aviation

Cathay Pacific raises fuel surcharge on all flights by 34%

  • It previously doubled fuel surcharges for most of its routes as a result of the war in the Middle East, and this week extended flight suspensions to and from Dubai and Riyadh until May 31.
  • Hong Kong aviation giant Cathay Pacific announced Thursday it was raising fuel surcharges on all flights by 34 percent as a result of increasing oil costs due to the Middle East war. 
  • It previously doubled fuel surcharges for most of its routes as a result of the war in the Middle East, and this week extended flight suspensions to and from Dubai and Riyadh until May 31.
Hong Kong aviation giant Cathay Pacific announced Thursday it was raising fuel surcharges on all flights by 34 percent as a result of increasing oil costs due to the Middle East war. 
"The price of jet fuel comprises both the crude oil component and the refinery component, both of which have increased significantly in recent weeks," the company said in a statement.
It also shared a list outlining surcharge increases on short-haul flights of 34.1 percent, while medium- and long-haul would increase by 34 percent exactly.
The hike in fees will apply to tickets from April 1, the statement added.
Average jet fuel prices increased globally to US$197 per barrel last week, up from US$95.50 a month ago, according to data by the International Air Transport Association (IATA). 
"If the steep increase of fuel costs cannot be effectively mitigated, we would not be able to sustain the effective operations of our network," Cathay said.
It previously doubled fuel surcharges for most of its routes as a result of the war in the Middle East, and this week extended flight suspensions to and from Dubai and Riyadh until May 31.
It also said Wednesday it will operate extra flights to London, Paris and Zurich "to cater for an upsurge in market demand for Europe".
Many global airlines have implemented fuel surcharges in response to the increase in oil costs.
Cathay said it will review and revise its fuel surcharge every two weeks as a temporary measure because fuel prices remain volatile.
Analysts told AFP that while carriers all hedge a portion of their fuel costs, their margins could still be affected.
Cathay said Thursday its hedging covers only around 30 percent of the crude oil component, but does not apply to the refinery component.
The measure is insufficient "given the scale of the recent surge in jet fuel prices", it said.
The airline "is determined to manage this significant cost challenge as best we could, in order to maintain our network and frequencies during these unprecedented times".
twa/mjw

tech

EU probes Snapchat over suspected child protection failings

  • US messaging app Snapchat has around 97 million monthly active users in the 27-nation bloc and is a wildly popular platform with teenagers and young adults.
  • The European Union launched an investigation on Thursday into Snapchat over suspicions the platform is not doing enough to protect children using the app.
  • US messaging app Snapchat has around 97 million monthly active users in the 27-nation bloc and is a wildly popular platform with teenagers and young adults.
The European Union launched an investigation on Thursday into Snapchat over suspicions the platform is not doing enough to protect children using the app.
US messaging app Snapchat has around 97 million monthly active users in the 27-nation bloc and is a wildly popular platform with teenagers and young adults.
The European Commission said it was looking into whether Snapchat breached digital content rules by "exposing minors to grooming attempts" as well as to information about the sale of illegal products like drugs.
The probe is the first into Snapchat under the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA) law, which has come under attack from President Donald Trump's administration.
Snapchat said the safety and wellbeing of its users was a "top priority".
"As online risks evolve, we continuously review, strengthen, and invest in these safeguards," a spokesperson said.
"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," the spokesperson added.
The commission -- the EU's digital watchdog -- said its broad investigation would focus on five areas to find out whether Snapchat ensures a high level of safety, privacy and security for children online.
Snapchat is for users aged 13 and over but the EU suspects the app does not have sufficient measures in place to stop younger children from accessing it.
Another fear is that Snapchat is "not adequately protecting" children from being contacted by users seeking to sexually exploit or recruit them for criminal activities, for example, by allowing adults to pretend to be minors.
The EU also suspects Snapchat's default settings do not provide "sufficient" privacy for children and that the platform's tools are ineffective in stopping minors from seeing the sale of age-restricted items like vapes and alcohol.
Finally the investigation will focus on Snapchat's mechanisms for notifying illegal content, which the commission said seem to be neither easy to access nor user-friendly.
"Snapchat appears to have overlooked that the Digital Services Act demands high safety standards for all users. With this investigation, we will closely look into their compliance," EU tech tsar Henna Virkkunen said in a statement.
Snapchat is among over 20 very large online platforms that must adhere to the DSA's tougher rules or risk fines that could reach as high as six percent of their global turnover, or even a ban for serious and repeated violations.
There is no deadline for the completion of the investigation but Snapchat can offer commitments to address the EU's concerns.
raz/ub/gv

trade

EU parliament backs Trump tariff deal -- with conditions

BY FREDERIC POUCHOT AND RAZIYE AKKOC

  • Before the US tariff deal is implemented by the bloc, it still needs to be negotiated with EU states -- although Brussels hopes talks will go quickly.
  • European Union lawmakers on Thursday gave a green light -- with conditions -- to the bloc's tariff deal with US President Donald Trump, which Europe hopes to salvage while also racing to diversify its trade ties around the globe.
  • Before the US tariff deal is implemented by the bloc, it still needs to be negotiated with EU states -- although Brussels hopes talks will go quickly.
European Union lawmakers on Thursday gave a green light -- with conditions -- to the bloc's tariff deal with US President Donald Trump, which Europe hopes to salvage while also racing to diversify its trade ties around the globe.
Brussels and Washington last summer clinched a deal setting tariffs at 15 percent for most EU goods.
But Trump's 2025 tariff blitz, including hefty levies on steel, aluminium and car parts, jolted the 27-country bloc into cultivating trade ties around the world, and it has since signed deals from South America to Australia and continues to pursue others.
But that doesn't mean the EU intends to walk away from its 1.6 trillion euro ($1.9 trillion) relationship with its largest trade partner, the United States.
A large majority of EU lawmakers agreed to cut EU tariffs on some US imports -- as a first step towards implementing the 2025 deal -- but with additional safeguards.
"Today's vote is an important procedural step and a political signal that the EU stands by its word," EU economy chief Valdis Dombrovskis said in a parliamentary debate Thursday before the vote.
Before the US tariff deal is implemented by the bloc, it still needs to be negotiated with EU states -- although Brussels hopes talks will go quickly.
EU trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic welcomed the move as a "crucial step" and said he would meet US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on the sidelines of a World Trade Organization meeting in Cameroon on Friday.

Additional safeguards

The green light comes after months of delay as lawmakers resisted approving the accord due to transatlantic tensions over Greenland -- and then put it on hold again following the US Supreme Court's ruling striking down many of Trump's levies.
The ball started rolling again after the European Commission, in charge of EU trade policy, said it would stick to the pact despite the US ruling and called on lawmakers to do the same, having received reassurances from Washington.
Trump, however, retaliated after the ruling with a new tariff regime -- pushing EU lawmakers to tighten the existing agreement with numerous safeguards.
Lawmakers added several provisions in response, such as making the EU's tariff reductions automatically lapse in March 2028, and tying tariff cuts on steel and aluminium goods to similar reductions by the US side. 
"Let's not be naive. More Trump coercion and chaos will come, and that is exactly why we say today no free pass, no blank cheque," EU lawmaker Kathleen Van Brempt said during Thursday's debate.

'Trump factor'

It is the EU's vulnerability to the consequences of wars and other shocks that has pushed Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen to make diversifying trading partners a priority, to cut overdependence on the United States and China.
The frenzy began with a long-awaited accord signed with the South American Mercosur bloc in January. Weeks later, Brussels struck another pact with India and just this week clinched a stalled deal with Australia.
"The Trump factor sped up their conclusion, for us as well as for our partners," economist Andre Sapir said. 
Spurred by Trump, Sapir says the EU is pushing to create the world's largest network of free trade areas -- a strategy with a "defensive dimension" allowing it to resist trade "coercion".
"This free trade network carries weight in our discussions with the two giants, the United States and China," he said.
"These agreements are part of our arsenal," Sapir, of the Bruegel think tank, added. "Our strategic weapons in the international order."
fpo-raz/gv

US

War in the Middle East: latest developments

  • - Oil edges up - Oil prices jumped and equities fell Thursday as investors tracked developments in the Middle East.
  • Here are the latest developments in the Middle East war: - 'Wartime' budget - South Korea's government said it aims to roll out a $17-billion "wartime" supplementary budget and expand fuel tax cuts to counter rising energy prices, in the latest example of how the war has affected countries across the globe.
  • - Oil edges up - Oil prices jumped and equities fell Thursday as investors tracked developments in the Middle East.
Here are the latest developments in the Middle East war:

'Wartime' budget

South Korea's government said it aims to roll out a $17-billion "wartime" supplementary budget and expand fuel tax cuts to counter rising energy prices, in the latest example of how the war has affected countries across the globe.
- Israeli soldier killed - 
The Israeli military said that a soldier was killed in fighting against Iran-backed Hezbollah in south Lebanon.
- Dead in Abu Dhabi - 
Two people were killed and three were wounded by falling debris after air defences intercepted a ballistic missile on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi, the government media office said.
- Wounded in Israel - 
Missile attacks from Iran left six people lightly injured in Israel, medics said.

New Iran strikes

Israel's military said its forces had carried out a wave of strikes across Iran, including in the central city of Isfahan.

War goals

Pakistan's defence minister, whose government has offered to host talks between Iranian and American envoys to stop the war, appeared to take a jab at the US operation that has led to the closure of the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
"The goal of the war seems to have shifted to opening the Strait of Hormuz, which was open before the war," Khawaja Asif posted on X, alongside hand-clapping emojis.

Oil edges up

Oil prices jumped and equities fell Thursday as investors tracked developments in the Middle East.
With investors holding on to hope that a deal can be struck, oil prices have stabilised this week, with Brent just above $100 and WTI around $90. 
Stocks in Wall Street and Europe rose but Asian markets struggled after a two-day rally.

'Glimmer of hope'

China's top diplomat has said that a "glimmer of hope" has emerged due to moves to stop the war.
China's foreign minister Wang Yi urged dialogue in separate calls with his Turkish and Egyptian counterparts, suggesting that both Tehran and Washington had shown signals they were willing to return to the negotiating table.

'Afraid' to admit talks

US President Donald Trump insisted that Iran was taking part in peace talks, suggesting Tehran's denials were because Iranian negotiators fear being killed by their own side.
"They are negotiating, by the way, and they want to make a deal so badly. But they're afraid to say it, because they figure they'll be killed by their own people," Trump told a dinner for Republican members of Congress.

Missile capacities

The United States has hit two-thirds of Iran's production facilities for missiles and drones, and a similar proportion of its naval production, a top officer said.
Admiral Brad Cooper, head of Central Command, also estimated that Iran's drone and missile launch rates were down by 90 percent, and "we've also removed the regime's ability to rebuild them".

'Resistance'

Tehran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi rejected any diplomatic efforts to wind down the conflict. 
"At present, our policy is the continuation of resistance," Araghchi said on Iranian state TV. "We do not intend to negotiate -- so far, no negotiations have taken place, and I believe our position is completely principled." 
"Speaking of negotiations now is an admission of defeat," he said.

Kuwait arrests six  

Kuwait arrested six people allegedly linked to the Iran-backed Hezbollah group in Lebanon who were planning "assassinations" in the Gulf state, the interior ministry said.

Iran island

Iran's powerful parliament speaker warned of the possible invasion of an Iranian island with the support of an unnamed regional country.
"Based on some intelligence reports, Iran's enemies are preparing to occupy one of the Iranian islands with support from one of the regional states," Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf posted on X.

Demands on Iraq

Several Gulf countries as well as Jordan demanded in a joint statement that Iraq act immediately to stop attacks from its territory by armed pro-Iran groups.
The statement was signed by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan.
burs/yad/kjm

Global Edition

Oil climbs and equities sink amid mixed messages on 'talks'

  • With investors holding on to hope that a deal can be struck, oil prices have stabilised this week, with Brent just above $100 and WTI around $90. 
  • Oil prices jumped and equities fell Thursday as investors tracked developments in the Middle East amid hopes that US and Iranian officials will bring an end to a conflict that has ramped up fears of an unprecedented global energy crisis. 
  • With investors holding on to hope that a deal can be struck, oil prices have stabilised this week, with Brent just above $100 and WTI around $90. 
Oil prices jumped and equities fell Thursday as investors tracked developments in the Middle East amid hopes that US and Iranian officials will bring an end to a conflict that has ramped up fears of an unprecedented global energy crisis. 
Markets have been buoyed since late Monday after Donald Trump backed down on a threat to destroy the Islamic republic's energy infrastructure and said the two sides were in peace talks.
But while crude prices are down from last week and the mood on trading floors has been better than most of March, uncertainty and the virtual closure of the Strait of Hormuz -- through which around 20 percent of oil and gas passes -- continue to cast a dark shadows.
Washington presented a 15-point plan to end the war, including Iran giving up its enriched uranium and opening up the waterway, while Tehran's state-run TV reported officials had put forward their own five conditions for hostilities to end.
Trump on Wednesday threatened to "unleash hell" if Iran did not strike a deal, but Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said his country does not intend to negotiate.
But the US president also said Iran was taking part in peace talks and the denials were because negotiators feared being killed by their own side.
"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.
However, she added: "It would be imprudent to assume diplomacy is absent simply because it is not visible. In conflicts of this nature, public rhetoric and private negotiation often diverge materially. 
"Markets understand this dynamic, and they also tend to inflect before the political endgame is formally in place."
With investors holding on to hope that a deal can be struck, oil prices have stabilised this week, with Brent just above $100 and WTI around $90. 
Both contracts rallied Thursday.
Stocks in Wall Street and Europe rose but Asian markets struggled after a two-day rally.
Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Seoul, Sydney, Taipei, Singapore, Manila, Bangkok and Jakarta fell along with London, Paris and Frankfurt.
City Index's Fiona Cincotta said for any recovery to gain traction, "investors will want to see clearer signs of de-escalation, including the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz".
Her remarks come after the head of the International Chamber of Commerce, John Denton, warned the conflict could cause the "worst industrial crisis" in decades.
"The head of the International Energy Agency has warned that the world is facing an energy crisis more severe than the oil shocks of the 1970s," he added. 
"From a business perspective, we believe this could yet become the worst industrial crisis in living memory."
Meanwhile, the World Trade Organization said disruptions to fertiliser supplies posed a double threat to global food security through scarcity and high prices, with a third of the global fertiliser supply normally transiting the Strait of Hormuz. 

Key figures at around 0815 GMT

West Texas Intermediate: UP 2.8 percent at $92.88 a barrel
Brent North Sea Crude: UP 2.4 percent at $104.70 a barrel
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)
London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.6 percent at 10,045.43 
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1554 from $1.1565 on Wednesday
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3349 from $1.3365
Dollar/yen: UP at 159.50 yen from 159.47 yen
Euro/pound: UP at 86.53 pence from 86.52 pence
New York - Dow: UP 0.7 percent at 46,429.49 (close)
dan/fox

environment

Venezuela oil reserves both entice and repel energy giants

BY NINA ISENI

  • Under pressure from Washington, Venezuela's interim president Delcy Rodriguez pushed through a major reform of the country's hydrocarbon laws in January, opening up the sector to private and foreign investment. 
  • President Donald Trump's administration is pushing to open Venezuela's untapped natural resources to US investment but the oil-rich Latin American country's outdated infrastructure is making energy giants think twice about going all-in. 
  • Under pressure from Washington, Venezuela's interim president Delcy Rodriguez pushed through a major reform of the country's hydrocarbon laws in January, opening up the sector to private and foreign investment. 
President Donald Trump's administration is pushing to open Venezuela's untapped natural resources to US investment
but the oil-rich Latin American country's outdated infrastructure is
making energy giants think twice about going all-in. 
Since US forces captured Venezuela's former leader Nicolas Maduro in a stunning raid on January 3, Trump officials have worked closely with Caracas to bang the drum for foreign investment in oil, gas and mining. 
The chief executives of energy companies, however, remain divided on the matter.
Mike Wirth, the CEO of Chevron -- the only international company to operate in Venezuela in recent years -- said at the CERAWeek energy conference in Houston this week: "We're seeing signs of progress."
"There's still things that I think need to happen to encourage investment on the scale that people would like to see," he added.
Shell chief Wael Sawan said he was "encouraged," but cautioned "we still have a long way to go" on oil projects.
He said the company was in talks for gas-related endeavors.
While ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods has previously dismissed Venezuela as "uninvestable," his fellow executive Dan Ammann said a team for the company is assessing options, though he noted it would require "probably hundreds of millions of dollars of investment." 
Chevron's Wirth went further, suggesting it would take "tens of billions of dollars" to get Venezuela's oil production up to the three million barrels of oil per day it produced during its peak two decades ago.

'Kick the tires'

Jorge Pinon, a researcher at the University of Texas at Austin's Energy Institute, said oil giants were sending small teams to Venezuela to "kick the tires." 
"They're trying to find out what the state of the pipeline is," he told AFP.
"How much money is it going to take to be sure that the existing infrastructure is ready for delivery?"
"Do we have the logistics? Do we have the pipeline? Do we have the wealth? Who owns them? Remember that the Chinese and the Russians still have joint ventures in Venezuela," he continued.
Despite having the largest known oil reserves in the world, years of underinvestment, lack of maintenance and US sanctions have strangled oil production in the South American country. 
Under pressure from Washington, Venezuela's interim president Delcy Rodriguez pushed through a major reform of the country's hydrocarbon laws in January, opening up the sector to private and foreign investment. 
US Interior Secretary Doug Burgum told industry leaders at CERAWeek on Wednesday: "They (Venezuela) want to be competitive to attract investment from all of you."

Millions of barrels?

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Corina Machado told AFP on Tuesday: "The opening of the oil sector, as we're proposing it, has never been seen in the country." 
"That is, going 100 percent private, where the state assumes a regulatory role and incentivizes, promotes and protects foreign investment," she said. 
Machado said in a speech at CERAWEEK on Wednesday that Venezuela's oil production capacity could reach as high as five million barrels per day.
"And reaching that potential certainly requires a lot of resources, which we estimate above $150 billion in the next 10 years," she added. 
"This is the kind of long-cycle, large-scale commitment that the companies in this room are built to make when the right conditions are in place." 
Machado said she was willing to participate in Venezuela's next election cycle. 
But researcher Pinon warned that Venezuela's hydrocarbons law could be amended by a future government.
Lawmakers could argue that "the last assembly that was there and put these new rules into place was not a legitimate assembly. They were not really elected by the people of Venezuela," he said.
mav/nn/jgc/lkd/cms

US

Israel strikes Iran as Trump says Tehran wants deal to end war

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

  • Trump, whose daily statements have swung wildly from threatening to conciliatory, said talks to end the war were ongoing with Iran, but that officials in Tehran were covering them up out of fear.
  • Israel launched strikes across Iran on Thursday, hours after US President Donald Trump said Tehran wanted a deal to end the nearly four-week war despite its top diplomat rejecting any talks with Washington.
  • Trump, whose daily statements have swung wildly from threatening to conciliatory, said talks to end the war were ongoing with Iran, but that officials in Tehran were covering them up out of fear.
Israel launched strikes across Iran on Thursday, hours after US President Donald Trump said Tehran wanted a deal to end the nearly four-week war despite its top diplomat rejecting any talks with Washington.
The conflict has mushroomed to draw in nations around the Middle East, sending energy markets into a tailspin and threatening to torpedo the global economy.
Iran, under near-daily bombardment since a joint US-Israeli attack started the war on February 28, was hit early Thursday by what the Israeli army said was "a wide-scale wave of strikes targeting infrastructure", including in the central city of Isfahan.
In turn, an Iranian missile attack activated sirens across central Israel including Tel Aviv and parts of Jerusalem on Thursday morning, according to the Israeli military, the first launches it identified from Iran in more than 14 hours.
Trump, whose daily statements have swung wildly from threatening to conciliatory, said talks to end the war were ongoing with Iran, but that officials in Tehran were covering them up out of fear.
"They are negotiating, by the way, and they want to make a deal so badly," Trump told a dinner for Republican members of Congress.
"But they're afraid to say it, because they figure they'll be killed by their own people," he said. "They're also afraid they'll be killed by us."
The Islamic republic's top diplomat slapped down Trump's comments, saying the country did not intend to negotiate.
"We seek an end to the war on our own terms, of course, and in a way that it will not be repeated here again," Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told state TV.
Pakistan has passed on a 15-point US plan to stop the fighting to Tehran, two officials in Islamabad said. 
But Iran's state-controlled Press TV cited an unidentified official saying Tehran had "responded negatively" to the proposal.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump "does not bluff and he is prepared to unleash hell" on Iran if no deal is struck.
China's top diplomat Wang Yi meanwhile said Thursday that signs both sides could be open to talks offered a "glimmer of hope" for peace.

Iranian conditions

According to The New York Times, the 15-point US plan touches on Iran's contested nuclear and missile programs as well as "maritime routes".
Tehran has largely blocked the vital Strait of Hormuz oil route in retaliation for the US-Israeli attacks, pushing up global energy prices.
The Iranian official quoted by Press TV said Tehran had put forward its own five conditions for hostilities to end.
These include guarantees that the United States and Israel do not resume the war and compensation for war damages.
Iranians marched in support of the country's military in the capital Tehran on Wednesday, waving the country's flag and holding pictures of new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei.
The head of the US Central Command, Admiral Brad Cooper, said on Wednesday that Washington has hit two-thirds of Iran's production facilities for missiles and drones, and a similar proportion of its naval production.
Iran has still kept up retaliatory attacks on Israel and Gulf nations that it accuses of serving as launchpads for US strikes.
Saudi Arabia said it intercepted at least 18 drones, while the United Arab Emirates responded to a new missile and drone attack and Bahrain reported a fire at a facility caused by "Iranian aggression", without providing further details.
Kuwait also reported a new missile and drone attack on Thursday, a day after a drone hit a fuel tank and sparked a fire at Kuwait International Airport.

No Lebanon 'surrender'

The war has also drawn in Lebanon after pro-Iran Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel on March 2 to avenge Khamenei's killing.
Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem said negotiations with Israel would amount to "surrender", before the group launched missiles early Thursday at military sites in central Israel, where air raid sirens sounded.
The militant group said its fighters launched more than 80 attacks against Israel on Wednesday, the largest daily number in the current war, and attacked Israeli forces in nine border towns.
As the fighting showed little sign of respite, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the military had "created a genuine security zone" in southern Lebanon and was expanding it.
"We are simply creating a larger buffer zone" that could prevent a ground invasion of Israel and missile attacks, he said in a video shared by his office.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on both sides to stop fighting.

Markets mixed

With thousands more US troops reportedly headed to the Middle East, Iran also threatened to open a new front by targeting Red Sea shipping should the United States launch a ground invasion.
In the event of a US ground invasion, Iran would block the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which connects the Indian Ocean to the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, an unnamed military official told local media.
The divergent messages on talks and de-escalation saw oil prices rise Thursday and equities mixed as developments were tracked by investors recently buoyed by Trump appearing to step back from the goal of regime change earlier in the week.
But while crude prices are down from last week, uncertainty and the continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz -- through which 20 percent of oil and gas passes -- continued to cast a shadow.
Araghchi assured the strait was "closed only to enemies" of Iran.
"There is no reason to allow the ships of our enemies and their allies to pass," he said.
Pakistan's defence minister, whose government has offered to host talks between Iranian and American envoys to stop the war, appeared to take a jab at the US operation that has closed the key waterway.
"The goal of the war seems to have shifted to opening the Strait of Hormuz, which was open before the war," Khawaja Asif posted on X, alongside hand-clapping emojis.
burs-jfx/ceg

exports

Zimbabwe lithium export ban triggers crackdown, concerns

BY ENOS DENHERE

  • The February 26 ban covered exports of all raw minerals but focused on raw lithium, a critical mineral of which Zimbabwe is Africa's largest producer, shipping most to China's massive rechargeable battery sector.
  • A month after banning raw lithium exports, Zimbabwe is tightening its regulations and ramping up its crackdown on mineral smuggling in a major shake-up that is winning local praise even as it stirs concerns.
  • The February 26 ban covered exports of all raw minerals but focused on raw lithium, a critical mineral of which Zimbabwe is Africa's largest producer, shipping most to China's massive rechargeable battery sector.
A month after banning raw lithium exports, Zimbabwe is tightening its regulations and ramping up its crackdown on mineral smuggling in a major shake-up that is winning local praise even as it stirs concerns.
The February 26 ban covered exports of all raw minerals but focused on raw lithium, a critical mineral of which Zimbabwe is Africa's largest producer, shipping most to China's massive rechargeable battery sector.
While welcoming the move as a long overdue step towards ending the haemorrhaging of the country's natural wealth, critics question its feasibility, while workers fear for their jobs.
Zimbabwe had already flagged in June that raw exports would be banned from January 2027 to force local processing and industrialisation, echoing a position taken by several African countries, most recently Malawi in October. 
But Harare abruptly brought forward the halt by 10 months after it noticed a suspicious scramble by mining firms to rush out production and exports, Mining Minister Polite Kambamura said earlier this month.
"After the notice on the intended ban, the industry increased production and export volumes, while applications for lithium export permits also surged, as producers sought to move as much product as possible before the notice period," Kambamura said.
Zimbabwe's "multi-element" geology makes it easy for valuable minerals to be hidden in plain sight, he said. 
With no local testing or controls of exports, secondary minerals like tantalum, beryl and tin were being shipped out undetected and untaxed.  
"Without domestic processing, the government cannot accurately tax the full mineral wealth," Kambamura said.
Chinese investors are spending millions of dollars to build plants to process lithium, one-step up the value chain, in a form that Zimbabwe would allow to exit. The first is expected to open in the coming weeks.
Authorities will in the "near future" install scanning technology at border posts to detect undeclared rare earth minerals, Kambamura told parliament.
The government is also working on a critical mineral policy and planning a new survey to map and quantify its rare earth mineral resources, he said.
Officials have said massive financial "leakages" triggered the sudden halt, but they have not revealed the scale of the losses, with some telling AFP they were still working on an estimate.
- Red flags - 
The ban was not backed by a formal law, which made it weak and potentially unenforceable, said Farai Maguwu, director of the mining watchdog Centre for Natural Resource Governance.
"The mining sector is such a robust and sensitive sector -- it can't be governed through press statements," he told AFP, calling for legislation to include mandatory minimum sentences for convicted offenders.
There had been several red flags indicating a rush to beat the lithium ban, he said.
"According to workers at the mines, some 30-tonne trucks that carry lithium concentrate exceed their maximum loads by 15 more tonnes," he said. 
Storage sites just across the border in Mozambique, which has ports on the Indian Ocean, were reportedly bursting with Zimbabwean minerals, he said.
Labour leaders warned that miners are bearing the brunt of the sudden policy shift. 
"We fear it shall be passed down to workers through restructuring, short‑time work and possible retrenchment," Justice Chinhema, secretary of the Zimbabwe Diamond and Allied Minerals Workers Union, said.
"Workers are now paying twice -– first through unsafe production rushes, and now through likely job and income insecurity," he said.
A worker at Prospect Lithium Zimbabwe who asked for anonymity said management was "scrapping our overtime and going back to the normal eight-hour shifts from the 11- and 12-hour shifts."
With many dependent on overtime pay and on rolling three-month contracts, anxiety was high.
At the historic Bikita Minerals, the country's largest lithium mine, workers were bracing for a thin paycheque, with wages linked to production targets, and some were on forced leave, a worker said, also anonymously.
Zimbabwe is "flirting with an opportunity" to maximise revenue from the global green energy boom, said human rights defender Rashweat Mukundu.
But he questioned if the country had the "internal capacity" -- including infrastructure and know-how -- to go as far as manufacturing its own batteries.
"Do we have the expertise? At what point exactly are we looking at value addition?" Mukundu asked.
The policy could also scare off other mining investment, he said, asking: "Are we putting ourselves out of competition?"
str/br/ho/kjm/ceg

diplomacy

WTO mulls future of global trade under cloud of Mideast war

BY AGNèS PEDRERO

  • Two years after the WTO's last ministerial conference in Abu Dhabi failed to make meaningful progress on key issues like fisheries and agriculture, member states face even stauncher challenges.
  • The World Trade Organization's 166 members appeared deeply divided as ministers gathered in the Cameroonian capital for a key conference starting Thursday, amid global economic turmoil linked to the Middle East war.
  • Two years after the WTO's last ministerial conference in Abu Dhabi failed to make meaningful progress on key issues like fisheries and agriculture, member states face even stauncher challenges.
The World Trade Organization's 166 members appeared deeply divided as ministers gathered in the Cameroonian capital for a key conference starting Thursday, amid global economic turmoil linked to the Middle East war.
Over four days, WTO members will try to revitalise an institution weakened by geopolitical tensions, stalled negotiations and rising protectionism -- against the backdrop of a war that poses a serious threat to international trade.
The atmosphere ahead of the meeting was "tense", a Western diplomatic source told AFP, asking not to be named.
"I think that's because it's tense in the global trading system."
WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala called Wednesday for the Yaounde meeting to "launch the next chapter of the multilateral trading system".
She slammed "the unilateralism we have been seeing", decrying the "collective failure" of WTO members over the years to confront their concerns and frustrations.

'A pivotal moment'

The WTO ministerial conference, its supreme decision-making body, is usually held every other year.
Ahead of the 14th edition (MC14), a number of countries expressed hope that the conference could mark a turning point for the organisation.
Two years after the WTO's last ministerial conference in Abu Dhabi failed to make meaningful progress on key issues like fisheries and agriculture, member states face even stauncher challenges.
Their main task will be to develop a plan towards reforming a WTO that has proven to be powerless in the face of rising protectionism and largely incapable of negotiating new agreements.
European Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic called Monday for "serious" reform of the organisation, insisting that "the level playing field, overcapacity and market policies must be better tackled than in the past".
Britain also said in a recent submission that it believes "the WTO is at a pivotal moment", warning that "without reform it will slide into irrelevance".
Several members are calling for modifying the organisation's decision-making procedures, which have long been limited by a rule requiring consensus among all members.
There are also calls to overhaul rules related to special treatment of developing countries and achieving a level playing field for trade, as well as a push to restore the organisation's crippled dispute settlement system.
But national interests diverge sharply, making any diplomatic breakthrough in Yaounde uncertain, according to experts and diplomats.
"I very much doubt that there would be any actual agreement at MC14 on any of the reform issues," Stuart Harbinson of the European Centre for International Political Economy think-tank in Brussels told AFP.
"The membership is too divided on the substantive issues."

Trump's return

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 WTO needs to change if it intends to have any relevance as the international trading system transitions to focus on reciprocity and balance," US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on Monday.
Preparatory discussions in Geneva, where the WTO is based, revealed that some countries -- the United States and India in particular -- were not satisfied with the proposed roadmap.
Washington is particularly critical of the WTO's "most-favoured nation" (MFN) principle, which aims to extend any trade advantage granted to one trading partner to all others, in a bid to avoid discrimination.
But China, like other developing countries, has said it wants this rule to "remain the bedrock of the WTO".
"We need a rules-based system, not a power-based system," a Chinese diplomatic source told AFP.
WTO reform has become more urgent with the prolonged paralysis of the organisation's dispute settlement system.
The appeals body has been frozen since 2019 by the United States blocking the appointment of new judges.
For many, however, the stakes in Yaounde go beyond simply adopting a roadmap.
"It's about determining whether the WTO still has a role to play in its core mission, which is to reduce barriers to trade at a time when there's a tendency to increase them,” former WTO chief Pascal Lamy told AFP.
apo/nl/rjm/cw/ceg

US

Iran says 'no negotiations' as US warns to accept 15-point deal

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

  • "President Trump does not bluff and he is prepared to unleash hell."
  • US President Donald Trump is ready to "unleash hell" if Iran does not accept a deal to end the nearly four-week Middle East war, the White House warned Wednesday, but a defiant Tehran said it did not intend to negotiate.
  • "President Trump does not bluff and he is prepared to unleash hell."
US President Donald Trump is ready to "unleash hell" if Iran does not accept a deal to end the nearly four-week Middle East war, the White House warned Wednesday, but a defiant Tehran said it did not intend to negotiate.
The ramped-up rhetoric dashed hopes of any imminent de-escalation as violence on the ground showed no sign of abating, with Iran, Israel, Lebanon, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan and Saudi Arabia all coming under fire.
Trump insisted later Wednesday that Iran was taking part in peace talks, but Tehran is denying it because their negotiators fear being killed by their own side.
"They are negotiating, by the way, and they want to make a deal so badly," Trump told a dinner for Republican members of Congress.
"But they're afraid to say it, because they figure they'll be killed by their own people," he said. "They're also afraid they'll be killed by us."
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi denied that Iran was negotiating with the United States, saying an exchange of messages through "friendly countries" did not equate to talks with Washington.
"We do not intend to negotiate," Araghchi told state TV. "We seek an end to the war on our own terms."
In Pakistan, officials said Islamabad had conveyed to Tehran a 15-point American plan to stop the fighting that began on February 28.
Iran' state-controlled Press TV cited an unidentified official as saying Tehran had "responded negatively" to the plan and the war would end only on Tehran's terms, which include guarantees against future attacks.

'Unleash hell'

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said talks had been "productive" but declined to say whom the United States was dealing with in Tehran following the assassination of supreme leader Ali Khamenei.
His son and successor Mojtaba Khamenei has not been seen in public.
"If Iran fails to accept the reality of the current moment... Trump will ensure they are hit harder than they have ever been hit before," Leavitt said. "President Trump does not bluff and he is prepared to unleash hell."
With thousands more US troops reportedly headed to the Middle East, Iran also threatened to open a new front by targeting Red Sea shipping should the United States launch a ground invasion.
Iran's military said cruise missiles fired at the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier group had "forced it to change its position" and warned of "powerful strikes" when the fleet comes into range.
Admiral Brad Cooper, head of US Central Command, said the United States had hit two-thirds of Iran's production facilities for missiles and drones, and drone and missile launch rates were down by 90 percent.
In a video on X, Cooper also estimated that 92 percent of the Iranian navy's largest vessels had been damaged or destroyed.
"They've now lost the ability to meaningfully project naval power and influence around the region and around the world," he said.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the war was "out of control" and had "gone too far." 

Iranian conditions

  
According to The New York Times, the 15-point US plan touches on Iran's contested nuclear and missile programs as well as "maritime routes."
Tehran has largely blocked the vital Strait of Hormuz oil route in retaliation for the US-Israeli attacks, pushing up global energy prices.
The Iranian official quoted by Press TV said Tehran had put forward its own five conditions for hostilities to end.
They include a robust mechanism guaranteeing that neither Israel nor the United States will resume the war, and compensation for war damages.
Iran's conditions also include a cessation of hostilities on all regional fronts and against all "resistance groups," a reference to the Tehran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah that has been under attack from Israel.
Tehran also wants international recognition and guarantees of Iran's rights to exercise its sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz.
In the event of a US ground invasion, Iran would also block the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, which connects the Indian Ocean to the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, an unidentified military official told local media.
Iran supports and arms the Houthi rebel group in Yemen, which greatly reduced Red Sea traffic in October 2023 when it began attacking vessels in retaliation for Israel's bombardment of Gaza.

"Closed only to enemies'

While striking targets in Iran on Wednesday, Israel also kept up its campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon, with planes pounding the southern suburbs of Beirut.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his forces were "expanding" a "buffer zone" in Lebanon, while Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem said negotiating with Israel under fire would amount to "surrender" for Lebanon. 
Lebanon was pulled into the war when Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel on March 2 to avenge the killing of Ayatollah Khamenei.
According to Lebanese authorities, more than 1,000 people have been killed and upwards of one million people displaced in over three weeks of Israeli strikes.
With the war sending energy prices soaring, fueling fears of higher inflation and weaker global growth, markets remained focused on the Strait of Hormuz, through which one fifth of the world's oil usually passes.
Araghchi said the strait was "closed only to enemies," adding that "There is no reason to allow the ships of our enemies and their allies to pass."
Stock markets rallied and oil prices had tumbled on initial reports of potential negotiations, but on Wednesday the Brent crude benchmark crept back above $100 a barrel. 
burs/cl/js

politics

UN pushes fuel solution for Cuba aid work amid US talks

  • The UN's plan is an expansion of its response to Hurricane Melissa, which slammed Cuba in October, to include the humanitarian impact of the energy crisis.
  • The United Nations has proposed an emergency plan for crisis-hit Cuba, including tracking fuel use, amid talks with the United States on allowing energy imports for humanitarian services, a UN official said Wednesday.
  • The UN's plan is an expansion of its response to Hurricane Melissa, which slammed Cuba in October, to include the humanitarian impact of the energy crisis.
The United Nations has proposed an emergency plan for crisis-hit Cuba, including tracking fuel use, amid talks with the United States on allowing energy imports for humanitarian services, a UN official said Wednesday.
Francisco Pichon, the UN coordinator in Cuba, said the $94.1 million plan was proposed to keep critical services running for the country's most vulnerable people and "save lives."
"If the current situation continues and the country's fuel reserves are exhausted, we do fear a rapid deterioration, with the potential loss of life," Pichon told reporters including AFP.
"The feasibility and implementation of this action plan obviously depend on fuel solutions," he said.
US President Donald Trump imposed a de facto oil blockade on Cuba in January, deepening an energy and economic crisis as he squeezes the communist government.
The UN has been in talks with Washington to allow fuel in for humanitarian purposes.
Pichon said the action plan and a "fuel traceability model" were being proposed "as instruments to try to reach an agreement, a pathway to gain access to fuel."
He said a fuel monitoring plan was needed "to ensure that it goes to the critical, essential services that are prioritized in the plan."
"All solutions are being considered, including working with the non-state sector," he said.
Washington slightly eased the embargo last month to allow oil sales to Cuba's small private sector.
Pichon said the plan was presented to dozens of diplomats and representatives of international NGOs on Tuesday. US diplomats were invited, but Pichon said he did not know if they were there.
The UN's plan is an expansion of its response to Hurricane Melissa, which slammed Cuba in October, to include the humanitarian impact of the energy crisis.
UN staff have been largely unable to carry out field work and UN agencies are having difficulty retrieving aid shipments from Havana's airports.
UN chief Antonio Guterres warned last month that Cuba risked a humanitarian "collapse" if it were denied oil.
Cubans have endured regular blackouts that can last more than 20 hours, with two nationwide outages last week alone.
President Miguel Diaz-Canel has imposed emergency measures to conserve fuel, including strict fuel rationing.
lt/js

trial

Day of reckoning arrives for social media after US court loss

BY THOMAS URBAIN

  • - Legislative pressure builds - The Los Angeles and Santa Fe cases are part of a broader wave of legal and regulatory action that gathered pace after Australia moved last year to ban social media for people under 16. 
  • A Los Angeles jury's ruling that Meta and YouTube contributed to a teenage girl's depression marks a potential turning point in the years-long legal battle against social media giants -- one that could carry an enormous price tag.
  • - Legislative pressure builds - The Los Angeles and Santa Fe cases are part of a broader wave of legal and regulatory action that gathered pace after Australia moved last year to ban social media for people under 16. 
A Los Angeles jury's ruling that Meta and YouTube contributed to a teenage girl's depression marks a potential turning point in the years-long legal battle against social media giants -- one that could carry an enormous price tag.
The civil court on Tuesday found Meta and YouTube's parent Google liable for failing to adequately warn young people about the risks of excessive use of their Instagram and YouTube apps, respectively, even though they were aware of the dangers. 
Both Meta and YouTube said Wednesday that they planned to appeal the California verdict. 
A separate jury in Santa Fe, New Mexico, earlier this week found Meta liable for endangering minor users of Facebook and Instagram.

Billions on the line

Meta was quick to note that compensatory damages in the Los Angeles case totalled just $3 million, with a further $3 million in punitive damages awarded by the jury Wednesday.
In New Mexico, the company was ordered to pay $375 million in penalties, a verdict it said it would appeal.
The rulings could ripple across hundreds of pending lawsuits against social media companies facing similar allegations, with the total liability potentially running into the billions of dollars.
"Bellwether trials like this one serve as signals about how juries respond to specific theories of harm," said Daryl Lim, a law professor at Pennsylvania State University.
He added that the verdict "should increase the pressure" on platforms to settle outstanding cases.
Snap and TikTok settled with the plaintiff in the Los Angeles case before the trial began, sidestepping a jury entirely.

Self-regulation

The cases center on users like Kaley G.M., the plaintiff in the Los Angeles case, who said she developed depression, chronic anxiety and body image issues from early and intense exposure to social media. 
Researchers have increasingly linked such sufferings to heavy social media use among adolescents.
"For years, social media companies have claimed they're hard at work making their platforms safer for kids and teenagers," said Minda Smiley, an analyst at eMarketer. "Critics have long been skeptical."
"This verdict could mark the start of a difficult new chapter for social platforms -- one where the rules they write for themselves no longer cut it," she added.
Vanitha Swaminathan, a marketing professor at the University of Pittsburgh, said the ruling exposed "an important tension between the goals of the platform companies and the issues it poses for some of its most vulnerable consumers."

New crack in Section 230

For year, US platforms have sheltered behind Section 230, a legal provision shielding them from liability for content posted by their users. 
But lawyers for Kaley G.M. chose a different battlefield: the design of the platforms themselves, which they argued were engineered to trap and addict young users.
The strategy amounts to a "narrowing" of Section 230 that offers "alternative pathways to liability," said Lim at Pennsylvania State University.

Legislative pressure builds

The Los Angeles and Santa Fe cases are part of a broader wave of legal and regulatory action that gathered pace after Australia moved last year to ban social media for people under 16. 
Several US states have since passed or are weighing their own legislation to protect minors online, though none has set a hard minimum age.
Congress has so far stayed on the sidelines. "It usually steps in only after courts and state governments have begun to reshape the policy landscape," Lim said.
Should the courts ultimately compel platforms to overhaul their products, the consequences could be severe. 
"Their ad businesses thrive off attention," said Jasmine Enberg of Scalable. "If product changes make their apps less engaging, that makes them less valuable to advertisers."
"If these companies are forced to redesign their products," she warned, "that poses an existential threat to their business models."
tu/arp/js/dw 

Global Edition

Oil prices slip, stocks rally as Washington, Tehran bicker over talks

  • The equities push was "really related to oil prices going down and that anticipated end of the hostilities, or at least a settling down of hostilities."
  • Oil prices fell and stock markets rallied Wednesday on reports of a US plan to end the war with Iran -- which promptly rejected Washington's overtures, according to state media.
  • The equities push was "really related to oil prices going down and that anticipated end of the hostilities, or at least a settling down of hostilities."
Oil prices fell and stock markets rallied Wednesday on reports of a US plan to end the war with Iran -- which promptly rejected Washington's overtures, according to state media.
After nearly four weeks of conflict, investors jumped on signs that hostilities could be winding down, with the safe-haven dollar losing support.
Analysts pointed out, however, that the arrival of more US troops in the Middle East and fresh missile strikes between Iran and Israel suggested that the path forward was far from clear.
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday threatened to "unleash hell" if Iran did not strike a deal, but Tehran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said his country did not intend to negotiate.
Moreover, an unnamed Iranian military official told local media that Tehran would target shipping in the Red Sea if the Washington launched a ground invasion. 
While global shares rose modestly, oil prices dipped as the Brent crude benchmark was down 2.2 percent at $102.22 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate was also off 2.2 percent at $90.32 a barrel.
Earlier, crude futures had plunged more than six percent.
Jack Ablin, from Cresset wealth management, said the stocks rally was driven by investors "really just latching on to any promising news right now."
The equities push was "really related to oil prices going down and that anticipated end of the hostilities, or at least a settling down of hostilities."

Crisis warning

As World Trade Organization ministers prepared to meet in Yaounde, the head of the International Chamber of Commerce bluntly warned that the conflict could cause the "worst industrial crisis" in decades.
"The head of the International Energy Agency has warned that the world is facing an energy crisis more severe than the oil shocks of the 1970s," said John Denton. 
"From a business perspective, we believe this could yet become the worst industrial crisis in living memory."
Offering respite to some countries, Tehran announced it would let oil vessels from "non-hostile" nations pass through the crucial Strait of Hormuz.
The head of the International Energy Agency, Fatih Birol, said he was "ready to move forward" with an additional release of oil reserves "if and when necessary."
Wall Street closed in the green, with the Dow rising 0.7 percent, the broader-based S&P 500 up 0.5 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq adding 0.8 percent.
In Europe, London, Frankfurt and Paris closed up just shy of 1.5 percent ahead.
Asian markets closed with strong gains, led by Tokyo, which won nearly three percent.
European Central Bank chief Christine Lagarde said the ECB has several options for dealing with the energy shock, vowing policymakers would not be "paralysed by hesitation."
At its most recent meeting last week, the ECB kept interest rates on hold, while warning of higher inflation and lower growth in the eurozone owing to the war.
However, analysts have raised bets on the central bank hiking borrowing costs as soon as next month to try and keep the lid on an expected surge in consumer prices.

Key figures at around 2015 GMT

Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 2.2 percent at $102.22 a barrel
West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 2.2 percent at $90.32 a barrel
New York - Dow: UP 0.7 percent at 46,429.49 points (close)
New York - S&P 500: UP 0.5 percent at 6,591.90 (close)
New York - Nasdaq Composite: UP 0.8 percent at 21,929.83 (close)
London - FTSE 100: UP 1.4 percent at 10,106.84 points (close)
Paris - CAC 40: UP 1.3 percent at 7,846.55 (close)
Frankfurt - DAX: UP 1.4 percent at 22,957.087 (close)
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 2.9 percent at 53,749.62 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 1.1 percent at 25,335.95 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: UP 1.3 percent at 3,931.84 (close)
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1565 from $1.1583 on Tuesday
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3365 from $1.3381
Dollar/yen: UP at 159.47 yen from 159.03 yen
Euro/pound: DOWN at 86.52 pence from 86.57 pence
burs-bcp-aha/dw

diplomacy

Trump's Beijing trip rescheduled for May, after Iran delay

BY DANNY KEMP

  • "My meeting with the Highly Respected President of China, President Xi Jinping, which was originally postponed due to our Military operation in Iran, has been rescheduled, and will take place in Beijing on May 14th and 15th," Trump said on his Truth Social network.
  • US President Donald Trump said Wednesday he will meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing in May after delaying an earlier summit because of the war against Iran.
  • "My meeting with the Highly Respected President of China, President Xi Jinping, which was originally postponed due to our Military operation in Iran, has been rescheduled, and will take place in Beijing on May 14th and 15th," Trump said on his Truth Social network.
US President Donald Trump said Wednesday he will meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing in May after delaying an earlier summit because of the war against Iran.
Trump said he was looking forward to the "monumental" trip, which was originally due to take place at the end of March, and would host Xi and his wife in Washington later this year.
"My meeting with the Highly Respected President of China, President Xi Jinping, which was originally postponed due to our Military operation in Iran, has been rescheduled, and will take place in Beijing on May 14th and 15th," Trump said on his Truth Social network.
Trump said US and Chinese officials were "finalizing preparations" for the "historic" Beijing and Washington visits.
"I look very much forward to spending time with President Xi in what will be, I am sure, a Monumental Event," Trump added.
The White House had announced the new dates shortly before Trump's social media post. 
Trump had been set to travel to Beijing between March 31 and April for the first time in his second term, for a summit aimed at resetting trade ties between the world's two largest economies.
The Chinese and US presidents met in South Korea in October on the sidelines of a regional summit, and agreed a truce in the trade war sparked by Trump's sweeping global tariffs.
But Trump said on March 16 that he had asked China to postpone the meeting while he deals with the war in the Middle East.
"Because of the war I want to be here, I have to be here, I feel. And so we've requested that we delay it a month or so," Trump told reporters at the time.

'Do the math'

The White House remained coy as to whether the formal rescheduling of the visit meant Trump expected the war with Iran, one of China's closest geopolitical allies, to end by that time.
"We've always estimated approximately four to six weeks (for the length of military operations against Iran), so you could do the math on that," Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt added.
"President Xi understood that it's very important for the president to be here throughout these combat operations right now. He understood obviously the request to postpone and accepted it."
But analysts have suggested China will be in a stronger position to extract concessions from Trump when he finally visits.
His decision last month to join Israel in strikes on Iran has plunged the Middle East into violence, pushed energy prices to years-long highs and seeded fears of global supply shortages due to Iran's effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
With Trump struggling to define how the intervention will end and traditional allies reluctant to back him, the US leader may come to China needing a diplomatic win.
Trump's weakened position could help Beijing argue for deeper tariff cuts and limit Washington's ability to push for change on other trade issues like access to critical minerals.
dk/sms

fuel

US EPA issues waiver for E15 fuel to address oil supply issues

  • The EPA issued a "temporary emergency fuel waiver" to allow the sale of E15 -- gasoline blended with 15 percent ethanol -- in the summer.
  • The US Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday issued a temporary emergency waiver to allow countrywide sales of higher-ethanol fuel in the summer, Administrator Lee Zeldin said, easing smog controls amid government concerns about adequate supply.
  • The EPA issued a "temporary emergency fuel waiver" to allow the sale of E15 -- gasoline blended with 15 percent ethanol -- in the summer.
The US Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday issued a temporary emergency waiver to allow countrywide sales of higher-ethanol fuel in the summer, Administrator Lee Zeldin said, easing smog controls amid government concerns about adequate supply.
"Based on the information we possess, we foresee potential for a disruption to the American fuel supply," Zeldin said at the CERAWeek energy conference in Houston, after global oil prices spiked following the launch of the US-Israel war on Iran. 
The EPA issued a "temporary emergency fuel waiver" to allow the sale of E15 -- gasoline blended with 15 percent ethanol -- in the summer. Such sale is normally prohibited due to environmental and health concerns related to the fuel's volatility.
The EPA also removed "all federal impediments to selling E10," gasoline blended with 10 percent ethanol, Zeldin said.
Under the Clean Air Act, the EPA enforces limits on when ethanol-blended fuels can be sold due to concerns about their contributions to ground-level ozone, a primary component of smog.
The EPA's actions on E15 and E10 go into effect on May 1 -- the agency's official start of the summer season -- for 20 days, the maximum allowable under the Clean Air Act.
The US government has frequently issued similar waivers in recent years, often renewing them multiple times each time they expire.
Global oil prices have surged since the war was launched on February 28, with US consumers seeing a 33.6-percent increase at the pump for regular gasoline since then, as per data from the AAA motor club.
Affordability has been a key political concern for US President Donald Trump, who has claimed to have tackled inflation despite prices remaining persistently high.
US consumers have been battered by years of higher-than-expected inflation post-pandemic, with inflation still significantly higher than the central bank's long-term two-percent target.
"President Trump is unleashing American Energy Dominance, and today's action will directly lower prices at the pump and gives a clear demand signal to our domestic biofuels producers," said US Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins.
Rollins also noted that the waiver would be a boost for US farmers, who produce the ethanol that goes into the blended fuel. 
mav-aha/sst

internet

Grieving families hail court victory against Instagram, YouTube

BY ROMAIN FONSEGRIVES

  • - 'Predator' defense - The platforms "had no defense" in this case, said Schott, outraged by the way Meta's lawyers attributed Kaley G.M.'s depression to her chaotic childhood -- surrounded by a neglectful father, a hot-tempered mother, and a sister who attempted suicide.
  • Hearing the news that Instagram and YouTube had been found liable Wednesday for contributing to a young American woman's depression, Lori Schott jumped for joy and wept, as if it were her own daughter who had just won her case.
  • - 'Predator' defense - The platforms "had no defense" in this case, said Schott, outraged by the way Meta's lawyers attributed Kaley G.M.'s depression to her chaotic childhood -- surrounded by a neglectful father, a hot-tempered mother, and a sister who attempted suicide.
Hearing the news that Instagram and YouTube had been found liable Wednesday for contributing to a young American woman's depression, Lori Schott jumped for joy and wept, as if it were her own daughter who had just won her case.
"We have ripped the door of this courthouse open in memory of our kids, and we're shining a light," the Colorado farmer told AFP, having traveled more than 1,800 kilometers (1,112 miles) to attend the verdict in Los Angeles.
It is "validation that what we saw, our children being harmed, was true. It's going to make the world safer."
This landmark trial involved Kaley G.M., a 20-year-old Californian who had been a compulsive user of various social media platforms since childhood and accused them of exacerbating her mental health issues and suicidal thoughts.
TikTok and Snapchat had reached a financial settlement to avoid going to court, but Google, the owner of YouTube, and Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, had opted for a legal battle.
The ruling on Monday ordering them to pay $3 million in damages is not just a victory for the young woman.
It also sets a precedent for thousands of American families who accuse the social media industry of knowingly designing its platforms to make children addicted, through features such as "likes," notifications, infinite scrolling, and autoplay videos.

'Predator' defense

The platforms "had no defense" in this case, said Schott, outraged by the way Meta's lawyers attributed Kaley G.M.'s depression to her chaotic childhood -- surrounded by a neglectful father, a hot-tempered mother, and a sister who attempted suicide.
"Their defense is to attack Kaley and her family. And what does a predator do? A predator attacks the victim," she said.
Angry, the 60-year-old cannot come to terms with the loss of her daughter Annalee, a little blonde girl in a cowboy hat whose smile lights up the pin attached to the lapel of her jacket.
After her suicide at age 18, her mother discovered a note explaining that she thought she was ugly and realized that she constantly compared herself to other women on social media who regularly used filters to alter their appearance.
"It was all built into the design of these platforms to keep little girls engaged," she said, still shocked by the internal documents revealed during the trial.
These confidential records notably showed how their architecture reduced users to a series of statistics, such as "customer lifetime value," representing the total expected profit for a person over their entire time on the platform.
"Their internal operation said kids are worth $270 lifetime value," she whispered, her throat tightening. "My daughter is worth a hell of a lot more than $270."

'Shaping public opinion'

During the trial, lawyers for YouTube and Instagram sought to convince the court that these platforms no longer aim to maximize the amount of time their users spend online, unlike in their early days.
Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, also expressed regret on the stand that Instagram waited until 2022 to verify the ages of its users.
Outside the courtroom, his company is ramping up advertising to promote new Instagram accounts for teens, which are private by default and block messages from people not followed by users under 16.
The Silicon Valley giant is also promoting new features to alert parents if their teen repeatedly searches for content related to suicide or self-harm on Instagram.
But for Julianna Arnold, whose daughter Coco died at age 17 after receiving fentanyl from a stranger she met on Instagram, these efforts ring hollow.
"People need to wake up and start seeing through their PR. They're not doing nearly enough for kids' safety," said the Californian, co-founder of the victims' advocacy group Parents Rise.
For her, the increase in lawsuits against these platforms is essential, as the US Congress is currently considering a bill that would, for the first time, impose a "duty of care" on social media companies.
"This decision is not going to change everything, but it helps us to sway public opinion," she insisted. "That's the only way to get the ear of legislators in Washington."
rfo/arp/sms

entertainment

Internet providers not liable for music piracy by users: top US court

BY CHRIS LEFKOW

  • In a unanimous 9-0 ruling, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Cox and said an ISP was liable "only if it intended that the provided service be used for infringement."
  • The US Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday in a landmark copyright case that internet service providers (ISPs) are not liable for online pirating of music by their users.
  • In a unanimous 9-0 ruling, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Cox and said an ISP was liable "only if it intended that the provided service be used for infringement."
The US Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday in a landmark copyright case that internet service providers (ISPs) are not liable for online pirating of music by their users.
Cox Communications, a major broadband ISP, had asked the top court to throw out a jury verdict awarding $1 billion in damages to Sony Music Entertainment and other record labels.
Cox was accused in the case of failing to take action against customers accused of illegally downloading copyrighted music.
In a unanimous 9-0 ruling, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Cox and said an ISP was liable "only if it intended that the provided service be used for infringement."
"A company is not liable as a copyright infringer for merely providing a service to the general public with knowledge that it will be used by some to infringe copyrights," the court said in an opinion written by Justice Clarence Thomas.
"Cox repeatedly discouraged copyright infringement by sending warnings, suspending services, and terminating accounts," the court said.
"A provider induces infringement if it actively encourages infringement through specific acts," it said. "Cox neither induced its users' infringement nor provided a service tailored to infringement."
Cox Communications welcomed the court's decision, calling it a "decisive victory for the broadband industry and for the American people who depend on reliable internet service."
"This opinion affirms that internet service providers are not copyright police and should not be held liable for the actions of their customers," the company said in a statement.
The ruling was also welcomed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which called it a "win for freedom of expression online."
"If defined too broadly, secondary copyright liability for internet service providers can pose a serious threat to free speech online," Evelyn Danforth-Scott, an ACLU attorney, said in a statement.
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) meanwhile expressed disappointment.
"To be effective, copyright law must protect creators and markets from harmful infringement," RIAA chairman and CEO Mitch Glazier said.
During oral arguments before the Supreme Court in December, Joshua Rosenkranz, an attorney representing Cox, had warned of "cataclysmic" consequences if the court did not limit the company's copyright liability.
The only way for an ISP to avoid liability is to "cut off the internet, not just for the accused infringer, but for anyone else who happens to use the same connection," Rosenkranz said.
"That could be entire towns, universities or hospitals, turning internet providers into internet police," he said.
cl/des

court

Study links major polluters to big climate damages bill

BY NICK PERRY

  • "We were surprised not only by the overall magnitude of estimated damages, which are in the tens of trillions of dollars, but also by how much larger future damages from past emissions are than past damages from past emissions," Burke said. 
  • The economic cost of carbon emissions is far higher than previously estimated, said a new study Wednesday that links big polluters to tens of trillions of dollars in climate-related damages worldwide.
  • "We were surprised not only by the overall magnitude of estimated damages, which are in the tens of trillions of dollars, but also by how much larger future damages from past emissions are than past damages from past emissions," Burke said. 
The economic cost of carbon emissions is far higher than previously estimated, said a new study Wednesday that links big polluters to tens of trillions of dollars in climate-related damages worldwide.
The study in the journal Nature measures how human-caused warming affects economic growth and assigns a share of global damages to specific emitters -- from major economies to oil giants.
The findings land as a growing wave of lawsuits seek to hold fossil fuel producers and other carbon-heavy businesses accountable for climate "loss and damage".
Claimants argue that large polluters are legally liable for their outsized contribution to climate change and its associated extreme weather events, particularly in poorer nations.
This study did not seek to answer the "legal and ethical" question of compensation, said Marshall Burke, a professor at Stanford University and the study's lead author.
"Our goal was first and foremost scientific, but we hope to contribute to the broader policy discussion of how to measure loss and damage and what to do about it," Burke told AFP.
It does offer "guidance" on the scale of potential costs and a framework "for estimating how specific emissions from specific emitters at specific points in time lead to damages" worldwide, he added.
They assessed the impact of rising temperatures on economic factors including labour productivity and agriculture, but also some associated climate-driven weather extremes.
US emissions between 1990 and 2020 were the largest source of estimated global damages at $10.2 trillion followed by China ($8.7 trillion) and the European Union ($6.4 trillion).
Emissions linked to Saudi oil giant Saudi Aramco between 1988 and 2015 resulted in $3 trillion in cumulative global economic damages by 2020, the study also said.

Settling debts

But the authors found the largest share of climate damages lies ahead.
"We were surprised not only by the overall magnitude of estimated damages, which are in the tens of trillions of dollars, but also by how much larger future damages from past emissions are than past damages from past emissions," Burke said. 
One tonne of C02 emitted in 1990 caused about $180 in global damages by 2020, but was expected to inflict a further $1,840 through 2100 -- roughly 10 times more than the costs already incurred.
This is because CO2 has a long lifespan, lingering in the atmosphere where it contributes to warming for decades to come.
For this reason "settling debts for past damages will not settle debts for past emissions", the authors wrote.
Even under relatively conservative assumptions, the cost per tonne of carbon emitted is far higher than many government estimates.
The research also highlights how high-emitting activities such as air travel contribute to future damage. Taking a long-haul flight each year over a decade, for example, could generate around $25,000 in losses by 2100.
As emissions rise and poorer nations bear the brunt, wealthy countries and fossil fuel businesses are facing mounting scrutiny over their disproportionate role in driving climate damage.
Last year, a separate Nature study found extreme heat linked to emissions from 111 fossil fuel companies caused $28 trillion in global economic losses between 1991 and 2020.
Companies have long argued it is impossible to attribute harm from a global problem to any single emitter, and courts have been cautious about awarding compensation.
np/st

conflict

Hungary says will phase out gas deliveries to Ukraine

  • Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, whose country is a major gas supplier to Ukraine, has accused Kyiv of delaying repairs on the pipeline, effectively stopping the flow of Russian oil to Hungary and its neighbour Slovakia.
  • Hungary's prime minister said Wednesday that Budapest would phase out gas deliveries to Ukraine, the latest salvo in the feud between the two countries over a damaged pipeline transporting Russian oil.
  • Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, whose country is a major gas supplier to Ukraine, has accused Kyiv of delaying repairs on the pipeline, effectively stopping the flow of Russian oil to Hungary and its neighbour Slovakia.
Hungary's prime minister said Wednesday that Budapest would phase out gas deliveries to Ukraine, the latest salvo in the feud between the two countries over a damaged pipeline transporting Russian oil.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, whose country is a major gas supplier to Ukraine, has accused Kyiv of delaying repairs on the pipeline, effectively stopping the flow of Russian oil to Hungary and its neighbour Slovakia.
"To break the oil blockade and guarantee the security of Hungary's energy supply, new measures are now necessary," Orban said in a video posted on Facebook.
"We are gradually halting gas shipments from Hungary to Ukraine and storing the gas that remains here domestically. Until Ukraine supplies oil, it will receive no gas from Hungary," he added.
Ukraine said Hungary had not yet halted deliveries and that the only impact would be felt by Budapest from the lost revenue from gas sales.
"Ukraine knows where to obtain the required gas volumes even in the event that Hungary stops its supplies," Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesman Georgiy Tykhy told reporters.
Ukrainian officials insist the Druzhba (Friendship) pipeline, which crosses its territory, was damaged by Russian airstrikes on January 27.

Sanctions blocked

Hungary and Slovakia, which have obtained exemptions from the European Union to continue purchasing Russian oil, accuse Kyiv of dragging their feet to repair it. 
In retaliation, Orban -- who is facing parliamentary elections next month -- is blocking a European loan of 90 billion euros ($104 billion) to Ukraine. 
Last week, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced that the EU would help reopen the Druzhba pipeline. 
Budapest and Bratislava are also blocking the official adoption of new economic sanctions against Russia, endorsed by other EU countries. 
According to analysts at the pro-government Hungarian Economic Research Foundation (Oeconomus), Hungary has become one of Ukraine's main gas suppliers. 
Ukraine imported 2.94 billion cubic metres of gas from Hungary in 2025, the top source for Ukrainian imports, accounting for 45.5 percent of all Ukrainian imports, Ukrainian consultancy ExPro said in a report.
ExPro said separately that Ukraine's imports from Hungary were already slightly dropping as a share in 2026, down to 34 percent of Ukraine's import mix in March 2026.
Ukraine's total gas consumption in 2025 was 21 billion cubic metres, the Dixi group consultancy said in a report in March, meaning Hungary accounted for 14 percent of Ukraine's total gas use in 2025.
burs/jj