security

Europe calls for US reset at security talks

fire

Fire at refinery in Havana as Cuba battles fuel shortages

  • Trump said no more Venezuelan oil would go to Cuba, and also threatened tariffs for any other country stepping in with crude supplies.
  • A fire broke out Friday at a refinery in Cuba's capital, threatening to compound the island nation's struggles as it faces what amounts to a US oil blockade.
  • Trump said no more Venezuelan oil would go to Cuba, and also threatened tariffs for any other country stepping in with crude supplies.
A fire broke out Friday at a refinery in Cuba's capital, threatening to compound the island nation's struggles as it faces what amounts to a US oil blockade.
AFP observed a massive column of smoke rising from the Nico Lopez refinery in Havana Bay, though it was not known if the blaze was near the plant's oil storage tanks.
Two Mexican navy ships arrived at the same harbor Thursday with more than 800 tons of much-needed humanitarian aid.
Cuba, already contending with a years-long economic crisis, has risked being plunged into darkness since US President Donald Trump vowed to starve the communist nation of oil.
The Caribbean country of 9.6 million inhabitants lost its main oil supply line when Trump last month ordered the ouster of Nicolas Maduro, the long-term leader of Cuban ally Venezuela.
Trump said no more Venezuelan oil would go to Cuba, and also threatened tariffs for any other country stepping in with crude supplies.
The island, under a US trade embargo since 1962, has for years been mired in a severe economic crisis marked by extended power cuts and shortages of fuel, medicine and food.
No foreign fuel or oil tanker has arrived in Cuba in weeks, experts in maritime transport tracking have told AFP.
Trump and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the Miami-born son of Cuban immigrants, have made no secret of their desire to bring about regime change in Havana.
The Republican leader has said Cuba is "ready to fall."
Emergency measures kicked in this week to conserve Cuba's fast-dwindling fuel stocks. The government shuttered universities, reduced school hours and the work week, and slashed public transport as it limited fuel sales.
Staffing at hospitals was also cut back.
The United Nations said Friday it was deeply alarmed by the crisis unfolding in Cuba.
rd/jb/val/mlr/des

Global Edition

Canada PM to mourn with grieving town, new details emerge on shooter

BY BEN SIMON

  • He described Tumbler Ridge as a town of miners, teachers and construction workers who represent "the very best of Canada: resilient, compassionate and strong."
  • A grief-stricken community in northern Canada will mourn with Prime Minister Mark Carney on Friday, who is headed to the remote town of Tumbler Ridge to honor victims of a mass shooting. 
  • He described Tumbler Ridge as a town of miners, teachers and construction workers who represent "the very best of Canada: resilient, compassionate and strong."
A grief-stricken community in northern Canada will mourn with Prime Minister Mark Carney on Friday, who is headed to the remote town of Tumbler Ridge to honor victims of a mass shooting. 
Carney is travelling to the Rocky Mountain mining town with the heads of all opposition parties, a show of national solidarity after one of the deadliest outbursts of violence in Canadian history. 
In the days since Tuesday's killings at the Tumbler Ridge Secondary School, more information has emerged about both the victims and the shooter, an 18-year-old transgender woman named Jesse Van Rootselaar.
A Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer remained stationed outside Van Rootselaar's home on Friday. 
The modest brown house on a quiet, unassuming street was cordoned-off with police tape. Two overturned bicycles rested against the snow in the front yard. 
Van Rootselaar killed her 39-year-old mother and 11-year-old stepbrother in the house before heading to the school, where she shot dead six more people -- five students and a teacher -- then killed herself. 
The shooter's estranged father, Justin Van Rootselaar, has sent a statement to the public broadcaster CBC, offering condolences for a "senseless and unforgivable act of violence."
"As the biological father of the individual responsible, I carry a sorrow that is difficult to put into words," the statement said, according to the CBC. 
The RCMP on Friday released a photo of the shooter -- who was known to have mental health issues. She is shown wearing a hoodie with an expressionless face. 

Vigil at town hall

Carney is expected to lead a vigil for the victims outside the town hall in Tumbler Ridge, which was built 45 years ago, 1,180 kilometers (733 miles) north of Vancouver.
The town was quiet early Friday and residents have voiced weariness over the influx of media attention following the tragedy. 
A sign ordering media to stay out was taped at the entrance of the community center on Friday. 
But inside the center on Thursday, there were hints of life inching back towards normal, including an ice rink packed with children playing hockey or working on their skating. 
In the evening, the mother of a victim, Sarah Lampert, addressed the media at the center, saying she wanted to speak for 12-year-old daughter Ticaria who had "a beautiful, strong voice that was silenced."
"She is forever my baby, because that's what she was. She was a baby," Lampert said, fighting back tears as she addressed a room full of cameras. 
Also killed at school was 12-year-old Zoey Benoit.
"She was so resilient, vibrant, smart, caring and the strongest little girl you could meet," a statement from her family said. 
Peter Schofield's 13-year-old grandson Ezekiel was one of the six murdered students. 
"Everything feels so surreal. The tears just keep flowing," he posted on Facebook. 
Residents have repeatedly stressed the community's closeness in the days following the shootings, saying tight relationships in the town of 2,400 would help people get through the nightmare. 
"This will not break us," pastor George Rowe said. "I think we're going to be OK."
Carney made an emotional address to parliament after the shootings, saying "these children and their teachers bore witness to unheard-of cruelty." 
He described Tumbler Ridge as a town of miners, teachers and construction workers who represent "the very best of Canada: resilient, compassionate and strong."
The prime minister had been scheduled to attend the Munich Security Conference to discuss transatlantic defense with allies, but cancelled his plans following the shooting.
bs/dw
 

conflict

A Friday night concert in Kyiv to 'warm souls'

  • To draw in travellers, the orchestra first played an opening piece at the top of the station's vast staircase.
  • Between two air-raid alerts, the Kyiv Classic Orchestra on Friday gave travellers at the city's main railway station an hour-long concert, to raise spirits during the war with Russia.
  • To draw in travellers, the orchestra first played an opening piece at the top of the station's vast staircase.
Between two air-raid alerts, the Kyiv Classic Orchestra on Friday gave travellers at the city's main railway station an hour-long concert, to raise spirits during the war with Russia.
Pieces by 19th-century Ukrainian composer Semen Hulak-Artemovsky and excerpts of Mozart and Gershwin rang out across the vast waiting room hall.
The station has for several weeks been transformed into a "point of invincibility", providing a place of warmth for the population and for them to recharge their mobiles.
Immaculately dressed in a fur-collared coat and white scarf, conductor Herman Makarenko led nine string players before dozens of people, some of whom had stopped by chance.
To draw in travellers, the orchestra first played an opening piece at the top of the station's vast staircase.
Organised as part of a US-Ukrainian solidarity project, the concert is expected to be the first in a series in the weeks to come, said Tetiana Marozova, one of the organisers.
"We think this initiative is very important because we need to take care not only of our bodies in these difficult situations without heating, without electricity," she said.
"But we can bring a little bit of joy to Ukrainians and warm their souls."
Intensive Russian bombardment on Ukrainian energy infrastructure in recent months has left hundreds of thousands of households without heating and electricity in the depths of a particularly bitter winter.
Makarenko called music "medicine for the soul" and said Ukraine was now fighting on the "cultural front", nearly four years after Russia's full-scale invasion.
"That's very important," he said, "to show that we, Ukrainians, are unbreakable."
Some exhausted travellers seemed not to be paying attention to the music but dozens of others filmed or happily listened to it.
"Classical music is what we need at this time," smiled Zinaida Yarmolenko, 76, who came across the concert by accident after hearing the first few notes.
"I'm really happy," she added.
cf/pop/phz/tw

security

Conflicts turning on civilians, warns Red Cross chief

  • Wars are turning into wars not against weapon-bearers but against civilians -- deliberately.
  • Conflicts are deliberately being turned into wars against civilians with drones and other technology and countries are flouting international law with impunity, the Red Cross chief said Friday.
  • Wars are turning into wars not against weapon-bearers but against civilians -- deliberately.
Conflicts are deliberately being turned into wars against civilians with drones and other technology and countries are flouting international law with impunity, the Red Cross chief said Friday.
"We count and classify more conflicts today than we did 15 years ago -- twice as many; four times as many as we did 30 years ago," Mirjana Spoljaric, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, told the Munich Security Conference.
"But it's not only the numbers: it's the intensity, it's the scale and it's the fact that conflicts are over-layered with fast technological advancement -- amplifying the negative impacts on civilians, on entire countries because they increase displacement at fast pace," she said.
"There's never a moment where drones fight against drones. Drones fight against the military and increasingly against civilians. Wars are turning into wars not against weapon-bearers but against civilians -- deliberately.
"And that is the impact of the hollowing out of international humanitarian law."
Spoljaric said the rule of law was only upheld by political will to respect universally-ratified international agreements.
International humanitarian law is a set of rules that seek to limit the effects of armed conflict. It protects people who are not or are no longer participating in hostilities and restricts the means and methods of warfare.
The ICRC acts as the guardians of international humanitarian law.
During a panel discussion on humanitarian assistance, Spoljaric said it was up to leaders to make such laws a political prority and adopt a protective interpretation of the laws, rather than a permissive one.
"Only then will we be able to curb" the number and scale of conflicts, and reduce the cost of humanitarian aid, she said.
She said international humanitarian law had to be tied to national security interests, "otherwise it will not become a priority".
"Because if you dismantle the rules of war, if you say 'I will win this war at all costs, no rules apply', you are sending a signal to every arms bearer that everything is allowed, and it's a question of time until a bomb explodes in your town.
"The new technologies, the spread of armed groups make this possible today."
rjm/apo/tw

security

Europe calls for US reset at security talks

BY FRANK ZELLER WITH ROLAND LLOYD PARRY IN LONDON

  • This year's Munich Security Conference comes at a time of strained ties between Europe and the United States, after Trump threatened to take over Greenland and criticised "decaying" and "weak" European nations.
  • German leader Friedrich Merz called Friday for "a new transatlantic partnership" between the United States and Europe, as he rallied officials at a top security conference under heavy pressure from US President Donald Trump.
  • This year's Munich Security Conference comes at a time of strained ties between Europe and the United States, after Trump threatened to take over Greenland and criticised "decaying" and "weak" European nations.
German leader Friedrich Merz called Friday for "a new transatlantic partnership" between the United States and Europe, as he rallied officials at a top security conference under heavy pressure from US President Donald Trump.
European leaders were striving to shore up relations with Washington, insisting they were strengthening their defences in line with Trump's demands at what Merz and others described as a time of "upheaval".
This year's Munich Security Conference comes at a time of strained ties between Europe and the United States, after Trump threatened to take over Greenland and criticised "decaying" and "weak" European nations.
Russia's war against Ukraine, set to enter its fifth year this month, is high on the agenda, alongside efforts by European NATO members to raise their defence budgets out of concern that Moscow could seek to expand into their territory.
European leaders at the gathering defended their security commitments and the NATO alliance.
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said on X that the bloc was "ready to take more responsibility for our own security" -- after Trump called it into question and accused allies of not spending enough on defence.
"Being a part of NATO is not only Europe's competitive advantage. It's also the United States' competitive advantage. So let's repair and revive transatlantic trust together," Merz said.
"In the era of great-power rivalry, even the United States will not be powerful enough to go it alone."

US-Europe relations

In his speech, French President Emmanuel Macron emphatically defended Europe, saying "everyone should take their cue from us, instead of criticising us".
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who arrived on Friday, is due to speak at the annual gathering on Saturday, as is Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, organisers said.
Rubio is seen as a more conciliatory choice of envoy, a year after US Vice President JD Vance used the same stage to attack European policies on immigration and free speech, shocking European allies.
A German government source said Merz and Rubio had met at the conference and discussed "Ukraine, the status of negotiations with Russia and further support for the country, particularly in terms of military aid".
They also discussed Iran and NATO, and "Rubio praised Germany's steps to strengthen the alliance," the source added.
Rubio also met his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, on the sidelines of the conference, an AFP journalist said, at a time of heightened Washington-Beijing tensions.
Rubio then held a 15-minute meeting with the prime ministers of Denmark and Greenland about the future sovereignty of the Arctic island. Denmark's Mette Frederiksen called the talks "constructive".
Ties plunged last month when Trump stepped up threats to annex Greenland, an autonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark, forcing European nations to stand firm in protest.

Ukraine discussions

Several top European leaders were scheduled to meet with Zelensky on Friday for talks on Ukraine, the French presidency said.
A US official said Rubio did not attend those talks due to a packed schedule, but was "engaging on Russia-Ukraine in many of his meetings" in Munich.
Ukraine's foreign minister Andriy Sybiga said he discussed ending the Russian invasion of Ukraine with Wang, whose country is a close partner of Moscow.
Wang told Sybiga Beijing was "willing to provide Ukraine with new humanitarian aid", according to a Chinese foreign ministry readout.
France's Macron, meanwhile, said a new framework was needed to deal with "an aggressive Russia" once the fighting in Ukraine ends, as Germany's spy chief warned of potential Russian interference in upcoming local elections.
Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky said he feared "a new cold war" between Europe and Russia in the coming decade, making reopening dialogue with Moscow essential.
"If it makes sense to talk, we are willing to talk," said Merz. "But as you can see with the American side, Russia is not yet willing to talk seriously."
Zelensky, urged by Trump to "get moving" on a deal to end the war, visited a drone factory near Munich with German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius before meeting Merz and other European leaders.
"It's good to have strong partnership with Americans... but I think that Europe... needs (an) independent defence industry, very strong," he said.
NATO's Secretary General Mark Rutte said on the sidelines of the conference that Europe was "stepping up... taking more of a leadership role within NATO" and "taking more care of its own defence".
"A strong Europe in a strong NATO means that the transatlantic bond will be stronger than ever," Rutte said.
bur-rlp-phz/jhb

investigation

Peru leader under investigation for influence peddling

  • Prosecutors said Jeri was suspected of influencing the irregular hiring of nine women in total.
  • Peruvian prosecutors said Friday they had begun investigating interim president Jose Jeri on suspicion of influence peddling over his role in the irregular hiring of nine women in his administration.
  • Prosecutors said Jeri was suspected of influencing the irregular hiring of nine women in total.
Peruvian prosecutors said Friday they had begun investigating interim president Jose Jeri on suspicion of influence peddling over his role in the irregular hiring of nine women in his administration.
This is the second probe opened by the attorney general's office into Jeri and comes as Congress gathers signatures for a motion to impeach him for "misconduct in office and lack of suitability" to lead the South American country.
The attorney general's office told AFP it had launched a preliminary probe for "aggravated" influence peddling "to the detriment of the Peruvian state" against Jeri, who succeeded the hugely unpopular Dina Boluarte after her impeachment last October.
Jeri has not yet commented on the latest investigation.
He will be questioned by Attorney General Tomas Galvez on March 2, according to the case documents, which AFP obtained.
The investigation aims to determine "whether the president exerted undue influence" in the appointments of the women between October and January.
The allegations came to light after the investigative TV program Cuarto Poder reported that five young women were hired in the president's office and the environment ministry after visiting Jeri.
The presidency last week described the reports as "malicious and biased" and an attack on "the dignity and good name" of the women.
Prosecutors said Jeri was suspected of influencing the irregular hiring of nine women in total.
The new investigation comes hot on the heels of an earlier probe launched in January over his secret meeting with a Chinese businessman who has contacts with the government. 
Peru is experiencing a prolonged political crisis, which has seen it burn through seven presidents since 2016.
The country will hold general elections in April. 
Jeri, the former speaker of the country's legislature, is not running for president.
cm/ljc/cb/sst

politics

US waives Venezuela oil sanctions as Trump says expects to visit

BY JOHN BIERS

  • On Friday, the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) granted general licenses to BP, Chevron, Eni, Repsol and Shell "authorizing transactions related to oil or gas sector operations in Venezuela," with certain conditions.
  • US President Donald Trump said Friday he planned to visit Venezuela and reiterated satisfaction with its interim leader, as his administration authorized five major oil companies to operate in the country.
  • On Friday, the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) granted general licenses to BP, Chevron, Eni, Repsol and Shell "authorizing transactions related to oil or gas sector operations in Venezuela," with certain conditions.
US President Donald Trump said Friday he planned to visit Venezuela and reiterated satisfaction with its interim leader, as his administration authorized five major oil companies to operate in the country.
"I'm going to make a visit to Venezuela," Trump told reporters Friday, while adding that the date had not been decided.
The comments followed a visit to Caracas by Trump's energy secretary earlier this week and came as his administration cleared away additional US sanctions that have blocked oil industry investment in the South American country.
On Friday, the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) granted general licenses to BP, Chevron, Eni, Repsol and Shell "authorizing transactions related to oil or gas sector operations in Venezuela," with certain conditions.
The oil industry has expressed interest in the petroleum-rich country, while cautioning that the timeframe for investment depended on having clear rules after expropriations by earlier governments.
The two-page general license issued by OFAC requires any payments in oil and gas royalties go to accounts designated by the US Treasury Department, which is consistent with Trump administration statements that Washington will manage assets in custody for the benefit of Venezuela.
Trump and top appointees like Energy Secretary Chris Wright have been blunt in characterizing Washington as a party controlling Venezuela's oil resources for the foreseeable future.
A second OFAC license issued Friday permits companies to negotiate for potential contracts "for certain investment in Venezuela." However, the US agency will continue to bar participation by several countries, including China, Iran and Russia.
"These  general licenses invite American and other aligned companies to  play a constructive role in supporting economic recovery  and responsible investment," said a Trump administration media note that characterized the OFAC move as part of Trump's commitment to "rapidly" reopen the oil industry.
"The United States is committed to restoring Venezuela's  prosperity, safety, and security for the benefit of both the American and Venezuelan people."

An 'important step'

On Wednesday, Wright became the highest ranking US official to visit the country since Trump ordered the seizure of socialist leader Nicolas Maduro on January 3 on allegations of drug trafficking and other crimes.
Wright met with interim leader Delcy Rodriguez, who has won high praise from the Trump administration for her cooperation thus far, which has included a quick passage of legal reforms to the Venezuelan oil sector.
Wright said Wednesday that the US oil embargo on Venezuela, in place since 2019, was "essentially over."
Wright called for a "dramatic increase" in Venezuela's production of oil, natural gas and electricity which would improve "the job opportunities, the wages and the quality of life" of all Venezuelans.
"We welcome the recent actions by the Administration," said a spokesperson for Chevron, which has been the only US company to remain in Venezuela after departures by ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips.
"The new General Licenses, coupled with recent changes in Venezuela's Hydrocarbons Law, are important steps toward enabling the further development of Venezuela’s resources for its people and for advancing regional energy security."
The country produced 1.2 million oil barrels per day in 2025 -- up from a historic low of about 360,000 in 2020 -- but still far from the 3.0 million bpd it was pumping 25 years ago.
jmb/des

China

WTO chief urges China to shift on trade surplus

  • "And the $1.2 trillion trade surplus is not sustainable.
  • The head of the World Trade Organization on Friday urged China to change its growth model, arguing that its soaring trade surplus was ultimately unsustainable and risked sparking new trade barriers.
  • "And the $1.2 trillion trade surplus is not sustainable.
The head of the World Trade Organization on Friday urged China to change its growth model, arguing that its soaring trade surplus was ultimately unsustainable and risked sparking new trade barriers.
Beijing says it wants to support the multilateral trading system, "because it has benefited quite a bit from it", WTO chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala told the Munich Security Conference.
However, "the export-led growth model that drove China's growth for the past 40 years cannot drive China's growth for the next 40," said Okonjo-Iweala.
"And the $1.2 trillion trade surplus is not sustainable. Because the rest of the world cannot absorb it," she added.
"And if China does not act, we will see more barriers."
China's trade surplus hit a record $1.2 trillion last year. This was despite a sharp decline in its trade with the United States, as a fierce trade war between the world's two largest economies revived after President Donald Trump's return to the White House.
Other trade partners more than filled the gap, increasing Chinese exports overall by 5.5 percent in 2025, while imports stayed flat in dollar terms.
China's economy expanded five percent in 2025, Beijing said Monday, one of its slowest rates of growth in decades as the world's second-biggest economy struggled with persistently low consumer spending and a debt crisis in its property sector.
In October, Trump reached a truce with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping. But in January, he announced that he would impose tariffs on countries trading with Iran. China, which is at the forefront of these countries, has warned that it will defend its interests.
Other major markets for Chinese products, such as the European Union, are alarmed by the imbalance in their trade balance with China.
Europeans, concerned that their markets will serve as an outlet for Chinese production surpluses, are urging China to stimulate its domestic consumption, which has been sluggish for years.
The WTO is holding its ministerial conference, its biennial main gathering, in late March in Cameroon.
apo/rjm/jj

diplomacy

Trump sending second aircraft carrier to pile pressure on Iran

BY DANNY KEMP WITH STUART WILLIAMS IN PARIS

  • Trump said he believed the talks with Iran would be "successful" but added: "If they're not, it's going to be a bad day for Iran, very bad."
  • US President Donald Trump said Friday he was sending a second aircraft carrier group to the Middle East -- warning it would be a "bad day for Iran" if it fails to make a deal on its nuclear program.
  • Trump said he believed the talks with Iran would be "successful" but added: "If they're not, it's going to be a bad day for Iran, very bad."
US President Donald Trump said Friday he was sending a second aircraft carrier group to the Middle East -- warning it would be a "bad day for Iran" if it fails to make a deal on its nuclear program.
Trump has upped the military threat against the Islamic republic in the wake of Tehran's deadly crackdown by security forces on protests last month that rights groups say killed thousands.
"In case we don't make a deal, we'll need it," Trump told journalists at the White House when asked about reports the USS Gerald R. Ford would be moved from the Caribbean to the Middle East. 
"It'll be leaving very soon. We have one out there that just arrived. If we need it we'll have it ready, a very big force."
Trump said he believed the talks with Iran would be "successful" but added: "If they're not, it's going to be a bad day for Iran, very bad."
The US leader had already sent one aircraft carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln, to the Middle East, as part of a fleet of 12 US Navy ships in the region.
The four vessels led by the Ford, the world's largest aircraft carrier, have been in the Caribbean, where US forces captured Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro in January.
They are not expected to return to their home ports until late April or early May, The New York Times said.

'Terribly difficult'

While the protests have subsided for now, US-based Reza Pahlavi, the son of the shah ousted by the 1979 Islamic revolution, urged Iranians to chant slogans against the clerical establishment in the coming days to coincide with demonstrations abroad.
Rather than pointing to the crackdown -- which has seen tens of thousands arrested and hundreds facing possible execution, according to rights groups -- Trump has recently focused his military threats on Iran's nuclear program.
The West fears the program is aimed at making a bomb, which Tehran denies.
The head of the UN nuclear watchdog, Rafael Grossi, said Friday that reaching an accord with Iran on inspections of its processing facilities was possible but "terribly difficult".
Iran and the United States, who have had no diplomatic relations since shortly after the revolution, held talks on the nuclear issue last week in Oman. No dates have been set for new talks yet.
The United States joined Israel's 12-day war against the Islamic republic in June, carrying out strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. 
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said after meeting Trump in Washington on Wednesday that the US leader believed he may clinch a "good deal". 
But the Israeli prime minister himself expressed skepticism at the quality of any agreement if it didn't also cover Iran's ballistic missiles and support for regional proxies.

Reformists released

There is no consensus on what Washington would target in new strikes or whether it would seek to slacken Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's grip on power.
Pahlavi in a post on X urged Iranians inside the country to add their voices to protests planned abroad on Saturday by chanting slogans from their homes and rooftops.
Videos verified by AFP showed people in Iran this week chanting anti-government slogans as the clerical leadership celebrated the anniversary of the Islamic revolution.
According to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, 7,005 people, mostly protesters, were killed in the recent crackdown, although rights groups warn the toll is likely far higher.
More than 53,000 people have also been arrested, it added.
The Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) NGO said "hundreds" of people were facing charges linked to the protests that could see them sentenced to death.
It said one protester Saleh Mohammadi, 18, had already been sentenced to death on charges of killing a policeman, although the Iranian judiciary said no final and "enforceable" verdict had been issued in the case.
Figures working within the Iranian system have also been arrested, with three politicians detained this week from the so-called reformist wing of Iranian politics supportive of President Masoud Pezeshkian.
The three -- Azar Mansouri, Javad Emam and Ebrahim Asgharzadeh -- were released on bail Thursday and Friday, their lawyer Hojjat Kermani told the ISNA news agency.
burs-dk/dw 

vote

Bangladesh nationalists celebrate landslide win, Islamists cry foul

BY SHEIKH SABIHA ALAM

  • China and Pakistan, which both grew closer to Bangladesh since the 2024 uprising and the souring of ties with India, where Hasina has sheltered since her ouster, also congratulated the BNP. - 'Seek redress' - But Jamaat chief Shafiqur Rahman, 67, who had mounted a disciplined grassroots campaign on a platform of justice and ending corruption, told reporters angrily on Friday that his party would "seek redress from the Election Commission".
  • The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) celebrated a landslide victory on Friday in the first elections held since a deadly 2024 uprising, with with leader Tarique Rahman poised to become prime minister.
  • China and Pakistan, which both grew closer to Bangladesh since the 2024 uprising and the souring of ties with India, where Hasina has sheltered since her ouster, also congratulated the BNP. - 'Seek redress' - But Jamaat chief Shafiqur Rahman, 67, who had mounted a disciplined grassroots campaign on a platform of justice and ending corruption, told reporters angrily on Friday that his party would "seek redress from the Election Commission".
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) celebrated a landslide victory on Friday in the first elections held since a deadly 2024 uprising, with with leader Tarique Rahman poised to become prime minister.
Election Commission figures said the BNP alliance had won 212 seats, compared with 77 for the Islamist-led Jamaat-e-Islami alliance -- which said Friday there had been "massive irregularities in vote counting" and demanded "redress".
It was unclear immediately what action Jamaat would take.
BNP chief Rahman told AFP two days before polling he was "confident" that his party -- crushed during the autocratic 15-year rule of ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina -- would regain power in the South Asian nation of 170 million people.
Hasina's Awami League party was barred from taking part.
The US embassy congratulated Rahman and the BNP for a "historic victory", while neighbouring India praised Rahman's "decisive win", a significant step after recent rocky relations with Bangladesh.
China and Pakistan, which both grew closer to Bangladesh since the 2024 uprising and the souring of ties with India, where Hasina has sheltered since her ouster, also congratulated the BNP.

'Seek redress'

But Jamaat chief Shafiqur Rahman, 67, who had mounted a disciplined grassroots campaign on a platform of justice and ending corruption, told reporters angrily on Friday that his party would "seek redress from the Election Commission".
His party had earlier claimed there were "repeated inconsistencies and fabrications" in the result announcement process.
"Our youths will not spare anybody who attempts to compromise the sacrifices made in July", he said, referring to the 2024 uprising against Hasina.
The Election Commission said turnout was 59 percent across 299 constituencies out of 300 in which voting took place.
Another 50 seats in parliament reserved for women will be named from party lists.
Heavy deployments of security forces are posted countrywide, and UN experts warned ahead of the voting of "growing intolerance, threats and attacks" and a "tsunami of disinformation".
Political clashes killed five people and injured more than 600 during campaigning, police records show.
However, after a turbulent campaign period, the vote passed largely peacefully -- and a day after the vote, Bangladesh has seemingly reacted to the result so far with calm.
Party workers spent the whole night after voting in front of the BNP offices.
"We will join the nation-building effort led by Tarique Rahman," Md Fazlur Rahman, 45, told AFP. "Over the last 17 years, we have suffered a lot."
Khurshid Alam, 39, a businessman in Dhaka, said: "The promises and aspirations for the next five years made by Tarique Rahman to the people -- I hope he can implement them."

'Ended the nightmare'

Interim leader Muhammad Yunus, who will step down once the new government takes power, has urged all to stay calm.
"We may have differences of opinion, but we must remain united in the greater national interest," he said.
The 85-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner has led Bangladesh since Hasina's rule ended with her ouster in August 2024.
Yunus said the election had "ended the nightmare and begun a new dream".
Hasina, 78, who was sentenced to death in absentia for crimes against humanity, issued a statement decrying an "illegal and unconstitutional election".
Yunus championed a sweeping democratic reform charter to overhaul what he called a "completely broken" system of government and to prevent a return to one-party rule.
Voters in Thursday's election also endorsed proposals in a referendum that included prime ministerial term limits, a new upper house of parliament, stronger presidential powers and greater judicial independence, with 60 percent backing the changes.
Crisis Group analyst Thomas Kean warned that the incoming government now faced "daunting challenges", including "boosting the economy, ensuring security and continuing the reform process".
burs-pjm/ksb

museum

Fresh water leak adds to Louvre museum woes

BY KARINE PERRET AND ADAM PLOWRIGHT

  • - Fraud scandal -  The news came just a day after revelations that police had dismantled a "large-scale" ticket fraud network at the Louvre that allegedly includes two museum employees and several tour guides. 
  • After a break-in, strikes and a ticket fraud scandal, the beleaguered Louvre museum in Paris said Friday it had suffered a water leak in its most-visited wing, the second flood in three months.
  • - Fraud scandal -  The news came just a day after revelations that police had dismantled a "large-scale" ticket fraud network at the Louvre that allegedly includes two museum employees and several tour guides. 
After a break-in, strikes and a ticket fraud scandal, the beleaguered Louvre museum in Paris said Friday it had suffered a water leak in its most-visited wing, the second flood in three months.
The fire brigade had to be called overnight after a burst pipe in the Louvre's Denon wing, which houses some of the museum's most valuable exhibits including the Mona Lisa, according to a statement.
While the space containing Leonardo Da Vinci's masterpiece was not affected, the leak damaged a room of 15th-century Italian works and its decorative ceiling, painted by French artist Charles Meynier.
"The ceiling artwork shows two tears in the same area, caused by water, and lifting of the paint layer on the ceiling and its arches," a statement from management said. 
The cause of the damage was a heating-system pipe above the room, the statement added. Firefighters intervened shortly after midnight.
The water leak adds to a growing picture of structural and maintenance problems inside the world's most visited museum, which suffered a hugely embarrassing robbery last October.  
A water leak in late November damaged several hundred works in the Louvre's Egyptian department, and management had to shut a gallery housing ancient Greek ceramics in October because ceiling beams above it threatened to give way.
The Louvre's chief architect Francois Chatillon conceded in front of MPs in November that the building was "not in a good state". 
A message on the museum's website Friday stated that "for reasons beyond our control, certain rooms are exceptionally closed".
- Fraud scandal - 
The news came just a day after revelations that police had dismantled a "large-scale" ticket fraud network at the Louvre that allegedly includes two museum employees and several tour guides. 
The Paris prosecutor's office estimates that the fraud, which involved Chinese tourists, could have cost the institution up to 10 million euros ($11.9 million).
Investigators believe several guides working with Chinese tourists were re-using tickets and entering the Louvre several times, bribing security staff to get their compliance.
Police have seized around a million euros in cash and 486,000 euros from different bank accounts linked to the gang. 
The accumulation of problems has piled pressure on museum boss Laurence des Cars who faced calls to resign after the October 19 robbery in which thieves steal crown jewels worth more than $100 million.
Two intruders used a truck-mounted extendable platform to access a gallery containing the jewels, slicing through a glass door with disk-cutters in front of startled visitors before grabbing eight priceless items.
Disgruntled staff have also launched a wave of strikes since the start of the year demanding more recruitment and improved salaries, forcing management to shutter the former royal palace on several Mondays.
The Louvre welcomed nine million visitors last year.
kp-adp/jj

conflict

Europe should speak to Russia with 'one voice', Putin foe says

  • "I am absolutely sure that in the next five to 10 years, Europe will face a cold war with Russia, which will most likely be combined with a hybrid war," Khodorkovsky told AFP on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.
  • Europe could be facing a period of prolonged tensions with Russia reminiscent of the Cold War, and should speak to Moscow with "one voice" to get its interests heard, Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky told AFP on Friday.
  • "I am absolutely sure that in the next five to 10 years, Europe will face a cold war with Russia, which will most likely be combined with a hybrid war," Khodorkovsky told AFP on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.
Europe could be facing a period of prolonged tensions with Russia reminiscent of the Cold War, and should speak to Moscow with "one voice" to get its interests heard, Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky told AFP on Friday.
In an exclusive interview, the former oil tycoon expressed caution about completely restoring relations with Vladimir Putin's Russia but said keeping channels of dialogue open were "absolutely necessary" to avoid a military clash.
"I am absolutely sure that in the next five to 10 years, Europe will face a cold war with Russia, which will most likely be combined with a hybrid war," Khodorkovsky told AFP on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.
"Contacts are absolutely necessary... The question is how to go about these conversations. And my opinion is that, of course, it would be preferable for Europe to speak with one voice," he added.
He suggested that Europe nominate one person to represent them in negotiations with Putin.
Khodorkovsky was formerly Russia's richest man until a falling-out with Putin saw him arrested and imprisoned for 10 years.
He now lives in exile in London, where he leads a liberal opposition group opposed to Putin.
His comments come as European leaders including French President Emmanuel Macron mull re-engaging with Moscow after four years of tensions over the Ukraine war.
Macron said last year he believed Europe should reach out again to Putin, rather than leave the United States alone to lead negotiations on ending Russia's invasion -- but has called for coordination between European capitals before this happens.
del-cad/jc/jj

immigration

US Congress impasse over immigration set to trigger partial shutdown

BY ROBIN LEGRAND

  • The Transportation Security Administration, which runs airport safety, warned on X that a prolonged shutdown could result in longer wait times and cancelled flights.
  • A prolonged impasse between US lawmakers over immigration enforcement threatens to ensnare the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in a partial government shutdown beginning Saturday, following two fatal shootings in Minneapolis.
  • The Transportation Security Administration, which runs airport safety, warned on X that a prolonged shutdown could result in longer wait times and cancelled flights.
A prolonged impasse between US lawmakers over immigration enforcement threatens to ensnare the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in a partial government shutdown beginning Saturday, following two fatal shootings in Minneapolis.
"For weeks, we've been pushing commonsense reforms," Chuck Schumer, the top Democrat in the Republican-controlled Senate, said ahead of a partial shutdown that would go into effect after midnight on Friday night.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt put the blame on the opposition telling Fox News that "Democrats are barreling our government towards another shutdown for political and partisan reasons."
The Democrats oppose any new funding for DHS until major changes are implemented in the way Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) -- the powerful agency working to carry out President Donald Trump's migrant crackdown -- conducts its operations.
In particular, they demand curtailed patrols, a ban on ICE agents wearing facemasks during operations, and the use of a judicial warrant to enter private property.
Democrats' opposition to ICE and its heavy-handed tactics swelled after the January deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, two US citizens shot and killed by federal agents in Minneapolis as they protested anti-immigration operations.
"Democrats will not support a blank check for chaos," Schumer said.

ICE 'out of control'

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries expressed similar concerns Thursday, warning that ICE was "completely and totally out of control."
"Taxpayer dollars should be used to make life more affordable for the American people, not brutalize or kill them," he said, stressing that violence was occurring "whenever these masked and untrained ICE agents show up."
Even if all 53 Republican senators vote to fund DHS, Senate rules require support from 60 of the 100 members to advance the budget bill, meaning several opposition Democrats would need to get on board.
In response to the Democrats' demands, the White House said it was ready to negotiate.
"The White House has been very much engaged with Democrats in serious discussions and negotiations over immigration enforcement policy," Leavitt said.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune called it "an extremely serious offer" and said Democrats are "never going to get their full wish list."
But "half-measures will not cut it," said Senate Democrat Patty Murray, adding that her party's demands were reasonable and necessary.

Airports impacted?

If no deal is reached, thousands of civil servants could be furloughed, while thousands more will be required to work without pay -- until a budget deal is finalized.
But ICE would be able to maintain operations because of funds already approved by Congress last year.
The primary impact would land on other agencies, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which oversees emergency response to natural disasters.
The Transportation Security Administration, which runs airport safety, warned on X that a prolonged shutdown could result in longer wait times and cancelled flights.
The shutdown would be the third of Trump's second term, including a record 43-day government closure last October and November.
rle/md/bgs

conflict

Activist group Palestine Action wins legal challenge against UK ban

BY HELEN ROWE

  • Following a legal challenge by co-founder Huda Ammori, a three-judge panel on Friday found the ban was "disproportionate" and resulted in a "very significant interference with the right to freedom of speech and free assembly".
  • The High Court in London on Friday upheld a challenge to a UK government ban on activist group Palestine Action under terror legislation, saying it had interfered with the right to freedom of speech.
  • Following a legal challenge by co-founder Huda Ammori, a three-judge panel on Friday found the ban was "disproportionate" and resulted in a "very significant interference with the right to freedom of speech and free assembly".
The High Court in London on Friday upheld a challenge to a UK government ban on activist group Palestine Action under terror legislation, saying it had interfered with the right to freedom of speech.
The 2025 ban put Palestine Action on a blacklist that also includes Palestinian militants Hamas and the Lebanese Iran-backed group Hezbollah, and sparked a severe backlash.
And it made it a criminal offence to be a member of the group or to demonstrate support for it - punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
Following a legal challenge by co-founder Huda Ammori, a three-judge panel on Friday found the ban was "disproportionate" and resulted in a "very significant interference with the right to freedom of speech and free assembly".
Judge Victoria Sharp, reading out a summary of the judgement in court, said only "a very small number" of Palestine Action's activities "amounted to acts of terrorism". 
But UK interior minister Shabana Mahmood said she was "disappointed" and would appeal the ruling while Jewish representative bodies said they were "deeply concerned".
Palestine Action remains banned to allow the government to contest the decision, judges said, setting February 20 for a new hearing.
London's Metropolitan Police force said they would stop arresting the group's supporters pending the appeal and concentrate on gathering evidence.
The proscription led to nearly 3,000 arrests, primarily for people carrying placards defending the group, according to protest organisers Defend Our Juries.
Hundreds have also been charged and face court hearings.
"We won," said Ammori on social media after the ruling.
Outside the court, people waving Palestinian flags and wearing keffiyah scarves cheered and hugged each other.
One protester with a megaphone held up a placard saying: "Palestine Action is BACK!".

'Over the moon'

Niall Pemberton, a 58-year-old retiree who has been arrested four times at pro-Palestine Action demonstrations, told AFP he was "over the moon".
"I think it shows that we were right that direct action groups should not be proscribed as terrorist organisations," he said.
The Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Jewish Leadership Council, however, said Palestine Action had repeatedly targeted Jewish-linked institutions and businesses "in ways that cause fear and disruption far beyond the immediate protest sites".
They called on the government and police to provide "clarity" on how they intended to ensure Jewish communities were "protected from intimidation and criminality" following the ruling.
The government banned Palestine Action in July, days after activists protesting against Israel's military assault on Gaza broke into an air force base in southern England and caused millions of pounds worth of damage to two aircraft.
United Nations rights chief Volker Turk has previously called the move "disproportionate and unnecessary".
The UK government had insisted that some of the supporters of the group "don't know the full nature of this organisation". 
"The proscription of Palestine Action followed a rigorous and evidence-based decision-making process, endorsed by parliament," Mahmood said in a statement after the judgement.
But the court concluded "the claimant's claim is allowed. Subject to any further representations on relief (the appropriate remedy), we propose to make an order quashing the Home Secretary's decision to proscribe Palestine Action".

'Right the wrongs'

In a recent interview with Britain's Channel 4, Ammori insisted the organisation "was about saving lives in Palestine". 
"It's the very opposite of what a terrorist organisation is to most people," she added.
"Together we took action at great personal risk ... We helped make this proscription unenforceable," protest organisers Defend the Juries said in a statement after the ruling.
It called for a meeting with Mahmood and Metropolitan Police chiefs "to right the wrongs of the ban".
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.
jj-har-aks/jkb/ach 

antisemitism

Macron slams 'antisemitic hydra' as he honours 2006 Jewish murder victim

BY VALERIE LEROUX

  • "Constantly assuming new faces, it has insinuated itself into the heart of our societies, into every crack, too often accompanied by that same pact of cowardice: to keep silent, to refuse to see."
  • President Emmanuel Macron Friday denounced what he described as an "antisemitic hydra" that had crept into "every crack" of society two decades after Ilan Halimi, a 23-year-old French Jewish man, was tortured to death.
  • "Constantly assuming new faces, it has insinuated itself into the heart of our societies, into every crack, too often accompanied by that same pact of cowardice: to keep silent, to refuse to see."
President Emmanuel Macron Friday denounced what he described as an "antisemitic hydra" that had crept into "every crack" of society two decades after Ilan Halimi, a 23-year-old French Jewish man, was tortured to death.
To commemorate Halimi, whose abduction and murder in 2006 horrified France, Macron planted an oak tree in the garden of the Elysee Palace, joined by Halimi's sister, Anne-Laure Abitbol.
Macron stressed that the fight against antisemitism must involve all French people, and called for a "penalty of ineligibility" for elected officials guilty of antisemitic and racist remarks.
Halimi was kidnapped by a gang of around 20 youths in January 2006 and tortured in a low-income housing estate in the Paris suburb of Bagneux. Found three weeks later, he died on the way to hospital.
The commemorations come after a diplomatic row between the United States and France broke out last year, when US ambassador Charles Kushner criticised the French government for what he said was its insufficient action against antisemitism. 
"When a Jew is in danger in the homeland, it is the homeland itself that is in danger," Macron said. "We cannot airbrush French Jews out of the republic's family photo".
He said antisemitism had worsened over the past two decades. 
"In 20 years, and despite the resolute efforts of our police officers, gendarmes, judges, teachers and elected officials, the antisemitic hydra has kept advancing," he said.
"Constantly assuming new faces, it has insinuated itself into the heart of our societies, into every crack, too often accompanied by that same pact of cowardice: to keep silent, to refuse to see."
- 'France needs you' - 
France is home to western Europe's largest Jewish population, at around half a million people, as well as a significant Muslim community sensitive to the plight of the Palestinian people in Gaza.
Members of France's Jewish community have said the number of antisemitic acts has surged following the attack by Hamas on Israel on October 7, 2023 which triggered Israel's military response in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.
While antisemitic acts in France fell by 16 percent to 1,320 in 2025, the interior ministry said, they "have never been as high as in the last three years," accounting for 53 percent of all anti-religious incidents.
Several trees planted in Halimi's memory have been vandalised.
Macron also addressed French Jews directly, as a growing number of them are making their way to Israel. 
"Never forget this. Your place is here, not simply because it is your country, but because France needs you to remain itself," he said.

'Far-left antisemitism'

Macron decried what he called "Islamist antisemitism which was behind the pogrom of October 7," referring to the attack against Israel on October 7, 2023.
The term "pogrom" refers to violent attacks against Jews because of their religion.
He also attacked "far-left antisemitism", saying it "rivals that of the far right," and "antisemitism that uses the mask of anti-Zionism to advance quietly".
Macron said he wanted "mandatory electoral bans" for officials guilty of antisemitic and racist acts and remarks.
"All too often, the sentences handed down against the perpetrators of antisemitic offences and crimes seem derisory," he said. 
Macron said France would hold social media platforms accountable and demand the removal of harmful content to combat "the poison of digital hatred".
"With all due respect to certain powers that would like to lecture us: in the France of the Enlightenment, free speech stops at antisemitism and racism," he said, in an apparent reference to the United States.
Anti-Muslim acts also increased last year by 88 percent to 326 reported incidents, the interior ministry said.
One in three Muslims surveyed for a report by the country's rights ombudswoman last year said they had been discriminated against, compared to 19 percent for other religions including Judaism and Buddhism.
vl-far-as/ah/ach 

ISS

International crew en route to space station

BY JIM WATSON WITH MAGGY DONALDSON IN NEW YORK

  • Once the astronauts arrive, they will be one of the last crews to live aboard the football field-sized space station.
  • Four astronauts were on their way to the International Space Station Friday after they successfully embarked on their research mission to the orbiting laboratory.
  • Once the astronauts arrive, they will be one of the last crews to live aboard the football field-sized space station.
Four astronauts were on their way to the International Space Station Friday after they successfully embarked on their research mission to the orbiting laboratory.
The US space agency's international Crew-12 blasted off at approximately 5:15 am local time (1015 GMT) aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Cape Canaveral launch site in Florida, according to a NASA video feed.
The journey takes approximately 34 hours -- the astronauts are expected to arrive at the ISS and dock by about 3:15 pm eastern time on Saturday.
They will replace a crew that returned from the station early due to a medical issue with one of its members.
The pre-dawn launch was delayed by two days over adverse weather forecasts across the US East Coast, including high winds that could have complicated any potential emergency maneuvers.
But superstitions aside, Friday the 13th proved to be their lucky day.
"I understand it's the first time NASA has ever launched on Friday the 13th," said Steve Stich, a NASA official who coordinates ISS launches, with a laugh. 
"Pretty amazing times."
Crew-12 is composed of Americans Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, along with French astronaut Sophie Adenot and Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev.
"We have left the Earth, but the Earth has not left us," Meir said as the astronauts ventured into space. "When we gaze on our planet from above, it is immediately clear that everything is interconnected."
"We are one humankind."
The travelers are replacing Crew-11, which returned to Earth in January a month earlier than planned in the first medical evacuation in the space station's history.
The ISS, a scientific laboratory orbiting 250 miles (400 kilometers) above Earth, has since been staffed by a skeleton crew of three.
NASA declined to disclose any details about the health issue that cut the previous mission short. 
Once the astronauts arrive, they will be one of the last crews to live aboard the football field-sized space station.
Continuously inhabited for the last quarter-century, the aging ISS is scheduled to be pushed into Earth's orbit before crashing into an isolated spot in the Pacific Ocean in 2030.

Microgravity and the human body

The ISS, once a symbol of warming post-Cold War relations, has been a rare area of continued cooperation between the West and Russia since Moscow invaded Ukraine in 2022.
However, the space station has not entirely avoided the tensions back on Earth. 
In November, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev -- who had long been planned to be a member of Crew-12 -- was suddenly taken off the mission. 
Reports from independent media in Russia suggested he had been photographing and sending classified information with his phone while training at a SpaceX facility. Russian space agency Roscosmos merely said he had been transferred to a different job. 
His replacement, Fedyaev, has already spent some time on the ISS as part of Crew-6 in 2023.
During a post-launch briefing, Daniel Neuenschwander, an official at the European Space Agency, emphasized the collaborative commitment to "the peaceful exploration of space."
"We are here this morning after the launch of two Americans, a Russian and a European as one crew. This is again a testimony of what we can achieve together. The ISS stands as a powerful symbol of humanity," he said.
During their eight months on the outpost, the four astronauts will conduct many experiments, including research into the effects of microgravity on their bodies.
Meir, who previously worked as a marine biologist studying animals in extreme environments, will serve as the crew's commander.
Adenot has become the second French woman to fly to space, following in the footsteps of Claudie Haignere, who spent time on the Mir space station. 
When Adenot saw Haignere's mission blast off, she was 14 years old -- a moment she has called "a revelation."
Among other research, the ESA astronaut will test a system that uses artificial intelligence and augmented reality to allow astronauts to carry out their own medical ultrasounds.
bur-mdo/md

budget

Cash-starved French hospitals ask public to pitch in

BY ELIA VAISSIERE

  • "Hospitals need cash," he said, and they are scrambling to find it.
  • Cash-strapped and running out of options, a public hospital in southwestern France has turned to an unlikely source of rescue: potential patients.
  • "Hospitals need cash," he said, and they are scrambling to find it.
Cash-strapped and running out of options, a public hospital in southwestern France has turned to an unlikely source of rescue: potential patients.
This week, the Basque Coast Hospital Centre (CHCB) in Bayonne was the latest to appeal to the public to help fund urgent needs and purchase medicine, medical devices and vaccines through what it calls "citizen loans".
Under the scheme, people lend money to public hospitals that later reimburse them, with interest.
The model has emerged in France over the past few years, with several hospitals and nursing homes inviting people to invest in their healthcare facilities.
The CHCB hopes to raise 1.5 million euros ($1.7 million), the largest sum ever targeted by a French medical facility in such an operation.
Supporters see the loans as an ingenious way to reconnect hospitals with the people they serve. 
But critics say such loans are a symptom of a healthcare system under severe strain, with hospitals forced to pass the hat around the community.
The loan "offers citizens the opportunity to participate directly in financing its cash flow needs related to essential healthcare purchases: medicine, medical devices, vaccines, and sampling equipment", the Basque Coast hospital said.
The hospital, which has several sites, notably in the towns of Bayonne and Saint-Jean-de-Luz, said it had received institutional funding but the payments were delayed, and it needed to fund its regular purchases.
A person can invest as little as one euro and will be reimbursed "at the end of 12 months" in a single payment, with interest set at 3.1 percent, a rate that exceeds that of France's popular Livret A savings account.
The operation is being carried out via the start-up Villyz, a government-approved platform.

'Useful, transparent, local'

The Basque Coast hospital praises what it calls a "virtuous" financing model that "diversifies" its funding sources and lets people invest their savings in a product that is "useful, transparent and local".  
But it comes against a backdrop of tight finances. In 2024, the CHCB recorded a deficit of 21 million euros on a budget of around 400 million euros.
Across France, hospitals' accounts are in the red: the system's overall deficit reached an estimated 2.7 billion to 2.9 billion euros in 2024, according to official data.
Villyz began offering the scheme to hospitals last year, claiming to be the only platform doing so. 
It collects only "application fees that depend on the amount raised", typically amounting to several thousand euros, said its president, Arthur Moraglia.
Through the scheme, a hospital in the northeastern town of Haguenau raised 100,000 euros to purchase new windows, and a hospital in Evreux in the northwest raised the same amount to add beds. 
Two nursing homes in southeastern France have funded improvements, and another in the central town of Bourges plans to do so soon.
The Limoges University Hospital, which wants to open a women's health centre dedicated to victims of domestic violence, with a total budget of 2.5 million euros, hopes to borrow one million from the public.

'Hold out their hand'

Some hospitals had already turned to more traditional fundraising, including Paris's Georges Pompidou Hospital, which sought donations to buy a scanner, and the Nantes University Hospital.
Critics including the Force Ouvriere union have denounced what they call the government's austerity policies undermining public hospitals nationwide.
"Whereas France once prided itself on having the best healthcare system in the world, today public hospitals are forced to hold out their hand to survive," the union said last year.
"Citizen loans, appeals for donations, corporate sponsorship, or any other 'raffle' scheme -- this is now what part of the funding for our public hospitals boils down to."
Jean‑Paul Domin, an economist at the University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne, said the trend, emerging over the past three or four years, was symptomatic of a system in crisis.
"Hospitals need cash," he said, and they are scrambling to find it.
Nicolas Sirven, an economist at the EHESP school of public health, said the loan scheme proved that people were willing to pay to fund the hospital system -- even though the political class was reluctant to push for more social security contributions or taxes. 
Compared with their overall budgets, the amounts hospitals seek are "marginal", Sirven said.
But "should it be up to hospitals to manage the savings of the French?"
eva-pan-as/ah/js

security

Germany's Merz urges US to repair ties with Europe

  • So let's repair and revive transatlantic trust together," Merz said. 
  • German Chancellor Friedrich Merz acknowledged Friday a rift had opened up between Europe and the United States but issued an appeal to Washington: "Let's repair and revive transatlantic trust together."
  • So let's repair and revive transatlantic trust together," Merz said. 
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz acknowledged Friday a rift had opened up between Europe and the United States but issued an appeal to Washington: "Let's repair and revive transatlantic trust together."
Merz was giving the opening address to the Munich Security Conference against a backdrop of rapidly worsening ties between Europe and the United States. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was among the top politicians looking on.
From US President Donald Trump's threats to seize Greenland, to his tariff blitz and his administration's warning that Europe faces "civilisational erasure", transatlantic ties have been dropped to the lowest level in years.
"Let me begin with the uncomfortable truth: A rift, a deep divide has opened between Europe and the United States," Merz told the gathering, attended by dozens of leaders, defence chiefs and foreign ministers from around the world.
"Vice President JD Vance said this a year ago here in Munich. He was right in his description," he said, referring to a 2025 speech in which Vance also accused Europe of stifling free speech and other democratic rights.

'Change, upheaval... sacrifice'

But, switching from German to English, Merz struck a more hopeful note as he called on the US and Europe to forge a "new transatlantic partnership".
"In the era of great power rivalry, even the United States will not be powerful enough to go it alone," said the conservative leader, traditionally a staunch supporter of the transatlantic alliance.
"Dear friends, being a part of NATO is not only Europe's competitive advantage. It's also the United States's competitive advantage. So let's repair and revive transatlantic trust together," Merz said. 
"We, the Europeans -- we are doing our part."
The tone of much of his address was dark, as he warned of worsening geopolitical tensions and called on Europe to bolster its defences. 
In a sign of Europe's worries that long-standing US security commitments are in danger under the Trump administration, Merz said he had held "confidential talks" with French President Emmanuel Macron about nuclear deterrence.
He has previously said he was open to France extending its nuclear deterrent in Europe. Germany, which cannot acquire its own atomic weapons due to treaty obligations, has traditionally relied on the US nuclear umbrella via its participation in NATO.
Merz warned that, in an era of great power politics, freedoms long taken for granted were increasingly "endangered".
"This will require us to be prepared for change, for upheaval -- and, yes, even for sacrifice."
bur-sr/fz/rlp/jj

crime

Alleged rape victim of Norway princess's son says she took sleeping pills

  • Marius Borg Hoiby, Crown Princess Mette-Marit's 29-year-old son, is on trial facing 38 charges, including raping four women while they were asleep or unconscious.
  • A third woman allegedly raped by the son of Norway's crown princess told an Oslo court Friday she was drunk and on sleeping pills when he had non-consensual sex.
  • Marius Borg Hoiby, Crown Princess Mette-Marit's 29-year-old son, is on trial facing 38 charges, including raping four women while they were asleep or unconscious.
A third woman allegedly raped by the son of Norway's crown princess told an Oslo court Friday she was drunk and on sleeping pills when he had non-consensual sex.
Marius Borg Hoiby, Crown Princess Mette-Marit's 29-year-old son, is on trial facing 38 charges, including raping four women while they were asleep or unconscious.
Whether the women were in a condition to refuse sex is central to the case.
Hoiby, who denies the rapes and other serious charges, faces up to 16 years in prison if convicted.
On Friday, the third alleged victim to testify fought back tears as she recalled the early hours of March 24, 2024, when she invited Hoiby to her place in Oslo after a party.
After having consensual sex, Hoiby is accused of touching the young woman's genitals while she was unable to object and filming her without her knowledge -- a separate charge.
"I wanted to sleep. I was very tired, incredibly exhausted, very drunk. It was hard to keep my eyes open," she told the court.
As she was prone to insomnia, she had taken sleeping pills that night, she said.
Hoiby, who was sketching in a notebook during Friday's proceedings, then gave his version of events.
"I didn't see that she had fallen asleep at any point," he said, adding that he had a "blackout" and very vague memories of that evening.
In the hours preceding their encounter, he drank alcohol and took ketamine and cocaine, he said. 

'Would never have accepted'

The court was shown five videos seized from Hoiby's residence. According to the prosecution, the first showed consensual sexual relations between the pair, and the four others the rape of which he is accused.
"If I had seen that he was filming me, I would have stopped him. I would never have accepted that," the alleged victim said. 
"I don't remember filming the videos. But I've seen them, it is me," Hoiby said.
Asked by prosecutor Sturla Henriksbo if he had asked the young woman's permission to film her naked, Hoiby replied: "I don't remember, but I probably thought that she would have protested if it wasn't okay."
"I have no reason to believe that she wasn't aware of it," he said. 
Hoiby was arrested on August 4, 2024 suspected of assaulting his girlfriend the night before, in what would trigger the most serious scandal in the history of the Norwegian monarchy. 
The investigation into that incident uncovered a slew of other suspected offences, including video footage on his phone and laptop, leading police to charge him with four rapes of women who were not in a condition to object.
The three victims who have testified so far only realised that they had been raped, according to the prosecution, when police showed them the footage and informed them the actions could be considered criminal.
Hoiby has repeatedly said during the trial that he is "not in the habit of having sex with women who are sleeping".
phy/ef/po/jxb

politics

Thai PM agrees coalition with Thaksin-backed party

BY MONTIRA RUNGJIRAJITTRANON

  • The Shinawatras have produced no fewer than four Thai prime ministers this century.
  • Thai caretaker Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul's conservative party, which won a stunning election victory at the weekend, agreed to form a coalition with jailed ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra's party, both announced on Friday.  
  • The Shinawatras have produced no fewer than four Thai prime ministers this century.
Thai caretaker Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul's conservative party, which won a stunning election victory at the weekend, agreed to form a coalition with jailed ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra's party, both announced on Friday.  
Anutin's pro-military and pro-monarchy party had its best electoral performance in polls that took place after two rounds of deadly border clashes with Cambodia last year.
It campaigned on a nationalist platform, promising to build a wall on the frontier with Cambodia, keep all border crossings closed and recruit 100,000 volunteer soldiers.
Thaksin's Pheu Thai is Thailand's most successful party of the 21st century but had its worst election result on Sunday, raising questions about the future of the political machine built by the jailed billionaire.
"Although the election results have not yet been officially confirmed, we have a consensus that Pheu Thai will support us in leading the coalition, as planned," Anutin told a news conference at his Bhumjaithai party's headquarters.  
Prasert Chanruangthong, secretary-general of Pheu Thai, told reporters the party "is ready to support Bhumjaithai Party in forming the coalition. Other issues will be discussed further".
The latest incarnation of the organisation founded by the telecom billionaire, Pheu Thai came a distant third in Sunday's election, its vote share in the party-list section plunging by more than half.
Voters also appeared to turn their backs on the reformist People's Party, which came second.  
Pheu Thai and Bhumjaithai were previously coalition partners, until Anutin pulled out over a Cambodia border dispute scandal last June.
"Our priority is for the country to move forward for the greatest benefit of the people," Prasert said ahead of coalition talks on Friday. 

Enduring dynasty

Thaksin is serving a one-year prison sentence for corruption in office, but many observers expect him to be released earlier than scheduled alongside a political agreement.
The Shinawatras have produced no fewer than four Thai prime ministers this century. Pheu Thai had put forward Thaksin's nephew Yodchanan Wongsawat, a biomedical engineering professor, as their latest nominee for the position.
Thaksin's political clan has for two decades been the key foe of Thailand's pro-military, pro-royalty elite who view their populist brand as a threat to traditional social order.
Some analysts had said Pheu Thai's losses on Sunday marked the end of the Shinawatra dynasty.
But its inclusion in the coalition leaves open the possibility of a political comeback.
The Southeast Asian nation's next administration will need to tackle anaemic economic growth, with its vital tourism industry yet to rebound to pre-Covid highs, and manage fallout over multi-billion-dollar cyberscam networks operating from the region.
Perhaps most pressing is the Cambodia dispute, which erupted into open fighting in July and December, killing scores of people on both sides and displacing around a million altogether.
The conflict was a major factor for many voters, with analysts saying a wave of nationalism propelled Anutin to victory.
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