theft

Empress's crown dropped in Louvre heist to be fully restored: museum

  • The Louvre said in a statement the piece had been "badly deformed", but remained "nearly intact" and would be restored to its original state, "without the need for reconstruction".
  • The crown of French Empress Eugenie, which was abandoned by fleeing thieves who staged a brazen robbery at the Louvre last year, is nearly intact and will be fully restored, the museum said Wednesday.
  • The Louvre said in a statement the piece had been "badly deformed", but remained "nearly intact" and would be restored to its original state, "without the need for reconstruction".
The crown of French Empress Eugenie, which was abandoned by fleeing thieves who staged a brazen robbery at the Louvre last year, is nearly intact and will be fully restored, the museum said Wednesday.
The thieves who robbed the famed Paris museum last October made off with an estimated 88 million euros ($104 million) in jewels, but dropped the empress's diamond- and emerald-studded crown as they escaped, leaving it crushed and broken.
Investigators have yet to locate the other jewels, but recovered the dropped crown.
The Louvre said in a statement the piece had been "badly deformed", but remained "nearly intact" and would be restored to its original state, "without the need for reconstruction".
The museum said the crown was damaged when the thieves tried to remove it through a narrow hole they had sawed in the glass case where it was displayed.
The Louvre said the crown still had all its pieces, except for one of the eight golden eagles that adorned it.
It retains all 56 of its emeralds and all but 10 of its 1,354 diamonds, the museum said.
It said an expert committee led by the museum's president, Laurence des Cars, had been selected to supervise the restoration, which would be carried out by a qualified expert chosen in a competitive selection process.
Authorities have arrested all four alleged members of the heist crew, but have not found the mastermind -- or the remaining jewels.
The thieves made off with eight other items of jewellery, including a diamond-studded tiara that belonged to Eugenie, wife of Napoleon III.
agu/jlo/cbn/jhb/gv

Italy

Italy foils Russian cyberattacks targeting Olympics

  • The attacks were "on foreign ministry offices, starting with Washington, and also some Winter Olympics sites, including hotels in Cortina", Antonio Tajani said during a trip to the US city.
  • Italy has thwarted a series of Russian cyberattacks targeting the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, the foreign minister said Wednesday, as security operations ramp up with just hours to go before the opening ceremony.
  • The attacks were "on foreign ministry offices, starting with Washington, and also some Winter Olympics sites, including hotels in Cortina", Antonio Tajani said during a trip to the US city.
Italy has thwarted a series of Russian cyberattacks targeting the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, the foreign minister said Wednesday, as security operations ramp up with just hours to go before the opening ceremony.
The attacks were "on foreign ministry offices, starting with Washington, and also some Winter Olympics sites, including hotels in Cortina", Antonio Tajani said during a trip to the US city.
His office said the attacks had affected some 120 sites, including Italy's embassy in Washington, but had since been "effectively neutralised".
Mark Adams, the communications director of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), told reporters: "We don't comment on security, it's best practice not to."
A Russian hacker group claimed responsibility for the attack, which it said was in response to the Italian government's support for Ukraine.
"The pro-Ukrainian course of the Italian government leads to the fact that support for Ukrainian terrorists is punishable by our DDoS missiles on websites," read a statement on a Telegram channel purporting to represent the group Noname057.
DDoS (distributed denial-of-service) attacks halt access to a website by overloading its servers with traffic.
AFP was not able to immediately verify the account's ownership but its statements appear to match those cited by cybersecurity analysts online.
The group said it had attacked the websites of several hotels in Cortina d'Ampezzo, one of the towns hosting events for the February 6-22 Games. 
Access to one of them remained blocked on Wednesday afternoon.

Skiiers and snipers

Italy has deployed around 6,000 police plus nearly 2,000 military personnel across the Games area, which stretches across half a dozen sites from Milan to the Dolomites.
Bomb disposal experts, snipers, anti-terrorism units and skiing policemen are among those deployed.
The defence ministry is also providing 170 vehicles plus radars, drones and aircraft.
Security is particularly focused on Milan, where political leaders including US Vice President JD Vance are expected for Friday's opening ceremony.
The issue has become a fraught topic after it emerged that agents from the controversial US immigration enforcement agency ICE would be present.
Italy's interior minister Matteo Piantedosi stressed Wednesday that ICE agents, currently embroiled in an often brutal crackdown on illegal immigration in the United States, would not be patrolling the streets of Milan.
ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) arm will operate within US diplomatic missions only, "are not operational agents" and "have no executive function", he told parliament.
Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala last week said ICE agents were "not welcome", adding: "This is a militia that kills."
Piantedosi noted it was standard for countries to send security officials to the Olympics, with Italy having sent them to Paris for the 2024 Games, and said the controversy was "completely unfounded".
"ICE does not and will never be able to carry out operational police activities on our national territory," he said.
The HSI investigates global threats, and is separate from the department carrying out the US immigration crackdown that has sparked widespread protests.
The US ambassador to Italy, Tilman J. Fertitta, said last week the HSI will be "strictly advisory and intelligence-based, with no patrolling or enforcement involvement".
"At the Olympics, HSI criminal investigators will contribute their expertise by providing intelligence on transnational criminal threats, with a focus on cybercrimes and national security threats," he said.

Ice House to Winter House

But the row continues. A pop-up hospitality house organised by US Figure Skating, USA Hockey and US Speedskating at a hotel in Milan has even changed its name from "Ice House" to "Winter House".
Small protests have been staged against the deployment of ICE in Italy, and further demonstrations are expected during the opening weekend of the Games, focusing on various issues.
Pro-Palestinian activists are planning a demonstration during the arrival of the Olympic flame in Milan on Thursday, to protest Israel's participation in the Games due to the war in Gaza.
Other events are likely to coincide with Friday's opening ceremony at Milan's San Siro stadium, while a march is planned in the city on Saturday.
Critics of the Winter Games complain about the impact of infrastructure -- from new buildings to transport -- on fragile mountain environments, as well as the widespread and energy-intensive use of artificial snow.
bur-ar/dt/gj/sbk/mjw/abs

environment

AI to track icebergs adrift at sea in boon for science

  • But scientists have long struggled to keep track of these floating behemoths once they break into thousands of smaller chunks, their fate and impact on the climate largely lost to the seas.
  • British scientists said Thursday that a world-first AI tool to catalogue and track icebergs as they break apart into smaller chunks could fill a "major blind spot" in predicting climate change.
  • But scientists have long struggled to keep track of these floating behemoths once they break into thousands of smaller chunks, their fate and impact on the climate largely lost to the seas.
British scientists said Thursday that a world-first AI tool to catalogue and track icebergs as they break apart into smaller chunks could fill a "major blind spot" in predicting climate change.
Icebergs release enormous volumes of freshwater when they melt on the open water, affecting global climate patterns and altering ocean currents and ecosystems.
But scientists have long struggled to keep track of these floating behemoths once they break into thousands of smaller chunks, their fate and impact on the climate largely lost to the seas.
To fill in the gap, the British Antarctic Survey has developed an AI system that automatically identifies and names individual icebergs at birth and tracks their sometimes decades-long journey to a watery grave.
Using satellite images, the tool captures the distinct shape of icebergs as they break off -- or calve -- from glaciers and ice sheets on land.
As they disintegrate over time, the machine performs a giant puzzle problem, linking the smaller "child" fragments back to the "parent" and creating detailed family trees never before possible at this scale.
It represents a huge improvement on existing methods, where scientists pore over satellite images to visually identify and track only the largest icebergs one by one.
The AI system, which was tested using satellite observations over Greenland, provides "vital new information" for scientists and improves predictions about the future climate, said the British Antarctic Survey.
Knowing where these giant slabs of freshwater were melting into the ocean was especially crucial with ice loss expected to increase in a warming world, it added.
"What's exciting is that this finally gives us the observations we've been missing," Ben Evans, a machine learning expert at the British Antarctic Survey, said in a statement.
"We've gone from tracking a few famous icebergs to building full family trees. For the first time, we can see where each fragment came from, where it goes and why that matters for the climate."
This use of AI could also be adapted to aid safe passage for navigators through treacherous polar regions littered by icebergs.
Iceberg calving is a natural process. But scientists say the rate at which they were being lost from Antarctica is increasing, probably because of human-induced climate change.
np/lt/gv

environment

Indigenous Brazilians protest Amazon river dredging for grain exports

BY FRAN BLANDY

  • Brazil is the world's largest exporter of soybeans and corn, and in recent years has switched to northern river ports to export grains more cheaply.
  • Hundreds of Indigenous people have been protesting in northern Brazil for two weeks outside the port terminal of US agribusiness giant Cargill, angered over the dredging and development of Amazonian rivers for grain exports.
  • Brazil is the world's largest exporter of soybeans and corn, and in recent years has switched to northern river ports to export grains more cheaply.
Hundreds of Indigenous people have been protesting in northern Brazil for two weeks outside the port terminal of US agribusiness giant Cargill, angered over the dredging and development of Amazonian rivers for grain exports.
Brazil's Indigenous communities have raised the alarm for months about port expansion on rivers they see as vital to their way of life, a grievance they protested at COP30 climate talks last November.
"The government is opening up our territories to many projects ... to boost agribusiness," Indigenous leader Auricelia Arapiuns told AFP in a video message from the Amazon port city of Santarem, in the same state that hosted COP30 in Belem.
"We have been here for 14 days, but this struggle didn't start now. We occupied Cargill to draw attention so that the government would come up with a proposal."
By Wednesday, some 700 Indigenous people from 14 communities were taking part in the demonstration, according to the Amazon Watch advocacy group.
The protesters have blocked trucks from "entering and leaving the terminal," Cargill said in a statement sent to AFP, adding it has "no authority or control" over their complaints.
The Minnesota-based multinational has agricultural logistics operations across Brazil, where it employs 11,000 people.
Protesters on Wednesday demanded the cancellation of a decree signed by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in August which designates major Amazonian rivers as priorities for cargo navigation and private port expansion.
They also want the cancellation of a federal tender issued in December worth 74.8 million reais ($14.2 million) to manage and dredge the Tapajos River -- a major Amazon tributary.
"This infrastructure that is coming is not a space for us, and it never will be. It is a project of death to kill our river and our sacred places," Indigenous leader Alessandra Korap of the Munduruku people said in a statement.
The ports ministry said earlier in January that the contract of a company for maintenance dredging was necessary to "increase navigation safety... and ensure greater predictability for cargo and passenger transport operations."

'Serious environmental risks'

The protesters criticized the government for only sending mid-level officials to meet with them and breaking a COP30 promise not to carry out projects on Amazonian rivers "without prior consultation." 
Brazil's Ministry of Indigenous Peoples said in a statement Monday it recognizes the "legitimacy of the concerns raised" and that no dredging or other projects can take place on the Tapajos river without the consent of those affected.
Fed up, the protesters were no longer in the mood to negotiate.
"We don't want a consultation. We want this decree revoked," Indigenous leader Gilson Tupinamba, wearing a large headdress of blue and orange feathers, told a meeting with government representatives on Wednesday.
Brazil is the world's largest exporter of soybeans and corn, and in recent years has switched to northern river ports to export grains more cheaply.
Critics see plans to boost barge traffic on Amazonian rivers as yet another project where economic development is clashing with Lula's much vaunted commitment to the environment.
"What did the government do after the COP? They launched the dredging tender," Arapiuns told the government representatives.
After the meeting, the protesters blocked the road leading to the Santarem international airport -- a popular hub for tourists.
Brazil's Federal Public Prosecutor's Office (MPF) -- which has taken legal action against the dredging efforts -- on Tuesday pointed to "serious environmental risks" for the river.
In a statement, the MPF referred to the release of heavy metals such as mercury into the water, and destruction of crucial habitats for threatened species of dolphins, turtles and aquatic birds.
fb/des

nuclear

Last US-Russia nuclear treaty ends in 'grave moment' for world

BY SHAUN TANDON

  • China's nuclear arsenal is growing quickly with an estimated 550 strategic nuclear launchers, which is still well below the 800 each of Russia and the United States capped under New START. France and Britain, treaty-bound US allies, together have another 100.
  • The last nuclear treaty between Russia and the United States expired Thursday, abruptly ending decades of restrictions on how many warheads the two top powers can deploy and triggering fears of a global arms race.
  • China's nuclear arsenal is growing quickly with an estimated 550 strategic nuclear launchers, which is still well below the 800 each of Russia and the United States capped under New START. France and Britain, treaty-bound US allies, together have another 100.
The last nuclear treaty between Russia and the United States expired Thursday, abruptly ending decades of restrictions on how many warheads the two top powers can deploy and triggering fears of a global arms race.
New START, signed during a warmer period of relations, ended with the turn of the calendar to February 5, with President Donald Trump not following up on Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin's proposal to extend the treaty's limits for one year.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called it a "grave moment for international peace and security" and urged Washington and Moscow to head quickly to the negotiating table.
"For the first time in more than half a century, we face a world without any binding limits on the strategic nuclear arsenals of the Russian Federation and the United States of America," Guterres said in a statement, which considered the treaty over at midnight GMT or 7 pm in New York.
"This dissolution of decades of achievement could not come at a worse time -- the risk of a nuclear weapon being used is the highest in decades," he said, after Russian suggestions of using tactical nuclear weapons early in the Ukraine war.
Pope Leo XIV said each side needed to do "everything possible" to avert a new arms race.
"I urge you not to abandon this instrument without seeking to ensure that it is followed up in a concrete and effective manner," the American-born pope said at his weekly general audience.
Russia's foreign ministry said it considered that both countries are "no longer bound by any obligations or symmetrical declarations within the context of the treaty."
"The Russian Federation intends to act responsibly and prudently," it added, but warned it was ready to take "decisive" countermeasures if its national security is threatened.

US demands China involvement

Trump has frequently lashed out at international limits on the United States and called for nuclear testing to resume after a long moratorium, although he has not followed up.
But some observers say the expiration of New START owes less to ideology than to the workings of the Trump administration, where career diplomats are sidelined, simply not having the bandwidth to negotiate a complex agreement.
Trump, asked in October in front of his helicopter about Putin's proposal for a one-year extension, said it sounded "like a good idea," but there were no subsequent negotiations. 
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday that Trump would make a decision later and reiterated a call for a new agreement that includes China.
"The president's been clear in the past that in order to have true arms control in the 21st century, it's impossible to do something that doesn't include China, because of their vast and rapidly growing stockpile," Rubio said.
China's nuclear arsenal is growing quickly with an estimated 550 strategic nuclear launchers, which is still well below the 800 each of Russia and the United States capped under New START. France and Britain, treaty-bound US allies, together have another 100.
Trump in his first term also looked ready to let New START lapse as he insisted on including China, with a US negotiator even provocatively setting up an empty seat with a Chinese flag.
Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association, which warns of nuclear risks, agreed that China should engage on its nuclear program but wondered if Trump has even tried.
"Despite Trump's talk about involving China in nuclear negotiations, there is no indication that Trump or his team have taken the time to propose risk reduction or arms control talks with China since returning to office in 2025," Kimball said.
He said that Trump and Putin could agree to keep current limits and then press China.
Joe Biden agreed with Russia to extend New START for five years after he defeated Trump in the 2020 election, but tensions between the two countries later soared over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
The treaty, signed in 2010 in Prague by then presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev, limited each side's nuclear arsenal to 1,550 deployed strategic warheads, a reduction of nearly 30 percent from the previous limit set in 2002.
bur-sct/md

drugs

'Bad Boy,' 'Little Pablo' and Mordisco: the men on a US-Colombia hitlist

BY DAVID SALAZAR

  • His inclusion on the Trump-Petro hit list led the Gulf Clan to suspend peace talks with the government that started in Qatar five months ago.
  • Following an unexpected meeting of minds between presidents Donald Trump and Gustavo Petro, three Colombian drug kingpins find themselves the target of a joint US-Colombia manhunt.
  • His inclusion on the Trump-Petro hit list led the Gulf Clan to suspend peace talks with the government that started in Qatar five months ago.
Following an unexpected meeting of minds between presidents Donald Trump and Gustavo Petro, three Colombian drug kingpins find themselves the target of a joint US-Colombia manhunt.
They are leaders of three criminal groups at the heart of a six-decade-old conflict that continues to sow misery with drone and bomb attacks, shootouts and kidnappings of minors to be used as child soldiers.
All wanted in the United States, the men operate clandestinely. Here is what we know:

'Chiquito Malo'

Jobanis de Jesus Avila, alias "Chiquito Malo" -- which translates to "Little Bad Boy" -- took command of the Gulf Clan, Colombia’s largest criminal group, in October 2021.
That month, his predecessor Dairo Antonio Usuga, alias "Otoniel," was captured in a mega-operation considered one of the biggest blows to Colombian organized crime since Pablo Escobar was killed in 1993.
After Otoniel was extradited to the United States and sentenced to 45 years in prison, Chiquito Malo emerged victorious from an internal leadership struggle and set about transforming the Gulf Clan.
The cartel had grown out of the paramilitary movement that emerged in the 1990s to fight Marxist guerrilla groups that had taken up arms against the state two decades earlier in rural areas.
It is engaged in the cocaine trade, illegal gold mining and people smuggling.
As a younger man, Chiquito Malo had belonged to a paramilitary group from which he defected after it agreed to lay down arms in an agreement with the government in 2004.
He is a "technocrat," according to analyst Elizabeth Dickinson of the International Crisis Group think tank.
"He thinks like a businessman and his leadership...succeeded in consolidating and expanding the business," she told AFP.
Two supposed rivals have since died: a man known as "Siopas" was found shot dead on a highway in 2023, and "Gonzalito" drowned recently in a boat accident.
One known photo of Chiquito Malo shows him sporting a shaved head and an elegant suit.
His inclusion on the Trump-Petro hit list led the Gulf Clan to suspend peace talks with the government that started in Qatar five months ago.

Ivan Mordisco

When the Marxist-inspired FARC guerrilla army signed a peace agreement in 2016, Nestor Gregorio Vera, alias "Ivan Mordisco," was a mid-level commander in the Amazon jungle. 
He was legendary for his weapons skills, a former comrade once told AFP, but had little power.
After opting out of the peace pact, he became one of Colombia's biggest criminals, leading a band of so-called dissidents engaged in cocaine trafficking and illicit destruction of the jungle for cattle ranching.
He is now the leader of the Central General Staff (EMC) dissident group, and Colombia's most wanted man.
Bogota has issued a reward for about $1 million for his capture.
In April 2023, Mordisco made his only known public appearance: arriving in a luxury bulletproof SUV at a secluded jungle area to announce the start of peace talks that subsequently failed.
At the event, he wore dark glasses and camouflage fatigues, brandished an Israeli-made rifle and shouted revolutionary slogans.

Pablito

Gustavo Anibal Giraldo, who goes by "Pablito" -- which translates to "Little Pablo" -- is considered a hardliner in the so-called National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrilla group.
He commanded its Domingo Lain front, one of the most brutal and wealthiest factions operating along Colombia's border with Venezuela.
Now third in the ELN’s chain of seniority, he is "one of the foremost commanders of the ELN with broad authority over ELN troops in Colombia and Venezuela," the Insight Crime think tank says in an article with a photo of Giraldo sporting a thick moustache and military beret.
He was opposed to peace talks, but nonetheless traveled to Havana in 2018 to meet with government negotiators.
The talks collapsed a year later after a car bomb was detonated at a military school in Bogota, killing 23.
Pablito was accused of ordering the attack. 
das/nn/mlr/sla

Australia

BHP damages trial over Brazil mine disaster to open in 2027

  • - 'Shattered our lives' - Dissatisfied with the proceedings in Brazil, the victims turned to the British courts two years ago, seeking £36 billion ($49 billion) in compensation.
  • Australian mining giant BHP will face trial before a British court from April next year to determine how much it must pay in damages to victims of a 2015 dam collapse in Brazil, lawyers said Wednesday.
  • - 'Shattered our lives' - Dissatisfied with the proceedings in Brazil, the victims turned to the British courts two years ago, seeking £36 billion ($49 billion) in compensation.
Australian mining giant BHP will face trial before a British court from April next year to determine how much it must pay in damages to victims of a 2015 dam collapse in Brazil, lawyers said Wednesday.
In one of Brazil's worst environmental disasters, an iron-ore mine run by a firm co-owned by BHP unleashed a deluge of toxic mud into villages, fields, rainforest, rivers and the ocean, killing 19 people.
In November, the High Court in London found BHP "strictly liable" for the disaster following a mammoth trial, which could lead to hefty damages.
Victims of the disaster attended the hearing in London, where the court set a start date for the compensation trial of April 2027, with closing submissions scheduled for March 2028, according to lawyers for the plaintiffs.
"We are demanding what is owed to us," Brazilian Indigenous leader Marilda Lyrio de Oliveira, from Aracruz in the state of Espirito Santo, told AFP.
"We hope for a just outcome, because the impact was enormous, the crime was enormous.
"Many people are dying of cancer, something that didn't exist before," added Lyrio de Oliveira, as she stood alongside about a dozen other victims.
"We have physical and mental health problems because we can no longer carry out our former activities."
The law firm Pogust Goodhead, representing the plaintiffs, said in a statement that of the more than 600,000 people originally involved in the case, many had already reached "full and final" compensation settlements in Brazil, making them ineligible for further damages.
It said that lowered the number of plaintiffs in the case to 380,000.
BHP had earlier insisted the same, pointing out that it had already signed an agreement with the Brazilian authorities in 2024 to compensate victims.
It argued that "approximately 240,000 claimants" in the UK action should have their claims "discontinued".

'Shattered our lives'

Dissatisfied with the proceedings in Brazil, the victims turned to the British courts two years ago, seeking £36 billion ($49 billion) in compensation.
At the time of the disaster, one of BHP's global headquarters was in Britain.
"The suffering was so immense that it shattered our lives and interrupted our dreams," Ana Paula Auxiliadora Alexandre, who lost her husband in the tragedy, told AFP.
"For 10 years, we fought for justice. The fact that a mega-corporation has been convicted here in England makes me think that the British justice system is more diligent than the Brazilian one," she added.
The trial at the High Court in London ran from October 2024 to March 2025.
The mine was managed by Samarco, co-owned by BHP and Brazilian miner Vale.
psr-zap/bcp/jkb/gv/sbk/jhb/iv

US

Iran-US talks back on, as Trump warns supreme leader

BY DANNY KEMP

  • US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said earlier Wednesday that the United States was "ready" to meet Iran -- but insisted that discussions must cover Tehran's missile and nuclear programs to be "meaningful."
  • Iran and the United States said Wednesday they were going ahead with nuclear talks in Oman later this week, even as President Donald Trump piled pressure on Tehran's supreme leader by saying he should be "very worried."
  • US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said earlier Wednesday that the United States was "ready" to meet Iran -- but insisted that discussions must cover Tehran's missile and nuclear programs to be "meaningful."
Iran and the United States said Wednesday they were going ahead with nuclear talks in Oman later this week, even as President Donald Trump piled pressure on Tehran's supreme leader by saying he should be "very worried."
Doubts had swirled about the fate of the negotiations after a report earlier Wednesday that the talks between the bitter foes were falling apart due to disagreements about the format and the venue.
The uncertainty had increased fears of renewed US military action against Tehran, amid soaring tensions since Iran violently put down some of the most serious protests against its rule since the 1979 Islamic revolution.
But Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said nuclear talks were now "scheduled" for Friday in Muscat. "I'm grateful to our Omani brothers for making all necessary arrangements," he said on X.
A White House official also confirmed to AFP that the meeting would happen in Oman on Friday.
Diplomats had earlier said the meeting would happen in Turkey. But the Axios news outlet said the US was on the verge of pulling out, as Iran disputed both the location and whether its ballistic missile program should be included.
But Trump, who has sharply built up the US military presence in the region and refused to rule out new military action, continued to up the pressure on Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
"I would say he should be very worried," Trump said Wednesday in an interview with US broadcaster NBC News.
Trump also said that Iran had eyed a new nuclear facility after US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites during Israel's June war against the Islamic republic.
"They were thinking about starting a new site in a different part of the country," Trump told NBC. "We found out about it, I said, you do that, we're going to do very bad things to you."

'Ballistic missiles'

Trump has sent a US aircraft carrier group -- which he calls an "armada" -- to the region and one of its planes shot down an Iranian drone on Tuesday. Iran has threatened retaliation against US targets in the region if attacked.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said earlier Wednesday that the United States was "ready" to meet Iran -- but insisted that discussions must cover Tehran's missile and nuclear programs to be "meaningful."
"They will have to include certain things, and that includes the range of their ballistic missiles, that includes their sponsorship of terrorist organizations across the region, that includes their nuclear program and that includes the treatment of their own people," he said.
Rubio said that Trump's roving envoy Steve Witkoff had been ready to meet with Iran in Turkey but then received "conflicting reports" on whether Tehran had agreed.
Iran in previous talks on its disputed nuclear program has ruled out discussions on its missiles, casting the weapons that can hit Israel as a tool of self-defense to which every country has a right.
But Iran has been under growing pressure from the protests and after an Israeli bombing campaign last year. Iran has also lost key regional allies with Israel's severe degrading of Lebanon's Hezbollah and the fall of veteran Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.
dk/iv

conflict

Ukraine says Abu Dhabi talks with Russia 'substantive and productive'

BY MUMEN KHATIB

  • Following the first round of US-brokered talks in Abu Dhabi last month, Ukrainians were sceptical that a deal could be struck with Moscow.
  • A first day of talks between Ukraine, Russia and the United States aimed at brokering an end to the war in Ukraine concluded Wednesday in Abu Dhabi, with Kyiv describing negotiations as "substantive and productive".
  • Following the first round of US-brokered talks in Abu Dhabi last month, Ukrainians were sceptical that a deal could be struck with Moscow.
A first day of talks between Ukraine, Russia and the United States aimed at brokering an end to the war in Ukraine concluded Wednesday in Abu Dhabi, with Kyiv describing negotiations as "substantive and productive".
While there was no apparent breakthrough in the most recent round of discussions, meetings were set to carry on into a second day, Kyiv said.
The US-mediated talks are the latest in a flurry of diplomacy that has so far failed to strike a deal to halt the war, unleashed by Russia's February 2022 invasion.
Underscoring the human toll from the conflict, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Wednesday that 55,000 of his country's troops had been killed, a rare assessment of battlefield losses that both Moscow and Kyiv have not typically provided.
"And there are a great number Ukraine lists as missing," he told French TV network France 2, which translated his comments.
The war has spiralled into Europe's deadliest conflict since World War II, with hundreds of thousands killed, millions forced to flee their homes in Ukraine and much of the eastern and southern part of the country decimated.
Wednesday's talks came following weeks of Russian attacks on Ukraine's power infrastructure, which have left Kyiv residents in darkness and cold, with temperatures dropping as low as -20C.
Despite the Kremlin repeating its hardline demands ahead of the talks, Ukraine's top negotiator Rustem Umerov said the first day had been "substantive and productive, focused on concrete steps and practical solutions".
Zelensky said on Wednesday he expected a new prisoner exchange with Russia "in the near future".

Land

In Ukraine, foreign ministry spokesman Georgiy Tykhy said Kyiv was "interested in finding out what the Russians and Americans really want."
The content of the talks was on "military and military-political issues," he added, without elaborating.
The main sticking point in settling the conflict is the long-term fate of territory in eastern Ukraine.
Moscow is demanding that Kyiv pull its troops out of swathes of the Donbas, including heavily fortified cities atop vast natural resources, as a precondition of any deal.
It also wants international recognition that land seized in the invasion belongs to Russia.
Kyiv has said the conflict should be frozen along the current front line and has rejected a unilateral pull-back of forces.
Trump dispatched his ubiquitous envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner to try to corral the sides to an agreement.
Russia's top negotiator is military intelligence director Igor Kostyukov, a career naval officer sanctioned in the West over his role in the Ukraine invasion. 
Europe fears it has been sidelined in the process, even as France and Britain lead efforts to put together a peacekeeping force that could be deployed to Ukraine after any deal.
It was "strategically important for Europe to at some point be part of the negotiations," the EU's ambassador to Ukraine Katarina Mathernova told AFP on Wednesday in Kyiv. 
Russia occupies around 20 percent of Ukraine, but Kyiv still controls around one-fifth of the Donetsk region.
Ukraine has warned that ceding ground will embolden Moscow and that it will not sign a deal that fails to deter Russia from invading again.
Russia also claims the Lugansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions as its own, and holds pockets of territory in at least three other Ukrainian regions in the east.

'Prepare for the worst'

On the battlefield, Russia has been notching up gains at immense human cost, hoping it can outlast and outgun Kyiv's stretched army.
Russian shelling of a market square in the frontline town of Druzhkivka killed seven on Wednesday, Ukrainian regional authorities said.
The CEO of Ukraine's state-owned railway operator meanwhile told AFP that he believed recent Russian strikes were aimed at cutting off entire regions from the rest of the country.
Following the first round of US-brokered talks in Abu Dhabi last month, Ukrainians were sceptical that a deal could be struck with Moscow.
"I think it's all just a show for the public," Petro, a Kyiv resident, told AFP.
"We must prepare for the worst and hope for the best."
On the streets of Moscow, some were more hopeful. 
"Everyone hopes, everyone is very optimistic about these negotiations," says Larisa, a retiree who said she had family in Ukraine and relatives fighting at the front. 
"It has to end one day, everyone's had enough," said Anton, a 43-year-old engineer.
bur-cad/gv

conflict

Gaza health officials say strikes kill 24 after Israel says officer wounded

BY YOUSSEF HASSOUNA

  • The Israeli military said it had launched strikes after "terrorists opened fire on troops" Wednesday, seriously wounding an officer.
  • Gazan health officials said Israeli air strikes on Wednesday killed 24 people, with Israel's military saying the attacks were in response to one of its officers being wounded by enemy gunfire.
  • The Israeli military said it had launched strikes after "terrorists opened fire on troops" Wednesday, seriously wounding an officer.
Gazan health officials said Israeli air strikes on Wednesday killed 24 people, with Israel's military saying the attacks were in response to one of its officers being wounded by enemy gunfire.
Despite an ongoing US-brokered truce entering its second phase last month, violence has continued in the Gaza Strip, with Israel and Hamas accusing each other of breaching the agreement.
The latest bloodshed came after Israel partly reopened the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, the only gateway to the Palestinian territory that does not pass through Israel.
The Gazan health ministry, which operates under Hamas authority, said that 21 people were killed, including three children, in a series of strikes, with at least 38 others wounded.
The territory's civil defence agency said that two more people were killed and eight injured in a strike on a tent in the centre of the Strip, and another person was killed in a strike that hit a group of civilians west of Gaza City.
The Israeli military said it had launched strikes after "terrorists opened fire on troops" Wednesday, seriously wounding an officer.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said it was "outraged" by the killing of an on-duty paramedic, Hussein Hassan Hussein Al-Samiri, in a bombardment in the southern Al-Mawasi area.
The Israeli military said one strike in southern Gaza had targeted a Hamas platoon commander named Bilal Abu Assi who led an assault on a kibbutz during the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that sparked the Gaza war. 
It added it was aware of claims that "several uninvolved civilians, including a medical staff member, were hit in the strike" and that it had taken steps "to mitigate harm to civilians as much as possible".
The military said its strikes had also killed Ali Raziana, whom it described as the commander of Hamas ally Islamic Jihad's northern Gaza brigade, as well as Hamas's Muhammad Issam Hassan al-Habil, accused of killing an Israeli soldier, Noa Marciano, who was taken hostage on October 7.
In Gaza City, Abu Mohammed Haboush said "we were sleeping when suddenly shells and gunfire rained down on us".
"Young children were martyred, my son and my nephew were among the dead. We lost many young men," he said.

Shortage of medical aid

AFP images showed mourners offering prayers in the compound of Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, where several bodies wrapped in white shrouds were laid out.
Three bodies were brought to Nasser Hospital after Israeli strikes hit homes and tents housing displaced Palestinians in the southern Khan Yunis area, the civil defence agency said.
Fourteen more bodies were taken to Al-Shifa Hospital, its director Mohamed Abu Salmiya said in a statement.
"We also received dozens of wounded. The situation is extremely difficult in the hospitals of the Gaza Strip due to the severe shortage of medicines and medical supplies," Abu Salmiya said.
Israel scrutinises all aid coming into besieged Gaza.
Israel on Monday allowed the reopening of the Rafah crossing, reportedly following US pressure, but limited passage to patients and their travel companions.
On Tuesday, 45 people crossed into Egypt and 42 entered the territory, a source at the Palestinian Red Crescent Society told AFP.

'My homeland'

Relatives of those returning from Egypt screamed in joy, hugging and crying.
"I am so happy to be back with my husband, my children, my family, my loved ones and, of course, my homeland," Fariza Barabakh, who returned that day, told AFP.
"It's an indescribable feeling, thank God. What can I say? My two young children didn't recognise me, but thank God. I hope it will be alright," Yusef Abu Fahma, another returnee, told AFP.
Gaza's health ministry says at least 556 people have been killed in Israeli strikes since the ceasefire took effect on October 10, while the Israeli military says four of its soldiers have been killed over the same period.
Media restrictions and limited access in Gaza have prevented AFP from independently verifying casualty figures or freely covering the fighting.
bur-az-jd-lba-acc/smw/amj

politics

UK PM says Mandelson 'lied' about Epstein relations

BY JOE JACKSON

  • - 'Liberation day' - Epstein was facing charges of alleged sex trafficking when he killed himself in jail in 2019.
  • Prime Minister Keir Starmer Wednesday said he regretted naming Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the US, following fresh allegations about the disgraced envoy's close ties to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
  • - 'Liberation day' - Epstein was facing charges of alleged sex trafficking when he killed himself in jail in 2019.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer Wednesday said he regretted naming Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the US, following fresh allegations about the disgraced envoy's close ties to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The UK leader was set to release documents linked to the appointment of the former peer Mandelson, 72, one of numerous prominent figures embarrassed by revelations of ties to the late US financier.
"He's betrayed our country, he's lied repeatedly, he's responsible for a litany of deceit, but this moment demands not just anger, but action," Starmer told parliament.
Starmer accused the former minister and EU trade commissioner of failing "time and time again" to reveal the full extent of his relationship with Epstein during vetting for the Washington role last year.
Starmer's government agreed to submit to the parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee all documents in connection to the appointment, following growing anger from the opposition and some members of Starmer's own Labour party.
The prime minister's judgement is under scrutiny following new allegations that Mandelson had passed confidential and potentially market-sensitive information to Epstein nearly two decades ago.
"He lied repeatedly to my team when asked about his relationship with Epstein before and during his tenure as ambassador," Starmer told MPs during a parliamentary grilling.
"I regret appointing him. If I knew then what I know now, he would never have been anywhere near government."
UK police have announced they are probing the claims, which emerged from email exchanges between Mandelson and Epstein that revealed their warm relations and financial dealings, as well as private photos.
Around that time, Epstein was serving an 18-month jail term in 2008-2009 for soliciting a minor in Florida, while Mandelson was a UK government minister.
The mails were part of a vast trove of files about Epstein published by the US Justice Department.

'Liberation day'

Epstein was facing charges of alleged sex trafficking when he killed himself in jail in 2019.
Mandelson, for decades a pivotal and divisive figure in British politics, has had a chequered career and has twice resigned from government for alleged misconduct.
Starmer sacked him as ambassador in September after only seven months in the post following an earlier release of files about Epstein.
On Tuesday, Mandelson resigned from the upper house of parliament -- the unelected House of Lords -- after the latest release of files.
Other emails in the latest tranche appear to show Mandelson celebrating the American financier's release from prison in July 2009 as "Liberation Day!"
A day later, Mandelson asked Epstein: "How is freedom feeling?" Epstein replied: "She feels fresh, firm, and creamy."
Mandelson then replied: "Naughty boy."
The lewd comments were slammed by UK MPs, who heaped pressure on Starmer to explain his decision to hand Mandelson the ambassador's job in February 2025.
"Did he think at all about Epstein's victims?" asked Liberal Democrats leader Ed Davey.
Pledging to release the vetting documents, Starmer said he wanted MPs to see how "Mandelson completely misrepresented the extent of his relationship with Epstein".

Criminal probe

London's Metropolitan Police confirmed on Tuesday it had launched an investigation into Mandelson on suspicion of misconduct in public office.
If any charges were brought and he were convicted, he could potentially face imprisonment.
The latest batch of US documents showed Mandelson had in 2009 forwarded an economic briefing to Epstein intended for then Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
The latest release also showed Epstein appeared to have transferred a total of $75,000 in three payments to accounts linked to the British politician between 2003 and 2004.
Mandelson has told the BBC he had no memory of the money transfers and did not know whether the documents were authentic.
The EU is also investigating whether Mandelson breached any of its rules during his time as trade commissioner from 2004-2008.
The former minister, who is gay, had previously claimed to have been excluded from Epstein's sexual activities.
jj-aks/jkb/gv/rlp

trade

Panama hits back after China warns of 'heavy price' in ports row

  • Writing on X, Mulino "strongly" rejected the threat from the Beijing office overseeing affairs in semi-autonomous Hong Kong, which came after Panama's Supreme Court invalidated CK Hutchison's port concession.
  • Panama's President Jose Raul Mulino on Wednesday rejected China's threat to make the Central American country pay a "heavy price" after a Hong Kong company was evicted from two ports on the Panama Canal.
  • Writing on X, Mulino "strongly" rejected the threat from the Beijing office overseeing affairs in semi-autonomous Hong Kong, which came after Panama's Supreme Court invalidated CK Hutchison's port concession.
Panama's President Jose Raul Mulino on Wednesday rejected China's threat to make the Central American country pay a "heavy price" after a Hong Kong company was evicted from two ports on the Panama Canal.
Writing on X, Mulino "strongly" rejected the threat from the Beijing office overseeing affairs in semi-autonomous Hong Kong, which came after Panama's Supreme Court invalidated CK Hutchison's port concession.
US President Donald Trump has piled pressure on Panama to cancel Hutchison's contract by threatening to reclaim the US-built waterway over what he claimed was China's outsize influence on the canal.
Last week, Panama's Supreme Court ruled that the concession was "unconstitutional" and found it had "a disproportionate bias in favor of the company" without "any justification" and to the "detriment of the State's treasury."
The United States hailed the ruling but China reacted angrily.
On its WeChat account, China's Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office accused Panama of buckling to outside pressure, Bloomberg reported.
"Panamanian authorities must recognize the situation and correct their course," the office was quoted as saying.
"Persisting in this misguided path will result in a heavy price, both politically and economically," it added.
Mulino condemned the threat, insisting that Panama was a country that upholds the rule of law "and respects the decisions of the judiciary, which is independent of the central government."
He added that the foreign ministry would issue a statement on the matter "and adopt the corresponding decisions."
The Panama Canal, which connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through Central America, handles about 40 percent of US container traffic.

'Cold War mentality'

Since 1997, Hutchison has managed the ports of Cristobal on the interoceanic canal's Atlantic side and Balboa on the Pacific side. 
The concession, which reflected the growing inroads of Chinese companies into Panama's economy, was extended for 25 years in 2021.
After Trump threatened last year to seize the canal, Panama's independent comptroller general reviewed Hutchison's contract and subsequently recommended it be annulled.
The Supreme Court backed the comptroller's view that the terms of the concession ran counter to Panama's interests.
Following the ruling, the Panamanian government tapped Danish company Maersk to temporarily take over management of the port terminals until a new concession is awarded.
Hutchison's port concession has come to symbolize the battle for influence and trade between the United States and China in Latin America.
Beijing's foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian on Wednesday reiterated that China would "firmly defend the legitimate and lawful rights and interests" of Chinese companies.
Accusing the United States of a "Cold War mentality and ideological bias," he said: "It is quite clear to the world who exactly is seeking to forcibly own the Panama Canal and eroding international law in the name of the rule of law."
The Supreme Court ruling came amid Hutchison's stalled effort to sell the ports.
In March, it announced plans to transfer its stake in the Panamanian terminals to a group of companies led by the US firm BlackRock, as part of a package valued at $22.8 billion.
That deal was initially seen as favorable in Washington, but interests cooled after China warned the agreement could harm its global interests and urged parties to proceed with "caution" or face legal consequences.
jjr/cb/ksb

drugs

Strike kills guerrillas as US, Colombia agree to target narco bosses

BY DAVID SALAZAR

  • After Tuesday's announcement of joint action against narco bosses including its commander, the Gulf Clan -- Colombia's most powerful cartel-- said it was "temporarily" withdrawing from peace talks that started in Qatar about five months ago.
  • Colombia killed seven guerrilla fighters Wednesday after presidents Gustavo Petro and Donald Trump vowed to jointly target narco bosses, prompting a powerful cartel to exit peace talks in the violence-blighted country.
  • After Tuesday's announcement of joint action against narco bosses including its commander, the Gulf Clan -- Colombia's most powerful cartel-- said it was "temporarily" withdrawing from peace talks that started in Qatar about five months ago.
Colombia killed seven guerrilla fighters Wednesday after presidents Gustavo Petro and Donald Trump vowed to jointly target narco bosses, prompting a powerful cartel to exit peace talks in the violence-blighted country.
Petro and his US counterpart agreed at the White House on Tuesday to joint military and intelligence actions against three Colombian capos, who together produce and supply much of the world's cocaine.
Colombian Defense Minister Pedro Sanchez named the targets as Ivan Mordisco, Colombia's most wanted rebel; Chiquito Malo, commander of the Gulf Clan cartel; and Pablito, an ELN guerrilla leader operating near the Venezuelan border. 
The Petro-Trump pact upended years of sputtering Colombian efforts to negotiate peace with criminal groups.
On Wednesday, Colombia's military killed seven members of the ELN or National Liberation Army, which controls key drug-producing regions. 
US troops were not involved in the operation near the Venezuela border, an army official said, and a military source said the attack was planned before Tuesday's Trump-Petro talks.
The ELN is the oldest surviving guerrilla group in the Americas, and funds its activities with drug trafficking and other illegal activities.
Colombia produces about 70 percent of the world's cocaine, of which the United States is the largest consumer. 
After Tuesday's announcement of joint action against narco bosses including its commander, the Gulf Clan -- Colombia's most powerful cartel-- said it was "temporarily" withdrawing from peace talks that started in Qatar about five months ago.

'Total peace' in peril?

Sanchez said Wednesday that Venezuela would be asked to join the anti-narco campaign. 
Colombian governments have long accused Caracas of funding and offering safe haven to leftist guerrilla and cocaine-trafficking groups. 
But after the ouster of Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro in a US military operation on January 3, there are hopes security cooperation can improve. 
Curtailing the flow of drugs from South America to the US has long been a stated goal of Trump.
For decades, Colombia was Washington's closest partner in Latin America, with billions of dollars flowing to Bogota to boost its drug fight. 
But relations strained under Petro, Colombia's first leftist president on whose watch coca production and cocaine exports surged even as he came under domestic pressure for insisting on negotiating a "total peace" with armed groups.
Petro has publicly bickered for months with Trump, who has branded him a "sick man who likes making cocaine" and warned him to "watch his ass."
In an olive branch to Trump hours before their first face-to-face meeting, Petro extradited an accused drug lord to the United States after a months-long suspension on such transfers.

'Defend the homeland'

Rightwing paramilitary groups emerged in the 1980s in Colombia to fight Marxist guerrillas who had taken up arms against the state two decades earlier with the stated goal of combating poverty and political marginalization, especially in rural areas.
A plethora of armed groups adopted cocaine as their main source of income, the genesis of a rivalry for resources and trafficking that continues to pit them against each other and the state.
Colombia has enjoyed a decade or more of relative calm since a peace agreement saw the FARC guerrilla army disarm in 2017.
But there has been a surge in violence ahead of 2026 presidential elections, with bomb and drone attacks in parts of the country and the assassination of a presidential hopeful.
One of the men on the target list, Mordisco, has threatened to disrupt the presidential election in May in response to military strikes.
He leads a dissident faction of FARC fighters who rejected the 2016 peace agreement.
In January, after Maduro's ouster, ELN commander Antonio Garcia, who is not on the list, vowed to join Mordisco "to defend the homeland against foreign aggression."
A Colombian observer group said Wednesday a third of the national territory -- more than 300 municipalities -- are at risk of electoral violence.
bur-mlr/iv

Russia

Xi calls for 'mutual respect' with Trump, hails ties with Putin

  • - Putin's 'dear friend' - Speaking by video call several hours earlier, Xi and Putin hailed the strengthening of Chinese-Russian ties.
  • Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed Iran and other thorny subjects Wednesday with both US counterpart Donald Trump and Russia's Vladimir Putin, hailing tighter ties with Moscow and calling for "mutual respect" with Washington.
  • - Putin's 'dear friend' - Speaking by video call several hours earlier, Xi and Putin hailed the strengthening of Chinese-Russian ties.
Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed Iran and other thorny subjects Wednesday with both US counterpart Donald Trump and Russia's Vladimir Putin, hailing tighter ties with Moscow and calling for "mutual respect" with Washington.
Trump and Putin both played up their nations' good relations with China after their respective calls with Xi, highlighting the Asian giant's centrality on the global stage.
But there were stark differences in the readouts of the two calls, with Xi warning Trump to proceed with "caution" on the touchy issue of Taiwan, shortly after he and Putin hailed the strengthening of bilateral ties in the face of a "turbulent" global situation.
Trump said his conversation with Xi was "excellent".
"The relationship with China, and my personal relationship with President Xi, is an extremely good one, and we both realize how important it is to keep it that way," Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.
The Republican said he and Xi had discussed trade, Taiwan, Russia's war in Ukraine and Iran, as well as a planned trip to China, which he said "I very much look forward to".
Xi meanwhile voiced hope that bilateral issues, amongst which trade figures prominently, could be resolved amicably between the world's two biggest economies.
"By tackling issues one by one and continuously building mutual trust, we can forge a right way for the two countries to get along," Xi said, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
"Let us make 2026 a year in which China and the United States, as two major countries, move toward mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation."

Taiwan tension

On Taiwan, however, Xi warned Washington to exercise caution in arms sales to the democratically run island, which Beijing claims.
"The Taiwan question is the most important issue in China-US relations... The US must handle arms sales to Taiwan with caution," Xi said, according to the state broadcaster.
China's Communist Party has never ruled democratic Taiwan, but Beijing claims the island of 23 million people is part of its territory and has not ruled out the use of force to annex it.
Washington does not officially recognise Taiwan, but is the island territory's main military backer -- although the tone of that support has softened slightly under Trump.
The United States approved $11 billion-worth of arms to Taiwan in December, Taipei said. 
Shortly thereafter, China launched major live-fire drills to simulate a blockade around Taiwan's key ports. 

Putin's 'dear friend'

Speaking by video call several hours earlier, Xi and Putin hailed the strengthening of Chinese-Russian ties.
The two countries have sought to present a united front against the West, with ties deepening since Moscow's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
A Kremlin aide said the Xi-Putin call was "friendly and trusting" and lasted nearly an hour and a half.
Moscow has increasingly relied on China throughout the Ukraine conflict to keep its economy afloat, faced with crippling Western sanctions.
China has never denounced Russia's war or called for it to withdraw troops, and many of Ukraine's allies believe that Beijing has provided support to Moscow.
"Since the beginning of the year, the international situation has become increasingly turbulent," Xi told Putin, calling for "deeper" Chinese-Russian coordination, according to state TV.
Addressing Xi as his "dear friend", Putin voiced a similar message, in a video broadcast on Russian state TV.
The Kremlin said Putin had accepted invitations to visit China in the first half of 2026 and attend the APEC regional summit hosted by Xi in November.
Xi also reiterated his commitment to the international system with the United Nations at its core, after Trump in January unveiled plans for a "Board of Peace" that critics see as an attempt to rival the UN.
The calls took place as Russian, Ukrainian and US negotiators met in Abu Dhabi for a new round of talks on ending the almost four-year war, which has turned into Europe's worst conflict since World War II.
Putin and Xi discussed their "opinions" on the United States, views that according to the Kremlin "practically matched" each other.
And "special attention was given to the tense situation in Iran", said Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov.
The calls follow a series of meetings between Xi and various leaders in recent months, as he consolidates diplomatic support in the face of an increasingly unpredictable United States.
Beijing has sought to position itself as a stable alternative to Washington, hosting Western leaders including US allies recoiling from Trump's bid to seize Greenland and tariff threats.
burs-oc/jc/ami/jhb/sbk

trade

US seeks minerals trade zone in rare Trump move with allies

BY SHAUN TANDON

  • Vance accused former president Joe Biden of failing to address critical minerals, although the Democratic administration launched in 2022 a Minerals Security Partnership focusing on collaborative funding.
  • US President Donald Trump's administration called Wednesday for a preferential trade zone among allies on critical minerals crucial for advanced technology, in a rare turn to multilateralism in the face of China's dominance.
  • Vance accused former president Joe Biden of failing to address critical minerals, although the Democratic administration launched in 2022 a Minerals Security Partnership focusing on collaborative funding.
US President Donald Trump's administration called Wednesday for a preferential trade zone among allies on critical minerals crucial for advanced technology, in a rare turn to multilateralism in the face of China's dominance.
Representatives of 55 countries gathered at the State Department to launch what Vice President JD Vance called the Agreement on Trade in Critical Minerals, a far cry from the Trump administration's disdain for alliances and traditional diplomacy since returning to office a year ago.
China last year flexed its muscle in a trade war with Trump by tightening controls on critical minerals, including rare earths vital to products from smartphones to electric cars to fighter jets.
The supply of critical minerals is "heavily concentrated in the hands of one country," meaning it can become "a tool of leverage in geopolitics" or subject to disruptions such as pandemics, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said.
Vance said the United States would help build a "trading bloc among allies and partners" that guarantees American access while "also expanding production across the entire zone."
Vance, who bills himself as a champion of the American working class, said the effort would create "good-paying jobs, skilled jobs, for the American labor force."
"But we seek to make sure our friends and our allies are part of this and that you all are covered as well," said Vance, a frequent critic of US involvement overseas.
The nascent trading bloc, which aims to cover two-thirds of the global economy, would regulate minimum prices for critical minerals, fearing that China could suddenly rattle markets by ramping up exports.
"Investment is nearly impossible, and it will stay that way, so long as prices are erratic and unpredictable," Vance said.

Coordination with top allies

Parallel to the larger effort, the United States said it planned to close a deal with the European Union within 30 days on critical mineral supply chains and also announced a three-way partnership with the European Union and Japan.
The three-way partnership will include coordination including price floors for critical minerals, the US Trade Representative's office said.
The United States also announced an agreement with Mexico and has already reached deals on critical minerals with Japan, Australia, Saudi Arabia, South Korea and Thailand.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said another 11 countries would join Wednesday and that another 20 are interested in participating.
China mines about 60 percent of the world's rare earths and processes around 90 percent. In October, it offered the United States a one-year reprieve on export curbs of the minerals in a deal with Trump.

Critical to global economy

Critical minerals comprise dozens of materials such as cobalt, nickel, manganese, graphite and lithium -- as well as "rare earths," a set of 17 metallic elements essential to many high-tech devices.
Japan, with its high-tech economy and turbulent history with China, is especially concerned. This week Japan said it found potential in the first deep-sea search for rare earths.
"As any supply chain disruption would bring a significant impact on the global economy, we should work together to address this challenge," senior Japanese official Iwao Horii told the meeting. 
Horii said Japan was boosting its own efforts at home and that "the key is to diversify supply sources."
Trump has vowed to use US might to secure wealth only for itself, even flirting with invading Greenland, an autonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark, which did not attend Wednesday's meeting.
On Monday Trump unveiled "Project Vault," a nearly $12 billion bid to stockpile critical minerals and effectively anything else needed by US industry.
Vance accused former president Joe Biden of failing to address critical minerals, although the Democratic administration launched in 2022 a Minerals Security Partnership focusing on collaborative funding.
The initiative covered two dozen countries including key US allies and eventually expanded to include more areas -- including Greenland.
sct/acb

Qatar

Merz heads to Gulf as Germany looks to diversify trade ties

BY FRANK ZELLER AND CELINE LE PRIOUX

  • Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states have meanwhile been moving to diversify away from oil and gas, investing heavily in sectors from renewables to tourism, logistics and AI. Merz said that Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 project "promotes an ambitious modernisation of the country -– economically, culturally and socially.
  • German Chancellor Friedrich Merz headed to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday to kick off a Gulf tour as the biggest EU economy seeks to diversify its key trade and energy partnerships.
  • Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states have meanwhile been moving to diversify away from oil and gas, investing heavily in sectors from renewables to tourism, logistics and AI. Merz said that Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 project "promotes an ambitious modernisation of the country -– economically, culturally and socially.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz headed to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday to kick off a Gulf tour as the biggest EU economy seeks to diversify its key trade and energy partnerships.
In a turbulent world where US President Donald Trump has rocked long-standing transatlantic security and economic ties, Germany is racing to cement alternative relationships worldwide.
Joined by a business delegation, the conservative leader will meet with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, then travel to Qatar and the United Arab Emirates on a whistlestop tour that concludes Friday.
"We need such partnerships more than ever at a time when major powers increasingly determine politics," Merz said before boarding his plane, adding that the Gulf could also help Germany "diversify our oil and gas supply chains".
"Our partners may not all share the same values and interests, but they do share the understanding that we need an order in which we can trust agreements and treat each other with respect."
Germany has long exported defence goods and sealed major infrastructure deals in the Gulf region, whose monarchies have in turn used their energy riches to invest in German corporate giants from Volkswagen to Deutsche Bank.
When Russia's 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine led to sharply lower Russian energy supplies, Berlin turned to Doha to step up liquefied natural gas imports that got it through the following winter.
Berlin has now accelerated efforts to lessen its reliance on American LNG and wants to increasingly bank on green hydrogen generated through clean energy to achieve its climate targets.
Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states have meanwhile been moving to diversify away from oil and gas, investing heavily in sectors from renewables to tourism, logistics and AI.
Merz said that Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 project "promotes an ambitious modernisation of the country -– economically, culturally and socially. Much progress has been made. Certainly, much remains to be done, particularly regarding human rights. We also want to discuss this."

Regional tensions

Merz visited India last month shortly before the EU and the South Asian giant sealed a trade deal cheered by Berlin, which is also pushing for quick implementation of an agreement with South America's Mercosur bloc.
"For me, travelling to the vibrant Gulf region is the next logical step," said Merz.
Andreas Lenz, an economic and energy policy expert from Merz's CDU/CSU parliamentary group, said the Gulf held significant potential for German business.
"The region is very interested in German technology," including in the auto, chemical, mechanical engineering and medical tech sectors, Lenz told Phoenix TV.
On the issue of whether Germany should also address human rights concerns in the region, Lenz said that any overt displays of "moral arrogance" would be "rather counterproductive".
As an export-driven economy, Germany values stability in the Middle East, in part to safeguard key shipping lanes.
Merz is visiting Riyadh, Doha and Abu Dhabi at a time of high political tensions centred on Iran after it launched a bloody crackdown on demonstrators.
Merz has not held back with voicing his disdain for the leadership in Tehran, last week condemning "a regime that can only hold onto power through sheer violence and terror against its own population".
Before his departure, Merz again demanded that the Islamic republic must stop the violence and "halt its military nuclear programme", which Tehran denies, as well as what Merz labelled its "destabilising activities in the region".
Germany, with its dark history of World War II and the Holocaust, has for decades been a steadfast ally of Israel, but also criticised it for its conduct during the war in Gaza.
The chancellor said Germany aims to promote "a new peace order in the region. One day, Israel should be a welcome part of this order".
Merz will also be visiting the UAE as it hosts the latest round of talks to end the Ukraine war, involving Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff as well as Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law.
bur/fz-clp/sr/gv

Rafah

Palestinians in Egypt torn on return to a Gaza with 'no future'

BY MENNA FAROUK AND NADA ABOU EL-AMAIM

  • Mohamed is among an estimated 80-100,000 Palestinians who came to Egypt through the Rafah crossing, before it was seized and shut by Israeli forces in May 2024.
  • As Israel begins to allow a trickle of Palestinians through the Rafah border crossing, Gazans stranded in Egypt are torn between staying in exile without formal status or returning to a land in ruins.
  • Mohamed is among an estimated 80-100,000 Palestinians who came to Egypt through the Rafah crossing, before it was seized and shut by Israeli forces in May 2024.
As Israel begins to allow a trickle of Palestinians through the Rafah border crossing, Gazans stranded in Egypt are torn between staying in exile without formal status or returning to a land in ruins.
"Return to Gaza for what? To live in a tent?" demanded Mohamed, a 78-year-old poet from Beit Lahia in northern Gaza.
"We have not turned our backs on Gaza, we will return. But right now, we cannot go back under these conditions," he told AFP, asking to be identified only by his first name.
Some 80 percent of Gaza's buildings have been destroyed or damaged, according to the United Nations.
Aid access remains drastically insufficient, and there are not yet detailed reconstruction plans.
Mohamed is among an estimated 80-100,000 Palestinians who came to Egypt through the Rafah crossing, before it was seized and shut by Israeli forces in May 2024.
Returns are tightly controlled, and by Wednesday only a few dozen Palestinians had been allowed back, describing to AFP a humiliating journey through Israeli check points.

Nothing to return to

Two years after their son, who lives in France, drained his savings to get them out, Mohamed's wife Sawsan, 72, said she could not imagine returning.
"The situation that pushed us out hasn't changed, we lost our homes, our children, our livelihood," she told AFP, heartbroken over her family still in Gaza: a daughter, a son-in-law and three grandchildren aged three, seven and nine. 
Across town, Nadra, 37, is focused only on her son, Hakim. 
She brought him to Egypt in January 2024, seeking medical treatment after he suffered burns in an Israeli strike early in the war, at eight years old.
"There is no future in Gaza now. No clean water, no safety, no school for Hakim, nowhere for us to stay," she said. 
Two years on, she lives off monthly transfers from her sister abroad that barely cover rent for her studio apartment.
Skyrocketing rent prices and a state of limbo are among the many struggles of Gazans in Egypt, which has repeatedly warned against any mass displacement of Palestinians into its territory. 
Egypt offers a measure of safety, but Gazans who arrived in recent years lack legal status, cannot work formally and are often denied access to public hospitals, schools and banking.
On the eastern outskirts of Cairo, Mahmoud Abdelrahman Rabie counts the days until he can return to Gaza.
He knows he may not be able to even find the remains of his former home and chicken farm in Jabaliya, much of which has been bombed to the ground.
"I know what life is like in a tent, I lived like that for a year. But I still want to return to Gaza," the 65-year-old told AFP from his cramped studio, a kuffiyeh draped over his shoulders.
Rabie tried to make a living as a driver, but couldn't get a license without a residence permit, and has since survived on help from friends and relatives.
"Here I am alive only in name. My heart and soul are in Gaza," he said.
But he has little hope, with only a handful of Palestinians allowed through the crossing.
At the current rate, "my turn will come in two years," Rabie said. "I don't even know how I'm paying next month's rent."
A year after he was medically evacuated by the UN, Rabie longs for his family, which includes 52 grandchildren scattered around Gaza.
"I cry myself to sleep every night... I just want to go back to my land."

A tent over a palace

Yaela el-Beltagy, a 36-year-old former restaurant owner, has registered himself, his wife, son and four siblings to return to Gaza. 
"I want to go back, see my father and mother, even if there is nothing there but tents," he told AFP by phone.
"We're a people deeply connected to our land, we cannot stay away from it," he said.
Palestinians have repeatedly warned of mass displacement from Gaza, and that those leaving will not be allowed to return.
"I would pick a tent in Gaza over a palace anywhere in the world," Beltagy said.
But though they long for home, many are unprepared to risk their family's health and safety.
Hala, a 40-year-old teacher's assistant, left Gaza a few weeks before the Rafah crossing shut.
She now lives with her parents, both of whom are in need of regular healthcare -- impossible for most in Gaza.
"I can't go back there, not with my parents, and not without them. They're getting old, they deserve to live out their days in peace."
nda-maf/bha/dc

politics

Who is behind the killing of late ruler Gaddafi's son, and why now?

  • - What Seif al-Islam represented - Experts differ over the extent of Seif's political influence.
  • Seif al-Islam, the son of Libya's slain longtime ruler Muammar Gaddafi and once seen by some as his likely heir, has been killed. 
  • - What Seif al-Islam represented - Experts differ over the extent of Seif's political influence.
Seif al-Islam, the son of Libya's slain longtime ruler Muammar Gaddafi and once seen by some as his likely heir, has been killed. 
Targeted by a warrant from the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity, and still a player in Libya's turbulent political scene, the 53-year-old was no stranger to violence.
But his sudden assassination has raised many questions:

Who is behind it?

Very little has emerged about the identity or motives of the assailants.
Seif's lawyer, Marcel Ceccaldi, told AFP he was killed by an unidentified "four-man commando" who stormed his house on Tuesday afternoon in the city of Zintan, western Libya.
His adviser, Abdullah Othman Abdurrahim, told Libyan media the four unidentified men had stormed the home before "disabling surveillance cameras, then executed him".
Libyan prosecutors said Wednesday they were probing the killing after establishing that "the victim died from wounds by gunfire".

Why now?

Claudia Gazzini, a senior Libya analyst at International Crisis Group, described the timing of Seif's death as "odd".
"He had been living a relatively quiet life away from the public eye for many years now," she told AFP.
Seif had announced his bid to run for president in 2021. Those elections were indefinitely postponed, and he had barely made any major public appearances since.
His whereabouts had been largely unknown. Aside from a small inner circle -- and probably the Libyan authorities -- few people knew he lived in Zintan.
Ceccaldi said "he often moved around" but "had been in Zintan for quite some time".
Anas El Gomati, head of the Tripoli-based Sadeq Institute think tank, said the timing was "stark".
His death came just "48 hours after a US-brokered Paris meeting between Saddam Haftar and Ibrahim Dbeibah", respectively the son of eastern Libya's military strongman Khalifa Hafter and the nephew of the Tripoli-based Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah.
Libya has remained divided between the UN-backed Tripoli government and its rival administration in the east.

What Seif al-Islam represented

Experts differ over the extent of Seif's political influence. But there is broad agreement on his symbolic weight as the most prominent remaining figure associated with pre-2011 Libya.
"Seif had become a cumbersome actor" in Libyan politics after announcing his bid for office in 2021, said Hasni Abidi, director of the Geneva-based Centre for Studies and Research on the Arab and Mediterranean World.
His killing "benefits all political actors" currently competing for power in the North African country, Abidi said.
For Gomati, his death "eliminates Libya's last viable spoiler to the current power structure".
"He wasn't a democrat or reformer, but he represented an alternative that threatened both Haftar and Dbeibah," Gomati added. "His removal consolidates their duopoly ... The pro-Gaddafi nostalgia bloc now has no credible leader."
Libya expert Jalel Harchaoui offered a more cautious assessment, saying Seif's death was "no major upheaval".
"He was not at the head of a unified, cohesive bloc exerting real weight in the competition for power, rivalries, or the allocation of territory or wealth," Harchaoui explained.
Still, "he could have played a decisive role under specific circumstances", Harchaoui said, arguing that his mere name on a presidential ballot would have had a substantial impact.

How has the public reacted?

Among the public, speculation is rife.
Some have suggested the involvement of a local Zintan-based armed group that may no longer have wanted Seif on its territory.
Others suspect foreign forces may have been involved.
"The operation's sophistication -- four operatives, inside access, cameras disabled -- suggests foreign intelligence involvement, not militia action," said Gomati.
burs-iba-bou/dc

crime

Son of Norway's crown princess admits excesses but denies rape

BY PIERRE-HENRY DESHAYES

  • So I've had an extreme need for recognition my whole life," he told the court.
  • The son of Norway's future queen on Wednesday admitted a life of excess, blaming it on an "extreme need for recognition", but denied raping a woman at his parents' royal estate in 2018.
  • So I've had an extreme need for recognition my whole life," he told the court.
The son of Norway's future queen on Wednesday admitted a life of excess, blaming it on an "extreme need for recognition", but denied raping a woman at his parents' royal estate in 2018.
Marius Borg Hoiby, Crown Princess Mette-Marit's 29-year-old son from a relationship before her 2001 marriage to heir apparent Crown Prince Haakon, is on trial accused of 38 crimes, including four rapes and assaults against ex-girlfriends.
He has pleaded not guilty to the most serious offences. He faces up to 16 years in prison if convicted.
Hoiby broke down in tears as he addressed the Oslo district court for the first time.
Dressed in jeans, shirt and a sweater, he lashed out at the media, saying the press had "hassled" him since the age of three when the relationship between his mother and the prince became public and thrust him into the spotlight.
"I'm mostly known as my mother's son, not anything else. So I've had an extreme need for recognition my whole life," he told the court.
"And that manifested itself in a lot of sex, a lot of drugs, and a lot of alcohol," he said.
Hoiby was raised by the crown prince couple alongside his step-siblings Princess Ingrid Alexandra and Prince Sverre Magnus, now aged 22 and 20, but unlike them has no official public role.
He neither works nor studies and admitted in August 2024 to struggling "for a long time with substance abuse".
Norwegian media have previously reported that he hangs out with gang members and moves in the same circles as "notorious criminals". 

'Big black hole'

Earlier Wednesday, the first alleged victim to testify claimed he raped her at an after-party in the basement of the royal Skaugum estate outside Oslo in December 2018, when, according to Hoiby himself, his parents were upstairs.
She said they had a brief, consensual sexual encounter, which she cut off.
Police then contacted her years later when they discovered footage and images on his phone showing what they described as Hoiby raping her while she slept -- events she had no recollection of, describing "a big black hole". 
"I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe that Marius would do something like that to me. It's a betrayal and a shock," she said.
Pictures and footage shown to the court were not shared with the media, which has also been restricted from publishing the names of the alleged victims.
"Look at my face: do I look conscious? You can clearly see that I'm totally unconscious. It almost looks like I'm not breathing," she told the court. 
"I suspect that I probably ingested something without my knowledge," she said. 
Asked if she thought she had been drugged, she replied: "That's what I believe. 100 percent."
The defence was quick to point out that she had said the opposite when questioned by police, that she did not think she had been drugged. 
Hoiby meanwhile testified that he did not recall the exact events of that night but said the sexual relations with her had been consensual.
"I don't remember taking them (the pictures), but, like, we had sex fully awake and willingly," said the woman.
"I'm not in the habit of having sex with women who are not awake," he insisted, acknowledging nonetheless that the woman appeared to be asleep in the images.
His testimony was to continue on Thursday.

Opposing views

The four alleged rapes all took place after consensual sex, often following evenings of heavy drinking when the women were not in a state to defend themselves, the prosecution claimed Tuesday.
The defence has argued that Hoiby "perceived all of the acts as perfectly normal and consensual sexual relations".
The scandal -- the biggest in the history of the Norwegian monarchy, according to experts -- has tarnished the image of the royal family and plunged it into turmoil.
Mette-Marit and Haakon do not plan to attend the seven-week trial, which has drawn massive media attention.
The palace confirmed on Wednesday that the crown princess had postponed a planned private trip abroad.
Torn between her roles as mother and future queen, Mette-Marit, 52, is fighting battles on several other fronts.
She has come under heavy fire over recently unsealed US documents revealing her close friendship with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
She also suffers from an incurable lung disease and will likely need a lung transplant in the future.
phy/po/phz

Belarus

German far-right MP detained over alleged Belarus sanctions breach

  • Under European Union sanctions put into place after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, exports of industrial equipment to Belarus, Russia's close ally, are heavily restricted.
  • German police detained a regional lawmaker of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) in a state parliament Wednesday for questioning about a suspected breach of EU export sanctions on Belarus.
  • Under European Union sanctions put into place after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, exports of industrial equipment to Belarus, Russia's close ally, are heavily restricted.
German police detained a regional lawmaker of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) in a state parliament Wednesday for questioning about a suspected breach of EU export sanctions on Belarus.
A photo in the Bild newspaper showed Joerg Dornau, 56, a businessman and MP for the Moscow-friendly party in the eastern state of Saxony, being led out of the state parliament's debating chamber.
A little earlier, deputies had voted to strip him of his parliamentary immunity. 
Dornau is accused of having exported a vehicular crane to Russia ally Belarus in 2022 and falsely declaring the destination as Kazakhstan, say Leipzig prosecutors.
Customs officers searched his home and vehicles, prosecutors said.
"The searches serve to secure items that may be considered as evidence in the investigation," prosecutors said.
"There will be no search of the premises of the state parliament or the parliamentary groups," they added.
The Saxony parliamentary AfD group told AFP it saw no reason why Dornau had to be detained immediately before a parliamentary session, saying that it appeared to have been "staged for media consumption".
"The allegations against Mr Dornau have been known for a long time," it added. "These allegations must be clarified as quickly as possible in a fair trial in accordance with the rule of law."
Under European Union sanctions put into place after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, exports of industrial equipment to Belarus, Russia's close ally, are heavily restricted.
Dornau was fined over 20,000 euros ($23,617) last August by parliamentary authorities for having failed to disclose his financial interest in a Belarusian onion farm.
In December, German prosecutors said they would not pursue allegations that Dornau had employed political prisoners on the Belarusian farm because was not clear that a crime had been committed.
The AfD is accused of being overly friendly to Moscow, while many inside the party say it is in Germany's interest to have a good relationship with Russia.
Though no AfD politician has been convicted of spying for Russia, some have been accused of inappropriate links.
Prosecutors in Dresden last year opened an investigation into AfD national MP Maximilian Krah following reports he had taken money from Russia and China during his time as an MEP in the European Parliament. 
Krah denies the allegations.
bur-vbw/fz/jj