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We have a curated list of the most noteworthy news from all across the globe. With any subscription plan, you get access to exclusive articles that let you stay ahead of the curve.
We have a curated list of the most noteworthy news from all across the globe. With any subscription plan, you get access to exclusive articles that let you stay ahead of the curve.
We have a curated list of the most noteworthy news from all across the globe. With any subscription plan, you get access to exclusive articles that let you stay ahead of the curve.
In a troubling series of events in Austin, Texas, four individuals have sustained injuries following a night marked by 10 separate shootings. Authorities have apprehended two suspects, while a third remains elusive, raising concerns across the city.
These incidents unfolded primarily in the southern parts of Austin, beginning late Saturday night and stretching into the early hours of Sunday. Mayor Kirk Watson and Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis have confirmed the alarming number of shootings, with the police chief stating there were 10 in total.
The violent spree left four people wounded, one of whom is reported to be seriously injured. The randomness of these attacks has baffled investigators, as they continue to search for a motive behind the shootings.
The suspects were reportedly seen navigating the city in a variety of vehicles, including a black or blue Hyundai, a gold Hyundai, a silver Mazda, and a white Kia Optima. This suggests the suspects may have been switching cars during their activities to evade capture.
Authorities have identified the suspects as Hispanic males in their late teens. As of Sunday afternoon, police updates confirmed the capture of two suspects, while efforts to locate the third suspect are ongoing in the Manor area. The community remains on high alert as the investigation progresses.
Officials initially advised south Austin residents to shelter in place. In a post on social media on Sunday afternoon, police said the shelter-in-place order was lifted.
City officials advised citizens to remain vigilant and call 911 if they notice anything suspicious. Authorities also reminded the public not to leave their cars unlocked and not to leave keys in their vehicles.
This is a developing story. Eyewitness News is continuing to gather facts.
In a dramatic act of bravery, experienced NBC News reporter Tom Costello put his own safety on the line to save a young driver trapped in a burning wreck on a Maryland highway. He managed to pull the teenager to safety just moments before the vehicle erupted in flames.
Costello, a seasoned correspondent for NBC News, was on his way home via the Capital Beltway last Tuesday when he witnessed a harrowing accident. A car sped past him and violently collided with a concrete barrier.
Describing the scene the next day on NBC News, Costello recounted the terrifying sight as the car flipped over completely and burst into flames, scattering debris across the road while a fire began to engulf the wreck.
Without hesitation, Costello dialed 911, alerting emergency services to the dire situation by stating, “somebody in here is in bad shape.”
As he approached the smoldering vehicle, Costello feared the worst, expecting to find a lifeless body behind the wheel, he shared with a sense of grim reality.
Instead, he found the shellshocked 17-year-old driver sitting there, alive and somehow still conscious.
“I thought, ‘nobody could survive this’. And it was a teenager. He was stunned. He wasn’t speaking. He had a gaze in his eyes, he was looking out the front windshield,” Costello recounted.
The teen responded to Costello’s attempts to grab his attention, but could only croak that “everything hurts.”
Meanwhile, the fire was rapidly growing, but Costello didn’t want to risk further injuring the boy by moving him.
Costello started frantically waving down passersby and miraculously flagged an orthopedic surgeon and a nurse.
The surgeon secured the boy by his neck and head while Costello handled his torso and the nurse grasped his legs. They hoisted him out of the smoldering wreckage moments before the car exploded.
Pete Piringer, the chief spokesperson for Montgomery County Fire & Rescue Service, confirmed that the teen survived the harrowing ordeal.
And within the next 12 hours, Costello was back on the air, as if nothing had ever happened.
“I think the lesson here is watch your kids. I mean, this was a 17-year-old, probably hadn’t been driving long, 100 miles per hour, he should be dead. I can’t believe he’s alive, to be honest with you,” Costello advised.
A congressional candidate from Michigan recently addressed critics head-on after accusations surfaced that she was “twerking for votes” online.
Shelby Campbell, who is vying for a seat in the state’s 13th district as a Democrat, has captured the public’s attention with her innovative online campaign tactics.
The 32-year-old single mother is campaigning on issues like women’s rights, children’s welfare, public education, and support for working families. She has shared a series of TikTok videos showing her twerking alongside posts detailing her campaign priorities.
Although many of these videos have been removed from her TikTok account, one prominent post remains. In it, Campbell dances on her kitchen counter, confidently labeling herself as a “classy b****.”
Her social media presence offers voters an unfiltered and authentic glimpse into her life and campaign.
In one post, she proudly proclaimed, ‘I am a c***.’ In another, she filmed herself smiling to a song with lyrics such as ‘I’ve got a big fat p****.’
Along with dozens of right-wing critics in her comment section, the Libs of TikTok X page made a heated post poking fun at her apparent ‘campaign strategy.’
‘Michigan House Democrat candidate Shelby Campbell’s campaign strategy?,’ read the post. ‘Twerking for votes.’
Shelby Campbell, 32, is running for US Congress in Michigan’s 13th Congressional District
Campbell (right) posted a cheeky response to her critics, hitting back after they claimed she was ‘twerking for votes’
Dissenters chimed in in the comment section to issue their own jabs at Campbell, who appeared to be unbothered by the backlash.
‘Can you say lunatic?’ one commenter wrote. ‘She don’t come close to having the proper demeanor for a public servant.’
‘This is an attention seeker, not a serious candidate,’ another added. ‘Polymarket gives her a five percent chance.’
‘Oh, I’m pretty sure it will do more than just “twerk” for votes…,’ a third commented.
Despite scraping her profile of many of the dancing videos, Campbell issued a cheeky response to right-wing critics.
‘Campaign strategy,’ she wrote on her social media. ‘It’s all I will be doing till November. Thank you.’
Campbell accompanied her response with pictures of herself twerking upside down while leaning on a wall, seemingly in her campaign office.
In the background, she added the song Dance (A$$) Remix by Big Sean.
‘Thanks for sharing my twerking video, Libs of TikTok,’ she added. ‘I LOVEEEE the publicity y’all are giving me.’
One supporter commented back, ‘Seen enough. You have my vote.’
Campbell has posted several videos of her provocative dancing on social media, some of which have been deleted from her page
In a previous post in March, Campbell announced that she had hired a campaign manager who asked she stop this particular method of campaigning.
‘Alright, guys, campaign manager said no more a** shaking,’ she wrote.
Campbell is running to replace Democrat Shri Thanedar, who represents Detroit and its surrounding suburbs. Campbell announced her campaign in October 2025.
In a crowded primary, she is running against Democrats Donavan McKinney, Anthony Carbonaro and John Goci on August 4.
According to her campaign website, Campbell is a single mom to two young sons and a first-generation college graduate.
She proudly admitted to being arrested at least four times and working as a bartender, auto worker and nursing assistant.
‘I’m not a regular politician,’ she wrote. ‘I’m an honest politician.’
Campbell posted on social media, telling her haters that she planned on continuing to ‘twerk for votes’
In a statement to the Daily Mail about the backlash she has received online, Campbell said the criticism was ‘about misogyny and the way women are treated when they are confident, outspoken, sexual, working-class, or politically ambitious.’
‘Men in politics have had affairs, committed violence, degraded women, and still been treated as serious candidates,’ she said. ‘But when a woman dances in her own apartment, people act like she is unfit to lead.
‘I am not ashamed of being a woman with a body, a voice, or a personality. I am running because working-class women, mothers, survivors, tipped workers, dancers, servers, bartenders, and women who have been talked over for generations deserve representation.’
On May 16, Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, known as ISIS’s elusive commander in West Africa, was killed. An expert on extremism described the intelligence used to locate him as one of the most challenging to uncover, given that he had been protected for years by intricate local networks.
This operation marked a significant setback for ISIS’s global reach, especially impacting their activities in northeastern Nigeria. Despite this victory, the group’s main leader, Abu Hafs al-Hashimi al-Qurashi, continues to evade capture, as Africa increasingly becomes the heart of ISIS operations.
Dr. Omar Mohammed, a Senior Research Fellow at the GW Program on Extremism, explained to Fox News Digital, “There isn’t a single ISIS ‘headquarters’ in Nigeria. Instead, ISWAP (Islamic State West Africa Province) maintains numerous small, mobile camps spread across the Lake Chad islands and the Borno region.”
He further noted that “Al-Minuki avoided using smartphones, depending on couriers for communication and frequently moving between these small camps to stay under the radar.”
The targeted killing of Abu-Bilal al-Minuki on May 16 was a pivotal moment in the fight against ISIS in West Africa. (Pictures from History/Universal Images Group)
President Donald Trump’s explicit reference to “sources who kept us informed” points directly to human intelligence, or HUMINT — the hardest form of intelligence for a target to detect or counter, Mohammed explained.
The precision strike successfully penetrated defenses that had been held for years.
“He would have utilized deep local networks the Nigerian military has struggled to penetrate for over a decade,” Mohammed added.
“His operational security would have been severe,” Mohammed said. “But two things eventually undo even careful targets: time generates patterns, and human sources are extremely difficult to defeat.”
“Despite severe operational security, al-Minuki was ultimately compromised through persistent human intelligence,” he noted. “Al-Minuki knew he was marked.”
ISIS caliph Abu Hafs al-Hashimi al-Qurashi is believed to have fled to Somalia’s semi-autonomous Puntland region.(Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)
The Nigerian army described the strike as “a meticulously planned and highly complex precision air-land operation” carried out Saturday between midnight and 4 a.m. in Metele, located in Borno State in northeast Nigeria.
U.S. Africa Command, or AFRICOM, placed the strike in northeastern Nigeria, with Nigerian army communications pointing specifically to the Metele region.
Despite the tactical success, the current ISIS “caliph,” or overall leader, remains on the run, according to reports.
Al-Qurashi was “named following his predecessor’s death in Syria,” Mohammed claimed.
“He is deliberately faceless, with analysts describing this line of leaders as the ‘caliphs of the shadows,’” Mohammed said, noting al-Qurashi assumed leadership after Turkish authorities killed his predecessor in 2023.
While al-Qurashi’s exact location is unknown, reports indicate he traveled from Syria or Iraq through Yemen to Somalia’s semi-autonomous Puntland region.
“This is where the financial hub also sits, meaning the entire center of gravity of the organization — leadership, finance, operational direction — has been quietly relocating to Africa for years,” Mohammed said.
“Africa has transitioned from a peripheral theater to the operational and financial center of global ISIS activity,” Dr. Omar Mohammed, Senior Research Fellow at the GW Program on Extremism, explained to Fox News Digital.(Jaron Willis/AFRICOM)
Data from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project confirms this regional shift, showing more than two-thirds of all Islamic State global activity now takes place in Africa.
“Africa has transitioned from a peripheral theater to the operational and financial center of global ISIS activity,” Mohammed explained. “Africa is no longer a peripheral theater. It is the main one. Funding is overwhelmingly local and extractive — taxation, ransom, smuggling — which is precisely why these networks are so resilient.”
“Al-Minuki, for example, rose through ISWAP and operated across the Lake Chad Basin and into the wider Sahel,” he noted.
“Still, staking out al-Minuki is the most significant blow to ISIS’ global leadership architecture since the al-Baghdadi raid in 2019, executed in the theater that has quietly become the group’s beating heart,” Mohammed said before adding the strike was “not a one-off kinetic moment.”
Emma Bussey is a breaking news writer for Fox News Digital. Before joining Fox, she worked at The Telegraph with the U.S. overnight team, across desks including foreign, politics, news, sport and culture.
A spate of shootings over the weekend in Austin, Texas, left four people injured, as reported by local authorities.
Law enforcement officers in Austin have apprehended two individuals and are actively searching for a third suspect in connection with a string of seemingly indiscriminate shootings throughout the city.
According to Austin Police Department Chief Lisa Davis, the suspects are believed to be involved in up to 10 shooting incidents. Among the victims, one suffered serious injuries, while the other three sustained only minor wounds.
The shootings included at least two incidents targeting Austin fire stations and predominantly occurred in the South Austin area. Officials have stated that the attacks appear to lack a specific motive and are considered random acts of violence.
“The investigation remains active, and we urge the community to stay vigilant,” the police department emphasized in a press release issued on Sunday.
BRIEFING: City of Austin Mayor Kirk Watson and Chief Lisa Davis provide details on shooting incidents. pic.twitter.com/tkYuonctsl
— Austin Police Department (@Austin_Police) May 17, 2026
The suspects are described as two Hispanic males in their late teens, one with medium wavy hair and the other with longer hair.
They were seen driving a black or dark blue 2012 Hyundai Sonata with a broken right passenger window, pictured below. Police said the suspects have been stealing and switching vehicles. The suspects may also be driving a gold Hyundai sedan, silver Mazda four-door or a white Kia Optima, police said. Davis has urged residents to not leave their vehicles unlocked.
A shelter-in-place was issued in South Austin in the Slaughter Lane, McKinney Falls Parkway, Ben White Boulevard and Escarpment Boulevard area, but has now ended.
The Austin Fire Department said it was aware of two separate incidents in which fire stations were struck by gunfire – one late Saturday night and another on Sunday morning. No firefighters were injured in the shootings, and only minor damage was reported.
The Austin Fire Department remains fully staffed, operational and responding to calls across the city, David Girouard, president of the Austin Firefighters Association said.
Anyone with any information is asked to contact APD at 512-974-5177 or contact Crime Stoppers anonymously at 512-472-8477, or by visiting austincrimestoppers.org. A reward of up to $1,000 is available for information leading to an arrest.
For individuals over 60 experiencing stiff joints, skipping high-impact exercises like jumping jacks might be wise. Instead, focusing on improving coordination can be more beneficial. As a movement specialist, I often encounter clients who mistakenly believe that intense cardio is the solution. In reality, their bodies require the opposite. While jumping jacks have benefits, if your sacrum isn’t functioning properly, the impact can strain joints unprepared to handle such force. Instead, consider these four slow exercises designed to restore the precise, controlled movements necessary for your body to manage force efficiently, allowing you to move with ease and protect your joints.
So, should jumping jacks be part of your fitness regimen? In my opinion, yes, but perhaps not immediately. Jumping jacks are excellent for boosting cardiovascular health, providing an introduction to plyometric exercises, and strengthening the body in the frontal plane. However, it’s crucial to ensure your body is prepared to handle such exercises without causing harm.
Stiff joints after 60 don’t usually need more impact; they need better coordination. As a movement specialist, I work with clients every day who think the answer is jumping into harder cardio when what their body actually needs is the opposite. Jumping jacks have their place, but if your sacrum isn’t moving the way it should, all that bouncing is just dumping force into joints that can’t absorb it. These four slow exercises restore the small, controlled movements your body needs to handle force properly, so you can move better without beating up your joints.
Why Jumping Jacks Aren’t the Answer Yet
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The question is, should you be doing jumping jacks as part of your fitness routine? I’d say yes, but maybe not quite yet. Jumping jacks are great for general cardiovascular fitness, they’re a gentle introduction to plyometric work, and they strengthen your body in the frontal plane.
However, jumping jacks create a lot of impact, and that force has to be distributed somewhere. Your joints are responsible for handling that force. So if you have poor proprioception, poor range of motion, or even poor alignment, you’re not distributing force; you’re dumping it into the joints. And that’s where the dysfunction starts.
The Sacrum Problem Nobody Talks About
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One of the most important structures for handling forces in your body is your sacrum. Your sacrum is a triangle bone, and it sits at the base of your spine. It has four foramina, or holes, on each side where the nerves come out. These nerves feed into your pelvic floor and into your lower limbs. So the sacrum’s job is to distribute force from the ground up and from the top down.
The sacrum is suspended in a network of ligaments. They connect to your pelvis and to your lumbar spine. When I’m talking about the connections to the pelvis, I’m specifically referring to your ilium. This is called your SI joint, or your sacroiliac joint.
The sacrum doesn’t need big movement. It needs small, subtle, controlled motion, and we call these micro-movements. If you’ve been following me, you know that micro-movements determine the macro-movements. These small movements combined make the large movements of the body.
The Trampoline Analogy
Shutterstock
I like to think of the sacral area as a trampoline, where the sacrum itself is the part you jump on. The ligaments connecting the sacrum to the pelvis and the lower back are like the springs of the trampoline.
When it’s working well, it gives you resilience, spring, and efficient force transfer. But when the sacrum gets stuck, usually in a side bend or a rotation, it stops moving the way it should. Now, instead of just distributing force, it starts dumping that force into other areas of your body.
That’s when you start to see pain around the sacrum, hip discomfort, low back tightness, changes in gait, and sometimes even a functional short leg. Over time, that leads to joint breakdown, ligament and tendon strain, and increased stress on the lumbar spine.
How Your Pressure System Works
Copyright piercefamilywell/YouTube
Here’s where people tend to miss it. The sacrum doesn’t work in isolation. It’s part of a pressure system. You have the diaphragm on top and your pelvic floor on the bottom. What sits in between those two main forces is the sacrum.
These structures work together to manage pressure in the body. There are ligamentous and fascial connections running from the pubic bone in the front to the coccyx or tailbone in the back. That ligament runs from the pubis all the way into the coccyx. Those structures integrate directly with your pelvic floor.
Remember, your pelvic floor is responsible for pressure regulation, bladder and bowel function, and support of your reproductive organs. So it has to be able to contract and relax at appropriate times.
If your sacrum gets stuck, it creates a torsion through that ligament and through those fascial connections. That torsion transfers directly into your pelvic floor, and now your pelvic floor can’t respond properly. At the same time, if your breathing is off, if your diaphragm isn’t moving well, you lose proper pressure control from the top down. Now you’ve got dysfunction from above and dysfunction from below. All of it meets right at the sacrum.
Now take that system and add jumping jacks. Repetitive, high impact, no control. That force is traveling straight through a system that already isn’t managing pressure well. It’s like jumping on a trampoline that’s uneven. If one side is too loose, you don’t get any rebound. If one side is too tight, you start stressing the springs. In your body, those springs are the ligaments. So instead of improving movement, you’re increasing stress, tension, and compensation.
Instead of starting with impact, here’s what I do with my clients. I remind them that the goal isn’t intensity. It’s restoring proprioception, restoring joint space, and pressure control. When your sacrum, diaphragm, and pelvic floor are all working together, your body can finally distribute force the way it was designed to. That’s what allows you to move well without beating up your joints.
Here are my four favorite exercises to restore sacral function and improve both your movement ability and your pelvic floor health.
Phase One: Hands and Feet Sacral Walk
This first phase teaches you to initiate movement from your sacrum and ilium rather than dragging your legs. You’re learning to lift, not slide, which is the foundation of everything that comes next.
Muscles Trained: Glutes, hip stabilizers, deep core, pelvic floor
How to Do It:
Place both hands and feet on the floor in a seated position
Lift your right butt cheek and move it forward
Lift your left butt cheek and move it forward
Don’t drag or slide, lift from your hip
Use your hands for support as you clear space under the glute
Continue shifting side to side for five to 10 paces forward
Reverse direction and do the same thing, moving backward
Form Tip: Focus on lifting the hip, not pushing off with the foot. Your hands are there for support, not propulsion.
Phase Two: Hands-on Shins
Removing your hands from the floor takes away a layer of support and forces your sacrum and pelvic floor to do more of the work. Moving backward will feel harder than moving forward, and that’s normal.6254a4d1642c605c54bf1cab17d50f1e
Muscles Trained: Hip flexors, glutes, deep core, pelvic floor
How to Do It:
Bring your hands off the floor and grab your shins
Keep your legs roughly in line, don’t let them open
Lift your right glute and foot, then move forward
Lift your left glute and foot, then move forward
Continue for five to 10 strides
Repeat moving backward
Form Tip: If you feel yourself shifting or sliding a little, don’t worry about it. The goal is to gradually reduce that sliding as you build control.
Phase Three: No Hands Sacral Walk
Now you’re moving without the assistance of your arms at all. This is where you really start to feel whether you’ve built the control from the first two phases.
Muscles Trained: Glutes, hip stabilizers, deep core, pelvic floor, balance system
How to Do It:
Release your legs and let your arms hang free
Lift your right hip off the ground and move forward
Lift your left hip off the ground and move forward
Don’t scoot or slide, lift the hip with every motion
Reverse direction once you’ve moved forward five to 10 paces
Form Tip: If you find yourself reaching for the floor or your shins, go back to phase two until the movement feels controlled.
Phase Four: Walking on Your Sits Bones
This is the most challenging of the four movements. You’re walking on your ilium, also called your sit bones, with no hands and no feet on the floor. Moving backward here is significantly harder than moving forward and demands real balance.
Muscles Trained: Deep core, pelvic floor, hip stabilizers, balance system
How to Do It:
Sit upright with no hands and no feet on the floor
Lift one sitting bone and move forward
Lift the other side of the bone and move forward
Build up to moving backward, which will feel much more out of balance
Master the first three phases before attempting this one
Form Tip: Don’t rush into phase four. The backward direction, in particular, requires the foundation you built in phases one through three.
Avoid These Mistakes
Copyright piercefamilywell/YouTube
Don’t slide or drag your hips. The whole point is to lift from the sacrum, not scoot across the floor.
Don’t skip the earlier phases. Phase four looks simple but it requires the control built in phases one through three.
Don’t rush the backward direction. Moving backward is always harder and demands more proprioception. Build up to it.
Don’t let your legs splay open in phase two. Keep them roughly in line so the work stays in your hips and sacrum.
Don’t chase intensity. These are micro-movements. The goal is control, not effort.
China’s halting of sulphuric acid exports follows supply chain disruptions linked to the war in the Middle East.
The move could have significant impacts on the costs of battery and fertiliser production.
China has announced a ban on the export of sulphuric acid, an essential industrial chemical widely used in battery and clothing manufacturing, as well as in the production of fertilizers and metal processing. This decision could have significant implications for various industries reliant on this critical material.
This export halt follows disruptions in sulphur shipments through the Strait of Hormuz earlier this year, caused by conflict in the Middle East, which has strained the supply of sulphuric acid.
Marina Zhang, an expert from the University of Technology Sydney’s Australia-China Relations Institute, highlighted that although China may frame this ban as a temporary measure, it suggests a broader shift in policy. China’s actions indicate a growing emphasis on controlling crucial industrial resources.
“It’s not just about the finished products but also the upstream materials, processing technologies, and basic industrial ingredients that facilitate advanced manufacturing. While the immediate ban might be temporary, the underlying strategy seems to be structural,” Zhang explained to SBS News.
A critical chemical under pressure
Sulphur, the key component in producing sulphuric acid, has seen shipping and processing delays in the Gulf region. These disruptions have had a ripple effect on manufacturers who depend on a consistent supply, highlighting the interconnectedness of global supply chains.
In 2025, about half of the global seaborne supply of sulphur came from the Middle East.
China accounted for a significant share of sulphuric acid shipments from Asia last year and remains one of the world’s largest exporters. The loss of that supply is now raising concerns among overseas buyers already scrambling to secure alternative sources.
While the impacts are expected to be spread across multiple industries, analysts say battery supply chains could be among the most exposed.
Zhang said the situation “reveals a paradox at the heart of the clean-energy transition … which depends on minerals that require very energy-intensive, chemical-intensive and often environmentally difficult processing”.
“Yet many Western countries have spent decades outsourcing precisely those ‘dirty’ industrial activities.”
Battery supply chains in focus
Sulphuric acid also plays an important role in processing metals such as nickel and copper, both used extensively in electric vehicle batteries and energy storage systems.
Indonesia’s rapidly expanding nickel-processing industry is considered particularly vulnerable to the bans.
The country has become a major producer of battery-grade nickel used in global electric vehicle (EV) supply chains, including by manufacturers linked to Chinese battery maker CATL.
Around 60 per cent of global sulphuric acid demand is related to fertiliser manufacturing, with the rest spread across industries including metals extraction, oil refining and advanced manufacturing. Source: Getty / Artur Widak/NurPhoto
Refining lower-grade nickel ores into battery materials requires large volumes of sulphuric acid for a process known as high-pressure acid leaching.
If supplies remain constrained, refiners could face higher production costs, delays and increased competition for feedstock, potentially flowing through to battery makers and EV manufacturers.
Analysts have said it could increase input costs for refiners and place additional pressure on battery supply chains already facing volatility.
Who absorbs the shock?
Industry analysts say the challenge may not hit the world’s biggest mining companies first.
Instead, smaller manufacturers and regional industries operating on tighter margins could feel the pressure sooner as prices rise and buyers compete for limited volumes.
With around 60 per cent of global sulphuric acid demand related to fertiliser manufacturing, prolonged shortages could eventually affect agricultural supply chains and food prices.
The disruption is also exposing a broader tension at the centre of the global energy transition.
While governments and manufacturers race to scale up electric vehicle production and critical mineral processing, many of the industries underpinning that transition still depend heavily on chemical supply chains linked to oil refining and other heavy industries, as well as geopolitical stability in the Middle East.
For overseas buyers, the concern is no longer just about whether sulphuric acid remains available, but who will still be able to afford it if supply disruptions continue.
Can global supply chains adapt?
Industry analysts say alternative suppliers could help ease some pressure on global markets, with buyers likely to turn to producers in countries including Canada and domestic refiners in other regions.
However, replacing Chinese exports at scale may prove difficult in the short term due to transport constraints, limited spare production capacity and strong global demand from fertiliser and battery industries.
Some manufacturers are also expected to increase stockpiles and secure longer-term supply agreements to reduce exposure to future disruptions.
The supply squeeze may also renew pressure on governments and industry to expand domestic processing capability, particularly in countries such as Australia seeking to grow critical minerals and battery manufacturing sectors.
Analysts say the disruption highlights the risks of relying on concentrated global supply chains for industrial chemicals and battery materials central to the energy transition.
A broader dependence on global supply chains
Zhang said the reported restrictions highlighted how dependent countries such as Australia remain on global processing and manufacturing networks, and could strengthen calls for such countries to expand domestic and allied processing capability for critical minerals and battery supply chains.
Although Australia has abundant mineral resources, much of the downstream processing capability, industrial equipment and chemical supply remains concentrated offshore, she said.
Developing domestic processing capability involved more than simply constructing refineries, Zhang said, adding that long-term industrial capability also depended on securing chemical inputs, skilled labour, energy supply and broader manufacturing infrastructure.
When Mike Brown last experienced the thrill of winning a conference finals as a head coach, he found himself in awe, watching the brilliance of LeBron James unfold before him.
During the 2007 playoffs, when points were hard-earned commodities, LeBron delivered a remarkable performance by scoring 25 consecutive points in a pivotal Game 5 victory against the Detroit Pistons. The spectacle was unforgettable, and Brown’s main tactic was to simply stay out of James’ way.
Reflecting on that night, Brown, who was then at the helm of the Cleveland Cavaliers, shared his memories on Friday. “I’ll never forget it,” he said. “Detroit called a timeout, and we gathered as a coaching staff. I had some great coaches with me, and one of them suggested we give LeBron some advice.”
He continued, “But I decided there was no chance I was going into that huddle to say anything to him while he was in the zone. I just let him do his thing. Watching him was incredible. It truly felt like I had the best seat in the house.”
Britney Spears dazzled her fans in a recent Instagram video, flaunting a vibrant hot pink dress, shortly after headlines emerged about a turbulent restaurant visit.
The pop icon, best known for hits like “Toxic,” strutted her stuff in a playful Instagram post on Sunday, showcasing a plunging mini dress in a vivid shade of pink.
Complementing her lacy, sparkling ensemble, Spears donned a choker and eye-catching platform heels. In a spirited display, she playfully slapped her hip, tousled her wavy locks, and slipped in a few dance moves.
Her post was lightheartedly captioned, “Brighter days!!! 🏹🤷♀️🙄,” reflecting a hopeful outlook.
This video emerged just a day after the 44-year-old singer made waves on social media, dropping an F-bomb in response to reports of an alleged outburst at a Sherman Oaks, California restaurant earlier in the week.
“What’s up world. I’m about to go see ‘Devil Wears Prada 2,’” she said via Instagram on Friday evening. “I personally prefer Chanel or Gucci, but yo, if the devil says Prada, I guess we should listen, right?”
The singer then said she couldn’t wait to get her hands on “butter popcorn and a Slurpee” at the flick, enthusiastically shouting, “F–k yeah, Slurpee! Yes, man, yes!”
Prior to her movie outing, the mom of two stepped out Friday in a trench coat and sunglasses at Paw Works in Thousand Oaks, California.
On Thursday, sources for TMZ alleged the Grammy winning singer alarmed restaurant patrons at the Blue Dog Tavern with “chaotic” behavior — including screaming, barking, and carrying around a knife from her table.
A restaurant patron later corroborated the outlet’s report to Page Six, saying that he “wasn’t threatened or anything like that” despite Spears’ alleged “barking” and “woofing” during the dinner.
Journalist Jeff Sneider told us that the singer “kept standing up and sitting down and moving around the restaurant” while dining with a man and a woman.
Sneider recalled that “when she eventually left, I turned around and was like, ‘Holy s–t, that was crazy!’ to the entire section.”
A rep for Spears, however, pushed back, saying it had all been “completely blown out of proportion.”
“Britney was enjoying a quiet dinner with her assistant and bodyguard,” the rep told Page Six earlier this week. “She was simply telling the story about how her dog was barking at the neighbors.”
They also insisted that “at no point did she put anyone in danger with a knife,” noting that Spears “was cutting her hamburger in half.”
Prior to the alleged incident at the Blue Dog Tavern, the Princess of Pop was spotted browsing at a liquor store in Sherman Oaks. In surveillance footage obtained by the Daily Mail, the singer appeared to be accompanied by a pal.
It’s worth noting that Spears checked herself into a rehab facility on April 12 following her March 4 DUI arrest.
She was seen out for the first time following her rehab stint on April 30, putting her feet up on the dashboard of a vehicle while in the sitting passenger side of a Mercedes Benz G-Wagon.
A source close to the star told Page Six last month that she’s “doing really well” after completing rehab.
Two months after the arrest, on May 4, he “My Prerogative” hitmaker pleaded guilty to a lesser “wet reckless” charge — a common resolution for first-time offenders — through an attorney.
She was ordered to complete three months in an alcohol program and was ordered to a one-year informal probationary grant.
Where better to witness an underdog triumph than in the iconic city of Philadelphia, home to Rocky Balboa? And who better to defy expectations than a golfer with quiet determination and skill? Enter Aaron Rai, a relatively unheralded player in the world of golf, who has now claimed the title of major champion.
In an endearing turn of events, Rai, a modest and steady player from Wolverhampton, made history by becoming the first Englishman to win the PGA Championship since Jim Barnes in 1919. His victory also earned him a substantial prize of £2.76 million.
Rai’s success was nothing short of extraordinary, as he surpassed a field filled with seasoned professionals and lesser-known talents alike, delivering a victory that perfectly matched the unpredictable nature of this year’s tournament.
With a winning score of nine under par, Rai showcased his skill through a masterful round of 65. His approach was consistent and strategic, avoiding risky plays that could have led to costly mistakes. This level-headed style resulted in a three-stroke lead over competitors who were expected to outshine him.
Among those who trailed him were some of golf’s heavyweights. Jon Rahm put up a strong fight with a score of 68, finishing at six under. He was joined by Alex Smalley, with Justin Thomas and Ludvig Aberg close behind. Their formidable presence only highlighted the magnitude of Rai’s achievement.
That same cluster included the charming tales of Matti Schmid, but thereafter more monsters were waiting – Rory McIlroy, for one. He never got going in a 69, but a tie for seventh will count as a decent return from what he described as a ‘s***’ first round, and next to him were Cameron Smith and Xander Schauffele. Between that grouping spanning second to seventh were men worth 11 majors; in proximity was Scottie Scheffler, Matt Fitzpatrick and Justin Rose.
Aaron Rai is the PGA Championship winner after holding his nerve in a tense final round
The 31-year-old surged beyond a close field with a final round score of 65 in Philadelphia
The point being that auras weigh a tonne down the stretch on a Sunday. And Rai blew a final-round lead on the PGA Tour a week ago.
Not here, though. Not on this day, which crowned a champion in Rai, the guy without an agent. The swinger who wears two gloves. The working-class man of 31 who still wraps his irons in protective covers because he’ll never forget how much that first cherished set of Titleist 690MBs cost his dad.
Standing at 44th in the world and a one-time winner on the PGA Tour, he is no one’s idea of a slouch but nor is he feared. In the land of mammoth hitters, he ranks 160th for driving distance. But maybe that was his superpower at this 108th edition of the PGA Championship – it is has veered away from the trend of the modern golf and favoured skills beyond brute force.
It has put a premium on accuracy, both off the tee and from the fairway, and then it has rewarded the calm minds who can get down in two from the putting surface.
So let’s consider a few details that make the surprise a little less shocking – in the past two seasons, Rai has been the most accurate driver on the PGA Tour. Going further back, right to the time he was a child who dreamt of racing a Formula One car, he once set a world record as a 15-year-old by sinking 207 consecutive putts from 10 feet. That skill has carried into adulthood, by the way.
And somehow it has allowed this magic to happen, because those stars aligned perfectly over the quirky hills of Aronimink Golf Club. They shone so brightly you might be tempted to tweak that old Dubliners tune and rename this place the Fields of Aaron Rai.
Rai, who has one of the shortest drives in golf, outsmarted his rivals to take the crown
To pick a highlight of his career-defining round would be easy, but also instructive. Because by the time Rai stepped on the ninth tee, he was slipping a little from his overnight tie for second having played the previous eight in one over par. But then he did his thing – he found a fairway at the par five, reached the green in two, and then rolled in a 40-footer for eagle.
He rode that big old bird into the lead and only soared higher from there, setting up a remarkable back nine that he completed in 31 strokes, with the flourish of an almighty putt from 68 feet on the 17th. Pressure? He handled it like an old master.
We ought to add here that no one foretold of a runaway leader. Not with so many men in the pack.
By the time the final group of Smalley and Schmid made it to the first tee, at 2.35pm, the increased scoring potential had already been made abundantly clear by Kurt Kitayama – his bogey-free 63 was jointly the lowest ever recorded in the final round of a major.
The wind was gentler, the pin placements were marginally kinder, and therein existed a dangerous siren call for those with the prize in sight. After three days of cautious plotting and careful putting, they finally had an option to attack this course. Rai was the most conservative among them and flourished, but Rahm was the first to strike by opening with back-to-back birdies.
He surged to six under and a share of the lead, which dovetailed with Smalley’s crucial stumble on the sixth, a driveable 380-yarder fortified by an utterly diabolical pin position that was cut eight feet from the front of the green and just four from the right-hand rough.
Smalley’s drive pulled left into the rough and after two further hacks he still wasn’t on the putting surface – a double bogey six would send him back to four under. He recovered in time to a 70 and a stunning result, but that is where his damage was done. For the record, Rai bogeyed that hole, along with the third, sixth and eighth.
Rai embraces wife Gaurika Bishnoi following his stunning triumph on Sunday in the US
But his eagle just before the turn was transformative. It was the kind of timely jolt that evaded too many of the chasers, such as McIlroy. A brilliant birdie on the second was merely the precursor for 10 straight pars – his driving regressed from the promise of Saturday. Smith, meanwhile, was held back by tee shots that sprayed to the outer reaches of the property.
Rahm? This week was nothing but a success for a man who had much to prove about his standing since joining LIV, but he failed to take chances on both halves of the course. Aberg will perhaps feel the same about another flat Sunday.
Rai was a different story. He stomped his foot on the back with an early marker – a 95-yard approach up the steep hill to the 11th green set up a tap-in birdie for six under, which is when he tied the lead briefly held by Schmid.
A moment later, the German dropped one at the 10th and Rai was out on his own. A six-footer on the 13th gave him a two-shot lead and two became three when he followed that same route of fairway to green to two putts on the 16th.
A 68-footer for birdie on the 17th prompted a fist pump, Rai’s first of the tee. Before long, those gloves of a silent assassin were being removed for a trophy presentation. Stunning, really.
