virus

WHO chief in Ebola-hit DR Congo which sees first recovery

conflict

NATO, EU outrage as drone hits Romania apartment block

BY DANIEL MIHAILESCU AND ANDREEA UDREA WITH ANI SANDU IN BUCHAREST

  • Where is the European Union?
  • A drone smashed into an apartment building in NATO-member Romania early Friday, wounding two people and drawing condemnation from the Atlantic alliance and the European Union, which blamed Russia and warned against further incursions.
  • Where is the European Union?
A drone smashed into an apartment building in NATO-member Romania early Friday, wounding two people and drawing condemnation from the Atlantic alliance and the European Union, which blamed Russia and warned against further incursions.
Romania called the incident -- the first drone hit on a residential building outside Ukraine since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022 -- a "serious and irresponsible escalation" by Moscow.
But Russian President Vladimir Putin said "no one can say" who fired the drone, calling for an investigation to provide "objective data" on its origin.
Here is what we know about the drone crash:

What happened?

The drone hit the roof of an apartment building in the centre of the city of Galati, close to the border with Ukraine, sparking a fire and sending a 14-year-old boy and 53-year-old woman to hospital with injuries, officials said.
Drone incursions in Romania have been detected dozens of times since the start of the Ukraine war, but no residential buildings had previously been hit.
The Romanian defence ministry said two F-16 fighter jets had been scrambled in response to the drone, which it said had entered Romania's airspace during Russian strikes on Ukraine.

Why wasn't the drone stopped?

Romanian forces had insufficient time -- four minutes -- to shoot down the drone, General Gheorghe Maxim from the Joint Forces Command said, adding there were "no realistic opportunities to engage it safely".
Romanian President Nicusor Dan said the decision not to engage was made "because the conditions necessary to destroy it without significantly endangering the safety of the civilian population were not present".

How has Romania responded?

Romania summoned the Russian ambassador, and Dan convened a national defence council meeting to discuss "the most serious incident to have affected our national territory" since Russia invaded Ukraine.
Dan also said Romania would expel the Russian consul general in the Black Sea city of Constanta and close the mission, prompting Russia to say it was preparing "retaliatory measures".
Romania's defence ministry said Bucharest had "requested measures to accelerate the transfer of anti-drone capabilities to Romania".
Dan said that in a conversation with NATO chief Mark Rutte, "I insisted on expediting the process (of getting more air defence equipment), and he fully agreed that this equipment should reach Romania as quickly as possible".
Inhabitants of Galati meanwhile expressed fear, bewilderment and anger.
"Where are the anti-drone systems here? Shouldn't they be somewhere on the border of Romania? Why aren't they? Where is the European Union? NATO?" asked 47-year-old Mihaela, who only gave her first name.
Later Friday, Dan -- whose country is already facing political turmoil, with the prime minister ousted in a no-0confidence vote this month -- was booed when he visited the site of the crash, with some chanting "resignation".

What have the EU and its allies said?

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said Russia's "war of aggression" had "crossed yet another line", pledging to increase deterrence on the EU's eastern border.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the incident showed Russia's "willingness to escalate", and Britain's Keir Starmer condemned the "serious violation of NATO airspace".
France said it had summoned the Russian ambassador.
The US ambassador to NATO, Matthew Whitaker, also slammed the "reckless incursion", saying: "We stand with our NATO ally."
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said in a post on X that the drone crash "proved once again that Russian aggression poses a real threat to the Black Sea region and the entire Europe", while President Volodymyr Zelensky urged his European allies to increase sanctions on Russia.

What will NATO do next?

"Russia's reckless behaviour is a danger to us all," NATO chief Rutte wrote on social media.
"NATO stands ready to defend every inch of Allied territory."
NATO sources said there was no indication whether Romania would call for emergency consultations under the alliance's Article Four.
That move would still be well short of NATO's Article Five mutual defence clause being triggered, which has happened only once in the alliance's 77-year history, after the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States.
Article Four consultations have been called three times during Russia's full-scale war on Ukraine: the first time just after the invasion in 2022, once by Poland after incursions by Russian drones, and once by Estonia after Russian fighter jets violated its airspace.
ani-jza-fec/jhb

US

Trump says now making 'final determination' on Iran deal

BY DANNY KEMP

  • "I will be meeting now, in the Situation Room, to make a final determination," Trump said in a lengthy post on his Truth Social network, referring to the top-security bunker in the White House.
  • US President Donald Trump said he was meeting in the White House Situation Room on Friday to make a final decision on whether or not to strike a peace deal with Iran.
  • "I will be meeting now, in the Situation Room, to make a final determination," Trump said in a lengthy post on his Truth Social network, referring to the top-security bunker in the White House.
US President Donald Trump said he was meeting in the White House Situation Room on Friday to make a final decision on whether or not to strike a peace deal with Iran.
Trump said Washington would lift its naval blockade of Iran but insisted Tehran must open the Strait of Hormuz and agree never to have nuclear weapons.
Iranian sources told the Fars news agency that Trump's comments on the deal were a "mixture of truth, lies."
"I will be meeting now, in the Situation Room, to make a final determination," Trump said in a lengthy post on his Truth Social network, referring to the top-security bunker in the White House.
Trump's post covered a number of the key sticking points in the talks between US and Iranian negotiators, but it was not immediately clear from his message which had been agreed.
In the post, Trump said that Iran "will complete the immediate removal" of mines in the strait and that the US naval blockade of Iranian ports "will now be lifted," allowing oil and other tankers to start moving.
But it was not clear if Iran had agreed to this or whether the US blockade had actually been lifted ahead of Trump making his decision.
"Iran must agree that they will never have a Nuclear Weapon or Bomb. The Hormuz Strait must be immediately open, no tolls, for unrestricted shipping traffic, in both directions," he said.
Trump also specified that enriched uranium stockpiles in Iran "will be unearthed by the United States... in close coordination and conjunction with the Islamic Republic of Iran, plus the International Atomic Energy Agency, and DESTROYED."
Reports have suggested that Iran has demanded financial compensation for the war including the release of assets previously frozen by the US, and that the White House has floated the idea of investments.
But Trump said "no money will be exchanged, until further notice."
The US president added that only "items, of far less importance, have been agreed to."
US officials said on Thursday that negotiators from both sides had reached a deal on a 60-day extension of the ceasefire in the Middle East war but that Trump had not yet signed off on it.
The United States and Israel launched the war on Iran on February 28, and Trump announced a ceasefire on April 7 although there have been several exchanges of fire in recent days.
aue-dk/msp

virus

WHO chief in Ebola-hit DR Congo which sees first recovery

BY CLAIRE DOYEN WITH AFP TEAMS IN EASTERN DR CONGO

  • World Health Organization (WHO) head Tedros, who arrived in  Kinshasa late on Thursday, had been due to travel Friday to Ituri, the remote northeastern province at the epicentre of the country's 17th outbreak of the highly contagious haemorrhagic fever, but the trip has been pushed back by a day.
  • UN health chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Friday visited the Democratic Republic of Congo, where authorities are struggling to contain the spread of a deadly Ebola outbreak.
  • World Health Organization (WHO) head Tedros, who arrived in  Kinshasa late on Thursday, had been due to travel Friday to Ituri, the remote northeastern province at the epicentre of the country's 17th outbreak of the highly contagious haemorrhagic fever, but the trip has been pushed back by a day.
UN health chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Friday visited the Democratic Republic of Congo, where authorities are struggling to contain the spread of a deadly Ebola outbreak.
Uganda confirmed two new cases but, in some rare good news, a patient in the DRC was confirmed to have recovered -- a first since the outbreak was detected in mid-May.
World Health Organization (WHO) head Tedros, who arrived in  Kinshasa late on Thursday, had been due to travel Friday to Ituri, the remote northeastern province at the epicentre of the country's 17th outbreak of the highly contagious haemorrhagic fever, but the trip has been pushed back by a day.
There have been at least 1,077 suspected cases of Ebola since the outbreak was declared on May 15, including 246 deaths, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said on Thursday.
But the true reach of the outbreak, which is thought to have been circulating before it was detected, is likely to be much wider, the WHO has warned. 
The DRC, impoverished and wracked by three decades of conflict in the east, has limited capacity to conduct laboratory tests to confirm cases.
The virus is already present in three provinces and in neighbouring Uganda, where nine confirmed infections, including one death, have been recorded.

Ugandan cases

Uganda's health ministry said Friday that two new cases were detected in Congolese nationals. One had been isolated with Ebola symptoms, while the other was a contact of a previously confirmed case.
"All contacts of this new confirmed case have been identified and are under close follow up," the ministry said.
Uganda closed its border with the DRC this week and ordered a 21-day quarantine for anyone arriving from that country.
"That thing can be stopped," Tedros said of the Ebola outbreak on his arrival on Thursday after assuring the Congolese people in a message on X: "I want you to know that you are not alone."
On Friday, the WHO announced that a patient had recovered on Wednesday, left hospital and was discharged into the community after two negative tests.
WHO's Anais Legand told reporters in Geneva it marked the "first" among patients who had been confirmed Ebola carriers in the current outbreak.
Ebola, which is passed on through close contact and bodily fluids, has killed more than 15,000 people in Africa over the past 50 years.
The deadliest outbreak in the DRC claimed nearly 2,300 lives out of 3,500 cases between 2018 and 2020.
Congolese Health Minister Samuel Roger Kamba said Thursday that 105 people were in treatment centres.
"We need to put the alarmist outcries into perspective," he told reporters in Bunia, the Ituri provincial capital.
"We're not in the situation that people think we are in internationally," he said, adding: "We cannot be told that the epidemic is out of control."

'Packed like sardines' 

State services are largely lacking in Ituri province, where access is hindered by insecurity due to the presence of Islamic State-affiliated ADF militants and other militias that regularly kill civilians.
The nearby North and South Kivu and South Kivu provinces, that have also seen Ebola cases in the outbreak, have been plagued by near continuous violence for three decades.
Swathes of the regions are controlled by the Rwanda-backed armed group M23 which has been battling government forces.
Millions of people have fled the fighting and are living in displacement camps with poor hygiene conditions.
Nearly a million of those displaced are in Ituri province, where the prospect of the epidemic spreading throughout the camps has sparked alarm.
"If Ebola comes, we'll be wiped out as we're packed like sardines," Dorcas Mapenzi said at the Kingonze camp on the outskirts of Bunia.
Deborah Nzale, a widow and head of her family, lives with nine people in a small tarpaulin shelter of barely three square metres (32 square feet).
"We sleep piled on top of each other, with everyone's sweat," Nzale said.
"If a single person gets infected here in this camp, everyone will die."
No vaccine or specific treatment exists for the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, which is behind the current outbreak.
But the head of the CDC Africa said on Thursday that a vaccine should be ready by the end of the year.
The WHO said says its advisory groups had recommended clinical trials for vaccines and treatments that could be useful against the Bundibugyo strain.
Uganda and Rwanda have closed their borders with the DRC and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio vowed this week to keep Ebola out of the United States.
cld/kjm/gil/tw

suicide

Canadian poison seller pleads guilty to aiding suicides

BY JORGE UZON WITH BEN SIMON IN TORONTO

  • Canadian prosecutors had charged him with 14 counts of murder and 14 counts of aiding suicide.
  • The Canadian man who sold packages of poison to distressed people in dozens of countries pleaded guilty on Friday to 14 counts of aiding suicide, but prosecutors said he will not face murder charges. 
  • Canadian prosecutors had charged him with 14 counts of murder and 14 counts of aiding suicide.
The Canadian man who sold packages of poison to distressed people in dozens of countries pleaded guilty on Friday to 14 counts of aiding suicide, but prosecutors said he will not face murder charges. 
Kenneth Law, a 60-year-old former chef, ran online forums that offered people advice on how to end their lives and made fatal substances available for purchase.  
The details of Law's online operation have caused widespread outrage since his arrest in 2023. 
The list of 41 countries where Law sent poison included Australia, China, France and Brazil. He sold 330 packages to people in the United Kingdom.
Canadian prosecutors had charged him with 14 counts of murder and 14 counts of aiding suicide.
At a court in Newmarket, north of Toronto, prosecutors said they did not believe they had a viable path towards murder convictions. 
Law stood in a semi-enclosed area reserved for defendants, flanked by his three defense lawyers, and said "I plead guilty" to aiding the suicide of 14 people in Canada. 
Sentencing will be determined at a separate hearing, likely in September, when the court will hear victim impact statements. 
Legal experts note that aiding suicide is a serious crime and Law could receive a sentence of 10 to 20 years' imprisonment.
After the guilty pleas were entered, prosecutors began reading an "agreed statement of facts," a roughly 60-page document that detailed how Law shipped material for suicide across Canada and abroad, often for about $80.
Prosectors recounted how people, after taking their own lives, were often found by family members with an open package of Law's sodium nitrite near their body. 

'Angry'

News that he will not stand trial for murder in Canada came as a disappointment to some families. 
David Parfett's son Thomas was 22 when he ended his life in 2021 with materials supplied by Law.
Now an advocate for more rigorous legislation to confront online spaces that guide people toward harm, Parfett told AFP that Canadian authorities were missing an opportunity to establish the gravity of Law's conduct. 
"If (Law) hadn't been offering detailed instructions about how to take your own life, then the chances are my son would still be here. So again, for me, it's murder," Parfett said. 
In the agreed statement of facts, Law took responsibility for 79 deaths in Britain.  
Britain's National Crime Agency confirmed in a statement that Law will not face additional prosecution, but that the British deaths will be considered during sentencing in Canada.
A joint statement by the NCA and Britain's prosecution service said the agencies had explained their decision to not prosecute Law "in detail to the victims and their families."
Parfett said in a statement: "I am angry, but I am not surprised."
He reiterated the families' rebuffed calls for a UK public inquiry. "If our own country will not put anyone on trial for these deaths, the very least it can do is hold a proper inquiry into how they were allowed to happen."

'Healing'

Kim Prosser's son Ashtyn took his own life in 2023, weeks before Law's arrest. Law pleaded guilty Friday to aiding Ashtyn's suicide.
Prosser told AFP of the painful three years since her son's death on March 30, 2023.
"To be at the courthouse on Friday and to sit there... it's a beginning to another chapter of this process of healing," she said.
A key issue facing prosecutors was whether the alleged conduct could amount to both counseling suicide and murder.
Dalhousie University law professor Robert Currie told AFP that Law's prosecutors were watching a separate case before the Supreme Court, hoping Canada's top judges would offer clarity on the issue. 
But the Supreme Court left that question unanswered, and prosecutors doubted they could secure murder convictions against Law, Currie said.
burs-bs/bgs

Global Edition

Oil falls, stocks mixed on US-Iran truce prospects

  • By Thursday evening, negotiators had edged towards a deal to extend their fragile ceasefire for 60 days, pending approval from President Donald Trump, US sources told AFP. The reports sent the S&P 500 index to another record high on Thursday, and Wall Street indices gained further on Friday in morning trading.
  • Stock markets were mixed while oil prices fell again on Friday on investor optimism that the United States and Iran would reach a deal to extend their ceasefire.
  • By Thursday evening, negotiators had edged towards a deal to extend their fragile ceasefire for 60 days, pending approval from President Donald Trump, US sources told AFP. The reports sent the S&P 500 index to another record high on Thursday, and Wall Street indices gained further on Friday in morning trading.
Stock markets were mixed while oil prices fell again on Friday on investor optimism that the United States and Iran would reach a deal to extend their ceasefire.
Oil markets have been up and down this week as investors assess the chances of a breakthrough between Washington and Tehran that could potentially resume shipping through the crucial Strait of Hormuz.
Those hopes had been briefly dashed by new US military strikes on Iran on Wednesday, countered by the Revolutionary Guard's targeting of an American airbase in the region.
By Thursday evening, negotiators had edged towards a deal to extend their fragile ceasefire for 60 days, pending approval from President Donald Trump, US sources told AFP.
The reports sent the S&P 500 index to another record high on Thursday, and Wall Street indices gained further on Friday in morning trading. Europe's main indices were flat ahead of the weekend.
While details of the possible agreement are scarce, "oil traders are taking an optimistic view that the end could be in sight for disruption in the region", said Derren Nathan, head of equity research at Hargreaves Lansdown.
However, "the market's patience may be tested if a deal is not agreed by early June, and this could have big ramifications for the oil price and the global stock market rally," said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB.
Concerns are also growing that the US Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank may have to tighten interest rates after a run of gloomy indicators.
The Fed's preferred inflation gauge rose in April to its highest since 2023 and first-quarter US economic growth was revised lower.

European inflation

In Europe, French data showed Friday that its economy contracted 0.1 percent in the first quarter, while inflation in May accelerated to 2.4 percent, above the ECB's target of two percent. 
Germany meanwhile saw inflation slow in May to 2.6 percent, though analysts still expect an interest rate hike for the eurozone, possibly at the next ECB meeting on June 11. 
Still, "recession risks are easing as oil prices moderate and the probability of worst-case scenarios fades", wrote Matthew Martin of Oxford Economics.
"While reduced risks from the war have helped, the improvement in equity prices is mostly because of a robust earnings season. The driver is overwhelmingly AI-related capital expenditure," he said.
Global AI bullishness has driven a historic rally recently, this week pushing the market capitalisations of chipmakers Micron and SK hynix across the $1 trillion threshold.
Seoul's stock market led the charge in Asia on Friday, surging 3.6 percent while Tokyo's Nikkei closed at a record high.

Key figures at around 1440 GMT

Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 2.3 percent at $90.59 a barrel
West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 1.86 percent at $87.25 a barrel
New York - DOW: UP 0.8 percent at 51,052.87 points
New York - S&P 500: UP 0.3 percent at 7,588.61
New York - Nasdaq: UP 0.3 percent at 26,998.10
London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.1 percent at 10,416.07 (close)
Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 0.1 percent at 8,183.34 (close)
Frankfurt - DAX: FLAT at 25,104.70 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 0.7 percent at 25,182.39 (close)
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 2.5 percent at 66,329.50 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.7 percent at 4,068.57 (close)
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1681 from $1.1647 on Thursday
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3478 from $1.3441
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 159.18 from 159.25 yen
Euro/pound: UP at 86.67 pence from 86.66 pence
bur-rlp/tw

US

Trump says making final decision on proposed Iran deal

BY AFP TEAMS IN WASHINGTON, TEHRAN, DUBAI AND BEIRUT

  • In a call with his Omani counterpart, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi "indicated that arriving at a final agreement depended on ending the American party's attitude based on excessive demands and shifting and contradictory positions", his ministry said in a statement.
  • US President Donald Trump said he was making his final decision on a potential deal with Iran on Friday, as Tehran insisted any agreement on ending the Middle East war hinged on Washington dropping its "excessive demands".
  • In a call with his Omani counterpart, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi "indicated that arriving at a final agreement depended on ending the American party's attitude based on excessive demands and shifting and contradictory positions", his ministry said in a statement.
US President Donald Trump said he was making his final decision on a potential deal with Iran on Friday, as Tehran insisted any agreement on ending the Middle East war hinged on Washington dropping its "excessive demands".
Iran's top negotiator had said earlier Tehran would only trust Washington's actions, not its words, after US Vice President JD Vance said progress had been made on a deal to extend a ceasefire and provide a framework for peace talks.
US sources told AFP the deal was just waiting on Trump's sign-off following weeks of halting negotiations to end a conflict that had engulfed the Middle East and shaken the global economy.
"I will be meeting now, in the Situation Room, to make a final determination," Trump said in a lengthy social media post, reiterating long-held demands that Iran agree never to have nuclear weapons and open the vital Strait of Hormuz shipping lanes.
He said Tehran would remove mines in the strait, the US would lift its naval blockade of Iranian ports, and the two countries would coordinate on removing and destroying Iran's enriched uranium, though he did not clarify whether the points had already been agreed or were part of the deal under consideration.
Trump's post came as Iran's top diplomat suggested the US was holding up a deal with its approach to the negotiations.
In a call with his Omani counterpart, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi "indicated that arriving at a final agreement depended on ending the American party's attitude based on excessive demands and shifting and contradictory positions", his ministry said in a statement.
Earlier Iran's parliament speaker, who led its delegation at peace talks with the US in Pakistan last month, said Tehran had gained leverage not "through talks, but through missiles", and was sceptical of US promises.
"We place no trust in guarantees or words; only actions matter. No step will be taken before the other side acts first," Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf wrote on X.
Hopes of an agreement had risen on Thursday after US officials were positive about the direction of diplomacy, with Vance telling reporters "a lot of progress" had been made.
Optimism around a possible US-Iran deal boosted Asian stock markets on Friday, while oil prices receded slightly.
Energy markets have whipsawed this week as investors parse the chances of an agreement that could potentially resume normal shipping through the crucial Strait of Hormuz, which Tehran has blockaded since the start of the war.
But Iran has not confirmed any commitments to a deal, and sources have told Iranian media that any agreement unilaterally announced by Trump would not be recognised.
On Friday, Iran's Tasnim news agency, citing a source, said the text had not yet been finalised and that the wording of the potential memorandum of understanding had "undergone some changes in recent days".

Truce violations

Qatar's role in talks has grown, and its state news agency said late Thursday Trump had called its ruler to discuss the "latest updates" on efforts to end the war.
Doha hosted Iranian officials this week as regional nations push for a definitive resolution to the war, despite a fragile ceasefire largely holding since April 8.
Washington and Tehran have accused each other of violating the truce as recently as this week, with US strikes on the southern Iranian port of Bandar Abbas countered by retaliatory Iranian fire.
Iranian forces did not specify their target, but Kuwait, which hosts US troops, said its air defences responded to incoming Iranian missiles and drones.
Iran had also fired at four ships trying to transit the Strait of Hormuz without authorisation, state broadcaster IRIB reported Thursday. Iran has blockaded the waterway since the war began.
Iranian state TV said on Friday that 24 ships had transited the strait in the past 24 hours, in coordination with the Revolutionary Guards and the foreign ministry.
But it warned that "ships from hostile countries face a severe response" from Iran's military.

Lebanon castle hit

On the war's Lebanon front, the country's culture minister told AFP on Friday Israel had struck a medieval castle overlooking the southern city of Nabatieh, warning that other heritage sites were in "serious danger".
Israeli forces used the castle, also known as Qalaat al-Chakif, as a base during their previous two-decade occupation of southern Lebanon that ended in 2000.
A ceasefire between Israel and the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah was supposed to have taken effect on April 17, but has never been observed.
Both sides accuse each other of violating it and justify their attacks by the other camp's alleged breaches.
Lebanon was drawn into the war in early March when Hezbollah launched rockets at Israel over the killing of Iran's supreme leader in US-Israeli attacks, prompting Israeli strikes and a ground invasion.
burs-smw/srm

conflict

'I'm afraid for my life': Romanians in shock after drone crash

BY ANDREEA UDREA

  • In April, another drone crashed in Galati, in an area on the outskirts of the city.
  • Inhabitants of the Romanian city of Galati, near the border with Ukraine, expressed fear, bewilderment and anger on Friday after a drone crashed into a residential building, wounding two people during the night.
  • In April, another drone crashed in Galati, in an area on the outskirts of the city.
Inhabitants of the Romanian city of Galati, near the border with Ukraine, expressed fear, bewilderment and anger on Friday after a drone crashed into a residential building, wounding two people during the night.
The crash happened in the centre of the city of 200,000 peoplein eastern Romania, on a busy street with 10-storey buildings, shops and banks.
Dozens of people gathered to take photos and videos of the damage done to the last floor of the apartment block hit, where a balcony's exterior looked partially collapsed.
"Look, that's why the alarms rang last night," a father told his daughter.
Romania said the drone was Russian, and called the incident a "serious and irresponsible escalation" by Moscow.
Although Romania, a European Union and NATO member, has recorded dozens of airspace breaches since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, this was the first time a drone hit an apartment block and injured inhabitants.
A 14-year-old boy and his 53-year-old mother were hospitalised with burns.
A neighbourhood resident, 54-year-old traffic clerk Mihaela Blanaru, told AFP she heard a phone alert warning her about the danger, and then was surprised by the light flooding her bedroom and the noise.
"I have two dogs that jumped up half a metre from the bed, leaping up and very agitated. I barely managed to calm them down," Blanaru said, adding she had spent hours outside her apartment on the streets.
"I was expecting an aftershock, just like with an earthquake. That's how panicked I was."
In four years of war, Romania has reported 28 airspace breaches and 47 fallen drone fragments, according to data released on Friday by the defence ministry.
In April, another drone crashed in Galati, in an area on the outskirts of the city.
It hit a toolshed and did not injure anyone, although it was carrying explosives.

'Stunned'

Then, as now, citizens were wondering why the drone was not shot down, although Romania approved a law in 2025 allowing it to do so.
"Where are the anti-drone systems here? Shouldn't they be somewhere on the border of Romania? Why aren't they? Where is the European Union? NATO?" asked 47-year-old Mihaela, who only gave her first name.
"I'm really afraid for my life here," she said, adding that the drone could have fallen on her own apartment block.
While some blamed the incident on a lack of adequate measures taken by the Romanian authorities, others cursed at Russian leader Vladimir Putin for waging war on Ukraine and endangering their own lives as well.
Romania said it was closing the Russian consulate in the Black Sea city of Constanta and expelling the consul general, prompting Moscow to threaten a similar response.
"I was a bit stunned," said pensioner Jenica Emanoil, 70.
He said he had little faith he would be protected in case of future incidents.
"There's not much the authorities can do, after all... These days, safety's pretty much gone."
str-ani/jza/jhb

conflict

Photo and video journalists in Gaza to receive 'Golden Pen' award

  • The 2026 Golden Pen of Freedom will be handed to representatives of global news agencies still operating in Gaza -- Agence France-Presse, The Associated Press and Reuters -- "whose local journalists continue to provide consistent, professional coverage under extremely challenging conditions", said the World Association of News Publishers (WAN-IFRA).
  • Professional photo and video journalists working in Gaza are to receive an annual press freedom award on Monday for risking their lives to report on the war, an association of publishers has said.
  • The 2026 Golden Pen of Freedom will be handed to representatives of global news agencies still operating in Gaza -- Agence France-Presse, The Associated Press and Reuters -- "whose local journalists continue to provide consistent, professional coverage under extremely challenging conditions", said the World Association of News Publishers (WAN-IFRA).
Professional photo and video journalists working in Gaza are to receive an annual press freedom award on Monday for risking their lives to report on the war, an association of publishers has said.
The 2026 Golden Pen of Freedom will be handed to representatives of global news agencies still operating in Gaza -- Agence France-Presse, The Associated Press and Reuters -- "whose local journalists continue to provide consistent, professional coverage under extremely challenging conditions", said the World Association of News Publishers (WAN-IFRA).
"For over two and a half years, journalists in Gaza have recorded death, destruction, and human suffering in unparalleled terms," reads the citation of the award.
"They are as much victims of the conflict as they are chroniclers of a war that erupted -- and continues -- around them."
War broke out in Gaza after Palestinian militant group Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, triggering an Israeli military campaign.
Media rights group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) says Israeli forces have killed more than 220 journalists, at least 70 of whom were killed in the context of their professional duties.
The Israeli army says it never deliberately targets journalists. But since October 2023, it has claimed to have killed a number of people who it says were Palestinian militant "terrorists" working under the guise of being media professionals.
AFP photographer Mohammed Abed, who worked in Gaza until April 2024 before joining its Cairo bureau, will be among those at the ceremony in the French city of Marseille.
The award "acknowledges the sacrifice and endurance of local Palestinian media professionals living and working in a war zone," said WAN-IFRA, which holds its 2026 World News Media Congress from Monday to Wednesday.
"It also recognises colleagues injured and killed in the course of doing their job."
The Israeli government has barred foreign journalists from independently entering the blockaded territory since the war began.
The Hamas attack resulted in the deaths of 1,221 people on the Israeli side, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official data.
Israel's military campaign against Hamas since then has killed more than 72,800 people in Gaza, the majority of them civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.
Despite an October ceasefire, Gaza remains gripped by deadly violence as Israeli strikes continue, with both the military and Hamas accusing one another of violating the truce.
arb-ah/jm/jhb

diplomacy

China leaders skip Asia defence summit headlined by US

BY MATTHEW WALSH AND MARTIN ABBUGAO

  • But the absence of China's Dong Jun means no meeting with Hegseth, even as Beijing tests American commitment to Taiwan and Washington seeks an end to the Middle East war. 
  • Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth is the headline speaker at Asia's premier defence summit, which began on Friday with top Chinese officials notably absent despite weighty questions over Taiwan and the war in Iran.
  • But the absence of China's Dong Jun means no meeting with Hegseth, even as Beijing tests American commitment to Taiwan and Washington seeks an end to the Middle East war. 
Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth is the headline speaker at Asia's premier defence summit, which began on Friday with top Chinese officials notably absent despite weighty questions over Taiwan and the war in Iran.
Beijing's defence minister is skipping the three-day Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore for the second year running, which analysts viewed as a sign of China's rising power.
The forum brings together top officials from around 45 nations and has historically provided a setting for debate as well as both quiet and high-profile diplomacy.
But the absence of China's Dong Jun means no meeting with Hegseth, even as Beijing tests American commitment to Taiwan and Washington seeks an end to the Middle East war. 
Vietnamese leader To Lam called on countries to make such talks "truly effective instruments of risk reduction", adding in a keynote address on Friday evening that the Shangri-La Dialogue should not become a platform for merely "restating positions".
He urged "responsible commitment" from influential nations "both within and beyond the region", without mentioning the United States or China by name.
"Competition must be bounded by law, guided by transparency and exercised with restraint," Lam said.
He also said Vietnam's position on the South China Sea, where it has a territorial dispute with Beijing, remained "clear, consistent and principled".
Recently elected president and Communist Party leader -- a dual role evoking China's Xi Jinping -- Lam is Vietnam's most powerful leader in decades.

China snub

Hegseth's second trip to the forum comes after US President Donald Trump's visit to China this month.
Trump said the countries struck "fantastic" trade deals, although details have been vague, and he has suggested Washington could use arms sales as a bargaining chip with Beijing.
Hegseth's speech on Saturday is expected to be "quite strong against China, but mainly for internal (US) consumption", said Oh Ei Sun, senior fellow at the Singapore Institute of International Affairs.
China sent Dong to the dialogue as recently as 2024, when he and then Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin met for their first substantive face-to-face talks in 18 months.
But Dong was absent last year, and China said on Thursday it would send experts and scholars from its army's academic institutions this time.
Major General Meng Xiangqing of the National Defense University is leading a delegation that also includes scholars from the Academy of Military Sciences and the Navy.
"China has truly arrived as a major power in the region, so it does not really need to send its defence minister to brave a fusillade of questions," said William Choong, principal fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute think tank.
Two other former defence ministers, Wei Fenghe and Li Shangfu, previously spoke at Shangri-La. Both have since been handed suspended death sentences on graft charges.
"It's kind of a poisoned chalice for any Chinese defence minister to speak out publicly," said Jennifer Parker, adjunct professor at the University of Western Australia's Defence and Security Institute.
But Beijing also risks not having a senior leader present if two of the most pertinent global security issues -- Taiwan and the opening of the Strait of Hormuz -- do come up.

AUKUS focus

The defence ministers of the United States, Britain and Australia -- the members of the AUKUS security alliance -- are also due to convene.
AUKUS's stated goal is to ensure a free and open Asia-Pacific region, although it is widely seen as a bulwark against a rising China and is strongly opposed by Beijing.
Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles said on Friday that Canberra was seeking "the maintenance of the global rules-based order" in the region.
"We've seen China engage in a very significant military buildup... and it has not happened with the kind of strategic reassurance which (we) would expect," he told journalists.
Australian media outlets have reported, citing unidentified sources, that the AUKUS nations are expected to announce a major project, perhaps involving uncrewed underwater vehicles.
mjw/jhe/pbt

China

PNG leader says no foreign bases as Australia's defence presence grows

BY KIRSTY NEEDHAM

  • These are sovereign Papua New Guinea defence facilities," Marape told AFP in a statement on Wednesday.
  • Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape told AFP the South Pacific island nation won't allow foreign military bases, even as Australia steps up its presence at a naval port seen as central to blocking China in any regional conflict.
  • These are sovereign Papua New Guinea defence facilities," Marape told AFP in a statement on Wednesday.
Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape told AFP the South Pacific island nation won't allow foreign military bases, even as Australia steps up its presence at a naval port seen as central to blocking China in any regional conflict.
PNG's remote Lombrum navy base sits 2,000 kilometres (1,240 miles) south of the US territory of Guam, on the other side of a stretch of sea analysts said is the fastest direct route out of the South China Sea to the South Pacific.
Australia's military redeveloped the base for PNG at a cost of AU$500 million (US$358 million) last year, gazumping a 2018 Chinese offer to rebuild the port as Beijing expanded military training with the former Australian territory. 
Tender documents show that Australia's Department of Defence is now seeking long-term "living services" for an "Australian compound" within the Lombrum base from August.
That would mean increased visits by Australian forces and vessels, but Marape said Lombrum was not a foreign base -- a sensitive issue for a country building trade ties with China and security cooperation with Washington and Canberra.
"Our policy is very clear. These are sovereign Papua New Guinea defence facilities," Marape told AFP in a statement on Wednesday.
"We work with trusted partners under treaty arrangements and defence cooperation agreements, but ownership and sovereignty remain with Papua New Guinea."
Lombrum's Australian compound was built to accomodate workers during base construction, Marape said, adding that it is also used by "visiting personnel if required". 
"It does not in any way constitute a foreign military base," he said.
An Australian defence spokeswoman said the redeveloped Lombrum base "will create further opportunities for joint training, exercises and ship visits between the Australian Defence Force and the PNGDF".
"This would naturally involve Australian presence at the base from time to time," she said.
PNG bases in the capital Port Moresby and in Lae and Wewak on the north coast will also be used "temporarily" by the US military in July for joint training exercises under a 2023 defence agreement, a US Army spokeswoman said.
Australia signed a mutual defence treaty with its northern neighbour last year, ratified by the PNG parliament in April.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's government will spend AU$600 million to expand defence infrastructure across the Pacific Islands, including AU$114 million to build "dual-use" infrastructure in PNG to support integration of the two defence forces, Australia's national budget papers show.

'Deny the other side'

The Lombrum base on Manus island was established by the US military during World War II as its springboard to Asia -- a response to Japan's "fortress in the South Pacific" at nearby Rabaul in PNG, said Peter Dean, professor of strategic studies at the Australian National University.
Eight decades later, China and US allies are vying for Pacific Island ports.
"The geography has not changed," said Dean, who was the co-author of a 2023 review of Australia's defence force that led to a new focus on denying China access to its northern approaches in any potential regional conflict.
He described PNG as "key" terrain to block China's navy.
The Chinese navy frequently sails to the South Pacific and held a live-fire exercise in the sea between Australia and New Zealand last year.
Besides its redevelopment of the navy base, Canberra will also fund another five port upgrades. Marape signed a funding deal with France and the European Union last week to redevelop Rabaul as a major trade port.
And on Tuesday, the Quad nations Australia, the United States, India and Japan said they would fund a commercial port for another South Pacific country, Fiji, which earlier sought funds from China.
Vanuatu's Prime Minister Jotham Napat told his parliament this month that the Pacific island country would also sign a treaty with Australia that denies access by an outside military to its territory.
China's key Pacific security pact is with PNG's neighbour, Solomon Islands. Newly elected Prime Minister Matthew Wale will visit Australia for security talks next week.
Dean said Canberra's treaty with PNG "gains Australia access, the ability to co-develop those facilities, to help train the Papua New Guinea defence force, and it denies the Chinese the ability to do the same thing".
"The most important thing you can do is gain access and trust now, and deny it to the other side," he said.
kln/dhc/pbt

Rohingya

Migrants try to flee to Bangladesh fearing India crackdown

BY SAILENDRA SIL

  • In Indian states that border Bangladesh, like West Bengal and Assam, undocumented migrants have formed an integral part of the informal workforce for years.
  • Hasina Bibi clutched her hungry four-year-old daughter as she waited at an India-Bangladesh border post, trying to leave as fears grow of an Indian crackdown on undocumented migrants.
  • In Indian states that border Bangladesh, like West Bengal and Assam, undocumented migrants have formed an integral part of the informal workforce for years.
Hasina Bibi clutched her hungry four-year-old daughter as she waited at an India-Bangladesh border post, trying to leave as fears grow of an Indian crackdown on undocumented migrants.
She is among the hundreds of Bangladeshis who have gathered over two days at Hakimpur in India's West Bengal state, police said, hoping to cross back as authorities tighten enforcement under a new state government.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party won power in West Bengal earlier this month promising to "detect, delete and deport" illegal migrants.
The rush underscores growing anxiety among migrant communities -- many of whom lack proper documentation -- with rights groups warning of forced expulsions and limited legal protections.
Many are in limbo, caught between Indian pressure to leave and Bangladesh's refusal to accept them without formal proof of citizenship.
Many have waded across a river to return in desperation, although the scale of the exodus remains unclear.
Last week, West Bengal authorities ordered the establishment of "holding centres" for "apprehended foreigners", including Bangladeshis and Rohingya, fuelling anxiety among the state's roughly 35 million Muslims.
"We have been asked to leave immediately, or the government will take stern action," said Hasina, 45, who worked at construction sites in Kolkata after entering India six years ago.
"We came to this city in search of a job. Now we want to return to Bangladesh, (but) we don't know what is waiting for us there," she said.
Her husband tried feeding their child scraps of leftover bread as families huddled in an unfinished building near the outpost, some without proper food for days.
The sudden influx followed word spreading among migrant communities that crossing into Bangladesh was possible from Hakimpur, about 80 kilometres (50 miles) east of Kolkata.
India shares a long and porous border with Bangladesh, where migration has historically been driven by economic hardship and longstanding family links.
In Indian states that border Bangladesh, like West Bengal and Assam, undocumented migrants have formed an integral part of the informal workforce for years.
But activists say hundreds have been pushed across the border from Assam in recent months without due legal process, often based on ethnic profiling.

'Hopes dashed'

The developments in Assam have heightened fears in West Bengal, officials and residents say.
"People are trooping to the Hakimpur border check-post since Tuesday after hearing that crossover to Bangladesh is possible from this outpost," senior state police official Subrata Saha told AFP at the site.
Authorities said those who have gathered at the temporary shelter will be moved to holding centres for preliminary checks before being handed to Border Security Force (BSF) and sent to Bangladesh.
West Bengal's history of migration dates back to the partition of British India in 1947.
Bengal was divided along religious lines into predominantly Hindu West Bengal, which became part of India, and Muslim-majority East Pakistan, later becoming Bangladesh.
For many, returning raises questions of identity as much as survival.
"My parents came to India from Bangladesh over two decades ago. I was born in Kolkata, but I don't have valid documents to prove my (Indian) nationality," said Abdul Sheikh, 20.
With his parents now dead, Sheikh said he had been warned to leave "or face the consequences".
"All my hopes are dashed. I don't know how I can prove that I am Bangladeshi."
Others said they felt they had no choice.
"We feel helpless, we are returning as it is now a government order," said Ariful Sardar, a bricklayer who came three years ago for his father's treatment.
Border guards warned crossings were increasing, with many attempting to slip across a nearby river under cover of darkness.
"It's not difficult to cross the river and it has now become very difficult to guard the border," a BSF official told AFP.
str-abh/abs

explosion

Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin rocket explodes on launch pad

  • The New Glenn rocket, which stands at 98 meters (321 feet), is at the heart of Blue Origin's space ambitions, particularly in its battle against Elon Musk's SpaceX, which is currently developing the biggest rocket in history, Starship.
  • Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket unleashed a massive fireball into the sky as it exploded during a test on Thursday, in the latest blow to billionaire Jeff Bezos's space ambitions.
  • The New Glenn rocket, which stands at 98 meters (321 feet), is at the heart of Blue Origin's space ambitions, particularly in its battle against Elon Musk's SpaceX, which is currently developing the biggest rocket in history, Starship.
Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket unleashed a massive fireball into the sky as it exploded during a test on Thursday, in the latest blow to billionaire Jeff Bezos's space ambitions.
Footage shows the towering rocket erupt in an inferno, followed by a mushroom cloud of smoke as bystanders gathered to watch the launch gasp "Oh no!" and "Oh my God!"
Bezos's space company Blue Origin said in a brief statement posted to X that it had experienced an "anomaly" during the test in Cape Canaveral in the US state of Florida, and that "all personnel have been accounted for."
The explosion is the latest setback to the Amazon boss's position in the frenzied race between private companies pushing for space exploration. 
"It's too early to know the root cause but we're already working to find it," Bezos wrote on X.
"Very rough day, but we'll rebuild whatever needs rebuilding and get back to flying. It's worth it."
The New Glenn rocket, which stands at 98 meters (321 feet), is at the heart of Blue Origin's space ambitions, particularly in its battle against Elon Musk's SpaceX, which is currently developing the biggest rocket in history, Starship.
Musk offered his condolences, calling the accident "most unfortunate."
The disaster comes weeks after the New Glenn rocket failed a mission to deliver a communications satellite into the correct orbit, prompting an investigation.
Although the company successfully reused and recovered a booster for the rocket, the uncrewed mission did not deliver the satellite from the company AST SpaceMobile.
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said in response that it required Blue Origin to conduct a "mishap investigation," which was completed earlier this month.
"The FAA has approved our NG-3 report, and corrective measures have been implemented," Blue Origin said last week, explaining that thermal conditions caused one of the rocket's engines to not achieve its full thrust, causing it to miss its target orbit.

'Spaceflight is unforgiving'

Florida Congressman Mike Haridopolos, whose district includes Cape Canaveral, said in a statement on X that he has been in contact with NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman regarding the explosion. 
"I am grateful there were no reported injuries and thankful for the first responders, engineers, and launch crews who acted quickly," Haridopolos said.
NASA and Blue Origin had been working together to develop a lunar lander for its Artemis lunar missions.
Isaacman, for his part, said NASA was aware of the explosion.
"Spaceflight is unforgiving, and developing new heavy-lift launch capability is extraordinarily difficult," he wrote on X.
"We will work with our partners to support a thorough investigation of this anomaly, assess near-term mission impacts, and get back to launching rockets."
NASA is aiming to test an in-orbit rendezvous between spacecraft and one or two lunar landers in 2027, and carry out a crewed lunar landing before the end of 2028.
But a lot needs to happen before then -- and industry experts have voiced repeated skepticism that Blue Origin and SpaceX can achieve benchmarks in time.
jgc/abs/cms/mtp

health

'If Ebola comes, we'll be wiped out': DR Congo conflict-displaced

  • - 'Everyone will die' - No infection has yet been recorded at the Kingonze displaced persons' camp, which was built in 2018. 
  • Dorcas Mapenzi fears the worst if Ebola comes to the Kingonze camp, where she lives alongside more than 25,000 other displaced people in the conflict-hit eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
  • - 'Everyone will die' - No infection has yet been recorded at the Kingonze displaced persons' camp, which was built in 2018. 
Dorcas Mapenzi fears the worst if Ebola comes to the Kingonze camp, where she lives alongside more than 25,000 other displaced people in the conflict-hit eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
"If Ebola comes, we'll be wiped out as we're packed like sardines," the displaced woman told AFP at the sprawl of tarpaulin and tents on the outskirts of Bunia, the capital of the northeastern Ituri province, the epicentre of the latest outbreak. 
Spread by close contact, the deadly viral disease has spread like wildfire in the vast central African country's east, where decades of armed conflicts have forced millions of people from their homes and into camps where they live cheek-by-jowl.
Nearly a million of those displaced are in Ituri -- among the provinces of the desperately impoverished DRC most prey to the east's litany of armed groups -- where the prospect of the epidemic spreading throughout the refugee camps has sparked alarm.
The World Health Organization's chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus -- who is expected in Bunia on Friday -- has warned that the eastern DRC "faces a catastrophic collision of disease and conflict", with the fighting hampering efforts to tackle the epidemic.
Since an Ebola outbreak was declared in the DRC on May 15, the WHO has recorded 10 confirmed and 223 suspected Ebola deaths in the DRC, out of more than 1,000 confirmed and suspected cases, according to its latest figures up to May 24.

'Everyone will die'

No infection has yet been recorded at the Kingonze displaced persons' camp, which was built in 2018. 
But conditions in the camp are ripe for a disease passed on through close physical contact and bodily fluids.
"I've already heard of Ebola and it's a disease that scares me a lot," Mapenzi said as she washed her laundry in a basin on the ground. 
"We displaced people here have no hygiene. Our children play next to filthy toilets and even relieve themselves on the ground, in the middle of the tarpaulins that serve as our homes," the young woman said.
Deborah Nzale, a widow and head of the family, lives with nine people in a small tarpaulin shelter of barely three square metres (32 square feet).
"Given these conditions, how are we going to protect ourselves against this disease, when everyone tells us we need to distance ourselves to fight Ebola?" she asked. 
No vaccine or treatment exists for the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola responsible for the latest outbreak.
So attempts to contain the virus's spread have had to rely mainly on protective measures and rapid contact tracing. 
"We sleep piled on top of each other, with everyone's sweat," Nzale said.
"If a single person gets infected here in this camp, everyone will die."

'Ebola really kills'

So far, Kingonze's displaced residents have not received any protective gear. 
"Ebola really kills," a poster at the entrance warns.
"People looking to raise awareness come through here with messages but, surprisingly, we don't have the kit we need to protect ourselves," Budjo Amos complained.
"I don't even have soap to wash my hands," added the displaced man, who fled the province's common communal violence. 
"The most urgent thing is to give us clean water."
There is just a single borehole in Kigonze. Empty jerrycans pile up in front. Water flows from the tap for just a few hours a day.
"The state has to intervene urgently," Amos pleaded.
Already long absent from swathes of Ituri, the Congolese state has been criticised for its delayed response to the outbreak, which was declared several weeks after the first cases emerged.
Many hospitals in the region still lack essential equipment, especially isolation tents for patients.
According to Ituri's military governor, the province counts around 61 displaced persons camps housing nearly 970,000 people.
"We need to deploy equipment and qualified, specialist medical staff as quickly as possible," Lieutenant General Johnny Luboya Nkashama told AFP on Friday, "to spare this province from disaster".
str/clt-cld/sbk/ach

technology

Bluesky accounts hijacked in pro-Russia propaganda campaign

BY ANUJ CHOPRA

  • Clemson University attributed SDA's campaign to a Kremlin influence operation known among researchers as Matryoshka (Russian doll), which has been known for disinformation campaigns based on impersonation.
  • A Russian influence campaign hijacked hundreds of Bluesky accounts -- many belonging to influential Americans -- to spread propaganda, researchers said, in a striking disinformation tactic that weaponized authentic identities rather than relying on fake accounts.
  • Clemson University attributed SDA's campaign to a Kremlin influence operation known among researchers as Matryoshka (Russian doll), which has been known for disinformation campaigns based on impersonation.
A Russian influence campaign hijacked hundreds of Bluesky accounts -- many belonging to influential Americans -- to spread propaganda, researchers said, in a striking disinformation tactic that weaponized authentic identities rather than relying on fake accounts.
The campaign, which the researchers at Clemson University linked to the Moscow-based firm Social Design Agency (SDA), targeted journalists, academics, and filmmakers on the tech platform.
Many of the compromised accounts were used to post anti-Ukraine narratives, illustrating how pro-Kremlin propagandists are seeking novel ways to undermine support for the war-torn country that Russia invaded in 2022.
"Looks like someone got into my account and posted some story about France and Ukraine," Wall Street Journal reporter Alex Ward wrote on Bluesky.
The post in question has now been deleted and Ward said he had regained control of his account.
A database of compromised accounts -- created by an internet monitor tracking Russian influence operations and shared with AFP by a Clemson University researcher -- included at least one other Wall Street Journal reporter.
"Bluesky account got compromised and banned and then I got the account back somehow," Jake Tucker, editorial director at the PC Gaming Show, wrote on the platform.
Other compromised accounts included filmmaker Mary Beth McAndrews and academic Ben Gilbert.
"We have certainly seen bad actors use hacked accounts and stolen accounts in the past. Frequently, in fact. This seems more targeted," Clemson University's Darren Linvill told AFP.
"I've personally never seen Russia use hacked accounts at this scale before."

'No ethical constraints'

It was unclear how many accounts had been hacked, with Bluesky removing many of the propaganda posts or suspending affected accounts until their owners stepped forward to regain control. 
Linvill said he had personally tracked at least "a couple of hundred accounts the Russians hacked," but the real number was likely far higher.
Bluesky said it has removed 4,907 accounts linked to "state-backed influence activity" this year, roughly double the pace seen last year.
"Compromising real accounts to spread propaganda is a tactic these actors have used elsewhere for years, but this is the first time we've seen them attempt it on Bluesky," the platform's safety team wrote in a post.
"The accounts accessed were mostly older and dormant, though some active accounts were affected too."
"To be clear, Bluesky's systems were not breached. Individual user accounts were compromised, likely via credentials leaked in data breaches."
Clemson University attributed SDA's campaign to a Kremlin influence operation known among researchers as Matryoshka (Russian doll), which has been known for disinformation campaigns based on impersonation.
"It has stolen the logos of media outlets, government agencies, and private companies and used AI to clone the voices of celebrities, policemen, academics, journalists, and others," Joseph Bodnar, a senior research manager at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, told AFP.
"Hacking into accounts to post content using someone else's identity is a logical next step for an operation that appears to have a lot of resources and no ethical constraints," Bodnar added.

'Sophistication isn't impact'

The SDA has been sanctioned by the United States, European Union and the United Kingdom for information warfare campaigns.
"The SDA has been tasked and funded by the Kremlin to deliver a series of interference operations designed to undermine democracy and weaken support for Ukraine," Britain's Foreign Office said earlier this month.
The statement came after Britain unveiled new sanctions targeting 49 individuals working for the SDA, including writers, translators and video makers responsible for "deceptive Kremlin propaganda."
However, the reach of the Bluesky hacking campaign appeared to be limited, with the platform's safety team saying their "posts averaged 50 views" before they were taken down.
"Sophistication isn't impact," Bodnar said.
"Matryoshka's impact is driven more by public perception than by its ability to persuade audiences online. It's a perception hack."
burs-ac/pnb

Hill

Aliens and fine art for 'weird kid' who became top MMA fighter

BY PETER STEBBINGS

  • "Because no matter what weird thing I said I wanted to do -- because she always says I was a weird kid -- when I wanted to go to art school, she was like, 'Alright, cool, you love art and you're good at it, I believe in you.'
  • Her mum thought she was a "weird kid" when she wanted to study art, she forged a path for black women in mixed martial arts and her family was at the centre of an alien mystery.
  • "Because no matter what weird thing I said I wanted to do -- because she always says I was a weird kid -- when I wanted to go to art school, she was like, 'Alright, cool, you love art and you're good at it, I believe in you.'
Her mum thought she was a "weird kid" when she wanted to study art, she forged a path for black women in mixed martial arts and her family was at the centre of an alien mystery.
UFC fighter Angela Hill has packed plenty into her 41 years, but the veteran trailblazer from the United States is not done yet.
Speaking to AFP ahead of her latest bout, on Saturday in the Chinese casino hub of Macau, Hill described her colourful journey to the top of one of the most brutal sports.
Named after the activist and academic Angela Davis, an anti-racism icon, Hill studied fine arts at a college in New York.
But her passion was for animation and she launched a career in that field. When recession hit, she "made ends meet" by working in a bar, then eventually took on a new job -- as a fighter.
"I always say that my mum was my biggest motivator," said Hill, speaking ahead of her strawweight bout against China's Xiong Jingnan.
"Because no matter what weird thing I said I wanted to do -- because she always says I was a weird kid -- when I wanted to go to art school, she was like, 'Alright, cool, you love art and you're good at it, I believe in you.'
"And then after I graduated from college and I was like, 'Hey mum, I want to be a professional fighter.'"
Fine art and pounding an opponent in the Octagon may not seem obvious companions, but the affable Hill sees similarities.
"You're creating beautiful work on someone's face," she says with a good-natured laugh.
Hill made her debut in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in 2014. 
She was the first African American woman signed to the UFC, the top MMA promoter, and also became the first Black woman to headline a UFC event.
She is now the oldest woman on the UFC roster, her longevity in the punishing sport making her one of its best-known names.
"I don't think when I was 30 I thought I'd still be here 11 years later," she said, asked when she might call it a day.
"So I'm just kind of playing it by ear."
That said, she still has "some juice left to squeeze", and fighting in China will be another first for her.
"I feel like if I'm still improving and if I'm still looking good in the gym, there's no reason why I shouldn't go out there and make a paycheck," added Hill, whose professional MMA win-loss record stands at 18-16. 

Link to UFO folklore

A particularly intriguing chapter in Hill's back story is her link to one of the most famous episodes in UFO folklore.
On a September night in 1961, Hill's grandfather Barney and his wife Betty believed they were abducted by aliens as they returned home from vacation.
Their story inspired news articles, books, television programmes and films.
It is part of the family history that Hill embraces.
"Betty was very insistent on talking about it and figuring out what happened, so that's when they got hypnotised and the story came out that something did happen to them where they lost half a day driving back home from New Hampshire," she said.
"It was kind of funny because my dad was supposed to go but his dog got sick or something so he had to stay home.
"So they went without him and they had this abduction experience happen."
So what does Hill believe: is there something out there?
"It's one of those things where we just always believed, and even if we don't know it was aliens, we think something unexplainable happened to them," she said.
"I think it's cool to not know everything and it's cool to just kind of have an open mind about things.
"For something like that to happen so close to my family, it's hard to deny that there's something out there."
pst/hol/tc

census

Japan population sees record five-year drop: census

  • A preliminary tally of Japan's census, released every five years, found that the population slipped to 123 million people in 2025 -- more than three million fewer than when the survey was last carried out in 2020.
  • Japan's population dropped by a record 2.5 percent in the span of five years, census data showed Friday, as the world's fourth-largest economy struggles to overcome demographic woes.
  • A preliminary tally of Japan's census, released every five years, found that the population slipped to 123 million people in 2025 -- more than three million fewer than when the survey was last carried out in 2020.
Japan's population dropped by a record 2.5 percent in the span of five years, census data showed Friday, as the world's fourth-largest economy struggles to overcome demographic woes.
A preliminary tally of Japan's census, released every five years, found that the population slipped to 123 million people in 2025 -- more than three million fewer than when the survey was last carried out in 2020.
It was the biggest decrease since the twice-a-decade survey started in 1920, and more than triple the decline recorded between 2015 and 2020.
The data "once again confirmed the population decline in our nation is deepening," top government spokesman Minoru Kihara told reporters.
Japan has one of the world's lowest birth rates and an ageing population.
While immigration is often floated as a solution to Japan's shrinking demographic, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is pushing for tougher measures against an inflow of foreigners.
Official data showed that the number of births in Japan fell for the 10th straight year in 2025, with a total of 705,809 babies born.
Central and local government officials have tried with limited success in recent years to incentivise marriage and childbirth, from launching dating apps to boosting child-rearing allowances and subsidising parental leave.
tmo/aph/hol/tc

Israel

US-Iran truce deal awaits Trump as strikes test ceasefire

BY AFP TEAMS IN TEHRAN, WASHINGTON, DUBAI AND BEIRUT

  • Late on Thursday, US Vice President JD Vance told reporters that Trump was not yet ready to approve it, even though negotiations had "made a lot of progress."
  • US and Iranian negotiators edged toward a deal to extend their fragile ceasefire for 60 days, but the potential breakthrough was still hanging on President Donald Trump's approval, US sources told AFP on Thursday.
  • Late on Thursday, US Vice President JD Vance told reporters that Trump was not yet ready to approve it, even though negotiations had "made a lot of progress."
US and Iranian negotiators edged toward a deal to extend their fragile ceasefire for 60 days, but the potential breakthrough was still hanging on President Donald Trump's approval, US sources told AFP on Thursday.
The development came after Washington and Tehran accused each other of violating the truce, underscoring the volatility of talks three months after the Middle East war began with US-Israeli strikes on Iran.
The US sources confirmed reporting by Axios that the two sides had agreed on a memorandum of understanding to prolong the ceasefire and launch negotiations on Iran's nuclear programme.
Under the proposed deal, shipping through Hormuz would be unrestricted, with no tolls or harassment; Iran would remove all mines within 30 days; and the United States would lift its naval blockade if commercial traffic resumes, Axios reported.
But Iran's Tasnim news agency, citing a source close to Tehran's negotiators, said the text had not been finalised and that Pakistan would be informed if a deal was reached.
Iranian sources cited by local media said any deal would be complete only when announced by Tehran, not unilaterally by Trump.
Late on Thursday, US Vice President JD Vance told reporters that Trump was not yet ready to approve it, even though negotiations had "made a lot of progress."
"We're going back and forth on a couple of language points," he added.
US strikes on the southern Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas prompted Iran to target "the American airbase that served as the source of the attack," state broadcaster IRIB reported, citing the Revolutionary Guards.
The Guards did not specify the location of the base, but Kuwait, which hosts US troops, said its air defences responded to incoming fire.
Kuwait's foreign ministry condemned "the criminal Iranian attacks that targeted the territory of the State of Kuwait with missiles and drones, in a dangerous escalation."
US Central Command called the attack an "egregious ceasefire violation."
Iranian forces had fired at four ships trying to transit the Strait of Hormuz without authorisation, IRIB reported Thursday. Iran has blockaded the waterway since the war began.
US forces said they had intercepted five attack drones in and around the strait, and prevented the launch of a sixth near Bandar Abbas.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei called the US strikes truce "violations".
A US official told AFP the actions were "measured" and "intended to preserve the ceasefire".
Iran's Guards threatened a "firm response" to any renewed attacks.

Strait standoff

Before Thursday's strikes, Amir, a 27-year-old software developer in Tehran, said fears of renewed fighting were constant.
"I feel like nothing is certain yet," he said. "The daily question is: Will there be missile strikes tonight?"
A key focus of the proposed deal is restoring full traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, the closure of which has curbed the vast flows of oil and gas that normally pass through it.
Oil prices bounced higher Thursday after reports of the strikes, reversing much of Wednesday's deal-driven fall.
Markets remained choppy as traders balanced hopes of a ceasefire extension against the risk of renewed fighting. Brent crude slipped after earlier jumping around 2.5 percent, while Wall Street closed higher even as European and Asian markets mostly fell.
The war's economic toll has become harder to ignore, with analysts warning that prolonged disruption in Hormuz could keep energy prices high and make inflation harder to contain.
Trump threatened US ally Oman when asked about a possible short-term arrangement allowing it and Iran to control the strait.
"No, the strait is going to be open to everybody," Trump said. "It's international waters and Oman will behave just like everybody else or we'll have to blow them up."
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Thursday also threatened to "aggressively target" Oman if it helped impose tolls in the strait.
Bessent added Washington would halt Iranian airlines' access to landing slots, refuelling and ticket sales, while allowing travel for religious pilgrimage and humanitarian reasons.
Oman mediated US-Iran talks in Geneva before the war and has itself come under attack from Tehran.
Baqaei called the threat toward Oman "a worrying sign of the normalisation of anarchy and intimidation in international relations".
Qatar's emir also spoke with Trump by phone about efforts to reduce escalation, after Doha hosted senior Iranian officials this week.

Lebanon escalation

In Lebanon, a separate ceasefire has done little to stop the fighting between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah.
Iran has insisted any agreement to end the war must apply to Lebanon.
Israel's military said Thursday it had conducted a precise strike in the Beirut area, while Lebanon's military said the attack hit an apartment south of the capital.
AFPTV footage showed smoke rising from the area on the edge of Beirut's southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold.
The escalation comes as Lebanon and Israel prepare for talks between military delegations at the Pentagon on Friday, and for US-brokered talks early next week -- the fourth round since the latest Israel-Hezbollah conflict erupted.
Lebanon's health ministry said the Beirut-area strike killed three people, including a woman, her baby daughter and a Syrian child, and wounded 15.
It said Israeli attacks had killed 3,324 people, up 55 from the previous day, when Israel declared most of south Lebanon "combat zones" and told residents to leave.
The Israeli military said a soldier was killed Wednesday by a Hezbollah drone near the Lebanon border, bringing its military death toll to 23 troops, along with one civilian contractor.
bur-ft-pnb/ksb

virus

WHO chief says Ebola 'can be stopped' as he lands in DR Congo

  • The deadliest outbreak in the DRC claimed nearly 2,300 lives out of 3,500 cases between 2018 and 2020. burs-ach/pdw
  • The UN health chief said Thursday the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo which has claimed over 200 lives can be stopped, as he arrived to oversee the fight against the highly infectious disease.
  • The deadliest outbreak in the DRC claimed nearly 2,300 lives out of 3,500 cases between 2018 and 2020. burs-ach/pdw
The UN health chief said Thursday the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo which has claimed over 200 lives can be stopped, as he arrived to oversee the fight against the highly infectious disease.
World Health Organization (WHO) head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus's plane landed in the capital Kinsasha on Thursday evening. He is set on Friday to travel to Ituri province in the northeastern DRC, the epidemic's epicentre.
"That thing can be stopped," Tedros said, adding that the WHO did not support travel bans to combat the outbreak because they "don't help much".
"Together, we will overcome this outbreak," he said earlier, vowing to do "everything in my power to help you."
The WHO has recorded 10 confirmed and 223 suspected Ebola deaths in the DRC since the outbreak was declared on May 15, out of more than 1,000 confirmed and suspected cases, according to its latest figures up to May 24.
The true spread of the outbreak, thought to have circulated under the radar for some time, is likely much wider, the WHO has warned.
This is the 17th recorded Ebola outbreak in the vast central African country of more than 100 million people.
Complicating efforts to battle it is the fact that its epicentre lies in the east, a mineral-rich region that has been scarred by violence from various armed groups for more than three decades.
In the latest spasm of violence, the Rwanda-backed M23 has since 2021 seized swathes of territory, with fighting stepping up over the last year and a half.
Tedros has urged warring factions to stop the fighting.
"Conflict and displacement make everything harder," he said.
"I am making a direct appeal to all warring parties in this region: please, declare a ceasefire.
"No cause, no conflict, no grievance is worth condemning innocent people to death from a preventable disease."

Vaccine in the works

No vaccine or treatment exists for the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, which is behind the current outbreak.
But the head of African Union's health agency said on Thursday that one should be ready by the end of the year.
"What we can tell you for sure, by the end of this year, 2026, Africa CDC will make sure that we have a vaccine and medicine against Bundibugyo," Jean Kaseya, head of Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) told reporters in an online briefing. 
"Our leaders are ready to invest. We are investing at technical level, at a strategic level, to make sure that (the vaccine) will happen," he added. 
The WHO said it had received 4.6 tonnes of aid at the airport in Bunia, capital of the epicentre Ituri province, while UNICEF, the UN children's agency, said it was sending 100 tonnes of aid to the country.

Measures abroad

Neighbouring Uganda, which has recorded one death confirmed to be from Ebola and six additional cases, announced it was shutting its border with the DRC with immediate effect. 
The United States said it would not allow anyone afflicted with the virus to enter the country.
The administration of US President Donald Trump is working to open a treatment facility for afflicted US citizens in Kenya, instead of facilitating their return for treatment on American soil, as has been done in previous Ebola outbreaks.
A Kenya rights group filed a court petition on Thursday, seeking to halve operations at any such facility, while health officials have warned that such a centre could put another burden on Kenya's stretched health system.
The WHO said Thursday its advisory groups had recommended clinical trials for vaccines and treatments that could be useful against the Bundibugyo strain.
The WHO said it would work closely with the DR Congo and Uganda to facilitate research evaluation of these products.
Ebola has killed more than 15,000 people in Africa over the past 50 years. The deadliest outbreak in the DRC claimed nearly 2,300 lives out of 3,500 cases between 2018 and 2020.
burs-ach/pdw

music

Artists back out of concerts for US 250th anniversary

  • But rapper Young MC, best known for 1989's "Bust a Move," wrote on Instagram that he "will not be performing at the Freedom 250 event," noting that SPIN magazine called it "Trump-backed" but "the artists were never told about any political involvement with the event."
  • Two of the nine artists who were announced as headliners for a concert series celebrating the 250th anniversary of the United States have publicly backed out of the event, a day after the lineup was released.
  • But rapper Young MC, best known for 1989's "Bust a Move," wrote on Instagram that he "will not be performing at the Freedom 250 event," noting that SPIN magazine called it "Trump-backed" but "the artists were never told about any political involvement with the event."
Two of the nine artists who were announced as headliners for a concert series celebrating the 250th anniversary of the United States have publicly backed out of the event, a day after the lineup was released.
On Wednesday, the committee in charge of the shows announced the performers scheduled to take the stage in Washington between June 25 and July 10 -- listing a bevy of performers who haven't had a hit in decades, like rapper Vanilla Ice, C+C Music Factory, and half of the duo best known for lip-syncing, Milli Vanilli (the other member died in 1998).
But rapper Young MC, best known for 1989's "Bust a Move," wrote on Instagram that he "will not be performing at the Freedom 250 event," noting that SPIN magazine called it "Trump-backed" but "the artists were never told about any political involvement with the event."
Freedom 250 organizers say they are nonpartisan, but President Donald Trump has announced a series of bombastic plans as he seeks to stamp his mark on this summer's anniversary -- most notably a UFC fight on the lawn of the White House on his 80th birthday in June.
Musician Morris Day, who once collaborated with Prince and portrayed his musical rival in the movie "Purple Rain," also denied involvement with the event.
"Contrary to rumor, Morris Day and the Time will not be performing at the 'Great American State Fair,'" he wrote on Instagram.
The White House did not respond to a query about the lineup changes.
Freedom Williams, who fronts C+C Music Factory, denied being a Trump supporter in a profanity-laced Instagram video, but said the group will take part in the event.
In a country that has continually produced some of the world's biggest music stars, the lineup announcement had triggered a wave of mockery on social media.
"We fought a Revolutionary War, a Civil War, two World Wars, defeated fascism and communism while establishing an indomitable Democracy that’s the envy of the world. And how are we going to celebrate 250 years of American exceptionalism? A UFC fight and Milli Vanilli," X user @cturnbull1968 wrote, in a post that neatly captured the national mood.
By contrast, on Wednesday night the nation's capital hosted singer Bruce Springsteen, a fierce opponent of the president, who announced he would return to the Washington area on October 3 for the Power to the People Festival, where he will perform with the Foo Fighters, Dave Matthews, Joan Baez and other top-billing acts. 
rh/ph/sla/pnb

Global Edition

New Zealand World Cup player becomes social media star with influencer help

  • On Wednesday, Payne had just 4,000 followers before social media influencer Valen Scarsini, known as 'elscarso' online, began a campaign to boost the World Cup's least followed footballer.
  • New Zealand's World Cup-bound Tim Payne said Friday it was "pretty crazy" to have become the country's most followed football account after an influencer identified him as the "least known" player in the competition and called for fans to boost his posts.
  • On Wednesday, Payne had just 4,000 followers before social media influencer Valen Scarsini, known as 'elscarso' online, began a campaign to boost the World Cup's least followed footballer.
New Zealand's World Cup-bound Tim Payne said Friday it was "pretty crazy" to have become the country's most followed football account after an influencer identified him as the "least known" player in the competition and called for fans to boost his posts.
The right-back, who plays his club football for Wellington Phoenix in the A League, has gained more than one million followers on Instagram in just two days to become New Zealand's most followed football account.
On Wednesday, Payne had just 4,000 followers before social media influencer Valen Scarsini, known as 'elscarso' online, began a campaign to boost the World Cup's least followed footballer.
"I looked at all the teams that play the World Cup for the least-known player and, after analysing one by one, I found it," Scarsini said on Wednesday.
"Within group G, in New Zealand, is Tim Payne. He is really the least known. He does not reach 5000 followers."
Scarsini asked people to "explode his posts with likes and comments" to make Payne a household name.
Two days on and Payne now has more than 1 million followers on Instagram, forcing a rare post while in a pre-World Cup camp in Florida.
Speaking initially in Spanish, Payne thanked fans for the support.
"Please excuse my Spanish, I'm still practising on Duolingo," he said on Friday, before continuing in English.
"Just want to say a massive thank you first to you, Valen, it's been a pretty crazy 48 hours to say the least. 
"I just wanted to also express that I'm very grateful to represent my country at this World Cup, and I appreciate all the love from all around the world.
"Muchas gracias."
Payne now has more followers than New Zealand's All Whites, which are yet to reach 45,000, and his national team captain, Nottingham Forest striker Chris Wood, who has 162 thousand followers.
New Zealand plays Iran, Egypt and Belgium in their World Cup pool, and are seeking to win their first World Cup match at the third attempt.
bes/tc