International

An enormous blue whale, considered the largest animal on Earth, has washed up onto a beach in southern Chile, probably after dying at sea, local authorities said Sunday.Residents of the city of Ancud, on Chiloe island, first spotted the giant marine mammal Saturday on a Pacific ocean beach some 1,000 kilometers south of the capital Santiago.Agents of the Chilean national fishing agency Sernapesca, sent to investigate, confirmed the carcass was that of "a large cetacean of the family of Balaenopteridae," they posted on the X platform formerly known as Twitter."We helped identify the specimen and, based on preliminary evidence, it is a blue whale," the agency added.Sernapesca's regional director Cristian Hudson told local media that "given its condition, the whale must have died at sea some time ago and drifted in that state."Environmental groups noted that the area's waters are heavily used by the fishing industry and maritime traffic, and they called for an investigation to determine whether the creature was the victim of a collision.According to the non-governmental Cetacean Conservation Center (CCC) of Chile, the family of Balaenopteridae, or rorquals, includes a variety of species, ranging from the nine-meter (30-foot) minke whale to the blue whale -- which at up to 30 meters is considered the largest animal on Earth.

Elon Musk on Saturday said his social media company X would provide monetary legal aid to users who face blowback from their bosses over posts on the platform.Users, including many celebrities and others in the public eye, have occasionally found themselves in hot water with their employers over controversial things they have posted, liked, or retweeted on the platform, which was formerly known as Twitter."If you were unfairly treated by your employer due to posting or liking something on this platform, we will fund your legal bill," he wrote on the site."No limit. Please let us know."Musk gave no details on how users could claim their money.Since the tycoon bought the social media platform for $44 billion last October, its advertising business has collapsed, in part because of its looser approach to blocking hate speech, and the return of previously banned far-right accounts.Musk has repeatedly cited a desire for free speech as motivating his changes, and lashed out at what he sees as the threat posed to free expression by changing cultural sensitivities.According to nonprofit organisation the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), hate speech has flourished at the platform.X has disputed the findings and is suing the CCDH.In December, Musk reinstated former US president Donald Trump's Twitter account, although Trump has yet to return to the platform.The ex-president was banned from Twitter in early 2021 for his role in the January 6 attack on the US Capitol by a group of his supporters seeking to overturn the results of the 2020 election.X recently reinstated rapper and designer Kanye West around eight months after his account was suspended, according to media reports.Last fall, West, who now goes professionally by Ye, posted an image that appeared to show a swastika interlaced with a Star of David, and Musk suspended the artist from the platform.

A court in Texas on Friday issued a temporary order siding with a group of women and doctors who brought a lawsuit challenging the state's abortion bans. The case, which was filed by the Center for Reproductive Rights, argues that the way medical exceptions are defined in Texas' laws is confusing, stoking fear among doctors and causing a "health crisis."In her written judgment, Judge Jessica Mangrum wrote she agreed the women were "delayed or denied access to abortion care because of the widespread uncertainty regarding physicians' level of discretion under the medical exception to Texas's abortion bans."She ordered that physicians cannot be prosecuted for exercising their "good faith judgment." Instead, doctors should be allowed to determine what they felt constituted medical emergencies that would risk a woman's "life and/or health (including their fertility)," she said.The temporary injunction is intended to last until the lawsuit is decided on its merits in a trial slated to begin next March.But under Texas law, a ruling is automatically stayed as soon as it is appealed, meaning Friday's injunction is likely to be blocked once the state appeals.The court in Austin heard harrowing testimony from the plaintiffs last month.Amanda Zurawski, after whom the case is named, said she was denied an abortion despite her water breaking very early in her pregnancy, meaning a miscarriage was inevitable. Zurawski said her doctor told her that she "couldn't intervene, because the baby's heart was still beating and inducing labor would have been considered an illegal abortion."Zurawski went into life-threatening septic shock and the fetus was stillborn.The suit is the first brought on behalf of women denied abortions since the US Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to the procedure just over a year ago.Texas physicians found guilty of providing abortions face up to 99 years in prison, fines of up to $100,000 and the revocation of their medical license. A state "trigger" ban went into effect when Roe v. Wade was overturned in June 2022, prohibiting abortions even in cases of rape or incest. Texas also has a law that allows private citizens to sue anyone who performs or aids an abortion.The lawsuit asks the court to create a binding interpretation of the "medical emergency" exception in the law, and argues physicians should be allowed to exercise "good faith" judgments on the qualifying conditions for an abortion, rather than leaving this to state lawmakers.The Texas attorney general's office, on the other hand, says the measures sought by the complaint would effectively nullify its bans.The medical exception proposed by the plaintiffs "would, by design, swallow the rule," its lawyers argued in their written response. "It would, for example, permit abortions for pregnant females with medical conditions ranging from a headache to feelings of depression."

As a teenager Grandmaster Flash began pioneering the turntable-as-instrument, playing the now iconic Bronx block parties that gave birth to hip-hop and revolutionized music.On Friday, he was back home, commemorating 50 years of the genre with a performance that had New Yorkers born in the mid-20th century reliving their youth -- and hip-hop's."This is not a concert -- this is a jam!" Flash, now in his 60s, shouted from the stage, as hundreds of fans roared in applause in the South Bronx's Crotona Park.The audience swayed with their hands in the air as Flash threw it back to the jams of the early 1970s, which ushered in the genre that's profoundly impacted music as well as fashion, dance and the culture at large.The community parties offered teens and families a lifeline in an era of financial crisis that left much of the borough in crippling poverty."It was the music that really resonated at the time in New York," said Quentin Morgan, 54, who rolled into the park on his bike to catch the event that's part of a series of festivities commemorating hip-hop's birth."It was gritty in New York -- barely any laws," he said with a chuckle. "It was a different era."Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five in 1982 released "The Message," delivering a raw portrait of urban life and bringing a socially conscious element to the genre on a grand scale.On Friday night, the air was electric as Flash brought MCs Melle Mel and Scorpio onstage where they delivered a rendition of the iconic hit.That preceded a fierce appearance from MC Sha-Rock, widely considered the first woman to MC during hip-hop's nascent years.And KRS-One, who also hails from the South Bronx, freestyled to a chorus of cheers as Flash scratched and transformed, manipulating the vinyl, using now standard techniques he pioneered half a century ago.Earlier in the evening as opening acts warmed up the crowd, Coke La Rock -- who on August 11, 1973 joined DJ Kool Herc at the party many musicologists consider hip-hop's official conception -- told AFP that for him, hip-hop and the Bronx are one and the same."I can't see no division of it," the 68-year-old said, calling offshoots of the genre across the United States and even the world "my kids.""They all my kids, if I'm the patent, they the product."- 'Biggest music on earth' -Speaking to AFP backstage, Flash said Friday's event was meant to emulate the jams of his youth."It was recreation -- moms said go outside and play," he said. "Never... did I think it would become part of the biggest music on earth."Organizers also relayed a message from the mayor of New York, as the city officially declared August 4 "Grandmaster Flash Day."Keisha Harmon joined the event with her partner of 27 years -- "my Teenage Love," she said, quoting the rap classic by Slick Rick.She'll be 50 in October: she was born in the Bronx just months after the genre she grew up on."I have chills, look, goosebumps," she told AFP."All the songs that are playing -- I'm a mother of seven and I'm a grandmother of eight -- and they take me back to No Kids."She described how the hip-hop jams of her childhood spread by word of mouth: "Hey, DJ-such-and-such is in the park, and we would have parties and sing, and it was just fun.""And this reminds me of that," Harmon added, motioning to the park crowded with partygoers on a humid August evening.The celebration "shows our talent" as citizens of the Bronx, she added."It shows what we contributed to the arts," Harmon said. "Hip-hop has a substance.""The artists were storytellers.""South South Bronx, South Bronx!" the audience shouted throughout the evening, singing the song by Boogie Down Productions produced by KRS-One and DJ Scott La Rock.According to city organizers, Friday night was Grandmaster Flash's first time playing the Bronx in two decades.Along with fellow hip-hop pioneers, he was joined by a troupe of breakdancers who wowed the audience with a throwdown."Where's my old-schoolers at?" Flash asked the joyous crowd. "I wanna keep it in the 70s.""Somebody say Bronx!"

The United States, Norway and Britain called on both sides of the conflict in Sudan to immediately stop the fighting, in the wake of reports of widespread war crimes in the country.In a joint statement issued by the US State Department, the three countries strongly condemned the current violence in the Darfur region, calling on both sides of the conflict to respect international humanitarian law to protect civilians.The statement stressed the need to allow full access to conflict-affected areas so that violations can be properly verified, and for life-saving humanitarian aid to reach survivors who desperately need it. It also called for accountability for those responsible for any atrocities against civilians, especially the targeting of humanitarian aid providers, medical personnel and other service providers.Sudan has been witnessing, since mid-April, bloody armed confrontations between the army and the Rapid Support Forces, without the multiple ceasefire agreements contributing to calming the situation.

Adidas said Thursday it booked a profit in the second quarter, showing tentative signs of recovery as it sells off its huge inventory of rapper Kanye West's Yeezy merchandise.The German sportswear giant reported a net profit of 84 million euros ($92 million) from April to June, following two consecutive quarters of losses.But this was still substantially lower than in the same period a year earlier.Adidas has endured a period of chaos since October last year when it ended its lucrative tie-up with rapper West -- now known formally as Ye -- after he made a series of antisemitic outbursts.The group ended production of the highly successful Yeezy line designed with West, and was saddled with a vast stock of surplus trainers.Adidas also faced problems in China, long one of its key markets.But there were improvements on both these fronts in the second quarter.Adidas's first sell-off of Yeezy shoes, launched in late May, generated about 400 million euros in sales."The sale of the first part of the Yeezy inventory did of course help both our top and bottom line in the quarter," said CEO Bjorn Gulden in a statement."We will continue to carefully sell off more of the existing Yeezy inventory. This is much better than destroying and writing off the inventory."It allows Adidas to make "substantial donations" to NGOs while "of course also helping both our cash flow and general financial strength," Gulden added.- Charity donations -Adidas is giving cash to organisations such as the Anti-Defamation League and the Philonise and Keeta Floyd Institute for Social Change.Philonise Floyd is the brother of George Floyd, a Black American murdered by a white police officer who pinned him to the ground by kneeling on his neck for nearly 10 minutes.Adidas set aside 110 million euros in the second quarter for donations to charities, of which 10 million has already been disbursed.The company is launching a second sell-off of Yeezy stock this month but does not expect it to be as profitable as the first, which was offering more expensive products.Adidas already announced last week that the sale of the merchandise, along with business going a bit better than expected, would help it post a lower annual loss than earlier pencilled in.It now expects to end the year with an operating loss of 450 million euros, compared to its earlier forecast of a 700-million-euro loss.In China, where sales had plummeted by a third in 2022 partly due to continued measures against the coronavirus, business showed signs of picking up, with revenues up strongly."We see a positive trend on the China market," Gulden said.Adidas shares were up 1.4 percent on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange after the results were released.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Wednesday the "world must help" Brazil protect the Amazon, ahead of a summit next week on the world's biggest rainforest."We know we have a responsibility to convince the world that investing is cheap if it's a matter of saving the rainforest," the Brazilian President told a meeting with international media."The world needs to help us preserve and develop the Amazon," he said.ahead of a summit next week on the world's biggest rainforest, a key buffer against climate change.Lula's remarks came ahead of a summit next week on the world's biggest rainforest.Lula and leaders of other countries with territory in the sprawling Amazon are set to meet next week in the Brazilian city of Belem on developing policies to protect the rainforest, which is being badly damaged by deforestation. It will be the first meeting of the eight-member Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization since 2009.Brazil has unveiled in June a comprehensive plan aimed at eradicating illegal deforestation in the Amazon region by 2030.Fires and deforestation in Brazil have increased dramatically in recent years, amidst international calls for preserving the Amazon rainforests, which are considered as 'lungs of the planet' as they contribute significantly to the total production of oxygen in the earth's atmosphere.

US performer Lizzo has been sued by three of her former dancers who allege the body-positive pop diva created a hostile work environment, court filings seen by AFP showed Tuesday.The suit filed in Los Angeles accuses Lizzo, whose self-love message has resonated around the globe, as well as other defendants of various violations of California labor law."Plaintiffs Arianna Davis, Crystal Williams and Noelle Rodriguez allege sexual, religious and racial harassment, disability discrimination, assault and false imprisonment, among other things," the law firm representing them said in a statement. "Davis and Williams were eventually fired while Rodriguez resigned over the appalling behavior," it added.One of the allegations centers around an Amsterdam red-light district sex show which the dancers say they felt pressured to attend. At the show Lizzo pressured her dancers to interact with the nude performers, the suit alleges.It also alleges that Lizzo's dance leader, Shirlene Quigley, frequently made sexual comments and proselytized her Christian beliefs, especially against pre-marital sex, "regardless of protestations."The dancers also say that there was an extended dispute over compensation between legs of Lizzo's global tour.The lawsuit alleges that white managers from Lizzo's production company, Big Grrrl Big Touring, Inc. (BGBT), which was also named in the complaint, "often accused the Black members of the dance team of being lazy, unprofessional, and having bad attitudes.""Not only do these words ring familiar as tropes used to disparage and discourage Black women from advocating for themselves, but the same accusations were not levied against dancers who are not Black," according to the complaint cited in the statement."Only the dance cast - comprised of full-figured women of color - were ever spoken to in this manner, giving Plaintiffs the impression that these comments were charged with racial and fat-phobic animus," it added.Representatives for Lizzo did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

With air conditioner demand surging, scientists are looking for ways to improve the energy efficiency of cooling systems and limit damaging emissions that accelerate global warming.- Improve efficiency -Innovation is focused on three major fronts, with much of the attention on energy consumption. Air conditioning units account for six percent of electricity used in the United States.Several breakthroughs have already cut power consumption by half since 1990, according to the US Department of Energy.The most impactful was the so-called "inverter" technology, which makes it possible to modulate the motor's speed instead of running it at 100 percent continuously.Other new features include demand controlled ventilation (DCV), which relies on sensors to determine the number of people in the building and adjust airflows.- Different refrigerants -Another major area is the search for substitutes to the refrigerant gases used in most of the nearly two billion installed AC units, according to the International Energy Agency.For decades, air conditioners almost exclusively ran on chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) or hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFC) gases, which are thought to be up to 10,000 times as bad as CO2 in terms of global warming impact. CFC and HCFC were banned under the Montreal Protocol, from 1987.Then came hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), which are now scheduled to be phased out by 2050.Factories and commercial buildings already use other gases, such as ammonia -- which has no greenhouse gas impact -- as well as hydrocarbons, mainly propane, whose emissions are lower than methane."In some countries, you're starting to see hydrocarbon refrigerants," mostly propane, "being used, but there are restrictions around how much quantity you can put into the system" because such gas is flammable, said Ankit Kalanki, manager at the Rocky Mountain Institute.Mandatory safety features make for a "level of sophistication" with "a price premium that gets added to the units itself," he added."And the residential air conditioning market tends to go towards the lowest first cost products, then the highest efficiency products."Some are trying to go gasless, like Pascal Technology, a Cambridge, Massachusetts startup, that's working on a mechanism to keep refrigerants in a solid state, avoiding any discharge.- A new generation -Other innovation is focused on products that bypass compression, an energy-intensive process in air conditioning that has changed little since its invention in 1902.Separate groups of scientists at the National University of Singapore (NUS) and the Wyss Institute at Harvard University, respectively have built air conditioners that use water to cool the air.The Wyss Institute has already made prototypes based on its cSNAP model, that operates on a quarter of the electricity used in the traditional compression process.The device is partly built with ceramic panels, made in Spain.The startup Blue Frontier, which counts Bill Gates as an investor, uses a salt solution that captures the humidity of the air, then cools it through contact with water.The solution also makes it possible to store energy, "so you're not having to deal with capacity limits of the infrastructure," said Daniel Betts, Blue Frontier's CEO.The Florida-based startup plans to rent its AC units to commercial building owners for a subscription fee, recouping its investment from electricity savings.Usually, acknowledges Betts, "building owners don't see the value, except for marketing, of having higher efficiency equipment.""We eliminate the burden of financing high efficiency equipment, because we're doing it as a subscription service."Air conditioning innovation has been slower to address the third major issue related to conventional units, the discharge of hot air outside buildings.One of the few available options are geothermal heat pumps, which employ a grid of buried pipes that channel cooler temperatures from underground, and do not release warm air.

Steven TRASK Washington will seek to bolster its shrinking weapons stockpiles by helping Australia develop a missile manufacturing and exporting industry, top officials said Saturday after high-level talks between the two countries. Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles announced the project after meetings in Brisbane with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin. "We hope to see manufacturing of missiles commenced in Australia in two years' time," Marles told reporters, hailing the initiative as a boost to his country's defence and industrial base. "We are really pleased with the steps that we are taking in respect of establishing a guided weapons and explosive ordnance enterprise in this country," he added. The project will see Australia develop guided multiple launch rocket systems, or GMLRS. Austin said the plan would help the United States "sharpen our technological edge and strengthen our defence industrial base". Washington will now work to help Australia build a fledgling domestic missile industry almost from scratch, with an eye to securing a reliable pipeline for its own armed forces down the track. The war in Ukraine has exposed weaknesses in many Western military supply chains and has steadily depleted stocks of missiles and other munitions. Australia is currently embarking on its own armed forces overhaul, pivoting towards long-range strike capabilities in an effort to keep would-be foes such as China at arm's length. - Increased tempo - The two-day Australia-US meeting that ended on Saturday was heavily focused on regional security and military cooperation, as the longtime allies work to curb China's growing power in the Pacific region.The talks were partially overshadowed when an Australian MRH-90 Taipan military helicopter crashed in subtropical waters off the coast of Queensland late Friday, prompting the suspension of a major military exercise between the two countries.The four crew members are still missing and concern is growing for their wellbeing.They had been taking part in the vast Talisman Sabre exercise, which features 30,000 military personnel from Australia, the United States and several other nations.Both Australian and US officials expressed concern about the incident, but insisted drills were needed to ensure both militaries were "match fit".The meeting signalled that joint operations and projects are only likely to increase.Canberra agreed to refurbish military bases in the strategically-important north of the country, allowing them to host training exercises and ramped-up rotations of US troops."There is a commitment to increase American force posture in respect of our northern bases, in respect of our maritime patrols and our reconnaissance aircraft," said Marles. Australia would also be hosting an "increased tempo" of visits by US nuclear-powered submarines, Marles added. Washington and Canberra discussed progress on the AUKUS security treaty, a landmark military pact that will see Australia develop its own nuclear-powered submarines.Both sides sought to downplay the chance of the US Congress blocking the transfer of sensitive military know-how to Australia. Marles said he believed there was ultimately a strong bipartisan commitment to the agreement among US lawmakers, some of whom have questioned why Washington is selling submarines to Australia when it is struggling to replenish its own navy. The deal, he noted, would be "advancing not just the American strategic interests, but also the joint strategic interests between our two countries". "We couldn't be happier with the progress."

The leaders of 54 Indigenous communities in Brazil called on Friday for the government to take a concrete stance on the demarcation of their ancestral lands before a key Supreme Court ruling on the issue.The Supreme Court's so-called "trial of the century" could remove the protected status of some Indigenous lands, opening them up to agribusiness and mining.In an 11-point letter, the Indigenous leaders called on the minister of Indigenous peoples, Sonia Guajajara, to "fulfill her mission to demarcate Indigenous lands".The law currently only recognizes ancestral territories that were occupied by Indigenous communities at the time Brazil's constitution was promulgated in 1988.But Indigenous leaders say certain territories were no longer occupied at that point because communities had been expelled from them, particularly during the military dictatorship from the 1960s to the 1980s.The upcoming Supreme Court trial, which was postponed in June, will either validate or invalidate the 1988 cut-off.In Friday's letter, the Indigenous leaders argued that upholding the cut-off date would jeopardize their survival and lead to thousands of evictions.President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's left-wing government has made the issue of ancestral land rights a priority, and signed in April decrees recognizing six new Indigenous territories, authorizing Indigenous peoples to occupy the land and have exclusive use of its resources.No new reserves had been demarcated under former president Jair Bolsonaro's right-wing government.Environmentalists say protecting Indigenous reservations is one of the best ways to stop the destruction of the Amazon, a critical resource in the race to curb climate change.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Saturday that progress is being made toward establishing a multinational peacekeeping force for Haiti, as the Caribbean nation struggles with spiralling gang violence and insecurity."We've been very focused on trying to put in place what's necessary for a multinational force, including finding a lead nation to take this on," Blinken said. "My expectation is that we will have some progress to report on that very soon."Gangs control around 80 percent of the Haitian capital, and violent crimes such as kidnappings for ransom, armed robbery and carjackings are common.With Haitian security forces overwhelmed, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry have called for an international intervention to help support the police.While Guterres has called for a non-UN force, the Security Council has asked him to present by mid-August a report on all possible options, including a UN-led mission.Several countries have said they support the idea of such a force, but none has offered to lead it.The United States this week ordered nonessential personnel and family of government employees to leave Haiti."US citizens in Haiti should depart Haiti as soon as possible by commercial or other privately available transportation options, in light of the current security situation and infrastructure challenges," the State Department said.Staff at the US embassy in Port-au-Prince already live under tight security -- confined to a protected residential area and forbidden to walk around the capital or use any public transport or taxis.

Four US leaders in artificial intelligence (AI) announced Wednesday the formation of an industry group devoted to addressing risks that cutting edge versions of the technology may pose.Anthropic, Google, Microsoft, and ChatGPT-maker OpenAI said the newly created Frontier Model Forum will draw on the expertise of its members to minimize AI risks and support industry standards.The companies pledged to share best practices with each other, lawmakers and researchers."Frontier" models refer to nascent, large-scale machine-learning platforms that take AI to new levels of sophistication -- and also have capabilities that could be dangerous."Companies creating AI technology have a responsibility to ensure that it is safe, secure, and remains under human control," Microsoft president Brad Smith said in a statement."This initiative is a vital step to bring the tech sector together in advancing AI responsibly and tackling the challenges so that it benefits all of humanity."US President Joe Biden evoked AI's "enormous" risks and promises at a White House meeting last week with tech leaders who committed to guarding against everything from cyberattacks to fraud as the sector grows.Standing alongside top representatives from Amazon, Anthropic, Google, Inflection, Meta, Microsoft and OpenAI, Biden said the companies had made commitments to "guide responsible innovation" as AI spreads ever deeper into personal and business life.Ahead of the meeting, the seven AI giants committed to a series of self-regulated safeguards that the White House said would "underscore three principles that must be fundamental to the future of AI: safety, security and trust."In their pledge, the companies agreed to develop "robust technical mechanisms," such as watermarking systems, to ensure users know when content is from AI and not humans.Core objectives of the Frontier Model Forum include minimizing risks and enabling independent safety evaluations of AI platforms, the companies involved said in a release.The Forum will also support the development of applications intended to take on challenges such as climate change, cancer prevention and cyber threats, according to its creators.Others pursuing AI breakthroughs were invited to join the group."Advanced AI technologies have the potential to profoundly benefit society, and the ability to achieve this potential requires oversight and governance," said OpenAI vice president of global affairs Anna Makanju."It is vital that AI companies -- especially those working on the most powerful models -- align on common ground and advance thoughtful and adaptable safety practices."

Shares in Rolls-Royce, the British maker of aircraft engines and other power systems, surged nearly 20 percent Wednesday as a turnaround plan under new leadership delivered far better-than-expected results.Rolls shares rallied 19.1 percent to 181.85 pence, topping London's FTSE 100 index in morning deals.In a trading update, the company said it would shortly post "significantly improved first-half results", in terms of underlying operating profit and free cash flow, while it has also upgraded full-year forecasts."Our multi-year transformation programme has started well," Rolls-Royce chief executive Tufan Erginbilgic said in the statement.He added that "despite a challenging external environment, notably supply chain constraints", Rolls had begun to see the impact of its transformation across the group."Better profit and cash generation reflects greater productivity, efficiency and improved commercial outcomes," said Erginbilgic, an executive at British energy giant BP before leading Rolls from the start of 2023.On Wednesday, he cautioned there was "much more to do to deliver better performance and to transform Rolls-Royce into a high performing, competitive, resilient, and growing business".Rolls will publish full half-year results on August 3.Erginbilgic, a dual UK and Turkish national, replaced long-serving boss Warren East."Rolls-Royce is boosting full-year guidance for operating profits and cash flows by around 50 percent, one of the largest improvements seen so far in the current reporting season," said Steve Clayton, head of equity funds at Hargreaves Lansdown."The company is benefiting from a recovery in flying hours by the airline industry, which is pushing more aircraft into the workshops for engine overhauls," he also noted.

Daniel AVIS The US Federal Reserve is poised to announce a fresh quarter percentage-point hike to its benchmark lending rate on Wednesday to tackle inflation, while keeping the option open for more such moves in the coming months.The Fed last month halted its aggressive campaign of monetary tightening after 10 consecutive rate increases to give policymakers more time to assess the health of the world's largest economy.At the June meeting, members of the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) nevertheless indicated they see possibly two additional interest rate hikes this year."The forecast is for the Federal Open Market Committee to hike the target range for the fed funds rate by 25bps but maintain a bias toward additional rate hikes, if needed," Oxford Economics' chief US economist Ryan Sweet wrote in a note to clients.A rate hike on Wednesday, the 11th since the US central bank launched its cycle of monetary tightening in March last year, would raise the Fed's benchmark lending rate to a range between 5.25 and 5.5 percent -- its highest level in 22 years.Futures traders see a probability of close to 99 percent that the Fed will proceed with a quarter percentage-point hike, according to data from CME Group. - September skip? -Since the June decision to pause rate hikes, inflation has continued to fall, although it remains above the Fed's long-term target of two percent.Meanwhile, unemployment has remained close to historic lows, while economic growth for the first quarter has been revised up sharply on resilient consumer spending data. The more positive economic news has increased the chances of a so-called "soft landing," in which the Fed succeeds in bringing down inflation by raising interest rates, while avoiding a recession and a surge in unemployment.Given the near-unanimity of expectations for a hike on Wednesday, analysts and traders will be closely scrutinizing Fed Chair Jerome Powell for signs of what the central bank might do next. "They will probably signal that they want to see the impact of the current tightening cycle and that they will probably skip raising rates in September," OANDA's senior Americas market analyst, Edward Moya, wrote in a recent note."They will likely be clear in suggesting that more tightening could very well happen," he added. Sweet agreed, saying: "Odds are that Powell will signal additional rate hikes are not off the table, but the Fed will take a more cautious approach, conveying it will skip a hike in September." - Fed officials back hikes - Many FOMC members have publicly backed additional hikes this year -- especially if last month's positive inflation data proves to be a one-off. "Given how far we've come, it may make sense to move rates higher but to do so at a more moderate pace," Powell told a Congressional hearing after last month's decision. But he told a banking conference in Portugal a few days later: "I wouldn't take, you know, moving to consecutive meetings off the table at all." "I see two more 25-basis-point hikes in the target range over the four remaining meetings this year as necessary to keep inflation moving toward our target," Fed governor Christopher Waller told a banking conference in mid-July. While markets have more-or-less priced in a hike on Wednesday, they are less confident about the chances of another hike at the next meeting in September. Futures traders currently assign a probability of just over 20 percent that the FOMC will raise rates further in September, according to CME Group.

Amélie BOTTOLLIER-DEPOIS Haunted by previous failures in Haiti and worried about getting stuck in a deadly quagmire, the international community is reluctant to answer a UN call for a special intervention force, experts say."There is a strong case for deploying an international force to Haiti, but it could be a very risky mission," said Richard Gowan, an analyst at the International Crisis Group."The gangs are well-armed and there is no clear exit strategy if a mission does deploy," he told AFP.United Nations chief Antonio Guterres, relaying a request from Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry, began calling in October 2022 for an international, non-UN deployment to help support police who have been overwhelmed by gangs.Months later, in mid-July, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution urging the international community "to provide security support to the Haitian National Police," including through "the deployment of a specialized force," but stopped there.But while countries like Kenya and Jamaica have said they would consider staffing such a mission, no one has stepped up to lead it.Not the United States, with its checkered history of intervention in the country, and which has firmly said it doesn't want to put Americans in danger. Canada too is out, though it had at one point considered taking the lead, as had Brazil."We continue to work with partner nations to identify a lead nation for a police-driven multinational force," State Department spokesman Matt Miller said. "It is urgently needed."Previous failures by the international community in Haiti hang over calls for an intervention. At the same time, Haiti's gangs -- which control up to 80 percent of Port-au-Prince -- would be formidable opponents.- An 'illegitimate' Haitian government? -"They're afraid of the gangs, that they would have to confront the gangs with armed force," said Walter Dorn, a professor of defense studies at the Royal Military College of Canada and the Canadian Forces College. Another fear: casualties among intervention forces, and collateral damage."Urban warfare is very difficult," Dorn added. "And the danger of killing innocent civilians would be great.""However, I think that it's possible" an international force could prevail against the gangs, Dorn said, estimating it would take at least 7,000 soldiers and as many police officers -- roughly the same amount of people deployed in the UN's last peacekeeping force in Haiti, from 2004 to 2017.William O'Neil, an independent UN expert on Haiti, estimated 1,000-2,000 people would be needed -- numbers Guterres said "do not reflect any exaggeration."But huge parts of any mission remain unknown, experts say, such as a precise mandate or what would happen if a proper economic revival and political transition are not carried out in parallel.In a country where elections haven't been held since 2016, and the last president, Jovenel Moise, was assassinated in 2021, many Haitians don't consider Prime Minister Henry legitimate. Those in the opposition argue that an intervention would be tantamount to support for "a government that is illegitimate," said Robert Fatton, of the University of Virginia.- Previous failures -Previous interventions have left a bitter taste among the Haitian population. During the last UN peacekeeping force's deployment, 10,000 people died from cholera, brought by Nepalese peacekeepers.While Guterres has called for a non-UN force, the Security Council has asked him to present by mid-August a report on all possible options, including a UN-led mission.But "there is unlikely to be a return to a traditional form of peacekeeping in Haiti," a UN source told AFP. If it ended up being a UN force, "it would be a police force and it wouldn't look like anything we have on the books today.""There is still some hope member states will make a decision on a non-UN force, which still remains the preferred option," the source said.In any case, an intervention would need a green light from the Security Council, where China remains skeptical, insisting instead on stopping the flow of arms trafficked to Haiti from the southern US state of Florida."I think the Chinese are quite pleased to see the US grappling with a problem on America's doorstep at the UN," said Gowan of the International Crisis Group.Though when -- or if -- the time comes to vote on an intervention, he doubts Beijing would actually use its veto

After 17 years with an iconic blue bird logo that came to symbolize the broadcasting of ideas to the world, billionaire Elon Musk renamed Twitter as X and unveiled a new logo, marking a focus on building an "everything app."On Monday, a stylized white X on a black background became the new logo on Twitter's website, though the blue bird was still seen on the mobile app.Since taking over Twitter in October, Musk has said he envisions an app that could offer a variety of services to users beyond social media, such as peer-to-peer payments, an idea that mirrors the widely popular WeChat app in China.The transformation is more simply a way for Musk to make his mark on the company, said Tom Morton, global chief strategy officer at ad agency R/GA. "Twitter's changing name and logo has nothing to do with user, advertiser, or market issues. It's a symbol that Twitter is Elon Musk's personal property."He conquered the castle, now he's flying his own flag."The new logo garnered mixed reactions from users and sparked confusion about what tweets would now be called, while marketing and branding experts said the rebrand risked throwing away years of Twitter's name recognition."Only a few brands have become verbs or seen themselves referred to in global news outlets as often as Twitter has," said Matt Rhodes, strategy lead at creative agency House 337, which has worked with British telecom company Sky."Anything that makes it harder for people to find, or want to open the app on their cluttered phone screens risks harming usage," he said.Fernando Machado, who previously held chief marketing officer roles at Activision Blizzard, Restaurant Brands International and Burger King, said rebrands typically take time to sink in, though "as a Twitter user, I confess that I miss the little bird already.""Personally, I think the new approach feels a bit cold and impersonal," he said."#GoodbyeTwitter" was trending on the platform on Monday with reference to the old logo as some users criticized the new one.Musk tweeted on Saturday that "soon we shall bid adieu to the Twitter brand and, gradually, all the birds".In response to a tweet asking what will tweets be called under X, Musk replied "x's".Musk has used the letter X repeatedly across his companies. He co-founded x.com as an online bank in 1999 which later transformed into PayPal. He bought the domain back from PayPal in 2017, saying it had "sentimental value".The domain x.com now redirects to Twitter.Linda Yaccarino, the former advertising chief at NBCUniversal who started as Twitter CEO on June 5, told employees in a memo on Monday that X "will go even further to transform the global town square."The company will work on new features in audio, video, messaging, payments and banking, according to the memo, which was seen by Reuters.The platform will face challenges to reinvent its business.Since Musk's takeover, the company has faced tumultuous times with layoffs, a sharp drop in advertisers and the meteoric rise of Threads, Meta's response to Twitter.The rebrand indicates Musk has given up on any plans "to revive Twitter as a powerful stand-alone social network and simply considers the $44 billion spent on the network a sunk cost," said Niklas Myhr, a professor of marketing at Chapman University."The last few months have been tumultuous at Twitter, and I don't think a new brand is going to solve everything," Drew Benvie, CEO of social media consultancy Battenhall, said."This is less about reinventing Twitter, and more about building a brand around Elon Musk's empire, including SpaceX, where the X branding really connects a little more closely."

OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman, along with two co-founders, launched Monday the Worldcoin crypto project, saying they aim to grant users a verified digital identity and access to a financial network."The Worldcoin Foundation today announced that Worldcoin, a project co-founded by Sam Altman, Alex Blania and Max Novendstern, is now live," read a statement on Worldcoin's website.Worldcoin provides users with a private digital identity -- a "World ID" -- after they register in person, where an "Orb" imaging device scans their eye's unique iris pattern to verify they are "a real and unique person," Worldcoin said.The founders said verified private digital identities will be crucial to distinguish humans from AI online.The company also launched Monday its Worldcoin token, a cryptocurrency now transactable on the blockchain in certain locations, to millions "who participated in the beta," the statement said.Worldcoin aims to create the "world's largest identity and financial public network," according to its website."If successful, we believe Worldcoin could drastically increase economic opportunity, scale a reliable solution for distinguishing humans from AI online while preserving privacy, enable global democratic processes, and eventually show a potential path to AI-funded (universal basic income)," Altman and Blania said in a letter posted to Twitter.The company spent three years developing the project, and 2 million people signed up for a World ID during its beta testing.Worldcoin is rolling out 1,500 Orbs in locations across the globe, which will enable millions more to register, according to its website."Like any really ambitious project, maybe it works out and maybe it doesn't, but trying stuff like this is how progress happens," Altman tweeted.Blania, too, was cautiously optimistic."This is the beginning of a long journey. Especially early on, things will not be perfect. But we hope that with fast iteration, Worldcoin can become an empowering technology layer for every human," he tweeted.

Rival gangs fought in a prison in Ecuador, killing at least six inmates in the latest riot to hit the troubled penal system, the government said Sunday.Another 11 prisoners were injured in the new bout of violence in the Guayas 1 prison in the port city of Guayaquil overnight Saturday into Sunday, the agency that runs the prison system said.Mass killings featuring stunning levels of violence such as beheadings are common in the overcrowded Ecuadoran prison network.The riots pit gangs with links to drug traffickers against each other in this country that has emerged as a key player in the South American cocaine trade.Authorities say a dozen drug-gang riots have claimed at least 420 lives in prisons since 2021. Some of the victims were burnt alive.Anguished people waited outside the Guayas prison on Sunday hoping for news of loved ones held inside."I am desperate here, and I want information and I do not have any at all," said a woman whose son is a prisoner inside. She asked not to be identified.The prison agency said inmates are holding some prison guards in four other penitentiaries. It did not say how many but insisted these hostages "are in good shape."The agency also said inmates in a dozen prisons across the country "went on hunger strike" on Sunday, without specifying the reasons.Guayaquil, on Ecuador's southern Pacific coast, is the country's largest city, biggest port and economic hub but in recent years has become the increasingly bloody center of a gang turf war.The location of the city, home to three million of Ecuador's 18 million people, makes it a strategic launch point for shipments of drugs to the United States and Europe.The overcrowded prisons in Ecuador have become among the most violent in Latin America.Tucked between Colombia and Peru, the world's main cocaine producers, Ecuador has seized 455 tons of drugs since President Guillermo Lasso took office in May 2021.

Twitter's owner Elon Musk and its new CEO said Sunday that the social media network would ditch its bird logo, be rebranded with the name X and move quickly into payments, banking and commerce.Founded in 2006, Twitter takes its name from a play on the sound of birds chattering, and it has used avian branding since its early days, when the company bought a stock symbol of a light blue bird for $15, according to the design website Creative Bloq.Late on Sunday night, Musk changed his profile picture to the company's new interim logo -- a white X on a black background -- and changed his Twitter bio to "X.com".Musk said the company was "Going with (a) minimalist art deco" logo, and that "X.com now points to twitter.com."He had earlier tweeted that "If a good enough X logo is posted tonight, we'll make (it) go live worldwide tomorrow."Musk also tweeted that under the site's new identity, a post would be called "an X."The changes were not visible on the website as of 0530 GMT Monday.Musk had already named Twitter's parent company the X Corporation, and previously said his takeover of the social media giant was "an accelerant to creating X, the everything app" -- a reference to the X.com company he founded in 1999, a later version of which went on to become payments giant PayPal.Such an app could still function as a social media platform, and also include messaging and mobile payments."Powered by AI, X will connect us in ways we're just beginning to imagine," Twitter chief executive Linda Yaccarino tweeted Sunday.Yaccarino, an advertising sales executive at NBCUniversal who Musk poached last month to become Twitter's CEO, said the social media platform was on the cusp of broadening its scope."X is the future state of unlimited interactivity - centered in audio, video, messaging, payments/banking - creating a global marketplace for ideas, goods, services, and opportunities," Yaccarino tweeted.