animal

Paw patrol: Larry the cat marks 15 years at 10 Downing Street

transport

In fuel-starved Cuba, the e-tricycle is king

BY LISANDRA COTS

  • As the days pass and fuel supplies dry up, the number of taxis cruising the streets of Havana has dwindled.
  • A green revolution is taking place on the streets of Havana, but it's by necessity rather than design.
  • As the days pass and fuel supplies dry up, the number of taxis cruising the streets of Havana has dwindled.
A green revolution is taking place on the streets of Havana, but it's by necessity rather than design.
Faced with a severe fuel crisis, which intensified after the United States placed the island under a de facto oil blockade last month, taxi drivers are ditching their cars and whisking passengers around on e-tricycles.
"Because of the gasoline and oil situation, we've had to resort to this alternative," Eduardo Romano, a father of two, told AFP, while waiting for customers in a park in central Havana.
Cuba, already contending with years of crippling fuel shortages, has reached a breaking point after US President Donald Trump moved to starve the communist nation of oil.
The flow of crude from top ally Venezuela dried up after the US overthrow of its leader Nicolas Maduro and Trump has threatened tariffs on any other country stepping in to fill the breach.
To conserve energy, the government has announced a series of fuel rationing measures and slashed public transport.
As the days pass and fuel supplies dry up, the number of taxis cruising the streets of Havana has dwindled.
The few drivers left fill up at an eye-popping $5 per liter on the black market, which has led fares to triple.
"It's a difficult situation for people," said Romano.
Six- and eight-seater e-trikes, which cost around one third of a taxi fare, have become a lifeline for cash-strapped Cubans.
"Right now, tricycles are the kings of the road," Romano joked.
There's a catch, however. 
The vehicles have to be charged -- a constant headache in a city battling power outages of up to 12 hours a day, due to a lack of fuel for generating stations.
Like the even more ubiquitous e-scooter, e-trike owners have to wait for the lights to come back on to start their engines -- or plug in at the home of a friend or relative endowed with a generator or solar panels.
- Two- and three-wheelers - 
The dearth of public transport is another nail in the coffin of the sputtering economy.
"There are people who have even had to quit their jobs because they can't afford transportation," said Ignacio Charon, a 48-year-old tire repair shop employee.
He has been inundated with customers wanting to have old bikes patched up.
Roselia Lopez, a 54-year-old dentist who was waiting for an e-tricycle to take her mother to a cardiology appointment, described the transportation situation as "disastrous."
"We offer an alternative," said tricycle owner Ariel Estrada, 54, while acknowledging that Havana's fleet of three-wheelers was grossly unequal to Cubans' needs.
Next to his shop is a parking lot for cycle rickshaws, another crisis-proof mode of transportation.
Faced with the US oil siege, some rickshaw owners have rushed to install electric engines on their "cars," as they refer to their vehicles.
Orlando Palomino, a 44-year-old who pedals up to 70 kilometers a day as he ferries people from town to town, boasted that he had work "from Monday to Monday." 
lis/jb/cb/md

film

Historical queer film 'Rose' shown at Berlin with call to action

  • Rose marries a young woman from the community, Suzanna played by Caro Braun.
  • Markus Schleinzer's "Rose" premiered at the Berlin film festival Sunday, with Sandra Hueller playing a woman in 17th-century Germany trying to escape the strictures of patriarchy by passing herself off as a man.
  • Rose marries a young woman from the community, Suzanna played by Caro Braun.
Markus Schleinzer's "Rose" premiered at the Berlin film festival Sunday, with Sandra Hueller playing a woman in 17th-century Germany trying to escape the strictures of patriarchy by passing herself off as a man.
Hueller's character, the eponymous Rose, is initially welcomed when she arrives in a small village in the aftermath of the Thirty Years' War and the film charts her attempt to live freely in her assumed identity.
Rose marries a young woman from the community, Suzanna played by Caro Braun. When Suzanna discovers the deception, Rose tries to convince her to stay in the marital home by promising her freedom in their life together.
Hueller, who gained international acclaim for her roles in "The Zone of Interest" and "Anatomy of a Fall", said her character "used this drag as a disguise to live in safety and to have a life of her own". 
She said the story had a resonance with contemporary developments.
"More and more people who were on the path of being more free and integrated in society, respected and accepted are threatened these days, again," she told journalists.
"That was definitely a topic that we were thinking about" in making the film," she added.

Spotlighting queer films

The Berlinale has a long history of spotlighting queer films and filmmakers. This year's edition will see the 40th anniversary of its Teddy award for films with queer themes.
"I'm a queer person myself so queer identity and queer history... is always part of my work," director Schleinzer told reporters.
The film paints a bleak portrait of how people in the 17th century were treated when they transgressed social and gender norms. 
Schleinzer recalled that the period in which the film was being prepared saw Donald Trump, who has regularly targeted transgender people, win his second term as US president.
"Suddenly everything seemed like it had the potential to become uglier again in our Western bubble," Schleinzer said.
He said he himself enjoyed films with a more uplifting tone but "they leave me a little inactive".
"When I see something that stirs me up, then I have the feeling that I have to take action."
He said he hoped audiences would reflect on the way that gender still shapes people's lives in the present day.
"Why do women still earn so much less than men?" he asked.
"There is so much to do, let's do it. Let's yearn for a happy ending in our own lives."
"Rose" was shown in competition at the festival.
jsk-agu/jj

animal

Paw patrol: Larry the cat marks 15 years at 10 Downing Street

  • Since then, the white and tabby cat, officially introduced on Downing Street's website as the "Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office", has reigned supreme from the country's most photographed doorstep.
  • Larry the cat, the UK's most famous feline, marks 15 years on Sunday as the country's chief mouser patrolling the corridors of power around number 10 Downing Street.
  • Since then, the white and tabby cat, officially introduced on Downing Street's website as the "Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office", has reigned supreme from the country's most photographed doorstep.
Larry the cat, the UK's most famous feline, marks 15 years on Sunday as the country's chief mouser patrolling the corridors of power around number 10 Downing Street.
Here are four things to know about the purr-fect puss who over the years has charmed his way into the hearts of some of the world's top politicians.

Humble roots

Recruited to deal with a rodent problem, Larry arrived at the prime minister's official residence on February 15, 2011.
He was adopted from the renowned London animal shelter, Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, when he was believed to be about four years old. David Cameron was prime minister at the time. 
Since then, the white and tabby cat, officially introduced on Downing Street's website as the "Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office", has reigned supreme from the country's most photographed doorstep.
His official biography on the Downing Street website says apart from rodent control: "Larry spends his days greeting guests to the house, inspecting security defences and testing antique furniture for napping quality."

Six prime ministers

He has lived through six prime ministers, from Cameron to Keir Starmer, weathered the storms of Brexit, Covid-19, the chaos of "partygate," Liz Truss's 49‑day whirlwind occupation, and the more orderly months under Rishi Sunak.
Nothing seems to ruffle his fur as this political veteran glides from crisis to crisis with feline calm, and the lick of a paw.
A media darling, Larry, who is now believed to be around 19, often steals the spotlight from visiting foreign leaders.
In December, he was on the doorstep to greet the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
In January, he even sent a photographer stumbling on the red carpet after darting unexpectedly between his legs during a visit by Poland's president.

Cat-fluencer

A whiskered influencer, Larry also boasts an X account @Number10cat followed by more than 877,500 fans.
Run by an anonymous user, Larry grumbles about getting caught in the rain and sometimes takes catty swipes at politicians, notably UK Reform and the administration of US President Donald Trump.
His first months "in office" even inspired a book, "The Larry Diaries", published in 2011.
Larry now shares the No. 10 residence with JoJo and Prince, the Starmer family cats.
Prince, a Siberian, joined the household in 2024 after "negotiations" with Starmer's children -- who had wanted a German Shepherd dog.
But there was a problem: "the only door out of our new flat is bomb proof," Starmer told the BBC in 2024. "Therefore, getting a cat flap is proving a little bit difficult."
Larry's fans can relax though: he is considered a permanent civil servant, which means he gets to stay at Downing Street for good. Unlike prime ministers.

Famous felines

Larry is not alone in being a feline companion to politicians.
On Saturday came sad news that Palmerston, a black-and-white cat, once mouser to the Foreign Office and "Diplocat extraordinaire", had passed away in Bermuda where he retired in 2020.
"Farewell old friend x," Larry posted on his X account, brushing aside rumours of rivalry between the pair.
Under former US president Bill Clinton, the black-and-white cat Socks took up residence in the White House from 1993 to 2001.
Once a stray, Socks became the star of several books and was often featured by the UK cartoonist Steve Bell in his daily comic strips.
And in Belgium, a rescue cat named Maximus has shot to social media stardom as the bewhiskered sidekick and PR weapon of Prime Minister Bart De Wever.
alm-jkb/aks/tw/lb

culture

Rio to kick off Carnival parade with ode to Lula in election year

BY FRAN BLANDY

  • Samba school Academicos de Niteroi from a city neighboring Rio, which will be the first to parade on Sunday, has chosen to honor Lula, the first time a serving president is the subject of a tribute on the famed Sambodrome avenue.
  • Rio de Janeiro on Sunday kicks off three days of dazzling carnival parades with a tribute to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva that the opposition has criticized as early election campaigning ahead of October polls.
  • Samba school Academicos de Niteroi from a city neighboring Rio, which will be the first to parade on Sunday, has chosen to honor Lula, the first time a serving president is the subject of a tribute on the famed Sambodrome avenue.
Rio de Janeiro on Sunday kicks off three days of dazzling carnival parades with a tribute to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva that the opposition has criticized as early election campaigning ahead of October polls.
The parades of the city's top 12 samba schools -- a ferocious competition featuring towering, animated floats, thundering drum sections and scantily-clad samba queens dripping in sequins -- are the showpiece of Rio's carnival.
Behind the pomp and glitter, each school chooses an annual theme, often linked to Afro-Brazilian heritage, social or political commentary, mythology and environmental issues. 
Samba school Academicos de Niteroi from a city neighboring Rio, which will be the first to parade on Sunday, has chosen to honor Lula, the first time a serving president is the subject of a tribute on the famed Sambodrome avenue.
Lula's wife, Rosangela 'Janja' Da Silva, is expected to take part in the parade, and local media reports the president will watch from one of the VIP boxes along the 700-meter-long avenue.
Public rehearsals of the show, without the full costumes and floats, created an uproar after mocking images of former president Jair Bolsonaro were shown on a screen.
The opposition denounced the parade as equivalent to a campaign event months before official campaigning begins in August, and demanded public funding be cut to the samba school.
Brazil's electoral court, the TSE, on Thursday unanimously rejected requests filed by two opposition parties to stop Academicos from parading on Sunday on account of the show being "early electoral campaigning."
The court said it could not block a parade which has not happened yet, as there was no evidence of an election law violation -- but warned it could probe wrongdoing after the show.
Members of the court warned they were not giving anyone a "free pass," and that the case was still ongoing and the public prosecutor had been notified.
Lula, 80, is seeking a fourth term in the October elections.
Jailed far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro has anointed his eldest son, Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, as his political heir and presidential candidate.

Warnings against election propaganda

On Friday, the presidency warned officials attending carnival events to "refrain from making statements that could be characterized as early electoral propaganda."
Lula's Worker's Party (PT) on Saturday said the Academicos tribute to Lula was "a cultural manifestation, and any activity of an electoral nature is prohibited at this time."
The party issued guidelines to avoid clothing, banners, campaign slogans or "expressions that constitute offense to opponents."
The Academicos parade will involve 3,000 people and feature different scenes from Lula's life, from his poor beginnings in Brazil's northeast, to his time as a factory worker and union leader.
The accompanying samba song chants out "Ole, ole, ole, ola; Lula, Lula!", and declares "no amnesty" -- a reference to efforts by Bolsonaro's supporters to get him freed from a 27-year jail term he is serving for plotting a failed coup.
"This is not propaganda, it's a tribute," Hamilton Junior, one of the school's directors, told AFP.
He said it was a story of a man who "faced many hardships and became one of Brazil's greatest presidents."
fb/md

assault

I want answers from my ex-husband, Gisele Pelicot tells AFP

BY JéRôME RIVET

  • Question: The title of your book in French is "And the joy of living".
  • Gisele Pelicot, the French woman who became a symbol in the global fight against sexual violence, told AFP why she wants to visit her ex-husband in jail and her joy at finding love again. 
  • Question: The title of your book in French is "And the joy of living".
Gisele Pelicot, the French woman who became a symbol in the global fight against sexual violence, told AFP why she wants to visit her ex-husband in jail and her joy at finding love again. 
In an interview ahead of the publication of her memoirs on Tuesday, she also said she hopes to inspire other rape victims to believe in a brighter future -- and to change attitudes along the way.
Her book, titled "A Hymn to Life", covers the full arc of her 50-year marriage which ended when she discovered that her husband had been repeatedly drugging her and inviting strangers over to their house to rape her.
It will be published in 22 languages.
Question: The title of your book in French is "And the joy of living". Have you found joy again?
Answer: "I'm doing better. After the trial (of her husband and 50 other men in 2024), I took stock of my life and today I am trying to rebuild on this field of ruins.
Despite all these ordeals, even in the darkest periods, I have always sought flashes of joy; I am looking towards the future, towards joy. I know this may surprise some who expect to see me in tatters, but I am determined to remain standing and dignified."
Q: Some describe you as an icon. Do you embrace that status?
A: "I do not use that word. I think my story has become a symbol. I know where I come from and who I am. It seems to me that we do not suspect the strength we have inside us until we are forced to draw on it, and that is also what I would like to say to victims."
Q: Why did you write this book?
A: "I needed to bear witness to my life journey, to address all those who supported me; it was a way of responding to them. Writing this book with (French author) Judith Perrignon, in whom I had complete trust, was both painful and fascinating.
Beyond the case itself, it retraces my life, the journey of three generations of women: my grandmother, my mother and myself. Their example explains my strength because I experienced tragedies very young. When you lose your mother at age nine, you grow up faster than others."
Q: Have you had professional psychological help to overcome your trauma?
A: "Of course, I could not get through this alone. How do you sort through 50 years of memories tainted by this series of crimes? I lived for half a century with Mr. Pelicot and I have no memory of the rapes, only the memory of happy days.
I cannot throw my whole life in the bin and tell myself that those years were nothing but a lie. If I did that, I'd collapse."
Q: At the end of the book, you announce your intention to visit Mr Pelicot in prison. Why?
A: "I would like to do it for myself. That visit would be a stage in my reconstruction, an opportunity, for the first time since his arrest in November 2020, to confront him face to face. 
How could he have done this to me? How could he have put our entire family through hell? What did he do to (our daughter) Caroline? He may not answer my questions, but I need to ask them.
For the moment, no date has been set for the visit. I do not think it will take place before the end of the year."
Q: In the book, you speak about your relationships with your three children. Where do they stand?
A: "It is wrong to think that such a tragedy brings a family together. It is impossible. Each of my children is now trying to rebuild as best they can.
Caroline's suffering devastates me. She is in a state of anger that I do not share. And there is this doubt (about whether she was raped by her father) that condemns her to a perpetual hell. 
I do not question her word, but I do not have the answers. Today, our relationship is calmer and I am happy about that. I will try to support her as best I can."
Q: Do you intend to remain a public figure?
A: "I am in my 74th year. I long for calm. I am not a radical feminist; I am a feminist in my own way. I know there is still a long way to go, despite progress on consent. I leave it to the younger generations to change this patriarchal society.
We can pass all the laws we want, but if we do not change mindsets, we will not succeed. That therefore begins above all with the education of our children. Parents must get involved."
Q: You are about to begin a tour to present your book. With what message?
A: "A message of hope. After hardship, you can once again allow yourself happiness and be happy. That is what I am doing. I am lucky enough to love again -- it is magnificent. I think a life without love is a life without sunshine."
jri-adp/jj

Interpol

Interpol backroom warriors fight cyber criminals 'weaponising' AI

BY MARTIN ABBUGAO

  • "It's always a cat-and-mouse game, always continually developing.
  • From perfectly spelled phishing emails to fake videos of government officials, artificial intelligence is changing the game for Interpol's cat-and-mouse fight against cybercrime at its high-tech war rooms in Singapore.
  • "It's always a cat-and-mouse game, always continually developing.
From perfectly spelled phishing emails to fake videos of government officials, artificial intelligence is changing the game for Interpol's cat-and-mouse fight against cybercrime at its high-tech war rooms in Singapore.
Their foe: crime syndicates, structured like multinational firms, which are exploiting the fast-evolving technology to target individuals, states and corporations for billions of dollars.
"I consider the weaponisation of AI by cybercriminals... as the biggest threat we're seeing," Neal Jetton, Interpol's Singapore-based director of cybercrime, told AFP.
"They are using it in whatever way they can," added Jetton, who is seconded to Interpol from the US Secret Service, the federal agency in charge of presidential protection.
AFP was granted a look inside the global organisation's multi-pronged cybercrime facility, where specialists pore through massive amounts of data in a bid to prevent the next big ransomware attack or impersonation scam.
Jetton said the "sheer volume" of cyber attacks worries him the most.
"It's going to only expand, and so you just need to get the word out to people," so they understand "how often they're going to be targeted", he said.
AI technology is allowing criminals around the world to create sophisticated voice and video copies of well-known figures to endorse scam investments, and helping make dodgy online messages appear more genuine.
Jetton warned that even low-skilled criminals can purchase ready-made hacking and scamming tools on the dark web -- and anyone with a smartphone can be a target.

'Black market'

The facility is part of the Interpol Global Complex for Innovation, not far from the Singapore Botanic Gardens.
It is the organisation's second headquarters after Lyon in France, and houses the Cyber Fusion Centre, a nerve centre for sharing intelligence of online threats among 196 members.
Another office in the complex studies emerging online threats, while a digital forensics lab extracts and analyses data from electronic devices like laptops, phones and even cars.
A command-and-coordination centre, like a mini space mission control with staff facing big screens, monitors global developments in real time during Asian hours.
Intelligence analysts scrutinise millions of data points -- from web addresses and malware variants to hacker code names -- that could provide leads in active investigations.
Christian Heggen, coordinator of the Cyber Intelligence Unit, said they are up against a "large ecosystem of cyber criminals" who use "a number of different attack vectors".
"They get quite creative. It's a whole black market of spying and selling stolen data, buying and selling malware. We have to understand that ecosystem," he said.
To strengthen its capabilities, Interpol partners with private firms in finance, cybersecurity and cryptocurrency analysis.
"It's always a cat-and-mouse game, always continually developing. That's why a department like this is quite important, because we can provide the latest intelligence and information," Heggen said.

'AI has no soul'

Last year, Interpol's cybercrime directorate coordinated "Operation Secure" in Asia, which saw 26 countries work together to dismantle more than 20,000 malicious IP addresses and domains linked to syndicates to steal data.
Another anti-cybercrime operation across Africa, called "Operation Serengeti 2.0" coordinated from Singapore, saw authorities arrest 1,209 cybercriminals who targeted nearly 88,000 victims. More than $97 million was recovered and 11,432 malicious infrastructures were dismantled.
Jetton said Interpol supported the crackdown on the online scam centres in Southeast Asia through intelligence-sharing and resource development.
The Innovation Centre's head, Toshinobu Yasuhira, a Japanese officer seconded from the National Police Agency, said advances in deepfake technology have become a growing concern, but one of his deeper worries lies ahead: AI acting beyond human control.
"Should we arrest people who program the AI, or who utilise AI, or should we arrest the AI itself?" he said in an interview.
"It's kind of very difficult because AI doesn't have any soul, heart."
Paulo Noronha, a digital forensics expert from Brazil's Federal Police, demonstrated some of the lab's high-tech tools designed to keep investigators a step ahead.
Experts at the lab are working on the further use of virtual reality, augmented reality and quantum technology against cybercriminals.
"It's up to us to stay ahead of criminals," he said. "That's why we have systems like these."
For Jetton and his colleagues, the fight rarely enters the public eye, but is vital to global security.
"We try to be as confidential as we can," one intelligence analyst said. 
"We're providing key support for operations and investigations around the world."
mba/jhe/kaf/abs

religion

Japan's 'godless' lake warns of creeping climate change

BY HARUMI OZAWA

  • For centuries, the priest of the nearby Yatsurugi Shrine has led an annual watch for the crossing, contributing to a unique record of a changing climate.
  • The Japanese priest and his parishioners gathered before dawn, hoping that climate change had not robbed them of the chance to experience an increasingly rare communion with the sacred.
  • For centuries, the priest of the nearby Yatsurugi Shrine has led an annual watch for the crossing, contributing to a unique record of a changing climate.
The Japanese priest and his parishioners gathered before dawn, hoping that climate change had not robbed them of the chance to experience an increasingly rare communion with the sacred.
The few dozen men, most in their sixties, were headed to Nagano's Lake Suwa in search of a phenomenon called "God's Crossing" that has gone from reliable to elusive in recent decades.
Known as "miwatari" in Japanese, it occurs when a crack opens up in the frozen lake surface, allowing shards of thinner ice to break through and form a ridge where local deities are believed to cross.
For centuries, the priest of the nearby Yatsurugi Shrine has led an annual watch for the crossing, contributing to a unique record of a changing climate.
This year's watch began on January 5, with Kiyoshi Miyasaka -- a priest in Japan's Shinto religion -- leading the flock.
One man carried a worn flag, another a giant axe. All wore jackets bearing the shrine's crest.
They set out with hope, despite a seven-year stretch in which the God's Crossing has not appeared once.
"This is the start of the decisive 30 days," Miyasaka told them.
But as they neared the water, dark and choppy in the pre-dawn light, Miyasaka's staple smile disappeared.
"How pitiful," he said, lowering a thermometer into the water.
Miyasaka's predecessors noted when the entire lake surface froze, and when the miwatari appeared.
More recently, priests have added temperature readings and ice thickness.
Consecutive records date all the way back to 1443, though the shrine's priests only took over the job in 1683.
"The chronicle shows data taken at a single location over hundreds of years, and thanks to it, we can now see what the climate was like centuries ago," said Naoko Hasegawa, a geographer at Tokyo's Ochanomizu University.
"We find no other meteorological archive comparable to it," she told AFP.
"Global researchers who study climate history see it as a very valuable set of observation records."

'A warning from nature'

The God's Crossing has not appeared since 2018, an absence that both scientists and believers attribute to climate change.
"We are seeing the signs of climate change in many places of the world, and Lake Suwa is no exception," Miyasaka told AFP.
"Nature doesn't lie."
Traditionally, the ice ridges were believed to represent the path of a god crossing the lake to visit his goddess wife.
Scientists explain them a little differently.
They appear if the lake surface freezes entirely, which requires several days below minus 10C.
The ice lid contracts and expands with temperature fluctuations between night and day, opening cracks that fill with shards of newly frozen lake water.
They crash against each other, producing a distinctive roaring sound, and sometimes rise to eye level.
Takehiko Mikami, who has studied the phenomenon with Hasegawa, remembers seeing it in 1998.
"The surface froze completely to about 15 centimetres (six inches) thick. We could walk all the way across the lake to the other shore," said the professor emeritus at Tokyo Metropolitan University.
His research shows the crossing appeared almost every winter until the 1980s, but since then morning temperatures have often failed to fall enough for the lake to freeze over.
"This is a warning from nature," said Mikami.

'Open sea'

For a time, this year's season brought hope.
On January 26, after weeks of frigid dawn observations, Miyasaka and his flock recorded a full freeze, smiling in delight as a chunk of ice was carved for the priest to measure.
But the surface melted days later before the God's Crossing could appear.
On February 4, Miyasaka once again declared an "open sea" or "ake no umi", meaning little chance one would appear before spring.
It marks eight years without a sighting, tying the longest "godless" period on record, in the early 16th century.
But Mikami doubts the documentation of that time, and suspects we might now be living through the longest absence.
What is certain is that full freezes of the lake surface are now the exception rather than the rule, as they were for centuries.
When the crossing appears, Yatsurugi's priest holds a Shinto ritual on the ice, something Miyasaka has been able to do just 11 times in over four decades in the job.
But he treasures the tradition, and the record he is leaving behind.
"We will report it was a season of 'open sea', passing on the message to people 100 years from now," he said.
For Mikami, the god's long absence is a warning that "global warming is accelerating".
"If the trend continues, I am afraid we will never see the miwatari phenomenon again."
str/sah/mjw

politics

World copper rush promises new riches for Zambia

BY HILLARY ORINDE

  • - 'Dramatic new chapter' - "We need to be aware of the potential for history to repeat itself," said Daniel Litvin, founder of the Resource Resolutions group that promotes sustainable development, referring to the colonial-era scramble for Africa's resources. 
  • Five years after becoming Africa's first Covid-era debt defaulter, Zambia is seeing a dramatic turnaround in fortunes as major powers vie for access to its vast reserves of copper.
  • - 'Dramatic new chapter' - "We need to be aware of the potential for history to repeat itself," said Daniel Litvin, founder of the Resource Resolutions group that promotes sustainable development, referring to the colonial-era scramble for Africa's resources. 
Five years after becoming Africa's first Covid-era debt defaulter, Zambia is seeing a dramatic turnaround in fortunes as major powers vie for access to its vast reserves of copper.
Surging demand from the artificial intelligence, green energy and defence sectors has exponentially boosted demand for the workhorse metal that underpins power grids, data centres and electric vehicles.
The scramble for copper exposes geopolitical rivalries as industrial heavyweights -- including China, the United States, Canada, Europe, India and Gulf states -- compete to secure supplies.
"We have the investors back," President Hakainde Hichilema told delegates at the African Mining Indaba conference on Monday, saying that more than $12  billion had flowed into the sector since 2022.
The politically stable country is Africa's second-largest copper producer, after the conflict-ridden Democratic Republic of Congo, and the world's eighth, according to the US Geological Survey.
The metal, needed for solar panels and wind turbines, generates about 15 percent of Zambia's GDP and more than 70 percent of export earnings.
Output rose eight percent last year to more than 890,000 metric tons and the government aims to triple production within a decade. 
Mining is driving growth that is forecast by the International Monetary Fund to reach 5.2 percent in 2025 and 5.8 percent this year, which places Zambia among the continent's faster-growing economies.
"The seeds are sprouting and the harvest is coming," Hichilema said, touting a planned nationwide geological survey to map untapped deposits. 
But the rapid expansion of the heavily polluting industry has also led to warnings about risks to local communities and concerns of "pit-to-port" extraction, in which raw copper is shipped directly abroad with little domestic refining.

'Dramatic new chapter'

"We need to be aware of the potential for history to repeat itself," said Daniel Litvin, founder of the Resource Resolutions group that promotes sustainable development, referring to the colonial-era scramble for Africa's resources. 
There is a risk that elites will be enriched at the expense of the broader population, while "narratives of partnership" offered by major powers can mask underlying self-interest, he said.
Chinese firms have long dominated the sector in Zambia and control major stakes in key mines and smelters, cementing Beijing's early-mover advantage.
Another major player is Canada's First Quantum Minerals, Zambia's largest corporate taxpayer.
Investors from India and the Gulf are expanding their footprint, and the United States is returning to the market after largely pulling out decades ago. 
Washington, which has been stockpiling copper, this month launched a $12 billion "Project Vault" public-private initiative to secure critical minerals, part of an effort to reduce reliance on China. 
In September, the US Trade and Development Agency announced a $1.4 million grant to a Metalex Commodities subsidiary, Metalex Africa, to expand operations in Zambia. 
"We are at the beginning of what is going to unfold to be a dramatic new chapter in the way that the free world sources and trades in critical minerals," US energy secretary adviser Mike Kopp said at Mining Indaba.
Sweeping US tariffs introduced last year helped send copper prices soaring to record highs, as companies rushed to buy both semi-finished and refined stocks.

Cost of rush

"The risk is that this great power competition becomes a race to secure supply on terms that serve markets and not the people in producer countries," said Deprose Muchena, a programme director at the Open Society Foundation.
Despite its mineral wealth, more than 70 percent of Zambia's 21 million people live in poverty, according to the World Bank.
"The world is waking up to Zambia's copper. But Zambia has been living with copper and its consequences for a century," Muchena told AFP.
Environmental damage caused by mining has long plagued Zambia's copper belt.
In February 2025, a burst tailings dam at a Chinese-owned mine near Kitwe, about 285 kilometres (180 miles) north of Lusaka, spilled millions of litres of acidic waste. 
Toxins entered a tributary feeding the Kafue, Zambia's longest river and a major source of drinking water. Zambian farmers have filed an $80 billion lawsuit.
"Whether this boom is different depends on whether governance, rights, and community agency are at the centre, not just supply chain security," Muchena said. 
ho/br/js/lb

technology

India plans AI 'data city' on staggering scale

BY BHUVAN BAGGA

  • - 'Whole nine yards' - Lokesh said the plan goes far beyond data connectivity, adding that his state had "received close to 25 percent of all foreign direct investments" to India in 2025.
  • As India races to narrow the artificial intelligence gap with the United States and China, it is planning a vast new "data city" to power digital growth on a staggering scale, the man spearheading the project says.
  • - 'Whole nine yards' - Lokesh said the plan goes far beyond data connectivity, adding that his state had "received close to 25 percent of all foreign direct investments" to India in 2025.
As India races to narrow the artificial intelligence gap with the United States and China, it is planning a vast new "data city" to power digital growth on a staggering scale, the man spearheading the project says.
"The AI revolution is here, no second thoughts about it," said Nara Lokesh, information technology minister for Andhra Pradesh state, which is positioning the city of Visakhapatnam as a cornerstone of India's AI push.
"And as a nation... we have taken a stand that we've got to embrace it," he told AFP ahead of an international AI summit next week in New Delhi.
Lokesh boasts the state has secured investment agreements of $175 billion involving 760 projects, including a $15 billion investment by Google for its largest AI infrastructure hub outside the United States.
And a joint venture between India's Reliance Industries, Canada's Brookfield and US firm Digital Realty is investing $11 billion to develop an AI data centre in the same city.
Visakhapatnam -- home to around two million people and popularly known as "Vizag" -- is better known for its cricket ground that hosts international matches than cutting-edge technology.
But the southeastern port city is now being pitched as a landing point for submarine internet cables linking India to Singapore.
"The data city is going to come in one ecosystem... with a 100 kilometre (60 mile) radius," Lokesh said. For comparison, Taiwan is roughly 100 kilometres wide.

'Whole nine yards'

Lokesh said the plan goes far beyond data connectivity, adding that his state had "received close to 25 percent of all foreign direct investments" to India in 2025.
"It's not just about the data centres," he explained while outlining a sweeping vision of change, with Andhra Pradesh offering land at one US cent per acre (three per hectare) for major investors.
"I'm chasing the companies that make those servers that go sit in those data centres, the companies that make the entire air conditioning, the water-cooling system -- the whole nine yards."
The 43-year-old, Stanford-educated minister is the son of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, who helped turn Hyderabad into a major technology hub that is dubbed "Cyberabad".
They are allies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who will host the AI Impact Summit from Monday.
India is now third in a global AI power ranking -- sitting above South Korea and Japan -- based on more than 40 indicators from patents to private funding calculated by Stanford University's Institute for Human-Centered AI.
With more than a billion internet users, India has seen a surge of investment as generative AI players seek inroads to the world's most populous country.
Microsoft said in December it will invest $17.5 billion to help build the country's artificial intelligence infrastructure, with CEO Satya Nadella calling it the firm's "largest investment ever in Asia".
But critics say India lags in access to high-end computing power or commercial AI deployment, and remains more a consumer than creator of the cutting-edge technology.
Some question whether data centres will create meaningful employment when up and running, but Lokesh rejects that.
"Every industrial revolution has always created more jobs than it has displaced," he said. 
"But it has created those jobs in countries that have embraced the industrial revolution."

'Learned from China'

Lokesh argues that the jobs and economic benefits would more than compensate for the giveaway cost of land.
He said the state government had accounted for the vast electricity and water demands for the energy-hungry industry, and would tap "surplus water" that drains into the Bay of Bengal to cool the massive data centres.
"It's a crime that so much water during monsoons goes into our oceans," he said.
He cited China as an inspiration -- admiring how India's rival had "been able to systematically bring people out of poverty" at speed.
The state's plan to create industrial clusters was something he had "learned from China".
With a target of six gigawatts of data centre capacity -- three already signed and another three in the pipeline -- Andhra Pradesh is betting that speed and scale will give it an edge.
New Delhi last year agreed to "in-principle approval" for six 1.2 GW nuclear power plants at Kovvada in Andhra Pradesh.
"We are on a journey," Lokesh said. "We will execute these projects at a pace that the country has never seen".
bb/abh/pjm/kaf/dan

crypto

Crash course: Vietnam's crypto boom goes bust

BY LAM NGUYEN

  • Hanoi has also announced a five-year crypto trading pilot programme, which will allow Vietnamese firms to issue digital assets.
  • As a first-year computer science student in Hanoi, Hoang Le started trading crypto from his university dorm room, egged on by his gamer friends who were making a killing.
  • Hanoi has also announced a five-year crypto trading pilot programme, which will allow Vietnamese firms to issue digital assets.
As a first-year computer science student in Hanoi, Hoang Le started trading crypto from his university dorm room, egged on by his gamer friends who were making a killing.
At one point his digital holdings swelled to $200,000 -- around 50 times the average annual income in Vietnam.
But they crashed to zero when the bottom fell out of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in recent months.
Getting wiped out "hurt a lot", he told AFP, but he also learned a valuable lesson: he has come to think of the losses as "tuition fees".
"When profits were high, everyone became greedy," said Le, now 23, adding that "it was too good to be true".  
Unlike neighbouring China which has banned cryptocurrencies outright, communist Vietnam has allowed blockchain technology to develop in a legal grey area -- barring its use for payments but letting people speculate unimpeded.
As a result the young-and-upwardly mobile country of 100 million has been at the forefront of crypto adoption, with an estimated 17 million people owning digital assets.
Only India, the United States and Pakistan have seen more widespread usage, according to a 2025 ranking by the consultancy Chainalysis.
But what once looked like first-mover advantage increasingly looks like a liability as investors stare down a crypto winter.
The price of bitcoin has almost halved since hitting a record high above $126,000 in October, and other digital tokens have slid even further.
Vietnamese crypto startups hawking everything from NFTs to blockchain-based lending and trading services have been hammered, with bankruptcies and layoffs roiling the industry. 

$100 billion market

"Many companies have shut down because of this crisis," said Tran Xuan Tien, head of Ho Chi Minh City's blockchain association. 
He added that others are "downsizing and conserving capital to extend their runway".
Nguyen The Vinh, co-founder of blockchain firm Ninety Eight, told AFP his company has laid off nearly one-third of its staff since last year.
There was more "restructuring" to come, he added, given the gloomy outlook. 
"The market will likely remain difficult for years, not just months, so we need backup plans."
Until recently, Vietnam's crypto scene was a wild west, with highly speculative ventures and outright Ponzi schemes flourishing alongside startups offering legitimate products. 
The government warned about the dangers of crypto and broke up several huge scam operations, including one that allegedly swindled nearly $400 million from thousands of investors. 
But it did not move to crush the industry as Beijing did, instead opening "a window for domestic businesses to experiment", according to Tien.
Under top leader To Lam, who has pursued sweeping growth-oriented reforms, Vietnam has formally embraced the blockchain industry and is gradually asserting control over the estimated $100 billion market.
Last year it passed a law recognising digital currencies, bringing them under a regulatory framework for the first time. 
It came into effect last month but investors have questions about how it will be implemented.
Hanoi has also announced a five-year crypto trading pilot programme, which will allow Vietnamese firms to issue digital assets.
But lingering regulatory ambiguity has kept many firms based in the country from formally registering there, opting instead to file paperwork in places such as Singapore and Dubai. 

'Downhill badly'

Vinh says some firms are folding and others downsizing or pivoting because of both the "prolonged downturn and an unclear legal framework".
And new entities are struggling to gain traction as investor sentiment sours.
Huu, 24, said fundraising for his crypto-product startup has suddenly become much harder, and asked that only his first name be used for fear of hurting his business.
Foreign investors were once enticed by promises of 400 and 500 percent returns, he said, but were now discovering they "might lose everything".
"Over the past few months, things have gone downhill badly."
Founders including Huu and Vinh said the current downturn is part of a natural business cycle, and stronger firms would eventually emerge offering better products. 
But that is cold comfort for the nearly 55 percent of individual Vietnamese crypto investors who according to one market analysis reported losses last year.
"In Vietnam, a lot of people trade crypto," Huu said.
"When prices fall, people complain about losses and the overall mood becomes very gloomy."  
lam/tym/sco/slb/dan

food

US cattle farmers caught between high costs and weary consumers

BY BEIYI SEOW

  • Stem, 40, has a herd of around 250 cattle in Ashland, Virginia.
  • In rural Virginia, dozens of young cows belonging to Chris Stem graze by a frozen pond.
  • Stem, 40, has a herd of around 250 cattle in Ashland, Virginia.
In rural Virginia, dozens of young cows belonging to Chris Stem graze by a frozen pond. He is living his childhood dream of being a farmer -- but reality is starting to bite.
Despite soaring beef prices as the US cattle population hit a 75-year low, farmers like Stem are feeling the squeeze from steeper business costs, budget-conscious consumers and President Donald Trump's trade policy.
"The cost of doing business is almost outpricing (our ability) to continue to raise cattle," Stem told AFP.
"From cutting hay to feeding the cattle to maintaining equipment, maintaining staff, feed, everything has gone up," he said. "When does that stabilize and stop?"
Trump's latest move to boost Argentine beef imports is adding to concerns, vexing a key support base of the Republican president as midterm elections approach.
Stem, 40, has a herd of around 250 cattle in Ashland, Virginia.
Most are sold at larger markets where they are purchased and fed to slaughter weight, while around 15 percent is processed nearby and sold at Stem's butcher shop.
For him, higher beef prices have been a double-edged sword.
His revenue from selling cattle has risen, but so have operational costs.
And there are limits to how much he can hike consumer prices at his shop to make up the margins.
"They will only spend but so much on a cut of beef, especially when you have imported meats that you can purchase for 50 percent to 60 percent less at a larger store," Stem said.
Already, ribeye that sold for $14.99 a pound in 2019 now sells for $32.99, he said. His customer sales have dropped by 30 percent.
To afford the property, he has diversified operations at Oakdale into winemaking and hosting events like weddings.

'State of crisis'

Steeper beef prices have become a symbol of high living costs in the world's biggest economy, which has fueled voter frustration. Last fall, Trump demanded that ranchers slash their prices.
Trump has since exempted Brazilian beef from sharp tariffs, and moved this month to expand imports of trimmings from Argentina to cool ground beef prices.
Yet, officials predict costs will keep creeping up.
Beef and veal prices were up 15 percent year-on-year in January while ground beef prices, which hit a new high in December, have continued climbing.
Costs will likely stay elevated as consumer demand remains robust, while it takes years to rebuild American herds depleted by drought and import restrictions over a parasite.
Meanwhile, American farmers and ranchers fear Trump's policies will undercut their production and profits.
"We do need to feed the people of the United States," said Stem. "But we're opening a door that's going to, I think, significantly harm farmers."
"I'm a supporter of the Republican administration," he added. "I'm not a supporter of the of the unknowns that we get right now."
The Ranchers Cattlemen Action Legal Fund United Stockgrowers of America warned recently: "Our industry is in a state of crisis and needs protection against price-depressing imports."
Iowa farmer Lance Lillibridge told AFP that cattle producers have been "living off very skinny margins" for years.
"People are getting tired of working this hard for nothing," he added. "Right now, our cattle prices are exactly where they should be."

'Cut back'

But households are feeling the pinch.
Endawnson Nungo, 56, a South Carolinian in the railroad industry, told AFP "we've cut back a lot" due to beef prices.
At a butcher shop in Washington, scientist Caleb Svezia, 28, said he started noticing higher meat prices around six months ago.
He has cut back on snacks when grocery shopping, to save up for better quality meats.
Jamie Stachowski, who runs Stachowski's Market, said customers have pulled back. Like Stem, he has had to raise prices, lifting them by 30 percent over the past year.
In turn, his sales dropped by 15 percent.
Some consumers also pivoted from prime cuts to secondary ones -- or buy other meats altogether.
"The beef industry is billions and billions of dollars," he said. "Yet everybody just makes pennies on the pound."
bys/dw 

affordability

New York creatives squeezed out by high cost of living

BY RAPHAëLLE PELTIER

  • - 'Lack of work' - Speaking to a city committee on cultural affairs in February, Jacoboni complained about a "lack of work due to the rising cost of production in the city."
  • After 20 years as a makeup artist for TV and cinema, Noel Jacoboni sees few other options than to leave New York City, where she has been "priced out" by the soaring cost of living. 
  • - 'Lack of work' - Speaking to a city committee on cultural affairs in February, Jacoboni complained about a "lack of work due to the rising cost of production in the city."
After 20 years as a makeup artist for TV and cinema, Noel Jacoboni sees few other options than to leave New York City, where she has been "priced out" by the soaring cost of living. 
Affordability issues, which Mayor Zohran Mamdani made a core part of his election campaign, are increasingly driving those in the creative arts like Jacoboni to bid farewell to one of the world's cultural capitals. 
Since 2019, the number of New Yorkers working in creative fields ranging from design to fashion has fallen by 6.1 percent, according to a December report by the Center for an Urban Future. 
Eli Dvorkin, an author of the paper, said that artists were "hit harder during the (Covid-19) pandemic than nearly any other workforce in the city."
Since then, "costs have risen far faster than incomes, and artists are really feeling the squeeze," he told AFP. 
About 326,000 people are employed in the cultural and creative sector in New York, but many are being drawn to other cities like Miami, Dallas and Nashville. 
A key factor, the report noted, is that creatives in New York make around 23 percent less than the national average when accounting for the cost of living. That number was 15 percent less a decade ago. 
That has come as inflation across the United States has remained stubbornly high post-pandemic, and New York in particular has seen rents rise on high demand, supply shortages and other factors.
Salaries for those in the arts have just not kept up.
According to the report, median household rent in New York rose 42 percent in the last decade, with creative salaries rising just 25 percent -- well below the citywide average gain of 44 percent.

 'Lack of work'

Speaking to a city committee on cultural affairs in February, Jacoboni complained about a "lack of work due to the rising cost of production in the city."
"We're losing talented individuals in our city," she said. 
Since 2020, the number of cinema and TV workers has declined by 19.1 percent, according to the Center for an Urban Future report. 
A similar trend was seen in advertising, down 15.7 percent, and design, which dropped 14.3 percent. 
New York has seen more than 50 theaters, music clubs, museums and galleries close since 2020, the report said, citing the rising cost of rent, salaries and insurance.
Even major players in New York's cultural scene are impacted.
Just four Broadway musicals launched in the past six years have turned a profit, while key institutions like the Met Opera and the Guggenheim Museum have announced layoffs in recent months. 

'Creative capital'

Mayor Mamdani has signaled that he is working to address affordability issues for creatives. 
His media and entertainment head, Rafael Espinal, said in January he wants to "keep New York the creative capital of the world."
"Not just a place where great work gets made, but a place where the people who make that work can actually live in," he said. 
Espinal, who led the Freelancers Union for independent workers, said he wants to "secure and expand good-paying union jobs" and ensure training for underrepresented communities. 
Another initiative supported by Julie Menin, the speaker of the New York City Council, envisions reserving more rent-controlled housing for artists. 
The Center for an Urban Future has also proposed creating a major cultural festival across the city's five boroughs to revitalize the arts sector. 
pel/rh/bjt/aha

opposition

Son of Iran's last shah urges US action as supporters rally in Munich

  • "I am here to guarantee a transition to a secular democratic future," he said. 
  • The exiled son of Iran's last shah said he was ready to lead the country to a "secular democratic future" at a rally in Munich on Saturday, after US President Donald Trump said a change of power would be the "best thing".
  • "I am here to guarantee a transition to a secular democratic future," he said. 
The exiled son of Iran's last shah said he was ready to lead the country to a "secular democratic future" at a rally in Munich on Saturday, after US President Donald Trump said a change of power would be the "best thing".
It came as Washington continued to engage diplomatically with Tehran's government, with Switzerland on Saturday confirming that mediator Oman would host a fresh round of talks in Geneva next week. 
US-based Reza Pahlavi, who has not returned to Iran since before the 1979 Islamic revolution that ousted the monarchy, told the crowd of around 200,000 people of his supporters that he could lead a transition.
"I am here to guarantee a transition to a secular democratic future," he said. 
"I am committed to be the leader of transition for you so we can one day have the final opportunity to decide the fate of our country through a democratic, transparent process to the ballot box."
"Javid shah" (long live the shah)," the crowd chanted as they waved green-white-and-red flags with a lion and a sun -- the emblem of the toppled monarchy. 
"The Iranian regime is a dead regime," a 62-year-old protester originally from Iran who gave his name only as Said told AFP. "It must be game over."
Pahlavi has urged Iranians at home and abroad to continue demonstrating, calling on them to chant slogans from their homes and rooftops at 8:00 pm (1630 GMT) Saturday and Sunday, to coincide with protests in Germany and elsewhere.
Thousands of protesters in various demonstrations from downtown Los Angeles to the National Mall in Washington marched in solidarity Saturday with anti-government protests in Iran.
"Trump act now!" demonstrators chanted in Toronto.
Trump had said on Friday that a change of government in Iran would be the "best thing that could happen", as he sent a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East to ratchet up military pressure on Tehran. 
He had earlier threatened military intervention to support a wave of protests in Iran that peaked in January and were met by a violent crackdown that rights groups say killed thousands.
"To President Trump... The Iranian people heard you say help is on the way, and they have faith in you. Help them," Pahlavi had earlier told reporters gathered at the Munich Security Conference. 
"It is time to end the Islamic republic," he said.
- Iranian opposition divided - 
When Iran began its crackdown, Trump initially said the United States was "locked and loaded" to help demonstrators.
But he has more recently focused his military threats on Tehran's nuclear programme, which US forces struck last June during Israel's unprecedented 12-day war with Iran.
Representatives of Iran and the United States, which have had no diplomatic relations since shortly after the 1979 revolution, held talks on the nuclear programme last week in Oman.
On Sunday, a Swiss foreign ministry spokesman told AFP that Oman would host talks in Geneva next week, without providing further details.
Videos verified by AFP showed people in Iran this week chanting anti-government slogans despite the ongoing crackdown, as the clerical leadership celebrated the anniversary of the Islamic revolution.
According to US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, at least 7,010 people, mostly protesters, were killed in the crackdown, though they and other rights groups warn the toll is likely far higher.
More than 53,845 people have been arrested, it added.
Pahlavi had encouraged Iranians to join the wave of protests, which Iranian authorities have said were hijacked by "terrorists" fuelled by their sworn enemies, the United States and Israel. 
Many protest chants had called for the monarchy's return, and Pahlavi, 65, has said he is ready to lead a democratic transition.
The Iranian opposition remains divided and Pahlavi has faced criticism for his support for Israel, making a highly publicised visit in 2023 that fractured an attempt to unify opposition camps. He has also never distanced himself from his father's autocratic rule.
Trump declined on Friday to say who he would want to take over in Iran from supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, but he added that "there are people".
bur/jgc/lb

US

French prosecutors announce special team for Epstein files

BY CéLINE CORNU

  • The new team will work closely with prosecutors from the national financial crimes unit and police with a view to opening investigations into any suspected crimes involving French nationals, the Paris prosecutor's office told AFP. The aim is "to be able to extract any piece that could be usefully reused in a new investigative framework", it said.
  • The Paris prosecutor's office on Saturday announced it was setting up a special team of magistrates to analyse evidence that could implicate French nationals in the crimes of the convicted US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
  • The new team will work closely with prosecutors from the national financial crimes unit and police with a view to opening investigations into any suspected crimes involving French nationals, the Paris prosecutor's office told AFP. The aim is "to be able to extract any piece that could be usefully reused in a new investigative framework", it said.
The Paris prosecutor's office on Saturday announced it was setting up a special team of magistrates to analyse evidence that could implicate French nationals in the crimes of the convicted US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
With Epstein's known circle now extending to prominent French figures after the release of documents by the US authorities, the prosecutor's office said it would also thoroughly re-examine the case of a former French modelling agency executive, Jean-Luc Brunel, a close associate of the American financier who died in custody in 2022.
The new team will work closely with prosecutors from the national financial crimes unit and police with a view to opening investigations into any suspected crimes involving French nationals, the Paris prosecutor's office told AFP.
The aim is "to be able to extract any piece that could be usefully reused in a new investigative framework", it said.
Brunel was found dead in his cell in a Paris prison in 2022 after having been charged with raping minors. The case against him was dropped in 2023 in the wake of his death, with no other person charged.
Prosecutors said an investigation had shown Brunel was "a close friend of Jeffrey Epstein" who had offered modelling jobs to young girls from poor backgrounds.
Brunel had engaged in sexual acts with underage girls in the United States, the US Virgin Islands, Paris and the south of France, they said.
Ten women had made accusations against Brunel, several describing how they had been led to drink alcohol and had been subjected to forced sexual penetration, according to the prosecutor's office.

New cases

Several French public figures feature in the latest US Department of Justice release of material from the Epstein files, though being mentioned there does not in itself mean any offence has been committed.
The prosecutor's office said it had been asked to look into three new specific cases involving a French diplomat, a modelling agent and a musician.
At the request of the French foreign ministry it was looking into the reported appearance of senior diplomat Fabrice Aidan in the cache of Epstein-related documents published by the US authorities.
"An investigation is underway to gather various pieces of evidence that could substantiate this report," the prosecutor's office stated.
The prosecutor's office has also received a complaint filed by a Swedish woman against Daniel Siad, a model recruiter with close ties to Epstein. She accused him of "sexual acts that she describes as rape and that may have been committed in France in 1990", it said.
The office has also received a complaint filed against French conductor Frederic Chaslin alleging acts of sexual harassment allegedly committed in 2016, it said.
The latest release of Epstein files has led to French former minister Jack Lang resigning from his position as the head of a top cultural body, the Arab World Institute (IMA).
Lang has however denied any wrongdoing, saying he was "shocked" that his name appeared in the statutes of an offshore company Epstein founded in 2016.
The office of the national financial prosecutor said it had opened a preliminary investigation for "aggravated tax fraud and money laundering" against Lang and his daughter Caroline Lang.
Following this announcement, Lang resigned from the presidency of the IMA.
In an interview in newspaper La Tribune Dimanche, out on Sunday, Lang once again insists he is "white as snow", denouncing what he describes as "a tsunami of lies" against him.
He told the paper he had known nothing of Epstein's 2008 conviction for procuring a child for prostitution.
Epstein died in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial for sex-trafficking underage girls. The US authorities ruled his death was a suicide.
cco-sjw/jj/jhb

politics

France's Macron urges calm after right-wing youth fatally beaten

BY EMMANUEL PEUCHOT

  • "What I have feared for years in Lyon is continuing," said LFI French parliament MP Raphael Arnault.
  • French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday urged calm and restraint after the fatal beating of a 23-year-old French youth aligned with the far-right on the sidelines of a conference by a hard-left lawmaker in the southeastern city of Lyon.
  • "What I have feared for years in Lyon is continuing," said LFI French parliament MP Raphael Arnault.
French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday urged calm and restraint after the fatal beating of a 23-year-old French youth aligned with the far-right on the sidelines of a conference by a hard-left lawmaker in the southeastern city of Lyon.
The death of the young man -- identified only as Quentin -- has intensified tensions between France's far-right and hard-left who are both eyeing 2027 presidential elections.
He had been in hospitalised in Lyon on Thursday after being attacked while providing what his supporters said was security for a protest against an appearance by hard-left MEP Rima Hassan at the Lyon branch of the Sciences Po university.
The office of the Lyon prosecutor on Saturday told AFP he had died of his wounds. An investigation has been opened into suspected aggravated manslaughter, it added.
Macron said on X that Quentin had been the victim of "an unprecedented outburst of violence.
"Hatred that kills has no place in our country. I call for calm, restraint and respect," he added.

'Organised' attack

According to the Nemesis collective, which is close to the far-right, Quentin was part of the security team responsible for ensuring the safety of its activists.
They were demonstrating against the conference by Hassan, who is known for her outspoken criticism of Israel.
The family's lawyer said in a statement that Quentin appeared to have been ambushed by "organised and trained individuals, vastly superior in number and armed, some with their faces masked".
Prosecutors have yet to give details on the circumstances of his death.
Nemesis accused members of a local anti-fascist association that was banned by the government in June of being behind the killing.
Three-time presidential candidate Marine Le Pen, who is still hoping to stand in 2027 despite a graft conviction, said on X that the "barbarians responsible for this lynching" should be brought to justice.
With Quentin's death sparking a wave of alarm across the political spectrum, concern also spread to the hard-left party of Hassan, France Unbowed (LFI).
"What I have feared for years in Lyon is continuing," said LFI French parliament MP Raphael Arnault.
"I offer my condolences to the family of this young man and I hope that the truth will be uncovered about this tragedy," he added.
Le Pen's far-right National Rally (RN) is the biggest single party by seats in the French lower house while the LFI is the biggest left-wing faction.
In the wake of the incident, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez urged authorities to "increase vigilance around political gatherings, as well as around campaign offices". 
ahe-epe-sl-sjw/jj

conflict

Zelensky labels Putin a 'slave to war'

  • "There is not a single power plant left in Ukraine that has not been damaged by Russian attacks," Zelensky said.
  • Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky denounced Russia's Vladimir Putin as a "slave to war" in a speech to the Munich Security Conference Saturday, adding that Russia's attacks had damaged every power plant in the country.
  • "There is not a single power plant left in Ukraine that has not been damaged by Russian attacks," Zelensky said.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky denounced Russia's Vladimir Putin as a "slave to war" in a speech to the Munich Security Conference Saturday, adding that Russia's attacks had damaged every power plant in the country.
Zelensky also drew parallels between the current Russia-Ukraine talks over territorial concessions and the 1938 Munich Agreement, when Hitler forced territorial concessions from the European powers -- a year before World War II.
Zelensky was speaking days before the fourth anniversary of Moscow's invasion, which has killed hundreds of thousands, decimated eastern Ukraine and forced millions to flee.
Kyiv and its Western allies have accused Moscow of deliberately freezing Ukraine's population with its attacks on the energy grid. 
"There is not a single power plant left in Ukraine that has not been damaged by Russian attacks," Zelensky said. "Not one."
"But we still generate electricity," he added, praising the thousands of workers repairing the plants. 
Once again, he appealed to the West to deliver air-defence systems to Ukraine more quickly.
Of Putin, who launched the war in February 2022, Zelensky said: "He may see himself as a tsar, but in reality he is a slave to war." 
Russia and Ukraine will hold US-brokered talks next week, and Zelensky said Kyiv was doing "everything" to end the war. 

Security guarantees

Zelensky also met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the sidelines of the Munich conference. 
Russia has demanded that Ukraine withdraw from its Donetsk region and wants Kyiv to recognise its claim to the swathes of Ukraine that it occupies. Ukraine has ruled out surrendering its eastern regions.
Of the talks so far, Zelensky said: "The Americans often return to the topic of concessions, and too often those concessions are discussed in the context only of Ukraine."
He also drew parallels between the current talks and the 1938 Munich Agreement, when European powers let Hitler take part of Czechoslovakia only for the Second World War to break out the following year.
"It would be an illusion to believe that this war can now be reliably ended by dividing Ukraine -- just as it was an illusion to believe that sacrificing Czechoslovakia would save Europe from a great war," he warned.
Kyiv was doing "everything" to end the war, he said, insisting that viable security guarantees were the only way to get to a deal and prevent future Russian aggression. 
"With Russia, you cannot leave a single loophole Russians can use to start a war," he said.
Zelensky again argued that there would be more chance of ending the war if European countries had a seat at the negotiating table -- something Russia has opposed.
Next week's talks in Geneva between the two sides will come after two rounds of US-Russia-Ukraine negotiations in Abu Dhabi.
In a social media post Zelensky said he had spoken by phone to US envoy Steve Witkoff and Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner ahead of the talks.
"We count on the meetings being truly productive," he added.
But with no diplomatic breakthrough so far, the Ukrainian leader has called on his Western allies to make faster political decisions.
"Weapons evolve faster than political decisions meant to stop them," Zelensky said. The Iranian-designed Shahed drones that Russia was using had become much more deadly, he noted.
Returning to the question of elections in Ukraine, Zelensky said they would be held once Kyiv received security guarantees and a ceasefire had been agreed.
bur-oc/jj/db

law

Relatives of Venezuela political prisoners begin hunger strike

BY ANDREA TOSTA

  • "We've already been waiting a very long time," she said, calling the hunger strike "a drastic measure that we believe is necessary to finish this once and for all."
  • Relatives of political prisoners in Venezuela launched a hunger strike Saturday outside a prison in Caracas, as talks drag on over the adoption of a promised amnesty law.
  • "We've already been waiting a very long time," she said, calling the hunger strike "a drastic measure that we believe is necessary to finish this once and for all."
Relatives of political prisoners in Venezuela launched a hunger strike Saturday outside a prison in Caracas, as talks drag on over the adoption of a promised amnesty law.
The historic amnesty is the centerpiece of  reforms undertaken by acting President Delcy Rodriguez since US special forces captured the country's longtime leader Nicolas Maduro in a deadly January 3 raid on Caracas.
It aims to turn the page on nearly three decades of state repression, and is expected to cover all charges brought against dissidents who opposed the rule of Maduro and his predecessor Hugo Chavez over the past 27 years.
A mass liberation of prisoners promised on January 8 did not materialize, with authorities instead freeing detainees little by little -- leaving dozens of families camped outside prison facilities waiting for answers.
In Caracas, a group of about 10 women wearing medical face masks lay down in a line at the entrance to a national police facility known as Zone 7.
Many of them were sleeping, with one telling AFP, on condition of anonymity: "Sleeping eases the hunger."
"We hope to stay here until everyone is released," Evelin Quiaro, 46, an immigration official and the mother of a political prisoner, told AFP.
Quiaro, whose son has been in detention since November on terror-related charges, said she had eaten her last meal at about 1 am.
"We've already been waiting a very long time," she said, calling the hunger strike "a drastic measure that we believe is necessary to finish this once and for all."

'Democratic coexistence'

Hours earlier, National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez announced the release of 17 prisoners in a post on social media, without naming them.
He called for Venezuelans to "continue this path of peace for the construction of democratic coexistence."
One of those freed was union leader Jose Elias Torres, who had been held since November, an advocacy group said. 
The amnesty legislation covers charges of "treason," "terrorism" and spreading "hate" that were used to lock up dissidents, according to the bill text.
But on Thursday, after backing the amnesty bill on a first reading, lawmakers postponed its adoption after failing to reach an agreement on how to apply it. 
Pro-government and opposition lawmakers clashed over an article requiring would-be beneficiaries to appear in court to request amnesty.
They agreed to continue the debate on Thursday.
According to the non-governmental organization Foro Penal, 431 political prisoners have been offered conditional release so far, and 644 are still behind bars.
Emil Brandt, regional coordinator for the political party of opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, arrived in his hometown of Barinas on Saturday, after two years in detention.
"It's important to highlight that our work continues. We still have people behind bars, and we will not rest until justice is served and they regain their freedom," Brandt said.
"The people (of Venezuela) deserve to live better, and that will be the case when our leader Maria Corina Machado comes home."
Speaking to a security conference in Munich, Machado did not say when that return might come.

US pressure

Rodriguez, Maduro's vice president, took over as the South American country's leader with the consent of US President Donald Trump -- provided that she toes Washington's line.
The United States has taken control of Venezuela's oil sales, with Trump vowing a share for Washington in the profits.
The Trump administration has also pressured Rodriguez to release political prisoners.
As the post-Maduro transition takes hold, the fear once instilled by the state is beginning to dissipate.
Thousands of opposition supporters poured into the streets of Caracas ahead of the debate over the amnesty bill to demand the release of all remaining political prisoners.
bur-atm/sst/acb

US

Trump's 'desire' to own Greenland persists: Danish PM

  • Asked at a security conference in Munich if Trump still wanted to own the Arctic island, Frederiksen said: "Unfortunately, I think the desire is the same."
  • Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Saturday she believed US President Donald Trump still desires to own Greenland despite dialling back his recent threats to seize it by force.
  • Asked at a security conference in Munich if Trump still wanted to own the Arctic island, Frederiksen said: "Unfortunately, I think the desire is the same."
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Saturday she believed US President Donald Trump still desires to own Greenland despite dialling back his recent threats to seize it by force.
Asked at a security conference in Munich if Trump still wanted to own the Arctic island, Frederiksen said: "Unfortunately, I think the desire is the same."
Trump's designs on Greenland have caused tension to soar between the United States and Europe.
Last month, he backed down from his threats to seize the island, an autonomous territory of ally Denmark, after striking what he called a "framework" deal with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.
But relations have remained strained.
"Everybody asks us, do we think it's over? I mean, no, we don't think it's over," Frederiksen said, participating in a panel discussion on Arctic security.
Trump insists mineral-rich Greenland is vital for US and NATO security against Russia and China as a melting Arctic opens up and the superpowers jostle for strategic advantage.
Frederiksen and her Greenlandic counterpart, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, said the pressure on the island's people was "unacceptable".
But Nielsen said "some steps" had been taken "in the right direction".
A US-Denmark-Greenland working group has been established to discuss Washington's security concerns in the Arctic, but details have not been made public.
"We now have a working group, it's good. We will try to see if we can find a solution... But of course, there are red lines that will not be crossed. And we will stick to our strategy," Frederiksen said.
The remarks came after Frederiksen and Nielsen had a 15-minute meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday on the sidelines of the security conference, which Frederiksen afterwards described as "constructive".
ank/jj/jhb

nuclear

European debate over nuclear weapons gains pace

BY FABIEN ZAMORRA AND BRYN STOLE IN BERLIN

  • Experts nevertheless welcomed the increasingly serious political debate on an issue that has long worried military planners.
  • European leaders, worried about threats from a nuclear-armed Russia and doubts about the future of US security commitments, are increasingly debating whether to bolster nuclear arsenals on the continent.
  • Experts nevertheless welcomed the increasingly serious political debate on an issue that has long worried military planners.
European leaders, worried about threats from a nuclear-armed Russia and doubts about the future of US security commitments, are increasingly debating whether to bolster nuclear arsenals on the continent.
While the United States and Russia have thousands of nuclear warheads each, in Europe only France and Britain have atomic weapons, with the combined total in the hundreds.
US President Donald Trump's disdainful comments about NATO and his transactional approach to foreign relations have European allies questioning whether they can risk relying on US protection.
"Europeans can no longer outsource their thinking about nuclear deterrence to the United States," an expert group warned in a report published for the Munich Security Conference.
It called on Europe to "urgently confront a new nuclear reality" in the face of "Russia's nuclear-backed revisionism".
Speaking at the MSC, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he was already holding "confidential talks with the French president about European nuclear deterrence".
Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the UK's nuclear deterrent already protected fellow NATO members but stressed he was "enhancing our nuclear cooperation with France".
Starmer said "any adversary must know that in a crisis they could be confronted by our combined strength" alongside France.

US 'ultimate guarantor'

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte insisted that "nobody" was considering fully replacing the American nuclear umbrella, which has shielded Europe's NATO countries for decades.
"I think every discussion in Europe making sure that collectively the nuclear deterrence is even stronger, fine," Rutte, a former Dutch prime minister, told journalists. 
"But nobody is arguing in Europe to do this as a sort of replacement of the nuclear umbrella of the United States.
"Everybody realises that is the ultimate guarantor -- and all these other discussions are in addition."
US Under Secretary of Defense Elbridge Colby said that Trump "has made clear the US extended nuclear deterrent continues to apply here" in Europe.
He said there is US "receptivity to a greater European contribution to ... the NATO deterrent" -- but that conversations need to be "very sober" and "deliberate" because of concerns about nuclear proliferation and instability.

No good options

Discussion of nuclear armament has long been viewed as taboo in many other European countries -- but Russian aggression and worries about US commitment have forced the issue into mainstream European politics.
Many European officials are convinced that Moscow's territorial ambitions will not be confined to Ukraine, and that other European countries -- including even NATO members -- could face some sort of attack.
The MSC report laid out five nuclear options for Europe, while cautioning that none were good. There was "no low-cost or risk-free way out of Europe's nuclear predicament", they warned.
"The era in which Europe could afford strategic complacency has ended," wrote the authors, calling on European policymakers "to confront the role of nuclear weapons in the defence of the continent directly and without delay -- and to invest the resources needed to do so competently".
It listed five options: Continue to rely on American deterrence; strengthen the role of British and French nuclear weapons in a European deterrent; jointly develop European nuclear weapons as a deterrent; increase the number of European countries with their own nuclear arsenals; or expand European conventional military power to present a more intimidating non-nuclear deterrent.
Sticking with the status quo, and relying on America's unmatched military might, remained "the most credible and feasible option" in the short term, they argued.

'We need action'

Very few currently believe Europeans can assume full responsibility for deterrence in the short term.
"If there's going to be some kind of bigger European investments in France or the UK's nuclear deterrence, that's only a good thing," Finnish Defence Minister Antti Hakkanen recently told AFP.
But he quickly added: "If you're talking about to compensate US nuclear deterrence, that's not realistic at this point."
Experts nevertheless welcomed the increasingly serious political debate on an issue that has long worried military planners.
"That's very positive, but now we need action," Heloise Fayet of the French Institute of International Relations (Ifri), a contributor to the MSC report, told AFP.
The report noted that both France and Britain would face a range of challenges in growing their arsenals and extending nuclear protection across Europe -- from hefty costs to tricky questions about who holds final authority to launch the warheads.
French President Emmanuel Macron, who has previously raised the possibility of extending France's nuclear umbrella across Europe, is scheduled to deliver a major speech on French nuclear doctrine at the end of February.
Macron said in Munich he was considering a doctrine that could include "special cooperation, joint exercises, and shared security interests with certain key countries".
bst/fz/del/jj

nuclear

Swiss say Oman to host US-Iran talks in Geneva next week

  • The United States will be holding separate talks, also in Geneva next week, between Russia and Ukraine.
  • Switzerland said Saturday that Oman would host talks between the United States and Iran in Geneva next week, with Washington pushing Tehran to make a deal to limit its nuclear programme.
  • The United States will be holding separate talks, also in Geneva next week, between Russia and Ukraine.
Switzerland said Saturday that Oman would host talks between the United States and Iran in Geneva next week, with Washington pushing Tehran to make a deal to limit its nuclear programme.
"Switzerland stands ready at all times to offer its good offices to facilitate dialogue between the United States and Iran," a Swiss foreign ministry spokesman told AFP.
On February 6, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi held talks in Oman with US envoy Steve Witkoff and US President Donald Trump's influential son-in-law Jared Kushner.
The talks were indirect, with the Omanis acting as mediators.
Trump has recently focused his military threats on Tehran's nuclear programme, which US forces struck last June during Israel's unprecedented 12-day war with Iran.
Trump said Friday that a change of government in Iran would be the "best thing that could happen", as he sent a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East, ratcheting up military pressure on the Islamic republic.

Go-between

Switzerland has played a key role in diplomatic relations between Iran and the United States for decades.
Renowned for its neutrality, Switzerland has been representing US interests in Iran since Washington broke off relations with Tehran after the 1980 hostage crisis, a year after the Iranian revolution.
In its role as the so-called protecting power, Switzerland has for decades allowed the two feuding nations to maintain a minimum of diplomatic and consular relations.
The Swiss embassy in Tehran handles all consular affairs between the United States and Iran, including passport requests, altering civil status and consular protection for US citizens in Iran.
Under the protecting power mandate, "Switzerland can either offer to act as a go-between on its own initiative or can fulfil this function at the request of the parties concerned, provided that all those involved agree," the foreign ministry says on its website.
The United States will be holding separate talks, also in Geneva next week, between Russia and Ukraine.
Moscow and Kyiv will hold US-brokered talks on Tuesday and Wednesday in the Swiss city, both countries have said, announcing the next leg in fraught negotiations seeking to end the four-year war.
Trump is pushing to halt the conflict, but two previous rounds of US-mediated talks in Abu Dhabi have not yielded signs of a breakthrough.
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