Global Edition

Crunch Hungarian vote sees record turnout, with Orban's rule on line

Global Edition

Crunch Hungarian vote sees record turnout, with Orban's rule on line

BY ANDRAS ROSTOVANYI

  • Based on the latest surveys, "along with the turnout data and the information we've received, we're optimistic -- or rather, cautiously optimistic," Magyar, 45, told reporters after voting closed.
  • The challenger who could end Viktor Orban's 16-year stretch as Hungary's prime minister, Peter Magyar, said he was "cautiously optimistic" about victory after parliamentary elections closed Sunday.
  • Based on the latest surveys, "along with the turnout data and the information we've received, we're optimistic -- or rather, cautiously optimistic," Magyar, 45, told reporters after voting closed.
The challenger who could end Viktor Orban's 16-year stretch as Hungary's prime minister, Peter Magyar, said he was "cautiously optimistic" about victory after parliamentary elections closed Sunday.
Orban -- a nationalist and self-described "thorn" in the EU's side, and a defender of "illiberal democracy" who is close to both US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin -- trailed political newcomer Magyar in pre-election surveys.
The vote Sunday was being closely watched across Europe and in the United States.
Trump threw his weight behind Orban, the European Union's current longest-serving leader, and dispatched US Vice President JD Vance to stand alongside Orban days before the vote -- though the US ambassador to the EU denied any US "meddling". 
Turnout in the election reached a record 77.8 percent at 6:30 pm (1630 GMT), which analysts believed could benefit Magyar.
A voter opinion survey by the Budapest-based think tank 21 Research Centre conducted this week and released after polls closed put the pro-European Tisza party of Magyar at 55 percent, ahead of Orban's Fidesz-KDNP coalition at 38 percent.
Several other surveys gave similar results. 
Based on the latest surveys, "along with the turnout data and the information we've received, we're optimistic -- or rather, cautiously optimistic," Magyar, 45, told reporters after voting closed.
First results were expected later Sunday, but if the race was tight the winner might not be declared until ballot counting was completely finished next Saturday, April 18, according to the National Election Office.

'Full of hope'

"I'm really excited. I came to this event full of hope... I'm optimistic about the change," Orsolya Rozgonyi, a 28-year-old HR manager, told AFP amid Tisza supporters who gathered in Budapest in a festive atmosphere.
The atmosphere was more subdued among hundreds of Fidesz supporters who gathered near the press centre, cordoned off from the press.
Orban, 62, who was seeking a fifth straight term, has transformed his country into a model of "illiberal democracy", publicly clashing with Brussels over rule-of-law issues, as well as over support for war-torn Ukraine. 
Magyar burst onto the scene just two years ago, promising to fight corruption and offering better public services, amassing support against a backdrop of economic stagnation, despite an electoral system skewed in favour of Orban's Fidesz party.
Gergely Gulyas, Orban's chief of staff, told reporters that "on the basis of our own polls we say that the governing parties have a realistic chance of getting the necessary 100 seats to form a majority" in the 199-seat parliament.
Both camps have alleged foreign interference during the campaign in the central European country of 9.5 million people. 
During his visit, Vance attacked the alleged interference in Hungary of Brussels "bureaucrats", while Trump has promised to bring US "economic might" to Hungary if Orban's party secures victory.

'No infringement'

After casting his ballot, Orban repeated warnings of a "major crisis" awaiting Europe.
"Fortunately we have a lot of friends in the world. From America to China to Russia and the Turkish world," he said.
Orban has focused on making Ukraine the central topic of his campaign, portraying the neighbouring country, which is fighting off a Russian invasion, as "hostile" to Hungary.
He also vowed to continue his crackdown against "fake civil society organisations, bought journalists, judges (and) politicians".
Maria Toth, a 31-year-old stay-at-home mother of two, told AFP at a Budapest polling station that "it is so important for us that Viktor Orban stays in power".
"I feel Hungary is under siege from so many directions and big powers like Brussels are trying to dictate how we live," she added.
"If Fidesz wins now, that will clearly mean... a shift towards authoritarianism," Andrea Szabo, a senior research fellow at ELTE University's Centre for Social Sciences, told AFP.
While the opposition fears Orban may not recognise the election results, Gulyas said he didn't see, for now, "any infringement that would put the final result in question".
After voting, Magyar called on voters to report suspected vote-buying, intimidation or other violations, while urging calm.
bur-jza/rmb

US

Trump orders blockade of Hormuz strait after Iran talks fail

BY AFP TEAMS IN TEHRAN, ISLAMABAD, WASHINGTON, BEIRUT, JERUSALEM AND DUBAI

  • "Effective immediately, the United States Navy, the Finest in the World, will begin the process of BLOCKADING any and all Ships trying to enter, or leave, the Strait of Hormuz," Trump said.
  • President Donald Trump ordered the US Navy on Sunday to block the crucial Strait of Hormuz shipping lane, furious with Iran's refusal to surrender its nuclear ambitions after peace talks in Pakistan broke down without an agreement. 
  • "Effective immediately, the United States Navy, the Finest in the World, will begin the process of BLOCKADING any and all Ships trying to enter, or leave, the Strait of Hormuz," Trump said.
President Donald Trump ordered the US Navy on Sunday to block the crucial Strait of Hormuz shipping lane, furious with Iran's refusal to surrender its nuclear ambitions after peace talks in Pakistan broke down without an agreement. 
In response to Trump's announcement, Iran's Revolutionary Guards warned they had traffic in the strategic waterway under their full control and would trap any enemy who tried to challenge it "in a deadly vortex".
In a lengthy declaration on his social media platform, Trump said his eventual goal was to clear the strait of mines and reopen it to all shipping, but that in the meantime Iran must not be allowed to profit from its control of the waterway.
"Effective immediately, the United States Navy, the Finest in the World, will begin the process of BLOCKADING any and all Ships trying to enter, or leave, the Strait of Hormuz," Trump said. "Any Iranian who fires at us, or at peaceful vessels, will be BLOWN TO HELL!"
Iran's parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who led the Iranian delegation in Pakistan, said upon arriving back in Tehran that the country would "not bow to any threats" from Washington.
Tehran has itself been restricting traffic through the strait -- a key route for global oil and gas shipments -- while allowing vessels deemed to be working for friendly countries, such as China, to pass. There have been unconfirmed reports that Tehran plans to charge tolls.
"THIS IS WORLD EXTORTION," Trump said. "I have also instructed our Navy to seek and interdict every vessel in International Waters that has paid a toll to Iran. No one who pays an illegal toll will have safe passage on the high seas. We will also begin destroying the mines the Iranians laid in the Straits."
The US military had said Saturday that two Navy warships transited through the strait to begin clearing it of mines and ensure it was a "safe pathway" for tankers, a claim denied by Tehran.
Iran's Fars news agency reported on Sunday that two Pakistani-flagged oil tankers heading for the strait had turned around.
Fears of renewed fighting rattled an already tense region after the US-Iran talks collapsed.
"I am worried about the continuation of the situation and the return of attacks again," said Imam, an Egyptian housewife living in UAE capital Abu Dhabi.
"I was making a great effort not to pass my tension on to the children."

'Act of extortion'

Trump later in a Fox News interview again threatened Iran's energy infrastructure, before warning he would impose a 50 percent tariff on Chinese imports if Beijing tried to help the Iranian military.
"I could take out Iran in one day. I could have their entire energy everything, every one of their plants, their electric generating plants," he said. 
The president's latest ultimatum appeared to have been triggered by the failure of talks to secure a deal to end the six-week-old war.
Iran's refusal to give up its right to a nuclear programme frustrated the US delegation, led by Vice President JD Vance, White House envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.
"I have always said, right from the beginning, and many years ago, IRAN WILL NEVER HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON!" Trump said. 
"The Blockade will begin shortly. Other Countries will be involved with this Blockade," he added, without specifying which ones.
After the talks -- the highest-level meeting between the two sides since the 1979 Islamic revolution -- Vance warned that Washington had made Tehran its "final and best offer" for a deal, adding: "We'll see if the Iranians accept it."
Ghalibaf said he had "put forward constructive initiatives" but the US team did not win Iran's trust.
Iranian MP Mahmoud Nabavian, also present at the Pakistan talks, posted on X that the excessive US demands included "a joint share with Iran in the benefits of the Strait of Hormuz" alongside removing the country's 60-percent enriched uranium. 
Expert Nicole Grajewski said a US blockade of the strait was "not a minor coercive signal", but would rather be considered an effective renewal of the war.
"It suggests Washington is increasingly disillusioned with diplomacy and more willing to rely on direct military means," said Grajewski, an assistant professor at Sciences Po's Center for International Research.

'War continues'

The failure of the talks will raise concerns that a return to fighting could drive world energy prices higher and further damage shipping and oil and gas facilities.
Pakistan urged both countries to continue respecting the temporary truce.
But concern has grown that the ceasefire could collapse in part because of continued Israeli strikes in Lebanon, where Iran has insisted the truce also applies.
Lebanese and Israeli officials are due to hold talks in Washington on Tuesday.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu paid a visit to troops in southern Lebanon, according to a video posted Sunday, saying the threat of a Hezbollah invasion of northern Israel was removed but the "war continues, including within the security zone in Lebanon".
Tamara, an 18-year-old cashier in Beirut, said focus should remain on her country, where Israeli strikes killed more than 350 people on Wednesday.
"We can't say the war has stopped because there are talks," she said. 
"We mustn't forget the massacre that happened."
burs/dc/jfx/smw

US

'No other way': Mideast prepares for more fighting as talks fail

BY AFP TEAMS IN DOHA, TEHRAN, TEL AVIV AND RIYADH

  • With nerves already battered, President Trump on Sunday ordered an immediate naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, vowing to intercept any ship that pays tolls to Tehran while also preventing Iran from earning future oil revenues. 
  • A sense of dread spread across the Middle East after talks between the US and Iran collapsed, as fears of renewed fighting rattled an already tense region with Donald Trump ordering a naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.  
  • With nerves already battered, President Trump on Sunday ordered an immediate naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, vowing to intercept any ship that pays tolls to Tehran while also preventing Iran from earning future oil revenues. 
A sense of dread spread across the Middle East after talks between the US and Iran collapsed, as fears of renewed fighting rattled an already tense region with Donald Trump ordering a naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.  
Following more than 20 hours of talks in the Pakistani capital Islamabad, US Vice President JD Vance admitted the yawning differences between the US and Iran proved to be insurmountable for the moment. 
What could come next and whether the two sides will continue to respect a two-week ceasefire was anybody's guess as both the Iranian and American delegations departed Pakistan without a deal. 
"Things could change at any moment," said Aishah, a 32-year-old economic consultant based in Doha. 
"It's more about taking each day as it comes."
The failure of the talks, however, did not surprise many in the region. 
"I didn't have a lot of hope for them going in, because the two sides want completely opposite things," Laura Kaufman, a 38-year-old school teacher in Tel Aviv, told AFP. 
"There didn't seem to be anyone willing to actually negotiate."
A recent poll found that only 10 percent of the Israeli public believe the war against Iran had constituted a "significant success, compared to 32 percent who view it as a failure".
In Iran, a brief spell of hope that talks would end the hostilities between the long-time foes was quickly dashed. 
"I really wanted them to make peace," said Mahsa, a 30-year-old employee of an export company in the Iranian capital.
"It's been almost 45 days now that I've seen everyone stressed. It's a bad situation."

'Worried'

Elsewhere in the Middle East, the negotiations' failure only seemed to guarantee more uncertainty. 
"I am worried about the continuation of the situation and the return of attacks again, because they were causing me tension," said Imam, an Egyptian housewife living in the UAE capital of Abu Dhabi.
"I was making a great effort not to pass my tension on to the children."
With nerves already battered, President Trump on Sunday ordered an immediate naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, vowing to intercept any ship that pays tolls to Tehran while also preventing Iran from earning future oil revenues. 
"Any Iranian who fires at us, or at peaceful vessels, will be BLOWN TO HELL!" he wrote. 
The news came as many in the region were hoping for a return to normality. 
Earlier Sunday, Saudi Arabia's energy ministry said its key east-west oil pipeline and other major energy facilities had been restored following attacks by Iran on targets across the Gulf. 
"Of course I am worried that the war will return again," said Amin, a pharmacist living in Saudi Arabia's eastern province, who asked to use a pseudonym for security reasons.   
Back in Iran, a sense of the inevitable had begun to sink in for many people. 
"I would have preferred peace, but I think there is no other way but war and confrontation," said Hamed, 37. 
"Based on what I see and hear, unfortunately we are going to war again and it seems like we will have a long war."
In Lebanon, meanwhile, the ceasefire never started in the first place, with the warring sides disputing whether it was included under the deal as Israel stepped up its strikes there.
Dentist Kamal Qutaish called Lebanon "an arena where the whole world fights", adding much depended on how efforts towards peace progressed. 
"If (negotiations) collapse, it will affect not just us, but the whole world," he said. "Only a madman wouldn't be afraid."
burs-ds/ser/smw/jfx

US

War in the Middle East: latest developments

  • - Trump orders blockade - Earlier Sunday, Trump said he had ordered his navy block "any and all Ships trying to enter, or leave, the Strait of Hormuz", after peace talks in Pakistan between US and Iranian delegations broke down.
  • The latest developments in the Middle East war: - Iran 'will not bow' to threats - Iran's parliament speaker, who led peace talks with the United States in Pakistan, said his country would not give in to threats after US President Donald Trump ordered a naval blockade of the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
  • - Trump orders blockade - Earlier Sunday, Trump said he had ordered his navy block "any and all Ships trying to enter, or leave, the Strait of Hormuz", after peace talks in Pakistan between US and Iranian delegations broke down.
The latest developments in the Middle East war:

Iran 'will not bow' to threats

Iran's parliament speaker, who led peace talks with the United States in Pakistan, said his country would not give in to threats after US President Donald Trump ordered a naval blockade of the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
"If they fight, we will fight, and if they come forward with logic, we will deal with logic," Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said, cited by several Iranian news agencies.
"We will not bow to any threats, let them test our will once again so that we can teach them a bigger lesson."

Lebanon working for Israeli withdrawal

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said he was working to stop the Israel-Hezbollah war and to ensure the withdrawal of Israeli forces.
"We will continue to work to stop this war, to ensure the Israeli withdrawal from all our lands, the return of all the prisoners, to rebuild our destroyed villages and towns, and the safe return of the displaced," said Salam.

Netanyahu says threat of invasion removed

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, visiting troops who invaded southern Lebanon, said Israeli forces had eliminated the threat of an invasion by Hezbollah militants.
"The war continues, including within the security zone in Lebanon," Netanyahu said in a video released by his office.

Israeli tank rams UN vehicles

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said an Israeli tank twice rammed peacekeeping vehicles in the country's south where Israel and Hezbollah have been at war since last month.
Israeli soldiers had also blocked a road in south Lebanon's Bayada "that is used to access UNIFIL positions", it said a statement.

Trump orders blockade

Earlier Sunday, Trump said he had ordered his navy block "any and all Ships trying to enter, or leave, the Strait of Hormuz", after peace talks in Pakistan between US and Iranian delegations broke down.
He said on social media he had ordered the US Navy to "interdict every vessel in International Waters that has paid a toll to Iran. No one who pays an illegal toll will have safe passage on the high seas."

Iran Guards' threat

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said after Trump's announcement that Iranian security forces had full control over the Strait of Hormuz and warned enemies would be trapped in a "deadly vortex" in case of any "wrong move".

Lebanon deaths

Lebanese official media reported extensive Israeli strikes across the country's south as the health ministry said at least five people were killed and the war's overall toll on that front rose to 2,055 dead.
Israel asserts that the Middle East ceasefire does not apply to its military operations in Lebanon targeting the Iran-backed Hezbollah group.

Saudi summons

Saudi Arabia's foreign ministry summoned the ambassador of Iraq to deliver a formal complaint about drone attacks launched from that country, state media reported -- days after a similar complaint from the US. 

Trump threatens China

Trump threatened 50 percent tariffs on Chinese goods imported into the United States if Beijing helped Iran militarily, in comments to Fox News.

Kuwait arrests

Kuwait arrested 24 people, including five former lawmakers, as part of a probe into the "financing of terrorist entities", authorities said.
Gulf states including Kuwait have, since Iran started attacking them, moved against individuals and organisations suspected of links to or supporting Tehran.

Iran toll

Abbas Masjedi, head of the Iranian judiciary's Legal Medicine Organization said 3,375 people in Iran have been killed in the war with the United States and Israel.
Due to reporting restrictions, AFP is not able to access the sites of strikes nor independently verify tolls in Iran.

Ceasefire plea

The foreign minister of Pakistan, whose country mediated the weekend talks, called for the two-week ceasefire agreed by Washington and Tehran to be upheld. 

Putin mediation offer

Russian President Vladimir Putin told his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian that he was ready to help mediate the peace efforts, the Kremlin said.
burs/jj/rmb

Global Edition

Delays mar voting as crisis-hit Peru picks ninth president in decade

BY ANDREW BEATTY

  • In the last decade, Peru's homicide rate has more than doubled.
  • Hours-long delays marred voting in Peru's presidential and legislative elections Sunday, with weary voters hoping to end political chaos that has seen nine presidents ousted or jailed in a decade.
  • In the last decade, Peru's homicide rate has more than doubled.
Hours-long delays marred voting in Peru's presidential and legislative elections Sunday, with weary voters hoping to end political chaos that has seen nine presidents ousted or jailed in a decade.
From the Amazon to the Andes, some 27 million voters will mark half-metre-long ballot papers that list the 35 men and women vying to lead the country.
The frontrunners include a conservative comedian, an autocrat's daughter, and an ex‑mayor who wants to hunt immigrants and likens himself to a cartoon pig. 
There were four-hour-long delays in opening some polling centers, fuelling cries of fraud after the bitterly fought campaign.
At 75 shuttered voting places in metropolitan Lima, furious would-be voters formed long queues under the equatorial sun.
The country's electoral commission blamed delays on a subcontractor who failed to deliver voting materials and said polls would stay open an hour longer.
Many Peruvians are furious with the political class, with backstabbing and corruption prosecutions so common the country built a jail specifically for ex‑presidents. 
"The people can't take it anymore," said Rosenda Lopez, a 47-year-old textile vendor. "I hope someone is elected who works for the community, the community needs it. They are killing us."

Snakes and narcos

Conservative candidates dominated pre‑election polls, suggesting Peru may join a tide of radical right‑wing governments sweeping Latin America who have also aligned themselves with US President Donald Trump.
"I want people to vote for an honest president. That is what I want," said 60-year-old shopkeeper Anita Medrano. "I won't say who I voted for. But not the old or traditional ones. Not them. They already had their chance." 
In the last decade, Peru's homicide rate has more than doubled. Reported extortion cases jumped from 3,200 to 26,500 per year. 
Candidates have tried to outdo each other with hardline solutions -- killing hitmen, deporting migrants, and locking up delinquents in snake‑ringed jungle jails. 
On the eve of the vote, frontrunner Keiko Fujimori told AFP she would "restore order" in her first 100 days by sending the army into jails, deporting illegal migrants, and strengthening the border. 
Pre‑election surveys showed no candidate polling above 15 percent, far short of the 50 percent needed to win outright, meaning a June runoff looks likely. 
The election will also decide the makeup of Congress, which has played a central role in toppling recent leaders.
"We have to end this," said 50-year-old voter Elena Flores. "We are living in a country of drug traffickers."

Familiar name

In an exclusive interview before election day, the favorite Fujimori said she would forge a united front with conservative leaders in the United States, Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, and Bolivia.
"We will ask for special powers -- powers to modernize police stations, and powers for the armed forces to help us control the prisons," she said. 
"We will expel undocumented citizens." This is Fujimori's fourth tilt at the presidency. 
Her father, former president Alberto Fujimori, died in 2024 after serving 16 years in prison for crimes against humanity, bribery, embezzlement and other charges. 
During this campaign, she has tapped nostalgia for his strongman rule. 
"I believe that time and history are giving my father the place he deserves," she said. 
She faces a challenge from former Lima mayor Ricardo Belmont, 80, who has surged late on the back of a large TikTok following. 
"He's collecting votes from left to right, like Pac‑Man," said Patricia Zarate of the Institute of Peruvian Studies. 
Also running are TV comedian Carlos Alvarez and Rafael Lopez Aliaga, a far‑right ex‑mayor who has promised to "hunt" Venezuelans and calls himself "Porky." 
Sociologist David Sulmont said Peru's election shows "a major disconnect" between voters and what politicians are offering. 
Incumbent president Jose Maria Balcazar, who has been in power for less than two months, is barred from running. 
Polls opened at 7:00 am local time and close at 6:00 pm (2300 GMT), an hour later than planned. Voting is compulsory.
bur-arb/des

US

After unsuccessful US-Iran talks, what next for Trump?

BY SUSAN STUMME

  • "Iran already has no trust in Trump," Telhami told AFP. "Hard to understate what this makes of what's left of America's global credibility."
  • The failure of US-Iran peace talks has left President Donald Trump with several unpalatable options, as analysts say his order to blockade the strategic Strait of Hormuz could further complicate his next move.
  • "Iran already has no trust in Trump," Telhami told AFP. "Hard to understate what this makes of what's left of America's global credibility."
The failure of US-Iran peace talks has left President Donald Trump with several unpalatable options, as analysts say his order to blockade the strategic Strait of Hormuz could further complicate his next move.
Any hopes that US Vice President JD Vance would emerge from the marathon day of negotiations with top Iranian officials with a deal to end a war that has rippled across the Middle East were dashed when he left Pakistan emptyhanded.
Protracted talks would undermine Trump's insistence that Iran has "no cards" left to play, while ramping up military action would expose US forces to heightened risk and could alienate voters -- already angry with surging gas prices -- ahead of midterm elections.
And the blockade of the strait through which a fifth of the world's oil moves would do little to ease global economic jitters.
For Brian Katulis, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, Trump's propensity to talk off the cuff and make threats -- what he called the president's "carnival barker" style -- leaves his close aides scrambling to chart a path forward. 
"He may be simply buying more time to move in more military assets or because he doesn't know what else to do. I wouldn't call it a strategy; it is a military-centric approach without strategy," Katulis told AFP.
Shibley Telhami, a professor of peace and development at the University of Maryland and a fellow at the Brookings Institution think tank, says the threat of a blockade was "bewildering and seems self-defeating."
"Iran already has no trust in Trump," Telhami told AFP. "Hard to understate what this makes of what's left of America's global credibility."

'Untrustworthy and duplicitous'

Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards on Sunday pledged that Tehran's enemies would be trapped in a "deadly vortex" if they were to make a wrong move in the strait.
Danny Citrinowicz, a fellow at Israel's Institute for National Security Studies, said a naval blockade would indeed expose US forces to increased risk.
"There is little reason to believe that a blockade would force Iranian capitulation. If anything, Iran's demonstrated resilience thus far suggests the opposite," Citrinowicz wrote on X.
"Iran's geographic scale and military capabilities mean that sustaining such an operation would demand substantial and prolonged allocation of American resources."
And such a prolonged military engagement may not sit well with Americans who say they are worried and stressed about the conflict, which began in late February. 
A CBS News poll published Sunday revealed that worry, stress and anger far outweigh safety and confidence, when those polled were asked how they feel about the war.
More than 80 percent of respondents said the United States should seek to reopen the strait and improve global access to oil, which would bring gas prices down, and make sure that the Iranian people are "free."
But fewer than 10 percent said they believed those goals had been achieved.
"I don't see how, 40-plus days into this war, that we are safer, that our allies are safer. I'm not even sure Israel is safer," Democratic US Senator Mark Warner said Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union" talk show.
"I don't understand how blockading the strait is going to somehow push the Iranians into opening it. I don't get the connection there."
So if the blockade is not an answer, what about more negotiations?
Democratic Senator Tim Kaine suggested that would not be an easy path, given that Trump removed the US from a 2015 accord reached by Tehran and world powers on restricting its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.
"This is not going to be an easy negotiation because the last negotiation that led to a control of Iran's nuclear program, the US made the decision to tear it up and walk away from the deal," Kaine told CNN.
Katulis echoed that idea.
"Iranian officials are also untrustworthy and duplicitous, but the Trump administration is providing the mirror image of that," he said.
"If I were an Iranian official leaving Islamabad, I would wonder if I am back on the Israeli kill list."
sct-sst/mlm

Global Edition

Finance minister favourite as Benin votes for president

BY JOSUE MEHOUENOU

  • - Golden decade - Benin's next elections will only take place in 2033.
  • Benin election officials began counting votes after Sunday's election for a president, with Finance Minister Romuald Wadagni favourite, having overseen a decade of economic growth despite jihadist attacks in the north.
  • - Golden decade - Benin's next elections will only take place in 2033.
Benin election officials began counting votes after Sunday's election for a president, with Finance Minister Romuald Wadagni favourite, having overseen a decade of economic growth despite jihadist attacks in the north.
The head of the electoral commission, Sacca Lafia, said the election had passed off peacefully.
But an electoral monitoring platform set up by civil society groups reported around a hundred incident 'alerts' that morning.
These cases involved voting stations that had opened early or where voting boxes appeared full before the start of voting.
Nearly eight million voters were eligible to cast ballots to choose a successor to Patrice Talon, who steps down after two five-year terms, having endorsed Wadagni as his successor.
"We must vote to ensure a high turnout," said Yvan Glidja, a man in his 30s who turned up early at a school-turned-polling station in the commercial capital Cotonou to vote for Wadagni.
But in the voting stations visited by AFP journalists there were few signs of a strong turn-out for the vote in the west African country.
Voting stations started closing at 4:00 pm (1500 GMT) and the count started soon afterwards.

'Disgruntled'

Wadagni cast his vote to little fanfare in his southwestern home town of Lokossa.
But crowds of clapping supporters greeted Talon, the outgoing president, as he arrived to do the same in Cotonou's business district of Zongo. 
"The best is to come for Benin," he said as he emerged from the polling booth.
"My wish is to see a great and powerful Benin in which everyone finds their place," he added.
While Talon said he intended to retire and would not be seeking to influence his successor, he added: "It is illusory to think that one can fade into the background."
Backed by the two main ruling parties, Wadagni is being challenged by Paul Hounkpe, an opposition figure whose campaign has been very low-key and who needed help from majority lawmakers to secure the required parliamentary endorsements to get on the ballot. 
Casting his ballot in the town of Bopa, where he once served as mayor, Hounkpe called on "all Beninese" to "fulfil their duty... to turn a page" in the country's history.
The main opposition, The Democrats party is not fielding a candidate as its leader, Renaud Agbodjo, failed to secure the required number of parliamentary endorsements needed to contest the vote.
"Usually there are lots of people voting here, but this time voters are only trickling in. The strong opposition is not represented," lamented Aubert Santanna, a retiree who came to perform his civic duty.
The ruling majority blames The Democrats' exclusion over internal divisions. Several senior figures in the party joined Wadagni's campaign.
"The disgruntled haven't disappeared. Tensions and frustration remain high; their electoral hopes have been slaughtered," political analyst Rufin Godjo said of the voters. 
The European Union, the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have all sent substantial teams of poll monitors. 

Golden decade

Benin's next elections will only take place in 2033. A constitutional reform passed last year extended the presidential term from five to seven years and synchronised all elections to take place then. 
A key question for many is the next president's approach to civil liberties after the authoritarian turn taken by Talon.
Many of his opponents were handed heavy sentences for various crimes.
But during Talon's decade in power,
GDP doubled, growth surpassed six percent each year, tourism expanded and numerous infrastructure projects were completed. 
As the architect of this development during his 10 years at the finance ministry, Wadagni embodies continuity. 
But major challenges remain, including a huge wealth gap.
"We expect the future president to do even better than his predecessor. After infrastructure, he must now focus on social issues," said voter Rahim Oke.
The poverty rate is estimated at more than 30 percent with many Beninese complaining that the benefits of growth, much dependent on delivering security, have not reached them.
Benin's north is plagued by increasingly deadly jihadist violence spilling over from the insecurity-ridden Sahel region. 
If elected, Wadagni is expected to be able to count on the loyalty of the army, which played a decisive role in repelling an attempted coup against Talon in December. 
pid-jfm/jj/rmb

US

Trump orders US naval blockade of Strait of Hormuz

  • The US leader slammed Iran for "knowingly" failing to deliver on a pledge to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, writing: "As they promised, they better begin the process of getting this INTERNATIONAL WATERWAY OPEN AND FAST!"
  • President Donald Trump on Sunday ordered a US naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz in the wake of failed peace talks with Iran -- a significant escalation that would test an already fragile ceasefire.
  • The US leader slammed Iran for "knowingly" failing to deliver on a pledge to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, writing: "As they promised, they better begin the process of getting this INTERNATIONAL WATERWAY OPEN AND FAST!"
President Donald Trump on Sunday ordered a US naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz in the wake of failed peace talks with Iran -- a significant escalation that would test an already fragile ceasefire.
In lengthy social media posts and an interview on Fox News, Trump acknowledged that the marathon negotiations in Islamabad had gone "well" and "most points were agreed to."
But he said Tehran had been "unyielding" in its refusal to give up its nuclear ambitions, and had failed to open the strait, through which a fifth of the world's crude oil passes -- a condition of the two-week ceasefire currently in place.
And he threatened China with a massive 50 percent tariff on its goods entering the United States if it decides to help Tehran militarily.
"Effective immediately, the United States Navy, the Finest in the World, will begin the process of BLOCKADING any and all Ships trying to enter, or leave, the Strait of Hormuz," Trump said on his Truth Social platform.
"Any Iranian who fires at us, or at peaceful vessels, will be BLOWN TO HELL!"
Trump initially suggested that "other countries" would be involved in the blockade effort, and then told Fox's "Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo" that Britain "and a couple of other countries" would be sending minesweepers.

'Staggering' tariff threat

US Vice President JD Vance left Pakistan without a deal after weekend talks with a team led by Iran's parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf -- the highest-level meeting between the two sides since the 1979 Islamic revolution.
The talks were meant to solidify a fragile two-week ceasefire with a final deal to end the conflict that has engulfed the Middle East, leaving thousands dead and roiling global markets. But no conclusions were reached.
"We leave here with a very simple proposal, a method of understanding that is our final and best offer. We'll see if the Iranians accept it," Vance told reporters.
Trump said he had been fully debriefed by the US negotiating team of Vance, special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law.
The US leader slammed Iran for "knowingly" failing to deliver on a pledge to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, writing: "As they promised, they better begin the process of getting this INTERNATIONAL WATERWAY OPEN AND FAST!"
Iran has effectively blocked the strait for weeks, since the United States and Israel launched a bombing campaign against the Islamic republic more than six weeks ago.
On Saturday, the US military announced that two of its warships had transited the strait at the start of a mine clearance operation.
Trump on Sunday warned China that it would face a high price if it were to help Tehran militarily at this phase of the war.
"If we catch them doing that, they get a 50 percent tariff, which is a staggering -- that's a staggering amount," Trump told Bartiromo.
He also reiterated a threat to destroy Iranian power plants and other civilian energy infrastructure if no lasting deal is reached, and warned that US forces would "finish up the little that is left of Iran" if necessary.
"We are fully 'LOCKED AND LOADED,'" he wrote.
sst/mlm

Israel

At US-Iran talks, Pakistan's field marshal takes centre stage

BY SAMEER MANDHRO AND CHARLOTTE GREENFIELD

  • In Islamabad, Munir was at the centre of the action -- greeting both delegations on their arrival and displaying remarkable bonhomie with Vance.
  • When US Vice President JD Vance disembarked his plane ahead of high-stakes talks with Iran in Islamabad on Saturday, he was greeted by the powerful Pakistani army chief, his civilian attire blending in with those around him.
  • In Islamabad, Munir was at the centre of the action -- greeting both delegations on their arrival and displaying remarkable bonhomie with Vance.
When US Vice President JD Vance disembarked his plane ahead of high-stakes talks with Iran in Islamabad on Saturday, he was greeted by the powerful Pakistani army chief, his civilian attire blending in with those around him.
The image illustrated what many experts say is Field Marshal Asim Munir's growing role at the centre of Pakistan's foreign relations.
"He is a soldier, a statesman and a diplomat," Islamabad-based political analyst Qamar Cheema told AFP. "Munir has created a momentum for Pakistan at a global level to change Pakistan's perception."
Pakistan's push to get Iran and the United States to the negotiating table for their highest-level face-to-face talks in decades to end weeks of war has garnered international praise -- and some surprise.
In Islamabad, Munir was at the centre of the action -- greeting both delegations on their arrival and displaying remarkable bonhomie with Vance.
During the historic face-to-face trilateral talks, Munir and Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar helped "mediate" the talks, as per the civilian official.
It is a long way to have come for a country that has had a stop-start alliance with Washington, which has often admonished Islamabad when military leaders have toppled civilian governments -- even as it has worked with them.
US President Donald Trump frequently refers to Munir as his "favourite field marshal", after a rapport built during US efforts to defuse a short but intense armed conflict between Pakistan and rival India last year.
Pakistan heaped praise on Trump in the wake of that conflict, with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif nominating him for the Nobel Peace Prize. India has downplayed any US involvement in resolving the crisis.
This weekend's marathon talks ended with Vance announcing he was leaving without a deal, but Pakistan said it would continue to facilitate dialogue.
"Field Marshal Munir through tireless effort, played a key and historic role in extinguishing the flames of war and in bringing both parties to the negotiating table," Sharif said in a televised address a few hours before the talks began.

'Hands-on' role

Munir's rise to represent his country's interests on the global stage has coincided with a consolidation of military power in Pakistan, which has seen the field marshal given unprecedented legal immunity and an extended term. The military as a whole has taken a more prominent role in governance.
Critics and the political opposition say the moves and sweeping constitutional reforms have eroded democracy in the country, with former premier Imran Khan -- who has been outspoken against the military he had earlier worked closely with -- now jailed.
The military has repeatedly denied involvement in Khan's legal cases or meddling in the civilian domain.
"The military now has the deepest ever penetration and control of the economy and judiciary," said Shuja Nawaz, Atlantic Council fellow and author of "The Battle for Pakistan: The Bitter US Friendship and a Tough Neighbourhood".
Pakistan has been directly ruled by its military for nearly half its existence via a series of coups since gaining independence in 1947.
Under both civilian and military governments, foreign affairs has traditionally been considered a domain of interest for Pakistan's military.
Foreign diplomats and dignitaries have long seen a meeting with the military chief in the garrison city of Rawalpindi near the capital to be a key item on their schedules.
Munir, a former intelligence chief, took up his tenure as army chief in 2022 with a lower profile in the diplomatic community than his loquacious predecessor General Qamar Javed Bajwa -- an impression that has since changed in key capitals.
"Field Marshal Asim Munir appears to be far more hands-on in matters of governance and foreign policy than his predecessors," Nawaz told AFP.
"He has proven his ability as an influencer on the global stage largely by his ability to make coherent arguments for Pakistan," he said, adding the close ties Munir had nurtured with regional heavyweights Iran and Saudi Arabia had impressed Trump.
Munir accompanied Sharif during a visit to Washington in June, lunching with Trump. 
That meeting led to the burgeoning relationship between the Pakistani military leader and Trump, who told media "they know Iran very well, better than most" when asked if he'd asked Munir for advice on Iran and Israel, who were then locked in an earlier conflict and trading strikes. 
"Asim Munir's diplomatic status was boosted by the war with India primarily and then his outreach in Washington DC," said Hassan Abbas, a Pakistani-American author of several books on the region's politics and security.
"His pictures and his lunch meeting with President Trump was the factor that changed his international profile," he said. 
As the US and Iranian delegations left Pakistan, Munir was once again on the tarmac to see off the visitors. 
They may not have reached a deal, but both thanked their hosts profusely -- especially Field Marshal Munir.
ceg-sma/aha/lga

DA

Cape Town mayor elected to lead S.Africa's second-largest party

BY BRONWEN ROBERTS

  • - 'Largest party' - Hill-Lewis, the DA's likely presidential contender, said his mission was to grow the party into the largest in South Africa.
  • South Africa's second-largest party, the Democratic Alliance, elected Cape Town's mayor Sunday to lead it into the 2029 national polls, stepping up its drive to take votes away from the faltering ANC. The election of Geordin Hill-Lewis, 39, marks a reset for the centre-right DA that entered a multi-party coalition government in 2024 when the African National Congress (ANC) lost its majority.
  • - 'Largest party' - Hill-Lewis, the DA's likely presidential contender, said his mission was to grow the party into the largest in South Africa.
South Africa's second-largest party, the Democratic Alliance, elected Cape Town's mayor Sunday to lead it into the 2029 national polls, stepping up its drive to take votes away from the faltering ANC.
The election of Geordin Hill-Lewis, 39, marks a reset for the centre-right DA that entered a multi-party coalition government in 2024 when the African National Congress (ANC) lost its majority.
"I am not satisfied being a junior partner in a coalition government," Hill-Lewis said after his widely expected victory was announced. 
"Our ambition must be to lead the national government. That is the next chapter that all of us must write together."
The liberal DA holds six cabinet positions, compared to 20 for the ANC, in a tense unity government that has been credited with restoring some confidence in South Africa after years of crippling corruption and mismanagement.
It also runs the Western Cape province and its capital city, Cape Town, seen as among the better-managed municipalities with many others -- including the economic hub of Johannesburg -- failing to provide reliable basic services such as water and power.
The government of national unity "is a complex and a fraught thing", said Hill-Lewis who has run Cape Town -- a booming international tourist destination -- since 2021. 
But, "It exists because people want cooperation, not chaos," he said.
The ANC was forced to seek coalition partners after it managed only 40 percent of votes at the 2024 elections, a drop from 62 percent at the first-all race vote that ended white minority rule in 1994.
The DA took 22 percent in 2024 and recent polling by the Ipsos market researcher showed a similar level of support ahead of local government polls due between November and January.
The ANC remained the most-supported party with 38 percent, according to the Ipsos survey of 3,600 people released last month.
The party of Nelson Mandela holds its own leadership conference next year ahead of the 2029 general elections. No clear replacement to President Cyril Ramaphosa has emerged.

'Largest party'

Hill-Lewis, the DA's likely presidential contender, said his mission was to grow the party into the largest in South Africa.
Among the country's many crises, his priority was to end lawlessness and crime. 
"We must take back our streets," he said. "We must restore faith in our criminal justice system."
Africa's most industrialised nation has one of the highest murder rates in the world, with an average of more than 60 people killed each day, according to police data.
An unemployment rate of around 31 percent is among the most pressing concerns of the population of 63 million, followed by illegal immigration and corruption, according to a recent survey.
Veteran DA activist and leader, Helen Zille, is the party's candidate for mayor of Johannesburg at the upcoming polls, launching a cheeky campaign that has seen her plunging into some of the city's enormous water-filled potholes. 
Addressing the congress on Saturday, she rejected criticism of the racial make-up of the party whose outgoing leader, John Steenhuisen, was also white.
"We are the party of inclusion not division. We call ourselves the blue people, not black, not white, not brown." 
"Now we are on course to become the largest party in South Africa's metros at the end of the year. From there we move to the next milestone: becoming South Africa's biggest party," she said.
br/pdw

conflict

Ukraine, Russia accuse each other of Easter truce violations

BY BARBARA WOJAZER WITH DARIA NAZAROVA IN ZAPORIZHZHIA

  • While the 32-year-old officer said the truce had not been "fully" observed, the lull had allowed his soldiers of the 33rd Mechanised Brigade to attend an Easter Sunday mass outside in the freezing forest chill.
  • Ukraine and Russia accused each other on Sunday of violating a truce in place for Orthodox Easter thousands of times, as the war dragged through its fifth year.
  • While the 32-year-old officer said the truce had not been "fully" observed, the lull had allowed his soldiers of the 33rd Mechanised Brigade to attend an Easter Sunday mass outside in the freezing forest chill.
Ukraine and Russia accused each other on Sunday of violating a truce in place for Orthodox Easter thousands of times, as the war dragged through its fifth year.
Both sides had agreed to observe the ceasefire, which Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered on Thursday and which Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky proposed more than a week earlier.
But as with a similar agreement last year, only relative calm reigned along the 1,200-kilometre (745-mile) front line.
"As of 7:00 am (0400 GMT) on 12 April, 2,299 ceasefire violations were recorded. Specifically: 28 enemy assault actions, 479 enemy shellings, 747 strikes by attack drones... and 1,045 strikes by FPV drones," the Ukrainian army said in a post on Facebook.
Russia's defence ministry accused Kyiv of nearly 2,000 breaches of its own.
"A total of 1,971 ceasefire violations by units of the Ukrainian armed forces were recorded between 4:00 pm Moscow time on April 12 and 8:00 am on April 12," the ministry said on the state-pushed MAX messenger. 
The Russian ministry claimed Kyiv had fired 258 times using artillery or tanks, carried out 1,329 FPV drone strikes, and dropped "various types of munitions" on 375 occasions, notably via drones.
Moscow also accused the Ukrainian military of launching "three nighttime attacks" against Russian positions and also "four attempts to advance" along the front line, while claiming to have thwarted each.
Zelensky had called for a longer ceasefire in his evening address Saturday, saying Ukraine had put the proposal to Russia.
But in comments aired Sunday, the Kremlin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov rejected any extension unless the Ukrainian leader accepted Russia's "well-known" terms.
"Until Zelensky musters the courage to assume this responsibility, the special military operation will continue after the truce expires," Peskov added, referring to the war in Ukraine.

'Holiday joy'

In a sign that the truce had some effect, the Ukrainian army said it had recorded no long-range Shahed drone attacks, guided aerial bombings or missile strikes.
Ukraine has had to deal with barrages of hundreds of Russian drones on a near-nightly basis, prompting retaliation from Kyiv.
In northeastern Ukraine's Kharkiv region, Lieutenant Colonel Vasyl Kobziak told AFP on Sunday morning that things were "rather calm" in his sector.
While the 32-year-old officer said the truce had not been "fully" observed, the lull had allowed his soldiers of the 33rd Mechanised Brigade to attend an Easter Sunday mass outside in the freezing forest chill.
"Our comrades have the chance, as you can see, to have their Easter baskets blessed and to feel the warmth and joy of this holiday," he told AFP, referring to the religious tradition of priests blessing food and eggs.
The truce had been due to last for 32 hours, from 4:00 pm (1300 GMT) on Saturday until the end of the day on Sunday, according to the Kremlin.
In Russia's Kursk region, which borders Ukraine, Governor Alexander Khinshtein also accused Kyiv of breaking the ceasefire by attacking a gas station in the town of Lgov with a drone, injuring three people, including a baby.
Residents in Ukraine's southern city of Zaporizhzhia were sceptical about Russia's intentions.
"I think they're using this as a cover to reconvene," said 28-year-old manager Vladyslav.
"If we're going to declare a ceasefire, it shouldn't be for just one day," said 58-year-old economist Maryna.

Frontline freeze

Recent months have seen several rounds of US-brokered negotiations fail to bring the warring parties closer to an agreement to stop the fighting, triggered by Russia's February 2022 invasion.
The process has stalled further since the outbreak of the war in the Middle East, with Washington's attention having shifted towards Iran.
But even before the Iran war, progress towards a peace deal in Ukraine had been slow, due to differences over the issue of territory.
Ukraine has proposed freezing the conflict along the current front lines. 
But Russia has rejected this, saying it wants the whole of the Donetsk region despite it being partly controlled by Ukraine -- a demand Kyiv says is unacceptable. 
The war has cost hundreds of thousands of lives and forced millions to flee their homes, making it Europe's deadliest conflict since World War II.
Russia, whose battlefield advances have slowed since last year, has paid a high price in manpower for relatively small territorial gains.
Moscow occupies just over 19 percent of Ukraine, most of which was seized during the first weeks of the conflict.
bur-sbk-cad/sbk

US

Vance says talks failed to reach deal with Iran on ending Mideast war

BY AFP TEAMS IN ISLAMABAD, TEHRAN AND WASHINGTON

  • Iranian demands for any agreement to end the war include unfreezing sanctioned Iranian assets and ending Israel's war against Hezbollah in Lebanon, which Vance has said would not be up for discussion in Islamabad.
  • Iran and the United States failed to reach an agreement to end the war in the Middle East, US Vice President JD Vance said Sunday after marathon talks in Islamabad, adding that he was leaving after giving Tehran the "final and best offer".
  • Iranian demands for any agreement to end the war include unfreezing sanctioned Iranian assets and ending Israel's war against Hezbollah in Lebanon, which Vance has said would not be up for discussion in Islamabad.
Iran and the United States failed to reach an agreement to end the war in the Middle East, US Vice President JD Vance said Sunday after marathon talks in Islamabad, adding that he was leaving after giving Tehran the "final and best offer".
Vance said Washington was seeking a "fundamental commitment" from Iran that it would not develop a nuclear weapon, but that "we haven't seen that" after holding the highest-level meeting between the two sides since the 1979 Islamic revolution.
However, he signalled that he was still giving Iran time to consider the offer from the United States, which on Tuesday said it would pause attacks with Israel for two weeks pending negotiations. 
Pakistan, which hosted the talks and whose leadership had ushered the rival sides to the table, said it would keep facilitating dialogue and urged both countries to continue respecting the temporary truce.
Iran's state broadcaster IRIB said negotiations stalled over "unreasonable demands of the American side", though the country's foreign ministry spokesman later noted that "no one" could have expected that after 40 days of war, they would reach an agreement within one session.
The United States and Israel attacked Iran on February 28, sparking retaliation from Tehran that has plunged the Middle East into conflict and the global economy into tumult. 
Iran and the US had entered the talks mediated by Pakistan with maximalist positions, with Washington piling pressure by saying it had sent minesweeping ships through the vital Strait of Hormuz maritime route.
Signs of strain in the negotiations appeared when Iranian media accused the United States of making "excessive demands" over the strait, through which one-fifth of the world's oil transited before its effective closure by Iran during the war.
US President Donald Trump had also insisted several hours into the talks on Saturday that the United States had already triumphed on the battlefield by killing Iranian leaders and destroying key military infrastructure.
"Whether we make a deal or not makes no difference to me. The reason is because we've won," Trump said.
After 21 hours of talks in the Pakistani capital, Vance told reporters that no deal could yet be struck.
"We leave here with a very simple proposal, a method of understanding that is our final and best offer. We'll see if the Iranians accept it," Vance said, before departing for a nearby airport and flying out of Pakistan.

Leverage

Suggesting efforts to keep the sides talking would continue, Pakistan Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said his government would "continue to play its role to facilitate engagement and dialogue between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States of America in the days to come".
"It is imperative that the parties continue to uphold their commitment to ceasefire," he added. 
The high-stakes meeting had unfolded in Islamabad with intense mistrust by both sides. 
Iran was in the middle of negotiations on its nuclear programme in February with Trump's real-estate friend Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner when the United States and Israel launched their attack. The first salvos of the war killed Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Both Kushner and Witkoff were part of Vance's team in Pakistan. The 70-strong Iranian delegation was led by Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the powerful speaker of parliament, and included Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
Iranian demands for any agreement to end the war include unfreezing sanctioned Iranian assets and ending Israel's war against Hezbollah in Lebanon, which Vance has said would not be up for discussion in Islamabad.
The opening of the Strait of Hormuz has also presented a key friction point.
Iran throughout the war exercised its global economic leverage by asserting control of the important maritime route, sending oil prices soaring and piling political pressure on Trump as Americans complained of rising costs at the pump.
The US military said Saturday that two Navy warships transited through the strait to begin clearing it of mines and ensure it is a "safe pathway" for tankers.
The Iranian military denied that any American warships had entered the waterway and threatened to respond if they do so.
The Revolutionary Guards' Naval Command said Iranian promises of safe passage during a two-week ceasefire applied only to "civilian vessels under specific conditions".
The United States is heavily impacted by soaring oil prices on global markets but imports less directly from the Gulf than many of its European allies -- which Trump has berated for not joining a war that they were not consulted about beforehand.
"We'll open up the strait even though we don't use it, because we have a lot of other countries in the world that do use it that are either afraid or weak or cheap," Trump said.

Lebanon violence

Ghalibaf, speaking shortly after landing in Pakistan, made clear that Iran remained highly suspicious of the United States.
"Our experience in negotiating with the Americans has always been met with failure and broken promises," Ghalibaf said.
Vance said before leaving for Pakistan that if Iran was willing, the United States would "negotiate in good faith" but would not be receptive "if they're going to try to play us".
A major complicating factor has been Israel's assertion that the ceasefire does not affect Lebanon, where the Israeli military has launched massive strikes and a ground invasion in response to fire from Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Shia Muslim movement. 
Lebanese authorities said Israeli strikes on the country's south on Saturday killed 18 people, bringing the death toll from Israel's operations since the war broke out past 2,000.
Israel and Lebanon will hold their own talks next week in Washington. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday that he wanted a peace deal with Lebanon that "will last for generations".
But Israel has ruled out a ceasefire with Hezbollah, signalling it will instead seek to pressure the historically weak central government in Beirut.
burs/hmn/ceg/axn

US

Mideast war takes a bite out of Filipino street food vendors

BY PAM CASTRO

  • Garcia, who begins cooking at 3 am every morning before hauling his stew to a middle-class neighbourhood on a converted motorbike, said an 11 kilo tank of fuel, which typically lasts four days, that once cost 870 pesos (about $14.50) now costs 1,600 pesos.
  • Filipinos like their "pares", a traditional beef stew, served hot -- but the soaring cost of liquefied petroleum gas has made that prospect increasingly difficult since war erupted in the Middle East.
  • Garcia, who begins cooking at 3 am every morning before hauling his stew to a middle-class neighbourhood on a converted motorbike, said an 11 kilo tank of fuel, which typically lasts four days, that once cost 870 pesos (about $14.50) now costs 1,600 pesos.
Filipinos like their "pares", a traditional beef stew, served hot -- but the soaring cost of liquefied petroleum gas has made that prospect increasingly difficult since war erupted in the Middle East.
To save a few pesos 20-year-old Eric Garcia delicately turned a knob to adjust the flame under his warming trays to the lowest setting as he grapples with fuel costs that have nearly doubled in price.
While sticker shock at petrol stations has garnered the biggest headlines since the war forced the partial closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the rising price of LPG has hit the import-dependent archipelago's humble street food vendors.
A day before speaking to AFP, Garcia said he had been forced to raise the price of a bowl of pares to 65 pesos ($1.08) after fuel costs reduced his daily earnings by a quarter.
"I'm only earning 1,500 pesos (per day), because the rest is spent on LPG," he said.
Garcia, who begins cooking at 3 am every morning before hauling his stew to a middle-class neighbourhood on a converted motorbike, said an 11 kilo tank of fuel, which typically lasts four days, that once cost 870 pesos (about $14.50) now costs 1,600 pesos.
"It's the highest price of LPG that I've ever seen since I started here," said Carlo Manalad, a supervisor at a store selling tanks of the gas, 90 percent of which is imported.
"If (our suppliers') prices are high, we also raise our prices. Our profit is still the same," the 64-year-old told AFP.
Many of the capital's streetside food sellers, however, have no such luxury.
"If we raise our prices, our customers will buy from other stalls," said Ronilo Titom, who has run a curbside canteen that caters call centre workers and jeepney drivers, for two years.
Even while holding the line on prices, Titom said he had noticed his customer base slowly shrinking since the war erupted.
"Many of them have started to bring packed lunches instead (to save money)," said the 48-year-old who, like Garcia, is using his LPG ever more judiciously.
"Sometimes we let the soup get cold," he admitted, noting that the cost of ingredients for his dishes had also been on the uptick since the war broke out.  

'Very difficult for us'

The Philippines revealed Tuesday war-driven inflation figures that showed food prices had increased nearly twice as fast in March as the month before.
French fry vendor John Mark Abella, 25, who has also upped his prices by five pesos to compensate for LPG costs, told AFP he believed inflation was putting the squeeze on his mostly student customers.
"I think we've got fewer customers … because they're limiting their expenses because of the high prices of fuel and food," he said.
Sam Natividad, a 25-year-old call centre worker, said that was no illusion.
"I'm limiting my expenses because... I also have to pay bills at home. I don't have a big budget for my meals here," she told AFP at a roadside canteen, adding it was "understandable" if street vendors had to raise their prices.
Near Garcia's pares stall, Allan Palong, a driver for a motorbike ride-hailing app, said he understood the vendor's need to charge five pesos more for a bowl of stew, even if his own earnings were being crippled by fuel price hikes.
"It's very difficult for us now, all prices have gone up … the five-pesos mean a lot," he said, while calling on the government to slash the excise tax on imported fuel.
"What they're doing is not enough... we can't feel it."
pam-cwl/ane/tc

Israel

Vance says talks failed to reach agreement with Iran

  • "We leave here with a very simple proposal, a method of understanding that is our final and best offer.
  • US Vice President JD Vance said Sunday that talks with Iran failed to reach an agreement, saying he was leaving after putting forward a "final and best offer".
  • "We leave here with a very simple proposal, a method of understanding that is our final and best offer.
US Vice President JD Vance said Sunday that talks with Iran failed to reach an agreement, saying he was leaving after putting forward a "final and best offer".
Vance signalled that he was still giving time to Iran to consider the offer from the United States, which on Tuesday said it would pause attacks with Israel for two weeks pending negotiations.
"We leave here with a very simple proposal, a method of understanding that is our final and best offer. We'll see if the Iranians accept it," Vance told reporters after 21 hours of talks in the Pakistani capital Islamabad.
Vance said that the core dispute was on nuclear weapons. Iran insists it is not pursuing an atomic bomb, and the United States and Israel bombed sensitive Iranian sites both in the war launched on February 28 as well as last year.
"The simple fact is that we need to see an affirmative commitment that they will not seek a nuclear weapon and they will not seek the tools that would enable them to quickly achieve a nuclear weapon," Vance said.
"The simple question is, do we see a fundamental commitment of will for the Iranians not to develop a nuclear weapon -- not just now, not just two years from now, but for the long term?
"We haven't seen that yet. We hope that we will."
Vance, in brief remarks at a luxury hotel in Islamabad where the two sides have been meeting, did not highlight disagreement on another key issue, the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow passageway through which one-fifth of the world’s oil transits.
He insisted that President Donald Trump -- who on Saturday in Washington said he did not care if the two sides sealed a deal -- had been accommodating in the talks.
"I think that we were quite flexible. We were quite accommodating. The president told us, You need to come here in good faith and make your best effort to get a deal. 
"We did that and, unfortunately, we weren't able to make headway."
sct/sla

US

War in the Middle East: latest developments

  • The 79-year-old Republican's comments came as Vice President JD Vance was leading the US delegation in Islamabad, with discussions heading into a second day.
  • The latest developments in the Middle East war: - Vance says talks failed to reach agreement - US Vice President JD Vance said Sunday that 21 hours of talks with Iran failed to reach an agreement, saying he was leaving after putting forward a "final and best offer".
  • The 79-year-old Republican's comments came as Vice President JD Vance was leading the US delegation in Islamabad, with discussions heading into a second day.
The latest developments in the Middle East war:

Vance says talks failed to reach agreement

US Vice President JD Vance said Sunday that 21 hours of talks with Iran failed to reach an agreement, saying he was leaving after putting forward a "final and best offer".
"The simple fact is that we need to see an affirmative commitment that they will not seek a nuclear weapon and will not seek the tools that would enable them to quickly achieve a nuclear weapon," he told reporters in Islamabad, on the main sticking point for talks moving ahead. 

Iran says talks hinged on avoiding 'excessive demands'

The success of peace talks between the United States and Iran depended on Washington avoiding "excessive" and "unlawful" demands, the Iranian foreign ministry's spokesman said early on Sunday after marathon talks in Islamabad.
"The success of this diplomatic process depends on the seriousness and good faith of the opposing side, refraining from excessive demands and unlawful requests, and the acceptance of Iran's legitimate rights and interests," Esmaeil Baqaei wrote on X.

Iran and US spar over strait

Iran denied Washington's claims that two US Navy warships crossed the Strait of Hormuz to clear the strategic waterway of mines, with Tehran warning that military ships attempting the passage "will be dealt with severely".
US Central Command's claim that mine detection operations were already underway was echoed by President Donald Trump, who told reporters Saturday "we have mine sweepers out there. We're sweeping the strait".  
A fifth of the world's crude oil passes through the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump says Iran deal 'makes no difference'

Trump told reporters Saturday it "makes no difference" if a peace deal comes out of the trilateral US-Iran talks in Pakistan, insisting the United States has already won the war. 
The 79-year-old Republican's comments came as Vice President JD Vance was leading the US delegation in Islamabad, with discussions heading into a second day.
Earlier, Iranian media said the United States was making "excessive demands" on the Strait of Hormuz during the talks.

Iran nuclear programme crushed: Netanyahu

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the joint US-Israeli campaign against Iran had succeeded in "crushing" the Islamic republic's nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.
"They wanted to strangle us, and (now) we are strangling them. They threatened us with annihilation, and now they are fighting for survival," he said, adding that the war against Tehran had also weakened Iran's leadership and its regional allies.
He agreed to Lebanese requests for peace talks on two conditions, he added: "We want the dismantling of Hezbollah's weapons, and we want a real peace agreement that will last for generations."

Lebanon death toll past 2,000

Lebanon's health ministry said the death toll since the start of the war between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah is now 2,020.
The new toll from the Lebanese health ministry includes 248 women, 165 children and 85 medical and emergency personnel killed, along with 6,436 people wounded since Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war on March 2. 
Earlier Saturday, Lebanon said Israeli strikes on a village near Sidon in the south killed eight people, after earlier strikes killed 10 people including three emergency workers.
Israel's military said it had struck more than 200 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon in the last 24 hours.

Pope denounces warmongers

Pope Leo lashed out against warmongers while calling on billions of people around the globe to embrace peace and "believe once again in love, moderation and good politics".
In one of his most passionate entreaties yet to end the raging conflict in the Middle East, the American pope said faith was needed "in order to face this dramatic hour in history together". 

Macron appeal

French President Emmanuel Macron said he had urged his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian to use the talks to achieve "a lasting de-escalation."
"I urged him to seize the opportunity presented by the talks launched in Islamabad to pave the way for a lasting de-escalation and a robust agreement that provides solid guarantees for security in the region," Macron said on X.

Iran says lacks 'trust' with US

Iran's parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said shortly after arriving in Pakistan's capital that previous experiences negotiating with the United States had led to a lack of trust. 
"Our experience in negotiating with the Americans has always been met with failure and broken promises," Iranian state media quoted him as saying.

Israel won't discuss ceasefire

Israel's US ambassador Yechiel Leiter told his Lebanese counterpart in Washington that he "refused to discuss a ceasefire with the Hezbollah terrorist organisation", according to a statement after a meeting.
Israel "agreed to begin formal peace negotiations" with the Lebanese government, with which it has no diplomatic relations, the Israeli ambassador said.
Lebanon's presidency said a meeting would be held at the US State Department on Tuesday "to discuss declaring a ceasefire and the start date for negotiations between Lebanon and Israel under US auspices."
burs-jj/giv/sla/acb/ceg/tc

conflict

Easter truce between Russia and Ukraine falters

  • Yet by late Saturday, Ukraine's military said in a Facebook post that "469 ceasefire violations were recorded, namely: 22 enemy assault actions, 153 shelling attacks, 19 strikes by attack drones... and 275 strikes by FPV drones."
  • Ukraine's military command accused Russia of repeatedly violating a truce to mark the Orthodox Easter Saturday with nearly 470 incidents ranging from air strikes and drone attacks to shelling.
  • Yet by late Saturday, Ukraine's military said in a Facebook post that "469 ceasefire violations were recorded, namely: 22 enemy assault actions, 153 shelling attacks, 19 strikes by attack drones... and 275 strikes by FPV drones."
Ukraine's military command accused Russia of repeatedly violating a truce to mark the Orthodox Easter Saturday with nearly 470 incidents ranging from air strikes and drone attacks to shelling.
Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the ceasefire on Thursday, more than a week after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky first made the proposal.
Both sides had agreed to observe it.
The ceasefire had been due to last for 32 hours, from 4:00 pm (1300 GMT) on Saturday until the end of the day on Sunday, according to the Kremlin.
Yet by late Saturday, Ukraine's military said in a Facebook post that "469 ceasefire violations were recorded, namely: 22 enemy assault actions, 153 shelling attacks, 19 strikes by attack drones... and 275 strikes by FPV drones."
In total, the Ukrainian military said Saturday had seen Russia carry out 57 air strikes and drop 182 guided aerial bombs, along with deploying 3,928 drones and conducting 2,454 shelling attacks "on populated areas and positions of our troops".
In Russia’s Kursk region, which borders Ukraine, Governor Alexander Khinshtein also accused Kyiv of breaking the truce by attacking a gas station in the town of Lgov with a drone, injuring three people, including a baby.
In his evening address on Saturday, Zelensky called for a longer ceasefire.
"We have put this proposal to Russia, and if Russia again chooses war instead of peace, this will once again demonstrate to the world, and to the United States, who really wants what."
Residents of Kharkiv, a city near the Russian border and targeted by daily attacks, had been wary of the truce.
"It's not for long, a day and a half, so maybe it will hold," hoped Oleg Polyskin, 65.
"But even if you're going to church, there is no 100-percent guarantee that everything will be peaceful... you shouldn't trust Putin and his government," he added.
"It would be nice if nothing happened tonight and it was quiet, without air-raid alerts," said 16-year-old Sofiia Liapina. 
"But we can't know -- because our neighbours can't be trusted," she added.

Last-minute strikes

Hours before the truce was due to start, Russia launched at least 160 drones at Ukraine, killing four people in the country's east and south and wounding dozens of others, Ukrainian authorities said.
A wave of Ukrainian drones meanwhile sparked a fire at an oil depot and damaged apartment buildings in Russia's southern Krasnodar region, authorities said.
The two sides held a ceasefire for Orthodox Easter last year, but both accused the other of hundreds of violations.
Despite tensions over the truce, the warring sides exchanged 175 prisoners of war each on Saturday, according to officials.
"I still haven't really realised that I'm finally here -- that now I can make my dreams reality, that I am finally free," said Maksym, a Ukrainian soldier freed after four years as a prisoner.
Fourteen civilians were also exchanged: seven on each side.

Stalled diplomacy

US-led talks aimed at ending the four-year conflict have stalled in recent weeks because of the war in the Middle East.
Even before the Iran war, progress towards a peace deal in Ukraine had been slow, due to differences over the issue of territory.
Ukraine has proposed freezing the conflict along the current front lines. 
But Russia has rejected this, saying it wants Ukraine to give up all the territory in the Donetsk region that it currently controls -- a demand Kyiv says is unacceptable. 
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied Russia had discussed the ceasefire with Ukraine or the United States in advance and said it was not linked to negotiations to end the war.
The war has cost hundreds of thousands of lives and forced millions to flee their homes, making it Europe's deadliest conflict since World War II.
Russia has made small territorial gains at a high cost.
Kyiv recently managed to push back in the southeast and Russian advances have been slowing since late 2025, according to the US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
Moscow occupies just over 19 percent of Ukraine, most of which was seized during the first weeks of the conflict.
bur-cad/giv/ach 

conflict

Over 200 arrested at pro-Palestinian rally in London

  • The protesters held placards in support of the banned group Palestine Action, making them liable for arrest.
  • Police in London said they had arrested more 200 pro-Palestinian protesters Saturday at a demonstration in support of the banned group Palestine Action.
  • The protesters held placards in support of the banned group Palestine Action, making them liable for arrest.
Police in London said they had arrested more 200 pro-Palestinian protesters Saturday at a demonstration in support of the banned group Palestine Action.
Officers carried away activists to cheers and clapping from other demonstrators who gathered for the sit-down demonstration in the capital's Trafalgar Square.
The protesters held placards in support of the banned group Palestine Action, making them liable for arrest.
Palestine Action was proscribed as a terrorist organisation last July, making it a criminal offence to belong to or support the group, punishable by up to 14 years in prison. 
The High Court in London in mid-February upheld a challenge to the ban, saying it had interfered with the right to freedom of speech.
The government has been granted leave to appeal the decision.
London's Metropolitan Police paused arrests in the wake of the High Court ruling before announcing in late March that it would resume them.
"It's really important to continue to show up," said Freya, 28, manager of a London environmental organisation, one of those sitting towards the front of the crowd of protesters.
"It's important that we all continue to oppose genocide... The government might flip-flop in their legal argument but the morals of these people (here) do not change," she added.
Posting on X, London's Metropolitan Police said they had arrested 212 people aged between 27 and 82.

'Misguided crackdown'

Since the ban on Palestine Action was imposed there have been nearly 3,000 arrests, mainly for carrying placards defending it. Hundreds of people are facing charges.
Protester, Denis MacDermot, 73, from Edinburgh, said he had been arrested before and had no hesitation about turning out again.
"I'm a supporter of these great people," he said waving towards other protesters, adding that if the court process was definitive "there would be no need for all this".
Protest organisers Defend Our Juries said around 500 people had taken part in Saturday's demonstration, protesting "the UK Government's complicity in Israel's genocide in Gaza and the misguided crackdown on peaceful protest at home".
Police were "choosing to make arrests despite the government's ban on the group being ruled unlawful by the High Court, and leading lawyers warning that any arrests would be unlawful", it added in a statement.
The ban, which put Palestine Action on a blacklist that also includes Palestinian militants Hamas and the Lebanese Iran-backed group Hezbollah, has sparked a severe backlash.
A judge has put on hold all trials of people charged with supporting Palestine Action, scheduling a blanket review of cases for July 30.
Set up in 2020, Palestine Action's stated goal on its now-blocked website is to end "global participation in Israel's genocidal and apartheid regime".
It has mainly targeted weapons factories, especially those belonging to the Israeli defence group Elbit Systems.
har/jj

pope

In fiery speech, Pope Leo says 'Enough to war!'

  • Let us believe once again in love, moderation and good politics." 
  • Pope Leo lashed out against warmongers on Saturday while calling on billions of people around the globe to embrace peace and "believe once again in love, moderation and good politics".
  • Let us believe once again in love, moderation and good politics." 
Pope Leo lashed out against warmongers on Saturday while calling on billions of people around the globe to embrace peace and "believe once again in love, moderation and good politics".
In one of his most passionate entreaties yet to end the raging conflict in the Middle East, the American pope said faith was needed "in order to face this dramatic hour in history together". 
"Enough of the idolatry of self and money! Enough of the display of power! Enough of war! True strength is shown in serving life," Pope Leo implored in an address during a prayer vigil for peace at St Peter's Basilica.
Uttered in measured tones, as is customary for the soft-spoken head of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics, the comments by the 70-year-old Leo nevertheless marked some of the most pointed criticism yet of the wave of conflicts inflaming the globe.
"Dear brothers and sisters, there are certainly binding responsibilities that fall to the leaders of nations. To them we cry out: Stop! It is time for peace! Sit at the table of dialogue and mediation, not at the table where rearmament is planned and deadly actions are decided!"
As he has done in the past, the Chicago native did not cite politicians by name, and did not call out specific countries. 
- 'Delusion of omnipotence' - 
Responsibility also fell to the "immense multitude" that rejects war, Leo said, urging them to build a "Kingdom of peace... in our homes, schools, neighbourhoods, and civil and religious communities."
"A Kingdom that counters polemics and resignation through friendship and a culture of encounter. Let us believe once again in love, moderation and good politics." 
The pope described the Kingdom of God as a "bulwark against that delusion of omnipotence that surrounds us and is becoming increasingly unpredictable and aggressive."
It also was a place with "no sword, no drone, no vengeance, no trivialisation of evil, no unjust profit, but only dignity, understanding and forgiveness."
Leo painted a grim picture of the current state of the world, "where there never seem to be enough graves, for people continue to crucify one another and eliminate life, with no regard to justice and mercy."
Pope Leo, who was elected pontiff last May following the death of his predecessor Francis, is moderate and known as a bridge-builder. But he has been increasingly denouncing the conflicts dividing the world, most recently on Friday when he railed against the "senseless and inhuman violence" spreading across the Holy Land. 
Leo has repeatedly urged de-escalation in the current US-Israeli war on Iran and the need for a diplomatic solution. 
ams/jj/giv

US

Buffets, baristas, but no briefings: journalists frozen out of Iran talks

BY ABDUL SATTAR ABBASI

  • On the large screen dominating the cavernous Jinnah Convention Centre, state television aired footage of his arrival and reception by Pakistani officials, prominently including army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir. 
  • They came from around the world: hundreds of journalists rushed to Islamabad's flagship convention centre -- converted into a media hub by Pakistani authorities for landmark talks between the United States and Iran to end the war in the Middle East.
  • On the large screen dominating the cavernous Jinnah Convention Centre, state television aired footage of his arrival and reception by Pakistani officials, prominently including army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir. 
They came from around the world: hundreds of journalists rushed to Islamabad's flagship convention centre -- converted into a media hub by Pakistani authorities for landmark talks between the United States and Iran to end the war in the Middle East.
But as negotiations began behind closed doors half a kilometre away, all the world's media could do was wait -- and sip on an expertly brewed coffee while listening to live eastern folk music.
Even the lattes had a tagline: "Brewed for Peace."
Branding was a big part of the event, with Pakistan dubbing the process the "Islamabad Talks", and plastering a logo combining the Pakistani, US and Iranian flags all over the city.
Early Saturday, an overcast Islamabad felt like a ghost town, with almost no civilian traffic on its wide avenues. 
The few vehicles that moved were driven by armed, uniformed personnel who patrolled the city. 
Some journalists, accredited by the information ministry, were nonetheless held up for about an hour at a checkpoint outside the venue as a convoy of VIPs swept past.
Inside, they found lavish surroundings, wedding-banquet style spreads of biryani, kebabs and gulab jamun, along with gourmet coffee blended from Brazilian and Ethiopian beans.
"We did the branding ('Brewed for Peace') just for the day," one person manning the stall said.
Outside the hall, musicians played folk songs on a small stage. 
"I'm a professional musician, and also teach music," Amir Hussain Khan, a sitar player, told AFP.

'Bored out of my mind'

Staff had reserved seating with a clear view of the massive main stage for US media, directing correspondents from other outlets elsewhere. 
Iranian media went to the opposite side of the hall.
"I'm bored out of my mind," one journalist told AFP, declining to be named. 
Another offered a similar assessment: "There's not much to do here."
Updates did not begin to arrive until after about 2:00 pm (0900 GMT), hours after US Vice President JD Vance touched down in the capital.
On the large screen dominating the cavernous Jinnah Convention Centre, state television aired footage of his arrival and reception by Pakistani officials, prominently including army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir. 
When updates did come, they arrived not from media briefings -- as would be the norm at an event of this scale -- but from press statements released via WhatsApp.
The foreign ministry said a "high-powered" US delegation, led by Vance and including Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, had been received by Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, who commended Washington's "commitment to achieving lasting regional and global peace". 
Hours later, Pakistan's government said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had met Vance, expressing hope the talks would serve as "a stepping stone toward durable peace in the region".
Not exactly the kind of gripping, headline-grabbing quotes many of the journalists in the hall had flown thousands of miles for.
The convention centre offered high-speed wireless internet that AFP clocked at more than 150 megabits per second, far above Pakistan's national average of 25 Mbps, according to Speedtest.net figures from February 2026. 
The gesture was not lost on reporters.
"They say they have facilitated the media. No doubt they have given 5G internet speeds," said journalist Nadir Guramani. "But media teams deputed inside Jinnah Convention Centre do not know what's happening outside."
Security measures added to the surreal atmosphere. An AFP journalist was told the coffee could not be taken into the main hall. "Foreign media is here, and they are watching," a guard said cryptically.
By sunset, the "Islamabad Talks" had produced press releases, a memorable food spread and impressively fast internet in a country riven with tech challenges. 
Whether they produced anything more substantive remained, for those inside the hall, just beyond their reach.
abs/aha/lga