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On Beirut’s chaotic, car-choked streets, Lebanese student Fatima Fakih rides a shiny purple bus to university, one of a fleet rolled out by authorities to revive public transport in a country struggling to deliver basic services.The 19-year-old says the spacious public buses are “safer, better and more comfortable”, than the informal network of private buses and minivans that have long substituted for mass transport.”I have my bus card — I don’t have to have money with me,” she added, a major innovation in Lebanon, where cash is king and many private buses and minivans have no tickets at all.Lebanon’s public transport system never recovered from the devastating 1975–1990 civil war that left the country in ruins, and in the decades since, car culture has flourished.Even before the economic crisis that began in 2019 — plunged much of the population into poverty and sent transport costs soaring — the country was running on empty, grappling with crumbling power, water and road infrastructure. But public buses, now equipped with GPS tracking, have been slowly returning. They operate along 11 routes — mostly in greater Beirut but also reaching north, south and east Lebanon — with a private company managing operations. Fares start at about 80 cents.- Pre-war tram, trains -Passengers told AFP the buses were not only safer and more cost-effective, but more environmentally friendly. They also offer a respite from driving on Lebanon’s largely lawless, potholed roads, where mopeds hurtle in all directions and traffic lights are scarce.The system officially launched last July, during more than a year of hostilities between Israel and militant group Hezbollah that later slammed the brakes on some services.Ali Daoud, 76, who remembers Lebanon’s long-defunct trains and trams, said the public bus was “orderly and organised” during his first ride. The World Bank’s Beirut office told AFP that Lebanon’s “reliance on private vehicles is increasingly unsustainable”, noting rising poverty rates and vehicle operation costs.Ziad Nasr, head of Lebanon’s public transport authority, said passenger numbers now averaged around 4,500 a day, up from just a few hundred at launch.He said authorities hope to extend the network, including to Beirut airport, noting the need for more buses, and welcoming any international support.France donated around half of the almost 100 buses now in circulation in 2022.Consultant and transport expert Tammam Nakkash said he hoped the buses would be “a good start” but expressed concern at issues including the competition.Private buses and minivans — many of them dilapidated and barrelling down the road at breakneck speed — cost similar to the public buses.Shared taxis are also ubiquitous, with fares starting at around $2 for short trips.Several incidents of violence targeted the new public buses around their launch last year.- Environment -Student and worker Daniel Imad, 19, said he welcomed the idea of public buses but had not tried them yet.People “can go where they want for a low price” by taking shared taxis, he said before climbing into a one at a busy Beirut intersection.Public transport could also have environmental benefits in Lebanon, where climate concerns often take a back seat to daily challenges like long power blackouts.A World Bank climate and development report last year said the transport sector was Lebanon’s second-biggest contributor to greenhouse gas and air pollution, accounting for a quarter of emissions, only behind the energy sector.Some smaller initiatives have also popped up, including four hybrid buses in east Lebanon’s Zahle.Nabil Mneimne from the United Nations Development Programme said Lebanon’s first fully electric buses with a solar charging system were set to launch this year, running between Beirut and Jbeil (Byblos) further north.In the capital, university student Fakih encouraged everyone to take public buses, “also to protect the environment”.Beirut residents often complain of poor air quality due to heavy traffic and private, diesel-fuelled electricity generators that operate during power outages.”We don’t talk about this a lot but it’s very important,” she said, arguing that things could improve in the city “if we all took public transport”.

Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa has in six months established himself internationally and had crippling sanctions removed, but still needs to rebuild national institutions, revive the economy and unite the fractured country.AFP looks at the main challenges facing Sharaa, whose Islamist-led coalition toppled longtime Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad on December 8.- State building -After ousting Assad, Sharaa has had to navigate four political entities, each with their own civil, economic, judicial and military organisation: the central government in Damascus, the incumbent president’s former rebel authority in the northwest, Turkey-backed groups in the north, and a Kurdish-led autonomous administration in the northeast.Radwan Ziadeh, executive director of the Washington-based Syrian Center for Political and Strategic Studies, said that creating relative stability in this fragile context was “a significant accomplishment” for Sharaa.But guaranteeing the success of the five-year transitional phase will be “the most difficult challenge”, Ziadeh said.The new authorities’ ability to maintain stability was cast into doubt when deadly sectarian clashes hit the Syrian coast in March and the Damascus area the following month.More than 1,700 people were killed in the coastal violence, mostly members of the Alawite minority to which Assad belongs, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor. The clashes near Damascus involved the Druze minority.The treatment of minorities remains “one of the greatest internal challenges”, Ziadeh said, as “building trust between different components requires great political effort to ensure coexistence and national unity”.Badran Ciya Kurd, a senior official in the Kurdish-led administration in the northeast which seeks a decentralised Syrian state, warned against “security and military solutions” to political issues.The transitional government should “become more open to accepting Syrian components… and involving them in the political process”, Kurd told AFP, calling for an inclusive constitution that would form the basis for a democratic system.US Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned last month that Syrian authorities could be weeks away from a “full-scale civil war” due to the acute challenges they faced.Sharaa’s “greatest challenge is charting a path forward that all Syrians want to be part of, and doing so quickly enough without being reckless”, said Neil Quilliam, associate fellow at the Chatham House think tank.- Security -There are pressing security challenges, with kidnappings, arrests and killings sometimes blamed on government-linked factions reported by the Syrian Observatory and on social media.The recent bouts of sectarian violence have raised concerns over Sharaa’s ability to keep radical fighters among his forces’ ranks in check.Washington wants foreign jihadists to leave the country, but Sharaa may find it difficult to let go of fighters who stood by his side for years, and some countries refuse to take them back.Six foreign fighters have been promoted in the new defence ministry, sparking international criticism. A Syrian source with knowledge of the matter said however that Damascus had told the United States it would freeze the promotions.Washington also wants the Syrian government to take control of Kurdish-run prisons and camps where thousands of suspected Islamic State group jihadists and their relatives are detained, but Damascus lacks the personnel to manage them.- Economy, diplomacy -Sharaa is leading a country battered by 14 years of civil war, with its economy depleted, infrastructure destroyed and most people living in poverty.Under the new authorities, Syria has seen an increased availability of fuel and goods including certain fruits whose import had previously been near impossible.After Western governments lifted many sanctions, Sharaa’s priority now is fighting poverty in order to “stabilise the country and avoid problems”, according to a source close to the president.Economist Karam Shaar said that beyond political stability which is essential for economic growth, other obstacles include “the regulatory framework and the set of laws necessary for investment, which unfortunately seem vague in many parts”.Authorities have said they were studying legislation that could facilitate investments, while seeking to attract foreign capital.Rehabilitating Syria’s infrastructure is key to encouraging millions of refugees to return home, a major demand from neighbouring countries and others in Europe.Syria must also contend with neighbouring Israel, which has carried out attacks and incursions since December.According to Quilliam, Damascus is “light years away from considering normalisation” with Israel — a prospect pushed by Washington, after several other Arab states have done so in recent years.Syria has admitted it held indirect talks with Israel, but the government has avoided taking a stance on normalisation.

French prosecutors were on Monday probing a terror motive after a man who had posted racist videos shot dead his Tunisian neighbour and badly wounded a Turkish man in the south of France.The shooting late on Saturday in Puget-sur-Argens, in the southern region of Var, came after a Malian man was stabbed to death in April in a mosque, also in southern France, as concern grows over hate crimes against Muslims.The shooting was initially investigated by regional prosecutors as a suspected murder motivated by the victim’s ethnicity or religion.But French national anti-terror prosecutors, known by their French acronym PNAT, announced on Monday that they would be taking over the investigation.The suspect wanted to “disrupt public order through terror”, according to a source close to the case.The suspected killer, a Frenchman born in 1971, fled the scene in a car but was arrested not far away after his partner alerted police.He posted videos with racist content before and after the shooting late on Saturday, according to regional prosecutor Pierre Couttenier.The victim, who was born in 1979, was shot five times. The Turkish national was wounded in the hand and needed hospital treatment, the prosecutor said.- ‘Swore allegiance to French flag’ – The suspect, a sports shooting enthusiast, “posted two videos on his social media account containing racist and hateful content before and after his attack”, the prosecutor said.According to French daily Le Parisien, the suspect said he “swore allegiance to the French flag” and called on the French to “shoot” people of foreign origin in one of his videos posted on social media.The PNAT prosecutors said on Monday that they had opened an investigation into a “terrorist plot” motivated by the race or religion of the victims.”The racist nature of this double crime is beyond doubt, given the hateful remarks made by the killer,” said SOS Racisme, an anti-discrimination NGO.”This tragedy echoes a series of racist crimes that have occurred in recent months,” it said, denouncing a “poisonous climate” in the country including the “trivialisation of racist rhetoric”.Aboubakar Cisse of Mali was stabbed dozens of times while attending prayers at the mosque in the southern French town of La Grand-Combe on April 25.A French national of Bosnian origin accused of carrying out the attack surrendered to Italian authorities after three days on the run. Italy then extradited him to France to face justice.Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau was bitterly criticised for never travelling to the scene of that crime to show solidarity, while PNAT anti-terror prosecutors also came under fire for not taking over the case and instead leaving it to regular criminal prosecutors.On Monday, Retailleau denounced the murder of a Tunisian man, calling it a “racist act”.”Racism in France and elsewhere is a poison, and we can see that it is a poison that kills,” Retailleau told reporters.”Every racist act is an anti-French act.”He added that he had spoken on the phone with the Tunisian ambassador to France.He later spoke to his Tunisian counterpart, Khaled Nouri, who “condemned a terrorist crime”, according to an official government statement.Nouri urged French authorities to “ensure the protection of the Tunisian community on French territory”, the Tunisian statement added. vxm-dac-sjw-as-bc/dhw

US President Donald Trump on Monday ruled out allowing Iran to enrich uranium under any nuclear deal between the foes — as Tehran defended what it said was its “peaceful” pursuit of fuel for power generation.Uranium enrichment has remained a key point of contention in five rounds of talks since April to ink a new accord to replace the deal with major powers that Trump abandoned during his first term in 2018.”Under our potential Agreement — WE WILL NOT ALLOW ANY ENRICHMENT OF URANIUM!” Trump said on his Truth Social network after the Axios news outlet said Washington’s offer would let Tehran enrich some of the nuclear fuel.Republican Trump also blamed predecessor Joe Biden for the impasse, saying the Democrat “should have stopped Iran a long time ago from ‘enriching.'”Axios said the latest proposal that Washington had sent Tehran on Saturday would allow limited low-level uranium enrichment on Iranian soil, for an amount of time that has yet to be determined.Iran has insisted that Iran has “nothing to hide” on its nuclear program.Speaking in Cairo, where he met the UN nuclear watchdog’s chief Rafael Grossi, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said: “If the goal is to deprive Iran of its peaceful activities, then certainly no agreement will be reached.”The remarks came after Grossi of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Monday called for more transparency from Iran following a leaked report that showed Tehran had stepped up uranium enrichment.- ‘Need for more transparency’ -The IAEA report showed that Iran has ramped up production of uranium enriched up to 60 percent — close to the roughly 90 percent level needed for atomic weapons.”There is a need for more transparency — this is very, very clear — in Iran, and nothing will bring us to this confidence (besides) full explanations of a number of activities,” Grossi said ahead of meeting Araghchi.Grossi added that some of the report’s findings “may be uncomfortable for some, and we are… used to being criticized”.Iran has rejected the report, warning it would retaliate if European powers that have threatened to reimpose nuclear sanctions “exploit” it.”Some countries are trying to abuse this agency to pave the way for escalation with Iran. I hope that this agency does not fall into this trap,” Araghchi said of the IAEA.Iran meanwhile pushed for the United States to drop sanctions that have crippled its economy as a condition for a nuclear agreement with Trump’s administration.Araghchi said on Saturday that he had received “elements” of the US proposal for a nuclear deal following the five rounds of talks, mediated by Oman.- ‘With or without a deal’ -Both Araghchi and Grossi met Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who praised the US-Iran talks and called for “de-escalation in order to prevent a slide into a full-fledged regional war”.On Monday, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei told a news conference: “We want to guarantee that the sanctions are effectively lifted.””So far, the American side has not wanted to clarify this issue,” he said.The US envoy in the nuclear talks said last month that Trump’s administration would oppose any Iranian enrichment.”An enrichment program can never exist in the state of Iran ever again. That’s our red line. No enrichment,” Steve Witkoff told Breitbart News.Following a phone call with Witkoff the day before about the ongoing nuclear talks, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty urged a peaceful solution and a nuclear-weapon-free Middle East, saying in Monday’s press conference that “the region is already experiencing enough problems and crises”.He warned that military confrontation would create “a state of chaos from which no one will be spared”.Iran has vowed to keep enriching uranium “with or without a deal” on its nuclear program.The United States has sent Iran a proposal for a nuclear deal that the White House called “acceptable” and in Tehran’s “best interest” to accept, US media reported on Saturday.The New York Times, citing officials familiar with the diplomatic exchanges, said the proposal calls on Iran to stop all enrichment and suggests creating a regional grouping to produce nuclear power.

Oil prices surged Monday over renewed concerns about Russia’s war in Ukraine and relief over OPEC+ production, while stock markets were mixed as US-China trade tensions resurfaced after a brief lull.The dollar was under renewed pressure as traders digested US President Donald Trump’s recent threats to double steel and aluminum tariffs, while Wall Street’s main …

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Cries of grief echoed across southern Gaza’s Nasser Hospital Monday as dozens came to mourn Hossam Wafi, after the father of six was killed while attempting to get supplies to feed his family.His mother, Nahla Wafi, sobbed uncontrollably over her son, who was among 31 people killed by Israeli fire while trying to reach a food distribution site the previous day, according to the Palestinian territory’s civil defence agency.”He went to get food for his daughters — and came back dead,” said Nahla Wafi who lost a son and had relatives injured on Sunday.Hossam Wafi had travelled with his brother and nephew to a newly established distribution centre in the southern city of Rafah. “They were just trying to buy (flour). But the drone came down on them,” his mother said, as she tried to comfort four of her granddaughters in the courtyard of Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis.Israel has faced growing condemnation over the humanitarian crisis in the war-ravaged Gaza Strip, where the United Nations has warned the entire population faces the risk of famine.-‘Go there and get bombed’-The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said that its field hospital in Rafah received 179 cases on Sunday, including 21 pronounced dead on arrival.The ICRC said that all those wounded “said they had been trying to reach an aid distribution site”, and that “the majority suffered gunshot or shrapnel wounds”.Israeli authorities and the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a US and Israeli-backed outfit that runs the distribution centres, denied any such incident took place.The military instead said that troops fired “warning shots” at people who approached them one kilometre away from the Rafah distribution site before dawn.A witness told AFP thousands of people gathered at the area, known locally as the Al-Alam junction, between 2:00 and 4:00 am (2300 GMT and 0100 GMT) in the hopes of reaching the distribution centre.At Nasser Hospital, Hossam Wafi’s young daughters called out for their father, kissing his body wrapped in a white shroud, before it was taken away.Outside the hospital, dozens of men stood in silence before the body, praying. Some cried as the remains were taken away, one of them holding the father’s face until he was gently pulled away.His uncle, Ali Wafi, told AFP he felt angry his nephew was killed while trying to get aid.”They go there and get bombed — airstrikes, tanks, shelling — all for a piece of bread,” he said.”He went for a bite of bread, not for anything else. What was he supposed to do? He had to feed his little kids. And the result? He’s getting buried today,” he added.- Militarised aid -The deaths in Rafah were one of two deadly incidents reported by Gaza’s civil defence agency on Sunday around the GHF centres, which the UN says contravene basic humanitarian principles and appear designed to cater to Israeli military objectives.There have been several other reports of chaotic scenes and warning shots fired in connection with the distribution sites over the past week. The UN’s humanitarian agency (OCHA) published a video of one such distribution site in central Gaza’s Netzarim corridor on Thursday.A large crowd is seen gathered around four long corridors made from metal fences installed in the middle of an arid landscape, corralling men and women into files to receive flour.The distribution site and its waiting area sit on a flattened piece of land surrounded by massive mounds of soil and sand.It is manned by English-speaking security guards travelling in armoured vehicles.Palestinians exiting the distribution area carry cardboard boxes sometimes bearing a “GHF” logo, as well as wooden pallets presumably to be repurposed as fuel or structures for shelter.In the large crowd gathered outside the gated corridors, some men are seen shoving each other, and one woman complains that her food package was stolen.Hossam Wafi’s uncle Ali said he wished Gaza’s people could safely get aid. “People take the risk (to reach the distribution site), just so they can survive.”

UN chief Antonio Guterres called Monday for an independent investigation into the killing and wounding of scores of Palestinians near a US-backed aid centre in Gaza the day before.Gaza’s civil defence agency said Israeli gunfire killed at least 31 people and wounded 176 near the aid distribution site in the southern city of Rafah on Sunday, with medics at nearby hospitals also reporting a deluge of gunshot wound victims.The Israeli military denied firing at people “while they were near or within” the site.But a military source acknowledged “warning shots were fired towards several suspects” overnight about a kilometre away. “I am appalled by the reports of Palestinians killed and injured while seeking aid in Gaza yesterday. It is unacceptable that Palestinians are risking their lives for food,” Guterres said in a statement, without assigning blame for the deaths. “I call for an immediate and independent investigation into these events and for perpetrators to be held accountable.”Israel’s foreign ministry called the statement “a disgrace”, and faulted Guterres for not criticising Hamas.The Israeli government has worked with the group running the site, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), to introduce a new mechanism for distributing aid in Gaza that has bypassed the longstanding UN-led system.The UN has declined to work with the group out of concerns about its neutrality.- ‘Bullets were chasing people’ -One 33-year-old who was present on Sunday told AFP it was “around 5 or 5:30 am, before sunrise” when the gunfire broke out at a spot known as the Al-Alam roundabout, where a crowd had gathered from the early hours of the morning to wait before heading to the GHF centre about a kilometre away.”Of course it was the Israeli army who shot live bullets,” said the witness, who declined to be named for fear of Israeli reprisals.”Thousands of people were waiting at Al-Alam roundabout… but the army fired and everyone ran away. There was fear and chaos. I saw with my own eyes martyrs and wounded in the area.”Another witness elsewhere in the crowd, 35-year-old Mohammed Abu Deqqa, said “at first, we thought they were warning shots”. “But it didn’t take long before the shooting intensified. I began to see people lying on the ground, covered in blood. That was around 5:30 am” he said. “People started running, but many couldn’t escape. The bullets were chasing people even as they tried to flee.”AFP photos taken around 5:40 am showed civilians loading bodies onto donkey carts shortly after sunrise.Gaza civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal said teams of rescuers arrived around 6:00 am and began assisting with the dead and wounded, though civilians and other paramedics had already taken some to Nasser hospital and a Red Cross field hospital.- ‘Warning shots were fired’ -The military on Sunday said an initial inquiry indicated its troops “did not fire at civilians while they were near or within the humanitarian aid distribution site”, and urged “media to be cautious with information published” by Hamas.But according to an Israeli military source, “warning shots were fired towards several suspects who advanced towards the troops” overnight. The incident took place “approximately one kilometre away” from the GHF distribution centre, outside of operating hours, the source said.Army spokesman Effie Defrin said Sunday that “Hamas is doing its best, its utmost, to stop us from” distributing aid, and vowed to “investigate each one of those allegations” against Israeli troops.A GHF spokesperson also accused Hamas of circulating “fake reports”, saying: “All aid was distributed today without incident.”In a video message from Nasser hospital later on Sunday morning, visiting British surgeon Victoria Rose described a scene of “absolute carnage”, saying “all the bays are full, and they’re all gunshot wounds”.The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said that its field hospital in Rafah received 179 people, including 21 pronounced dead on arrival.The ICRC reported that all the wounded “said they had been trying to reach an aid distribution site”, adding that “the majority suffered gunshot or shrapnel wounds”.- ‘Intense force’ -GHF said that as of Monday, it had distributed more than 5.8 million meals’ worth of food from its centres.Israel has come under increasing international pressure to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza following a more than two-month blockade on aid that was only recently eased.The UN has warned the entire population is at risk of famine, and has also reported recent incidents of aid being looted, including by armed individuals.Talks aimed at reaching a ceasefire have so far failed to produce a breakthrough.Civil defence spokesman Bassal said 14 people were killed on Monday in an Israeli strike on a house in Jabalia, in the north.Asked for comment, the army said only that “strikes were conducted toward terror targets in northern Gaza”.The Israeli military also issued an evacuation order for parts of Khan Yunis on Monday.The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says at least 4,201 people have been killed in the territory since Israel resumed its offensive on March 18, taking the war’s overall toll to 54,470, mostly civilians.Hamas’s 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, also mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.