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Paris — Hundreds of people marched through Paris on Sunday in support of women's rights and the opposition in Iran, two years after the death of Mahsa Amini sparked protests against the country's religious authorities.    A 22-year-old Iranian Kurd, Amini died in custody after being arrested for allegedly violating the Islamic Republic's strict dress code for women.    The march, organized by around 20 human rights associations, took place as 34 women began a hunger strike in a Tehran prison to mark the two-year anniversary of her death.    Chirinne Ardakani, a Franco-Iranian lawyer and member of the "Iran Justice" collective, said that the "sacrifices" made by Iranians opposed to the regime were "not in vain".    "Everything has changed in Iran," Ardakani told AFP.    "We've gone from an absolutely patriarchal culture, where there was no question of women being able to reveal themselves in the street, to massive support for these women," the lawyer and activist added.    The march in solidarity with the "Women, Life, Freedom" movement was attended by Benjamin Briere and Louis Arnaud, two Frenchmen who were arrested and arbitrarily detained in Iran.    Iran is accused of arresting Westerners without cause and using them as bargaining chips in state-to-state negotiations, with French diplomats describing these prisoners as "state hostages".    Briere was eventually released in May 2023, while Arnaud was let go the month after.    "Yes, I was in prison, but it is an immense honor to have been able to live among you, freedom fighters, who shared my suffering," Arnaud told the crowd, in his first public address since his release.    Three other French nationals are still being held in Iran.    After Amini died in custody on September 16, 2022, the women-led protests which erupted rattled Iran's leadership that autumn and winter.    But the demonstrations were then crushed by the authorities, with rights group Amnesty International saying security forces used assault rifles and shotguns in the crackdown.    Human rights groups say at least 551 people were killed. Thousands more were arrested, according to the United Nations. 

What is Art? It’s an age-old question: is it paint on canvas, ceramics or sculpture? The fun part is -- art can be anything – and can even be created with a chainsaw. That’s the medium of one artist from the U.S. state of Virginia. Maxim Adams has the story. (Camera: Andrey Degtyarev; Produced by: Andrey Degtyarev, Anna Rice)

Iran’s threatening behavior toward the United States and its ally Israel is one of only a few foreign policy issues addressed by U.S. presidential rivals Kamala Harris and Donald Trump in the election campaign. Michael Lipin looks at the differing approaches of Harris and Trump in facing the threat from Iran and its proxies.

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BANGKOK — Military leaders from the U.S. and China met in Beijing for routine talks that only resumed in January after being suspended for two years as ties between the two countries soured. The meetings ended Sunday and officials discussed ongoing issues such as Taiwan, the Russia-Ukraine war and clashes in the South China Sea. Michael Chase, deputy assistant secretary of defense for China, Taiwan and Mongolia led a delegation to engage in the bilateral Defense Policy Coordination Talks, which were last held in January. While the talks weren't expected to resolve long-standing differences in stances over issues ranging from South China Sea claims to Taiwan, the U.S. has continued to push for the discussions to avoid conflict. The meetings were held after Chase attended the Xiangshan forum in Beijing, a defense forum that is China's answer to the Shangri-La Dialogue. Communication between the two militaries broke off in 2021, as U.S.-China tensions ratcheted up over widening differences on issues such as Taiwan's sovereignty, the origin of COVID-19 and economic issues. Beijing has ignored U.S. requests to engage in the past, especially over intercepts between U.S. and Chinese aircraft and ships. While communications resumed after U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping met in San Francisco last November, it is unclear whether the talks could continue as the U.S. is poised for a presidential election. In the bilateral talks, the two sides discussed China's support for Russia during the ongoing Ukraine war, as well as China's actions in the South China Sea, said a U.S. senior defense official briefing reporters on the meetings. On Sunday, the Philippine ship at a disputed shoal, BRP Teresa Magbanua, had left to resupply and provide medical care to its crew members. The defense official said that they were “watching further developments there very closely.” China's claims over the South China Sea have become increasingly assertive, with increasing clashes with the Philippine coast guard. In August, both sides accused each other over a collision between their ships which left gaping holes in the Philippine ships. The maritime claims have meant clashes at sea, such as at the Sabina Shoal, which both China and the Philippines claim. China had blocked attempts to resupply the BRP Teresa Magbanua, in August, with a force of 40 ships. The Philippines said it would replace the ship immediately, but the departure of the ship raises questions of whether China would seize the shoal. Filipino scientists had previously found submerged piles of crushed corals in its shallows, leading to concern that China may be preparing to build a structure to stake its claim. China confirmed the departure of the ship, which it said, “infringed on China's territorial sovereignty.” “During this period, China had taken control measures against the ship in accordance with the law and multiple attempts by the Philippine side to forcibly resupply the ship had failed,” China Coast Guard spokesperson Liu Dejun said in a statement.

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Madrid — The European Union's top diplomat, Josep Borrell, called Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government "dictatorial" during an interview broadcast Sunday in Spain, echoing comments made by a Spanish minister that angered Caracas. Venezuela on Thursday recalled its ambassador to Madrid for consultations and summoned Spain's envoy to Caracas for talks after Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles referred to Maduro's administration as a "dictatorship" and saluted "the Venezuelans who had to leave their country" because of his regime. Asked about the row during an interview with private Spanish television channel Telecinco, Borrell said over 2,000 people had been "arbitrarily detained" since Venezuela's disputed July 28 presidential election, which the Latin American country's opposition accuses Maduro of stealing. Political parties in Venezuela are "subjected to a thousand limitations on their activities" and the leader of the opposition, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, "has had to flee" to Spain, he added. "What do you call all this? Of course, this is a dictatorial, authoritarian, dictatorial regime. But just saying so doesn't solve anything. What we need to do is to try to solve it," said Borrell, a former Spanish foreign minister. "Sometimes resolving things requires a certain verbal restraint, but let us not fool ourselves about the nature of things. Venezuela has called elections, but it was not a democracy before and it is much less so after." Maduro, who succeeded iconic left-wing leader Hugo Chavez on his death in 2013, insists he won a third term but failed to release detailed voting tallies to back his claim. The opposition published polling station-level results, which it said showed Gonzalez Urrutia winning by a landslide. Maduro's claim to have won a third term in office sparked mass opposition protests, which claimed at least 27 lives and left 192 people wounded. About 2,400 people, including numerous teens, were arrested in the unrest.  

Kano, Nigeria — More than 40 people are presumed to have died after a boat overloaded with passengers sank on a river in northwestern Nigeria, authorities said on Sunday.    The vessel was ferrying 53 farmers to their farms across the Gummi River in Zamfara State on Saturday when it capsized, a local official said.    "Only 12 were rescued yesterday shortly after the accident," said Na'Allah Musa, a political administrator of the flood-hit Gummi district where the accident happened, adding that authorities were searching for the bodies of the rest of the passengers, who are presumed to have died.    Musa added that the vessel was "crammed with passengers far beyond its capacity which caused it to overturn and sink."   In a statement on Sunday, Nigeria's President Bola Tinubu "expressed the government and the people of Nigeria's commiseration" for the "twin tragedies" of the farmers' deaths and the nearby floods.    In recent days, rising waters in the Gummi area have forced more than 10,000 people to flee, with Tinubu promising support for the victims.    Boat accidents are common on Nigeria's poorly regulated waterways, particularly during the rainy season when river and lakes swell.    Last month, 30 farmers on their way to their rice fields drowned after their overloaded boat sank in the Dundaye River in neighboring Sokoto State, emergency officials said.    Three days earlier, 15 farmers died when their canoe overturned on the Gamoda River in Jigawa State, according to the police.   

Conakry — Guinea has handed over a plot of land to thousands forcibly evicted by previous governments, with some of the victims having waited more than 25 years for compensation.   More than 20,000 people were displaced when the government of former president Alpha Conde demolished the Kaporo-Rails, Kipe 2, Dimesse, and Dar Es Salam neighborhoods of the capital Conakry between February and May 2019, according to Human Rights Watch.   The government said the land belonged to the state and would be used for official buildings.   A previous round of demolitions took place in the same area of Conakry in 1998, under the rule of president Lansana Conte.    At a jubilant ceremony on Saturday, the associations representing the victims received the land deeds for a 258-hectare (638-acre) plot in Wonkifong, some 60 kilometers (40 miles) from Conakry, an AFP journalist saw.   The land will be managed by the state-owned company SONAPI, which will be responsible for developing the site and rehousing the victims.   "We are taking a concrete step towards healing the wounds of the past for 2,683 households, while laying the foundations for a shared future," the managing director of SONAPI, Maimouna Laure Mah Barry, said in a statement.    The spokesman for the victims, Samba Sow, said the event marked "the reparation of a 26-year-old injustice for those who were evicted in 1998 and five years for those evicted in 2019."   "Thousands of homes, schools, markets and places of worship were destroyed in flagrant violation of the laws of our country. The lives of several thousand families have been destroyed," he added.   Sow called on current head of state, junta leader General Mamady Doumbouya, to set up a compensation fund for the victims.    The ceremony was attended by General Amara Camara, a junta spokesman, who said the president was "resolutely committed to drying the tears of all the sons and daughters of this country."   The West African state has been ruled by a military junta led by Doumbouya since a coup in September 2021 toppled civilian president Conde. 

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Washington — The Federal Reserve is gearing up to announce its first interest rate cut for more than four years on Wednesday, with policymakers expected to debate how big a move to make less than two months before the U.S. presidential election.    Senior officials at the U.S. central bank including Fed chair Jerome Powell have in recent weeks indicated that a rate cut is coming this month, as inflation eases toward the bank's long-term target of two percent, and the labor market continues to cool.    The Fed, which has a dual mandate from Congress to act independently to ensure both stable prices and maximum sustainable employment, has repeatedly stressed it will make its decision on rate cuts based solely on the economic data.   But a cut on Wednesday could still cause headaches for Powell, as it would land shortly before the election, in which former Republican president Donald Trump is running against the current Democratic vice president, Kamala Harris.  "As much as I think the Fed tries to say that they're not a political animal, we are in a really wild cycle right now," Alicia Modestino, an associate professor of economics at Northeastern University, told AFP.    How big a cut?  The debate among policymakers on Tuesday and Wednesday this week will likely center on whether to move by 25 or 50 basis points.    However, a rate cut of any size would be the Fed's first since March 2020, when it slashed rates to near-zero in order to support the US economy through the Covid-19 pandemic.   The Fed started hiking rates in 2022 in response to a surge in inflation, fueled largely by a post-pandemic supply crunch and the war in Ukraine.    It has held its key lending rate at a two-decade high of between 5.25 and 5.50 percent for the past 14 months, waiting for economic conditions to improve.    Now, with inflation falling, the labor market cooling, and the US economy still growing, policymakers have decided that conditions are ripe for a cut.    Policymakers are left with a choice: making a small 25 basis point cut to ease into things, or a more aggressive cut of 50 basis points, which would be helpful for the labor market but could also risk reigniting inflation.    "I think that in advance of the November meeting, there's not quite enough data to say we're in jeopardy on the employment side," said Modestino, who was previously a senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.     Analysts see the smaller cut as a safe bet.    "We expect the Fed to cut by 25bp [basis points]," economists at Bank of America wrote in a recent note to clients.    "The Fed likes predictability," Modestino from Northeastern said. "It's good for markets, good for consumers, good for workers."    "So a 25 basis point cut now, followed up by another 25 basis point cut in November after the next round of economic data, offers a somewhat smoother glide path for the economy," she added.     How many cuts?   While analysts overwhelmingly expect the Fed to start cutting in September, there is less clarity about what comes next.    Economists at some banks, including Goldman Sachs, expect cuts totaling 75 basis points over the last three meetings of the year, while others see more aggressive cuts, like economists at Citi, who have 125 basis points of easing as their base case.    "The continued softening of the labor market is likely to provoke larger-sized cuts if not at this FOMC meeting then in November and December," the Citi economists wrote in a recent note to clients, referring to the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC).    The Fed will shed some light on the issue on Wednesday, when it publishes the updated economic forecasts of its 19-member FOMC — including their rate cut expectations.   In June, FOMC members sharply reduced the number of cuts they had penciled in for this year from a median of three down to just one amid a small uptick in inflation.      But as inflation has fallen and the labor market has weakened, expectations of more cuts have grown.   Traders also see a greater-than 99 percent chance of at least four more cuts in 2025, which would bring the Fed's key lending rate down to between 3.5 and 3.75 percent — 175 basis points below current levels. 

AMMAN — Jordan's King Abdullah has designated key palace aide Jafar Hassan as prime minister after the government resigned on Sunday, the royal court said, days after a parliamentary election in which the Islamist opposition made some gains in the U.S.-allied kingdom.  Hassan, now head of King Abdullah's office and a former planning minister, replaces Bisher Khasawneh, a veteran diplomat and former palace adviser who was appointed nearly four years ago, a royal court statement said.  Khasawneh will stay on in a caretaker capacity until the formation of a new cabinet, the statement said.  Harvard-educated Hassan, a widely respected technocrat, will face the challenges of mitigating the impact of the Gaza war on the kingdom's economy, hard-hit by curbs to investment and a sharp drop in tourism.  The outgoing prime minister had sought to drive reforms pushed by King Abdullah to help reverse a decade of sluggish growth, hovering at around 2%, that was worsened by the pandemic and conflict in neighboring Iraq and Syria.   The traditional conservative establishment had long been blamed for obstructing a modernization drive advocated by the Western-leaning monarch, fearing liberal reforms would erode their grip on power.  Politicians say a key task ahead is accelerating IMF-guided reforms and reining in more than $50 billion in public debt in a country with high unemployment and whose stability is supported by billions of dollars of foreign aid from Western donors.  The Muslim Brotherhood opposition and ideological allies of Palestinian militant group Hamas made significant gains in Tuesday's election, boosted by anger over Israel's war in Gaza.  The Islamists won 31 seats, the most since parliamentary life was revived in 1989 after decades of martial law, leaving them the largest political grouping in parliament.  In a country where anti-Israel sentiment runs high, they have led some of the largest protests in the region in support of Hamas, which their opponents say allowed them to increase their popularity.  Although the new composition of the 138-member parliament retains a pro-government majority, the more vocal Islamist-led opposition could challenge IMF-backed free-market reforms and foreign policy, diplomats and officials say.  Under Jordan's constitution, most powers still rest with the king, who appoints governments and can dissolve parliament. The assembly can force a cabinet to resign by a vote of no confidence. 

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DHAKA, Bangladesh — A high-level U.S. delegation met Sunday with the head of Bangladesh's interim government, Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, to affirm "dedication to fostering inclusive economic growth," according to the American embassy in Dhaka.  Yunus took over after former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled the country last month amid a mass uprising. She was accused of corruption, violation of human rights and excessive use of force against the protesters.  During her 15-year rule, Hasina enjoyed close relations with India, China and Russia who have heavily invested in the country's infrastructure development, trade and investment. The U.S. has also become the single largest foreign investor in Bangladesh under Hasina.  Yunus on Sunday said he sought U.S. support "to rebuild the country, carry out vital reforms, and bring back stolen assets," his press office said in a statement after he met the delegation at the State Guest House Jamuna in Dhaka.  He told the U.S. representatives his interim administration has moved fast to "reset, reform, and restart" the economy, initiate reforms in financial sectors, and fix institutions such as the judiciary and police, the statement said.  The U.S. delegation, led by Brent Neiman, assistant secretary for International Finance at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, had representatives from the U.S. Agency for International Development, and Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. Donald Lu, assistant secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, joined the delegation after visiting India.  They met with several officials in Dhaka, including Touhid Hossain, the country's adviser to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The USAID also signed an agreement to provide $202.25 million in aid to Bangladesh.  The U.S. embassy on X underscored how American companies are entrenched in the South Asian country.  "With the right economic reforms in place, the American private sector can help unlock Bangladesh's growth potential through trade and investment," the embassy wrote on its official account.  The delegation also met representatives of the American companies under the American Chamber of Commerce in Bangladesh (AmCham) operating in Bangladesh upon arriving Saturday.  Concerns over safety and lack of order in Bangladesh were relayed by the companies' agents.  AmCham President Syed Ershad Ahmed said at the meeting that while there were improvements after the interim government was installed, "there are some bottlenecks too." Profit repatriation amid the ongoing crisis of U.S. dollars and challenges in the supply chain resulting from congestion at ports were among the issues he raised.  The meeting came as unrest took hold of the country's major garment industry with workers walking out, leaving factories shuttered, as they demanded better benefits including higher wages. The factory owners, the government and workers' leaders are holding meetings to ease the tension.  Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate-induced disasters. The U.S. embassy on its official Facebook page said the United States wanted to help it "mitigate climate risks." 

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DILI, East Timor — It was the farthest trip of his pontificate and one of the longest papal trips ever in terms of days on the road and distance traveled. But Pope Francis, age 87, hobbled by bad knees and bent over with sciatica, appeared to be having the time of his life. With half of East Timor's population gathered at a seaside park, Francis couldn't help but oblige them with a final good night and languid loops in his popemobile, long after the sun had set and the field was lit by cellphone screens. It was late, the heat and humidity had turned Tasitolu park into something of a sauna, and most of the journalists had already gone back to their air-conditioned hotel to watch the Mass on TV. But there was Francis, defying the doubters who had questioned if he could, would or should make such an arduous trip to Asia given everything that could go wrong. "How many children you have!" Francis marveled to the crowd of 600,000, which amounted to the biggest-ever turnout for a papal event as a proportion of the population. "A people that teaches its children to smile is a people that has a future." The moment seemed to serve as proof that, despite his age, ailments and seven hours of jet lag, Pope Francis still could pope, still likes to pope and has it in him to pope like he used to at the start of his pontificate. That's never truer than when he's in his element: in the peripheries of the world, among people forgotten by the big powers, where he can go off-script to respond to the spirit of the moment. And it was certainly the case on his 11-day trip through Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore, during which he clocked nearly 33,000 kilometers (20,505 miles) in air travel alone. It was a trip that he had originally planned to make in 2020 but COVID-19 intervened. Four years and a handful of hospitalizations later (for intestinal and pulmonary problems), Francis finally pulled it off. He seemed to relish getting out of the Vatican and away from the weighty grind of the Holy See after being cooped up all year, much of it battling a long bout of bronchitis. Francis does tend to rally during foreign trips, though he usually sticks to a script when he's in the protocol meetings with heads of state, dutifully delivering speeches that were written in advance by Vatican diplomats. But when he's meeting with young people or local priests and nuns, he tends to show his true colors. He'll ditch his prepared remarks and speak off-the-cuff, often engaging in back-and-forth banter with the faithful to make sure his message has stuck. Doing so thrills the crowd, terrorizes his translators and complicates the work of journalists, but you always know Francis is enjoying himself and feels energized when he goes rogue. And he went rogue plenty of times in Asia — and on the in-flight press conference coming back to Rome, during which he urged American Catholics to vote for who they think is the "lesser evil" for president. Francis started in Indonesia, arguably the most delicate destination on his itinerary given the country is home to the world's largest Muslim population. The Vatican would be loathe to say or do anything that might cause offense. And yet from his very first encounter with President Joko Widodo, Francis appeared in a feisty mood, praising Indonesia's relatively high birthrate while lamenting that in the West, "some prefer a cat or a little dog." Francis has frequently made the same demographic quip at home in Italy, which has one of the world's lowest birthrates. But the high-profile trip meant that his trademark sarcasm got amplified. American commentators immediately assumed Francis had entered the "childless cat ladies" debate roiling U.S. politics, but there was no indication he had JD Vance in mind. Even in the most delicate moment in Jakarta, at Southeast Asia's biggest mosque, Francis threw protocol aside and kissed the hand of the grand imam and brought it to his cheek in gratitude. In Papua New Guinea, Francis was similarly jazzed after pulling off a visit to a remote jungle outpost that had seemed impossible for him to reach: The airport in Vanimo, population 11,000, doesn't have an ambulift wheelchair elevator that Francis now needs to get on and off planes, and bringing one in just for him was out of the question. The stubborn pope, who really, really wanted to go to Vanimo, ended up rolling on and off the back ramp of a C-130 cargo plane that Australia had offered to get him, and the metric ton of medicine and other supplies he brought with him, to the town. Despite the considerable security concerns of entering a region torn by tribal rivalries, Francis seemed to relish the jungle visit, perhaps because he felt so much at home. A dozen Argentine missionary priests and nuns have lived in Vanimo with the local community for years and had invited him to come. They decorated the simple stage in front of the church with a statue of Argentina's beloved Virgin of Lujan, to whom Francis is particularly devoted, and had a gourd of mate, the Argentine tea, waiting for him. In East Timor Francis had to negotiate perhaps the most sensitive issue clouding the visit: the case of Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo, the revered national hero who won the Nobel Peace Prize for his nonviolent independence campaign. The Vatican revealed in 2022 that it had sanctioned Belo, who now lives in Portugal, for having sexually abused young boys and ordered him to cease contact with East Timor. Francis didn't mention Belo by name and didn't meet with his victims, but he did reaffirm the need to protect children from "abuse." There was nary a mention of Belo's name in any official speech during a visit in which East Timor's traumatic history and independence fight were repeatedly evoked. In Singapore, his final stop, Francis once again ditched his remarks when he arrived at the last event, a meeting of Singaporean youth on Friday morning. "That's the talk I prepared," he said, pointing to his speech and then proceeding to launch into a spontaneous back-and-forth with the young people about the need to have courage and take risks. "What's worse: Make a mistake because I take a certain path, or not make a mistake and stay home?" he asked them. He answered his own question, with a response that could explain his own risky decision to embark on the Asia trip in the first place. "A young person who doesn't take a risk, who is afraid of making a mistake, is an old person," the 87-year-old pope said. "I hope all of you go forward," he said. "Don't go back. Don't go back. Take risks."

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