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Gaza’s musicians reopen bomb-shattered conservatory – in tents

The three tents line a stretch of overcrowded, windswept sand, their windows open on to a view of the breaking waves of the Mediterranean. From inside comes the sound of singing, a strummed guitar, a violin and then a flute. But if the music evokes calm and harmony, the surroundings do not: rows of crowded makeshift shelters swelter in Gaza’s summer heat, young children picking their way through rubble, battered cars and pony carts clogging a potholed road. Above, Israeli military drones hum and buzz. The tents are the new home of the Gaza branch of Palestine’s national conservatory, dedicated to teaching classical, popular and traditional music. The institution, founded in 1993, once enjoyed well-equipped offices in Gaza City, three pianos and store rooms full of instruments and musical scores. Its alumni travelled the world to perform. That was before the war. The classrooms, practice rooms and auditorium were all destroyed in the relentless Israeli offensive that laid waste much of Gaza between October 2023 and October 2025. So too were the instruments, and the conservatory’s extensive archives. With a small group of former employees, Ahmed Abu Amsha, a musician and one of the teachers at the conservatory, is trying to rebuild the conservatory’s programmes. Originally from Beit Hanoun in the north of the Gaza and currently in the zone occupied by Israel, he now oversees activities in central Gaza, teaching guitar and supervising choirs. “Once, back before the war, music for many people was a means of entertainment and personal development … Now music has become an important tool for psychological relief. We work with lots of children who suffer from trauma and psychological distress caused by the war,” said Amsha. More than 72,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, were killed during the Israeli offensive and another thousand have died in Israeli strikes since a ceasefire nine months ago. The war was triggered by a surprise Hamas raid from Gaza into Israel, which killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 250 people hostage. The territory remains divided, with 2.3 million Palestinians living under the rule of the militant Islamist movement in the roughly 40% now outside Israel’s control. Few have homes. Almost all the teachers and students of the conservatory were displaced during the war, most many times, and some injured or killed. “One of the most heartbreaking moments was the loss of one of my students, Yusuf Salman, who was one of the most disciplined, polite and talented students. He studied guitar with me … and was killed when a cafe was bombed. It was an extremely painful loss,” said Abu Amsha. So far, almost no reconstruction has taken place since October because Israeli restrictions remain in place on what can enter Gaza, and a proposed second phase of the ceasefire is stalled as negotiations over the disarmament of Hamas continue. Many in Gaza still go hungry and there is an acute shortage of clean water, fuel and medical supplies. Teachers from the conservatory face journeys of hours across rubble-filled roads to reach students such as Mohammad Khader, a 17-year-old who began learning the oud, the traditional Arabic instrument that is the ancestor of the guitar, at the conservatory 10 years ago. Displaced from his home in the north, Khader lives in a tent with his family near the central town of Deir-al-Balah. “Whenever I feel stressed or upset, I turn to music because it calms my nerves and gives me a sense of peace. I feel that I belong to music, just as music belongs to me, especially during this difficult period of our lives,” the teenager said. Demand for music lessons is so high and there are very few teachers, so Khader now instructs new students. “Before the war, education at the conservatory was more comprehensive and structured. We studied books and musical notation, and received both practical and theoretical classes. But now resources are very limited, and activities are mostly just focused on choirs and practical instrument training,” he said. The conservatory, named after Edward Said, the Palestinian-US scholar, public intellectual and activist who was also a fine classical pianist, has its overall headquarters in the occupied West Bank but its local branch has long been a prominent feature of Gaza’s cultural scene. Before the war, Israel sometimes granted the best students exit permits to travel outside Gaza to play in the Palestine Youth Orchestra, the conservatory’s touring ensemble. Others performed inside Gaza, giving concerts in both Arabic and western traditions. Osama Jahjouh, a flute teacher at the conservatory since 2012, lost all his instruments during the war. “When I was displaced after my home was destroyed, I lost three bags containing flutes and found myself without any musical instrument but I refused to give up. I returned once again to the idea of making a flute from plastic tubing, as I had done when a child. It was difficult, as flute making requires precise measurements for tone holes and placement but I managed to produce a playable instrument,” Jahjouh said. In the largest of the three tents used by the conservatory, a dozen young people have gathered to sing, play and listen. The sound of a series of maqams – scales, melodies and musical modes traditional in the Arab world – filter out across the shelters around. Some are played on the plastic hose flutes, others on salvaged or repaired instruments. Yara Abu Amsha has been learning the violin since moving to al-Mawasi about eight months ago. “I chose the violin because I felt it is closest to my personality and most expressive of my feelings. The violin is a deeply emotional instrument; its sound is calm and beautiful, and it has a great ability to convey emotions and feelings,” the 15-year-old said. “Music means a lot to me. Before the war, I didn’t think about it in this way but during the war I discovered that it has become a real refuge for us. Even if only for a short while, music gives us a chance to escape reality.”

Iran seeks to tighten control over strait of Hormuz alongside Khamenei funeral

The diplomatic and military contest for control of the strait of Hormuz has intensified alongside the dramatic scenes of mourning for the death of Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei, with some claiming Khamenei’s legacy ultimately depends on Tehran’s grip on the waterway, and so the global economy. Over the past 48 hours, as crowds have swirled in Tehran, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps appeared to have started to plug a gaping and growing gap in their monopoly control of the strait. A large number of ships stuck in the strait for weeks had last week started to use a US-backed southern route close to the shores of Oman to break free, leaving Iran controlling the less-used and more-mined northern route. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, upped the stakes on Thursday by announcing the go-ahead for plans agreed with the UK to send a mine-clearing naval force to clear the southern route, a plan that was rejected by the Iranian foreign ministry as unwarranted and unjustified interference. But on Saturday at least eight ships turned around after direct IRGC warnings. The flow of ships on Sunday dropped further. The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) centre also said a vessel in the Red Sea sent a distress signal after it was attacked by “unknown armed assailants” off the coast of the Yemeni port city Hodeidah. UKMTO said authorities were investigating the incident. The shipping monitor Marine Traffic said its data showed 38 confirmed crossings through the strait of Hormuz on 2 July, a 10% day-on-day decline. Iranian-flagged activity rose sharply to 11 crossings from two the previous day, while nine crossings in contravention of sanctions were also observed. “Route selection shifted towards the Iranian and Dark or Unknown corridors, as Omani route use weakened,” the organisation said. Oil prices have fallen by as much as 40% from a high of $125 (£93) a barrel to about $75 a barrel, a figure that lessens the inflationary impact on western economies, and reflects the growing availability of oil on world markets. The memorandum of understanding signed digitally on 17 June by the US and Iran required Tehran to use its best endeavours to restore traffic to levels before the blockade. Iran also agreed it would not seek to impose tolls for 60 days. The memorandum is proving to be a loose guideline of objectives as opposed to a rigid set of enforceable rules on which both sides rely. Last week Oman held talks with Iran, and with France and the UK, over future governance of the strait. Oman has a plan based on the strait of Malacca to charge optional navigational fees for specific services including safety, docking, route guidance and environmental protection. The plan appears to have the broad support of the International Maritime Organisation, and some European states say it may be hard to reject fees as long as the scheme is similar to the one operational in the strait of Malacca. A recent Indonesian suggestion that it could charge tolls in the strait of Malacca led to a torrent of criticism, and underlined the risk of Iran setting a precedent in the strait of Hormuz. The international law of the sea permits tolls on constructed canals such as the Panama and Suez canals – built as commercial infrastructure within a single state’s territory. Natural straits are exempt from this provision. Donald Trump has accepted that talks between the US and Iran will not resume until Khamenei’s funeral is over, but the clock is ticking towards the 60-day deadline, when the ceasefire would have to be renewed by mutual consent. Both sides are using the ceasefire to strengthen their military positions, contrary to the US commitment in the memorandum to withdraw forces from the immediate vicinity. The US appears to be building its forces in Jordan. An Iranian army spokesperson said: “We have repeatedly announced that we are using the ceasefire opportunity to enhance our combat capabilities and have not wasted a single moment nor been negligent.” Separately, at the funeral in Tehran, Iran sent a subtle but unmistakeable message to visiting Gulf delegations by using passages from the Qur’an as they arrived to pay their respects to the former supreme leader. When the Saudi delegation stepped forward to pay respects, a passage was read describing the battle of Badr, fought in 624 in what is now Saudi Arabia, in which one side fought in the cause of God and the other as disbelievers. The passage added: “Allah supports with victory whom he wills,” implying there would be consequences if Saudi chose to support US attacks on Iran. Qatar was given a message of forgiveness. Tehran chose a verse from Surah al-Fath: “That Allah may forgive you for what preceded of your sin and what will follow and complete his favour upon you and guide you to a straight path …” The message appeared to be that Doha needed to realise its “sin” of supporting the western powers. A subtle rebuke was directed at Turkey’s reluctance to pay any economic cost for supporting Iran. The Turkish delegation was treated to Surah an-Nisa, verse 95, which says: “Allah has preferred the mujahideen over those who remain behind with a great reward.” The Lebanese Hezbollah movement was paired with a passage of unstinting praise. The reciter read a verse from Surah al-Ma’idah, the fifth chapter of the Qur’an, that includes the phrase “party of Allah”, from which Hezbollah takes its name: “And whoever takes Allah and his messenger and those who have believed as allies – then indeed, the party of Allah will be the victors.” The United Arab Emirates did not send a condolence delegation.

‘The risk is Russia becomes desperate’: the Swedish Baltic Sea island preparing for invasion

Only four months ago, Ella Adman had just finished school and had never before held a gun. Now, standing in the shade in between drills at a military base on Gotland, the strategically important Swedish Baltic island where she grew up, the 19-year-old conscript is carrying a powerful assault rifle. In a matter of days, she is due to carry out her first official mission in Stockholm, guarding the royal family. At first, Adman was taken aback by the length of her 15-month compulsory military service and the gruelling 16-hour days in which she trains and lives alongside her male peers. Now she is getting used to it. “You find out what you are capable of and how strong you become as a group,” she said. Adman is one of hundreds of conscripts who have been sent to the base near the medieval walled city of Visby as part of a rapid remilitarisation process under way on Gotland, a popular summer holiday destination for Swedes, amid the country’s wider rearmament. At the height of the cold war, Gotland had four regiments and at full mobilisation had a strength of 25,000 soldiers. But in 2005 the last of its regiments, P18, was closed, leaving only a reduced Home Guard battalion. Positioned 275km (171 miles) from Kaliningrad – the militarised Russian exclave between Lithuania and Poland – and 87km from the Swedish mainland, it is seen as ideally positioned for the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, to get a foothold in the Baltic, sometimes referred to as the “Nato sea”, from which to attack the alliance. As Sweden’s largest island, home to 60,858 people and host to the country’s political leaders for Almedalen, an annual democracy festival started in 1968 by Olof Palme, who became prime minister the following year, an attack would also have huge symbolic significance. In Swedish defence plans for 2025-30, a surprise attack on Gotland – either by air or sea aimed at setting up air and naval defence zones in the vicinity of the island – was named as one of seven potential situations that require prioritised planning. According to Swedish defence chiefs, from Gotland it is possible to control sea and air operations in the Baltic sea region and to control the entrance of reinforcements to Baltic states. “If you are able to control Gotland, you are able to control the Baltic Sea as well,” said Col Andreas Gustafsson, the commanding officer for the Swedish army in Gotland, after inspecting the conscripts. “So we need to keep control of Gotland – for Sweden, but also for Nato’s sake.” Since being re-established in 2018, amid growing fears of attack by Russia, P18 has been built up at unprecedented speed – only accelerated by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Since Sweden’s accession to the alliance, the island is becoming a regular host for Nato training exercises. This week, Nato leaders and the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, will visit Ankara for a Nato summit (7-8 July) amid US complaints over European defence contributions and with the war in Ukraine still raging. In recent years, Sweden has been keen to show its commitment, upping its defence contributions to 2.8% of GDP for 2026 and 3.1% from 2028 and changing rules to expand conscription. But despite this, with much of Europe rushing to increase defence spending, re-armament is proving difficult, said Gustafsson. “Nato is currently in a major growth phase, which means everyone is out looking for military hardware which means it takes time to get hold of military equipment, particularly artillery systems, and acts as a limiting factor for expanding our capabilities.” For now, there is not an immediate threat of a “conventional attack” on Gotland, said Gustafsson, with espionage and sabotage more likely, but it cannot be ruled out. The island could be particularly vulnerable in the event of a ceasefire or peace deal with Ukraine, he said, in which case Russian forces could be quickly redispersed towards Finland and the Baltic states. “The risk is always that Russia becomes desperate. The more pressure Russia is under, the more desperate they can be as well.” If Russia were to attack, Sweden says it plans to defend itself and to keep its civilians largely in place. When mobilised, the combat group to protect it is about 4,500. “Of course, we would defend Gotland and do all we can to stop Russia getting a foothold on Gotland,” said Gustafsson. But the hope is that remilitarisation will act as a sufficient deterrent and Gotland is also acting as a test platform for defending the whole of Sweden, particularly in a civilian capacity. Clutching a two-week-old chick in each hand, Eva Rinblad emerges from her chicken and duck coop. “They’re getting panicky,” she says, colourful duck tattoos visible on her arm. The doctor has long been interested in growing her own vegetables and keeping poultry at her rural Gotland home. But a year ago her interest in self-sufficiency went up a gear when, amid growing warnings from authorities, Rinblad, 49, decided to set up an emergency preparedness group in her neighbourhood and they quickly set up a working group. Following the advice of the Stark socken (strong parish) scheme, a Gotland-wide civil preparedness initiative, they started by carrying out a collective neighbourhood inventory of supplies including water, electricity and communication. Next they are planning to map all available water sources. Gotland regularly has water shortages, but many of those living rurally also have their own wells. Rinblad also plans to set up a local safety hub in case of emergency where residents can go for updated information, heat and somewhere to cook, charge phones and sleep overnight if needed. At home they have a dedicated food cellar, extensive fruit and vegetable patches which they share with another family, chickens, ducks, solar panels and rain collection butts. If Russia were to attack tomorrow, Rinblad hopes local authorities would help the most vulnerable but that, if possible, wider society should continue daily life where possible. “Society should try to go on as normal – preschools should be open, schools should be open, you should go to work.” Later this year, Gotland will carry out a test emergency evacuation of several hundred people from one part of the island to another. Mikael Frisell, the director general of the Swedish civil defence and resilience agency (MSB), said: “We have a very serious world situation and we notice out on the Baltic Sea that it is an area in which we are very close to Russia and there are incidents both above and below the surface.” To ensure “total defence” of Gotland, Frisell said a military presence and a “strong and robust and resilient civilian defence” were needed. “If we have that it contributes to the whole of Nato’s collective defence in this region.” In case of attack, Gotland risks becoming “isolated” and having supply flows disrupted, said Frisell. “We are working to get Gotland to be as self-sufficient as possible as it is an island in the Baltic Sea.” As part of that, they are working on strengthening emergency services on the island using findings in Ukraine, including being able to better handle mass casualties, manage unexploded ammunition and search demolished buildings. By geographical necessity, Gotland is ahead of much of Sweden in its preparedness, with MSB using it as a template for the rest of the country. Sweden’s approach to civilian defence is also catching the attention of other countries, including the UK, said Frisell, who recently met the British ambassador to Sweden. Emil Edenborg, a Stockholm University professor who studies the changing role of the Baltic islands, said although most people supported the return of the military on Gotland, the changes had not been without friction. As well as discourse over building permits and implications to windfarm development, it was sometimes referred to as a “wet blanket on island life”, he said. “Complaints are not so much about local armed forces but about Stockholm and bureaucrats, seen as neglecting the interests of islanders.” Standing in Visby harbour as a ferry full of holidaymakers comes in, Per Wikberg, the preparedness strategist for Gotland, describes it as the “highway” to Gotland. While the island is well on its way to self-sufficiency, there is still much to be done. “You can never be finished,” he said. “When shit hits the fan, what happens then? Is our planning good enough or do we need to make changes?”

‘A big chunk of positive energy’: Green Man celebrates 10 years of training refugees

For many young people growing up in Britain, their first music festival is a rite of passage; watching live music in a field with thousands of others, sleeping under the stars, and spending time with friends old and new. Green Man festival in Wales has been extending that formative experience to refugees and asylum seekers – who are offered training placements that help them develop valuable skills as they work to build new lives in Britain. Now in its 10th year, the refugee training programme, part of the Green Man Trust, the festival’s charitable arm, has worked with 191 refugees and asylum seekers. Most are between 18 and 28 years old, but the oldest have been in their late 50s. “It’s a proper training scheme, so the idea is that they learn about communication, integration, they learn front of house work, so dealing with the public, they’re giving directions, they’re asking questions,” said Fiona Stewart, who owns and runs the festival. “Some of them were working for a while running their own food stall as well, so they had to learn about health and safety and food management, money management, it’s been a kind of a crossover of a lot of skills.” Mina, who was a cyclist in Afghanistan, fled the Taliban in 2022. She said working at Green Man had helped her “feel more connected to life in the UK”. She took part in the programme because she “wanted to learn more about British culture and also I wanted to connect with people”. After studying politics at university, she will graduate this summer. A few weeks later, she will return to Green Man – which is this year headlined by Wolf Alice, Mogwai, Wilco and Four Tet. “I really enjoyed being in the festival,” Mina said. “It was my very first experience of being in a festival, and my very first experience of camping. “I got to know basically a few other refugees, similar backgrounds, but from different countries who were displaced, asylum seekers and refugees,” she added. “And I could build connections with them, get to know them, and now we are still friends.” Javid, also from Afghanistan, said the festival in the idyllic Bannau Brycheiniog national park had been his first ever experience of a music concert. Under the Taliban, he said, “there is no music and it’s banned to listen to any music. So if someone is spotted with a musical instrument, the person would be prosecuted just because of having a musical instrument.” “Visiting Wales was really exciting,” he said. “Camping, festivals, those things are new for me. All those are first-time experiences for me, and yes, they all got me excited. “I enjoyed the music. I enjoyed the camping – before that I had some anxiety on how to camp, but the whole experience was really good.” He had also learned about Welsh culture, as well as some Welsh language, he said – and the communication skills he learned have helped him with his current work as an interpreter. “The psychological benefit of participating in Green Man was that usually for people in my situation, sometimes there is bad news, and it’s like a big chunk of negative energy would affect other parts of my life,” he said. Before participating in the programme, Javid had had some bad news, which had stopped him doing things he enjoyed, such as running. “And then participating in Green Man, it was again a big chunk of positive energy,” he said, “and it did help me to start running again.” Refugees and asylum seekers from 52 different countries have trained at Green Man. Last year the festival had participants from Afghanistan, Libya, Sudan, Pakistan, Syria, Nepal, Yemen and Ukraine. They are provided with everything they need for the festival, such as camping equipment and warm clothing. “Overall, it’s really like something to give you a fresh start and I’m pretty sure when we return back home it will be very positive vibes. And you can spread this back,” Olga, from Ukraine, said. “The crew entertainment was such good stuff and you felt like, you know, part of the crew. I think this group is very special – and it actually feels that way.” “It’s very rewarding to get such a good opportunity,” Sophia, another Ukrainian participant said. “So it’s quite a good idea, so you can contribute back. We are really happy not to get this for free but to contribute.” While not every festival would provide a safe enough environment, Stewart said, Green Man did just that. “I’ve worked at other festivals where this just wouldn’t be possible because of the noise level, or behaviour issues, or whatever,” she said, “but I think it does work at Green Man, so we’ve had the best opportunity to enable that to happen.” Stewart said the programme felt particularly important at a time when communities are so divided, and refugees and asylum seekers have faced hostility. “I know from feedback that some of them have felt quite intimidated by what they see, what’s going on,” she said. “I think it’s horrible hearing some of the media coverage of these things. “When you meet people like this, they’re trying to make the best of their lives. No one is going to be going through what they went through if what they’re leaving is amazing. They just want to be accepted, and they can offer a lot as well, they can bring so much to our culture as well.” M, from Egypt, said: “When I first came here, my English wasn’t great and I wasn’t comfortable to speak with strangers, random people.” Participating in the project had helped him to “get out of my comfort zone to speak with people”, he said, and he now has a job in a cafe. “I’d never been to a music festival before in my life,” he said, but he now sings in a choir and is “really interested in the arts”. He is returning this summer for the fourth time, and said: “One day maybe I will perform at Green Man.” “For us, it’s a wonderful thing to do, but it’s also incredibly inspiring to see,” Stewart said. “Just from the point of view of seeing them out integrating with the rest of the team is a lovely thing, but also for the team as well.” “I mean, no one necessarily knows when they’re part of the wider team that they’re refugees or former asylum seekers unless they want to bring it up,” she added. “I think it’s that feeling that they’re just a kid in a field with everyone else.”

‘Attack on civil society’: why Viktor Orbán’s favourite thinktank is in crisis

Under glittering chandeliers in a neoclassical ballroom, guests took their seats. It was 10am and scores of people had gathered at a private members’ club in Brussels for a conference to mark 250 years of American independence, organised by Viktor Orbán’s favourite thinktank in the EU capital, MCC Brussels. Opening the one-day event, the MCC director, Frank Furedi, said the 250th anniversary had “really escaped the attention of a European audience” in a speech that lauded the founding fathers before launching a sweeping attack on Europe’s “incompetent political class”. Beneath the glitz and bravado, MCC Brussels’ future is in doubt. The thinktank, which has previously co-sponsored an event featuring Nigel Farage and Suella Braverman and hosted the far-right Alternative für Deutschland MEP Alexander Jungbluth, is facing an urgent cash crunch as a result of Orbán’s political ousting in April. The man who beat him in a landslide victory, Péter Magyar, has said the state will no longer finance conservative gatherings and organisations including “the Mathias Corvinus Collegium and other affiliated organisations”. Under Orbán, the MCC in Budapest, an educational institute with strong ties to his Fidesz party, benefited from a massive transfer of state assets. The new prime minister, however, has announced an investigation into the transfer, describing this state financing as a crime. MCC Brussels launched in November 2022, an ostensibly independent offshoot of its parent institute in the Hungarian capital. It declared €6.37m (£5.45m) in annual funding in 2024 from MCC Budapest, making it one of the best-funded thinktanks in the EU capital. That wealth was evident at the Cercle Royal Gaulois in June, where guests discussed the future of western civilisation in the elite club adorned with sculptures inspired by ancient Greece and portraits of Belgian royalty. Furedi, once a member of a Marxist fringe party, now a leading ideologue for the new right, said that MCC Brussels would need alternative funding from September. “No matter what, we’ll continue in some shape or form,” he said, although in “a worst-case scenario … we have to have much more of an online presence than an offline one”. He dismissed Magyar’s allegation of a criminal transfer of funds to MCC Budapest as “bullshit”, adding that MCC Brussels’ finances were “very transparent”. Magyar, he continued, was “entitled” as elected prime minister to “get his hands on the funding that MCC has received from the public purse … What he is not entitled to do is to close down an institution that is doing good work.” MCC Brussels, he said, had “taken up themes that nobody else has touched”, contrasting its output with the “narrow conversation” in Brussels about the Green Deal and migration. As examples he cited an event about Romany and Jewish music in eastern Europe and forthcoming work on “psychology in the EU narrative”. But it is not the MCC’s “musical journey through Transylvania” event that has earned the thinktank its controversial reputation. Critics accuse the group of defending Orbán’s corrupt rule in Hungary, in the face of widespread independent audits of graft and democratic backsliding. It has also been accused of a lack of transparency over its own funding. In early 2024, MCC Brussels was an enthusiastic supporter of farmer protests in Brussels, capitalising on genuine anger with low prices and EU regulation across western Europe. The thinktank denied organising protests, saying it had participated in demonstrations and produced videos “to help farmers communicate their concerns”. It also published reports claiming that EU policy was “destroying” farming. Their interest came at a time when farmers’ protests across Europe were gaining vocal support from far-right groups and conspiracy theorists. MCC has also accused the European Commission of “funnelling billions into a shadowy network of NGOs and thinktanks” in a report that fuelled a broader campaign from centre-right and far-right lawmakers against EU funding of civil society groups. MCC Brussels spotlighted 10 federalist organisations and thinktanks that it said had received funds under the EU’s Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values programme, which has a €1.55bn budget for 2021-27 that has so far been distributed to more than 6,500 organisations. Petros Fassoulas, the secretary general of the European Movement International (EMI), one of the organisations highlighted, believes the MCC’s report contributed to “a climate, a mood, an impression” against NGOs. After years of stable funding, EMI’s application for a €650,000 annual EU grant was rejected in 2025, while funding from the European parliament for awareness-raising campaigns on European issues never materialised. Fassoulas said he had no proof that a rightwing campaign to cut EU funding for NGOs had led to that outcome, but described the timing as bizarre. He added: “It is strange that at the very time the EU is under attack from Russian disinformation, US political campaigns and nationalist narratives, the commission cuts funding for an organisation that has traditionally supported the European project.” Marieke Ehlers, an MEP with the far-right Dutch Party for Freedom, cited the MCC’s NGO report as an example of their “interesting” work. MCC Brussels played an important role, she added. “Do I use [their reports] to influence my political work? I don’t think so. Do I find it interesting to read? Yes. Do I think it’s important … to have thinktanks across the political spectrum? Yes.” Not everyone thinks MCC Brussels is so benign. Roland Freudenstein, a longtime Hungary watcher, said MCC Brussels was “basically set up to defend Orbán’s corruption” with a broader mission to be the intellectual basis for the pan-European alt-right. An MCC spokesperson said: “We condemn the practice of corruption by all politicians and public servants.” Freudenstein worked at the Wilfried Martens Centre, the official thinktank of the European People’s party (EPP), when the mainstream centre-right group was convulsed over whether to expel Orbán and his Fidesz party. Orbán eventually withdrew his party from EPP in 2021 before it was kicked out over concerns about growing authoritarianism in Hungary. The following year, MCC Brussels was born. “The MCC became really important to Fidesz as something to counterbalance the political isolation that Fidesz felt in the European parliament and by extension in European politics,” Freudenstein said. The change in government in Hungary is not the only problem for MCC Brussels. It was suspended last month from the EU Transparency Register, a move that raises questions about its credibility. Inclusion on the register, an official database of lobby groups, is required if an organisation wishes to meet senior EU officials. The suspension followed a complaint from the NGO Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) in February 2025 that accused MCC Brussels of failure to disclose its funding. MCC Brussels registered on the EU list in January 2024, but did not disclose its funding until August 2025. The MCC spokesperson said this was “was well within the time frame afforded to all new registrants”. Olivier Hoedeman, a co-founder of CEO, said the complaint had been initiated when MCC Brussels was “leading the attack on civil society”, adding that “their failure and refusal to disclose their own budget was just glaringly hypocritical”. More than 16 months after the complaint, Hoedeman said CEO was still awaiting the commission’s response. MCC Brussels claimed its suspension was “politically motivated” and had arisen over a dispute about whether MCC Brussels should be contained within the registration of its parent organisation. The European Commission repeatedly declined to explain the reasons for the suspension. “We do not comment on ongoing administrative proceedings,” a spokesperson said, adding that “the relevant organisation” always had “the possibility to share their views in writing before any decision on eligibility is taken”. For now MCC’s search for new funders continues. Looking back at the well-attended event in the mirrored ballroom at the Cercle Royal Gaulois, Freudenstein said: “If it hadn’t been for Orbán’s crushing defeat in April, they would be thriving.”

Oche addicts: how Kenya fell back in love with darts

Peter Wachiuri pumped his fists as he sensed victory at the Jacaranda showground in the Kenyan city of Nakuru. Leading his opponent, James Kamama, in the final of the main event, Wachiuri approached the oche again, picked a dart from his left hand, leaned forward with an intense gaze on the dartboard, and threw double 10. “Game shot!” the announcer’s voice boomed across the hall. Cheers erupted in the crowd, gospel music played out of the speakers and Wachiuri launched into a celebratory on-stage dance. Match Play 2, a two-day tournament, had drawn 161 participants from around the country. “The tournament was excellent and all the players were great,” a jubilant Wachiuri said from the stage before the awards ceremony. Peter Wachiuri and James Kamama pose for a photo after the final of the main event After years in the doldrums, darts is enjoying a resurgence in Kenya. The groundwork was laid by darts development and marketing organisations that began to establish leagues and tournaments three years ago, professionalising the sport. As Dann Karori, a co-founder of Sirua Darts, which organised the Nakuru event, said: “We want to make Kenya the capital of darts in Africa.” The lift-off moment occurred last year when David Munyua, a veterinarian, became the first Kenyan to qualify for the sport’s showpiece event, the PDC World Darts Championship, held at Alexandra Palace in London. Not only did he qualify, Munyua went on to win his first-round match against the Belgian 18th seed, Mike De Decker, in one of the tournament’s biggest ever shocks. “There was a very big tsunami after everyone watched Munyua play,” said Manpreet Kalsi, 42, a mall general manager and the top-ranked player in the first season of the Sirua Darts Circuit (SDC) league. “[People thought] ‘these guys can do it, why can’t we?’” Wachiuri discovered darts at a bar in Ngong, the town where he lives, and initially played to pass the time. He fell in love with the sport when he started making enough money to feed his family by betting on his own matches. Nicknamed “Kenyan King”, he later quit his job as a lorry driver to focus on darts and he is today one of the most accomplished players in the country, his achievements opening the door for others. In 2024, the year before Munyua’s breakthrough, Wachiuri was one dart away from making it to the world championship himself, missing his target by millimetres at the African qualifiers in Nairobi. Manpreet Kalsi and Peter Wachiuri at the oche Kalsi has been playing since the 1990s when his family held matches on Sundays over barbecues at their home in Nairobi. He won his first children’s tournament when he was about 14, then took a break from the sport, returning to it only 10 years ago and eventually being recruited by the Mang darts club in Nairobi, which played in competitions organised by the amateur-focused Kenya Darts Association. Nicknamed “The Prince”, like Wachiuri he has played at the Modus Super Series, a weekly competition held in Portsmouth on England’s south coast for non-PDC tour card holders. And like many other Kenyan players, Wachiuri and Kalsi participate in competitions organised by Sirua and the African Darts Group, a development and marketing organisation founded by South African player Devon Petersen. Long a staple of bar culture and social clubs, the first heyday of Kenyan darts came in the 1980s and 90s, largely thanks to the airing of a darts tournament called KBL Festival of Darts on the national broadcaster . The country’s best players started gracing the international stage. They included Robert Ngirigacha, John Munyui, Anne Wairimu and Mary Njogu, who all appeared at the World Darts Federation World Cup. But poor management and a dearth of corporate sponsorship meant that by the early 2000s, interest had waned. Spectators including Robert Ngirigacha (in green) and his wife Lucy Chemutai follow the proceedings at the Match Play 2 tournament Sirua Darts is one of the organisations leading the recent resurgence. It was founded in 2022 by three darts enthusiasts – Karori, Penny Mubea and Jeff Muriithi – who felt Kenyan talent could excel anywhere with the right structure and support. Sirua runs a 12-week league featuring 20 teams from different parts of the country, with a total of 300 players. It also holds tournaments and partners with international bodies to grow the sport. The founders of Sirua Darts (l-r): Jeff Muriithi, Penny Mubea and Dann Karori The fans at the Nakuru event were mostly players themselves, but Karori said Sirua was working to develop the fanbase holistically, for instance by incorporating music and food at tournaments and marketing the sport externally. Karori lamented that the sport had “been lost in the country for 20 years”, meaning gen Z was never introduced to it. In order to reach that market, he added, “we need to make the games very exciting”. The effort is bearing fruit. On the day Wachiuri faced off with Kamama, who is from Naivasha town, the rhythmic thud of darts hitting boards filled the room as dozens of men and women in colourful kits battled it out in matches and chalkers swiftly wrote the scores on tablets. Outside, participants bantered around tables as they awaited their turns, while others sharpened their darts or sipped their beers. APPA Estates players strategise Left: Benard Muiruri, a member of the APPA Estates team, speaks with his teammate Victoria Wangu. Right: a player sharpens his dart In the women’s category, Millicent Wangui beat her fellow Nakuru resident Daisy Kipyator. Both the men’s and women’s finals had energised crowds, ecstatic walk-ons, and expert analysis via a YouTube livestream. Millicent Wangui plays Wangui, a police officer, said: “The spirit of darts is very strong these days and everybody is determined to win these tournaments because they can give us opportunities to compete abroad.” She dreams of playing in the women’s tournaments of the PDC and the Modus Super Series. Benson Ngari poses beside posters showing top darts players Everyone involved in the higher echelons of the sport agrees that attracting more player sponsorship to fund overseas travel, in particular, is the key next step. After the competition in Nakuru, there was a fundraiser for Benson Ngari, who had upset Wachiuri in the final of a qualifier in May for a spot at the Modus Super Series next week. “Since I started this game, I’ve been wanting to go play abroad. And I can say time has come, so I’m very happy,” said Ngari, a 45-year-old motorcycle taxi rider based in Nairobi, on the sidelines of the tournament. “I’m ready, though I still need support in terms of finances.” Ngari eventually secured sponsorship and was to leave for the UK today, but was denied a visa. People play darts in Ndenderu and Ruaka At the grassroots level, teams have sprung up in neighbourhoods in towns and cities to participate in SDC leagues. On a recent Friday evening at a bar and restaurant in Ruaka town, just outside Nairobi, players from the G9 Mnazini team played a wager game that doubled as practice for SDC matches. Down the road in Ndenderu on a Wednesday night, the Oche Addicts team played matches at a lounge and restaurant. The Morans team played their opening matches of the new SDC season at a commercial and residential block in the Nairobi neighbourhood of Parklands one Friday evening, as amapiano played in the background. The scene was a microcosm of how far the sport has come, and where it could be heading next. Munyui, who left darts in the early 2000s and returned to it three years ago, was playing. Now in his 60s, he said: “It’s good that Sirua has come and collected darts from where it was.” Also in the room was 14-year-old Aryan Khalsa, who finished 25th in the SDC last season and has been described by fellow players as the sport’s future. “I hope to be picked to go play international events and one day go to PDC,” he said. John Munyui and Aryan Khalsa

A deadly strain of bird flu has landed on Australian shores. Does it pose a risk to pets?

The deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu has arrived on the Australian mainland and, while there’s no evidence yet of mass animal mortality, authorities are on high alert. The virus has killed millions of birds and thousands of marine mammals since it began spreading around the globe in 2021. The risk to humans is low – but should we be worried about our pets? How far is bird flu spreading in Australia? Six cases have been confirmed since late June – four in Western Australia, one in South Australia and one in New South Wales – all in migratory sub-antarctic birds. The federal government analysed Australia’s 800 different birds and 350 mammals threatened by the disease. It assessed more than 150 native and unique bird species, and more than 10 mammal species including sea lions and fur seals, as being at “very high risk” of extinction or major decline if they caught the disease. Could bird flu spread among our pets? Along with birds and poultry, the virus can also be fatal for cats and dogs. The Australian government said in its advice that overseas infections were “infrequent” and usually resulted from “dogs or cats being exposed to sick or dead birds, other animals infected with [bird flu], consumption of raw pet food or unpasteurised (raw) milk”. Sheep, pigs, and horses were also considered low risk. The threatened species commissioner, Dr Fiona Fraser, urged the public to avoid touching potentially sick birds in the wild and to keep pets away from wild birds. Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email “Pet cats and dogs which come into contact with sick birds could capture H5 bird flu themselves and all mammals are susceptible to H5 bird flu, so that includes our pet cats and dogs,” she said. “And it’s generally good practice to keep your pets away from wildlife anyway.” In an article for the Conversation, Prof Ricardo J Soares Magalhães, a veterinary science expert at the University of Queensland, said the risks were very real for back-yard chickens if an outbreak occurred, particularly if they were free range, and advised keeping chickens housed as much as possible. The Tasmanian government has noted in its advice that no reptiles have been reported to be affected. A general practitioner vet and senior lecturer at the University of Sydney, Dr Anne Quain, told Guardian Australia it was important to take precautions to minimise risks because H5 bird flu was “highly pathogenic” and there were no vaccines for cats or dogs. “The infection can cause respiratory or neurological signs,” she said. “There are reports of fatalities in cats and (less commonly) dogs elsewhere in the world.” What are the symptoms of bird flu in pets? The Australian government says in its advice that signs of the disease “may be subtle or mistaken for other illnesses”. They vary between species, but can include fever, lethargy, discharge from eyes or nose, difficulty breathing and neurological signs, such as tremors or seizures. The president of the Australian Veterinarian Association, Dr Diana Barker, said signs of bird flu included lethargy, swelling and fever. She advised bird owners to isolate animals suspected of having the virus and call clinics rather than bringing the bird in, to minimise the risk of spread. “Right now, the risk to common household pets in Australia is low, and there is no cause for alarm,” she said. “However the public must remain vigilant … Most cases overseas have been linked to specific exposures, most commonly cats eating infected wild birds or infected raw meat. “Dogs appear far less susceptible and typically show only mild signs.” One study, published by the American Veterinary Medical Association, found domestic cats infected with H5N1 had overall mortality rates of 50 to 70%. Should I keep my cat locked inside and my dog on a leash? Sean Dooley from BirdLife Australia advised that cats should be kept indoors in general for bird safety. Owners should keep their cats indoors in the case of an outbreak – both to curtail potential spread and protect cats from falling severely ill, he said. Dog owners should keep them on the leash at the beach, particularly along the southern coast and after heavy storms, which tended to cause more dead birds to wash up onshore. “If we do find a bird flu spread here then there is going to need to be a change in behaviour if people want to protect their pets,” he said. What else should pet owners do? Quain said the best way to prevent the infection was to “minimise or eliminate the risk of exposure to wildlife or infected animals” – making sure outdoor animal runs couldn’t be accessed by wildlife. “While we know cats are likely to be more susceptible than dogs, it would be wise to avoid allowing dogs to mix with potentially sick birds or their carcasses,” she said. “Avoid leaving pet food or water in areas where wild birds or animals can have contact with it.” Quain said in other countries, raw poultry and unpasteurised milk were sources of infection, particularly in cats. “If you have any contact with sick or dead birds yourself, even if you’ve worn gloves, shower and change clothes before contact with cats and dogs,” she said. Additional reporting by Petra Stock

Founder of prominent underground church released from prison in China

The founder of one of China’s most prominent underground churches has been released from prison and reunited with his family in the United States. Ezra Jin, the founder of Zion Church, landed in the US on Friday evening. He was one of dozens of church members who were detained in a sweeping crackdown on Christians in October. “We truly witnessed a miracle and we are feeling overwhelmed with joy,” Jin’s family said in a statement. “We thank God for this tremendous miracle. We also thank President Trump and his administration for their tremendous leadership.” China’s ministry of foreign affairs did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Jin’s release is a rare case of China releasing one of its own citizens, apparently in response to lobbying from the US. In 2024, David Lin, an American pastor of Chinese origins, was released from prison after 20 years after lobbying by the state department. Jin’s case was raised by Donald Trump on his visit to Beijing in May. The US president said that Xi Jinping, China’s president, was “seriously considering” releasing pastors jailed in China, while saying that progress on other detained figures, such as the British citizen Jimmy Lai, was harder. Jin’s wife and children are in the US and have repeatedly appealed to the US government and to Trump directly to secure Jin’s release. Jin’s daughter, Grace Jin Drexel, testified before congress in November. Trump later described her as a “beautiful daughter” and promised to raise Jin’s case with Xi. Jin, a Chinese citizen, is one of the most recognisable faces of China’s underground church movement. He founded Zion Church in 2007. In 2018, the church’s physical location in Beijing was forced to close, but the group later moved to online sermons that allowed them to extend their reach to thousands of members. Christianity is legal in China but worship is only permitted in government-controlled churches. In 2018, the government said there were 44 million Christians in China but other estimates, which included unregistered believers, put the number at about 130 million. Many Christians shun government-controlled churches and prefer to worship in underground groups such as Zion, also known as “house churches”. In the past year, China launched a major crackdown on house churches. In January, members of Early Rain church, another prominent group, were detained. In June, an Early Rain gathering in Sichuan in south-west China was raided by police with reports of more than 30 people being taken for questioning. Several members of Zion Church remain in detention. Last month, the cases of nine members, including Jin, were transferred to prosecutors on charges of illegal business operations and fraud. Nine others were released on bail pending trial.