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France returns sacred talking drum looted from Côte d’Ivoire over 100 years ago

A sacred artefact looted by French colonial authorities more than a century ago has been returned to Côte d’Ivoire in one of the most significant cultural restitutions to a former French colony in years. The Djidji Ayôkwé, a talking drum confiscated in 1916 by French administrators, landed at 8.45am on Friday at the airport in Port Bouët on the outskirts of the economic capital, Abidjan. It was handed over to Ivorian officials in Paris earlier this month after being removed from the Quai Branly – Jacques Chirac Museum. Aboussou Guy Mobio, chief of the Adjamé-Bingerville community, said: “After a long stay away from this land, it is returning to its own people and it is an honour for us and a relief to welcome it,. This is the missing piece of the puzzle that is returning today … Receiving this sacred instrument is a relief, but it is also another form of connection with our ancestors who were very close to this instrument.” Talking drums are hourglass-shaped pressure drums designed to mimic the tone, pitch and rhythm of human speech. The 4-metre Djidji Ayôkwé, which weighs 430kg, held cultural and political significance to the Ebrié people – after whom the lagoon in Abidjan is named – as a symbol of resistance. Before and during colonial times, it was used to send messages over several miles to announce deaths or celebrations – and in some cases, alert villages about coming danger. After villagers resisted forced labour on a road in one incident in 1916, colonial authorities seized it and carted it away to France. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, promised to return the drum in 2021, but it took four years of discussions and lobbying for the French parliament to ratify and approve the decision. “I feel deep emotion. We are indeed experiencing a moment of justice and remembrance,” Françoise Remarck, minister of culture and Francophonie in Côte d’Ivoire, said in her speech on Friday. She thanked President Alassane Ouattara and Macron for what she called “a historic day”. Then she addressed the drum, saying: “Djidji Ayôkwé, today your return is a message for our youth who have chosen to reclaim their history, and for the communities … a symbol of social cohesion, peace and dialogue … 13 March is just one step.” As a forklift operator rolled the wooden crate holding the drum from the aircraft, a cultural troupe broke into the traditional tchaman dance. Another ceremony is expected to herald the permanent installation of the drum at the Musée des Civilisations de Côte d’Ivoire in the Plateau administrative district, at a later date believed to be in April. In readiness for the exhibition to the public, Unesco has donated $100,000 (£75,400) through its Abidjan office for research and training at the museum. Sylvie Memel Kassi, former director of the museum and founder of the TAPA Foundation for Arts and Culture, said the drum’s return to Ivorian soil paved the way for more restitution. “We are studying eight other objects,” she said, referring to the Ivorian and French authorities.

Hegseth claims Iran is unable to build more weapons and that new supreme leader is ‘likely disfigured’ – Middle East crisis live

Israel’s military said it struck the Zrarieh Bridge spanning the Litani River early on Friday, in what appears to be the first time Israel has acknowledged attacking civilian infrastructure in Lebanon since the conflict began. Reuters reports that Israeli defence minister Israel Katz said on Friday that the Lebanese government “will pay increasing costs through damage to infrastructure and loss of territory” until Hezbollah is disarmed. “This is only the beginning,” Katz said.

Israeli-backed Palestinian militias step up operations against Hamas in Gaza

Pro-Israel Palestinian militia have launched repeated raids, clandestine assassination and abduction operations deep inside parts of Gaza controlled by Hamas in recent months, with new operations launched recently despite the outbreak of conflict with Iran. The militia, which are all based in eastern parts of Gaza that are under Israeli control after a ceasefire came into effect in October, have received significant logistic support from Israel since last year but appear to have increased their firepower, allowing new and more aggressive attacks in recent weeks. Israeli strikes in Gaza, which had averaged around 10 per day across the devastated territory over the last five months, have continued even as Israeli jets carry out bombing campaigns in Iran and Lebanon. On Sunday, an Israeli airstrike and tank shelling killed six Palestinians, including two women and a girl, in separate attacks in Gaza City, the deadliest incidents ‌in Gaza since the US-Israeli offensive on Iran began, health officials said. At least 16 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza by airstrikes since the outbreak of war with Iran on 28 February, health officials say. The most powerful among the Israeli-backed militia are the Popular Forces, based around the ruins of Rafah in the south of Gaza, and the Strike Force Against Terror, which operates east of the shattered city of Khan Younis. Both have struck into Hamas-controlled territory in recent weeks. Israel has tasked the militia with security duties within the zone it controls and deployed armed men from the Popular Forces at the Rafah crossing to Egypt after it partially opened last month. Days later, the UN human rights office (OHCHR) warned of “a pattern of ill-treatment, abuse and humiliation of returnees by Israeli forces and armed Palestinians allegedly backed by the Israeli military”. A third pro-Israeli militia based in northern Gaza, known as the Ashraf al-Mansi group, sent fighters across the yellow line last week, which currently divides zones of control in Gaza, on what appears to have been a mission to ambush Hamas patrols and possibly assassinate senior Hamas figures. Hamas officials said it had foiled the attempt amid fighting in the Nasser neighbourhood of Gaza City. Two weeks ago, the same militia clashed with Hamas fighters in Jabalya, on the eastern outskirts of Gaza City, which is also within the Hamas-controlled zone. “The militia are recruiting and becoming more active against Hamas, especially in Rafah … They seem to be getting more leverage. The Popular Forces, particularly now, [have] more capabilities and are more experienced,” said Nasser Khdour of Acled, an independent conflict monitor. “Hamas is launching a counteroffensive, and is trying to focus on borders and positions where the militias are based. That is one reason why the violence has gone up,” Khdour said. The enhanced role of the militias is a further challenge for plans for an international stabilisation force in Gaza. The US-brokered Gaza ceasefire, which aims to demilitarise the territory, formally entered its second phase in January, but progress had stalled even before the joint US-Israeli offensive against Iran, and the spiralling conflict it has triggered. Hamas, which controls most of the coastal strip where almost all the 2.3 million population of Gaza now live, is reluctant to fully disarm and Israel appears unwilling to relinquish its control over more than half of the territory. The Popular Forces have also been deployed against Hamas militants holding out in a tunnel complex near Rafah. In January, the group posted footage of Ghassan al-Duhaini, its leader, with a captured semi-naked, injured Hamas commander. On camera, Al-Duhaini slapped the captive and addressed Hamas, telling the group: “Your terrorism is over. We’ll fight with force and won’t allow anyone to sabotage efforts for peace.” He later threatened to execute the captive. The pro-Israeli militia groups, who have a collective strength of only a few hundred fighters, have also been used for attacks deep into the Hamas-controlled coastal strip. The Popular Army, another Israel-supported militia, which has around 30 fighters, recently assassinated the senior officer of a Hamas police unit that targets collaborators. According to reliable analysts and reports from Gaza, Hamas militants chased the attackers as they returned to the Israeli-controlled zone from the scene of the attack in the coastal al-Mawasi area, but abandoned their pursuit when targeted by Israeli drones. In early February, Hamas said they had thwarted a new attack by the Strike Force inside the Hamas-controlled zone in Khan Younis, killing eleven. The militia denied any losses and said they had launched a raid that killed six Hamas militants. There was no independent confirmation of either claim. The same day, Hamas police ambushed a group of Israeli-supported armed men in Gaza City, possibly killing three and confiscating their weapons, local sources said. Hamas appear rattled by the new attacks, issuing a statement last month pledging to eliminate the pro-Israeli militias, and claiming multiple arrests of “collaborators” allegedly helping them. Hamas spokespeople posted on social media that the militias face “death and annihilation”. Statistics from Acled show 265 attacks launched by Israel in the month after the October ceasefire, rising to about 350 each month since, to reach a total of 1,664 in mid-March. Israeli officials say the strikes are retaliation following attacks by Hamas and infiltration attempts across the “yellow line”, but many target individuals far from the immediate site of any alleged breach of the ceasefire, suggesting a campaign with broader strategic aims. In one incident, on 24 February, members of a pro-Israeli militia shot and killed two Palestinian men collecting wood who approached the “yellow line” near Beit Lahiya. More than 600 Palestinians have now been killed in Gaza since the ceasefire, bringing the overall total for the war to more than 72,000, mostly civilians. Tahani Mustafa, an expert in regional armed groups and lecturer in international relations at King’s College London, said the intensified activity of the militia in Gaza was unlikely to stabilise the devastated territory. “The problem is that these [pro-Israeli] gangs have not only been implicated in criminality but also are operating with an occupying force that is responsible for mass devastation and starvation … They have given Hamas an inadvertent popularity boost, not because people sympathy with Hamas ideology, but because there is no one else.” Hamas has so far stayed on the sidelines of the new conflict in the region, restricting any involvement to statement welcoming the appointment of Mojtaba Khamenei as Iran’s supreme leader and condemning “Israeli-US aggression”.

Merz rebukes US for temporarily lifting sanctions on Russian oil

The German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, has issued a sharp rebuke to the US government over its decision to temporarily lift sanctions on the sale of Russian oil in the wake of sharply rising energy prices, saying the decision was wrong. He was reacting to Washington’s decision to temporarily waive sanctions on Russian oil stranded at sea as Trump administration officials attempt to reverse a surge in prices that is causing mounting apprehension about global supplies. “We believe it is wrong to ease the sanctions,” Merz said on Friday morning. “Unfortunately, Russia continues to show no willingness to negotiate. We will therefore, and must, further increase the pressure on Moscow.” Merz insisted that support for Ukraine should continue despite the conflict in the Middle East, saying: “We will not allow ourselves to be deterred or distracted from this by the war with Iran.” His economics minister, Katherina Reiche, expressed her concern “that we might continue to fill Putin’s war coffers”, as the Russian economy was benefiting from the US-Israeli war against Iran, and that action should be taken to prevent this. The comments followed similar pushback from the French president, Emmanuel Macron, who said after a call with other G7 leaders over the economic ramifications of the war in Iran that the paralysis of the strait of Hormuz “in no way” justified lifting sanctions on Russia. Moscow claimed on Friday it was “increasingly inevitable” that Washington would lift the sanctions. The US was “effectively acknowledging the obvious: without Russian oil, the global energy market cannot remain stable”, Russia’s economic envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, wrote on Telegram. Scott Bessent, the US Treasury secretary, announced a “temporary authorisation” late on Thursday, allowing countries to buy the stranded Russian oil for 30 days. Trump was “working to keep prices low”, he said, after average US fuel prices rose by 65 cents per gallon in a month. “This narrowly tailored, short-term measure applies only to oil already in transit and will not provide significant financial benefit to the Russian government, which derives the majority of its energy revenue from taxes assessed at the point of extraction,” Bessent claimed. Brent crude, the international benchmark, remained above $100 a barrel during early trading on Friday despite this latest in a string of measures designed to soothe concerns around the economic impact of the US-Israel warn on Iran. The Middle East conflict has all but closed the strait of Hormuz, one of the most important arteries in global trade, through which about a fifth of the world’s oil and seaborne gas tankers typically pass. While the Trump administration has repeatedly promised to escort vessels through the strait, activity has yet to recover. The Iranian regime has declared that it will not allow “one litre of oil” to be exported from the region while US and Israeli attacks continue. The Trump administration last week permitted Indian refiners to temporarily buy Russian oil for 30 days. A month earlier Trump claimed India had agreed to stop purchasing it, in a shift that he said would “help END THE WAR in Ukraine” by cutting off a vital source of funds for Russia. There were about 124m barrels of Russian-origin oil on water across the world as of Thursday, Fox News reported. Brent crude was up 0.3% at $100.74 a barrel after Bessent’s announcement, having broken above $100 earlier this week for the first time since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine four years ago. At the start of the year the oil price was about $60 a barrel. The International Energy Agency, the world’s energy watchdog, ordered the largest release of government reserves in its history on Wednesday, when its 32 members unanimously agreed to release 400m barrels of emergency crude. But continuing strikes across the Middle East have overshadowed such efforts, as Iran stepped up retaliatory strikes on economic targets in the region. It goaded the US to “get ready for oil to be $200 a barrel” after Trump’s attempt to topple the regime in Tehran. Iran started to lay mines on Thursday in the strait of Hormuz, the New York Times reported, citing US officials. Trump has tried in recent days to play down concerns about high oil prices. “The United States is the largest Oil Producer in the World, by far, so when oil prices go up, we make a lot of money,” he wrote on social media on Thursday. “BUT, of far greater interest and importance to me, as President, is stoping [sic] an evil Empire, Iran, from having Nuclear Weapons, and destroying the Middle East and, indeed, the World. I won’t ever let that happen!” As November’s midterm elections loom, however, higher fuel prices could pose a challenge for Trump, with his Republican allies defending their small majorities in the Senate and House of Representatives.

Cuban president confirms talks with Trump officials amid US blockade

Cuban officials have held talks with the US government to seek solutions to the blockade imposed on the Caribbean nation, Miguel Díaz-Canel has said in a video broadcast on national television. “These talks have been aimed at finding solutions through dialogue to the bilateral differences we have between the two nations,” Díaz-Canel, the Cuban president, said in the video, which aired on Friday, shortly before he was scheduled to address Cuban media in a rare appearance that comes amid a severe economic crisis and as the Communist government has come under increasing pressure from Donald Trump. Díaz-Canel said that the Cuban negotiators had participated “on the basis of equality and respect for the political systems of both states, and for the sovereignty and self-determination” of the Cuban government. Díaz-Canel said no petroleum shipments have arrived on the island in the past three months, which he blamed on a US energy blockade. Cuba’s western region was hit by a massive blackout last week, leaving millions without power. He said that Cuba, which produces 40% of its petroleum, has been generating its own power but that it hasn’t been sufficient to meet demand. He said the lack of power has affected communications, education and transportation, and that the government has had to postpone surgeries for tens of thousands of people as a result. “The impact is tremendous,” he said. The address was billed as a continuation of a 5 February event when Diaz-Canel warned that Cuba was approaching a situation that would require “extreme measures” given the economic crisis, frequent power blackouts and fuel shortages exacerbated by Trump’s imposition of an oil blockade on the Caribbean island. Trump has said repeatedly that the United States was already in high-level talks with Cuban representatives. Until now, the Cuban government had denied that any official encounters are underway but had not explicitly denied media reports of back-channel discussions with Raul Guillermo Rodriguez Castro, the grandson of Raul Castro, who is 94 and still wields great influence. Rodriguez Castro was seated behind Diaz-Canel and among the Communist Party officials pictured in the video. Last month, US officials held talks with former Cuban president Raúl Castro’s grandson, on the sidelines of Caricom, the annual meeting of Caribbean leaders, in St Kitts and Nevis. Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, 41, does not have an official role in the Cuban government, but remains close to his grandfather, who holds huge sway in the country’s power structure. Trump in recent weeks had made a series of statements, saying Cuba was on the verge of collapse or eager to make a deal with the United States. On Monday he said Cuba may be subject to a “friendly takeover”, then added: “It may not be a friendly takeover.”

Has the pro-Maga media turned on the Pentagon over Iran?

The question, asked during a 4 March press briefing with Pete Hegseth, the secretary of defense, and Gen Dan Caine, was a good one: if the US had “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear facilities during an operation last June, “what was the intelligence that suggested that somehow they became a threat once again that required us to get involved with Operation Epic Fury?” It was asked by Heather Mullins, who works for LindellTV, the television network founded by Mike Lindell, the pillow entrepreneur, Trump cheerleader and 2020 election denier. On Tuesday, a reporter from the Gateway Pundit, an outlet that “regularly peddles falsehoods and conspiracy theories”, as NPR put it in 2024, asked about reports that the US is unhappy with its chief ally in the operation against Iran, Israel. “Whether this reporting’s true or not, what’s your message to Americans, those who supported the president and those who aren’t really in favor of this war and who worry that Israel might be taking advantage of the US’s backing?” asked Jordan Conradson. After the heavy hitters of the Pentagon press corps walked out in October over new restrictions on access and reporting, many worried how the Donald Trump-friendly media who took their place would fill the void – particularly if, say, a war started. Major fears remain, stoked by questions bordering on sycophancy, but, so far, some longtime skeptics of the pro-Maga press corps say they are doing better than expected at questioning Hegseth and the generals who have been brought out on four occasions to give briefings and take questions from a large group of assembled reporters. “I would say the questions have, with a few exceptions, all been fair, valid, and similar to questions I’ve had in my own notebook,” said one longtime Pentagon correspondent who has attended all four briefings. “Now, they’re certainly not being asked with the same intensity or pointedness as I or my colleagues would use, but I think that takes little away from their editorial value.” Or, as Mark Feldstein, a professor of broadcast journalism at the University of Maryland, put it: “Even Pete Hegseth’s hand-picked rightwing media lackeys are starting to raise some of the same sort of obvious questions about the risk of Iran becoming a quagmire that mainstream journalists have been posing, a departure from these conservatives’ more traditional role of just mindlessly cheerleading all of the administration’s actions.” In an interview, Barbara Starr, a former Pentagon correspondent for CNN, also noted the performance of some of the new contingent of mostly Maga-aligned media personalities, though she said that doesn’t mean traditional journalists should be excluded. “It’s interesting,” she said, “some of the ‘new media’, I will say some of them have asked very reasonable, good questions. Some of them are pure propaganda, which is why I come back to my personal professional belief: everyone should be included.” A second longtime Pentagon reporter, who also attended an Iran briefing, was less impressed with the questioning from right-leaning outlets, calling it “really below par” and “not really challenging”. During the 4 March briefing, a correspondent asked about a statement made by Hakeem Jeffries, the House minority leader, who said in an appearance on CNN that the American people don’t want another “endless war in the Middle East that is going to end in failure”. So, the reporter asked Hegseth, “what kind of message does that send to our enemies and what does it do to the motivation of our troops?” It was a layup for Hegseth, a former Fox News personality who made his name lambasting Democrats and the mainstream media. “Well, I’ve been through that movie before with the Democrats rooting against the country,” the secretary responded. During Hegseth’s first post-attack briefing, on 2 March, the first question was given to Alexandra Ingersoll of the far-right One America News Network, who asked what the US’ “exit strategy” will be and “when it will be deployed”. The briefing closed, however, with a much softer question to Hegseth, asking him what specific prayer he was saying for US troops in the field. The responses to the question on social media weren’t kind. In a change, the Pentagon has allowed many of the legacy reporters who gave up their press passes last fall to attend the Iran-focused briefings, though they have mostly been relegated to the back of the room. The Pentagon has reportedly limited briefing room access for news photographers because of unflattering photos of Hegseth, though it claims it is doing so “to use space in the Pentagon Briefing Room effectively”. While most of the questions have gone to journalists for right-leaning outlets, who now occupy the prime seats in the briefing room, Hegseth has also called on reporters from the BBC and the New York Times. (He called on BBC correspondent Tom Bateman on 4 March by saying “tie, right there.”) Despite Hegseth’s longstanding beef with the Times, he did not lash out when asked by national security correspondent Eric Schmitt on Tuesday about the timeline for the war and about any “adaptations” the Iranian military has made in response to US tactics. (The Pentagon is also currently enmeshed in a lawsuit filed by the Times in response to the press pass policy change.) “I appreciate the question,” Hegseth began. “Where we are is in a very strong place, giving the president of the United States maximum options.”

‘A minefield’: taoiseach prepares for St Patrick’s Day visit to Washington

For Ireland’s leaders, it has long been the highlight of the political calendar: a love-fest in Washington with hosts who sport shamrocks and toast Saint Patrick. Irish delegations are traditionally received on Capitol Hill and at the White House in a blaze of goodwill and backslapping that has them wishing every day was 17 March. This time, however, feels different. When the taoiseach, Micheál Martin, presents Donald Trump with a bowl of shamrocks in the Oval Office next week, he will be walking a tightrope. The US president’s mercurial nature and tensions between Dublin and Washington over foreign policy, corporate tax and immigration have turned the Irish-American showcase into a potential debacle. “I’m sure the taoiseach has a plan, but the best-laid plans can go awry when you’re walking through a minefield,” said Trina Vargo, founder and president of the US-Ireland Alliance, which promotes bilateral links. Some Republicans have lambasted Ireland over its stances on Palestine and Israel, and its pocketing of enormous tax revenues from US tech and pharma giants. Some in the Make America Great Again (Maga) movement hope an Irish version of Trump will emerge to topple Dublin’s ruling elites. “I hate plámás,” said Vargo, using an Irish term for ingratiating flattery. “But it’s what the president responds to. I suspect the taoiseach will pitch golf big time in hopes of keeping him sweet.” But if Martin only lauds and charms Trump, he will anger Irish people who want him to deliver rebukes over US actions against Iran, Greenland, undocumented immigrants and other targets. Earlier this week, Ireland’s president, Catherine Connolly, called the crisis in the Middle East “deliberate assaults on international law” – a coded way to say that Trump’s war against Iran was illegal. Opposition parties have denounced the conflict and told Martin to confront Trump or boycott the White House. Michelle O’Neill, Sinn Féin’s Northern Ireland first minister, will not attend. The detention of Irish citizens by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents – and warnings of raids at St Patrick’s Day gatherings – have deepened the sense that Ireland can no longer expect preferential treatment. Irish voters narrowly favour Martin visiting the White House, according to an opinion poll last month, but a clear majority oppose any invitation to Trump to attend the Irish Open, which will be held in September at his golf resort in Doonbeg, County Clare. Leo Varadkar, a former taoiseach and coalition partner, said Martin had a responsibility to avoid saying or doing anything that might provoke Trump and damage Ireland, but that he also had an obligation to articulate Irish concerns. “I do think Irish people will want him to use the opportunity to say something,” Varadkar told RTÉ. Dan Mulhall, a former Irish ambassador to Washington, said there was no point in trying to challenge or confront Trump. “You’re not going to convince him that he’s wrong and you’re right. I’m sure Micheál Martin’s speechwriters are working away to craft a message that will reflect our concerns but not beard the lion in his den.” It used to be much simpler. A gift of shamrock to president Harry Truman in 1952 ushered in the era of Washington turning green to celebrate Ireland’s patron saint and the Irish diaspora. It gave Dublin a platform to network and lobby for investment, visas and other favours. Even as Irish emigration to the US dwindled, the tradition persisted and gained fresh impetus under the presidencies of Bill Clinton and Joe Biden. But sentimentality about Ireland has receded with demographic realities, leaving it potentially vulnerable, said Vargo. “President Trump’s gaze just hasn’t turned to Ireland, yet. Ireland has to hope it doesn’t.” Irish officials hope to butter up their host by highlighting planned investments by Irish firms. “Ireland’s gift to Trump: shamrocks and a $6.1bn investment pledge,” the Wall Street Journal reported this week. Martin can buy extra goodwill by citing the Irish ancestry of 23 US presidents, said Mulhall. He is optimistic the taoiseach will escape unscathed. “St Patrick’s Day is an American institution, it’s a happy occasion. Nobody in Maga land is hoping that Trump will give Micheál Martin a good battering.” Anxiety about last year’s visit – when tensions were lower – proved misplaced, said Mulhall. “The minute I saw the shots of JD Vance showing off his green socks I knew it was going to be fine.”