conflict

UK, France, Germany back Zelensky's call for Putin meeting

politics

China's Xi in North Korea for rare visit

  • But leader Kim Jong Un's powerful sister said on the eve of the visit that North Korea's nuclear weapons programme was "the line of no retreat".
  • China's President Xi Jinping made a rare visit to North Korea on Monday, where he met an emboldened Kim Jong Un who has drawn closer to Moscow while expanding his country's nuclear weapons programme.
  • But leader Kim Jong Un's powerful sister said on the eve of the visit that North Korea's nuclear weapons programme was "the line of no retreat".
China's President Xi Jinping made a rare visit to North Korea on Monday, where he met an emboldened Kim Jong Un who has drawn closer to Moscow while expanding his country's nuclear weapons programme.
Xi's trip to Pyongyang was his first since 2019, and came after he hosted a series of world leaders including US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Beijing.
China, Washington's chief geopolitical rival, has been North Korea's main trading partner by far for decades and a key source of diplomatic and economic support for a country hit by international sanctions.
But Kim has boosted an alliance with Putin in recent years, securing critical support from Moscow after sending troops to fight alongside Russian forces.
In an article published on the front page of North Korea's Rodong Sinmun, Xi underlined the special relationship between the two sides.
"No matter how the times change or how the international situation evolves, the traditional friendship between China and North Korea is always invincible," Xi wrote.
Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan were met at the airport by Kim in a red-carpet welcome complete with military salute and cheering crowds.
Huge portraits of the two leaders loomed over Kim Il Sung Square during a grand welcome ceremony, where Xi and Kim inspected the honour guard as a military band played their national anthems, state broadcaster CCTV showed.

'Irreversible'

While the two countries are quick to talk up their friendship, North Korea's commitment to its nuclear programme has been a thorn in the relationship.
Beijing has said it wants to see a denuclearised Korean peninsula, but North Korea has repeatedly declared itself an "irreversible" nuclear state, particularly after Kim and Trump's 2019 summit collapsed over Pyongyang's weapons programme and sanctions relief.
China-North Korea exchanges faced a further blow soon after, when Pyongyang shuttered its borders during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Xi's trip came just weeks after he held talks with Trump, during which the White House said the leaders "confirmed their shared goal to denuclearise North Korea".
But leader Kim Jong Un's powerful sister said on the eve of the visit that North Korea's nuclear weapons programme was "the line of no retreat".
Minseon Ku, a diplomacy professor at DePaul University, told AFP that "Beijing probably has accepted North Korea as a nuclear state", but Xi "will probably tell Kim that China wants stability more than anything".
Seong-Hyon Lee, a visiting scholar at the Harvard University Asia Center, also said Beijing is shifting towards "underwriting regime durability" rather than seeking to coerce North Korea into denuclearisation.
"China's broader regional strategy benefits from a stable, heavily armed, and aligned buffer state that absorbs US and allied military bandwidth," he told AFP.
Xi last met Kim in September, when he invited the North Korean leader and Putin to a military parade in Beijing marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.

Military alliance

Trump has made little progress on North Korea, especially on the nuclear front, despite his earlier high-profile summits with Kim.
North Korea is also the only country with an official, binding military alliance with China.
North Korea could also serve as a useful counterweight to US partners in the region, including South Korea and Japan, analysts said.
Long-frosty China-Japan ties have deteriorated since Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, a security hawk, suggested last year that Tokyo might intervene militarily in any Chinese attempt to take self-ruled Taiwan.
"As China's international standing rises, Beijing is likely seeking to draw Pyongyang more actively into its diplomatic orbit," said Lim Eul-chul, a North Korea expert at Kyungnam University.
Some analysts say the summit could be Xi's way of countering Russia's growing influence over North Korea, but DePaul's Ku noted that "overall, Moscow is not a major power like China".
"Moscow-Pyongyang power relations are more equal than Beijing-Pyongyang; Moscow needs Kim for their war in Ukraine as much as Kim needs technology sharing and food from Russia," she said.
Residents living close to the North Korean border expressed hope for greater openness from Pyongyang. 
South Korean tour guide Jun Sang-gab, 65, said he hopes that "North Korea opens its economy" and follows China's development model.
"If they (the North) establish themselves economically, there won't be any incidents like armed unification or war" on the Korean peninsula, he told AFP.
bur-cdl-mya/dhw/hmn

Global Edition

Armenia PM wins vote, cementing Westward tilt

BY IRAKLI METREVELI

  • Analyst Armen Badalyan said the result means that Pashinyan's party "won enough seats in the new parliament to form the country's next cabinet".
  • Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's ruling party has won parliamentary elections, preliminary results showed on Monday, a victory seen as endorsement of the nation's pro-Western shift after threats from Moscow and claims of Russian interference.
  • Analyst Armen Badalyan said the result means that Pashinyan's party "won enough seats in the new parliament to form the country's next cabinet".
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's ruling party has won parliamentary elections, preliminary results showed on Monday, a victory seen as endorsement of the nation's pro-Western shift after threats from Moscow and claims of Russian interference.
Pashinyan's push to forge closer ties with the West and move Armenia out of the orbit of its former imperial ruler has angered the Kremlin and drawn rebukes from President Vladimir Putin.
The election comes after years of turmoil since Pashinyan was swept to power in a 2018 street revolution.
The small Caucasus country is still haunted by Azerbaijan's 2023 military takeover of Karabakh, which ended decades of territorial conflict and prompted the exodus of the enclave's 100,000-strong ethnic Armenian population.
Pashinyan framed the vote as a choice between lasting peace with Azerbaijan and a return to war.
His ruling Civil Contract party got 49.8 percent of the vote, comfortably ahead of the 23.3 percent of the Russian-Armenian billionaire Samvel Karapetyan's Strong Armenia alliance, the Central Election Commission said.
Pashinyan had the backing of Europe and the United States ahead of the vote.
French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday congratulated him and said the result would boost "momentum toward closer ties with Europe".
Two other opposition forces -- ex-president Robert Kocharyan's "Armenia" alliance and the Prosperous Armenia party -- also cleared the electoral threshold to get into parliament, winning 9.9 percent and four percent of the vote, respectively.
Turnout was 59 percent, the commission said.
Analyst Armen Badalyan said the result means that Pashinyan's party "won enough seats in the new parliament to form the country's next cabinet".
"But it fell short of the super majority needed to pass constitutional amendments" demanded by Azerbaijan as a condition for a final peace treaty.

'Prosperity and cooperation'

Pashinyan hailed his party's "historic victory that will ensure Armenia's eternity and development".
He pledged to follow a balanced foreign policy, saying Yerevan will "continue the course of rapprochement with the West" while also deepening Russia ties.
"The Armenian people voted for regional prosperity and cooperation, and I hope this will draw a positive response from Turkey and Azerbaijan," he told a news conference, adding that "we need to institutionalise peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan".
He also vowed "the final eradication of the criminal-oligarchic system from Armenia", saying: "The leaders of these forces must be held criminally liable."
His opponent Karapetyan called the elections "shameful", denouncing alleged violations and repression and saying dozens of his campaign staff had been arrested.
Critics accuse Pashinyan of using the courts, police and administrative resources to pressure opponents, saying his reformist government has drifted toward authoritarian methods despite continued political competition.
Armenia's Investigative Committee said it had opened 59 criminal cases over alleged electoral violations -- including people casting multiple ballots -- and detained nine.

'Enemies of freedom'

Karapetyan has denied claims he would pull the country back under Russian dominance, and warned against what he called Pashinyan's "reckless rush" toward the West.
He has been under house arrest since last year on charges of plotting a coup, which he rejects as politically motivated.
Pashinyan has frozen participation in a Russia-led security bloc, signed a strategic partnership agreement with Washington, and set Armenia on a path toward possible EU membership.
Moscow has reacted sharply to the prospect of losing another ally in what it sees as its sphere of influence.
In a pointed warning, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in May: "We all see what is happening with Ukraine now... How did it all begin? With Ukraine's attempt to join the EU."
The Kremlin was widely accused of seeking to sway the vote.
Analysts have noted online misinformation, hacker activity and Kremlin-friendly narratives portraying Western cooperation as dangerous.
In the weeks before the vote, Russia unleashed a trade war on Yerevan, banning the import of several products from Armenia.
Armenian officials have also warned that "enemies of freedom" are bankrolling propaganda campaigns.
For many Armenians, the opposition remains associated with Russian influence and oligarchs.
mkh-im/jc/phz

US

Israel, Iran trade fire for first time since truce

BY AFP TEAMS IN TEHRAN, JERUSALEM, DUBAI, MANAMA, KUWAIT AND WASHINGTON

  • He doesn't call the shots," Trump said in an interview with the Financial Times on Sunday, referring to Netanyahu.
  • Israel and Iran exchanged attacks on Monday for the first time since a ceasefire in the Middle East war took effect two months ago, despite US President Donald Trump calling for restraint.
  • He doesn't call the shots," Trump said in an interview with the Financial Times on Sunday, referring to Netanyahu.
Israel and Iran exchanged attacks on Monday for the first time since a ceasefire in the Middle East war took effect two months ago, despite US President Donald Trump calling for restraint.
The flare-up, which also drew in other countries in the region, saw Israel striking Iran after the Islamic republic targeted it in vengeance for an airstrike on Beirut's southern suburbs, where its proxy Hezbollah holds sway.
It followed weeks of negotiations seeking to bring about a definitive end to the regional war sparked by US and Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28. 
No casualties have been reported so far in either Israel or Iran. 
The attacks included a strike on an Iranian petrochemical complex and a missile attack on Israel by Yemen's Houthi rebels. 
The Israeli military said it struck and dismantled Iranian defence systems deployed across several areas in the country.
AFP journalists in Jerusalem and the West Bank city of Ramallah heard a series of explosions and the Israeli army said it worked to intercept a new wave of Iranian missiles.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they had struck Israel's Nevatim and Tel Nof air bases "in response to a missile attack launched by the Zionist regime".
Tehran blamed Washington for the resumption of fighting and said the flare-up would affect peace talks.
"No one believes that the Zionist regime would carry out any action without prior coordination and cooperation with the United States," foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said at a press conference in Tehran attended by AFP.
"It is perfectly natural that the diplomatic process initiated to put an end to this imposed war would be affected."
Nonetheless, "diplomatic consultations are naturally continuing in all circumstances", Baqaei added.

'I call the shots'

Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels meanwhile announced a missile attack on Israel on Monday, the first since early April, and declared a ban on Israeli shipping in the Red Sea, raising the spectre of a return to major disruption on the key route.
"We declare a complete and total ban on Israeli maritime navigation in the Red Sea," said a statement from the Houthis' armed forces.
Trump called for calm from both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Iranians, but Israel accused Tehran of making a "grave mistake". 
"I call the shots. I call all the shots. He doesn't call the shots," Trump said in an interview with the Financial Times on Sunday, referring to Netanyahu.
In an interview with Fox News, Trump said: "What I would suggest to Iran: You've shot your missiles, that's enough, get back to the table and make a deal."

'Legitimate targets'

"The European Union's top diplomat Kaja Kallas urged calm Monday and called on both sides to "sit down to a negotiation table and agree".
China also called on the two sides to refrain from fighting, with foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian saying that "resuming hostilities is not in any party's interest".
Tehran has insisted any deal to permanently end the war must also halt the parallel conflict in Lebanon, where Israel was pursuing a campaign against Hezbollah.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards called the attack a "warning" after Israel struck Beirut's southern suburbs earlier in the day, threatening wider strikes in the event of repeated aggression.
On Sunday, Netanyahu's office announced the army had "struck a militant command centre in Beirut's Dahiyeh district, in response to Hezbollah's fire towards Israeli territory".
The raid killed two people and wounded 20 more, Lebanon's health ministry said.
Israel had warned it would hit the area should Hezbollah attack northern Israel, with the Iran-backed group later confirming having launched missiles and drones at a pair of Israeli army barracks early Sunday.
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran's parliament speaker and its chief negotiator in talks with Washington, accused the United States of having given a "green light" for the Beirut attack, saying US and Israeli assets were now "legitimate targets".
The head of Iran's military central command said Israel had "crossed all red lines" with the Beirut strike.

'Everything is horrible'

The attacks sent crude prices surging more than five percent as hopes dimmed on any imminent reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, the crucial waterway for oil and gas transit which Iran has blockaded.
Iranians were also already feeling the strain of weeks of uncertainty.
"I really have gone numb," fitness trainer Elaheh from Ahvaz told AFP.
"Daily life? It's a joke. Everything is horrible. We only try to survive," the 32-year-old added, pointing to rising prices.
There were some weekend signs of ongoing diplomatic efforts, with Pakistan Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi visiting Tehran to deliver what he said was a "special letter" to Iran's supreme leader, according to Iranian state television.
He has since travelled back to Pakistan, an official Pakistani source said on Monday.
Iran said that "diplomatic consultations are naturally continuing" with Pakistan to end the war with the US, even after fighting resumed with Israel. 
burs-jfx/ser

Global Edition

Major quake off Philippines kills at least 15, triggers tsunami warnings

  • Eastern Mindanao was rocked by a pair of earthquakes of 7.4 and 6.7 magnitude in October that killed at least eight people. 
  • A 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck the southern Philippines on Monday, killing at least 15 people, collapsing buildings and sparking tsunami warnings across the region.
  • Eastern Mindanao was rocked by a pair of earthquakes of 7.4 and 6.7 magnitude in October that killed at least eight people. 
A 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck the southern Philippines on Monday, killing at least 15 people, collapsing buildings and sparking tsunami warnings across the region.
Philippine authorities urged people in affected coastal regions to move to higher ground after the offshore quake hit south of General Santos, a city of about 720,000.
A series of powerful aftershocks rocked the area from about two hours after the first quake, according to the United States Geological Survey, with the largest measuring 6.5 magnitude.
Videos posted to social media and verified by AFP showed a shopping centre with a Jollibee fast food restaurant reduced to rubble in General Santos City, while a school building that officials said was unoccupied crumpled in another.
"Lord, it has really collapsed! ... The building has really collapsed!" someone can be heard shouting as the school structure toppled.
In another video verified by AFP, young schoolchildren could be seen screaming in the arms of their teachers as the quake violently sways them back and forth on the ground.
A flimsy metal structure could be seen collapsing in the background as the video uploaded to the school's official Facebook page ends. An accompanying caption said no one was under the structure when it fell.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said in a notice that tsunami waves were possible along the coasts of the Philippines, Indonesia, Palau, Taiwan and Papua New Guinea.
As of 2 pm (0600 GMT), at least 15 people were reported dead, including 12 from Mindanao island's Soccskargen region, an area that includes General Santos City.
Three more fatalities were recorded in Davao Occidental province, according to the country's disaster agency.
The figures did not yet include two people who Police Major Roland Catoburan told AFP had been crushed to death by a collapsing wall in Alabel, a municipality near General Santos.
"We have casualties. A wall fell on them," he said, adding officers were not being allowed to re-enter their stations, some of which now had cracked walls.

Evacuate now

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos suspended classes across Mindanao island on what was to have been the first day of school, while calling on residents in coastal areas to evacuate immediately.
"Move to higher ground now. Do not wait," he said. "Your life is more important than anything left behind."
In Kiamba, a coastal town near the epicentre, about 50,000 residents had already done so.
"As of now, 80 percent of the population has moved to higher ground," said Agripino Dacera, the regional disaster chief. 
"All the villages along the coast were instructed to proceed to evacuation centres."
The airport in General Santos was also closed until further notice, officials said.
Monday's quake triggered evacuation warnings for coastal areas of neighbouring Indonesia and Malaysia, with Jakarta's meteorological agency subsequently lifting its alert.
Japanese authorities issued a tsunami advisory for swathes of its Pacific coast, though waves that reached the country's coast were reported to be no larger than 20 centimetres (about eight inches).
Earthquakes are a near-daily occurrence in the Philippines, which is situated on the Pacific "Ring of Fire", an arc of intense seismic activity stretching from Japan through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific basin. 
Eastern Mindanao was rocked by a pair of earthquakes of 7.4 and 6.7 magnitude in October that killed at least eight people. 
These followed a magnitude 6.9 quake days earlier that killed 76 people and destroyed or damaged 72,000 buildings in Cebu province in central Philippines, according to government figures.
cgm-pam-cwl/jm

US

Israel, Iran trade fire despite Trump's call for restraint

BY BY AFP TEAMS IN TEHRAN, JERUSALEM, DUBAI, MANAMA, KUWAIT AND WASHINGTON

  • - Warning - Tehran has insisted any deal to permanently end the war must also halt the parallel conflict in Lebanon, where Israel was pursuing a campaign against the Iran-backed movement Hezbollah.
  • Israel and Iran traded fire on Monday, seriously testing a fragile truce and threatening hopes for a deal to end the Middle East war.
  • - Warning - Tehran has insisted any deal to permanently end the war must also halt the parallel conflict in Lebanon, where Israel was pursuing a campaign against the Iran-backed movement Hezbollah.
Israel and Iran traded fire on Monday, seriously testing a fragile truce and threatening hopes for a deal to end the Middle East war.
The new attacks, including a strike on an Iranian petrochemical complex, came hours after US President Donald Trump called on Israel to refrain from retaliating against Tehran's missiles.
AFP journalists in Jerusalem heard a series of explosions as they took shelter and the Israeli army said it worked to intercept a new wave of Iranian missiles.
The retaliation followed Israel saying it fired on western and central Iran,tit-for-tat action against Tehran's assault on Sunday of 11 missiles, all of which were intercepted, with no casualties.
Israel's military and Iranian local media said Monday that Israel struck a petrochemical company in Mahshahr in southwestern Iran.
Trump had sought to rein in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as Israel accused Tehran of making a "grave mistake". 
"I am going to call Bibi right now and tell him not to retaliate," Trump was quoted as saying by Axios journalist Barak Ravid in a phone interview, using Netanyahu's nickname.
"Israel had its strike and Iran had its strike. We don't need another one," Trump reportedly said. 
In a separate interview with Fox News, Trump said: "What I would suggest to Iran: You've shot your missiles, that's enough, get back to the table and make a deal."
Ravid later posted that a US official said Trump spoke with Netanyahu, although the White House and Trump have yet to comment. 

Warning

Tehran has insisted any deal to permanently end the war must also halt the parallel conflict in Lebanon, where Israel was pursuing a campaign against the Iran-backed movement Hezbollah.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Ali Safari told Al-Mayadeen television that Tehran's strikes on Sunday came after weeks of restraint against Israeli aggression, local media reported.
Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards called the attack a "warning" after Israel struck Beirut's southern suburbs earlier in the day, threatening wider strikes in the event of repeated aggression.
A separate Iranian attack targeting the headquarters of "terrorist groups" in Iraqi Kurdistan on Monday added yet more strain to hopes for a lasting peace.
The Iranian government accuses the armed Kurdish parties of serving Western or Israeli interests.
The Israeli army also said Monday it was working to intercept a missile launched from Yemen, where rebels have previously launched attacks on Israel.
On Sunday, Netanyahu's office announced the army had "struck a militant command centre in Beirut's Dahiyeh district, in response to Hezbollah's fire towards Israeli territory".
The raid killed two people and wounded 20 more, Lebanon's health ministry said.
Israel had warned it would hit the area should Hezbollah attack northern Israel, with the Iran-backed group later confirming having launched missiles and drones at a pair of Israeli army barracks early Sunday.
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran's parliament speaker and its chief negotiator in talks with Washington, accused the United States of having given a "green light" for the Beirut attack, saying US and Israeli assets were now "legitimate targets".
The head of Iran's military central command said Israel had "crossed all red lines" with the Beirut strike, demanding it halt its campaign in Lebanon.
"Tonight's operation (against Israel) was a warning," the Revolutionary Guards said. "If such aggressions are repeated, the responses will be broader and will cover all US-Zionist targets in the region."

'Gone numb'

The sharp escalation sent crude prices surging as hopes dimmed on any imminent reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, the crucial waterway for oil and gas transit which has been effectively shut by Iran.
Iranians were also already feeling the strain of weeks of uncertainty.
"I really have gone numb," fitness trainer Elaheh from Ahvaz told AFP.
"Daily life? It's a joke. Everything is horrible. We only try to survive," the 32-year-old added, pointing to rising prices.
There were some weekend signs of ongoing diplomatic efforts, with Pakistan Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi visiting Tehran.
Naqvi said upon his arrival Saturday that he would deliver a "special letter" from Pakistan's army chief to Iran's supreme leader, as well as a message from the prime minister, according to Iranian state television.
Pakistani military leader Syed Asim Munir has played a key role in mediating between Iran and the US following an initial round of direct negotiations in Islamabad.
Mohsen Rezaei, military adviser to Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, had told CNN negotiations with the United States "are at a deadlock, and Trump must break this deadlock", calling for the release of some $24 billion in frozen Iranian assets.
But Trump said he would not unfreeze Iranian assets before reaching an initial agreement with Tehran, telling NBC on Sunday: "If they behave, if they do a good job, we start talking".
burs/smw/mlm/msp/cms/jm

Global Edition

Peru presidential runoff too close to call

BY ANDREW BEATTY

  • If he wins, he would have presidential immunity, though remain vulnerable to the country's right-leaning legislature -- which has ousted several recent presidents.
  • Peru's presidential runoff was still too close to call as the count dragged into Monday, with four-time candidate Keiko Fujimori locked in a statistical tie with her leftist rival to become the country's ninth president in a decade.
  • If he wins, he would have presidential immunity, though remain vulnerable to the country's right-leaning legislature -- which has ousted several recent presidents.
Peru's presidential runoff was still too close to call as the count dragged into Monday, with four-time candidate Keiko Fujimori locked in a statistical tie with her leftist rival to become the country's ninth president in a decade.
With 73% of polling centers reporting, Fujimori had a four-point lead over Roberto Sanchez, but that was projected to evaporate as ballots came in from rural areas that Sanchez has dominated.
"As of now there is no winner. There will be long days ahead," said Fujimori, the daughter of a late president who had been jailed for human rights violations.
Many voters had hoped Sunday's election would draw a line under years of political chaos that has seen a string of presidents jailed, deposed and impeached.
But the country is deeply divided between the populous coast and the more rural, Indigenous south.
Sanchez told jubilant supporters late Sunday that the race was a "dead heat" and all was still to play for. 
Exit polls and quick counts showed the race was impossible to call.
"The result reflects the country's divisions," said Paulo Vilca, a political analyst at the Peruvian Studies Institute. "Whoever wins will have half the country against them." 

'Respectful'

Fujimori, 51, is hoping to ride a wave of support for right-wing candidates who have won recent elections in Bolivia, Chile and Ecuador with a tough-on-crime message.
She appeals to the legacy of her late father, Alberto Fujimori, who stabilized the economy and crushed a Maoist insurgency, but was convicted of corruption and crimes against humanity.
Sanchez, a 57-year-old former psychologist, surged late in the race to reach the runoff.
He has moderated his early calls for "radical change" and told AFP he wants a "respectful" relationship with US President Donald Trump.
April's first round was marred by logistical problems and a vote count that took weeks to complete, deepening distrust in Peru's creaking institutions.
Around 27 million Peruvians can vote, and voting is compulsory.
On the eve of the election, a judge said Sanchez must stand trial over past financial irregularities in his party, raising claims of interference.
If he wins, he would have presidential immunity, though remain vulnerable to the country's right-leaning legislature -- which has ousted several recent presidents.
"I hope the entire process is carried out transparently, that the people's vote is respected," early voter Evelyn Pazos, 43, told AFP.
Sanchez has the backing of former president Pedro Castillo, a schoolteacher jailed after a failed attempt to dissolve Congress in 2022.
Sanchez is rarely seen in public without a broad-brimmed palm straw hat gifted to him by his mentor, whom he plans to pardon.

'Communism' or 'dictatorship'

Neither Sanchez nor Fujimori will have a legislative majority and whoever wins must build alliances to complete their term, according to analyst Jeffrey Radzinsky.
Despite political disillusionment, Peruvians' main concern is security, as criminal gangs spread and extortion complaints spiked ninefold in five years.
"They kill, dismember, demand protection money. Enough!" said 58-year-old taxi driver Roberto Lovaton.
The winner will inherit a stable economy, with GDP growth of over three percent and low inflation. 
He or she will replace interim president Jose Maria Balcazar from July 28.
bur-arb/hmn

nuclear

South Korea should not give up on North's denuclearisation: president

  • The White House said last month that Xi and Trump "confirmed their shared goal to denuclearise North Korea" during their summit in Beijing.
  • South Korea should not give up on North Korea's denuclearisation, President Lee Jae Myung said Monday, as China's President Xi Jinping arrived in Pyongyang for a two-day visit.
  • The White House said last month that Xi and Trump "confirmed their shared goal to denuclearise North Korea" during their summit in Beijing.
South Korea should not give up on North Korea's denuclearisation, President Lee Jae Myung said Monday, as China's President Xi Jinping arrived in Pyongyang for a two-day visit.
Lee made the remark at a press conference marking his first year in office, which he took after months of political upheaval triggered by his predecessor's martial law declaration.
"We should not give up on the goal of denuclearisation because we cannot pursue nuclear armament ourselves," he said.
Xi makes the trip to the North after hosting US President Donald Trump and Russia's Vladimir Putin separately in Beijing recently and as North Korea's nuclear talks with Washington remain deadlocked.
China, Washington's chief geopolitical rival, has been North Korea's main trading partner and a key source of diplomatic and economic support for the country, hit by multiple international sanctions.
The White House said last month that Xi and Trump "confirmed their shared goal to denuclearise North Korea" during their summit in Beijing.
However, leader Kim Jong Un's powerful sister said on the eve of Xi's arrival that North Korea's nuclear weapons programme was "the line of no retreat".
Lee said Seoul should not seek to acquire atomic weapons to counter Pyongyang's nuclear drive because of potential domino effects in the region.
"If South Korea were to pursue nuclear armament, do you really think Japan would stand still? Or Taiwan?" he said.
"Everyone would end up going nuclear, and the entire region would turn into a nuclear flashpoint."
He said given South Korea's heavy reliance on exports, they could not withstand severe global sanctions for attempting to go nuclear in violation of international rules.
"We simply cannot afford to become like North Korea," he said. "We cannot survive under such sanctions."
On denuclearisation talks with Pyongyang, Lee said the country should first set "limited short-term goals", such as securing a moratorium on further production of nuclear materials.
kjk-sjh/cdl/fox

eurozone

ECB to hike rates as Mideast war pushes up inflation

BY SAM REEVES

  • Following that, the central bank delivered a series of cuts as inflation eased, but has held rates steady since June last year.
  • The European Central Bank is expected to hike interest rates this week for the first time in two and a half years as the Iran war energy shock stokes inflation.
  • Following that, the central bank delivered a series of cuts as inflation eased, but has held rates steady since June last year.
The European Central Bank is expected to hike interest rates this week for the first time in two and a half years as the Iran war energy shock stokes inflation.
The ECB has kept borrowing costs on hold for some time as eurozone price rises had been largely under control.
But the US-Israeli war against Iran and near total closure of the Strait of Hormuz has sharply pushed up global energy costs, feeding into higher inflation.
Consumer price rises in the 21 countries that use the euro accelerated to 3.2 percent in May, above the ECB's two-percent target.
Analysts expect the central bank's governing council to deliver a quarter percentage point increase to the key deposit rate, taking it from 2.00 to 2.25 percent, when it meets Thursday.
"Anything but a rate hike at the ECB meeting would be a big surprise," said ING economist Carsten Brzeski. 
Higher borrowing costs tend to dampen demand, helping to bring down inflation.
Other major central banks, including the US Federal Reserve and the Bank of England, have so far kept rates on hold as they assess the fallout from the conflict.
Thursday's move would mark the first time the Frankfurt-based institution has increased rates since September 2023, as it battled a historic surge in inflation unleashed by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Following that, the central bank delivered a series of cuts as inflation eased, but has held rates steady since June last year.

Laying the groundwork

Several ECB officials have been laying the groundwork for an increase in borrowing costs in their public remarks.
Chief economist Philip Lane signalled in late May a hike is ahead, with comments that he expects the ECB's inflation forecasts to be raised again at Thursday's meeting.
"There are several factors related to the Iran war that show that the macroeconomic outlook has gotten worse," he told Japanese business daily Nikkei.
But some economists have criticised the expected hike as it could constrict growth further in the sluggish eurozone by making it more costly for households and businesses to borrow.
This comes with the war already adding to headwinds as the single currency area is heavily dependent on energy imports.
The European Union last month slashed its growth forecast for the eurozone to 0.9 percent for 2026, down from a previous prediction of 1.2 percent.
Revised data released Friday showed the eurozone economy contracted 0.2 percent in the first quarter.

'Providing reassurance'

Chief economist at Allianz, Ludovic Subran, told AFP that raising borrowing costs would be a bid to "provide reassurance" that the ECB was keeping an eye on higher inflation.
But he added: "This hike is not necessary; the ECB could wait, especially since the slowdown in growth is clear."
ECB officials may however be nervous about waiting too long to act, especially after facing criticism for moving too slowly to tame the inflation surge in 2022. 
Investors will be watching ECB President Christine Lagarde's post rate-decision press conference closely for any clues about the path forward, although she is expected to stay tight-lipped. 
Most analysts stress the economic backdrop now is different to that in 2022; inflation was already elevated before the outbreak of the Ukraine war, and the global economy was struggling with post-pandemic supply chain woes. 
Given that, they don't expect Thursday's move to herald the start of an aggressive rate-hiking cycle.
Jack Allen-Reynolds, deputy chief eurozone economist at Capital Economics, said he thought that the ECB would likely deliver another hike at its next meeting in July, but stop there.
The knock on-effects "of higher energy prices on inflation should be limited, meaning that the ECB's tightening cycle will be short," he said.
jpl-sr/jsk/rl

stabbing

Stabbing wounds six at New York's Penn Station

  • - Major sporting events - The incident occurred at one of the nation's busiest rail and subway transportation centers as the city prepares for two huge sporting spectacles in the coming week: basketball's NBA Finals and football's World Cup tournament.
  • Six people were wounded Sunday in a stabbing at New York's Penn Station, the city's mayor said, as the metropolitan area geared up to host two major sporting events -- the NBA Finals and football's World Cup.
  • - Major sporting events - The incident occurred at one of the nation's busiest rail and subway transportation centers as the city prepares for two huge sporting spectacles in the coming week: basketball's NBA Finals and football's World Cup tournament.
Six people were wounded Sunday in a stabbing at New York's Penn Station, the city's mayor said, as the metropolitan area geared up to host two major sporting events -- the NBA Finals and football's World Cup.
A suspect was detained and the victims, including one with serious injuries, were transported to a hospital, according to the New York Fire Department.
Fire Department officials initially reported five wounded, but Mayor Zohran Mamdani said on X that, "based on the information available right now, six people were stabbed and the alleged perpetrator is in custody."
Circumstances of the attack were not immediately clear, but city comptroller Mark Levine said on X that the suspect is "said to be an emotionally disturbed homeless person."
All victims are expected to survive, he added.
A photographer at the scene afterward saw gauze, medical gloves and blood on the floor near tracks 5 and 6, where police cordoned off the area.
State Governor Kathy Hochul described the attack as "an act of horrific violence."
"New Yorkers deserve to feel safe wherever they go, and we will never stop working to make that a reality," she said in a statement.

Major sporting events

The incident occurred at one of the nation's busiest rail and subway transportation centers as the city prepares for two huge sporting spectacles in the coming week: basketball's NBA Finals and football's World Cup tournament.
Madison Square Garden, located directly above Penn Station in downtown Manhattan, will host games three and four of the NBA Finals on Monday and Wednesday between the New York Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs. 
MetLife stadium, outside the city in neighboring New Jersey state, will host its first match of the World Cup on Saturday.
US President Donald Trump is scheduled to attend Monday's NBA game at Madison Square Garden, saying recently that he accepted an invitation from Knicks owner James Dolan.
Security has been enhanced in the city ahead of the two events.
New York's official emergency notification system did not describe the incident but said people should avoid the area and "expect traffic delays, road closures, mass transit disruptions & emergency personnel near Penn Station."
Prior to the stabbing, New York officials had already cancelled an outdoor watch party set for Monday outside the Garden.
Thousands of spectators descended onto streets outside the venue on Friday for a game two watch party. New York authorities said a police officer was assaulted and 26 people were arrested as some fans turned rowdy.
pel-mlm/jm

pope

Pope to address Spanish parliament, meet abuse victims

BY DARIO THUBURN

  • - 'Commitment to peace' - The US-born pope will give a speech to the Spanish parliament earlier on Monday.
  • Pope Leo XIV will give an unprecedented address on Monday to the Spanish parliament and is set to meet with victims of sexual abuse by clergy.
  • - 'Commitment to peace' - The US-born pope will give a speech to the Spanish parliament earlier on Monday.
Pope Leo XIV will give an unprecedented address on Monday to the Spanish parliament and is set to meet with victims of sexual abuse by clergy.
The closed-door meeting, reported by Spanish media, is already clouded in controversy, as some of the main victims' associations said they were not invited.
Juan Cuatrecasas, spokesman for the association Infancia Robada (Stolen Childhood), told AFP it was a "blow".
He said the pope risked seeing "a completely skewed reality" if he met only with victims assisted by the Repara project of the archdiocese of Madrid.
Spanish media said the meeting would take place on Monday afternoon at the Vatican embassy in the Spanish capital, formally known as the apostolic nunciature.
The Vatican earlier said in a statement the pope would speak to victims during his seven-day visit to Spain.
But it did not say when or where, adding that it would not give further information until after the meeting out of "respect for the victims".
Speaking to reporters on the flight to Madrid on Saturday, the 70-year-old leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics said the scandal of abuse was "still an open wound" for the Church.
Around 200,000 minors are estimated to have suffered abuse by clergy in Spain since 1940, according to a 2023 report from Spain's national ombudsman.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's government and the Catholic Church in Spain signed an agreement in March to compensate victims, after years of reticence and opacity from the Church hierarchy.
After welcoming the pope on Saturday, Spanish King Felipe VI hailed his "clarity and firmness" on the issue, saying they were "essential in the process of healing and reparation of the damage inflicted".

'Commitment to peace'

The US-born pope will give a speech to the Spanish parliament earlier on Monday.
Popes rarely address parliaments, trying to avoid overt political interventions.
On Saturday, Leo had called in a speech at Spain's royal palace for an end to "divisive and polarising rhetoric", an appeal that resonates in a country where political life is highly polarised and has, in recent years, been marked by the emergence of far-right party Vox, now the nation's third-largest political force.
The pope's visit to Spain comes at a particularly sensitive and turbulent time for Sanchez, who is under attack from critics over several corruption scandals involving his inner circle.
Before the speech, expected at 0830 GMT, Leo will meet with Sanchez.
During his visit, the pope has praised Spain's "active commitment to peace" and "faithful adherence to international law".
Spain's left-wing government has repeatedly clashed with US President Donald Trump over Iran, and with Israel over the war in Gaza.
The pontiff himself has been harshly criticised by Trump for his anti-war views, particularly since the United States and Israel began the war on Iran on February 28.
A day after celebrating an open-air mass that organisers said was attended by more than 1.5 million people in Madrid, the pope will also hold another large gathering at football club Real Madrid's famed Bernabeu Stadium on Monday.
He will then travel to Barcelona, where on Wednesday he will bless the new tower of the Sagrada Familia Basilica -- a still-unfinished masterpiece by revered architect Antoni Gaudi that recently became the world's tallest church.
In the Canary Islands on Thursday and Friday, Leo will be joined by Sanchez to honour thousands of migrants who have died trying to reach Europe.
In contrast with many of its European allies, Spain under Sanchez's left-wing government has a relatively liberal immigration policy.
But the government is under pressure on the issue from the main conservative Popular Party and from Vox.
dt/jhb/cms

politics

China's Xi to visit North Korea after meetings with Trump, Putin

BY CLAIRE LEE

  • "No matter how the times change or how the international situation evolves, the traditional friendship between China and North Korea is always invincible," Xi wrote.
  • China's President Xi Jinping hailed an "invincible friendship" with Pyongyang as he headed to North Korea for a visit Monday, his first trip abroad this year after hosting back-to-back summits in Beijing.
  • "No matter how the times change or how the international situation evolves, the traditional friendship between China and North Korea is always invincible," Xi wrote.
China's President Xi Jinping hailed an "invincible friendship" with Pyongyang as he headed to North Korea for a visit Monday, his first trip abroad this year after hosting back-to-back summits in Beijing.
China, Washington's chief geopolitical rival, has been North Korea's main trading partner by far for decades and a key source of diplomatic and economic support for the sanction-hit country of around 26 million people.
Xi's trip to North Korea is his first since 2019, and comes after he received US President Donald Trump and Russia's Vladimir Putin for talks separately in China's capital.
It also came as North Korea's nuclear talks with Washington remain deadlocked. The White House said last month that Xi and Trump "confirmed their shared goal to denuclearize North Korea" during their summit in Beijing.
Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said on Friday the two leaders would "exchange views on bilateral relations and issues of common concern", and "make greater contributions to regional and even world peace".
However, leader Kim Jong Un's powerful sister said just a day before Xi's arrival that North Korea's nuclear weapons programme was "the line of no retreat".
China has "always prioritised stability and is currently having to manage its relations and differences with the US", Minseon Ku, a diplomacy professor at DePaul University, told AFP.
"Beijing probably has accepted North Korea as a nuclear state," but Xi "will probably tell Kim that China wants stability more than anything".
Seong-Hyon Lee, a visiting scholar at the Harvard University Asia Center, also said Beijing is shifting towards "underwriting regime durability" rather than seeking to coerce North Korea into denuclearisation.
"China's broader regional strategy benefits from a stable, heavily armed, and aligned buffer state that absorbs US and allied military bandwidth," he told AFP.

Elevated status

North Korea has repeatedly declared itself an "irreversible" nuclear state since Kim and Trump's 2019 summit collapsed over the scope of denuclearisation and sanctions relief.
Trump met Kim three times in his first term, but his comment in October that he was "100 percent" open to another meeting went unanswered.
Kim has also been emboldened by the war in Ukraine, securing critical support from Moscow after sending thousands of troops to fight alongside Russian forces.
Some analysts say the summit could be Xi's way of countering Russia's growing influence over North Korea, but DePaul's Ku stressed that "overall, Moscow is not a major power like China".
"Moscow-Pyongyang power relations are more equal than Beijing-Pyongyang; Moscow needs Kim for their war in Ukraine as much as Kim needs technology sharing and food from Russia," she said.
In an article published on the front page of North Korea's Rodong Sinmun, Xi pledged closer cooperation.
"No matter how the times change or how the international situation evolves, the traditional friendship between China and North Korea is always invincible," Xi wrote.
Xi last met Kim in September, when he invited the North Korean leader and Putin as guests of honour to a military parade in Beijing marking the 80th anniversary of the victory over imperial Japan in World War II.

Taiwan counterweight

A series of world leaders have come calling on Xi as an increasingly unpredictable United States under Trump has pushed many to shore up alliances with Beijing.
Conflicts in the Middle East have also consumed more of Washington's attention, and Trump has made little progress on North Korea, especially on the nuclear front, despite his earlier high-profile summits with Kim.
North Korea is also the only country with an official, binding military alliance with China.
"America is currently engaged in offensive warfare potentially harmful to China's key interests, such as energy supplies," Vladimir Tikhonov, Korean Studies professor at the University of Oslo, told AFP.
"It appears Xi is trying to consolidate the alliance" with North Korea partly for that reason, he said.
Beijing claims self-ruled Taiwan as part of its territory, and North Korea could also serve as a useful counterweight to US partners in the region, including South Korea and Japan, analysts said.
Long-frosty China-Japan ties have deteriorated since Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, a security hawk, suggested last year that Tokyo might intervene militarily in any Chinese attempt to take Taiwan.
"As China's international standing rises, Beijing is likely seeking to draw Pyongyang more actively into its diplomatic orbit," said Lim Eul-chul, a North Korea expert at Kyungnam University.
cdl/hmn/tc

conflict

UK, France, Germany back Zelensky's call for Putin meeting

  • The leaders "supported the proposal for a direct dialogue between Ukraine and Russia -- with active US and European participation -- to bring about a ceasefire and support further negotiations", they said in a joint statement with Zelensky.
  • Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky received the backing of the leaders of the UK, France and Germany in calling for direct ceasefire talks between Russia and Ukraine, according to a joint statement issued following defence talks in London on Sunday.
  • The leaders "supported the proposal for a direct dialogue between Ukraine and Russia -- with active US and European participation -- to bring about a ceasefire and support further negotiations", they said in a joint statement with Zelensky.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky received the backing of the leaders of the UK, France and Germany in calling for direct ceasefire talks between Russia and Ukraine, according to a joint statement issued following defence talks in London on Sunday.
Zelensky met with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz at 10 Downing Street for talks as Russia's war has stretched into its fifth year.
The leaders "supported the proposal for a direct dialogue between Ukraine and Russia -- with active US and European participation -- to bring about a ceasefire and support further negotiations", they said in a joint statement with Zelensky.
"The current line of contact should be the starting point for negotiations," it said.
"International borders must not be changed by force."
Zelensky proposed a face-to-face meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in an open letter on Thursday.
Putin ruled out the move, saying he saw "no point" in meeting Zelensky until a possible peace deal had been agreed.
The Ukrainian president told Sky News on Sunday evening he had also met with Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich in Kyiv to pass on a message to Putin.
"You are fighting against us on our territory," Zelensky said of his message to Abramovich, who is sanctioned by the UK and European Union over his ties to the Kremlin following Russia's invasion.
"We will not leave and we will not go out from our territory, no we will not give you victory," he said, adding he had reiterated his request to meet Putin face-to-face.
Kyiv has been asking its Western allies for more ammunition deliveries for its air defences as Ukraine endures daily Russian strikes. Zelensky is seeking ways for the allies to further pressure Russia to end the fighting.
Earlier on Sunday, the Ukrainian president wrote on X that he would be meeting with Britain's King Charles III on Monday.

Nuclear site targeted

The push for diplomacy in London failed to produce any immediate impact, as the fighting roared on.
On Monday, a Ukrainian drone strike on a passenger train killed one of its drivers and wounded the other, Sergey Aksyonov, the Moscow-installed head of the Crimea region wrote on Telegram.
The attack came hours after Russia fired waves of drones and other munitions at Ukraine, with one of the attacks damaging a nuclear storage facility near the Chernobyl disaster site, Ukrainian officials said.
Radiation levels at the facility remained within normal limits following the attack, although its fuel reception building was "partially destroyed", according to Ukraine's nuclear energy operator, Energoatom.
Moscow and Kyiv have intensified drone strikes on each other in recent months, as US-led diplomatic efforts to end the war remain stalled and sidetracked by the conflict in the Middle East.
Zelensky, in an earlier online post, said Russia had used an Iranian-designed Shahed drone to "hit one of the buildings of the Centralized Spent Fuel Storage Facility" in the Chernobyl exclusion zone.
"As of now, there are no readings exceeding normal background radiation levels. But there is certainly an increase in Russia's brazenness, which long ago went off the charts," he said.
The International Atomic Energy Agency said it was dispatching a team to inspect the damage, calling the incident "deeply concerning".
The facility is located in a remote area of forest around a dozen kilometres (seven miles) from the site of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster, and is designed to house spent fuel from Ukraine's three active nuclear plants.

Deadly strikes

Both sides accused each other of renewed attacks on civilians Sunday.
A Russian bombardment of a public transport stop in Ukraine's southern Zaporizhzhia region left at least two people dead, while a nearby drone strike killed a 56-year-old minibus driver, authorities said.
Separate Russian attacks on the central Dnipropetrovsk region killed two men, governor Oleksandr Ganzha posted on Telegram.
In Russia, a Ukrainian drone strike on a car in the Belgorod border region killed a woman and injured her husband, local authorities said.
Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and millions forced to flee their homes since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Russia now occupies around a fifth of its neighbour: the Crimean peninsula, which it annexed in 2014, most of the eastern regions of Donetsk and Lugansk -- collectively referred to as the Donbas -- and large parts of the southern Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions.
burs/giv/jhb/cms/tc

cinema

Hundreds of Charlie Chaplin lookalikes gather in Switzerland

BY TIMOTHéE PIRON

  • Timed to mark the 10th anniversary of the museum's opening, the gathering in the end drew 429 Chaplin lookalikes, falling short of the world record set there in 2017, when 662 people took part.
  • More than 400 people donning black bowler hats, toothbrush moustaches and canes gathered in Switzerland Sunday seeking to break the record for the biggest ever assembly of Charlie Chaplin lookalikes.
  • Timed to mark the 10th anniversary of the museum's opening, the gathering in the end drew 429 Chaplin lookalikes, falling short of the world record set there in 2017, when 662 people took part.
More than 400 people donning black bowler hats, toothbrush moustaches and canes gathered in Switzerland Sunday seeking to break the record for the biggest ever assembly of Charlie Chaplin lookalikes.
The unusual rally, drawing Chaplin fans of all ages, took place at a museum dedicated to the legendary filmmaker at his former home in Corsier-sur-Vevey in western Switzerland.
Timed to mark the 10th anniversary of the museum's opening, the gathering in the end drew 429 Chaplin lookalikes, falling short of the world record set there in 2017, when 662 people took part.
But that did not dampen the mood.
Under a blazing sun, the Chaplins crowded together to form a giant number 10 on the lawn stretching before the large manor where the English movie icon spent the last 25 years of his life.
"I am sincerely the happiest man alive," said Anthony Champeil, a dapper 36-year-old Frenchman who looked the spitting image of Chaplin, explaining that he was an actor who often played the film legend on stage.
"We are at Chaplin's place with people who are passionate about Chaplin," he told AFP.
Suggesting that Chaplin had wanted to encourage people to maintain a childlike capacity for wonder and play for as long as possible, he mused that the actor would have enjoyed having hundreds "of big kids gathered here today".
"I find it marvellous."
The museum is set on the vast estate of Manoir de Ban, about 26 kilometres (16 miles) from Lausanne, where Chaplin lived with his wife Oona and their eight children until his death in 1977, at age 88.
He had moved to Switzerland after being barred from the United States in the 1950s over suspicions that he had communist sympathies, at the height of Cold War paranoia about Soviet infiltration.
Alice Kauffmann, who had brought her young children to participate as miniature Chaplins, said Sunday's gathering was "moving" to behold.
She and other participants said the event brought to mind the humanistic ideas Chaplin promoted with iconic films such as "The Great Dictator", "The Kid" and "Modern Times".
"He defended love, respect and beautiful values," she said.
Sophie Teteule, 52, agreed.
"I love Charlie Chaplin, and I love this place," she told AFP.
"I think it is magnificent that we can gather today, so long after he left us. It is a marvellous moment in his honour."
Organisers of Sunday's event also did not seem too bothered that it had failed to break the world record, which the museum already holds.
"Nothing is lost," spokeswoman Olivia Baliguet told AFP.
"Who knows, we may try again next year, or for the 20th anniversary."
str-nl/jhb

Trump

Trump storms out of tense, rain-plagued NBC interview

  • Several questions followed about Iran, nuclear weapons and his campaign pledges to keep the United States out of foreign wars.
  • President Donald Trump lasted through probing questions about his Iran war strategy and repeated weather disruptions during an interview with US broadcaster NBC -- but angrily stormed out when confronted over his unfounded claims of election fraud.
  • Several questions followed about Iran, nuclear weapons and his campaign pledges to keep the United States out of foreign wars.
President Donald Trump lasted through probing questions about his Iran war strategy and repeated weather disruptions during an interview with US broadcaster NBC -- but angrily stormed out when confronted over his unfounded claims of election fraud.
"You're a one-sided, crooked network. Sorry. Let's call it quits because I've had enough. Thank you, darling. Have a good time," Trump told "Meet the Press" host Kristen Welker before standing up and walking out of the interview that aired Sunday.
The interview, filmed Friday, was conducted on a farm in Wisconsin, where Trump was addressing farmers. A tractor and hay bales served as a backdrop.
The interview was interrupted several times by weather and audio issues as torrential rain pounded the roof, making it difficult to continue the conversation.
"Is that wind or what?" Trump asked at one point.
"Hear that sound?" he said later. "That sound of thunder, lightning, rain."
Welker asked her technical crew if they should stop.
"No. People will understand -- we're on a farm," the president replied.
Several questions followed about Iran, nuclear weapons and his campaign pledges to keep the United States out of foreign wars.
"First of all, I didn't guarantee no war. Why would I have built the strongest military in the world?" he said, then accusing Welker of being "a big liberal, a big progressive."
"No, I'm just a journalist," she countered.
Trump went on to say: "I don't like these endless wars. This is not an endless war. We've been doing this for three months."
The tone escalated again as the discussion turned to Trump's proposed taxpayer-funded program to compensate people he believes were victims of partisan prosecution under his predecessor, Joe Biden.
"I don't know what's going to happen with the weaponization fund," he said. "I love the idea because people like you, the fake dirty press, the crooked press, people like stupid Biden ... they destroyed people. They sent people to jail who did nothing wrong."
"There is no evidence for what you're saying," Welker said.
Trump reiterated past false claims that the 2020 election was "rigged" and said last week's primary in California was, too.
Welker held her ground, asking the president to present evidence.
"You are either crooked or you're stupid," Trump finally shot back before leaving the camera's view while Welker attempted to keep him engaged.
On Sunday, Welker told viewers that she had spoken with Trump on Saturday about the weather disruptions and that he had agreed to give her another interview.
vla/mjf/msp

Global Edition

Iran fans dismayed by team's World Cup visa quarrel

BY ROMAIN FONSEGRIVES

  • The visa controversy is the latest chapter in the drama surrounding Iran's team at this unusual World Cup, jointly hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada.
  • Iran's national football team was greeted Sunday in Mexico by a small group of supporters eager to give them a warm start to the World Cup, despite visa problems facing some staffers.
  • The visa controversy is the latest chapter in the drama surrounding Iran's team at this unusual World Cup, jointly hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada.
Iran's national football team was greeted Sunday in Mexico by a small group of supporters eager to give them a warm start to the World Cup, despite visa problems facing some staffers.
"I'm very excited to see them," said Sadegh Galavi as he watched the players' bus leave the airport in Tijuana, cheered on by about a dozen fans.
Galavi, a mechanic and resident of this city on the US border, did not hesitate to get up at dawn to welcome the team when it landed at 5:00 am.
"My national team is coming to my city, and being here is a small thing I can do just to welcome them," the man in his thirties told AFP, proudly wearing the white jersey with green and red trim of the Iranian side, known as "Team Melli."
The gesture felt especially important because the tournament is beginning under difficult circumstances for Iran.
While the players obtained the visas necessary to enter the United States and play their group-stage matches in Los Angeles and Seattle, not all delegation members received them.
About 15 accompanying officials were denied visas, including Iranian football federation president Mehdi Taj, who previously served in Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, designated a terrorist group by Washington.

Unshakable faith

"It makes no sense to me," Galavi complained. "Sport is supposed to be a symbol of peace, so when you mix politics and sports, it doesn't work."
The visa controversy is the latest chapter in the drama surrounding Iran's team at this unusual World Cup, jointly hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada.
Since the first Israeli and American strikes against Iran in late February, the war has created repeated uncertainty over Team Melli's participation.
Never before had a nation competing in the tournament been at war with one of the host countries, and Tehran long left open the question of whether its team would be allowed to play.
The insistence of FIFA ultimately prevailed. But two weeks ago, rising tensions prompted the Iranian federation to announce that the team would stay in Tijuana rather than in Tucson, Arizona, as originally planned.
With all these off-field developments, can the Iranians play their best football against New Zealand, Belgium and Egypt and finally advance from the group stage -- a feat they have never achieved?
Sina Moghadam has no doubts, and displays unwavering faith in his team.
"Iran's history goes back thousands of years. Things like this only make us stronger; they won't destabilize the team," boasted the Iranian-American, who had traveled from San Diego, just across the border in California.

Lack of 'Fair Play'

Waving an enormous Iranian flag, the retired self-described "patriot" said he was hoping for a match between Iran and the United States in the knockout stage -- a blockbuster encounter that would become the political spectacle of the tournament.
"I hope they're going to kick the US team's ass," he laughed as the players' bus disappeared from view.
Escorted by a large convoy of heavily-armed Mexican police and military personnel, the team arrived to find extensive security measures around its hotel as well as at the entrance to Estadio Caliente, where Iran is scheduled to train.
The security presence offered some reassurance to Hossein Nikyar, who had driven overnight from Los Angeles with his son to herald the team's arrival.
"It's safer for them to be here than in Los Angeles anyway, because many Iranians in LA are royalists who want to take down the government," said the engineer in his forties.
Nikyar already has tickets to see Iran play in Los Angeles. But even before the tournament begins, he cannot hide his bitterness.
"FIFA claims that there's no politics in the World Cup, and it's all about the football fair play," he sighed. 
"But in fact, we see that it's not true."
rfo/pcl/mjf/mlm

Global Edition

Armenia PM heads for win to cement Westward shift

BY IRAKLI METREVELI

  • Early results showed the ruling Civil Contract party leading Russian-Armenian billionaire Samvel Karapetyan's Strong Armenia alliance by 51.2 to 23 percent, with 32.2 percent of electoral precincts reporting, the Central Election Commission said.
  • Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's party led the opposition Monday in early results from parliamentary elections that could cement his Westward tilt, after threats from Moscow and claims of Russian interference.
  • Early results showed the ruling Civil Contract party leading Russian-Armenian billionaire Samvel Karapetyan's Strong Armenia alliance by 51.2 to 23 percent, with 32.2 percent of electoral precincts reporting, the Central Election Commission said.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's party led the opposition Monday in early results from parliamentary elections that could cement his Westward tilt, after threats from Moscow and claims of Russian interference.
Armenia and Russia are technically allies, but Moscow has compared the former Soviet republic's ambitions to join the European Union to the path it claims triggered its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Early results showed the ruling Civil Contract party leading Russian-Armenian billionaire Samvel Karapetyan's Strong Armenia alliance by 51.2 to 23 percent, with 32.2 percent of electoral precincts reporting, the Central Election Commission said.
Two other opposition forces -- ex-president Robert Kocharyan's "Armenia" alliance and the Prosperous Armenia party -- also cleared the electoral threshold, winning 9.9 percent and 4.1 percent of the vote respectively.
Turnout was 59 percent, the commission said.
Pashinyan hailed his party's "historic victory that will ensure Armenia's eternity and development."
He pledged to "continue the course of rapprochement with the West" while also developing Armenia's relations with Russia.
"The Armenian people voted for regional prosperity and cooperation, and I hope this will draw a positive response from Turkey and Azerbaijan," he told a news conference, adding that "we need to institutionalise peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan."
He also vowed "the final eradication of the criminal-oligarchic system from Armenia," saying: "The leaders of these forces must be held criminally liable."
The election comes after years of upheaval since Pashinyan was propelled to power in a 2018 street revolution.
The small Caucasus country is still reeling from long-time foe Azerbaijan's military takeover of the Karabakh region.
The conflict came to an end in 2023, when Azerbaijan's army seized control of the enclave, and most of the Armenian population fled.
Pashinyan has framed the vote as a choice between a lasting peace with Azerbaijan, or a return to war.
The 51-year-old has also sought to loosen Armenia's dependence on Moscow, after it failed to help during the Karabakh conflict.
While US President Donald Trump offered his "TOTAL Endorsement for Re-Election" to "great friend and Leader" Pashinyan, Moscow has bristled at the possible loss of yet another ally in its backyard.
"We will accept any choice made by the people," Pashinyan told journalists at a polling station in Yerevan after casting his ballot.
He pledged Armenia would pursue a balanced foreign policy after the vote, insisting "there is no question of choosing" between Russia and the West.
The Kremlin has been accused of seeking to sway the vote.
Analysts have noted misinformation on the web, hacker activity and Kremlin-friendly narratives portraying Western cooperation as dangerous.
In the weeks before the vote, Russia banned the import of several products from Armenia -- seen as a move to heap economic pressure on the country.
And Armenian officials have warned "enemies of freedom" are funding propaganda efforts.

'Reckless rush'

Pashinyan has insisted he does not want a rupture with Moscow.
But the campaign played out as a battle over Armenia's geopolitical future.
Pashinyan and his chief opponents all accused each other of risking a fresh conflict.
Pashinyan told voters Armenia could face a "catastrophic war" with Azerbaijan within months if his party failed to secure a strong majority.
His opponents called that rhetoric fear mongering.
Opposition parties accused the authorities of electoral violations and repression, particularly against their campaign staff.
Armenia's Investigative Committee said it had opened 59 criminal cases over alleged electoral violations -- including multiple voting -- and detained nine people.
Strong Armenia's leader Karapetyan has rejected claims he would drag Armenia back into Russia's orbit, but warned against Pashinyan's "reckless rush" to the West.
He has been under house arrest since last year on charges of plotting a coup -- allegations he rejects as politically motivated.

'Voted for peace'

Pashinyan's democratic record was also on the ballot paper.
Eight years after he swept to power on a promise to dismantle Armenia's oligarchic system, he faces increasing accusations of democratic backsliding.
Still, for many Armenians, the opposition remains associated with Russian influence and oligarchs.
"I voted for peace. Only Pashinyan can bring peace," one voter, 63-year-old craftsman Hakob Hakobyan, told AFP.
Another voter, Khachatur Movsisyan, a 59-year-old mechanical engineer, said he had backed an opposition party "because the country, and all of us, need change -- in foreign policy, domestic policy and in negotiations with Azerbaijan".
mkh-im/cms

US

Israel strikes south Beirut after intercepting Hezbollah launches

BY NADER DURGHAM

  • Air raid sirens sounded on the Israeli side of the border earlier on Sunday, and the military said "two projectiles that crossed from Lebanon into Israeli territory were intercepted".
  • Israel's military struck Beirut's southern suburbs on Sunday, hitting apartments in two buildings after saying it had intercepted rockets launched by Hezbollah into Israeli territory.
  • Air raid sirens sounded on the Israeli side of the border earlier on Sunday, and the military said "two projectiles that crossed from Lebanon into Israeli territory were intercepted".
Israel's military struck Beirut's southern suburbs on Sunday, hitting apartments in two buildings after saying it had intercepted rockets launched by Hezbollah into Israeli territory.
The Lebanese health ministry said the attack in the capital killed two people and wounded 20 others, including four children and four women.
Israel and Hezbollah regularly exchange fire in southern Lebanon but the capital -- including districts seen as bastions of the Iran-backed group -- has been relatively spared of late, having been struck only twice since mid-April.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office announced the army "just struck a militant command centre in Beirut's Dahiyeh district, in response to Hezbollah's fire towards Israeli territory".
In a separate statement, the Israeli military said that after Hezbollah had launched rockets towards civilian targets in Israel, a "precise strike" was conducted against one of the group's command centres, adding "steps were taken to mitigate harm to civilians".
Hezbollah later confirmed having launched missiles and drones that it said targeted a pair of army barracks in northern Israel early on Sunday.
The Israeli response in Beirut "targeted two apartments in two buildings", according to Lebanon's state-run National News Agency. 
An AFP photographer saw two apartments damaged on a narrow street, and traffic congestion as residents tried to leave the suburb while the Lebanese army deployed to the area.
Earlier this week in Washington, Lebanese and Israeli envoys touted a conditional truce agreement that would have required Hezbollah to stop firing and withdraw from near the Israeli border. 
But Hezbollah rejected the agreement, demanding a full Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territory. 
Even after the deal was announced, Israel warned it would strike Beirut's southern suburbs should Hezbollah attack northern Israel.
Air raid sirens sounded on the Israeli side of the border earlier on Sunday, and the military said "two projectiles that crossed from Lebanon into Israeli territory were intercepted".

Iran threats

Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war when Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel on March 2 in support of its patron Iran.
Tehran has since insisted that any deal to end the wider war -- paused by a separate April ceasefire -- must also halt the fighting in Lebanon.
Iran's chief negotiator and parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, accused the United States of giving Israel the "green light" for the Beirut strike and threatened retaliation.
"Our armed forces, as always, are free to act," he said.
The spokesman for the Iranian parliament's national security commission, Ebrahim Rezaei, also warned of "a decisive and painful response" to Sunday's strikes. 
Iran's insistence that the conflicts are linked has complicated negotiations for Washington. In an interview aired Sunday, US President Donald Trump called for Israel to take a more precise approach.
"I'd like to see a more surgical attack on Hezbollah," he told NBC's "Meet the Press" in an interview conducted Friday. "I'd like to see Lebanon have a better life."

Tyre warning

Lebanon's NNA reported a series of Israeli strikes across the south Sunday.
The attacks come a day after at least five people were killed in Israeli strikes according to Lebanese authorities, including Lebanese troops, one of them a general.
On Sunday, the Israeli military issued an evacuation warning for most of Tyre and its surroundings.
The coastal city shelters thousands of displaced people and has been heavily bombed since the fighting began.
Civil defence teams evacuated around 500 families from schools that had been converted into shelters and transferred them to the city's Christian quarter, which was not included in the warning, an AFP correspondent reported.
Near Sidon, a bit further north, three members of the same family and a rescue worker killed in an Israeli airstrike were buried on Sunday.
At least 131 rescuers have been killed by Israel in this war, according to Lebanon's health ministry.
"We do not carry rockets, our only weapon is the bread we deliver to people. They went and gave the family bread, but as they were leaving, a drone struck them," rescuer Qassem Foani told AFP.
Israel's extensive campaign of airstrikes and a ground invasion have killed more than 3,600 people, according to Lebanon's health ministry.
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virus

DR Congo ceasefire a 'health emergency' given Ebola outbreak: EU

  • Hadja Lahbib, the EU commissioner for crisis management, visited the provincial capital, Bunia, calling for humanitarian and health workers in the region to be guaranteed access to people in need.
  • An Ebola outbreak raging in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has made it even more urgent to broker a ceasefire for the conflict-ravaged region, the European Union's crisis management commissioner said during a visit Sunday.
  • Hadja Lahbib, the EU commissioner for crisis management, visited the provincial capital, Bunia, calling for humanitarian and health workers in the region to be guaranteed access to people in need.
An Ebola outbreak raging in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has made it even more urgent to broker a ceasefire for the conflict-ravaged region, the European Union's crisis management commissioner said during a visit Sunday.
The EU said it had flown in 100 tonnes of humanitarian aid Sunday -- including medicine, tents and protective gear to fight the haemorrhagic fever -- to hard-to-reach Ituri province, the epicentre of the epidemic.
Ituri is difficult to access because of poor roads, and is plagued by insecurity because of numerous armed groups operating in the region, including the Rwanda-backed M23, which has seized vast swathes of territory.
Hadja Lahbib, the EU commissioner for crisis management, visited the provincial capital, Bunia, calling for humanitarian and health workers in the region to be guaranteed access to people in need.
"A ceasefire was already a political necessity. Now it's become a health emergency," she told journalists.
The World Health Organization has declared an international health emergency over the outbreak.
In an updated toll Sunday, the DRC government said the country had 488 confirmed cases and 86 deaths in the epidemic, which it announced on May 15.
The WHO has reported another 19 cases in neighbouring Uganda.
There is no specific vaccine or treatment for the Bundibugyo Ebola strain behind the latest outbreak.
The European Commission said in a statement that a "humanitarian air bridge" to Bunia, which it has established with UNICEF, flew in the 100 tonnes of aid.
Lahbib said five more flights were planned for Bunia airport, a key logistics hub in the epidemic response.
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pope

Over one million people attend pope's mass in Madrid

BY DARIO THUBURN

  • Organisers said more than 1.5 million people attended in the square and the surrounding area, although the central government's representation in the Madrid region put the figure at 1.1 million.
  • More than one million people filled the streets of Madrid on Sunday for a mass by Pope Leo XIV at which he called for a renewal of the Catholic faith in Spain.
  • Organisers said more than 1.5 million people attended in the square and the surrounding area, although the central government's representation in the Madrid region put the figure at 1.1 million.
More than one million people filled the streets of Madrid on Sunday for a mass by Pope Leo XIV at which he called for a renewal of the Catholic faith in Spain.
The mass came on day two of Leo's seven-day visit to Spain, a traditional Catholic bastion where religious observance has been declining sharply in recent years as in much of western Europe.
King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia joined throngs of devotees waving Spanish and Vatican flags in Cibeles Square for a service filled with religious symbolism.
In his homily, Leo said Spaniards should not look at religion as "a museum of the past to be visited, but a school of faith from which to draw even today".
Around 56 percent of Spaniards identify as Catholic compared to 90 percent in the 1970s, according to a survey last month by the Centre for Sociological Research, an autonomous government body.
A huge logistical and security operation was in place for the event, after which the pope led a traditional procession along a route lined with white and yellow carnations -- the Vatican flag colours.
Organisers said more than 1.5 million people attended in the square and the surrounding area, although the central government's representation in the Madrid region put the figure at 1.1 million.
Nico Aldeanueva, 28, who was visiting from Philadelphia in the United States, said the pope was "a very unifying force in a moment where we have division across so many different fronts".
"We have, it seems like, never-ending conflict and for the time being here you get to hit pause and get to enjoy the moment and feel the faith."

'Trying to help us'

Ana Milagros, 64, who was waving a Vatican flag, said she thought the US-born pope seemed "approachable" and "very sincere".
"There is a lot of polarisation and differences in politics, in social matters, in the economy," she said, adding: "The pope is trying with this visit... to help all of us."
Sexual abuse cases within the Church have contributed to an undermining of faith in the institution in recent years, with Leo calling the issue "an open wound" on Saturday.
Associations representing victims complained about not being invited to a meeting with the pope which Spanish media said was planned for Monday at the Vatican embassy in Madrid.
The Vatican has not specified when or where the meeting will be, adding that it would not give further information until afterwards out of "respect for the victims".
Miguel Hurtado, a victim, told Radio4 that the meeting was "strictly controlled by the Catholic hierarchy so that it doesn't look bad and does not affect the figure of the pope and the message they want to convey".

Focus on migration

On Sunday evening, Leo gathered with figures from culture, sport and the economy at an arena, with twirling flamenco dancers in bright dresses raising rapturous applause.
Spanish Hollywood star Antonio Banderas highlighted art's role in cultivating faith.
"Art must be an alternative to violence," he said in front of an approving pope, whose pleas for peace have sparked clashes with US President Donald Trump.
"In a world that rushes by, that fragments, that sometimes becomes too simple, art helps us to recover depth and the soul, which AI, that must serve human beings and not the other way round, is trying to steal," Banderas added.
On Saturday, Leo was greeted with pomp and ceremony at the royal palace and joined 500,000 mostly young attendees outside Real Madrid's Bernabeu stadium for an evening prayer vigil.
Leo is due to visit Barcelona on Tuesday and Wednesday, where he will notably bless the Sagrada Familia basilica's recently completed tower, which made it the world's tallest church.
His trip will end with a focus on migration on Thursday and Friday in the Canary Islands, a key destination for irregular arrivals, with thousands dying in the Atlantic Ocean trying to reach them.
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results

More traffic, but halved profits for airlines in 2026: Industry forecast

  • According to IATA's calculations, net profit is expected to be $4.50 per passenger, half the 2025 figure.
  • Airlines expect to carry more passengers this year but earn only half as much profit as in 2025, as high fuel prices don't appear to be fully deterring travel, according to projections published Sunday.
  • According to IATA's calculations, net profit is expected to be $4.50 per passenger, half the 2025 figure.
Airlines expect to carry more passengers this year but earn only half as much profit as in 2025, as high fuel prices don't appear to be fully deterring travel, according to projections published Sunday.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) predicted its 370 member airlines, which account for 85 percent of global air traffic, will carry 5.1 billion passengers this year.
That is up 2.4 percent from 2025, when passenger traffic was estimated to have reached 4.98 billion. The four billion mark was surpassed in 2023.
Asked by reporters about the impact of the war in the Middle East compared to the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020-2021, IATA Director General Willie Walsh replied: "I don't see this as a crisis." 
"You're looking at an industry that is forecasting growth," he said. "If you extract the impact of the Middle East, we're looking at growth of 3.5 percent."
This growth, however, will be accompanied by profitability only half as strong as last year's, while Middle Eastern airlines are expected to post losses.
"War-related disruptions in the Middle East and rising fuel costs have shifted the outlook for airlines to the worse," Walsh said in a statement. 
"Profits will shrink from $45 billion in 2025 to $23 billion this year. And margins will shrink from 4.2 percent to 2.0 percent," he said, referring to the net margin.
According to IATA's calculations, net profit is expected to be $4.50 per passenger, half the 2025 figure.
"Under the circumstances, that shows resilience. But it won't even buy you a hot dog at most of the FIFA World Cup venues and it does not leave much of a buffer should other costs or taxes start rising," Walsh said in the statement.

'Fuel price shock'

With fuel costs rising  -- and those increases being passed on in part through higher ticket prices -- the revenue of IATA member airlines is expected to grow nine percent this year, reaching $1.165 trillion.
"Airlines are bearing the brunt of the fuel price shock. While air fares are rising, airlines are still absorbing part of the hike in their bottom lines," the IATA said.
Profitability will vary across different regions of the world, according to the organization's projections.
Middle Eastern airlines, which have traditionally had access to an abundant supply of fuel, are expected to face a difficult year, with net margins projected to turn negative. 
For these airlines, including Emirates and Qatar Airways, "the immediate recovery path is likely to be driven more by pricing than by a rapid return of volumes," the IATA said.
European airlines are expected to become the most profitable (3.1 percent net margin), followed by those in North America (2.5 percent) and Asia-Pacific (2.1 percent).
Despite significant geopolitical uncertainty and the inability to predict the duration of the war, the IATA is not worried about demand. It noted that according to its calculations, the average airline ticket price had fallen 26 percent over the past 10 years.
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