health

Deadly DR Congo Ebola outbreak spreads to M23-held South Kivu

US

US voices hope on Iran deal progress before Pakistan army chief visit

BY AFP TEAMS IN TEHRAN AND WASHINGTON

  • Rubio also criticised NATO allies for their refusal to help Trump's war against Iran.
  • US Secretary of State Marco Rubio voiced hope on Thursday of progress on ending the war with Iran, with mediator Pakistan's army chief due to arrive in the Islamic republic for talks.
  • Rubio also criticised NATO allies for their refusal to help Trump's war against Iran.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio voiced hope on Thursday of progress on ending the war with Iran, with mediator Pakistan's army chief due to arrive in the Islamic republic for talks.
The expected visit by Field Marshal Asim Munir, a powerful figure with a growing role in Pakistan's foreign relations, comes a day after US President Donald Trump warned that negotiations to end the war were on the "borderline" between a deal and renewed strikes.
"I believe the Pakistanis will be travelling to Tehran today. So hopefully that'll advance this further," Rubio told reporters on Thursday.
A ceasefire on April 8 halted the war launched weeks earlier by the US and Israel, but negotiation efforts have so far failed to yield a lasting peace agreement.
A war of words has taken the place of open conflict but the impasse continues to weigh on the world economy, leaving everyone from investors to farmers in a painful state of uncertainty.
On Thursday, Iran's ISNA news agency said Munir's visit was aimed at continuing "talks and consultations" with Iranian authorities, without providing details. Other Iranian media carried the same report.
Pakistan hosted in April the only direct negotiations between US and Iranian officials to take place since February 28, the day the war began.
Munir was at the centre of the action during that round of talks, greeting both delegations on their arrival and displaying remarkable bonhomie with US Vice President JD Vance.
But the talks ultimately failed, with Iran accusing the US of making "excessive demands".
Since then, the two sides have exchanged multiple proposals, with the threat of renewed war looming all along.
"It's right on the borderline, believe me," Trump told reporters Wednesday. "If we don't get the right answers, it goes very quickly. We're all ready to go."
He said a deal could come "very quickly" or "in a few days", but warned Tehran would have to provide "100 percent good answers".
Rubio also criticised NATO allies for their refusal to help Trump's war against Iran.
"He's not asking them to commit troops. He's not asking them to send their fighter jets in. But they refuse to do anything," he said.
"We were very upset about that."

'Forceful response'

Tehran's chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf on Wednesday accused Washington of seeking to restart the war, warning of a "forceful response" if Iran were to be attacked.
"The enemy's movements, both overt and clandestine, show that despite economic and political pressure, it has not abandoned its military objectives and is seeking to start a new war," Ghalibaf said.
Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said the Islamic republic was examining points received from Washington, while repeating Tehran's demands for the release of its assets frozen abroad and an end to a US naval blockade.
Trump is under political pressure at home as energy costs rise.
The ceasefire halted the fighting but has not reopened the Strait of Hormuz, the vital waterway that normally carries about a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas.
The future of Hormuz remains a key sticking point in the negotiations, with fears growing that the global economy will feel more pain as pre-war oil stockpiles run down.
Iran imposed the blockade of Hormuz as part of its retaliation in the war, allowing only a trickle of vessels through in recent weeks while introducing a toll system.
Iran's new body overseeing Hormuz said its claimed area of control extends to Emirati waters, drawing a sharp rebuke from Abu Dhabi.
Relations between Iran and the United Arab Emirates have been severely strained since the war, after Tehran launched missile and drone strikes against Gulf countries in response to US-Israeli attacks.
Hormuz carries around a third of global fertiliser shipments, raising concerns of higher food prices and shortages if the closure drags on.

Lebanon strikes

On another front in the war, Lebanese state media reported that an Israeli strike on Thursday damaged a hospital in Lebanon's south.
Since a truce began on April 17, Israel has continued to launch strikes, carry out demolitions and issue evacuation orders in south Lebanon, saying it is targeting Hezbollah, which has also kept up attacks.
Lebanon's health ministry said Israeli attacks have killed at least 3,089 people in Lebanon since March 2.
Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle East war with rocket fire at Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iran's supreme leader in US-Israeli strikes.
The United States on Thursday sanctioned nine Hezbollah-linked individuals it accused of "obstructing the peace process in Lebanon".
"Hezbollah is a terrorist organisation and must be fully disarmed," said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.  
bur/ser/jsa/jfx/amj

politics

Trump eases curbs on planet-warming gases used in refrigerants

BY DANNY KEMP, WITH MAGGY DONALDSON IN NEW YORK

  • Speaking in the Oval Office, Trump said he was "officially terminating the Biden administration's ridiculous regulations imposing costly requirements on refrigerators and air conditioners."
  • US President Donald Trump on Thursday announced the easing of curbs on a group of powerful greenhouse gases that drive climate change and are commonly found in refrigerators and air conditioners.
  • Speaking in the Oval Office, Trump said he was "officially terminating the Biden administration's ridiculous regulations imposing costly requirements on refrigerators and air conditioners."
US President Donald Trump on Thursday announced the easing of curbs on a group of powerful greenhouse gases that drive climate change and are commonly found in refrigerators and air conditioners.
Republican Trump slammed the "ridiculous" rules introduced by his Democratic predecessor, president Joe Biden, on super-pollutants known as hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs).
Trump said the move would reduce the cost of living for US consumers. His approval ratings are plummeting as disruption to oil supplies from the Iran war drives up prices.
Speaking in the Oval Office, Trump said he was "officially terminating the Biden administration's ridiculous regulations imposing costly requirements on refrigerators and air conditioners."
"It's ridiculous, unnecessary and costly and actually makes the machinery worse," the billionaire president added.
Trump's administration is extending deadlines for grocery and other companies to phase out the use of HFCs under a 2023 law, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said in a statement.
It will also amend a 2024 act so that it exempts all road refrigerant appliances used to transport goods from new leak requirements for HFCs.
Surrounded by company executives as he sat at his Oval Office desk, Trump said there would be "no negative impact" from the changes and that there was "no environmental concern." 
The Natural Resources Defense Council was among the environmental groups that begged to differ, calling the move "a lose-lose for the environment and the economy."
"It will harm consumers and the climate and reduce American competitiveness in the global markets emerging for environmentally safer refrigerants and technologies," said the organization's senior strategist for climate, David Doniger.
HFCs were introduced in the 1990s to replace chemicals that had been found to erode the ozone layer, but turned out to be catastrophic for global warming.

Savings questionable

EPA chief Lee Zeldin said the actions put the brakes on a "rushed, frantic, reckless sprint" by previous administrations to phase out HFCs.
The agency said the move would save $2.4 billion in regulations on the greenhouse gases that firms would pass on to consumers.
But the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) said in a statement that in fact the move might cause prices to jump.
"This rule works against basic supply and demand," said Stephen Yurek, head of the group. "By extending the compliance deadline, the EPA is maintaining and even increasing demand in the market for existing refrigerants while supply continues to fall under the AIM Act."
"Instead of falling, refrigerant prices are likely to rise, resulting in higher service costs, and higher costs for consumers."
He said the Biden-era rules only applied to new equipment, and did not require replacing refrigeration already in existence.
Food economist David Ortega said "there's very little here that would actually help lower grocery prices" and it's "not very likely" that consumers will see their food bills drop.
The Michigan State University professor told AFP that along with injecting uncertainty into the industry, continued weather extremes due to climate change impact agricultural production and "can really just exacerbate food inflation over the long run."
The current White House agenda is "not one that I would say is consistent with lowering food prices or food price inflation," Ortega added, citing the impacts of trade policy battles, strict immigration curbs causing labor shortages and higher fuel costs due to the Iran war as issues that contribute to grocery expense hikes.
The cost of living promises to be the key issue in crucial US midterm elections in November in which Trump's Republicans will be fighting to keep control of Congress.
A New York Times/Siena poll released Monday put Trump's approval rating at 37 percent, the lowest of his second term, with 64 percent of voters saying the Iran war was a mistake and the same proportion disapproving of his handling of the economy.
bur-dk-mdo/bgs

economy

What's behind the social unrest in Bolivia?

  • On Wednesday, Paz announced a cabinet reshuffle in a bid to keep the peace.
  • "Out with Rodrigo Paz!"
  • On Wednesday, Paz announced a cabinet reshuffle in a bid to keep the peace.
"Out with Rodrigo Paz!" reads graffiti scrawled across the Bolivian capital just months after the center-right president entered office.
Pro-business conservative Paz took power in November following 20 years of socialist rule, pledging to end the country's worst economic crisis in decades.
But his policies have triggered bitter upheaval, with workers and Indigenous people taking to the streets in protest.
Police have used tear gas to block demonstrators from swarming government buildings in La Paz, where protest blockades have depleted food supplies and pushed prices up.
Analysts blame a combination of policy missteps and clashes with interest groups for the unrest.

How did it start?

Paz scrapped two-decade-old fuel subsidies that had drained the Treasury's international dollar reserves, but so far has failed to stabilize fuel supplies.
Prices doubled, and gas stations began selling adulterated fuel that damaged many vehicles.
The "dirty fuel" debacle sparked fury, especially among transport workers.
Another unpopular law -- since thrown out -- reclassified small agricultural holdings as medium-sized properties, which Indigenous communities viewed as a loss of their rights.
Campaigning on the promise of "capitalism for everyone," Paz had secured the support of rural and Indigenous communities known as "deep Bolivia," according to political scientist Adriana Rodriguez.
But they began to feel excluded after witnessing the president's "lukewarm" response to social issues, she said.
"Some sectors have taken radical positions, but others are mobilizing out of frustration following the expectations they had for Paz," said analyst and political science professor Daniel Valverde.

What do the protesters want?

There is no single individual leading the cross-societal protest movement.
"Everyone is pulling in their own direction, responding to certain interests and certain groups," according to Daniela Osorio-Michel, a political scientist at the German Institute for Global and Area Studies.
In 2025, inflation soared to 20 percent, prompting the country's largest trade union COB to demand a wage increase of the same percentage.
Political scientist Ana Lucia Velasco noted a golden opportunity for the opposition.
"There are political motivations to take advantage of the government's mistakes and missteps," she said.
As the movement gained traction, its key demand evolved into calling for Paz to resign.
The government has accused demonstrators of seeking to "disrupt the democratic order." On Wednesday, Paz announced a cabinet reshuffle in a bid to keep the peace.

What about Evo Morales?

The government accuses former socialist president Evo Morales of orchestrating the unrest.
"The government is deliberately polarizing and stigmatizing Evo Morales as the sole person responsible for everything that is happening," Velasco said.
Bolivia's first Indigenous president is accused of fathering a child with a 15-year-old girl while in office.
Morales rejects the allegations and has been hiding from the law in his central coca-growing stronghold of Chapare since late 2024.
He has also alleged that Washington and the US-backed Paz government are plotting his death.
Alluding to the role of Morales' heartland in Bolivia's cocaine trade, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio denounced the protests and said Washington would "not allow criminals and drug traffickers to overthrow democratically elected leaders in our hemisphere."
Valverde acknowledged Morales' mobilizing capacity but stressed that the socialist figure is "very entrenched."
"The results of the last election showed the population's disenchantment with him," said Osorio-Michel.

What can the government do?

  
The government has "very little" wiggle room, Velasco said.
"Once demands escalate to the point of calling for a resignation, there's no backing down. It becomes more of a war of attrition," she said.
Paz said his reshuffle would select ministers who could "listen" to the public's grievances.
He also announced an "economic and social council" where protest groups could have a say in official policy.
The protest's diversity and lack of clear-cut leaders make dialogue more challenging for the government, Osorio-Michel said.
"He (Paz) will have to take all sectors into account," said Valverde.
mis/nn/cc/bgs

Trump

Trump pressures Supreme Court to rule for him on citizenship

  • On April 1, Trump added to his pressure on the court by attending a hearing on the birthright case in person -- the first sitting president to join the audience in history.
  • President Donald Trump on Thursday maintained his unprecedented campaign to pressure the Supreme Court, saying it would be a "disgrace" if the independent justices rule against him on US birthright citizenship.
  • On April 1, Trump added to his pressure on the court by attending a hearing on the birthright case in person -- the first sitting president to join the audience in history.
President Donald Trump on Thursday maintained his unprecedented campaign to pressure the Supreme Court, saying it would be a "disgrace" if the independent justices rule against him on US birthright citizenship.
Trump has smashed convention by berating justices at the top court and demanding loyalty from those he appointed.
At a White House event, he piled pressure on the court to back his bid to restrict the historic right to citizenship for anyone born on US soil.
Indicating that he thinks the court will instead rule to confirm the constitutional right, Trump said, "It would be a disgrace if the Supreme Court of the United States allows that to happen."
"This decision by the Supreme Court is a very big one. They'll probably rule against me because they seem to like doing that," Trump said.
It's not clear when the court will issue its ruling on the issue, which lies at the heart of Trump's broader attempt to limit immigration and expel undocumented migrants.
Opponents argue that the constitution explicitly allows birthright citizenship and that Trump is exceeding his presidential authority.
The Supreme Court's nine justices are dominated by conservatives but not all vote in favor of Trump's policies all the time.
"It's all up to a couple of people, and I hope they do what's right," Trump said, referring to potential swing votes on the court.
On April 1, Trump added to his pressure on the court by attending a hearing on the birthright case in person -- the first sitting president to join the audience in history.
The case stems from an executive order that Trump signed on his return to the White House last year decreeing that children born to parents in the United States illegally or on temporary visas would not automatically become US citizens.
Lower courts blocked the move as unconstitutional, ruling that under the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment nearly everyone born on US soil is an American citizen.
Earlier this month, Trump lashed out at the Supreme Court for ruling that his policy of massive tariffs on countries around the world were illegal.
He said justices should be "loyal to the person that appointed them."
Trump appointed three justices on the Supreme Court during his first term. The lifetime appointments cemented a heavily conservative tilt on the court.
sms/bgs

conflict

First Gaza flotilla activists arrive in Turkey after Israel deportation

BY HIBA ASLAN

  • Israel's foreign ministry spokesman, Oren Marmorstein, said on Thursday that "all foreign activists from the PR flotilla have been deported from Israel".
  • Israel said on Thursday it had deported all the foreign activists seized by its forces from a Gaza-bound flotilla, as the first group arrived in Turkey following global outcry over their treatment in custody.
  • Israel's foreign ministry spokesman, Oren Marmorstein, said on Thursday that "all foreign activists from the PR flotilla have been deported from Israel".
Israel said on Thursday it had deported all the foreign activists seized by its forces from a Gaza-bound flotilla, as the first group arrived in Turkey following global outcry over their treatment in custody.
Hundreds of activists from countries around the world were placed in detention in Israel after they were intercepted at sea on Monday while making the latest in a string of attempts to break the blockade of the Palestinian territory.
Turkish foreign ministry sources said 422 activists, among them 85 Turkish nationals, were flown from southern Israel on three planes chartered by Ankara.
A first group of arrivals were seen inside the VIP terminal at Istanbul airport, as a crowd of supporters carrying Palestinian flags gathered to welcome them, an AFP correspondent said.
Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir sparked widespread condemnation and diplomatic backlash on Wednesday by posting a video showing the detained activists with their hands tied and foreheads on the ground.
Israel's foreign ministry spokesman, Oren Marmorstein, said on Thursday that "all foreign activists from the PR flotilla have been deported from Israel".
"Israel will not permit any breach of the lawful naval blockade on Gaza," he added.
Upon arrival at Istanbul airport, one of the activists shouted "the Palestinian people are not alone!" as he emerged from the terminal.
"We've been tortured, we've been beaten, we've been arrested in international waters, but we won't give up. We will return. Palestine will be free from the river to the sea," he said to cheers from the crowd. 
The legal centre representing the flotilla members said earlier on Thursday that the majority were "en route for deportation" from Ramon Airport in Israel's far south.
Adalah said they had been held at Israel's Ktziot prison, in the Negev Desert near Gaza.
A spokesman for Adalah said activists from Egypt had been transferred to Taba at Egypt's border with Israel, while those from Jordan had been transferred to Aqaba.

'Inflammatory video'

Around 50 vessels under the Global Sumud Flotilla set sail from Turkey last week in the latest attempt by activists to breach Israel's blockade of Gaza, after Israeli forces intercepted a previous convoy last month.
The deportations come after footage posted by Ben Gvir, captioned "Welcome to Israel" and showing the minister heckling and waving an Israeli flag among the detained activists, sparked resounding condemnation by governments around the world, from Italy to Spain and Australia to Canada.
He was also criticised at home by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, as well as by US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee.
Italy and Spain have called on the European Union to sanction Ben Gvir, with Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez calling the treatment of the activists "unacceptable".
In Ireland, a leaked letter revealed Prime Minister Micheal Martin urging the EU chief for "further action" against Israel over their treatment, including a ban on settlement goods and suspension "of parts if not all" of the EU's Association Agreement with Israel.
The United Kingdom announced it had summoned Israel's most senior diplomat in Britain following "the inflammatory video".

'They kicked us'

Adalah's legal director Suhad Bishara told AFP on Wednesday that the group's lawyers had given legal counsel to "many" of the activists, though she added others had faced court hearings without legal assistance.
"We know of at least two participants who were hospitalised... both of them were shot by rubber bullets," Bishara said, adding that others said they feared they had broken ribs.
Alessandro Mantovani, an Italian journalist detained with the flotilla activists and deported before the others, told reporters in Italy on Thursday that he and others were "taken to Ben Gurion airport in handcuffs and with chains on our feet and put on a flight to Athens".
"They beat us up. They kicked us and punched us and shouted 'Welcome to Israel'," he said of his treatment by Israeli security forces.
Israel controls all entry points into Gaza, under blockade since 2007.
Since the start of the Gaza war, sparked by Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, the territory has suffered severe shortages of food, medicine and other essential supplies, with Israel at times halting aid deliveries entirely.
bur-ha-lba-acc/jfx/amj

automobile

Beloved Citroen 2CV revived as electric car

  • "Citroen is back.
  • The 2CV, an iconic Citroen model popular for much of the Twentieth Century, will be coming back after production ceased in 1990, reincarnated as an electric vehicle, Citroen announced Thursday.
  • "Citroen is back.
The 2CV, an iconic Citroen model popular for much of the Twentieth Century, will be coming back after production ceased in 1990, reincarnated as an electric vehicle, Citroen announced Thursday.
"The 2CV is back!" said Citroen CEO Xavier Chardon said. "Citroen is back. Back to the future."
The announcement came at an investor day by parent company Stellantis, which also owns Jeep, Ram and Fiat, among other brands.
A version of the vehicle is expected at the Paris auto show in October.
"It's a very important moment, because in 1948 the 2CV gave freedom of mobility to millions, and 80 years later, the new 2CV will democratize electric mobility," Chardon said. 
Chardon vowed that the reboot will be "100 percent electric," entirely produced in Europe and priced at below 15,000 euros ($17,400).
"The true people's car designed for real life," he said. "For me, the future of mobility will not be won by the most complex cars, but by the simplest and the most intuitive ones."
Stellantis announced this week a campaign around "e-cars," small electric vehicles costing at most 15,000 euros under different brands to be produced in Pomigliano d'Arco, Italy.
The Citroen 2CV, or "two horses" was first unveiled with fanfare on October 7, 1948 at the Paris auto salon.
Originally fabricated in a single color -- gray -- the vehicle, nicknamed "la deudeuche," found quick success with consumers, leading to delivery delays in the 1950s.
While keeping the same basic silhouette, subsequent models had greater power and came in a variety of colors.
There were also limited editions such as the Charleston, the Dolly and a "007" version to coincide with the 1981 James Bond Movie "For Your Eyes Only" that featured a yellow 2CV.
Production ended on July 27, 1990 at a factory in Portugal, precipitated by tightening emission standards in Europe.
elm-jmb/bgs

diplomacy

Rubio warns Cuba after US indicts former leader

  • "Cuba has always posed a national security threat to the United States," Rubio said, pointing to the presence of Russian and Chinese weapons and intelligence on the island.
  • Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned Cuba on Thursday that the United States was laser-focused on changing the communist system, after the island was stunned by a US indictment of its former president Raul Castro.
  • "Cuba has always posed a national security threat to the United States," Rubio said, pointing to the presence of Russian and Chinese weapons and intelligence on the island.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned Cuba on Thursday that the United States was laser-focused on changing the communist system, after the island was stunned by a US indictment of its former president Raul Castro.
The US military announced that the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier and its escort warships had entered the Caribbean, although President Donald Trump, asked if the deployment was meant to intimidate Cuba, said, "No, not at all."
Rubio, a Cuban-American and vociferous opponent of Havana's government, described the island 90 miles (145 kilometers) from the US shore as a "failed state" as it suffers a major economic crisis.
"Their economic system doesn't work. It's broken, and you can't fix it with the current political system that's in place," Rubio told reporters in Miami.
"What they've gotten used to all these years is just buying time and waiting us out. 
"They're not going to be able to wait us out or buy time. We're very serious. We're very focused."
Rubio said that the US preference was "always a diplomatic solution" but warned that Trump had other options to perceived threats.
"Cuba has always posed a national security threat to the United States," Rubio said, pointing to the presence of Russian and Chinese weapons and intelligence on the island.
Rubio also said Cuba had tentatively accepted an offer by the United States of $100 million in aid in return for reforms. 
But he said it was unclear if the United States would accept Cuba's terms, as Washington insists on circumventing the military-backed enterprise that dominates the island's economy.

Call for rally

The charges against Raul Castro -- younger brother of Fidel Castro, the late iconic US nemesis who led Cuba's communist revolution that culminated in 1959 -- stem from the deadly downing of two civilian planes manned by anti-Castro pilots in 1996.
Cuban authorities called on citizens to protest the "despicable" indictment, with the official newspaper Granma urging Cubans to gather outside the US embassy in Havana on Friday at 7:30 am (1230 GMT).
"This isn't really an accusation, something from more than 30 years ago, but rather a public attack on a public figure," Fabian Fernandez, a 30-year-old accountant, told AFP in Havana.
"It's a matter of politics and public image," he added.
Trump in January seized on a US domestic indictment of Venezuela's leftist leader Nicolas Maduro to send in US forces to depose him and take him into custody.
"The idea is to say, we can do to you what we did to Nicolas Maduro," said Christopher Sabatini, senior fellow for Latin America at Chatham House.
"The military would certainly defend Cuba," in the event of US military intervention, Sabatini said. "Whether the people would or not, it's difficult to say."

Economic crisis

The Maduro operation led to the end of free oil from Venezuela to Cuba, which relied on its ally for nearly half its needs.
Cubans have suffered power outages of up to 20 hours a day and taps running dry.
Runaway inflation has caused the price of basic goods to soar and mountains of trash have piled up on the streets of Havana.
Pedro Leal, a 65-year-old retiree, accused Washington of hurting ordinary Cubans.
"What the US government is doing here now, aside from the energy blockade preventing us from bringing in fuel, honestly, it's criminal," he said.
In addition to murder, Castro has been charged with conspiracy to kill Americans and destruction of aircraft.
The Cuban government called the 1996 shootdown was "legitimate self-defense" against an airspace violation.
China and Russia both criticized Trump's steps on Cuba, which come as he tries to end an unpopular war he started with Israel against Iran.
China said it "firmly supports" Cuba and urged the United States to deescalate tensions.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told a press briefing that Washington "should stop brandishing the sanctions stick and the judicial stick against Cuba and stop threatening force at every turn."
In Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "We believe that under no circumstances should such methods -- which border on violence -- be used against either former or current heads of state."
burs-sct/bgs

media

'Fired and festive': 'Late Show' host Stephen Colbert bows out

BY GREGORY WALTON

  • The president has long been a fierce critic of late-night talk show hosts and their jabs at him.
  • "The Late Show" frontman Stephen Colbert will host the final edition of the 33-year-old US cultural institution on Thursday night, after it was cancelled by CBS as the network courts President Donald Trump.
  • The president has long been a fierce critic of late-night talk show hosts and their jabs at him.
"The Late Show" frontman Stephen Colbert will host the final edition of the 33-year-old US cultural institution on Thursday night, after it was cancelled by CBS as the network courts President Donald Trump.
The show, which Colbert has hosted since 2015, was axed after he mocked the broadcaster for a $16 million settlement with Trump for allegedly "maliciously" editing an interview with his Democratic election rival Kamala Harris.
Colbert called it a "big fat bribe."
CBS has insisted the decision to cancel "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," the ratings leader in the time slot, was purely financial -- and that it was a coincidence the move came as CBS parent company Paramount lobbied for government approval of its $8.4 billion merger with Skydance Media. 
Around that time CBS brought in Bari Weiss, a right-wing journalist without significant TV experience, to run its news division.
In the weeks leading to Thursday's curtain call, 62-year-old Colbert has at times cut a subdued figure, lacking some of his usual cheerful flair.
"I can finally speak unvarnished truth to power and say what I really think about Donald Trump starting right now," he told People. 
"I don't have any fear of the administration doing anything to me. I mean, how silly would it be?" 
The identity of the final night's guests remained a closely held secret early Thursday.
Defying the rain to line up outside the show's Broadway home, ticketholder Koenraad Smits, 31, said "it's just a better way to consume the news nowadays."
"It's usually a little bit more uplifting than the regular news -- with a dash of truthiness, and just like a dash of comedy in there, just to make it all just more digestible," said the chef who wore a "Late Show" T-shirt. 
Colbert coined the word "truthiness" -- belief based on gut feeling -- in 2005, going on to be declared word of the year.
On the penultimate night, rock legend Bruce Springsteen joined the "Late Show" to sing his "Streets of Minneapolis" anti-Trump protest song and to attack the Republican leader.
"You're the first guy in America who's lost his show because we've got a president who can't take a joke," Springsteen told Colbert.
And Colbert was clearly moved when he was joined in his studio by fellow late night hosts Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers and John Oliver, who paid tribute in the final days.
Kimmel was briefly taken off the air in September 2025 by his network ABC after complaints about a remark he made over the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

Targeted by Trump

Trump has repeatedly attacked media and press freedom since returning to office, using lawsuits and regulatory threats to retaliate for unflattering news coverage and jokes.
The president has long been a fierce critic of late-night talk show hosts and their jabs at him. Trump has called Colbert a "pathetic trainwreck" who should be "put to sleep."
One late night host bidding a less fond farewell was Greg Gutfeld of right-wing Fox News.
Asked in November about both the cancellation and Kimmel's suspension, Gutfeld said, "Why did it take so long?"
Colbert made his name playing a fictitious version of himself, embodying the type of conservative blowhard beloved by Fox News viewers -- and derided by the left.
He first played the sharp-suited but dim-witted character on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" before getting a spin-off, "The Colbert Report."
Colbert ascended to the pinnacle of US late-night TV when he was named host of the CBS flagship, shedding the character and employing his own voice.
Colbert has been coy about his next steps but announced he will be a writer on a forthcoming "Lord of the Rings" movie.
One guest has eluded Colbert: the pope. The host, a devout Catholic, has called the pontiff his "white whale."
Rival late-night hosts were all due to air re-runs Thursday out of respect for Colbert's swansong, which has an afterparty themed "Fired and festive!"
gw/bgs

health

Deadly DR Congo Ebola outbreak spreads to M23-held South Kivu

  • Tests "confirm a new positive case" in Kabare territory in South Kivu, M23 spokesman Lawrence Kanyuka said in a statement.
  • An Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has spread to eastern South Kivu province in an area under the control of the Rwanda-backed M23 militia, the group's spokesman said Thursday, heightening fears of the deadly disease's growing reach.
  • Tests "confirm a new positive case" in Kabare territory in South Kivu, M23 spokesman Lawrence Kanyuka said in a statement.
An Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has spread to eastern South Kivu province in an area under the control of the Rwanda-backed M23 militia, the group's spokesman said Thursday, heightening fears of the deadly disease's growing reach.
Efforts to get a grip on the latest outbreak of the highly contagious haemorrhagic fever, which the World Health Organization has declared an international emergency, have been hampered by the DRC's long-running conflicts, including between the Congolese army and the M23.
Having seized swathes of land in the mineral-rich east with Rwanda's help, the M23 has installed a parallel administration to the Congolese government in areas under its control.
But the armed group has never had to manage the response to a serious epidemic of a disease like Ebola, which has killed more than 15,000 people in Africa in the past half-century.
The virus is suspected to have claimed 160 lives out of nearly 671 probable cases, according to figures published by the National Institute for Public Health (INSP) on Thursday.
There are 64 confirmed Ebola cases and six confirmed deaths, INSP said.
Tests "confirm a new positive case" in Kabare territory in South Kivu, M23 spokesman Lawrence Kanyuka said in a statement.
Parts of South Kivu including the provincial capital Bukavu fell to the M23 in February 2025 after fierce clashes.
The case involved a "person coming from Kisangani", a major city in the eastern Tshopo province where no Ebola infections from the current outbreak have so far been recorded.
Congolese authorities, in a statement on Thursday, reported two cases identified in South Kivu province -- one suspected case and one confirmed.

Riot at hospital

The outbreak's epicentre is in northeastern Ituri province, with many cases in hard-to-access areas plagued by the Congolese east's litany of armed groups and where measures to respond to the crisis have been slow to get off the ground.
"We have no sanitary facilities at all, not even a handwashing station, for 16,000 displaced people," said Desire Grodya, an official at a site for displaced people in Kigonze on the outskirts of Bunia, Ituri's provincial capital.
"We're really crammed in here; it's total overcrowding... If the outbreak starts on the site, it will be catastrophic," he warned.
On Thursday, a brief riot erupted at the hospital in Rwampara, one of the outbreak's focal points located about 12 kilometres (seven miles) from Bunia.
Young people who "wanted to retrieve the body" of a deceased patient "entered the hospital and burned down the two isolation tents", a hospital official told AFP.
A healthcare worker was also injured by stone-throwing before law enforcement intervened, the official said.
The isolation tents had only just been put up at the hospital.
The outbreak comes at a time when humanitarian organisations have seen their budgets slashed, particularly as a result of US aid spending cuts under President Donald Trump.
Cases have also been recorded in North Kivu province and neighbouring Uganda, where one person has died.

Split by front lines

Both North and South Kivu are split in two by the front lines dividing the Congolese army from the M23 armed group and its Rwandan allies.
No vaccine or clinical treatment exists for the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebolavirus responsible for the current epidemic.
"Every passenger who arrives here, whether at the airport entry point or elsewhere, is subject to a temperature check," said Aime Prospere, head of border hygiene at Bunia airport, in a statement.
Tons of equipment have been delivered at the airport by the WHO and NGOs since Monday.
In the city "we're not allowed to carry two people on the same motorcycle", Paulin Kibondo, a motorcycle taxi driver, said.
Schools and churches are still open, an AFP correspondent saw.
A US citizen who contracted Ebola while working in the DRC is currently in hospital in Germany. 
While the WHO believes the risk from the Ebola outbreak is high both in the DRC and the wider central African region, it considers the risk of a worldwide pandemic to be "low". 
In response to the outbreak, the United States on Monday announced stepped-up screening procedures for air passengers coming from the DRC, Uganda and South Sudan. A day after, Bahrain announced a month-long ban on visitors from the three countries.
The DRC football team has cancelled a training camp in Kinshasa in preparation for the World Cup in the United States, which is co-hosting the tournament with Canada and Mexico, a team official told AFP on Wednesday.
str-clt/sbk-kjm/rh

hurricanes

US expects 'below normal' Atlantic hurricane season

  • The forecast does not include predictions on whether or not storms might make landfall.
  • US forecasters on Thursday predicted the Atlantic hurricane season is likely to be "below normal" in 2026, but cautioned that "it only takes one."
  • The forecast does not include predictions on whether or not storms might make landfall.
US forecasters on Thursday predicted the Atlantic hurricane season is likely to be "below normal" in 2026, but cautioned that "it only takes one."
Data on the eastern and central Pacific meanwhile shows a 70 percent chance of "above normal" activity.
An expected El Nino weather pattern is largely driving the forecast, said National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) head Neil Jacobs.
Atlantic hurricanes are more dangerous to human life and property as they are generally closer to more heavily populated areas.
Even a "below normal" season could include eight to 14 named storms, Jacobs said, and at least one to three are likely to be considered major, meaning with winds above 111 miles (178 kilometers) per hour.
"Don't let words like below average... change the way you're prepared," urged Ken Graham, National Weather Service director.
The forecast does not include predictions on whether or not storms might make landfall.
NOAA officials said the last time they put out a similar forecast was in 2015.
The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June through November. The Pacific season began in mid-May and also runs through November.
El Nino -- a natural climate cycle phase -- influences global weather and increases the likelihood of drought, heavy rainfall and other climate extremes.
It generally supports fewer tropical storms and hurricanes in the Atlantic, because it can create strong vertical winds there that can tilt or tear those systems before they strengthen.
El Nino has the opposite effect in the Pacific, meaning places like Hawaii and Mexico could potentially suffer more impacts from storms.
And in a world warmed by fossil fuel pollution, Atlantic sea surface temperatures could have the potential to play spoiler to El Nino's impact.
Following the briefing, Graham said in a statement "there is still uncertainty in how each season will unfold."
The 2025 Atlantic hurricane season included four major hurricanes ending with Melissa, which struck Jamaica as one of the most powerful storms ever recorded.
Fueled by abnormally warm Caribbean waters, it exploded into a Category 5 storm and moved across the region at little more than a strolling pace, amplifying the danger of relentless rain, storm surge and wind while unleashing catastrophic damage.
A study from the Imperial College London said the massive storm was made four times more likely because of human-caused climate change.
Scientists say both rapid intensification and stalling storms are on the rise in a warming climate.
mdo/

Germany

In Ankara, DW journalist goes on trial for 'insulting president'

  • About an hour into the hearing, the judge granted him conditional release and adjourned the hearing, the broadcaster said.
  • A Turkish journalist with Deutsche Welle (DW) went on trial in Ankara on Thursday for allegedly "insulting the president", with the court granting him conditional release, the German broadcaster said. 
  • About an hour into the hearing, the judge granted him conditional release and adjourned the hearing, the broadcaster said.
A Turkish journalist with Deutsche Welle (DW) went on trial in Ankara on Thursday for allegedly "insulting the president", with the court granting him conditional release, the German broadcaster said. 
Alican Uludag was arrested at his home in Ankara on February 19 over allegations of "insulting" President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and "disseminating false news" over several posts on X.
Berlin has denounced the allegations against him as "baseless" and Amnesty International has demanded his release.
Held at an Istanbul jail some 500 kilometres (300 miles) from his home, he appeared before the court via video link, giving a strong defence for his innocence and asking the court to acquit him, said DW which had a team in the courtroom. 
"I was detained, but I did not commit a crime that warrants arrest... I am a journalist who is being silenced," testified Uludag, who has been a court reporter for 18 years. 
"I made general criticisms, I criticised the relationship between the judiciary and politics. As a judicial reporter, I criticised operations in the judiciary on social media, I want to know what is criminal about that?" 
About an hour into the hearing, the judge granted him conditional release and adjourned the hearing, the broadcaster said.
DW Director General Barbara Massing said in a statement that she was "very relieved" that Uludag was "finally being released after three months and can return to his family in Ankara".
But she added it was "troubling that the proceedings will continue", adding that DW calls "for the charges to be dropped immediately".
The broadcaster said the trial will continue on September 18.
Many people, from teenagers to journalists and even a former Miss Turkey, have been hit with the charge of "insulting the president" in recent years, which observers say is often used to silence Erdogan's critics.
Media freedom campaign group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) described Uludag's arrest as "outrageous", saying if convicted, he could face up to four years and eight months in jail.
"All journalists and other media workers who are the subjects of rights violations, criminalised and deprived of their liberty solely because of their journalism must be immediately released," said Amnesty's Turkey director Ruhat Sena Aksener in a statement.
Prosecutors on Thursday opened a new probe into two senior staff at the left-leaning BirGun newspaper for "insulting the president" over a report about university students who join protests, the paper said. 
The pair are Sefer Selcuk Ozbek and Gokay Bascan. 
RSF places Turkey 163rd out of 180 countries in its 2026 world press freedom rankings.
bur-jsk/phz

election

US Democrats release - and disown - 2024 election autopsy

  • Before its official release, CNN had already obtained and published the document -- which stretches nearly 200 pages but is missing sections, including a conclusion.
  • US Democrats on Thursday released a long-awaited autopsy of their 2024 presidential election defeat -- a document missing a conclusion and accompanied by an apology from the party chairman that it was not up to scratch.
  • Before its official release, CNN had already obtained and published the document -- which stretches nearly 200 pages but is missing sections, including a conclusion.
US Democrats on Thursday released a long-awaited autopsy of their 2024 presidential election defeat -- a document missing a conclusion and accompanied by an apology from the party chairman that it was not up to scratch.
The report, commissioned after Kamala Harris's loss to Donald Trump, was initially promised as an honest reckoning with what went wrong.
Instead, its delayed release became its own political debacle, feeding months of speculation that the party was trying to hide the findings.
Democratic National Committee (DNC) chairman Ken Martin, who first pledged to release the review and later reversed course, said Thursday he was publishing it "unedited and unabridged" despite deep misgivings.
"It does not meet my standards, and it won't meet your standards," Martin said, adding that withholding the report had created "an even bigger distraction."
The unusual document includes a disclaimer saying it reflects the views of its author, Democratic strategist Paul Rivera, not the party itself. 
The DNC also said it was not given the underlying sources, interviews or data for many of the assertions, and therefore could not independently verify them.
The report's bumpy path to publication has intensified doubts among some Democrats about Martin's leadership just months before midterm elections, with donors and party members complaining that an effort to explain one defeat had instead produced a new internal crisis.
The review had been expected earlier last year but was repeatedly delayed. Martin later said he would not release it, saying Democrats needed to focus on future elections rather than relitigating 2024.
Pressure mounted after Harris privately signaled support for making the report public and liberal groups flooded DNC members with demands for its release.
Before its official release, CNN had already obtained and published the document -- which stretches nearly 200 pages but is missing sections, including a conclusion.
Despite the process problems, the report paints a stark picture of a party that it says has "vacillated between stagnation and retrogression" since Barack Obama's 2008 victory.
It also criticizes the Biden White House and the Harris campaign for failing to do more to define their candidate beyond being "not Trump" and says Democrats failed to make a strong enough case against Trump.
But the report offers few firm solutions, and some of the most divisive questions from 2024 are largely absent -- including Biden's decision to run again, Harris taking over the ticket without a competitive process and the effect of the Gaza war on Democratic support.
ft/bgs

conflict

Israel deports all foreign activists from Gaza flotilla

BY HIBA ASLAN

  • Israel's foreign ministry spokesman, Oren Marmorstein, said on Thursday that "all foreign activists from the PR flotilla have been deported from Israel."
  • Israel said on Thursday it had deported all the foreign activists seized by Israeli forces from a Gaza-bound flotilla, following global outcry over their treatment in custody.
  • Israel's foreign ministry spokesman, Oren Marmorstein, said on Thursday that "all foreign activists from the PR flotilla have been deported from Israel."
Israel said on Thursday it had deported all the foreign activists seized by Israeli forces from a Gaza-bound flotilla, following global outcry over their treatment in custody.
Some 430 activists from countries around the world had been placed in detention in Israel after they were intercepted at sea on Monday while making the latest in a string of attempts to break the blockade of the Palestinian territory.
Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir sparked widespread condemnation and diplomatic backlash on Wednesday by posting a video showing the detained activists with their hands tied and foreheads on the ground.
Israel's foreign ministry spokesman, Oren Marmorstein, said on Thursday that "all foreign activists from the PR flotilla have been deported from Israel."
"Israel will not permit any breach of the lawful naval blockade on Gaza," he added.
The legal centre representing the flotilla members said earlier on Thursday that the majority were "en route for deportation" from Ramon Airport in Israel's far south.
Adalah said that the activists had been held at Israel's Ktziot prison, in the Negev Desert near Gaza.
Turkey had announced it was sending charter flights to Israel to repatriate Turkish citizens and participants from third countries.
Turkish foreign ministry sources later confirmed that "a total of 422 flotilla participants, 85 of whom are our citizens, are being brought to our country on special charter flights."
A spokesman for Adalah said activists from Egypt had been transferred to Taba at Egypt's border with Israel, while those from Jordan had been transferred to Aqaba.

'Inflammatory video'

Around 50 vessels under the Global Sumud Flotilla set sail from Turkey last week in the latest attempt by activists to breach Israel's blockade of Gaza, after Israeli forces intercepted a previous convoy last month.
The deportations come after footage posted by Ben Gvir, captioned "Welcome to Israel" and showing the minister heckling and waving an Israeli flag among the detained activists, sparked resounding condemnation by governments around the world, from Italy to Spain and Australia to Canada.
He was also criticised at home by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, as well as by US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee.
Italy and Spain have called on the European Union to sanction Ben Gvir, with Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez calling the treatment of the activists "unacceptable."
In Ireland, a leaked letter revealed Prime Minister Micheal Martin urging the EU chief for "further action" against Israel over the activists' treatment.
"At the very least, this must include the banning of products from Israeli settlements and the suspension of parts if not all of the EU's Association Agreement with Israel," the letter said.
The United Kingdom announced it had summoned Israel's most senior diplomat in Britain following "the inflammatory video".
Francesca Albanese, an outspoken UN expert on the Palestinian territories, called on Italy, where she is from, to take action.
The treatment of the flotilla activists "is a luxury compared to what is inflicted on Palestinians in Israeli prisons," Albanese wrote on X.
"Words do not suffice: let Italy stop opposing the suspension" of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, she added.

'They kicked us'

Adalah's legal director Suhad Bishara told AFP on Wednesday that the group's lawyers had been able to give legal counsel to "many" of the hundreds of activists, though she added that others had faced court hearings without legal assistance.
"We know of at least two participants who were hospitalised... both of them were shot by rubber bullets," Bishara said, adding that others said they feared they had broken ribs.
Alessandro Mantovani, an Italian journalist detained with the flotilla activists and deported before the others, told reporters at Rome's Fiumicino airport Thursday that he and others had been "taken to Ben Gurion airport in handcuffs and with chains on our feet and put on a flight to Athens".
"They beat us up. They kicked us and punched us and shouted 'Welcome to Israel'," he said of his treatment by Israeli security forces.
Israel controls all entry points into Gaza, under blockade since 2007.
Since the start of the Gaza war, sparked by Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, the territory has suffered severe shortages of food, medicine and other essential supplies, with Israel at times halting aid deliveries entirely.
bur-ha-lba-acc/jfx

conflict

First Gaza flotilla activists arrive in Istanbul from Israel: AFP

  • Just after 1230 GMT, Israel confirmed that all the flotilla activists had "been deported" from Ramon Airport near the southern resort city of Eilat.  ach-hmw/jj
  • The first of hundreds of Gaza flotilla activists began arriving at Istanbul airport Thursday after being arrested then deported from Israel, an AFP correspondent said.
  • Just after 1230 GMT, Israel confirmed that all the flotilla activists had "been deported" from Ramon Airport near the southern resort city of Eilat.  ach-hmw/jj
The first of hundreds of Gaza flotilla activists began arriving at Istanbul airport Thursday after being arrested then deported from Israel, an AFP correspondent said.
The 422 activists, among them 85 Turkish nationals, were flown from southern Israel on three planes chartered by Ankara, Turkish foreign ministry sources said.
A first group of arrivals could be seen inside the VIP terminal at Istanbul airport on the European side of the city, as a crowd of supporters carrying Palestinian flags gathered to welcome them, the correspondent said.
As they started emerging from the terminal, with the Turkish activists at the front, they were greeted by cries of "Allahu Akbar!" -- Arabic for god is greatest -- by the waiting crowd. 
"The Palestinian people are not alone!" shouted one of the activists as he emerged from the terminal. 
"We've been tortured, we've been beaten, we've been arrested in international waters, but we won't give up. We will return. Palestine will be free from the river to the sea," he said to cheers from the crowd. 
The activists had been part of a fleet of around 50 vessels that set sail from southern Turkey on May 14 seeking to break Israel's blockade on Gaza. It was joined at sea by several others.
Their deportation came a day after footage of their humiliation in custody, shared online by Israel's far-right security minister, sparked international fury.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan had earlier said Ankara was arranging to have all the activists flown to Turkey on special charter flights.
Just after 1230 GMT, Israel confirmed that all the flotilla activists had "been deported" from Ramon Airport near the southern resort city of Eilat. 
ach-hmw/jj

migrant

Ghana delays evacuation of 800 citizens from South Africa

  • Asamoah, the man in the viral video, has since returned safely to Ghana. str/sn/st/cw
  • Ghana said Thursday it has delayed the evacuation of more than 800 of its citizens from South Africa after a viral video showing the alleged assault of a Ghanaian man triggered outrage.
  • Asamoah, the man in the viral video, has since returned safely to Ghana. str/sn/st/cw
Ghana said Thursday it has delayed the evacuation of more than 800 of its citizens from South Africa after a viral video showing the alleged assault of a Ghanaian man triggered outrage.
The footage showing the attack on Emmanuel Asamoah, a Ghanaian living in South Africa, circulated widely on social media during the latest wave of xenophobic violence targeting foreign nationals in the country. 
The Ghanaian foreign ministry said earlier this month that it was evacuating citizens from South Africa as a result.
Some 800 Ghanaians were to be evacuated starting Thursday, but the process was delayed because of the large numbers of evacuees and legal clearance procedures required by South Africa, the ministry said. 
"Considering the numbers involved and the South African legal conditions that have to be met, including mandatory passenger screening, multi-institutional coordination and flight permits, the planned evacuation has been deferred by a few days," the ministry said.
It said that Ghanaian and South African authorities had agreed to accelerate the process. 
Only one Ghanaian showed up at South Africa's O.R. Tambo international airport on Thursday, AFP journalists at the airport reported.
Ghana's government has promised to give those it is evacuating from South Africa a re-integration financial package and psycho-social support. 
The latest tensions have revived uncomfortable debates across Africa about xenophobia, migration, and the gap between pan-African rhetoric and realities facing African migrants on the continent. 
Ghana has increasingly pushed for the issue to receive broader continental attention and has tabled concerns around xenophobic violence within African Union discussions, arguing that recurring attacks threaten African integration and free movement ambitions under frameworks such as the African Continental Free Trade Area.
Earlier this month, Ghana's foreign minister said he had formally petitioned that "requesting that the South African xenophobic attacks targeted at Africans be placed on the agenda" at the AU's mid-year meeting due next month.
South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa last week moved to reassure other African countries saying "opportunists" had orchestrated anti-immigrant attacks on foreigners and that "there is no place in South Africa for xenophobia, ethnic mobilisation, intolerance or violence".
Asamoah, the man in the viral video, has since returned safely to Ghana.
str/sn/st/cw

diving

Italian divers in Maldives may have got lost in cave: recovery firm

BY ELLA IDE

  • The dead-end corridor is where the four other bodies were found.
  • Italian divers who died in the Maldives may have taken the wrong tunnel in a cave and died in a dead-end corridor, the head of the company that recovered their bodies told AFP on Thursday.
  • The dead-end corridor is where the four other bodies were found.
Italian divers who died in the Maldives may have taken the wrong tunnel in a cave and died in a dead-end corridor, the head of the company that recovered their bodies told AFP on Thursday.
Finnish divers working for Dan Europe found their bodies in a corridor with a dead end inside the cave complex, some 50 metres (165 feet) down in the Indian Ocean archipelago.
"The bodies were found together in an area of the cave. Based on the cave's layout, they may have got lost," the company's CEO Laura Marroni told AFP.
The Italian divers included a marine biology professor with many years of experience, her daughter, two young researchers, and their Maldives-based guide.
The alarm was sounded last Thursday after they failed to return from a dive.
The cave, an underwater system which extends for hundreds of metres through multiple chambers and internal passages, begins with a first large, bright cavern with a sandy bottom.
That is where the guide's body was found, in an earlier recovery operation by Maldivian authorities.
At the end of this cavern is a corridor, which is almost 30 metres long and three metres across, and which leads to a second chamber of the cave.
The corridor ends in a sandbank, which is easy to get over into a second chamber, but "which could limit visibility" when attempting to leave again, Marroni said.
"The divers, unable to find the exit corridor, found themselves in a corridor to the left of what would have been the exit, which, however, was a dead end," she said.
The dead-end corridor is where the four other bodies were found.

'Limited air supply'

"Considering that they had a very limited air supply and therefore only a few minutes at the bottom, there probably wasn't even time for them to make numerous attempts to find the correct exit," said Marroni.
An attempt by the Maldivian National Defence Force (MNDF) to recover them was called off after one of its rescuers died Saturday from decompression complications, and the Finnish team was called in.
It was made up of three divers: one tasked with recovering the bodies, the second with operational safety support, and the third documenting the recovery and dive site.
The divers "are highly trained" and "conducted an extensive reconnaissance with us, and developed a conservative dive plan, considering that no one knew the cave well", Marroni said.
"This type of operation always involves a great deal of responsibility, emotional toll, and a strong desire to return bodies to their families," she said.
The team recovered the bodies on Tuesday and Wednesday.
One of the divers, 54-year-old Patrik Gronqvist, told AFP by telephone that they "had started to see some traces on the bottom, as if there had been some kind of activity", leading them to find all four bodies in a pitch-black hole in the cave. 
"The bodies were here and there," within an area of two to three metres, he said. 
"Three were on the floor (of the cave) and one in the roof." 
Gronqvist said the mission had not been as "technically challenging" as previous operations he has been involved in.  
"But this operation was very sad... I will never forget it," he said.
The divers were returning to the cave Thursday to remove guide lines and operational equipment used inside the cave system during the recovery efforts.
"Much like at a crime scene, everything is documented, archived, and then cleaned up," Marroni said.
The photos and videos taken by the Finnish recovery team will be shared with the Maldivian authorities, who are investigating how the Italians were allowed to descend to a depth of 60 metres.
The Indian Ocean country permits a maximum depth of 30 metres for tourists.
ide-ank/po/phz

conflict

Italy and Spain urge EU sanctions on Israeli minister for activists' treatment

  • A global outcry erupted after Israeli minister Itamar Ben Gvir published a video Wednesday showing the heavy-handed treatment of foreign activists from the flotilla who were detained at sea by Israel and awaiting deportation at the southern port of Ashdod.
  • Italy and Spain have called on the EU to sanction Israel's far-right national security minister, who posted a video showing detained activists from a Gaza-bound flotilla forced to their knees with hands bound.
  • A global outcry erupted after Israeli minister Itamar Ben Gvir published a video Wednesday showing the heavy-handed treatment of foreign activists from the flotilla who were detained at sea by Israel and awaiting deportation at the southern port of Ashdod.
Italy and Spain have called on the EU to sanction Israel's far-right national security minister, who posted a video showing detained activists from a Gaza-bound flotilla forced to their knees with hands bound.
A global outcry erupted after Israeli minister Itamar Ben Gvir published a video Wednesday showing the heavy-handed treatment of foreign activists from the flotilla who were detained at sea by Israel and awaiting deportation at the southern port of Ashdod.
In the video, dozens of activists are seen forced to kneel with their foreheads to the ground and their hands tied. 
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called the treatment of the activists "unacceptable".
Tajani wrote on X Thursday that he had requested sanctions against the minister for "seizing the activists in international waters and subjecting them to harassment and humiliation, in violation of the most basic human rights".
His comment came a day after Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called the activists' treatment "intolerable" and demanded an apology by Israel.
On Wednesday, Sanchez wrote on X the "images of Israeli Minister Ben Gvir humiliating members of the international flotilla in support of Gaza are unacceptable. We will not tolerate anyone mistreating our citizens".
In Ireland, a leaked letter revealed Prime Minister Micheal Martin urging the EU chief for "further action" against Israel over the activists' treatment.
In the letter to European Council President Antonio Costa that was leaked to AFP Thursday by an unnamed government source, Martin condemned Israel's "shocking treatment of EU citizens" and "unacceptable behaviour" by Ben Gvir.
The letter dated Wednesday called for a discussion about the matter at the next European Council meeting in June. 
"At the very least, this must include the banning of products from Israeli settlements and the suspension of parts if not all of the EU's Association Agreement with Israel," Martin said.
That June 2000 agreement -- a treaty that sets a framework for cooperation -- includes a clause requiring respect for human rights.
Sanchez called sanctions against Ben Gvir a "matter of urgency" for Brussels, saying that he had already in September announced a ban on the minister entering Spain.
Also Thursday, the United Kingdom announced it had summoned Israel's most senior diplomat in Britain following "the inflammatory video".
The video, which was captioned "Welcome to Israel", also showed Ben Gvir heckling the activists while waving an Israeli flag.
The activists had departed from Turkey last week on around 50 vessels under the Global Sumud Flotilla.
It was the latest attempt by activists to breach Israel's blockade of Gaza, after Israeli forces intercepted a previous convoy last month.
dt-ams/ide/pdw/am/st

labour

Top UN court says right to strike protected in key labour treaty

BY RICHARD CARTER

  • The International Court of Justice had been asked to deliver a so-called advisory opinion on whether an ILO treaty from 1948, known as Convention 87, implicitly enshrined workers' right to strike.
  • The top United Nations court ruled Thursday that the right to strike was protected in a key treaty of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), a decision that could have profound implications for global labour relations.
  • The International Court of Justice had been asked to deliver a so-called advisory opinion on whether an ILO treaty from 1948, known as Convention 87, implicitly enshrined workers' right to strike.
The top United Nations court ruled Thursday that the right to strike was protected in a key treaty of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), a decision that could have profound implications for global labour relations.
The International Court of Justice had been asked to deliver a so-called advisory opinion on whether an ILO treaty from 1948, known as Convention 87, implicitly enshrined workers' right to strike.
ICJ president Yuji Iwasawa said the court was "of the opinion that the right to strike of workers and their organisations is protected" under that convention.
However, judges said their opinion, which is not binding, should not be understood as laying out any other ground rules for strike action.
The conclusion "does not entail any determination on the precise content, scope or conditions for the exercise of that right", said Iwasawa.
ILO Convention 87 is an agreement between unions and employers including the right "in full freedom, to organise their administration and activities".

Heated legal battle

Unions at the ILO had argued that this by extension enshrined the right to industrial action, but employers disagreed, so they took the fight to the ICJ.
Behind the dry legal interpretation of a decades-old treaty lay a heated battle between unions and employer groups at the ILO, which played out in hearings in October 2025.
"This case is about more than legal abstractions," Harold Koh, representing the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), told the judges. 
"It will affect the real rights of tens of millions of working people around the world," he added.
Koh warned that if the ICJ ruled the right to strike was not inherent in the Convention, companies and governments could start to unpick labour deals around the world.
"National employer groups would contest the right to strike country by country, focusing first on nations with compliant courts, weak civil societies and ineffective media," said Koh.

'Inflammatory and alarmist'

On the other side of the argument, Roberto Suarez Santos, from the International Organisation of Employers, said the 1948 convention "neither explicitly nor implicitly covers the right to strike."
Santos noted that the rules surrounding industrial action varied widely from country to country -- whether emergency services were excluded, for example.
These differences "cannot be resolved by simply reading an abstract right to strike into Convention No.87 and trying to impose it on employers, workers and governments", said Santos.
Rita Yip, also representing the employers' groups, dismissed the union arguments as "inflammatory and alarmist".
The right to strike is still protected in national laws, argued Yip, and does not need to be enshrined in "boilerplate norms, imposed at the highest level".
Urging the court to answer "no" to the question before it, Yip said the case "goes to the credibility of the entire international labour system".
Both sides at least agreed on the importance of the case for labour relations.
"At first blush, this case may not seem momentous," said Koh from the trade union confederation.
"But your decision here will affect every worker in the world," he told the judges.
ric/jj

culture

'French Banksy' and Daft Punk star turn Paris bridge into Alpine cave

  • "It's incredible," passer-by Caroline Masson told AFP. "People used to tell me about Christo's project on Pont Neuf, so I never imagined I'd see as an adult the wrapping of the Pont Neuf by JR... it's spectacular!" 
  • Tourists and Parisians goggled at the sight of the French capital's oldest bridge transformed into a giant "cave" on Thursday, a spectacular new public work by the street artist JR. JR, dubbed the "French Banksy" after the British street artist, has wrapped the Pont Neuf in fabric painted white, grey and black to create the impression of a rocky grotto.
  • "It's incredible," passer-by Caroline Masson told AFP. "People used to tell me about Christo's project on Pont Neuf, so I never imagined I'd see as an adult the wrapping of the Pont Neuf by JR... it's spectacular!" 
Tourists and Parisians goggled at the sight of the French capital's oldest bridge transformed into a giant "cave" on Thursday, a spectacular new public work by the street artist JR.
JR, dubbed the "French Banksy" after the British street artist, has wrapped the Pont Neuf in fabric painted white, grey and black to create the impression of a rocky grotto.
The creation, 120 metres (390 feet) long, 20 metres wide and varying in height from 12 to 18 metres, drew curious onlookers to the banks of the Seine on a sunny spring morning. 
"It really stands out," 37-year-old Parisian Stephanie Da Cruz told AFP.
"You imagine mountains, the Alps or something like that, and contrasts so strongly with the architecture of Paris, that it's just very surprising."
JR, who began his career as a street Paris graffiti tagger and has become one of the best known figures on the French art scene, created the work as a tribute to the duo Christo and Jeanne-Claude.
They wrapped the Pont Neuf in fabric in 1985, drawing millions of visitors, as well as the Arc de Triomphe in 2021.
"It's incredible," passer-by Caroline Masson told AFP.
"People used to tell me about Christo's project on Pont Neuf, so I never imagined I'd see as an adult the wrapping of the Pont Neuf by JR... it's spectacular!" 

Mixing the wild and the elegant

From June 6 to 28, visitors will be able to explore inside the new work, with electro artist Thomas Bangalter -- one half of legendary French dance act Daft Punk -- providing the soundtrack.
JR said he wanted to "juxtapose the rough and the wild with the refined elegance of Paris, creating a dialogue between the past and the present.
"There is also a kind of unknown, of fear, of entering into a cave -- and at the same time, a fascination," he told AFP.
Organisers are expecting to draw big crowds, particularly foreign tourists, with some of the city's major attractions including Notre Dame cathedral just a stone's throw away.
"It's wonderful, isn't it? The way Paris plays with the city is extraordinary, in my opinion," Canadian tourist Peter Stuart said.
The work, titled "La Caverne" (The Cave) in French, is the latest in a series of large-scale public art pieces to grace Paris, and even appeared to be winning round the sceptics.
"I'm not a fan of contemporary art. I love Paris as it is, beautiful," tourist Vince, 75, from New York, told AFP.
"But I must admit it's fascinating. When I see it like that, I like it... it's like a little bit of the Alps in Paris."
bur-pdw/fg

politics

Late queen pushed for son Andrew to be UK trade envoy: official papers

  • The Liberal Democrat party, which moved the government to release documents related to Mountbatten-Windsor, has also asked for the publication of any correspondence between Mandelson and the former prince. 
  • Britain's late queen Elizabeth II pushed for her son Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor to be given a high-profile job as a trade envoy, a senior official said in a 2000 document released by the government on Thursday.
  • The Liberal Democrat party, which moved the government to release documents related to Mountbatten-Windsor, has also asked for the publication of any correspondence between Mandelson and the former prince. 
Britain's late queen Elizabeth II pushed for her son Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor to be given a high-profile job as a trade envoy, a senior official said in a 2000 document released by the government on Thursday.
The British government agreed to release the documents related to the disgraced former prince's role as trade envoy from 2001 to 2011, amid the fallout from the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.
Mountbatten-Windsor, who was stripped of his remaining royal titles following the release of US files related to Epstein last year, was arrested in February on suspicion of misconduct in public office linked to the late American sex offender.
He is accused of sharing sensitive information with Epstein during his time as an official trade envoy for Britain.
The former prince was released after being questioned for hours by police and has not been charged. He denies any wrongdoing.
The 11 documents published by the government discuss the appointment of the former prince to a role as a special envoy for British Trade International (BTI), which promoted the UK abroad.
Following a "wide-ranging conversation" with the queen's private secretary, BTI head David Wright wrote to the then foreign minister to say it was the queen's "wish" that Andrew, then the Duke of York, be appointed to the role.
"The Queen is very keen that the Duke of York should take on a prominent role in the promotion of national interests," said the letter dated 25 February 2000.
One month earlier, in a message with the subject "Duke of York's travel", head of protocol Kathryn Colvin advised that the Duke of York "should not be offered golfing functions abroad".
Colvin also noted that the former duke preferred "more sophisticated countries" and "liked travelling, especially when on royal business".

'No vetting'

The role was unpaid, but during his time as envoy, the then-prince was dubbed "Air Miles Andy" as he jetted around the world with his expenses, including luxury hotels, covered by taxpayers.
In a written statement to parliament, trade minister Chris Bryant said "we have found no evidence that a formal due diligence or vetting process was undertaken."
However, this was "understandable" as the "new appointment was a continuation of the Royal Family's involvement in trade and investment promotion work".
Peter Mandelson, former UK ambassador to the US who was sacked over his ties to Epstein, is also being investigated for misconduct in public office when he was a government minister in the 2000s.
The Liberal Democrat party, which moved the government to release documents related to Mountbatten-Windsor, has also asked for the publication of any correspondence between Mandelson and the former prince. 
The former duke has been long embroiled in scandals over his friendship with Epstein.
Virginia Giuffre, who died by suicide last year, claimed she was trafficked three times to have sex with the British royal, starting in 2001 and twice when she was 17.
Mountbatten-Windsor settled a US civil lawsuit in 2022 brought by Giuffre while not admitting liability.
aks/jkb/pdw