police

Two more arrests over attempted attack on US bank HQ in Paris

BY JULIETTE VILROBE

  • Both the Paris judicial police and France's domestic intelligence service, the General Directorate for Internal Security (DGSI), were involved in the probe, the office told AFP. The Bank of America, whose global headquarters are in North Carolina, is a multinational investment bank and financial services holding company.  bur-jvi/jxb/jj
  • Police have arrested two more people over an apparent bid to explode a homemade device outside the Paris branch of the Bank of America, the French domestic security service said on Sunday.
  • Both the Paris judicial police and France's domestic intelligence service, the General Directorate for Internal Security (DGSI), were involved in the probe, the office told AFP. The Bank of America, whose global headquarters are in North Carolina, is a multinational investment bank and financial services holding company.  bur-jvi/jxb/jj
Police have arrested two more people over an apparent bid to explode a homemade device outside the Paris branch of the Bank of America, the French domestic security service said on Sunday.
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said on Saturday he thought the war in the Middle East might have motivated the attempted attack.
Police detained a first suspect, possibly a minor, in the early hours of Saturday just after he placed a device outside the bank building, near the Champs-Elysees. 
The suspect was accompanied by a second person, who appeared to be taking photos and videos with a mobile phone but who fled when police arrived.
The device contained five litres of liquid believed to be fuel and an ignition system, a source close to the investigation said.
The two further arrests were made on Saturday night.
According to a police source, the first suspect said he had been recruited through the Snapchat app to carry out a bombing in exchange for 600 euros ($692).

France 'extra-vigilant'

Nunez said he did not know who was behind the incident but added that it might have been "proxies" linked to Iran.
Police said the suspect arrested early Saturday outside the bank had told them he was a minor and from Senegal. They were working to verify his identity.
The incident came after more than a month of US and Israeli bombardment of Iran and as talks between key regional players began late Sunday.
The war has escalated into a regional conflagration, with Iran retaliating by attacks on Gulf states, sending energy markets into a tailspin and threatening the world economy.
The French government and security services have said that while they do not believe France itself is a target, US and Israeli interests on its soil might potentially be singled out.
Nunez urged the security forces to be "extra-vigilant" and increase their presence in railway stations and other crowded places. 
Later Sunday he urged local officials to use police and video surveillance systems "to prevent any action targeting Israeli-American sites and those representing the interests of these countries".
France's counter-terrorism prosecutor's office told AFP on Saturday it had launched a probe into "attempted damage by fire or other dangerous means".
Both the Paris judicial police and France's domestic intelligence service, the General Directorate for Internal Security (DGSI), were involved in the probe, the office told AFP.
The Bank of America, whose global headquarters are in North Carolina, is a multinational investment bank and financial services holding company. 
bur-jvi/jxb/jj

US

War in the Middle East: latest developments

  • - Lebanon toll rises - Lebanon's health ministry said Israeli strikes had killed 1,238 people in the country since the start of the latest war with Hezbollah on March 2.
  • Here are the latest developments in the Middle East war: - Ambassador refuses - Iran's ambassador will not leave Lebanon despite being declared persona non grata and ordered to quit the country by Sunday, an Iranian diplomatic source has told AFP. - University hit - A university in Iran's central city of Isfahan said it was hit by US-Israeli airstrikes for the second time since the war erupted.
  • - Lebanon toll rises - Lebanon's health ministry said Israeli strikes had killed 1,238 people in the country since the start of the latest war with Hezbollah on March 2.
Here are the latest developments in the Middle East war:

Ambassador refuses

Iran's ambassador will not leave Lebanon despite being declared persona non grata and ordered to quit the country by Sunday, an Iranian diplomatic source has told AFP.

University hit

A university in Iran's central city of Isfahan said it was hit by US-Israeli airstrikes for the second time since the war erupted.

Kuwait attack

Kuwait's defence ministry said 10 service members were injured in an attack on a military camp, as Iran continues targeting positions in the region.

Lebanon toll rises

Lebanon's health ministry said Israeli strikes had killed 1,238 people in the country since the start of the latest war with Hezbollah on March 2.

Israeli expansion

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had ordered his military to "further expand" a security zone in Lebanon.

30 days offline

Iran's nationwide internet blackout has now lasted 30 days, leaving millions cut off from information and communication since the war began.

Iran missile unit

The Israeli military said it had attacked a key production facility in Tehran used by Iran's defence ministry to manufacture components for ballistic missiles.

Shrapnel impact

Israeli TV showed thick black smoke billowing into the sky from the Ramat Hovav industrial zone in the Negev desert in southern Israel.
The military said it may have been caused by missile shrapnel, shortly after it detected a new barrage fired from Iran.

Pakistan talks

Foreign ministers from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkey started talks on the war, with Islamabad acting as a go-between between the United States and Iran.
The four-way meeting between the Muslim nations was convened "to review the evolving regional situation and discuss issues of mutual interest", Pakistan's foreign ministry said in a brief statement.

US 'planning ground attack'

Iran's parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said the United States was "secretly planning a ground attack" despite publicly engaging in diplomatic efforts on ending the war.

Aircraft carrier threat

Iran's navy chief Shahram Irani said the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier would be targeted by the Islamic republic if it comes within range. 

Journalists' funeral

Lebanon held a funeral for three journalists killed by an Israeli strike the previous day in the south of the country.
The Israeli military said it carried out the attack to assassinate Ali Shoeib, a veteran correspondent for Hezbollah's Al Manar TV, whom it accused, without providing evidence, of working as a Hezbollah operative. 

Qatari TV office hit

Qatari news channel Al Araby said an Israeli missile hit a building housing its office in Tehran, causing damage and, according to the Iranian Red Crescent, wounding 10 people.

Latin Patriarch stopped

Israeli police stopped the Vatican's top man in the Holy Land, Jerusalem's Latin Patriarch Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, from celebrating Palm Sunday in the city's Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later asserted on X there was "no malicious intent" and the Catholic cardinal was blocked from entering the church "out of special concern for his safety".

Attacks on Iran port

US-Israeli strikes hit the Iranian port city of Bandar Khamir near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, killing five people, Iranian state media reported. 
AFP was not able to verify the toll or the site of the strike.
burs/jxb/rmb

tourism

High hopes at China's gateway to North Korea as trains resume

BY PETER CATTERALL

  • One Chinese tourist from the northeastern city of Shenyang told AFP that a peek at North Korea from Dandong was close enough for him.
  • Now retired, Wang Meili wants to see the world -- including North Korea, the reclusive nation that lies across the river from her lifelong home in northeastern China.
  • One Chinese tourist from the northeastern city of Shenyang told AFP that a peek at North Korea from Dandong was close enough for him.
Now retired, Wang Meili wants to see the world -- including North Korea, the reclusive nation that lies across the river from her lifelong home in northeastern China.
North Korea has long kept tight control over foreign visitors, and effectively sealed its borders at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic six years ago.
It has since partly reopened and restored daily passenger train services with China this month, but has not yet resumed issuing tourism visas to Chinese citizens, who once made up the bulk of its overseas visitors .
"We'd like to get visas to go. I've already got my passport," said 68-year-old Wang, who grew up in the border city of Dandong.
In another apparent sign of North Korea's reopening, Air China is set to resume flights to Pyongyang on Monday.
But for now, only those with work or study visas can go.
AFP journalists in Dandong, the main gateway for cross-border travel and trade, saw a mostly empty passenger train rattle over a bridge into North Korea this week.
Nearby, tourists on another bridge, partly destroyed by US bombs during the Korean War, posed for photographs and peered through binoculars at the North Korean city of Sinuiju on the opposite shore.
Tour boats took curious sightseers to gaze at North Koreans cycling along the Yalu river separating the two countries or cleaning boats on the bank. Uniformed guards stood at regular points along the boundary.
Li Shuo, the manager of a Dandong-based travel agency, said the resumption of passenger train services had had "no impact" on his business.
Unable to run tours into North Korea, he has been offering trips through border areas so customers can catch glimpses into the secretive state from a distance.
"We can only wait for news" on tourism visas, Li said, adding that they "would be a good thing for domestic tourists".
"Many people want to go," he said.

'The people are brainwashed'

Others were less keen.
One Chinese tourist from the northeastern city of Shenyang told AFP that a peek at North Korea from Dandong was close enough for him.
"It's totalitarian over there, the people are brainwashed," he said, declining to provide his name given the sensitivity of the topic and his public-sector job.
"Actually, there's brainwashing here in China too, but it's not as severe," he said.
AFP also spoke to tourists from outside mainland China -- including Hong Kong, Japan and Australia -- all drawn to Dandong for a rare view of the country it borders.
Louis Lamb, a 22-year-old nurse from Brisbane, told AFP that travelling into North Korea was "a bucket-list item".
"You can see (North Korea) from a certain perspective in what we see from our media," said Lamb, adding that he would like to experience the country for himself.
Although stretches of the opposite riverbank appeared "desolate", he said, "it's a lot more developed than I thought".
China is a major backer for diplomatically isolated North Korea, though Pyongyang has notably drawn closer to Russia since the start of the Ukraine war.
But trade with China, much of it through Dandong, is a key lifeline for North Korea's moribund economy, under UN sanctions because of its nuclear weapons programme. 
Cross-border shipments swelled to $2.7 billion last year and have nearly rebounded to pre-pandemic levels, according to Chinese customs data.
AFP journalists saw a steady stream of trains and freight trucks hauling cargo from Dandong to Sinuiju.

'Going home soon'

For some in Dandong, North Korea's tentative reopening kindled hope of returning home.
Thousands of North Koreans are thought to reside in the city of two million people, despite sanctions banning them from working overseas.
North Korea's abrupt border closure in 2020 stranded many of them abroad for years, and Pyongyang later beefed up defences along the frontier to dissuade illegal crossings.
Staff at a North Korean restaurant in Dandong forbade AFP journalists from filming or taking photos of a large screen showing a patriotic music and dance performance.
One waitress from Pyongyang told AFP she had been in China for over six years without returning home.
Western experts say such workers endure miserable living and working conditions, have their movements restricted and see most of their wages commandeered by the North Korean state.
But after a long wait, travel between the two nations now seemed to be getting easier, the waitress said, declining to give her name.
"I'll be going home soon."
pfc/dhw/mjw

Apple

Five Apple anecdotes as iPhone maker marks 50 years

  • In fact, a third man also signed the three-page contract that launched the company on April 1, 1976: Ronald Wayne.
  • iPhone maker Apple celebrates its 50th anniversary on April 1 having marked pop culture and the tech industry like few other firms since its beginnings in 1976.
  • In fact, a third man also signed the three-page contract that launched the company on April 1, 1976: Ronald Wayne.
iPhone maker Apple celebrates its 50th anniversary on April 1 having marked pop culture and the tech industry like few other firms since its beginnings in 1976.
Here are five things you may not know about the history of the California giant.

Apple logo

Designer Rob Janoff said that Apple cofounder Steve Jobs gave him one terse instruction when he commissioned a new logo in January 1977: "don't make it cute".
"I just wanted to make the computer easy and fun to be around," Janoff told Forbes in 2018.
He included the bite mark for scale to set the apple apart from similar round fruit like cherries -- learning only later it was a homonym for the computer term "byte".
And belying urban legends, there was no link to the Biblical story of Adam and Eve or the death of computing pioneer Alan Turing.
Janoff added that the Apple job was "the only time in my entire career where I presented only one solution" to a client.
"But it was just so right".

'1984' ad

In a totalitarian sci-fi world, a hammer thrown by a young athlete smashes a "Big Brother" figure declaiming to brainwashed citizens from a vast screen.
Tens of millions of Americans saw director Ridley Scott's one-minute Apple advert during the Super Bowl on January 22, 1984.
Broadcast with an announcement of the release of the Apple computer, it was more than a little inspired by George Orwell's dystopian novel named for the year.
The ad's originality lay in the fact it did not directly show off the product, but instead promised a new world of emancipation for consumers thanks to home computers.

Bold colours

Apple's devices have over the years played with colour to set themselves apart from more staid competitors.
Its first-generation iMacs, released in 1998, offered transparent shells in candy-like blue, green and more -- combining a pop of visual interest with a glimpse at the high tech workings within.
The iPod music player, at first available in metallic grey, quickly diversified into a whole spectrum of bright colours.
Later, the "rose gold" variant of the iPhone 6S in 2015, spawned many copycats, surfing a years-long trend dubbed "millennial pink".

09:41 photos

Anyone who has watched more than one Apple product announcement or browsed its website will see a remarkable coincidence: almost every screen appears to show the time as 9:41 am.
Australian game developer Jon Manning said he asked Scott Forstall, then-head of Apple's mobile operating system iOS, about the phenomenon when he bumped into him in California in 2010.
Forstall explained that the timing was down to Steve Jobs' preferred structure for announcements.
"We design the keynotes so that the big reveal of the product happens around 40 minutes into the presentation," Forstall said.
"When the big image of the product appears on screen, we want the time shown to be close to the actual time on the audience's watches. But we know we won't hit 40 minutes exactly".

Apple's third man

Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak have gone down in history as the Apple co-founders.
In fact, a third man also signed the three-page contract that launched the company on April 1, 1976: Ronald Wayne.
According to Walter Isaacson's biography of Jobs, Wayne, an engineer at the Atari video game company, was in charge of hardware engineering and documentation in the fledgling business.
But while his two co-founders were throwing themselves into the business, Wayne feared losing what little savings he had if Apple failed.
Just 11 days later, he gave up his co-founder status, selling his 10 percent stake for two instalments of $800 and $1,500.
That 10-percent share of Apple would have been worth around $370 billion by 2026.
kf-tgb/ach/ceg 

US

Ship insurers juggle war risks for perilous Gulf route

BY JOE JACKSON

  • The price of such policies to cross the strait has shot up, however, according to industry players.
  • Iranian forces' threat to ships in the crucial Strait of Hormuz has driven up payments for the insurance that underpins the world freight industry.
  • The price of such policies to cross the strait has shot up, however, according to industry players.
Iranian forces' threat to ships in the crucial Strait of Hormuz has driven up payments for the insurance that underpins the world freight industry.
Here are facts and figures about how maritime insurance works -- and the impact from the war sparked by US-Israeli strikes on Iran, which has virtually cut off shipping in the strait.

Insurance available

After the fighting broke out on February 28, some insurers served so-called cancellation notices for war risk policies to "reassess... and then reinstate that cover at adjusted terms", the International Union of Marine Insurance said in a statement.
Despite the name, "a 'Notice of Cancellation' does not, necessarily, end the cover. War cover remains available for owners and operators wishing to take it."
Executives in London -- the world's top shipping insurance market -- insisted captains were avoiding the route to protect their crews, not because they could not get insured.
"Safety concerns, not insurance availability, (are) driving reduced vessel traffic," headlined the Lloyd's Market Association (LMA), a trade body for the London ship insurance industry, in a report.
The price of such policies to cross the strait has shot up, however, according to industry players.

Surging premiums

Before the current Middle East conflict, a war risk premium would typically have cost less than one percent of the vessel's so-called hull value.
Now, war risk insurance could run into tens of millions of dollars for a single trip through the Hormuz Strait.
Premiums have surged for ships seeking special cover to cross the strait, according to Robert Peters of UK maritime consultancy Ambrey, which has an insurance arm.
"I'm not sure the market has settled on an agreed range," he added, noting figures typically range "from five percent down to one percent".
David Smith, head of the marine arm at specialist insurance broker McGill, meanwhile estimated it at "anywhere between three and-a-half and 10 percent".
"It is going up and down almost on an hourly basis," he told AFP.
Cargo insurance rates have followed the same trajectory.
"A brand new LNG (liquefied natural gas) ship could be worth $200 million to $250 million alone, and then a cargo could be worth the same again," Smith noted.

Five-fold cover

Commercial ships typically need several separate insurance policies.
Hull cover insures against loss or damage to the vessel, while protection and indemnity (P&I) acts like third-party liability coverage.
The cargo on board -- from petrochemicals to containers -- also requires insurance.
In addition, ships need war risk insurance -- typically an annual premium -- but that does not cover ships entering the most active conflict zones, known as "listed" areas.
To do that, they must renegotiate another war risk premium.
"The annual (war risk) premium is not designed for a crisis," said Neil Roberts, head of marine and aviation at the LMA.

Danger zones list

In early March, London's marine insurance market widened the "listed" areas in the Gulf region.
The system "enables underwriters to respond quickly and proportionately to areas of increased risk", said Roberts, who sits on the committee that updates the list.
To price war risk premiums, underwriters are considering numerous factors such as the type, flag and owner of the vessel, as well as its size, speed and cargo.
"We have seen some quotes where the underwriter has actually warranted that the vessel goes through at... full throttle," said Smith.
"That is deemed to be an improvement in the risk factor."

No buyers

Ships normally have 24 hours to buy insurers' quotes for listed area entry, but that has narrowed to 12 hours for Hormuz, Smith said.
"You line your ship up, you turn the engine on, you get ready to make a charge, then you'll get your quote," he said.
But currently "no one is buying", he added, saying one underwriter reported to him less than one-percent uptake for Hormuz-related policies.

US insurance scheme

A US shipping insurance initiative to boost Hormuz crossings will begin operating soon, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Thursday.
US President Donald Trump previously announced the scheme would involve naval escorts and urged Western and other powers to step up. But they have proved unwilling while the conflict rages.
If a crossings framework with military protection could be agreed and proven effective, insurance "rates would tumble very, very quickly" Smith predicted.
jj/rlp/rl

US

Helplines buzz with alerts from seafarers trapped in war

BY LAETITIA COMMANAY

  • "Immediate supply of food, drinking water, basic necessities is required to sustain the crew," said the message to the team's helpline.
  • Seafarers' helplines say they are overwhelmed with messages from crews stuck in the Gulf by the Middle East war, desperately seeking repatriation, compensation and onboard supplies.
  • "Immediate supply of food, drinking water, basic necessities is required to sustain the crew," said the message to the team's helpline.
Seafarers' helplines say they are overwhelmed with messages from crews stuck in the Gulf by the Middle East war, desperately seeking repatriation, compensation and onboard supplies.
"Writing to urgently inform you that our vessel is currently facing a critical situation regarding provisions and one crew health conditions," read an email from one seafarer on March 24 to the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF)'s Seafarer Support team.
"Immediate supply of food, drinking water, basic necessities is required to sustain the crew," said the message to the team's helpline.
The ITF said it had received more than 1,000 emails and messages from seafarers stuck around the Strait of Hormuz and the wider region since the war erupted with US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28.

Bomb strikes

Some sought to clarify what their rights are while navigating a war zone, while others sent videos of bombings striking next to their ship and asked the federation for help to get off board, according to ITF documents seen by AFP.
"It is an extraordinary situation, there is a lot of panic," Mohamed Arrachedi, ITF's Network Coordinator for the Arab World and Iran, in charge of handling requests from seafarers in the region, told AFP, describing the situation as "really shocking".
"I get calls from seafarers at two o'clock, three o'clock in the morning. They call me the minute they have access to the internet," Arrachedi said on Wednesday by telephone from Spain.
"One seafarer called in a panic, saying: 'We are here bombed. We don't want to die. Please help me, sir. Please get us from here."
About 20,000 seafarers are currently stuck in the Gulf, according to the UN's maritime body, known as the IMO, and at least eight seafarers or dock workers have died in incidents in the region since February 28.
All correspondence was shared with AFP on condition of anonymity, as the helpline guarantees confidentiality to seafarers.

War zone rights

The International Bargaining Forum (IBF), a global maritime labour body, has declared the area a war zone.
This normally gives seafarers exceptional rights, including repatriation at the company's cost and double pay for those working on ships covered by IBF agreements -- around 15,000 vessels worldwide, according to the ITF.
Despite this, many seafarers -- especially on ships without such labour agreements -- are reporting difficulties with getting repatriated.
In one email sent to the ITF on March 18, a seafarer said the ship's operator was ignoring crews' requests to leave, arguing that there were no flights from Iraq and refusing alternative routes.
"They are forcing us to continue to do cargo operations and STS (ship-to-ship operations) even (when) we raise our concerns about our safety and we are in war like area. They are keeping us in a position with no options," read the email seen by AFP.
The International Seafarers' Welfare and Assistance Network (ISWAN), another organisation operating a helpline, told AFP on Wednesday that it had seen "a 15-20 percent increase in calls and messages" since the start of the war, with a third relating to repatriation difficulties.

$16 a day

Another major concern is compensation.
"About 50 percent of emails we receive concern pay," Lucian Craciun, one of five members of ITF's support team processing requests at the organisation's headquarters in London, told AFP.
He said many seafarers choose to stay on board despite the dangerous conditions because they cannot afford to leave.
One email seen by AFP came from a seafarer asking to confirm whether his salary would go from $16 a day to $32 because he was in a designated war zone.
The ITF says such low salaries indicate that the shipowners do not have labour agreements in place to ensure decent pay.
Seafarers working under such arrangements are particularly at risk because their contracts often do not cover operations in war zones, and owners tend not to respond to requests from organisations such as the ITF, according to the support team.
When that happens, the ITF reaches out to the flag states and, if that does not work, to the state port authority where the vessel is located.
Arrachedi said that many such cases in the Gulf are still unresolved, with seafarers desperately awaiting responses from operators. 
lmc/rlp/st/ceg

Israel

Indian tile makers feel heat of Mideast war energy crunch

BY ANUJ SRIVAS

  • - 'Disaster' - "If the main raw material is disturbed, the whole industry is disturbed," Dulera told AFP. The ceramics hub at Morbi makes up 90 percent of India's total production and is one of the world's largest ceramic manufacturing centres, exporting tiles to countries like the United States and Thailand.
  • Blazing-hot kilns in India's $6.5 billion ceramics manufacturing hub employing hundreds of thousands of people have gone cold, shut down in an energy crunch caused by the Middle East war.
  • - 'Disaster' - "If the main raw material is disturbed, the whole industry is disturbed," Dulera told AFP. The ceramics hub at Morbi makes up 90 percent of India's total production and is one of the world's largest ceramic manufacturing centres, exporting tiles to countries like the United States and Thailand.
Blazing-hot kilns in India's $6.5 billion ceramics manufacturing hub employing hundreds of thousands of people have gone cold, shut down in an energy crunch caused by the Middle East war.
At a cavernous facility in Morbi, in India's western Gujarat state, a 200-metre-long propane-powered kiln that normally fires clay nonstop is silent. It is one of hundreds of plants supplying homeware tiles across the world that have been forced to suspend operations.
Thick layers of dust smother giant grinding and pressing machines, while only a tiny crew of workers transfer the last batch made three weeks ago off snaking assembly lines and into trucks.
"We are suffering a lot," said Kishor Dulera, a tile unit proprietor who closed this factory and two others in early March, sending hundreds of workers home.
India, the world's fourth-largest economy, depends on imports for 60 percent of its liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) demand.
The overwhelming majority comes through the Strait of Hormuz waterway, which has been effectively blocked by Iran after US-Israeli strikes on the Islamic republic late last month sparked a broader regional conflict, disrupting global energy supplies.
New Delhi has prioritised supply for households, shielding Indians who use it to cook food. That has squeezed the amount available for industrial use. 
Factories in sectors including stainless steel and plastic have cut back on production as a result.

'Disaster'

"If the main raw material is disturbed, the whole industry is disturbed," Dulera told AFP.
The ceramics hub at Morbi makes up 90 percent of India's total production and is one of the world's largest ceramic manufacturing centres, exporting tiles to countries like the United States and Thailand.
The industry at Morbi provides direct and indirect employment to nearly a million people, according to government statistics.
More than 400 plants have closed after the gas supply chain was "broken", said Manoj Arvadiya, head of the local manufacturing industry association.
Keeping the kilns hot means plants operate around-the-clock -- and emergency shutdowns can damage machinery.
"It is a continuous process," said Arvadiya. 
"You can't run it for two days and then switch it off for one day. It doesn't work like that."
Hitesh Detroja said his now-shut Lexus Granito plant had produced 30,000 tiles per day, calling the closure a "disaster". He said he has no income to pay his fixed costs and interest on loans of $74,000 each month.
"This crisis is horrible," Detroja said.

'Worried'

The ripple effects of the energy crisis have been felt throughout the Morbi ecosystem.
"Everyone is worried," said 29-year-old labourer Bunty Goswami, a migrant worker at a shut plant.
"We are confused about what to do -- whether we should go home, or not." 
India's government has boosted domestic LPG production, negotiated the passage of a handful of tankers and purchased new cargoes from Australia and Russia.
That should, in time, ease supply constraints.
Jitendra Aghara of Simpolo Tiles, one of Morbi's biggest manufacturers, has kept operating by buying propane at more than double the price it was before the war to ensure he fulfills customer orders.
"If now we suffer a loss for two to three months, in the future we will get it back," he said.
The tile industry developed in Gujarat due to the availability of clay and good transport connections, but it relies on overseas energy to fire.
Aghara said the previous abundance of LPG and natural gas meant that there had been few moves to fully develop and adopt electric or hydrogen-powered kilns.
Indian corporate giants like Reliance Industries have big green hydrogen production plans, which could remove Morbi's import dependencies.
But first, development is needed to ensure hybrid kilns can produce tiles of the quality that Morbi is known for. 
Aghara noted alternative fuels can't replace gas "100 percent just yet".
asv/pjm/lga/ceg

telecommunication

At 50, Apple confronts its next big challenge: AI

BY GLENN CHAPMAN

  • "Apple was founded on the simple notion that technology should be personal, and that belief -- radical at the time -- changed everything," chief executive Tim Cook said in an anniversary letter posted online.
  • Apple celebrates its 50th anniversary as artificial intelligence challenges the Silicon Valley legend to prove it can deliver yet another culture-changing innovation.
  • "Apple was founded on the simple notion that technology should be personal, and that belief -- radical at the time -- changed everything," chief executive Tim Cook said in an anniversary letter posted online.
Apple celebrates its 50th anniversary as artificial intelligence challenges the Silicon Valley legend to prove it can deliver yet another culture-changing innovation.
Steve Jobs, a driven marketing genius, and Steve Wozniak, who invented the Apple computer, revolutionized how people use technology in the internet age and built a company now worth more than $3.6 trillion.
The two college dropouts changed the way people use computers, listen to music and communicate on the go, giving rise to lifestyles revolving around smartphone apps.
Apple's hit products — the Mac, the iPhone, the Apple Watch and the iPad — command a cult-like following, long after the company's humble beginnings on April 1, 1976 in Jobs' Cupertino, California garage.
Apple has sold more than 3.1 billion iPhones since the handsets debuted in 2007, generating about $2.3 trillion in revenue, according to Counterpoint Research.
For Counterpoint analyst Yang Wang, the iPhone is the most successful consumer electronics product ever, reshaping human communication while becoming "a global fashion and status symbol."
Before the iPhone, Apple shook up home computing with the 1984 Macintosh, whose icon-based interface and mouse made computing accessible beyond specialists -- and sparked a legendary rivalry between Jobs and Microsoft's Bill Gates.
"Apple was founded on the simple notion that technology should be personal, and that belief -- radical at the time -- changed everything," chief executive Tim Cook said in an anniversary letter posted online.

'Cult of Apple'

Apple transformed the music market with the iPod and iTunes, made the smartphone a mass-market staple with the iPhone, and took tablets mainstream with the iPad. 
The Apple Watch quickly seized the lead in the smartwatch market, despite debuting later than its rivals.
While not an inventor, Jobs -- who died in 2011 at age 56 -- was renowned for his uncompromising drive to marry technology with design to create products that were intuitive and hassle-free.
Apple marketed the Macintosh as the "computer for the rest of us," but it was the iPhone that fulfilled that promise, said David Pogue, author of the recently released "Apple: The First 50 Years."
The iPhone's dominance reshaped Apple's business model. With the premium smartphone market widely seen as saturated, Cook has increasingly turned to selling digital content and services to the company's vast existing base of users.
Central to that strategy is the App Store, which Apple made the sole gateway to software on its devices, taking a cut of transactions -- and thereby drawing accusations of monopoly abuse, regulatory scrutiny in Europe and court orders in the United States to open up its platform.

'China factor'

No country has been more central to Apple's rise -- or more fraught for its future -- than China, with Cook cementing ties to the Asian superpower through regular appearances at local Apple stores and official visits.
Cook was the mastermind of the strategy that made China the primary manufacturing base for Apple devices, with the vast majority of iPhones assembled by contractor Foxconn and other suppliers in Chinese factories.
It is also one of Apple's largest consumer markets, generating tens of billions of dollars in annual revenue.
But the company faces mounting pressure on both fronts: trade tensions and tariffs have accelerated efforts to diversify manufacturing to India and Vietnam, while competition from domestic rivals such as Huawei has eaten into Apple's Chinese market share.

'AI challenge'

A concern haunting investors is that Apple appears to be easing into generative AI while rivals Google, Microsoft and OpenAI race ahead.
A promised upgrade to its Siri digital assistant was delayed, in what analysts called a rare stumble for the company.
And rather than relying on its own engineers to overhaul Siri, Apple has turned to Google for AI capability.
But whether built in-house or outsourced, Apple's obsession with user privacy and its premium hardware could position it to drive widespread adoption of personalized AI -- and make it profitable, a goal that has proved elusive for much of the AI industry.
Already, Apple's AirPods are being steadily improved with sensors and smart software, and lessons learned from the Vision Pro could feed into AI smart glasses to rival Meta's.
"They are the ones that always seem able to create something so simple that users just fall in love with it," said Carolina Milanesi, an analyst at Creative Strategies.
gc/arp/sst

attack

French police foil Paris bomb attack outside US bank

BY SYLVIE MALIGORNE

  • A spokesperson for Bank of America, whose US headquarters is in Charlotte, North Carolina, told AFP they were aware of the situation and were in communication with the French authorities.
  • French police stopped an apparent bomb attack outside a US bank in Paris early Saturday when they arrested a person about to set off a homemade explosive device, officials and sources close to the case told AFP. The incident occurred around 3:30 am (0130 GMT) in front of a Bank of America building in the chic 8th arrondissement, a couple of streets from the Champs-Elysees.
  • A spokesperson for Bank of America, whose US headquarters is in Charlotte, North Carolina, told AFP they were aware of the situation and were in communication with the French authorities.
French police stopped an apparent bomb attack outside a US bank in Paris early Saturday when they arrested a person about to set off a homemade explosive device, officials and sources close to the case told AFP.
The incident occurred around 3:30 am (0130 GMT) in front of a Bank of America building in the chic 8th arrondissement, a couple of streets from the Champs-Elysees.
Police grabbed the suspect just after he placed a device, made of five litres of liquid (1.3 US gallons), believed to be fuel, and an ignition system, one of the sources said.
After his arrest, the suspect claimed to both a minor and a Senegalese citizen, according to a police source, who cautioned that the authorities were still verifying his identity.
He was accompanied by a second person, who took flight when officers arrived to arrest the pair. 
The ignition component had 650 grams (23 ounces) of explosive powder in it, according to an initial assessment. The whole device was taken to the Paris police's forensics lab for full analysis. 
Prosecutors at
France's counter-terrorism office told AFP they had immediately taken over the investigation, and confirmed the suspect caught was in police custody.
It said the probe it had launched was into "attempted damage by fire or other dangerous means in connection with a terrorist undertaking" and a "terrorist criminal conspiracy".
Both the Paris judicial police and France's domestic intelligence service, the General Directorate for Internal Security (DGSI), were involved in the investigation, the office told AFP.

600 euros

According to a police source, the suspect said he had been recruited via the Snapchat app to carry out the bombing in exchange for the sum of 600 euros ($692).
When the patrolling officers arrested him, he was about to ignite the device with a lighter.
A separate police source told AFP that while he was placing the charge, the accomplice stepped back, apparently to take a photo or video of the crime with his mobile phone.
A spokesperson for Bank of America, whose US headquarters is in Charlotte, North Carolina, told AFP they were aware of the situation and were in communication with the French authorities.
France's Interior Minister, Laurent Nunez, on X hailed the speedy action by the police officers, given "the current international situation".
Speaking later to news channel BFMTV, he said he thought the war in the Middle East might have motivated the attack.
"I make a link between the actions carried out in neighbouring countries" and claimed by "small groups that referred to the conflict," he said.
Earlier this month, Dutch officials said they thought four youths arrested on suspicion of detonating an explosive device outside a Rotterdam synagogue might have been recruited by Iran.
And in Britain, a little-known group aligned with Iran claimed responsibility for a London arson attack last week on four volunteer ambulances run by a Jewish organisation.
Since the outbreak of the war of the Middle East, European countries have been on high alert for potential attacks on Iranian dissidents, Jewish places of worship and US-Israeli assets.
sm/jj/jxb

US

War in the Middle East: latest developments

  • "The agreement includes collaboration in technological fields, development of joint investments and the exchange of expertise in countering missiles and unmanned aerial systems," the ministry said in a statement during a visit to Qatar by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
  • Here are the latest developments in the Middle East war: - Ukraine-Qatar deal - Qatar and Ukraine signed a defence agreement including cooperation on countering threats from missiles and drones, the Gulf state's defence ministry said, as Iran pressed an aerial campaign against its neighbours.
  • "The agreement includes collaboration in technological fields, development of joint investments and the exchange of expertise in countering missiles and unmanned aerial systems," the ministry said in a statement during a visit to Qatar by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Here are the latest developments in the Middle East war:

Ukraine-Qatar deal

Qatar and Ukraine signed a defence agreement including cooperation on countering threats from missiles and drones, the Gulf state's defence ministry said, as Iran pressed an aerial campaign against its neighbours.
"The agreement includes collaboration in technological fields, development of joint investments and the exchange of expertise in countering missiles and unmanned aerial systems," the ministry said in a statement during a visit to Qatar by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Israel kills journalists

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun condemned an Israeli strike that killed three journalists, including one for Hezbollah's Al Manar TV and another for the pro-Hezbollah Al Mayadeen channel, in southern Lebanon as "a blatant crime".
The Israeli military said it believed the Al Manar journalist was a "terrorist in the intelligence unit of Hezbollah's Radwan Force".
A military source told AFP that the three were killed in an Israeli strike in Jezzine.

Iran hails Pakistan mediation

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian hailed mediation efforts by Pakistan, which is preparing to host foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkey for talks on the Middle East war. 

Kyiv denies UAE drone depot hit

Kyiv denied Iran's claim that Tehran had targeted and destroyed a Ukrainian anti-drone system depot in the United Arab Emirates, calling it a "lie" and a "disinformation".
Iran's military said it had hit and destroyed the depot, which it said was used to assist US forces. 

Jerusalem blasts

AFP journalists reported two blasts heard over Jerusalem, after the Israeli military said it had detected incoming missiles launched from Iran.
The apparent attack came shortly after the Israeli military said it had completed a wave of strikes across the Iranian capital Tehran.

Indonesia says tankers to pass Hormuz

Indonesia is in talks with Iran to secure safe passage for its tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, with Tehran responding favourably to Jakarta's diplomatic efforts, a foreign ministry spokesman said.

Maersk halts Oman port ops

Danish shipping giant Maersk said operations had been temporarily halted at Oman's port of Salalah after a drone attack injured a foreign worker and damaged a crane.
Maersk, whose subsidiary APM Terminals runs the port, said "it was immediately evacuated and operations across the facility were temporarily suspended", predicting it would remain closed for 48 hours.
Iran said it had targeted a US logistics vessel "at a considerable distance from the port".

Iran says dozens killed

Iranian media said US-Israeli strikes hit multiple residential areas, killing more than a dozen people overnight, though AFP was not able to independently verify any of these tolls.
Israel's military earlier said it launched strikes on Iranian "regime targets", as an AFP journalist in the capital Tehran reported hearing around 10 intense blasts and seeing a plume of black smoke.

Bahrain denies Shia crackdown

Bahrain denied it was cracking down on citizens based on their religion after activists reported a slew of arrests they said had mainly targeted Shias amid the Middle East war. 
Two Bahraini rights groups had told AFP that more than 200 people, the vast majority of them from the Shia community, had been arrested since the beginning of the war. Shia Islam is Iran's state religion, and also a major religious branch in Bahrain, alongside Sunni Islam.

Kuwait airport damaged

The radar system at Kuwait's international airport was heavily damaged in a drone attack, Kuwaiti authorities said.
The attack on the tiny Gulf country caused no casualties, a civil aviation spokesperson told Kuwait's official news agency
burs-sbk/rmb

Nestle

Sweet heist? Nestle says 12 tonnes of KitKat stolen

  • The brand warned that "the theft may lead to a shortage of KitKats appearing on shelf", acknowledging that "consumers, unfortunately, may struggle to find their favourite chocolates ahead of Easter".
  • A huge shipment of Nestle's crunchy KitKat chocolate bars was stolen in Europe, the brand said, warning that the heist risked causing shortages in stores right before Easter.
  • The brand warned that "the theft may lead to a shortage of KitKats appearing on shelf", acknowledging that "consumers, unfortunately, may struggle to find their favourite chocolates ahead of Easter".
A huge shipment of Nestle's crunchy KitKat chocolate bars was stolen in Europe, the brand said, warning that the heist risked causing shortages in stores right before Easter.
KitKat, owned by Swiss food giant Nestle, confirmed in a statement sent to AFP on Saturday that "a truck transporting 413,793 units of its new chocolate range has been stolen during transit in Europe".
The shipment, weighing around 12 tonnes, disappeared last week while heading between production and distribution locations, it said. 
"We've always encouraged people to have a break with KitKat," a spokesperson for the brand said, referring to its catchphrase.
"But it seems thieves have taken the message too literally and made a break with more than 12 tonnes of our chocolate."
The brand warned that "the theft may lead to a shortage of KitKats appearing on shelf", acknowledging that "consumers, unfortunately, may struggle to find their favourite chocolates ahead of Easter".
The stolen truck had left central Italy and was making its way to Poland, with a plan to distribute the bars in countries along the way.
KitKat did not say where specifically the goods had gone missing, but said "the vehicle and its contents remain unaccounted for".
"Investigations are ongoing in close collaboration with local authorities and supply chain partners," it said.
KitKat warned that the missing chocolate bars "could enter unofficial sales channels across European markets".
It said it was possible to trace the stolen goods by scanning the unique batch codes found on each bar. 
"If a match is found, the scanner will be given clear instructions on how to alert KitKat who will then share the evidence appropriately," it said.
nl/ach 

US

Attacks across Middle East as Iran war enters second month

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

  • Israel's military reported at least five rounds of Iranian missile fire within just over five hours, and a statement early Saturday said Israeli forces were "striking Iranian terror regime targets across Tehran".
  • Gulf countries and Israel came under missile fire and Israeli forces struck Iran on Saturday, as the war raged into its second month with Washington expressing hopes for progress in talks with Tehran.
  • Israel's military reported at least five rounds of Iranian missile fire within just over five hours, and a statement early Saturday said Israeli forces were "striking Iranian terror regime targets across Tehran".
Gulf countries and Israel came under missile fire and Israeli forces struck Iran on Saturday, as the war raged into its second month with Washington expressing hopes for progress in talks with Tehran.
In a sign that the conflict may be expanding further, Israel's military said air defences responded to a missile launched from Yemen -- the first since the start of the war on February 28, and after threats from Iran's Houthi allies to launch attacks.
The war began when the United States and Israel launched airstrikes across Iran, killing supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and sending shockwaves across the globe.
A month later the conflict showed no sign of ending, with Israel announcing fresh strikes on Tehran and an AFP journalist in the city reporting around 10 intense blasts and a plume of black smoke.
Emirati authorities said debris from a successful missile interception started fires at an Abu Dhabi industrial zone, injuring five Indian nationals.
Saudi Arabia said it had intercepted a missile and several drones, and Bahrain said a blaze caused by the "Iranian aggression" had been brought under control.
In Israel, repeated air raid sirens sent people to shelters, including in Tel Aviv where one man was killed and two others wounded, and in the country's north, where media reported a simultaneous attack from Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah.
An Iranian missile and drone attack on the Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia wounded at least 12 American soldiers, two of them seriously, according to The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, citing unidentified officials.
US President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff said Friday he believes Iran would hold talks with Washington "this week, we're certainly hopeful for it".
Washington expected Tehran to respond to a 15-point US peace plan, he told a business forum in Miami. "It could solve it all."
One major issue has been the near-closure of the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz, which has sent markets into turmoil and pushed oil prices to levels not seen since the start of the war in Ukraine.

'Dangerous to the world'

Trump reiterated his disappointment with NATO allies over their refusal to help secure the Strait of Hormuz, after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he had won G7 support to oppose Iran's attempts to impose a toll on the key sea lane for Gulf oil and gas exports.
"It's unacceptable, it's dangerous to the world, and it's important that the world have a plan to confront it," said Rubio, who joined a meeting of G7 foreign ministers in France.
Thailand on Saturday joined a handful of nations that have announced they were able to secure safe passage for their oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz in an agreement with Iran.
The G7 ministers expressed the "absolute necessity to permanently restore safe and toll-free freedom of navigation" in the waterway and called for "an immediate cessation of attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure".
Rubio declared that Washington expects its military campaign to prove victorious within weeks.
"When we are done with them here in the next couple of weeks, they will be weaker than they've been in recent history," he told reporters.
Iran had sent "messages" to the American side but had not formally responded to the 15-point plan, Rubio said.
While Trump has extended his deadline for Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face attacks on energy assets to April 6, Iranian media reported strikes on Friday on three Iranian nuclear facilities and two steel plants, with officials saying there was no radioactive release.
Israel confirmed it had struck the Khondab heavy water complex and a uranium processing plant in Ardakan, while the UN nuclear watchdog said Iran had informed it of another strike on the Bushehr nuclear power plant.
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi threatened retaliation "for Israeli crimes" in a post on X, saying the attacks contradicted Trump's "extended deadline for diplomacy".
Israel's military reported at least five rounds of Iranian missile fire within just over five hours, and a statement early Saturday said Israeli forces were "striking Iranian terror regime targets across Tehran".

'Fingers on the trigger'

Trump, swinging between threats of obliteration and optimistic talk of dealmaking, has insisted the Islamic Republic wants to "make a deal".
Iran's Revolutionary Guards warned they would strike industrial sites across the region, having earlier issued similar warnings for US military bases and hotels hosting American troops.
Iranian strikes have shattered the Gulf's reputation for stability, hitting Dubai's airport, Bahrain's capital and energy facilities across the region during the course of the war.
Yemen's Houthi rebels, which did not immediately comment on the missile fire reported by Israel, had warned on Friday they would join the war if US-Israeli attacks on ally Iran continued or if more countries joined the conflict.
The Houthis have in the past attacked shipping in the Red Sea in response to regional conflicts, but had so far not intervened in the latest war.
"We affirm that our fingers are on the trigger for direct military intervention," the group said in a statement.
Tehran also called for an end to US and Israeli attacks on aligned regional groups -- a reference to Hezbollah, among others, Tasnim reported.
Lebanon was drawn into the war after Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel on March 2.
Israel renewed strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs Friday, saying it was targeting Hezbollah infrastructure. The UN refugee agency warned Lebanon faced a deepening humanitarian crisis risking catastrophe, with over a million people displaced.
AFPTV footage showed smoke rising from the Beirut suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold largely emptied after previous Israeli evacuation warnings and heavy strikes.
burs-arp/ami/abs

conservatives

Sequins, slogans, conspiracies: Inside the right-wing culture at CPAC

BY FRANKIE TAGGART

  • The result is less a traditional conference than a cultural hub, one that both reflects and reinforces the modern conservative movement.
  • The US Conservative Political Action Conference has become as much a cultural marketplace as a political gathering, with activists, vendors and influencers turning grievance and identity into a booming ecosystem.
  • The result is less a traditional conference than a cultural hub, one that both reflects and reinforces the modern conservative movement.
The US Conservative Political Action Conference has become as much a cultural marketplace as a political gathering, with activists, vendors and influencers turning grievance and identity into a booming ecosystem.
Conspiracy talk, sequined pro-Trump fashion and niche conservative businesses sit side by side at the four-day event in Texas, offering a window into a movement increasingly defined by culture as much as policy.
In CPAC Central, a cavernous hall packed with merchandise stalls two floors below the main stage, a far-right influencer whips up a crowd with talk of looming indictments of "Deep State" figures. 
At the other end, three nuns from Chicago quietly chatter, favoring passers-by with beneficent smiles.
The juxtaposition is jarring -- and entirely normal here.
The attendees are such a mixed bunch that it can be hard to fathom what binds them beyond politics. Yet in this dense marketplace of ideas, identities and impulse buys, a shared sensibility quickly comes into focus.

Merch, messaging and money

If CPAC once served primarily as a forum for competing strands of conservative thought, it has evolved into something broader -- and more cohesive.
Politics here is not just debated. It is worn, sold, performed and shared. CPAC Central is part bazaar, part broadcast studio, part ideological showcase.
Vendors sell items ranging from Trump-themed cigars and $25 baseball caps to bank accounts and mobile phone plans pitched as alternatives to institutions accused of "canceling" conservatives.
A giant banner depicts a muscled Donald Trump as a Rambo-style action hero beneath the battle cry "Save America Again." 
Nearby, racks of sequined jackets shimmer with slogans like "Make Heaven Crowded," worn by supporters well into their seventies who, for a few days at least, dress more like pop fans than retirees.
One group, the "Trump Tribe of Texas," moves through the hall in coordinated gold outfits, each member bearing a single letter that spells out the president's name when they line up.
There is even an arcade-style game, "Water Gun Fun" -- a reminder that at CPAC, politics is rarely presented without a layer of spectacle.
"It's about values -- good values, being ethical and having integrity," said Sandy Schoepke, a Trump supporter who is running a merchandise booth at her second CPAC, which is typically held in Washington but moved to the Dallas suburbs this year.

'The message resonates'

For some vendors, CPAC offers something rarer than exposure: a captive audience.
"It's not often that everyone's gathered so concentrated," said Eric Ohlhausen, co-founder of Old Glory Bank, an online institution launched in response to what he sees as conservatives being "debanked" by traditional banks.
"We are an openly pro-America bank that promises not to cancel its customers for their views," he said.
His pitch -- financial services framed as free speech -- lands easily with a crowd that sees itself as culturally embattled.
"That message resonates... because this is the audience that has been so attacked by financial institutions," Ohlhausen said.
Elsewhere, John Adams -- who enjoys that he shares his name with the second US president -- oversees the stall for Liberty Cigar Company, selling toros, coronas and robustos in gift sets honoring Trump and other US presidents.
"Anything history-related, we're there," he told AFP. "Our mission is to tell America's magnificent story."
Many customers, he noted, head straight for the $13 Trump cigars regardless of their usual taste.
But he chuckled when asked about the speakers upstairs, revealing that he was far too busy to get involved in the actual politics of CPAC.
"In five years, I haven't seen a single speaker," he said.

Culture as glue

Beyond the merchandise, the hall doubles as a media ecosystem.
Podcast Row and Radio Row buzz with influencers broadcasting live, while smaller stages host a rotating cast of political personalities, including former British prime minister Liz Truss.
The effect is immersive: a feedback loop where political messaging is produced, consumed and reinforced in real time.
Even the products reflect that blend of identity and ideology.
A pro-gun yard sign warns: "Protected by FAFO — 24-hour surveillance — 2nd Amendment." 
Nearby, stalls promote groups like Students for Life and the Alliance for Secure AI, alongside pro-Israel activists from Generation Zion.
The result is less a traditional conference than a cultural hub, one that both reflects and reinforces the modern conservative movement.
For attendees like Schoepke, that sense of belonging is as important as any speech from the main stage.
"I've built relationships with people. I've met such quality friends," she said.
ft/js

climate

Uncertainty over war-induced oil crisis dominates key energy summit

BY NINA ISENI

  • The effects of the crisis were a central theme at the conference in Houston.
  • The world's largest energy conference wrapped up in Houston on Friday with the crisis caused by the US-Israel war on Iran dominating discussions -- but with little to show for it beyond a prevailing sense of uncertainty.
  • The effects of the crisis were a central theme at the conference in Houston.
The world's largest energy conference wrapped up in Houston on Friday with the crisis caused by the US-Israel war on Iran dominating discussions -- but with little to show for it beyond a prevailing sense of uncertainty.
A week of meetings for CERAWeek -- dubbed the "Davos of Energy" -- saw around 10,000 executives and experts gather to discuss the latest in their industry.
"The industry is underestimating the geopolitical turmoil and geopolitical risk that's ahead," said Mark Brownstein, vice president of the Environmental Defense Fund.
Saturday marks a month since joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran launched a war that has engulfed the region, with Iran retaliating against Gulf countries and Israel invading Lebanon.
Oil prices have skyrocketed after Tehran essentially blockaded the Strait of Hormuz, bringing the flow of around a fifth of the world's oil and gas supplies to a standstil.
The effects of the crisis were a central theme at the conference in Houston.
"The reverberations that this will have on the economy, on people, on inflation is very worrying," said Coralie Laurencin, an energy specialist at S&P Global, the conference's organizers. 
"I worry that we are in for a prolonged period of instability and uncertainty," said Brownstein, "that has important follow-on effects." 
Chevron CEO Mike Wirth told a packed room on Monday that oil prices had not yet fully absorbed the effects of the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. 
The crisis has global implications, and Shell CEO Wael Sawan warned that energy shortages -- including gasoline and diesel -- could begin to hit Europe as early as next month. 
- 'Chaos and instability' - 
On Friday, the fighting in the Middle East was still raging. Even when it ends, it will take time for oil producers to repair damaged infrastructure and restart facilities. 
This is particularly true of Qatar, the world's second-largest exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG).
"We're gathered at a momentous time of uncertainty, of chaos and instability," said Jamey Rosenfield, founder and co-chair of CERAWeek, during the closing event on Friday. 
US Energy Secretary Chris Wright, who attended the opening of the conference, sought to reassure attendees, stating that the Trump administration was taking measures to increase supply.
This included lifting sanctions on Russian and Iranian oil supplies that were already at sea.
Wright insisted the disruptions were "temporary."
But industry insiders left the conference feeling unclear about a path forward.
"What I heard this week was that no one knows how you end the primary problem, which is the war," said Laurencin.
bur-ni/ico/bdx/aha/dw

Global Edition

Oil climbs, stocks fall as markets see no end to war

  • The market reaction Friday contrasted sharply with the plunge in oil prices and gains for stocks at the beginning of the week after Trump first delayed his Hormuz deadline.
  • Oil prices rose and stocks fell Friday as the United States and Israel struck Iranian nuclear sites, denting optimism over potential talks to end nearly a month of war in the Middle East.
  • The market reaction Friday contrasted sharply with the plunge in oil prices and gains for stocks at the beginning of the week after Trump first delayed his Hormuz deadline.
Oil prices rose and stocks fell Friday as the United States and Israel struck Iranian nuclear sites, denting optimism over potential talks to end nearly a month of war in the Middle East.
US President Donald Trump has extended a deadline for Tehran to open the Strait of Hormuz or face the destruction of its energy grid, pushing it from Friday to April 6.
But with Iran maintaining a hold on the strait and intense hostilities continuing, Trump's announcement failed to lift the mood on markets.
Oil prices climbed, with the Brent international benchmark rising 4.2 percent to $112.57 while the US benchmark contract, WTI, jumped 5.5 percent to $99.64.
Wall Street stocks fell sharply across the board, with the the S&P 500 ending the week lower for the fifth straight week, its longest such run in four years.
European and Asian stock markets also ended the day mostly lower.
The market reaction Friday contrasted sharply with the plunge in oil prices and gains for stocks at the beginning of the week after Trump first delayed his Hormuz deadline.
"Trump appears to be losing his grip on the markets," said Forex.com analyst Fawad Razaqzada.
"Investors no longer seem to take his statements at face value -- if anything, they're beginning to trade against them, waiting for tangible proof before reacting," he said. 
Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB, said: "Investors are facing the facts: the Strait of Hormuz is effectively closed and it does not appear that there is a real end in sight to the war."
Angelo Kourkafas, investment strategist at Edward Jones, said investors were concerned that sharply higher oil prices would have a significant impact on inflation and economic growth.
"There are concerns about the lingering uncertainty," Kourkafas said. "And as we have broken some technical levels, I would say that is triggering some more selling."
Trump has insisted that Iran wants to make a deal to end the war, despite Tehran denying his statements. US and Israeli strikes have continued, as has Iran's retaliation against across the Gulf.
"The simple fact is that sentiment is likely to stay negative for as long as the Strait of Hormuz remains unsafe for shipping and controlled by Iran," said David Morrison, an analyst at Trade Nation. 
Adding to market woes, China on Friday opened an investigation into US trade practices in response to Washington's probes this month of Chinese exports. 
Tokyo's stock market closed lower, while Hong Kong and Shanghai edged up.
Investor doubts about the chance of a peace deal came as governments around the world looked to shore up their economies against surging energy costs, which are adding to inflationary pressures.
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 is looking to temporarily lift restrictions on coal-fired power plants in a bid to ease an energy crunch. 

Key figures at around 2015 GMT

Brent North Sea Crude: UP 4.2 percent at $112.57 a barrel
West Texas Intermediate: UP 5.5 percent at $99.64 a barrel
New York - Dow: DOWN 1.7 percent at 45,166.64 points (close)
New York - S&P 500: DOWN 1.7 percent at 6,368.85 (close)
New York - Nasdaq Composite: DOWN 2.2 percent at 20,948.36 (close)
London - FTSE 100: DOWN less than 0.1 percent at 9,701.95 (close)
Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 0.9 percent at 7,701.95 (close) 
Frankfurt - DAX: DOWN 1.4 percent at 22,300.75 (close)
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)
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1517 from $1.1523 on Thursday
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3272 from $1.3313
Dollar/yen: UP at 160.2 yen from 159.83 yen
Euro/pound: UP at 86.78 pence from 86.55 pence
burs-aha/js

US

Fishy trades before major news spark insider trading allegations

BY THOMAS URBAIN

  • Just 15 minutes later, Trump posted on his Truth Social network that talks with Iran were "very productive" -- a dramatic shift in tone after Trump warned Saturday that he had given Tehran 48 hours to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face strikes on its energy grid.
  • Unusual bursts of trading on the oil and stock markets this week, just minutes before social media posts on the Iran war by President Donald Trump, have added to suspicions of insider trading linked to his administration.
  • Just 15 minutes later, Trump posted on his Truth Social network that talks with Iran were "very productive" -- a dramatic shift in tone after Trump warned Saturday that he had given Tehran 48 hours to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face strikes on its energy grid.
Unusual bursts of trading on the oil and stock markets this week, just minutes before social media posts on the Iran war by President Donald Trump, have added to suspicions of insider trading linked to his administration.
Democratic lawmakers, traders and industry watchdogs are raising alarms, saying such seemingly prescient bets are forming a pattern that suggests people are profiting from prior knowledge of White House decision-making.
"This is the kind of thing that makes people wonder if their government is acting in their best interest or trying to enrich certain individuals," said Jordan Libowitz, vice president of the ethics watchdog Crew.
In the latest case, trading in oil and S&P 500 futures contracts, in which an investor promises to buy or sell an asset at a fixed price at a later date, saw an unusual spike in trading early Monday.
Just 15 minutes later, Trump posted on his Truth Social network that talks with Iran were "very productive" -- a dramatic shift in tone after Trump warned Saturday that he had given Tehran 48 hours to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face strikes on its energy grid.
The news sent oil prices plunging and stocks surging. People who placed the flurry of futures trades beforehand likely pocketed tens of millions of dollars, according to calculations by a market operator for AFP.
"Seeing large transactions like these before an announcement is a little suspicious," said Michael Lynch, an oil analyst at Strategic Energy & Economic Research. "It's unusual. You don't see this at this level in the oil market."
Monday's incident came a few weeks after six accounts on the betting site Polymarket made $1.2 million on bets that the United States would attack Iran on February 28, the day the war began.
According to an analysis by the analytics firm Bubblemaps, the bets were placed just hours before the bombings were reported. 
And in early January, an individual pocketed more than $400,000 after betting on Polymarket that Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro would be ousted just hours before he was seized in a raid by US forces.
So far, there is no evidence to suggest that Trump or White House officials are linked in any way to these transactions.
"Any insinuation, without evidence, that a member of the government engaged in these acts is baseless and irresponsible," a White House spokesperson told several media outlets. 
Still, critics of the administration see the trades as evidence of corruption.
Democratic Senator Chris Murphy posted on X: "Who was it? Trump? A member of his family? Someone in the White House? This is unbelievable corruption."

'No secret'

The transactions have provided further ammunition for Democratic lawmakers and other critics who have accused Trump of conflicts of interest since the beginning of his second term last year.
Members of his family have made hundreds of millions of dollars in profits from cryptocurrencies, a market he has sought to deregulate.
The Chicago Mercantile Exchange, the world's largest market for trading derivative financial products, and the US Securities and Exchange Commission both declined to comment. 
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which regulates derivatives markets, did not respond to several requests for comment.
On Thursday, a group of congressional Democrats introduced a bill that that would ban bets on elections, government actions, war and sports, CNBC reported.
Even some members of Trump's own party are seeking clarity on the trades.
"Someone needs to be publicly shamed for insider trading," said Republican Jeremy Munson, a candidate for the Minnesota Senate.
Mark Neuman, chief investment officer at Hero Asset Management, said it should be possible to discover the identities of those who placed the trades in question, and suggested the problem resulted more from lax oversight.
"When you make a transaction, there are details you have to provide" to the exchanges, "so there's no secret," Neuman said. "If there were stricter regulators in this country, we would find out" their identities.
"But it seems this administration favors less regulation," he said. "It's really sad, because the integrity of the markets is being torn to shreds."
tu/cyb/mjf/js

diplomacy

WTO reform talks coming to the crunch

BY AGNèS PEDRERO

  • Norway's ambassador to the WTO Petter Olberg, who is facilitating the reform talks, is trying to secure agreement on a way through the logjam before talks close Sunday.
  • The ambassador facilitating talks on reforming the World Trade Organization voiced cautious optimism Friday on prospects for progress at a high-level meeting in the Cameroonian capital.
  • Norway's ambassador to the WTO Petter Olberg, who is facilitating the reform talks, is trying to secure agreement on a way through the logjam before talks close Sunday.
The ambassador facilitating talks on reforming the World Trade Organization voiced cautious optimism Friday on prospects for progress at a high-level meeting in the Cameroonian capital.
Reforming the beleaguered global trade body is at the heart of the WTO's four-day ministerial conference -- its main decision-taking event that typically takes place every two years.
The 166-member WTO struggles to reach agreements due to the requirement for consensus, prompting questions over its central role in regulating international trade.
Norway's ambassador to the WTO Petter Olberg, who is facilitating the reform talks, is trying to secure agreement on a way through the logjam before talks close Sunday.
But countries have differing views on how ambitious the reform should be and how to implement it.
The United States has previously indicated it would reject the draft text.
Still, Olberg told AFP and Switzerland's Keystone-ATS news agency on Friday that he was "reasonably optimistic".
 

'Like speed-dating'

 
Also on the agenda is renewing the moratorium on customs duties on e-commerce, which is due to expire on March 31, and agreements on agriculture and facilitating investment for development.
"I remain really quite optimistic about the potential for progress," British Business and Trade Secretary Peter Kyle told reporters.
"This process is ongoing, and when you're in the rooms upstairs, it's a bit like speed-dating. There's a lot of darting around between rooms."
But trade negotiations have long stalled, and its trade dispute settlement system has been paralysed since 2019 by Washington's refusal to appoint judges to the appeals body.
The US has made no secret of its intent to shake up the multilateral trading system. 
"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 attacks on multilateralism and WTO rules with sweeping tariffs and bilateral trade deals.

'Outright bullying'

Ivan Enrile, with Philippine's based NGO IBON International, denounced Washington's seeming desire to "discard even the tiniest pretence of multilateralism, replacing it with coercion, powerplay, and outright bullying".
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said Wednesday that Trump's trade policy measures were "a corrective response to a trading system, embodied by the WTO, that has overseen and contributed to severe and sustained imbalances".
Melanie Foley, a deputy director at the US think-tank Public Citizen, said: "Trump attempts to score political points domestically with his chaotic attacks on the global trading system."
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.
apo/rjm/nl/giv

climate

At 'Davos of energy', AI looks to gas to power its rapid expansion

BY NINA ISENI

  • "Gas-fired power, for sure, is critical" to the development of artificial intelligence (AI), Laurent Ruseckas of S&P Global told AFP on the sidelines of the summit. 
  • Natural gas took center stage this week at the world's largest energy conference, as major market players  discussed how to power the rise of artificial intelligence.
  • "Gas-fired power, for sure, is critical" to the development of artificial intelligence (AI), Laurent Ruseckas of S&P Global told AFP on the sidelines of the summit. 
Natural gas took center stage this week at the world's largest energy conference, as major market players  discussed how to power the rise of artificial intelligence.
In the halls of CERAWeek, where around 10,000 experts and executives converged, attendees debated the fastest way to feed the burgeoning technology's massive energy demands, despite carbon neutrality pledges.
"Gas-fired power, for sure, is critical" to the development of artificial intelligence (AI), Laurent Ruseckas of S&P Global told AFP on the sidelines of the summit. 
Dozens of sessions were held addressing how the gas sector can help satisfy AI's insatiable thirst for electricity, or how AI-driven software can, in turn, help the sector optimize its production.
The data centers on which AI -- and cloud technology more broadly -- rely consume vast amounts of electricity, which often has a large carbon footprint.
Natural gas is already the third-largest energy source used by data centers globally, covering 26 percent of demand, according to International Energy Agency figures. 
Coal -- a fuel that emits the highest levels of greenhouse gases -- has the largest share, followed by renewable energy, according to the IEA.
Since 2016, the United States has ramped up its natural gas production, and its Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) exports have increased 30-fold in that period, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). 
With US President Donald Trump throwing his weight behind fossil fuels -- often sidelining renewable energy -- that trend is only expected to deepen.
This "surge in gas... is coincident and driven by the need to satisfy the growth in AI," said Eric Hanselman, an energy analyst at S&P Global. 
Charles Riedl, president of industry group the Center for Liquefied Natural Gas (CLNG), told AFP "the reliability and dispatch ability of gas is second to none." 
CLNG represents several US industry giants, including Cheniere Energy, Chevron, and ConocoPhillips. 
More than a third of US gas capacity directly powers data centers in the United States, according to a recent study by Global Energy Monitor, a think tank. 
- 'Not sustainable' - 
Some experts, however, remain skeptical about the long-term viability of this model. 
"Will gas play a role in the AI data center future? Yes. But I'm not so sure it's to the same degree as many predict," said Mark Brownstein, senior vice president of the Environmental Defense Fund.
"My belief is that that kind of approach to project development is not sustainable," he added. 
The issue, he said, is that certain projects are "expensive to run," and "the pollution from them is also considerable."
The primary component of natural gas is methane, which, when burned, releases CO2 -- the leading greenhouse gas responsible for global warming.
Gas fields, LNG tankers, pipelines, and distribution lines also give rise to massive leaks of methane -- a gas with an even greater global warming potential than CO2.
In West Virginia, a project to build a gas-fired power plant intended solely to supply a massive data center is facing opposition from many residents concerned about its health and environmental impacts.
It is far from the only one.
Tech giants had previously pledged to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030 or 2040. However, the explosive growth in demand for AI has led them to set these promises aside, according to S&P Global's Ruseckas.
"That's gone out the window," he says. "Gas is the only quick way to get power quickly, which is what the data centers need." 
Another option on the table is nuclear power, which already accounts for 15 percent of global electricity consumption by data centers. 
The rapid growth of AI and its surging energy demand is "making nuclear really part of the solution set now," said Ho Nieh, chairman of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, at CERAWeek. 
Nuclear reactors take significantly longer to build than gas turbines, however. 
In January, tech giant Meta announced agreements with three US nuclear energy companies, making it one of the largest corporate buyers of such energy in the United States.
The 6.6 gigawatts of power those plants would provide, however, is not expected to be fully online until 2035. 
ni-ube/aha/ksb

oil

US court overturns $16.1 bn judgment against Argentina over oil firm seizure

  • The court struck down a 2023 ruling from Judge Loretta Preska of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York that ordered Argentina to pay $16.1 billion to minority shareholder companies she said were harmed by the nationalization of YPF. The appeals court said Friday that breach of contract claims made by these companies were not recognizable under Argentine law.
  • A US appeals court on Friday overturned a $16.1 billion judgment against Argentina for nationalizing the oil company YPF in 2012.
  • The court struck down a 2023 ruling from Judge Loretta Preska of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York that ordered Argentina to pay $16.1 billion to minority shareholder companies she said were harmed by the nationalization of YPF. The appeals court said Friday that breach of contract claims made by these companies were not recognizable under Argentine law.
A US appeals court on Friday overturned a $16.1 billion judgment against Argentina for nationalizing the oil company YPF in 2012.
The ruling was a big victory for President Javier Milei as he tries to boost Argentina's troubled economy.
"We won the YPF trial," Milei wrote in capital letters on the social media platform X, calling the 2-1 ruling by the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals in New York the "best possible outcome."
The court struck down a 2023 ruling from Judge Loretta Preska of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York that ordered Argentina to pay $16.1 billion to minority shareholder companies she said were harmed by the nationalization of YPF.
The appeals court said Friday that breach of contract claims made by these companies were not recognizable under Argentine law.
The case was heard in the United States rather than Argentina mainly because YPF is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
Jurisdiction was consistently an issue, as Argentina argued the case should be argued back home but in the end the US courts kept it in New York.
In the expropriation, the Argentine state took over 51 percent of YPF, which at the time was partially controlled by the Spanish energy giant Repsol.
Two years later Repsol was awarded $5 billion in damages but smaller shareholders like Petersen Energia Inversora and Eton Park Capital Management, which together controlled a 25.4 percent stake, got nothing and sued in 2015.
They argued that the government had not made a tender offer, as mandated by Argentine law, to these two companies, which were YPF's second- and third-largest investors.
Argentina has argued that having to pay the settlement -- $18 billion including interest, it says -- would cause severe harm to the finances of a country with persistent debt and inflation problems.
It said the settlement would have amounted to a large chunk of its foreign currency reserves.
YPF is an emblematic Argentine company founded in the early 20th century as a state-owned entity but it was privatized in 1993 and eventually came under the control of Repsol.
Then-president Cristina Kirchner re-nationalized YPF in 2012, arguing that it did not produce enough oil and gas to satisfy Argentine demand.
If the $16.1 billion judgment had been upheld, much of the money would have gone to Britain-based Burford Capital, a company that provides financing for other firms' lawsuits.
mry/dw/msp

war

Mideast war leaves 6,000 tonnes of tea stuck at Kenya port

  • As a result, "six to eight million kilos" are stuck in Mombasa, he told AFP. "So that's an average of $24 million worth of tea at the port," he added.
  • Between 6,000 and 8,000 tonnes of tea, worth around $24 million, is stuck at Kenya's port of Mombasa because of the war in the Middle East, trade officials said Friday.
  • As a result, "six to eight million kilos" are stuck in Mombasa, he told AFP. "So that's an average of $24 million worth of tea at the port," he added.
Between 6,000 and 8,000 tonnes of tea, worth around $24 million, is stuck at Kenya's port of Mombasa because of the war in the Middle East, trade officials said Friday.
The East African Tea Trade Association (EATTA) manages auctions at the port city, which serves as a global marketplace where hundreds of thousands of tonnes of tea from the region are sold every year.
Around 65 percent of the east African tea market has been affected by the war that began on February 28 when the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran, EATTA director George Omuga said.
As a result, "six to eight million kilos" are stuck in Mombasa, he told AFP.
"So that's an average of $24 million worth of tea at the port," he added.
The tea has been sold to customers but cannot be shipped, mainly to the Middle East, which accounts for about 20 percent of the market, he estimates.
Shipments to Pakistan, which makes up 40 percent of the market, have also been disrupted by a surge in transport costs because of changes in shipping routes and higher insurance premiums.
Tea sales, meanwhile, have fallen by nearly 20 percent in recent weeks because of the war, resulting in lost revenue of $8 million per week.
Kenyan meat and horticulture are also feeling the impact of the conflict, suffering losses amounting to millions of dollars every week.
During the first three weeks of March, only five percent of the 150 to 200 tonnes of daily meat exports were delivered, most of which were destined for the Middle East, according to Nicholas Ngahu, CEO of the Kenya Meat and Livestock Exporters Industry Council (KEMLEIC).
The Middle East also accounts for between 10 and 15 percent of Kenya's flower exports, and serves as a major transit point, particularly for shipments to Europe.
The disruption is troublesome for Kenya, which is also dependent on fuel imports.
Pump prices remained unchanged in March, but traders are worried about the consequences of a possible surge.
Vivo Energy Kenya, which operates Shell service stations in the east African country, on Thursday reported "temporary stock-outs at some service stations", attributed to a rise in demand.
The firm said it is "working continuously to replenish affected sites as quickly as possible", without providing further details.
Thousands of independent service stations are facing supply shortfalls as "panic buying is driving demand", John Njogu, CEO of the Petroleum Outlets Association of Kenya, told AFP.
But unlike neighbouring Ethiopia, long queues have not yet formed at Kenyan petrol stations.
jcp/ayv/giv/jhb