Electric vehicles supercharge EU car sales

A technician was killed on Sunday in Rio de Janeiro setting up a stage where pop superstar Shakira is set to perform a free concert this week, authorities and organizers said. 

Crews have been working for weeks to assemble a stage on the sands of the Brazilian city's Copacabana beach, where crowds are expected from around the world to see the Colombian singer perform on May 2 as part of her record-breaking world tour.

The man suffered crushing injuries to his legs in a lifting system, the fire department said in a statement.

Workers managed to free the man and he was taken to hospital, but he did not survive, the state fire department (CBMERJ) said.

"Unfortunately, the technician passed away in hospital," concert organizer Bonus Track said in a statement.

"Out of nowhere, we saw people running, and when we looked, the structure was on the ground," Antonio Marcos Ferreira dos Santos, 51, who was on the beach at the time, told AFP.

"People were saying that a man had gotten trapped underneath. People rushed over to pull him out."

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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has reaffirmed Pyongyang's support for Russia's invasion of Ukraine, vowing to help Moscow achieve victory in its "sacred" war, state media reported on Monday.

Pyongyang has sent missiles, munitions and thousands of troops to assist Russia in Ukraine, and analysts say Moscow is sending financial aid, military technology, food and energy to the diplomatically isolated country in return.

A string of high-level Russian officials have visited North Korea in recent days, with Defence Minister Andrey Belousov meeting Kim on Sunday, according to official statements.

North Korea "will as ever fully support the policy of the Russian Federation to defend the national sovereignty, territorial integrity and security interests", Kim told Belousov, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

Kim expressed "belief that the Russian army and people would surely win a victory in the just sacred war", KCNA reported.

Both sides said their delegations had discussed deeper military ties, with Belousov saying Moscow was ready to sign a cooperation plan covering the period from 2027 to 2031.

Kim, Belousov and Russian parliamentary speaker Vyacheslav Volodin also attended the opening ceremony of a memorial complex honouring North Korean soldiers killed in Ukraine.

In a speech, Kim paid tribute to their "unrivalled bravery, mass heroism, indomitable fighting spirit and noble sacrifice", KCNA said.

He took part in a ceremony to bury the war dead, recalling their "last heroic moments" and covering the remains of a soldier with earth.

The inauguration also included a concert, a fireworks display and an air force flyover, KCNA reported.

The audience were moved by portrayals of "life-and-death bloody battles" and "death-defying hand-to-hand fights and heroic suicidal explosions the young soldiers chose without hesitation", it said.

North Korea and Russia signed a military treaty in 2024, obligating both states to provide military assistance "without delay" in the event of an attack on the other.

- 'Brilliant war results' -

The opening of the memorial coincides with the first anniversary of Moscow's recovery of parts of Kursk, a region in Russia where Ukraine launched a major counteroffensive starting in mid-2024.

North Korean soldiers were deployed in the area to help beat back the Ukrainian advance.

In his meeting with Belousov, Kim hailed the "brilliant war results in liberating Kursk", according to KCNA.

Russian President Vladimir Putin praised the "extraordinary bravery and genuine devotion" of North Korean troops in a letter to Kim that was published by KCNA.

Seoul estimates about 2,000 North Koreans have been killed in the Ukraine war.

North Korean troops are said to have been instructed to kill themselves rather than be captured in battle.

Only two North Korean soldiers have been taken alive and are currently in custody of Ukrainian authorities.

- Olive branch shunned -

In contrast with its ties with Russia, North Korea has called South Korea its "most hostile" adversary despite Seoul's efforts at engagement.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said on Monday that it was "the destiny of both the South and the North to make the flowers of peace bloom".

He vowed to act "proactively" to restore trust with Pyongyang, adding: "We hope the North will trust the sincerity of our government and respond in kind."

Lee's comments marked the anniversary of the 2018 inter-Korean summit, at which Kim and South Korea's then-president Moon Jae-in memorably crossed into the other country's territory.

The summit yielded a declaration to work towards an official end to the Korean War, but was later suspended as bilateral tensions rose again.

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At a cooking school in Moscow, Yulia Fedishova was preparing a "smetannik": a traditional Slavic layer cake with a sour cream topping.

The "Lunch a la Russe" master class she was attending on the secrets of classic Russian dishes is just one example of how many Muscovites are trying to reconnect with their ancestral "roots" amid the war in Ukraine.

The push is encouraged by the Kremlin as Russia faces deepening isolation from the West.

"In such troubling times, you want to return to something familiar, to become closer to your roots in order to find calmness and balance," said Fedishova, a 27-year-old corporate trainer.

Whereas before the war, fondness for traditional pastimes and cuisine may have been dismissed as parochial in big-city Western-inspired Russia, now it is all the rage.

Facing difficulty travelling to Europe and steeped in an ultra-patriotic drive from the Kremlin, many Russians have turned to the tastes and style of their Tsarist and Cold War-era ancestors.

Village foods like cloudberries and jam from pine cones have resurged as a popular ingredient in teas and cakes in Moscow cafes.

Trips to the banya -- the Russian steam bath that involves being flogged with a birch branch and, in winter, jumping into the snow -- have surged, replacing visits to modern-style spas.

Much to the delight of President Vladimir Putin, the kokoshnik, an elaborate traditional Russian headdress, has even made a comeback.

"I've been told that we have a revival of a Russian tradition -- young women are going to events, or going out to bars and so on, wearing kokoshniks and traditional Russian outfits," the Kremlin chief said last October.

"You know, it's not a joke. It makes me very happy." 

- 'Retreat' -

The drive comes both from the top -- with Putin pushing Russia to ditch Western values and embrace its break from the West -- and from below, with organic and cultural bottom-up initiatives.

Foreign social networks are banned or restricted, independent media have been forced into exile and Western society routinely bashed as decadent, godless and debauched by officials and on state TV.

Cultural links have diminished since Russia launched its military offensive in 2022.

There are no direct flights to the West and obtaining a visa to visit the EU or the United States has become much more complicated.

"We used to travel a lot, saw Europe, and know it by heart," Natalia, a well-off 39-year-old from Moscow, told AFP.

"But I don't want to go there anymore," she said, blasting what she called "passport discrimination".

"I've never supported the West's policy of lumping us all together regardless of our views -- just as I've never supported what's happening in our country now."

In the early 2010s, two-thirds of Russians described themselves as pro-European, Denis Volkov, head of the Levada Centre independent pollster -- labelled a "foreign agent" by Moscow -- told AFP.

"Now the situation is exactly the opposite," he said.

"It's kind of a retreat into our own identity against the background of Russia's isolation."

At the same time, nationalism and patriotism are surging.

The proportion who see Russia as "one of the best countries in the world" has more than doubled since the mid-1990s -- up from 36 percent to 76 percent, the Levada Center found.

- 'New patriotism' -

In the world of fashion, several brands have launched collections featuring classic embroidery and floral patterns.

The Tvoye brand -- "yours" in Russian -- has had a hit with its "Russian vibes" line, featuring prints of babushkas -- Russian grandmas -- and distinctive Russian window frames on T-shirts.

"This is our new kind of patriotism," interior designer Anna Loseva said.

"My clients no longer want to copy the West. They prefer authentic things over standardised ones."

Recently, some of her customers have even commissioned iconostases -- huge wooden screens featuring paintings of Orthodox icons, typically found in churches -- for their homes.

Others have tried to incorporate elements of tradition, while holding onto the European influence.

The whitewashed walls of Alexei Kochkarev's OKN restaurant evoke an old Orthodox monastery, while its decor is clearly Scandinavian minimalism.

"It's an intentional dualism," he told AFP.

The enthusiasm for heritage is "our response to external pressure."

"Right now it really is a national awakening. But we can't be separated from Europe. Why is it necessary to choose?"

bur/yad

In a sprawling office in Hefei, the eastern Chinese electric vehicle hub, hundreds of employees and several robotic arms sat refining software developed jointly by German behemoth Volkswagen and Chinese EV maker XPeng.

The days when foreign firms saw such partnerships largely as a necessary entrance fee to the world's largest auto market are long gone.

Legacy overseas brands are now seeking out collaboration, hoping the domestic market's blistering pace and technological innovation will rub off and boost their competitiveness in China and increasingly, abroad.

VW-XPeng's China Electronic Architecture (CEA) -- software that controls a car's electronics -- was delivered within 18 months, said Frank Han, CEO of Cariad China, VW's software company.

Without XPeng's cooperation, it would have taken much longer, he told reporters on a trip this week ahead of a major auto show in Beijing.

"In Germany, (it would take) at least three to four years," he said.

From China's opening up until recently, carmakers seeking market access had to enter a joint venture with a local, often state-owned company.

As well as sharing profits, domestic firms benefited from their overseas partners' shared technology and best practice.

"You can basically call the current situation 'the reverse joint venture'," said Zhang Yu, managing director of Shanghai-based consultancy Automotive Foresight.

"Foreign partners are starting to use local Chinese partners' technology or EV platforms to modify -- or actually directly build a new car -- based on their Chinese partners' car."

- 'Shocking moment' -

For decades, China was a cash cow for many legacy brands, requiring minimal investment and offering huge gains.

But as the EV age dawned, helped by top-down policy such as generous subsidies, Chinese firms hit the throttle.

After the isolation of Covid and against a backdrop of sliding sales, the 2023 Shanghai auto show was "a shocking moment" for foreign visitors, UBS analyst Paul Gong told AFP.

He described the relative speeds of pandemic-era development as like "interstellar travelling -- inside, China had leapt forwards while outside, global carmakers lagged".

China is now considered by many as leading in areas like smart cockpits, battery technology and assisted driving systems.

Ford CEO Jim Farley has called the progress "the most humbling thing I've ever seen".  

By 2025, foreign brands were increasingly adopting Chinese tech.

Autonomous driving collaborations included VW with Horizon Robotics, Audi with Huawei, and a variety of firms including Toyota and GM with Momenta.

Models like the Nissan N7, Mazda EZ60, and SAIC Audi E5 were developed using joint venture partners' platforms, and investment was poured into research and development teams in China.

- 'China for the world' -

Companies are increasingly explicit they hope in-China investments will boost their competitiveness overseas, especially as Chinese firms begin their own expansions abroad.

"The know-how we gained (in China) is compelling us towards our goal of becoming a leading tech player in the automotive industry worldwide," VW Group CEO Oliver Blume said on Monday, calling the country "the fitness centre of the automotive industry".

He told AFP that VW was eying other Asian countries and South America as places that might be receptive to its China-developed offerings.

His counterpart at rival BMW told state news agency Xinhua last year that "the supply chain here is not only about China for China, but it's also China for the world".

For Japan's Nissan, exports are set to become "a strategic pillar", the company said in April, as its in-China sales slow.

The China-developed N7 and Frontier Pro will be sent to South America and Southeast Asia, with the latter additionally shipped to the Middle East.

"Our brand is still relevant, even in a very difficult market like China," CEO Ivan Espinosa told reporters.

"And if you can compete in China, you can compete outside of China."

France's Renault, meanwhile, has stopped selling cars in China but uses its partnerships there for tech development.

One example is the Dacia Spring, manufactured by state-owned Dongfeng, a small EV which significantly undercut competitors when it began selling in Europe in 2021.

- Ecosystem advantage -

The scorecard for foreign automakers' pivot is "mixed", said UBS's Gong.

While they have not regained market share in China, "their products and technologies have improved", which could help them in other markets like Europe, he said.

"Their challenges would be greater without" that strategy, he concluded.

To an extent, foreign firms have little choice.

"The advantage Chinese firms hold is not tied to a single technology or model, but to an integrated ecosystem," Chris Liu from research group Omdia told AFP.

The combination of software engineering talent, proximity to suppliers, and real-world data accessibility "is difficult for foreign automakers to replicate outside of China".

And foreign brands need to make "drastic decisions" that go beyond just product, said founder of Sino Auto Insights, Tu Le.

"It's culture, speed, shuttering brands, eliminating management that don't have the right skills to lead them," he said.

"'Learning' (from Chinese firms) is only part of the answer."

bur-reb/ami

Around 60 nations are attending a world-first conference in Colombia to tackle an issue that has deadlocked the UN climate talks -- how to exit the fossil fuels that cause global warming.

Colombia's Environment Minister Irene Velez Torres has been prominent as host of this breakaway climate conference, which has drawn nations wanting to accelerate the fossil fuel phaseout despite the stalemate in the UN-led "COP" summits.

These countries represent "a new power", said Velez Torres, a former mining and energy minister whose own country is navigating its exit from coal and oil.

Major fossil fuel producers are joining the first-of-its-kind talks but the biggest greenhouse gas emitters -- including the United States, China and Russia -- are skipping the event.

AFP interviewed Velez Torres ahead of the high-level talks between ministers and climate envoys on April 28-29 in the Caribbean port town of Santa Marta:

QUESTION: The world's biggest fossil fuel producers are not in Santa Marta. Does their absence threaten the credibility of this event? 

ANSWER: "We can look at it the other way around. When the largest emitters have been present at the COP negotiations, they have been the ones who have pushed for a veto to prevent any discussion of the need to transition beyond fossil fuels. 

Today, it is worth focusing on the more than 50 countries that are here, representing almost 50 percent of the global population, including consumer countries, producer countries and vulnerable countries of the Global South and North. 

In that sense, we are a new power today." 

Q: But wouldn't their absence diminish the authority of any agreement reached in Santa Marta?

A: "Not at all, because we are not waiting for a joint declaration or new binding agreements between countries. We are waiting for solutions, and these do not necessarily depend on who the biggest emitters are. We hope that at some point they will get on board." 

Q: This conference is running parallel to -- and outside -- the UN climate talks. Does that indicate a growing frustration at the limitations of the annual COP summits? 

A: "Multilateralism is in crisis, but this doesn't mean we should do away with it. 

"On the contrary, we need a multilateralism that is more deeply rooted in the people and not just in governments, biases or economic lobbying. We need new alignments, new alliances." 

Q: Is it the end of the road for the COPs?

A: "The COPs have demonstrated a capacity for dialogue -- but also limitations. One limitation relates to how the oil industry lobby has skewed the topics that can or cannot be included in the COPs. 

"Another is the consensus methodology, which has resulted in a de facto veto against countries like Colombia that want more ambitious discussions on decisions particularly related to fossil fuels. 

"And on the other hand, there is a methodological issue that has limited the inclusion of voices from civil society." 

Q: What concrete results will this conference produce? 

A: "First, the launch of the first scientific panel dedicated to the energy transition. This panel will be able to advise cities, regions, countries and coalitions on developing "roadmaps" for their own energy transition. We also expect a synthesis of the contributions from governments, civil society, the private sector, unions and the people who are here. 

"This report will be submitted to the COP30 (presidency) and COP31 (presidency) as one input to the global roadmap for moving away from fossil fuels." 

Q: Colombia advocates for the clean energy transition but is a major producer of coal and oil. How does President Gustavo Petro's government manage this paradox? 

A: "We've said there will be no new hydrocarbon contracts or expansion of coal mining. With these decisions, we have simultaneously incentivised productive economies based on food production, tourism and industrialisation. 

"The year 2025 showed, for the first time, that there were more exports in terms of remittances and foreign exchange from coffee versus coal. And 2025 was also the first year in which Colombia had more energy from non-conventional renewables, particularly solar, than from coal."

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The European Central Bank is expected to hold interest rates steady again this week as it waits to see if the inflation spike triggered by the Middle East war will prove temporary or begin to weigh on growth.

Markets ramped up their bets on a rate hike after the US-Israeli war on Iran sparked a global energy shock, which is already pushing up eurozone consumer prices. 

Inflation in the 21-nation single currency area jumped to 2.6 percent in March, above the ECB's two-percent target, and the bank has warned it could surge far higher in a worst-case scenario.

ING economist Carsten Brzeski said the ECB's mantra before the war -- that it was in a "good place" on rates -- was "no more".

"The bank is back in crisis mode, shifting its focus from longer-term projections to actual developments and back to a 'driving at sight' approach," he said.

Still, economists expect the central bank not to make any moves at its meeting Thursday and keep its benchmark deposit rate at two percent, where it has been since June last year, as it waits to see how the war plays out.

US President Donald Trump has extended a ceasefire with Iran to allow more time for peace talks, and strikes have mostly ended around the region, though the Strait of Hormuz remains largely closed to tanker traffic.

Energy prices have also not risen as fast as they did in the aftermath of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, economists note, and supply chains are not facing the same disruptions.

- 'Not in a rush'- 

Despite the ghosts from 2022, when the ECB was criticised for moving to slowly to raise rates as inflation surged, policymakers have signalled they are not in a hurry.

"We are not in a rush," Bank of Latvia governor Martins Kazaks, a member of the ECB's rate-setting governing council, told The Financial Times last week.

"We still have the large luxury of collecting data and forming our view," he added.

Rate increases would also weigh on the lacklustre eurozone economy, whose crucial manufacturers in particular face new pressure from the energy shock.

A survey released last week showed that eurozone business activity contracted for the first time in 16 months in April due to the war's impact.

In the United States, economists have pushed back their expectations of rate cuts as the Iran energy shocks adds to inflationary pressure, and the Federal Reserve is also expected to keep rates on hold when it meets Wednesday.

- 'Double uncertainty' -

Much comes down to whether Iran and the United States can come to a lasting agreement that secures Gulf oil and gas supplies through the Strait of Hormuz, a factor over which the ECB has no control.

All eyes will be on ECB President Christine Lagarde's press conference after the meeting for clues about the outlook for rates.

But she is likely to repeat language of recent weeks that the bank is "well positioned" to deal with the fallout from the war, and refuse to be drawn on future decisions.

Speaking in Berlin last week, Lagarde said the institution was facing "double uncertainty" in that it was unclear both how long the shock would last and what its effects on the broader economy would be.

"The stop-start nature of the conflict -- war, ceasefire, peace talks, their collapse, a naval blockade, its lifting, its reinstatement -- makes it exceptionally hard to gauge the duration and depth of the consequences," she said.

Still, most economists believe the ECB will not take any action on rates just yet.

The situations now and in 2022 are "very different", Oddo BHF economist Bruno Cavalier said.

"The conditions for a surge in non-energy prices and wages are not in place," he added. "The ECB has the luxury of doing nothing."

vbw-jpl/sr/js/tc

Having decisively ended his own silverware drought with back-to-back Bundesliga titles, Harry Kane's team-first approach has been key for a Bayern Munich side now chasing club football's biggest prize.  

Whoever makes it through Bayern's Champions League semi-final against holders Paris Saint-Germain, with the first leg in the French capital on Tuesday, will be the favourites for the final in Budapest in May.

Last season's Bundesliga title was Kane's maiden team trophy, at the age of 31. Having added another league crown this season, Bayern's habit of hoovering up trophies is already rubbing off on the England captain. 

As always, Kane's individual statistics this year have been stunning. The former Tottenham forward has 53 goals in 45 games in all competitions, the most by an Englishman in any league in almost a century.

And this time around, Kane's goals have come at crucial moments of big games.

Against Real in Madrid, his long-range strike proved to be the winner.

In the second leg, Kane's first-half goal brought Bayern level on the night and put them ahead in a quarter-final tie which was in danger of getting away from them. 

- 'I'm here to win the Champions League' -

Kane left England 47 goals shy of Alan Shearer's Premier League scoring record, with some commentators wondering why he would leave with the mark in sight. 

But while Kane developed a reputation at Spurs for stacking up individual records rather than team honours, in hindsight the striker's pursuit of goals was a clear example of his team focus.

Since moving to Bayern, a club with quality across the pitch and a number of threats, Kane often drops to help in the build-up, sometimes deep into midfield.

Kane's willingness to sacrifice individual honours for team objectives has never been more evident than in recent weeks, when Bayern had the league largely wrapped up and needed to focus on Europe. 

After Bayern beat Dortmund in February, Kane had scored four consecutive braces. With 30 goals in 24 games, he looked on course for Robert Lewandowski's single season record of 41 goals. 

But since then, Kane has started just one of Bayern's seven league games, as Vincent Kompany has wrapped him in cotton wool for the big stage. 

After coming off the bench to help Bayern come from three goals down to win 4-3 at Mainz on Saturday, Kane told reporters where his true focus lay. 

"It'll be tough," Kane said of chasing down Lewandowski's record. "Obviously I'm here to try and win the Champions League and try and win the German Cup. 

"So, ultimately that takes priority. All I can do is when I'm on the pitch, try and score, try and impact the game."

Undoubtedly the biggest star in Bayern's dressing room, Kane could have pushed back against his benching, but he backed Kompany's call with loftier goals in mind.

- 'Something special' -

Bayern were always expected to beat Mainz on Saturday but the way they overran their opponents in the second-half showed their unrelenting hunger and desire.

"This team is truly something special -- that team spirit, that mentality -- it is truly unique," sporting director Christoph Freund said afterwards.  

"That gives us a tremendous amount of energy for Tuesday."

Kane called PSG "the reigning European champions for a reason," adding the French champions are "a really strong side with some great quality and are well-coached.

"There's going to be a lot of activity. It's going to come down to moments and quality."

One challenge for Bayern is the absence of coach Vincent Kompany, who is suspended for the opening leg. 

Kompany's English assistant Aaron Danks will be in the dugout. Kane said Bayern, who have lost just twice in all competitions this season, are well-drilled enough without the Belgian barking orders.

"Of course we'll miss him on the sideline. He's our boss and our leader. But everyone knows what needs to be done, even if the boss isn't on the sideline."

dwi/gj

If there was a recipe for success in the entertainment industry, the BRIT School in London should maybe get a standing ovation for hitting all the right notes.

Singers Amy Winehouse, Adele and Raye, as well as actor Tom Holland -- better known as Spiderman -- are among the alumni of the state‑funded school, which prides itself on being free.

2026 started strong, with former pupils Olivia Dean and Lola Young both honoured at the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles.

Dean was named best new artist of the year, while Young won Best Pop Solo Performance with her soaraway hit "Messy".

Both artists also triumphed at the Brit Awards, the UK's flagship music ceremony.

"It's incredibly humbling," said Chris McInnes, their former teacher and deputy head of music at the BRIT School, which specialises in performing and creative arts.

"We would never take credit for any of their success ... we want to make the best place for those students who are going to be that successful," he told AFP.

About 1,500 students, aged between 14 and 19, attend the BRIT School, where they study for and sit the regular UK curriculum exams, including GCSEs and A‑levels.

Teenagers arrive for their day smiling, greeting teachers and the headmaster as they make their way through the corridors. 

Some sing snatches of songs. Others work quietly in recording studios.

Behind one door, a group was rehearsing a number from the musical "Six".

- Cultural diversity -

Keyboardist Luke Crown, 18, and singer Naomi Simon, 19, were practising for a May concert.

"It's a very unique place. There's nowhere else that really you can study popular music to this intensity," said Crown.

Naomi Simon has already had "a really big opportunity" thanks to the school -- singing in the choir that backed chart-topper Raye on her latest album.

None of it would have been possible if the school charged fees, she said.

"My family doesn't come from a place which has lots of money ... so to come to a place where finances isn't an issue for me is amazing," she said.

The school is funded about 80 percent by the state. The rest comes from supporters, including companies, said headmaster Stuart Worden.

"The world needs diverse voices ... and so, every background should be able to talk about how they feel about the world using the arts," he added.

"Why should only people who can afford ballet lessons and ballet shoes be our dancers?"

Worden has worked at the school for 32 years, after it opened in the early 1990s in a low-income part of Croydon, a culturally diverse south London district.

In the reception, photos of former pupils are displayed: one is a stunt coordinator for movies, another a lighting technician at Eurovision.

- 'Be nice' -

McInnes recently organised a reunion for former students who left the school a decade ago.

"Whether they were making huge amounts of money or whether they were household names ... 10 years after they left they were still working in the industry," he said.

Artists such as Adele, Raye and Dean regularly speak about the BRIT School. Raye still tests new songs with Worden.

"I had the time of my life there. It's not a stage-stage school, but of course there's kids doing pirouettes and going 'Aaaaaahhhhh!' in the hallways," Adele told BBC 4 radio in 2022.

"It was such a melting pot of every single type of teenager ... It was absolute heaven."

During lockdown in 2020, "Tom Holland was one of the first students online giving actor classes from his bedroom," Worden recalled.

One piece of advice McInnes gives his students is simple: "Be nice to each other."

"There's so many people with amazing talent, but if you're not an easy person to work with, if you're not reliable, if you're not kind and empathetic, no one is going to want to work with you."

The pupils are also encouraged to step outside their comfort zones. Even if it is their passion, they cannot spend two years just writing R&B songs or playing heavy metal.

Teachers still remember Adele performing on stage at the end‑of‑year show.

"I remember everybody came out of that show going, right, that was something else that we just saw there," said McInnes.

ctx/jkb/jj/yad/tc

Tadej Pogacar won a fourth Liege-Bastogne-Liege Monument race after fending off a spirited challenge from teenage French sensation Paul Seixas.

But he fully expects the 19-year-old to keep improving and one day blitz everyone in the field in much the same way as Pogacar has in recent years.

Seixas was the only rider able to stay with world champion Pogacar when he launched hs customary attack on the Cote de la Redoute some 35km from the finish of the gruelling 260km race through the Ardennes.

That was the ninth of 11 punchy climbs and while the rest of the field -- including Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel -- fell by the wayside, Seixas stayed with Pogacar until the final climb.

But halfway up the steep Cote de Roche-aux-Faucons, with 14km left, Seixas cracked and victory was Pogacar's.

"Having Paul entering such a big field at such a good level already at 19, it brings motivation to everybody else now to keep trying to improve," said Pogacar.

"Because, again, he's 19 now and normally your body physically is the best at 26 to 30 years old.

"So, we'll see. We keep working hard to still try to fight for the next years to win as much as we can until he destroys everybody!"

Seixas's rise over the last 12 months has been remarkable.

Although still competing as a junior last year, he achieved some impressive results in his debut senior season.

He was eighth in the Criterium du Dauphine stage race, 13th at the World Championships, seventh at the Tour of Lombardy Monument race, and won bronze behind Pogacar and Evenepoel at the European Championships.

This year he has been one of the star performers, winning the Tour of the Basque Country stage race and the Fleche Wallonne and Ardeche Classic one-day races.

He was also a narrow second to talented Spaniard Juan Ayuso at the Tour of the Algarve and has now twice finished second to Pogacar in one-day races, Strade Bianche and in Liege.

He has, in many ways, proved himself to be the second best rider in hilly one-day classics behind Pogacar.

And there is one thing he needs to finally beat the world champion.

"Power! That seems obvious," said Seixas.

"I just have to improve but we can see his level, it's extremely difficult to follow him.

"He's the greatest rider of all time."

Seixas added: "There's more work to do but that's normal. You can't skip the steps so we'll just be satisfied with that today."

- 'It's a matter of time' -

After winning the Tour de France four times, the World Championships twice and 13 Monuments, Pogacar will now look to take on new challenges.

Already this year he won Milan-San Remo for the first time and as of Tuesday he will make his debut on the six-day Tour of Romandie.

In June, he will make his first appearance at the Tour of Switzerland.

Anything other than victory in both of those would be a big surprise.

If he is successful, there would be only two major races he is yet to win: Paris-Roubaix, where he has finished twice in his two participations, and the Vuelta a Espana, where he was third in his only appearance as a 20-year-old in 2019.

But with Seixas in the mix, he knows things are going to get tougher.

"For me, I definitely know that it will be more hard and hard every year," he said.

"So, it's just a matter of time when we lose to him."

Before the race, Evenepoel had questioned whether Seixas could maintain his fine form over such a long course.

He had never won a race longer than 200km and there were an extra 60km to cover in Liege.

But Seixas proved he has the engine and stamina for a six-hour race.

"He showed again today that he is one of the best climbers in the world and he has a very good punch as well," said Evenepoel.

"The whole world can only be saying chapeau to him."

bc/lp

An extra week of negotiations to complete the crucial missing piece of an international agreement on handling future pandemics kicks off Monday at the WHO, with sharp divisions holding up an accord.

Wealthy countries and developing nations are at loggerheads in the World Health Organization talks over how the pandemic treaty, adopted last year, will work in practice.

The agreement's Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing (PABS) system deals with sharing access to pathogens with pandemic potential, then sharing the benefits derived from them: vaccines, tests and treatments.

"Developing countries are voicing their mistrust, fearing they will share their viruses without any guarantees of equitable access to vaccines in the event of a crisis," WHO chief scientist Sylvie Briand told AFP.

Meanwhile other countries are asking whether the pharmaceutical industry would have the capacity and motivation to contribute to a global pandemic agreement "without a guarantee of return on investment", she said.

Another challenge, she said, was "to integrate the sharing of genetic data, now as crucial as that of physical viruses for developing vaccines, treatments, and diagnostics". 

- 'Very hard' -

In May 2025, WHO member states adopted a landmark pandemic agreement on tackling future health crises, after more than three years of negotiations sparked by the shock of Covid-19.

The accord aims to prevent future pandemics from the disjointed responses and international disarray that surrounded the coronavirus crisis, by improving global coordination, surveillance and access to vaccines.

But PABS, the heartbeat of the treaty, was left on the side in order to get the bulk of the deal over the line.

Countries have been given one final week, through Friday, to negotiate PABS, with an eye on getting it approved during the World Health Assembly of WHO member states, which opens on May 18.

Jean Karydakis, a diplomat at Brazil's mission in Geneva, said he thought a deal was possible even if the differences were "by no means negligible."

"Progress has been slow" and finding compromise "will be very hard", though the European Union was now "making an effort to demonstrate some flexibility", he said.

PABS is considered crucial by developing states, particularly in Africa, where many countries felt cut adrift in the scramble for Covid-19 vaccines.

However, there are nuances between their positions. Some emerging economies like South Africa want technology transfers, while the poorest countries are focusing primarily on access to healthcare products.

Adeel Mumtaz Khokhar, from Pakistan's mission, said the negotiations had been "quite challenging" but "we remain hopeful".

"Licensing, technology transfer and broader capacity building of your health system -- that remains a big point of contention," he said.

- Anonymous access? -

The treaty already says participating pharmaceutical companies should make available 20 percent of their real-time production of vaccines, tests and treatments to the WHO for redistribution -- with at least half as a donation and the rest "at affordable prices".

However, the details remain to be defined in the PABS annex, as do the terms of access to health data and tools outside pandemics.

NGOs and developing countries want to impose mandatory rules for laboratories to ensure poor countries receive vaccines.

"During the Ebola outbreaks, samples from African patients led to treatments developed without such obligations," said Olena Zarytska of the medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF).

The result, she said, was limited supplies in Africa and stockpiles in the United States, which under President Donald Trump has withdrawn from the WHO.

Developing countries also want a user registration and tracking system for the PABS database, while developed countries, "basically Germany, Norway and Switzerland, advocate for maintaining anonymous access", said K. M. Gopakumar, senior researcher with the Third World Network.

Anonymous access would make it "impossible" to track who is using pathogen information, what for, and whether they are sharing the derived benefits, 100 non-governmental organisations including Oxfam said in a joint letter to the WHO.

"In practice, this means that genetic resources originating in developing countries can be accessed, commercialised, and exploited with complete impunity," the letter said.

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