Austrian police have arrested a man suspected of lacing jars of baby food with rat poison in what authorities presumed was an extortion scheme.

Police, cited by the APA news agency, said the suspect, aged 39, was apprehended in the state of Burgenland, south of Vienna. They did not name him nor say where exactly he was arrested.

He was charged with deliberately causing a public danger and attempted grievous bodily harm.

The arrest comes two weeks after Austrian authorities detected rat poison in baby food jars sold in some supermarkets. The jars were made by the German-based company HiPP, and German police became involved in the case.

Five tampered jars were recovered before they were consumed in the following days in Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Police said they believed the crime was carried out to extort the company, which put out a product recall in Austria.

One of the adulterated jars was bought in a Spar supermarket in Burgenland state, in the city of Eisenstadt. It was found to contain 15 microgrammes of rat poison.

Another jar sold in the same supermarket was suspected to have also been laced with poison, but it has not yet been recovered.

Two activists who participated in a Gaza-bound aid flotilla were brought to Israel for questioning, the foreign ministry said on Saturday, after the vessels were intercepted by Israeli forces this week.

Saif Abu Keshek, from Spain, and Thiago Avila, a Brazilian, were in Israel and would “be transferred for questioning by law enforcement authorities”, the ministry said on X, adding that the two activists were affiliated with an organisation sanctioned by the US Treasury.

The ministry said the activists were affiliated with the Popular Conference for Palestinians Abroad (PCPA), a group Washington has accused of “clandestinely acting on behalf of Hamas”.

In January, the US Treasury imposed sanctions on the group, which it said was involved in organising Gaza-bound civilian flotillas that aimed to break Israel’s sea blockade on the Palestinian territory.

Israel’s foreign ministry said Abu Keshek was a leading member of PCPA and Avila, also linked to the organisation, was “suspected of illegal activity”.

“Both will receive a consular visit from the representatives of their respective countries in Israel,” the ministry said.

Spain condemned the “illegal detention” of its citizen. Abu Keshek “must be released immediately so that he can return to Spain”, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares told Rac1 radio.

“We are facing an illegal detention in international waters, outside any jurisdiction of the Israeli authorities,” Albares said.

Avila was among the organisers of a flotilla that had tried to bring aid to Gaza last year despite the naval blockade. That effort was also intercepted by Israeli forces.

The current flotilla comprised more than 50 vessels and had set sail from ports in France, Spain and Italy with the aim of breaking the blockade of Gaza and bringing humanitarian aid to the Palestinian territory.

Israel controls all entry points to Gaza.

Throughout the conflict, there have been shortages of critical supplies in Gaza, with Israel at times cutting off the entry of aid entirely. The Gaza Strip has been under Israeli blockade since 2007.

Israel’s foreign ministry earlier claimed around 175 activists had been taken off more than 20 vessels on Thursday by the country’s military. Flotilla organisers said 211 activists had been kidnapped.

Organisers said the Israeli operation had taken place over 1,000 kilometres from the Gaza Strip. Israeli forces halted the boats overnight Wednesday to Thursday, with organisers, the Global Sumud Flotilla, saying their equipment had been smashed and that the intervention had left them facing a “calculated death trap at sea”.

Dozens of intercepted activists disembarked on Friday on the Greek island of Crete, according to an AFP journalist.

Former senator Mushtaq Ahmad was also among those detained. On Friday, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said on X that Ahmad had been released.

“I reiterate my strongest possible condemnation of the illegal detention of humanitarian workers aboard the flotilla as well as obstruction of humanitarian aid destined for the besieged people of Gaza,” he said.

The United States has backed Israeli authorities, calling the flotilla a “stunt”.

In the summer and autumn of 2025, a first voyage by the Global Sumud Flotilla across the Mediterranean towards Gaza drew worldwide attention. The boats in that flotilla were intercepted by Israel off the coasts of Egypt and the Gaza Strip in early October.

Crew members, including Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, were arrested and then expelled by Israel.

Three-time Chinese Olympic champion swimmer Sun Yang filed a police report after being subjected to “large-scale” cyberbullying, his team said Friday.

Sun, 34, returned to competition in 2024 after a four-year ban for smashing vials of blood during a 2018 doping test, the circumstances of which he still disputes.

His team said Friday that false information including “maliciously fabricated rumours” had circulated online recently, calling it “organised and planned cyberbullying and defamation”.

They did not specify what false information had been spread about Sun.

The swimmer reported the case to police in the eastern city of Hangzhou, his team said on social media, posting a photo of a notice he had received after filing the complaint.

“We solemnly warn all rumour-mongers and malicious disseminators: immediately delete all infringing content and cease forwarding,” his team said.

“Our legal team has secured evidence and will pursue civil, administrative, and even criminal liability according to the law.”

Chinese authorities have been grappling with what state media has called “toxic fandom” surrounding its sports stars.

It includes fans obsessing over athletes’ personal lives and attacking opponents online.

The nearly two-metre tall (six feet seven inches) Sun was China’s first male Olympic swimming champion, winning the 400m and 1500m freestyle at the 2012 London Games.

But he has long been a controversial figure in the pool.

Some rivals accused him of cheating at the 2016 Rio Olympics and two competitors refused to stand with him on medal podiums at the 2019 World Championships.

Sun was also given a three-month ban in 2014 after testing positive for a banned substance.

Hezbollah’s cheap fibre-optic drones are creating new challenges for Israeli troops in southern Lebanon, forcing the military to adapt its tactics against an increasingly lethal threat.

The Israeli military — considered one of the most advanced in the world — has confirmed two soldiers and one civilian contractor killed in explosive drone attacks in under a week, with several others wounded despite a ceasefire in place since mid-April.

The devices are small, cheap and readily available, like “children’s toys”, explained Orna Mizrahi, a senior researcher at Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies (INSS).

The military “does not have nowadays any response for that, because they didn’t prepare themselves for such low-tech explosives”, she told AFP.

Israel has been fighting Hezbollah since early March, invading the neighbouring country’s south to confront the group.

Since then, violence has continued, with both sides accusing each other of breaching the ceasefire. Israel has continued its airstrikes since the ceasefire came into effect.

Unlike conventional drones guided by GPS or radio, which can therefore be jammed, Hezbollah is using devices linked to their launch site by a thin fibre-optic cable that can stretch for dozens of kilometres.

Operators pilot the drones in first-person view (FPV) using screens or virtual reality goggles that require limited training.

“Since the drone does not transmit the image via radio broadcast and does not receive guidance commands via radio receiver, it cannot be detected by electronic intelligence means or blocked through electronic warfare,” said Arie Aviram, an expert who has written on the subject for the INSS.

The drones’ speed and precision mean they can cause considerable damage to Israeli targets, and their lack of electronic traces leaves troops reliant on radar or visual detection, which often comes too late.

Asymmetrical warfare

Hezbollah’s use of these drones is characteristic of asymmetrical warfare, explained INSS researcher Mizrahi.

In recent days, Hezbollah has relied more on these drones, a notable shift from the barrages of rockets it unleashed in the weeks after the war broke out.

Experts say the cost of assembling the fibre-optic drones can range from just a few hundred dollars to around $4,000, depending on the quality and type of components, which can be bought on online platforms such as AliExpress.

On Friday, the group’s media chief Youssef al Zein confirmed the group was using the drones and said they were being manufactured in Lebanon.

“We are aware of the enemy’s superiority, but at the same time we are exploiting its weak points,” he said.

For Israel, shooting down cheap drones using sophisticated air defences and fighter jets is unsustainable and costly.

Aviram said that lasers, like those used by Israel’s Iron Beam air defence system, could be a suitable solution “provided they were widely deployed”, which is not the case.

Indicating the challenge posed by these devices, the Israeli defence ministry put out a public call on April 11 for “proposals to identify additional capabilities to address the threat of fibre-optic-controlled FPV drones”.

Nets and barriers

A video shared on social media by prominent Israeli journalist Amit Segal on Wednesday appeared to show military vehicles draped in netting to protect against drones. AFP was unable to verify the footage.

A senior military official told journalists on Tuesday that “so far, we’re using force protection technologies and other protections that we learned from other places, from our own experience with nets, with barriers”.

“But it’s a threat that we’re still adapting to, there’s nothing that is foolproof,” the official added, noting that the military was “learning” from the war in Ukraine, where fibre-optic drones are now common.

Israeli news website Mako reported in 2024 that Ukraine — which has become a world-leading drone expert since Russia’s invasion — offered its expertise to Israel several years ago but was rebuffed.

“There was no concrete response,” Ukraine’s former defence minister Oleksii Reznikov told Mako at the time.

Asked by AFP about the challenges posed by fibre-optic explosive drones, the Israeli military said troops had in recent weeks “conducted an in-depth analysis of how this threat operates and how Hezbollah employs it”.

“The IDF is monitoring the drone threat and developing operational methods to address it,” it said, adding that troops on the ground were “continuously working to improve and adapt their systems in order to deal with the evolving threat”.

Nato said on Saturday it was working with the United States to understand Washington’s decision to withdraw 5,000 troops from Germany as a rift in transatlantic ties deepens over the Middle East war.

The Pentagon’s announcement of the troop withdrawal follows a spat between US President Donald Trump and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who said on Monday that Iran was “humiliating” Washington at the negotiating table.

Trump fired back by saying that Merz “doesn’t know what he’s talking about”.

It also came as Trump announced that tariffs on cars and trucks from the European Union will increase to 25 per cent next week over accusations that the bloc did not comply with a trade deal signed last summer.

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said on Friday the withdrawal of around 5,000 troops from Germany was expected “to be completed over the next six to twelve months”.

“This decision follows a thorough review of the Department’s force posture in Europe and is in recognition of theater requirements and conditions on the ground,” Parnell said in a statement.

There were 36,436 active-duty US troops in Nato ally Germany as of December 31, 2025, compared to 12,662 in Italy and 3,814 in Spain.

German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said on Saturday the US troop withdrawal “from Europe and also from Germany was to be expected”.

Nato said it was “working with the US to understand the details of their decision on force posture in Germany”.

“This adjustment underscores the need for Europe to continue to invest more in defence and take on a greater share of the responsibility for our shared security,” Nato spokeswoman Allison Hart wrote on X.

‘Why shouldn’t I?’

Trump has made a number of threats to slash US troop numbers in Germany and other European allies during both his terms in office, saying he wants Europe to take on greater responsibility for its defence rather than depending on Washington.

He now appears determined to punish allies who have failed to back the Middle East war or contribute to a peacekeeping force in the crucial Strait of Hormuz waterway, which Tehran’s forces have effectively closed.

Trump also accused German automakers such as Mercedes-Benz and BMW of ripping off Americans, saying on Friday that Germany and “other European nations have not adhered to our trade deal”.

Germany would likely be hit hard by a sharp vehicle tariff because it is responsible for a significant portion of EU auto exports.

Such tariffs would impose “enormous costs on the Germany and European automobile industry,” the head of Germany’s VDA lobby group for the sector, Hildegard Mueller, said in a statement sent to AFP.

She called for an “urgent” de-escalation and speedy negotiations on the issue.

Trump said on Thursday he might pull US troops from Italy and Spain due to their opposition to the war.

“Italy has not been of any help to us and Spain has been horrible, absolutely horrible,” he told reporters in the Oval Office.

“Yeah, probably, I probably will. Why shouldn’t I?” Trump said.

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said on Thursday during a visit to Morocco that Germany was “prepared” for a reduction in US troops and was “discussing it closely and in a spirit of trust in all Nato bodies”.

However, Wadephul said large American bases in Germany are “not up for discussion at all” and cited the example of Ramstein Air Base, which he said has “an irreplaceable function for the United States and for us alike”.

Ukraine support

The EU said on Thursday the deployment of US troops in Europe was in Washington’s interest, and that the US was “a vital partner in contributing to Europe’s security and defence”.

Trump, however, took aim at Merz again, telling him to focus on ending the Ukraine war instead of “interfering” on Iran.

European powers have been on alert since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. A spate of drone incursions in the past year, as well as US promises to move away from defending the continent, have pushed the issue to the top of the agenda.

Merz has made national security a priority, announcing unprecedented investments in an army that has been underfunded and under-equipped for decades. He has also reaffirmed support for Ukraine.

By Sophia Xu and Purple Romero

Christine Li is a model and influencer, but not an actor, so when she saw herself playing a cruel character in a Chinese microdrama she felt bewildered, then angry and afraid.

The 26-year-old is one of two people who told AFP their likenesses were cast without consent in the AI-generated show “The Peach Blossom Hairpin”, which ran on Hongguo, a major microdrama app owned by TikTok parent company ByteDance.

Li plans to sue the drama makers and the platform, highlighting new legal and regulatory grey areas created by artificial intelligence.

“I was genuinely shocked. It was clearly me,” said Li, who lives in Hangzhou in eastern China.

“It was so obvious that they used a specific set of photos I took two years ago” and had posted on social media, she said.

Microdramas are ultra-short, online soap operas hugely popular in China and elsewhere.

When Li’s fans alerted her to the series, she was horrified to find her digital twin shown slapping women and mistreating animals.

“I also felt a deep fear. I kept wondering what kind of person would do something like this,” Li said.

Hongguo hosts thousands of free, bite-sized shows — both live-action and AI-generated — whose episodes are two or three minutes long.

As of October, the platform had around 245 million monthly active users, according to data cited by Wenwen Han, president of the Short Drama Alliance.

A Hongguo statement in early April said it had taken the series down because the producers had violated platform rules and contractual obligations.

‘Sleazy’ antagonist

AI’s ability to mimic real people has sparked global concern for actors’ jobs, and over such deepfakes being used for scams and propaganda.

Li and a man who says he was portrayed as her AI husband in the series, which became a hit last month on Hongguo, spoke out online about their separate unwelcome discoveries.

But even as their stories sparked a public outcry about AI ethics, AFP saw that “The Peach Blossom Hairpin” kept running for days before its removal, with the disputed characters quietly replaced.

The man, a stylist specialised in traditional Chinese clothing and make-up, had posted photos of himself in costume on the Instagram-like Xiaohongshu app.

Like Li, he was upset by the “ugly” portrayal of his likeness as a “sleazy” antagonist in the show.

“Will it have an impact on me, on my job, on my future work opportunities?” said the man, who asked to use the pseudonym Baicai.

To keep audiences hooked, microdramas are often full of shocking, larger-than-life moments.

Li and Baicai both showed AFP their original photos and the characters in “The Peach Blossom Hairpin”, which bore a strong resemblance.

Legal risk

For low-budget AI microdramas, Chinese regulations say platforms must be the primary checkpoint for potentially dodgy content.

If they do not carry out mandatory content reviews, the videos will be forcibly taken down, according to the National Radio and Television Administration.

If the platforms were aware of any infringement but failed to act on it, parties affected can alert China’s cyberspace authorities which can impose administrative penalties, according to Zhao Zhanling, a partner at Beijing Javy Law Firm.

Hongguo said in a second statement this month it would continue to strengthen how it reviews content and how it authorises creators, among other steps.

It said it had dealt with 670 AI microdramas that violated regulations, with most taken down, and warned it would crack down on repeated breaches.

When approached for comment, parent company Bytedance referred AFP to the two Hongguo statements.

Li and Baicai say they need more information from Hongguo to confirm the identity of the drama’s creator — with two companies as potential candidates.

One is linked to a verified account on the Chinese version of TikTok that also published the series. Another is listed as the drama’s producer on an official Chinese filing system.

AFP contacted both firms but received no response.

Using AI to slash costs may be tempting in the fast-growing, multi-billion-dollar microdrama market.

But featuring someone in a demeaning way without permission “may constitute an infringement of both portrait rights and reputation rights”, said Li’s lawyer Yijie Zhao, from Henan Huailv Law Firm.

‘Associated with controversy’

National regulations require microdrama makers to register to obtain a licence — a step made mandatory for AI-generated animations from this month.

But producers could remain in the shadows by registering temporary outfits, Zhao said, while some allegedly use overseas servers to hide.

In 2024, a Beijing court ordered a company to apologise and pay compensation to a celebrity after its AI software enabled users to produce a virtual persona using his photos and name that could exchange intimate messages.

See also: US tech giant Meta sues Brazil, China advertisers over celebrity deepfake scams

But lawyers told AFP that compensation for plaintiffs like Li likely won’t amount to much due to the limited commercial value of an ordinary likeness.

Li worries that the saga may cost her opportunities in the modelling industry, as she is now “associated with controversy”.

Baicai has not launched legal action, but hopes to see more measures from regulators and platforms to protect people like him.

“There are probably plenty of cases with unknown victims,” he said.

Tehran delivered a new proposal for peace talks with the United States via Pakistan, Iranian state media reported on Friday, with US President Donald Trump saying that he was “not satisfied” with what had been put forth.

Though the United States and Iran have suspended hostilities since an April 8 ceasefire, the two countries remain at odds over a range of issues, including Iran’s nuclear ambitions and control over the Strait of Hormuz, and they have yet to agree to a second meeting, following a brief ​summit of senior officials in Islamabad last month.

Trump’s comments on Friday indicated the deadlock ‌over the two-month-old war is likely to persist.

He also conveyed to the US Congress his stance that the hostilities had “terminated” following a ceasefire with Iran as the deadline to get Congress’s approval for the war arrived.

Trump ‘not happy’

The text of Iran’s new proposal was handed to Islamabad on Thursday evening, the IRNA news agency reported on Friday.

Hours later, Trump spoke to reporters at the White House, saying, “At this moment, I’m not satisfied with what they’re offering.”

The US president said that the Iranian leadership was “disjointed”, “had a lot of problems” and “were not getting along with each other”.

“But we have just had a conversation with Iran. But I will say I am not happy,” he said.

Asked why he was unsatisfied with the Iranian offer, Trump said: “They’re asking for things that I can’t agree.” He gave no details.

The White House also declined to provide details on the proposal, but news site Axios reported that US envoy Steve Witkoff had submitted amendments reintroducing Tehran’s nuclear programme into talks.

The changes reportedly include demands that Iran not move enriched uranium from bombed sites or resume activity there during negotiations.

Trump said Iran had “made strides” in negotiations, but added that there was “tremendous discord” in the Islamic republic’s leadership and warned: “I’m not sure if they ever get there.”

Trump was asked what he would do if there was no deal but refused to say whether he would launch more strikes.

“Do we want to go and just blast the hell out of them and finish them forever — or do we want to try and make a deal? I mean, those are the options,” he said.

Trump added that he would “prefer not” to launch a huge offensive but added: “That’s the option: do we want to go in there heavy and just blast them away or do we want to do something?”

Addressing a rally in Florida, Trump again spoke on the matter.

“They’re not coming through with the kind of deal that we have to have, and we’re going to get this thing done properly,” Trump said. “We’re not going to leave early and have the problem arise.”

At the White House, he repeated his prediction that oil and gas prices would fall when the war ends.

Trump also said he had “great respect” for Pakistan, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief of Defence Forces and army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir.

For his part, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said his country was ready to pursue diplomacy if the United States changed what he called its “excessive approach, threatening rhetoric and provocative actions.”

However, Araghchi added in a post on his Telegram channel that “Iran’s armed forces remained ready to defend the country against ​any threat.”

On Thursday, Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said diplomacy to end the US-Iran conflict was continuing, with Islamabad maintaining its role as a facilitator between the two sides despite an apparent impasse in talks.

Negotiations between Washington and Tehran remain stalled, with both holding firm positions even as a fragile ceasefire continues. The truce, initially brokered by Pakistan in April, has been extended to allow space for diplomacy, but officials acknowledge that the process faces serious sticking points.

Last month, Pakistan hosted the first high-level contact between Iran and the US in decades and mediated those meetings. However, with challenges in convening a second round, Islamabad has shifted back to its role as a facilitator and go-between.

War Powers deadline

Trump also argued on Friday that a ceasefire with Iran had “terminated” hostilities, as he sought to bolster his argument that he did not need lawmakers’ permission to continue the conflict.

In a letter to ‌congressional leaders on Friday, the deadline to come to Congress about the war, Trump said there had been no exchange of fire with Iran since the ceasefire. “The hostilities that began on February 28, 2026, have terminated,” he said.

Under the 1973 War Powers Resolution, a US president can wage military action for only 60 days before ending it, asking Congress for ​authorization or seeking a 30-day extension due to “unavoidable military necessity regarding the safety of United States Armed Forces” while withdrawing forces.

The US president formally notified Congress of the US-Israeli war on Iran 48 hours after the first airstrikes two months ago, starting the 60-day clock that ends ​on May 1.

As the date approached, congressional aides and analysts said they expected the Republican president to sidestep the deadline. A senior Trump administration official had said on Thursday ​the administration’s view was that the War Powers law deadline did not apply.

Trump said he considered the War Powers law unconstitutional. Both Republican and Democratic presidents have contended the measure violated the Constitution because it sets limits on the president’s powers as commander-in-chief. Legal experts say the matter has not been decided by the courts.

“We had a ceasefire, so that ​gives you additional time,” Trump said during his talk at the White House on Friday.

Congressional Democrats, who have tried repeatedly to pass War Powers legislation ​that would force Trump to end the war or come to Congress for authorisation, dismissed that characterisation, saying there was nothing in the 1973 law allowing for a ceasefire.

They ‌also said ⁠that the continuing deployment of US ships blockading Iranian oil exports was evidence of continuing hostility, not a ceasefire.

“After 60 days of conflict, President Trump still does not have a strategy or way out for this poorly planned war,“ Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement calling the deadline “a clear legal threshold” for Trump to act.

In his letter to Congress, Trump acknowledged that the conflict may not be ​resolved. He said Iran still poses ​a “significant” threat to the United States ⁠and its armed forces.

India raised on Friday the prices of commercial liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and jet fuel for international airlines, according to a state-run energy firm, as supply pressures from the Middle East war mount.

The South Asian nation is heavily dependent on imported energy, including for roughly 60 per cent of its LPG, the fuel used for cooking by a vast section of its population, the largest in the world.

As imports have been disrupted since the Middle East war began in late February, New Delhi has moved to ensure households and essential sectors remain adequately supplied, leaving many restaurants, manufacturers and power plants in the lurch.

The government has maintained that India faces no overall fuel shortage.

“Prices of bulk and commercial LPG cylinders have been revised,” the state-run Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL), the country’s leading energy marketing company, said.

IOCL’s price chart shows an increase of 993 rupees ($10.50) in the price of a 19 kilogramme LPG cylinder meant for commercial use.

That amounts to a nearly 48pc rise in the capital New Delhi. Local levies mean rates vary across cities.

The sharp hike will hit restaurants particularly hard, with many already scaling back operations during the Middle East war.

The oil company said that the price of jet fuel for international airline operations has also “been adjusted upward”.

Aviation turbine fuel (ATF) has gone up by around 5pc in Delhi, according to IOCL’s catalogue.

Across much of India, an energy crunch caused by the Iran war has prompted long queues for cooking gas cylinders. That’s not a problem for Gauri Devi.

On a stove with blue flames, she flips a chapati flatbread, burning biogas produced from cow dung — an alternative fuel helping ease pressure on supplies.

“It cooks everything,” the 25-year-old said in her courtyard kitchen in Nekpur, a village in Uttar Pradesh, about 90 kilometres (55 miles) from New Delhi.

“If the pressure goes down, we let it rest for half an hour and it works again.” India consumes more than 30 million tonnes of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) annually, importing over half its needs.

The government insists there is no shortage of cooking gas, but supply delays, panic buying and black marketeers have created long queues for cylinders.

However, since the 1980s, India has also promoted biogas as a low-cost rural energy source, subsidising more than five million “digester” units that convert farm waste into methane for cooking, and nitrogen-rich slurry for fertiliser.

For Gauri, it requires mixing a couple of buckets of dung with water, then pouring the mixture into a car-sized underground tank topped with a storage balloon.

It provides a piped methane supply so regular that she only uses an LPG cylinder for emergencies or large gatherings.

The biogas works for everything — “vegetables, tea, lentils”, she said.

‘Black gold’

The residual slurry is later spread on fields as fertiliser. It has better nitrogen availability for plants compared with raw dung, farmers say.

“The manure is so good,” said farmer Pramod Singh, who installed a larger unit in 2025, enough for six people, fuelled by 30-45 kilogrammes of dung daily from four cows.

And he said the slurry fertiliser is particularly valuable at a time when global supplies of artificial fertilisers have been hit by trade disruptions due to the war.

“The real benefit is not just the gas — that is like a bonus,” local farmer leader Pritam Singh said.

“The slurry is ‘black gold’.”

More than 45 per cent of India’s 1.4bn people rely on farming, and the country has one of the largest cattle populations.

India — the world’s most populous nation and third-largest fossil fuel polluter — has pushed large-scale biogas production to achieve a goal of carbon neutrality by 2070.

The government last year required that biogas account for at least one percent of liquid gas fuelling both vehicles and for domestic use— rising to five per cent by 2028.

Dozens of multi-million dollar production plants are now in the pipeline.

But small-scale rural producers are also being rolled out – units cost around INR25,000-30,000 ($265-$318), often heavily subsidised by the government.

In a Hindu-majority nation where cows are revered and dung and urine are used in everything from floor plastering and fuel to ritual practices, it is easy to win supporters, said Pritam Singh.

He installed his first plant in 2007 and has helped put in 15 more in his village in the past year alone.

He said interest had shot up after the LPG shortages.

“People who earlier were not interested now ask how to get it,” he said.

“Once they see food being cooked and crops benefiting, they are convinced.”

‘Mini factories’

But biogas is still a small fraction of household cooking fuel, with LPG considered more convenient because companies manage the supply chain.

“Biogas plants are not just equipment; they are mini factories,” said A.R.Shukla, president of the Indian Biogas Association.

“They need organised installation, regular operation and maintenance,” he added.

“So, unless installation and upkeep are handled through community-based or cooperative enterprises, households will continue to treat biogas as secondary fuel.” And even with government support, there are barriers to uptake, including cost and space.

“We work on other people’s farms the whole day. We don’t have land for it,” said labourer Ramesh Kumar Singh, standing in a line of around 100 queueing for LPG cylinders in the nearby village of Madalpur.

“I am standing in scorching heat, hungry and thirsty,” said Mahendri, 77, who had failed to secure a cylinder for three days in a row.

Japanese police arrested a man for allegedly incinerating his dead wife at the zoo where he worked, officials and local media said Friday, following the discovery of human remains.

Police arrested Tatsuya Suzuki on Thursday evening on suspicion that he “transported the victim’s body to a tourist facility” in the northern island of Hokkaido and “destroyed it through incineration there,” a local police official told AFP.

The victim, 33-year-old Yui Suzuki, was identified by local media as his wife. Police have not said how she died.

While held in voluntary police questioning, Suzuki said he used his zoo’s incinerator —meant to dispose of waste and dead animals —to burn the woman’s body “for a few hours,” local media reported.

His confession sent police scouring the incinerator for her remains, whose partial discovery paved the way for Suzuki’s arrest, local media said.

While alive, the wife once told her relatives that her husband was threatening to “burn you until no trace of you will be left”, public broadcaster NHK said, citing investigative sources.

The gruesome case forced the Asahiyama Zoo, a popular tourist attraction closed since early last month as part of regular maintenance ahead of the summer season, to delay its reopening scheduled for Wednesday.

On Friday, the zoo resumed business, with officials bowing to visitors and apologising for the trouble caused.

“The zoo is in an extremely difficult situation at the moment,” Hirosuke Imazu, mayor of Asahikawa City, which operates the facility, said, according to NHK.

“But we would like to turn your support into our energy, and convey the beautiful lives of our animals,” he said.