Restaurants strike on popular Greek tourist island over beach clampdown


By AFP
June 5, 2025


Restaurant owners protesting on Paros on Thursday 

- Copyright AFP/File Ina FASSBENDER

Restaurant owners on the Greek tourist island of Paros staged a 24-hour shutdown Thursday to protest against zoning regulations blocking them from using part of the island harbour’s beachfront.

“There is uproar among the professionals on the island because for five years now, since around 2018, they have not been able to legally rent the coastal front” at the main port of Parikia, Paros Mayor Costas Bizas told AFP.

Fines for illegal occupation of beach space have increased fourfold, Bizas said, hitting restaurants that rely on the hundreds of thousands of visitors to Paros each year.

He noted that the government had pledged to address the issue months ago.

“Summer is here. There are thousands of visitors who want to enjoy their meal on the Parikia coastal front, and there are other areas in Paros that have a similar problem,” Bizas said.

One restaurant owner, Nicolas Giannoulis, said part of the problem was that a 30-year-old walkway along the beach, built by previous municipal authorities, had been declared illegal for unauthorised seating.

“We want to pay and get a license” to utilise the space for tables, said Giannoulis, 35. “We cannot wait every time for July or August to find out if we will be allowed to set up tables during a season that begins in April or May.”

“It’s been a big struggle to issue our permits in order to get the licensing to use for our outdoor seating areas where we put our tables and chairs for at least 30 years,” said fellow restaurant operator Olga Mira, 38.

“The bureaucracy changed so much that suddenly this area is not legal anymore,” she said.

Gina Lavine, a visitor from Canada, lamented the empty tables and closed parasols.

“I think that we should be allowed to go sit at those tables and have the waiters come serve us,” she said. “I don’t think the government should be charging them to offer service to the tourists.”

Turkmenistan reduces 50-year fire dubbed ‘Gateway to Hell’


By AFP
June 5, 2025


The 'Gateway to Hell' has long been a tourist attraction - Copyright AFP/File IGOR SASIN

Turkmenistan said Thursday it had significantly reduced a gas fire that has been raging for half a century at a site dubbed the “Gateway to Hell” .

The fire has been burning in the Karakum desert since 1971, when Soviet scientists accidentally drilled into an underground pocket of gas and then decided to ignite it.

The blaze has been spewing out massive quantities of methane, a gas that contributes to climate change, ever since.

Officials said the fire — which has become the reclusive country’s top tourist attraction — had been reduced three-fold, without specifying the time frame.

“Whereas before a huge glow from the blaze was visible from several kilometres away, hence the name ‘Gateway to Hell’, today only a faint source of combustion remains,” said Irina Luryeva, a director at state-owned energy company Turkmengaz.

Numerous wells have been drilled around the fire to capture methane, she said at an environmental conference in the capital Ashgabat.

Turkmenistan — one of the world’s most closed countries — is estimated to have the world’s fourth largest gas reserves.

It is the world’s biggest emitter of methane through gas leaks, according to the International Energy Agency — a claim denied by the authorities.

Greenpeace activists charged with theft of Macron waxwork


By AFP
June 5, 2025


Greenpeace activists stole a 40,000-euro statue of President Emmanuel Macron from the Grevin Museum and placed it in front of the Russian embassy - Copyright AFP Xavier GALIANA

Ambre BERTOCCHI

Two Greenpeace activists who removed French President Emmanuel Macron’s waxwork from a Paris museum to stage anti-Russia protests were on Thursday charged with aggravated theft, their lawyer said.

The pair have now been released, but their lawyer, Marie Dose, said the activists, a man and a woman, spent three nights in a cell in “absolutely appalling conditions”.

“I found out this morning that I was going to be charged,” one of the charged activists, who did not wish to be named, told AFP.

“I find it a bit much, all this for exercising my freedom of expression in France.”

On Monday, several activists stole a 40,000-euro statue of Macron from the Grevin Museum and placed it in front of the Russian embassy. On Tuesday they placed Macron’s double outside the headquarters of French electricity giant EDF to protest France’s economic ties with Russia.

They stood the statue on its feet and put next to it a sign reading “Putin-Macron radioactive allies”.

The waxwork, estimated to be worth 40,000 euros ($45,500), was handed over to police on Tuesday night.

The pair were detained on Monday.

On Thursday they were brought before an investigating judge and charged as part of a judicial inquiry into “the theft of a cultural object on display”, the Paris prosecutor’s office told AFP.

Jean-Francois Julliard, head of Greenpeace France, said that the detained pair were people who drove a truck during the protest in front of the Russian embassy, and not those who “borrowed” the statue from the museum.



– ‘Tool to deter activists’ –



The activists’ lawyer condemned authorities for detaining and later charging them.

“I don’t understand this decision to open a judicial investigation, as the Grevin Museum clearly stated that there was no damage,” said Dose.

“Increasingly, the justice system is becoming a tool to deter activists from exercising their freedom of expression and opinion,” she added.

The Grevin Museum filed a complaint on Monday but subsequently took the matter in good humour. “The figures can only be viewed on site,” it said on its Instagram feed.

Speaking earlier, Dose denounced the detention as “completely disproportionate”, saying they had spent three nights in a cell.

The lawyer condemned the “deplorable” conditions in which the two activists were being held, “attached to benches for hours and dragged from police station to police station”.

One activist spent the night without a blanket and was unable to lie down because her cell was too small, the lawyer said.

“The other had to sleep on the floor because there were too many people in the cell,” she added.

The lawyer argued that “no harm resulted from the non-violent action”, insisting that “all offences” ceased to exist once the statue has been returned to the museum.

The activists managed to slip out through an emergency exit of the museum by posing as maintenance workers.

France has been one of the most vocal supporters of Kyiv since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

Macron has taken the lead in seeking to forge a coordinated European response to defending Ukraine, after US President Donald Trump shocked the world by directly negotiating with Russia.

But Greenpeace and other activists say that French companies continue to do business with Moscow despite multiple rounds of sanctions slapped against Russia after the start of the invasion.

gd-nal-abe-jul-as/sjw/giv

Cannes red carpet gets second life as handbags, hats or slippers


By AFP
June 5, 2025


Carpets that once hosted the heels of Tom Cruise will now be given a second life - Copyright AFP/File Antonin THUILLIER

Bouchra BERKANE

After being walked for two weeks by stars from Tom Cruise to Rihanna, the legendary red carpets of the Cannes film festival are set for a second life thanks to an upcycling charity and some environmentally conscious designers.

The red carpets were replaced daily at the festival, which ended on May 24, with organisers handing over 1.5 tonnes of fine red material to a non-profit organisation in the port city of Marseille.

The carpets now sit on pallets or in black waste bags in a warehouse used by the La Reserve des Arts in the deprived northern suburbs of Marseille where they are being sorted, cleaned and prepared for re-use.

Some of them have small holes — possibly a result of hosting all those towering stilettoes — while others have been marked by footsteps or scuffs.

“By reconditioning them, we’re helping to reduce the environmental impact of the event — something the festival is aware of,” Jeanne Re, coordinator at La Reserve des Arts, told AFP during a visit on Wednesday.

The charity specialises in re-using or “upcycling” products used by the fashion, theatre or other entertainment industries, finding new lives for items that might otherwise have ended up as waste.

The approach helps to reduce landfill and is seen as a response to growing public concern about the volume of single-use items used to put on public events.

But some environmental groups believe so-called second-life policies can result in “greenwashing”, leading organisers and companies to tout their recycling policies rather than focusing on reducing their overall consumption.



– Cruise footsteps –



The Cannes carpet is being resold at just one euro a kilo, Re telling AFP that amounted to 33 cents per square metre — an “unbeatable” price.

She added that the goal was to make it “as accessible to as many of our members as possible”.

Elsa Ramouni-Yordikian, an artist and member who has been using the red carpets for the last four years, told AFP she had used the material for handbags, bucket hats, glasses cases and even bags for wine bottles.

Some were “quite unique pieces”, she said of her work with the charity Les Nippones.

She recently showcased her creations made with the 2024 carpet in an exhibition in Marseille titled “Dress like a Movie Star”.

“The fact that it comes from a famous festival and is recycled locally — that makes sense to us,” she said.

Production of synthetic materials like the red carpets will “never stop, there will always be more, just like festivals and trade shows, so we need to find ways to give them new value”, she said.

The top prize for best film at this year’s Cannes Festival went to dissident Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi for his highly political movie “It Was Just an Accident”.

The red carpets were walked by a host of entertainment world A-listers from Cruise and Rihanna, who accompanied her rapper partner A$AP Rocky, as well as Halle Berry, Scarlett Johansson and Robert De Niro.

Brazil’s Lula urges Macron to seal Mercosur trade deal


By AFP
June 5, 2025


Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron remain divided on trade issues - Copyright POOL/AFP

 Christophe PETIT TESSON
Toni CERDÀ, Cécille FEUILLATRE and Erin FLANAGAN

Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva urged his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron on Thursday to “finalise” an EU trade deal with four South American countries, in a visit that underscored key policy differences between the two allies.

France has opposed ratifying the so-called Mercosur agreement, a trade deal between the European Union and four South American nations including Brazil, over fears a flow of lower-cost agricultural goods would outcompete Europe’s farmers.

“Open your heart a little to this opportunity to finalise this agreement with our dear Mercosur,” Lula said during a state visit to Paris.

“This agreement would be the strongest response our regions could offer in the face of the uncertainty caused by the return of unilateralism and tariff protectionism,” he added, referring to sweeping tariffs imposed or threatened by US President Donald Trump.

Trump, who argues that his tariffs will bring manufacturing jobs back to the United States, has hit the EU with multiple waves of levies.

For his part, Macron reiterated his concerns about the deal’s impact on French farmers, citing differences in environmental regulations between the EU and Mercosur countries.

“I don’t know how to explain to my farmers that, at a time when I am asking them to comply with more standards, I am opening up my market on a massive scale to people who do not comply at all,” Macron said.

“Because what will happen? It won’t be better for the climate, but we will completely destroy our agriculture,” he added.

“That is why I said earlier we must improve this deal.”

Germany, Spain, Portugal and others have welcomed the accord with Mercosur bloc members Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, but France has said from the start it is not acceptable in its current form.

To be approved, the deal must receive the backing of at least 15 of the 27 EU states, representing a minimum of 65 percent of the population.



-‘Premeditated genocide’-



This marks the first state visit to France by a Brazilian president since 2012, and comes just months ahead of the United Nations’ COP30 climate conference, which Brazil will host in November.

While both Macron and Lula praised the strong ties between France and Brazil, Thursday’s press conference highlighted diverging views over the war in Gaza and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Lula accused Israel of carrying out “premeditated genocide” in the Palestinian territory of Gaza.

“(It is) a premeditated genocide from a far-right government that is waging a war against the interests of its own people,” he said at the joint press conference with Macron.

While Lula has previously used the term “genocide”, Macron has refused to, saying last month it was not for a “political leader to use to term but up to historians to do so when the time comes”.

France is due later this month to co-host with Saudi Arabia a United Nations conference in New York on a two-state solution to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.

Macron said that he expected the conference would take steps “towards recognising Palestine”, without being more specific. Brazil recognised a Palestinian state in 2010.



-‘Aggressor, victim’-



On the war in Ukraine, Macron stressed that Kyiv and Moscow should not be treated as equals, in contrast to Brazil’s proclaimed neutral stance on the conflict.

“There is an aggressor, which is Russia. There is a victim, which is Ukraine. We all want peace, but we cannot treat the two belligerents equally,” said Macron, stressing that Brazil had “a very important role to play” in finding a solution to the conflict.

Lula said he hoped to reinforce Brazil’s ties with Russia during his May 9 trip to Moscow, where he was marking 80 years since the defeat of Nazi Germany alongside some two dozen other world leaders.

“My visit here is to strengthen and rebuild our strategic partnership,” Lula said during a meeting where he exchanged a hug with Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin.

The European Union warned its members not to travel to Moscow for the event.

France has been one of the most vocal supporters of Kyiv since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

Dr Martens seeks more stability after new profit slide


By AFP
June 5, 2025


Dr Martens began life 65 years ago as a tiny German company making orthopaedic boots, before becoming the go-to brand for punks, skinheads and goths - Copyright AFP/File

Antonin THUILLIER

British iconic bootmaker Dr Martens on Thursday announced another sharp drop in annual profits, as it looks to build on recent stability under its new chief executive.

Net profit stood at £4.5 million ($6.1 million) in the year to the end of March, down from £69.2 million in 2023/4.

Revenue dropped more than 10 percent to £787.6 million, it added in an earnings statement.

Despite the results, its share price surged by a quarter Thursday as investors welcomed recovery in the United States and sizeable savings.

Recently-appointed chief executive Ije Nwokorie said in the earnings statement that Dr Martens had made annualised cost savings of £25 million.

“Our single focus… (over the last year) was to bring stability back to Dr Martens,” Nwokorie said.

“We have achieved this by returning our direct-to-consumer channel in the Americas back to growth, resetting our marketing approach to focus relentlessly on our products, delivering cost savings, and significantly strengthening our balance sheet.”

Nwokorie became CEO in January, stepping up from his role as chief brand officer at Dr Martens. He was previously a senior director at Apple Retail.

While highlighting risks from “macroeconomic uncertainty”, Dr Martens said it was well placed to manage any fallout caused by US President Donald Trump’s tariffs.

“While the USA is an important market for us, we are a truly global brand that is sold in more than 60 countries around the world,” it added.

Neil Wilson, UK investor strategist at Saxo Markets, noted that while momentum at the group “is good and discounting is being reduced, (there is) still a long way to go”.

He added that the brand could become a takeover target as it recovers further.

“A potential bidder would have a strong, recognisable brand name to add to a portfolio and could benefit from vertical integration of the supply chain into a bigger parent,” he added.

Dr Martens began life 65 years ago as a tiny German company making orthopaedic boots, before becoming the go-to brand for punks, skinheads and goths.

Online demand boomed during the coronavirus pandemic but skidded on weakening US demand as the economy emerged from lockdown.

TotalEnergies in landmark greenwashing trial in France


By AFP
June 5, 2025


NGOs accuse TotalEnergies of 'misleading commercial practices' for saying it could reach carbon neutrality while continuing oil and gas production - Copyright AFP/File 

Antonin THUILLIER

Nathalie Alonso and Ivan Couronne

Environmental groups took TotalEnergies to court Thursday in a landmark Paris trial, accusing the French oil and gas giant of misleading consumers with ads that overstate its climate commitments and fossil fuel transition.

It is the first such case in France targeting a major energy company and could set a legal precedent for corporate environmental advertising, which is starting to face tighter regulations in the European Union.

The civil case stems from a March 2022 lawsuit by three environmental groups accusing TotalEnergies of “misleading commercial practices” for saying it could reach carbon neutrality while continuing oil and gas production.

The plaintiffs took that legal route as “greenwashing”, or the act of claiming to be more environmentally responsible than in reality, is not specifically covered under French law.

Starting in May 2021, TotalEnergies advertised its goal of “carbon neutrality by 2050” and touted gas as “the fossil fuel with the lowest greenhouse gas emissions”.

At the time, the company had changed its name from Total to TotalEnergies to emphasise its investments in wind turbines and solar panels for electricity production.

The plaintiffs allege that TotalEnergies made around 40 “false advertisements” in their lawsuit.

“For the average consumer, it is impossible to understand that TotalEnergies is actually expanding fossil fuel production,” said Clementine Baldon, a lawyer for the NGOs.

The company’s strategy “will not help the energy transition”, Baldon told the court.

“It delays it, even prevents it, and it contributes to putting the objectives of the Paris accord at risk,” she added, referring to the international agreement aimed at curbing climate change.

TotalEnergies maintains it has not engaged in misleading commercial practices.

Moreover, it insists that the messages are part of its institutional communications regulated by financial authorities and not consumer law.

It has also argued the NGOs are misusing consumer protection rules to challenge its corporate strategy, and that no consumer organisation is party to the case.

The NGOs said the Paris court will rule on the legality of ads presenting natural gas as essential to the energy transition.

Climate experts say methane leaks from the gas industry have a powerful warming effect on the atmosphere.



– Correcting ads –



Environmental groups in recent years have turned to the courts to establish case law on companies misleading consumers by appearing more eco-friendly than they are.

In Europe, courts ruled against Dutch airline KLM in 2024 and Germany’s Lufthansa in March over misleading consumers about their efforts to reduce the environmental impact of flying.

In Spain, utility Iberdrola failed to secure a conviction against Spanish oil and gas company Repsol over similar allegations of “false” environmental claims.

A greenwashing case against Australian oil and gas producer Santos, challenging its claim to be a “clean fuels” company, has been ongoing since 2021.

Other fossil fuel companies, under pressure from advertising regulators or legal complains, have had to scrap or correct ad campaigns.

Shell, for example, received a warning in the UK and had to stop promoting “carbon-neutral” gasoline in several countries, including Germany, the Netherlands and Canada.

New European laws now ban vague, generic environmental claims such as “green” or “100 percent natural” product, and aim to require brands to more strictly substantiate environmental claims on labels and in advertising.

TotalEnergies has said it plans to show that its messages “about its name change, strategy and role in the energy transition are reliable and based on objective, verifiable data”.

Media groups urge Israel to allow Gaza access for foreign journalists


By AFP
June 5, 2025


Israel has blocked most foreign correspondents from independently accessing Gaza - Copyright AFP/File Omar AL-QATTAA

More than 130 news outlets and press freedom groups called Thursday for Israel to immediately lift a near-total ban on international media entering Gaza, while calling for greater protections for Palestinian journalists in the territory.

Israel has blocked most foreign correspondents from independently accessing Gaza since it began its war there following the unprecedented October 7, 2023 attack by militant group Hamas.

An open letter shared by the Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Borders called the restrictions “a situation that is without precedent in modern warfare.”

Signees included AFP’s global news director Phil Chetwynd, The Associated Press executive editor, Julie Pace, and the editor of Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Aluf Benn.

The letter added that many Palestinian journalists — whom news outlets have relied on to report from inside Gaza — face a litany of threats.

“Local journalists, those best positioned to tell the truth, face displacement and starvation,” it said.

“To date, nearly 200 journalists have been killed by the Israeli military. Many more have been injured and face constant threats to their lives for doing their jobs: bearing witness.

“This is a direct attack on press freedom and the right to information.”

The letter added that it was a “pivotal moment” in Israel’s war — with renewed military actions and efforts to boost humanitarian aid to Gaza.

This, it said, makes it “vital that Israel open Gaza’s borders for international journalists to be able to report freely and that Israel abides by its international obligations to protect journalists as civilians.”

Jodie Ginsberg, CEO of the Committee to Protect Journalists, said in a separate statement that Israel must grant journalists access and allow them to work in Gaza “without fear for their lives.”

“When journalists are killed in such unprecedented numbers and independent international media is barred from entering, the world loses its ability to see clearly, to understand fully, and to respond effectively to what is happening,” she said.

Clean energy investment rising despite economic uncertainty: IEA


By AFP
June 5, 2025


Solar now draws the largest amount of energy investment - Copyright AFP/File Ina FASSBENDER

Investment in clean energy technologies is set to strike a record this year despite global economic uncertainty, double the spending on fossil fuels that will dip for the first time since 2020, the International Energy Agency said Thursday.

While the Trump administration has been hostile to renewable energy sources and trumpets boosting oil production, the IEA said security concerns as well as rising demand for electricity — including from artificial intelligence and data centres — is driving investment in clean energy sources.

“Amid the geopolitical and economic uncertainties that are clouding the outlook for the energy world, we see energy security coming through as a key driver of the growth in global investment this year to a record $3.3 trillion as countries and companies seek to insulate themselves from a wide range of risks,” Executive Director Fatih Birol said as the IEA published its latest annual World Energy Investment report.

It expects investment in clean technologies, including nuclear and electricity distribution grids, to hit a record $2.2 trillion this year.

Meanwhile, investment in oil, natural gas and coal is set to dip to $1.1 trillion, as companies react to falling prices and lower demand expectations. Most of drop is due to investment in US oil production, while investment in liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects there and elsewhere is expected to lead to the largest-ever capacity growth in 2026-2028.

Since returning to the White House, Trump has slapped a 10 percent tariff on most trading partners, alongside higher rates on dozens of economies, including China and the European Union, that have since been reduced or put on pause until early July while negotiations are held.

Earlier this week the OECD slashed its annual global growth forecast, warning that Trump’s tariffs blitz would stifle the world economy.

But energy investments haven’t suffered yet.

“The fast-evolving economic and trade picture means that some investors are adopting a wait-and-see approach to new energy project approvals, but in most areas we have yet to see significant implications for existing projects,” Birol said.

– US renewables to ‘level off’ –

But the IEA said the shift in US policies would impact investment there in renewables.

“Spending on renewables and low-emissions fuels in the United States almost doubled over the last 10 years but is now set to level off as supportive policies are scaled back,” it said.

The report found the rapid rise in electricity demand — for industry, cooling, electric mobility, data centres and AI — was also shaping investment trends.

The sector is expected attract $1.5 trillion in investments this year, 50 percent more than fossil fuels.

The IEA also noted that nuclear energy has been making a comeback as electricity demand from data centres risks doubling in the next five years. While renewables are expected to meet most of that additional demand, the steady supply that nuclear plants offer have prompted a number of tech companies to enter into supply agreements.

But the Paris-based IEA, which advises industrial nations on energy policy, warned that spending on electricity grids was not keeping up with investment into generation. In addition to lengthy permitting procedures, grid expansion was also being held back by tight supply of transformers and cable, it found.

Despite the rising levels of investment in renewable energy production, the IEA said it must double to achieve the goal set at the 2024 UN climate conference: a tripling of the installed renewable capacity by 2030.

And the urgent demand for power means new plants using dirty fuels such as coal are still being built, with a four percent increase in investment expected this year.

“In the face of rapid electricity demand growth and concerns linked to security of supply, such as various geopolitical risks as well as uncertainties over hydropower output, China and India are approving increasing amounts of new coal-fired power,” said the IEA report.

Greenpeace slams Coca-Cola for producing billions of plastic bottles

By AFP

June 5, 2025


Copyright AFP EMMANUEL CROSET

Coca-Cola produces 120 billion throwaway plastic bottles a year, Greenpeace Africa said at a protest in South Africa Thursday, urging the soda maker to use glass and tin packaging to cut back on plastic pollution.

Activists erected a giant bottle cap outside the company’s Johannesburg office emblazoned with the slogan “Cap it Coke” in a demonstration held on World Environment Day.

Coca-Cola has been the world’s top plastic polluter for six consecutive years, the environmental activist group claimed.

“Coca-Cola produces 120 billion throwaway plastics every year. And most of it will end up in the environment and in the marine ecosystem,” Greenpeace representative Hellen Kahaso Dena told AFP.

“So today, we are outside the office telling them to cut plastic production, invest in refill and reuse, and ensure that they are investing in other sustainable forms of packaging such as glass and cans,” she said.

The company’s claims to be promoting plastics recycling amounted to “greenwashing”, she claimed. “We know that only about nine percent gets recycled. Most of the plastic will end up in the environment,” Dena said.

The group also urged Coca-Cola to stand behind a push for a Global Plastic Treaty that will prioritise a cap on plastic production.

Negotiations among delegates from nearly 200 nations for the world’s first accord on cutting plastics pollution ended without agreement in South Korea last year after opposition from a bloc of mainly oil-producing countries.

A new round is due in Geneva in August.

Since the failure of the talks, Coca-Cola lowered its environmental commitments by effectively scrapping a pledge to reach 25 percent reusable packaging by 2030, and pushing back dates and amounts for recycling goals.

Over 99 percent of plastics derive from fossil fuels, directly linking plastic production to the climate crisis, Greenpeace said.