oil

Starved of fuel, Cubans scramble to make ends meet

BY RIGOBERTO DIAZ

  • Due to the fuel shortage, Diaz had to "park the motorcycle, park the car" and return to his former profession "to survive."
  • The US-imposed oil blockade on Cuba is upending the lives of everyday workers, who are switching jobs and ditching their cars to make do amid rolling blackouts and fuel shortages.
  • Due to the fuel shortage, Diaz had to "park the motorcycle, park the car" and return to his former profession "to survive."
The US-imposed oil blockade on Cuba is upending the lives of everyday workers, who are switching jobs and ditching their cars to make do amid rolling blackouts and fuel shortages.
Yixander Diaz jettisoned both his ride and his work when the father of two, a taxi driver, turned to bricklaying.
"Times are tough," the 27-year-old, who now commutes by bicycle from his Havana suburb to the city center, told AFP.
Since toppling Venezuela's leftist leader Nicolas Maduro in January, the United States has stopped the new authorities in Caracas from shipping oil to Cuba and threatened to sanction any other country that does.
The result is a crushing energy crisis in a country that has for years battled extended power cuts and shortages of fuel, medicine and food.
Vehicle owners have access to 20 liters of gasoline through a mobile application that organizes distribution -- but it can take months.
Due to the fuel shortage, Diaz had to "park the motorcycle, park the car" and return to his former profession "to survive."
Communist-run Cuba, which has faced a US trade embargo since 1962, has said it would maintain public sector salaries for the time being, but has instituted a four-day work week as transportation woes bite.
Diesel sales are banned and gasoline sales are restricted under the emergency measures instituted by the government to deal with the crisis.

Goods stuck at port

Many self-employed, private sector and informal workers are barely hanging on.
"I could lose my job at any moment, and I don't know how I'm going to feed my family," Alexander Callejas, a parking attendant at a restaurant, told AFP.
At the Havana eatery where he works, the number of customers arriving by car has dramatically decreased, he said.
According to research by the private consulting firm Auge, 96.4 percent of the country's small and medium-sized private businesses are feeling "severe" or "catastrophic" impacts from the fuel shortage.
Local crude production, at roughly 40,000 barrels per day, barely allows the country's power plants to operate. 
The lack of diesel has pinched electric generators that previously supplemented production. 
Solar has increased since early 2026 among those who can afford it -- while others turn to charcoal or cook over open fires.
Even before the US blockade, an AFP analysis of official statistics found that the island generated only half the electricity it needed last year. 
"They cut off the power here every day," said Havana resident Eduardo, who told AFP whether the lights are on or not affects when he can cook his meals that day.
The crisis has trickled down to fruit and vegetable vendors in a country that imports 80 percent of its food.
"We start work at nine in the morning and by noon we have to close," said Yordan Gonzalez, 20, who works in a small shop in central Havana.
By the afternoon, "there's no merchandise," she said -- and "no diesel" to bring in more.
Meanwhile, at the Mariel commercial port, outside the capital, containers are piling up.
There's not enough diesel to distribute the goods inside.
lis-jb-rd/nro/mlm

death

Canadians are choosing when to die, often with a smile

BY MARION THIBAUT

  • "I don't want my daughters to have to answer the question: 'Do we pull the plug?'"
  • Jacques Poissant's suffering stopped the day he asked his daughter if it would be "cowardly to ask to be helped to die".
  • "I don't want my daughters to have to answer the question: 'Do we pull the plug?'"
Jacques Poissant's suffering stopped the day he asked his daughter if it would be "cowardly to ask to be helped to die".
The retired Canadian insurance adviser was 93, and "was wasting away" after a long battle with prostate cancer.
"He no longer had any zest for life," Josee Poissant told AFP.
Last year her mother made the same choice at 96 when she realised she would not be getting out of hospital.
She died surrounded by her children and their partners listening to the music she loved. "She was at peace. She sang until she went to sleep."
Josee Poissant remembers it as a beautiful and moving moment. "There isn't a good way to die, but for me this was the best" and it was "a privilege to have the time to say goodbye".
- One Canadian in 20 - 
One in 20 Canadians who died in 2023 chose themselves when they would go.
Assisted dying has been legal since 2016 for people at the end of life. The right was extended to those suffering from serious and incurable illness in 2021, even if death was not "reasonably foreseeable."
While Britain and France are considering similar measures, Canada is preparing to go even further.
A parliamentary committee is set to start work next month on whether assisted dying should be extended to those suffering exclusively from mental illness.
Claire Brosseau hopes this will be her final battle. She took her right-to-die case to the courts after struggling for decades with bipolar disorder.
"I've been treated by psychiatrists, psychologists, counselors and 12-steps rehab in Montreal, New York City, Toronto and Los Angeles," she said.
"I've tried antidepressants, antipsychotics, mood stabilizers, benzos, sleeping pills and stimulants, cognitive behavioral therapy, dialectical behavioral therapy... tai chi, reiki, meditation, veganism, art therapy and music therapy," the former stand-up comedian said.
"There's nothing really that I haven't tried. It's just been too much for too long," she told AFP.
Every day is a trial for the 49-year-old who lives alone with her dog Olive in a little apartment in Toronto.
"I have about 10 to 30 minutes a day where I'm OK. But the rest of it is just terrible," Brosseau said.
She only goes out to walk Olive when the streets are deserted, has very limited contact with her family, no longer sees her friends, and has her groceries delivered. Even her appointments with her psychiatrists are done by video from her neat, minimalist home.
A change in the law would allow her to "go in peace and safety, surrounded by love. It won't be violent. I won't be alone," she said.
- Trivialised 'as therapy' - 
Canada was to allow assisted dying regardless of illness by 2024. But this was pushed back by three years, with the government saying it wanted to make sure that the already overwhelmed mental health system was ready.
Eight out of 10 Canadians support assisted dying, but some worry about widening it further.
The issue has been trivialized to the point of being "presented as a form of therapy", argued Trudo Lemmens, a health law professor at the University of Toronto.
"We have already seen a sharper rise in cases than in other countries" like Belgium and the Netherlands, which pioneered the practice.
"The desire to commit suicide is often an integral part of a psychiatric disorder," and it is extremely difficult to predict how a mental illness will develop, he said.
But Mona Gupta, a psychiatrist who chaired an expert panel that advised the government, insisted "there is no clinical reason to draw a line separating people with mental disorders from those with chronic physical illnesses.
"We are talking about a very small number of people" who have chronic, severe, treatment‑resistant mental disorders, Dr Gupta said.
"We have to acknowledge that there are people who have been ill for decades and have undergone all kinds of treatments, and that the suffering caused by certain mental illnesses is sometimes just as unrelievable as physical pain," she argued.

'Keeping control' to the end

Quebecker Rachel Fournier, who has brain cancer, has just learned that her request to die has been approved.
"When you're suffering, you feel like it's never going to end," the 71-year-old told AFP.
"Knowing that there will be an end, and that I can choose the moment, is an immense relief.
"I'm keeping control over my life even though I can't control what's happening to my body," said the mother of two and grandmother of four as she admired the winter sun on the snow outside her room in a palliative care centre.
Two doctors examined her request, making sure all the criteria required by law were met.
The applicant must be an adult, "have decision-making capacity", suffer from a serious or incurable illness, and "experience constant, unbearable physical or psychological suffering that cannot be relieved under conditions deemed tolerable".
Only then is a doctor authorized to administer the lethal drugs on the date and time the patient has chosen. 
Fournier said she is proud to live in a country that allows patients to decide for themselves. She watched her mother sink into dementia without being able to ask to leave "with dignity", as she had wished, because the law was not yet in force.
"I don't want my daughters to have to answer the question: 'Do we pull the plug?'"

'Celebrate my life'

For weeks now, the former gallerist has been spending part of her days "revisiting my life" through old photo albums, smiling about everything she "had the chance to experience".
She said it's a pity "that society wants to hide aging and death". 
Yet in Canada, more and more families are choosing to turn their loved one's last day into a moment of celebration with music, singing, speeches and a buffet.
"Come celebrate my life," read the invitations one man sent out for his last day on Earth.
Doctors who have accompanied these patients talk of beautiful and moving ceremonies in gardens, a family's vacation cabin by a lake and even on a boat.
Now undertakers are offering dedicated spaces to families.
"We noticed that people were going to hotels or renting Airbnbs," said Mathieu Baker, whose Quebec funeral complex rents out a room overflowing with plants and paintings.
Baker remembered one woman who asked to watch a horror movie one last time before she passed and another who opted for a few final beers and cigarettes. "These are very beautiful moments, very powerful ones," he said.

Don't 'deny my humanity'

"It is often a celebration," confirmed Georges L'Esperance, a doctor who has been providing assisted dying since the early days.
"Thanks to medicine, we have added years to people's lives, but not always life to those years," he said.
"The decision to end life must rest with the patient," he argued, adding that medical paternalism long ago took a back seat in Canada.
Claire Brosseau rails against the idea that people with mental illness are incapable of making informed decisions. "We're allowed to get married, write a will, make decisions that affect our entire lives. But not this one?"
She wants to be recognized as a whole person, capable of deciding, worthy of compassion and respect. "To deny me this right is to deny my humanity," she said.
tib/dp/fg/phz

tourism

Puerto Vallarta: the Mexican paradise in flames over the killing of 'El Mencho'

BY JEAN ARCE

  • Puerto Vallarta, however, had remained almost immune to the state's daily violence, becoming a popular spot for American and Canadian tourists, and expats, escaping brutal winters back home.
  • Known as a sunny tourist paradise, parts of the coastal city of Puerto Vallarta seem more like the set of a war film in the aftermath of violent chaos spurred by the capture and death of Mexico's most-wanted drug lord.
  • Puerto Vallarta, however, had remained almost immune to the state's daily violence, becoming a popular spot for American and Canadian tourists, and expats, escaping brutal winters back home.
Known as a sunny tourist paradise, parts of the coastal city of Puerto Vallarta seem more like the set of a war film in the aftermath of violent chaos spurred by the capture and death of Mexico's most-wanted drug lord.
Dozens of incinerated vehicles lined the streets and some vandalized stores were empty Tuesday, with stunned residents and tourists still in disbelief.
"It feels like we're in a war-zone," Javier Perez, a 41-year-old engineer who lives in the city, told AFP as he went through the parking lot of a grocery store replete with burnt out cars.
It all started when Nemesio "El Mencho" Oseguera, the top leader of the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), was killed in a Mexican military raid on Sunday.
His death led to an outbreak of violence across the western state of Jalisco, where massacres and clandestine graves are so common they hardly raise an eyebrow.
Puerto Vallarta, however, had remained almost immune to the state's daily violence, becoming a popular spot for American and Canadian tourists, and expats, escaping brutal winters back home.
Until last Sunday, when black towers of smoke blotted out the sun. 
"We had no idea what was going on, and then we saw the bus was burned and the car was burned, and then we saw black smoke all around the city from the window," Farah Saunders, a 53-year-old Canadian retiree, said.
Member of Oseguera's cartel blocked off roads, burned vehicles, attacked gas stations, businesses, and banks and confronted authorities in 20 of the country's 32 states.
Puerto Vallarta Mayor Luis Ernesto Munguia reported on Monday that over 200 vehicles were burned and 40 businesses were vandalized. Beyond that, 23 inmates escaped from the local jail with support from criminals who busted open the door amid riots.
The sky blacked by the smoke from flaming vehicles was visible from Saunders's suite in a luxury hotel along Puerto Vallarta's main strip. 
The remains of a bus reduced to scrap metal lay abandoned in the street, while AFP saw dozens of stores and shopping centers along the same corridor that remained closed and deserted.
"We were quite scared, we've never gone through something like this in Canada," said Saunders, who came here with her husband from Alberta, excited by the good reputation Vallarta has among their fellow citizens.
"Some 20,000 of us live here," she added.
She and her husband, who should have returned to their country on Monday, remain stranded by the cancellation of flights by US and Canadian airlines following the operation against "El Mencho."

Costco attack

Twelve kilometers from the hotel zone, crossing empty streets with minimal traffic, residents in the well-off neighborhood of Fluvial Vallarta wandered through the parking lot of a Costco wholesaler.
The cartel gunmen had no mercy for Costco on Sunday, where they burned over 40 vehicles.
Silent, Javier Perez walked through the expanse of destroyed vehicles accompanied by his family. 
"Unfortunately, this happened to our city, which is a beautiful place," he told AFP.
A resident of Puerto Vallarta for 16 years, Perez questioned whether the government could have alerted the population so they could take cover before the ensuing violence.

'Bad Image'

Other residents lost more than just their cars, as their businesses were incinerated down to the cement, including a motorcycle store in the southern La Vena neighborhood.
Said Diaz, 20, inspected the store where barely ten days earlier he fulfilled his dream of buying a motorcycle.
"When I came, I was so impressed with all the bikes here, and now there is nothing... Every time I came home from work I took some time to look at them," said the young man, who works at a beachside condominium complex frequented by foreigners.
"This has left Vallarta with a really bad image. I work in a condo and now a lot of people are leaving," Diaz added, expressing worries over the potential impacts to his employment. 
jla/ai/lp/mar/jpo/des

conflict

Gazans salvage ancient books in mosque library damaged by war

  • The Great Omari Mosque library sustained terrible damaged during the war in Gaza, which erupted in October 2023 and devastated swathes of the Palestinian territory, including cultural and religious sites.
  • Inside the dusty shell of one of the oldest libraries in the Palestinian territories, a group of Gazan volunteers work diligently to salvage what remains of their ancient cultural heritage.
  • The Great Omari Mosque library sustained terrible damaged during the war in Gaza, which erupted in October 2023 and devastated swathes of the Palestinian territory, including cultural and religious sites.
Inside the dusty shell of one of the oldest libraries in the Palestinian territories, a group of Gazan volunteers work diligently to salvage what remains of their ancient cultural heritage.
The Great Omari Mosque library sustained terrible damaged during the war in Gaza, which erupted in October 2023 and devastated swathes of the Palestinian territory, including cultural and religious sites.
The mosque -- in the old town of Gaza City -- now stands largely ruined, with its library littered with rubble and dust.
"I was shocked and stunned when I saw the extent of the destruction in the library," Haneen Al-Amsi told AFP, saying the scenes of devastation had spurred her to help launch the restoration initiative.
Amsi, who heads the Eyes on Heritage Volunteer Foundation, said the western part of the library was burned when the mosque was hit, causing irreversible damage.
"The library was estimated to contain about 20,000 books, but currently we are left with fewer than 3,000 or 4,000," she explained.
Among the debris, volunteers hoping to restore the collection pored over charred fragments of manuscript and shards of yellowed paper. 
"The library of the Great Omari Mosque is considered the third largest library in Palestine after the Al-Aqsa Mosque library and the Ahmed Pasha al-Jazzar library," Amsi said. 
"It is an important historical library that contains original manuscripts and a diverse collection of books on jurisprudence, medicine, Islamic law, literature and various other subjects."
Gaza's history stretches back thousands of years, making the tiny territory a treasure trove of archaeological artefacts from past civilisations including Canaanites, Egyptians, Persians and Greeks.
But more than two years of war between Israel and Hamas took a heavy toll on Gaza's heritage sites.
As of January 2026, the UN's cultural agency UNESCO, had verified damage to 150 sites since the start of the war on October 7, 2023 sparked by Hamas's attack on Israel.
These include 14 religious sites and 115 buildings of historical or artistic interest.

'Represent history'

Inside one of the library's old stone rooms, one woman used a paintbrush to dust off an old tome, while other volunteers wearing facemasks and gloves crouched on the floor to leaf through piles of books.
"The condition of the rare and historical books is deplorable due to their being left for more than 700 to 800 days," Amsi said, talking of "immense damage and gunpowder residue" on the volumes.
An independent United Nations commission said in June 2025 that Israeli attacks on schools, religious and cultural sites in Gaza amounted to war crimes.
"Israel has obliterated Gaza's education system and destroyed more than half of all religious and cultural sites in the Gaza Strip," the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory said in a report.
Israel rejected the commission as "an inherently biased and politicised mechanism of the Human Rights Council" and said the report was "another attempt to promote its fictitious narrative of the Gaza war".
For Amsi, the importance of restoring the books lay in preserving crucial historic records.
"These books represent the history of the city and bear witness to historical events," she said. 
vid-acc/jd/dc

media

Netflix, Prime and Disney+ face UK broadcasting regulation

  • Any "video-on-demand" platform with more than 500,000 users will need to comply with rules overseen by UK broadcasting regulator Ofcom regarding "protections from harmful material" and increased availability of subtitled, signed and audio-described programming. 
  • The UK government on Tuesday announced that US streaming sites Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video will have to comply with broadcasting regulations aimed at protecting children and the vulnerable. 
  • Any "video-on-demand" platform with more than 500,000 users will need to comply with rules overseen by UK broadcasting regulator Ofcom regarding "protections from harmful material" and increased availability of subtitled, signed and audio-described programming. 
The UK government on Tuesday announced that US streaming sites Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video will have to comply with broadcasting regulations aimed at protecting children and the vulnerable. 
Along with British streaming sites, they will be required to follow content and accessibility rules applied to traditional broadcasters, a statement said.
Any "video-on-demand" platform with more than 500,000 users will need to comply with rules overseen by UK broadcasting regulator Ofcom regarding "protections from harmful material" and increased availability of subtitled, signed and audio-described programming. 
Britain's government headed by Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the move was a consequence of changing viewing habits.
"We know that the way audiences watch TV has fundamentally changed," Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said in Tuesday's statement.
"Millions now choose to watch content on video-on-demand platforms alongside or, in the case of many young people, instead of traditional TV."
The government said Ofcom would shortly begin a public consultation on the new streaming standards and accessibility codes, "which will be an opportunity for the public and providers to set out their views". 
bcp/ajb/rmb

leisure

Greece set new tourism record in 2025

  • Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni said 2025 was the "best year of all time" for the sector.
  • Greece in 2025 set new records in tourism arrivals and revenue, the country's central bank said Tuesday, continuing an upward trend for the third straight year according to the tourism ministry.
  • Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni said 2025 was the "best year of all time" for the sector.
Greece in 2025 set new records in tourism arrivals and revenue, the country's central bank said Tuesday, continuing an upward trend for the third straight year according to the tourism ministry.
"In 2025, inbound travel increased by 5.6 percent and reached 37,98 (million) travellers, compared with 35,95 (million) travellers in 2024," the Greek central bank said in a statement.
EU arrivals rose by 2.8 percent while non-EU visitors increased by 10 percent, it said.
The provisional data does not include cruise ship traffic, the bank said.
Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni said 2025 was the "best year of all time" for the sector.
She told state TV ERT that travel receipts stood at 23.6 billion euros ($27.8 billion) compared to 21.6 billion euros in 2024, a rise of more than nine percent according to the Bank of Greece.
And early data suggests 2026 will also be "a good year," she said.
But the sector has seen some hiccups.
In early January, a communications blackout at Athens International Airport snarled flights for hours, when multiple radio frequencies serving Athens airspace were hit by continuous "noise" interference.
Hundreds of flights had to be diverted to neighbouring countries, with thousands of travellers hit.
An official report later blamed the glitch on "obsolete technology". A 300-million euro infrastructure upgrade is underway.
On February 19, a backup radar at the airport temporarily failed, after a similar problem in August, air traffic controllers said.
Greece ranks in the top five most touristed countries in the European Union, behind France, Spain and Italy, and around the same level as Germany.
jph/rmb

animal

Rights group slams treatment of viral Japanese monkey

  • In an update on Punch's plight on Sunday, the zoo said he "was meticulously groomed by two monkeys and is steadily fitting into the group". stu-aph/lga
  • The plight of a baby monkey in Japan who has become an internet sensation shows the cruelty of zoos, an animal rights group said, as sales of the plush IKEA orangutan the animal clings to boomed.
  • In an update on Punch's plight on Sunday, the zoo said he "was meticulously groomed by two monkeys and is steadily fitting into the group". stu-aph/lga
The plight of a baby monkey in Japan who has become an internet sensation shows the cruelty of zoos, an animal rights group said, as sales of the plush IKEA orangutan the animal clings to boomed.
Punch, a baby macaque abandoned by its mother, shot to stardom after being pictured getting bullied by other monkeys and seeking comfort from the orangutan toy at Ichikawa City Zoo outside Tokyo.
"Zoos are not sanctuaries -- they are places where animals are confined, deprived of autonomy, and denied the complex environments and social lives they would have in the wild," said People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).
"What some are calling 'cute' is actually a glimpse into the trauma of a young, highly social primate coping with isolation and loss," the group's Asia director, Jason Baker, said in a statement.
"Until facilities stop treating sentient beings as attractions, animals like Punch will continue to suffer in captivity," Baker said, calling for Punch to be moved to a "reputable sanctuary, where he could live in a more natural environment".
Spurned by its mother, Punch was raised in an artificial environment after being born in July, and began training to rejoin his troop last month.
Punch's predicament sparked huge interest online, spawning a devoted fanbase under the hashtag #HangInTherePunch, as large crowds thronged the zoo.
Meanwhile, Swedish interior furnishings giant IKEA, the maker of the orangutan soft toy, said it was seeing "unprecedented" interest and "significantly" higher sales than usual. 
"As a result, the product is currently out of stock in some markets, including Japan and the United States," Ingka Group, the holding company controlling most of IKEA's stores, told AFP by email.
Over a long holiday weekend in Japan, fans queued for up to an hour to catch a glimpse of Punch, the Ichikawa zoo said in a post on X, with more than 5,000 visitors recorded on Monday.
The zoo said it had set up a "restricted zone" around part of the monkey enclosure to reduce stress for the animals.
A large number of people have asked how they can donate cash or goods, it added.
In an update on Punch's plight on Sunday, the zoo said he "was meticulously groomed by two monkeys and is steadily fitting into the group".
stu-aph/lga

killing

France to revoke US envoy's govt access after summons no-show

  • Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot summoned Kushner after the US embassy in Paris reposted comments by the Trump administration in Washington about slain far-right activist Quentin Deranque.
  • France moved on Monday to block US envoy Charles Kushner from having access to government ministers, after he failed to show up to explain comments about a killed far-right activist.
  • Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot summoned Kushner after the US embassy in Paris reposted comments by the Trump administration in Washington about slain far-right activist Quentin Deranque.
France moved on Monday to block US envoy Charles Kushner from having access to government ministers, after he failed to show up to explain comments about a killed far-right activist.
The move is the latest instance of diplomatic friction between Paris and the United States under President Donald Trump, with Paris bristling at what it sees as repeated interference by Washington in domestic matters.
Kushner, whose son Jared is married to Trump's daughter Ivanka, has already been summoned once before over his criticism of France's handling of antisemitism. He skipped that meeting as well, sending another official instead.
Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot summoned Kushner after the US embassy in Paris reposted comments by the Trump administration in Washington about slain far-right activist Quentin Deranque.
Deranque, 23, died from head injuries following clashes between radical-left and far-right supporters on the sidelines of a February 12 protest against a politician from the left-wing France Unbowed (LFI) party in Lyon.
Barrot denounced on Sunday any attempts to exploit the killing "for political ends" and summoned Kushner for a meeting at 7:00 pm (1800 GMT) the following day.
But a diplomatic source told AFP the ambassador cited "personal commitments" and sent a senior embassy official instead.
"In light of this apparent failure to grasp the basic requirements of the ambassadorial mission and the honour of representing one's country, the minister (Barrot) has requested that he (Kushner) no longer be allowed direct access to members of the French government," the foreign ministry said.
Kushner would, however, be permitted to continue his diplomatic duties and have "exchanges" with officials, it added in a statement.
Washington has not commented on this development.

On edge

Deranque's death has put France on edge, igniting tensions between the left and right ahead of a 2027 presidential vote. 
More than 3,000 people marched in Lyon on Saturday in tribute to Deranque, with authorities deploying heavy security for fear of further clashes.
On Friday, Sarah Rogers, the State Department under secretary for public diplomacy, said Deranque's killing showed "why we treat political violence -- terrorism -- so harshly". 
"Once you decide to kill people for their opinions instead of persuade them, you've opted out of civilization," she wrote on X.
The State Department's bureau of counter-terrorism separately posted: "Violent radical leftism is on the rise and its role in Quentin Deranque's death demonstrates the threat it poses to public safety."
The US embassy shared a French translation of the post on its account.
Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has also weighed in, triggering a war of words with French President Emmanuel Macron, who urged her to stop "commenting on what happens in other countries".
Kushner, who took up his post in Paris last year, was previously summoned to the foreign ministry at the end of August, after the French government took exception to his criticism that Macron was not tackling antisemitism.
The US charge d'affaires -- the ambassador's de facto deputy -- attended that meeting.
dt/giv-phz/sbk/abs/mjw

vote

Votes may 'melt like snow': Reform, Greens eye Labour UK bastion

BY MARTIN POLLARD

  • - 'Caught in the middle' - But Starmer's approval ratings have slid since then, as insurgent parties bite into the support of Labour and the country's other traditional main party, the Conservatives, still reeling from being ousted from power after 14 consecutive years.
  • Beleaguered UK leader Keir Starmer's Labour party is expected to bleed support to both the hard-right and far-left in a crunch poll this week as Britain's traditional two-party system splinters.
  • - 'Caught in the middle' - But Starmer's approval ratings have slid since then, as insurgent parties bite into the support of Labour and the country's other traditional main party, the Conservatives, still reeling from being ousted from power after 14 consecutive years.
Beleaguered UK leader Keir Starmer's Labour party is expected to bleed support to both the hard-right and far-left in a crunch poll this week as Britain's traditional two-party system splinters.
The Manchester suburb of Gorton and Denton has been a Labour stronghold for decades.
But Nigel Farage's anti-immigrant Reform UK party and left-wing populists the Greens are hopeful of exploiting widespread disaffection with Starmer, already raising doubts about his longevity.
"I'm not voting for Labour this time because they're absolutely useless," said long-time Labour voter Sue, who has a homemade Vote Reform UK poster in her window for Thursday's parliamentary by-election.
Richard, a window cleaner, has never voted before, but also plans to cast his first ballot for Reform, which is currently soaring in national polls due to the high cost of living and anger over small boat arrivals of migrants.
"Immigration is the main reason," said the 43-year-old, beside the pool tables at Denton working men's club, who like many asked not to give his full name.
"Denton used to be a place that you knew everybody and now you just don't... I'm just worried about the people that are walking around here that I don't know," he said, also citing perceived pressure on housing and hospital waiting lists.
Matt Goodwin is Reform's candidate in the vote triggered by the resignation of former Labour MP Andrew Gwynne on health grounds.
Labour comfortably won the seat with more than 50 percent of the vote at the July 2024 general election that swept Starmer to power, ahead of Reform on 14 percent, and Greens on 13 percent.

'Caught in the middle'

But Starmer's approval ratings have slid since then, as insurgent parties bite into the support of Labour and the country's other traditional main party, the Conservatives, still reeling from being ousted from power after 14 consecutive years.
A poll of 452 people published by Omnisis on Friday suggested the Greens could win the seat with 20 percent, ahead of Reform on 17 percent, with Labour third at 15 percent.
"Talking to customers in the back of the cab, you can see allegiances switching," said Steve, 63, a taxi driver.
"You've got people who were Labour voters all their life, some going to Reform ... and then you've got the people who are voting for Greens who basically think that's the only alternative they've got."
The constituency represents Labour's dilemma nationally: how to tack right on immigration to try to counter Reform while not alienating its traditional left-wing base.
According to Oxford University political scientist Geoffrey Evans, Labour is "caught in the middle", vulnerable on both flanks amid an ailing economy.
"We may have entered an era where there is populist appeal on left and right as the centrist parties have failed to meet the public's goals," Evans said.
At the Green Party's local campaign headquarters, spirits are high. 
According to the party, member numbers have tripled to 190,000 since populist Zack Polanski became party leader in September.
"It is going to be so close between us and Reform," Green party hopeful, Hannah Spencer, 34, told AFP.

'Like watermelons'

For some ex-Labour loyalists, backing the Greens feels like reclaiming what they see as the party's abandoned values.
"We're like watermelons, green on the outside, red on the inside," said Peter Gunn, 67, who has switched to Greens from Labour after 45 years. 
Others were more hostile. 
"I just think Labour are odious and if we have to learn the hard way of having a Reform government then so be it," said Stephen Gingell, a former Just-Stop-Oil activist out door-knocking for the Greens. 
Victory may hinge on the constituency's 28 percent Muslim population.
Local imam Saleem said his normally Labour-supporting flock were turning to the Greens because of their pro-Gaza stance.
"The Asian community stuck with Labour for a long time," said Atif Nazir, 45, manager of a pastry store.
"But the people are diverting. They're changing their mind."
A defeat could further imperil Starmer who has fended off calls to resign but faces a chastening set of local elections in May that could spark leadership manoeuvrings. 
Labour campaigners insist their organisational strength and long-standing presence may still prove decisive on Thursday.
But in Denton, even loyal supporters sense the ground is shifting.
"Hand on heart it'll be Reform," said Ron, 69, a former Labour councillor who still plans to vote for the party. 
"Labour's majority looks huge on paper, but in an election like this that could melt away like snow in spring."
mp/jkb/pdh/ach/abs

AI

Canada summons OpenAI over failure to report mass shooter

  • "I have summoned the senior safety team from OpenAI in the United States to come here to Ottawa," Solomon said.
  • Canada has summoned senior leadership from OpenAI to Ottawa to explain the company's decision not to report suspicious online activity by an individual who later killed eight people this month.
  • "I have summoned the senior safety team from OpenAI in the United States to come here to Ottawa," Solomon said.
Canada has summoned senior leadership from OpenAI to Ottawa to explain the company's decision not to report suspicious online activity by an individual who later killed eight people this month.
OpenAI has confirmed that in June 2025 its abuse‑detection efforts identified a ChatGPT account linked to Jesse Van Rootselaar, an 18‑year‑old transgender woman who murdered her mother, brother, and six people at a school in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, on February 10.
The company told AFP that the account was identified through an investigative process that looks for usage related to violent activity.
The account was banned that month, but the company did not inform Canadian police at the time.
That decision was "very disturbing," Canada's Artificial Intelligence Minister Evan Solomon told reporters Monday in Ottawa.
"I have summoned the senior safety team from OpenAI in the United States to come here to Ottawa," Solomon said.
"They will come here tomorrow (Tuesday), and we will have a sit‑down meeting to get an explanation of their safety protocols," he added. 
OpenAI has said it uses a very high bar when deciding whether to involve law enforcement after identifying a suspicious account.
Concerning Van Rootselaar, it decided not to inform Canadian police because her ChatGPT usage did not point toward credible or imminent planning of an attack.
"Our thoughts are with everyone affected by the Tumbler Ridge tragedy," the company said in a statement last week.
"We proactively reached out to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police with information on the individual and their use of ChatGPT, and we'll continue to support their investigation," it added.
Solomon said he "immediately" contacted OpenAI when he first read media reports that the company "did not contact law enforcement in a timely manner."
He did not specify what actions or new legislation Ottawa might consider to regulate the use of artificial intelligence moving forward, but said "all options are on the table."
Canada was shocked by the shootings in Tumbler Ridge, a small picturesque mining town built four decades ago, 1,180 kilometers (733 miles) north of Vancouver.
Van Rootselaar's victims at the school included five children and a teacher. The shooter died there of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to police.
She had a history of mental‑health challenges, and the RCMP had previously visited her home.
Unlike the United States, Canada has strict gun laws and mass shootings are extremely rare.
The killings in Tumbler Ridge were among the worst outbursts of violence in Canadian history.
bs/mlm    

conflict

From Odesa to Bakhmut, revisiting a Ukrainian family torn by war

BY CéCILE FEUILLATRE

  • As Ukrainians prepare to mark the invasion's four-year anniversary on Tuesday, AFP spoke to those who knew the Glodans, about their memories of the strike and of the family.
  • It was the day before Orthodox Easter in 2022, and Valeria and Yuriy Glodan were preparing to celebrate with their three-month-old daughter Kira in the coastal Ukrainian city of Odesa when their world fell apart in seconds.
  • As Ukrainians prepare to mark the invasion's four-year anniversary on Tuesday, AFP spoke to those who knew the Glodans, about their memories of the strike and of the family.
It was the day before Orthodox Easter in 2022, and Valeria and Yuriy Glodan were preparing to celebrate with their three-month-old daughter Kira in the coastal Ukrainian city of Odesa when their world fell apart in seconds.
While Yuriy was out shopping, a Russian missile hit their apartment, instantly wiping out three generations of the family: baby Kira, 28-year-old Valeria and Valeria's mother Lyudmyla, 54.
The Glodan family's story, which drew outrage in Ukraine and worldwide, is just one example of many in a four-year Russian invasion punctuated by tragedy and heartache for millions.
A year later, Yuriy joined the army and was killed in September 2023 during the battle for the town of Bakhmut, one of the bloodiest of the war.
"There's a before and an after," Yuriy's 53-year-old mother Nina said of the strike that killed her relatives.
"We're still living in April 2022. And we haven't moved past it."
More than 15,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed since the start of the Russian invasion, according to UN estimates.
The real toll is thought to be much higher, while thousands of soldiers are believed to be dead or missing in action.
As Ukrainians prepare to mark the invasion's four-year anniversary on Tuesday, AFP spoke to those who knew the Glodans, about their memories of the strike and of the family.

'His life was over'

The young couple is now buried in a cemetery in Avangard, a small village on the outskirts of Odesa.
Kira, her mother and grandmother's grave lie on one side of a narrow path in the cemetery.
Yuriy's, on the other side of the path, faces them.
Nina and her husband, also called Yuriy, spoke to AFP from a cafe in the village.
It was where they learned they would become grandparents.
They brought with them a family album that showed a picture-perfect life: Yuriy and Valiera's wedding, their trip to Rome, and of course, wide-eyed baby Kirochka.
It shows Yuriy, serious and composed besides Valeria, a brunette with an infectious smile who resembles her mother Lyudmyla.
The pair met in 2013, when Yuriy was finishing his studies at Odesa Law Academy and Valeria was studying journalism.
"Yuriy was very smart. She really won him over with her intellect," Nina said.
Yuriy later abandoned his law career to work in an Odesa boulangerie called "Make My Cake".
"The first thing he became known for was baking cinnamon rolls. He also made great Easter cakes," his mother said.
"We were waiting for grandchildren," his father added.
The couple got married in 2019, and Kira was born on January 4, 2022.
"We were so happy."
But then came the invasion, and the strike.
Nina had her son on the phone, as they searched through the rubble of the building, looking for his girls.
"He said right then that his life was over," Nina said. "Ours too."

'Empty inside'

Valeria's friend Alla Korolyova never deleted their WhatsApp messages and scrolled through them as she spoke to AFP, showing jokes, emojis and photos of baby Kira.
"Her personality was like sunshine. She loved Odesa, Ukrainian culture, the opera... She had a wonderful, very loud laugh that I miss very much," said Korolyova, 38.
Korolyova left for the relative safety of western Ukraine, further from the front, at the beginning of the invasion.
But Valeria didn't want to leave Odesa, where she felt safe. 
Their Whatsapp chat on April 23rd -- the day of the strike -- only showed missed calls from Alla, along with anxious messages:
"Is everything alright?"
A year after losing his family, Yuriy left for the eastern front, training intensively to join Ukraine's elite third assault unit.
"When I met him, I had no idea who he was. He was just a guy from Odesa, always sad and dissatisfied with something," said fellow soldier and friend Dmytro Gudz.
"One day in the dugout I asked him –- why are you always such a grumbler? And he told me about the tragedy with his family. From that time, we grew very close."
Yuriy was "empty inside" -- Alla and Dmytro both said separately.
He died during an assault on Andriivka, near Bakhmut.
A soldier who was wounded alongside him said he was killed by a drone chasing them. 
His funeral took place on February 24, 2024, two years to the day after the start of the Russian invasion.
cf-mk-brw/cad/

crime

What the future holds for the CJNG cartel after leader killed

BY YUSSEL GONZALEZ

  • Oseguera was wounded in a clash with soldiers in the town of Tapalpa, in Jalisco state, and died while being flown to Mexico City, the military said in a statement.
  • Violence swept across Mexico Sunday after the leader of the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), who had a $15 million US bounty on his head, was killed in a military shoot-out.
  • Oseguera was wounded in a clash with soldiers in the town of Tapalpa, in Jalisco state, and died while being flown to Mexico City, the military said in a statement.
Violence swept across Mexico Sunday after the leader of the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), who had a $15 million US bounty on his head, was killed in a military shoot-out.
News of the death of Nemesio "El Mencho" Oseguera, 59, triggered cartel members across the country to block roads, torch vehicles and businesses and send fearful residents into hiding.
AFP looks at the sprawling power of CJNG and its future without "El Mencho" at the helm. 
- What is CJNG? –
Oseguera is a founding member of CJNG, which was formed in 2009 and has grown into one of the most violent drug cartels in Mexico, ahead of the Sinaloa cartel.
The US State Department said that the cartel has the "highest cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine trafficking capacity in Mexico," and over the past few years, has started to funnel fentanyl into the United States.
"It is certainly one of the most powerful organizations in Mexico in terms of military capacity, recruitment capability and weaponry," David Mora, an expert at the Crisis Group analysis center, told AFP.
Apart from drug trafficking, the CJNG's operation expanded into other criminal enterprises such as extortion, fuel theft and human trafficking, the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) reported.
The CJNG is characterized by its "constant willingness to challenge the Mexican government," Mora said.
In a show of power, the cartel frequently releases images of its members showing off weapons and armored vehicles.
In 2020, the cartel was accused of the attempted assassination of Mexico's public security secretary Omar Garcia Harfuch, who at the time was serving as police chief in the capital.
Last year, it was also accused of killing Uruapan mayor Carlos Manzo, a known crusader against organized crime in Mexico.
Manzo's death sparked two days of youth-led demonstrations in November, with protesters setting fire to public buildings and clashing with police, resulting in over 100 injuries.

Why did the cartel react so violently ?

The reaction that followed Oseguera's death reflects the cartel's far-reaching power in Mexico, experts said.
Violence gripped the resort city of Puerto Vallarta, the state of Michoacan near the capital, and the states of Puebla, Guanajuato in central Mexico, Sinaloa in the northwest and south into Guerrero.
"What we saw today is just a demonstration of the places where (the cartel) operate and where they can spread violence," Mora said.
Security analyst Gerardo Rodriguez told AFP that authorities had anticipated a reaction, but did not expect such a "national reach."
Oseguera was wounded in a clash with soldiers in the town of Tapalpa, in Jalisco state, and died while being flown to Mexico City, the military said in a statement.
"In operational tactical terms, it is a very successful operation by the government," Rodriguez said.

What is the future of the cartel?

Oseguera is one of the biggest Mexican drug lords to be taken down since the capture of the founders of the Sinaloa cartel, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman and Ismael Zambada. Both are now serving time in the United States.
Meanwhile, Ruben "El Menchito" Oseguera Gonzalez, 35, Oseguera's son, was convicted by a federal jury in Washington in September of multiple drug trafficking and firearms charges.
Mora said that "in the absence of a direct succession, a power vacuum is created that opens the door to violent realignments within the organization."
It was the weakening of the Sinaloa cartel, for example, that led to CJNG's rise in prominence, experts noted.
The United States has classified CJNG as a terrorist organization and accuses it of sending cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and fentanyl into the United States.
yug-lpa/phs/ane/fox

crime

Nemesio Oseguera, the brutal Mexican drug lord known as 'El Mencho'

  • Oseguera later broke away to found the CJNG. After the extradition of Guzman and Zambada to the United States, he transformed his cartel into the most powerful in Mexico.
  • Nemesio Oseguera, the head of Mexico's Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) who was killed by the army on Sunday, challenged the state like few others in his bid to consolidate power.
  • Oseguera later broke away to found the CJNG. After the extradition of Guzman and Zambada to the United States, he transformed his cartel into the most powerful in Mexico.
Nemesio Oseguera, the head of Mexico's Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) who was killed by the army on Sunday, challenged the state like few others in his bid to consolidate power.
Nicknamed "El Mencho", the 59-year-old and his cartel ambushed police officers, attacked the capital's security chief on his home turf and even shot down a military helicopter.
Oseguera was considered the last of the drug lords who acted in the flashy, brutal mold of the now-imprisoned Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman and Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada.
The United States had listed him as its most-wanted drug trafficker, offering a $15 million reward for his capture.
Oseguera was born in Aguililla, a town in the western Mexican state of Michoacan, the gateway to a harsh mountainous region where illegal marijuana plantations flourished in his childhood.
As a young man, he emigrated to the United States, where he was arrested, jailed and deported for heroin trafficking.
On returning to Mexico, he joined the Milenio criminal cartel. Infighting later forced him out of Michoacan, as one faction allied itself with Los Zetas, a group founded by former elite soldiers who imposed terror across the region.

'Violent nature'

Oseguera took refuge in neighbouring Jalisco state. In 2009, with the Sinaloa cartel, he formed the Matazetas -- "Zeta Killers" -- which rose to notoriety two years later with the slaying of dozens of people with ties to that group.
Oseguera later broke away to found the CJNG. After the extradition of Guzman and Zambada to the United States, he transformed his cartel into the most powerful in Mexico.
The group maintained a vast network of hitmen -- even making its own weapons -- and expanded into several Mexican states.
Last year, the US State Department designated the CJNG as a terrorist organization, accusing it of illegal fentanyl and migrant trafficking, extortion, oil and mineral theft, and arms dealing.
Jose Reveles, a writer specializing in the drug trade, told AFP that Oseguera had a "violent nature" and did not shy away from challenging all levels of government, unlike other cartels, which tended to use violence defensively.
In 2020, Oseguera ordered an unprecedented attack on the then-chief of the Mexico City police, Omar Garcia Harfuch, wounding him and killing three others. Garcia Harfuch is now the country's head of public security.
During a wave of terror in Jalisco in 2015, CJNG gunmen ambushed members of the national gendarmerie and a state police convoy on a highway, using an RPG to shoot down a military helicopter.
Dozens of people were killed, including 20 police officers and nine soldiers.

Opening markets

Oseguera carved a path to power through violence and bloodshed, but for a long time he could not compete with the cartels that controlled the border region with the United States.
Instead, he targeted other markets and diversified his drug offerings.
"Europe, Asia, Africa and even Australia were less contested by Mexicans, and they pay more for drugs there," said Reveles.
Oseguera maintained a low profile for years, though he appeared on screen at two music concerts last year.
"He was very careful not to appear in public, and little is known about his life," said Reveles.
Few photos of Oseguera are in circulation. On the US State Department's reward card, he appears with a sharp face, neatly combed hair and a thin mustache.
But in a 1989 profile by the US Drug Enforcement Administration, he has frizzy hair and rougher features.
Oseguera married Rosalinda Gonzalez Valencia in the 1990s, and the couple had three children before divorcing.
Gonzalez Valencia was released from prison last year after reportedly serving time for suspicious payments related to a car wash she owned. Her current whereabouts are unclear.
Eldest son Ruben Oseguera Gonzalez, known as "El Menchito", was jailed for life by the United States last year on drug- and firearms-related crimes.
sem/lp/yug/mar/mjw/fox

religion

Thousands of pilgrims visit remains of St Francis

BY JULIETTE RABAT

  • Apart from previous exhumations for inspection and scientific examination, the bones of Saint Francis have only been displayed once, in 1978, to a very limited public and for just one day.
  • A long line of pilgrims and visitors snaked outside the Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi in Italy on Sunday as his remains went on public display for the first time.
  • Apart from previous exhumations for inspection and scientific examination, the bones of Saint Francis have only been displayed once, in 1978, to a very limited public and for just one day.
A long line of pilgrims and visitors snaked outside the Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi in Italy on Sunday as his remains went on public display for the first time.
Many families with children, couples and elderly people could be seen under a large white marquee, waiting their turn to see the 13th century skeleton of Italy's patron saint.
After passing through metal detectors, groups of about 750 people were being allowed into the hill town basilica's lower church every half an hour starting from 7:00am.
The Franciscan order says some 400,000 people have reserved visits to see the remains, which will be on display until March 22.
"It was a very moving morning -- a unique event and I appreciated it hugely," Nicoletta Benolli, 65, told AFP as she came out of the church under a bright winter sun.
St Francis founded the Franciscan order after renouncing his wealth and devoting his life to the poor.

'Very intense'

The remains are being shown in a plexiglass case by the richly-decorated church's altar for the 800th anniversary of his death.
The public are allowed to touch the outer glass case.
Being so close to the remains "makes things very real," said Benolli, who had travelled from Verona in northern Italy.
"Sometimes we doubt but here, in these moments, we have the truth in front of us. We have the chance to see it and touch it".
As they viewed the remains laid out on a white silk sheet, many pilgrims made the sign of the cross, others kneeled down.
One visitor touched her rosary beads on the case. Many had tears in their eyes.
Apart from previous exhumations for inspection and scientific examination, the bones of Saint Francis have only been displayed once, in 1978, to a very limited public and for just one day.
"Being close to such a model of saintliness transmits something to the soul.
"We can almost hear Francis's message when passing by as if he was speaking to us. Even if it is a quick passage, it is very intense," said Nicola Urlandini, 35, who came with his girlfriend.
Giulio Cesareo, director of communications for the convent of Assisi and himself a Franciscan friar, said that "you can see with the naked eye that these remains are really consumed but not consumed by time but by fatigue, by privations, for this man who walked enormously and slept in caves.
The skull was also damaged when the body was moved into the basilica in the 13th century.
Rosa Padhilete, a Franciscan nun who came from Naples, said she felt an "immense, inexplicable joy" seeing the remains.
"Contemplating in silence the mortal remains of St Francis, (it is) as if he was really alive and that revives hope for those of us who are still on Earth," she said.
jra/dt/gv

conflict

Four lives changed by four years of Russia-Ukraine war

  • Out of the limelight for years, when Russia invaded Ukraine he transformed himself into a pro-war zealot, blasting the "decadent" West and reviving his stalled career.
  • Tens of thousands of civilians and hundreds of thousands of soldiers have been killed in the Russia-Ukraine war.
  • Out of the limelight for years, when Russia invaded Ukraine he transformed himself into a pro-war zealot, blasting the "decadent" West and reviving his stalled career.
Tens of thousands of civilians and hundreds of thousands of soldiers have been killed in the Russia-Ukraine war.
In Ukraine, millions more have had to flee their homes to escape the fighting as Russia's troops advanced. And any Russians who oppose the fighting have either been arrested in a sweeping crackdown on dissent or fled the country to escape persecution.
Ahead of February 24 -- which will mark four years since Russia invaded -- AFP looks at how the lives of just four people were forever changed by the war.

A family destroyed

Kira was just three months old, her mother Valeria, 28, and grandmother Lyudmila, 54, when a Russian missile slammed into their apartment in the Ukrainian city of Odesa.
In a matter of seconds on April 23, 2022, they were killed -- three generations of one family wiped out.
Kira's father, Yuriy, was out shopping when the missile hit. Footage from the time showed him, visibly in shock, sifting through the rubble for items that belonged to his wife and baby daughter.
A former lawyer who had retrained as a baker at a trendy cafe in the Black Sea city, he joined the Ukrainian army a year later.
By September 2023, he had been killed -- fighting around the eastern city of Bakhmut, one of the bloodiest spots of the sprawling front line.
Their story -- the Glodan family -- has become a symbol of the enormous price paid by Ukrainian civilians since Russia invaded.
"There are hundreds of stories like this across the country," said Valeria's best friend Alla Korolyova, who AFP spoke to in February 2026.
"Lera was a ray of sunshine. She loved Odesa, Ukrainian culture, the opera," she said, using Valeria's diminutive name.
"She had a huge laugh, which I miss so much."
On her phone she shows a picture of Kira, sent to her by her mother -- a little baby she never had time to get to know.

The amputee ready to fight again

Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Volodymyr's 32nd birthday.
Four years in, he is impatient to rejoin Kyiv's army -- even after losing his leg and arm in a drone strike.
Going by the call-sign "Arkhyp", he suffered life-altering wounds in 2024 when a Russian FPV drone smashed into his unit's position.
AFP had first met him a few months earlier in the northeastern Kharkiv region, where he said drones "will reach the target 90 percent of the time -- if the pilot is good".
Speaking to AFP again this January, Volodymyr recalled the incident, his recovery and how he was desperate to help the Ukrainian war effort once again.
"I lifted my head while lying down, looked at my leg, and the guy... is just sawing my leg off," he said.
He underwent 21 operations in one month -- "almost every day. Except Saturdays, when many doctors have days off".
No longer in military fatigues but a black tracksuit and with a prosthetic limb, Volodymyr was speaking at a football tournament in the town of Pavlograd, one he used to play in before his injury.
He got around the venue with apparent ease.
His mind set on re-enlisting, he has been in constant treatment and rehabilitation for the past 18 months.
"From the very beginning, I planned to return to my brothers-in-arms," he said.
This time to a rear-line position.
Despite his unwavering determination to fight, Volodymyr had "some hope" an agreement to end the war can be reached soon.
And his priorities on what that peace deal might look like have changed.
"A couple of years ago, we firmly believed that we would be able to return to the 1991 borders," he said, referring to a time when Crimea and the eastern Donbas region were fully under Kyiv's control after the fall of the Soviet Union.
"But now, being in the army and experiencing everything firsthand, you feel that the price for the 1991 borders will be very high."

Russian pro-war comedian revives career

Russian comedian Andrei Bocharov, 59, made his name as a clean-cut "Mama's boy" playing an awkward character in an absurdist 1990s TV show about post-Soviet life.
Out of the limelight for years, when Russia invaded Ukraine he transformed himself into a pro-war zealot, blasting the "decadent" West and reviving his stalled career.
Known as Bocharik, the Siberian native had embodied a brief era when Russia laughed at its own flaws in "33 Square Metres", a cult hit that caricatured family life in a cramped apartment building after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
His innocent smiles and genial facial expressions won over millions of viewers.
But since February 24, 2022, he has embraced a fervent anti-West pro-Kremlin narrative.
On podcasts and social media he speaks of choosing "my homeland and my roots". He denounces those who oppose the Russian offensive and takes biting, sarcastic aim at Russians who fled the country in protest or to avoid being drafted to fight.
Before the war, he travelled extensively to Europe and the West, like most of Russia's cultural elite.
Now he slams their "anti-Russian" agenda and excessive liberalism -- echoing Kremlin talking points -- to his 400,000 followers on Telegram and Russian social media site VK.
He also hosts a weekly show on state-run radio station Sputnik.
"We are number one because we have a soul and not just money, and our guys at the front prove it every day," he said in a recent show.
"Russia always wins. We are Russians, and borscht is with us!", he says frequently -- a reference to the traditional bright red beetroot soup, claimed by both Ukraine and Russia as their national dish.

The silent opponent

Varvara went to an anti-war protest in Moscow the day Russia invaded and then lost her job after signing a petition against the Russian invasion.
"I warned loved ones that I might be arrested, leaving a spare set of keys and hoping my cat wouldn't starve in my absence," she told AFP.
Varvara, who asked for her name to be changed, managed to avoid being caught in a massive crackdown on street protestors.
As Russia passed sweeping military censorship laws in the days that followed, waves of her friends left the country.
"I did have the thought that I probably needed to leave," she told AFP in Moscow recently. "But at the same time I didn't understand how, where, and on what money I would live."
The knock at the door from masked police that she was half-expecting never came and she got a new job with a non-profit organisation.
It took her two years to be able to feel happiness in her daily life without guilt over the war being waged by her country, she said.
Married to a man with a child from a previous relationship, she has stopped speaking out. 
"I feel responsible. And I know I want children. I can no longer afford to take this kind of optional risk," she said.
Most anti-war Russians still in the country see staying silent as the only way to avoid being thrown in jail.
Still, the conflict dominates Varvara's life -- including her relationship with her father. 
He works in the security services, fought in Ukraine, and regularly offers financial help.
"He's my father, I love him. But for me, it's impossible to accept this money," she told AFP.
As for the future of Russia? She is pessimistic.
"I don't believe it's possible to change the regime in the current situation. Any resistance from below will be crushed. I just hope we, simply physically, live through this."
bur/jc/cad/jj/abs

Lebanon

Dark times under Syria's Assad hit Arab screens for Ramadan

BY RITA EL HAGE

  • Many spent years going from one Assad-era security facility to another in search of their missing family members.
  • A Syrian prison warden screams at a group of chained, crouching inmates in a harrowing scene from one of several Ramadan television series this year that tackle the era of former ruler Bashar al-Assad.
  • Many spent years going from one Assad-era security facility to another in search of their missing family members.
A Syrian prison warden screams at a group of chained, crouching inmates in a harrowing scene from one of several Ramadan television series this year that tackle the era of former ruler Bashar al-Assad.
Talking about Syria's prisons and the torture, enforced disappearances and executions that took place there was taboo during half a century of the Assad family's iron-fisted rule, but the topics are now fertile ground for creative productions, though not without controversy.
An abandoned soap factory north of the Lebanese capital Beirut has been transformed into a replica of the basements and corridors of Syria's Saydnaya prison, a facility synonymous with horror under Assad, for the series "Going Out to the Well".
Crews were filming the last episodes this week as the Muslim holy month kicked off -- primetime viewing in the Arab world, with channels and outlets furiously competing for eager audiences' attention.
Director Mohammed Lutfi told AFP that "for Syrians, Saydnaya prison is a dark place, full of stories and tales".
The series focuses on the 2008 prison riots in Saydnaya, "when inmates revolted against the soldiers and took control of the prison, and there were negotiations between them and Syrian intelligence services", he said.
The military prison, one of Syria's largest and which also held political prisoners, remains an open wound for thousands of families still looking for traces of their loved ones.

Tragedy into drama

The Association of Detainees and Missing Persons of Saydnaya Prison estimates that some 30,000 people were thrown into the facility after the 2011 uprising against Assad began, but only 6,000 came out after he was toppled.
Amnesty International has described the prison outside Damascus, which was notorious for torture and enforced disappearances, as a "human slaughterhouse".
In the opening scene of the series, the main character is seen in a tense exchange with his family before jumping into a deep well.
The symbolic scene in part captures the struggles of the detainees' relatives. Many spent years going from one Assad-era security facility to another in search of their missing family members.
Syrian writer Samer Radwan said on Facebook that he finished writing the series several months before Assad's fall.
Director Lutfi had previously told AFP that challenges including actors' fears of the Assad authorities' reaction had prevented filming until after his ouster.
Since then, productions have jumped on the chance to finally tackle issues related to his family's brutal rule.
Another series titled "Caesar, no time, no place" presents testimonies and experiences based on true stories from inside Syria's prisons during the civil war, which erupted in 2011.
But in a statement this week, the Caesar Families Association strongly rejected "transforming our tragedy into dramatic material to be shown on screen".
"Justice is sought in court, not in film studios," said the association, whose name refers to thousands of images smuggled out of Syria more than a decade ago showing bodies of people tortured and starved to death in the country's prisons.

Refugees

Another series, "Governorate 15", sees two Saydnaya inmates, one Lebanese and one Syrian, leave the facility after Assad's fall and return to their families.
Producer Marwan Haddad said that the series tackles the period of "the Syrian presence in Lebanon" through the Lebanese character. 
The show also addresses the Syria refugee crisis through the story of the Syrian character's family, who fled to the struggling neighbouring country to escape the civil war.
"For years we said we didn't want Lebanon to be (Syria's) 15th province" and each person fought it in their own way, said Lebanese screenwriter Carine Rizkallah.
Under Assad's father Hafez, Syria's army entered Lebanon in 1976 during the country's civil war and only left in 2005 after dominating all aspects of Lebanese life for almost three decades.
It was also accused of numerous political assassinations.
Lebanese director Samir Habchy said that the actors represent their "own community's problems" in the "Lebanese-Syrian series".
The show could prove controversial because it includes real people who "are still alive and will see themselves" in the episodes, he added.
rhb/lar/lg/amj/abs

killing

Thousands march in France for slain far-right activist

BY DANIEL ABELOUS AND ANTOINE BOYER

  • The authorities had deployed heavy security, including drones, fearing further clashes at the event that saw at least 3,200 people attend, according to local officials.
  • Thousands of people marched in southeastern France on Saturday under heavy security in tribute to a far-right activist whose killing, blamed on the hard left, has put the country on edge. 
  • The authorities had deployed heavy security, including drones, fearing further clashes at the event that saw at least 3,200 people attend, according to local officials.
Thousands of people marched in southeastern France on Saturday under heavy security in tribute to a far-right activist whose killing, blamed on the hard left, has put the country on edge. 
The crowd -- many wearing black and some covering their lower faces with masks -- marched through the city of Lyon carrying flowers and placards bearing pictures of Quentin Deranque and the words, "justice for Quentin" and "the extreme left kills".
The 23-year-old died from head injuries following clashes between radical left and far-right supporters on the sidelines of a demonstration against a politician from the left-wing France Unbowed (LFI) party in Lyon last week. 
The authorities had deployed heavy security, including drones, fearing further clashes at the event that saw at least 3,200 people attend, according to local officials.
Hours before the gathering, French President Emmanuel Macron had urged "everyone to remain" calm.
He said the government would meet next week to discuss "violent action groups" in the wake of the fatal beating, which has ignited tensions between the left and right ahead of the 2027 presidential vote.
"In the Republic, no violence is legitimate," said Macron, who will be unable to contest next year's election after hitting the two-term limit.
The march went ahead without clashes, although one person threw an egg from a building, and police said another person was detained for carrying a knife and hammer. 
More arrests are possible as police investigate suspects behind Nazi salutes, racist slurs and homophobic insults made during the procession and caught on video shared online, the local prefecture said.
Some residents living along the route hung signs from their windows reading "Lyon is antifa" or "Love is greater than hate".

'Defend his memory'

Mourners had first gathered in the church frequented by Deranque before his death and his portrait was hung from the facade of the administrative headquarters of the Auvergne–Rhône-Alpes region.
Laurent, a friend of Deranque, attended "to defend his memory" in the setting "where Quentin expressed himself most intensely, namely the Catholic Church and the traditional rite," he said.
One of the rally's organisers, Aliette Espieux, former spokesperson for the anti-abortion movement, told AFP she wished for a "peaceful tribute". 
She hit out, however, at Jordan Bardella, the president of the far-right National Rally party, which senses its best chance ever of scoring the presidency in next year's vote. 
Bardella had urged his supporters not to attend the rally, with Espieux saying, "I don't find that very honourable." 
According to the Deranque family's lawyer, Fabien Rajon, his parents would not take part in the rally, adding they hoped would go ahead "without violence" and "without political statements". 
Several ultra-right-wing groups, including Deranque's nationalist Allobroges Bourgoin faction, had nonetheless heavily publicised the march on social media, stoking authorities' concerns of unrest.
- Calls to ban rally - 
Ahead of the rally, some residents barricaded the ground floor windows of their apartments in fear. 
"At my age, I'm not going to play the tough guy. If I have to go out somewhere, I'll avoid the places where they're marching," said Lyon local Jean Echeverria, 87.
"They'll just keep fighting each other, it'll never end. Between the extreme of this and the extreme of that, it's non-stop," he added. 
The event went ahead despite calls from Lyon's left-wing green mayor, Gregory Doucet, and LFI coordinator Manuel Bompard for the state to ban it.
But Interior Minister Laurent Nunez declined to ban the rally, arguing that he had to "strike a balance between maintaining public order and freedom of expression". 
Deranque's death has provoked a reaction from US President Donald Trump's administration, with State Department official Sarah Rogers on Friday branding the killing "terrorism" and claiming that "violent radical leftism is on the rise".
That came a day after Macron pushed back at comments by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on the death, suggesting she refrain from commenting on France's internal affairs.
Six men suspected of involvement in the fatal assault have been charged over the killing, while a parliamentary assistant to a radical left-wing MP has also been charged with complicity.
burs/giv/jj

royals

UK govt considers removing ex-prince Andrew from line of succession

BY JO BIDDLE WITH AKSHATA KAPOOR IN SANDRINGHAM

  • The government would consider introducing legislation to remove Mountbatten-Windsor from the line of succession once the police investigation is over, sources told AFP. The former prince was arrested on Thursday at his new home on the king's remote Sandringham estate in eastern Norfok on suspicion of misconduct in public office.
  • The British government on Friday mulled passing a law to remove former prince Andrew from the line of succession, as police stepped up investigations into his conduct, quizzing the disgraced royal's former protection officers.
  • The government would consider introducing legislation to remove Mountbatten-Windsor from the line of succession once the police investigation is over, sources told AFP. The former prince was arrested on Thursday at his new home on the king's remote Sandringham estate in eastern Norfok on suspicion of misconduct in public office.
The British government on Friday mulled passing a law to remove former prince Andrew from the line of succession, as police stepped up investigations into his conduct, quizzing the disgraced royal's former protection officers.
Amid a torrent of often tawdry revelations from the files of late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, King Charles III has already stripped his younger brother of all his titles and ousted him from his home in Windsor.
But the son of the late Queen Elizabeth II remains eighth in line to the British throne after Princess Lilibet, the daughter of his nephew, Prince Harry.
The government would consider introducing legislation to remove Mountbatten-Windsor from the line of succession once the police investigation is over, sources told AFP.
The former prince was arrested on Thursday at his new home on the king's remote Sandringham estate in eastern Norfok on suspicion of misconduct in public office.
Public outrage has grown over past months amid a daily drip of information about Andrew's cosy ties to Epstein, and his apparent sharing of confidential information when he was a UK trade envoy from 2001 to 2011.
A YouGov poll conducted after Thursday's arrest -- an unprecendented act against the royal family in the modern era -- showed 82 percent believed he should be removed from his place in line to the throne.
Police on Friday conducted a second day of searches at his former home, the 30-bedroom Royal Lodge in Windsor. These are expected to continue through the weekend.
London's Metropolitan police force said it was seeking information from officers "close" to Andrew about "anything" they "saw or heard during that period of service that may be relevant to our ongoing reviews".
It was also separately working with US authorities to "assess" allegations that multiple flights linked to Epstein helped traffic girls and women in and out of London airports.
At least nine British police forces have confirmed they are looking into claims -- many related to Andrew -- stemming from the latest batch of some three million Epstein files released by the US government last month.
Mountbatten-Windsor -- who was marking his 66th birthday when arrested -- was nowhere to seen on Friday after 11 hours in police custody. 

Deeply unpopular

Britain's newspapers splashed on front pages a photograph of Andrew, looking haggard and wild-eyed as he left a Norfolk police station in a car late Thursday.
Charles issued a rare, personally signed statement insisting "the law must take its course" and sought to carry out business as usual.
But royal commentators highlighted that the first arrest of a senior royal in centuries signalled a moment of peril for the monarchy.
"I think the great challenge for the monarchy in the coming weeks, months, possibly longer, is the various unknowns in this particular crisis moment," said royal expert Ed Owens.
Any charges against Andrew or a trial could be a long time coming, as the investigations proceed.
And the road towards stripping the former prince from the line of succession would also take time, as an act of parliament is needed.
"Before the line of succession could be changed, it would require all 14 countries, where King Charles is also their head of state, as well as the UK, to change the law of succession," said constitutional expert Robert Hazell, from University College London.
Mountbatten-Windsor is now deeply unpopular with Britons.
"I'm really pleased that nobody's above the law," said Jo Mortimer, 64, in the Norfolk town of Aylsham where the former prince was held in custody.

Commercially sensitive

In a November 2010 email from the US documents, seen by AFP, Mountbatten-Windsor appeared to share with the US financier reports on his visit to several Asian countries, among other communications about investment possibilities. 
Epstein had already been convicted in the United States in 2008 of child prostitution.
Official guidance is thought to stipulate that trade envoys have a duty of confidentiality over sensitive commercial or political information related to their official visits.
The ex-prince has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.
But one of Epstein's accusers, Virginia Giuffre, last year recounted in shocking detail in her posthumous memoir claims that she had been trafficked three times to have sex with Andrew, twice when she was 17.
The ex-prince settled a US civil lawsuit in 2022 brought by Giuffre, while not admitting liability.
bur-jkb/tw

AI

German broadcaster recalls correspondent over AI-generated images

  • Albrecht's original report broadcast on February 13 was accurate, ZDF said, but an updated version broadcast on the February 15 edition of the flagship nightly news programme contained the two misleading clips.
  • German public broadcaster ZDF on Friday recalled a New York correspondent after AI-generated images were screened during a news report on ICE immigration raids in the United States.
  • Albrecht's original report broadcast on February 13 was accurate, ZDF said, but an updated version broadcast on the February 15 edition of the flagship nightly news programme contained the two misleading clips.
German public broadcaster ZDF on Friday recalled a New York correspondent after AI-generated images were screened during a news report on ICE immigration raids in the United States.
ZDF said its journalist Nicola Albrecht, 50, used video taken from the internet in a report on children terrified by US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement operations.
One clip was AI-generated and not labelled as such, and another in fact showed a Florida arrest from 2022.
"The damage caused by disregarding journalistic rules is considerable," ZDF editor-in-chief Bettina Schausten said in a statement. "At its core, this is about the credibility of our reporting."
Albrecht's original report broadcast on February 13 was accurate, ZDF said, but an updated version broadcast on the February 15 edition of the flagship nightly news programme contained the two misleading clips.
Presenter Dunja Hayali had introduced the segment saying the Trump administration's immigration raids had created "a climate of fear that doesn't even stop at children".
One clip could be seen to feature the watermark of Sora, OpenAI's platform that generates short video clips based on prompts.
"The AI-generated material should not have been used without journalistic justification and without being categorised according to ZDF's internal rules for the use of AI-generated material," the broadcaster said.
Journalists have been caught out before by synthetic content.
Publications including Wired and Business Insider in August withdrew features purportedly written by a freelance journalist following concerns they were in fact written using generative artificial intelligence.
In January, AFP factcheckers found that an image carried by ZDF purporting to show former Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro after his capture by US soldiers was AI-generated. 
bur-vbw/fz/rmb

AI

'Alpha male' AI world shuts out women: computing prof Hall

BY KATIE FORSTER

  • She was made a dame in 2009, and has also acted as a senior adviser to the British government and the United Nations on artificial intelligence.
  • Artificial intelligence could change the world but the dearth of women in the booming sector will undermine pledges for inclusive technology, top computer scientist Wendy Hall told AFP on Friday.
  • She was made a dame in 2009, and has also acted as a senior adviser to the British government and the United Nations on artificial intelligence.
Artificial intelligence could change the world but the dearth of women in the booming sector will undermine pledges for inclusive technology, top computer scientist Wendy Hall told AFP on Friday.
Hall, a professor at Britain's University of Southampton known for her pioneering research into web systems, said that the gender imbalance had long been stark.
"All the CEOs are men," the 73-year-old said, describing the situation at a major AI summit held in New Delhi this week as "amazingly awful".
"It's totally male-dominated, and they just don't get the fact that this means that 50 percent of the population is effectively not included in the conversations."
Gender bias "creeps through everything, because they don't think about it when they build their products", Hall said.
She was speaking in an interview at the AI Impact Summit, where dozens of governments are expected to lay out a shared vision on how to handle the promises and pitfalls of generative AI.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is pushing for India to become a global AI power, said Thursday that advanced computing systems "must become a medium for inclusion and empowerment".
But when he posed on stage for a photo with leading tech business figures, 13 men were present and only one woman -- Joelle Pineau, a former Meta researcher who is now chief AI officer at Cohere.
It was a similar story at another photo opportunity with world leaders including French President Emmanuel Macron and Brazil's Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

'Biased world'

Many studies have shown how generative AI tools like ChatGPT and Google's Gemini reflect stereotypes contained in the vast reams of text and images they are trained on.
"We're a biased world, so the training is done on biased data," Hall said.
A 2024 UNESCO study found that large language models described women in domestic roles more often than men, who were more likely to be linked to words like "salary" and "career".
While tech companies work to counter these built-in machine biases, women have found themselves targeted by AI tools in other ways.
Several countries moved to ban Elon Musk's Grok AI tool this year after it sparked global outrage over its ability to create sexualised deepfakes depicting real people -- mostly women -- in skimpy clothing.
Hall, a longtime advocate for women in technology, said that things had "not really improved that much" since she had her start decades ago.
"In AI, it's getting worse."
Few women choose to study computer science in the first place, then "once you get more senior, women fall away", Hall said.
Women-led startups "don't get the investment that the men get", and many simply "get fed up", she added.
Women also "drop out because they just don't want to be part of that alpha male world".

'Felt like giving up'

Hall, who wrote her first paper about the lack of women in computing in the late 1980s, said she had faced "all sorts of barriers" during her career.
"I've had to push through, be strong, have good mentors. And yeah, I felt like giving up many times."
She was made a dame in 2009, and has also acted as a senior adviser to the British government and the United Nations on artificial intelligence.
But at her first job interview at a university nearly five decades ago, "I was told I couldn't have the job because I was a woman" by an all-male panel, she recalled.
"I was supposed to be teaching maths to engineers, and they said as a young woman I wouldn't be able to control a class of male engineers."
Although she has noticed no uptick in women entering the field overall, Hall said she had been inspired in New Delhi.
"The wonderful thing about this conference are the young people here," she said.
"There are a lot of young women here from India and they're all abuzz with the opportunities."
kaf/pbt