Global Edition

Oil tops $100 as Iran attacks offset IEA stockpile release

  • But the move was unable to overcome fears about the choking of energy supplies from the Middle East, with the Strait of Hormuz -- through which a fifth of global crude passes -- effectively shut down.
  • Oil soared above $100 and stocks sank Thursday as Iran's fresh attempts to hit supplies in the Middle East and threats to bring down the global economy overshadowed a record release of strategic crude by the International Energy Agency.
  • But the move was unable to overcome fears about the choking of energy supplies from the Middle East, with the Strait of Hormuz -- through which a fifth of global crude passes -- effectively shut down.
Oil soared above $100 and stocks sank Thursday as Iran's fresh attempts to hit supplies in the Middle East and threats to bring down the global economy overshadowed a record release of strategic crude by the International Energy Agency.
The IEA said Wednesday that its members had agreed to unlock 400 million barrels of oil from their reserves -- their largest release ever.
But the move was unable to overcome fears about the choking of energy supplies from the Middle East, with the Strait of Hormuz -- through which a fifth of global crude passes -- effectively shut down.
As Iran steps up attempts to disrupt supplies across the region, two tankers in Iraqi waters were reported struck Thursday. Baghdad had already said it was cutting output because of the crisis, with Kuwait and kingpin Saudi Arabia following suit.
Also Thursday, Bahrain reported Iran had carried out an attack on fuel tanks in the country, while Saudi Arabia said it had intercepted drones headed to Shaybah oil field and drones struck fuel tanks at Oman's Salalah port, where operations were subsequently suspended.
And the UK maritime agency said in an alert Thursday that a container ship near the United Arab Emirates was hit by an "unknown projectile".
Brent jumped to a high of $101.59 per barrel, while WTI spiked at just short of $96. The two had rocketed as much as 30 percent Monday to a peak of nearly $120.
They both pared the gains but with hostilities showing no sign of ending, analysts warned $90-$100 a barrel could be the new normal for a while.
Iran said it was ready for a long war of attrition that would "destroy" the world economy, threatening any vessels from the United States or its allies.
The Revolutionary Guards threatened Wednesday to strike "economic centres and banks" linked to US and Israeli interests.
The two "must consider the possibility that they will be engaged in a long-term war of attrition that will destroy the entire American economy and the world economy", Ali Fadavi, an adviser to the Guards' commander-in-chief, told state television.
Iran's Tasnim news agency also published a list of potential tech targets, including the offices of Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Nvidia in Gulf countries and Israel. 

Stocks in retreat

Analysts warn a prolonged disruption to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz -- which also carries roughly a third of the fertiliser used in global food production -- would deliver a severe economic shock, particularly in Asia and Europe.
Among those badly hit are airlines, with many having to rethink flights through the Middle East, while the rising cost of fuel hits their bottom line. 
Air New Zealand said Thursday it would cut 1,100 flights over the next two months, while Hong Kong carrier Cathay Pacific unveiled new fuel surcharges for most routes that are roughly double the existing ones.
Wellington also said Thursday it was considering using decades-old laws restricting vehicle use if fuel supplies dwindled.
And Australian officials announced they will adjust fuel quality standards to allow higher sulfur levels for around two months in a move that will release 100 million litres into the domestic supply.
The surge in oil prices has stoked fears about another spike in inflation and possible interest rate hikes, after central banks had been contemplating cuts just last month.
That has weighed on equities, which resumed their retreat Thursday.
Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, Seoul, Mumbai, Wellington, Singapore, Taipei, Manila and Jakarta were all deep in the red.
London, Paris and Frankfurt also dropped at the open.
"When the geopolitical fire alarm is still ringing around the Strait of Hormuz, dumping barrels from emergency stockpiles is less a solution than a symbolic gesture," wrote Stephen Innes at SPI Asset Management.
"It might dampen volatility for a few hours but it cannot change the geometry of risk when the world's most important shipping artery is under threat.
"In trading desk language, the IEA release is the equivalent of pointing a garden hose at a refinery blaze."
Still, Trump reiterated his insistence that the strikes had already practically defeated Iran.
"They are pretty much at the end of the line," he told reporters, after delivering a speech to supporters in which he declared: "We've won... we won -- in the first hour it was over."
Israel's military, however, signalled the campaign was far from finished, and that it still had "a broad bank of targets."

Key figures at around 0815 GMT

West Texas Intermediate: UP 4.0 percent at $90.72 per barrel
Brent North Sea Crude: UP 4.4 percent at $96.04 per barrel
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.0 percent at 54,452.96 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.7 percent at 25,716.76 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.1 percent at 4,129.10 (close)
London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.6 percent at 10,296.02 
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1542 from $1.1574 on Wednesday
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3379 from $1.3419
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 158.89 yen from 158.92 yen
Euro/pound: UP at 86.28 pence from 86.25 pence
New York - Dow: DOWN 0.6 percent at 47,417.27 (close)
dan/jfx

US

War in the Middle East: latest developments

  • Explosions were also heard in downtown Dubai, one very loud, an AFP correspondent reported, as Iran continued its campaign against Gulf states in response to US-Israeli attacks.
  • Here are the latest events in the Middle East war: - Blasts heard over Jerusalem and in Dubai - Blasts were heard over Jerusalem on Thursday, AFP journalists said, after the Israeli military reported missiles fired from Iran.
  • Explosions were also heard in downtown Dubai, one very loud, an AFP correspondent reported, as Iran continued its campaign against Gulf states in response to US-Israeli attacks.
Here are the latest events in the Middle East war:

Blasts heard over Jerusalem and in Dubai

Blasts were heard over Jerusalem on Thursday, AFP journalists said, after the Israeli military reported missiles fired from Iran.
Explosions were also heard in downtown Dubai, one very loud, an AFP correspondent reported, as Iran continued its campaign against Gulf states in response to US-Israeli attacks.

Oil prices back above $100

Oil prices rose back above $100 and stocks sank Thursday as Iran's attempts to hit supplies in the Middle East and bring down the global economy overshadowed a record release of strategic crude reserves by the International Energy Agency.

Italian base attacked in Iraqi Kurdistan

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said there had been an "attack" on an Italian base in the Iraqi Kurdish city of Erbil, but there were no injuries.
Italy has soldiers in Erbil training Kurdistan security forces as part of an international force. Drones were shot down on Wednesday over Erbil by US-led international forces based at Erbil airport, a Kurdish security source said.

Strike on Beirut seafront kills seven

The Lebanese health ministry said that seven people were killed and 21 injured in an Israeli strike on the seafront area of Beirut, where some displaced people have been sleeping out in the open, hours after another attack in the heart of the capital.

Container ship hit near UAE

A projectile struck a container ship off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, causing a small fire onboard, the UK maritime agency said, adding the ship's crew had been reported as safe.
Meanwhile, three crew believed trapped on a Thai bulk carrier hit by projectiles in the crucial Strait of Hormuz were yet to be rescued, the vessel's owner said.
Two oil tankers were attacked off Iraq's coast, government officials told the INA news agency. At least one crew member of a ship was killed and several were missing, while 38 people had been rescued, port authorities said.

Gulf state attacks

Saudi Arabia's defence ministry said it had intercepted and destroyed two drones headed toward the Shaybah oil field in the southeast of the country. Earlier, the ministry said it shot down one drone approaching a district housing foreign embassies, and another in the eastern region.
Kuwait's defence ministry also said it had intercepted several drones. State media reported a fire in a residential building, resulting in two injuries. 
Bahrain told residents to stay home after an Iranian attack on fuel tanks on Thursday in Muharraq Governorate.

Strike on Iraq kills two

An air strike targeting a base in northern Iraq killed at least two fighters, several sources told AFP. 

Trump says Iran near defeat

President Donald Trump reiterated his insistence that US strikes on Iran had already practically defeated the Islamic republic.
"They are pretty much at the end of the line," Trump told reporters, after delivering a speech to supporters in which he declared: "We've won... We won -- in the first hour it was over."
Meanwhile, Yahya Rahim Safavi, a senior military adviser to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, lashed out at Trump in remarks on state television. "Trump is the most corrupt and stupid American president," he said. "He is Satan himself."

US to release 172 mn barrels of oil

The US Department of Energy said it will release 172 million barrels of oil from its strategic petroleum reserve as part of an agreement among International Energy Agency (IEA) members to ease market turbulence.
The IEA's 32 members agreed to unlock 400 million barrels, its largest ever joint release. The US release will begin next week and be completed in approximately 120 days, the Energy Department said.
- US war costs hit $11.3 bn in six days - 
The opening week of the war against Iran cost the United States military more than $11.3 billion, lawmakers were told in a Pentagon briefing, according to a New York Times report.
burs-tw/jm/fg

law

China approves 'ethnic unity' law condemned by rights groups

  • While it calls for "strengthening ties" with overseas Chinese communities, it also warns that people outside China who "engage in activities that undermine ethnic unity" or inciting "ethnic separatism" will be held legally liable. bur-pbt/dhw/fox
  • China approved what it called an "ethnic unity" law on Thursday, which rights advocates warn could further marginalise minority groups such as the Uyghurs.
  • While it calls for "strengthening ties" with overseas Chinese communities, it also warns that people outside China who "engage in activities that undermine ethnic unity" or inciting "ethnic separatism" will be held legally liable. bur-pbt/dhw/fox
China approved what it called an "ethnic unity" law on Thursday, which rights advocates warn could further marginalise minority groups such as the Uyghurs.
The law, passed by the National People's Congress, formalises policies to promote Mandarin as the "national common language" in education, official business and public places.
China's government has been accused for decades of pursuing policies to force assimilation across the vast country into the Han majority.
Social cohesion is a key focus of the new "ethnic unity" law, which criminalises engaging in "violent terrorist activities, ethnic separatist activities, or religious extremist activities".
The law aims to "strengthen cohesion" within China, which the legislation argues is undergoing unprecedented social change.
China officially recognises 55 official ethnic minorities within its borders that speak hundreds of languages and dialects.
Government policies have already directed that Mandarin Chinese be used as the language of instruction in some areas with large minority populations, such as Tibet and Inner Mongolia.
Yalkun Uluyol, a China researcher at Human Rights Watch, described the new legislation as a "significant departure" from a Deng Xiaoping-era policy that guaranteed the right of minorities to use their own languages.
Educational institutions will now need to use Mandarin as the principal teaching language. Teenagers will now be required to have "a basic grasp" of Mandarin upon completing compulsory education.
No minority languages are specifically cited in the new law, although it will likely affect Uyghur, Mongolian and Tibetan speakers.
"It is no coincidence that the law targets spaces where children are most likely to encounter their mother tongue," Erika Nguyen from PEN America told AFP.
"The intent being to sever children's ties with their identity, history, and culture."
A recent report by PEN and the Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Center (SMHRIC) said that more than 80 percent of Mongolian language websites in China have been "censored or banned". 
Requiring fluency in Mandarin in public life could also inhibit the chances of Mongolian-speakers advancing professionally, SMHRIC director Enghebatu Togochog said in a statement.
"Economically, it marginalises Mongolians, as Chinese fluency becomes a gatekeeper for jobs and advancement," Togochog said.
The law also states that its provisions can also be applied outside China's borders.
While it calls for "strengthening ties" with overseas Chinese communities, it also warns that people outside China who "engage in activities that undermine ethnic unity" or inciting "ethnic separatism" will be held legally liable.
bur-pbt/dhw/fox

Global Edition

Bangladesh parliament reconvenes after uprising and polls

BY SHEIKH SABIHA ALAM

  • Both are members of the BNP. The parliament building was looted during the August 2024 uprising against Hasina, but has since been repaired.
  • Bangladesh's parliament convened Thursday for the first time since a deadly 2024 uprising plunged the country into political turmoil and following elections last month.
  • Both are members of the BNP. The parliament building was looted during the August 2024 uprising against Hasina, but has since been repaired.
Bangladesh's parliament convened Thursday for the first time since a deadly 2024 uprising plunged the country into political turmoil and following elections last month.
The government of Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), took over after February 12 elections from the interim administration that had led the country of 170 million people since August 2024.
"After more than a decade and a half of fascist and subservient rule, the activities of parliament are beginning today with representatives elected by the people," Rahman told parliament.
"The BNP wants to build a prosperous, safe and democratic country," he added, calling on all lawmakers, whatever their political opinions, to work together.
Rahman blamed the toppled government of Sheikh Hasina and her Awami League party for undermining the previous parliament.
Hasina, 78, who has been sentenced in absentia to death for crimes against humanity, is in self-imposed exile in India.
"The fallen dictatorship made parliament dysfunctional, instead of making it the centre of all national activities," Rahman said, promising it would change under his watch.
"We will make parliament the centre of all debates and arguments aimed at resolving the country’s problems."
They include tackling a sluggish economy, restoring stability and reviving growth after months of turmoil that rattled investor confidence and strained state finances.
The world's second largest garment exporter, heavily dependent on fossil fuel imports, has also been hit hard by an oil price spike caused by the war in the Middle East.
Rahman's appeal for unity is a bid to heal rifts in a country polarised by years of bitter rivalry.
A new speaker, Hafiz Uddin Ahmad, and his deputy, Kayser Kamal, were elected to office. Both are members of the BNP.
The parliament building was looted during the August 2024 uprising against Hasina, but has since been repaired.
The BNP-led alliance secured 212 seats, while the BNP alone won 209 seats.
The leader of the opposition is Shafiqur Rahman, who heads the Jamaat-e-Islami-led alliance with 76 seats, with Jamaat alone holding 68.
sa/pjm/fox

US

Checkpoints, air strikes and hope: a Tehran resident tells her story

  • Here is an edited transcript of the conversation:   - How is daily life in Tehran?
  • Torn between hope and fear, a Tehran resident in her 30s agrees to share her thoughts with AFP about the ongoing war and daily life.
  • Here is an edited transcript of the conversation:   - How is daily life in Tehran?
Torn between hope and fear, a Tehran resident in her 30s agrees to share her thoughts with AFP about the ongoing war and daily life.
We are withholding her identity for her protection. Here is an edited transcript of the conversation:  

How is daily life in Tehran?

People left in waves, especially those who were next to targets. 
The financial situation is very bad. My job has been halted and I am spending out of my savings. Going away has costs too, so this may be one of the reasons why people are leaving Tehran less now, along with Trump saying civilians would be safe. 
You can still do your shopping though. For petrol, they went from 30 litres maximum to 20. I didn't take any petrol because I have enough. But I heard from a friend that at one petrol station, they capped it at five litres.
Thankfully we haven't had to go to a hospital yet but apparently they work fine. 

How is the security situation? 

Even the smallest police stations are closed, so officers don't have anywhere to go. For the rest (the military), it's even worse because they have hit all their bases. 
The only way they can show that they're there and that the situation is under control is to put checkpoints around the place. 
I didn't have to stop at any of the checkpoints I passed through, but I've heard that they take people's phones and they will type 'Leader', 'Khamenei' or even 'moosh Ali' (a pejorative nickname for late leader Ali Khamenei which translates as "Mouse Ali").
Other regime supporters come to the streets with flags and signs chanting "Allahu akbar" ("God is the greatest") around 10:00-10:30PM. They're in around 50 cars and do loops and chant a bit.

Do you know people directly affected by air strikes?

The house of my friend's mother is in front of the Public Security Police station in Gisha (an upmarket area of central Tehran). The windows of part of the building facade were blown off completely. 
They hit Gisha pretty bad. Another friend from Gisha said they were scared to open their eyes after the strikes for fear of finding themselves either dead or without a roof. 
The Niloufar Square police station was a huge one. When they hit it, the strikes were so intense that the square has expanded by a street. The destruction was huge, I went to see myself. 
A person I know owns a shop there, they could only recover a few boxes of merchandise from the back. The store is destroyed. 
- How do you feel about the war? - 
The night they announced Khamenei had died, my neighbours and I went up on the roof and everybody was screaming and celebrating. But then they (security forces) came to the neighbourhood with their motorbikes and started shooting in the air. 
They started firing at windows with bullets randomly, they wouldn't even aim.
I don't know what will happen to us mentally and emotionally if it doesn't work out this time. 
I don't understand people who say "no to war" because we were the ones out in the streets protesting (in January), and we saw that they (the leadership) will not leave no matter what. 
There is no other way to remove them except foreign intervention. 
"No to a ceasefire!", "War, war, until victory!": we keep repeating these phrases among ourselves. If they stay, people will end up killing each other. We'll have a civil war.

How are you sleeping?

I don't hear much where I am. One night they hit an area close to me and it felt like someone was taking off the entrance door to the building. But I have a friend in Tehran-Pars (a suburb northeast of Tehran), she takes sleeping pills because of the noise. 
Another friend who is close to Mehrabad (central Tehran) said that the night they hit the airport, they spent a couple of hours in the bathroom. They felt like the roof was falling down on them. 
But Tehran is big and the experiences are quite different.
bur-adp/ser

conflict

Ukraine's tech evangelist defence chief preaching the 'future of war'

BY BARBARA WOJAZER

  • Appointed in January, the 35-year-old with short salt-and-pepper hair is Ukraine's youngest ever defence minister.
  • Ukraine's newly installed defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov waltzed on stage like a stand-up comedian to take the mic in front of journalists in Kyiv as a sleek slideshow zoomed across a map of the country. 
  • Appointed in January, the 35-year-old with short salt-and-pepper hair is Ukraine's youngest ever defence minister.
Ukraine's newly installed defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov waltzed on stage like a stand-up comedian to take the mic in front of journalists in Kyiv as a sleek slideshow zoomed across a map of the country. 
The Ted-talk style briefing -- a departure from the ministry's previously stiff approach -- encapsulates the energy Fedorov is trying to inject into Ukraine's war machine, four years into the Russian invasion.
Appointed in January, the 35-year-old with short salt-and-pepper hair is Ukraine's youngest ever defence minister.
On a mission to modernise the army, he took over an apparatus facing stretched air defences, financial uncertainty, stalled peace talks, recruitment problems and widespread bureaucracy and war fatigue.
"We will turn the war into a data platform," said Fedorov, wearing his trademark sweatshirt and jeans in a speech punctuated with jokes.
"We will take all the data and see what works. Everything that works well will proceed," he said -- a personal mantra that would not appear out of place in Silicon Valley.

'Moment of truth'

Fedorov has spent much of the war promoting advanced technology, like drones, as a way to offset Ukraine's shortages in manpower, money and ammunition.
He began his career in digital marketing and his first roles in government were spearheading online services for citizens, including the country's now now‑ubiquitous state services app
Diia.
Russia's 2022 invasion -- which saw his home town in the southern Zaporizhzhia region occupied -- has only cemented his faith in technology.
"It was a moment of truth. When someone attacks your country, you do everything asymmetrical that is in your power," said his then-advisor Anton Melnyk, summarising Fedorov's philosophy.
His ministry for digital transformation took to social media to call out Western companies still working in Russia, shaming them into breaking ties.
He also reached out to US tech titan Elon Musk to secure Starlink satellite connectivity for Ukrainian troops.
His early bet on drones seems obvious now in a war that has come to be dominated by them.
But to many he was a rare and vital early advocate.
In 2023, activist Sergiy Sternenko, known for his fundraising efforts for the army,posted an emotional video to his two million followers, pleading with the government to quickly invest in drones.
"Mykhailo was really the first to call me literally an hour or two after that," Sternenko, now an advisor to Fedorov, told AFP.
Within two days he had been invited to Fedorov's office to discuss the issue.
"He was the driver of innovation, including of drones in the Ukrainian army, even when the Ukrainian armed forces leadership itself did not really want it," he said.
One of Fedorov's trademark initiatives was a controversial killing-for-points scheme, a data-driven system designed to reward the most effective army units. 
Soldiers earned points for confirmed kills or destruction of Russian equipment -- verified by uploaded videos -- that can be used to purchase equipment, with league tables ranking the best performing units.

Outsmart the system

At the defence ministry, he is set on developing that approach.
One of his first initiatives is an audit of battlefield losses -- ranking commanders based on casualty levels, in an attempt to address high levels of desertion among rank-and-file troops and the unpopularity of mobilisation.
Ukraine "cannot fight the future of war with an old system", Fedorov said in a statement after his appointment.
He has fans among Ukraine's Western partners, having courted NATO and EU representatives at the Ukraine Defence Contact Group.
"The minister came across as competent, realistic, highly knowledgeable, and forward-looking,"a diplomat at NATO told AFP.
"I strongly believe he can bring something new," said another diplomat at NATO.
"He has the potential to bring faster warfare of the future," they added.
But having never served, it is unclear if he can convince the rest of Ukraine's traditional military leadership, which some say is still stuck in Soviet-style bureaucracy.
"We can try," said Sternenko, his advisor.
"Much depends on the military command but Mykhailo has a vision of how to outsmart the system."
Opposition lawmaker Solomia Bobrovska, who sits on the parliament's defence committee, and has been briefed by Fedorov, told AFP: "It's very ambitious and very promising."
"It's early... The presentation is one thing, the other will be reality. I'm really interested in how society and the army will react."
brw/jc/fg

conflict

From Kyiv to UK, Ukrainian drone production spans Europe

BY MARIE HEUCLIN

  • Ukrspecsystems, which specialises in reconnaissance drones, chose Mildenhall in Suffolk, eastern England, next to a British military base.
  • In an inconspicuous building near the UK's Mildenhall air base, drone manufacturer Ukrspecsystems is opening a new production line, like other Ukrainian arms companies looking to secure supply chain and boost capacity.
  • Ukrspecsystems, which specialises in reconnaissance drones, chose Mildenhall in Suffolk, eastern England, next to a British military base.
In an inconspicuous building near the UK's Mildenhall air base, drone manufacturer Ukrspecsystems is opening a new production line, like other Ukrainian arms companies looking to secure supply chain and boost capacity.
Ukrainian drone manufacturers have in recent months announced a slew of plans to open sites in Europe, including in Germany, Denmark and now Britain.
Ukrspecsystems, which specialises in reconnaissance drones, chose Mildenhall in Suffolk, eastern England, next to a British military base.
In the warehouse area where the company has set up shop, there is little indicating the presence of the weapons plant inaugurated on February 25 by Britain's armed forces minister Luke Pollard and Ukrainian ambassador in London Valery Zaluzhny -- Kyiv's former military commander-in-chief.
In a few weeks, the site will be able to manufacture up to 200 surveillance drones (ISRs) every month, and up to 1,000 in the long-term, director Rory Chamberlain told AFP.
These include Ukrspecsystems' "Shark" model, identifiable by the shark-head design on its nose, which cost tens of thousands of pounds (dollars) to make.
"The battlefield is large, so you've got to be able to get cheap but capable ISR at quantity on the front line," said Chamberlain.
While Ukraine has ramped up drone production since Russia's 2022 invasion -- with more than four million units produced in 2025, according to President Volodymyr Zelensky -- the demand remains huge.
But manufacturing conditions are difficult in Ukraine, with the constant threat of Russian strikes as well as a heavy reliance on parts imported from China, according to the Snake Island Institute, a Kyiv-based defence think tank.
Last year, Kyiv eased an embargo on arms exports, allowing technology transfers to allied countries, which can then host assembly lines and finished products are reimported to Ukraine.
"Manufacturing these systems outside Ukraine creates extra production capacity to support Kyiv's war effort," noted the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) in its Military Balance 2026 report.
According to the report, the partnerships support "the longer-term economic viability of (Ukraine's) defence-industrial base," which has the manufacturing know-how, but needs more contracts.
The "controlled exports" of certain weapon types will allow Kyiv to "increase the production of drones for the front line" and boost funding, Zelensky said in September.

'Battle-tested'

In mid-February, the Danish government announced it was in talks to host facilities for Ukrainian drone manufacturer Skyfall.
Ukrainian firm Fire Point, which develops military drones and missiles, was the first to set up in Denmark, where it began construction in Vojens of a plant to produce propellants in December.
Production is scheduled to start later this year.
"Bringing strong Ukrainian defence companies to Denmark to work together with Danish industry will strengthen the security of both Denmark and Ukraine," said Denmark's Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen.
The expansion is "bringing that understanding" of drone manufacturing into the UK and other European countries which are less experienced in the field, said Chamberlain -- particularly when it comes to adaptability and advances in embedded technologies like AI and jamming.
"How quickly you can bring updates, and... get those in the frontline is how successful you are... In 24 hours, we can do that," he added.
"We have the know how, and I think that's what we can bring" to the UK.
"For European firms, partnering with Ukrainian companies and their battle-tested designs now may prove more advantageous than competing against them in the future," noted the IISS report.
The partnerships have multiplied in a short span of time.
Since the end of 2024, Finnish group Summa Defence has set up several joint ventures with Ukrainian firms to produce drones in Finland.
Similarly, British firm Prevail Partners and Ukraine's Skyeton joined forces in July 2025 aiming to produce the Raybird surveillance drone in the UK.
Zelensky and German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius last month received the first drone manufactured by QFI, a joint venture between German company Quantum Systems and Ukrainian firm Frontline Robotics.
It is set to produce an initial 10,000 drones per year, QFI said.
mhc/aks/jkb/pdw

US

Iran targets fuel facilities, sending oil soaring again

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

  • On Thursday, oil prices soared past $100 a barrel, despite the International Energy Agency's decision to authorise a record release of strategic crude reserves.
  • Iran launched a new wave of attacks against Gulf energy targets on Thursday, hours after two oil tankers were hit, sending crude prices soaring again despite record reserve releases.
  • On Thursday, oil prices soared past $100 a barrel, despite the International Energy Agency's decision to authorise a record release of strategic crude reserves.
Iran launched a new wave of attacks against Gulf energy targets on Thursday, hours after two oil tankers were hit, sending crude prices soaring again despite record reserve releases.
The renewed drone and missile attacks against Iran's Gulf neighbours and Israel followed a warning from Tehran that it could wage a prolonged war that would "destroy" the world economy.
US President Donald Trump meanwhile insisted Iran was facing imminent defeat, though he cautioned that did not mean the war would end "immediately."
The war launched by the United States and Israel has rapidly spread across the region, with hundreds killed by Israeli strikes in Lebanon, and sparked global economic upheaval.
On Thursday morning, Bahrain told residents to stay inside and close windows after an Iranian attack on fuel tanks, while Saudi Arabia said it intercepted drones headed towards the Shaybah oil field and the embassies district.
Earlier, drones struck fuel tanks at Oman's Salalah port, where operations were subsequently suspended.
Shipping in and around the crucial Strait of Hormuz chokepoint also came under attack, with a container ship near the United Arab Emirates hit by an "unknown projectile," the UK maritime agency said in an alert Thursday.
The projectile caused a small fire onboard, but all crew were reported as safe, the agency said.
That incident followed an attack on two oil tankers near Iraq that authorities said Thursday had killed at least one crew member, 
Another 38 had been rescued but a search for others was ongoing, authorities said.
The Iraqi government's media cell told national news agency INA that the "two tankers were subject to sabotage" and the oil ministry said it had "deep concern" about incidents involving oil tankers in the Gulf.

'End of the line'

The Strait of Hormuz, though which a fifth of the world's oil passes, has effectively been closed by Iranian threats.
Iran has vowed that not one litre of oil will be exported from the Gulf while the US-Israeli attack continues.
In the last day alone, at least four incidents involving vessels in the region have been reported, including a Thai bulk carrier hit by two projectiles on Wednesday.
Three members of its crew are missing "and believed to be trapped in the engine room" of the ship, according to transport company Precious Shipping.
Suspected Iranian attacks were also reported elsewhere in the Gulf Thursday, with Kuwait saying two people were injured by a "hostile drone" that hit a residential building.
The UAE also said its air defence was responding to a missile threat.
The renewed attacks came shortly after Trump insisted Iran was "pretty much at the end of the line."
"Doesn't mean we're going to end it immediately, but they are," he told reporters.
He also threatened that Washington could strike infrastructure that would take a generation to rebuild, while indicating he would prefer to show restraint.
Earlier he said the United States must "finish the job" in Iran, adding that US forces had struck 28 Iranian mine-laying vessels.

Oil prices spike again

Iran's Revolutionary Guards meanwhile warned Wednesday they would strike "economic centres and banks" linked to US and Israeli interests, prompting more international firms to evacuate staff from Dubai.
The United States and Israel "must consider the possibility that they will be engaged in a long-term war of attrition that will destroy the entire American economy and the world economy," Ali Fadavi, an adviser to the Guards' commander-in-chief, told state television.
The war's economic impacts have already been felt widely.
On Thursday, oil prices soared past $100 a barrel, despite the International Energy Agency's decision to authorise a record release of strategic crude reserves.
The energy body said Wednesday that its members had agreed to unlock 400 million barrels of oil, including 172 million from the United States.
But the move was not enough to overcome fears of a prolonged conflict, and analysts said $90-100 a barrel could be the new normal for a while.
The war's spread has hit Lebanon particularly hard, with Israel launching strikes and ground operations against Iran-backed Hezbollah.
The offensive has killed more than 630 people, according to Lebanese authorities, while more than 800,000 people have registered as displaced, with around 126,000 of them staying in collective shelters.
Many others have been forced to sleep in the open, including along the Beirut seafront where an Israeli strike killed at least seven people on Thursday morning.

'Ran from room to room'

That followed an earlier strike on a residential building in a central Beirut neighbourhood.
An AFP correspondent saw destroyed walls on the building's seventh and eighth floors, with damaged cars nearby.
When the strike hit, "I ran from room to room, pulled my wife and daughter out of the rooms and hid them behind a wall, then the second strike hit", said Fawzi Asmar, owner of a bakery on the same street.
The Israeli military said early Thursday that it had "begun a wide-scale wave of strikes targeting terror infrastructure belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist organization across Lebanon."
Israel's military said early Thursday it had detected a new launch of missiles directed at the state from Iran.
Iran's health ministry said on March 8 that more than 1,200 people have been killed in the war. 
AFP is not able to access the sites of strikes or independently verify tolls in Iran.
In Israel, authorities said 14 people have been killed, while attacks in the Gulf have killed 24 people, including 11 civilians and seven US military personnel, according to local authorities and the US Central Command.
The war has cost the United States more than $11.3 billion, lawmakers were told in a Pentagon briefing, according to the New York Times.
burs-sah/hmn

US

Three crew 'believed trapped' aboard Thai ship attacked in Gulf: firm

BY MONTIRA RUNGJIRAJITTRANON

  • "Three crew members are reported missing and believed to be trapped in the engine room," it said, adding that authorities were working to rescue them.
  • Three crew members believed to be trapped aboard a Thai bulk carrier hit by projectiles while travelling through the crucial Strait of Hormuz were yet to be rescued on Thursday, the vessel's owner said.
  • "Three crew members are reported missing and believed to be trapped in the engine room," it said, adding that authorities were working to rescue them.
Three crew members believed to be trapped aboard a Thai bulk carrier hit by projectiles while travelling through the crucial Strait of Hormuz were yet to be rescued on Thursday, the vessel's owner said.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards said Wednesday they had struck the Thai-registered Mayuree Naree, as well as a Liberia-flagged vessel, in the strait because the ships had ignored "warnings".
The Thai ship was struck Wednesday morning while transiting through the Gulf waterway, after departing Khalifa port in the United Arab Emirates.
The two projectiles damaged the Mayuree Naree's engine room and caused a fire, Thai transport company Precious Shipping said in a statement Wednesday evening.
"Three crew members are reported missing and believed to be trapped in the engine room," it said, adding that authorities were working to rescue them.
"Unfortunately, that remains the case," the firm's managing director Khalid Hashim told AFP on Thursday.
"We still have not been able to get anyone to board our ship, even though the fire has been extinguished," Hashim said in an email.
"We are trying different avenues to get onboard."
The Omani navy rescued 20 of the vessel's sailors on Wednesday, the Thai navy said.
Thailand's foreign ministry said all 23 crew members were Thai.
All Thai vessels have left the Strait of Hormuz and Bangkok had "protested against the violence done to the commercial ships", the ministry's deputy spokesman Panidol Patchimsawat told reporters on Thursday.
"Please be assured that we are on a mission to find the missing three," he added.
Since strikes by the United States and Israel against Iran in late February ignited the Middle East war, the Islamic republic has launched its own attacks against its oil-exporting neighbours.
The strikes have threatened shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and plunged the global energy economy into crisis.
The strait is a crucial waterway through which a fifth of global oil supplies usually pass.
tak/sco/tc

US

Lebanon says 7 killed in Israeli strike on central Beirut

  • It was the third attack in the heart of the capital since the Middle East war began.
  • Lebanon said an Israeli strike on central Beirut's seafront killed at least seven people early on Thursday, another attack in the heart of the capital as Iran-backed Hezbollah launched more missiles at Israel. 
  • It was the third attack in the heart of the capital since the Middle East war began.
Lebanon said an Israeli strike on central Beirut's seafront killed at least seven people early on Thursday, another attack in the heart of the capital as Iran-backed Hezbollah launched more missiles at Israel. 
The Israeli military said separately it had carried out strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs overnight against Hezbollah, which had announced a major new operation against Israel.
Local media aired footage showing smoke rising along the seaside road area after the strike in central Beirut, which state-run National News Agency (NNA) said targeted a car. 
"The Israeli enemy strike on Ramlet al-Bayda in Beirut led to an initial toll of seven dead and 21 wounded," the health ministry said in a statement.
It was the third attack in the heart of the capital since the Middle East war began. Israel has also repeatedly hit the southern suburbs of Beirut where Israeli military said on Thursday it had hit 10 Hezbollah targets. 
The NNA reported on Thursday that Israeli strikes had also hit several towns in southern Lebanon, including Taybeh and al-Sultaniyya as well as Qana, near the city of Tyre.
Hezbollah said early Thursday that it had fired off missiles at an Israeli military intelligence base in the suburbs of Tel Aviv.
Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war last week when Hezbollah attacked Israel in response to the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes.
Israel, which kept up its strikes in Lebanon even before the war despite a 2024 ceasefire with Hezbollah, has since launched air raids across Lebanon and sent ground troops into border areas.
Its offensive has killed more than 630 people, according to Lebanese authorities, while more than 800,000 people have registered as displaced, with around 126,000 of them staying in collective shelters.
Some displaced people have been sleeping out in the open or in tents on the streets of Beirut, including in the seaside area of Ramlet al-Bayda.

Hezbollah operation

Late Wednesday, French President Emmanuel Macron called for Israel to halt its ground offensive in Lebanon and on Iran-backed group Hezbollah to "immediately" stop attacks, after speaking with the country's president Joseph Aoun.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards said earlier that they had carried out a joint missile operation with ally Hezbollah against targets in Israel.
In turn, the Israeli military said early Thursday that "over the past hours, the IDF has begun a wide-scale wave of strikes targeting terror infrastructure belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist organization across Lebanon."
It also said it hit "dozens of launchers" as well as Hezbollah intelligence and command sites in south Beirut.
It followed a string of Hezbollah statements saying its fighters fired barrages of rockets, advanced missiles and drones at towns, military bases and other locations, mainly in the Israel's north.
On Wednesday, Israel pounded south Beirut and the country's south and east, with the health ministry reporting several strikes that each killed at least eight people.
Authorities said a strike on an apartment in the densely populated Aisha Bakkar area in central Beirut wounded four people.
On Sunday, Israel hit a seafront hotel not far from Ramlet al-Bayda, saying it was targeting Iranian foreign operations officers. Iran later said the raid killed four of its diplomats.
lg/jfx/ceg/hmn

US

Fear, boredom for Philippine sailors stuck in Hormuz strait

BY PAM CASTRO AND CECIL MORELLA

  • - Stranded for days - Welbin Maghanoy, whose ship was carrying crude oil bound for Japan, had been stranded for nine days when he spoke to AFP.   "It's getting boring, and I'm a little scared, because there are many ships being attacked, mostly oil tankers like ours," he said from a vessel located 100 nautical miles off the coast of the United Arab Emirates.
  • Filipino sailor George Miranda was racing to help a stricken vessel aboard the tugboat Mussafah 2 when he last spoke to his wife and young daughter.
  • - Stranded for days - Welbin Maghanoy, whose ship was carrying crude oil bound for Japan, had been stranded for nine days when he spoke to AFP.   "It's getting boring, and I'm a little scared, because there are many ships being attacked, mostly oil tankers like ours," he said from a vessel located 100 nautical miles off the coast of the United Arab Emirates.
Filipino sailor George Miranda was racing to help a stricken vessel aboard the tugboat Mussafah 2 when he last spoke to his wife and young daughter.
The 46-year-old, whose small ship was struck by a pair of missiles this week in the Strait of Hormuz, is the only seafarer from the Philippines known to be missing in the Middle East war, the government says.
But more than 6,000 others from the country that supplies a quarter of the world's sailors are still working in the conflict zone and "surrounding areas", many waiting for the green light to pass through the now-deadly shipping lane.
A series of Iranian strikes have effectively closed the strait, which carries 20 percent of world oil and gas supplies, plunging the global energy economy into crisis.
For John Winston Isidro, life aboard his VLCC, or Very Large Crude Carrier, has been marked by equal parts monotony and precaution since his ship began playing the waiting game.
"The crew stopped working above deck, and we installed a double watch on the bridge," the 32-year-old told AFP, describing off-hours spent scrolling Facebook, playing computer games and watching the occasional movie.
That routine was becoming normal, he said, though the engine crew was being kept on standby, ready to "fire up our engines" in case of emergency.

Stranded for days

Welbin Maghanoy, whose ship was carrying crude oil bound for Japan, had been stranded for nine days when he spoke to AFP.  
"It's getting boring, and I'm a little scared, because there are many ships being attacked, mostly oil tankers like ours," he said from a vessel located 100 nautical miles off the coast of the United Arab Emirates.
"Those whose contracts are about to end... they really want to go home," he said of his fellow sailors.
Judy Domingo, president of the 50,000-strong United Filipino Seafarers union, told AFP she had taken hundreds of calls from concerned sailors bottled up in the strait, with food supplies one of the immediate concerns.
"There are also members expressing their desire to leave the ship. But of course, we cannot get them out of there immediately. We have to consider their location and a safe port for them to disembark," Domingo said.
One stranded Philippine sailor who has been posting online videos of his experiences under the name Choi described a vote in which the crew was asked if they wanted to risk passage through the strait, where traffic has slowed to a trickle.
"Our captain gathered us in the conference room to ask us who wanted to pass through," he said in a video posted to Facebook and verified by AFP Fact Check.
"We chose to go home alive," he said. 
"There are 27 of us. Almost everyone said they refused to sail."
Isidro, the VLCC sailor, said he was happy his crew had not been consulted about the decision to stay put.
"Our captain will not risk our vessel's safety... It's too dangerous," he said.
"Let's just pray this US-Iran war ends soon so every ship trapped here is able to get out safe."
pam-cgm-cwl/mjw/jfx

Global Edition

North Korea unveils image of leader's daughter firing pistol

  • She has long been seen as next in line to rule the country, a perception stoked by a string of recent high-profile outings, as well as a rare image released late last month of her firing a rifle at a shooting range.
  • North Korea released an image on Thursday of leader Kim Jong Un's teenage daughter firing a pistol, weeks after photos showed her shooting a rifle — once again stoking speculation she is being groomed as heir.
  • She has long been seen as next in line to rule the country, a perception stoked by a string of recent high-profile outings, as well as a rare image released late last month of her firing a rifle at a shooting range.
North Korea released an image on Thursday of leader Kim Jong Un's teenage daughter firing a pistol, weeks after photos showed her shooting a rifle — once again stoking speculation she is being groomed as heir.
Kim's teenage daughter Ju Ae featured prominently in state photos published to mark the closing stages of the nuclear-armed country's key ruling Workers' Party congress last month.
She has long been seen as next in line to rule the country, a perception stoked by a string of recent high-profile outings, as well as a rare image released late last month of her firing a rifle at a shooting range.
Pyongyang's state media released an image of Ju Ae firing what looked like a pistol with one eye closed, flames shooting from the muzzle of the gun.
She was attending an event, along with her father, at a "major munitions factory" that produces new pistols and other "portable light arms", Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency said.
State media images showed the duo, donning matching leather jackets -- often seen as a symbol of power in North Korea -- being briefed by officials as they inspected the facility.
There, leader Kim visited the factory's "shooting gallery" where he got to test the "new-type" pistol himself, and expressed satisfaction over the weapon's "excellence".
The Kim family has ruled North Korea with an iron grip for decades, and a cult of personality surrounding their "Paektu bloodline" dominates daily life in the isolated country. 
Despite her young age, "it appears the regime is trying to cultivate the image of a strong and formidable woman,"  Lim Eul-chul, a North Korea expert at South Korea's Kyungnam University, told AFP.
"The pistol-shooting scene clearly serves to signal that she is cultivating the attributes of a military leader."
Ju Ae was publicly introduced to the world in 2022 when she accompanied her father to an intercontinental ballistic missile launch. 
Before then, the only confirmation of her existence had come from former NBA star Dennis Rodman, who visited the North in 2013.  
cdl/tc

US

War forces lengthy detours for Iranian truck drivers to Iraq

  • Still, the truck driver said Khamenei's death "changes nothing" in his own life.
  • Rubbing his hands together to warm them, Iranian truck driver Reza curses the more than 300-kilometre detour he was forced to make to enter Iraq after the war closed most of the usually busy border crossings.
  • Still, the truck driver said Khamenei's death "changes nothing" in his own life.
Rubbing his hands together to warm them, Iranian truck driver Reza curses the more than 300-kilometre detour he was forced to make to enter Iraq after the war closed most of the usually busy border crossings.
Originally from the small town of Piranshahr in northwestern Iran, he normally drives just 20 minutes to the Haji Omeran crossing, but it has been shut since the start of Israeli-US air strikes on Iran on February 28.
"I waited five nights, it never opened," he told AFP on Wednesday in the car park on the Iraqi side of another border crossing further south, Bashmarq, which also connects Iran to Iraq's Kurdistan region.
Like the other drivers who spoke to AFP, Reza is being identified by a pseudonym, having requested anonymity out of concern for his safety.
The roads were quiet, said Reza, adding that his two wives and three sons remained at home.
"The Americans are only targeting military installations," he said from the vast car park near the crossing, where just 20 trucks were waiting, compared to hundreds in normal circumstances.
Services like water, gas and electricity were still running, Reza stressed, as were phones, but "only for local connections", including the domestic intranet.
In a country whose economy has been suffocated for years by international sanctions, the war has brought imports to a halt: the trucks that used to leave from the north no longer go down to Tehran or Bandar Abbas, a major Iranian port in the south, said Reza, who usually hauls food products.
"Prices have gone down, except for chicken," said Akbar Jafari, 37, from Kermanshah, a five-hour drive away.
Unlike Reza, he sent his family, including his wife and seven-year-old son, to his father-in-law's in the countryside when the strikes began.
"The problems are in the city centre," Jafari said.

Abandoned checkpoints

"The Basij (paramilitary force) abandoned the checkpoints they had set up in the city after the Mahsa Amini protests," he said, referring to the 2022 mass demonstrations sparked by the death in custody of Amini, who had been arrested for not wearing a headscarf properly.
"And in the evening, they leave their posts for fear of bombing," he said.
Life has gradually slowed down, with schools closed since the start of the air strikes and not reopening until after the break for Nowruz, the Persian New Year, starting on March 21.
Jafari and Reza have already decided against celebrating the important Iranian holiday -- the government has declared 40 days of mourning following the death of supreme leader Ali Khamenei on the first day of the war.
"Anyone who celebrates Nowruz will be in serious trouble," Reza said.
Still, the truck driver said Khamenei's death "changes nothing" in his own life.
"What we want is someone who truly serves the people." 
Though Reza "wants the war to end", he said "only the Americans can change the regime", which recently cracked down on a wave of anti-government protests, leaving several thousand dead, according to NGOs.
Fellow trucker Zaheed, 37, said that "in the first few days, people were very afraid of the bombings, but you get used to it: the jets are constantly flying overhead, day and night, but it's like seeing a bird cross the sky". 
His town of Mariwan, 30 kilometres (18 miles) from Bashmarq, was bombed, and several civilians were hit, four of whom died, he said.
"At first, many people left, but since then they've come back," he said.
His wife, however, still goes to her father's village with their 10- and 5-year-old children as soon as he hits the road: "She's scared when I leave."
As he climbed back into the cab, he added: "We used to live well in our town, before".
ach/tgg/rbu/rh/smw/jfx

noma

Co-founder of Copenhagen's Noma steps down after abuse allegations

  • "After more than two decades of building and leading this restaurant, I've decided to step away," Redzepi said in an Instagram post.
  • The co-founder of Noma, several times crowned the best restaurant in the world, Danish chef Rene Redzepi said Thursday that he was stepping down, following reports of past abuse at his fabled restaurant.
  • "After more than two decades of building and leading this restaurant, I've decided to step away," Redzepi said in an Instagram post.
The co-founder of Noma, several times crowned the best restaurant in the world, Danish chef Rene Redzepi said Thursday that he was stepping down, following reports of past abuse at his fabled restaurant.
"After more than two decades of building and leading this restaurant, I've decided to step away," Redzepi said in an Instagram post.
Over the weekend, newspaper The New York Times published a story detailing witness testimony about stories of past abuse at Noma, including physical violence and episodes of public shaming.
The newspaper said it had interviewed 35 former employees about the period between 2009 and 2017.
"I have worked to be a better leader and Noma has taken big steps to transform the culture over many years. I recognize these changes do not repair the past," Redzepi said.
He added that "an apology is not enough; I take responsibility for my own actions."
Redzepi has previously admitted to losing his cool, including in 2015, when he said in an essay that "I've been a bully for a large part of my career".
In February, former head of Noma's fermentation lab, Jason Ignacio White, started posting about abuse he had witnessed while working at Noma and relayed stories sent to him by other former employees.
"Noma is not a story of innovation. It is a story of a maniac that would breed culture of fear, abuse & exploitation," White said in an Instagram post in early February.
An acronym formed from the Danish words "nordisk" (Nordic) and "mad" (food), Noma first opened on a quay in central Copenhagen in 2003.
It closed in 2016 and reopened two years later in a slightly more remote neighbourhood of the Danish capital.
On Wednesday, Noma opened a pop-up restaurant in Los Angeles, but the opening was marked by a protest led by former employees.
jll/tc

attacks

Russia to sentence gunmen of 2024 Moscow concert hall attack

  • Four more defendants face prison terms of up to 22 years, accused of having terrorist links. 
  • A Russian court will on Thursday sentence the gunmen of a Moscow concert hall attack that killed 150 people two years ago -- the country's deadliest in 20 years -- with 15 men facing possible life terms.  
  • Four more defendants face prison terms of up to 22 years, accused of having terrorist links. 
A Russian court will on Thursday sentence the gunmen of a Moscow concert hall attack that killed 150 people two years ago -- the country's deadliest in 20 years -- with 15 men facing possible life terms.  
The attack on the Crocus City Hall in the suburbs of the Russian capital was the most fatal claimed by the Islamic State (IS) on the European continent. 
Prosecutors are seeking life sentences for the four Tajik gunmen and 11 others they say acted as accomplices.  
Four more defendants face prison terms of up to 22 years, accused of having terrorist links. 
Shamsidin Fariduni, Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, Makhammadsobir Fayzov and Saidakrami Rachabolizoda entered the giant venue and went on a shooting spree shortly before a concert by the Picnic rock band on March 22, 2024. 
They then set fire to the building, trapping many victims. The attack wounded more than 600 people. Six children were among those killed. 
The attack came two years into Moscow's war in Ukraine, with Russia -- bogged down by the offensive -- dismissing US warnings of an imminent attack. 
The Kremlin had pointed to a Ukrainian trace at the time of the attack, but never provided evidence.  
Russia -- already undergoing a conservative social turn during the war -- upped anti-migrant laws and rhetoric after the attack.
This has led to some tensions with Moscow's allies in Central Asia, some of whom have confronted Russia and called on it to respect the rights of their citizens. 

Deadliest attack since Beslan

The four attackers -- aged 20 to 31 at the time -- were working as a taxi driver, factory worker and in construction. 
Hours after the attack, Russia brought them to court with signs of torture -- including one barely conscious in a wheelchair. Social media videos linked to security services showed bloody interrogations.  
According to media reports, Mirzoyev's brother was killed fighting in Syria, possibly leading to his radicalisation. 
Aside from the four attackers, 15 others accused at the closed-door trial include people who sold them a car and rented one of the gunmen a flat, as well as others accused of having terrorist links.
TASS state news agency reported this month, citing a lawyer, that two of them -- Dzhabrail Aushyev and Khusein Medov -- have asked the court to be sent to fight in Ukraine instead of a life sentence. 
Throughout its offensive, Russia has recruited prisoners for its military campaign, offering a buy-out from their sentences should they survive. 
According to the lawyer quoted by TASS, Medov said he wanted to "redeem his guilt with blood." 
Prosecutors have also demanded that relatives of one of the gunmen be stripped of their Russian citizenship. 
Tajikistan's President, Emomali Rakhmon, said at the time of the attack that "terrorists have no nationality". 
Russia's economy has for years been heavily reliant on millions of Central Asian migrants.
But their flow to Russia dipped after Moscow launched its Ukraine campaign and some Central Asians also held back from going to Russia after the post-Crocus migrant crackdowns. 
Russia -- which fought two wars in Chechnya and in 2015 intervened in the Syrian civil war to prop up government forces -- has been a target for radical Islamists for years. 
The Crocus attack was the deadliest in Russia since the 2004 Beslan school siege, which claimed the lives of 334 people, mostly children.  
bur/tw/jfx

film

One surprise after another? Oscars night set to be unpredictable

BY PAULA RAMON

  • - 'Steamroller' - While suspense about best picture doesn't happen every year, what is truly unusual this time is the amount of uncertainty surrounding the acting prizes.
  • With "Sinners" and "One Battle After Another" neck-and-neck for best picture and several acting races far too close to call, this Sunday's Oscars gala is shaping up to be the most unpredictable in years. 
  • - 'Steamroller' - While suspense about best picture doesn't happen every year, what is truly unusual this time is the amount of uncertainty surrounding the acting prizes.
With "Sinners" and "One Battle After Another" neck-and-neck for best picture and several acting races far too close to call, this Sunday's Oscars gala is shaping up to be the most unpredictable in years. 
A Hollywood ceremony set to feature music from "KPop Demon Hunters" and Conan O'Brien as host will feature several nail-biting reveals, culminating in the announcement of the year's best film, which remains anyone's guess.
Until "the final envelope is opened for best picture, we're not going to know who's going to win," said Variety's awards columnist Clayton Davis.
"Both have a huge opportunity in order to break multiple Oscar records," he told AFP.
"Sinners," a smash-hit vampire period horror film from director Ryan Coogler, has already made Academy Awards history with its whopping 16 nominations.
The blues-inflected race allegory has a chance to chase down the most Oscar wins by a single movie, shared at 11 between "Ben-Hur," "Titanic" and "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King."
Coogler, previously best known for "Black Panther," could become the first ever Black person to win best director, in the 98 years of Oscars history.  
"He's only the seventh ever nominated," noted Davis, who spoke to many Oscars voters and says "the love for Coogler is undeniable."
But the frontrunner of this awards season has long been "One Battle," a zany thriller about a retired revolutionary looking for his teen daughter.
Set against a wild backdrop of radical violence, immigration raids and white supremacists, it earned 13 nods and could also break the overall wins record.
Its director Paul Thomas Anderson is one of the greatest auteurs of 21st century US cinema, but has never won any of his 11 previous nominations for films including "There Will Be Blood" and "Boogie Nights." 
Though "Sinners" was the bigger commercial hit, the exciting race between two "popular movies that people will know at home" should be good for ratings, Davis predicted.

'Steamroller'

While suspense about best picture doesn't happen every year, what is truly unusual this time is the amount of uncertainty surrounding the acting prizes.
A year after narrowly losing best actor honors with his uncanny Bob Dylan portrayal in "A Complete Unknown," Timothee Chalamet had long appeared a lock for his pushy ping-pong player "Marty Supreme."
But a series of ill-advised comments, most recently dismissing ballet and opera as art forms that "no one cares about," have seen the 30-year-old golden boy's chances plummet.
"Sinners" star Michael B Jordan, who plays two roles as twin brothers, won the important Screen Actors Guild's Actor Award this month, just before Oscars voting closed.
"This is a movie star performance that we don't get very often... he's really two steps away from the finish line," said Davis, who also does not rule out Leonardo DiCaprio ("One Battle") or Ethan Hawke ("Blue Moon").
The supporting acting prizes are also up for grabs.
Sean Penn could win a third acting Oscar for his comic yet terrifying soldier in "One Battle."
But he is up against international arthouse favorite Stellan Skarsgard ("Sentimental Value") and veteran Delroy Lindo, earning his first Oscar nod at 73 for "Sinners."
Supporting actress could see a rare horror villain role rewarded for Amy Madigan in "Weapons," or go to "One Battle" revolutionary Teyana Taylor or "Sinners" Hoodoo healer Wunmi Mosaku.
The only sure thing appears to be Jessie Buckley, who plays William Shakespeare's wife in "Hamnet."
"It's been the steamroller all season. That's the one thing you could take to the bank," said Davis.

KPop, Redford tributes

Best international film is arguably the hardest to call of all, with Norwegian family drama "Sentimental Value" up against Brazil's surreal political thriller "The Secret Agent."
O'Brien returns to host the Oscars for a second year running, while Barbra Streisand is rumored to be singing a tribute to her "The Way We Were" co-star Robert Redford, who died in September.
Ejae, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami, the singing voices behind "KPop Demon Hunters" fictional girl group HUNTR/X, will perform the Netflix smash film's Oscar-nominated song "Golden." 
The Oscars will air live on ABC and Hulu from 4:00 pm in Los Angeles (2300 GMT).
pr-amz/sst

bunker

With Middle East in flames, Texan bunker maker sees business boom

BY MOISéS ÁVILA

  • But with Iranian missiles hitting US targets in the Middle East and violence on the rise domestically, Americans are also worried.
  • Since the war in the Middle East began nearly two weeks ago, the phone at Ron Hubbard's bomb shelter company in Texas hasn't stopped ringing.
  • But with Iranian missiles hitting US targets in the Middle East and violence on the rise domestically, Americans are also worried.
Since the war in the Middle East began nearly two weeks ago, the phone at Ron Hubbard's bomb shelter company in Texas hasn't stopped ringing.
Foreign and US clients are rushing to buy his bunkers, seeking refuge in case of air raids, nuclear fallout or apocalypse.
With the United States and Israel pounding Iran, and Tehran retaliating with strikes across the region, Hubbard has seen demand for his product soar, mostly from Gulf nation clients in Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.
"You can imagine how many people are thinking 'I wish I had a bomb shelter,'" Hubbard, 63, told AFP in the office of his company, Atlas Survival Shelters. "The respect and the demand for the product is really at an all-time high right now like I've never seen it before."
But with Iranian missiles hitting US targets in the Middle East and violence on the rise domestically, Americans are also worried. One recent morning, a client from Florida called Hubbard to inquire about a bomb shelter for 10 people.

How It Works

A basic backyard bunker housing four people underground for up to a week while shielding them from bomb blasts and radiation costs around $25,000.
More sophisticated models, designed for years-long stays, can cost millions of dollars depending on how much food, energy and water they are stocked with.
"It depends if they're preparing for the end of the world or Armageddon or they're preparing just basically for a barrage of missile fires as mostly the Israelis have," Hubbard said.
His bunkers can be built from concrete directly on-site, or fabricated from metal at his facility in the town of Sulphur Springs in rural Texas, and then transported to the client.
A nuclear shelter only needs to be three feet deep because "it's the earth and the concrete on top of you shielding you from the gamma radiation," Hubbard explained, adding that he usually tries to build them six to ten feet underground to allow for protection from artillery fire.
The shelters feature a main door that seals hermetically and a decontamination chamber where people can shower if they have been in a contaminated environment.
Depending on the budget, the interior can resemble a small apartment, with a living room and TV, a bedroom, a kitchen, a laundry area and a bathroom. Some models even include a weapons storage room.
The facility connects to a power source and can store and filter water. If electricity fails, the bunker's ventilation system can be operated manually using a hand crank — much like in vintage cars.

'Crazy Americans getting bomb shelters'

In Hubbard's factory yard, about twenty bunkers that look like steel shipping containers stood ready to be shipped to clients across the country. Another 40 orders were in production.
"I expect to see my sales surpass probably the previous three years in the next two months," Hubbard said. "But it will take me two to three years to probably produce all the shelters that I will sell over the next two months."
Atlas also licenses its technology to companies abroad and sends a team of specialists from the United States to supervise the construction work.
While Hubbard keeps his client list confidential, some high-profile buyers, such as misogynist influencer Andrew Tate and YouTuber and philanthropist MrBeast, have publicly acknowledged purchasing his bunkers.
In 2021, he took part in a TV show featuring socialite and entrepreneur Kim Kardashian, where he built a bunker for her California home. And, according to Hubbard, tech titan Mark Zuckerberg also commissioned a bunker design from him, which was then assembled by a local contractor.
"To those who say 'crazy Americans getting bomb shelters,' they're not saying that anymore because they're seeing that a country like Dubai is being bombed religiously every single day," Hubbard said, adding "especially with the future of the globe looking very bad."
mav/md/sla

US

Iran threatens prolonged war as Trump says it is near defeat

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

  • The United States and Israel "must consider the possibility that they will be engaged in a long-term war of attrition that will destroy the entire American economy and the world economy," Ali Fadavi, an adviser to the Guards' commander-in-chief, told state television.
  • Iran warned it could wage a prolonged war with the United States and Israel that would "destroy" the world economy, even as US President Donald Trump said late Wednesday the Islamic republic was facing imminent defeat.
  • The United States and Israel "must consider the possibility that they will be engaged in a long-term war of attrition that will destroy the entire American economy and the world economy," Ali Fadavi, an adviser to the Guards' commander-in-chief, told state television.
Iran warned it could wage a prolonged war with the United States and Israel that would "destroy" the world economy, even as US President Donald Trump said late Wednesday the Islamic republic was facing imminent defeat.
The defiance from Tehran came as fighting around the strategic Strait of Hormuz -- the waterway carrying a fifth of the world's oil -- sent shock waves through energy markets, prompting emergency releases from global reserves and a limited draw on US stockpiles.
Oil prices have surged since February 28, when the United States and Israel launched air strikes on Iran that killed its supreme leader and plunged the Middle East into conflict.
Retaliatory Iranian missile strikes and drone attacks have brought shipping through the strait almost to a halt, forcing governments to scramble to contain the fallout, while Trump said Iran was "pretty much at the end of the line."
"Doesn't mean we're going to end it immediately, but they are," Trump told reporters.
He said Iran's navy and air force had been destroyed, that it was close to running out of missiles and that US forces could knock out the electricity supply "within one hour" -- leaving the country with a reconstruction that could take a generation.
But the US leader indicated that he would rather show restraint than take actions that would make it "almost impossible for them to rebuild their country."
The president had earlier said the United States must "finish the job" in Iran, adding that US forces had struck 28 Iranian mine-laying vessels.
He said Washington would tap US strategic reserves "a little" to help stabilise markets roiled by the war, and his administration later announced that he had authorized the release of 172 million barrels, beginning next week.
The International Energy Agency agreed to release a record 400 million barrels.
Israel's military, however, signalled the campaign was far from finished, and that it still had "a broad bank of targets."

Economic shock

With the conflict in its 12th day, Iran's Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) warned Wednesday they would strike "economic centres and banks" linked to US and Israeli interests, prompting more international firms to evacuate staff from Dubai.
The United States and Israel "must consider the possibility that they will be engaged in a long-term war of attrition that will destroy the entire American economy and the world economy," Ali Fadavi, an adviser to the Guards' commander-in-chief, told state television.
Iran said it targeted two commercial vessels in the Gulf after they entered the Strait of Hormuz "after ignoring the warnings" of its navy.
Analysts warn that a prolonged disruption to shipping through the strait -- which also carries roughly a third of the fertiliser used in global food production -- would deliver a severe economic shock, particularly in Asia and Europe.
The UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding Iran halt attacks on Gulf states, prompting the Islamic republic's ambassador to the United Nations to accuse it of a "blatant misuse" of its mandate.
The conflict has already disrupted two pillars of the Gulf economy -- energy production and commercial aviation.
On Wednesday, drones fell near Dubai airport, injuring four people, authorities said. Others struck fuel tanks at Oman's Salalah port, according to the Oman News Agency.

'Wave of strikes'

In an apparent first since the war began, Israeli drones also struck targets in Tehran on Wednesday evening, killing members of the security forces, Iran's Fars news agency reported.
The Israeli military later said it was carrying out a "wide-scale wave of strikes" after the IRGC announced just after midnight on Thursday it had carried out a joint missile operation with Hezbollah against targets in Israel.
Pentagon officials have meanwhile briefed US lawmakers that the cost of the war exceeded $11.3 billion in its first six days, The New York Times reported, citing people familiar with the classified briefing.
The conflict has continued to spill across the region.
One crew member was killed and 38 rescued in an attack on oil tankers near Iraq, Iraqi state television reported -- without specifying their nationalities or providing details on who was behind the attack.
And an Iranian drone struck a tower in Dubai, Iranian state media reported on Thursday.
Lebanon said the death toll from ten days of fighting between Israel and Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah had reached more than 630, while more than 800,000 people have registered as displaced.
Lebanon was pulled into the war last week when Hezbollah attacked Israel following the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Israel later launched strikes in response to Hezbollah rocket fire. Lebanon's health ministry said eight people were killed in an Israeli strike in the country's east.

'Satan himself'

The US-Israeli assault began only weeks after Iranian authorities crushed mass protests, though the allies insist regime change is not necessarily their goal.
Iran's new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, has yet to appear in public, and officials said Wednesday he had been wounded but was "safe".
Iran's health ministry said on March 8 that more than 1,200 people had been killed in US and Israeli strikes. AFP could not independently verify the figure.
Thousands of mourners gathered in Tehran to commemorate commanders killed in the attacks, the largest public gathering since the war began, held under a heavy security presence.
Yahya Rahim Safavi, a senior adviser to the new supreme leader, also struck a defiant tone, calling Trump the "most corrupt and stupid American president" and "Satan himself."
bur-ft/md

US

War disrupts fertiliser supplies, puts food security at risk

BY CATHERINE HOURS

  • Other countries that source their gas from the Middle East to produce fertilisers, such as India, have had to ration supplies to their factories. 
  • With production in the Gulf countries at a standstill and gas prices rising, the war in the Middle East is disrupting the supply of fertilisers and posing risks for food security.
  • Other countries that source their gas from the Middle East to produce fertilisers, such as India, have had to ration supplies to their factories. 
With production in the Gulf countries at a standstill and gas prices rising, the war in the Middle East is disrupting the supply of fertilisers and posing risks for food security.
A third of fertiliser shipped by sea comes from the region and cannot make it to the global market as Iran has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz.
That has sent global fertiliser prices soaring, with the UN expressing concern in particular about the impact on developing countries.

The Gulf is a key manufacturer

Natural gas is a key feedstock to make artificial fertilsers, and with its ample gas supplies the Gulf region has become a key manufacturer.
The region produces nearly half of the sulphur sold worldwide and a third of urea -- "the most widely traded fertiliser of all", said Sarah Marlow, global editor for fertilisers at Argus Media.
It also produces a quarter of globally traded ammonia, another feedstock for fertiliser production, she said.
Major food producing nations like the United States and Australia source much of their urea and phosphate from the Gulf nations.
Brazil, the world’s leading soybean producer, imports most of its urea from Qatar and from Iran, which also exports to Turkey and Mexico. 
India relies upon Saudi phosphate. 
Asia in particularly dependent upon on the Gulf: it imports 64 percent of its ammonia and more than 50 percent of its sulphur and phosphates from the region, according to 2024 figures from Kpler.
But since the start of the conflict, which has seen Iran launch retaliatory strikes against its Gulf neighbours following US and Israeli strikes, production has had to be shut down at fertiliser production facilities, particularly in Qatar.
And the Strait of Hormuz remains largely unnavigable. 
A Chinese vessel loaded with sulphur was able to leave on March 7, but around 20 other ships were still waiting as of the middle of the week, according to Kpler, which tracks commodity flows. 

Global repercussions

While Europe appears at first blush to be less exposed, sourcing just 11 percent of its urea from the region, it will likely be impacted indirectly.
Morocco is a big supplier of phosphorus-based fertilisers to Europe, but is dependent upon the Gulf for sulphur used in their manufacturing.
The EU also imports 26 percent of its urea from Egypt, but the country is confronted by a halt of natural gas supplies from Israel by pipeline, pointed out Argus Media consultant Arthur Portier.
"Egyptian urea has gone from $500 per tonne at the start of the war to more than $650. There is a direct impact on the price of fertiliser" for European farmers, he said. 
Other countries that source their gas from the Middle East to produce fertilisers, such as India, have had to ration supplies to their factories. 
Bangladesh has temporarily shut down five out of six of them. 
The UN expressed concern this week about access to fertilisers in some of the poorest countries.

Crop production at risk

Artificial fertilisers provide nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium necessary for crop growth. 
For nitrogen-based fertilisers such as urea, ammonium nitrate and potassium, "global demand never ceases to increase, driven by Asia," said Sylvain Pellerin at INREA, a French agricultural research institute.
INREA models that without these three key fertiliser inputs, global crop production would fall by a third.
But nitrogen fertilisers require natural gas for their chemical synthesis, and a lot of energy.
As for sulfur, it is a co-product of the oil and gas industry. 
Where there is gas, you will find urea and ammonia," said the Argus's Marlow. 
Production of phosphorus-based fertilisers starts with phosphate rock, of which Saudi Arabia supplies 20 percent of the world total but currently cannot ship it. 

Uncertain outlook

In addition to the uncertainty about how long the war will last, the other question is the amount of damage that fertiliser production facilities will suffer from the fighting.
Repairs and reconstruction of facilities could considerably delay a return to normality once the fighting ends.
While the immediate needs of farmers are more or less covered, there are questions about the sowing season in the southern hemisphere that begins in June.
Portier said the war could be the spark for Europe to develop a fertiliser supply strategy. 
Following the surge in fertiliser prices following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, European farmers reduced their consumption and diversified their suppliers.
The European Commission is preparing a fertiliser action plan for this year.
cho/rl/pdw

explosion

Three brothers arrested over US embassy blast in Oslo

BY PIERRE-HENRY DESHAYES

  • Police prosecutor Christian Hatlo told a press conference the brothers, who were Norwegian citizens of Iraqi origin, had been arrested in Oslo and that police were investigating the motive.
  • Norwegian police said Wednesday three brothers had been arrested on suspicion of a "terrorist bombing" over a weekend explosion at the US embassy in Oslo, which caused minor damage but no injuries.
  • Police prosecutor Christian Hatlo told a press conference the brothers, who were Norwegian citizens of Iraqi origin, had been arrested in Oslo and that police were investigating the motive.
Norwegian police said Wednesday three brothers had been arrested on suspicion of a "terrorist bombing" over a weekend explosion at the US embassy in Oslo, which caused minor damage but no injuries.
Police prosecutor Christian Hatlo told a press conference the brothers, who were Norwegian citizens of Iraqi origin, had been arrested in Oslo and that police were investigating the motive.
"We are still working from several hypotheses. One of them is whether this is an order from a government entity," Hatlo said.
"This is quite natural given the target -- the US embassy -- and the security situation the world is in today," he said.
Hatlo said the investigation would seek to clarify exactly what roles the brothers, who were in their 20s, had played.
"We believe that one of them is the person who placed the bomb outside the embassy and that the other two were complicit in the act," Hatlo told reporters.
Oystein Storrvik, a lawyer for one of the suspects, told broadcaster TV 2 that his client had admitted "to being involved in the case".
"He admits that he placed the bomb there," Storrvik told the broadcaster.
Storrvik added that his client had been questioned by police.
"He has explained what happened, and I have no further comments at this time," he said.

'Proxy actors'

While none of the brother were previously known to police, Hatlo said investigators were not ruling out links to "criminal networks".
In its annual threat assessment, Norwegian security service PST said last month that Iran, which it considers one of the main threats to the country, could rely on "proxy actors", including "criminal networks", to commit acts.
On Tuesday, Iran's ambassador in Oslo denied any involvement by his country in the embassy explosion. 
"It is unacceptable that we are being singled out," Alireza Jahangiri told Norwegian newspaper Verdens Gang.
According to police, the perpetrators of the bombing, described as "powerful", may also have acted out of their own motives.
US embassies have been placed on high alert in the Middle East due to American strikes on Iran. Several have faced attacks as Tehran responds by targeting industrial and diplomatic facilities.
The blast took place at around 1:00 am (0000 GMT) on Sunday at the entrance to the embassy's consular section.
On Monday, two images were released from surveillance camera footage showing a suspect dressed in dark clothing with a hood over his head and wearing a backpack.
Roughly at the time the incident occurred, a video had been uploaded to the Google Maps page for the US embassy.
The video, which has since been taken down, appeared to show Iran's late supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed on the first day of the US-Israeli strikes in Iran.
According to Norwegian public broadcaster NRK, the person who uploaded the video wrote in Persian: "God is great. We are victorious."
Police have also opened an investigation into this.
phy/jll/jhb