'Bad news'? Vance comes up empty-handed on Iran and Hungary, for now

British no-frills airline EasyJet on Thursday said it expects to post a deeper first-half loss compared with one year earlier after the Middle East war sent jet fuel prices soaring.

EasyJet said it expected a headline loss before tax of between £540 million and £560 million ($733 million and $760 million) for the six months to the end of March. 

The figure stood at £394 million for the equivalent period in 2025/26.

"Fuel costs in March were impacted by the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East, leading to approximately £25 million of incremental costs," the airline said in a trading update, adding its performance had been impacted by other factors including competition for customers.

EasyJet publishes full first-half earnings on May 21.

"Our financial performance worsened year on year, impacted by the conflict in the Middle East and the competitive environment in some markets," group chief executive Kenton Jarvis said in Thursday's statement.

The airline said the US-Iran conflict had "introduced near-term uncertainty around fuel costs and customer demand" but noted it was "well positioned to manage this volatility". 

The first-half was impacted also by a lift in legal provisions of about £30 million to deal with "a number of historic cases".

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Rice farmers Siriporn and Amnat Taidee used to burn their paddy fields between plantings -- a common method of clearing crop residue partly blamed for

toxic smog that blankets much of Thailand every spring.

A quick and affordable way to prepare for a new growing cycle, the practice has long been seen as the only feasible option for millions of Thai rice farmers. 

But for the couple from Chiang Rai, abandoning what Amnat called "the old way of doing things" for new microbial solutions has been a boon.

Thanks to the hungry bacteria that chew up post-harvest leftovers -- their soil is softer, their yields are up and their fertiliser bills are down.

"My life has changed," said Siriporn, 63, as she sloshed through a verdant paddy field in Chiang Rai. "I'm so happy... we don't have to burn anymore."

Every year between January and April, smoke from crop residue, forest fires and industrial emissions -- compounded by smog drifting over from neighbouring countries -- pushes Thailand's air quality to dangerous levels. 

Bangkok has restricted burning for years, but a recent crackdown has put government environmental goals on a collision course with traditional agricultural practices. 

The threat of heavy fines and even prison has frightened farmers -- but many feel they still have no alternative. 

"It simply pushes the burden onto farmers," Witsanu Attavanich, an environmental economist at Kasetsart University, said of the ban on open burning.

- The price of change -

The Taidees were early converts, using a product called Soil Digest developed by a Thai scientist using five strains of Bacillus bacteria -- one of which is derived from traditional fermented soybeans.

Siriporn said the solution decomposed the "terrible" stubble on the fields in a matter of days and helped restore the soil.

"The rice is coming in great and the soil is healthy," she says. "This microbial stuff is a game-changer."

Last year, authorities

in Chiang Rai -- one of Thailand's main rice-growing provinces -- began encouraging local farmers to try microbial solutions.

So far, around 2,000 have made the switch -- a fraction of the province's 100,000 rice farmers, but a start.

"If we are to stop the burning, we must provide them with multiple alternatives," said Orracha Wongsaroj, a provincial agricultural official. 

Microbial products have long been used in Thai agriculture, but demand for newer formulations targeting straw decomposition has grown sharply since the burning crackdown intensified a few years ago. 

The Thai government promotes free access to microbial products for farmers -- but officials told AFP that stocks had run out and they were struggling to scale up supply. 

For those who cannot access government supplies, private market alternatives can be pricey.

In Pathum Thani, a rice-growing province in central Thailand, farmer Samart Atthong spent 1,200 baht ($37) hiring an agricultural drone to spray Soil Digest over his fields.

"People may only see the extra cost of the microbes, but they should look in the long run," Samart said.

"Once the soil heals, we won't need nearly as much fertiliser," he said. "Where I live, burning has dropped to nearly zero."

- Making microbes work -

Striding through air thick with dust from yeast, retired professor Wichien Yongmanitchai watches the whirring machines producing his microbial concoction.

He started by isolating local bacterial strains, convinced that native ones would work best in Thailand's tropical environment.

He hopes his invention -- sold as Soil Digest -- will fix Thailand's annual air crisis for good.

Without microbial treatment, rice straw takes around 30 days to soften enough to till -- his solution works in five to seven days. 

Early trials show yield increases of up to 20 percent. 

Wichien also said the bacteria can reduce methane emissions from paddy fields by at least 20 percent, helping Thailand meet its climate commitments.

"This is one of the biggest benefits to make (for achieving) carbon neutrality in the rice field."

But Wichien knows his small operation cannot reach Thailand's 20 million farmers alone. And without government and corporate backing, the gap may prove too wide.

Independent experts agree the technology shows promise -- but warn the system around it must change. 

"The government wants to reduce straw burning -- but there is no one-size-fits-all solution," said Nipon Poapongsakorn, an agricultural policy expert at the Thailand Development Research Institute. 

To start with he suggests conditional subsidies tied to a no-burn commitment, combined with machinery access and farmer education. 

Wichien is already thinking beyond Thailand to paddy fields across Southeast Asia and ultimately Africa.

"I don't want anything else. I just want to make it work."

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A law clamping down on protests following an antisemitic mass shooting at Australia's Bondi Beach was overturned by a court on Thursday, a written ruling showed.

Activists had challenged the New South Wales legislation, enacted 10 days after the December 14 attack which killed 15 people and wounded dozens at a beach-side Hanukkah festival.

The law gave police the power to restrict public assemblies in declared areas, making it impossible to get a permit for any protests and allowing officers to order people to move away.

The state government pushed for the crackdown to protect cohesion and community safety at a time of high tensions, the Court of Appeal heard.

But the legal provisions were "constitutionally impermissible", Chief Justice Andrew Bell found in a written ruling.

They effectively discouraged all forms of protest in the declared area, irrespective of the purpose and possible impact on social cohesion, he said.

"The impugned provisions infringe the implied freedom of political communication," the court ruled, declaring them invalid.

Immediately after the protest law was passed in December, the state's police chief declared the first restrictions across a large swathe of Sydney.

Clampdowns continued in various forms until February, including during a visit by Israeli President Isaac Herzog when police and demonstrators clashed in central Sydney.

Pro-Palestinian activist Josh Lees, who was one of three plaintiffs in the case, said New South Wales Premier Chris Minns had long sought to ban protests, especially over Gaza.

"While Israel and the US wage endless war, destroying the lives of millions of people, supported by Australian governments, they are continuing to try to rip up our democratic rights to protest," the Palestine Action Group spokesman said in a statement.

Minns said the government stood by its decision on the law.

"This was in the aftermath of the worst terrorist attack our country has seen, in which 15 innocent lives were lost," he said in a statement to Australian media.

"We believe it was necessary and important for Sydney at the time."

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The latest developments in the Middle East war:

- Lebanon unaware of Israel talks -

Lebanon is unaware of any planned contact with Israel, an official source told AFP, after US President Donald Trump said the leaders of the two countries would speak on Thursday.

"We are not aware of any planned contact with the Israeli side, and we have not been informed of any through official channels," the source said.

- Australia diesel boost -

Australia has secured an additional supply of some 100 million litres of diesel from Brunei and South Korea, as the country looked to boost precarious reserves, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Thursday.

- Chipmaker confident -

Taiwan's chipmaking behemoth TSMC said it did not expect the Middle East war to affect its supply of vital materials such as helium and hydrogen in the near term.

- Iran detains spying suspects -

Iran arrested four suspected spies, state media agency IRNA reported citing a Revolutionary Guards statement claiming they were linked to Israeli spy agency Mossad.

- Pakistan pushes for talks -

Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said he met Saudi de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah, before a possible second round of US-Iran peace talks.

Iran has targeted US allies in the Gulf -- including Saudi Arabia and Qatar, which Sharif is also visiting -- in retaliation for US-Israeli strikes on Tehran that triggered the war.

"I reiterated Pakistan's firm commitment to advancing its efforts to encourage both the U.S. and Iran towards an agreement aimed at lasting peace and stability in the region," Sharif posted on X.

- Iran in hostage warning -

A top military adviser to Iran's supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei warned Iran would take US troops hostage if they invaded and sink American ships enforcing a military blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, a critical shipping waterway for oil, gas and other Gulf exports.

Hardliner Mohsen Rezaei said it would be "great" if Washington launched a ground invasion as "we would take thousands of hostages, and then for each hostage we would get a billion dollars".

- Fresh oil sanctions -

US officials issued new sanctions against Iran, targeting more than two dozen people involved in oil transport, along with companies and tankers that operate within the network of petroleum shipping magnate Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani.

"Treasury is moving aggressively with 'Economic Fury' by targeting regime elites like the Shamkhani family that attempt to profit at the expense of the Iranian people," US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.

Shamkhani is the son of security official Ali Shamkhani, an adviser to Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei, both of whom were killed February 28, the first day of US-Israeli attacks and the start of the Middle East war.

- Growing hunger fears -

The conflict in the Middle East could push millions more toward hunger as its economic fallout reverberates around the globe, the World Bank's chief economist told AFP.

"You have about 300 million people who suffer from acute food insecurity already," Indermit Gill said. "That'll go up by about 20 percent very, very quickly" as knock-on effects grow.

- Stock markets soar -

Japanese stocks hit a record high as Asian on heightened optimism the United States and Iran will extend their ceasefire for further talks to end their war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. 

Major Wall Street stock indices finished at record highs Wednesday.

- 'Identical' goals - 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that Israel and the US are fully aligned in their objectives to contain Iran.

"We want to see enriched material removed from Iran; we want to see the elimination of enrichment capability within Iran; and, of course, we want to see the (Hormuz) strait reopened," he said in a televised speech.

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Turkey will hold funerals for nine victims killed in a school shooting by a 14-year-old, an attack that has sent shockwaves across the country, with authorities saying the suspect had referenced a US mass killer in a WhatsApp profile image.

The attack in the southern province of Kahramanmaras  was Turkey's second such incident this week in a country where such shootings have been rare.

The 14-year-old armed entered two classrooms and opened fire randomly as officials said he carried five guns. 

The funerals will take place in the city of Kahramanmaras for eight children aged 10 and 11 and a 55-year-old teacher, the local authorities said. 

Police said the teenager had referenced US mass killer Elliot Rodger in a photo on his WhatsApp profile.

"Initial findings from the investigation revealed that the perpetrator used an image on his WhatsApp profile referencing Elliot Rodger, who carried out an attack in the United States in 2014," the police said in a statement. 

Rodger -- a 22-year-old American-- killed six people on the campus of the University of California, Santa Barbara, before taking his own life. 

Rodger explained in a video released before his crime that the attack was "punishment" for the women who had rejected him. 

The 14-year-old who carried out Wednesday's shooting died at the scene, officials said, though it was not clear how his death happened.

The father of teenager, identified as a former police inspector, was arrested on Wednesday and taken into custody, the police said. 

"Digital media seized during searches of the perpetrator's home and his father's vehicle have been confiscated and are currently being analysed," the police said. 

"Based on initial findings, no link to terrorism has been established. This appears to be an isolated act." 

Schools will remain closed in Kahramanmaras on Thursday and Friday.

-Police order arrests-

Police said they had ordered dozens of arrests for people accused of posting controversial content on social media after the two deadly school shootings. 

"Arrest orders were issued for 83 individuals found to have engaged in posts and activities praising crime and criminals and negatively affecting public order, and legal action has been taken against them," the police said in a statement. 

In addition, access to 940 social media accounts has been blocked, and 93 Telegram groups have been shut down, it added.

On Tuesday, a student opened fire at his former high school in the Siverek district in the southeast, wounding 16 people including students before killing himself. 

The incidents in a row this week triggered protests. 

Dozens of members of the main teachers' unions gathered Wednesday evening outside the education ministry in Ankara and called for a two-day strike across Turkey.

They carried banner reading "We will not surrender our schools to violence".

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed sadness over Wednesday's "tragic attack" but promised the incident would be shed light "in all its aspects". 

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Taiwanese chip manufacturer TSMC said Thursday that net profit for January-March leaped to a fresh quarterly record, boosted by the race to develop artificial intelligence technology.

Massive global demand for AI hardware means business is booming for TSMC, the world's biggest contract maker of microchips used in everything from Apple phones to Nvidia's AI processors.

TSMC said its net profit for the first quarter of 2026 rose a whopping 58.3 percent from a year ago to NT$572.5 billion ($18 billion).

The figure trounced estimates of NT$540.20 billion in a Bloomberg survey of analysts.

Governments and tech giants are pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into building new data centres that can run and train AI tools such as chatbots, image generators and agents that can execute tasks.

Last month, Jensen Huang, head of top US chip designer Nvidia, said the entire tech world feels they could develop their AI and grow revenue "if they could just get more capacity".

Ahead of the earnings announcement, Ian Lyall at Proactive Investors said it appeared TSMC is "so deeply embedded in the AI supply chain that macro headwinds are struggling to leave a mark".

"Advanced-node chip production, the bleeding-edge manufacturing that only TSMC can reliably deliver at scale, is running at capacity," he noted.

TSMC is "supplying chips for artificial intelligence accelerators, next-generation smartphones, and the data centre build-out that is consuming capital at a pace that has surprised even its most bullish observers", Lyall said.

A weaker Taiwanese dollar had also boosted TSMC's revenues from overseas sales.

On Thursday, TSMC said net revenue for the first quarter came in at NT$1.13 trillion, up 35.1 percent year-on-year.

A note from UBS analysts had predicted strong quarterly results for TSMC but warned that consumer demand was weakening as a result of higher prices caused by a global memory chip shortage fuelled by the AI boom.

"Cloud AI demand continues to strengthen, but we think supply constraints will limit meaningful upside for TSMC this year," the UBS team said.

"Middle East tensions add a layer of macro uncertainty, but AI spend should stay insulated, barring a protracted conflict."

The UBS analysts predicted "limited disruption from tight helium supply on TSMC's production".

Helium gas is a key material in the chip supply chain, and Qatar -- one of the countries affected by the war in the Middle East -- is one of its few large-scale producers.

TSMC said Thursday it does not expect the war to impact its supply of chipmaking materials such as helium and hydrogen in the near term.

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Funerals will be held on Thursday for nine people killed when a 14-year-old opened fire at a school in Turkey, sending shock waves across the country. 

The attack in the southern province of Kahramanmaras  was Turkey's second such incident this week in a country where such shootings have been rare.

The funerals will be for eight children aged 10 and 11 and a 55-year-old teacher, the local authorities said. 

Police said Thursday that the teenager had referenced US mass killer Elliot Rodger in a photo on his WhatsApp profile.

"Initial findings from the investigation revealed that the perpetrator used an image on his WhatsApp profile referencing Elliot Rodger, who carried out an attack in the United States in 2014," the police said in a statement. 

Rodger -- a 22-year-old American-- killed six people on the campus of the University of California, Santa Barbara, before taking his own life. 

Rodger explained in a video released before his crime that the attack was "punishment" for the women who had rejected him. 

The 14-year-old who carried out Wednesday's shooting died at the scene, officials said, though it was not clear how his death happened.

The father of teenager, identified as a former police inspector, was arrested on Wednesday and taken into custody, the police said. 

"Digital media seized during searches of the perpetrator's home and his father's vehicle have been confiscated and are currently being analysed," the police said. 

"Based on initial findings, no link to terrorism has been established. This appears to be an isolated act." 

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Authoritarian governments that reach across borders to persecute their own citizens did so at a greater rate last year, particularly in Southeast Asia and East Africa, a human rights group charged Thursday.

The phenomenon of so-called transnational repression exploded into public awareness with the horrific murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at his country's consulate in Istanbul in 2018.

In an annual report on transnational repression, the rights group Freedom House said China was the world's "leading perpetrator" in 2025, followed by Vietnam and Russia.

And six countries joined a long list of violators for the first time: Afghanistan, Benin, Georgia, Kenya, Tanzania and Zimbabwe.

The new additions raised to at least 54 the number of countries known to carry out this kind of rights violation since 2014, Yana Gorokhovskaia, a co-author of the report, said in an interview with AFP. 

That's more than a quarter of the world's countries. 

"Collaboration among authoritarian governments fueled transnational repression in Southeast Asia and East Africa in 2025," the report states. "Over half of the incidents recorded last year -- 69 of 126 -- occurred in these two regions."

"The trend that's emerging is that a lot of those governments, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, are cooperating to sort of trade dissidents back and forth to help arrest them," said Gorokhovskaia.

She explained that this kind of government behavior tends to happen when such regimes are under election-related stress.

In November 2024 Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye was abducted in Kenya and taken to Uganda, where he now faces charges of treason.

And in January 2025, renowned Tanzanian rights activist Maria Sarungi Tsehai was kidnapped on the streets of Nairobi but released following a swift intervention by rights groups that triggered a media uproar.

-'Authoritarian neighborhoods' -

In Southeast Asia, Thailand yielded to pressure from China and Vietnam to turn over representatives of ethnic minority groups, fearing reprisal and economic punishment from Beijing, the study said.

Because of immigration restrictions around the world, "dissidents tend to actually not be able to get very far from their own region," said Gorokhovskaia, citing as examples Cambodians who seek refuge in Thailand and Russians who go to Turkey.

"And so what that means is that there's a lot more transnational repression in these authoritarian neighborhoods, because that's where the dissidents can make it to," she said.

"With 49 incidents, detention was the most ubiquitous tactic of transnational repression documented last year. It was followed closely, with 48 incidents, by unlawful deportation," the report said.

Among its recommendations the rights group said countries with democracies should slap sanctions on foreign leaders who favor transnational repression through forced returns of dissidents back to their home countries.

These rule-of-law countries should impose sanctions and visa bans against foreign government officials who facilitate transnational repression via forced returns, Freedom House said.

It added that democratic governments should also seek accountability from government officials in host countries who facilitate and enable such rights abuses. 

"Transnational repression is a low-cost way of maintaining a regime by cracking down on dissent," said Gorokhovskaia.

She argued that, although countries that engage in this kind of repression may be hit with sanctions, this punishment tends to be short-lived -- as in the case of the outcry against Saudi Arabia after the murder and dismemberment of Khashoggi, a US resident who had been critical of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

"There was an instant reaction, but that pressure wasn't maintained, and eventually the relationship sort of normalized," said Gorokhovskaia.

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"Chat, who is the best candidate?": Six months out from Brazil's presidential election, AI chatbots are still answering such questions in defiance of new electoral rules banning them from giving voting tips.

The head of Brazil's electoral court (TSE), justice Carmen Lucia, warned in January that artificial intelligence chatbots could lead to the "contamination" of the October vote in Latin America's biggest nation.

In March, the court imposed new regulations which restricted how chatbots are allowed to operate during the 2026 election cycle, as well as increased platform liability for false content.

The TSE has taken a leading role in the fight against disinformation, declaring far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro ineligible to run for office for spreading false information about the Brazilian electoral system during 2022 polls.

The 2026 election is the first major vote to be held since chatbots became widely available in the country.

The AI tools have been forbidden from providing recommendations, rankings, or opinions regarding candidates and political parties -- even when prompted by a user.

However, in tests conducted by AFP weeks after the new rules were set, at least three leading AI chatbots continued to rank political candidates.

When asked who the "best candidates for the 2026 elections" would be, ChatGPT, Grok, and Gemini all weighed in. 

"Honest conclusion. The 'technically' best options today: Tarcisio/Zema," ChatGPT responded.

The bot was referring to Sao Paulo's powerful governor Tarcisio de Freitas, who has ruled out a presidential bid, and former Minas Gerais state governor Romeu Zema, a possible candidate for the right-wing Novo party.

- Errors and biases -

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, 80, placed between second and fifth, receiving praise from the chatbots for his "vast experience," but facing criticism for his "advanced age."

The veteran leftist is seeking a fourth term in office.

His main rival in the polls, Flavio Bolsonaro -- son of the former president -- came last or did not appear on the lists.

Such responses have raised concerns that technology could influence voting in the highly-polarized and hyper-connected country, based on incorrect or biased information.

This is because chatbot replies are generated by probabilities based on training data, which may contain errors or biases, said Theo Araujo, director of the Amsterdam School of Communication Research.

A study he carried out during 2025 elections in the Netherlands showed that one in ten people were likely to use AI chatbots to seek out information about candidates.

- Voters assume AI neutrality -

In March, AFP's fact-checking team verified as fake an image that allegedly showed Flavio Bolsonaro with Daniel Vorcaro -- a businessman under investigation for a major banking fraud scandal that has rattled the country's elite.

However, Grok -- X's AI chatbot -- said the picture was real and even provided a date for the alleged meeting.

Araujo said that voters were likely to assume that chatbots were "neutral or objective sources, and consequently process their responses less critically."

Some candidates have reinforced this idea.

In a post on X earlier this month, Flavio Bolsonaro urged his followers to "ask Chat what the truth is." 

Many have done so.

A quick search on the social network revealed various users asking Grok for voting recommendations. 

"Based on the six criteria outlined in my post, which pre-candidate should I vote for?" asked one internet user, while another asked whether they could trust the results of an opinion survey.

- No clear punishment -

Despite the concerns, it is unclear how the TSE's new rule will be enforced, as it does not provide for specific sanctions.

The court could order a daily fine, Diogo Rais, a lawyer specializing in electoral law, told AFP. 

However, the amounts fined are not set in advance and could be challenged in court.

When contacted, OpenAI stated that ChatGPT is "trained not to favor candidates" and that it continues to refine its models.

Google said that Gemini generates responses based on user prompts, which do not necessarily reflect the company's views.

Attempts to contact X were unsuccessful.

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"Small island, big dreams" reads a poster for the football team of the Caribbean island of Curacao -- the smallest country ever, by population, to qualify for football's World Cup.

Since Curacao clinched qualification with a hard-fought 0-0 draw against Jamaica in November, the 160,000 inhabitants of the Dutch island famed for its eponymous sapphire liqueur are riding the crest of the Blue Wave, as the national side is dubbed.

The qualification is expected to give tourism on the paradisical island of white sand beaches, which received 1.5 million visitors last year, a boost. 

Visitor numbers were already up 13 percent in the first three months of the year.

"Football is putting us on the global map," Prime Minister Gilmar Pisas, himself a former footballer, told AFP in an interview, predicting a visitor influx.

Far from the luxury seafront hotels and Caribbean cruise ships that dock in the port of the capital Willemstad, a group of teenagers kick a ball around a dirt pitch in the low-income neighborhood of Fuik.

The players are from a foundation for young people from underprivileged backgrounds set up by former Dutch-Curacaoan manager Remko Bicentini, who played professional football in the Netherlands and later coached Curacao.

On the gate, a motivational slogan in Papiamento, the creole spoken in the Dutch Caribbean islands of Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao, advises young people to take destiny in their hands.

"You are responsible for your future," it reads.

- Diaspora's starring role -

"If you come on holidays to Curacao, you see beaches and everything looks perfect," Bicentini said. "But there are also areas where poor people live."

"Many families have three, four, five children but no money. We help them when they don't have enough to eat," he said.

Neveron Alberto, one of his young disciples, dreams of being called up for the national team, but the road to selection is littered with obstacles for local players.

The island owes its World Cup berth entirely to its Dutch-based diaspora, the president of Curacao's football federation, Gilbert Martina, admitted.

"All the players on the national team play in foreign leagues," he said.

The only team member born on in Curacao, Tahith Chong, moved to the Netherlands at the age of 13.

But football is increasingly in vogue on what has traditionally been a baseball-mad island.

Federation president Martina hopes the World Cup will swell the ranks of the 3,500 to 4,000 islanders officially registered in clubs to date.

The most famous Curacaoan is perhaps former Ajax and Barcelona star Patrick Kluivert, who was born to a Surinamese father who played for the South American country and a mother from Curacao.

The former striker told AFP he was "very happy" about Curacao's qualification.

"It's fantastic that the island is in the World Cup," he said.

"In my day, (football) was not that big on the island but the players have given Curacao visibility. It's important for the future, for the next generation," added Kluivert, who coached the Curacaoan side between 2015 and 2016.

- Tremble, Germany! -

Curacao has been drawn alongside Ecuador, Ivory Coast and four-time World Cup winner Germany in Group E, one of the toughest of the tournament.

Former Argentine star Claudio Caniggia, who travelled to Curacao for a retired legends tournament -- together with Ronaldinho, Kluivert, the Netherlands' Wesley Sneijder and Italy's Marco Materazzi -- predicted the World Cup would motivate the island's youth and lead to the emergence of new talent.

"If they manage to get through the first round it would be extraordinary," he said, while noting that the early stages of the World Cup are notable for producing surprises.

The optimism sweeping the island has infected the official fan store, where locals and tourists jostle for Curacao blue jerseys, caps and scarves.

As he rings up sales Rovien Petronilia, the 21-year-old cashier, believes football's greats will be humbled by lowly Curacao.

"We will beat Germany!" he predicted.

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