demonstration

Bolivia blockades make saving lives 'ordeal'

BY JOSé ARTURO CáRDENAS

  • Hinojosa broke down in tears as she recounted the difficulties of getting her son to the hospital from El Alto, a suburb of La Paz, where they live at an altitude of 4,150 meters (13,600 feet).
  • Zulma Hinojosa waits anxiously in a doctor's office at La Paz's Children's Hospital for her 13-year-old son, who suffers from asthma and heart problems. 
  • Hinojosa broke down in tears as she recounted the difficulties of getting her son to the hospital from El Alto, a suburb of La Paz, where they live at an altitude of 4,150 meters (13,600 feet).
Zulma Hinojosa waits anxiously in a doctor's office at La Paz's Children's Hospital for her 13-year-old son, who suffers from asthma and heart problems. 
Oxygen and medicines are in short supply at hospitals in the city following nearly a month of blockades and protests against the Bolivian government, and she worries he will not get the treatment he needs. 
Hinojosa broke down in tears as she recounted the difficulties of getting her son to the hospital from El Alto, a suburb of La Paz, where they live at an altitude of 4,150 meters (13,600 feet).
It is difficult to navigate the debris that protesters are using to block the city with a child with asthma and a heart murmur, the 44-year-old mother told AFP. 
"I can't expose him to this stress, to walking so much, because he's on medication," she said, adding that the trip "is a real ordeal." 
Demonstrations began in early May with trade union demands for salary increases, stable fuel supplies and sounder economic management. 
But the movement has intensified, with protesters calling for President Rodrigo Paz to step down.
Demonstrators have blockaded entry routes into La Paz, shops have shuttered for fear of violence, and food, medicine and fuel supplies are running low.
"Medicine is getting more expensive, and some are running out," said Hinojosa, who makes a living working two jobs -- making empanadas and working as a carer. 
At least four people have died because they did not receive timely medical care due to the blockades, according to the government.

'No medicine'

At the Clinicas de La Paz public hospital, one of the oldest and largest in the country, the shortage of medical oxygen is critical.
Neurosurgeon Enrique Coritza, head of the surgical unit, told AFP that the hospital's current supply of oxygen will last only a few days.
"Starting Thursday, Friday, Saturday, we don't know what the situation will be," he warned.
Christian Calle, head of the hospital's pharmacy unit, complained that the "oxygen distribution" by suppliers does not meet "the hospital's actual needs."
At the entrance to a recovery room, 63-year-old Ruth Angulo watches her son recover from a stroke. 
"There are no medicines" at the hospital, she said, explaining that she had to search private pharmacies for his drugs. 

'Nutrition deficiencies'

Food shortages are also affecting the hospital.
"We don't have beef, we don't have chicken, and we don't have vegetables, which is leading to nutrition deficiencies in patients," Calle said.
"We're measuring, rationing and cutting back on portions so there's enough" for the patients, she explained. 
Angulo's son used to be given "soup and a main course," but now "the portions are getting smaller," his mother said.
The situation is similar in hospitals across La Paz and El Alto, according to a report on Monday from the health ministry.
Neighborhood groups have protested in recent days to demand an end to the blockades, with people holding banners with slogans including "The people can't take it anymore."
jac/mis/mr/lb/lkd/cms

consumption

Frugal and more online: smarter spenders rewrite luxury's China dream

BY MARY YANG AND AGATHA CANTRILL IN SHANGHAI

  • "I think people's spending habits after the pandemic may be more cost-effective and practical," Li told AFP, on a pilgrimage to the Galeries on its penultimate day of operations. 
  • When Beijinger Jacqueline Li first heard one of her favourite luxury department stores in the city was closing, she was shocked -- until she considered how Chinese spending habits have changed in recent years.
  • "I think people's spending habits after the pandemic may be more cost-effective and practical," Li told AFP, on a pilgrimage to the Galeries on its penultimate day of operations. 
When Beijinger Jacqueline Li first heard one of her favourite luxury department stores in the city was closing, she was shocked -- until she considered how Chinese spending habits have changed in recent years.
The closure of France's Galeries Lafayette in the Chinese capital on Wednesday takes place against the backdrop of a sluggish post-pandemic economy and shifting consumption practices.  
It is the latest sign foreign luxury brands might not retain the pull -- and the cashflow -- that they counted on in the world's second largest economy in the 2010s. 
"I think people's spending habits after the pandemic may be more cost-effective and practical," Li told AFP, on a pilgrimage to the Galeries on its penultimate day of operations. 
"It's no longer as over-the-top as before, like needing to have an impressive logo. So you'll see that (demand for) luxury goods has fallen," the international school admissions officer said. 
While luxury consumption in Europe and the United States has been driven by pandemic-era savings, Chinese consumers have spent more frugally as the post-Covid recovery has stuttered. 
The property market, into which millions had poured their savings, is struggling to recover from a long-running crisis, while middle class incomes have stagnated and youth unemployment remains high.
Last month, consumer spending grew at the slowest pace in more than three years, official data showed.
In 2025, the luxury market in China declined three to five percent, after plummeting 17 to 19 percent the year before, according to consultancy Bain & Company. 

Pandemic hangover

Before the pandemic, China's burgeoning middle class produced plenty of first-time high-end buyers, said Lisa Nan, editor at Jing Daily, a publication that focuses on China's luxury market. 
Now, "because of the economic downturn, people are much more rational and they have to navigate through this difficult period", she said. 
Even in financial hub Shanghai's swanky shopping districts, buyers still viscerally feel the uncertainty of the Covid pandemic. 
"I find myself wanting to save money even more now," said 24-year-old July Xu, who was browsing the stores in upmarket Xintiandi with her friends.
"Having lived through such an extraordinary period (during the pandemic), I've come to realise that having some personal savings is quite important."
"Beforehand, people felt like money came pretty easily, with their income increasing every year, but during the pandemic a lot of people suddenly lost their jobs," said 61-year-old Hu Shuqing, speaking to AFP outside a luxury fragrance store.
Some analysts think there could be light on the horizon though, with the country's high-wage sector steadily growing. 
"There could be a pent-up demand," said Jelena Sokolova from investment research firm Morningstar. 
"(People) have a lot of savings, and once they feel kind of good, or better about their financial situation, they could go on and spend this money that has been accumulated."

Changing market

Unfortunately for traditional brands, consumer confidence is not the only challenge they face in China. 
The dominance of e-commerce means shoppers from college students to retirees are used to buying marked-down clothing in just a few taps from the comfort of their sofas. 
They have a plethora of choices, from apps like Taobao and JD.com to hours-long sales livestreams on the Instagram-like Xiaohongshu and Douyin, China's version of TikTok.
At Galeries Lafayette on Tuesday, as employees packed away denuded mannequins, admissions officer Li said she thought the store had been too reliant on "the traditional... business model that has existed for decades in France". 
"This new generation of Chinese likes to shop online," she said. "For a lot of people born in the 1990s and 2000s... this mall is a stranger."
Even when shoppers do frequent brick-and-mortar shops, their online equivalents still inform purchase decisions.
"When I shop offline, after I spot an item of clothing, I'll see how much it costs to purchase online," said 46-year-old freelancer Yang Dunqin, who had come for one last trip to the department store. 
Chinese consumers have "matured a lot", becoming more discerning, said Jing Daily's Nan. 
Younger shoppers in particular focus less on legacy logos, instead seeking out pop-ups or emerging domestic brands.
"The need of buying luxury is no longer just a taste of their social status," she said. "It's really about self-expression."
Yang, the freelancer, was stoic about the loss of the Galeries. 
"It just shows that this era continues to move forward," he said. "It's part of changing times."
ac-isk-mya/reb/tc

birds

Love birds: twice-extinct parakeet gets lifeline from randy pair

  • "The wild populations are very vulnerable to predators, so we always need backup populations."
  • One of the world's rarest parakeets has seen its numbers surge thanks to a pair of super breeders now responsible for more than 10 percent of the total population.
  • "The wild populations are very vulnerable to predators, so we always need backup populations."
One of the world's rarest parakeets has seen its numbers surge thanks to a pair of super breeders now responsible for more than 10 percent of the total population.
The New Zealand native kakariki karaka -- or orange-fronted parakeet -- is critically endangered and has twice been declared extinct, only to be rediscovered.
There are around 450 of the birds left, mainly in sanctuaries and predator-free islands but also in wild populations.
Parents Nacho and Trixie were paired up in 2024 at the Isaac Conservation and Wildlife Trust in Christchurch and have since produced 55 chicks, including 33 this year alone.
Wildlife manager Leigh Percasky praised "super-mum" Trixie.
"The breeding season has ended and yet she's still producing eggs and raising chicks," Percasky said.
"Ideally we'd prefer her to stop so she can have a rest, but she shows no signs of that with another seven chicks in her most recent clutch.
"Nacho also deserves credit as he's responsible for finding food for both Trixie and the chicks which is incredibly busy."

Captive breeding

Wayne Beggs, lead of the Department of Conservation's kakariki karaka recovery programme, said breeding pairs like Nacho and Trixie were ensuring the species didn't go extinct.
"We rely on the captive breeding programmes as without them we couldn't establish new sites," Beggs said.
"The wild populations are very vulnerable to predators, so we always need backup populations."
Percasky said Nacho and Trixie had made a "massive contribution" to the survival of their species, but he wants the love birds to "have a well-earned break" after their latest clutch.
"I'm not sure where they get all their energy from."
bes/oho/abs

poverty

Low cost glasses help India's poor see a better future

BY PHILIPPE ALFROY

  • For less than two dollars, Jena left with a pair of corrective glasses -- and a clear vision of his future.
  • As soon as he put on his glasses, Indian vegetable seller Tofan Jena knew daily life would never be the same.
  • For less than two dollars, Jena left with a pair of corrective glasses -- and a clear vision of his future.
As soon as he put on his glasses, Indian vegetable seller Tofan Jena knew daily life would never be the same.
For the first time, the 49-year-old could see the world around him in sharp detail.
"I can make out all the letters of the alphabet, even the smallest ones," he marvelled, pointing to his phone screen.
Jena is among one billion people recorded by the World Health Organization who suffer from vision problems but lack the means to correct them.
The International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness estimates that $30 billion is lost in productivity from preventable or curable eye diseases in India alone.
Just an hour earlier, Jena who is a resident of Bhubaneswar, capital of the eastern state of Odisha, had his eyes examined for the first time in his life by GoodVision, whose mission is to bring eye care to underprivileged communities.
The charity hopes to close the gap in eyecare and works in 12 countries, including India, where around 550 million need glasses, and an estimated 250 million people lack access to them.
For less than two dollars, Jena left with a pair of corrective glasses -- and a clear vision of his future.
"I can read, I can write, and I can see very well at a distance," he repeats, as if trying to convince himself. 
"I'll be able to do everything with these glasses."

Access to care

The small miracle was repeated for dozens of residents in the poor district of Salia Sahi.
Technicians from the charity set up a mobile camp under a tarpaulin, offering shade from the blazing sun, while providing eye examinations, vision tests, and the selection and fitting of glasses.
At the end, a line of people stood blinking at the world, amazed at the clarity and detail many had forgotten or, for some, had never known.
With glasses perched on his nose, 43-year-old shopkeeper Minati Rout completes his journey by passing a final test: separating small pebbles from grains of rice.
"I was not able to read small letters, I was not able to thread in a needle... now I can, to do all those things," she said. 
"I will tell my neighbours to get their eyes checked here too."
Piush Khetan, the charity's India director, said they offer basic services which include a free eye screening and glasses for people in need as well as performing cataract surgery.
The lenses for the glasses come from China, while the frames are made in India from metal wire and assembled in about 10 minutes.
In the small town of Maniabandha, a two-hour drive from Bhubaneswar, patients wait on plastic chairs.
"These community camps are extremely important for villagers, because they have no access to eye care," said optometrist Gopinath Das.
"Sometimes they don't have money, sometimes they don't even know they have eye problems."
More than 400 underprivileged neighbourhoods and villages are visited each month, sites often overlooked by public health services.
"We are able to provide help to people, and we feel good about it," said technician Debasmita Behera, 23. 
"And I'm also earning."

'Stigma'

In Maniabandha, eight patients were taken to Bhubaneswar's Vision Care Hospital for cataract surgery.
Hospital director Srimant Kumar Mishra said the most difficult part is to motivate patients to be operated on.
"There is a lot of social stigma, they are afraid... They have a feeling that even if you get old, it is natural that they are not able to see."
GoodVision's France representative, Maryline Ehlermann, said "eye care is a very profitable investment", citing a study estimating that if the billion people with curable vision problems were treated, it would "generate $447 billion annually for the global economy".
In the world's most populous country -- also one of its most unequal -- the challenge is enormous.
"In India, we only take things seriously if it's a matter of life or death," said Khetan. 
"So we focus on providing information, we try to convince people of the importance of taking care of their eyes."
pa/pjm/ane/abs

employment

'My job is going': UK workers squeezed out by AI

BY LUCIE LEQUIER

  • "Some publishers have offered me lower rates than I was getting 10 years ago," the Brighton-based Spengler told AFP, adding that she no longer receives requests to translate corporate press releases or user manuals, typically an "entry point" into the profession. 
  • When a client asked her a year ago to design a glossary to train an artificial intelligence system, translator Jessica Spengler realised she was going to train her own replacement.
  • "Some publishers have offered me lower rates than I was getting 10 years ago," the Brighton-based Spengler told AFP, adding that she no longer receives requests to translate corporate press releases or user manuals, typically an "entry point" into the profession. 
When a client asked her a year ago to design a glossary to train an artificial intelligence system, translator Jessica Spengler realised she was going to train her own replacement.
"That was the day I really thought... my job is going," said the 52-year-old, who translates into English for German educational and historical organisations. 
In the UK, where services account for around 80 percent of the economy, AI has become flexible, fast and inexpensive competition for many white-collar workers, with the impacts beginning to emerge. 
The IMF estimated in 2024 that more than two-thirds of British workers perform tasks that AI could potentially carry out, making the country more exposed than many other advanced economies. 
"Some publishers have offered me lower rates than I was getting 10 years ago," the Brighton-based Spengler told AFP, adding that she no longer receives requests to translate corporate press releases or user manuals, typically an "entry point" into the profession. 
Instead, she is increasingly offered work proofreading machine-generated translations.
Translators "have to rewrite the whole thing, redo the translations, but they still only get paid the reduced rate," said Holly Parsons, a Spanish-to-English translator at the beginning of her career.
"It's hard as a translator to actually charge what the work is worth because people just don't want to pay it," the 24-year-old added.
She still earns most of her income working as a children's activity leader. 

Change of direction

According to a report from Morgan Stanley, British companies that adopted AI cut their workforces by eight percent in the year to October 2025 -- more than in Germany, Japan or Australia.
Among the countries featured in the report, only the United States saw employment rise with AI.
"Film work has definitely been impacted by AI... it's really kicked us down," said Laura, 35, a director of photography in London, who preferred not to share her last name for professional reasons.
To escape the broader crisis hitting the film industry, she is retraining as an outdoor instructor in Dorset, southwest England, earning minimum wage. 
After working on the short film "Mad Bills to Pay", which won an award at the Sundance Film Festival, 35-year-old Rufai Ajala also changed direction and is now training to become a plumber.
"I'm not going to rely on film as my main focus... I don't see it as a career option anymore where you can have stability," Ajala said, adding that the aim was to find an "AI-proof" career. 

'Painful transition'

"There is going to be sort of a painful transition process because new jobs will take time to emerge," said Bouke Klein Teeselink, an economics professor at King's College London. 
He said it would require "a massive adjustment for society," which could mean "a big increase in unemployment."
According to one of his studies, professions most exposed to AI, such as software developers and data analysts, reduced job postings after the launch of ChatGPT in November 2022, particularly for entry-level positions. 
The growth of AI comes as Britain already faces high levels of youth unemployment, with the war in the Middle East and an increased minimum wage weighing on hiring.
One in six Britons aged 16 to 24 is out of work, the highest level since 2014, according to official data.
Teeselink said, however, that another market dynamic is at play with AI: productivity gains could lead to lower prices, which in turn could stimulate demand and increase employment.
He said the UK was "reasonably well positioned" for the AI transition thanks to its high-quality universities, which are set to play a crucial role in "upskilling young people to use AI well."
lul/ajb/ach/hol

Conflict

No feasts, no joy: Gazans mark a dark Eid

  • - Sheep shortage - Central to Eid al-Adha celebrations, which mark the end of the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, is the sacrificing of a sheep.
  • New clothes for children, sacrificial sheep and Eid biscuits, the hallmarks of the Muslim holiday, are all either unaffordable or unavailable in Gaza, casting a shadow over what is usually a time of celebration and joy.
  • - Sheep shortage - Central to Eid al-Adha celebrations, which mark the end of the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, is the sacrificing of a sheep.
New clothes for children, sacrificial sheep and Eid biscuits, the hallmarks of the Muslim holiday, are all either unaffordable or unavailable in Gaza, casting a shadow over what is usually a time of celebration and joy.
"I go to the market only to look around because I cannot afford to buy anything. Whenever I ask about prices, I return heartbroken," Nadia Abu Shamala, a Palestinian resident of Gaza, told AFP.
"This year, Eid comes with none of the joy we once knew in Gaza because of the effects of the war, the soaring prices, and our inability to provide even the simplest needs for our children," said the 40-year-old woman from Gaza's north displaced to the central Gaza city of Deir al-Balah for over two years.
Despite a US-brokered ceasefire that began in October 2025, Israeli air strikes are still common in Gaza, where 80 percent of buildings were damaged in the war and most of the population depends on aid for basic needs, according to the United Nations.
Israel controls all entry points to Gaza, and lets trucks of foreign aid and private sector goods enter in numbers that are too low to bring down war-inflated prices or shortages, NGOs on the ground say.
"The truce is a big lie, but in any case, we are trying to create joy for the children," said Abu Abdullah al-Mosadar, 59, who told AFP he pooled around 13,000 shekels ($4,570) with his brother to buy a sheep for sacrifice.
It is an amount that very few Gazans can afford.
"I know it is very expensive, but I decided to perform the sacrifice this year," said Mosadar, a former property dealer from one of central Gaza's well-established families, adding that he hopes to start his construction and real estate business when circumstances permit.

Sheep shortage

Central to Eid al-Adha celebrations, which mark the end of the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, is the sacrificing of a sheep.
According to Islamic tradition, God asked the Prophet Ibrahim, or Abraham in Jewish and Christian tradition, to sacrifice his son as a test of faith, only to stop him at the last moment and provide an animal to sacrifice instead.
But in tiny Gaza, livestock cannot enter from the outside, and only one quarter of the pre-war's sheep population remains, or about 15,000 for the coastal territory's 2.1 million inhabitants, according to the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).
"Regarding prices this year, sacrificial animals are witnessing an unprecedented increase due to the limited supply and the rising costs of breeding, feed, and transportation, and the shutdown of many farms," said Raafat Asaliya, spokesperson for Gaza's agriculture ministry.
As a result, "a sheep or goat that was sold before the war for around 1,000 shekels is now priced between 11,000 and 15,000 shekels," Asaliya said.
Gazans say they are shocked by the prices of sheep this year.
"We have never heard of such prices in our lives," Ahmed Abu Salem, a resident of Gaza City, told AFP.
"Families like ours, who used to make sacrifices every year, are now unable even to buy one kilogramme of meat for our children," the 50-year-old said.

Tent-made sweets

With gas in short supply, baking and cooking at home becomes an issue as well, Abu Ahmed Wafi, a 42-year-old displaced with his family in south Gaza, told AFP.
"The markets are mostly filled with kaak, maamoul, and sweets. We used to dream of making them at home as we always did before, but prices have risen sharply and there is no cooking gas available to bake them," Wafi said.
In the south Gaza city of Khan Yunis, one family managed to prepare trays of maamoul, the Eid biscuits, under a makeshift shelter covered in a reused tarp bearing the logo of UN children agency UNICEF.
Sitting on the ground, a woman and her daughter assembled the dough in circles Gaza-style, before a man baked them in a makeshift clay oven.
From her tent in Deir el-Balah, an exhausted Shamala hoped for better days.
"We are still living in tents with no atmosphere of joy, only worries, fear, and exhaustion, without any of the happiness we once knew," she said.
str-az-lba/jd/jfx/ane

suicide

Canadian who supplied poison for suicides to plead guilty

BY BEN SIMON

  • Prosser told AFP prosecutors had informed her that Law will plead guilty to counseling suicide, with the murder charges dropped, information also shared with Canadian media by Law's defense lawyer Matthew Gourlay.
  • A Canadian man accused of shipping poison to people contemplating suicide around the globe is expected to plead guilty to several counts on Friday, ending a case that has shocked the public. 
  • Prosser told AFP prosecutors had informed her that Law will plead guilty to counseling suicide, with the murder charges dropped, information also shared with Canadian media by Law's defense lawyer Matthew Gourlay.
A Canadian man accused of shipping poison to people contemplating suicide around the globe is expected to plead guilty to several counts on Friday, ending a case that has shocked the public. 
While Kenneth Law is set to admit to 14 charges of aiding or counseling suicide, Canadian prosecutors are withdrawing second degree murder charges, multiple sources have confirmed, causing anger among devastated families. 
Law, 60, is a former chef accused of running a number of online forums that offered predominantly young, distressed people advice on how to end their lives.
He allegedly shipped parcels to hundreds of people in dozens of countries containing sodium nitrite, a legally available preservative that can be fatal in certain concentrations. 
Kim Prosser's son Ashtyn took his own life in March 2023, weeks before Law's arrest. It is one of the 14 Canadian deaths at issue in the case being heard in Newmarket, just north of Toronto. 
Prosser told AFP prosecutors had informed her that Law will plead guilty to counseling suicide, with the murder charges dropped, information also shared with Canadian media by Law's defense lawyer Matthew Gourlay.
The office of Ontario's attorney general told AFP Law will appear in person on Friday "to take a plea."
Prosser, who said she will attend the hearing, spoke of the excruciatingly painful three years since her son's death on March 30, 2023. 
She said she received his ashes that April 13, her birthday, just two weeks before what would have been Ashtyn's 20th birthday.
"To be at the courthouse on Friday and to sit there... it's a beginning to another chapter of this process of healing," she said. 
Prosser, who now works in holistic coaching and wellness, told AFP she understands other families are furious Law will not be held culpable for murder, but said she does not share that emotion. 

'For me, it's murder'

David Parfett's son Thomas was 22 when he ended his own life in 2021 with materials allegedly supplied by Law. 
Thomas's death is not part of the ongoing Canadian case, but is one of nearly 100 British suicides reportedly linked to Law's online forums. 
Since Thomas's death, David Parfett has become an advocate for change, urging more rigorous legislation to confront online spaces that guide people toward harm. 
He noted that while he is not a lawyer, he believes Canadian authorities were missing an opportunity to establish the gravity of Law's conduct. 
"This was a man who was more than urging and assisting suicide," Parfett told AFP.
"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. 
Leonardo Bedoya --whose 18-year-old daughter Jeshennia Bedoya Lopez died in 2022, allegedly with Law's help -- told Canada's CTV he was furious with the plea deal. 
"He's an assassin. A serial killer. They should treat him like a murderer," Bedoya told the network.

'Heinous crime'

Dalhousie University law professor Robert Currie told AFP prosecutors seeking to try Law for murder were handcuffed by a legal "gap."
Under Canadian law, it is not clear if "murder is a separate crime from counseling suicide, or whether the same conduct can make up both of those crimes," he said. 
Prosecutors had hoped a Supreme Court decision in a separate case would resolve the uncertainty, but Canada's top judges "declined to clarify" the issue, Currie added. 
Because Law's prosecutors doubted they could secure murder convictions, they're "going with the bird in hand," Currie said, stressing that counseling suicide is a serious offense. 
Experts suggest Law is likely to be jailed for 10 to 20 years in Canada, depending on whether he receives concurrent or consecutive sentences, at a subsequent hearing.
"Given the heinous nature of this crime, I would be surprised if he didn't get something fairly stiff," Currie told AFP, noting Law could face further justice elsewhere, with extradition to the UK a plausible future step. 
bs/sst

pope

Vance hails Pope Leo's AI encyclical as 'profound'

  • Leo XIV "is becoming pope at the beginning of the AI age, and I suspect that if we make it through this successfully, it will be in large part because the pope and the church are able to provide the kind of moral leadership that we need," Vance added.
  • US Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday praised Pope Leo XIV's manifesto warning of the risks of artificial intelligence, calling it "profound" and a necessary act of moral leadership in a disruptive AI age.
  • Leo XIV "is becoming pope at the beginning of the AI age, and I suspect that if we make it through this successfully, it will be in large part because the pope and the church are able to provide the kind of moral leadership that we need," Vance added.
US Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday praised Pope Leo XIV's manifesto warning of the risks of artificial intelligence, calling it "profound" and a necessary act of moral leadership in a disruptive AI age.
Vance has close ties to the tech industry, having worked as a venture capitalist before entering politics, and counts Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk among his most prominent backers.
In an encyclical called "Magnifica Humanitas" (Magnificent Humanity), the first US pope, who has clashed with the White House over the Iran war and its use of religion to justify conflict, set out on Monday a list of warnings about how the technology could impact humanity. Among other dangers he said AI could lead to "new forms of slavery."
"What I read of it sounds very profound, and the sort of thing that you would expect and hope from a leader of the church," Vance told NBC News in an interview.
"The thing about morality is that the principles never change, but the way you apply those principles does, because the world changes, right?" Vance added.
Vance and the Vatican have clashed over migration policy, with Pope Leo condemning the White House's policy on mass deportations.
The vice president, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, said he was happy that the pontiff, who is from Chicago, took the name Leo XIV when he took leadership of the Holy See last year.
"I think it was very much a nod to Leo XIII who, of course, became pope at the beginning of the Industrial Age" and similarly wrote a warning about the impact on humanity from major technological changes at the time.
Leo XIV "is becoming pope at the beginning of the AI age, and I suspect that if we make it through this successfully, it will be in large part because the pope and the church are able to provide the kind of moral leadership that we need," Vance added.
"I think we really need moral leadership to think through those questions, and that's exactly what the church is the best leader to do," Vance said.
arp/dw

museum

Louvre heist to be turned into film

  • Film rights to the book about the October 19, 2025 heist had been sold to the production company Iconoclast while rights for a documentary series were acquired by a British producer, the Flammarion publishing house said.
  • Last year's brazen  robbery of the Louvre -- when thieves made off with jewellery worth some $100 million -- is set to become a movie and a documentary series, a publisher said on Tuesday.
  • Film rights to the book about the October 19, 2025 heist had been sold to the production company Iconoclast while rights for a documentary series were acquired by a British producer, the Flammarion publishing house said.
Last year's brazen  robbery of the Louvre -- when thieves made off with jewellery worth some $100 million -- is set to become a movie and a documentary series, a publisher said on Tuesday.
French director Romain Gavras -- whose work includes 2025 Hollywood film "Sacrifice" starring Anya Taylor-Joy and music videos including most recently a hypnotic schoolboy choreography for GENER8ION -- will draw inspiration from the investigative book "Main basse sur le Louvre" (literally "A grab at the Louvre").
Film rights to the book about the October 19, 2025 heist had been sold to the production company Iconoclast while rights for a documentary series were acquired by a British producer, the Flammarion publishing house said.
The book, written by three journalists, from French dailies Le Parisien and Le Monde, and weekly glossy magazine Paris Match, is to hit bookstores on Wednesday.
According to trade magazine Le Film Francais, the movie project is in development, though neither the title nor the cast has been announced.
The Louvre heist sent shockwaves around the world and sparked a security crisis within the world-famous museum that ultimately led to the replacement of its director, Laurence des Cars.
After seven months of investigation, and despite the arrests of the main suspects, the jewels have still not been found.
The authors said their apparent disappearance "has become a dense mystery, a puzzle that has plunged investigators into deep confusion".
The heist illustrates how "the theft of artworks has become a business like any other for many criminals", they say. "The criminal underworld has found a new cash cow."
jri-as/ah-ekf/rmb

Islam

Saudi Arabia turns to drones to shield pilgrims from extreme heat

BY HAITHAM EL-TABEI

  • "Heat exhaustion is one of the main issues" during the hajj, said Saudi health official Jamil Abu Al-Aynayn. 
  • With temperatures hitting 45C in Mecca this week, Saudi health workers have increasingly relied on drones to supply a vast array of medical clinics treating heat-stressed pilgrims during the hajj. 
  • "Heat exhaustion is one of the main issues" during the hajj, said Saudi health official Jamil Abu Al-Aynayn. 
With temperatures hitting 45C in Mecca this week, Saudi health workers have increasingly relied on drones to supply a vast array of medical clinics treating heat-stressed pilgrims during the hajj. 
The rituals at the hajj have been a constant for centuries. 
But technology is rapidly changing the experience for pilgrims and officials alike -- with AI, UAVs and mobile apps providing crucial services, logistical support and helping manage the mammoth crowds. 
Rather than relying on congested roads filled with over 1.5 million pilgrims, drones in particular have proven to be a technological remedy for helping keep the 127 clinics spread across Mecca, Mina and Arafat adequately provisioned. 
"The main goal is to provide fast service to the guests of God during the season," Fahd Al-Bathi, the chief operating officer at the National Unified Procurement Company (NUPCO), told AFP. 
Preparations for the medical needs of the hajj season began nine months ago.  
Standing before a colour-coded map of medical centres dotting the area, the NUPCO operations officer Turki Al-Obaidi said his teams work around the clock during the hajj. 
"Our teams must ensure we reach patients as quickly as possible. This is a crucial factor with these extremely large crowds," he added. 
Before the adoption of drones, drivers could spend over an hour en route to clinics running low on supplies.
Now, authorities have centralised operations around a sprawling centre that supplies drones with medications and other necessities.
"We are seeking to integrate new innovations through which we can ensure that medical supplies arrive safely, as quickly as possible, and with the highest quality," said Bathi. 
In the operations room -- equipped with a giant data screen -- staff carefully track drone deliveries, while other employees use electric scooters to get around faster.
Drones are part of a growing arsenal of technology-led solutions aiming to better manage the hajj and the challenges presented by the searing desert climate. 
Artificial intelligence has been deployed to help monitor the footage from thousands of cameras in and around the holy city of Mecca.
The new solutions help supplement more traditional methods to manage the heat, which include giant fans, trucks distributing free water and mist systems that help cool crowds. 
"Heat exhaustion is one of the main issues" during the hajj, said Saudi health official Jamil Abu Al-Aynayn. 
"We maintain a high and rapid level of readiness." 
ht-ds/ser

investigation

Starbucks Korea reveals series of mishaps leading to 'Tank Day' campaign

BY KANG JIN-KYU

  • "This incident went beyond the question of whether individual employees were at fault and exposed a lack of social and historical sensitivity within Starbucks Korea," he said.
  • Starbucks Korea revealed on Tuesday a series of mishaps leading to its heavily criticised "Tank Day" promotion, including the use of AI to develop the campaign, which it said lacked "social and historical sensitivity".
  • "This incident went beyond the question of whether individual employees were at fault and exposed a lack of social and historical sensitivity within Starbucks Korea," he said.
Starbucks Korea revealed on Tuesday a series of mishaps leading to its heavily criticised "Tank Day" promotion, including the use of AI to develop the campaign, which it said lacked "social and historical sensitivity".
The company has faced outrage in South Korea for promoting a line of coffee cups with a campaign that evoked a deadly crackdown on a 1980 pro-democracy uprising.
The furor led to a "sharp decline in sales", and the dismissal of Son Jung-hyun, head of Starbucks Korea, according to the Shinsaege Group -- which operates the coffee chain in South Korea under a licensing agreement.
In a packed news conference in Seoul on Tuesday, Shinsegae executive Jeon Sang-jin said "priority was given to the speed and immediacy" of the campaign and "not a single objection was raised during either the planning or approval stages".
The campaign for "tank tumbler" cups was branded as "Tank Day" and launched on May 18, the anniversary of the Gwangju uprising.
Official figures record the crackdown on the revolt killed 165 civilians, with 65 listed as missing and 376 others later dying of injuries. Many believe the true toll was higher.
The Gwangju uprising forms the haunting backdrop to Nobel laureate Han Kang's novel Human Acts.
The employees involved said they had "asked AI for suggestions and that the May 18 anniversary had never even crossed their minds", he said of the findings from the internal probe.
It was unclear whether the team went ahead with the AI suggestions.
Jeon said those involved "denied any intentional wrongdoing, saying they only realised the campaign could be problematic after the issue drew public backlash". 
The investigation also found that some of the seven officials who approved the campaign "had signed off on it, as a matter of routine, without even opening the attached design file contained in the email", Jeon said. 
He added that "the legal team's review process, which had been conducted in the past, was also skipped".
"This incident went beyond the question of whether individual employees were at fault and exposed a lack of social and historical sensitivity within Starbucks Korea," he said.

'No excuses'

The internal investigation did not determine whether employees had intentionally planned to make light of the uprising.
Three of the five marketing team members also refused to hand over their mobile devices for forensic investigation, citing privacy concerns.
Police have launched a separate investigation which could see anyone found intentionally mocking the uprising dismissed from the company and legal action pursued against them, Jeon said.
Shinsegae chairman Chung Yong-jin bowed in apology over the incident during the Tuesday news briefing and asked for forgiveness from bereaved families of the victims of the May 18 Democratic Uprising.
"I will make no excuses. I take full responsibility for this matter."
He did not take questions from the media.

Broken mugs

Protests over the "Tank Promotion" have sparked a broader backlash from government bodies and public figures, including President Lee Jae Myung.
"I am outraged by this inhumane and disgraceful conduct, a profiteering stunt that denies the values of the South Korean community," Lee wrote on X last week.
The defence ministry said it had suspended a partnership project with Starbucks that had provided beverages to soldiers.
The controversy has also spread to the entertainment industry, with some celebrities facing criticism for being seen holding Starbucks coffee.
Others have posted videos and photos on social media of themselves breaking Starbucks mugs.
kjk-sjh/mtp

investigation

Starbucks Korea reveals series of mishaps leading to 'Tank Day' campaign

  • "This incident went beyond the question of whether individual employees were at fault and exposed a lack of social and historical sensitivity within Starbucks Korea," he said.
  • Starbucks Korea revealed on Tuesday a series of mishaps leading to its heavily criticised "Tank Day" promotion, including the use of AI to develop the campaign, which it said lacked "social and historical sensitivity".
  • "This incident went beyond the question of whether individual employees were at fault and exposed a lack of social and historical sensitivity within Starbucks Korea," he said.
Starbucks Korea revealed on Tuesday a series of mishaps leading to its heavily criticised "Tank Day" promotion, including the use of AI to develop the campaign, which it said lacked "social and historical sensitivity".
The company has faced outrage in South Korea for promoting a line of coffee cups with a campaign that evoked a deadly crackdown on a 1980 pro-democracy uprising.
The furor led to a "sharp decline in sales", and the dismissal of Son Jung-hyun, head of Starbucks Korea, according to the Shinsaege Group -- which operates the coffee chain in South Korea under a licensing agreement.
In a packed press conference in Seoul on Tuesday, Shinsegae executive Jeon Sang-jin said "priority was given to the speed and immediacy" of the campaign and "not a single objection was raised during either the planning or approval stages".
The campaign for "tank tumbler" cups was branded as "Tank Day" and launched on May 18, the anniversary of the Gwangju uprising. 
Official figures record the crackdown on the revolt killed 165 civilians, with 65 listed as missing and 376 others later dying of injuries. Many believe the true toll was higher.
The employees involved said they had "asked AI for suggestions and that the May 18 anniversary had never even crossed their minds", he said of the findings from the internal probe. 
It was unclear whether the team went ahead with the AI suggestions.
Jeon said those involved "denied any intentional wrongdoing, saying they only realised the campaign could be problematic after the issue drew public backlash". 
The investigation also found that some of the seven officials who approved the campaign "had signed off on it, as a matter of routine, without even opening the attached design file contained in the email", Jeon said. 
He added that "the legal team's review process, which had been conducted in the past, was also skipped".
"This incident went beyond the question of whether individual employees were at fault and exposed a lack of social and historical sensitivity within Starbucks Korea," he said.

'No excuses'

The internal investigation did not determine whether employees had intentionally planned to make light of the uprising.
Three of the five marketing team members also refused to hand over their mobile devices for forensic investigation, citing privacy concerns.
Lawmakers and members of the public have called for a boycott of the coffee chain with South Korea's President Lee Jae Myung branding the campaign as "inhumane and disgraceful".
Police have also launched a separate investigation which could see anyone found intentionally mocking the uprising dismissed from the company and legal action pursued against them, Jeon said.
Shinsegae Chairman Chung Yong-jin bowed in apology over the incident during the Tuesday press briefing and asked for forgiveness from bereaved families of the victims of the May 18 Democratic Uprising.
"I will make no excuses. I take full responsibility for this matter."
He did not take questions from the press.
kjk/ane/jm

Global Edition

'I think twice': Minorities fear World Cup immigration enforcement

  • Seventy-eight of the 104 World Cup matches will be held in the United States, which is co-hosting the June 11-July 19 tournament with Canada and Mexico.
  • Haiti's first World Cup appearance since 1974 is a source of immense pride, but Emile, a Haitian living in Ohio, is afraid to attend a match because of US President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown.
  • Seventy-eight of the 104 World Cup matches will be held in the United States, which is co-hosting the June 11-July 19 tournament with Canada and Mexico.
Haiti's first World Cup appearance since 1974 is a source of immense pride, but Emile, a Haitian living in Ohio, is afraid to attend a match because of US President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown.
"Singing my country's national anthem in a stadium in front of the whole world is a historic moment that no one would want to miss," the truck driver in his 40s, who did not wish to give his last name, told AFP.
"But at the same time, I think twice. I don't want to be arrested by ICE," he said, referring to Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers tasked with arresting and deporting undocumented foreign nationals.
"My lawyer advised me not to fly so I don't get caught at the airport," he said.
Emile's concerns are shared by many in the immigrant community, who have watched heavily armed, masked ICE officers carry out their often brutal operations in multiple US cities.
Outrage peaked when ICE officers shot dead two American demonstrators in Minneapolis.
"Now, people are making sure that they are aware to what they are doing and they don't feel safe," Monica Sarmiento of the Virginia Coalition for Immigrant Rights told AFP.
"They are afraid. We have seen very aggressive tactics (from ICE) that have gone after not only undocumented communities but also people with protective status."
Sarmiento said that "70% of the people arrested, detained and deported have no criminal record".
"Many of them have been here for decades, paying taxes for decades," she added, condemning "a fearful and hostile environment across the country, and not only for the World Cup but every single day".
Seventy-eight of the 104 World Cup matches will be held in the United States, which is co-hosting the June 11-July 19 tournament with Canada and Mexico.
The possibility of ICE activity around US matches has sparked concerns among the US Hispanic community, which comprises 20% of the US population and is concentrated in California, Texas and Florida with significant representation in major cities such as Miami, Los Angeles, Dallas and New York.
The Haitian community, some 850,000 people in 2024, largely concentrated in Miami and New York, is also under threat.
The Trump administration wants to end the temporary protected status from which Emile and others benefit. It prevents their deportation to their home country, one of the poorest in the world and one ravaged by political instability, economic crisis and gang violence.

'Serious rights violations'

Fears have been stoked by reports like one from Human Rights Watch, which said an asylum seeker who attended the Club World Cup final last year in New Jersey with his children was arrested by ICE and deported to his country of origin.
Some rights organizations also fear that ICE will target foreign tourists around stadiums or in the numerous fan zones where supporters will gather.
More than 120 US civil rights organizations, including the influential American Civil Liberties Union, issued a "travel advisory" in April warning of the "risk of serious rights violations" to fans, players, journalists and other visitors.
According to the signatories people travelling to the United States could risk denial of entry and risk of arrest, detention and/or deportation, racial profiling and "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment -- and even death -- while in ICE detention or custody".
ICE, one of many agencies of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has long taken part in security arrangements for major sporting events such as the Super Bowl.
"International visitors who legally come to the United States for the World Cup have nothing to worry about," a DHS spokesperson told AFP.
"What makes someone a target for immigration enforcement is whether or not they are illegally in the US."
World football's governing body FIFA, responding to a question from AFP, said it "is committed to respecting all internationally recognized human rights and strives to promote the protection of these rights."
str-cyj/bb/jc/gj

reconstruction

Son of Libya's Haftar vows to make up for 'lost years' under Gaddafi

BY FRANçOISE KADRI

  • The reconstruction fund has launched a wave of projects in areas under the control of the eastern administration, aiming to "make up for the lost years" of Gaddafi's reign, Belgacem said.
  • Belgacem Haftar, son of eastern Libya's military chief Khalifa Haftar, touted in an interview with AFP what he called a push to make up for more than 40 "lost years" under slain ruler Muammar Gaddafi.
  • The reconstruction fund has launched a wave of projects in areas under the control of the eastern administration, aiming to "make up for the lost years" of Gaddafi's reign, Belgacem said.
Belgacem Haftar, son of eastern Libya's military chief Khalifa Haftar, touted in an interview with AFP what he called a push to make up for more than 40 "lost years" under slain ruler Muammar Gaddafi.
After Gaddafi was killed during the 2011 revolution, Libya descended into civil war, splitting the country in half as the Haftar clan took power in the east.
The field marshal exercises tight security control in the area he rules and, now Belgacem, one of his six sons, heads a reconstruction programme and appears to be seeking to restore the clan's legitimacy.
Following the floods that swept through Derna in 2023, killing nearly 4,000 people, Belgacem became the figurehead for reconstruction efforts in the area.
Bridges, apartment blocks, schools and hospitals now rise in eastern Libya, which had long been marginalised under Gaddafi.
AFP journalists escorted by the Libyan National Army (LNA) led by Haftar saw dozens of construction sites in Benghazi, Derna and Bayda.
"Gaddafi governed Libya for 42 years, and he did not accomplish what we have in two years," Belgacem, 46, told AFP, seated in an office inside a lavish palace in Benghazi.
The oil-rich country remains divided between a UN-recognised government based in its capital, Tripoli, and the eastern administration in Benghazi backed by the Haftars.
The reconstruction fund was established in 2024 to rebuild Derna with a budget of some $2 billion at the time, before expanding into the Libya Development and Reconstruction Fund.

Showcase

Eastern Libya and most of the country's south are firmly controlled by Haftar and his sons.
Saddam Haftar, widely seen as his heir apparent, serves as deputy commander of the LNA, while another son, Khaled, is chief of staff.
Libya holds Africa's largest oil reserves at around 48.4 billion barrels, and areas controlled by the family contain most of the oil fields and export terminals.
The reconstruction fund has launched a wave of projects in areas under the control of the eastern administration, aiming to "make up for the lost years" of Gaddafi's reign, Belgacem said.
He said that since Gaddafi's overthrow, sectors such as education and healthcare as well as basic needs have been "completely neglected".
The Haftars' development push comes as they seek to showcase an ability to govern even beyond their areas of control, while the United States reportedly tries to promote a rapprochement between the country's rival authorities.
Responding to accusations that the Haftars are using the fund without oversight and of financial misconduct, Belgacem said: "The number and scale of the projects underway answer the question of where the money is being spent."
"The size of the projects and transparency are reflected in what we have achieved on the ground," he added.
He said every contract signed by the fund is currently "audited by the appropriate authorities" while all payments are processed through the central bank in Tripoli.

'Immense need'

Libya has long faced repression and poverty, both during and after Gaddafi's rule.
Belgacem said the fund has "mended trust between citizens and the state by implementing projects that had been abandoned for years".
On Friday, Belgacem attended a rehearsal for an education sector celebration at Benghazi's newly built stadium.
After posing for selfies with parents and children, a young girl approached him carrying requests from her family on a small piece of paper.
Beyond areas already under the Haftars' control, the reconstruction fund could expand into western Libya, "if the authorities request it", Belgacem said.
He said the region housing the capital, Tripoli, and a large proportion of the Libyan population was in "immense need" for infrastructure.
But tensions between Belgacem and Prime Minister Abdelhamid Dbeibah, who leads the Tripoli-based government, would need to ease off.
During the interview, Belgacem accused Dbeibah of having "carried out no project on the scale of the Libyan state in the last five years".
And Dbeibah has charged that the eastern administration has been spending off budget in the past three years.
Still, there have been signs of a potential shift.
Last month, the legislative bodies of the rival authorities signed a US-mediated agreement to unify public spending across the divided country for the first time in over a decade.
The deal included investments worth some 20 billion dinars ($3 billion) in western Libya, Belgacem told AFP.
A similar amount was also allocated to the east and south, where the fund seeks to develop further "strategic projects", he added.
fka/iba/bou/ser/abs

pope

Pope urges 'disarming' of AI in major manifesto

BY ELLA IDE

  • Leo warned of new forms of slavery fuelling the technological revolution, noting "nothing in the world of AI is immaterial or magical".
  • Pope Leo XIV called Monday for the "disarming" of artificial intelligence in his long-awaited manifesto on the rapidly developing technology, and warned of "new forms of slavery" behind its rise.
  • Leo warned of new forms of slavery fuelling the technological revolution, noting "nothing in the world of AI is immaterial or magical".
Pope Leo XIV called Monday for the "disarming" of artificial intelligence in his long-awaited manifesto on the rapidly developing technology, and warned of "new forms of slavery" behind its rise.
Leo, the first US pope, warned against "a race for ever more powerful algorithms and larger datasets, driven by the desire to secure geopolitical or commercial dominance".
He presented his first encyclical, "Magnifica Humanitas" (Magnificent Humanity) in person at the Vatican, alongside AI experts including Christopher Olah, co-founder of US giant Anthropic.
Anthropic is embroiled in a legal battle with the US military after opposing the use of its technology for lethal autonomous warfare and mass surveillance.
At the presentation, Olah said AI companies operate "inside a set of incentives and constraints that can sometimes conflict with doing the right thing".
He welcomed input from outside actors like the Catholic Church, to "push events in a better direction", saying that "the questions raised by AI are bigger than the AI research community".
Leo said he accepted Olah's invitation "to walk together, to listen and to speak and together to find the way for humanity".
He had confidence that "together, we can discern the major questions of our time, and so, the future of humanity".
The pope said he had listened to scientists, engineers, political leaders, parents and teachers in preparing his manifesto, and had heard "very troubling voices" as well as "the silence of those who have no voice".
AI must be "freed from logics that turn it into an instrument of domination, exclusion and death", he said.
In his encyclical, Leo sounded the alarm over AI-directed weaponry, saying it was "not permissible to entrust lethal" decisions to tech.
Leo has repeatedly clashed with the White House over the Iran war and its use of religion to justify conflict.
The "just war" theory -- espoused recently by the Trump administration -- was "outdated", Leo wrote, adding that "no algorithm can make war morally acceptable".

'Armed competition'

AI could be worth up to $4.8 trillion by 2033, a 25-fold increase in a decade, while concentrating its profits in the hands of a limited few, according to the United Nations.
"Disarming AI means freeing it from the mentality of 'armed' competition," the pope wrote.
"To disarm does not mean rejecting technology, but preventing it from dominating humanity," Leo wrote.
AI should be "human-friendly", accessible to all and opened to discussion and debate, he added.
The head of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics has made the hot-button issue a cornerstone of his papacy by dedicating to it his first encyclical -- a document which lays the basis for Church teaching and longer-term debate.
The manifesto references a range of cultural giants, from Greek philosopher Plato to Beethoven and his Ninth Symphony, even citing a character from JRR Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings".

'Not magical'

"Magnifica Humanitas" was signed on May 15, the 135th anniversary of an 1891 encyclical by Leo XIII which laid the foundations of the Church's social doctrine during the Industrial Revolution.
Leo warned of new forms of slavery fuelling the technological revolution, noting "nothing in the world of AI is immaterial or magical".
"Every seemingly immediate and flawless response... relies on the silent work of millions of people", from content moderators forced to watch disturbing material, to children who extract the rare earth elements on which AI depends.
They are "scarred, injured and worn down so that computational flow may continue uninterruptedly", he wrote.
Greater efficiency or innovation did not excuse "a chain of exploitation that remains deliberately hidden", he wrote, while more must be done to reduce AI's environmental impact and "protect our common home".
He also issued an unprecedented apology for the Vatican's role in the slave trade and in helping to justify slavery, saying it was "a wound in Christian memory".
"For this, in the name of the Church, I sincerely ask for pardon," Leo wrote.
The release of the text follows several years of study by the Church on AI-related technologies.
As early as 2020, the Holy See launched the "Rome Appeal for an AI Ethic", which called for new technologies to respect human dignity.
Experts say "Magnifica Humanitas" could prove as influential as Pope Francis's "Laudato Si", a 2015 climate manifesto that triggered political and civic reactions worldwide.
cmk-ide/phz

US

Indian sailors risk work at sea, as Iran war grinds on

BY ARUNABH SAIKIA

  • The attack on Pooniya's ship killed two fellow Indians -- the country's sailors are among the highest merchant maritime casualties from the Middle East war.
  • Born to landless Indian farmers, Sunil Pooniya thought a job at sea would be his ticket out of poverty, instead his first voyage saw him diving into the ocean to escape a deadly attack driven by the Iran war.
  • The attack on Pooniya's ship killed two fellow Indians -- the country's sailors are among the highest merchant maritime casualties from the Middle East war.
Born to landless Indian farmers, Sunil Pooniya thought a job at sea would be his ticket out of poverty, instead his first voyage saw him diving into the ocean to escape a deadly attack driven by the Iran war.
For hundreds of thousands of Indians, merchant shipping jobs are a lucrative proposition despite the inherent risks.
The attack on Pooniya's ship killed two fellow Indians -- the country's sailors are among the highest merchant maritime casualties from the Middle East war.
Dalip Singh and Ashish Kumar Singh were the first Indians killed in the conflict, after their oil tanker was hit on March 1 by projectiles off Oman's Khasab port.
"There was a huge noise and the whole ship shook," Pooniya recalled. 
"I thought something had gone wrong with the engine, but a missile had hit us," Pooniya added, who had been on the Palau-flagged MV Skylight.
"The whole ship was up in flames."
Pooniya, 26, had travelled together with Dalip to Dubai, where they boarded the tanker.
"Everyone jumped into the sea wearing life jackets," Pooniya told AFP, now back home in India. "I screamed for Dalip, but he was gone in the fire."
India is one of the largest contributors of sailors on merchant shipping worldwide, with more than 320,000 active seafarers in 2025, according to the country's shipping ministry.
Eleven merchant sailors have been killed in the conflict, according to the International Maritime Organization (IMO). At least four were Indian.
Iran has restricted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz -- which normally carries about one-fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments -- since the United States and Israel launched attacks on February 28.
The United States has imposed its own naval blockade on Iranian ports.

'Flurry of missiles'

Ships have been hit by projectiles and fired on in dozens of incidents, according to the British maritime security monitor UKMTO.
An Indian-flagged ship carrying livestock from Somalia was reported hit and sunk off Oman on May 13 -- all 14 crew were rescued.
Thousands of Indians are among the estimated 20,000 seafarers stranded by the Strait of Hormuz blockade.
But Manoj Yadav, general secretary of the Forward Seamen's Union of India, said people just want to earn.
"We have a massive unemployment problem," he said. "Being on a ship is a convenient way out for many, as it is a relatively well-paying job for the qualification it demands."
Dalip, 25, a high-school graduate from the hot deserts of Rajasthan, was an engineering support member, on his second voyage.
"Year after year, he failed to get a government job," his younger brother Manoj Singh, 24, told AFP.
Desperate for a better life for his family, Dalip borrowed money and enrolled himself in a maritime training programme, and secured a job on a merchant ship.
Dalip's salary -- $450 dollars a month -- was roughly three times the average income of a rural household.
His brother Manoj Singh, a stone cutter, had been hoping to follow him to sea -- a plan he has since abandoned.
"My father died of shock after hearing that my brother was dead," he said. "I cannot afford to leave home now."
The family of the ship's captain, Ashish Kumar Singh, 38, from the eastern state of Bihar, is mourning his death.
"I just want the government to help me get my husband's remains back," said his wife, Anshu Kumari. "How do I otherwise get closure?"
Raju Ram, 33, also from Rajasthan, has been on a tanker in the port of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates since April, waiting to cross the Strait of Hormuz.
He has witnessed a "flurry of missiles" near his vessel. 
"It is risky of course," he told AFP, by telephone from the vessel. "But at least our families respect us for the money we send back home."
Pooniya, meanwhile, says he has few other options.
"The jobs that people like us get in India, you are always stuck in a cycle of debt," he said. "In this line of work, at least the money is good."
sai/pjm/ane

police

Turkey riot police use tear gas to take opposition party HQ

BY VOLKAN NAKIBOGLU WITH REMI BANET IN ISTANBUL

  • "They stormed our headquarters, used tear gas, beat us with batons, ransacked the party (building) and threw us out," Ozel told AFP on Sunday evening.
  • Hundreds of Turkish riot police firing teargas forced their way into the Ankara headquarters of the country's main opposition party on Sunday, days after a court had dismissed its leadership, AFP journalists saw.
  • "They stormed our headquarters, used tear gas, beat us with batons, ransacked the party (building) and threw us out," Ozel told AFP on Sunday evening.
Hundreds of Turkish riot police firing teargas forced their way into the Ankara headquarters of the country's main opposition party on Sunday, days after a court had dismissed its leadership, AFP journalists saw.
The dramatic scuffles were the latest episode in a crackdown by Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on his political rivals, who have angrily resisted in the streets.
Party members had blocked the building's entrances, defying the court order issued Thursday as part of an official probe against the Republican People's Party (CHP), before officers broke in to remove the group's leader.
"They stormed our headquarters, used tear gas, beat us with batons, ransacked the party (building) and threw us out," Ozel told AFP on Sunday evening.
He said his rival Erdogan had "lost his senses", claiming the assault was part of the president's manoeuvres "to win the next elections", due in 2028.
Last year, Turkish authorities jailed Erdogan's main political rival, Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, who was the CHP's candidate for the 2028 presidential election.
They arrested him on corruption charges which he has dismissed as politically motivated.
Thursday's court order cancelled the 2023 victory in party elections of CHP head Ozgur Ozel and named its former chair Kemal Kilicdaroglu -- a lacklustre figure who suffered a string of electoral defeats -- as interim leader.
"Just as he (Erdogan) jailed the presidential candidate who could have beaten him, he has now officially closed the political party that could have beaten him," Ozel told AFP.

Rights group warning 

Ejected from the party building, Ozel walked several kilometres in the rain towards parliament, surrounded by supporters.
"The Republican People's Party will from now be on the streets or in the squares," he said as he was forced out of the building.
He later added in comments to AFP: "Turkey has ceased to be a modern democratic republic and has turned into an authoritarian regime."
Kilicdaroglu's backers had earlier tried to push their way into the party headquarters, before police received orders to step in and take the building.
Last year, similar scenes broke out in Istanbul, when the courts named an administrator to take charge of the regional CHP offices.
Global NGO Human Rights Watch on Saturday warned that Erdogan's government was undermining Turkish democracy with "abusive tactics" against the CHP.
It called the court order "the latest deeply damaging blow to the rule of law, democracy and human rights" in Turkey.
str-rba/rlp/jj

infrastructure

Lightning advance: swathes of Hanoi demolished for development

BY LAM NGUYEN AND TY MCCORMICK

  • "We are unlucky to be the sufferers in this giant restructuring of Hanoi."
  • Rows of townhouses torn down in hours, roads ripped up by bulldozers and city blocks reduced to rubble in the name of progress -- giant construction sites litter Hanoi as it races ahead with urban renewal.
  • "We are unlucky to be the sufferers in this giant restructuring of Hanoi."
Rows of townhouses torn down in hours, roads ripped up by bulldozers and city blocks reduced to rubble in the name of progress -- giant construction sites litter Hanoi as it races ahead with urban renewal.
A "100-year master plan" for the Vietnamese capital includes new bridges, subway lines and riverside developments.
Hundreds of thousands could be displaced to make way for construction, authorities say, as the city of eight million prepares to accommodate twice as many people by 2045.
Communist leaders hope Vietnam will be a developed country by then, buoyed by breakneck growth and spurred by their huge infrastructure investments.
But the speed of implementation has unnerved residents, made some homeless and left many more fearing the same fate.
"I have never seen authorities acting that quick," said Hung, a 51-year-old businessman whose house was torn down last month for a $750 million bridge spanning the Red River.
"My dad had lived there all his life, he got to know every corner, everyone, now he saw it all demolished in a blink," he added, asking to be identified only by his first name.
He said he received 10 billion dong ($380,000) as compensation along with a rural plot of land -- but that the home's market value was nearly triple that.
The city having another bridge is "good for all, but not for us", he added.
"We are unlucky to be the sufferers in this giant restructuring of Hanoi."
- No joke -  
A city of less than half a million for most of its thousand-year history, Hanoi grew dramatically in the 1980s and 1990s as Vietnam underwent market-oriented reforms.
Many migrants from the countryside built homes on land they did not formally own, creating sprawling, semi-planned neighbourhoods with narrow, winding streets.
The city has since formalised construction and embarked on multiple rounds of renovation.
But those plans "were often joked about because they stayed as posters on the wall and little was implemented", according to Danielle Labbe, an urban planning professor at the University of Montreal who focuses on Vietnam.
Now the 100-year master plan is charging ahead.
Top leader To Lam has declared a "new growth model" that includes a major building blitz. He preaches less red tape and faster decision-making, leading to a flurry of project approvals, analysts say.
With seven new bridges planned and more than 1,200 kilometres (746 miles) of metro and rail lines, the Hanoi redevelopment is expected to cost more than $2.5 trillion over two decades.
Roads are also being widened and drainage systems improved in anticipation of flooding risks stemming from climate change.
More than 11,000 hectares along the river is slated to become a network of residential developments and parks -- with roughly 250,000 residents relocated to make way.
State media reported that overall, as many 860,000 could be uprooted. Authorities denied the figure but did not specify an alternative.
Hanoi's architecture and planning department did not immediately respond to AFP requests for comment.
Many Hanoi residents support modernisation, with Labbe calling the population "very pro-development".
But the rapid pace of change and lack of public consultation has bred resentment.
The master plan ran to more than 1,000 pages, according to Labbe, but was only "opened for comment for something like 10 or 15 days".
"Plans didn't use to be approved and implemented so fast," she said.

'No greater pain'

Ho Chi Minh City also has a 100-year master plan, as Vietnam embarks on an infrastructure drive that parallels its giant Communist neighbour to the north, both in scale and execution.
"To me, the influence of Chinese planning is very clear," said Labbe. 
Retired house cleaner Phan received her final eviction notice in February and her four-storey home is slated for demolition this week.
The 10-person, three-generation household split up and moved in with other relatives.
Authorities offered a slight discount on a much smaller apartment costing $76,000.
But because like many they did not have title to the land under their home, they were only compensated $19,000 for building costs. 
"So now the family is in a very difficult situation and has to borrow money," said Phan, 69.
"Our family used to eat together, sit together, and live happily as three generations under one roof," she said, breaking into tears.
"Now the family is broken apart, everyone scattered in different places. There is no pain greater than this."
bur-tym/slb/hol/mjw

demonstration

Tens of thousands rally in Serbia demanding elections

BY OGNJEN ZORIC

  • The students leading the movement hope Saturday's demonstration will relaunch their campaign to push nationalist president Vucic to call early elections. 
  • Tens of thousands of demonstrators massed in central Belgrade Saturday to renew calls for early elections that grew out of the anti-corruption movement sparked by a deadly rail station disaster.
  • The students leading the movement hope Saturday's demonstration will relaunch their campaign to push nationalist president Vucic to call early elections. 
Tens of thousands of demonstrators massed in central Belgrade Saturday to renew calls for early elections that grew out of the anti-corruption movement sparked by a deadly rail station disaster.
Since the station canopy collapse in November 2024 in Novi Sad, which killed 16 people, calls for a transparent investigation into what happened have snowballed into a push for early polls.
Yelling the movement's signature slogan, "The students are winning," to the din of drums and whistles, crowds streamed through the city to Slavija Square in the centre. Large banners hanging from trees, T-shirts, badges and stickers also bore the slogan.
Later Saturday, as the rally broke up, clashes broke out between demonstrators and police. Masked men threw stones, bottles and firecrackers at police, who responded with tear gas. 
An AFP journalist saw several people arrested and gendarmes' vehicles kept the crowds away from the presidential and parliament buildings.
"All those who, this evening after the end of the public gathering at Slavija, attacked police officers who were securing the event will be identified and prosecuted in accordance with the law," said a statement from the prosecutors' office.
"The scenes we witnessed tonight... are scenes that are not good for Serbia, scenes that have saddened every citizen of our country," Serbian President Alexander Vucic said in a post on Instagram.
"They will not change anything with this," he added.

'Change must come'

Earlier Saturday, marchers gathered for the rally carrying Serbian flags or ones representing their university faculty. Other people, who had travelled from around the country held banners with the names of their towns.
"The goal of today's protest is for all of us to gather again and to make it clear to people that we are still here, that we are fighting and working, that we have not and will not stop," 24-year-old architecture student Andjela told AFP.
Students in high-vis tops served as stewards while war veterans and bikers were also present to protect the crowd.
Police chief Dragan Vasiljevic told journalists the force estimated the turnout at 34,000. No independent estimate was available.
"Today, a clear message is being sent," said another marcher, pensioner Zoran Savic.
"Change must come, Serbia must become a democratic state, the rule of law must be present for everyone, meaning the rule of law equally for everyone," he said.
"And Serbia must be part of the democratic, European community."

Election demand 

The protests have not stopped since the Novi Sad disaster, with one demonstration in March 2025 bringing as many as 300,000 together.
The students leading the movement hope Saturday's demonstration will relaunch their campaign to push nationalist president Vucic to call early elections. Vucic, who regularly raises the issue, suggested on Thursday that they could take place in autumn.
While the protests have passed off peacefully for the most part, some have been marred by clashes in recent months, with several protesters saying they were attacked by masked government supporters.
On Friday, the Council of Europe's human rights commissioner warned that Serbia's rights situation had worsened, citing attacks on activists and journalists, shrinking civic space and alleged police abuses of protests.
"After a year and a half of protests, people have not given up and have not lost their strength," said Ivan Milosavljevic, a demonstrator who came from eastern Serbia.
"The strength of the protests can be seen in the number of people here today. We will continue until this anti-people regime is removed."
mp-cbo/jj/rlp

immigration

EU automated border system suspended at Dover amid bank holiday chaos

  • Responding to the "challenging situation" at the port, French border control police (PAF) suspended the system, the Port of Dover said, adding that "conventional border checks will still be undertaken".
  • French authorities suspended the European Union's new digital border check system at Britain's Port of Dover on Saturday, as traffic piled up at the UK ferry terminal at the start of the long weekend.
  • Responding to the "challenging situation" at the port, French border control police (PAF) suspended the system, the Port of Dover said, adding that "conventional border checks will still be undertaken".
French authorities suspended the European Union's new digital border check system at Britain's Port of Dover on Saturday, as traffic piled up at the UK ferry terminal at the start of the long weekend.
Travellers were facing wait times of over two hours at the terminal in southern England to get the cross-Channel ferry to France, the Port of Dover said in traffic updates.
It said it was the "first peak period" since the introduction of the so-called Entry/Exit System (EES).
The EES is used by EU countries -- with the exception of Ireland and Cyprus -- and other nations that are part of the Schengen free movement area, including Switzerland, Norway and Iceland.
Non-EU passengers and some transport providers have raised concerns about the new system -- especially in Britain, which left the EU in 2020 under Brexit.
The system, which became fully operational in April, replaces passport stamps with a digital registration to make the EU's borders more secure, more efficient and stronger against irregular migration, according to the European Commission.
Responding to the "challenging situation" at the port, French border control police (PAF) suspended the system, the Port of Dover said, adding that "conventional border checks will still be undertaken".
"This will now enable PAF to signficantly reduce the border processing time," the port authority said in a statement posted on X.
Images showed snaking queues of cars at the congested terminal, which is the departure point for ferries to Calais in northern France, a popular route for British tourists, especially at the start of the half-term school holidays.
aks/rmb