Laughter, tears: historic day for astronaut Jenni Gibbons in Houston

Pope Leo XIV and French President Emmanuel Macron held their first meeting Friday, a private audience at the Vatican where discussions ranged from the Iran war to basketball.

The French leader wanted above all to discuss "the resolution of the crisis in the Middle East" with the head of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics, a spokesman for Macron's office told reporters ahead of the meeting.

Lebanon, where deadly Israeli strikes threatened this week's temporary truce between the United States and Iran, is a particular cause for concern for both men.

After the meeting, Macron said he was "very happy" to meet the pontiff, writing on X: "We share the same conviction -- in the face of the world's fractures, action for peace is a duty and a requirement."

In a statement, the Vatican said Pope Leo and his top officials had discussed with Macron "conflicts around the world, expressing hope that peaceful coexistence can be re-established through dialogue and negotiation".

There were also lighter moments, with Vatican footage showing Macron presenting the pope with a jersey signed by members of the French national basketball team.

Chicago-born Leo, the first American pope, is a sports fan, enjoying baseball and basketball, while he swims and plays tennis regularly at his out-of-town residence.

This week, he met members of the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team after his general audience, where the 70-year-old was seen attempting the trick of spinning a ball on his finger.

- US criticism -

Both Macron and Pope Leo have called for dialogue to end the war in the Middle East and distanced themselves from the bellicose rhetoric of US President Donald Trump, whose decision to launch strikes on Iran triggered the war.

Leo condemned this week the "unacceptable" threats to Iran's civilian population, after Trump warned that "a whole civilisation will die" if Iranian leaders did not bow to his demands.

Macron has also been critical, saying there was "too much talk, and it's all over the place".

Both welcomed the US-Iranian ceasefire and have urged a diplomatic solution to the war, which has expanded across the Middle East and roiled the global economy.

It was not the first time that Leo, who took office last May following the death of Pope Francis, has criticised the government of his native country, after denouncing its treatment of migrants as "inhuman".

The Vatican on Friday denied a media report that a top Pentagon official gave the Holy See's envoy to the United States a "bitter lecture" in January following comments by Pope Leo seen as critical of Trump.

The story "does not correspond to the truth in any way", spokesman Matteo Bruni told reporters, the day after the Pentagon dismissed the account as "highly exaggerated and distorted".

In a January speech, Leo XIV did not name Trump but lamented that dialogue was being replaced by "diplomacy based on force", and that war was "back in vogue".

- France visit? -

Macron is not a practising Catholic but had a good relationship with Leo's predecessor, Pope Francis, meeting him three times and discussing with him both global crises and spirituality.

Their relationship also had its tensions, with the late Argentine criticising the inclusion of abortion in the French constitution, and Macron's proposal to introduce assisted dying in France.

Vatican footage showed Macron and Leo -- a more reserved character than his predecessor --  greeting each other formally in their first meeting, and speaking English.

The French president was expected to invite Leo to visit France soon.

Francis never made a state visit to France and declined to attend the opening of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris in 2024, five years after its devastation by fire.

Friday's meeting at the Vatican comes three days before the pope visits the former French colony of Algeria, the first trip there by a pontiff.

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The head of a prominent anti-disinformation watchdog has warned of the dangers posed by AI chatbots, saying children are particularly vulnerable.

"Social media broadcasts to billions, AI whispers to one," Imran Ahmed, who heads the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), told a disinformation conference this week.

"No society should build machines that can meet a child in their loneliest moment and offer them harm as if it were help," Ahmed told the Cambridge Disinformation Summit. 

In Wednesday's lecture by video call to his former university, Ahmed cited the case of a UK mother killed by her own son, allegedly acting on the instructions of a chatbot.

"None of us is immune, when a machine can offer lethal guidance to a young person as if it were fact," he said.

Ahmed, a British national who lives in the United States, is among five Europeans whom the US State Department has said would be denied visas.

This comes even though he holds US permanent residency and his wife and daughters are American citizens.

- 'System under pressure' -

According to the centre's most recent report "Killer Apps", eight out of 10 AI chatbots were willing to assist teen users "in planning violent attacks, including a school shooting, religious bombings, and high-profile assassinations". 

Out of 10 chatbots only Anthropic's Claude and Snapchat's My AI consistently refused to assist would-be attackers.

In a 2025 investigation entitled "Fake Friend", the watchdog tested ChatGPT, one of the world's most popular AI chatbots. 

"Within minutes, it produced instructions for self-harm, suicide planning, and substance abuse," Ahmed said, adding in some cases it also generated goodbye letters for children contemplating ending their lives.  

Unlike social media and other systems that "just amplify harmful content," AI chatbots generate and personalise it "at the moment of greatest vulnerability".

"The intimacy is deeper and the harm may be harder to detect before it's too late," Ahmed said, adding the systems learn what you fear, what you want, what you are ashamed of and respond in real time, with no human judgement or editorial restraint.

A father of two daughters, Ahmed said: "My wife and I lie awake at night talking about how to protect them from systems that could reach them before we even know it is happening."

He stressed that time to act is limited and called for new laws to regulate AI.

"We spent a decade learning that social media companies will not self-regulate. We have now perhaps 18 months before the same lesson becomes undeniable for AI."

Ahmed said he was "the only one" of the five people threatened by a US visa ban still in the United States, adding he is now "fighting in federal court against that unconstitutional threat to send me to prison".

The US State department has accused the five of attempting to "coerce" US-based social media platforms into censoring viewpoints they oppose.

When powerful industries "lash out like this", Ahmed said, "it is the sound of a system under pressure." 

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Top-ranked Scottie Scheffler and England's Justin Rose were set for early starts chasing co-leaders Rory McIlroy and Sam Burns as Friday's second round of the Masters began at Augusta National.

Defending champion McIlroy, trying to become only the fourth golfer to capture back-to-back Masters titles, and Burns were on five-under par 67 after 18 holes.

With magical escapes from the trees that would have made Spanish legend Seve Ballesteros proud, five-time major winner McIlroy managed his second-best Masters start despite finding only five of 14 fairways, just one on the front nine.

"The first seven holes were really important, that I played them in par," McIlroy said. "I made some good swings from where I found myself."

Burns, the 54-hole leader at last year's US Open, managed his lowest round in 13 at Augusta National despite the firm greens.

"They're only going to get firmer," Burns said. "As the golf course speeds up, it only gets more difficult out there, and I think it's going to be a really good test."

Past champion Patrick Reed, fellow American Kurt Kitayama and Australian Jason Day shared third on 69 and like the co-leaders were set for afternoon starts on the firm and fast layout.

That left the early stage to 2013 US Open champion Rose, a three-time Masters runner-up who lost to McIlroy in a playoff last year, and four-time major winner Scheffler, who seeks his third green jacket in five seasons.

Both are three adrift in a pack on 70 that also includes later starters Shane Lowry, the 2019 British Open champion from Ireland, and 10th-ranked Xander Schauffele, a US two-time major winner seeking his first Masters crown.

Scheffler, the 2022 and 2024 Masters winner, went eagle-birdie at the par-five second and par-four third holes, but couldn't get lower in afternoon heat on hardened greens, settling for pars at the par-five 13th and 15th holes but expecting better conditions on Friday morning.

"I played pretty solid. A lot of good stuff," Scheffler said. "I hit it nice, made some good iron shots, but it got so firm late in the day, it was pretty challenging."

Rose delivered five birdies in his opening round, four of them on Augusta's par-five holes, but closed with back-to-back bogeys to stumble from the heels of the leaders.

"Every hole you're just being patient through experience, knowing that grinding out the pars is a good thing," Rose said. "Just eating up the holes is a good thing."

The holes ate hopefuls as well with some big names struggling to make Friday's cut to the low 50 and ties.

Scotsman Robert MacIntyre shared 82nd on 80 with Spain's Jon Rahm, a two-time major winner, on 78 and two-time US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau on 76 in a share of 56th.

Rose expects Augusta National will remain a test of patience as well as shotmaking with lightning-fast greens.

"I can't even point to anywhere where you can be aggressive," he said.

"I think it's in their control really how they want it to be... when it gets completely rock hard and you can't access any pin anywhere, then a lot of good shot-making is taken out of the equation."

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Celine Dion's fans are not the only ones excited about the megastar's new tour in Paris -- hotels, restaurants and shops are hoping for a multimillion-euro boost from concertgoers in the French capital.

The 58-year-old Canadian singer announced last month that she was returning to the stage for 16 concerts after a lengthy break prompted by a rare health condition.

She could prove the latest in a series of stars to bring with them significant economic uplift from music fans, following Taylor Swift's record-breaking Eras Tour and as the South Korean mega-group BTS embarks on its tour.

The Eiffel Tower was lit up to honour the return of the singer -- who sings both in French and English -- and with the city covered in billboards and posters, Parisian businesses are hoping the tour will prove a major money spinner.

Dion's tour could bring an additional 300 million to 500 million euros ($351-$585 million) into the city, said Alexandra Dublanche, president of Choose Paris Region, the organisation that promotes the wider Paris area.

This includes ticket sales, hotel and restaurant bookings, retail spending and more, she told AFP, adding that international visitors tend to spend more than domestic travellers.

When Swift held four concerts in Paris in 2024, the city saw an economic boost of around 150-180 million euros, Dublanche said.

Dion has said she was diagnosed with Stiff Person Syndrome, an incurable autoimmune disorder, and she was forced to cancel her last tour dates due to both the Covid pandemic and ill health.

The latest tickets for Dion's shows went on sale Friday, with an estimated half a million fans to attend the concerts, a third from overseas, according to Dublanche.

Others have put the figure higher, with MKG Consulting estimating the potential economic impact at more than one billion euros, including a 180-million-euro boost for the Parisian hotel industry.

MKG analyst Vanguelis Panayotis said the economic benefits could reach 1.2 billion euros if taking into account transportation, and all the associated expenses and logistics of Dion's support team as well as fans.

-'Driver of travel' -

Swift's Eras tour became the highest-grossing musical tour in history, with ticket revenues estimated at more than $2 billion and hundreds of millions of dollars in extra economic activity in cities where she performed.

"Major musical events are a driver of travel," said Vanessa Heydorff, managing director for France at Booking.com.

The hotel reservation site said that searches for Paris around the dates of Dion's concerts increased by 49 percent.

The Adagio chain, which has ten hotels in the city's La Defense district where the concerts will be held, saw a 400 percent increase in bookings.

"This will be good for Paris because the capital is currently experiencing a drop in hotel occupancy rates" due to the international situation, said Didier Arino, chief executive at the consulting firm Protourisme.

Arthur Lemoine, CEO of the high-end Galeries Lafayette department stores, said they saw a boost in shoppers during Swift's concerts, not only during the days when she was performing in Paris, but also around the timing of gigs in the neighbouring city of Lyon.

"Celine Dion's presence in Paris for a month and a half should definitely benefit business on Boulevard Haussmann," he said, referring to the high-end street that is home to Galeries Lafayette's flagship store.

After South Korea's BTS announced two coming concert dates in Paris, searches for hotels in the French capital soared by 590 percent, according to the Hotels.com website.

"This phenomenon is part of a broader trend called 'gig-tripping', where the concert becomes the starting point but not the sole reason for booking a trip," said Heydorff, adding the challenge was to keep the visiting fans within the region in the days before and after the concert.

For Panayotis, at MKG, "Events that draw fans -- whether a singer, an artist or a football team -- are becoming an extremely powerful indicator of tourism spending, something we're seeing everywhere."

"There's a real strategic advantage [for cities] in attracting events of this kind because they generate extremely strong economic benefits," he said.

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(The Center Square) – A new American Energy Institute report shows that foreign billionaires have provided funding upwards of $39 million to the anti-AI data center movement in the United States, with experts saying AI infrastructure must be advanced in order to assert American tech dominance over communist China.

Founder, CEO and Chairman of State Armor as well as expert on Chinese influence in America Michael Lucci told The Center Square: “Either the United States or communist China will dominate artificial intelligence, and therefore, likely dominate the leading technologies of the 21st-century.”

“China is actively executing strategies to win this competition,” Lucci said.

“The world we leave behind for our children and grandchildren will be a very dark one if a communist regime has technological dominance over the United States of America,” Lucci said.

“We will enter a dark ages as communist China exports their governance and technological models to countries currently aligned with the United States,” Lucci said.

Lucci said that foreign money funding the anti-AI data center movement is “classic political warfare for the detriment of our sovereignty and ultimately our way of life.”

“The United States has dominated the last two industrial revolutions,” Lucci said. “As a result, our western human rights centered worldview has become the dominant global worldview.”

“That will all change if we lag behind in the next industrial revolution,” Lucci said.

“Foreign interference should be given no hold and no opportunity to dictate outcomes for the United States,” Lucci said.

Lucci told The Center Square that “the best thing for the world is if the United States wins, and foreign interference to prevent that is a travesty, not just against the United States, but also against people around the world who wish for a global order based in freedom.”

“Americans must reject foreign philosophies and political interference that would undermine our national security,” Lucci said. 

“The United States persistently faces foreign attempts to interfere in our domestic politics to undermine our technological development,” Lucci said. 

“Some of this comes from direct enemies like Communist China and Russia,” Lucci said. “Other times it comes from wrong-headed European leftists who view technological development and energy consumption as an inherent evil.”

CEO of the American Energy Institute Jason Isaac told The Center Square that his organization’s report “makes clear that opposition to U.S. data center expansion is not organic or purely local.”

“It is being fueled by a coordinated network of activist groups backed by more than $39 million in foreign funding,” Isaac said. 

“That has serious implications,” Isaac said. “It means foreign-aligned interests are actively working to slow the buildout of infrastructure that underpins America’s AI leadership, economic growth, and national security.”

“Policymakers should view calls for moratoriums and restrictions with a higher degree of scrutiny, because they may reflect outside influence rather than genuine domestic priorities,” Isaac said.

Isaac emphasized the point that “this debate is not just about data centers, it is about whether the United States will build the infrastructure needed to remain a global leader in innovation.”

“Delays or moratoriums don’t just pause construction, they push investment, jobs, and technological leadership elsewhere,” Isaac said. 

Isaac also noted that “transparency matters” and that “the report shows a pattern: the same network of organizations that have long opposed American energy development are now targeting AI infrastructure.”

As Isaac alluded to, American Energy Institute’s report revealed that “according to tax filings, annual reports, and grant databases, 12 organizations actively opposing U.S. data center development have collectively received more than $39 million from foreign donors.”

These billionaires and foundations are based in several European countries including Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and Denmark, with a notable foreign donor being Swiss billionaire Hansjörg Wyss, the report said.

Organizations receiving such funding that oppose American AI infrastructure include 350.org, Americans for Financial Reform, GAIA, and more.

Executive Director of Americans for Public Trust Caitlin Sutherland said in a statement to The Center Square: “Foreign nationals, charities, and governments are exploiting loopholes to funnel their foreign dark money into American policy fights, including protests, climate activism, and litigation.”

“The threat of foreign influence is real and should concern all Americans,” Sutherland said.

The Irish government was set to hold talks Friday with agricultural and haulage representatives, as days of protests over spiralling fuel prices sparked warnings over supplies, including for emergency services.

The demonstrations began Tuesday over the soaring cost of petrol and diesel amid the Middle East war, with protesters partly blocking Ireland's only oil refinery and restricting access to at least two other fuel depots.

Demonstrators, many organising online outside of formal representative bodies, have also used convoys on motorways to snarl traffic and tractors to gridlock central Dublin on occasions.

Industry group Fuels for Ireland said 100 petrol retailers have run dry, mainly in the west of Ireland, after customers started panic buying. 

It has warned of "real significant life-death problems" with supplies for emergency service vehicles, while Ireland's emergency planning group echoed the comments with "serious concern" about the situation.

Irish police warned Thursday the protests had become "blockades" which were putting critical supplies of food, fuel, clean water and animal feed at risk.

"This is not tolerable and is against the law," the country's national force, known as the Garda, said in a statement.

It added officers were "now moving to an enforcement phase" and those involved would "face the full rigours of the law".

Ireland's armed forces have been put "on standby" to assist with clearing the blockades, defence minister Helen McEntee has said.

Ministers were set to meet later Friday with 10 representative organisations for farmers, agricultural contractors and haulage operators, but it was unclear if protesters would be present.

Representative bodies recognised by the government, including the Irish Road Haulage Association and the Irish Farmers' Association, are not officially involved in the protest.

Those bodies and protesters have made varying demands around lowering the cost of fuel, in particular urging cuts to fuel taxes.

Demonstrators also want fuel prices to be capped and oil exploration off the west coast of Ireland to begin.

Government leaders have condemned the protests as "wrong" and "not in our national interest", and said the fuel blockades were holding the country to "ransom".

In March, Dublin announced a €250 million package to reduce fuel costs, notably including a diesel rebate for road hauliers

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A cloud of uncertainty hung Friday over the scheduled start of talks in Pakistan between the United States and Iran, with no announcement yet on the arrival of negotiators and both sides accusing the other of failing to properly implement a fragile ceasefire.

US President Donald Trump has voiced displeasure at Iran's handling of the strategic Strait of Hormuz, which was meant to be reopened under the deal, while Tehran has reacted angrily to Israeli attacks in Lebanon, insisting that it too falls under the agreement -- something Washington disputes.

Islamabad was nonetheless pressing ahead with its preparations for the high-stakes talks, which official sources say will cover several sensitive points, including Iran's nuclear enrichment and the free flow of trade through the strait.

Iran has suggested that its participation could hinge on a halt in Israeli attacks on Lebanon: "The holding of talks to end the war is dependent on the US adhering to its ceasefire commitments on all fronts, especially in Lebanon," said Esmaeil Baqaei, Iran's foreign ministry spokesman.

Iranian officials have said the Israeli strikes had rendered the Pakistan talks "meaningless". 

Nevertheless, Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards signalled they were committing to the ceasefire and had "not launched anything at any country", according to the state broadcaster.

In a barrage of social media posts that sparked fresh fears for the shaky truce, Trump on Thursday accused Iran of doing a "very poor job" of allowing oil through the Strait of Hormuz and of breaching the terms of their ceasefire agreement.

A fifth of the world's oil and vast quantities of natural gas and fertiliser pass through the strait in peacetime, but only a small number of vessels have crossed since the truce was announced.

- 'Meaningless' -

The two-week truce was agreed to allow negotiations between US and Iranian officials aimed at ending a conflict that has already killed thousands and plunged the global economy into turmoil.

"I am scared of the war starting again, and at the same time I'm scared of the regime staying", Tehran resident Sheida told AFP, withholding her last name out of concern for her safety.

Contributing to the uncertainty around the planned talks, Tehran's ambassador to Pakistan on Thursday deleted a social media post saying an Iranian delegation would arrive in the country later that day.

Still, Vice President JD Vance is due to lead the US delegation on Saturday, joined by special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Fresh fractures in the mediation process emerged when Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif joined in the criticism of Israel's strikes on Lebanon, calling the country a "cancerous state" and "a curse for humanity" on Thursday evening, in a post taken down hours later.

The Israeli prime minister's office called the remarks outrageous, saying: "This is not a statement that can be tolerated from any government, especially not from one that claims to be a neutral arbiter for peace."

Pakistan does not formally recognise Israel -- a fact that could complicate its role as mediator -- and has insisted the ceasefire includes Lebanon.

One 30-year-old resident of Tehran told AFP they were sceptical negotiations will be successful, describing most of what Trump says as "pure noise and nonsense".

"He wants to manipulate the Islamic republic into getting a deal. I think that was his intention, if you can say there is an intention."

- Parallel talks -

Air raid sirens sounded early Friday in Israel's commercial hub Tel Aviv and other parts of the country, with Hezbollah announcing it carried out drone and rocket strikes targeting Israeli forces on both sides of the border as well as a town in Israel's north. 

On Wednesday, less than 48 hours after the ceasefire came into force, Israel carried out its heaviest strikes on Lebanon since Iran-backed Hezbollah entered the Middle East war, killing more than 300 people.

Afterwards, Trump told NBC News that Israel was "scaling back" strikes in Lebanon and that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had assured him its attacks would become more "low-key".

A Western diplomat said on condition of anonymity that there was ongoing "pressure from European states, Gulf states and Egypt on Israel to prevent renewed Israeli airstrikes on Beirut after 'Black Wednesday'".

As of Friday morning, the Israeli army had not acted on warnings the day before that it would strike wide areas in the capital's south.

Washington has said the Lebanese front of the war will be dealt with under separate talks.

"We can confirm that the Department will host a meeting next week to discuss ongoing ceasefire negotiations with Israel and Lebanon," a US State Department official said.

Neither Israel nor the Lebanese government have publicly confirmed these talks, although the announcement came shortly after Netanyahu ordered his ministers to seek direct dialogue with Lebanon focused on disarming Hezbollah. 

A Lebanese government official told AFP that Beirut would require a truce before entering any negotiations with Israel.

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Shipping was at a near-standstill in Belgium's port of Antwerp on Friday following an overnight oil spill, Europe's second-biggest port said as it raced to contain the risks of pollution and economic damage.

A port statement said the spill occurred during a "bunkering operation" -- the process of filling a ship with fuel -- in the Deurganck Dock, which is used by some of the largest vessels in the world to load and unload goods in Antwerp.

A spokesman told AFP that as of midday Friday the port's North Sea access route via the Scheldt river estuary was "totally blocked", with Belgian media reporting that several dozen container and cargo ships heading in and out had been affected.

"We hope that the port will be fully operational in 24 hours," the spokesman said.

The port statement said the source of the spill had been stopped and the "directly involved seagoing vessels have been contained for active clean-up operations."

However, it said the pollution had spread towards the Scheldt river overnight.

"Emergency services are fully mobilised and are focusing on containment and clean-up operations," it said.

It was not yet clear how much oil had been spilled into the water.

The tidal Scheldt river estuary is the main maritime access route to Antwerp port, along with several narrower canals primarily used for inland navigation. 

An AFP team on site saw around 15 stationary ships near the port entrance, though it was not possible to confirm if they were being kept out by the traffic shutdown.

Local media reported that the spill occurred during the refuelling of the container ship MSC Denmark VI.

The ship's operator, MSC, confirmed the vessel was involved in the incident but declined to provide additional information. 

"Our priority is safety," a spokeswoman for the company's Belgian office told AFP, adding that they were focused on safeguarding "the crew, the terminal, the nature". 

- Key gateway -

Citing a "risk of impact on nearby nature areas", the port said it was "doing everything possible to minimise both operational and ecological damage".

"We regret the impact of this incident on our port and the vulnerable nature areas along the Scheldt," the statement said.

The Pieter Coecke, a Belgian-flagged pollution control vessel, was operating in the area of the spill Friday, according to the Marine Traffic website.

Second only to Rotterdam in the Netherlands, the Antwerp port on Belgium's north coast is a key gateway for goods coming into Europe from the United States, China and elsewhere.

Larger than 22,000 football fields, it handles transit each year of around 267 million tonnes of goods and is used by around 20,000 seagoing vessels and 50,000 inland vessels, according to its website.

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Inside an underground shelter at a hospital in the Israeli city of Haifa, a television screen flickers with images of Iranian missiles as doctors and midwives deliver Sarah Bird's third child.

"She's beautiful," a midwife says, placing the newborn in her mother's arms for a first kiss.

"She is!" exclaims Bird, 38, breaking into a broad smile.

Her husband Yitzhak, tense throughout, finally exhales, then explains that the couple will wait a week before choosing a name.

The couple had arrived just hours earlier at the Mount Carmel Medical Center and were taken straight to the facility's underground shelter, carved into the mountainside.

About 10 babies are born there each day, according to Clalit, Israel's main healthcare provider, which operates the hospital.

Since the war began on February 28 with US-Israeli strikes on Iran, 370 newborns have been delivered in the shelter.

Within hours of the initial strikes on Iran, major hospitals across Israel shifted to maximum emergency readiness, moving patients and critical departments underground. 

Operating theatres, intensive care units and even maternity wards have been relocated to protected subterranean spaces.

A fragile ceasefire between Washington and Tehran took effect on April 8, and no Iranian missiles have been fired at Israel since.

But in Haifa — still reeling from a strike on a residential building that killed four people days before the truce — sirens continue to wail.

Rocket fire from Lebanon's Hezbollah movement, an ally of Tehran, has not stopped. Israel says Lebanon is not covered by the ceasefire and has continued strikes on its neighbour, which have left more than 300 people dead this week.

More than 20 rocket alerts sounded in northern Israel on Thursday alone, along the Lebanese border, after Hezbollah said it had fired multiple barrages.

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A cloud of small bubbles and a fishy gurgle announce the latest arrival at the "fish doorbell" in the Netherlands: a perch, recognisable by its dorsal fin and tiger-striped scales.

As the perch stares at the camera with globulous eye, thousands watching a livestream race to click a button that will open a lock separating the River Vecht from the canals of Utrecht, enabling the fish to glide through.

Open from March to June, the "fish doorbell" allows web users from all over the world to ease the path of perch, catfish, and eels -- a key need in the Netherlands where millions of fish find themselves blocked by locks, dykes and pumping stations.

"A number of species of fish migrate in spring to reproduce and they get stuck at all the obstacles," said Anne Nijs, who operates the doorbell along with the Utrecht authorities.

The quirky "fish doorbell" has shot to fame, even being featured on the US talk show "Last Week Tonight", with comedian John Oliver spending a full 10 minutes explaining it.

Nijs, 46, told AFP that there was a serious side to the doorbell, raising awareness of the man-made obstacles fish and other aquatic animals have to face on their life journey.

Before the doorbell was set up in 2021, fish would sometimes wait for weeks before passing through the lock, which is closed for much of the time.

As well as losing valuable reproduction time, the wait made them vulnerable to predators both from the water and the air, Nijs explained.

Now, every click sends a screenshot to her and her team, who decide when a critical mass is reached to ask the lock-keeper to open the doors.

"Sometimes 300 people ring the bell for one fish... it takes up a bit of time but it's one big positive project," she told AFP.

"Lots of people say that it's kind of slow TV to them, (it helps them to) calm down," she added.

- 'Inland waters' -

Despite its popularity, the fish doorbell is just a drop in the ocean.

The Dutch are world-famous for creating an intricate system of flood defences and dykes to shield the low lying country from rising sea levels.

The problem is that these barriers also block aquatic life, preventing several species from their natural migratory path or reaching cooler waters.

Like the fish doorbell, sometimes human intervention is the only solution.

For 12 years, the Dutch Foundation for A Sustainable Eel Sector (DUPAN) has organised the transport of millions of European eel fry into Dutch waters.

"They are coming here, but they cannot get into the inland waters where they grow," said Magnus van der Meer from DUPAN.

After wriggling across the Atlantic Ocean from their birthplace in the Sargasso Sea off the east coast of the US, the glass eels arrive in the cooler waters of Europe.

Many thrive in Portuguese or French waters, but thousands find themselves stuck trying to get into the Netherlands.

So DUPAN transports three million eels annually from France -- where they thrive -- to rebalance the Dutch population.

"Of course there should be another solution. It would be nice to offer the eel the opportunity to just come naturally inside the Dutch waters," the 70-year-old told AFP.

But as long as water levels are high, the Dutch need their defences, meaning "that solution will not be available in the near future," he added. 

Many of the eels will grow to adulthood, be fished and eventually eaten. Others however are released back into the sea to continue the migratory cycle.

Some might even make it to Utrecht and a webcam where from far away, the lock is magically opened for them.

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