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Pakistan’s military shot down an Indian drone along the de facto Kashmir border, state radio in Islamabad reported on Tuesday, a week after the deadliest attack on civilians in the contested region in years.The Indian army also said that both sides exchanged fire for a fifth straight night along the Line of Control (LoC), a heavily fortified zone of high-altitude Himalayan outposts.There was no immediate confirmation from Pakistan on the exchange of fire but state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported that the military had shot down an Indian “quadcopter”, calling it a violation of its airspace.Relations between the nuclear-armed neighbours have plummeted after India accused Pakistan of backing an attack in Indian-administered Kashmir on April 22 in which 26 men were killed.Islamabad has rejected the charge and both countries have since exchanged gunfire in Kashmir, diplomatic barbs, expelled citizens and ordered the border shut.The unmanned Indian aircraft had attempted to conduct surveillance along the LoC in the Manawar Sector of the Bhimber area, the Radio Pakistan report said. It did not say when the incident happened. There was no comment from New Delhi.India said the “Pakistan Army resorted to unprovoked small arms firing across the Line of Control” overnight Monday to Tuesday. The gunfire took place in areas opposite Kupwara and Baramulla districts, as well as in the Akhnoor sector, it said.The Indian army said its troops had “responded in a measured and effective manner to the provocation”. There were no reports of casualties.India has said Tuesday is the deadline for Pakistani citizens to leave.- ‘Exercise restraint’ -Analysts say they fear bellicose statements will escalate into possible military action.Muslim-majority Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since their independence from British rule in 1947. Both claim the territory in full.Rebels in the Indian-run area have waged an insurgency since 1989, seeking independence or a merger with Pakistan.Indian police have issued wanted posters for three men — two Pakistanis and an Indian — who they say are members of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba group, a UN-designated terrorist organisation.They have announced a two million rupee ($23,500) bounty for information leading to each man’s arrest and carried out sweeping detentions seeking anyone suspected of links to the killers.The United Nations has urged the arch-rivals to show “maximum restraint”, while China, which shares a border with both India and Pakistan, on Tuesday repeated its call on both sides to “exercise restraint”.”Both India and Pakistan are important countries in South Asia. Their harmonious coexistence is crucial to the peace, stability and development of the region,” foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said.Iran has already offered to mediate and Saudi Arabia has said Riyadh was trying to “prevent an escalation”.US President Donald Trump downplayed tensions, saying on Friday the dispute will get “figured out, one way or another”.

Long-troubled relations between nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan have rapidly worsened since a deadly attack in Kashmir targeting tourists that New Delhi blames on Islamabad, accusations it has firmly rejected.One week since the April 22 attack in which 26 men were killed, the deadliest on civilians in the disputed Himalayan territory in a quarter of a century, analysts worry furious rhetoric on either side may escalate into military retaliation.- What happened? -Gunmen attacked Indian holidaymakers enjoying picturesque Pahalgam, in a lush valley beneath snowcapped Himalayan peaks.Survivors said the gunmen separated the men, asked several about their religion, and shot them at close range.All 26 killed were Indian nationals, except one from Nepal. Most were Hindus. One was a Kashmiri Muslim who gave horse rides for tourists.Prime Minister Narendra Modi has vowed to pursue the killers “to the ends of the Earth”.- Who were the attackers? -Indian police have identified two Pakistani nationals among the three fugitive alleged gunmen. The other is Indian.Police say they are members of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), meaning the “Army of the Righteous”, designated a terrorist organisation by the United Nations.No group has claimed responsibility. India accuses LeT of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, when 10 Islamist gunmen carried out a multi-day siege of the country’s financial capital killing 166 people.New Delhi last week accused Islamabad of supporting “cross-border terrorism”.Pakistan has denied any role in the Pahalgam attack, rejecting Indian accusations as “frivolous” and saying it was open to a “neutral, transparent and credible” investigation.- What is the issue in Kashmir? -Muslim-majority Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since their independence from British rule in 1947. Both claim the territory in full.Rebels in the Indian-run area have waged an insurgency since 1989, seeking independence or a merger with Pakistan.India has an estimated 500,000 soldiers deployed permanently in the territory.India accuses Pakistan of funding the rebels and aiding their training. Islamabad denies the allegation, saying it only supports Kashmir’s struggle for self-determination.– How has India responded?  -New Delhi has also issued a raft of punitive diplomatic measures.Those include suspending a water-sharing treaty, the closure of the main border crossing with Pakistan and downgrading diplomatic ties.India has ordered all Pakistani nationals to leave the country, with the exception of remaining diplomats, by April 29.Security forces have conducted more than 2,000 detentions and interrogations, according to a police source.The military also destroyed at least nine houses belonging to suspects, fueling the anger of some local officials and a section of the population who denounced it as “collective punishment”.India has also banned more than a dozen Pakistani YouTube channels for allegedly spreading “provocative” content. – How has Pakistan responded? -Pakistan hit back with tit-for-tat measures, including expelling New Delhi’s diplomats, and cancelling visas for Indian nationals with the exception of Sikh pilgrims.It also closed its airspace to Indian airlines.Islamabad also warned it would regard any attempt by India to stop the supply of water from the headwaters of the Indus River as an “act of war”.Pakistan’s defence minister has claimed to have “reinforced” its military to repulse any Indian aggression. – What will happen next? -Some fear that military action is now imminent. The two countries have traded small arms fire across the Line of Control, the de facto border in contested Kashmir, for five consecutive nights.The worst attack in recent years in Indian-run Kashmir was at Pulwama in 2019, when an insurgent rammed a car packed with explosives into a security forces convoy, killing 40 and wounding 35.Indian fighter jets carried out air strikes on Pakistani territory 12 days later.

Pulling logs and dusty building materials from a storage bunker outside his home in Kashmir, Riaz Awan readied the underground space to house his family as they braced for clashes between Pakistan and India to reach their border village.Kashmiris living on both sides of the de facto border — the Line of Control — have been caught in the barrage of shells and bullets for decades as the nuclear-armed archrivals fight over the disputed region.The long history of clashes has pushed many residents to build bunkers for shelter should their homes be caught in the crossfire.”We’ve endured cross-border firing, which has been a tough experience, and we don’t want our children to go through the same,” Awan, a 51-year-old farmer, told AFP as he and his children cleared the bunker that had until recently stored straw.In Chakothi village, around three kilometres (two miles) from the Line of Control, there are around 30 bunkers for a community of 60 families overlooked by Indian army check posts atop the surrounding green mountains.- Threats every day -Awan and his cousin Shabbir share the bunker they built in 2017, which cost them 300,000 Pakistani rupees ($1,000) — a substantial amount in their impoverished village.But they pulled together the funds to pay for safety.A militant attack last week killed 26 people in Indian-administrated Kashmir, the worst attack on civilians in a Muslim-majority region in a quarter of a century.India blamed the attack on Pakistan and accused it of “cross-border terrorism”, a charge Islamabad vehemently denied.In response, New Delhi and Islamabad downgraded diplomatic ties, withdrew visas and announced the closure of the main land border.India says that its army has been exchanging fire with the Pakistani army for the past five days as both countries remain on edge, bracing for a potential military confrontation.”Every day, India makes various threats, saying they will do this and that,” said 52-year-old retired soldier Shabbir Awan.”That is why we are cleaning these bunkers today, so that if needed, we can use them and make our lives safer.”Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since their independence from British rule in 1947. Both claim the territory in full but govern separate portions of it. Rebel groups have waged an insurgency in Indian-controlled Kashmir since 1989, demanding independence or a merger with Pakistan. – ‘Where else can we go?’ -Ridges and valleys intersected by the Line of Control host tens of thousands of heavily armed troops, with some rival outposts just a few dozen metres apart.The Pakistan military says about 1.5 million residents live along the ceasefire line, long relying on a network of community bunkers and homemade shelters to weather the perennial bouts of unrest.An average underground bunker is around 2.5 metres deep, 3.5 metres wide and 3.5 metres long. Those who can afford it reinforce all four sides with concrete, while others simply use mud walls.”Our main concern is the safety of our children, protecting them is our biggest priority,” said Saleema Bibi, a 40-year-old mother of four.In 2017, “they even hit directly on top of our houses”, she told AFP.”We have no proper shelter or protection. We are living here — where else can we go?” she said.Naseema Bibi, a 46-year-old mother of four, owns a cow and two buffalos, making it hard for her to leave.”We have livestock. We can’t move anywhere,” she said. So she is also working to clear a bunker. “We are around eight families and it is difficult to adjust in one bunker,” she told AFP.”But children get panicked so we are concerned because of them.”

India and Pakistan are exchanging fire over their de-facto border since the Kashmir attack, but in New Delhi and Islamabad political foes are coming together and looking to score points.On April 22 gunmen killed 26 people in the Indian-administered part of Kashmir, the disputed Himalayan region that has long been a dangerous thorn in relations between the nuclear-armed neighbours.India accuses Pakistan of backing the perpetrators of the worst attack on civilians in years in Kashmir, an accusation rejected by Islamabad. In addition to shooting over the Line of Control frontier in Kashmir, the two nations have exchanged diplomatic barbs, expelled citizens and ordered the border shut.But while the world holds its breath over a possible escalation, analysts said that domestically both sides could use the crisis to generate political gains.”New Delhi could use it to bolster its image as strong and confident and tough on terror,” said political scientist Michael Kugelman.”Islamabad could use it to try to rally support for a civilian and military leadership that isn’t terribly popular at home,” Kugelman told AFP.- ‘Speak as Pakistanis’ -Pakistani opposition parties have in recent times become more openly critical of the military, which has long been heavily involved in politics and the economy.But now the fallout of the Kashmir attack has “entirely divertedattention with one common enemy”, Pakistani political scientist Ayesha Siddiqa told AFP.”When there is a fear of war, people show greater support for the army,” she said.When the Senate voted on an anti-India resolution last week, jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party voted in favour, ensuring it passed unanimously.Siddiqa said the party had no other choice or it would have been deemed unpatriotic.”It is not about being with this installed government or the army, it is about standing against the enemy,” PTI’s spokesman Sheikh Waqas Akram said.Information Minister Ataullah Tarar echoed the message: “We don’t speak as party members, we speak as Pakistanis.”- ‘Brother against brother’ -Likewise in India, Rahul Gandhi of the Congress party, usually a harsh critic of Modi, made a statement saying that the opposition was united in condemning the attack.”Whatever steps the government wishes to take, we will fully support them,” Gandhi said.”The intent behind this attack is to divide society and pit brother against brother,” he added.”At such a time, it is extremely essential that every Indian remains united and stands together — so that we can foil this conspiracy of the terrorists.”The youth wing of the Congress party has held rallies, waving the Indian flag and offering their support to Modi.”I pray to God for the peace of those who lost their lives in this attack”, said Ravi Kumar, a member of the Indian Youth Congress, during a rally on Friday.He called for “strong and decisive action. The people of the country and the opposition are standing firmly with you.”Even members of India’s Muslim minority — portrayed as a Pakistani “fifth column” by some in Modi’s Hindu nationalist party — have got behind the government and taken aim at Pakistan.”Remember, if you go into another country and kill innocent people, no country will remain silent,” said Asaduddin Owaisi, president of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen party (AIMIM).- Pressure to deliver -On the Pakistani side, government officials and official media have presented the Kashmir attack as “fake and orchestrated by India.”This message has been widely shared on social media in Pakistan, where disinformation is rife, has gone down well on the street.”India is holding us responsible after having executed its own citizens,” said Matloob Inkalabi, a resident of Pakistani Kashmir.In Islamabad, Waqas Sheikh, a 56-year-old trader, agreed.”The attack was planned by the Indians, Pakistan has nothing to do with it,” he says, assuring that he “supports the army if India continues its provocations”.Since the Kashmir attack, Indian police have issued wanted posters for three men — two Pakistanis and an Indian — who they say are members of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba group, a UN-designated terrorist organisation.Modi is “under pressure to deliver”, said Praveen Donthi from International Crisis Group (ICG).”The public is used to a certain hostile rhetoric when it comes to Pakistan, and they are now begging for blood, they are asking for a military retaliation,” Donthi said.

Myanmar authorities failed to auction off Aung San Suu Kyi’s lakeside mansion on Tuesday — the fourth time the sale of the jailed Nobel peace laureate’s property has attracted no bidders.A court-appointed auctioneer emerged from the rusty gate of the sprawling two-storey pile on Yangon’s leafy University Avenue Road to offer it at a discounted $128 million starting price.Surveyed by a gaggle of journalists and around a dozen police, the auctioneer asked for bidders three times before proclaiming: “We hereby announce that the auction is not successful.”Suu Kyi has been jailed since being deposed by a 2021 military coup but spent years under house arrest at the historic property during a previous period of junta rule.After lengthy legal wrangling her estranged brother has won the rights to half of the villa. Its sale is being overseen by junta-appointed officials and Suu Kyi is entitled to half of the proceeds.During her house arrest at 54 University Avenue Road, Suu Kyi would make speeches at the boundary fence — drawing crowds of hundreds with lofty rhetoric about democracy and non-violent resistance.Myanmar’s decade-long democratic experiment saw Suu Kyi become the elected figurehead after her release in 2010, and the colonial-era home was where she steered its nascent civilian government.As the country began to recover from pariah status it saw a series of landmark visits from foreign leaders including Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.Since the military snatched back power, Suu Kyi has been jailed in the capital Naypyidaw on a litany of charges critics have slammed as farcical and designed to remove her from politics. Real estate agents say similar-sized properties in upmarket Yangon areas might fetch $1 million to $2 million. With Myanmar’s economy shattered by the civil war triggered by the military coup, it is unclear who in the country would be in a position to spend $128 million on a single, increasingly dilapidated property.It was first put up for sale in March 2024 for 315 billion kyats — $150 million based on the official exchange rate — but has been incrementally discounted in each of the three auctions since then.

Flames crackle through piles of hundreds of human skulls and thick grey smoke pours into the Thai sky in a moment as spiritually significant as it is gruesome.The Lang Pacha ceremony is observed by Thais of Chinese descent to give a dignified funeral to the unclaimed dead.In Thailand, hospitals hand unidentified bodies and those with no-one to give them appropriate last rites to local foundations.These then bury the corpses in graveyards, sometimes for several years, before a weeks-long ritual when they are exhumed, cleaned and all cremated together.In Buddhist belief, the spirits of the uncremated remain trapped between worlds and cannot be reincarnated until monks perform the proper rites. “Spirits without cremation still roam,” said Pisit Pongsirisupakul, vice president of the Dhamma of Buddha Nakhon Ratchasima Foundation, which organised the event.”They suffer and they can’t be reborn. We help them move on, and that’s why this is an act of merit,” he told AFP.Buddhists believe death marks the beginning of a new life, and making merit ensures a better rebirth.”It’s not scary,” said Pisit. “When people die, we all look the same — like skeletons.”- Empty eyesocket -The ritual begins with volunteers digging up the graves — the event’s name translates as “cleaning the jungle” — before brushing dirt and flesh from the remains and washing them in holy water boiled with tea leaves.One man scrubbed out an empty eyesocket firmly with a toothbrush.The scene is incongruously cheerful: wearing blue surgical gloves, Pimjai Sornrach grinned broadly as she held a skull, declaring “it’s so good, it’s so good”, while her smiling friend held up a femur for the camera.”I just want to be there whenever there’s an event like this,” said Pimjai, a 54-year-old shopkeeper.She started volunteering at 17 after seeing two people killed in a hit-and-run, and says the ritual is about helping others as well as earning merit. “My heart tells me to go.”Accumulated over the course of a decade, some of the 600 corpses were only recently deceased and the smell of death hung over the foundation complex in Nakhon Ratchasima province, north of Bangkok.Some will have been Alzheimer’s patients who wandered from their homes, never to be found by their families, others include road accident victims or undocumented labourers from Myanmar.Laid out to dry, the remains are combined and divided up by bone type and laid out on mats or piled in buckets — hundreds of skulls, leg bones and others.It is a family occasion — two young girls sat alongside rows of skulls, each holding an anonymous head in their lap.- ‘Peace of mind’ -In the days running up to the ceremony’s climax, volunteers press gold leaf onto the bones, and reconstruct faces on a few.Each set of bones is loaded by turn into two separate crematorium towers — one for the men, one for the women — with the skulls on top completing the stacks.Monks chant and pray before the flames are lit. Later the ashes from each tower will be interred in a graveyard.Thitiwat Pornpiratsakul, 63, began volunteering after he, his wife and two sons survived a bus crash 20 years ago.”Our bus flipped over, and no one came to help us,” he recalled. “My wife and children were with me. We felt helpless.”Since recovering, he has taken part in the ritual every year.”My family and I have stayed healthy, and I believe it’s because we help in this ceremony,” he said.Organisers say the event not only honours the dead, but also highlights a need for legal reform.Pisit has long campaigned for government support to expand DNA testing and connect the civil registration system to police forensics to help identify the unclaimed.”We need a centralised database where families can search by ID and find their loved ones,” he said.

In a tiny studio, a former Wall Street banker and an ex-aviation executive are doing what critics say is lacking in Singapore’s tightly managed media landscape — giving opposition politicians unfiltered airtime ahead of an upcoming election.The popular podcast Yah Lah But — a colloquial Singlish way of saying “Yes, but” — promises “the most uncensored conversations and interviews from the much-censored country of Singapore”, according to its YouTube description.The show is part of a growing wave of podcasts deep-diving into the affluent city-state’s politics, providing alternative coverage of the May 3 polls.”We’re not scared. I think there’s a desire to really hear different voices,” said host Terence Chia.Despite its reputation as a modern global hub, Singapore’s domestic media is “tightly controlled by the government” and self-censorship is “widespread”, said Reporters Without Borders, ranking it 126th out of 180 countries. Its media landscape is also dominated by players linked to the government that critics say are too pro-establishment.However, mainstream election coverage of the opposition has improved over the past decade, with its news podcasts showing a willingness to feature alternative voices. Co-host Haresh Tilani said the independent Yah Lah But will not give their guests a free pass, no matter their party.”We don’t just bash the establishment. We, in fact, challenge them,” he told AFP.Ahead of the election, Yah Lah But has pivoted to political topics and conducted long interviews with politicians from both sides of the aisle, employing a candid tone that allows a peek into their personalities. “In parliament, rallies, and in mainstream media you see one side of them but podcasts allow you to see the human side of them,” Tilani said.- Mainstream media ‘won’t engage’ -Singapore’s ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) has held power since 1959 with an overwhelming majority of parliament seats, and is expected to win the May 3 election. But the opposition has made gains in recent years, and the election will be seen as a referendum on PAP’s popularity under Prime Minister Lawrence Wong when up against a rejuvenated opposition. Despite podcasts’ niche reach, Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) chairman Paul Tambyah said they are “definitely” a better platform than mainstream outlets for non-ruling party players. “The PAP government has made no secret of the need for agencies… to promote the views of the ‘government of the day’,” he told AFP. SDP leader Chee Soon Juan said he has never been invited for a long-form interview by mainstream media in his three decades in politics.Earlier this month, Chee was on The Daily Ketchup, another breakout podcast, for nearly an hour and a half.”Ask me the hard-hitting questions, the ones that drill into the issues — I’m happy to answer. But they (mainstream media) just won’t engage in that sense,” Chee told AFP.Legacy media’s “biggest problem” is “the government which controls the media”, said veteran former editor P.N. Balji.”Even if the government… opens up, I’m not sure the media knows what to do,” Balji said. “They’ve been used to a certain style of reporting.”Mainstream outletsdid not respond to comment when contacted by AFP.- ‘Pent-up demand’ -With the podcast microphones finally on, the opposition is not wasting time — and Singaporeans are taking note. When Workers’ Party’s rookie candidate Harpreet Singh appeared on Yah Lah But, his hour-plus-long episode racked up almost 100,000 views in two weeks — huge for a long-form interview in tiny Singapore.”This is literally the first time I’ve heard this man speak, but (he) has completely won me over,” said one commenter. SDP leader Chee’s episode on The Daily Ketchup got 126,000 views since its mid-April debut — a reflection of the “pent-up demand” for long interviews with politicians, said co-host Jonathan Chua. In JanuaryThe Daily Ketchup landed a coup, securing Prime Minister Wong for an interview. It now has 269,000 views. “The cast members on the show have been upfront on which political parties they are leaning towards… Instead of self-moderating, we cast people with different political views and let them be themselves,” Chua told AFP.Podcasts have “greatly expanded the opposition’s access to the public”, said Cherian George, a Singapore politics and media expert, adding that their presence also “pressured the mainstream media to take down their pro-establishment bias a notch”.Yah Lah But’s hosts believe podcasts will play a larger role in Singapore’s political discourse in the future. “Podcasts are really providing the platform to ask really tough questions that the mainstream media isn’t able to ask,” Chia said.

Indian batter Vaibhav Suryavanshi on Monday became the youngest to hit a senior T20 century at 14 years and 32 days as he powered Rajasthan Royals’ successful chase against Gujarat Titans in the IPL.Suryavanshi, a left-hand batsman who became the youngest IPL debutant on April 19, smashed 100 off 35 balls to pummel the opposition attack with seven fours and 11 sixes at Jaipur’s Sawai Mansingh Stadium.Suryavanshi went past the previous record, set by Vijay Zol of Maharashtra at 18 years and 118 days against Mumbai in an Indian domestic match in 2013.Suryavanshi’s ton is the second fastest in the popular T20 tournament, after Chris Gayle’s century in 30 balls for Royal Challengers Bengaluru in 2013.The chubby teenager finally fell bowled to fast bowler Prasidh Krishna for 101 off 38 balls and walked off to a standing ovation from the home crowd and the team dugout.”It is like a dream, to score a century in the IPL,” the new batting sensation, who had started his IPL journey nine days ago with a six, said after being named player of the match.Suryavanshi, who has been nicknamed “Boss baby” by TV commentators, said there is “no fear” facing world’s top bowlers.He earned a deal in the lucrative T20 tournament after Rajasthan bought him for $130,500 in the November auction when he was still just 13.Suryavanshi then made his debut against Lucknow Super Giants when he came in as an impact substitute and smacked his first ball for a six — a flat-batted hit over the extra-cover boundary — off pace bowler Shardul Thakur.- ‘Tremendous hitting’ -On Monday, his 166-run opening stand with fellow left-hander Yashasvi Jaiswal launched his team’s chase of 210.Rajasthan reached the target with 25 balls and eight wickets to spare and snap their five-match losing streak.Jaiswal hit an unbeaten 70 and put on an unbeaten stand of 41 with stand-in-skipper Riyan Parag who hit the winning six in his 15-ball 32.”Incredible innings, one of the best I have seen,” said Jaiswal. “Hope he will do it for us for a long time. I was telling him to just keep going.”Suryavanshi’s masterclass took the limelight from everything else  including opposition knocks from Gujarat skipper Shubman Gill, who hit 84, and Jos Buttler, who struck an unbeaten 50.Gujarat posted 209-4 but the total did not survive Suryavanshi’s blitz. He hit Afghanistan quick Karim Janat for three fours and three sixes in one 30-run over.Gill sat out the Rajasthan innings after his 50-ball batting knock and Afghanistan spin wizard Rashid Khan stood in as captain for Gujarat.Gill said a back spasm made him sit out as he lauded Suryavanshi’s “tremendous hitting”.Gujarat are third on the 10-team table with six wins from nine matches.Rajasthan’s chances of moving into the final four still hang by a thread as they are seventh with three wins and seven defeats.

The UN’s food and refugee agencies have warned of dire cuts to their services as funding plummets, especially from key donor the United States under President Donald Trump.The UN World Food Programme (WFP) will cut staff by 25 to 30 percent as contributions to the global aid agency have dropped, according to an internal email seen Monday by AFP.The head of the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) warned Monday that reduced contributions could force a one-third reduction in its activities, despite worldwide conflicts that continue to strain its resources.Trump has moved to slash US contributions to the UN and its agencies since returning to the White House, causing funding chaos as Washington was previously the largest contributor to many budgets.So far his administration has scrapped 83 percent of humanitarian programs funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID).The agency had an annual budget of $42.8 billion, representing 42 percent of total global humanitarian aid, including major contributions to UN agencies.Other countries have also cut funding to UN agencies this year, but the United States’ contributions dwarfed most others in the humanitarian aid sector. – ‘Less with less’ -The WFP is the world’s largest humanitarian organization, charged with preventing famine and serious hunger globally, playing a vital role in getting food to crises like the war in Sudan and disaster zones.”WFP must reduce its worldwide workforce by 25-30 percent, which could impact up to 6,000 roles,” the email said.”This structural shift — necessary to preserve resources in support of vital operations — will impact all geographies, divisions and levels in the organization.”Before the cuts, WFP, which was founded in 1961, had 23,000 staff and a presence in 120 countries, according to its website.”The scale of the workforce reductions needed is difficult news to say and even more difficult to hear. Yet it is the necessary and responsible decision given our tenuous funding outlook,” said the memo.At UNHCR, High Commissioner Filippo Grandi told the Security Council that funding cuts “may conclude with the retrenchment of my organization to up to one-third of its capacity.”The United States has traditionally been UNHCR’s top donor, making up more than 40 percent of total contributions received, amounting to approximately $2 billion per year, he noted.But for 2025, the UNHCR has so far received around $350 million from Washington and is trying to convince the US administration to release an additional $700 million, which has been frozen.”I cannot emphasize more how dramatic the situation is in this very moment,” Grandi said.”If this trend continues, we will not be able to do more with less. But as I have said many times, we will do less with less. We are already doing less with less,” he added.UNHCR employs more than 18,000 staff across 136 countries, with approximately 90 percent of those employees working in the field, according to its website.Many UN agencies and departments are already feeling the impact of drastic cuts in donor contributions, forcing them to scale back vital operations for millions of people around the world.The United States has defended its aid cuts, calling on other countries to do more.”Every member state needs to better share the burden of humanitarian response to conflict,” said acting US ambassador to the UN Dorothy Shea. “The United States has disproportionately shouldered this burden for decades.”

Catholic cardinals agreed on Monday to begin a conclave on May 7 to elect a new pope, and highlighted clerical sexual abuse as one of the key challenges facing Pope Francis’s successor.Cardinals under the age of 80 will meet in the Sistine Chapel to choose a new leader for the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, in a mystery-shrouded ritual dating back to the Middle Ages.The date was decided at a meeting of cardinals of all ages early on Monday, two days after the funeral of Francis, who died on April 21 aged 88.The cardinals, known as “Princes of the Church”, outlined Catholicism’s most pressing challenges, including “evangelisation, the relationship with other faiths (and) the issue of abuse”, the Vatican said.”There was talk of the qualities that the new pontiff must possess to respond effectively to these challenges,” it added.The Church’s 252 cardinals were recalled to Rome after the Argentine pontiff’s death, although only 135 are eligible to vote in the conclave.They hail from all corners of the globe, and many of them do not know each other.But they already had four meetings last week, so-called “general congregations”, where they began to become better acquainted.- ‘Fraternal’ atmosphere -Cardinal Gualtiero Bassetti, 83, a former head of the Italian bishops’ conference, said there was a “beautiful fraternal atmosphere”.”Of course, there may be some difficulties because the voters have never been so numerous and not everyone knows each other,” he told Italy’s Corriere della Sera newspaper.On Monday, the Vatican closed the Sistine Chapel, where voting will take place under Michelangelo’s 16th-century ceiling frescoes, to begin preparations.So far there are few clues as to who the cardinals might choose.”I believe that if Francis has been the pope of surprises, this conclave will be too, as it is not at all predictable,” Spanish Cardinal Jose Cobo told El Pais in an interview published on Sunday.Francis was laid to rest on Saturday, a ceremony that drew 400,000 people, including royalty, world leaders and ordinary pilgrims.On Sunday, about 70,000 mourners filed past his marble tomb in the Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica in Rome, after the “pope of the poor” opted to be buried outside the Vatican’s walls.- ‘Sacred obligation’ -With conflicts and diplomatic crises raging around the world, Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin is for many the favourite to succeed Francis.Parolin was secretary of state under Francis — the pope’s number two.British bookmakers William Hill put Parolin slightly ahead of Filipino Luis Antonio Tagle, the Metropolitan Archbishop emeritus of Manila, followed by Ghana’s Cardinal Peter Turkson.Next in their odds come Matteo Zuppi, the Archbishop of Bologna; Guinea’s Cardinal Robert Sarah; and Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem.Francis’s successor will inherit a series of measures he introduced to combat clerical sexual abuse.But victims’ associations say he did not do enough, and the scandals show no sign of abating.Anne Barrett Doyle from BishopAccountability.org told AFP the abuse archive “applaud(s) the acknowledgment by the cardinals that ending the abuse crisis must be a priority”.”The Church worldwide, through its parishes, schools, hospitals and orphanages, cares for tens of millions of children. The next pope’s most sacred obligation must be to protect them”, she said.The challenge is significant. In many African and Asian countries, the subject remains taboo.Even in Europe, Italy has yet to launch an independent investigation into abuse allegations.- ‘Unity’ -While Francis’s efforts to create a more compassionate Church earned him widespread affection and respect, some of his reforms angered the Church’s conservative wing, particularly in the United States and Africa.Roberto Regoli, a professor of Church history and culture at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, told AFP the cardinals would be looking “to find someone who knows how to forge greater unity”.”We are in a period in which Catholicism is experiencing various polarisations, so I don’t imagine it will be a very, very quick conclave,” he said.Bassetti, who is too old to participate, said that he thought it “will not be long”.Some 80 percent of the cardinal electors were appointed by Francis — although that is no guarantee they will pick a successor in his mould.Most are relatively young, and for many it is their first conclave.- ‘Courageous leader’ -The vote is highly secretive and follows strict rules and ceremonial procedures.The process could take several days or potentially longer.There are four votes per day — two each in the morning and afternoon — until one candidate secures a two-thirds majority.Fewer than half of those eligible to vote are European.”The future pope must have a universal heart (and) love all the continents. We must not look at colour, at origin, but at what is proposed,” Cardinal Dieudonne Nzapalainga from the Central African Republic told the Italian newspaper Il Messaggero.”We need a courageous leader, a bold one, capable of speaking forcefully, of holding the helm of the Church steady even in storms… offering stability in an era of great uncertainty.”Italian pensioner Emilia Greco said she hoped “all the doors that Pope Francis opened — to hope, to those marginalised, to the poor… can be kept open and expanded, (to create) a truly inclusive Church”.