US

War in the Middle East: latest developments

  • "Transfer of Iran's enriched uranium to the US has never been raised in negotiations," foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei told state TV. - Oil prices drop - Wall Street topped records Friday after Iran's announcement reopening the Strait of Hormuz sent oil prices tumbling from a peak of nearly $120 a barrel to $90.38 for the Brent.
  • The latest developments in the Middle East war: - Enriched uranium transfers - Iran's foreign ministry on Friday said the country's stockpile of enriched uranium would not be transferred "anywhere", denying an earlier claim by US President Donald Trump that the Islamic republic had agreed to hand it over.
  • "Transfer of Iran's enriched uranium to the US has never been raised in negotiations," foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei told state TV. - Oil prices drop - Wall Street topped records Friday after Iran's announcement reopening the Strait of Hormuz sent oil prices tumbling from a peak of nearly $120 a barrel to $90.38 for the Brent.
The latest developments in the Middle East war:

Enriched uranium transfers

Iran's foreign ministry on Friday said the country's stockpile of enriched uranium would not be transferred "anywhere", denying an earlier claim by US President Donald Trump that the Islamic republic had agreed to hand it over.
"Transfer of Iran's enriched uranium to the US has never been raised in negotiations," foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei told state TV.

Oil prices drop

Wall Street topped records Friday after Iran's announcement reopening the Strait of Hormuz sent oil prices tumbling from a peak of nearly $120 a barrel to $90.38 for the Brent.

Lebanon-Israel 'agreements'

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said that his country was on the verge of a "new phase" of "permanent agreements" and no longer an "arena" for anyone's wars after a ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war went into force.
Aoun added that direct talks with Israel were "not a sign of weakness nor a concession... negotiations do not mean, and will never mean, giving up any right, conceding any principle, or compromising the sovereignty of this nation".

Kurds killed

Drone and rocket strikes in Iraq's northern Kurdistan region killed three Iranian Kurds, including two women fighters, an exiled opposition group said, blaming the attack on Iran.

Iran deal 'very close'

US President Donald Trump told AFP there were "no sticking points" left for a peace deal with Iran, adding that an agreement was "very close".
"We're very close to having a deal," Trump said in a brief telephone interview. Asked what unresolved issues were left, Trump said: "No sticking points."

Boeing's war boost

The Middle East war has so far boosted Boeing's defence business and hasn't affected deliveries to airline customers confronting high jet fuel prices, the company's CEO said.
Kelly Ortberg cited a recent agreement with the US military to triple production of PAC-3 seekers, which identify and strike hostile aircraft and weapons, as an example of increased demand due to the war.

One killed despite truce

Lebanese state media said an Israeli strike on a motorcycle in the south killed one person, despite the start of a 10-day ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war.

'Never close' Hormuz

"Iran has agreed to never close the Strait of Hormuz again. It will no longer be used as a weapon against the World," Trump said on his Truth Social network.

Israel killed 2,300  in Lebanon

Israeli attacks on Lebanon have killed nearly 2,300 people since March 2, Lebanon's health ministry said, on the first day of the ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war.
In a statement, the ministry said that at least 2,294 have been killed, in a preliminary toll that included 274 women, 177 children and 100 health workers and rescuers.

France, UK Hormuz mission

France and the UK will lead a multinational mission to ensure freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz as "soon as conditions allow", UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said after co-chairing a meeting on the issue with French President Emmanuel Macron.

Trump says rejected NATO help

Trump said he had rejected an offer from NATO to help secure the Strait of Hormuz after Iran said it had reopened, telling the "useless" US-led alliance to "STAY AWAY".
He also said Iran was removing mines from the crucial sea passage with US assistance.

Trump denies cash for uranium

Trump denied that any money would be involved in a deal with Iran over its nuclear program, after an Axios report that Washington was considering a $20 billion cash-for-uranium exchange.
"No money will exchange hands in any way, shape, or form," Trump said on his Truth Social network.
In the same post he said: "The U.S.A. will get all Nuclear 'Dust,' created by our great B2 Bombers," referring to enriched uranium buried by US strikes last year.

Israel 'prohibited'

Trump said the United States had "prohibited" Israel from bombing Lebanon following a ceasefire deal, adding that Washington would work with Lebanon to "deal with" Hezbollah.
But Israel has not "yet finished the job" on Hezbollah, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, vowing to press on with the Lebanese militant group's "dismantling" just hours after a 10-day ceasefire came into effect.
burs-sbk/rmb/sla

US

Turkey hosts latest diplomatic push on Middle East war

BY FULYA OZERKAN

  • The foreign ministers of Turkey, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt met later on Friday on the sidelines of the forum, hours after Tehran declared Hormuz open to commercial shipping. 
  • Turkey on Friday hosted a high‑stakes diplomatic forum bringing together the foreign ministers of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, as Iran declared the Strait of Hormuz open and Islamabad steps up efforts to help end the Middle East war.
  • The foreign ministers of Turkey, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt met later on Friday on the sidelines of the forum, hours after Tehran declared Hormuz open to commercial shipping. 
Turkey on Friday hosted a high‑stakes diplomatic forum bringing together the foreign ministers of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, as Iran declared the Strait of Hormuz open and Islamabad steps up efforts to help end the Middle East war.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the shortest route to peace lay in dialogue and diplomacy.
"I believe the window of opportunity opened by the ceasefire should be used in the most effective way to establish lasting peace," he told the opening of the three‑day Antalya Diplomacy Forum at the Mediterranean resort.
"No matter how deep the disagreements may be, we must not allow words to be replaced again by weapons," he said, adding that "the shortest cut to peace is constructive dialogue and diplomacy". 
The foreign ministers of Turkey, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt met later on Friday on the sidelines of the forum, hours after Tehran declared Hormuz open to commercial shipping. 
A photo released by the Turkish foreign ministry showed the foreign ministers of four countries meeting in a diplomatic setting. 
Pakistan has sought to position itself as a key regional mediator, having hosted rare talks between Iran and the United States last weekend that ended without a breakthrough.
The White House said further talks with Iran would "very likely" take place in Islamabad, where Vice President JD Vance led the US delegation during the previous round of negotiations.

'We must be vigilant'

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who met Qatar's ruler in Doha on Thursday as part of a regional tour, attended the opening of the Antalya forum and also met Erdogan on its margins on Friday.
"We will continue to provide all the support we can to ensure that the ongoing temporary ceasefire turns into a permanent one," a Turkish defence ministry source said on Thursday.
The source added that Ankara hoped the war "whose effects are being felt increasingly not only regionally but also globally" would end swiftly, with all parties engaging constructively in negotiations.
Turkey, a vocal critic of Israel, has joined diplomatic efforts with Egypt and Pakistan to help secure a ceasefire in the conflict, while maintaining that the truce should also apply to Lebanon.
Erdogan did not comment directly on the latest ceasefire reached between Israel and Lebanon but warned against attempts to derail talks.
"We must be prepared and vigilant against Israel's attempts to dynamite the negotiation process," he said.
Turning to the Strait of Hormuz, Erdogan said access to the waterway must not be restricted. His words came shortly before Iran's declaration. 
"One side of Hormuz is Iran, while the other side is Oman. The right of Gulf countries to access open seas must not be restricted," he told the forum, calling for freedom of navigation "based on established rules" and for the strait to remain open to commercial vessels.
More than 150 countries are taking part in the gathering, including more than 20 heads of state and government.
Among those attending are Syrian President Ahmed al‑Sharaa and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
Speaking earlier on Friday, Sharaa said he could consider "long‑term negotiations" with Israel over the disputed Golan Heights if Israel agreed to withdraw from recently occupied Syrian territories.
Since the fall of Syrian President Bashar al‑Assad in December 2024, Israel has deployed troops into a UN‑patrolled buffer zone that for decades separated Israeli and Syrian forces on the Golan Heights.
fo/jxb

Global Edition

Oil plunges, stocks jump as Iran declares Hormuz open

  • "This news is having an immediate impact on markets," said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB. The move also sent a jolt through equity markets, extending a rally in New York, where equities have pushed ever higher since late March in anticipation of a breakthrough in the Middle East crisis.
  • Oil prices tumbled Friday after Iranian officials said they would allow commercial traffic to resume in the Strait of Hormuz, lifting equity markets in Europe and New York, where major indices hit new records.
  • "This news is having an immediate impact on markets," said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB. The move also sent a jolt through equity markets, extending a rally in New York, where equities have pushed ever higher since late March in anticipation of a breakthrough in the Middle East crisis.
Oil prices tumbled Friday after Iranian officials said they would allow commercial traffic to resume in the Strait of Hormuz, lifting equity markets in Europe and New York, where major indices hit new records.
Citing the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran would lift its blockade on shipping through the key Gulf energy trade route.
"In line with the ceasefire in Lebanon, the passage for all commercial vessels through Strait of Hormuz is declared completely open for the remaining period of ceasefire," Araghchi said. 
Traffic in the strategic waterway, through which one-fifth of the world's crude oil normally flows, has been disrupted by Iran since the US-Israeli offensive began on February 28, at one point sending oil prices to a peak of nearly $120 a barrel and roiling the global economy.
Both Brent, the benchmark international contract, and its US equivalent WTI fell below $90 per barrel following Tehran's announcement. Brent later cut its losses and finished at $90.38 a barrel, down 9.1 percent. 
"This news is having an immediate impact on markets," said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB.
The move also sent a jolt through equity markets, extending a rally in New York, where equities have pushed ever higher since late March in anticipation of a breakthrough in the Middle East crisis.
"We had seen a big move the last two weeks and now it's just really pricing completely out the worst-case" scenario, said Angelo Kourkafas, from Edward Jones.
Kourkafas also pointed to underlying strength in the US economy that should get more attention in the coming period as geopolitical concerns ebb.
"Geopolitical developments are moving the right direction and at the same time the earning strength is hard to ignore," Kourkafas said.
The broad-based S&P 500 finished at 7,126.06, up 1.2 percent for the day and 4.5 percent for the week.

'Good news'

Earlier, European stocks closed higher, with both Frankfurt and Paris gaining two percent. 
US President Donald Trump cheered the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz in an interview with AFP. 
"We're very close to having a deal," Trump said in a brief telephone call with AFP from Las Vegas, adding there were "no sticking points at all" left with Tehran.
But Iran quickly pushed back on one key point. 
Iran's foreign ministry said Friday that its stockpile of enriched uranium would not be transferred "anywhere," rejecting an earlier claim by Trump that the Islamic republic had agreed to hand it over.
Shipping industry figures, meanwhile, gave a cautious welcome to Iran's announcement.
A spokesman for German transportation giant Hapag-Lloyd, which has ships stuck in the Gulf, told AFP by phone that the reopening was "in general... good news."
But he cautioned that shippers still needed details of what route vessels could take and in what order, citing fears of mines.
"One thousand ships cannot just go now to the entrance of the strait, that will be chaos. They (the Iranians) need to give clear orders," said the spokesman, Nils Haupt.
"We would be ready to go very soon if some of these open questions can be solved within the weekend."

Key figures around 2020 GMT

Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 9.1 percent at $90.38 a barrel
West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 11.5 percent at $83.85 a barrel
New York - Dow Jones: UP 1.8 percent at 49,447.43 (close)
New York - S&P 500: UP 1.2 percent at 7,126.06 (close)
New York - Nasdaq Composite: UP 1.5 percent at 24,468.48 (close)
London - FTSE 100: UP 0.7 percent at 10,667.63 (close)
Paris - CAC 40: UP 2.0 percent at 8,425.13 (close)
Frankfurt - DAX: UP 2.3 percent at 24,702.24 (close)
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.8 percent at 58,475.90 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.9 percent at 26,160.33 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.1 percent at 4,051.43 (close)
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1776 from $1.1781 on Thursday
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3530 from $1.3527
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 158.49 yen from 159.17 yen
Euro/pound: DOWN at 87.02 pence from 87.09 pence
burs-jmb/sst

US

Lebanon president says working on 'permanent agreements' after Israel truce

  • In a speech addressing the Lebanese people and hinting at the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group the day after US President Donald Trump announced the truce, Aoun said that his country was no longer "an arena for anyone's wars".
  • Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said on Friday that his country was on the verge of a "new phase" of "permanent agreements", after the 10-day ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war went into force.
  • In a speech addressing the Lebanese people and hinting at the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group the day after US President Donald Trump announced the truce, Aoun said that his country was no longer "an arena for anyone's wars".
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said on Friday that his country was on the verge of a "new phase" of "permanent agreements", after the 10-day ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war went into force.
In a speech addressing the Lebanese people and hinting at the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group the day after US President Donald Trump announced the truce, Aoun said that his country was no longer "an arena for anyone's wars".
Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East conflict on March 2 when Tehran-backed Hezbollah attacked Israel to avenge the death of Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei.
Israel responded by firing waves of strikes on Lebanon and launching a ground offensive, killing nearly 2,300 people and displacing more than a million.
"Now, we all stand before a new phase," Aoun said in his first speech to the nation since the truce.
"It is the phase of transition from working on a ceasefire to working on permanent agreements that preserve the rights of our people, the unity of our land, and the sovereignty of our nation."
He said the Lebanese government had "reclaimed Lebanon and Lebanon's decision-making power for the first time" in nearly half a century.
"Today, we negotiate for ourselves... we are no longer a pawn in anyone's game, nor an arena for anyone's wars, and we never will be again," he said.
Since Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam were sworn in last year, Beirut took several unprecedented decisions against Hezbollah, including a commitment to disarm the group in August after a November 2024 ceasefire sought to end its previous conflict with Israel.
It also banned the group's military acitivites after the start of the most recent war last month.
Hezbollah is the only group to have kept its weapons after the 1975-1990 civil war citing "resistance" against Israel, despite the latter's withdrawal from the country in 2000.
In a country mired by sectarian and political divisions, the Shia group's arms have repeatedly caused internal crises.

'Not a concession'

The president thanked "all those who contributed to achieving the ceasefire", including Saudi Arabia and Trump, who announced the truce on Thursday.
Trump later said he expected Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to visit the White House "over the next four or five days". 
The ceasefire came days after Lebanon and Israel's ambassadors to the US held a meeting in Washington, the first direct meeting between the two countries in decades, as they have technically been at war since 1948.
Negotiations with Israel is a divisive topic in Lebanon, with some seeing it as a way to end decades of recurring conflicts, while others including Hezbollah and its supporters reject it.
Direct talks with Israel were "not a sign of weakness nor a concession... negotiations do not mean, and will never mean, giving up any right, conceding any principle, or compromising the sovereignty of this nation," Aoun added in his speech.
On May 17, 1983, Lebanon and Israel signed an agreement on the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon after four-and-a-half months of direct talks with US participation.
The deal was scrapped less than a year later, in March 1984, under pressure from Syria and its allies in Lebanon.
After the 2024 war, Lebanese and Israeli civilian representatives met within the framework of a ceasefire monitoring committee.
The two sides also concluded an agreement in 2022 to demarcate their maritime border, brokered by Washington without direct communication.
"I hereby affirm... that there will be no agreement that infringes upon our national rights," Aoun said.
"Our goal is clear: to stop the Israeli aggression against our land and our people, to achieve Israeli withdrawal, to extend the authority of the state over all its territory by its own forces exclusively, and to ensure the return of the prisoners and the return of our people to their homes and villages."
lk/nad/jfx

immigration

Frenchwoman who married GI sweetheart returns home after ICE ordeal

  • However, she was still in the United States "seven months later", according to US authorities.
  • A Frenchwoman who moved to the United States to marry a Vietnam war veteran she met six decades ago returned to France on Friday after she was detained by US immigration authorities, the French foreign minister said.
  • However, she was still in the United States "seven months later", according to US authorities.
A Frenchwoman who moved to the United States to marry a Vietnam war veteran she met six decades ago returned to France on Friday after she was detained by US immigration authorities, the French foreign minister said.
The 85-year-old woman, who was not being named at the family's request, "returned to France this morning, and we are pleased about that", Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told reporters on a visit to the southern city of Montpellier.
"We are particularly relieved today to see our mum, whom we were reunited with this morning, after she has been through what must have been an extremely difficult ordeal for her," the woman's eldest son, Herve, told a brief press conference in  the village of Orvault in western France, where she lived. 
The local mayor, Sebastien Arrouet, also expressed "joy" at her liberation.
"Together with her son, we had opted for complete discretion to allow diplomatic channels to find a swift resolution for her release," he wrote on Facebook, adding that he was "eagerly looking forward to welcoming her back to Orvault".
The woman had travelled to Anniston, Alabama in 2025 to marry the former Air Force colonel, and was seeking a Green Card, which allows people to live and work permanently in the United States.
The couple first met some 60 years earlier when she was working as a bilingual secretary and he was a soldier stationed at a NATO base, reportedly in Saint-Nazaire, western France, but both ended up marrying other people.
Decades later, after they were both widowed, they reconnected.
According to the New York Times, the woman gave up her life in the village near the French city of Nantes and moved to Alabama, where the couple married in April 2025.
But the American died suddenly in January at the age of 85, throwing her immigration status into uncertainty and leading to her detention by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) in Louisiana.
US media reports said his death also ignited an inheritance dispute between the woman and his son.
The US Department of Homeland Security told AFP on Tuesday that the woman had been detained on April 1. 
- 'Handcuffed and shackled' - 
She had entered the United States in June 2025 on a tourist visa that allowed her to stay for 90 days. However, she was still in the United States "seven months later", according to US authorities.
Citing accounts from US neighbours, her son told AFP that his mother was arrested, "handcuffed and shackled".
The ICE agency is regarded as the strong arm of US President Donald Trump's fierce anti-immigration campaign. It has faced nationwide criticism in America over its aggressive tactics against documented and undocumented immigrants, and for the shooting deaths of two US citizens this year.
As soon as news of the Frenchwoman's arrest broke, a diplomatic source had told AFP that the French Consulate General in Atlanta was "closely monitoring the situation" and providing her with "consular protection".
When asked about ICE's approach, Barrot criticised methods being used by US authorities without referring specifically to the Frenchwoman's case.
"There have been instances of violence that have raised our concern. But the main thing is that she is back in France, and that fully satisfies us," he said.
siu-smk-mb-spm/jxb

children

Genital mutilation: the silent suffering of Colombia's Indigenous girls

BY ALBA SANTANA

  • It does not, however, provide for midwives who flout the ban to be punished, with Indigenous leaders arguing that the women "lack information" about the dangers of FGM. It calls instead for a government-led awareness campaign to sensitize them to the suffering caused by the mutilation and to dispel myths about girls who are spared -- that they will grow up to be sexually promiscuous or even that their clitorises will grow into something resembling a penis.
  • Alejandrina Guasorna did not discover until adulthood that she had been subjected to female genital mutilation (FGM) the day she was born in a remote Indigenous community in Colombia's coffee-growing region.
  • It does not, however, provide for midwives who flout the ban to be punished, with Indigenous leaders arguing that the women "lack information" about the dangers of FGM. It calls instead for a government-led awareness campaign to sensitize them to the suffering caused by the mutilation and to dispel myths about girls who are spared -- that they will grow up to be sexually promiscuous or even that their clitorises will grow into something resembling a penis.
Alejandrina Guasorna did not discover until adulthood that she had been subjected to female genital mutilation (FGM) the day she was born in a remote Indigenous community in Colombia's coffee-growing region.
In the mountains of Risaralda, home to the Embera people, dozens of babies have their clitoris cut each year in a brutal practice based on traditional beliefs about the need to control girls' sexuality.
Some bleed to death or die of infections from unhealed wounds.
"We often saw dead baby girls. We thought it was normal," said Guasorna, a 74-year-old farm worker who has helped deliver babies in her own family but herself never performed genital cutting.
Colombia is the only Latin American country where female circumcision, believed to have been passed on to Indigenous groups by descendants of African slaves, is known to be still practiced.
Nearly two centuries after Colombia, which was a major hub in the South American slave trade, abolished slavery, a landmark ban on FGM is finally being debated by Congress.

A blade or nail

When girls are born in the Embera Chami reserve of Pueblo Rico, a region under Indigenous jurisdiction, midwives use a blade or red-hot nail to remove part of all of their external genitalia, local women told AFP.
The practice, which has declared a human rights violation by the UN and World Health Organization but remains widespread in parts of Africa, is a taboo subject in the Embera reserve.
Many people look away or remain silent, clearly uncomfortable, when the subject comes up.
Guasorna only learned that she had undergone the procedure after hearing rumors that were eventually confirmed by her sister.
Francia Giraldo, an Embera leader, said some babies bleed to death and are never taken to hospital. Parents receive neither birth nor death certificates.
Their mothers, she said, "bury them" straight away.
The bill before Congress, which was drafted by lawmakers together with Indigenous women leaders, aims to end the practice.
It does not, however, provide for midwives who flout the ban to be punished, with Indigenous leaders arguing that the women "lack information" about the dangers of FGM.
It calls instead for a government-led awareness campaign to sensitize them to the suffering caused by the mutilation and to dispel myths about girls who are spared -- that they will grow up to be sexually promiscuous or even that their clitorises will grow into something resembling a penis.
- Pain and secrecy - 
Sexual relations are often painful for victims of FGM.
Etelbina Queragama's face is dotted with paint marks that denote her status within her community.
Speaking in Embera, translated into Spanish by one of her seven children, the 63-year-old housewife said she has "never" felt anything but pain during intercourse.
There are no official figures on the practice of genital mutilation, given the secrecy surrounding the custom.
But according to the National Health Institute, at least 204 cases were performed in Colombia between 2020 and 2025. 
Sarita Patino, a doctor at a hospital that treats FGM victims in Pueblo Rico, believes the incidence of FGM is "greatly under-reported."
Since the start of the year, she has already seen six cases.
In February, a six-month-old baby was brought in with a fever. "The baby girl had her clitoris mutilated... (it looked) like a burn," Patino said.
- Byproduct of slave trade - 
According to the United Nations, an estimated 230 million women and girls around the world are subjected to FGM every year.
In Colombia, the practice is believed to be the product of intermingling between Indigenous and Afro-Colombians who make up around 10 percent of the population but who very rarely still practice FGM.
Carolina Giraldo (no relation of Francia), a historian and Embera congresswoman who drafted the ban on FGM, said it pains her "when people call us (the Embera) murderers and ignorant" over genital cutting.
She hopes to see "women who advocate for women's rights" travel to remote areas to campaign for an end to the silent suffering of Indigenous girls.
als/das/cb/sms

US

Trump tells AFP Iran deal close, 'no sticking points' left

BY DANNY KEMP

  • Asked what the remaining sticking points for a deal were, Trump told AFP: "No sticking points at all."
  • US President Donald Trump signaled Friday that an Iran peace deal was all but done, telling AFP there were "no sticking points" left between Washington and Tehran.
  • Asked what the remaining sticking points for a deal were, Trump told AFP: "No sticking points at all."
US President Donald Trump signaled Friday that an Iran peace deal was all but done, telling AFP there were "no sticking points" left between Washington and Tehran.
Trump's comments came after a slew of social media posts in which he touted Iran's promise to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and progress on ending Iran's nuclear program.
"We're very close. Looks like it's going to be very good for everybody. And we're very close to having a deal," Trump said in a brief telephone interview with AFP from Las Vegas.
"The strait's going to be open, they already are open. And things are going very well."
Iran had earlier said it was opening the Hormuz strait -- a crucial sea lane whose closure caused global oil prices to spike -- for the duration of a Middle East ceasefire.
On his Truth Social site, Trump said "THANK YOU!" to Iran -- while insisting that an American blockade of Iranian ports would remain in "full force" until completion of a peace deal.
"Iran has agreed to never close the Strait of Hormuz again. It will no longer be used as a weapon against the World," Trump said in one of around a dozen Friday morning posts.
Touting further progress towards a deal, Trump also said Iran was removing sea mines from the strait, with US help.
A first round of US-Iran talks in Pakistan led by Vice President JD Vance last weekend ended without a peace deal, but Trump has said a second round could happen soon.
Trump says the core US demand is that Iran should never be able to develop a nuclear weapon, and he said on Thursday that Iran had agreed to turn over its stock of enriched uranium.
Asked what the remaining sticking points for a deal were, Trump told AFP: "No sticking points at all."
When asked why he was unable to declare a deal at this point after his string of optimistic posts, Trump added: "I don't do that, I get it in writing."

Nuclear 'dust'

In his social media posts, Trump again talked up the likelihood of a nuclear deal while insisting that no money would change hands after an Axios report that Washington was considering a $20 billion cash-for-uranium exchange.
"The U.S.A. will get all Nuclear 'Dust,' created by our great B2 Bombers - No money will exchange hands in any way, shape, or form," Trump said in another post.
Trump's upbeat comments to AFP came after he struck a celebratory tone on social media, hailing a "GREAT AND BRILLIANT DAY FOR THE WORLD!"
Trump also gave shout-outs to mediator Pakistan and Gulf allies whose countries have come under attack from Iran since the US-Israel military operation started on February 28.
But Trump delivered a fresh slap-down to NATO over the Western military alliance's refusal to join the Iran war or to contribute to a mission in the Strait of Hormuz until hostilities are over.
"I received a call from NATO asking if we would need some help. I TOLD THEM TO STAY AWAY, UNLESS THEY JUST WANT TO LOAD UP THEIR SHIPS WITH OIL," Trump said on Truth Social.
Trump meanwhile also talked up a 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, saying Israel was now "prohibited" by Washington from bombing its neighbor.
The Lebanon conflict, triggered when Iran-backed Hezbollah struck Israel in response to the US-Israeli war on Iran, was widely regarded as a roadblock for any Iran deal.
"Israel will not be bombing Lebanon any longer. They are PROHIBITED from doing so by the U.S.A. Enough is enough!!!" said Trump, who had first announced the truce on Thursday.
dk/acb

US

Shippers eye Iran Hormuz reopening with wariness

  • - 'Inaccurate' - Afer Iran's announcement on Friday, US President Donald Trump said the Islamic republic had declared the waterway "fully open and ready for full passage".
  • Shipping industry figures gave a cautious welcome Friday to Iran's announcement that it was reopening the crucial Strait of Hormuz trade route to commercial freight after nearly seven weeks closed.
  • - 'Inaccurate' - Afer Iran's announcement on Friday, US President Donald Trump said the Islamic republic had declared the waterway "fully open and ready for full passage".
Shipping industry figures gave a cautious welcome Friday to Iran's announcement that it was reopening the crucial Strait of Hormuz trade route to commercial freight after nearly seven weeks closed.
Iranian forces' closure of the strait has trapped hundreds of ships in the Gulf and driven up the costs of shipping goods, with captains avoiding the region for fear of attacks or mines.
A spokesman for German transportation giant Hapag-Lloyd, which has ships stuck in the Gulf, told AFP by phone that the reopening was "in general... good news".
But he cautioned that shippers still needed details of what route vessels could take and in what order, citing fears of sea mines.
"One thousand ships cannot just go now to the entrance of the strait, that will be chaos. They (the Iranians) need to give clear orders," said the spokesman, Nils Haupt.
"We would be ready to go very soon if some of these open questions can be solved within the weekend."
Bloomberg data indicated there were about 770 vessels used for carrying commodities sending transponder signals inside the Gulf on Thursday, of which about 360 were oil and gas carriers.
Before the war, average daily crossings of the strait overall numbered about 120, according to industry journal Lloyd's List.

'Inaccurate'

Afer Iran's announcement on Friday, US President Donald Trump said the Islamic republic had declared the waterway "fully open and ready for full passage".
Jakob Larsen, chief security officer of major shipping association BIMCO, said in a statement emailed to AFP that this claim was "inaccurate".
"The status of mine threats in (Iran's maritime) traffic separation scheme is unclear, and BIMCO believes shipping companies should consider avoiding the area," he said.
The secretary general of leading industry lobby the International Chamber of Shipping, Thomas Kazakos, said the announcement was "a positive step (but) there is still much uncertainty around what it means in practice".
In a statement sent to AFP, he said it offered "a cautious measure of reassurance to" shippers and the thousands of seafarers stuck in the Gulf by the Middle East war for nearly seven weeks.
"It is essential that it marks the beginning of a broader and more durable return, beyond the current ceasefire, to freedom of navigation in one of the world's most critical maritime corridors," he said.
rlp/rmb

US

France, UK to lead 'defensive' force for Hormuz

BY VALERIE LEROUX AND STUART WILLIAMS

  • - 'Neutral' mission - Starmer said that the multinational mission could be deployed "as soon as conditions allowed". 
  • France and Britain said Friday they will lead a multinational mission to ensure freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, while emphasising the force would be entirely defensive and only deployed once lasting peace in the region was agreed.
  • - 'Neutral' mission - Starmer said that the multinational mission could be deployed "as soon as conditions allowed". 
France and Britain said Friday they will lead a multinational mission to ensure freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, while emphasising the force would be entirely defensive and only deployed once lasting peace in the region was agreed.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron confirmed the force was being set up as they co-chaired international talks in Paris focused on ensuring free-flowing trade through the critical shipping corridor.
The conference, held mainly by video link, brought together a total of 49 countries from Europe and Asia, which were represented at various levels including dozens of heads of state and government.
Neither the United States nor Iran, as warring parties, participated in the meeting.
Iran imposed a blockade as soon as the US and Israel launched the war against the Islamic republic on February 28. 
The economic impact rippled worldwide, triggering inflation fears, concerns over fuel supplies and worries about food shortages.
But markets responded with relief when Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi -- in an X post published while the Paris talks were in progress -- that the Strait of Hormuz was now open to commercial vessels as long as a ceasefire in the Middle East lasts.

'Neutral' mission

Starmer said that the multinational mission could be deployed "as soon as conditions allowed". 
"This will be strictly peaceful and defensive as a mission to reassure commercial shipping and support mine clearance," he said, adding that "over a dozen countries have already offered to contribute assets".
The leaders welcomed Tehran's announcement, but urged a "full, unconditional reopening by all the parties", Macron said.
The French president said the announcement made the multinational mission "all the more important because it is what will allow these announcements to be consolidated in the short term and, above all, to have a chance of lasting".
Macron described the mission as "neutral" and "completely separate from the belligerents" involved in the war.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, at the meeting in person, said her country was "ready to participate" in the force, but stressed that hostilities first needed to cease.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, also in Paris, added that it would be "desirable" to have the US be part of the mission.

'Stop global economic damage'

The meeting was a chance for Europe to display its capacities after having largely been sidelined by the United States in diplomatic efforts to end the war.
US President Donald Trump said on social media after Tehran's announcement he had rejected an offer from NATO to help secure the Strait of Hormuz, telling the transatlantic alliance to "STAY AWAY". 
It was not clear if he was referring to the Paris talks, where NATO was not represented.
Starmer said said the "world needs the Strait of Hormuz fully open because that is how we keep prices down for our people and stop the global economic damage".
He welcomed the announcement by Iran on the reopening of Hormuz but warned that "we need to make sure that it is lasting and a workable proposal."
Military chiefs are due to meet next week for further discussions at the UK's military command headquarters in Northwood outside London where further details will be worked out, Starmer's office said.
bur-fff-vl-sjw/spm/rmb

US

Stranded seafarers endure costly path home from Gulf

BY LAETITIA COMMANAY WITH ARUNABH SAIKIA IN NEW DELHI

  • - Passport struggle - When the bombs started flying as the war broke out, Pereira contacted unions in India on March 3 for help to get home.
  • When seaman Rex Pereira saw missiles flying above his vessel in the Gulf, it sparked in him one desperate wish: to get back home to India.
  • - Passport struggle - When the bombs started flying as the war broke out, Pereira contacted unions in India on March 3 for help to get home.
When seaman Rex Pereira saw missiles flying above his vessel in the Gulf, it sparked in him one desperate wish: to get back home to India.
Stranded by the Middle East war, like thousands of other seafarers, he feared for his life as he saw bombardments in the distance in Iran.
When he demanded to be repatriated from his supply vessel docked in Iraq, he did not expect the process would take him weeks and cost him hundreds of dollars.
Besides the perils of the US-Israeli war with Iran, he and many of the 20,000 other seafarers stuck in the region struggled with the shipping industry's poorly regulated working conditions.
"Whatever I have earned (on the ship), I think I paid the entire amount in travelling, so I didn't get anything in return. All of my savings are gone," the 28-year-old told AFP by phone from his home in Mumbai.
"The experience was really bad, so I don't think I will be going back to the sea."

Passport struggle

When the bombs started flying as the war broke out, Pereira contacted unions in India on March 3 for help to get home.
The owner of his vessel had his passport and was refusing to give it back.
The unions contacted the Indian embassy in Iraq, which made visa requests and pressed Iraqi immigration officers to force the owner to return Pereira's documents.
In the meantime, his ship was running out of food and water.
He and his crewmates had to boil water to drink, and collected water dripping from air conditioning units to shower and wash their clothes.
– Long journey home –
When he finally got his necessary visas a month later, on April 2, a long and expensive journey home began.
"An immigration officer came to pick me up on April 5 and dropped me at the Kuwait border. After that, I was alone," he said.
He took a bus and three taxis, travelling for 17 hours to reach Riyadh airport in Saudi Arabia, where he took a flight to Mumbai early on April 7 -- two full days after he had left his vessel in Iraq.
He spent $1,350 in total to get home: $200 for part of the plane ticket -- the rest was paid for by his company -- $450 for the taxis and $700 for visas.
He said he hoped to get reimbursed by the Indian recruitment agency that got him the job, but had not heard back from it since he got home.
– 'Logistical nightmare' –
"This type of situation is unfortunately very, very recurrent," says Mohamed Arrachedi, Network Coordinator for the Arab World and Iran at the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF).
The off-duty captain of one vessel which was stuck off Qatar told AFP that replacing seafarers in the Gulf amid the war was a "logistical nightmare" and could cost up to twice as much as in non-war times.
Because of this, many ship owners were reluctant to let their crew sign off, said Manoj Yadav, the General Secretary of the Forward Seamen's Union of India.
Even when seafarers are authorised to leave, the process is "delayed because processing of visas taking longer than usual, and because very few flights are available", Yadav told AFP.
He said more than 200 Indian seafarers had asked his union for help with bringing them home.
Some of them had to travel "nearly 1,800 kilometres (1,100 miles) by road from Iran to Azerbaijan to catch a flight to India".

Fear on board

Shivendra Chaurasiya's journey home lasted three days. He reached his village in Uttar Pradesh, India on April 6.
After joining the crew of a bulk carrier in December, he was stuck while it was anchored at Bandar Abbas, Iran, from late February.
He described the fear he felt on board, seeing ships hit by strikes.
"My life was at risk. I used to think, which meal might be my last one? Maybe today's breakfast is my last."
Unlike Pereira's, his employer paid for his entire trip home.
Doing so is a legal requirement for companies whose ships are covered by the International Bargaining Forum (IBF)'s labour agreements -- around 15,000 vessels worldwide, according to the IBF.
– $300 salary –
Seafarers wishing to leave vessels with no such agreements in place either have to pay for their own way home or are left stranded.
One 21-year-old seafarer, who asked to be identified only as Manish, said he could not afford to get home.
"I have not received my salary of 300 dollars a month," he said.
He spoke on Monday to AFP from the cargo vessel he joined nine months ago, stuck in Iran since the start of the war.
His contract had ended but he said the vessel's owner was refusing to pay for his return home despite a clause in his contract -- seen by AFP –- that explicitly stated the owner had to.
"We have no provisions, no food, and too many problems", he told AFP. "Please, tell someone who can help with a ticket to go back to my homeland."
lmc-sai/rlp/rmb

immigration

Frenchwoman who married GI sweetheart returns home after ICE ordeal

  • However, she was still in the United States "seven months later," according to US authorities.
  • A Frenchwoman who moved to the United States to marry a Vietnam war veteran she first met six decades ago returned to France Friday after she was detained by US immigration authorities, the foreign minister said.
  • However, she was still in the United States "seven months later," according to US authorities.
A Frenchwoman who moved to the United States to marry a Vietnam war veteran she first met six decades ago returned to France Friday after she was detained by US immigration authorities, the foreign minister said.
The 85-year-old woman, who was not being named at the family's request, "returned to France this morning, and we are pleased about that," Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told reporters on a visit to the southern city of Montpellier.
She had moved to Anniston, Alabama in 2025 to marry the former Air Force colonel, and was seeking a green card, which allows people to live and work permanently in the United States.
The couple first met some 60 years earlier when she was working as a bilingual secretary and he was a soldier stationed at a NATO base reportedly in Saint-Nazaire, western France, but according to US media both married other people.
Decades later, after they were both widowed, they reconnected.
According to the New York Times, the woman gave up her life in the French city of Nantes and moved to Alabama, where the couple married in April 2025.
But the American died suddenly in January at the age of 85, throwing her immigration status into uncertainty and leading to her detention by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE).
US media reports said his death also ignited an inheritance dispute between the woman and his son.  
The US Department of Homeland Security told AFP on Tuesday that the woman had been detained on April 1. 
- 'Handcuffed and shackled - 
She had entered the United States in June 2025 on a tourist visa that allowed her to stay for 90 days. However, she was still in the United States "seven months later," according to US authorities.
Citing accounts from US neighbours, her son told AFP that his mother was arrested, "handcuffed and shackled".
Regarded as the strong arm of US President Donald Trump's fierce anti-immigration campaign, the ICE agency has faced nationwide criticism of its aggressive tactics against undocumented immigrants and for the shooting deaths of two US citizens this year.
As soon as news of the French woman's arrest broke, a diplomatic source had told AFP that the French Consulate General in Atlanta was "closely monitoring the situation" and providing her with "consular protection".
When asked about ICE's approach on Thursday, Barrot criticised those methods without referring specifically to the Frenchwoman.
"There have been instances of violence that have raised our concern. But the main thing is that she is back in France, and that fully satisfies us," he said.
siu-smk-mb-as/spm/st

US

First loaded Iranian oil tankers exit Gulf since US blockade: Kpler

  • No Iranian tanker had left the Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz with a cargo of crude oil since the Starla on April 10.
  • Three Iranian oil tankers carrying a total of five million barrels of crude have become the first such loaded vessels to leave the Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz since a US blockade came into force, the tracking firm Kpler told AFP on Friday.
  • No Iranian tanker had left the Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz with a cargo of crude oil since the Starla on April 10.
Three Iranian oil tankers carrying a total of five million barrels of crude have become the first such loaded vessels to leave the Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz since a US blockade came into force, the tracking firm Kpler told AFP on Friday.
The Deep Sea, Sonia I and Diona, all under US sanctions, passed the strategic strait on Wednesday after leaving Iran's Kharg Island, having loaded on April 2, 8 and 9 respectively, according to the maritime data company.
Washington has imposed a blockade on Iranian ports since Monday, intended to prevent Tehran from exporting its oil.
No Iranian tanker had left the Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz with a cargo of crude oil since the Starla on April 10.
Maritime data tracking sites do not provide recent AIS transponder data on the three tankers, as their devices are switched off.
All three last transmitted approximately a month ago in the Strait of Malacca, according to the Marine Traffic website.
But Kpler also used satellite imagery to track the ships, and confirmed to AFP that they all crossed the strait on Wednesday.
Their destinations are unknown but these vessels have been systematically transporting their cargoes to the Singapore area for several years.
In that area, ship-to-ship transfers have been detected, moving the cargo to other tankers bound for China, according to data from Global Fishing Watch and Kpler.

Oil to China

The three ships each transferred cargoes of Iranian crude oil near Singapore in March. 
The Deep Sea's previous cargo was delivered by the Utopia Quest to the port of Yantai, northern China, on March 30.
The Diona's cargo was delivered by the Indigo Ray on April 10 to the oil terminal at the port of Dongjiakou, also in northern China. 
And the Sonia I's cargo was transferred to the Adeline G, whose destination was unknown.
Since March 1, the cargoes of at least 37 oil tankers linked to Iran have been transferred at sea in the Singapore area, representing at least 62.3 million barrels of crude oil, according to Kpler data analysed by AFP.
Two sanctioned Iranian container ships exited the Gulf via the strait earlier this week but performed U-turns close to the Pakistan border, and were last detected close to the Iranian port of Chabahar. 
Two sanctioned cargo vessels also passed through the strait in the opposite direction and were last detected close to the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas.
jah/jwp/rlp/js

US

War in the Middle East: latest developments

  •   - 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. 
  • The latest developments in the Middle East war:   - Russia hails ceasefire -   Moscow backed the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon, and said it hoped the pause in fighting could pave the way for a longer-term agreement.
  •   - 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. 
The latest developments in the Middle East war:
 

Russia hails ceasefire

 
Moscow backed the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon, and said it hoped the pause in fighting could pave the way for a longer-term agreement.
"We certainly welcome the decision on a truce and hope that in these few days it will indeed be possible to reach agreements that will prevent a repeat of the military clashes," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, in response to a question by AFP.
 

Israel says operation against Hezbollah 'not complete'

 
Israel's defence minister said the campaign against Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah was not yet complete, just hours after a 10-day ceasefire came into force in Lebanon.
Defence Minister Israel Katz also warned that thousands of displaced Lebanese civilians returning home as the ceasefire took hold may have to evacuate again if fighting resumed.
 

Lebanon says 13 killed in Tyre

 
Israeli strikes on Tyre in southern Lebanon killed at least 13 people just before the ceasefire took effect at midnight, a city official said, with 35 injured.
 

Hezbollah keeps 'finger on the trigger'

 
Hezbollah said it was keeping its "finger on the trigger" in case of any Israeli ceasefire violations.
The Iran-backed movement said it had carried out "2,184 military operations" against Israel and its troops inside Lebanon, adding: "The fighters will keep their finger on the trigger because they are wary of the enemy's treachery."
 

Lebanese return

 
AFP images showed packed cars heading southwards along Lebanon's coastal highway before dawn, and crossing at sunrise what was left of a bridge bombed by Israel during the war.
The returns came despite Lebanese army warnings that advised residents of southern Lebanon not to return.
 
- Ceasefire 'violations' - 
 
Lebanon's army reported "several Israeli acts of aggression" that it said violated the ceasefire, in a post on X.
 

Ceasefire takes effect

 
The 10-day ceasefire agreed between neighbouring 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 Israel stopped its attacks on its militants.
 

Trump hopes Hezbollah 'acts nicely'

 
US President Donald Trump said Thursday that he hoped Hezbollah "acts nicely and well" during the ceasefire. 
"I hope Hezbollah acts nicely and well during this important period of time," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, 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 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 that Iran had 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.
 
burs/pdw/giv

games

Video game voice star Troy Baker says 'only humans' can make art

BY KILIAN FICHOU

  • - 'Ask questions' - Baker struck just the right tone in 2024's "Indiana Jones and the Great Circle," in which he played Harrison Ford's film hero in his prime.
  • Millions of gamers around the world may not know Troy Baker's face but would recognise his voice -- perhaps as the heartbroken father Joel in "The Last of Us" or an intrepid Indiana Jones in "The Great Circle".
  • - 'Ask questions' - Baker struck just the right tone in 2024's "Indiana Jones and the Great Circle," in which he played Harrison Ford's film hero in his prime.
Millions of gamers around the world may not know Troy Baker's face but would recognise his voice -- perhaps as the heartbroken father Joel in "The Last of Us" or an intrepid Indiana Jones in "The Great Circle".
That human connection is why the 50-year-old actor is "not afraid of anything replacing artists" even as creative industries are beset by fears of artificial intelligence taking over.
Baker spoke to AFP soon after of the release of a new title, "Screamer", the latest in a string of 430 games and animations to which he has lent his vocal cords rather than his bearded face and piercing blue eyes, according to IMDb.
Although AI can easily ape an actor's voice,"we're talking about art," Baker said.
"We make art. Art is inherently, intrinsically a human expression, and only humans can make it."
In "Screamer", a car racing title released last month for PC and consoles, Baker plays the role of Mister A., the organiser of a tournament whose high-octane clashes are interspersed with animated sequences.
"History has shown us that technology creates more opportunities than it replaces," Baker said.
Nevertheless, "anytime, in any art form, people are fearful of their jobs," he acknowledged. "I understand it."
Baker himself came in for online criticism in early 2022 for associating with a company specialising in NFTs ("non-fungible tokens", or tradeable digital objects) before quickly backing out.

'I love Joel'

Baker fell almost by accident into voice work in the early 2000s as he was trying to get a rock band off the ground.
But it was in 2013 that he broke through with the role of Joel in "The Last Of Us", the action-adventure game that tells the story of a man and a young girl traversing a post-apocalyptic America.
Baker's motions were also captured in his performance as the gruff and bereaved father.
Popular the world over, the game's success spawned a 2020 sequel and an HBO series starting in 2023, in which Baker appeared for a cameo role as a different character.
"I love Joel. I miss him every day," Baker said, while adding that he "cannot imagine any more of (his) story that's left to tell" despite rumours of a third game regularly circulating online.
Unlike the "multimillion-dollar sets" common in the movie business, in games "there's times when I'm given a microphone, a script and a Zoom call," said Baker, whose other major roles include the brother of the protagonist Nathan Drake in "Uncharted 4" (2016) and the antagonist of two "Death Stranding" games (2019 and 2025).

'Ask questions'

Baker struck just the right tone in 2024's "Indiana Jones and the Great Circle," in which he played Harrison Ford's film hero in his prime.
He recalled how at first, he "prepared in a completely wrong way" by attempting to copy one-for-one the movie star's voice and movements.
"That's the least Indiana Jones thing I could do," he later realised, saying he "had to let go" of Ford and do things his own way.
The Hollywood star himself congratulated Baker on his performance at the Game Awards in Los Angeles in 2024, one of the high points of the video game calendar.
But across different projects, "I can't have a single process," Baker said. "Every studio is different. Every game should be different."
His approach these days is to "ask a lot of questions" -- as in "Screamer", where "we spent a lot of time really dialing in each individual character".
This year Baker is appearing in the film "Iron Lung", a sci-fi thriller directed by the YouTube star Mark Fischbach, who goes by the moniker Marliplier.
Nevertheless, "I've never looked at video games as a stepping stone. This is where I love to be," he said.
kf/tgb/js

US

10-day Israel-Lebanon truce begins as Lebanese army warns of 'violations'

  • Shortly after the truce went into effect at midnight local time (2100 GMT), the army told residents of the south -- many of whom had to flee their homes following sweeping Israeli evacuation warnings -- not to return, citing "several Israeli acts of aggression".
  • A 10-day ceasefire deal struck between Lebanon and Israel took effect on Friday, sending displaced residents streaming south towards their homes, even as the Lebanese army warned of "a number of violations" in the area.
  • Shortly after the truce went into effect at midnight local time (2100 GMT), the army told residents of the south -- many of whom had to flee their homes following sweeping Israeli evacuation warnings -- not to return, citing "several Israeli acts of aggression".
A 10-day ceasefire deal struck between Lebanon and Israel took effect on Friday, sending displaced residents streaming south towards their homes, even as the Lebanese army warned of "a number of violations" in the area.
Shortly after the truce went into effect at midnight local time (2100 GMT), the army told residents of the south -- many of whom had to flee their homes following sweeping Israeli evacuation warnings -- not to return, citing "several Israeli acts of aggression".
Nonetheless, AFP images showed packed cars heading southwards along Lebanon's coastal highway before dawn, and crossing at sunrise what was left of a bridge bombed by Israel during the war.
Displaced resident Alaa Damash acknowledged the warnings "to wait a bit" before rushing back home.
But the people's "love for their lands and houses, and their attachment to them, pushed them to go back there despite the fire threats", she said.
The ceasefire represents a key step in Washington's efforts to reach a deal to end its war with Iran, with Tehran insisting a Lebanon truce must be part of any agreement.
Mediator Islamabad has been leading the international push to restart face-to-face talks between Tehran and Washington with Trump signaling he might fly to Pakistan to sign any agreement -- adding they were "very close" to striking one.
The fighting in Lebanon broke out on March 2 when Tehran-backed Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel just a few days after the start of the Middle East war in retribution for the death of Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei in the opening waves of US-Israeli strikes.
Gunfire rang out overnight in Beirut's southern suburbs, where Hezbollah holds sway, as the ceasefire came into effect -- an apparent bout of spontaneous celebration, although that could not be confirmed.
Traffic accumulated kilometres away from the only bridge connecting the coastal region south of Lebanon's Litani River to the rest of the country, as people lined up for hours waiting for a chance to return home, AFP journalists said. 
As the ceasefire came into effect, Israel's military said it had struck over 380 "Hezbollah terror organization targets in southern Lebanon" and was on "high alert" to resume strikes.
Trump said he had spoken to both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun ahead of the truce, adding the pair had agreed to the truce "in order to achieve PEACE between their Countries".
He later said he expected Netanyahu and Aoun to visit the White House "over the next four or five days". 

'Very happy'

A top-level face-to-face meeting between the Lebanese and Israeli leadership would be a watershed moment for the region.
But it remained to be seen whether it would take place.
Netanyahu said the 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 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. 
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam welcomed Trump's announcement of the 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. 
But the Lebanese president had rejected Trump's request for a direct call with Netanyahu, an official source told AFP.
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.
Trump called the development "very exciting", in response to a question from an AFP reporter as he left the White House. "Today they're going to be having a ceasefire, and that'll include Hezbollah."
A Hezbollah lawmaker told AFP it would "cautiously adhere" to the truce 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 would maintain a 10-kilometre (six-mile) "security zone" along the border in southern Lebanon.
Lethal violence continued right up until shortly before the truce began, with Lebanon's health ministry saying at least seven people were killed and more than 30 wounded in an Israeli strike on the town of Ghazieh on Thursday.
An Israeli hospital spokesman also said three people had been injured on Thursday. 
burs-dk-gw/jgc/ceg/smw

internet

Under blackout threat, Wikimedia to hold talks with Indonesia

  • "We intend to explain the Foundation's unique position as a nonprofit technology host for Wikipedia... and the significant ways that registration under Indonesia's MR5 regulation departs from international human rights norms and threatens the privacy and security of Wikipedia editors," the foundation's statement said.
  • The Wikimedia Foundation said Friday it will hold talks with the Indonesian government after Jakarta threatened to block Wikipedia over registration rules the firm says "departs from international human rights norms".
  • "We intend to explain the Foundation's unique position as a nonprofit technology host for Wikipedia... and the significant ways that registration under Indonesia's MR5 regulation departs from international human rights norms and threatens the privacy and security of Wikipedia editors," the foundation's statement said.
The Wikimedia Foundation said Friday it will hold talks with the Indonesian government after Jakarta threatened to block Wikipedia over registration rules the firm says "departs from international human rights norms".
A meeting will take place next week to discuss Indonesia's demands for Wikimedia to register as an "electronic system provider" (PSE), the Wikipedia parent company said in a statement sent to AFP.
Under a 2020 regulation, all PSE companies, including those based outside the country, are required to register for what the government says are for legal and user protection purposes.
Critics have pointed to a provision that requires registered PSEs to take down content deemed as "causing public unrest and disturbing public order" as a free speech restriction.
The government on Wednesday gave the foundation seven days to register or face its services, including Wikipedia Indonesia, being blocked in the country of 284 million people.
"We intend to explain the Foundation's unique position as a nonprofit technology host for Wikipedia... and the significant ways that registration under Indonesia's MR5 regulation departs from international human rights norms and threatens the privacy and security of Wikipedia editors," the foundation's statement said.
It added "we will resist inappropriate orders, and we push back on laws that require very rapid and guaranteed disclosure of user data without the ability to raise appropriate legal objections".
A blockage of Wikipedia in Indonesia will "deny the fourth most populous country in the world access to the largest free knowledge repository", the statement said.
The Communication and Digital Ministry did not respond to a request for comment.
Earlier in the week, the ministry said the Wikimedia Foundation had repeatedly sought extensions to registration.
Last October, Indonesia briefly suspended TikTok's local operating licence after the social media platform refused to share information sought by Jakarta about violent anti-government protests earlier in the year.
mrc/mlr/abs

conflict

Russia trains teenage influencers to churn out pro-war content

BY ALISA BUTTERWICK

  • At one content creation camp in early April, more than 120 teenagers, clad in green sweaters and red berets, gathered in Moscow for lectures from soldiers and state media reporters on how to produce videos, use artificial intelligence and build audiences.
  • Russia is trying to produce more pro-war  influencers through content creation camps, training teenagers to spread the Kremlin's hardline, anti-West narrative to the next generation.
  • At one content creation camp in early April, more than 120 teenagers, clad in green sweaters and red berets, gathered in Moscow for lectures from soldiers and state media reporters on how to produce videos, use artificial intelligence and build audiences.
Russia is trying to produce more pro-war  influencers through content creation camps, training teenagers to spread the Kremlin's hardline, anti-West narrative to the next generation.
Since invading Ukraine in 2022, Moscow has ramped up control of the domestic information space, outlawing criticism of the offensive through strict military censorship laws, throttling foreign media outlets and pushing its agenda across society.
Schools and young people have been targeted -- curricula and textbooks changed to include Russia's justification for its invasion and soldiers despatched to whip up pro-war enthusiasm in the classroom.
At one content creation camp in early April, more than 120 teenagers, clad in green sweaters and red berets, gathered in Moscow for lectures from soldiers and state media reporters on how to produce videos, use artificial intelligence and build audiences.
"We have created a huge team of kids, who understand how to broadcast government values and our organisation's values," Vladislav Golovin, a former soldier and chief of the general staff of Russia's Young Army cadets movement, said in a statement released by the group.
In a promotional video from the event, children were shown cheering a cadet racing against Golovin to see who could reload a sniper rifle the fastest.
Another organisation, the Movement of the First, runs competitions offering rewards for teenagers with the best blogs and biggest followings.

'Easy to radicalise'

The training camps are part of what Keir Giles, director of the UK-based Conflict Studies Research Centre, calls a "concentrated campaign to restore the prestige of the Russian military."
"These 14–16-year-olds have grown up in an environment where they have never known anything other than Putinism. This is their reality, and so we should not be surprised if these new efforts to spread information reflect that reality," he told AFP.
The drive to instil young Russians with Kremlin-approved values comes from the very top.
In 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin quoted Otto Van Bismarck to summarise his approach.
"Wars are not won by generals, but by schoolteachers and parish priests," Putin said in a televised press conference.
"Educating young people in the spirit of patriotism is crucial," he added.
The revival of Soviet-era youth organisations, like the Young Army, Yunarmiya in Russian, and Movement of the First -- which says it has 14 million online members and 1,100 regional initiatives -- has been integral to those efforts.
In their beige military uniforms with red berets, the rows of teenage cadets often resemble a bright poppy field at set-piece state events, like grand military parades dedicated to Soviet victory in World War II.
As Russia has clamped down on media and the internet since ordering troops into Ukraine, the campaign has moved online.
AI and disinformation expert at the Technological University of Berlin, Veronika Solopova, said social media algorithms are ripe for the Kremlin to spread its narrative, delivering individually tailored content to evoke an emotional response.
"Young people are famously easy to radicalise, easy to jump to conclusions on the nature of injustices, which, for Russia, is then all conveniently converted into army enrolments," she added.

'Behind the camera'

More than half of Russians aged 18-24 say social media is their main source of news, polling by the independent Levada Centre found in March.
Young people's "shorter attention spans, combined with the effortless shareability of clips and reels, make digital content an exceptionally powerful tool," said Giorgi Revishvili, a former Senior Advisor to the National Security Council of Georgia.
Social media content can be "direct and radical" or "very subtle, aimed not at generating support for Russia, but at decreasing solidarity with Ukraine," said Dietmar Pichler, a disinformation and propaganda analyst at INVED.
At the training camp in Moscow, the Young Army cadets were quick to grasp the power of their new skills.
"When you are the one behind the camera filming the entire process, making audiences happy, you realise ... you are the one who has aroused these emotions in people," a girl said in a promotional clip published by the organisers.
"The truth lies in a frame, and we are operating the camera."
str/jc/ach 

US

10-day Israel-Lebanon truce begins as Lebanese army warns of 'violations'

  • Shortly after the truce went into effect at midnight local time (2100 GMT), the army told residents of the south -- many of whom had to flee their homes following sweeping Israeli evacuation warnings -- not to return, citing "several Israeli acts of aggression".
  • A 10-day ceasefire deal struck between Lebanon and Israel took effect on Friday, sending displaced residents streaming south towards their homes, even as the Lebanese army warned of "a number of violations" in the area.
  • Shortly after the truce went into effect at midnight local time (2100 GMT), the army told residents of the south -- many of whom had to flee their homes following sweeping Israeli evacuation warnings -- not to return, citing "several Israeli acts of aggression".
A 10-day ceasefire deal struck between Lebanon and Israel took effect on Friday, sending displaced residents streaming south towards their homes, even as the Lebanese army warned of "a number of violations" in the area.
Shortly after the truce went into effect at midnight local time (2100 GMT), the army told residents of the south -- many of whom had to flee their homes following sweeping Israeli evacuation warnings -- not to return, citing "several Israeli acts of aggression".
Nonetheless, AFP images showed packed cars heading southwards along Lebanon's coastal highway before dawn, and crossing at sunrise what was left of a bridge bombed by Israel during the war.
Displaced resident Alaa Damash acknowledged the warnings "to wait a bit" before rushing back home.
But the people's "love for their lands and houses, and their attachment to them, pushed them to go back there despite the fire threats", she said.
The ceasefire represents a key step in Washington's efforts to reach a deal to end its war with Iran, with Tehran insisting a Lebanon truce must be part of any agreement.
Mediator Islamabad has been leading the international push to restart face-to-face talks between Tehran and Washington with Trump signaling he might fly to Pakistan to sign any agreement -- adding they were "very close" to striking one.
The fighting in Lebanon broke out on March 2 when Tehran-backed Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel just a few days after the start of the Middle East war in retribution for the death of Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei in the opening waves of US-Israeli strikes.
Gunfire rang out overnight in Beirut's southern suburbs, where Hezbollah holds sway, as the ceasefire came into effect -- an apparent bout of spontaneous celebration, although that could not be confirmed.
Traffic accumulated kilometres away from the only bridge connecting the coastal region south of Lebanon's Litani River to the rest of the country, as people lined up for hours waiting for a chance to return home, AFP journalists said. 
As the ceasefire came into effect, Israel's military said it had struck over 380 "Hezbollah terror organization targets in southern Lebanon" and was on "high alert" to resume strikes.
Trump said he had spoken to both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun ahead of the truce, adding the pair had agreed to the truce "in order to achieve PEACE between their Countries".
He later said he expected Netanyahu and Aoun to visit the White House "over the next four or five days". 

'Very happy'

A top-level face-to-face meeting between the Lebanese and Israeli leadership would be a watershed moment for the region.
But it remained to be seen whether it would take place.
Netanyahu said the 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 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. 
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam welcomed Trump's announcement of the 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. 
But the Lebanese president had rejected Trump's request for a direct call with Netanyahu, an official source told AFP.
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.
Trump called the development "very exciting", in response to a question from an AFP reporter as he left the White House. "Today they're going to be having a ceasefire, and that'll include Hezbollah."
A Hezbollah lawmaker told AFP it would "cautiously adhere" to the truce 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 would maintain a 10-kilometre (six-mile) "security zone" along the border in southern Lebanon.
Lethal violence continued right up until shortly before the truce began, with Lebanon's health ministry saying at least seven people were killed and more than 30 wounded in an Israeli strike on the town of Ghazieh on Thursday.
An Israeli hospital spokesman also said three people had been injured on Thursday. 
burs-dk-gw/jgc/ceg/smw

Global Edition

Harry and Meghan meet survivors of Bondi Beach attack

  • Harry and Meghan toured Bondi on the last day of their whistle-stop trip down under, walking the sand barefoot flanked by first responders from the Bondi Beach Surf Lifesaving Club.
  • Prince Harry and wife Meghan Markle visited Australia's Bondi Beach on Friday to meet survivors of last year's mass shooting at the famed surf spot.
  • Harry and Meghan toured Bondi on the last day of their whistle-stop trip down under, walking the sand barefoot flanked by first responders from the Bondi Beach Surf Lifesaving Club.
Prince Harry and wife Meghan Markle visited Australia's Bondi Beach on Friday to meet survivors of last year's mass shooting at the famed surf spot.
A father-and-son duo are accused of murdering 15 people last December in an antisemitic shooting spree targeting a beachside Hanukkah festival. 
Harry and Meghan toured Bondi on the last day of their whistle-stop trip down under, walking the sand barefoot flanked by first responders from the Bondi Beach Surf Lifesaving Club.
They later spoke with Jewish community leaders and survivors of Australia's worst mass shooting in three decades.
Photos showed the couple listening intently as they spoke to survivor Elon Zizerb, who was shot multiple times while shielding his children. 
Harry and Meghan have largely received a warm welcome in Australia, although some critics have questioned the use of taxpayer money to provide protection for the pair.
The couple stepped back from royal duties in 2020 and later relocated to North America after a bitter royal family rift.
They are raising their two young children in California, as Harry now seeks to repair relations with his father -- who remains the head of state in Australia.
Naveed Akram and his father Sajid are accused of opening fire on a Hanukkah celebration at the Sydney beach in December.
Naveed has been charged with terrorism, 15 counts of murder, dozens of counts of causing wounds to a person with intent to kill, and planting explosives. 
Sajid was shot and killed by police during the attack.
sft/oho

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.
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