royals

Starmer clings on as leadership talk overshadows king's speech

US

War in Middle East: latest developments

  • "The visit marked a historic breakthrough in relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates."
  • Here are the latest developments in the Middle East war: - Netanyahu's UAE visit -  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a "secret" meeting with the president of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, during the war with Iran, his office said.
  • "The visit marked a historic breakthrough in relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates."
Here are the latest developments in the Middle East war:
- Netanyahu's UAE visit - 
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a "secret" meeting with the president of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, during the war with Iran, his office said.
"The visit marked a historic breakthrough in relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates."

Iran threatens Kuwait

Iran's foreign minister said Tehran had the right to respond after he accused Kuwait of attacking an Iranian boat and arresting four of its citizens in the Gulf, and called for their release.
"In clear attempt to sow discord, Kuwait has unlawfully attacked an Iranian boat and detained 4 of our citizens in the Persian Gulf. This illegal act took place near island used by the U.S. to attack Iran. We demand immediate release of our nationals and reserve right to respond," Abbas Araghchi wrote on X.

Senate backs Trump

US senators narrowly rejected a resolution curbing President Donald Trump's power to wage war on Iran -- their first vote on the conflict since a 60-day deadline expired for the White House to seek formal authorisation.
The vote tally was 50-49.

Lebanon says 10,000 homes hit

More than 10,000 homes have been damaged or destroyed in Lebanon since a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hezbollah, the head of the country's National Council for Scientific Research said.
"Since the current ceasefire... we have witnessed 5,386 housing units that were completely destroyed, and 5,246 housing units damaged," CRNS chief Chadi Abdallah told a news conference broadcast by local media.

12 killed in Lebanon

Israel intensified strikes on Lebanon with the health ministry reporting 12 people killed in attacks, mostly south of Beirut, despite a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
The fresh raids, which also targeted various areas of the country's south, came on the eve of a new round of direct negotiations between Lebanon and Israel in Washington brokered by the United States, as Hezbollah remains strongly opposed to the move.

US wholesale prices jump

Wholesale prices in the United States rose sharply in April, lifted by a surge in energy costs related to the Iran war, registering their highest 12-month increase in more than three years.
The Producer Price Index (PPI) rose 6 percent for the 12 months ending in April, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) said -- the highest level since December 2022.

Iran hangs man

Iranian authorities hanged a man in his early 30s convicted of spying for Israel, the sixth person to be executed on such charges since the start of the US-Israeli war against the Islamic republic.
The Iranian judiciary's Mizan Online website described Ehsan Afreshteh, 32, as "a spy trained by Mossad in Nepal who sold sensitive information to Israel".
But the Norway-based Hengaw and Iran Human Rights (IHR) NGOs said in separate statements that Afreshteh had denied the accusations, and said he had been subjected to televised "forced confessions" obtained through torture.
burs-ach/sbk

Murdaugh

New trial ordered for US lawyer convicted of murdering wife, son

  • Murdaugh is also currently serving a 40-year prison sentence for financial crimes.
  • A US court on Wednesday overturned the conviction of a prominent lawyer serving a life sentence for killing his wife and son in a sensational case that drew national attention.
  • Murdaugh is also currently serving a 40-year prison sentence for financial crimes.
A US court on Wednesday overturned the conviction of a prominent lawyer serving a life sentence for killing his wife and son in a sensational case that drew national attention.
Alex Murdaugh, 57, scion of an elite family of judges and attorneys, was denied a fair trial because a court clerk influenced the jury, the South Carolina Supreme Court said.
Murdaugh was found guilty in March 2023 of shooting his son Paul, 22, with a shotgun and his wife, Maggie, 52, with an assault rifle on the family's sprawling hunting estate in June 2021.
The state Supreme Court, in a unanimous ruling, tossed out Murdaugh's murder conviction and ordered a retrial.
Jurors who were questioned following Murdaugh's trial reported that the court clerk, Rebecca Hill, had told them to closely watch his "body language" during his testimony and "not to be fooled" by evidence presented by his attorneys, the court said.
"Hill placed her fingers on the scales of justice, thereby denying Murdaugh his right to a fair trial by an impartial jury," the justices said.
"We have no choice but to reverse the denial of Murdaugh's motion for a new trial due to Hill's improper external influence on the jury."
In ordering a new trial, the court also said the presiding judge at his murder trial had allowed too much evidence of Murdaugh's financial crimes to be presented to the jury.
Murdaugh is also currently serving a 40-year prison sentence for financial crimes.
According to prosecutors, Murdaugh shot his wife and son after realizing his years of stealing millions of dollars from his law firm and from clients to feed his hidden opioid addiction were about to go public.
Murdaugh testified in his own defense at his trial.
He admitted stealing, embezzling and lying about his drug habit, which his attorneys said cost $50,000 a week, but denied killing his wife and son.
Evidence from his son's cell phone indicated, however, that Murdaugh was the only person with his wife and son at the estate's dog kennels several minutes before they were killed.
His televised trial captivated viewers nationwide and Netflix and HBO rushed out docu-dramas on the case.
cl/des

politics

Gunshots at Philippine Senate as lawmaker wanted by ICC holds out

BY FAITH BROWN AND JAMILLAH STA ROSA

  • AFP journalists in the Senate said they heard at least five gunshots.
  • Multiple gunshots sent Philippine senators into hiding in their offices late Wednesday, AFP journalists said, as a legislator wanted by the International Criminal Court has sought refuge in the building.
  • AFP journalists in the Senate said they heard at least five gunshots.
Multiple gunshots sent Philippine senators into hiding in their offices late Wednesday, AFP journalists said, as a legislator wanted by the International Criminal Court has sought refuge in the building.
There were no casualties and the search for the gunmen was ongoing, Interior Secretary Juanito Victor Remulla told reporters, adding that fugitive Senator Ronald Dela Rosa remained inside the building.
AFP journalists in the Senate said they heard at least five gunshots.
A television journalist was seen crying as she reported live from inside the building, while one senator, Robin Padilla, urged reporters to evacuate.
The dramatic scene unfolded as Dela Rosa -- former president Rodrigo Duterte's top enforcer during his bloody drug war -- holed up in the Senate complex to dodge arrest and transfer to the Netherlands over alleged crimes against humanity.
Remulla said Dela Rosa "is safe. He is with security personnel. He has been informed of our activities. We have assured him that there is no warrant of arrest to be served."
President Ferdinand Marcos said government forces inside and around the Senate complex did not fire their guns.
He said agents trying to arrest Dela Rosa had been instructed to stand down after the Supreme Court ordered the government earlier on Wednesday to explain its actions.
"The thing to do now is to tell all our people to calm down and we will get to the bottom of this. We will determine who is behind this trouble," Marcos said in an address on state television.
Dela Rosa had earlier asked the Supreme Court to stop the authorities from arresting and handing him over to the ICC.
Dela Rosa, known as "Bato", served as national police chief from 2016 to 2018 during the early phase of Duterte's anti-drug campaign.
The crackdown left thousands dead, many of them drug users and low-level narcotics peddlers, according to human rights monitors.
His boss Duterte was arrested in March last year, flown to the Netherlands on the same day, and is detained in The Hague awaiting trial.

'Under attack'

Dela Rosa had not been seen publicly since November before emerging on Monday to take part in an unexpected vote that helped Duterte loyalists capture control of the Senate. 
Minutes before the gunfire, Senator Vicente Sotto said in a statement that protesters threw water bottles at his car as he drove alone out of the Senate complex.
Earlier Wednesday, Dela Rosa had appealed to the military to oppose attempts to detain him, urging former colleagues to resist any move by President Marcos's government to hand him over to the ICC.
"My fellow men in uniform" should "express their sentiment" that the government "should not hand me over to foreigners", he said.
Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano, who had stopped government agents from arresting his ally, said on his official Facebook page he did not know who had fired the shots.
"We heard gunshots and we don't know what is happening. Everyone's locked in their rooms now. We cannot go out, we cannot secure our other staff," he added.
"Why are we under attack here?"
Melvin Matibag, director of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) whose agents had attempted to arrest Dela Rosa at the Senate on Monday, denied that his officers had fired their guns.
"We were on a stand down," he told ABS-CBN network in an interview, adding there were no NBI agents inside the Senate when the shooting occurred.
cgm-pam-ls/ami

LGBTQ

EU won't ban LGBTQ 'conversion therapy' but will push states to act

  • Conversion practices "have no place in our union," said Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, which flew the LGBTQ flag outside its headquarters in Brussels Wednesday.
  • The European Union will not ban "conversion therapy" targeting LGBTQ people, but will push member states to take action against such practices, it said Wednesday.
  • Conversion practices "have no place in our union," said Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, which flew the LGBTQ flag outside its headquarters in Brussels Wednesday.
The European Union will not ban "conversion therapy" targeting LGBTQ people, but will push member states to take action against such practices, it said Wednesday.
So-called conversion "therapies" involve methods that seek to change the sexual orientation, gender identity or expression of gay, lesbian, queer and trans people.
The EU stopped short of heeding a call by over a million people, who signed a petition last May calling on the 27-country bloc to prohibit such methods.
Conversion practices "have no place in our union," said Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, which flew the LGBTQ flag outside its headquarters in Brussels Wednesday.
Instead, the EU executive said it would issue a recommendation next year for member states to adopt national-level bans, but it would not be binding.
The United Nations has called for a ban worldwide, describing such practices -- based on the notion that homosexuality is a disorder -- as discriminatory, humiliating and a violation of bodily integrity.
"This is a shameful practice, this is an unacceptable practice. This is not care, this is covert violence. No one should have to experience this," said EU commissioner Hadja Lahbib, in charge of equality.
But Brussels argued it does not have the legal authority to ban the practices, and that any such move would be an encroachment on member states' powers.
This is a "missed opportunity", said the group "Against Conversion Therapy" which launched the petition.
"In an international political context where the rise of reactionary ideas is affecting the entire world, it is urgent the European Union acts," it said.
Bans already exist in eight of the EU's 27 nations: Belgium, Cyprus, France, Germany, Greece, Malta, Portugal and Spain.
EU lawmaker Melissa Camara, a lesbian member of the European Parliament group working for LGBTIQ+ rights, told AFP the commission's response was a step in the right direction. But it was "far too timid" in view of "the damage and trauma caused by these practices", she added.
But Lahbib defended Wednesday's move as "historic" and said the decision was taken after hearing victims' describe being subjected to "forced drug treatment, verbal and physical violence, electric shocks, sexual abuse, and rape".
She added: "I will never forget what I heard."
cjc/raz/ec/pdw

inflation

Strong US economy's resilience to shocks tested by Iran war

BY MYRIAM LEMETAYER AND ASAD HASHIM

  • "The economy is resilient, but it's also kind of precariously perched," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics. 
  • If you look at the numbers, the United States economy seems to be doing surprisingly well despite massive successive shocks from the pandemic, Ukraine war, tariffs, and now the Iran war energy crunch -- but economists warn that resilience is precarious.
  • "The economy is resilient, but it's also kind of precariously perched," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics. 
If you look at the numbers, the United States economy seems to be doing surprisingly well despite massive successive shocks from the pandemic, Ukraine war, tariffs, and now the Iran war energy crunch -- but economists warn that resilience is precarious.
GDP growth came in at a robust 2.0 percent last quarter, unemployment is steady, the stock market is booming, and inflation -- while high -- is nowhere near its pandemic peak.
US President Donald Trump has pointed to these figures as proof his economic policies, including upending the international trade order with tariffs, are working.
"The economy is resilient, but it's also kind of precariously perched," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics. 
He pointed to concerns about job growth, often used as a proxy for economic activity.
While unemployment has remained steady, job growth has see-sawed wildly between expansion and contraction in the last year, with new jobs heavily reliant on a single sector: health care.
The US-Israel war on Iran has sent energy prices surging, after Tehran blocked the key Strait of Hormuz waterway through which a fifth of all global energy supplies normally pass.
The shock is being felt at the pump for consumers, but also for private sector companies as they see their input costs skyrocket.
"It wouldn't take much to push this resilient economy over the cliff into a downturn," said Zandi.
Excluding health care, analysts warn that the US economy has lost jobs over the last year. Zandi said there had not been mass layoffs, but that many companies were "right on the edge."
If the Iran war drags on, spiking energy prices further and snarling global supply chains, "at some point the economy is not going to be able to digest all the shocks," he said.
"I think recession risks are uncomfortably high," he added.

'Firing on all cylinders'

Claudia Sahm, chief economist at investment firm New Century Advisors, told AFP the economy had been surprisingly robust, but it was too early to predict the full effects of the Iran war.
She said the world's largest economy had come out of the pandemic "firing on all cylinders," and that strength had helped it weather subsequent storms, including the current energy shock.
"Some of the resilience just comes from the fact that we were on a pretty strong footing," she said.
For Sahm, the current scenario -- with high energy prices, tariffs and policy uncertainty -- is "unlikely to be enough to derail the economy."
The real issue, she said, would hit if there was a "crisis of confidence," particularly in new artificial intelligence (AI) technologies that are powering much of the optimism on Wall Street and in the private sector.
It is AI-related technology stocks that have powered the US stock market this year, despite recent turmoil due to the Iran war.
The Nasdaq Composite is up around 13 percent, the S&P 500 more than eight percent and the Dow more than three percent in that period.
But "the stock market isn't the economy," said Moody's Zandi, warning that money made in Wall Street disproportionately benefits higher-income households.

K-shaped economy

For working-class families, inflation -- especially of basics like fuel and groceries -- tends to define their experience of the economy.
In April, those numbers came in at multi-year highs, with fuel prices at the pump up around 51 percent since the war began, and grocery prices at their highest level since 2023. 
That inequality has given rise to what economists have begun to call the "K-shaped economy," where consumption for higher-income Americans is rising, but it is falling for lower-income people.
A recent study by the US Federal Reserve Bank of New York found that retail spending growth since 2023 has been driven by households making more than $125,000 a year.
Still, Sahm says that the American economy's buffers across the board are dwindling, and there is a limit to how much it can take.
"There's resilience," she said, but "it's not endless."
myl-aha/des

royals

Starmer clings on as leadership talk overshadows king's speech

BY PETER HUTCHISON

  • Starmer has vowed to fight any challenge.
  • The pomp of a speech by King Charles III to Britain's parliament Wednesday failed to quell speculation that a senior government minister is poised to launch a leadership challenge against embattled Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
  • Starmer has vowed to fight any challenge.
The pomp of a speech by King Charles III to Britain's parliament Wednesday failed to quell speculation that a senior government minister is poised to launch a leadership challenge against embattled Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
The monarch's address opening a new parliamentary session was overshadowed by reports that allies of Health Secretary Wes Streeting had said he was preparing to resign to trigger a contest to oust Starmer from office.
The Labour party leader had seen off an immediate threat on Tuesday despite four junior ministers resigning and more than 80 MPs urging him to quit, when no one broke ranks to formally challenge him.
But shortly before King Charles read out Starmer's forthcoming legislative plans from a golden throne in the upper House of Lords, UK media reported that 43-year-old Streeting was preparing to quit government on Thursday to run for the top job.
The reports came after Streeting met Starmer at Downing Street early Wednesday for talks that lasted less than 20 minutes. A spokesman for Streeting did not respond to a request for comment from AFP.
Open warfare has broken out in the Labour party over Starmer's future following disastrous local election results last week.
The ballot-box drubbing followed months of scandal regarding the appointment, and sacking, of ex-Jeffrey Epstein associate Peter Mandelson as envoy to the US.
Some 110 Labour MPs have signed a statement saying now is not the time for a leadership contest -- highlighting the deep divisions that Starmer's team hope can keep him in power.

Union snub

Streeting is popular on the right of Labour, but is disliked by MPs on the left who would prefer former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner or Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham as leader. 
Both however have obstacles to overcome before they would be able to run for the leadership.
Starmer suffered a further blow Wednesday when trade unions, which support the party and have a say in its decision-making, said a plan must be made to elect a new leader.
"It's clear that the prime minister will not lead Labour into the next election," not due until 2029, said TULO, which represents 11 unions.
Despite its name, the King's Speech is not written by the monarch but by the government, which uses it to detail the laws it proposes over the next 12 months.
In the introductory notes, Starmer vowed to move "with greater urgency" to make Britain "stronger and fairer".
His proposals, many of which have already been announced, include deepening Britain's relationship with the European Union by giving ministers the power to align the UK with some laws without giving MPs a vote.

Black Rod

Other plans include fully nationalising British steel, reforming the asylum system, lowering the voting age to 16 and cracking down on ticket touts.
But questions remain over whether Starmer will even be around to implement them.
"It is clear his authority has gone and that he will not be able to deliver what little there is in this King's Speech," opposition Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch told parliament.
"This is a government less than two years in office which has already run out of ideas and run out of road."
Under Labour party rules, Streeting will need the support of 81 Labour MPs, 20 percent of the party in parliament, to trigger a contest. Starmer has vowed to fight any challenge.
Rayner is still settling an unpaid tax issue, while Burnham is unable to stand currently as he is not an MP. His supporters want Starmer to lay out a timetable for his departure that allows Burnham to return to parliament and stand.
The day's proceedings started when royal bodyguards ritually searched the basement of the Palace of Westminster for explosives - a legacy of the failed attempt by Catholics to blow up parliament in the 1605 Gunpowder plot.
Charles then travelled to parliament by carriage from Buckingham Palace, escorted by mounted cavalry.
As is tradition, one MP was ceremonially held "hostage" in the palace to ensure the sovereign's safe return. 
A parliamentary official known as Black Rod had the door of the lower House of Commons slammed in their face, a ritual that symbolises parliament's independence from the monarchy.
MPs then followed Black Rod to the upper chamber, where Charles gave the speech to assembled lords and ladies in red and ermine robes, plus invited members of the elected Commons.
pdh/jkb

royals

Italy cheers UK's Catherine on first foreign visit since cancer diagnosis

BY SONIA LOGRE

  • She announced in March 2024 that she had been diagnosed with cancer, without revealing which type and that she had begun chemotherapy.
  • Britain's Princess Catherine was greeted with cheers during a visit to Italy on Wednesday on her first official foreign trip since her 2024 cancer diagnosis.
  • She announced in March 2024 that she had been diagnosed with cancer, without revealing which type and that she had begun chemotherapy.
Britain's Princess Catherine was greeted with cheers during a visit to Italy on Wednesday on her first official foreign trip since her 2024 cancer diagnosis.
The Princess of Wales, whose husband Prince William is the heir to the British throne, was welcomed in the northern Italian city of Reggio Emilia.
At the start of the two-day trip, she met the city's mayor Marco Massari as hundreds of cheering onlookers waved British flags and held up signs reading "Ciao Kate" and "We love you, Kate!"
Early education is a subject close to the princess's heart as a mother of three children -- George, 12, Charlotte, 11, and Louis, eight.
"Knowing that this is her first trip abroad after her hospitalisation, it means a lot. Our city, although small, today has its name in all the newspapers," said Menna Moursi, a local resident.
Sergio Ardenghi, a pensioner, said: "Given what has happened to her, she is a very courageous and very determined woman.
"She works hard for many good and positive things, and for this reason I admire her even more than her husband," he said.
The 44-year-old's trip will focus on her work in early years child development, said a Kensington palace statement.
Kate, as she is widely known, is looking forward to "seeing first-hand how the Reggio Emilia approach creates environments where nature and loving human relationships come together".
Her last official trip abroad was in December 2022 when she travelled to Boston in the United States with William for the awarding of environmental Earthshot prize.
She announced in March 2024 that she had been diagnosed with cancer, without revealing which type and that she had begun chemotherapy.
In January 2025 she said she was in remission from cancer, and has been gradually returning to public royal duties.

Early years

In past years, Catherine has addressed themes of forging connections, the healing power of nature and acts of kindness, as well as her work with children and families.
She set up the Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood in 2021, working to highlight the importance of a child's early years.
The Reggio Emilia philosophy was developed by Italian educator Loris Malaguzzi after World War II, drawing on his years of experience working in early childhood education as well as psychology.
The project's roots can be traced to his experience helping a group of women establish a school in a war-torn village in 1945.
He later went on to work with children with learning difficulties, which shaped his education philosophy about prioritising individual differences.
"The idea is that children are competent from the very first months of life and we need to construct educational contexts that are able to bring out their potential," Nando Rinaldi, director of schools and nurseries for the Reggio Emilia municipality, told AFP.
A key tenet of the philosophy is "The 100 Languages of Children" –- the idea that children express themselves in myriad ways including movement, art and speech.
"Malaguzzi's great intuition -- which was a bit of a revolution -- has finally been recognised today," said Rinaldi.
Kate's visit "is a great recognition for us. It is also a source of pride". 
bur-ctx-dt/jxb

pollution

The Chilean town living with the world's most polluting dump

BY AXL HERNANDEZ

  • Painter and Tiltil resident Raquel Carcamo has watched her town become "Santiago's garbage dump" over the years.
  • From afar, Chile's Tiltil landfill almost resembles just another mountain, but the growing rubbish pile has created a daily nightmare of odors, flies and health concerns for residents nearby.
  • Painter and Tiltil resident Raquel Carcamo has watched her town become "Santiago's garbage dump" over the years.
From afar, Chile's Tiltil landfill almost resembles just another mountain, but the growing rubbish pile has created a daily nightmare of odors, flies and health concerns for residents nearby.
The site, located around 35 miles (60 kilometers) north of Santiago, is the world's largest source of human-generated methane emissions, according to the United Nations.
About 60 percent of the Chilean capital's waste this century -- around 18,000 tons per day -- has ended up in Tiltil.
As hungry birds of prey circle above, hundreds of garbage trucks trundle through the town below, leaving trails of rubbish in their wake.
The decomposing waste generates methane, which scientists say is responsible for at least a quarter of global warming.
In April, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) placed the landfill at the top of a list of 50 human-made sites that emit the most methane in the world.
Thirty-five space satellites helped to detect that it generates some 100,000 metric tons of methane annually.
Methane gas may be imperceptible, but the garbage that produces it is not -- Tiltil's 17,000 inhabitants have grown increasingly concerned about the health impact of such drastic pollution.
The smell is "like excrement," said 68-year-old Patricio Velasquez, who shuts himself inside every summer due to the odor emanating from the dump.

'Flies in our mouths'

The retired teacher lives less than two miles (around three kilometers) away from the 120-hectare landfill, which is roughly the size of 100 soccer fields.
"We're in the countryside. We should be breathing fresh air," Velasquez said.
"In the summer we used to take the table outside for lunch, but it got to a point where we couldn't eat because we had flies in our mouths and on our plates."
Methane is not considered toxic, but experts warn of the risks that emissions and air pollution pose to people in the surrounding area.
High concentrations of methane can cause "episodes of suffocation or headaches," Yuri Carvajal, president of the environmental department at the Medical College of Chile, told AFP.
"It's not that easy" to measure the effects on the population, said Carvajal, who recommended keeping people away from such sites.
The company KDM has been operating the landfill for 20 years.
A further 50 industrial sites are located in the area, including cement factories, animal farms and mining storage sites.
"There are numerous facilities that generate environmental impacts in a vulnerable area," Caroline Stamm, an associate professor at the Institute of Urban and Territorial Studies at the Catholic University of Santiago, told AFP.
"It's a case of environmental injustice," she said.

'Santiago's garbage dump'

Tiltil authorities concede that they have little wiggle room.
"As a municipality, we do not have the legal authority to arbitrarily prohibit the establishment of new businesses, since in Chile there is freedom to engage in economic activities," councilor Nelda Gil told AFP.
AFP contacted KDM and the Chilean government for comment but did not receive a response from either.
"Cities don't have a proper waste separation system. Organic trash should be separated and shouldn't end up in a place like this," said Carvajal.
Chile generates an average of 1.1 kilograms of garbage per person per day and recycles just 0.8 percent, according to the environment ministry.
This figure is lower than the regional average of four percent, according to official figures.
Painter and Tiltil resident Raquel Carcamo has watched her town become "Santiago's garbage dump" over the years.
"They don't see us as a town. To them we're just another garbage can," she said.
str-axl/sf/cc/des

history

'Ungovernable' Britain? Once-stable politics in freefall

BY JOE JACKSON

  • But the Labour leader -- who won largely thanks to the splintering of votes on the right -- now faces being forced out, less than two years on.
  • For years, under long-serving leaders such as Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair, the worst mid-term challenge a British prime minister might face was a rowdy jeering in parliament.
  • But the Labour leader -- who won largely thanks to the splintering of votes on the right -- now faces being forced out, less than two years on.
For years, under long-serving leaders such as Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair, the worst mid-term challenge a British prime minister might face was a rowdy jeering in parliament.
Now, leaders in the country of the wartime slogan "keep calm and carry on" regularly fear for their jobs, with the latest, Keir Starmer, facing intense pressure this week to quit too.
Six people have held the post in a decade of turbulence driven by the wake of the global financial crisis, Brexit and Covid.
"Is it because the PMs are no good, or because the office has become impossible, or because the situation's become impossible?" mused historian Anthony Seldon, who has authored books on the last four prime ministers.
"The answer is: it's a mixture of all three of those," he told AFP, judging the churn of leaders since 2016 "without precedent".
For voters, the situation borders on farce.
"We've had so many prime ministers in the last few years, it's ridiculous," Londoner Claudio, who declined to give his surname, said Wednesday, calling Starmer's precarious hold on power "unfortunate".
"But he's just not doing the right job anymore," he added.

Seven-week term

When David Cameron and his centre-right Conservatives ousted centre-left Labour in 2010, he became only the fifth prime minister in three decades.
Cameron quit six years later, after calling and then losing the referendum on remaining in the European Union, heralding an era of rare political instability.
There followed the ill-fated Downing Street tenures of Conservatives Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak.
Truss lasted just seven weeks -- a term memorably compared in the media to the lifespan of a rotting lettuce.
Starmer's 2024 victory, with a landslide number of parliamentary seats, was supposed to bookend that chaotic period.
But the Labour leader -- who won largely thanks to the splintering of votes on the right -- now faces being forced out, less than two years on.
Growing numbers of his own MPs and ministers have deserted him after a scandal over the appointment of an ambassador with links to the US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

'Ungovernable' Britain?

Seldon argued that Starmer, Johnson and Truss "never learned how to do the job", while acknowledging that it "has become more difficult" in the age of social media, constant polling and modern "instant gratification" culture.
London School of Economics politics expert Tony Travers warned Britain now risks appearing "ungovernable", echoing a sentiment heard on political panel shows on TV.
"It begins to look like countries that people in Britain used to make fun of in the past," he told AFP, with Italy's recent decades of political dysfunction one example typically cited.
Breaking the cycle, Travers said, would require working out "how to stop senior MPs thinking that somehow changing their leader all the time is the solution to other problems".
"Those problems include not enough growth, high and rising prices, inflation, and the general sense that politics is now fragmenting."

Brexit impact

Political analysts agree that meagre economic growth since the 2008 financial crisis has left successive governments with little to offer in the form of tax cuts or increased spending.
"Voters want politicians to make them richer. They cannot do that, but they pretend that they can," Vernon Bogdanor, professor of government at King's College London, told AFP.
Seldon said servicing the country's huge debt has also become "an enormous constraint" as crises spook investors and make that more costly.
With foreign wars fuelling global instability, plus Covid and persistent inflation, British leaders have also had to contend with the country's highly disruptive EU departure in 2020.
"Brexit had a big effect... on stability in UK politics in a number of ways," said another King's political scientist, Anand Menon.
"It rearranged political affiliations," he told AFP. "It undoubtedly played a role in encouraging populist thinking and populist political forces."

Populist 'danger'

That in turn has strained Britain's traditional two-party political system, drawing scrutiny of the first-past-the-post voting system which does not reward smaller parties, reinforcing some voters' sense of being ignored.
Far-right anti-immigration party Reform UK has emerged as a major challenger to Starmer's Labour and the leftist Green party has also made electoral gains.
In 2024 however, Labour won 63 percent of the seats in the lower house of parliament despite winning just under 34 percent of the national vote.
For Menon, a government with such a huge majority being unable to govern is "worrying".
"There's a real danger that the longer this instability lasts, the more potential there is for us to end up with a populist government after the next election," due by 2029, he added.
jj/jkb/rlp

health

No cadmium please: French want less toxin in their baguettes

BY REBECCA FRASQUET AND SOFIA BOUDERBALA

  • - France is mulling two ways to help: testing people to get a better measure of how widespread contamination is, and regulating fertilisers to limit new cadmium entering soils.
  • France is mulling how to prevent people from ingesting too much of the heavy metal cadmium, after a warning their breakfast cereal and baguettes could be contaminated with the toxin.
  • - France is mulling two ways to help: testing people to get a better measure of how widespread contamination is, and regulating fertilisers to limit new cadmium entering soils.
France is mulling how to prevent people from ingesting too much of the heavy metal cadmium, after a warning their breakfast cereal and baguettes could be contaminated with the toxin.
Here is what to know.

What is cadmium?

Cadmium is a chemical element naturally found in the ground at low levels, particularly in limestone-rich areas.
But the concentration of the carcinogenic element can increase through deposits, including phosphate fertilisers used to grow crops that then end up on people's plates.

What's the problem?

Nearly half of the French population last year had cadmium exposure levels exceeding reference values, France's National Agency for Health Security (ANSES) warned in March.
It noted "worrying cadmium contamination at all ages, starting from a very young age".
For non-smokers, this came primarily from consuming contaminated food including breakfast cereals, bread, croissants and other pastries, biscuits, rice and potatoes, it said.

How bad is it?

French doctors last year begged the authorities to act, saying women and children were especially being contaminated and blaming "phosphate fertilisers containing too much cadmium".
France's top health authority in 2024 warned that "repeated exposure to low doses can be the cause of multiple health effects: on the kidneys, bones, respiratory system, nervous system, cardiovascular system, reproduction, and it can be carcinogenic".
When it is inhaled, through smoking or in industrial settings, it can cause lung cancer, according to the World Health Organization.
Ingesting too much of the toxin may also cause cancers of the kidney and prostate, it says.

What can be done?

France is mulling two ways to help: testing people to get a better measure of how widespread contamination is, and regulating fertilisers to limit new cadmium entering soils.
As a first step, France is soon to introduce a reimbursable test for people living in higher-risk areas, the health minister's office has said.
The health authority has recommended the test, to be introduced this summer, for people living in limestone-rich regions or near some 7,000 old industrial sites.
But doctors could also recommend it outside these regions, the ministry said.
Francois Blanchecotte, president of France's Federation of Medical Laboratories, said the urine test -- and possibly blood test -- would be able to determine if someone suffered from a "significant chronic intoxication".
"Something really had to be done: cadmium builds up silently in the body and can ultimately cause serious problems," he said.
Toxicologist Robert Garnier said reducing exposure was key as there was no medication to help eliminate it from the body.
"The top priority is to reduce young children's exposure: not because there are risks for them today, but because they will eventually grow old," he said.
"Even the cadmium accumulated in childhood will not have been completely eliminated by the time they are over 60," he added.

What about fertilisers?

France's cadmium rate in earth of 0.25 mg/kg is only slightly higher than the EU average of 0.20, according to a 2024 study of topsoils in the bloc.
But some consumers are worried, with several petitions popping up online in recent months demanding the government take measures.
The ANSES health security agency has recommended lowering the maximum permitted cadmium levels in phosphate fertilisers from the current 90 mg/kg in France to 20 mg/kg.
Up to 60 mg/kg is allowed in these fertilisers in the European Union.
A bill, to be discussed in parliament next month, wants to cap allowed cadmium levels in fertiliser to 40 mg/kg by next year and 20 mg/kg by 2030.
The National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and the Environment has also recommended "limiting the use of synthetic fertilisers", which it says are already down by 70 percent compared to the 1980s.
It has also suggested farmers select wheat varieties for pasta and bread that are "less prone to accumulating cadmium".
Doctors have urged the government to help boost organic food consumption, especially in schools.
burs-ah/pdw

banking

Warsh set to take over a divided Fed facing Trump assaults

BY ASAD HASHIM

  • The incoming Federal Reserve chair has promised to bring "regime change" at the central bank, which he has criticized for being too political and communicating too openly on its decision-making processes.
  • The US Senate is expected to confirm Kevin Warsh as Federal Reserve chairman on Wednesday, as President Donald Trump applies unprecedented pressure on the central bank to cut rates despite stubbornly high inflation.
  • The incoming Federal Reserve chair has promised to bring "regime change" at the central bank, which he has criticized for being too political and communicating too openly on its decision-making processes.
The US Senate is expected to confirm Kevin Warsh as Federal Reserve chairman on Wednesday, as President Donald Trump applies unprecedented pressure on the central bank to cut rates despite stubbornly high inflation.
The Senate will vote at 2:00 pm local time (1800 GMT), with Trump's Republicans holding a slim majority and expected to confirm his nominee to replace Jerome Powell.
Once known as a monetary "hawk," Warsh has since changed his tune in line with Trump's abrasive push for lower interest rates.
The incoming Federal Reserve chair has promised to bring "regime change" at the central bank, which he has criticized for being too political and communicating too openly on its decision-making processes.
But with inflation still above the Fed's long-term two-percent target -- and rising over Trump's Iran war -- Warsh is unlikely to convince fellow Fed rate-setting committee members to cut immediately.
That could lay him open to attacks from Trump, who has relentlessly lashed out at Powell over rate decisions.
"Warsh's biggest challenge will likely be dealing with President Trump," said David Wessel, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. 
"The president does not respect the independence of the Fed and he wants interest rates to be lower."

Fed independence attacks

Trump's campaign of insults against Powell has been viewed by many as part of an unprecedented assault on the central bank's independence.
In January, Powell said a Justice Department criminal probe against him over cost overruns related to a building renovation project was intended to create pressure on monetary policy decision making.
That followed Trump's separate attempt to oust Fed Governor Lisa Cook from the board.
The criminal probe against Powell has since been dropped, as the Trump administration aimed to smooth the path for Warsh's nomination. The Supreme Court is due to rule on the legality of removing Cook.
Both moves were "unprecedented," said Kathryn Judge, a Columbia law professor who focuses on banking.
While Warsh is Trump's pick -- as Powell was nine years ago -- Judge said there was no reason to believe the pressure will ease.
"Fed officials have been put on notice that this president is willing to use all available tools to bully them into acceding to his demands," she said.

Economic challenges

Warsh is taking over as the world's largest economy continues to reel from repeated economic shocks.
The pandemic delivered a hammer blow to the Fed's inflation target, with CPI peaking at 9.1 percent in mid-2022. It has since come down, but US households have been battered by years of higher-than-expected price increases.
In April, year-on-year inflation came in at a three-year high of 3.8 percent, fueled in part by surging oil prices in the wake of the US-Israel war on Iran.
The Fed's other mandate is ensuring maximum employment. The unemployment rate has remained relatively firm at around 4.3 percent, but the steady number hides churn beneath the surface.
Job growth has been weak, see-sawing between expansion and contraction for months, with new jobs mainly driven by the health care sector.
The tumult has been partly hidden because there has been a significant drop in labor supply, driven by Trump's deportation drive and an ageing population.
The situation has put Fed policymakers in the difficult position of having to choose between dueling mandates: raise interest rates to combat inflation, or cut them to spur growth?

A house divided

It is here that Warsh faces his third major challenge: divisions on the Fed's rate-setting committee on the path forward.
At the last meeting, there was a rare outpouring of dissent, with three members declaring that the Fed should indicate a rate hike could be on the cards to combat inflation.
"One of Warsh's challenges is that the Fed does seem divided -- at times along partisan lines, which is a change from the past," said Wessel.
Added to that another wrinkle: Powell will be the first outgoing chair in more than 70 years not to leave the board at the expiration of his term as its head. 
aha/sms/des

diplomacy

Trump arrives in China for superpower summit with Xi

BY DANNY KEMP AND PETER CATTERALL

  • While en route to Beijing, Trump said on social media he would "be asking President Xi, a Leader of extraordinary distinction, to 'open up' China so that these brilliant people can work their magic".
  • US President Donald Trump landed in Beijing on Wednesday for a high-stakes summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping aimed at easing deep tensions between the rival superpowers.
  • While en route to Beijing, Trump said on social media he would "be asking President Xi, a Leader of extraordinary distinction, to 'open up' China so that these brilliant people can work their magic".
US President Donald Trump landed in Beijing on Wednesday for a high-stakes summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping aimed at easing deep tensions between the rival superpowers.
Giving a fist pump, Trump descended the steps of Air Force One after touching down at Beijing Capital International Airport, kicking off the first visit to China by a US president in nearly a decade.
Right behind him were Tesla boss Elon Musk and Nvidia chief Jensen Huang -- potent symbols of the business deals that Trump hopes to sign between the world's biggest economies.
Trump was greeted with a bunch of flowers and then walked along the red carpet, which was lined with 300 Chinese youth in white uniforms chanting "welcome" and waving small Chinese and US flags in unison.
While en route to Beijing, Trump said on social media he would "be asking President Xi, a Leader of extraordinary distinction, to 'open up' China so that these brilliant people can work their magic".
Nvidia's Huang was a surprise late addition to the trip, joining the plane at a stopover in Alaska. China is currently banned under US national security rules from buying the cutting-edge AI chips that the company produces.
But Iran, trade and Taiwan loom over the highly anticipated meeting, which Trump had already delayed from March because of the war the United States and Israel started in the Middle East.

 China 'welcomes' Trump visit

Visiting China for the first time since 2017 during his previous term, Trump is expected to receive a lavish welcome from Chinese authorities.
Trump and Xi will hold talks at 10:00 am (0200 GMT) on Thursday in Beijing's opulent Great Hall of the People.
The US president will also visit the historic Temple of Heaven, a world heritage site where China's emperors once prayed for good harvest.
The leaders will then enjoy a state banquet in the evening.
On Friday, they are set to have tea and a working lunch before Trump heads home.
As he departed the White House, Trump said he expected a "long talk" with Xi about the joint US-Israeli war with Iran, which sells most of its US-sanctioned oil to China.
But he also downplayed disagreements, telling reporters that "I don't think we need any help with Iran" from China and that Xi had been "relatively good" on the topic.
The Chinese foreign ministry said Wednesday it "welcomes" Trump's visit and that "China stands ready to work with the United States... to expand cooperation and manage differences".
Yet Beijing is growing impatient for peace, with Foreign Minister Wang Yi urging his Pakistani counterpart on Tuesday to step up mediation efforts between Iran and the United States.

'Big deal'

The long-simmering trade war between the two countries will also be top of the agenda, after Trump's sweeping tariffs last year triggered tit-for-tat levies that exceeded 100 percent.
Trump and Xi are set to discuss extending a one-year tariff truce, which the two leaders reached during their last meeting in South Korea in October, although a deal is far from certain.
China's controls on rare earth and agriculture exports are also expected to be on the menu.
The tense buildup to the summit was already visible on the streets of Beijing, with police monitoring major intersections and checking the ID cards of passengers on the metro, AFP journalists saw.
"It's definitely a big deal," said Wen Wen, a 24-year-old woman travelling from the eastern city of Nanjing, when asked by AFP about Trump's visit.
Trump has repeatedly touted a strong personal relationship with Xi, which he insisted on Monday would prevent a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, the self-ruled democracy claimed by Beijing.
While Trump said on Monday he would speak to Xi about US arms sales to Taiwan, the move marks a departure from historic US insistence that it will not consult Beijing on its support to the island.
His trip will be closely scrutinised by Taiwan and Asian allies for any sign of weakening US support.
dk/dhw/ami

politics

Shots heard at Philippine Senate as lawmaker wanted by ICC holds out: AFP

  • "We heard gunshots and we don't know what is happening.
  • Multiple gunshots were heard late Wednesday inside the Philippine Senate, where a senator wanted by the International Criminal Court has sought refuge, AFP journalists said.
  • "We heard gunshots and we don't know what is happening.
Multiple gunshots were heard late Wednesday inside the Philippine Senate, where a senator wanted by the International Criminal Court has sought refuge, AFP journalists said.
At least five shots rang out, sending journalists, lawmakers and staff fleeing for cover, minutes after soldiers with rifles and protective gear went up the stairs of the legislative building, the journalists said.
The dramatic scenes unfolded as Senator Ronald Dela Rosa -- former president Rodrigo Duterte's top enforcer during his bloody drug war -- remained holed up in the Senate complex to dodge arrest and transfer to the Netherlands over alleged crimes against humanity.
His current whereabouts after the shooting were not immediately known.
Earlier Wednesday, Dela Rosa had appealed to the military to oppose attempts to detain him, urging former colleagues to resist any move by President Ferdinand Marcos's government to hand him over.
"My fellow men in uniform" should "express their sentiment" that the government "should not hand me over to foreigners", he said.
Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano, who had barred government agents from arresting his ally, said on his official Facebook page he did not know who fired the shots.
"We heard gunshots and we don't know what is happening. Everyone's locked in their rooms now. We cannot go out, we cannot secure our other staff," he added.
"Why are we under attack here? ... Please help us."
A television journalist was seen crying as she reported live from inside the building, while another senator, Robin Padilla, urged reporters to evacuate.
Dela Rosa, known as "Bato", served as national police chief from 2016 to 2018 during the early phase of Duterte's anti-drug campaign.
The crackdown left thousands dead, human rights monitors say, many of them drug users and low-level narcotics peddlers.
Duterte was arrested in March last year, flown to the Netherlands on the same day, and is detained in the Hague where he awaits trial.
Dela Rosa had not been seen publicly since November before emerging on Monday to take part in an unexpected vote that helped Duterte loyalists capture control of the Senate.
cgm-pam-ls/abs

television

Heckler ejected from Eurovision after Israel song disruption

  • Asked shortly before the semi-final whether Eurovision had plans to lower the crowd volume on the broadcast in case there were attempts to disrupt Israel's performance, executive producer Michael Kroen had insisted: "The crowd volume will be the same for all the contestants."
  • Four people were thrown out of the first Eurovision Song Contest semi-final, which saw attempts to disrupt Israel's performance, organisers said Wednesday.
  • Asked shortly before the semi-final whether Eurovision had plans to lower the crowd volume on the broadcast in case there were attempts to disrupt Israel's performance, executive producer Michael Kroen had insisted: "The crowd volume will be the same for all the contestants."
Four people were thrown out of the first Eurovision Song Contest semi-final, which saw attempts to disrupt Israel's performance, organisers said Wednesday.
As 28-year-old Israeli singer Noam Bettan began his performance of "Michelle" during Tuesday's live show, a protester could be heard shouting "Stop, stop the genocide", and "Free, free Palestine".
Israel's participation in Eurovision 2026 has caused Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland, Iceland and Slovenia to pull out of the world's biggest live televised music event.
Besides unease at the conduct of Israel's war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, suspicions were also raised that the televoting system was being manipulated to boost Israel last year.
Some participating broadcasters also raised concerns about media freedom, with Israel preventing their journalists from accessing Gaza.
Eurovision is run by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the world's biggest alliance of public-service media.
In a joint statement, Austrian host broadcaster ORF and the EBU said: "An audience of 10,000 fans in the Wiener Stadthalle at the first semi-final of the 70th Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna greeted every artist enthusiastically.
"ORF is broadcasting a clean audio feed live from audience microphones before and during every performer's song.
"One audience member, close to a microphone, loudly expressed their views as the Israeli artist began his performance, and during the song, which was heard on the live broadcast. They were later removed by security for continuing to disturb the audience.
"Three other people were also removed from the arena by security for disruptive behaviour."
Asked shortly before the semi-final whether Eurovision had plans to lower the crowd volume on the broadcast in case there were attempts to disrupt Israel's performance, executive producer Michael Kroen had insisted: "The crowd volume will be the same for all the contestants."
Fifteen countries were competing in the first semi, with Bettan among the 10 who progressed to Saturday's grand final, following combined votes from the public and professional juries in participating countries.
"I was free, I was me, I was authentic, I felt like my voice is in a good place... and I enjoyed every moment," Bettan said afterwards.
"There were moments when I felt that I'm just singing to my people back home."
On Tuesday, a few dozen pro-Palestinian activists placed coffins in central Vienna in protest at Israel's participation.
Further demonstrations are planned in the Austrian capital during the rest of Eurovision week.
rjm/oaa/sbk

health

For hantavirus, experts aim to inform without igniting Covid panic

BY CHLOE RABS AND ISABELLE CORTES

  • In a throw-back to the Covid era, the outbreak has put infectious disease specialists, virologists and epidemiologists back into the news.
  • Thrust back into the front line by a deadly hantavirus outbreak, infectious disease experts have to balance informing the public about its potential risks without provoking undue fear of a Covid-scale pandemic.
  • In a throw-back to the Covid era, the outbreak has put infectious disease specialists, virologists and epidemiologists back into the news.
Thrust back into the front line by a deadly hantavirus outbreak, infectious disease experts have to balance informing the public about its potential risks without provoking undue fear of a Covid-scale pandemic.
The deaths of three cruise ship passengers during a rare hantavirus outbreak has sparked international alarm -- and flashbacks to when the world tipped into a pandemic six years ago.
Among the living, seven people have been confirmed to have hantavirus, including a French woman in a critical condition, while an eighth case is considered "probable", according to an AFP tally.
All the suspected infections have been among people who were onboard the ship, however several nations have quarantined those who were in contact with passengers.
The World Health Organization has said it expects more cases to emerge but emphasised there "is no sign that we are seeing the start of a larger outbreak".
In a throw-back to the Covid era, the outbreak has put infectious disease specialists, virologists and epidemiologists back into the news.
When epidemiologist Antoine Flahault addressed a French governmental health conference alongside other health experts on Tuesday, he urged scientists, journalists and the general public to "be wary of preconceived notions". 
There are important lessons to be learnt from how the science of Covid was communicated, the professor at the Paris Cite University told AFP later.
"First, that we did not know everything. Second, that knowledge was evolving... and that there were very lively debates among scientists on aspects that sometimes surprised the public," Flahault said.
Luc Ginot, who served as a regional public health director in France during the pandemic, said it was important doctors did not "disseminate just any information that might disrupt the coherence of the overall health response".

'Limited data'

Health experts -- and the WHO -- have been emphasising that hantavirus is not comparable to Covid, and that the risk to the wider public remains low.
Unlike Covid, the Andes strain of hantavirus is not new, and a few previous human-to-human transmission events have been studied.
However some experts have also called on health authorities not to overstate what is known about hantavirus while trying to tamp down pandemic fears.
"I'm not particularly worried there will be much onward spread of hantavirus," Jennifer Nuzzo, a professor of epidemiology at Brown University in the United States, wrote on Bluesky.
"But I am concerned that authorities are making confident statements based on very limited data."
Nuzzo felt "there's too little data" to indicate whether infected people needed to be displaying symptoms -- or be in "close, prolonged contact" -- to transmit the virus to others.
Research into a 2018 outbreak in the Argentina region of Patagonia, where the Andes strain is endemic, found that most cases were transmitted on the first day an infected person had a fever.
However a few people were found to have caught the virus from a man sitting more than a metre away at a birthday party.
Caroline Semaille, director of Public Health France, also said it could not be ruled out that people transmit the virus "48 hours before the onset of symptoms".

Conspiracy theories return

Flahault also urged caution about the time it takes between being infected with the Andes strain and symptoms showing, which is thought to be up to six weeks. 
This is a "neglected tropical disease" and further research could reveal a longer or shorter incubation period, he said.
The fatality rate of the virus, commonly cited as around 40 percent, could also be quite different outside of rural areas of Argentina where there may be little health infrastructure, Flahault added.
For example, when patients with the similarly deadly Ebola are treated in Europe or the United States, "the fatality rate is zero," he said.
There are no treatments or vaccines specifically targeted at hantavirus.
But that has not stopped conspiracy theories and disinformation about vaccines and hantavirus spreading widely online -- another echo of the Covid era.
French infectious disease specialist Nathan Peiffer-Smadja said that "managing an outbreak is not about reassuring people and downplaying the situation... nor is it about predicting the next Covid".
"It's about providing transparent information," he wrote on Bluesky.
ic-ref-cra-dl/jj

film

Japan rides box office boom into Cannes

  • The biggest-grossing films in Japan in 2025 -- blockbuster "Demon Slayer", period drama "Kokuho" which debuted in Cannes last year, and anime hit "Detective Conan: One-Eyed Flashback" -- helped push box office revenues beyond their previous pre-Covid record high in 2019.
  • The Japanese film industry, fresh from a record box office year in 2025, is carrying its domestic momentum into the Cannes Film Festival where it made its debut Wednesday with Koji Fukada's latest movie.
  • The biggest-grossing films in Japan in 2025 -- blockbuster "Demon Slayer", period drama "Kokuho" which debuted in Cannes last year, and anime hit "Detective Conan: One-Eyed Flashback" -- helped push box office revenues beyond their previous pre-Covid record high in 2019.
The Japanese film industry, fresh from a record box office year in 2025, is carrying its domestic momentum into the Cannes Film Festival where it made its debut Wednesday with Koji Fukada's latest movie.
Fukada's quiet portrait of solitude and thwarted love in rural Japan with his "Nagi Notes" is one of three Japanese movies in the 22-strong main competition in Cannes, the world's biggest film festival.
"All of a Sudden", the first French-language film from Ryusuke Hamaguchi -- who got two Oscar nominations for "Drive My Car" -- and the widely tipped tech-themed "Sheep in the Box" by art-house favourite Hirokazu Kore-eda of "Shoplifters" fame complete the line-up.
Japan is also the country of honour in the Cannes film market, a vast annual gathering of industry executives where projects and rights are acquired by producers and distributors from around the world.
"It's very gratifying that so many Japanese films are submitted and evaluated (at the festival)," Fukada told AFP in an interview on Wednesday. "But I don't think that necessarily indicates the health of Japanese films in Japanese society."
Fukada, whose previous films include "Harmonium" and last year's "Love on Trial" about J-pop stars, counters that record revenue figures for the Japanese box office last year disguise struggles for independent auteurs like him.
The biggest-grossing films in Japan in 2025 -- blockbuster "Demon Slayer", period drama "Kokuho" which debuted in Cannes last year, and anime hit "Detective Conan: One-Eyed Flashback" -- helped push box office revenues beyond their previous pre-Covid record high in 2019.

Exploring loneliness

"Japan is a country where cultural budgets are extremely limited, and public-sector support for film is modest," Fukada said.
"Nagi Notes", starring Takako Matsu and Shizuka Ishibashi, explores the overlapping lives of a cast of characters in rural Okayama Prefecture, each lonely in their own way.
The theme of forbidden gay and lesbian love runs throughout.
"Loneliness isn't limited to people who live in the countryside. Whether you live in the countryside or in the city, the very act of living is lonely and difficult," Fukada, a Cannes regular since his 2016 break-out hit "Harmonium", added.
Loneliness "is like an illness you're born with and can't cure", he said.
"This film features both heterosexuals and sexual minorities, but for lesbians or gays, one of the major ways they can forget their loneliness is to get married and live with a partner, which is very difficult," he added.
"It's difficult because in Japan, same-sex marriage is not yet recognised legally."
Cannes runs until May 23 when the prestigious Palme d'Or will be handed out for best film.
adp/fg/jj

US

War in the Middle East: latest developments

  • - Israeli strikes kill 13 in Lebanon - Israel hammered south Lebanon with more strikes Tuesday, killing 13 people in the south, including two rescuers responding to an earlier raid in the city of Nabatieh and a wounded person they went to save, Lebanon's health ministry said.
  • Here are the latest developments in the Middle East war: - Israel strikes car near Beirut - An Israeli strike targeted a car on a major highway linking Beirut to southern Lebanon, state media reported, despite a truce in the war between Israel and Hezbollah.
  • - Israeli strikes kill 13 in Lebanon - Israel hammered south Lebanon with more strikes Tuesday, killing 13 people in the south, including two rescuers responding to an earlier raid in the city of Nabatieh and a wounded person they went to save, Lebanon's health ministry said.
Here are the latest developments in the Middle East war:

Israel strikes car near Beirut

An Israeli strike targeted a car on a major highway linking Beirut to southern Lebanon, state media reported, despite a truce in the war between Israel and Hezbollah.
The attack took place in the Jiyeh area, about 20 kilometres (12 miles) south of the capital, Lebanon's National News Agency said. 

China urges Pakistan to step up

China's top diplomat urged Pakistan to step up mediation efforts between Iran and the United States, and help to "properly" address the reopening of the Hormuz strait, Chinese state media said.
Foreign Minister Wang Yi spoke to his Pakistani counterpart Ishaq Dar on a call, state news agency Xinhua reported, ahead of US President Donald Trump's visit to Beijing.

Israeli strikes kill 13 in Lebanon

Israel hammered south Lebanon with more strikes Tuesday, killing 13 people in the south, including two rescuers responding to an earlier raid in the city of Nabatieh and a wounded person they went to save, Lebanon's health ministry said.
Beirut reported 380 people had been killed in intensified Israeli attacks since an April 17 ceasefire took effect and Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem vowed to turn the battlefield into "hell" for Israeli forces.

Iran's missile capabilities

The New York Times reported Tuesday that classified US intelligence assessments say Iran still has substantial missile capabilities -- with about 70 percent of its mobile launchers and pre-war missile stockpile still in action -- and has restored access to 30 of 33 missile sites along the Strait of Hormuz.

Australian shipping defence

Defence Minister Richard Marles said Australia will join a "strictly defensive" mission led by France and Britain to secure shipping through the strait, once it is established, and contribute a surveillance aircraft to protect the United Arab Emirates from Iranian drone attacks.

Oil prices climb

Oil prices climbed over the impasse in US-Iran talks that has left the Strait of Hormuz mostly closed to oil tanker traffic.
The price of international benchmark Brent North Sea crude rose 3.4 percent to $107.77 a barrel and the main US contract, West Texas Intermediate, was up 4.2 percent, at $102.18 a barrel.

Iran dismisses Kuwait claims

Iran labelled as "absolutely baseless" an accusation made by Kuwait that four Iranian officers attempted to infiltrate Bubiyan, the Gulf country's largest island, saying they entered Kuwaiti waters because of disruption to navigational systems.
The foreign ministry said it strongly condemned the "improper action" of the Kuwaiti government in exploiting the case for propaganda.

Trump on Xi

US President Donald Trump insisted he does not need help from China on ending the war with Iran but said he "would have a long talk about it" with Xi Jinping when they meet this week.
But he added: "We have a lot of things to discuss. I wouldn't say Iran is one of them, to be honest with you, because we have Iran very much under control."

US inflation spikes

Consumer inflation in the US hit a three-year high in April, with the economic fallout of Trump's Iran war rippling through the world's largest economy.
The consumer price index (CPI) rose 3.8 percent year-on-year, up from March's 3.3 percent figure, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) said.

Pentagon ups cost estimate

The Pentagon said the cost of the war with Iran had climbed to nearly $29 billion, as Trump faced mounting scrutiny over the conflict.
The new figure, revealed by the defence ministry during a budget hearing on Capitol Hill, is about $4 billion higher than the estimate offered by Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth two weeks ago.
burs-giv/rlp

conflict

'Short of blue-collar workers': Ukraine's battle for labour

BY ROMAIN COLAS

  • Synkov, who left Bakhmut -- captured by Russia in 2023 -- was still receiving "many offers" from companies struggling to find staff, even as wages surge.
  • After fleeing Russia's advancing army and resettling in the central industrial hub of Dnipro, Ukrainian worker Anatoliy Synkov had no trouble finding a job. 
  • Synkov, who left Bakhmut -- captured by Russia in 2023 -- was still receiving "many offers" from companies struggling to find staff, even as wages surge.
After fleeing Russia's advancing army and resettling in the central industrial hub of Dnipro, Ukrainian worker Anatoliy Synkov had no trouble finding a job. 
"Oh no! There's plenty of work," the 55-year-old told AFP, speaking over the drone of a conveyor line at his new employer, households goods producer Biosphere.
The former forester was hired in just one week -- a swiftness that demonstrates a major problem facing Ukraine's economy amid Russian invasion: severe labour shortages.
Synkov, who left Bakhmut -- captured by Russia in 2023 -- was still receiving "many offers" from companies struggling to find staff, even as wages surge.
From a pre-war population of around 40 million, hundreds of thousands of men have been drafted to fight -- many killed or wounded -- and some 5.7 million Ukrainian refugees still live abroad, according to the UN. 
Synkov's new employer has not been spared the toll of war.
A Russian missile hit a Biosphere warehouse in Dnipro in April 2025, killing one person and wounding eleven. 
The charred shell of the building still stands on the site.

Fewer candidates

At the start of 2026, 78 percent of Ukrainian companies belonging to the European Business Association (EBA) reported a shortage of skilled workers.
The war has exacerbated pre-existing factors: population decline since the collapse of the Soviet Union, and a mismatch between the education system and what employers need, economist Lyubov Yatsenko of the National Institute for Strategic Studies told AFP.
"We are short of blue-collar workers," as well as doctors, teachers and agricultural administrators, she said -- roles that are either low-paid or "not prestigious".
Biosphere's human resources director in Dnipro, Olena Shpitz, said the factory employs 500 people, down from 800 before Russia invaded in 2022. 
Around 100 of its former staff have joined the army and recruitment is a constant struggle.
"The number of candidates has dropped significantly," Shpitz said.
Roles that used to take a week to fill can now take six.
The company has started offering bonuses to employees who get their relatives a job. 
Shortages have also hit the booming military sector. 
"Sometimes the necessary specialists simply do not exist in sufficient numbers," a representative of Kvertus, a company manufacturing anti-drone jammers, told AFP.

Mobilisation reform

Paradoxically, deep labour shortages coexist with high unemployment.
Official statistics are not published during the war, but pollster Info Sapiens estimated a jobless rate of 15.5 percent in March 2026.
There is a big supply of "accountants, corporate economists, and lower-level managers," Yatsenko said -- but not enough manual workers.
She encourages retraining and better schemes to bring young people, refugees, veterans and older workers into the workforce.
Biosphere's Dnipro plant employs 19 veterans but wants government support to take on former soldiers and civilians with disabilities.
At the same time, tens of thousands of draft evaders are either not working or employed off-the-books.
A foreign economic official in Ukraine, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP resolving the issue would require complex reforms to mobilisation, the system of granting military exemptions, and a path to bring people in from the shadow economy.
"The main direction must be a more transparent and structured way to change between war service, being at the front fighting, and working in the economy very normally. There must be better rules to go back and forth," they said. 
President Volodymyr Zelensky has announced plans to allow for some demobilisation in the coming months, though no details have been published.

Women workers

Only one in eight companies consider foreign workers an option, according to an October 2025 poll, with many citing fears of language barriers and cultural and religious differences in hiring workers outside of Ukraine.
Meanwhile women have been pouring into the workforce in record numbers, with Kyiv opening up previously banned professions, like mining, to female employees.
The share of women at Biosphere's Dnipro plant has risen to about half since 2022.
"Women are the one thing that they rely on most right now to make it more long-term and sustainable," the foreign economic official said.
Unlike Synkov, many of the 3.7 million internally displaced people are unable to work due to trauma or skills that are not relevant in their new regions.
Synkov conceded it took him two years to process the "shock" of his forced exile.
Now he is sanguine.
"You have to live."
rco/ant/blb/asy/jc/yad

politics

Philippine senator seeks military support to block ICC drug war arrest

  • He urged "my fellow men in uniform" and former classmates at the Philippine Military Academy, which produces most of the armed forces' officer corps, to "express their sentiment" that President Ferdinand Marcos's government "should not hand me over to foreigners".
  • Former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte's chief drug war enforcer urged the military on Wednesday to stop government attempts to arrest and fly him to the Netherlands to stand trial on charges of crimes against humanity.
  • He urged "my fellow men in uniform" and former classmates at the Philippine Military Academy, which produces most of the armed forces' officer corps, to "express their sentiment" that President Ferdinand Marcos's government "should not hand me over to foreigners".
Former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte's chief drug war enforcer urged the military on Wednesday to stop government attempts to arrest and fly him to the Netherlands to stand trial on charges of crimes against humanity.
Ronald Dela Rosa, a sitting senator and former police chief, began his third day holed up at the Senate building after its leadership stopped government efforts to serve an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court over his role in Duterte's bloody drug war.
Dela Rosa, better known by his nickname "Bato", is accused of the crime against humanity of murder along with Duterte and other co-perpetrators.
"I am not appealing for violent support. I am appealing for peaceful support," Dela Rosa told reporters.
He urged "my fellow men in uniform" and former classmates at the Philippine Military Academy, which produces most of the armed forces' officer corps, to "express their sentiment" that President Ferdinand Marcos's government "should not hand me over to foreigners".
Outside the Senate on Wednesday, about 500 riot police faced off with some 250 protesters demanding the arrest and handover to the ICC of a person they described as the "architect" of Duterte's drug war.
The crackdown left thousands dead, human rights monitors say, many of them drug users and low-level narcotics peddlers.
Dela Rosa was police chief in 2016-2018, during Duterte's first two years in office.
Duterte was arrested in March last year, flown to the Netherlands on the same day, and is detained in the Hague where he awaits trial.
The senator had not been seen publicly since November before emerging on Monday to take part in an unexpected vote that helped Duterte loyalists capture control of the Senate.
The new senate leadership said it would only allow Dela Rosa's arrest if it was ordered by a Philippine court.
A Marcos spokeswoman said Tuesday the president would "not interfere in the decisions of the Senate".
The Supreme Court has yet to act on a Dela Rosa petition to stop the Manila government from enforcing the ICC arrest warrant.
pam/cgm/mtp

war

Don't mention the war: Tucson prepares to welcome Team Iran for World Cup

BY ROMAIN FONSEGRIVES

  • Despite a shaky ceasefire in place for a month, hostilities are stubbornly unresolved, with Iran having virtually shut the Strait of Hormuz.
  • In the Strait of Hormuz, US warships menace Iran's oil tankers, while in Washington President Donald Trump demands "complete victory."
  • Despite a shaky ceasefire in place for a month, hostilities are stubbornly unresolved, with Iran having virtually shut the Strait of Hormuz.
In the Strait of Hormuz, US warships menace Iran's oil tankers, while in Washington President Donald Trump demands "complete victory." But in Tucson, they're getting ready to welcome the Iranian football team as if nothing were amiss.
The city, an oasis of civilization in the Arizona desert, is set to be the base camp for "Team Melli" when the world's biggest sporting spectacle opens in the US, Mexico and Canada next month.
"We're just excited to host them here, and we're going to give them a positive experience," Sarah Hanna, director of the Kino Sports Complex, where the team will train, told AFP. 
Grass is being watered and cut to FIFA-regulation height to ensure that players don't get any surprises when they take to the field in Los Angeles and Seattle, the venues for their group-stage games.
Hotel rooms and meeting spaces are locked in, and security is tight.
"Right now, I'm probably averaging about 12 to 20 meetings regarding this training facility a week," said Hanna.
"From our concessionaire for food and beverage... to lots of grounds meetings with FIFA coming out to check."

Ceasefire

The flurry of activity in Tucson comes against the backdrop of a war between the US and Israel on one side and Iran on the other that is now in its 11th week.
Despite a shaky ceasefire in place for a month, hostilities are stubbornly unresolved, with Iran having virtually shut the Strait of Hormuz.
Organizers FIFA have insisted the team will take part in the tournament as planned, so Tucson has pressed ahead with its preparations.
"As far as we're concerned, it's 100 percent on, and it's never been off," said Hanna.
"Since they've been identified as the team, we've been moving forward as them as our team, until we hear something different from FIFA."
Despite the official position, there's plenty of uncertainty.
On Friday, Iran's football federation president announced the team would participate, but laid down a list of requirements, including around the granting of visas and the treatment of staff.
Concerns are particularly acute for anyone with ties to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, the organization seemingly in control of the country now, but which the US views as a terrorist group.
And in March, Trump cast doubt on their presence, saying that while the team was "welcome" to participate, it might not be a good idea.
"I really don't believe it is appropriate that they be there, for their own life and safety," he wrote on social media.
Locals in Tucson dismiss the implied threat.
"Our president is known to be a bit bombastic in his use of social media," said Jon Pearlman, president of FC Tucson.
"I don't think President Trump or any part of our government will make it their business to make them feel unwelcome or unsafe. I think it will do the opposite."

'With open arms'

At the Kino Sports Complex, Iranian players will have access to the club's weight training facilities, ice baths, and massage tables.
"We welcome them with open arms," said Pearlman.
"We are part of the world soccer community. We are part of what FIFA is trying to do, and we believe the game is something that brings nations together, not drives them apart."
It is a sentiment widely echoed throughout this multicultural city of 540,000, which leans Democratic.
"I hope that they still feel welcome here," said Rob McLane, who plays indoor soccer.
"Even though we're doing what we're doing, which is ridiculous," he said of the military operation.
Even near the local military base -- whose aircraft regularly fly over the fields where the team will practice -- Republican voters interviewed by AFP draw a clear distinction between sports and geopolitics.
"I'm glad that they're coming," said veteran Michael Holley, who thinks the war was necessary to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear bomb.
Trump only brought up player safety because he feared "that Iranian athletes would be punished by their own government if they had a voice of their own," the 68-year-old said.
"He didn't mean that the American people are a threat."
But not everyone in Tucson is thrilled about the prospect of the Iranian team being in town.
For some in the city's small Persian community, the players are little more than emissaries from a regime that launched a bloody crackdown on popular protests in January, killing thousands of people.
Ali Rezaei, a 68-year-old IT worker, said it would be "impossible" to support them.
"If there is a demonstration against them, I may go there."
rfo/hg/pnb