Direct Israel-Lebanon peace talks a 'historic opportunity': Rubio

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney promised quick action Tuesday to transform an economy under threat from US President Donald Trump, hours after his Liberal party clinched a majority in parliament.

The Liberals swept three by-elections held Monday, giving them full control of parliament and Canada's first majority since 2019, during Justin Trudeau's first term as prime minister.

"Now it's time to get serious," Carney said, addressing the election results.

"We're building big, we're moving fast, we're just getting started," he added.

Carney's Liberals won the most seats in a general election a year ago, but fell narrowly short of a majority.

Liberal poll numbers have improved over the past year, with Carney consistently reminding Canadians that they live in a changed world and can no longer count on solid ties with the United States.

Carney didn't mention Trump on Tuesday, but again stressed that Canada's economy needed to be "more independent."

While more than 85 percent of US-Canada trade remains tariff free, Trump's levies on key sectors have triggered Canadian job losses and slowed growth.

The North American free trade deal that Trump signed in his first term is also in jeopardy, with revision talks set for the coming weeks. Trump has said the pact offers the United States no benefit.

- 'Enormous shock' -

The Liberal majority was made possible by a series of stunning floor-crossings since last year's election. Four Conservatives and one left-wing New Democratic lawmaker have joined the Liberal caucus.

Carney on Tuesday dismissed Conservative criticism that he earned his majority through shady political deals.

He said every elected lawmaker had the right to support the government program.

"We're fortunate to have them," he said of the floor-crossers.

Carney's first policy move since securing his majority was a response to Trump's war in Iran.

The prime minister announced federal tax breaks on petrol and jet fuel that will begin Monday and are set to run through Labor Day, seeking to ease energy costs that have skyrocketed since the United States and Israel began striking the Islamic republic.

Carney called the war "an enormous shock in the global economy," and described the energy tax breaks as a "responsible and temporary measure" to make life more affordable.

- 'Be strong' -

The Liberals easily held two Toronto districts in Monday's by-elections, areas seen as safe seats for the party.

In the Quebec district of Terrebonne, the Liberal candidate edged out a challenger from the separatist Bloc Quebecois by just 731 votes.

In Montreal on Tuesday, 82-year-old Lisette Duquette told AFP she would have preferred a Bloc Quebecois victory but described Carney as "talented" and cited a tendency to "rally" behind him, "given the whole global situation."

Marcel Tremblay, a 75-year-old Montreal resident, said the face-off with Trump was Carney's key challenge.

"Now he has a majority. With what's happening in the United States and internationally, we need to be strong."

"The new prime minister is building ties with many other countries so that we'll have fewer dealings with the United States. That's a good thing," he said.

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Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni received a sharp rebuke from US President Donald Trump and suspended a defence agreement with Israel on Tuesday, signalling a shift in her foreign relations.

The far-right prime minister was the only European leader to attend Trump's inauguration in 2025 and has sought to position herself as a bridge between Europe and his administration.

While ties with Israel were already becoming strained over the Gaza war, the relationship with Washington has been increasingly tense since US-Israeli strikes on Iran set off the Middle East war.

Energy import-dependent Italy has been hit economically and has refused to get involved in the war, siding with European allies.

Trump's extraordinary criticism on Sunday of Pope Leo XIV's growing anti-war rhetoric also proved particularly contentious.

After an initial mild statement of support for Pope Leo against Trump's broadside on Monday, Meloni issued clearer criticism the same day, saying the US leader's words were "unacceptable".

Speaking on the sidelines of a wine fair in northern Italy on Tuesday, Meloni returned to the subject of ties with Israel and the United States, saying that allies should be frank with each other.

"When we don't agree, and I often don't agree, we have to say it" and "act accordingly," she told reporters.

"In view of the current situation, the government has for example decided to suspend the automatic renewal of the defence agreement with Israel," Meloni said.

Israel responded saying the suspension of the deal, which involves the exchange of military equipment and technology research, "will not affect Israel's security".

"We have no security agreement with Italy. We have a memorandum of understanding from many years ago that has never contained any substantive content," Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Oren Marmorstein told AFP.

Tensions between the two countries have risen over the past week after the Italian government accused Israeli forces of firing warning shots at a convoy of Italian UN peacekeepers in Lebanon.

Italy summoned Israel's ambassador in protest over the incident, which damaged at least one vehicle but caused no injuries. 

On Monday, Israel summoned Italy's ambassador following comments by Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani condemning "unacceptable attacks" on Lebanese civilians by Israeli forces.

- Meloni 're-positioning' -

Meloni is in a vulnerable position at home after losing a justice reform referendum last month -- her first political defeat and one that analysts put down in part to her closeness with Trump.

"She is re-positioning herself," Lorenzo Castellani, politics professor at LUISS University in Rome, told AFP.

Close ties with the US and Israel were creating "political problems" so she is "adapting to circumstances", he said.

Castellani said he believed that Italy would have "a more critical voice, while staying within existing alliances".

Her growing criticism of Trump got a strong response on Tuesday.

"I'm shocked at her. I thought she had courage, but I was wrong," Trump told Corriere della Sera in an interview.

Echoing her criticism of his attack on the pope, Trump told Corriere that it was she who was "unacceptable".

"She’s unacceptable because she doesn't mind that Iran has a nuclear weapon and would blow up Italy in two minutes if they had the chance."

Referring to her refusal to get involved in the Middle East, he said: "She thinks America should do the job for her, she should not be involved."

Meloni's allies and political opponents were swift to offer support.

"We are and remain staunch supporters of Western unity and steadfast allies of the United States, but this unity is built on mutual loyalty, respect, and honesty," Foreign Minister Tajani said on X.

He said that until now, Trump considered Meloni a courageous person, and "he was not mistaken, but she is a woman who never shies away from saying what she thinks".

"And on Pope Leo XIV she said exactly what all of us Italians think. The prime minister and the government defend and will always defend only and solely the interests of Italy," he said.

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US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called Tuesday for Israel and Lebanon to seize a "historic opportunity" for peace as the first direct talks in decades between the two countries got underway in Washington.

"This is a historic opportunity. We understand we're working against decades of history and the complexities that have led us to this unique moment and the opportunity here," Rubio said at the State Department as he welcomed the ambassadors of the two countries.

"The hope today is that we can outline a framework upon which a current and lasting peace can be developed," he added.

But pro-Iran Hezbollah -- which is battling Israeli forces in southern Lebanon -- called for the talks to be scrapped before they even began, describing them as "futile."

The Israeli military warned Tuesday that it expected a rise in attacks by Hezbollah targeting the country's north as the talks were being held.

Lebanon was pulled into the region-wide Iran war on March 2 after Hezbollah attacked Israel. 

Since then Israeli strikes -- including an extremely heavy attack on Beirut on April 8 -- have killed more than 2,000 people and displaced more than one million, despite international calls for a ceasefire.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday that "we want the dismantling of Hezbollah's weapons, and we want a real peace agreement that will last for generations."

On the Lebanese side, President Joseph Aoun said Monday he hoped the Washington talks will yield "an agreement...on a ceasefire in Lebanon, with the aim of starting direct negotiations between Lebanon and Israel."

President Donald Trump's administration insists on the disarmament of Hezbollah, but also respect for Lebanon's territorial integrity and sovereignty, while simultaneously upholding Israel's rights -- positions that appear difficult to reconcile.

A former Israeli defense official told journalists on condition of anonymity Monday that it would take "a lot of imagination and optimism to think" that the issues between Israel and Lebanon can be solved in Washington Tuesday, adding that "expectations are low."

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The Trump administration wants Kevin Warsh in place as the new US central bank chair "as soon as possible," with the existing Fed chief's term coming soon to an end, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Tuesday.

Warsh, a former Federal Reserve official, is President Donald Trump's choice to succeed Jerome Powell.

But his confirmation in the Senate faces challenges as a key lawmaker pushes back against Trump's attempt to control the independent institution.

Powell's term as chairman expires in May, and Senate Banking Committee chairman Tim Scott told Fox Business earlier Tuesday that Warsh's hearing is expected next week, with a vote due later on.

"We want Kevin Warsh in as soon as possible," Bessent told reporters on the sidelines of an Institute of International Finance event in Washington.

The Fed and Powell are facing a Justice Department probe over renovation costs at its headquarters in Washington, sparking criticism of political pressure on the bank.

Republican Senator Thom Tillis -- who sits on the Banking Committee -- has vowed to block Warsh's confirmation until the legal issue is resolved.

"I think we're going to let this play out," Bessent said Tuesday. "There's agreement for the hearings."

Bessent added that he believes Tillis is ultimately "a reasonable man."

Asked if he has been in talks to drop the Justice Department investigation, Bessent said: "I don't control the DOJ probe."

But he maintained: "I am confident that (Warsh) will be the Fed chair."

Previously, a federal judge quashed subpoenas issued to the Fed as part of the Justice Department probe, with the court saying there was "a mountain of evidence" to suggest the investigation was a pressure tactic.

- Waiting for clarity -

Asked about the Fed's path of interest rates as war in the Middle East plays out, Bessent added: "They could observe before they cut rates."

"I believe rates should be cut," he maintained.

But he added: "If they want to wait for some clarity, I understand that."

He added that Fed policymakers should also wait for Warsh to be in place "and let him lead the next cycle" of rate adjustments.

Trump has been pushing for the Fed to lower the benchmark lending rate since he returned to the White House in January 2025, and repeatedly lashed out at Powell for not slashing more aggressively.

But US-Israeli strikes targeting Iran on February 28, which sparked Tehran's retaliation and plunged the region into war, have triggered a surge in energy and fertilizer prices.

Tehran has mostly blocked the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway for such shipments.

The move has caused gasoline and other price hikes in the United States, fanning fears of more persistent inflation.

The Fed typically raises interest rates to rein in inflation, and lowers them to spur economic activity.

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The father of tech billionaire Elon Musk is working on a project to provide refugee status in Russia for South African farmers, he told AFP on Tuesday, in a project similar to one by the US government.

The initiative would resettle 50 families from the white Afrikaans minority, descendants of the first Dutch settlers, according to a Russian official.

The same group of South Africans have been offered refugee status by the government of US President Donald Trump, which has falsely claimed they face persecution under the post-apartheid government.

Nearly 5,000 white Afrikaners have entered the United States as refugees since Trump took office in January last year and all but halted refugee programmes for every other group.

The US programme has angered the South African government which denies any discrimination.

Contacted by AFP by telephone on Tuesday, Errol Musk told AFP from Moscow: "It's about providing refugee status to South African farmers."

– 50 families –

Musk, who regularly visits Russia and attended an April 12 Orthodox Easter mass in Moscow in the presence of President Vladimir Putin, did not give details of the project.

In an interview with Russian media Gubernia 33, he justified the project by claiming white Afrikaner farmers were being targeted for murder, allegations strongly denied in South Africa.

Washington made similar claims in its justification for encouraging Afrikaners to resettle in the United States.

The governor of the Vladimir region which borders the Moscow region, Aleksandr Avdeyev, said last week that he had discussed the project with Musk.

"We discussed the development of agriculture and the prospects for settling 50 Dutch-origin families from South Africa," he said on Telegram.

While Afrikaners have been emigrating to Russia since at least 2018, according to reports, Musk's involvement appears to be new information.

Now in his late 70s, he is a polarising figure. 

In an interview with CNN late last year, he rejected there had been racial oppression under apartheid, a harsh system of segregation which denied the black majority basic rights.

Elon Musk, who left South Africa in his late teens, regularly accuses the government of racism, particularly over its failure to grant his Starlink internet provider a licence.

In a new outburst on social media this weekend, he said: "South Africa won't allow Starlink to be licensed, even though I was BORN THERE, simply because I am not Black!"

South African laws designed to rebalance apartheid-era discrimination require large companies to be at least 30-percent owned by people from previously disadvantaged communities.

Elon Musk was peddling "lies and disinformation", President Cyril Ramaphosa's spokesman responded on X.

- Puzzling -

Errol Musk's Russia project was "puzzling", said Friedrich von Treskow, a former researcher at the South African Institute of International Affairs, who has worked on Russian influence in southern Africa. 

Pretoria and Moscow have close ties that date back to the struggle against apartheid, when the Soviet Union provided support to the African National Congress and its military wing.

"It could create tensions with Pretoria," von Treskow told AFP of Musk senior's scheme.

"Pretoria has been very reluctant to criticise Russia on any issue whatsoever."

Ramaphosa in February expressed "heartfelt gratitude" to Putin for agreeing to facilitate the return of more than a dozen men lured into fighting alongside Russian forces in Ukraine.

Fifteen of them have since returned.

Last month, the Forbidden Stories investigative media outlet reported that ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula had in December 2024 thanked Russian influence agents for their "assistance" before the general election earlier that year. 

He also "requested" at a secret meeting $300,000 to fund an ANC party congress. 

Mbalula, among the men tipped to replace Ramaphosa as head of the party, which could put him in the running for president, rejected the claims as "unfounded" and "part of a disinformation campaign."

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European Central Bank chief Christine Lagarde said Tuesday she would not leave her post early as the global economy faces a severe storm, insisting: "This captain is not going to leave the ship."

Media reports emerged earlier this year that Lagarde may step down before the end of her term in October 2027, claims she had already sought to downplay.

But, with the eurozone being hit hard by the Iran war energy shock, she issued a firmer denial in an interview on the sidelines of the IMF and World Bank spring meetings in Washington.

"When there (are) big clouds on the horizon, the captain does not leave the ship," she told Bloomberg TV. 

"And this captain is not going to leave the ship."

"When you see major disruptions, the energy supply being reduced, when you see threats to growth, upside risks to inflation -- these are serious matters that we have to be attentive to," she said.

The Financial Times previously reported that by departing early, Lagarde would give the French and German leaders a chance to determine her replacement ahead of French elections. 

France's far-right, eurosceptic National Rally (RN) is seen as having a chance of winning power in the polls.

The outbreak of the US-Israeli war against Iran has sent oil and gas prices soaring, a major burden for the eurozone as it relies on energy imports, and economists have downgraded their growth forecasts for the region.

Analysts have raised their bets on the ECB hiking interest rates as soon as this month to keep inflation in check, although Lagarde would not be drawn on what decision the central bank might make.

She also welcomed the victory in Hungary's weekend elections of pro-European politician Peter Magyar, who defeated nationalist leader Viktor Orban, and signs he is keen on Hungary adopting the euro.

"I'm delighted that he's looking at it with a very positive approach," Lagarde said, while stressing that the process of joining the single currency could take some time.

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The United States and Israel may have obstructed the path towards a future Iran-built nuclear bomb by severely damaging the Islamic republic's nuclear and ballistic capabilities in recent attacks.

But they have not succeeded in seizing its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, key to any future negotiations between Washington and Tehran, experts and diplomatic sources told AFP.

One of US President Donald Trump's justifications for the war he launched was an accusation -- denied by Tehran -- that Iran was developing an atomic bomb. Trump has repeatedly vowed to never allow the country to possess a nuclear weapon.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for his part, has stated that the previous war waged against Iran, a 12-day conflict in June 2025, as well as the current one "wiped out" Iran's nuclear programme.

But two European diplomatic sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, expressed caution about the future of Iran's atomic ambitions. 

Immediately following the June 2025 strikes, "we were told the programme had been set back by several years, before the figure was revised to just several months", one source noted. 

"Iran is no longer a threshold power as it once was," an Israeli diplomatic source, who requested anonymity, told AFP.

A "threshold" state has the expertise, resources and facilities needed to develop a nuclear weapon on short notice should it choose to.

The source argued that, in addition to the infrastructure damage suffered, Iran's know-how "has been seriously undermined by the elimination of the scientists and officials" and the targeting of universities "where the data centres containing Iran's expertise were located".

- 'Substantial setback' - 

"Overall, this conflict has set back Iran's nuclear programme substantially," said Spencer Faragasso of the Institute for Science and International Security, a US think tank that monitors Iran's nuclear programme.

"It will take a significant amount of time, investment, and resources to reconstitute all of those lost capabilities," he said. 

However, "the gains from the conflict are not permanent by any means". 

Tehran still possesses a significant quantity of uranium enriched both to 60 percent, close to the 90-percent level required to make an atomic bomb, as well as a stockpile of uranium enriched to 20 percent, another critical threshold. 

Prior to the US strikes in June 2025, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) calculated that Iran possessed approximately 440 kilogrammes of uranium enriched to 60 percent, well above the 3.67-percent limit set by a 2015 agreement from which the United States subsequently withdrew.

Since June 2025, the fate of this stockpile has remained uncertain, with Tehran refusing access to IAEA inspectors at the sites ravaged by US and Israeli strikes. 

IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi has repeatedly called for the return of international experts.

- Removing enriched uranium -

Part of the stockpile of highly enriched uranium (HEU) is believed to remain buried in the tunnels at the Isfahan site in central Iran.

"At least 220 kilogrammes – roughly half of Iran's declared stockpile of 60 percent HEU – is believed to be stored in the underground tunnel complex at Isfahan," said Faragasso.

"The status of the other half is unclear, but we believe it is buried under the rubble at Fordow as large significant quantities of 60 percent HEU were produced prior to the June 2025 war," he said.

Only an independent inspection would be able to dispel these doubts.

The issue is how this uranium could be removed from Iranian territory under any eventual accord. 

Russia reiterated on Monday that it remained ready to accept Iranian enriched uranium on its soil as part of any potential peace agreement between Washington and Tehran.

"This proposal was put forward by President (Vladimir) Putin during contacts with the United States and with countries in the region," said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, in response to a question from AFP.

But that scenario is a red line for the Europeans in view of the war that Russia has been waging against Ukraine for more than four years.

Moscow and Tehran are cooperating on nuclear matters through Iran's Bushehr power plant, built and operated with Russian assistance for civilian purposes.

The Iranians "don't have an ability to enrich uranium anymore... So it means they cannot build a nuclear bomb at the moment," said Danny Orbach of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. 

"But they still have the enriched material, which is the hardest thing to obtain," he said.

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The Czech culture minister angered the opposition and media freedom watchdogs with a plan presented Tuesday to fund public media from the state budget instead of fees paid by citizens.

Opponents argue the bill, due to take effect in 2027, would harm the independence of Czech TV and Czech Radio and make them vulnerable to influence by the government of billionaire Prime Minister Andrej Babis.

More than 200,000 people rallied against Babis's government in Prague in March, with the media bill among their grudges.

"Our proposal cancels the outdated system of TV and radio licence fees," Culture Minister Oto Klempir told reporters.

Klempir, a former rapper from the small rightwing eurosceptic Motorists party, insisted the new law had protections preventing politicians from meddling with the public media programme.

Klempir said that, while the two outlets' budget would shrink between 2026 and 2027, the sum would annually be indexed to inflation, up to five percent, to "guarantee absolute independence".

The bill must now be approved by the cabinet and both chambers of parliament before being signed into law by the president to take effect on January 1, 2027, as planned.

Babis's three-party nationalist government vowed to cancel the licence fees when it took office last December.

Critics have accused Babis of trying to restrict media's independence in a similar fashion as his allies, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico and Viktor Orban, Hungary's outgoing premier who lost weekend elections. 

"The government... is slowly but surely wiping out public media," Martin Kupka, head of the rightwing opposition Civic Democrats, said on X.

Pavol Szalai, head of the Prague office of the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) watchdog, told AFP financing from the state budget threatened to "weaken the independence of the two outlets".

"We do not think the pledge to index the payment by up to five percent is a sufficient guarantee," he added.

Earlier this year, RSF spoke out against "any transition to state budget funding without equivalent safeguards and political consensus between government and opposition".

Coalition lawmakers will also submit a proposal to exempt Czechs aged up to 26 and over 75 as well as companies from paying the licence fees before the media law takes effect.

"It's a chaos which the government presents as a strategy," said Szalai.

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Large banks reported higher profits Tuesday, pointing to resilience among US businesses and customers despite higher oil prices from the Middle East war.

JPMorgan Chase notched gains across leading consumer and investment bank categories.

CEO Jamie Dimon described the US economy as still healthy but facing an "increasingly complex set of risks," including volatile energy prices, trade uncertainty and large deficits.

Profits at the largest US lender by assets came in at $16.5 billion, up 13 percent from the year-ago level, while revenues jumped 10 percent to $49.8 billion.

The spike in oil prices has translated into national gasoline prices above $4 a gallon for the first time since August 2022, a political headwind for US President Donald Trump.

While higher gasoline prices pose a greater strain on lower income households, Dimon said a solid US employment market remained a supporting factor.

"Always the most important thing is jobs," Dimon said. "And there's plenty of jobs. Unemployment is relatively low."

Some of the drivers of JPMorgan's higher profit were increased consumer deposits and credit card balances that more than not offset the impact of lower interest rates. 

At Citigroup, profits climbed 42 percent to $5.8 billion, while revenues rose 14 percent to $24.6 billion.

The lender enjoyed broad-based growth across its businesses, led by its markets and services divisions. But the bank raised its provision for credit losses by about $600 million, citing increased uncertainty in the macroeconomic outlook.

Chief Financial Officer Gonzalo Luchetti described the US consumer as resilient, noting a stable level of delinquent payments over time.

The increased reserves are "really out of prudence that we want to make sure that we are always well reserved for a range of environments," Luchetti said on a conference call with reporters.

Wells Fargo reported first-quarter profits of $5.2 billion, up seven percent from the year-ago level. Revenues rose six percent to $21.4 billion.

Chief Executive Officer Charlie Scharf attributed the higher profits to increased loans and deposits, also describing client credit as solid.

"While markets have been volatile, we still see continued resiliency in the underlying economy and the financial health of the consumers and businesses we serve remains strong, though the impact of higher oil prices will likely take some time to materialize," Scharf said. 

"We will continue to monitor trends and respond accordingly."

- Private credit -

A looming question around this earnings cycle has been anxiety in financial circles over private credit after a wave of redemption requests to investment giants in recent weeks.

In October, Dimon issued a colorful warning on the topic after the bankruptcy of Tricolor, a subprime auto lender, saying, "when you see one cockroach, there are probably more."

Dimon expressed measured concern Tuesday, saying that in general, private credit quality has not deteriorated significantly, although "there are pockets where it has," he told an analyst conference call.

"So we'll be watching it closely," Dimon said. "The big point to me is...that I don't think it's systemic," he said.

Dimon's comments were consistent with those Monday by Goldman Sachs Chief Executive David Solomon, who expects greater losses with the turn in the credit cycle when there is a recession or another triggering event.

In mid-morning trading, JPMorgan shares dipped 0.9 percent, while Citi climbed 1.0 percent. Wells Fargo, which missed analyst estimates on revenues and some other benchmarks, dropped 6.3 percent.

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A new trial over the death of football legend Diego Maradona began Tuesday in Argentina, 10 months after a scandal involving a judge caused the first trial to collapse.

Maradona, considered one of the world's greatest players, died in November 2020 at the age of 60 while recovering from surgery for a brain clot.

His seven-strong medical team is accused of gross negligence causing his death over the conditions of his home convalescence.

He died of heart failure and acute pulmonary edema -- a condition where fluid accumulates in the lungs -- two weeks after going under the knife and enduring hours of agony, according to forensic experts.

Two months into the first trial last year, after hours of sometimes tearful testimony from witnesses, including Maradona's children, the proceedings were thrown into flux by revelations involving one of the three judges.

The judge, Julieta Makintach, was discovered to have taken part in a clandestine documentary about the case, which contained unauthorized recordings made inside the courtroom.

The trial was annulled over the scandal.

The new trial, which will hear from some 120 witnesses, will again seek to determine if Maradona's medical team is responsible for his death.

Maradona's daughters, Dalma, Gianinna, and Jana, as well as his former partner Veronica Ojeda, were present in the packed courtroom in the northern Buenos Aires suburb of San Isidro for the opening of the proceedings.

Defense lawyer Francisco Oneto asked that the entire trial be broadcast live on television, instead of merely the first day and day of the verdict as currently planned.

The accused doctors, psychologists and nurses are accused of homicide with possible intent -- pursuing a course of action despite knowing it could lead to death -- over the decisions they made regarding Maradona's care.

They risk prison terms of between eight and 25 years if convicted.

The defense maintains the larger-than-life Argentine, who battled cocaine and alcohol addictions, died of natural causes. 

"If there's one thing that has been ruled out, it's a malicious criminal plan to kill Maradona," Vadim Mischanchuk, lawyer for psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov, told Radio Con Vos at the weekend. 

The trial is expected to last until July at the earliest. 

The passing of the star of the 1986 World Cup plunged Argentina into mourning in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Tens of thousands of people queued to bid farewell to the former Boca Juniors and Napoli striker as his body lay in state at the presidential palace.

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