diplomacy

Modi says India stands 'firmly' with Israel during visit

politics

Brazil politicians convicted for ordering murder of black activist councilor

BY JUAN SEBASTIAN SERRANO

  • The four-justice Supreme Court bench voted unanimously to convict former federal lawmaker Chiquinho Brazao, 62, and his brother Domingos, 60, a former state lawmaker, of ordering the hit on Franco.
  • Brazil's Supreme Court on Wednesday sentenced two former lawmakers to 76 years in jail for ordering the 2018 assassination of Rio de Janeiro councilwoman Marielle Franco, a popular black activist whose murder exposed deep ties between politics and organized crime.
  • The four-justice Supreme Court bench voted unanimously to convict former federal lawmaker Chiquinho Brazao, 62, and his brother Domingos, 60, a former state lawmaker, of ordering the hit on Franco.
Brazil's Supreme Court on Wednesday sentenced two former lawmakers to 76 years in jail for ordering the 2018 assassination of Rio de Janeiro councilwoman Marielle Franco, a popular black activist whose murder exposed deep ties between politics and organized crime.
Franco, a lesbian activist who grew up in a favela and became an outspoken critic of Rio's powerful militia groups, was 38 when she was gunned down in the city center alongside her driver, Anderson Gomes.
The case sent shockwaves through Brazil and drew international condemnation.
The four-justice Supreme Court bench voted unanimously to convict former federal lawmaker Chiquinho Brazao, 62, and his brother Domingos, 60, a former state lawmaker, of ordering the hit on Franco.
The court found that Franco had been targeted as she was a threat to the interests of the Brazao brothers.
From her position on the city council, Franco worked to prevent the expansion of clandestine housing developments in poor neighborhoods, one of the militias' biggest sources of income.
The Brazao brothers "didn't just have contact with the militia. They were the militia," Judge Alexandre de Moraes said in court.
Franco was murdered to deliver a "message" to Rio's political class, the court heard.
She was, said Moraes, "a black woman who dared to go against the interests of militia members, men, and white people."
Tearful family members embraced after the sentencing. 
"The political violence based on gender and race that exists in this country must stop," Anielle Franco, Marielle's sister and Brazil's racial equality minister, told reporters outside the courthouse.
"This process has caused me great spiritual and psychological harm," said Justice Carmen Lucia, the only woman on the Supreme Court. 
"How many Marielles will Brazil allow to be murdered?" the judge asked.

'Cast the first stone'

Rio's militias emerged around four decades ago when former police officers and security agents created so-called self-defense groups to protect communities from drug gangs.
They quickly evolved into powerful criminal organizations -- controlling large parts of the city, extorting residents and seizing public land -- while benefiting from high-level political support.
On Tuesday, the defense insisted on the Brazao brothers' innocence, while noting that links between local power and criminals were an open secret. 
"Let he who is involved in politics in Rio and has never asked drug traffickers or militia members for votes cast the first stone," said Cleber Lopes, Chiquinho Brazao's lawyer.
Three other defendants were convicted over the masterminding of Franco's murder.
Rivaldo Barbosa, a former police commissioner who first led the investigation, was sentenced to 18 years for obstruction of justice and trying to protect the Brazao brothers.
Former military police officer and militia member Ronald Paulo de Alves was sentenced to 56 years for monitoring Franco's routine and reporting on her whereabouts on the night of her murder.
A former advisor to Domingos Brazao, Robson Calixto Fonseca, got nine years for acting as an intermediary between the defendants and militia members.
Two former military police officers who carried out the murders were given hefty jail terms in 2024.
The investigation into the masterminds was based on the plea testimony of one of them, Ronnie Lessa, who confessed to his role in the murder and was sentenced to 78 years in jail in 2024.
He said during his trial he was "blinded" and "driven crazy" by the prospect of a million-dollar reward for Franco's murder.
rsr/fb/des

conflict

Trump, Zelensky speak before Ukraine-US talks in Geneva

  • The meetings are the latest round of negotiations spearheaded by Trump that so far have failed to make meaningful progress on ending Europe's deadliest conflict since World War II. Washington is pushing to bring an end to the war triggered by Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine four years ago, which has left hundreds of thousands dead and destroyed swathes of territory, particularly in eastern and southern Ukraine.
  • US President Donald Trump spoke with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky ahead of a fresh round of talks Thursday aimed at ending Russia's invasion, both sides said on Wednesday.
  • The meetings are the latest round of negotiations spearheaded by Trump that so far have failed to make meaningful progress on ending Europe's deadliest conflict since World War II. Washington is pushing to bring an end to the war triggered by Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine four years ago, which has left hundreds of thousands dead and destroyed swathes of territory, particularly in eastern and southern Ukraine.
US President Donald Trump spoke with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky ahead of a fresh round of talks Thursday aimed at ending Russia's invasion, both sides said on Wednesday.
A White House official gave AFP no further details about the call, which came a day before Ukrainian and US envoys were to meet, and ahead of new trilateral talks with Russia expected in early March.
But Zelensky wrote on social media that he had spoken with Trump, and that his envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner were on the call.
"Our teams work intensively and I thanked them for all their work and for their active involvement in the negotiations and the efforts to end the war," he added.
According to Ukrainian presidential adviser Dmytro Lytvyn, the conversation "lasted about 30 minutes".
Ukraine's lead negotiator Rustem Umerov will meet Witkoff and Kushner in Geneva on Thursday, Kyiv announced.
Russian state news agency Tass later said that the Kremlin's economic affairs envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, also plans to be in the city.
"Dmitriev plans to arrive in Geneva on Thursday to pursue negotiations with the Americans on economic issues," it cited an unnamed source as saying.
The meetings are the latest round of negotiations spearheaded by Trump that so far have failed to make meaningful progress on ending Europe's deadliest conflict since World War II.
Washington is pushing to bring an end to the war triggered by Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine four years ago, which has left hundreds of thousands dead and destroyed swathes of territory, particularly in eastern and southern Ukraine.

Preparatory talks

Zelensky said his call with Trump "discussed the issues that our representatives will address tomorrow in Geneva during the bilateral meeting, as well as preparations for the next meeting of the full negotiating teams in a trilateral format at the very beginning of March".
"We expect this meeting to create an opportunity to move talks to the leaders' level. President Trump supports this sequence of steps. This is the only way to resolve all the complex and sensitive issues and finally end the war," he added.
The Ukrainian leader has already said that a meeting with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, should take place to resolve the most difficult issues in the talks.
The talks, based on an American plan unveiled at the end of last year, are deadlocked primarily on the fate of the Donbas, the industrial region in eastern Ukraine that has been the epicentre of the fighting.
Russia is pushing for full control of Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region, and has threatened to take it by force if Kyiv does not cave at the negotiating table.
But Ukraine has rejected the demand and signalled it would not sign a deal without security guarantees that deter Russia from invading again.
bur-brw-jbr/phz/cc

climate

Hope fades in search for missing after Brazil rains kill 46

BY LOUIS GENOT

  • A few blocks away, rescuers recovered the body of a man who, before he was killed, managed to pull his wife from their house which was engulfed by a landslide, firefighters told AFP. - 'It was chaos' - In the city of Uba, a two-hour drive away, residents were covered in mud as they cleared sludge from a river that had burst its banks.
  • Despair hung over two cities in southeastern Brazil on Wednesday as rescuers and residents searched for 21 people missing after torrential rains unleashed flooding and landslides that killed at least 46.
  • A few blocks away, rescuers recovered the body of a man who, before he was killed, managed to pull his wife from their house which was engulfed by a landslide, firefighters told AFP. - 'It was chaos' - In the city of Uba, a two-hour drive away, residents were covered in mud as they cleared sludge from a river that had burst its banks.
Despair hung over two cities in southeastern Brazil on Wednesday as rescuers and residents searched for 21 people missing after torrential rains unleashed flooding and landslides that killed at least 46.
A violent downpour on Monday in the state of Minas Gerais turned streets into raging rivers and led to landslides that swept away houses and buried dozens of people.
The worst-hit city was Juiz da Fora, where 40 people were killed, while nearby Uba saw six deaths, according to the latest official tally from rescue services.
More heavy rain was forecast for Juiz de Fora this week, and firefighters told AFP it was unlikely any more victims would be found alive.
"Our family is desperate," said Josiane Aparecida, a 43-year-old cook in Juiz de Fora.
Her aunt died in a landslide and her cousin was found alive but died at a hospital.
Aparecida was still looking for her cousin's two children, ages six and nine, and boyfriend. 
"We have hope, and yet we don't, because it's so difficult (to find them), and we've already lost two," she said.
A few blocks away, rescuers recovered the body of a man who, before he was killed, managed to pull his wife from their house which was engulfed by a landslide, firefighters told AFP.

'It was chaos'

In the city of Uba, a two-hour drive away, residents were covered in mud as they cleared sludge from a river that had burst its banks.
Felippe Souza Lima, 30, owner of a hardware store now surrounded by muddy water and debris, told AFP the gravity of the situation sank in when he saw two people paddling a canoe down the street on Monday night.
"Our door was blown open, so it was chaos. We lost a lot of things, the water must have reached a meter and a half. But what matters is that everyone is OK, everyone is alive."
He said the flooding of the Uba River was unprecedented in his lifetime.
"We've seen other similar floods, and the vast majority of them stopped at the riverbank."
Elsewhere in the city, brand-new vehicles at a car dealership were stuck in mud as owner Mauro Pinto de Moraes Filho, 63, looked on in despair.
He told AFP he had suffered up to five million reais (almost $1 million) in losses from water that reached two meters high.
"Everything is ruined. I am going to close the branch temporarily. After this disaster, it's crazy to spend a huge amount of money to rebuild."
The tragedy is the latest in a series of extreme weather disasters in Brazil, from floods to fires and drought, many of which scientists have linked to the effects of global warming.
The mayor of Juiz de Fora, Margarida Salomao, said the municipality had experienced its wettest February on record.
In 2024, more than 200 people died and two million were impacted by unprecedented flooding in southern Brazil, one of the worst natural disasters in its history.
Two years earlier, a deluge in the city of Petropolis outside Rio de Janeiro left 241 people dead.
lg-fb/bgs

diplomacy

Modi says India stands 'firmly' with Israel during visit

BY JAY DESHMUKH WITH BHUVAN BAGGA IN NEW DELHI

  • Those plans were stalled by Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel, which responded with a devastating war in the Gaza Strip.
  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi told lawmakers in Jerusalem on Wednesday that India stands "firmly" with Israel following Hamas's attack on October 7, 2023.
  • Those plans were stalled by Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel, which responded with a devastating war in the Gaza Strip.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi told lawmakers in Jerusalem on Wednesday that India stands "firmly" with Israel following Hamas's attack on October 7, 2023.
Modi also met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a two-day visit aimed at deepening trade and defence ties that has drawn criticism at home.
"I... carry with me the deepest condolences of the people of India for every life lost and for every family whose world was shattered in the barbaric terrorist attack by Hamas on October 7," Modi said in the Knesset, the Israeli parliament.
"We feel your pain, we share your grief. India stands with Israel firmly with full conviction in this moment and beyond."
In his speech, Modi did not explicitly mention the tens of thousands of Palestinians killed in Gaza during the more than two-year war between Israel and Hamas.
But he said that India "supports all efforts that contribute to durable peace and regional stability".
Modi also told Israeli lawmakers that his country's economic growth and Israel's leadership in technological innovation formed a "natural foundation for our forward-looking partnership".
"I see a lot of synergies in areas such as quantum technologies, semiconductors and artificial intelligence," he added.
Netanyahu told Modi that "India supports Israel because it understands that Israel serves as a defensive wall against barbarism", adding that his visit will allow them to "further reinforce our ties". 
It is Modi's second visit to Israel as prime minister since he took office in 2014.

'A real friendship'

Earlier on Wednesday, a red carpet was rolled out at Israel's Ben Gurion airport and Modi was greeted with a hug by Netanyahu as he disembarked the plane.
"The two leaders share a special and a personal relationship," Shosh Bedrosian, spokeswoman for Netanyahu's office, said in a video posted on X.
"The bond between Israel and India is a powerful alliance as we are partners in innovation, security and a shared strategic vision," she added.
Netanyahu's office said the two right-wing leaders held a private meeting after the welcoming ceremony, with the Israeli premier hailing "a real friendship".
In a post on X, Modi described the meeting as "excellent".
"We discussed a wide range of topics aimed at deepening and strengthening the bilateral relations between our two countries," he said.
The pair "held an in-depth conversation about major developments in the region", he added.
Modi is also scheduled to meet Israeli President Isaac Herzog during the visit.
New Delhi has steadily expanded cooperation with Israel across the defence, agriculture, technology and cybersecurity sectors, while balancing diplomatic interests in the Middle East.
Talks opened in New Delhi on Monday for an India-Israel Free Trade Agreement (FTA), India's government said in a statement, noting that merchandise trade reached $3.62 billion in 2024-2025.
Full diplomatic relations between the two countries were established in 1992. Ties deepened after Hindu-nationalist leader Modi took office in 2014.

Criticism at home

Modi first visited Israel as prime minister in 2017, before Netanyahu made a reciprocal visit to India the following year.
In 2023, grand plans were unveiled in New Delhi for an India–Middle East–Europe Economic Corridor -- to link railways, ports, electricity, data networks and pipelines, including through Saudi Arabia and Israel.
Those plans were stalled by Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel, which responded with a devastating war in the Gaza Strip.
Months after his 2017 visit to Israel, Modi travelled to Ramallah, seat of the Palestinian Authority.
His current visit has sparked criticism at home.
Senior Congress party figure Priyanka Gandhi -- sister of opposition leader Rahul -- posted on social media on Wednesday that she hoped Modi would mention the killing of "thousands of innocent men, women and children in Gaza" during his address to the Israeli parliament.
India, the world's most populous nation with 1.4 billion people, is majority Hindu, but an estimated 220 million Indians are Muslim.
One of India's largest conglomerates, Adani Group, operates the Israeli port of Haifa, while Israeli military drone technology played a pivotal role during India's May 2025 clash with Pakistan.
ash/pjm-jd-acc/dl/amj/rh

diplomacy

Iran negotiators arrive in Geneva for high-stakes US talks

BY ALEXANDRE GROSBOIS

  • Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and his negotiating team arrived in the Swiss city of Geneva on Wednesday for the crunch talks to be held the following day, Iran's government said.
  • An Iranian delegation headed by its top diplomat arrived in Geneva on Wednesday for talks with the US, as the Islamic republic's president struck an upbeat tone about the prospect of a negotiated agreement to avert fresh conflict.
  • Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and his negotiating team arrived in the Swiss city of Geneva on Wednesday for the crunch talks to be held the following day, Iran's government said.
An Iranian delegation headed by its top diplomat arrived in Geneva on Wednesday for talks with the US, as the Islamic republic's president struck an upbeat tone about the prospect of a negotiated agreement to avert fresh conflict.
Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened strikes if Iran fails to cut a deal on its atomic programme, and in his State of the Union address on Tuesday, the US president accused Tehran of "sinister nuclear ambitions" after he ordered a massive military deployment around the Gulf.
Piling on the pressure, the US announced fresh sanctions targeting Iran on Wednesday as Vice President JD Vance warned Tehran to take Washington's threats of military action "seriously".
But Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said that he had a "favourable outlook for the negotiations".
"We are continuing the process under the guidance of the supreme leader so that we can move beyond this 'neither war nor peace' situation," Pezeshkian said in a speech.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and his negotiating team arrived in the Swiss city of Geneva on Wednesday for the crunch talks to be held the following day, Iran's government said.
Araghchi "met and held talks with Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi", Iranian news agency Mehr said on Telegram. 
Iran's foreign ministry said in a statement earlier that the delegation would meet with Albusaidi "to present Iran's position on the lifting of sanctions and the nuclear issue".
Trump in his address said that Iran was "at this moment again pursuing their sinister nuclear ambitions".
But Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei refuted those claims as "simply the repetition of 'big lies'".

'Maximum pressure'

The West believes Iran is seeking an atomic bomb, but Tehran insists its nuclear programme is peaceful.
"My preference is to solve this problem through diplomacy but one thing is certain: I will never allow the world's number one sponsor of terror, which they are by far, to have a nuclear weapon," Trump said.
Vance said Trump has "a number of other tools at his disposal to ensure" that Iran does not develop nuclear weapons.
"He's shown a willingness to use them and I hope the Iranians take it seriously in the negotiations tomorrow," the vice-president told Fox News.
The US Treasury Department also announced new sanctions targeting more than 30 individuals, entities and vessels said to be enabling "illicit Iranian petroleum sales" and weapons production.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the Trump administration will continue to push for "maximum pressure on Iran to target the regime's weapons capabilities and support for terrorism".
Iran and the US held five rounds of nuclear talks last year, but those negotiations ended after Israel's unprecedented attack on Iran triggered a 12-day war that Washington briefly joined.
During his first term, Trump withdrew from a landmark 2015 deal which offered Tehran sanctions relief in return for drastic curbs on Iran's nuclear programme.

'People are suffering'

In recent weeks Trump has deployed two aircraft carrier groups and dozens of other warplanes to the region to back up his threats, and Iran has repeatedly said it would respond firmly to any attack, even a limited one.
Tehran residents who spoke to AFP on Wednesday were divided as to whether there would be renewed conflict.
Some said war was all but inevitable, while one salesman who gave his name as Mehdi predicted the negotiations would succeed, saying: "The Americans are bluffing."
Homemaker Tayebeh noted that Trump had "said that war would be very bad for Iran".
"There would be famine and people would suffer a lot. People are suffering now, but at least with war, our fate might be clear," she added.
Emile Hokayem, senior fellow for Middle East security at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said the huge military outlay carried a political cost for Trump.
"It looks like President Trump has cornered himself," Hokayem said, adding the US leader may have predicted the "Iranians would cave quickly", which they have yet to do.
"At this point, the force posture is such that if the US were to pull back without (an agreement), it could come at the credibility of the president himself."
smw-dl/amj/rh

cybercrime

Scam centres 'destroying' Cambodia's economy, PM tells AFP

BY UMBERTO BACCHI

  • "But most of the proceeds do not go into the government of Cambodia," the prime minister said.
  • Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Manet said on Wednesday that scam centres were destroying his country's economy and giving the nation a bad name -- pushing back on allegations of government connivance.
  • "But most of the proceeds do not go into the government of Cambodia," the prime minister said.
Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Manet said on Wednesday that scam centres were destroying his country's economy and giving the nation a bad name -- pushing back on allegations of government connivance.
The nation has emerged as a hotspot for crime syndicates running a multibillion-dollar fraud industry that sees scammers lure internet users globally into fake romantic relationships and cryptocurrency investments.
"The scam network, what we call the black economy, is destroying our honest economy. It has put a bad reputation on Cambodia," Hun Manet told AFP in a rare interview with international media, saying this was harming tourism and investment.
"This is the reason why we need to clean this out." 
A clampdown has resulted in thousands of arrests, according to government officials, and the recent extradition to China of a former adviser to Cambodia's leaders.
But some industry experts have questioned the authenticity of such efforts, pointing to alleged links between Cambodian officials and cyberscam networks.
Hun Manet, who took over as prime minister from his father Hun Sen in 2023, conceded the crime had indirectly boosted some business activities and provided jobs in the country, but denied Cambodia had profited from it.
"Yes, the scam centre may produce some direct result to real estate, to some investment, the building, the buying, how to make the centres," he said.
"But most of the proceeds do not go into the government of Cambodia," the prime minister said.
Cambodia hosts dozens of the scam centres with an estimated 100,000 people -- many victims of human trafficking -- perpetrating online scams, experts say.
A 2024 report by the United States Institute of Peace estimated the return on cyberscamming in Cambodia to exceed $12.5 billion annually -- half the country's formal GDP -- but Hun Manet denied the country was dependent on scams.
"A lot of people were saying that the GDP of Cambodia relies on the scam. No. We rely on pure economies such as tourism, manufacturing, and others," he said.
Operating from various Southeast Asian countries, those conducting the scams are sometimes willing volunteers, sometimes trafficked foreign nationals who have been trapped and forced to work under threat of torture.
Initially largely targeting Chinese speakers -- from whom they have extracted billions, prompting rising public anger -- the scammers have expanded their operations into multiple languages to steal vast sums from victims around the world.

'Kingpin'

Last year, a series of crackdowns largely driven by Beijing -- which wields significant economic and diplomatic influence in the region -- saw thousands of scam workers released from centres in Myanmar and Cambodia and repatriated to their home countries, many of them to China.
The push netted its biggest player so far in January, with the arrest and extradition of Chinese-born tycoon Chen Zhi from Cambodia.
Chen, who had been indicted in October by US authorities, served as an adviser to both Hun Manet and his father.
"We did not know that he was the kingpin," Hun Manet told AFP in Brussels, where he stopped as part of an international trip to shore up diplomatic support over a border conflict with Thailand. 
A background check did not raise red flags, he added, noting that Chen's Prince Group conglomerate, which US authorities say was a cover for a "sprawling cyber-fraud empire", had a presence in many countries including Britain.
Since around 2015, Prince Group has operated across more than 30 countries under the guise of legitimate real estate, financial services and consumer businesses, US prosecutors said.
Before allegations against him were brought forward, to Phnom Penh he was "just a businessman, contributing to the economy".
"Whatever the activities, we (did) not know," Hun Manet said, adding the authorities took action when they learnt about the alleged wrongdoing.
Chen directed operations of forced labour compounds across Cambodia, where trafficked workers were held in prison-like facilities surrounded by high walls and barbed wire, according to US prosecutors.
Prince Group has denied the allegations.
Hun Manet said his former advisor was extradited to China rather than the US due to his citizenship. 
Chen was stripped of his Cambodian nationality after it emerged he used a fake document to obtain it, the prime minister said. 
That left him with "only Chinese nationality" -- compelling Cambodian authorities to extradite him to his home country, he added. 
ub/ec/cc

history

Antonio Tejero, leader of Spain's failed 1981 coup, dies at 93

BY DANIEL SILVA

  • Spain's budding democracy came to a shuddering halt that day when rebellious civil guards, led by Tejero Molina, stormed parliament and held lawmakers at gunpoint for almost 24 hours.
  • Antonio Tejero Molina, the Spanish Civil Guard officer who led a failed 1981 coup that ended up strengthening Spain's fledging democracy, has died aged 93, his family's lawyer said Wednesday.
  • Spain's budding democracy came to a shuddering halt that day when rebellious civil guards, led by Tejero Molina, stormed parliament and held lawmakers at gunpoint for almost 24 hours.
Antonio Tejero Molina, the Spanish Civil Guard officer who led a failed 1981 coup that ended up strengthening Spain's fledging democracy, has died aged 93, his family's lawyer said Wednesday.
"Lieutenant Colonel Don Antonio Tejero Molina has passed away. A man of honour, unwavering faith, and great love for Spain. May God grant him the peace that men denied him,"  Luis Felipe Utrera Molina wrote on X.
The announcement of his death came on the same day that Spain's leftist government released classified documents related to the February 23, 1981 coup attempt, a key moment in modern Spanish history.
The failed putsch came six years after the death of General Francisco Franco and was orchestrated by military officers nostalgic for the privileges they enjoyed during more than four decades of his dictatorship.
Spain's budding democracy came to a shuddering halt that day when rebellious civil guards, led by Tejero Molina, stormed parliament and held lawmakers at gunpoint for almost 24 hours.
Bellowing "Silence, everyone!" to terrified parliamentarians, the man with a bushy moustache and shiny tricorn quickly caught the public's attention in an image engraved on the nation's collective memory.
The siege only ended when it became clear that King Juan Carlos, Franco's designated successor, would not support the uprising.

'Do the same again'

Born on April 30, 1932 in Alhaurin el Grande, a town near the southern city of Malaga, Tejero saw his early childhood marked by the 1936-1939 civil war which led to 36 years of authoritarian rule under Franco.
At the time of the coup, Tejero was 48 and had spent his entire adult working life in the Civil Guard, Spain's military police.
In November 1978, Tejero had been linked to another failed bid to overthrow the government, known as Operation Galaxy, for which he was sentenced to seven months behind bars.
But it was the later coup, led by senior military commanders, that turned into "the founding myth of Spanish democracy", said Javier Cercas, whose book "Anatomy of an Instant" details the events of February 1981.
"On 23 February 1981, 200 years of military interventionism in Spain came to an end," he wrote in El Pais newspaper, saying that was the moment that democracy "truly began in Spain".
During his trial, Tejero justified his actions, saying: "At the start of 1981, the situation in Spain... was worse than in 1936," when rebel troops rose up and overthrew the elected republican government.
And if given the chance, Tejero said he would "do the same again", press reports at the time said.
Sentenced to 30 years for military rebellion, he was expelled from the Civil Guard and stripped of his rank.

Painter and politics

While serving time he became a candidate to fill a seat in the very parliament he had tried to overthrow.
Had he managed to win a seat in the chamber, he could have looked up and seen the bullet holes left in the ceiling by the gunshots he fired and whose marks are still there.
But the extreme right Spanish Solidarity party he founded failed to win a single seat in the 1982 elections.
During his time in jail, Tejero also swapped his pistol for a paintbrush, taking up art classes that saw him produce nearly 300 artworks, El Pais newspaper reported.
After being released on parole in December 1996, he carried on painting, at one time reportedly selling his canvases to supporters for up to 2,400 euros a piece, although they later fell to around 600 euros, El Mundo daily reported in 2016.
Fiercely protective of his privacy, Tejero kept away from the press and never published his memoirs.
"I did what I thought I had to do to save Spain," he said some two months after the failed coup in an interview from prison with journalist Pilar Urbano, who was in parliament's press gallery when the putschists stormed in.
"I am no longer a colonel, nor a member of the Civil Guard. I have lost my career but I will never lose my patriotism," she quoted him as saying.
mig-al/ds/rlp

slavery

Eleven men lured into Russia war returned to South Africa

  • Ukraine said Wednesday that more than 1,780 citizens from 36 African countries had been identified among Russia's ranks, and that some of them had been captured.
  • Eleven South African men who were allegedly lured into fighting for Russian forces in Ukraine returned to their home country Wednesday, AFP reporters saw.
  • Ukraine said Wednesday that more than 1,780 citizens from 36 African countries had been identified among Russia's ranks, and that some of them had been captured.
Eleven South African men who were allegedly lured into fighting for Russian forces in Ukraine returned to their home country Wednesday, AFP reporters saw.
They were part of a group of 17 who requested help from Pretoria in November as they were trapped in the epicentre of the fighting in Ukraine's Donbas region after being tricked into joining mercenary forces.
Four of the men landed in Johannesburg last week, while two remained in Russia where one of them was in hospital, according to the South African government.
AFP reporters saw the men -- including one in a wheelchair -- exiting the airport of Durban, in the coastal KwaZulu-Natal province, with their luggage and escorted by police to a holding area.
Local television reported that family members waiting at the airport broke down as they saw the men disembark.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Tuesday said investigations into "the circumstances that led to the recruitment of these young men into mercenary activities" were still ongoing.
The war sparked by Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 has drawn in mercenaries on both sides, including from several African countries.
Ukraine said Wednesday that more than 1,780 citizens from 36 African countries had been identified among Russia's ranks, and that some of them had been captured.
Reports in the South African media said the men were allegedly sent to Russia for security guard training by the opposition MK party, which is headed by ex-president Jacob Zuma, South Africa's leader between 2009 and 2018.
One of Zuma's daughters, Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, resigned from parliament after claims she was involved in recruiting the men to join Russian forces.
jcb/rh/rlp

education

Ex-US Treasury chief Summers quits Harvard over Epstein ties

BY GREGORY WALTON

  • He had made $9.1 million in donations to Harvard University between 1998 and 2008, the institution said.
  • Former US Treasury secretary Larry Summers resigned from his teaching post at Harvard University over his links to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the Ivy League institution said on Wednesday.
  • He had made $9.1 million in donations to Harvard University between 1998 and 2008, the institution said.
Former US Treasury secretary Larry Summers resigned from his teaching post at Harvard University over his links to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the Ivy League institution said on Wednesday.
Summers, who ran the US Treasury under former president Bill Clinton, was revealed in the Epstein files released by the Department of Justice to have had extensive exchanges with the now deceased financier.
Clinton will testify before a congressional committee on Epstein on Friday while his wife, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, will appear Thursday.
"Harvard Kennedy School Dean Jeremy Weinstein has accepted Professor Lawrence H. Summers' resignation from his leadership position as co-director of the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government," the university said in a statement, noting the move was linked to the Epstein case.
"Professor Summers has announced that he will retire from his academic and faculty appointments at Harvard at the end of this academic year and will remain on leave until that time."
In a previous video clip that went viral, Summers, who taught government at the prestigious university's Kennedy School, expressed regret to his students over his ties to Epstein. 

'Statement of regret'

"You will have seen my statement of regret expressing my shame with respect to what I did in communication with Mr Epstein," he said.
In November 2025, Summers said he was "stepping back" from public commitments after Congress released emails showing close communication between him and Epstein.
"I take full responsibility for my misguided decision to continue communicating with Mr Epstein," Summers said at the time in a statement to US media.
Summers also previously resigned from the board of the OpenAI foundation over the disclosures.
The mere mention of someone's name in the Epstein files does not, in itself, imply any wrongdoing by that person. However, the documents made public show at the very least connections between Epstein or his circle and certain public figures who have often downplayed -- or even denied -- the existence of such ties.
Epstein cultivated a global network of powerful politicians, business executives, academics and celebrities -- many of whom have been tainted by their association with him.
He had made $9.1 million in donations to Harvard University between 1998 and 2008, the institution said.
A number of prominent Americans -- from the Clintons to Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates -- have had their reputations damaged by their friendships with Epstein, but no one other than Epstein's ex-girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell has faced legal consequences in the United States.
gw/acb

film

Berlinale meet called over film director's anti-Israel speech

  • More than 80 film professionals criticised the Berlinale's "silence" on the war in Gaza in an open letter, accusing the festival of censoring artists "who reject the genocide" they believe Israel has committed in Gaza.
  • German culture officials plan to summon organisers of the Berlin film festival Thursday after the event was rocked this year by controversy over the Israel-Palestinian conflict and Gaza war.
  • More than 80 film professionals criticised the Berlinale's "silence" on the war in Gaza in an open letter, accusing the festival of censoring artists "who reject the genocide" they believe Israel has committed in Gaza.
German culture officials plan to summon organisers of the Berlin film festival Thursday after the event was rocked this year by controversy over the Israel-Palestinian conflict and Gaza war.
Bild daily reported that Tricia Tuttle, the US director of the Berlinale, is expected to be sacked at the meeting, citing sources close to the KBB, the state-owned company that runs the festival.
The KBB dismissed the report, telling AFP in a short statement: "We believe this is fake news."
The Gaza war loomed large over the February 12-22 festival, and Syrian-Palestinian filmmaker Abdallah Al-Khatib in Saturday's closing ceremony accused Germany of being complicit in "genocide" in Gaza through its support for Israel.
Culture minister Wolfram Weimer's office confirmed to AFP that an extraordinary supervisory board meeting of the KBB will be held Thursday to discuss "the direction of the Berlinale", but said it would "not comment on further speculation".
Speaking in parliament, Weimer, chairman of the KBB supervisory board, himself countered press speculation that a decision had already been made to dismiss Tuttle, according to a parliamentary newsletter. It paraphrased him as saying that not everything that was being written was true.
According to Bild, Tuttle, 56, is being sacked over the director's comments. The newspaper also published a photo in which Tuttle posed with members of his film crew who were wearing Palestinian scarves and holding a Palestinian flag.
Germany, in an effort to atone for the horrors of the Holocaust, has been a steadfast supporter of Israel in the post-war era, and criticism of Israel's conduct in Gaza has been more muted in Germany than in many other countries.
Khatib, who won the Best First Feature Award for "Chronicles from the Siege", charged that the German government "are partners in the genocide in Gaza by Israel. I believe you are intelligent enough to recognise this truth."
Environment Minister Carsten Schneider, the only member of the German government attending the ceremony, walked out over what he labelled the "unacceptable" remarks.
More than 80 film professionals criticised the Berlinale's "silence" on the war in Gaza in an open letter, accusing the festival of censoring artists "who reject the genocide" they believe Israel has committed in Gaza.
Award-winning Indian writer Arundhati Roy withdrew from the festival after the jury president, German director Wim Wenders, said cinema should "stay out of politics" when asked about Gaza.
bur-fec/fz/rlp

health

Norway's King Harald to stay in hospital to treat infection: doctor

  • The infection stems from a skin infection on one of his legs," the doctor, Bjorn Bendz, said in a royal statement.
  • Norway's King Harald V will have to stay in hospital in Tenerife for a few days because of leg infection, but the 89-year-old monarch's health is generally good, his personal doctor said Wednesday.
  • The infection stems from a skin infection on one of his legs," the doctor, Bjorn Bendz, said in a royal statement.
Norway's King Harald V will have to stay in hospital in Tenerife for a few days because of leg infection, but the 89-year-old monarch's health is generally good, his personal doctor said Wednesday.
The king was taken to hospital while on holiday on the Spanish island, suffering from an infection and dehydration.
"The king's overall health is good and he is responding well to treatment. The infection stems from a skin infection on one of his legs," the doctor, Bjorn Bendz, said in a royal statement.
"The king will remain in hospital for a few more days for observation and continued treatment," he added.
Europe's oldest monarch was admitted to Hospital Universitario Hospiten Sur in Tenerife on Tuesday evening. He was on a private visit with his wife, Queen Sonja, 88, and celebrated his latest birthday on Saturday.
"When people who are nearly 90 are admitted to hospital for an infection, it's a serious situation," said Bendz.
"It is important that we have a good overview and full control of his state of health before the king can leave hospital -- even if his condition is stable at the moment," he added.
Harald, who has been king since 1991, has suffered health problems in recent years that have forced him to scale back his official schedule. But he has always ruled out abdicating.
During a private trip to Malaysia two years ago, he picked up an infection and was taken to hospital before being flown home after having a pacemaker fitted.
Harald's health worries come as the Norwegian monarchy is confronting scandals.
Crown Princess Mette-Marit, who married Harald's son, Crown Prince Haakon, in 2001, appears multiple times in documents linked to Jeffrey Epstein, revealing an unsuspected closeness with the late American sex offender.
Mette-Marit's son from a previous relationship, Marius Borg Hoiby, is on trial on 38 charges in Oslo, including four rapes and assaults. The 29-year-old, who is not a member of the royal family, denies the most serious charges.
The popularity of the Norwegian royal family has fallen to its lowest level, according to a poll published on Saturday by public broadcaster NRK.
Only 60 percent of the population supports the monarchy -- 10 percent less than the previous month. NRK said the support "has never been so low".
Harald, however, is a popular unifying figure, scoring 9.2 out of 10, the survey suggested.
phy/nzg/phz/tw

pope

Pope lines up trips to Central Africa, Algeria, Spain, Monaco

BY ELLA IDE

  • But the official trip to Algeria, which will see Leo visit Algiers and Annaba from April 13 to 15, will be particularly symbolic.
  • Pope Leo XIV will visit four African nations in April, the Vatican said Thursday, including Algeria -- the first time a pope will travel to the North African Muslim nation.
  • But the official trip to Algeria, which will see Leo visit Algiers and Annaba from April 13 to 15, will be particularly symbolic.
Pope Leo XIV will visit four African nations in April, the Vatican said Thursday, including Algeria -- the first time a pope will travel to the North African Muslim nation.
The Vatican announced a series of international trips in the months ahead for the US pontiff, who was elected last year, including to Spain and Monaco.
But the official trip to Algeria, which will see Leo visit Algiers and Annaba from April 13 to 15, will be particularly symbolic.
Islam is the state religion but the constitution guarantees freedom of worship, subject to approval by the authorities for the place of worship and the preacher.
Leo's visit, which is expected to focus on interfaith dialogue, comes 30 years after the beheading of seven French Trappist monks from a monastery during the 1990s civil war.
The US pope said in December a visit to the country would be a chance to deepen "dialogue and bridge-building between the Christian and the Muslim worlds".
Algeria is also the birthplace of the fifth-century St Augustine. The pope belongs to the Augustinian order, which was founded in the 13th century.
St Augustine (354-430), one of Christianity's greatest thinkers, came from the present-day region of Souk Ahras and was bishop of Hippo, now the city of Annaba, in the northeast.
After Algeria, the head of the Catholic Church will visit Cameroon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea.
Leo will stop off in Yaounde, Bamenda and Douala from April 15 to 18, then Luanda, Muxima and Saurimo between April 18 and 21, before travelling to Malabo, Mongomo and Bata between April 21 and 23.
The pope is likely to appeal for peace and dialogue while in Angola and Cameroon, where long-running separatist struggles continue to kill civilians.
The last papal visit to the African continent was when Leo's predecessor, Pope Francis, visited the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and South Sudan in February 2023.

Monaco, Spain

Before his trip to Africa, the pontiff will visit Monaco for a day, the Vatican said.
The visit to the principality on the French Riviera will take place on March 28 and will be the first papal trip to the city state in modern times.
It will be "a historic moment for Monaco and stand as a strong sign of hope, in a spirit of dialogue, peace, and shared responsibility", a statement from the principality in the name of Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene said.
Leo will also visit Spain from June 6 to 12.
He will first visit the capital Madrid, and then travel to Barcelona, where he will inaugurate the newest and tallest tower of the Sagrada Familia Basilica, the Vatican News website said.
The visit marks 100 years since the death of its Catalan architect, Antoni Gaudi, who was declared "venerable" by the Catholic Church in 2025 -- the first step on the path to sainthood.
Leo will then travel to the Canary Islands, a Spanish archipelago off the coast of West Africa, a key point on the migration route to Europe.
The American pope, who became head of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics in May, is a vocal defender of migrants, an issue which was also dear to his predecessor Pope Francis.
While in the Canary Islands, Leo will visit Tenerife and Gran Canaria, Vatican News said.
The announcements of the trips follow news the pope will visit a series of areas within Italy in the coming months, including the island of Lampedusa.
cmk-ide/ams/phz

museum

France appoints new Louvre chief after jewellery heist

BY FRANCESCO FONTEMAGGI AND JEREMY TORDJMAN

  • Leribault was appointed president of the Palace of Versailles, one of the most coveted jobs in French culture, in 2024.
  • The president of France's Palace of Versailles on Wednesday took over as head of the Louvre following a litany of problems at the world's most-visited museum including a $100 million jewellery robbery.
  • Leribault was appointed president of the Palace of Versailles, one of the most coveted jobs in French culture, in 2024.
The president of France's Palace of Versailles on Wednesday took over as head of the Louvre following a litany of problems at the world's most-visited museum including a $100 million jewellery robbery.
Christophe Leribault replaced Laurence des Cars as the Louvre chief, with government spokeswoman Maud Bregeon saying he would "lead major projects for the institution's future" such as security and modernisation.
Leribault will have to "restore a climate of trust", said the culture ministry.
News of Leribault's appointment got a cautious welcome from one union leader at the Louvre.
As director of the Louvre, Leribault will seek to turn around the fortunes of the vast former royal palace.
Apart from the embarrassing theft of French crown jewels in October, the museum has struggled with strikes, a ticket fraud scheme that may have cost the museum 10 million euros ($11.7 million), a water leak and structural, maintenance and security issues.
The museum has been forced to close four times due to strikes since December, costing around two million euros in lost revenue.
Leribault, 62, is an art historian and museum director specialising in 18th-century art.
He has already led some prestigious Paris institutions, including the Petit Palais, and the Musee d'Orsay, which hosts the world's largest collection of Impressionist paintings. 
Des Cars handed in her resignation to President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday, having served since 2021, the first woman to take the role. But she had been under rising pressure since last October's robbery.
While four suspects are in police custody, including the two suspected thieves, the eight stolen items are yet to be recovered.
Lawmaker Alexandre Portier, who heads a committee investigating museum security, said the Louvre had over the years become a "state within a state" over which the authorities no longer had sufficient control.

'Great curator'

French daily Le Monde said the departure of des Cars became "inevitable" following the robbery and the strikes demanding more staff, pay and better maintenance of the museum.
"Since the theft on October 19, 2025, we have been caught up in a media and political storm of unprecedented proportions," des Cars told Le Figaro newspaper.
She said she was proud of the work she had accomplished at the Louvre. 
"But staying the course is not enough," the 59-year-old added. "You also need to be able to move forward. And the conditions for moving forward are no longer in place."
The Louvre, home to iconic pieces of art including Leonardo Da Vinci's "Mona Lisa", receives around nine million visitors a year. 
Leribault was appointed president of the Palace of Versailles, one of the most coveted jobs in French culture, in 2024.
The palace, which was built by Louis XIV in the 17th century, hosted competitions for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The mayor of Versailles said he was sorry to see Leribault go.
"He is someone who is highly appreciated, warm in character, and a great curator," Francois de Mazieres told AFP.
Trade unions welcomed the replacement of the Louvre president.
"We need social calm," Valerie Baud of the CFDT union told AFP, adding that talks with the previous management were at a dead end.
Gary Guillaud, the Louvre's CGT union representative, said he had observed "the quality" of dialogue between management and staff at the Palace of Versailles and expressed hope Leribault would maintain that approach in his new role.
fff-led-as/ekf/jj

justice

Bill Gates admits affairs but denies involvement in Epstein crimes

  • "It was a huge mistake to spend time with Epstein" and to also bring Gates Foundation executives into meetings with Epstein, he said.
  • Bill Gates has admitted making a "huge mistake" in associating with Jeffrey Epstein, telling staff at his charity foundation that he had affairs with two Russian women but denying involvement in the disgraced financier's crimes.
  • "It was a huge mistake to spend time with Epstein" and to also bring Gates Foundation executives into meetings with Epstein, he said.
Bill Gates has admitted making a "huge mistake" in associating with Jeffrey Epstein, telling staff at his charity foundation that he had affairs with two Russian women but denying involvement in the disgraced financier's crimes.
The Microsoft co-founder is among the prominent names appearing in documents released by the US Justice Department that revealed close friendships, illicit financial dealings and private photos with convicted sex offender Epstein.
In a town hall Tuesday with staff at the Gates Foundation, a recording of which was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, Gates expressed regret that his relationship with Epstein had affected the work of his philanthropic organization.
"It was a huge mistake to spend time with Epstein" and to also bring Gates Foundation executives into meetings with Epstein, he said.
"I apologize to other people who are drawn into this because of the mistake that I made."
In a draft email among the documents released by the Justice Department, Epstein alleged Gates engaged in extramarital affairs, writing that his relationship with Gates ranged from "helping Bill to get drugs, in order to deal with consequences of sex with russian girls, to facilitating his illicit trysts, with married women."

'I saw nothing illicit'

Gates, 70, admitted at the town hall to two affairs.
"I did have affairs, one with a Russian bridge player who met me at bridge events, and one with a Russian nuclear physicist who I met through business activities," he said.
But he denied any involvement with victims of Epstein, who died in a New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking underage girls.
"I did nothing illicit. I saw nothing illicit," Gates told the town hall.
The tech titan said his relationship with Epstein began in 2011, three years after the financier pleaded guilty to soliciting a minor for prostitution.
Gates said he knew of an "18-month thing" restricting Epstein's travel but didn't check his background.
He said his then-wife Melinda expressed concerns about Epstein in 2013, but that he continued the relationship for at least another year.
"Knowing what I know now makes it, you know, a hundred times worse in terms of not only his crimes in the past, but now it's clear there was ongoing bad behavior," Gates told staff.
The Gates Foundation said Gates addressed the Epstein case and other issues at its scheduled twice-yearly town hall event. 
"Bill spoke candidly, addressing several questions in detail, and took responsibility for his actions," it said in a statement to AFP.
acb/bgs

migration

18 Egyptians missing after deadly boat capsize near Greece

  • Egypt's foreign ministry said that 21 Egyptians were on board the boat when it capsized, three of whom have been found dead while the rest remain missing.
  • Egypt said Wednesday that 18 of its citizens were still missing after a migrant boat capsized, killing four people, off the Greek island of Crete last week. 
  • Egypt's foreign ministry said that 21 Egyptians were on board the boat when it capsized, three of whom have been found dead while the rest remain missing.
Egypt said Wednesday that 18 of its citizens were still missing after a migrant boat capsized, killing four people, off the Greek island of Crete last week. 
The wooden boat was carrying 50 people, including four minors, when Greece's coast guard was alerted late Friday. 
Greek authorities then directed a commercial vessel to the area for a rescue operation.
According to Greek public broadcaster ERT, an accident occurred when the commercial vessel approached the migrants' boat. 
As the passengers tried to climb up ladders into the rescue vessel, a sudden movement caused the wooden boat to capsize.
Egypt's foreign ministry said that 21 Egyptians were on board the boat when it capsized, three of whom have been found dead while the rest remain missing.
The body of a 28-year-old Sudanese woman was also discovered, according to the Greek coast guard.
Twenty migrants were rescued by the commercial vessel, according to the Greek authorities, leaving several people still unaccounted for.
Greek authorities arrested two Sudanese men suspected of being people smugglers who are set to appear before judges on Wednesday, according to local media Creta24.
The migrant boat is believed to have departed from Libya.
Migrants regularly attempt the perilous crossing from Libya to Crete, a gateway to the European Union.
More than 17,000 Egyptians reached Europe via the Mediterranean last year, making them the top African and second-largest global group of irregular migrants to Europe.
Many come from poor towns in Egypt's Nile Delta and travel via Libya, where they face arbitrary detention, torture, sexual violence and forced labour.
They are often extorted and held hostage until their families back home send the smugglers more money.
Egypt's foreign ministry warned citizens to "exercise extreme caution to avoid being misled by illegal immigration gangs", and said it was coordinating the repatriation of the deceased.
bha/ris/dl

climate

Hope fades in search for missing after deadly Brazil rains

  • The worst hit city was Juiz da Fora where 30 people were killed, while nearby Uba saw six deaths, according to the latest official tally.
  • Despair hung over two cities in southeastern Brazil on Wednesday as rescuers and residents searched for 33 people missing after torrential rains unleashed flooding and landslides that killed at least 36.
  • The worst hit city was Juiz da Fora where 30 people were killed, while nearby Uba saw six deaths, according to the latest official tally.
Despair hung over two cities in southeastern Brazil on Wednesday as rescuers and residents searched for 33 people missing after torrential rains unleashed flooding and landslides that killed at least 36.
A violent downpour on Monday in the state of Minas Gerais turned streets into raging rivers and led to landslides which swept away houses and buried dozens of people.
The worst hit city was Juiz da Fora where 30 people were killed, while nearby Uba saw six deaths, according to the latest official tally.
More heavy rain was forecast for Juiz de Fora this week, and firefighters told AFP it was unlikely that any more victims would be found alive.
"Our family is desperate," said Josiane Aparecida, a 43-year-old cook in Juiz de Fora.
Her aunt died in a landslide and her cousin was found alive but passed away in hospital.
Aparecida was still looking through the rubble for her cousin's two children, ages six and nine, and boyfriend. 
"We have hope, and yet we don't, because it's so difficult (to find them), and we've already lost two," she said.
A few blocks away, rescuers recovered the body of a man who, before dying, managed to pull his wife from their house which was engulfed by the landslide, firefighters told AFP.
The tragedy is the latest in a series of extreme weather disasters in Brazil, from floods to fires and drought, many of which scientists have linked to the effects of global warming.
In 2024, more than 200 people died and two million were impacted by unprecedented flooding in southern Brazil, one of the worst natural disasters in its history.
Two years earlier, a deluge in the city of Petropolis outside Rio de Janeiro left 241 people dead.
lg-ffb/fb/bgs

trade

Germany's Merz meets Xi, announces Chinese Airbus order

BY MARTIN TRAUTH

  • Following talks with top Chinese leaders, Merz told reporters that China had agreed to purchase "up to 120" Airbus aircraft, adding that it "demonstrates how worthwhile such trips can be".
  • China will buy up to 120 aircraft from European aviation giant Airbus, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said following talks with President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Wednesday.
  • Following talks with top Chinese leaders, Merz told reporters that China had agreed to purchase "up to 120" Airbus aircraft, adding that it "demonstrates how worthwhile such trips can be".
China will buy up to 120 aircraft from European aviation giant Airbus, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said following talks with President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Wednesday.
Merz's visit comes as Berlin and Beijing seek to build on their decades-old economic ties to weather global uncertainty sparked by US President Donald Trump's tariff blitz and other erratic foreign policy moves.
China, the world's number two economy, overtook the United States last year to become Germany's biggest trade partner. At the same time, Berlin regards the Communist Party-run state as a systemic rival to the West.
Following talks with top Chinese leaders, Merz told reporters that China had agreed to purchase "up to 120" Airbus aircraft, adding that it "demonstrates how worthwhile such trips can be".
Other contracts were in the pipeline, Merz added.
Earlier in the day, Merz and Xi stressed their commitment to developing closer strategic relations, with the German leader saying he saw the trip as a "great opportunity" to boost economic ties.
Xi, in turn, told Merz he was willing to take their ties to "new levels".
Merz said that in his meetings he also touched on the sensitive topic Taiwan, the self-ruled island China claims as part of its territory and which it has not ruled out the use of force to annex.
Any "reunification" must be done peacefully, Merz said.
He also discussed the Ukraine war with Xi, who according to state news agency Xinhua said diplomacy was "key to the issue".
"Xi noted the necessity of ensuring the equal participation of all parties to lay a solid foundation for peace, (and) addressing the legitimate concerns of all sides to strengthen the will for peace," Xinhua added.
Merz is the latest in a string of Western leaders courting Beijing recently, including Britain's Keir Starmer, France's Emmanuel Macron and Canada's Mark Carney, as they recoil from the mercurial policies of Trump, who is also expected to visit from March 31.
Merz said he wished for regular consultations between his government and Beijing -- interrupted by political developments in Berlin and the pandemic -- to resume "very soon".

'Fair' cooperation

Export-dependent Germany needs "economic relations all over the world", Merz said before leaving for Beijing with a large business delegation in tow.
At a meeting with Premier Li Qiang in Beijing's opulent Great Hall of the People, Merz called for "fair" cooperation, and representatives from both sides signed agreements and memorandums -- including on climate change and food security.
In an apparent allusion to the United States, Li noted that "unilateralism and protectionism have gained ground and even become prevalent in some countries and regions".
Flexing its muscle at times of tension, Beijing has restricted exports of critical minerals used in products from microchips and wind turbines to electric-car batteries and weapons systems.
Last year, Beijing temporarily halted the export of Nexperia chips to Europe following a dispute with the Dutch government.
More broadly, European businesses complain that China, with its low domestic demand, is flooding Europe with goods made cheap through state subsidies and an undervalued currency.
Germany's trade deficit with China hit a record 89 billion euros ($105 billion) last year.

Cars, AI and competition

As Trump has unsettled allies and rivals alike, China has sought to present itself as a reliable partner and defender of the multilateral order.
China's top diplomat, Wang Yi, told Merz at the Munich Security Conference this month that Beijing wanted Germany to be a "stabilising anchor for strategic relations" in the European Union.
Merz is joined by business leaders including executives of auto giants Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes.
On Thursday, he is set to visit Beijing's Forbidden City, then a Mercedes plant where autonomous driving vehicles will be presented.
The chancellor will then travel to AI hub Hangzhou to visit the robotics group Unitree and German turbine maker Siemens Energy.
German businesses have given Merz a to-do list on his trip.
"We expect the chancellor to clearly address problems such as overcapacity, distortions of competition, and export controls on critical raw materials," said Wolfgang Niedermark of the Federation of German Industries.
Merz should advocate for "structural reforms to strengthen domestic demand and fairer competitive conditions" in China, he said, warning that without change there will be "new trade conflicts with the EU".
clp-fz-isk/ami

animal

Ice melt threatens emperor penguins during annual moult: researchers

  • During the January-March Antarctic summer, emperor penguins from the Ross Sea in West Antarctica migrate as much as 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) to Marie Byrd Land to moult on stable sea ice, the researchers said Wednesday.
  • Emperor penguins shed all their feathers once a year, a precarious ritual that may have become deadly as climate change pushes them into shrinking patches of Antarctic sea ice, researchers said Wednesday.
  • During the January-March Antarctic summer, emperor penguins from the Ross Sea in West Antarctica migrate as much as 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) to Marie Byrd Land to moult on stable sea ice, the researchers said Wednesday.
Emperor penguins shed all their feathers once a year, a precarious ritual that may have become deadly as climate change pushes them into shrinking patches of Antarctic sea ice, researchers said Wednesday.
The flightless birds moult during summer, relying on stored fat to survive for several weeks until their waterproof coat grows back so they can swim and hunt in icy waters again.
Researchers from the British Antarctic Survey, analysing seven years of satellite images, accidentally discovered several moulting colonies along the extremely remote coastline of an area known as Marie Byrd Land.
As sea ice melted, the penguins were forced onto smaller spaces in increasingly large and tightly packed groups, the UK polar research organisation said in a statement.
In 2025, only 25 small groups of penguins were visible in the satellite images, it said. Prior to 2022, more than 100 groups had been spotted in the same region.
"While we don't know for sure what happened to those penguins, we know they can find new suitable breeding sites after ice loss, so it's possible they have established new moulting sites elsewhere," said Peter Fretwell, lead author and mapping expert at the British Antarctic Survey.
"But also it's possible that huge numbers of penguins perished after entering the Southern Ocean before they had replaced their waterproof feathers," Fretwell said.
"If this has happened, the situation for emperors as a species is even worse than we thought."
The researchers said that if emperor penguins are forced into the ocean before their feathers are replaced, they face exhaustion from increased energy use, hypothermia and increased risk from predators.

Ice at record low

Emperor penguin populations have shrunk by almost a quarter as global warming transforms their icy habitat, the British Antarctic Survey said in research published last year.
During the January-March Antarctic summer, emperor penguins from the Ross Sea in West Antarctica migrate as much as 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) to Marie Byrd Land to moult on stable sea ice, the researchers said Wednesday.
It is one of the few areas that historically retains its fast ice -- sea ice attached to the coast -- throughout the year.
The moulting process takes about four to five weeks and the penguins cannot go in the freezing water during that time.
The extent of Antarctic Sea ice fell to record lows between 2022 and 2024, accompanied by a drastic decrease in fast ice, the British Antarctic Survey said.
In the region they observed, sea ice coverage fell from a 50-year average of 500,000 square kilometres -- roughly the size of Spain -- to 100,000 square kilometres in 2023. Only 2,000 square kilometres of fast ice were left near the coast.
During those years, the sea ice broke before the penguins had finished moulting, raising fears that many may not have survived, the scientists said.
The survey's previous study found that some emperor penguin colonies lost all their chicks in recent years as the ice broke, plunging hatchlings into the sea before they were old enough to cope with the freezing ocean.
At current rates of warming, there is a 45 percent chance the species will become extinct by the turn of the century, the survey said.
lt/jxb

arrest

Sri Lanka arrests ex-spy chief over 2019 Easter bombings

BY AMAL JAYASINGHE

  • "He was arrested for conspiracy and aiding and abetting the Easter Sunday attacks," an investigating officer told AFP. "He has been in touch with people involved in the attacks, even recently."
  • Sri Lankan investigators arrested a former intelligence chief on Wednesday, the most high-profile official netted in the long-running investigation into the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings.
  • "He was arrested for conspiracy and aiding and abetting the Easter Sunday attacks," an investigating officer told AFP. "He has been in touch with people involved in the attacks, even recently."
Sri Lankan investigators arrested a former intelligence chief on Wednesday, the most high-profile official netted in the long-running investigation into the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings.
Police said retired Major General Suresh Sallay was taken into custody at dawn in a suburb of the capital, Colombo. 
"He was arrested for conspiracy and aiding and abetting the Easter Sunday attacks," an investigating officer told AFP.
"He has been in touch with people involved in the attacks, even recently."
The coordinated bombings targeted three upmarket hotels in the capital, two Roman Catholic churches and an evangelical Protestant church outside Colombo. The attacks killed 279 people, including 45 foreigners, and were blamed on a homegrown jihadist group.
Police, in a statement, said that Sallay was arrested under the Prevention of Terrorism Act and would be detained for at least three days for questioning.
His arrest was welcomed by the Catholic church, and criticised by his still powerful supporters.
"What we need is the truth behind the Easter attacks," church spokesman Father Cyril Gamini Fernando told AFP. "We want to see justice for all the victims."
The church has accused successive governments of failing to identify the masterminds.
The April 21, 2019 attacks were the worst to target civilians in the country, where at least 100,000 people were killed in nearly four decades of civil war.
Sallay, who was promoted to State Intelligence Service (SIS) chief in 2019 after Gotabaya Rajapaksa became president, is accused of involvement in organising the suicide bombings, a charge he denies.
His long-expected arrest came ahead of the seventh anniversary of the bombings.
British broadcaster Channel 4 reported in 2023 that Sallay was linked to the Islamist bombers and had met them prior to the attack.
A whistleblower told the network that Sallay had permitted the attack to proceed with the intention of influencing that year's presidential election in favour of Rajapaksa.
Two days after the bombings, Rajapaksa declared his candidacy and went on to win the November vote in a landslide after promising to stamp out Islamist extremism.
Rajapaksa's then-justice minister Ali Sabry defended Sallay, saying he had contributed to the dismantling of the Tamil Tiger guerrilla network in 2009.
"Undermining officers who once safeguarded the country may offer temporary political advantage, but it weakens morale within the armed forces," Sabry posted on social media.

Funding fanatics

A former member of the jihadist group told reporters in 2019 that they were originally funded by a military intelligence unit to propagate a fundamentalist ideology in Sri Lanka's multi-ethnic eastern province.
Sallay was employed in the intelligence unit that funded the jihadists, and the government at the time admitted the military was behind the radical group.
Critics said the jihadist were funded as a means to create an enemy -- and so justify their far larger backing of a radical Buddhist group.
Sallay was promoted to head the SIS, Sri Lanka's main intelligence agency, following Rajapaksa's victory, but was dismissed after Anura Kumara Dissanayake won the presidency in 2024, promising prosecutions of those behind the attacks.
While local jihadists were held responsible, Sallay was also accused of orchestrating the attack.
Two days after the bombings, ISIS claimed responsibility, but investigators said they had no evidence to establish a foreign link.
Other investigations faulted the authorities for failing to act on warnings from an Indian intelligence agency.
More than 500 people were wounded in the bombings, which also crippled the island nation's lucrative tourism industry.
US authorities in 2021 charged three Sri Lankans for supporting the Easter attacks, in which five Americans were killed.
The three are among 25 suspects indicted in Sri Lanka's High Court.
The Supreme Court fined then-president Maithripala Sirisena and four senior officials more than $1.03 million in a civil case for their failure to prevent the attacks.
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