Iran's Gulf islands: are they in Trump's crosshairs?

A Russian oil tanker was set to deliver the first crude shipment to Cuba since January on Tuesday after Washington gave the crisis-hit island a reprieve from an effective fuel blockade.

The Anatoly Kolodkin, a tanker under US sanctions, was on its way to the port of Matanzas, east of Havana, with 730,000 barrels of crude.

US President Donald Trump's decision to let Russia deliver the oil avoids a confrontation with Moscow and provides temporary relief to a country that has endured blackouts, fuel rationing and dwindling public transportation.

"We'll welcome it with open arms. You have no idea how badly we need that oil," said Rosa Perez, a 74-year-old retiree whose home in Matanzas had lost power again.

"Let's see if things improve for us, even just a little... I can't take it anymore," she told AFP, voicing hope that more shipments will follow.

Trump said Sunday that he did not object to Russia or others sending oil to the island because Cubans "have to survive."

The White House denied however that there was any change to US sanctions policy.

"We allowed this ship to reach Cuba in order to provide humanitarian needs to the Cuban people. These decisions are being made on a case-by-case basis," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said.

- Driving Cuba 'to the brink' -

Cuba was cut off from oil supplies in January after US forces ousted its main regional ally, Venezuela's socialist leader Nicolas Maduro, and Trump threatened tariffs on countries that send crude to the country.

The US president has mused about "taking" the communist-ruled island, though Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel confirmed in March that Cuban and US officials had held talks.

Ricardo Herrero, executive director of the Cuba Study Group, a nonpartisan policy group in Washington, said the aim of restricting oil was to force Havana "to make real concessions at the negotiating table."

"The strategy here is to drive the system to the brink," Herrero told AFP. "But it's not to precipitate a full-blown societal or humanitarian collapse."

"It's all consistent with idea that the US holds all the cards and they'll decide when to hold, when to fold and when they go all in," he said.

- Two weeks of diesel -

Cubans have endured seven nationwide blackouts since 2024, including two in March, and fuel prices have soared.

The blackouts as well as persistent shortages of food and medicine have fueled public frustration and some rare protests.

Analysts said the Russian oil would buy the Cuban economy only a few weeks.

Jorge Pinon, an expert on Cuba's energy sector at the University of Texas at Austin, said the more urgent need is diesel, which could be used for backup power generators or for transportation systems to keep the economy running.

It would take a month to refine the oil and deliver the diesel, which would be enough to cover demand for about two weeks, he said.

Herrero said the shipment was just "another donation" by Cuba's Russian ally, but he doubted that Moscow wanted to subsidize the Cuban economy in the long term.

"This is not going to help the economy recover," he said. "This is just humanitarian aid."

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Iran fired missiles across the Middle East on Tuesday as its capital was hit by fresh explosions, after US President Donald Trump threatened the country's key oil export hub, power stations and desalination plants.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump's partner in attacking Iran, said more than half of his military aims had been achieved, but both leaders refused to put a timeline on an operation that has ignited a month-long regional war and jolted global markets.

As sirens rang out in Jerusalem, Israel's military said it had responded to fresh Iranian missiles, while local Iranian media reported new explosions in Tehran that caused "power outages in parts" of the capital.

Israel's military also reported Tuesday that four more of its soldiers had been killed in combat in southern Lebanon, where the war has spilled and where they are clashing with Iranian-backed Hezbollah. 

Before the latest strikes on Tehran, Israel issued a warning on X to residents of an area in the west of the city saying it would "attack military infrastructure" there.

Iran, meanwhile, fired a new salvo of missiles at Gulf nations it accuses of serving as a launchpad for US strikes.

In Dubai, four people were wounded by falling debris from intercepted projectiles while an Iranian attack sparked a fire at a Kuwaiti oil tanker in the city's port, said authorities in the financial hub whose reputation for stability has been shaken by the conflict.

In Saudi Arabia, authorities said they intercepted eight ballistic missiles, hours after Iran's top diplomat called on Riyadh to "eject US forces".

Trump warned Monday that if Iran did not strike a war-ending deal -- which included reopening the vital Strait of Hormuz shipping lane -- US forces would destroy "all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island (and possibly all desalinization plants!)."

But the Wall Street Journal reported he also told aides he was willing to end the war even if the strait remains largely closed --likely strengthening Tehran's control on the waterway.

Refusing to back down, an Iranian parliamentary committee voted to impose tolls on vessels in the strait, the passageway through which one-fifth of global oil passes, and completely ban ships from the United States and Israel.

The strait had been open before the war, but Secretary of State Marco Rubio has recently spoken of building a "coalition" to oppose the Iranian tolling plan.

"It sets an incredible precedent," Rubio told Al-Jazeera of the tolls.

"So this means that nations can now take over international waterways and claim them as their own," Rubio said of the waterway the US president recently called the "Strait of Trump".

- War 'beyond halfway point' -

Trump said the United States was speaking to a "more reasonable regime" in Tehran, which has denied any talks and accused him of lying about negotiations as cover while readying a ground invasion.

For Israel's part, Netanyahu said his military had achieved key objectives including "wiping out" industrial plants in Iran and coming "close to finishing their arms industry".

"It's definitely beyond the halfway point. But I don't want to put a schedule on it," Netanyahu told US broadcaster Newsmax.

The war, and the spiraling price of oil, has been unpopular in the United States, where Rubio again said Monday that it would last "weeks" more and not months.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, whose country is feeling the economic pinch of the war, appealed directly to Trump to find an offramp.

"Please, help us to stop the war; you are capable of it," Sisi told a press conference. 

Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, whose country is acting as an intermediary between Tehran and Washington, was set to travel to Beijing for talks Tuesday on "global issues of mutual interest" with counterpart Wang Yi.

Dar hosted foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkey in the Pakistani capital on Sunday, saying Islamabad was ready to host talks between the United States and Iran in the "coming days".

Trump has claimed to be in direct contact with senior Iranian figures whom he has not identified publicly.

But Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei again denied any negotiations, saying the United States had sent only a request to talk via intermediaries, including Pakistan.

After weeks of strikes, residents of Tehran painted a picture of a city that is still clinging to some routine despite tight security.

"When I make it to a cafe table, even for a few minutes, I can almost believe the world hasn't ended," said Fatemeh, 27, a dental assistant.

"And then I go back home, back to the reality of living through war, with all its darkness and weight."

- Lebanon pounded -

On another front, Israel has relentlessly pounded Lebanon, including central Beirut, as it seeks to deliver a heavy blow to Iranian ally Hezbollah, which fired rockets in response to the killing of Iran's supreme leader, Ali Khamenei.

The UN mission in Lebanon said that two Indonesian peacekeepers were killed when "an explosion of unknown origin destroyed their vehicle", with two other peacekeepers wounded, one seriously. Another Indonesian peacekeeper was killed on Sunday.

The Israeli military said early Tuesday that it had opened an investigation to determine if it or Hezbollah was responsible.

France, a key player in Lebanon, called for an urgent UN Security Council meeting, which was subsequently scheduled for Tuesday at 1400 GMT.

Economy ministers and central bankers from the G7 club of rich countries, meanwhile, met in Paris to discuss the war's consequences, with many countries introducing energy-saving measures.

Market experts warned that any US ground operation or wider Iranian retaliation could send oil prices to levels not seen since the 2008 commodity boom.

Adding pressure, Yemen's Iranian-backed Houthi rebels over the weekend fired missiles and drones at Israel, posing a threat to shipping on the Red Sea in addition to the Gulf.

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Indonesia issued summons letters to Google and Meta over their failure to comply with a social media ban for under-16s that entered into force over the weekend, the communications minister said.

In a video posted on Instagram late Monday, Minister Meutya Hafid said "the government is sending summons letters" to Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and Threads, as well as to Google, which oversees YouTube, adding they "violated Indonesian law".

The summonses were issued "as part of the application of administrative sanctions in accordance with the applicable provisions", the minister added.

App-addicted Indonesia began enforcing a social media ban for users under the age of 16 on Saturday, citing threats from online pornography, cyberbullying and internet addiction, as concerns grow globally over the impact of social media on children's well-being.

Australia, which in December became the first country to introduce measures to protect teens from online threats, is investigating Facebook, TikTok and YouTube for possible breaches.

Meutya said over the weekend there would be "no room for compromise regarding compliance".

In Monday's video, she accused Google and Meta of having opposed the new regulations "from the very beginning".

She named TikTok and Roblox as examples of platforms not yet fully compliant but "making efforts". They will receive warning letters.

"We will focus on working with platforms that have the goodwill to respect Indonesia, not only as a digital market, but also (by) committing to Indonesian laws and legal instruments for child protection," she said.

Indonesia, with its population of over 284 million, boasts among the most social media users in the world, including about 70 million children under the age of 16.

"We understand this is not easy. Indonesia is indeed one of the most active countries in the digital space, with average scrolling time of 7–8 hours per day," said the minister.

She urged parents and children to help the government monitor compliance and report companies that flout the law.

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In India's capital, Hindu "bhajan clubbing" is electrifying nightlife, with revellers dancing to traditional devotional songs reimagined through guitars and pounding drumbeats, transforming public venues into spiritual hangouts.

ChaiLeela, a cafe in the suburb of Noida, crackled with energy as devotees swayed to rhythmic riffs soaring into crescendos in songs praising the deity Krishna.

"I felt energised and alive," said Himanshu Gupta, a 30-year-old IT professional and regular attendee of the song nights.

Bhajans -- devotional songs with ancient roots in Hinduism -- have long been used as a spiritual bridge between the individual and the divine.

But "bhajan clubbing" represents a modern twist that is gaining traction in New Delhi, which hosted at least five major devotional concerts in March alone, drawing tens of thousands.

One open-air event this month -- at the grounds of the 16th-century Purana Qila fort -- drew about 7,000 devotees, with the atmosphere resembling a rave more than a religious gathering.

"It provides an opportunity for our youth to connect with devotion and spirituality," said Aishwarya Gupta, 31, a nuclear physicist attending the concert, her face dotted with both paint and religious marks. "It feels great to be here."

Musicians performed devotional hits backed by guitars and drums as crowds danced in a near-trance.

"It is a calming feeling," said Kumar Shubham, a 27-year-old doctor and fitness influencer, who said the events also instilled "pride" in Indians.

"When we see today's youth, they seem more interested in things other than religious matters," said businessman Jay Ahuja, 28. "But this... shows them the right path... it's a good way to connect with God."

- 'Spirituality, not spirits' -

The phenomenon reflects a broader revival of public expressions of Hindu identity in India, alongside the growing political and cultural influence of Hindu populist narratives.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has backed the trend, noting that bhajan traditions had been the "soul of Indian culture for centuries".

The 75-year-old Hindu nationalist leader has praised how bhajan clubbing "incorporated the spirit of devotion into the youth's experiences and lifestyles", speaking in his weekly radio broadcast in January.

When tens of thousands packed Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium for a devotional show this month -- with electric guitars and drum beats projected by giant speakers -- it was introduced by Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, a member of Modi's party.

Nikunj Gupta, 26, who organised the devotional music festival at Purana Qila, said that "spirituality is necessary to unite the next generation".

He said such events offered young people a festive atmosphere without the alcohol commonly associated with concerts in Delhi, which some conservative Hindus frown upon.

"It gives them a medium to explore a different activity, rather than going to a regular club where they have to consume alcohol with friends," he said.

"We want the youth to be high on spirituality, not spirits."

The movement is also spreading beyond India. In neighbouring Hindu-majority Nepal, more than 3,000 people attended a bhajan club night in February.

"We wanted to raise the interests of youths in bhajans -- the essence of the music remains the same, but we deliver it in a bit more modern style," the night's co-founder, Abhishek Adhikari, 28, told AFP.

"It is for anyone who wants to begin their spiritual journey... People really enjoy it -- and it is growing popular."

In India, fashion figure Ratnadeep Lal compared the shows to flashy international concerts.

"I have attended many international concerts, such as Shakira," he said. "This kind of initiative in India, which uses devotional music to teach and connect with the next generation, is very good."

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Victor Wembanyama bagged a season-high 41 points and scored the fastest double-double in NBA history as the San Antonio Spurs rolled to a ninth straight victory with a 129-114 blowout of the Chicago Bulls on Monday.

Another dominant all-round offensive performance saw the Spurs pull away decisively after outscoring Chicago 35-19 in the second quarter, after only one point separated the two sides after the first period.

French star Wembanyama was once again the pivotal figure for San Antonio, who have emerged as genuine NBA title contenders since the mid-season All-Star Break with 19 wins and only two losses.

Wembanyama finished Monday's game with 41 points, 16 rebounds, four assists, three blocks and a steal in a performance which underscored his status as one of the front-runners for the NBA's Most Valuable Player award.

Wembanyama's double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds arrived just eight minutes and 31 seconds after he stepped on court, a new NBA record.

Stephon Castle backed Wembanyama with 21 points while four other Spurs players finished in double figures.

"Today wasn't perfect as a team and personally," Wembanyama said. "I wish I was better, but it's still satisfying."

San Antonio's victory left them 57-18 in the Western Conference, just two games behind leaders Oklahoma City (59-16).

"The most fun part is that we've got a healthy locker room and we're just happy as a whole because we get on together well on and off the court," Wembanyama said. "We're just loving the experience."

The Atlanta Hawks boosted their playoff hopes with a 112-102 defeat of the Boston Celtics in their Eastern Conference clash.

Jaylen Brown led the scoring with 29 points for a depleted Celtics line-up missing Jayson Tatum, but Atlanta’s balanced offense with 20 points apiece from Jalen Johnson and Onyeka Okongwu carried the Hawks to victory.

The Minnesota Timberwolves saw seven players finish in double figures in a 124-94 rout of the Dallas Mavericks.

The Phoenix Suns were similarly emphatic winners in a 131-105 romp over the Memphis Grizzlies.

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Oil prices sank and most stocks rose Tuesday, following a report that indicated Donald Trump was willing to end the Iran war even if the key Strait of Hormuz remained closed.

But investors remain wary as the Wall Street Journal story came on the same day the US president threatened to destroy Iran's key oil export hub and desalination plants unless it accepts a deal, while also suggesting diplomacy was making headway.

The news comes as governments around the world scramble to implement measures to ease the burden of surging fuel prices while also looking to conserve energy, with one-fifth of global crude and gas passing through the waterway.

The Journal, citing administration officials, said Trump and his aides had come to the conclusion that a mission to reopen the waterway would extend the length of the mission past his four- to six-week timeline.

It added that he had decided to focus on battering Iran's missiles and navy, before looking to pressure Iran diplomatically to reopen the Strait.

Both main oil contracts fell Tuesday, though West Texas Intermediate and Brent were still sitting well above $100 a barrel.

And most equity markets rose. Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, Singapore, Wellington and Jakarta were all up, while Tokyo fluctuated.

Seoul, Taipei and Manila fell.

However, Trump also threatened Monday to destroy Kharg Island, through which most of Iran's crude passes, if a peace deal is not reached.

He warned US forces would destroy "all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island (and possibly all desalinization plants!)."

Destroying civilian infrastructure could constitute a war crime, experts say.

Iran has previously threatened to retaliate by targeting energy infrastructure and desalination plants in its Arab neighbours that host the US military, fanning fears of a wider conflict.

But Trump also said officials were speaking to a "more reasonable regime" in Tehran, which has denied any talks and accused the president of lying about negotiations as cover while preparing a ground invasion.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio voiced hope for working with elements within Iran's government.

Market experts warned that any US ground operation or wider Iranian retaliation could send oil prices to levels not seen since July 2008, when Brent hit almost $150 a barrel.

- 'De-escalation and re-escalation' -

In a sign Iran was determined to keep control of Hormuz, state media reported Monday that a parliamentary commission had approved plans to impose tolls on vessels transiting it.

With Trump flipping between hope for talks and threats, analysts said investors were having to walk a tightrope.

"The market continues to be headline-driven as the Trump Administration has delivered a variety of messages surrounding de-escalation and re-escalation of the war in Iran," Wolfe Research's Chris Senyek said. 

With the war now in its fifth week, governments are moving to shore up their economies.

Economy ministers and central bankers from the G7 club of rich countries met in Paris to discuss the war's effects, with many countries introducing energy-saving measures or cutting fuel taxes to help consumers.

Dubai said it will provide support worth more than $270 million to help businesses and families, while Norway will temporarily cut diesel and petrol taxes and Bangladesh ordered civil servants to switch off lights and turn down air conditioning to save power. 

Sri Lanka announced a nearly 40 percent increase in electricity prices from Wednesday as it battles an energy shortage. Colombo has raised fuel prices three times this month, increasing them by more than a third, and has imposed a four-day working week in a bid to save energy.

"From here, the burden shifts from military outcomes to economic endurance. The question is no longer how high oil spikes, but how long elevated energy costs bleed into growth, margins, and consumption," said SPI Asset Management's Stephen Innes.

Federal Reserve boss Jerome Powell also provided a little support, saying Monday the bank could look past energy shocks because they "have tended to come and go pretty quickly" but monetary policy changes take time to flow through the economy.

While the spike in energy prices threatens to send inflation soaring again, he added that officials "feel like our policy is in a good place for us to wait and see how that turns out" and "inflation expectations do appear to be well-anchored beyond the short term".

- Key figures at around 0230 GMT -

Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 1.3 percent at $106.04 a barrel

West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.7 percent at $102.22 a barrel

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.1 percent at 51,820.30 (break)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 0.5 percent at 24,869.71

Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.3 percent at 3,935.05

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1474 from $1.1460 on Monday

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3207 from $1.3183

Dollar/yen: UP at 159.71 yen from 159.69 yen

Euro/pound: DOWN at 86.88 pence from 86.93 pence

New York - Dow: UP 0.1 percent at 45,216.14 (close)

London - FTSE 100: UP 1.6 percent at 10,127.96 (close)

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Erling Haaland and Mohamed Salah are among the Premier League stars "addicted" to chess, helping to spark a surge in the game's popularity among younger people.

Manchester City striker Haaland is so fascinated by the game that he recently invested in a ground-breaking new chess tour to capitalise on the increased profile bestowed by its celebrity players.

As well as Haaland, Liverpool forward Salah and England team-mates Harry Kane, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Anthony Gordon are all avid chess players.

Salah is obsessed by playing the faster 'blitz' version of chess using an anonymous online profile.

"I'm addicted to chess. Every day, literally every day," the Egyptian said.

Arsenal midfielders Martin Odegaard and Eberechi Eze are both keen players, with the latter winning an amateur tournament in 2025.

Chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen, a five-time world champion, is a huge football fan and the Norwegian's love for both games has played a role in the surprise crossover.

Alexander-Arnold often plays chess with his brothers and once levelled-up to face Carlsen, who defeated the Real Madrid defender in a 17-move rout that lasted just five minutes.

AC Milan winger Christian Pulisic has the queen chess piece tattooed on his arm in tribute to his grandfather, who taught him the game as a child.

France World Cup winner Antoine Griezmann and Real Madrid's Dani Carvajal are also aficionados.

On the surface, the contemplative, cerebral nature of chess is a stark contrast to the physicality and aggression of football.

But dig deeper and there are more similarities than you would expect.

"Chess is an incredible game. It sharpens your mind, and there are clear similarities to football," Haaland said. 

"You have to think quickly, trust your instincts, and think several moves ahead. Strategy and planning are everything."

- 'It's remarkably similar' -

Backed by the International Chess Federation (FIDE), the new tour will feature four tournaments each year in different cities, with a world champion crowned across three disciplines -- fast classic, rapid and blitz.

Each season will have a minimum prize pool of £2 million ($2.7 million).

"Seeing a world-class athlete like Erling Haaland join the Total World Chess Championship Tour is a powerful signal of the global attention and cultural relevance that chess enjoys today," FIDE president Arkady Dvorkovich said.

Chess has its roots in seventh century India.

But those humble origins are a far cry from the technology fast-tracking the chess boom, with online apps taking over from the traditional board as the game's most common battleground.

Online play rocketed during the Covid-19 pandemic and, according to FIDE, at least 1.5 billion people now have a chess app on their phone.

Netflix series "The Queen's Gambit" and the impact of celebrity influencers, including footballers, have all contributed to the boom transforming the previously staid image of chess.

The strategy involved in chess also appeals to football managers looking for a mental edge in their tactical battles on the pitch.

Quoted in the book 'Pep Confidential', Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola said: "You have no idea how similar the two things are."

Avid Real Madrid fan Carlsen sees his game through the same lens as former Barcelona coach Guardiola: "In chess and football, the important thing is to control the middle. If you control the middle, you control the pitch or the board," he said. "In terms of space, it's remarkably similar."

But will the satisfaction of a successful checkmate ever replace the thrill of scoring a winning goal for chess-fixated footballers?

For Kane, his true love remains football, leaving chess as the perfect way to relax.

"I use chess to switch off," he said. "It's such a mental game. You have to focus on every moment."

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Indonesia will make cuts to its free school meals programme from Tuesday as it seeks to set aside billions of dollars to counteract budget pressures brought on by the Middle East war and soaring oil prices.

The programme, which feeds an estimated 60 million children and pregnant and breastfeeding women at a cost of nearly a tenth of the annual budget, is President Prabowo Subianto's signature project.

Here's what we know:

- What is being cut? - 

At a cabinet meeting over the weekend, ministers and Prabowo decided to trim the programme from six days per week to five in primary and secondary schools starting Tuesday.

In regions with high malnutrition rates, meals will remain available on Saturdays, when many Indonesian schools are open in Southeast Asia's biggest economy.

The move will save "around 40 trillion rupiah ($2.3 billion)," Nanik Sudaryati Deyang, deputy head of the government's National Nutrition Agency, told AFP on Sunday.

The cut may be reviewed if conditions change.

Launched in January 2025, the initiative was touted by the government as a way to tackle a malnutrition and stunting crisis in the country of 284 million people.

The program has a target of ultimately feeding 83 million people, but it has come under the spotlight after thousands of recipients contracted food poisoning.

- A harbinger of more to come? - 

The Indonesian government is also weighing options for curbing fuel consumption as the war in the Middle East has disrupted global energy supply.

The country produces crude but is a net importer of the commodity. It heavily subsidises fuel and natural gas for domestic consumers.

The government has so far defended the subsidy, which at $12.3 billion represents about five percent of the total annual budget for 2026.

Observers say the government's hand may be forced given that Indonesia is required by law to keep its fiscal deficit under three percent of gross domestic product.

The 2026 fuel subsidy calculation was premised on a global oil price of $70 per barrel, but prices have since topped $100.

Firman Noor, a political researcher with the government-funded National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), told AFP the cut to the meal programme "indicates that the pressure on our financial strength stemming from the war is already beginning to be felt".

"This is a warning that we must get prepared like other countries. And just be frank, we need an adjustment because we never know when the war will end, which will surely drive oil prices higher."

Previous subsidy cuts have led to mass riots.

- Is it enough? -

Earlier this month, presidential spokesman Prasetyo Hadi said the government was seeking to set aside as much as 80 trillion rupiah to shield its economy from the Middle East fallout, without disclosing further details.

Measures under consideration include ordering government workers to work from home one day per week, cutting back on official travel and encouraging bicycle, electronic car and public transport use to preserve valuable fuel.

Analysts said savings from trimming the free meals programme were not nearly enough if the government intends to meet its fiscal deficit limit.

"Without changes in big budget (programmes), I don't see steps taken by the government, such as cutting back on free meals from six to five days or one day work-from-home per week, as adequate to tackle" the widening deficit, said Deni Friawan, a researcher of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). 

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As soon as Wednesday, NASA is poised to make history -- sending the first woman, the first person of color, and the first non-American on a voyage around the Moon.

Canadian Jeremy Hansen is among the four-person crew, what astronaut and fellow countryman Joshua Kutryk called "a very big deal."

Wearing a traditional royal-blue flight suit, Kutryk -- who is currently training for his own mission to the International Space Station -- made the trip to Florida's Kennedy Space Center to cheer on his colleague, who could take off as early as April 1.

In an interview with AFP, Kutryk discusses the significance of this new chapter of American space exploration:

- How do you feel ahead of this mission? -

It is a huge deal. It's the first -- not just the first Canadian lunar mission -- it's the first mission in the world that isn't purely a US crew.

So, it's a very big deal in Canada. I feel very excited, very proud.

Jeremy is a great friend and a great astronaut and a great ambassador to Canada, and I'm just excited to see him go do this.

- Why does this launch matter for Canadians? -

It's not a coincidence that Canada was invited to participate in this mission. It's because of what we've done in Canada that is valued by NASA, and that's something that makes me excited, but even more so proud to be from Canada right now.

Canada has been partnered with the United States throughout most of human space exploration. We started back with the Space Shuttle Program. We had astronauts flying in the 80s... We helped to construct the space station. We designed and built the suite of robotic systems that still operates a space station, even as you and I speak today.

Particularly with Artemis though, we were the first country to join the United States in this vision of going back to the Moon.

Now there are many countries in the Artemis Accords -- Canada was the first. And we contribute, or rather, we committed to contributing technology to help these missions take place.

And we've committed to developing robotics technology, to developing lunar rovers that are going to help explore the surface.

- Why should we return to the Moon? -

There's a lot of things in the world right now -- more than enough -- to leave people, myself included, feeling pessimistic about things.

This leaves me optimistic... it shows us that we can still do this stuff, the really hard stuff.

We can still do it together -- Canada, working with the United States, international cooperation -- and we haven't backed down from doing the really hard, next to impossible things, which are going back to the Moon.

That's really cool as an astronaut, to think that I have a friend who's going to go around the far side of the Moon.

But it's more than just cool. It's important for us. It's important for societies. It's important for Canada. It's important for our future, because this is how we get better.

It's how we advance and develop new technologies, make new scientific discoveries that chart a better course for us going forward.

And so for me, space is opportunity, and missions like this make me optimistic.

- What's different about the Artemis mission? -

What we're trying to do, technology wise, is very different. 

The Apollo program was designed to send small crews there for short periods of time and bring them back, and not really to do anything there.

The whole mission with Artemis is sustained, permanent exploration and presence.

If you think about what we do in low Earth orbit now, we have humans working from all over the world together for long periods -- six, seven, eight, 12 months at a time -- that's what I'm getting ready to go do.

We want to do that on the surface of the Moon. That's what Artemis is about, and that's something that we couldn't have done during Apollo because we didn't have the technology to do it.

Another difference that I think is worth pointing out is that Apollo was just the United States, for good reasons at the time.

But Artemis is entire collaboration of dozens of countries from around the world -- and it's an important difference from that point of view.

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Don't call it the "Marty Supreme" effect: table tennis is a growing sport in the United States, in part because of a new professional league giving the parlor game an ultra-competitive edge.

Founded three years ago by tech entrepreneur Flint Lane, Major League Table Tennis (MLTT) is now home to several ping pong players in the global top 100, including Amy Wang and Lily Zhang, who represented Team USA at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

At a weekend MLTT match in Princeton, New Jersey, about 100 spectators watched Kotomi Omoda secure victory for the Portland Paddlers against the Florida Crocs.

Nikhil Kumar, who also plays for the Paddlers and competed in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, told AFP he was "a little bit skeptical" when he first heard of Major League Table Tennis.

Now that the league has been around for a few years, however, "there's been a lot of progression for us in terms of the level of the play and the players that are coming to play stronger," he said.

The Olympic sport's growing US fandom is evident in MLTT ticket sales, which are up 50 percent compared to last year, according to founder Lane.

"I don't know if I would be a season ticket holder, but I'm killing a Saturday afternoon," Richard Kurland, a spectators at the match, told AFP.

"It's something different. I'll have stories to tell my friends for the next few weeks, some photos. I would definitely come back."

Despite the league's professional status, MLTT players hold day jobs to support themselves.

"I hope one day that it could be enough," said Kumar, who works as an engineer at a New York tech startup. "I'd love to play table tennis as a living."

- 'A good boost' -

Lane told AFP that MLTT ranks among the top professional leagues in the world, though it still trails the Chinese, Japanese, French and German leagues.

"But we're not competing against them either," Lane said, comparing it to Major League Soccer, the US football league that generate billions of dollars without being among the top leagues globally.

To grow the American audience for the sport, MLTT launched its own streaming channel in September, Table Tennis TV. It also created a ranking system, Spindex, with the hopes of making it a ratings scale similar to golf handicaps.

USA Table Tennis, the nonprofit governing body for the sport in America, had around 14,000 members as of late 2025.

PingPod, a chain of table tennis venues in the United States, reported it had 160,000 registered users.

"Having a well-funded, well-organized professional league in the United States is a good tailwind, a good boost for the sport, both in terms of participation and spectatorship," PingPod co-CEO David Silberman told AFP.

The sport also came to recent prominence in popular culture with the release of the Oscar-nominated film "Marty Supreme," which saw famed actor Timothee Chalamet portray table tennis player Marty Mauser in 1950s New York, based loosely on real-life player Marty Reisman.

The film grossed almost $100 million in the United States, becoming the top-grossing picture for independent film distributor A24.

"The buzz about Marty Supreme, the way that I talk about table tennis at work, or at the store in public, is completely different with the movie," said table tennis fan Revan Raguindin, who supports the Princeton Revolution MLTT team.

"I think there's so much more recognition of the sport this way, and I am really grateful for it."

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