US

Why convoys cannot fully protect oil tankers from Iran attacks

opposition

Thousands rally in Istanbul to mark year since mayor's arrest

BY FULYA OZERKAN

  • Police heightened security around City Hall, which saw major clashes when police cracked down on protests a year ago.
  • Thousands of people gathered outside Istanbul City Hall Wednesday to mark one year since the arrest of the city's mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu in a graft probe widely seen as a politically motivated act against the key opponent of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. 
  • Police heightened security around City Hall, which saw major clashes when police cracked down on protests a year ago.
Thousands of people gathered outside Istanbul City Hall Wednesday to mark one year since the arrest of the city's mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu in a graft probe widely seen as a politically motivated act against the key opponent of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. 
Waving Turkish flags, crowds including university students chanted "President Imamoglu", in a show of support for the opposition CHP's candidate for the next presidential vote. 
"We will win by resisting", they shouted. 
Police heightened security around City Hall, which saw major clashes when police cracked down on protests a year ago.
The mayor was arrested on March 19, 2025 just days before he was to be formally named candidate for the Republican People's Party (CHP) in Turkey's next presidential elections, due by mid-2028. 
The unexpected arrest was denounced by critics as a bid to hobble the chances of one of the few politicians seen as capable of beating Erdogan at the ballot box.
Imamoglu, 54, has remained behind bars, facing a growing array of cases, the biggest of which went to trial on March 9. Prosecutors are seeking to have him jailed for 2,430 years. 
"It's all political," Yasemen Unlu, 63, told AFP as she stood behind the iron barriers despite the cold weather. 
"He's been in jail for a year in vain. Imamoglu was a presidential candidate and one step ahead. There's nothing that holds up," she said. 

'Biggest rival'

After the arrest vast crowds hit the streets daily, defying a protest ban in Istanbul and other big cities, with the biggest crowds gathering after dark, sparking running battles with riot police. 
The rallies sparked a crackdown by the security forces, who arrested around 2,000 people, among them students, journalists and lawyers. 
Although the protests eventually tailed off, the CHP continued to hold rallies across Turkey, boosting the party's standing in the polls. 
Since the CHP won a resounding victory in March 2024 local elections against Erdogan's Islamic-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP), it has faced a sweeping legal crackdown. Fifteen of its mayors are behind bars.
Analysts say Imamoglu almost certainly will not be able to contest the next election. Even if he was cleared of graft charges, another lawsuit aims to challenge the validity of his university degree -- a constitutional requirement for candidates in Turkey.
"I don't think there's any hope," Erkan Acar, one of the protesters, said. 
"He is the biggest rival against Erdogan. They will hold him back, of course, and keep him isolated," the 39-year-old public employee said. 
"We'll use every opportunity we get. We chose him. We cannot just leave him in prison like that."
Should Imamoglu be barred, political observers expect CHP leader Ozgur Ozel to emerge as the likely candidate for the presidential race.
fo-hmw/tw

Israel

From Faraja to Sepah: Iran's multiple security forces

BY STUART WILLIAMS

  • Here are the key elements of the Iranian security forces: - Islamic Republic of Iran Army - Known within Iran as the "Artesh" Iran's conventional army is tasked with preserving the country's sovereignty and comprises a large ground army with much smaller naval, air and aerospace forces.
  • Since the 1979 revolution, Iran has taken steps to ensure it is not reliant on a single security force but rather multiple structures to defend the Islamic republic against external and internal threats.
  • Here are the key elements of the Iranian security forces: - Islamic Republic of Iran Army - Known within Iran as the "Artesh" Iran's conventional army is tasked with preserving the country's sovereignty and comprises a large ground army with much smaller naval, air and aerospace forces.
Since the 1979 revolution, Iran has taken steps to ensure it is not reliant on a single security force but rather multiple structures to defend the Islamic republic against external and internal threats.
All these forces have been mobilised since the start of the war between Iran and the United States and Israel, which began on February 28 with the killing of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and has seen the deaths of several key security officials.
After more than two weeks of war, the US intelligence community "assesses the regime in Iran to be intact but largely degraded due to attacks on its leadership and military capabilities", Tulsi Gabbard, director of national intelligence, told a Senate hearing Wednesday.
Here are the key elements of the Iranian security forces:

Islamic Republic of Iran Army

Known within Iran as the "Artesh" Iran's conventional army is tasked with preserving the country's sovereignty and comprises a large ground army with much smaller naval, air and aerospace forces.
It is led by General Amir Hatami, who appears to have so far survived the war. He was appointed in June 2025 after his predecessor Mohammad Bagheri was killed by Israel in the 12-day war between the two foes that month.
The army has a unified combat command known as the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters led by General Ali Abdollahi Aliabadi.

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)

Known by the Persian words "Pasdaran" ("Guards") or "Sepah" ("Corps"), the Guards are seen as wielding considerably more influence politically then the conventional army.
Despite the killing of Guards commander-in-chief Mohammad Pakpour in this war -- which followed that of his predecessor Hossein Salami in the June war last year -- they continue to play a frontline and active role in the current conflict.
Earlier this year, and following years of pressure, the European Union agreed to list the Guards as a terror organisation, following similar moves by Australia, Canada and the United States, a classification denounced by Tehran.

Quds Force

Part of the Revolutionary Guards, the Quds Force is responsible for intelligence gathering and external operations.
It was commanded for two decades by Qassem Soleimani, who is believed to have led operations in countries including Lebanon, Iraq and Syria that included attacks on Western interests. He was killed in a US strike in Iraq in 2020.
After Soleimani's death, the force has been led by Esmail Ghaani, who has proved as mysterious and elusive as his predecessor. 
He has not appeared in public recently, prompting speculation about his whereabouts and role, although many analysts believe his absence from public view is logical given the security threat.

The Basij

The Basij -- the name derives from the Persian word for "mobilisation" -- were, like the Revolutionary Guards, founded in the immediate aftermath of the Islamic revolution.
They are a paramilitary volunteer force, whose members are younger people drawn generally from lower-income and more religiously conservative areas of society. 
They played a major role in the 1980-1988 war with Iraq, with authorities to this day hailing the sacrifice of young people who carried out "martyrdom" operations.
Now, however, the "Basijis" are best known to many Iranians as agents who maintain a watchful presence, often on motorcycles and in plain clothes, in key locations in cities, ready to respond to any sign of protest.
The force's head Gholamreza Soleimani was killed in an Israeli strike earlier this week.

Police Command of the Islamic Republic

Iran's National Police force, often known by its Persian acronym "Faraja", is responsible for day-to-day policing but also accused by rights groups of taking a key role in suppressing protests, including the mass anti-government rallies in January.
It is led by Ahmad Reza Radan, a prominent figure in Iran who was initially reported to have been killed in the June 2025 war but later emerged unscathed. 
Radan has defiantly appeared in public on multiple occasions during the current conflict, most recently in Tehran on Tuesday night. He has threatened to shoot any protesters and treat them as enemies of Iran.
sjw/sw/dc

US

Middle East war: global economic fallout

  • - Trump waives shipping law - President Donald Trump temporarily waived a century-old shipping law to help ease energy costs that have surged since US-Israeli strikes on Iran plunged the Middle East into war.
  • Here are the latest economic events in the Middle East war on Wednesday: - Oil jumps after Iran facilities hit - Oil prices surged after Israeli strikes hit Iranian facilities at a major Gulf gas field, prompting Tehran to call for retaliatory strikes on energy infrastructure. 
  • - Trump waives shipping law - President Donald Trump temporarily waived a century-old shipping law to help ease energy costs that have surged since US-Israeli strikes on Iran plunged the Middle East into war.
Here are the latest economic events in the Middle East war on Wednesday:

Oil jumps after Iran facilities hit

Oil prices surged after Israeli strikes hit Iranian facilities at a major Gulf gas field, prompting Tehran to call for retaliatory strikes on energy infrastructure. 
Brent oil rose over six percent at one point to nearly $110 a barrel, before settling back down towards $106.95, a gain of 3.4 percent.
The main US oil contract West Texas Intermediate gave up most of its gains to trade flat.
The strikes hit the South Pars/North Dome mega-field, the largest known gas reserve in the world, supplying around 70 percent of Iran's domestic natural gas.

Trump waives shipping law

President Donald Trump temporarily waived a century-old shipping law to help ease energy costs that have surged since US-Israeli strikes on Iran plunged the Middle East into war.
Trump's move to issue a 60-day Jones Act waiver would lift a ban on foreign-flagged vessels transporting cargo between US ports over this period.
It is a step to mitigate "short-term disruptions to the oil market" from the conflict, said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt in a statement. "This action will allow vital resources like oil, natural gas, fertilizer, and coal to flow freely to US ports for sixty days."

Iraq exports via Turkey

Iraq announced it had resumed limited oil exports through the Turkish port of Ceyhan, using a pipeline that avoids the under-fire Strait of Hormuz.
The state-owned North Oil Company said it was sending an initial 250,000 barrels a day from its fields in the northern Kirkuk province through the pipeline, well below the 3.5 million barrels a day it has shipped in normal times from its southern Basra fields via the Strait of Hormuz.

Ship fuel prices soaring

Shipping fuel prices have reached "truly unprecedented" levels, having nearly doubled from the cargo crunch driven by the Middle East war, an industry leader told AFP Wednesday.

Asia petrochemical output slows

The Middle East war is forcing petrochemical giants in key Asian economies to cut production as the conflict rattles supplies of naphtha, a crucial oil-derived component used to make a range of plastic goods.
Mitsubishi Chemical and Mitsui Chemicals have cut output, Shin-Etsu Chemical said it would raise prices, and LG Chem warned it may not be able to fulfil some orders.

Emergency shipping talks

The International Maritime Organization began an "extraordinary session" to discuss shipping amid the war.
The IMO's 40-member council could vote Thursday on several proposed resolutions, including one to "establish a safe maritime corridor to allow the safe evacuation of seafarers and ships stranded in the Persian Gulf".
However, if passed, resolutions remain non-binding.

South Korea secures UAE oil

South Korea said it would receive an additional 18 million barrels of oil from the United Arab Emirates through alternative supply channels, bypassing the need to use the Strait of Hormuz.
The presidential chief of staff declined to elaborate on the route.
About 70 percent of South Korea's oil imports normally pass through the strait.

Fed watched on inflation  

The US Federal Reserve joins a string of central bank meetings closely watched for signs of how monetary authorities view the inflationary impact of higher oil prices.
The Fed is not expected to touch its rates, even as signs grow of a weakening labour market.
The European Central Bank and the Bank of England follow Thursday.

Sri Lanka unplugs EVs

Sri Lanka has urged electric vehicle owners to stop charging their cars at night, saying the surge in demand is forcing the country to burn more coal and diesel to keep the power grid running.
Faced with an energy crisis driven by the war, Sri Lanka has begun rationing fuel and has also imposed a four-day working week in a bid to reduce travel.

BASF raises prices

German chemicals giant BASF raised prices on some of its industrial products in Europe by 30 percent due to rising energy and input prices triggered by the war in the Middle East.
burs-rl/yad

Mexico

Colombia detains suspect in 2023 killing of Ecuador politician

  • Another dozen people are currently on trial over the killing, which shook Ecuador's political landscape in an election that Noboa won with a promise to take a tough stance on drug trafficking.
  • Colombian immigration authorities said Wednesday that they had arrested an Ecuadoran drug trafficker linked to the 2023 murder of a popular candidate just before Ecuador's presidential election.
  • Another dozen people are currently on trial over the killing, which shook Ecuador's political landscape in an election that Noboa won with a promise to take a tough stance on drug trafficking.
Colombian immigration authorities said Wednesday that they had arrested an Ecuadoran drug trafficker linked to the 2023 murder of a popular candidate just before Ecuador's presidential election.
Angel Aguilar is suspected of ordering the killing of Fernando Villavicencio, a former journalist turned anti-graft campaigner who was well placed in opinion polls ahead of the vote. 
He was killed by gunmen riding motorcycles on August 9, 2023 as he left a campaign rally at a school in Quito.
Aguilar was arrested at Bogota's airport after flying in from Mexico on charges of membership in Los Lobos ("The Wolves"), Ecuador's largest drug trafficking gang.
He was also charged over his "alleged role as the mastermind" behind Villavicencio's assassination, Colombian authorities said in a statement accompanied by photographs of the drug lord in handcuffs.
Colombia's leftist President Gustavo Petro hailed the arrest, calling Aguilar "one of the world's most notorious murderers" in an X post.
The arrest comes with Ecuador and Colombia embroiled in a diplomatic and trade dispute that is escalating by the day, after Petro alleged his Ecuadoran counterpart Daniel Noboa's administration of a bombing on the Colombian side of the border.
"This outcome... confirms the efficacy of trilateral cooperation between Colombia, Ecuador and Mexico," Petro said on X.
Villavicencio's shooter was shot dead by the victim's bodyguards, and police later arrested six Colombians allegedly linked to the attack, but all were killed in detention.
In July 2024, Ecuador handed down jail terms of up 34 years to five suspects accused of involvement in Villavicencio's killing.
Another dozen people are currently on trial over the killing, which shook Ecuador's political landscape in an election that Noboa won with a promise to take a tough stance on drug trafficking.
Aguilar had received a 20-year jail sentence in 2013 for murder, according to Colombia authorities.
"However, after serving half his sentence in 2022, a judge granted Aguilar parole, a benefit he allegedly used to commit a slew of other crimes, some abroad," immigration authorities said.
His Los Lobos group is held responsible for crimes including drug trafficking, illegal mining, extortion and murder, and is just one of several banned organizations fueling spiraling violence in Ecuador.
lv/cw/js

royals

Nigerian president meets royals on 'historic' UK state visit

BY ANNA MALPAS

  • On Wednesday evening, Charles and Tinubu were set to give speeches at a lavish state banquet.
  • King Charles III ceremonially welcomed Nigerian President Bola Tinubu at Windsor Castle on Wednesday in the first state visit by the leader of Africa's most populous nation in nearly four decades.
  • On Wednesday evening, Charles and Tinubu were set to give speeches at a lavish state banquet.
King Charles III ceremonially welcomed Nigerian President Bola Tinubu at Windsor Castle on Wednesday in the first state visit by the leader of Africa's most populous nation in nearly four decades.
Tinubu has made less formal visits to Britain several times in his tenure and the two countries remain major partners in trade, aid and defence. London is also home to a huge Nigerian diaspora.
King Charles and Queen Camilla greeted the president and his wife in Windsor, west of London, on a sunny afternoon as artillery fired salutes. 
Nigerian flags and Union Jacks fluttered on poles along Windsor's main street. 
The Nigerian president and his wife earlier chatted with heir-to-the-throne Prince William and his wife Catherine at a hotel in the town.
In a nod to the ties between the two countries, Catherine was dressed in a grey coat dress designed by young British-Nigerian designer Tolu Coker, whose show at last month's London Fashion Week Charles attended.
The party then rode in carriages to the historic Windsor Castle, followed by cavalry in red and gold livery.
At the castle entrance, Charles and Tinubu inspected a guard of honour in traditional bearskin hats.
Later the king and queen showed the president and first lady items from the Royal Collection reflecting the ties with Britain as the colonial power in charge of Nigeria until 1960.
These included a Yoruba beaded throne presented to Queen Elizabeth II during an official visit in 1965.
They also viewed photographs of a Yoruba woman known as Sarah Forbes Bonetta, who became a protegee of Queen Victoria after being captured as a slave and taken to Britain by a naval captain. 
Queen Victoria became godmother to her daughter and paid for her schooling.
On Wednesday evening, Charles and Tinubu were set to give speeches at a lavish state banquet. But Tinubu, a Muslim who is marking Ramadan, was earlier to break his fast privately in his Windsor hotel.

'Renewed chapter'

Nigeria's presidency said the visit signalled a "renewed chapter" and reflected a shared commitment to "advancing trade and strengthening diplomatic ties".
Calling the visit "historic", London announced Nigerian companies including banks are expanding operations and creating hundreds of jobs in Britain, strengthening it as a global hub for African business.
Issues ranging from major Nigerian port renovations backed by Britain as well as trade, which reached £8.1 billion ($11 billion) in the year to September 2025, an 11.4 percent year-on-year increase.
The visit comes after suspected suicide bombings killed at least 23 people in northeastern Nigeria on Monday evening.
The west African nation has been roiled by a jihadist insurgency since 2009, which US President Donald Trump has claimed amounts to a "genocide" of Christians -- sparking a diplomatic crisis between Washington and Abuja, which denies the allegations.
Tinubu responded by ordering security chiefs to move to the northeastern African city of Maiduguri, where the attacks happened, to "take charge of the situation".
On Thursday, Tinubu is expected to meet British Prime Minister Keir Starmer as well as members of the Nigerian community abroad, according to the official schedule.
First Lady Oluremi Tinubu, a Christian pastor, is set to preach at London's Lambeth Palace -- the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury -- on Thursday and meet representatives of the Church of England.
Missing from the official schedule is the traditional meeting between the visiting head of state and the British opposition.
Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch, who is of Nigerian descent, has repeatedly publicly criticised the country she was raised in over corruption and violence.
The last Nigerian state visit to the UK took place in 1989, although Tinubu was received by Charles in September 2024.
Before the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, in 2022, Charles also visited Nigeria four times as Prince of Wales. 
burs-am/jkb/jj/giv

US

War in the Middle East: latest developments

  • - Iran funerals - Iran was to hold funerals in Tehran for slain security chief Ali Larijani and another powerful figure killed by Israel, Gholamreza Soleimani, the head of the Basij paramilitary force.
  • Here are the latest developments Wednesday in the Middle East war: - Khamenei vows revenge - Iran's new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei said in a written message that the killers of security chief Ali Larijani, who died in an Israeli strike, "will have to pay for it".
  • - Iran funerals - Iran was to hold funerals in Tehran for slain security chief Ali Larijani and another powerful figure killed by Israel, Gholamreza Soleimani, the head of the Basij paramilitary force.
Here are the latest developments Wednesday in the Middle East war:

Khamenei vows revenge

Iran's new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei said in a written message that the killers of security chief Ali Larijani, who died in an Israeli strike, "will have to pay for it".
"Every drop of spilled blood comes at a price, and the criminal murderers of these martyrs will soon have to pay it," added Mojtaba Khamenei, who has not appeared in public since taking office.
Russia has also condemned Larijani's killing.

Blasts over Saudi capital

Saudi Arabia said its air defences were countering ballistic missiles after AFP journalists heard loud explosions echoing over the capital Riyadh.

'Debris' hits Israel airport

The Israeli military told AFP that "debris" had hit Ben Gurion international airport following Iranian missile fire, without specifying when the incident occurred. 
Earlier, medics said missiles from Iran killed two people near Tel Aviv, bringing the death toll from missiles fired on the country to 14. 

UAE, Qatar condemn gas field strikes

United Arab Emirates condemned the targeting of Iranian facilities in a gas field shared with Qatar, calling the attack a "dangerous escalation". 
Iran said the United States and Israel were responsible.
Qatar also condemned Israeli attacks on facilities linked to Iran's massive South Pars gas field -- an extension of Qatar's own North Field -- as "dangerous and irresponsible".
Iran's military said it would in turn "severely strike"  energy infrastructure across the Gulf. Gas imports in Iraq, highly dependent on Iranian supplies, were immediately halted, authorities said, adding that it would have a knock-on affect on power supplies there.

NATO discusses Hormuz

NATO chief Mark Rutte said allies were discussing the "best way" to re-open the Strait of Hormuz, the key oil corridor where Iran has choked off much of the world's oil supply.

Iran confirms spy chief death

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian confirmed what he called the "cowardly assassination" of the country's top intelligence official, Esmail Khatib who Israel said had been killed in a strike.

Germany 'would have advised against' war

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Berlin "would have advised against" starting a war with Iran, had it been consulted by the US or Israel. 
While Tehran "bears responsibility" for the crisis in the region, Merz said, Berlin had "made it clear that we still have many questions regarding this war," and Israel and the US had shown "no convincing plan as to how this operation could succeed".

Oil jumps

Oil prices surged after the Israeli strike on South Pars. 
Brent North Sea crude jumped over five percent to $108.60 per barrel, while the main US oil contract West Texas Intermediate climbed 1.9 percent to $98.01.

Nuclear plant hit

The UN nuclear watchdog said Iran reported a strike on the country's only operational nuclear power plant but that it caused no damage.
Russia, which helped build the plant and has staff on site, said it had received a report of a missile strike on the plant's inner perimeter and called the attack "completely unacceptable".

Women footballers return

The Iranian women's national football team, including several players who withdrew an asylum bid in Australia, crossed the Turkish border back into Iran.
Seven members of the delegation had sought sanctuary in Australia last week after being branded "traitors" in Iran for refusing to sing the national anthem before their opening game at the Women's Asian Cup. 
Five later changed their mind while two chose to remain in Australia.

Iran funerals

Iran was to hold funerals in Tehran for slain security chief Ali Larijani and another powerful figure killed by Israel, Gholamreza Soleimani, the head of the Basij paramilitary force.

Iran executes Swedish national for spying

Iran executed a Swedish citizen, Sweden's foreign minister said, after Iranian authorities announced they had carried out capital punishment for an alleged Israeli spy.
"It is with dismay that I have received information that a Swedish citizen was executed in Iran earlier today," Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard said in a statement.
burs/yad/tw

Iran

Iran women's football team return after asylum tussle

BY ARIF KARAKAS

  • Two members have remained in Australia, but the rest of the team completed a long journey back on Wednesday via Malaysia, Oman and then to Istanbul and Turkey's overland Gurbulak-Bazargan border crossing with Iran.
  • The Iranian women's football team, whose plight has become embroiled in the Middle East war, returned back to Iran on Wednesday where they were promised a welcome ceremony in Tehran. 
  • Two members have remained in Australia, but the rest of the team completed a long journey back on Wednesday via Malaysia, Oman and then to Istanbul and Turkey's overland Gurbulak-Bazargan border crossing with Iran.
The Iranian women's football team, whose plight has become embroiled in the Middle East war, returned back to Iran on Wednesday where they were promised a welcome ceremony in Tehran. 
Seven members of the delegation had sought asylum in Australia last week after their decision not to sing the national anthem before their opening game at the Women's Asian Cup. 
With their demands for protection an embarrassment for Iran's leaders, but lauded by US President Donald Trump, five later changed their minds, including captain Zahra Ghanbari.
Activists have accused Iranian authorities of pressuring the women's families -- including summoning parents for interrogations -- but Tehran has in turn alleged that Australia sought to force the athletes to defect.
Two members have remained in Australia, but the rest of the team completed a long journey back on Wednesday via Malaysia, Oman and then to Istanbul and Turkey's overland Gurbulak-Bazargan border crossing with Iran.
AFP reporters saw them cross into Iran on a bus, wearing the national team tracksuits and with their hair covered. 
In a post on X, Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said the players and their support team were "children of the homeland, and the people of Iran embrace them". 
By returning, they had "disappointed the enemies (of Iran) and did not surrender to deception and intimidation by anti-Iran elements," he added.
Iranian news agency Mehr published images of a small welcome party waving flags on the Iranian side of the border, as well as the team and staff sat on a stage with a red carpet.
"We have all gathered here to say well done and to express our appreciation," the president of Iran's Football Federation, Mehdi Taj, was quoted as saying.  
"Although they are women, they showed manly courage and strength," he added.
In a sign of their symbolic importance to Iranian authorities, a larger welcoming ceremony has been organised on Thursday at 8:00 PM (1630 GMT) in Valiasr Square where other pro-government rallies have taken place in recent weeks, Iranian media reported.
Rights groups have accused Tehran of systematically pressuring athletes abroad by threatening relatives with the seizure of property if they defect or make statements against the Islamic republic.

Withdrawals

The Iranian women fell silent as the national anthem played ahead of an Asian Cup match in Australia, which was interpreted as act of defiance towards the country's leaders. 
Although the side sang Iran's anthem -- an ode to the glory of the Islamic republic -- in later matches, human rights activists warned the damage was done. 
An Iranian state TV presenter branded the players "wartime traitors", fuelling fears they faced persecution, or worse, if they returned. 
Five players, including captain Ghanbari, slipped away from the team hotel under the cover of darkness to claim asylum in Australia on March 10. 
Two more delegation members -- a player and a support staffer -- were later granted asylum. 
Australian Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said the government had spent days in secret talks with the players, who were whisked to a safe house after leaving their hotel on the Gold Coast.
Iranian authorities had accused Australia of pressuring the players to stay.
str-ii-hmw-adp/sjw/tw

Latam

US launches new era of drug war with Latin American allies

BY JORDI ZAMORA

  • The anti-drug campaign, which includes controversial elements such as attacks on suspected drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean, is sparking alarm in some parts of the region.
  • The United States and allies in Latin America and the Caribbean have ushered in a new phase of anti-drug cooperation including extraditions, shared intelligence and security plans despite criticism from international organizations.
  • The anti-drug campaign, which includes controversial elements such as attacks on suspected drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean, is sparking alarm in some parts of the region.
The United States and allies in Latin America and the Caribbean have ushered in a new phase of anti-drug cooperation including extraditions, shared intelligence and security plans despite criticism from international organizations.
The joint initiative dubbed "Shield of the Americas," largely modeled on the Salvadoran approach, was announced on March 8 by President Donald Trump and leaders from 16 nations at a Florida summit.
On Saturday, US authorities took custody of Uruguayan drug trafficker Sebastian Marset following his capture in Bolivia -- barely a year after he was added to Washington's list of most-wanted fugitives.
Marset appeared before a judge on Monday following his swift expulsion by Bolivian authorities.
The collaboration has extended to other nations, with Ecuador recently carrying out an air strike on a FARC rebel training camp in a border area shared with Colombia.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro condemned the attack but his Defense Minister Pedro Sanchez told AFP cooperation exists with Ecuador, Venezuela and the United States to quell such pockets of rebellion.
The FBI has opened a permanent office in Ecuador, whose government recently imposed curfews in the regions hardest hit by violence related to organized crime.
Last week Washington also announced the arrest, pending extradition, of a suspect accused of being one of the leaders of "Los Piratas," the Chilean affiliate of the Tren de Aragua gang.
The suspected drug kingpin, 40-year-old Venezuelan national Rafael Enrique Gamez Salas, could be deported to Chile in the near future.

Picking up the pace

The Trump administration is acutely aware of the conservative political shift that has swept through the region and is trying to accelerate its efforts before a new political cycle.
The growing collaboration also means suspects can be sent home from the United States.
In January, the Department of Homeland Security announced the arrest of Chilean national Armando Fernandez Larios, a former military officer and agent of the DINA, the feared political police force of Augusto Pinochet's regime.
Larios, who pleaded guilty to the 1976 assassination of former Chilean minister Orlando Letelier in Washington, had been living in the United States since the late 1980s.
After nearly four decades, he could soon be deported to his home country, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson confirmed to AFP.

Three reluctant nations

Brazil, Mexico and Colombia did not attend the Florida summit, but intelligence cooperation remains ongoing, according to their leaders and diplomatic sources in Washington.
Trump continues to exert pressure on Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, as shown by Mexico's operation that led to the death of kingpin Nemesio Oseguera, or "El Mencho," leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG).
"The economic pressure from President Donald Trump, along with his veiled military threats, has compelled her to take action," observed Amanda Mattingly, a former diplomat and founder of ACM Global Intelligence.
In Brazil, the next chapter in a relationship marked by ups and downs could involve the official designation of two powerful criminal factions -- the "Comando Vermelho" (Red Command) and the "Primeiro Comando da Capital" (PCC) -- as terrorist groups.
Such a designation is a source of tension in the Brazilian government.
When questioned by AFP, a State Department spokesperson said Washington does not "anticipate possible designations" of the groups, but remains "committed to taking appropriate measures against foreign groups that engage in terrorist activities."
The anti-drug campaign, which includes controversial elements such as attacks on suspected drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean, is sparking alarm in some parts of the region.
"These serial extrajudicial killings constitute a grave violation of the right to life," said Ben Saul, the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights, in hearings recently held by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) in Guatemala. 
But the State Department said the IACHR "lacks competence to examine issues regarding the interpretation and application of international humanitarian law" on such issues.
jz/mr/jfx/mjf/js

conflict

Pakistan and Afghanistan announce Eid 'pause' in hostilities

BY PHIL HAZLEWOOD WITH QUBAD WALI IN KABUL

  • - Mediation stalled - Afghanistan and Pakistan have faced calls for an immediate end to the conflict, with the overall civilian death toll mounting and concern about those displaced.
  • Pakistan and Afghanistan on Wednesday announced a halt in fighting during celebrations for the end of Ramadan, after the deadliest strike in their escalating conflict killed hundreds in Kabul earlier this week.
  • - Mediation stalled - Afghanistan and Pakistan have faced calls for an immediate end to the conflict, with the overall civilian death toll mounting and concern about those displaced.
Pakistan and Afghanistan on Wednesday announced a halt in fighting during celebrations for the end of Ramadan, after the deadliest strike in their escalating conflict killed hundreds in Kabul earlier this week.
The governments in Islamabad and Kabul said in separate statements that Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey had requested a pause in fighting over Eid al-Fitr and both agreed.
Cross-border attacks have intensified since last month and Pakistan accuses the Taliban authorities of shielding extremists behind attacks on its territory. Afghanistan denies doing so.
On Monday night, Pakistani jets struck a drug rehabilitation centre in the Afghan capital, prompting fresh calls for an immediate end to attacks and talks to end the bloodshed.
Pakistan's information minister, Attaullah Tarar, said the government agreed to a halt to its operations from Thursday to Monday "in good faith and in keeping with the Islamic norms".
Taliban government spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said defending Afghanistan was "a national and religious obligation" and they would respond to any aggression or threat.
Tarar said: "In case of any cross-border attack, drone attack or any terrorist incident inside Pakistan, (operations) shall immediately resume with renewed intensity."

Mass funeral

The Taliban authorities have said that around 400 people were killed and more than 200 wounded in Monday's strike and a mass funeral was held for some of the victims on Wednesday.
Afghan Red Crescent Society volunteers carried dozens of simple wooden coffins from a fleet of ambulances to a mass grave in Kabul, dug in the rocky ground of a rainswept hillside by giant excavators.
At the graveside, Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani said they were innocent victims targeted by "criminals", days before the end of the Muslim holy month.
"We will take revenge," he added and warned those behind Monday night's bombing: "We are not weak and helpless. You will see the consequences of your crimes."
But Haqqani, who until last year had a $10-million US bounty on his head, also suggested that talks were the government's preferred option to halt the fighting.
"We do not want war but the situation has come to this," he said. "So, we are trying to solve the problems through diplomacy."
Interior ministry spokesman Abdul Mateen Qani said the ceremony was for identified victims. Some had been sent back to their home provinces for burial.
Identification of other victims was still ongoing, he added.
Health ministry spokesperson Sharafat Zaman told AFP that 50 coffins had been brought to the Kabul site on Wednesday.
- Identification - 
Obtaining immediate independent confirmation of exact death tolls is difficult in Afghanistan and Pakistan, with attacks often in hard-to-reach places and with conflicting information.
AFP journalists at the scene on Monday evening and Tuesday morning saw at least 95 bodies extracted from the rubble at the devastated centre.
Jacopo Caridi, the Afghanistan country director for the Norwegian Refugee Council, a humanitarian NGO, said they also had teams on the ground.
"From what we saw and what we discussed with the others involved in the (emergency) response, we can say that there were hundreds of killed and wounded," he told AFP.
Recovery of bodies has proven difficult because of the debris and collapsed structures, and Caridi described the scene as "shocking", which would make identification more difficult.
"I saw a finger in one place, a foot in another place, a hand in one location. It was really horrific," said Caridi.

Mediation stalled

Afghanistan and Pakistan have faced calls for an immediate end to the conflict, with the overall civilian death toll mounting and concern about those displaced.
The UN said before Monday's strike that at least 76 Afghan civilians had been killed in the fighting since February 26, and that more than 115,000 people had been forced from their homes.
Mediation efforts, however, have so far proved fruitless.
The focus of Gulf countries, which led early mediation attempts, has shifted to the situation in their own backyard since the start of US-Israeli strikes on Iran last month.
China has sent a special envoy to mediate and pledged to play a "constructive role in de-escalating tensions".
Russia's special representative for Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, said Moscow "will be ready" to help broker talks if both sides request it.
"So far, this has not happened," he told pro-Kremlin outlet Izvestia.
ash-qb-iw/phz/msp

defense

'Free France': Macron reveals name of Europe's largest warship

BY VALERIE LEROUX

  • France is one of the two countries in the world that operate nuclear-powered aircraft carriers.
  • President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday announced that France's next nuclear-powered aircraft carrier will be called "France Libre" (Free France), as the country looks to reinforce its status as a major maritime power.
  • France is one of the two countries in the world that operate nuclear-powered aircraft carriers.
President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday announced that France's next nuclear-powered aircraft carrier will be called "France Libre" (Free France), as the country looks to reinforce its status as a major maritime power.
Once completed, the warship, which is set to replace the country's sole aircraft carrier -- the Charles de Gaulle -- and due to enter service in 2038, will be the largest warship ever built in Europe.
Macron said the vessel was being named after the French Resistance movement that General de Gaulle led against the Nazi occupation of France during World War II.
"I wanted our future aircraft carrier to follow in the footsteps of General de Gaulle. His life, his destiny," Macron said at a shipyard in the western town of Indret, near Nantes, where the vessel's two nuclear reactors will be built.
"Our new aircraft carrier will be named France Libre," he added.
"This name honours the memory of the men and women who stood up against barbarity."
Macron in December announced the start of construction of the new aircraft carrier, a project estimated to cost 10 billion euros ($11 billion).
He told French troops in the United Arab Emirates at the time that "in an age of predators", France "must be strong in order to be feared".
He reiterated that sentiment on Wednesday. 
"To remain free, we must be feared. To be feared, we must be powerful," he said.
- 'France is wild' - 
Ahead of the ceremony, Macron posted a 30‑second video highlighting some of France's proudest moments and technological achievements.
Set to rousing music, the video featured footage of the Charles de Gaulle, submarines, troops, jets streaking in the air, high-speed trains, and France's astronaut Sophie Adenot, who has been in space since mid-February.
"France is wild", read the white letters splashed in English across the clip.
In recent weeks, the president has repeatedly underscored France's maritime ambitions.
He said last week that Paris and its allies were putting together a mission to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for the world's oil and liquefied natural gas supplies.
Iran has effectively closed the strait since the United States and Israel began the war on the Islamic republic late last month, sending global oil prices up by more than 40 percent. 
But the French leader has ruled out any action until hostilities there cool.
France's most recent aircraft carriers have all been named after French statesmen including Georges Clemenceau and Ferdinand Foch.

Much bigger

Construction of the future warship's hull is expected to begin in the western port city of Saint-Nazaire in 2031.
France is one of the two countries in the world that operate nuclear-powered aircraft carriers. The United States has 11 such vessels.
The Charles de Gaulle was commissioned in 2001 and is the largest warship ever built for the French Navy. 
The new warship will be much larger than the 42,000-tonne 261-metre-(856-foot-) long Charles de Gaulle. 
It will weigh nearly 80,000 tonnes and be approximately 310 metres long. With a crew of 2,000, it will be able to carry 30 fighter aircraft as well as combat drones.
"In the future, the aircraft carrier will be more than just an aircraft carrier," said the Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral Nicolas Vaujour.
The project represents a formidable undertaking, officials say.
"We cannot simply reproduce a tool that was designed halfway through the last century," said armed forces chief of staff Fabien Mandon.
vl-as/ah/rmb

media

Foreign press group slams Israeli police for breaking journalist's wrist

  • "During the assault, one Israeli officer fractured the wrist of a CNN producer," the FPA said in a statement. 
  • An international media association on Wednesday criticised an "unprovoked assault" by Israeli police on journalists in Jerusalem, which it said left a CNN producer with a fractured wrist.
  • "During the assault, one Israeli officer fractured the wrist of a CNN producer," the FPA said in a statement. 
An international media association on Wednesday criticised an "unprovoked assault" by Israeli police on journalists in Jerusalem, which it said left a CNN producer with a fractured wrist.
The Foreign Press Association (FPA) said police officers on Tuesday night "unnecessarily and aggressively repelled a group of journalists who were doing their jobs, documenting individuals who were praying outside the walls of the Old City".
It said police detained several journalists, damaging photographic equipment and confiscating memory cards.
"During the assault, one Israeli officer fractured the wrist of a CNN producer," the FPA said in a statement. 
"None of this is acceptable," added the association, which represents hundreds of journalists in Israel and the Palestinian territories.
An AFP photographer at the scene said a small group of journalists had been documenting Muslims trying to perform the evening Taraweeh prayers outside the Old City walls, when a group of police suddenly arrived and "violently attacked the worshippers and journalists covering the event."
A foreign journalist told AFP that police "beat the CNN producer and some other journalists with batons," adding that "at least one Palestinian was detained".
AFP has asked Israeli police for comment on the incident.
Israeli authorities have closed holy sites in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem's Old City for security reasons since the outbreak of the Middle East war on February 28.
The FPA called on the police to "immediately take action against the officers involved in this unprovoked assault and to act in the future to safeguard press freedoms, rather than trample upon them."
In an X post, the Union of Journalists in Israel said it was "appalled" by the police conduct and urged the police commissioner to "immediately suspend the officers involved".
An AFP journalist sits on the FPA board.
acc/jd/dc

Israel

Iran was not rebuilding nuclear enrichment, US intelligence finds

BY SHAUN TANDON

  • Trump said after the June 2025 bombing that the United States had completely destroyed Iran's nuclear sites, but since his latest war he has maintained that Tehran was nonetheless weeks away from a nuclear bomb and that he had to act.
  • US intelligence concluded Wednesday that Iran was not rebuilding nuclear enrichment capacities destroyed last year by the United States and Israel, contradicting a key justification by President Donald Trump for his ongoing war.
  • Trump said after the June 2025 bombing that the United States had completely destroyed Iran's nuclear sites, but since his latest war he has maintained that Tehran was nonetheless weeks away from a nuclear bomb and that he had to act.
US intelligence concluded Wednesday that Iran was not rebuilding nuclear enrichment capacities destroyed last year by the United States and Israel, contradicting a key justification by President Donald Trump for his ongoing war.
Tulsi Gabbard, a Trump ally who is director of national intelligence, offered mixed signals on the backdrop and outcomes of three weeks of war as she and other officials appeared before Congress
She also assessed that Iran's leadership remained intact.
"As a result of Operation Midnight Hammer, Iran's nuclear enrichment program was obliterated," Gabbard said in prepared testimony to the Senate intelligence committee, referring to the June 2025 US attack.
"There has been no efforts since then to try to rebuild their enrichment capability," Gabbard wrote.
She did not repeat the conclusion before cameras. Pressed by a Democratic senator, Gabbard said that she did not have enough time to read the full testimony at the hearing but did not refute the assessment.
Trump has repeatedly said he ordered the attack on Iran alongside Israel on February 28 because of an "imminent threat."
Trump said after the June 2025 bombing that the United States had completely destroyed Iran's nuclear sites, but since his latest war he has maintained that Tehran was nonetheless weeks away from a nuclear bomb and that he had to act.
The UN nuclear watchdog and most observers have not supported the finding of an imminent nuclear bomb by Iran, which was negotiating with Trump's envoys on a deal in the days before the attack.
John Ratcliffe, director the CIA, told senators when asked about the negotiations: "It was very clear that Iran, while they were talking, they had no intentions of following through."

'Policeman of the world'

Gabbard herself had been an outspoken opponent of war with Iran as a Democratic congresswoman. 
One of her senior aides, Joseph Kent, resigned in protest Tuesday as director of the National Counterterrorism Center, saying that Iran posed no "imminent threat" and that Trump was misled by Israel and media outlets.
Democrats attacked Gabbard over the war, saying she had not proven that Iran posed any threat beyond what it has since the 1979 Islamic revolution.
"President Trump said, we are not the policemen of the world. He ran on that," Democratic Senator Michael Bennet said.
"Now he's turned us into the world's policeman, into its jury, into its judge, into its executioner," he said.
In her remarks to senators, Gabbard said Iran had been suffering heavy blows in the weeks of attacks -- which included the killing of the longtime supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei -- but that the Islamic republic was still functioning.
The US intelligence community "assesses the regime in Iran to be intact but largely degraded due to attacks on its leadership and military capabilities," Gabbard said.
"If a hostile regime survives, it will likely seek to begin a years-long effort to rebuild its military, missiles and UAV forces," Gabbard said, referring to unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones.

Russia 'upper hand'

In other findings, Gabbard predicted that Russia would keep pressing its four-year invasion of Ukraine, a war that Trump had vowed to end upon taking office, largely by pressing Kyiv to compromise.
US intelligence "assesses that Russia has maintained the upper hand in the war against Ukraine," Gabbard said.
"US-led negotiations between Moscow and Kiev are ongoing. Until such an agreement is met, Moscow is likely to continue fighting a slow war," she said.
Gabbard said the United States faced a threat if there were an "escalatory spiral" in Ukraine or elsewhere, which could potentially lead to the use of nuclear weapons.
She said that China was "rapidly" modernizing its military with a goal of being able to seize Taiwan, the self-governing democracy claimed by Beijing.
However, US intelligence "assesses that China likely prefers to set the conditions for an eventual peaceful reunification with Taiwan short of conflict."
Trump plans to travel in the coming weeks to China, a trip he delayed due to the war in the Mideast.
sct/js

US

Israel says killed Iran intel chief, tells military to hunt down officials

BY AFP TEAMS IN JERUSALEM, TEHRAN, BEIRUT AND WASHINGTON

  • "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and I have authorised the IDF to eliminate any senior Iranian official for whom the intelligence and operational circle has been closed, without the need for additional approval," Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz announced  "We will continue to thwart them and to hunt them all down."
  • Israel killed another top Iranian official, intelligence minister Esmail Khatib, and declared on Wednesday that its military is authorised to kill any senior Islamic republic figure it gets in its sights.
  • "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and I have authorised the IDF to eliminate any senior Iranian official for whom the intelligence and operational circle has been closed, without the need for additional approval," Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz announced  "We will continue to thwart them and to hunt them all down."
Israel killed another top Iranian official, intelligence minister Esmail Khatib, and declared on Wednesday that its military is authorised to kill any senior Islamic republic figure it gets in its sights.
Iran's president Masoud Pezeshkian branded Khatib's death a "cowardly assassination"
The war erupted on February 28 when US and Israeli forces attacked Iran, killing supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and has since been marked by several high-profile killings. 
News of Khatib's death came the day after Iranian security chief Ali Larijani was confirmed killed in an Israeli strike. 
"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and I have authorised the IDF to eliminate any senior Iranian official for whom the intelligence and operational circle has been closed, without the need for additional approval," Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz announced 
"We will continue to thwart them and to hunt them all down."
Israel has also vowed to hunt down Iran's new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, who has not appeared in public since he succeeded his father.

Funeral crowds

Large crowds gathered in central Tehran on Wednesday for the funerals of Larijani and Gholamreza Soleimani, the head of the Basij paramilitary force who was also killed in a strike in Iran this week, according to images broadcast by Iranian state television.
They were held alongside the funerals of more than 80 Iranian sailors killed in a US torpedoing of their frigate off Sri Lanka earlier this month. 
Trucks carrying coffins draped in Iranian flags moved through the procession, as mourners walked alongside carrying portraits of the slain supreme leader and beating their chests, a sign of mourning in Shia culture.
In contrast to Mojtaba Khamenei, Larijani, 68, had walked openly with crowds at a pro-government rally last week in Tehran.
He had "effectively been the figure in charge of the regime's survival, its regional policy and its defence strategy," David Khalfa, co-founder of the Atlantic Middle East Forum, told AFP.
Israel has pursued what analysts have described as a policy of decapitation against Iran and the militant movements it backs in the region.
It killed Hassan Nasrallah, the longtime leader of Hezbollah, in 2024 as well Hamas's top figures since the Palestinian group's October 7, 2023 attack that sparked the Gaza war.
Despite losing its supreme leader of nearly four decades and now Larijani, a key pillar of the Islamic republic, the powerful Revolutionary Guards and the leadership as a whole have remained defiant.
US intelligence chief Tulsi Gabbard to a senate hearing that Washington "assesses the regime in Iran to be intact but largely degraded due to attacks on its leadership and military capabilities".
The Guards, the ideological arm of the military, said they had launched missiles at central Israel in retaliation for Larijani's death and warned of more to come.
The "pure blood of this great martyr... will be a source of honour, power and national awakening against the front of global arrogance," they said.

Deadly strikes

An Iranian missile barrage killed two people near Israel's commercial hub of Tel Aviv, medics said on Wednesday, while authorities said falling munitions hit multiple sites in central Israel overnight.
Police said a cluster bomb hit a residential building in Ramat Gan, a city just outside Tel Aviv, and the roof collapsed on an elderly couple.
Iranian media meanwhile said Israel and the United States had launched fresh strikes across several areas of the country, including Tehran.
Tasnim news agency said "seven people were killed and 56 were injured in an American-Zionist attack on residential areas in Dorud town" in Lorestan province. 
AFP could not independently verify the figures. 
The war has engulfed the region, from Gulf nations to Iraq and nearby Lebanon.
In Lebanon, Israel struck central Beirut multiple times Wednesday, with authorities reporting at least 12 people dead.
The country was drawn into the conflict when the Iran-backed group Hezbollah launched rockets towards Israel over the ayatollah's death.
A line of cars stretched as far as the eye could see along the country's southern coast as residents of areas bombarded in the war fled to the ancient city of Sidon in search of safety.
Nidal Ahmad Chokr initially intended to stay put but finally decided on Tuesday to leave his village of Jibchit, as the air strikes intensified.
"Bakers died while making bread" in the village square and "municipal workers were martyred while using bulldozers", the 55-year-old said.
In addition to the human toll of the war, with hundreds killed and millions displaced, the conflict has hit the global economy.
Oil prices surged again Wednesday after Israeli strikes hit Iranian facilities at a major gas field in the oil-rich Gulf, prompting Tehran to call for retaliatory attacks on energy infrastructure. 
The conflict has led to the near total closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway through which a fifth of global oil and LNG travels in peacetime.
burs-sr/dc

Global Edition

Maiduguri bombings follow surge of jihadist violence in Nigeria

BY NICHOLAS ROLL

  • In Maiduguri, chief of defence staff General Olufemi Oluyede pledged "in the future this will not repeat itself."
  • Nigeria's defence chiefs visited Maiduguri Wednesday after one of the deadliest attacks in the Borno state capital in years, in a show of defiance.
  • In Maiduguri, chief of defence staff General Olufemi Oluyede pledged "in the future this will not repeat itself."
Nigeria's defence chiefs visited Maiduguri Wednesday after one of the deadliest attacks in the Borno state capital in years, in a show of defiance.
But the triple suicide bombing Monday in the northeastern city, which killed 23 people, shows that Nigeria still has a way to go in defeating a long-running jihadist conflict.
The 17-year-old insurgency is in flux, as suicide bombers once again target urban centres, gunmen launch coordinated raids on multiple military posts at once, and front lines shift from the war's northeastern epicentre.
In the countryside, where the violence has largely been contained to since its peak a decade ago, jihadist tactics are changing and new armed groups -- including from the neighbouring Sahel region -- are entering the fray.
"The (military) response is not matching the mobility, the adaptability of these armed groups," said Taiwo Adebayo, an Abuja-based researcher for the Institute for Security Studies.
In Borno state, the epicentre of Nigeria's insurgency since Boko Haram's 2009 uprising, attacks from Boko Haram and splinter Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) "significantly increased" last year, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, a US-based monitor. 
ACLED recorded 401 military confrontations, 104 bombings and 141 attacks on civilians in Borno in 2025 -- cumulatively, "the most since 2020", Ladd Serwat, senior Africa analyst, told AFP.
Monday's attack was blamed on Boko Haram and follows a similar December mosque bombing -- both of which harken back to the conflict's deadly peak a decade ago. Some 71 suicide bombings were recorded in 2015, according to ACLED, a number that in recent years had ticked down to fewer than five per year.
ISWAP since last year has stepped up assaults on military bases, attacking four installations Sunday evening into Monday, the army said. Similar "coordinated" attacks on military sites were reported the week before.
In another assault, overnight into Wednesday on a military position in Mallam Fatori, the army said it killed more than 60 jihadists, who attacked with "multiple armed drones" -- a tactic on the rise in Nigeria and the Sahel.
"The military has become accustomed to facing ISWAP," Adebayo told AFP. But now there is a "resurgence" from Boko Haram, as well as new jihadist fronts opening elsewhere -- and the military "is not prepared for that".
He noted that Nigerian forces are also stretched thin, attending to southeastern separatists, armed "banditry" in the northwest and farmer-herder conflicts in central states.

Expanding front lines

High-profile attacks last year highlighted jihadist groups' increased presence outside the northeast, which they've cultivated for years.
In western Nigeria, groups from the Sahel have made inroads, while "long-dormant Nigerian jihadi cells have been reactivating... or simply relocating to remote patches of forest," James Barnett, a conflict researcher, wrote in a recent report published by the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, a US military academy.
A mass kidnapping of schoolchildren in Niger state, which security sources told AFP was conducted by a Boko Haram faction, underscored jihadists' long reach.
In December, the United States, with Nigerian assistance, bombed northwest Sokoto state, targeting Islamic State Sahel Province (ISSP) fighters usually found in neighbouring Niger, along with Mali and Burkina Faso.
Also targeted, the Nigerian government said, were fighters from Lakurawa, a shadowy group whose links with ISSP are debated by researchers.
Meanwhile, fighters from the Al-Qaeda-affiliated JNIM claimed an attack in western Kwara state, on the Benin border, after years of researchers warning that the jihadist conflict ravaging the Sahel risked spreading south towards coastal west African states.
In Maiduguri, chief of defence staff General Olufemi Oluyede pledged "in the future this will not repeat itself."
Whether the bombings will attract increased national attention, however, remains to be seen. Though they made international headlines, many Nigerian news stations -- long used to covering daily violence -- had moved on by Wednesday morning.
President Bola Tinubu meanwhile continued his scheduled state visit to the United Kingdom -- where security cooperation, among other issues, was on the agenda.
nro-str/sn/kjm

US

South Lebanon residents flee death and destruction

BY CéLIA LEBUR

  • For now the military says it is only conducting "limited" ground operations against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. 
  • The line of cars stretched as far as the eye could see along the coast of southern Lebanon, as residents of areas bombarded in the Israel-Hezbollah war poured into the ancient city of Sidon in search of safety.
  • For now the military says it is only conducting "limited" ground operations against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. 
The line of cars stretched as far as the eye could see along the coast of southern Lebanon, as residents of areas bombarded in the Israel-Hezbollah war poured into the ancient city of Sidon in search of safety.
At war with Iran-backed Hezbollah, Israel has called on everyone living south of the Zahrani River to evacuate immediately.
It is an area comprising 14 percent of Lebanon's territory, and is highlighted in red in the maps posted by the Israeli military.
Nidal Ahmad Chokr initially intended to stay put but finally decided on Tuesday to leave his village of Jibchit, as the air strikes intensified.
"Bakers died while making bread" in the village square and "municipal workers were martyred while using bulldozers", the 55-year-old said.
Joining a civil defence convoy, he reached Sidon at 5:00 am, a small bag in tow. All he packed was a towel, underwear and medication -- painkillers for his back and some sleeping pills.
The war has already forced more than a million Lebanese to flee their homes. With no room left at reception centres, entire families are left to crowd along the seafront or sleep in their cars.
"Sidon is overcrowded," said Jihan Kaisi, an NGO director helping the displaced at a school that is already sheltering three times more people than it can handle.
"Imagine the families arriving in the middle of the night, their eyes terrified, and they ask: 'Can we sleep on the floor just to be safe until the morning?'," she said, upset that she has to turn them away.

'My land, my country'

Safaa al-Tabl arrived three days prior with her husband and their five children from the village of Kharayeb.
"We thought we could stick it out, but the village was under constant attack. Drones never left the sky... We weren't able to get any sleep or rest. It became unbearable," the 37-year-old said.
"They were targeting people, houses. It was all happening right in front of our eyes. I saw bodies."
By the end, "the village was practically deserted", she said, getting emotional as she described her tulip-filled home.
"That there is my land, my country, my memories, my childhood. It means everything to me."
She hopes she will be able to see Kharayeb again. But she fears the bombs will destroy her house, or that the Israeli army will expand its ground assault. 
For now the military says it is only conducting "limited" ground operations against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. 
But many Lebanese who were driven from their homes have not forgotten the long years under Israeli occupation of the south, from 1978 to 2000.
Nor have they forgotten the Hezbollah-Israel conflicts from 2006 and 2024. 

'No choice'

"In the south, we're very resilient, we're used to bombardments... I'd never left my house until now," said Mustafa Khairallah, now sheltering in Sidon.
Elderly and propping himself up with canes, he said this conflict was of a different magnitude.
"Now they're targeting civilians more and more... I was forced to leave," he added, just as the sound of an explosion echoed outside Sidon. 
Not everyone has left. Some residents of all faiths remain in the predominantly-Shia south, which is also home to Christians and Sunnis.
While some believe it is not their war and hope they will be spared, others "have no choice" but to stay, said Haidar Bitar, an entrepreneur from Nabatiyeh, which he continues to visit. 
"People don't have the money to leave" after years of economic crisis, the 28-year-old said, adding that the war was also driving up prices.
"Before, rent was $100 or $200. Now, you have to pay $1,000 and three months upfront."
He is convinced Israel will not be able to defeat Hezbollah, which still enjoys backing from many in its support base. 
Though weakened, the militant group has said it is ready for a long confrontation. 
"They fight night and day. They know where to hide above and below ground," Bitar said.
"It won't be easy for Israel."
cl/amj/ser

US

Why convoys cannot fully protect oil tankers from Iran attacks

BY FABIEN ZAMORA

  • Iran has effectively closed the strait since the United States and Israel began a war on the Islamic republic last month, sending global oil prices up by more than 40 percent. 
  • The Israeli-US war on Iran has provoked a reaction from Tehran that has effectively choked a large chunk of the world's oil supply, and untangling the blockage will take a regional effort beyond what is currently being proposed, experts have told AFP. President Donald Trump has repeatedly urged other global powers to send warships to escort convoys of tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for the world's oil and liquefied natural gas supplies.
  • Iran has effectively closed the strait since the United States and Israel began a war on the Islamic republic last month, sending global oil prices up by more than 40 percent. 
The Israeli-US war on Iran has provoked a reaction from Tehran that has effectively choked a large chunk of the world's oil supply, and untangling the blockage will take a regional effort beyond what is currently being proposed, experts have told AFP.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly urged other global powers to send warships to escort convoys of tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for the world's oil and liquefied natural gas supplies.
Iran has effectively closed the strait since the United States and Israel began a war on the Islamic republic last month, sending global oil prices up by more than 40 percent. 
Iran has however shown it has a much wider reach and can disrupt supplies throughout the Persian Gulf and beyond, simply by firing off a clutch of drones or a missile.
Trump has acknowledged the dangers of this kind of attack, at least in the strait.
"It's easy for them to send a drone or two, drop a mine, or deliver a close-range missile somewhere along, or in, this Waterway, no matter how badly defeated they are," he posted on social media at the weekend.
But strategic planners need to look at a much bigger geographical area and consider a much wider array of tools if they are serious about protecting oil tankers, experts have told AFP.
"Treating 'Hormuz security' as a chokepoint-only problem is analytically incomplete," naval analyst Tayfun Ozberk, a former Turkish navy officer, told AFP.
The strait is labelled a "chokepoint" because it narrows to around 24 miles (38 kilometres) as it snakes between the southern Iranian coastline and the Arabian Peninsula's eastern tip, a jutting piece of land shared between United Arab Emirates and Oman.
"The effective threat envelope Iran can generate already extends well beyond the narrows," said Ozberk.
"That matters because traffic is exposed not only during the brief transit of the strait, but during the longer 'funnelling' phase where routes, speed constraints, and predictable lanes increase vulnerability."

'Limited protection'

Iran has carried out attacks on shipping hundreds of miles from the strait since the war began, towards the Iraqi coast on one side and well into the Gulf of Oman on the other.
"Outside the strait, there are risks as long as you're within missile range," said a European military source who requested not to be named.
And even within the strait, there are particular challenges that convoys could struggle with -- for one, the narrowness of the channel drastically reduces the time a warship might have to stop an attack.
"Mounting a navy-escorted convoy through the Strait of Hormuz... is not only very complex but also offers limited protection," researchers Christian Bueger and Jane Chan wrote in a recent paper for RSIS, a Singapore-based defence think tank.
"Not only air defence but also capabilities to intercept speed boats and surface drones, and to detect mines would be required."
The world has been in a similar situation before -- both sides in the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s targeted commercial ships in the strait.
Sidharth Kaushal, of the UK-based RUSI think tank, told AFP that the United States needed to maintain up to 35 vessels in the area during what became known as the Tanker War.
Yet the capacity of navies to carry out this type of operation has diminished over the years.
Hans Tino Hansen of the Risk Intelligence firm told AFP the number of warships in western navies equipped for a convoy mission had fallen by 75 percent since 1988.

'Raise uncertainty'

One of the thorniest problems a convoy could face is the possibility of sea mines.
Trump said on Monday that US forces had hit all of Iran's mine-laying ships but warned that the devices could be transferred to other vessels.
Turkish expert Ozberk said mines remained Iran's "most strategically efficient lever" because they "raise uncertainty and cost even when they don't sink ships".
"You can't 'convoy' your way around a credible mine threat without some degree of mine countermeasures," he said.
Putting these measures in place slows convoys, as specialist vessels take time to clear any devices and they themselves need further protection.
The European military source told AFP if an area is mined "you first have to create safe routes with mine countermeasure vessels, which are very vulnerable and therefore must be protected, and which advance at four kilometres an hour to clear a strip a few hundred metres wide". 
"Even then, a convoy has to be preceded by a mine countermeasure vessel to detect any anomaly.
"Within the convoy, frigates must be inserted at regular intervals to deal with air and surface threats."
The source added that if there were no mines "convoys can form more easily and travel at higher speeds, and the frigates can manoeuvre around the ships they are protecting".
The overall complexity of protecting tankers in the wider region means any operation would probably not resemble a traditional convoy at all, RUSI's Kaushal argued.
"Instead, destroyers and aircraft would likely attempt to provide an air-defence network over routes as a whole, while tools like helicopters could provide cover against USVs (surface drones)," he said.
"The tempo of activity needed to make this shield persistent while also prosecuting targets on the Iranian mainland will likely prove highly resource intensive, however."
fz/jxb/ah/rl

US

Under Hezbollah fire, people in north Israel hope for better days

BY ALICE CHANCELLOR

  • I've been through several wars here in the country," he told AFP. "A farm is not abandoned.
  • Israeli dairy and fruit farmer Tommy Kurlender refused to abandon his herd during the last war with Hezbollah, and vowed he would again stay put this time around.
  • I've been through several wars here in the country," he told AFP. "A farm is not abandoned.
Israeli dairy and fruit farmer Tommy Kurlender refused to abandon his herd during the last war with Hezbollah, and vowed he would again stay put this time around.
The Israel-Lebanon border area has once again come under fire since Hezbollah launched attacks in support of its backers in Tehran, after Israel killed supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The massive attack on Iran, which Israel has conducted alongside its ally the United States, has sparked a war engulfing the entire region, with both Iran and Hezbollah targeting Israel with missiles and drones.
In the citrus groves around Kurlender's farm in Beit Hillel, about four kilometres (2.5 miles) from Israel's northern border, the crack of artillery fire and the roar of planes reverberated overhead.
The Israeli military said on Monday it had begun what it described as "limited" ground operations against Hezbollah.
But 78-year-old Kurlender, who owns some 300 cows and employs more than a dozen workers, said he was determined to stay despite the threat of rocket fire.
"I'm not young. I've been through several wars here in the country," he told AFP.
"A farm is not abandoned. We continue taking care of everything."

'A lot of worries'

During the last war with Hezbollah, which erupted after Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, Beit Hillel was evacuated along with other northern border communities.
The military said that this time there would be no such measures.
At Kurlender's farm, work has continued largely as normal, with dozens of cows lining up to be milked at midday.
Kurlender said his two sons, who normally help him on the farm, have been called up to fight.
"It's not pleasant, it's a lot of worries, but there's nothing we can do," he told AFP.
"If we want to survive, if we want to exist in this country, the condition is a strong army, a strong army that carries out orders," he said.
Kurlender said it pained him to see hundreds of thousands of south Lebanese displaced from their villages just minutes away, but thought that Israel's military offensive was necessary.
"It's very sad, but since we know what's happening in Lebanon, the government there can't enforce what it wants on Hezbollah, so we really understand what the army is doing, and we're definitely encouraged by that."
- 'Very tense' –
Since the start of the war, at least one million Lebanese have fled their homes and Israel's defence minister has warned that they would not return home until northern Israel was secure.
In the hills above Beit Hillel, military vehicles rumbled along the winding roads heading towards the border.
A flatbed truck carrying a tank rolled through the highlands, making its way through fields of blossoming pink almond trees and yellow wildflowers.
In a churned-up field, soldiers milled among dozens of tanks, armoured personnel carriers and bulldozers being readied for deployment.
Back down in the valley, in the Israeli city of Kiryat Shmona, the mood was subdued, with few pedestrians wandering the streets.
"The atmosphere here is very tense," said Haim Ohana, 49, who manages public shelters for the municipality.
"People are currently thinking about leaving the city, going out, refreshing themselves, but right now they can't afford it," he told AFP.
"Last time there was government assistance for hotels and that, but right now today there is nothing."
Due to their proximity to Lebanon, residents in these parts of northern Israel only have a matter of seconds to seek shelter once sirens start wailing, warning of incoming rockets.

'Life will look different'

In a public bomb shelter two storeys underground, one woman lay sleeping on a bunk bed in the mid-afternoon, while another worked at their laptop.
"Some don't leave the shelters, don't leave their homes, because of the situation, because sometimes we have interceptions even before there is a siren and it's scary," Ohana explained.
Outside on the street, a young child waved to the sky with his mother, unfazed by the booms as artillery shots rang out overhead.
For Kiryat Shmona resident Zehava Barak, the constant state of conflict seemed untenable.
"It can't be that every few months there is an operation like this, going in and out (of Lebanon) and leaving all this mess," the 54-year-old caregiver told AFP.
After a November 2024 ceasefire, Israel had maintained five military positions in Lebanon, and frequently struck what it said were Hezbollah positions across the border.
Like Kurlender and Ohana, Barak said she supported the current operation in the hope that this would be the last and that it would win northern Israel some security.
"It's good that they will end it now, end with it and life will look different."
acc/lba/jsa/ser

US

Fear in central Beirut as Israel strikes, with and without warning

BY LISA GOLDEN

  • Along with her parents, brother, sisters and sisters' children, "we fled in our pyjamas" down the road to central Beirut's Martyrs' Square, she said.
  • Sara Saleh and her family fled wearing their pyjamas on Wednesday when Israel's military said it would strike a central Beirut building near the school-turned-shelter where they had been staying.
  • Along with her parents, brother, sisters and sisters' children, "we fled in our pyjamas" down the road to central Beirut's Martyrs' Square, she said.
Sara Saleh and her family fled wearing their pyjamas on Wednesday when Israel's military said it would strike a central Beirut building near the school-turned-shelter where they had been staying.
Several other strikes, however, came without warning, jolting terrified residents in the middle of the night and early morning and killing at least 12 people.
They were just the latest Israeli attacks on the Lebanese capital since war again erupted between Israel and Hezbollah this month.
"It was at 4:00 am (0200 GMT), we were asleep" when the Israeli evacuation warning came, said Saleh, 29, adding that she also heard gunfire alerting people to the danger.
Along with her parents, brother, sisters and sisters' children, "we fled in our pyjamas" down the road to central Beirut's Martyrs' Square, she said.
The sound of the strike "was terrifying... all of Beirut shook," said Saleh, who was displaced from the southern suburbs. She had stayed in the same school during the 2024 war between Israel and Hezbollah.
The children "started crying and panicking, it was heartbreaking", she said, wearing a facemask to protect herself from the dust thrown up by the destruction of the building in the Bashoura neighbourhood, which faced one of the city's main roads.
Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war on March 2 when the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah launched rockets towards Israel in response to US-Israeli strikes that killed Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Israel has responded with strikes on Lebanon including Hezbollah's southern Beirut stronghold, and ground operations in the south.
Its military has also hit the capital's central districts several times, only sometimes issuing evacuation orders.
"What's scary is that they are striking without warning," Saleh said. 
"It's good they gave a warning here because with us in the school hosting displaced people there are children, babies" and elderly people, she said.

'Terrifying'

Not far away in Zuqaq al-Blat, a densely populated district close to the government's headquarters and several embassies, people were clearing dust and glass from cars and the streets after the latest strike.
People watched as compact earthmovers cleared the road and transported rubble, while shopkeepers milled near shattered shopfronts and an Israeli surveillance drone buzzed overhead.
Chunks of ash floated in the air and people shouted to warn those below of glass about to fall from a blown-out window, as a mangled scooter sat near the curb.
"My family and I were terrified," said Haidar, 68, a shopkeeper who lives nearby.
"When there's no warning, it's very tough," he said.
He said his distressed wife wanted to try to find another place to stay after several strikes on the district since the war erupted.
In the street, a woman cried and a family with children carrying bags and a pink child's doll were seen leaving the area.
The health ministry said the strikes in Zuqaq al-Blat as well as the nearby Basta district also wounded 41 people.
Hezbollah's Al Manar television said the director of its political programmes and his wife were among the dead.
"We can barely speak... We're exhausted," said Zainab, 65, who lived nearby and was at home with family when the most recent strike hit.
The bombing "was very strong... we felt as if it was over our heads", she said.
"We're afraid... every hour or two, they bomb somewhere," she said.
"Where are we supposed to go?"
lg/dcp

crime

Seven-year term sought for Norway princess's son for alleged rapes

BY PIERRE-HENRY DESHAYES

  • Hoiby, the princess's 29-year-old son from a relationship before her 2001 marriage to Crown Prince Haakon, is on trial on 40 counts that carry a maximum sentence of 16 years in prison.
  • Prosecutors in Norway called Wednesday for the son of Crown Princess Mette-Marit, Marius Borg Hoiby, to serve seven years and seven months in prison for offences including the alleged rape of four women.
  • Hoiby, the princess's 29-year-old son from a relationship before her 2001 marriage to Crown Prince Haakon, is on trial on 40 counts that carry a maximum sentence of 16 years in prison.
Prosecutors in Norway called Wednesday for the son of Crown Princess Mette-Marit, Marius Borg Hoiby, to serve seven years and seven months in prison for offences including the alleged rape of four women.
Hoiby, the princess's 29-year-old son from a relationship before her 2001 marriage to Crown Prince Haakon, is on trial on 40 counts that carry a maximum sentence of 16 years in prison.
"Rape can leave lasting scars and destroy lives," prosecutor Sturla Henriksbo argued on the second-to-last day of the trial that has made headlines worldwide.
"It can be something the victim carries with them for their entire life."
Dressed in jeans and a blue polo shirt that revealed his arm tattoos, Hoiby, who does not formally belong to the royal household, did not react to the sentence called for by the prosecutor in the Oslo court.
He has pleaded guilty to several relatively minor offences but denied the alleged rapes, which the prosecution said took place while the women were asleep or passed out.
Central to the case has been whether or not the women were in a condition to consent to having sex.

Alcohol and drugs

The scandal -- which has seriously damaged the Norwegian monarchy's image -- erupted on August 4, 2024, when police arrested Hoiby on suspicion of assaulting his girlfriend the night before.
The investigation into that incident uncovered a slew of other suspected offences, as video footage and pictures on his phone and laptop depicted what police believed could be rapes.
Until they were called in for questioning by police, the four alleged victims said they had been unaware of what had happened to them or that the actions could -- according to the prosecution -- be considered criminal.
The alleged rapes all took place after nights of partying, during which Hoiby had consumed alcohol and drugs, and following consensual sex.
One of them allegedly took place in the the basement of the residence of the crown prince couple, while they were home. 
In his closing arguments, Henriksbo painted a picture of the accused as a person "who thinks he can do whatever he wants" and who cared little about checking with his sex partners "when they were asleep and he wanted more".
Throughout the trial -- in which Hoiby testified he had repeated blackouts about the nights in question -- the accused insisted that all of the sex had been consensual and that he was not in the habit of having sex with people who were asleep.

'Not a monster'

Hoiby was also accused of physically abusing ex-girlfriends.
The prosecutor described him as a man "prone to fits of anger, jealous, and, especially when under the influence, capable of losing control".
"He can lose it, 'blow a fuse', scream, throw phones, even knives, kick walls. And we even heard (testimony) about strangling, hitting and spitting," Henriksbo said.
"Marius Borg Hoiby is not a monster. None of us are. We're all human beings, with good and bad sides. He should not be judged for who he is, but for what he's done," the prosecutor said.
On Friday, the princess's son broke down in tears when he spoke of the "media pressure" that, in his view, has "erased him as a person".
"I'm no longer Marius, I'm a monster. I've become the hate target of all of Norway," he told the court.
Hoiby is also accused of making threats, violating restraining orders, property damage, traffic offences and transporting 3.5 kilos (nearly eight pounds) of marijuana, without financial gain, according to him.
The tall blond man with the beginnings of a goatee, wearing rings and earrings, spent much of the trial slouched over the defendant's table, drawing and chewing gum or using moist snuff. 
After the prosecution's closing arguments, lawyers for the alleged victims were to address the court, following which Hoiby's defence lawyers were to present their final arguments on Thursday.
The court is expected to hand down its verdict in several weeks' or possibly months' time.
phy/po/rmb

vote

Head of victorious Nepal party hails 'win for the country'

  • "The common people have voted for RSP so that the country can win...
  • The head of the victorious party in Nepal's election hailed its landslide triumph as a "win for the country" on Wednesday, urging new lawmakers to deliver for people who "sacrificed their blood" in last year's protests.
  • "The common people have voted for RSP so that the country can win...
The head of the victorious party in Nepal's election hailed its landslide triumph as a "win for the country" on Wednesday, urging new lawmakers to deliver for people who "sacrificed their blood" in last year's protests.
The March 5 polls elected a new 275-seat lower house of parliament, with 165 members chosen directly and 110 through proportional representation.
The Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) won a commanding mandate, taking 125 constituency seats and 57 proportional seats, falling just two short of a two-thirds majority.
"This is not a win for RSP, this is a win for the country. We have to prove that," party founder and president Rabi Lamichhane told newly appointed lawmakers at an orientation programme, in his first public remarks since the election.
"The common people have voted for RSP so that the country can win... It is now in your hands what kind of future we write," the 51-year-old said.
The vote was the first since youth-led anti-corruption protests in September toppled the government.
The demonstrations began over a brief social media ban but tapped into longstanding fury over corruption and economic hardship.
At least 77 people were killed over two days of unrest.
"This (change) has not come about through a normal situation," Lamichhane said.
"(Our) brothers and sisters have sacrificed their blood for this change, we have to institutionalise it."
Lamichhane vaulted to prominence in 2022 by channelling public frustration with Nepal's ageing political class, serving briefly as deputy prime minister and interior minister. 
But he has also faced repeated legal troubles, including fraud charges that have seen him in and out of jail since his initial arrest in 2024.
A former television host known for combative interviews exposing corrupt officials, Lamichhane said the party must treat its win not as a celebration but a responsibility.
"From elderly people to children, the citizens of this country have appealed to us to save it," he said. 
"The next five years will not be easy... we have to work very hard."
The RSP campaigned alongside the popular rapper-turned-politician Balendra Shah, presenting him as its prime-ministerial candidate.
Shah, 35, defeated veteran four-time premier KP Sharma Oli whose Marxist-led government was ousted during last year's protests.
His upset victory and rapid rise from Kathmandu mayor to expected prime minister mark one of the most dramatic shifts in recent Nepali politics.
Shah did not attend Wednesday's orientation event.
pm/abh/mjw