Sahel Crisis Goes Coastal as Insurgents Push Toward the Atlantic
© Arlette Bashizi for The New York Times
© Arlette Bashizi for The New York Times
蒋不回想起春节期间,李颖提起,在他接二连三收到中国学生的投稿,抱怨学校超时上课,学业压力大。蒋不最初有些不以为然。“不就是学生不爱上课嘛,这有什么的呢?”他告诉记者。
不久,这些来稿演变成一个关注中国初高中生超时学习的项目——611Study.ICU,而项目负责人正是蒋不。坐在法国巴黎的家里,蒋不在电脑前翻阅一条条来自中国学生的投稿,记述学校强制学生晚上11点放学,身边同学不堪压力自杀等,他才感到这些“活生生血淋淋的数据”对自己触动有多大。蒋不在北京出生长大,几年前到巴黎留学。如今,他辗转于多个身份之间:独立纪录片导演,海外华人社会运动组织者,也算是个异见分子。在项目进入尾声时,蒋不感叹,这是他离开中国六年来最了解中国的一段时间。
611Study.ICU是指,早上6点上学、晚上11点放学的强制作息,用来形容中国初高中生的普遍状态。611Study.ICU由海外活动人士、知名博主“李老师不是你老师”(本名:李颖)和其团队发起。这个位于海外的年轻华人团队采用“群众外包” (Crowdsouring)的方式收集数据——在X上拥有两百万粉丝的李颖号召学生,在谷歌文档填写各自学校超时上课的情况。截至发稿前,已收集了4000多所学校的数据,约占全中国高中数量的三分之一。
令人惊讶的是,项目开启大约一个月后,全国多地高中突然开始落实双休制度。在中国媒体和民众为“减负”叫好时,许多人也开始思考,这与611Study.ICU项目的推动是否有关?
关注学生超时学习项目刚结束,另一个关注中国职场超时工作的项目也无缝开启。两个项目背后的操盘手是“饱受争议”的$Li社区——这是李颖和团队在2024年年底发行的迷因币$Li而组建起的社区。一个建立在加密货币之上的海外年轻人社区,却可能直接高效地推动了中国社会的变革。冲破防火墙,试图打通海内外的华人链接,这对全球连动的社会运动实践意味着什么?
李颖自己也没想到有那么多中国的学生愿意“翻墙”向他们举报。“最后的结果也确实是完全出乎我的意料”,李颖回忆,他们最初预计只会有几百个投稿,结果很快就突破了几千个数据。这意味着,全中国有三分之一的学生,可能以“翻墙”的形式,自愿向“境外势力”举报学校强制超时上学。
在X上,李颖拥有200万粉丝,是中国在海外最有影响力的年轻博主和异见人士之一。他原本是名画家,三十多岁,在意大利艺术学院深造。疫情期间,他开始在微博上讨论中国的疫情管控,却多次遭到“封号”。后来,他决定移步X。
两年前的白纸运动,让李颖的名声迅速累积。他开始接收大量中国民众私信,例如人们对清零政策抗议的视频,他在X上转发这些在中国看来过于“敏感”而遭屏蔽的新闻 ,这让他成为中国政府的“眼中钉”和危险人物。
李颖说,他的X账户常受到攻击,他在国内的银行账户遭冻结,他在国内的父母也经常遭到骚扰,中国大使馆发函给他在意大利的公司,他也被公司辞退。但他并未因此销声。白纸运动后,从民间抗议到官员腐败,他继续做中国“敏感”新闻的集散中心,以此对抗中国政府的审查机器,这使得他的名声逐渐在海内外华人民主派中扩散开来。
埃默里大学(Emory University)研究中国公民参与的社会学家徐彬在接受RFA采访时认为,这种海内外连动的形式是全球跨国运动趋势的一部分, 特别在于让中国的民众有了一个舆论出口。
“不是因为我收到多少投稿,”李颖在接受采访时,一字一顿地说,“是中共对这件事的处理态度,让我意识到我有这么大的影响力。”
李颖梳理,611Study.ICU项目与“中国学校突然放双休”的关联:2月1日,超时学习项目正式发布后不久,李颖说,就有学生向他反馈,“上榜”的学校校方开始排查是谁在“翻墙”投稿,因害怕被暴露,也有学生请求删除填写的信息。陆续就传来上榜的学校开始放假,范围不断扩大。大约一周后,就在小红书、抖音等中国年轻人使用的社交媒体上看到,很多学校寒假宣布延迟开学。后来各地教育局发公文,要求学校恢复双休。
而更直接的关联是,3月份中旬,李颖的X账户公开了两张照片:是北海中学校长王建刚在全校开大会和其大屏幕的文字,上面写着——一些“不愿学习被洗脑”的学生,通过翻墙网站给“李老师不是你老师”喂料,称这是春节后学校高中实行的双休的外部原因。
一些网友仍然怀疑李颖的团队是否真促成了中国高中生的减负。在Reddit上,有人坚称北海中学开大会的照片是后期合成的, 另一种流行的声音质疑,“鸡把太阳叫出来了。”——全国各地教育厅早有计划为学生“减负”,超时学习项目不过是刚好赶上了时机。对此,李颖在接受采访时回应——为学生减负、“双休”的计划已有多年。而这次得以全国大面积施行,与611Study.ICU的整体脉络是相互吻合的。
蒋不是611Study.ICU的负责人,他在巴黎组织过声援国内“白纸运动”的抗议,后来也注册了一个专门关注中国社会议题的巴黎NGO组织。作为海外社群的组织者,他有时会怀疑,“我们的声音到底能不能跨越长城穿越回去?”在多大程度上,海外华人的公民运动能影响和改变中国?
蒋不的担忧,不无道理。在互联网时代,从2012年中国女权运动开始,到2022年白纸运动期间,发生在中国的公民运动通常能很快引发海外的响应,呈现出“去中心化”和“跨国运动模式”。
但研究公民运动的学者并不完全看好“去中心化”概念。“无领袖的运动在发起抗议游行的初期可能很有效,”斯坦福大学胡佛研究院高级研究员戴雅门(Larry Diamond)在接受纽约时报采访时说,“但要把一项运动从抗议、宣泄怒火进阶到能产生实质性影响的阶段,是要求领导力、组织性以及战略战术的。”
此外,这种海外社会运动的松散团体,除抗议声援外,所作的有限,通常会随着社会事件的热度而淡去,难以长久维系。
611Study.ICU的团队,其实也是以“去中心化社区”理念建立的。但蒋不认为,因为有李颖累积的名誉站台,“跟李老师接触,就会变成一个‘国家安全问题’,有各种部门去找你的学校,”反而使得问题得到了重视和解决,在互联网上仅这么短时间的围观,“真真正正地能去改变中国的一部分”,能立竿见影地看到做事的效果,这对团队成员来说是很大的激励和鼓舞。
每每团队线上开会时,蒋不形容自己听到的是一片“鸟语花香”的变声器。有时,不小心忘记静音,还会变成双重变声器合奏。“每次开会都是乱七八糟的,”蒋不坦言,“但这样反而对大家的安全好。”在采访中,蒋不多次提到安全,“保护好每个人,才能让项目走得更远,”他说。
611Study.ICU的项目,有十多个成员参与。他们遍布世界各地,也包括中国大陆,大多是年轻人,主要是从李老师的X账户和$Li社区的电报群被招募。作为项目的负责人,蒋不只知道面试者的所在时区和互联网身份,对于其真实姓名与住址等现实生活中的身份,他说自己几乎一无所知。为保证团队的安全,应试者还需要通过安全测试,如何使用电报群,是否使用两级验证的邮箱...确保成员能切割互联网和真实生活中的身份,在测试通过后才能“上岗”。
开变声器来保护自己的就包括身居香港的阿朗。阿朗在疫情期间的白纸运动中开始关注起李颖的X账号。他是一名设计专业的大专生,在611项目中负责设计图表。接受RFA采访时,他小心谨慎避开家人,家人并不知道他在为李颖工作。阿朗在香港长大,但家里有不少亲人在中国大陆生活,每次听他们讲起当地的学业压力,他总是很好奇。
即使努力保护成员安全,蒋不说,包括他自己在内的一些团队成员身份被暴露,他们在中国的父母也被相关部门面谈,称他们是“境外反华势力”。李颖也提及,在过去的一个月,611的网站也受到严重攻击,他说“每秒会投放几十个经过AI深度伪造的投稿”。
但在“外忧内患”下,反而激发了团队成员的积极性。阿朗说,有需要时,大家都来帮忙。“我们一起对这个最伟大、最专制的帝国宣过战,“蒋不认为,“这是一种很深的革命友谊。”
“很多人戏称,他们在国内上访无法解决问题, 反而是我发了以后才能解决他们的问题。”李颖告诉RFA,在民众发给他的投稿中,他看到有访民在北京信访局门前凌晨排队,为提交自己的信访材料。他觉得访民非常辛苦,于是和团队想出一个“海外信访局”的概念—— 不需排队,不受网信办的“长臂管辖,把中国民众的诉求一五一十展现出来,这就成了611study.ICU 项目的雏形。他们并非止步于此,在关注学生超时学习的项目进入尾声时,另一个关注中国职场的超时工作项目“牛马ICU”也逐渐展开。
(因为安全原因,蒋不为网名,阿朗为化名。)
责编:许书婷
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Investigators have recovered the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) from the crashed Air India flight, a key step in uncovering what caused last week's deadly accident.
The London-bound Air India aircraft, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, crashed soon after taking off on Thursday from the western Indian city of Ahmedabad. At least 270 people have been killed, most of them passengers.
The CVR captures audio from the cockpit, including pilot conversations, alarms and ambient sounds.
The flight data recorder (FDR), which logs crucial flight parameters like altitude, speed and engine performance, had been recovered from the debris on Friday.
Both the CVR and FDR collectively form what is commonly known as the "black box" of a plane. It is a vital tool in air crash investigations, helping experts reconstruct the flight's final moments and determine the cause of the incident.
The black box, unlike the name suggests, is actually two bright orange devices - one for the CVR and the other for the FDR - painted with reflective strips for easier recovery after a crash. Both these devices are designed to survive a crash.
India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is leading the inquiry into the cause of the crash, helped by teams from the US and the UK.
On Sunday, officials from the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) surveyed the site of the plane crash.
"The AAIB has launched a detailed investigation, and the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is conducting a parallel probe under international protocols, since the aircraft is American-made," a statement released on Sunday said.
Indian media outlets have reported, citing sources, that officials from Boeing and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) - the US aviation safety agency - also visited the site.
Separately, a high-level committee set up by the Indian government to examine the reasons behind the crash is expected to hold its first meeting on Monday.
The committee will submit a preliminary report within three months, the All India Radio said, and will propose new standard operating procedures (SOPs) to help prevent similar incidents in future.
As the investigation continues, families on the ground are still grappling with disbelief and trauma.
Less than a minute after taking off from Ahmedabad's Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, the AI171 flight crashed into a doctors' accommodation building at the BJ Medical College and Civil Hospital.
All but one of the 242 passengers and crew members were killed. Officials have also been trying to establish how many people were killed on the ground and continuing the slow process of matching DNA samples to confirm the victims' identities.
Over the weekend, doctors said 270 bodies had been recovered from the site of the crash.
More than 90 victims have been identified through DNA matching, Dr Rajnish Patel of Ahmedabad's Civil Hospital said on Monday. He added that 47 of the identified bodies have been sent to their families.
Among the identified victims is Vijay Rupani, the former chief minister of Gujarat, whose funeral will be held on Monday. Rupani, whose political career spanned more than 50 years, will be laid to rest with full state honours in Rajkot city.
For many other families, the agonising wait continues.
Officials told the BBC that the identification process has been slow and painstaking, as many of the bodies were badly burned in the crash and are being processed in small batches.
Mistry Jignesh, waiting outside the hospital for updates on his niece, told the BBC on Saturday that officials told him that it might take longer for them to hand over his niece's remains as the search for bodies is still ongoing. He had earlier been told that the body would be handed over by Sunday, after the 72 hours it normally takes to complete DNA matching.
"When people are still missing, how can they complete the DNA process by tomorrow? What if my niece's remains haven't even been found? The wait is killing us," he said.
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Touted as a stepping stone to getting on the property ladder, shared ownership was designed to be one answer to a tough housing market.
But behind the hope lies a growing wave of discontent, as complaints to the housing watchdog - over repairs, costs and selling - have soared.
"We had none of the rights of homeowners, and all the obligations of renters," said Diana, who together with her husband Chris, bought a shared ownership property in east London in February 2020.
Shared ownership schemes involve purchasing a share of a property and paying rent on the rest.
But the couple decided to sell in 2021 after finding it "traumatic".
They said they had to try to sell through what is known as a nomination period during which the housing association or landlord has the exclusive right to find a buyer for the shared ownership home.
Two years later and £10,000 worse off, after the property was re-evaluated at less than what they paid, they eventually sold.
"It's a big con and we felt trapped," said Diana.
"Not being able to sell was a trauma."
They have gone back to private renting because, according to Chris, it is "much simpler and easier".
Now out of it, Diana says she would not recommend the scheme because "they sell it to you as a dream but then it became a nightmare".
There are currently about 250,000 shared ownership households in England, according to figures.
In 2019-20 there were about 202,000, according to the English Housing Survey.
Although more shared ownership properties were being delivered year on year, the complaint figures, obtained via a BBC Freedom Of Information (FOI) Act request, show shared ownership complaints have risen by almost 400% in the past five years, and are continuing to rise.
The FOI also found:
The most common complaints relate to repairs, costs, managing relations, and moving and selling properties.
Kathy bought a 40% share with a friend in a two-bedroom flat in north London in 2017. She pays a subsidised rent on the remaining 60%.
"I don't have the bank of mum and dad. It was either that or put most of my salary into rent and have this feeling that I'd never be on the property ladder or have my own space," said the 44-year-old.
"I love my flat and the community. In terms of where the building is located and how close it is to London, these are all amazing things.
"But it has mega downsides, particularly regarding finances and transparency and the level of service that we receive from the housing provider."
In the past eight years, she said her costs had increased so much, including more than £200 a month rise in service charges, that she has had to get a lodger and cannot afford to increase her share.
Repairs take years to complete, she said, adding a buzzer was broken for a year and a sewage system has been faulty since 2012.
"The sewage was overflowing and flowing directly into the river, and going into the children's playground. It stank in summertime," she said.
"They sent out all these consultants and they charged everything to us. The sewage system was not fit for purpose so why are we paying?"
Kathy's housing association is not being named because her neighbours are scared it will devalue the property.
"It's not affordable anymore. I have to have a lodger live in my house just to help me pay and keep my head above water," Kathy added.
"My long-term plan is to sell - I can't continue like this."
Fatima bought a shared ownership property in 2019 after being evicted from two rental properties when her two children were younger.
As a single parent, she said there was "no way" she would have been able to get a mortgage so shared ownership was "the only option".
Now "in a bind" due to an 80% increase in service charges within the last year, Fatima, along with others in the block, complained and said they would not pay the increase until it had been investigated.
Repairs have been an issue for a long time, she said. When the BBC filmed at her flat, the communal corridors were heated to 31C (88F) and the lift was broken.
"The biggest issue is all the heating costs that go into our service charges are heating the communal hallways. The building is cooking from the inside."
She said the shared ownership model was an "in-between option which could work if there weren't so many companies involved".
There was a freeholder who had appointed a managing agent, as well as a housing association, she said.
"We don't know who to go to, everything takes so long."
Fatima added: "I have an asset but if it's unsellable and unaffordable it's not an asset.
"It's always on my mind. It causes a lot of anxiety."
Housing Ombudsman Richard Blakeway said the "inherent complexities" of shared ownership presented challenges to landlords and residents.
"Shared ownership has been around for decades, and there are still some inequities with the way in which it works that is driving complaints to us," he said.
He described a "mismatch" between the expectation and understanding of the shared owner and the landlord.
"Whilst it can start off as smiles, very quickly we can see that relationship break down."
He added the number of parties involved could be "depressing for a shared owner; that feeling of being passed from pillar to post and being fobbed off at different parts of the process".
"I can also see from a landlord's perspective they don't necessarily always have all of the levers in their hands to resolve the issue," he said.
"Put all of that together and you've got a perfect storm - and that's what lands on our desks."
He added that landlords must improve communication and transparency, and the government should address "fundamental inequities in the way in which shared ownership is designed".
The Shared Ownership Council, a cross-sector initiative, said while it believed shared ownership had a "key role to play" in addressing housing needs, it recognised it "has not always worked as well as it should for everyone" and "key challenges" need to be addressed.
"We take the concerns raised by the Housing Ombudsman and shared owners very seriously," it added.
It has recently developed a code to "standardise best practices and consumer protection" ensuring, it says, "transparency, fairness, and improved support for shared owners in marketing, purchasing and management of homes".
But Timea Szabo from the campaign group Shared Owners network says it is "too little, too late".
"This is a sector that has consistently failed to comply with their statutory obligations - some of the housing providers who back the code have multiple maladministration findings to their name," she said.
"We do not think that a voluntary code of practice will have much of an impact on their day-to-day experience."
Figures shared exclusively with the BBC show 83 of 140 (59%) of Shared Owners members surveyed in February 2025 have struggled to sell their share, for reasons including unresolved building safety issues, high service charges, and a short lease that the shared owner cannot legally extend.
A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesperson said it was "aware of the challenges faced by some who have entered the scheme".
The spokesperson added the government was "considering what more can be done to improve the experience of shared owners, alongside consulting this year on implementing measures to drive up transparency of service charges, ensuring leaseholders and tenants can better hold their landlords to account".
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A project to build the UK's largest road tunnel has been granted £590m by the government.
Constructing the Lower Thames Crossing, linking Tilbury in Essex and Gravesend in Kent, will cost an estimated £10bn.
Plans for the 14.5-mile (23km) route were approved in March after a 16-year process that has already cost £1.2bn.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves said the crossing would aid "smoother, less congested passage of vital goods from Europe to our regions".
It came as part of a £1bn package to improve transport infrastructure across England, announced on Monday.
The government said it was looking to source private finance to build the Lower Thames Crossing, branding it a "national priority".
National Highways hoped the road would reduce traffic at the Dartford Crossing by 20%.
Construction was expected to begin in 2026 ahead of an expected opening by 2032.
"This is a turning point for our national infrastructure, and we're backing it with funding to support thousands of jobs and connect communities," Reeves said.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander added: "This project is essential for improving the resilience of a key freight route and is critical to our long term trade with Europe."
The road will link the A2 and M2 in Kent with the A13 and M25 in Thurrock.
About 2.6 miles (4.2km) of the route is to be underground, with northbound and southbound tunnels running next to each other beneath the Thames.
The funding announcement was welcomed by Logistics UK, which represents the transport and logistics sector.
"Efficient logistics with minimal delays is critical to the delivery of the government's growth agenda, and our members are delighted to hear that funding has been made available to start work on the long-planned Lower Thames Crossing, after a decade of holdups at this vital interchange," said policy director Kevin Green.
"It is imperative that the government also sets out a plan for providing and securing the full funding required to complete the project – our members deserve to be able to deliver efficiently for the industry they support, so that the economy can benefit."
However, campaigners have raised concerns about ancient woodland being impacted by the works.
Chris Todd, director of Transport Action Network, previously said the decision was "absolute madness".
He added: "The only way that the government can afford this white elephant would be to take money from all the other nations and regions in the UK."
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US President Donald Trump has ordered an expansion of the detention and deportation of migrants across the country as protests against his policies continue.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump called on federal agencies to "do all in their power" to deliver "the single largest mass deportation programme in history", naming Los Angeles, Chicago and New York as specific targets.
These cities are among the many where large-scale protests have broken out against raids on undocumented migrants since 6 June.
Trump has faced legal challenges and criticism for his response to the protests - particularly his deployment of the military to quell the demonstrations.
Trump said he had directed the "entire administration to put every resource possible behind this effort".
He also promised to prevent "anyone who undermines the domestic tranquility of the United States" from entering the country.
Addressing various federal offices including the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice), he wrote "you have my unwavering support. Now go, get the job done!"
The post came a day after a new wave of protests against Trump's policies across the country.
On 14 June, the "No Kings" movement demonstrated in cities stretching from Los Angeles to New York. Those demonstrations also coincided with a military parade in Washington DC to mark 250 years of the US army, which was held on the president's 79th birthday.
One person died in a shooting at a No Kings march in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Trump also ordered immigration authorities to focus their efforts on sanctuary cities - those that limit their assistance to federal immigration authorities - which during the protests have become a source of tension between federal and state lawmakers.
Officials in these places have defended their legal rights to protect undocumented migrants.
The command to expand deportations signals a follow-through on Trump's campaign promise to provide the "largest deportation programme of criminals in the history of America".
Opinion polls suggested this policy had widespread support in the build-up to the 2024 US election. Since the deportation programme has grown, however, protests have only increased.
This new order came just a day after the Trump administration directed immigration officials to largely pause raids on farms, hotels, restaurants and meatpacking plants, according to the Reuters news agency.
US President Donald Trump may have called tariffs his favourite word in the dictionary. But when it comes to obsessions, business investment has got to be close.
As of last month, he said more than $12 trillion (£8.8tn) had been "practically committed" on his watch. "Nobody's ever seen numbers like we have," he said, crediting his agenda of tariffs, tax cuts and deregulation with making the difference.
If true, the figure would indeed be astonishing, potentially tripling the roughly $4tn in gross private investment the US reported all of last year.
So is a sudden gush of business spending setting the stage for a new golden economic era as Trump claims, or is it all theatre?
First things first: it is too early in Trump's tenure to have clear data to evaluate his claims. The US government publishes statistics on business investment only every three months.
January to March, which reflect two months of Trump's tenure, show a strong jump in business investment, albeit one that analysts said was partly due to data skewed by an earlier Boeing strike.
Other anecdotal and survey evidence indicates that Trump's impact on investment is far more incremental than he has claimed.
"We have hardly any data at this point and almost all the information we have is probably for investment projects that were planned and ordered last year," says economist Nick Bloom, a professor at Stanford University whose work looks at the impact of uncertainty on business investment.
"My guess is business investment is down a little bit, not massively... primarily because uncertainty is quite high and that will pause it."
Swiss pharmaceutical firm Roche, which announced plans to invest $50bn in the US over five years in April, is a good example.
Some of the projects included in the sum were already in the works.
Executives have also warned that some of Trump's ideas - in particular a proposal to overhaul drug pricing - could imperil its plans.
"The pharma industry would need to review their expenses including investments," the company said.
Trump typically makes his case pointing to investment promises made by high-profile firms such as Apple and Hyundai.
The White House keeps a running tally of those announcements, but at the start of June, it put total new investments at roughly $5.3tn - less than half the sum cited by Trump.
Even that figure is inflated.
Roughly a third of the 62 investments on the list include plans that were at least partially in the works before Trump took office. For example:
In reality, as of mid-May, new investment stemming from the announcements likely totalled something closer to $134bn, according to analysis by Goldman Sachs.
That sum shrank to as little as $30bn, not including investments backed by foreign governments, once researchers factored in the risk that some projects might fail to materialise, or would have happened anyway.
"Though not negligible economically, such increases would fall well short of the recent headlines," they wrote.
When pressed on the numbers, White House spokesman Kush Desai brushed off concerns that the administration's claims did not match reality.
"The Trump administration is using a multifaceted approach to drive investment into the United States... and no amount of pointless nitpicking and hairsplitting can refute that it's paying off," he said in a statement, which noted that many firms had explicitly credited Trump and his policies for shaping their plans.
The BBC approached more than two dozen firms with investments on the White House list.
Many did not respond or referred to previous statements.
Others acknowledged that work on some of their projects pre-dated the current administration.
Exaggeration by politicians and companies is hardly unexpected.
But the Trump administration's willingness to radically intervene in the economy, with tariffs and other changes, has given companies reason to pump up their plans in ways that flatter the president, says Martin Chorzempa, senior fellow at the Petersen Institute of International Economics.
"A firm making an announcement is a way to get some current benefits, without necessarily being held to those [spending pledges] if the situation changes," he says. "There's a strong incentive for companies to provide as large a number as possible."
That's not to say that Trump policies aren't making a difference.
The tariff threats have "definitely been a catalyst" for pharmaceutical firms to plan more manufacturing in the US, a key source of sector profits, says Stephen Farrelly, global lead for pharma and healthcare at ING.
But, he adds, there are limits to what the threats can accomplish.
The pharma investments are set to unfold over time - a decade in some cases - in a sector that was poised for growth anyway.
And they have come from firms selling branded drugs - not the cheaper, generic medicines that many Americans rely on and that are made in China and India.
Mr Farrelly also warned that the sector's investments may be at risk over the long term, given uncertainty about the government's approach to tariffs, drug pricing and scientific research.
Overall, many analysts expect investment growth to slow in the US this year due to policy uncertainty.
Economist German Gutierrez of the University of Washington says Trump is right to want to boost investment in the US, but believes his emphasis on global competition misdiagnoses the problem.
His own work has found the decline in investment is due in part to industry consolidation. Now a few large firms dominate sectors, there is less incentive to invest to compete.
In addition, the kinds of investments firms are making are typically cheaper items such as software rather than machines and factories.
Tariffs, Prof Gutierrez says, are unlikely to address those issues.
"The way it's being done and the type of instruments they are using are not the best ways to achieve this goal. It just takes a lot more to really get this going," he says.
A 57-year-old man has been arrested in the US state of Minnesota on suspicion of killing a Democratic state lawmaker and her husband.
The arrest on Sunday night was the culmination of a huge two-day manhunt following the deaths of Melissa Hortman, a Minnesota Democrat, and her husband Mark. State Governor Tim Walz called it a "politically motivated assassination".
Police said Vance Luther Boelter was armed at the time of his arrest in a rural area west of Minneapolis, but gave himself up peacefully when challenged.
The suspect is also alleged to have shot and wounded Democratic State Senator John Hoffman, and his wife Yvette, who are both now awake in hospital.
Mrs Hoffman said on Sunday that both felt "incredibly lucky to be alive".
Boelter was detained after investigators found a car he allegedly used in Sibley County, about 50 miles (80km) from the murder scene in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota.
Air and SWAT teams were deployed to arrest the suspect in what was described as the largest manhunt in Minnesota's history.
No police officers were injured during his apprehension, and officials said they were not looking for any other suspects.
Speaking at a press conference with other local officials on Sunday night, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said the attack was an "unspeakable act" that had "altered the state of Minnesota".
"This cannot be the norm. It cannot be the way that we deal with our political differences," Walz said.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey praised the "skill and bravery" of law enforcement agencies following Boelter's arrest.
"Political violence is abhorrent, it cuts against the most basic moral fabric of our democracy. It's critical that those who commit these acts be held accountable under the law," he added.
Boelter is accused of impersonating a police officer to carry out the attacks on Saturday, before exchanging fire with police officers and fleeing from the area of suburban Minneapolis.
Melissa Hortman had served in the Minnesota House of Representatives for 20 years, and was speaker of the chamber from 2019 to 2025.
Boelter, a former political appointee, was once a member of the same state workforce development board as Hoffman.
He is a security contractor and religious missionary who has worked in Africa and the Middle East, according to his online CV.
Boelter once preached as a pastor at a church in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to Facebook photos.
Investigators reportedly found a list of "targets" in the vehicle that the suspect is thought to have driven for the alleged shootings.
Drew Evans, superintendent of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, told reporters that he would not describe the notebook found in the car as a "manifesto" as it was not "a treatise on all kinds of ideology and writings".
Local media have reported that the names included Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, congresswoman Ilhan Omar, and state Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison.
At the press conference following Boelter's arrest, Evans did not specify who was featured on the list, but said that state officials had contacted authorities in Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Nebraska and Iowa so that they could "notify individuals that were on that list".
Investigators have recovered the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) from the crashed Air India flight, a key step in uncovering what caused last week's deadly accident.
The London-bound Air India aircraft, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, crashed soon after taking off on Thursday from the western Indian city of Ahmedabad. At least 270 people have been killed, most of them passengers.
The CVR captures audio from the cockpit, including pilot conversations, alarms and ambient sounds.
The flight data recorder (FDR), which logs crucial flight parameters like altitude, speed and engine performance, had been recovered from the debris on Friday.
Both the CVR and FDR collectively form what is commonly known as the "black box" of a plane. It is a vital tool in air crash investigations, helping experts reconstruct the flight's final moments and determine the cause of the incident.
The black box, unlike the name suggests, is actually two bright orange devices - one for the CVR and the other for the FDR - painted with reflective strips for easier recovery after a crash. Both these devices are designed to survive a crash.
India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is leading the inquiry into the cause of the crash, helped by teams from the US and the UK.
On Sunday, officials from the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) surveyed the site of the plane crash.
"The AAIB has launched a detailed investigation, and the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is conducting a parallel probe under international protocols, since the aircraft is American-made," a statement released on Sunday said.
Indian media outlets have reported, citing sources, that officials from Boeing and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) - the US aviation safety agency - also visited the site.
Separately, a high-level committee set up by the Indian government to examine the reasons behind the crash is expected to hold its first meeting on Monday.
The committee will submit a preliminary report within three months, the All India Radio said, and will propose new standard operating procedures (SOPs) to help prevent similar incidents in future.
As the investigation continues, families on the ground are still grappling with disbelief and trauma.
Less than a minute after taking off from Ahmedabad's Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, the AI171 flight crashed into a doctors' accommodation building at the BJ Medical College and Civil Hospital.
All but one of the 242 passengers and crew members were killed. Officials have also been trying to establish how many people were killed on the ground and continuing the slow process of matching DNA samples to confirm the victims' identities.
Over the weekend, doctors said 270 bodies had been recovered from the site of the crash.
More than 90 victims have been identified through DNA matching, Dr Rajnish Patel of Ahmedabad's Civil Hospital said on Monday. He added that 47 of the identified bodies have been sent to their families.
Among the identified victims is Vijay Rupani, the former chief minister of Gujarat, whose funeral will be held on Monday. Rupani, whose political career spanned more than 50 years, will be laid to rest with full state honours in Rajkot city.
For many other families, the agonising wait continues.
Officials told the BBC that the identification process has been slow and painstaking, as many of the bodies were badly burned in the crash and are being processed in small batches.
Mistry Jignesh, waiting outside the hospital for updates on his niece, told the BBC on Saturday that officials told him that it might take longer for them to hand over his niece's remains as the search for bodies is still ongoing. He had earlier been told that the body would be handed over by Sunday, after the 72 hours it normally takes to complete DNA matching.
"When people are still missing, how can they complete the DNA process by tomorrow? What if my niece's remains haven't even been found? The wait is killing us," he said.
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A 57-year-old Australian police officer has been shot dead on a rural property in Tasmania while serving a warrant to repossess a home, say police.
The officer had arrived at a house in North Motton, near the town of Ulverstone, on Monday morning when he was fired at by "a member of the public", Tasmania Police said in a statement.
A second police officer returned fire, injuring the suspect's hand. The suspect surrendered and later received treatment in hospital, police said.
Deadly shootings remain rare in Australia, which has strict gun laws.
Following Monday's shooting a crime scene was established in North Motton and the coroner was notified, a police spokesperson said, adding that "there is no ongoing threat to the public".
"The safety of our officers is our number one priority, and to see an officer tragically killed in those circumstances is truly shocking," Police Commissioner Donna Adams told reporters later on Monday.
"We know that policing can be risky, but we expect every officer to finish their shift and come home back to their families."
The police are not naming the officer out of respect for his family, as some family members have yet to be informed of his death, Ms Adams said.
She described him as a "genuine, dependable police officer" who served the community for 25 years.
He had been accompanied by a "senior and experienced sergeant" on Monday morning to "serve a court-approved warrant to repossess a home", Ms Adams said.
She added that the officer had been shot while making his way from his car to the front of the house. She also praised his colleague, who managed to call for assistance while "in a situation of danger and peril".
Investigations of the incident are underway, Ms Adams said.
Police also said that well-being support was being provided to those involved and affected.
In a statement, Tasmanian premier Jeremy Rockliff called the incident a "heartbreaking tragedy".
To everyone who had the honour of knowing this officer, especially his family and his colleagues... the love of an entire state is with you today."
Shootings are relatively rare in Australia, which introduced some of the world's strictest firearm regulations after 35 people were killed in a massacre by a lone gunman at Port Arthur, Tasmania, in 1996.
Additional reporting by Koh Ewe.
Leonard Lauder, the businessman who built Estee Lauder into one of the world's biggest cosmetic makers, has died aged 92.
Lauder took over his parents company in 1958 and served as chief executive for 17 years. He was an accomplished dealmaker and bought brands including Clinique, Bobbi Brown and MAC.
"He was an icon and pioneer, earning respect worldwide. His energy and vision helped shape our company and will continue to do so for generations to come", said Stephane de La Faverie, chief executive of the Estee Lauder.
The New York-born billionare had an estimated wealth of $10.1bn (£7.5bn), according to the 2025 Forbes rich list.
Lauder passed away on Saturday surrounded by his family, said Estee Lauder in a statement.
Born in 1933, he was the eldest son of Estee and Joseph Lauder. He served as a lieutenant in the US Navy before joining the family business aged 25.
At the time, the firm's annual sales were less than $1m - about $11m in today's money. It is now a global cosmetics giant, operating in 150 countries with sales of $15.6bn last year.
Lauder led the firm's expansion into Europe and Asia and created its first ever research and development laboratory.
He took the company public in 1995, with its share price rising 33% on the first day of trading in New York.
Lauder stepped down as chief executive in 1999. He remained involved with the business and was chairman emeritus until his death.
Celebrities and business people have been paying tribute to Lauder.
Elizabeth Hurley, who got her first modelling job with his company, said on Instagram: "I called him my American Daddy and I can't imagine a world without him."
Steve Forbes, editor-in-chief at Forbes Media, said Lauder "lived life well, & his passing is the world's loss'."
"His legacy will be felt for generations to come," said multi-billionaire and former New York mayor, Mike Bloomberg.
Away from business, Lauder was passionate about art. In 2013, he pledged his billion-dollar collection of Cubist artworks to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
He was also an advocate for cancer research and served as the honorary chairman of the board of directors at the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.
After days of uncertainty and negotiations, the funeral arrangements for Zambia's former president have been finalised.
Edgar Lungu, who led Zambia from 2015 to 2021, died 11 days ago in South Africa where he was receiving treatment for an undisclosed illness.
According to his family, he had left instructions that his political rival and current President Hakainde Hichilema "should not come anywhere near his body".
But a spokesperson for the Lungu family confirmed that an agreement had been reached with the government that allowed for Hichilema to preside over a state funeral next Sunday.
The row caused consternation among some in Zambia with people left wondering how they should mourn their former leader.
After days of talks, the Lungu family and the government have agreed that:
The former president will be buried next Monday but it is not yet clear whether he will be interred at the official presidential burial grounds or at his residence.
At a joint press briefing in South Africa, Lungu family spokesperson Makebi Zulu, sitting alongside Secretary to Zambia's Cabinet Patrick Kangwa, said the family apologised "for the inconvenience and pain that the protracted negotiations may have caused but we were doing our best to honour the former president's personal wishes".
Mr Zulu also said that the family was proceeding on the basis that the government would "not deviate from our agreement".
Speaking for the government, Mr Kangwa appealed for unity and thanked Zambians for their patience "during this difficult time".
After six years as head state, Lungu lost the 2021 election to Hichilema by a large margin.
After that defeat he stepped back from politics but later returned to the fray.
He had ambitions to vie for the presidency again but at the end of last year the Constitutional Court barred him from running, ruling that he had already served the maximum two terms allowed by law.
Despite his disqualification from the presidential election, he remained hugely influential in Zambian politics and did not hold back in his criticism of his successor.
Last year, Lungu complained of police harassment and accused the authorities of effectively putting him under house arrest. He also said he had been prevented from leaving the country. The government denied both accusations.
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US President Donald Trump has ordered an expansion of the detention and deportation of migrants across the country as protests against his policies continue.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump called on federal agencies to "do all in their power" to deliver "the single largest mass deportation programme in history", naming Los Angeles, Chicago and New York as specific targets.
These cities are among the many where large-scale protests have broken out against raids on undocumented migrants since 6 June.
Trump has faced legal challenges and criticism for his response to the protests - particularly his deployment of the military to quell the demonstrations.
Trump said he had directed the "entire administration to put every resource possible behind this effort".
He also promised to prevent "anyone who undermines the domestic tranquility of the United States" from entering the country.
Addressing various federal offices including the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice), he wrote "you have my unwavering support. Now go, get the job done!"
The post came a day after a new wave of protests against Trump's policies across the country.
On 14 June, the "No Kings" movement demonstrated in cities stretching from Los Angeles to New York. Those demonstrations also coincided with a military parade in Washington DC to mark 250 years of the US army, which was held on the president's 79th birthday.
One person died in a shooting at a No Kings march in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Trump also ordered immigration authorities to focus their efforts on sanctuary cities - those that limit their assistance to federal immigration authorities - which during the protests have become a source of tension between federal and state lawmakers.
Officials in these places have defended their legal rights to protect undocumented migrants.
The command to expand deportations signals a follow-through on Trump's campaign promise to provide the "largest deportation programme of criminals in the history of America".
Opinion polls suggested this policy had widespread support in the build-up to the 2024 US election. Since the deportation programme has grown, however, protests have only increased.
This new order came just a day after the Trump administration directed immigration officials to largely pause raids on farms, hotels, restaurants and meatpacking plants, according to the Reuters news agency.
On Saturday, two state lawmakers from Minnesota were gunned down in their homes in what Governor Tim Walz called a "politically motivated assassination" attempt. The attacks left one politician dead and the other seriously injured.
The suspect, Vance Luther Boelter, has been taken into custody after he was found hiding in the woods near the village of Green Isle in Sibley County, police said on Sunday night.
Police called the two-day search for Boelter the "largest manhunt in the state's history", with multiple law enforcement agencies working together to find him.
The attacks drew condemnation from across the political spectrum. President Donald Trump said in a statement that "such horrific violence will not be tolerated".
US Senator Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat, called it "an attack on everything we stand for as a democracy".
State representative Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, were shot and killed in their home, the governor said.
She had served in the Minnesota House of Representatives for 20 years, and was speaker of the chamber from 2019-25.
State Senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, were shot multiple times and injured, but survived. They had surgery.
Both lawmakers are Democrats.
Law enforcement has confirmed the attacks occurred in the early hours of Saturday in the cities of Brooklyn Park and Champlin, Minnesota.
Drew Evans, superintendent of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, said police received a call at 02:00 local time about an incident at Hoffman's house in Champlin.
Another call to police came in at 03:35, when officers were checking on Hortman's home, nearby in Brooklyn Park.
Police discovered what looked like an emergency vehicle parked at the home with emergency lights flashing.
Coming out of the home was someone resembling a police officer, who immediately opened fire on officers, darted back into the house, then escaped on foot.
Mark Bruley, chief of Brooklyn Park police, said the suspect was "wearing a vest with a Taser, other equipment, a badge" posing as law enforcement in order "to manipulate their way into the home".
Police identified the suspect as 57-year-old Vance Luther Boelter. They did not give details on a possible motive.
A former political appointee, Boelter was once a member of the same state workforce development board as Hoffman.
"We don't know the nature of the relationship or if they actually knew each other," said Evans.
Investigators reportedly found a list of 70 "targets", including the names of state Democratic politicians, in a vehicle the suspect drove for the assassination.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, congresswoman Ilhan Omar, Minnesota's two US senators, Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith, and state Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison were on the hit list, according to local media.
Locations for Planned Parenthood, which provides abortions and contraception, were also on the list, a person familiar with the investigation told the Minnesota Star Tribune.
Evans told reporters he would not describe the notebook found in the car as a "manifesto" as it was not "a treatise on all kinds of ideology and writings".
Boelter is a security contractor and religious missionary who has worked in Africa and the Middle East, according to an online CV.
Boelter once preached as a pastor at a church in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to Facebook photos. He had travelled often to the nation, indicate posts from his LinkedIn account.
An online video from two years ago seemed to show him addressing a congregation, adding that he has a wife and five children.
He had also worked back in Minnesota for a major food distributor, a convenience store chain and for two funeral services businesses, according to his online profile.
According to local TV affiliate KTTC, Boelter's only criminal history in Minnesota was for traffic tickets, including speeding and parking violations.
He texted a troubling message to friends at a Minneapolis residence, where he had rented a room and would stay one or two nights a week, the Minnesota Star Tribune reports.
Boelter said: "I'm going to be gone for a while. May be dead shortly, so I just want to let you know I love you guys both and I wish it hadn't gone this way."
On Sunday night, police said they found Boelter after receiving information that he was seen in the area of Green Isle, a village not far from his home.
He was arrested in a rural area with mostly farmland, fields and small woods, and taken into custody "without any use of force" or injury to police.
Police said Boelter was armed when he was arrested, but did not provide further information on the type of weapons present.
Evans said Boelter's arrest brought "a sense of relief" to communities and lawmakers who were on the suspect's list of targets.
He also said law enforcement believed the suspect acted alone and was not part of a broader network.
Authorities also condemned Boelter's impersonation of a police officer while carrying out the attacks, saying "he exploited the trust our uniforms are meant to represent".
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz also followed with a plea for civility, urging people to "shake hands" and "find common ground".
"One man's unthinkable actions have altered the state of Minnesota," he said.
"This cannot be the norm. It cannot be the way that we deal with our political differences."
Prior to Boelter's arrest, his wife was detained in a traffic stop along with three relatives in a car in the city of Onamia, more than 100 miles from the family home, on Saturday morning, but released after questioning.