Afghanistan announces release of detained US citizen

Myanmar's ageing railway stations are bustling with life, crowded with passengers as surging fuel prices due to the Mideast war drive commuters to choose trains over costly planes and cars.

On a journey from the country's largest city Yangon to the capital Naypyidaw AFP journalists sat in air-conditioned carriages full of travellers napping and sharing tea, fried rice and instant noodles.

First class adult train tickets cost 19,000 kyats ($4.50), while the cheapest bus fares for the route now start at 35,000 kyats.

At one point on Thursday the train chugged past a queue of trucks waiting for fuel -- the trains themselves run on diesel, with the state railway company maintaining its own stocks.

People dozed on station benches or sat on luggage on  platforms as they waited for their trains.

Myanmar has been consumed by a civil war since 2021, when a military coup swept aside Aung San Suu Kyi's democratically elected government, sparking armed resistance to junta rule.

Rail travel is not traditionally the most popular mode of transport in the country, and many trains are older and less comfortable, while much of the network was built under British colonial rule. 

But people from rural areas have long relied on affordable railways to journey between cities -- despite occasional attacks by rebel forces targeting trains since 2021.

"The costs are high if we use a car. Also there are not many security checkpoints on the train," said Zeya Ko Ko, 28, a passenger on the Naypyidaw train.

"Buses are also challenging as fuel can run out in some areas due to the fuel crisis."

- First time -

Since the US-Israel war against Iran began nearly a month ago, global fuel prices have soared with international shipping disrupted and fears of shortages, especially in import-reliant Asia.

In Myanmar, prices at the petrol pump have jumped and the junta has instituted fuel-saving measures, including alternate day bans on private vehicles, based on odd- or even-numbered licence plates.

Long queues of cars and motorbikes have formed at petrol stations around the country in the last three weeks.

"We have difficulty travelling for urgent health problems. As private vehicles are being restricted with even-odd numbers, we cannot leave right away when we are sick," said Pearl Hmway, a 53-year-old restaurant owner from Mandalay region, as she waited for for a train home.

A Naypyidaw station official told AFP more people were using trains because of fuel shortages, and extra services had been laid on.

"The government increased the number of scheduled trains because of higher demand," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to the media.

Passengers said train tickets were selling out quickly, making booking them online harder.

At Naypyidaw station, 26-year-old monk Zanaka said he was taking a train for the first time in his life.

Bus fares had risen alongside fuel prices, making his journey twice as expensive by road as by rail, he explained.

"That's why we are taking the train on the way back," he said. 

"The train is faster and there's no need to wait in a queue."

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In the dry-season heat of northern Thailand, Hmong villagers zip through forested slopes, blasting tinder with leaf blowers and cutting through brush with machetes, while others scan for smoke on live feeds from their phones.

Across about a dozen villages in the hills of Doi Suthep-Pui National Park, just above the city of Chiang Mai, Indigenous volunteers patrol on foot and clear firebreaks while also deploying drones and treetop cameras -- all to detect blazes early and defend Thailand's second-largest city from wildfire smoke.

"The forest we protect is part of the national park -- the lungs of Chiang Mai," said Mathaphan Phuchakritdapa, who started the firefighting volunteer force a decade ago and is chief of Suthep subdistrict.

"If it burns, the city's lungs are destroyed. That's why we have to take care of it as best we can."

He and his team shifted to tech-driven firefighting after devastating wildfires in 2020 tore through the mountains above the tourism-dependent city.

The blazes lasted weeks in March and April that year, killing at least five people and injuring and displacing residents and wildlife.

The thick smoke from fires then and since has regularly pushed Chiang Mai to the top of global air pollution rankings.

- 'Worst in my life' -

Satellite imagery from the peak of the 2020 crisis showed northern Thailand blanketed by dense clusters of fire hotspots, with nearly 400 recorded in Chiang Mai province in a single day.

"It was the worst fire I've seen in my life," said Mathaphan, adding it took more than 40 days to bring it under control.

The hotter, drier weather caused by climate change creates the conditions for more frequent and destructive fires, and accumulated dry leaves can intensify them and accelerate their spread.

Outbreaks are often linked to human activities such as clearing forest and brush for foraging, hunting and agriculture.

To control air pollution, Chiang Mai authorities announced a strict five-month ban on open burning from the beginning of this year.

Authorities often blame local "hill tribes", while those communities say fires are set by outsiders for commercial purposes.

Data from NASA's fire monitoring service shows far fewer fires in the region in mid-March this year compared to the same period in 2020.

"Both local communities and state agencies are taking the issue more seriously, leading to tighter controls over burning and fire outbreaks," Mathaphan told AFP.

The Hmong, an Indigenous ethnic group originally from the mountains of southern China, have lived on these slopes in northern Thailand since migrating in the mid-20th century.

Volunteer teams roar through the hills on motorbikes, blasting away leaves with blowers and drowning out the buzz of a drone capturing footage of the blaze-prone landscape.

- 'Giving back' -

Mongkol Yingyotmongkolsaen, a 47-year-old Hmong volunteer, returned from the city three years ago and began applying his skills as a photographer to firefighting.

He installed low-cost, internet-connected video cameras high among treetops that share live feeds with villagers who can remotely monitor conditions in real time.

Mongkol also flies standard and infrared drones to monitor for fires from above, track any flames that are spreading and detect heat at night.

This allows teams to identify hotspots earlier, plan safer routes and contain fires more quickly, he said, making their work much easier.

"This is my way of giving back to my community," he added.

Across the subdistrict, each household contributes a volunteer, forming a network of about 270 people managing nearly 1,600 hectares of forest.

Monitoring this vast area requires about 1.5 million baht ($45,000) a year to cover the cost of food, fuel and equipment maintenance.

But the community receives only around 50,000 baht annually in government funding -- an amount the local chief, Mathaphan, said is insufficient.

Still, their volunteer-based approach to fire prevention has become a model for other communities, he said -- helping shift perceptions of Hmong villagers who are often blamed for deforestation and "destructive" farming practices.

"We are not destroying the forest," Mathaphan said. "We are protecting it."

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The feather-shaped namele leaf is so central to Vanuatu it features on the national flag, and now it is being enlisted to protect some of the country's most important forests. 

By invoking a traditional taboo against touching the sacred leaf, conservationists and locals hope to keep loggers away from places like Vatthe Conservation Area -- a candidate for UNESCO World Heritage status.

Located on Vanuatu's largest island Espiritu Santo, Vatthe is home to astonishing biodiversity, hosting over two-thirds of the South Pacific archipelago's land and freshwater birds and many of its endemic species.

But just a single ranger, traditional chief Bill Tavue, patrols the 2,720-hectare site, whose name means "estuary" in the local Na language.

Lack of funding for conservation projects, disregard for government regulations and the need to clear land for farming means that logging is common, making Tavue's battle to protect the forest all the harder.

So he hopes that the glossy green leaf of the namele, which resembles a small palm, can help him protect what remains.

The plant, known to science by the botanical name Cycas seemannii, grows across the western Pacific region, but holds particular significance in Vanuatu.

"In our culture, no one is allowed to touch the namele, only the moli," Tavue said, using a local word for chieftain.

When a namele leaf is placed somewhere, people know not to touch anything nearby, he explained.

- Leaf of peace -

Tavue comes from Matantas, a small village on the north coast of Espiritu Santo, one of the more than 80 islands that make up the Vanuatu archipelago.

When Portuguese navigator Pedro Fernandez de Quiros landed there in 1606, he believed he had discovered the fabled "Great Southern Land".

In those days, Vanuatu's tribes used the namele leaf to mark boundaries that could not be crossed on pain of death -- a technique applied after wars to protect peace agreements.

More recently, locals in Matantas realised the leaf could help protect the forest, and began publicising its presence in Vatthe as a way to keep outsiders away.

The idea has caught on, and the government in Vanuatu's capital Port Vila now officially advocates that chiefs elsewhere use similar taboos to protect nature.

Traditional law still holds real sway in Vanuatu -- the country's Malvatumauri Council of Chiefs is made of up custom chiefs from across the nation and holds real political power.

Proponents of invoking the namele leaf taboo for conservation say it has helped keep Vatthe Conservation Area largely intact, despite few other protections.

But they acknowledge that the leaf and even growing national and international attention to Vatthe's importance are far from enough.

After one recent cyclone, Chinese loggers working in Vanuatu were given permission to pick up dead wood in the reserve.

But locals allege that was used as cover to log inside the area.

Officials at Vanuatu's Department of Forests and Department of Environmental Protection and Conservation did not respond to AFP's requests for comment about those claims.

While Vanuatu has tough forestry laws, it is unclear how effective those measures have been in practice.

- 'We don't destroy' -

The leaf taboo holds weight in Espiritu Santo's mountainous west as well, where grassroots environmentalists created the Santo Sunset Environment Network to protect their forests.

They make educational visits to schools in villages often only accessible by hours-long boat rides and have persuaded chiefs there to ban logging and invoke the namele leaf and other taboos to enforce it.

Those caught breaking the taboo risk being fined a chicken or a pig -- a traditional form of currency in Vanuatu once used to pay 'bride prices'. 

Project manager Joses Togase said that logging is driven by poverty and a lack of understanding about the impact.

"They need money, but they were not realising the negative impact on the resources," he said.

In some areas, trees are cleared to grow subsistence crops like yams, cassava, taro and sweet potato, with growing communities seeing little option but to expand into forests.

Richard Rojo, the network's vice-chairman, is himself a subsistence farmer turned environmentalist, motivated by the need to protect his country's forests for his children and descendants.

"I just hope they will enjoy their resources, in their place, just as I am enjoying it now," he said.

In Matantas, ranger Tavue's parents, retired chief Solomon and his wife Purity say they are saddened by the state of the forest. 

"We have taboos. We don't destroy our rivers. We don't destroy our resources," Purity said. 

"Now we find out that the forest is starting to be damaged. The people started to slowly walk into the forest."

Her son trained four others to help him patrol, but they all gave up the unpaid work.

Tavue wants to see payment for forest protection, like carbon credit programmes, that can help fund work like his.

"We really want this conservation area to continue.

"If you don't have money you cannot continue."

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Mizzou men’s swimming and diving wrapped up the first two days of the NCAA Championships with senior Collier Dyer narrowly missing a spot in the 1-meter diving finals Thursday at McAuley Aquatic Center in Atlanta.

Dyer placed 18th in the preliminary round with a score of 317.60, just outside the cutoff to advance. Teammate Tanner Braunton also competed in the event, finishing 39th with a score of 271.60.

Through two days of competition, the Tigers have appeared in three events. Missouri opened the meet with the 200-yard medley relay, finishing 28th in 1 minute, 24.33 seconds. The team followed that with a 21st-place finish in the 200 freestyle relay, touching the wall in 1:16.85.

Competition resumes with preliminary swims beginning at 10 a.m. Friday in Atlanta. Jan Zubik is scheduled to race in the 100 backstroke preliminaries, followed by Luke Nebrich in the 50 freestyle. The Tigers will also compete in the 400 medley relay, while Dyer and Braunton return for the 3-meter diving preliminaries.

Mizzou track & field opens Raleigh Relays

Mizzou track and field opened competition at the Raleigh Relays on Thursday in Raleigh, North Carolina, with the men’s distance group competing in four events at the Paul H. Derr Track Facility.

All three Tigers in the 1,500-meter run recorded personal-best times, with two moving onto Mizzou's all-time list. Lasse Funck led the group, finishing 13th in a field of more than 200 runners with a time of 3 minutes, 41.98 seconds, which ranks fifth in program history. Finn Russell placed 18th in 3:42.60, good for seventh all-time, while Ethan Hogan finished 87th in 3:48.34.

In the 3,000 steeplechase, Elijah Limo placed eighth with an 8:40.60, the second-fastest mark in program history. Joshua Allison followed in 19th with an 8:49.31, ranking sixth all-time.

Carter Spradling finished 24th in the 5,000 with a 14:16.58 in his debut at the distance. Tyler Freiner (29:16.59) and Drew Rogers (29:39.23) placed 21st and 38th in the 10,000 meters, respectively.

The women's distance squad will continue the Tigers' contention in the Raleigh Relays at 2:30 p.m. Friday.

British charities and disability advocates have slammed a trend for using AI to generate "fetishised" images of women with disabilities and genetic conditions including Down syndrome, vitiligo and albinism.

The photo-realistic sexualised images, which have gained millions of views on social media, are deceptive as they are often not labelled as AI-generated.

Some account owners use artificial intelligence to manipulate real images of non-disabled women, making them appear to have Down syndrome, a genetic condition caused by an extra chromosome.

One such TikTok video of a young woman dancing in shorts and a cropped top has had 4 million views since last year.

The British Down's Syndrome Association condemned the "alarming trend". 

"This is a scam and is not only in bad taste but is potentially offensive and hurtful to people who have Down's syndrome," the charity said in comments sent to AFP.

Disabled women and girls already face a higher risk of sexual violence globally.

In Britain, women with disabilities are nearly twice as likely to be sexually assaulted, according to the Office for National Statistics.

The images show "very fetishised bodies" and "very sexual content", said Aisha Sobey, a University of Cambridge researcher studying generative AI.

Kamran Mallick, CEO of Disability Rights UK, said the images are "exploitation" and recall "historical freak shows of people being wheeled out for the amusement of others".

These AI influencers "are mostly young white women," said Emanuel Maiberg of the 404 Media tech news outlet who has covered the trend.

"It certainly seems like content that is more outrageous, novel, or weird, gets more engagement."

Higgsfield, a platform for generating virtual models, gives creators options to add scars, burns, albinism -- a lack of melanin pigmentation -- and vitiligo, which causes white patches on the skin. 

"The internet doesn't want a perfect face. It wants character. So give them scars, give them style," says a promotional video for Higgsfield, adding "AI influencers with vitiligo have been really popular lately".

- 'Harmful and unacceptable' -

The AI images are often medically unlikely or impossible.

One creator labelled as based in Germany shows an AI model with albinism in a strappy vest top driving a car without glasses -- despite the fact that many with the condition have poor eyesight.

An Instagram account with millions of views shows a woman in swimsuits and gymwear whose body is bisected by vitiligo so she is exactly half white and half brown.

"This form of AI use is harmful and unacceptable," the Vitiligo Society told AFP.

"When AI creates fictional individuals with vitiligo and portrays them as authentic members of the community, this crosses into the territory of misinformation," said the British charity.

Real influencers with albinism told AFP that most AI-generated content fetishises the condition and is inaccurate.

US influencer Kayla Ludlow, who has 857,000 followers on TikTok, said in a video responding to AFP's questions that she could understand people trying filters out of curiosity.

But "especially with the AI model content, that just seems like it's a fetish," she said.

Unlike real influencers, the models "don't have a personality or a life or something for you to be invested with", she said.

"It just feels wrong to fetishise albinism in that way," said British influencer Mio, 22, who posts about makeup and skincare to her more than 47,000 followers on Instagram and TikTok. 

"I think the main reason is to make money, which is so intensely wrong."

AI images perpetuate "misinformation", for example that people with albinism have red eyes, she said.

Other AI models trivialise and sexualise severe medical conditions.

One Instagram page with 400,000 followers, apparently based in the United States, shows conjoined twins in bikinis on the beach. 

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Oil prices fell Friday after Donald Trump again pushed back a deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, though most equities also dropped as traders shrugged at the news following a series of conflicting messaging from the White House.

The US president had warned last Saturday he would obliterate the Islamic republic's energy sites if it did not unblock the crucial waterway within 48 hours, but pushed that back five days citing positive peace talks, which Tehran denied had taken place.

But after days of strikes by both sides and mixed reports of negotiations -- including the trading of multi-point demands -- he announced Thursday that he would again delay the attacks to April 6 after a request from Tehran.

"Talks are ongoing and, despite erroneous statements to the contrary by the Fake News Media, and others, they are going very well," Trump posted on his Truth Social platform. 

"As per Iranian Government request... I am pausing the period of Energy Plant destruction by 10 Days to Monday, April 6, 2026, at 8 P.M., Eastern Time," he posted.

Trump had earlier denied he was desperate for a deal to end the war, despite the Islamic republic's cool response to an American peace plan and fears the spike in oil prices would fan inflation.

Trump later told a cabinet meeting Iran had allowed 10 oil tankers passage through the Strait of Hormuz -- through which about a fifth of world oil and gas pass -- to show it was serious about talks. 

The Iranian news agency Tasnim said the country's response to Washington's 15-point plan to end the war "was officially sent last night through intermediaries, and Iran is awaiting the other side's response".

The report, citing an unnamed official, said officials had called for an end to US-Israeli attacks on Iran and Tehran-backed groups elsewhere in the region.

It also called for war reparations and Iran's "sovereignty" over the Strait of Hormuz be respected.

However, Trump's announcement came as the Wall Street Journal cited Department of Defense officials as saying the Pentagon was considering sending as many as 10,000 extra ground troops to the Middle East.

Oil prices fell more than one percent Friday, though that only partially pared the previous day's surge amid growing anxiety that the conflict will last far longer than first thought.

Brent is up almost 50 percent since the war began on February 28, while West Texas Intermediate has risen around 40 percent.

Equities struggled following hefty losses in Wall Street.

Tokyo and Seoul, which had been the standout performers in the first two months of the year, were among the biggest losers, while Hong Kong, Sydney, Wellington, Taipei Jakarta and Manila were also sharply lower.

Shanghai and Singapore fluctuated.

Investors are also increasingly sceptical about the messaging from the White House, with Trump often flipping between threats and talk of peace.

"A ten-day extension sounds like breathing room, but in market terms, it feels more like a trader rolling a losing position forward, hoping the next candle delivers what the last one refused to give," said SPI Asset Management's Stephen Innes referring to an investors analysis tool.

"Time has been purchased, not clarity. And the market knows the difference."

And National Australia Bank's Ray Attrill said: "Whether peace talks are taking place between the US and Iran remains debatable, Iran insisting that exchanges of letters via a friendly intermediary (presumed to be Pakistan) does not constitute talks."

Meanwhile, the World Trade Organisation warned the global trading system was experiencing the "worst disruptions in the past 80 years", while the World Bank said it was prepared to provide immediate financial assistance to emerging market countries.

That came as the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development warned US inflation could hit more than four percent this year as a result of the spike in crude prices. That compares with its previous projection of 2.8 percent.

The prospect of another spike in the cost of living led several Federal Reserve officials to express concern about the outlook for the world's top economy and suggested interest rates were unlikely to come down any time soon.

With the economic impact worsening, governments around the world are being forced to act.

Spain approved a sweeping $5.8 billion package including steep cuts to energy taxes, while Poland's prime minister announced a series of measures to address soaring fuel costs, including reduced taxes and price ceilings.

And South Korea said it will roll out a $17 billion "wartime" supplementary budget and expand fuel tax cuts.

- Key figures at around 0230 GMT -

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.9 percent at 53,145.33 (break)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.3 percent at 24,787.31

Shanghai - Composite: FLAT at 3,888.09

West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 1.5 percent at $93.07 a barrel

Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 1.8 percent at $106.12 a barrel

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1537 from $1.1523 on Thursday

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3339 from $1.3313

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 159.58 yen from 159.83 yen

Euro/pound: DOWN at 86.50 pence from 86.55 pence

New York - Dow: DOWN 1.0 percent at 45,960.11 (close)

London - FTSE 100: DOWN 1.3 percent at 9,972.17 (close)

dan/ane

US President Donald Trump issued an executive order Thursday prohibiting companies doing business with the federal government from having policies meant to combat racism or sexism in the workforce.

The order, to come into effect in 30 days, is Trump's latest move against diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies, a series of often decades-old measures meant to combat racism and sexism across the United States.

The Republican president and many of his hard-right supporters say they believe diversity measures keep capable Americans out of jobs that instead go to minorities.

"My Administration has made significant progress in ending racial discrimination in American society, including so-called "diversity, equity, and inclusion" (DEI) activities," Trump wrote in the order.

He claimed that DEI policies also raise costs for employers, who then pass those on to the federal government when bidding for contracts. 

Companies now hoping for government contracts will have to include on their contracts a seven-paragraph clause pledging that "The contractor will not engage in any racially discriminatory DEI activities."

Shortly after re-entering the White House for a second term last January, Trump put US federal employees working in diversity offices on paid leave after ordering the programs shut.

In August, his administration said it would "review" certain displays and exhibitions at the Smithsonian museums in Washington, looking to remove "divisive or partisan narratives" as part of his war on "woke" racial and gender viewpoints. 

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© Agence France-Presse

World number one and defending champion Aryna Sabalenka powered past second-ranked Elena Rybakina 6-4, 6-3 on Thursday to line up a Miami Open title clash with Coco Gauff.

Sabalenka, who fell to Rybakina in the Australian Open final  before turning the tables on the Kazakh in the Indian Wells title match this earlier this month, broke the big-serving Rybakina twice in each set to come out on top in the blockbuster semi-final and keep her bid for the "Sunshine Double" of Indian Wells and Miami on track.

"I think I did everything right," said Sabalenka, who applied ruthless pressure on Rybakina's serve while delivering a sterling service performance that featured nine aces -- including four in a row across the seventh and ninth games of the opening set.

"She's an incredible player, always pushes me to the limit," Sabalenka said. "With her, you have to bring your best tennis and that's why I was able to pull out such great tennis today."

Sabalenka had to save a match point to beat Rybakina in Indian Wells, but she was on the front foot on Thursday, seizing a break for a 3-1 lead in the opening set.

Rybakina recouped the break immediately, but Sabalenka broke again to pocket the set and took command in the second with a break for 2-0 in a game which Rybakina led 40-0.

Trailing 0-4, Rybakina clawed back a break for 4-1 but Sabalenka wouldn't flinch again. Rybakina saved one match point on her own serve before Sabalenka served it out with a love game punctuated by a fierce forehand winner.

The match marked the first time outside the WTA Finals that the world's two top-ranked players met before a final since Martina Hingis and Jana Novotna in the 1998 US Open semi-finals.

It could only come about because Rybakina was seeded third, her rise to second in the rankings on Monday coming a day after the Miami draw was made.

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The colourful residents of Copenhagen's libertarian Christiania enclave, long a refuge for anarchists, hippies and artists, fear new housing within its borders could spell the end of the freetown's identity. 

The so-called "Christianites" last month begrudgingly agreed to a new public housing development for 300 people. 

But some residents question whether the new arrivals will buy into Christiania's freetown identity.

"If a lot of people move in here and only want to have peace and want to close the workshops and the bars, then it is really dangerous for Christiania," said Charlotte Steen, a 60-year-old resident and founder of Women's Smithy blacksmiths.

"We have always been here because we had the culture."

Nestled in the heart of Copenhagen, Christiania was for many years seen by some as a progressive social experiment, while others simply saw it as a den of drugs.

Its famed Pusher Street, where cannabis was once sold freely, was torn up in 2024.

The new housing plans are part of a longstanding deal struck between the city of Copenhagen and the Christiania foundation, as residents seek full ownership of the 34-hectare (84-acre) enclave in the centre of the Danish capital.

In 1971 a group of hippies founded the "Free City of Christiania" in abandoned military barracks to create a municipality which, according to its statute, "belongs to everyone and to no one" and where every decision is taken collectively.

The self-proclaimed freetown is still home to many artists and activists, along with restaurants, cafes and shops popular among the half a million or so tourists who stroll through its green areas and cobblestone streets every year.

To some of the area's 900 residents, the housing plans represent the latest surrender of the original Christiania spirit to pressures from the outside world.

"They just wanna build, they wanna tear it down, they wanna make us into like everywhere else," sighed artist and gallery owner Marios Orozco, who moved from Boston to Christiania in 1981 to be with all the other "long-haired hippies".

"When I came here, people were building their own homes... But slowly, they're tearing down those buildings," he said.

The hippie paradise was tainted by drug trafficking violence over the years, prompting the closure of Pusher Street.

"Slowly, incrementally, they're just chopping away at everything that is Christiania and what's going to be left? That's what I'm worried about," added Orozco.

- 'New energy' -

Residents live in converted, historic brick barracks or self-constructed wooden homes, some dotted along the island's leafy waterfront.

In 2012, they became legal landowners, securing a bank loan for several million euros to buy part of the land from the Danish state. 

Christiania is now run by an independent foundation. 

Resident Risenga Manghezi, who heads the project to transform Pusher Street, said the housing development may begin in 2029, with the first new residents arriving two years later.

"I think having 300 new people to help us develop our creativity and to infuse new energy in Christiania can really be a good thing," argued Manghezi.

A spokeswoman for the residents, Hulda Mader, who has lived in the enclave since 1994, disagreed.

"Christiania does not really need it. It's the government who needs this, because we are out of cheap housing in Copenhagen," she declared.

- Housing shortage -

Line Barfod, Copenhagen's mayor for climate, environment and technology, defended the plans, saying the Danish capital was in dire need of 40,000 new apartments over the next 12 years, with many new developments planned across the city.

"Very few public housing (projects) have been built in Copenhagen for many, many decades," she told AFP, adding city hall was working closely with Christiania on the plans.

"We need housing that is affordable for the people who work here, the people who work in our kindergartens, in our homes for the elderly, in our schools, the people who work in the shops."

The project is still in an early planning phase, and it is not yet agreed where the development will be located or how it will fit in with Christiania's ramshackle and graffiti-covered buildings.

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Kon Knueppel scored 26 points as the Charlotte Hornets maintained their late-season charge for an NBA playoff berth with an emphatic 114-103 defeat of the high-flying New York Knicks on Thursday.

Charlotte forward Knueppel rattled in six three-pointers as part of an impressive all-round team shooting display to help the Hornets extend their winning streak to five games as they chase a postseason ticket.

LaMelo Ball finished with 22 points, six assists and five rebounds, one of five Charlotte players to finish in double digits.

The Hornets have now won 23 of their last 29 games since late January, and are firmly in the thick of the Eastern Conference race for the playoffs.

With sixth-placed Toronto occupying the last automatic playoff spot at 40-32, Charlotte are part of a cluster of teams jostling for position just below them.

Philadelphia occupy seventh place on 40-33 while Charlotte, Orlando and Miami all have identical 39-34 records.

Charlotte's blistering form is part of a remarkable turnaround this season for the franchise, who finished just one place off the bottom of the Eastern Conference last season with just 19 wins.

Orlando kept pace with Charlotte on Thursday with a 121-117 defeat of the Sacramento Kings, thanks to 30 points from Paolo Banchero and 23 from Desmond Bane.

In Thursday's other game, the Eastern Conference-leading Detroit Pistons bounced back from Wednesday's overtime defeat to Atlanta with a comfortable 129-108 defeat of the New Orleans Pelicans.

With Cade Cunningham still absent as he recovers from a collapsed lung, Jalen Duren took on the offensive duties with 30 points and 10 rebounds. 

Kevin Huerter added 22 points while Daniss Jenkins chipped in with 19.

The Pistons improved to 53-20 and enjoy a comfortable four-and-a-half game lead at the top of the East.

rcw/bb