US Supreme Court sides with Chevron in environmental case

The NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder say they can't afford to look too far ahead -- or back -- as they chase the league's first title repeat since 2018.

The Thunder, led by reigning NBA Most Valuable Player and Finals MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, are heavy favorites after powering to the top seed in the Western Conference and best record in the league at 64-18.

But the young squad that was touted as the league's next dynasty as soon as they hoisted their first Larry O'Brien trophy insist they aren't yet focused on pulling off the first back-to-back since the Golden State Warriors won in 2017 and 2018.

Gilgeous-Alexander said that's "not much" of a motivating factor as the Thunder waited for their first-round opponent to emerge from the final play-in clash between Golden State and Phoenix on Friday.

"It's cool, it's an opportunity," Gilgeous-Alexander said but added: "That's so far down the line. So many things are gonna happen before we get to the Finals clinching game.

"To have the opportunity to repeat means you won before, so it's cool. I'll keep it there."

The Thunder led the West all season, opening their campaign with a 24-1 start and closing it on a 19-3 run.

But they were challenged for the top seed by the San Antonio Spurs, who eventually settled for the number two spot but won four of five regular-season matchups to signal the threat they could pose in the playoffs.

The Thunder certainly have the advantage in experience, with all of their championship squad still on board.

Gilgeous-Alexander delivered another MVP-worthy campaign, finishing as the league's second-leading scorer behind Luka Doncic with 31.1 points per game and putting together a record-breaking streak of 140 straight games of 20 points or more from November through the end of the regular season.

Center Chet Holmgren earned his first All-Star nod, averaging a career-high 17.1 points per game even as he stepped up his already formidable defensive presence.

Holmgren, who averaged 1.9 blocks per game, keys a dominant Thunder defense that allowed the second-fewest points this season and held opponents to the worst shooting percentage on average.

OKC proved themselves master disruptors, averaging 9.7 steals per game.

Holmgren was still feeling the effects of a broken pelvis suffered months earlier when the playoffs started last year and says he's "extremely excited" to be entering the post-season feeling "really good."

Like Gilgeous-Alexander, he's keeping his focus on the moment.

"The goal is always to win the last game of the season," Holmgren said. "You have to try to carry over the experiences that you learned from, but you can't carry over the result ...

"If you're sitting here in the playoffs saying, 'Oh, you know, we won last year', that's not gonna win you a playoff series or a game or get a stop on a possession."

bb/rcw

(The Center Square) – Six months out from fiscal year 2027, U.S. lawmakers are making progress on the annual 12 appropriations bills that will fund the federal government.

The House Appropriations Committee advanced the first two bills – one funding general government services and the other funding military construction and Veterans Affairs – in a set of congressional hearings Friday.

With a topline of $25.4 billion, the Financial Services-General Government bill funds the departments of Treasury, Judiciary, and Executive, as well as the IRS, U.S. Postal Service, and the District of Columbia.

The bill reduces federal spending by roughly $1 billion via cuts to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the Election Assistance Commission, and the Small Business Administration, though SBA does receive $143 million in new disaster funding.

“The bill eliminates wasteful spending, reins in bureaucratic overreach, and restores accountability across government,” committee Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., said. “Americans expect us to be responsible stewards of their tax dollars. This is a smart, principled bill that delivers a government that works smarter, faster, and more efficiently."

Multiple Republican priorities are included, including shrinking the size of the federal workforce to pre-pandemic levels, banning D.C.’s needle exchange program, and reversing D.C.’s legalization of assisted suicide.

It also prohibits the Treasury from establishing a Central Bank Digital Currency or discontinuing paper currency, as well as codifies several of President Donald Trump’s executive orders.

Those include EOs ending cashless bail and addressing crime in D.C., combatting fraud within federal offices, and consolidating federal procurement under one government office.

Committee Democrats spoke out against the cuts, which they argued would weaken election infrastructure, enable further market consolidation by big corporations, and underfund federal agencies that combat scams and tax fraud.

Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., called the bill “a boon for the very rich and large corporations.”

“It does nothing to alleviate the strain on working families who are struggling just to get by as the cost-of-living crisis continues unabated,” she added. “In fact, it makes this problem even worse.”

Democrats generally supported the Military Construction-Veterans Affairs bill, however, which allocates $19 billion for military construction and over $450 billion in Veterans Affairs spending, including veterans’ benefits and health care.

While the bill increases funding for Suicide Prevention and Treatment Programs and Rural Health and Substance Use Disorder Programs, it also cuts NATO’s infrastructure program.

“We have a moral responsibility to take care of our veterans and servicemembers. It is part of our job in Congress, and on this Committee, to make sure that their devotion to our country is matched by their country’s devotion to them,” DeLauro said. “This is only the first stage of this bill, and I look forward to continuing to work with our colleagues to address some of the issues that still remain.”

The annual appropriations process is generally undertaken in a spirit of bipartisanship, given the economically and politically expensive fallout of government shutdowns.

Yet the 119th Congress has already weathered two record-breaking shutdowns – the second of which is still ongoing – due to multiple dramatic breakdowns in funding negotiations.

Donald Trump's war of words with Pope Leo has angered some American Catholics, a key voting bloc, who say the US president has gone too far in his criticism of the pontiff.

Trump has clashed with Leo on everything from Iran to immigration and recently dismissed the pontiff as "weak" in an unprecedented personal attack on a pope by a US leader. 

Leo, who was born in Chicago, has said he has a moral duty to speak out against war. 

"For an ignoramus like Trump to try to question the theological outlook of an ordained priest is totally ridiculous," Jim Supp, 88, told AFP outside a church in New York City on Friday. 

Supp was particularly angered by Trump's recent posting of an AI-generated image seemingly depicting himself as a figure like Jesus Christ, which was later deleted. 

"There are certain things in life not to joke about," said the retired classics professor.

For 68-year-old John O'Brian, a former advertising executive, sharing the image was akin to "blasphemy for Christians."

The pope, for his part, has warned of the dangers of AI abuse following Trump's post -- without directly referencing it.

- 'Don't mess with him' -

Traditionally, US presidents have been wary of upsetting American Catholics by speaking out too much against a pope.

But Trump has taken no such caution, despite winning the 2024 election with support from a majority of Catholic voters. 

The war in the Middle East has proved a pinch point, with Leo condemning the president's threat to attack Iranian civilization as "unacceptable."

Trump retaliated by calling the pontiff "WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy."

The public sparring marks a potential vulnerability for Republicans ahead of November's midterms -- even among more conservative Catholics. 

Anthony Clark, a policy fellow with an anti-abortion group, told AFP outside a Catholic basilica in Washington that he sees Trump as a "very good president" with good intentions. 

"But I think that intentions aren't everything, and I think he can be imprudent at times in what he says or in the way that he approaches especially controversial topics," the 20-year-old added.

Popes, too, typically do not interfere in politics. However, the pontiff's defiance has earned him respect from some. 

"I'm really glad that Pope Leo stood his ground when he said he's not afraid of the administration," Carolina Herrera, 22, said in Washington. 

"You should not mess with the pope, no matter what, don't mess with him."

- 'Very harsh' -

Trump himself is not known to be personally religious. The thrice-married realtor and former television celebrity was raised Presbyterian and rarely attended religious services. 

But since entering politics he has embraced the Christian right. 

Christian conservatives have hailed Trump for helping them achieve their priority -- the end of the nationwide right to abortion, thanks to justices Trump appointed to the Supreme Court.

At a church in Houston, in the Republican heartland state of Texas, some attending midday mass faulted both the president and the pope. 

"I don't think either of them are acting the way they should be acting," said Ann, a white woman in her 70s who did not want to share her last name. 

"I think [the pope] has been very harsh on America," she added. 

"Jesus had a personal message. He did not say presidents, dictators, premiers, kings, could not protect their people and their countries."

Manuel, a 67-year-old Latino, said he simply hopes Trump and the pope will reconcile their differences. 

"Because right now, this is mainly about peace. We need peace in the Middle East," he said. 

bjt/sla

The US Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favor of oil giant Chevron on Friday in a case that could impact environmental damage lawsuits.

The court, in an 8-0 ruling, said a lawsuit against Chevron over damage done to coastal wetlands in Louisiana through crude oil production during World War II can be moved from state court to federal court.

A state jury in Louisiana ordered Chevron last year to pay $745 million to help restore the wetlands.

Chevron appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that the company was acting as a federal contractor to the US military at the time and the case should be heard in federal court and not state court.

The Supreme Court agreed.

"Congress has long authorized federal officers and their agents to remove suits brought against them in state court to federal court," Justice Clarence Thomas said. "This suit implicates acts by Chevron that are closely connected to the performance of its federal duties."

Federal courts have traditionally been less accommodating than state courts to lawsuits seeking to hold fossil fuel producers liable for environmental damage, including that caused by climate change.

In February, the Supreme Court agreed to hear a case brought by oil and gas companies seeking to block climate change lawsuits.

Exxon Mobil and Suncor Energy (USA) are appealing a Colorado Supreme Court ruling that a climate change lawsuit filed by the city and county of Boulder, Colorado should be allowed to proceed in state court.

The energy giants argue that such claims should be heard in federal -- not state -- court and that federal environmental laws should apply.

Many of the climate change lawsuits filed against oil and gas giants by state and local authorities are modeled on successful legal actions taken against the tobacco industry in the 1990s.

None have yet gone to trial.

cl/ksb

World Cup fans will have to pay $150 for the 36-mile (58-km) roundtrip train trip between New York and Meadowlands stadium when it hosts eight matches including the final, local officials said Friday. 

Just 40,000 train tickets will be available for each of the games to be played at the New Jersey sports complex, a return rail trip to which is typically just $12.90, officials said at a briefing.

"We are going to charge $150 for our roundtrip ticket on our system. So from New York to MetLife, MetLife back to New York," said Kris Kolluri, the president and CEO of NJ Transit, using another name for the stadium.

After reports first emerged in The Athletic of the plans to charge World Cup fans far in excess of normal fares, New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill blamed FIFA for the price hikes.

She pointed to a $48 million bill the state faces to ensure the safety of fans going to the eight games at the MetLife stadium.

"I won't stick New Jersey commuters for that tab for years to come, that's not fair," Sherrill wrote on social media, adding that FIFA stood to make $11 billion at the World Cup.

"So here's the bottom line: Fifa should pay for the rides, but if they don't, I'm not going to let New Jersey commuters get taken for one."

- 'Quite surprised' -

That sentiment was echoed by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who wrote on social media on Tuesday that FIFA should foot the bill for transport costs to World Cup venues.

FIFA, which is already facing severe criticism over the sky-high cost of many match ticket prices, issued a strongly-worded statement criticizing the transport price hike.

FIFA said that the original host city agreements "required free transportation for fans to all matches".

At the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, fans could use the Doha Metro for free with their matchday tickets.

A re-negotiation stipulated that transport would be offered "at cost" on match days, FIFA added.

"We are quite surprised by the NJ Governor's approach on fan transportation," FIFA said.

"The FIFA World Cup will bring millions of fans to North America along with the related economic impact."

It added: "FIFA is not aware of any other major event previously held at NYNJ Stadium, including other major sports, global concert tours, etc., where organizers were required to pay for fan transportation."

New York Governor Kathy Hochul was another to take aim at the reported price hike.

"Charging over $100 for a short train ride sounds awfully high to me," Hochul wrote on X. 

Some $100 million in US federal funding has been allocated to host cities for transit network costs, including $8.7 million for Boston and Massachusetts, and $10.4 million for the New York-New Jersey area, according to local media reports.

pel-gw/ksb

Hollywood's major studios brought their biggest movies to Las Vegas this week for CinemaCon, the annual industry summit that offers insiders a sneak peek at what's coming soon to theaters.

Tom Cruise, Michael B. Jordan, Nicole Kidman, Tom Hanks, Zendaya and Timothee Chalamet led the parade of A-listers onto the stage at the Colosseum theater in Caesars Palace, along with directors Steven Spielberg and Christopher Nolan. 

Attendees caught a glimpse of new trailers, clips and teasers. Here are the highlights from the convention:

- 'The Odyssey' - 

Nolan debuted epic footage from "The Odyssey," his hotly anticipated take on Homer's epic tale -- and his first movie since his Oscar-winning "Oppenheimer."

The clips featured a look at Matt Damon as Odysseus and Charlize Theron as Calypso, as well as the scene when the iconic Trojan Horse is revealed -- which generated major buzz among industry observers.

"Why 'The Odyssey'? 'The Odyssey' is a story that has fascinated generation after generation for 3,000 years," Nolan told the audience at the Universal Pictures event.

"It's not A story. It's THE story," the filmmaker added, explaining that it was a long-time dream to make this adaptation.

Zendaya, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway and Robert Pattinson also star in the film, which is set for release on July 17.

- 'Disclosure Day' -

Spielberg presented an extended new look at "Disclosure Day," his return to sci-fi and extraterrestrials, a genre he first explored nearly 50 years ago.

Though the Oscar-winning director said he had never seen an unidentified flying object himself, he made "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" (1977) because the phenomenon offered him "a really great story to tell."

"I made 'Disclosure Day' with a lot more certainty that there's more truth than fiction in the movie that you are going to see on June 12."

Emily Blunt, Josh O'Connor and Colman Domingo star in a film that forces humanity to contend with evidence that aliens do exist.

Spielberg, who presented the Universal Pictures movie with Domingo, said he'd been extremely selective in what he wanted to reveal at the event.

"This movie is an experience, and all you need to get from the beginning to the end is a seatbelt," he said.

- 'Avengers: Doomsday' -

Disney's Marvel Studios unveiled the first trailer for "Avengers: Doomsday," which will hit US theaters on December 18.

The clip, which earned thunderous applause from the crowd, offered the first look at Robert Downey Jr. as villain Doctor Doom -- a new franchise character for the actor, whose Iron Man died in "Avengers: Endgame."

It also featured scenes with Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), whose Captain America had chosen to remain in the past in "Endgame," passing on his shield. It's not clear yet how Cap has returned.

Downey and Evans were on hand to reveal the footage, along with director Joe and Anthony Russo.

"I said I would only come back if there was a real reason," Evans told the crowd.

"And in 'Doomsday', there is a very real reason that these heroes need Steve Rogers."

- 'Dune: Part Three' -

Warner Bros showed the opening minutes of Denis Villeneuve's "Dune: Part Three," which is also set to open on December 18.

"DunesDay" could be the biggest day in movie theaters since "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" debuted simultaneously, creating the "Barbenheimer" phenomenon.

Villeneuve called the final chapter in his sci-fi trilogy -- which takes place 17 years after the end of the last film -- a "thriller -- action-packed, more intense and definitely more emotional."

Chalamet and Zendaya were on hand, along with Jason Momoa, for the presentation. 

Zendaya reflected on the changes that the characters had been through, saying it had been "an unkind few years, and I think there's so much left still to fight for."

- 'Digger' -

Cruise and Oscar-winning Mexican filmmaker Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu offered a first look at the comedy "Digger," with the actor virtually unrecognizable as a pot-bellied oil man who ruined the planet and now wants to repair it.

"The movie is wild, it's funny," said Cruise, who received a standing ovation from the packed room at the Warner Bros event.

Inarritu said the role "could possibly be the most challenging" for Cruise, who has been nominated for three Oscars for his acting performances.

"We know that he's fearless -- the stunts, the planes, the jumps -- but I have to say embodying this character, this is another kind of fearless," he said.

pr/sst/sla

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said on Friday that his country was on the verge of a "new phase" of "permanent agreements", after the 10-day ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war went into force.

In a speech addressing the Lebanese people and hinting at the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group the day after US President Donald Trump announced the truce, Aoun said that his country was no longer "an arena for anyone's wars".

Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East conflict on March 2 when Tehran-backed Hezbollah attacked Israel to avenge the death of Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

Israel responded by firing waves of strikes on Lebanon and launching a ground offensive, killing nearly 2,300 people and displacing more than a million.

"Now, we all stand before a new phase," Aoun said in his first speech to the nation since the truce.

"It is the phase of transition from working on a ceasefire to working on permanent agreements that preserve the rights of our people, the unity of our land, and the sovereignty of our nation."

He said the Lebanese government had "reclaimed Lebanon and Lebanon's decision-making power for the first time" in nearly half a century.

"Today, we negotiate for ourselves... we are no longer a pawn in anyone's game, nor an arena for anyone's wars, and we never will be again," he said.

Since Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam were sworn in last year, Beirut took several unprecedented decisions against Hezbollah, including a commitment to disarm the group in August after a November 2024 ceasefire sought to end its previous conflict with Israel.

It also banned the group's military acitivites after the start of the most recent war last month.

Hezbollah is the only group to have kept its weapons after the 1975-1990 civil war citing "resistance" against Israel, despite the latter's withdrawal from the country in 2000.

In a country mired by sectarian and political divisions, the Shia group's arms have repeatedly caused internal crises.

- 'Not a concession' -

The president thanked "all those who contributed to achieving the ceasefire", including Saudi Arabia and Trump, who announced the truce on Thursday.

Trump later said he expected Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to visit the White House "over the next four or five days". 

The ceasefire came days after Lebanon and Israel's ambassadors to the US held a meeting in Washington, the first direct meeting between the two countries in decades, as they have technically been at war since 1948.

Negotiations with Israel is a divisive topic in Lebanon, with some seeing it as a way to end decades of recurring conflicts, while others including Hezbollah and its supporters reject it.

Direct talks with Israel were "not a sign of weakness nor a concession... negotiations do not mean, and will never mean, giving up any right, conceding any principle, or compromising the sovereignty of this nation," Aoun added in his speech.

On May 17, 1983, Lebanon and Israel signed an agreement on the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon after four-and-a-half months of direct talks with US participation.

The deal was scrapped less than a year later, in March 1984, under pressure from Syria and its allies in Lebanon.

After the 2024 war, Lebanese and Israeli civilian representatives met within the framework of a ceasefire monitoring committee.

The two sides also concluded an agreement in 2022 to demarcate their maritime border, brokered by Washington without direct communication.

"I hereby affirm... that there will be no agreement that infringes upon our national rights," Aoun said.

"Our goal is clear: to stop the Israeli aggression against our land and our people, to achieve Israeli withdrawal, to extend the authority of the state over all its territory by its own forces exclusively, and to ensure the return of the prisoners and the return of our people to their homes and villages."

lk/nad/jfx

Detroit are tuning out the naysayers who tip the Boston Celtics, New York Knicks or even fourth-seeded Cleveland to beat the top-seeded Pistons to the NBA Eastern Conference crown.

"Everybody got a right to their own opinion," guard Ausar Thompson said this week as the Pistons prepped for their playoff opener on Sunday.

"We don't really worry about that. We all believe we could not only come out the East but win it all.

"We just focus on that, focus on ourselves and let everybody on the outside say what they've got to say."

The Pistons piled up 60 wins behind an MVP-caliber season from Cade Cunningham.

They topped the East from November on, weathering a string of injuries that included Cunningham's late-season absence with a collapsed lung to finish with the third-best record in the league.

They'll open the playoffs against either Charlotte or Orlando, aiming to improve on their first-round exit at the hands of the Knicks last year.

The Pistons' rise to the top of the East continues a remarkable turnaround from a dismal 14-win 2023-24 campaign.

Their 60 wins are a 16-win improvement on last season, but plenty of pundits believe they're vulnerable, especially with the unexpected late-season return of Jayson Tatum to the Celtics after his recovery from a ruptured Achilles tendon suffered in last year's playoffs.

"Boston's obviously a good team but we're not concerned about Boston," said Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff, who on Friday was named the NBA Coaches Association's Coach of the Year.

"Our biggest concern is making sure we’re doing what we need to do to go out and be as good as we possibly can.

"Our guys don't live and die by other people's expectations and comments," Bickerstaff added. "Our guys show up and live and die by playing Pistons basketball."

All season Bickerstaff has touted his team's camaraderie and intensity.

They boasted the second-ranked defense in the league and the 10th-ranked offense, but some question whether they can keep the offense firing as teams make defensive adjustments over the course of post-season series.

Big man Isaiah Stewart says the pessimistic prognostications from outside the team only fuel the Pistons.

"I feel like this is what we do," Stewart said. "We've always been underdogs, and we're still hunting. We like that."

bb/rcw

Alejandrina Guasorna did not discover until adulthood that she had been subjected to female genital mutilation (FGM) the day she was born in a remote Indigenous community in Colombia's coffee-growing region.

In the mountains of Risaralda, home to the Embera people, dozens of babies have their clitoris cut each year in a brutal practice based on traditional beliefs about the need to control girls' sexuality.

Some bleed to death or die of infections from unhealed wounds.

"We often saw dead baby girls. We thought it was normal," said Guasorna, a 74-year-old farm worker who has helped deliver babies in her own family but herself never performed genital cutting.

Colombia is the only Latin American country where female circumcision, believed to have been passed on to Indigenous groups by descendants of African slaves, is known to be still practiced.

Nearly two centuries after Colombia, which was a major hub in the South American slave trade, abolished slavery, a landmark ban on FGM is finally being debated by Congress.

- A blade or nail -

When girls are born in the Embera Chami reserve of Pueblo Rico, a region under Indigenous jurisdiction, midwives use a blade or red-hot nail to remove part of all of their external genitalia, local women told AFP.

The practice, which has declared a human rights violation by the UN and World Health Organization but remains widespread in parts of Africa, is a taboo subject in the Embera reserve.

Many people look away or remain silent, clearly uncomfortable, when the subject comes up.

Guasorna only learned that she had undergone the procedure after hearing rumors that were eventually confirmed by her sister.

Francia Giraldo, an Embera leader, said some babies bleed to death and are never taken to hospital. Parents receive neither birth nor death certificates.

Their mothers, she said, "bury them" straight away.

The bill before Congress, which was drafted by lawmakers together with Indigenous women leaders, aims to end the practice.

It does not, however, provide for midwives who flout the ban to be punished, with Indigenous leaders arguing that the women "lack information" about the dangers of FGM.

It calls instead for a government-led awareness campaign to sensitize them to the suffering caused by the mutilation and to dispel myths about girls who are spared -- that they will grow up to be sexually promiscuous or even that their clitorises will grow into something resembling a penis.

- Pain and secrecy - 

Sexual relations are often painful for victims of FGM.

Etelbina Queragama's face is dotted with paint marks that denote her status within her community.

Speaking in Embera, translated into Spanish by one of her seven children, the 63-year-old housewife said she has "never" felt anything but pain during intercourse.

There are no official figures on the practice of genital mutilation, given the secrecy surrounding the custom.

But according to the National Health Institute, at least 204 cases were performed in Colombia between 2020 and 2025. 

Sarita Patino, a doctor at a hospital that treats FGM victims in Pueblo Rico, believes the incidence of FGM is "greatly under-reported."

Since the start of the year, she has already seen six cases.

In February, a six-month-old baby was brought in with a fever. "The baby girl had her clitoris mutilated... (it looked) like a burn," Patino said.

- Byproduct of slave trade - 

According to the United Nations, an estimated 230 million women and girls around the world are subjected to FGM every year.

In Colombia, the practice is believed to be the product of intermingling between Indigenous and Afro-Colombians who make up around 10 percent of the population but who very rarely still practice FGM.

Carolina Giraldo (no relation of Francia), a historian and Embera congresswoman who drafted the ban on FGM, said it pains her "when people call us (the Embera) murderers and ignorant" over genital cutting.

She hopes to see "women who advocate for women's rights" travel to remote areas to campaign for an end to the silent suffering of Indigenous girls.

als/das/cb/sms

Shipping industry figures gave a cautious welcome Friday to Iran's announcement that it was reopening the crucial Strait of Hormuz trade route to commercial freight after nearly seven weeks closed.

Iranian forces' closure of the strait has trapped hundreds of ships in the Gulf and driven up the costs of shipping goods, with captains avoiding the region for fear of attacks or mines.

A spokesman for German transportation giant Hapag-Lloyd, which has ships stuck in the Gulf, told AFP by phone that the reopening was "in general... good news".

But he cautioned that shippers still needed details of what route vessels could take and in what order, citing fears of sea mines.

"One thousand ships cannot just go now to the entrance of the strait, that will be chaos. They (the Iranians) need to give clear orders," said the spokesman, Nils Haupt.

"We would be ready to go very soon if some of these open questions can be solved within the weekend."

Bloomberg data indicated there were about 770 vessels used for carrying commodities sending transponder signals inside the Gulf on Thursday, of which about 360 were oil and gas carriers.

Before the war, average daily crossings of the strait overall numbered about 120, according to industry journal Lloyd's List.

- 'Inaccurate' -

Afer Iran's announcement on Friday, US President Donald Trump said the Islamic republic had declared the waterway "fully open and ready for full passage".

Jakob Larsen, chief security officer of major shipping association BIMCO, said in a statement emailed to AFP that this claim was "inaccurate".

"The status of mine threats in (Iran's maritime) traffic separation scheme is unclear, and BIMCO believes shipping companies should consider avoiding the area," he said.

The secretary general of leading industry lobby the International Chamber of Shipping, Thomas Kazakos, said the announcement was "a positive step (but) there is still much uncertainty around what it means in practice".

In a statement sent to AFP, he said it offered "a cautious measure of reassurance to" shippers and the thousands of seafarers stuck in the Gulf by the Middle East war for nearly seven weeks.

"It is essential that it marks the beginning of a broader and more durable return, beyond the current ceasefire, to freedom of navigation in one of the world's most critical maritime corridors," he said.

rlp/rmb