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Kyiv (Ukraine) (AFP) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday said Ukraine's army was still fighting in Russia's Kursk a day after Moscow claimed the "full liberation" of its western region.

Kyiv had hoped it could use land in the Kursk region as a bargaining chip in future peace talks with Russia, which has seized parts of eastern and southern Ukraine since launching its offensive in February 2022.

"Our military continues to actively defend the designated areas of the Kursk and Belgorod regions," Zelensky said on Telegram, adding that the situation remained difficult in many areas including Kursk.

Russia said on Saturday it had captured Gornal, the last settlement that was under Ukrainian control in its border Kursk region, where Kyiv launched a shock offensive in August 2024.

Yet hours later Ukraine's army denied its forces had been forced out, branding Russia's claim as "propaganda tricks".

"The situation on the front lines and the actual activities of the Russian army prove that the current pressure on Russia to end this war is not enough," Zelensky said, calling for increased pressure on Russia to create more opportunities for "real diplomacy".

Gaza City (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza announced Sunday that the death toll from the war had risen to more than 52,000 people, after hundreds previously listed as missing were confirmed dead.

"An additional 697 martyrs have been added to the cumulative statistics after their data was completed and verified by the committee monitoring missing persons," the health ministry said in a statement, giving the overall toll of 52,243.

Several United Nations agencies that operate in Gaza have said the ministry's data is credible and they are frequently cited by international organisations.

One hospital in the Palestinian territory confirmed the data and elaborated on the process.

"The families of those initially reported missing had informed authorities of their disappearance, but their bodies were subsequently recovered -— either from beneath the rubble or from areas previously inaccessible to medical teams due to the presence of the Israeli army," said Khalil al-Daqran, spokesman for Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.

He said the ministry’s release of the 697 figure came after a "judicial committee" that collects and checks data completed its documentation, "confirming their martyrdom and transferring their status from missing persons to martyrs."

When asked why such a large number was announced simultaneously, the Hamas government's Media Office in Gaza explained that statistics are released periodically.

It is not the first time the health ministry has made such a revision.

"Because the judicial committee issues its report periodically rather than daily. They follow their own procedural protocols, and once their report was finalised, it was officially adopted," Ismail al-Thawabta, director general of the Media Office, told AFP.

With Gaza largely in ruins after more than 18 months of war, the health ministry has struggled to count the death toll.

But neither the Israeli military nor top Israeli officials have denied the scale of the overall toll.

Vancouver (AFP) – A driver killed at least nine people when he plowed a vehicle through a crowd at a Filipino cultural celebration in Vancouver, police in the Canadian city said Sunday.

The Filipino community had gathered in Vancouver's Sunset on Fraser neighborhood on Saturday evening when festivalgoers were hit.

"We can confirm nine people have died after a man drove through a crowd at last night's Lapu Lapu Festival," Vancouver police said on X.

The festival, which commemorates a Filipino anti-colonial leader from the 16th century, falls this year on the weekend before Canada's election.

Police said they have arrested a "lone suspect" -- a 30-year-old man from Vancouver who was known to them -- and were not treating the incident as an "act of terrorism."

An AFP reporter saw police officers at the scene, with parts of the festival venue cordoned off.

Prime Minister Mark Carney said he was "devastated" by the "horrific events."

"I offer my deepest condolences to the loved ones of those killed and injured, to the Filipino Canadian community, and to everyone in Vancouver," he wrote on X.

Footage posted online and verified by AFP shows a black SUV with a damaged hood parked on a street littered with debris, meters from first aiders tending to people lying on the ground.

Eyewitness Dale Selipe told the Vancouver Sun that she saw injured children on the street after the vehicle rammed into the crowd.

"We are still finding the words to express the deep heartbreak brought on by this senseless tragedy," community group Filipino BC, the organizer of the Saturday event, said in an Instagram statement.

"We are focused on supporting our community right now, in addition to experiencing this trauma." 'Bodies everywhere'

Festival security guard Jen Idaba-Castaneto told local news site Vancouver Is Awesome that she saw "bodies everywhere."

"You don't know who to help, here or there," she said.

The Philippine consulate in Vancouver said in a Facebook statement it "expresses its deep concern and sympathies to the victims of the horrific incident."

British Columbia premier David Eby said he was "shocked & heartbroken" by the news, while city mayor Ken Sim said "our thoughts are with all those affected and with Vancouver's Filipino community during this incredibly difficult time."

Saturday's event featured a parade, a film screening, dancing and a concert, with two members of the Black Eyed Peas featured on the lineup published by the organizers.

Lapu Lapu Day is celebrated in the Philippines in remembrance of Indigenous chief Lapulapu, who led his men to defeat Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan in battle in 1521.

Canadians go to the polls Monday after a frenetic election race where candidates have wooed voters on issues including rising living costs and tackling US President Donald Trump's tariffs.

Carney is favored to win after assuring voters he can stand up to Washington's barrage of sweeping tariffs.

Philippines (AFP) – Missiles fired off the coast of the northern Philippines Sunday as US and Filipino forces conducted their first integrated defence drills, hours after China said it had seized control of a reef claimed by Manila.

The Philippines and China have been engaged in months of confrontations over the South China Sea, which Beijing claims nearly in its entirety despite an international ruling that its assertion has no legal basis.

As many as 17,000 personnel are participating in the annual "Balikatan" exercises, which this year will simulate a "full-scale battle scenario" as the treaty allies seek to deter China's ambitions in the disputed waterway.

Chinese state broadcaster CCTV on Saturday reported that the country's coast guard had "implemented maritime control" over Tiexian Reef, also known as Sandy Cay, this month.

The tiny sandbank, part of the Spratly Islands, lies near Thitu Island, also called Pag-asa and site of a Philippine military facility.

The Philippine government has yet to formally respond to the claim.

In coastal Zambales province, hours north of the capital Manila, AFP journalists watched Sunday as the US Marine Corp's new MADIS short-range air defence system knocked a pair of drones from the sky.

The coastal defence exercise saw MADIS work in concert with the Philippines' SPYDER missile system, defending it from drone attack as it targeted simulated incoming cruise missiles.

"MADIS is short-range. SPYDER is more of a medium-range capability (and they) both engaged different threats," said Matthew Sladek, commander of the US 3rd Littoral Anti-Air Battalion.

"The more we work together, that only ... enhances our collective lethality."

Chinese warships have been spotted in waters near the Philippines since the Balikatan exercises kicked off last week.

The aircraft carrier Shandong on April 22 "was detected underway 2.23 nautical miles (about four kilometres) southwest" of the Philippines' far northern Babuyan Island, the navy reported.

On Sunday, the Philippine Navy said three other vessels had been spotted a day before about 60 kilometres from Zambales.

US defence secretary Pete Hegseth last month told an audience in Manila that the United States was "doubling down" on its alliance with the country, noting the necessity of deterrence "considering the threats from the Communist Chinese".

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun has since slammed the Balikatan exercises as a blow to regional stability.

On Monday, Balikatan will continue with troops simulating defending against an enemy landing force along a stretch of southern Palawan island.

Tehran (AFP) – Fires were still blazing on Sunday after a massive explosion tore through Iran's largest commercial port the day before, killing at least 25 people and leaving hundreds more injured, according to local media.

The blast occurred Saturday at Shahid Rajaee Port in southern Iran, near the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of world oil output passes.

The port's customs office said in a statement carried by state television that the explosion probably resulted from a fire that broke out at the hazardous and chemical materials storage depot. A regional emergency official said several containers had exploded.

The New York Times quoted a person with ties to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss security matters, as saying that what exploded was sodium perchlorate -- a major ingredient in solid fuel for missiles.

Iranian news agency Tasnim, citing the provincial judiciary chief, gave an updated toll on Sunday of 25 people killed. State TV said around 800 people were injured.

Live footage on Sunday showed thick black smoke still visible at the scene.

"The fire is under control but still not out," a state TV correspondent reported from the site around 20 hours after the blast.

The explosion was so powerful that it was felt and heard about 50 kilometres (30 miles) away, Fars news agency reported.

Speaking Sunday at the scene, Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni said that "the situation has stabilised in the main areas" of the port.

He told state TV that workers had resumed loading containers and customs clearance.

Images from news agency IRNA on Saturday showed rescuers and survivors walking along a wide boulevard carpeted with debris after the blast at Shahid Rajaee, more than 1,000 kilometres south of Tehran.

Flames could be seen engulfing a truck trailer and blood stained the side of a crushed car, while a helicopter dropped water on massive black smoke clouds billowing from behind stacked shipping containers.

"The shockwave was so strong that most of the port buildings were severely damaged," Tasnim news agency reported.

Citing local emergency services, state TV reported that hundreds of casualties "have been transferred to nearby medical centres", while the provincial blood transfusion centre issued a call for donations.

Saturday is the start of the working week in Iran, meaning the port would have been busy with employees.

Three Chinese nationals were "lightly injured", China's state broadcaster CCTV reported, citing its Bandar Abbas consulate.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian expressed sympathy for the victims of the deadly blast, adding he had "issued an order to investigate the situation and the causes".

The United Arab Emirates expressed "solidarity with Iran" over the explosion and Saudi Arabia sent condolences.

With choking smoke and air pollution spreading throughout the area, all schools and offices in Bandar Abbas, the nearby capital of Hormozgan province, have been ordered closed on Sunday to allow authorities to focus on the emergency effort, state TV said.

The health ministry urged residents to avoid going outside "until further notice" and to use protective masks.

Authorities declared three days of public mourning across the province.

The state-owned National Iranian Oil Products Distribution Company said in a statement carried by local media that the explosion "has no connection" to its facilities, reporting no interruption to its work in Bandar Abbas.

The explosion came as Iranian and US delegations met in Oman for high-level talks on Tehran's nuclear programme, with both sides reporting progress.

While Iranian authorities so far appear to be treating the blast as an accident, it also comes against the backdrop of years of shadow war with regional foe Israel.

According to the Washington Post, Israel in 2020 launched a cyberattack targeting the Shahid Rajaee Port.

Qamishli (Syria) (AFP) – Syria's Kurdish parties on Saturday adopted a joint political vision calling for a "decentralised democratic" state in Syria with guarantees for Kurdish rights.

Their statement came at the end of a conference held in Qamishli, northeastern Syria, where a top Kurdish official disputed suggestions that the meeting sought division following the fall of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad.

Syria's new Islamist-led rulers seek to establish government control over the entire country since they ousted Assad in December after more than 13 years of civil war.

Marginalised and repressed during decades of Assad family rule, Kurdish-led forces took advantage of the civil war to establish de facto autonomy in the north and northeast.

Syria's new government vision puts into question the status of that authority.

Mohamad Ismail, a high-ranking official in the Kurdish National Council, announced at the close of the conference the "joint Kurdish political vision, expressing a collective will and a realistic project for a fair solution to the Kurdish issue in Syria, as a decentralised democratic state".

The statement, closing the "Unity of the Kurdish Position and Ranks" conference, said the vision "ensures constitutional rights for the Kurdish people, adheres to international human rights treaties, preserves women's freedom and rights".

The statement also called for the vision to be "a basis for national dialogue" between Kurdish forces and the new administration in Damascus.

More than 400 people, including representatives from major Kurdish parties in Syria, Turkey and Iraq's Kurdistan region took part in the conference, according to the Kurdish Anha news agency.

Among the delegates were the Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) as well as groups opposed to it. 'Unity of Syria'

Last month, Syria's presidency announced an agreement to integrate the institutions of the autonomous Kurdish administration into the national government.

But that agreement has not prevented the Kurdish authorities from criticising Syria's new authorities.

The Kurdish-led administration rejected a new national government formed last month, saying it does not reflect the country's diversity.

They levelled a similar criticism against last month's constitutional declaration that concentrated executive power in the hands of interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa during a transition period.

Mazloum Abdi, head of the Syrian Democratic Forces, the Kurdish administration's de facto army, said at the conference that "my message to all Syrian constituents and the Damascus government is that the conference does not aim, as some say, at division".

It was being held, he added, "for the unity of Syria".

The US-backed SDF played a key role in the fight against the Islamic State group, which was defeated in its last Syrian territorial stronghold in 2019.

"We support all Syrian components receiving their rights in the constitution to be able to build a decentralised democratic Syria that embraces everyone," Abdi said.

In a post shared on social media platform X, AANES official Bedran Ciya Kurd said the conference marked a "historic moment" that will allow Kurds to "play a leading role in the radical democratic transformations in Syria".

"This blessed step should be a source of hope, optimism, and relief for all Syrians for their unity and strength, not a reason for reservation or fear," he added.

Most of the country's oil and gas fields are in areas administered by the Kurdish authorities. These may prove a crucial resource for Syria's new authorities as they seek to rebuild the impoverished, war-devastated country.

Thousands of young people across Turkey are protesting against the jailing of Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s main rival. Many say they no longer fear prison, claiming they have nothing left to lose.

University students were among the first to take to the streets after Imamoglu was detained last month. They believe his arrest was politically motivated, though the government denies this.

“We are all sick and tired of the oppression that has been going on for such a while, and we are all fed up with it,” said an Istanbul university student who did not want to be named for fear of retribution.

“All these things that happened to Ekrem Imamoglu and all the other political people that are sent to jail, we are just fed up. We can't take it anymore, so we are here to protest against the government.”

For another student, the protests go beyond Imamoglu’s case.

“Everyone realises that it is not just a problem about Ekrem Imamoglu. We have a lot of problems in our country because of the economy, the inflation, because of the justice, because of the femicide, we have a lot of problems with our country,” she said.

The protests are the largest seen against Erdogan’s government in more than 10 years.

Until now, political apathy, a weak opposition and a harsh crackdown on dissent have left few willing to challenge Erdogan’s AK Party. But the country’s youth are emerging as a key force for change.

“They were really the ones that carried the first protests, they were the vanguards,” said Sezin Oney, a political commentator with Halk TV.

Oney said many young people are losing hope due to widespread nepotism and corruption.

“If you are not connected to somebody, even if you get the best education, then it does not matter; you have to have connections; this is how they are feeling," she said.

"They are striving for certain values; they are describing it as something that has to do with justice, with democracy, everything this government doesn't represent."

Turkey’s youth have grown up in a country where 90 percent of the media is controlled by the state or its allies, and schools are designed to produce what Erdogan once called a loyal, pious generation.

But that goal seems out of reach. “An overwhelming majority of the young people right now in Turkey prefer a pluralistic democratic system to a one-man strong system,” said Can Selcuki, head of Istanbul Economics Research, a polling firm.

Selcuki said the sharp divides between secular and religious youth, once used by Erdogan to hold onto power, are fading as shared economic problems take centre stage. Turkey faces double-digit inflation and high youth unemployment.

“As the economy is spiralling down, these young people find more common denominators in this worsening economy, making identity leverages disappear,” said Selcuki.

“So the bad situation of the economy is bringing these young people together in a more socio-economic level, from a more class perspective.”

The unrest has now spread to high schools, after the government decided to redeploy tens of thousands of teachers. Pupils in schools across the country have staged rare protests.

Erdogan has reportedly asked his party to investigate the causes of the growing discontent.

For now, the government is vowing to crack down. Court cases have begun against hundreds of protestors, most of them students, with prosecutors seeking up to three-year prison terms.

Many detainees say they were beaten in custody, which authorities deny.

New laws are also being discussed to curb further unrest. “There is a new crime they (the government) are trying to formulate, ‘disturbing the public order.’ When you create this crime, then you can arrest basically anyone,” said Oney.

“But I don't think it will succeed. The thing is especially the youth is thinking they have nothing to lose, they have reached their tipping point. There will be more arrests and more protests, it will be a vicious cycle, unfortunately.”

Turkey is already seeing record numbers of highly educated people leave the country, but many young protestors say leaving is not an option. For them, staying and resisting is the only choice they have left.

Moscow (AFP) – The Russian army has fully liberated the border Kursk region from Ukrainian control with the help of North Korean soldiers, Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov said on Saturday, admitting their participation in the conflict for the first time.

Gerasimov especially hailed the "heroism" of the North Korean soldiers taking part in the operation, who "provided significant assistance in defeating the group of Ukrainian armed forces".

But shortly after the Ukrainian army denied Russia's claim to have driven Kyiv's forces out of Kursk, saying that "statements by the enemy leadership about the 'defeat' of the Ukrainian troops are nothing more than propaganda tricks".

However, the Ukrainian Chief of Staff acknowledged the situation on the battlefield was "difficult", while insisting Ukrainian forces were still holding positions in Kursk.

The Ukrainian army said it was also continuing operations in some areas of Belgorod, another Russia's border region.

According to South Korean and Western intelligence agencies, more than 10,000 soldiers from North Korea were sent to Russia last year to help Moscow fight Ukraine's shock offensive in Kursk.

Kyiv had hoped it could use land in the Kursk region as a bargaining chip in future peace talks with Russia, which has seized parts of eastern and southern Ukraine since its offensive began in 2022.

"Today, the last settlement in the Kursk region, the village of Gornal, has been liberated from Ukrainian forces," Gerasimov said during a video conference meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"The Kyiv regime's adventure has completely failed," Putin told Gerasimov, thanking the soldiers for the service and saying that Kursk's liberation will create the conditions for further advances at other parts of the front.

The news of Kursk's claimed recapture came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky discussed efforts to reach a "full and unconditional ceasefire" with US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of Pope Francis's funeral at the Vatican.

Russian troops are now at the border and are poised to beef up threats to the Ukrainian region of Sumy, which faces Kursk, where Moscow has already carried out incursions in recent weeks.

Islamabad (AFP) – Pakistan's leader announced his readiness to defend the country on Saturday, after New Delhi blamed a deadly attack in Indian-run Kashmir on Islamabad, sending already fraught relations into a tailspin with soldiers exchanging gunfire across their contested frontier.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also called for a "neutral investigation", with India accusing Pakistan of supporting "cross-border terrorism" after gunmen carried out the worst attack on civilians in Kashmir for a quarter of a century.

Islamabad denies involvement in the April 22 attack on tourists in Pahalgam, where a gang of gunmen killed 26 men.

"Our valiant armed forces remain fully capable and prepared to defend the country's sovereignty," Sharif said at a military ceremony in Abbottabad.

Both sides have imposed a slew of diplomatic measures, and exchanged gunfire in Kashmir two times in as many days.

India's army said "unprovoked" small arms firing was carried out by "multiple" Pakistan army posts overnight.

"Indian troops responded appropriately with small arms," it said in a statement, adding that no casualties were reported.

There was no immediate confirmation from Pakistan, but both sides had confirmed gunfire between their respective forces the previous night.

The United Nations has urged the neighbours, which have fought multiple wars, to show "maximum restraint".

Iran's foreign ministry said Saturday that Tehran has offered to play mediator, a day after a senior Saudi official said Riyadh was trying to "prevent an escalation".

US President Donald Trump has downplayed the tensions, saying that the dispute will get "figured out, one way or another".

Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since their independence in 1947. Both claim the territory in full but govern separate portions of it.

Rebel groups have waged an insurgency in Indian-controlled Kashmir since 1989, demanding independence or a merger with Pakistan.

Indian security forces have launched a giant manhunt for those responsible for the attack in Pahalgam, with police naming two Pakistani nationals among the fugitives.

Indian police say three of the gunmen are members of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba group, a UN-designated terrorist organisation, and issued a bounty for their arrest.

Indian troops blew up homes in Kashmir in their search and issued wanted posters with sketches of three men.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said his country would "track and punish every terrorist and their backer", vowing to "pursue them to the ends of the Earth".

Pakistan's Sharif said the country was "open to participating in any neutral, transparent and credible investigation" in the attack.

A day after the attack, New Delhi suspended a water-sharing treaty, announced the closure of the main land border crossing with Pakistan, downgraded diplomatic ties, and withdrew visas for Pakistanis.

Islamabad in response ordered the expulsion of Indian diplomats and military advisers, cancelling visas for Indian nationals -- with the exception of Sikh pilgrims -- and closing the main border crossing from its side.

Pakistan also warned that any attempt by India to stop water supplies from the Indus River would be an "act of war".

At the frontier, created at the end of British rule when the sub-continent was partitioned into Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan, distraught citizens crossed.

The measures have abruptly ended rare visits to see relatives separated for generations by the border.

Among those at the Wagah border leaving Pakistan was 39-year-old Ghaffar Musafir, who was returning to his home in Indian-administered Kashmir.

"I'm Indian. I love India, but my family is here," he said. "And it's not like I hate Pakistan. I love Pakistan too."

Pahalgam marks a dramatic shift in recent Kashmiri rebel attacks, which typically target Indian security forces.

Experts say that an Indian military response may still be in the pipeline.

In 2019, a suicide attack killed 41 Indian troops in Kashmir and triggered Indian air strikes inside Pakistan, bringing the countries to the brink of all-out war.

United Nations (United States) (AFP) – A treaty to protect the high seas will not come to life by the time the UN Oceans Conference opens in June, but persistence by member states has nudged the landmark pact towards enactment.

Adopted in June 2023 after years of exhausting negotiations, the pact aims to protect marine habitats vital to humanity but threatened by pollution in vast waters beyond any national jurisdiction.

It now has 113 signatories, but just 21 have ratified it.

After the past two weeks of United Nations meetings in New York -- with the conspicuous absence of the United States -- negotiators came "one step closer to shaping the institutional backbone" of the agreement, said Nichola Clark of the Pew Charitable Trusts after the first preparatory commission for the treaty's entry into force.

However, as the treaty can only take effect 120 days after the 60th ratification, there is no chance of its enactment happening before the UN Oceans Conference gathers in Nice, France on June 9-13.

Experts now hope the 60-ratification threshold can be reached by June so the treaty can still take effect this year.

The Nice summit will feature dozens of heads of state and will be preceded by a conference bringing together 2,000 scientists from around 100 countries.

A special ceremony in Nice on June 9 will serve as "a unique opportunity to reaffirm our collective political commitment" to the treaty's implementation, French delegation head Sandrine Barbier said.

In a sign of growing enthusiasm, the opening preparatory commission moved more quickly than expected through discussions on multiple issues, including formulation of a system to exchange information between the parties.

There was "a lot of love in the room" for the treaty during the preparatory meetings, High Seas Alliance director Rebecca Hubbard told AFP, describing the text as "one of our best opportunities to deliver action to protect the ocean."

And beyond the technical elements, said Pew's Clark, "there's been some exciting progress and movement" on the issue of marine protected areas that are emblematic of the treaty.

Overall enthusiasm was dampened however by the absence of the United States -- which had signed on to the treaty under Joe Biden's administration but did not ratify it -- and a shock announcement by Donald Trump on a major, controversial issue for the oceans: deep-sea mining.

On Thursday, the US president opened the door to commercial extraction of rare earth minerals from the ocean floor, including in international waters, bypassing the jurisdiction of the International Seabed Authority, of which Washington is not a member.

Trump's executive order "is an insult to multilateralism and a slap in the face to all the countries and millions of people around the world who oppose this dangerous industry," said Arlo Hemphill, project lead on Greenpeace USA's campaign to stop deep-sea mining.

"This is a clear sign that the US will no longer be a global leader on protecting the oceans, which support all life on this planet."

Governments worldwide have put forward a goal to protect 30 percent of the world's land and ocean by 2030.

Washington (AFP) – Developing countries should strike swift trade deals with the United States at the "earliest possible" opportunity, the president of the World Bank told AFP Friday, after a busy week with global financial leaders in Washington.

Ajay Banga was interviewed by AFP at the World Bank and International Monetary Fund's Spring Meetings, which have been held this year under a cloud of uncertainty about President Donald Trump's stop-start tariff rollout.

The Bank has been advising developing countries to get a deal done quickly with the United States, and to then focus attention on cutting trade barriers and boosting regional flows of goods, Banga said.

"You need to negotiate trade systems with the US at the earliest possible (opportunity)," he said. "If you delay, it hurts everyone."

Trump's tariffs have roiled financial markets, sent volatility surging and spooked investors and consumers.

Since returning to office in January, the US leader has imposed a "baseline" 10 percent tariff on most countries, with much higher duties on China, and 25 percent sector-specific levies on areas including steel, aluminum, and automobiles not manufactured in the United States.

He also introduced much higher tariffs on dozens of countries -- which have since been temporarily paused -- accusing them of having an unfair trade balance with the United States.

Banga also addressed the criticism leveled by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent at the Bank earlier this week.

Bessent criticized China's "absurd" developing country status and called on Banga and IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva to "earn the confidence of the administration."

"I don't think he's wrong," Banga said of Bessent's comments on China.

"A country that is the size of China and the capability of China, at some point, should no longer be taking money from IBRD," he said, referring to the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development -- an arm of the World Bank that lends largely to middle-income countries.

Such a move would require the support of the World Bank's executive board, which is made up by member states.

China, Banga said, borrowed around $750 million from the IBRD last year, while paying billions of dollars to the institution in repayments and donations.

"My view is, I've brought it down to 750 (million), and I'm trying to figure out a way to deal with China to bring it down further," he said. "I want to get it done. And that's what I'm talking to the Chinese about."

Banga said the Trump administration's criticisms of the World Bank, which included "expansive policy overreach," were not unusual, citing newly elected governments in countries including France, Japan and Korea.

"I keep telling people this is a perfectly constructive request, to say, tell me and show me that you guys are the kind of people that advance the interests of my taxpayer, of my country," he said.

"I take it in that spirit," he said. "There's nothing wrong with it."

Since taking the helm of the Washington-based development lender in 2023, Banga has pushed to streamline operations and encourage private sector participation, while focusing on job creation and electricity connectivity.

Among the Bank's current priorities is a push with the African Development Bank to connect 300 million people in sub-Saharan Africa to electricity by 2030 -- a process that will require a vast amount of new energy to be brought online.

"You should try and get (energy) in the best, accessible way and the lowest possible cost," Banga said, suggesting that in addition to renewable power, nuclear and gas could help provide a base load -- two energy sources the World Bank is currently hesitant to finance.

The Bank's executive board is set to discuss its energy strategy in June, Banga said, adding that funding for both nuclear and gas would likely be on the agenda.

Banga said the Bank is also pushing to encourage private sector job creation in developing countries -- beyond simply outsourcing jobs from advanced economies.

"Because then you end up with challenges in (advanced economies), and you can see that people are speaking about them with their votes," he added.

Caracas (AFP) – Venezuela's attorney general accused Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele of "human trafficking" and suggested he face international justice for accepting cash to jail deportees from the United States.

Over 230 Venezuelans were flown in March to Bukele's notorious CECOT prison, along with around a dozen Salvadorans, under a $6 million deal struck by President Donald Trump's government.

Venezuela reacted furiously to the deportations -- which have also prompted a fierce legal debate in the United States -- and has demanded the men's "unconditional release."

In an interview with AFP in Caracas late Thursday, Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek William Saab took aim at Bukele, suggesting he was little better than a people smuggler.

"He is committing the crime of human trafficking," the prosecutor said. "It is a dirty business."

"International justice will be done against Bukele on this issue," said Saab, who along with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has been subject to US sanctions for years over allegedly suppressing their country's democratic opposition.

The Trump administration has painted the deported men as dangerous blood-crazed gang members, a claim for which they have provided scant evidence.

Some have been charged in US courts with violent offenses, but many have not.

Family members for several of the men staunchly deny any link to gangs and say their loved ones were scooped up for little more than being Venezuelan, migrants and having tattoos.

Slickly produced footage of their arrival in El Salvador -- including chained and tattooed men having their heads shaved and being frog-marched by masked guards -- was widely promoted by both the Salvadoran and US governments.

US judges have ruled that at least one Salvadoran and one Venezuelan were wrongly deported and should be returned to the United States, orders that Trump and his ally Bukele have so far ignored.

"The Venezuelans who were deprived of their liberty in El Salvador resided in the United States without having previously committed any crime in that country" said Saab "much less in El Salvador."

The White House insists that aside from having gang links, the men were in the United States illegally and are therefore criminals.