Chinese suppliers, Mideast importers fret about war fallout on trade

A US jury on Wednesday found that entertainment giant Live Nation wielded monopoly power at its Ticketmaster business, violating federal and state antitrust laws, according to California's attorney general.

A verdict that could have profound repercussions in the concert world came after four days of deliberations, and remedies could include breaking up Live Nation and Ticketmaster.

The jury found Live Nation and Ticketmaster liable for anticompetitive conduct that harmed the music industry and included overcharging consumers, according to California attorney general Rob Bonta.

"This is a historic and resounding victory for artists, fans, and the venues that support them," Bonta said in a release.

"In the face of dwindling antitrust enforcement by the Trump Administration, this verdict shows just how far states can go to protect our residents from big corporations that are using their power to illegally raise prices and rip-off Americans.

"We are incredibly proud of today's outcome -- and especially proud of our coalition made up of red and blue states alike who understood we needed to come together to protect our consumers, businesses, and state economies from Live Nation's illegal conduct."

The jury found that Live Nation overcharged for tickets sold to consumers from May 2020 through 2024, according to Bonta.

- DOJ settlement -

US judge Arun Subramaniam is to determine monetary damages to impose on Live Nation, along with conditions meant to prevent it from abusing its power in the live event ticket market.

The case was initiated under former president Joe Biden in May 2024, when the Department of Justice (DOJ) labeled Live Nation a monopolist that controlled virtually all live entertainment in the United States.

The California-based company is a behemoth in its industry: in 2025, it organized more than 55,000 events worldwide, drawing 159 million attendees. 

Beyond promotion, it holds stakes in 460 venues and has controlled Ticketmaster, the world's leading ticket seller, since 2010.

The US government accused Live Nation of abusing its dominant position to pressure artists and venues into signing with it, stifling competition, and imposing excessive fees on fans. 

It called for Live Nation to divest Ticketmaster and take other corrective measures.

Live Nation reached a tentative settlement with the US Justice Department just days after the trial started in New York, but an alliance of states that had signed on to the case continued to press it in court.

The settlement requires Live Nation to open up the ticketing platform to competitors and to allow other promoters to stage events at certain Live Nation venues, Justice Department officials said.

Live Nation will divest up to 13 amphitheaters and pay $280 million in damages to the nearly 40 states that were parties to the antitrust lawsuit against the California-based company.

Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren condemned the settlement in a post on X at the time.

"Donald Trump just betrayed every fan who's been exploited by Ticketmaster," Warren said. "This fine is less than one percent of Live Nation's revenue last year. We need to break up Ticketmaster and Live Nation."

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It's been dubbed the "Arc de Trump." But now President Donald Trump's latest building project has an official name -- the "United States Triumphal Arch."

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt revealed the formal title on Wednesday, saying the giant structure was being built to mark the 250th anniversary of US independence.

"In honor of this historic occasion, President Trump and the Department of Interior will submit plans for the United States Triumphal Arch," Leavitt told reporters.

Showing off a picture that she initially held upside down, Leavitt said the "monumental" arch would stand 250 feet (76.2 meters) tall "in honor of 250 years."

Its colossal height, including a huge golden Lady Liberty statue on top, means it will dwarf perhaps its most famous predecessor, the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, which stands at 164 feet.

In fact it is set to be the largest structure of its kind in the world, pipping Mexico City's Monument to the Revolution and knocking Pyongyang's Arch of Triumph to third place.

Plans for the arch were first revealed in October when AFP journalists spotted a model on Trump's desk in the Oval Office, after which it was quickly dubbed the "Arc de Trump" by US media.

Trump revealed the first full renderings for the structure last Friday.

The arch is one of several architectural projects -- including the construction of a gigantic White House ballroom and renovations to the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts -- that Trump has undertaken to leave a mark on Washington in his second term.

Critics say the gold-accented arch, which will tower over the 99-foot-tall Lincoln Memorial, is a monument to the 79-year-old Trump's vanity.

The arch will partly be funded by US taxpayers, getting $2 million in special funds from the US National Endowment for the Humanities, with up to $13 million in funds to match any donations, ABC News reported.

But Leavitt said it was aimed at celebrating US national pride.

"Long after everyone in this room is gone, our children and grandchildren will remain inspired by this national monument," she told reporters.

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The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Wednesday it had reached an agreement with the highly indebted Argentine government as it reviews the country's financial reforms, paving the way for a $1 billion dollar disbursement.

"Policy momentum has strengthened in recent months," the IMF said, noting that its monetary and exchange rate policies are "improving Argentina's capacity to manage shocks."

This new tranche of funds -- the third planned under a 20-billion-dollar program announced in April 2025 -- must still be approved by the Fund’s Executive Board.

This new disbursement would bring the total money already allocated to Argentina by the IMF to $15 billion.

The South American country has managed "to weather well spillovers from the Middle East war," the Fund said, in no small part because it is an energy exporter.

Nevertheless, the Fund anticipates lower growth this year than in 2025 -- 3.5 percent compared to 4.4 percent a year earlier.

However, inflation – which has long plagued Argentina – is expected to continue slowing, down to 30.4 percent year-on-year at the end of this year compared to almost 42 percent at the end of 2025.

As large as those inflation figures are, they are a far cry from the 220 percent inflation Argentina experienced at one point.

The Fund said that it had agreed with Argentina on a series of additional reforms "to entrench the impressive stabilization gains and sustained reductions in poverty levels since end-2023."

Argentina's economy expanded last year, after two years of contraction. 

However, the growth was uneven, with some sectors -- such as financial services, agriculture and mining -- expanding, while others -- like manufacturing and retail trade -- slowing.

Unemployment remains concerning, increasing by 1.1 percentage points to 7.5 percent over the past year, not including the large number of people informally employed across the country.

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(The Center Square) – The economic fallout of the U.S. conflict in Iran will be temporary, National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said on Wednesday.

Hassett touted the Trump administration’s policies to reduce prices for items like eggs and said the economy can bounce back from a temporary increase in gas prices due to the Iran conflict. 

"I'm not minimizing the stress that people have for higher gas prices," Hassett said at the Axios' News Shapers event in Washington, D.C. "But the ability for our resilient global economy to recover pretty quickly is well documented."

On Feb. 28 the U.S. and Israel launched strikes against Iran. Since then Iran has blocked access to the Strait of Hormuz, a popular region for commercial ships and oil tankers to pass daily. Gas prices have surged since the conflict with the average rate more than $4 per gallon in the United States. 

He said the administration is engaging in efforts to reduce costs incurred by the conflict in Iran. He pointed to the use of strategic oil reserves as an aid to the conflict. 

“Our effort to reduce cost is basically minimizing the destruction for what President Trump and the foreign policy team all believe is a necessary effort to make it a more stable, peaceful world in the long run,” Hassett said.

Hassett criticized former presidential administrations for accepting higher inflation and worse economic conditions as the “new normal.” He said the Trump administration’s deregulation and domestic manufacturing has expanded the U.S. economy beyond what was previously imagined.

Hassett pointed to the administration’s tax policies, including tax breaks for tipped workers and those who earn overtime. He said these have benefitted Americans and they will see greater returns during tax season.

“This is one of the most progressive tax campaigns that I’ve ever seen in tax policy,” Hassett said.

Sen Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., criticized claims that the economy could withstand energy price shocks experienced due to the military conflict in Iran.

“They were going up before the wars and now they’re going up even further,” Van Hollen said about prices in the United States.

Van Hollen touted the Road to Housing Act, a piece of legislation that would increase the affordable housing supply across the country.

“Increase the housing supply,” Van Hollen said. “It doesn’t make sense to focus on one side of the equation and not the other point.”

The NEC director also addressed how the economy could be affected by a new chairman of the Federal Reserve. President Trump nominated Kevin Warsh to take over the position after a longstanding feud with chair Jerome Powell over lowering interest rates. Warsh is set to take over the position in May, after a confirmation hearing on April 21. 

The U.S. Department of Justice launched an investigation into Powell as tensions with Trump escalated. Hassett said Warsh will be well suited to lead the Federal Reserve at this time but he stopped short of calling for an interest rate cut.

Hassett said the White House will likely not pressure Warsh to enact a rate cut immediately.

“Core inflation is at the lowest level since the Biden inflation began, and interest rates are higher than for comparable countries around the world,” Hassett said. “If I were a governor, I would be willing to cut rates because I realize that oil price shocks don’t lead to inflation.”

The conflict in the Middle East could push millions more towards hunger as its economic fallout reverberates further around the globe, the World Bank's chief economist warned in an AFP interview on Wednesday.

"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.

Gill spoke on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund-World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington.

The blocking of the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil supply route, has sent fertilizer prices soaring since they rely on oil-based inputs.

Higher prices for fertilizers, which are used in agriculture, may entice countries to halt food exports and hoard more food for themselves, further driving up food prices.

"Those export bans scare us massively," Gill told AFP.

Most exposed are people in countries that are at war or have fragile governments.

If the situation isn't resolved soon, "hunger will start to stalk these countries massively."

Currently, the shortage of petrochemicals and their economic effects are being most felt in Asia, Gill explained, but "as the crisis gets longer, it's very rapidly going to spread first to Africa."

"The food that's in the market right now has already been grown," Gill said, but the real effects could be felt in a few months.

- Lower growth, higher inflation, more expensive debt –

Low-income people across the world tend to spend a larger share of their earnings on basic needs like food and fuel.

"If you get inflation in, especially in the kind of things that the poor consume relatively more often, that inflation is going to hurt massively," Gill went on.

Gill also warned that inflation – not just in food prices – could rise from about 3 percent globally to as much as 4.7 percent this year, in the most extreme scenario where the conflict stretches to August.

At the same time, global growth could be cut by as much as 40 percent on a yearly basis, if the crisis drags on.

Higher inflation mixed with lower growth would be a "double whammy" for the debt sustainability of poor countries, further hindering their ability to deal with this and future crises.

Gill warned that many headline figures for regional growth may appear too rosy, as the massive US, Chinese, and Indian economies, which are generally more insulated from external shocks, tend to drag up estimates.

When you remove them from the estimates, "you start to see a lot more vulnerabilities," Gill said.

"And by the way, that extreme scenario, with every passing day, is not that extreme of a scenario -- because we're getting closer and closer to August."

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(The Center Square) – Baby Boomers continue to dominate the U.S. housing market, buying and selling more homes last year than any other generation, while homeownership remains out of reach for many Americans.

Despite widespread hopes for homeownership, soaring prices, limited supply, and rising barriers for first-time buyers have made the U.S. housing market increasingly difficult to enter, especially for younger generations. Millennials and Gen Z struggle to gain a foothold, highlighting a generational divide reshaping the American dream of homeownership.

The National Association of Realtors’ 2026 Generational Trends report, released Wednesday, found Baby Boomers were still the largest group of home buyers, while first-time buyers dropped to a record low.

"The housing market remains sharply divided between homeowners with equity and first-time buyers trying to break in, many of whom are younger Millennials," NAR Deputy Chief Economist Jessica Lautz said. "For many younger households, affordability challenges and limited inventory are still making homeownership difficult to achieve."

Baby Boomers, a two-group cohort, accounted for 42% of all home purchases in the most recent survey. The Younger Baby Boomers (age 61 to 70) held the largest individual group share at 27%. Gen X (age 46-60) followed them at 25%. Then came the Older Boomers (71 to 79), tied at 15% with the Older Millennials (36 to 45). After that, there are Younger Millennials (age 27 to 35) at 11%. Then, tied for the smallest share of buyers are Gen Z (ages 18 to 26) and the Silent Generation (ages 80 to 100), at 4% each.

First-time buyers accounted for just 21% of all home buyers, down from 24% in the previous survey and the lowest share since the National Association of Realtors began collecting the data in 1981. Younger Millennials (ages 27 to 35) accounted for 60% of first-time buyers, down from 71% last year.

The median age for a first-time home buyer recently hit 40, a record high, according to a November 2025 report from the National Association of Realtors. The typical first-time home buyer was in their late 20s in the 1980s.

The cost of housing remained a challenge for most Americans, according to the latest survey. Polls consistently show that most Americans consider homeownership part of the American Dream, Lautz told The Center Square.

"Even though young adults are not homeowners, they do want home ownership," she said.

The report shows the median income for all home buyers was $109,000 in 2024. Nationwide, median household income was $83,730 in 2024. The majority of home buyers (56%) reported income above above $100,000. Those with incomes below $55,000 a year bought a larger share of homes (16%) than those earning between $75,000 and $99,999 (15%).

Younger buyers mostly relied on savings for down payments, while older buyers used proceeds from previous home sales. Lautz noted that 26% of Younger Millennials got down payment help from friends or family.

Rental costs, credit card debt, and student loans delayed many buyers. About 39% of Younger Millennials reported student debt (median $30,000), compared to 27% of Older Millennials ($40,000).

Child care costs were another obstacle.

"Child care expenses are one of the things that are holding them back from purchasing a home," she told The Center Square. "This has become a growing problem for this cohort to enter into homeownership."

A Redfin report further highlights the housing market mismatch. That report, published earlier this month, found that empty-nest baby boomers own nearly twice as many U.S. homes with three or more bedrooms as millennial families. Boomers in one- to two-adult households own 28% of large homes, and those with three or more adults own another 7%, likely including adult children. Millennials with children own 16% of large homes, according to Redfin's 2024 analysis of U.S. Census data by generation and household size. A shortage of housing options is part of the problem.

"There aren't enough large homes on the market for the millennial families who need them, partly because in some parts of the country, there aren't enough small, reasonably priced homes for older Americans to downsize into," according to the Redfin report.

Lautz said Boomers often say they want to downsize, but rarely do.

"They tell us that they want to downsize, but if we actually look at the data, those who are younger boomers, they didn't downsize at all, the square footage is exactly the same, and for those who are older boomers, they downsized by 200 square feet," Lautz told The Center Square.

Both parties have plans in Congress to lower housing costs, but a lack of homes in the right locations and price ranges poses challenges. President Trump’s administration has tried to lower mortgage rates and prices, including directing the Treasury to buy $200 billion in mortgage bonds, but the ongoing shortage complicates those efforts.

Wages haven't kept pace with home price growth. A recent report from the White House's Council of Economic Advisers noted that from 2000 to 2023, real house prices increased 82%, nearly seven times the rate of real income growth of 12%. That report also noted long-running supply constraints. The CEA report estimated that the nation has a shortage of about 10 million houses. Other experts using different methods also estimate a shortage of several million homes, the CEA report noted.

That report noted that efforts to improve the market will "depend on the ability of housing supply to grow and keep up with demand." The Trump administration blames supply shortages on a "government bureaucrat tax on housing supply from increasingly pervasive California-style fees, mandates, regulations, and red tape that add expensive government overhead to the cost of building."

The NAR report was based on 6,103 responses to a 120-question survey sent to home buyers in July 2025 using a random sample weighted to be representative of sales across geographic areas.

(The Center Square) – Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought met with U.S. lawmakers Wednesday to discuss the president’s $2.1 trillion budget proposal for the next fiscal year.

However, rather than meaningfully engaging with the budget and discussing how to incorporate it into the upcoming fiscal year 2027 government funding bills, members of the House Budget Committee spent the hearing either defending or lambasting the Trump administration’s performance.

Instead of questioning Vought about the $1.5 trillion in defense funding requested – a more than 42% boost from last year – most Republicans praised the proposal, with Rep. Ron Estes, R-Kan., saying it “prioritizes cutting wasteful spending and rooting out fraud.”

The proposal slashes non-defense discretionary spending by $73 billion, which includes targeted cuts to WIC, the National Institutes of Health, the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), climate research, homelessness assistance and maintenance funds for the International Space Station. 

It also calls for completely eliminating the Job Corps, Food for Peace program, electric vehicle charger subsidies, and the Community Development Block Grant program, among other things.

Vought framed both the president’s request and the Trump administration’s performance in general as fiscally disciplined and making “historic progress on righting our fiscal ship.”

“Under President [Donald] Trump’s bold leadership, every tool in the executive fiscal toolbox has been used to achieve real savings, and our administration will continue to do so,” Vought told lawmakers. “A historic paradigm shift in the budget process is occurring and is producing real results for the American public. Fiscal futility is over.”

The U.S. government added $1.2 trillion to the national debt, which currently tops $39 trillion, over the last six months alone.

Not a single Democrat supported the budget proposal, opposing the program cuts and the defense funding boost. 

The Pentagon has failed eight consecutive audits and remains the only federal agency to never pass an audit, which Rep. Glenn Grothman, R-Wis., also pointed out, despite supporting the president’s request as a whole.

Vought justified the defense funding request, arguing that it “will ensure the United States continues to maintain the world's most powerful and capable military as we grapple with an increasingly dangerous world.” 

The committee hearing is the first of many that U.S. lawmakers will hold this week and the next to begin preparing the 12 appropriations bills funding the federal government in fiscal year 2026, which begins Oct. 1.

Congress still hasn’t passed the last of this fiscal year’s appropriations bills, with the Homeland Security bill lying stagnant in the Senate as the DHS shutdown approaches the 60-day mark.

Sudanese pilot Mohamad Daafallah grins as he shakes hands with passengers after their landing at Khartoum Airport, exactly three years after it was bombed to shreds during the outbreak of war in Sudan.

The airport was one of the last footholds of the rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), where battles raged as the army launched an offensive last year to retake Khartoum.

A year after the army successfully recaptured the capital, authorities have refurbished a terminal to receive daily domestic flights from the Red Sea city of Port Sudan, allowing relieved residents to return home.

"It's a fantastic feeling, to bring people home, to have our country back," Daafallah told AFP, beaming with pride.

Khartoum's city centre, once home to bustling markets, towering businesses and wealthy districts, remains a ghost town, a mass grave and a minefield.

But despite decimated infrastructure, those coming back were overwhelmed by the thought of seeing their city for the first time in years.

"I'm just so exhausted, I want to be home," Bothaina, a septuagenarian poet dressed in a bright, flowing thobe, told AFP as the plane landed. 

"I've wanted to be home for so long."

Behind her on the runway lie the remains of some bombed-out planes.

The airport's formerly charred and shattered terminals became symbols of the war when fighting broke out between the army and the RSF on April 15, 2023.

Port Sudan served as the government's wartime capital as fighting raged, but has since become a layover for those eager to find a way back to Khartoum with no international flights running.

"Every morning, the flight from Cairo basically unloads straight onto the flight to Khartoum," an airport worker told AFP.

- Ghost town -

Of the nearly four million people -- around half Khartoum's pre-war population -- who fled during the conflict, more than 1.8 million have returned over the past year.

Yet fewer than 80,000 people have come back to central Khartoum, according to the United Nations.

A quick drive through downtown Khartoum leaves little to the imagination. 

The battles went street by street, first in April 2023 when the paramilitaries swept through town, and again last year when the army and allied fighters forced their way back.

Nearly every building taller than four storeys -- banks, government institutions and office blocks -- looks the same: every window shattered.

Soot covers the structures from floor to roof while bullet-riddled facades overwhelm the city.

The thin spines of minarets are pockmarked with bullet holes, leaving the sky visible through them.

Between the verdant banks of the Nile, a vital bridge connecting Khartoum with twin city Omdurman has its middle chunk missing, the result of an air strike to cut off the RSF.

Even as officials push a reconstruction agenda, thousands of explosives still litter Khartoum. 

Mine clearance teams work every day, but the sheer scale left behind is more than they could handle in a year.

Reliable electricity and water services still haven't returned to much of the city.

- 'Toxic legacy' -

The UN Environment Programme warned on Wednesday that "stagnant pools of water and sewage have become breeding grounds for malaria-carrying mosquitoes".

A "toxic legacy" has been left in Khartoum, it said, "threatening to sicken and kill for years to come".

There is no confirmed death toll from the war, but authorities say more than 20,000 bodies have been exhumed and reburied in Khartoum.

Many were pulled from mass graves or makeshift cemeteries where families buried their loved ones while under siege, unable to give them a proper burial.

Even the living are hard to find. In much of the city centre, not a soul stirs, save for an odd soldier lounging underneath a tree, or a lone woman walking in the blazing sun.

In Omdurman, which remained relatively safe throughout the fighting, a semblance of normalcy has returned with workers sweeping the streets and commuters waiting for buses.

It is where many returnees are now headed, including Bothaina.

Even the few advertising billboards that dot Khartoum's streets -- those that don't commemorate the army's fallen soldiers -- are all about return. 

A dairy company says "it's back for its people", while a flour milling company vows: "We're back, and stronger than before."

But while it was a relief to be home for returning Khartoum residents, some were still anxious after years of war.

"It's my first time back to Sudan in three years, I'm going to see my house for the first time," said government employee Tarek Abdallah, adjusting his suit jacket, his voice shaky with anticipation.

"But I'm still worried," he added, saying he would not uproot his teenage children to move back to the city, even as the government pushes for revival.

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A father who confined his child in a van for more than a year could face 30 years in jail, a French prosecutor said Wednesday, giving further details of his ordeal.

Officers opened the van last week to find the boy, now nine, lying in the foetal position, malnourished and no longer able to walk in the eastern village of Hagenbach.

A neighbour had sounded the alarm over sounds of a child coming from the vehicle in a shared courtyard.

The 43-year-old father, who has been remanded in custody, faces up to 30 years in jail on charges of confining the boy and depriving him of care, prosecutor Nicolas Heitz said.

He has admitted the charges and claimed he sought to protect his son from his new partner who "wanted him to be admitted to a psychiatric ward".

The child has been taken to hospital in the nearby city of Mulhouse.

The boy has told investigators he had a "very bad relationship with his stepmother", describing her as "his worst enemy and as mean", Heitz said.

The boy claimed his father had "no choice" other than to place him in the van in September 2024 as he did not want to go and stay with his mother, who has struggled with her mental health, the prosecutor said.

"His father would bring him water and food twice a day, usually cold meals," he added. He had a bundle of clothes and had to urinate into empty bottles.

His father regularly took out the trash. But the boy also said "that his dad no longer washed his clothes and that he no longer had pyjamas".

He slept on a mattress and no longer had a toothbrush. His toys were stored in a box in his room, the prosecutor said.

His 12-year-old sister, who stayed in the family home, reported that she "thought her brother had been committed" to a psychiatric hospital, the prosecutor said.

She told investigators that his behaviour had changed after their father moved in with his new partner and her daughter, now 10. He had "become violent" and often insulted his stepmother.

The father's parents said the boy had become "difficult" and prone to "tantrums, having probably not coped well with his parents' separation" in 2022.

The mother said she had been treated at a psychiatric hospital between 2022 and 2024, then had last year been awarded the right to visit her children in the presence of a social worker, but had been unable to do so.

The stepmother faces up to seven years in jail, including for failing to help a child in danger, the prosecutor said. She has denied any wrongdoing.

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Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday called on Cameroon's authorities to examine their "conscience" and break "the chains of corruption" on the first day of a visit to the country.

After being welcomed by joyful crowds who lined the streets, the US-born pontiff gave his first address in an unusually direct tone to officials, including President Paul Biya, 93, who has led the central African country with a tight grip since 1982.

"Security is a priority, but it must always be exercised with respect for human rights," the pope said in the presence of Biya, whose authorities cracked down on protests sparked by his disputed re-election for an eighth term in October. 

"Public authorities are called to serve as bridges, never as sources of division, even when insecurity seems prevalent," he added.

On Tuesday, several civil society groups condemned "an unprecedented period of repression" since the presidential polls.

They also called for the release of political prisoners, some of whom are held with no legal basis.

Among the around 2,782 prisoners registered by the organisations, 2,630 have not been sentenced, Herve Nzouabet Kweto, from the NGO Source de vie (Source of Life), who signed the statement, told AFP.

"It is time to examine our conscience and take a bold leap forward," the pope said in his address.

"In order for peace and justice to prevail, the chains of corruption... must be broken," he added.

In response, Biya told the officials and diplomats assembled in the capital Yaounde that "the world needs the message of peace" brought by Leo.

The pope's four-nation African tour began amid remarks by US President Donald Trump that he was "not a big fan" of Leo after the US-born pontiff called for peace in the Middle East.

- 'Social peace' -

On Biya's watch, Cameroon has long been plagued by widespread embezzlement, ranking 142nd out of 182 on the Transparency International watchdog's 2025 Corruption Index.

In recent years, the 93-year-old leader has multiplied his trips abroad, either for medical treatment or on holiday to a swanky Geneva hotel, where the opposition accuses him of splashing out vast sums of taxpayers' money. 

An international consortium of investigative journalists, the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), in 2018 estimated the total length of his private stays abroad at 4.5 years over three-and-a-half decades, with a cost of $65 million.

He highlighted the role of "women's and youth organisations, trade unions, humanitarian NGOs as well as traditional and religious leaders" in "weaving the fabric of social peace".

He urged an end to the separatist conflict in Cameroon's English-speaking northwest, where he will head for a visit on Thursday under tight security.  

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