nuclear

Citing 'strategic mistake' EU pivots back to nuclear energy

US

Iran, at UN, insists will not submit to 'lawless aggression'

BY ROBIN MILLARD

  • he asked, stating: "Iran is not a nation that submits to coercion, intimidation or lawless aggression."
  • Iran vowed at the United Nations on Monday that it would not submit to "lawless aggression", saying 90 million citizens were in "grave danger" from US and Israeli strikes.
  • he asked, stating: "Iran is not a nation that submits to coercion, intimidation or lawless aggression."
Iran vowed at the United Nations on Monday that it would not submit to "lawless aggression", saying 90 million citizens were in "grave danger" from US and Israeli strikes.
At the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, where countries were discussing the rights situation in Iran, UN experts highlighted Tehran's deadly crackdown on protesters in recent months and warned that repression would likely worsen amid the Middle East war. 
Iran's ambassador Ali Bahreini hit back, insisting the focus instead should be on the aggression against his country, "carried out by some of the most lawless and unscrupulous actors on the international stage".
"The most urgent and fundamental human rights issue concerning Iran is the imminent threat to the lives of 90 million people whose lives are in immediate and grave danger under the shadow of reckless military aggression," he told the council.
Bahreini said that if such "reckless militarism" was met with indifference, "Iran will most certainly not be the last country to suffer such treatment".
On February 28, the US and Israel launched their war on Iran, that has seen the Islamic republic in return strike targets in multiple countries in the Middle East.
During the session on Iran's record, Bahreini urged the UN's top rights body to instead discuss the Iranian cultural heritage under "indiscriminate" attack and "the innocent children massacred at their school desks".
Iran has accused the United States and Israel of conducting a deadly missile attack on a school in the southern city of Minab. Washington has said it is investigating the incident. AFP does not have access to the site.
The ambassador said more than 1,300 people had been killed in Iran and more than 7,000 injured since the US-Israeli strikes began.
"Under such circumstances, what exactly is Iran expected to do?" he asked, stating: "Iran is not a nation that submits to coercion, intimidation or lawless aggression."

Calls for negotiations

The six Gulf Cooperation Council countries, plus Jordan, condemned Iran's attacks on their territories, saying they endangered regional security and civilian lives, and "cannot be justified under any pretext".
The United States and Israel have stopped participating in the Human Rights Council.
Russia condemned the US and Israel for "seeking to destroy this dissenting country" and urged them to "end their aggressive actions".
China said it was "gravely concerned" by the strikes against Iran, condemned all attacks on civilians and urged all parties to "cease military operations immediately and return to dialogue".
Britain said it wanted a "swift return to security and stability" and said Tehran must not "exploit conflict to inflict further violence on its people".
France said a lasting diplomatic solution was necessary "to end the war and for Iran to stop being a threat to its neighbours and the entire international community".

Massive crackdown fears

The UN Human Rights Council was holding an interactive dialogue between nations and the council's special rapporteur on rights in Iran and its fact-finding mission on the country.
Special rapporteur Mai Sato said that the US-Israeli strikes "remain unlawful, no matter the assumed or stated objectives".
She said Tehran's deadly crackdown on the nationwide protests that began on December 28 -- in which, in a conservative figure that may rise, "over 7,000 deaths have been reported by civil society" -- had followed a "pattern of persecution" that long predated the uprising.
"No-one should have died for expressing grievances with the state," she told the UN correspondents' association.
Sato said that after last year's US-Israeli attacks on Iran, repression in the country worsened, and if "the war ends with a weakened Islamic republic, I can totally see that there will be a very big crackdown".
She said the war had "exacerbated" what was already a "critical human rights situation in the country", that had worsened further still during the protests.
rjm/nl

US

Israel army says ground assault against Hezbollah underway in Lebanon

BY JAY DESHMUKH

  • An Israeli military statement said that in recent days its troops "have begun limited and targeted ground operations against key Hezbollah strongholds in southern Lebanon".
  • Israel's military said Monday it was carrying out what it described as "limited" ground operations against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, as Beirut said more than one million people had displaced in two weeks of fighting.
  • An Israeli military statement said that in recent days its troops "have begun limited and targeted ground operations against key Hezbollah strongholds in southern Lebanon".
Israel's military said Monday it was carrying out what it described as "limited" ground operations against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, as Beirut said more than one million people had displaced in two weeks of fighting.
Israel's defence minister warned that those displaced in Lebanon would not return home until northern Israel was secure, while Hezbollah said it targeted a north Israel city where first responders reported a man was wounded.
Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war on March 2 when Tehran-backed Hezbollah attacked Israel in response to the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes.
Israel has responded with broad air raids on its northern neighbour and troop incursions into border areas.
An Israeli military statement said that in recent days its troops "have begun limited and targeted ground operations against key Hezbollah strongholds in southern Lebanon".
"This activity is part of broader defensive efforts" and includes "the dismantling of terrorist infrastructure and the elimination of terrorists... in order to remove threats and create an additional layer of security for residents of northern Israel," it said.
The ground operations were preceded by air and artillery strikes, it added.
The announcement echoes similar statements issued in 2024, when Israel and Hezbollah fought a major war in Lebanon, and in 2023, when the military launched a ground assault in Gaza in response to Hamas's October 7 attacks. 

Nahariya

Hezbollah said it launched rockets and attack drones at the northern Israeli city of Nahariya on Monday.
Israel's Magen David Adom (MDA) emergency responders said paramedics were treating a man "in mild to moderate condition suffering from blast injuries" and six other people for smoke inhalation.
Military sources quoted by Israel's public broadcaster KAN said the impact was caused by a rocket, while MDA paramedic Yonatan Avilea said the strike hit between two buildings, sparking a blaze.
Lebanon's state-run National News Agency reported strikes on Lebanon's south, while Beirut said Israeli attacks since March 2 have killed 886 people, including 111 children.
More than one million people have registered as displaced, with 132,000 of them staying in collective shelters.
Turkey condemned the Israeli ground operation, saying it was "worsening instability in the region" and warning of "another humanitarian catastrophe" in the Middle East.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz urged Israel to "not take this path -- it would be an error".
Israeli military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani said Hezbollah was "intending to expand their operations... and firing hundreds of rockets a day" toward Israel.
"They have also sent hundreds of Radwan terrorists to the south (of Lebanon)," he added, referring to Hezbollah's elite unit.
Shoshani said the ground operations where targeting areas where "we understand Hezbollah is posing a threat towards our civilians."
"Those are new locations that our troops were not operating in yesterday," he said, adding that "we'll operate for as much as we need".

No north Israel evacuations

In recent days, Hezbollah and Iran have launched coordinated rocket and missile attacks against Israel.
Hezbollah has also reported targeting Israeli forces on the border with Lebanon and in several frontier towns, including "direct clashes" in Khiam, located across from north Israel's Metula.
Hezbollah has repeatedly announced targeting Israeli forces and vehicles inside Khiam, which was the first point into which Israeli forces advanced after the war began.
An AFP photographer on Monday saw smoke billowing from the town after Israeli bombardment.
Israel preceded its ground operations with strikes on some bridges and roads connecting south Lebanon to the rest of the country.
Since the war began, the Israeli military has issued sweeping evacuation warnings for southern Lebanon, extending more than 40 kilometres (around 25 miles) from its border.
Defence Minister Israel Katz warned that displaced Lebanese would not return home "south of the Litani area until the safety of residents in the north (of Israel) is guaranteed".
The Israeli military has repeatedly said it would not evacuate people from its north, unlike the previous hostilities with Hezbollah which a November 2024 ceasefire sought to end.
burs-lba-jd/lg/dc

conflict

Afghan govt accuses Pakistan after new strikes on Kabul

  • There was no comment either from the Pakistani military when contacted by AFP. The sound of anti-aircraft guns stopped at about 10:00 pm and ambulance sirens could be heard.
  • Afghan authorities on Monday accused neighbouring Pakistan of attacking Kabul, as AFP journalists heard loud explosions overhead and anti-aircraft defences swung into action.
  • There was no comment either from the Pakistani military when contacted by AFP. The sound of anti-aircraft guns stopped at about 10:00 pm and ambulance sirens could be heard.
Afghan authorities on Monday accused neighbouring Pakistan of attacking Kabul, as AFP journalists heard loud explosions overhead and anti-aircraft defences swung into action.
Several blasts were heard between 9:00 pm and 9:15 pm (1630 to 1645 GMT) and plumes of smoke were visible from the Shahr-e-Naw and Wazir Akbar Khan areas in the centre of the Afghan capital.
In one building, a panicked mother ran outside, calling for her son to come back in as the explosion rocked the neighbourhood. 
The explosions -- just days before the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan -- caused panic and forced families out and about after breaking their fast to run for shelter, an AFP photographer said.
Other local residents scurried to take cover in basements.
Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid wrote on X that the Pakistani military had "once again violated Afghan territory", calling the strikes "a crime" and an "act of inhumanity".
The Pakistani military has struck Kabul several times in recent weeks, as part of a conflict sparked by claims that the Taliban government has harboured extremists who have carried out attacks across the border.
But Mujahid said the latest strikes hit a drug treatment centre, killing a number of civilians.
There was no immediate independent verification of his claim. There was no comment either from the Pakistani military when contacted by AFP.
The sound of anti-aircraft guns stopped at about 10:00 pm and ambulance sirens could be heard.

Food distribution

Clashes between the two sides escalated in October last year, leaving dozens dead, but after subsiding they resumed last month, with Pakistan describing the conflict as "open war".
On Friday, the United Nations mission in Afghanistan confirmed the deaths of at least 75 civilians in the country since clashes with Pakistan intensified on February 26.
Both sides maintain they do not target civilians.
Airstrikes and bombardments are regularly reported in border regions of eastern and southern Afghanistan.
Three children and a woman were killed by Pakistani shelling in eastern Afghanistan overnight between Sunday and Monday, Afghan officials said.
Pakistani mortar shelling killed two children on Sunday night in the Afghan Dubai area of Khost, the governor's office said in a statement.
One person was also killed in eastern Nuristan province when shelling hit a "civilian home" on Sunday, the government's deputy spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat said on X.
In total, 18 civilians have been killed in Afghanistan in the past week as a result of cross-border clashes between the two sides, according to the Afghan authorities.
Repeated border clashes in recent weeks have hit trade and about 115,000 people have been forced to leave their homes, according to the UN refugee agency.
The World Food Programme (WFP) said on Sunday that it has started delivering "life-saving food" to over 20,000 displaced Afghan families and warned that "further instability will push millions into hunger".
Just over 100 people forced to leave their homes gathered from dawn on Monday at a WFP distribution site in Paktia province, on Afghanistan's eastern border, to receive fortified biscuits, an AFP photographer said.
bur-iw/phz/ksb

US

Trump pushes for 'enthusiasm' from allies to secure Hormuz

BY DANNY KEMP

  • NATO and other Western allies pushed back earlier Monday on Trump's demand at the weekend that the alliance help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has effectively closed.
  • President Donald Trump criticized US allies on Monday for their lukewarm response to his call to help protect shipping in the Strait of Hormuz during the US war against Iran.
  • NATO and other Western allies pushed back earlier Monday on Trump's demand at the weekend that the alliance help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has effectively closed.
President Donald Trump criticized US allies on Monday for their lukewarm response to his call to help protect shipping in the Strait of Hormuz during the US war against Iran.
Trump called for more "enthusiasm" from other countries, as he said he believed France and Britain would somewhat reluctantly get involved. 
"We strongly encourage the other nations to get involved with us and get involved quickly and with great enthusiasm," Trump told reporters during an event at the White House.
"The level of enthusiasm matters to me." 
Trump said a number of countries that he did not name had committed to help secure the waterway, a critical choke point for the global oil trade, but lashed out at others who were not "enthusiastic."
"For 40 years, we're protecting you, and you don't want to get involved," Trump said.
NATO and other Western allies pushed back earlier Monday on Trump's demand at the weekend that the alliance help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has effectively closed.
During lengthy remarks at a meeting with the hand-picked board of Washington's Kennedy Center, which Trump has renamed after himself, Trump had only partial praise for the leaders of Britain and France.
"On a scale of zero to 10, I'd say he's been an eight," Trump said when asked about a call with French President Emmanuel Macron.
"Not perfect -- but it's France." 
Trump added of Macron that "I think he's going to help" -- and said he also believed Britain would be involved in a Hormuz mission.

'Oldest ally'

But the US leader was harsher about Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who has previously faced stinging criticism from Trump over Britain's refusal to send an aircraft carrier to the region.
"I was not happy with the UK. I think they'll be involved, yeah, maybe. But they should be involved enthusiastically," Trump said.
"I said... 'You're our oldest ally, and we spend a lot of money on, you know, NATO and all of these things to protect you.'"
Starmer said earlier that London was working with allies to craft a "viable" plan to reopen the strategic waterway but ruled out a NATO mission.
Trump meanwhile insisted that Iran itself was a "paper tiger" after two weeks of joint US-Israeli airstrikes, adding that Washington was unclear whom it could negotiate with in Tehran.
"We don't know... if he's dead or not," Trump said when asked about the condition of Iran's new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei.
"A lot of people are saying that he's badly disfigured. They're saying that he lost his leg -- one leg -- and he's, you know, been hurt very badly. Other people are saying he's dead. Nobody's saying he's 100 percent healthy," he said.
"We don't know who we're dealing with" in Iran, Trump said. "We don't know who their leader is."
cl-dk/mlm

US

US, China hold 'constructive' talks on trade, but Trump visit in doubt

  • - Probes and tariffs - The Paris talks follow a turbulent year in US-China economic ties since Trump returned to the presidency.
  • China and the US held what both sides described Monday as constructive talks aimed at addressing volatile trade ties that have been upended by President Donald Trump's tariffs and the Middle East war.
  • - Probes and tariffs - The Paris talks follow a turbulent year in US-China economic ties since Trump returned to the presidency.
China and the US held what both sides described Monday as constructive talks aimed at addressing volatile trade ties that have been upended by President Donald Trump's tariffs and the Middle East war.
The talks in the French capital "were constructive and they show the stability of the relationship", US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told journalists.
Chinese state media described the Sunday talks between Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng as "candid, in-depth and constructive".
He said the exchange would inject "greater certainty and stability" into bilateral trade ties and the global economy, according to Xinhua.
The Paris meeting was widely seen as setting the stage for Trump to visit China for a summit with its President Xi Jinping.
The trip was initially planned from March 31 to April 2, but US officials confirmed Monday that it was likely to be delayed due to Washington's war on Iran.
Beijing said Monday it was in talks with Washington over the visit by Trump, who has pressured NATO allies including China to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Earlier, Trump had suggested he could delay a meeting with Xi if Beijing does not assist in reopening the strait.
The waterway, critical to oil transportation, has been effectively closed by Iran in retaliation over the US and Israeli war against Tehran. 
Beijing's foreign ministry said on Monday that Beijing and Washington "are maintaining communication regarding President Trump's visit to China".
"Head-of-state diplomacy plays an irreplaceable strategic guiding role in China-US relations," spokesman Lin Jian told a press conference.
Lin did not address Trump's recent pressure on NATO allies and China to assist in Hormuz.
The "tense situation" in the strait has "disrupted international trade routes for goods and energy", Lin said when asked about Trump's comments.

Probes and tariffs

The Paris talks follow a turbulent year in US-China economic ties since Trump returned to the presidency.
The United States announced new trade investigations last week into excess industrial capacity, targeting 60 economies including China and other key partners.
The prospect has fuelled the possibility of further tariffs after the Supreme Court struck down Trump's global duties.
The probes will look into "failures to take action on forced labour" and whether these burden or restrict US commerce, according to US officials.
Greer said his team gave the Chinese "a preview of what we're doing on US trade policy as we adjust to the Supreme Court".
"The president's trade policy hasn't changed, our tools may change, and we're conducting these investigations," he added.
"We don't want to prejudge them, and we had a good conversation with our counterparts about that process."
Beijing said on Monday that it "lodged representations" and urged Washington to "correct its erroneous" trade practices.
"We urge the US side to immediately correct its erroneous ways, meet China halfway... and resolve issues through dialogue and negotiations," Beijing's commerce ministry said in a statement.
The latest round of investigations "is extremely unilateral, arbitrary and discriminatory", it said, accusing Washington of "attempting to construct trade barriers".
Li also reiterated on Monday that China firmly opposed such "unilateral" probes, Xinhua reported.
Global oil prices have surged by 40 to 50 percent since the war began, with Hormuz choked off and Iran's attacks on energy and shipping industry targets in its Gulf neighbours.
Experts say that China, which maintains large oil reserves, is better equipped than many other nations to deal with the impact of the war.
But it has reason to be concerned about the consequences of the situation in the Middle East on trade. 
China's official trade data for January and February, before the war in Iran began, showed that the country's economy is largely buoyed by exports and international trade.
mpa/bur-ksb/sms

Israel

Western allies push back on Trump call for NATO help to reopen Hormuz

BY PETER HUTCHISON AND JOE JACKSON

  • Oil prices jumped after the strait was closed and remained on Monday above $100 per barrel as the Iran war moved into a third week.
  • NATO allies and other Western nations pushed back Monday on US President Donald Trump's demand that military alliance members help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the critical conduit for crude oil Iran has effectively closed.
  • Oil prices jumped after the strait was closed and remained on Monday above $100 per barrel as the Iran war moved into a third week.
NATO allies and other Western nations pushed back Monday on US President Donald Trump's demand that military alliance members help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the critical conduit for crude oil Iran has effectively closed.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said London was working with allies to craft a "viable" plan to reopen the strategic waterway but ruled out a NATO mission, while Berlin insisted it "has been clear at all times that this war is not a matter for NATO".
"There was never a joint decision on whether to intervene. That is why the question of how Germany might contribute militarily does not arise. We will not do so," German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
Poland, Spain, Greece and Sweden were among the other European nations to distance themselves from any military involvement in the Strait of Hormuz in the wake of Trump's call.
Japan and Australia voiced similar sentiments earlier Monday, with Canberra saying it would not be sending a navy ship to the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump: show 'enthusiasm'

Trump over the weekend called on countries including China, France, Japan, South Korea and Britain to send warships to escort tankers through the strait, warning refusing would be "very bad for the future of NATO". 
And he stepped up pressure again on Monday saying he expected Britain and France to help secure shipping in the key waterway, and criticising US allies for their lukewarm response.
"We strongly encourage the other nations to get involved with us and get involved quickly and with great enthusiasm," he said, adding he believed Britain would get involved in a Hormuz mission.
Oil prices jumped after the strait was closed and remained on Monday above $100 per barrel as the Iran war moved into a third week.
The volatility further underlined the importance of ensuring safe passage for tankers through the vital transport route.
Starmer, who had faced stinging criticism from Trump over Britain's refusal to join the US and Israel in offensive attacks on Iran, told reporters he had discussed the waterway with the US leader Sunday.
"We're working with all of our allies, including our European partners, to bring together a viable collective plan that can restore freedom of navigation in the region as quickly as possible and ease the economic impacts," he said in Downing Street.
"Let me be clear: that won't be, and it's never been envisioned to be, a NATO mission," Starmer said, while also stressing Britain "will not be drawn into the wider war.
"That'll have to be an alliance of partners," he added of any Strait of Hormuz mission.

'Difficult'

A NATO official noted that members "have already stepped up to provide additional security in the Mediterranean". 
"We are aware that individual allies are talking with the US and others on what more they might do, including in the context of security in the Strait of Hormuz," the official told AFP.
Following Trump's demand for military support, some European countries sought to appear open-minded while remaining non-committal. 
"We did not want this war. From day one, we have called for de-escalation," Denmark's Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen told Danish media in Brussels before an EU foreign ministers' meeting. 
"That said, I believe we need to keep an open mind and look at how we can contribute," he said, describing the situation as "very, very serious".
Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten told the country's ANP press agency that it would be "very difficult to launch a successful mission there in the short-term".
burs-jj/jkb/rmb

Global Edition

Oil eases, equities rise as market focuses on Strait of Hormuz

  • The price falls came after a Pakistani oil tanker became the first non-Iranian tanker to transit the Strait of Hormuz with its automatic transponder system activated, according to monitor Marine Traffic.
  • Oil prices pulled back and equities rose on Monday as investors focused on the crucial Strait of Hormuz and the head of the IEA said more crude could be released on the market if necessary.
  • The price falls came after a Pakistani oil tanker became the first non-Iranian tanker to transit the Strait of Hormuz with its automatic transponder system activated, according to monitor Marine Traffic.
Oil prices pulled back and equities rose on Monday as investors focused on the crucial Strait of Hormuz and the head of the IEA said more crude could be released on the market if necessary.
As the Middle East war entered its third week, Wall Street and most European stock markets climbed after Asian stocks mainly dipped.
International benchmark Brent North Sea crude dropped back 1.3 percent to $101.84, while the main US contract West Texas Intermediate fell 3.5 percent to $95.27.
The price falls came after a Pakistani oil tanker became the first non-Iranian tanker to transit the Strait of Hormuz with its automatic transponder system activated, according to monitor Marine Traffic.
"The impact of geopolitical events on markets, and the macro outlook, hinges more on when transits through the Strait of Hormuz begin to normalise than it does on when hostilities come to an end," wrote Michael Brown at Pepperstone.
Meanwhile, the head of the International Energy Agency, Fatih Birol, said member countries could unlock more oil from strategic stocks "if needed". 
IEA member countries already agreed last week their biggest-ever release, of 400 million barrels.
"When you get a bit of a reprieve in the energy price, it's not surprising to see a bounce in equity markets," Art Hogan, from B. Riley Wealth Management, told AFP.
US President Donald Trump piled pressure on allied powers over the weekend to help reopen the vital shipping lane choked off by Iranian attacks, although the call has not found an enthusiastic response.
"The market, again, appears to be leaning on the notion that the war will come to an end relatively soon without much lasting damage to the global economy," said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare.
"Therefore, a buy-the-dip trade has taken root," he added.
In Asia, Tokyo and Shanghai closed lower, while Hong Kong rose.
During Asian trading hours, crude had climbed further above $100 a barrel after attacks on oil infrastructure on the UAE's east coast and strikes on Iran's Kharg Island.
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told CBS his country was not interested in talks with Washington, but was ready to speak to countries about safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz.
More strikes occurred Monday, with Saudi Arabia saying it had intercepted more than 60 drones since midnight, while flights were temporarily suspended at Dubai's airport after a "drone-related incident" sparked a fire nearby. 
Traders' attention will turn this week to policy meetings of major central banks including the US Federal Reserve, Bank of England, the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan. 
While they are expected to keep interest rates unchanged, any remarks on the impact of the war and rising energy prices on their respective economies will be closely followed.
"Investors want to hear what the world’s central bankers think about a potential inflation shock and a prolonged energy crisis and how this feeds into their future decision making," said Kathleen Brooks, research director at trading group XTB. 

Key figures at around 1630 GMT

West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 3.5 percent at $95.27 per barrel 
Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 1.3 percent at $101.84 per barrel
New York - Dow: UP 0.6 percent at 46,831.02 points
New York - S&P 500: UP 0.8 percent at 6,683.37
New York - Nasdaq Composite: UP 1.0 percent at 22,326.20
London - FTSE 100: UP 0.6 percent at 10,317.69 (close) 
Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.3 percent at 7,935.97 (close)
Frankfurt - DAX: UP 0.5 percent at 23,564.01 (close)
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.1 percent at 53,751.15 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 1.5 percent at 25,834.02 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.3 percent at 4,084.79 (close)
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1480 from $1.1416 on Friday
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3292 from $1.3223
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 159.32 yen from 159.74 yen
Euro/pound: UP at 86.37 pence from 86.33 pence
burs/cw

US

Stagflation risk in US 'quite high': Nobel-winning economist Stiglitz

  • - 'Unbalanced' - Stiglitz, who jointly won the Nobel Economics Prize in 2001 for his analysis of markets with asymmetric information, said the United States was the country most at risk of falling into stagflation, as it did during the oil shocks in the 1970s.
  • The war in the Middle East has put the United States at high risk of falling into stagflation, Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz told AFP on Monday.
  • - 'Unbalanced' - Stiglitz, who jointly won the Nobel Economics Prize in 2001 for his analysis of markets with asymmetric information, said the United States was the country most at risk of falling into stagflation, as it did during the oil shocks in the 1970s.
The war in the Middle East has put the United States at high risk of falling into stagflation, Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz told AFP on Monday.
Even before the war erupted on February 28 with a barrage of US and Israeli strikes on Iran, Stiglitz said the US economy was already "close to stagflation" -- a troublesome blend of high inflation and anaemic growth.
There were a number of "readings for slow growth before the war", he said in an interview at the United Nations' European headquarters in Geneva, "and this just... pushes us over the brink".
The Middle East war has virtually halted activity in the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's crude oil supplies and a substantial amount of gas normally run, sending oil prices soaring.
Global oil prices have surged by 40 to 50 percent after Iran choked off the waterway and attacked energy and shipping industry targets in the Gulf in response to the US-Israeli war against the Islamic republic.
This has sparked fears of a shock to a global trading system, which is already under stress from US President Donald Trump's tariff offensive as well as the fragmentation of supply chains since the Covid-19 pandemic and Russia's war in Ukraine.

'Unbalanced'

Stiglitz, who jointly won the Nobel Economics Prize in 2001 for his analysis of markets with asymmetric information, said the United States was the country most at risk of falling into stagflation, as it did during the oil shocks in the 1970s.
"The risk of stagflation seems to be quite high for the US," said the professor at Columbia University in New York.
The situation elsewhere was not as clear-cut, said Stiglitz, who served as chief economist at the World Bank in the late 1990s after being the chairman of US president Bill Clinton's council of economic advisers.
While Europe would certainly face inflationary pressures on energy too, it was also seeing a growth "stimulus" as it dramatically ramps up defence spending, after Washington "made it very clear that you cannot depend on the US for your defence", he said.
Trump's policies had meanwhile significantly weakened the US economy even before the war, he maintained.  
Stiglitz pointed to troubling indicators, like the lack of labour force growth in 2025 and last month's hike in unemployment.
And while there had been growth, it had been "unbalanced", he said, with around a third coming from the creation of artificial intelligence data centres.
The stock market, meanwhile, "is doing well because it's dominated by AI and tech firms", he said.
"If you look at the rest of the stock market, it's just languishing."

Trump 'destroyed confidence'

At the same time, Stiglitz said he expected to see Trump's tariff policy boost inflation.
Typically, when applying tariffs, a country could expect to see the value of its currency rise, since it is buying fewer goods abroad, which should lower inflation, the economist said.
But in this case, he pointed out that "the dollar has gotten weaker".
That, he said, is because "Trump has destroyed confidence in America and the dollar". 
"The weaker dollar means that, rather than less inflation from the tariffs, there's more inflation... Everything we import is more expensive in dollar terms."
Added to that now is inflation from the war, as well as greater uncertainty among households and businesses.
They "don't know what the tariffs are going to be, (or) how long this war is going to last. They don't know what energy prices are going to be", Stiglitz said.
Businesses, he insisted, "can't invest in these circumstances".
nl/rjm/sbk

US

Why Iranian drones are hard to stop

BY ALI BEKHTAOUI

  • - Anti-jamming mechanisms - Russia has been making Shahed-style drones to use in its war in Ukraine.
  • Cheap and deadly, Iranian-designed Shahed drones have inflicted major damage in the Middle East war, and have anti-jamming and other capabilities that make them difficult to stop.
  • - Anti-jamming mechanisms - Russia has been making Shahed-style drones to use in its war in Ukraine.
Cheap and deadly, Iranian-designed Shahed drones have inflicted major damage in the Middle East war, and have anti-jamming and other capabilities that make them difficult to stop.

Offline navigation

Designed to explode on impact, Shahed drones connect to GPS to register their location shortly before or after takeoff, then typically turn off their receivers, said Thomas Withington, a researcher at Britain's Royal United Services Institute (RUSI).
The drones then travel long distances towards their target using gyroscopes that measure their speed, direction and position -- known as an "inertial navigation system".
"GPS is going to get jammed by whatever is protecting the target," Withington told AFP.
"If you look at a map of GPS jamming at the moment in the Middle East, you see that there's a lot of jamming... By not using the GPS, you avoid that."
The drones can then return to GPS just before impact for a more precise strike, or remain offline.
"It's not always necessarily very accurate, but it's as accurate as it needs to be," said Withington.

Anti-jamming mechanisms

Russia has been making Shahed-style drones to use in its war in Ukraine.
The US-based Institute for Science and International Security found in 2023 that those drones used "state-of-art antenna interference suppression" to remove enemy jamming signals while preserving the desired GPS signal.
Anti-jamming mechanisms were found in the wreckage of an Iranian-made drone that struck Cyprus in the opening days of the Middle East war, a European industry source told AFP.
"They have put (the Shahed) together using off-the-shelf parts, but it has... many of the capabilities that US military GPS equipment has," Todd Humphreys, a professor of aerospace engineering at the University of Texas at Austin, told AFP.
Defending against them now requires sophisticated electronic warfare equipment.
"The Shaheds have been upgraded," said Ukrainian air force spokesman Yuriy Ignat.

Stealth materials

The Shahed is built from "lightweight radar-absorbing materials", such as plastic and fibreglass, a 2023 RUSI paper said.
Their small size and low altitude allow them to slip through aerial defence systems.

Other positioning systems?

Some experts think Iran is using multiple positioning systems, making it easier for its drones to dodge jamming.
Serhii Beskrestnov, a technology adviser to the Ukrainian defence ministry, said Iran is using the BeiDou system, a Chinese rival to the US-developed GPS.
And the Russia-made version of Shaheds uses both BeiDou and the Russian equivalent, GLONASS, he said.
Others suspect Iran may be using LORAN, a radio navigation system developed during World War II.
LORAN, which does not require satellites, largely fell out of use when GPS emerged.
But Iran said in 2016 it was reviving the technology, which requires a network of large ground-based transmitters, though experts have not confirmed it is active today.

Counter-strategies

Militaries have mainly defended against Shaheds by shooting them down with cannon fire, missiles and interceptor drones, with the United States and Israel also developing lasers.
But jamming can work, as Ukraine has shown, as can "spoofing", which involves hacking into the drone's navigation system to change its destination.
Ukraine used electronic warfare to neutralise 4,652 attack drones from mid-May to mid-July 2025 -- not far off the number it shot down in the same period, 6,041, according to AFP analysis of Ukrainian military data.
Its experts insist that electronic and conventional defences are often used in tandem against the drones.
bur-alb-ico/dth/jhb/sbk

US

Iran defiant as strikes hit Gulf transport, Trump to speak

BY AFP TEAMS IN JERUSALEM, BEIRUT, TEHRAN AND WASHINGTON

  • - Saudi, UAE call - The war has engulfed much of the region, with Iran striking at least 10 countries that host US forces.
  • Iran said it was ready to take the Middle East war "as far as necessary" as it launched strikes across the region on Monday, while US allies pushed back against Donald Trump's call for help to reopen a vital shipping lane.
  • - Saudi, UAE call - The war has engulfed much of the region, with Iran striking at least 10 countries that host US forces.
Iran said it was ready to take the Middle East war "as far as necessary" as it launched strikes across the region on Monday, while US allies pushed back against Donald Trump's call for help to reopen a vital shipping lane.
Global oil prices have surged by 40 to 50 percent as Iran attacks shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and launches waves of missile and drone strikes in the Gulf in retaliation for the war launched by the United States and Israel on February 28. 
US President Trump said he would hold a news conference on Monday, after several European countries rejected the idea of a NATO mission to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
"By now they have... understood what kind of nation they are dealing with, one that does not hesitate to defend itself and is ready to continue the war wherever it may lead, and take it as far as necessary," Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told reporters in Tehran. 
A drone sparked a fuel tank fire near Dubai airport, disrupting travel, while a missile killed a civilian in their car in Abu Dhabi, and another drone sparked a blaze in an area housing oil infrastructure in the eastern emirate of Fujairah.
"It has been a difficult few weeks hearing explosions regularly, but the Iranian attacks followed me in my last hours before I could fly back home," a witness at Dubai airport told AFP, adding that passengers had been evacuated to a lower floor after the attack.
Explosions hit the Iranian capital on Monday as air defence systems were activated, an AFP journalist said, and Israel said it had also targeted the cities of Shiraz and Tabriz.
More than two weeks into the Middle East war, Israeli military spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin said they still had "thousands of targets in Iran, and we are identifying new targets every day".

'Very bad'

Trump called this weekend for world powers to send warships to escort tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, which normally carries one fifth of global crude.
He told the Financial Times it would be "very bad for the future of NATO" if they refused, and he has threatened to delay a planned summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. 
EU foreign ministers were set to discuss the issue on Monday and Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was working with allies on a plan but ruled out a NATO mission.  
Several European governments rejected the idea outright, with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's spokesman saying the war had "nothing to do with NATO". Japan and Australia said they would not be deploying warships.
Meanwhile, a Pakistani oil tanker was able to transit the Strait of Hormuz on Monday with its location transmitter activated -- suggesting it may have negotiated safe passage. 
The International Energy Agency said more strategic oil stocks could be released if necessary to limit the fallout from the Hormuz disruption.

Lebanon ground assault

On another key front in the wider war, Israel announced "limited ground operations" against Iran-backed Hezbollah in southern Lebanon "aimed at enhancing the forward defence area".
Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war on March 2 when Hezbollah attacked Israel in response to the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
"We have identified Hezbollah is intending to expand their operations... and firing hundreds of rockets a day" toward Israel, military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani said in a briefing.
The army's announcement echoed statements in 2024, when Israel and Hezbollah fought a major war in Lebanon, and during the start of operations in Gaza in 2023.
Israel has ordered evacuations on an unprecedented scale across vast areas of Lebanon since the war began, and Defence Minister Israel Katz said the displaced "will not return" until northern Israel is no longer threatened. 
In Iraq, a strike on Monday near the border with Syria killed six fighters from the former paramilitary coalition Hashed al-Shaabi, the alliance said.

Saudi, UAE call

The war has engulfed much of the region, with Iran striking at least 10 countries that host US forces. Its Revolutionary Guards say it has fired some 700 missiles and 3,600 drones.
Saudi Arabia intercepted more than 60 drones overnight, its defence ministry said Monday, and Iraqi authorities said rockets wounded five people the day before at Baghdad's airport, which houses a US diplomatic facility. 
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Emirati President Mohamed bin Zayed expressed solidarity against "the continued and blatant Iranian attacks" in a call on Monday, without mentioning US-Israeli strikes, according to a statement published by Emirati media.
Despite the violence and 17 days of internet blackout, some Iranians have sought to restore a sense of normalcy, with cafes and restaurants reopening and the popular Tajrish bazaar busy over the weekend ahead of the upcoming Persian new year. 
There is little sign of a popular uprising within Iran, where security forces killed thousands during protests in January. Judiciary chief Gholam Hossein Mohseni said Monday there must be no leniency in issuing "final verdicts" against regime opponents during the war. 
More than 1,200 Iranians have been killed by US and Israeli strikes, according to the last toll from Iran's health ministry on March 8, which could not be independently verified.
The UN refugee agency says up to 3.2 million people have been displaced in Iran.
bur-pdw/ser

mayor

Race for Paris mayor on knife's edge after first round

BY HELENE DUVIGNEAU AND JULIETTE COLLEN

  • Rachida Dati, until recently France's culture minister, is aiming to become the capital's second woman mayor in a row, and bring Paris under the control of the right for the first time in 25 years.
  • The race for Paris mayor hung in the balance Monday as a right-wing former minister hoping to wrest control of the French capital from the left claimed she had gained key support for a second-round run-off.
  • Rachida Dati, until recently France's culture minister, is aiming to become the capital's second woman mayor in a row, and bring Paris under the control of the right for the first time in 25 years.
The race for Paris mayor hung in the balance Monday as a right-wing former minister hoping to wrest control of the French capital from the left claimed she had gained key support for a second-round run-off.
Rachida Dati, until recently France's culture minister, is aiming to become the capital's second woman mayor in a row, and bring Paris under the control of the right for the first time in 25 years.
Her main rival is Socialist former deputy mayor Emmanuel Gregoire, who came out well ahead of her in the first round of voting on Sunday.
But a new alliance on the right, if confirmed, could put them head-to-head.
Gregoire has promised to carry on the legacy of outgoing Socialist mayor Anne Hidalgo, including increasing the number of bike lanes and green spaces and improving public housing in the densely populated city of two million people.
Dati -- soon to go on trial for graft charges she denies -- has vowed to make the city cleaner and safer, pledging to improve rubbish collection, give weapons to municipal police officers and increase video surveillance.
Gregoire scored 37.98 percent of the vote, with Dati taking 25.46 percent. Three other candidates also made it through to the second round next Sunday.
The hard left's Sophia Chikirou came third with 11.72 percent followed by centre-right hopeful Pierre-Yves Bournazel with 11.34 percent, and far-right contender Sarah Knafo with 10.40 percent.

Conditions

With the second round just six days away, the race is on for leading candidates to form alliances.
Dati, 60, claimed on X that she had teamed up with her centre-right opponent.
"We're going to work with Bournazel on a project for political change," she announced. "The lives of Parisians over the next six years are at stake."
A member of Bournazel's team however told AFP that "nothing had been decided yet".
The candidate said his conditions included Dati rejecting any alliance with the far-right candidate, who has offered to back her.
President Emmanuel Macron has approved Dati and Bournazel joining forces, according to a source at the Elysee Palace.
Bournazel also urged Dati to promise to overhaul the city's recruitment of school monitors, after uproar in recent months over allegations that several have physically or sexually abused kindergarten pupils.
Gregoire, 48, has pledged to improve the training of school monitors.
He has however refused to join forces with the hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) party's Chikirou.
"I have said time and time again that I do not wish to form an alliance with LFI," he said on Monday afternoon.

'Waiting for a call'

Chikirou -- who came third -- has said she would remain in the race, splitting the left, if Gregoire refused an alliance.
"I'm waiting for a call from Gregoire to block Dati's path in Paris," she wrote earlier on X.
Several politicians on the left have refused to ally with the hard left after the killing last month of a far-right activist blamed on fringe leftists.
Dati is due to appear in court in September, charged with corruption between 2010 and 2012 when she was a member of the European Parliament, but she has denied the charges.
Hidalgo, the outgoing mayor who beat Dati in the last election, has called on the left to rally around Gregoire.
She urged votes for Gregoire to stave off "the danger of populism, corruption, backsliding, policies that destroy environmental and social protections, and the dismantling of public services".
Supporters credit Hidalgo and her Green allies with boosting bike lanes and pushing out traffic from the city centre, and making the Seine swimmable for the first time in a century for the 2024 Summer Olympics.
But critics accuse her of merely shifting traffic elsewhere, while also allowing security, cleanliness and public transport to deteriorate.
burs-ah/as/sbk

US

Middle East war: global economic fallout

  • - Oil comes off highs, stocks recover - Oil prices rose initially but then fell back after news that a Pakistani tanker had transited the Strait of Hormuz.
  • Here are the latest economic events in the Middle East war on Monday: - Pakistani tanker transits Hormuz - A Pakistani oil tanker transited the Strait of Hormuz with its automatic transponder system activated, monitor Marine Traffic said Monday, the first such voyage by a non-Iranian tanker since the start of the war.
  • - Oil comes off highs, stocks recover - Oil prices rose initially but then fell back after news that a Pakistani tanker had transited the Strait of Hormuz.
Here are the latest economic events in the Middle East war on Monday:

Pakistani tanker transits Hormuz

A Pakistani oil tanker transited the Strait of Hormuz with its automatic transponder system activated, monitor Marine Traffic said Monday, the first such voyage by a non-Iranian tanker since the start of the war.
Marine Traffic said on X that the 237-metre-long Pakistani-flagged oil tanker had a draft of 11.5 metres, indicating it was heavy and likely loaded.

IEA hints at more releases

International Energy Agency chief Fatih Birol said more strategic oil stocks could be released if necessary to limit the fallout of the virtual blockage of supplies through the Strait of Hormuz owing to the war on Iran.
"In terms of government stocks and industry stocks held under government obligation, if you combine them, there will be still over 1.4 billion barrels remaining, which means we can do more later as and if needed," Birol said in a video statement.
"The single most important thing for a return to stable flows of oil and gas is the resumption of transit through the Strait of Hormuz," he added.

Oil comes off highs, stocks recover

Oil prices rose initially but then fell back after news that a Pakistani tanker had transited the Strait of Hormuz. A barrel of Brent was down 1.4 percent at $101.9 after earlier in the day being up three percent while main US contract West Texas Intermediate was off 3.5 percent at $95.26. US and European stocks were all in the green shortly after Wall Street opened.   

Iraq hopes to revive pipeline

Iraq is hoping to ship up to 250,000 barrels of oil per day to a port in Turkey via a rehabilitated pipeline that has been out of service for years, its oil minister said, after the US-Israeli war on Iran cut off its main export route.
The amount would be just a fraction of the roughly 3.5 million barrels per day (bpd) that Iraq exported before the conflict, mostly through its southern Basra port and the Strait of Hormuz, where traffic has been severely disrupted by the war.

Japan starts releasing oil stocks

Japan said Monday it was beginning the release of its strategic oil reserves after the International Energy Agency indicated earlier that the release would begin in Asia and Oceania before other regions.
IEA members agreed on March 11 to tap oil stockpiles to cushion the surge in prices caused by the war -- by far the largest-ever response of its kind. The IEA said releases in Europe and North America would start before the end of March.

Dubai airport flights disrupted

Missiles and drone attacks struck across the UAE, with a drone-related incident sparking a fuel tank fire near Dubai airport that disrupted travel, while a missile killed a civilian in Abu Dhabi.
In the eastern emirate of Fujairah, a drone attack on oil infrastructure sparked a fire, days after an AFP journalist saw smoke rising from a major Emirati energy installation in the emirate.
The attacks came a day after Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said rockets had been launched from the UAE to attack Kharg Island. UAE officials have denied the claim.

Central banks meet as oil prices fuel inflation

Some of the world's biggest central banks meet this week as fears grow the energy price shock unleashed by the Middle East war could fuel wider inflation and weigh on growth.
The US Federal Reserve, European Central Bank, Bank of England and Bank of Japan hold previously scheduled meetings on Wednesday and Thursday, with their comments on the conflict's potential fallout set to be closely scrutinised.
burs/cw/rl

crime

Appeal trial opens for France's Sarkozy over alleged Libyan funding

BY ALEXANDRE MARCHAND AND NICOLAS GAUDICHET

  • Under France's legal system, this appeal trial amounts to a retrial, with the court re-examining all evidence and testimony, and Sarkozy -- who has denied any wrongdoing -- again presumed innocent.
  • Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy was back in court Monday for an appeal trial on charges he sought Libyan financing for his 2007 election, in a case that last year saw him become France's first modern-day head of state to go to prison.
  • Under France's legal system, this appeal trial amounts to a retrial, with the court re-examining all evidence and testimony, and Sarkozy -- who has denied any wrongdoing -- again presumed innocent.
Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy was back in court Monday for an appeal trial on charges he sought Libyan financing for his 2007 election, in a case that last year saw him become France's first modern-day head of state to go to prison.
A lower court in September found the right-wing politician -- who was president from 2007 to 2012 -- guilty of seeking to acquire funding from Muammar Gaddafi's Libya for the campaign that saw him elected and sentenced him to five years behind bars.
Under France's legal system, this appeal trial amounts to a retrial, with the court re-examining all evidence and testimony, and Sarkozy -- who has denied any wrongdoing -- again presumed innocent.
After his original conviction, Sarkozy in October entered a Paris prison, serving 20 days before he was released pending the appeal. 
The 71-year-old entered the Paris Appeal Court ahead of Monday's hearing, shaking hands with police and lawyers before taking his seat in the front row of the dock.
The appeal trial is set to run until June 3. If convicted, Sarkozy faces up to 10 years in prison.

Legal woes

Sarkozy has faced a series of legal issues since leaving office and has already received two definitive convictions in other cases.
In one, he wore an electronic ankle tag for several months, until it was removed in May last year, after being convicted for trying to extract favours from a judge.
And in the other, he will have to serve more time over illegal financing of his failed 2012 re-election bid.
A lower court in September convicted Sarkozy of criminal conspiracy over what it said was a scheme to acquire Libyan funding for his 2007 presidential run.
But it did not conclude that Sarkozy received or used the funds for the campaign.
He was handed a five-year sentence.
His legal team immediately appealed, but the lower court ordered him to be sent behind bars, citing the "exceptional gravity" of the conviction.
On October 21, he became the first former head of a European Union state to be incarcerated.

Prison diaries

In the initial trial, prosecutors had argued Sarkozy's aides, acting in his name, struck a deal with Gaddafi in 2005 to illegally fund his victorious presidential election bid two years later.
Investigators believe that in return, Gaddafi was promised help to restore his international image after Tripoli was blamed for the 1988 bombing of a passenger jet over Lockerbie, Scotland, and another over Niger in 1989, killing hundreds of passengers.
Members of Sarkozy's circle did not wish to comment before the retrial.
Sarkozy published a hastily written book about his time in prison titled "Diary of a Prisoner", with supporters lining up around a city block in Paris to buy a copy when it came out in December.
In the 216-page book, he recounts his mundane struggles with noise and low-quality food. 
But he also hints at a possible alliance between the traditional right-wing Republicans party he once headed and the country's main far-right party to "rebuild the right".
He and his wife, singer and model Carla Bruni, face another possible trial over allegations that they tried to bribe a key prosecution witness in the Libya campaign financing case with the help of a paparazzi boss. They deny wrongdoing.
burs-ekf/ah/rmb

US

Will Yemen's Houthis join the Mideast war?

  • The group was also battered by rounds of US and Israeli air strikes after starting their Red Sea campaign in October 2023.
  • With assault rifles, daggers and posters of Iran's late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei waving in the air as tens of thousands chant "death to America, death to Israel", there's little mistaking where the loyalties of Yemen's Houthis lie. 
  • The group was also battered by rounds of US and Israeli air strikes after starting their Red Sea campaign in October 2023.
With assault rifles, daggers and posters of Iran's late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei waving in the air as tens of thousands chant "death to America, death to Israel", there's little mistaking where the loyalties of Yemen's Houthis lie. 
But will the battle-hardened militia backed by the Islamic republic join the war with the United States and Israel?
Since the Middle East war erupted, the Houthis have held regular demonstrations in their capital Sanaa, where supporters have come out in full force to rally behind their brothers in arms in Iran.
The Houthis' leader has insisted the group is prepared to join the fray but has stopped short of issuing orders to join the war. 
"Our fingers are on the trigger, ready to respond at any moment should developments warrant it," Abdul Malik al-Houthi told his ranks.
Following the Hamas attacks against Israel in October 2023, the Houthis slowed traffic in the Red Sea and the Suez Canal to a trickle, with occasional barrages of missiles and drones keeping insurance rates high and pushing shippers to alternative routes. 
The strategy proved to be prescient, with the Houthis backers in Iran using the same blueprint to paralyse the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway that is crucial to the global transit of crude and liquefied natural gas.
From their mountainous perch overlooking the Red Sea, the Houthis effectively have a gun pointed at the temple of the Gulf economies, with any shot likely to further rattle global markets.
"The Houthis are holding in place, signalling readiness, and keeping their options open while they avoid immediate US or Israeli retaliation," Mohammed al-Basha of the US-based risk advisory Basha Report told AFP of the Houthis' current posture. 
According to a map by the energy analysis firm Kpler, an armada of tankers stretching from the Strait of Malacca near Singapore to gates of the Red Sea are racing to export terminals in Saudi Arabia's Yanbu to fill their cavernous hulls.  
There, a network of pipes bisecting the Arabian Peninsula connects the storage tanks, refineries and oil fields along the Gulf coast in the east to the Red Sea to the west -- supplying up to seven million barrels of oil a day to the market.
The plan however only works if the Houthis stay on the sidelines. 
"At what point do the Houthis begin attacking oil infrastructure along the Red Sea at Iran’s request?" wrote Malcolm Davis, a senior analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. 

'Exhausted'

For ordinary Yemenis, who have already weathered over a decade of war, more violence would only bring more hardship to their lives.  
"People are exhausted and worn out," a 32-year-old lawyer in Sanaa told AFP, asking not to be named. 
"They can't afford clothes, or medical care, or even food and drink, and they absolutely can't bear another war."
But the Houthis' calculations remain complex. 
They entered the global stage as Yemen descended into civil war more than a decade ago when the ragtag militia fighters stormed Sanaa and ousted the government from most population centres.
Since then the group has amassed an arsenal of sophisticated missiles and a variety of drones with support from Iran that are able to hit targets hundreds of kilometres (miles) from Yemen's borders.  
Hailing from a different strain of the Shia faith, the Houthis are less ideologically tethered to Iran and have long enjoyed more independence from Tehran than other proxies in the Middle East. 
The group was also battered by rounds of US and Israeli air strikes after starting their Red Sea campaign in October 2023.
The Houthis, however, have held an uneasy peace with the Saudi-backed military coalition in Yemen since agreeing to a truce in 2022 -- resulting in a dramatic decrease in fighting across the country. 
Firing at the Red Sea would mean torching any future relationship with Saudi Arabia and the billions they could bring to the table to rebuild Yemen, along with a potential future settlement with the Riyadh-backed government in Aden. 
The move would also inevitably trigger a ferocious response from the US and Israel along with Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies. 
"It's the people who pay the price for such involvement," a 40 year-old housewife from Hodeidah told AFP. 
"Destruction, fear, and innocent lives lost for no reason."
str-sar-ds/ser

US

Central banks meet as Mideast war fuels inflation fears

BY SAM REEVES

  • Oil and gas prices have surged, which typically feed into higher household energy and food costs, raising fears of a repeat of the 2022 Ukraine war inflation shock.
  • Some of the world's biggest central banks meet this week as fears grow the energy shock unleashed by the Middle East war could fuel inflation and weigh on growth.
  • Oil and gas prices have surged, which typically feed into higher household energy and food costs, raising fears of a repeat of the 2022 Ukraine war inflation shock.
Some of the world's biggest central banks meet this week as fears grow the energy shock unleashed by the Middle East war could fuel inflation and weigh on growth.
The US Federal Reserve, European Central Bank, Bank of England and Bank of Japan hold previously scheduled meetings on Wednesday and Thursday, with their comments on the conflict's potential fallout set to be closely scrutinised.
The war, which began with US-Israeli strikes on Iran, has led to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a key energy transit route, as well as Iranian attacks on energy infrastructure around the Gulf.
Oil and gas prices have surged, which typically feed into higher household energy and food costs, raising fears of a repeat of the 2022 Ukraine war inflation shock.
But, rather than rush to hike rates to cool a potential price spike, policymakers are expected to keep borrowing costs on hold for now while offering assurances they stand ready to act.
"We think most central banks will remain on hold this time and wait to assess the impact of the spike in energy prices on inflation," UniCredit analysts said in a note. 

'Tough spot'

The Fed will announce its rate decision on Wednesday, and is widely expected to keep borrowing costs on hold for its second straight meeting.
But the US central bank is "in a really tough spot right now", Wells Fargo economist Nicole Cervi told AFP, as concerns about rising inflation due to the Iran war come into conflict with worries about the job market.
The Fed has a dual mandate of holding inflation near a long-term target of two percent while ensuring full employment. But inflation is already well above target, while signs are growing of labour market weakness.
The European Central Bank is expected to keep rates steady, with inflation having settled around its target in recent months, and ECB President Christine Lagarde will likely reiterate her belief that rates remain in a "good place" for now.
She will likely be keen to emphasise the bank is ready to act, however, particularly since the ECB was criticised for moving too slowly to combat the surge in costs following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Jack Allen-Reynolds, deputy chief eurozone economist at Capital Economics, told AFP that the ECB would want to stress that they were "not panicking". 
"They're not going to rush to react to energy price movements which have been very extreme but very volatile," he said.
"It's not clear how long this is going to last and what the long-term or medium-term inflationary impact is going to be," he added.

Moves on hold?

Also announcing its decision on Thursday is the Bank of England, which is expected to keep rates steady.
Before the conflict, investors had been betting on more cuts this year as Britain's sticky inflation eased further -- but these bets have now been scaled back.
Unlike many of its Western peers, the Bank of Japan had already been hiking rates in recent times to combat rising inflation, following a decade of ultra-loose monetary policy.
While the central bank is not expected to tighten borrowing costs again when it meets Thursday, some analysts believe higher energy costs could encourage policymakers to bring forward its next hike to April.
Despite the worries about a surge in global costs similar to that seen in 2022, when inflation topped 10 percent in the eurozone and nine percent in the US, some analysts played down the dangers. 
Allen-Reynolds of Capital Economics said that the economic backdrop in 2022 -- with loose monetary and fiscal policy combined with an energy shock and supply constraints -- was different to that today.
"It was a kind of perfect storm for inflation," he told AFP. "We're not in that world now."
bur-sr/vbw/cw

conflict

Russia targets Kyiv at rush hour, kills 3 across Ukraine

BY MARIA KOSTENKO AND SERGEY SUPINSKY

  • The mayor of Kyiv said before the air alert was lifted that drone debris had crashed in two districts of the city but did not report any casualties.
  • Drone debris crashed onto the historic Maidan square in central Kyiv early Monday as explosions echoed out during a rare daytime Russian attack on the Ukrainian capital, AFP journalists reported.
  • The mayor of Kyiv said before the air alert was lifted that drone debris had crashed in two districts of the city but did not report any casualties.
Drone debris crashed onto the historic Maidan square in central Kyiv early Monday as explosions echoed out during a rare daytime Russian attack on the Ukrainian capital, AFP journalists reported.
The Ukrainian air force described the rush hour barrage as an "unusual" attack of "various types of strike drones," adding that its air defence units had downed 194 Russian drones out of 211 launched overnight and into Monday.
Three people were killed in the attacks overnight, local authorities announced -- one in the Zaporizhzhia region and two more in the Dnipropetrovsk region.
AFP journalists saw charred drone remains and blackened slabs of the square in central Kyiv where pro-democracy demonstrations more than a decade ago led to the pro-Kremlin government's ouster and precipitated the invasion.
There was no immediate official comment from officials in Kyiv on what type of drone had fallen on Maidan.
Ukraine's second-largest city Kharkiv also came under bombardment, officials said, adding that three people were wounded and transport infrastructure was damaged.
The barrage comes as US-led efforts to bring Kyiv and Moscow to the negotiating table appear to have been derailed by the US-Israeli war with Iran.

Three killed

Russian forces have stepped up long-range drone and missile attacks over recent months in Ukraine, mainly targeting energy facilities.
The mayor of Kyiv said before the air alert was lifted that drone debris had crashed in two districts of the city but did not report any casualties.
AFP journalists saw flashes and clouds of smoke, as residents of the capital sought cover during rush hour.
The Ukrainian air force had warned of a "high-speed target" aimed at Kyiv and said that the cities of Kharkiv in the north east and Odesa on the Black Sea were also targeted.
The Russian capital has also been targeted by Ukrainian drones over recent days, Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said, adding that Russian air defence systems had downed around 250 drones "as they approached Moscow."
Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 sparked the bloodiest war in Europe since World War II, forcing the displacement of millions and killing hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians on both sides.
Local authorities in Zaporizhzhia said that one woman was killed and three others were wounded, adding that a teenage girl and a woman with a disability were trapped under rubble.
The remains of two killed people were pulled from the rubble after an attack in the Dnipropetrovsk region, that also left seven wounded, including three children, the governor of the region wrote on social media.
bur-jbr/ach  

diplomacy

Frenchman jailed in Azerbaijan for 10 years for 'spying'

BY EMIL GULIYEV

  • The court found him guilty of spying against Azerbaijan and sentenced him to 10 years, an AFP reporter in the courtroom said.
  • Azerbaijan on Monday sentenced a Frenchman to 10 years in prison in an espionage case launched during a period of diplomatic tensions between Paris and Baku that have now eased.
  • The court found him guilty of spying against Azerbaijan and sentenced him to 10 years, an AFP reporter in the courtroom said.
Azerbaijan on Monday sentenced a Frenchman to 10 years in prison in an espionage case launched during a period of diplomatic tensions between Paris and Baku that have now eased.
Businessman Martin Ryan was arrested in December 2023 and went on trial in January last year, when relations between Azerbaijan and France had deteriorated to new lows over Paris's support for Armenia, Baku's longtime rival.
The court found him guilty of spying against Azerbaijan and sentenced him to 10 years, an AFP reporter in the courtroom said.
Prosecutors said he cooperated with employees of France's security services allegedly operating from the French embassy in Baku -- accusations rejected by both Ryan and Paris.
They said he gathered information about Azerbaijan's relations with Turkey, Iran and Pakistan, as well as about companies linked to Russia and China.
Ryan was tried alongside Azerbaijani citizen Azad Mamedli, who was convicted of high treason and sentenced to 12 years behind bars.
Authorities said Ryan recruited Mamedli and arranged for him to meet French intelligence agents, who allegedly tasked him with recruiting Azerbaijanis and Russians at a Moscow university where he studied.
In his final statement to the court, Ryan denied spying and said he had acted unknowingly.
"I consider myself guilty only in that I should not have established contacts with some embassy employees, or that I should have shared information about them with the appropriate authorities," Ryan told the court.
"I did not spy. I am not a spy, and during the court case I tried to prove this."

'Misunderstandings resolved'

Ryan is the CEO of the Azerbaijani company Merkorama, which has operated in Baku since October 2020, importing food products and raw materials.
The firm also advised foreign companies on exports and establishing businesses in Azerbaijan.
Before his arrest, Ryan drew attention after publishing an open letter to the French president urging Paris to stop what he called its denigration of Azerbaijan and defending Baku's position in the conflict with Armenia.
Ryan also holds British citizenship, according to his lawyer.
Paris has rejected the accusations against him and called for Ryan's immediate release, insisting he is not linked to French intelligence and arguing he has been caught in the crossfire of diplomatic tensions.
Ryan's father told AFP in January that "no incriminating evidence has been presented" against his son.
The French foreign ministry "assures us that state services are fully mobilised to secure his release."
"As for us, his parents, we are waiting. Our contacts at the crisis centre are very attentive and inspire confidence. We are tired but optimistic," he added.
Relations between France and Azerbaijan have shown signs of improvement since last autumn, months after Baku accused Paris of backing Armenia during the protracted conflict between the Caucasus neighbours.
Paris meanwhile alleged Azerbaijan was stirring unrest in France's overseas territories and dependencies.
Earlier this month, French President Emmanuel Macron and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev spoke by phone and discussed revitalising bilateral relations and prospects for cooperation, Aliyev's office said in a readout.
A French diplomatic source told AFP last month: "For a little over a year now, we have resumed more active contacts (with Baku) in order to put the relationship back on a better track regarding the various disagreements we had -- and still have."
"We want to carry forward a process of normalisation with Azerbaijan," the source said, adding: "Among the disagreements between our two countries is the fate of Martin Ryan."
In October, Aliyev said that "past misunderstandings between the two countries have been resolved" after meeting Macron in Copenhagen.
eg-im/jc/ach 

US

War in the Middle East: latest developments

  • The blasts were heard in central Tehran as air defence systems were activated, the journalist said.
  • Here are the latest events in the Middle East war: - Blasts in Tehran - Explosions hit the Iranian capital on Monday, an AFP journalist reported, hours after Israel said it conducted large-scale overnight strikes. 
  • The blasts were heard in central Tehran as air defence systems were activated, the journalist said.
Here are the latest events in the Middle East war:

Blasts in Tehran

Explosions hit the Iranian capital on Monday, an AFP journalist reported, hours after Israel said it conducted large-scale overnight strikes. 
The blasts were heard in central Tehran as air defence systems were activated, the journalist said. It was not immediately clear what was targeted. 

'Limited' operations

The Israeli military said on Monday it had begun what it described as "limited ground operations" against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
"In recent days, IDF troops from the 91st division have begun limited and targeted ground operations against key Hezbollah strongholds in southern Lebanon, aimed at enhancing the forward defence area," the military said in a statement.

Dubai resumes flights

Authorities said flights were gradually resuming at Dubai airport Monday after a "drone-related incident" sparked a fuel tank fire nearby.
Following the incident, flights had been suspended at the airport, which is usually the world's busiest for international travel but has seen major disruptions since the war erupted on February 28.
The Emirati defence ministry later said its air defence systems were intercepting a wave of Iranian drones and missiles, without specifying where in the Gulf nation.

EU weighs naval mission

EU foreign ministers will Monday discuss extending the bloc's Red Sea naval mission to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, said the bloc's top diplomat Kaja Kallas.
US President Donald Trump is pressuring world powers to help reopen the vital oil transport conduit, which has effectively been shut by Iran.

Oil rises further

Oil prices rose further, with Brent North Sea Crude up three percent to $106.50 per barrel in Monday trading.

UAE oil zone attacked

A drone attack on oil infrastructure on the Fujairah oil industry zone on the UAE's east coast sparked a large fire, authorities said.

Drones over Saudi

Saudi Arabia has intercepted 61 drones in the east of the country since midnight, according to a tally of defence ministry figures posted Monday on X.

Missile strikes car in Abu Dhabi

A Palestinian civilian was killed on the outskirts of the Emirati capital Abu Dhabi when a missile hit their car, authorities said.

Iran to play World Cup

The Iranian men's football team is still planning to play in the upcoming World Cup in North America, an Asian football official said, despite Trump warning their "life and safety" could be at risk.
"As far as we know, Iran is playing," Windsor Paul John, the Asian Football Confederation's general secretary, told a press conference.

Iran condemns 'ecocide'

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Israeli strikes on Tehran fuel depots constituted "ecocide" due to the long-term risks to residents' health.

Trump 'talking' to Iran

Trump said the United States was in discussions with Iran but that Tehran was not ready for a deal to end the war, now in its third week.
"But I don't think they're ready. But they are getting pretty close," Trump said. Iran's foreign minister had denied earlier that any talks with the United States were taking place.

NATO, China pressured on Hormuz

Trump said NATO faces a "very bad" future if US allies fail to help open the Strait of Hormuz.
"It's only appropriate that people who are the beneficiaries of the Strait will help to make sure that nothing bad happens there," Trump said, adding that an upcoming summit in Beijing with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping could be delayed as he presses for China's help to open the strait. 
Japan said it was not considering launching maritime security operations and Australia ruled out sending a navy ship to the Strait of Hormuz following Trump's comments.
burs-jhb/ach 

US

Iranian protesters fled 'hell' at home, watch war from exile

BY FULYA OZERKAN

  • After the crackdown in January, Sheikhi fled to the autonomous Kurdistan region in Iraq, fearing arrest and torture back home, where the moustached, bespectacled man had been no stranger to anti-government protests.
  • Iranian activist Farhad Sheikhi fights back tears as he recalls the crack of gunfire and his fellow protesters falling under a hail of bullets.
  • After the crackdown in January, Sheikhi fled to the autonomous Kurdistan region in Iraq, fearing arrest and torture back home, where the moustached, bespectacled man had been no stranger to anti-government protests.
Iranian activist Farhad Sheikhi fights back tears as he recalls the crack of gunfire and his fellow protesters falling under a hail of bullets. Now, having fled to Iraq, he watches from afar as American and Israeli strikes pound his country.
"I literally saw hell," said the 34-year-old Iranian Kurd in Sulaimaniyah, Iraqi Kurdistan's second city, as he showed AFP photos he took during recent anti-government protests of bodies lying on the bloodied ground.
But his biggest worry today is for the safety of his family back home.
With the internet under a blackout in Iran, Sheikhi said he relies on a friend who only occasionally manages to get online.
"He calls my father and tells me how they are. That is the only way I get news of them," he said.
Returning to Iran is no longer an option, according to Sheikhi, whose only remaining dream is to travel to Germany to finish his studies in law.
As the war enters its third week, Sheikhi said people are now more cautious and struggling with worsening living conditions.
"They are also still mourning the heavy price they have already paid" during the recent protests, he said, referring to the government crackdown that rights groups say killed thousands. 
He said he can't lose hope that "one day a social revolution will allow me to go back, but for now the risk is too great".
After the crackdown in January, Sheikhi fled to the autonomous Kurdistan region in Iraq, fearing arrest and torture back home, where the moustached, bespectacled man had been no stranger to anti-government protests.
In 2022, he joined the vast crowds that poured onto the streets to denounce the death in detention of young Mahsa Amini after she was arrested for wearing her hijab improperly.
Back then, he was jailed three times and subjected to torture that left him with hearing loss. Even so, he once again joined the anti-government protests in December and January.
"The crackdown on the people, the slaughter, it was massive. I saw it myself," he said.

'If I die'

Aresto Pasbar was also taking part in the 2022 protests when shotgun pellets peppered his body, leaving him blind in his left eye.
"I have undergone five surgeries," Pasbar, 38, told AFP in Sulaimaniyah.
Fearing for his life, he fled Iran for Turkey. There, he was caught at sea while attempting to reach Europe illegally by boat, and a Munich-based human rights organisation helped him obtain asylum in Germany in 2023.
But Pasbar has followed events in Iran closely, his heart aching as he watched the recent crackdown on protests until he couldn't bear it any longer.
When the war broke out, he left Germany to join the ranks of Iranian Kurdish rebels in Iraqi Kurdistan who have increasingly been the target of cross-border strikes from Iran since the start of the conflict.
"In my heart, I couldn't remain in that comfort and simply watch my people be oppressed," he said in a steady, determined voice.
Now, he wears the coarse grey traditional Kurdish fatigues, fully aware, he said, that he may never see his wife and two daughters again.
Before he left, he recounted telling his family: "Even if I die, please stand for your rights. Stand for who you are". 

'Revenge'

In 2005, when Amina Kadri's husband, Ikbal, fled Iran to escape political persecution, his family hoped Iraqi Kurdistan would be a safe haven.
But 15 years later, Ikbal -- then 57 and a member of an exiled Iranian Kurdish armed group -- was killed near the Iraqi-Iranian border.
The assailants shot him, dumped his body in a river and escaped toward Iran on a motorcycle, Kadri quoted witnesses to the killing as saying. She accused Iran of being behind it.
Kadri's ordeal did not stop there -- 53 days later, her eldest son, who had remained in Iran, was executed at age 30 for murder. Kadri claims it was a set-up.
"I no longer care about what happens to me," Kadri said over the phone from a border town that Kurdistan's security forces barred AFP from entering, citing security reasons.
"My life is no more valuable than my son's or my husband's," she added.
Today, the 61-year-old homemaker only wishes to see the Islamic republic fall, so she can have "revenge for the blood of all those who have been executed".
fo/rh/smw/lga

politics

Myanmar's post-coup parliament sits packed with junta allies

  • AFP journalists in the capital Naypyidaw saw MPs in the People's Assembly begin proceedings Monday morning, electing USDP leader Khin Yi as house speaker.
  • Myanmar's parliament convened on Monday for the first time since a 2021 military coup, AFP journalists saw, packed with pro-junta lawmakers elected in a poll choreographed by the top brass.
  • AFP journalists in the capital Naypyidaw saw MPs in the People's Assembly begin proceedings Monday morning, electing USDP leader Khin Yi as house speaker.
Myanmar's parliament convened on Monday for the first time since a 2021 military coup, AFP journalists saw, packed with pro-junta lawmakers elected in a poll choreographed by the top brass.
The majority of MPs hail from the pro-military Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), while most of the remainder belong to the armed forces, who are entitled to a quarter of seats under the constitution.
AFP journalists in the capital Naypyidaw saw MPs in the People's Assembly begin proceedings Monday morning, electing USDP leader Khin Yi as house speaker.
The last election in 2020 returned a resounding victory for Aung San Suu Kyi, but the junta claimed massive voter fraud and swept aside the results -- detaining the Nobel Peace Prize laureate, disbanding her party and triggering civil war.
After five years of military rule, the junta stage-managed a phased re-run of the vote in December and January, outlawing criticism of the poll and stacking the ballot with its civilian allies, according to democracy watchdogs.
As MPs from the junta-backed election took their seats in the chamber, some exiled parliamentarians from the 2020 vote held a parallel session, asserting that their self-declared "National Unity Government" (NUG) remains the country's rightful leadership.
"We have been witnessing an attempt to deceive the public with fraudulent representation through these fake elections," said NUG acting president Duwa Lashi La in an online meeting of the shadow government.
"The coup commission is seeking international legitimacy through any available means," he added. "We must not treat this as a normal political development."
The election did not take place in huge tracts of the country controlled by rebels, and analysts describe the new cohort of MPs as a proxy of the military, intended to give its rule a veneer of legitimacy.
Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing is tipped by some to be plotting to swap his military fatigues for the civilian sash of president in order to lead the new government when it takes power next month.
The president will be picked by a vote across both houses of parliament, dominated by MPs who either support the military or are currently serving in its ranks.
"It is impossible to guess who it will be," Khin Yi told AFP after Monday's brief sitting concluded.
Military MPs wearing light-green service uniforms clamoured to collect their parliamentary passes on Monday morning, but declined interview requests from the press.
Min Aung Hlaing was not seen by AFP on the parliamentary estate.

'Military in civilian clothing'

Some Myanmar experts believe Min Aung Hlaing may remain military chief to puppeteer the government behind the scenes.
"Who knows what role he will play, but he clearly will be in charge and the military will be clearly in charge," the UN's outgoing Myanmar rights expert, Tom Andrews, told AFP last week.
"This will be a military junta in civilian clothing," he said.
The military has ruled Myanmar for most of its post-independence history, before a decade-long democratic thaw saw civilian leader Suu Kyi take the reins.
Analysts say the junta staged its 2021 coup as it grew anxious about its waning influence compared to her hugely popular movement.
But the putsch sparked civil war as pro-democracy activists took up arms alongside ethnic minority factions which have long resisted central rule.
The USDP -- which won more than 80 percent of seats contested in the election -- was founded by an ex-general and is staffed by many retired high-ranking officers.
Serving armed forces members take several key cabinet positions and a quarter of parliament seats under the terms of a military-drafted constitution which gives them an entrenched position in the political establishment.
bur-jts/sco/fox