From politics to punches: Biden Jr challenges Trump sons to cage fight

US rapper Kanye West postponed late Tuesday his concert in the French city of Marseille, following reports that the country's interior minister was seeking to block the performance.

"After much thought and consideration, it is my sole decision to postpone my show in Marseille, France until further notice," the rapper wrote on X.

France's interior minister Laurent Nunez was seeking to block West from performing in the southern city in a concert scheduled for June 11 due to his antisemitic remarks, AFP reported earlier on Tuesday.

West, 48, has been heavily criticized for making antisemitic remarks and voicing admiration for Adolf Hitler.

Britain has blocked the US rapper, also known as Ye, from entering the country due to his outbursts, prompting organizers of a festival he was to headline to cancel the July event. Prime Minister Keir Starmer had called booking West "deeply concerning."

But Dutch Asylum and Migration Minister Bart van den Brink said last week there were no plans as yet to bar the rapper from the Netherlands.

West wrote in another X post on Tuesday that "I know it takes time to understand the sincerity of my commitment to make amends."

"I take full responsibility for what's mine but I don't want to put my fans in the middle of it," he added.

In May 2025, the rapper released a song called "Heil Hitler," months after advertising a swastika t-shirt for sale on his website.

The song was banned by major streaming platforms. West subsequently expressed regret for his conduct, blaming it on his bipolar disorder.

hol/fox

Indonesia, fresh off concluding a defence pact with Washington and an oil deal with Russia, has also agreed to boost defence industry cooperation with France, Jakarta said Wednesday after the countries' presidents met in Paris.

President Prabowo Subianto was hosted by counterpart Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace Tuesday, where they "discussed strengthening strategic cooperation," a statement from the government said.

"This includes the procurement of defence equipment and the strengthening of the defence industry," it said, citing France as a strategic partner for Indonesia in Europe.

The leaders also agreed on cooperation in "energy transition and the development of new and renewable energy", it said.

Prabowo met Putin at the Kremlin on Monday, flying directly from the Russian capital to Paris.

With Putin, he had discussed "strengthening their strategic partnership, particularly in the sectors of energy, mineral resources, and national industrial development", according to Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya.

Prabowo, who recently travelled to South Korea and Japan, has justified his slew of foreign visits.

"Brothers and sisters, it's to secure oil, I have to go everywhere," he said in an address to his cabinet this month.

Like many nations, Indonesia has come under pressure from soaring global oil prices over the war in the Middle East.

Jakarta, while defending a non-aligned diplomatic posture, last year joined the BRICS bloc of emerging economies that includes Russia and US-rival China. 

Prabowo has also signed a trade deal with US President Donald Trump and joined his so-called "Board of Peace", although has insisted his country would not pay the $1 billion joining fee for permanent membership.

Indonesia is a major arms buyer from France, with then-Defence Minister Prabowo inking a $8.1-billion deal in 2022 to purchase 42 French-made Rafale jets. 

Prabowo, a former military general who was elected president in 2024, has sought to modernise Indonesia's ageing military assets.

On Monday, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth hosted Indonesian counterpart Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin and announced a "Major Defence Cooperation Partnership".

A joint statement underlined the countries' "shared commitment to maintaining peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific."

Indonesia is strategically located on the Malacca Strait –- the world's busiest chokepoint for oil and petroleum liquids, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA).

The vast majority of China-bound oil travels through Malacca Strait.

Jakarta on Tuesday said it was still considering a US request for "overflight clearance" which, if approved, analysts say could be seen as an alignment with Washington over Beijing.

mrc/mlr/fox

LaMelo Ball was hero and villain as the Charlotte Hornets lifted their curse to send the Miami Heat tumbling out of the NBA play-in tournament with a thrilling 127-126 overtime victory on Tuesday.

Charlotte had never won a win-or-go-home postseason game in 12 previous attempts and looked in danger of extending that record after blowing a 125-120 lead with 26 seconds remaining to allow Miami to edge ahead 126-125.

After Miami star Tyler Herro had sunk a superb corner three-pointer to make it 125-123, Ball carelessly turned over possession and then gave away three free-throws with a rash lunge on Herro.

Herro drained all three shots to give Miami the lead with just nine seconds left.

Ball though made amends with a determined driving layup to make it 127-126 before an athletic block from Miles Bridges snuffed out Miami's last-gasp attempt to win it.

"We stuck with it and ground it out," Ball said. "We wasn't hitting our threes, all the shots weren't hitting, but we stuck with it."

Ball was at the centre of controversy over an incident in the second quarter which led to Miami star Bam Adebayo hobbling out of the game.

After being blocked during a drive to the basket, Ball reached out and tripped Adebayo with a tug on his standing leg, sending the Miami star crashing to the hardwood. He played no further part in the game.

Miami coach Erik Spoelstra was furious that Ball escaped an ejection.

"The referees are there for what? How did they not see that? I don't want this to be an excuse, Charlotte was incredible at the end," Spoelstra fumed. 

"I don't think that's cute. I don't think it's funny. I think it's a stupid play. It's a dangerous play. Our best player is out.

"(LaMelo) should be penalized for that. I don't think that belongs in the game, tripping guys, shenanigans. Someone has got to see that. And he should have been thrown out of the game for that."

The victory means Charlotte, beaten in their two previous appearances in the play-in tournament in 2021 and 2022, remain alive in the postseason while Miami are eliminated.

Charlotte will face the loser of Wednesday's Eastern Conference play-in game between the eighth-seeded Orlando Magic and seventh-seeded Philadelphia 76ers. 

The reward for the winner of that game on Friday is a first-round playoff series against top seeds Detroit.

Ball finished with 30 points, 10 assists and five rebounds, while Bridges added 28 points and nine rebounds. Coby White had a crucial 19-point contribution from the bench, making five-of-eight three-pointers.

Davion Mitchell led Miami's scorers with 28 points while Andrew Wiggins added 27 and Herro 23.

rcw/pst

Japanese game studio Capcom is taking a big science fiction swing this week with moon-bound action title "Pragmata", juiced by the success of hit franchises like "Resident Evil".

Following the adventures of an astronaut trapped on a moon base overrun by hostile robots, the new game set for release on Friday combines tense shootouts with puzzle-based hacking, allowing players to weaken enemies mid-gunfight.

The game mechanic is creatively represented on screen by an android in the form of a girl who accompanies the protagonist.

Professional game reviewers have handed the new title a respectable average score of 86/100, according to aggregation site Metacritic.

Capcom's previous release, February's "Resident Evil Requiem", has already sold more than six million copies, leading the charts in many countries and firing up purchases of the series' back catalogue.

That success likely powered the studio towards its target of 190 billion yen ($1.2 billion) in net sales in its 2025-26 financial year, which ended on March 31.

Such results would drastically set Capcom apart from a games industry mired in post-pandemic doldrums, with many publishers closing studios and laying off staff to remain solvent or protect profit margins.

- Discipline -

"Capcom is currently in its golden generation and seems to make almost no big mistakes as a corporation," said Serkan Toto of consultancy Kantan Games.

The Osaka-based company, founded in 1983, has been growing for more than 10 years.

A second building is under construction near Capcom HQ to accommodate new staff, after the company surged from 3,200 people in 2022 to more than 3,760 last year.

"Capcom's discipline as a studio has been extremely high for a long time now, with a high focus on quality, building on top of existing hit IPs and shipping on time," Toto said.

"Part of that discipline includes what Capcom is not doing," such as "blindly acquiring other studios" or "jumping on live-service (online multiplayer) games," he added.

Other industry giants have burned their fingers in recent years, such as Sony with its team-based shooter "Concord" -- pulled offline after less than two weeks.

- Risk-taking -

Stepping off the beaten path is rarely profitable in the games industry, with even Capcom bearing the scars of previous attempts.

"Pragmata" is its third recent effort at a new game universe, after 2023's "Exoprimal" and "Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess" the following year -- "both of which failed", noted Toyo Securities analyst Hideki Yasuda.

"Pragmata" will be released for PC, Playstation 5, Xbox Series and Nintendo's new Switch 2 console.

Offering the game on Nintendo's less powerful hardware is a rare choice among high-end productions.

"Since Capcom develops its own game engine (the software that powers features like graphics and physics), it can adapt to the hardware much more quickly than competitors," Yasuda said.

That allows the studio to reach a larger market of players across different platforms.

In some European markets, the Switch 2 version of the latest "Resident Evil" title accounted for around five percent of sales, according to specialist outlet The Game Business.

That was "not a big figure, but five percent of a high selling product can still be significant and profitable", the site commented.

Capcom is also casting a wide net to snare new gamers with feature-length films and TV series adapted from its universes.

New "Resident Evil" and "Street Fighter" films are both expected in cinemas this year.

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Stocks rose and oil fell again Wednesday after Donald Trump said a second round of US-Iran talks could take place "over the next two days", fuelling hopes for a deal that would reopen the Strait of Hormuz and allow crude to flow again.

Traders were also cheered by news that Israel and Lebanon had agreed to launch direct negotiations, fuelling optimism for an end to a conflict that has been a key sticking point in the fragile ceasefire between Washington and Tehran.

While the United States continued a blockade of Iranian ports imposed following failed negotiations in Islamabad at the weekend, the US president told the New York Post that a new round of talks could take place.

"You should stay there, really, because something could be happening over the next two days, and we're more inclined to go there," Trump was quoted as saying in a phone interview with a Post reporter in the Pakistani capital.

Senior Pakistani sources earlier told AFP the country was working to bring the two sides back together, with one saying negotiators were working to extend the current two-week ceasefire.

The comments from Trump provided a fresh boost to equities, which were already rising this week on optimism the six-week conflict, which has sent chills through the world economy, could be close to an end.

After all three main indexes on Wall Street rallied -- with the Nasdaq and S&P 500 back well above pre-war levels and just short of record highs -- Asia followed suit.

Gains were led by Seoul, which was the standout performer before hostilities broke out on February 28 and then became one of the worst.

The Kospi jumped around three percent and was just five percent short of its all-time peak, while Tokyo, Hong Kong, Sydney, Taipei, Singapore and Manila were also well up.

Oil prices dropped, extending a sell-off Tuesday that saw West Texas Intermediate dive around eight percent and Brent more than four percent.

Investors were also cheering the decision of Israel and Lebanon to open direct talks after meeting in Washington, marking a rare diplomatic breakthrough between two countries formally at war for decades.

Lebanon was drawn into the broader war when Hezbollah attacked Israel in support of Iran, its key ally, triggering an Israeli ground invasion.

Washington fears the Israel-Hezbollah conflict could unravel the US-Iran ceasefire.

"Continued pressure alongside hopes of diplomatic engagement... has helped push oil prices below $100 and Treasury yields down, supporting equities and highlighting how sensitive markets remain to developments in the region," wrote Fiona Cincotta at City Index.

"A credible diplomatic off-ramp could further boost risk appetite."

Some observers warn that while the end of the war would be widely welcomed, there were big question marks over what a peace would look like, while crude production would take some time to get back up to capacity.

And on Tuesday the International Monetary Fund said it had cut its 2026 global growth projection, warning that the world economy could be "thrown off course" by war.

On announcing a new forecast of 3.1 percent expansion -- down from its previous 3.3 percent estimate -- Fund chief economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas told AFP it was "planning to upgrade growth for 2026 to 3.4 percent" if not for the war.

Still, National Australia Bank's Taylor Nugent added: "Markets were looking past the physical disruption in the Strait to the prospect of talks, with risk assets supported, yields lower and the dollar losing another 0.3 percent on the (dollar index)."

Charu Chanana, chief investment strategist at Saxo, said: "If diplomacy gets another opening, markets can recover confidence quickly.

"If conflict returns first, the next phase could prove broader and more dangerous than the one investors thought had already peaked."

- Key figures at 0230 GMT -

West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.8 percent at $90.56 a barrel

Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.3 percent at $94.48 a barrel

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.5 percent at 58,162.84 (break)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 1.1 percent at 26,153.23

Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.4 percent at 4,044.10

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1785 from $1.1797 on Tuesday

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3565 from $1.3564

Dollar/yen: UP at 158.94 yen from 158.84 yen

Euro/pound: DOWN at 86.88 pence from 86.93 pence

New York - Dow Jones: UP 0.7 percent at 48,535.99 (close)

London - FTSE 100: UP 0.3 percent at 10,609.06 (close)

dan/fox

Pope Leo XIV is to arrive in Cameroon on Wednesday, the second stage of an African tour shadowed by insults from US President Donald Trump and suicide attacks in Algeria on his first day.

The pontiff is to meet Cameroonian President Paul Biya at the start of his four-day visit to the mainly French-speaking country, before heading to a conflict zone where English-speaking separatists have been fighting the army for nearly a decade.

The planned private meeting at 3:20 pm (1420 GMT) with 93-year-old Biya, the world's oldest head of state, has split Catholics in the central Africa country, who are estimated to account for around a third of the population.

Clergy members have voiced fears it will enable Biya to burnish his image, six months after protests against his disputed re-election were violently suppressed. 

Biya, who has been in power since 1982, is now on his eighth consecutive term.

On Thursday, the 70-year-old pope makes a high-security trip to Bamenda, the epicentre of the separatist insurgency, where he will pray for peace before 20,000 worshippers.

The origins of the Anglophone Crisis date back to the 1970s, when French- and English-speaking parts of Cameroon merged and the Anglophone minority began to fear the loss of its distinctive legal and cultural practices.

A brutal crackdown on protests there in 2016 lead to a full-blown conflict between the army and English-speaking separatists that has yet to be resolved.

The violence had caused more than 6,000 deaths by 2024, according to rights NGOs.

- 'Blessed are the peacemakers' -

Leo began his historic visit to Africa in Algeria on Monday, where he visited the birthplace of Christian theologian Saint Augustine and celebrated mass at a basilica that draws 18,000 pilgrims each year, including Muslims and Jews.

He urged Algeria's Christians to "bear witness to the Gospel through simple gestures, genuine relationships and a dialogue lived out day by day".

His stay was marred by twin suicide attacks in the city of Blida.

Authorities have yet to comment but an informed source confirmed the bombings, which were not presumed related to the pontiff's presence in the mainly Muslim country.

No deaths have been confirmed, other than those of the bombers.

Leo's first international tour initially risked being overshadowed by insults from US President Donald Trump.

Trump said he was "not a big fan" of the pope after the American pontiff called for peace in the Middle East.

US Vice President JD Vance weighed in, urging the Vatican to "stick to matters of morality... and let the president of the United States stick to dictating American public policy".

Leo brushed the jibes aside, telling reporters on the papal plane: "The Gospel says... blessed are the peacemakers."

"I have no fear, neither of the Trump administration, nor speaking out loudly about the message of the Gospel," he continued.

Leo's visit to Cameroon is the fourth by a pope to the multi-confessional country, nicknamed mini-Africa due to its plethora of ethnic groups.

The capital, Yaounde, has been festooned with banners and flags in his honour.

On Friday, Leo will hold mass for hundreds of thousands in a stadium in the economic capital Douala

Pope Leo leaves Cameroon for Angola on Saturday.

bur/gil/rmb/cms

A top US lawmaker called on FIFA to pay for World Cup public transportation costs on Tuesday following a report that local authorities in New Jersey are planning massive price hikes during the tournament.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, said on X that football's world governing body -- which stands to earn $11 billion from the tournament -- should foot the bill for transport costs to World Cup venues.

Schumer was responding to a report in The Athletic on Tuesday which said New Jersey Transit is planning to charge fans more than $100 for tickets from Penn Station in Manhattan to MetLife Stadium in New Jersey during the World Cup. 

A return ticket for the journey normally costs $12.90.

"FIFA is set to reap nearly $11 billion from this summer's World Cup, yet New York area commuters and residents are being handed the bill," Schumer commented.

"The least FIFA can do is ensure New York residents can go to the stadium without being gouged at the turnstile. I am demanding FIFA step up and cover transportation costs for host cities and states. 

"New York commuters and residents should not subsidize an $11 billion windfall."

New York Governor Kathy Hochul also took aim at the reported price hike.

"The World Cup should be as affordable and accessible as possible," Hochul wrote on X. "Charging over $100 for a short train ride sounds awfully high to me."

NJ Transit did not immediately respond to a request for comment when contacted by AFP.

The Athletic quoted a spokesperson for the agency as saying that no firm decision had been taken on World Cup ticket pricing.

"The ticket prices for match day travel have not been finalized and any reference to cost would be unconfirmed speculation," the spokesperson said.

The Athletic report cited NJ Transit sources as saying that the cost of laying on services for the eight matches due to be held at MetLife Stadium -- including the final on July 19 -- would cost around $48 million.

New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill has said the state will not pass on the cost of transportation to local taxpayers.

"We are not going to be paying for moving the people who are viewing the World Cup on the back of New Jersey taxpayers and New Jersey commuters," Sherrill said on Monday.

The issue of public transport fare hikes affecting World Cup venues also emerged in Boston, where the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority confirmed earlier this month that return tickets from the city to Gillette Stadium would cost $80 -- up from the usual price of $20.

rcw/jgc

Not quite like a gig or going clubbing, but there's a new night out spreading in cities around the world: an evening at a "listening bar".

An increasing number of venues are adopting the concept, which originated in Japan, of installing high-end sound systems good enough to impress the most demanding audio geek.  

Some offer a social experience over drinks, with the music playing in the background, while others sell admission to "active listening" sessions where the songs -- and the speakers -- are the focus of hushed attention.

"It really makes you listen to every word, every instrument, every note," Camille Calloch, 31, told AFP as she left a listening session dedicated to British neo-soul star Sampha at "Listener" bar in central Paris.

"It's become one of the ways I enjoy music, along with concerts, my headphones, bars and festivals," she added.  

Listener's underground, soundproofed audio room has a system worth around 200,000 euros ($235,000) at catalogue prices, with sculptural speakers from niche Greek manufacturer Tune Audio, says co-founder Jerome Thomas.

Listening to albums there reveals subtleties that would go unnoticed in other settings, with the treble crystal-clear and the bass strong enough to be felt physically.

The idea is to combine the vibrancy of a live-music experience and the comfort of listening at home -- all in a way that responds to changes in music consumption habits.

"It's a completely different way of relating to music," Thomas explained. "It's not quick consumption like you have on streaming platforms, with small headphones.

"We really wanted people to take the time to rediscover their favorite artists."

- Sound loss -

Thomas, who worked in the medical sector before, says one of the joys of running the bar is seeing clients react to sessions dedicated to artists from Marvin Gaye to Mariah Carey.

"They come to me saying 'I thought I knew that track by heart, I've been listening to it for 15 years, but I heard new instruments, I could hear the mix from the sound engineer'," he says. 

Recorded music has never been so ubiquitous and portable, yet most people consume it on Bluetooth headphones or low-quality portable speakers, using streaming platforms as the source.

The music is being highly compressed -- in order to stream smoothly, and then to be transmitted wirelessly -- sharply reducing audio quality compared to CDs or analogue-era vinyl.

Some listening bars use high-quality streaming services such as Tidal or Qobuz but most choose vinyl -- and always with high-end cabling, and often with tube or valve amplifiers.

The vibrancy of the listening bar scene contrasts with a decline in clubbing in many cities where rising rents and changing lifestyles among younger generations have hit demand.

"There's totally been an explosion of these places lately," the co-owner of the New York listening bar Eavesdrop, Dan Wissinger, told AFP.

He and his associates opened their Brooklyn venue in 2022, with one room for active listening and the other more social.

A key feature for any self-respecting listening bar is having its rooms designed for music, he said.

"If they don't have acoustic treatment, then they're just fake listening bars," Wissinger explained. "In a hospitality space, if you don't have good damping, you're not going to be hearing music first."

- Japanese influence -

The vibrant London scene includes one of the pioneers in Europe, Brilliant Corners, as well as Jumbi, Spiritland or All My Friends.

One of the newest additions is Hidden Grooves, which was created by the Virgin Hotels group for its latest venue in the Shoreditch area of the UK capital. 

They compiled a 5,000-strong collection of vinyls, brought in a London-based sound engineering company behind clubs in Ibiza (Project Audio), and bought speakers from 100-year-old UK manufacturer Tannoy that cost around 50,000 pounds ($68,000) each.

"If I'm going out to experience music, the concept of a good listening bar checks all the boxes for me," Virgin's head of cultural entertainment, Neil Aline, told AFP.  

Like other fans of the hottest trend in night entertainment, the former DJ and club night organiser pays tribute to the originators: Japan's atmospheric and cosy "jazz kissa" bars.

"When I was touring I'd go to these bars in Tokyo and Kyoto and I was like 'wow, this is amazing,'," Aline explained. "As a music lover, it's a whole different way of experiencing music outside of live venues or clubs."  

adp/gv/cms

On a street in a suburb of Port-au-Prince, a dozen teenagers using stones for goalposts are immersed in a Sunday game of football as traffic winds around them.

Haiti has many problems, including political instability, poverty and crime. But through it all, the heart of the nation beats for football.

Haiti's qualification for this summer's World Cup has come like a breath of fresh air for the poorest nation in the Americas, whose nearly 12 million people have long grappled with gang violence that has caused a humanitarian crisis.

"Football is hope and love. It inspires pride and passion," said Salome Sandler Tally, founder and coach of the women's section of Aigle Noir AC, a professional club based in the Haitian capital. 

"Qualifying for the World Cup is something special for a country that loves football so deeply."  

The Grenadiers, as Haiti's team is known, made their only previous appearance in West Germany in 1974. 

"It is incredible to have achieved this 52 years later," Tally told AFP.

- 'Pagan ceremonies' -

In early April, the cash-strapped government allocated 264 million gourdes ($2 million) for the national football team as a qualification bonus and to help pay for World Cup preparations.

Haiti will face Brazil, Morocco, and Scotland in Group C. Their games will be played in the United States, which is co-hosting the tournament with Mexico and Canada from June 11 to July 19.

In their World Cup qualifying campaign, Haiti did not play a single match on home soil.

The nation's main venue -- the Sylvio Cator Stadium -- has been closed since February 2024 as it is located in a Port-au-Prince neighborhood controlled by gangs, as is about 90 percent of the capital. 

But the "beautiful game" is played everywhere by people who are barefoot, in flip-flops or in sneakers. They have matches on asphalt, dirt or worn-out artificial turf -- in neighborhood leagues, inter-school competitions, and tournaments involving both professional and amateur clubs.

Patrice Dumont, a former senator and sports columnist, said that in Haiti, a deeply religious nation, summer holiday leagues "are sites of pagan ceremonies that would make even the most devout fanatics blanche" -- an apparent reference to the charged atmosphere at the matches.

"You see them in every community -- provided there is space -- ranging from three-a-side matches to full 11-a-side games, always drawing massive crowds of spectators," he said.

Evens Lezin, a 49-year-old amateur player, said qualification for the World Cup will give "hope" to Haiti's youth. 

"We can move forward, but it requires discipline," he said. 

"Nowadays, many young people are delinquent. They struggle with alcohol, they smoke and they lack healthy recreational pursuits. But football can offer an escape."

- In every conversation -

The topic of football finds its way into every conversation. It bridges generational and social divides, and is talked about in restaurants, supermarkets, in living rooms and over the airwaves.

"Football is probably one of the few spaces for socialization still accessible to a large segment of the youth. It is the quintessential conversation starter," said football fan Marc Donald Orphee, 35.

Even though the majority of the men's and women's national team players play abroad, that has not diminished the public devotion's to the home side.

Pierreline Nazon, 18, a star of the women's under-20 team, compares herself to Melchie Dumornay, a Haitian midfielder for OL Lyonnes, a top French team. 

Nazon spoke to AFP as she took time out from a training session in the hills above Petion-Ville, a suburb of the capital spared from violence.

"My dream has always been to play football -- to be like Melchie, and even to surpass her," she said.

"I know I will achieve this. That is why I keep training, seizing every opportunity to play, even though the situation in Haiti is difficult."

str-cyj/nip/msp/jgc

On Andy Corriher's farm in North Carolina, planting and preparations are underway for his corn and soybean crops -- but fertilizer costs have surged on war in the Middle East, and orders he placed weeks ago have yet to arrive.

The 47-year-old is among US farmers facing a double whammy of soaring fertilizer and diesel prices after US-Israeli strikes on Iran triggered Tehran's blockage of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway for such shipments.

"This time of year is when the majority of fertilizer is put out in this country," Corriher told AFP.

"We got hit at the worst possible time, because we're trying to buy fertilizer when it skyrockets and when the supply also gets cut."

The cost hikes strike at a major support base for President Donald Trump, who won 78 percent of the 2024 vote in farming-dependent counties, said news service Investigate Midwest.

Trump blamed "price gouging from the fertilizer monopoly" on Saturday, vowing: "American Farmers, we have your back!"

But spring planting is already ongoing, with Corriher loading bags of dry fertilizer onto a tractor, hauling them to his fields.

"I've ordered several loads of liquid nitrogen a few weeks ago, and they're still saying they're not sure when it'll be delivered," Corriher said.

Since the war, Corriher estimates that the nitrogen fertilizer he uses rose by at least 40 percent in price.

The cost of urea -- a common nitrogen-based fertilizer -- had jumped by around 50 percent at the port of New Orleans.

Corriher has reduced usage by a third, a decision he worries might hurt his yields.

- 'Gut shot' -

Russell Hedrick, who farms up to 1,000 acres including corn and soybeans around Hickory, North Carolina, said around 75 percent of his fertilizer purchases were made after prices rocketed.

Like himself, many US farmers lack storage to stock up far ahead of planting, the 40-year-old told AFP, after blending fertilizers and nutrients to be sprayed on his fields.

He has cut fertilizer use to the "bare minimum," with an option to add more later.

Even before the war, rising costs meant "farmers have essentially become like Breaking Bad chemists with fertilizer, to get the most out of it," he said.

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said 80 percent of American farmers had bought fertilizer for the spring planting season before the conflict. But that's cold comfort to those who lacked funds and capacity to do so.

Those remarks were "a gut shot," said Marshville-based farmer Derrick Austin.

Austin, 55, called his supplier upon learning of the strait's blockage, knowing that costs would jump.

"Thankfully, he let me buy three loads of nitrogen at the old price per ton so I could at least fertilize my wheat crop," he said. "It was devastating."

Fertilizer supply has diminished before, like in 2021 when China restricted phosphate exports to prioritize domestic needs.

Usually, farmers can see that coming, Hedrick said.

"This year, we just kind of got blindsided."

- 'Collateral damage' -

Corriher said he has been a supporter of Trump, but added of the war: "It didn't seem like we had really thought out all the consequences to the American people."

"I feel like these things were kind of overlooked as part of collateral damage," he said.

The surge in gas and diesel prices have hit farmers and other American households: "Everybody seems to be suffering."

Asked if the war has changed perceptions of Trump, Austin said: "I'm starting to question some of his reasoning."

But to him, the Trump administration "still beats some of the alternatives."

Hedrick said he has voted for Trump thrice: "He's human like the rest of us. I think he makes good calls, I think he makes mistakes."

He said if the conflict's resolution brings "long-term peace" and a reopened Strait of Hormuz, "that's all I can hope for."

The US agriculture economy has "been in a recession for the last couple of years," said Iowa State University professor Chad Hart.

Net farm income has declined while business costs remain high.

Although margins are squeezed this year, the hit may be less than anticipated as many farmers managed to apply fertilizer last fall or earlier this spring.

But the 2027 crop would be "a big concern" if fighting persists, Hart said.

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