US

Iranian students chant anti-government slogans, as US threats loom

  • Fars said that what was supposed to be a "silent and peaceful sit-in" on Saturday of students commemorating those killed was disrupted by people chanting slogans including "death to the dictator" -- a reference to Iran's supreme leader. 
  • Iranian students chanted anti-government slogans and scuffled with counter-protesters on Saturday in the latest display of anger at the country's clerical leaders, who also face a US military build-up aimed at pressuring them into a nuclear deal.
  • Fars said that what was supposed to be a "silent and peaceful sit-in" on Saturday of students commemorating those killed was disrupted by people chanting slogans including "death to the dictator" -- a reference to Iran's supreme leader. 
Iranian students chanted anti-government slogans and scuffled with counter-protesters on Saturday in the latest display of anger at the country's clerical leaders, who also face a US military build-up aimed at pressuring them into a nuclear deal.
The gatherings at universities, which were reported by both local and diaspora media outlets, followed a mass protest movement that was met with a government crackdown last month that left thousands dead.
The crackdown had prompted US President Donald Trump to threaten to intervene militarily, though the focus of his threats eventually shifted to Iran's nuclear programme, which Western governments fear is aimed at producing a bomb.
The US and Iran recently resumed Oman-mediated talks on a potential deal, but Washington has simultaneously increased its military presence in the region, dispatching two aircraft carriers, jets and weaponry to back its warnings.
Videos geolocated by AFP to Tehran's top engineering university showed fights breaking out in a crowd on Saturday as people shouted "bi sharaf", or "disgraceful" in Farsi.
Footage posted by the Persian-language TV channel Iran International, which is based outside the country, also showed a large crowd chanting anti-government slogans at Sharif University of Technology. 
The Fars news agency later said there were reports of injuries in scuffles at the institution.
Iranians had reprised their protest slogans earlier this week to mark the 40th day since thousands of people were killed as a wave of demonstrations was peaking on January 8 and 9.
The unrest first broke out in December over prolonged financial strain, but exploded into mass anti-government protests that were suppressed in a violent crackdown by security forces.
The clerical authorities acknowledge more than 3,000 deaths, but say the violence was caused by "terrorist acts" fuelled by Iran's enemies. 
The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), however, has recorded more than 7,000 killings in the crackdown, the vast majority protesters, though the toll may be far higher. 
Iranian authorities had initially acknowledged the legitimacy of the protesters' economic demands, but as the movement took on an overtly anti-government tone, they accused archenemies the United States and Israel of whipping up "riots".
Fars said that what was supposed to be a "silent and peaceful sit-in" on Saturday of students commemorating those killed was disrupted by people chanting slogans including "death to the dictator" -- a reference to Iran's supreme leader. 
A video posted by Fars showed a group chanting and waving Iranian flags facing off with a crowd wearing masks and being held back by men in suits. 

Talks and threats

Ever since the initial wave of protests, the United States and Iran have been trading threats of military action. 
Trump sent the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln to the region, while a second, the USS Gerald R Ford, is en route via the Mediterranean.
The US has also redeployed dozens of other warplanes to the Middle East -- where it maintains several bases -- while boosting its air defences.
The build-up seeks to pressure Iran's authorities as the two sides pursue nuclear talks.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told US media this week that following the latest round of negotiations in Geneva, Iran would be submitting a draft proposal for an agreement, saying it would be read in a matter of days.
Araghchi also said the "US side has not asked for zero enrichment" of uranium, contradicting statements from American officials. 
Iran denies it is trying to produce nuclear weapons, but insists on its right to enrich uranium for civilian purposes.
The US media outlet Axios reported this week, citing an unnamed senior US official, that Washington was prepared to consider a proposed deal that only permitted "small, token enrichment".
Trump has suggested that "bad things" will happen if Tehran did not strike a deal, saying Thursday that it had 15 days to agree.
Fears of a conflict have prompted several foreign countries to urge their citizens to leave Iran, including Sweden, Serbia, Poland and Australia, which warned "commercial flights are currently available but this could change quickly".
A previous round of nuclear diplomacy last year was interrupted by Israel's surprise bombing campaign against the Islamic republic.
The United States ultimately joined its ally, striking nuclear facilities before declaring a ceasefire.
Iran has maintained that it will defend itself in the event of any new attack.
President Masoud Pezeshkian, in remarks to athletes carried by state television, said the country would "not yield to any trial, even if the powers of the world stand against us with injustice and try to force us into submission". 
burs-sw/smw/jj

film

Political drama 'Yellow Letters' wins Berlin's Golden Bear

BY JASTINDER KHERA

  • He received cheers for his words but also prompted some heckling, reflecting the tension over Gaza which has often overshadowed this year's event.
  • "Yellow Letters", directed by German filmmaker Ilker Catak, won the Berlin Film Festival's Golden Bear for best film Saturday, at a ceremony reflecting the controversy over Gaza that has dogged this year's edition.
  • He received cheers for his words but also prompted some heckling, reflecting the tension over Gaza which has often overshadowed this year's event.
"Yellow Letters", directed by German filmmaker Ilker Catak, won the Berlin Film Festival's Golden Bear for best film Saturday, at a ceremony reflecting the controversy over Gaza that has dogged this year's edition.
Festival director Tricia Tuttle acknowledged that this year's edition had been "emotionally charged" after days of sometimes acromonious debate on how far filmmaking should intervene in politics.
Catak's film tells the story of a Turkish director and his actor wife, suddenly barred from working because of their political opinions.
Jury president Wim Wenders called the film "a terrifying premonition, a look into the near future that could possibly happen in our countries as well".
While set in Turkey, the film was shot in Germany, an artistic choice to make the point that threats to liberty are universal.
The runner-up Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize went to "Salvation" by Emin Alper, who in his speech expressed solidarity with several high-profile opposition figures in prison in Turkey, including jailed Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu.
Alper's film, inspired by a true story, shows the consequences of a feud over land between two clans in a remote mountain village.
He took the opportunity to speak up for "the people of Iran suffering under tyranny" and "Kurds in Rojava and the Middle East struggling for their rights for almost a century -- you are not alone".
Alper also spoke of "the Palestinians in Gaza living and dying under the most terrible conditions".

Impassioned speech

Alper was not the only award-winner to express support for the Palestinians.
Syrian-Palestinian director Abdullah Al-Khatib won Best First Feature Award for "Chronicles From the Siege".
He accepted the award with a keffiyeh draped over his shoulder and gave an impassioned speech in which addressed the German government by saying: "You are partners in the genocide in Gaza by Israel." 
He received cheers for his words but also prompted some heckling, reflecting the tension over Gaza which has often overshadowed this year's event.
Speaking at a press conference at the beginning of the festival last week, jury president Wim Wenders answered a question about the German government's support for Israel by saying: "We cannot really enter the field of politics."
At the same press conference, he had said that films had the power to "change the world" but in a different way from politics.
But his comments in response to the question on Israel prompted a storm of outrage.
Award-winning Indian novelist Arundhati Roy, who had been due to present a restored version of a 1989 film she wrote, pulled out of the event, branding Wenders' words "unconscionable" and "jaw-dropping".
On Tuesday, an open letter signed by dozens of film industry figures, including actors Javier Bardem and Tilda Swinton and director Adam McKay, condemned the Berlin festival's "silence on the genocide of Palestinians" and accused it of being involved in "censoring" artists who oppose Israel's actions.
Tuttle has firmly rejected the accusations.
Wenders addressed the controversy on Saturday.
"The language of cinema is empathetic. The language of social media is affective," he said.
Addressing political activists, he said: "All of us applaud you. You do necessary and courageous work."
"But does it need to be in competition with us? Do our languages need to clash?" he asked.

'Queen at Sea'

Other award winners on Saturday included German actress Sandra Hueller, who received the Silver Bear for Best Performance for her title role in Markus Schleinzer's "Rose".
The black-and-white drama tells the story of a woman passing herself off as a man in rural 17th-century Germany to escape the constraints of patriarchy. 
"Queen at Sea" by American director Lance Hammer, which stars Juliette Binoche as a woman caring for her mother with dementia, picked up two awards.
The film portrays the devastation Alzheimer's disease inflicts on a patient's loved ones. 
Tom Courtenay, 88, and 79-year-old Anna Calder-Marshall, who plays the ailing mother in the film, shared the Silver Bear for Best Supporting Performance.
The film also picked up the Silver Bear Jury Prize, considered the third most prestigious award.
agu-jsk/jj

trade

Trump hikes US global tariff rate to 15%

BY MICHAEL MATHES

  • The ruling was a stunning rebuke by the high court, which has largely sided with the president since he returned to office, and marked a major political setback in striking down Trump's signature economic policy that has roiled the global trade order.
  • President Donald Trump raised the global duty on imports into the United States to 15 percent on Saturday, doubling down on his promise to maintain his aggressive tariff policy a day after the Supreme Court ruled much of it illegal.
  • The ruling was a stunning rebuke by the high court, which has largely sided with the president since he returned to office, and marked a major political setback in striking down Trump's signature economic policy that has roiled the global trade order.
President Donald Trump raised the global duty on imports into the United States to 15 percent on Saturday, doubling down on his promise to maintain his aggressive tariff policy a day after the Supreme Court ruled much of it illegal.
Trump said on his Truth Social platform that after a thorough review of Friday's "extraordinarily anti-American decision" by the court to rein in his tariff program, the administration was hiking the import levies "to the fully allowed, and legally tested, 15% level."
Shortly after the court's 6-3 ruling that rejected the president's authority to impose tariffs under a 1977 economic emergency powers act, Trump had initially announced a new 10 percent global levy by invoking a different legal avenue.
At the same time, the Republican launched an extraordinary personal attack on the conservative justices who had sided with the majority, slamming their "disloyalty" and calling them "fools and lap dogs."
The ruling was a stunning rebuke by the high court, which has largely sided with the president since he returned to office, and marked a major political setback in striking down Trump's signature economic policy that has roiled the global trade order.
Saturday's announcement is sure to provoke further uncertainty as Trump carries on with a trade war that he has used to cajole and punish countries, both friend and foe.
It is the latest move in a process that has seen a multitude of tariff levels for countries sending goods into the United States set and then altered or revoked by Trump's team over the past year. 
The new duty by law is only temporary -- allowable for 150 days. According to a White House fact sheet, exemptions remain for sectors that are under separate probes, including pharma, and goods entering the US under the US-Mexico-Canada agreement.
On Friday, the White House said US trading partners that reached separate tariff deals with Trump's administration would also face the new global tariff. 

High court defeat

Friday's court ruling did not impact sector-specific duties Trump separately imposed on steel, aluminum and various other goods. Government probes still under way could lead to additional sectoral tariffs.
But it nevertheless marked Trump's biggest defeat at the Supreme Court since returning to the White House 13 months ago. The court has generally expanded his power. 
Trump heaped praise on the conservative justices who voted to uphold his authority to levy tariffs -- Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Brett Kavanaugh, a Trump nominee -- thanking them "for their strength and wisdom, and love of our country."
The president alleged the majority of six justices, including two nominated during his first term, had been "swayed by foreign interests."
"I think that foreign interests are represented by people that I believe have undue influence," he said.
Shares on Wall Street -- a metric closely watched by Trump -- rose modestly Friday after the decision, which had been expected.
Business groups largely cheered the ruling, with the National Retail Federation saying this "provides much-needed certainty" for companies.
In court arguments, the Trump administration said companies would receive refunds if the tariffs were deemed unlawful. But the Supreme Court's ruling did not address the issue. 
Trump said he expected years of litigation on whether to provide refunds. Kavanaugh noted the refund process could be a "mess."
Several countries have said they are studying the Supreme Court ruling and Trump's subsequent tariff announcements. 
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Saturday he would hold talks with European allies to formulate "a very clear European position" and joint response to Washington before he travels to the US capital in early March.
On the domestic front, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, said on X it was time for Trump to "listen to the Supreme Court, end chaotic tariffs, and stop wreaking havoc on our farmers, small business owners, and families."
mlm/acb

killing

Thousands march in France for slain far-right activist

BY DANIEL ABELOUS AND ANTOINE BOYER

  • The authorities had deployed heavy security, including drones, fearing further clashes at the event that saw at least 3,200 people attend, according to local officials.
  • Thousands of people marched in southeastern France on Saturday under heavy security in tribute to a far-right activist whose killing, blamed on the hard left, has put the country on edge. 
  • The authorities had deployed heavy security, including drones, fearing further clashes at the event that saw at least 3,200 people attend, according to local officials.
Thousands of people marched in southeastern France on Saturday under heavy security in tribute to a far-right activist whose killing, blamed on the hard left, has put the country on edge. 
The crowd -- many wearing black and some covering their lower faces with masks -- marched through the city of Lyon carrying flowers and placards bearing pictures of Quentin Deranque and the words, "justice for Quentin" and "the extreme left kills".
The 23-year-old died from head injuries following clashes between radical left and far-right supporters on the sidelines of a demonstration against a politician from the left-wing France Unbowed (LFI) party in Lyon last week. 
The authorities had deployed heavy security, including drones, fearing further clashes at the event that saw at least 3,200 people attend, according to local officials.
Hours before the gathering, French President Emmanuel Macron had urged "everyone to remain" calm.
He said the government would meet next week to discuss "violent action groups" in the wake of the fatal beating, which has ignited tensions between the left and right ahead of the 2027 presidential vote.
"In the Republic, no violence is legitimate," said Macron, who will be unable to contest next year's election after hitting the two-term limit.
The march went ahead without clashes, although one person threw an egg from a building, and police said another person was detained for carrying a knife and hammer. 
More arrests are possible as police investigate suspects behind Nazi salutes, racist slurs and homophobic insults made during the procession and caught on video shared online, the local prefecture said.
Some residents living along the route hung signs from their windows reading "Lyon is antifa" or "Love is greater than hate".

'Defend his memory'

Mourners had first gathered in the church frequented by Deranque before his death and his portrait was hung from the facade of the administrative headquarters of the Auvergne–Rhône-Alpes region.
Laurent, a friend of Deranque, attended "to defend his memory" in the setting "where Quentin expressed himself most intensely, namely the Catholic Church and the traditional rite," he said.
One of the rally's organisers, Aliette Espieux, former spokesperson for the anti-abortion movement, told AFP she wished for a "peaceful tribute". 
She hit out, however, at Jordan Bardella, the president of the far-right National Rally party, which senses its best chance ever of scoring the presidency in next year's vote. 
Bardella had urged his supporters not to attend the rally, with Espieux saying, "I don't find that very honourable." 
According to the Deranque family's lawyer, Fabien Rajon, his parents would not take part in the rally, adding they hoped would go ahead "without violence" and "without political statements". 
Several ultra-right-wing groups, including Deranque's nationalist Allobroges Bourgoin faction, had nonetheless heavily publicised the march on social media, stoking authorities' concerns of unrest.
- Calls to ban rally - 
Ahead of the rally, some residents barricaded the ground floor windows of their apartments in fear. 
"At my age, I'm not going to play the tough guy. If I have to go out somewhere, I'll avoid the places where they're marching," said Lyon local Jean Echeverria, 87.
"They'll just keep fighting each other, it'll never end. Between the extreme of this and the extreme of that, it's non-stop," he added. 
The event went ahead despite calls from Lyon's left-wing green mayor, Gregory Doucet, and LFI coordinator Manuel Bompard for the state to ban it.
But Interior Minister Laurent Nunez declined to ban the rally, arguing that he had to "strike a balance between maintaining public order and freedom of expression". 
Deranque's death has provoked a reaction from US President Donald Trump's administration, with State Department official Sarah Rogers on Friday branding the killing "terrorism" and claiming that "violent radical leftism is on the rise".
That came a day after Macron pushed back at comments by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on the death, suggesting she refrain from commenting on France's internal affairs.
Six men suspected of involvement in the fatal assault have been charged over the killing, while a parliamentary assistant to a radical left-wing MP has also been charged with complicity.
burs/giv/jj

film

First all-Pakistani production makes history at Berlin film fest

BY JASTINDER KHERA

  • Could films like "Lali" bring Pakistani cinema new recognition?
  • The Berlin film festival, which draws to a close on Saturday, made a piece of film history earlier this week when it screened its first all-Pakistani produced feature film.
  • Could films like "Lali" bring Pakistani cinema new recognition?
The Berlin film festival, which draws to a close on Saturday, made a piece of film history earlier this week when it screened its first all-Pakistani produced feature film.
"Lali", by director Sarmad Sultan Khoosat, had its world premiere on Thursday at a packed screening where it was warmly welcomed by members of Berlin's own Pakistani community, which included the country's ambassador to Germany.
The Punjabi-language black comedy tells the story of Sajawal (Channan Hanif) and his new bride Zeba (Mamya Shajaffar).
The locals in their working-class part of the city of Sahiwal mutter that Zeba is living under a curse after her previous suitors died in mysterious circumstances.
Khoosat told AFP that making Pakistan's debut at the festival came with "a good sense of achievement, but also with a sense of responsibility".
He said it was a "sign of validation" to achieve recognition with a story "deeply rooted in its own idiom".
Part of that idiom is the boisterous humour that the Punjab region is known for, portrayed in part through Sajawal's mother, the imposing matriarch Sohni Ammi.
The film opens with her encouraging the men of the neighbourhood to fire guns in celebration of Sajawal's wedding -- only for her to get shot in the leg.

'New generation' of filmmakers

The mordant humour alternates with more serious themes like desire, sexuality and unhealed trauma and occasional suggestions of magic and the supernatural.
Although Khoosat pointed out nothing that takes place on screen is physically impossible.
"Lali"'s premiere at Berlin has echoes of the trajectory of "Joyland" by Saim Sadiq, which became the first ever Pakistani entry in competition at the Cannes film festival in 2022.
That film tells the story of a man falling for the trans director of a dance troupe and received critical acclaim as well the Jury Prize and the "Queer Palm" at Cannes.
Khoosat was a producer on that film and Sadiq in turn worked as an editor on "Lali".
Is Khoosat hopeful that such films can raise the profile of Pakistani cinema?
He said that the industry in Pakistan has been struggling, suffering a "semi-gradual kind of demise" over the past 20 years or so. 
"Before that, we had a big cinema scene... which would produce, you know, more than 100 films a year. "
But Khoosat said Pakistani cinema has struggled to rise of other media and did not "cater to a newer audience". 
Could films like "Lali" bring Pakistani cinema new recognition?
"This opportunity of visibility on such platforms -- I just wish that, you know, it would translate into a more thriving" domestic film industry, Khoosat said.
"There's definitely a whole new generation of filmmakers, and they need to be facilitated to produce more work."
jsk/giv

Moon

NASA chief rules out March launch of Moon mission over technical issues

  • NASA surprised many late last year when it said Artemis 2 could happen as soon as February -- an acceleration explained by the Trump administration's wish to beat China to the punch. 
  • NASA chief Jared Isaacman on Saturday ruled out a March launch for Artemis 2, the first crewed flyby mission to the Moon in more than 50 years, citing technical issues.
  • NASA surprised many late last year when it said Artemis 2 could happen as soon as February -- an acceleration explained by the Trump administration's wish to beat China to the punch. 
NASA chief Jared Isaacman on Saturday ruled out a March launch for Artemis 2, the first crewed flyby mission to the Moon in more than 50 years, citing technical issues.
Workers detected a problem with helium flow to the massive SLS rocket that will "take the March launch window out of consideration," Issacman said in a post on X.
"I understand people are disappointed by this development. That disappointment is felt most by the team at NASA, who have been working tirelessly to prepare for this great endeavor," Isaacman said.
"During the 1960s, when NASA achieved what most thought was impossible, and what has never been repeated since, there were many setbacks."
The towering SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft will be rolled back into the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to investigate the technical issues and make any necessary repairs, Isaacman said.
A complete briefing will follow in the coming days, he added.
The highly anticipated Artemis 2 mission, lasting about 10 days, will see three Americans and one Canadian fly around Earth's satellite. 
It would be a huge step towards Americans once again setting foot on the lunar surface, a goal announced by President Donald Trump in his first term. 
On Friday, NASA had set March 6 as the earliest possible launch date.
The US space agency hopes to put humans back on the Moon as China forges ahead with a rival effort that is targeting 2030 at the latest for its first crewed mission.
China's uncrewed Chang'e 7 mission is expected to be launched in 2026 for an exploration of the Moon's south pole, and testing of its crewed spacecraft Mengzhou is also set to go ahead this year.
NASA surprised many late last year when it said Artemis 2 could happen as soon as February -- an acceleration explained by the Trump administration's wish to beat China to the punch. 
But the program has been plagued by delays. 
The uncrewed Artemis 1 mission took place in November 2022 after multiple postponements and two failed launch attempts.
Then technical problems in early February -- which included a liquid hydrogen leak -- cut short a so-called wet dress rehearsal for the Artemis 2 launch. That was finally completed earlier this week.
The wet dress rehearsal was conducted under real conditions -- with full rocket tanks and technical checks -- at Cape Canaveral in Florida, with engineers practicing the maneuvers needed to carry out an actual launch.
NASA is hoping that the Moon could be used to help prepare future missions to Mars.
cha/sst/mlm

diplomacy

Fears of renewed conflict haunt Tehran as US issues threats

  • Tehran has repeatedly said it would target Israel and US bases in the region, as when it attacked a US base in Qatar during the 12-day war.
  • Tehran resident Hamid struggles to sleep as fears of renewed conflict haunt the Iranian capital after last year's 12-day war with Israel.
  • Tehran has repeatedly said it would target Israel and US bases in the region, as when it attacked a US base in Qatar during the 12-day war.
Tehran resident Hamid struggles to sleep as fears of renewed conflict haunt the Iranian capital after last year's 12-day war with Israel.
"I don't sleep well at night even while taking pills," Hamid told AFP, as he expressed concern for his "family's health... my kids and grandchildren".
The city woke up to blasts overnight from June 12 to 13 last year as Iran's arch-enemy Israel launched an unprecedented military campaign.
The war erupted as Iran was preparing for another round of talks with the United States, which briefly joined Israel in attacking key Iranian nuclear sites.
The attacks prompted Iran to respond with drone and missile strikes, with thousands of people killed in Iran and dozens in Israel.
Iran has now resumed talks with Washington, with Iran insisting they be limited to the nuclear issue, though Washington has previously pushed for Tehran's ballistic missiles programme and support for armed groups in the region to be on the table.
Still, the outcome of diplomacy remains uncertain.
On Thursday, US President Donald Trump said that "bad things" would happen if Tehran did not strike a deal within 10 days, which he subsequently extended to 15.
In this atmosphere, Hamid is worried about his children and grandchildren.
"I've lived my life, but they haven't done anything good in their lives, they had no fun, no comfort, no leisure and no peace," he said.
"I want them to at least experience life for a bit. But I'm afraid they might not get the chance."
Others share his concerns.
Hanieh, a ceramist from Tehran, thinks war will occur "within 10 days".
The 31-year-old has stored some essentials at her home to get through a possible military attack by the United States after its build-up in the region.
"I am getting more scared because my mother and I had lots of difficulties during the past 12-day war," she told AFP. "We had to go to another city."
Mina Ahmadvand, 46, also believes another conflict is in store.
"I think at this stage, war between Iran and the US as well as Israel is inevitable and I've prepared myself for that eventuality," the IT technician told AFP.
"I bought a dozen canned foods including tuna fish and beans as well as packs of biscuits, bottled water and some extra batteries, among other things."

'Lessons learnt'

Iranians are applying "the lessons learnt during the 12-day war", Hanieh said, as windows taped up with duct tape can be seen across Tehran.
Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has warned that any military campaign against Iran would lead to a "regional war".
Tehran has repeatedly said it would target Israel and US bases in the region, as when it attacked a US base in Qatar during the 12-day war.
The situation has forced Iranians to follow the news closely, and only adds to anxiety over surging prices and the plunging national currency following widespread protests.
On Saturday, the euro was trading at above 1.9 million rials while the US dollar surpassed the 1.6 million mark.
For Hanieh, there has been a sense of "life on hold" since the mass protests and Iranian communications shutdown that lasted nearly three weeks.
But in Tehran, shops and offices remain open, even though cafes and restaurants are mostly closed for the month of Ramadan, which started on Thursday in Shiite Iran.
Meanwhile, Ahmadvand is preparing for the worst.
"I don't want war to happen, but one should not fool around with the realities on the ground."
bur/amj

film

AI revolution looms over Berlin film fest

BY PIERRICK YVON

  • The tools have the potential to help the sector become more efficient and "save time at every stage of production", particularly in the more "bureaucratic" aspects of the process.
  • The artificial intelligence revolution sweeping through the entertainment sector was at first glance not evident at this year's Berlin Film Festival, but the potential for widespread changes was still on people's minds.
  • The tools have the potential to help the sector become more efficient and "save time at every stage of production", particularly in the more "bureaucratic" aspects of the process.
The artificial intelligence revolution sweeping through the entertainment sector was at first glance not evident at this year's Berlin Film Festival, but the potential for widespread changes was still on people's minds.
The festival has had the air of an arthouse bubble when it comes to the topic of AI and the event's leadership is keeping above the fray. 
"At present, we do not intend to issue any statements regarding the use of AI in the film industry," the festival said in a statement sent to AFP, adding: "We are monitoring developments with great interest." 
Nevertheless, some of the filmmakers present addressed the question of how the technology is changing the industry.
Yoshitoshi Shinomiya, director of the only animated feature in competition, "A New Dawn," told reporters he had briefly considered using AI in his film.
"During production, we weren't entirely sure we would be able to complete the film. At one point we wondered whether we should use AI for the backgrounds," he said.
But Shinomiya concluded that AI is not yet "well-developed enough" to do that sort of work.
Juliette Prissard from Eurocinema, an organisation representing French film and TV producers, said it's only a matter of time until the tools improve.
"It's reasonable to think that in one, two or three years... you won't be able to tell the difference anymore," she told AFP.
AI can already "write scripts" and replaces extras in crowd scenes or even generate "digital replicas" of someone.
– 'No choice' –
In France, where foreign-language films are frequently shown with dubbing, voice actors have already been raising the alarm about AI's impact on their profession.
But Prissard warns other film industry jobs could be replaced in the "near" future, such as "technicians, the set designers" and even "the producers themselves".
Sevara Irgacheva, secretary general of the European Film Agency Directors' association (EFAD), said that already "junior jobs are disappearing: all the assistant editors, assistant screenwriters".
Despite this, the industry "is leaning toward accepting" AI "because, in any case, we have no choice". 
The tools have the potential to help the sector become more efficient and "save time at every stage of production", particularly in the more "bureaucratic" aspects of the process.
A survey carried out in early 2025 by France's National Centre for Cinema (CNC) found that 90 percent of film and audiovisual professionals surveyed were already using AI tools in their work. 
In Berlin, Austrian director Georg Tiller presented a short film mixing filmed footage and AI-generated images, saying it was an attempt to encourage his fellow filmmakers to fight for a place in the new "digital cinema".
"If we don't then I fear that that we will die a slow death, because it will just steamroll over us," Tiller told AFP.
– The 'temptation' of deregulation –
The issue garnered some relief with a December agreement between OpenAI and Disney, which allowed the use of the entertainment giant's characters on Sora, the AI-generated video platform. 
In return, Disney now has "privileged access" to OpenAI's "highly sophisticated" tools, giving it a "technological advantage over the rest of the sector", said Prissard.
But the use of AI in cinema has prompted thorny legal questions over intellectual property and the very notion of authorship, at a time when legislation is only just beginning to grapple with the subject. 
Under EU rules, streaming platforms such as Netflix and Amazon Prime must carry at least 30 percent of European content in their catalogues. 
Prissard questioned how those enforcing the rules "will be able to tell the difference" between original creations and "synthetic" ones. 
Given "the fear of falling behind" the United States and China in developing AI technologies, Prissard said that Europe may succumb to the "temptation to allow more leeway to innovate without obstacles". 
pyv/clp/bds/jsk/giv

Ramadan

Libya's Ramadan celebrations tempered by economic woes

  • On Tuesday, Libya marked 15 years since the start of the uprising that eventually toppled Gaddafi, with fireworks lighting up the sky in Tripoli, but for many Libyans life remains a struggle.
  • Libyans have been enjoying Ramadan with feasts and fireworks -- but soaring prices, a devalued currency and political divisions have left many with little to celebrate.
  • On Tuesday, Libya marked 15 years since the start of the uprising that eventually toppled Gaddafi, with fireworks lighting up the sky in Tripoli, but for many Libyans life remains a struggle.
Libyans have been enjoying Ramadan with feasts and fireworks -- but soaring prices, a devalued currency and political divisions have left many with little to celebrate.
Fifteen years on from the fall of longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi, the country remains split between east and west, while shortages of goods, including fuel, disrupt daily life, despite Libya sitting atop vast oil and gas reserves.
During the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, shoppers stock up on treats, as families gather for lavish meals before and after the daytime fast that stretches from sunrise to sunset.
But this year supermarkets have been rationing their goods, while many petrol stations are short of gas. In the capital Tripoli, most ATMs were out of cash this week.
Firas Zreeg, 37, told AFP while weaving through a crowded supermarket that the economy was deteriorating, blaming currency speculators for the fall in the dinar, "which has negative repercussions on our daily lives".
The price of cooking oil has doubled in recent weeks, while meat and poultry prices rose by half.
Refills of gas cylinders, officially priced at 1.5 dinars ($0.24) but often unavailable through state-run distributors, now sell for 75 dinars ($11.85) on the black market and at times more.

'Burden on citizens'

Libya has struggled to recover from the chaos that erupted following the 2011 Arab Spring uprising that toppled Gaddafi.
It remains divided between a UN-recognised government based in Tripoli and an eastern administration backed by military strongman Khalifa Haftar.
The country has largely been stable in recent years although there have been bouts of deadly violence, including the killing of Gaddafi's son and heir apparent Seif al-Islam this month.
With security holding, many Libyans are more focused on their livelihoods.
Last month, the central bank in the western territory devalued the dinar -- the second time in less than a year -- by nearly 15 percent, "aimed at preserving financial and monetary stability and ensuring the sustainability of public resources".
In an address this week, Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah acknowledged that the devaluation had once again "put the burden on citizens".
Hanna Tetteh, head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya, warned on Wednesday that "poverty and pressure on society [are] increasing".
"The situation, in addition to the fragile security landscape, should be a matter for concern as such conditions can lead to unexpected political and security challenges," she told the UN Security Council.
Libya's other economic problems included the absence of a unified national budget, in light of its political divide, as well as uncoordinated public spending due to parallel state institutions, Tetteh said.
Revenues from the oil industry were also declining, she added, while the central bank has said public spending is growing at an unsustainable pace.
On Tuesday, Libya marked 15 years since the start of the uprising that eventually toppled Gaddafi, with fireworks lighting up the sky in Tripoli, but for many Libyans life remains a struggle.
"Minor improvements in security were made over the past three years," Zreeg told AFP, but Libyans are still faced with huge economic challenges.
str-rb/iba/bou/ris/axn/dc

conflict

Hezbollah vows resistance after deadly Israeli strike

  • They came hours after an Israeli strike on the country's largest Palestinian refugee camp in the south killed two people, according to the health ministry, with Israel's army saying it had targeted Hamas.
  • Hezbollah warned Saturday that it would have no choice but to fight on after an Israeli strike on targets in Lebanon killed eight of its operatives.
  • They came hours after an Israeli strike on the country's largest Palestinian refugee camp in the south killed two people, according to the health ministry, with Israel's army saying it had targeted Hamas.
Hezbollah warned Saturday that it would have no choice but to fight on after an Israeli strike on targets in Lebanon killed eight of its operatives.
Lebanon's government has vowed to disarm Hezbollah, but Israel insists it retains the right to defend itself by striking the Iran-backed militant group.
On Friday, the Israeli military said it had hit Hezbollah command centres in eastern Lebanon and targets linked to the Palestinian group Hamas in the south.
Hezbollah said Saturday that eight of its fighters had been killed, after Lebanon's health ministry said 10 people died in the east and two in the south. 
"What happened yesterday in the Bekaa is a new massacre and a new aggression," Hezbollah official Mahmud Qamati said, in a speech broadcast by the Al-Manar network. 
"What option do we have left to defend ourselves and our country? What option do we have other than resistance? We no longer have any option."
Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun also condemned the attacks, which came just days after the government said the army will start implementing the second phase of its plan to disarm Hezbollah in the south of the country.
The strikes came as tensions were also building between the United States and Iran, with US President Donald Trump threatening military action over the Islamic republic's nuclear programme.
Iran backs several armed groups in the region, including Hezbollah and Hamas.
In Lebanon's eastern city of Baalbek, a mass funeral was held for commander Hussein Mohammad Yaghi and one of the fighters, with hundreds of people gathered, waving Hezbollah flags and chanting support.
A Hezbollah official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP all eight members of the group were attending a meeting in the eastern Bekaa region when a strike killed them.
The Israeli military said it had targeted "several terrorists of Hezbollah's missile array in three different command centres in the Baalbek area".
An AFP correspondent in eastern Lebanon saw a bulldozer clearing debris following the strike on Bednayel, and a heavily damaged building between Riyak and Ali al-Nahri, where the Hezbollah official said the members were meeting.
The raids were against targets in residential areas, according to the correspondent.
They came hours after an Israeli strike on the country's largest Palestinian refugee camp in the south killed two people, according to the health ministry, with Israel's army saying it had targeted Hamas.
In a statement, Hamas condemned the attack, which it said led to civilian casualties as the targeted building "belongs to the joint security force charged with maintaining security and stability in the camp".

'Act of aggression'

Israel has kept up regular strikes on Lebanon despite a November 2024 ceasefire that sought to halt more than a year of hostilities with Hezbollah, usually saying it is targeting the group, but occasionally also Hamas militants.
Aoun called Friday's attacks "a blatant act of aggression aimed at thwarting diplomatic efforts" by the United States and other nations to establish stability.
Washington is one of five members of a multinational committee overseeing the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, with the body scheduled to meet again next week.
Hezbollah lawmaker Rami Abu Hamdan said the group "will not accept the authorities acting as mere political analysts, dismissing these as Israeli strikes we have grown accustomed to before every meeting of the committee".
He called on Beirut to "suspend the committee's meetings until the enemy ceases its attacks".
Lebanon's government last year committed to disarming the group, with the army saying last month it had completed the first phase of the plan covering the area near the Israeli border.
Israel, which accuses Hezbollah of rearming since the war, has called the Lebanese army's progress on disarming the militant group insufficient.
Against the backdrop of the tensions between Washington and Iran, Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem said last month that any attack on the group's backer would also be an attack on the militants.
nad/dc/amj

diplomacy

Brazil, India ink critical minerals deal as leaders meet

BY ABHAYA SRIVASTAVA

  • "President Lula gave a very detailed presentation on Brazil's substantial critical minerals and rare earth reserves," P. Kumaran told reporters at a media briefing.
  • India and Brazil agreed to boost cooperation on critical minerals and rare earths on Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said after talks in New Delhi with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
  • "President Lula gave a very detailed presentation on Brazil's substantial critical minerals and rare earth reserves," P. Kumaran told reporters at a media briefing.
India and Brazil agreed to boost cooperation on critical minerals and rare earths on Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said after talks in New Delhi with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
"The agreement on critical minerals and rare earths is a major step towards building resilient supply chains," Modi said.
Brazil has the world's second-largest reserves of critical minerals, which are used in everything from electric vehicles, solar panels and smartphones to jet engines and guided missiles.
India, seeking to cut its dependence on top exporter China, has been expanding domestic production and recycling while scouting for new suppliers.
"Increasing investments and cooperation in matters of renewable energies and critical minerals is at the core of the pioneering agreement that we have signed today," Lula said.
The details of the deal were not immediately available but a senior Indian foreign ministry official said official discussions were underway.
"President Lula gave a very detailed presentation on Brazil's substantial critical minerals and rare earth reserves," P. Kumaran told reporters at a media briefing.
"He said only 30 percent of their reserves have been explored and that there is substantial scope for exploration, processing minerals and also using them."

'Reflection of trust'

Nine other agreements and memoranda of understanding were finalised on Saturday, covering digital cooperation, health, entrepreneurship and other fields.
"Brazil is India's largest trade partner in Latin America. We are committed to taking our bilateral trade beyond $20 billion in the coming five years," Modi said.
"Our trade is not just a figure, but a reflection of trust."
Lula, who arrived in New Delhi on Wednesday for a summit on artificial intelligence, is accompanied by a delegation of more than a dozen ministers as well as business leaders.
On Saturday, he was given a ceremonial welcome and paid tribute to India's independence hero Mahatma Gandhi, before holding the meeting with Modi.
With China holding a near-monopoly on rare earths production, some countries are seeking alternative sources.
Rishabh Jain, an expert with the Delhi-based Council on Energy, Environment and Water think tank, said India's growing cooperation with Brazil on critical minerals complements recent supply chain engagements with the United States, France and the European Union.
While these partnerships grant India access to advanced technologies, finance and high-end processing capabilities, "Global South alliances are critical for securing diversified, on-ground resource access and shaping emerging rules of global trade", Jain told AFP.

'New momentum'

India, the world's most populous nation, is the 10th largest market for Brazilian exports, with bilateral trade topping $15 billion in 2025.
Key Brazilian exports to India include sugar, crude oil, vegetable oils, cotton and iron ore.
Demand for iron ore has been driven by rapid infrastructure expansion and industrial growth in India, which is on track to become the world's fourth largest economy.
Modi said that "our cooperation in the defence sector is also continuously growing," hailing a "win-win partnership".
"When India and Brazil work together, the voice of Global South becomes stronger and more confident."
Speaking at a business forum later in the day, Lula said Brazil was ready to cooperate in one of the world's largest global defence markets.
"We do not want only to sell," he said. "We want to buy, invest, and consolidate our presence in India, with technology transfer and training of personnel."
Brazilian firms have been expanding in the South Asian nation, with Embraer and Adani Group announcing plans last month to build aircraft in India.
On Sunday, Lula will travel on to South Korea for meetings with President Lee Jae Myung and to attend a business forum.
asv-abh/ceg

Global Edition

Global summit calls for 'secure, trustworthy and robust AI'

BY KATIE FORSTER

  • The UN General Assembly has confirmed 40 members for a group called the Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence.
  • Dozens of nations including the United States and China called for "secure, trustworthy and robust" artificial intelligence, in a summit declaration on Saturday criticised for being too generic to protect the public.
  • The UN General Assembly has confirmed 40 members for a group called the Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence.
Dozens of nations including the United States and China called for "secure, trustworthy and robust" artificial intelligence, in a summit declaration on Saturday criticised for being too generic to protect the public.
The statement signed by 86 countries did not include concrete commitments to regulate the fast-developing technology, instead highlighting several voluntary, non-binding initiatives.
"AI's promise is best realised only when its benefits are shared by humanity," said the statement, released after the five-day AI Impact Summit.
It called the advent of generative AI "an inflection point in the trajectory of technological evolution".
"Advancing secure, trustworthy and robust AI is foundational to building trust and maximising societal and economic benefits," it said.
The summit -- attended by tens of thousands including top tech CEOs -- was the fourth annual global meeting to discuss the promises and pitfalls of AI, and the first hosted by a developing country.
Hot topics discussed included AI's potential societal benefits, such as drug discovery and translation tools, but also the threat of job losses, online abuse and the heavy power consumption of data centres.
Analysts had said earlier that the summit's broad focus, and vague promises made at the previous meetings in France, South Korea and Britain, would make strong pledges or immediate action unlikely.

US signs on

The United States, home to industry-leading companies such as Google and ChatGPT maker OpenAI, did not sign last year's summit statement, warning that regulation could be a drag on innovation.
"We totally reject global governance of AI," US delegation head Michael Kratsios said at the summit on Friday.
The United States signed a bilateral declaration on AI with India on Friday, pledging to "pursue a global approach to AI that is unapologetically friendly to entrepreneurship and innovation".
But it also put its name to the main statement, the release of which was originally expected on Friday but was delayed by one day to maximise the number of signatories, India's government said.
Amba Kak, co-executive director of the AI Now Institute, criticised the lack of a meaningful declaration, saying it was just "another round of generic voluntary promises". 
"The fact that this declaration drew such wide endorsement, especially from the US, which held out in Paris, tells you what kind of agenda it is: one that is AI-industry approved, not one that meaningfully protects the public," she told AFP.
Saturday's summit declaration struck a cautious tone on AI safety risks, from misinformation and surveillance to fears of the creation of devastating new pathogens.
"Deepening our understanding of the potential security aspects remains important," it said.
"We recognize the importance of security in AI systems, industry-led voluntary measures, and the adoption of technical solutions, and appropriate policy frameworks that enable innovation."
On jobs, it emphasised reskilling initiatives to "support participants in preparation for a future AI driven economy".
And "we underscore the importance of developing energy-efficient AI systems" given the technology's growing demands on natural resources, it said.

'Unacceptable risk'

Computing expert and AI safety campaigner Stuart Russell told AFP that Saturday's commitments were "not completely inconsequential".
"The most important thing is that there are any commitments at all," he said.
Countries should "build on these voluntary agreements to develop binding legal commitments to protect their peoples so that AI development and deployment can proceed without imposing unacceptable risks", Russell said.
Some visitors had complained of poor organisation, including chaotic entry and exit points, at the vast summit and expo site in Delhi.
The event was also the source of several viral moments, including the awkward refusal of rival US tech CEOs -- OpenAI's Sam Altman and Dario Amodei of Anthropic -- to hold hands on stage.
The next AI summit will take place in Geneva in 2027. In the meantime, a UN panel on AI will start work towards "science-led governance", the global body's chief Antonio Guterres said Friday.
The UN General Assembly has confirmed 40 members for a group called the Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence.
India has used the summit to push its ambition to catch up with the United States and China in the AI field, including through large-scale data centre construction powered by new nuclear plants.
Delhi expects more than $200 billion in investments over the next two years, and US tech giants unveiled a raft of new deals and infrastructure projects in the country during the summit.
kaf/abh/pbt

conflict

Venezuela grants amnesty to 379 political prisoners

BY ANDREA TOSTA

  • National Assembly deputy Jorge Arreaza, the lawmaker overseeing the amnesty process, said in a televised interview on Friday that the 379 prisoners "must be released, granted amnesty, between tonight and tomorrow morning."
  • Venezuelan authorities have granted amnesty to 379 political prisoners, a lawmaker said Friday, after a new law was enacted by interim authorities following the US toppling of former leader Nicolas Maduro.
  • National Assembly deputy Jorge Arreaza, the lawmaker overseeing the amnesty process, said in a televised interview on Friday that the 379 prisoners "must be released, granted amnesty, between tonight and tomorrow morning."
Venezuelan authorities have granted amnesty to 379 political prisoners, a lawmaker said Friday, after a new law was enacted by interim authorities following the US toppling of former leader Nicolas Maduro.
Venezuela's National Assembly unanimously adopted the law a day before, providing hope that hundreds of political prisoners behind bars may soon be released.
National Assembly deputy Jorge Arreaza, the lawmaker overseeing the amnesty process, said in a televised interview on Friday that the 379 prisoners "must be released, granted amnesty, between tonight and tomorrow morning."
"Requests have been submitted by the Public Prosecutor's Office to the competent courts to grant amnesty measures," he said.
Opposition figures have criticized the new legislation, which appears to include carveouts for some offenses previously used by authorities to target Maduro's political opponents.
It explicitly does not apply to those prosecuted for "promoting" or "facilitating... armed or forceful actions" against Venezuela's sovereignty by foreign actors.
Interim President Delcy Rodriguez has leveled such accusations against opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who hopes to return to Venezuela at some point from the United States.
The law also excludes members of the security forces convicted of "terrorism"-related activities.
"Many of us are aware that the amnesty law does not cover our relatives," Hiowanka Avila, 39, told AFP outside the Rodeo 1 prison near Caracas, where many of the detainees are ex-soldiers or officers.
Her brother Henryberth Rivas, 30, was arrested in 2018 for allegedly taking part in an assassination attempt against Maduro using armed drones.
Arreaza said earlier that "the military justice system will handle" relevant cases for members of the armed forces, "and grant benefits where appropriate."

A long wait

Many relatives of prisoners across Venezuela have waited outside jails for weeks for the potential release of their loved ones.
Hundreds have already been granted conditional release by Interim President Delcy Rodriguez's government since the deadly US raid that seized Maduro.
The NGO Foro Penal had said before the announcement that some 650 were detained, a toll that has not been updated since.
Foro Penal director Alfredo Romero said Friday that receiving "amnesty is not automatic," but would require a process in the courts, viewed by many as an arm of Maduro's repression.
Rodriguez defended her government Friday in a speech on state television, saying "we are building a more democratic, more just, and freer Venezuela, and it must be with the effort of everyone."

'Completely free'

Opposition politician Juan Pablo Guanipa, a Machado ally, announced his release from detention shortly after the bill was passed.
Earlier this month he had been freed from prison but then quickly re-detained and kept under house arrest.
"I am now completely free," Guanipa wrote on social media.
He called for all other political prisoners to be freed and exiles to be allowed to return.
Earlier on Friday, he rallied with supporters in his hometown of Maracaibo, Venezuela's second city.
The legislation has also faced criticism from rights groups over its potential use to excuse abuses under Maduro and his predecessor Hugo Chavez.
Exiled Venezuelan opposition figurehead Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia on Friday said there would be "no lasting reconciliation without memory or responsibility" in his country.
"A responsible amnesty is the transition from fear to the rule of law. It is the pledge that power will not be exercised again without limits and that the law will be above force," Gonzalez Urrutia wrote on X.
Exiled in Spain, Gonzalez Urrutia is widely considered the rightful victor of 2024 presidential elections marred by fraud allegations in which Maduro was declared the winner.
Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Venezuelans have been jailed in recent years over plots, real or imagined, to overthrow the government of Maduro -- who was taken to New York to stand trial on drug trafficking and other charges.
Rodriguez was formerly Maduro's vice president and took his place as the South American country's leader with the consent of US President Donald Trump, provided that she toe Washington's line.
The United States has taken over control of Venezuela's oil sales, with Trump vowing a share for Washington in the profits.
bur-des/ane/jfx

Trump

Trump, once unstoppable, hits snag after snag ahead of major US address

BY AURéLIA END

  • "I've won affordability," Trump said during a speech in the southeastern state of Georgia on Thursday.
  • For a year, Donald Trump has governed the United States with little standing in his way.
  • "I've won affordability," Trump said during a speech in the southeastern state of Georgia on Thursday.
For a year, Donald Trump has governed the United States with little standing in his way.
Now, as the president prepares for his State of the Union address on Tuesday, he's weighed down with Supreme Court reversals on tariffs, souring public opinion on his immigration crackdown and mounting economic concerns.
Trump is unlikely to back down in his speech, a primetime American political institution where the president is invited by Congress to present his accomplishments and lay out his agenda.
But his boasts will have less sting on Democrats -- and world leaders -- who have up to this point been bulldozed by his agenda.
On Friday, the Supreme Court delivered a sharp rebuke of his use of tariffs, which he slapped on countries often arbitrarily via a simple order on social media in an effort to gain leverage over diplomatic matters sometimes wholly unrelated to trade.
The same day, the government data showed the US economy expanded at a 1.4 percent annual rate in the October to December period -- significantly below the 2.5 percent pace that analysts had forecasted for the quarter.
Polls meanwhile show growing dissatisfaction with the cost of living as well as Trump's crackdown on undocumented immigrants.

Cost-of-living concerns

Trump's strategy so far on inflation has been to cede no ground.
"I've won affordability," Trump said during a speech in the southeastern state of Georgia on Thursday.
But "you cannot out-message the economy. People know what they are spending," Todd Belt, a political science professor at George Washington University, told AFP.
"People become very resentful when being told something they know is not true," he said -- which applies to both the cost of living but also the crackdown on immigrants, which many Americans had falsely believed would focus on deporting violent criminals.
American voters have proven extremely sensitive to economic issues, which in part sunk Trump's predecessor Joe Biden but now threaten Republicans.
As midterms approach in November, the House of Representatives and a third of the Senate will be up for grabs.
Trump has already warned that if Democrats take control they could try to impeach him.

Backing down?

Even the normally bombastic Trump has been cowed in recent days, including when a racist video of Barack Obama -- the country's first Black president -- was posted onto his Truth Social account.
The White House tried to brush off the issue before claiming that an unnamed aide posted it, as even loyal members of Congress broke ranks to criticize the president.
After federal immigration agents shot and killed two US citizens during their wide-sweeping operations in Minneapolis, the administration announced it was scaling back the deployment in the city, which was the scene of mass protests.
On the international scene, a US-Denmark-Greenland working group has been established to discuss Washington's security concerns in the Arctic, but Trump has had to dial back his threats to seize Greenland.
He has imposed an across-the-board 10 percent tariff on imports into the United States after the Supreme Court rebuffed his previous tariffs Friday -- but that still means some nations are now trading at reduced rates than they had agreed to under his previous levies.
The administration has vowed to find other ways to implement tariffs as it decried the court's "lawlessness." 
In the meantime, challenges to Trump's policies are slowly winding their way through the courts.
But while Trump has been chastened, the House and the Senate still remain in Republican control -- for now. And Trump himself will be in the White House until 2029.
aue/vla/nro/sla/ane

court

What's next after US Supreme Court tariff ruling?

BY BEIYI SEOW

  • There will be "more uncertainty, more volatility for businesses to navigate, and more fraught trade deals for countries to negotiate," Lipsky added.
  • The Supreme Court's striking down of President Donald Trump's global tariffs, while a relief to many, heralds more months of uncertainty as US businesses brace for new levies and a fight for refunds plays out.
  • There will be "more uncertainty, more volatility for businesses to navigate, and more fraught trade deals for countries to negotiate," Lipsky added.
The Supreme Court's striking down of President Donald Trump's global tariffs, while a relief to many, heralds more months of uncertainty as US businesses brace for new levies and a fight for refunds plays out.
What comes next after the conservative-majority court's decision?

Long road to refunds

The ruling sets up a long fight for tariff refunds, as the duties, now deemed illegal, generated some $133.5 billion from January 2025 to mid-December.
The top court did not address the refunds issue, and analysts say this will be decided by lower courts in the coming months.
The US Court of International Trade is expected to manage this process, said ING analysts Carsten Brzeski and Julian Geib.
"Refunds won't come automatically, as any importer that wants its money back must sue individually," they said.
"This process has already kicked off, with over 1,000 corporate entities now involved in a legal fight."
Trump told reporters Friday: "We'll end up being in court for the next five years."

More volatility

Hours after the court decision, Trump vowed to impose a new 10-percent tariff on imports under an alternative authority.
This is widely seen as a temporary move to pave the way for more durable tariffs, but is set to trigger other challenges and upheaval in the meantime.
The law Trump is tapping for this tariff -- Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 -- only allows for a duty of 150 days unless Congress extends it.
Trump has said there will be new investigations of unfair trade practices under Section 301, a path towards more lasting duties.
Josh Lipsky, chair of international economics at the Atlantic Council, said Friday's ruling merely "opens a new chapter" in Trump's tariff policy.
There will be "more uncertainty, more volatility for businesses to navigate, and more fraught trade deals for countries to negotiate," Lipsky added.

Losing speed

But for now, the court's decision "removes one of Trump's fastest tools for imposing broad tariffs," said ING.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News on Friday that tariffs based on the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) "were custom made for President Trump to assert leverage" against other countries.
"We were able to bring them to the table very quickly," he said.
"We will get back to the same tariff level for the countries," Bessent vowed. "It will just be in a less direct and slightly more convoluted manner."

Trade deal uncertainty?

With tariffs imposed via emergency economic powers forming the basis of recent trade talks, analysts warned that some partners may try to rethink their commitments.
Lipsky expects economies that have already made deals to keep them rather than "risk unraveling an agreement which at least has provided some stability."
But those still finalizing deals may have more leverage now.
Asia Society Policy Institute senior vice president Wendy Cutler expects that walking away from announced deals "does not seem to be in the cards for our partners."
"They know all too well that such a step could end up leaving them in a worse position with the White House," she said.

Lower tariffs?

With the Supreme Court ruling, consumers "face an overall average effective tariff rate of 9.1 percent, which remains the highest since 1946 excluding 2025," according to The Budget Lab at Yale University.
This is down from 16.9 percent.
Despite Trump's plan to move towards more lasting duties, Navy Federal Credit Union chief economist Heather Long expects Friday's ruling "will force a reset in tariff policy."
She anticipates this is "likely to lead to lower overall tariff rates and a more orderly imposition of future tariffs." 
bys/nro

protest

Police battle opposition protesters in Albanian capital

BY BRISEIDA MEMA

  • Police fired tear gas and water cannon to force the crowd away.
  • Albanian police on Friday fired water cannon and tear gas to break up new anti-corruption protests by opposition right-wing demonstrators who hurled fireworks and homemade petrol bombs.
  • Police fired tear gas and water cannon to force the crowd away.
Albanian police on Friday fired water cannon and tear gas to break up new anti-corruption protests by opposition right-wing demonstrators who hurled fireworks and homemade petrol bombs.
Thousands of followers of the Democratic Party (PD) of former prime minister Sali Berisha first gathered outside the government headquarters demanding that socialist Prime Minister Edi Rama quit.
"We will save Albania from Edi Rama, who has plunged the country into poverty and corruption," Berisha, 81, told the crowd. "He is just a political corpse."
But Berisha had to end his speech soon after when some protesters launched fireworks and petrol bombs at the government building. Police fired tear gas and water cannon to force the crowd away.
Berisha then led the demonstrators toward the parliament building where they were confronted by police including anti-riot forces.
Police and demonstrators battled each other for about two hours in the streets around parliament, an AFP journalist witnessed.
Police said about 30 people were arrested. The Democratic Party said about 40 of its followers had been detained.
Interior Minister Albana Kociu condemned the "vandalism", saying in a social media post that it was a "crime" to attack police.
Albanian politics has frequently been marked by bitter quarrels inside and outside parliament between the left-wing and right-wing parties, who regularly accuse each other of corruption and working with organised crime.
Tensions have risen again since November when deputy prime minister Belinda Balluku, a close associate of Rama, was suspended over a corruption scandal that is now under investigation.
Charged over the award of infrastructure contracts, Balluku has rejected the accusations by prosecutors.
Several former ministers in Rama's governments have been targeted by corruption investigations.
Berisha was also accused of awarding public contracts to associates when he was in power, but denied the accusations.
Albania's fight against corruption has been a particular focus of the European Union in its membership talks with the Tirana government.
bme-rus/tw/rlp

Global Edition

Stocks rise after court ruling against US tariffs

  • The market is not "surprised by what it heard from the Supreme Court and at the same time, it's not surprised that the Trump administration is already touting its ability to make up for the lost revenue that would come from revoking the tariffs," said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare.
  • Wall Street stocks advanced Friday as markets digested a US Supreme Court decision striking down some of the White House's sweeping tariffs and President Donald Trump's response vowing new levies.
  • The market is not "surprised by what it heard from the Supreme Court and at the same time, it's not surprised that the Trump administration is already touting its ability to make up for the lost revenue that would come from revoking the tariffs," said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare.
Wall Street stocks advanced Friday as markets digested a US Supreme Court decision striking down some of the White House's sweeping tariffs and President Donald Trump's response vowing new levies.
The conservative-majority top court ruled six-three that a 1977 law known as the International Emergency Economic Powers Act Trump has relied on "does not authorize the president to impose tariffs." 
A furious Trump, who nominated two of the justices who repudiated him, said he was "absolutely ashamed" of some justices "for not having the courage to do what's right for our country" and vowed to impose a uniform tariff of 10 percent under a separate authority.
Wall Street stocks, which had opened lower following disappointing US economic data, pushed into positive territory and also ended higher following a choppy session. The S&P 500 ended up 0.7 percent.
Some analysts said they expect the ruling to lead to lower inflation, but others described the situation as fundamentally uncertain.
The market is not "surprised by what it heard from the Supreme Court and at the same time, it's not surprised that the Trump administration is already touting its ability to make up for the lost revenue that would come from revoking the tariffs," said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare.
Mark Malek, chief investment officer at Siebert Financial, described the ruling as throwing a "pretty large wrench into the policy machine," predicting that policy uncertainty would remain "elevated."
Jeff Buchbinder, chief equity strategist for LPL Financial, predicted Trump would likely pivot to a different legal strategy.
"However, if lower tariffs help cool inflation, it could firm up expectations for Fed rate cuts later this year," Buchbinder said in a note.
In Europe, a closely watched survey on Friday showed that business activity in the eurozone accelerated in February, indicating that the region's economy is on a more stable footing. 
British firms also boosted output in February, according to the purchasing managers' index published by S&P Global.
London's FTSE 100 stock index hit a fresh record high, as did the CAC 40 in Paris.
In Asia, Hong Kong fell as it reopened from a three-day break for the Lunar New Year, and Tokyo was also down. 
Oil prices, which surged to multi-month highs this week on US suggestions of military action against Iran, moved sideways as markets kept an eye on geopolitics.
Trump had suggested on Thursday that "bad things" would happen if Tehran did not strike a deal within 10 days, which he subsequently extended to 15.
Asked by a reporter on Friday whether he was contemplating a limited military strike, Trump answered: "The most I can say -- I am considering it."
Also Friday, data showed the US economy expanded at a 1.4 percent annual rate in the October to December period, significantly below the 2.5 percent pace that analysts had forecasted for the quarter.
The period included a lengthy US government shutdown amid a budget fight between Trump and Congress.
"At first glance the first reading of fourth quarter GDP was very disappointing," said Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer at Northlight Asset Management.
"However, the government was shut down for almost half the quarter," he added.

Key figures at around 2110 GMT

New York - Dow: UP 0.5 percent at 49,625.97 (close)
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burs-jmb/sla

royals

UK govt considers removing ex-prince Andrew from line of succession

BY JO BIDDLE WITH AKSHATA KAPOOR IN SANDRINGHAM

  • The government would consider introducing legislation to remove Mountbatten-Windsor from the line of succession once the police investigation is over, sources told AFP. The former prince was arrested on Thursday at his new home on the king's remote Sandringham estate in eastern Norfok on suspicion of misconduct in public office.
  • The British government on Friday mulled passing a law to remove former prince Andrew from the line of succession, as police stepped up investigations into his conduct, quizzing the disgraced royal's former protection officers.
  • The government would consider introducing legislation to remove Mountbatten-Windsor from the line of succession once the police investigation is over, sources told AFP. The former prince was arrested on Thursday at his new home on the king's remote Sandringham estate in eastern Norfok on suspicion of misconduct in public office.
The British government on Friday mulled passing a law to remove former prince Andrew from the line of succession, as police stepped up investigations into his conduct, quizzing the disgraced royal's former protection officers.
Amid a torrent of often tawdry revelations from the files of late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, King Charles III has already stripped his younger brother of all his titles and ousted him from his home in Windsor.
But the son of the late Queen Elizabeth II remains eighth in line to the British throne after Princess Lilibet, the daughter of his nephew, Prince Harry.
The government would consider introducing legislation to remove Mountbatten-Windsor from the line of succession once the police investigation is over, sources told AFP.
The former prince was arrested on Thursday at his new home on the king's remote Sandringham estate in eastern Norfok on suspicion of misconduct in public office.
Public outrage has grown over past months amid a daily drip of information about Andrew's cosy ties to Epstein, and his apparent sharing of confidential information when he was a UK trade envoy from 2001 to 2011.
A YouGov poll conducted after Thursday's arrest -- an unprecendented act against the royal family in the modern era -- showed 82 percent believed he should be removed from his place in line to the throne.
Police on Friday conducted a second day of searches at his former home, the 30-bedroom Royal Lodge in Windsor. These are expected to continue through the weekend.
London's Metropolitan police force said it was seeking information from officers "close" to Andrew about "anything" they "saw or heard during that period of service that may be relevant to our ongoing reviews".
It was also separately working with US authorities to "assess" allegations that multiple flights linked to Epstein helped traffic girls and women in and out of London airports.
At least nine British police forces have confirmed they are looking into claims -- many related to Andrew -- stemming from the latest batch of some three million Epstein files released by the US government last month.
Mountbatten-Windsor -- who was marking his 66th birthday when arrested -- was nowhere to seen on Friday after 11 hours in police custody. 

Deeply unpopular

Britain's newspapers splashed on front pages a photograph of Andrew, looking haggard and wild-eyed as he left a Norfolk police station in a car late Thursday.
Charles issued a rare, personally signed statement insisting "the law must take its course" and sought to carry out business as usual.
But royal commentators highlighted that the first arrest of a senior royal in centuries signalled a moment of peril for the monarchy.
"I think the great challenge for the monarchy in the coming weeks, months, possibly longer, is the various unknowns in this particular crisis moment," said royal expert Ed Owens.
Any charges against Andrew or a trial could be a long time coming, as the investigations proceed.
And the road towards stripping the former prince from the line of succession would also take time, as an act of parliament is needed.
"Before the line of succession could be changed, it would require all 14 countries, where King Charles is also their head of state, as well as the UK, to change the law of succession," said constitutional expert Robert Hazell, from University College London.
Mountbatten-Windsor is now deeply unpopular with Britons.
"I'm really pleased that nobody's above the law," said Jo Mortimer, 64, in the Norfolk town of Aylsham where the former prince was held in custody.

Commercially sensitive

In a November 2010 email from the US documents, seen by AFP, Mountbatten-Windsor appeared to share with the US financier reports on his visit to several Asian countries, among other communications about investment possibilities. 
Epstein had already been convicted in the United States in 2008 of child prostitution.
Official guidance is thought to stipulate that trade envoys have a duty of confidentiality over sensitive commercial or political information related to their official visits.
The ex-prince has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.
But one of Epstein's accusers, Virginia Giuffre, last year recounted in shocking detail in her posthumous memoir claims that she had been trafficked three times to have sex with Andrew, twice when she was 17.
The ex-prince settled a US civil lawsuit in 2022 brought by Giuffre, while not admitting liability.
bur-jkb/tw

conflict

Zelensky says no 'family day' in rare personal interview to AFP

  • "There is no such thing as a family day with the children where we go somewhere," Zelensky, who was elected president in a landslide in 2019, told AFP. He said he tried to find time to be with his wife, Olena, and two children, but could "not every day".
  • Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told AFP on Friday there was "no such thing as a family day", conceding that he was not able to spend much time with his wife and children as the Russian invasion drags into a fifth year.
  • "There is no such thing as a family day with the children where we go somewhere," Zelensky, who was elected president in a landslide in 2019, told AFP. He said he tried to find time to be with his wife, Olena, and two children, but could "not every day".
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told AFP on Friday there was "no such thing as a family day", conceding that he was not able to spend much time with his wife and children as the Russian invasion drags into a fifth year.
The 48-year-old former comedian was speaking to AFP in an exclusive interview inside the presidential palace in Kyiv.
"There is no such thing as a family day with the children where we go somewhere," Zelensky, who was elected president in a landslide in 2019, told AFP.
He said he tried to find time to be with his wife, Olena, and two children, but could "not every day".
"The fact is that I definitely haven't spent much time with them," Zelensky added.
His daughter, Oleksandra, is 21 and his son, Kyrylo, is 13.
"She's very mature," Zelensky said about his daughter.
Speaking to her, "I understand how much I don't know," Zelensky said.
On missing out on parental duties as he leads the country through Europe's biggest conflict since World War II, Zelensky said: "I believe that mothers and grandmothers can raise children better. They can teach them many things."
Though talking about his son, he added: "But there are some things that are very important for a boy to discuss with his father, like men. And that's missing. It's not enough."

'Not to get fat'

The former TV star said he could no longer go to the cinema or the theatre.
"I don't go to stores, I haven't been to a cafe once in all the years of the war."
But he tries to keep up with the latest film releases -- historical drama "Nuremberg" and Oscar-nominated "One Battle After Another" were among his most recently watched movies.
Spending most of his time inside the presidential compound -- when not travelling abroad or visiting troops -- the Ukrainian leader said he is mindful "not to get fat".
"Even a quick 25-30 minute workout is pretty good. Sometimes I do more weight training, but not every time," he told AFP.
"I used to love running outside before the war. I don't run now."
For the first two years of the war, he lived in a bunker inside the heavily guarded presidential quarter of Kyiv.
Kyiv says Russia has hatched plots to try to assassinate Zelensky and much of his routine -- especially his travel movements -- are kept in strict secrecy.
At the start of the invasion, Russian President Vladimir Putin called for him to be toppled in a military coup.
Zelensky said he no longer lives in the bunker, but returns to the image to drive a final jibe.
"The main thing, in my opinion, is that the Russians cannot drive us into a bunker."
"That should distinguish us from them. Even though they walk the streets of Moscow today, believe me, they are in a real bunker."
ant-mmp/jc/tw 

conflict

Zelensky tells AFP that Ukraine is not losing the war

BY ANIA TSOUKANOVA

  • And he told AFP on Friday that Kyiv wants European troops -- earmarked to be deployed in Ukraine in case of a halt in fighting -- to be positioned close to the front.
  • Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told AFP on Friday that his country is not losing its war against Russia, has taken hundreds of square kilometres in a new counteroffensive, and that European troops should deploy right on the front line after any ceasefire.
  • And he told AFP on Friday that Kyiv wants European troops -- earmarked to be deployed in Ukraine in case of a halt in fighting -- to be positioned close to the front.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told AFP on Friday that his country is not losing its war against Russia, has taken hundreds of square kilometres in a new counteroffensive, and that European troops should deploy right on the front line after any ceasefire.
Ukraine's leader was speaking to AFP in an exclusive interview ahead of the four-year anniversary of the Russian invasion, with the outcome of the war -- or the shape of any deal to end the fighting -- still hanging in the balance.
His assessment of the grinding conflict comes as US President Donald Trump is pushing Kyiv to agree a deal with Moscow, and during one of the most difficult winters for Ukraine's exhausted population and stretched military.
"You can't say that we're losing the war. Honestly, we're definitely not losing it, definitely. The question is whether we will win," Zelensky told AFP journalists at the presidential palace in the Ukrainian capital. 
"That is the question -- but it's a very costly question," Zelensky added.
Europe's deadliest war since World War II -- unleashed when Vladimir Putin ordered Russian troops to pour over the Ukrainian border on February 24, 2022 -- has seen tens of thousands of civilians and hundreds of thousands of military personnel killed on both sides.
Russian forces this winter have dramatically escalated a campaign of systematic strikes on Ukrainian energy sites, attacks that have left millions in the cold and dark for weeks in freezing temperatures.
And now Washington and Moscow are both exerting pressure on Kyiv to give up the embattled Donbas region to the Kremlin in any deal to end the four-year war.
"Both the Americans and the Russians say that if you want the war to end tomorrow, get out of Donbas," Zelensky said about the eastern region that Russia has claimed as its own.

Ukraine advancing in south

US-mediated talks in Geneva earlier this week failed to make progress on the key issue of territory in any deal to end the conflict.
Moscow has vowed it will capture the entire Donbas by force if Kyiv does not withdraw, with Putin showing no signs of compromise on his hardline demands to end his four-year invasion.
Ukraine however still controls around one-fifth of the heavily industrialised and fortified Donetsk region, while Russia has seized roughly the entire Lugansk region. The two are together referred to as the Donbas.
Ukraine has repeatedly ruled out pulling its troops out of the region, saying such a move would only embolden Russia.
The demand to cede territory to Russia comes as Kyiv's forces are, according to Zelensky, gaining ground in counterattacks along the southern front line.
"I won't go into too many details," Zelensky said of the advances, "but today I can congratulate our army first and foremost -- all the defence forces -- because as of today, 300 (square) kilometres have been liberated."
He did not say over what timeframe and AFP was unable to verify the claim. 
Military bloggers have suggested some of those gains could have been aided by sweeping outages of Starlink internet terminals across the Ukraine front, after network owner Elon Musk shut them down following a plea from Kyiv.
Zelensky said Kyiv was taking advantage of the situation, but conceded to AFP that Ukrainian forces had also experienced interruptions due to the outages.
"There are problems, there are challenges," Zelensky said.
But the set backs faced by the Russian side are "much more serious."
As well as demanding territorial concessions, the United States and Russia are pressuring Ukraine to hold presidential elections as part of its sweeping plan for a peace deal.
Zelensky, who has said Ukraine could only hold a vote when the war is over, said Russia was only pushing for a quick vote because the Kremlin wants to remove him from power.
"Let's be honest -- the Russians just want to replace me," Zelensky said. 

Security guarantees

"No one wants elections during a war. Everyone is afraid of its destructive effect," he added.
The Ukrainian leader throughout the invasion has dismissed the possibility of holding elections, given that millions of Ukrainians have been forced abroad by the fighting, or are living in occupied territory.
He has cited the obstacles to holding any vote with fighting ongoing, in particular in towns and cities that are being bombarded by Russia.
Zelensky also said he had not decided if he would stand in a future vote.
The 48-year-old former comedian, who swept to a landslide victory in elections in 2019, has said that a ballot can only be held in Ukraine if its allies offer robust security guarantees to dissuade Russian attacks.
And he told AFP on Friday that Kyiv wants European troops -- earmarked to be deployed in Ukraine in case of a halt in fighting -- to be positioned close to the front.
"We would like to see the contingent closer to the front line. Of course, no one wants to stand on the first line, and of course, Ukrainians would like our partners to stand with us on the front line," Zelensky said.
ant-jbr/jc/st