telecoms

Middle East fighting overshadows world telecom show

DRCongo

US slaps sanctions on Rwanda military over DR Congo 'violation'

  • The United States said it was imposing sanctions against the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) and four officers including the army chief of staff, Vincent Nyakarundi, saying they were critical to M23 gains.
  • The United States said Monday it was imposing sanctions on Rwanda's military, taking action against a longtime partner which it accused of violating a peace agreement in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
  • The United States said it was imposing sanctions against the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) and four officers including the army chief of staff, Vincent Nyakarundi, saying they were critical to M23 gains.
The United States said Monday it was imposing sanctions on Rwanda's military, taking action against a longtime partner which it accused of violating a peace agreement in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The mineral-rich east of DRC has seen decades of conflict, but violence dramatically flared last year when the Rwandan-backed M23 group made huge gains, capturing strategic mines and towns and displacing thousands. 
President Donald Trump in December brought together the leaders of Rwanda and the DRC to sign a peace deal, predicting a "great miracle". 
But just days afterwards, the State Department noted, the M23 captured the key Congolese city of Uvira.
The United States said it was imposing sanctions against the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) and four officers including the army chief of staff, Vincent Nyakarundi, saying they were critical to M23 gains.
"M23, a US- and UN-sanctioned entity, is responsible for horrific human rights abuses, including summary executions and violence against civilians, including women and children," State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said.
"The continued backing from the RDF and its senior leadership has enabled M23 to capture DRC sovereign territory and continue these grave abuses," he said in a statement.
"As President Trump has made clear, the United States is prepared to use all available tools to ensure the DRC and Rwanda deliver on the promises of this historic agreement."
Trump had earlier sounded positive about working with Rwandan President Paul Kagame, a veteran leader who has also been willing to take in migrants deported from the United States, a top political goal for Trump.
The December peace deal had been hailed by Trump as a way to secure critical minerals from the DRC.
The sanctions will block any assets that the RDF or the four officers hold in the United States and criminalise any financial transactions with them.
In a separate statement, Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent said the US expected "the immediate withdrawal of Rwanda Defence Force troops, weapons, and equipment".
It noted that the RDF had "provided direct operational support to M23 and its affiliates", including advanced weaponry such as GPS jamming systems, air defence equipment and drones.
"Thousands of RDF troops are deployed across eastern DRC, where they actively engage in combat operations and facilitate M23's control of territory," the statement added.

'Misrepresent reality'

Rwanda said the US sanctions were "unjustly targeting only one party", and insisted in a statement late Monday that such a move "misrepresent the reality and distort the facts of the conflict".
It said that "consistent and indiscriminate drone attacks and ground offensives constitute clear violations of ceasefire agreements by the DRC".
Rwanda has insisted it is only involved in the eastern DRC to help protect against an enemy militia formed from the remnants of those who committed the 1994 Rwandan genocide of the Tutsis, denying direct military involvement despite considerable evidence from United Nations observers and others.
In turn, it has demanded that the Kinshasa government clamp down on Hutu militants from the genocide, who targeted ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus.
Outmatched on the ground by the better-equipped M23 and Rwandan troops, Kinshasa's forces have relied in part on US pressure on Kigali to stabilise the front line, regional specialists and security sources told AFP.
sct-rbu/sbk

US

US Congress to debate Trump's war powers

BY ROBIN LEGRAND

  • "The Constitution requires a vote, and your Representative needs to be on record as opposing or supporting this war," Massie wrote on X. A vote in the Senate on Kaine's bill is expected this week, as is a possible vote in the House on the other bill to curb Trump.
  • The US Congress is scheduled to vote this week on motions seeking to curb President Donald Trump as he wages war against Iran but the Republican majority will probably shield him.
  • "The Constitution requires a vote, and your Representative needs to be on record as opposing or supporting this war," Massie wrote on X. A vote in the Senate on Kaine's bill is expected this week, as is a possible vote in the House on the other bill to curb Trump.
The US Congress is scheduled to vote this week on motions seeking to curb President Donald Trump as he wages war against Iran but the Republican majority will probably shield him.
Trump has sought to expand executive power dramatically since returning to the White House in 2025, overshadowing the legislature. So some lawmakers now want to reassert the role of Congress, which under the US constitution is the only body that can declare war.
"Trump has launched an unnecessary, idiotic, and illegal war against Iran," Senator Tim Kaine wrote on X shortly after the United States and Israel began it overnight Friday into Saturday.
In late January, as a huge US military buildup in the Middle East rumbled on, Kaine introduced a bill designed to force Trump to obtain authorization from Congress to engage in any military conflict with Iran. On Saturday he urged Congress to return immediately from recess to vote on his resolution.
In an opinion piece published Sunday in The Wall Street Journal, Kaine said that as a member of key legislative committees with access to classified information, "I can state plainly that there was no imminent threat from Iran to America sufficient to warrant committing our sons and daughters to another war in the Middle East."

Is the war legal?

This issue of whether there was an imminent threat from Iran is at the heart of the debate over the war that Trump has now begun with Israel.
Although only Congress can declare war, a law dating back to 1973 allows the president to launch a limited military intervention in response to an emergency situation created by an attack on the United States.
At a news conference Monday, Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth used the word "war" to describe the conflict with Iran, not just a limited military intervention.
In a video broadcast in the middle of the night from Friday into Saturday to announce the start of major combat operations, Trump asserted that Iran posed an "imminent" threat to the United States.
Daniel Shapiro, an analyst with the Atlantic Council, a think tank in Washington, said Trump failed to explain "the urgency or the imminent threat that required a war now."
"Typically, before launching such major operations, presidents and their senior advisers have explained to the American people the reason major military operations are required, and the strategic objective they are intended to achieve," Shapiro wrote.
"They also customarily brief Congress, so the people’s representatives can express their view," Shapiro wrote.
But Trump did not do any of this, he said, except for a briefing with eight congressional leaders a few days before the bombs started falling on Iran.

Sixty days

The White House said Sunday that right before the attack started it gave these same eight leaders formal notice of hostilities.
The 1973 War Powers Act states that Trump must now obtain permission from Congress if he wants to keep fighting beyond a 60-day time limit.
Republican congressman Thomas Massie, one of few in Trump's camp that speaks out regularly to challenge him, condemned the Iran war on Saturday.
This conservative lawmaker said he would present a bill in the House of Representatives along with Democratic colleague Ro Khanna to force a vote by Congress on the war with Iran.
"The Constitution requires a vote, and your Representative needs to be on record as opposing or supporting this war," Massie wrote on X.
A vote in the Senate on Kaine's bill is expected this week, as is a possible vote in the House on the other bill to curb Trump.
But most Republicans, who are against tying Trump's hands, are expected to vote against these bills.
And even if they pass, they would probably not survive a veto by Trump because overriding him requires a two-thirds majority in both chambers.
rle/ev/dw/msp

US

Qatar downs Iran jets as Tehran targets oil and gas in spiralling Gulf crisis

BY CALLUM PATON WITH HAITHAM EL-TABEI IN RIYADH

  • Saudi Arabia would target "Iranian oil facilities if Iran mounts a concerted attack on Aramco", the source added.
  • Qatar downed two Iranian bombers and halted LNG production on Monday, as Tehran widened its attacks to hit oil facilities in Saudi Arabia and the UAE in a sharply escalating Gulf crisis that has sent prices soaring.
  • Saudi Arabia would target "Iranian oil facilities if Iran mounts a concerted attack on Aramco", the source added.
Qatar downed two Iranian bombers and halted LNG production on Monday, as Tehran widened its attacks to hit oil facilities in Saudi Arabia and the UAE in a sharply escalating Gulf crisis that has sent prices soaring.
Qatar's air force shot down two Sukhoi Su-24 bombers, the defence ministry said -- the first time a Gulf country has hit Iranian planes, after Tehran began region-wide attacks in retaliation for US and Israeli strikes that have devastated its leadership.
Iran's retaliatory attacks have hit ports, airports, residential buildings and hotels along with military sites across the wealthy region of oil giants and staunch US allies.
Six people have been killed and dozens injured since the attacks began.
But as the attacks widened to energy facilities, QatarEnergy, one of the world's biggest liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporters, suspended production due to drone strikes on two of its sites.
European natural gas prices leapt more than 50 percent, while oil surged nearly nine percent on fears of disruption to supplies.
"Qatar Emiri Air Force successfully shot down two (Su-24) aircraft coming from the Islamic Republic of Iran," the defence ministry said, without mentioning the jets' crews.
The Gulf militaries have so far focused on intercepting the hundreds of missiles and drones launched by Iran after US-Israeli strikes killed its supreme leader.

'Full alert'

Meanwhile, a source close to the Saudi government warned that a "concerted" Iranian attack on oil facilities could trigger a military response.
The warning followed a drone strike at Saudi Aramco's Ras Tanura refinery -- one of the region's biggest -- which forced it to halt some operations.
"It depends if this is seen as a direct attack on Aramco by the Iranian leadership or a rogue drone," the source told AFP, referring to the state oil giant.
Saudi Arabia would target "Iranian oil facilities if Iran mounts a concerted attack on Aramco", the source added.
Another source told AFP that the Saudi army had raised its readiness level to "full alert".
In Abu Dhabi, a drone struck a fuel tank terminal, causing a fire though operations were not impacted. 
"Abu Dhabi authorities have responded today to a fire resulting from the targeting of a Musaffah fuel tank terminal by a drone. The situation was promptly contained. No injuries were reported and there was no impact on operations," the Abu Dhabi Media Office said in a statement.
Iran's unprecedented bombardment has rattled a region long seen as an oasis of stability in the turbulent Middle East.
Blasts echoed across Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha and Manama on Monday. Security analyst Anna Jacobs called the war a "nightmare scenario" for the Gulf.

Friendly fire

"These sorts of attacks just completely obliterate the image of these countries as a safe haven," she told AFP.
Earlier on Monday, smoke poured out of Kuwait City's US embassy, an AFP correspondent saw. The embassy did not say it had been hit, but warned people to stay away.
Three F-15E Strike Eagles were mistakenly shot down by Kuwaiti air defences in a friendly-fire incident late on Sunday, the US Central Command said. 
The crews parachuted to safety.
Later Kuwait's military said navy sergeant Walid Majid Sulaiman was killed on Monday while on duty without elaborating further on the circumstances of his death.
Shrapnel fell at Mina Al Ahmadi refinery, one of Kuwait's biggest, injuring two workers, but did not disrupt production, the Kuwait National Petroleum Company said.
In northern Kuwait, smoke billowed over a power station, three witnesses told AFP. An energy ministry spokeswoman said a fuel container was hit by shrapnel after a drone interception.
Kuwait was hard-hit on Monday with 19 people injured, the health ministry said. The small, oil-rich country has a large US military presence.
Bahrain suffered its first death when debris from an intercepted missile sparked a fire on a ship in the port city of Salman, killing one Asian worker and seriously injuring two others, the interior ministry said.
Italy said it was helping evacuate hundreds of citizens from the majority-expat United Arab Emirates, which halted flights on Saturday. 
However, limited flights resumed from Dubai, the world's busiest airport for international passengers, and Abu Dhabi on Monday. Thousands of tourists remain stranded in the country.
burs/th/aya/csp/dcp

US

Trump warns of longer Iran war

BY DANNY KEMP AND W.G. DUNLOP

  • Hegseth also signaled Monday that deploying troops inside Iran had not been ruled out. 
  • President Donald Trump signaled Monday that US strikes on Iran could go much longer than originally predicted, as his administration sought to counter criticism about conflicting messages on the war's goals.
  • Hegseth also signaled Monday that deploying troops inside Iran had not been ruled out. 
President Donald Trump signaled Monday that US strikes on Iran could go much longer than originally predicted, as his administration sought to counter criticism about conflicting messages on the war's goals.
In his first public comments since launching the military operation, the president who long campaigned for "no new wars" laid out what he said were four key objectives for hitting Iran.
Trump also said that the timeframe he initially gave could drag out, raising fears among right-wing supporters in particular of a return the Middle Eastern entanglements he once opposed.
"From the beginning we projected four to five weeks, but we have capability to go far longer than that," Trump said at the start of a medal presentation event at the White House.
Trump however said that the United States was "substantially ahead of our time projections", citing the killing of Iran's top leadership in the initial wave of strikes on Saturday.
The US president for the first time clearly laid out four explicit goals for Operation Epic Fury, saying it was the "last, best chance" to hit Washington's decades-long arch-foe.
"First, we're destroying Iran's missile capabilities... Second, we're annihilating their navy... Third, we're ensuring that the world's number-one sponsor of terror can never obtain a nuclear weapon.
"Finally we are ensuring the Iranian regime can't continue to arm, fund and direct terrorist armies outside of their borders."

 'Big wave'

Trump had previously made different and sometimes contradictory comments on the conflict in a series of telephone interviews since the strikes began on Saturday.
He refused to rule out sending US troops into Iran in an interview with the New York Post on Monday. That could risk far higher casualties than the four service members killed so far.
"I don't have the yips with respect to boots on the ground," Trump said, using a golf term for anxiety. "Every president says, 'There will be no boots on the ground.' I don't say it."
Trump also spoke to CNN on Monday, flagging what he said would be an escalation in the assault on Iran. "The big wave hasn't even happened," he said. "The big one is coming soon."
The 79-year-old Republican's avoidance of any major national address or press conference at the start of the US strikes is a major break from other presidents.
In public, Trump had been completely silent until Monday's brief remarks at the Medal of Honor ceremony.
His only previous comments came in a video posted on his Truth Social network on Saturday announcing the strikes and a follow-up video on Sunday.
The rest of his administration was also silent, until a press conference by Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth and top US military officer Dan Caine on Monday morning.

 'This is not endless'

Trump's virtual silence on the justifications and goals had sparked criticism from members of his Make America Great Again movement, who bought into his pledges of an end to foreign wars.
But the White House has been trying to straighten out its messaging over the past 24 hours.
Replying to one MAGA critic on social media, Trump's Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday that Trump had laid out "clear objectives."
US and Israeli forces have so far struck hundreds of targets across Iran, including the Islamic republic's missiles, navy and command-and-control sites.
Hegseth also signaled Monday that deploying troops inside Iran had not been ruled out. 
Asked if there were already boots on the ground, Hegseth told the news conference: "No, but we're not going to go into the exercise of what we will or will not do."
But he insisted it would not drag on like past long-running US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. "This is not Iraq. This is not endless," said Hegseth, an Iraq veteran.
As for how long the war will last, Hegseth said: "Four weeks, two weeks, six weeks, it could move up. It could move back."
Some analysts have wondered if the United States, even with the world's most powerful military, has enough ammunition to carry out such a long war against a determined foe.
dk-wd-sct/msp

US

Middle East in deepening crisis as Iran war spreads

BY LAYAL ABOU RAHAL WITH AFP BUREAUS IN TEHRAN, DUBAI AND JERUSALEM

  • As Lebanon, which had vowed to disarm Hezbollah, was dragged into the war, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam announced "the immediate ban of all Hezbollah security and military activities", sparking condemnation from the group.
  • The war launched by the United States and Israel against Iran spread across the Middle East on Monday, threatening to plunge the global economy into chaos, with Lebanon and Gulf energy exporters dragged into the conflict.
  • As Lebanon, which had vowed to disarm Hezbollah, was dragged into the war, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam announced "the immediate ban of all Hezbollah security and military activities", sparking condemnation from the group.
The war launched by the United States and Israel against Iran spread across the Middle East on Monday, threatening to plunge the global economy into chaos, with Lebanon and Gulf energy exporters dragged into the conflict.
The Israeli military carried out new strikes on Tehran, and AFP reporters in the Iranian capital heard explosions ring out on the third day of the US-Israeli joint assault, while blasts also rocked Lebanon's capital Beirut.
Iran accused the US and Israel for the first time since the strikes began of having attacked its nuclear facility at Natanz, one of the main targets of the previous conflict between the three countries last June.
Gulf monarchies threatened to retaliate as Saudi and Emirati oil facilities were hit, Qatar halted LNG production, tankers were attacked off Oman, maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz was halted and energy prices soared -- with Europe's benchmark gas price shooting more than 50 percent higher.
"We haven't even started hitting them hard. The big wave hasn't even happened," warned President Donald Trump who, along with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, ordered the US-Israeli assault on Iran that killed supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday and embroiled the region in conflict. 
"The big one is coming soon," he added, without further explanation. 
In a separate interview with the New York Post, Trump refused to rule out deploying US ground troops to Iran "if they were necessary". 
Four US military members have been announced killed during the conflict, and three fighter jets have been downed by friendly fire from Kuwaiti air defences. 
Iranian agencies have reported hundreds of casualties, but AFP reporters have not been able to independently assess the numbers. 
Qatar said it had shot down two Iranian Su-24 ground attack jets, after it announced it had been obliged to halt LNG production.
Ali Larijani, the powerful head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, voiced defiance, vowing that Iran would defend itself "regardless of the costs and will make the enemies sorry for their miscalculation".

'Some excitement'

Tehran had the air of a ghost town on Monday, and many residents seemed to have left. Some, suitcases and luggage in hand, were preparing to do the same, AFP journalists saw.
Most of the vehicles on the otherwise largely deserted roads were food delivery vehicles. Customers rushed to buy fruit and bread from a few shops still open in the Tajrish bazaar. 
Near the headquarters of state television, which was targeted by air strikes on Sunday evening, the smell of burning was still noticeable more than 12 hours later.
Many residents were torn between fear of the bombings and hope that the government's days might now be numbered.
"Every time we hear the noises, we get scared for just a second. But we experience some joy and excitement every time we hear a hit," a 45-year-old lawyer said, also in a voice message to Europe.

Cyprus base hit

An Iranian drone hit the runway of a UK air force base in Akrotiri in Cyprus, whose government announced that the major airport in its town of Paphos and the area around the British facility would be evacuated.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said British military bases in Cyprus would not be allowed to be used by US forces in their war with Iran. On Sunday, he had announced that he had agreed to a US request to use British military bases for a "specific and limited defensive purpose".
But on Monday he told parliament that this would not include the Cypriot bases. 
A Cypriot government spokesman said two more drones targeting the base were "dealt with in a timely manner", and Greece announced it was deploying frigates and jets to help protect Cyprus, a fellow EU member. 
Israel and the US have been striking targets across Iran since Saturday. 
The Islamic republic's atomic energy chief, Mohammad Eslami, said in a letter to the UN's nuclear watchdog that the two had "targeted the Natanz nuclear site on Sunday afternoon in two brutal attacks".
It was the first time since the strikes began that Iran had said a nuclear site was attacked, after its atomic programme came under heavy assault during the 12-day war with Israel in June, which the US briefly joined.
The war that began with Khamenei's killing has engulfed the region, with explosions ringing out in Dubai, Bahrain, Iraq and elsewhere.
Flights through the region's hubs have been cancelled, disrupting international travel for many thousands of people, but Dubai announced that its airports would partially reopen later Monday. 
In Lebanon, the strikes have triggered a new round of violence between Israel and Hezbollah, with the Iran-backed group firing rockets and its enemy responding with bombing.
"We will end this campaign with not just Iran being struck but with Hezbollah suffering a devastating blow," Israel's army chief Eyal Zamir said.
As Lebanon, which had vowed to disarm Hezbollah, was dragged into the war, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam announced "the immediate ban of all Hezbollah security and military activities", sparking condemnation from the group.
Explosions rocked Beirut, while in southern Lebanon residents fled, according to AFP journalists, after the Israeli military announced it was striking several parts of the country.
In the southern city of Sidon, cars of families fled on packed roads with mattresses tied to their roofs. 

Ships attacked

The Israeli military said it had struck a senior Hezbollah operative in Beirut, while Lebanese authorities said Israeli strikes killed at least 31 people.
In the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway that is key to global oil transit, three ships were attacked on Sunday after Iran had previously warned vessels against crossing.
Trump and Netanyahu have urged Iranians to overthrow the government in Tehran, the sworn foe of Israel and the United States since the 1979 Islamic revolution toppled the pro-Western shah.
burs/dc/smw

US

UK PM says US will not use British bases in Cyprus

BY MARTIN POLLARD WITH ETIENNE TORBEY IN AKROTIRI

  • On Sunday Starmer announced that he had agreed to a US request to use British military bases for a "specific and limited defensive purpose". 
  • UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Monday British military bases in Cyprus will not be used by the US in its ongoing war with Iran.
  • On Sunday Starmer announced that he had agreed to a US request to use British military bases for a "specific and limited defensive purpose". 
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Monday British military bases in Cyprus will not be used by the US in its ongoing war with Iran.
Starmer's comments came despite criticism from US President Donald Trump over the UK leader's initial refusal to let Washington use British military bases in the conflict.
On Sunday Starmer announced that he had agreed to a US request to use British military bases for a "specific and limited defensive purpose". 
But in comments to parliament on Monday he said this will not include bases on the Mediterranean island.
"The bases in Cyprus are not being used and not going to be used by the US... because they're not suitable," he said.
An Iranian drone hit the runway of the UK's Akrotiri air force base which lies on the southern tip of the island on Sunday.  
Starmer stressed to MPs that this was "not in response to any decision that we have taken" but was launched before the UK's announcement that it would allow the US to use its bases.
The area around the base was evacuated, the Cypriot interior ministry said.
Paphos airport in western Cyprus was also evacuated but later got the all clear and was operating as normal, an airport official said.
More than 60 flights had been cancelled at Larnaca and Paphos airports, the official added. Larnaca, on the southeastern coast, was also now operating as usual.
The evacuations came after two drones headed towards the Akrotiri base were also intercepted earlier Monday.
"As a precautionary measure we are moving family members who live at RAF Akrotiri to alternative accommodation nearby on the island of Cyprus," the UK Ministry of Defence told AFP, although the base continued to operate as normal.
The damage had been "minimal" and there were "no casualties", a spokesperson added.

Runway hit

Greece, meanwhile, said it was sending two frigates and two F-16 fighter jets to Cyprus.
Athens would assist Cyprus in "countering threats and illegal actions on its territory", its defence ministry said. 
Defence Minister Nikos Dendias also said he would travel to Cyprus on Tuesday.
Britain's foreign minister Yvette Cooper said the strike on the Royal Air Force base at Akrotiri, a British overseas territory near the coastal city of Limassol, hit the "airport runway".
Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides said the incident just after midnight (2200 GMT) involved "a Shahed unmanned aerial vehicle".

UK 'not at war'

Cooper said the government was "working on every possible option" to help its nationals in the region return home if needed.
"There's an estimated 300,000 British citizens in Gulf countries that have now been targeted by Iran, including countries where now airspace is closed," she told Sky News.
More than 100,000 UK nationals had so far registered their presence in the region, she said.
UK Middle East minister Hamish Falconer insisted the nation was "not at war".
"Let me be really clear: the UK took a deliberate decision not to be part of the first wave of strikes conducted by the United States and Israeli governments.
"But in the face of reckless attacks from Iran... we took the decision, as the Prime Minister announced last night, to support the US's request to use our bases in order to conduct defensive actions," he added.

Spectre of Iraq

Trump said he had been "very disappointed" in Starmer's initial position.
In an exclusive interview with The Daily Telegraph Trump described the prime minister's later decision to allow the use of bases on specific grounds as "useful" but said it "took far too much time".
Any potential military action in the Middle East is politically sensitive in the UK following former prime minister Tony Blair's disastrous support for the US-led invasion of Iraq.
Evie Aspinall, director of the British Foreign Policy Group think tank, said that the UK would not want to be "seen as a key party in this conflict".
"Hence allowing defensive not offensive strikes, although the difference between the two is, in practice, often very minimal," she said.
burs-har-mp/rmb

telecoms

Middle East fighting overshadows world telecom show

BY MONA GUICHARD

  • Catalonia's regional president Salvador Illa said there was "very limited disruption" to the trade show.
  • Exhibitors and organisers were gamely showing off new AI-focused tech at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) trade fair in Barcelona Monday, although some were kept away by travel disruptions caused by the US-Israel-Iran war. 
  • Catalonia's regional president Salvador Illa said there was "very limited disruption" to the trade show.
Exhibitors and organisers were gamely showing off new AI-focused tech at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) trade fair in Barcelona Monday, although some were kept away by travel disruptions caused by the US-Israel-Iran war. 
The annual gathering, expected to draw around 109,000 visitors, went ahead without many Israeli companies as flights were cancelled from the nation's airports.
"Certainly, the travel restrictions are having an impact," said Lara Dewar, marketing chief at the GSMA telecoms industry association, which organises the MWC.
Around 30 Israeli participants had been slated to exhibit in the Catalan city.
Some such as AI security firm DeepKeep were unable to attend, AFP journalists saw on signs posted at the absent companies' stands.
Nine of the 25 businesses supposed to join the Israeli national pavilion were also kept away.
"Due to the current situation, our flights... were cancelled, and we were unable to reach Barcelona," Nofar Moradian-Shiber of the Israel Export Institute told AFP.
Spanish media reported that thousands of prospective MWC attendees had cancelled, as airports across the Middle East have shut down during the fighting.
Catalonia's regional president Salvador Illa said there was "very limited disruption" to the trade show.

'Decolonise technology'

Several Israeli firms declined to comment to AFP about the war's impact on their operations.
The GSMA said that no Iranian exhibitors had been expected at this year's event.
GSMA chief Vivek Badrinath referred to the fighting directly in a Monday morning panel discussion, saying: "Our thoughts are with all those affected by the conflict."
Around 30 demonstrators had earlier gathered at the entrance to the vast congress centre, shouting "Boycott Israel, boycott USA", shadowed by several police officers.
"Let's decolonise technology," one demonstrator had written on a sign.
"We were already planning to demonstrate before this weekend's actions. So what (the Israelis) have done proves that we must continue to boycott them," said Roland Mimi Ngoy, a spokesman for the activists.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez had on Sunday condemned the US and Israeli strikes on Iran at a Barcelona dinner on the sidelines of the MWC.
"You can be against a despicable regime... like the Iranian regime, and at the same time against an unjustified and dangerous military intervention," he said.

'Safe bet'

Beyond the day's dominant news story, players in the telecoms sector are looking ahead to a year with packed to-do lists, from network improvements to the growing capability of generative artificial intelligence.
"In a world filled with uncertainty, our country is a safe bet," Sanchez said after meeting Amazon representatives in Barcelona.
Governments -- especially in Europe -- are engaged in a push for technological sovereignty to insulate their tech infrastructure from geopolitical tensions.
In Europe, "we need larger companies that assume more risks, attract better talent and have deeper technological investments," said Marc Murtra, head of Spanish operator Telefonica.
Calls for more mega-mergers to be allowed in Europe have been an MWC staple for years.
Around the world, device makers are confronted with a surge in the price of memory (RAM) chips, pumped by massive demand from tech giants building up AI computing capacity.
That could put the brakes on growth in global smartphone sales, which added 1.9 percent to reach 1.26 billion devices last year.
Meanwhile, operators and space firms are together racing to offer so-called "direct-to-device" satellite connectivity, in which phones or other connected gadgets communicate directly via satellites overhead without the need for towers on the ground.
mng-rbj/tgb/sbk

US

Mideast war risks sending global economy into stagflation

BY SOPHIE LAUBIE

  • "At the global level, this would open the door to an economic scenario of stagflation," he added, referring to a situation with high inflation and weak or non-existent growth.
  • An extended conflict in the Middle East after the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran could trigger global stagflation -- a troublesome blend of high inflation and anaemic growth -- due to spiking oil and gas prices, economists warned.
  • "At the global level, this would open the door to an economic scenario of stagflation," he added, referring to a situation with high inflation and weak or non-existent growth.
An extended conflict in the Middle East after the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran could trigger global stagflation -- a troublesome blend of high inflation and anaemic growth -- due to spiking oil and gas prices, economists warned.

Will there be an oil shock ?

The conflict has nearly halted traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, through which around 20 percent of global seaborne oil passes, with several ships attacked.
Global oil prices shot higher on Monday, with the Brent crude international reference oil contract up nearly nine percent at $79.30 per barrel at 1410 GMT.
It briefly surpassed $80 per barrel earlier in the day, and was up considerably from the $61 per barrel at the start of the year.
Economist Sylvain Bersinger said the war risks "creating a third oil shock after those in 1973 and 1979 and the 2022 gas shock".
Europe's benchmark gas price shot more than 50 percent higher on Monday.
He said the price of oil could rise to $110 per barrel, but added that was no longer exceptional as oil prices had risen over $140 in 2008 and were above $100 in the 2010s.
Adam Hetts at asset manager Janus Henderson said that while oil prices would certainly rise, the increase should remain "at reasonable levels".

What impact on global trade?

The conflict could act as a shock to trade "at the worst possible moment", said economists at ING bank.
The global trading system is already under stress from US President Donald Trump's tariff offensive as well as the fragmentation of supply chains since Covid and the war in Ukraine.
Moreover the closure of the Gulf airspace is disrupting aviation between European and Asia, they noted.
For Ruben Nizard, head of political risk research at Coface, a trade credit insurance company, this crisis could also "throw another wrench into the works by driving up maritime freight costs" and pushing up inflation.
"At the global level, this would open the door to an economic scenario of stagflation," he added, referring to a situation with high inflation and weak or non-existent growth.

What impact on the global economy?

According to economists at Natixis bank, a prolonged disruption of traffic in the Strait of Hormuz "would have major implications for markets, but also for inflation dynamics and overall economic stability".
They added that "China would be particularly affected by this war."
Cyrille Poirier-Coutansais, director of the research department at the French Navy's Centre for Strategic Studies, agreed that China is particularly dependent upon oil shipped through the Strait of Hormuz.
"The question is whether there will be enough fuel to keep the world's factory running," he told AFP.
For the economist Sylvain Bersinger the impact on Europe will likely be less than the 2022 gas shock, which would help France in particular to avoid a recession.
In a sign of declining investor confidence, the interest rate on European sovereign bonds climbed on Monday.
The yield on 10-year German government bonds, the benchmark in the eurozone, stood at 2.70 percent in afternoon trading, compared with 2.64 percent on Friday.

What risks in a long war?

The intensity and duration of the conflict will be key in determining its impact.
"In a prolonged conflict, the combination of higher energy costs, disrupted logistics, and a generalised confidence shock would constitute a meaningful drag on global trade volumes at precisely the moment the world economy was still digesting the inflationary and growth consequences of the tariff shock," said economists at ING bank.
Coface's Nizard said they estimated that "an increase of roughly 15 dollars in the price of Brent over a prolonged period could shave about 0.2 percentage points off global growth and add almost half a point to inflation."
These are "not insignificant" effects in a context of "fairly fragile global economic growth", he added.
slb-im-fcz/rl/rlp

Global Edition

Energy prices soar on Iran war fallout, stocks slide

  • European natural gas prices rocketed more than 50 percent higher after Qatar's state-run energy firm said it had halted liquefied natural gas production following Iranian attacks on facilities at two of its main gas processing bases.
  • Oil and gas prices soared, stock markets slid and the dollar firmed on Monday as the widening Iran war shook financial markets across the globe.
  • European natural gas prices rocketed more than 50 percent higher after Qatar's state-run energy firm said it had halted liquefied natural gas production following Iranian attacks on facilities at two of its main gas processing bases.
Oil and gas prices soared, stock markets slid and the dollar firmed on Monday as the widening Iran war shook financial markets across the globe.
European natural gas prices rocketed more than 50 percent higher after Qatar's state-run energy firm said it had halted liquefied natural gas production following Iranian attacks on facilities at two of its main gas processing bases.
Meanwhile world crude futures surged over seven percent on fears of disruption to supplies, with the vital Strait of Hormuz -- through which around 20 percent of global seaborne oil passes -- effectively shut and several ships attacked.
Wall Street's main indices fell more than one percent at the start of trading, but trimmed their losses in morning trading.
Equities took a harder hit in Europe and Asia as investors exited trades in favour of the dollar and gold, seen as safer bets in times of economic unrest.
The greenback jumped around one percent against its major rivals, while gold added one percent to $5,298.90 an ounce.
"Investors are scuttling towards safe havens, seeking shelter as conflict widens in the Middle East," noted Susannah Streeter, chief investment strategist at Wealth Club.
"What happened over the weekend and what continues now has created added uncertainty," said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare.
However there has not been a rout on equity markets "because participants are not convinced yet the military action will fuel disarray for the global economy."

Energy shares boosted

Airline share prices took a battering as carriers were forced to cancel flights and Dubai's airport took a hit, although it later said it would resume limited flights.
Shares in British Airways owner IAG lost 5.2 percent and Air France-KLM fell nine percent.
Delta shed 2.9 percent and United fell 4.1 percent.
There were sizeable gains for share prices of energy majors and defence companies, with BAE Systems jumping 5.4 percent in London and Palantir climbing 5.4 percent in New York.
Shell rose 2.8 percent and TotalEnergies 3.5 percent.
ExxonMobil shares added 1.3 percent in New York.
"If higher oil prices persist, it raises the risk of stickier headline inflation," wrote Saxo Markets' Charu Chanana.
This could prove troublesome for US President Donald Trump, who has promised his electorate low prices, as the United States approaches mid-term elections in November.
Rising energy prices, increased shipping costs and loss of revenue for air transport could have "a harmful effect on growth", said economist Eric Dor from the IESEG School of Management in Paris.
"If it's a matter of three days, it's not serious. But if it's over a longer period, then it will have an additional recessionary effect," he told AFP.
"Today's move in the gas market suggests that the conflict in the Middle East could have broad macro implications for the global economy," said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB.
In theory, oil-importing countries have reserves, with OECD members required to maintain 90 days' worth of stocks, but prices above $100 cannot be ruled out according to analysts.
If the disruption at Hormuz continues, "no matter how much spare capacity, (it) is not going to fill that gap. That gap is just too big," said Amena Bakr, head of Middle East and OPEC+ research at analysts Kpler.
Key members of the OPEC+ oil cartel on Sunday announced a greater-than-expected increase to production quotas.

Key figures at around 1630 GMT

Brent North Sea Crude: UP 7.2 percent at $78.12 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: UP 6.2 percent at $71.17 per barrel
New York - Dow: DOWN 0.5 percent at 48,724.55 points
New York - S&P 500: DOWN 0.4 percent at 6,849.68
New York - Nasdaq Composite: DOWN 0.3 percent at 22,605.11
London - FTSE 100: DOWN 1.2 percent at 10,780.11 (close)
Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 2.2 percent at 8,394.32 (close)
Frankfurt - DAX: DOWN 2.6 percent at 24,638.00 (close)
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.4 percent at 58,057.24 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 2.1 percent at 26,059.85 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.5 percent at 4,182.59 (close)
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1683 from $1.1823 on Friday
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3371 from $1.3486
Dollar/yen: UP at 157.61 yen from 156.03 yen
Euro/pound: DOWN at 87.39 pence from 87.67 pence
burs-rl/rlp

Israel

Iran war spells danger for global airlines

BY TANGI QUEMENER

  • IATA says Middle Eastern airlines accounted for 9.5 percent of global air traffic last year.
  • Air routes closed, airports damaged and hundreds of thousands of passengers stranded: the new war in the Middle East has again highlighted the global aviation sector's vulnerability to geopolitical upheaval.
  • IATA says Middle Eastern airlines accounted for 9.5 percent of global air traffic last year.
Air routes closed, airports damaged and hundreds of thousands of passengers stranded: the new war in the Middle East has again highlighted the global aviation sector's vulnerability to geopolitical upheaval.
Much of the region's airspace has been shut after the US and Israeli attack on Iran and its retaliatory strikes in the region -- further disrupting a global air-traffic scene already complicated by Russia's war in Ukraine.
Dubai International Airport, Kuwait's main airport and a British military airbase in Cyprus were hit during Iran's response.
Iran, Iraq, Israel, Syria, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates all announced at least partial closures of their skies.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) on Monday called on all sides to refrain from targeting civilian aircraft and airports.
For commercial airlines, the conflict raised memories of disasters such as that of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, destroyed by a missile over Ukraine in 2014 with 298 people killed, or the Ukrainian Boeing accidentally shot down by Iran in 2020, killing 176.
"It is critical that states respect their obligation to keep civilians and civil aviation free from harm," said the head of IATA, Willie Walsh, head of the International Air Transport Association.
"We all hope for an early peaceful resolution to the current hostilities."
– Thousands of flights cancelled –
Dubai's airports announced they would resume limited flights on Monday evening but Air France said it was extending its suspension of flights to that and three other airports until March 5.
According to the aeronautical data provider Cirium, at least 1,560 inbound flights to the Middle East out of 3,779 were cancelled on Monday.
On Sunday, 2,000 cancellations were recorded out of 4,000 flights -- representing about 900,000 aircraft seats.
Beyond Iran, no civil aircraft were flying on Monday afternoon over the Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait or Iraq, according to the online mapping tool of the website Flightradar24.
The major air corridor over the Euphrates Valley in Iraq was empty.
Aircraft connecting Europe to Asia were flying either via the Gulf of Suez and then through central Saudi Arabia and Oman, or much further north through the narrow Armenia–Azerbaijan corridor.
These two countries, lying between Iran and the Russian Caucasus, have become essential to aviation since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Moscow barred Western and Japanese airlines from its airspace in retaliation for similar measures targeting its own carriers.
No-fly "red zones" have multiplied in recent years -- notably linked to the war in Gaza and clashes between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah, but also in Africa, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
"We have never been in such a difficult situation," Thierry Oriol, a senior representative of French airline pilots' union SNPL, told AFP.
"Even during the Cold War, everyone flew all over the place. There weren't all these no-fly zones."

EasyJet cancellations

The fallout from the conflict extended beyond the Gulf, with a British military airbase in Cyprus hit on Monday by an Iranian drone.
UK low-cost airline EasyJet later said it was cancelling three flights to Britain scheduled from the Mediterranean island, while Paphos Airport in the west was evacuated.
IATA says Middle Eastern airlines accounted for 9.5 percent of global air traffic last year.
Via hubs such as of Dubai and Doha, Gulf-based carriers such as Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways with their long‑haul fleets connect Europe and the Americas with Asia and Oceania.
With annual revenues exceeding a trillion dollar among its 360 airline members, IATA had forecast records in traffic and profits this year, with 5.2 billion passengers.
It warned on Monday that the war unleashed uncertainty over air traffic levels and -- crucially -- fuel costs.
tq/rlp/pdw

US

'No aborts. Good luck': Key moments in the US war on Iran

BY W.G. DUNLOP

  • "The President directed, and I quote, 'Operation Epic Fury is approved.
  • After years of US planning and weeks of military buildup, President Donald Trump gave the order for American forces to strike Iran: "Operation Epic Fury is approved.
  • "The President directed, and I quote, 'Operation Epic Fury is approved.
After years of US planning and weeks of military buildup, President Donald Trump gave the order for American forces to strike Iran: "Operation Epic Fury is approved. No aborts. Good luck."
US forces then launched a sweeping campaign of strikes that has smashed Iranian command-and-control sites, destroyed missile infrastructure and sunk navy vessels.
Below, AFP examines key moments in the US operation against Iran.

The buildup

The United States has for weeks been building up military forces in the Middle East "to reinforce deterrence and provide the president with credible options should action be required," top US military officer General Dan Caine told a news conference on Monday.
"These movements ensured that US forces remain postured, protected and ready to respond decisively for any emerging threat," he said.
"This deployment included thousands of service members from all branches, hundreds of advanced fourth- and fifth-generation fighters, dozens of refueling tankers, the Lincoln and Ford carrier strike group and their embarked air wings, sustained flow of munitions, fuel supplies."

The order

The order for the strikes came on Friday afternoon, Caine said. It was issued by Trump and conveyed by Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth to US Central Command (CENTCOM) -- which is responsible for American forces in the Middle East.
"The President directed, and I quote, 'Operation Epic Fury is approved. No aborts. Good luck,'" Caine said.

The start

"The first movers were US CYBERCOM and US SPACECOM, layering non-kinetic effects, disrupting and degrading and blinding Iran's ability to see, communicate and respond," Caine said, referring to Cyber and Space Commands.
Major US combat operations then began Saturday at 9:45 am in Tehran, or 1:15 am Saturday on the east coast of the United States.
"More than 100 aircraft launched from land, sea -- fighters, tankers, airborne early warning, electronic attack, bombers from the States and unmanned platforms -- forming a single synchronized wave," according to the general.
The US Navy also launched Tomahawk cruise missiles at Iranian navy vessels, while American ground forces "fired precision standoff weapons," Caine said.
The start of the campaign "marked the culmination of months, and in some cases, years, of deliberate planning and refinement against this particular target set."

The targets

Caine said the United States struck more than 1,000 targets in the first 24 hours of the war.
"In the initial phase, CENTCOM's focus was systematic targeting of Iranians' command-and-control infrastructure, naval forces, ballistic missile sites and intelligence infrastructure, designed to daze and confuse them," he said.
"Coordinated space and cyber operations effectively disrupted communications and sensor networks across the area of responsibility, leaving the adversary without the ability to see... or respond effectively."

The objectives

"Our military objectives are clear. Our mission is to protect and defend ourselves, and together with our regional partners, prevent Iran from the ability to project power outside of its borders -- and be ready for follow-on actions as appropriate," Caine said.
But the timeline for completing those objectives is open-ended.
"This is not a single overnight operation. The military objectives that CENTCOM and the Joint Force have been tasked with will take some time to achieve," the general said.
"We expect to take additional losses, and as always, we will work to minimize US losses," he said.
Four US military personnel have been killed since the start of the war.
wd/des

Israel

At least 25 killed at Pakistan's weekend pro-Iran protests

  • AFP saw a hospital toll that said nine of the deaths were due to gunshot wounds.
  • The death toll from Pakistan's violent weekend protests over the killing of Iran's supreme leader in US-Israeli strikes has reached at least 25, according to an AFP tally on Monday.
  • AFP saw a hospital toll that said nine of the deaths were due to gunshot wounds.
The death toll from Pakistan's violent weekend protests over the killing of Iran's supreme leader in US-Israeli strikes has reached at least 25, according to an AFP tally on Monday.
The demonstrations against the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei erupted in several major Pakistani cities including Karachi, where hundreds of protesters attempted to storm American diplomatic buildings and clashed with police, an AFP journalist saw.
At least 10 people died and over 70 were injured in those rallies, according to the office of the Karachi police surgeon. AFP saw a hospital toll that said nine of the deaths were due to gunshot wounds.
In the northern Gilgit-Baltistan region, at least 13 people were killed in clashes between protesters and police, officials said.
Of those, seven were killed in Gilgit, a rescue official said, while six others died in Skardu, a doctor told AFP on Monday.
Authorities have imposed a late-night curfew until Wednesday in Gilgit and Skardu, where the army has been deployed on the streets.
Two more people were killed as thousands gathered in the streets of the capital Islamabad, many holding portraits of Khamenei.
On Sunday afternoon, AFP journalists saw police firing tear gas to disperse crowds near the diplomatic enclave housing the US embassy in Islamabad.
Pakistani stocks plunged on Monday. The benchmark KSE-100 Index declined by 9.6 percent, shedding 16,089 points in what Karachi-based Topline Securities said was its "highest ever one-day fall."
"It was a historic low today. It's an alarming and challenging situation for Pakistan," Sanie Khan, executive director of Floret Capitals, told AFP.

'Grief and sorrow'

Israel and the United States launched their military operations against Iran on Saturday, quickly killing the long-ruling Khamenei and prompting outrage in neighbouring Pakistan.
Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who has close ties with both the United States and Iran, said on Sunday that the killing was a "violation" of international law.
"It is an age old convention that the Heads of State/Government should not be targeted," Sharif wrote on X.
The "people of Pakistan join the people of Iran in their hour of grief and sorrow and extend the most sincere condolences on the martyrdom" of Khamenei, he added.
At Sunday's Karachi protest, people chanted slogans against the United States, Israel and their allies.
"We don't need anything in Pakistan that is linked with the US," a protester, Sabir Hussain, told AFP.
Earlier a crowd of young people climbed over the main gate and gained access to the driveway of the consular building, smashing some windows.
Police fired tear gas at the protesters, who dispersed, the AFP journalist saw.
The embassies of the United States and Britain both urged citizens in Pakistan to be cautious.
strs-zz/je/mjw

Tesla

Showdown looms between Tesla and German union

BY CLEMENT KASSER

  • IG Metall has accused the carmaker of poor working conditions and covert redundancies, all enabled by the lack of a collective agreement to protect workers -- almost unheard‑of in Germany's automotive industry.
  • An industrial relations showdown looms this week as Germany's powerful IG Metall union is seeking to gain control of the works council at US billionaire Elon Musk's Tesla plant outside Berlin.
  • IG Metall has accused the carmaker of poor working conditions and covert redundancies, all enabled by the lack of a collective agreement to protect workers -- almost unheard‑of in Germany's automotive industry.
An industrial relations showdown looms this week as Germany's powerful IG Metall union is seeking to gain control of the works council at US billionaire Elon Musk's Tesla plant outside Berlin.
The works council, an elected body of employees that negotiates pay deals and working hours with management, has long been an unshakeable component of German corporate life, especially in the auto sector.
But at Tesla's "Gigafactory", it has been a persistent bugbear for the management since the plant opened in 2022 -- with this week's Monday-to-Wednesday ballot marking a high point in tensions.
In one corner, there is Musk, the world's richest man and a staunch advocate of libertarian ideals.
In the other, there is a century‑old metal workers' union defending Germany's tradition of workers' rights and accusing the US carmaker of engaging in "union busting".
Outside the factory, which employs around 10,000 people in rural Gruenheide in Brandenburg state, an IG Metall banner calling for "change" hangs next to a giant mural celebrating labour solidarity.
IG Metall has accused the carmaker of poor working conditions and covert redundancies, all enabled by the lack of a collective agreement to protect workers -- almost unheard‑of in Germany's automotive industry.
The union won the previous elections in 2024 with 39 percent of the vote. But then four non‑union lists seen as more accommodating toward management joined forces to secure a majority.

'A real exception'

Tesla "is a real exception" in Germany given the absence of a union majority in the works council, said Ernesto Klengel of the Hans-Boeckler Foundation, which has close ties to the trade unions.
He charged that at Tesla "the management has so far not placed any value on constructive cooperation".
Although it is not unusual for various parties to seek to influence in works council elections, this "highly confrontational approach" is unprecedented, he said.
For Tesla, the dispute is another headache in Europe, where sales have been hit amid strong Chinese competition.
In Germany there has also been a backlash against the e-car pioneer after Musk strongly supported the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.
A number of Tesla staff spoke to AFP outside the plant, all asking not to be named given the sensitivity of the labour issues at play.
One of them, a logistics worker from Nigeria, said he was one of around 100 candidates in the plant for IG Metall.
He said he had been working at Tesla for three years and charged that management "does not listen to employees", whereas "IG Metall is working hard to represent our interests".
He also complained that workers from the African community did worse "in the allocation of promotions and certain benefits" and that "very few" African employees were team leaders at the plant.
Another employee, who asked to be called Vikram, said "many colleagues complain about harassment and other problems because they take breaks".
Tesla did not respond to a request from AFP for comment on the allegations.
Another worker, who identified himself as Ali, 31, said he was very satisfied at Tesla, particularly with his salary. 
"They give us everything -- shares, good facilities," the body shop worker told AFP.

Musk threat

Andre Thierig, the director of the site, has told local media that Tesla pays its employees better than its competitors do and has argued that collective agreements are destroying German industry.
In early February, Thierig accused a member of IG Metall of illegally recording a works council meeting.
The union promptly declared that it was preparing legal action against what it called "obstruction of union activity".
Musk himself has weighed in on the dispute, warning that there will be no further investment in the factory if IG Metall becomes the majority union.
Jan Otto, regional manager of IG Metall in eastern Germany, retorted that the US billionaire should "accept the rules of the game of co-determination and democracy in German companies".
Otto has called on the government of Brandenburg to step in.
Contacted by AFP, the regional economy ministry said it "encourages companies in Brandenburg, including Tesla, to conclude collective agreements" and offer "attractive working conditions".
kas-fec/fz/gil

US

Indian police clash with pro-Khamenei protesters in Kashmir

  • The clashes came a day after tens of thousands of people in the Muslim-majority region joined peaceful street demonstrations against strikes by Israel and the United States that killed the Iranian leader.
  • Police in Indian-administered Kashmir fired teargas on Monday during clashes with thousands of demonstrators protesting the killing of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei for a second day in a row.
  • The clashes came a day after tens of thousands of people in the Muslim-majority region joined peaceful street demonstrations against strikes by Israel and the United States that killed the Iranian leader.
Police in Indian-administered Kashmir fired teargas on Monday during clashes with thousands of demonstrators protesting the killing of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei for a second day in a row.
The clashes came a day after tens of thousands of people in the Muslim-majority region joined peaceful street demonstrations against strikes by Israel and the United States that killed the Iranian leader.
On Monday, authorities closed schools and colleges for two days and imposed restrictions on public movement by barricading many arterial roads.
The restrictions were imposed "as a precautionary measure" after a group of Muslim organisations headed by the region's chief cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq called for a strike, authorities said.
The protesters clashed with security forces when they were stopped from marching to the main square in the main city of Srinagar, which was sealed off. 
Demonstrations were also held in other pockets across the Kashmir valley, with protesters displaying portraits of Khamenei, slain Iranian general Qasem Soleimani and Hassan Nasrallah of Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
They also shouted anti-Israel and anti-US slogans while waving flags associated with Iran and Hezbollah, an AFP journalist at the scene said.
"Minimum teargas shelling was resorted to when they (the demonstrators) did not heed warnings to stop," a police officer told AFP on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to media.
Kashmir, which has a significant number of Shia Muslims, shares ancient connections with Iran, whose scholars are credited with introducing Islam and many fine handicrafts to the region.
Khamenei was given a momentous welcome during his only visit to the territory in the early 1980s.
On Sunday, the territory's chief minister Omar Abdullah -- who does not control the security forces -- said mourners should be "allowed to grieve peacefully" and police should "refrain from using force or restrictive measures".
Khamenei and top military leaders were killed on Saturday, prompting Iranian authorities to retaliate with strikes on Israel and across the Gulf. 
pzb/abh/mjw

amnesty

Myanmar grants amnesty to over 7,000 convicted of 'terrorist group' support

  • Pro-democracy activists backing Suu Kyi and armed groups challenging the military in a civil war have been labelled "terrorist" outfits, and far-reaching laws punish association with life prison terms and possible death sentences.
  • Myanmar's military junta granted amnesty on Monday to more than 7,000 prisoners convicted of financing, sheltering or propagandising for a "terrorist group", a designation it has used to outlaw pro-democracy factions opposing its rule.
  • Pro-democracy activists backing Suu Kyi and armed groups challenging the military in a civil war have been labelled "terrorist" outfits, and far-reaching laws punish association with life prison terms and possible death sentences.
Myanmar's military junta granted amnesty on Monday to more than 7,000 prisoners convicted of financing, sheltering or propagandising for a "terrorist group", a designation it has used to outlaw pro-democracy factions opposing its rule.
Thousands of dissenting civilians have been swept into jails since Myanmar's military snatched power in a 2021 coup, ending a decade-long experiment with democracy and detaining elected figurehead Aung San Suu Kyi.
Pro-democracy activists backing Suu Kyi and armed groups challenging the military in a civil war have been labelled "terrorist" outfits, and far-reaching laws punish association with life prison terms and possible death sentences.
A government notice said junta chief Min Aung Hlaing ordered the releases of more than 7,300 prisoners convicted under counter-terrorism provisions.
They include laws forbidding "financing of terrorism", harbouring "any terrorist group" and the "exhortation, persuasion, propaganda, recruitment" of any person to join such groups.
Media monitors have criticised the junta for weaponising the legislation to muzzle journalists and social media users critical of their takeover.
It was not immediately clear which groups the prisoners had been convicted of association with.
In recent months, the junta has announced pardons for some political crimes in what analysts describe as a bid to soften its image amidst a handover to a nominally civilian government after elections concluded in January.
But with Suu Kyi still jailed, her party dissolved and the dominant pro-military party securing a walkover win, critics have derided the transition as a publicity exercise to rebrand the junta's rule.

Hundreds freed

An AFP journalist outside Yangon's Insein Prison -- Myanmar's most infamous lock-up, renowned for alleged rights abuses -- saw around 300 prisoners being bussed out of the compound in a convoy on Monday morning.
A gaggle of emotional relatives clutched bouquets of flowers and placards bearing loved-ones' names as prisoners were released from Insein's barbed-wire boundary shortly before noon.
Min Aung Hlaing granted their release to mark a public holiday on Monday "in consideration of the peace of mind of the general public as well as on humanitarian grounds", the government statement said.
Nearly 12,500 people facing trial on the same "terrorism" charges will have their cases dropped, according to a separate statement.
The junta frequently grants prison amnesties on public holidays, and Monday's raft of notices also announced the release of more than 2,800 other prisoners and 10 jailed foreign nationals -- without detailing their offences.
After ruling by force for more than five years, the military has said its phased month-long election will return power to the people and offer a chance to end the civil war.
But the poll did not take place in swaths of the country controlled by rebel groups and Min Aung Hlaing has not ruled out serving as president.
The new parliament is due to sit in two weeks, with a president elected in early April.
bur-jts/sco/fox

amnesty

Myanmar grants amnesty to over 7,000 convicted of 'terrorist group' support

  • A government notice said junta chief Min Aung Hlaing ordered releases of more than 7,300 prisoners convicted under legislation forbidding "financing of terrorism" and harbouring or arranging transport for "any terrorist group".
  • Myanmar's military junta granted amnesty on Monday to more than 7,000 prisoners convicted of financing or sheltering a "terrorist group", a designation it has used to outlaw pro-democracy factions opposing its rule.
  • A government notice said junta chief Min Aung Hlaing ordered releases of more than 7,300 prisoners convicted under legislation forbidding "financing of terrorism" and harbouring or arranging transport for "any terrorist group".
Myanmar's military junta granted amnesty on Monday to more than 7,000 prisoners convicted of financing or sheltering a "terrorist group", a designation it has used to outlaw pro-democracy factions opposing its rule.
Thousands of dissenting civilians have been swept into jails since Myanmar's military snatched power in a 2021 coup, ending a decade-long experiment with democracy and detaining elected figurehead Aung San Suu Kyi.
Pro-democracy activists backing Suu Kyi and armed groups challenging the military in a civil war have been labelled "terrorist" outfits, and far-reaching laws punish association with life prison terms and possible death sentences.
A government notice said junta chief Min Aung Hlaing ordered releases of more than 7,300 prisoners convicted under legislation forbidding "financing of terrorism" and harbouring or arranging transport for "any terrorist group".
It was not immediately clear which groups the prisoners had been convicted of association with.
In recent months, the junta has announced pardons for some political crimes in what analysts describe as a bid to soften its image amidst a handover to a nominally civilian government after elections concluded in January.
But with Suu Kyi still jailed, her party dissolved and the dominant pro-military party securing a walkover win, critics have derided the transition as a publicity exercise to rebrand the junta's rule.

Hundreds freed

An AFP journalist outside Yangon's Insein Prison -- Myanmar's most infamous lock-up, renowned for alleged rights abuses -- saw around 300 prisoners being bussed out of the compound in a convoy on Monday morning.
A gaggle of emotional relatives clutched bouquets of flowers and placards bearing loved-ones' names as prisoners were released from Insein's barbed-wire boundary shortly before noon.
Min Aung Hlaing granted their release to mark a public holiday on Monday "in consideration of the peace of mind of the general public as well as on humanitarian grounds", the government statement said.
Nearly 12,500 people facing trial on the same "terrorism" charges will have their cases dropped, according to a separate statement.
The junta frequently grants prison amnesties on public holidays, and Monday's raft of notices also announced the release of more than 2,800 other prisoners and 10 jailed foreign nationals -- without detailing their offences.
After ruling by force for more than five years, the military has said its phased month-long election will return power to the people and offer a chance to end the civil war.
But the poll did not take place in swaths of the country controlled by rebel groups and Min Aung Hlaing has not ruled out serving as president.
The new parliament is due to sit in two weeks, with a president elected in early April.
bur-jts/sco/ane

US

Israel kills 31 in Lebanon, vows to expand strikes after Hezbollah fire

BY NADER DURGHAM

  • - Retaliation - Israel has carried out regular strikes on Lebanon since the 2024 ceasefire came into effect, usually saying it targets the militant group and accusing it of truce violations.
  • Israeli strikes on Lebanon killed at least 31 people on Monday, authorities said, following rocket fire from Tehran-backed militant group Hezbollah after the killing of Iran's supreme leader.
  • - Retaliation - Israel has carried out regular strikes on Lebanon since the 2024 ceasefire came into effect, usually saying it targets the militant group and accusing it of truce violations.
Israeli strikes on Lebanon killed at least 31 people on Monday, authorities said, following rocket fire from Tehran-backed militant group Hezbollah after the killing of Iran's supreme leader.
Israel's military vowed to intensify its attacks on the country and make Hezbollah pay a "heavy price" after launching several strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs and south Lebanon, areas where Hezbollah holds sway.
The escalation came as Lebanese authorities, who have been trying to spare the country from any repercussions of the US-Israeli attack on Iran, said Hezbollah's rocket fire gave Israel "excuses" to ramp up its attacks.
Hezbollah's attack on Israel overnight was the first time the Lebanese movement claimed responsibility for an operation against Israel since a November 2024 ceasefire sought to end over a year of hostilities between the two.
The group announced around 3 am (0100 GMT) on Monday that it had targeted an Israeli army site south of Haifa city "with a barrage of high-quality missiles and a swarm of drones".
It said the move was "retaliation for the pure blood" of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, blaming his death on Israel after it launched attacks in a joint operation with the United States on Saturday.
"Hezbollah chose the Iranian regime over the State of Lebanon and initiated an attack on our civilians... they will pay a heavy price," said Rafi Milo, head of the Israeli military's Northern Command.
"The strikes continue, their intensity will increase," he was quoted as saying in a military statement hours after the first strikes were fired.
Lebanon's health ministry gave an "initial toll" of 31 killed in Israel's strikes, 20 in Beirut's southern suburbs and 11 in the south. It said at least 149 were wounded.
In the capital's southern suburbs, strikes hit the top two floors of at least two buildings, according to an AFP photographer.
A fire broke out in one of the targeted apartments.
The bombings triggered a mass exodus from the area, according to AFP correspondents, with families hastily leaving their homes on motorcycles or in cars.
Further south on the Mediterranean coast, an AFP journalist in Sidon saw huge lines of cars packed with families escaping the attacks.
Israel's strikes hit several areas of the south including Kfur, Haris and Sultaniya.

Retaliation

Israel has carried out regular strikes on Lebanon since the 2024 ceasefire came into effect, usually saying it targets the militant group and accusing it of truce violations.
Hezbollah has been weakened from conflict with Israel, which it entered to support Hamas following the Palestinian militant group's deadly attack on Israel in October 2023 and the subsequent war in the Gaza Strip.
On Monday, a military statement said Israeli forces "precisely struck" senior Hezbollah members in the Beirut area, and another in the south.
Israel then issued an evacuation warning to residents of about 50 towns and villages in Lebanon's south and east -- both Hezbollah strongholds.
"For your safety, evacuate your homes immediately and move at least 1,000 metres (0.6 miles) away from your village to open areas," army spokeswoman Ella Waweya said in a statement on X.
Around three hours before Hezbollah's statement, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps' Telegram channel said that "Hezbollah officially entered the war".
The Israeli military said that "several projectiles" fired from Lebanon on Monday "fell in open areas", with no immediate reports of damage or injuries.

'Irresponsible'

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said attacks from the country's territory risked drawing the country into regional conflict.
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, whose government has pushed for Hezbollah's disarmament, called Monday's rocket fire "irresponsible".
He vowed to "stop the perpetrators and protect the Lebanese people".
Israeli military chief Eyal Zamir said, according to a statement, that "Hezbollah opened a campaign against Israel overnight, and is fully responsible for any escalation".
Lebanese authorities had repeatedly said they do not wish to involve their country in the outbreak of conflict in the region, which started after a massive US-Israeli attack on Iran.
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warming

El Nino may return in 2026 and make planet even hotter

BY LAURENT THOMET

  • The extra heat at the surface of the Pacific releases energy into the atmosphere that can temporarily drive up global temperatures, which is why El Nino years are often among the warmest on record.
  • The warming El Nino weather phenomenon could form later this year, potentially pushing global temperatures to record heights.
  • The extra heat at the surface of the Pacific releases energy into the atmosphere that can temporarily drive up global temperatures, which is why El Nino years are often among the warmest on record.
The warming El Nino weather phenomenon could form later this year, potentially pushing global temperatures to record heights.
There is a 50- to 60-percent chance of El Nino developing during the July-September period and beyond, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
The World Meteorological Organization will issue an update on El Nino on Tuesday.
Here's what you need to know about El Nino and its cooler sister, La Nina:

Why the name?

El Nino and its cooler sister La Nina are two phases of a natural climate pattern across the tropical Pacific known as the El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO).
Peruvian and Ecuadoran fishermen coined the term El Nino ("the boy" or "the Christ Child") in the 19th century for the arrival of an unusually warm ocean current off the coast that reduced their catch just before Christmas.
Scientists chose the name La Nina as the opposite of El Nino. Between the two events, there is a "neutral" phase.

El Nino

El Nino can weaken consistent trade winds that blow east to west across the tropical Pacific, influencing weather by affecting the movement of warm water across this vast ocean.
This weakening warms the usually cooler central and eastern sides of the ocean, altering rainfall over the equatorial Pacific and wind patterns around the world.
The extra heat at the surface of the Pacific releases energy into the atmosphere that can temporarily drive up global temperatures, which is why El Nino years are often among the warmest on record.
"All else being equal, a typical El Nino event tends to cause a temporary increase in the global mean temperature on the order of 0.1C-0.2C," Nat Johnson, an NOAA meteorologist, told AFP.
El  Nino occurs every two to seven years.
It typically results in drier conditions across southeast Asia, Australia, southern Africa, and northern Brazil, and wetter conditions in the Horn of Africa, the southern United States, Peru and Ecuador.

Another record?

The last El Nino occurred in 2023-2024, contributing to making 2023 the second highest year on record and 2024 the all-time high.
Carlo Buontempo, director of the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service, told AFP in January that 2026 could be "another record-breaking year" if El Nino appears this year.
However, El Nino's impact would be higher in 2027 than in 2026 if it develops in the second half of this year, said Tido Semmler, a climate scientist at Ireland's National Meteorological Service.
"It takes time for the global atmosphere to react to the El Nino," he said.
"Having said this, there is a risk of 2026 being the warmest year on record even without El Nino, due to the global warming trend," Semmler told AFP.
"2027 would face an increased risk of getting a record warm year if El Nino developed in the second half of 2026," he added.

La Nina

The latest La Nina episode was relatively weak and short lived, starting in December 2024 and due to enter a neutral phase during the Februady-April period.
La Nina cools the eastern Pacific Ocean for a period of about one to three years, generating the opposite effects to El Nino on global weather. 
It leads to wetter conditions in parts of Australia, southeast Asia, India, southeast Africa and northern Brazil, while causing drier conditions in parts of South America.
La Nina did not stop 2025 from being the third hottest on record.

New calculation

The NOAA adopted in February a new way of determining El Nino and El Nino events.
The old Oceanic Nino Index (ONI) compared the three-month average sea surface temperature one region of the Pacific with a 30-year average in the same area.
But as the oceans have been warming rapidly, that old 30-year average can be out of date.
The new method, the Relative Oceanic Nino Index (RONI), compares how warm or cool the east-central Pacific is compared to the rest of the tropics. 
The NOAA said RONI is a "clearer, more reliable way" to track El Nino and La Nina in real time.
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vote

Texas primaries launch midterm battle with Trump agenda at stake

BY FRANKIE TAGGART

  • The primaries will take place in the shadow of the US-Israel war on Iran, although it remains unclear whether the conflict – still in its very early stages – will impact Tuesday's voting.
  • The US primary season launches on Tuesday, setting the stage for midterm elections that could reshape Washington's balance of power -- and determine the trajectory of President Donald Trump's remaining time in office.
  • The primaries will take place in the shadow of the US-Israel war on Iran, although it remains unclear whether the conflict – still in its very early stages – will impact Tuesday's voting.
The US primary season launches on Tuesday, setting the stage for midterm elections that could reshape Washington's balance of power -- and determine the trajectory of President Donald Trump's remaining time in office.
Some of the nation's largest states -- from Texas to North Carolina, Georgia and Illinois -- will pick candidates for the US Congress in March's first round of primaries, offering an early test of how both parties position themselves for Trump's final two years.
Those candidates will face off in November's midterms, which will decide whether Trump governs with a cooperative legislature or confronts a Democratic opposition able to block his agenda and open investigations into his administration.
The primaries will take place in the shadow of the US-Israel war on Iran, although it remains unclear whether the conflict – still in its very early stages – will impact Tuesday's voting.
For Republicans -- defending a 53–47 Senate majority and a razor-thin edge in the House of Representatives -- the central concern is avoiding polarizing candidates who electrify the party base but alienate swing voters in November.
"All eyes are on Texas," said Dan Scandling, of public affairs consultancy APCO, who spent a quarter century on Capitol Hill as chief of staff and communications director for Republican lawmakers.
"Republicans and Democrats both have candidates who many view as extreme and, depending on who comes out on top, could make either party vulnerable come November."
The entire House and 35 of the 100 seats in the Senate are up for grabs in November, along with 39 state and territorial governorships.
Texas is set to dominate the opening night, with fiercely contested Senate primaries in both parties that have drawn national attention as a preview of broader ideological and strategic fights.
The Republican primary pits four-term Senator John Cornyn against state attorney general Ken Paxton, a hardline Trump ally who has cultivated support -- despite multiple ethics controversies -- by channeling grassroots anger at Washington.
Congressman Wesley Hunt trails, courting pro-Trump voters uneasy with both men.

'Stepping up'

Democrats, seeking a path back to power after Republicans secured unified control in Washington, are weighing competing approaches to ending a three-decade statewide losing streak in the Lone Star State. 
Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett is running as a sharp, high-profile messenger who aims to energize turnout through viral clashes with Republicans, while state representative James Talarico is pitching a broader populist message to pull in swing voters.
Polling suggests neither primary is likely to produce an outright winner, increasing the chances of May runoffs.
Beyond Texas, the coming weeks include several contests with national implications.
Arkansas also votes Tuesday, alongside North Carolina, where Democrats are targeting a Senate seat they see as one of their best flip opportunities in November.
Mississippi votes the following week. And Georgia will stage a closely watched special House primary to replace Marjorie Taylor Greene, once among Trump's closest allies in Congress and now a symbol of divisions within the Republican base.
Illinois closes out the early calendar on March 17 with a Senate primary that will test whether Democrats lean into progressive enthusiasm or a broader, general-election style message.
Aaron Cutler, another former House staffer and head of congressional oversight at law firm Hogan Lovells, said he expected Republicans to align with Trump -- but warned that Democrats should take a more centrist approach.
"If progressive candidates prevail in Democratic primaries like we saw in New York City last year in the mayor's race, this could jeopardize the party's chances to appeal to the independent voters needed to win the general election," he said.
Caroline Welles, a veteran Democratic operative who focuses on getting women voted into state legislatures, said the primary season would reveal the extent to which the party had bounced back from losing the White House in 2024.  
"Texas and Georgia, in particular, will signal whether new Democrats -- particularly women -- have been motivated to show up both on the ballot and at the ballot box," she said.
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conflict

How a Syrian refugee chef met Britain's King Charles

BY REEM HASSAN

  • Although Syrians still bear the scars of war, Alarnab said he had seen "hope in people's eyes which was missing when I left in 2015". 
  • Pots clanged and oil sizzled inside the London kitchen of Syrian chef Imad Alarnab, as the former refugee who fled his country's civil war recalled hosting King Charles III.   When the chef left his war-torn homeland in 2015, he never imagined that one day he would watch as cameras flashed and wide-eyed crowds greeted the monarch arriving at his Soho restaurant last year. 
  • Although Syrians still bear the scars of war, Alarnab said he had seen "hope in people's eyes which was missing when I left in 2015". 
Pots clanged and oil sizzled inside the London kitchen of Syrian chef Imad Alarnab, as the former refugee who fled his country's civil war recalled hosting King Charles III.  
When the chef left his war-torn homeland in 2015, he never imagined that one day he would watch as cameras flashed and wide-eyed crowds greeted the monarch arriving at his Soho restaurant last year. 
Alarnab, 48, said he had asked the king to come to the popular eatery when he met him at Buckingham Palace before an event honouring humanitarian work in 2023.
"I told him 'I would love for you to visit our restaurant one day' and he said: 'I would love to'... I was over the Moon to be honest". 
The chef has come a long way since he arrived in London after an arduous journey from Damascus with virtually no money in his pocket. 
Fearing for his life, he had escaped Syria after his family was uprooted again and again by fighting.
His culinary empire –- restaurants, cafes, and juice bars peppered across the Syrian capital -- had been destroyed by bombing in just six days in 2013. 
Alarnab spent three months crisscrossing Europe in the back of lorries, aboard trains, on foot and even on a bicycle before he reached the UK. 
"When I left, I left with nothing," he told AFP, as waiters whirled past carrying steaming plates of traditional Syrian fare.
Starving and exhausted, he spent the last of his money on a train ticket to Doncaster where his sister lived. 

'Love letter from Syria'

To make a living, Alarnab initially picked up any odd jobs, such as washing and selling cars, saving enough to bring his wife and three daughters over after seven months. 
His love of cooking never left him though. In France, while he was sleeping on the steps of a church, Alarnab had often cooked for hundreds of other refugees. 
"I always dreamed of going back to cooking," he said.  
So it wasn't long before he found himself back in the kitchen, cooking up a storm across London with his sold-out supper clubs, bustling pop-up cafes, and crowded lunchtime falafel bars.
Alarnab's friends gave him the initial boost for his first pop-up in 2017, and profits from his new catering business then covered the costs of later events. 
He now runs two restaurants in the city –- one in Soho's buzzing Kingly Court and another nestled in a corner of the vibrant Somerset House arts centre. 
"I was looking for a city to love when I found London," Alarnab said, adding it had offered him "space to innovate" and add his own modern twist to classic Syrian dishes.
Far from home, Alarnab said his word-of-mouth success had grown into a "love letter from Syria to the world" that needs no translation. 
"You don't really need to speak Arabic or Syrian to know that this is the best falafel ever," he said, pointing to a row of colourful plates. 
-'There is hope' - 
For Alarnab, spices frying, dough rising and cheese melting inside a kitchen offered an unlikely escape from the real world. 
"All my problems, I leave them outside the kitchen and walk in fresh." 
When he fled Syria, Alarnab thought going back to Damascus was forever off the table. 
Yet he returned for the first time in October, almost a year to the day after longtime leader Bashar al-Assad was toppled in a lightning rebel offensive -- ending almost 14 years of brutal civil war.  
He walked the familiar streets of his old home, where his late mother taught him to cook many years ago. 
"To return to Damascus and for her not to be there, that was extremely difficult." 
Torn between the two cities, Alarnab said he longed to one day rebuild his home in Damascus. 
"I wish I could go back and live there. But at the same time, I feel like London is now a part of me. I don't know if I could ever go back and just be in Syria," he said.
Although Syrians still bear the scars of war, Alarnab said he had seen "hope in people's eyes which was missing when I left in 2015". 
"The road ahead is still very long, and yes this is only the beginning -- but there is hope." 
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