Lego-style memes troll Trump after fragile US-Iran truce

Prince Harry and wife Meghan arrived in Australia on Tuesday for their first visit down under since their headline-dominating rift with Britain's royal family.

The couple touched down in the southern city of Melbourne, kicking off four days of business and charity events with a visit to a children's hospital.

The son of King Charles III -- Australia's head of state -- is due to speak at a summit focusing on mental health, with tickets for in-person attendance on sale at an eye-watering Aus$997 ($706).

Meghan, meanwhile, will take part in a "girls' weekend like no other" at Sydney's InterContinental Coogee Beach hotel, according to organisers.

The event features yoga, sound healing and dinners as well as disco dancing at a ticket price of Aus$2,699 per person.

Those willing to pay even more get access to the "VIP experience" -- which includes a group table photo with Meghan and a goodie bag.

The pair will also visit the capital Canberra, national broadcaster ABC said.

Their visit has already drawn criticism, with Victoria state opposition leader Jess Wilson condemning the use of taxpayers' money to provide protection for the pair.

It is their first trip to Australia since 2018, when they spent two weeks touring the country as well as New Zealand and Pacific islands in a visit that drew adoring throngs of crowds.

Harry stepped back from royal duties in 2020 and later relocated to California with Meghan amid a bitter royal family rift.

The couple, who have two children, have long complained about media intrusion and Meghan's treatment by Britain's newspapers after years of negative stories.

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Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem urged Lebanon to cancel a planned meeting with Israel in Washington on Tuesday, reiterating his group's rejection of direct negotiations with its foe.

Israeli strikes have killed more than 2,000 people in Lebanon and displaced more than a million since the Iran-backed group Hezbollah drew the country into the Middle East war.

The Lebanese and Israeli ambassadors to the United States are scheduled to meet in Washington on Tuesday to discuss holding direct negotiations between the two countries.

Lebanese authorities have stressed that Beirut first wants to secure a ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war, but Israel has dismissed that prospect, saying it prefers instead to focus on formal peace talks with Lebanon itself, with which it has technically been at war for decades.

"We reject negotiations with the usurping Israeli entity," Hezbollah's Qassem, whose group has been at war with Israel since March 2, said in a televised address on Monday.

"We call for a historic and heroic stance by cancelling this negotiating meeting."

- 'Dismantle Hezbollah' -

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday that "we want the dismantling of Hezbollah's weapons, and we want a real peace agreement that will last for generations".

Qassem, however, said "these negotiations are futile and require a Lebanese agreement and consensus".

Hundreds of Hezbollah supporters protested on Friday and Saturday against the planned talks, accusing Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam of being a "Zionist".

"We will not surrender, we will remain in the field until our last breath," Qassem said as his fighters faced off with advancing Israeli troops seeking to create a "security zone" in southern Lebanon.

The Israeli army said on Monday that its troops had completely surrounded the key southern town of Bint Jbeil, while Hezbollah continued to claim attacks against Israeli forces there.

The Israeli military said Tuesday a soldier had been killed in southern Lebanon -- the first since a US-Iran temporary truce came into force that Israel insisted does not include the country.

Qassem said northern Israeli localities "will not be safe, even if the Israelis were to enter any area of Lebanon".

He also accused Beirut of "backstabbing" his group by declaring its military activities illegal at the start of the war.

"Israel and the US clearly said they want to strengthen the Lebanese army to disarm and fight Hezbollah... but the army cannot do that," Qassem added.

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Electric vehicle sales have jumped in Southeast Asia as cost-conscious buyers have poured into dealerships looking to dodge the fuel price spikes driven by the Middle East war.

Asian nations have been particularly hard hit due to a sharp fall in the crude shipments they rely on -- and have few alternatives to replace them.

Yet the energy crisis has been a windfall for Vietnam's leading electric vehicle maker Vinfast as well as Chinese manufacturers. 

Vietnamese office worker Do Thi Lan explained the simple math of the cars' appeal at a Vinfast showroom in Hanoi.

"We have to calculate our monthly expenses, as the money we spend on petroleum has been on the rise," she said. 

She said her family owns a car that runs on petrol but was considering buying an electric vehicle to save money.  

Dao Thi Hue, also at the showroom, was looking to go electric too.

"Driving an EV is so much better than driving a petroleum vehicle, in terms of costs and also in terms of saving fuel, queuing to fill up," the school teacher said.

Crude oil prices have soared by around 50 percent since the start of the Middle East war and again exceeded $100 per barrel on Monday, driving up the cost at the pump.

Vinfast, listed on the Nasdaq, saw a 127 percent surge in annual sales in Vietnam in March, reaching 27,600 cars.

About 40 percent of cars sold in Vietnam in 2025 were electric, but the trend has been accelerating.

"At this point in time, clients consider fuel costs a lot when making a decision on which cars to buy," said Pham Minh Hai, deputy head of sales at a Vinfast showroom.

"In March we sold 300-400 cars," he said, noting that the showroom normally sells between 200 and 250 cars a month. 

Hai said more than 50 percent of his clients changed from petroleum to electric cars last month, while the number of customers at the showroom was up by around 30 percent.

He added that opening hours had been extended to deal with the rush.

Outside Vietnam, Chinese manufacturers specialising in electric vehicles, particularly Tesla's main rival BYD, are booming.

- 'Punished by gas prices' -

At the Bangkok Auto Show earlier this month, BYD secured the most orders of any manufacturer, surpassing Japan's Toyota for the first time.

"I drive a lot, nearly 100 kilometres (60 miles) a day... with the current fuel situation and no idea how long it will last, it's become a major factor pushing me to make the switch," said Pleng Nawintham, a 36-year-old pharmacist from Thailand.

BYD was also seeing increased sales in the Philippines.

Mae Anne Clarisse Bacquiano, manager of a BYD showroom in the suburbs of Manila, said foot traffic at the dealership was "at another level". 

"It was all because of the rise in fuel prices," she said. "Earlier today, I had a customer, a doctor who was ranting to me about how he is being punished by gas prices... He was in a hurry to go full electric. There'd be a huge difference in expenses."

She added that all of her stock for the month had already been reserved by buyers. 

"I don't expect the gas (prices) to go back down over the next couple of months," said Arlone Abello, an entrepreneur who was browsing BYD models at the showroom.

As BYD sales decline in China due to fierce local competition, the manufacturer hopes to gain international momentum.

The company told analysts that it now expects to exceed 1.5 million exported vehicles in 2026, well above the 1.3 million target announced in January.

- Structural change -

Exports of Chinese electric vehicles -- for which Southeast Asia is a major market -- doubled in March, compared to the same month last year across all manufacturers, according to the industry association CPCA.

Economic factors are at the forefront of the increased demand for greener vehicles. 

"You have the individual consumer response to what they are seeing in terms of the price of petrol or diesel suddenly surge," said Euan Graham, an electricity and data analyst at energy think tank Ember.

The installation of charging stations in the region is also growing rapidly. 

Jakarta promised last week to take "more serious steps to accelerate the development of a national electric vehicle ecosystem" to combat its "high level of energy consumption".

Electric vehicles are gaining momentum beyond Southeast Asia.

"There are signs that global demand has already picked up substantially," Capital Economics said, adding that registrations of electric vehicles in Japan, South Korea, and New Zealand more than doubled in March, and rose by over 50 percent in India, Australia.

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China's economic growth likely picked up in the first three months of the year, according to analysts surveyed by AFP, boosted by exports now impacted by the Middle East war, while domestic demand remains weak.

Leaders in the world's second-largest economy have struggled since the pandemic to rely on overseas shipments to support gross domestic product as a long-running property market crisis forces consumers to crimp on spending.

That has also come amid a trade standoff with the United States that played a role in last year's growth reading coming in at its lowest level in decades.

Still, analysts expected the economy to have expanded 4.8 percent in the first quarter of this year, up from 4.5 percent in the final three months of 2025, according to the median forecast of an AFP survey before official results are published Thursday.

That is at the top end of the 4.5-5.0 percent target set by officials last month, though that figure is the lowest since 1991, excepting 2020 during the pandemic.

Sarah Tan of Moody's Analytics told AFP the headline economic growth in the range targeted by Beijing "masks underlying imbalances, with external demand driving growth as domestic momentum remains weak".

China's trade surplus last year reached an eyewatering $1.2 trillion, the largest on record.

The boom in shipments offers a key lifeline for Beijing, while persistent woes in the vast domestic real estate market weigh on investment and consumer moods.

- Middle East warning -

Dan Wang, a director on the Eurasia Group's China team, told AFP that "global dependence on Chinese exports increased (since the war) as China's full supply chain and energy security are less affected than other industrial nations".

Skyrocketing oil prices have also boosted demand overseas for Chinese electric vehicles, with official data last week showing shipments of those and hybrids rose 140 percent year-on-year in March.

"China's exports of green technology and products got a lift" last quarter, Gene Ma, Head of China Research at the Institute of International Finance, told AFP.

While figures Tuesday pointed to a slowdown in shipments last month, the surge in exports held up in the first quarter -- despite the Iran war, which "seems to be doing little to dent exports", wrote Zichun Huang of Capital Economics in a report on Friday.

Critical to withstanding pressure from the Middle East war is a long-term push by Beijing to ensure energy security, which experts say is now bearing fruit.

"China is unlikely to face significant direct impacts from the Middle East conflict," Sarah Tan of Moody's Analytics told AFP.

While China relies on oil imports, "it mitigates this exposure through diversified suppliers, ties with Iran, substantial strategic reserves and continued reliance on coal", she said.

Still, analysts warn that prolonged disruption from the Middle East war could eventually present hurdles.

"If the war triggers a broad global slowdown... China's exports will suffer too," wrote Macquarie economists Larry Hu and Yuxiao Zhang in a recent report.

"In that case, Beijing will step up domestic stimulus to offset the external shock, so that they can still hit this year's growth target," they wrote.

- Debt crisis -

Chinese leaders have battled weak domestic consumption since the end of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The slump comes as economists argue that the country must shift towards a model powered more by household spending than construction and exports -- long the key growth drivers.

Soaring energy costs caused by the Middle East war ended a three-year deflationary streak for the country's factory gate prices, data showed last week.

But Sheana Yue, senior economist at Oxford Economics, told AFP that "this type of energy-driven cost-push inflation is unlikely to generate sustained reflationary pressures without meaningful demand recovery".

A top concern is the years-long debt crisis in China's massive property sector, which began in 2020 and has spooked consumers.

Once a key storage of wealth, home prices across the country have stagnated, dissuading would-be buyers from investing.

"Consumption can't recover until property does," Derek Scissors, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, told AFP.

Until then, any improvement in official retail sales data "will be minor", he said.

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The Canterbury Crusaders said Tuesday that their cavalry of mascot knights and horses, beloved by spectators, had been retired after 30 years because of next week's move to their new stadium in Christchurch.

The Crusaders' team of six horses and knights have fired up the home fans ahead of kick-off since the Super Rugby side's inception in 1996. 

But they will not be part of the home spectator experience for safety reasons when the Crusaders play the NSW Waratahs in the inaugural match at the 30,000-seat One New Zealand Stadium next Friday.

"This is a decision that really hurts because the horses have been part of who we are from the very beginning," said Crusaders chief executive Colin Mansbridge.

"We know how much they mean to our fans.

"That feeling of watching them run out in front of a packed crowd, while 'Conquest of Paradise' plays, is a feeling I will never forget."

The new stadium has been built to replace the Crusaders' original home of Lancaster Park, which was left in ruins by the 2011 Christchurch earthquake that killed 185 people.

The most successful side in Super Rugby history, with 13 championships, have had a temporary home since the earthquake at the city's Rugby League Park.

The club had considered turf protection measures and specialised floor rugs to accommodate the horses in the new state-of-the-art indoor arena.

"Despite these efforts, the constraints of the new stadium meant we couldn't ensure the safety of the horses and everyone in the venue," the Crusaders said.

Mark Donald, who leads the riding group, said the decision was devastating.

"We have been through everything with this team," he said.

"The Crusaders mean everything to us.

"We aren't just guys who ride horses around a field, we are an important part of this club, and this is what hurts the most."

The horses made their final appearance on April 3, ahead of the 69-26 home victory over Fijian Drua.

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Stocks rose and oil fell Tuesday on hopes for a deal to end the Middle East war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, with Donald Trump saying Tehran had called to seek an agreement even as a US naval blockade around Iran's ports began.  

While weekend peace talks in Pakistan ended with no deal, investors took heart from the fact that the two sides found some areas of agreement, with Iran saying they had been "inches away" at one point.

Soon after, the US president said the military would blockade the strategic Strait -- through which a fifth of global oil and gases passes -- adding to fears for energy supplies from the Middle East.

The US military clarified it would begin blockading all Iranian ports in the Gulf from Monday at 1400 GMT, but will allow ships not coming or going to Iran to pass through the strait.

Trump's blockade announcement saw crude surge as much as eight percent and Asian stocks sink Monday. But optimism was revived in New York, with some observers pointing to Trump's announcement that Iranian representatives had called seeking to make a deal.

"They'd like to make a deal. Very badly, very badly," he told reporters outside the Oval Office.

While he did not identify which officials had called, all three main indexes in New York ended well in positive territory, while oil gave back all its gains.

And the optimistic tone continued into Asia, with Tokyo and Seoul leading gains thanks to renewed buying of tech firms as traders returned to the AI theme.

Taipei's 1.7 percent rise helped push the TAIEX to a fresh record high.

Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, Singapore and Wellington also joined the push higher.

Both main oil prices also fell to hold below $100, with West Texas Intermediate down around two percent and Brent 1.5 percent lower.

The equity advances extended a rebound enjoyed last week after Washington and Tehran announced a two-week ceasefire in the war, which has sent shockwaves through the world economy since it started on February 28.

SPI Asset Management's Stephen Innes said the rallies have been built on "the belief that diplomacy, however imperfect, remains in play. Last week’s advance was not driven by resolution but by hope". 

"The talks in Pakistan did not deliver a deal, but they did something just as important. They kept the door open. And in markets, an open door is often enough," he added.

"Oil felt that shift immediately. Not because the physical reality changed, but because the narrative did. The market began to price not the blockade itself, but the possibility that it is being used as leverage rather than a prelude to something more destructive."

Still, in a social media post, Trump said the bulk of Iran's navy had already been destroyed but that if any of what he said were Tehran's few remaining "fast attack ships" approach the blockade "they will be immediately ELIMINATED".

He also said 34 ships had passed through the strait Sunday, adding it was the most since the war began, though the figure could not be immediately corroborated.

Iran continued to hit out at Washington, with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi blaming it for the impasse in the talks during a call with his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan.

"Unfortunately, we witnessed the continued excessive demands of the American side in the negotiations, which led to the failure to achieve a result," his ministry quoted him as saying.

Analysts suggested the US president was trying to starve Iran of funds but also pressure Beijing, the biggest buyer of Iranian oil, to lean on Tehran to reopen Hormuz.

Meanwhile, the head of the International Energy Agency warned Monday that April could prove a tougher month than March for energy markets and the economy.

Fatih Birol said March saw delivery of cargo loaded before the crisis in the Middle East, but "during the month of April, nothing has been loaded".

"The longer the disruption is, the more severe the problem becomes," he told reporters.

- Key figures at 0230 GMT -

West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 2.0 percent at $97.12 a barrel

Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 1.5 percent at $97.84 a barrel

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 2.4 percent at 57,849.02 (break)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 1.0 percent at 25,925.96

Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.5 percent at 4,009.56

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1759 from $1.1761 on Monday

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3505 from $1.3507

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 159.20 yen from 159.41 yen

Euro/pound: DOWN at 87.06 pence from 87.08 pence

New York - Dow Jones: UP 0.6 percent at 48,218.25 (close)

London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.2 percent at 10,582.96 (close)

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US President Donald Trump has feuded with Pope Leo XIV over the Iran war -- setting off an unholy row that could have serious political implications for the Republican leader at home.

Trump has drawn barbs even from some allies over the attacks on the US-born pontiff, who has criticized the Trump administration over its immigration crackdown, the intervention in Venezuela and the Iran war. The president risks alienating the religious right in November's crucial US midterm elections.

So far the unprecedented clash between the leader of the most powerful military on Earth and the head of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics shows no signs of abating.

"There's nothing to apologize for. He's wrong," the 79-year-old Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday.

In the post on Sunday, Trump called the pontiff "WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy," suggesting that Leo was elected pope in May 2025 only because he was American and a possible bridge to the Trump administration.

Trump then posted an AI-generated image seemingly depicting himself as a figure like Jesus Christ, which he later deleted. He insisted on Monday that he believed the image showed himself as a doctor.

For his part, Pope Leo told reporters on the papal plane en route to Africa earlier Monday that he has "no fear, neither of the Trump administration nor speaking out loudly about the message of the Gospel."

Leo had earlier this month branded Trump's threat to destroy a "whole civilization" in Iran as "truly unacceptable." He has also previously criticized Trump's mass deportation campaign as "inhuman."

Three-times married billionaire Trump has long reached out to America's evangelical Christians with his conservative, nativist vision.

They backed him in his election wins in 2016 and 2024 despite a series of scandals and an ambiguous personal relationship with religion.

But Trump, who has previously hawked $60 Bibles branded with his name, appeared to have had something of an awakening during his second term.

At his inauguration last year he said he had been "saved by God" after a 2024 assassination attempt on the campaign trail and has taken a more explicitly religious tone.

- 'Evil tirade' -

Yet over the recent Easter period, which is sacred to Christians, Trump has made a series of eye-opening posts when it comes to religion.

On the morning of Easter Sunday, as Christians were celebrating around the world, Trump posted a profanity-laced warning to the "crazy bastards" of Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz or else -- bizarrely signing off: "Praise be to Allah."

Then, amid what appeared to be increasing frustration after talks with Iran produced no breakthrough, came Sunday's attacks on Pope Leo. 

"I am disheartened that the president chose to write such disparaging words about the Holy Father," the head of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, Archbishop Paul Coakley, said in a statement.

At least one prominent Catholic in Trump's administration backed the US president over the pontiff. 

US Vice President JD Vance, a recent convert, told Fox News on Monday, "in some cases, it would be best for the Vatican to stick to matters of morality... and let the President United States stick to dictating American public policy." 

There was no immediate reaction from Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is also Catholic.

Perhaps more worrying for the White House is the ire on the religious right, particularly among former allies.

Any slackening of support for Trump will add to concerns among Republicans that they could lose control of Congress in November's mid-term elections, with the economy already a worry amid high oil prices caused by the Iran war.

"On Orthodox Easter, President Trump attacked the Pope because the Pope is rightly against Trump’s war in Iran and then he posted this picture of himself as if he is replacing Jesus," one time ally and former congresswoman Marjorie Taylor-Greene said.

"This comes after last week's post of his evil tirade on Easter and then threatening to kill an entire civilization. I completely denounce this and I’m praying against it!!!"

Conservative commentator Riley Gaines also railed against the apparent Jesus image. 

"Seriously, I cannot understand why he'd post this," Gaines said on X, urging Trump to show humility and adding: "God shall not be mocked."

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NEW YORK -- Flau'jae Johnson became the third player in a row for LSU to be selected in the first round of the WNBA draft.

But as is the case sometimes in the NBA, that's not the team she's going to play for.

Within a matter of minutes of being selected eighth overall by the Golden State Valkyries, Johnson's draft rights were traded to the Seattle Storm.

Golden State receives Marta Suarez out of TCU, who was the number 16 overall pick.

They also receive Seattle's 2028 second round pick.

Johnson becomes the 25th player in LSU women's basketball history be selected in the WNBA draft.

Seattle also selected Spain's Awa Fam Thiam third overall in the 2026 draft.

Peruvians waited Monday to see who will face conservative Keiko Fujimori in a presidential runoff, after a chaotic first round of voting that sparked criminal proceedings against top election officials. 

With more than half the votes counted, Fujimori -- the daughter of disgraced former president Alberto Fujimori -- led with about 17 percent of the vote, according to electoral authorities. 

The battle for second and a place in a June runoff was on a knife-edge, with millions of votes still to be tallied and the count advancing painfully slowly. 

The full results may not be known for days.

Rafael Lopez Aliaga, a wealthy former Lima mayor who has vowed to "hunt" down migrants, was on 14 percent of the vote. His hardline policies and blunt style have sparked comparisons to US President Donald Trump. 

At least two other candidates joined him in a statistical tie for second place including leftist Roberto Sanchez, a 57-year-old former trade minister.

On Monday he said he was ready "to begin the refounding of the country" and that meant "a new constitution."

- Irregularities -

Sunday's vote saw a series of logistical foul-ups in delivering election materials that caused polling centers to open hours late, while some remained shuttered all day. 

Some 13 polling places in Lima were exceptionally ordered to open on Monday so that tens of thousands of voters could make their voice heard. 

"The authorities are so incompetent," said Nancy Gomez, a 56‑year‑old domestic worker who queued for hours at a polling station in the capital on Monday. 

Police raided the headquarters of the National Office of Electoral Processes and later detained an election official over the delays. 

Authorities said they also raided a private contractor blamed for failing to deliver election materials on time. 

The Public Prosecutor's Office on Monday filed a criminal complaint accusing several senior election officials of obstructing the electoral process and voters' rights. 

The complaint seeks the opening of a formal criminal investigation. 

Among those named are election chief Piero Corvetto and several senior managers responsible for logistics and electoral technology. 

Lopez Aliaga initially alleged "grave electoral fraud" and urged supporters to protest outside election offices.

Those claims eased as partial results placed him among the leading contenders for second place. Corvetto earlier acknowledged a "logistical problem" but rejected any suggestion of fraud. 

"There is full assurance that the results will faithfully reflect the popular will," he said. 

The disorder overshadowed a vote many Peruvians had hoped would bring stability after years of political turmoil. 

Peru has had eight presidents in a decade, alongside a sharp rise in violent crime.

- Father's shadow -

On the eve of Sunday's election, Fujimori told AFP she would "restore order" in her first 100 days if elected. 

She has pledged to deploy the military to prisons, strengthen borders, and deport undocumented migrants. 

The daughter of former president Alberto Fujimori, she has leaned into nostalgia for her father's strongman rule, despite his conviction for corruption and crimes against humanity. 

He died in 2024 after serving 16 years in prison. 

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Dad rocker Phil Collins and reformed Britpop princes Oasis led the 2026 class of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees who were announced on live US television on Monday.

Billy Idol, chanteuse Sade, metal legends Iron Maiden and Manchester outfits Joy Division and New Order were also honored, along with hip hop collective Wu-Tang Clan and velvet-voiced crooner Luther Vandross.

The announcements of the honorees came in a live episode of the "American Idol" competition, helmed by rockers Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo. 

"Induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is music's highest honor," said the organization's chairman John Sykes.

"We look forward to celebrating these remarkable artists at this year's ceremony -– it's going to be an unforgettable night."

The induction ceremony -- which doubles as a star-studded concert gala rife with tributes to the honorees -- will be held November 14 in Los Angeles.

Eligible nominees into the Rock Hall must have released their first commercial recording at least 25 years prior to being nominated.

Phil Collins, Luther Vandross, and Wu-Tang Clan are first-time nominees. Billy Idol, Iron Maiden, Joy Division, New Order, Oasis, and Sade have all been nominated in the past, but were not selected for induction.

The 2025 class of inductees included Outkast, White Stripes and Cyndi Lauper.

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