appeal

South Korean court hikes ex-president's sentence for obstructing justice

BY KANG JIN-KYU AND MATTHEW WALSH

  • Initially sentenced in January to 20 months for bribery, her penalty was increased to four years on Tuesday after an appeals court reversed her acquittal for stock price manipulation.
  • A South Korean appeals court increased the sentence of jailed former president Yoon Suk Yeol on Wednesday to seven years for obstructing justice, up from five years.
  • Initially sentenced in January to 20 months for bribery, her penalty was increased to four years on Tuesday after an appeals court reversed her acquittal for stock price manipulation.
A South Korean appeals court increased the sentence of jailed former president Yoon Suk Yeol on Wednesday to seven years for obstructing justice, up from five years.
A lower court had handed Yoon the initial sentence in January after he was found to have used presidential security agents to block his own arrest.
Both Yoon and the prosecution lodged appeals -- he argued that the arrest warrants against him were based on an "unlawful investigation", while special prosecutors said his punishment should be 10 years given his "egregious" crimes.
"The court sentences the defendant to seven years in prison," a judge at the Seoul High Court said on Wednesday, calling Yoon's actions "highly reprehensible".
"The defendant not only sought to obstruct the lawful execution of warrants by prosecutors and others," he said in his verdict.
"(He) also issued unlawful instructions to public officials of the presidential security service, who are national civil servants, attempting to use them as if they were private guards for his personal protection."
Yoon, who appeared in court wearing a black suit and white shirt, showed little emotion as he listened to the verdict.
The appeals court also upheld his conviction for abuse of power for excluding cabinet members from a meeting to plan the imposition of martial law.
It overturned his acquittal by a lower court of abuse of power for ordering his defence of the martial law declaration to be distributed to foreign media.
And it upheld the lower court's conclusion that Yoon had prepared falsified documents, but had not actually used them.

Life sentence

Yoon is also serving a life sentence for the much more serious crime of leading an insurrection, a result of his failed attempt to impose martial law in 2024.
In December that year, he made a shock late-night national televised address, raising the spectre of North Korean influence and "anti-state forces" to declare the suspension of civilian rule.
But martial law lasted only about six hours as lawmakers raced to the assembly building and voted it down in an emergency session.
In subsequent months, Yoon was impeached, removed from power and put on trial over a litany of allegations connected to his proclamation.
He has also appealed against his insurrection conviction, saying he acted "solely for the sake of the nation".

Legal headaches

In addition, Yoon faces a separate trial on charges of aiding the enemy over allegations that he sent military drones into North Korea earlier in 2024.
Special prosecutors are seeking a 30-year sentence in that case, arguing that Yoon ordered the incursion to provoke a response from Pyongyang that would strengthen his pretext for declaring martial law.
Yoon's legal team have denied the charge, saying he gave "no prior order or subsequent approval" for the operation cited by prosecutors.
Yoon's wife, former first lady Kim Keon Hee, is also languishing in prison for unrelated corruption crimes.
Initially sentenced in January to 20 months for bribery, her penalty was increased to four years on Tuesday after an appeals court reversed her acquittal for stock price manipulation.
Lawyers for Kim told AFP they would appeal the verdict to the Supreme Court.
kjk-mjw/cdl/mtp

energy

TotalEnergies first-quarter profits surge amid Middle East war

  • The company's oil and gas production rose four percent in the quarter, with the amount of liquefied natural gas transported by sea gaining 12 percent.
  • French oil and gas giant TotalEnergies said Wednesday net profit rose 51 percent in the first quarter to $5.8 billion, boosted by higher oil prices linked to the war in the Middle East.
  • The company's oil and gas production rose four percent in the quarter, with the amount of liquefied natural gas transported by sea gaining 12 percent.
French oil and gas giant TotalEnergies said Wednesday net profit rose 51 percent in the first quarter to $5.8 billion, boosted by higher oil prices linked to the war in the Middle East.
Growth in its oil and gas production in Brazil and Libya allowed the group to offset losses in the Gulf region, which is normally equivalent to 15 percent of its total oil and gas business, the company said in a statement, while also highlighting its "ability to capitalize on rising prices".
The company's oil and gas production rose four percent in the quarter, with the amount of liquefied natural gas transported by sea gaining 12 percent.
The group increased its dividend 5.9 percent to 0.90 euros a share.
TotalEnergies also said it had partially restarted its Satorp refinery in eastern Saudi Arabia in mid-April,  after it had shut the facility following air strikes in early April.
nal/uh/gv/jhb

children

EU finds Meta failing to keep under-13s off Facebook, Instagram

BY RAZIYE AKKOC

  • Meta also "inadequately" identified the risks of children under 13 accessing the apps, and the potential for exposure to "age-inappropriate experiences".
  • The EU said on Wednesday Meta is failing to prevent children under 13 using Facebook and Instagram, potentially exposing them to inappropriate content -- and putting the tech giant at risk of a massive fine.
  • Meta also "inadequately" identified the risks of children under 13 accessing the apps, and the potential for exposure to "age-inappropriate experiences".
The EU said on Wednesday Meta is failing to prevent children under 13 using Facebook and Instagram, potentially exposing them to inappropriate content -- and putting the tech giant at risk of a massive fine.
The European Union has in recent months stepped up efforts to protect children online, with several member countries considering social media bans for under-16s.
The EU executive is also exploring a possible bloc-wide age limit on social media after coming under intense pressure to take broader action following Australia's groundbreaking ban on using such platforms for under-16s.
In its latest move to enhance protections for children online, the EU said a probe showed Meta broke digital content rules, and told the US firm to "strengthen" its measures to prevent, detect and remove under-13s on Facebook and Instagram.
Under Meta's own terms and conditions, the minimum age to access the social media platforms is 13.
In its preliminary view, the EU found Meta had ineffective measures to enforce its own restrictions on children using Facebook and Instagram.
"Terms and conditions should not be mere written statements, but rather the basis for concrete action to protect users -- including children," said EU tech tsar Henna Virkkunen.
If the regulator's views on Meta are confirmed, the EU can impose a fine of up to six percent of the company's total worldwide annual turnover.
Meta disagreed with the EU's findings.
"We're clear that Instagram and Facebook are intended for people aged 13 and older and we have measures in place to detect and remove accounts from anyone under that age," a Meta spokesperson said, adding the company would continue to engage with the EU.

Ongoing Meta probe

The EU has vowed to ensure Big Tech gets to grips with the many dangers online for children. In February, it gave the unprecedented warning to China's TikTok to change its "addictive design" or risk heavy fines.
Wednesday's preliminary findings against Meta come after the EU opened an investigation in May 2024 under the Digital Services Act (DSA), an online content law that has been fiercely criticised by the US President Donald Trump's administration.
The DSA is part of reinforced legal weaponry adopted by the EU in recent years to curb what Brussels describes as Big Tech's excesses.
European regulators found children are able to easily create an account by entering a false date of birth, and said Meta had "no effective controls" to check.
The EU also said Meta's tool to report the presence of children on Facebook or Instagram was "difficult to use and not effective, requiring up to seven clicks just to access the reporting form".
Meta also "inadequately" identified the risks of children under 13 accessing the apps, and the potential for exposure to "age-inappropriate experiences".
Brussels added Meta's risk assessment "contradicts large bodies of evidence" from across the EU that indicate around 10 to 12 percent of under-13s access the platforms.
Meta can avoid fines by offering remedies for the breaches.

'Addictive'

The May 2024 probe into Meta is wide-ranging.
EU regulators are still looking into how Meta protects users' physical and mental wellbeing, as well as the "addictive" design of Facebook and Instagram.
Alongside the EU's investigations into online platforms, Brussels this month said an EU-developed age-check app was ready to go and expected to be rolled out in the coming months.
EU officials say the app seeks to replace pop-up banners asking users to click to confirm they are over 18 to access adult content sites.
Last month, the EU said four pornographic platforms including Pornhub were allowing children to access adult content in breach of digital rules.
raz/del/jhb

royals

King Charles to stress UK-US cultural, trade ties in New York

BY BEN TURNER

  • Later, Charles will mingle with business leaders, including investors and entrepreneurs, at an event highlighting the transatlantic economic ties.
  • King Charles III will use a trip to New York on Wednesday to showcase cultural and economic ties between Britain and the United States at a time when the "special relationship" is under strain.
  • Later, Charles will mingle with business leaders, including investors and entrepreneurs, at an event highlighting the transatlantic economic ties.
King Charles III will use a trip to New York on Wednesday to showcase cultural and economic ties between Britain and the United States at a time when the "special relationship" is under strain.
It is the third day of a four-day state visit, clouded by tensions over the Iran war, that began in Washington with President Donald Trump warmly greeting the monarch and his wife Queen Camilla.
The New York leg will first see the royals take part in a wreath-laying ceremony at the 9/11 memorial to mark 25 years since the terror attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.
"This atrocity was a defining moment for America and your pain and shock were felt around the whole world," Charles told the US Congress on Tuesday.
"We stood with you then. And we stand with you now in solemn remembrance of a day that shall never be forgotten," he added in a speech that called for unity among Western powers.
After meeting 9/11 first responders and victims' families, Charles, who is passionate about gardening and the environment, will visit an urban sustainable farming project providing mentorship to young people and tackling hunger.
Meanwhile, Camilla will mark the 100th birthday of fictional teddy bear Winnie the Pooh at the New York Public Library, where she is expected to gift a specially made toy of the character Roo.
Later, Charles will mingle with business leaders, including investors and entrepreneurs, at an event highlighting the transatlantic economic ties.
Trump this month threatened to backtrack on a trade agreement with the UK that limits the impact US tariffs, as he criticized Britain's lack of support over the Iran war.
Charles's final engagement will celebrate the work of his youth charity, The King's Trust, at a reception that will also spotlight British and American cultural industries. 

'We stand united'

Security in New York will be tight for the royal visit, which comes just days after an alleged assassination attempt against Trump at a Washington press gala.
The city's leftist Mayor Zohran Mamdani is not expected to meet Charles privately but will join him for the 9/11 ceremony.
British officials will be pleased so far with the pomp-filled US welcome for Charles and Camilla, which has included a 21-gun salute, military jet flypast and a state banquet at the White House.
Trump, taking a jovial tone, has even joked about his Scottish-born mother having a crush on Charles. 
That is in stark contrast to his barbs at Prime Minister Keir Starmer for failing to join the war against Tehran, which had cast a diplomatic shadow ahead of the royal visit. 
Charles capitalized on his address to Congress -- the first by a British monarch since his mother Queen Elizabeth II in 1991 -- to paper over those tensions.
"Whatever our differences, whatever disagreements we may have, we stand united in our commitment to uphold democracy," he told lawmakers.
Addressing Congress during celebrations marking 250 years since American independence from Britain, Charles stressed how the two nations' partnership was "born out of dispute, but no less strong for it."
bjt/sla/aks

health

US judge orders Purdue Pharma to pay billions ahead of bankruptcy

  • The criminal sentencing caps off years of legal battles and paves the way for Purdue and its former owners, the Sackler family, to pay more than $8 billion as part of a settlement.
  • A US federal judge on Tuesday sentenced OxyContin-maker Purdue Pharma to pay billions of dollars over its role in the opioid crisis, ahead of upcoming bankruptcy proceedings and its dissolution.
  • The criminal sentencing caps off years of legal battles and paves the way for Purdue and its former owners, the Sackler family, to pay more than $8 billion as part of a settlement.
A US federal judge on Tuesday sentenced OxyContin-maker Purdue Pharma to pay billions of dollars over its role in the opioid crisis, ahead of upcoming bankruptcy proceedings and its dissolution.
The criminal sentencing caps off years of legal battles and paves the way for Purdue and its former owners, the Sackler family, to pay more than $8 billion as part of a settlement.
Between 1999 and 2023, around 806,000 people died from opioid overdoses in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Purdue and other opioid makers and distributors are accused of encouraging free-wheeling prescription of painkillers like OxyContin starting in the 1990s, while hiding how addictive the drugs are.
Last year, several US states reached a settlement with Purdue and the Sackler family, with a bankruptcy plan that will see funds routed to affected communities and individuals.
The total amount to be paid in fines, forfeitures and penalties surpasses $8 billion.
The company is set to be dissolved on May 1, with the remnants becoming Knoa Pharma, a public benefit company that will provide opioid use disorder treatments and overdose reversal medicines.
For more than six hours on Tuesday, US Judge Madeline Cox Arleo listened to dozens of victims and their families testify about the impact Purdue Pharma and the opioid epidemic had on them.
She then ordered Steve Miller, Purdue Pharma's board chair, to apologize to them.
During the proceedings to resolve a Department of Justice probe and clear the way for the settlement, Arleo read the names of more than 200 victims who had submitted written statements before the hearing.
"These people are not statistics in an epidemiological study," she said, adding that the testimonies were "heartbreaking."
The judge also apologized on behalf of the US government, saying it had "failed" to protect the public from Purdue Pharma, whose practices were "driven by greed" and had a "corporate strategy much like a criminal enterprise."
While many testifying on Tuesday urged the settlement agreement to be rejected -- in part because it protects the Sackler family from criminal prosecution -- Arleo called it the "best route I see among the options before me."
She urged the lawyers handling the bankruptcy proceedings to honor their promises of compensation.
For many people, opioid addiction begins with prescribed pain pills, such as OxyContin, before they increase their consumption and eventually turn to illicit drugs such as heroin and fentanyl, an extremely powerful synthetic opioid.
pel/llb/jgc/aks/hol

film

'Jurassic Park' star Sam Neill says cancer-free after gene therapy

  • Neill, 78, said in a weekend interview he had lived with the blood cancer for about five years but his chemotherapy treatment eventually stopped working.
  • Actor Sam Neill says he is cancer-free after five years of living with lymphoma, thanks to a genetic therapy that modified his immune system.
  • Neill, 78, said in a weekend interview he had lived with the blood cancer for about five years but his chemotherapy treatment eventually stopped working.
Actor Sam Neill says he is cancer-free after five years of living with lymphoma, thanks to a genetic therapy that modified his immune system.
The New Zealander, who starred as Dr Alan Grant in the 1993 blockbuster "Jurassic Park", revealed in a 2023 memoir he was "possibly dying" with stage-three non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Neill, 78, said in a weekend interview he had lived with the blood cancer for about five years but his chemotherapy treatment eventually stopped working.
"I was at a loss and it looked like I was on the way out, which wasn't ideal, obviously," he told Australia's Channel Seven News.
The actor was treated with CAR T-cell therapy, which uses a disabled virus to genetically reprogram human infection-fighting T-cells, enabling them to target specific cancers.
"I've just had a scan just now, and there is no cancer in my body -- that's an extraordinary thing," Neil said.
He is calling on Australian federal and state governments to fund CAR T-cell therapy for blood cancer patients across the country.
Neill's acting career began in the 1970s and has spanned dozens of roles in TV and film, including "Peaky Blinders", "The Hunt for Red October", and "The Piano". 
djw/oho/mtp

US

Pentagon chief to testify on Iran war, peace efforts stall

BY AFP TEAMS IN WASHINGTON, TEHRAN, BEIRUT AND JERUSALEM

  • Efforts to end the war have stalled in recent days, with Vice President JD Vance last week preparing to fly to Pakistan for new talks but then staying home.
  • Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth will make his first testimony before Congress on the Mideast war Wednesday, as efforts to end the conflict stalled with the United States reportedly skeptical of Tehran's latest offer to unblock the Strait of Hormuz.
  • Efforts to end the war have stalled in recent days, with Vice President JD Vance last week preparing to fly to Pakistan for new talks but then staying home.
Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth will make his first testimony before Congress on the Mideast war Wednesday, as efforts to end the conflict stalled with the United States reportedly skeptical of Tehran's latest offer to unblock the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran has blockaded the waterway -- a vital conduit for oil and gas shipments -- since the start of the US-Israeli offensive two months ago, sending shockwaves through the global economy.
US officials did not dispute accounts by CNN and The Wall Street Journal that US President Donald Trump was skeptical of the proposal.
During a White House state dinner Tuesday, Trump told Britain's King Charles III and other guests that Iran has been "militarily defeated."
He added that "Charles agrees with me even more than I do -- we're never going to let that opponent have a nuclear weapon."
But an Iranian army spokesman told state TV on Tuesday that "we do not consider the war to be over," saying Tehran had "no trust in America."
"We have many cards that we have not yet used... new tools and methods of fighting based on the experiences of the past two wars, which will definitely allow us to respond to the enemy more decisively" should the fighting resume, Amir Akraminia said in an interview.
Efforts to end the war have stalled in recent days, with Vice President JD Vance last week preparing to fly to Pakistan for new talks but then staying home.
The latest Iranian proposal, passed along by Pakistan and studied by Trump administration officials in a meeting Monday, laid out red lines including on nuclear issues and Hormuz, according to Iran's Fars news agency. 
The plan would reportedly see Tehran ease its chokehold on the strait and Washington lift its retaliatory blockade on Iranian ports while broader negotiations continue, including over the thorny question of Iran's nuclear program.

'Good negotiators'

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the proposal was "better than what we thought they were going to submit," but questioned if the Iranian officials behind it had authority, following Israeli killings of senior officials.
Rubio, in a Fox News interview, said US demands to reopen the strait meant "going back to the way it should be" and was before the US-Israeli attacks.
"They're very good negotiators," Rubio said, adding that any eventual deal had to be "one that definitively prevents them from sprinting towards a nuclear weapon."
Iranian defence ministry spokesman Reza Talaei-Nik said Washington "must abandon its illegal and irrational demands."
"The United States is no longer in a position to dictate its policy to independent nations," he said, according to state TV.
Qatar -- a US ally that was hit by Iranian strikes despite its role as a mediator -- warned of the possibility of a "frozen conflict" if a definitive resolution is not found.
Oil prices jumped on Qatar's warning and the reports that Trump was unlikely to accept the Iranian proposal.
Brent is above the level it hit before the two sides announced a ceasefire in early April, sitting at around $112, while West Texas Intermediate broke $100 Tuesday for the first time in two weeks.
Both contracts were slightly higher on Wednesday.
Trump faces domestic pressure to find an off-ramp from the war as prices rise, with midterm elections due in November and polls showing the conflict is unpopular among Americans.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who earlier had offered guarded support to Trump, said Monday that "the Americans obviously have no strategy" in Iran and that the war was "at the very least ill-considered."
Trump later denounced Merz on social media, saying he "doesn't know what he's talking about."

Lebanon says troops targeted

Violence has continued on the war's Lebanese front, despite a recently extended ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, the Iran-backed armed group that drew Lebanon into the war by firing rockets at Israel.
Israel responded with strikes and a ground invasion.
For the first time since the ceasefire began, the Lebanese army said Tuesday that an Israeli strike had targeted its troops, wounding two soldiers in the south. 
Israel's military had earlier warned residents of more than a dozen villages and towns to evacuate immediately, saying Hezbollah's "violation of the ceasefire" was compelling it to act.
The military also announced it had found and destroyed a large Hezbollah tunnel network used by elite fighters.
Despite its occupation of a swath of territory along the border, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said his country "has no territorial ambitions in Lebanon."
Once Hezbollah and its allies "are dismantled, Israel will have no need to maintain its presence in these areas," he added.
The day before, Hezbollah's leader Naim Qassem had vowed the armed group would "not back down."
burs-amj-sct/ane/axn

vote

Hungary's Magyar to push post-Orban EU reset on Brussels visit

BY MAX DELANY AND CAMILLE CAMDESSUS

  • Euphoric EU leaders feted conservative Magyar's crushing election victory this month, which ended Kremlin-friendly Orban's 16 years in power.
  • Incoming Hungarian leader Peter Magyar on Wednesday pays his first visit to EU chiefs in Brussels since his election win, looking to turn the page on the bad blood of nationalist Viktor Orban's tenure.
  • Euphoric EU leaders feted conservative Magyar's crushing election victory this month, which ended Kremlin-friendly Orban's 16 years in power.
Incoming Hungarian leader Peter Magyar on Wednesday pays his first visit to EU chiefs in Brussels since his election win, looking to turn the page on the bad blood of nationalist Viktor Orban's tenure.
While Orban often used trips to the city to showcase his opposition to the European Union, Magyar is looking to kickstart a new dawn of cooperation with Brussels that could start by unlocking billions of euros for Budapest.
Euphoric EU leaders feted conservative Magyar's crushing election victory this month, which ended Kremlin-friendly Orban's 16 years in power.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said Magyar's win made the bloc "stronger, more united".
Since then, the two sides have not hung around as they push to move beyond blockages and bickering in the Orban era that stalled key EU initiatives, most notably on supporting Ukraine in its fight against Russia's 2022 invasion.
While Magyar will only take office next month, his team has already held two rounds of talks with high-ranking EU officials as they look to bring black sheep Budapest back into the fold.
"We've never seen such a level of commitment from a government that isn't even in office yet," EU lawmaker Daniel Freund, a fierce Orban critic, told AFP.
"It's practically as if Hungary is rejoining the European Union."
Wednesday's meetings with von der Leyen and European Council head Antonio Costa will look to propel the work forward -- as Brussels lays out the changes it expects Magyar to make.
The new leader is desperate to show his promise to reset ties can bring quick benefits, and wants to convince Brussels to release around 18 billion euros ($21 billion) in funding that was frozen over rule-of-law concerns under Orban.
"We have no time to waste," Magyar posted online.
The clock is indeed ticking: the incoming government has until the end of August to start pushing through reforms to try to secure 10 billion euros left over from Covid recovery funds, or lose them for good.
EU officials hope Magyar will be able to move fast after securing a super-majority in parliament that will make it easier to ram through laws.
"We want to engage in a very structured, in a very focused way with the incoming Hungarian government to make sure that at the earliest stage every action that needs to be taken is taken," said EU spokesman Olof Gill.
The quickest way for Brussels to give Magyar a win could be to wave through a separate 16 billion euros in preferential loans for defence that were held up as the standoff with Orban worsened ahead of the Hungarian polls.

'Wait and see'

While Brussels is setting out the nitty-gritty of the reforms it wants from Magyar, leaders will also be pushing for a new approach on Ukraine.
Even before Magyar takes power, Orban's defeat has already helped unblock some of the major points of contention.
The 27-nation bloc last week approved a mammoth loan for Ukraine and new package of sanctions on Russia that Hungary had been stalling for months.
Hungary's EU counterparts now want to see Magyar free up EU funds used to arm Ukraine that have been stalled for years, and expect him to lift Orban's veto preventing Kyiv from moving to the next step in its bid to join the bloc.
Officials insist that Ukraine deserves to move ahead in the painstaking process, although there is little appetite among major EU powers to rush Kyiv towards full membership anytime soon.
So far, officials in Brussels are hopeful that Magyar -- who once served under Orban, before turning on his former boss -- will genuinely launch a new chapter in ties.
But wary of celebrating too soon, they insist they need to see concrete moves and not just kind words.
"So far, wait and see," one EU diplomat said, on condition of anonymity, summing up the attitude toward Magyar. "But that might change, considering all the good things he says and does."
cjc-del/raz/jhb

forests

Tropical forest loss eases after record year: researchers

BY DELPHINE PAYSANT

  • Despite last year's progress, global forest loss remains 70 percent above the level required to meet the 2030 goal of halting and reversing forest loss, the researchers said.
  • The pace of tropical forest destruction slowed in 2025 after record losses the year before but remained at worrying levels equivalent to 11 football fields per minute, researchers said Wednesday.
  • Despite last year's progress, global forest loss remains 70 percent above the level required to meet the 2030 goal of halting and reversing forest loss, the researchers said.
The pace of tropical forest destruction slowed in 2025 after record losses the year before but remained at worrying levels equivalent to 11 football fields per minute, researchers said Wednesday.
The world lost 4.3 million hectares (10.6 million acres) of tropical primary rainforest last year -- down 36 percent from 2024, said researchers from the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the University of Maryland.
"A drop of this scale in a single year is encouraging -- it shows what decisive government action can achieve," said Elizabeth Goldman, co-director of WRI's Global Forest Watch platform.
"But part of the decline reflects a lull after an extreme fire year," Goldman said.
The researchers also warned that fires fuelled by climate change have become a "dangerous new normal" which threatens to reverse the recent gains made by government efforts to tackle deforestation.
The warming El Nino weather phenomenon is expected to return in the middle of the year, which could push global temperatures even higher, raising the threat of heatwaves, droughts and wildfires.
The researchers, who used satellite data for their report, noted that last year's forest loss was still significant -- about the size of Denmark and 46 percent higher than a decade ago.
Despite last year's progress, global forest loss remains 70 percent above the level required to meet the 2030 goal of halting and reversing forest loss, the researchers said.
"A good year is a good year, but you need good years forever if you're going to conserve, for example, the tropical rainforest," Matthew Hansen, director of the GLAD Lab at the University of Maryland, said in a media briefing.

Government policies

Much of last year's slowdown was due to sharp declines in Brazil, home to the biggest rainforest in the world.
Brazil's forest loss, excluding fires, was 41 percent lower than in 2024 -- its lowest rate on record.
"Brazil's declines are associated with stronger environmental policies and enforcement since President Lula took office in 2023," Goldman said in a news briefing, referring to Brazilian leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Lula relaunched an anti-deforestation action plan and increased penalties for environmental crimes, she said.
But the country's forests are still threatened by agriculture, which remains the largest driver of forest loss to make room for soy fields and cattle ranches.
Some states in the Amazon have passed legislation to weaken environmental protections, the researchers said.
"Several countries showed that strong policy action can reduce forest loss quickly," Goldman said.
Forest loss in neighbouring Colombia fell 17 percent, the second lowest year on record since 2016, thanks to government policies and agreements limiting forest clearing.
Government policies also helped to limit forest loss in Indonesia, where it increased by 14 percent but was well below the highs seen a decade ago.
In Malaysia, government efforts have helped to stabilise forest loss in the country.
Tropical forest loss remained high in other parts of the world, including in Bolivia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Cameroon and Madagascar, the researchers said.

'Near-permanent state of emergency'

Global tree cover loss fell by 14 percent last year.
While agricultural expansion is still the leading driver of tree cover loss across the tropics, fires played a major role worldwide, accounting for 42 percent of the destruction.
"For the past three years, fires burned more than twice as much tree cover as they did two decades ago," Goldman said.
While humans cause most fires in the tropics, climate change is intensifying natural fire cycles in northern and temperate regions, the researchers said.
Canada had its second-worst fire year on record last year as wildfires tore through 5.3 million hectares of forest.
"Climate change and land clearing have shortened the fuse on global forest fires," Hansen said. "They are turning seasonal disturbances into a near-permanent state of emergency."
dep-lt/sbk

royals

King Charles, Trump toast ties despite Iran tensions

BY DANNY KEMP AND FRANKIE TAGGART

  • "Charles agrees with me even more than I do -- we're never going to let that opponent have a nuclear weapon."
  • Britain's King Charles and Donald Trump hailed their countries' longstanding ties at a White House state dinner Tuesday -- despite the US president claiming the monarch agreed with him on Iran's nuclear weapons.
  • "Charles agrees with me even more than I do -- we're never going to let that opponent have a nuclear weapon."
Britain's King Charles and Donald Trump hailed their countries' longstanding ties at a White House state dinner Tuesday -- despite the US president claiming the monarch agreed with him on Iran's nuclear weapons.
Over a lavish meal, Charles echoed the tone of his earlier speech to Congress in which he urged London and Washington to stick together, without directly mentioning the tensions over the US-Israeli war with Tehran.
But in his toast to a gala dinner attended by tech titans and golfer Rory McIlroy, Trump made his first public comments on the sensitive topic during the four-day visit by the British royals.
"We have militarily defeated that particular opponent," Trump said at the White House dinner. "Charles agrees with me even more than I do -- we're never going to let that opponent have a nuclear weapon."
Trump has repeatedly lambasted British Prime Minister Keir Starmer over his opposition to the Iran war, and there is no indication that King Charles has shown support for the US leader's stance.
Nevertheless, both leaders strongly praised the "special relationship" between Britain and Washington, putting aside however briefly the transatlantic tensions.
In his toast, Charles said he was "here to renew an indispensable alliance which has long been a cornerstone of prosperity and security."
Yet Charles pointedly mentioned the importance of international alliances like NATO that Trump has repeatedly disparaged -- and called for continued support for Ukraine as it battles Russia's invasion.
"Together, we can meet the challenges of an increasingly complex and contested world," he added.

 Star guests

The menu for the lavish dinner included a garden vegetable veloute, spring herbed ravioli and Dover sole meuniere, followed by a White House honey and vanilla bean cremeux. 
Invited guests included Apple boss Tim Cook, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Nvidia's Jensen Huang, and two-time Masters-winning golfer Rory McIlroy, who was born in Northern Ireland.
The king and the president also struck a light-hearted tone, with Charles joking about Trump's recent comments that allies would be speaking German if not for US support in World War II.
"Dare I say that, if it wasn't for us, you'd be speaking French," Charles quipped, referring to the contest between the colonial powers of Britain and France before US independence 250 years ago.
Trump meanwhile hailed Charles's "fantastic" speech to Congress, adding: "He got the Democrats to stand -- I've never been able to do that."
The king received a warm reception from lawmakers in Congress as he urged the United States on Tuesday to stand firm with its Western allies, and broached topics like the environment that Trump often scorns.
Charles stressed that "unyielding resolve" was needed to secure a "just and lasting peace" in Ukraine, which has been fighting a full-scale invasion by Russia since 2022.

'No closer friends'

In just the second speech to Congress by a British monarch following his mother Elizabeth II in 1991, Charles also pointed to shared democratic traditions that opponents have accused Trump of undermining.
He noted that the British Magna Carta had been cited in more than 160 US Supreme Court cases, highlighting  -- to rapt applause from the opposition Democrats -- the principle that executive power is subject to checks and balances.
Trump earlier hailed Britain as America's closest ally as he welcomed Charles and Queen Camilla to the White House with pomp, ceremony, a 21-gun salute and a flypast.
"In the centuries since we won our independence, Americans have had no closer friends than the British," Trump said.
The visit comes at a delicate moment, with Trump criticizing Britain over its stance on Iran and other policies.
Despite the tensions, the US president struck a jovial tone, joking about his Scottish-born mother having "a crush on Charles" and making a jibe about the British weather.
Security has been tight during the visit following an alleged assassination attempt against Trump at a weekend Washington media gala.
"Such acts of violence will never succeed," Charles said.
The royals will visit New York on Wednesday, touring the 9/11 memorial, before departing Thursday for Bermuda.
dk-ft/sla

US

War in the Middle East: latest developments

  • Lawmakers from both parties have previously expressed dissatisfaction with the information provided in classified briefings on the war, setting up a potentially fiery public hearing in which top US military officer General Dan Caine is also set to testify.
  • The latest developments in the Middle East war: - US lawmakers to grill Pentagon chief on Iran war - US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will face tough questions from lawmakers about the Iran war on Wednesday during his first testimony to Congress since the start of the conflict.
  • Lawmakers from both parties have previously expressed dissatisfaction with the information provided in classified briefings on the war, setting up a potentially fiery public hearing in which top US military officer General Dan Caine is also set to testify.
The latest developments in the Middle East war:

US lawmakers to grill Pentagon chief on Iran war

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will face tough questions from lawmakers about the Iran war on Wednesday during his first testimony to Congress since the start of the conflict.
Hegseth's appearance before the House Armed Services Committee will be for a hearing on President Donald Trump's $1.5 trillion defense budget request.
Lawmakers from both parties have previously expressed dissatisfaction with the information provided in classified briefings on the war, setting up a potentially fiery public hearing in which top US military officer General Dan Caine is also set to testify.

Trump says US 'militarily defeated' Iran

Trump told Britain's King Charles III and other guests at a state dinner Tuesday that Iran has been "militarily defeated", in his first public comments on the sensitive topic during the ongoing royal visit.
"We have militarily defeated that particular opponent," Trump said at the White House dinner, adding: "Charles agrees with me even more than I do -- we're never going to let that opponent have a nuclear weapon."

Israeli strikes on Lebanon kill eight: health ministry

The Lebanese health ministry said Israeli strikes Tuesday killed eight people, including civil defence rescuers, and wounded two soldiers in the country's south, despite an ongoing ceasefire.
Israel has been fighting Hezbollah since early March, sending troops into south Lebanon to battle the Iran-backed militant group, with the violence ongoing despite a shaky April 17 ceasefire.

Oil jumps

Oil prices jumped on reports that US President Donald Trump was unlikely to accept an Iranian proposal to restore traffic in the Strait of Hormuz and Qatar warned of a possible "frozen conflict".
Brent is above the level it hit before the two sides announced a ceasefire at the start of April, sitting around $112, while West Texas Intermediate broke $100 Tuesday for the first time in two weeks.
Both contracts were slightly higher Wednesday.

King Charles urges Western unity

In an address to the US Congress, King Charles III urged the United States to stand firm with its Western allies, noting that the meeting in Washington came "in times of great uncertainty".
The monarch added that these were "times of conflict from Europe to the Middle East which pose immense challenges for the international community and whose impact is felt in communities the length and breadth of our own countries".
Trump has publicly and repeatedly criticised the UK for not supporting the war in Iran.

Trump slams Merz

Trump lashed out at German Chancellor Friedrich Merz over the Iran war, after comments by Merz that Tehran is "humiliating" Washington at the negotiating table.
Merz said that "the Americans obviously have no strategy", in a visit to a school in western Germany, to which Trump said the chancellor "thinks it's OK for Iran to have a nuclear weapon", and that "he doesn't know what he's talking about!"

Drones target Iraqi Green Zone

Air defence systems engaged drones flying over Baghdad's Green Zone -- the site of the US embassy -- a military source told AFP.
Iran-backed groups in Iraq have targeted US interests since the conflict in the Middle East began on February 28, but this was the first such incident since a fragile ceasefire took effect on April 8.

Israel says destroyed militant tunnels

The Israeli military said it found and destroyed a large Hezbollah-builttunnel network used by elite fighters, as it ordered a wave of new evacuations from Lebanon's battle-scarred south.
The tunnels, found in Qantara, were 800 metres and 1.2 kilometres in length and were destroyed with "over 450 tonnes of explosives", the Israeli military said.

US Marines board ship believed bound for Iran port

US troops boarded, searched, and later released the M/V Blue Star III, which the US suspected of trying to violate its blockade of Iranian ports.

Gulf leaders meet in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia welcomed leaders and officials to Jeddah from across the Gulf to discuss the ongoing crisis in the region.
It was the first in-person meeting of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) members since the war broke out on February 28.

UAE's OPEC pull-out

The United Arab Emirates will withdraw from the OPEC and OPEC+ oil cartels to focus on "national interests", in a bombshell announcement as energy prices soar over the Middle East war.
The UAE, one of the world's top oil producers which has previously chafed at OPEC production quotas, will pull out on Friday, a statement carried by the official WAM news agency said.
burs-pnb/mlm/ane/abs

history

The loyal, lonely keepers of Sudan's pyramids

BY BAHIRA AMIN AND ABDELMONEIM ABU IDRIS ALI

  • "These pyramids are ours, it's our history, it's who we are," the 65-year-old said, flanked by the dark sandstone structures of the Bajrawiya necropolis, which is part of the Island of Meroe, a UNESCO World Heritage site. 
  • Mostafa Ahmed Mostafa is the heir to a long line of groundskeepers who have guarded Sudan's ancient pyramids of Meroe.
  • "These pyramids are ours, it's our history, it's who we are," the 65-year-old said, flanked by the dark sandstone structures of the Bajrawiya necropolis, which is part of the Island of Meroe, a UNESCO World Heritage site. 
Mostafa Ahmed Mostafa is the heir to a long line of groundskeepers who have guarded Sudan's ancient pyramids of Meroe. Now, three years into the war between the army and paramilitary forces, he stands near-solitary sentinel over his heritage.
"These pyramids are ours, it's our history, it's who we are," the 65-year-old said, flanked by the dark sandstone structures of the Bajrawiya necropolis, which is part of the Island of Meroe, a UNESCO World Heritage site. 
Clad all in white, Mostafa cut a striking figure crossing the 2,400-year-old burial site, which holds 140 pyramids built during the Kingdom of Kush's Meroitic period.
None are intact. Some were decapitated, others reduced to rubble, first in the 1800s by dynamite at the hands of treasure-hunting Europeans, and then by two centuries of sand and rain.
A three-hour drive from the capital Khartoum, it was once Sudan's most visited heritage site. Now three years into the war between Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, only a lone camel's grunt cuts through the silence.
Archaeologist and site director Mahmoud Soliman gave AFP journalists a tour, explaining the Kush kingdom's matrilineal succession, trade routes and relationship with neighbouring Egypt. 
"It's maybe the fourth time I've shown people around since the war broke out," the scientist said.
Together, he, Mostafa and young archaeologist Mohamed Mubarak man the site, cobbling together resources to keep the erosive rain and sands at bay.
Apart from a short-lived influx of visitors early in the war -- mostly displaced people desperate for something to do -- the site has stood largely abandoned.

'My grandmother Kandaka'

It is worlds away from its pre-war days, when there were "regular weekend visits from Khartoum, busloads of 200 people per day", Soliman remembered fondly.
Sudan's heritage sites had experienced a resurgence, he explained, after the uprising of 2018-2019, when young Sudanese protested against autocrat Omar al-Bashir.
One chant went: "My grandfather Taharqa, my grandmother Kandaka" -- the former a Kush Pharaoh, the latter the name for ancient queens, and also used to honour the women icons of the revolution.
"Young people were taking more of an interest, they were organising trips to tourist sites and getting to know their own country," Soliman said.
Residents of the nearby Tarabil village -- named after the local word for "pyramids" -- sold souvenirs and rented camels and "were entirely dependent on the site".
On a breezy day in April, Khaled Abdelrazek, 45, rushed to the site as soon as he heard there were visitors. He squatted at the entrance, showed AFP journalists handmade miniature sandstone pyramids and reminisced about when there were "dozens of us selling".
In the months before the war, there were visits from documentary crews, a music festival and "big ideas for right after Eid al-Fitr", said Soliman -- all destroyed when the war broke out in the last days of Ramadan.
"I used to feel like I was teaching people about their culture," said Mubarak, who has worked at the site since 2018. 
"Now, everyone's top priority is of course food and water and shelter. But this is also important. We need to protect this for future generations, we can't let it be destroyed or wither away."

Distant dream

Near the site's entrance, the proud pyramids, each fronted by a small mortuary temple, are framed by rolling black sandstone hills.
The vista is breathtaking, but Soliman said his eyes see only danger: Is that crack in that pyramid new? Has that sand mound moved? Does the pipe scaffolding at that burial chamber entrance need to be redone before the rainy season?
"I think if the pyramids had been left in their original state we wouldn't have all these problems," Mubarak said.
The structures are smaller and steeper than their Egyptian neighbours, built to "withstand the sands and sweep away the rainwater, but every fracture creates issues".
The largest pyramid of the lot -- of Queen Amanishakheto, who reigned around the 1st century AD -- suffered more than just fractures and is now effectively a sandbox, fine sand swirling where her tomb once stood.
In 1834, Italian adventurer Giuseppe Ferlini, who destroyed dozens of pyramids, levelled Amanishakheto's and carted her jewellery off to Europe. It is now exhibited in the Egyptian museums in Berlin and Munich.
The outside of her temple wall still stands, where a larger-than-life carving of the queen shows her standing proud, holding a spear in one hand and smiting enemy captives.
Soliman showed AFP journalists more reliefs: the lion deity Apademak and motifs shared with Egypt, including the gods Amun and Anubis, lotus flowers and hieroglyphics.
He yearns for the day tourists and archeologists will return.
"This is just a distant dream, but I'd really like us to one day be able to do proper restoration on these pyramids," he said, as if he were not really allowing himself to hope.
"This place has so much potential."
ab-bha/amj/jfx/ane

EU

Europe climate report signals rising extremes

BY LAURENT THOMET

  • "Since 1980, Europe has been warming twice as fast as the global average, making it the fastest warming continent on Earth," WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo said in a briefing on the report.
  • Europe endured a historic heatwave across Nordic countries, shrinking glaciers and record sea temperatures in 2025 as the fast-warming continent faces more frequent climate extremes, a new report showed Wednesday. 
  • "Since 1980, Europe has been warming twice as fast as the global average, making it the fastest warming continent on Earth," WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo said in a briefing on the report.
Europe endured a historic heatwave across Nordic countries, shrinking glaciers and record sea temperatures in 2025 as the fast-warming continent faces more frequent climate extremes, a new report showed Wednesday. 
"The climate indicators ... are quite worrying," Mauro Facchini, a European Commission official, told journalists.
The European State of the Climate report underscores the urgent need for the region to adapt to global warming and accelerate its transition to clean energy, another EU official said.
Here are some key findings of the report published by the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO):

Record heatwaves

At least 95 percent of the region experienced above-average annual temperatures, with Britain, Norway and Iceland recording their warmest year on record, according to the report.
"Since 1980, Europe has been warming twice as fast as the global average, making it the fastest warming continent on Earth," WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo said in a briefing on the report.
"Heatwaves are becoming more frequent and severe. And in 2025, we saw long duration heatwaves from the Mediterranean to the Arctic Circle," Saulo said.
Sub-Arctic Finland, Norway and Sweden -- a region dubbed Fennoscandia -- experienced a record three-week heatwave in July, with temperatures reaching 30C within the Arctic Circle.
Parts of Fennoscandia had almost two weeks of "strong heat stress" -- when temperatures feel hotter than 32C. In an average year, the region will normally have up to two days of strong heat stress.
In Turkey, temperatures reached 50C for the first time in July while 85 percent of the Greek population was affected by extreme temperatures close to or above 40C.
Large parts of western and southern Europe were hit with two significant heatwaves in June, including most of Spain, Portugal, France and southern parts of Britain.
A third major heatwave struck Portugal, Spain and France in August.
Europe and the rest of the world could face another extremely hot summer as the El Nino weather phenomenon, which pushed global temperatures to record highs in 2024, is expected to return in the middle of the year.

Melting ice

Glaciers across Europe recorded a net mass loss in 2025, with Iceland experiencing its second-largest ever melt.
Europe's glaciers are found in mountainous areas such as the Alps, northern Scandinavia, Iceland and Greenland's periphery.
"Glaciers across Europe and globally are projected to continue to lose mass throughout the 21st century, regardless of the emission scenario," the report said.
The Greenland Ice Sheet lost round 139 billion tonnes of ice -- "equivalent to losing 100 Olympic-sized swimming pools every single hour", said Samantha Burgess, strategic lead for climate at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), which operates Copernicus.
It raised the global mean sea level by 0.4 mm.
Europe's snow cover, meanwhile, was the third lowest on record.

Renewables rise

For the third year running, renewable energy produced more of Europe's electricity than fossil fuels, accounting for 46.4 percent of the continent's power generation.
Solar power's contribution reached a record 12.5 percent.
"But that's not sufficient. We need to speed up," said Dusan Chrenek, principal advisor at the European Commission's climate office. "We need to work on transitioning away from fossil fuels."

Other extremes

Europe's annual sea surface temperature was the highest on record for the fourth consecutive year.
A record 86 percent of the European ocean region had at least one day with "strong" marine heatwave conditions.
Such heatwaves have an impact on biodiversity, notably on seagrass meadows in the Mediterranean which act as natural sea barriers and are sensitive to high temperatures.
"They are biodiversity hotspots housing thousands of fish per acre and are critical nursery habitats," said Claire Scannell, one of the report's authors and principal meteorologist officer at Ireland's weather service.
The area burnt by wildfires, meanwhile, reached a record 1,034,550 hectares.
Storms and floods killed at least 21 people and affected 14,500 across Europe, though flooding and extreme rainfall were less widespread than in recent years.
lt/yad

diplomacy

Exiting fossil fuels key to energy security: nations at Colombia talks

BY NICK PERRY AND ANNA PELEGRI

  • On Tuesday, France unveiled a fossil fuel "roadmap" setting deadlines to phase out coal by 2030, oil by 2045 and gas by 2050 for energy purposes.
  • The first global talks on phasing out fossil fuels kicked off in Colombia on Tuesday with nations casting an exit from oil and gas as not just a climate priority but vital for energy independence.
  • On Tuesday, France unveiled a fossil fuel "roadmap" setting deadlines to phase out coal by 2030, oil by 2045 and gas by 2050 for energy purposes.
The first global talks on phasing out fossil fuels kicked off in Colombia on Tuesday with nations casting an exit from oil and gas as not just a climate priority but vital for energy independence.
Ministers are seeking to reignite the shift away from planet-heating fossil fuels at the conference in Santa Marta amid a deepening global energy crisis triggered by the Iran war. 
"We in Europe...are losing half a billion euros each day this war continues," the EU's climate envoy Wopke Hoekstra told delegates in the coastal city.
"We already had a very good reason to move on (from fossil fuels) for climate action...We now also have it for commercial reasons, and reasons of independence."
The conference was announced last year after nations failed to include an explicit reference to fossil fuels in the final deal reached at the UN COP30 climate summit in Brazil. 
But organizers say the Middle East war -- which has throttled Gulf energy exports -- had underscored the urgency of breaking fossil fuel dependence.
In a speech to delegates on Tuesday, Colombia's leftist President Gustavo Petro delivered a blunt message: fossil fuels "lead to death," he said.
Some import-reliant nations in Santa Marta spoke of fuel rationing and soaring prices at home as energy supplies dried up.
"Some people use independence, some people use sovereignty, but basically they need energy security," the UK's climate envoy Rachel Kyte told AFP in Santa Marta.
"Increasingly, the world is concluding that fossil fuels are a source of instability."

COP frustration

On the list of attendees are major fossil fuel producers Canada, Norway and Australia, and developing oil giants Nigeria, Angola and Brazil.
They join coal-reliant emerging markets Turkey and Vietnam, and small island nations extremely vulnerable to climate shocks, among others.  
But the world's biggest emitters of greenhouse gases -- including the United States, China and India -- are not attending, nor are oil-rich Gulf states.
The conference bypasses the United Nations climate talks and reflects a growing impatience with its failure to tackle fossil fuels, the main driver of global warming.
Nearly 200 countries agreed at COP28 in 2023 to transition away from fossil fuels, but efforts to turn that pledge into action have stalled.
"We all know that this convening arose out of our collective frustration at the continuing failure of the UNFCCC process to address the root cause of the problem," Vanuatu's Climate Minister Ralph Regenvanu said in Santa Marta.

Fossil farewell

The conference is not expected to produce binding commitments but a set of proposals for countries wanting to gradually swap out fossil fuel production and consumption for cleaner forms of energy.
This is a particular challenge for developing countries heavily reliant on oil and gas revenue, like hosts Colombia.
Santa Marta is home to one of the country's biggest coal ports, and oil tankers can be seen along the coast's horizon.
But even European nations have weighed increasing coal and gas use in the wake of the Iran war, underlining the challenge of reducing reliance on fossil fuels even in advanced economies.
On Tuesday, France unveiled a fossil fuel "roadmap" setting deadlines to phase out coal by 2030, oil by 2045 and gas by 2050 for energy purposes.
Nations will discuss how to pursue these plans, as well as reforming fossil fuel subsidies that throw up barriers to renewable energy investment, among other issues.
Analysis by the International Institute for Sustainable Development on Monday showed that governments still spent five times more public money on fossil fuels than renewable alternatives.
A scientific panel has also published a 12-point "menu" of policy options for governments in Santa Marta that includes "halting all new and expanding fossil fuel extraction and infrastructure projects."
Even as record investments flow into renewable energy, scientists warn the pace is still too slow to keep global temperature rises to safer levels.
The world has already warmed about 1.4C above pre-industrial times and is tracking to blow past 1.5C in a matter of years. 
Above that threshold, scientists warn that coral reefs and Greenland ice sheets could disappear, among other catastrophic and irreversible impacts.
np-app/jgc

Fed

All eyes on Powell with US Fed expected to hold rates steady

BY ASAD HASHIM

  • Since returning to power last year, Trump has frequently criticized and insulted Powell for not cutting interest rates -- a policy that would turbocharge economic activity but could fuel inflation.
  • The US Federal Reserve is widely expected to hold interest rates steady on Wednesday after a key policy meeting, likely the last chaired by central bank chief Jerome Powell, a frequent target of President Donald Trump's ire.
  • Since returning to power last year, Trump has frequently criticized and insulted Powell for not cutting interest rates -- a policy that would turbocharge economic activity but could fuel inflation.
The US Federal Reserve is widely expected to hold interest rates steady on Wednesday after a key policy meeting, likely the last chaired by central bank chief Jerome Powell, a frequent target of President Donald Trump's ire.
Policymakers will weigh the risks of surging energy prices and snarled supply chains due to the US-Israel war on Iran, with analysts widely expecting a third pause in a row as the effects of the conflict ripple through the world's largest economy.
All eyes will be on Powell's future plans at what could be his final press conference as head of the Fed on Wednesday afternoon.
While the central bank chief's tenure as chair ends May 15, his term as a member of the board of governors continues until January 2028.
Since returning to power last year, Trump has frequently criticized and insulted Powell for not cutting interest rates -- a policy that would turbocharge economic activity but could fuel inflation.
In January, Powell made headlines when he revealed Trump's Justice Department had opened a criminal probe against him over cost overruns on a building renovation project.
Powell called the move a pressure tactic designed to erode the Fed's independence, and vowed to stay on until the investigation was concluded "with transparency and finality."
Republican Thom Tillis on the Senate's banking committee supported Powell's position, saying he would hold up confirmation of Trump's Fed chair nominee, Kevin Warsh, until the probe was dropped or completed.
On Friday, the Justice Department said it was dropping the investigation, and Tillis indicated days later that he would support Warsh's confirmation.
Trump's assaults on the Fed have been unprecedented. He has also attempted to unseat another Fed governor, Lisa Cook, over fraud allegations. A Supreme Court case on that attempt is ongoing.
Given that context, analysts were divided on whether Powell would stay on as a member of the board even after his term as chief ends -- a situation that would be unusual, but not without precedent.
Gregory Daco, chief economist at EY-Parthenon, said he thought Powell would remain, adding that it "would help preserve institutional continuity, anchor the existing communication approach, and provide a stabilizing counterweight during the transition."

Future path

While much attention will be on Powell's plans, policymakers will be focused on the way forward for the US economy, as it battles years of higher-than-expected inflation and recent weak jobs growth.
The Federal Reserve has a dual mandate of keeping inflation to its long-term two-percent target while ensuring maximum employment.
Higher energy prices due to the Middle East war caused US inflation to spike in March, and while such supply shocks are often treated as temporary, central bankers have expressed concern that effects could be more lasting.
Surging energy prices could also slow down economic activity by raising production costs, affecting the employment side of the mandate.
In a note, Oxford Economics said there was "virtually no chance" that rates would be cut at this week's meeting.
"We'll look for any indication that Fed officials' assessment of the risks to their outlook has changed since the mid-March meeting," wrote Nancy Vanden Houten, lead US Economist at Oxford Economics.  
At their last gathering, Federal Open Market Committee members said the risk of inflation rising and growth slowing had increased since the start of the war.
The Fed had been on a path of rate cuts late last year, buoyed by progress in its fight against inflation and aimed at addressing the labor market weakness.
Now, however, analysts say the way forward is far from clear.
"There is, in my opinion, a non-negligible possibility that the statement could incorporate a two-sided formulation that would acknowledge that rate hikes could be appropriate if inflation remains above-target," Daco told AFP.
aha/bys/ksb

democracy

Trump to put his picture in US passports

BY SHAUN TANDON

  • Several government buildings in the capital have put up banners of the president, while officials have added his name onto the Kennedy Center for the performing arts and the dismantled US Institute of Peace.
  • An image of Donald Trump will soon appear in some US passports, officials said Tuesday, shattering another norm as the president aggressively puts his personal stamp on government institutions.
  • Several government buildings in the capital have put up banners of the president, while officials have added his name onto the Kennedy Center for the performing arts and the dismantled US Institute of Peace.
An image of Donald Trump will soon appear in some US passports, officials said Tuesday, shattering another norm as the president aggressively puts his personal stamp on government institutions.
There are few precedents anywhere in the world, let alone in a democracy, of displaying sitting leaders' pictures in passports, and Trump would be the first sitting US president featured in Americans' travel documents.
The State Department said it would offer the limited-edition passport to mark this year's 250th anniversary of the US Declaration of Independence.
The department -- which has historically viewed itself as outside US partisan politics -- posted on social media a sample of the passport, which features a stern-looking Trump superimposed over the Declaration of July 4, 1776.
Trump's signature -- in gold -- lies underneath.
A second limited-edition passport showed a historic painting of the US Founding Fathers.
"As the United States celebrates America's 250th anniversary in July, the State Department is preparing to release a limited number of specially designed US passports to commemorate this historic occasion," State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said.
Another department official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Trump-themed passports would only be available at in-person appointments in Washington "for as long as there is availability."
The passports would come at no additional cost, the official said.
It was not immediately clear if passport applicants could refuse the Trump picture, although the majority of Americans seeking passports do so through local post offices, which would not provide the special edition.

'Indulging Trump's vanity'

Lawmakers of the rival Democratic Party criticized Secretary of State Marco Rubio over the passport initiative.
"Secretary Rubio should spend more time convincing his boss to end his war of choice in Iran, and less on wasting American tax dollars indulging Trump's vanity," the House Foreign Affairs Committee's Democrats wrote on X.
Among countries that carry artwork in their passports, nearly all feature either historical imagery or nature.
Even North Korea, which plasters pictures of leader Kim Jong Un across the country and demands reverence, does not feature him in the passport, which instead depicts sacred Mount Paektu.
Current US passports depict multiple scenes from the country's history such as the Moon landing along with historic sites including the Statue of Liberty.
Since returning to office last year, Trump has slapped his name and image on government institutions in an unprecedented way.
Several government buildings in the capital have put up banners of the president, while officials have added his name onto the Kennedy Center for the performing arts and the dismantled US Institute of Peace.
Last month the Treasury Department also said Trump's signature would soon start appearing on the dollar bill, in another first.
Britain and other Commonwealth countries feature on their currency the likeness of King Charles III, who is a head of state without direct involvement in politics. 
The king met with Trump on Tuesday during a state visit to Washington.
Only around half of Americans hold valid passports, less than in many other Western nations, and people in states that voted for Trump are less likely to travel internationally, according to surveys.
sct/mlm

diplomacy

France unveils plan to ditch all fossil fuels by 2050

  • Coal would be phased out by 2030, oil by 2045 and gas by 2050 for energy purposes, the roadmap said.
  • France on Tuesday announced a "first of its kind" plan to phase out coal by 2030, oil by 2045 and gas by 2050 during a global conference aimed at breaking reliance on fossil fuels.
  • Coal would be phased out by 2030, oil by 2045 and gas by 2050 for energy purposes, the roadmap said.
France on Tuesday announced a "first of its kind" plan to phase out coal by 2030, oil by 2045 and gas by 2050 during a global conference aimed at breaking reliance on fossil fuels.
The "roadmap" was published as dozens of nations gather in Santa Marta, Colombia for the first-ever international talks on how to transition away from planet-heating fossil fuels.
France's roadmap does not present new pledges but brings existing climate and energy policies and targets under one umbrella with an explicit goal.
Analysts said no other country had published such a clear and comprehensive plan and it sent an important signal at a moment when countries are reassessing their reliance on fossil fuels.
France's envoy at the conference, Benoit Faraco, said the roadmap set deadlines for the end of fossil fuel use across the economy, the second-largest in Europe.
Coal would be phased out by 2030, oil by 2045 and gas by 2050 for energy purposes, the roadmap said.
"That's quite original, because we are probably one of the rarest countries who have a clear deadline for all fossil fuel energy," he told reporters in Santa Marta.
France only generates a fraction of its electricity from hydrocarbons, thanks to its extensive nuclear power generation. 
But Faraco said the roadmap also committed to phasing out fossil fuel production, electrifying sectors like heating and transport, and helping finance the transition in other countries.
It formalises France's existing targets for reducing greenhouse gas pollution -- namely to reduce emissions by five percent a year over the 2024-2028 period with the goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.
France's cuts to greenhouse gas emissions slowed for a second straight year in 2025 and remain well below what is needed to meet its climate goals.

First mover

Fossil fuel roadmaps differ to national pledges to reduce emissions or "net zero" plans because they have an explicit end goal, said Leo Roberts, an energy analyst at the E3G think tank.
The French roadmap "self describes itself as a document that sets out of a pathway for a country to transition the whole economy away from fossil fuels," Roberts told AFP in Santa Marta.
"In that sense, it is the first of its kind."
Faraco said France decided to push ahead on its own after a proposal for a global fossil fuel roadmap was blocked at the COP30 climate summit in November.
Brazil, which was steering the climate negotiations, agreed to pursue a voluntary roadmap process instead and has asked willing countries to make submissions.
Frustration at COP30 led to the creation of the Santa Marta conference, which is taking place outside the UN process and is being co-hosted by Colombia and the Netherlands.
Nearly 60 nations are attending, from the European Union and major fossil fuel producers Canada and Norway, to developing oil giants Angola and Nigeria and small island developing states like Tuvalu.
Nations are not expected to produce any binding commitments but a set of proposals for countries wanting to move their own economies away from fossil fuel reliance. 
The conference takes place against a backdrop of soaring fuel prices and a global supply crunch stemming from the Iran war, and energy security has been a prominent theme.
np/mlm

whale

Germany holds breath as stranded whale 'Timmy' sets off in barge

BY LOUISE DALMASSO

  • Rescuers had earlier succeeded in coaxing the animal into the barge, which has a water-filled hold and is usually used to carry other boats, in an attempt to return it to its natural habitat.
  • A special boat carrying a stranded humpback whale whose weeks-long struggle to survive has captured hearts in Germany set off for the open seas on Tuesday evening in a last-ditch rescue attempt.
  • Rescuers had earlier succeeded in coaxing the animal into the barge, which has a water-filled hold and is usually used to carry other boats, in an attempt to return it to its natural habitat.
A special boat carrying a stranded humpback whale whose weeks-long struggle to survive has captured hearts in Germany set off for the open seas on Tuesday evening in a last-ditch rescue attempt.
Rescuers had earlier succeeded in coaxing the animal into the barge, which has a water-filled hold and is usually used to carry other boats, in an attempt to return it to its natural habitat.
The whale, dubbed "Timmy" by German media, and its ordeal have gripped the country since it beached on a sandbank in late March near the city of Luebeck on the Baltic Sea coast, far from its natural home in the Atlantic Ocean.
The latest rescue effort -- financed by two entrepreneurs -- was seen as a long shot and has been criticised by experts who said it would only cause the animal more distress.
But the plan looked like it could beat the odds as the barge set off from the island of Poel, live images showed.
Earlier, rescuers attached straps to the whale and heaved the creature down a channel that had been specially dug in the sand to allow it to reach the barge.
After some distance, the whale, with rescuers swimming alongside it, sped up and then swam into the barge, sparking cheers of delight from the rescue team and others watching from the shore.
"I can't even say how happy I am," Karin Walter-Mommert, one of the entrepreneurs financing the rescue bid, told newspaper Bild.
"You could see that the whale fought and wanted to live. Knowing he's now in the barge is simply wonderful and shows that the fight for Timmy was worth it."

Fighting the odds

The plan is now for the barge to be transported to the North Sea, and for the whale to be released if it is strong enough.
A piece of green netting is being used to close the entrance to the barge so the whale does not swim out.
Till Backhaus, environment minister for the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, earlier told reporters: "We have worked here day and night, and in the end we have saved this animal."
Backhaus gave the green light for the mission to proceed after vets said the whale was fit to be transported.
The animal was first spotted stuck on a sandbank on March 23 before freeing itself and then becoming stuck again several times.
Various attempts were initially made to free it, including by digging channels for it to swim down, but all failed.
At the start of April, officials gave up on trying to rescue the whale, saying they believed it could not be saved.
But this triggered an outcry and authorities were persuaded to let the entrepreneurs come up with a rescue plan.
The barge idea was hatched after their initial attempt to save the whale with inflatable cushions and pontoons was unsuccessful.
Some scientists had strongly criticised the decision to allow further rescue bids, believing they would be too risky for the whale and estimating the chances of success as low.

'Definitely worth it'

Backhaus defended the rescue, saying it was "definitely worth it".
"I've always said, those who do nothing make no mistakes," he added.
If only the "scientists (who) said it was all pointless... had seen the young (whale) now, how he swam into the barge all by himself", he told reporters.
Backhaus also defended himself against criticism in a written statement, insisting that "in making our decisions, we have always relied on science".
"No one could tell us with certainty that the whale would die, and when. On the basis of these vague statements, we decided to tolerate the rescue attempt," he said.
The saga has sparked a media frenzy -- with non-stop coverage from TV channels, online outlets and social media influencers -- but has also led to angry spats and conspiracy theories.
sr-fec/jhb

media

AI fakes of accused US press gala gunman flood social media

BY BILL MCCARTHY

  • Aaron Parnas, an independent journalist whose likeness appeared in AI-enabled posts claiming Allen worked for him, pleaded on Facebook for people to report the "completely fake" images.
  • Facebook has been overrun with low-effort AI fakes inventing biographical details and celebrity connections for the man charged with trying to assassinate Donald Trump at a Washington press gala Saturday.
  • Aaron Parnas, an independent journalist whose likeness appeared in AI-enabled posts claiming Allen worked for him, pleaded on Facebook for people to report the "completely fake" images.
Facebook has been overrun with low-effort AI fakes inventing biographical details and celebrity connections for the man charged with trying to assassinate Donald Trump at a Washington press gala Saturday.
Trump and senior administration officials were evacuated from the White House Correspondents' Association dinner as sounds of gunfire rang from a floor above the ballroom, where the suspect had attempted to sprint past security.
Within hours of authorities identifying the suspect as Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of California, AI-generated images depicting him beside numerous celebrities pinballed across Facebook in posts saying he was their "former driver," "assistant" or "production crew member."
An AFP investigation found more than 50 public figures falsely associated with Allen, from actors Tom Hanks and Sydney Sweeney to musicians Chris Brown and Taylor Swift.
Politicians including former US president Barack Obama and Canada's Pierre Poilievre were also falsely implicated, as well as Pope Leo XIV and NBC News anchor Savannah Guthrie.
Meta did not immediately respond to AFP's request for comment.
The fakes reflect an online ecosystem saturated with content known as "AI slop." Once largely focused on celebrities, generative content has quickly scaled to portray individuals like Allen, whose online presence was limited.
"Two years ago, you probably wouldn't have been able to make those images of him, because we could only really make compelling fakes of celebrities who had a large digital footprint from which the AI systems had been trained," said the University of California, Berkeley's Hany Farid, who is also chief science officer at GetReal Security. "Now, all I need is a single image of you."
Aaron Parnas, an independent journalist whose likeness appeared in AI-enabled posts claiming Allen worked for him, pleaded on Facebook for people to report the "completely fake" images.
"This is extremely dangerous," Parnas told his followers.

'Designed for virality'

A separate rush of posts falsely claimed Allen had been on staff for over 40 different professional and collegiate sports teams, with AI-generated visuals dressing him in gear for teams across the NFL, NHL, NBA, WNBA and NASCAR.
Many of the renderings appear based on the picture from a tutoring company's post recognizing Allen as "teacher of the month" in December 2024.
The template-driven format resembles the output of content mills that mass-produce made-up clickbait stories, said digital literacy expert Mike Caulfield.
"This looks a lot like the same content farm behavior, just with AI," Caulfield told AFP.
Recent improvements in AI technologies have made visual fakes easier to create and more convincing, with once-telltale mishaps such as six-fingered hands increasingly less common.
"AI makes it trivially easy to take existing photos and change their clothes, environment, or to swap out someone else's face," said Jen Golbeck, a professor at the University of Maryland’s College of Information. "As soon as someone gets an idea, they can make it a visual reality."
"Five years ago, it would not have been unusual to see people manually photoshopping pictures like the ones we are seeing, but it would never have been at this volume."
Researchers expressed fears about the quantity wearing on social media users, who could tire of determining what is real.
AFP documented similar bursts of fakes after other major events, including the US capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro in January and Charlie Kirk's assassination last year.
"These things are being designed for virality, and then of course the algorithms pick up on them," said Farid, from GetReal Security. "It's super profitable."
"Every time there's a world event, we are just flooded with this kind of nonsense. I don't think that's going away."
bmc/mgs/pnb

war

Cairo's night buzz returns as war-driven energy controls loosen

  • "When streets go dark and businesses shut early, you're not just closing shops, you're shutting down the soul of the city and risking the livelihoods that depend on it," he told AFP. Egypt, which relies heavily on imported fuel, has been hit hard by the Iran war. 
  • Cairo's famed nocturnal rhythm flickered back to life on Tuesday after Egypt eased energy-saving measures spurred by the Middle East war that had forced shops, cafes and restaurants to close early, dimming a city long defined by its late-night buzz.
  • "When streets go dark and businesses shut early, you're not just closing shops, you're shutting down the soul of the city and risking the livelihoods that depend on it," he told AFP. Egypt, which relies heavily on imported fuel, has been hit hard by the Iran war. 
Cairo's famed nocturnal rhythm flickered back to life on Tuesday after Egypt eased energy-saving measures spurred by the Middle East war that had forced shops, cafes and restaurants to close early, dimming a city long defined by its late-night buzz.
Soaring energy prices, driven by the US-Israel conflict with Iran, had prompted month-long restrictions to curb electricity use, compressing social and commercial life in the region's largest metropolis into unfamiliar early hours.
Initial shutdowns at 9 pm local time, later extended to 11 pm, left streets unusually quiet and fuelled frustration among traders and customers alike.
On Sunday, the government announced the measures would be lifted, allowing cafes and restaurants to stay open until 1 am. Shops and malls can now operate until 11 pm, and until midnight on weekends.
By Tuesday night, the change was already visible in Heliopolis, a historic eastern Cairo neighbourhood known for its wide boulevards, early 20th-century architecture and cafe culture. 
At 10 pm, when chairs would normally have been stacked away, tables were instead full. Arcaded buildings glowed as friends gathered over shisha, families strolled with children and couples lingered over coffee.
Residents say the change has been about more than business hours. 
"People were depressed," said Ahmed Megahed, an 82-year-old retiree. 
"With rising prices and daily pressures, staying at home every night made things worse. Now people can go out, breathe fresh air and feel normal again," he told AFP.
For Osama El-Sayed, a 56-year-old government employee, the return of late nights has restored a sense of belonging. 
"I was feeling out of place. Now I finally feel like I fit again," he told AFP with a smile from a roadside cafe in downtown Cairo, a day before the easing took effect.

Disaster 'for everyone'

Shop owner Wafaa Ahmed, 58, said the whole city felt the pain of the early closures. 
"It was a disaster before, not just for us shop owners, but for everyone," she said.
A millennium old and home to over 20 million people, Cairo is known for nights that come alive with traffic, noise and light.
During the curbs, which began in late March, shops shuttered early, restaurants cleared their tables and cafes ushered customers out.
With street lights off, residents walked home through shadowy neighbourhoods while cinemas that usually buzz with late screenings stayed dark.
Some stretched out their final cups of tea or took a last pull on their shisha pipes as police patrols enforced the closures, with fines of up to 50,000 Egyptian pounds ($946) and repeat violations risking prison.
Wael el-Nahas, an economist, said the early closures had turned Cairo into a "ghost town", running counter to the city's distinct social character and threatening its vital tourism industry.
"When streets go dark and businesses shut early, you're not just closing shops, you're shutting down the soul of the city and risking the livelihoods that depend on it," he told AFP.
Egypt, which relies heavily on imported fuel, has been hit hard by the Iran war. 
Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said the monthly energy import bill more than doubled early this year to $2.5 billion.
The pound has shed about 15 percent of its value, while inflation rose above 13 percent in March. 
Madbouly has urged incentives to accelerate a shift to solar power, as the government aired TV campaigns calling on consumers to cut electricity use.
But for Ahmed, the relaxed measures came just in time for her and her business. 
"It is the right decision, especially with the summer season coming," she said, adding that the restrictions had slashed her revenues by 80 percent. 
"No one shops in the morning in summer. Now customers have time."
maf/jfx/ane