media

Telegram's Durov questioned in France over alleged illegal content on app

conflict

Thailand and Cambodia trade allegations of truce breaking

BY MONTIRA RUNGJIRAJITTRANON
Wed Jul 30 2025 12:11:37 GMT+0000

  • On Wednesday a Cambodian defence ministry official accused Thailand of twice the previous day breaching the ceasefire, intended to end fighting which has seen the two countries evacuate a total of more than 300,000 people from the border region.
  • Thailand and Cambodia exchanged allegations on Wednesday of breaching a ceasefire deal which has largely halted the open combat that engulfed their frontier.
  • On Wednesday a Cambodian defence ministry official accused Thailand of twice the previous day breaching the ceasefire, intended to end fighting which has seen the two countries evacuate a total of more than 300,000 people from the border region.
Thailand and Cambodia exchanged allegations on Wednesday of breaching a ceasefire deal which has largely halted the open combat that engulfed their frontier.
The nations agreed a truce starting Tuesday after five days of clashes killed at least 43 on both sides, as a long-standing dispute over contested border temples boiled over into fighting on their 800-kilometre (500-mile) boundary.
But Thailand's foreign ministry said its troops in Sisaket province "came under attack by small arms fire and grenade assaults launched by Cambodian forces" in an offensive which continued until Wednesday morning.
"This represents a flagrant violation of the ceasefire agreement," said a foreign ministry statement.
Thai government spokesman Jirayu Huangsab also reported overnight clashes but said in a statement "the Thai side maintained control of the situation" and "general conditions along the border are reported to be normal" from 8:00 am (0100 GMT).
On Wednesday a Cambodian defence ministry official accused Thailand of twice the previous day breaching the ceasefire, intended to end fighting which has seen the two countries evacuate a total of more than 300,000 people from the border region.
At a temple in Thailand's Surin city serving as a shelter and field kitchen 50 kilometres away from the frontier, volunteer Thanin Kittiworranun said evacuees remain in limbo.
"We don't believe Cambodia will hold the ceasefire," the 65-year-old told AFP.
But an AFP journalist on the Cambodian side who heard a steady drumbeat of artillery fire since fighting began last Thursday reported hearing no blasts between the start of the truce and Wednesday morning.
And Beijing said deputy foreign minister Sun Weidong hosted a Shanghai meeting with Thai and Cambodian officials where both "reaffirmed to China their commitment to abide by the ceasefire consensus".

'Still fragile'

The armistice got off to a shaky start in the early hours of Tuesday, with Thailand accusing Cambodia of continuing attacks in "a clear attempt to undermine mutual trust" -- before peace generally prevailed.
Meetings between rival commanders along the border -- scheduled as part of the pact -- went ahead, with Thailand's army saying de-escalation steps were agreed including "a halt on troop reinforcements or movements that could lead to misunderstandings".
But later in the day a foreign affairs spokeswoman for Bangkok's border crisis centre, Maratee Nalita Andamo, warned: "In this moment, in the early days of the ceasefire, the situation is still fragile".
Jets, rockets and artillery have killed at least 15 Thai troops and 15 Thai civilians, while Cambodia has confirmed only eight civilian and five military deaths.
The flare-up has surpassed the death toll of 28 in violence that raged sporadically from 2008 to 2011 over the territory, claimed by both nations because of a vague demarcation made by Cambodia's French colonial administrators in 1907.
The peace pact was sealed in Malaysia after intervention from US President Donald Trump -- who both Thailand and Cambodia are courting for a trade deal to avert his threat of eye-watering tariffs.
tak/jts/dhw

conflict

Thai family mourns soldier son killed just before truce

BY CHAYANIT ITTHIPONGMAETEE
Wed Jul 30 2025 12:08:10 GMT+0000

  • Theerayuth joined the Thai military just last year and was assigned the role of ammunition bearer.
  • The clock was pointing towards peace when Private First Class Theerayuth Krajangthong was cut down on the Thai frontier -- among the last casualties before a midnight ceasefire with Cambodia.
  • Theerayuth joined the Thai military just last year and was assigned the role of ammunition bearer.
The clock was pointing towards peace when Private First Class Theerayuth Krajangthong was cut down on the Thai frontier -- among the last casualties before a midnight ceasefire with Cambodia.
His funeral rites began Wednesday as Buddhist monks blessed his body with sacred chants, his remains in a shimmering silver coffin draped with Thailand's ensign and flanked by his neatly folded uniform.
"He was brave -- brave until the very last moment of his life," said his sister, 26-year-old Hormchan Krajangthong, her voice breaking with emotion.
"He gave his blood and body for our king and country," she told AFP in the village of Nong Yang Pong Sadao, just 27 kilometres (17 miles) from the border with Cambodia.
Five days of clashes over ancient temples on the frontier killed at least 43 people on both sides, sending more than 300,000 fleeing as the countries battled with jets, artillery and ground troops.
A truce deal took effect at midnight Monday and has broadly held despite scattered skirmishes. But it was not soon enough to save 22-year-old Theerayuth.
He was killed by a shrapnel blast in Sisaket province late Monday -- after the truce was agreed, but before it began -- in one of the final artillery exchanges of the conflict.
Theerayuth joined the Thai military just last year and was assigned the role of ammunition bearer.
"He wanted to be a soldier since he was little," said his 60-year-old father, Kimdaeng Krajangthong, his eyes red and glassy. "I'm both proud and heartbroken."

'Don't worry about me'

When shelling began, his family fled their Buriram province home for an evacuation centre, but Theerayuth was called up to the front.
As he boarded the military truck bound for the border, his mother Tin Krajangthong, 61, gave him a patch of her sarong to tuck in his uniform pocket -- a talisman to shield him from harm.
His regular calls from the front line reassured them. Even when they stopped on Friday night amid increasing strikes, his family did not worry -- assuming his silence was a safety precaution.
"The last time we spoke, my brother told me and our parents, 'Don't worry about me. I'm safe'," his sister Hormchan said.
The blow of grief only came after the guns fell silent.
On Tuesday morning, Hormchan received a call from an unknown number -- her brother's commanding officer. 
"He said my brother was gone," she told AFP. "I couldn't believe it."
"Everyone at the evacuation centre was in shock."
Now Theerayuth's mother stands beside his coffin -- gently knocking it in a Thai custom meant to call back a departed spirit one last time, or let a soul know loved ones are still near.
Thailand and Cambodia will spend the coming days tallying losses from the fighting -- the deadliest to engulf their border in years.
After two more days of funeral ceremonies, Theerayuth's body will be cremated according to Buddhist tradition, his family's own personal loss sealed.
As the monks began their chants on Wednesday, his father clasped his hands.
"I pray my son goes to heaven," he said. "And if there's another life, may he get to be our son again."
cl/jts/sco

growth

Eurozone economy expands but tariff impact looms

BY RAZIYE AKKOC
Wed Jul 30 2025 11:48:02 GMT+0000

  • The eurozone economy showed "resilience despite US trade volatility", ING Bank's Bert Colijn said.
  • The eurozone economy unexpectedly expanded in the second quarter of 2025, official data showed Wednesday, despite international trade tensions clouding the global outlook.
  • The eurozone economy showed "resilience despite US trade volatility", ING Bank's Bert Colijn said.
The eurozone economy unexpectedly expanded in the second quarter of 2025, official data showed Wednesday, despite international trade tensions clouding the global outlook.
The EU's official data agency said the 20-country single currency area recorded growth of 0.1 percent over the same period last year -- slightly better than the flat performance forecast by analysts. 
The eurozone economy showed "resilience despite US trade volatility", ING Bank's Bert Colijn said.
Since US President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January he has hit the EU with a series of painful tariffs, but the bloc struck a deal on Sunday to avert an escalating trade war.
EU officials hope the agreement will bring certainty for companies and stave off further economic pain, though analysts warn that Europe will still take a hit to its output from the deal, which foresees a 15-percent US tariff on most exports.
Eurostat data on Wednesday showed that Europe's second-largest economy, France, beat expectations to grow by 0.3 percent in the second quarter, but it was Spain that was the star performer, recording growth of 0.7 percent between April and June.
Portugal also recorded 0.6 percent growth in the same quarter.
Europe's economic powerhouse, Germany, unexpectedly shrank by 0.1 percent from the previous quarter. Italy's economy also contracted by 0.1 percent in the period.
The eurozone growth of 0.1 percent came after the single currency area's economy grew by 0.6 percent in the first quarter.
But economists warned against reading too much into the first-quarter data, saying it was due to an extreme change in Ireland's figures.
The 27-country EU economy expanded by 0.2 percent over the April-June period from the previous quarter, after registering 0.5 percent growth in the first three months of 2025.

Weak growth expected

The year has been full of uncertainty for Europe. Trump threatened 30-percent levies on most European goods if Brussels and Washington did not clinch a deal by August 1.
Sunday's agreement lacks details -- with much still being negotiated -- but the two sides confirmed a majority of EU products would face the 15-percent tariff rate, including pharmaceuticals and semiconductors.
Economists warned that the deal would impact the eurozone economy.
"With the 15 percent US universal tariff likely to subtract around 0.2 percent from the region's GDP, growth is likely to remain weak in the rest of this year," said Franziska Palmas, senior Europe economist at Capital Economics.
"Looking ahead, expect swings in trade to continue to influence the economy," said ING's Colijn, who nonetheless sounded an optimistic note for the future.
"For the short term, don't expect miracles, but at the same time, there are new signs of life starting to emerge for the eurozone economy," he said.
In the first half of the year, European companies rushed to ship more goods to avoid Trump's higher tariffs.
France's Economy Minister Eric Lombard said the figures for France showed that the country's companies also proved resilient to US tariff hikes.
France is now pushing for zero tariffs on alcohol including champagne and wines as well as spirits, with talks still ongoing on the issue.
European officials say the deal included an agreement on mutual tariff exemptions for certain goods -- but which ones exactly remained to be nailed down.
raz/ec/js

earthquake

Russian TV shows buildings swept away as tsunami hits coast

Wed Jul 30 2025 10:54:08 GMT+0000

  • In Severo-Kurilsk, a Russian town of about 2,000 people some 350 kilometres (217 miles) southwest of the earthquake's epicentre, tsunami waves crashed through the port area and submerged the local fishing plant, according to authorities.
  • Russian state television on Wednesday aired footage of a tsunami wave sweeping through a coastal town in the far east of the country, carrying buildings and debris into the sea.
  • In Severo-Kurilsk, a Russian town of about 2,000 people some 350 kilometres (217 miles) southwest of the earthquake's epicentre, tsunami waves crashed through the port area and submerged the local fishing plant, according to authorities.
Russian state television on Wednesday aired footage of a tsunami wave sweeping through a coastal town in the far east of the country, carrying buildings and debris into the sea.
An 8.8 magnitude megaquake struck off the coast of Russia's far eastern Kamchatka peninsula earlier, prompting evacuations and tsunami alerts across parts of the Pacific coast.
In Severo-Kurilsk, a Russian town of about 2,000 people some 350 kilometres (217 miles) southwest of the earthquake's epicentre, tsunami waves crashed through the port area and submerged the local fishing plant, according to authorities.
The town lies on the northern Kuril island of Paramushir, just south of the Kamchatka peninsula.
The waves, which were up to four metres high in some areas, reached as far as the town's World War II monument about 400 metres (1,312 feet) from the shoreline, according to Mayor Alexander Ovsyannikov.
Most of the town lies on higher ground safe from flooding, he added.
"Everyone was evacuated. There was enough time, a whole hour. So everyone was evacuated, all the people are in the tsunami safety zone," he said at a crisis meeting with officials earlier.

'Everyone acted quickly'

The Kremlin said "all warning systems" had worked properly.
"Thank God, there were no casualties," spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters including AFP.
An expedition group from the Russian Geographical Society was on the neighbouring island of Shumshu when the tsunami swept away their tent camp.
"When the wave hit, all we could do was run to higher ground. It's very difficult to do that in boots on slippery grass and in fog," group member Vera Kostamo told Russian tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda.
"All the tents and structures were swept away by the wave, and our belongings were scattered across the beach for hundreds of metres," she added.
"We have no casualties, everyone acted quickly, but we lost all our belongings."
Authorities in the Sakhalin region, which includes the northern Kuril Islands, declared a state of emergency.
The regional seismic monitoring service said the earthquake was the region's strongest since 1952.
"Strong aftershocks with a magnitude of up to 7.5 should be expected," it added.
bur/giv

US

Huge quake off Russia sparks Pacific tsunamis

BY CAROLINE GARDIN WITH EUGENE TANNER IN HONOLULU
Wed Jul 30 2025 10:03:10 GMT+0000

  • The epicentre is roughly the same as the massive 9.0 quake that year which resulted in a destructive, Pacific-wide tsunami, according to the USGS. The organisation said it was one of the 10 strongest earthquakes ever recorded.
  • One of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded struck Russia's sparsely populated Far East on Wednesday, causing tsunamis up to four metres (12 feet) high across the Pacific and sparking evacuations from Hawaii to Japan.
  • The epicentre is roughly the same as the massive 9.0 quake that year which resulted in a destructive, Pacific-wide tsunami, according to the USGS. The organisation said it was one of the 10 strongest earthquakes ever recorded.
One of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded struck Russia's sparsely populated Far East on Wednesday, causing tsunamis up to four metres (12 feet) high across the Pacific and sparking evacuations from Hawaii to Japan.
The magnitude 8.8 quake struck off Petropavlovsk on Russia's remote Kamchatka peninsula, and was the largest since 2011 when one of magnitude 9.1 off Japan and a subsequent tsunami killed more than 15,000 people.
Russian authorities said a tsunami hit and flooded the port town of Severo-Kurilsk, crashing through the port area and submerging the local fishing plant. 
Authorities said the population of around 2,000 people was evacuated.
The waves -- which were up to four metres high in some areas -- reached as far as the town's World War II monument about 400 metres from the shore line, according to Mayor Alexander Ovsyannikov.
Several people were injured in Russia by the quake, state media reported, but none seriously.
"The walls were shaking," a Kamchatka resident told state media Zvezda.
"It's good that we packed a suitcase, there was one with water and clothes near the door. We quickly grabbed it and ran out... It was very scary," she said.

Millions advised to evacuate

Officials from countries with a Pacific coastline in North and South America -- including the United States, Mexico, Ecuador and Colombia -- issued warnings to avoid threatened beaches and low-lying areas.
In Japan, nearly two million people were advised to evacuate, and many left by car or on foot to higher ground.
One woman was killed as she drove her car off a cliff as she tried to evacuate, local media reported.
A 1.3-metre high tsunami reached a port in the northern prefecture of Iwate, Japan's weather agency said.
In Hawaii, governor Josh Green said flights in and out of the island of Maui had been cancelled as a precaution.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center later downgraded the alert for Hawaii to an advisory and local authorities cancelled a coastal evacuation order.
Earlier, tsunami sirens blared near Hawaii's popular Waikiki surf beach where an AFP photographer saw gridlocked traffic as Hawaiians escaped to higher ground.
"STAY STRONG AND STAY SAFE!" US President Donald Trump said on social media.

Pacific alerts

Wednesday's quake was the strongest in the Kamchatka region since 1952, the regional seismic monitoring service said, warning of aftershocks of up to 7.5 magnitude.
The epicentre is roughly the same as the massive 9.0 quake that year which resulted in a destructive, Pacific-wide tsunami, according to the USGS.
The organisation said it was one of the 10 strongest earthquakes ever recorded.
On Wednesday at least six aftershocks further rattled the Russian Far East, including one of 6.9 magnitude and another listed at 6.3.
The US Tsunami Warning Centers said waves exceeding three metres above the tide level were possible along some coasts of Ecuador, northwestern Hawaiian islands and Russia.
Between one- and three-metre waves were possible along some coasts of Chile, Costa Rica, French Polynesia, Hawaii, Japan and other islands in the Pacific, it said.
Waves of up to one metre were possible elsewhere, including Australia, Colombia, Mexico, New Zealand, Tonga and Taiwan.

Fukushima evacuated

At Inage Beach in Chiba prefecture in Japan, a security perimeter was set up, and a rescue worker told AFP that the seaside area was off limits until further notice.
"I didn't expect there to be a tsunami; I actually made a joke about it when we heard (the alert)," Canadian tourist Leana Lussier, 17, told AFP.
Workers at the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant in northeast Japan -- destroyed by a huge quake and tsunami in 2011 -- were evacuated, its operator said.
In Taitung in Taiwan, hotel resort worker Wilson Wang, 31, told AFP: "We've advised guests to stay safe and not go out, and to avoid going to the coast."
Pacific nation Palau, about 800 kilometres (500 miles) east of the Philippines, ordered the evacuation of "all areas along the coastline".
Waves of up to four metres are expected overnight in the Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia, authorities said in a press statement.
bur-stu/fox/mtp

climate

Shanghai evacuates 283,000 people as typhoon hits

BY REBECCA BAILEY AND JING XUAN TENG
Wed Jul 30 2025 09:54:38 GMT+0000

  • Typhoon Co-May first made landfall in eastern Zhejiang province around 4:30 am Wednesday (2030 GMT Tuesday), with winds near its centre of 83 kilometres (52 miles) per hour. 
  • Shanghai has evacuated almost 283,000 people from vulnerable coastal and low-lying areas as Typhoon Co-May made landfall in the Chinese financial hub on Wednesday evening, bringing lashing rains and winds.
  • Typhoon Co-May first made landfall in eastern Zhejiang province around 4:30 am Wednesday (2030 GMT Tuesday), with winds near its centre of 83 kilometres (52 miles) per hour. 
Shanghai has evacuated almost 283,000 people from vulnerable coastal and low-lying areas as Typhoon Co-May made landfall in the Chinese financial hub on Wednesday evening, bringing lashing rains and winds.
Almost a third of flights from Shanghai's two international airports have been cancelled, the city's news service said, totalling around 640.
The Shanghai Central Meteorological Observatory upgraded an earlier yellow rainstorm alert to orange on Wednesday afternoon, the second-highest warning level.
Typhoon Co-May first made landfall in eastern Zhejiang province around 4:30 am Wednesday (2030 GMT Tuesday), with winds near its centre of 83 kilometres (52 miles) per hour. 
"From last night to 10:00 am today, 282,800 people have been evacuated and relocated, basically achieving the goal of evacuating all those who needed to be evacuated," state broadcaster CCTV reported.
More than 1,900 temporary shelters have been set up across the city, authorities said.
In a village on the outskirts of Shanghai on Wednesday evening, one such shelter -- a large hall filled with dozens of iron beds -- was mostly occupied by elderly people, AFP reporters saw.
Around 20 people sat on beds or gathered around tables to eat dinner, along with local community staff.
Sheets of rain inundated the city without pause on Wednesday, with pedestrians bracing their umbrellas against gusts and delivery drivers splashing through huge puddles as they made their way through sodden streets.
Ferry services have been cancelled, additional speed limits are in place on highways, and there has been some disruption to metro and train services. 
However, Shanghai's Legoland and Disneyland remained open on Wednesday morning. 

Wave warning

As the typhoon tracked northwest after making landfall in the morning, live shots from China's eastern coast showed waves overrunning seaside walkways, while broadcasts from the city of Ningbo showed residents sploshing through ankle-deep water.
Separately, China issued a tsunami warning for parts of the eastern seaboard after a magnitude-8.8 earthquake struck off Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula.
However, the warning was later lifted, according to CCTV.
Co-May was downgraded to a tropical storm before leaving the Philippines, and then strengthened again over the South China Sea.
Its passage has had an indirect link to extreme weather in northern China, Chen Tao, chief forecaster at the National Meteorological Center, told the state-run China Daily.
Heavy rain there has killed more than 30 people and forced authorities to evacuate tens of thousands, state media reported Tuesday.
"Typhoon activity can influence atmospheric circulation... thereby altering the northward transport of moisture," Chen said. 
Natural disasters are common across China, particularly in the summer when some regions experience heavy rain while others bake in searing heat.
China is the world's biggest emitter of the greenhouse gases that drive climate change and contribute to making extreme weather more frequent and intense.
But it is also a global renewable energy powerhouse that aims to make its massive economy carbon-neutral by 2060.
bur-reb/dhw

weather

Japan sees new record high temperature of 41.2C

Wed Jul 30 2025 06:59:26 GMT+0000

  • In tourist hotspot Kyoto the mercury hit 40C, the first time any of its observation points -- the oldest opened in 1880, the newest in 2002 -- had seen such a high, authorities said.
  • Japan sweltered in a new record temperature of 41.2C on Wednesday, with the mercury also hitting 40C in the ancient capital of Kyoto for the first time since observations began.
  • In tourist hotspot Kyoto the mercury hit 40C, the first time any of its observation points -- the oldest opened in 1880, the newest in 2002 -- had seen such a high, authorities said.
Japan sweltered in a new record temperature of 41.2C on Wednesday, with the mercury also hitting 40C in the ancient capital of Kyoto for the first time since observations began.
Temperatures the world over have soared in recent years as climate change creates ever more erratic weather patterns, and Japan is no exception.
Wednesday's new record in the western region of Hyogo surpassed the previous high of 41.1C seen in Hamamatsu in 2020 and Kumagaya in 2018, the weather office said.
The record comes on a day Japan was also on high alert for tsunamis after a massive magnitude 8.8 earthquake in Far East Russia.
In tourist hotspot Kyoto the mercury hit 40C, the first time any of its observation points -- the oldest opened in 1880, the newest in 2002 -- had seen such a high, authorities said.
Japan's summer last year was the joint hottest on record, equalling the level seen in 2023, followed by the warmest autumn since records began 126 years ago.
The Japanese government has issued heatstroke warnings to a large swathe of the archipelago in recent days as temperatures topped 35C at hundreds of observation points.
On Tuesday, the temperature hit 35C or higher at 322 of 914 observation points nationwide, reportedly the highest number since comparative data became available in 2010.
New highs were set in 38 locations, including Gujo in Gifu Prefecture in central Japan, which reached 39.8C, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said.
The heatwave is forecast to continue, the JMA said, warning of a "significant" rise in temperature in northern and eastern regions.
"Please take care of your health including (avoiding) heatstroke," it said.

Heatstroke

A total of 10,804 people in Japan were sent to hospital due to heatstroke last week, the highest weekly figure this year.
In total 16 people died, the Fire and Disaster Management Agency said.
The number is the highest this year, surpassing the previous record of 10,053 people hospitalised in the week from June 30 to July 6.
Every summer, Japanese officials urge the public to seek shelter in air-conditioned rooms to avoid heatstroke.
The elderly in Japan -- which has the world's second-oldest population after Monaco -- are particularly at risk.
Western Europe saw its hottest June on record last month, as extreme temperatures blasted the region in punishing back-to-back heatwaves, according to the EU climate monitor Copernicus.
Dangerous temperatures stretched into July, with separate research estimating that climate change made the heat up to 4C hotter, pushing the thermometer into deadly territory for thousands of vulnerable people and greatly worsening the projected death toll.
Millions were exposed to high heat stress as daily average temperatures in western Europe climbed to levels rarely seen before -- and never so early in the summer.  
Several countries recorded surface temperatures above 40C, with heat of up to 46C in Spain and Portugal, the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said.
tmo-stu/fox

planning

Canada project reclaims 'foul' industrial area to contain floods

BY BEN SIMON
Wed Jul 30 2025 05:20:13 GMT+0000

  • - Hurricane Hazel - On October 15, 1954 Hurricane Hazel hit Toronto, after hammering parts of the Caribbean and eastern United States.
  • The spur to build Toronto's billion-dollar-plus flood prevention project dates back to a devastating hurricane in 1954, but planners say its urgency was reinforced by the recent tragic flooding in Texas.
  • - Hurricane Hazel - On October 15, 1954 Hurricane Hazel hit Toronto, after hammering parts of the Caribbean and eastern United States.
The spur to build Toronto's billion-dollar-plus flood prevention project dates back to a devastating hurricane in 1954, but planners say its urgency was reinforced by the recent tragic flooding in Texas.
The Port Lands project has, in part, reversed a consequence of industrialization by reconnecting Lake Ontario with the Don River, more than a century after they were severed to create an industrial area.
Chris Glaisek, chief planning officer at the municipal body Waterfront Toronto, said the idea was to "heal the land from the way it was repurposed 100 years ago," with a focus on "flood protection and naturalization."
The complex project -- one of the largest in Toronto's history with a cost of Can$1.4 billion (US$1 billion) -- included digging a river valley and the creation of two new river outlets, with wetlands and marshes to absorb excess water during extreme storms.
The mouth of the Don River was once the Great Lakes system's largest fresh water marsh, a rich habitat and vital food resource for Indigenous people before colonization.
But Toronto, like many North American cities, saw industrial growth in the late 19th Century.
Much of the marsh was drained and filled in to make room for a port industrial area, while the river was re-routed into a man-made channel. 
The Port Lands never thrived as an industrial area, leaving a vast stretch of eastern downtown under-used, and the Don River became polluted.   
"It was really dirty, it was foul, it was terrible," Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow said recently. 

Hurricane Hazel

On October 15, 1954 Hurricane Hazel hit Toronto, after hammering parts of the Caribbean and eastern United States.
It killed 81 people across the Greater Toronto Area and served as catalyst for the city to get serious about flood protection.  
Hazel flooded the Humber River, in western Toronto, but Glaisek said "it was understood at the time that that same amount of rainfall, had it landed on the (eastern) Don, would have done a comparable amount of damage."  
He called Hazel an initial "impetus" to re-naturalize the Port Lands, but rising awareness over the past two decades about the causal link between climate change and extreme floods helped advance the project.   

'Duty bound'

To reclaim the Port Lands, Toronto partnered with the US-based landscape architecture firm Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, which has worked on the Brooklyn Bridge Park and the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago.
Laura Solano, the lead designer, said the project was "duty bound to address catastrophic flooding," but stressed it offered "much more."
Because the area has been reformed to cope with flood waters, parts have been declared safe for new housing -- an urgent need in the expensive metropolis.
There is also a new park, trails and people can canoe or kayak through the rehabilitated Don.
Solano stressed Toronto's initial decision to alter the area was consistent with the times, when North American cities moved to "industrialize their waters...to raise their economic position."
But now, "every city is looking to reclaim their waters," she told AFP.  
The Port Lands "shows the world that it's possible to fix the past and turn deficit and remnant industrial lands into living and breathing infrastructure."

'The river is going to flood'

As Glaisek described the project, he stood on a bank that would, by design, be under water during a major storm.
"It's all planned so that it can flood, the water level can rise, the river can get about three, maybe four times wider than it is now, absorb all of that volume of water," he said. 
"When the storm event subsides, it will shrink back down to this."
It's a planning approach that recognizes "we're seeing more and more of these events."
"Like in Texas, you see very tragic outcomes when you haven't really tried to plan for nature," he told AFP, referring to flash floods in early July that killed at least 135 people. 
He urged planners to "reposition" their relationship to nature and ditch the mindset that "humans (can) control everything."
"Let's acknowledge the river is going to flood. Let's build the space for it." 
bs/des

fraud

Intimate no more? Japan clamps down on 'host clubs'

BY TOMOHIRO OSAKI
Wed Jul 30 2025 05:03:55 GMT+0000

  • Authorities are clamping down because of allegations that some women are being tricked into towering debts by hosts, and even into sex work to pay them off.
  • Japan is waging war on "host clubs" -- where men entertain women willing to pay for romance, but authorities and industry insiders say customers have long been scammed and saddled with debt.
  • Authorities are clamping down because of allegations that some women are being tricked into towering debts by hosts, and even into sex work to pay them off.
Japan is waging war on "host clubs" -- where men entertain women willing to pay for romance, but authorities and industry insiders say customers have long been scammed and saddled with debt.
Neatly coiffured, well-dressed "hosts" bedazzle women with sweet talk and the mirage of intimacy at glitzy establishments in big Japanese cities.
In return, the women pay inflated prices for champagne and other expensive drinks while they flirt, sometimes splurging tens of thousands of dollars a night.
Authorities are clamping down because of allegations that some women are being tricked into towering debts by hosts, and even into sex work to pay them off.
Under a new law that took effect in June, taking advantage of women's romantic feelings to manipulate them into ordering overpriced drinks has been banned.
This has sent shockwaves through an industry where pseudo-romance, from casual flirtation to after-hours sex, has long driven relationships with clients.  

Emotional dependence

John Reno, a star host in Tokyo's red-light district Kabukicho, said the crackdown was "unsurprising" after "scammer-like hosts increased".
Hosts, he told AFP, used to employ intimacy primarily to entertain women.
But "their mindset today is basically 'if you love me, then don't complain,' silencing women and exploiting their emotional dependence", the 29-year-old owner of Club J said. 
A growing number of victims have reported financial and sexual exploitation linked to these establishments.
Official data shows there were around 2,800 host club-related cases reported to police in 2024, up from 2,100 two years before. These have ranged from hosts ordering drinks the clients did not ask for, to prostitution. 
Some hosts are racking up profits by introducing their cash-strapped clients to brokers known as "scouts", who then send them into the sex trade, police say. 
Women, for their part, strive to work hard for their crush. 
"These hosts in return promise them their effort will be rewarded with actual relationships or marriage," Reno said. 
"That's outright fraud," he added, while denying that his Club J employees engage in any such practices.

'No place to be'

Difficulties such as poverty and abuse often make hosts the only escape for young women with low self-esteem, campaigners say. 
While high-flying businesswomen used to be the main clientele, girls "with no place to be" are increasingly seeking refuge, Arata Sakamoto, head of Kabukicho-based non-profit Rescue Hub, told AFP.
To them, "host clubs have become a place where they feel accepted" and "reassured they can be who they are, albeit in exchange for money", he said. 
One recent night saw a 26-year-old woman surrounded by smiling men at a table of flamboyant Kabukicho club Platina.
"Some hosts are bad enough to brainwash you, but I would say women should also know better than to drink far more than they can afford," the woman, a freelancer in the media industry who declined to be named, told AFP. 
Another customer comes to Platina to "spice up my mundane life".
"I hope this will remain a place that keeps my female hormones overflowing," the 34-year-old IT worker said. 
The new law does not ban intimacy, but behaviour such as threatening to end relationships with clients if they refuse to order drinks. 
Industry insiders like Platina owner Ran Sena call the law "too vague". 
"For example, if a client tells me, 'I'm about to fall in love with you,' does that mean I'll have to forbid her from coming to see me again?" he said. 
- 'Conqueror' - 
Another disruptive change is also rocking the industry. 
Police have notified clubs that any billboard advertising that hypes up the sales and popularity of individual hosts is no longer acceptable. 
The rationale is that these bombastic, neon-lit signs boasting "No.1" status or "multimillion" sales can fuel competition among hosts and push them further toward profit-mongering. 
Self-identifying as Kabukicho's "conqueror," "god" or "king", and egging on prospective customers to "drown themselves" in love, for example, is similarly banned.  
To comply, clubs have hurriedly covered such slogans on Kabukicho billboards, defacing the pouting portraits of hosts with black tape. 
This signals a "huge" morale crisis for hosts, Sena says.  
"It's been the aspiration of many hosts to be called No.1, earn a title and become famous in this town," he said. 
"Now, they don't even know what they should strive for," the 43-year-old added. 
For women, too, the rankings were a way to reassure themselves that the money they spent on their "oshi (favourite)" hosts was not in vain -- proof they were helping them ascend in the cutthroat hosts industry.
"I think the industry is heading toward decline," Sena said. 
tmo/stu/sco/lb

conflict

Ukraine says Russian strike on training camp kills 3 soldiers

Wed Jul 30 2025 02:24:45 GMT+0000

  • Over the previous night, a series of Russian attacks killed at least 25 civilians, including a 23-year-old pregnant woman and more than a dozen inmates at the Bilenkiska penal colony in southern Zaporizhzhia region.
  • A Russian strike on a military training camp killed at least three Ukrainian soldiers on Tuesday, following an overnight offensive in the south that killed a pregnant woman and a dozen prisoners.
  • Over the previous night, a series of Russian attacks killed at least 25 civilians, including a 23-year-old pregnant woman and more than a dozen inmates at the Bilenkiska penal colony in southern Zaporizhzhia region.
A Russian strike on a military training camp killed at least three Ukrainian soldiers on Tuesday, following an overnight offensive in the south that killed a pregnant woman and a dozen prisoners.
The Kremlin has come under intense pressure to end its war on Ukraine, now in its fourth year, with US President Donald Trump issuing a 10-day ultimatum to act or face sanctions.
On social media, the Ukrainian army said a Russian missile hit one of the ground force's training units, without specifying the location.
At least "three servicemen are dead and 18 wounded," it said Tuesday.
Over the previous night, a series of Russian attacks killed at least 25 civilians, including a 23-year-old pregnant woman and more than a dozen inmates at the Bilenkiska penal colony in southern Zaporizhzhia region.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of deliberately targeting the prison, which the justice ministry said killed 17 people and wounded another 42.
The Kremlin denied the claim, with spokesman Dmitry Peskov telling reporters, "the Russian army does not strike civilian targets".
The attacks came hours after Trump said he was shortening the deadline for Russian President Vladimir Putin to halt the war from 50 days to 10-12 days.
Hours later, Trump solidified the 10-day timeline, threatening "tariffs and stuff", while also conceding to not knowing if the measures would work.
Peskov said Moscow had "taken note", and that it remained "committed to the peace process to resolve the conflict around Ukraine and secure our interests".

'Prolonging the war'

The Ukrainian air force said Russia launched 37 drones and two missiles overnight into Tuesday, with 32 of the drones successfully downed.
Zelensky also accused Russia of targeting a hospital in the town of Kamyanske in Dnipropetrovsk region, killing three people and wounding 22.
Other Russian attacks killed six in the Kharkiv region, where the city of Kharkiv faced another attack at dawn on Wednesday.
"Putin is rejecting a ceasefire, avoiding a leaders' meeting and prolonging the war," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga wrote on social media.
"He will only end his terror if we break the spine of his economy," he added, calling on Western allies to impose sanctions.
Kyiv has been trying to repel Russia's summer offensive, which has made fresh advances into areas largely spared since the start of the invasion in February 2022.
The Russian defence ministry claimed advances across the front line on Tuesday, saying its forces had taken two more villages -- one in the Donetsk region, and another in Zaporizhzhia.
Tuesday's prison strike fell on the third anniversary of an attack on the Olenivka detention centre in Russian-occupied Donetsk.
Ukraine and Russia traded blame for that nighttime strike, which Kyiv said killed dozens of soldiers who had laid down arms after a long Russian siege of the port city of Mariupol.
burs-jxb-tc/lb

Palestinians

Trump's MAGA base defies conservative pro-Israel doctrine

BY FRANKIE TAGGART
Wed Jul 30 2025 02:06:24 GMT+0000

  • - 'Almost no support' - Pro-Trump think tank The Heritage Foundation in March called on Washington to "re-orient its relationship with Israel" from a special relationship "to an equal strategic partnership."
  • Unconditional support for Israel has long been an entry requirement in US Republican politics, but that orthodoxy is being challenged by Donald Trump's populist base -- where invocations of the "special relationship" are falling on deaf ears.
  • - 'Almost no support' - Pro-Trump think tank The Heritage Foundation in March called on Washington to "re-orient its relationship with Israel" from a special relationship "to an equal strategic partnership."
Unconditional support for Israel has long been an entry requirement in US Republican politics, but that orthodoxy is being challenged by Donald Trump's populist base -- where invocations of the "special relationship" are falling on deaf ears.
Images of starvation and suffering in Gaza have given new impetus to a debate that has been simmering in Trump's "MAGA" movement over whether US involvement in the Middle East is consistent with the president's "America First" platform.
Trump's first significant break with Israel came on Monday, when he acknowledged that "real starvation" is happening in Gaza and vowed to set up food centers in the besieged enclave, which has been devastated by Israel's war with Hamas. 
Asked if he agreed with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's denials of the Gaza hunger crisis, Trump said: "Based on television, I would say not particularly, because those children look very hungry."
It was a notable retort and prompted commentators to speculate that unwavering US support for Israel might end up as just another conservative sacred cow slayed by MAGA.
Vice President JD Vance went further at an event in Ohio, discussing "heartbreaking" images of "little kids who are clearly starving to death" and demanding that Israel let in more aid.
Political scientist and former US diplomat Michael Montgomery thinks the tonal shift might in part be emotional -- with TV images of starving children resonating more profoundly than the aftermath of air strikes.
"Perhaps it is because no civilized people see starvation as a legitimate weapon of war," the University of Michigan-Dearborn professor told AFP. 
Israel has always enjoyed broad bipartisan support in Congress but the rise of the isolationist MAGA movement under Trump has challenged the ideological foundations of the "special relationship."
MAGA realpolitik seeks to limit US involvement in foreign wars to those that directly impact its interests, and in particular the "left behind" working class that makes up Trump's base.

'Almost no support'

Pro-Trump think tank The Heritage Foundation in March called on Washington to "re-orient its relationship with Israel" from a special relationship "to an equal strategic partnership."
Stronger expressions of disapproval have been subdued by a sense that they are a betrayal of Republican thinking, according to some analysts -- especially after the October 7 Hamas attacks.
But there is a new urgency in the debate in MAGA circles following dire warnings from leading NGOs and the UN World Food Program's finding that a third of Gaza's population -- of about two million -- go for days without eating. 
One sign of the new thinking came in an X post from far-right firebrand congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has pushed to cancel $500 million in funding for Israel's rocket defense system.
Greene this week went further than any Republican lawmaker has previously in using the word "genocide" to describe Israel's conduct and slamming the "starvation of innocent people and children in Gaza."
While Greene's credibility has been undermined by an extensive record of conspiratorial social media posts, there is no denying that she knows what makes the MAGA crowd tick.
A new CNN poll found the share of Republicans who believe Israel's actions have been fully justified has dropped from 68 percent in 2023 to 52 percent. 
Youth seems to be the driver, according to a Pew Research poll from April, when food shortages had yet to become a humanitarian catastrophe.
While Republicans over age 50 haven't changed much in their pro-Israel outlook since 2022, the survey showed that the US ally's unfavorability among younger adults has climbed from 35 percent to 50 percent. 
"It seems that for the under-30-year-old MAGA base, Israel has almost no support," former White House strategist Steve Bannon told Politico, adding that Trump's rebuke would solidify his supporters' enmity.
Democratic strategist Mike Nellis described the Gaza food emergency as "one of those rare moments where the crisis has broken through the usual partisan gridlock." 
"You're seeing people across the political spectrum who just can't stomach it anymore," he told AFP.
ft/sla

space

US, India to launch powerful Earth-monitoring satellite

BY ISSAM AHMED
Wed Jul 30 2025 01:58:29 GMT+0000

  • By picking up on tiny changes in the vertical movement of the Earth's surface -- as little as one centimeter (0.4 inches) -- scientists will be able to detect the precusors for natural and human-caused disasters, from earthquakes, landsides and volcanoes to aging infrastructure like dams and bridges.
  • A formidable new radar satellite jointly developed by the United States and India is set to launch Wednesday, designed to track subtle changes in Earth's land and ice surfaces and help predict both natural and human-caused hazards.
  • By picking up on tiny changes in the vertical movement of the Earth's surface -- as little as one centimeter (0.4 inches) -- scientists will be able to detect the precusors for natural and human-caused disasters, from earthquakes, landsides and volcanoes to aging infrastructure like dams and bridges.
A formidable new radar satellite jointly developed by the United States and India is set to launch Wednesday, designed to track subtle changes in Earth's land and ice surfaces and help predict both natural and human-caused hazards.
Dubbed NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar), the pickup truck-sized spacecraft is scheduled to lift off at 5:40 pm (1210 GMT) from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre on India's southeastern coast, riding an ISRO Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle rocket.
Highly anticipated by scientists, the mission has also been hailed as a milestone in growing US-India cooperation between President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"Our planet surface undergoes constant and meaningful change," Karen St Germain, director of NASA's Earth Science division, told reporters. 
"Some change happens slowly. Some happens abruptly. Some changes are large, while some are subtle."
By picking up on tiny changes in the vertical movement of the Earth's surface -- as little as one centimeter (0.4 inches) -- scientists will be able to detect the precusors for natural and human-caused disasters, from earthquakes, landsides and volcanoes to aging infrastructure like dams and bridges.
"We'll see land substance and swelling, movement, deformation and melting of mountain glaciers and ice sheets covering both Greenland and Antarctica, and of course, we'll see wildfires," added St Germain, calling NISAR "the most sophisticated radar we've ever built."
Equipped with a 12-meter dish that will unfold in space, NISAR will record nearly all of Earth's land and ice twice every 12 days from an altitude of 464 miles (747 kilometers).

Microwave frequencies

As it orbits, the satellite will continuously transmit microwaves and receive echoes from the surface. 
Because the spacecraft is moving, the returning signals are distorted -- but computer processing will reassemble them to produce detailed, high-resolution images. 
Achieving similar results with traditional radar would require an impractically large 12-mile-wide dish.
NISAR will operate on two radar frequencies: L-band and S-band. The L-band is ideal for sensing taller vegetation like trees, while the S-band enables more accurate readings of shorter plants such as bushes and shrubs.
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and India's ISRO shared the workload, each building components on opposite sides of the planet before integrating and testing the spacecraft at ISRO's Satellite Integration & Testing Establishment in the southern Indian city of Bengaluru.
NASA's contribution came to just under $1.2 billion, while ISRO's costs were around $90 million.
India's space program has made major strides in recent years, including placing a probe in Mars orbit in 2014 and landing a robot and rover on the Moon in 2023.
Shubhanshu Shukla, a test pilot with the Indian Air Force, recently became the second Indian to travel to space and the first to reach the International Space Station -- a key step toward India's own indigenous crewed mission planned for 2027 under the Gaganyaan ("sky craft") program.
ia/jgc

children

Australia to ban under-16s from YouTube

Wed Jul 30 2025 01:09:01 GMT+0000

  • Australia announced last year it was drafting laws that will ban children from social media sites such as Facebook, TikTok and Instagram until they turn 16. 
  • Australia will use landmark social media laws to ban children under 16 from video-streaming site YouTube, a top minister said Wednesday stressing the need to shield them from "predatory algorithms".
  • Australia announced last year it was drafting laws that will ban children from social media sites such as Facebook, TikTok and Instagram until they turn 16. 
Australia will use landmark social media laws to ban children under 16 from video-streaming site YouTube, a top minister said Wednesday stressing the need to shield them from "predatory algorithms".
Communications Minister Anika Wells said four-in-ten Australian children had reported viewing harmful content on YouTube, one of the most visited websites in the world. 
"We want kids to know who they are before platforms assume who they are," Wells said in a statement.    
"There's a place for social media, but there's not a place for predatory algorithms targeting children."  
Australia announced last year it was drafting laws that will ban children from social media sites such as Facebook, TikTok and Instagram until they turn 16. 
The government had previously indicated YouTube would be exempt, given its widespread use in classrooms. 
"Young people under the age of 16 will not be able to have accounts on YouTube," Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told reporters on Wednesday. 
"They will also not be able to have accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and X among other platforms.
"We want Australian parents and families to know that we have got their back."
Albanese said the age limit may not be implemented perfectly -- much like existing restrictions on alcohol -- but it was still the right thing to do.

Not 'social media'

A spokesman for YouTube said Wednesday's announcement was a jarring U-turn from the government. 
"Our position remains clear: YouTube is a video sharing platform with a library of free, high-quality content, increasingly viewed on TV screens," the company said in a statement. 
"It's not social media." 
On paper, the ban is one of the strictest in the world. 
But the current legislation offers almost no details on how the rules will be enforced -- prompting concern among experts that it will simply be a symbolic piece of unenforceable legislation. 
It is due to come into effect on December 10. 
Social media giants -- which face fines of up to Aus$49.5 million (US$32 million) for failing to comply -- have described the laws as "vague", "problematic" and "rushed".
TikTok has accused the government of ignoring mental health, online safety and youth experts who had opposed the ban.
Meta -- owner of Facebook and Instagram -- has warned that the ban could place "an onerous burden on parents and teens".
The legislation has been closely monitored by other countries, with many weighing whether to implement similar bans. 
sft/tym/tc

Global Edition

Portugal battles to contain wildfires

Wed Jul 30 2025 00:09:38 GMT+0000

  • Some 750 firefighters sought to control a blaze in a eucalyptus forest in the Arouca municipality of central Portugal.
  • Almost 2,700 firefighters battled Tuesday to contain forest blazes across Portugal that have led to almost the whole country being put on high alert for fires.
  • Some 750 firefighters sought to control a blaze in a eucalyptus forest in the Arouca municipality of central Portugal.
Almost 2,700 firefighters battled Tuesday to contain forest blazes across Portugal that have led to almost the whole country being put on high alert for fires.
Seventeen major fires blazed with the most serious in the centre and north of the country.
Some 750 firefighters sought to control a blaze in a eucalyptus forest in the Arouca municipality of central Portugal.
"This is currently the fire on which we are concentrating all efforts and reinforcements," Mario Silvestre, head of the National Authority for Civil Protection, told a press conference.
Hundreds more battled a blaze near the central town of Penamacor and one on a mountain at Ponte da Barca near the northern border with Spain. Four Spanish water carrying planes joined the effort on Monday.
"We are experiencing a difficult moment," Prime Minister Luis Montenegro said after visiting the national emergency service headquarters.
In all, 26 firefighting aircraft were in the air, civil protection officials said. 
Some 20 people, including 14 firefighters, were treated for minor injuries.
The Ponte da Barca fire, which started on Saturday, forced the evacuation of some people to a local church and burnt nearly 2,000 hectares (5,000 acres) of land, according to preliminary estimates.
Authorities said the fires could worsen in coming days because of the heat.
"The only factor that we will be able to control in the coming days ... is human behaviour," said Silvestre.
Like many countries, Portugal faces wildfires every summer. Experts say climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of droughts and fires around the world.
lf-gv/jxb

climate

US pushes to revoke scientific ruling that underpins climate regulations

BY ISSAM AHMED
Wed Jul 30 2025 00:03:44 GMT+0000

  • Transportation accounts for 28 percent of US greenhouse gas emissions -- more than any other sector.
  • President Donald Trump's administration on Tuesday moved to reverse a foundational scientific determination that underpins the US government's authority to limit greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles and, more broadly, to combat climate change.
  • Transportation accounts for 28 percent of US greenhouse gas emissions -- more than any other sector.
President Donald Trump's administration on Tuesday moved to reverse a foundational scientific determination that underpins the US government's authority to limit greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles and, more broadly, to combat climate change.
Speaking at an auto dealership in Indianapolis, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin argued that the 2009 Endangerment Finding was based on flawed reasoning and had inflicted serious economic harm.
"If finalized, today's announcement would amount to the largest deregulatory action in the history of the United States," said the former Republican congressman.
He was joined by Energy Secretary Chris Wright, a former fracking company CEO, whose department published a climate science study cited in the EPA action.
The proposed reversal -- first announced in March -- will be subject to a 45-day public comment period and is certain to face legal challenges.
While Zeldin cast the move as a way to undo what he called the "Biden-Harris administration's electric vehicle (EV) mandate," revoking the Endangerment Finding could also unravel the legal basis for a wide array of climate regulations, including those on power plants and oil and gas operations.
In his remarks, Zeldin accused the EPA under former president Barack Obama, a Democrat, of making "mental leaps" in determining that heat-trapping gases posed a threat to public health and welfare.
The EPA said in a press release that the finding had "been used to justify over $1 trillion in regulations" and undoing it would save $54 billion annually.
A 302-page document outlining the rationale for the revocation makes a number of bold claims around climate science, including the assertion that "extreme weather events have not demonstrably increased relative to historical highs," citing the Energy Department report.
It also speaks about the "beneficial impacts" of carbon emissions on plant growth and agricultural productivity.
The Endangerment Finding was grounded in overwhelming scientific consensus and peer-reviewed research. It followed a landmark 2007 Supreme Court ruling that found greenhouse gases qualify as air pollutants under the Clean Air Act and directed the EPA to revisit its position.
Transportation accounts for 28 percent of US greenhouse gas emissions -- more than any other sector.
If it were a country, the US transportation sector would rank as the fourth largest emitter of greenhouse gases globally, while the power sector would be fifth.

Legal battle looms

Environmental groups and states are expected to swiftly sue. The case could ultimately reach the Supreme Court, which may need to overturn its own 2007 precedent to side with the current Republican administration.
Dan Becker of the Center for Biological Diversity told AFP the Endangerment Finding has survived multiple legal challenges by industry over the years, "but this time, it's the government itself mounting the attack."
"Hopefully they will recognize that this is science and not politics -- that there was a good reason for that precedent and no good reason to revoke it," said Becker. "But this is a very political court."
He added that the administration's cost-saving arguments were misleading, pointing to official data showing that rules now targeted for repeal saved the average American driver $6,000 in fuel and maintenance over the lifetime of vehicles built under the standards.
Camille Pannu, an environmental law specialist at Columbia University, told AFP the Trump administration had failed to present robust legal arguments grounded in scientific evidence in its proposal.
"I think they're hoping they can just refuse to regulate for four years and do crazy things during that time while it's all tied up in court," she said.
Since returning to office, Trump has withdrawn the US from the Paris Agreement and launched a sweeping campaign to expand fossil fuel development. 
The announcement comes as tens of millions of Americans are baking under a brutal heat dome in the Southeast, while climate-fueled flooding earlier this month killed more than 100 people in Texas.
ia/des

conflict

Qatar, Saudi, Egypt join call for Hamas to disarm, give up Gaza rule

BY GREGORY WALTON
Tue Jul 29 2025 23:21:51 GMT+0000

  • "In the context of ending the war in Gaza, Hamas must end its rule in Gaza and hand over its weapons to the Palestinian Authority, with international engagement and support, in line with the objective of a sovereign and independent Palestinian State," said the declaration.
  • Arab countries including Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Egypt joined calls Tuesday for Hamas to disarm and end its rule of Gaza, in a bid to end the devastating war in the Palestinian territory.
  • "In the context of ending the war in Gaza, Hamas must end its rule in Gaza and hand over its weapons to the Palestinian Authority, with international engagement and support, in line with the objective of a sovereign and independent Palestinian State," said the declaration.
Arab countries including Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Egypt joined calls Tuesday for Hamas to disarm and end its rule of Gaza, in a bid to end the devastating war in the Palestinian territory.
Seventeen countries plus the European Union and Arab League threw their weight behind a seven-page text agreed at a United Nations conference on reviving the two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians. 
"In the context of ending the war in Gaza, Hamas must end its rule in Gaza and hand over its weapons to the Palestinian Authority, with international engagement and support, in line with the objective of a sovereign and independent Palestinian State," said the declaration.
It followed a call Monday by the Palestinian delegation at the United Nations for both Israel and Hamas to leave Gaza, allowing the Palestinian Authority to administer the coastal territory.
The text also condemned the deadly October 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas against Israel, something the UN General Assembly has yet to do.
France, which co-chaired the conference with Saudi Arabia, called the declaration "both historic and unprecedented."
"For the first time, Arab countries and those in the Middle East condemn Hamas, condemn October 7, call for the disarmament of Hamas, call for its exclusion from Palestinian governance, and clearly express their intention to normalize relations with Israel in the future," said French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot.
The text, co-signed by France, Britain and Canada among other western nations, also called for the possible deployment of foreign forces to stabilize Gaza after the end of hostilities.
Israel and its ally the United States did not take part in the meeting.

21 months of war

The document was issued at the second day of the conference in New York at which Britain announced it may recognize a Palestinian state in September.
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said London would proceed with recognition if Israel did not fulfil conditions including implementing a ceasefire in Gaza and allowing in sufficient aid.
French President Emmanuel Macron last week said he would formally announce France's recognition of Palestinian statehood at the UN General Assembly in September.
For decades, most of the global body's members have supported a two-state solution with Israel and a Palestinian state existing side-by-side.
But after more than 21 months of war in Gaza, the ongoing expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, and Israeli officials declaring designs to annex occupied territory, it is feared a Palestinian state could become geographically impossible.
The current war in Gaza started after the Hamas attacks on Israel, in which more than 1,200 people were killed.
Israel responded with large-scale military action that has claimed tens of thousands of Palestinian lives and destroyed most infrastructure in the enclave.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said at the meeting Monday "the two-state solution is farther than ever before."
In a statement issued late Tuesday, 15 Western nations including France and Spain, affirmed their "unwavering support to the vision of the two-state solution."
Among the signatories, nine that have not yet recognized a Palestinian state expressed "willingness or positive consideration of their countries" to do so: Andorra, Australia, Canada, Finland, Luxembourg, Malta, New Zealand, Portugal, and San Marino.
abd-gw/des/mlm

conflict

Russia strikes kill 25 in Ukraine as Trump shortens Moscow deadline

BY STANISLAV DOSHCHITSYN
Tue Jul 29 2025 19:31:45 GMT+0000

  • - Hospital targeted - "Three people were killed in the attack, including a pregnant woman.
  • Russia said on Tuesday it wanted peace in Ukraine hours after mounting attacks that killed at least 25 people, including a 23-year-old pregnant woman and more than a dozen prison inmates. 
  • - Hospital targeted - "Three people were killed in the attack, including a pregnant woman.
Russia said on Tuesday it wanted peace in Ukraine hours after mounting attacks that killed at least 25 people, including a 23-year-old pregnant woman and more than a dozen prison inmates. 
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday twice shortened his deadline for Russia to end its invasion of Ukraine -- now into a fourth year -- or face new sanctions, saying hours after the latest deaths the Kremlin had 10 days to act.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of wilfully targeting a prison in the Zaporizhzhia region, which Russia claims as its own territory, killing 16 people and wounding dozens of others.
"It was a deliberate strike, intentional, not accidental. The Russians could not have been unaware that they were targeting civilians in that facility," Zelensky said on social media in response.
The Kremlin denied the claim.
"The Russian army does not strike civilian targets," spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, including from AFP.
The attacks came hours after Trump said he was cutting the deadline for President Vladimir Putin to halt the war from 50 days to 10-12 days.
Hours later, Trump solidified the deadline to 10 days, threatening to impose "tariffs and stuff" and conceding he did not know if the measures would have any effect.
Trump told reporters flying with him back from a visit to Scotland that he had not heard from Putin, adding "It's a shame."
After the first deadline from Trump, Peskov said Moscow had "taken note" and that it remained "committed to the peace process to resolve the conflict around Ukraine and secure our interests".

'War crimes'

Ukraine's justice ministry said Russian forces hit the prison in Bilenke with four glide bombs. Police said 16 inmates were killed and 43 wounded.
Bricks and debris and blown out windows were strewn on the ground, according to images released by the ministry. 
The facility's perimeter was intact and there was no threat that inmates would escape, it added.
Rescue workers searched for survivors in pictures released by the region's emergency services.
A senior Ukrainian source said that 274 people were serving sentences in the Bilenkivska facility.
The source added there were no Russian war prisoners at the centre.
Nadiya, a resident of Bilenke, told AFP the attack damaged her house.
"At about 10 minutes to six, a neighbour called and said: 'Come quickly, your roof is gone.' Is that normal? Not a single window is intact," the 74-year-old said.
The Ukrainian air force said Russia also launched 37 drones and two missiles overnight, adding that its air defence systems had downed 32 of the drones.
One attack targeted a hospital in the town of the Kamyanske in the Dnipropetrovsk region, wounding 22 people. 
"Putin is rejecting a ceasefire, avoiding a leaders' meeting, and prolonging the war," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said on social media.
"He will only end his terror if we break the spine of his economy," he added, calling on Western allies to consolidate around sanctions on Moscow.

Hospital targeted

"Three people were killed in the attack, including a pregnant woman. Her name was Diana. She was only 23 years old," Zelensky said.
Separate strikes in the eastern Kharkiv region that borders Russia killed six people, regional authorities said.
In the southern Russian region of Rostov, a Ukrainian drone attack killed one person, the region's acting governor said.
Kyiv has been trying to repel Russia's summer offensive, which has made fresh advances into areas largely spared since the start of the invasion in 2022.
The Russian defence ministry claimed fresh advances across the front line on Tuesday, saying its forces had taken two more villages -- one in the Donetsk region, and another in Zaporizhzhia region.
The prison strike on Tuesday came on the third anniversary of an attack on another detention facility.
Ukraine and Russia blamed each other for the night-time strike three years ago on the Olenivka detention centre in Russian-occupied Donetsk, Ukrainian territory claimed by Moscow.
Ukraine says dozens of its soldiers who laid down their arms after a long Russian siege of the port city of Mariupol were killed in the attack.
burs-jxb/gv

conflict

Gaza famine warning as Israel resists ceasefire calls

BY AFP TEAM IN GAZA WITH OLA CICHOWLAS IN ROME AND DAVE CLARK IN JERUSALEM
Tue Jul 29 2025 19:20:34 GMT+0000

  • The Hamas-run territory's health ministry said Israel's campaign had now killed 60,034 people, most of them civilians.
  • Gaza is slipping into famine, UN agencies warned on Tuesday, as the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory said the Palestinian death toll in the nearly 22-month war had topped 60,000.
  • The Hamas-run territory's health ministry said Israel's campaign had now killed 60,034 people, most of them civilians.
Gaza is slipping into famine, UN agencies warned on Tuesday, as the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory said the Palestinian death toll in the nearly 22-month war had topped 60,000.
The World Food Programme, UNICEF and the Food and Agriculture Organisation warned that time was running out and that Gaza was "on the brink of a full-scale famine".
"We need to flood Gaza with large-scale food aid, immediately and without obstruction, and keep it flowing each and every day to prevent mass starvation," WFP executive director Cindy McCain said in a joint statement from the agencies.  
This week, Israel launched daily pauses in its military operations in some parts of Gaza and opened secure routes to enable UN agencies and other aid groups to distribute food in the densely populated territory of more than two million. 
However, Israeli strikes continued overnight, killing 30 people in the Nuseirat refugee camp, according to Gaza's civil defence agency -- and experts warned a humanitarian catastrophe of historic proportions is imminent.
"The worst-case scenario of famine is now unfolding in the Gaza Strip," said the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification Initiative (IPC), a group of monitors who advise the United Nations on impending crises. 
The IPC stopped short of declaring a state of famine, but made clear the situation is critical.

Urgent action now

Britain, France and Germany could send their foreign ministers to Israel next week, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said, adding: "We assume that the Israeli government is willing to acknowledge that something must be done now." 
In a statement released ahead of the IPC report, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office accused Hamas of distorting casualty figures and of looting food intended for civilians.
"While the situation in Gaza is difficult and Israel has been working to ensure aid delivery, Hamas benefits from attempting to fuel the perception of a humanitarian crisis," his office said.
"We already allow significant amounts of humanitarian aid into Gaza every single day, including food, water and medicine. Unfortunately, Hamas... has been stealing aid from the Gaza population, many times by shooting Palestinians."
Israel's international isolation increased Tuesday, when Britain joined France in proposing to recognise a Palestinian state as early as September. 
"I have always said that we will recognise a Palestinian state as a contribution to a proper peace process at the moment of maximum impact for the two-state solution," Prime Minister Keir Starmer said.
"With that solution now under threat, this is the moment to act."
Israel's reaction was much like its response to a similar announcement last week by French President Emmanuel Macron. It "constitutes a reward for Hamas and harms efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza", the foreign ministry said.
Israel imposed a total blockade on Gaza on March 2 after ceasefire talks broke down. In late May, it began allowing a small trickle of aid to resume, amid warnings of a wave of starvation.
Then on Sunday, faced with mounting international criticism, Israel began a series of "tactical pauses" while allowing aid trucks to pass through two border crossings into Gaza, and Jordanian and Emirati planes to conduct airdrops.
Deliveries have been ramped up, but the IPC said this effort would not prove enough unless aid agencies were granted "immediate, unimpeded" humanitarian access.
"Failure to act now will result in widespread death in much of the Strip," it said, adding that 16 children under the age of five had died of hunger since July 17.
According to Netanyahu's office, the pause in military operations covers "key populated areas" between 10:00 am (0700 GMT) and 8:00 pm every day. Designated aid convoy routes will be secure from 6:00 am to 11:00 pm.
COGAT, an Israeli defence ministry body in charge of civil affairs in the Palestinian territories, said more than 200 truckloads of aid were distributed on Monday.

Air strikes

Another 260 trucks were permitted to cross into Gaza to deposit aid at collection points, four UN tankers brought in fuel and 20 pallets of aid were airdropped from Jordanian and Emirati planes, COGAT said.
Gaza's civil defence agency said that Israeli air strikes killed at least 30 Palestinians, including women and children, in the central Nuseirat district.
The Israeli military said it had "struck several terror targets in the central Gaza Strip", but that the number of reported casualties "does not align with the information held by the (military)".
The Hamas-run territory's health ministry said Israel's campaign had now killed 60,034 people, most of them civilians.
The war was sparked by Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, the majority civilians, based on an AFP tally of official figures.
bur-dc/kir/dcp

tariff

US says Trump has 'final call' on China trade truce

BY NIOUCHA ZAKAVATI
Tue Jul 29 2025 19:07:25 GMT+0000

  • "Nothing has been agreed until we speak with President Trump," added Bessent, calling the tone of the talks "very constructive".
  • China and the United States agreed Tuesday to hold further talks on extending their tariff truce, but a top US trade official stressed that President Donald Trump would make any "final call."
  • "Nothing has been agreed until we speak with President Trump," added Bessent, calling the tone of the talks "very constructive".
China and the United States agreed Tuesday to hold further talks on extending their tariff truce, but a top US trade official stressed that President Donald Trump would make any "final call."
The world's top two economies met for a second day of negotiations in Stockholm, with both sides seeking to avert tariffs from returning to sky-high levels that had ground trade between the rivals to an effective standstill.
The meeting in a Swedish government building, led on the Chinese side by Vice Premier He Lifeng and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent for the Americans, ended without a resolution but with the US side voicing optimism.
Neither government has made public any details from the talks, which started on Monday, although US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said Trump would have the "final call" on any extension in the truce.
"Nothing has been agreed until we speak with President Trump," added Bessent, calling the tone of the talks "very constructive".
The negotiations are taking place in the wake of a trade deal struck over the weekend that set US tariffs on most European Union imports at 15 percent, but none on American goods going to the EU.
The truce between China and the United States has temporarily set fresh US duties on Chinese goods at 30 percent, while Chinese levies on trade in the other direction stand at 10 percent.
That accord, reached in Geneva in May, brought down triple-digit tariffs each side had levelled at the other after a trade war sparked by Trump spiralled into a tit-for-tat bilateral escalation.
The 90-day truce is meant to end on August 12. But there are indications both delegations want to use the Stockholm talks to push the date back further.
The South China Morning Post, citing sources on both sides, reported on Sunday that Washington and Beijing are expected to extend their tariff pause by a further 90 days.
Trump said he would be briefed again by Bessent on Wednesday. "We'll either approve it or not," he told reporters aboard Air Force One as he returned from Scotland.

Trump's threats

Separately, Trump has threatened to hit dozens of other countries with stiffer tariffs from Friday this week unless they reach trade deals with Washington.
Among them are Brazil and India, with the South American giant facing a threat of 50 percent tariffs.
Asked about Friday's deadline, Bessent told CNBC: "It's not the end of the world if these snapback tariffs are on for anywhere from a few days to a few weeks, as long as the countries are moving forward and trying to negotiate in good faith."
Trump has already announced deal outlines with five countries -- Britain, Vietnam, Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines -- as well as the one with the 27-nation EU.
Beijing says it wants to see "reciprocity" in its trade with the United States. Foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said dialogue was needed "to reduce misunderstandings".
The previous round of China-US talks was held in London.
Analysts said many of the trade deals Trump has been publicising were leaning more on optics than on details.
Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management, a firm that advises on currency exchange and commodities, said an extension of the 90-day truce between China and the United States could reinforce that view.
"That truce could set the stage for a Trump – (President) Xi (Jinping) handshake later this year -- another risk-on carrot for markets to chew," he said.
bur-ft/des

politics

Trump opens Scottish golf course and vows 'peaceful world'

BY BY AURELIA END WITH JAMES PHEBY IN LONDON
Tue Jul 29 2025 17:13:17 GMT+0000

  • At a press conference Monday with Starmer, Trump promised more aid for Gaza and gave Russian President Vladimir Putin a "10 or 12 day" ultimatum to cease hostilities in Ukraine.
  • Donald Trump officially opened his new golf course in Scotland on Tuesday, ending a five-day trip during which the US president signed a major trade deal with the EU and gave Russia less than two weeks to end the Ukraine war.
  • At a press conference Monday with Starmer, Trump promised more aid for Gaza and gave Russian President Vladimir Putin a "10 or 12 day" ultimatum to cease hostilities in Ukraine.
Donald Trump officially opened his new golf course in Scotland on Tuesday, ending a five-day trip during which the US president signed a major trade deal with the EU and gave Russia less than two weeks to end the Ukraine war.
To the sound of bagpipes, secret agents and golfers criss-crossed the sprawling complex on the Aberdeenshire coast, waiting for the president to tee off.
"We started with a beautiful piece of land, but we made it much more beautiful, and the area has ... really, really welcomed us," Trump said before cutting a red ribbon.
"We'll play it very quickly, and then I go back to (Washington) DC and we put out fires all over the world," he added.
"We have a world that's got some conflict, but we've ironed out a lot of it. We're gonna have a great and peaceful world." 
Trump's campaign song, the Village People's "YMCA", blared out after the ribbon cutting, as fireworks exploded in the background.
The president then teed off with son Eric, who led the project.
"This will be a tremendously successful place and a place where people can come and enjoy life," the US leader said, highlighting how his trip has again blurred the lines between his presidency and his business interests.
"We wanted this to be the greatest 36 holes anywhere on Earth. And there's no question that that's been achieved," said Eric Trump.
"This was his Mona Lisa," he said of his father's crafting of the course.
"Sculpting the dunes, sculpting the land, that was always his painting," he added. 

Trade deal

Trump also held talks with Scotland's leader First Minister John Swinney discussing tariffs on Scottish whisky as well as the situation in Gaza.
Then later Tuesday, Trump departed Scotland heading back to the United States.
His new course in Scotland features the world's largest natural bunker, dunes and greens overlooking the sea, with a "focus on environmental sensitivity", said a press release.
Visible out to sea were the offshore wind turbines that Trump unsuccessfully tried to block.
The president again spoke out against wind power as he hosted European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday.
It was one of the many issues Trump addressed during free-wheeling press conferences at his other golf complex in Turnberry, western Scotland where he played golf on Saturday and Sunday and juggled diplomacy.
With Von der Leyen, he announced a trade agreement in which the EU resigned itself to 15 percent tariffs on goods entering the United States, a deal heavily criticised across the continent. 
At a press conference Monday with Starmer, Trump promised more aid for Gaza and gave Russian President Vladimir Putin a "10 or 12 day" ultimatum to cease hostilities in Ukraine.
"I really felt it was going to end. But every time I think it's going to end he kills people," Trump said of the Russian leader. "I'm not so interested in talking (to him) anymore," he added.
Trump also criticised London mayor Sadiq Khan at the press conference and waded back into UK politics on Tuesday when he took to his Truth Social platform to urge the government to cut taxes and incentivise oil drilling in the North Sea, denouncing wind turbines as "ugly monsters".
"Incentivize the drillers, FAST. A VAST FORTUNE TO BE MADE for the UK, and far lower energy costs for the people," he wrote.
jwp/jkb/cw