Armenia

US vice president Vance on peace bid in Azerbaijan after Armenia visit

politics

Venezuelan authorities move Machado ally to house arrest

  • But the releases have not been quick or widespread enough, according to loved ones of hundreds of dissidents and critics still behind bars.
  • A close ally of Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado was placed under house arrest Tuesday, detained just hours after his release from prison along with other dissidents jailed under ousted leader Nicolas Maduro.
  • But the releases have not been quick or widespread enough, according to loved ones of hundreds of dissidents and critics still behind bars.
A close ally of Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado was placed under house arrest Tuesday, detained just hours after his release from prison along with other dissidents jailed under ousted leader Nicolas Maduro.
Juan Pablo Guanipa, a former National Assembly vice president, walked out of jail on Sunday after spending more than eight months behind bars on vague charges of the kind often leveled against government critics, including "terrorism," money laundering and inciting violence.
The 61-year-old was released with other political prisoners under a promise made by interim leader Delcy Rodriguez, who filled Maduro's shoes after his toppling in a deadly US military raid in January.
During his few hours of freedom, Guanipa met relatives of other political prisoners, toured Caracas in a motorcycle caravan, shouted slogans outside the feared Helicoide prison, and demanded new elections.
After he was taken back into custody, prosecutors said Guanipa had violated his parole conditions.
The news sparked an outcry, with Machado claiming he had been "kidnapped," and a US congresswoman warning of "grave consequences" if anything happened to him.
On Tuesday, the former lawmaker's son Ramon wrote on X that his father was placed under house arrest in Maracaibo, in Venezuela's northwest, and thanked the United States "for its efforts in support of freedom in Venezuela."
"My father remains unjustly imprisoned, because house arrest is still imprisonment, and we demand his full freedom and that of all political prisoners," the younger Guanipa wrote.

'Amnesty now!'

Guanipa's re-arrest sent a chilling message to those pushing for democratic reforms, and for Machado, who is pondering a return to her homeland from exile in the United States.
It came as Venezuela's parliament is set to vote on an amnesty for political prisoners and those who put them behind bars during 27 years under Maduro and his predecessor, Hugo Chavez.
Rodriguez, who had served as Maduro's vice president before taking his place, has been working with the United States, including granting access to Venezuela's vast oil reserves, and freeing political detainees.
But the releases have not been quick or widespread enough, according to loved ones of hundreds of dissidents and critics still behind bars.
On Tuesday, about 40 relatives of political prisoners protested outside the National Assembly building to demand the amnesty bill be passed without delay.
"Amnesty now!" they chanted as riot police looked on. "Not one a criminal, they are all innocent," shouted others.
Postponed from Tuesday, the unicameral parliament is scheduled to meet again Thursday, though it was not clear if the bill was on the agenda.
According to Andreina Baduel, head of the Committee for the Freedom of Political Prisoners (Clippve), the postponement of Tuesday's sitting only served to "prolong the victims' pain."
She herself is the daughter of a former defense minister who died in prison in 2021, and the sister of another political prisoner held for "terrorism."
"The bill does not ensure that there will be justice," Baduel said on Tuesday.
"State terrorism persists in Venezuela," she added, referring to Guanipa's re-arrest.
By Monday, 426 people had been freed since prison releases began after Maduro's toppling, according to the NGO Foro Penal. 
jt/cb/des/mlr/des

funeral

Till death do us bark: Brazilian state lets pets be buried with owners

  • Conservative governor Tarcisio de Freitas on Tuesday signed the so-called Bob Coveiro law that will allow pets to be buried in family graves or mausoleums across Sao Paulo state.
  • In pet-mad Brazil, the state of Sao Paulo will allow animals to be buried in family graves starting Tuesday, with a law recognizing "the emotional bond" that exists between humans and their household critters.
  • Conservative governor Tarcisio de Freitas on Tuesday signed the so-called Bob Coveiro law that will allow pets to be buried in family graves or mausoleums across Sao Paulo state.
In pet-mad Brazil, the state of Sao Paulo will allow animals to be buried in family graves starting Tuesday, with a law recognizing "the emotional bond" that exists between humans and their household critters.
Brazil has the world's third largest pet population, with 160 million animal companions, according to data from the Pet Brasil Institute.
The law was inspired by local dog Bob Coveiro, who lived for 10 years in a municipal cemetery after his owner was buried there.
When the dog died in 2021, he was allowed to be buried alongside his human.
Conservative governor Tarcisio de Freitas on Tuesday signed the so-called Bob Coveiro law that will allow pets to be buried in family graves or mausoleums across Sao Paulo state.
The measure comes as the country of 213 million people has been gripped by outrage over the death of a beloved community street dog named "Orelha" (Ear) in the southern coastal city Florianopolis -- who was brutally killed by a group of teenagers, allegedly from wealthy families.
The case -- which even drew the attention of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva -- sparked protests in several main cities, and local media are following every twist and turn in the investigation.
With a declining birth rate and burgeoning middle class, Brazil's strong pet culture is reflected in a growing range of services for pets, from luxury spas to hotels.
In January, Sao Paulo passed another law recognizing the "cultural significance" of the ubiquitous caramel-colored Brazilian street dog known as a "Caramelo" -- which featured in a 2025 Netflix film.
The goal of the law was to "combat prejudice against animals without a defined breed."
ffb/app/fb/md

protest

Senegal says student's death in clashes with police a 'tragedy'

BY LUCIE PEYTERMANN, SOULé DIA

  • "What happened yesterday is a tragedy," Interior Minister Mouhamadou Bamba Cisse told journalists at a press conference about the death of Abdoulaye Ba. "There were acts of violence that we witnessed on both sides, and acts that we saw emanating from the defence and security forces.
  • Senegal on Tuesday called the death of a medical student at a major Dakar university during clashes with police a "tragedy" and acknowledged acts of violence by security forces trying to quell protests.
  • "What happened yesterday is a tragedy," Interior Minister Mouhamadou Bamba Cisse told journalists at a press conference about the death of Abdoulaye Ba. "There were acts of violence that we witnessed on both sides, and acts that we saw emanating from the defence and security forces.
Senegal on Tuesday called the death of a medical student at a major Dakar university during clashes with police a "tragedy" and acknowledged acts of violence by security forces trying to quell protests.
University students have been rallying against the thorny issue of stipend arrears for several years in a country where economic difficulties weigh particularly heavy on the young.
Those protests came to a head on Monday on the campus of Cheikh Anta Diop University (UCAD), a prestigious west African university with a student body in the tens of thousands.
Videos posted to social media showed scenes of chaos, with security forces entering university grounds and firing tear gas into buildings while students retaliated by throwing stones.
"What happened yesterday is a tragedy," Interior Minister Mouhamadou Bamba Cisse told journalists at a press conference about the death of Abdoulaye Ba.
"There were acts of violence that we witnessed on both sides, and acts that we saw emanating from the defence and security forces. As an official, these are acts that I cannot condone", Cisse said, announcing an investigation.
A student association collective said in a statement earlier that Ba had "been brutally tortured to death by police officers", a claim that could not be immediately verified by AFP.
Authorities meanwhile have detained 105 students at the central police station in Dakar, according to another student group.
Cisse said his ministry had received "precise intelligence indicating that certain individuals were planning to attack university infrastructure" and added that some had begun attacking a food hall on Monday morning.
He accused some students of possessing tear gas grenades and Molotov cocktails.
Cisse said 48 law enforcement members were injured but did not give a tally for students.

Student residences closed

Earlier Tuesday, Senegalese authorities closed UCAD's student residences and dining halls "until further notice", leaving a number of students from other cities in the lurch. Classes, meanwhile, remain in session.
AFP journalists saw dozens of students gathered in front of the university's main gate, their luggage piled on the ground. 
Many said they wanted to return home but lacked the means.
"I haven't eaten for days. I'm hungry and I have no money... How am I going to get home?" Modou Fall, a third-year liberal arts student from Tambacounda in eastern Senegal, told AFP. 
The student collective that said Ba had been tortured accused law enforcement of entering student residences, "shooting at students" and "breaking down the doors of the student buildings while beating students".
The group said it held Senegal's president, prime minister and other government officials responsible, and called for a university shutdown "until further notice", asking students to remain at home until demands are met.

Youth anger

Students at UCAD accuse the government of aiming to permanently halt the payment of scholarship arrears.
"The government must get a grip and take action to ensure this situation doesn't happen again. Because we're fed up", Oumar Ba, a 26-year-old mathematics student, told AFP.
Several human rights organisations, including Amnesty International, expressed deep concern over Senegalese campus violence in recent months.
They jointly called for "an independent and impartial investigation" and the release of detained students.
For several years now, Senegal's university academic calendar has been disrupted due to student and faculty strikes, causing overlaps between different academic years. 
As a result, students can go months without receiving their stipends, which range from 20,000 to 60,000 CFA francs (between $36 and $109) per month.
Approximately 75 percent of the population in Senegal is under the age of 35.
President Bassirou Diomaye Faye's election in 2024 fanned hopes of change among the country's many disadvantaged young people.
He and his prime minister Ousmane Sonko promised a break with the past that was widely popular with the young.
"What happened is deplorable. We fought for this regime and this is how they repay us", said Fall, the student from Tambacounda.
Clashes between law enforcement officers and students also occurred at the University of Bambey in central Senegal on Tuesday.
lp-sjd/bfm/ach 

Telegram

Moscow chokes Telegram as it pushes state-backed rival app

  • Moscow has been threatening various internet platforms with forced slowdowns or outright bans if they do not comply with Russian laws.
  • Russia's internet watchdog on Tuesday announced it was throttling the Telegram messenger platform for alleged legal violations, as Moscow tries to push its citizens into using a more tightly controlled domestic online service.
  • Moscow has been threatening various internet platforms with forced slowdowns or outright bans if they do not comply with Russian laws.
Russia's internet watchdog on Tuesday announced it was throttling the Telegram messenger platform for alleged legal violations, as Moscow tries to push its citizens into using a more tightly controlled domestic online service.
Moscow has been threatening various internet platforms with forced slowdowns or outright bans if they do not comply with Russian laws.
Those laws require data on Russian users to be stored inside the country, and for efforts to be made to stamp out their use for what Moscow calls "criminal and terrorist purposes".
Critics and rights campaigners say the restrictions are a transparent attempt by the Kremlin to ramp up control and surveillance over internet use in Russia, amid a sweeping crackdown on dissent during the Ukraine offensive.
Telegram's Russian-born founder Pavel Durov, who lives outside the country, posted on his Telegram channel that "Russia is restricting access to Telegram in an attempt to force its citizens to switch to a state-controlled app built for surveillance and political censorship".
The Roskomnadzor agency said in a statement cited by state media that it will "continue to introduce phased restrictions" on Telegram, which it said had not complied with the laws.
Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemned what it called a continuous "strategy to strangle the circulation of information" and noted that Russia ranks 171st out of 180 in its World Press Freedom Index.
Amnesty International meanwhile branded the move "censorship and obstruction under the guise of protecting people's rights and interests".
Telegram is widely used across Russia, both as a messaging app and as a social media service.
Almost all major public figures, including government bodies and the Kremlin, post regular updates on the platform.
Some pro-war bloggers, who also use Telegram extensively, criticised the decision, saying it would hobble communications around the front line and in Russian-occupied territory.
"It's very unpleasant," said the Two Majors channel, one of Russia's most widely read military correspondents.
"People's positions will now mostly be conveyed to the outside world not by people, but by our masters of the foreign ministry," it added, lamenting the switch to Russian apps that nobody outside the country uses.

Max rival

Moscow is trying to push users onto a state-backed competitor, called Max, which can also handle payments and government services.
Pro-war correspondent Alexander Kots also said blocking Telegram would limit Russia's own "information operations", and recruitment of Ukrainians through the app to carry out sabotage attacks.
Both sides widely accuse each other of plotting behind-the-lines operations by recruiting sympathisers, or those in need of cash, over social media.
Before the war, Russia had previously tried to ban Telegram -- which is still run by Durov, who also possesses French and Emirati citizenships -- but ultimately failed in its attempts to block access and lifted the ban in 2020.
Russian users reported slow traffic and lagging downloads on Telegram throughout Tuesday before the official announcement.
Roskomnadzor has tried to choke other foreign services, including WhatsApp, owned by Facebook parent company Meta, and Google's YouTube.
Durov has previously clashed with Russian authorities.
He was forced out of the VK social media site he founded -- a Russian equivalent of Facebook -- under pressure from the authorities.
He went on to use the proceeds of the sale to launch Telegram in exile from the United Arab Emirates.
"Restricting citizens' freedom is never the right answer. Telegram stands for freedom of speech and privacy, no matter the pressure," he posted Tuesday.
Durov was detained in Paris in 2024 under a French investigation into Telegram's alleged complicity in criminal activity. France in July 2025 lifted travel restrictions on him but is keeping up its investigation.
bur/phz/cc/sbk/gv/sbk

crime

Mayor of Ecuador's biggest city arrested for money laundering

  • Guayaquil, a city of nearly three million people, is the nexus of Ecuador's ballooning drug trade.
  • The mayor of Ecuador's violence-ravaged city of Guayaquil, a fierce critic of President Daniel Noboa, was arrested Tuesday along with the president of a top football club for alleged money laundering, prosecutors said.
  • Guayaquil, a city of nearly three million people, is the nexus of Ecuador's ballooning drug trade.
The mayor of Ecuador's violence-ravaged city of Guayaquil, a fierce critic of President Daniel Noboa, was arrested Tuesday along with the president of a top football club for alleged money laundering, prosecutors said.
Mayor Aquiles Alvarez was arrested by heavily armed police in a dawn raid. 
Pictures released by the public prosecutor's office showed bags with bundles of cash, computers and mobile phones it said were found during this and other raids in which another 10 people were arrested.
Alvarez, 41, who has been mayor of Guayaquil since 2023, has emerged as one of the leading opponents of the right-wing, US-backed Noboa.
He has criticized Noboa's war on gangs, including his decision to send soldiers into the streets, and not ruled out running for president.
Guayaquil, a city of nearly three million people, is the nexus of Ecuador's ballooning drug trade.
Its port has become a major transit point for cocaine trafficked from neighboring Colombia and Peru en route to the United States and Europe.
Murder rates have soared, while car bombings, murders and prison massacres have become routine.
In an interview with AFP in October, Alvarez argued that "crime shouldn't be fought with more weapons, vests, helmets, and bullets, but rather with public policies focused on preventing violence."
In July of last year he was fitted with an electronic ankle monitor while being investigated in a separate case, for alleged fuel trafficking.
Alvarez denies all the allegations against him, arguing that they are an attempt to disqualify him from running for reelection as mayor next year.
"We know perfectly well that there is a purely political motive behind all of this," his lawyer Ramiro Garcia told reporters. 
His brothers Xavier and Antonio Alvarez were among 10 other people arrested on Tuesday.
Antonio Alvarez is the president of Barcelona SC, the country's most popular football club, which played a friendly match this past weekend against Inter Miami, the team of Argentine star Lionel Messi. 
Without mentioning his arrest, the club announced on X that it had appointed a stand-in president to guarantee continuity.
Supporters of the mayor, an evangelical Christian and father of three, demonstrated outside the police station where he was taken on Tuesday morning, chanting "Aquiles, friend, the people are with you."
One carried a banner reading: "Not another political prisoner.!"
He was later transferred to the capital Quito.
pld/lv/cb/dw

Armenia

US vice president Vance on peace bid in Azerbaijan after Armenia visit

BY EMIL GULIYEV

  • The visit follows US President Donald Trump's mediation last year of a peace agreement between the historical rivals Baku and Yerevan, which have fought two wars over the Karabakh region.
  • US Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday visited Azerbaijan, arriving from Armenia as part of a regional trip aimed at consolidating a US-brokered peace process between the Caucasus neighbours.
  • The visit follows US President Donald Trump's mediation last year of a peace agreement between the historical rivals Baku and Yerevan, which have fought two wars over the Karabakh region.
US Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday visited Azerbaijan, arriving from Armenia as part of a regional trip aimed at consolidating a US-brokered peace process between the Caucasus neighbours.
The visit follows US President Donald Trump's mediation last year of a peace agreement between the historical rivals Baku and Yerevan, which have fought two wars over the Karabakh region.
Vance sparked controversy by deleting a post from the @VP account on X that said he and his wife had laid a wreath "at the Armenian Genocide memorial to honour the victims of the 1915 Armenian genocide."
His office said the post was published in error by staff not part of the delegation.
Armenia has long sought international recognition of the World War I-era killings of some 1.5 million Armenians in the Ottoman Empire as genocide.
Turkey rejects the label, estimates Armenian deaths at 300,000 to 500,000 and claims that as many Turks died in civil strife after many Armenians sided with invading Russian forces.
Last year, in his message marking the tragedy's anniversary, Trump avoided describing the massacres as genocide -- reversing the stance taken by his predecessor Joe Biden.

Strategic partnership

In Baku, Vance met with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev before the two signed a strategic partnership agreement between the United States and Azerbaijan.
Vance said the agreement "will formalise that partnership and make it very clear that the United States–Azerbaijan relationship is one that will stick".
The United States will "ship some new boats to Azerbaijan to help you with territorial waters protection", he told Aliyev as they made statements to the press.
Aliyev said relations between the two countries "are entering a new phase", including in defence cooperation, "through equipment sales".
"We will continue cooperation in the field of security and will work together on counterterrorism operations."
On Monday, Vance held talks with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in Yerevan.
The visit is expected to advance a flagship transport communications project integrating the two countries into a new east-west trade route.
Azerbaijan seized Karabakh in a 2023 lightning offensive, ending three decades of rule by Armenian separatists.
At a White House summit in August 2025, Trump brokered an agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan that saw the two countries commit to renouncing claims on each other's territory and refrain from using force.

'Peace and prosperity'

Before the meeting with Aliyev, Vance said the issue of Armenian separatist leaders imprisoned in Azerbaijan was "certainly going to come up" in talks with Azerbaijani leaders.
Last week, a military court in Baku handed lengthy sentences, including life jail terms, to Armenian separatist leaders in a war crimes trial.
More than 20 Armenian human rights groups sent an open letter urging Vance to help secure the release of Armenian detainees in Azerbaijani jails. Karabakh refugees held a rally in Yerevan with the same demand. 
The US State Department said the visit would "advance President Donald Trump's peace efforts and promote the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP)".
The TRIPP is a proposed road-and-rail corridor designed to link Azerbaijan with its Nakhchivan exclave, cut off from the mainland by Armenian territory, while integrating the region into a wider east-west trade route connecting Central Asia and the Caspian basin to Europe.
Washington has presented the project as a confidence-building measure following decades of conflict between the two countries.
Aliyev said the TRIPP "will make another contribution to peace, development and cooperation in the region".
Azerbaijan sees the opening of regional communications as the main precondition for signing a comprehensive peace treaty with its rival.
eg-im/phz

US

Starmer says UK govt 'united', pressing on amid Epstein fallout

BY PETER HUTCHISON

  • During a public visit later Tuesday, Starmer hit out at those suggesting Labour should have "a fight with itself".
  • A defiant British Prime Minister Keir Starmer sought to move on Tuesday from fevered speculation about his future after fighting off strident calls to resign over the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.
  • During a public visit later Tuesday, Starmer hit out at those suggesting Labour should have "a fight with itself".
A defiant British Prime Minister Keir Starmer sought to move on Tuesday from fevered speculation about his future after fighting off strident calls to resign over the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.
Following a day of drama on Monday, the Labour leader told a meeting of government ministers that they were "strong and united" after he vowed not to depart office just 19 months into a five-year term.
Starmer's position had looked precarious Monday when Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar demanded his resignation for appointing Peter Mandelson as US ambassador despite knowing he had maintained links to convicted sex offender Epstein.
But any attempt at sparking a coup fizzled out when government ministers responded by launching a rearguard action to shore up Starmer's support, quelling the likelihood of a mutiny for now.
"The prime minister thanked the political cabinet for their support. He said they were strong and united," Downing Street said in a readout of the meeting.
During a public visit later Tuesday, Starmer hit out at those suggesting Labour should have "a fight with itself".
"I say to them, I will never walk away from the mandate I was given to change this country," he added.
The fallout from Mandelson's brief seven-month tenure in Washington has become the most serious crisis of Starmer's rule, leading to questions about his judgement.
It has heightened anger among Labour MPs already disgruntled by the centre-left group trailing the hard-right Reform UK party in opinion polls as local elections loom.
Numerous policy U-turns have undermined Starmer's credibility and he has also cycled through four communications chiefs and two chiefs of staff.
On Sunday, the architect of his political project, Morgan McSweeney, resigned for advising Starmer to make the contentious Mandelson appointment.
McSweeney's departure deprives Starmer of the man who helped him drag Labour back to the centre after succeeding leftist leader Jeremy Corbyn in 2020.

Police probe

Then on Monday, he lost his second top aide in two days when communications chief Tim Allan quit just months into the role.
Sarwar, who is facing difficult elections in Scotland in May, became the most senior Labour figure to call for Starmer to step down, saying the "distraction needs to end".
But in a coordinated show of support, senior Labour figures, including potential rivals for the leadership Angela Rayner and Shabana Mahmood threw their backing behind Starmer.
On Tuesday, Welsh Labour leader Eluned Morgan added her support for the prime minister, as did regional mayor Andy Burnham, who is believed to covet the premiership.
Starmer sacked Mandelson in September last year after documents published by the US Congress revealed the extent of the Labour veteran's relationship with Epstein following the financier's conviction for soliciting a minor in 2008.
Epstein killed himself in prison in 2019 while awaiting a new trial for sex-trafficking.
Documents released on January 30 by the US government appeared to show that Mandelson leaked confidential UK government information to Epstein when he was a British minister, including during the 2008 financial crisis.
Police are investigating Mandelson, 72, for misconduct in public office and have raided two of his properties. He has not been arrested.
Starmer has apologised to Epstein's victims and accused Mandelson of lying about the extent of his ties to the financier during the vetting process for his appointment to Washington.
The government is to release tens of thousands of emails, messages and documents on Mandelson's appointment, which could increase pressure on the prime minister and other senior ministers.
No clear successor to Starmer has emerged and party rules make mounting a challenge difficult.
He faces a crucial by-election on February 26 before local elections in May, which could also influence how long he stays in office.
pdh/jkb/gv

climate

'We've lost everything': Colombia floods kill 22

  • The country's disaster management agency said 22 people were killed across four departments.
  • A rare spell of torrential rain has killed at least 22 people and left thousands of families displaced in Colombia's northern cattle belt, officials said Tuesday.
  • The country's disaster management agency said 22 people were killed across four departments.
A rare spell of torrential rain has killed at least 22 people and left thousands of families displaced in Colombia's northern cattle belt, officials said Tuesday.
"We've lost everything, all our belongings" said Enid Gomez in Monteria, where residents waded through waist‑deep water.
"We had never been through anything like this before" she told AFP. "It always rained, but it was only a little. I mean, it wasn't like it is now."
Residents used motorboats and makeshift rafts to pull belongings from flooded homes as fields and pastureland vanished under water across Cordoba and Sucre departments.
The country's disaster management agency said 22 people were killed across four departments.
Officials in the departments of Cordoba and Sucre said more than 9,000 homes had been affected, while the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said over 27,000 families had been hit.
A cold front moving south from North America pushed rainfall 64 percent above average in January, the national weather agency Ideam said. Heavy rain is unusual at this time of year.
The floods have hit livestock hard. Local officials estimate over 5,500 animals have been affected. Many did not survive.
"Many animals were lost, as they ended up drowning," said Edwin Orozco, a resident of Lorica.
"The situation is critical," he said. "What's coming looks pretty serious."
Some schools suspended classes to turn classrooms into shelters for families forced from their homes. 
Several of the flood's victims were in Narino department, where a rain‑swollen stream overflowed and buried several homes in mud, officials said. 
Rescuers and sniffer dogs searched the debris. 
Scientists say climate change is disrupting Colombia's wet and dry periods, making rainfall more erratic and increasing the risk of extreme weather events.
bur-arb/ksb

protest

Bumper potato harvests spell crisis for European farmers

BY SOFIA BOUDERBALA

  • - Farmers urged to reconsider - While that suggests the European potato sector is not under threat in the long-term, farmers are still feeling the immediate consequences.
  • Farmers across Europe are protesting amid one of the most plentiful potato harvests in years, as the unintended consequences of US tariffs and increased competition drive down prices.
  • - Farmers urged to reconsider - While that suggests the European potato sector is not under threat in the long-term, farmers are still feeling the immediate consequences.
Farmers across Europe are protesting amid one of the most plentiful potato harvests in years, as the unintended consequences of US tariffs and increased competition drive down prices.
More than twenty tonnes of potatoes were dumped in front of the National Assembly in Paris last month, heaped into piles and peppered with French and trade union flags, in a vivid display of farmers' frustrations.
"It costs us less to give these potatoes to Parisians than to store them ourselves," Denis Lavenant, a farmer from the Yvelines region, told AFP. 
Belgian farmers also handed out potatoes to passers-by on a Flanders highway, coupled with leaflets denouncing crashing prices and EU free trade agreements. 
The sector is facing a "real challenge this year", Francois-Xavier Broutin, the director of economic affairs at CNIPT, which represents the French potato industry, told AFP. 
The main reason, he said, was "the imbalance between supply and demand".

French fry trade wars

The North-Western European Potato Growers (NEPG) network, which brings together the four leading European producers (Germany, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands), has been warning about overproduction on the continent for months. 
In these countries, which account for two-thirds of European production, the volumes harvested in 2025 are approaching 30 million tonnes, a 10 percent increase year-on-year. 
"What's unusual about this season is that the harvest is abundant in all the major producing countries," said Boutin, who added that Germany, the leading European producer, is having its "best harvest in 25 years".
But with demand weakening across the continent, that increase in supply has been cause for concern rather than celebration.
Demand has dropped, the NEPG says, due to several factors: Weaker demand for frozen french fries after US tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump; "a strong euro against the dollar" hurting European exports overall; and increased production from foreign competitors including China, India, Egypt and Turkey. 
The growers' network claims that in the past two years, China and India, the world's two leading producers, have "increased their frozen French fry exports to neighbouring countries tenfold," while EU exports declined. 
For Broutin, however, the crisis is only temporary, as "global demand continues to rise," which he believes will eventually catch up to increasing potato volumes. 

Farmers urged to reconsider

While that suggests the European potato sector is not under threat in the long-term, farmers are still feeling the immediate consequences.
At the end of last year, the NEPG network bluntly asked European farmers if they were ready to "produce while losing money".
Two months later, as the March-April planting season approaches, there are clear signals that farmers may have to reconsider how much land they will dedicate to potatoes.
In France, the UNPT, the main producers' association, is denouncing both a decline in the number of contractual agreements, which would guarantee farmers a price negotiated in advance, and a 25 percent drop in the contract prices offered. 
The price of a tonne of Fontane potatoes, one of the main cultivated varieties, is expected to drop to around 130 euros in 2026 from 180 euros last year, according to the UNPT. 
sb/mdz/uh/nth/ks/st

Rahman

Bangladesh's PM hopeful Rahman warns of 'huge' challenges ahead

BY SHEIKH SABIHA ALAM AND PETER MARTELL

  • "The economy has been destroyed," he said, accusing the ousted government of neglecting ordinary citizens.
  • Bangladesh's leading prime ministerial hopeful Tarique Rahman said on Tuesday he faces "huge" challenges if he wins elections this week, vowing to repair a country he said was looted under the previous ousted government. 
  • "The economy has been destroyed," he said, accusing the ousted government of neglecting ordinary citizens.
Bangladesh's leading prime ministerial hopeful Tarique Rahman said on Tuesday he faces "huge" challenges if he wins elections this week, vowing to repair a country he said was looted under the previous ousted government. 
If victorious on Thursday, the leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) said his first priority would be restoring security to end the political turmoil that has gripped the country since the overthrow of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina's autocratic rule by a 2024 youth-led uprising. 
"We need to ensure a normal situation in the country, so that people are safe," Rahman told AFP.
But he warned the task ahead in the South Asian nation of 170 million people would be daunting.
"The economy has been destroyed," he said, accusing the ousted government of neglecting ordinary citizens.
"The health system has been destroyed in the last regime, the energy sector has been destroyed".
Rahman's BNP is a frontrunner in the polls, but faces a stiff challenge from a coalition led by Jamaat-e-Islami, the country's largest Islamist party.
Soft-spoken Rahman, sitting in his office underneath gold-framed portraits of his late parents -- former Bangladesh leaders Ziaur Rahman and Khaleda Zia -- said he was confident of a decisive victory.
"We expect that we will have a clear mandate from the people -- a big mandate," he said, adding he did not foresee the need for a coalition beyond his current party alliance. 
"We'll have enough seats to form our own government."

'Try to do better'

Rahman, 60, returned to Bangladesh in December after 17 years in exile in Britain during Hasina's rule.
He assumed the leadership of the BNP from his mother, three-time prime minister Khaleda Zia, who died in December aged 80, just days after he returned.
"They were they, I am me," he said, referring to his famous parents, but stressing he too had spent a lifetime in politics. "I will try to do better than them."
Among the top of the list of tasks he will face if elected will be to tackle the economic woes of the world's second-largest producer of garments.
"There are serious challenges ahead of us -- we need to tackle the economic situation," he added. 
"There are a huge number of unemployed. We need to create businesses for these young people to have jobs," he said, adding he was particularly worried about the economic situation faced by women.

'Neighbourly relationship'

With relations between Bangladesh and neighbouring India strained, Rahman struck a careful note on foreign ties.
"The interest of my people, and the interest of my country, comes first," he said, but adding that Bangladesh nevertheless wanted "at least a neighbourly relationship" with the countries surrounding it.
Hasina, 78, is currently in hiding in India and was sentenced to death in absentia for crimes against humanity in November.
She was once praised for overseeing Bangladesh's rapid economic rise, but she also presided over a government that crushed dissent and is accused of rampant theft, especially from large-scale public infrastructure projects.
"What we see is that in the name of mega projects, mega corruption has taken place," said Rahman.
"A few people were made very rich. But the rest of the country, the whole population, they were left with nothing."
But Rahman said he opposed banning political parties by law. 
Bangladesh's interim government, led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, has barred Hasina's Awami League from contesting the vote.
"Of course, if someone is involved in some kind of crime, they need to be punished as per the law," he said.
sa-pjm/ceg

conflict

'Everything is destroyed': Ukrainian power plant in ruins after Russian strike

BY CéCILE FEUILLATRE

  • Of course it's frightening," when Russia attacks, she said.
  • Russia had been widely expected to launch a massive strike on Ukraine, but the evening crew at one of the country's frequently targeted power stations could do nothing to prepare.
  • Of course it's frightening," when Russia attacks, she said.
Russia had been widely expected to launch a massive strike on Ukraine, but the evening crew at one of the country's frequently targeted power stations could do nothing to prepare.
Hours later, two missiles slammed into the plant, finishing off the destruction of a unit already ravaged in an earlier bombardment.
It is just one of the sites decimated by the most intense wave of Russian attacks on Ukraine's energy grid of the four-year war.
Kyiv and its allies accuse Moscow of trying to plunge Ukraine into a humanitarian crisis, cutting off electricity, heating and water to civilians with temperatures touching multi-year lows of minus 20C in Kyiv.  
Days after the recent strike, in a visit to the undisclosed facility by AFP, the air still smelled burnt.
A frozen crow was encased in the snow. Stray dogs roamed the wreckage, weaving between huge charred twisted pipes and silent idle turbines.
The site -- now resembling a post-industrial wasteland -- has been wiped out by multiple Russian strikes.
It is unclear when, or if, production can be restored there.
"I would like to say months, but it will probably take years," said Oleksandr, 53, head of the production management department.
AFP reporters visited the plant, run by private operator DTEK, as part of rare press access to a site Ukraine considers critical infrastructure. The location and full names of most employees can not be revealed.

'Crying'

"I've worked at this plant for 27 years, I just feel like crying," said Volodymyr, a 53-year-old shift supervisor.
His team was working the night of the most recent strikes.
"Hundreds of workers and engineers are here around the clock, day and night, to repair as much as possible," said DTEK's communications manager Oleksandr Kutereshchyn. 
AFP saw excavators scooping debris, and dozens of first responders and employees clearing rubble.
Since Russia invaded in 2022, Ukraine's energy infrastructure has been attacked more than 220 times, according to Kyiv.
The International Criminal Court in 2024 issued arrest warrants for top Russian military figures over the missile attacks on power plants, which the court's prosecutors said constituted a war crime.
Ukrainians have termed their own word for the barrage -- "Kholodomor", a reference to the Holodomor, the 1930s famine orchestrated by Soviet leader Joseph Stalin that Kyiv considers a genocide.
Literally, it translates as "death by cold". 

'Our life'

The attacks do more than just knock out the power -- they also sap the morale, particularly of the communities of workers and families that have been built around the plants. 
When Russia last struck, "the guys came right away to help -- even those who were off or on vacation," Volodymyr told AFP.
"This is our life, you understand?"
Ania, 22, who lives in the nearby town said her mother has worked for 30 years as an administrator with DTEK.
"All these people have spent half their lives working there. And now everything is destroyed," she told AFP.
Restaurant manager Veronika, 24, is getting tired of the electricity only turning on for 60-minute stints every six hours. 
Her aunt works at the the plant, which is located behind a forest that backs on to her house."Of course it's frightening," when Russia attacks, she said.
But she is determined.
"You end up getting used to it. The most important thing is that people, children, don't suffer. Metal can be rebuilt. Even if some say everything is ruined, that's not true."  
She added: "The plant's chimneys are still standing, and so are we."
cf-mk/jc/oc/tw 

Telegram

Moscow chokes Telegram as it pushes state-backed rival app

  • Moscow has been threatening a host of internet platforms with forced slowdowns or outright bans if they do not comply with Russian laws.
  • Russia's internet watchdog on Tuesday announced it was throttling the Telegram messenger platform for alleged violations of Russian law, as Moscow tries to push Russians to use a more tightly controlled domestic online service.
  • Moscow has been threatening a host of internet platforms with forced slowdowns or outright bans if they do not comply with Russian laws.
Russia's internet watchdog on Tuesday announced it was throttling the Telegram messenger platform for alleged violations of Russian law, as Moscow tries to push Russians to use a more tightly controlled domestic online service.
Moscow has been threatening a host of internet platforms with forced slowdowns or outright bans if they do not comply with Russian laws.
Those laws require data on Russian users to be stored inside the country, and for efforts to be made to stamp out their use for what Moscow calls "criminal and terrorist purposes".
Critics and rights campaigners say those restrictions are a transparent attempt by the Kremlin to ramp up control and surveillance over internet use in Russia, amid a sweeping crackdown on dissent during the Ukraine offensive.
The Roskomnadzor agency said in a statement cited by state media that it will "continue to introduce phased restrictions" on Telegram, which it said had not complied with the laws.
Telegram is widely used across Russia, both as a messaging app and as a social media service.
Almost all major public figures, including government bodies and the Kremlin, post regular updates on the platform.
Moscow is trying to push users onto a state-backed competitor, called Max, which can also handle payments and government services.
Russia had previously tried to ban Telegram -- run by Pavel Durov, a Russian who also possesses French and Emirati nationalities --but ultimately failed in its attempts to block access and lifted the ban in 2020.
Russian users reported slow traffic and lagging downloads on Telegram throughout Tuesday before the official announcement.
Roskomnadzor has previously tried to choke other foreign services, including WhatsApp, owned by Facebook parent company Meta, and Google's YouTube.
Durov has previously clashed with Russian authorities.
He was forced out of the VK social media site he founded -- a Russian equivalent of Facebook -- under pressure from the authorities.
He went on to use the proceeds of the sale to launch Telegram in exile from the United Arab Emirates.
He was detained in Paris in 2024 under a French investigation into Telegram's alleged complicity in criminal activity. France in July 2025 lifted travel restrictions on Durov but is keeping up its investigation.
bur/rmb

weather

January was fifth hottest on record despite cold snap: EU monitor

  • The Northern Hemisphere was hit by severe cold waves in the final weeks of January as a polar jet stream blew icy air into Europe and North America, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service.
  • The planet experienced its fifth-hottest January on record despite a cold snap that swept across the United States and Europe, the EU's climate monitor said Tuesday.
  • The Northern Hemisphere was hit by severe cold waves in the final weeks of January as a polar jet stream blew icy air into Europe and North America, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service.
The planet experienced its fifth-hottest January on record despite a cold snap that swept across the United States and Europe, the EU's climate monitor said Tuesday.
The Northern Hemisphere was hit by severe cold waves in the final weeks of January as a polar jet stream blew icy air into Europe and North America, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service.
But monthly temperatures were above average over much of the globe, including in large parts of the Arctic and western North America, according to Copernicus.
"January 2026 delivered a stark reminder that the climate system can sometimes simultaneously deliver very cold weather in one region, and extreme heat in another," said Samantha Burgess, strategic lead for climate at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF).
The average global temperature in January was 1.47C above preindustrial times.
Europe endured its coldest January since 2010, with an average temperature of -2.34C, the service said.
The United States, meanwhile, was hit by a monster winter storm that dumped snow and crippling ice from New Mexico to Maine. It was linked to more than 100 deaths.
The planet remains in an extended run of human-driven warming, with 2024 setting a record high, 2023 ranking second 2025 now third warmest.
lt/np/rmb

conflict

Macron says wants 'European approach' in dialogue with Putin

  • The French leader tried in a series of phone calls in 2022 to warn Putin against invading Ukraine and travelled to Moscow early that year.
  • French President Emmanuel Macron has said he wants to include European partners in a resumption of dialogue with Russian leader Vladimir Putin nearly four years after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
  • The French leader tried in a series of phone calls in 2022 to warn Putin against invading Ukraine and travelled to Moscow early that year.
French President Emmanuel Macron has said he wants to include European partners in a resumption of dialogue with Russian leader Vladimir Putin nearly four years after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
He spoke after dispatching a top adviser to Moscow last week, in the first such meeting since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
"What did I gain? Confirmation that Russia does not want peace right now," he said in an interview with several European newspapers including Germany's Suddeutsche Zeitung.
"But above all, we have rebuilt those channels of discussion at a technical level," he said in the interview released on Tuesday.
"My wish is to share this with my European partners and to have a well-organised European approach," he added. 
Dialogue with Putin should take place without "too many interlocutors, with a given mandate", he said.
Macron said last year he believed Europe should reach back out to Putin, rather than leaving the United States alone to take the lead in negotiations to end Russia's war against Ukraine.
"Whether we like Russia or not, Russia will still be there tomorrow," Suddeutsche Zeitung quoted the French president as saying.
"It is therefore important that we structure the resumption of a European discussion with the Russians, without naivety, without putting pressure on the Ukrainians -- but also so as not to depend on third parties in this discussion."
The Kremlin said Tuesday it welcomed Macron's approach and was awaiting a concrete proposition for further talks. 
"Russia has always advocated maintaining dialogue, which, in our view and firm belief, can help resolve the most urgent and most difficult problems," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, including AFP.  
After Macron sent his adviser Emmanuel Bonne to the Kremlin last week, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had said Putin was ready to receive the French leader's call.
"If you want to call and discuss something seriously, then call," he said in an interview to state-run broadcaster RT.
The French and Russian presidents last spoke in July, in their first known phone talks in over two-and-a-half years.
The French leader tried in a series of phone calls in 2022 to warn Putin against invading Ukraine and travelled to Moscow early that year.
He kept up phone contact with Putin after the invasion but talks had ceased after a September 2022 phone call.
fff-ah-asy/jc/yad

conflict

Lies, horror, trauma: Kenyans recount forced Russian recruitment

BY JORIS FIORITI

  • - 'Destroyed my life' - Mark's shoulder is covered in scars from a grenade launched by a Ukrainian drone while he was heading to the front in September.
  • The scars on Victor's forearm remind him constantly of the day a Ukrainian drone attacked him after he was forcibly conscripted, like hundreds of young Kenyans, into the Russian army.
  • - 'Destroyed my life' - Mark's shoulder is covered in scars from a grenade launched by a Ukrainian drone while he was heading to the front in September.
The scars on Victor's forearm remind him constantly of the day a Ukrainian drone attacked him after he was forcibly conscripted, like hundreds of young Kenyans, into the Russian army.
It was a war that had nothing to do with him and which he was exceptionally lucky to survive.
Four Kenyans -- Victor, Mark, Erik and Moses -- recounted to AFP the web of deception that took them to the killing fields of Ukraine. Their names have been changed for fear of reprisals. 
It began with promises of well-paying jobs in Russia from a Nairobi recruitment agency.
Victor, 28, was supposed to be a salesman. 
Mark, 32, and Moses, 27, were told they would be security guards. 
Erik, 37, thought he had a ticket to high-end sports. 
They were all to be paid between $1,000 and $3,000 a month -- a fortune in Kenya where jobs are scarce and the government encourages emigration to boost remittances. 
Victor, Mark, Erik and Moses were included in WhatsApp groups where fellow Kenyans reassured them in Swahili that they were heading for good salaries and exciting new lives. 
Instead, Victor's first day was in an abandoned house three hours outside Saint-Petersburg. 
The next day, he was taken to a Russian military base where soldiers presented him with a contract in Russian that he could not read. 
"They told us: 'If you don't sign, you're dead'," Victor told AFP, showing his Russian military service record and combat medallion.

'Exciting opportunities'

Victor would later meet some of the Kenyans from the WhatsApp group in a military hospital.
"Some had no legs. Some were missing an arm... They told me they were threatened with death if they wrote a negative message on the group," he said.
Mark said new recruits were offered the chance to pay their way home for around $4,000 -- an impossible sum.
"We had no option but signing the contract," he said.
Erik's first day was training with a basketball team and he signed a contract he believed would land him with a professional club. 
He did not know it was actually a military contract.
The next day he was in an army camp. 
Mark and Moses say they were paid very little for their year of service. Victor and Erik say they received nothing.
The four men left for Russia through a Kenyan recruitment agency, Global Face Human Resources, which boasts on its website: "Let our HR wizards connect you to exciting opportunities".
AFP was unable to speak to the agency, which has relocated several times within the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, in recent months. 
One of its employees, Edward Gituku, is being prosecuted for "human trafficking" after a police raid in September on an apartment he rented on the outskirts of the city. 
Twenty-one young men, who were about to fly to Russia, were rescued in the raid. 
Gituku, released on bail, denies the charges, his lawyer Alex Kubu told AFP. 

Clinics

Victor, Mark, Erik and Moses all say they met Gituku and that he was a key player in the scam. 
Erik and Moses even say Gituku drove them to Nairobi airport. 
Gituku's previous lawyer, Dunston Omari, told Citizen TV in September that Global Face Human Resources had sent "more than 1,000 people" to Russia but all were former Kenyan soldiers who had "voluntarily" joined the Russian army. 
Around that time, Mikhail Lyapin, a Russian citizen implicated in the case, was expelled from Kenya "to stand trial in Russia" at the request of the Russian authorities, Kenyan Foreign Secretary Abraham Korir Sing'Oei told AFP. 
The Russian embassy in Kenya stated in a press release that Lyapin had left Kenya voluntarily and had "never been an employee of Russian governmental bodies". It did not respond to emailed questions from AFP. 
In December, Kenyan authorities said around 200 citizens had been sent to fight in Ukraine, with 23 since repatriated. 
This is an underestimate, said the four recruits who spoke to AFP. 
Potential migrants to Russia had to undergo a medical examination before leaving and just one of multiple Nairobi clinics told AFP they saw 157 in little over one month last year. 
"The majority were former Kenyan soldiers" who knew what awaited them in Russia, said a worker at the clinic.
There have been reports of genuine Kenyan mercenaries fighting for Russia in Ukraine but Mark and Erik, who were examined at the clinic, said they were never informed of their future military service. 

'Cannon fodder'

Victor and Moses went through another Nairobi clinic, Universal Trends Medical and Diagnostic Centre, which declined to tell AFP the number of individuals referred by Global Face Human Resources. 
AFP was able to identify two other recruitment agencies sending Kenyans to Russia but was unable to contact them. 
The founder of Global Face Human Resources, Festus Omwamba, visited the Russian embassy in neighbouring Uganda several times last year, a source close to the embassy told AFP. 
Omwamba blocked calls from AFP. 
In the early days of its invasion of Ukraine, Russia was accused of using its own ethnic minorities as expendable forces: Chechens, Dagestanis and others. 
Its tactic was to throw vast numbers at Ukrainian defences in a bid to overwhelm them.
But the human cost has been huge. Western intelligence services say Russia has suffered more than 1.2 million casualties, twice as many as Ukraine. 
That has pushed Moscow to seek recruits further afield. 
Ukraine's ambassador to Kenya, Yurii Tokar, says Russia first targeted former Soviet republics in Central Asia, then India and Nepal, before turning to Africa. 
The four returnees interviewed by AFP said they encountered dozens of Africans in training camps and battlefields, including from Nigeria, Cameroon, Egypt and South Africa. 
Russia exploits the "economic desperation" of young Africans, said Tokar. 
"They are looking for people for cannon fodder everywhere it is possible," he said.

Frontline horrors

Victor recounts apocalyptic scenes at the front near Vovchansk in the Kharkiv region. 
"We had to cross two rivers, with many dead bodies floating. Then there was a big field, which was covered with hundreds of bodies. We had to run to cross it. With drones everywhere," he said. 
"The commander tells you: 'Don't try to escape or we shoot you'," he said. 
Of the 27 in his unit, two made it across the field. 
Victor survived by hiding under a corpse but was hit in the right forearm by drone fire. 
After two more weeks of missions, during which he was unable to carry his weapon and maggots were crawling in his wound, he was allowed to receive treatment behind the lines. 
A few weeks later, despite the heavy losses already suffered, the Russian army sent Erik to the same location without changing its strategy. 
Of the 24 men in his operation, only three made it across the field -- a Pakistani who ended up with "both legs broken", a Russian with "his stomach ripped open", and Erik. 
Miraculously escaping this ordeal unscathed, the 37-year-old says he was then hit in the arm and leg by drones. 

'Destroyed my life'

Mark's shoulder is covered in scars from a grenade launched by a Ukrainian drone while he was heading to the front in September. He doesn't know where he was. 
All three eventually found themselves in a Moscow hospital and escaped to the Kenyan embassy, which helped them return home.
Moses managed to escape his unit in December and make contact with Kenyan officials. 
Though physically unscathed, he is as traumatised as the others. A flying bird is enough to trigger his anxiety now, he says. 
They know many Kenyan families are dealing with worse. 
Grace Gathoni, now a single mother of four, learned in November that her husband, Martin, who had planned to become a driver in Russia, died in combat. 
Moscow has "destroyed my life", she told AFP through tears. 
Charles Ojiambo Mutoka, 72, learned in January that his son, Oscar, was killed in August. His remains rest in Rostov-on-Don. 
The Russian authorities "should be ashamed", he said, angrily.
"We only fight our own wars and we never bring Russians to fight for us... so why take our people?" 
jf/er/gil

exports

Trump tariffs hurt French wine and spirits exports

  • - Under pressure - Meanwhile, spirits exports slumped 17.4 percent, with Chinese anti-dumping measures playing a major role.
  • US tariffs hit French wine and spirits shipments hard last year, playing a major role in the overall drop of eight percent in value of one of France's top exports, a trade body said Tuesday.
  • - Under pressure - Meanwhile, spirits exports slumped 17.4 percent, with Chinese anti-dumping measures playing a major role.
US tariffs hit French wine and spirits shipments hard last year, playing a major role in the overall drop of eight percent in value of one of France's top exports, a trade body said Tuesday.
Exports to the United States slumped by 21 percent, the French Federation of Wine and Spirits Exporters (FEVS) said.
The United States is the biggest importing country for French wines and spirits, accounting for 21 percent of the overall export market last year.
"Geopolitical tensions, commercial conflicts, exchange rate fluctuations, and a loss of confidence by households weighed on our exports," said the Federation's president, Gabriel Picard.
French and European wines are also suffering from the increase in tariffs -- first 10 percent, then 15 percent -- imposed on European alcoholic drinks by US President Donald Trump in 2025.
"In the United States, the imposition of customs duties and an unfavourable exchange rate have heavily impacted the overall result," FEVs said in a statement.
Economic uncertainty weighing on consumer spending, as well as stockpiling by wholesalers, also contributed to the fall, it said.
Overall, the value of French wine and spirits exports fell by 7.9 percent to 14.3 billion euros ($17.0 billion).
They slid 3.3 percent by volume.
Wine exports, which account for the overwhelming majority of the total, slid by 4.1 percent by value.

Under pressure

Meanwhile, spirits exports slumped 17.4 percent, with Chinese anti-dumping measures playing a major role.
Beijing launched an investigation into EU brandy after the bloc undertook a probe into Chinese electric vehicle (EV) subsidies and producers agreed to hike prices to avoid anti-dumping taxes.
Sales of cognac dove 23.8 percent to 2.3 billion euros.
"The anti-dumping duties have severely penalised exports of cognac, armagnac and other wine-based French spirits," the FEVS said.
The release of 2025 export data coincided with the annual Wine Paris trade show.
French President Emmanuel Macron visited the show on Monday, where he insisted that ripping up unprofitable grape vines was a necessary part of revitalising the flagging wine sector.
Winegrowers are dealing with over-production caused by falling demand as a result of changing drinking habits, fierce competition and export difficulties.
Efforts to help the crisis-hit industry include the government's latest 130-million-euro "arrachage" fund that opened last Friday, offering subsidies to loss-making owners to uproot their vines.
"It has to be done... so that the others (producers) retain their value," Macron said.
The wine and spirits sector supports 600,000 jobs in France and generates around 32 billion euros in revenue annually.
rl/js/yad

police

Bangladesh police deploy to guard 'risky' polling centres

  • Alam said police had assessed that "more than 24,000 polling centres have been marked as either high-risk or moderately risky" for possible unrest, violence or ballot stuffing -- more than half of the 42,000 centres nationwide.
  • Bangladesh's police chief said Tuesday that more than 150,000 officers will be deployed for this week's elections, warning that more than half of polling stations were flagged as vulnerable to violence.
  • Alam said police had assessed that "more than 24,000 polling centres have been marked as either high-risk or moderately risky" for possible unrest, violence or ballot stuffing -- more than half of the 42,000 centres nationwide.
Bangladesh's police chief said Tuesday that more than 150,000 officers will be deployed for this week's elections, warning that more than half of polling stations were flagged as vulnerable to violence.
Police records show that five people were killed and more than 600 injured in political clashes during the campaign period from December 11 to February 9.
More than 157,000 police officers, backed by 100,000 soldiers and other security forces, will guard Thursday's vote -- the first since a mass uprising toppled the autocratic government of Sheikh Hasina in 2024.
"We are 1,000 percent confident about doing our part," Inspector General of Police Baharul Alam told reporters in Dhaka.
The country of 170 million has remained in political turmoil since the uprising against Hasina, when police carried out a deadly crackdown during her failed bid to cling to power.
Alam said police had assessed that "more than 24,000 polling centres have been marked as either high-risk or moderately risky" for possible unrest, violence or ballot stuffing -- more than half of the 42,000 centres nationwide.
"The location of some centres is very remote, and there is intense competition, and hostility among candidates and their supporters," he said, adding that 1,300 police guns looted during the 2024 unrest have still not been recovered.
"In high-risk and moderately risky centres, police will carry out patrol duty with body-worn cameras for the first time."
Rights organisation Ain o Salish Kendra counted 158 people killed and more than 7,000 injured in political violence between August 2024 and December 2025.
Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) raised concerns over the law-and-order situation, accusing parties of forming "mobs" and setting up roadblocks.
Alam said the police were determined to ensure the polls were peaceful, but said he accepted that distrust of his force remained. 
"It is quite understandable why people do not trust the police," he said. "Over the last 15 years, based on what we have delivered -- in fact, for the last 150 years, our predecessors mostly beat people." 
sa/pjm/mtp

AI

OpenAI starts testing ads in ChatGPT

  • "Ads do not influence the answers ChatGPT gives you, and we keep your conversations with ChatGPT private from advertisers," the company said.
  • OpenAI has begun placing ads in the basic versions of its ChatGPT chatbot, a bet that users will not mind the interruptions as the company seeks revenue as its costs soar.
  • "Ads do not influence the answers ChatGPT gives you, and we keep your conversations with ChatGPT private from advertisers," the company said.
OpenAI has begun placing ads in the basic versions of its ChatGPT chatbot, a bet that users will not mind the interruptions as the company seeks revenue as its costs soar.
"The test will be for logged-in adult users on the Free and Go subscription tiers" in the United States, OpenAI said Monday. The Go subscription costs $8 in the United States.
Only a small percentage of its nearly one billion users pay for its premium subscription services, which will remain ad-free.
"Ads do not influence the answers ChatGPT gives you, and we keep your conversations with ChatGPT private from advertisers," the company said.
Since ChatGPT's launch in 2022, OpenAI's valuation has soared to $500 billion in funding rounds -- higher than any other private company. Some analysts expect it could go public with a trillion-dollar valuation.
But the ChatGPT maker burns through cash at a furious rate, mostly on the powerful computing required to deliver its services.
Its chief executive Sam Altman had long expressed his dislike for advertising, citing concerns that it could create distrust about ChatGPT's content.
His about-face garnered a jab from its rival Anthropic over the weekend, which made its advertising debut at the Super Bowl championship with commercials saying its Claude chatbot would stay ad-free.
In one spot, a man asking an AI chatbot for advice on communicating with his mother receives earnest guidance before the conversation veers into a pitch for a fictional cougar-dating site called "Golden Encounters".
mng/jlo/js/jxb

drones

South Korea police raid spy agency over drone flight into North

BY CLAIRE LEE

  • But a joint military-police task force said Tuesday it was investigating three active-duty soldiers and one spy agency staffer in an effort to "thoroughly establish the truth". 
  • Investigators raided South Korea's spy agency Tuesday as they searched for the source of a drone incursion into North Korea, an incident that threatens to blight efforts to mend relations with Pyongyang. 
  • But a joint military-police task force said Tuesday it was investigating three active-duty soldiers and one spy agency staffer in an effort to "thoroughly establish the truth". 
Investigators raided South Korea's spy agency Tuesday as they searched for the source of a drone incursion into North Korea, an incident that threatens to blight efforts to mend relations with Pyongyang. 
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has sought to repair ties with his nation's nuclear-armed neighbour, vowing to stop the drones that buzzed across the border under his predecessor. 
Pyongyang says it shot down a surveillance drone near the industrial hub of Kaesong in January, accusing Seoul of dispatching the aircraft to glean intelligence on "important targets". 
South Korea initially denied any official involvement, with Lee saying such an act would be tantamount to "firing a shot into the North".
But a joint military-police task force said Tuesday it was investigating three active-duty soldiers and one spy agency staffer in an effort to "thoroughly establish the truth". 
Investigators raided 18 locations of interest, including the Defense Intelligence Command and the National Intelligence Service. 
The North Korean military downed a drone carrying "surveillance equipment" in early January, according to a statement published by the state-run Korean Central News Agency. 
Photos showed the wreckage of a winged craft scattered across the ground next to a collection of grey and blue components that allegedly included cameras. 
The drone had stored footage of "important targets" including border areas, a military spokesman said in the statement. 
South Korea's disgraced ex-president Yoon Suk Yeol was accused of using unmanned drones to scatter propaganda leaflets over North Korea in 2024. 
Lee has vowed to mend ties with North Korea by stamping out such provocations, and has even suggested a rare apology may be warranted. 
"I feel I should apologise, but I hesitate to say it out loud," he said in December. 
"I worry that if I do, it could be used as fodder for ideological battles or accusations of being pro-North," he added. 
Any government involvement in the January drone incursion would run counter to those efforts. 
South Korea's Unification Minister Chung Dong-young has previously suggested the incursion may have involved government officials still loyal to former hardline leader Yoon. 
Three civilians have already been charged for their alleged role in the drone scandal. 
One of them has publicly claimed responsibility, saying he acted to detect radiation levels from North Korea's Pyongsan uranium processing facility.

Provocation and propaganda

Ex-president Yoon is currently standing trial on charges he illegally sent drones into North Korea to help create the pretext for declaring martial law in late 2024.
Prosecutors have accused Yoon of instructing Seoul's military to fly drones over Pyongyang and distribute anti-North leaflets in an attempt to provoke a response.
They said Yoon and others "conspired to create conditions" that would allow him to tighten his grip on power by declaring martial law.
Yoon's disastrous attempt to overturn civilian rule would ultimately fail.
The 65-year-old was impeached and ousted from office in April last year.
He will be sentenced on charges of insurrection next week.
In retaliation for propaganda dumps, North Korea in 2024 sent scores of trash-filled balloons to scatter waste across the South.
cdl/sft/ceg

diplomacy

Georgia waiting 'patiently' for US reset after Vance snub

  • When asked about Vance's apparent snub, Kobakhidze said Georgia would wait "for as long as it takes, patiently" for the US to change its position. 
  • Georgia said Tuesday it was "patiently" waiting for a reset in US ties, as US Vice President JD Vance visited neighbours Armenia and Azerbaijan but skipped Tbilisi -- once Washington's closest regional ally.
  • When asked about Vance's apparent snub, Kobakhidze said Georgia would wait "for as long as it takes, patiently" for the US to change its position. 
Georgia said Tuesday it was "patiently" waiting for a reset in US ties, as US Vice President JD Vance visited neighbours Armenia and Azerbaijan but skipped Tbilisi -- once Washington's closest regional ally.
Relations between Georgia and the US have sharply deteriorated over the past two years, with US officials accusing the ruling Georgian Dream party's government of democratic backsliding and drifting closer to Russia.
Washington has suspended a strategic partnership agreement with Tbilisi and imposed sanctions on senior officials linked to the ruling party. 
Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said Tbilisi remained open to restoring the relationship, despite being left off the itinerary for Vance's South Caucasus trip.
When asked about Vance's apparent snub, Kobakhidze said Georgia would wait "for as long as it takes, patiently" for the US to change its position. 
Pressed on when that patience might run out, he replied: "Never."
Kobakhidze said Georgia had already taken what he called its "main step" by openly expressing readiness to renew the partnership with Washington "from a new page".
Georgia, he added, was prepared to "discuss all issues without any preconditions and to rebuild strategic ties based on a concrete roadmap".
Georgia was long seen as one of the most pro-Western states in the former Soviet Union and a champion of democratic reforms, with successive governments pursuing NATO and EU integration and hosting US military cooperation programmes.
But relations have soured amid mass protests over controversial laws stifling political dissent, media, and civil society, as well as anti-Western rhetoric by Georgian Dream leaders that Washington and Brussels have dismissed as hostile and conspiratorial.
Vance's trip to Yerevan and Baku seeks to advance US-backed regional connectivity -- including a trade route bypassing Georgia -- and peace efforts, highlighting Tbilisi's growing diplomatic isolation from its traditional Western partners.
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