pope

Pope slams 'tyrants' on Cameroon visit as Trump spat continues

crime

Australian soldier accused of war crimes in Afghanistan granted bail

BY STEVEN TRASK

  • This month Roberts-Smith was charged with five counts of "war crime -- murder", with police alleging he was complicit in a string of unlawful killings between 2009 and 2012.
  • An Australian court granted bail on Friday to former soldier Ben Roberts-Smith, charged with murdering unarmed prisoners captured in Afghanistan following a sweeping war crimes probe.
  • This month Roberts-Smith was charged with five counts of "war crime -- murder", with police alleging he was complicit in a string of unlawful killings between 2009 and 2012.
An Australian court granted bail on Friday to former soldier Ben Roberts-Smith, charged with murdering unarmed prisoners captured in Afghanistan following a sweeping war crimes probe.
The towering soldier became a household name across Australia when he was awarded the Victoria Cross in 2011, a medal reserved for only the most courageous wartime exploits.
But a landmark military report in 2020 revealed grave allegations against Australian troops sent to fight Taliban forces, accusing elite units of torture, summary executions and "body count" competitions.
This month Roberts-Smith was charged with five counts of "war crime -- murder", with police alleging he was complicit in a string of unlawful killings between 2009 and 2012.
After ten days behind bars he was granted bail, with Judge Greg Grogin telling a Sydney court that the former soldier faced the prospect of "years and years" in jail before his case went to trial.
In court via video link, Roberts-Smith appeared impassive as he was shown on screen in a green prison track suit.
His lawyer Slade Howell argued it was unacceptable to keep the soldier behind bars as the case slowly wound through the courts.
"It will take many, many years and will have many twists and turns," he said.
The prosecution in turn argued the grave nature of the alleged crimes warranted strict bail conditions.
"The applicant is accused of either killing or directing his subordinates to kill unarmed detainees in the custody of Australian armed forces," prosecution lawyer Simon Buchen said.
Should Roberts-Smith be found guilty, he faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.

From War hero to defendant

The decorated soldier met Queen Elizabeth II, had his portrait hung at the Australian War Museum, and was even honoured as the nation's "father of the year".
But the war hero's reputation was called into question in 2018, when a series of news reports linked him to the alleged murder of unarmed Afghan prisoners by Australian troops.
The soldier had allegedly kicked an unarmed Afghan civilian off a cliff and ordered subordinates to shoot him, The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald reported.
He was also said to have taken part in the machine-gunning of a man with a prosthetic limb which he later used as a drinking vessel with other soldiers.
Roberts-Smith has staunchly maintained his innocence throughout, launching legal action against the newspapers who aired the allegations.
But his efforts to sue The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald for slander would backfire, with a judge finding in 2023 many of the journalists' claims were "substantially true".
Such civil trials carry a lower burden of proof than the criminal proceedings Roberts-Smith now faces.
Australia deployed 39,000 troops to Afghanistan over two decades as part of US- and NATO-led operations against the Taliban and other militant groups.
sft-oho/tc

Global Edition

Escaped wolf in South Korea recaptured, returned to zoo

  • After his escape, an image purporting to show a light-brown wolf trotting through a Daejeon intersection was shared widely online.
  • A wolf that escaped from a South Korean zoo was recaptured on Friday, authorities said, after he caused a school closure, a huge nine-day search and a government gaffe over an AI-generated image.
  • After his escape, an image purporting to show a light-brown wolf trotting through a Daejeon intersection was shared widely online.
A wolf that escaped from a South Korean zoo was recaptured on Friday, authorities said, after he caused a school closure, a huge nine-day search and a government gaffe over an AI-generated image.
The young male canine, named Neukgu, dug himself out of his enclosure in the central city of Daejeon on April 8 and had been on the run ever since.
Authorities deployed hundreds of officers, drones and thermal cameras to track down the elusive runaway, who kept slipping through the net despite several sightings.
He was finally caught in the early hours of Friday, with the Daejeon city government writing on X: "Welcome back, #Neukgu!"
Authorities finally caught up with the 30-kilogramme fugitive after receiving a tip about a sighting in a park in Daejeon, the Yonhap news agency reported, citing city officials.
Officials shot Neukgu with a tranquiliser dart and captured him alive, it said.
The city government posted a video of nighttime rescuers hauling a sleepy-looking Neukgu onto a sack and heaving him into a crate.
It posted photos on X of the shaggy returnee lying asleep on a veterinary bed with a muzzle over his snout.
"Veterinary examination results: Both pulse and body temperature are within normal range," the post added.
"We would like to thank everyone who offered their support to ensure Neukgu's safe and healthy return. We also apologise to the public for the anxiety and concern (this incident) has caused," the government said in a statement.
Neukgu, who was born in 2024, made his daring breakout by digging out of his enclosure and damaging a fence on his way to freedom.
His escape prompted a local elementary school to close over safety concerns, and the local government dispatched hundreds of firefighters, police officers and military troops in a bid to get him back.
Animal rights activists called for better animal protection measures after the wolf's return, noting a 2018 escape from the same facility in which a puma, Bborong, was reportedly shot dead.
"The fact that Neukgu has returned to his cage at the zoo does not signify a 'happy ending' to the incident," the Korean Animal Welfare Association said in a statement.
After his escape, an image purporting to show a light-brown wolf trotting through a Daejeon intersection was shared widely online.
The city government and several major media outlets widely shared the image, which turned out to have been generated by artificial intelligence.
An AFP analysis confirmed that the image was inauthentic. 
AFP had initially redistributed the image and later withdrew it.
mjw/cdl/tc

US

Macron, Starmer rally allies to mull Hormuz mission

BY VALERIE LEROUX AND STUART WILLIAMS

  • Macron and Starmer have also led efforts to create a European force to support Ukraine, which again would only be deployed when the war against Russia ends.
  • French President Emmanuel Macron and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Friday chair a meeting of allies to consider sending a multinational force to ensure security and free-flowing trade in the Strait of Hormuz once the current conflict between Iran and the US and Israel ends.
  • Macron and Starmer have also led efforts to create a European force to support Ukraine, which again would only be deployed when the war against Russia ends.
French President Emmanuel Macron and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Friday chair a meeting of allies to consider sending a multinational force to ensure security and free-flowing trade in the Strait of Hormuz once the current conflict between Iran and the US and Israel ends.
Iran imposed the blockade on the critical shipping bottleneck as soon as the US and Israel launched the war against the Islamic republic on February 28, leading to a surge in global energy prices. Even with a shaky ceasefire in place, the US is now imposing its own blockade on Iranian ports.
European leaders are now worried that if the blockade continues, consumers will feel the effects through higher inflation, food shortages and flight cancellations as jet fuel runs out.
The leaders joining Starmer and Macron from 1200 GMT for the meeting -- which will mostly be held via video -- are due to call for a return to full freedom of navigation and address the economic consequences of the blockade.
But they will also "prepare the deployment, when conditions are met, of a strictly defensive multinational military mission, in order to ensure freedom of navigation," according to the invitation sent by the Elysee which was seen by AFP.
Officials have emphasised that such a force would only be deployed when the war came to an end. Macron and Starmer have also led efforts to create a European force to support Ukraine, which again would only be deployed when the war against Russia ends.
Starmer is expected to tell the meeting that "the unconditional and immediate reopening" of the strait "is a global responsibility", his Downing Street office said in a statement.
Starmer is to say both he and Macron have a clear commitment "to establish a multinational initiative to protect freedom of navigation" to reassure commercial shipping and support mine clearance operations, it added.
A French presidential official, asking not to be named, said allies needed to be sure "we have an Iranian commitment not to fire on passing ships and a US commitment not to block any ships leaving or entering the Strait of Hormuz."

'Major consequences'

The meeting, which is set to gather some 30 leaders of European countries but also Asian and Middle Eastern nations mainly by video conference, is also a chance for Europe to display its capacities after having largely been sidelined by the US in diplomatic efforts to end the war.
Key EU players German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will be attending in person, their offices confirmed.
The talks according to the Elysee will involve "non belligerent countries" meaning that neither Iran, Israel nor the United States will be involved.
"The blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has major consequences for the global economy, and therefore for the daily lives of French citizens and French businesses," France's Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Thursday.
Downing Street said planning is already underway for a "combined military effort as soon as conditions allow". Military chiefs are due to meet next week for further discussions at the UK's military command headquarters in Northwood outside London, it added. 
According to the French presidency, the meeting will also address concerns over the more than 20,000 seafarers aboard the hundreds of ships which have been trapped by the blockade.
"What we want to do is build a credible proposal which is essentially a third way between the maximum pressure previously practiced by the United States on Iran and the resumption of war," said the French presidential official.
Merz, whose country was initially reluctant to be involved in any mission for Ukraine, said Berlin was "willing in principle to take part" but cautioned that "we are still very far from that".
He also added the leaders would discuss the involvement of the United States. But the French presidential official said Washington -- as a belligerent power in the conflict -- should not be involved in this mission.
bur-sjw/yad

US

War in the Middle East: latest developments

  • Lebanon's army has urged people not to return to the country's southern villages and towns before the truce takes effect at midnight local time. 
  • The latest developments in the Middle East war: - Ceasefire takes effect - A 10-day ceasefire agreed between neighboring states Israel and Lebanon took effect at midnight local time (2100 GMT Thursday).
  • Lebanon's army has urged people not to return to the country's southern villages and towns before the truce takes effect at midnight local time. 
The latest developments in the Middle East war:

Ceasefire takes effect

A 10-day ceasefire agreed between neighboring states Israel and Lebanon took effect at midnight local time (2100 GMT Thursday). Israel has been fighting Hezbollah since the militant group launched rocket attacks in support of Iran last month. 
Hezbollah has not officially said if it will recognise the ceasefire but one of its lawmakers told AFP on Thursday that the group would respect it if Israeli attacks on its militants stopped.

Trump hopes Hezbollah 'acts nicely'

US President Donald Trump said Thursday he hopes Hezbollah "acts nicely and well" during the 10-day ceasefire reached hours earlier between Lebanon and Israel. 
"I hope Hezbollah acts nicely and well during this important period of time," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform as he arrived for a speech in Las Vegas, saying it would be a "GREAT moment for them if they do. No more killing. Must finally have PEACE!"

Iranian FM 'welcomed' Israel-Lebanon ceasefire

Iran's foreign ministry welcomed the Israel-Lebanon truce, calling it part of the earlier two-week ceasefire deal struck between the Islamic republic and the United States to pause the Middle East war, state media reported. 
Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei "welcomed the announcement of the ceasefire in Lebanon and noted that the cessation of the war in Lebanon was part of the ceasefire understanding between Iran and the United States, mediated by Pakistan", state news agency IRNA posted on Telegram.

Israel, Hezbollah exchange fire before truce starts

Israel's emergency service, Magen David Adom, said in a statement that two people were wounded, one of them seriously, in Karmiel and Nahariya after rocket fire in northern Israel as the army and Iran-backed Hezbollah exchanged new cross-border fire shortly before the truce was due to take effect.

Netanyahu hails truce

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the 10-day ceasefire with Lebanon offered an opportunity for a "historic peace agreement" with Beirut, but insisted that the disarmament of militant group Hezbollah remained a precondition.
Trump earlier said Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun had agreed to the truce starting at 2100 GMT on Thursday evening.

Iran to hand over enriched uranium?

Trump said Iran has agreed to hand over its store of enriched uranium and that the two sides were "close" to a peace deal ending six weeks of conflict.
"They've agreed to give us back the nuclear dust," Trump told reporters at the White House, using his name for the enriched uranium stockpile that the United States says could be used to build nuclear weapons.

Hezbollah in ceasefire

Trump said the 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon would include Iran-backed Hezbollah.
"Today they're going to be having a ceasefire, and that'll include Hezbollah," Trump told reporters.

Israeli strike kills seven

An Israeli strike on the southern Lebanese town of Ghazieh has killed at least seven people and wounded 33, the health ministry said, hours before the ceasefire between the two countries went into effect.
Lebanese state media reported a "massacre against civilians" in the town, noting that rubble removal operations were ongoing, while the health ministry said its toll is "preliminary and not final".
 

Lebanese PM welcomes ceasefire

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said he "welcomes" Trump's announcement of the 10-day ceasefire with Israel.
A Hezbollah MP told AFP the Iran-backed militant group would respect the ceasefire if Israel stops its attacks on its fighters.
Lebanon's army has urged people not to return to the country's southern villages and towns before the truce takes effect at midnight local time. 

Trump invites Israel, Lebanon to White House

Trump said he will invite the leaders of Israel and Lebanon to the White House after the two countries agreed a ceasefire. 
"I will be inviting the Prime Minister of Israel, Bibi Netanyahu, and the President of Lebanon, Joseph Aoun, to the White House," Trump said on his Truth Social network.
burs-jgc/mlm

environment

Global warming causes Colombian glacier to disappear

  • The Sierra Nevada del Cocuy, with peaks over 5,000 meters above sea level, is one of the last six remaining glacial systems in the country, where the area covered by ice has shrunk by 90 percent since the 19th century, according to the environment ministry.
  • Where once there was ice, only rock remains.
  • The Sierra Nevada del Cocuy, with peaks over 5,000 meters above sea level, is one of the last six remaining glacial systems in the country, where the area covered by ice has shrunk by 90 percent since the 19th century, according to the environment ministry.
Where once there was ice, only rock remains.
One of the glaciers in a chain of snow-capped mountains in the Colombian Andes has vanished due to high temperatures driven by climate change. 
Satellite images show how the ice sheet covering the mountain gradually shrank from 2015 until it disappeared completely in March 2026.
Situated in the Sierra Nevada del Cocuy range, in the northeast of Colombia, the Cerros de la Plaza glacier was officially declared disappeared last week by the Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies (IDEAM).
Its surface area shrank from five square kilometers (1.93 square miles) in the 19th century to zero today, according to the agency.
"Climate change is a reality that is already transforming our territories. And what is at stake is not only the landscape, but the very balance of these ecosystems," IDEAM said in a statement.
The Colombian Andes, like the country's other ecosystems, are incredibly biodiverse, home to condors and mammals such as the spectacled bear.
The Sierra Nevada del Cocuy, with peaks over 5,000 meters above sea level, is one of the last six remaining glacial systems in the country, where the area covered by ice has shrunk by 90 percent since the 19th century, according to the environment ministry.
Glaciers feed the Andes' freshwater sources, sustain mountain ecosystems and play a crucial role in crop irrigation, fishing, and other human activities. 
The last 11 years have been the hottest 11 on record, according to the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service and Berkeley Earth, a California-based non-profit research organization.
A study published in Science magazine in January 2023 predicted that half the planet's glaciers will have melted by 2100 even if the world meets its goal under the Paris Agreement of limiting warming to 1.5C.
vd/das/cb/sms

Global Edition

Hungary's Orban urges party 'renewal' after vote loss

  • "Prime Minister Viktor Orban will not attend the informal meeting of EU heads of state and government on April 23–24 due to his duties related to the handover of government," Hungary's EU minister Janos Boka wrote on Facebook earlier Thursday.
  • Hungary's outgoing nationalist prime minister Viktor Orban on Thursday called for a "complete renewal" of his party after suffering a crushing election defeat that ended 16 years in power.
  • "Prime Minister Viktor Orban will not attend the informal meeting of EU heads of state and government on April 23–24 due to his duties related to the handover of government," Hungary's EU minister Janos Boka wrote on Facebook earlier Thursday.
Hungary's outgoing nationalist prime minister Viktor Orban on Thursday called for a "complete renewal" of his party after suffering a crushing election defeat that ended 16 years in power.
Orban lost on Sunday to political newcomer, conservative pro-EU Peter Magyar, whose party won a two-thirds parliamentary majority in a vote marked by record turnout in the central European country.
"We cannot continue the way we have been operating until now," Orban said in his first interview since the defeat, broadcast live on the YouTube channel Patriota.
"A complete renewal is needed, and this applies not only to Fidesz (Orban's party), but to the entire national side," he said.
After a "significant" loss, Orban said he was "trying to somehow come out of this shock" and that, as party leader, he took "full responsibility".
"The first and most important task is to manage the handover of government," he said, adding the process was already under way.
"The second task is to convene the necessary bodies for renewal, such as the national assembly of delegates and the party congress. This work is already ongoing," he added.
The outgoing prime minister has also decided to skip a final EU summit next week in Cyprus before formally handing over to Magyar in early May.
"Prime Minister Viktor Orban will not attend the informal meeting of EU heads of state and government on April 23–24 due to his duties related to the handover of government," Hungary's EU minister Janos Boka wrote on Facebook earlier Thursday.
His absence will spare him a potential showdown over his continued veto of a 90-billion-euro ($106 billion) EU loan for Ukraine.
That move was the latest in a raft of decisions by Orban, an ally of US President Donald Trump and Russia's President Vladimir Putin, that have infuriated Brussels.
The EU previously froze aid to Hungary due to concerns over Orban's perceived democratic backsliding.
Magyar has vowed to dismantle the nationalist administration and repair relations with the EU so it will unfreeze billions of dollars of EU funds.

EU talks

Following Magyar's victory, EU officials will visit Hungary Friday for talks with the incoming government.
"These are preliminary talks that are taking place in order to make sure that once the government is in place, really, action can be taken if appropriate, and that we do not waste any time," said EU spokeswoman Paula Pinho.
Magyar's "regime change" also gathered pace on Thursday when the Tisza party leader said he will not use the office in a monastery towering over Budapest that was Orban's seat of power.
"Under the TISZA government, the prime minister's office will not be located in the Carmelite Palace, but in a ministry building near the parliament," Magyar said in a Facebook post.
Orban moved his office from near parliament to the Carmelite Monastery in Budapest's historic Castle Quarter in 2019.
Critics had condemned the cost of the renovation and the heavy security around the former cultural centre overlooking the Danube that the government appropriated in 2014.
Magyar has also vowed to suspend news coverage by state-run outlets that opponents said had become an Orban mouthpiece.
Staff of the MTI national news agency demanded the restoration of "editorial autonomy," in a letter seen by AFP on Thursday, with one editor saying they had "had enough of unlawful, external political interference".
burs-mg-jza/giv/rh

cryptocurrency

France reports over 40 cryptocurrency kidnappings so far this year

  • Since late 2024 French authorities have been dealing with a string of kidnappings and extortion attempts targeting the families of wealthy individuals dealing in cryptocurrencies.
  • France has seen more than forty cases of kidnappings or hostage takings linked to cryptocurrencies since January, a worrying surge since last year as criminals seek to extort digital currency investors for ransom, authorities said Thursday.
  • Since late 2024 French authorities have been dealing with a string of kidnappings and extortion attempts targeting the families of wealthy individuals dealing in cryptocurrencies.
France has seen more than forty cases of kidnappings or hostage takings linked to cryptocurrencies since January, a worrying surge since last year as criminals seek to extort digital currency investors for ransom, authorities said Thursday.
Since late 2024 French authorities have been dealing with a string of kidnappings and extortion attempts targeting the families of wealthy individuals dealing in cryptocurrencies.
Some of the cases targeted institutional digital currency players or individuals with crypto holdings, while others involved other crimes not involving kidnappings, Philippe Chadrys, deputy national director of the judicial police, told journalists Thursday.
"The modus operandi, the masterminds -- often based abroad -- and the targeting methods" vary, Chadrys said, with the names of targets sometimes revealed to henchmen at the last moment.
The phenomenon of crypto-related abductions, still "marginal” in 2024, gained momentum in 2025 when around  thirty cases were reported, said Annabelle Vandendriessche, head of the interior ministry's Service for Information, Intelligence, and Strategic Analysis on Organised Crime (Sirasco).
On Mondaym a woman and her 11-year-old son were kidnapped in the central Burgundy region ahead of a crypto ransom demand.
After an operation involving around 100 officers, they were freed by Tuesday and seven men were taken into custody.
Also this month, a kidnapping took place in the southern French town of Anglet on April 10, carried out by five individuals searching for a crypto investor. They allegedly stole luxury jewelry, computers and phones.
Police arrested the suspects at Paris's Montparnasse train station after they apparently "mistook their target," Chadrys said.
In a particulalry grisly case from January 2025, kidnappers seized French crypto boss David Balland, co-founder of a crypto firm called Ledger, valued at the time at more than $1 billion.
Balland's kidnappers cut off his finger and demanded a hefty ransom before he was freed the next day, with his girlfriend found tied up in the boot of a car outside Paris.
al/bfa/cw/js

US

Ten-day ceasefire deal between Israel, Lebanon takes effect

BY RICHARD SALAME WITH DANNY KEMP IN WASHINGTON

  • "These two Leaders have agreed that in order to achieve PEACE between their Countries, they will formally begin a 10 Day CEASEFIRE at 5 P.M. EST," or 2100 GMT, Trump said on his Truth Social platform.
  • A ten-day ceasefire deal agreed between Lebanon and Israel took effect on Friday, as US President Donald Trump said he was trying to set up the first-ever face-to-face meeting between the leaders of the two countries.
  • "These two Leaders have agreed that in order to achieve PEACE between their Countries, they will formally begin a 10 Day CEASEFIRE at 5 P.M. EST," or 2100 GMT, Trump said on his Truth Social platform.
A ten-day ceasefire deal agreed between Lebanon and Israel took effect on Friday, as US President Donald Trump said he was trying to set up the first-ever face-to-face meeting between the leaders of the two countries.
The truce, which Trump said would begin at midnight local time in Lebanon and Israel (2100 GMT), comes as Washington steps up efforts to reach a deal to end the war with Iran, with Tehran insisting a Lebanon truce must be part of any agreement.
Gunfire rang out in Beirut's southern suburbs, Hezbollah's heartland, as the ceasefire came into effect -- an apparent bout of spontaneous celebration, although that could not be confirmed.
The Middle East war began when the United States and Israel attacked Iran on February 28, and Lebanon was pulled in when Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel on March 2.
Since then, Israeli strikes in Lebanon have killed more than 2,000 people and displaced more than one million, while Israeli ground forces have invaded the country's south.
As the ceasefire came into force, Israel's military said it had struck over 380 "Hezbollah terror organization targets in southern Lebanon" and was on "high alert" to resume strikes.
The US leader said the deal to halt hostilities came after "excellent" phone calls with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun.
"These two Leaders have agreed that in order to achieve PEACE between their Countries, they will formally begin a 10 Day CEASEFIRE at 5 P.M. EST," or 2100 GMT, Trump said on his Truth Social platform.
He later said he expected Netanyahu and Aoun to visit the White House "over the next four or five days". 
A top-level face-to-face meeting between the Lebanese and Israeli leadership would be a watershed moment for the region.
An Israeli hospital spokesman said three people were injured on Thursday, shortly before the truce began.
An Israeli strike on the southern Lebanese town of Ghazieh killed at least seven people and wounded 33, Lebanon's health ministry said earlier Thursday.
Netanyahu said the ceasefire with Lebanon offered an opportunity for a "historic peace agreement" with Beirut -- but insisted disarmament of militant group Hezbollah remained a precondition.
Trump said Hezbollah was included in the ceasefire, but according to the US State Department the truce committed Lebanon itself to dismantle the Iran-backed militant group. 
The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed the ceasefire, and pointedly called on "all actors to fully respect" it -- phrasing that would include Hezbollah.

'Very happy'

In Beirut, housewife Jamal Shehab, 61, applauded the truce.
"We are very happy that a ceasefire has been reached in Lebanon because we are tired of war and we want safety and peace," she said.
Sitting at a cafe in Beirut, lawyer Tarek Bou Khalil told AFP that "it's well known Trump cannot be taken at his word, and Netanyahu cannot be trusted". 
"But we know that the result of the pressures of the war with Iran and the blunders of Netanyahu and the enemy army in south Lebanon, forced them into a ceasefire," he added.
Trump spoke about the ceasefire with reporters as he left the White House for a trip to Las Vegas.
"It's very exciting," Trump said in response to a question from an AFP reporter. "Today they're going to be having a ceasefire, and that'll include Hezbollah."
Trump later said Lebanon would "take care of Hezbollah", adding that he believed the Tehran-backed group would stick to the ceasefire.
A Hezbollah lawmaker told AFP it would "cautiously adhere" to the ceasefire if Israel stopped attacks.
Ibrahim al-Moussawi thanked Iran for having applied pressure in Lebanon's favour -- adding that "the ceasefire would not have happened without Iran considering the ceasefire as equal to closing the Strait of Hormuz."
Netanyahu said Israel agreed to the truce but will maintain a ten-kilometre (six-mile) "security zone" along the border in southern Lebanon.
He added that Israel maintained two conditions for the ceasefire: Hezbollah's disarmament, and a lasting peace agreement "based on strength."

Iran deal 'very close'

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam welcomed Trump's announcement of a ceasefire, saying a truce was a "key Lebanese demand that we have pursued since the very first day of the war" between Hezbollah and Israel. 
Ahead of the ceasefire, Aoun's office thanked Trump for his "efforts" to secure the truce. But the Lebanese president rejected Trump's request for a direct call with Netanyahu, an official source told AFP.
The ceasefire comes after the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors met in Washington this week -- the first meeting of its kind since 1993.
That truce could also boost Trump's continuing efforts to reach a deal to end the war with Iran.
Trump said Washington was "very close" to a peace deal with Iran after six weeks of war and might travel to Pakistan to sign any agreement.
burs-dk-gw/jgc

trade

IMF warns of war's human impact far from Middle East

BY ERWAN LUCAS

  • "The human consequences are almost certain to be severe," he added.
  • IMF economists warned Thursday that the war in Iran could have “very, certainly severe” consequences far outside the region – especially for energy-importing countries.
  • "The human consequences are almost certain to be severe," he added.
IMF economists warned Thursday that the war in Iran could have “very, certainly severe” consequences far outside the region – especially for energy-importing countries.
Countries in East Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa are among the countries most affected now -- and who could suffer the most -- outside the region, as the conflict stretches on.
Ironically, the ongoing virtual closure of the Strait of Hormuz -- through which about one-fifth of the world's oil and gas passes -- has been a windfall for some petroleum-exporting nations, like Nigeria or Algeria.
But for those that rely on imports for food, fertilizer, and energy, the elevated prices are proving worrisome.
"Oil impacted importers, particularly non-resource-rich and fragile states, face deteriorating trade balances, rising living costs and limited buffers" to absorb future shocks," warned Abebe Selassie, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Director for Africa, at a press conference Thursday.
"The human consequences are almost certain to be severe," he added.
IMF economists are briefing government officials and media on their latest economic analysis as they hold their spring meetings alongside the World Bank this week in Washington.

Hitting the most vulnerable

Sub-Saharan Africa -- which for IMF statistical purposes does not include Sudan and parts of the Horn of Africa -- could see 20 million people pushed towards hunger, an IMF report said.
For Sahel countries, where poverty is widespread, factors that are expected to drive up the cost of food include scarce, expensive fertilizer and rising transportation costs.
"Already transportation costs are very high for people in urban areas, rural areas even more so," Selassie explained. "We are already seeing quite a bit of a pinch from the crisis on people, impoverishing people -- it's making life difficult for people."
The economic effects of the crisis hit at a time when international aid is in steep decline, another source of concern for the IMF.
The aid declines aren't a temporary ebb, but are "more structural," Selassie said. "It is falling hardest on the region's most vulnerable countries -- fragile states and low-income economies -- that depend on aid, not as a supplement but as a critical source of budget financing for healthcare and food assistance."

Heavy oil reliance

Further afield, small Pacific islands are of great concern, said the IMF's Asia-Pacific Director Krishna Srinivasan, due to their heavy reliance energy imports and the amount of time it takes ships to reach them -- even when shipping disruptions are minimal.
Zooming out, the entire region -- not just small islands -- faces unique risks because it spends almost double what Europe does on oil and gas, as a percent of GDP.
Some countries, such as Malaysia and Thailand spend around 10 percent of their GDP on oil and gas -- a sign of how reliant they are on energy imports.

Downgrades like 2008

None of this is to downplay the effects in the Middle East, where the IMF's regional director, Jihad Azour, told reporters that their updated estimates of economic activity are "among the largest six-month downgrades to regional growth projections we have made since the global financial crisis."
Markets are now demanding higher interest rates across the board, further driving up the cost of borrowing for countries in the region that were already facing difficulties.
Here again, food is a pressure issue, especially in the region's poorest.
"Food items already account for 45 to 50 percent of total imports in Yemen, Sudan, Somalia and more than half of their population are already experiencing food insecurity," Azour said.
So what's to be done? 
IMF officials have repeated the same mantra all week: governments should adopt only temporary, limited measures to avoid further stretching already thin budgets.
els-pnb/sla

Israel

France finance minister says Hormuz must open, G7 ready to mitigate war fallout

BY BEIYI SEOW

  • But he added of the Strait of Hormuz blockage: "We need this to open, but not at any price."
  • French Finance Minister Roland Lescure told reporters Thursday that the Strait of Hormuz needs to reopen "but not at any price," adding that G7 leaders stand ready to mitigate the war's economic fallout.
  • But he added of the Strait of Hormuz blockage: "We need this to open, but not at any price."
French Finance Minister Roland Lescure told reporters Thursday that the Strait of Hormuz needs to reopen "but not at any price," adding that G7 leaders stand ready to mitigate the war's economic fallout.
Finance ministers and central bank governors from the Group of Seven advanced economies added in a statement released Thursday that "it is urgent to limit" the global economic cost of an enduring conflict in the Middle East.
"G7 members reaffirmed the pressing need to move toward a lasting peace," the statement said, following the grouping's Wednesday gathering in Washington.
The war erupted after US-Israeli strikes targeting Iran on February 28, prompting Tehran to virtually block the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation.
Energy prices have soared since, with the strait being a key waterway for oil and gas transit.
The conflict, alongside support for Ukraine and cooperation on critical minerals, were key topics discussed by the G7 finance leaders at their first in-person meeting this year.
"We need to make sure that we understand where the balance of risks is tilting in the next few weeks," Lescure said Thursday.
"We are meeting again in a month's time in Paris and we want to make sure that we monitor the situation, we evaluate the impact," he added.
"If we need to act, as we did with releasing inventories a few weeks back, we will."

'Not going to pay'

Lescure spoke on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank spring meetings, which bring together finance ministers, central bankers and other leaders in the US capital this week.
Last month, the International Energy Agency, which includes G7 nations, released a record amount of oil from their strategic reserves to ease market turbulence.
Lescure said "the general feeling was gravity" among the G7 when it came to the war.
But he added of the Strait of Hormuz blockage: "We need this to open, but not at any price."
His comments come as French President Emmanuel Macron is hosting talks on Friday with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on navigation through the Strait of Hormuz once there is a ceasefire.
"I don't want to pay $1 to go through the Strait of Hormuz," Lescure added. "We're not going to pay to go through the strait."
"We value the fact that negotiation seems to be going on, and I hope they produce a result," he said.

'Collateral damage'

The G7 also vowed to support Ukraine ahead of next winter, following Russian attacks on its energy infrastructure.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine, launched in 2022, has become the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War II.
"Russia mustn't be getting benefits from what's happening in Iran," Lescure said, adding that Ukraine should not be "collateral damage" either.
The United States in March temporarily allowed the sale of Russian oil that was at sea, a move to soften global supply shocks from its war on Iran.
But Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Wednesday that Washington will not extend the waiver, which has expired.
Bank of France governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau added Thursday that central banks will act "without hesitation" to deal with the war's economic impact, but stressed that officials are not in a rush.
Besides France, which holds the rotating G7 presidency, the grouping comprises Britain, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States.
fcz-bys/mlm

US

Trump says Iran agrees to hand over its enriched uranium

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

  • Iran insisted Wednesday its right to enrich uranium was "indisputable", although the level of enrichment was "negotiable."
  • US President Donald Trump said Thursday Washington and Tehran were "very close" to a peace deal and insisted that Iran had agreed to hand over its enriched uranium, a key sticking point in negotiations.
  • Iran insisted Wednesday its right to enrich uranium was "indisputable", although the level of enrichment was "negotiable."
US President Donald Trump said Thursday Washington and Tehran were "very close" to a peace deal and insisted that Iran had agreed to hand over its enriched uranium, a key sticking point in negotiations.
The United States had earlier threatened to resume airstrikes on the Islamic republic and maintain a naval blockade of its ports if Tehran refused to accept a deal to solve the conflict that broke out on February 28.
At the same time, a ceasefire came into effect between Israel and Lebanon -- a 10-day truce -- with Trump saying he expected the two countries' leaders at the White House within "four or five days."
Hezbollah has not said if it recognizes the ceasefire -- but a senior figure said it would respect it if Israeli attacks on the militants stopped.
But Israel's army said it was striking Hezbollah rocket launchers after fire from Lebanon shortly before the ceasefire was due to begin.
The prime ministers for both countries welcomed the ceasefire, which came days after the US and Iran agreed to a separate truce and as Pakistan pursued diplomatic efforts to arrange a new round of talks between foes Washington and Tehran.
On Thursday, Pakistan's powerful army chief Asim Munir met Iran's parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who led the Iranian delegation at the first round of talks last week, which ended without a deal.
Iran's UN ambassador later said Tehran was "cautiously optimistic" about peace talks with the United States, expressing hope for a "meaningful outcome."
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Thursday "if Iran chooses poorly, then they will have a blockade and bombs dropping on infrastructure, power and energy."
Trump later told reporters that "there's a very good chance we're going to make a deal" with Tehran. 
"They've agreed to give us back the nuclear dust," he said, using his label for the enriched uranium stockpile that Washington says could be used for nuclear weapons. 
Trump has offered no details about any transfer, and Iran has given no public indication it would surrender its stockpile.

'Indisputable' right to uranium

Trump has insisted any deal with Iran must permanently block it from acquiring nuclear weapons.
He launched the war claiming Tehran was rushing to complete an atomic bomb, an assertion unsupported by the UN nuclear watchdog.
Washington has reportedly sought a 20-year suspension of Iran's uranium enrichment program, while Tehran has proposed suspending nuclear activity for five years -- an offer US officials rejected.
Tehran insists its nuclear program is peaceful.
Iran insisted Wednesday its right to enrich uranium was "indisputable", although the level of enrichment was "negotiable."
The US House of Representatives on Thursday rejected a Democratic effort to curb Trump's authority to wage war in Iran, with lawmakers wary of soaring costs, an unclear endgame and the risk of a wider conflict.

'An abyss'

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt had told reporters Wednesday further talks between the US and Iran "would very likely" be in Islamabad. 
Pakistani foreign ministry spokesman Tahir Andrabi said no date had been set for the next round of talks.
US Vice President JD Vance, who led the first round, has said Iran is being offered a "grand bargain" to end the war and address the decades-old dispute over Tehran's nuclear program.
Israel's defense minister Israel Katz said Iran was "standing at a historic crossroads" and not pursuing a deal "leads to an abyss."
Shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, through which one-fifth of the world's crude oil normally flows, has been disrupted by Iran since the US-Israeli offensive began, and is now the focus of the US blockade.
Around 2100 GMT, Brent North Sea Crude had risen 3.24 percent to $98.01.
Washington has sought to escalate pressure on Tehran by blockading its ports, with US Central Command claiming to have "completely halted economic trade going into and out of Iran by sea" by turning back 13 vessels departing Iranian ports.
Maximizing pressure, Washington slapped fresh sanctions on Iran's oil industry on Wednesday, which Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said targeted "regime elites."
Unless Washington relents, Iran's armed forces "will not allow any exports or imports to continue in the Persian Gulf, the Sea of Oman and the Red Sea," said the head of the Iranian military's central command center Ali Abdollahi.
The military adviser to Iran's supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei also warned that Iran would sink American ships in the strait if the United States decides to "police" the key shipping channel.
burs-gw/jgc

pope

Pope slams 'tyrants' on Cameroon visit as Trump spat continues

BY CLEMENT MELKI AND GUILLAUME GERARD

  • Trump took a new swipe in comments to journalists Thursday, saying the pope can say what he likes about international issues, but needs to understand the realities of a "nasty world".
  • Pope Leo XIV on Thursday criticised the "tyrants" ransacking the world, on a high-security visit to a "bloodstained" region of Cameroon, as his war of words with US President Donald Trump continued.
  • Trump took a new swipe in comments to journalists Thursday, saying the pope can say what he likes about international issues, but needs to understand the realities of a "nasty world".
Pope Leo XIV on Thursday criticised the "tyrants" ransacking the world, on a high-security visit to a "bloodstained" region of Cameroon, as his war of words with US President Donald Trump continued.
Trump has squared off with the first American pontiff in recent days, taking issue with the pope's criticism of the war in the Middle East.
Trump took a new swipe in comments to journalists Thursday, saying the pope can say what he likes about international issues, but needs to understand the realities of a "nasty world".
That came after the pope gave a forceful speech in northwestern Cameroon, his latest stop on a landmark four-nation African tour that has seen him abandon his previous restraint in speaking out in favour of world peace.
"Woe to those who manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic and political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth," Leo said in the city of Bamenda, the epicentre of a nearly decade-long English-speaking separatist insurgency that has killed thousands.
"The world is being ravaged by a handful of tyrants, yet it is held together by a multitude of supportive brothers and sisters," the pontiff said at Bamenda's Saint Joseph's Cathedral.
Speaking later, Trump struck a more conciliatory tone than in recent days, but still sought to school the pope on the war in Iran.
"The pope has to understand Iran has killed more than 42,000 people over the last few months," he said.
"They were totally unarmed protesters. The pope has to understand that. This is the real world, it's a nasty world."
He denied he was "fighting" with the pontiff, saying he had "nothing against" him.

'Plunder' of Africa 

The barbs come after US Vice President JD Vance -- a Catholic -- urged the Vatican to "stick to matters of morality".
But the mood was joyous as the pope arrived in Bamenda under a military escort in a popemobile with bulletproof windows, blessing the worshippers who had gathered, many singing and blowing vuvuzela horns, to welcome him.
As he left the cathedral, Leo released white doves, a symbol of peace in a region of the central African country he called a "bloodstained yet fertile land that has been mistreated".
At Bamenda airport -- renovated for his visit after being shut since 2019 because of the insurgency -- Leo condemned the ongoing exploitation of Africa in a mass.
He criticised "those who, in the name of profit, continue to lay their hands on the African continent to exploit and plunder it".
Cameroon is rich in natural resources such as oil, timber, cocoa, coffee and minerals, which have attracted both foreign firms and local elites for decades.
On arrival in the country on Wednesday, the pope appealed to Cameroon's leaders to examine their "conscience" and tackle corruption and rights abuses, in an uncharacteristically pointed speech at the presidential palace attended by longtime President Paul Biya.
Leo's trip comes six months after the authorities violently put down protests against 93-year-old Biya's disputed re-election for an eighth term.

Bolstered security

Security measures had been stepped up on the main routes through Bamenda for the visit.
Cameroon's two anglophone regions have suffered almost a decade of armed violence following attempts to secede from the rest of the mostly French-speaking central African country.
Teacher Vivian Ndey, 60, from Bamenda, welcomed the pope carrying a "plant of peace" as a symbol of hope.
She spoke at the cathedral of the difficulty of teaching during the crisis, saying teachers were afraid to come to class and students had vanished.
Conflict erupted after Biya, who has ruled since 1982, violently repressed peaceful demonstrations in 2016 by English speakers who felt marginalised.
Civilians have been targeted with killings and kidnappings. At least 6,000 people have been killed since 2016, according to the United Nations.
On Monday, separatist groups announced a three-day truce to welcome the pope.
After the Bamenda trip, Leo is to hold a mass at a stadium in the economic capital Douala on Friday, before leaving Cameroon for Angola on Saturday. He then travels to Equatorial Guinea.
cmk-gge-lnf/sbk-jhb/rh

Global Edition

UN Sudan chief says country 'abandoned' after three years of war

BY BAHIRA AMIN AND ABDELMONEIM ABU IDRIS ALI

  • Sudan is facing more than a humanitarian crisis, she said. 
  • The top United Nations official in Sudan told AFP on Thursday that the country, facing the world's largest humanitarian crisis, has been "abandoned" as the war between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) enters its fourth year.
  • Sudan is facing more than a humanitarian crisis, she said. 
The top United Nations official in Sudan told AFP on Thursday that the country, facing the world's largest humanitarian crisis, has been "abandoned" as the war between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) enters its fourth year.
"People shouldn't call this a forgotten crisis -- that's almost offensive. It's abandoned," Denise Brown, the UN's resident and humanitarian coordinator, told AFP from her office in Khartoum, one of the only functional buildings in the capital's post-apocalyptic city centre.
She called on the international community to put more focus on the country, which is the size of France, Germany, Italy and Spain combined, boasting more than 50 million people and a wealth of resources that have drawn foreign powers into the war.
"You can't forget about Sudan," the veteran humanitarian said.
"I'm outraged," she added, listing atrocities documented by the UN.
Those include systematic sexual violence, 6,000 people killed in three days in the RSF's takeover of El-Fasher city last year, a UN probe that found hallmarks of genocide, and sieges causing famine across the country.
"My question is, what is the world waiting for to actually wake up and make an effort the way we have seen in other horrendous, shocking crises around the world, where people go out into the streets in capital cities and denounce what's going on?" she asked.
She said she believed outside forces were prolonging the war.
"The weapons don't come from inside Sudan. There is something driving this conflict, and somebody is benefitting from the resources," she said.
The UN has repeatedly called on foreign powers to stop fueling the war, but has not accused specific states. 
On one side, the army has been backed by Egypt and Saudi Arabia, and deployed Turkish and Iranian-made drones. 
However, most of the blame has been pointed at the United Arab Emirates, which denies evidence it has funnelled arms to the RSF, who have been accused of genocide.
There is a persistent "illegal flow of weapons," in violation of a UN arms embargo on Darfur in place for two decades, said Brown.
Darfur, a vast western region that alone is the size of France, has faced some of the worst violence, with displacement camps invaded and repeated ethnic massacres killing thousands at a time.

 Children dying in Kordofan

Since the RSF takeover of El-Fasher last year, the fiercest fighting has shifted to the Kordofan region, which links RSF-controlled territory in Darfur to Sudan's army-controlled central axis.
Near-daily drone strikes on Kordofan have killed dozens at a time, and hundreds of thousands are on the brink of starvation across the region.
Brown was part of a humanitarian convoy that reached the South Kordofan city of Dilling after a paramilitary siege was broken earlier this year, but her team was trapped when the city came under attack again.
"Practically every day since then, Dilling has been attacked, and residents continue to trickle out as more people are killed."
Many of those leaving are heading to El-Obeid, where tens of thousands have sought shelter.
Now the UN is receiving "reports of high numbers of children dying every day," Brown said of El-Obeid, where she is heading this week.
Sudan is facing more than a humanitarian crisis, she said. 
With 33 million people in need of aid, Sudan has seen "the deliberate wiping out of any access to basic social services and human rights."
But the hardest part is "finding a pathway to peace," she said.
Diplomatic efforts have mostly been led by a so-called Quad, made up of the countries seen to hold the most leverage over the warring sides: Egypt, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and the United States. 
But those efforts have faltered amid reports of tensions in the group, and there is no current peace initiative.
While Brown said "very generous donations" totalling 1.5 billion euros pledged at a Berlin aid conference on Wednesday were welcome, not enough was being done to stop the war.
"The inertia around this is perplexing," she said.
ab-bha/jfx

US

Trump says Iran deal 'very close,' may go to Pakistan to sign

  • Asked if he might travel to Pakistan to sign an agreement, Trump added: I might go, yeah.
  • President Donald Trump said Thursday that the United States and Iran were "very close" to a peace deal and that he would consider going to Pakistan to sign an agreement.
  • Asked if he might travel to Pakistan to sign an agreement, Trump added: I might go, yeah.
President Donald Trump said Thursday that the United States and Iran were "very close" to a peace deal and that he would consider going to Pakistan to sign an agreement.
Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump added that Tehran had agreed to hand over its store of enriched uranium, as the two countries mull further talks in Islamabad.
"We're very close to making a deal with Iran," Trump said as he left to board his helicopter for a trip to Las Vegas.
"We had to make sure that Iran never gets a nuclear weapon... They've totally agreed to that. They've agreed to almost everything, so maybe if they can get to the table, there's a difference."
Asked if he might travel to Pakistan to sign an agreement, Trump added: I might go, yeah. If the deal is signed in Islamabad, I might go." 
The US leader praised Pakistan's "really great" Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and powerful army chief Asim Munir for their role in brokering the talks with Iran.
Vice President JD Vance led a US delegation to Islamabad last weekend for talks with Iranian officials but came away empty handed. The White House says it is in discussions about a second round of talks that would likely be in Pakistan again.
Trump added that Iran had agreed to hand over its store of enriched uranium -- a key sticking point for any deal -- although he gave no details about any such agreement.
"They've agreed to give us back the nuclear dust," Trump said, using his name for the enriched uranium stockpile that the United States says could be used to build nuclear weapons. 
dk/mlm

US

Trump says Israel, Lebanon agree to ceasefire

BY DANNY KEMP WITH LAURE AL KHOURY IN BEIRUT

  • "Trying to get a little breathing room between Israel and Lebanon," Trump said Wednesday on his Truth Social platform, referring to the two countries' ambassadors meeting held in Washington the day before -- the first meeting of its kind since 1993.
  • US President Donald Trump announced that Israel and Lebanon had agreed to a ceasefire Thursday, and said he was trying to set up the first-ever meeting between the leaders of the two countries.
  • "Trying to get a little breathing room between Israel and Lebanon," Trump said Wednesday on his Truth Social platform, referring to the two countries' ambassadors meeting held in Washington the day before -- the first meeting of its kind since 1993.
US President Donald Trump announced that Israel and Lebanon had agreed to a ceasefire Thursday, and said he was trying to set up the first-ever meeting between the leaders of the two countries.
Following what he called "excellent" phone calls with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, Trump said the truce would begin within hours.
"These two Leaders have agreed that in order to achieve PEACE between their Countries, they will formally begin a 10 Day CEASEFIRE at 5 P.M. EST," or 2100 GMT, Trump said on his Truth Social network.
The US leader said he had directed Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and top US military officer Dan Caine to work with the two countries "to achieve a Lasting PEACE."
Shortly afterward, Trump added that "I will be inviting the Prime Minister of Israel, Bibi Netanyahu, and the President of Lebanon, Joseph Aoun, to the White House."
The truce announcement comes amid Washington's continuing efforts to reach a deal to end the US-Israeli war with Iran. Tehran has insisted that a Lebanon ceasefire must be part of any agreement.
Lebanon was pulled into the Middle East war on March 2 after the Lebanon-based armed group Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, attacked Israel. 
Since then, Israeli strikes in Lebanon have killed more than 2,000 people and displaced more than a million, and Israeli ground forces have invaded the country's south.
A lawmaker from Hezbollah told AFP the group would "cautiously adhere" to the ceasefire if Israel stopped attacks.
Ibrahim al-Moussawi thanked Iran for having applied pressure in Lebanon's favor, adding that "the ceasefire would not have happened without Iran considering the ceasefire as equal to closing the Strait of Hormuz."

'Breathing room'

The first signs of movement on Lebanon came when Trump said late Wednesday that Aoun and Netanyahu were due to speak on Thursday. 
"Trying to get a little breathing room between Israel and Lebanon," Trump said Wednesday on his Truth Social platform, referring to the two countries' ambassadors meeting held in Washington the day before -- the first meeting of its kind since 1993.
But Aoun rejected the US request for a direct phone call with Netanyahu on Thursday, an official source told AFP.
Instead, Aoun's office confirmed a call during which he thanked the US leader for his "efforts" to secure a ceasefire with Israel.
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam welcomed Trump's announcement of a ceasefire, saying a truce was a "key Lebanese demand that we have pursued since the very first day of the war" between Hezbollah and Israel. He also thanked European and Arab states for their involvement.
European Commission president Ursula Von Der Leyen hailed the ceasefire as "a relief." 
But fighting on the ground continued right up until Trump's announcement.
The Lebanese army said Thursday that Israeli strikes that destroyed the Qasmiyeh bridge over the southern Litani River have cut off the area from the rest of the country.
The Israeli army on Thursday again called on civilians to evacuate the entire area of southern Lebanon up to the Zahrani River, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of the border.
Meanwhile, Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported clashes in Bint Jbeil, a town five kilometers from the border where Hezbollah fighters are battling the Israeli army.
The White House has said it is discussing a possible second round of talks with Iran in the Pakistani capital Islamabad, after a first round last weekend failed to produce a deal.
But a senior US administration official stressed that any end to the hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon was not part of talks between Washington and Tehran.
burs-dk/acb

politics

Cuba 'ready' for possible US attack: president

  • "We don't want that (confrontation) but it is our duty to be ready to avoid it, and if it were unavoidable, to win it," Diaz-Canel told thousands of people attending a rally in Havana to mark the 65th anniversary of the failed US invasion of the island at the Bay of Pigs.
  • Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said Thursday his country was "ready" for a possible US attack on the communist island following months of mounting pressure from President Donald Trump.
  • "We don't want that (confrontation) but it is our duty to be ready to avoid it, and if it were unavoidable, to win it," Diaz-Canel told thousands of people attending a rally in Havana to mark the 65th anniversary of the failed US invasion of the island at the Bay of Pigs.
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said Thursday his country was "ready" for a possible US attack on the communist island following months of mounting pressure from President Donald Trump.
"We don't want that (confrontation) but it is our duty to be ready to avoid it, and if it were unavoidable, to win it," Diaz-Canel told thousands of people attending a rally in Havana to mark the 65th anniversary of the failed US invasion of the island at the Bay of Pigs.
Cuba has been bracing for a possible attack following repeated warnings from Trump that Cuba is "next" after he toppled Venezuela's leader Nicolas Maduro and went to war against Iran.
Washington and Havana have held talks on de-escalating tensions but the discussions between the arch-foes have failed to make significant headway, according to US media reports.
Mariela Castro, daughter of late president Raul Castro, said Cubans "want dialogue" with Washington but "without putting our political system up for debate."
She said her 94-year-old father -- who oversaw a historic 2015 rapprochement with the United States under Barack Obama that Trump later reversed -- was indirectly involved in the talks.
Raul's grandson Raul Rodriguez Castro, a colonel, is reportedly among the negotiators.
Diaz-Canel admitted that the current moment was "very grave" but stressed Cuba's "socialist" nature, as proclaimed by Fidel Castro on April 16, 1961.
The 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion was launched two years after Castro's revolutionaries took control of the island and began nationalizing US-owned properties and businesses.
Between April 15 and 19, around 1,400 anti-Castro Cuban exiles in Miami, trained and financed by the CIA, landed at the Bay of Pigs, about 250 kilometers (155 miles) south of Havana.
Cuban forces repelled the invaders, inflicting a humiliating defeat on the Americans.
Six decades later, Washington now has Cuba again in its sights.
After Maduro's capture in Caracas Trump imposed an oil blockade of Cuba, aggravating the impoverished island's worst economic and energy crisis in decades.
Diaz-Canel rejected what he referred to as a US portrayal of Cuba as a "failed state."
Havana largely blames its woes on a US trade embargo imposed shortly after Castro's arrival to power, still in place today, and the more recent oil blockade.
"Cuba is not a failed state, it's a besieged state," he said.
Maria Reguiero, an 82-year-old attending the rally, said that like in 1961, Cubans were "ready to defend their sovereignty, whatever the price."
lis-jb/cb/acb

US

Vessels cross Hormuz destined for Iran despite US blockade

  • The sanctioned cargo vessel Neshat followed a similar route, hugging the Iran coastline as it crossed the strait early Thursday, with Marine Traffic citing its destination as Bandar Abbas.
  • Two sanctioned cargo vessels have crossed the Strait of Hormuz, apparently bound for Iranian ports despite Washington's blockade in the Middle East war, tracking data indicated Thursday.
  • The sanctioned cargo vessel Neshat followed a similar route, hugging the Iran coastline as it crossed the strait early Thursday, with Marine Traffic citing its destination as Bandar Abbas.
Two sanctioned cargo vessels have crossed the Strait of Hormuz, apparently bound for Iranian ports despite Washington's blockade in the Middle East war, tracking data indicated Thursday.
A trickle of ships has passed the crucial trade route over the past two days after the US imposed a counter-blockade following the failure of peace talks to end the nearly seven-week conflict.
The US military said on X on Thursday that "after 72 hours of enforcement, 14 vessels have turned around to comply with the blockade at the direction of American forces".
However, unlike previous updates, it did not say that it had prevented all crossing attempts by vessels going to or from Iranian ports.

Cargoes near Iran

Late Wednesday, the sanctioned container ship Zaynar 2 made its way westward through the strait into the Gulf, according to the tracking platform Marine Traffic.
The website specified its destination as Larak Island, close to the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas, and it last transponded close to that location late Wednesday.
The sanctioned cargo vessel Neshat followed a similar route, hugging the Iran coastline as it crossed the strait early Thursday, with Marine Traffic citing its destination as Bandar Abbas.
Its latest signal at around 1500 GMT showed it anchored 10 miles (16 kilometres) from the port.
"There's evidence that ships are perhaps breaking through" the US blockade, Tom Sharpe, a former commander with the UK's Royal Navy, told a briefing for the maritime analyst group Windward on Thursday.
"That I don't understand particularly, because from a military perspective, from a tactical perspective, this blockade is not that hard to do. They've got the ships there to do it," he said.

Oil supertankers

Trackers indicated that two giant oil tankers, both under US sanctions, had successfully passed westward through the strait and broken the blockade.
The very large crude carriers (VLCC), the RHN and the Alicia, crossed the strait through Iran's approved route and were still sailing westwards within the Gulf on Thursday, stating their destinations as "For Order", according to Marine Traffic.
However their destination was not clear -- they followed a route taken by other Iranian-sanctioned vessels that have crossed westwards in recent days, but whose stated destination was Iraq, meaning they would not be subject to the US blockade.
Other vessels apparently heading to Iraq include a third VLCC, the Agios Fanouris I, and a liquid petroleum gas tanker, the G Summer, the data showed.
Bridget Diakun, senior risk and compliance analyst at Lloyd's List Intelligence, told a briefing there was evidence of "Iranian-linked vessels that are pausing their voyages or reversing course".
But she added: "We've also seen ships that have reached Iranian ports and that have departed as well."
Summing up the the shipping situation under the blockade over the last 24 hours, Lloyd's maritime risk analyst Tomer Raanan told the briefing: "Confusion reigns."
lmc-rlp-jwp/rlp/js

US

Iran's shadow oil trade endures near Singapore despite war

BY JEAN-PHILIPPE CHOGNOT

  • These transfers have continued during the war, despite a temporary easing of US sanctions.
  • Near Singapore, thousands of miles from the Strait of Hormuz, ship-to-ship transfers of Iranian oil have continued during the Middle East war, helping Tehran evade sanctions and maintain trade with China.
  • These transfers have continued during the war, despite a temporary easing of US sanctions.
Near Singapore, thousands of miles from the Strait of Hormuz, ship-to-ship transfers of Iranian oil have continued during the Middle East war, helping Tehran evade sanctions and maintain trade with China.
Nearly 400 tankers are sanctioned by the United States, the European Union or Britain for their activities related to Iran -- which is now facing off against the United States during a tense ceasefire.
The ageing vessels that make up Iran's "ghost fleet" operate clandestinely, exploiting opaque ownership structures, false flags, a lack of insurance and manipulation of GPS data to keep a low profile.
Ship-to-ship (STS) transfers on the high seas allow them to "launder" cargoes, disguising their origin.
An area off Malaysia and Singapore, about 100 kilometres (60 miles) southeast of the Malay Peninsula, has emerged as a strategic hub for moving Iranian crude.
Each week, dozens of transfers between tankers -- not only Iranian -- can be seen from the air, an AFP analysis of satellite imagery found.
"It's really the main hub," said Amir Handjani of the US-based Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. He described the STS situation there as "total anarchy".
These transfers have continued during the war, despite a temporary easing of US sanctions.
On March 20, Washington authorised the sale of Iranian oil already stored on vessels before that date. The authorisation is due to expire on April 19.
But faced with "contradictory activities" by the United States -- easing sanctions then blockading Iranian ports -- "it's safer to keep exporting Iranian oil using shadow vessels and then STS transfers than it is to try to export that oil legitimately," said Elisabeth Braw, an expert at the Atlantic Council.

Destination China

Iranian tankers leave the Gulf via the Strait of Hormuz having loaded with crude, usually at Iran's strategic Kharg Island, according to analysis of several maritime tracking platforms.
They then skirt the Indian subcontinent and pass through the Strait of Malacca to Singapore on a two- to three-week journey, before anchoring and waiting for another tanker to take their cargo.
Since March 1, at least 37 Iran-linked tankers have transferred their cargo at sea in the area, amounting to at least 62.3 million barrels of crude, according to data from maritime tracking firm Kpler analysed by AFP.
When specified, the final destinations of these cargoes were ports in China's northern provinces of Shandong, Liaoning and Jiangsu.
Most of the vessels left the Gulf before war broke out on February 28, but at least six Iranian tankers -- among 26 that have crossed the Strait of Hormuz during the conflict -- have transferred their cargoes (totalling 10 million barrels) in recent weeks near Singapore.
The Silvia 1 loaded one million barrels at Kharg in February, passed through the Strait of Hormuz on March 3, arrived in the Singapore area on March 21, and transferred its cargo around March 25 to the Yug.
The Yug then took on the cargo of a second Iranian tanker, the Seastar III, on April 3.
The destination of the Yug is unknown, but the Comoros-flagged tanker is accustomed to STS transfers and generally delivers its cargoes to ports in Shandong, according to data compiled by Kpler and the NGO Global Fishing Watch.

Iranian oil stored at sea

Two other cargoes that left the Gulf on the Hilda I and the Amber were transferred to other tankers near Singapore at the end of March, and are expected to arrive at the ports of Yantai (Shandong) and Lianyungang (Jiangsu) on Thursday and Friday, according to Kpler.
Cargoes sometimes undergo several STS transfers.
The cargo of the Amber (two million barrels) transferred to the Medna on March 31, then to the Star Pine on April 4, before heading for China.
Kpler cannot rely on ships' automatic identification systems (AIS) transponder signals, which are switched off at key moments, to estimate cargoes and identify transfers within this shadow fleet.
Instead, the company uses algorithms comparing ships' AIS signals with past routes and analysing their draught, which can indicate when cargo has been offloaded.
STS transfers are likely to thrive due to the US blockade of Iranian ports that started on Monday, especially as "there's a lot of Iranian oil still on the water as floating storage," Naveen Das, an analyst at Kpler, told AFP.
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US

Hezbollah MP to AFP: direct Lebanon-Israel talks a 'grave error'

BY LAYAL ABOU RAHAL

  • "Direct negotiations with the enemy are a grave sin and a grave error" on the part of the government, Hajj Hassan said from his parliamentary office before Trump's announcement.
  • Hezbollah lawmaker Hussein Hajj Hassan told AFP on Thursday that the Lebanese government's decision to hold direct negotiations with Israel was a "grave error", urging Beirut to stop making concessions to Israel and the United States.
  • "Direct negotiations with the enemy are a grave sin and a grave error" on the part of the government, Hajj Hassan said from his parliamentary office before Trump's announcement.
Hezbollah lawmaker Hussein Hajj Hassan told AFP on Thursday that the Lebanese government's decision to hold direct negotiations with Israel was a "grave error", urging Beirut to stop making concessions to Israel and the United States.
Israel and Lebanon agreed on Tuesday to begin direct talks following a landmark meeting between the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors to the United States, weeks after Hezbollah pulled Lebanon into the Middle East war with rocket fire at Israel in support of its backer Iran.
The militant group has strongly opposed direct negotiations.
US President Donald Trump later said Israel and Lebanon had agreed to a 10-day truce, which would start at 2100 GMT on Thursday.
"Direct negotiations with the enemy are a grave sin and a grave error" on the part of the government, Hajj Hassan said from his parliamentary office before Trump's announcement.
Trump had said the Lebanese and Israeli "leaders" would speak on Thursday, but an official Lebanese source told AFP that President Joseph Aoun had rejected a US request for a direct phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Aoun's office later said the president had held a phone call with Trump and thanked the US leader for his "efforts" to secure a ceasefire.

'Hypocritical'

Hajj Hassan said direct talks serve "no interest for the country or its citizens... so how can there be contact at the level Trump mentioned?"
He criticised the government for agreeing to negotiations and yielding to "US wishes" before a ceasefire had been reached in Lebanon.
"If they are unable to uphold a single condition called a ceasefire, how will they negotiate with the Zionist entity (Israel) under American auspices?" he said before Trump announced the truce.
He urged Lebanese authorities to halt "this series of useless concessions... to a treacherous and cunning enemy, and to a hypocritical, deceitful, evasive and lying America".
The Lebanese government insisted "on reaching a ceasefire through the Israelis and the Americans... and not through Iran," Hajj Hassan said, accusing Lebanese officials of excluding the country from a regional ceasefire due to "unjustified blind hatred of Iran".
Israel has been carrying out huge strikes on Lebanon and a ground invasion in the country's south, while Washington and Tehran have been at odds on whether a fragile Middle East ceasefire applies to Lebanon.
Lebanese officials have insisted on separating the talks with Israel from those between the United States and Iran.
Aoun said on Thursday that a ceasefire was "the natural starting point for direct negotiations between the two countries".
He emphasised that "the negotiations are the undertaking of Lebanese authorities alone as this is a sovereign matter that nobody else can be involved in", alluding to Iran.

'Internal issue'

On Thursday, before Trump's announcement, Iran's parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf told his Lebanese counterpart and Hezbollah ally Nabih Berri that "for us, a ceasefire in Lebanon is just as important as a ceasefire in Iran".
Hajj Hassan rejected criticism that his party is in the "service of Iran".
Tehran is Hezbollah's main backer, and for decades has supplied the group with money and weapons.
"The one serving Lebanon and serving Hezbollah... is Iran and the proof is that now it won't accept... any agreement that doesn't include a ceasefire in Lebanon," Hajj Hassan said.
Lebanese authorities last year committed to disarming Hezbollah and the army had begun doing so near the border when the latest war erupted.
Authorities last month banned Hezbollah's military activities, to no effect.
"Fighting is legitimate for the resistance in facing the aggressor and the occupier," Hajj Hassan said.
"The resistance is a Lebanese internal issue. America or Israel have nothing to do with it," Hajj Hassan said.
Lebanon says Israeli attacks have killed more than 2,100 people and forced more than one million from their homes.
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election

Little enthusiasm as Palestinians gear up for local polls

BY LOUIS BAUDOIN-LAARMAN

  • But he said he would not vote anyway with the difficulties caused by Israeli settler attacks and the occupation making local elections of "secondary" importance. 
  • With local elections due next week, West Bank Palestinians are struggling to muster enthusiasm for their first ballot since the Gaza war, discouraged by limited political choice and the difficulty of voting under Israeli occupation.
  • But he said he would not vote anyway with the difficulties caused by Israeli settler attacks and the occupation making local elections of "secondary" importance. 
With local elections due next week, West Bank Palestinians are struggling to muster enthusiasm for their first ballot since the Gaza war, discouraged by limited political choice and the difficulty of voting under Israeli occupation.
On April 25, voters will choose representatives in cities, towns and villages across the West Bank, with the ballot happening in part of the Gaza Strip in the first such election since the start of the war there in October 2023.
Nearly 1.5 million people are registered to vote in the occupied West Bank, as well as 70,000 people in Gaza's central Deir el-Balah area, according to the Ramallah-based Central Elections Commission.
But many have been disappointed by a new electoral law passed by decree by Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas requiring all candidates to agree to the Palestine Liberation Organisation's charter and goals in order to register.
"The issue of agreements related to the PLO? I don't agree with this at all," said Khomini Suleiman, a car parts dealer from Beit Ur village near Ramallah, who said he would not vote.
Although some candidates said the new rules had prevented them from running, observers pointed to a general narrowing of the political field.
"The truth is that political parties have effectively disappeared from the Palestinian political scene," a Palestinian elections expert told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
Ramallah resident Mohammad al-Taj said he was a "proud" PLO member but did not think recognition of the charter and programme of the organisation -- which has recognised Israel since the 1990s -- should be a condition for running for office.
But he said he would not vote anyway with the difficulties caused by Israeli settler attacks and the occupation making local elections of "secondary" importance. 
Although the Palestinians have regularly voted in local elections, the last time they held parliamentary elections was in 2006, when the Islamist Hamas won a sweeping victory over Abbas's Fatah movement.
Abbas, who is now 90 and has remained in power for more than 20 years without ever being re-elected, frequently promises legislative and presidential elections that have never taken place.

No Hamas lists

Most electoral lists are aligned with Abbas's Fatah or running as independents.
There are no Hamas-affiliated lists.
"Hamas and Hamas-affiliated candidates are just staying out of it," the elections expert said.
Aref Jaffal, another Palestinian expert, said there were some "positive sides" to the new law that lowers the candidacy age to 18 and hikes the women's quota to 25 percent.
But he deplored the fact it transferred some municipal powers to the local government ministry, thereby empowering Abbas's ruling Palestinian Authority.
In most cities, Fatah lists will run against independent lists headed by candidates from factions such as the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (Marxist-Leninist).
But in many cities, including Ramallah, the seat of the Palestinian Authority, only one list has been submitted, meaning it wins automatically without needing a vote.
Raeda Barghouti, 49, said she was excited because her village, Kobar, would be voting for the first time in a decade, since in previous elections there was only one candidate list.

Gaza experiment

In Hamas-run Gaza, the PA is holding elections only in Deir el-Balah "as an experiment (to test its own) success or failure, since there are no post-war opinion polls", Jamal al-Fadi, a political scientist at Cairo's Al-Azhar University, told AFP.
Deir el-Balah was chosen as it was one of the only places in Gaza where "the population has remained largely in place and not been displaced" by more than two years of war with Israel, he said.
The election commission says it has recruited polling staff from civil society organisations and hired "a private security company to secure polling centres" for the Gaza vote, spokesman Fareed Taamallah told AFP. 
Although a truce deal halted the fighting in October 2025, nearly half of Gaza remains under Israeli control with Palestinians killed by Israeli troops on a near-daily basis. 
Asked about coordination with Israel or Hamas, Taamallah said the commission was indirectly coordinating with COGAT, the Israeli defence ministry body in charge of Palestinian civilian affairs, but with "no other party".
The commission said voting would not take place in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem as Israeli authorities forbid Palestinian political activity in the city.
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