Russia tests long-range missile after US nuclear treaty expires


By AFP
May 12, 2026


Putin said Sarmat could carry a warhead four times more powerful than anything Western militaries possessed - Copyright Russian Defence Ministry/AFP Handout

Russia on Tuesday tested a new long-range missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads, months after the last treaty with the United States limiting their atomic arsenals lapsed.

The ending of the New START agreement in February formally released the world’s two largest nuclear powers from a raft of restrictions.

“This is the most powerful missile system in the world,” claimed Russian President Vladimir Putin after receiving a report of a successful launch of Sarmat, an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

He said the missile could carry a warhead more than four times more powerful than anything Western militaries possessed, adding that Sarmat would be on “combat duty” by the end of this year.

Even though Moscow and Washington agreed to reestablish high-level military dialogue shortly after New START expired, there were no immediate signs of renewing or prolonging it.

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly pressed for a new treaty to include China, whose arsenal is growing but still significantly smaller than those of Russia or the US, but Beijing has publicly rejected the pressure.

Trump had been mostly silent on Russian calls to extend New START, which was signed in 2010 and imposed the last restrictions on Moscow and Washington after decades of agreements dating from the Cold War.

Both countries have repeatedly accused each other of failing to adhere to the agreement.

Sarmat, referred to as “Satan II” in NATO designation, is the first ICBM produced in post-Soviet Russia to be classed as “super heavy”.

Put said it was capable of travelling 35,000 kilometres (22,000 miles).

Singaporean, Indian firms face criminal charges over Maryland bridge crash


ByAFP
May 12, 2026


The M/V Dali struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge in the early morning of March 26, 2024 - Copyright AFP Kent NISHIMURA

A Singapore-based company and another in India have been indicted on multiple criminal charges over a 2024 ship crash that destroyed a bridge in the US state of Maryland and left six people dead, officials said Tuesday.

Synergy Marine, based in Singapore, and Synergy Maritime, based in Chennai, India, are accused of conspiracy to defraud, making false statements to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and other charges.

An Indian national, Radhakrishnan Karthik Nair, 47, who worked for both companies as technical superintendent for the ship, the M/V Dali, is also named in the indictment unsealed on Tuesday.

US Attorney Kelly Hayes said Nair is not in custody and is believed to be in India.

The Dali, a 984-foot container ship, suffered a series of electrical problems in the early morning of March 26, 2024, and crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge over the Patapsco River, which collapsed like a house of cards, blocking the busy shipping channel for the port of Baltimore.

Six construction workers on the bridge, all Latin American immigrants, fell to their deaths.

The NTSB found that the probable cause of the disaster was a loss of electrical power due to a loose wire connection in a high-voltage switchboard, resulting in the vessel losing propulsion and steering as it approached the bridge.

“The collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge was a preventable tragedy of enormous consequence,” acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement. “This indictment is a critical step toward holding accountable those whose reckless disregard for maritime safety regulations caused this disaster.”

FBI special agent Jimmy Paul said the indictment “reveals a pattern of deception and egregious violations that led to the unsafe operation of the Dali which recklessly endangered the public and resulted in the ship striking the bridge.”

“Synergy and Radhakrishnan Karthik Nair repeatedly failed to document, investigate and report significant safety risks and hazards aboard the Dali,” Paul said. “They forged safety inspections and certifications.

“They falsely claimed the ship was in good working order and then lied to investigators about their actions when they were questioned.”

The US Justice Department announced in October 2024 that it had reached a $100 million settlement with Singapore’s Synergy Marine and another company, Grace Ocean, to recover costs incurred in responding to the disaster and for removing tons of bridge debris from the channel leading to the port of Baltimore.

Maryland authorities have said it will cost more than $5.2 billion to rebuild the bridge with completion envisioned in 2030.

US appeals court halts order declaring Trump’s global 10% tariff illegal


By AFP
May 12, 2026


The US Court of International Trade ruled last week that President Donald Trump's new ten percent global tariffs, using Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, were unlawful - Copyright GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP MARIO TAMA

Asad HASHIM

A US federal appeals court on Tuesday temporarily paused a ruling declaring President Donald Trump’s global 10-percent tariffs illegal, granting a government request to suspend the decision pending appeal.

Trump imposed the temporary 10-percent duty in February, shortly after the Supreme Court struck down many of his global tariffs.

On May 7, the US Court of International Trade (CIT) blocked the tariffs from being implemented against two companies and the state of Washington. That decision was to take effect on Tuesday.

The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Tuesday issued a brief order that included an administrative stay on the CIT’s order, setting a schedule for both sides to file briefs on the matter.

In its motion for a stay, the Trump administration argued that the CIT’s decision should be stayed pending the full run of government appeals — up to the Supreme Court, if necessary.

It argued that if it issued refunds on the 10-percent global tariff, only to have an appeals court uphold its position, it would be unable to pursue economic redress.

“Plaintiffs, conversely, can be made whole through refunds, including interest, if the tariffs are ultimately held unlawful and refundable,” the government said.

The court, however, only granted an administrative stay for the period while the court considers the motions for a stay pending appeal.



– Signature policy upended –



The Trump administration has said the new tariff was meant to deal with balance-of-payments deficits, citing Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974.

The 10-percent global tariff under Section 122 is valid until late July unless extended by Congress.

The Trump administration has also been pursuing other means to impose tariffs to replace those struck down by the Supreme Court.

US authorities have opened investigations into dozens of trading partners over forced labor and overcapacity allegations — which could lead to fresh tariffs or other action.

Trump’s sector-specific tariffs on goods like steel, aluminum and autos remain unaffected by these legal challenges.

The Supreme Court’s striking down of the majority of Trump’s tariffs was a blow to the Republican president, after he made the levies a signature economic policy.

Since the decision, businesses have rushed for refunds.

US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) estimated in March that more than 330,000 importers could be eligible for refunds after the Supreme Court’s decision.

The tariffs that were struck down earlier, imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), collected approximately $166 billion in duties and estimated deposits.

On Tuesday, CNBC reported that businesses had begun to receive refunds, in line with a CBP timeline released earlier this month.

CBP did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment.

Paramount defends Warner bid amid California probe


ByAFP
May 12, 2026


Hollywood is fretting over the possible impact on the movie industry if the Paramount bid for Warner Bros. is approved - Copyright GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP MARIO TAMA

Paramount Skydance has defended its attempt to buy the legendary Warner Bros. studio, in a letter to California’s top lawyer whose office is probing the $110 billion bid, US media reported Tuesday.

The move comes amid growing calls for regulators to block the takeover, with creators in Hollywood fearing the highly leveraged buyout will mean job cuts and a drastically scaled back movie slate, with production going straight to streaming.

In a letter addressed to state Attorney General Rob Bonta, Paramount says it is deeply committed to producing films and showing them in cinemas.

“Theatrical runs increase awareness and anticipation through marketing and word-of-mouth, and then help convert that demand into viewing when the title later becomes available (and promoted) on the platform,” reads the letter, sent on May 7 by Paramount’s Chief Legal Officer Makan Delrahim, according to the news site Semafor.

The new company “will have every incentive to get more films into wider distribution on more movie theater screens — it is how it will compete for audiences across the entertainment ecosystem.”

In the eight-page document, Paramount reiterates its pledge to release at least 30 films per year if the acquisition is approved, with a minimum 45-day exclusive theatrical window.

A bidding war for Warner Bros., and its valuable back catalogue erupted last year between streaming giant Netflix and Paramount, whose CEO David Ellison is the son of Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, an ally of President Donald Trump.

A wary Tinseltown reluctantly coalesced around the Netflix bid, seeing it as the lesser of two evils, but Paramount’s willingness to stump up ever greater sums eventually saw the streamer withdraw.

Still, hundreds of actors and directors have signed a letter opposing the merger, arguing it will crimp production in an already struggling industry.

Bonta previously announced that his office would closely scrutinize the mammoth transaction, which received final approval from Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders last week.

Combined, Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery will encompass CNN, CBS, HBO, and Nickelodeon, as well as some of Hollywood’s most valuable franchises, including “Harry Potter,” “Game of Thrones,” the DC Universe, “Mission: Impossible,” and “SpongeBob SquarePants.”

A spokesman from Bonta’s office declined to confirm the existence of the letter.

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M

Fugitive financier sought in Malaysian fund scandal seeks Trump’s pardon


ByAFP
May 13, 2026


A massive corruption scandal in Malaysia saw top officials loot billions from state fund 1MDB - Copyright AFP/File MANAN VATSYAYANA

A fugitive financier accused of involvement in a massive corruption scandal in Malaysia in which top officials looted billions from state fund 1MDB has filed for a pardon from US President Donald Trump.

Businessman Low Taek Jho, better known as Jho Low, is formally seeking a “pardon after completion of sentence,” according to the US Department of Justice website.

Whistleblowers allege that Jho Low, a well-connected Malaysian financier with no official role, helped set up the 1MDB state investment fund and made key financial decisions before disappearing about a decade ago.

Low, who has been indicted in the US, has denied wrongdoing but remains at large.

The fund was launched by former prime minister Najib Razak in 2009, shortly after he became prime minister. It is alleged that more than $4.5 billion was diverted from 1MDB between 2009 and 2015 by fund officials and associates, including Low.

Najib, who has been tried and convicted in multiple cases, has been jailed and fined $2.8 billion for his role in the plunder.

Najib’s defense lawyers blamed Low and dubbed him the mastermind of the scheme.

Malaysia unsuccessfully sought the return of Low through extradition, and it was widely speculated in media that he was hiding in China.

Trump was scheduled to arrive in China on Wednesday to meet with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.

The scandal shook Malaysian politics, contributing to the 2018 downfall of the ruling coalition that had governed since independence in 1957, and led to the convictions of two former Goldman Sachs bankers.

Investigators said top officials used their ill-gotten gains to splurge on luxury assets worldwide, including a luxury yacht, high-end real estate, Monet and Van Gogh paintings and even to fund the Hollywood blockbuster “The Wolf of Wall Street.”

Actor Leonardo DiCaprio testified in court about Low’s wild spending sprees and lavish parties.

The globe-spanning scandal also ensnared Pras Michel, a rapper in rap trio the Fugees, who was found guilty of helping Low funnel money from 1MDB into US politics.

Poland’s wanted ex-minister confirms he fled to US from Hungary


ByAFP
May 10, 2026


Ziobro, pictured here in 2022, faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted of the charges laid against him - Copyright AFP Wojtek RADWANSKI

Poland’s former justice minister Zbigniew Ziobro, wanted on several criminal charges in his home country, has fled Hungary to the United States, he confirmed on Sunday, following local media reports.

“I am in the United States,” Ziobro told right-wing broadcaster Republika. “I arrived yesterday, and this is my third time traveling around the country,” he added.

Ziobro, who received asylum from right-wing ally Viktor Orban’s government last year, faces up to 25 years in prison in Poland if convicted of the charges laid against him.

They include abuse of power, leading an organised criminal enterprise and using funds meant for crime victims to buy Israeli Pegasus spyware, allegedly to monitor political opponents.

After Orban’s party was ousted from power in an election in April, Hungary’s new Prime Minister Peter Magyar — who was sworn in on Saturday — said that Hungary would no longer protect people wanted elsewhere.

“Hungary will no longer be a dumping ground for internationally wanted criminals,” he told journalists the day after his victory, naming as examples Ziobro and his former deputy, Marcin Romanowski, suspected of embezzling nearly 40 million euros ($47 million).

The Republika broadcaster reported earlier on Sunday that Ziobro was in the US, while liberal broadcaster TVN24 published a photo of Ziobro at Newark Liberty International Airport, which it said had been taken by another traveller.

It is unclear how Ziobro managed to travel to the United States, as Poland had previously said his travel documents — including his Polish and diplomatic passports — had been revoked.



– Poland to contact US –



Current Polish Justice Minister Waldemar Zurek wrote on X that Poland “will reach out to the USA and Hungary with questions regarding the legal basic that enabled Zbigniew Ziobro to… enter the United States despite lacking valid documents”.

“We will not cease or efforts to ensure that he and Mr. Marcin Romanowski are held accountable before the Polish justice system,” he said.

Earlier, Zurek told the Polsat broadcaster: “If it is confirmed that Ziobro is in the USA, then (Poland) will request his extradition.”

Ziobro was the leader of the ultra-conservative Sovereign Poland party, a junior coalition partner of the nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party, and served as justice minister and attorney general between 2015 and 2023.

He is also known as the architect of contentious judicial reforms which sparked a standoff between Poland and the European Commission.

Asked by Republika about his potential extradition, Ziobro replied: “I am ready to appear before any court, and an American independent court is certainly an independent court.

“If they want to initiate extradition proceedings, by all means,” he added, calling extradition cases in US courts “a demanding procedure”.

He has rejected the charges against him, accusing the centrist Polish government of conducting a witch hunt against conservatives.

Besieged Starmer seeks to heal Labour divisions in King’s Speech


ByAFP
May 13, 2026


As head of state, King Charles III reads out his government's legislative programme - Copyright POOL/AFP Kirsty Wigglesworth

Peter Hutchison

King Charles III will on Wednesday outline UK leader Keir Starmer’s next legislative plans, during a pomp-filled ceremony that could have huge repercussions for the embattled prime minister’s future.

Starmer, fighting to face down a revolt within his ruling Labour party, has promised his government will be “better” and bolder to assuage disgruntled voters impatient for change.

That pledge will be put to the test in Wednesday’s short address in parliament which Downing Street said will unveil an “ambitious programme” that will make Britain a “stronger, fairer” country.

It is the latest crunch moment in Starmer’s 22-month premiership and comes after Labour descended into open warfare on Tuesday over the prime minister’s future following the party’s heavy defeats in local and regional elections.

Four junior ministers resigned and the number of MPs urging Starmer to quit passed 80, but more than 100 others signed a statement urging colleagues to back him.

Several senior ministers also rallied around the Labour premier after Starmer vowed to fight on, telling them that no one had come forward to kick-start a leadership challenge.

Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy urged lawmakers to “step back and take a breath”, while a spokesman for interior minister Shabana Mahmood denied rumours that she was resigning.



– ‘Pivotal moment’ –



“Britain stands at a pivotal moment,” Starmer, who in July 2024 became the UK’s sixth prime minister in eight years, said in comments late Tuesday ahead of the King’s Speech.

“To press ahead with a plan to build a stronger, fairer country or turn back to the chaos and instability of the past.”

Despite its name, the King’s Speech is not written by the monarch but by the government, which uses it to detail the laws it proposes to make over the next 12 months.

Downing Street said the address will include a package of more than 35 bills “to bolster economic, energy, (and) national security.

They will include proposals to fully nationalise British Steel and deepen Britain’s relationship with the European Union.

King Charles will deliver the proposals from a golden throne in the House of Lords upper chamber while wearing the diamond-studded Imperial State Crown and a long crimson robe.

The day’s proceedings start when royal bodyguards ritually search the basement of the Palace of Westminster for explosives — a legacy of the failed attempt by Catholics to blow up parliament in the 1605 Gunpowder plot.



– Black Rod –



The sovereign will then travel to the Houses of Parliament by carriage from Buckingham Palace, escorted by mounted cavalry.

Tradition dictates that an MP is ceremonially held “hostage” in the palace to ensure the king’s safe return.

A parliamentary official known as Black Rod will have the door of the lower chamber House of Commons slammed in their face, a tradition that symbolises parliament’s independence from the monarchy.

MPs will follow Black Rod to the upper chamber, where Charles, as head of state, will give the speech to assembled lords and ladies in red and ermine robes, plus invited members of the elected Commons at around 11:30 am (1030 GMT).

Starmer is also due Wednesday morning to meet Health Secretary Wes Streeting, purported to be one of his main rivals for the premiership.

Streeting is popular on the right of Labour, while a would-be challenger on the left in any contest could be former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner.

Another much-touted contender, Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester in northwest England, is unable to stand currently as he is not an MP, but supporters want Starmer to lay out a timetable for his departure that allows Burnham to return to parliament and stand.

Under party rules, any challenger would need the support of 81 Labour MPs — 20 percent of the party in parliament — to trigger a leadership contest. Starmer has vowed to fight any challenge.

UK PM Starmer defiant as quit calls grow


ByAFP
May 12, 2026


Keir Starmer has been UK prime minister since July 2024

 - Copyright POOL/AFP Jack Taylor

Peter Hutchison

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer told his top team Tuesday that he was getting on with governing, defying mounting calls from ministers and MPs to step down.

The Labour premier also dared any leadership hopefuls to challenge him after Miatta Fahnbulleh become the first junior minister to resign, demanding that he plan his departure.

“The Labour Party has a process for challenging a leader and that has not been triggered,” Starmer told ministers during crunch talks over his future.

“The country expects us to get on with governing. That is what I am doing and what we must do as a cabinet,” he added, on what has become the most crucial day yet of his almost two-year-old premiership.



– ‘Do the right thing’ –



More than 70 of Labour’s 403 members of parliament have now called for Starmer to quit immediately, or to set out a timetable for his resignation.

Starmer’s vow Monday to fight on and prove his doubters wrong did little to calm clamour for his removal.

Fahnbulleh on Tuesday became the first junior minister to do so, calling on Starmer “to do the right thing for the country and the party and set a timetable for an orderly transition”.

Interior minister Shabana Mahmood late Monday became the most senior government figure to advise Starmer to consider his position, UK media reported.

Newspapers reported that other senior ministers, including deputy prime minister David Lammy and Yvette Cooper had spoken to Starmer about his position.



– Growing pressure –



Pressure on Starmer has been soaring since Labour suffered disastrous local election results last week, losing hundreds of councillors to the hard-right Reform UK party and left-wing populist Greens.

Labour also lost its century-old dominance in Wales and were hammered by the Scottish National Party in the devolved parliament in Edinburgh.

The results added to a miserable few months for Starmer who has been engulfed in scandal over his decision to appoint — and then sack — Peter Mandelson as ambassador to Washington.

Mandelson was a former friend of US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and Starmer earlier this year fended off calls to quit over his decision to appoint him.

Starmer has also failed to spur promised economic growth to help British citizens suffering with the cost of living.



– Doubters –



On Monday, Starmer pledged that Labour would be “better” and bolder to assuage disgruntled voters impatient for change.

But dozens of Labour MPS later urged him to step down, including four government aides who resigned their positions.

Joe Morris, who was a parliamentary private secretary to Health Secretary Wes Streeting — widely rumoured to be considering a leadership challenge — wrote on X that it was “now clear that the prime minister no longer has the trust or confidence of the public to lead this change”.



– ‘Steadfast’ –



Several cabinet ministers backed Starmer after the meeting.

Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said he had her “full support” while Business and Trade Secretary Peter Kyle said Starmer was “showing really steadfast leadership”.

Housing minister Steve Reed also noted that a leadership challenge had not been triggered, “so we all intend to get on with our jobs”.

Under party rules, any challenger would need the support of 81 Labour MPs — 20 percent of the party in parliament — to trigger a leadership contest.

Starmer has vowed to contest any challenge.

A contest would likely spark damaging infighting, with MPs from the left and right of the party battling to position their preferred candidate or shore up Starmer.



– Who could succeed? –



It has long been rumoured that Streeting and former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner could try to oust Starmer.

But neither is universally popular within Labour.

Another much-touted contender, Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, is unable to stand as he does not have a seat in parliament.

Some of his supporters want Starmer to set a date for his departure that allows their man time to become an MP first.

For hantavirus, experts aim to inform without igniting Covid panic


ByAFP
May 13, 2026


Hantavirus: pour les experts, le défi d'informer sans réveiller la peur du Covid 

- Copyright AFP/File Joel Saget

Chloe Rabs and Isabelle Cortes

Thrust back into the front line by a deadly hantavirus outbreak, infectious disease experts have to balance informing the public about its potential risks without provoking undue fear of a Covid-scale pandemic.

The deaths of three cruise ship passengers during a rare hantavirus outbreak has sparked international alarm — and flashbacks to when the world tipped into a pandemic six years ago.

Among the living, seven people have been confirmed to have hantavirus, including a French woman in a critical condition, while an eighth case is considered “probable”, according to an AFP tally.

All the suspected infections have been among people who were onboard the ship, however several nations have quarantined those who were in contact with passengers.

The World Health Organization has said it expects more cases to emerge but emphasised there “is no sign that we are seeing the start of a larger outbreak”.

In a throw-back to the Covid era, the outbreak has put infectious disease specialists, virologists and epidemiologists back into the news.

When epidemiologist Antoine Flahault addressed a French governmental health conference alongside other health experts on Tuesday, he urged scientists, journalists and the general public to “be wary of preconceived notions”.

There are important lessons to be learnt from how the science of Covid was communicated, the professor at the Paris Cite University told AFP later.

“First, that we did not know everything. Second, that knowledge was evolving… and that there were very lively debates among scientists on aspects that sometimes surprised the public,” Flahault said.

Luc Ginot, who served as a regional public health director in France during the pandemic, said it was important doctors did not “disseminate just any information that might disrupt the coherence of the overall health response”.

– ‘Limited data’ –

Health experts — and the WHO — have been emphasising that hantavirus is not comparable to Covid, and that the risk to the wider public remains low.

Unlike Covid, the Andes strain of hantavirus is not new, and a few previous human-to-human transmission events have been studied.

However some experts have also called on health authorities not to overstate what is known about hantavirus while trying to tamp down pandemic fears.

“I’m not particularly worried there will be much onward spread of hantavirus,” Jennifer Nuzzo, a professor of epidemiology at Brown University in the United States, wrote on Bluesky.

“But I am concerned that authorities are making confident statements based on very limited data.”

Nuzzo felt “there’s too little data” to indicate whether infected people needed to be displaying symptoms — or be in “close, prolonged contact” — to transmit the virus to others.

Research into a 2018 outbreak in the Argentina region of Patagonia, where the Andes strain is endemic, found that most cases were transmitted on the first day an infected person had a fever.

However a few people were found to have caught the virus from a man sitting more than a metre away at a birthday party.

Caroline Semaille, director of Public Health France, also said it could not be ruled out that people transmit the virus “48 hours before the onset of symptoms”.

– Conspiracy theories return –

Flahault also urged caution about the time it takes between being infected with the Andes strain and symptoms showing, which is thought to be up to six weeks.

This is a “neglected tropical disease” and further research could reveal a longer or shorter incubation period, he said.

The fatality rate of the virus, commonly cited as around 40 percent, could also be quite different outside of rural areas of Argentina where there may be little health infrastructure, Flahault added.

For example, when patients with the similarly deadly Ebola are treated in Europe or the United States, “the fatality rate is zero,” he said.

There are no treatments or vaccines specifically targeted at hantavirus.

But that has not stopped conspiracy theories and disinformation about vaccines and hantavirus spreading widely online — another echo of the Covid era.

French infectious disease specialist Nathan Peiffer-Smadja said that “managing an outbreak is not about reassuring people and downplaying the situation… nor is it about predicting the next Covid”.

“It’s about providing transparent information,” he wrote on Bluesky.

Fabled Argentine city Ushuaia tries to shrug off virus suspicions


By AFP
May 12, 2026


Tourists take in the scenery in the remote southern Argentine port of Ushuaia, from where the hantavirus-struck MV Hondius set sail - Copyright AFP Cristian URRUTIA

Gabriel RAMONET

Argentina’s city “at the end of the world,” Ushuaia, the jump-off point for expeditions to the Antarctic, is laboring under suspicion of being the source of the deadly hantavirus outbreak that killed three cruise ship passengers.

The MV Hondius set sail from this spectacular Patagonian port, sandwiched between snow-capped mountains and the South Atlantic, on April 1.

Five days later, a Dutch man who had travelled through South America on a birdwatching trip with his wife, developed symptoms of hantavirus, a rodent-borne disease.

He, his wife and another of the ship’s passengers later died of the virus, which has revived bitter memories of the emergence of Covid-19, despite health experts downplaying similarities between the viruses.

The search for answers about the outbreak has pointed towards Ushuaia, even as authorities there insist the likelihood of the Dutch couple becoming infected during the 48 hours they spent in the city before their cruise is “almost zero.”

As winter draws near, the tourist season is winding down.

The last of around 500 cruise ships that dock here each year have disappeared from the horizon, replaced by small tour boats that ferry the few remaining tourists in the city to nearby sea lion and bird colonies.

“Everything seems normal to me, things seem fine,” Luis Cardona, a Colombian who was visiting with his wife, told AFP, shoulders hunched against the wind and rain.

But the couple are taking no chances all the same. Both are wearing face masks, “for the cold, and for the (hantavirus) situation,” Cardona admitted.



– ‘A bit worried’ –



“We have seen a few people wearing masks, but very few,” said Silvina Galarza, who was visiting from Concordia, 2,700 kilometers (1,677 miles) away in north-central Argentina.

As she disembarked with around 40 other tourists from a tour boat she assured that “nobody was talking about it (the virus) but admitted herself to being “a bit worried.”

Authorities in Tierra del Fuego province, where Ushuaia is situated in the southern tip of Argentina, are adamant that it could not be the birthplace of the outbreak as the dead Dutchman, patient zero in the outbreak, fell sick five days after setting sail.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the incubation period — the time between infection and the onset of symptoms — for hantavirus ranges from one and six weeks but is typically between two and three.

Local officials also note that Tierra del Fuego has had no recorded hantavirus case since 1996 and that the “colilargo” or long-tailed mouse that carries the Andes strain detected in the Dutch woman, as well as several surviving patients, is native to Argentina’s northern provinces.

Doubts remain however over a local subspecies of the rodent.

A team of Argentine experts are expected in Ushuaia in the coming days to capture and test specimens for the virus.



– Landfill theory –



A huge landfill situated about six kilometers outside of Ushuaia has been the focus of intense speculation.

Local media have reported that the Dutch couple may have visited the area to try to sight local bird species such as the white-throated caracara, a member of the falcon family.

The dump, which is partly open air, attracts large numbers of scavenger birds. It is sealed off by a wire fence but can be approached by a series of dirt paths.

While no known tours to the landfill exist, Juan Manuel Pavlov, the regional tourism chief, told AFP he had got wind of some agencies visiting the area, reportedly in search of rare birds.

Guillermo Deferrari, of Ushuaia’s scientific research center, downplayed the landfill theory, explaining that the colilargo is herbivore and lives off seeds and fruit found in forested ecosystems, not in dumps, where the common rat feeds.

And yet the suspicions stubbornly linger, causing frustration, and some concern, among tour operators.



– ‘Not good’ for tourism –



“It’s clearly not a good thing, for a destination, to be associated with the spread of a disease,” Angel Brisighelli, manager of a tourist boat company, said.

Despite authorities downplaying Tierra del Fuego’s potential role in the outbreak, “the reality is that everybody is talking about the boat that left from Ushuaia,” he remarked.

A light dusting of snow fell on the area on Monday, signalling the upcoming start of the ski season.

Luis Cardona, the Colombian visitor, has no plans to hit the slopes but assures that, virus or no virus, he would “have no problem returning” to Ushuaia.

Hantavirus outbreak renews painful memories for Patagonian village


ByAFP
May 11, 2026


An aerial view of Epuyen, Argentina, where a hantavirus outbreak caused 11 people to die over several months in 2018-2019 - Copyright AFP JUAN MABROMATA
Leila MACOR

Mailen Valle lost her father and two sisters during a hantavirus outbreak more than seven years ago in Epuyen, a village in Argentina’s Patagonia region.

With the recent hantavirus outbreak on the MV Hondius cruise ship, hard memories have resurfaced for the 33-year-old.

“Losing my dad and my two sisters in less than a month…” she told AFP, trailing off.

Her voice broke and she laughed nervously, opting to read from a prepared statement because she knew it would be hard to speak.

“Nobody was prepared to see how, in a matter of days, a family table was left empty,” she said.

While the Hondius outbreak has left three people dead, it has yet to surpass the Epuyen outbreak, which recorded 34 cases and 11 fatalities between December 2018 and March 2019 in the town of 2,400 residents, situated in a part of the Andes where hantavirus is endemic.

Mailen’s father, Aldo Valle, came down with it after attending a birthday party.

“The person with the virus was just sitting at the same table as my dad. And at that table there were several people who got infected, and people died,” Mailen recalled.

The wake for Valle was another locus of infection, where all three of his daughters got sick.

One sister died “within hours” of showing symptoms, while for the other, “we had to take her to the cemetery without a wake,” Mailen said.



– Pre-Covid isolation –



The variant of the hantavirus suspected in both outbreaks is transmitted through the droppings, saliva and urine of the Andean mouse.

Jorge Diaz, an epidemiologist with Chubut province’s health department who worked on the Epuyen hantavirus outbreak, told AFP that “we knew very little about the disease” in 2018.

Human-to-human transmission of hantavirus was first discovered in 1996 in the neighboring town of El Bolson, and it was later found to have happened in Epuyen.

“We implemented quarantine, which required those who made contact with a positive case to isolate for 45 days,” Diaz explained.

About 100 people ended up undergoing the quarantine process in a display that would foreshadow the Covid-19 pandemic that broke out a year later.

The approach, dubbed “selective isolation,” marked a shift in the epidemiological response, and now “each time there is a case of (Andes) hantavirus, isolation is ordered or recommended.”



– ‘One thing after another’ –



Residents in Patagonia know how to protect themselves from the virus, which they refer to as “the hanta,” by airing out sheds and cleaning areas with bleach.

But the human transmission of the Epuyen outbreak changed the scale of the fight, as one could get infected from their neighbor just as easily as from an Andean mouse.

Mailen remembers the stigma. “We felt very discriminated against,” she said.

Others recall being banned from shops in nearby towns.

Isabel Diaz, 53, survived the outbreak with a different stigma — her father, Victor Diaz, was labeled “patient zero,” and attended the birthday party while displaying the early symptoms of hantavirus.

“People looked poorly at my father. It’s not his fault he got sick,” she told AFP, her eyes welling up.

“Nobody chooses to get sick, much less infect others, much less lose a mother.”

Isabel got sick from her father’s hantavirus case, as well as her mother. “She was the sixth patient” of the eleven who died, she said.

Her father, for his part, recalled how it felt to come down with hantavirus, causing body aches and a bitter taste that even made sipping water unpleasant.

“It started with a feeling of weakness. I didn’t feel like eating. And I started to get purple spots,” he said. “That same day, I lost consciousness.”

In the years since the hantavirus outbreak, Epuyen has endured the Covid-19 pandemic and major wildfires in 2025 and 2026, permanently changing the landscape.

“It’s one thing after another,” Victor said, laughing.

“No one is going to tell us what it means to live life and keep moving forward,” Isabel Diaz added.

The Chilean town living with the world’s most polluting dump


ByAFP
May 13, 2026


About 60 percent of the Chilean capital's rubbish this century -- around 18,000 tons per day -- has ended up in Tiltil - Copyright AFP Rodrigo ARANGUA

Axl HERNANDEZ

From afar, Chile’s Tiltil landfill almost resembles just another mountain, but the growing rubbish pile has created a daily nightmare of odors, flies and health concerns for residents nearby.

The site, located around 35 miles (60 kilometers) north of Santiago, is the world’s largest source of human-generated methane emissions, according to the United Nations.

About 60 percent of the Chilean capital’s waste this century — around 18,000 tons per day — has ended up in Tiltil.

As hungry birds of prey circle above, hundreds of garbage trucks trundle through the town below, leaving trails of rubbish in their wake.

The decomposing waste generates methane, which scientists say is responsible for at least a quarter of global warming.

In April, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) placed the landfill at the top of a list of 50 human-made sites that emit the most methane in the world.

Thirty-five space satellites helped to detect that it generates some 100,000 metric tons of methane annually.

Methane gas may be imperceptible, but the garbage that produces it is not — Tiltil’s 17,000 inhabitants have grown increasingly concerned about the health impact of such drastic pollution.

The smell is “like excrement,” said 68-year-old Patricio Velasquez, who shuts himself inside every summer due to the odor emanating from the dump.



– ‘Flies in our mouths’ –



The retired teacher lives less than two miles (around three kilometers) away from the 120-hectare landfill, which is roughly the size of 100 soccer fields.

“We’re in the countryside. We should be breathing fresh air,” Velasquez said.

“In the summer we used to take the table outside for lunch, but it got to a point where we couldn’t eat because we had flies in our mouths and on our plates.”

Methane is not considered toxic, but experts warn of the risks that emissions and air pollution pose to people in the surrounding area.

High concentrations of methane can cause “episodes of suffocation or headaches,” Yuri Carvajal, president of the environmental department at the Medical College of Chile, told AFP.

“It’s not that easy” to measure the effects on the population, said Carvajal, who recommended keeping people away from such sites.

The company KDM has been operating the landfill for 20 years.

A further 50 industrial sites are located in the area, including cement factories, animal farms and mining storage sites.

“There are numerous facilities that generate environmental impacts in a vulnerable area,” Caroline Stamm, an associate professor at the Institute of Urban and Territorial Studies at the Catholic University of Santiago, told AFP.

“It’s a case of environmental injustice,” she said.



– ‘Santiago’s garbage dump’ –



Tiltil authorities concede that they have little wiggle room.

“As a municipality, we do not have the legal authority to arbitrarily prohibit the establishment of new businesses, since in Chile there is freedom to engage in economic activities,” councilor Nelda Gil told AFP.

AFP contacted KDM and the Chilean government for comment but did not receive a response from either.

“Cities don’t have a proper waste separation system. Organic trash should be separated and shouldn’t end up in a place like this,” said Carvajal.

Chile generates an average of 1.1 kilograms of garbage per person per day and recycles just 0.8 percent, according to the environment ministry.

This figure is lower than the regional average of four percent, according to official figures.

Painter and Tiltil resident Raquel Carcamo has watched her town become “Santiago’s garbage dump” over the years.

“They don’t see us as a town. To them we’re just another garbage can,” she said.

US races to secure rare earths to rebuild depleted arsenal


ByAFP
May 13, 2026


Rare earths like neodymium (Nd) and praseodymium (Pr) are used to make powerful magnets in things like electric vehicles, wind turbines and smartphones - Copyright AFP/File Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV

Thomas URBAIN

The United States is working hard to create a supply chain for rare earths — metals needed to replenish its military arsenal amid the conflict in Iran — that does not depend on China, the sector’s global leader.

Just a few grams of these materials are needed to make a television or laptop computer, but hundreds of grams are required for each Tomahawk or Patriot missile.

The Payne Institute for Public Policy at the Colorado School of Mines estimates US forces have fired thousands of missiles at Iranian targets since late February.

“The Middle East conflict is exposing in real time which minerals are truly mission-critical and exactly where supply chains could break under pressure,” said Mahnaz Khan, a vice president of the Silverado Policy Accelerator think tank.

“This could add another layer of stress to the nation’s ability to reconstitute the weapons,” Khan said, noting that rare earths are used in “everything from drones and interceptors to F-35s and precision-guided missiles.”

The Center for Strategic and International Studies, another think tank in Washington, said in late April that “restoring depleted stockpiles and then achieving the desired inventory levels will take many years.”

The most-used rare earths are neodymium and praseodymium. Both are vital in the manufacture of so-called “permanent” magnets, which are 10 times stronger than traditional magnets and used in electric vehicles, wind turbines and smartphones.

Samarium, another of the 17 rare earths, is used in magnets needed in the defense industry.

During Donald Trump’s first term as president, and then under his successor Joe Biden, the United States boosted its share of global rare earth production from three to 13 percent, thanks to subsidies and tax incentives.

Until last year, there was only one major rare earths mine — at Mountain Pass in California, operated by MP Materials.

In July, Ramaco Resources opened the first new rare earths mine in more than 70 years — the Brook mine in Wyoming, but so far, nothing has been produced at the site.

Other mine projects are in development in Montana, Wyoming and Nebraska.

The United States is also counting on recycling to help fuel its supply chains.

Trump’s administration is looking abroad as well. It recently facilitated the acquisition of Brazilian producer Serra Verde by startup USA Rare Earth, in which the US government took a 10 percent stake in January.



– ‘Leapfrog’ China –



But extraction is only the first phase of a process that also includes refining and separation (in order to isolate the various elements) before processing.

The separation stage is what has helped China dominate the sector. As of last year, it controlled 91 percent of global separation by volume, according to the International Energy Agency.

Authorities in China have used rare earths as a bargaining chip. Last year, Beijing restricted exports of certain rare earths before later lifting the measure.

India, Japan and France are also working hard to unlock China’s stranglehold on the industry.

And the subject will be on the agenda for Trump’s talks in Beijing with Chinese President Xi Jinping this week.

James Litinsky, the CEO of MP Materials — in which the government has a 15 percent stake, to launch separation operations — said separation activities will begin “imminently” at the Mountain Pass site.

In January, US firm Energy Fuels — which also produces uranium — took control of Australia’s ASM and is planning to build a new site in the United States, which will handle separation.

USA Rare Earth has invested in French rare earths specialist Carester, and they are together working on perfecting the separation process.

As for the end of the supply chain, startups Vulcan Elements and eVAC Magnetics started making permanent magnets last year. MP Materials should join that group shortly.

“We’re not just selling magnets,” Vulcan Elements CEO John Maslin told AFP.

“We’re offering a secure, China-independent supply chain. Our priority is ensuring that the United States and its allies can access the magnets they’ll need for national security and economic resilience.”

For Roderick Eggert, a professor at the Colorado School of Mines, it will take time for competitors to grow big enough to “significantly reduce the market shares of the Chinese producers.”

To hedge its bets, the United States has in recent months reached deals with producer nations including Australia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Thailand.

Maslin said the idea of the United States being completely autonomous in terms of rare earths, from extraction to selling permanent magnets, is not far-fetched.

“The industry has to innovate and leapfrog, and not just copy and paste China,” he said.

COMMODITY FETISH

Rare ‘Ocean Dream’ blue-green diamond sells for $17 mn at auction

ByAFP
May 13, 2026


'The Ocean Dream' shown during a press preview at Christie’s auction house in Geneva, on May 7, 2026 - Copyright AFP/File Fabrice COFFRINI

“Ocean Dream,” the largest blue-green diamond ever recorded, sold for $17 million Wednesday, Christie’s auction house said.

The 5.5 carat diamond was extracted from a mine in Central Africa in the 1990s and has been named by the Smithsonian Institution as one of the world’s eight rarest diamonds, Christie’s said in a statement announcing the sale.

“A stone of this colour and size is extremely scarce, and adding to its rarity the diamond is type Ia, amongst the purest of natural gems,” it said.

“It’s very rare to find green diamonds, even over one carat,” said Max Fawcett, global head of Christie’s Jewellery.

“To find something in five carat of this quality and this colour is truly remarkable.”

The fancy vivid blue-green diamond is triangular in shape and “the size of the nail on your smallest finger” according to Fawcett.

It was sold for 13.6 million Swiss francs ($17.3 million), a new record for a blue-green diamond at auction, it said.

“We sold the stone in 2014 for eight and a half million dollars. It was bought by a private Asian collector who enjoyed it. She wore it,” Fawcett said.

Wednesday’s auction saw three clients from different parts of the world bidding on the gem. The winner had chosen to remain anonymous, Fawcett said.

The gem was first extracted from a rough stone weighing 11.70 carats, Christie’s said.

It was cut and exhibited at the Smithsonian Institute’s Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC in 2003 as part of a Splendor of Diamonds exhibit.

The show featured red, orange, yellow, pink, blue, blue-green and white diamonds, ranging from 5.11 carats of the Moussaieff Red to 203.04 carats of the De Beers Millennium Star.