protest

Turkey protesters defiant despite mass arrests

politics

Magazine publishes US attack plan mistakenly shared in chat group

  • Leavitt responded, The Atlantic said, telling the magazine again that "there was no classified information transmitted in the group chat."
  • The Atlantic magazine on Wednesday published what it said was the entire text of a chat group mistakenly shared with a journalist by top US national security officials laying out plans of an imminent attack on Yemen.
  • Leavitt responded, The Atlantic said, telling the magazine again that "there was no classified information transmitted in the group chat."
The Atlantic magazine on Wednesday published what it said was the entire text of a chat group mistakenly shared with a journalist by top US national security officials laying out plans of an imminent attack on Yemen.
The stunning details, including the times of strikes and types of planes being used, were all laid out in screenshots of the chat, which the officials had conducted on a commercial Signal messaging app, rather than a secure government platform.
The magazine, which initially only published the broad outlines of the chat, said it was now publishing the details after the Trump administration repeatedly denied that any classified information had been included.
The scandal has rocked President Donald Trump's administration, which for now is reacting defiantly -- attacking The Atlantic and denying any wrongdoing.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt quickly responded to say The Atlantic was conceding "these were NOT 'war plans.' The entire story was another hoax."
National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes had said Monday the chain cited by The Atlantic appeared to be "authentic."
Atlantic journalist Jeffrey Goldberg said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth sent information in the Signal chat -- also including Vice President JD Vance and Central Intelligence Agency Director John Ratcliffe -- right ahead of strikes against the Huthi rebels on March 15. 
For reasons unknown, Goldberg's phone number had been added to the group.
Goldberg also revealed disparaging comments by the top US officials about European allies during their chat.
The Atlantic initially did not publish the precise details of the chat, saying it wanted to avoid revealing classified material and information that could endanger American troops.
But on Tuesday, Ratcliff and other officials involved in the chat played down the scandal, testifying before Congress that nothing critical had been shared or laws broken -- and that nothing discussed was classified.
The Atlantic said on Wednesday that it asked the government whether in that case there would be any problem in publishing the rest of the material.
Leavitt responded, The Atlantic said, telling the magazine again that "there was no classified information transmitted in the group chat."
And a CIA spokesperson asked only that one of the agency's officials referenced in the chain not be identified by name.

'More F-18s LAUNCH'

The Atlantic said its publication Wednesday included everything in the Signal chain other than that one CIA name.
It includes Hegseth laying out the weather conditions, times of attacks and types of aircraft being used. 
The texting was done barely half an hour before the first US warplanes took off and two hours before the first target, described as "Target Terrorist," was expected to be bombed.
The details are shockingly precise for the kind of operation that the public usually only learns about later -- and in vaguer terms.
"1410: More F-18s LAUNCH (2nd strike package)," Hegseth writes at one stage.
"1415: Strike Drones on Target (THIS IS WHEN THE FIRST BOMBS WILL DEFINITELY DROP, pending earlier ‘Trigger Based’ targets)."
A short time later, Trump's National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, sent real-time intelligence on the aftermath of an attack, writing "Building collapsed. Had multiple positive ID" and "amazing job."
The Huthi rebels, who have controlled much of Yemen for more than a decade, are part of the "axis of resistance" of pro-Iran groups staunchly opposed to Israel and the US. 
The Trump administration has stepped up attacks on the group in response to constant Huthi attempts to sink and disrupt shipping through the strategic Red Sea.
sms/st

earnings

China drinks chain Mixue profits spike 40% in 2024

  • The firm -- known for beverages usually priced around $1 -- had 41,584 stores in China and another 4,895 spread across 11 countries as of the end of last year, Mixue said in an exchange filing on Wednesday.
  • Chinese drinks company Mixue Group, which has surpassed McDonald's and Starbucks in store count to become the world's largest food and beverage chain, reported a spike in profits on Wednesday as it laid out further expansion plans.
  • The firm -- known for beverages usually priced around $1 -- had 41,584 stores in China and another 4,895 spread across 11 countries as of the end of last year, Mixue said in an exchange filing on Wednesday.
Chinese drinks company Mixue Group, which has surpassed McDonald's and Starbucks in store count to become the world's largest food and beverage chain, reported a spike in profits on Wednesday as it laid out further expansion plans.
The results came after Mixue raised $444 million in a bumper Hong Kong listing, with the stock jumping more than 40 percent on its March 3 debut and trading at around double its offer price this week.
The firm -- known for beverages usually priced around $1 -- had 41,584 stores in China and another 4,895 spread across 11 countries as of the end of last year, Mixue said in an exchange filing on Wednesday.
Revenue increased 22 percent to $3.4 billion in 2024, which the company attributed mostly to "increased revenue generated from sales of goods and equipment, and to a lesser extent, from franchise and related services".
Profit for the year jumped 40 percent to $613 million.
Mixue, whose name translates to "honey snow ice city", was founded by two brothers in the Chinese hinterland province of Henan in 1997 as a shaved ice shop.
The Zhengzhou-headquartered firm quickly expanded across China and became a hit with frugal young consumers, disrupting a sector once dominated by premium brands.
Mixue stores -- recognisable by their bright red signs and smiling snowman mascot -- became ubiquitous in lower-income Chinese cities, offering freshly made fruit drinks, tea drinks, ice cream and coffee.
Nearly 60 percent of Mixue stores in China are in cities categorised by the company as "third-tier or below".
Mixue says it relies on a franchise model to grow its brick-and-mortar network, but "franchise and related service fees are not our primary sources of revenue".
Instead, it makes most of its money from supplying food materials, equipment and packaging needed to run its stores.
The company said Wednesday that it will "continue to elevate the breadth and depth of our supply chain" in China, while remaining "focused on cultivating the Southeast Asia market".
hol/tc

protest

Turkey protesters defiant despite mass arrests

BY HAZEL WARD AND FULYA OZERKAN

  • "There is one thing that Mr Tayyip should know: our numbers won't decrease with the detentions and arrests, we will grow and grow and grow!"
  • Protesters were defiant Wednesday despite a growing crackdown and nearly 1,500 arrests as they marked a week since the start of Turkey's biggest street demonstrations against the rule of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan since 2013. 
  • "There is one thing that Mr Tayyip should know: our numbers won't decrease with the detentions and arrests, we will grow and grow and grow!"
Protesters were defiant Wednesday despite a growing crackdown and nearly 1,500 arrests as they marked a week since the start of Turkey's biggest street demonstrations against the rule of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan since 2013. 
The protests erupted on March 19 after the arrest of Istanbul opposition mayor Ekrem Imamoglu as part of a graft and "terror" probe, which his supporters denounced as a "coup".
Vast crowds have hit the street daily, defying protest bans in Istanbul and other big cities and the arrests with 1,418 people held up to Tuesday according to official figures.
Those detained include AFP journalist Yasin Akgul, who the Paris-based agency says was doing his job covering the protests. 
Erdogan, who has repeatedly denounced the protests as "street terror", stepped up his attacks on the opposition with a bitter tirade against the main opposition Republican People's (CHP) party of Imamoglu and its leader Ozgur Ozel.
In a possible shift in tactics, Ozel said the CHP was not calling for another nightly protest Wednesday outside the Istanbul mayor office, instead urging people to attend a mega rally on Saturday. 
But it was far from certain that angry students, who have taken an increasingly prominent role in the protests and are far from all CHP supporters, would stay off the streets.
Most nights, the protests have turned into running battles with riot police, whose crackdown has alarmed rights groups. But there were no such clashes on Tuesday, AFP correspondents said. 

'No room left in Istanbul prisons'

The arrest of Akgul, who was remanded in custody on Tuesday along with six other journalists who were also arrested in dawn raids on Monday, was denounced by rights groups and Agence France - Presse, which said the 35-year-old's jailing was "unacceptable" and demanded his immediate release.
"We are deeply concerned by reports of repression against protesters and journalists in Turkey," said a French foreign ministry source, asking not to be named, adding that Akgul "was covering the protests professionally".
Addressing the vast crowds gathered for a seventh straight night at Istanbul City Hall, Ozel said the crackdown would only strengthen the protest movement.
"There is one thing that Mr Tayyip should know: our numbers won't decrease with the detentions and arrests, we will grow and grow and grow!" he vowed. 
The extent of the crackdown, he said, meant there was "no room left in Istanbul's prisons".
Imamoglu also posted a defiant message targeting Erdogan on his social media channels, vowing to "send him away at the ballot box", accusing the Turkish leader of "staying behind closed doors in Ankara not to govern Turkey but to protect his seat".
"We will be one... we will succeed," he added.
Erdogan himself took aim at Ozel in a speech to his party, dismissing the CHP leader as "a politically bankrupt figure whose ambitions and fears have taken his mind captive".
The CHP, he claimed, had created "too much material even for Brazilian soap operas" with corruption cases in Istanbul municipalities.

'We are not terrorists'

Although the crackdown has not reduced the numbers, most students who joined a huge street rally on Tuesday had their faces covered, an AFP correspondent said. 
"We want the government to resign, we want our democratic rights, we are fighting for a freer Turkey right now," a 20-year-old student who gave his name as Mali told AFP. 
"We are not terrorists, we are students and the reason we are here is to exercise our democratic rights and to defend democracy," he said.
Like most protesters, his face was covered and he refused to give his surname for fear of reprisals.
Another masked student who gave her name as Lydia, 25, urged more people to hit the streets. 
"All Turkish people should take to the streets, they are hunting us like vermin (while) you are sitting at home. Come out, look after us! We are your students, we are your future," she said, her anger evident. 
Unlike previous days, the CHP's Ozel said there would be no rally at City Hall on Wednesday, but called protesters to rally instead on Saturday in the Istanbul district of Maltepe to demand early elections.
bur-hmw-sjw/js

trade

Lula says Mercosur, Japan to discuss trade deal

  • "I expect to launch negotiations for an agreement with Japan during Brazil's presidency of Mercosur the next semester," Lula told reporters in a joint news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in Tokyo.
  • Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Wednesday that he expects talks between South America's Mercosur bloc and Japan on a trade deal to begin in the second half of the year.
  • "I expect to launch negotiations for an agreement with Japan during Brazil's presidency of Mercosur the next semester," Lula told reporters in a joint news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in Tokyo.
Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Wednesday that he expects talks between South America's Mercosur bloc and Japan on a trade deal to begin in the second half of the year.
"I expect to launch negotiations for an agreement with Japan during Brazil's presidency of Mercosur the next semester," Lula told reporters in a joint news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in Tokyo.
Earlier Lula portrayed such an agreement as a way for the two economies to boost trade in the face of growing protectionism under US President Donald Trump.
"Our countries have more to gain from integration than from protectionist practices," he said at an economic forum attended by business and political figures from Brazil and Japan.
"We cannot go back to relying on protectionism. We do not want a second Cold War," Lula said.
"We want free trade so that we can ensure that democracy, economic growth and wealth distribution become established in our countries," he added.
Four Mercosur members -- Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay -- in December struck a free-trade deal with the European Union although it still faces hurdles before final approval.
Business groups in Japan, the world's fourth-largest economy, have been pressing the government also to strike an agreement with the South American bloc.
The Keidanren business federation "urgently" called in November for "expedited efforts" towards a deal calling the potential benefits "immense".
But an agreement may be politically hard because of fears about the impact on Japanese farmers of large-scale agricultural imports, particularly from Brazil and Argentina.
Ishiba told the joint news conference that Japan and Brazil would "soon" set up a Japan-Mercosur strategic partnership.
"We agreed that... we will promote discussions with a view to deepening our trade relationships under that framework," Ishiba said.
"As the international community's division deepens, our cooperation with Brazil -- our partner to lead the global society into harmony -- is essential," he said.
Lula, 79, arrived in Japan on Monday accompanied by a 100-strong business delegation. On Tuesday he was given a full state dinner with the Japanese emperor.
Lula and Ishiba, 68, were also expected to discuss the joint development of biofuels ahead of November's COP30 UN climate summit in the Brazilian Amazon.
"By taking advantage of our mutual strengths -- Brazil's biofuel and Japan's high-quality mobility -- we agreed that we will lead decarbonisation efforts in the world's auto industry," Ishiba said.
"The recent decision to increase the use of biofuels in transport and aviation in Japan opens up space to work together on the energy transition," said Lula.
"Decarbonisation is a path of no return and is perfectly compatible with the objective of energy security."
kh-mas-tmo-stu/rsc

Global Edition

Sudan army retakes Khartoum airport from paramilitaries

  • Following their recapture of the presidential palace in a key victory on Friday, the army has surged through central Khartoum, seizing state institutions captured early in the war by the RSF. "In the south of the capital, our forces have surrounded the strategic Jebel Awliya area from three directions: north, south and east," a military source told AFP, adding that "all axes are advancing steadily".
  • The Sudanese army said it recaptured Khartoum airport from the Rapid Support Forces and surrounded the paramilitaries south of the capital on Wednesday, marking its latest battlefield gains.
  • Following their recapture of the presidential palace in a key victory on Friday, the army has surged through central Khartoum, seizing state institutions captured early in the war by the RSF. "In the south of the capital, our forces have surrounded the strategic Jebel Awliya area from three directions: north, south and east," a military source told AFP, adding that "all axes are advancing steadily".
The Sudanese army said it recaptured Khartoum airport from the Rapid Support Forces and surrounded the paramilitaries south of the capital on Wednesday, marking its latest battlefield gains.
The army, battling the RSF since April 2023, had "fully secured" the airport from the paramilitary fighters who had been stationed inside, its spokesman Nabil Abdallah told AFP.
The takeover comes a day after the army was accused of one of the war's deadliest air strikes, killing at least 270 people in a market in the western Darfur region, according to eyewitnesses.
Following their recapture of the presidential palace in a key victory on Friday, the army has surged through central Khartoum, seizing state institutions captured early in the war by the RSF.
"In the south of the capital, our forces have surrounded the strategic Jebel Awliya area from three directions: north, south and east," a military source told AFP, adding that "all axes are advancing steadily".
"The remnants of the RSF militia are fleeing" across the White Nile at the Jebel Awliya bridge, he said, requesting anonymity because he is not authorised to brief the media.
The bridge is the paramilitaries only crossing out of the area, linking it to its positions west of the city and then to its strongholds in Darfur.
Across Khartoum, eyewitnesses and activists reported this week RSF fighters retreating southwards, ostensibly towards Jebel Awliya.
The RSF did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Civilians celebrate

Since April 2023, the war has killed tens of thousands of people, uprooted more than 12 million and created the world's largest hunger and displacement crises.
It has also divided the country in two, with the army holding the east and north and the RSF controlling nearly all of Darfur and parts of the south.
Following a year and a half of defeats, the army turned the tide late last year, pushing through central Sudan to Khartoum.
The RSF had so far maintained its position in Jebel Awliya, as well as the western and southern outskirts of Omdurman -- central Khartoum's twin city just across the Nile.
After replenishing its ranks and rebuilding its arsenal, the army appears close to securing the capital, from which its government was forced to flee to the Red Sea town of Port Sudan early in the war.
According to the United Nations, more than 3.5 million people were forced to flee the war-ravaged capital.
Millions more, unable or unwilling to leave, were left to face hunger, rights abuses and indiscriminate shelling of their homes by both sides.
Footage shared on social media appeared to show residents of central Khartoum celebrating the RSF's retreat.
"You have endured so much," one young fighter can be heard saying while embracing civilians, in a video which AFP was unable to immediately verify.
"The area has been completely empty of the RSF since last night," Osama Abdel Qader, a resident of central Khartoum's Sahafa neighbourhood, told AFP on Wednesday.

Rights abuses

Abdel Qader and other eyewitnesses said RSF fighters had abandoned the homes they previously occupied, in some areas taking furniture with them.
Since the war began, the RSF has been accused of looting and taking over civilian homes, with rights groups documenting systematic sexual violence and other abuses.
Both the RSF and the army have been accused of targeting civilians and indiscriminately shelling residential areas.
The United States has placed sanctions on both army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his former deputy, RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, accusing the latter specifically of genocide in Darfur.
The United Nations on Tuesday expressed grave alarm at "the continued attacks on civilians" across the country, including Monday's air strike on the town of Tora in North Darfur and an RSF artillery attack on a Khartoum mosque on Sunday.
Analysts have warned of the RSF's pattern of revenge attacks on civilians, while the army has been accused of allowing its allied groups to persecute civilians thought to have collaborated with the RSF.
ab/bha/dv

US

Denmark welcomes US limiting Greenland visit to military base

BY CAMILLE BAS-WOHLERT

  • They will only visit their own base, Pituffik, and we have nothing against that," Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen told public broadcaster DR on Wednesday.
  • Denmark welcomed on Wednesday Washington's decision to limit a US delegation's visit to Greenland to a US military base, after previous plans for the unexpected trip sparked criticism.
  • They will only visit their own base, Pituffik, and we have nothing against that," Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen told public broadcaster DR on Wednesday.
Denmark welcomed on Wednesday Washington's decision to limit a US delegation's visit to Greenland to a US military base, after previous plans for the unexpected trip sparked criticism.
US Vice President JD Vance announced Tuesday that he would accompany his wife Usha on Friday to the Pituffik Space Base in Greenland, the Danish self-governing island coveted by President Donald Trump.
Since returning to power in January, Trump has insisted he wants to take over Greenland for national security purposes, refusing to rule out the use of force to do so.
Vance's announcement came just hours after Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland's outgoing Prime Minister Mute Egede harshly criticised plans by a US delegation to visit the Arctic island uninvited.
Egede had qualified the initial plans as "foreign interference", noting that the outgoing government had not "sent out any invitations for visits, private or official".
Following March 11 elections, Greenland has only a transitional government, with parties still in negotiations to form a new coalition government.
"We have asked all countries to respect this process," Egede had said in a Facebook post.
Yet the White House announced Sunday that Usha Vance would travel to Greenland from Thursday to Saturday, while Egede had said US national security adviser Mike Waltz was also expected to take part.
US media had reported that Energy Secretary Chris Wright would be part of the visit as well.
Usha Vance had been scheduled to view "historical sites, learn about Greenlandic heritage and watch the Avannaata Qimussersu, Greenland's national dogsled race," in the southwestern town of Sisimiut, the White House had said.
Frederiksen denounced that visit as "unacceptable pressure" being put on Greenland and Denmark, and vowed "to resist".

'Very positive'

JD Vance said in a video statement that he and Usha would travel only to the Pituffik base to visit US Space Force members based there and "check out what's going on with the security" of Greenland.
"I think it's very positive that the Americans have cancelled their visit among Greenlandic society. They will only visit their own base, Pituffik, and we have nothing against that," Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen told public broadcaster DR on Wednesday.
"The cars (from the US advance security detail) that were delivered a few days ago are in the process of being sent back home, and the wife of the US vice president and the national security adviser will not visit Greenlandic society," Lokke Rasmussen said.
"The matter is being wound up and that's positive," he added.
A US Hercules plane later took off from Nuuk airport, according to flight tracking website FlightRadar24.com.
Marc Jacobsen, an associate professor at the Royal Danish Defence College, said the US change of plan was a "de-escalation" aimed at saving face after Danish and Greenlandic leaders made it clear the US officials were not welcome. 
Locals in Sisimiut, Greenland's second-biggest town of 5,500 people, had announced a protest during Usha Vance's visit, following another anti-US protest outside the US consulate in Nuuk on March 15.
"They didn't want to risk... photos being shown to US voters on social media," Jacobsen told AFP.
Jacobsen also dismissed Vance's claims in his video announcement that other countries were trying to use the territory to "threaten the United States, to threaten Canada, and, of course, to threaten the people of Greenland".
"The only country threatening Greenland, that's actually the US," Jacobsen said. "If he meant China or Russia, they're not threatening Greenland. They have no interest in attacking Greenland."
A self-governing territory that is seeking to emancipate itself from Copenhagen, Greenland holds massive untapped mineral and oil reserves, though oil and uranium exploration are banned.
It is also strategically located between North America and Europe at a time of rising US, Chinese and Russian interest in the Arctic, where sea lanes have opened up because of climate change.
Greenland's location also puts it on the shortest route for missiles between Russia and the United States.
Greenlandic officials have repeatedly said the territory does not want to be either Danish or American, but is "open for business" with everyone. 
According to opinion polls, most Greenlanders support independence from Denmark but not annexation by Washington.
cbw/po/js

conflict

Israel threatens to seize parts of Gaza over fate of hostages

BY ALICE CHANCELLOR WITH AFP TEAMS IN GAZA

  • "This includes the seizure of territories, along with other measures I will not elaborate here," he added, days after his Defence Minister Israel Katz had warned: "The more Hamas refuses to free the hostages, the more territory it will lose, which will be annexed by Israel".
  • Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened Wednesday to seize parts of Gaza if Hamas does not release hostages, while the militant group warned they would return "in coffins" if Israel does not stop bombing the Palestinian territory.
  • "This includes the seizure of territories, along with other measures I will not elaborate here," he added, days after his Defence Minister Israel Katz had warned: "The more Hamas refuses to free the hostages, the more territory it will lose, which will be annexed by Israel".
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened Wednesday to seize parts of Gaza if Hamas does not release hostages, while the militant group warned they would return "in coffins" if Israel does not stop bombing the Palestinian territory.
Just over a week since the military resumed operations following a January truce, Israel said two projectiles were fired from the Gaza Strip, with one intercepted and the other landing near the border, and with no immediate reports of any casualties or damage.
The rocket fire came a day after hundreds of Palestinians staged a rare protest against Hamas, chanting slogans against the Islamist movement and calling for an end to the war.
Shattering weeks of relative calm in the war brought by the fragile ceasefire, Israel last week resumed intense bombardment and ground operations across Gaza, while militants returned to launching rocket attacks.
According to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, 830 people have been killed in the territory since Israel resumed its strikes on March 18. No deaths have been reported on the Israeli side.
Israeli officials say the resumption of operations was meant to pressure Hamas into releasing the remaining hostages, after a stalemate in talks with mediators on extending the truce -- which saw 33 Israeli captives freed in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
Israel wanted an extension of the truce's initial phase, while Hamas demanded talks on a second stage that was meant to lead to a permanent ceasefire.
Netanyahu told parliament that "the more Hamas persists in its refusal to release our hostages, the stronger the pressure we will exert".
"This includes the seizure of territories, along with other measures I will not elaborate here," he added, days after his Defence Minister Israel Katz had warned: "The more Hamas refuses to free the hostages, the more territory it will lose, which will be annexed by Israel".

'Random bombardment'

Of the 251 hostages seized during Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel which triggered the war, 58 are still held in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.
"Every time the occupation attempts to retrieve its captives by force, it ends up bringing them back in coffins," Hamas said in a statement.
The group said it was "doing everything possible to keep the (Israeli) occupation's captives alive, but the random Zionist bombardment is endangering their lives".
Gal Gilboa-Dalal, an Israeli survivor of the 2023 attack whose brother was taken hostage, has told AFP he can "constantly imagine our reunion".
"This moment felt closer than ever and unfortunately, it's drifting away from me again," he said of his brother Guy Gilboa-Dalal, taken from a music festival near the Gaza border and last seen in a video shared by Hamas last month.
"We are fighting here against a terrorist organisation that only understands force," said Gal.
"On the other hand, I am terrified that these bombings and this operation... will endanger the hostages there. There's no way to know what the terrorists might do to them or if a missile might accidentally hit them," he added.

'People are tired'

The Hamas attack that sparked the war resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
Israel's retaliatory military offensive has killed at least 50,183 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to the health ministry.
In northern Gaza on Tuesday, Palestinians gathered for the biggest anti-Hamas rally since the start of the war, chanting "Hamas out" and "Hamas terrorists".
Majdi, a protester who did not wish to give his full name, said the "people are tired". 
"If Hamas leaving power in Gaza is the solution, why doesn't Hamas give up power to protect the people?"
Hamas seized power in Gaza in 2007 after winning a Palestinian election the year before. No vote has been held since.
Levels of discontent towards Hamas in Gaza are difficult to gauge, in part because of its intolerance for public expressions of dissent.
Fatah, the Palestinian movement of president Mahmud Abbas, has called on Hamas to "step aside from governing" Gaza to safeguard the "existence" of Palestinians in the war-battered territory.
bur-ami/ser

Haiti

Rubio looks at new path for Haiti on Caribbean trip

BY SHAUN TANDON

  • - Guyana, the new Gulf Arab ally - Rubio will be the third successive US secretary of state to visit Guyana with interest spiking after the discovery of major oil reserves.
  • US Secretary of State Marco Rubio headed Wednesday to the Caribbean looking for ways forward on violence-torn Haiti and to show support for oil-rich Guyana in its dispute with Venezuela.
  • - Guyana, the new Gulf Arab ally - Rubio will be the third successive US secretary of state to visit Guyana with interest spiking after the discovery of major oil reserves.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio headed Wednesday to the Caribbean looking for ways forward on violence-torn Haiti and to show support for oil-rich Guyana in its dispute with Venezuela.
Donald Trump's top diplomat departed for Jamaica, where he will attend a summit of the Caribbean Community, before stops Thursday both in Guyana and neighboring Suriname.
At the Caribbean summit, Rubio will meet the leaders of Haiti as well as host Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago, according to the State Department.
It is Rubio's second trip south of the US border since taking office as the Trump administration puts a laser-focus on preventing migration.
Haiti, the poorest nation in the Americas, has been at a breaking point for years with the collapse of government authority, rampant violence and the crumbling of public health services.
A Kenyan-led international security mission supported by former president Joe Biden has deployed to Haiti in hopes of bringing stability, but the troop force has come up short and violence has resumed.
More than 60,000 people have been displaced in one month inside the capital Port-au-Prince in a resurgence of gang violence, the International Organization for Migration said last week.
Rubio has made an exemption to sweeping cuts in US assistance to allow the continuation of US support to the Haiti mission. The Trump administration has yet to announce new ideas on Haiti, beyond revoking deportation protections for thousands of Haitians living in the United States.
Mauricio Claver-Carone, the US special envoy on Latin America, said Rubio hoped to speak with Caribbean nations to hear their views on Haiti.
"The circumstances are dire," he told reporters.
"We are developing a strategy in order to be able to continue to support the Haitian National Police, in order to deal with this," he said.
"It is a strategy in development."
Rubio, visiting the Dominican Republic last month, said the international mission in Haiti "needs to be broadened for it to be able to eliminate these gangs." 
"If that can be achieved, we need to discuss the future of Haiti," which can include incentives for domestic manufacturing, Rubio said.

Guyana, the new Gulf Arab ally

Rubio will be the third successive US secretary of state to visit Guyana with interest spiking after the discovery of major oil reserves. The South American country now has the largest crude oil reserves in the world on a per capita basis.
The oil is concentrated in the Essequibo border region which is disputed with Venezuela, led by leftist US nemesis Nicolas Maduro. 
Guyana earlier this month denounced what it called a Venezuelan military vessel's incursion in its waters. Venezuela denied any violation and requested a meeting between Maduro and Guyanese President Irfaan Ali, who dismissed the offer.
Claver-Carone likened Guyana to oil-rich Gulf Arab nations where the United States stations troops, in recent decades due to tensions with Iran.
"We want to work with Guyana in order to ensure the cooperation there and its guarantees on its security. We've seen the threats from Venezuela," he said.
Trump has severed a deal by Chevron to operate in Venezuela and threatened a new tariff effective April 2 for countries that buy Venezuelan oil.
Ali, despite his cooperation with the United States, said that Caribbean nations have concerns they would raise with Rubio about another threatened Trump move -- fines for use of Chinese-made container ships.
"We have to have early conversations to ensure that we mitigate or minimize the impact on the region," Ali said.
sct-st/

Iran

Huthis say US warplanes carry out 19 strikes in Yemen

  • Since then, Huthi-held parts of Yemen have witnessed near-daily attacks that the group has blamed on the United States, with the rebels announcing the targeting of US military ships and Israel.
  • Huthi media said 19 strikes hit rebel-held parts of Yemen, mostly Saada, blaming the United States, with the group later announcing they targeted a US warship and Israel.
  • Since then, Huthi-held parts of Yemen have witnessed near-daily attacks that the group has blamed on the United States, with the rebels announcing the targeting of US military ships and Israel.
Huthi media said 19 strikes hit rebel-held parts of Yemen, mostly Saada, blaming the United States, with the group later announcing they targeted a US warship and Israel.
Al-Masirah TV reported that "the US aggression launched 17 raids on the Saada governorate during the night", and earlier said two raids hit Amran.
The Iran-backed rebels' news agency, Saba, said "the American aggression targeted the Oncology Hospital building in Saada".
The hospital, which Huthi media said was under construction, was also hit last week.
The rebel health ministry said two civilians were wounded in the latest hospital attack, which they described as "a full-fledged war crime".
Early Wednesday, a Huthi military spokesperson said the group targeted "enemy warships in the Red Sea, led by the US aircraft carrier Truman" blamed for the Yemen strikes.
The rebels also claimed a drone attack on Tel Aviv, but did not specify when it occurred. Israel did not report such an attack.
Washington announced a military offensive against the Huthis on March 15, promising to use overwhelming force until the group stopped firing on vessels in the key shipping routes of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
That day saw a wave of US air strikes that officials said killed senior Huthi leaders, and which the rebels' health ministry said killed 53 people.
Since then, Huthi-held parts of Yemen have witnessed near-daily attacks that the group has blamed on the United States, with the rebels announcing the targeting of US military ships and Israel.
The Huthis began targeting shipping vessels after the start of the Gaza war, claiming solidarity with Palestinians, but paused their campaign when a ceasefire took effect in Gaza in January.
Earlier this month, they threatened to renew attacks in the vital maritime trade route over Israel's aid blockade on the Palestinian territory, triggering the first US strikes on Yemen since President Donald Trump took office in January.
Last week, Trump threatened to annihilate the Huthis and warned Tehran against continuing to aid the group.
bur-fox-ac/aya/dv

trade

China chip insiders eye stronger global ties despite trade tensions

BY JING XUAN TENG

  • Xiao, whose company sells chip-making equipment, said he still believed that "in the future we may need cooperation across the global industrial chain".
  • Industry insiders at a semiconductor trade fair in Shanghai urged more cooperation between the Chinese chip sector and the rest of the world, despite growing trade tensions with Washington.
  • Xiao, whose company sells chip-making equipment, said he still believed that "in the future we may need cooperation across the global industrial chain".
Industry insiders at a semiconductor trade fair in Shanghai urged more cooperation between the Chinese chip sector and the rest of the world, despite growing trade tensions with Washington.
Visitors thronged the Semicon expo as it opened on Wednesday, with exhibitors using loudspeakers and bright banners to advertise everything from silicon wafers and chip testing equipment to adhesives and glass pipes.
China's burgeoning semiconductor sector has faced pressure from the United States and some European governments in recent years, with Washington blacklisting dozens of companies this week over national security concerns.
US President Donald Trump has vowed to ramp up trade curbs on Chinese chip companies, while pressuring allies to restrict business with Beijing -- attempting to isolate the world's second largest semiconductor market.
Still, Xiao Jincheng, co-founder of Suzhou Zunheng Semiconductor Technology Company, told AFP "it is our dream to expand globally".
China has sought in recent years to become self-sufficient in the semiconductor industry, with Beijing pouring billions of dollars into a massive chip fund.   
Xiao, whose company sells chip-making equipment, said he still believed that "in the future we may need cooperation across the global industrial chain".

Self-sufficiency?

Xiao's sentiment was echoed by Ram Trichur, a semiconductor specialist at German materials giant Henkel.
"Semiconductor innovation cannot happen in isolation," Trichur told AFP.
"The ecosystem has to work together to be productive," he said.
Across the cavernous halls that house the trade fair, Chinese companies showed off lists of foreign clients, while one put up a sign proclaiming its wish to "sincerely invite foreign agent".
Still, there were signs of unease at the fair on Wednesday, with multiple Chinese firms and one European group telling AFP the topic of curbs on China's semiconductor trade was too sensitive to discuss.
"The limitations from the United States do have a certain impact on us," Zhou Dongdong, a product manager at equipment supplier Wuxi Evergrand Electronic Scientific Technology Co., told AFP.
But Zhou said he believed restrictions could spur China's chip supply chain to make "breakthroughs".
Trichur told AFP the challenges faced by Chinese firms could result in "catalyzing their innovation to make some big gains in the front end technologies".
Computer chips -- used in everything from refrigerators and vacuum cleaners to smartphones and electric vehicles -- now occupy a crucial position in the global economy.
Experts have long considered China to be lagging behind the United States in the race to secure sufficient access to cutting-edge semiconductors.
But the shock release in January of an AI chatbot developed by Chinese firm DeepSeek, apparently at a fraction of the cost needed for US-based OpenAI to produce its ChatGPT tool, has suggested that US trade curbs have not been entirely successful.
Still, Chinese chipmakers face headwinds, with top firm SMIC saying last month that its 2024 profit had plunged significantly from the previous year on the back of souring trade relations between Beijing and Washington.
tjx/oho/tc

fire

Workers save Buddha as S. Korea's wildfires raze ancient temple

BY SUE HAN KIM WITH HAILEY JO IN SEOUL

  • "It is very heartbreaking and painful to see the precious temples that are over a thousand years old being lost," Deung-woon, a 65-year-old monk told AFP.  When 68-year-old monk Joung-ou heard that the Gounsa temple had burned down in wildfires which have killed 24 people so far, he said he felt "so devastated that I couldn't come to my senses." 
  • At South Korea's thousand-year-old Gounsa Temple, workers delicately swaddled a giant gilded Buddha statue with a fire-retardant blanket. 
  • "It is very heartbreaking and painful to see the precious temples that are over a thousand years old being lost," Deung-woon, a 65-year-old monk told AFP.  When 68-year-old monk Joung-ou heard that the Gounsa temple had burned down in wildfires which have killed 24 people so far, he said he felt "so devastated that I couldn't come to my senses." 
At South Korea's thousand-year-old Gounsa Temple, workers delicately swaddled a giant gilded Buddha statue with a fire-retardant blanket. 
Hours later much of the temple burned down in one of the deadliest wildfires to hit South Korea -- but the Buddha and the wooden hall it was in survived.
All across the country's southeast, officials are racing to relocate priceless historic artifacts and protect UNESCO-listed sites from the blazes, which have killed 24 people and destroyed thousands of hectares of forest. 
In the UNESCO-listed Hahoe village -- a popular tourist site once visited by England's late Queen Elizabeth II -- fire fighters and cultural heritage officials have been spraying water and fire retardants onto the thatched buildings, hoping they would be spared from the flames.
"It is very heartbreaking and painful to see the precious temples that are over a thousand years old being lost," Deung-woon, a 65-year-old monk told AFP. 
When 68-year-old monk Joung-ou heard that the Gounsa temple had burned down in wildfires which have killed 24 people so far, he said he felt "so devastated that I couldn't come to my senses." 
"It was an extremely painful feeling, and I wondered why something like this could happen," he said. 
AFP reporters who returned to the temple after the blaze found the north side of the building razed to charred rubble, with broken tablets scattered on the ground.
The giant Buddha at the centre of the building survived. 
A heavy bell that once hung on an ancient wooden structure nearby sat cracked on top of the debris.
"We will do our best to restore the function of the temple," monk Joung-ou vowed.

'Inherently vulnerable'

One issue facing officials is that many of the cultural heritage sites in the area, including the UNESCO-listed Hahoe village are "inherently vulnerable to fires," one expert told AFP. 
Hahoe, which dates to the 14th or 15th century, is described by UNESCO as a "representative historic clan village".
The late Queen Elizabeth II visited in 1999 during her four-day visit to South Korea and was honoured with a banquet marking her 73rd birthday -- although the aristocratic village chief refused to allow the queen into his living room, which was for men only.
The village's layout and location -- "sheltered by forested mountains and facing out onto a river and open agricultural fields" is said by UNESCO to "reflect the distinctive aristocratic Confucian culture of the early part of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910)".
But it is precisely this location that makes the site vulnerable, said Lee Sang-hyun, professor of Cultural Heritage Studies at Gyeongkuk National University.
"It is difficult to devise preservation measures when a wildfire breaks out," he said.
"The wildfire poses a significant threat to the preservation of these cultural treasures. The predominant use of wood in these structures makes them even more susceptible to fires," he added.
"This is an unprecedented crisis. I am over 60 years old, but I have never seen a fire of this magnitude before," he said.

'Impossible to predict'

As the flames drew closer to Hahoe, AFP reporters at the scene saw huge chunks of ash floating in the air, as fire trucks sprayed water and fire retardants onto the thatched roof houses and buildings.
Thick wildfire-induced fog and the smell of burning filled the air, with police barring entry to all except fire control officials. The area -- which typically draws more than one million visitors annually -- was eerily deserted.
Nearby Byeongsan Seowon is also a UNESCO site, and a Korea Heritage Service official told AFP that saving the two locations were a top priority for officials.
"It is impossible to predict the current situation due to wind and changes in other conditions, but there is currently no damage to Hahoe Village," they said.
"As a countermeasure, we have used sprinkler trucks to soak the surfaces of the structures there with a lot of water."
Byun Ji-hyun, senior programme specialist at UNESCO, told AFP that "if Hahoe village were to be destroyed by fire, its value as a world heritage site could be significantly compromised. 
"That is why everyone is working together to prevent such an event. We believe that such an event will not occur."
In addition to scores of firefighters, the Korea Heritage Service has deployed 750 people to move and urgently care for the ancient treasures, including relocating them, or if not possible trying to equip them to survive the blaze.
So far, the service said at least 15 items considered important national heritage have been damaged and two designated "national treasures" had been completely destroyed.
"We have a number of personnel at the wildfire sites and they will continue to help move and protect national heritages," an official from the Korea Heritage Service told AFP. 
Hundreds of items have been moved to safety, including books and other items in the Bongjeongsa Temple in Andong.
The agency has "conducted on-site inspections to assess whether national heritage sites are at risk," it said in a statement. 
"Urgent relocation of cultural assets held by temples and other institutions is underway," they said adding that they are "mobilising all available personnel from the Cultural Heritage Administration and its affiliated agencies to respond".
hs-hj/ceb/hmn

death

Grandparents face further questions in French toddler death mystery

  • No trace of the two-year-old was found until the end of March last year when a hiker in the mountainous area came across the skull and teeth of a child some 1.7 kilometres (one mile) from their home.
  • French police have extended the detention of a 59-year-old man being questioned about the death of his young grandson, who disappeared while he was on holiday nearly two years ago.
  • No trace of the two-year-old was found until the end of March last year when a hiker in the mountainous area came across the skull and teeth of a child some 1.7 kilometres (one mile) from their home.
French police have extended the detention of a 59-year-old man being questioned about the death of his young grandson, who disappeared while he was on holiday nearly two years ago.
Philippe Vedovini has been detained with his wife, Anne, and two of their adult children since Tuesday in connection with the death of Emile Soleil, who went missing from his grandparents' remote home between Aix-en-Provence and Aubagne in July 2023.
No trace of the two-year-old was found until the end of March last year when a hiker in the mountainous area came across the skull and teeth of a child some 1.7 kilometres (one mile) from their home.
Clothing and bone fragments were later discovered in the same area.
Lawyer Isabelle Colombani, representing Philippe Vedovini, told reporters in Marseille late Tuesday that her client's initial 24-hour custody time had been extended.
He was responding to questions "so that we get closer to the truth", she added.
Anne Vedovini's lawyer, Julien Pinelli, also indicated that she would also remain in custody for further questioning.
All four suspects were detained for murder and concealment of a corpse, Aix-en-Provence prosecutor Jean-Luc Blachon said early Tuesday.
Questioning about a dozen witnesses has also begun, a source close to the investigation added.
A warrant was obtained to search the Vedovinis' house in the small village of La Bouilladisse. An all-terrain vehicle and horse box were recovered.
Philippe Vedovini is a osteopath and physiotherapist in La Bouilladisse. He and his wife are staunch Catholics and have 10 children, all of whom were home-schooled.
alc/phz/jm

climate

'Unprecedented' mass bleaching drains life from Australian reef

BY STEVEN TRASK

  • Branching through shallow waters along Australia's western coast, the 300-kilometre (185-mile) Ningaloo Reef is one of the largest "fringing reefs" in the world.
  • An "unprecedented" mass bleaching event has been recorded off Australia's western coast, scientists said Wednesday, turning huge chunks of a celebrated reef system a sickly dull white.
  • Branching through shallow waters along Australia's western coast, the 300-kilometre (185-mile) Ningaloo Reef is one of the largest "fringing reefs" in the world.
An "unprecedented" mass bleaching event has been recorded off Australia's western coast, scientists said Wednesday, turning huge chunks of a celebrated reef system a sickly dull white.
A months-long marine heatwave had "cooked" the sprawling Ningaloo Reef, ocean scientist Kate Quigley said, part of a world heritage-listed marine park renowned for vibrant corals and migrating whale sharks.
Although environment officials were still verifying the scale of damage, data collected by Quigley and a team of scientists found it was on track to be the reef's worst mass-bleaching event in years.
"Warm oceans have just cooked the corals this year," Quigley told AFP.
"It wouldn't be amiss to throw in the word 'unprecedented'.
"It has gone deep, it's not just the top of the reef that is bleaching. Many different species of coral are bleaching."
Branching through shallow waters along Australia's western coast, the 300-kilometre (185-mile) Ningaloo Reef is one of the largest "fringing reefs" in the world.
The unfolding mass bleaching looked to be the worst since 2011, Quigley said.
Ocean waters lapping Western Australia have been as much as three degrees warmer than average over recent summer months, the government weather bureau said.
Rising temperatures shot past the "bleaching threshold" sometime in mid-January, according to monitoring by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 
Bleaching occurs when warm waters trigger a biological response forcing coral to expel the colourful algae embedded in their tissues.
"Bleaching is a sickness, but it does not mean outright death," said Quigley, a research scientist with environment-focused charity Minderoo Foundation. 
"But if it is bad enough, the corals will die."

'Just shocking'

Government data showed smaller patches of coral bleaching had also been spotted at the northern tip of the more famous Great Barrier Reef on Australia's east coast.
Quigley said the Ningaloo Reef and the Great Barrier Reef were shaped by different weather patterns -- and it was rare to see bleaching on both at the same time.
"What we're seeing is the level of ocean warming is so great, it's overriding the local conditions in some places.
"It's just shocking. When we take a national snapshot, it's extremely concerning." 
The Great Barrier Reef, a popular tourist drawcard, has suffered five mass bleachings over the past eight years.
Quigley said the extent of damage on the Great Barrier Reef was not currently widespread enough to be considered "mass bleaching".
Global average temperatures were the hottest on record in 2024, with prolonged heatwaves in many of the planet's oceans causing alarm. 
A prolonged global episode of heat-related bleaching impacted almost 80 percent of the world's coral reefs between 2023 and 2024, a leading US science agency found in October.
Warming seas, overfishing and pollution are threatening coral reef systems the world over, warned a major UN report in December.
The average sea surface temperature around Australia was the "highest on record" in 2024, an Australian National University study reported last week.
Australia sits on bulging deposits of coal, gas, metals and minerals, with mining and fossil fuels stoking decades of near-unbroken economic growth. 
But it is increasingly suffering from more intense heatwaves, bushfires and drought, which scientists have linked to climate change. 
sft/pjm

security

China, Beijing's ties with Russia main threats to US: intel report

  • - Ukraine lessons - In addition to China, the assessment analyzed threats to the United States posed by Russia, North Korea, Iran and "non-state transnational criminals," including Mexican drug cartels and Muslim extremist groups.
  • China remains the main threat to the United States globally but of increasing concern is its closer cooperation with Russia, Iran and North Korea, said an annual US intelligence report released Tuesday.
  • - Ukraine lessons - In addition to China, the assessment analyzed threats to the United States posed by Russia, North Korea, Iran and "non-state transnational criminals," including Mexican drug cartels and Muslim extremist groups.
China remains the main threat to the United States globally but of increasing concern is its closer cooperation with Russia, Iran and North Korea, said an annual US intelligence report released Tuesday.
China's rise in all areas of power has been identified for years by the US as its main threat, and was behind Barack Obama's strategic Asia-Pacific pivot.
But Beijing's "coercive pressure" against Taiwan and "wide-ranging cyber operations against US targets" were indicators of its growing threat to US national security, said the Annual Threat Assessment by the intelligence community.
"China presents the most comprehensive and robust military threat to US national security," the report said.
Beijing was also making "steady" progress towards having the ability to seize the self-ruled island of Taiwan, it said.
The report, which compiles assessments from US intelligence agencies, warned that Beijing would keep expanding its "coercive and subversive malign influence activities" to weaken the US internally and globally.
And the Chinese government would seek to counter what it sees as a "US-led campaign to tarnish Beijing's global relations and overthrow" the Chinese Communist Party, the report said.
Beijing's military is gearing up to challenge US operations in the Pacific and "making steady but uneven progress on capabilities it would use in an attempt to seize Taiwan," it assessed.
But, it said, the Chinese leadership would seek to reduce tensions with the United States as it seeks to "protect its core interests, and buy time to strengthen its position."
China was more "cautious" than Russia, Iran and North Korea -- other key US adversaries -- about appearing "too aggressive and disruptive."
The report said that the autocratic style of President Xi Jinping -- China's most powerful leader since Mao Zedong -- was affecting its ability to respond to challenges.
"Xi's focus on security and stability... and securing other leaders' personal loyalty to him is undermining China's ability to solve complex domestic problems and will impede Beijing's global leverage," the report found.
Beijing called the report "biased" and accused it of "exaggerating the China threat."
"The US publishes these kinds of irresponsible and biased reports year after year," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told a regular press briefing. 
"We have no intention of surpassing anyone or replacing anyone," he said Wednesday.
US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard told a Senate hearing Tuesday that "China is our most capable strategic competitor" based on current intelligence.

Ukraine lessons

In addition to China, the assessment analyzed threats to the United States posed by Russia, North Korea, Iran and "non-state transnational criminals," including Mexican drug cartels and Muslim extremist groups.
It warned countries grouped together under the acronym CRINK -- China, Russia, Iran and North Korea -- were stepping up cooperation and could pose new challenges to US power on a global scale.
"This alignment increases the chances of US tensions or conflict with any one of these adversaries drawing in another," it said.
But it called their cooperation "uneven and primarily motivated by a common interest in... weakening US power," moderated by a "desire to control escalation."
Within that group, cooperation between China and Russia posed the greatest and "most persistent" threat to the US.
The allies have drawn closer since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and subsequent Western attempts to isolate Moscow.
The war and Western sanctions have made Moscow "a catalyst for the evolving ties," the report said, as it becomes more reliant on other countries.
It has stepped up cooperation with Iran to acquire drones and North Korea for supplies and troops, all to be used in Ukraine.
The conflict has afforded Moscow an array of lessons in battling Western weapons and intelligence.
"This experience probably will challenge future US defense planning, including against other adversaries with whom Moscow is sharing those lessons learned," the report concluded.
jgc-sam/oho/jfx/rsc

UN

'We are not in crisis': chair of IPCC climate body to AFP

BY JULIEN MIVIELLE

  • A: "No, I don't think the IPCC is in crisis.
  • Jim Skea insists the IPCC, the UN climate panel he chairs, is not in crisis and remains relevant despite criticism it is too slow in publishing its landmark scientific reports on climate change. 
  • A: "No, I don't think the IPCC is in crisis.
Jim Skea insists the IPCC, the UN climate panel he chairs, is not in crisis and remains relevant despite criticism it is too slow in publishing its landmark scientific reports on climate change. 
In an interview with AFP in Paris, the British sustainable energy professor addressed divisions within the IPCC, the US retreat on climate cooperation, and record-breaking global temperatures.
Q: At a recent meeting in Hangzhou, China, the IPCC failed to agree on a publication timeline for its next critical reports. Is the institution in crisis?
A: "No, I don't think the IPCC is in crisis. We will resolve this issue about the timeline. I mean, we had a lot of big successes in Hangzhou... So IPCC is moving forward.
"On the timeline issue overall, there were two options that are basically on the floor there. One for a timeline that is aligned with the second global stocktake under the Paris Agreement (due in 2028) and another one which is slower.
"And for the countries that are proposing the slower timeline, there are another set of considerations. It's about the time that's available for countries to review the draft reports of IPCC and it's about the time that's available for people from developing countries to produce literature.
"So we need to get to the issue at the next meeting of IPCC, which should take place in the last quarter of this year. And I'm optimistic we will get a solution there and move forward."
Q: The United States was absent from the meeting in China. Are you concerned?
A: "We don't normally comment on who's at a particular meeting until the reports come out. But, you know, it's been widely reported that the US didn't register for, or participate in, the meeting in Hangzhou, and that is indeed the case.
"At every meeting we have 60 or 70 countries or members of IPCC that don't turn up for the meeting, don't register. The US was one of these at this meeting, and it was a business as usual meeting. We got the job done. We got the outlines of the reports agreed."
Q: IPCC reports take five to seven years, which some say is far too long. Is the IPCC still relevant?
A: "It's manifestly relevant. The 1.5 (degrees Celsius) report in the last cycle just had an absolutely huge impact, globally, in terms of negotiations. And if you go along to every Conference of the Parties, you will find every delegation standing up and saying, we have to rely on the science and refer back to IPCC reports.
"So the absolute evidence there is that IPCC continues to be relevant. What we are not is a 24/7 news organisation because of these five to seven year cycles. We have a very elaborate process of review. It takes time to go through them.
"But when we produce our reports, they have the stamp of authority of the scientists and consensus among governments, and that makes them very powerful. And I think if we compromise our procedures, we would lose that authority."
Q: Global temperature records have been broken in recent years, surprising even some scientists. Is global warming greater than predicted in climate models?
A: "There's a lot of intense scientific work going on at the moment to try and understand, precisely, what's happened over the last two to three years, and what explains things. 
"The understanding I have, from talking to scientists -- and just to say, I am not a physical climate scientist myself -- my understanding is that we are at the boundary of exceptional circumstances for the global indicators. But for particular regions and for example, for ecosystems, we are also well beyond the boundaries of the expected range.
"So there's a lot of work going on to try and understand that at the moment... We hope there will be enough literature to provide a better explanation when IPCC next reports, probably 2028 for the Working Group (1) Physical Science report."
jmi/np/yad

fire

'Like the apocalypse': S. Korea wildfires tear through mountains

BY SUE HAN KIM WITH HIEUN SHIN IN SEOUL

  • "The mountain burning looked like literal hell," he added.
  • Truck driver Lee Seung-joo was driving through South Korea's Andong mountains when the wildfires hit, engulfing the area in flames and turning it into "a literal hell".
  • "The mountain burning looked like literal hell," he added.
Truck driver Lee Seung-joo was driving through South Korea's Andong mountains when the wildfires hit, engulfing the area in flames and turning it into "a literal hell".
"It was like the apocalypse," the 39-year-old said, as he recalled seeing the fire tear through the area, which, even before the inferno struck, had been suffering from a particularly dry spell.
"The mountain burning looked like literal hell," he added.
Tens of thousands of people in the southeast had to evacuate from the wildfires, which have been burning continuously for five days, fanned by high winds and fuelled by the super-dry conditions.
Sections of National Route 7, the main east coast highway, descended into chaos as the fires caught up with evacuees stuck in traffic jams, struggling to escape.
"Fireballs rained down like rain between the jammed vehicles, setting cars on fire," one eyewitness told local media.
"Drivers barely escaped from the burning cars — it was utter chaos."
Apple farmer Cho Jae-oak, 75, who fled from his property, told AFP that he also saw fireballs flying down from the mountain. 
He and his wife had sprayed water to try and save their farm but were eventually forced to escape. 
At least 24 people have been killed so far, some of whom died during the evacuation process, the Korea Forest Service said.
The country's acting president, Han Duck-soo, said the multiple fires had caused "unprecedented damage" and warned it could still get worse.
The strong winds -- plus a crash, killing a pilot -- have forced authorities to suspend helicopter and drone operations to battle the blazes, which are straining conventional firefighting capacity, officials said.

Evacuate!

"Attention Hawmaeri residents. Please evacuate quickly!" yelled the village chief. 
"The entire village is on fire, and your house will catch fire soon."
A heart wrenching video circulating online and verified by AFP showed the village chief of Hawmaeri, home to around 46 households, urging residents to flee as the Uiseong fire barrelled towards their homes.
Most of the villagers escaped, but officials later confirmed that the village chief and his family were found dead on Tuesday, next to their burned-out car.
The car was heading the opposite direction from evacuees, local police told reporters. 
Locals said the family had been "trying to rescue residents who might have been isolated".
Most of the deaths were residents, but at least three firefighters were killed, and a helicopter pilot, who died when his aircraft crashed in a mountain area, officials said.
There are also reports of missing people, officials say, including one woman in her 80s who was suffering from dementia.
In addition to thousands of firefighters, backed up by soldiers and other emergency staff, rescue workers have been heading to the southeast to assist around 27,000 evacuees. 
Animal rescue organisations have also rushed to the area, as many dogs in rural South Korea are kept tied up outside, with local media reporting that dozens of animals had died from smoke inhalation.
The groups reported finding dogs that survived, trembling in fear with severe burns.

Shock and anger

Inside an evacuation shelter in Andong, a quiet elementary school gym now filled with mostly elderly residents, the air was silent and heavy with shock.
South Korea's demographic crisis -- it is a super-aged society with the world's lowest birth rate -- was also on full display.
The average age in many villages exceeds 60, officials have said. 
Most of the evacuees were elderly and AFP reporters saw medics handing out medicine to those who had fled too quickly to bring what they need to manage chronic illnesses.
Officials told reporters that most of the dead were in their sixties to seventies.
Many evacuees at the shelter voiced not only shock but frustration, saying their homes had been burned before fire fighters showed up.
The fire was reportedly started by someone tending an ancestral grave site, who then called emergency services saying they had accidentally triggered the conflagration. 
"It's not a problem who started the fire, but this entire region needs to cooperate with the country to put out this fire. We need to put out the fire quickly," Park Sung-tae, farmer told AFP. 
He said he was concerned that if the smoke blocked out the sunlight for too long, this year's crop would be lost.
"It will make farming difficult," he added.
hs/ceb/tc

opposition

Hundreds arrested as Turkey protesters defy crackdown

BY FULYA OZERKAN AND HAZEL WARD

  • By Tuesday, police had detained 1,418 people for taking part in "illegal demonstrations", Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya wrote on X, warning there would be "no concessions" for those who "terrorise the streets". 
  • Almost 1,500 people have been detained -- including an AFP photographer -- as tens of thousands continued protests in Istanbul Tuesday after the arrest of the main political rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
  • By Tuesday, police had detained 1,418 people for taking part in "illegal demonstrations", Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya wrote on X, warning there would be "no concessions" for those who "terrorise the streets". 
Almost 1,500 people have been detained -- including an AFP photographer -- as tens of thousands continued protests in Istanbul Tuesday after the arrest of the main political rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The biggest protests in Turkey in over a decade erupted last week following the arrest of Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu on corruption charges, a move opposition supporters see as a blatant violation of the rule of law.
Authorities have hit back with a crackdown that has alarmed rights groups, with seven journalists who covered the protests remanded in custody by an Istanbul court on Tuesday.
Among them was AFP photographer Yasin Akgul, drawing a sharp rebuke from the Paris-based news agency.
"His imprisonment is unacceptable. This is why I am asking you to intervene as quickly as possible to obtain the rapid release of our journalist," the agency's CEO and chairman Fabrice Fries said in a letter to the Turkish presidency.
The court charged Akgul, 35, and the others with "taking part in illegal rallies and marches", though Fries said Akgul was not part of the protest but only covering it as a journalist.

'No concessions'

Media freedom group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) denounced the arrests as "scandalous", with its Turkey representative Erol Onderoglu saying it "reflects a very serious situation in Turkey".
By Tuesday, police had detained 1,418 people for taking part in "illegal demonstrations", Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya wrote on X, warning there would be "no concessions" for those who "terrorise the streets". 
Vast crowds have defied a protest ban to hit the streets daily since the March 19 arrest of Imamoglu, with the unrest spreading across Turkey and prompting nightly clashes with security forces. 
In the face of the biggest protests in Turkey since the 2013 Gezi uprising over the redevelopment of an Istanbul park, Erdogan has remained defiant, denouncing the rallies as "street terror". 
"Those who spread terror in the streets and want to set fire to this country have nowhere to go. The path they have taken is a dead end," said Erdogan, who has ruled the NATO member for a quarter of a century.
But as he spoke, thousands of students marched through the Sisli district of Istanbul, whose mayor Resul Emrah Sahan was jailed in the same case as Imamoglu.
They chanted "government, resign" and waved flags and banners as a large deployment of riot police stood by.
People in apartments above bashed pots to show their approval.
Many protesters covered their faces with scarves or masks to avoid being identified by the police. 
"We can't express ourselves freely," a student who gave her name as Nisa told AFP, saying she nonetheless joined the protest "to defend democracy". 
Separately, thousands also rallied for the seventh straight night in a protest organised by Imamoglu's Republican People's Party (CHP) in the Sarachane district, home of the Istanbul city hall that Imamoglu ran since 2019.
Girding for what could be a long standoff, CHP leader Ozgur Ozel called a mass rally for Saturday in Istanbul that he said would be the "largest open-air referendum in history" and would press for early elections.
"We have had enough and we want early elections," Ozel told protesters.

'Dark time for democracy'

With riot police using water cannon, pepper spray and rubber bullets against protesters, the Council of Europe denounced a "disproportionate" use of force while Human Rights Watch said it was a "dark time for democracy" in Turkey.
The United Nations also voiced alarm at Turkey's use of mass detentions and its "unlawful blanket ban on protests", urging the authorities to probe any unlawful use of force.
In Washington, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio voiced "concerns" following a meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.
But Ozel told the Sarachane crowd: "We do not decrease in numbers with arrests -- there will be even more of us."
He added the extent of the crackdown was such that there was "no room left in Istanbul prisons".
bur-fo-hmw-sjw/js/fox/fg

accident

South Korea's wildfires kill 24, wreak 'unprecedented damage'

BY KANG JIN-KYU AND SUE HAN KIM

  • "Wildfires burning for a fifth consecutive day... are causing unprecedented damage," South Korea's acting president Han Duck-soo said.
  • One of South Korea's worst-ever wildfire outbreaks has killed at least 24 people, officials said Wednesday, with multiple raging blazes causing "unprecedented damage" and threatening two UNESCO-listed sites.
  • "Wildfires burning for a fifth consecutive day... are causing unprecedented damage," South Korea's acting president Han Duck-soo said.
One of South Korea's worst-ever wildfire outbreaks has killed at least 24 people, officials said Wednesday, with multiple raging blazes causing "unprecedented damage" and threatening two UNESCO-listed sites.
More than a dozen fires broke out over the weekend, scorching wide swathes of the southeast, forcing around 27,000 people to urgently evacuate, with the fire cutting off roads and downing communications lines as residents fled in panic.
The death toll jumped to 24 on Wednesday, as wind-driven flames tore through neighbourhoods and razed an ancient temple.
"Twenty four people are confirmed dead in the wildfires so far," with 12 seriously injured, a ministry of interior and safety official told AFP, adding that these were "preliminary figures" and the toll could rise.
Most of those killed were local residents, but at least three firefighters were killed, and a pilot in a firefighting helicopter died when his aircraft crashed in a mountain area, officials said.
According to the interior ministry, the wildfires have charred 17,398 hectares (42,991 acres), with the blaze in Uiseong county alone accounting for 87 percent of the total.
The extent of damage already makes it South Korea's second largest, after the inferno in April 2000 that scorched 23,913 hectares across the east coast.
The government has raised the crisis alert to its highest level and taken the rare step of transferring some inmates out of prisons in the area.
"Wildfires burning for a fifth consecutive day... are causing unprecedented damage," South Korea's acting president Han Duck-soo said.
He told an emergency safety and disaster meeting that the blazes were "developing in a way that is exceeding both existing prediction models and earlier expectations."
"Throughout the night, chaos continued as power and communication lines were cut in several areas and roads were blocked," he added. 
In the city of Andong, some evacuees sheltering in an elementary school gym told AFP they had to flee so quickly they could bring nothing with them.
"The wind was so strong," Kwon So-han, a 79-year-old resident in Andong told AFP, adding that as soon as he got the evacuation order he fled.
"The fire came from the mountain and fell on my house," he said.
"Those who haven't experienced it won't know. I could only bring my body."

'Most devastating'

Authorities had been using helicopters to battle the blazes, but suspended all such operations after a helicopter crashed Wednesday, killing the pilot on board.
Authorities said changing wind patterns and dry weather had revealed the limitations of conventional firefighting methods.
The fires are "the most devastating" yet in South Korea, acting president Han added.
By Wednesday, two UNESCO-listed sites popular with tourists -- historic Hahoe Folk Village and Byeongsan Seowon -- were under threat.
Authorities said late Wednesday that the fire was just five kilometres away from Hahoe, a village where some houses were covered with thatched roofs.
Firefighters were also on standby at nearby Byeongsan Seowon, known for its pavillion-style ancient academies.
Huge plumes of smoke turned the sky over the village grey and huge chunks of ash floated in the air, AFP reporters saw, with fire trucks spraying water and fire-retardants onto the historic site in a desperate bit to save it.

'Fireballs'

Last year was South Korea's hottest year on record, with the Korea Meteorological Administration saying that the average annual temperature was 14.5 degrees Celsius -- two degrees higher than the preceding 30-year average of 12.5 degrees.
The fire-hit region had been experiencing unusually dry weather with below-average precipitation, authorities have said, with the South experiencing more than double the number of fires this year than last.
Some types of extreme weather have a well-established link with climate change, such as heatwaves or heavy rainfall.
Other phenomena, such as forest fires, droughts, snowstorms and tropical storms can result from a combination of complex factors.
"We can't say that it's only due to climate change, but climate change is directly (and) indirectly affecting the changes we are experiencing now. This is a sheer fact," Yeh Sang-Wook, professor of climatology at Seoul's Hanyang University, told AFP.
"Wildfires will become more frequent," he added. 
"As the atmosphere becomes warmer due to climate change, the water vapour in the ground evaporates more easily, so the amount of moisture contained in the ground decreases. So, all this creates the conditions wildfires can occur more frequently."
The major fire in Uiseong was reportedly caused by a person tending to a family grave who accidentally ignited the blaze.
Apple farmer Cho Jae-oak told AFP that he and his wife had sprayed water around their house all day to protect it.
"We kept spraying and guarding it. When the fire was burning on the mountain, fireballs flew here," he said, adding that the encroaching flames eventually forced them to leave.
hs-kjk/ceb/hmn

adoption

S. Korea govt responsible for international adoption fraud: inquiry

  • In a landmark announcement, the country's truth commission concluded after a two-year and seven-month investigation that human rights violations occurred in international adoptions of South Korean children, including "fraudulent orphan registrations, identity tampering, and inadequate vetting of adoptive parents".
  • A South Korean official enquiry said Wednesday the government was responsible for abuse in international adoptions of local children, including record fabrication and inadequate consent, and recommended an official state apology.
  • In a landmark announcement, the country's truth commission concluded after a two-year and seven-month investigation that human rights violations occurred in international adoptions of South Korean children, including "fraudulent orphan registrations, identity tampering, and inadequate vetting of adoptive parents".
A South Korean official enquiry said Wednesday the government was responsible for abuse in international adoptions of local children, including record fabrication and inadequate consent, and recommended an official state apology.
"It was determined that the state neglected its duty ... resulting in the violation of the human rights of adoptees protected by the constitution and international agreements during the process of sending a lot of children abroad," South Korea's Truth and Reconciliation Commission said in a statement.
The country -- now Asia's fourth biggest economy and a global culture powerhouse -- remains one of the biggest ever exporters of babies in the world, having sent more than 140,000 children overseas between 1955 and 1999.
International adoption began after the Korean War as a way to remove mixed-race children, born to local mothers and American GI fathers, from a country that emphasised ethnic homogeneity.
It became big business in the 1970s to 1980s, bringing international adoption agencies millions of dollars as the country overcame post-war poverty and faced rapid and aggressive economic development.
More recently, the main driver has been babies born to unmarried women, who still face ostracism in a patriarchal society, and according to academics, are often forced to give up their children.
In a landmark announcement, the country's truth commission concluded after a two-year and seven-month investigation that human rights violations occurred in international adoptions of South Korean children, including "fraudulent orphan registrations, identity tampering, and inadequate vetting of adoptive parents".
It also said "numerous cases were identified where proper legal consent procedures" for South Korean birth parents were "not followed".
The commission also said the South Korean government failed to regulate adoption fees, allowing agencies to set them through "internal agreements", effectively turning it into a profit-driven industry.
And despite regulations requiring verification of adoptive parents' eligibility, an overwhelming majority -- 99 percent -- of intercountry adoption approvals in 1984 alone were granted on the same day or the following day, the commission said, citing its investigation.
"These violations should never have occurred," the commission's chairperson Park Sun-young told reporters.
"This is a shameful part of our history," she added.
- 'Eternal uncertainty' - 
For years, Korean adoptees have advocated for their rights, many reporting that their birth mothers were forced to give up their children, leading to the fabrication of records to make them legally adoptable.
Some South Korean birth parents and adoptees even claimed that their children were kidnapped -- by agents who sought out unattended children in poor neighbourhoods -- or that authorities directed lost children towards adoption without trying to reunite them with their families, in some cases intentionally changing the child's identity.
Some adoptees -- such as Adam Crapser -- were deported to South Korea as adults because their American parents never secured their US citizenship.
The commission confirmed human rights violations in only 56 out of 367 complaints, saying there was an overwhelming amount of data to try to verify, and said it would "make efforts" to review the remaining cases before its investigation expires on May 26.
Some adoptees were dissatisfied with this outcome, urging the commission to fully recognise violations in all 367 cases.
"Without the truth, our lives rests upon guesses, estimations and creative narratives," Boonyoung Han, a Danish Korean adoptee, said in a statement.
"We are victims to state violence but without a trace! Literally. Destruction and withholding of our documents must not leave us open to eternal uncertainty."
Hanna Johansson, a Korean adoptee in Sweden, said she considers the commission's announcement a "victory" for her adoptee community regardless.
"I also hope that more and more South Korean (birth) parents who lost their child without their consent will come forward and demand justice," she told AFP.
cdl/ceb/mtp

security

China poses biggest military threat to US: intel report

  • Beijing's military is gearing up to challenge US operations in the Pacific and "making steady but uneven progress on capabilities it would use in an attempt to seize Taiwan," it assessed.
  • China poses the top threat to American interests and security globally and is making "steady" progress towards having the ability to seize the self-ruled island of Taiwan, an annual US intelligence report warned Tuesday.
  • Beijing's military is gearing up to challenge US operations in the Pacific and "making steady but uneven progress on capabilities it would use in an attempt to seize Taiwan," it assessed.
China poses the top threat to American interests and security globally and is making "steady" progress towards having the ability to seize the self-ruled island of Taiwan, an annual US intelligence report warned Tuesday.
Beijing's "coercive pressure" against Taiwan and "wide-ranging cyber operations against US targets" were indicators of its growing threat to US national security, said the Annual Threat Assessment by the intelligence community.
"China presents the most comprehensive and robust military threat to US national security," the report said.
The report provides an overview of the collective insights of top US intelligence agencies about the security threats to the US posed by foreign nations and criminal organizations.
It warned that Beijing would keep expanding its "coercive and subversive malign influence activities" to weaken the US internally and globally.
And the Chinese government would seek to counter what it sees as a "US-led campaign to tarnish Beijing's global relations and overthrow" the Chinese Communist Party, the report said.
Beijing's military is gearing up to challenge US operations in the Pacific and "making steady but uneven progress on capabilities it would use in an attempt to seize Taiwan," it assessed.
But, it said, the Chinese leadership would seek to reduce tensions with the United States as it seeks to "protects its core interests, and buy time to strengthen its position."
China was more "cautious" than Russia, Iran and North Korea -- other key US adversaries -- about appearing "too aggressive and disruptive."
And it said that the autocratic style of President Xi Jinping -- China's most powerful leader since Mao Zedong -- was affecting its ability to respond to challenges.
"Xi's focus on security and stability... and securing other leaders' personal loyalty to him is undermining China's ability to solve complex domestic problems and will impede Beijing's global leverage," the report found.
Beijing called the report "biased" and accused it of "exaggerating the China threat" on Wednesday.
"The US publishes these kinds of irresponsible and biased reports year after year," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told a regular press briefing. 
"We have no intention of surpassing anyone or replacing anyone", he said.
US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard told a Senate hearing Tuesday that "China is our most capable strategic competitor" based on current intelligence.
In addition to China, the assessment analyzed threats to the United States posed by Russia, North Korea, Iran and "non-state transnational criminals," including Mexican drug cartels and Islamic extremist groups.
jgc-sam/oho/hmn