International

Twitter boss Elon Musk announced in a series of tweets Saturday that the company's subscription service would show less advertising to users, including an ad-free tier.The announcement comes as the social network has faced major economic uncertainty since its takeover by Musk in October."Ads are too frequent on Twitter and too big. Taking steps to address both in coming weeks," Musk posted to his Twitter account Saturday.And for those who choose it, "there will be a higher priced subscription that allows zero ads," Musk added.That would be a radical change in business model from Twitter, which has so far relied on targeted advertising to generate revenue, before launching a paid subscription service in mid-December.But advertising has been a question mark for Twitter lately, after Musk fired about half of the company's 7,500-strong workforce late last year. The move sparked concern that the company was insufficiently staffed to carry out content moderation and spooking governments and advertisers.Musk said his strategy was to massively reduce costs while building up revenue, and that a new subscription service called Twitter Blue, which grants users a sought-after blue verification tick for a fee, would help reach that goal.The service costs $11 a month in the United States and is available on Apple's iOS and Google's Android mobile operating systems, according to a page on the company's website.Web subscriptions are also available for $8 per month or, at a discount, $84 per year.Twitter Blue is currently available in the United States, Canada, Britain, New Zealand, Australia and Japan.Musk-led Twitter has been riven by chaos, with mass layoffs, the return of banned accounts and the suspension of journalists critical of the South African-born billionaire.Musk's takeover also saw a surge in racist or hateful tweets, drawing scrutiny from regulators and chasing away big advertisers, Twitter's main source of revenue.

The European luxury sector is welcoming the end of pandemic lockdowns in China, as the return of big-spending Chinese tourists could sustain further growth.Prior to the pandemic, Chinese tourists visiting Europe were a major source of sales for luxury houses.The Chinese accounted for "a third of luxury purchases in the world and two-thirds of those purchases were made outside China", said Joelle de Montgolfier, head of the luxury division at management consulting firm Bain and Company.Their return has led RBC bank to revise up its growth forecast for the sector this year to 11 percent, from seven percent previously."China reopening is one of the key 'mega-themes' for the luxury sector in 2023," RBC Bank said in a recent note to clients.After a drop in 2020, the luxury sector managed to surpass its pre-pandemic sales in 2021."The Chinese consumed, but only in China," said Bain's de Montgolfier."In 2022, it was much more complicated with unexpected confinements in the country," she added.Nevertheless, that didn't hold the sector back from making an estimated 22 percent jump to 353 billion euros ($384 billion), according to a November forecast by Bain and Company.That growth was supported by the wave of post-lockdown US tourists visiting Europe armed with a strong dollar, as well as Korean and Southeast Asian tourists.Another pleasant surprise was Europeans "who had been ignored for decades... and were more interested in luxury goods than expected", said Erwan Rambourg, a luxury industry insider turned analyst and author of the book "Future Luxe: What's Ahead for the Business of Luxury".- 'More staff' –With the lifting of travel restrictions in China "there will be a considerable return of Chinese tourists but that will be more likely in the second quarter", said Arnaud Cadart, a portfolio manager at asset manager Flornoy."The pandemic is still very active in China and it will affect lots of people."The Chinese tourists may be needed if the flow of US tourists slows."European boutiques need this rebound in Chinese clientele to replace its American clientele which could buy locally," said Cadart.They also need to readapt to Chinese customers, who tend to travel in groups, and will join a large number of US tourists."There are already lines in front of the boutiques even without Chinese clients... they need more staff," said de Montgolfier. Otherwise, they risk a "degradation of the experience" of shopping in a luxury boutique.Another concern: the volume of merchandise that Chinese customers will want to buy is unclear. The sector likes to keep volumes low and does not discount to ensure exclusivity.

New Zealand's ruling Labour Party chose former Covid minister Chris Hipkins on Sunday to replace the charismatic Jacinda Ardern as its new leader, and become the next prime minister of the country.Hipkins, 44, was the only nomination for the job and his confirmation at a party meeting on Sunday, known as the Labour caucus, was largely a formality.His appointment to the top job followed the surprise resignation on Thursday by Ardern, who said she had "no more in the tank" to lead the country."This is the biggest privilege and biggest responsibility of my life," Hipkins said at a news conference announcing his appointment. "I am energised and excited by the challenge that lies ahead."Hipkins immediately acknowledged the leadership of Ardern, who he called one of New Zealand's greatest prime ministers and an inspiration to women and girls everywhere."She gave voice to those often overlooked in times of challenge and purposefully went about doing politics differently," Hipkins said.But some of the hate Ardern faced during her term is a reminder that "we've got a way to go to ensure women in leadership receive the same respect as their male counterparts", he added.Known as "Chippy", Hipkins built a reputation for competence in tackling Covid-19 and was a troubleshooter for Ardern when other cabinet ministers were struggling.First elected to parliament in 2008, he became a household name fronting the government's response to the pandemic. He was appointed health minister in July 2020 before becoming the Covid response minister at the end of the year.Hipkins named Carmel Sepuloni as deputy prime minister, New Zealand's first deputy prime minister of Pacific origin.Sepuloni, 46, is of Samoan, Tongan and New Zealand European decent and lives in Auckland. She holds a number of portfolios, including social development and employment and arts, culture and heritage.Hipkins said the rest of his team would be announced later.TOUGH ROADHipkins said he has seen the media focus on Ardern's personal life, and wants to keep his two young children and his family out of the limelight.He said a year ago he and his wife decided to live separately. "She's still my best friend but we have made that decision in the best interest of our family."Local polls have shown Hipkins was the most popular potential candidate among voters. While Ardern was popular early in her five and a half year tenure, her ratings have slid on a backlash to strict Covid curbs, rising living costs and mortgage rates, and concerns about crime.Hipkins has a tough road ahead with Labour trailing the opposition in opinion polls and the country expected to fall into recession next quarter before a general election on Oct. 14.Hipkins acknowledged that he was taking on the job at a challenging time, and said his government will focus on "bread and butter issues"."Over the coming week the cabinet will be making decisions on reining in some programmes and projects that aren't essential right now. We will be focused on middle and low income New Zealanders and the small businesses that are (finding) it tough to get by," he said.The economy is in sound shape, he said."Our books and our economy are in a better shape than many around the world and we are absolutely resolved to help the New Zealanders through these tough economic times," he said.Before Hipkins becomes prime minister, Ardern will tender her resignation to King Charles' representative in New Zealand, Governor General Cindy Kiro. Kiro is to appoint Hipkins to the role and he will be sworn in. Hipkins said he will be sworn in on Wednesday.

India has blocked the airing of a BBC documentary which questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership during the 2002 Gujarat riots, saying that even sharing of any clips via social media is barred.Directions to block the clips from being shared have been issued using emergency powers available to the government under the country's information technology rules, said Kanchan Gupta, an adviser to the government, on his Twitter handle on Saturday.While the BBC has not aired the documentary in India, the video was uploaded on some YouTube channels, Gupta said.The government has issued orders to Twitter to block over 50 tweets linking to the video of the documentary and YouTube has been instructed to block any uploads of the video, Gupta said. Both YouTube and Twitter have complied with the directions, he added. Modi was the chief minister of the western state of Gujarat when it was gripped by communal riots that left more than 1,000 people dead, by government count - most of them Muslims. The violence erupted after a train carrying Hindu pilgrims caught fire, killing 59.Human rights activists estimate at least double that number died in the rioting.Modi denied accusations that he failed to stop the rioting. A special investigation team appointed by the Supreme Court to investigate the role of Modi and others in the violence said in a 541-page report in 2012 it could find no evidence to prosecute the then chief minister.Modi was later named the head of his party, the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, which he led to power in general elections in 2014 and then in 2019.Last week, a spokesperson for India's foreign ministry termed the BBC documentary a "propaganda piece" meant to push a "discredited narrative".

A wall of shipping containers installed just a few months ago by the then- governor of Arizona at a $100mn cost to US taxpayers is being dismantled.Republican Doug Ducey ordered the huge line of shipping containers to be placed at the frontier between the US and Mexico, during the final months of his administration, in what he said was a bid to stem illegal immigration.However, after being sued by Washington for putting the containers on federal land in the Coronado National Forest, Ducey – who has since been succeeded by Democrat Katie Hobbs – agreed in December to remove them.“I couldn’t believe that Governor Ducey thought that it was a good idea,” said Debbie McGuire, as a truck barrelled down a dusty road carrying an empty container away.“It’s absolutely ludicrous. To put containers that weren’t going to work ever to keep anybody out,” she told AFP. “I just can’t believe he thought it was a good idea. Ridiculous, and a total waste of taxpayer money.”Ducey’s container wall effort began in the middle of 2022, and quickly ran into opposition, with critics slamming it as a cynical political move that would damage the environment and have no effect on the number of illegal border crossings.Opponents said that the corrugated containers, which snaked like a huge cargo train for four miles (7km) through federal lands, divided an important conservation area.They also pointed out that the terrain is so difficult to traverse that people traffickers have never really used it.In practice, the double-stacked containers were ill-suited to keeping people out – their rigid shape means they didn’t always line up, leaving gaping holes between boxes easily big enough for a person to fit through.“It’s just political gamesmanship,” said Bill Wilson from nearby Sierra Vista, as he watched the wall being dismantled on Friday. “It’s a travesty and a waste of government money, tax money, time and effort.”Arizona shares around 370 miles (600km) of border with Mexico, including environmental preservation areas, national parks, military zones, and indigenous reservations.Until the 2017 arrival in the White House of Donald Trump – who was propelled to power on his pledge to “Build That Wall” – there was very little in the way of a physical barrier separating it from Mexico.Now vast stretches of the border have a fence that towers up to 30’ (9m) high.Before the containers arrived in the Coronado National Forest – an area that can only be reached by dirt roads – the border here was demarcated by a wire fence.

New Zealand’s incoming prime minister Chris Hipkins vowed yesterday to “get things done” and win a looming October general election after being chosen as his party’s only candidate to replace Jacinda Ardern.The 44-year-old red-headed politician emerged as the sole nominee to lead the ruling Labour Party in a meeting of fellow members of parliament, and now faces what is seen as the mere formality of a confirmation by his colleagues today.As leader of the party, he will take over as the country’s 41st prime minister following Ardern’s shock resignation on Thursday. Ardern said she would step down by February 7 but could do so earlier given that her successor was chosen in barely 48 hours.“I like to think I am pretty decisive and I can get things done,” said Hipkins, who became a household name for leading the nation’s Covid-19 crackdown for nearly two years. With his party lagging in the opinion polls under criticism over rising prices, poverty and crime rates, reporters gathered outside parliament in Wellington asked if he can win general elections to be held on October 14. “Yes,” he replied.Ardern, a global figurehead for progressive politics, stunned New Zealand by announcing her abrupt exit from office, less than three years after securing a second term in a landslide election win. The 42-year-old - who steered the country through natural disasters, the Covid pandemic, and its worst-ever terror attack - said she no longer had “enough in the tank”. Ardern said her decision to step down was “tinged with sadness” but after having made the announcement she had “slept well for the first time in a long time”. Political commentators have lined up to condemn the social media abuse that was increasingly directed at Ardern before her resignation.Hipkins praised Ardern as “the leader we needed at the time that we needed it”, but agreed that she had been on the receiving end of “absolutely intolerable vitriol”.Ardern’s successor is widely seen as a safe pair of hands with more than 14 years in parliament. Hipkins told reporters he was feeling “energised and enthusiastic” about the new job. “It’s a big day for a boy from the Hutt,” he said, referring to the Hutt Valley region near Wellington.“My parents came from relatively humble beginnings and worked really hard to provide a good life for my brother and I,” Hipkins added, vowing to give New Zealanders the opportunities to improve their lives. The incoming prime minister said he had already spoken to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.He declined to give policy or ministerial plans beyond saying that he did plan to keep Finance Minister Grant Robertson in place. Opposition leader Chris Luxon of the centre-right National Party congratulated Hipkins but said: “The reality is that he’s been a critical part of a government that has failed to get anything done.”“Just changing the leadership of the Labour Party doesn’t do enough for the New Zealand people.”Hipkins’ selection quashed speculation that Justice Minister Kiri Allan, one of Labour’s senior Maori MPs, might have become the country’s first Maori prime minister. Allan praised Hipkins as decisive and said she believed he would be “an incredibly strong prime minister”.Hipkins won plaudits for his near two-year term as the Covid response minister in a country that shut down its borders to keep the coronavirus out, only fully reopening in August last year. He conceded last year that people were fed up with the strict pandemic restrictions, describing the border closures as “tough going”.Hipkins told reporters Saturday that he likes cycling, gardening, DIY and being outdoors but conceded: “Maybe I don’t have the best fashion sense in parliament.”Asked about whether being a red-haired prime minister would be a historic moment, he said: “I think it was about time we had a ginger at the top.”

Shoppers cradled huge bouquets at Wuhan’s bustling flower market on Lunar New Year’s Eve on Saturday, three years after a once-mysterious virus plunged the Chinese city into a terrifying lockdown.But while many stock up on colourful flowers to celebrate the Spring Festival and the arrival of the Year of the Rabbit, others have a more sombre reason: to mourn loved ones lost to Covid-19 in the recent wave. “I have friends and family who passed away during this time,” 54-year-old Mr Zhang told AFP clutching a bunch of chrysanthemums, which symbolise grief in Chinese culture.Zhang, who did not give his full name, explained that the New Year’s Eve custom in Hubei province, of which Wuhan is the capital, is to visit the homes of people who recently died to offer flowers and burn incense.The Beijing government lifted its stringent zero-Covid policy in December but a surge in infections has since ripped through the country, killing thousands. Wuhan, a metropolis on the banks of the Yangtze River now synonymous with Covid, reported the first cases in late 2019 of what was then a killer virus.Authorities imposed a strict shutdown just two days before the Year of the Rat in late January 2020 to stop the spread of the virus. Deprived of New Year’s Eve festivities, its 11mn inhabitants were cut off from the world for 76 days while Wuhan became the epicentre of an epidemic that inexorably became global.On Saturday, a few hours before New Year’s Eve 2023, the city was seemingly back to normal and gearing up for the festival that is the most important family gathering of the year.Multicoloured lanterns and pennants adorned the city’s Jianghan commercial district and a banner with a heart read “I love Wuhan”. An elderly man struggled to pedal his bicycle loaded with packages and food, while a couple with a toddler squeezed on to a scooter on their way back from the shops.“Of course it’s way better after opening up,” Ms Zhu told AFP as she bought decorative flowers. “Now, since everyone has had Covid already, we can properly have a good Chinese New Year. So that makes us quite happy.”Business is finally back on track again for flower sellers after years of struggles. “At the start of the year with Covid, we had no business,” said Ms Liu, a tradeswoman in her sixties. “Now that we’ve reopened, we have a bit more business.”Ms Tao, another vendor, was putting the finishing touches on a floral arrangement. “During Covid, there were very few people buying flowers but these few years many people have died from Covid, so our sales for chrysanthemums have been pretty high,” she said.“We didn’t sell any flowers we had during the lockdown that year of Covid. We threw them all away.”

Ukraine yesterday blasted the “global indecision” of its allies after Germany refused to supply its vaunted Leopard tanks to bolster Kyiv’s fighting capacity in the nearly year-long war with Russia.On Friday, some 50 nations agreed to provide Kyiv with billions of dollars’ worth of military hardware, including armoured vehicles and munitions needed to push back Russian forces.But German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said that despite heightened expectations, “We still cannot say when a decision will be taken, and what the decision will be, when it comes to the Leopard tank.”“Today’s indecision is killing more of our people,” Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak tweeted.“Every day of delay is the death of Ukrainians. Think faster,” he said.Several allies echoed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in saying the tanks were essential to Ukraine’s fight with its much larger neighbour.In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of the three Baltic states urged Germany “to provide Leopard tanks to Ukraine now.“This is needed to stop Russian aggression, help Ukraine and restore peace in Europe quickly,” said a message tweeted by Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics and endorsed by his Estonian and Lithuanian counterparts.“Germany as the leading European power has special responsibility in this regard.”In Berlin, hundreds of people demonstrated outside the Federal Chancellery building calling for Germany to send tanks to Ukraine.Berlin has been hesitant to send the Leopards or allow other nations to transfer them to Kyiv.Reports earlier in the week indicated Germany would agree to do so only if the US provided its tanks as well. Washington has said providing its Abrams tanks to Ukraine is not feasible, citing difficulties in training and maintenance.But expectations had grown ahead of Friday’s Ukraine Contact Group meeting of around 50 US-led countries that Germany would at least agree to let other countries operating Leopards transfer them to Kyiv’s army.US Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina who is currently visiting Kyiv, called on both countries to supply the machines.“To the Germans: Send tanks to Ukraine because they need them. It is in your own national interest that (Russian President Vladimir) Putin loses in Ukraine.”“To the (US President Joe) Biden Administration: Send American tanks so that others will follow our lead,” he said.The pleas came as the Russian army said its troops had launched an offensive in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, where fighting intensified this week after several months of an almost frozen front.In its daily report yesterday, Moscow’s forces said they had carried out “offensive operations” in the region and claimed to have “taken more advantageous lines and positions”.Russia also said it had held a training exercise on repelling air attacks in the Moscow region, using an S-300 anti-aircraft missile system. Ukraine’s defence ministry reported 26 air strikes and 15 attacks from multiple-launch rocket systems yesterday.“The enemy does not abandon its aggressive plans, focusing its main efforts on attempts to fully occupy the Donetsk region,” on Ukraine’s border with Russia, it said.In Kyiv, Zelensky attended the funeral of his interior minister and other officials killed in a helicopter crash outside the capital Wednesday.The seven coffins were hoisted into the echoing hall in central Kyiv by military pallbearers in full ceremonial dress, to the sound of a lone trumpet and a snare drum.Denys Monastyrsky, one of Zelensky’s top aides, is the highest-ranking Ukrainian official to die in the war that Russia launched on February 24, 2022.Zelensky and his wife Olena Zelenska wore all black and carried floral tributes.“Ukraine is losing its best sons and daughters every day,” Zelensky said in a statement later.The cause of the crash that killed him and 13 others when the chopper fell near a kindergarten is still being investigated.US officials said Ukraine still faced an uphill battle against Russian forces who occupy one-fifth of the country 11 months after invading.But they spoke of a possible Ukrainian counter-offensive in the coming weeks to retake parts of its territory.US Joint Chiefs Chairman General Mark Milley pointed to the substantial amount of equipment — much of it armoured vehicles and artillery — that Ukraine was being pledged at Ramstein, as well as the large-scale training of its forces by allies.“I do think it’s very possible for the Ukrainians to run a significant tactical or even operational-level offensive operation to liberate as much Ukrainian territory as possible,” Milley said.But the Kremlin warned on Friday that Western tanks would make little difference on the battlefield.

Thousands of people protested in Madrid yesterday against Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s leftist government in a rally held in a key election year in Spain that was backed by far-right party Vox.Participants waved red and yellow Spanish flags and called on Sanchez to resign. Some held up signs with a photo of the Socialist premier calling him a “traitor”.Around 30,000 people gathered in Madrid’s Cibeles Square for the rally, according to the central government’s delegation in the Spanish capital. Organisers said some 700,000 people had taken part.The protest was called by dozens of mainly right-leaning civil society groups and backed by conservative parties including the main opposition conservative Popular Party (PP) and Vox.The right is angered by the government’s decision to abolish the crime of sedition, of which nine separatist leaders were convicted over their role in the Catalonia region’s abortive secession bid in 2017.It was replaced with an offence carrying a lower prison sentence.Conservatives are also angered by a flagship law against sexual violence that toughened penalties for rape but eased sentences for other sexual crimes.This has set some convicts free after their jail terms were reduced.Speaking to reporters at the start of the rally, Vox leader Santiago Abascal denounced “the worst government in history” which “has divided Spaniards and freed rapists and coup leaders”.“We need a permanent and massive mobilisation until the autocrat Pedro Sanchez is expelled from power,” he added.Retired accountant Antonio Orduna, 67, told AFP said he was upset the government was “letting those who want to break up Spain off the hook.”He cited the abolishment of the crime of sedition and Sanchez’s 2021 decision to pardon the Catalan separatists initially sentenced to between nine and 13 years in prison for their role in the failed secession bid.Catalonia’s attempt to become an independent state sparked Spain’s worst political crisis in decades, with then-Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont and several others fleeing abroad to escape prosecution.PP leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo, who has tried to push the formation to the centre since becoming its leader in April, was not at the rally but encouraged party supporters to attend.Most polls suggest the PP would win a general election expected at the end of the year but would need the support of Vox to govern.Before that, Spain will vote in May in regional and local elections.One of the main dilemmas facing Feijoo is whether to continue pursuing political alliances with Vox as it has in some region or to freeze them out to try to widen the PP’s base.Vox splintered off from the PP in 2013 and is now the third-largest force in parliament.Lacking a parliamentary majority, Sanchez’s government has been forced since its formation to negotiate with Basque and Catalan separatists to pass bills, which has angered many on the right.Conservatives accuse Sanchez of having eliminated the crime of sedition to assure the continued support of Catalan pro-independence party ERC in tight parliamentary votes.“All he cares about is remaining in power,” said Rosa Torosio, a 44-year-old housewife at the rally.The government argues sedition is an antiquated offence that needed to be replaced with one better aligned to European norms.Sanchez defended his record, telling a Socialist party rally in the northern city of Valladolid yesterday his government had to take steps to defuse the conflict in Catalonia.The separatist bid which happened under the watch of the previous PP government had left Spain standing “before the abyss,” he added.Sanchez also recalled that his government has ramped up social spending to help Spaniards deal with high inflation, for example by increasing pensions and civil servant salaries.

Dozens of Peruvians were injured after tensions flared again on Friday night as police clashed with protesters in anti-government demonstrations that are spreading across the country.In the capital Lima, police officers used tear gas to repel demonstrators throwing glass bottles and stones, as fires burned in the streets, local TV footage showed.In the country’s southern Puno region, some 1,500 protesters attacked a police station in the town of Ilave, Interior Minister Vicente Romero said in a statement to news media.A police station in Zepita, Puno, was also on fire, Romero said.Health authorities in Ilave reported eight patients hospitalised with injuries, including broken arms and legs, eye contusions and punctured abdomens.By late afternoon, 58 people had been injured nationwide in demonstrations, according to a report from Peru’s ombudsman.The unrest followed a day of turmoil in Thursday, when one of Lima’s most historic buildings burned to the ground, as President Dina Boluarte vowed to get tougher on “vandals”.The destruction of the building, a near-century-old mansion in central Lima, was described by officials as the loss of a “monumental asset”.Authorities are investigating the causes.Romero on Friday claimed the blaze was “duly planned and arranged”.Thousands of protesters descended on Lima this week calling for change and angered by the protests’ mounting death toll, which officially stood at 46 yesterday.Authorities announced yesterday that yet another protester had died following demonstrations in the country’s south, with the victim arriving already deceased at the local hospital in Puno.Protests have rocked Peru since president Pedro Castillo was ousted in December after he attempted to dissolve the legislature to prevent an impeachment vote.The unrest has until this week been concentrated in Peru’s south.In the Cusco region, Glencore’s major Antapaccay copper mine suspended operations on Friday after protesters attacked the premises – one of the largest in the country – for the third time this month.Airports in Arequipa, Cusco and the southern city of Juliaca were also attacked by demonstrators, delivering a fresh blow to Peru’s tourism industry.“It’s nationwide chaos, you can’t live like this. We are in a terrible uncertainty – the economy, vandalism,” said Lima resident Leonardo Rojas.The government has extended a state of emergency to six regions.Boluarte has dismissed calls for her to resign and hold snap elections, instead calling for dialogue and promising to punish those involved in the unrest.“All the rigour of the law will fall on those people who have acted with vandalism,” Boluarte said on Thursday.Some locals pointed the finger at Boluarte, accusing her of not taking action to quell the protests, which began on December 7 in response to the ouster and arrest of Castillo.Human rights groups have accused the police and army of using deadly firearms.The police say protesters have used weapons and homemade explosives.Meanwhile, Peru has closed its famed tourist site Machu Picchu amid anti-government protests, its ministry of culture said yesterday, with hundreds of tourists having been left stranded near the Inca citadel amid deadly unrest.Prior to yesterday’s closing of Machu Picchu, rail services to the site had already been suspended due to the track being damaged by demonstrators.At least 400 people, including 300 foreigners, are stranded at the foot of the site, in the town of Aguas Calientes, and pleading to be evacuated.“The closure of the Inca trails network and the Machu Picchu citadel has been ordered due to the social situation and to preserve the safety of visitors,” the ministry of culture said in its statement yesterday.“We don’t know if a train will pick us up. All the tourists here are queuing to register” for evacuation, Chilean tourist Alem Lopez told AFP on Friday.Tourists “cannot leave because the railway has been damaged in different places”, Tourism Minister Luis Fernando Helguero said on Friday.“Some tourists have chosen to walk to Piscacucho, but that takes six hours or more and very few people can do it,” he said.Piscacucho is the closest village to Machu Picchu that is connected to the roads.In December, several hundred stranded tourists were evacuated from near the site.

Legendary Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin, the second person to set foot on the moon, said he had married his long-time girlfriend on Friday, his 93rd birthday.Aldrin and Anca Faur, executive vice-president of Buzz Aldrin Ventures, were wed in a private ceremony.“On my 93rd birthday ... I am pleased to announce that my longtime love Dr Anca Faur & I have tied the knot,” Aldrin tweeted along with pictures of himself and Faur, who is reportedly 63. “We were joined in holy matrimony in a small private ceremony in Los Angeles & are as excited as eloping teenagers.”According to her LinkedIn profile, Faur earned a doctorate in chemical engineering from the University of Pittsburgh in 1996 and had previously worked for Union Carbide and Johnson Matthey before joining Buzz Aldrin Ventures.She had also served as treasurer for the California Hydrogen Business Council.Aldrin’s three previous marriages ended in divorce.The astronaut is the last surviving member of the Apollo 11 mission, during which he and Neil Armstrong become the first people to set foot on the Moon, on July 20, 1969.Michael Collins, who piloted the command module while his crewmates walked on the lunar surface, died in April 2021, and Armstrong died in 2012.Since retiring from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) in 1971, Aldrin has remained a strong advocate of space exploration.A crater on the Moon near the Apollo 11 landing site is named in his honour.The intense fame generated by the Apollo 11 mission 54 years ago overwhelmed Aldrin after he returned to Earth.The former fighter pilot suffered from depression and alcoholism, but ultimately came to terms with his fame and has been known since for his public appearances.He is also the author of nine books and remains an advocate for human space exploration.

An Israeli civilian shot dead a Palestinian yesterday at a settler farm in the occupied West Bank after an attempted stabbing, the army said, the latest incident as violence surges in the territory.The Palestinian health ministry said 42-year-old Tariq Maali was killed “after the occupation (Israel) opened fire on him” near the Palestinian village of Kafr Nama.The shooting brings to 18 the number of Palestinians killed so far this month in the West Bank, according to an AFP tally which includes fighters and civilians.An AFP photographer saw Israeli forces preventing a Palestinian ambulance from accessing the site. Mahmoud Aidi, a Palestinian medic, said first responders tried to reach the scene but there was “a strong army presence concentrated on the hill, and we weren’t permitted to reach the person killed”.The army said an Israeli ambulance took away the body of a man who had “already dead at the scene, so there was no medical treatment to be given”.No one else was wounded in the confrontation, it added.The farm is known as a wildcat settlement, or an outpost not recognised by Israel, according to Israeli anti-settlement movement Peace Now.All settlements are deemed illegal under international law, which Israel disputes.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to pursue a policy of increased settlement expansion in the West Bank, and ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties in his coalition advocate the annexation of some of the territory.The inauguration in December of the most right-wing government in Israel’s history, led by Netanyahu, has sparked fears of a military escalation in the Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since the 1967 Six-Day War.The majority of the 18 Palestinians killed this year were shot dead by Israeli forces. Violence this month adds to a toll which saw more than 150 Palestinians killed in the West Bank last year, the highest annual figure since United Nations records began in 2005.At least 26 Israelis and 200 Palestinians were killed across Israel and the Palestinian territories in 2022, according to an AFP tally from official sources. The Palestinian health ministry did not provide further details on the circumstances of the latest incident, which comes nearly two years after a guard shot dead another Palestinian man at the same location.

Tanzania’s main opposition party yesterday held its first mass rally since the lifting of a 2016 ban, raising hope of greater political freedom in the East African nation.President Samia Suluhu Hassan this month lifted the ban on Chadema slapped by her hard-line predecessor John Magufuli, who was nicknamed “Bulldozer” for his pugnacious style.Hassan, in power for 22 months, is seeking to break with some of Magufuli’s policies and has made overtures to the opposition.”Thank God that the day has come when we speak with fellow Tanzanians though this public gathering,” Chadema chairman Freeman Mbowe told the rally, attended by thousands in the lakeside city of Mwanza.The rally marked the the 30th anniversary of the party’s political registration.The supporters sported the party colours — blue, red and white — and sang songs praising their leaders as a handful of police officers guarded the venue. “We have been silent for almost seven years but finally, our right is restored and we are ready to move ahead,” Mwanza resident Mary Dismas said.The move was cautiously welcomed as a gain for democracy by rights groups and the country’s opposition.Magufuli had banned political rallies early in his tenure, saying it was time for work, not politics.But critics said the ban applied only to opposition groups, with the ruling party free to assemble. Rival gatherings were violently broken up by police and party officials jailed. There was early optimism when Hassan, Tnzania’s first woman president, reached out to rivals, reopened banned media outlets and reversed some of Magufuli’s most controversial policies.But her presidency came under criticism when Mbowe and other senior Chadema officials were arrested in July 2021 just hours before they were to hold a public meeting seeking constitutional reforms.Hassan, who has battled divisions in her ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi party, has since made conciliatory gestures towards the opposition. In early 2022, she met in Brussels with Chadema deputy chairman Tundu Lissu, who was the party’s candidate in the 2020 presidential election but lives in exile in Belgium after an attempt on his life in 2017. Lissu said last week that he would return to Tanzania on January 25, expressing optimism that “2023 is an important year in the history of our country.”

Poised to be New Zealand's next prime minister, Chris Hipkins became a household name leading the nation's closed-border crackdown on Covid-19 and describes himself as a decisive, straight-talking politician.The 44-year-old police and education minister emerged Saturday as his Labour Party's sole contender to replace Jacinda Ardern following her shock resignation barely 48 hours earlier. He is to be formally endorsed for the job Sunday."Hopefully New Zealanders know me as someone who is up front, doesn't mind admitting when they've made a mistake and can laugh at themselves," he told reporters after being selected.The red-headed Hipkins won plaudits for his near two-year term as the Covid response minister in a country that shut its borders to keep the coronavirus out, only fully reopening to the outside world in August last year.He later conceded that rolling lockdowns were "tough going" and said they had to be eased as people wearied of the restrictions.Political commentator Josie Pagani has described Hipkins, with more than 14 years in opposition and government, as "sensible, likeable, tough and capable".Hipkins has been police minister since June last year, a key role given criticism of the government's record on crime, in addition to serving more than five years as education minister and public service minister."I think I am relatively upfront, I'm relatively inclusive. People won't die wondering what I think," he told reporters outside parliament in Wellington."It's a big day for a boy from the Hutt," he said, referring to the Hutt Valley region near the capital Wellington."My parents came from relatively humble beginnings and worked really hard to provide a good life for my brother and I," Hipkins added, vowing to give New Zealanders the opportunities to improve their lives.Justice Minister Kiri Allan, one of Labour's senior Maori MPs, who had been considered a potential prime minister herself, said Hipkins was decisive and would be an "incredibly strong" prime minister."He is extremely competent, with a track record of delivering for New Zealand as one of our most senior ministers over the past six years," she said.

An earthquake measuring 6.5 on the Richter scale hit Santiago del Estero Province, northern Argentina.The quake struck at a depth of 593 kilometres, according to the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC).Argentinian authorities said that there are no victims or reports of damage yet.An earthquake measuring 5 on the Richter scale hit the Argentine city of Salta last month.

Two independent Lebanese lawmakers who spent the night in parliament vowed yesterday to stay until MPs elect a new president, as political deadlock hobbles the country already in deep economic crisis.Lebanon has been without a head of state for more than two months and the government has been operating in a caretaker capacity since May as sectarian leaders fail to reach a political consensus on who should govern.The embattled local currency, which in three years has lost more than 95% of its value, dropped to a new low Thursday against the US dollar as parliament failed for an 11th time to agree on a new president.“We will stay in parliament, and we call on lawmakers to remember their responsibilities, carry them out and elect a president,” said MP Melhem Khalaf, who together with lawmaker Najat Saliba is holding the sit-in.“Without a government, a president, and with only a powerless parliament...Are we supposed to leave Lebanese to their fate?” he said from the parliament chamber.An economic crisis dubbed by the World Bank as one of the worst in recent global history has plunged much of the population into poverty.The current squabbling is mainly between lawmakers supporting the powerful Hezbollah group and those who oppose it — but neither side has a clear majority.The two independents, Khalaf and Saliba, were elected last year on the back of protests in late 2019 against a factional elite that has dominated Lebanese politics since the 1975-1990 civil war.“We hope that today will bring new hope to Lebanon,” Saliba said in a video posted on social media yesterday.Several other independent lawmakers visited the pair on Thursday evening as dozens of activists gathered near parliament to show their support. Videos posted on social media showed the MPs sitting in the dark against the light of their mobile phones, as Lebanon suffers from chronic electricity cuts of up to 23 hours a day.The international community has urged leaders to end the months of political paralysis and help stem the financial meltdown.Almost 2mn people in Lebanon were food insecure in the last four months of last year, according to a study published by the United Nations and the agriculture ministry this week.It is a huge fall for a country that once boasted the monicker “Switzerland of the Middle East” for its role as a regional financial centre. The European Union’s ambassador to Lebanon Ralph Tarraf said politicians needed to step up and address the country’s challenges.“It is high time to bring the economy back on a path of recovery,” he told reporters on Thursday.France is trying to organise a meeting to rally regional and international powers — including the United States and Saudi Arabia — to Lebanon’s cause, diplomatic sources told AFP, requesting anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to the media about the matter.But political decision-making in Lebanon can take months of horse-trading between foreign-backed sectarian leaders.The election of former president Michel Aoun in 2016 followed a more than two-year vacancy at the presidential palace, as lawmakers made 45 failed attempts to elect a new head of state.Michael Young from the Carnegie Middle East Center said the sit-in reflected the lawmakers’ “frustration”. However, he warned that their action “is not going to change the slightest thing”.

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen yesterday touted the fruits of a new “mutually beneficial” economic strategy towards Africa, contrasting the damage caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and China’s practices.“The United States is all in on Africa, and all in with Africa,” she said during a visit to Senegal, part of a push by President Joe Biden’s administration to boost relations with a continent where the United States faces increased competition from other major powers.“Our engagement is not transactional, it’s not for show, and it’s not for the short-term.”Yellen, who had attended a US-Africa summit hosted by Biden in Washington last month, said the president, vice president and other cabinet secretaries would travel to African countries this year.“The world is finally catching up to recognising Africa’s contributions — past and future,” she said on a visit to a business incubator in the Senegalese capital Dakar, her first stop on a three-country tour of the continent.She said the US had outlined a new strategy towards the continent, seeking “to modernise our relationship by focusing on what we can do together, rather than what we can do for each other”. The relationship, she said, would be “based on mutual co-operation and greater ambition”. Yellen cited the Covid-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as major economic headwinds for Africa.“Let me be clear: the single best thing we can do to help the global economy is to end Russia’s illegal and unprovoked war in Ukraine”, she said.“Russia’s war and weaponisation of food has exacerbated food insecurity and caused untold suffering, and the global economic headwinds caused by the actions of a single man — President Putin — is creating an unnecessary drag on” economies.In her speech, which followed a meeting with Senegal’s Economy Minister Oulimata Sarr, Yellen highlighted the continent’s promising demographics.But she cautioned that momentum could only propel economic growth if combined with adequate job opportunities and investments.US investments on the continent, she said, are “motivated by our mutually beneficial, long-term partnership — the goal is to generate positive economic returns while fostering sustainable debt.”She said African governments need the “fiscal space” to be able to make “important” public investments.“We believe that the international community, including China, needs to provide meaningful debt relief to help countries regain their footing,” she said.Yellen’s speech came a day after she announced the Treasury had begun taking measures at home to prevent a default on US government debt.In Dakar, Yellen described US plans to partner with African countries on climate change, health and security issues.She reiterated US support for the African Union to join the G20. She said international institutions needed to be reformed, but also that African governments needed greater accountability and transparency.

Gabon’s Foreign Minister Michael Moussa Adamo (pictured) died yesterday after suffering a heart attack while waiting to go into a cabinet meeting, the government and a presidential source said.Moussa Adamo, 62, a long-standing ally of President Ali Bongo Ondimba, suffered a heart attack and died “despite efforts by specialists” to revive him, the government said in a brief statement. He “sat down in the waiting room” just before the start of the cabinet meeting “in the presence of some of his government colleagues and began to feel unwell”, a source close to the presidential palace said.He was taken to a military hospital while unconscious but died just after midday (1100 GMT), the source who spoke on condition of anonymity said.Reacting to his death, President Bongo described Moussa Adamo on Twitter as “a great diplomat, a true statesman”.“To me, he was firstly a friend, loyal and faithful, on whom I have always been able to count. It’s a huge loss for Gabon,” he added.Moussa Adamo was born in the northeastern town of Makokou in 1961 and started out as a presenter on national television. In 2000, he was made chief of staff for the defence minister, who at the time was Bongo.When Bongo was elected president on the death of his father Omar Bongo Ondimba in 2009, Moussa Adamo served as his special advisor.After a decade as Gabon’s ambassador to the United States until 2020, he became, first, defence minister and then foreign minister in March last year. Moussa Adamo held a master’s degree in international relations and communications from Boston University.He had just been reappointed foreign minister on January 9 when Bongo appointed a new prime minister, Alain-Claude Bilie-By-Nze, in one of the frequent cabinet reshuffles in the oil-rich central African state.

After Argentina’s 2022 World Cup win, fans flocked to get tattoos of the South American football team’s star, Lionel Messi.Thanks to advanced agricultural technology, one Argentine corn farm has planted its own Messi “tattoo” and shared the software so that it can be replicated.In rural Ballesteros, about 500km (300 miles) northwest of Buenos Aires, farmer Charly Faricelli tells AFP that he planned to design Messi’s face into his corn field regardless of Argentina’s result in Qatar last month.“The idea was a tribute from the agricultural world to Messi, whether he won the World Cup or not – which thank God he did!” he said.The size of almost four football fields, the Messi face can only be seen from above, and becomes more visible as the corn grows.“It’s an agricultural ‘tattoo’,” said Faricelli.Unlike other crop designs, where plants are chopped down to create an image, this “tattoo” is the result of different concentrations of planted seed.Faricelli explains that “with advances in technology, the tractor knows exactly, as it goes along, how many seeds to sow in which place”.He has invited other farmers on social media to imitate his homage and has shared the software for them to upload into their equipment.There are 25 faces of Messi in corn fields across five different provinces, Faricelli says.“We identify with the national team, because it suffered before winning, and the agricultural world is also suffering,” he says, alluding to a major drought impacting Argentina’s fertile Pampas plains in the centre of the country. – AFP

Thousands marched through Peru’s capital yesterday in a large anti-government rally punctuated by clashes with police, while the death toll from over a month of violent protests climbed in the country’s southern regions.Some of the Lima protesters, who are demanding the resignation of President Dina Boluarte and fresh elections, threw stones and bottles at officers in the city centre, AFP reporters saw.The police were forced to temporarily retreat before they dug in behind riot shields and began deploying tear gas.At least two people were injured.Police estimated the march at around 3,500 people, but others speculated it attracted more than double that.Rows of police in riot gear faced off against rock-hurling protesters on some streets, and one historic building in the city’s historic centre caught fire late on Thursday.The building, on San Martin Plaza, was empty when the massive blaze ignited from unknown causes, a firefighter commander told local radio.Canada-based miner Hudbay said in a statement that protesters had entered the site of its Peru unit, damaging and burning key machinery and vehicles.“This has not been a protest; this has been a sabotage of the rule of law,” Prime Minister Alberto Otarola said on Thursday evening alongside President Dina Boluarte and other government ministers.Interior Minister Vicente Romero disputed claims circulating on social media that the Lima blaze had been caused by a police officer’s tear gas grenade.Peru has been rocked by protests since the ouster of Boluarte’s predecessor, Pedro Castillo, in early December – though violent clashes have largely been isolated thus far to the country’s south and east.In the southern city of Arequipa, some 1,000 protesters tried early yesterday to storm the airport, but were also repelled by police firing tear gas, local television showed.Peru’s human rights ombudsman later announced that one person had been killed in Arequipa, adding to two other deaths resulting from clashes on Wednesday and raising the nationwide death toll to 45.The demonstrators in Lima, who are mostly from Andean regions, set off from several points around the capital with the aim of reaching the heavily-guarded presidential palace by the end of the day.“Dina listen, the people disown you,” they chanted, while others called for the president to be assassinated.“We are here, fighting for our just cause. We want them to close Congress,” villager Ayda Aroni, who came from Ayacucho, 330km (205 miles) southeast of Lima, told AFP. “We are marginalised, they say we’re vandals, they call us terrorists, we’re demanding our rights.”“I am in Lima to defend the country because there is too much corruption. Dina does not represent us. We’re going to stay for a week to continue the demonstrations,” said Demetrio Jimenez, who came from Puno, near the Bolivian border.Demonstrators also tried to once again take over the airport in Cusco, a popular tourist destination, though it was closed; while there were similar protests in regions such as Puno, Huanuco and Tacna.Boluarte called for dialogue late on Thursday.“I will not tire” of seeking peaceful ways to move the country forward, she said on state television – adding that the “acts of violence generated throughout December and now in January will not go unpunished”.The protesters in Lima are trying to keep up pressure on the government, defying a state of emergency declared to maintain order.On Thursday, the emergency was extended to three more regions, bringing almost one-third of the country under the order.“We have 11,800 police officers in the streets to control unrest, we have more than 120 vans and 49 military vehicles, and also the armed forces are participating,” police chief Victor Zanabria announced on Thursday.Protesters are undeterred, though.“In Lima, the struggle has more weight. When they repress us in our regions, no one mentions it,” said Abdon Felix Flores, a 30-year-old villager from Andahuaylas in the Cusco region.Flores said he was ready “to give my life” to ensure change”.“We have come in an organised way to take over Lima, to paralyse Lima, to be heard,” said Jesus Gomez, an agricultural engineer from Chumbivilcas, also in the Cusco region.Castillo was removed from office and arrested on December 7 after attempting to dissolve the country’s legislature and rule by decree, amid multiple corruption investigations.The crisis also reflects the huge gap between the capital and the rural provinces, which supported Castillo and saw his election as revenge for Lima’s contempt.Boluarte, who was Castillo’s vice-president, succeeded him.But despite Boluarte belonging to the same left-wing party, Castillo supporters have rejected her, even accusing her of being a “traitor”.