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中国航空公司上调燃油附加费 - RFI - 法国国际广播电台

02/04/2026 - 17:25

随着中东战事推高航空煤油价格,包括中国国航在内的多家中国航空公司宣布,将从周日起上调国内航班的燃油附加费。

中国国际航空、春秋航空以及中国南方航空及其子公司厦门航空周三发布公告称,800公里以内的航班燃油附加费将上调60元,更长航程的航班则上调120元。

根据国际航空运输协会(IATA)的数据,上周全球航空燃油平均价格已升至每桶197美元,而一个月前仅为95.5美元。

法新社北京消息称,许多国际航空公司也采取了类似措施,以应对油价上涨。

香港航空巨头国泰航空上周宣布,其所有航班的燃油附加费将上调34%。此次调价适用于4月1日及之后的机票。

国泰航空表示,鉴于石油及其衍生品价格持续波动,将每两周调整一次燃油附加费。

美国总统特朗普首次有关伊朗战争的全国讲话浇灭了股市和油市的短期希望。周四上午,欧洲股市普遍下跌。格林尼治时间07:10左右:

巴黎下跌1.24%,法兰克福下跌1.55%,米兰下跌1.30%,伦敦下跌0.71%

周四,亚洲尾盘,香港下跌1.19%。东京日经收盘跌2.4%。

北海布伦特原油和美国西得克萨斯原油分别上涨了6.66%和6.06%,升至每桶107美元和106.19美元。

Tina Peters, Colorado Election Denier, Has Prison Sentence Overturned

Ms. Peters, a former county clerk, received a nine-year sentence after being convicted of tampering with voting machines. An appeals court overturned the sentence but did not immediately free her from prison.

© David Zalubowski/Associated Press

Tina Peters, the former clerk in Mesa County, Colo., had been convicted of tampering with voting machines that were under her control.

'Be serious... don't speak every day': Macron criticises Trump approach to Iran war

Macron calls Trump's remarks on his marriage 'inelegant'

The Iran war requires a "serious" approach that does not change every day, Emmanuel Macron has said, in an apparent reference to US President Donald Trump's seemingly contradictory remarks about the conflict.

"This is not a show. We are talking about war and peace and the lives of men and women," the French president told journalists upon arrival in South Korea for a state visit.

"When you want to be serious you don't say every day the opposite of what you said the day before," Macron added.

"And maybe you shouldn't be speaking every day. You should just let things quieten down."

Macron was answering questions on the US-Israel war in Iran, which has now entered its second month. France and other European countries have supported some of the US operations in the region, but have so far resisted getting dragged into the war.

Trump and his administration have so far offered mixed messages on the conflict, at various times suggesting that a ceasefire was near, that the war had already been won or that the US was going to fight on.

Macron also addressed Trump's recent comments in which the US president said he was reconsidering his country's membership of Nato.

"Alliances like Nato are valuable because of what is unspoken – meaning the trust behind them," Macron said, arguing that casting doubt on one's commitment to the organisation emptied it of its substance.

Partners sign agreements and show up if issues arise, Macron added, "rather that commenting on them every day to say that you will or will not respect them".

"I feel like there is too much chatter, it's all over the place," he said.

He added he was unwilling to comment on an operation that the US and the Israelis "decided on by themselves", Macron said. "They then lament that they are alone in an operation they decided on alone. It's not our operation."

Macron also mentioned the US strikes on Iran in June 2025, which Trump said had "obliterated" Iranian nuclear facilities.

However, in the wake of the February 2026 war the US president said it was the "last best chance to strike at Iran's nuclear weapons programme".

"I remind you that six months ago were told that everything had been destroyed and all had been sorted out," Macron noted.

He argued that international observers were needed to check the nuclear development situation in Iran, and a framework to prevent further enriching.

"You still have today and you'll still have in the future people who have the know-how, hidden laboratories, etc. So it's not targeted military action even lasting a few weeks which can sort out the nuclear problem for good."

Trump has been on the offensive against France, which he accuses of failing to help in the war on Iran.

At a private lunch on Wednesday, Trump mocked Macron by imitating a French accent and saying that his wife Brigitte "treats him extremely badly" and that Macron was still "recovering from the right to the jaw".

Trump was likely referring to a 2025 video which showed Macron being shoved in the face by Brigitte.

Macron dismissed the comments as "neither elegant nor up to standard".

"I won't respond to them, they don't deserve a reply," he said.

The comments on Macron's marriage have been exceptionally bad received in France, where even staunch Macron critics came to his defence.

"For Donald Trump to speak to him like that and to speak of his wife in such a manner - I find that absolutely unacceptable," said Manuel Bompard of hard-left France Unbowed party.

Tehran has retaliated to the strikes on its territory by closing the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway which enables the passage of a large proportion of the world's energy supply. In the absence of a quick resolution to the closure, Trump has said the countries most affected by the disruption should solve the problem themselves.

Macron pushed back against the idea of a military operation to liberate the strait, saying it was "unrealistic" because it would take too long and be too dangerous.

"It would expose anyone crossing the strait to coastal threats from the [Iranian] Revolutionary Guards, who possess significant resources, as well as ballistic missiles, [and] a host of other risks," he said.

Baby shot dead in pram in New York City, police say

NYPD CCTV footage of the two suspects on a moped.NYPD
Police believe they have apprehended the shooter while the driver remains at large

A seven-month-old girl was shot and killed in while sitting in her pushchair in "broad daylight" in New York City's borough of Brooklyn, police have said.

Police believe the baby was the unintended victim of a suspected gang-related shooting.

Footage from the scene shows two men driving against the flow of traffic through the Williamsburg neighbourhood when a man sitting on the back of the motorbike takes out a gun and fires "at least two rounds", New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch told a news conference.

The bike then crashed and the suspected shooter was apprehended, but a "massive" manhunt was under way for the driver, she said.

"A life that had barely begun was taken in an instant," New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said.

"Today is a devastating reminder of how much more work there is to be done to combat gun violence across this city."

Several adults and children, two of whom were in buggies, had been on a street corner when the shooting occurred.

The seven-month-old's parents ran for cover in a nearby corner shop, where they realised their child had been shot, the BBC's US partner CBS reported.

"All the kids started ducking in the corner. The family went to the store and the mom started screaming when she noticed the baby was bleeding from [her] head," witness Bernius Maldonado told CBS.

Emergency services were called at around 13:21 local time (17:21 GMT).

The child was taken to the nearby Woodhull Hospital where she was pronounced dead. Police reported no other people killed or injured in the incident.

"As a mother, I cannot imagine the pain that this family is feeling or the grief that they now carry with them," Tisch said. "It is unspeakable."

Footage seen by police showed the suspects crashing into a car shortly after fleeing the scene.

Both suspects were throw from the moped - but the rear passenger landed so hard he lost "both of his shoes", Tisch said.

An ambulance was called for the injured male and was brought to Brooklyn Hospital, where he was then taken into police custody.

Investigators believe he fits the description of the shooter, based on the clothing he was wearing and his appearance, but was taken into custody as part of an unrelated investigation.

Police are working to connect him to the shooting.

Ancient golden helmet recovered more than a year after Dutch heist

ANP/AFP A gold helmet and two gold braceletsANP/AFP
Two of the recovered bracelets were exhibited with the crown, but one bracelet is still missing

A 2,500-year-old golden helmet considered one of Romania's greatest treasures has been recovered more than a year after it was stolen during a raid on a Dutch museum.

It and two golden bracelets dating back to about 450BC were unveiled as having been returned to the museum on Thursday, secured behind a glass case with two armed police guarding them. A third bracelet has not yet been found.

The theft of the Coțofenești helmet and bracelets by an armed gang who broke into the Drents Museum in Assen caused outrage in Romania and raised questions about security for priceless artefacts on loan to other countries.

"It's a long-awaited result," Romanian prosecutor Daniela Buruiană told journalists.

"We are happy that we are now witnessing here the recovery of the Romanian artefacts," she added.

The treasures, which date from the Dacian era - an Iron Age civilisation that existed roughly where Romania is now - had been on loan from Romania's national history museum when they had been stolen.

Their theft prompted a spat between the two governments that led to the Dutch government paying a reported €5.7m (£5m; $6.5m) in insurance compensation.

Romanian officials refused to discuss what would happen to that money now.

Getty Images A golden helmetGetty Images
The helmet was finally returned to authorities on Tuesday, a year and two months after it was stolen

Robert van Langh, director of the Drents Museum in the northern Netherlands, said the helmet had been slightly dented but could be restored. The bracelets remained in perfect condition, he said.

Romanian prosecutor Rareș-Petru Stan spoke of the "major impact" that the theft had had in his home country, and praised his Dutch colleagues for their "hard work and keeping the faith".

"We are continuing the investigation to find the last bracelet," he added, "and we are grateful that we will be able to return this treasure to the Romanian people."

Dutch public prosecutor Corien Fahner revealed that the helmet and bracelets were handed over to authorities on Wednesday following negotiations involving lawyers for the three suspects.

Two men in their mid-30s and one aged 21 will face trial later this month.

The suspects were arrested within days of the gang using explosives to break into the museum, but by then there was no trace of the priceless items.

Art experts have suggested that the helmet and bracelets were stolen to order by a criminal gang.

Several Dutch provincial museums have been targeted in recent years because of the difficulty in providing adequate security for priceless artefacts. The helmet and bracelets were in a glass case that provided little resistance to the armed group.

In 2024, two works by Andy Warhol were stolen from a gallery in the southern Netherlands, and six years ago a Frans Hals painting called Two Laughing Boys was stolen from a small museum in the central town of Leerdam.

The former head of the national history museum in Bucharest, Ernest Oberländer-Târnoveanu, faced considerable domestic criticism for loaning the gold objects abroad and lost his job within days of the theft.

He spoke of his relief that the helmet had been retrieved.

"This is a unique item in European and even global cultural heritage," he told RTL Nieuws. "The helmet is an important social and political symbol of Dacian civilisation."

Four toddlers stabbed to death at Ugandan nursery school

Uganda Police Force A low-rise school building with police tape around the gate. Men in military fatigues can be seen standing by the perimeter wall.Uganda Police Force

Four children have been "brutally stabbed and killed" at a school in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, the police have said.

"The suspect has been apprehended, and the motive behind the killings is still under investigation," Uganda's police force added in a brief statement on X.

The school has been named as the Ggaba Early Childhood Development Program school in the capital's Makindye Division.

More details will be provided later, it added.

Uganda's Daily Monitor newspaper is quoting local residents as saying that the suspect posed as a parent to get into the school and then after talking to the administrator attacked the children. The victims were between the ages of two and three, the newspaper adds.

Videos of the aftermath being shared on social media show images of crowds of angry and distressed people.

The suspect was quickly apprehended to "prevent him from being lynched", local journalist Erich Mboowa has reported on X.

Getty Images/BBC A woman looking at her mobile phone and the graphic BBC News AfricaGetty Images/BBC

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U.K. to Host Talks on Securing Strait of Hormuz

It was not clear whether the talks, expected to involve dozens of countries, would satisfy President Trump’s demand that other nations take a more active part in the Iran war.

© Pool photo by Leon Neal

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper of Britain, center, hosted a virtual meeting of foreign ministers on Thursday to discuss fallout from the Iran war.

【视频】专家解读:特朗普真的能让美国退出北约组织吗? - RFI - 法国国际广播电台

02/04/2026 - 16:29

美国总统唐纳德·特朗普周三(4月1日)威胁称,由于北约欧洲成员国拒绝派遣船只疏通伊朗附近的霍尔木兹海峡,他将带领美国退出北约。与此同时,特朗普加大了对该军事联盟的谴责力度。但特朗普真的会带领美国撤出已有77年历史的跨大西洋联盟吗 ? 在法律层面,2023年美国国会通过的一个法案禁止任何美国总统暂停、终止、谴责或退出建立北约的条约,除非退出北约的动议得到参议院 100 名成员中三分之二多数的支持。专家也分析认为,如果美国退出北约,是送给中俄的一份“大礼“,但特朗普的难以预测性让这个问题的答案也难以预测.....

地缘政治地震

美国外交关系委员会高级研究员、乔治城大学国际事务教授查尔斯·库普坎 (CHARLES KUPCHAN)接受路透社采访时认为:“如果唐纳德·特朗普退出北约,那将是一场地缘政治地震。这将瓦解自二战后黑暗岁月时的北约成立以来,在许多方面都维系着西方世界的联盟。它不仅仅是一个军事联盟,在许多方面也是一个政治联盟,一个反映共同利益、共同价值观以及对自由民主共同承诺的机构。北约自冷战结束以来,尽管苏联解体,依然存在,这证明它不仅仅是权宜之计,而是有着更深层次的意义。所以我认为,如果特朗普政府退出北约,将会改变世界。在某种程度上,它会将世界推向一个地缘政治丛林,而欧洲将身处其中。”孤立无援。美国将孤立无援。在某种程度上,这将使美国回到1949年北约成立之前那种更加混乱、无政府状态的局面。”

“对伊朗战争中缺乏盟友感到失望”

他指出,特朗普最近关于北约的言论与目前在伊朗战争中的艰难处境有关。他说:“特朗普很早就表达过对北约以及美国在欧洲和东亚的盟友关系的遗憾。我认为他并非毫无道理地认为,盟友们在搭美国的便车,没有投入足够的资金来保卫自己。他们利用了美国愿意增加国防开支并提供保护伞的意愿。所以,特朗普的言论中贯穿着这样的主线。但我确实认为,特朗普在伊朗问题上处境艰难。这场战争持续的时间比他预期的要长,对国际经济造成的损害也比他预期的要大。因此,他感到沮丧的是,那些比美国更依赖波斯湾能源的亚洲和欧洲盟友,为什么不参与进来?为什么不参与打通霍尔木兹海峡的努力?所以我认为,他这些新的言论之所以如此激烈,是因为他对伊朗战争中缺乏盟友感到失望。“

库普坎教授也提醒美国的盟友,无论是德国、英国、韩国还是日本,都必须认真对待美国总统的声明,也必须有备选方案,必须质疑美国是否还像几十年来那样是可靠的盟友。话虽如此,但他不认为特朗普会退出北约,因为美国从北约获得了诸多好处。例如,目前一些飞越伊朗的军事行动就是从北约成员国的基地起飞的,比如英国。

“送给中俄的一份大礼”

但这位专家国际问题专家也认为,如果特朗普退出北约,西方的对手,俄罗斯和中国就会暗自窃喜,享受这种局面,因为他们非常乐见北约解体。如果美国撤回对韩国和日本的保护伞,他们也会非常高兴。他们喜欢看到西方分裂。因此,从某种程度上说,这相当于送给了美国及其盟友的对手——俄罗斯和中国——一份大礼。所以他猜测这是唐纳德·特朗普不会对此威胁采取行动的另一个原因。他认为北约仍将继续存在,将继续运转。到特朗普卸任时,美军仍将驻扎在欧洲。但是,这位专家认为,由于特朗普的难以预测性,所以当他说他对特朗普不退出北约的前景有信心时,他更是祈祷如此。

库普坎教授在采访中也强调,美国宪法没有赋予总统退出条约的权利,宪法规定条约需要参议院三分之二的同意。但自乔治·华盛顿以来,历任总统都曾违背过经参议院批准的条约。如果特朗普想要退出北约,他完全可以这样做。即使作为三军统帅,他这样做是否合法存在争议,他也可以命令美军撤出欧洲,这实际上意味着跨大西洋联盟的终结。

据路透社报道,美国宪法规定,总统有权在参议院的建议和同意下缔结条约,但须经参议院100名成员中的三分之二同意。然而,它并未提及退出条约的问题。

美国法律是怎么规定的?

2023 年,美国国会通过了一项法案,时任总统、民主党人乔·拜登签署该法案使其生效。该法案禁止任何美国总统暂停、终止、谴责或退出建立北约的条约,除非退出北约的动议得到参议院 100 名成员中三分之二多数的支持。

路透社报道称,这项立法是以修正案的形式提交给2024财年国防授权法案的,该法案是一项规模庞大的年度法案,旨在为五角大楼制定政策。该修正案的主要发起人是弗吉尼亚州民主党参议员蒂姆·凯恩和当时的佛罗里达州共和党参议员马可·卢比奥。

现任特朗普国务卿兼国家安全顾问的卢比奥周二表示,在伊朗战争爆发后,华盛顿将不得不重新审视与北约的关系。这场战争始于2月28日,由美国和以色列的空袭引​​发。

《国防授权法案》修正案还规定,美国不得动用任何资金退出北约。

北约条约是怎么规定的?

北约由欧洲国家、美国和加拿大组成,成立于1949年,旨在应对苏联的攻击风险,自此成为西方安全的基石。

1949 年《北大西洋公约》第 13 条规定,任何缔约方均可提前一年通知美国政府退出该条约,美国政府随后会将“退出通知”告知其他政府。迄今为止,没有任何北约成员国退出过北约。

接下来会发生什么?

根据国际法,如果条约允许退出,并且该国遵守退出程序,则该国元首通常有权退出条约。

美国法律对此不太明确,尽管历任总统都曾在未经国会批准的情况下退出过几项条约,包括特朗普在 2020 年退出由 35 个国家组成的《开放天空条约》,该条约允许在成员国上空进行非武装侦察飞行。

如果此事最终诉诸法庭,对特朗普决定的挑战将面临重重阻碍。其中包括确定谁有资格——即谁与结果有切身利害关系——来挑战这一决定。

美国最高法院保守派占多数,经常做出有利于特朗普的裁决,但从未就条约退出案件的实质内容进行过审理。

Funeral director who kept bodies for months admits 30 counts of preventing lawful burial

BBC Breaking NewsBBC

A funeral director has admitted preventing the burials of 30 bodies and stealing donations made to charities by mourners.

Robert Bush, 48, was arrested after police investigated Hull-based Legacy Independent Funeral Directors following a report of "concern for care of the deceased" in March 2024.

Bush, formerly of East Yorkshire and now living in West Yorkshire, pleaded guilty at Hull Crown Court to 30 counts of preventing a lawful and decent burial, and one of theft relating to charitable donations.

He previously admitted presenting families with the ashes of strangers and fraudulently selling funeral plans. He will be sentenced at a later date.

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We thought we'd buried my grandma, but her body was still at the funeral home

Tristan Essex Tristan Essex on the left next to Jessie Stockdale who is in a hospital bed wearing a pink dressing gown.Tristan Essex
Tristan Essex says his memories of his nana, Jessie Stockdale, are "tainted" after Robert Bush kept her body for five months after her funeral

Warning: This article contains details some people may find distressing.

Tristan Essex says his memories of his nana, Jessie Stockdale, are now "tainted" after funeral director Robert Bush kept her body for five months after her family were told her funeral had taken place.

Bush, who ran Legacy Independent Funeral Directors in Hull, has admitted a series of offences, including preventing the burials of 30 bodies, after police uncovered widespread wrongdoing at the business.

According to Tristan, with the benefit of hindsight, there had been warning signs.

"There was an awful smell in the funeral directors," he recalled. "My grandma was changed into different coffins every time we viewed her, and we obviously picked a specific coffin.

"She was put into larger coffins which were wider, longer, different colours, different trims. She was in at least three or four different coffins.

"We complained because the frill on the coffin was splattered with blood.

"There was black, thick mould around the inside of the coffin as well."

Victims and their families have been waiting for justice since the investigation began two years ago.

Bush, 48, specialised in low-cost funerals and claimed on his company's social media to offer "dignified personal care".

Behind the scenes, officers found a very different picture.

Humberside Police described its inquiry as "complex, protracted and highly sensitive", triggered by a report of "concern for care of the deceased" in March 2024.

Within days, 35 bodies and half a tonne of human ashes were recovered from the firm's premises on Hessle Road in Hull.

The body of Tristan's grandmother, Jessie, was among those discovered.

Tristan, 26, said his family were "knocked off our feet" when they were told Jessie was a victim.

"Thirty-five bodies were found inside Legacy and one of them had an ankle bracelet with my nana's name on," he said.

Legacy Independent Funeral Directors Robert Bush has short ginger hair. He is wearing a white shirt, a black tie and a black jumper.Legacy Independent Funeral Directors
Robert Bush, 48, abused the trust of those at their lowest ebb

Bush had been due to stand trial in October, but during a hearing at Hull Crown Court on Thursday he admitted 30 counts of preventing a lawful and decent burial.

He also pleaded guilty to one charge of stealing money from charity collection boxes.

The admissions followed others in October last year, when Bush pleaded guilty to 35 offences of fraud by false representation, relating to the proper care of remains and the return of ashes. Four of the charges related to giving women ashes that he falsely claimed were those of their unborn babies.

He also previously admitted a charge of fraudulently running a business. This related to the sale of funeral plans. There were 172 victims relating to this count alone.

In total, there were 254 victims of Bush's crimes, police said.

Many families were distraught to learn ashes they were given did not belong to their loved ones.

Some had unwittingly worn the ashes of strangers close to their body in the form of specially made jewellery.

One told us how a friend had the ashes mixed with tattoo ink and pushed deep into their skin.

PA Media Police and forensic officers, wearing white suits, stand outside Legacy Independent Funeral Directors off Hessle Road in Hull.PA Media
The parlour in Hessle Road, Hull, has been described as "a hoarder's house"

Bush's disregard for the dead and their families did not end there.

More than 1,000 items, including love letters, baby clothes and treasured possessions belonging to the victims were found on the funeral director's premises, a crisis response team told the BBC.

"It was like a hoarder's house," said Kevin Curreri of Kenyon Emergency Services.

The team is typically brought in by governments in the wake of natural disasters, plane crashes and terrorism incidents.

This time, it was appointed by Hull City Council to recover the scene, after police had finished with it.

According to Curreri, human remains and personal possessions had been treated "so disrespectfully" that it showed "a pretty significant breach of trust".

Linsey Smith/BBC A sign and a bunch of fake flowers attached to the black railings around the former Legacy premises.Linsey Smith/BBC
Families left tributes to their loved ones at the former Legacy parlour in Hessle Road, Hull

Following the police searches, floral tributes were left outside the parlour.

Some of the notes attached to them demonstrated the unbridled rage felt towards the person responsible for causing this close-knit community so much heartache.

In stark contrast to Bush's large detached home in Kirk Ella – a desirable village in the East Riding of Yorkshire – his funeral business, which opened in 2010, stood in Hessle Road, a working-class street that was once the beating heart of Hull's fishing industry.

Bush hid behind a veneer of respectability, his neighbours painting a picture of a family man who was willing to run errands and help complete DIY tasks for them.

Professionally, too, nothing appeared to be too much trouble for Bush, with some of his customers telling the BBC how he had offered them the chance to pay him in installments when they told him they were struggling to cover a relative's funeral costs.

One woman said Bush had personally bought their funeral flowers when they ran out of money.

"I just felt so grateful," she said. "I didn't ask questions."

Emma Hardy, MP for Hull West and Haltemprice, said Bush had deliberately pushed low-cost funerals at a vulnerable community.

"He pretended he was their friend," she said.

Bush was anything but.

Kevin Newton sat on a chair looking directly into the camera. He is wearing a blue top.
Kevin Newton bought a funeral plan from Robert Bush to save his children from financial burden

Not even charities escaped his greed.

Bush stole an unknown amount of cash from charity collection boxes. The donations, in memory of loved ones, were made at funeral services Bush organised.

Families believed the money would go directly to causes close to their hearts.

But it did not.

Between September 2017 and 6 March 2024, a number of good causes, including the Salvation Army, Macmillan Cancer Support, Dove House Hospice, Help for Heroes, the RNLI and Oakwood Dog Rescue were deprived of their funds.

More than 170 people bought non-existent funeral plans through Legacy, including 70-year-old Kevin Newton.

He paid £2,239 in 2012 for his plan.

Kevin said he was "mortified" when he contacted a third-party insurer and was told there was no trace of the plan on its database.

His daughter, Kerry, 36, said: "It's absolutely shocking because it's a lot of money for my dad to fork out and it's not like he can [afford it] again.

"It's unforgivable."

Kevin was able to recover the money as he paid using a card.

The funeral business was dissolved at a court hearing in May 2024 with debts of more than £40,000.

Bush has been bailed to be sentenced on 27 July.

Listen to highlights from Hull and East Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here.

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Artemis II is in orbit - what happens next?

Watch the moment Artemis II blasts into space on historic mission

You could almost hear a sigh of relief from Nasa on Wednesday as its Artemis II rocket finally blasted off.

There's a lot riding on this mission - the safety of its four astronauts, Nasa's reputation, and the credibility of America's claim to be leading the new global space race.

There are mundane questions too: Could the onboard toilet break again? When can the crew nap?

Here's what the next 24 hours should look like for Artemis II.

Where are the astronauts now?

Commander Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen are now orbiting Earth about 42,500 miles away, testing out the Orion spacecraft.

The craft's solar wings were fully deployed not long after launch, giving it power to help sustain its journey.

About the size of a minibus, its never been flown in space before by humans so pilot Victor Glover is spending the day pushing it to the extreme.

Nasa want to be sure Orion is voyage-worthy before the crew push on into deep space from where there is no easy return.

They're testing out the life support systems too. But if something goes wrong, the crew has specially-designed suits that could keep them alive for around six days.

What are the crew doing?

Unlike the Apollo missions in the 1960s and 1970s, we can watch a huge amount of what's happening on this voyage as Nasa livestreams the mission.

Cameras above the astronauts' heads show them checking monitors, holding up mobile phones, and pressing buttons.

Then about eight hours after launch, the crew were allowed their first sleep onboard.

EPA Astronauts Victor Glover, Jeremy Hansen, Reid Wiseman and Christina Koch walk of a Nasa building before launchEPA
The crew are "safe, secure and in great spirits", according to a Nasa official

On the radio the crew use to communicate with mission command, we heard Commander Reid Wiseman asking where are the team's pyjamas.

He asked for their "comfort garments", before the astronauts went into the sleeping area for about four hours.

Schedules in space are incredibly strict. Every minute is accounted for by Mission Control.

The crew can sleep for about four hours at a time, adding up to eight hours over a 24-hour period.

Sleeping in space can be tricky. The crew must strap themselves in, and generally some astronauts struggle to nod off as their bodies adapt to weightlessness.

But others say their best sleep ever is in space.

This crew have strict instructions to exercise for 30 minutes every day to protect their muscle and bone density as they live without gravity.

Reid Wiseman and Victor Glover went first, testing out Orion's "flywheel exercise device", which is about the size of a carry-on suitcase.

Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen were scheduled to exercise later on - using the wheel for rowing, squats and deadlifts.

We assume they've had their first meals too, from Nasa's tailor-made Artemis II menu.

NASA A view of Earth from Orion spacecraftNASA
The crews' view from the Orion spacecraft during the last few hours

There is no fridge in Orion, so a lot of the food is freeze-dried and activated using water from an onboard tap.

The crew were allowed to pick their meals in advance, which include macaroni cheese, beef brisket, and five different hot sauces.

They're allowed two drinks a day, including coffee or a "chocolate breakfast drink".

And crucially, as far as we know, the toilet is working. During launch, the facilities broke, raising worries that the team would have to spend 10 days in a craft without a toilet.

After giving astronaut Christina Koch instructions on how to fix the specially-designed loo, Mission Control radioed the crew: "Happy to report that toilet is go for use.... We do recommend letting the system get to operating speed before donating fluid".

When do they go to the Moon?

Today is building up to the snazzily named "trans-lunar injection" burn. Basically, it is a massive push that will propel them out of Earth's orbit and on course to the Moon.

It is supposed to happen Thursday night UK time, but if there are problems, it could be postponed or even cancelled.

A cancellation would be a major setback for Nasa and America as it tries to become the first country to land humans again on the lunar surface by 2028.

If it all goes to plan, the burn will fire for six minutes to send them on a trajectory around the Moon that also uses lunar gravity to slingshot them back to Earth.

Eventually they should fly 6,400 miles (10,299km) beyond the far side of the Moon, which always faces away from the Earth.

That's meant to happen on Monday (6 April). The astronauts will be the first people to see some areas of the far side, although probes from countries including India and China have previously documented this region.

They'll be taking photographs and making observations of this mysterious place for us to see and learn from back on Earth.

Fifa is charging up to $10,990 for World Cup final tickets in first open sale

The $11k World Cup final ticket - what we learned from first open sale

The World Cup on display on a white stand prior to the draw in December in Washington with Fifa World Cup 2026 in big gold letters in the background.Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,

World Cup tickets were put on open sale for the first time on Wednesday

By
Football issues correspondent

The first open sale of tickets for the 2026 World Cup showed Fifa is charging up to $10,990 (£8,333) to be at the final.

It is thought to be the most expensive ever general admission to a football match.

In its World Cup bid book, the US, Canada and Mexico said tickets to the final would cost a maximum of $1,550 (£1,174).

Then, when the first batch of tickets went on sale in December, the most expensive was listed at $8,680 (£6,581).

Tickets for the Qatar World Cup final cost the equivalent of $1,604 (£1,214) for the top-priced seat.

Establishing the actual cost of tickets for this summer's tournament is difficult as Fifa has never released its pricing structures.

It is also using a version of dynamic pricing, whereby prices change at the start of each sales point depending on past demand.

Late last year the cost of the initial ticket releases was described as a "monumental betrayal". In December, Fifa announced a small number of $60 (£45) tickets.

On Wednesday tickets were put on open sale for the first time - and gave another glimpse at what is being charged.

What prices have been observed for the final

It is impossible to assess the overall ticket pricing with no information on the prices, or the volume available in each category.

Going through the Fifa ticketing website and seeing what is still available and what is being charged gives a good indication. However, that does not confirm if there are either more expensive tickets still, or if more were available in more affordable categories.

From what has been observed, ticket prices for the World Cup final increased by as much as 38% in the open sale compared to December's release.

Apart from the $10,990 (£8,333) category one ticket:

  • Category two was up 32.78% from $5,575 (£4,227) to $7,380 (£5,596).

  • Category three increased 38.23% from $4,185 (£3,173) to $5,785 (£4,386).

Fifa also gave no advanced notice of which games would be available on Wednesday, or at what prices, as the "last-minute sales" period began.

Those who did get through found that prices had gone up for the most in-demand fixtures - including the top teams and other key knockout games.

What we learned when we joined the queue

BBC Sport joined the queue for World Cup tickets alongside the supporters on Wednesday at about 15:20 BST.

A holding message was in place, and at 16:00 this changed to a red circle with the message: "Almost there…"

By 17:00 a countdown clock had appeared. We were two minutes from the front when the time suddenly jumped back up to 15 minutes.

When we did gain access, we experienced the same technical glitch as thousands of fans.

Supporters who logged on early were wrongly directed into a queue for "PMA tickets", reserved for fans of this week's play-off winners.

Once through, users were sent to a page where a code was required to open up a sale for those fixtures.

By the time the mistake was realised, those supporters were forced to start again at the back of the correct virtual line. Any chance of securing a ticket for one of the more attractive matches had gone.

Fifa did not provide a reason for the error but said that by 17:00 the links were working properly.

Once back in the queue it took six hours and 14 minutes to be granted access to the ticket page.

Of the 72 group games, 35 matches were listed with tickets available - but there was no allocation for the England or Scotland games, or any of the knockout matches, when we initially made it through.

Across the 35 matches, prices ranged from $140 (£106) to $2,985 (£2,261). The average price of those displayed was $358 (£271).

The most expensive group stage match seen was the first of the tournament between Mexico and South Africa at $2,985 (£2,261), with only a tiny proportion of the 87,000 capacity available.

Additionally, we were able to view corporate hospitality packages, including one for England v Panama which was $124,800 (£94,444) for a luxury suite with 24 match tickets, food and drink - $5,200 (£3,935) per person.

The availability of games appears to be changing all the time, and Fifa has indicated new tickets could be released for any game right up to kick-off.

By 08:00 on Thursday, 13 games were still showing - though six of these only had wheelchair companion tickets, which should not be sold to the general public.

Controversially, Fifa has not made free tickets available to the assistants of fans using wheelchairs. Tickets must be bought at full price and they may not be situated next to each other.

The USA's opening game against Paraguay on 13 June had the most tickets still on sale, with 1,406 category one tickets priced at $2,735 (£2,072).

Canada's first match against Bosnia-Herzegovina was the only other match with relatively good supply - 846 category one tickets still on sale at a cost of $2,240 (£1,697).

Fifa's resale platform, which will likely bring even higher prices - with both buyer and seller charged a 15% fee - reopens on Thursday.

Iranian Nobel laureate suffered suspected heart attack in prison, family says

Reuters Narges Mohammadi (file photo)Reuters
Narges Mohammadi was moved to a prison in north-west Iran after being handed an additional seven-year sentence (file photo)

The brother of Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi says he fears her life is in imminent danger after she suffered a suspected heart attack in prison in north-western Iran.

Hamidreza Mohammadi, who is based in Norway, told the BBC that the 53-year-old human rights activist was found unconscious in her bed by fellow inmates at Zanjan Prison last week.

She was taken to the prison infirmary but officials refused to transfer her to a hospital despite her history of heart and lung problems, he said. She also suffers from severe blood pressure fluctuations.

He demanded that she be released immediately for a thorough medical examination.

He also warned that strikes and explosions near the prison since the start of the US-Israeli war with Iran a month ago had only added to her stress.

"This war has had a terrible effect on prisoners in Iran. If the prison gets hit, if the prisoners need immediate medical attention, they will not get anything and their lives are in danger," he told the BBC's Newsday programme.

"It's been really difficult for her family... Her children have gone through a lot. Now they experience very uncertain time when they don't know even if in the future there will be any peace or if their mother is going to live or die," he added.

Narges Mohammadi, the vice-president of the Defenders of Human Rights Center in Iran, was awarded the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize for her activism against female oppression in Iran and promoting human rights.

She has spent more than a decade of her life in prison. In 2021, she began serving a 13-year sentence on charges of committing "propaganda activity against the state" and "collusion against state security", which she denied.

In December 2024, she was given a temporary release from Tehran's notorious Evin prison on medical grounds.

She continued campaigning while undergoing treatment and was arrested in the north-eastern city of Mashhad last December after giving a speech at the memorial ceremony of a fellow human rights activist. Her family said she was taken to hospital after being beaten on the head and neck during the arrest.

A few weeks later protests against Iran's clerical establishment swept across the country. At least 6,508 protesters were killed and 53,000 others arrested in an unprecedented crackdown by security forces on the unrest, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).

In early February, Mohammadi was sentenced by a Revolutionary Court in Mashhad to an additional seven and a half years in prison after being convicted of "gathering and collusion" and "propaganda activities", her lawyer said.

She was transferred without warning the following week to Zanjan prison and has been allowed only limited communication with her family since then.

Last Sunday, her legal team and one family member were allowed to visit to visit her in prison under heightened surveillance.

The Free Narges Coalition said in a statement on Tuesday that "her general health was extremely poor, and she appeared pale and weak with significant weight loss when brought to the visitation room by a prison nurse".

It then cited Mohammadi's cellmates as saying that on 24 March she "was found unconscious in her bed, with her eyes rolled back", and that this lasted more than an hour. She was carried to the prison infirmary by fellow inmates, where medication was administered to restore her consciousness, it added.

"Despite this medical emergency, and evident indications of a heart attack, authorities refused to transfer Mohammadi to a hospital or allow her to visit a specialist."

Mohammadi also reported that she had suffered debilitating headaches, nausea, double vision since her violent arrest, and that bruises were still visible on her body, according to the coalition.

"According to the Iranian law, in wartime, when they [authorities] cannot guarantee safety of the prisoners, especially prisoners who are not dangerous to society, they must be allowed to leave the prison until the war is over," Hamidreza Mohammadi said.

"But not only [have they not done] it, they have denied all the political prisoners any medical attention, and their excuse is 'it is wartime'. So our demand is that she immediately be released for a thorough medical examination."

"We know her medical history, we know that she has heart problems and pulmonary problems. She must be in a hospital."

Ancient golden helmet recovered more than a year after Dutch heist

ANP/AFP A gold helmet and two gold braceletsANP/AFP
Two of the recovered bracelets were exhibited with the crown, but one bracelet is still missing

A 2,500-year-old golden helmet considered one of Romania's greatest treasures has been recovered more than a year after it was stolen during a raid on a Dutch museum.

It and two golden bracelets dating back to about 450BC were unveiled as having been returned to the museum on Thursday, secured behind a glass case with two armed police guarding them. A third bracelet has not yet been found.

The theft of the Coțofenești helmet and bracelets by an armed gang who broke into the Drents Museum in Assen caused outrage in Romania and raised questions about security for priceless artefacts on loan to other countries.

"It's a long-awaited result," Romanian prosecutor Daniela Buruiană told journalists.

"We are happy that we are now witnessing here the recovery of the Romanian artefacts," she added.

The treasures, which date from the Dacian era - an Iron Age civilisation that existed roughly where Romania is now - had been on loan from Romania's national history museum when they had been stolen.

Their theft prompted a spat between the two governments that led to the Dutch government paying a reported €5.7m (£5m; $6.5m) in insurance compensation.

Romanian officials refused to discuss what would happen to that money now.

Getty Images A golden helmetGetty Images
The helmet was finally returned to authorities on Tuesday, a year and two months after it was stolen

Robert van Langh, director of the Drents Museum in the northern Netherlands, said the helmet had been slightly dented but could be restored. The bracelets remained in perfect condition, he said.

Romanian prosecutor Rareș-Petru Stan spoke of the "major impact" that the theft had had in his home country, and praised his Dutch colleagues for their "hard work and keeping the faith".

"We are continuing the investigation to find the last bracelet," he added, "and we are grateful that we will be able to return this treasure to the Romanian people."

Dutch public prosecutor Corien Fahner revealed that the helmet and bracelets were handed over to authorities on Wednesday following negotiations involving lawyers for the three suspects.

Two men in their mid-30s and one aged 21 will face trial later this month.

The suspects were arrested within days of the gang using explosives to break into the museum, but by then there was no trace of the priceless items.

Art experts have suggested that the helmet and bracelets were stolen to order by a criminal gang.

Several Dutch provincial museums have been targeted in recent years because of the difficulty in providing adequate security for priceless artefacts. The helmet and bracelets were in a glass case that provided little resistance to the armed group.

In 2024, two works by Andy Warhol were stolen from a gallery in the southern Netherlands, and six years ago a Frans Hals painting called Two Laughing Boys was stolen from a small museum in the central town of Leerdam.

The former head of the national history museum in Bucharest, Ernest Oberländer-Târnoveanu, faced considerable domestic criticism for loaning the gold objects abroad and lost his job within days of the theft.

He spoke of his relief that the helmet had been retrieved.

"This is a unique item in European and even global cultural heritage," he told RTL Nieuws. "The helmet is an important social and political symbol of Dacian civilisation."

Baby shot dead in pram in New York City, police say

NYPD CCTV footage of the two suspects on a moped.NYPD
Police believe they have apprehended the shooter while the driver remains at large

A seven-month-old girl was shot and killed in while sitting in her pushchair in "broad daylight" in New York City's borough of Brooklyn, police have said.

Police believe the baby was the unintended victim of a suspected gang-related shooting.

Footage from the scene shows two men driving against the flow of traffic through the Williamsburg neighbourhood when a man sitting on the back of the motorbike takes out a gun and fires "at least two rounds", New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch told a news conference.

The bike then crashed and the suspected shooter was apprehended, but a "massive" manhunt was under way for the driver, she said.

"A life that had barely begun was taken in an instant," New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said.

"Today is a devastating reminder of how much more work there is to be done to combat gun violence across this city."

Several adults and children, two of whom were in buggies, had been on a street corner when the shooting occurred.

The seven-month-old's parents ran for cover in a nearby corner shop, where they realised their child had been shot, the BBC's US partner CBS reported.

"All the kids started ducking in the corner. The family went to the store and the mom started screaming when she noticed the baby was bleeding from [her] head," witness Bernius Maldonado told CBS.

Emergency services were called at around 13:21 local time (17:21 GMT).

The child was taken to the nearby Woodhull Hospital where she was pronounced dead. Police reported no other people killed or injured in the incident.

"As a mother, I cannot imagine the pain that this family is feeling or the grief that they now carry with them," Tisch said. "It is unspeakable."

Footage seen by police showed the suspects crashing into a car shortly after fleeing the scene.

Both suspects were throw from the moped - but the rear passenger landed so hard he lost "both of his shoes", Tisch said.

An ambulance was called for the injured male and was brought to Brooklyn Hospital, where he was then taken into police custody.

Investigators believe he fits the description of the shooter, based on the clothing he was wearing and his appearance, but was taken into custody as part of an unrelated investigation.

Police are working to connect him to the shooting.

What nearly went wrong on Nasa's space mission - and what still could

Getty Images NASA's Artemis II Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft blasts off from the Kennedy Space Center. A vertical pillar of flame erupts from the rocket as it shoots off into the blue sky.Getty Images

In the tense final hours before Nasa's astronauts flew into space, a series of technical issues threatened to ground their landmark mission.

A faulty toilet and issues involving two safety systems were reported over the radio.

Nasa managed to resolve the problems by being "quick on their feet", an official later said.

The Artemis II crew are now hurtling around the Earth's orbit, carrying out final tests and checks before they head towards the Moon.

Here's what nearly went wrong - and what still could.

'Toilet is go'

The crew quickly discovered that even a trip to the Moon comes with very down‑to‑earth plumbing problems.

Sensors in the spacecraft's waste‑management system threw up some readings they did not expect, according to flight controllers.

Astronaut Christina Koch reportedly acted as a plumber, dismantling parts of the toilet under instruction from mission control.

Watch: How will the Artemis astronauts go to the toilet in space?

"Happy to report that toilet is go for use," mission control later said over the radio. "We do recommend letting the system get to operating speed before donating fluid".

The lack of gravity in space means waste management is a key issue in space travel.

Nasa has spent more than $23m (£17.4m) developing the "Universal Waste Management System".

Both men and women are able to use the system, which includes a funnel attached to a hose to process urine while using gentle airflow to eliminate spills.

A specialised seat allows for stools to be sucked into a sealed container, with tethers and restraints being used to stop the crew from floating away.

The Orion - the spacecraft on which they're travelling - also has plenty of backup options, from alternative collection bags to different ways of routing liquids.

Issue with safety systems

There were also issues reported with the flight termination system and the launch abort system - two safety systems that protect astronauts and the public.

The flight termination system allows engineers on the ground to destroy the rocket if it veers off course. It reportedly had a communications issue, which was resolved by using hardware from the previous Space Shuttle programme.

The launch abort system is Orion's emergency escape tower, designed to pull the crew capsule away from the rocket in the event of an emergency during launch or ascent. It reportedly gave a higher-than-expected temperature reading, but it was judged that it wouldn't affect the launch.

With these issues resolved, the countdown clock was held at 10 minutes while engineers went through final preparations.

We then heard the staccato rhythm of the calls by each engineer responsible for the rocket's critical systems.

One by one the voices came back: "Booster, go", "GNC, go", "Range, go" - each reply, a tiny release of tension and a build-up of expectation.

"Artemis II, this is Launch Director – you are go for launch," the crew was told. "We go for all humanity," Commander Reid Wiseman responded.

The rocket then launched into the sky, to the awe of those watching at the Kennedy Space Centre and around the world.

Graphic showing the Earth and the Moon, with the spacecraft’s figure of eight orbital trajectory highlighted. Specific points are labelled. These are: 1. Lift-off at the Kennedy Space Centre, 2. Orbit around the Earth, 3. Rocket separation, 4. Main engine fires to take spacecraft to the Moon, 5. Lunar fly-by, 6. Return to Earth, 7. Crew module separates, 8. Splashdown in Pacific Ocean

Trying to break spacecraft

Now safely in the Earth's orbit, the crew have been directed to spend hours quietly trying to break their spacecraft - on purpose.

They cycle computers through different modes, switch radios between ground stations and relay satellites, and deliberately move around the cabin to see how the life‑support system copes as carbon dioxide and humidity build up.

Engineers also command small thruster firings and check the European‑built service module responds exactly as the models predict.

All of this is designed to answer a simple question: is the ship healthy enough to risk flying hundreds of thousands of kilometres from home with no quick way back?

If any of these tests throws up something they do not understand, Nasa will not hesitate to call off the trans-lunar injection burn and use Orion's engine to bring the astronauts straight back to earth.

Additional reporting by Esme Stallard and Tom Bennett

How a chance meeting shaped Canadian Jeremy Hansen's mission to the Moon

Watch the BBC's interview with Artemis astronaut Jeremy Hansen

Long before he was chosen to orbit the Moon in the ongoing Artemis II mission, Jeremy Hansen was a young cadet at the Royal Military College of Canada. He carried a dream - and had a chance interaction that would help shape his future.

In 1995, during his first year at the military college, Hansen met one of his heroes: Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield.

That was before Hadfield had served as commander of the International Space Station. But Hansen saw in his compatriot much of what he aspired to be: a fighter pilot and an astronaut.

Hansen asked Hadfield for his email address, and got it on the spot.

The brief encounter marked the beginning of a journey that would see Hansen follow closely in his hero's footsteps - first as a fighter pilot, and then by joining the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) in 2009.

Throughout his astronaut training, his mentor along the way was Hadfield, a young Hansen told the BBC in 2014.

The simple but lasting advice he was given: follow what makes you passionate.

"Jeremy has been getting ready for this flight since he was five years old," Hadfield told Canadian singer Emm Gryner in a podcast in March.

Hansen, now 50, grew up on a farm near London, Ontario, where his fascination with aviation began early.

As a child, he came across a page in an encyclopedia featuring Neil Armstrong and the picture of an astronaut on the Moon from the 1969 Apollo mission.

"That page is still burnt in my brain," Hansen told Spaceflight Now in an interview posted last month.

Soon after, he transformed his childhood treehouse into his own imaginary rocket ship.

In his teens, he went on to join the air cadets youth programme, and to study space science and physics at university.

He eventually became a fighter pilot, flying CF-18s out of the army base in Cold Lake, Alberta, and working with North American Aerospace Defense Command (Norad).

Fourteen years after joining the CSA, Hansen was selected for Artemis II: the first crewed mission to travel around the Moon in more than 50 years.

Over the course of 10 days, the crew of four astronauts will travel farther from Earth than any human before them.

Hansen is the only non-American on board. He is joined by mission commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, and fellow mission specialist Christina Koch.

Watch the moment Artemis II blasts into space on historic mission

In an interview with the CSA, Hansen said he was aware that the Artemis II mission might not go smoothly.

"To do something that has never been done before means that your team is very likely to face failure," Hansen said. "I like the fact that in space, we are committed to bold goals to the extent that we will not let periodic failure stop our forward progress," he said.

For the mission, Hansen is carrying four Moon-shaped pendants, each with a birthstone representing his wife and three teenage children.

His blue spacesuit has a mission patch he commissioned Anishinaabe artist Henry Guimond to design, with contributions from Dave Courchene III of Sagkeeng First Nation, Manitoba.

The heptagonal shape and the animals on it refer to a set of indigenous teachings that guide how people should treat one another - with love, respect, courage and humility.

Hansen has said the patch is his way of recognising the Indigenous peoples in Canada and their traditional knowledge.

Earlier this week, he told the BBC science editor Rebecca Morelle and 13 Minutes podcast presenter Tim Peake that he was excited for his first views of Earth during his first hour of space flight.

He anticipated that the mission would later afford him a view with the Moon in the foreground and Earth hanging in the distance.

"I hope humanity will stop for a moment when four humans are on the far side of the Moon, and just look at some of the imagery that we are sharing - and just be reminded that we can do a better job as humans of just lifting each other up," he said.

"Not destroying but creating together."

Investigators Said to Look at Whether LaGuardia Controller Stepped Away

Officials are said to be examining whether a controller had to use an emergency phone just before the crash at LaGuardia. They have yet to determine the cause of the crash and are also focusing on other avenues.

© Dave Sanders for The New York Times

Investigators are said to be examining whether an air traffic controller stepped away from his console in a critical moment before the deadly accident at LaGuardia Airport on March 22.

马克龙对韩国进行国是访问 纪念建交140周年 凭吊韩战阵亡法军士兵 - RFI - 法国国际广播电台

02/04/2026 - 15:15

法国总统马克龙周四从东京飞抵首尔,对韩国展开为期两天的国是访问,期间他将与韩国总统李在明举行会晤。

法新社看到,法国总统马克龙飞抵韩国首都,在首尔以南的空军基地,受到身着金黄与黑色传统服饰的弓箭手列队迎接和鸣放礼炮的礼遇。

马克龙随即前往韩战纪念馆,在那里献上花圈,并在纪念碑前默哀,缅怀在1950年至1953年撕裂朝鲜半岛的冲突中,3400名参战法国士兵中阵亡的270余人。他还与一名曾随法军服役的韩国老兵进行了交谈。

这是十五年来首位法国总统访问韩国,随后马克龙将在首尔的总统府“青瓦台”参加工作晚宴。

今年正值法国与韩国建交140周年。

李在明总统为此在法国《费加罗报》发表署名文章,认为这两个“拥有共同价值观的民主国家”之间的伙伴关系“已不再仅仅是可取的,而是已成为战略必需”。

李在明呼吁两国在“人工智能、核能、氢能技术或航天工业等关键领域”进行“深入的战略协调”。

K-pop 安排 

周五的日程将更为紧凑,包括与李在明举行一场更为正式的会谈,随后是国宴,接着法国总统将与延世大学的学生以及韩国投资者进行交流,其中包括三星和现代汽车的高管。

在当晚启程返回巴黎之前,马克龙将出席首尔韩华蓬皮杜中心的揭幕仪式,随后与作为韩国“软实力”重要载体的K-pop代表共进晚餐。

法新社这篇报道说,之前在日本,法国总统强调了双方的战略共识,呼吁共同行动以避免“依赖”中国和美国这两个“霸权大国”,并称其“有时略显难以预测”。

马克龙在日本夸赞了欧洲的“可预测性”,以此暗示美国总统唐纳德·特朗普的不可预测性,后者在未“征询”盟友意见的情况下对伊朗发动战争,而盟友却首当其冲地承受了战争带来的经济冲击。

美国阿耳忒弥斯2号绕月任务成功发射 - RFI - 法国国际广播电台

02/04/2026 - 15:41

美国宇航局阿耳忒弥斯2号任务的四名宇航员于周三搭乘“猎户座”太空舱成功启程,进入地球轨道,展开为期十天的绕地和绕月飞行,此次测试任务旨在为2028年重返月球表面铺平道路。

太空发射系统(SLS)火箭于当地时间18时35分(格林尼治时间22时35分)从佛罗里达州肯尼迪航天中心升空。几分钟后,传来该任务的指挥官里德·怀斯曼(Reid Wiseman)叹道:“我们看到美丽的月亮出来了。”

他的加拿大伙伴杰里米·汉森(Jeremy Hansen)在起飞前十分钟说道   “我们是为了全人类而出发的”。同行的还有美国宇航员维克多·格洛弗(Victor Glover)和克里斯蒂娜·科赫(Christina Koch)。

火箭起飞八分钟后,这四名宇航员乘坐的猎户座太空舱与一级火箭按计划分离,随后进入了地球轨道。

他们将以每小时约2.7万公里的速度绕地球飞行多圈,并逐步提高轨道高度,以验证各项系统是否正常运行。

下一个重要节点将于格林尼治标准时间周四晚23点30分左右到来:届时他们将点燃发动机,驶向月球,并将于周一绕月飞行一圈,但不会登月。

当晚,美国总统特朗普就伊朗问题发表讲话时,首先祝贺了执行阿耳忒弥斯2号任务的4名勇敢宇航员”。

厕所问题

不过,在飞行最初几个小时里,突发了技术问题,包括休斯顿控制中心与宇航员通信短暂中断,且太空舱的洗手间仍无法正常使用。

但在轨道上的一次机动操作进行得非常顺利:宇航员维克托·格洛弗(Victor Glover)接管了“猎户座”飞船的控制,以模拟与另一航天器对接。

在肯尼迪航天中心(Kennedy Space Center),当火箭在晴朗的天空中升空时,人群爆发出掌声和欢呼声。

阿尔忒尼斯(Artemis program)计划已耗资数百亿美元,并经历了多年的延误。

来自行星学会(The Planetary Society)的凯西·德雷尔(Casey Dreier)对法新社表示:“美国航天局NASA确实非常需要让这次任务成功。”他指出,由于预算问题和人员大量流失(尤其是从事气候研究的科学家),该机构士气低落。

欧洲方面如何?

最初,阿尔忒尼斯项目被设计为象征一种新的国际合作与包容精神。

此次任务的机组人员首次包括一名女性、一名黑人以及一名非美国人;而在阿波罗计划(Apollo program时代1968至1972年),宇航员全部是白人美国男性。

欧洲方面也参与其中:他们制造了为“猎户座”提供动力的服务舱,并原计划在未来任务中(包括登月)派遣宇航员。

但美国航天局NASA近期对阿耳忒弥斯计划的后续安排进行了重大调整,取消了原本计划中的月球轨道空间站项目,也未明确说明欧洲是否还能获得登月席位。

在肯尼迪中心,欧洲航天局(European Space Agency)总干事约瑟夫·阿施巴赫(Josef Aschbacher)向法新社表示,他将需要与新任NASA负责人贾里德·艾萨克曼(Jared Isaacman)会面,就相关席位进行谈判。

US lifts sanctions on Venezuelan interim leader Delcy Rodríguez

REUTERS/Leonardo Fernandez Viloria Venezuela's interim leader Delcy Rodríguez speaks into a microphone during a meeting with US Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, on 4 March. She is wearing a red jacket and black-rimmed glasses. REUTERS/Leonardo Fernandez Viloria

The United States has lifted sanctions on Venezuela's interim president, Delcy Rodríguez.

The move comes less than three months after US forces seized the country's previous leader, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife in a military raid in Caracas and took them to New York to face drug trafficking charges.

Rodríguez, a close ally of Maduro who served as his vice-president, had been placed on the sanctions list in 2018, with the US accusing her of undermining democracy.

She was sworn in as interim president by Venezuela's National Assembly, which is dominated by Maduro loyalists, days after the US raid and has been described by Trump as "a terrific person".

Rodríguez welcomed her removal from the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List.

Those named on the list have their assets in the United States blocked and US nationals are barred from doing business from them.

In a post on X, Rodríguez called it "a significant step in the right direction to normalise and strengthen relations between our countries".

White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said the move showed the progress that had been made "between our two countries to promote stability, support economic recovery, and advance political reconciliation in Venezuela".

"As President Trump has said, Delcy Rodríguez is doing a great job and is working with the United States very well," Kelly added.

Opposition activists in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, however, were critical of the move, arguing that the US should exert pressure on Rodríguez to release all political prisoners still held in the country's jails.

The release of political prisoners had been one of the key demands US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had made of Rodríguez in the wake of Maduro's removal.

And while the National Assembly has passed an amnesty law and hundreds of detainees have been freed, prisoners' rights group Foro Penal says that almost 500 political prisoners remain behind bars.

The lifting of sanctions is the latest sign of warming relations between the Trump administration and Rodríguez's team.

Earlier this week, the US officially reopened its embassy in Caracas, seven years after closing it.

A Venezuelan diplomatic team has also been dispatched to the US to reopen its embassy in Washington.

In the months since Maduro's removal from office, several high-level US delegations have travelled to Venezuela to discuss how the US can expand its access to Venezuela's oil and mineral wealth.

Critics of Rodríguez however have bemoaned the fact that there has been little talk of democratic elections.

Opposition leader María Corina Machado, who has been living in exile since leaving Venezuela to collect the Nobel Peace Prize she was awarded in December, met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday.

Despite having been sidelined by Trump in favour of Rodríguez, Machado struck an optimistic note, calling the meeting "excellent" and praising the secretary of state's "dedication to democracy, freedom and Venezuelans' well-being".

Speaking to Fox News after the meeting, Rubio insisted that the US was making progress in Venezuela.

Pointing to the three-prong plan he said the US was pursuing, he assured viewers that Venezuela had moved into the second phase: that of recovery.

"Ultimately, there will have to be a transition phase. There will have to be free and fair elections in Venezuela, and that point has to come," he said.

"It's not forever, but we have to be patient, but we also can't be complacent," he said without giving an indication as to when elections could be held in Venezuela.

Iconic 19th Century painting sets Indian art record with $17.9m sale

Saffronart A woman wearing a green blouse and a blue saree is seen milking a cow in the oil portrait. A child, who is Hindu deity Krishna, is seen standing next to her wearing jewellery. Saffronart
Raja Ravi Varma painted Yashoda and Krishna in the 1890s

A 19th Century painting by iconic artist Raja Ravi Varma has become the most expensive Indian artwork ever sold, setting a new auction record.

The painting, Yashoda and Krishna, was sold for 1.67bn rupees ($17.9m; £13.6m) at a Saffronart auction in Delhi on Wednesday. It beat the previous record set by MF Husain's Untitled (Gram Yatra) which fetched $13.8m last year.

The surge in sales and records highlight growing demand for Indian and South Asian art, with collectors pushing prices to new highs.

Varma, who was born in 1848 in what is now the southern state of Kerala, is widely regarded as a pioneer of modern Indian painting and one of the most influential artists from the subcontinent.

The painting was bought by billionaire businessman Cyrus Poonawalla, founder and managing director of Serum Institute of India, one of the world's largest vaccine producers.

In a statement released by Saffronart, Poonawalla described the work as a "national treasure", adding that it "deserves to be made available for public viewing periodically".

"It will be my endeavour to facilitate this going forward," he said.

Varma's works have been classified as "art treasure" under India's Antiquities and Art Treasures Act, which means that they cannot be exported and can be sold only to Indian buyers.

Minal Vazirani, president and co-founder of Saffronart, said that the valuation was a "powerful reminder of the enduring cultural and emotional resonance of Indian art".

Ashish Anand, CEO and managing director of DAG (formerly Delhi Art Gallery), said that the impact of the record sale would percolate down to the art market, "giving rise to Indian art being viewed as a serious financial asset and beyond its value for aesthetics and personal delight".

According to Saffronart's catalogue, the work was put up for auction by a private collector.

Getty Images A week-long exhibition organised commemorating the 174th birth anniversary of Raja Ravi Varma at Institute of Oriental Studies, in Thane, on May 7, 2022 in Mumbai, India.Getty Images
Raja Ravi Varma bridged the gap between European academic techniques and Indian tradition

Varma's realistic depictions of scenes from Hindu epics and mythology are widely recognised in India - so much so that prints of his works are often found in household shrines.

Yashoda and Krishna is an oil-on-canvas painting from the 1890s, when Varma was at the height of his career. It portrays a sweet moment between Hindu deity Krishna as a child and his foster mother Yashoda.

In the painting, Yashoda is seen milking a cow, while Krishna stands beside her holding a cup and waiting. The child has a mischievous look in his eyes while Yashoda's face reflects warmth and care. Their ornaments are minimal, but intricately detailed.

"Varma's genius lies in this very balance: the sacred rendered through the familiar," the Raja Ravi Varma Heritage Foundation, which promotes and preserves Varma's legacy, wrote in an Instagram post last month, before the auction.

"The textures of silk, the gleam of jewellery, the softness of skin and the gentle stillness of the cow together create a scene that is both devotional and intimate."

The image of Krishna and Yashoda has long inspired artists across South Asia, who have depicted them in songs, temple carvings and local painting traditions. But Varma portrayed them in a more natural way, as art historians have noted.

Artist A Ramachandran wrote that while an "iconographical image of god [usually] evoked awe and not love and affection", Varma changed that, breaking the distance between Krishna and the person looking at the painting.

The record sale also spotlights how collectors are increasingly willing to pay a premium for Indian art which has historical and cultural significance.

Anand of DAG told the BBC that there is a "clear shift in how Indian art is being perceived".

"As the market matures and benchmarks rise, collectors are recognising both its cultural and financial value," he said, adding that fundamentally, it was quality that was driving this momentum.

"The best works - those with provenance, rarity and historical significance - are now commanding extraordinary prices, reflecting the maturing of the market."

Experts add that exclusivity is also pushing prices higher. Many masterpieces by artists such as Varma, Amrita Sher-Gil and VS Gaitonde are either in private collections or rarely come up for auction.

There is also a growing recognition of mythology as a serious and desirable genre within the global art market, Anand said.

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