WHO chief urges countries to complete pandemic agreement

Namibia said Monday it had rejected a request for billionaire Elon Musk's Starlink to operate its satellite internet services in the country, dealing the company a second setback in southern Africa.

Starlink had applied for the licence through its local unit, Starlink Internet Services Namibia (Pty) Limited, the Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia (CRAN) said in a government gazette. 

Starlink provides high-speed internet access to remote locations around the world via thousands of low Earth orbit satellites.

The regulator gave no explanation for the refusal, saying only that "the full reasons for the decision can be requested from the authority." 

AFP sought comment from CRAN but had not received a response.

However CRAN's statement noted that Starlink's local subsidiary has no local ownership. 

US-based Starlink, which counters criticism on its website with a "Myth vs Fact" page, says it established the Namibian company and plans to partner with local firms to create jobs and economic opportunities.

Starlink has failed to secure a licence in neighbouring South Africa, where ownership rules have also blocked its entry.

Telecommunications companies operating in South Africa, including those with foreign investment, are currently required to provide 30 percent equity to historically disadvantaged groups -- a policy created to mitigate the legacy of racial inequality left by apartheid.

South Africa-born Musk has refused ceding ownership, calling the black empowerment policy "openly racist". 

str-ho/rl

Britain is sending short-range air defence systems to the Gulf to help counter Iranian missile attacks, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Monday.

"We're deploying short range air defence systems to Bahrain at speed," Starmer told a parliamentary committee, adding the UK was "doing the same with Kuwait and Saudi Arabia". 

The UK is working with industry to "distribute air defence missiles to Gulf partners", which have faced waves of Iranian barrages in retaliation for US-Israeli strikes, and has embedded airspace specialists there, Starmer said.

Defence minister John Healey told parliament the country would be deploying its Rapid Sentry anti-drone system to Kuwait.

He called this a "battle-tested ground-based air defence missile system that has already proved highly effective for UK forces taking down drones in the region".

A British warship, HMS Dragon, has also arrived in the eastern Mediterranean to defend Cyprus, Healey said.

Britain deployed the vessel following criticism over a perceived slow response to a drone attack on Britain's Akrotiri base in southern Cyprus after the United States and Israel launched their war against Iran on February 28.

The UK now has more military jets in the region "than at any time in the last 15 years" and has boosted air defence personnel in Cyprus by 500, Healey said.

He added that UK pilots had now spent nearly 900 hours flying in the region "in defence of Cyprus, Jordan, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates" as Iran has unleashed volleys of drones at countries in the region. 

- 'Keeping UK safe' -

The UK government is allowing Washington to use its bases in Diego Garcia in the Chagos Islands and Fairford in southwest England to fly US bombing missions targeting Iranian "missile sites and capabilities being used to attack ships in the Strait of Hormuz".

Britain is determined to play a "leading role in securing the strait so commercial ships can move freely and confidently again", its defence minister said, referring to the strategic chokepoint through which much of the world's crude oil and natural gas passes.

Iran on Friday launched two missiles towards the Diego Garcia base, Healey said, but neither reached their target and "normal operations continue".

"I totally condemn Iran's reckless attacks. Iran must stop, it must de-escalate. We want to see this war end now," the minister said.

But he offered assurances, saying: "There is no assessment that we are being targeted in the UK". 

"We have the resources, we have the alliances in place in order to keep the United Kingdom safe from any kind of attacks."

am/jkb/sbk

A former Swedish model has been questioned in France by investigators analysing evidence that could implicate French nationals in the crimes of the convicted US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, sources said on Monday.

In February, the Paris prosecutor's office said it was setting up a special team to study such evidence, adding prosecutors had been asked to look into several cases, including one involving Daniel Siad, a model recruiter with close ties to Epstein. 

On February 10, French prosecutors received a complaint from Ebba Karlsson, a 56-year-old former Swedish model, against Siad.

She accused him of "sexual acts that she describes as rape and that may have been committed in France in 1990", prosecutors said.

Last week, Karlsson, who lives in the United States, was questioned by French investigators specialising in combating human trafficking, sources told AFP.

The questioning marked a key new step in the investigations launched by the Paris public prosecutor's office into the Epstein network.

She was heard by officers from France's Central Office for the Suppression of Trafficking in Human Beings last Thursday, she said.

"It went very well," she told AFP. "I felt safe." 

She said that that feeling reinforced the sense of relief she had felt on the day she filed her complaint.

"It was so healing on a level I never expected," she said, referring to the day she had filed her complaint.

Karlsson said she did not know who Siad was until his photo surfaced in connection with the Epstein files.

"I just wanted to throw up," she said. "It was such a shock."

Karlsson accuses Siad of raping her when she was 20 and then sexually exploiting her by introducing her to model agency boss Gerald Marie, whom she accuses of raping her too. 

Both men have denied the claims. 

"Daniel Siad can only effectively defend himself within the framework of criminal proceedings brought against him," his lawyer Menya Arab-Tigrine told AFP on Monday. 

"He wishes to be heard as soon as possible. The right to defend oneself is a constitutional principle that must never be forgotten," she insisted.

Karlsson is also a member of the Victorious Angels -- We Rise collective, which last week requested that Marie be investigated as well.

clw-as/ekf

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni conceded defeat on Monday in a referendum on justice reform, but despite the major blow to her far-right leadership, she insisted she was going nowhere.

With almost all ballots counted from the Sunday-Monday vote, the "No" camp was at almost 54 percent, compared to just over 46 percent for "Yes", according to official figures.

During the campaign, Meloni had insisted the referendum, which concerned the role and oversight of judges and prosecutors, was not about her own leadership of the government.

And she repeated this Monday, saying "the Italians have decided", but adding that "this does not change our commitment to continue".

Yet she had forcefully campaigned for the proposals, alongside her coalition partners in the hard-right government, while the opposition parties had fought for a "No".

Daniele Albertazzi, a professor of politics at the UK's University of Surrey told AFP it was a "bad, bad result" for Meloni.

"It means she has lost the Italian electorate on a major issue in her manifesto, and one of the key proposals of the right... for the past 30 years," he said.

It is the first such setback for Meloni, who has led an uncharacteristically stable coalition government since October 2022 and faces parliamentary elections next year.

"If the centre-left gets its act together, this is going to help them. Because it means that her image as unbeatable is not there any more," Albertazzi said.

Turnout was relatively high for a referendum, at almost 59 percent.

- 'Eviction notice' -

The referendum, voted Sunday and Monday, sought to separate the role of judges and prosecutors and change their oversight body in what the government cast as necessary measures to ensure impartiality in the courts. 

But critics said it was an attempt to exert more control over independent judges, whose decisions Meloni's ministers have often attacked in public.

They also argued the reform failed to address the real challenges facing Italy's dysfunctional justice system, from years-long trials and huge case backlogs to prison overcrowding.

Political analysts said the reform's complexity, not easily understood by many Italians, and the rhetoric surrounding it meant the vote ultimately became a referendum on the Italian leader herself.

"Meloni is certainly weakened," Lorenzo Castellani, professor of politics at Rome's Luiss university, told AFP.

Former prime minister Giuseppe Conte, the leader of the Five Star Movement, who had campaigned against the referendum, said it was time for a new government.

"It's an eviction notice for this government after four years," he told a press conference.

- Rallying cry -

Italy's right has championed the issue of judicial reform since it became a key rallying cry of late conservative prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, who accused the magistrates bringing a slew of trials against him of left-wing bias.

Members of Meloni's government have similarly attacked the judiciary, with Justice Minister Carlo Nordio saying last month the reform would correct a "para-Mafia mechanism" operating within the body. 

The referendum would have prevented judges and public prosecutors from switching roles, although only a tiny minority currently do so, addressing concerns that too-cosy relations between the two groups harm defendants.

The reform's most divisive part involved changes to the Superior Council of the Judiciary (CSM), an oversight and disciplinary body whose members are elected by their peers and parliament.

The changes would have divided the CSM into two separate councils, one for judges and one for prosecutors, and created a new 15-member disciplinary court.

Members would have been drawn by lots, no longer voted by their peers, while a fraction of the judges chosen randomly for the court will come from lists compiled by parliament.

Dividing the powerful CSM would make its members more susceptible to political pressure, argued the "No" camp, which also said that using a lottery system to choose those to sit on the court undermined the concept of merit.  

ar-ams/sbk

The US immigration agency at the center of a firestorm over heavy-handed enforcement tactics began deploying to major airports on Monday, as officials scrambled to ease mounting travel disruption during a prolonged, partial government shutdown.

The move places Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) personnel -- already under intense scrutiny after fatal shootings linked to immigration operations -- in highly visible roles at crowded transport hubs across the country.

Officials say the agents are being sent to at least 14 airports, including hubs in New York, Chicago and Atlanta, to assist overstretched Transportation Security Administration (TSA) staff, many of whom have gone weeks without full pay.

The agents will not conduct passenger screening but are expected to handle support roles such as monitoring exits and managing logistics, allowing TSA officers to focus on security checks.

The deployment comes as airports struggle with long delays during a busy travel period for the annual spring break, with some passengers reporting waits of several hours.

Unscheduled absences among TSA staff have surged to their highest levels since the beginning of the shutdown, which has halted the operations of the Department of Homeland Security - which oversees TSA - raising concerns about safety and system strain.

Tom Homan, President Donald Trump's point man on border security, told CNN the move was a temporary measure to "help TSA move those lines along," while Trump framed it as part of a broader effort to maintain security during the funding standoff.

But the decision has drawn sharp criticism from Democrats, rights activists and some Republicans, who warn it risks escalating tensions in already stressed environments.

House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries told CNN deploying ICE in crowded airports could create new risks, while Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski told reporters it was "not ICE's mission" and warned of "additional tension" at airports.

The controversy reflects broader unease over the administration's immigration crackdown, which has sparked protests and legal challenges in several states.

In Minnesota earlier this year, two US citizens -- Renee Good and Alex Pretti -- were killed in separate encounters with federal immigration officers, incidents that fueled nationwide outrage and scrutiny of enforcement tactics.

Good, a mother of three, was shot by an ICE agent during an operation, while Pretti, an intensive care nurse, was later killed by officers from Customs and Border Protection during a related deployment.

Against that backdrop, the airport deployment has taken on outsized significance, highlighting the increasingly blurred lines between immigration enforcement and domestic security roles.

Meanwhile, negotiations in Washington remain deadlocked.

Democrats have pushed to reopen most of the Department of Homeland Security while demanding new limits on immigration enforcement, while Republicans have resisted those conditions.

Trump has further complicated talks by insisting he will not sign any funding deal unless Congress also passes the SAVE America Act, a contentious bill to overhaul how citizens register to vote in US elections.

With no breakthrough in sight and Congress nearing a recess, officials warn the disruption could deepen -- leaving airports, and the wider system, under growing strain.

ft/msp

The United States and TotalEnergies on Monday signed an agreement to end the French company's offshore US wind farm projects and redirect those funds towards fossil fuel production, with the US interior secretary saying the deal was worth "nearly $1 billion."

US Interior Secretary Doug Burgum made the announcement at the annual CERAWeek conference in Houston, at an event where he appeared alongside TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanne, after which both men signed the agreement.

"We're partnering with TotalEnergies to unleash nearly $1 billion that was tied up in a lease deposit that was directed towards the prior administration's subsidies that were pushing expensive weather-dependent offshore wind," said Burgum.

Pouyanne welcomed the deal, saying it redirected TotalEnergies's $928 million investment in two wind farm leases off the North Carolina and New York coasts into US natural gas projects, in particular the Rio Grande LNG plant.

French giant TotalEnergies had four gigawatts (GW) of offshore projects under development, including 3 GW for the New York Bight project and 1 GW in North Carolina.

But at the end of 2024, Pouyanne announced that they were "put on hold" due to the unlikelihood of obtaining federal licenses from the Trump administration.

Under former president Joe Biden, the United States had accelerated progress on wind farm construction as part of its fight against climate change.

US President Donald Trump, however, has reversed course on many of Biden's climate policies, taking particular aim at wind power.

Trump has long complained about the aesthetics of wind farms, and says they produce expensive electricity.

In December, the Trump administration put five wind power projects on hold, citing "national security" risks. 

That order was then nullified by rulings at several US federal courts, allowing work to resume.

In Houston on Monday, TotalEnergies CEO Pouyanne said offshore wind was "not the most affordable way to produce electricity" in the United States, which he identified as being natural gas-fired power plants.

"We could recycle all this money we are dedicating into, I would say US energy policy, and, for us, in I would say smarter investment. So it was a win-win dialog," he said.

According to a TotalEnergies statement, the company has also signed a letter of intent with Glenfarne, the lead developer of the Alaska LNG project, for the longterm offtake of 2 million tons per year of liquefied natural gas (LNG) over 20 years.

aha-ni-nal/mjf

Iran has not updated its official death toll figures for weeks, while human rights groups outside the country are struggling with chronic communication problems, meaning the number of people killed during the war remains largely unknown.

The last time Iran's health ministry gave a full update about casualties was on March 8, the ninth day of the conflict, when it said around 1,200 civilians had been killed in US and Israeli airstrikes across the country. 

Overseas human rights groups have long been considered one of the most reliable sources of information about life inside the heavily censored Islamic republic.

But with Iran's connections to the global internet cut off and phone lines down, they are struggling to reach their networks of contacts who are their eyes and ears on the ground.

The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), which played an important role corroborating deaths during anti-government protests in January, estimates the civilian death toll at 1,407 people, including 214 children.

"I would say it's an absolute, absolute minimum, and that's simply because we don't have the capacity to be everywhere at one time, understanding the full extent of what's happening," HRANA deputy director Skylar Thompson told AFP.

"With the scale and the speed at which places are being targeted across the country, it's impossible to document it at the same pace," she added.

The Iranian Red Crescent is not providing casualty estimates, but its latest figures indicate 61,555 homes, 19,000 businesses, 275 medical centres, and nearly 500 schools have been damaged.

AFP journalists have been able to confirm that many civilian buildings in Tehran have been damaged, including apartment blocks caught in the blast wave of nearby missile or bomb strikes, but not beyond the city. 

Reporters are unable to travel around the country without official authorisation.  

- Connection problems -

Distrust of Iran's official figures is high among human rights groups, particularly after the bloody crackdown on anti-government protests in January.

Although Iran acknowledged around 3,000 deaths, mostly among security forces, researchers and campaigners outside Iran estimated that anywhere from 7,000 to 35,000 people were killed in the indiscriminate shooting.

"The Islamic republic has a history of not publishing or not collecting data," Awyar Shekhi from the Norway-based human rights group Hengaw told AFP.

The problem for Hengaw and others seeking to provide a credible alternative to the incomplete official data has been the almost-total shutdown of Iran's internet connections to the outside world since the start of the war on February 28.

"The connection is worse than it ever was before, so it's really difficult to get accurate data of how many people have been killed, and the information we get is so little," Shekhi added.

Both she and Thompson stressed that Iranian authorities have been threatening and arresting people who have illegally accessed the global internet to send information abroad, sometimes accusing them of spying.

Making telephone calls to Iran from abroad is also largely impossible.

- 'Focus on the civilian harm' -

The biggest loss of life for civilians in the war so far was the airstrike on an elementary school in Minab on the first day of the war that killed at least 165 people, according to an official toll.

A US Tomahawk cruise missile hit the school because of a targeting mistake, according to the preliminary findings of a US military investigation reported by The New York Times.

Hengaw also documented an airstrike on a flour factory in the city of western Naqadeh on March 7 that killed 11 workers and injured another 21.

"I believe that the US and Israel are using a quite aggressive interpretation of what is a military target," Thompson from HRANA added.

Unlike in January, during the anti-government protests, she said there had so far been relatively little attention in the Western media on the toll of ordinary Iranians.

"There's such a focus on the geopolitics of it all, I think it's really important to have a focus on the civilian harm," she added.

Elsewhere in the region, Lebanon's health ministry said Israeli strikes had killed 1,029 people in the country.

A total of 16 civilians have been killed by Iranian attacks in Israel and 17 civilians have been killed in Gulf countries, according to authorities and emergency services there.

adp/sjw/dcp

The surge in fuel prices triggered by the war in the Middle East has prompted countries to take measures to limit the financial impact on consumers and businesses.

Countries have also moved to reduce consumption, especially when they have limited reserves.

Here are some of the measures that have been adopted:

- Tax cuts and aid -

Some countries are targeting the price of fuel in order to limit the impact of the rise of crude oil prices on consumers and businesses.

Spain has launched a five-billion-euro ($5.8-billion) plan that reduces the value added tax (VAT) on fuel which should result in a reduction of 30 euro cents per litre.

A similar measure is in place in Portugal and has been announced in Sweden.

Since US-Israeli attacks on Iran set off the war on February 28 a number of countries such as Croatia, Hungary, South Korea and Thailand have set price limits on fuel.

Vietnam has waived customs duties on fuel imports through the month of April.

Japan is using subsidies to refiners to ensure the pump price of petrol stays around 170 yen ($1.07) per litre, having hit a record 190.8 yen in the middle of the month.

Taiwan uses a mechanism that absorbs 60 percent of increases.

China on Monday limited the amount that fuel prices may rise at the pump.

Greece has earmarked 300 million euros ($347 million) in relief for households and farmers in April and May to help them cope with rising fuel prices.

Morocco has put in place a special direct subsidy for road transport firms.

Brazil has announced temporary measures to limit fuel price increases, including suspending taxes on diesel fuel.

Germany has banned service stations from raising prices more than once per day.

- Stocks, rationing, restrictions -

The war is also forcing countries to dip into their strategic stocks and take other measures to avoid shortages, including rationing and reducing travel.

The 32 member countries of the International Energy Agency (which includes the G7 nations) have released a record amount from their strategic reserves.

Bangladesh has imposed rationing.

Egypt has limited non-essential travel by government employees. 

The Philippines has reduced ferry services and prices of local public transport have risen.

India, the world's number two importer of liquefied petroleum gas which is used to produce cooking gas, has prioritised supplies for households.

South Korea's ruling party said the country will lift a cap on coal-powered generation capacity set at 80 percent and boost the use of nuclear power to about the same level.

- Reducing energy consumption -

Other countries are introducing measures to reduce fuel consumption.

Thailand is encouraging government employees to work from home, while Vietnam is encouraging employers to do so.

Indonesia is looking at imposing one day of working from home for government employees, while the Philippines has gone further, introducing a four-day work week for government employees. 

In Thailand, the temperature in public buildings has been raised to 26 degrees Celsius (79F) to reduce electricity consumption for air conditioning.

Vietnam is encouraging people to ride bicycles, share rides and use public transport.

Bangladesh shut universities and brought forward the Eid holidays, the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, to limit electricity consumption. 

It also cancelled decorative light displays on government buildings on Eid and those scheduled for Independence Day celebrations on March 26 and asked shopping malls to do the same.

Countries are also looking at importing Russian crude after the United States temporarily suspended sanctions in mid-March.

ole/uh/rl/kjm

How long will the Iran war last and what are the US goals? President Donald Trump has issued a dizzying number of conflicting answers to these questions since launching the conflict three weeks ago.

The stakes have risen as Iran has retaliated with drone and missile strikes across the Gulf after the United States and Israel started their attacks on February 28.

Here, in Trump's own words, are his shifting positions:

- Duration of the war -

March 1: "Well, we intended four to five weeks." (To the New York Times)

March 9: "I think the war is very complete, pretty much.” (To CBS)

March 20: "We are getting very close to meeting our objectives." (Truth Social).

March 20: "I think we have won.... I don't want to do a ceasefire." (To reporters at the White House)

March 23: "If talks fail..., we'll just keep bombing our little hearts out." (To reporters in Florida)

- Negotiate or not? -

March 1: "They want to talk, and I have agreed to talk, so I will be talking to them." (To The Atlantic)

March 3: "They want to talk. I said 'Too Late!'" (Truth Social)

March 21: "There's nobody to talk to. We have nobody to talk to. And you know what -- we like it that way." (To reporters at the White House)

March 23: "I AM PLEASED TO REPORT THAT THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AND THE COUNTRY OF IRAN, HAVE HAD, OVER THE LAST TWO DAYS, VERY GOOD AND PRODUCTIVE CONVERSATIONS." (Truth Social)

- Hormuz: need allies or not? -

March 14: "Many countries...will be sending War Ships, in conjunction with the United States of America, to keep the Strait open and safe." (Truth Social) 

March 16: "We strongly encourage the other nations to get involved with us and get involved quickly and with great enthusiasm." (To reporters at the White House)

March 17: "WE DO NOT NEED THE HELP OF ANYONE!" (Truth Social)

- What does winning mean? -

Feb. 28: Trump announces war in a video message. Says goals are to eliminate Iran's ballistic missile capability, destroy their navy, ensure it never gets a nuclear weapon, and ensure Iranian proxy groups can no longer carry out attacks. 

He also encourages a popular uprising: "Take over your government." (Video message, speaking to Iranians)

March 9: "We've already won in many ways." (Speaking to Congressional Republicans)

March 13: "When I feel it in my bones." (Response to Fox Radio on when the war will be over)

March 21: "If Iran doesn't FULLY OPEN, WITHOUT THREAT, the Strait of Hormuz, within 48 HOURS from this exact point in time, the United States of America will hit and obliterate their various POWER PLANTS." (Truth Social)

March 23: "I HAVE INSTRUCTED THE DEPARTMENT OF WAR TO POSTPONE ANY AND ALL MILITARY STRIKES AGAINST IRANIAN POWER PLANTS." (Truth Social)

msp/sms

Moments before an Air Canada Express plane collided with a firetruck on the runway of New York's LaGuardia Airport, a traffic controller cleared the truck to cross the runway and then urgently ordered it to halt, a recording showed.

The collision Sunday night killed the pilot and co-pilot, and 41 people on board were taken to the hospital, officials said.

The plane, operated by Jazz Aviation, a regional partner of Air Canada, struck the firetruck on Runway 4 at around 11:40 pm as the truck drove to a separate incident.

Below is a transcript of the exchange:

Driver: "Truck one and company, LaGuardia Tower. Requesting to cross four at Delta."

Controller: "Truck one and company, cross four at Delta."

Driver: "Truck one and company crossing four at Delta."

Controller: "Frontier 4195, stop there please. (Pause.) Stop, stop, stop, truck one, stop, stop, stop. Stop, truck one, stop! Stop, truck one, stop." 

(Alarm goes off.)

"Jazz 646. Jazz 646, I see you collided with vehicle. (Inaudible) Hold position. I know he can't move. Vehicles are responding to you now."

After further dialogue.

Second controller: "Man, that wasn't good to watch."

First controller: "Yeah, I know. I was here. I tried to reach out to my staff. And we were dealing with an emergency earlier. I messed up."

Second controller: "No man, you did the best you could."

mjf/bgs