Global Edition

Oil climbs, stocks fall even as Trump extends Iran deadline

  • That contrasted with the sharp plunge in oil prices and gains for stocks after Trump first delayed the deadline earlier this week.
  • Oil prices rose and stocks mostly fell Friday as initial optimism over US President Donald Trump's decision to again delay his deadline for strikes on Iran's energy assets faded.
  • That contrasted with the sharp plunge in oil prices and gains for stocks after Trump first delayed the deadline earlier this week.
Oil prices rose and stocks mostly fell Friday as initial optimism over US President Donald Trump's decision to again delay his deadline for strikes on Iran's energy assets faded.
The cautious response came as governments around the world looked to shore up their economies against surging energy costs, which are adding to inflationary pressures.
Trump has extended a deadline for Tehran to open the Strait of Hormuz or face the destruction of its energy assets, pushing it from Friday to April 6.
The announcement largely failed to lift the mood for markets, with European stocks falling and oil prices up around 2.5 percent.
Frankfurt and Paris stock markets each shed more than one percent, while London was down 0.7 percent around midday.
That contrasted with the sharp plunge in oil prices and gains for stocks after Trump first delayed the deadline earlier this week.
"While the delay might reduce some of the immediate escalation risk, it offers no new visibility on the path towards resolution," said Deutsche Bank analyst Jim Reid, noting that the crucial Strait of Hormuz remains largely closed.
The dollar, seen as a safe-haven investment amid the war, climbed against main rivals Friday.
Trump has insisted Iran wanted "to make a deal" to end the war engulfing the region, but the Iranian side has indicated no let up in reprisal attacks against Israel and targets across the Gulf.
That came as Kuwait said its main commercial port was damaged in a drone attack.
Iran's Tasnim news agency said the country has responded to Washington's 15-point plan to end the war and was awaiting a reply.
The report, citing an unnamed source, said officials had called for an end to US-Israeli attacks on Iran and Tehran-backed groups elsewhere in the region. 
It called also for war reparations and for Iran's sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz to be respected.
"Words alone aren't cutting it right now, with the pause on Iran energy strikes failing to lift the mood in any meaningful way," said Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown. 
"Tangible evidence of progress is what's needed," he added. 
Investors were monitoring signs of further escalation after the Wall Street Journal cited Department of Defense officials as saying the Pentagon was considering sending up to 10,000 extra ground troops to the Middle East.
Adding to market woes, China on Friday opened an investigation into US trade practices in response to Washington's probes this month of Beijing. 
Tokyo's stock market closed lower, while Hong Kong and Shanghai edged up.
With the Middle East crisis continuing to cause havoc, governments around the world have unveiled a range of support measures.
Vietnam temporarily waived an environmental levy on fuel to cut petrol prices by more than a quarter, India said it had lowered fuel taxes and Japan looks to temporarily lift restrictions on coal-fired power plants in a bid to ease an energy crunch. 
Spain, Poland and South Korea earlier this week announced support plans that included fuel tax cuts.

Key figures at around 1115 GMT

Brent North Sea Crude: UP 2.5 percent at $104.40 a barrel
West Texas Intermediate: UP 2.7 percent at $97.01 a barrel
London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.7 percent at 9,905.18 points
Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 1.0 percent at 7,761.88
Frankfurt - DAX: DOWN 1.5 percent at 22,275.15
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.4 percent at 53,373.07 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 0.4 percent at 24,951.88 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.6 percent at 3,913.72 (close)
New York - Dow: DOWN 1.0 percent at 45,960.11 (close)
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1511 from $1.1523 on Thursday
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3302 from $1.3313
Dollar/yen: UP at 159.88 yen from 159.83 yen
Euro/pound: DOWN at 86.54 pence from 86.55 pence
dan-ajb/bcp/gv

US

Middle East war: global economic fallout

  • The Shuwaikh port was targeted at dawn "by enemy drones, preliminary reports revealed material damage but no human casualties", the Kuwait port authority said in a statement on X. - Oil rises - Oil prices rose Friday even as US President Donald Trump pushed back a deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
  • Here are the latest economic events in the Middle East war: - Iran turns back ships - Iran's Revolutionary Guards said Friday that they had turned back three ships trying to transit the Strait of Hormuz, adding the route was closed to vessels travelling to and from ports linked to countries aiding the US-Israeli attacks.
  • The Shuwaikh port was targeted at dawn "by enemy drones, preliminary reports revealed material damage but no human casualties", the Kuwait port authority said in a statement on X. - Oil rises - Oil prices rose Friday even as US President Donald Trump pushed back a deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Here are the latest economic events in the Middle East war:

Iran turns back ships

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said Friday that they had turned back three ships trying to transit the Strait of Hormuz, adding the route was closed to vessels travelling to and from ports linked to countries aiding the US-Israeli attacks.
Energy market intelligence firm Kpler said Friday it had identified two container ships belonging to Chinese firm COSCO that had attempted to leave the Gulf by crossing the narrow waterway, but had turned around.

Kuwait says port damaged

Kuwait's main commercial port was damaged in a drone attack, authorities said, as Iran pressed on with its campaign in the Gulf in retaliation for US-Israeli strikes.
The Shuwaikh port was targeted at dawn "by enemy drones, preliminary reports revealed material damage but no human casualties", the Kuwait port authority said in a statement on X.

Oil rises

Oil prices rose Friday even as US President Donald Trump pushed back a deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Brent crude was up 1.7 percent at 1100 GMT, selling at $109.85 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate was up also up 1.7 percent at $96.08.
Brent was up almost 50 percent since the war began, while WTI has risen around 40 percent.
The main stock markets in Europe were down around one percent.

Ukraine, Saudi deal

Ukraine and Saudi Arabia signed an air defence agreement during President Volodymyr Zelensky's visit to the kingdom, two senior officials told AFP on Friday.
Details of the accord were not announced. Kyiv has sought to leverage its expertise in downing Russian drones to help Gulf nations, which are being attacked with the same kind of Iranian-designed Shahed drones that Russia fires on Ukraine.  

'Significant slowdown'

Spain's economy could face a "significant slowdown" due to the Middle East war, the Bank of Spain said on Friday. 
"The central scenario anticipates a significant slowdown in the pace of activity, shaped by an international context dominated by the conflict in the Middle East," it said, warning of potential "episodes of financial market instability".
Separately, Spain's annual inflation jumped to 3.3 percent in March from 2.3 percent the previous month, driven by higher costs for gasoline and heating oil, preliminary data showed Friday.

Iran all in on crypto

Iran has witnessed massive cryptocurrency flows since the start of the Middle East conflict.
Experts say they are being used to circumvent sanctions placed on Iran's Revolutionary Guards as well as a financial safe haven by civilians hit by soaring inflation.
In an unusually large movement, more than $10 million worth of cryptocurrencies left Iranian exchange platforms between February 28 -- the first day of Israeli-US airstrikes -- and March 2, according to data analytics firm Chainalysis.

Japan to ease coal restrictions

Japan's government plans to temporarily lift restrictions on coal-fired power plants as it seeks to ease an energy crunch caused by the Middle East war, an official told AFP.
Power suppliers have been required to keep the operating rate of coal-fired thermal power stations that emit large amounts of carbon dioxide at or below 50 percent.
But the government now intends to allow full operation of older, less efficient coal-fired plants, for a year from the new fiscal year starting April, said Takahide Soeda, an industry ministry official.

Vietnam waives green tax

Vietnam temporarily waived an environmental tax on fuel to cut soaring petrol prices by more than a quarter, the trade ministry said.
The environmental protection tax rate on gasoline, diesel and aviation fuel would be slashed to zero from Friday to April 15, the ministry said.

Overnight queues

Ethiopians said Friday they slept in their cars in hours-long queues for petrol as shortages caused by the Middle East war began to take their toll. 
The Horn of Africa country is particularly vulnerable as it imports all its petrol, primarily from the Gulf.

'At scale'

The World Bank said it was prepared to provide immediate financial assistance to emerging market countries hit by the economic fallout of the conflict, saying it was "ready to respond at scale."
The Washington-based multilateral lender said a number of its clients in affected countries had already reached out as the crisis began to impact commodity prices and logistics.
burs/abs/gv/st

transport

German state railway loss widens, passengers warned of trouble ahead

  • Speaking on Friday, Palla said it would take time for the railway to improve both its financial performance and its service.
  • Germany's beleaguered state railway operator Deutsche Bahn said Friday its losses widened last year and warned passengers to brace for less-than-perfect service for years to come.
  • Speaking on Friday, Palla said it would take time for the railway to improve both its financial performance and its service.
Germany's beleaguered state railway operator Deutsche Bahn said Friday its losses widened last year and warned passengers to brace for less-than-perfect service for years to come.
Deutsche Bahn lost 2.3 billion euros ($2.6 billion) in 2025, compared to a loss of 1.8 billion euros a year earlier, hit by a 1.4-billion euro blow to the value of the long-distance division, DB Fernvekhr.
In bad news for long-suffering passengers, DB head Evelyn Palla told a press conference that the write-off resulted from expectations of a poor service stretching into the future.
"We have reassessed our future revenue forecasts, basing them on the actual state of our infrastructure," she said. "And this remains inadequate."
Long derided at home, DB made headlines abroad during the 2024 European Football Championships after fans and even players arrived at destinations hours later than planned.
Almost 40 percent of long-distance services arrived late last year -- not including trains that were cancelled, which are not counted in punctuality statistics.
Germany's government has promised to borrow and spend billions on renewing the network. 
But Transport Minister Patrick Schnieder in September pushed back a punctuality target of 70 percent for long-distance trains to 2029 from 2026.
Speaking on Friday, Palla said it would take time for the railway to improve both its financial performance and its service.
"There is a long way ahead of us," she said. "It will take at least 10 years to get German railways back into good shape. We need to recognise this reality and put it into our numbers."
Though fully-owned by the government, DB is nevertheless under pressure to boost profitability.
DB Cargo, its loss-making freight arm, is facing an EU investigation under state aid rules and the firm said in February it would cut about 6,000 jobs in Germany, equivalent to half its domestic workforce.
Without the write-off, DB's operating profit improved by over 600 million euros to 297 million euros after an operating loss in 2024.
vbw/fz/gv

US

Japan to boost coal-fired power as Mideast war causes energy turmoil

  • But Yoko Mulholland of climate think-tank E3G told AFP that the plans to lift coal power restrictions "deepen the risk that Japan will not meet its goal of phasing out inefficient coal plants by 2030". 
  • Japan's government plans to temporarily lift restrictions on coal-fired power plants as it seeks to ease an energy crunch caused by the Middle East war, officials said on Friday. 
  • But Yoko Mulholland of climate think-tank E3G told AFP that the plans to lift coal power restrictions "deepen the risk that Japan will not meet its goal of phasing out inefficient coal plants by 2030". 
Japan's government plans to temporarily lift restrictions on coal-fired power plants as it seeks to ease an energy crunch caused by the Middle East war, officials said on Friday. 
Officials presented the plan at a meeting of a panel of experts, who approved the proposal, the industry ministry said on its website.
"Given the current situation in the Middle East affecting fuel prices, we believe that uncertainty regarding future LNG procurement is increasing," an industry ministry official said at the meeting, which was broadcast online.
"We think it will be necessary, by increasing the operation of coal-fired power plants, to... ensure the reliability of stable supply," he said.
Power suppliers have previously been required to keep the operating rate of coal-fired thermal power stations that emit large amounts of carbon dioxide at or below 50 percent.
But the government now intends to allow the full operation of older, less efficient coal-fired plants, for a year from the new fiscal year starting April, according to the plan presented at the meeting.
Japan relies on thermal power plants to generate around 70 percent of its electricity needs, with coal constituting 30 percent of their fuel.
Liquefied natural gas (LNG) accounts for another 30 percent, and oil comprises seven percent.
The emergency measure to boost reliance on coal is estimated to "result in an LNG savings effect of approximately 500,000 tonnes", the official added.
But Yoko Mulholland of climate think-tank E3G told AFP that the plans to lift coal power restrictions "deepen the risk that Japan will not meet its goal of phasing out inefficient coal plants by 2030". 
Not only threatening climate health, the move can also "lock Japan into a vicious cycle of fossil-fuel dependence" and delay progress toward Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's stated goal of 100 percent domestic energy self-sufficiency, she said. 
"This crisis has laid bare the risks of relying on imported fossil fuels, and now is the time for Japan to shift course to fully embrace renewable energy as a strategic national asset."
Since the Middle East war prompted Iran to partially close the crucial Strait of Hormuz trade route and target energy facilities in the Gulf, many Asian nations have pivoted towards coal to power their economies.
South Korea plans to lift a cap on coal-powered generation capacity while also increasing nuclear plant operations.
The Philippines also intended to boost the output of its coal-fired power plants to keep electricity costs down as the war wreaks havoc with gas shipments.
Japan is the fifth-biggest importer of oil with more than 90 percent of it coming from the Middle East.
Around 10 percent of its LNG imports are also from the region.
Tokyo purchases nearly 80 percent of its coal imports from Australia and Indonesia, according to the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy.
Japan on Thursday said it had also started to release another part of its strategic oil reserves, as it faced supply challenges to its oil imports.
hih-kh-tmo/fox

US

Iran Guards warn civilians after Trump pushes Hormuz deadline

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

  • Trump's top diplomat Marco Rubio was in France on Friday for talks with his G7 counterparts, with UK foreign minister Yvette Cooper calling for a "swift" conflict resolution and an end to Iran's block on Hormuz.
  • Iran's Revolutionary Guards urged civilians across the Middle East Friday to stay away from areas near US forces, ramping up its threats despite President Donald Trump's claim talks to end the month-long war were "going well".
  • Trump's top diplomat Marco Rubio was in France on Friday for talks with his G7 counterparts, with UK foreign minister Yvette Cooper calling for a "swift" conflict resolution and an end to Iran's block on Hormuz.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards urged civilians across the Middle East Friday to stay away from areas near US forces, ramping up its threats despite President Donald Trump's claim talks to end the month-long war were "going well".
The Guards' warning came after Trump again extended a deadline for Tehran to open the Strait of Hormuz or face the destruction of its energy assets, pushing it from Friday to April 6.
Trump said he did so at Tehran's request, insisting the Islamic republic wanted "to make a deal" to end the war engulfing the region since the United States and Israel first attacked Iran on February 28.
But the Iranian side, which has made it clear it wants to end fighting on its own terms, indicated no let up in reprisal attacks against Israel and targets across the Gulf.
Accusing "cowardly American-Zionist forces" of resorting to "human shields", the country's powerful Guards issued a stark warning to civilians.
"We recommend that you urgently leave locations where American forces are stationed so that no harm comes to you," they said -- hours after Iran's military threatened to target hotels housing US soldiers across the region.
The warning came as Kuwait said its main commercial port was damaged in a drone attack at dawn.
The Guards also said the Strait of Hormuz was "closed" to vessels travelling to and from enemy ports, and that they had turned back three ships seeking to cross the transit point.
"This morning, following the lies of the corrupt US president claiming that the Strait of Hormuz was open, three container ships of different nationalities... were turned back after a warning from the IRGC Navy," the Guards said on their Sepah News website.

'Hostage'

Oil prices and stocks were mixed Friday after Trump pushed back for a second time his ultimatum for Iran to lift its choke on Hormuz shipping, which has sent energy prices soaring and threatens lasting damage on the global economy.
In the latest sign of the fallout, a Japanese official said the government plans to temporarily lift restrictions on coal-fired power plants to face the energy crunch, while Vietnam temporarily waived a fuel tax.
Trump's top diplomat Marco Rubio was in France on Friday for talks with his G7 counterparts, with UK foreign minister Yvette Cooper calling for a "swift" conflict resolution and an end to Iran's block on Hormuz.
"Iran cannot be able to just hold the global economy hostage," Cooper said ahead of the meeting.
Trump's reprieve over Hormuz capped days of conflicting signals on peace talks with Tehran, but his envoy Steve Witkoff spoke Thursday of "strong signs" it was ready to negotiate.
Negotiations revolve around a 15-point US "action list", relayed via Pakistan, to which Tehran has reportedly replied -- and is awaiting a response.
Iran's Tasnim news agency said Tehran was demanding war reparations and respect for its "sovereignty" over the Strait of Hormuz.
Tehran also called for an end to US and Israeli attacks on Iran as well as on groups in the region aligned with it, the report said -- a reference to Lebanon's Hezbollah, among others.
The UN's rights chief Volker Turk urged Washington Friday to wrap up its probe into a deadly strike on an Iranian elementary school on the first day of the war, demanding justice "for the terrible harm done".
According to a preliminary US military probe reported by The New York Times, a US Tomahawk cruise missile hit the school due to a targeting mistake.
Since the start of the war, a senior Tehran cultural official said US and Israeli strikes have damaged at least 120 museums and cultural and historic sites nationwide, including the capital's UNESCO-listed Golestan Palace.

Israel 'stretched to limit'

Local media confirmed fresh strikes in the Iranian capital Friday, as well as the holy city of Qom further south, and in Urmia in the northwest, after Israel's military announced "wide-scale" hits on infrastructure in Tehran.
The new attacks came a day after Israel's opposition leader Yair Lapid warned the war was taking too high a toll, with the military "stretched to the limit and beyond."
Military spokesman Effie Defrin for his part said more combat soldiers were needed to establish a "defensive" buffer zone in southern Lebanon -- drawn into the war after Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel.
Lebanese state media reported a new airstrike on Beirut's southern suburbs Friday, while Hezbollah said it had launched rockets at northern Israel, where air raid sirens sent residents to shelters.
burs-ec/ser

fashion

Global mohair supply flourishes in South Africa's desert

BY CLéMENT VARANGES

  • Almost everything is palatable," said Sean Hobson, whose family has raised angoras on his farm since 1865.
  • On a farm in South Africa's semi-arid south, herds of angora goats foraged across open land stretching to the horizon, their pale fleeces glinting in the harsh sun.
  • Almost everything is palatable," said Sean Hobson, whose family has raised angoras on his farm since 1865.
On a farm in South Africa's semi-arid south, herds of angora goats foraged across open land stretching to the horizon, their pale fleeces glinting in the harsh sun.
Linked by dirt tracks and dotted with remote farms, the sparsely populated Karoo region sits at the heart of the global mohair trade, supplying more than half of the world's output of the fibre prized for its sheen and softness.
A Cape Dutch-style gable in one corner of the farm bears the inscription "Wheatlands 1912." 
"This is the newest house on the property," said Lloyd Short, who grew up on the 7,700-hectare (19,000-acre) family farm.
But Wheatlands owes its reputation not to architecture or rural charm, but to its goats with drooping ears, curved horns and lustrous golden fleeces.
Their silky curls can fetch up to 900 rands ($53) per kilogramme and are used in knitwear, often blended with wool. 
The Italian mill Vitale Barberis Canonico, renowned for luxury suit fabrics, is among those sourcing South African mohair for their yarn.
"The first two shearing are the most valuable," said Short, a seventh-generation farmer, who collects an average of between one and 1.5 kilogrammes per animal. Output rises slightly with age, but the fibre loses value over time.
Short and his brother each have around 2,000 goats and supply a major French fashion house exclusively, allowing it to trace its sourcing and protect its brand.
The industry's reputation was tested in 2018, when animal rights organisation People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) released footage of a goat killed after an artery was accidentally cut during shearing -- an incident farmers say is rare.
Brands, including Swedish H&M, American Gap, Zara and Topshop, swiftly dropped mohair.
Confidence only began to recover after the introduction of an independently audited animal welfare certification.
"Farmers go through annual audits, so they get visited once a year by their brokers and then they also get third-party audited," said Marco Coetzee, director of the sector's representative organisation, Mohair South Africa.

'Specialised fibre'

South Africa accounted for 56 percent of global production in 2024, according to industry figures.
The sector supports around 30,000 jobs, including hundreds in the Karoo, an unlikely new home for a breed originally from Turkey.
How the goats arrived in the 19th century remains unclear. Accounts differ whether they were a gift from an Ottoman dignitary or imported by a British officer. 
More than one and a half centuries later, angoras thrive on the region's succulent plants.
"It's an incredibly healthy area, there are wonderful veld species, sweet plants. Almost everything is palatable," said Sean Hobson, whose family has raised angoras on his farm since 1865.
More humid regions are less suitable due to parasites and ticks, he explained.
To protect the animals, farmers dip them between the twice-yearly shearings, followed by a conditioning rinse to help the fibres form their distinctive curl.
"The world buys mohair, firstly because of the lustre," said Pierre van der Vyver, chief executive of broker House of Fibre, adding it "is very strong, doesn't break or shrink."
The smell of a shearing shed hangs in the air at his warehouse near the port city of Gqeberha, formerly known as Port Elizabeth, where hundreds of bales await shipment.
Alongside South African rival OVK, the company controls more than 70 percent of global supply, with neighbouring Lesotho accounting for another 16 percent.
Almost all buyers, except Vitale Barberis Canonico, purchase mohair in bales. Processing is dominated by two South African firms, Samil and Stucken, which also handle fibres from Australia and the United Kingdom.
"The Chinese want to compete with us, but fortunately, there is a lot of technique involved in mohair processing," said van der Vyver. 
"It's a far slower process than for wool processing. It is a specialised fibre."
clv/fal/ho/giv/kjm

Global Edition

Nepali rapper Shah sworn in as prime minister

BY PAAVAN MATHEMA

  • "It makes me even more delighted to have a 35-year-old youth as my successor," the outgoing interim prime minister, who hugged Shah after he took the oath, said in a statement.
  • Nepal's rapper-turned-politician Balendra Shah was sworn in as prime minister on Friday after sweeping the first election since deadly anti-corruption protests toppled the government last year.
  • "It makes me even more delighted to have a 35-year-old youth as my successor," the outgoing interim prime minister, who hugged Shah after he took the oath, said in a statement.
Nepal's rapper-turned-politician Balendra Shah was sworn in as prime minister on Friday after sweeping the first election since deadly anti-corruption protests toppled the government last year.
The 35-year-old reformist and his Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) dominated polls this month on a platform of youth-driven political change.
"I, Balendra Shah, in the name of the country and people, pledge that I will be loyal to the constitution," Shah said, dressed all in black, including his trademark dark sunglasses.
Crowds at the ceremony cheered and chanted his name after he formally took office, where he named key cabinet posts, including former youth activist Sudan Gurung as interior minister.
At least 77 people were killed in the anti-corruption youth uprising, which began over a brief social media ban but tapped into longstanding fury over economic hardship in the nation of 30 million people.
Shah, better known as Balen, was sworn in a day after he released his first public statement since winning the March 5 elections, via a rap song posted on social media.
"The strength of unity is my national power," Shah sang in the song, which has racked up nearly three million views since being released on social media and streaming sites on Thursday evening.
Shah had remained silent publicly since his RSP party won the election in a landslide, winning a commanding majority of 182 in the 275-seat House of Representatives.
He campaigned alongside the RSP president, combative television host Rabi Lamichhane, 51, a former deputy prime minister and interior minister and now a fellow lawmaker who retains a pivotal role in power.
"My heart is full of courage, my red blood is boiling; my brothers stand with me, this time we will rise," Shah said in his song, over a video of him campaigning for election.
"May my breath not run out; I will run like a leopard," he added.
Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle, a former United Nations economic advisor, takes up hard task of reforming Nepal's battered economy.
Foreign Minister Shishir Khanal, a former education minister, must balance landlocked Nepal's relations between giants India and China.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was swift to congratulate Shah on Friday, saying he looked forward to taking "India-Nepal friendship and cooperation to even greater heights", he said in a statement.
China also congratulated Shah, with foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian telling reporters Beijing wanted to "deepen practical cooperation" with Nepal.

'Caution and boldness'

Sushila Karki, 73, a former chief justice who had led the caretaker administration for six months, said the country's future lay in the hands of a younger generation.
"It makes me even more delighted to have a 35-year-old youth as my successor," the outgoing interim prime minister, who hugged Shah after he took the oath, said in a statement.
"May you succeed in honouring the people's mandate by striking a balance between caution and boldness."
Karki, who had ordered an investigation into the crackdown on protesters, said in her statement Thursday that a report with the findings would be released. She did not give further details.
According to a leaked copy of the report seen by AFP, the commission investigating the events recommended the prosecution of ex-prime minister KP Sharma Oli, who was toppled in the uprising.
Four-time prime minister and Marxist leader Oli, 74, was defeated by Shah in Oli's own constituency. 
At least 19 young people were killed in a crackdown on the first day of protests. No one has been convicted of the killings.
Former interior minister Ramesh Lekhak and ex-police chief Chandra Kuber Khapung should also be investigated and prosecuted, according to the recommendations in the report.
The report said that in 48 of the 63 completed autopsies victims died from bullet wounds, with the majority struck in the chest or head.
pm-pjm/lga

US

Cryptocurrencies aiding Iran during war

BY LUCIE LEQUIER

  • In a country where inflation was already nearing 50 percent before the conflict started, cryptocurrencies are acting as a "lifeline" for the population in the face of the collapse of the national currency, said analyst Martin. lul-bcp/rl/abs/ami
  • Since the start of the Middle East conflict, Iran has witnessed massive cryptocurrency flows.
  • In a country where inflation was already nearing 50 percent before the conflict started, cryptocurrencies are acting as a "lifeline" for the population in the face of the collapse of the national currency, said analyst Martin. lul-bcp/rl/abs/ami
Since the start of the Middle East conflict, Iran has witnessed massive cryptocurrency flows.
Experts say they are being used to circumvent sanctions placed on Iran's Revolutionary Guards as well as a financial safe haven by civilians hit by soaring inflation.
AFP examines how exactly digital currencies are being used in the country.

Millions of dollars

In an unusually large movement, more than $10 million worth of cryptocurrencies left Iranian exchange platforms between February 28 -- the first day of Israeli-US airstrikes -- and March 2, according to data analytics firm Chainalysis.
By March 5, nearly one-third of these funds had been transferred to foreign exchanges.
While some of this exodus can be explained by citizens rushing to protect their savings, the sheer size of the sums involved suggests the involvement of "regime actors", Kaitlin Martin of Chainalysis told AFP.
Such action would likely occur out of fear of further sanctions or cyberattacks, according to experts.
In June 2025, at the height of the previous Israel-Iran conflict, leading cryptocurrency platform Nobitex had $90 million stolen by hackers linked to Israel, according to blockchain company TRM Labs.

Iran implicated

According to Chainalysis, several digital wallets used during this surge in cryptocurrency activity are directly linked to the Revolutionary Guards.
"Even during these internet outages some outflows are seen, suggesting that some have access to the exchange's cryptoasset holdings even when its website is inaccessible," noted cryptocurrency analysts Elliptic.
The state's grip is massive. Last year, wallets associated with the Guards were funded with more than $3 billion in cryptocurrencies, representing more than half of the country's cryptocurrency flows -- a share that continues to grow according to Chainalysis.

'Shadow banking'

For Iran, largely cut off from the traditional financial system by international sanctions, cryptocurrencies are an alternative channel -- allowing the state to sell embargoed oil or to discreetly finance allied armed groups, such as the Houthi rebels in Yemen according to US authorities.
The Financial Times earlier this year reported that Iran offered ballistic missiles, drones and other advanced weapons systems for sale using cryptocurrencies.
These digital assets contribute to a veritable "shadow banking", Craig Timm of the anti-money laundering organisation ACAMS, told AFP.
Quicker to send and less expensive than a bank transfer, cryptocurrencies are difficult to trace owing also to loopholes in global regulations, he added.

'Lifeline'

The Revolutionary Guards and Iranian central bank favour "stablecoins" -- digital currencies generally pegged to the dollar in a bid to avoid volatility.
But civilians are turning en masse to bitcoin, the world's leading cryptocurrency, which can be withdrawn from platforms and stored in personal wallets, beyond the authorities' reach.
Bitcoin currently trades for more than $68,000.
This strategy was already widely evident during brutally suppressed protests in Iran ahead of the war, according to Chainalysis.
In a country where inflation was already nearing 50 percent before the conflict started, cryptocurrencies are acting as a "lifeline" for the population in the face of the collapse of the national currency, said analyst Martin.
lul-bcp/rl/abs/ami

energy

Myanmar travellers ride the rails as fuel prices rise

BY HLA-HLA HTAY

  • At Naypyidaw station, 26-year-old monk Zanaka said he was taking a train for the first time in his life.
  • Myanmar's ageing railway stations are bustling with life, crowded with passengers as surging fuel prices due to the Mideast war drive commuters to choose trains over costly planes and cars.
  • At Naypyidaw station, 26-year-old monk Zanaka said he was taking a train for the first time in his life.
Myanmar's ageing railway stations are bustling with life, crowded with passengers as surging fuel prices due to the Mideast war drive commuters to choose trains over costly planes and cars.
On a journey from the country's largest city Yangon to the capital Naypyidaw AFP journalists sat in air-conditioned carriages full of travellers napping and sharing tea, fried rice and instant noodles.
First class adult train tickets cost 19,000 kyats ($4.50), while the cheapest bus fares for the route now start at 35,000 kyats.
At one point on Thursday the train chugged past a queue of trucks waiting for fuel -- the trains themselves run on diesel, with the state railway company maintaining its own stocks.
People dozed on station benches or sat on luggage on  platforms as they waited for their trains.
Myanmar has been consumed by a civil war since 2021, when a military coup swept aside Aung San Suu Kyi's democratically elected government, sparking armed resistance to junta rule.
Rail travel is not traditionally the most popular mode of transport in the country, and many trains are older and less comfortable, while much of the network was built under British colonial rule. 
But people from rural areas have long relied on affordable railways to journey between cities -- despite occasional attacks by rebel forces targeting trains since 2021.
"The costs are high if we use a car. Also there are not many security checkpoints on the train," said Zeya Ko Ko, 28, a passenger on the Naypyidaw train.
"Buses are also challenging as fuel can run out in some areas due to the fuel crisis."

First time

Since the US-Israel war against Iran began nearly a month ago, global fuel prices have soared with international shipping disrupted and fears of shortages, especially in import-reliant Asia.
In Myanmar, prices at the petrol pump have jumped and the junta has instituted fuel-saving measures, including alternate day bans on private vehicles, based on odd- or even-numbered licence plates.
Long queues of cars and motorbikes have formed at petrol stations around the country in the last three weeks.
"We have difficulty travelling for urgent health problems. As private vehicles are being restricted with even-odd numbers, we cannot leave right away when we are sick," said Pearl Hmway, a 53-year-old restaurant owner from Mandalay region, as she waited for for a train home.
A Naypyidaw station official told AFP more people were using trains because of fuel shortages, and extra services had been laid on.
"The government increased the number of scheduled trains because of higher demand," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to the media.
Passengers said train tickets were selling out quickly, making booking them online harder.
At Naypyidaw station, 26-year-old monk Zanaka said he was taking a train for the first time in his life.
Bus fares had risen alongside fuel prices, making his journey twice as expensive by road as by rail, he explained.
"That's why we are taking the train on the way back," he said. 
"The train is faster and there's no need to wait in a queue."
bur-sco/slb/ane

cyclone

Cyclone triggers outages at major Australian LNG plants

  • Australia is one of the world's largest LNG exporters, supplying Asian nations reeling from fuel disruptions caused by Iran's Strait of Hormuz blockade as Tehran retaliates against Israeli-US attacks.
  • Some of the world's largest LNG plants were forced shut on Friday by a cyclone off western Australia, squeezing fuel supplies already stretched thin by war in the Middle East.
  • Australia is one of the world's largest LNG exporters, supplying Asian nations reeling from fuel disruptions caused by Iran's Strait of Hormuz blockade as Tehran retaliates against Israeli-US attacks.
Some of the world's largest LNG plants were forced shut on Friday by a cyclone off western Australia, squeezing fuel supplies already stretched thin by war in the Middle East.
Energy giant Chevron said it suffered outages at its Gorgon and Wheatstone gas plants, which collectively supply more than five percent of the world's liquefied natural gas. 
Fuel company Woodside said its Karratha plant, which processes fuel from one of the world's biggest offshore gas operations, had also fallen offline. 
Australia is one of the world's largest LNG exporters, supplying Asian nations reeling from fuel disruptions caused by Iran's Strait of Hormuz blockade as Tehran retaliates against Israeli-US attacks.
Gas sector analyst Josh Runciman said the cyclone had come at the "worst time", warning that even a minor hit to output could ripple through global markets. 
"This current disruption does little to reassure LNG importers about the reliability of LNG supply," said Runciman, from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis. 
US President Donald Trump somewhat soothed energy markets on Thursday by pushing back a deadline for Iran to open the shipping channel, which once carried one-fifth of the world's oil and gas. 
Oil prices eased after Trump postponed his demand to April 6, although most equities also dropped as hopes for an imminent ceasefire faded. 
The US-Israel war on Iran has caused major disruptions to global supplies of both oil and LNG. 
Qatar, one of the world's top LNG producer, has seen gas exports plunge as Iran targets energy installations and fuel tankers steer clear of the strait. 
A sprawling industrial complex sitting just off Australia's western coast, Chevron's Gorgon plant is capable of pumping out more than 15 million metric tonnes of gas each year.
At full capacity, the smaller Wheatstone project produces almost nine million metric tonnes. 

'Vital' supply

"Chevron Australia is working to restore production at the Gorgon and Wheatstone gas facilities following production outages," Chevron said in a statement.  
"We will resume full production at both facilities once it is safe to do so." 
Woodside's Karratha plant serves the massive North West Shelf gas project, described by the company as one of the largest LNG operations in the world. 
"If there is any material impact to production or assets, Woodside will update the market in accordance with its continuous disclosure obligations," the company said in a statement.  
The ongoing war meant Australian LNG exports had become "more vital than ever", International Energy Agency chief Fatih Birol said earlier this week. 
"But Australia alone will not be able to offset the entire lack of LNG coming from the Middle East," he said during a trip to capital Canberra. 
Some 40 percent of Japan's LNG comes from Australia, according to the Asia Natural Gas and Energy Association.
LNG prices in some parts of Asia have more than doubled since the joint US-Israel strikes against Iran on February 28.
Tropical Cyclone Narelle was inching towards the coast of Western Australia on Friday afternoon, whipping up winds as strong as 200 kilometres (125 miles) per hour. 
With LNG profits set to soar on the back of the Middle East crisis, Australia is reportedly mulling a new windfall tax on fuel exporters.
sft/hmn

diplomacy

US in the spotlight at WTO meet

BY AGNèS PEDRERO

  • Many observers, however, are pleased that the United States has not quit the WTO, thus avoiding major upheaval in the international trading system.
  • The United States is set to come under scrutiny Friday on day two of the World Trade Organization's ministerial conference, with Washington wanting to shake up the multilateral trade system.
  • Many observers, however, are pleased that the United States has not quit the WTO, thus avoiding major upheaval in the international trading system.
The United States is set to come under scrutiny Friday on day two of the World Trade Organization's ministerial conference, with Washington wanting to shake up the multilateral trade system.
In the corridors of the WTO gathering in Cameroon's capital Yaounde, which runs until Sunday, a lot of the talk is about the United States.
"The Americans are highly awaited; without them, we can't move forward," confided one delegate from a Southeast Asian country, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"The other members primarily expect the United States to clarify its intentions, and are asking it to demonstrate its continued commitment to the WTO through concrete actions," Sebastien Jean, an associate director at the French Institute of International Relations think-tank, told AFP.
Yaounde marks the WTO's first ministerial conference since US President Donald Trump returned to the White House last year, unleashing a barrage of attacks on multilateralism and WTO rules with sweeping tariffs and bilateral trade deals, violating WTO rules along the way, according to many experts.
Trump has made tariffs a central instrument of his economic and foreign policy.
"US trade policy measures are a corrective response to a trading system, embodied by the WTO, that has overseen and contributed to severe and sustained imbalances," US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said Wednesday.
Under successive presidents, Washington is also accused of blocking the appointment of judges to the WTO's Appellate Body -- a mechanism for resolving trade disputes between countries -- which has been paralysed since late 2019.
Many observers, however, are pleased that the United States has not quit the WTO, thus avoiding major upheaval in the international trading system.

'Ultimatum'

The US position, however, seems rigid. Washington has issued two documents, the latest on Monday, on reforming the WTO, contesting some of its fundamental rules.
"The US is setting down an ultimatum, and that ultimatum is that the current global order no longer suits the objectives" of the White House, said Jane Kelsey, a law specialist from the University of Auckland, who came to the conference with a coalition of NGOs, experts and activists.
"And the US threatens to relegate the organisation to even greater irrelevance if it doesn't get what it wants," she told AFP.
"So that kind of threat is hovering over this ministerial." 
A chief US demand is revision of the WTO's fundamental "most favoured nation" principle, which aims to extend any trade advantage granted to one country to all trade partners.
This system directly contradicts Trump's approach to trade.
The United States also wants the WTO to establish criteria to determine whether a country should be considered as developing, given that such countries benefit from certain advantages in the way rules are applied.
Here, Washington is targeting China, which despite its economic heft is classified as a developing country at the WTO.

Uncertainty in the air

The United States also wants measures encouraging countries to be more open in reporting subsidies.
WTO members are required to do so, but again, Western countries accuse Beijing of lacking transparency.
Like many other members, the United States is also calling for the development of plurilateral agreements within the WTO, something India categorically rejects, preferring to stick with the current full consensus system.
Washington is also demanding that WTO rules do not infringe upon countries' national "security".
This demand is being met with resistance, as other countries think the concept remains vague when it comes to justifying, for example, additional tariffs.
But according to Sebastien Jean, "great uncertainty remains" about what the United States is seeking at the WTO.
"Is it reform to improve its functioning, or is it disorganisation, or even lasting paralysis?
"Recent statements by Jamison Greer suggest that they wouldn't mind prolonging the uncertainty and paralysis" when it comes to institutional reform, he said. 
"This could lead them to make very minimal concessions, on procedural points or on very specific issues."
apo/ag/vk/rjm/abs

technology

US judge suspends govt sanctions on AI company Anthropic

BY BENJAMIN LEGENDRE

  • In the northern district of California, Judge Rita Lin granted Anthropic's request for a preliminary injunction in its suit against the government, freezing a presidential order that barred all federal agencies from using Anthropic technology.
  • A US federal judge on Thursday suspended sanctions imposed by President Donald Trump's administration on Anthropic, saying the measures likely violated the law in blacklisting the AI powerhouse for expressing unease about the Pentagon's use of its technology.
  • In the northern district of California, Judge Rita Lin granted Anthropic's request for a preliminary injunction in its suit against the government, freezing a presidential order that barred all federal agencies from using Anthropic technology.
A US federal judge on Thursday suspended sanctions imposed by President Donald Trump's administration on Anthropic, saying the measures likely violated the law in blacklisting the AI powerhouse for expressing unease about the Pentagon's use of its technology.
In the northern district of California, Judge Rita Lin granted Anthropic's request for a preliminary injunction in its suit against the government, freezing a presidential order that barred all federal agencies from using Anthropic technology.
The ruling also suspends a Pentagon designation of Anthropic, creator of the Claude AI model, as a national security supply chain risk -- a label typically reserved for organizations from unfriendly foreign countries.
The designation not only blocks use of the company's technology by the Pentagon, but also requires all defense vendors and contractors to certify that they do not use Anthropic's models in their work with the department.
"We're grateful to the court for moving swiftly, and pleased they agree Anthropic is likely to succeed on the merits," a company spokesperson said. 
"While this case was necessary to protect Anthropic, our customers, and our partners, our focus remains on working productively with the government to ensure all Americans benefit from safe, reliable AI."
The dispute erupted last month after Anthropic infuriated Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth by insisting its technology should not be used for mass surveillance or fully autonomous weapons systems.
Hegseth said on X that Anthropic had "delivered a master class in arrogance and betrayal as well as a textbook case of how not to do business with the United States Government or the Pentagon."
The tech sector has largely supported Anthropic in the wake of the punitive measures, which were suspended for seven days by Thursday's ruling to allow the government time to file an emergency appeal in the short term.
At a hearing earlier this week, Lin said she was concerned that the government was "trying to punish Anthropic... for criticizing the government's contracting position in the press," which would be a violation of the constitutional right to freedom of expression.
In her ruling, she said the government's designation of Anthropic as a supply chain risk was "likely both contrary to law and arbitrary and capricious."
"Nothing in the governing statute supports the Orwellian notion that an American company may be branded a potential adversary and saboteur of the US for expressing disagreement with the government," she wrote.
Lin also cited other "serious procedural problems with the government's actions" as reasons for issuing the injunction.
bl/sst/js

Global Edition

Oil climbs, stocks slide as Iran war uncertainty reigns

  • Pakistan's Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar confirmed Thursday that indirect negotiations between the United States and Iran were being held, using Islamabad as an intermediary.
  • Oil prices jumped and equities slid Thursday as hopes for a peace deal between the United States and Iran wavered, with US President Donald Trump threatening to "obliterate" the country even as he claimed negotiations to end the conflict were ongoing.
  • Pakistan's Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar confirmed Thursday that indirect negotiations between the United States and Iran were being held, using Islamabad as an intermediary.
Oil prices jumped and equities slid Thursday as hopes for a peace deal between the United States and Iran wavered, with US President Donald Trump threatening to "obliterate" the country even as he claimed negotiations to end the conflict were ongoing.
Markets had been buoyed at the start of this week by Trump saying that strikes targeting Iran's energy infrastructure would be postponed, adding that the two sides were in peace talks.
But uncertainty over the talks, continued strikes by all sides in the conflict, and the virtual closure of the Strait of Hormuz -- through which around 20 percent of oil and liquefied natural gas normally passes -- have cast a shadow over market sentiment.
On Thursday, Trump said Iran had allowed 10 oil tankers to sail through the waterway as a "present," and pushed back a deadline for strikes on Iranian power plants to April 6.
His comments on delaying strikes came after the US close, with oil paring the massive gains it had made through the day.
Earlier, Brent crude closed up 5.7 percent at $108.01 per barrel, and West Texas Intermediate ended up 4.6 percent at $94.48. 
Kim Forrest, chief investment officer at Bokeh Capital Partners, said the war makes "for really nervous investors."
"Every day there's only one or two stories that are really driving stocks and all else falls from there. So when they're in a sour mood, it's going to be a big, bad selling day."
Wall Street's main stock indices were down, with the Nasdaq furthest in the red, losing 2.38 percent. European and Asian markets also ended with losses.
"When the oil price surges, the market playbook stays the same: stocks and bonds sell off," said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB.
The yield on government bonds rose across the board.
Conflicting messages from the US and Iran are "raising questions about whether there is really an off-ramp to the conflict in the days ahead," said Deutsche Bank's Jim Reid.

Rival plans

Washington was said to have presented a 15-point plan to end the war. Tehran's state-run TV reported officials had put forward their own five conditions for hostilities to end.
On Thursday, Trump said taking control of Iran's oil was an option, as Washington had done after ousting Venezuela's leader in a military operation.
Pakistan's Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar confirmed Thursday that indirect negotiations between the United States and Iran were being held, using Islamabad as an intermediary.
"Pressure on energy prices, shipping flows and broader financial conditions remains one of the few meaningful sources of leverage (Iran) retains," said Saxo Markets' Charu Chanana.
"There is therefore little incentive to relinquish that leverage prematurely, particularly if market stress strengthens its negotiating position," she added.
The OECD on Thursday cut its eurozone growth outlook and forecast higher inflation for 2026 as energy prices have skyrocketed.
The conflict has also weighed on German consumer sentiment heading into April, a survey showed Thursday, adding to the woes facing Europe's top economy.
France, which holds the G7 Presidency, will on Monday host a meeting bringing together the group's finance ministers, energy ministers and central bank governors. 

Key figures at around 2015 GMT

Brent North Sea Crude: UP 5.7 percent at $108.01 a barrel
West Texas Intermediate: UP 4.6 percent at $94.48 a barrel
New York - Dow: DOWN 1.0 percent at 45,960.11 points (close)
New York - S&P 500: DOWN 1.7 percent at 6,477.16 (close)
New York - Nasdaq: DOWN 2.4 percent at 21,408.08 (close)
London - FTSE 100: DOWN 1.3 percent at 9,972.17 (close)
Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 1.0 percent at 7,769.31 (close)
Frankfurt - DAX: DOWN 1.5 percent at 22,612.97 (close)
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.3 percent at 53,603.65 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.9 percent at 24,856.43 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 1.1 percent at 3,889.08 (close)
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1523 from $1.1565 on Wednesday
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3313 from $1.3365
Dollar/yen: UP at 159.83 yen from 159.47 yen
Euro/pound: UP at 86.55 pence from 86.52 pence
burs-aha/msp

flood

Lagos secures flood insurance for 4 million at-risk Nigerians

  • The coastal mega-city of Lagos and its estimated more than 22 million inhabitants are among those facing the brunt of climate change in coastal west Africa, where oceans are rising, rainfall is becoming erratic and urban populations are booming.
  • Nigeria's Lagos state has taken out a $7.5 million flood insurance policy to cover millions of people, the Insurance Development Forum said Thursday, as the country's economic capital faces rising sea levels and floods linked to climate change.
  • The coastal mega-city of Lagos and its estimated more than 22 million inhabitants are among those facing the brunt of climate change in coastal west Africa, where oceans are rising, rainfall is becoming erratic and urban populations are booming.
Nigeria's Lagos state has taken out a $7.5 million flood insurance policy to cover millions of people, the Insurance Development Forum said Thursday, as the country's economic capital faces rising sea levels and floods linked to climate change.
The coastal mega-city of Lagos and its estimated more than 22 million inhabitants are among those facing the brunt of climate change in coastal west Africa, where oceans are rising, rainfall is becoming erratic and urban populations are booming.
In a statement, Governor Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu warned that inaction on climate change could cost the wider state government around $40 billion by 2050, "with severe consequences for our people, infrastructure and economy".
"Our wetlands and biodiversity are also under threat. These realities demand urgent action," he said.
The policy's premium was financed to the tune of 90 percent by InsuResilience Solutions Fund -- which is itself financed by Germany -- with Lagos state covering the remainder. 
It covers up to four million people across seven local government areas in the state, including for government disaster relief as well as direct cash transfers to affected communities.
The Lagos-funded portion is set to increase in the second and third year of the policy.
The scheme is a form of parametric flood insurance, which pays out under certain conditions -- such as a specific amount of rainfall, captured via satellite image -- instead of at a certain level of damage, which can take time to assess.
It wasn't immediately clear what the payout trigger would be, but the Insurance Development Forum -- a body affiliated with the United Nations Development Programme and the World Bank Group -- said the insurance was "a major milestone" in a state where 80 percent of households are low-income and "insurance penetration is below 0.5 percent".
Lagos, the most populous city in Africa's most populous country, is sinking, and is threatened by floods linked to climate change as well as poor management of waterways and expanding industry that eats up shorelines and wetlands.
nro/giv

diplomacy

US lays it on the line as WTO mulls future of global trading

BY AGNèS PEDRERO

  • The European Union said it was committed to an open, fair and rules-based trading system.
  • The United States launched a broadside at the hamstrung World Trade Organization as its main gathering opened Thursday, while China rushed to the WTO's defence, making the case for rules-based global trade.
  • The European Union said it was committed to an open, fair and rules-based trading system.
The United States launched a broadside at the hamstrung World Trade Organization as its main gathering opened Thursday, while China rushed to the WTO's defence, making the case for rules-based global trade.
The WTO's ministerial conference -- its supreme decision-making body -- got under way in Yaounde against a backdrop of war in the Middle East, heightened trade tensions and global economic turmoil.
"US trade policy measures are a corrective response to a trading system, embodied by the WTO, that has overseen and contributed to severe and sustained imbalances," said US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
The status quo "has become economically unworkable and politically unacceptable", Greer said in a video statement.
He insisted the "new order" would involve agreements between smaller groups of countries, rather than "wasting years and even decades to agree on a lowest-common denominator".
The 166-member WTO, which struggles to conclude agreements as they must be approved by consensus, is facing a crunch moment on reforming its ways and practices.
Over four days in Cameroon, trade ministers from around the world will try to revitalise an institution weakened by geopolitical strains, stalled negotiations and rising protectionism.

'Worst disruptions'

Yaounde marks the WTO's first ministerial conference since US President Donald Trump returned to the White House last year, unleashing a barrage of attacks on multilateralism and WTO rules with sweeping tariffs and bilateral trade deals.
The global trading system is experiencing the "worst disruptions in the past 80 years", WTO chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala warned at the opening ceremony.
"The world order and the multilateral system we used to know has irrevocably changed," she said, adding: "We cannot deny the scale of the problems confronting the world today."
Cameroon's Trade Minister Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana said: "Reform must lead to a WTO... capable of meeting today's challenges and restoring confidence in the multilateral trading system."
While all WTO members agree that the global trade body must be reformed, they do not all agree on how to go about it, and the ideal end result.
Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao said the WTO was facing an "unprecedented existential challenge" and urged countries to "jointly oppose acts of unilateralism and protectionism".
"We need to come together and stay on course to firmly support the rules-based multilateral trading system with the WTO at its core," he said, in a video statement.
The European Union said it was committed to an open, fair and rules-based trading system.
But EU trade ministers said the WTO was "at a critical juncture" and needed "deep and comprehensive reform" to avoid its relevance diminishing.

New ways of doing business

Washington is particularly critical of the WTO's "most-favoured nation" principle, which aims to extend any trade advantage granted to one trading partner to all others, seeking to avoid discrimination.
For now, only the EU has indicated it would be open to considering this issue.
China, like other developing countries, has said it wants this rule to "remain the bedrock of the WTO".
On the other hand, the EU, China and the United States agree on the need to consider a framework within which interested countries can move forward, including through agreements among groups of countries.
But India is opposed to this, preferring to stick with consensus.
No major new agreement is expected in Yaounde, but the WTO hopes that its members will succeed in adopting a roadmap on reform, with the aim of achieving something more concrete further down the line.
WTO ministerial conferences are usually held every other year. Yaounde is the 14th, and the second held in Africa.
apo/rjm/nl/pdw

exports

Parmesan exports doing grate... but sales melt in Italy

  • Back home in Italy, Parmesan sales are declining as the population declines.
  • For the first time more than half of Parmesan cheese was exported, as Italy's population declines and consumers watch their spending, producers said Thursday.
  • Back home in Italy, Parmesan sales are declining as the population declines.
For the first time more than half of Parmesan cheese was exported, as Italy's population declines and consumers watch their spending, producers said Thursday.
Exports of the flavourful hard cheese produced around Parma in northern Italy rose by 2.7 percent to nearly 75,000 tonnes last year, the industry's trade association said.
Shipments of Parmesan Reggiano -- its full name -- even rose by 2.3 percent to the United States despite tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump.
The tariffs, which currently stand at 25 percent, have slowed down orders in Parmesan's top export market, however.
Imports were down 16 percent year-on-year in January.
"The big problem in the United States is uncertainty," said the head of the Parmesan Reggiano Consortium, Nicola Bertinelli.
But she said the challenge was not insurmountable.
"We're not sitting around crying about it; we're ramping up our investments," Bertinelli said.
Parmesan has notably sponsored the Utah Jazz basketball team and the ATP tennis tournament in Miami at great expense.

Cheap competition

Parmesan producers plan to make further dents in the American market by increasing their visibility, particularly on supermarket shelves but also in restaurants, in order to differentiate themselves from local cheese labelled as "Parmesan" and sold at half the price.
Italy's Parmesan Reggiano carries the DOP certification to indicate "Protected Designation of Origin", but the name Parmesan is also used by lower-quality competitors abroad.
Back home in Italy, Parmesan sales are declining as the population declines.
Some 80 percent of Italians still consume it, but they are buying it less often and in smaller quantities, accounting for a 10-percent drop in sales by volume last year.
Bertinelli also acknowledged that Parmesan faced competition as Italians watch their spending.
"If you just need to grate some cheese over pasta, there are alternatives," she said.
Ranked among the kings of Italian cheese, with its cows fed on hay and grass, Parmesan has risen in price by three euros in a year to reach an average of 23.5 euros ($27.10) per kilo in Italy's supermarkets.
This widens the gap with Grana Padano, a competitor with less stringent production rules, as well as other cheeses meant for grating.
To stay competitive, Parmesan plans to position itself more as an appetiser cheese.
Producers also want to strengthen their tourism offerings for food enthusiasts, as Piedmont and Tuscany have already done for wine.
France, the second-largest export market, remained stable in 2025 as did Germany, the third-largest market.
In the longer term, Parmesan also plans to expand marketing in Northern European countries and Latin America, followed by Southeast Asia.
tsz/ams/rl-jj

US

US cannot meet Iran war-induced LNG shortfall: industry leaders

BY NINA ISENI

  • That has turned attention to the United States, which in recent years has become the world's leading LNG exporter.
  • Business leaders are warning that the United States lacks the infrastructure to alleviate a global LNG shortage caused by the US-Israel war on Iran, which has kept a fifth of the world's energy supplies from leaving the Gulf.
  • That has turned attention to the United States, which in recent years has become the world's leading LNG exporter.
Business leaders are warning that the United States lacks the infrastructure to alleviate a global LNG shortage caused by the US-Israel war on Iran, which has kept a fifth of the world's energy supplies from leaving the Gulf.
US President Donald Trump's commitment to fossil fuels has been typified by his "Drill, baby, drill" mantra and policies that have sidelined renewable energy.
At the CERAWeek energy conference in Houston this week, however, energy leaders said the US LNG industry has the reserves but not the capacity to quickly expand production.
"We will not be able to make that volume up," said Charles Reidl, chief of the Center for Liquefied Natural Gas (CLNG), which represents several US giants in the sector.
"It's not that we don't have the resources to do it," he told AFP at CERAWeek, dubbed the "Davos of energy," which runs through Friday in Houston. "We don't have the infrastructure to provide it."
In response to US-Israeli strikes launched on February 28, Iran has virtually blocked the Strait of Hormuz, through which nearly 20 percent of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas flows.
Qatar, the world's second-largest LNG producer, has seen exports hit a brick wall due to the blockade, with Iran also carrying out strikes on its energy facilities.
That has turned attention to the United States, which in recent years has become the world's leading LNG exporter.
Since 2016, the United States has ramped up LNG production and its exports have increased 30-fold, according to the US Energy Information Administration. 
Eight LNG export terminals are in operation, eight are under construction and nine more projects have been approved, according to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

European dependence

Reidl said facilities were running hard, "at about 135 percent" of their usual capacity. 
Still, "we have not reached a level of maturity in the US LNG space that we have extra supply available."
The crisis is causing concern in Europe -- the leading market for US LNG -- that it may not be able to build up gas reserves for next winter, or may have to do so at extremely high prices.
Europe has increased its dependence on US and Qatari LNG after Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Asian nations -- the destination of 80 percent of oil and 90 percent of LNG that transits the Strait of Hormuz -- have been implementing demand conservation measures, said Jack Fusco, chief executive of major US LNG exporter Cheniere Energy.
"We're going to try to get as many molecules as we can to those countries in Asia that really need it," Fusco said Tuesday in Houston. "We're looking at our maintenance schedules really hard, but at the end of the day, we have to be safe and we have to be reliable." 

Permitting delays

One perceived obstacle keeps surfacing in conversations at CERAWeek: the process of obtaining permits for building or expanding energy infrastructure.
Trump returned to power in January 2025 promising to "unleash" US energy resources. But administrative delays and political gridlock have hindered the expansion of US LNG, said Dena Wiggins, president of the Natural Gas Supply Association.
"There has been so much litigation and so much effort to stop projects by people who are opposed to them that I think that it's the permitting process that has gotten off the rails," she told AFP.
Environmental lawsuits have targeted current terminal projects. In the US Congress, several bills aimed at speeding up permitting have failed to pass.
But Wiggins said the current geopolitical crisis has created a window of opportunity, with both Democrats and Republicans pushing for permit reforms.
If projects are held up by the permit process, US Interior Secretary Doug Burgum urged companies to contact relevant government officials. "There is an opportunity that we haven't had before for bipartisan support," he said Wednesday in Houston. 
Still, such reforms -- even with wider support -- cannot address the immediate shortages facing the world. 
ni/ico/cyb/aha/mjf/mlm

regulation

EU accuses four porn platforms of letting children access adult content

BY RAZIYE AKKOC

  • "Children are accessing adult content at increasingly younger ages and these platforms must put in place robust, privacy-preserving and effective measures to keep minors off their services," EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen said in a statement.
  • The European Union accused four pornographic platforms on Thursday of allowing children to access adult content in breach of digital rules, putting the companies at risk of large fines.
  • "Children are accessing adult content at increasingly younger ages and these platforms must put in place robust, privacy-preserving and effective measures to keep minors off their services," EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen said in a statement.
The European Union accused four pornographic platforms on Thursday of allowing children to access adult content in breach of digital rules, putting the companies at risk of large fines.
At the same time, Brussels also launched a separate wide-ranging probe into Snapchat over suspicions it is failing to adequately protect children online.
The move comes as pressure is piling up globally on social media to ensure children's safety, with a US ruling this week that found Meta and YouTube liable for harming a young woman because of their platforms' addictive design seen as a possible turning point. 
There are also expanding efforts, especially in Britain and France, to force porn sites to check users' age to prevent children from accessing online smut.
The European Commission said it preliminarily found Pornhub, Stripchat, XNXX and XVideos failed to protect children's rights and wellbeing in violation of the Digital Services Act (DSA) under the investigation launched in May 2025.
The EU said minors could access all four platforms by a simple click confirming they are over 18, and accused the companies of prioritising their reputation over children's safety.
The commission told the porn platforms they need to implement age verification measures that preserve privacy while preventing children from seeing harmful content.
"Children are accessing adult content at increasingly younger ages and these platforms must put in place robust, privacy-preserving and effective measures to keep minors off their services," EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen said in a statement.
If confirmed to be in breach, the EU can fine the platforms up to six percent of their respective global turnover.
Pornhub is owned by Cyprus-based Aylo and Stripchat is also headquartered on the Mediterranean island. XNXX and XVideos are based in the Czech Republic.
XVideos told AFP that the EU was "asking us to commit suicide for nothing", adding that age checks would do "nothing to prevent minors from accessing adult content, as we know they will simply move to other, less safe sites that are completely out of reach of regulators".

Transatlantic alignment on minors?

As the EU announced its wide-ranging probe into Snapchat, the commission said it feared the platform was "exposing minors to grooming attempts" and information about the sale of illegal products like drugs.
"Snapchat appears to have overlooked that the Digital Services Act demands high safety standards for all users," Virkkunen said.
Snapchat has around 97 million monthly active users in the EU.
The company said its users' safety and well-being were a "top priority".
"We have fully cooperated with the commission to date -- engaging proactively, transparently and working in good faith to meet the DSA's high safety standards -- and we will continue to do so," a Snapchat spokesperson said.
The EU's actions come after a Los Angeles jury on Wednesday found Meta -- the American parent company of Facebook and Instagram -- and YouTube liable for harming a young woman through the addictive design of their platforms.
Virkkunen welcomed the verdict, which handed plaintiffs in more than a thousand similar pending cases significant leverage, saying it sent "a very clear message" that platforms need to take seriously "the risks they are posing".

More EU moves

Facebook and Instagram are also under investigation in the EU in two separate probes, one of which is focused on how the platforms protect children.
Virkkunen indicated there would be preliminary findings "soon" in the case, especially regarding the probe's focus on age verification.
In a watershed moment, the EU last month told Chinese-owned platform TikTok to change its "addictive design" or face heavy fines under the EU's DSA.
The EU is also developing an age verification app with pilot schemes ongoing in six member states including Denmark and France.
Brussels says when it is rolled out, it will be a "user-friendly and privacy-preserving age verification method".
raz/sbk

diplomacy

US flexes 'new order' trade policy as WTO meet kicks off

  • Greer, who is in Yaounde for the conference, said Trump was restructuring the trading system to base it on "reciprocity, fairness, and balanced trade".
  • US trade policy is a "corrective response" to the unbalanced rules of the World Trade Organization, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said as the WTO's ministerial conference opened Thursday.
  • Greer, who is in Yaounde for the conference, said Trump was restructuring the trading system to base it on "reciprocity, fairness, and balanced trade".
US trade policy is a "corrective response" to the unbalanced rules of the World Trade Organization, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said as the WTO's ministerial conference opened Thursday.
The status quo "has become economically unworkable and politically unacceptable", Greer said in a video statement as the global trade body's ministerial conference -- its supreme decision-making body -- kicked off in Cameroon's capital Yaounde.
Yaounde marks the WTO's first ministerial since US President Donald Trump returned to the White House last year, unleashing a barrage of attacks on multilateralism and WTO rules with sweeping tariffs and bilateral trade deals.
The WTO grew out of the post-WWII agreements that saw nations reduce tariffs and set up mechanisms to resolve trade disputes.
However over the past three decades there has been little progress on new trade deals and the WTO has had difficulty resolving trade imbalances and disputes, particularly those between emerging and developed nations.
For over a decade the US blocked the appointment of new judges, leading to the WTO's inability to resolve trade disputes.
Greer, who is in Yaounde for the conference, said Trump was restructuring the trading system to base it on "reciprocity, fairness, and balanced trade".
"US trade policy measures are a corrective response to a trading system, embodied by the WTO, that has overseen and contributed to severe and sustained imbalances," Greer said.
"They are a response to the failure of multilateral institutions and negotiations to achieve fairness in terms of market access and a level playing field," he said.
Greer said trade imbalances had damaged industries and their workforces, leading to "deindustrialisation, dependency, and despair".
"As ministers, our focus should be on reforms that would make the WTO more responsive to members and improve our ability to achieve outcomes that optimise our trading relationships."
Greer said the "new order" would involve agreements between smaller groups of countries, rather than "wasting years and even decades to agree on a lowest-common denominator".
Greer said he was looking forward to frank conversations on WTO reform, its future role, and what it "realistically can, and cannot, accomplish".
He urged WTO members to make the moratorium on e-commerce duty permanent.
"A permanent moratorium will ensure that WTO members maximise the benefits of our shared commitment to promote the growth of the digital economy and to promote the export competitiveness of all businesses," he said
"The United States is not interested in another temporary extension of the moratorium," which has been in place for nearly three decades.
If members cannot agree on this, "no-one can reasonably expect the WTO to deliver meaningful results in other sectors", Greer added.
bur/rjm/nl/rl

US

Bab al-Mandeb Strait: another key shipping route under threat

  • - Gateway to Red Sea - Known as the "Gate of Tears" in Arabic, the Strait of Bab al-Mandeb is a narrow waterway at the southern tip of the Red Sea, connecting it with the Gulf of Aden in the Indian Ocean.
  • Here are facts and figures about the Bab al-Mandeb strait, a crucial passage into the Red Sea that Iran has threatened to target if US forces launch a ground assault on its territory.
  • - Gateway to Red Sea - Known as the "Gate of Tears" in Arabic, the Strait of Bab al-Mandeb is a narrow waterway at the southern tip of the Red Sea, connecting it with the Gulf of Aden in the Indian Ocean.
Here are facts and figures about the Bab al-Mandeb strait, a crucial passage into the Red Sea that Iran has threatened to target if US forces launch a ground assault on its territory.

Gateway to Red Sea

Known as the "Gate of Tears" in Arabic, the Strait of Bab al-Mandeb is a narrow waterway at the southern tip of the Red Sea, connecting it with the Gulf of Aden in the Indian Ocean.
About 100 kilometres (62 miles) long and 30 kilometres (18 miles) wide, it separates Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula from Djibouti and Eritrea on the Horn of Africa.

Strategic trade route

With the Red Sea acting as a key link between Europe and Asia, the strait is one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world.
Oil tankers and cargo ships arriving from the Indian Ocean pass through it to reach the Red Sea and then the Suez Canal, where they enter the Mediterranean, and vice versa.
Around 26,000 ships transited through the Suez Canal in 2023, according to a Suez Canal Authority report -- but this fell to 12,700 by 2025 after Huthi rebels attacked ships in the Red Sea.

Key oil passage

The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said 12 percent of world oil shipments passed through Bab al-Mandeb in the first half of 2023, before the Huthi attacks later that year.
Data published by the EIA indicates that the volume of oil transiting through Bab al-Mandeb in the first half of 2025 was less than half of the total volumes in 2023.
With Iranian forces closing off access to the Gulf via the Strait of Hormuz, exports via the Saudi Red Sea port of Yanbu meanwhile have approximately tripled to a record high of around four million barrels a day, according to analysts, including research group Rystad Energy.

Militarised zone

The region is one of the most highly militarised zones in the world.
The United States and France have major military bases in Djibouti and China in 2017 also opened its first such overseas base there.
After the conflict between Israel and Hamas militants erupted in Gaza in October 2023, the Huthis threatened to attack any ship heading to Israeli ports and stepped up their raids.
In response the European Union in 2024 launched a naval operation dubbed Aspides to protect shipping in the Red Sea.
US and UK forces also carried out strikes on Huthi targets in response to their attacks.

Iranian threat

The latest Middle East war erupted on February 28 when the United States and Israel began bombing Iran, prompting Tehran to retaliate with strikes across the region.
Iran's threat to Hormuz has driven up tanker traffic slightly through Bab al-Mandeb, said Rico Luman, a transport economist at ING bank.
"We're talking about three to four tankers more per day, which is still a notable difference," he told AFP.
Iranian news agency Tasnim on Wednesday quoted an unnamed military official as saying that Iran would target shipping in the Red Sea if the United States "attempts a ground operation... or if it seeks to impose costs on Iran through naval manoeuvres" in the Gulf region.
"The Bab el-Mandeb Strait is among the most strategic straits in the world, and Iran has both the will and the capability to pose a fully credible threat against it," the official said.
bur-rlp/jj/cw