“As long as poverty, injustice and gross inequality persist in our world, none of us can truly rest.” — Nelson Mandela
POVERTY is frequently cited as a cause of growing extremism, but proving it is not as easy as portrayed. While Pakistan’s ranking on the Human Development Index (HDI) and poverty index confirms that poverty is a contributing factor, internal strife and socioeconomic polarisation are also significant drivers. Poor states often attribute extremism to poverty and religious misinterpretation, but by focusing solely on these two factors, they may be avoiding the need to address the demand for fair distribution of resources, as well as ethnic, sectarian, sociocultural, economic and political issues.
According to the IMF’s World Economic Outlook 2024, Burkina Faso is ranked 16th among the world’s poorest countries and ranks first on the Global Terrorism Index. Pakistan is the 50th poorest country and ranks second on the GTI. Syria and Afghanistan rank high but have unstable political conditions, making economic assessment difficult. Mali (15th poorest) ranks fourth on the GTI; Niger (sixth poorest) is fifth; Nigeria (46th poorest) is sixth; Somalia (11th poorest) is seventh. Israel, ranked 157th among poor countries, is eighth on the GTI, while Cameroon (40th poorest) ranks 10th. These rankings show a mixed picture. In some cases, there is a direct link between poverty and extremism, while in others — such as Israel — it is historical and expansionist designs that drive extremism.
The 2025 Human Development Index underlines this link. Burkina Faso ranks 186th out of 193 countries and is first in the GTI. Pakistan is 168th in HDI, and second in GTI. Syria is 162nd and third, Mali is 188th and fourth, Niger is 187th and fifth, Nigeria is 164th and sixth, and Somalia is 192nd and seventh. Israel, by contrast, ranks 27th in HDI and eighth in GTI, Afghanistan ranks 181st and ninth, while Cameroon is 155th and 10th. This suggests that, with the exception of Israel, the top 10 GTI countries fall between 155 and 192 in HDI rankings, which indicates a strong correlation between low development and terrorism.
Poverty is not the only factor behind violence.
Adult literacy rankings show a similar trend. Except for Israel (86th), the top GTI-listed countries fall between 110 and 162 on adult literacy indices. This demonstrates the need to increase allocations in education.
In practice, militant groups exploit poverty for recruitment, offering money, food, or a sense of purpose. When poverty is compounded by poor governance and ideological appeals, such areas become fertile for extremism. States must ensure school education and skill development to attract young talent instead of leaving them vulnerable and unskilled.
According to the World Bank’s global poverty threshold of $4.20 per person per day, around 44.7 per cent of Pakistan’s population now lives below the poverty line. The Bank defines poverty as the inability to meet minimum living standards. Besides ideological reasons, poverty directly or indirectly fuels crime, violence and terrorism. Recruitment patterns of militant groups in Africa and parts of Asia confirm that poverty is a prime driver, especially when people are told their natural resources are being plundered by the elite. This sense of grievance can lead to violent resentment.
Unemployment, coupled with poverty and emotional manipulation, plays into the hands of extremist organisations. Yet, these groups don’t only attract the uneducated. Many also require educated talent well-versed in technology. A study by Charles Russell and Bowman Miller of over 350 militants from Latin America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East (1966 to 1970) found that two-thirds were graduates. If poverty alone caused terrorism, billions would have turned to violence, yet the reality is otherwise.
Indeed, some of the poorest countries — Sudan, Burundi, Central African Republic, Congo and Mozambique — are not in the top 10 in the GTI. Ideology, identity crises, authoritarianism, lack of political freedom and human rights abuses, foreign occupation, drone strikes, online radicalisation, and perceived historical injustices also fuel extremism.
Efforts to reduce poverty and improve education, healthcare, and governance, youth employment programmes, community engagement, transparency, accountability and public services can reduce the appeal of extremist groups. Promotion of literacy and civic education can be instrumental in the prevention of extremism as it will enable individuals to critically assess extremist narratives and explore economic opportunities. Community-based literacy programmes may also include and promote human rights, tolerance, and conflict resolution, enabling individuals to challenge extremist ideologies through dialogue.
The writer is author of Pakistan: In Between Extremism and Peace.
SEOUL – When she started in vitro fertilisation (IVF) last November, Kim Mi-ae knew it would be a gruelling test of patience – something she had already endured when she conceived her first child three years ago. But what shocked her this time around were the “crazy” waits at the fertility clinic. “When I went in January, it felt like everyone had made a New Year’s resolution to have a baby! Even with a reservation, I waited over three hours,” says the 36-year-old Seoul resident.
While South Korea continues to struggle with the world’s lowest birth rates, fertility clinics are in growing demand – a bright spot in the country’s demographic crisis.
Between 2018 and 2022, the number of fertility treatments carried out in the country rose nearly 50% to 200,000. Last year, one in six babies in Seoul were born with the help of fertility treatment. Underpinning the boom, experts say, is a shift in attitudes about family planning.
“We have a young generation… that is used to being in control of its life,” says Sarah Harper CBE, professor in Gerontology at the University of Oxford. That control, she adds, may come in the form of single women freezing their eggs or couples trying IVF when they can’t conceive. “Whereas in previous generations there was a greater acceptance that whether you conceive or not can be a bit haphazard, now we have Korean women saying, ‘I want to plan my life.’”
This is good news for South Korea’s government, which is trying to lift the country out of a demographic crisis. One in five people in South Korea are now aged 65 or above. As a proportion of the country’s total population, there have never been fewer babies.
The country has repeatedly broken its own record for having the world’s lowest birth rate: 0.98 babies per woman in 2018, 0.84 in 2020 and 0.72 in 2023. If this trend continues, experts warn the population of 50 million could halve in 60 years.
But recently there is reason for cautious optimism: instead of another record low, South Korea’s birth rate rose slightly to 0.75 in 2024 – its first increase in nine years. “It’s a small bump, but still a meaningful one,” says Seulki Choi, a professor at the Korea Development Institute’s School of Public Policy and Management. It is too early to tell whether this is the start of a much-needed reversal or just a blip. The country’s birth rate remains far below the global average of 2.2. But many like Dr Choi are cautiously optimistic. “If this trend holds, it could signal a longer-term shift,” says Dr Choi. “We need to watch how young people’s attitudes toward marriage and parenthood are changing.”
For years, having children was the last thing on Park Soo-in’s mind. She was mostly busy at work, often only clocking off from her advertising job at 04:00.
“I was in a company with endless overtime, so it wasn’t even something I could realistically consider,” says the 35-year-old. Things started to change after she got married two years ago. She landed a new job with better hours – and friends around her started having babies.
“Seeing and interacting with their kids made it feel less overwhelming,” she said. “And watching my husband take initiative, doing research on pregnancy and childbirth and showing real effort, gave me confidence that we could do this.” When Ms Park and her husband had trouble conceiving, they looked to fertility treatments. Many others are doing the same, fuelling projections that the burgeoning industry could be worth more than $2bn by 2030. “This is actually an important signal for policymakers that there are still some women who want to start families but are facing … barriers to doing so,” says Jennifer Sciubba, president and CEO of the non-profit Population Reference Bureau in Washington, DC. “More than anything, this is a sign that people are unable to fulfil their desires to have children.”
Difficulty conceiving is just one barrier. At the heart of South Korea’s population woes are a raft of social and financial pressures – from patriarchal norms that place most childcare responsibilities on women to long work hours and high education costs – which discourage many young people from having children.
For some, however, those dreams have merely been delayed. More than half of South Koreans say they want kids but can’t afford them, according to a UN report. And by the time South Korean women have their first child, their average age is 33.6 – among the highest in the world.
“Looking back, it might have been better to start earlier,” says Ms Park. “But realistically… now actually feels like the right time. In my late 20s, I just didn’t have the financial capacity to think about marriage or kids.”
The same goes for Ms Kim, who spent three years saving up for marriage and another four for a child.
“People spend their youth studying, job hunting, and spending money to prepare for life. And by the time they’re ready to settle down, it’s often late,” she says. “But the later you wait, the harder it gets [to become pregnant], physically and emotionally.” For those who opt for IVF, the process of trying to conceive also becomes much more expensive.
“It’s hard to say exactly how much IVF costs because it varies so much by person and cycle,” says Ms Kim. “It’s a huge and unpredictable expense that can really affect your finances.”
Two of Iman al-Nouri’s five sons were killed on Thursday’s Israeli strike, while a third was seriously wounded
Iman al-Nouri’s youngest son, two-year-old Siraj, woke up crying from hunger on Thursday and asked to get some nutritional supplements.
Siraj’s 14-year-old cousin, Sama, agreed to take him and two of his older brothers – Omar, nine, and Amir, five – to the Altayara health clinic in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza.
“The [medical] point was still closed, so they were sitting on the pavement when suddenly we heard the sound of the strike,” Iman told a local journalist working for the BBC.
“I went to [my husband] and said: ‘Your children, Hatim! They went to the point.’”
Family handout
Amir, five, was killed instantly in the Israeli strike, according to Iman
Warning: This piece contains graphic descriptions of death and violence
Iman, a 32-year-old mother of five, rushed to the scene after hearing the strike, only to find her sons and niece lying on a donkey cart that was being used to transport casualties to the hospital because there were no ambulances.
Amir and Sama were among the dead, while Omar and Siraj were seriously wounded.
“Omar still had some breath in him. They tried to revive him,” Iman recalled. “Omar needed blood, and it took them an hour to get it. They gave it to him, but it was in vain.”
“Why are they gone? Why? What did they do wrong?” she asked.
“They had dreams just like any other children in the world. If you gave them a small toy, they’d be so happy. They were just kids.”
Family handout
Nine-year-old Omar (right), pictured with his elder brother, died of his wounds in hospital
Iman said Siraj’s head was bleeding and he had lost an eye – an image that she cannot now get out of her head.
“He had fractures in his skull and… according to the doctor, not just bleeding, but [a major haemorrhage] on his brain,” she added. “How long can he stay like this, living on oxygen? Two are already gone. If only he could help me hold on a little longer.”
Tragically, doctors have said they are unable to treat Siraj.
“Since yesterday at 07:00 until now, he’s in the same condition. He’s still breathing, his chest rises and falls, he still has breath in him. Save him!” she pleaded.
Family handout
Iman said doctors had told her that they were unable to treat two-year-old Siraj
A spokesperson for the US-based aid group Project Hope, which runs the Altayara clinic, told the BBC that the strike happened at around 07:15.
Women and children were waiting outside before it opened at 09:00, in order to be first in line for nutrition and other health services, Dr Mithqal Abutaha said.
CCTV footage of the Israeli air strike shows two men walking along a street, just metres away from a group of women and children. Moments later, there is an explosion next to the men and the air is filled with dust and smoke.
In a graphic video showing the aftermath of the attack, many dead and severely wounded children and adults are seen lying on the ground.
“Please get my daughter an ambulance,” one woman calls out as she tends to a young girl. But for many it was too late for help.”
Dr Abutaha said 16 people were killed, including 10 children and three women.
The Israeli military said it targeted a “Hamas terrorist” and that it regretted any harm to what it called “uninvolved individuals”, while adding that the incident was under review.
Project Hope said the strike was “a blatant violation of international humanitarian law, and a stark reminder that no one and no place is safe in Gaza”.
Dr Abutaha said it was “unbearable” when he found out that people were killed “where they [were] seeking their basic humanitarian and human rights”.
He questioned the Israeli military’s statement on the strike, including its expression of regret, saying that it “cannot bring those patients, those beneficiaries back alive”.
He also said that the clinic was a UN-recognised, “deconflicted humanitarian facility”, and that no military actions should have taken place nearby.
Anadolu via Getty Images
The UN says there are thousands of malnourished children across Gaza
Iman said her children used to go to the clinic every two or three days to get nutritional supplements because she and Hatim were not able to give them enough food.
“Their father risks his life just to bring them flour. When he goes to Netzarim [military corridor north of Deir al-Balah], my heart breaks. He goes there to bring food or flour.”
“Does anyone have anything? There’s no food. What else would make a child scream if he didn’t want something?”
Israel imposed a total blockade of aid deliveries to Gaza at the start of March and resumed its military offensive against Hamas two weeks later, collapsing a two-month ceasefire. It said it wanted to put pressure on the Palestinian armed group to release Israeli hostages.
Although the blockade was partially eased in late May, amid warnings of a looming famine from global experts, there are still severe shortages of food, as well as medicine and fuel.
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa) says there are thousands of malnourished children across the territory, with more cases detected every day.
Dr Abutaha said Project Hope had also noticed an alarming rise in cases of malnutrition among adults, which they had not observed before in Gaza.
In addition to allowing in some UN aid lorries, Israel and the US helped set up a new aid distribution system run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), saying they wanted to prevent Hamas from stealing aid. But since then, there have been almost daily reports of people being killed by Israeli fire while seeking food.
The UN human rights office said on Friday that it had so far recorded 798 such killings, including 615 in the vicinity of the GHF’s sites, which are operated by US private security contractors and located inside military zones in southern and central Gaza. The other 183 killings were recorded near UN and other aid convoys.
The Israeli military said it recognised there had been incidents in which civilians had been harmed and that it was working to minimise “possible friction between the population and the [Israeli] forces as much as possible”.
The GHF accused the UN of using “false and misleading” statistics from Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.
Iman said a ceasefire “means nothing to me after my children are gone”
Dr Abutaha called on Israel to allow in enough food, medicine and fuel to meet the basic humanitarian needs of everyone in Gaza, so that “everyone could have a dignified life”.
He also expressed concern that people were being given “false hope” that Israel and Hamas could soon agree a new ceasefire deal.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that an agreement on a 60-day truce and the release of 28 hostages could be just days away.
But Palestinian officials said on Friday night that the indirect talks in Qatar were on the brink of collapse because of significant gaps remaining on issues like Israeli troop withdrawals and Hamas’s rejection of an Israeli plan to move all of Gaza’s population into a camp in Rafah.
“Every day they talk about a ceasefire, but where is it?” Iman said.
“They’ve killed us through hunger, through gunfire, through bombs, through air strikes. We’ve died in every possible way.”
“It’s better to go to God than stay with any of them. May God give me patience.”
It wasn’t exactly a run-of-the-mill royal occasion.
In the sunny gardens of the Highgrove estate, I stood in a circle with King Charles and an eclectic group who were attending his first “Harmony Summit”.
We raised our arms in honour of nature as we stood around a fire, which was burning within a ring of flowers.
Presiding over the fire ceremony, in which we rotated as we honoured the north, south, east and west and then Mother Earth, was an Indigenous leader – an Earth Elder – wearing a headdress and a dazzling robe of blue feathers.
A conch shell was blown. Butterflies flew around the flowers. And, in a concession to modernity, as well as holding up feathers in a blessing for the King, the elder was reading his incantations from an iPhone.
There were people reaching to the sky, wearing colourful face paint and elaborate necklaces, while I held my palms up self-consciously, melting in my M&S suit.
Courtney Louise/The King’s Foundation
The summit was a celebration of the King’s philosophy of harmony with nature – an inaugural event that the King’s Foundation hopes will become a regular gathering.
It brought together representatives from Indigenous peoples, including from tribes in the Amazon, along with environmentalists, climate campaigners, organic farmers, herbalists, educators, crafts people and philanthropists.
For good measure, there was Dwight from the US version of The Office, or at least actor Rainn Wilson, a director of a climate change group.
There were other visitors from Amazon too. A film crew from Amazon Prime, making a documentary for next year, who were poring over every moment as the sacred smoke coiled up over the apple trees in Gloucestershire.
The King, in a light summer suit, spoke a few quiet words of welcome, wearing a circlet of feathers and a scarf that had been draped ceremonially around his shoulders.
Courtney Louise/The King’s Foundation
A humane, ruminative, humorous and quietly radical figure, he was at the centre of what he hopes will become the first of many such gatherings.
But it raised the question – and perhaps opened a window – into what the King believes. What is this thoughtful man really thinking about?
Harmony is the King’s philosophy, it means that we should be working with the grain of nature rather than against it. Or “her” as, he describes nature, in his book on the subject, published in 2010.
It’s about the inter-connectedness of all life, infused with a strong sense of the spiritual, and the idea that the human and natural worlds can’t be separated.
It’s the philosophy that stitches together his many different pursuits – on the environment, climate change, sustainable farming, urban planning, architecture, protecting traditional craft skills and building bridges between different faiths.
According to a source close to the King, it’s “perhaps the single most important part of his eventual legacy”, bringing together different strands of his work that might seem separate into “one philosophical world view about creating a better, more sustainable world for future generations”.
The King’s views, including on the environment, were “once seen as an outlier, but now many elements have been accepted and adopted as conventional thought and mainstream practice, embraced around the world”.
In his book on Harmony – A New Way of Looking at our World, the King describes his purpose as a “call to revolution”, and writes that he recognises the strength of the word.
It’s a broadside against a consumer culture, in which people and the natural world become commodities. He warns of the environmental threats to the future of the Earth. There’s a call to protect traditional crafts and skills and also for a radical change in rejecting modern, unsustainable, exploitative forms of farming.
If not avant garde, he’s an avant gardener.
Courtney Louise/The King’s Foundation
If you go for a walk in Highgrove’s gardens there are small hurdle fences, with wooden rods woven around posts. The King makes these himself and this idea of things being inextricably woven together seems to be central to harmony.
His book moves from the importance of geometry, with patterns rooted in nature, to the designs in Islamic art and the inspiring dimensions of Gothic cathedrals.
A sense of the sacred in nature, as well as in people, seems to be an important part of this world view.
At lunch at the Harmony Summit, grace was said by the Bishop of Norwich, Graham Usher.
The King’s idea of harmony dovetailed with a very deep personal Christian faith, he said.
“My sense is that he draws much of his energy and ideas from spending time in prayer and contemplation,” said the bishop.
He said the King sees his role as serving others and a sense of this “is seen in how he is always keen to learn from other religious traditions, building bridges and fostering good relationships built on respect and understanding”.
Within strands of Christianity, the King is also said to be have been interested in the Orthodox faith and its use of icons.
Courtney Louise/The King’s Foundation
A fire was lit within a ring of flowers
Highgrove itself has an example of the King’s private sense of spirituality. There is a small sanctuary tucked away in the grounds, where no one else goes inside, where he can spend time completely alone with this thoughts.
It must seem a world away from the ceremonial juggernaut of this week’s state visit by France’s President Macron.
The focus of this inaugural Harmony Summit was drawing on the wisdom of indigenous people, tapping into their knowledge and pre-industrial ways of working with nature.
Survivalist Ray Mears was there to welcome representatives of the Earth Elders group, who work to defend the rights of “original peoples”, who have become the threatened guardians of the natural world. They were wearing traditional headdresses, face paint and ornaments, in among the flowers and trees of Highgrove.
“People’s selfishness has taken them away from nature. They can’t feel the breeze, they’re too focused on the clock,” said Mindahi Bastida, of the Otomi-Toltec people in Mexico.
The cacophonous modern world has broken our connection with nature, said Rutendo Ngara, from South Africa. She described our era as a time of “loud forgetting”.
“We all have egos and ambitions. I wanted to be an entrepreneur, I wanted to sell out,” said Uyunkar Domingo Peas Nampichkai, from Ecuador, the co-ordinator for the Amazon Sacred Headwaters Alliance.
The temptation for him was to sell his land for oil. He decided a different path and explained what “harmony” now meant to him.
“It’s well-being for all human beings, all living beings, visible and invisible, it’s Mother Nature… Everything is connected and there’s mutual respect,” he said.
These were people from forests and rivers who talked of the destructive pressures on them, from mining, oil and urbanisation.
They weren’t pulling punches either. There were speakers warning of how “Europeans” had killed their people and another who said that the much-hyped COP climate change gatherings were full of empty promises that never delivered for grassroots communities.
Ailton Krenak, from Brazil, talked of rivers that that had been “erased by money” and seeing the dried-up, polluted waterways was like a much-loved “grandfather in a coma”.
Courtney Louise/The King’s Foundation
Rutendo Ngara described our era as a period of “loud forgetting”
But how can harmony work in such a discordant world?
Richard Dunne, who runs the educational Harmony Project which uses the concept in more than 100 schools in the UK, has been applying the principles in a place of extreme conflict, the war in Ukraine.
He’s been taking classes of children traumatised by the conflict, and reconnecting them with nature, taking them to parks and forests for a place to heal.
“Ukraine is a powerful example of a country that’s in a war they don’t want and they are losing a lot of people. It’s terrible, there’s a lot of pain and suffering. And they want harmony, a future of living well together, so the message of harmony really resonates there,” he said.
Highgrove, winningly wobbly with its crooked tiles and trees growing through holes in the roof of a shelter, is a lyrical sight on a summer’s day. It’s a model of harmony with nature.
How does that message work, when you step outside into an often angry, noisy and brutal world?
What makes the idea of harmony relevant, is that it puts ideas into practice, it’s not just a “thought exercise”, says Simon Sadinsky, executive education director at the King’s Foundation, which teaches crafts skills to a new generation.
“It’s not just a theoretical concept, it’s not just a philosophy, it’s grounded in practice,” says Dr Sadinsky.
“There’s a lot of awfulness going on in the world, it’s hard to stay optimistic. You can feel completely powerless,” says Beth Somerville, a textile worker who completed a King’s Foundation course.
But she says the idea of “harmony in nature” inspires her work and helps to create things which can be both beautiful and functional, in a way that is “all connected”.
“It does drive me to carry on and have hope,” she says.
A cut in the fuel supply to the engines caused last month’s Air India crash that killed 260 people, a preliminary report has found.
The London-bound plane had barely left the runway at Ahmedabad airport when it hurtled back to earth. Everyone on board was killed, except for one passenger.
According to the report by India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, obtained by CNN, the fuel control switches in the cockpit of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner had been flipped, starving the engines of fuel.
Investigators were able to get data out of the plane’s “black box” recorders, including 49 hours of flight data and two hours of cockpit audio, including from the crash.
The aircraft had reached an airspeed of 180 knots when both engines’ fuel cutoff switches were “transitioned from RUN to CUTOFF position one after another with a time gap of 01 sec,” according to the report.
“In the cockpit voice recording, one of the pilots is heard asking the other why did he cutoff. The other pilot responded that he did not do so,” the report reads.
Shortly after, the switches were reversed back to where they should have been, and the engines were in the process of powering back up when the crash happened.
On the 787, the fuel cutoff switches are between the two pilots’ seats, immediately behind the plane’s throttle levers. They are protected on the sides by a metal bar and have a locking mechanism designed to prevent accidental cutoff.
Airport footage shows the Ram Air Turbine, an emergency power source on an aircraft, deployed during the plane’s initial climb after takeoff, the report said. The plane started to lose altitude before crossing the airport perimeter wall.
“When fuel control switches are moved from CUTOFF to RUN while the aircraft is inflight, each engines full authority dual engine control automatically manages a relight and thrust recovery sequence of ignition and fuel introduction,” the report states.
Seconds after the engines attempted to relight, one pilot called out, “MAYDAY MAYDAY MAYDAY.” The controller called out for the plane’s callsign, but didn’t get a response and watched the plane crash in the distance.
The fuel switches were “designed to be intentionally moved,” according to CNN safety analyst David Soucie, who said cases in which all fuel switches were turned off accidentally are “extremely rare.”
“Throughout the years, those switches have been improved to make sure that they cannot be accidentally moved and that they’re not automatic. They don’t move themselves in any manner,” Soucie said on Friday.
The captain of the flight was a 56-year-old who had flown more than 15,000 hours in his career. The first officer was a 32-year old man with over 3,400 flying hours.
Investigators also noted settings on equipment found in the wreckage was normal for takeoff. The plane’s fuel was tested and found to be of satisfactory quality, and no significant bird activity is observed in the vicinity of the flight path, according to the report.
The takeoff weight for the plane was found to be within allowable limits, and there were no “Dangerous Goods” on the aircraft. Investigators found the flaps on the wings of the plane were set in the 5-degree position, which is correct for takeoff, and the landing gear lever was in the down position.
The left engine was installed on the plane on March 26 and the right was installed on May 1, the report said.
Air India flight 171 took off from Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in India’s western state of Gujarat on June 12. The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner was headed to London Gatwick, and scheduled to land at 6:25 p.m. local time.
Air India had said 242 passengers and crew members were on board. That included 169 Indian nationals, 53 Britons, seven Portuguese and one Canadian.
In addition to those on board, a number of people on the ground were killed when the plane crashed into the BJ Medical College and Hospital hostel.
The crash resulted in 260 fatalities total, according to the report. A number of the dead on the ground resulted from the plane hitting the hostel.
Air India acknowledged that it received the report and said it will continue cooperating with authorities in the investigation.
“Air India stands in solidarity with the families and those affected by the AI171 accident,” the airline posted to X on Saturday (local time). “We continue to mourn the loss and are fully committed to providing support during this difficult time.”
This story has been updated with additional developments.
Brazilian soldiers take part in a demonstration exercise ahead of the BRICS Presidential Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, July 5, 2025. — Reuters
Brics, initially conceived two decades ago as a forumof rapidly developing economies comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, has undergone significant evolution, transcending its original purpose. It is no longer merely a coalition of emerging-market voices. It has transformed into a more ambitious political and economic entity.
Brics is frequently regarded as a Chinese-led counterweight to US and Western European dominance, particularly within institutions such as the IMF, the World Bank and the UN. Following its recent expansion, which includes the admission of new members such as Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the UAE in 2024 and Indonesia in January 2025, with Saudi Arabia on the verge of joining, the bloc now represents approximately 46 per cent of the global population and 35-40 per cent of global economic output.
Despite its expanding influence and economic significance, Brics is grappling with internal divisions. The recent 17th Brics summit held in Rio de Janeiro fostered some unity concerning shared global challenges but also revealed profound disagreements on geopolitical matters, trade policies and technology governance. Brics leaders reiterated demands for multipolar global governance and institutional reform, particularly within the UNSCl and international financial structures. Brazil’s finance minister, Fernando Haddad, emphasised the necessity for enhanced representation and equity for Global South members, cautioning that global governance remains disproportionately skewed in favour of affluent northern nations.
In a similar vein, the group urged wealthier nations to adequately fund climate transition initiatives in developing economies, endorsing Brazil’s proposed Tropical Forests Forever Facility with investments from China and the UAE. These policy commitments showed Brazil’s developmental agenda and Brics’ ambition to articulate a vision for sustainable growth within the Global South. However, the bloc’s political cohesion faced challenges on contentious issues such as the conflict in Gaza.
Brics issued a collective appeal for a two-state solution while condemning violence. Nevertheless, Iran – already set to join in 2024 – expressed its reservations through diplomatic channels but refrained from vetoing the joint statement. A notable diplomatic signal reflecting these tensions was the reported absence of Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister, Faisal bin Farhan, from the political discussions. As a principal military ally of the US, Riyadh continues to navigate interests between Western and Brics affiliations, illustrating the complexities new members face in balancing their alliances.
Perhaps most indicative of the bloc’s current dynamics were the absences of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin, who are pivotal figures in Brics’ ideological framework. Xi missed the summit for the first time in his 12-year presidency, delegating authority to Premier Li Qiang. Speculation arose that a diplomatic slight, specifically Brazilian First Lady Janja Lula’s public criticism of TikTok during a recent visit to Beijing, may have provoked dissent within Xi’s delegation.
Meanwhile, Putin participated via video link; he utilised the forum to denounce “liberal globalisation” as outdated, asserting that China and other emerging markets represent the future, while reaffirming commitments to utilise national currencies in intra-Brics trade. These prominent absences diminished some of the political impact of the summit and raised pertinent questions regarding Brics’ unity in the face of challenges.
Nonetheless, the group achieved a significant milestone in releasing a joint declaration, a noteworthy accomplishment considering its diverse and rapidly expanding membership, especially following an unsuccessful attempt at consensus earlier in the spring. The expansion to include countries such as Iran and Saudi Arabia has unveiled significant ideological, governance and security divides. Iran’s inclusion poses a fundamental challenge, as its stance on Israel conflicts with the collective call for a two-state solution. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia’s hesitance in formalising its membership and the foreign minister’s absence from political sessions signal a cautious approach.
Historical rivalries also endure, as exemplified by India’s caution regarding China’s regional influence, particularly in light of ongoing border tensions. The Indian government has been reluctant to endorse initiatives that might undermine its strategic autonomy or adversely affect its domestic interests. Differences relating to UNSC representation, where Brazil and India vie for permanent seats while African members advocate for broader reforms, further complicate the bloc’s internal cohesion.
Despite existing divisions regarding Middle East diplomacy, the members of Brics have demonstrated notable unity on economic matters, particularly in their critique of unilateral tariff measures implemented by the US. The summit declaration articulated “serious concerns regarding the rise of unilateral tariff measures”, reflecting previous grievances regarding erratic trade sanctions during Trump’s presidency.
Although the statement refrained from directly naming him, the intended target was unmistakable: Trump’s unpredictable trade wars inflicted disruptions on global supply chains and contributed to market instability. In response, Trump issued a pointed reaction via social media: “Any country aligning itself with the Anti-American policies of Brics will incur an ADDITIONAL 10 per cent tariff. There will be no exceptions to this policy”. This statement followed earlier threats indicating that the US would impose unilateral tariffs unless trade agreements were secured by August 1, a warning directed at both allies and adversaries.
This confrontation shows a deeper systemic tension: Brics aims to cultivate a multipolar trade environment less vulnerable to US economic coercion, while the US seeks to maintain its global influence by controlling economic access. A pertinent question arises: will the considerable economic strength of Brics currently bolstered by nearly $28 trillion in combined nominal GDP, representing over a quarter of global output and exceeding this figure in purchasing power parity (PPP) be sufficient to offset the financial power exercised through the US dollar?
Within the Brics framework, China distinctly assumes a predominant economic role, accounting for over 60 per cent of the bloc’s combined PPP GDP. This influence is manifested through various strategic initiatives, including the Belt and Road Initiative, the internationalisation of the yuan, financing for digital infrastructure and initial steps towards establishing a Brics-wide digital currency platform. China’s expansion efforts are seen as a validation of its model for a new multipolar world and an alternative international order.
At the Rio summit, China’s strategic posture was particularly evident in two key domains. First, Beijing endorsed calls for equitable governance regarding artificial intelligence, advocating against the dominance of Western technocrats. The summit declaration emphasised that AI regulation should be ‘inclusive’ and should not be restricted to affluent nations. In response to the preeminence of US technology firms in the AI space, China is significantly increasing its investment in domestic AI development to bridge the gap.
Second, China announced preliminary commitments with the UAE and Brazil to invest in environmental conservation initiatives, including Brazil’s Tropical Forests Forever Facility. This effort is part of Beijing’s strategy to enhance its soft power by positioning itself as a responsible global participant while fostering collaboration with partners from the Global South.
Brics is also actively exploring concrete economic tools. The New Development Bank, established in 2014 with an initial capital of $50 billion, plays a central role in financing infrastructure and sustainable development projects within member countries. Intra-Brics trade reached $614.8 billion in 2022, showing a significant increase from prior years. Such expansion is perceived as an opportunity to deepen financial cooperation, which includes enhancing swap lines, increasing lending capacity, and promoting the cross-border utilisation of local currencies, strategies designed to mitigate reliance on the US dollar.
President Putin’s emphasis on national currencies during the video address at the Rio summit reaffirms the aspiration among Brics members to strengthen mutual dependence and effectively navigate trade or financial sanctions. However, substantial challenges remain, including administrative hurdles, liquidity issues and resistance from certain factions within the Global South, raising doubts about the viability of these mechanisms in fully challenging the dollar-centric trade system.
Through the promotion of local currency usage, the fortification of the New Development Bank, and the potential establishment of a unified payment system, Brics could gradually challenge the prevailing dollar-centric economic order. Given that Brics countries accounted for 53.5 per cent of global GDP growth from 2014 to 2024 and are projected to represent nearly 40 per cent of world GDP in 2024, their economic significance is considerable. Nonetheless, systemic logistics, banking norms, and entrenched financial dynamics suggest that transitions will unfold incrementally.
The 2025 Brics summit highlighted the emergence of a significant geopolitical entity capable of transforming global trade and governance frameworks. They represent nearly half of the global population and wield substantial economic influence. To effectively navigate US pressures and adjust trade dynamics, Brics must focus on fostering internal trust and cohesion, developing infrastructure for local currency trade, enhancing the New Development Bank’s lending capacity and establishing critical standards in areas such as artificial intelligence and climate finance.
This involves creating bilateral and multilateral initiatives that can safeguard member states against potential U.S. punitive measures. While US resistance is anticipated through tariffs and sanctions, it is likely to offer trade agreements and strategic assistance to influence nations like Saudi Arabia and Brazil. Engagement in discussions on climate finance or AI within the Brics framework may also be pursued to mitigate external pressures.
Brics’ effectiveness will depend not only on economic indicators but also on strategic patience and the ability to act collectively. If successful in translating its ambitions into concrete actions, Brics could reshape trade dynamics and influence the architecture of global governance.
The writer is a trade facilitation expert, working with the federal government of Pakistan.
KUALA LUMPUR: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Friday he had “positive and constructive” talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, as the two major powers vied to push their agendas in Asia at a time of tension over Washington’s tariff offensive.
The top US diplomat was in Malaysia on his first Asia trip since taking office, seeking to stress the United States commitment to the region at the East Asia Summit and Asean Regional Forum, where many countries were reeling from a raft of steep US tariffs announced by President Donald Trump this week.
Rubio had his first in-person talks with the Chinese foreign minister, coming as Beijing has warned the United States against reinstating hefty levies on its goods next month and threatened retaliation against nations that strike deals with the US to cut China out of supply chains.
Wang has sharply criticised Washington during talks with Asian counterparts in Malaysia, calling the US tariffs “typical unilateral bullying behaviour”.
US efforts to refocus attention on Indo-Pacific have been overshadowed by imposition of steep tariffs on most countries of the region
But both sides described Friday’s bilateral meeting as positive and constructive. And Rubio said the odds of Trump meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping were high.
“We’re two big, powerful countries, and there are always going to be issues that we disagree on. I think there’s some areas of potential cooperation and I thought it was a very constructive, positive meeting, and a lot of work to do,” he told reporters.
Rubio emphasised that his sitdown with Wang was not a negotiation, but rather about establishing a constructive baseline to continue talks.
LONDON: Commercial ships still sailing through the Red Sea are broadcasting messages about their nationality and even religion on their public tracking systems to avoid being targeted by Yemen’s Houthis after deadly attacks this week.
The Red Sea is a critical waterway for oil and commodities but traffic has dropped sharply since Houthi attacks off Yemen’s coast began in Nov 2023 in what the Iran-aligned group said was in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza war.
The group sank two ships this week after months of calm and its leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi reiterated there would be no passage for any company transporting goods connected to Israel.
In recent days more ships sailing through the southern Red Sea and the narrow Bab al-Mandab strait have added messages to their AIS public tracking profiles that can be seen when clicking on a vessel.
Messages have included referring to an all-Chinese crew and management, and flagging the presence of armed guards on board.
“All Crew Muslim,” read one message, while others made clear the ships had no connection to Israel, according to MarineTraffic and LSEG ship-tracking AIS data.
Maritime security sources said this was a sign of growing desperation to avoid attack by Houthi commandos or deadly drones, but they also thought it was unlikely to make any difference.
Houthi intelligence preparation was “much deeper and forward-leaning”, one source said.
Vessels in the broader fleets of both ships attacked and sunk by the Houthis this week had made calls to Israeli ports in the past year, shipping analysis showed.
Maritime security sources said even though shipping companies must step up due diligence on any tangential link to Israel before sailing through the Red Sea, the risk of attack was still high.
In March 2024, the Houthis hit the Chinese-operated tanker Huang Pu with ballistic missiles despite previously saying they would not attack Chinese vessels, the US Central Command said.
The Houthis have also targeted vessels trading with Russia.
“Despite declared ceasefires, areas such as the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab Strait remain designated high-risk by underwriters,” insurance broker Aon said in a report this week.
“Ongoing monitoring and adaptive security measures are essential for ship operators.” The insurance cost of shipping goods through the Red Sea has more than doubled since this week’s attacks, with some underwriters pausing cover for some voyages.
The number of daily sailings through the strait, at the southern tip of the Red Sea and a gateway to the Gulf of Aden, was 35 vessels on July 10, 32 vessels on July 9, down from 43 on July 1, Lloyds List Intelligence data showed.
That compares with a daily average of 79 sailings in October 2023, before Houthi attacks began.
“Seafarers are the backbone of global trade, keeping countries supplied with food, fuel and medicine. They should not have to risk their lives to do their job,” the UK-based Seafarers’ Charity said this week.
GENEVA: The top UN expert on Palestinian rights said on Friday that the US decision to place her under sanctions could have a “chilling effect” on people who engage with her and restrict her movements, but that she planned to continue her work.
On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that Francesca Albanese would be added to the U.S. sanctions list for her actions, which he described as prompting illegitimate prosecutions of Israelis at the International Criminal Court.
Albanese said she now faces asset freezes and potential travel restrictions, warning that the US decision could set a “dangerous” precedent for human rights defenders worldwide.
“There are no red lines anymore … It is scary,” she told Reuters via video link from Bosnia, where she was attending events for the 30th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide.
“It might block me from moving around. It will have a chilling effect on people normally engaging with me because for American citizens or for green card holders, this is going to be extremely problematic.
“My plans are to continue what I’ve been doing,” she added.
The White House was not immediately available for comment.
The UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories is one of dozens of experts appointed by the 47-member Human Rights Council to report on specific global issues.
Albanese, an Italian lawyer and academic, has been a vocal critic of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians. She recently published a report calling on states at the UN Council to impose an arms embargo and cut off trade and financial ties with Israel, while accusing the US ally of waging a genocidal campaign in Gaza.
The UN Human Rights office confirmed on Friday that Albanese is the first special rapporteur to be sanctioned and called for the decision to be reversed. The European Union said it “deeply regrets” the US decision. Rights defenders have also rallied to her defence.
Israel has faced accusations of genocide at the International Court of Justice and of war crimes at the ICC over its military assault on Gaza.
Israel strongly denies the accusations and says its campaign amounts to self-defence after the deadly, Hamas-led attack that triggered the war in October 2023.
SULAYMANIYAH: Thirty fighters belonging to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) burned their weapons at the mouth of a cave in northern Iraq on Friday, marking a symbolic but significant step toward ending a decades-long insurgency against Turkiye.
Footage from the ceremony showed the fighters, half of them women, queuing to place AK-47 assault rifles, bandoliers and other guns into a large grey cauldron. Flames later engulfed the black gun shafts pointed to the sky, as Kurdish, Iraqi and Turkish officials watched nearby.
The PKK, locked in conflict with the Turkish state and outlawed since 1984, decided in May to disband, disarm and end its separatist struggle after a public call to do so from Abdullah Ocalan, its long-imprisoned leader.
After a series of failed peace efforts, the new initiative could pave the way for Ankara to end an insurgency that has killed over 40,000 people, burdened the economy and wrought deep social and political divisions in Turkiye and the wider region.
In May, PKK decided to end 40 years of armed struggle against Turkiye after an appeal by its jailed leader, Abdullah Ocalan
President Tayyip Erdogan said he hoped the PKK’s dissolution would bolster Turkish security and regional stability. “May God grant us success in achieving our goals on this path we walk for the security of our country, the peace of our nation, and the establishment of lasting peace in our region,” he said on X.
Friday’s ceremony was held at the entrance of the Jasana cave in the town of Dukan, 60 kilometres northwest of Sulaymaniyah in the Kurdistan region of Iraq’s north.
The fighters, in beige military fatigues, were flanked by four commanders, including senior PKK figure Bese Hozat, who read a statement in Turkish declaring the group’s decision to disarm.
“We voluntarily destroy our weapons, in your presence, as a step of goodwill and determination,” she said, before another commander read the same statement in Kurdish.
Helicopters hovered overhead, with Iraqi Kurdish fighters surrounding the mountainous area.
The ceremony was attended by Turkish and Iraqi intelligence figures, officials of Iraq’s Kurdistan regional government and senior members of Turkiye’s pro-Kurdish DEM party, which also played a key role this year facilitating the PKK’s disarmament decision.
It was unclear when further handovers would take place.
A senior Turkish official said the arms handover marked an “irreversible turning point” in the peace process, while another government source said ensuing steps would include the legal reintegration of PKK members into society in Turkiye and efforts to heal communities and promote reconciliation.
