children

Florida sues OpenAI, CEO Altman over ChatGPT harm to minors

  • "We believe that OpenAI and its ChatGPT and Sam Altman personally are liable for potentially up to billions of dollars," he said.
  • Florida's attorney general on Monday sued OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman, accusing the company's ChatGPT chatbot of endangering young users by making them addicted and encouraging harmful behaviors.
  • "We believe that OpenAI and its ChatGPT and Sam Altman personally are liable for potentially up to billions of dollars," he said.
Florida's attorney general on Monday sued OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman, accusing the company's ChatGPT chatbot of endangering young users by making them addicted and encouraging harmful behaviors.
"Today we're here to announce that we recently filed a monumental civil lawsuit against Sam Altman and ChatGPT for endangering our kids and deceiving parents into believing that this application is safe for use -- it's clearly not," James Uthmeier said at a press conference.
"People are getting hurt, parents are getting deceived, and they need to pay for it."
"ChatGPT, we know, can be addictive. It mimics empathy and human characteristics to trick users into feeding it more information," he added.
In the lawsuit, reviewed by AFP, Uthmeier cites a recent study from Drexel University reporting sleep loss, declining grades and reduced social interaction among teenagers who use chatbots from Character.AI -- an OpenAI competitor -- for conversation.
The attorney general faults OpenAI for failing to put in place stricter rules to verify users' ages, invoking legal statutes on deception and negligence.
The suit states that "despite public knowledge of ChatGPT's use by minors, including preteens, defendants have not taken steps to prevent their use of ChatGPT."
It adds that "the free version of ChatGPT has no gatekeeping or age verification mechanism whatsoever" and that while the paid subscription nominally asks users for their age, "there is no mechanism to verify the age of its users, and no ability to inform parents of what conversations minors are having with ChatGPT."
Contacted by AFP, an OpenAI spokesperson said: "AI is a new and powerful technology, and we believe minors need significant protection, which is why we have put in place industry-leading protections and policies."
In January, the California startup introduced a system that estimates a user's age and, if it detects a minor, applies additional safeguards. 
ChatGPT use is banned for children under 13 and requires parental consent for users aged 13 to 17.
Uthmeier also cited a report from the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), which held several conversations with ChatGPT while posing as a teenager.
The chatbot reportedly produced advice on how to hide eating habits from loved ones and how to plan a suicide or self-harm in a "safe" way.
The Florida attorney general is seeking stronger protections for minor users and damages set at $10,000 per violation.
"We believe that OpenAI and its ChatGPT and Sam Altman personally are liable for potentially up to billions of dollars," he said.
The attorney general invited other states "that want to protect kids" to join the lawsuit.
tu/arp/msp

computers

Nvidia PC chip hailed as 'game changer' in race for AI device

BY KATIE FORSTER

  • Lian Jye Su, a chief analyst at Omdia, told AFP that "legacy" laptop chip makers were now facing a challenge from Nvidia laptops optimised for AI. "Both Intel and AMD are ready hardware-wise, but the question is software -- and creating the right type of device that can match consumer expectations," he said.
  • Laptop chipmakers such as Intel and AMD should be worried about their new rival Nvidia, experts say, after the US hardware titan announced Monday a push into the personal computer market.
  • Lian Jye Su, a chief analyst at Omdia, told AFP that "legacy" laptop chip makers were now facing a challenge from Nvidia laptops optimised for AI. "Both Intel and AMD are ready hardware-wise, but the question is software -- and creating the right type of device that can match consumer expectations," he said.
Laptop chipmakers such as Intel and AMD should be worried about their new rival Nvidia, experts say, after the US hardware titan announced Monday a push into the personal computer market.
But despite Nvidia boss Jensen Huang's assertion that homes will soon contain AI supercomputers, the race is still on to develop an ubiquitous, one-size-fits-all intelligent device.
Huang vowed to "reinvent the PC" with Nvidia's powerful chip for Windows machines, calling it "as big of a deal as the reinvention of the phone into what we now know as the smartphone".
Lian Jye Su, a chief analyst at Omdia, told AFP that "legacy" laptop chip makers were now facing a challenge from Nvidia laptops optimised for AI.
"Both Intel and AMD are ready hardware-wise, but the question is software -- and creating the right type of device that can match consumer expectations," he said.
Nvidia is the world's most valuable company thanks to a construction boom of AI data centres packed with its advanced chips.
Zhibin Xiao, CEO of the US company ZFlow AI, said in Taipei -- where major industry show Computex takes place this week -- that Nvidia bringing its AI prowess to laptops was a "game changer".
"There will be more people working on AI agents," and then "once you have developers, then you have more applications, and then people will buy the AI PC as a consumer", he said.
Others gave similar assessments, although Al Benzoni of Aperion Technologies said he would wait before buying one of the new Nvidia-powered Windows PCs, available later this year.
"I wouldn't want to be the first guinea pig," as "it's not so easy to have everything just smooth" like Apple has managed to do with its laptops.

Next big thing

Creating the world's next big gadget -- whether static, handheld, or wearable like earbuds, pendants and brooches -- is something of a holy grail for AI companies.
"It could be PC, but we are also looking at AI glasses," although neither can be seen as a killer device in the industry at this point, Omdia's Su said.
"There was a point where even an AI PC was not a convincing pitch," but the sudden popularity of agent tool OpenClaw has changed that, he added.
Some companies are also betting on smartphones, although attempts to ditch apps for agentic AI have so far run into problems with computing power and gaining permission to access on-device tools run by different firms.
And ChatGPT maker OpenAI is working with renowned industrial designer Jony Ive on a mystery device for interacting with AI, expected to be ready by next year.
Glasses are the top pick for tech influencer Selina Liu, whose "gptsavyy" Instagram account has more than 300,000 followers.
"Because it's really close to what we see and how we talk, how we interact with people," she reasoned.
In Taipei, Qualcomm boss Cristiano Amon also weighed in on the topic on Monday.
"At home, you're going to have agents. They're going to basically update everyone on your activity and your schedule -- all of the things that you need to do at work," he said.
"Today's devices were not designed for those experiences," Amon said.
But what kind of gadget people will use isn't too important, he added, because "the agent isn't tied to the device".
"It actually moves with the user and is there with the user, regardless of the device that you have."
kaf/fox

social

Survey finds generational gap in attitudes to AI romance

BY REBECCA BAILEY WITH KATIE FORSTER IN TOKYO

  • In terms of emotional support, 48 percent of all respondents aged 18-24 and 47 percent of 25 to 34-year-olds said they thought "AI intimacy companions" -- a category ranging from chatbots to sex dolls -- would improve human happiness in the next decade.
  • Almost 50 percent of young adults in six major economies think AI romantic companionship will improve human happiness through emotional support in the next decade, the results of a large survey suggested Monday.
  • In terms of emotional support, 48 percent of all respondents aged 18-24 and 47 percent of 25 to 34-year-olds said they thought "AI intimacy companions" -- a category ranging from chatbots to sex dolls -- would improve human happiness in the next decade.
Almost 50 percent of young adults in six major economies think AI romantic companionship will improve human happiness through emotional support in the next decade, the results of a large survey suggested Monday.
The percentage dropped progressively across older age categories to just a quarter of people aged 55 and over, according to the research shared exclusively with AFP.
Leaps in AI development have seen people turn to chatbots as confidants and lovers, while advancements in robotics are helping produce more sophisticated sex dolls -- raising questions over the impact on human relationships.
The survey of nearly 10,000 people across the United States, Japan, Germany, Britain, Indonesia and Hong Kong provides a snapshot of this "rapidly changing moral landscape", pollsters YouGov said.
It also shows "a profound ideological split between Western and Asian markets", with the latter seemingly more accepting of technologically enabled sex and romance.
In terms of emotional support, 48 percent of all respondents aged 18-24 and 47 percent of 25 to 34-year-olds said they thought "AI intimacy companions" -- a category ranging from chatbots to sex dolls -- would improve human happiness in the next decade.
When the same question was asked focusing on deeper connection and sexual wellbeing, the figures came in at 32 percent and 38 percent respectively.
On both counts, older people were less optimistic.
The psychological impact of chatbots on vulnerable people has been under scrutiny, with the deaths of several teenagers linked to AI use by their families.

Geographic split

YouGov and the media company that commissioned the research, Tokyo-based Star X Gen, told AFP they were surprised by the regional disparity.
In Indonesia, 50 percent of people -- of all ages -- said they thought AI companions would improve connection and sexual wellness.
It was 34 percent in Hong Kong and 24 percent in Japan, declining to 20 percent in the United States, 15 percent in Germany and just nine percent in Britain.
"While Western audiences largely view synthetic intimacy as a threat to authentic human closeness, Asian audiences appear increasingly ready to integrate AI into their personal and physical lives," said YouGov's Philippe Chan. 
While the use of AI chatbots for romance and sex is becoming more commonplace, their embodiment in robots or dolls is at a more nascent stage.
Across all 9,912 respondents, only 17 percent said they would consider using an "AI intimacy doll", compared to 59 percent who said they would not.
Across the board, younger adults were more likely than older ones to consider using a doll -- and in Japan and Germany, the number of younger people who would think about trying a doll was nearly double the national average.
"While the global (general population) remains wary, the next generation is actively redefining the boundaries of companionship," the report said.
In Japan, over a third of younger adults said they believed AI dolls could provide a sense of love, outnumbering those who disagreed.
reb-kaf/fox

books

'AI simply can't replicate it': Japan embraces zine trend

BY NATSUKO FUKUE AND ATISH PATEL

  • Kishino remains hopeful that physical books and magazines will endure despite the digital age. 
  • Through the noise of rushing papers and whirring belts at a print factory in Kyoto, two creators watch their photo essay come to life in broadsheet form -- part of an effort to win new audiences in the age of AI. Despite the decline of the publishing industry, self-publication and handmade "zine" magazines are growing in popularity in Japan, reflecting the country's enduring love of paper in the digital era.
  • Kishino remains hopeful that physical books and magazines will endure despite the digital age. 
Through the noise of rushing papers and whirring belts at a print factory in Kyoto, two creators watch their photo essay come to life in broadsheet form -- part of an effort to win new audiences in the age of AI.
Despite the decline of the publishing industry, self-publication and handmade "zine" magazines are growing in popularity in Japan, reflecting the country's enduring love of paper in the digital era.
While speaking to AFP at the plant, his hands black with ink, one of the creators, Kazuma Obara said "I think (paper) is a medium that engages all five senses", unlike social media. 
Obara and his creative partner Akihico Mori are among the latest artists to use a printing press offered by the Kyoto Shimbun newspaper, which is aiming to find alternative uses for its machines as subscriptions fall.
As the machine printed their work on newsprint paper, five technicians in uniform quickly flipped through the pages to check the quality.
"I think print media is incredibly open. You can hand it to someone, you can read it together," 40-year-old photographer Obara said, calling mobile phones "very insular".
Mori, a 44-year-old writer, said people can "feel the creator's passion when they hold the work in their hands".
"I think that's what makes it so appealing, and AI simply can't replicate it."

Rise of self-publishing

The pair's work was later showcased at popular international photography festival Kyotographie that ended in May.
Yoshihiko Okazaki of Kyoto Shimbun Printing said the company's services have been used by artists ranging from teenagers to those in their 70s. 
"Surprisingly, it resonates with younger people... I even hear comments like, 'it's interesting precisely because it's old'."
Japan has seen a rapid decline in print media, with book and magazine sales falling to just 40 percent of their 1996 pinnacle of 2.6 trillion yen ($16.3 billion). 
Newspaper circulation peaked in 1997 at 53.76 million, but it dropped to more than half that in 2025, according to the Japan Newspaper Publishers & Editors Association.
Many authors and publishers around the world fear the trend will be accelerated by artificial intelligence and social media -- in the UK, a 2025 study showed that half of novelists believe AI is likely to replace their work. 
However, like in other countries worldwide, do-it-yourself publication including zines -- which originated in the 1930s with sci-fi fans in the US -- is growing in Japan, especially among younger generations.
Public broadcaster NHK reported, citing one private research firm, the self-publishing market is estimated at 150 billion yen in the year ending March 2026, nearly double the figure four years ago.

'Something tangible'

On one weekend in Tokyo, hundreds of visitors flocked to a zine fair showcasing a wide range of handmade magazines in different sizes and formats -- some incorporating abstract designs, photography or personal monologues. 
"AI and social media are driven by algorithms that feed us nothing but what we want to see or what suits us best," said 22-year-old visitor Harumi Kikuchi.
"But the fact that many zine makers are here suggests there are many different worldviews."
Zine creator Watashi Kishino, who hand draws her daily life in black-and-white illustrations, said people can "make a lot of things with AI and digital technology".
"But I believe there's a charm in having something tangible to hold in your hands like this," Kishino said, showing her works.
Major bookstores are also embracing the trend as young people increasingly drift away from physical books.
Sanseido, a 145-year-old bookstore in Tokyo's book district Jimbocho, began putting zines on their shelves almost a year ago.
"We felt that zines could appeal to a different audience than traditional readers," Masato Sugiura, deputy head of the sales promotion unit, told AFP. 
"Everyone is looking for something that really speaks to them. Readers are perhaps drawn more to zines, which are niche and cover a broader range of topics," he added. 
Kishino remains hopeful that physical books and magazines will endure despite the digital age. 
"There's warmth that only paper can offer," she said. "There's definitely people who are looking for that."
nf/aph/lga/ane

film

Hollywood honors Marilyn Monroe, 100 years after her birth

BY PAULA RAMON

  • Later in the week, on June 4, Julien's Auctions will put nearly 200 pieces of Monroe memorabilia under the hammer as part of its special "100 Years of Marilyn" sale.
  • Marilyn Monroe's hometown of Hollywood kicks off Monday a series of special events marking the 100th anniversary of the movie icon's birth.
  • Later in the week, on June 4, Julien's Auctions will put nearly 200 pieces of Monroe memorabilia under the hammer as part of its special "100 Years of Marilyn" sale.
Marilyn Monroe's hometown of Hollywood kicks off Monday a series of special events marking the 100th anniversary of the movie icon's birth.
At the historic Chinese Theatre, where Monroe's handprints are immortalized alongside "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" (1953) co-star Jane Russell, fans plan to sing "Happy Birthday" -- echoing her famed sultry serenade to president John F. Kennedy.
One hundred roses and a cake will be placed at the site, a symbol of Hollywood's golden age and a popular tourist hotspot.
Tributes to Tinseltown's legendary daughter began on Sunday, with the Academy Museum opening "Marilyn Monroe: Hollywood Icon," an exhibit celebrating her film career and life cut short.
After shooting to superstardom in the 1950s, the actress and model died of an overdose at her Brentwood home in August 1962, aged 36.
The Academy Museum will host special screenings of her prolific filmography throughout the month, including "The Asphalt Jungle" (1950), "Niagara" (1953), "The Seven Year Itch" (1955), "Some Like It Hot" (1959), and "The Misfits" (1961).
The exhibit, which runs until February 2027, includes hundreds of original pieces, some rarely on display -- such as Monroe's famed pink dress worn during her iconic performance of "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" in "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes."
Later in the week, on June 4, Julien's Auctions will put nearly 200 pieces of Monroe memorabilia under the hammer as part of its special "100 Years of Marilyn" sale.
The items include unpublished photographs, a script with notes from her final production, the unfinished short film "Something's Got to Give," and personal items such as handwritten recipes and her Elizabeth Arden lipstick.

Image maker

Born in Los Angeles on June 1, 1926, Monroe had an unstable childhood spent between orphanages and foster homes. She married for the first time at age 16.
She had her first brush with show business in 1944, while working in a factory, when a photographer arrived to capture photos of women working on production lines during World War II.
Launching into the world of modeling soon after, she divorced her husband and made a history-defining decision: dyeing her brown hair platinum blonde.
She landed her first contract with Fox, and by the age of 30 had established herself as a global star.
Behind the scenes, Monroe founded her own production company, attended the prestigious Actors Studio in New York, and even defied the studios.
In the 1950s, while under contract with 20th Century Fox, she refused to act in the adaptation of the musical "The Girl in Pink Tights," deeming the script mediocre and her salary -- three times less than that of co-star Frank Sinatra -- unfair.
More than half a century before the #MeToo movement shook the global entertainment industry, Monroe denounced the Hollywood "wolves" preying on female talent.
pr/des/md

fbl

780 arrested, deadly road accident in riotous PSG victory celebrations across France

  • The 780 arrests was a 32 percent increase compared to the celebrations of PSG's Champions League win last year, the minister noted. 
  • French authorities announced Sunday that 780 people were arrested across the country when overnight  celebrations of Paris Saint-Germain's Champions League victory over Arsenal were marred by violent clashes, and a road accident that killed a young man. 
  • The 780 arrests was a 32 percent increase compared to the celebrations of PSG's Champions League win last year, the minister noted. 
French authorities announced Sunday that 780 people were arrested across the country when overnight  celebrations of Paris Saint-Germain's Champions League victory over Arsenal were marred by violent clashes, and a road accident that killed a young man. 
Thousands of people poured into the streets of Paris for the match and to revel in PSG's triumph in the final held in the Hungarian capital Budapest late Saturday.
But some mobs clashed with police, around 22,000 of whom were deployed across France after unrest last year when PSG also won the competition.
Highlighting an increased use of fireworks directed at law enforcement, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said in a press briefing 57 security forces were injured and that there had been "219 participants injured in France, including eight seriously".
The Paris public prosecutor's office announced the death of a young man in his twenties after he crashed head-on into concrete blocks on a Paris ring road exit ramp on his motocross bike. 
Another young man was seriously injured in a knife attack in Paris allegedly over a robbery, the prosecutor's office added. 
Nunez said a small number of thefts and lootings had taken place in around fifteen cities across the country and incidents of violence were recorded in 71 municipalities. 
The 780 arrests was a 32 percent increase compared to the celebrations of PSG's Champions League win last year, the minister noted. 

Victory parade

Around 100,000 people are expected to gather for a parade including the players on Sunday afternoon on the Champs-de-Mars in front of the Eiffel Tower, before being received at the Elysee Palace by President Emmanuel Macron. 
Nunez promised "a strong law enforcement response" during the players' return celebrations and fines for "obstructing traffic" in the event of any intrusion onto the Paris ring road. 
The district mayor of Paris's 8th arrondissement -- home to the famed Champs-Elysees where 20,000 people converged after PSG's victory -- called for "zero gatherings" on the iconic avenue as the only way to avoid further violence. 
On Saturday night, the "Champs-Elysees avenue and its surroundings ceased to be a place of celebration and became an arena of urban guerrilla warfare", the town hall said in a statement.
"Since it has become impossible to celebrate a match without descending into riots, the only common sense response is a new doctrine: 'zero gatherings'," it demanded.
Nunez dismissed the idea saying it would "tie up almost half of the security deployment". Nearly 6,000 police and gendarmes have been deployed for security during the celebrations on Sunday. 
sm-hdu/sw/

energy

Energy crunch fuels car pool growth

BY JULIE FRAYSSE

  • This trend has been more pronounced in countries where fuel price increases driven by the war have been sudden and significant, combined with limited government support, such as in France.
  • Rising fuel prices triggered by the Middle East war are driving a sharp increase in carpooling, with a ride-sharing platform reporting a surge in new users seeking cheaper ways to travel.
  • This trend has been more pronounced in countries where fuel price increases driven by the war have been sudden and significant, combined with limited government support, such as in France.
Rising fuel prices triggered by the Middle East war are driving a sharp increase in carpooling, with a ride-sharing platform reporting a surge in new users seeking cheaper ways to travel.
The world's largest carpooling platform BlaBlaCar said soaring energy costs have pushed 600,000 additional drivers onto the app this year -- 20 percent more than initially projected -- as commuters look to offset the rising cost of fuel.
In India, its single biggest market with more than 20 million users in 2025, the number of passengers has increased by 40 percent since the start of the US-Israeli airstrikes against Iran on February 28.
Last year, the global carpooling leader posted record-breaking figures in the world's most populous country India -- outpacing Brazil with 19 million users and France with seven million, according to Benjamin Retourne, the platform's product director.
This trend has been more pronounced in countries where fuel price increases driven by the war have been sudden and significant, combined with limited government support, such as in France.
The platform works by connecting drivers and passengers willing to travel together between cities to share costs, with the app in most of its 21 operating nations taking a 20 percent commission.

Saves fuel

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier in May urged the country's 1.4 billion citizens to save fuel by making greater use of carpooling and public transport.
India imports approximately half of its crude oil via the Strait of Hormuz, which Tehran effectively closed in retaliation to US-Israeli strikes launched in February.
Retourne said a decade ago, when BlaBlaCar first launched in India, even "after two or three years, it just wasn't catching on".
The company, founded in France in 2006, therefore stopped investing in the world's fastest growing economy but kept its application running from its Paris headquarters, unlike many large foreign groups that outsourced their services to India.
Growth finally began to pick up after the Covid-19 pandemic, driven by the country's economic and digital acceleration, as well as word of mouth.
Retourne pointed to a growth in private car ownership as well as rapid urbanisation, with 200 million additional city dwellers over the past decade.
"People are very connected," he said, adding that "today, wherever you go, there is 5G".
That proved to be the "recipe for carpooling to take off".
But he was surprised that a driving factor was not the cost -- but rather to avoid often crowded buses or trains.
"The number one reason people choose carpooling is not price, but comfort", he said.
The market potential remains vast, with "a new segment of the population" eager to travel for leisure and visit friends and family.

'Saves time'

Assistant bank manager Pratyush Anuraj, 24, from India's financial capital Mumbai, said he used the carpooling platform to travel to his family's home in Pune every weekend -- a 150 kilometre (93 mile) journey of around 2.5 hours.
"It's cheaper than the train, the bus, or a private taxi," he said. "It also saves time, as there are few stops and the vehicle doesn't wait beyond the scheduled time."
He does, however, point out some drawbacks: either the trip is often cancelled at the last minute, or the drivers don't answer calls.
So far, the French platform has not monetised carpooling in India, where people pay each other directly, often using the popular digital UPI mobile telephones payment systems.
It now wants to evolve its model.
The next objective is to "build a platform that aggregates multiple modes of transport" -- connecting cars to buses and trains.
juf/pjm/ane

climate

Mining turns India's heat-shield hills to dust

BY ARUNABH SAIKIA

  • "If we don't protect the Aravalli, the northern Gangetic plains -- which is a food basket for the rest of the country -- would become a desert," he said.
  • Dizzyingly deep pits from large-scale mining scar India's ancient Aravalli mountains, threatening the future of a forested buffer that New Delhi relies on for protection from furnace-hot desert winds.
  • "If we don't protect the Aravalli, the northern Gangetic plains -- which is a food basket for the rest of the country -- would become a desert," he said.
Dizzyingly deep pits from large-scale mining scar India's ancient Aravalli mountains, threatening the future of a forested buffer that New Delhi relies on for protection from furnace-hot desert winds.
Residents have long protested that the hills of the 700-kilometre (435-mile) range are being torn apart by unchecked mining, to feed an insatiable hunger for concrete in some of the world's fastest-growing cities.
Late last year, India's top court ordered a ban on new mining licenses in the region, but some fear the move comes too late.
Loss of the hills is boosting already dangerously hot city temperatures, raising the risk of desertification, and worsening health problems, experts warn.
For those living in the Aravallis, which stretch from western Gujarat state through Rajasthan to the heart of New Delhi, the consequences are already existential. 
"Mining has destroyed our region," said Salle Kumar, a 34-year-old farmer who lives in a village sandwiched between two massive mines in Rajasthan. "Our rivers are dead, our farms barren."

' Violently shakes'

Lung disease is also common, residents say. 
"There is a blanket of dust all day from all the mining and stone crushing," said Subhash Saini, whose brother died from what private doctors said was silicosis, an illness caused by breathing in dust.
A government hospital insisted it was tuberculosis, although silicosis can also make people more susceptible to TB.
Most of the Aravallis lie in Rajasthan, and a quarter of the state's hills have been quarried, a 2018 Supreme Court-constituted committee found.
Mines extract gneiss and granite for construction from the gigantic pits that now ring the village of Chatru Ki Dhani, home to fewer than 200 people.
When AFP visited, explosions rang repeatedly through the burning hot air, as blasts split stone for mining.
At villager Om Prakash Verma's home, the constant activity has left cracks in the walls. Other homes have simply collapsed, residents said.
"The earth violently shakes every time there is a blast, which is all day all night," said Verma, who described quarry workers beating his aunt when she joined protests against the mines.

'Alarmist claims'

India's environment ministry says just 0.19 percent or 277 square kilometres (106 square miles) of the Aravalli landscape is open to mining.
"Contrary to alarmist claims, there is no imminent threat to the Aravallis' ecology," it said in a December statement. 
But independent audits suggest a much wider mining footprint.
A 2020 report by India's Comptroller and Auditor General, using satellite imagery and field verification, found around 34 percent of surveyed licensed mines extended beyond their legal boundaries.
A 2025 judicial committee found 2,339 square kilometres of mines in the Rajasthan portion of the Aravallis alone.
The scale of illegal activity means the Supreme Court's December decision to ban new mining licenses is too little, too late, activists say.
"Most existing mining leases are flawed and given without proper verification," said veteran anti-mining campaigher Kailash Meena.
"On top of that, there is widespread illegal extraction -- as audit after audit has confirmed."

'Physical barrier'

The Aravallis' degradation will affect all of northern India, experts say. 
The range is a "physical barrier for dust storms and heat waves" from the western Thar desert, said ecologist C.R. Babu.
The desert is already advancing eastwards, threatening the river floodplains of the Ganges, he warned.
"If we don't protect the Aravalli, the northern Gangetic plains -- which is a food basket for the rest of the country -- would become a desert," he said.
Delhi, where temperatures in May hit 45C for several days running, is at particular risk of becoming "a dust bowl with extreme heat load," he said.
Activists like Meena, whose brother died of lung disease two decades ago, say they have repeatedly warned of these consequences.
"For years we have called for a crackdown on mining," he said. "But now that urban dwellers realise their cities are getting hotter, everyone now wants to save the Aravallis."
Parts of the hills, which peak at 1,722 metres (5,813 feet), still house dwindling populations of leopards, sloth bears, hyena and antelope.
They offer a glimpse of what has been lost, with resilient shrubs painting the rolling hills dark green.
In Rajasthan's Bhagwanpura village, 18-year-old Nikita Meena and fellow residents have camped on a hilltop since January to stop miners entering one of the last untouched stretches.
"Come what may, we will not let the miners come here," she said.  "All mining brings is destruction." 
sai/pjm/sah/ane

entertainment

'Totally hooked': Hong Kong targets claw machine addiction

BY SAMMY HEUNG

  • "For a HK$70 toy, you might eventually spend 700, or even 1,700, and still not be able to grab it," Lee told AFP. "I really want to give it up.
  • Claw machine lover Neiki Lee carefully lowers the metal jaws of a crane with a joystick into a pool of prizes, only to have the small toy slip from its clutches again and again.
  • "For a HK$70 toy, you might eventually spend 700, or even 1,700, and still not be able to grab it," Lee told AFP. "I really want to give it up.
Claw machine lover Neiki Lee carefully lowers the metal jaws of a crane with a joystick into a pool of prizes, only to have the small toy slip from its clutches again and again.
Dozens of stores filled with claw machines have sprung up on streets and in malls across Hong Kong's finance hub in recent years, promising players a treasure trove of prizes and a sense of fulfilment.
The colourfully lit machines, often seen drawing people like moths to a flame, have come under regulatory scrutiny this month, as officials raised addiction concerns over the seemingly harmless games.
Lee, 48, admitted that she was "totally hooked" and that "this is definitely gambling", adding that she bets at least five Hong Kong dollars every time she attempts to win a higher-value plush toy.

'Sunk cost fallacy'

An office clerk, Lee said she has spent around HK$100,000 (US$12,800) on claw machines over two years -- roughly half her annual salary.
"For a HK$70 toy, you might eventually spend 700, or even 1,700, and still not be able to grab it," Lee told AFP.
"I really want to give it up. Every day I scold myself and tell myself to quit: no more, no more."
Player Tommy Yu, 23, said he sometimes spends hundreds of dollars a day on it despite saying some machines have "traps" built-in.
"When you put money in but don't get anything back, you feel like you've lost out," he said.
"Yet it keeps driving you to play."
Gambling counsellor Chu Ho Ming told AFP that "the more (the players) invest, the harder it is to leave empty-handed and walk away".
"This is the sunk cost fallacy," he said, adding that "it keeps the addictive behaviour loop".
Chu said his team have noticed an increase in youth playing games with "gambling elements".

Too late?

Claw machine operators have been able to expand and operate largely unrestricted, after a court ruled in 2022 they are not required to possess public entertainment licenses.
But after a sharp rise in the number of public complaints related to so-called claw machine gambling over the last two years, Hong Kong authorities proposed this month to tighten regulations over prize-based arcades, calling the situation after the 2022 ruling "not ideal".
The design and business models of such gaming machines are "extremely diverse", officials said, adding that they were committed to tackle the "deep-seated issues".
Some lawmakers have suggested capping the prize value at HK$300 or below, in line with countries including Britain and Singapore.
Matthew Chan, who owns three claw machine shops in town, told AFP tighter regulation was needed as the industry "was heading in the wrong direction".
Chan bemoaned the government's slowness to act, citing that Taiwan's machines must offer a "guaranteed prize" if a certain amount of money is spent.
"The market already saw a downsize... (Hong Kong's) consumers have lost confidence in it," he said, adding that some machine operators were ramping up the difficulty and keeping players hooked. 
But player Lee said she believed operators would find ways to evade any regulation enacted.
"It's impossible that a law... can be applied in a way that is both flawless and fair" for the industry, she said.
"It is difficult to root out addiction problems simply by passing a law."
wp-twa/dhw/ane/ab

suicide

Canadian poison seller pleads guilty to aiding suicides, avoids murder trial

BY JORGE UZON WITH BEN SIMON IN TORONTO

  • Canadian prosecutors had charged him with 14 counts of murder and 14 counts of aiding suicide.
  • The Canadian man who sold poison to distressed people worldwide pleaded guilty on Friday to 14 counts of aiding suicide but avoided a murder trial, an outcome one victim's father branded "a disgrace." 
  • Canadian prosecutors had charged him with 14 counts of murder and 14 counts of aiding suicide.
The Canadian man who sold poison to distressed people worldwide pleaded guilty on Friday to 14 counts of aiding suicide but avoided a murder trial, an outcome one victim's father branded "a disgrace." 
Kenneth Law, a 60-year-old former chef, ran online forums that offered people advice on how to end their lives and made fatal substances available for purchase.
The details of Law's operation have caused widespread outrage since his arrest in 2023. 
The list of 41 countries where Law sent poison included Australia, China, France and Brazil. He sold 330 packages to people in the United Kingdom.
Canadian prosecutors had charged him with 14 counts of murder and 14 counts of aiding suicide.
Prosectors on Friday told the court in Newmarket, north of Toronto, that they no longer believed they could secure murder convictions. 
Law then stood in a semi-enclosed area reserved for defendants, flanked by his three lawyers, and said "I plead guilty" to aiding 14 suicides in Canada.
Jeshennia Bedoya-Lopez, who died in 2022 aged 18, was one of Law's victims.
Her father, Leonardo Bedoya, told reporters outside the court that he found her dead in her bedroom. 
"She was my only daughter, my light, my life," he said. 
Three years after Law's arrest, he called Friday's outcome "a disgrace."
"That man does not even face the victims. He always keeps his back turned," Bedoya said in Spanish.  
Despite pleading to a lesser offense, experts say Law could still receive a sentence of 10-20 years imprisonment.
Sentencing will be determined at a separate hearing in September, when the court will hear victim impact statements. 

Sought out clients

After the guilty pleas were entered, prosecutors devoted several hours to reading an "agreed statement of facts," which detailed how Law shipped material for suicide across Canada and abroad, often for about $80.
Law proactively looked for customers, the statement of facts said. 
He would appear on a suicide discussion forum under the pseudonym "Greenberg."
When users would mention the meat preservative sodium nitrite as an option for suicide, Law would direct them to one of his sites where the powder was available in lethal concentrations. 
Prosecutors also played a recording of a call between Law and a British journalist posing as an interested customer. 
The reporter from the Times of London asked if Law's business is legal. Law offered explanations he could give to police if questioned, including that the product can help improve a swimmer's lung capacity.
Prosectors also recounted how people, after taking their own lives, were often found by family members with an open package of Law's sodium nitrite near their body. 

'Angry'

David Parfett's son Thomas was 22 when he ended his life in 2021 with materials supplied by Law.
Now an advocate for more rigorous legislation to confront online spaces that guide people toward harm, Parfett told AFP that Canadian authorities were missing an opportunity to establish the gravity of Law's conduct. 
"If (Law) hadn't been offering detailed instructions about how to take your own life, then the chances are my son would still be here. So again, for me, it's murder," Parfett said. 
In the agreed statement of facts, Law's poison was tied to 79 deaths in Britain.  
Britain's National Crime Agency confirmed in a statement that Law will not face additional prosecution, but that the British deaths will be considered during Canadian sentencing.
A joint statement by the NCA and Britain's prosecution service said the agencies had explained their decision to not prosecute Law "in detail to the victims and their families."
Parfett said in a statement: "I am angry, but I am not surprised."
He reiterated the families' rebuffed calls for a UK public inquiry. "If our own country will not put anyone on trial for these deaths, the very least it can do is hold a proper inquiry into how they were allowed to happen."
Dalhousie University law professor Robert Currie told AFP that Law's prosecutors were handcuffed by the fact that, under Canadian law, it's not clear if the same conduct can amount to both aiding suicide and murder. 
burs-bs/sla

protest

Unrest outside US immigration detention center, 9 arrested

  • The turmoil outside Delaney Hall began after detainees inside launched a hunger and labor strike to protest conditions.
  • Protesters clashed with US law enforcement outside an immigration detention center in New Jersey, a top US official said Friday, after inmates inside staged a hunger strike over conditions. 
  • The turmoil outside Delaney Hall began after detainees inside launched a hunger and labor strike to protest conditions.
Protesters clashed with US law enforcement outside an immigration detention center in New Jersey, a top US official said Friday, after inmates inside staged a hunger strike over conditions. 
Days of unrest outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center in Newark have led to several arrests as a tough stance by US President Donald Trump's administration draws stiff opposition.
US Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin posted on X that on Thursday evening, "approximately 100 anti-ICE rioters gathered around the Delaney Hall ICE facility. Rioters bit, kicked, and punched law enforcement officers." He said nine people were arrested.
Footage from US media outlets showed scuffles between protesters and law enforcement, who used pepper spray.
Delaney Hall is a private, 1,000-bed facility used exclusively by ICE that has operated since 2025 as the Trump administration pressed its campaign to deport millions of illegal immigrants.
New Jersey, on the US East Coast, is a so-called "sanctuary state," voluntarily limiting its cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
The turmoil outside Delaney Hall began after detainees inside launched a hunger and labor strike to protest conditions.
A hand-written Spanish-language letter published this week by Cosecha, a group advocating for undocumented immigrants, and signed by 300 detainees, said that they are "detained without justification," lack proper medical care and get "poor food."
US Senator Cory Booker, a New Jersey Democrat who visited the facility on Wednesday and said he spoke to dozens of detainees, echoed those concerns.
"The majority of the people I spoke with have no criminal history -- no charges, no convictions -- related to the kind of violence Donald Trump promised Americans he would target," Booker said in a statement. 
"Delaney Hall should be closed down," he added.
State Governor Mikie Sherrill said she was denied access on Monday. The New Jersey Department of Health was able to inspect the center's food service facilities on Thursday but was denied full access, the Democratic governor said on X.
"Refusing to provide full access raises serious questions about what ICE is trying to hide from public view," she added.
Mullin responded to her on X, saying ICE detention centers are regularly inspected and audited by "external agencies."
"All detainees are provided with proper meals, quality water, blankets, medical treatment, and have opportunities to communicate with their family members and lawyers," he said.
pel/pno/msp/mlm

Sports

France rugby star Drean to have heart surgery

  • "He will have to undergo heart surgery.
  • France and Toulon wing Gael Drean will undergo heart surgery for a genetic condition which will sideline him for several months, his club head coach Pierre Mignoni said on Friday. 
  • "He will have to undergo heart surgery.
France and Toulon wing Gael Drean will undergo heart surgery for a genetic condition which will sideline him for several months, his club head coach Pierre Mignoni said on Friday. 
"He will have to undergo heart surgery. The word is always frightening but it doesn't change his future with us in any way. Nothing is in doubt," Mignoni told reporters.
The 25-year-old winger will miss several months including Toulon's last two Top 14 matches this season as well as the beginning of the Nations Championship with the French national team this summer. 
Having earned his first cap during the 2026 Six Nations, and with Toulon not involved in the Top 14 play-offs, Drean was a strong contender for the trip to New Zealand, Australia and then Japan. 
"It's not a routine procedure... it's a little scary, but he's receiving excellent care and he'll be back quite soon," continued Mignoni.
"In terms of recovery, we're looking at a return in November.
"Heart surgery is always a serious matter, but it's so that he's better when he returns and in his future life. He'll come back stronger.
"When he signed four years ago, we knew he had a minor genetic anomaly. We had to monitor him, which is what we did and now it's best to perform a minor procedure so he'll be better off later on, both as a player and as a person in his daily life."
This season Drean has played 23 matches and scored 19 tries, thanks in particular to his blistering pace. 
Toulon are ninth in the Top 14 standings but with little chance of securing eighth place which would mean qualification for the Champions Cup next season.
They face the European champions Bordeaux-Begles on Sunday in the penultimate round of the Top 14 with Castres the following week.
lbe/fs/ea/bsp 

US

Kanye West cleared to play in Netherlands

  • A Polish stadium cancelled a West concert scheduled for June 19, with the culture minister saying Poland wanted to bar him over his "promotion of Nazism".
  • US rapper Kanye West, whose concerts have been banned in several European venues over controversial antisemitic remarks, may perform in the Netherlands for two concerts in June, officials said Friday.
  • A Polish stadium cancelled a West concert scheduled for June 19, with the culture minister saying Poland wanted to bar him over his "promotion of Nazism".
US rapper Kanye West, whose concerts have been banned in several European venues over controversial antisemitic remarks, may perform in the Netherlands for two concerts in June, officials said Friday.
The 48-year-old, also known as "Ye", has sparked widespread anger over remarks glorifying Nazi leader Adolf Hitler and for antisemitic rants, which he has blamed on having bipolar disorder.
The mayor of the eastern city of Arnhem, Ahmed Marcouch, has granted a permit for the June concerts to go ahead despite what he described as "reprehensible statements made by the artist in the past".
The majority of the Dutch House of Representatives had called for the rapper to be denied entry to the country.
But asylum and migration minister Bart van den Brink said there were no formal legal grounds to bar him from the Netherlands.
"You need clear reasons to bar people from your country. We did not find those in the analyses that were conducted," said Van den Brink.
West is scheduled to play in Arnhem on June 6 and 8 -- the latter date being the rapper's birthday.
He is also slated to appear in Istanbul on May 30.
However, his extreme statements and actions -- last year he released a song called "Heil Hitler", with swastika T-shirts advertised on his website -- caused a backlash against his planned European tour.
In April, the British government banned him from entering the country to headline a festival, forcing organisers to cancel the event.
A week later, he postponed a concert in Marseille following reports France's interior minister was seeking to block the performance.
A Polish stadium cancelled a West concert scheduled for June 19, with the culture minister saying Poland wanted to bar him over his "promotion of Nazism".
Later, Swiss football club FC Basel told AFP they had turned down an approach about hosting a West concert.
In January, West took out an advert in the Wall Street Journal to defend himself, saying: "I am not a Nazi or an antisemite" and "I love Jewish people".
He attributed his behaviour to a manic episode brought on by bipolar disorder.
He is also set to perform in the Albanian capital Tirana on July 11, and in Prague on July 25.
ric/jhb

Rohingya

Migrants try to flee to Bangladesh fearing India crackdown

BY SAILENDRA SIL

  • In Indian states that border Bangladesh, like West Bengal and Assam, undocumented migrants have formed an integral part of the informal workforce for years.
  • Hasina Bibi clutched her hungry four-year-old daughter as she waited at an India-Bangladesh border post, trying to leave as fears grow of an Indian crackdown on undocumented migrants.
  • In Indian states that border Bangladesh, like West Bengal and Assam, undocumented migrants have formed an integral part of the informal workforce for years.
Hasina Bibi clutched her hungry four-year-old daughter as she waited at an India-Bangladesh border post, trying to leave as fears grow of an Indian crackdown on undocumented migrants.
She is among the hundreds of Bangladeshis who have gathered over two days at Hakimpur in India's West Bengal state, police said, hoping to cross back as authorities tighten enforcement under a new state government.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party won power in West Bengal earlier this month promising to "detect, delete and deport" illegal migrants.
The rush underscores growing anxiety among migrant communities -- many of whom lack proper documentation -- with rights groups warning of forced expulsions and limited legal protections.
Many are in limbo, caught between Indian pressure to leave and Bangladesh's refusal to accept them without formal proof of citizenship.
Many have waded across a river to return in desperation, although the scale of the exodus remains unclear.
Last week, West Bengal authorities ordered the establishment of "holding centres" for "apprehended foreigners", including Bangladeshis and Rohingya, fuelling anxiety among the state's roughly 35 million Muslims.
"We have been asked to leave immediately, or the government will take stern action," said Hasina, 45, who worked at construction sites in Kolkata after entering India six years ago.
"We came to this city in search of a job. Now we want to return to Bangladesh, (but) we don't know what is waiting for us there," she said.
Her husband tried feeding their child scraps of leftover bread as families huddled in an unfinished building near the outpost, some without proper food for days.
The sudden influx followed word spreading among migrant communities that crossing into Bangladesh was possible from Hakimpur, about 80 kilometres (50 miles) east of Kolkata.
India shares a long and porous border with Bangladesh, where migration has historically been driven by economic hardship and longstanding family links.
In Indian states that border Bangladesh, like West Bengal and Assam, undocumented migrants have formed an integral part of the informal workforce for years.
But activists say hundreds have been pushed across the border from Assam in recent months without due legal process, often based on ethnic profiling.

'Hopes dashed'

The developments in Assam have heightened fears in West Bengal, officials and residents say.
"People are trooping to the Hakimpur border check-post since Tuesday after hearing that crossover to Bangladesh is possible from this outpost," senior state police official Subrata Saha told AFP at the site.
Authorities said those who have gathered at the temporary shelter will be moved to holding centres for preliminary checks before being handed to Border Security Force (BSF) and sent to Bangladesh.
West Bengal's history of migration dates back to the partition of British India in 1947.
Bengal was divided along religious lines into predominantly Hindu West Bengal, which became part of India, and Muslim-majority East Pakistan, later becoming Bangladesh.
For many, returning raises questions of identity as much as survival.
"My parents came to India from Bangladesh over two decades ago. I was born in Kolkata, but I don't have valid documents to prove my (Indian) nationality," said Abdul Sheikh, 20.
With his parents now dead, Sheikh said he had been warned to leave "or face the consequences".
"All my hopes are dashed. I don't know how I can prove that I am Bangladeshi."
Others said they felt they had no choice.
"We feel helpless, we are returning as it is now a government order," said Ariful Sardar, a bricklayer who came three years ago for his father's treatment.
Border guards warned crossings were increasing, with many attempting to slip across a nearby river under cover of darkness.
"It's not difficult to cross the river and it has now become very difficult to guard the border," a BSF official told AFP.
str-abh/abs

Society

Light, flight, and rights: 250 years of US history in 30 objects

BY MATTHEW PENNINGTON

  • "It's a daunting task," said Abeer Saha, who was one of a handful of curators tasked with choosing from 150 million objects across the Smithsonian -- which runs more than 20 museums and galleries.
  • How do you choose just 30 artifacts from millions to encapsulate 250 years of American history?
  • "It's a daunting task," said Abeer Saha, who was one of a handful of curators tasked with choosing from 150 million objects across the Smithsonian -- which runs more than 20 museums and galleries.
How do you choose just 30 artifacts from millions to encapsulate 250 years of American history?
That's the question the government-funded Smithsonian Institution posed itself as the United States gears up for the anniversary of the nation's July 4, 1776, Declaration of Independence. 
Among the answers: a small ink-stained mahogany desk, an antique light bulb, a brown leather flight suit and a baseball jersey.
These exhibits and others that present some highlights of America's faltering progress toward a perfect union go on show for two months in Washington next Tuesday ahead of the semiquincentennial.
"It's a daunting task," said Abeer Saha, who was one of a handful of curators tasked with choosing from 150 million objects across the Smithsonian -- which runs more than 20 museums and galleries. He spent more than two years on the project.
"What we've tried to do is find those highlights, those moments, those stories that best exemplify the ways in which Americans have sought to realize the founding ideals first expressed in the Declaration of Independence by Thomas Jefferson."
President Donald Trump has taken a series of norm-shattering steps to put himself at the center of attention on the 250th Independence anniversary.
But Abeer said the painstaking selection of artifacts, which have never been in the same room before, was done without any political interference. 
To an AFP reporter, the only visible imprint of the current US president -- whose administration has also sought to sanitize negative history at US national parks -- was a "Trump-Vance" election campaign badge alongside those of a roster of modern presidents from both parties.

Freedom, innovation, pathfinders

The exhibition, "American Aspirations," is housed in a vaulted red sandstone hall inside the grand Smithsonian Castle, the institute's original premises on the National Mall. It was previewed by journalists on Thursday.
Appropriately enough, it starts with the small desk used by Jefferson to draft the declaration of independence from Britain that began with the timeless words: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."
The desk looks more like a small, table-top easel. It was designed for Jefferson by a Philadelphia cabinet maker and folds out to reveal a green baize writing top.
Lisa Kathleen Graddy, a Smithsonian curator of American political history, said Jefferson had an eye on history, and affixed a note to the inside of the desk authenticating it as the one used to write the declaration.
Nearby, is a large poster, with text penned by famed slavery abolitionist Frederick Douglass, that was carried in a 1863 parade during the Civil War that calls "Men of Color, To Arms! To Arms!"
It is one of several exhibits that address the struggle for greater freedom over the centuries, including against slavery and in modern times for civil rights.
There is the typed text of Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1963 speech, "I Have a Dream," and a jersey worn by Roberto Clemente, the first Latino to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. 
There are also signifiers of economic and scientific progress. 
They include a nugget from the California gold rush; an 1879 lightbulb by Thomas Edison; a mainframe component from ENIAC, the first general-purpose electronic computer that was built in 1946 and weighed 30 tons.
And on the theme of "pursuit of new horizons," there are artifacts from two pathfinding women who took to the skies.
There's the leather flight suit of Amelia Earhart, who was the first woman to fly across the Atlantic but disappeared over the Pacific in 1937 as she attempted to fly around the world. 
Beside it is the pale blue flight jacket of Sally Ride, a physicist who in 1983 became the first American woman in space.
"She really shifted the way in which Americans and the world would look at who could go into space," said Jennifer Levasseur, a curator at the National Air and Space Museum.
msp/sms

crime

New gold rush threatens indigenous havens in Brazil's Amazon

BY FRAN BLANDY

  • In February, guns were briefly drawn on both sides when chief Bepdjo and a group of Kayapo warriors came across miners in a canoe.
  • Indigenous chief Bepdjo Mekragnotire is once again preparing to lead a group of warriors to chase wildcat gold miners away from his people's territory in Brazil's Amazon rainforest.
  • In February, guns were briefly drawn on both sides when chief Bepdjo and a group of Kayapo warriors came across miners in a canoe.
Indigenous chief Bepdjo Mekragnotire is once again preparing to lead a group of warriors to chase wildcat gold miners away from his people's territory in Brazil's Amazon rainforest.
Wearing a red feather headdress, Bepdjo told AFP of rising tensions with intruders in the Bau Indigenous Territory in Para state, four years after his people expelled almost 200 prospectors.
"The miners are stubborn. They enter by any means. Because today the price of gold is very high," Bepdjo, 45, told AFP in Pykany, a village of his Kayapo people in a territory neighboring Bau.
"We have to expel them, otherwise, they'll just keep pushing in."
The price of gold -- a safe-haven asset in troubled times -- has hit a new era of record highs amid global instability.
This is pushing wildcat miners into relatively untouched areas like Bau.
In February, guns were briefly drawn on both sides when chief Bepdjo and a group of Kayapo warriors came across miners in a canoe. He said they kicked out 24 people.
Afterward, a coalition of Indigenous organizations, in a letter seen by AFP, warned authorities including the IBAMA environmental agency, of "the imminent risk of a large-scale armed conflict," and asked them for help.
Bepdjo is tired of waiting.
"We don't know how many prospectors are inside, we just get there and see," he told AFP.
Jair Schmitt, acting president of IBAMA, told AFP that the agency was focused on Indigenous territories "facing particularly critical situations. IBAMA cannot be physically present in every area."

'Deeper into the jungle'

Experts see protected Indigenous lands as one of the best defenses against climate change and deforestation.
From the air, on a flight with Greenpeace, AFP witnessed the crushing pressure on protected areas -- and the difference that the tribal areas make.
Vast landscapes of rivers gouged out for mines and forest broken by farmland came to a dramatic halt at the border of the Indigenous territories, where the lush green canopy resumed as far as the eye could see.
Amazon Mining Watch said an area of 223,000 hectares was impacted by mining in Brazil between 2018 and 2025 -- almost 80 percent of it illegally.
Since leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva returned to office in 2023, his government has cracked down on wildcat mining. His far-right predecessor Jair Bolsonaro had been accused of fostering a climate of impunity in the Amazon.
But mining barons, whose operations have turned from true artisanal mining to multi-million dollar operations using large machinery and fleets of small planes, have adapted quickly.
Nilton Tubino, appointed by Lula's government to lead operations to protect Indigenous territories, told AFP that a "new gold rush" was fueling illegal mining across the Amazon.
"The miners are retreating deeper and deeper into the jungle," he said.
"We are constantly grappling with the challenges posed by the sheer scale of these territories... and the organizations' capacity to rapidly rebuild what we destroy."
In the past three years, IBAMA has destroyed more than 690 excavators, 1,300 barges and 80 aircraft -- equipment worth almost $800 million.
Schmitt of IBAMA said the greatest difficulty was "confronting organized crime" as major factions, the Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) and Comando Vermelho (CV), have expanded into the Amazon.
These groups were on Thursday designated as terrorist organisations by the United States.

'Ghost mines'

The Escolhas Institute, which analyzes Brazil's gold supply chain, said the country produced 71 tons of gold in 2025, mainly exported to Canada, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
Brazil is working on new legislation to bolster gold tracking, alongside police initiatives like a library of gold "DNA" to trace the origin of the ore back to specific sites in the Amazon.
Larissa Rodrigues from the Escolhas Institute said that due to a government clampdown, gold that previously "exited Brazil through the front door" was being smuggled out through countries like Guyana or Venezuela. 
Other loopholes exist to launder gold, such as "ghost mines," detailed in a Greenpeace investigation published Friday.
The sites hold artisanal mining permits and declare gold sales but when you fly over them, there is no sign of extraction activity.
Danicley de Aguiar, coordinator of Greenpeace Brazil's Indigenous Peoples' campaign told AFP that gold taken from protected areas was likely laundered through such schemes.
Fernando Lucas, president of the Federation of Gold Miners' Cooperatives in Para, told AFP that he was sick of miners being "branded as criminals".  
He said many want to operate legally but get caught up in red tape and called for a more "organized, sustainable model."

'Temptation'

Chief Bepdjo is also dealing with divisions among his own people, some of whom -- including his predecessor -- support wildcat mining.
The dispute pushed some village residents to move to the other side of the river.
"Very often the miners themselves come to talk to us, offering money, saying 'you'll have a car, you'll have women', so it's a temptation. A young person who doesn't think it through will want those things," said Takagmoro Kaiapo, 25, son of the former chief.
fb/sms/ksb

fire

Fire in Kenya girls' school dorm kills 16

  • Children have been accused of deliberately starting school fires in Kenya in the past.
  • A fire in a girls' dormitory in Kenya on Thursday killed 16 children and hospitalised 79 in the latest deadly blaze to hit a school in the east African country.
  • Children have been accused of deliberately starting school fires in Kenya in the past.
A fire in a girls' dormitory in Kenya on Thursday killed 16 children and hospitalised 79 in the latest deadly blaze to hit a school in the east African country.
The fire broke out shortly before 1:00 am local time at Utumishi Girls Academy in Nakuru County, around 120 kilometres (75 miles) north of the capital Nairobi, officials said.
There have been many devastating school fires in Kenya, where boarding schools are common as a colonial legacy of missionaries and the British.
"We have 16 fatalities. It's an unfortunate incident," education minister Julius Migos Ogamba told reporters at the scene, without giving ages for the victims.
The affected dormitory had shattered windows, blackened walls and a crumpled corrugated iron roof, an AFP journalist saw. 
Parents of the victims were in the process of being informed by health workers at the site mid-afternoon as bodies were identified. 
A distraught mother, Leila Matura, 52, said her 18-year-old daughter was still missing. 
"We went to the hospital to see if she is there, she is not there. So they are telling us, she is not around, she is among the missing," she told AFP.
"Whether she is dead or alive, we do not know. I'm hopeless," she added.
Another mother, who did not wish to be named, said her 17-year-old daughter was in hospital. 
"She broke both her legs jumping from the window. Thank God she is strong. It is every mother's nightmare," she said.
The school is linked to the National Police Service and most pupils are the children of officers.
"When we arrived, the fire was still blazing. It was so big... It took about 45 minutes to extinguish the flames because of the mattresses inside," a firefighter, who identified himself only as Fred because he was not authorised to speak to the press, told AFP.

'Unimaginable tragedy'

Authorities say they are still investigating the cause of the fire. 
"Our hearts and prayers are with the families who have lost their beloved daughters," President William Ruto said on X, describing it as an "unimaginable tragedy".
Children have been accused of deliberately starting school fires in Kenya in the past. One report found there were 63 arson cases at schools in 2018 alone.
Pupils were accused after a 2001 dormitory fire in the southern county of Machakos killed 67.
A 2024 dormitory fire at Hillside Endarasha Academy in Nyeri county killed 21 boys, prompting government promises of nationwide school safety audits and prosecutions, though it remains unclear whether the measures were implemented.
On Thursday the education minister said the ministry had closed around 350 schools since 2024 for failing to comply with safety standards. 
“We will continue inspections to ensure that our schools meet the safety standards” in force, he pledged.
rbu-mnk/er/yad

slavery

France inches towards symbolic repealing of slavery legislation

BY CAMILLE MALPLAT AND ALICE HACKMAN

  • Speaking to parliament on Thursday, Greens lawmaker Steevy Gustave -- whose father was born in the French former colony turned overseas territory of Martinique -- said the vote was personal.
  • Lawmakers were moved to tears in parliament Thursday as France inched towards repealing outdated legislation that defines people enslaved in its colonies as "moveable goods", in a symbolic move as the country grapples with its colonial legacy.
  • Speaking to parliament on Thursday, Greens lawmaker Steevy Gustave -- whose father was born in the French former colony turned overseas territory of Martinique -- said the vote was personal.
Lawmakers were moved to tears in parliament Thursday as France inched towards repealing outdated legislation that defines people enslaved in its colonies as "moveable goods", in a symbolic move as the country grapples with its colonial legacy.
The French were the third largest slave traders in Europe, after the British and the Portuguese.
Ships departing from French ports between the 17th and 19th centuries forcibly transported more than one million men, women and children from Africa into slavery, many in plantations in its overseas colonies in the Caribbean, according to expert estimates.
France abolished enslaving humans more than 170 years ago, and in 2001 recognised slavery and the slave trade as "crimes against humanity".
But a series of royal decrees from the 17th and 18th centuries that established the legal status of enslaved people in its colonies, called the "Code noir" or "Black Code", were never explicitly overturned.
President Emmanuel Macron, who is stepping down next year after his maximum two terms in office, last week threw his support behind repealing these laws.
Lawmakers in the lower house on Thursday voted unanimously to annul the royal edicts, but the Senate still has to hold a poll at an undetermined date before the law can pass.

'Thinking of my great-grandmother'

The decrees, the first of which were written under Louis XIV, ruled over the lives of enslaved people in the colonies.
They declared all enslaved people should be Catholics, and banned owners from making them work on Sundays, according to a copy on the French parliament's website.
But they also referred to them as "moveable goods" who could be inherited, outlined brutal punishment including mutilation of the ear for trying to escape, and condemned the children of enslaved people to the same fate as their parents.
Speaking to parliament on Thursday, Greens lawmaker Steevy Gustave -- whose father was born in the French former colony turned overseas territory of Martinique -- said the vote was personal.
"I'm thinking of my great-grandmother, Mama Bebelle," he said, barely holding back tears.
"She was the grand-daughter of Ambroise Zerambe, born in Africa, then reduced to slavery under the number 336."
His voice breaking, he concluded: "We are not descendants of slaves. We are descendants of human beings who were born free, then reduced to slavery."
Max Mathiasin, a lawmaker from the overseas territory of Guadeloupe who is championing the bill, was also moved to tears after a unanimous show of hands to support him.
"Allow me to thank my mother," he said.
France ended slavery in 1794 under the French Revolution, but Napoleon Bonaparte ordered troops to be sent to Guadeloupe in 1802 to restore the practice.
France then abolished it again in 1848.
But activists say the legacy of slavery endures through inequalities between mainland France and former colonies that are now overseas territories, as well as racism.
Macron last week said the issue of reparations should be addressed, but announced no specific measures.
Dieudonne Boutrin, an activist from Martinique who is descended from enslaved people, said annulling the Black Code should have been done ages ago.
"It changes nothing. Black people are still looked at the same way," he said.
"Now we need to go beyond the symbolic," he said, urging a "real reparations programme", including for example more funds for educational projects to transmit history and help battle systemic racism.

'Lasting harm'

Serge Letchimy, an official from Martinique, in an open letter to Macron earlier this month also demanded reparations.
He urged "a law that clearly establishes the principle that the crimes of trafficking and slavery have caused lasting historical, cultural, social, economic and psychological harm".
He referred to a 10-point plan that Caribbean nations have suggested, including international debt cancellation, as well as support for healthcare and illiteracy eradication.
Among France's former colonies, Haiti -- the poorest country in the Caribbean -- stands out as having particularly suffered.
Haiti became the first independent black nation in the Americas in 1804, after enslaved people rebelled against their French masters in what was then the colony of Saint-Domingue.
In 1825, it accepted to pay France a huge sum in "reparations" in exchange for recognising its independence, but it was forced to take out loans with high interest rates from French bankers in order to pay it.
It only managed to pay off this "double debt" in 1952.
Macron last year said that a joint commission of French and Haitian historians would issue recommendations.
cma-ah/ekf/giv

economy

'Shoebox' flat reform leaves low-income Hong Kong residents in limbo

BY CATHERINE LAI

  • The Hong Kong government has given owners who register under the new system until 2030 to renovate their subdivided flats, but some landlords have already issued eviction notices to their tenants.
  • Hong Kong resident Lisa Lau put on a costume drama as she settled on the bed that occupies much of her tiny apartment, trying to take her mind off of a looming eviction.
  • The Hong Kong government has given owners who register under the new system until 2030 to renovate their subdivided flats, but some landlords have already issued eviction notices to their tenants.
Hong Kong resident Lisa Lau put on a costume drama as she settled on the bed that occupies much of her tiny apartment, trying to take her mind off of a looming eviction.
Subdivided flats like Lau's three-square-metre (32-square-feet) home -- made by splitting up an apartment into smaller units -- are being phased out after a law to regulate them came into effect in March.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has ordered the wealthy finance hub to resolve housing woes that are the result of decades of pervasive inequality, an acute housing shortage and eye-watering rents.
The Hong Kong government has given owners who register under the new system until 2030 to renovate their subdivided flats, but some landlords have already issued eviction notices to their tenants.
"I'll stay here day by day," Lau, a 48-year-old welfare recipient who had received an eviction notice months ago, told AFP.
"I don't know (where to go)," said Lau, who lives on the equivalent of about $930 a month, of which $330 go for rent.
"I'm scratching my head."
The new rules ban flats smaller than eight square metres (86 square feet) and mandate safety and hygiene standards, such as having at least one openable window, a sink and a toilet in an enclosed space.
Authorities estimate that more than 220,000 people in the city of 7.5 million live in so-called "shoebox" flats, around one-third of which need major renovation.
Lau's cubicle is one of nine in a single unit, separated by thin wooden dividers, in a 60-year-old building in one of Hong Kong's poorest neighbourhoods, Sham Shui Po.
With no kitchen, she makes soup or noodles in a rice cooker placed on the bed.
She uses a shared toilet and shower, and has taped a foam board across the bottom of her doorway to keep out rats and cockroaches.

Unaffordable housing

Despite the cramped conditions, Lau is reluctant to leave a familiar area where she has built a social network, and hopes her application for transitional housing nearby would be approved.
"As long as the landlord doesn't come (to evict residents), we are so at peace, we are so comfortable," she said.
The Housing Bureau said over 100 households had already moved out of Lau's building, and that it was helping the 40 that are left to find suitable accommodation.
The Society for Community Organisation, an NGO that works with underprivileged groups, said the reform could help alleviate some of the worst living environments in Hong Kong.
But more government housing is needed, especially in the central areas, said Sze Lai-shan, the group's deputy director.
"Don't expect these people who live in very small flats to move into the new basic housing units. They won't be able to afford it," she said.
"A lot of the poorest people will be very dependent on the government to resettle them."
The charity knows of around 300 households threatened with forcible eviction from subdivided flats, with more expected to follow, according to Sze -- far more than the 35 notices the government said it had received.
Some residents have moved into public or transitional housing, while others have moved into other substandard flats as a temporary measure, Sze added.
- 'Coffin homes' - 
Liu Xiaoli, who faces eviction from her subdivided flat, works two part-time jobs as a cook and cleaner to make ends meet after her divorce, and supports her daughter and granddaughter in mainland China.
"If the rent here or in other places goes up, I really can't afford it," the 63 year-old told AFP, adding that she was unable to find alternate accommodation nearby.
"I couldn't find any (apartments) that meet the government's requirements," she said.
"Right now, I'm just delaying as much as I can."
In response to AFP's inquiry, the government said it had "significantly increased public housing supply" with an aim to produce around 196,000 units in the next five years, and sped up the process for residents on the waiting list for public housing.
These measures would contribute to "reduced demand" for subdivided units, keeping rents at bay, a Housing Bureau spokesperson said in a statement.
The new rules do not apply to notorious "coffin homes", cubicles stacked on top of each other like bunk beds in shabby dormitories.
Wan Hon-cheung, 64, has been living in a plywood box about the size of a single bed for the last 10 years, and hopes the government will improve conditions for residents like him as well.
He often gets bitten by bedbugs and walks with a cane, making climbing up and down from his bed difficult.
"For us lower classes... this is reality, there's nothing to complain about."
cla/dhw/ami/abs

animal

'Trump' buffalo spared sacrifice, sent to Bangladesh zoo

BY SHEIKH SABIHA ALAM

  • Muslim-majority Bangladesh, a South Asian nation of 170 million people, celebrates Eid al-Adha, the "feast of the sacrifice", on Thursday.
  • A buffalo in Bangladesh nicknamed "Donald Trump" for its flowing blond hair has been spared from sacrifice after shooting to fame, and will instead be cared for at the national zoo.
  • Muslim-majority Bangladesh, a South Asian nation of 170 million people, celebrates Eid al-Adha, the "feast of the sacrifice", on Thursday.
A buffalo in Bangladesh nicknamed "Donald Trump" for its flowing blond hair has been spared from sacrifice after shooting to fame, and will instead be cared for at the national zoo.
Muslim-majority Bangladesh, a South Asian nation of 170 million people, celebrates Eid al-Adha, the "feast of the sacrifice", on Thursday.
The 700-kilogramme (1,500-pound) bull, a rare albino buffalo with a flowing helmet of light hair resembling the signature look of the US president, was due to be slaughtered to mark the day.
But hours before it faced the knife, the government stepped in to save the animal, which has become an online sensation.
Curator of the National Zoo, Atiqur Rahman, said the animal would be well looked after.
"We have designated a shed for the albino buffalo and assigned a caregiver," Rahman told AFP on Wednesday. "He will be quarantined for two weeks."
Crowds in Bangladesh had flocked to snap photographs with the unlikely social media star.
Zia Uddin Mridha, 38, the buffalo's former owner, said his brother had named it "Trump" because of its "extraordinary hair".
Mridha said a constant stream of curious visitors -- social media fans, onlookers and children -- came eager to see the animal.
However, he sold the bull ahead of Eid al-Adha.
But police has swooped after the government ordered that the buffalo be spared.
"The livestock department requested us to take the buffalo from the owner as it is a rare animal," Mohammad Ruhul Quddus, officer-in-charge of Dhaka's Keraniganj Police Station, where the buffalo was taken, told AFP.
"They said that the albino buffalo is still very young, and can be raised for a few years."
More than 12 million livestock including goats, sheep, cows and buffaloes are expected to be sacrificed during the holiday, when many poorer families get a rare chance to feast on meat.
sa/pjm/ami