change, too,” Minister Meutya said Thursday. She added that the ministry is currently reviewing self-assessment reports submitted by the companies involved.

Indonesian officials say the restrictions are designed to reduce the risks of cyberbullying and addictive platform use among young people. The policy draws comparisons to a landmark ban enacted in Australia last year, which was driven by concerns over social media’s impact on the mental health of minors.

Australia’s approach has drawn international attention, with multiple countries exploring similar measures as worries grow about the physical and mental well-being of children online. Most recently, Britain announced plans this month to expand restrictions even further, targeting gaming and live-streaming platforms in addition to traditional social media.

A Seoul court handed down a seven-year prison sentence to former South Korean First Lady Kim Keon Hee on Friday, finding her guilty of bribery.

The ruling was issued by a court in the South Korean capital, Seoul, according to reports from the scene.

Massive plumes of dark smoke rose above the outskirts of Myanmar’s largest city Friday as government authorities incinerated over 50 tons of illegal substances — including heroin, opium, ketamine, methamphetamine, marijuana and crystal meth — representing roughly $600 million in confiscated narcotics destroyed across the country.

Myanmar, also referred to as Burma, has struggled for decades with drug production tied to political instability and economic hardship stemming from years of armed conflict.

Despite ongoing efforts to suppress the illegal drug trade, the country has long ranked among the world’s top producers of heroin and methamphetamine, serving as a primary supplier of illicit substances flowing into East and Southeast Asia.

Experts say that the violent political turmoil that followed the military’s seizure of power in 2021 — which sparked a civil war between the military government, pro-democracy forces, and various ethnic armed groups — has driven drug production even higher.

Back in January, the military government announced what it described as the country’s largest-ever seizures of illegal drugs and drug-manufacturing equipment, recovered from 12 production sites during raids conducted in the northern region of Shan state.

The street value of this year’s drug destruction was more than twice the total from last year, according to Police Lt. Col. Aung Myat Soe of Yangon’s Anti-Narcotics Police Force, who spoke with reporters at a bus station compound on the city’s outskirts where the burning took place.

In Yangon alone, authorities destroyed approximately $321 million worth of 31 different types of drugs, Aung Myat Soe said.

Similar destruction events were held in Mandalay and in Taunggyi, the capital of eastern Myanmar’s Shan state — regions closer to the drug production zones — in observance of the United Nations’ International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.

Large portions of Myanmar remain under the control of long-standing militias representing the country’s many ethnic groups. Several of these groups are engaged in fighting against the military-led government in a bloody civil war, alongside pro-democracy movements that emerged after the military ousted democratically elected Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021.

Earlier this year, elections took place that international observers described as neither free nor fair, with major opposition groups barred from participating. The military government won by a wide margin.

The government has argued that the country’s militias rely on drug profits to fund their armed campaigns and have little incentive to pursue peace because they benefit financially from the narcotics trade.

While some armed groups are known to be involved in drug trafficking — both now and historically — others have actually moved to suppress drug activity in areas they control.

One such group, the Ta’ang National Liberation Army, which seized large portions of northern Shan state during the civil war before agreeing to a ceasefire with the military in October, announced Thursday that it plans to destroy approximately $5.5 million worth of confiscated drugs within its own controlled territory.

A newly released United Nations report is sounding the alarm on the rapidly expanding global illegal drug trade, revealing that cocaine production and methamphetamine seizures have both reached record levels.

According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime’s annual World Drug Report, cocaine production climbed to approximately 4,100 metric tons of pure product in 2024 — the most recent year with available data. That figure represents a fourfold increase over the past decade. Meanwhile, methamphetamine seizures point to production growing at a rate of about 13% per year.

The agency’s executive director, Monica Juma, expressed serious concern about the changing drug landscape. “We have seen an unprecedented spike in new types of drugs on the market, and worryingly, some are more potent or dangerous than before,” she said in an official statement.

Part of what’s driving the shift is a dramatic drop in heroin availability. After the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan — historically the world’s dominant opium supplier — and banned opium production in 2023, the supply of heroin, which is made from opium, fell sharply and has not recovered.

That void appears to be getting filled, at least in part, by powerful synthetic opioids. The UNODC noted a significant rise in reports of new synthetic opioids in 2024, including fentanyls and even more dangerous substances known as nitazenes, particularly in Europe.

“Instances of new psychoactive substance synthetic opioids reported in early warning systems increased in 2023 and 2024 across most regions, but most prominently in Europe, Oceania and Africa, suggesting a recent diversification by market actors,” the report stated.

The report also highlighted regional differences in how the fentanyl crisis is evolving. “North America, where fentanyl has largely displaced heroin, reported around a 10% increase in the number of new psychoactive substance synthetic opioids identified in 2024 from the previous year, while that number rose by more than 80% in Europe and by 150% in Oceania,” it noted.

On the cocaine front, both supply and demand continued to climb, while the drug’s purity increased and its street price dropped. Researchers also found shifts in how and where cocaine is being used.

“Qualitative research conducted in 2024 indicates an expansion of cocaine use to social settings beyond the nightlife scene and its integration into daily routines, together with an upsurge in ‘crack’ cocaine use among socioeconomically disadvantaged groups and a shift from heroin use to ‘crack’ cocaine use,” the report said.

Data tracking individuals seeking treatment for drug dependency strongly points to a rise in crack cocaine use across Western and Central Europe that began as far back as 2015, the report added.

Taiwanese shipping company Evergreen Marine announced Friday that one of its cargo vessels was struck by an unknown object in waters off Oman, though the ship has since safely cleared the Strait of Hormuz.

In a filing with the Taiwan stock exchange, the company disclosed that the starboard side of the bridge aboard the Ever Lovely — a vessel owned by its Singapore-based subsidiary — was hit by an unidentified object approximately 3.6 nautical miles off Oman’s Khawr Naiwah. The incident occurred a day before Friday’s announcement.

A crew inspection following the strike revealed damage in the area surrounding the bridge windows. However, the company confirmed that all crew members, the vessel itself, and its cargo are unharmed.

Evergreen Marine stated that the ship’s main engine and navigation systems are functioning normally and that there are no concerns about the vessel’s ability to remain seaworthy. The Ever Lovely has since exited the Strait of Hormuz without further incident.

The company also noted that the ship had been traveling along the recommended route provided by the British navy agency UKMTO while transiting the strait.

UKMTO had previously reported on Thursday that a cargo vessel had indicated a suspected attack as it passed through the Strait of Hormuz near the Omani coastline.

Montenegrin police, working alongside the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, have arrested an Iranian national suspected of carrying out cyberattacks that caused an estimated $3.4 billion in damage to U.S. infrastructure, according to officials in Montenegro.

The suspect, a 39-year-old man holding both Iranian and Turkish citizenship, is being sought by the Southern District Court in New York. He faces charges that include conspiracy to commit computer fraud, hacking, and identity theft.

Authorities say he was taken into custody in Kotor, a coastal resort town along the Adriatic Sea. Montenegro’s police directorate confirmed the arrest on Thursday.

In an official statement, police said that “from 2013 onward, … he carried out massive hacking attacks … targeting more than 150 universities in the United States, causing damage estimated at over $3.4 billion.”

The stolen data and access to compromised university accounts were reportedly used for the benefit of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, as well as other Iranian institutions, including universities, police said.

The case is now expected to go before a High Court judge in Montenegro’s capital city of Podgorica, where extradition proceedings will take place.

The FBI had not responded to requests for comment at the time of this report.

Iran and the IRGC have a well-documented history of state-sponsored cyber operations aimed at the United States. In April, U.S. cybersecurity, law enforcement, and intelligence agencies issued a warning about a growing wave of Iranian hacking campaigns targeting critical American infrastructure.

High in the Swiss Alps at the Great St. Bernard Pass, the iconic dogs that share its name still roam the same rugged mountain terrain their ancestors walked for centuries — once searching for travelers trapped under heavy snowfall.

Meanwhile, down in the valley below, a one-of-a-kind living museum dedicated to Switzerland’s national dog has just celebrated its first anniversary.

Barryland, located in Martigny, Switzerland, is the only museum in the world devoted exclusively to St. Bernard dogs. Since opening last summer after outgrowing a much smaller facility, it has drawn more than 130,000 visitors. Guests can observe live grooming and physical therapy sessions, experience the historic mountain pass through augmented reality, and dive deep into the breed’s remarkable story.

“We have a lot of demand and interest for this breed and this whole history and patrimony,” said Barryland director Mélanie Glassey-Roth. “So we decided to create a new park, a big one.”

Perched at 2,469 meters — roughly 8,100 feet — above sea level along the border between Switzerland and Italy, the Great St. Bernard Pass ranks among the country’s highest and most dangerous mountain crossings.

Large mountain dogs have called the pass home since the mid-1600s. They originally served as guard dogs, then became companions, and eventually developed a remarkable natural ability to locate hikers lost in snow and dense fog — a talent unlike anything the Alpine region had ever seen.

The breed takes its name from the Great St. Bernard Hospice, established in 1050 by Bernard de Montjoux — the archdeacon of Aosta and a future saint — as a safe haven for pilgrims and merchants braving the perilous crossing. The dogs became essential to that mission, and by the early 1800s, soldiers who traveled with Napoleon Bonaparte’s army through the pass helped spread the breed’s legendary reputation across Europe.

The most celebrated of all the St. Bernards was Barry the First, who is traditionally credited with rescuing more than 40 people during his time at the hospice between 1800 and 1812. In honor of his legacy, the Barry Foundation — which oversees the breeding program — always keeps a male dog named Barry.

Today, the foundation employs 21 keepers who look after 32 dogs, with approximately 20 purebred puppies born each year. Because modern St. Bernards have grown too large to be airlifted by helicopter, they no longer participate in mountain rescues. Smaller breeds like Australian shepherds have taken over that role, though some St. Bernards remain on the pass to carry on the tradition.

The foundation’s dogs consume roughly 10 metric tons — about 22,046 pounds — of dry food annually. Each summer, they roam the mountain snowfields before making the 40-kilometer (25-mile) journey back down winding roads to their kennels at Barryland.

“We get to see them born, and we get to see them grow up, and then become mothers, and we get to accompany them through all those different challenges in life,” said keeper Alexandra Piatti. “We are their guide, so we can help them with socialization and educate them, and really be by their side for their whole lives.”

So far in 2025, the foundation reports that its dogs have completed 609 community visits to hospitals, care homes, schools, and prisons throughout Switzerland.

Keeper Déborah Dini sums up the responsibility of caring for such historically significant animals simply and warmly.

“We perpetuate the tradition,” she said. “We take care of them. We love them.”

LONDON — NATO’s number two military leader is calling on member nations to use an upcoming summit in Turkey as an opportunity to demonstrate unity, pledge stronger defense spending, and reaffirm the alliance’s backing of Ukraine.

Air Chief Marshal Sir John Stringer, NATO’s deputy supreme allied commander in Europe, sat down with The Associated Press in London less than two weeks ahead of the high-stakes Ankara summit scheduled for July 7-8. The gathering will serve as a major test of cohesion for the 77-year-old alliance.

The run-up to the summit has been marked by mixed signals from U.S. President Donald Trump, who has at times threatened to withdraw from NATO, pushed to annex Greenland, and offered flattering remarks toward Russian President Vladimir Putin. U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth added to the tension last week by criticizing NATO allies for not allowing the use of their bases to strike Iran, while also announcing an unexpected six-month review of American military forces stationed in Europe.

Adding to the turbulence, government ministers in the United Kingdom have stepped down, citing concerns that the country’s military spending plans are insufficient to keep Britain secure.

Stringer, a senior British air force officer, acknowledged the alliance is going through a difficult stretch. “Are we in one of those moments at the moment? Yes, we are,” he said during an interview at a military conference in London, where AP also spoke with other senior European military leaders about their expectations for the summit.

He described summits as “highly political events” that serve as a demonstration of an organization’s unity, noting it would be unusual if decades of NATO expansion hadn’t produced some turbulence along the way.

Trump has long pushed European allies to take greater responsibility for their own defense, and with the notable exception of Spain, most member nations have responded with an unprecedented increase in military spending.

Maj. Gen. Indrek Sirel, a commander in Estonia’s armed forces, said Europe must strengthen its own militaries while also helping Ukraine chip away at Russia’s military capabilities, given Russia’s growing threat to the continent.

Brig. Gen. Jyri Raitasalo of Finland — which shares NATO’s longest border with Russia — put it bluntly: “Europe as a whole has a lot to do in order to be credible against Russia.”

Stringer said European nations are making investments to build a “really credible force,” pointing to examples like some countries quadrupling their production of 155 mm artillery shells. He said the summit will address ramping up production at a scale the alliance hasn’t seen in decades.

The results of Hegseth’s six-month force review will largely determine how quickly European nations must take over their own security responsibilities. Earlier this month, the U.S. military in Europe indicated that Washington would be pulling back some capabilities and expecting allies to fill those gaps.

While the Trump administration has maintained that troop reductions were long planned and coordinated with allies, Sirel said it remains unclear exactly how U.S. forces will be positioned in the Baltic states, including their role in deterring Russia along NATO’s eastern flank.

Sirel said he remained “confident” in a continued U.S. presence, while acknowledging that Estonia’s military is preparing to adapt quickly to sudden changes.

Stringer said replacing U.S. long-range strike and surveillance capabilities would be difficult, but expressed confidence that allies could bridge the gap — not necessarily with identical equipment, but through a “cocktail” of mixed capabilities. He noted that while only the U.S. operates B1 and B52 bombers, the loss of those assets could theoretically be offset by missiles fired from ground, sea, and smaller aircraft platforms.

NATO allies were caught off guard in May when Trump announced plans to send 5,000 U.S. troops to Poland just weeks after ordering a similar number withdrawn from Europe.

Raitasalo, who serves as Finland’s military logistics chief, said such abrupt shifts are problematic because military planning depends on long-term strategy. “If you change your mind, or change your plan, every week or every month or even every year, you will not get very good results,” he said. He added that allies need to make firm commitments of actual capabilities rather than simply promising spending targets.

Sweden’s army chief, Maj. Gen. Jonny Lindfors, said a successful summit outcome would be “a common picture of how to realign when it comes to deterrence and defense.” He said he hopes for at least an outline — if not a clear vision — of how defense responsibilities should be redistributed, so that he can understand what “NATO 3.0 is starting to look like.”

British Defense Secretary John Healey resigned earlier this month alongside another minister, stating that the government was neither willing nor able to commit the resources Britain needs to “defend the country at this time of rising threats.” At last year’s NATO summit, members agreed to spend 3.5% of their gross domestic product on core defense, and the U.K. committed to hitting that target by 2035. However, Healey said the proposed defense investment plan would only bring spending to 2.68% of GDP by 2030.

The new defense secretary, Dan Jarvis, has pledged that Britain will honor its commitments, and the British government has agreed to publish its spending plan.

Stringer said the U.K. is “as beholden” as any other member to having a credible path to the 3.5% target by the time of the summit. He warned that Britain cannot rely on its reputation for strategic leadership within NATO alone, and must back that up with actual “forces and resources.”

At last year’s summit, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte managed to keep Trump engaged by framing the meeting as a major win for his push to get allies to spend more. Stringer said this year’s summit must demonstrate “cohesion and unity” among all 32 members, while also featuring honest conversations and credible action plans.

Raitasalo said the meeting must go beyond the usual “communiques, roadmaps and action plans” and show deterrence through real action. He warned that if NATO members fail to turn promises into deeds, the “credibility” of the entire alliance is on the line.

PARIS (AP) — A record-breaking heat wave descended on Paris this week, forcing the city’s elite fashion houses into a frantic scramble to keep guests comfortable — handing out ice packs, deploying mist machines, and serving chilled water on silver trays.

Despite those efforts, many venues remained stifling. Water supplies ran low, and air conditioning was either nonexistent or simply not up to the task.

And yet, the models kept walking — wearing leather, neoprene, and wool.

That striking contradiction defined Paris Fashion Week Men’s, where an extreme heat wave transformed a spring-summer showcase into a real-world question: Can the luxury fashion world dress — or even behave — in ways appropriate for the warming planet it often claims to care about?

“I honestly thought I was going to pass out,” said Ben Freeman, a London-based fashion critic originally from Australia.

Several attendees seated in the front row suggested that Paris may need to rethink the timing of fashion week altogether if climate change continues to produce more frequent and severe heat waves.

“I don’t know how the models did it this week in some of the leather and knit coats,” said Thomas Levy, a 24-year-old fashion student who spoke outside one of the shows. “The heat rarely seems to make it into the clothes. It shows up in the sets like at waterfalls and mist machines and ice packs.”

Throughout the week, designers largely treated the heat as a problem of hospitality, staging, or scheduling — almost never as a challenge for the clothing itself.

Attendees received cold towels, ice packs, and bottled water. Stage sets featured waves, fog, and cooling mist. Show times were pushed earlier in the day, with punctuality reframed as a safety measure against the heat.

Dior shifted its Wednesday show from 2:30 in the afternoon to 9 in the morning, but the heat still took its toll. Water was in short supply, there was no air conditioning, and some guests appeared to be feeling unwell.

Jonathan Anderson offered one of the more climate-conscious design responses with sheer silk-chiffon tailoring — but other collections leaned into heavy knits that seemed better suited for cooler climates than a Paris June.

“The calendar does not make any sense,” Anderson told reporters, pointing to disrupted delivery schedules and a shifting business model that has left the fashion calendar out of step with both actual weather patterns and the way luxury clothing is now sold.

These shows are labeled spring-summer, but the collections are far more complex than simple warm-weather wear.

Luxury lines are designed for worldwide markets, with deliveries staggered across months and customers who often spend the hottest parts of the year in air-conditioned environments. For many buyers, a wool coat purchased in June is not a seasonal oddity — it’s a deliberate choice.

At Saint Laurent, models moved through billowing clouds of vapor produced by a fog installation by artist Fujiko Nakaya inside the Bourse de Commerce, transforming heat into a visual experience rather than a problem to escape. Designer Anthony Vaccarello stripped down his tailoring to unlined jackets and soft, pale looks — lighter, he told reporters, because of the heat — before dialing the temperature back up with leather briefs, choker scarves, bare legs, and transparent shoes fogged with condensation.

The collection wasn’t a concession to summer — it was Saint Laurent’s own interpretation of it: cooler in construction, bolder in attitude.

At Louis Vuitton, designer Pharrell Williams sent models emerging from a massive artificial wave onto sand. Even so, the wetsuits were neoprene and the coats were cashmere and fur.

Issey Miyake’s IM Men label offered one of the week’s most practical responses. The show, titled “In Praise of Bamboo Shadows,” greeted guests with ice packs at the entrance, then showcased garments made from bamboo-thread fabrics blended with organic cotton and light nylon, featuring shadowy prints. The silhouettes were designed to hang away from the body, treating circulating air as part of the design concept rather than something the venue alone had to provide.

At Ami, designer Alexandre Mattiussi stated the obvious while standing next to an industrial fan — “Paris is burning” — and dressed the moment like a Parisian simply living through it: loose shorts, relaxed washed trench coats, and “I Love Paris” T-shirts.

Rick Owens came perhaps closest to making heat itself the central theme. He moved his Thursday show to an earlier time slot due to the heat, then sent models through mist at the Palais de Tokyo wearing garments with small fans built inside them. One prominent fashion critic described the show as “a metaphor for climate catastrophe.”

Pascal Morand, who leads France’s Haute Couture and Fashion Federation, said organizers were adhering to the French government’s official heat-wave response plan.

“We are conscious of the challenges and very attentive to preserving the Fashion Week experience in this context of structural change,” he told the Associated Press.

Fashion wasn’t the only Paris institution feeling the strain. The Louvre museum cut its operating hours during the heat wave, acknowledging that its historic building “remains vulnerable and is not sufficiently adapted to climate change.”

That vulnerability feeds into a broader French debate over air conditioning, which remains widely viewed with suspicion across much of Europe — seen by many as wasteful or environmentally irresponsible.

Fashion week became a glamorous version of the same challenge facing France as a whole: how to keep public events, workplaces, and cultural spectacles functioning in heat the country was never designed to handle — without simply filling every building with air conditioning.

President Emmanuel Macron’s government has leaned, as much of France has, toward solutions like shade, better insulation, and urban tree planting.

Europe is warming faster than any other continent, with cities built largely of stone and largely without air conditioning.

“Paris Fashion Week is the canary in the mine,” Freeman said.

From sports to tourism to construction, industries built around fixed schedules and outdoor audiences are being forced to adapt to heat that arrives earlier, lingers longer, and reaches higher temperatures than before.

Paris Fashion Week — outdoor, fixed in time, and watched by the world — became one of the most visible tests yet of that new reality.

In cities across northern Venezuela, desperate residents worked side by side Thursday to dig through collapsed buildings in search of missing family members and neighbors, one day after two powerful earthquakes struck the region and left a trail of death and destruction.

The official death toll climbed to approximately 235 by late Thursday, with at least 4,300 people reported injured, according to Venezuela’s Health Minister Carlos Alvarado, who spoke to state media. Authorities expect those numbers to rise, as thousands of people remain unaccounted for and rescue operations continue around the clock.

The two earthquakes — measuring 7.2 and 7.5 in magnitude — hit Wednesday evening and rank among the most powerful to strike Venezuela in over a century. The tremors were felt across a wide stretch of the region.

Rescuers pulled survivors from the wreckage covered in dust and blood, including children and animals. Venezuelan state television broadcast dramatic footage of the rescue efforts, including one scene where a woman was pinned beneath a concrete slab with only her bare foot visible before rescuers were able to pull her out alive. However, government-organized search teams were largely absent from areas outside the capital Caracas in the early hours following the disaster.

The coastal area of La Guaira, located north of Caracas, bore some of the worst damage and the highest casualty counts. Venezuela’s primary international airport, situated in that region, was forced to close because of structural damage, making it harder to bring in outside assistance.

By Thursday morning, stunned residents surveyed a landscape of gutted buildings, furniture dangling from broken windows, and helicopters sweeping overhead. Entire structures had been flattened and roads split open by the force of the quakes.

Families plastered walls with missing-person flyers bearing photographs of loved ones, while others passed around handwritten lists of names. Venezuelans living abroad struggled to reach relatives back home as phone service across the country was severely disrupted.

In central Caracas, hundreds of people spent the night in parks, parking lots, and other open areas, too afraid to return to their homes.

Dayana Delgado, a mother of three, demanded to know where the heavy machinery that government officials had promised was, saying it was ordinary residents who were doing the digging through collapsed structures.

BEIJING — Bangladeshi Prime Minister Tarique Rahman sat down with Chinese President Xi Jinping in the Chinese capital on Friday, making a direct appeal for China to help shrink the trade gap between the two countries, broaden the range of Bangladeshi goods exported to China, and back key development initiatives in Bangladesh.

The meeting came during a three-day visit to China that began Wednesday — Rahman’s first trip to the country since he took office as prime minister in February.

Bangladesh has been working to strengthen its relationship with China, one of its biggest trading partners and a major source of development funding.

The trip also carries significant diplomatic weight. Rahman is working to maintain balanced relationships with both Beijing and New Delhi. His predecessor, Sheikh Hasina, was widely regarded as having closer ties to India. While relations between Dhaka and New Delhi have improved under Rahman’s leadership, tensions remain, including disagreements over border issues.

During his meeting with Xi, Rahman made the case that China could help reduce Bangladesh’s trade deficit by allowing more Bangladeshi products into its market.

“We request China to consider import our fresh mangoes, jackfruit, guava, aquatic products, raw leather, jute products and pharmaceutical products,” Rahman said, according to a media pool report.

He also stressed that Bangladesh needs China’s assistance in “implementing our major signature projects and upgrading and modernisation of our existing industrial units.”

Bangladesh became part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative in 2016, a large-scale infrastructure and development program championed by Xi that aims to link Asia, Africa, and Europe.

In response, China indicated it is prepared to work with Bangladesh on importing more quality Bangladeshi products, encouraging Chinese companies to invest there, and growing cooperation in areas like new energy, the digital economy, and artificial intelligence, according to a statement from the Chinese government.

Earlier in the visit, Rahman met with Premier Li Qiang on Thursday, where the two sides signed several cooperation agreements aimed at strengthening bilateral ties, state media reported.

Bangladesh currently owes China $6.2 billion, according to World Bank figures. The Beijing-based Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank has provided an additional $2.3 billion in loans. By comparison, India has lent its neighbor $1.6 billion.

Chinese companies have also invested $7.7 billion in Bangladesh, roughly half of it in the country’s energy sector, according to data from the American Enterprise Institute think tank.

However, China has grown more selective about where it puts its financing dollars, said Chim Lee, a senior analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit in Beijing.

“Not least because it tends to be looking for key logistics corridors these days that can be scaled up, and Bangladesh is a bit tricky because it just doesn’t provide the same kind of corridor as say Central Asia or Myanmar,” Lee said.

Saudi Aramco has restarted oil loading operations at its Ras Tanura terminal along the Gulf coast, ending a near four-month shutdown, according to shipping data from LSEG released Friday.

The data indicates two Very Large Crude Carriers — each with a capacity of 2 million barrels of oil — were actively taking on crude at the terminal, with a third vessel waiting in the area.

Attempts to reach Saudi Aramco for comment outside of business hours were unsuccessful.

According to the shipping data, the last time the company loaded a cargo from the Ras Tanura port was March 8, when a shipment was sent to China. After that, Saudi Aramco was forced to redirect all of its exports through the Red Sea port of Yanbu, after Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz — during its war with the U.S. and Israel — cut off access to the Gulf for shipping vessels.

With the United States and Iran having reached an interim agreement to bring the war to a halt, energy producers across the Middle East have been increasing both their output and their export activity.

Australia’s prime minister said Friday he wants to ensure the nation’s ban on social media for children is as robust as possible, following a new study showing the world’s first such law has done little to curb teen use in its first six months.

The government intends to put the legislation through rigorous testing. The law prohibits platforms such as Meta’s Instagram and Google’s YouTube from creating accounts for anyone under the age of 16.

“What we want to do is to make sure that the laws are as strong as possible and that they will withstand any legal challenges which are made,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.

Albanese added that a major priority would be ensuring the eSafety Commission — the country’s internet watchdog — has enough authority to carry out its responsibilities. He did not elaborate on what specific actions the government plans to take, and the regulator declined to offer any comment.

The Australian experiment is being closely followed by nations around the world that are grappling with concerns about the mental and physical wellbeing of young people. Britain, for instance, announced this month that it plans to go even further, extending similar restrictions to gaming and live-streaming platforms as well.

The eSafety Commission and Communications Minister Anika Wells have indicated they are preparing legal action against several platforms. Companies found to have systematically failed to enforce the ban could face fines of up to A$49.5 million, or roughly $34 million U.S.

Reddit has filed a High Court challenge against the ban, with preliminary hearings still underway. The company was not immediately reachable for comment Friday.

When the ban took effect last December, early reports suggested millions of accounts had been shut down. However, parents and researchers have since noted that teen social media habits appear largely unchanged.

A study published this week in the British Medical Journal found that 85% of Australians between the ages of 12 and 15 were still active on social media three months after the ban went into effect. The research was based on a study of 408 adolescents.

According to the paper, two-thirds of underage users got around the restrictions by either claiming to be older than 16 or submitting a selfie that the platform accepted as proof of being over the age limit.

“Despite the intent of the (ban) to delay access to social media platforms and reduce the potential for online harms, little evidence was found of immediate substantive reductions in reported social media use by adolescents,” the study concluded.