virus

WHO worried about 'scale and speed' of deadly Ebola outbreak

US

Taiwan leader says 'foreign forces' cannot decide island's future

BY JOY CHIANG

  • "Taiwan's future cannot be decided by foreign forces, nor can it be held hostage by fear, division, or short-term interests," Lai said in a speech to mark the second year of his presidency. 
  • Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te said Wednesday that "foreign forces" cannot decide the future of the democratic island, which relies heavily on US security backing to deter a potential Chinese attack. 
  • "Taiwan's future cannot be decided by foreign forces, nor can it be held hostage by fear, division, or short-term interests," Lai said in a speech to mark the second year of his presidency. 
Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te said Wednesday that "foreign forces" cannot decide the future of the democratic island, which relies heavily on US security backing to deter a potential Chinese attack. 
Lai's remarks came days after US President Donald Trump suggested arms sales to Taiwan could be used as a bargaining chip with China, which claims the island is part of its territory and has threatened to seize it by force.
"Taiwan's future cannot be decided by foreign forces, nor can it be held hostage by fear, division, or short-term interests," Lai said in a speech to mark the second year of his presidency. 
Trump's comments in an interview with Fox News and on board Air Force One followed a state visit to Beijing last week where Chinese President Xi Jinping pressed the US leader not to support Taiwan.
Since then, Lai's government has been on the offensive, insisting that US policy on Taiwan has not changed and that Trump made no commitments to China on arms sales to the island.
Taipei says China is the "root cause" of regional instability and US arms sales are a legal commitment to the defence of the island democracy.
In his remarks on Wednesday, Lai said his government was increasing defence spending to "prevent a war", not to start one, and noted that "threats are greater than ever before". 
"Taiwan must have the capability to protect itself and to uphold peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait," Lai said.
Lai said Taiwan is willing to "engage in healthy and orderly exchanges with China" on an equal footing, but insisted "we will not sacrifice our sovereignty and democratic way of life."

'Status quo'

Since Trump took office, Taiwan has been under intense pressure to spend more on its own protection and increase investment in the United States.
Taiwan has pouring billions of dollars into upgrading its military and developing its own defence industry, but the island remains heavily reliant on US sales of high-tech weaponry that it would need in a conflict with China.
Taiwan's parliament recently approved a $25 billion defence spending bill that will be used for US weapons.
Lawmakers have said the funds will cover nearly $9 billion of the $11.1 billion arms package announced by Washington in December and a second phase of arms sales -- not yet approved by the United States -- worth around $15 billion.
Trump has said China and Taiwan need to "cool down", and that he will decide on arms sales "over the next fairly short period of time". 
Lai said Wednesday that if he has the chance to speak to Trump, who has raised the possibility of a call between the two leaders, he will emphasise that his government "upholds the status quo" and it's China "undermining" peace and stability.
Washington switched recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979. A conversation between Lai and Trump would be a major break in US diplomatic policy and risk a rupture with Beijing.
joy/amj/hmn

diplomacy

Putin, Xi to underscore alliance strength after Trump visit

BY DANAI HOWARD AND SAM DAVIES

  • Both Putin and Xi view ties as "structurally stronger and more stable" than those between China and the United States, she told AFP before the Russian president departed Moscow. 
  • Russian President Vladimir Putin meets China's President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Wednesday, seeking to underline their unshakeable alliance in the wake of Donald Trump's visit to the Asian superpower economy.
  • Both Putin and Xi view ties as "structurally stronger and more stable" than those between China and the United States, she told AFP before the Russian president departed Moscow. 
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets China's President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Wednesday, seeking to underline their unshakeable alliance in the wake of Donald Trump's visit to the Asian superpower economy.
Trump had been received with pomp last week but left without major breakthroughs including on help with reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
Putin also arrives in Beijing weakened by years of its war on Ukraine, as sanctions by Western powers put the squeeze on Russian energy revenues.
But as Washington's war in Iran opens an opportunity to push energy-hungry partners to seek alternatives, Putin may use the occasion to prod China to move faster on a key gas pipeline, 
Moscow is already heavily dependent economically on Beijing, the main buyer of sanctioned Russian oil. 
In Beijing, Putin could seek to deepen that cooperation by pushing for progress on the construction of the major "Power of Siberia 2" natural gas pipeline from Russia to China through Mongolia -- a land alternative to crude imported by sea from the Middle East.
Russia's top diplomat Sergei Lavrov had said after meeting Xi in April that Russia could "compensate" for China's energy shortages as the Middle East war hits global supplies.
In a video message to the Chinese people released hours before his arrival on Tuesday, Putin said relations have reached "a truly unprecedented level", and that "trade between Russia and China continues to grow".
"The close strategic relationship between Russia and China plays a major, stabilising role globally. Without allying against anyone, we seek peace and universal prosperity," Putin said, in a veiled reference to the United States.

'Old friend'

Xi has played host to a series of world leaders as an increasingly unpredictable United States under Trump pushed many to shore up alliances with Beijing, but the war in Iran has further accelerated the trend.
Russia-China ties have deepened since Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, with Putin visiting Beijing every year since as his country is cut off diplomatically on the world stage by Western powers.
Putin will be received with ceremony on Wednesday, before a series of talks concluding with the signing of a joint statement on cooperation. 
While Trump enjoyed a show of ceremony last week, Putin's visit is expected to be held in a more intimate setting.
Putin's visit promises to display the close friendship enjoyed by the Russian and Chinese leaders, who will discuss strengthening their strategic partnership, according to the Kremlin.
"The Xi-Putin relationship does not require that kind of performative reassurance" like the pomp received by Trump, said Patricia Kim from the Brookings Institution in Washington.
Xi welcomed Putin with open arms as an "old friend" when he last visited Beijing in September 2025 -- language the Chinese leader did not extend to Trump last week.
Both Putin and Xi view ties as "structurally stronger and more stable" than those between China and the United States, she told AFP before the Russian president departed Moscow. 
Beijing has regularly called for talks to end the war in Ukraine but has never condemned Russia for sending in troops, presenting itself instead as a neutral party.
Trump and Xi discussed Ukraine last week, but the US president left China without a breakthrough.
"Xi will almost certainly brief Putin on his summit with Trump," Kim said. 
The lack of clear outcomes from the Xi-Trump meeting, though, "likely reassures Moscow that Xi did not strike any understanding with Trump that would materially undercut Russian interests".

Appetite for oil

Putin will be hoping for China to deepen its commitment to Moscow, after Trump told Fox News during his visit that Beijing had agreed to buy US oil to feed its "insatiable" appetite for energy.
With Russia reliant on sales to China to sustain its war effort, "Putin does not want to lose that support", Asia Society's Lyle Morris told AFP.
"Putin will likely be keen to hear from Xi about China's next step in the Middle East," Morris said, after "Trump signalled clearly that he hopes Beijing will play a leading role". 
When it comes to the US-Israeli war on Iran, though, China and Russia may have different priorities.
"(China) relies on the freedom of the world's major waterways to sustain its economic activities, and would prefer that the standoff in the Strait of Hormuz end sooner rather than later," James Char of Singapore's Nanyang Technological University told AFP.
On the other hand, Moscow has "been benefitting economically from the fighting in Iran due to the relaxation of sanctions against Russian energy supplies, so may have a different view", he said.
bur-dhw/hmn

emergency

Help wanted: Australian conservation group seeks new koala rescue dog

  • "Bear set the gold standard for koala detection dogs," the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) Oceania head of programmes Josey Sharrad said.
  • An Australian animal welfare group is seeking a heroic dog with an appetite for adventure for a full-time position as a koala rescuer.
  • "Bear set the gold standard for koala detection dogs," the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) Oceania head of programmes Josey Sharrad said.
An Australian animal welfare group is seeking a heroic dog with an appetite for adventure for a full-time position as a koala rescuer.
The successful pooch will replace the world-famous Bear, credited with saving over 100 koalas from bushfires during a decade of service.
"Bear set the gold standard for koala detection dogs," the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) Oceania head of programmes Josey Sharrad said.
"He's leaving very big boots to fill, but now it's time to find his successor to follow in his pawprints and keep protecting koalas."
The ideal candidate will be a rescue pup with a lot of energy and an "obsessive" personality -- attributes that might make it hard to find a home but which make it perfect for saving koalas, IFAW said.
"By only recruiting a rescue dog, it's a win-win -- giving a dog the chance of a new life while helping our iconic koalas," Innovation for Conservation director and handler Russell Miller said. 
Other key attributes are a love of play, confidence and a gentle temperament towards fellow animals is crucial.
They must also be medium sized -- "not too small that they struggle in the bush, not too big that the handlers can't carry them when needed", according to the IFAW job ad.
Interviews were being held in eastern Australia's Sunshine Coast but applications by video are also welcome.
Bear's skills saved over 100 koalas as the Black Summer bushfires raged across Australia's eastern seaboard from late 2019 to early 2020, razing millions of hectares, destroying thousands of homes and blanketing cities in noxious smoke. 
The tail-wagging detective with a "joyful and goofy" personality retired with an extensive list of accolades -- including an Animal of the Year award and Puppy Tales Photos Australian Dog of the Year award.
oho/sft/jm

US

US, Iran trade threats but Trump says Tehran wants peace deal

BY AFP TEAMS IN TEHRAN, BEIRUT, DUBAI AND WASHINGTON

  • Iran's army spokesman Mohammad Akraminia warned the Islamic republic would "open new fronts against" the United States if it resumed its attacks. 
  • President Donald Trump warned Tuesday that the United States may strike Iran again -- a day after he said he had held off a major assault in hopes of a peace deal -- but Tehran's army threatened to open "new fronts" if he went ahead.
  • Iran's army spokesman Mohammad Akraminia warned the Islamic republic would "open new fronts against" the United States if it resumed its attacks. 
President Donald Trump warned Tuesday that the United States may strike Iran again -- a day after he said he had held off a major assault in hopes of a peace deal -- but Tehran's army threatened to open "new fronts" if he went ahead.
Trump told reporters at the White House that he had been just "an hour away" from relaunching Washington's attacks on Iran before postponing the order, after weeks of a fragile ceasefire and talks to end the war, which began on February 28.
"You know how it is to negotiate with a country where you're beating them badly. They come to the table, they're begging to make a deal," he said.
"I hope we don't have to do the war, but we may have to give them another big hit. I'm not sure yet."
Iran, as well as many observers, dispute Trump's take on the power dynamics and note that Tehran has been able to exert leverage through control over the vital Strait of Hormuz, driving up global oil prices.
Iran's army spokesman Mohammad Akraminia warned the Islamic republic would "open new fronts against" the United States if it resumed its attacks. 
He added that Iran's military had used the ceasefire as an opportunity "to strengthen its combat capabilities."
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said early Wednesday that Iranian forces are confirmed to be the first to down an American F-35 fighter jet, citing a US congressional report on aircraft combat losses.
"With lessons learned and knowledge we gained, return to war will feature many more surprises," Araghchi wrote on X.
Trump offered a deadline of several days for resuming strikes if a deal was not agreed.
"I'm saying two or three days, maybe Friday, Saturday, Sunday, something, maybe early next week, a limited period of time," he said.
Trump said on Monday that Gulf Arab leaders had asked him to hold off on an attack at the 11th hour.
Vice President JD Vance, who negotiated with Iran in failed talks in Pakistan, also said that the United States was "locked and loaded" but voiced hope for a diplomatic solution.
"A lot of good progress is being made, but we're just going to keep on working at it, and eventually we'll either hit a deal or we won't," Vance, described as a skeptic of the unpopular war, told reporters at the White House.
Trump had already indefinitely extended the truce and made clear he wants to exit a war that has proven to be a political liability, with Americans paying more to fill their car tanks, frustrated with the war and looking ahead to congressional elections in November.
Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi wrote on X that Trump's comments meant the US leader was "calling a 'threat' a 'chance for peace'!"

Condemnation of strike on nuclear plant

Since the ceasefire took hold on April 8, Tehran and Washington have held only the single round of talks which involved Vance.
Iran's cleric-run state has proven resilient, though its supreme leader was killed on the first day of the war. It has made major demands in talks, including the release of Iranian assets frozen abroad, the lifting of long-standing sanctions and reparations for the war.
Iran has also been ramping up military pressure. 
The United Arab Emirates was rattled by a drone attack on its Barakah nuclear power plant last week. It said Tuesday that it originated from Iraqi territory, where Iran backs groups accused of launching attacks on Gulf nations in the war.
The UN Security Council on Tuesday condemned the attack. Russia, which often defends Iran, joined the other members.
"Attacks targeting peaceful nuclear facilities in any country of the world...are categorically unacceptable," said Russia's ambassador to the UN, Vassily Nebenzya.

More Israeli strikes on Lebanon

Iran has also demanded an end to Israel's strikes in Lebanon, which began in retaliation for the Iranian-backed Shia movement Hezbollah's attacks on Israel.
The Israeli military on Tuesday launched a series of strikes across Lebanon, killing 19 people, according to the Lebanese health ministry.
One strike, in the town of Deir Qanun al-Nahr in the Tyre district, killed 10 people including three children and three women, the ministry said.
The Israeli army in turn said that it intercepted a drone fired from Lebanon.
Israel and Lebanon's central government have twice extended a US-brokered ceasefire, but Israel says it does not apply to its attacks on Hezbollah.
In one possible sign of diplomatic progress, a rights group said that an Iranian citizen who holds US permanent residency was released from prison and returned to the United States.
Shahab Dalili had served 10 years in prison after a sentence for allegedly "cooperating with a hostile government," the Human Rights Activists News Agency said.
ap-mz/hol

AI

From graduation boos to voter unease: AI anxiety grows in the US

BY MARIA DANILOVA

  • - 'Have to be careful' - The Trump administration itself appears to be changing its stance.
  • Speakers promoting AI are getting booed at universities, voters are rebelling against data centers, and even AI-friendly Trump administration officials are starting to retreat as an artificial intelligence backlash gathers pace across the United States. 
  • - 'Have to be careful' - The Trump administration itself appears to be changing its stance.
Speakers promoting AI are getting booed at universities, voters are rebelling against data centers, and even AI-friendly Trump administration officials are starting to retreat as an artificial intelligence backlash gathers pace across the United States. 
The rapid spread of the emerging technology is seeing early enthusiasm give way to concerns about unemployment, rising costs, misinformation and security.
"People are thinking about what their future is going to look like. That existential fear is a very animating anxiety," said Christabel Randolph, acting executive director at the Center for AI and Digital Policy, a Washington-based think tank.
Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt got a taste of that feeling Friday when he was delivering a graduation speech at the University of Arizona.
Wearing a black academic gown and a tassel-topped cap, Schmidt urged students not to fear the AI-fueled technological transformation that he said will "touch every profession, every classroom, every hospital, every laboratory, every person and every relationship you have."
Instead of clapping, his speech prompted loud boos.

Accept change 'or pay'

According to opinion polling cited by the Semafor news outlet, 70 percent of Americans think AI is moving too fast, over 50 percent have negative views of it, and just 18 percent of young people feel hopeful about it. 
With the US economy battered by stubborn inflation and the tech industry seeing AI-fueled layoffs, young Americans fear their costly university degrees, many paid for with large student loans, will be rendered useless by AI, leaving them without jobs and pay.
When Scott Borchetta, CEO of Big Machine Records, tried to tell Middle Tennessee State University graduates to embrace inevitable change, he too got a hostile reception.
"You can hear me now or you can pay me later," he quipped. "Do something about it, it's a tool, make it work for you."
Booing followed.

'Really, really angry'

AI expansion is driving a massive build-out of data centers -- and that infrastructure is now becoming a political flashpoint.
Data centers consume large amounts of electricity and can raise utility costs, which has seen local officials supporting AI projects suffering losses at the ballot box in recent months. Some of the discontent has spilled into violence.
Last month, a young man threw a Molotov cocktail at the California home of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. In a separate incident a few days earlier, a city council member in the state of Indiana had his door struck by gunfire after he expressed support for a data center construction project.
A note the attackers left under his doormat read "No Data Centers." 
Randolph, the AI expert, cited a May Gallup poll showing that AI data centers are even less popular than nuclear power plants, with 71 percent of Americans opposing local AI data centers compared with 53 percent opposed to nearby nuclear plants.
"Americans are really, really angry and upset about AI data centers because of the noise, the pollution, the impact on their electricity bills, on water supplies," she told AFP, adding that AI expansion will be a key issue in the November midterms and possibly in the 2028 presidential vote.
"It's becoming a very relevant political issue," she added.

'Have to be careful'

The Trump administration itself appears to be changing its stance.
Since returning to the White House in 2025, President Donald Trump has positioned himself as an advocate for rapid AI development, rolling back Biden-era safety requirements and dismissing regulation as a constraint on US competitiveness with China.
But in recent months, the administration announced that it wants to vet AI models before they are released, urged Congress to adopt nationwide regulations on AI and discussed AI guardrails with China.
Asked about the risks of AI on Fox News' "Mornings with Maria" program last month, Trump answered:
"There are a lot of good things, but we have to be careful with it."
md/sms

award

Taiwan author wins International Booker for 'slyly sophisticated' novel

  • "Taiwan Travelogue" is the first book translated from Mandarin Chinese to win the award, and Yang, born in 1984, is the first Taiwanese winner of the prize, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary.
  • Taiwanese author Yang Shuang-zi and translator Lin King won the International Booker Prize on Tuesday for "Taiwan Travelogue", a playful postcolonial novel with a culinary bent.
  • "Taiwan Travelogue" is the first book translated from Mandarin Chinese to win the award, and Yang, born in 1984, is the first Taiwanese winner of the prize, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary.
Taiwanese author Yang Shuang-zi and translator Lin King won the International Booker Prize on Tuesday for "Taiwan Travelogue", a playful postcolonial novel with a culinary bent.
The prestigious award, which was handed out in a ceremony at London's Tate Modern gallery, recognises works of fiction from around the world that have been translated into English.
"Taiwan Travelogue" is the first book translated from Mandarin Chinese to win the award, and Yang, born in 1984, is the first Taiwanese winner of the prize, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary.
Set in 1930s Japan-controlled Taiwan, the book poses as a translation of a rediscovered Japanese travel memoir penned by fictional writer Aoyama Chizuko.
It traces Chizuko's travels and gastronomic adventures across the colonial outpost, and the intimate relationship she develops with her Taiwanese interpreter Chizuru.
"This is a book that surprises and isn't perhaps what it seems like on the surface," said chair of the judges Natasha Brown.
It "pulls off an incredible double feat: it succeeds as both a romance and an incisive postcolonial novel," said Brown. "It's a captivating, slyly sophisticated novel."
The book beat out a story about a suburban witch by French novelist and playwright Marie NDiaye as well as Brazilian Ana Paula Maia's dystopian read about a brutal prison colony.
The other shortlisted works were "The Nights Are Quiet In Tehran" by German writer Shida Bazyar, "She Who Remains" by Bulgarian poet and writer Rene Karabash, and "The Director" by German-Austrian writer Daniel Kehlmann, the only male author on the list.
Organisers say the award gives the authors writing in languages other than English a significant boost in profile and sales.
Previous winners Han Kang, Annie Ernaux and Olga Tokarczuk have gone on to become Nobel laureates.
Also a writer of manga and video game scripts, this was Yang's first book translated into English, by Taiwanese-American King.
They will share the £50,000 ($67,000) prize money.
The book was first published in Mandarin in 2020 and won Taiwan's highest literary honour, the Golden Tripod Award.
"The novel's central themes of travel and food changed my life in two obvious ways: my savings went down; my weight went up," Yang said.
ctx-aks/jkb/ach 

tax

Acting US attorney general defends fund for prosecuted Trump allies

  • Blanche said the fund was needed to "compensate for what the Democrats and what Biden and what (former Biden attorney general Merrick) Garland did for four years."
  • Acting US Attorney General Todd Blanche on Tuesday defended the creation of a nearly $1.8 billion fund to compensate political allies of President Donald Trump who believe they were unfairly prosecuted under the Biden administration.
  • Blanche said the fund was needed to "compensate for what the Democrats and what Biden and what (former Biden attorney general Merrick) Garland did for four years."
Acting US Attorney General Todd Blanche on Tuesday defended the creation of a nearly $1.8 billion fund to compensate political allies of President Donald Trump who believe they were unfairly prosecuted under the Biden administration.
Blanche, testifying before a Senate committee, came under repeated attack from Democrats who criticized the scheme as a corrupt "slush fund" to reward the Republican president's loyalists with taxpayer money.
"Let's be clear, what we're talking about is nothing short of the sitting president of the United States looting the Treasury for his own gain," said Senator Patty Murray of Washington state. "This is corruption that has never been more blatant."
The Justice Department announced the creation of the so-called "Anti-Weaponization Fund" on Monday as part of a settlement in which Trump dropped a lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for a years-old leak of his tax returns.
An addendum to the settlement released by Blanche on Tuesday bars the IRS from pursuing Trump, his family or companies for back tax claims.
Blanche said Trump himself would not be eligible for compensation from the fund and he pushed back against accusations that money is "going to be only given to Republicans or friends of the president."
"Whether you're Hunter Biden or whether you're another individual who believed they were a victim of weaponization, they can all apply to this fund," he said, in a reference to former president Joe Biden's son, who was convicted of gun and tax crimes while his father was in the White House.
Blanche would not rule out that Trump supporters who were convicted of attacking police during the January 6, 2021, assault on the US Capitol would be eligible for payouts.
"Anybody in this country is eligible to apply if they believe they were a victim of weaponization," said Blanche, who is Trump's former personal attorney and who will appoint the five commissioners to oversee the fund.
Trump issued a mass pardon to January 6 defendants on his first day in office last year.
Blanche said the fund was needed to "compensate for what the Democrats and what Biden and what (former Biden attorney general Merrick) Garland did for four years."

'President's consigliere'

After leaving the White House in 2021, Trump was investigated and charged by special counsel Jack Smith over his attempts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Biden -- which led to the January 6 insurrection -- and for allegedly mishandling classified documents.
Blanche served as Trump's defense attorney and both cases were dropped after the Republican won the 2024 presidential election.
The personal history between Blanche and Trump came up repeatedly during the Senate Appropriations Committee hearing, with Senator Jack Reed comparing him at one point to a mafia adviser.
"You're the president's consigliere," the Democrat from Rhode Island said.
Senator Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat from Maryland, accused Blanche of "acting today like the president's personal attorney."
"And that's the whole problem," Van Hollen added.
Trump, his two eldest sons Eric and Donald Jr. and the Trump Organization filed a lawsuit against the IRS in January seeking $10 billion in damages over the tax returns leak.
A former IRS contractor pleaded guilty in 2023 to leaking the tax returns of Trump and other wealthy Americans to the media and received a five-year prison sentence.
Since taking office for a second time, Trump has taken a number of punitive measures against perceived enemies and issued pardons to political allies.
The president has pushed for criminal cases against political opponents, purged government officials he deems disloyal, targeted law firms involved in past cases against him and pulled federal funding from universities.
cl/jgc

crime

Shock and bafflement at San Diego mosque where three were killed

BY ROMAIN FONSEGRIVES

  • San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said the two teenage attackers had stormed into the Islamic Center of San Diego complex on Monday, intent on doing harm, but were engaged by security guard Amin Abdullah, who began firing at them as he raised the alarm on his radio.
  • Outside the San Diego mosque where his father was gunned down by heavily armed teenagers who had been radicalized online, Ramzy sits and stares blankly.
  • San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said the two teenage attackers had stormed into the Islamic Center of San Diego complex on Monday, intent on doing harm, but were engaged by security guard Amin Abdullah, who began firing at them as he raised the alarm on his radio.
Outside the San Diego mosque where his father was gunned down by heavily armed teenagers who had been radicalized online, Ramzy sits and stares blankly.
Like many people AFP spoke to in the community, he was having trouble processing what police are treating as an Islamophobic attack that killed three people.
"Everyone's really shocked," Ramzy said.
"It's hard to believe this is real. We're just all still figuring it out."
His father, identified by officials as Nader Awad, was one of three people being hailed as heroes Tuesday for actions that saved scores of lives.
San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said the two teenage attackers had stormed into the Islamic Center of San Diego complex on Monday, intent on doing harm, but were engaged by security guard Amin Abdullah, who began firing at them as he raised the alarm on his radio.
"His actions, without a doubt delayed, distracted, and ultimately deterred these two individuals from gaining access to the greater areas of the mosque, where as many as 140 kids were within 15 feet (4.5 meters) of these suspects," Wahl told a press conference.
Awad and another man -- named as Mansour Kaziha -- drew the gunmen back into the parking lot.
"He heard the gunshots and ran to help," Ramzy told AFP. 
"Unfortunately, they got him when they got out of the building."
All three men died at the scene.
The bodies of suspected attackers Cain Clark, 17, and Caleb Vazquez, 18, were found in a vehicle a short distance away.
Investigators believe they had shot themselves.
An FBI search of their homes recovered dozens of guns, as well as ammunition, tactical gear and electronic equipment, along with extremist writings outlining what the agency said was "religious and racial beliefs of how the world they envisioned should look."
— 'We used to feel safe here' -
There was bafflement on the faces of members of the Muslim community who arrived at the mosque bearing flowers on Tuesday.
Many were too shocked to speak, uttering few words before breaking down in tears or retreating into silence. 
With its palm trees standing alongside the minaret and its nondescript suburban homes lining the street, this suburb presents the image of a peaceful, multicultural America. 
The mosque served as a polling station and drew worshippers from the Middle East, Asia, Africa, and Europe. 
Its imam regularly participated in interfaith prayers alongside the pastor of a local Protestant church. 
"This Muslim community, they're really good people, you know," said Katelynn Fisk, a neighbor who was out walking her dog.  
"They never treat anybody like they're different, even if they don't follow their beliefs."
The mosque, one of the largest Muslim centers in this city of 1.4 million people, has always been a refuge.
"We used to feel safe here," said Imani Khatib. "I don't understand why we were targeted."
The 31-year-old teaching assistant, who wears a headscarf, burst into tears in front of the security guard's booth -- the very spot where Abdullah gave his life to prevent a massacre. 
"If he didn't do what he did, and sacrifice his life, the two suspects would have had easy access to every single classroom," said the mosque's imam, Taha Hassane.
"We're so proud of him... I see messages about him, literally from all over the world, talking about his heroism."
 — 'White supremacy' — 
Like many places of worship across the United States, the mosque complex had been subjected to sporadic acts of Islamophobia, the imam said. 
Such incidents intensified following the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York.
More recently, the conflicts in Gaza and Iran have sparked a fresh wave of hostility.
"We received some mails and emails and phone messages, you know, blaming us for everything going wrong in the world," he told AFP.
"But having shooters, I mean, it never came to our mind."
Hassane places the blame for the deadly attack on a "rise of white supremacy" as well as on "our elected officials (and) some of the media just dehumanizing Muslims and dehumanizing every single minority, the Blacks, the Latinos."
"When young people who are brainwashed, they hear this rhetoric from the media, from the elected officials," he added. "This gives them the excuse, the green light to go and commit a crime."
rfo/hg/mlm

diplomacy

US says held talks with Cuba on $100 mln offer

  • Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a sworn foe of Havana's communist government, has publicly offered the $100 million but has demanded that Cuba take steps to open up.
  • The United States and Cuba held talks this week on a US offer of $100 million in assistance, which Washington has dangled as an incentive for reforms, a US official said Tuesday.
  • Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a sworn foe of Havana's communist government, has publicly offered the $100 million but has demanded that Cuba take steps to open up.
The United States and Cuba held talks this week on a US offer of $100 million in assistance, which Washington has dangled as an incentive for reforms, a US official said Tuesday.
Mike Hammer, the acting US ambassador to Havana, met Monday with foreign ministry officials, the State Department official said on condition of anonymity.
"We have been in close coordination with the Cubans. We had a meeting yesterday (Monday) and continue to pursue that proposal aggressively, contrary to some of the lies of the Cuban ministry of foreign affairs," the official said.
"We continue to urge the regime to accept the proposal and try to prevent interference with the delivery of assistance," he said.
The aid would be distributed through Catholic Relief Services and Samaritan's Purse, an evangelical Protestant charity, and not handed over directly to the Cuban government, he said.
"The Cuban regime is sitting on several billions of dollars," he said. "We would urge them to use that money to actually help the Cuban people invest in their infrastructure instead of hoarding it."
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a sworn foe of Havana's communist government, has publicly offered the $100 million but has demanded that Cuba take steps to open up.
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez last week said that Havana was open to reviewing the aid proposal, after earlier saying Rubio was lying about the offer.
Cuba has been in the throes of a major economic crisis with persistent energy blackouts after the United States overthrew Venezuela's leftist leader Nicolas Maduro and ended the flow of free oil from Caracas in exchange for Cuban medical expertise and other services.
With the situation increasingly dire, Cuba -- for decades targeted in US espionage -- last week took the extraordinary step of welcoming CIA Director John Ratcliffe for talks.
sct/msp

US

War in Middle East: latest developments

  • - US probe on school strike continues - A top commander of US forces in the Middle East avoided taking responsibility Tuesday for an attack on a school in Iran that left 155 people dead on day one of the war, insisting a "complex" probe continues.
  • Here are the latest developments in the Middle East war: - 'Good progress' in Iran talks - US Vice President JD Vance said Tuesday that Iran talks are making "good progress" but Washington was "locked and loaded" to restart military operations if there is no deal.
  • - US probe on school strike continues - A top commander of US forces in the Middle East avoided taking responsibility Tuesday for an attack on a school in Iran that left 155 people dead on day one of the war, insisting a "complex" probe continues.
Here are the latest developments in the Middle East war:

'Good progress' in Iran talks

US Vice President JD Vance said Tuesday that Iran talks are making "good progress" but Washington was "locked and loaded" to restart military operations if there is no deal.
Vance's comments came hours after President Donald Trump said he had come within an hour of ordering fresh strikes and gave Tehran "two or three days" to reach an agreement.

Strike on nuclear plant condemned

Russia joined other UN Security Council members on Tuesday to condemn the drone strike on the UAE's Barakah nuclear power plant, which Abu Dhabi said originated from Iraq where pro-Iranian proxies are active.
The unclaimed drone struck an electrical generator on Sunday near the Arab world's first nuclear power plant in Barakah in the emirate of Abu Dhabi, triggering a fire but causing no injuries nor radiation leak.

19 killed in Lebanon

Israeli strikes on south Lebanon Tuesday killed 19 people, the Lebanese health ministry said, as Hezbollah reported clashes with Israeli troops despite a truce in the war.
The ministry said 10 died in a strike on the town of Deir Qanun al-Nahr in the Tyre district, including three children and three women. A woman was among nine killed in other strikes across the south.
The Israeli military had previously issued evacuation warnings for 12 Lebanese towns, 11 of them in the south and one in the eastern Bekaa area.

US permanent resident freed in Iran

An Iranian citizen who holds permanent residency in the United States has been released from prison in Iran and has returned to the US, a rights group said Tuesday.
"Shahab Dalili, an Iranian citizen and US permanent resident who had been imprisoned in Evin Prison, was released after serving 10 years in prison. Following his release, he returned to the United States," the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said, in a statement.

US probe on school strike continues

A top commander of US forces in the Middle East avoided taking responsibility Tuesday for an attack on a school in Iran that left 155 people dead on day one of the war, insisting a "complex" probe continues.
Admiral Brad Cooper, the commander of US Central Command, told a congressional oversight panel that "the school itself is located on an active IRGC cruise missile base," making the investigation "more complex than the average strike." IRGC stands for Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Fertiliser aid

Brussels will provide "exceptional support" to farmers affected by soaring fertiliser costs caused by the Iran war, the European Union's agriculture commissioner Christophe Hansen told the European Parliament.
He said the EU would seek to boost an agriculture crisis reserve fund by "a substantial amount".

Iran threatens 'new fronts'

Iran's army warned it would "open new fronts" against the United States if it resumes attacks, after Trump said he had held off launching a new offensive in hopes of striking a deal.
"If the enemy is foolish enough to fall into the Zionist trap again and launches new aggression against our beloved Iran, we will open new fronts against it, with new equipment and new methods," said army spokesman Mohammad Akraminia, according to Iran's ISNA news agency.

G7 vows cooperation

G7 finance ministers vowed multilateral cooperation to address challenges to economic stability due to the war, after talks in Paris which underscored tensions between the US and its allies.
"We have had frank, sometimes difficult, direct discussions to find long-term and short-term solutions to major global economic challenges in order to guarantee economic stability," said French Finance Minister Roland Lescure.
bur-msp/jgc

virus

WHO worried about 'scale and speed' of deadly Ebola outbreak

BY CAMILLE LAFFONT WITH NINA LARSON IN GENEVA

  • WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he was "deeply concerned about the scale and speed of the epidemic".
  • The World Health Organization on Tuesday voiced concern about the "scale and speed" of an Ebola outbreak that has killed more than 130 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo, warning it could be lengthy.
  • WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he was "deeply concerned about the scale and speed of the epidemic".
The World Health Organization on Tuesday voiced concern about the "scale and speed" of an Ebola outbreak that has killed more than 130 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo, warning it could be lengthy.
Ebola has killed more than 15,000 people in Africa in the past half-century, and the UN health agency declared the latest surge of the highly contagious haemorrhagic fever an international health emergency.
As residents awaited medical supplies in the DRC's conflict-torn east, aid group Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said it had tried to send the sick in Ituri province to local hospitals, but was told: "We are full of suspected cases. We don't have any space."
"This gives you a vision of how crazy it is right now," said MSF aid worker Trish Newport.
No vaccine or therapeutic treatment exists for the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, which is responsible for the outbreak -- the 17th in the vast central African country of more than 100 million people.
Tonnes of emergency medical supplies, including infection prevention kits and tents, as well as experts have arrived in recent days, local WHO footage showed.
With the recent cases largely concentrated in hard-to-reach areas, few samples have been laboratory-tested and figures are based mostly on suspected cases.
Congolese Health Minister Samuel Roger Kamba told reporters on Tuesday there had been 136 deaths suspected to be linked to Ebola and about 543 suspected cases, calling for international aid to help combat the spread.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he was "deeply concerned about the scale and speed of the epidemic".
The agency's representative in the DRC, Anne Ancia, said a vaccine candidate called Ervebo was being considered -- but that it would likely take at least two months to be available.
"I don't think that in two months we will be done with this outbreak," she added.

Conflict

At the hospital in Rwampara in northeastern Ituri province -- the epicentre of the outbreak, near the border with Uganda and South Sudan -- the response was slow, despite the surge in cases.
A simple strip of plastic marked off the site reserved for receiving patients.
"We dig graves and bury people who died without gloves or any protection. We're so exposed," Salama Bamunoba, from a local youth organisation, told AFP.
"We're already at about 100 cases. We didn't have an appropriate place to do triage and isolate suspected cases" until Monday, said one local hospital official.
The DRC's deadliest Ebola outbreak, between 2018 and 2020, claimed nearly 2,300 lives from 3,500 cases.
The east is a gold-mining hub with people regularly crisscrossing the region, and has been plagued by clashes between local militias for years.
The virus has already spread into neighbouring provinces, as well as beyond the DRC's borders into Uganda.
Vaccines are only available for the Zaire strain of the disease, which has caused the biggest recorded outbreaks.
The Bundibugyo strain has previously been responsible for outbreaks in Uganda in 2007 and in the DRC in 2012. The mortality rate was 30 to 50 percent.
Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi urged citizens to keep "calm" and take precautions, the presidency said on X.
Suspected cases have been reported in the commercial hub of Butembo in North Kivu province, around 200 kilometres (125 miles) from the epidemic's ground zero, Kamba said.
Another case has been recorded in Goma, the North Kivu provincial capital, which was seized by fighters from anti-government militia M23 in January last year.
Congolese doctor Denis Mukwege, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2018, appealed to the Rwanda-backed group to reopen the city's airport to help combat the outbreak.
Aid organisations are struggling with a drop in international aid, particularly from the United States since President Donald Trump's second term.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington had released $13 million in aid to combat Ebola in the DRC, after sweeping US aid cuts last year, and claimed the WHO had been "a little late" identifying the outbreak.

US screening

Uganda said two Ebola cases -- one infection and one death -- had been recorded there, involving Congolese nationals who crossed the border.
Germany meanwhile said it was readying to receive and treat a US citizen who has contracted the virus -- a doctor from an American Christian NGO.
The United States announced it was screening air passengers from outbreak-hit areas and temporarily suspending visa services.
But a State Department official said Washington would allow the DRC's national football team to travel to the United States for the World Cup.
Bahrain meanwhile announced a 30-day ban on visitors from the DRC, South Sudan and Uganda.
Trump in one of his first acts on returning to office last year set in motion a US withdrawal from the WHO, which he attacked bitterly over its response to Covid.
clt-nl/kjm-phz-jhb/ach 

Trump

Trump shows off ballroom site with 'drone empire' planned for roof

BY DANNY KEMP

  • - 'Drone-proof' - Trump said the roof of the ballroom, which he demolished the East Wing of the White House to build, was "drone-proof" and that drones would "bounce off."
  • US President Donald Trump showed off the site of his huge new White House ballroom on Tuesday, saying it would feature an underground military hospital and a "drone empire" on the roof.
  • - 'Drone-proof' - Trump said the roof of the ballroom, which he demolished the East Wing of the White House to build, was "drone-proof" and that drones would "bounce off."
US President Donald Trump showed off the site of his huge new White House ballroom on Tuesday, saying it would feature an underground military hospital and a "drone empire" on the roof.
During an impromptu tour for reporters, Trump shouted over the din of hammers and buzzsaws as he proudly listed the features of a project that has doubled in price to $400 million.
Critics say the ballroom shows billionaire Trump is out of touch with voters, as the Iran war causes skyrocketing prices -- but the former property tycoon appeared in his element.
"This is a gift to the United States of America," said Trump, standing by yellow railings on the edge of a cavernous concrete basement space. 
"This is all my money and donors' money. This is tax free."
Democrats have bitterly opposed a proposed $1 billion security allocation of taxpayer money tied to Trump's ballroom, and are using the issue to attack Republicans ahead of crucial midterm elections in November.
But the 79-year-old president used the tour to defend the ballroom as necessary for national security.
With little apparent regard for classified details, Trump went into detail about what he said were six storeys of installations beneath the ballroom itself. 
"These are all different rooms down here, they're building a hospital, it's a military hospital. They're building all sorts of research facilities, also meeting rooms, and rooms that go hand in hand for the military," said Trump.
"The ballroom becomes a shield that will totally protect what's going on downstairs.

'Drone-proof'

Trump said the roof of the ballroom, which he demolished the East Wing of the White House to build, was "drone-proof" and that drones would "bounce off."
"But it's also meant as a drone port," added Trump. 
"On the roof, we are going to have the greatest drone empire anyone has ever seen and it's going to protect Washington."
The property developer in Trump was also on full display, as he talked about how ancient Greek and Roman architecture had influenced the building, before offering reporters breakfast.
Trump has repeatedly said the ballroom -- whose cost has doubled from an initial estimate of $200 million -- is being met by private donors, including his wealthy supporters and a slew of corporations.
But critics say the taxpayer will be hit and that the project -- as well as other refurbishments to the capital city -- is tone-deaf at a time when the Iran war has caused the cost of living to spike.
Trump bluntly said last week that "I don’t think about Americans' financial situation" when it comes to the Iran war, insisting that preventing Tehran from getting a nuclear weapon was his priority.
His opponents are using the comment to paint him as out of touch, with the midterm elections, which will decide who controls the US Congress, less than six months away.
The ballroom also faces legal challenges, with a federal judge ruling in April that it needs congressional approval to be built.
The project has already seen the historic East Wing of the White House, which previously housed the offices of the First Lady, torn down with almost no notice.
Trump says the ballroom is needed to host grand banquets for foreign leaders, although it would barely be finished by the time his own second and final term ends in 2029.
dk/ksb

Sweden

Rubio to attend NATO talks, pay first visit to India

  • Rubio will meet with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, the State Department said.
  • US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will meet NATO counterparts following US threats to pull troops and also pay his first visit to India following a chilly patch between the countries, it was announced Tuesday.
  • Rubio will meet with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, the State Department said.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will meet NATO counterparts following US threats to pull troops and also pay his first visit to India following a chilly patch between the countries, it was announced Tuesday.
The State Department confirmed that Rubio would participate on Friday in talks among NATO foreign ministers in Helsingborg, Sweden, which will prepare for a NATO summit in Turkey in July expected to be attended by President Donald Trump.
The top US diplomat "will discuss the need for increased defense investment and greater burden sharing in the Alliance," a State Department statement said.
Trump recently decided to withdraw 5,000 US troops from Germany despite the heightened European concerns over Russia since its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Trump has long said that the United States has been shouldering an unfair burden in the Cold War-era alliance but his decision came immediately after fury at German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who made remarks critical of Trump's war with Israel against Iran.
Rubio will meet with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, the State Department said.
Rubio will then head to India, his first visit to the world's largest democracy since Trump returned to office nearly a year-and-a-half ago.
US presidents across partisan lines have courted India for decades, but Trump last year became upset with India and temporarily imposed punishing tariffs.
The rift came after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi refused to credit Trump with ending a short war a year ago between India and Pakistan triggered by a massacre of mostly Hindu civilians in Indian-administered Kashmir.
Pakistan has assertively curried Trump's favor, saying he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize and more recently volunteering as a mediator in ending the Iran war.
Vice President JD Vance recently visited Pakistan for the Iran talks, and Trump last week was upbeat on a trip to China, previously seen as a cause of concern that united India and the United States.
Unusually for Rubio, who usually keeps a rapid pace, the State Department said he would visit four cities in India.
In addition to New Delhi, he will visit Agra, site of the world-famous Taj Mahal, as well as the palace-filled city of Jaipur and the eastern metropolis of Kolkata.
sct/msp

retail

Mango scion released on bail after arrest over father's death

BY ROSA SULLEIRO

  • Jonathan was alone with his 71-year-old billionaire father when the clothing empire founder plunged to his death in the Montserrat mountains near Barcelona on December 14, 2024.
  • The eldest son of Spanish clothing empire Mango's founder Isak Andic was released on Tuesday after posting one million euros' bail following his arrest in a murder inquiry into his father's 2024 death.
  • Jonathan was alone with his 71-year-old billionaire father when the clothing empire founder plunged to his death in the Montserrat mountains near Barcelona on December 14, 2024.
The eldest son of Spanish clothing empire Mango's founder Isak Andic was released on Tuesday after posting one million euros' bail following his arrest in a murder inquiry into his father's 2024 death.
After being detained by police on Tuesday morning and taken to court in handcuffs for questioning, Jonathan Andic left the courthouse in Martorell in northeastern Spain, where he was accompanied by his lawyers, according to an AFP reporter at the scene.
He did not answer questions from journalists.
The 45-year-old was ordered to surrender his passport, appear weekly before the court, and was banned from leaving the country, the court said in a statement, adding the case was being "investigated as a charge of homicide".
According to the judge's order seen Tuesday by AFP, there was "sufficient evidence" to suspect Jonathan killed his father in a premeditated manner. It mentioned his alleged "obsession with money", a strained relationship and contradictions in his account of events. 
Jonathan was alone with his 71-year-old billionaire father when the clothing empire founder plunged to his death in the Montserrat mountains near Barcelona on December 14, 2024.
According to the forensic report, as cited in Tuesday's order, the fall was "as if he had gone down a slide, feet first". 
At the time of Isak's death, authorities said he had fallen from a height near the Salnitre caves in Collbato, an area marked by steep drops and ravines.
Investigators initially treated the death as an accident, with early findings suggesting Isak, one of Spain's richest men, may have slipped.
A judge closed the case in January 2025 after finding no evidence of criminal wrongdoing.
However, investigators with Catalonia's regional police force, the Mossos d'Esquadra, along with prosecutors reopened the investigation in October 2025 after citing inconsistencies in Jonathan's testimony, according to media reports.

Family tensions

Spanish newspaper El Pais reported at the time that authorities had seized Jonathan Andic's phone shortly after the death.
It also cited testimony from Isak Andic's partner, professional golfer Estefania Knuth, describing the at-times tense relations between father and son.
Authorities have released few details about the investigation, which remains under judicial secrecy, Catalonia's High Court said Tuesday.
Jonathan Andic has denied any responsibility for his father's death and has maintained that the fall was accidental.
A statement from the family said they had "total" confidence in Jonathan's innocence, adding that "there is no, and will not be, any legitimate evidence against him".
Family lawyer Cristobal Martell called the homicide theory "incoherent" and painful", saying "it stigmatises an innocent man".
Jonathan began his professional career in Mango in 2005 after studying audiovisual communication in the United States and business in Spain.
He began to manage the Mango Man line two years later and was the vice-chairman of Mango's board at the time of his father's death.

$4.5 billion fortune

Born in Istanbul, Isak moved with his family to Barcelona from Turkey as a teenager in the late 1960s.
He opened his first Mango shop on the Paseo de Gracia, Barcelona's famous shopping street, in 1984 with the help of his older brother Nahman. It was hugely successful.
His Mango brand quickly mushroomed across Spain and has become one of the world's leading fashion groups, with about 2,850 stores worldwide.
The company has a presence in more than 120 markets, with more than 16,400 employees worldwide, according to its website.
In December 2023, Isak transferred five percent of his company for the first time to a third party -- his right-hand man, Toni Ruiz, the group's CEO and its current leader.
Last October, Ruiz and the other two executors of Isak’s estate issued a statement praising the legacy of what they called a "visionary entrepreneur", and said they were convinced of Jonathan's innocence.
At the time of his death, Forbes estimated Isak's fortune at $4.5 billion.
rs-mig-rbj/ds/rh/rmb

US

Iran talks making 'good progress': US VP Vance

  • "We're in a pretty good spot here -- but there's an option B, and the option B is that we could restart the military campaign," said the US vice president.
  • US Vice President JD Vance said Tuesday that Iran talks are making good progress but Washington was "locked and loaded" to restart military operations if there is no deal.
  • "We're in a pretty good spot here -- but there's an option B, and the option B is that we could restart the military campaign," said the US vice president.
US Vice President JD Vance said Tuesday that Iran talks are making good progress but Washington was "locked and loaded" to restart military operations if there is no deal.
Vance's comments came hours after President Donald Trump said he had come within an hour of ordering fresh strikes and gave Tehran "two or three days" to reach an agreement.
"A lot of good progress is being made, but we're just going to keep on working at it, and eventually we'll either hit a deal or we won't," Vance told a briefing at the White House.
Vance -- an Iran war-skeptic who led a US delegation to Pakistan in April for talks that failed to produce a deal -- said Iran had to accept that it could not have a nuclear weapon.
"We're in a pretty good spot here -- but there's an option B, and the option B is that we could restart the military campaign," said the US vice president.
"We're locked and loaded. We don't want to go down that pathway, but the president is willing and able to go down that pathway if we have to."
dk/ksb

Ebola

Race to find vaccines, treatments for Ebola strain behind outbreak

BY DANIEL LAWLER

  • It is the 17th Ebola outbreak in DR Congo, but just the third caused by the Bundibugyo strain, for which there are no approved vaccines or treatments.
  • An escalating outbreak of a rare Ebola strain in the Democratic Republic of Congo has kicked off a race to find vaccines and treatments that can be quickly tested and rolled out to save lives and stem the crisis.
  • It is the 17th Ebola outbreak in DR Congo, but just the third caused by the Bundibugyo strain, for which there are no approved vaccines or treatments.
An escalating outbreak of a rare Ebola strain in the Democratic Republic of Congo has kicked off a race to find vaccines and treatments that can be quickly tested and rolled out to save lives and stem the crisis.
More than l30 people have died so far during the outbreak, the World Health Organization said on Tuesday, as the United States warned its citizens not to travel to the affected region.
It is the 17th Ebola outbreak in DR Congo, but just the third caused by the Bundibugyo strain, for which there are no approved vaccines or treatments.
However scientists have developed numerous candidates for vaccines and treatments that have not yet been tested in humans.
The WHO has said it will examine the options, including a vaccine called Ervebo that targets the more common Zaire strain and has already been deployed in numerous countries.
Virologist Thomas Geisbert, who helped develop the Ervebo vaccine, has designed a similar, single-injection jab targeting the Bundibugyo strain that research on monkeys has found offers protection against the virus.
However trialling vaccines in humans and mass manufacturing doses is a lengthy and expensive process, Geisbert told AFP, comparing the market for a Bundibugyo jab to that of the Andes hantavirus strain that recently sparked global alarm.
"There hasn't been an incentive for big pharma to jump in, because it's not a money-maker," said the researcher at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston.
Geisbert first published a study about his Bundibugyo vaccine candidate back in 2013, but it has since "just sat there", he said.
It was a similar story when he first published research in 2005 about what would eventually become the Ervebo vaccine.
It was only in 2014, during the biggest Ebola outbreak on record which killed 11,300 people in West Africa, when attention turned towards his vaccine.
It took US pharmaceutical company MSD around nine months to roll out the first doses of Ervebo, which research has found to be 84-percent protective against Zaire.
"I really hope that somebody jumps in now and does something like that" for Bundibugyo, Geisbert said, estimating that it could be done in as little as six or seven months.
A spokesperson for MSD -- known as Merck in North America -- told AFP that independent data on non-Zaire strains such as Bundibugyo is "limited, not from humans and not from evaluation of Ervebo".

A new mRNA vaccine

Just as the scale of the DRC outbreak was becoming clear on Monday, research about a newly developed vaccine candidate was published in the journal PNAS.
Chinese researchers used the mRNA technology made famous during the Covid pandemic for their vaccine targeting the three main Ebola strains, including Bundibugyo.
Virologist Connor Bamford of Queen's University Belfast welcomed the effort, but warned that such mRNA vaccines are expensive to make and need to be kept cold.
"This could limit its use in Africa," he told AFP.
Geisbert pointed out that the vaccine was only tested on mice -- and these results often do not translate to monkeys, let alone humans.
Scientists at Oxford University told AFP they were working with the world's largest vaccine maker, the Serum Institute of India, to get a viral vector vaccine called ChAdOx1 BDBV ready as soon as possible.
"We are working through the logistics at pace," but cannot give a precise timeline yet, Teresa Lambe, head of vaccine immunology at the Oxford Vaccine Group, told AFP.

Treatments?

A WHO-sponsored trial of two experimental Bundibugyo treatments could soon reportedly be launched in Ebola-hit areas.
"We're in a really strong position to quickly launch trials," University of Oxford researcher Amanda Rojek told Nature on Monday. "We're working day and night."
One of the treatments, an antiviral called remdesivir made by US pharma firm Gilead, has been tested on humans for the Zaire Ebola strain, but not for Bundibugyo.
However Geisbert said that during tests in his lab, remdesivir had "stronger in vitro data against Bundibugyo than it does for Zaire".
The other drug being considered for a trial is a monoclonal antibody called MBP134, developed by Mapp Biopharmaceutical, which targets Ebola viruses including Bundibugyo.
Geisbert, who has also tested this option, said the "fantastic" drug effectively protected monkeys even if they were already sick.
Any clinical trials would need to be approved by the governments of DR Congo and Uganda.
dl/rlp

RSF

Drone attack kills 28 at market in southern Sudan

  • Two said a drone struck a crowded restaurant, attributing the attack to the military.
  • A drone strike on a crowded market in southern Sudan killed 28 people and injured 23 more on Tuesday, a medical source and witnesses told AFP, in one of the deadliest recent attacks on civilians in the country's three-year war.
  • Two said a drone struck a crowded restaurant, attributing the attack to the military.
A drone strike on a crowded market in southern Sudan killed 28 people and injured 23 more on Tuesday, a medical source and witnesses told AFP, in one of the deadliest recent attacks on civilians in the country's three-year war.
The strike hit the town of Ghubaysh in West Kordofan, an area controlled by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) whose conflict with the Sudanese military has devastated much of the country since April 2023. 
The wounded and the dead were taken to the town's hospital, the medical source said.
Witnesses described a scene of sudden destruction at the town's main market. 
Two said a drone struck a crowded restaurant, attributing the attack to the military.
Another described what appeared to be a two-stage attack: an initial strike on an RSF vehicle that killed three people, followed moments later by a second blast that hit the restaurant.
Emergency Lawyers, a Sudanese legal advocacy group, said the strike targeted a key market relied on by thousands of civilians for food and basic supplies.
A spokesman for the Sudanese military denied responsibility, saying the armed forces carry out strikes only against "military objectives", including vehicles and weapons depots. 
An RSF-aligned alliance condemned the strike, accusing the military of a "systematic" campaign of targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure in violation of international law.

Broadening battlefield

Tuesday's attack comes as drone warfare has become an increasingly prominent feature of Sudan's conflict, with both sides deploying unmanned strikes across a broadening battlefield.
Between January and April, at least 880 civilians -- more than 80 percent of all conflict-related civilian deaths -- were killed in drone strikes, according to the United Nations.
Fighting has escalated in recent months in southern Kordofan and the southeastern state of Blue Nile, following the RSF's capture last October of El-Fasher, the military's last major stronghold in western Darfur.
The Kordofan region, home to oil deposits, arable land and the RSF's most powerful paramilitary allies, connects RSF strongholds in the neighbouring Darfur region to the country's army-controlled east.
The RSF controls West Kordofan and has for months pushed eastwards in an attempt to recapture Sudan's central corridor.
The army has pushed back, breaking paramilitary sieges on two key cities in South Kordofan and attempting to cut off the RSF's supply link with Darfur.
Now in its fourth year, the war has killed tens of thousands of people and forced more than 11 million from their homes, creating what the United Nations describes as one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.
At the same time, Sudan is facing the world's largest hunger crisis, with nearly 20 million people -- or two in five Sudanese -- experiencing acute food insecurity, according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a UN-backed monitor. 
Last week, the UN warned that without urgent international action, the crisis could spiral into an "even greater tragedy".
Famine was declared last year in El-Fasher and in Kadugli, the capital of South Kordofan. 
The IPC has warned that 14 areas across Darfur and South Kordofan are at risk of famine if fighting intensifies and access to food, health care and clean water continues to deteriorate or displacement increases.
Since October, more than 300,000 people have fled frontline areas, including El-Fasher and parts of Kordofan and Blue Nile, according to the UN, as the war grinds on with no clear resolution in sight.
ab-maf/dc

conflict

Israel finance minister says ICC seeks arrest warrant against him

  • "Last night I was informed that the criminal prosecutor of the antisemitic court in The Hague has filed a request for an international arrest warrant against me," Smotrich told a news conference broadcast on his X account Monday.
  • Israel's far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich said Tuesday that the International Criminal Court prosecutor has requested an arrest warrant against him, accusing the Palestinian Authority of pushing for the move.
  • "Last night I was informed that the criminal prosecutor of the antisemitic court in The Hague has filed a request for an international arrest warrant against me," Smotrich told a news conference broadcast on his X account Monday.
Israel's far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich said Tuesday that the International Criminal Court prosecutor has requested an arrest warrant against him, accusing the Palestinian Authority of pushing for the move.
Smotrich said he would retaliate by ordering the evacuation of the Palestinian Bedouin community of Khan al-Ahmar in the occupied West Bank.
"Last night I was informed that the criminal prosecutor of the antisemitic court in The Hague has filed a request for an international arrest warrant against me," Smotrich told a news conference broadcast on his X account Monday.
"As a sovereign and independent state, we do not accept hypocritical dictates from biased bodies that time and again take a stand against the State of Israel," he added, without disclosing the charges for which the warrant has been requested.
The ICC prosecutor's office said it was "unable to comment on media speculation or questions related to any alleged application for a warrant of arrest".
In November 2024, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant, to face accusations of war crimes and crimes against humanity over Israel's actions during its war against Hamas in Gaza.

'Declaration of war'

"Immediately upon the conclusion of my remarks here, we will sign an order to evacuate Khan al-Ahmar," Smotrich said, calling the warrant request "a declaration of war".
More than 750 people live in the community of Khan al-Ahmar, around 10 kilometres east of Jerusalem's Old City in the central West Bank and surrounded by Israeli settlements.
The Palestinian Authority's Settlement and Wall Resistance Commission urged the international community to stop the move.
"Targeting Khan al-Ahmar is part of a long-term strategic settlement project... through which Israel seeks to create complete settlement contiguity that would separate the northern West Bank from its south," the commission's minister, Muayad Shaaban, was quoted as saying.
Peace Now, an Israeli settlement watchdog, also denounced the move.
"The Minister of Expulsion and Annexation seeks to take revenge on The Hague and the international community at the expense of one of the most vulnerable communities," it said.
Khan al-Ahmar sits near land Israel plans to use for its controversial E1 development project that would facilitate settlement expansion in the area near Jerusalem.
Smotrich, who lives in a settlement himself, is a staunch proponent of Israel annexing the West Bank.
"Under this government, we see that for the first time they've approved the very sensitive and significant plan of E1, and they're going ahead with plans to annex that entire region," Lior Amihai, Peace Now's executive director, told AFP.
"In order for them to annex the entire region, they need to also expel the Palestinian communities from there and Khan al-Ahmar is one of them," he added.
yif-acc-lba/ris/dc

Israel

Israeli troops in Iraq: what do we know?

  • - Two Iraqi security sources told AFP that Israeli forces operated from the Najaf desert during the war.
  • Iraqi forces swept the country's desert areas after being placed on high alert following reports that Israeli troops had operated inside the country during the Middle East war.
  • - Two Iraqi security sources told AFP that Israeli forces operated from the Najaf desert during the war.
Iraqi forces swept the country's desert areas after being placed on high alert following reports that Israeli troops had operated inside the country during the Middle East war.
Early in the war, which was ignited by joint US-Israeli attacks on Iran on February 28, foreign troops were detected in the Najaf desert in the country's southwest.
Security officials and witnesses told AFP that a shepherd, who was the first to spot the troops, was killed when a helicopter struck his pickup.
Iraqi authorities have acknowledged that "unknown" troops were present for no more than 48 hours in the Najaf desert, but they have not publicly identified them.

Who are these forces?

Two Iraqi security sources told AFP that Israeli forces operated from the Najaf desert during the war.
One security official said: "Israeli forces established a base on an abandoned airstrip built by Saddam Hussein in the Najaf desert."
On May 9, the Wall Street Journal reported that Israel set up a "clandestine military outpost" in the area, quoting anonymous sources, including US officials.
The report said the installation housed special forces and served as a logistical hub for the Israeli air force "with the knowledge of the US".
Another security official told AFP that Iraqi authorities asked the United States if the troops were theirs, but "they told us it wasn't them."
The US, which has troops in Iraq's north as part of an anti-jihadist coalition, has to inform Baghdad of any military activity. 
A third security source, however, downplayed the claim, saying the foreign troops may have been "US forces, accompanied by an Israeli technical team."
He also said that the foreign forces used an old airstrip built by Saddam and that CH-57 Chinook helicopters were seen at the site in Najaf.

What happened in the desert?

During the first week of the war, local media reports emerged of a shepherd who spotted military activity in the vast Najaf desert. 
Security sources told AFP that the shepherd was killed when a helicopter fired on his pickup, which remains in the desert, according to an AFP correspondent.
The shepherd was travelling to sell sheep, buy some essentials and refuel when he reportedly was caught off guard by foreign forces, according to witnesses who knew him. 
AFP's correspondent reported seeing a grave, just six meters from the pickup, inscribed with a name and a date of death: March 3, 2026. 
The grave may be symbolic or contain remains of the body, which was later buried in the holy city of Karbala, the witnesses said.
It was not clear which forces struck the vehicle.
On March 5, Qais al-Mohamadawi, Iraq's deputy commander of joint operations, told state media that Iraq protested to the US-led anti-jihadist coalition stationed in the country about an air raid in Najaf.
He said that after receiving reports of "individuals or movement in the Najaf" desert, Iraq's military sent a force to investigate.
The troops came under heavy aerial fire, leaving one soldier dead and two others wounded.
He added that at the site in Najaf, "one force was providing support to another that was conducting reconnaissance or setting up equipment".
Reinforcements were later sent to search the area, but "did not find anything", Mohamadawi said.
How did Iraq react?
Despite the media reports, Iraqi authorities have still not identified the foreign troops.
One of the security officials said that "the government cannot openly say they were Israeli forces because our troops did not engage directly with them." 
"There are things that we cannot talk about," he said.
On May 11, Iraq's military said its forces conducted sweeps in the deserts and border areas, insisting there are no "unauthorised bases or forces on Iraqi soil at the moment."
It warned against reports that "harm Iraq's reputation."
The Israeli military did not respond to an AFP request for comment.
Nevertheless, the rumour mill has not stopped. 
The security official said that reports has also emerged about a possible Israeli presence in Nineveh province in the country's north, and troops were sent there for inspections. 
"We deal with this matter as a rumour."
bur/rh/dc

court

Spanish ex-PM Zapatero under investigation for influence peddling

BY MARTIN DE MONTVALON

  • - 'Degraded institutions' - While other Spanish prime ministers have been called to testify in corruption cases, this is the first time in Spain's modern history that a former premier has been placed under formal investigation.
  • Spain's former Socialist prime minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has been placed under investigation for influence peddling and crimes allegedly committed in connection with the bailout of a small airline, a court said Tuesday.
  • - 'Degraded institutions' - While other Spanish prime ministers have been called to testify in corruption cases, this is the first time in Spain's modern history that a former premier has been placed under formal investigation.
Spain's former Socialist prime minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has been placed under investigation for influence peddling and crimes allegedly committed in connection with the bailout of a small airline, a court said Tuesday.
The move adds to pressure on current Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, already weakened by corruption investigations involving family members and senior political allies.
Zapatero, who served as prime minister from 2004 to 2011, was not originally closely aligned with Sanchez but has in recent years become one of his top defenders.
He has been summoned to testify on June 2, and police have searched his offices and three unnamed companies, Spain's top criminal court said in a statement.
Zapatero will be questioned as the "alleged head of a stable and hierarchical influence-peddling structure" which notably "used opaque financial channels" to "conceal the origin and destination of funds" and obtain bribes, the National Audience said, citing the judge’s ruling.
The investigation centres on a 53-million-euro ($62 million) emergency loan granted in March 2021 to Plus Ultra, a minor Spanish airline that operated flights to Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela with a small fleet of Airbus A340 aircraft.
The bailout was approved under a government fund established to support strategic companies hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The airline's eligibility for the rescue package drew criticism from opposition parties, which pointed to its limited operations and ties to Venezuelan business interests.
Spanish media reported that investigators are examining whether a consulting firm linked to an associate of Zapatero acted as an intermediary in financial transactions under scrutiny, including alleged payments related to the bailout.
Authorities are also looking into possible commissions and financial flows connected to the case.
Plus Ultra, headquartered in Madrid, has several shareholders with links to Venezuela, a factor that has long fuelled political controversy surrounding the rescue.
Zapatero has consistently denied ever having received any payments from Plus Ultra or having committed any wrongdoing.
"I want to reaffirm in the strongest possible terms that I have never carried out any dealings with any public administration or the public sector in relation to the bailout of Plus Ultra," he said in a video sent to the media on Tuesday.

'Degraded institutions'

While other Spanish prime ministers have been called to testify in corruption cases, this is the first time in Spain's modern history that a former premier has been placed under formal investigation.
The main opposition conservative Popular Party (PP) said Zapatero and Sanchez have both "degraded the institutions they represented" and "used their families to enrich themselves".
Sanchez's brother David is scheduled to stand trial for influence peddling, while his wife, Begona Gomez, is under investigation in a separate corruption case.
The prime minister has dismissed these cases against his family as politically motivated.
Sanchez's former right-hand man, former transport minister Jose Luis Abalos, is awaiting a verdict in his own corruption trial which wrapped up earlier this month.
Abalos, who helped propel Sanchez to power in 2018, is accused of earning kickbacks for the irregular awarding of contracts for face masks, which were in high demand and short supply as the Covid-19 pandemic started.

Regional poll defeats

The corruption cases have dented support for Sanchez's Socialist party ahead of a national election expected next year.
The party has suffered a string of heavy losses in regional elections including its former stronghold Andalusia where it achieved its worst-ever result on Sunday.
Zapatero had campaigned in favour of the party's candidate there, Sanchez's former finance minister Maria Jesus Montero.
The Socialist party defended Zapatero -- who made several social reforms including the legalisation of same-sex marriage while in office -- and suggested the probe was politically motivated.
Zapatero's time in office was "marked by an ambitious programme to extend rights, equality, and social protection. The right and far right have never forgiven him for these advances," the party said in a statement.
mig-mdm/ds/cw