India's Modi eyes win in opposition-held West Bengal

President Volodymyr Zelensky said Wednesday that Russia had decided to reject efforts to halt fighting and save lives by launching fresh attacks on Ukraine, which had called a unilateral ceasefire.

His comments raise the spectre of retaliatory Ukrainian strikes on Moscow during mass public events celebrating the end of World War II on May 9, after the Kremlin announced it would hold off attacks on Ukraine that day, hoping Kyiv would do the same.

"Russia's choice is an obvious spurning of a ceasefire and of saving lives," Zelensky wrote on social media.

Ukraine, he added, had earlier vowed to "act in kind" to the Russian ceasefire proposal this weekend, when Russians typically flood streets across the country to mark victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.

"It is obvious to any reasonable person that a full-scale war and the daily murdering of people are a bad time for public 'celebrations,'" the Ukrainian leader said.

Kyiv said Russia had attacked eastern and southern Ukraine with more than 100 drones overnight, a day after Russian strikes killed almost 30 Ukrainian civilians. 

Moscow had never said it would abide by Kyiv's call to halt fire from midnight on May 6 -- a counter-truce Zelensky proposed after Russia announced a ceasefire to cover its Victory Day parade Saturday on Red Square in Moscow.

Zelensky had dismissed Russia's "utter cynicism" for calling for a ceasefire to protect the parade -- one of the most important days of the year for Russian leader Vladimir Putin -- while launching deadly strikes on his country.

- Frontline fighting -

A Ukrainian officer at the eastern front, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP: "The enemy continued to carry out infantry raids and attempts to storm our positions."

Since Russia "did not comply" with the Kyiv-suggested ceasefire, "our unit responded in kind and countered all provocations", he added. 

Another frontline commander said: "The intensity of combat operations remains at the same level."

His unit, he said, was also responding: "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth!". 

Kyiv said at least one person had been killed in the overnight strikes.

Russian forces also struck a kindergarten in the eastern border region of Sumy on Wednesday morning, killing a security guard, local officials said.

The Kremlin has not commented on the Kyiv-proposed ceasefire, only calling for Ukraine to halt attacks for May 9.

Moscow's defence ministry said it had downed 53 Ukrainian drones between 21:00 and 07:00 (1800-0400 GMT) -- far fewer than in previous days.

It did not say whether any of the drones attacked after Kyiv's unilateral truce was supposed to come into effect at midnight. 

Late on Tuesday, Ukrainian drone attacks on the north of Russian-annexed Crimea killed five people, Moscow-installed authorities in the peninsula said. 

The strike hit hours after Russia had pounded several Ukrainian cities with the deadliest attacks in weeks -- killing at least 28 people in 24 hours. 

Zelensky called on Ukraine's allies to condemn the attacks. A strike on the centre of Zaporizhzhia city, which killed 12 people, had "absolutely no military justification", he added.

- Attacks deep in Russia -

Both sides have stepped up strikes in recent weeks, and the more than four-year war has killed hundreds of thousands of soldiers and tens of thousands of civilians.

Kyiv on Tuesday hit deep inside Russia, killing two people in Cheboksary, a city on the Volga, hundreds of miles from Ukraine.

The attacks have created a sense of nervousness in Russia ahead of the May 9 parade. Moscow has said it will remove military hardware from the procession for the first time in almost 20 years. 

It has also started intermittent city-wide internet shutdowns lasting until Saturday.

Zelensky has called this a sign of weakness, saying: "They fear drones may buzz over Red Square." 

Talks on ending what has spiralled into Europe's worst conflict since World War II have shown little progress and have been sidelines by the Iran conflict. 

Moscow is demanding that Ukraine withdraw from four regions it claims as its own -- terms seen as unacceptable to Kyiv. 

bur-oc-jbr/jc/jj

Paris gets a taste of Nigeria's film industry on Wednesday with the start of the NollywoodWeek festival, with movies exploring love, family and duty, shorts and documentaries.

Now in its 13th edition, the NOW festival this week showcases films not only from Nigeria's Nollywood but also Ghanaian, Kenyan and Senegalese productions and filmmakers from the African diaspora.

"With my partners, we came to the realisation that a city like Paris just could not ignore the cultural phenomenon that Nollywood had become," co-founder Serge Noukoue told AFP about the festival, which began in 2013. 

"We just thought it was an opportunity to change the narrative around African film."

Last year, for the first time a Nollywood movie "My Father's Shadow" scored an official slot at Cannes, marking another step for an industry long seen as producing a stream of low-budget dramas.

The rise of streaming services and the growing popularity of African music such as Afrobeats and Amapiano has helped expose film culture to new audiences -- as well as increasing quality, access and funding.

But producers still struggle to reach outside Africa beyond the diaspora despite making many more films every year than Hollywood. India's Bollywood is the largest in terms of numbers produced.

- A 'lab for what's coming' -

The five-day NOW festival, based in the Paris classic arthouse L'Arlequin, showcases films such as "East West Love" a love story between Nigeria and Kenya, and "Evi Superstar", about a rising Nigerian singer forced to rebuild her career.

"Mothers of Chibok" looks at the impact of the kidnapping of the Chibok girls by jihadists in Nigeria in 2014, while "Batwing Unmasked: An African Superhero" examines the first African superhero in DC Comics universe.

Though streaming has given African film a wider audience and greater revenues, Nollywood is still growing more professional and structured, Noukoue said.

"I think we're looking at an industry that is ambitious, but that doesn't necessarily have the means to sustain that ambition at the moment," he said.

"We are in a place where there are a lot of things that are needed for Nollywood to actually reach its potential."

NollywoodWeek is a "lab for what's coming" and to showcase the creativity out of the continent.

Panels this week will look at music rights and AI in film.

"We want to break those boundaries and break those walls," Noukoue said. "But it's a lot of work to get to that."

pma/jj

Indonesia's government is mulling an e-commerce ban for under-16s, the communications minister told AFP Wednesday, hot on the heels of Jakarta imposing a sweeping social media prohibition for teens.

"E-commerce (platforms) are next, because we found children who became scam victims through e-commerce," Communications and Digital Minister Meutya Hafid said in an interview in Jakarta, without providing further details.

In March, app-addicted Indonesia started enforcing a social media ban for under-16s in a bid to shield some 70 million children from the threats of online pornography, cyberbullying and internet addiction. 

The policy followed Australia's landmark move in December to stop teenagers holding accounts on many popular platforms.

The Indonesian regulation initially targeted eight "high risk" platforms: YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, streaming service Bigo Live and gaming platform Roblox. 

But it will eventually apply to "all digital platforms", Meutya said Wednesday, including online shopping sites.

The Southeast Asian archipelago of more than 284 million people boasts among the highest concentration of social media users in the world.

Meutya said the government's aim was to help parents take on the "big platforms" to protect their children.

"Letting them face off against (the platforms) alone, without rules, is like letting parents play chess against a grandmaster. They won't win, or it will be very hard to win," Meutya told AFP.

- Global reckoning -

Roblox became the latest platform to comply with the new regulations, introducing age verification technology and restricting content based on users' age, the government said last week.

More than half of Roblox's 45 million Indonesian users are children under 16, the government said.

Social media giants are facing a global reckoning as governments increasingly worry about their impact on users' wellbeing.

The Turkish parliament last month approved a law to prevent children under 15 accessing social media platforms.

Some European countries, including Norway, Greece, France, Spain and Denmark, have said they will introduce similar restrictions.

Like in Australia, the Indonesian rules place the onus on platforms to regulate teen access.

Non-compliance with the ban, which will be phased in over time, will put defaulters at risk of a fine or even suspension of their services in the country.

mrc/mlr/mtp

President Donald Trump said he was pausing the US military operation to guide stranded commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz shortly after it began, citing a chance to seal a deal that would end two months of war with Iran.

The US leader said Washington's blockade of Iranian ports would remain in place as Tehran kept up its own closure of the vital trade route in response to the US-Israeli war on the country, which has rocked markets and spiked fuel prices.

Trump wrote on social media that the decision to halt his so-called "Project Freedom" a day after it began came after requests from "mediator Pakistan and other countries", saying "Great Progress has been made toward a Complete and Final Agreement" with Tehran.

"We have mutually agreed that, while the Blockade will remain in full force and effect, Project Freedom... will be paused for a short period of time to see whether or not the Agreement can be finalized and signed," Trump wrote late Tuesday.

The decision means more than 22,000 seafarers and 1,500 commercial ships are still waiting to transit the strait, according to US officials.

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif -- a key mediator in the Middle East war -- wrote on X that he was "hopeful" the current momentum would bring help bring an end to the conflict with a "lasting agreement."

Trump made the abrupt U-turn as Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Beijing for talks on Wednesday, his first trip to Tehran's close ally since the beginning of the war.

According to Iranian state TV, Araghchi told Wang that Tehran would "only accept a fair and comprehensive agreement."

After the talks, Wang called for an end to hostilities and for both countries to reopen the Strait of Hormuz "as soon as possible," his ministry said.

Before the visit, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a vocal China critic, called on Beijing to put pressure on Araghchi to end the blockade of the crucial waterway.

"I hope the Chinese tell him (Araghchi) what he needs to be told, and that is that what you were doing in the straits is causing you to be globally isolated," Rubio said.

- Oil tumbles -

Trump's tone came hours after Rubio said the US had completed its offensive operations against Iran.

Investors welcomed the decision to pause the ship-guiding plan, with Brent oil price tumbling more than five percent and West Texas Intermediate back below $100 a barrel.

Araghchi was visiting China days before Trump is also scheduled to visit on May 14 and 15 to meet President Xi Jinping -- a trip he had delayed due to the war.

The Iranian minister later held a phone call about the war with Saudi Arabia's foreign minister, Iranian media said, as back-channel diplomacy to find a solution continues.

But progress in talks has largely stalled since a first round of negotiations in Pakistan last month ended without a deal as Tehran maintains its grip on the Hormuz strait, giving it key leverage.

Despite Rubio's announcement of the end to "Operation Epic Fury", the standoff in the vital waterway has led to claims of attacks by both sides.

Iran fired missiles and drones at US forces on Monday, while Washington said it struck six Iranian boats it accused of threatening commercial shipping.

The United Arab Emirates said it had engaged a barrage of missiles and drones from Iran for the second consecutive day on Tuesday -- an accusation denied by Tehran.

It was the sharpest escalation since a truce took effect on April 8.

A container ship owned by French shipping company CMA CGM was also the "target of an attack" in the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, the major shipping firm said.

- 'High alert' -

Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said Washington was "not looking for a fight" over the waterway and downplayed the latest Iranian attacks while warning that any more would be met with a "devastating response".

Washington and Gulf have meanwhile drafted a UN Security Council resolution demanding Tehran halt attacks, disclose the location of mines and end efforts to charge tolls, Rubio said.

The proposed measure would also require Iran to support a humanitarian corridor, with a vote expected in the coming days.

Despite that resolution, Iran's powerful chief negotiator said on Tuesday that Tehran "had not even started yet" in the Hormuz strait.

On another front, Israel's military on Wednesday issued a new evacuation warning for a dozen villages in southern Lebanon.

Israeli bombardment later hit at least two villages including one near a 12-century Crusader-era castle, according to AFP images. 

Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah have kept up their attacks despite a ceasefire in Lebanon.

On Iran, Israel's new air force chief said Tuesday the country was prepared to deploy its entire fleet of fighter jets against Iran if necessary.

Israel's military chief of staff Eyal Zamir also said the country remained "on high alert across all fronts". 

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Venezuela's rights to the oil-rich territory of Essequibo are "inalienable", its representative told the top UN court on Wednesday at hearings aimed at resolving a centuries-old border dispute with Guyana.

The International Court of Justice in The Hague is holding a week of hearings between the two countries over the row that has at times threatened to spill over into military action.

"Venezuela's historical rights are inalienable and Venezuela is determined to defend them peacefully," Samuel Reinaldo Moncada Acosta told the court.

The pair have been wrangling over the region since the 1800s, with the dispute intensifying after ExxonMobil discovered massive offshore oil deposits a decade ago, giving Guyana the largest crude oil reserves per capita in the world.

The Essequibo region comprises more than two thirds of Guyana, which currently administers it.

Neighbouring Venezuela, however, claims the territory, which runs roughly along the western side of an eponymous river over an area of 160,000 square kilometres (62,000 square miles).

ICJ judges have been asked to rule on the validity of the border established between the two countries in 1899 under British colonial rule.

Venezuela argues that the border should be drawn in accordance with a later document from 1966 signed before Guyana gained its independence.

It says that the Essequibo River, located much farther east than the current border, is the natural frontier, as it was in 1777 under Spanish colonial rule.

- 'Existential' case -

In testimony on Monday, Guyana's Foreign Minister Hugh Hilton Todd told judges the case had "an existential quality for Guyana" with more than 70 percent of its territory at stake.

"For the Guyanese people, it is tragic even to think about having our country dismembered by stripping from us a vast majority of our land, together with its people, its history, its traditions and customs, its resources and precious ecology," he said.

Venezuela's Acosta dismissed this argument.

"The characterisation by Guyana of an alleged threat to its territorial integrity or to its sovereign territory constitutes a flagrant misinterpretation. a deliberately misleading presentation of both facts and law," he told judges.

The ICJ, which seeks to resolve disputes between states, will hold hearings until Monday but a ruling is likely to take months if not years.

The court's decisions are binding but it has no power to ensure that they are upheld.

Acosta reiterated Venezuela's stance that the ICJ had no power to rule on the case.

"Our historical experience has taught us that delegating vital matters... to international judicial bodies has been detrimental to our sovereignty and our territorial integrity," he said.

"As a result, Venezuela has never agreed to submit this controversy to the court's jurisdiction."

ric/cw

Fear and distrust took hold in Moscow soon after Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine in 2022. 

Some officials and businesspeople started removing their smartwatches ahead of sensitive meetings, fearing possible surveillance or eavesdropping by security services, or leaving their cell phones in briefcases.

"The level of paranoia people are forced to live under is such that they are essentially afraid even to think -- let alone to speak," Alexandra Prokopenko, a former Russian central bank official, said in an interview in Paris. 

"It's fear of an absolutely paranoid, Stalinist kind."

Prokopenko, a former insider and the author of a recent book about the Russian elites, said some officials resorted to unorthodox methods to protect themselves against listening devices.

One young deputy minister was so afraid of surveillance that he sat on his phone during a meeting in a chic cafe in 2022. 

When it rang, he blushed -- the muffled ringtone came from under his backside.

He pulled out the iPhone, glanced at the screen, muttered, "In a meeting," silenced the device and sat back on it again, according to Prokopenko's book, whose English-language edition will be published later this year.

"From Sovereigns to Servants. How the War Against Ukraine Reshaped Russia's Elite" is based on in-depth interviews with Russian officials and businesspeople, and examines how elites embraced and enabled Putin's war despite their initial shock.

- 'Not an idiot' - 

Prokopenko, 40, served as an adviser to the first deputy chairman of the central bank before the invasion.

Before that, she was a member of the tight-knit Kremlin press pool, including for Vedomosti, a then respected business newspaper, for nearly a decade until she lost her accreditation in 2017 as Moscow began tightening the screws.

She granted all sources anonymity to allow them to speak candidly.

Few believed Putin would invade Ukraine despite troops massing on the border for months.

"The old man is of course a psycho, but not an idiot," Prokopenko quoted one source as saying.

The start of the war came as a shock, with Putin undoing decades of efforts to create a Western-style market economy in Russia.

"Thousands of people spent decades building businesses," one critical voice was quoted as saying. "Putin tore everything apart in just a few months."

Early on, unsuccessful attempts were made to persuade Putin to stop the hostilities, but soon after the elites embraced the war.

Igor Shuvalov, previously seen as a top liberal government figure, was among the first to support the war.

The chairman of state development bank VEB showed up at a birthday party wearing a T-shirt featuring the letter Z, a symbol of Moscow's invasion, according to Prokopenko's account.

She said none of the people she spoke with supported the war, but none risked saying so publicly.

"It won't change anything and it won't help anyone," she quoted a source as saying. "And besides, it's scary."

While some, like Prokopenko, resigned and left the country, there were no mass resignations in the state sector. 

Some officials were placed under sanctions, while others did not want to lose their cushy jobs and felt their expertise was needed at a critical time for Russia.

- 'Sycophants and flunkies' - 

According to Prokopenko, members of the elite do not see themselves as responsible for "the catastrophe in the country brought about by Putinism". But they also lack agency to enact change.

Fearful for their assets, freedom and life, they have become "sycophants and flunkies, attuned to the autocrat's moods".

Prokopenko said the upper classes were tired of the conflict, uncertainty and repression.

"Everyone very much wants the war to end," she said.

She was surprised to learn that, while many feared for their interests when mercenary chief Evgeny Prigozhin staged a short-lived mutiny in 2023, they also saw his rebellion as an opportunity for change. 

Perceptions of Putin have shifted.

Whereas many referred to him as the "boss" in earlier years, the 73‑year‑old Kremlin chief, who has been in power since 2000, is now called the "old man".

"Putin has massively mortgaged the future," she said.

Prokopenko said elites were "deeply resentful toward the West" and reviving ties with Moscow after Putin would not be easy.

"The chances of democratic, liberal change are not very high," she said.

Prokopenko left Russia in March 2022. She went to Kazakhstan and then Serbia before arriving in Germany where she now studies Russian government policymaking at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Centre. 

In 2025, Moscow declared her a "foreign agent", a label reserved for Kremlin critics.

Prokopenko said she cannot visit Russia but has no regrets.

"For me, the war became a transformative event," she said.

"It brought about a major crisis of self-identity."

as/ah/yad

The latest developments in the Middle East war:

- China calls for 'complete' end to war -

China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi called for an end to hostilities in the Middle East and for the United States and Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz "as soon as possible", during talks with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi.

"China considers that a complete cessation of fighting must be achieved without delay, that it is even more unacceptable to restart hostilities, and that continuing to negotiate remains essential," he said, according to a statement from his ministry after the talks.

- Oil prices slide -

Oil prices fell on Wednesday, with West Texas Intermediate briefly dipping below $100 a barrel, extending losses from Tuesday.

The cheaper oil prices provided support to equities, with investors taking their cue from another record day for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq, fuelled again by tech firms.

- French ship targeted  -

French shipping company CMA CGM said one of its vessels, the CMA CGM San Antonio was targeted by an attack in the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday. It said some crew were injured and had been evacuated.

- Israel warning -

Israel's military issued an evacuation warning for a dozen villages in south Lebanon ahead of expected strikes, despite a truce with Lebanon intended to halt fighting with Iran-backed Hezbollah.

- US demands action from new Iraq PM -

The United States is looking for "concrete actions" by Iraq's next prime minister to distance the state from pro-Iran armed groups before resuming financial and security aid, a senior official said Tuesday after talks between US President Donald Trump and new Iraqi leader Ali al-Zaidi.

- Lufthansa warns of risks -

Germany's Lufthansa joined airlines warning of the risks from the Middle East war to warned Wednesday of rising risks to the firm's financial performance and potential shortages of jet fuel.

Lufthansa said that it has already locked in the price for about 80 percent of its 2026 fuel supplies, but extra kerosene costs would amount to 1.7 billion euros ($2.0 billion) this year.

- US pauses Hormuz escorts -

President Donald Trump said Tuesday he was halting the US military operation to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz after just one day, in a bid to reach a deal with Iran to end the Middle East war.

Trump's so-called "Project Freedom" to help vessels leave the strait began on Monday.

But the US leader said on Truth Social that he was now pausing it after a request by mediator Pakistan and other countries, saying that "Great Progress has been made toward a Complete and Final Agreement" with Tehran.

- Rubio, Lavrov talk Iran, Ukraine -

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke by telephone with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov about the Middle East war and the Ukraine conflict, according to the State Department.

Rubio later said that the United States has completed its offensive operations against Iran. "The operation is over -- Epic Fury -- as the president notified Congress. We're done with that stage of it," Rubio told reporters at the White House.

burs-tw/yad

Evacuations were taking place Wednesday from a cruise ship stricken with a deadly outbreak of hantavirus, the World Health Organization said, as experts confirmed a rare strain that can be transmitted between humans.

Three people -- two crew members and one other person -- thought to be infected with the virus were being taken off the MV Hondius, anchored off Cape Verde, the WHO said. 

"The three of them are stable, and one of the three is asymptomatic," Ann Lindstrand, the WHO representative in Cape Verde, told AFP. 

The ship has been at the centre of an international health scare since Saturday, when the UN's health agency was informed that three passengers had died and the suspected cause was hantavirus -- a rare disease usually spread from infected rodents typically through urine, droppings and saliva.

The Dutch-flagged cruise ship set sail from Ushuaia in Argentina on April 1 and has been anchored off Cape Verde since Sunday while emergency teams try to deal with a situation.

The ship's Dutch operator Oceanwide Expeditions had said on Tuesday that two seriously ill crew members -- one British, one Dutch -- and a passenger would be taken off the ship and flown to the Netherlands, allowing the vessel to sail on to Spain's Canary Islands.

Health experts raised concern that a wider outbreak could be on the cards after a Dutch woman with symptoms left the ship and was flown on a passenger plane to Johannesburg, where she later died on April 26.

Efforts are under way to trace people on that flight, which South African-based carrier Airlink said was carrying 82 passengers and six crew.

On Wednesday the Swiss health ministry also confirmed that a cruise ship passenger had been hospitalised with hantavirus in Zurich. 

South Africa's health minister Aaron Motsoaledi told a parliament committee on Wednesday that tests had found the Andes strain, the only one that can be passed between humans.

"But as we said, we want to repeat again, such transmission is very rare and only happens due to very close contact between people," the minister said.

The Geneva University Hospital also confirmed it was the Andes strain, adding that it was behind all three deaths from the ship.

Some passengers and crew have been in isolation after Cape Verde authorities barred the ship from docking. The ship is anchored just off the island nation's capital Praia.

Spain's health ministry said on Tuesday the ship was due to arrive in the Canaries in "three to four days", adding that the island chain was the closest place with the necessary facilities.

The cruise counted 88 passengers and 59 crew members, with 23 nationalities onboard, the WHO said.

Two hantavirus cases have been confirmed -- including one of the fatalities and a British passenger currently in intensive care in Johannesburg -- with five further suspected cases, the WHO said earlier.

The WHO was trying to work out how hantavirus had appeared on the ship, with the first person who died having developed symptoms on April 6.

Human-to-human transmission has only been reported in previous outbreaks of one specific hantavirus called Andes virus, which circulates in South America.

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A cousin of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet said Wednesday he owned a 30 percent stake in a digital payments platform linked to cyberscams and money laundering and sanctioned by Washington.

The US government last year accused Huione Group, which owned several companies offering e-commerce, payment and cryptocurrency exchange services, including Huione Pay, of laundering funds for transnational criminal groups perpetrating scams from Southeast Asia.

Huione's former chairman, Li Xiong, was extradited to China last month. Chinese authorities say he was central to a major transnational gambling and fraud syndicate and is suspected of multiple crimes.

"I would like to inform the public that I have indeed owned 30 percent of shares in HUIONE PAY PLC," businessman Hun To said in a statement.

Li owned 62 percent of Huione Pay's shares, while Hun To owned 30 percent, according to a report by liquidator Reachs & Partners.

Huione Pay's liquidation was completed in October 2025, it said.

Hun To said he did not manage the business operations of Huione Pay and "never received any profits, dividends or assets from that company".

The premier's relative was previously listed as a director of Huione Pay on the commerce ministry's online business registry.

Huione Pay had a net cash balance of more than $1.1 million after all creditors were paid, and the remaining funds were distributed to "actual shareholders responsible for the company's past operations", the liquidator said.

"I received no share of the remaining money after the liquidation," Hun To said.

Since last month, protesters have demanded the unfreezing of their accounts with the Huione platform H-Pay, previously Huione Pay, which they said have been inaccessible since December.

The National Bank of Cambodia has said the Huione platforms' business licences have been revoked, and Huione Pay creditors should go to the courts, while creditors of the newer entity, H-Pay, can make claims with the liquidator.

- Scam hotspot -

The US Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) designated Phnom Penh-based Huione Group a "primary money-laundering concern" last year, and prohibited US financial institutions from processing transactions with it.

FinCEN said the conglomerate had received at least $4 billion worth of illegal proceeds between August 2021 and January 2025. That included proceeds from scams, stolen funds and illicit cyber actors.

Beijing has called Huione's Li "a core member" of the criminal gang of Chen Zhi, another Chinese-born accused scam boss who was operating from Cambodia before being extradited to China this year.

Cambodia has emerged as a hub for the transnational scam industry in recent years, with organised crime groups initially mostly targeting Chinese speakers before widening their reach and stealing tens of billions of dollars annually from victims around the world.

From casinos, hotels and fortified compounds, scammers -- some willing, others trafficked -- operate fake romantic relationships and cryptocurrency investment schemes, enticing targets via social media and messaging platforms to hand over funds and personal information.

Cambodian authorities say they are cracking down, detaining and deporting more than 13,000 foreign nationals involved in online scams since early last year.

Monitors have accused senior Cambodian officials of complicity -- allegations the government has denied.

But in recent months, authorities have announced charges against several police and immigration officials accused of involvement with cyberscams.

suy/sco/tc

Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth invited Christian nationalist pastor Doug Wilson, who opposes a woman's right to vote, to preach at the Defense Department earlier this year.

Six months before, Hegseth attended the first service of a new church set up in Washington by Wilson's small Idaho-based denomination, called the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches (CREC).

The network of about 160 congregations around the world, of which Hegseth is a member, holds deeply conservative, patriarchal views about family, society and the role of religion in politics.

Among them: Women should submit to their husbands and America was founded as a Christian nation -- a concept most scholars reject.

The new congregation, Christ Church Washington, located close to Congress, started a few months after President Donald Trump's second inauguration.

"We knew that there would be people who would be interested in the kind of theological vision and cultural vision that we are putting forward," Joe Rigney, a CREC pastor who has preached there several times, told AFP.

"While our nation was founded as a Christian nation, one that acknowledged that God was over everything, we drifted from that.

"Our effort is to go to DC and to remind anybody who will listen from top to bottom -- from cabinet secretaries and senators down to baristas and housewives -- that Jesus is Lord," he said.

- 'Poster boy' -

Hegseth, a former Fox News host who sports a tattoo of the Crusader rallying cry "Deus Vult" -- "God wills it" -- on his bicep, has given Wilson's network and the Christian nationalism it embraces greater visibility.

This ideology, which seeks to fuse American and Christian identities, has been around for decades, but it has gained ground during Trump's administrations.

Hegseth, who has shared videos featuring Wilson and wrote a book titled "American Crusade," has incorporated overtly religious language into his public statements.

"Let every round find its mark against the enemies of righteousness and our great nation," he prayed in a March service at the Pentagon soon after the war with Iran began.

"Pete Hegseth is kind of the poster boy for this militant Christianity and militant patriarchy," said Calvin University history professor Kristin du Mez.

Planting a church in Washington is key to Wilson's goal of converting the American capital from a "Babylon" -- a city often used in the Bible to symbolize pride and idolatry -- into a "New Jerusalem," according to his blogpost.

Long considered a fringe figure even among evangelical Christians -- among Trump's staunchest backers -- Wilson has gradually been moving "into the mainstream," said du Mez.

- A Christian nation? -

Most scholars and historians reject the notion that the United States was founded as a Christian nation, pointing to a lack of references to Jesus or Christianity in the Constitution or other founding documents.

That belief is "very much a projection of their own interpretation of Christianity," said Sam Perry, a professor at Baylor University who has followed CREC closely.

Perry and other experts also say that the Constitution's First Amendment, which bars Congress from establishing any state religion and guarantees religious freedom, ensures the separation of church and state.

Wilson regularly shares his opinion about politics and current events in his blog posts, debating whether the war in Iran is a "just war" and expressing opposition to the 19th Amendment that gave women the right to vote. 

Instead, he believes that heads of households -- typically men -- should vote for the family.

In the eyes of CREC, significant political victories include the overturning of Roe v. Wade, which enshrined the constitutional right to abortion, Rigney said.

Rigney also said they are praying for the reversal of the Obergefell decision that legalized same-sex marriage.

Another priority would be immigration, which is one of the reasons why America has "drifted away from our Christian roots," he added.

Christian nationalists had some influence under former president Ronald Reagan in the 1980s, but they were not taken as seriously as they are today, said Julie Ingersoll, a religion professor at the University of North Florida.

Recently, "the rhetoric is getting more virulent in public," she said.

As for Christ Church Washington, Rigney said that his community wants a sustainable presence, independent of "election cycles." 

"If the administration changes, how does that impact the church?" he said. "We're not sure yet. We'll have to wait and see.

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