health

Hantavirus ship evacuation nears completion as 94 flown home

justice

Poland's wanted ex-minister confirms he fled to US from Hungary

  • The broadcaster, aligned with the Polish right, later announced it had hired the ex-justice minister as their political commentator in the US. - Poland to contact US - Current Polish Justice Minister Waldemar Zurek wrote on X that Poland "will reach out to the USA and Hungary with questions regarding the legal basis that enabled Zbigniew Ziobro to... enter the United States despite lacking valid documents".
  • Poland's former justice minister Zbigniew Ziobro, wanted on several criminal charges in his home country, has fled Hungary to the United States, he confirmed on Sunday, following local media reports. 
  • The broadcaster, aligned with the Polish right, later announced it had hired the ex-justice minister as their political commentator in the US. - Poland to contact US - Current Polish Justice Minister Waldemar Zurek wrote on X that Poland "will reach out to the USA and Hungary with questions regarding the legal basis that enabled Zbigniew Ziobro to... enter the United States despite lacking valid documents".
Poland's former justice minister Zbigniew Ziobro, wanted on several criminal charges in his home country, has fled Hungary to the United States, he confirmed on Sunday, following local media reports. 
"I am in the United States," Ziobro told right-wing broadcaster Republika. "I arrived yesterday, and this is my third time traveling around the country," he added.
Ziobro, who received asylum from right-wing ally Viktor Orban's government last year, faces up to 25 years in prison in Poland if convicted of the charges laid against him. 
They include abuse of power, leading an organised criminal enterprise and using funds meant for crime victims to buy Israeli Pegasus spyware, allegedly to monitor political opponents.
After Orban's party was ousted from power in an election in April, Hungary's new Prime Minister Peter Magyar -- who was sworn in on Saturday -- said that Hungary would no longer protect people wanted elsewhere.
"Hungary will no longer be a dumping ground for internationally wanted criminals," he told journalists the day after his victory, naming as examples Ziobro and his former deputy, Marcin Romanowski, suspected of embezzling nearly 40 million euros ($47 million).
The Republika broadcaster reported earlier on Sunday that Ziobro was in the US, while liberal broadcaster TVN24 published a photo of Ziobro at Newark Liberty International Airport, which it said had been taken by another traveller.
It is unclear how Ziobro managed to travel to the United States, as Poland had previously said his travel documents -- including his Polish and diplomatic passports -- had been revoked.
Local news site Onet reported that Ziobro had received a US journalist visa linked to Republika. The broadcaster, aligned with the Polish right, later announced it had hired the ex-justice minister as their political commentator in the US.

Poland to contact US

Current Polish Justice Minister Waldemar Zurek wrote on X that Poland "will reach out to the USA and Hungary with questions regarding the legal basis that enabled Zbigniew Ziobro to... enter the United States despite lacking valid documents".
"We will not cease or efforts to ensure that he and Mr. Marcin Romanowski are held accountable before the Polish justice system," he said.
Earlier, Zurek told the Polsat broadcaster: "If it is confirmed that Ziobro is in the USA, then (Poland) will request his extradition." 
Ziobro was the leader of the ultra-conservative Sovereign Poland party, a junior coalition partner of the nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party, and served as justice minister and attorney general between 2015 and 2023.
He is also known as the architect of contentious judicial reforms which sparked a standoff between Poland and the European Commission.
Asked by Republika about his potential extradition, Ziobro replied: "I am ready to appear before any court, and an American independent court is certainly an independent court.
"If they want to initiate extradition proceedings, by all means," he added, calling extradition cases in US courts "a demanding procedure".
He has rejected the charges against him, accusing the centrist Polish government of conducting a witch hunt against conservatives.
ks/jj

health

Hantavirus ship evacuation nears completion as 94 flown home

BY ALFONS LUNA

  • The operation evacuated 94 people of 19 different nationalities on Sunday, Spanish Health Minister Monica Garcia announced on the island of Tenerife after what she called a "pretty intense" day.
  • A complex day-long operation to repatriate  occupants of a cruise ship struck by a deadly hantavirus outbreak neared completion late Sunday after 94 people of various nationalities were flown home from Spain's Canary Islands.
  • The operation evacuated 94 people of 19 different nationalities on Sunday, Spanish Health Minister Monica Garcia announced on the island of Tenerife after what she called a "pretty intense" day.
A complex day-long operation to repatriate  occupants of a cruise ship struck by a deadly hantavirus outbreak neared completion late Sunday after 94 people of various nationalities were flown home from Spain's Canary Islands.
Three passengers from the MV Hondius -- a Dutch husband and wife and a German woman -- have died, while others have fallen sick with the rare disease, which usually spreads among rodents.
No vaccines or specific treatments exist for hantavirus, which is endemic in Argentina, where the ship departed in April.
But health officials have stressed that the risk for global public health is low and played down comparisons to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The operation evacuated 94 people of 19 different nationalities on Sunday, Spanish Health Minister Monica Garcia announced on the island of Tenerife after what she called a "pretty intense" day.
Spanish officials said the evacuation of most of the ship's nearly 150 passengers and crew, which include 23 nationalities, would continue until the final repatriation flights to Australia and the Netherlands on Monday afternoon.
The ship will refuel in the morning and is expected to depart for the Netherlands with around 30 crew at 7:00 pm (1800 GMT) on Monday.
On Sunday, passengers wearing blue medical suits began disembarking the Dutch-flagged vessel onto smaller boats to reach the small industrial port of Granadilla on Tenerife, AFP journalists saw.
The evacuees then boarded Spanish army buses and travelled to Tenerife South airport in a convoy, with a protective board separating the driver from the passengers.
The evacuees changed into new protective equipment before boarding their repatriation flights.
"Everything is going well," French evacuee Roland Seitre told AFP just before taking off, saying "everyone was great" during the disembarkation.

Race against time

A plane arrived in the Netherlands with dozens of people, including Belgian, Greek, German, Guatemalan and Argentine citizens, while flights for Canadian, Turkish, British, Irish and US nationals also left.
Canary Islands authorities have warned that the operation must be completed by Monday, when adverse weather conditions will force the ship to leave. 
The Atlantic archipelago's regional government has consistently resisted taking in the ship, which was only authorised to anchor offshore instead of docking in the port when it arrived early on Sunday morning.
The central government has insisted there will be no contact with the population in Tenerife.
Garcia told reporters on Tenerife shortly before the operation began that all passengers were asymptomatic and underwent a final medical assessment before their disembarkation.
But one of five French people flown back to France was showing hantavirus symptoms, Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu wrote on X, saying all those evacuees "have immediately been placed in strict isolation until further notice".
The World Health Organization recommends a 42-day quarantine and "active follow-up", including daily checks for symptoms such as fever, the UN body's epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention director, Maria Van Kerkhove, said in Geneva.
Greece's health ministry said a Greek male evacuee would spend 45 days in mandatory hospital quarantine in Athens, while 14 Spanish citizens will also isolate at a military hospital in Madrid.
But a top US health official said American passengers will not necessarily be quarantined at a specialised centre in the state of Nebraska.
Depending on the estimated risk, passengers can choose to go home "without exposing other people on the way", said Jay Bhattacharya, acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who was on Tenerife to help supervise the evacuations, said that policy "may have risks".

International concern

The only hantavirus type that is transmissible between humans -- the Andes virus -- has been confirmed among those who have tested positive, fuelling international concern.
The WHO said Friday it had confirmed six cases out of eight suspected ones.
The MV Hondius left Ushuaia, Argentina on April 1 for a cruise across the Atlantic Ocean to Cape Verde, where three infected people had been evacuated to Europe earlier in the week.
The WHO believes the first infection occurred before the start of the expedition, followed by transmission between humans onboard the vessel.
But Argentine provincial health official Juan Petrina has said there was an "almost zero chance" the Dutch man linked to the outbreak contracted the disease in Ushuaia based on the virus's weeks-long incubation period, among other factors. 
Health authorities in several countries have been tracking passengers who had already disembarked and anyone who may have come into contact with them.
burs-al/imm/db

summit

Trump set to 'apply pressure' on Xi over Iran

BY DANNY KEMP

  • "But of course, President Trump never travels for symbolism alone.
  • US President Donald Trump will press China's Xi Jinping on Iran when they meet in Beijing in coming days, but their "highly symbolic" superpower summit will focus on easing trade tensions, officials said Sunday.
  • "But of course, President Trump never travels for symbolism alone.
US President Donald Trump will press China's Xi Jinping on Iran when they meet in Beijing in coming days, but their "highly symbolic" superpower summit will focus on easing trade tensions, officials said Sunday.
Trump's first trip to China in his second term will feature pomp and ceremony including a tour of the Temple of Heaven in Beijing and a lavish state banquet, the White House said.
Topics including tariffs, Taiwan, and the race for AI technology and critical minerals are also set to come up in the meeting between the leaders of the world's biggest economies.
"This will be a visit of tremendous symbolic significance," Principal Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly told reporters on a call.
"But of course, President Trump never travels for symbolism alone. The American people can expect the president to deliver more good deals on behalf of our country."
Kelly said Trump's visit would focus on "rebalancing the relationship with China and prioritizing reciprocity and fairness to restore American economic independence."
Trump will arrive in Beijing on Wednesday evening for the visit, which he originally postponed in March due to the ongoing Iran war. 
There will be a welcome ceremony and a bilateral meeting with Xi on Thursday morning, followed by a visit to the Temple of Heaven that afternoon and a state banquet in the evening, said Kelly.
Trump and Xi will then have a bilateral tea and working lunch on Friday before the US leader returns to Washington.
China's Xi and his wife are expected to pay a reciprocal visit to Washington later in 2026, said Kelly.

'Stability'

But with Trump still seeking an end to the Iran war launched by the United States and Israel on February 28, the US president will also seek to push Tehran's ally Beijing to help.
"I would expect the president to apply pressure" over Iran, a senior administration official told reporters on condition of anonymity when asked if Trump would pressure Xi on the subject.
The official added that Trump had raised concerns about Chinese revenue for Iran and Russia through oil sales "multiple times" in calls with Xi, as well as sales of military-civilian dual-role goods.
"I expect that conversation to continue," the official added.
Recent US sanctions on China over the Iran war are also likely to come up, added the official.
The United States and China are also set to discuss extending a year-long trade truce, which the two leaders agreed last October in South Korea. But tensions remain high over Trump's sweeping tariffs.
The United States and China are also set to discuss extending a year-long trade truce the two leaders agreed to last October. But tensions remain high over Trump's sweeping tariffs.
A second US official was cagey when asked about whether an extension was likely to be agreed on Trump's trip.
"It's not clear yet if that's going to be extended now, or something to be extended later. We are in pretty frequent contact with the Chinese on this," the official told reporters.
"I think what both sides want is stability."
Trump and Xi were also set to discuss a so-called "Board of Trade" grouping Chinese and US officials that would "identify areas of the mutual interest in trade, such as agricultural purchases, purchases of aircraft, etc," the official said.
Taiwan was also likely to come up, with China pursuing its claim against the self-governing island that the US has sold huge quantities of arms to.
Trump and Xi have held "an ongoing conversation" about Taiwan, the first US official said. "Certainly, the last couple times they've interacted it has been a point of discussion."
dk/mlm

unrest

Dozens of Nigerian fishermen feared dead after Chad army strikes jihadists: local sources

  • But a Lake Chad fishermen's union official said: "Chadian fighter jets bombarded two islands.
  • Dozens of Nigerian fishermen are feared dead after a Chadian army attack against jihadists on Lake Chad, a civilian militia member and a union official told AFP on Sunday.
  • But a Lake Chad fishermen's union official said: "Chadian fighter jets bombarded two islands.
Dozens of Nigerian fishermen are feared dead after a Chadian army attack against jihadists on Lake Chad, a civilian militia member and a union official told AFP on Sunday.
The militia member said the number of dead was unknown, as the operation on the vast expanse of water and marshland between Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger and Chad was still ongoing. 
But a Lake Chad fishermen's union official said: "Chadian fighter jets bombarded two islands. So far, 40 Nigerian fishermen have been missing and believed to have drowned from the strikes, according to fishermen who escaped."
The militia member said Chadian fighter jets had been bombing islands controlled by Boko Haram on the Nigerian side of the lake since Friday, following a recent attack on its troops.
He said there were "huge casualties" among the fishermen, who pay tax to Boko Haram to allow them to fish in the area.
The bombing was concentrated on the jihadist stronghold of Shuwa island, where Nigeria, Niger and Chad meet on the lake, he added.
"Many people were killed," said Adamu Haladu, a fisherman from Baga, in northeast Nigeria. 
"Most of those killed in the airstrikes are from the town of Doron Baga on the Nigerian shores of the lake and from Taraba state.
"It is not a secret that Nigerian fishermen pay tax to Boko Haram to have access to the remote island with a huge fish reservoir. Boko Haram ferry them on their boats to those islands and bring them back with their catch."

Recent attacks

The Chadian army has not yet issued a statement.
But Chad declared three days of national mourning last week after a Boko Haram ambush Wednesday on an army patrol in Lake Chad's island area killed two generals.
Two days before that, a Boko Haram raid on a military base on the shores of Lake Chad killed at least 24 soldiers.
In October 2024, Chad's army was accused of having killed dozens of Nigerian fishermen in air strikes launched against Boko Haram on Tilma island on Lake Chad.
That was in reprisal for a jihadist attack that killed 40 Chadian soldiers, but witnesses said the air strikes had instead killed the fishermen.
Chad's military at the time denied it had targeted civilians.
The Lake Chad area serves as a base for both Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).
Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and Niger in 2015 reactivated a multinational force set up in the mid-1990s to combat jihadist groups operating around the lake.
Niger left the regional force last year due to strained ties between the military government in Niamey and its neighbours.
abu/ks/jj/phz

US

Iran responds to US peace proposal, warns against new attacks

BY AFP TEAMS IN TEHRAN, DUBAI, WASHINGTON, DOHA AND BEIRUT

  • "Only the Islamic Republic of Iran can establish security in this strait and it will not allow any country to interfere in such matters," Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi posted on X. French President Emmanuel Macron later insisted that his country had "never envisaged" a naval deployment in the Strait of Hormuz, but rather a security mission "coordinated with Iran". 
  • Iran responded to Washington's latest peace proposal on Sunday, while warning it would not hold back from retaliating against any new US strikes or permit more foreign warships in the Strait of Hormuz.
  • "Only the Islamic Republic of Iran can establish security in this strait and it will not allow any country to interfere in such matters," Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi posted on X. French President Emmanuel Macron later insisted that his country had "never envisaged" a naval deployment in the Strait of Hormuz, but rather a security mission "coordinated with Iran". 
Iran responded to Washington's latest peace proposal on Sunday, while warning it would not hold back from retaliating against any new US strikes or permit more foreign warships in the Strait of Hormuz.
Tehran's long-awaited answer came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu -- whose forces launched the war on Iran along with the US military on February 28 -- insisted the conflict wasn't over until Iran's enriched uranium was removed and its nuclear facilities dismantled.
But Tehran publicly maintained its defiant line, despite the behind-the-scenes diplomacy.
"We will never bow down to the enemy, and if there is talk of dialogue or negotiation, it does not mean surrender or retreat," Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on X Sunday.
According to state broadcaster IRIB, Tehran's response to the US plan, passed to Pakistani mediators, focuses on ending the war "on all fronts, especially Lebanon" -- where Israel has kept up its fight with Iran-backed Hezbollah -- as well as on "ensuring shipping security".
It offered little in the way of detail, though the US proposal had reportedly focused on extending the truce in the Gulf to allow for talks on a final settlement of the conflict and on Iran's contested nuclear programme.
Netanyahu said in an interview to be aired in full later Sunday that Iran's stockpile of enriched uranium must be removed before the war can be considered finished.
"It's not over, because there's still nuclear material -- enriched uranium -- that has to be taken out of Iran. There's still enrichment sites that have to be dismantled," Netanyahu told CBS's "60 Minutes".
He added that US President Donald Trump was on the same page regarding the need to take away the uranium, though the president said in a recent interview that the US could remove it "whenever we want", and that it was "very well surveilled" where it is now.
Trump did not mention the Iranian response in a lengthy Truth Social post on Sunday, but accused Iran of "laughing at" the United States and "playing games" with it for decades.
"They will be laughing no longer!" he added, without further explanation.
Trump is expected to press President Xi Jinping of China -- a major buyer of Iranian oil -- on Iran when he visits Beijing next week, a senior US administration official said.

No Hormuz 'interference'

Iran imposed a blockade on the vital Strait of Hormuz early in the war, sending global oil prices soaring and rattling financial markets. 
It has since set up a payment mechanism to extract tolls from ships crossing the strait, but US officials have stressed it would be "unacceptable" for Tehran to control an international waterway and the route for a fifth of the world's oil. 
The US Navy, meanwhile, is blockading Iran's ports, at times disabling or diverting ships heading to and from them.
Britain and France are leading efforts to create an international coalition to secure the strait after a peace deal is reached, with both countries sending vessels to the region in advance.
But Iran insisted on Sunday that the two nations would meet "a decisive and immediate response" should they deploy their ships to the strait.
"Only the Islamic Republic of Iran can establish security in this strait and it will not allow any country to interfere in such matters," Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi posted on X.
French President Emmanuel Macron later insisted that his country had "never envisaged" a naval deployment in the Strait of Hormuz, but rather a security mission "coordinated with Iran". 
Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani told Iran's top diplomat in a call that freedom of navigation "is not open to compromise", according to the Qatari foreign ministry.

'Restraint over'

Fresh drone attacks in the Gulf on Sunday were the latest to rattle the ceasefire after a string of flare-ups in recent days.
The United Arab Emirates said its "air defence systems successfully engaged two UAVs launched from Iran".
Iran's neighbour Kuwait reported an attempted attack as well, saying its armed forces dealt with "a number of hostile drones in Kuwaiti airspace".
And Qatar's defence ministry said a freighter arriving in its waters from Abu Dhabi was hit by a drone off the port of Mesaieed.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but Iran's Fars news agency reported that "the bulk carrier that was struck near the coast of Qatar was sailing under a US flag".
In a social media post on Sunday, the spokesman for the Iranian parliament's national security commission warned the United States: "Our restraint is over as of today." 
"Any attack on our vessels will trigger a strong and decisive Iranian response against American ships and bases," Ebrahim Rezaei said. 
Iran's Revolutionary Guards had threatened the day before to target US interests in the Middle East if its tankers came under fire -- as they did on Friday when a US fighter jet fired on and disabled two Iran-flagged vessels in the Gulf of Oman.
Tehran's military chief Ali Abdollahi also met the country's supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei and received "new directives and guidance for the continuation of operations to confront the enemy", according to Iranian state television.
burs/smw/sst

politics

Macron arrives in Kenya ahead of Africa summit

  • Anti‑French sentiment runs high in some former African colonies as the continent becomes a renewed diplomatic battleground, with Russian and Chinese influence growing.
  • President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday met his Kenyan counterpart William Ruto in Nairobi as part of an African visit aimed at renewing France's engagement with the continent after years of strained ties with former colonies.
  • Anti‑French sentiment runs high in some former African colonies as the continent becomes a renewed diplomatic battleground, with Russian and Chinese influence growing.
President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday met his Kenyan counterpart William Ruto in Nairobi as part of an African visit aimed at renewing France's engagement with the continent after years of strained ties with former colonies.
Macron is to co‑host a two-day summit starting on Monday, bringing together African leaders and business executives, as he seeks to cement his legacy one year before the end of his term.
The meeting will focus on economic development and cross‑border investment, among other themes, the French presidency said, stressing that it would be the first such forum held in an English‑speaking country.
Macron hopes to highlight France's renewed relationship with the continent as a "report card on his Africa policy", said one diplomat.
Anti‑French sentiment runs high in some former African colonies as the continent becomes a renewed diplomatic battleground, with Russian and Chinese influence growing.
Once master of vast expanses of northern, central and western Africa, France has played a crucial role in the continent's post‑colonial history, repeatedly intervening militarily since the early 1960s.
France has vowed to abandon the so‑called "Francafrique" strategy, under which Paris sought to keep francophone Africa under its thumb through political collusion, exclusive access for French businesses and oblique financial deals, including graft.
Macron arrived in English-speaking Kenya from Egypt and is also due to travel to Ethiopia as part of his Africa tour.
On Sunday, the world's third-largest shipping company, France's CMA CGM, signed a "strategic partnership agreement" with the Kenyan government to develop logistics and transport infrastructure.
The deal, worth 700 million euros ($826 million), will see a new port terminal in Mombasa to accommodate large container ships, Macron said.
CMA CGM considers Kenya to be a major regional gateway for east and central Africa.
Macron said that investment deals worth more than one billion euros had been signed, including for infrastructure project developer Meridiam to expand Kenya's second-largest wind farm.
fff/yad/phz/jj

health

French evacuee from hantavirus-hit ship has 'symptoms': French PM

  • A jet carrying the five evacuated French cruise ship passengers landed a little before 4:30 pm (1430 GMT) Sunday at Le Bourget airport, north of Paris, AFP journalists saw. 
  • One of five French people flown back to France Sunday from the cruise ship struck by a deadly hantavirus outbreak is showing symptoms of the illness, French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said.
  • A jet carrying the five evacuated French cruise ship passengers landed a little before 4:30 pm (1430 GMT) Sunday at Le Bourget airport, north of Paris, AFP journalists saw. 
One of five French people flown back to France Sunday from the cruise ship struck by a deadly hantavirus outbreak is showing symptoms of the illness, French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said.
"On of them showed symptoms in the repatriation plane," he posted on X. "These five passengers have immediately been placed in strict isolation until further notice.
"They are getting medical treatment and will have tests and a medical check-up," he added.
Lecornu also said he would issue a decree later Sunday authorising appropriate isolation measures being put in place to protect the public.
From early Sunday, passengers from the MV Hondius have been evacuated from the ship, anchored off the Spanish island of Tenerife. From there, they have been flown out to hospitals in their home countries or in the Netherlands for medical checks.
A jet carrying the five evacuated French cruise ship passengers landed a little before 4:30 pm (1430 GMT) Sunday at Le Bourget airport, north of Paris, AFP journalists saw. 
Shortly afterwards, they were transferred to a convoy of five ambulances and taken under police escort to the Bichat hospital in Paris, an AFP photographer saw.

Ministerial meeting

The original plan was for them to be kept in quarantine for 72 hours, so doctors could carry out a complete medical examination before they were allowed home for another 45 days under special medical supervision.
"Three days under surveillance, that doesn't bother us at all," one passenger, Roland Seitre, said just before taking off from Tenerife earlier Sunday.
"We haven't had any cases on board since the end of April and nobody is sick," he added.
Lecornu's announcement of the symptomatic passenger however suggests tighter measures are now being prepared. Earlier Sunday, a joint statement from the foreign ministry and health ministry had envisaged just this possibility.
If any of the returnees showed symptoms, they would immediately be reclassified as a "suspect case" and taken for evaluation and treatment in the appropriate medical establishment, the statement said.
On Sunday afternoon, Lecornu held a special meeting with key ministers and top health officials at his offices to discuss the care of the new arrivals.
Among those present were Health Minister Stephanie Rist, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez and Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot.
In his statement on X later Sunday, Lecornu said the health minister would be issuing a statement in the evening.

Lengthy supervision

Flights taking the former cruise ship passengers out of Tenerife were continuing Sunday, bound for Britain, Canada, Ireland, the Netherlands, Turkey and the United States.
The World Health Organization has said that all former passengers from the MV Hondius were considered "high-risk" contacts requiring 42 days of medical supervision.
Three passengers from the ship -- a Dutch husband and wife and a German woman -- have died, while others have fallen sick with the rare disease, which usually spreads among rodents.
The only hantavirus type that can transmit from person to person -- the Andes virus -- has been confirmed among those who have tested positive, fuelling international concern.
It has an incubation period of up to six weeks.
But WHO officials have stressed that the situation is not comparable in risk to the deadly 2020 Coronavirus pandemic.
dho-bur-pan-pho/jj/rmb

US

War in the Middle East: latest developments

  • "The Islamic Republic of Iran sent today (Sunday) through Pakistani mediators its response to the latest text proposed by the United States to end the war," the official IRNA news agency said, without offering details.
  • Here are the latest developments in the Middle East war: - Iran sends response - Iran has sent its response to a US proposal to end the war in the region via Pakistan, Iranian state media reported. 
  • "The Islamic Republic of Iran sent today (Sunday) through Pakistani mediators its response to the latest text proposed by the United States to end the war," the official IRNA news agency said, without offering details.
Here are the latest developments in the Middle East war:

Iran sends response

Iran has sent its response to a US proposal to end the war in the region via Pakistan, Iranian state media reported. 
"The Islamic Republic of Iran sent today (Sunday) through Pakistani mediators its response to the latest text proposed by the United States to end the war," the official IRNA news agency said, without offering details.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian wrote on X: "We will never bow down to the enemy, and if there is talk of dialogue or negotiation, it does not mean surrender or retreat." 

Iran warns UK, France over warships

Iran warned Britain and France that its armed forces would launch "a decisive and immediate response" if they sent warships to the Strait of Hormuz.
London and Paris have both dispatched vessels to the region, as part of international efforts to secure the strategic waterway after a peace deal between the United States and the Islamic republic.

Drone attacks

Drones were launched at several targets in the Gulf on Sunday, with one hitting a freighter sailing towards Qatar from Abu Dhabi.
Qatar's defence ministry said a small fire was sparked on the commercial vessel but there were no casualties.
Kuwait's military said it repelled a dawn drone attack.

Iran's 'pressure card'

Qatar's prime minister told Iran's top diplomat Abbas Araghchi in a phone call that using the Strait of Hormuz as a "pressure card" will only deepen the Middle East crisis, the Qatari foreign ministry said.

Israeli PM says war 'not over'

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Iran's stockpile of uranium must be "taken out" before the US-Israeli war against Iran can be considered over.
"It's not over because there's still nuclear material -- enriched uranium -- that has to be taken out of Iran. There's still enrichment sites that have to be dismantled," the Israeli leader told CBS's "60 Minutes" programme.

Trump says Iran 'militarily defeated'

US President Donald Trump said it would only take two weeks to hit "every single target" in Iran, and described the Islamic republic as "militarily defeated".
"In their own minds, maybe they don't know that," he said in an interview with independent journalist Sharyl Attkisson. "But I think they do."

Israeli forces operated from Iraq

Israeli forces established a makeshift base using an old airstrip in Iraq early in the war against Iran, two security officials told AFP, confirming a report by the Wall Street Journal.
Troops set up at the facility that dates back to the time of Saddam Hussein in the Najaf desert, one official said. Forces are no longer there, they added.

Paramedics killed

Lebanon's health ministry said two paramedics from the Hezbollah-affiliated Islamic Health Committee were killed and five others wounded in Israeli strikes on the country's south despite a ceasefire.

'Unidentified aircraft' hit ship

South Korea said that one of its cargo vessels damaged days ago in the Strait of Hormuz was hit by "two unidentified aircraft" and analysis was being conducted on engine debris and fragments to determine the origin of the attack.
Iran denied responsibility for the May 4 attack. Trump at the time said Iran had "taken some shots" at the cargo vessel.

Iran threatens US sites

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps threatened to target US sites in the Middle East and "enemy ships" if its tankers come under fire, Iranian media reported.
"Any attack on Iranian tankers and commercial vessels will result in a heavy attack on one of the American centres in the region and enemy ships," it said, a day after US attacks against two Iranian tankers in the Gulf of Oman.

Rubio meets Qatari leader

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met the leader of ally Qatar to discuss "security across the Middle East", the State Department said.
bur/phz/rmb

Global Edition

Militia kill at least 69 in DR Congo: local, security sources

  • Armed men affiliated with the Codeco militia (Cooperative for the Development of Congo), which claims to protect the Lendu, carried out attacks in several villages on April 28, local and security sources told AFP, killing at least 69 people.
  • A militia attack killed at least 69 people in Ituri province in the conflict-torn northeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), local and security sources told AFP Saturday.
  • Armed men affiliated with the Codeco militia (Cooperative for the Development of Congo), which claims to protect the Lendu, carried out attacks in several villages on April 28, local and security sources told AFP, killing at least 69 people.
A militia attack killed at least 69 people in Ituri province in the conflict-torn northeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), local and security sources told AFP Saturday.
For more than 30 years the mineral-rich eastern DRC has been a battleground between various armed groups, vying for control of its many mines.
Two ethnic groups -- the Hema and the Lendu -- have been locked in a long-running violent conflict in Ituri, a gold-rich province that borders Uganda and South Sudan. 
Armed men affiliated with the Codeco militia (Cooperative for the Development of Congo), which claims to protect the Lendu, carried out attacks in several villages on April 28, local and security sources told AFP, killing at least 69 people.
These attacks followed an earlier assault by another armed group, the Convention for the Popular Revolution (CRP) -- which says it fights for the Hema community -- on positions held by the Congolese army (FARDC) near the locality of Pimbo, they said.
More than 70 people were killed when Codeco fighters launched  the retaliatory attacks in late April, civil society leader Dieudonne Losa told AFP.
On condition of anonymity, two other security sources confirmed the attacks, with one stating a death toll of at least 69, including 19 militia members and soldiers.
The presence of Codeco fighters delayed the recovery of the bodies for several days, they said.
"Only 25 bodies have been buried," Losa said Saturday, adding several sets of remains had yet to be recovered.  
A humanitarian source described bodies "strewn on the ground" near the village of Bassa, one of the areas targeted.

Avoiding retaliation

The United Nations' mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) said on April 30 it had rescued "nearly 200 people caught under fire" from the CRP assault on the FARDC.
On Saturday it said it "strongly condemns the recent wave of deadly attacks targeting civilians" in the restive east.
The Ente association, a non-profit representing the Hema community, described the killings as a "massacre", urging its members to avoid retaliation.
Famous for its mineral wealth, ranging from cobalt and copper to uranium and diamonds, the former Belgian colony has long been beset by corruption and bloodshed.
Since early 2025, Ituri has seen a resurgence of the CRP, a group founded by convicted Congolese warlord Thomas Lubanga.
He was found guilty in 2012 by the International Criminal Court for recruiting children into his rebel army and released in 2020 on completion of his prison sentence.
Fighting between the CRP, the Congolese army, and the Codeco militia has been marked by widespread abuses and killings of civilians.
The region also faces ongoing attacks by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a group formed by former Ugandan rebels that has pledged allegiance to Islamic State.
The province has been plunged into a humanitarian crisis, with nearly one million internally displaced people, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
str-clt/jj/phz/sjc/ceg

photography

Turkey show displays photo master Ara Guler's Cannes shots

BY FULYA OZERKAN

  • "Beyond the award ceremonies and red carpets, Ara Guler also captured what unfolded behind the scenes: lavish parties, intimate gatherings and even a luncheon held in honour of Sophia Loren," said Cagla Sarac, the art advisor for Dogus Group, a leading business group that founded the Ara Guler Museum. 
  • One shot shows Sophia Loren lifting a champagne glass beneath the adoring gaze of fans.
  • "Beyond the award ceremonies and red carpets, Ara Guler also captured what unfolded behind the scenes: lavish parties, intimate gatherings and even a luncheon held in honour of Sophia Loren," said Cagla Sarac, the art advisor for Dogus Group, a leading business group that founded the Ara Guler Museum. 
One shot shows Sophia Loren lifting a champagne glass beneath the adoring gaze of fans. In another frame, Brigitte Bardot lies carefree in the countryside in a T-shirt and jeans.
Frozen in time yet alive with glamour and spontaneity, these moments are part of a new exhibition in Istanbul featuring previously unseen shots by Turkey's legendary Magnum photographer Ara Guler at the Cannes Film Festival.
Dubbed the "Eye of Istanbul" by fans, Guler was famed for his iconic black-and-white images that captured the soul of the Turkish city.
He also regularly covered the world's top film festival on the French Riviera between 1957 and 1967.
"Beyond the award ceremonies and red carpets, Ara Guler also captured what unfolded behind the scenes: lavish parties, intimate gatherings and even a luncheon held in honour of Sophia Loren," said Cagla Sarac, the art advisor for Dogus Group, a leading business group that founded the Ara Guler Museum. 
"The result is a remarkably complete portrait of the festival, revealing not just its glamour, but the full human story surrounding it," she told AFP. 
His Cannes festival shots are on display until October 11 at the museum in Istanbul, opened in 2018, two months before his death on his 90th birthday.
Next to the museum, a team of experts continues to work meticulously on his vast archives, preserving the legacy of Turkey's photography master. 
"There are countless remarkable photographs in his archive, and with every exhibition we hope to bring new frames to light," Sarac said. 
- Passion for cinema- 
Traces of Guler's lifelong devotion to cinema can even be found in his teenage diaries from the late 1940s and 1950s, according to Temel Yilmaz, conservator and archive researcher.  
"In his high school diaries, we keep seeing the same line over and over again: 'I didn't go to school today,'" he said with a smile. "Because he had gone to the cinema instead". 
In a wide-ranging career, he also photographed famous personalities including Salvador Dali, Alfred Hitchcock and Winston Churchill.
Born to an Armenian family in Istanbul, Guler attended an Armenian school there and began working as a photographer on Turkish newspaper Yeni Istanbul. 
He got his first big international chance as a photographer in 1958 when US magazine Time-Life opened a Turkey office.
He then met the likes of photographers Marc Riboud and Henri Cartier-Bresson who signed him up to join the celebrated photo agency Magnum.

'Genuine portaits'

"He looked at everything through the lens of news value, always trying to document, always searching for a new story," recalled Alin Tasciyan, a film critic who has followed the Cannes Film Festival since 2002 and who knew Guler.
What stands out in his archive, Tasciyan told AFP, is his ability to see beyond the surface. 
"When I look at the photographs, I see the moments Ara Guler captured -- sailors arriving on boats. He would walk through the streets and beaches of Cannes, observe what was happening."
For Guler, photography was about truth rather than spectacle, she said.
"He really photographed the spirit of the time, the spirit of the place. In this exhibition, I saw how much he could extract from a place I know so well," she said. 
"I also saw his humour -- he was a very funny man. He would suddenly crack a joke at the most unexpected moment". 
fo/ach/rlp

health

Hantavirus-hit cruise ship arrives in Spain's Canary Islands

BY ALFONSO LUNA WITH ROBIN BJALON IN MADRID

  • Passengers and some of the crew are expected to evacuate before the ship, where an outbreak of hantavirus led to the deaths of three people, continues on its way to the Netherlands. 
  • A cruise ship hit with a deadly hantavirus outbreak arrived in Spain's Canary Islands Sunday, where most of the nearly 150 people on board will be evacuated and flown home after weeks at sea. 
  • Passengers and some of the crew are expected to evacuate before the ship, where an outbreak of hantavirus led to the deaths of three people, continues on its way to the Netherlands. 
A cruise ship hit with a deadly hantavirus outbreak arrived in Spain's Canary Islands Sunday, where most of the nearly 150 people on board will be evacuated and flown home after weeks at sea. 
The Dutch-flagged MV Hondius arrived at the Spanish port of Granadilla escorted by a Civil Guard vessel, AFP journalists reported, confirmed by data from the maritime tracking service VesselFinder.
Passengers and some of the crew are expected to evacuate before the ship, where an outbreak of hantavirus led to the deaths of three people, continues on its way to the Netherlands. 
Three passengers from the ship -- a Dutch husband and wife and a German woman -- have died, while others have fallen sick with the rare disease, which usually spreads among rodents.
The only hantavirus type that can transmit from person to person -- the Andes virus -- has been confirmed among those who have tested positive, fuelling international concern.
"We classify everybody on board as what we call a high-risk contact," WHO's epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention director Maria Van Kerkhove said Saturday.
But the risk to the general public and the people of the Canaries remained low, she added.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who arrived in Spain on Saturday and is expected to oversee the ship evacuation, gave the same assurance and thanked the people of Tenerife for their solidarity.
"I need you to hear me clearly," Tedros wrote in an open letter to the people of Tenerife on Saturday: "This is not another Covid."
After arriving in Tenerife, he said he was confident the operation would be a success. "Spain is ready and prepared," he told reporters.

Daily life uninterrupted

At the port of Granadilla de Abona early Sunday morning, AFP journalists saw white tents had been sent up along the quay and the police had secured part of the port.
Despite the situation, daily life appeared largely normal: some people were swimming, others shopping at the market or sitting at cafe terraces. 
"There are worries there could be a danger, but honestly I don't see people being very concerned," said David Parada, a lottery vendor.
Regional authorities have refused to allow the vessel to dock. Instead, it will remain offshore while passengers are screened and evacuated between Sunday and Monday -- the only window health officials say the weather will allow.
Cruise operator Oceanwide Expeditions said earlier that "all guests and a limited number of crew members" were expected to begin to leave the ship from around 0700 GMT.
"Once disembarked, they will be transferred immediately to their allocated aircraft," the Dutch firm said.
The WHO said Friday it had confirmed six cases out of eight suspected ones. There are no suspected cases remaining on the ship. 
The MV Hondius is sailing from Cape Verde, where three infected people had already been evacuated earlier in the week.

Tracking and tracing

In Madrid, Spain's health and interior ministers insisted there would be "no contact" with the local population, and that passengers would leave "by nationality groups". 
"All areas (the passengers) pass through will be sealed off," the interior minister said, adding a maritime exclusion zone would be in force around the vessel.
The MV Hondius left Ushuaia, Argentina on April 1 for a cruise across the Atlantic Ocean to Cape Verde.  
Provincial health official Juan Petrina said there was an "almost zero chance" the Dutch man linked to the outbreak contracted the disease in Ushuaia based on the virus's incubation period, among other factors. 
Health authorities in several countries have been tracking passengers who had already disembarked and anyone who may have come into contact with them.
A flight attendant on the Dutch airline KLM, who came into contact with an infected passenger from the cruise ship and later showed mild symptoms, tested negative for hantavirus, the WHO said Friday.  
The passenger -- the wife of the first person to die in the outbreak -- had briefly been on a plane bound from Johannesburg to the Netherlands on April 25, but was removed before take-off. 
She died the following day in a Johannesburg hospital. 
Spanish authorities said a woman on that flight was being tested for hantavirus, having developed symptoms at home in eastern Spain. She is in isolation in hospital, said health secretary Javier Padilla.  
Two Singapore residents who had been on the ship tested negative for the disease but would remain in quarantine, the city state's authorities said Friday.
British health authorities also said Friday there was a suspected case on Tristan da Cunha, one of the world's most isolated settlements with around 220 people. 
al-rbj/sjc/jxb

health

No trees, no fans: surviving extreme heat in India's salt pans

BY UZMI ATHAR

  • The job has always involved enduring harsh conditions, but this year the India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecasts an "above-normal number of heatwave days" across several regions, including Gujarat.
  • India faces challenging heatwaves each year, but few places endure conditions as searing as the country's western desert salt pans, where workers rely on simple techniques to survive almost unbearable temperatures.
  • The job has always involved enduring harsh conditions, but this year the India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecasts an "above-normal number of heatwave days" across several regions, including Gujarat.
India faces challenging heatwaves each year, but few places endure conditions as searing as the country's western desert salt pans, where workers rely on simple techniques to survive almost unbearable temperatures.
Up to 50,000 workers in Gujarat spend eight months on the remote salt pans without electricity or healthcare, relying on a tanker to deliver drinking and washing water every 25 days.
They use shaded rest breaks, cloth-cooled water bottles and staggered hours to survive.
In Gujarat's Little Rann of Kutch summer temperatures routinely cross 45C, and can climb to 47–48C.
The same dry heat that makes life punishing also makes the desert ideal for salt production -- Gujarat produces roughly three-quarters of India's total salt output.
"We work in staggered timing... doing our work in early mornings and after sunset," said 42-year-old Babulal Narayan, who rakes the salt as brine water dries in shallow pools.
During the hottest hours, many retreat to makeshift huts -- frames of sticks draped with coarse homespun cloth, plastered with wild donkey dung.
"We sit here every two to three hours, so that we do not feel weak or dizzy," said 17-year-old salt worker Bhavna Rathore.
The dung blocks the sun and allows heat to escape, while the rough cloth allows some air to pass through, she explained.
The huts offer shelter in a landscape without trees or natural shade, and where the sun reflects harshly off the white salt crust.

'Heatwave'

Kanchan Narayan, 44, uses a damp cloth-wrapped bottle hung on a string, cooling the drinking water inside via evaporation.
"The wind helps to cool the water," she said.
Poornima, a salt pan worker, sips black tea during the day -- saying the hot drink induces sweating in the dry weather to cool the body.
The salt is produced by pumping saline water from bore-wells into shallow pans, where the liquid evaporates under the sun and wind.
Workers rake the surface daily to ensure even crystallisation. Over weeks, a thick crust of salt forms, which the workers break and stack into mounds.
The job has always involved enduring harsh conditions, but this year the India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecasts an "above-normal number of heatwave days" across several regions, including Gujarat.
Workers are exposed to the heat for longer than before.
Previously, they relied on expensive diesel pumps to bring the saline water to the surface. But a switch to solar has brought down costs and allowed families to operate the pans for longer.
That means work that used to end in March now continues into the hottest months.

'Fever'

The consequences for workers can be deadly, with regular reports of fatigue, dizziness and nausea -- signs of heat stress, when the body's natural cooling systems are overwhelmed.
This can cause organ failure and even death. 
Several studies have found high levels of dehydration, heat stress and even signs of kidney malfunction among these communities.
"I take a paracetamol whenever fever becomes high," said Kanchan, a rare worker wearing rubber boots -- to protect against prolonged exposure to brine, that can crack skin so deep it bleeds.
India has no fixed legal temperature at which work must stop.
Instead it relies on IMD heatwave thresholds -- around 40C for alerts and 47C for "severe" conditions -- with local authorities imposing restrictions. 
The desert conditions make the extreme heat marginally more survivable -- at low humidity, sweat evaporates more quickly off the skin, cooling the body.
But conditions are growing harder, with heatwaves intensifying and unseasonal storms also threatening livelihoods.
A sudden rainstorm can dissolve crystallised salt overnight -- forcing workers to restart the evaporation cycle. 
"A big dust storm hit us last month, destroying salt worth 200,000 rupees ($2,100)," Narayan said.
He and five relatives made a profit of 250,000 rupees ($2,635) -- or $450 each for eight months of hard work.
But families say they have little alternative.
"What else will we do?" said 65-year-old worker Rasoda Rathore. 
"We have no land to farm, no livestock to earn our livelihood from... this is all we know."
uzm/pjm/sah/hol

Global Edition

Soaring energy profits reignite calls for windfall tax

BY OLIVIER DEVOS

  • - New projects - From London to Paris the strong results have sparked calls to tax oil company windfall profits, as occurred following the war in Ukraine which started in 2022.
  • European oil and gas companies who posted huge profits in the first quarter on soaring prices caused by the war in the Middle East face new calls from London to Paris to tax their outsized gains.
  • - New projects - From London to Paris the strong results have sparked calls to tax oil company windfall profits, as occurred following the war in Ukraine which started in 2022.
European oil and gas companies who posted huge profits in the first quarter on soaring prices caused by the war in the Middle East face new calls from London to Paris to tax their outsized gains.
Shell rounded out the major energy producers' earnings season on Thursday by announcing net profit of nearly $5.7 billion (around 4.8 billion euro), up 19 percent on the first quarter of 2025.
The group explained it had benefited from higher prices and "increased refining margins," as well as "a higher contribution from trading activities".
It was a similar story for British rival BP, which reported a sharp rise in profits at the end of last month, posting $3.84 billion while TotalEnergies saw their profits soar 51 percent to $5.8 billion.
In contrast, US energy companies ExxonMobil and Chevron saw their profits decline, results affected by an unfavourable time lag between the sale and delivery of products within the derivatives markets.
The US-Israeli war on Iran prompted Tehran to blockade the key energy chokepoint of the Strait of Hormuz, causing a sharp drop in oil supplies on the market and a surge in prices.
A barrel of Brent crude, the global benchmark, averaged around $100 in March, with peaks of $120, compared with $70 before hostilities began in late February.
That notably helped European trio BP, Shell and TotalEnergies, which have strong trading operations -– unlike their US counterparts and rivals ExxonMobil and Chevron, which are more reliant on  production activities.
The big difference this quarter is that "BP, Shell and Total benefited from both the higher prices and the turbulence itself," Stephen Innes, analyst with SPI Asset Management, told AFP.
He added that "the European majors looked less like traditional oil companies this quarter and more like sophisticated volatility traders operating inside the global energy system."

New projects

From London to Paris the strong results have sparked calls to tax oil company windfall profits, as occurred following the war in Ukraine which started in 2022.
"Once again, the fossil fuel giants are raking in massive profits," lamented Danny Gross of NGO Friends of the Earth in a statement which called for increased taxes on profits.
In the UK, oil companies operating in the North Sea remain subject to the Energy Profits Levy, a temporary levy on profits arising from the upstream production of oil and gas introduced in 2022, which has been extended and increased several times.
It is currently set at 38 percent of profits until 2030 and is in addition to the 40 percent of taxes already in force in the sector. However, it only applies to profits derived from UK oil and gas production.
The surging profits at Shell and BP has brought more calls to increase these levies, with Energy Minister Ed Miliband notably condemning what he termed "excessive profits". 
French President Emmanuel Macron is meanwhile calling for a European response in the face of excessive energy firm windfall profits or "speculative behaviour".
Analysts consulted by AFP indicate companies are expected to post strong profits again in the second quarter.
"Even if tensions ease, markets do not suddenly snap back to normal overnight," observed Innes.
"I am not sure this conflict will get resolved that easily," said Adi Imsirovic, senior lecturer in energy systems at Oxford University. That would keep prices higher for longer. 
That scenario is likely to stimulate new oil and gas projects, as envisaged by TotalEnergies, involving small-scale fields capable of rapid production.
Innes believes companies will prefer to put their faith in low-cost projects rather than rushing "blindly" into massive expansion.
"The winners will likely be the projects that are low-cost, flexible, and geopolitically secure, rather than massive expansion for expansion’s sake," he added.
In recent years, BP and Shell have scaled back several climate targets in favour of continuing oil and gas production.
More recently, TotalEnergies announced it could no longer commit to its 2050 carbon neutrality target, stressing the world was not yet ready to move on from oil.
The conflict has, nonetheless, brought the role of renewable energy in energy security back into the spotlight.
"This has not gone unnoticed in all capitals across the globe," said Imsirovic.
ode-nal/abb/cw/rl/ceg

US

Fearing return to war, Iran conservationists shore up damaged heritage sites

BY PAYAM DOOST MOHAMADI

  • Initial estimates suggest work at the site could cost around $1.7 million, though the figure could rise following a full assessment, he added, noting that repairs could take "two or more years". 
  • As fears of renewed conflict hang over Iran, conservationists are shoring up battered historic sites and taking stock of the damage caused by the war with the United States and Israel, though experts warn some repairs could take years.
  • Initial estimates suggest work at the site could cost around $1.7 million, though the figure could rise following a full assessment, he added, noting that repairs could take "two or more years". 
As fears of renewed conflict hang over Iran, conservationists are shoring up battered historic sites and taking stock of the damage caused by the war with the United States and Israel, though experts warn some repairs could take years.
At Golestan Palace, a defining cultural landmark in central Tehran, shattered mirrors, broken doors and debris from ornate ceilings now lie scattered across parts of the site after shockwaves from strikes on the capital following the outbreak of war on February 28.
The former royal residence, known for its sprawling gardens, pools and royal halls, has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2013. 
The fragile truce in place since April 8 has allowed experts to begin gauging the scale of the damage, though the complex remains closed to the public. 
"The damage has been assessed at several levels, but a more detailed specialised evaluation is still underway," Ali Omid Ali, a restoration specialist and head of the technical engineering department at Golestan Palace, told AFP. 
For now, he said, teams are focused on stabilising damaged structures and preventing further collapse before broader repair work can begin. 
"We need a more stable situation to start the restoration process," he said. 
Initial estimates suggest work at the site could cost around $1.7 million, though the figure could rise following a full assessment, he added, noting that repairs could take "two or more years". 
The palace, known for blending 19th-century Persian arts and architecture with European styles and motifs, is among at least five UNESCO-listed sites damaged during the conflict. 
"Fifty to 60 percent of its doors and windows are broken," Jabbar Avaj, director of the Golestan Palace museums, told the official IRNA news agency. 
The palace's famed Mirror Hall -- known for shimmering mosaics covering its ceilings and walls  -- and the Marble Throne, a ceremonial platform supported by statues representing mythical and royal symbols, were "seriously damaged", he said. 

'Shadow of war lingers'

Other affected UNESCO-listed sites include Chehel Sotoun Palace and the Masjed-e Jame mosque in Isfahan, as well as the prehistoric sites of the Khorramabad Valley. 
Beyond the listed sites, the war affected at least 140 culturally and historically significant locations across Iran, according to Hassan Fartousi, head of Iran's National Commission for UNESCO. 
Among them are Tehran's Marble Palace, the Teymourtash house and the sprawling Saadabad Palace complex in northern Tehran, a former royal residence set within a vast park and home to several museums. 
"The shadow of war still lingers over Iran's sky, and in this situation, we cannot plan very well for restoration," Fartousi said. 
While the ceasefire since April 8 has largely halted fighting in major urban centres housing cultural sites, sporadic clashes have occurred in coastal areas and Gulf waters, and talks have so far failed to produce a lasting settlement. 
Fartousi also worries that even after repairs, damaged heritage sites may never recover their original character, noting the entire idea of cultural heritage rests on "the concept of originality".
"Even if we do the restoration with our great artists and specialists in restoration, where will the originality be?" he said.
Funding remains a major challenge, with the Iranian government yet to announce a restoration budget as it struggles to offset the impact of the war and a US blockade that has severely disrupted exports. 
"Unfortunately, UNESCO and other international organisations have limited budget," he said, adding that negotiations were ongoing to secure support. 
Asked about the overall cost of restoring the damaged sites, Fartousi simply said: "All of them are priceless."
pdm/mz/smw

politics

Legal whiplash over abortion pill undermines care, say providers

BY MAGGY DONALDSON

  • In recent weeks, US courts have restricted the drug -- and then paused the restriction -- triggering uncertainty as to whether patients can receive the pill by mail following a virtual medical appointment.
  • The return of US abortion policy to the Supreme Court has triggered confusion around the use of the abortion pill mifepristone, legal whiplash that providers and major medical bodies say undermines care.
  • In recent weeks, US courts have restricted the drug -- and then paused the restriction -- triggering uncertainty as to whether patients can receive the pill by mail following a virtual medical appointment.
The return of US abortion policy to the Supreme Court has triggered confusion around the use of the abortion pill mifepristone, legal whiplash that providers and major medical bodies say undermines care.
In recent weeks, US courts have restricted the drug -- and then paused the restriction -- triggering uncertainty as to whether patients can receive the pill by mail following a virtual medical appointment.
Mifepristone is key to a common protocol for abortion as well as miscarriage management, and its restriction could have devastating effects nationwide, medical professionals say.
"It's dizzying," New Jersey abortion provider Kristyn Brandi told AFP.
"How do we navigate a system where we kind of know what's best for our patients, but can't give it to them, because we don't know what the rule is today."
In a major win for anti-abortion advocates, a federal appeals court on May 1 rolled back mail access via telehealth to the medicine, which has been allowed nationally since 2021.
Quickly thereafter, two drugmakers filed an emergency motion asking the Supreme Court for a stay to allow time for an appeal, which was granted for one week.
The justices are now considering whether to further extend the stay while litigation proceeds -- meaning telemedicine access to mifepristone would remain legal, for now -- or allow it to expire. That decision is expected by Monday.

'Monumental tragic consequences'

In the meantime, the legal seesawing has sown uncertainty over the pill that the US Food and Drug Administration approved more than a quarter-century ago.
More than one in four people who have an abortion obtain medication via telehealth, according to the Guttmacher Institute, which tracks reproductive health data.
Many major medical societies say mail access makes reproductive health care safer and more equitable, especially for people of limited means or who live in rural areas far from clinics. 
Medical providers in US states where abortion rights are protected also were able to prescribe and mail the medication to patients who might not otherwise have access.
The appeals court ruling sided with officials in Louisiana, who had argued that mailed mifepristone prescribed via telehealth was undermining state abortion laws, which count among the country's most restrictive. 
If that decision is allowed to come into effect, delivering mifepristone by post would be prohibited everywhere across the country -- in states with strict limits, but also where abortion rights are protected. 
The move, according to lawyer Julie Dahlstrom, would have "quite simply, monumental tragic consequences."

Alternative protocol

Mifepristone blocks the hormone progesterone. It is used to end pregnancies through 10 weeks gestation in combination with the drug misoprostol, which stimulates contractions and softens the cervix, allowing tissue to expel.
If the ruling on mifepristone is upheld, in-person dispensing requirements would be reinstated nationwide. Providers also are preparing to prescribe a single-drug protocol via telehealth using misoprostol only. 
That method is also long-proven, safe, and effective, Brandi said.
But broadly speaking, the combination regimen is preferred, as it can help hasten the process and curb uncomfortable side effects including cramping and bleeding.
"Should this really take effect, it will be yet another step backward in the care of pregnant people," Helen Weems, an abortion provider in rural Montana, told journalists. 
The two-drug protocol is also used to manage miscarriage, but Brandi fears the legal wrangling over mifepristone is creating "stigma."
The back-and-forth fosters confusion but also distrust, she said: "It further perpetuates the myth of like, the sketchy abortion doctor in the back alley."

'We shouldn't be here'

Brandi, the obstetrician-gynecologist in New Jersey, also warned that political theater prevents future advances.
Drugs often have more than one application, and Brandi said continuous research is needed not just for abortion and miscarriage care, but to better treat a gamut of health issues such as uterine fibroids.
Jen Castle, the national director of abortion service delivery at Planned Parenthood, vowed that "no matter what the Supreme Court does, we are still working to get people the care they need."
She noted the wealth of peer-reviewed research supporting mifepristone's safety and efficacy as well as decades of real-world use.
"Let's just remember," Castle said, "the bottom line is that we shouldn't be here at all."
mdo/md

police

Omar Garcia Harfuch: 'Mexico's Batman' -- and possible presidential hopeful

BY JARED OLSON AND LETICIA PINEDA

  • The following year, he was named security chief for Mexico City, when Sheinbaum was the capital's mayor. 
  • In 2020, gunmen riddled Omar Garcia Harfuch's car with 400 bullets as he passed through an upscale area of Mexico City.
  • The following year, he was named security chief for Mexico City, when Sheinbaum was the capital's mayor. 
In 2020, gunmen riddled Omar Garcia Harfuch's car with 400 bullets as he passed through an upscale area of Mexico City. He sustained three gunshot wounds but survived.
The tale has burnished the image of Harfuch, Mexico's high-profile security secretary known as "Batman" for his tough approach to fighting the country's powerful drug cartels, whom he blamed for the attack.
Indeed, the 44-year-old -- the son of popular telenovela actress Maria Sorte -- has become something of a folk superhero in a country worn down by violence, with the looks and attitude to match. 
Harfuch is tall, handsome and stylish. His smiling face, straight out of central casting, is seen on T-shirts, blankets, pillows and towels at stands all over the capital.
His soaring popularity has fueled rumors that he'll be named as a potential candidate for President Claudia Sheinbaum's ruling Morena party to succeed her in the 2030 election.  
But he also is under stiff pressure from the administration of US President Donald Trump to do even more to stem the flow of drugs over the common border.
It is tough for Harfuch to connect with ordinary Mexicans, given security concerns in the wake of the assassination attempt. But his public image -- built in part on an official decrease in the number of murders -- has won many over.

 Meteoric rise, with some scrutiny 

Born in Cuernavaca in February 1982, Harfuch was raised by his mother alone, but was born with politics and the military in his blood.
His father Javier Garcia Paniagua led Mexico's feared political police during the "dirty war" of the 1970s, and faced accusations of torture. His grandfather was the defense secretary when the military opened fire on university student protesters in Tlatelolco in 1968. 
Harfuch -- who holds a degree in law and public security -- started his career in 2008, 10 years after the death of his father.
Maribel Cervantes says she met him when he joined the now-dissolved federal police force, where she was his boss as the head of intelligence.
Harfuch loved "the streets," preferring "to go on operations" over desk work, Cervantes said.
During his time as federal police coordinator in Guerrero state, he faced scrutiny for the handling of the 2014 disappearances of 43 students allegedly kidnapped by drug traffickers in collusion with corrupt police, a case considered to be one of the worst human rights atrocities in Mexico.
Some witnesses accused Harfuch of being on the payroll of the cartel believed to be behind the disappearances, which he has repeatedly and vehemently denied.

Hail of bullets

He eventually became the director of the criminal investigation arm of the Mexican attorney general's office.
Harfuch "sought to professionalize, to modernize the intelligence agency to go after crimes," said Gerardo Rodriguez, an academic expert in national security who met Harfuch in 2018. 
The following year, he was named security chief for Mexico City, when Sheinbaum was the capital's mayor. 
He created an elite US-trained police unit with expanded investigative and operational powers who patrol with military-grade weapons -- a model he would later recreate at the federal level. 
Petty crimes dropped, as did homicides, according to official data, though some disputed the data as possibly massaged to benefit authorities. Reports of police abuses also surged during that time, drawing controversy.
Then the assassination attempt -- officially attributed to the Jalisco New Generation cartel -- changed his everyday existence.
Two of his escorts and a bystander died in the shooting spree. Harfuch was forced to move into an apartment within the security secretariat, and was largely isolated from his family.
An attack like that "marks you for life, marks you in the sense of commitment," Rodriguez told AFP.

The future

When Sheinbaum won the presidency and took power in 2024, she brought Harfuch into the federal government as security secretary. 
Together they scrapped the non-confrontational "hugs not bullets" policy of her predecessor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and pursued open collaboration with US security agencies. 
Harfuch -- who was trained in FBI workshops, according to Cervantes -- now frequently meets with US security officials to discuss anti-narcotics efforts. 
His success and possible political future hinges in part on the results of their intensified crackdown on organized crime.
Harfuch's popularity hit new heights in February when Mexico's most wanted narco, Nemesio "El Mencho" Oseguera, was killed in a military operation.
Sheinbaum is limited to a single six-year term as president, opening the door to... Batman.
A high-ranking police official who worked with Harfuch and asked not to be named said a run for the presidency would be a loss for the security community.
"The worst that could happen is that we lose Omar so he dedicates himself to politics," the official said.
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US

Iran's Guards threaten US Mideast sites as Trump awaits Tehran response

BY AFP TEAMS IN TEHRAN, WASHINGTON, ROME AND DUBAI

  • On Friday, a US fighter jet fired on and disabled two Iranian-flagged tankers that Washington accused of challenging its blockade of Iran's ports. 
  • Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards threatened Saturday to target US sites in the Middle East if its tankers come under fire, Iranian media reported, as Washington was left waiting for Tehran's response to its latest negotiating position.
  • On Friday, a US fighter jet fired on and disabled two Iranian-flagged tankers that Washington accused of challenging its blockade of Iran's ports. 
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards threatened Saturday to target US sites in the Middle East if its tankers come under fire, Iranian media reported, as Washington was left waiting for Tehran's response to its latest negotiating position.
"Any attack on Iranian tankers and commercial vessels will result in a heavy attack on one of the American centres in the region and enemy ships," the Guards said, a day after US strikes on two Iranian tankers in the Gulf of Oman.
US President Donald Trump had said on Friday he was expecting Iran's answer to Washington's latest proposal for a peace deal "supposedly tonight".
But if Tehran sent Pakistani mediators a response, there was no public sign of it, and Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi reportedly questioned the reliability of US leadership.
"The recent escalation of tensions by American forces in the Persian Gulf and their numerous actions in violating the ceasefire have added to suspicions about the motivation and seriousness of the American side in the path of diplomacy," he said in a call with his Turkish counterpart, according to Iran's ISNA news agency.
On Friday, a US fighter jet fired on and disabled two Iranian-flagged tankers that Washington accused of challenging its blockade of Iran's ports. An Iranian military official told local media the navy had responded with strikes.
That incident followed another flare-up the night before in the Strait of Hormuz, the vital international sea lane that Iran is seeking to control in order to extract tolls and wield economic leverage over the United States and its allies.
The US says it is unacceptable for Tehran to control the key oil route. 
Washington has sent Iran, via Pakistani mediators, a proposal to extend the truce in the Gulf to allow for talks on a final settlement of the conflict, launched 10 weeks ago with US-Israeli strikes on Iran.
A reporter for French broadcaster LCI, Margot Haddad, said Saturday that Trump had told her in a brief interview he still expected to find out Iran's answer "very soon". 
Iran's foreign ministry spokesman said Friday the proposal was still "under review".

Oil slick

Top US diplomat Marco Rubio met Saturday with the leader of Qatar, a key intermediary for Washington in dialogue with Iran, discussing "continued close coordination to deter threats and promote stability and security across the Middle East," the State Department said.
Qatar's Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani met the previous day with US Vice President JD Vance to discuss the Pakistani-led efforts to broker a permanent peace.
Iran has attacked sites in Qatar during the war, pointing to the wealthy emirate's role as host of a major US air base.
Meanwhile, satellite images have shown an apparent oil slick spreading off the coast of Iran's Kharg Island, a key oil export terminal for the Islamic republic.
It was not immediately clear what caused the apparent spill, which was off the island's west coast and appeared to cover more than 20 square miles (52 square kilometres), according to global monitor Orbital EOS.
A UK-based non-governmental organisation, the Conflict and Environment Observatory, told AFP that by Saturday the slick was "much reduced", and may have been caused by leaking oil infrastructure.
Kharg Island is at the heart of Iran's oil export industry, a lynchpin of its battered economy, and lies in the Gulf far north of the narrow Strait of Hormuz.
Following the start of the war on February 28, Iran largely closed the strait, throwing global markets into turmoil and driving up oil prices. 
The US later imposed its own blockade of Iranian ports in response, and Trump this week abandoned a short-lived US naval operation to reopen the strait to commercial shipping.

Lebanon front

A parallel ceasefire on the war's Lebanon front is also under strain amid daily exchanges of fire between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah. 
Authorities said at least nine people were killed in Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon on Saturday, while state media reported air raids targeting a highway south of Beirut, outside the militant group's traditional strongholds.
The fresh attacks were some of the most intense since the start of a three-week-old ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
Hezbollah said it targeted troops in northern Israel with drones on at least two occasions in response to the continued strikes.
Israel's military said several explosive drones were launched into Israeli territory, with one army reservist severely wounded and two others moderately injured.
The fresh strikes come as Lebanon and Israel, officially at war since 1948, are to hold direct negotiations in Washington next week, which Hezbollah vehemently opposes.
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US

At least 9 killed as Israel pounds Lebanon despite truce

  • Israeli attacks on Lebanon have killed nearly 2,800 people since March 2, including dozens since the truce went into force, according to Lebanese authorities. burs-lg/nad/smw/phz
  • Israel carried out strikes across Lebanon on Saturday, killing at least nine people in the south according to authorities, with raids also targeting a highway not far from Beirut outside of Hezbollah's traditional strongholds.
  • Israeli attacks on Lebanon have killed nearly 2,800 people since March 2, including dozens since the truce went into force, according to Lebanese authorities. burs-lg/nad/smw/phz
Israel carried out strikes across Lebanon on Saturday, killing at least nine people in the south according to authorities, with raids also targeting a highway not far from Beirut outside of Hezbollah's traditional strongholds.
The fresh attacks were some of the most intense since the start of a three-week-old ceasefire between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah that has done little to halt daily exchanges of fire, mostly in southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah said Saturday that it had targeted troops in northern Israel with drones on at least two occasions in response to the continued strikes.
The Israeli military said "several" explosive drones were launched into Israeli territory, with one army reservist severely wounded and two others moderately injured in one of the attacks.
Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA), meanwhile, reported a series of Israeli strikes across the south, including one on the town of Saksakiyeh.
The health ministry said that raid "resulted in an initial toll of seven martyrs, including a girl, and 15 wounded, including three children".
The Israeli military said it struck "Hezbollah terrorists operating from within a structure used for military purposes" in Saksakiyeh.
It added it was "aware of reports regarding harm to uninvolved civilians in the structure in which the terrorists were struck. The details of the incident are under review."
The health ministry reported that another Israeli strike on a motorbike in the city of Nabatieh hit "a Syrian national and his 12-year-old daughter".
"After they managed to move away from the site of the first strike, the drone attacked a second time," killing the father, the ministry said, adding the drone then targeted the girl "directly for a third time".
The girl was undergoing life-saving surgery, it added.
In the southern town of Bedias, the health ministry said one person was killed in an Israeli strike and 13 wounded, including six children and two women.
Israel's military had called on residents of nine villages to evacuate, saying it would act "forcefully" against Hezbollah, though neither of the two locations of the fatal strikes were included in the warnings.
NNA also reported that the "Israeli enemy launched two strikes on the Saadiyat highway", referring to a location around 20 kilometres (12 miles) south of Beirut and outside areas where Hezbollah has traditionally held sway. It later reported a third strike nearby.

'A new phase'

Under the terms of the ceasefire released by Washington, Israel reserves the right to act against "planned, imminent or ongoing attacks".
Earlier on Saturday, its military said it had struck more than 85 Hezbollah infrastructure sites in the past 24 hours.
Its troops are also operating inside an Israeli-declared "yellow line", running around 10 kilometres (six miles) inside Lebanon along the border, where residents have been warned not to return.
Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah on Saturday warned of "a new phase, in which the resistance (Hezbollah) will not accept a return to pre-March 2".
Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle East conflict on March 2 when it launched rockets at Israel to avenge the killing of Iran's supreme leader in US-Israeli strikes.
Even before then, Israel had carried out regular strikes targeting the group -- accusing it of seeking to rearm -- in spite of a 2024 ceasefire intended to end the last war between the foes.
Until March, Hezbollah had largely refrained from firing back.
"When it attacks our villages and suburbs, the enemy must expect a response, and this is what the resistance is doing," Fadlallah said, alluding to an Israeli attack this week on Beirut's southern suburbs that it said killed a Hezbollah commander.
In addition to its drone attack in northern Israel, Hezbollah on Saturday also claimed several attacks on Israeli military targets inside Lebanon using rockets and drones.
Lebanese and Israeli representatives are set to hold a fresh round of direct talks in Washington next week.
A first meeting was held days before US President Donald Trump announced the ceasefire in Lebanon, and the second round as he announced a three-week extension.
Fadlallah said the meetings amounted to a "path of concessions", reiterating his party's call for the government to withdraw in favour of indirect talks.
Israeli attacks on Lebanon have killed nearly 2,800 people since March 2, including dozens since the truce went into force, according to Lebanese authorities.
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health

Canary Islands brace for arrival of hantavirus-hit cruise ship

BY ALFONS LUNA WITH ROBIN BJALON IN MADRID

  • The MV Hondius is sailing from Cape Verde, where three infected people had already been evacuated earlier in the week.
  • A cruise ship hit with a deadly hantavirus outbreak is headed for Spain's Canary Islands, where most of the nearly 150 people on board will be evacuated and flown home after weeks at sea.  
  • The MV Hondius is sailing from Cape Verde, where three infected people had already been evacuated earlier in the week.
A cruise ship hit with a deadly hantavirus outbreak is headed for Spain's Canary Islands, where most of the nearly 150 people on board will be evacuated and flown home after weeks at sea.  
The Dutch-flagged MV Hondius is expected to reach waters off Tenerife at dawn on Sunday, where WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus is due to help coordinate the ship's evacuation. 
Three passengers from the ship -- a Dutch husband and wife and a German woman -- have died, while others have fallen sick with the rare disease, which usually spreads among rodents.
The only hantavirus type that can transmit from person to person -- the Andes virus -- has been confirmed among those who have tested positive, fuelling international concern.
"We classify everybody on board as what we call a high-risk contact," WHO's epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention director Maria Van Kerkhove said Saturday.
But the risk to the general public and the people of the Canaries remained low, she added.
Tedros, who arrived in Spain on Saturday, gave the same assurance and thanked the people of Tenerife for their "solidarity".
"I need you to hear me clearly," Tedros wrote in an open letter to the people of Tenerife on Saturday: "This is not another Covid."
After arriving in Tenerife, he said he was confident the operation would be a success. "Spain is ready and prepared," he told reporters.

Due early Sunday

At the port of Granadilla de Abona, AFP journalists saw white tents had been sent up along the quay and members of the civil guard had secured part of the port.
Despite the situation, daily life appeared largely normal: some people were swimming, others shopping at the market or sitting at cafe terraces. 
"There are worries there could be a danger, but honestly I don't see people being very concerned," said David Parada, a lottery vendor.
Regional authorities have refused to allow the vessel to dock. Instead, it will remain offshore while passengers are screened and evacuated between Sunday and Monday -- the only window health officials say the weather will allow.
Cruise operator Oceanwide Expeditions said it expected the ship to arrive at 0430 GMT and that "all guests and a limited number of crew members are expected to begin to disembark... from around 8:00 am local time (0700 GMT).
"Once disembarked, they will be transferred immediately to their allocated aircraft."
The WHO said Friday it had confirmed six cases out of eight suspected ones. There are no suspected cases remaining on the ship. 
The MV Hondius is sailing from Cape Verde, where three infected people had already been evacuated earlier in the week.

Tracking and tracing

In Madrid, Spain's health and interior ministers insisted there would be "no contact" with the local population, and that passengers would leave "by nationality groups". 
"All areas (the passengers) pass through will be sealed off," the interior minister said, adding a maritime exclusion zone would be in force around the vessel.
The MV Hondius left Ushuaia, Argentina on April 1 for a cruise across the Atlantic Ocean to Cape Verde.  
Provincial health official Juan Petrina said there was an "almost zero chance" the Dutch man linked to the outbreak contracted the disease in Ushuaia based on the virus's incubation period, among other factors. 
Health authorities in several countries have been tracking passengers who had already disembarked and anyone who may have come into contact with them.
A flight attendant on the Dutch airline KLM, who came into contact with an infected passenger from the cruise ship and later showed mild symptoms, tested negative for hantavirus, the WHO said Friday.  
The passenger -- the wife of the first person to die in the outbreak -- had briefly been on a plane bound from Johannesburg to the Netherlands on April 25, but was removed before take-off. 
She died the following day in a Johannesburg hospital. 
Spanish authorities said a woman on that flight was being tested for hantavirus, having developed symptoms at home in eastern Spain. She is in isolation in hospital, said health secretary Javier Padilla.  
Two Singapore residents who had been on the ship tested negative for the disease but would remain in quarantine, the city state's authorities said Friday.
British health authorities also said Friday there was a suspected case on Tristan da Cunha, one of the world's most isolated settlements with around 220 people. 
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justice

Brazil court suspends law aimed at reducing Bolsonaro sentence

  • In practical terms, Moraes's order on Saturday suspends the review of these cases until the full Supreme Court meets to decide whether the law is constitutional, after being petitioned by left-wing parties. 
  • A Brazilian Supreme Court justice on Saturday suspended implementation of a law that could reduce the prison sentence of former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro until legal challenges against it are heard, according to a document obtained by AFP. Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered the suspension of the law until the Supreme Court holds a full hearing on appeals challenging its "constitutionality," the document said.
  • In practical terms, Moraes's order on Saturday suspends the review of these cases until the full Supreme Court meets to decide whether the law is constitutional, after being petitioned by left-wing parties. 
A Brazilian Supreme Court justice on Saturday suspended implementation of a law that could reduce the prison sentence of former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro until legal challenges against it are heard, according to a document obtained by AFP.
Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered the suspension of the law until the Supreme Court holds a full hearing on appeals challenging its "constitutionality," the document said.
In September, Bolsonaro was sentenced to 27 years in prison by the Supreme Court, which found him guilty of conspiring to remain in power despite his 2022 electoral defeat to leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
The law, passed in December by the conservative-majority Congress, was blocked by Lula the following month.
However, lawmakers led by Bolsonaro's allies overturned the presidential veto in late April, and the measure was finally enacted on Friday.
The new law, which applies to all those convicted like Bolsonaro for coup plotting, is intended to reduce the waiting period for sentence reductions, potentially significantly reducing prison terms.
However, defense attorneys of those convicted must file a request for the Supreme Court to recalculate the terms of sentence reductions on a case-by-case basis. 
In practical terms, Moraes's order on Saturday suspends the review of these cases until the full Supreme Court meets to decide whether the law is constitutional, after being petitioned by left-wing parties. 
The sentence reductions provided for by the law are also intended to benefit those convicted of participating in riots on January 8, 2023, when a mob of Bolsonaro supporters ransacked government buildings in Brasilia, a week after Lula's inauguration. 
According to the Supreme Court, this assault was an integral part of the coup plot. 
Bolsonaro, 71, is currently serving his sentence under house arrest for health reasons.
On Friday, his lawyers filed a new appeal, asking the Supreme Court to overturn his conviction in order to "rectify a miscarriage of justice."
The former president, who was in office from 2019 to 2022 and has been barred from running again, has designated his eldest son Flavio as his political successor to contest the October election against Lula, who is seeking a fourth term at age 80.
"He should have been our presidential candidate," the 45-year-old senator said of his father at a Saturday event with political allies where he promised to "retire Lula."
Recent polls show Lula and Flavio Bolsonaro neck-and-neck.
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