Mountain festival marks spring arrival high above Tokyo

Global automaker Stellantis -- owner of the Jeep and Fiat brands -- said Thursday it had swung back into profit in the first quarter on rising sales as it fixed manufacturing and operational problems.

The 14-brand group which also include Peugeot and Chrysler posted a net profit of 377 million euros ($440 million) in January through March, compared to a loss of 387 million euros in the same period last year.

Sales rose by six percent to 38.1 billion euros, with sales volumes rising in all regions, including North America, where the carmaker has suffered in recent years.

The sales revenue figure was slightly below analyst expectations compiled by financial data provider Factset, but the 12 percent increase in sales volumes surpassed forecasts.

"The first three months of 2026 reflect the early results of our actions to return Stellantis to sustainable, profitable growth," chief executive Antonio Filosa said in a statement.

Filosa said the new vehicles it launched last year had been well received and that Stellantis hopes that it can build on that momentum with another 10 models hitting showrooms this year.

"Our priority is clear: to put our customers back at the center of everything we do," he said.

Stellantis, formed in 2021 through a merger of France's PSA Group and Italian-American company Fiat-Chrysler, booked a colossal 20-billion-euro charge on its 2025 results as it sought to pivot away from the EV sector.

The company plans to unveil a new strategy on May 21 to sustainably turn around its fortunes as Western automakers face rising competition from Chinese carmakers.

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Denmark's Soren Torpegaard Lund, one of the favourites in the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest, has sparked a homophobic backlash in his progressive country with his electro-pop track, but he's just trying to "stay true to myself", he told AFP in an interview. 

Torpegaard Lund, 27, will compete in Vienna on May 16th with the song "For vi gar hjem" ("Before We Go Home"), an ode to the world of nightclubs.

It "tells the story of growing up with love and temptation, and actually giving in to it, because that's what we learn from, and that's how we learn to be grown-up human beings," he told AFP on a sunny afternoon in Copenhagen.

Torpegaard Lund says one of his greatest memories is Austrian drag artist Conchita Wurst's Eurovision victory in 2014, when he was 15 years old. 

"It made a big impact on me, just growing up as a queer kid," he said, "finding out what my identity was and just putting it out there."

"That was a very cool moment."

Now, he'll not only meet Wurst -- who is one of the show's presenters in Vienna -- but will also fulfil his boyhood dream of being on the Eurovision stage.

"I'm trying to really play it cool, but it is crazy to me that I'm going to be part of this."

- Backlash -

His hip-swinging number in tight leather pants and a mesh top has however raised some eyebrows in normally liberal Denmark.

"Some people in Denmark tried to tone my act down, and I also got some homophobic backlash from Danish people," he said.

"Fag in fishnets", "homo in a box" and "HIV spreader" were among the hurtful comments he received on social media, he said. 

"I'm definitely going to channel just staying true to myself," he said.

"I hate to see that it's still happening," he sighed, referring to anti-gay attacks.

"I also loved being able to reply ... just being like, 'you can't touch me'."

"We can be here. You can be here. Everyone can be here at the same time," he said.

Originally from a small town in central Denmark, Torpegaard Lund never took to sports, setting him apart from other kids.

Instead, he turned very early to musical theatre, piano, and singing.

"There was nothing else for me that I could do so I kind of just went on that path," he said.

He attended Denmark's National School of Performing Arts, and has since played the lead role of Tony in a Danish production of West Side Story, among other things.

In February, Danes selected his song for Eurovision, with leading daily Politiken calling it "the right choice".

He is "an artist who is comfortable on stage, extroverted, with a choreography already ready that could easily fit into the Eurovision Song Contest," the newspaper wrote.

- 'Create hope' -

Another challenge for Torpegaard Lund will be to rekindle Denmark's interest in Eurovision, where it has lost some of its lustre after wins in 1963, 2000 and 2013.

"I didn't know that it was kind of cringe," he said.

"It was very, very big in the 1980s and 1990s in Denmark and then it kind of stumbled the last 10 years."

"But I feel like it's definitely having its comeback, and the music industry is realising that it's very cool for established artists to have a platform to show their music."

While focused on his performance, he's also aware of the tensions around this year's competition.

Five European broadcasters, including Ireland and Spain, are expected to boycott the 2026 edition over Israel's participation, and more than 1,000 artists have also urged a boycott. 

For the Dane, the priority is for people to pull together.

"In times of crisis, we as human beings have always come together to try to create hope in different ways, and ... celebrate some kind of hope together. And I'm proud of being part of that."

His act of rebellion? 

He has refused to translate his song into English, as is customary for smaller languages like Danish, and is proud to represent all of Denmark -- including Greenland and the Faroe Islands -- at a time when US President Donald Trump's appetite for Greenland threatens its territorial integrity.

"I'm proud of representing countries that need to fight for their own right, their own freedom."

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Jordan Adams, who ran the London marathon with a 25-kilogram fridge on his back last weekend, is now running around Ireland in a race to find a cure for a form of dementia both he and his brother are near certain to contract.

"This mission is ongoing, as is our family's devastation with dementia, one step at a time," Adams told a crowd who gathered to see him off on Wednesday in County Donegal, their latest stop.

The 30-year-old is running consecutive daily marathons for 32 days in each of Ireland's 32 counties -- north and south of the Irish border -- with the finish in Dublin on May 28. Without the fridge, though.

Assisted by his younger brother Cian, 25, who will mostly cycle the routes, the pair started in County Antrim in Northern Ireland on Monday, just a day after completing the 26.2-mile-long (42 kilometres) course in London. 

Nicknamed the FTD brothers, their mother Geraldine was diagnosed in 2010 aged 47 with a rare form of familial Frontal Temporal Dementia.

Overnight, Cian, then aged just 9, Jordan as a 15-year-old, their older sister and father became primary carers of their mum who died at 52 in 2016.

Two years later, Jordan learned he carries the MAT-T gene mutation which gives him a 99.9 percent chance of developing the same early-onset dementia. 

Soon after Cian tested positively for the same gene.

With terminal symptoms expected to aggressively emerge in their 40s, the brothers face a stark race against time.

"What makes this disease even more cruel is that we've lost twelve Irish relatives, including my mum and Nan," Jordan, from the English Midlands, told AFP.

"We wanted to come to Ireland where all the devastation started, to honour our Irish relatives," he said.

- 'A hard disease' - 

Running with a fridge on board in London was "surreal", said Jordan, who did the stunt to bring attention to the disease. 

But with Cian alongside to douse him with water, they reached the finish line together. 

"We both share the same diagnosis and the same future, so I know our mum was shining down with a lot of pride,"  Jordan told AFP.

The brothers are not new to extreme challenges. 

They ran around the United Kingdom two years ago, while Jordan has a seven-in-seven-days marathon challenge under his belt.

Undaunted by the Irish 32-in-32 test, Cian said it "comes in handy that he works as a physiotherapist.

"We've put together a good plan over the last six months, strength and conditioning, plyometrics, running training to get Jordan in the best nick possible for this challenge," Cian told AFP. 

"Touch wood, at the moment his legs feel good for it," he said.

The brothers have set themselves the goal of raising one million pounds in their mother's honour, and for research into an Alzheimer's cure that could save them.

After London, they are almost halfway there.

Carol Molloy, who helps run the local branch of the Alzheimer Society of Ireland (ASI), told AFP that around 64,000 people are living with dementia in the EU member.

An estimated one in 10 of those have a young-onset diagnosis, with that number expected to grow to around 150,000 by 2050, according to Molloy.

Some 50 percent of the proceeds of the brothers' marathon challenge will go to the ASI.

"What Jordan and Cian are doing is amazing, we are so grateful," said Molloy.

Dozens of local people joined the pair on their run, at least part of the way.

One participant Sean McFadden, a runner from Letterkenny who recently lost his father to dementia, said he would complete the full marathon route alongside the brothers in solidarity. 

"We have to hold our hearts out to the two lads and hope everything goes well," said the 50-year-old.

"It's a hard disease. For me today to be able to join in with the boys, it's quite special," he told AFP before setting off.

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There was "no meaningful shift" away from big tech platforms like TikTok and Instagram in the immediate wake of Australia's world-leading teen social media ban, government documents obtained by AFP show.

Australia in December banned under 16s from a raft of popular social media platforms, launching a world-first crackdown designed to protect children from online bullying and "predatory algorithms".

There is strong global interest in whether Australia's laws could provide a blueprint for how to rein-in increasingly powerful tech giants.

Government documents obtained by AFP using freedom of information laws give an early glimpse into how the restrictions are working.

They showed that platforms such as Instagram and TikTok were still "dominating app store rankings and downloads" one month on from the ban.

Data compiled throughout January showed "no meaningful shift away" from these platforms, noted an internal briefing from Australia's eSafety Commission.

Users dabbled with other apps not covered by the ban but "largely returned to major, established platforms", officials wrote in the briefing dated February 2.

A separate document cautioned it was hard to draw firm conclusions from app download data so soon after the ban.

"Limitations of this data are that it does not reflect usage of an app or the age of the user, however it gives early indicators if an app is rising in popularity."

One of the chief concerns driving Australia's social media ban was the desire to stamp out cyberbullying. 

Complaints of cyberbullying on banned social media platforms increased 26 percent when comparing January 2026 with January 2025, the documents said.

Complaints had largely stemmed from TikTok. 

A spokeswoman for the eSafety Commission -- Australia's online watchdog -- said the documents only covered a short period of time as the laws were bedding down.

"Continued analysis as more data becomes available will support more robust, evidence-based conclusions regarding longer-term trends, reporting behaviours and impacts of (a minimum age for social media)," the commission told AFP in a statement.

TikTok was approached for comment.

- 'Global interest' -

A raft of nations are now reportedly mulling a similar social media crackdown.

The documents showed that Israel, the United Kingdom, Norway and New Zealand met with Australian officials after expressing an "interest" in the ban.

"eSafety has experienced significant global interest in the world's first social media minimum age legislation, including implementation and compliance," the commission said.

"The internet doesn't stop at the border and nor should our efforts to minimise harm, especially to children."

Australia in March accused big tech companies of "failing to obey" their obligations under the new laws.

The eSafety Commission found a "substantial proportion of Australian children" were still scrolling banned platforms.

"Australia's world-leading social media laws are not failing. But big tech is failing to obey the laws," Communications Minister Anika Wells told reporters at the time.

"Australia will not let the social media giants take us for mugs."

Tech companies face fines of up to $33.9 million (Aus$49.5 million) under the laws.

More than five million accounts belonging to underage Australian users have been removed since the laws came into effect, according to government figures.

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New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani called for King Charles to "return" the prized Koh-i-Noor diamond, which the British Empire took from the Indian subcontinent in the 1800s, on the third day of the monarch's state visit on Wednesday.

Before greeting Charles and Queen Camilla at a 9/11 memorial event, Mamdani was asked what he would discuss with the king if he had the chance.

"If I was to speak to the king, separately from that, I would probably encourage him to return the Koh-i-Noor diamond," the leftist mayor said, adding that his focus would be honoring those killed in the terror attacks.

It's unclear whether Mamdani followed through and brought up the contentious subject with Charles when the two met.

The monarch was seen laughing with Mamdani and having a brief conversation after they shook hands.

Housed in the Tower of London, the massive 106 carat stone is the star of Britain's crown jewels, adorning the Crown of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother.

The ownership of the jewel has been contested over the centuries, passing through the hands of Mughal emperors, Iranian shahs and Sikh maharajas before the Kingdom of Punjab gave it to Queen Victoria in 1849 as part of a peace treaty.

India has repeatedly and unsuccessfully sought the return of the priceless jewel.

While there is little doubt it was mined in India, its history thereafter is a mixture of myth and fact, with several countries including Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan also laying claim to the gem.

A politician from the anti-immigration Reform UK party was quick to slam the comments as an "insult to our King."

"This beautiful diamond is currently on display in the Tower of London," the party's home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf said in an X post. "That is where it will stay."

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White supremacist killer Brenton Tarrant lost on Thursday an appeal seeking to overturn his conviction and sentence for shooting dead 51 people at two New Zealand mosques in 2019, court documents showed.

The 35-year-old admitted to carrying out New Zealand's deadliest modern day mass shooting before being sentenced to life in prison in August 2020.

He appealed to the Court of Appeal in February, saying "torturous and inhumane" detention conditions during his trial made him incapable of making rational decisions when he pleaded guilty.

"I did not have the mind frame or mental health required to be making informed decisions at that time," Tarrant said at the time.

The panel of three judges said the court "does not accept Mr Tarrant's evidence about his mental state."

"There were inconsistencies in Mr Tarrant's own evidence, and his evidence is at odds with the detailed observations of prison authorities and the assessments of mental health professionals at the time of him entering his pleas."

The judges found Tarrant's guilty pleas were voluntary and "he was not coerced or pressured in any way to plead guilty".

"The evidence overwhelmingly demonstrates that he was not suffering any significant psychological impacts as a result of his prison conditions at the time he pleaded guilty," the court said.

The court said Tarrant's "proposed conviction appeal is utterly devoid of merit".

"The facts concerning Mr Tarrant's offending are beyond dispute. He has not identified any arguable defence, or indeed any defence known to the law."

- 'Huge relief' -

Tarrant's penalty of life imprisonment without parole was the stiffest in New Zealand history.

Armed with an arsenal of semi-automatic weapons, Tarrant attacked worshippers at two mosques in Christchurch on March 15, 2019.

He published an online manifesto before the attacks and then livestreamed the killings for 17 minutes.

His victims were all Muslim and included children, women and the elderly.

The court's decision was complicated one week after Tarrant's February hearing when he sought to abandon his appeal entirely.

The judges said the court received a notice of abandonment of appeal signed by Tarrant using a "self-styled moniker" but the document was thrown out because it was not dated or witnessed.

Tarrant filed a second notice later that week, again using a pseudonym, which was dated and witnessed.

He said he "no longer wishes to have a lawyer" and the appeal should not continue as "it would likely lead to a miscarriage of justice".

Lawyers acting for the survivors and families of victims told national broadcaster RNZ the decision had been a "huge relief".

"The law has now done its job," they said.

"The families, and frankly all of us, will be spared the trauma of reliving the 15th of March all over again in a trial.

"It is a huge relief that the difficult and often unsupported journey families are on will not now be added to by the great burden of a new trial. It would have been unimaginably traumatic."

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Oil prices held around four-year highs Thursday while stocks fell after Donald Trump warned the US blockade of Iranian ports could last months as peace talks remained stalled.

While Tehran submitted a fresh proposal this week to reopen the crucial Strait of Hormuz, the US president reportedly did not believe it was not negotiating in good faith.

The Wall Street Journal said he had told national security officials to prepare for a long blockade to compel the Islamic republic to give up its nuclear programme.

At a meeting of oil executives Tuesday, he discussed efforts "to alleviate global oil markets and steps we could take to continue the current blockade for months if needed and minimise impact on American consumers", a White House official said on condition of anonymity.

Meanwhile, Trump told Axios: "The blockade is somewhat more effective than the bombing. They are choking like a stuffed pig. And it is going to be worse for them. They can't have a nuclear weapon."

He added that the naval action would not end until he had secured a deal with Tehran to address its nuclear programme.

In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said: "Iran can't get their act together. They don't know how to sign a nonnuclear deal. They better get smart soon!"

He posted an illustration of himself holding an assault rifle alongside the caption "NO MORE MR. NICE GUY!" 

The prospect of the strait -- through which a fifth of world oil and gas passes -- being closed for months more sent crude surging to the highest level since 2022 after Russia invaded Ukraine.

Brent for June delivery, which hit a peak of $122.53 Wednesday, was sitting around $120 in Asian trade, while West Texas Intermediate was around $108.

Analysts said traders were beginning to shift to the view that the crisis will not be as short as initially hoped.

- Tech's AI rally -

Stock markets also struggled, with Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, Seoul, Manila and Jakarta all down. There were gains in Singapore, Wellington and Taipei.

The dollar, seen as a safe haven during the crisis, rose against its peers.

However, equity traders remain relatively upbeat thanks to a revival of the AI trade, which has helped push Seoul's Kospi index to multiple record highs.

The country's Samsung Electronics reported a 750 percent surge in operating profit to a record high on Thursday, thanks to strong sales of chips crucial for artificial intelligence, while it also forecast healthy demand in the next three months.

That came after Microsoft, Meta and Google-parent Alphabet posted forecast-busting earnings.

US stock futures rose.

SPI Asset Management's Stephen Innes warned that the positive mood on stock markets could change.

"History tells us that this widening divide between stocks, oil, and rates can only stretch so far before the physical shock bleeds into the real economy," he wrote.

"Expensive energy is not abstract. It moves quietly through the system, from the pump to logistics to margins, eventually surfacing in the data that central banks respond to after the fact."

Investors were also assessing the outlook for the Federal Reserve's policy actions after four members of its decision-making body dissented on a vote, the most since 1992.

While it voted to hold interest rates owing to fears of a spike in inflation caused by surging energy costs, three "did not support inclusion of an easing bias in the statement at this time." 

A fourth voting member, Trump-appointee Stephen Miran, had sought a quarter-point cut.

The meeting was the last with Jerome Powell as Fed boss, with Kevin Warsh -- the president's pick -- to take over next month.

Trump spent much of his second term blasting Powell for not cutting borrowing costs quickly enough.

- Key figures at 0300 GMT -

West Texas Intermediate: UP 1.9 percent at $108.92 a barrel

Brent North Sea Crude: UP 2.9 percent at $121.48 a barrel

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.0 percent at 59,304.62 (break)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.3 percent at 25,763.07

Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.1 percent at 4,104.67

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1668 from $1.1695 on Wednesday

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3476 from $1.3489

Dollar/yen: UP at 160.34 yen from 160.23 yen

Euro/pound: DOWN at 86.58 pence from 86.71 pence

New York - Dow: DOWN 0.6 percent at 48,861.81 (close)

London - FTSE 100: DOWN 1.2 percent at 10,213.11 (close)

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The first global conference on transitioning away from fossil fuels wrapped up on Wednesday -- but what progress was made in Santa Marta, a coal port on the Caribbean coast?

Here are a few takeaways:

- Roadmaps -

France made headlines on the opening day of the conference when it published a "roadmap" detailing its path to eliminating the use of all fossil fuels for energy by 2050.

Analysts said no other country had published such a clear and comprehensive phaseout plan and it sent an important signal from a major economy about its direction on fossil fuels.

The splash caused some grumbling in Santa Marta as some pointed out that France was not announcing new policy but existing pledges under a different title.

Other nations contested that there was no widely accepted definition of a roadmap, and that they too had timelines to phase out coal and other planet-heating fuels, as well as renewable energy targets and plans for decarbonizing heavy industry.

Leo Roberts from the E3G climate change think tank said a roadmap should be guided by science and make a fossil fuel phaseout a "central planning principle" around which other policies gravitate.

- 'Spaghetti' science -

One of the key outcomes was the creation of an expert scientific panel to advise governments, cities or regions in planning their own pathways away from fossil fuels.

Carlos Nobre, a Brazilian climate scientist and one of the driving forces behind the panel, told AFP: "It will provide all the solutions -- to implement them, and to finance them." 

The Scientific Panel for the Global Energy Transition was amusingly dubbed the "Spaghetti" group because of its acronym -- SPGET.

- Fossil Free Zones -

Popular among grassroots movements, the concept of "Fossil Free Zones" is slowly gaining traction in international meetings and found fertile ground in Santa Marta.

These zones aim to encompass territories that -- due to their ecological importance, from the Amazon to the Congo Basin and Indonesian rainforest -- are protected by governments that prohibit all hydrocarbon exploration and extraction within them.

The Earth Insight expert group estimates that there are 58 such protected areas worldwide. 

Colombia, for example, banned the extraction of fossil fuels and minerals in the Colombian Amazon last year to "stop the expansion of the extractive frontier," said Colombia's Environment Minister Irene Velez Torres, host of the Santa Marta conference.

- New hosts -

Colombia passed the baton to Tuvalu, a tiny island nation in the Pacific Ocean that will host the next fossil fuel phaseout conference in 2027.

The low-lying island is seriously threatened by rising sea levels, and has been a strong voice on the international stage for impoverished countries imperiled by climate change.

"This journey that began here in a coal port of the Caribbean Sea, now voyages to the Pacific Ocean," said Tuvalu's Climate Minister Maina Talia.

Activists urged countries to turn up in numbers, despite the distance.

"I think the fact that the Pacific is far away cannot be an excuse," Nikki Reisch, from the Center for International Environmental Law, told AFP in Santa Marta.

"The Pacific Island countries are constantly bearing the burden of coming to other fora and trying to get their voice heard."

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A centuries-old festival that heralds spring drew hundreds of worshippers to a mountain in Tokyo on Wednesday, as robed Shinto priests led a procession to a sacred shrine at the summit.

The Hinode Sai, or Sunrise festival, is believed to have started when wandering ascetics climbed Mount Mitake in search of enlightenment. Each spring, it attracts devotees from across Japan to the still largely untouched mountaintop about 55 kilometres (30 miles) from Tokyo's metropolitan area.

The annual two-day ritual sees the shrine's deity -- carefully wrapped in white silk and hidden from public view -- brought from the summit down to a temporary "resting place" at the mountain's base before being returned in a celebratory ascent.

Shrine officials say participants receive the deity's blessing, offering protection for households and freedom from illness for the year ahead.

The ritual, which has continued since the Middle Ages, according to the shrine's website, also symbolises the arrival of spring.

The silent procession began Tuesday evening, winding through a mountain village past devotees and shuttered shops bestowing blessing as it went.

Guided by lantern light, priests took the wrapped deity down to its overnight resting place believed to be where it originally descended from the heavens.

At dawn, the Shinto priests in court robes -- joined by people dressed as armoured samurai warriors and children in ceremonial attire -- set off on a kilometre-long climb back to the summit shrine.

Their pilgrimage culminated with the echo of conch shells through the forest as the procession completed its final ascent of 330 stone steps to the mountaintop.

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An epic Cade Cunningham performance kept top-seeded Detroit's NBA playoff run alive in a crucial 116-109 victory over the Orlando Magic on Wednesday.

Cunningham scored a Pistons playoff-record 45 points to drag his side through a must-win game, pulling Detroit back to a 3-2 deficit in the best-of-seven series.

The Pistons star man, having recently returned from a collapsed lung, played nearly 44 minutes as Detroit avoided a stunning first-round ouster at the hands of eighth seed Orlando.

"We dug ourselves a big hole, it's going to be a tough one to climb out of, but we handled business tonight," said Cunningham.

"We're at our best when our backs are against the wall," he added.

Having dominated the Eastern Conference during the regular season, Detroit has faltered badly at the start of the post-season.

Needing to win three in a row to escape the first round, the Pistons came out of the blocks fast in front of a home crowd Wednesday.

Playing with a high energy bordering on desperation, Jalen Duren scored seven of the Pistons' first 11 points.

Detroit owned the glass with 17 rebounds in the first quarter, building a 12-point lead.

Cunningham exploded into the game with 20 points in the second quarter alone.

But the gap closed to six points by half-time. Wendell Carter Jr. and Desmond Bane both missed go-ahead three-pointer attempts for Orlando soon after the break.

The Pistons took advantage and powered clear, building a double-digit lead by the end of the third quarter.

Orlando refused to quit, mounting a late charge including a pair of Paolo Banchero three-pointers and a Carter Jr dunk that narrowed the lead to three points.

But a Cunningham three-pointer with barely 30 seconds remaining sealed the win.

Banchero top-scored for Orlando with 45 points.

The Magic -- who only qualified for the playoffs via the play-in tournament -- will have another chance to finish a surprise series win on Friday back in Orlando.

A possible decider would take place in Detroit on Sunday.

Elsewhere, the Cleveland Cavaliers pulled off an impressive comeback victory to take a 3-2 lead over the Toronto Raptors.

Having twice trailed by 12 points, Cleveland powered back in the second half with a much stronger defensive performance, to win 125-120.

Evan Mobley led the rally with 10 points in the third quarter, while Dennis Schroder added 19 off the bench.

It was the fifth straight win of the series for the home team, and means all four Eastern Conference first-round playoff series are now 3-2.

In the West on Wednesday, the Los Angeles Lakers have a chance to finish their series against the Houston Rockets, which they lead 3-1.

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