conflict

Russia lashes out at Zelensky ahead of new Trump talks on Ukraine plan

conflict

Thailand and Cambodia agree to 'immediate' ceasefire

  • "Both sides agree to an immediate ceasefire after the time of signature of this Joint Statement with effect from 12:00 hours noon (local time) on 27 December 2025," said the statement signed by the two countries' defence ministers at a border checkpoint on the Thai side.
  • Thailand and Cambodia agreed to an "immediate" ceasefire on Saturday, the two countries said in a joint statement, pledging to end weeks of deadly border clashes.
  • "Both sides agree to an immediate ceasefire after the time of signature of this Joint Statement with effect from 12:00 hours noon (local time) on 27 December 2025," said the statement signed by the two countries' defence ministers at a border checkpoint on the Thai side.
Thailand and Cambodia agreed to an "immediate" ceasefire on Saturday, the two countries said in a joint statement, pledging to end weeks of deadly border clashes.
At least 47 people were killed and more than a million displaced in three weeks of fighting with artillery, tanks, drones and jets, according to official tallies.
The conflict spread to nearly every border province on both sides, shattering an earlier truce for which US President Donald Trump took credit.
"Both sides agree to an immediate ceasefire after the time of signature of this Joint Statement with effect from 12:00 hours noon (local time) on 27 December 2025," said the statement signed by the two countries' defence ministers at a border checkpoint on the Thai side.
The truce applies to "all types of weapons, including attacks on civilians, civilian objects and infrastructures, and military objectives of either side, in all cases and all areas", it said.
Both sides agreed to freeze all troop movements and allow civilians living in border areas to return home as soon as possible, the statement added.
They also agreed to cooperate on demining efforts and combatting cybercrime, while Thailand is to return 18 captured Cambodian soldiers within 72 hours.
Thai Defence Minister Nattaphon Narkphanit said that initial three-day window would be an "observation period to confirm that the ceasefire is real".
In a speech earlier on Saturday he called the truce "a door to a peaceful resolution" of the border dispute.
Displaced Cambodian Oeum Raksmey told AFP she was "very happy that people can return home" if the fighting stops.
"But I dare not return home yet. I am still scared. I don't trust the Thai side yet," said the 22-year-old, who was evacuated with her family from their home near the border to a shelter in Cambodia's Siem Reap province.

'Real peace'

On the other side of the border, 55-year-old Thai village head Khampong Lueklarp was similarly cautious.
"I personally think the ceasefire won't really happen," said the head of Ban Ta Sawang Samakkee village in Sisaket province, adding he hopes for "a real peace".
The ceasefire comes after three days of border talks convened following a crisis meeting of foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), of which both Cambodia and Thailand are members.
The United States and China also pushed for the neighbours to cease fighting.
The foreign ministers of Thailand and Cambodia both said Saturday they will visit China on January 28-29 to meet Beijing's top diplomat Wang Yi and hold trilateral talks.
The conflict between the two Southeast Asian neighbours stems from a territorial dispute over the colonial-era demarcation of their 800-kilometre (500-mile) border, where ancient temples are claimed by both sides.
Five days of fighting in July killed dozens of people before a truce was brokered by the United States, China and ASEAN chair Malaysia.
Trump witnessed the signing of an expanded agreement between Thailand and Cambodia in October, but it was broken within months.
Each side blamed the other for instigating the fresh fighting this month and traded accusations of attacks on civilians.

'Final signing'

At least 25 Thai soldiers and one Thai civilian were killed in the latest round of clashes, officials said.
Cambodia, which is outgunned and outspent by Bangkok's military, said 21 civilians were killed.
Phnom Penh has reported no military deaths, even as an an official Facebook post showed first lady Pich Chanmony, the wife of Cambodia's leader Hun Manet, attending a funeral of troops killed in the fighting.
The fighting was still raging as this week's border talks were underway.
Cambodia accused Thailand on Friday of intensifying its bombardment of disputed border areas, and Thai media reported overnight Cambodian attacks.
While both sides agreed to halt the fighting, they will still need to resolve the demarcation of their border following the ceasefire.
The contested temples are claimed by both nations because of a vague demarcation made by Cambodia's French colonial administrators in 1907.
Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul sounded an upbeat note Friday night, before the joint statement was signed.
"You can trust Thailand. We always uphold our agreements and commitments. Let this be the final signing, so that peace can be restored and our people can return home," he said.
Thailand is set to hold general elections on February 8.
bur-tym/ami

diplomacy

Somalia, African nations denounce Israeli recognition of Somaliland

  • Israel announced Friday that it viewed Somaliland as an "independent and sovereign state", prompting Somalia to call the decision a "deliberate attack" on its sovereignty that would undermine regional peace.
  • Somalia and the African Union reacted angrily Friday after Israel became the first country to formally recognise the northern region of Somaliland as an independent state.
  • Israel announced Friday that it viewed Somaliland as an "independent and sovereign state", prompting Somalia to call the decision a "deliberate attack" on its sovereignty that would undermine regional peace.
Somalia and the African Union reacted angrily Friday after Israel became the first country to formally recognise the northern region of Somaliland as an independent state.
Somaliland declared independence from Somalia in 1991 and has pushed for international recognition for decades, with president Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi making it a top priority since taking office last year.
Israel announced Friday that it viewed Somaliland as an "independent and sovereign state", prompting Somalia to call the decision a "deliberate attack" on its sovereignty that would undermine regional peace.
Several other countries condemned Israel's decision. The African Union (AU) rejected the move and warned that it risked "setting a dangerous precedent with far-reaching implications for peace and stability across the continent".
Somaliland "remains an integral part" of Somalia, an AU member, said the pan-African body's head Mahamoud Ali Youssouf.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said the decision was "in the spirit of the Abraham Accords", referring to a series of agreements brokered by US President Donald Trump in his first term that normalised ties between Israel and several Arab nations.
Netanyahu had invited Abdullahi to visit, the Israeli leader's office said.
Asked by the New York Post newspaper whether the United States planned to also recognise Somaliland, Trump said "no".
"Does anyone know what Somaliland is, really?" he added.
Hailing Israel's decision as a "historic moment", Abdullahi said in a post on X that it marked the beginning of a "strategic partnership".
The Palestinian Authority rejected Israel's recognition of Somaliland.
It said on X that Israel had previously named Somaliland "as a destination for the forced displacement of our Palestinian people, particularly from the Gaza Strip", and warned against "complicity" with such a move.
In Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland, crowds of people took to the streets to celebrate, many carrying the flag of the breakaway state, said sources.

'Overt interference'

Turkey, a close ally of Somalia, also condemned the move.
"This initiative by Israel, which aligns with its expansionist policy... constitutes overt interference in Somalia's domestic affairs", a foreign ministry statement said.
Egypt said its top diplomat had spoken with counterparts from Turkey, Somalia and Djibouti, who together condemned the move and emphasised "full support for the unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Somalia".
In a video showing Netanyahu speaking to Abdullahi by telephone, the Israeli leader said that he believed the new relationship would offer economic opportunities.
"I am very, very happy and I am very proud of this day and I want to wish you and the people of Somaliland the very, very best," Netanyahu said.
A self-proclaimed republic, Somaliland enjoys a strategic position on the Gulf of Aden and has its own money, passports and army.
But it has been diplomatically isolated since unilaterally declaring independence.

Strategic move

Israel's regional security interests may lie behind the move.
"Israel requires allies in the Red Sea region for many strategic reasons, among them the possibility of a future campaign against the Houthis," said the Institute for National Security Studies in a paper last month, referring to Yemen's Iran-backed rebels.
Israel repeatedly hit targets in Yemen after the Gaza war broke out in October 2023, in response to Houthi attacks on Israel that the rebels said were in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
The Houthis have halted their attacks since a fragile truce began in Gaza in October.
Somaliland's lack of international recognition has hampered access to foreign loans, aid and investment, and the territory remains deeply impoverished.
A deal between landlocked Ethiopia and Somaliland last year to lease a stretch of coastline for a port and military base enraged Somalia.
Israel has been trying to bolster relations with countries in the Middle East and Africa.
Historic agreements struck late in Trump's first term in 2020 saw several countries including the Muslim-majority United Arab Emirates and Morocco normalise relations with Israel.
But wars that have stoked Arab anger, particularly in Gaza, have hampered recent efforts to expand ties further.
burs-jj/jgc/ceg/mjw

conflict

Russia lashes out at Zelensky ahead of new Trump talks on Ukraine plan

BY BARBARA WOJAZER

  • Zelensky's office said earlier that a meeting with Trump is planned for Sunday in Florida, where the US leader has a home.
  • Volodymyr Zelensky is due to meet President Donald Trump in Florida this weekend, but Russia accused the Ukrainian president and his EU backers Friday of seeking to "torpedo" a US-brokered plan to stop the fighting.
  • Zelensky's office said earlier that a meeting with Trump is planned for Sunday in Florida, where the US leader has a home.
Volodymyr Zelensky is due to meet President Donald Trump in Florida this weekend, but Russia accused the Ukrainian president and his EU backers Friday of seeking to "torpedo" a US-brokered plan to stop the fighting.
Sunday's meeting to discuss new peace proposals comes as Trump intensifies efforts to end Europe's worst conflict since World War II, one that has killed tens of thousands since February 2022.
The 20-point plan would freeze the war on its current front line but open the door for Ukraine to pull back troops from the east, where demilitarised buffer zones could be created, according to details revealed by Zelensky this week.
Ahead of the talks, AFP journalists reported several powerful explosions in Kyiv on Saturday, and authorities warned of a possible missile attack.
"Explosions in the capital. Air defence forces are operating. Stay in shelters!" Kyiv's mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram.
Ukraine's air force announced a countrywide air alert and said drones and missiles were moving over several regions including Kyiv. 
Zelensky's office said earlier that a meeting with Trump is planned for Sunday in Florida, where the US leader has a home.
Trump, speaking to news outlet Politico, said about Zelensky's plan that "he doesn't have anything until I approve it", adding: "So we'll see what he's got."
Zelensky meanwhile said he held telephone talks on Friday with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz and a host of other European leaders.
A spokesperson for Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the leaders "reiterated their unshakeable commitment for a just and lasting peace for Ukraine and the importance that talks continue to progress towards this in the coming days".

Security guarantees

The new plan formulated with Ukraine's input is Kyiv's most explicit acknowledgement yet of possible territorial concessions and is very different from an initial 28-point proposal tabled by Washington last month that adhered to many of Russia's core demands.
Part of the plan includes separate US-Ukraine bilateral agreements on security guarantees, reconstruction and the economy. Zelensky said those were changing on a daily basis.
"We will discuss these documents, security guarantees," he said of Sunday's meeting.
"As for sensitive issues, we will discuss (the eastern region of) Donbas and the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, and we will certainly discuss other issues," he added.
Russia signalled its opposition to the plan ahead of the Florida talks.
The Kremlin said Friday that foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov had held telephone talks with US officials, and deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov criticised Zelensky's stance.

Russia accuses EU

"Our ability to make the final push and reach an agreement will depend on our own work and the political will of the other party," Ryabkov said on Russian television.
"Especially in a context where Kyiv and its sponsors -- notably within the European Union, who are not in favour of an agreement -- have stepped up efforts to torpedo it."
He said the proposal drawn up with Zelensky input "differs radically" from points initially drawn up by US and Russian officials in contacts this month.
He said any deal had to "remain within the limits" fixed by Trump and Russia's President Vladimir Putin when they met in Alaska in August, or else "no accord can be reached".
Zelensky said this week there were still disagreements between Kyiv and Washington over the two core issues of territory and and the status of the Zaporizhzhia plant.
Washington has pushed Ukraine to withdraw from the 20 percent of the eastern Donetsk region that it still controls -- Russia's main territorial demand.
It has also proposed joint US-Ukrainian-Russian control of Zaporizhzhia, Europe's largest nuclear plant, which Russia seized during the invasion.
Zelensky said he could only give up more land if the Ukrainian people agree to it in a referendum, and he does not want Russian participation in the nuclear plant.
Ukraine appears to have won some concessions in the new plan, which, according to Zelensky, removed a requirement for Kyiv to legally renounce its bid to join NATO as well as previous clauses on territory seized by Russia since 2014 being recognised as belonging to Moscow.
But Moscow has shown little inclination to abandon its hardline territorial demands that Ukraine fully withdraw from Donbas and end efforts to join NATO.
Zelensky said Ukrainian negotiators were not directly in touch with Moscow, but that the United States acted as intermediary and was awaiting Russia's response to the latest proposal.
"I think we will know their official response in the coming days," Zelensky said.
"Russia is always looking for reasons not to agree," he added.
bur/jh/rmb/ceg/mjw

Paris

Police arrest suspect after man stabs 3 women in Paris metro

  • Paris police said two of the women attacked were treated by the emergency services and taken to hospital, but they were not in critical condition.
  • French police on Friday arrested a man suspected of stabbing three women in the Paris metro as the capital's end-of-year festivities were in full swing, prosecutors told AFP. The three victims were attacked at three different locations along the Line 3 metro track that runs across central Paris, the RATP authority that runs the transit service told AFP. An AFP journalist at the Republique station saw a security team treating a woman who had been wounded in the leg and appeared to be in a state of shock.
  • Paris police said two of the women attacked were treated by the emergency services and taken to hospital, but they were not in critical condition.
French police on Friday arrested a man suspected of stabbing three women in the Paris metro as the capital's end-of-year festivities were in full swing, prosecutors told AFP.
The three victims were attacked at three different locations along the Line 3 metro track that runs across central Paris, the RATP authority that runs the transit service told AFP.
An AFP journalist at the Republique station saw a security team treating a woman who had been wounded in the leg and appeared to be in a state of shock.
The attacks happened between 4:15 pm (1515 GMT) and 4:45 pm at the stations Republique and Arts et Metiers -- both next to the Marais district -- and the Opera station, the RATP said.
"The victims were quickly taken care of by the emergency services," it said.
Paris police said two of the women attacked were treated by the emergency services and taken to hospital, but they were not in critical condition. A third woman turned up at hospital seeking treatment, they added.
Police used surveillance-camera footage and mobile-tracking tools to locate the 25-year-old suspected attacker in the Val d'Oise region north of Paris, said prosecutors.
"Activating the geolocation of his mobile phone led to his arrest late afternoon in Val d'Oise," they said.
"The police are on site. Back-up security teams have been deployed to reinforce safety on the line," it added.
Transport police have opened an investigation into attempted homicide and assault with a weapon.
The Ministry of Interior said in a statement that man was a Malian citizen who had been imprisoned in January 2024 for aggravated theft and sexual assault convictions and had been required to leave France after being released in July. 
The man had been placed in an administrative detention centre but failure to obtain a consular travel document required for his deportation had meant he was released after 90 days, as required by law, the statement said. 
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez "regrets that the deportation of the suspect could not be carried out" and assured that "efforts are continuing to prioritise the deportation of undocumented foreigners who have committed public order offences", according to the ministry statement. 

'Maximum vigilance'

Paris police chief Patrice Faure paid tribute to "the reactivity and the mobilisation" of the investigators that led to the arrest of the suspect. Police arrested him at 6:55 pm, less than three hours after the first attack, he said.
Nunez congratulated the different police services involved in tracking down the suspect.
European capitals are especially vigilant during the end-of-year period for any violent incidents, given recent attacks and plots targeting festive or religious gatherings.
Last week, Nunez called for "maximum vigilance" in a message to senior officials.
Due to the "very high level of the terrorist threat" and "the risk of public disorder", Nunez asked local officials to strengthen security measures across the country with a visible and deterrent presence.
Nunez specifically asked for particular attention to be paid to security on public transport.
neo/jj/rmb/tc

US

Nigeria signals more strikes likely in 'joint' US operations

BY SUSAN NJANJI AND TONYE BAKARE, WITH NICHOLAS ROLL IN ABUJA AND AMINU ABUBAKAR IN KANO

  • Both countries said the strikes targeted militants linked to the Islamic State group, without providing details.
  • Nigeria on Friday signalled that more strikes against jihadist groups were expected after a Christmas Day attack by US forces that President Donald Trump said "decimated" Islamic State-linked camps they targeted in the northwest of the country.
  • Both countries said the strikes targeted militants linked to the Islamic State group, without providing details.
Nigeria on Friday signalled that more strikes against jihadist groups were expected after a Christmas Day attack by US forces that President Donald Trump said "decimated" Islamic State-linked camps they targeted in the northwest of the country.
Nigeria insisted it was a joint operation, saying that it provided intelligence for Thursday's attack. The US military said the strikes killed multiple IS fighters. 
A Pentagon official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP that the strikes "were approved by the government of Nigeria," without saying whether Nigeria's military had been involved. 
Trump said in an interview published Friday that the strikes had been scheduled earlier than Thursday, "And I said, 'nope, let's give a Christmas present.'
"They didn't think that was coming, but we hit them hard. Every camp got decimated," he told Politico.
Nigeria, located in west Africa, faces interlinked security crises, with jihadists waging an insurgency in the northeast since 2009 and armed gangs raiding villages and staging kidnappings in the northwest.
The strikes came after Abuja and Washington have been locked in a diplomatic dispute over what Trump has characterised as the mass killing of Christians amid Nigeria's myriad armed conflicts.
Questions remain over which armed group was targeted, and details over the strikes have varied between Nigerian and US accounts.
Washington's framing of the violence as amounting to Christian "persecution" is rejected by the Nigerian government and independent analysts, but has nonetheless resulted in increased security coordination.
US defence officials posted a video of what appeared to be a nighttime missile launch from the deck of a battleship flying the US flag.
"It's Nigeria that provided the intelligence," the country's foreign minister, Yusuf Tuggar, told broadcaster Channels TV, saying he had been on the phone with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio ahead of the strikes.
Asked if there would be more strikes, Tuggar said: "It is an ongoing thing" adding "it must be made clear that it is a joint operation, and it is not targeting any religion."

Targets unclear

Nigerian information minister Mohammed Idris said in a statement that the US strikes used 16 guided munitions launched from medium-altitude MQ-9 Reaper drones "successfully neutralising" IS elements attempting to penetrate Nigeria through the Sahel.
Both countries said the strikes targeted militants linked to the Islamic State group, without providing details.
The Department of Defense's US Africa Command said "multiple ISIS terrorists" were killed in an attack in the northwestern state of Sokoto.
Residents in Sokoto told AFP they were shocked by the blasts, saying some strikes hit a town that was not a militant stronghold.
Nigeria's armed groups are mostly concentrated in the northeast, but have made inroads into the northwest.
Researchers have recently linked some members of an armed group known as Lakurawa -- the main jihadist group located in Sokoto State -- to Islamic State Sahel Province (ISSP), which is mostly active in neighbouring Niger and Mali.
Other analysts have disputed those links.
"We initially thought it was (an) attack by Lakurawa," said Haruna Kallah, a resident of Jabo town.
That the explosions were in fact the result of a US strike "surprised us because this area has never been a Lakurawa enclave."
Tukur Shehu, a resident of Tangaza, a neighbouring district, said two strikes targeted villages known to house Lakurawa camps from where they launch attacks and keep hostages.

Public opinion divided

While public opinion on the strikes appeared split, the Nigerian government publicly welcomed them.
"I think Trump would not have accepted a 'No,'" said Malik Samuel, an Abuja-based researcher for Good Governance Africa, an NGO.
Nigerian authorities are keen to be seen as cooperating with the US, Samuel told AFP, even though "both the perpetrators and the victims in the northwest are overwhelmingly Muslim."
Security analyst Brant Philip said the results of the strikes were "not significant, but much is expected soon."
tba-sn-nro-str-abu/jh/msp/bgs

government

Trump's Christmas gospel: bombs, blessings and blame

BY AURéLIA END

  • Across the administration, Christmas messaging leaned hard into Christianity. 
  • Christmas under Donald Trump brought air strikes abroad and political threats at home, as the US president used the holiday to project a vision of power rooted less in peace than grievance, even as aides leaned into their Christian faith.
  • Across the administration, Christmas messaging leaned hard into Christianity. 
Christmas under Donald Trump brought air strikes abroad and political threats at home, as the US president used the holiday to project a vision of power rooted less in peace than grievance, even as aides leaned into their Christian faith.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, the president flooded his Truth Social feed with posts that ditched the usual holiday cheer. Instead of goodwill to all, Trump announced military action against jihadists in Nigeria and hurled insults at his enemies.
Trump said Friday that the strikes, conducted the day before, had "decimated" jihadist camps in northern Nigeria, describing the operation as a surprise blow delivered as a "Christmas present."
In an interview with Politico, the president said he had personally delayed the action until Thursday to catch militants off guard -- hitting "every camp" involved.
The strikes, he said, were retaliation for a "slaughter of Christians" in the west African nation. 
Then came a caustic Christmas greeting aimed at his political rivals, branding them "radical leftist scum."
On Thursday, Trump dropped an even darker line: "Enjoy what may be your last Merry Christmas." The cryptic warning appeared to hint at Democrats he believes will be exposed when files tied to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein are all released.
The White House, by contrast, issued a traditional message later that day -- heavy on scripture -- signed by the president and First Lady Melania Trump.
The statement invoked God seven times, celebrating "the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ" and praying for "God's abiding love, divine mercy, and everlasting peace."
Trump has long claimed credit for restoring "Merry Christmas" to public life, accusing his first-term predecessor Barack Obama of pushing "Happy Holidays" -- a greeting seen as more inclusive of multiple faiths. In reality, Obama regularly said "Merry Christmas." 
This year, though, Trump skipped formal worship entirely. The official schedule shows the 79-year-old billionaire spent the holiday at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida without attending church.
Across the administration, Christmas messaging leaned hard into Christianity. 
The Homeland Security Department urged Americans to "remember the miracle of Christ's birth," while Secretary of State Marco Rubio posted a nativity scene and spoke of "the hope of Eternal Life through Christ." 

'Always... a Christian nation'

The Pentagon even hosted its first-ever Christmas Mass on December 17.
Religious language is nothing new in the politics of the United States -- a country that calls itself "one nation under God." But the First Amendment bars any official creed. 
That hasn't stopped Vice President JD Vance from pushing Christian doctrine into every corner of policy, from diplomacy to immigration.
"A true Christian politics, it cannot just be about the protection of the unborn... It must be at the heart of our full understanding of government," he told a recent rally organized by the conservative group Turning Point USA.
"We have been, and by the grace of God, we always will be, a Christian nation," Vance added. The crowd roared.
Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, offers a disciplined Christian nationalist vision. But Trump's version is more personal -- and messianic.
In his January inauguration speech, he claimed God saved him from assassination so he could fulfill America's destiny. 
Since then, he has sold $60 "God Bless The USA" Bibles, launched a White House Office of Faith under televangelist Paula White, and posted photos of himself praying at his desk, pastors hovering around him.
Trump, never known as a committed churchgoer, now speaks often of his own salvation. 
"I want to try and get to heaven if possible," he told Fox News in August, suggesting brokering peace in Ukraine might help. 
At other moments, however, he has sounded far less confident.
"I hear I'm not doing well -- I hear I'm really at the bottom of the totem pole!" he has said, again linking any improvement in his prospects to a potential peace deal in Ukraine.
His bleakest assessment came on October 15, when he remarked: "I don't think there's anything that's going to get me into heaven."
aue/ft/mlm

minorities

Deadly blast hits mosque in Alawite area of Syria's Homs

BY OMAR HAJ KADOUR WITH LAYAL ABOU RAHAL IN BEIRUT

  • The group formed after the ouster last year of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad, himself a member of the Alawite community, and had claimed responsibility for the June church bombing, though authorities blamed the Islamic State group.
  • An explosion killed at least eight worshippers at a mosque in a predominantly Alawite area of Syria's Homs on Friday, state media said, with an Islamist militant group claiming responsibility.
  • The group formed after the ouster last year of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad, himself a member of the Alawite community, and had claimed responsibility for the June church bombing, though authorities blamed the Islamic State group.
An explosion killed at least eight worshippers at a mosque in a predominantly Alawite area of Syria's Homs on Friday, state media said, with an Islamist militant group claiming responsibility.
The attack during Friday prayers is the latest on the Alawite community, and the second blast in a place of worship since Islamist authorities took power a year ago, after a suicide bombing in a Damascus church killed 25 people in June.
In a statement on Telegram, extremist group Saraya Ansar al-Sunna said its fighters "detonated a number of explosive devices" in the Imam Ali Bin Abi Talib Mosque in the central Syrian city.
The group formed after the ouster last year of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad, himself a member of the Alawite community, and had claimed responsibility for the June church bombing, though authorities blamed the Islamic State group.
State news agency SANA reported an explosion in the mosque in Homs's Wadi al-Dahab neighbourhood and gave a preliminary toll of at least eight dead and 18 wounded, citing a health ministry official.
An AFP photographer saw security forces cordoning off the area around the mosque while inside, personnel stood guard as red tape encircled the blackened, debris-strewn corner where the blast went off.
Usama Ibrahim, 47, who was being treated in hospital for shrapnel wounds to his head and back, said he was at Friday prayers when he heard was a loud explosion.
"The world turned red... and I fell to the ground. Then I saw blood flowing from my head," he told AFP.

'Shrapnel all around'

Syria's interior ministry said in a statement that "a terrorist explosion" targeted the mosque and that authorities had "begun investigating and collecting evidence to pursue the perpetrators of this criminal act".
SANA quoted a security source as saying that initial investigations indicated that "explosive devices planted inside the mosque" caused the blast.
As victims' families gathered at the hospital, wounded bookseller Ghadi Maarouf, 38, told AFP that the explosion occurred "just before the imam was to ascend the minbar to deliver the sermon", referring to the imam's raised platform.
"It was a huge explosion, and I saw shrapnel flying all around me," said Maarouf, whose leg was wounded in the blast.
Syria's foreign ministry condemned a "cowardly criminal act", saying it came "in the context of repeated desperate attempts to undermine security and stability and spread chaos among the Syrian people", vowing to hold the attackers accountable.
Several countries including Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan condemned the attack.
France said the blast was an "act of terrorism" designed to destabilise the country, while United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres condemned the "unacceptable" attack and said the perpetrators should be brought to justice.
Most Syrians are Sunni Muslim, and Homs city is home to a Sunni majority but also has several predominantly Alawite areas, a community whose faith stems from Shiite Islam.
Since Assad's fall, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor and Homs province residents have reported kidnappings and killings targeting members of the minority community, while the country has seen several bloody sectarian episodes.

Detainees released

Syria's coastal areas saw the massacre of Alawite civilians in March, with authorities accusing armed Assad supporters of sparking the violence by attacking security forces.
A national commission of inquiry said at least 1,426 members of the minority were killed, while the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor put the toll at more than 1,700.
Late last month, thousands of people demonstrated on the coast in protest at fresh attacks targeting Alawites in Homs and other regions.
Before and after the March bloodshed, authorities carried out a massive arrest campaign in predominantly Alawite areas, which are also former Assad strongholds.
On Friday, Syrian state television reported the release of 70 detainees in the coastal city of Latakia "after it was proven that they were not involved in war crimes", saying more releases would follow.
Despite assurances from Damascus that all Syria's communities will be protected, the country's minorities remain largely wary of their future under the new Islamist authorities.
The Supreme Alawite Islamic Council, which says it represents the community in Syria and abroad, said Friday's attack was part of an "organised" campaign "against the Alawite community in particular, and against the rest of the Syrian communities in an escalating manner", demanding international protection.
In July, sectarian clashes in southern Syria's Druze-majority Sweida province saw more than 2,000 people killed.
In a speech this month marking a year since the fall of Assad, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa emphasised the importance of all Syrians unifying efforts to "to build a strong Syria".
bur-str-lar/nad/jfx/lg

Paris

Police arrest suspect after man stabs 3 women in Paris metro

  • Paris police said two of the women attacked were treated by the emergency services and taken to hospital, but they were not in critical condition.
  • French police on Friday arrested a man suspected of stabbing three women in the Paris metro as the capital's end-of-year festivities were in full swing, prosecutors told AFP. The three victims were attacked at three different locations along the Line 3 metro track that runs across central Paris, the RATP authority that runs the transit service told AFP. An AFP journalist at the Republique station saw a security team treating a woman who had been wounded in the leg and appeared to be in a state of shock.
  • Paris police said two of the women attacked were treated by the emergency services and taken to hospital, but they were not in critical condition.
French police on Friday arrested a man suspected of stabbing three women in the Paris metro as the capital's end-of-year festivities were in full swing, prosecutors told AFP.
The three victims were attacked at three different locations along the Line 3 metro track that runs across central Paris, the RATP authority that runs the transit service told AFP.
An AFP journalist at the Republique station saw a security team treating a woman who had been wounded in the leg and appeared to be in a state of shock.
The attacks happened between 4:15 pm (1515 GMT) and 4:45 pm at the stations Republique and Arts et Metiers -- both next to the Marais district -- and the Opera station, the RATP said.
"The victims were quickly taken care of by the emergency services," it said.
Paris police said two of the women attacked were treated by the emergency services and taken to hospital, but they were not in critical condition. A third woman turned up at hospital seeking treatment, they added.
Police used surveillance-camera footage and mobile-tracking tools to locate the 25-year-old suspected attacker in the Val d'Oise region north of Paris, said prosecutors.
"Activating the gelocation of his mobile phone led to his arrest late afternoon in Val d'Oise," they said.
"The police are on site. Back-up security teams have been deployed to reinforce safety on the line," it added.

'Maximum vigilance'

Paris police chief Patrice Faure paid tribute to "the reactivity and the mobilisation" of the investigators that led to the arrest of the suspect. Police arrested him at 6:55 pm, less than three hours after the first attack, he said.
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez congratulated the different police services involved in tracking down the suspect.
Transport police have opened an investigation into attempted homicide and assault with a weapon.
European capitals are especially vigilant during the end-of-year period for any violent incidents, given recent attacks and plots targeting festive or religious gatherings.
Last week, Nunez called for "maximum vigilance" in a message to senior officials.
Due to the "very high level of the terrorist threat" and "the risk of public disorder", Nunez asked local officials to strengthen security measures across the country with a visible and deterrent presence.
Nunez specifically asked for particular attention to be paid to security on public transport.
neo/jj/rmb

conflict

Another 1,100 refugees cross into Mauritania from Mali: UN

  • Most of the newcomers are women and children, with rising numbers of elderly people among the refugees. 
  • More than 1,100 people fleeing insecurity in Mali have crossed into Mauritania this week, the UN refugee agency reported Friday, saying conditions were "difficult" for the newcomers.
  • Most of the newcomers are women and children, with rising numbers of elderly people among the refugees. 
More than 1,100 people fleeing insecurity in Mali have crossed into Mauritania this week, the UN refugee agency reported Friday, saying conditions were "difficult" for the newcomers.
UNHCR said 7,310 refugees had now fled to Mauritania in the two months since a jihadist blockade upended daily life in Mali's capital Bamako and other regions.
Mali has seen several such blockades in recent months, carried out by jihadists from the Al-Qaeda-linked Group the for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM).
The group has committed violent acts since 2012, plunging Mali into an ongoing state of insecurity which has been compounded by criminal gang activity.
Civilians are often targeted in retribution by the army, its Russian allies or by jihadists, each side accusing them of collaborating with the enemy.
Since late October there has been a steady influx of refugees into Mauritania from Mali where the security situation remains "very unstable", according to UNHCR.
The agency counted 188 families entering Mauritania this week and 1,161 families since October 24, but added that the actual numbers were probably higher.
Most of the newcomers are women and children, with rising numbers of elderly people among the refugees. 
Because many use informal crossing points to enter Mauritania, it is difficult to identify and register them and supply aid, UNHCR said, calling for additional means to protect, and care for, the refugees.
sjd/jh/jxb

politics

Judge jails ex-Malaysian PM Najib for 15 more years after new graft conviction

BY ISABELLE LEONG

  • Sequerah convicted the 72-year-old former leader on all four counts of abuse of power as well as all 21 counts of money laundering, involving around 2.28 billion ringgit ($554 million) from the fund.
  • A Malaysian judge sentenced former prime minister Najib Razak to 15 more years in jail on Friday after convicting him of abuse of power and money laundering in a sovereign wealth fund graft scandal.
  • Sequerah convicted the 72-year-old former leader on all four counts of abuse of power as well as all 21 counts of money laundering, involving around 2.28 billion ringgit ($554 million) from the fund.
A Malaysian judge sentenced former prime minister Najib Razak to 15 more years in jail on Friday after convicting him of abuse of power and money laundering in a sovereign wealth fund graft scandal.
Najib was also fined 11.4 billion ringgit ($2.8 billion) for his role in the plunder of billions from the now-defunct 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) more than a decade ago.
He is already serving a six-year term after being convicted in a separate 1MDB case, and Judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah said Najib's latest term would begin only after that sentence was completed.
Sequerah convicted the 72-year-old former leader on all four counts of abuse of power as well as all 21 counts of money laundering, involving around 2.28 billion ringgit ($554 million) from the fund.
Najib, dressed in a navy blue suit and white shirt, was seen looking down, slumped in his seat as the judge read the verdict after a marathon eight-hour hearing.
The son of one of Malaysia's founding fathers, Najib was groomed for leadership from a young age but fell from power spectacularly as public anger mounted over the corruption scandal. 
Investigations under successive governments have ensnared him and his wife, Rosmah Mansor, in graft allegations since his loss in 2018 elections.
Prosecutors say Najib abused his positions as prime minister, finance minister and 1MDB advisory board chairman to move vast sums from the fund into his personal accounts.
According to investigators, proceeds from the fund were used to bankroll high-end real estate, a luxury yacht and precious artworks, including a Monet and a Van Gogh.

'Unmeritorious'

Sequerah dismissed several of the arguments of Najib's defence team, including that he had been duped by his close associate, the shadowy businessman Low Taek Jho who is better known as Jho Low.
"The evidence clearly points to the fact that this was no coincidence but was evident of a relationship in which Jho Low operated as a proxy or agent of the accused (Najib) with regard to the running of the affairs of 1MDB," Sequerah said.
He said that the defence argument that Najib was "misled and duped by management and by Jho Low is unmeritorious".
Najib's lawyer, Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, told reporters they would appeal against the judgement because Sequerah had "blundered".
1MDB was a state investment fund launched by Najib in 2009, shortly after he became prime minister. 
Whistleblowers said Jho Low, a well-connected Malaysian financier with no official role, helped set up the fund and made key financial decisions. 
It is estimated that more than $4.5 billion was diverted from 1MDB between 2009 and 2015 by fund officials and associates, including Low, who is on the run.
Sequerah also dismissed claims that Middle East donors -- including the late Saudi King Abdullah -- were responsible for the money flowing into Najib's accounts, calling it a "tale that surpassed even those from the Arabian Nights".
The prosecution presented bank records, testimony from more than 50 witnesses and documentary evidence.
"The accused wielded absolute financial, executive and political control," prosecutors said.

Apology

Najib's lawyers have said he was unaware that 1MDB's management was working hand-in-glove with Low to siphon large amounts of money from the fund, which was ostensibly established to foster economic growth in Malaysia.
Shafee told journalists last week his client "never got a fair trial". 
He again blamed Low for the scandal, which sparked probes in several countries from Singapore to the United States, and dented Malaysia's image abroad.
Najib has apologised for allowing the 1MDB scandal to happen during his tenure but has consistently denied wrongdoing, maintaining he knew nothing about illegal transfers from the fund.
His legal battle was dealt yet another blow on Monday after he lost a bid to serve the remainder of his current jail term at home rather than the Kajang Prison outside Kuala Lumpur.
jhe-llk/pbt

Global Edition

Funny old world: the week's offbeat news

  • - From predator to plate - Japan has come up with a novel way of tackling the growing menace of bear attacks... by eating them.
  • From Japan getting its teeth into its bear problem to why all is not so sunny for the Swedes...
  • - From predator to plate - Japan has come up with a novel way of tackling the growing menace of bear attacks... by eating them.
From Japan getting its teeth into its bear problem to why all is not so sunny for the Swedes... Your weekly roundup of offbeat stories from around the world.

From predator to plate

Japan has come up with a novel way of tackling the growing menace of bear attacks... by eating them.
Bear is back on the menu in country inns cooked on a stone slate -- or in a hot pot with vegetables -- as culls are stepped up after 13 people were killed in maulings this year, twice the previous record.
Bears, who can weigh up to half a ton and outrun humans, have been breaking into homes looking for food, nosing around schools and rampaging through supermarkets.
But as alarm has grown, so too has the appetite for eating them.
"The number of customers who want to eat their meat has increased a lot," restaurant owner Koji Suzuki, 71, told AFP in the hilly city of Chichibu near Tokyo.
So much so that he is having to turn away customers.
One who nabbed a seat, 28-year-old composer Takaaki Kimura -- who had never eaten bear before -- loved the taste.
"It's so juicy, and the more you chew, the tastier it gets," he said, grinning as he and his friends sat around the grilling stone and bubbling pot. 
Suzuki, who is also a hunter, said they took care cooking the bears to show respect for their life. "It's better to use the meat at a restaurant like this, rather than burying it."

That won't fly

A Mexican pilot barricaded himself into the cockpit and refused to fly his passengers to the resort of Cancun in one of the most unusual strikes of the year.
The captain told passengers he was owed five months' salary, and said "this plane isn't leaving until they pay us what they owe us," according to a video cited by local media. 
"I feel bad for you, because you don't deserve this," he told holidaymakers before he was arrested by police at Mexico City's Benito Juarez International Airport.

Not much hygge

Those suffering from the post-Christmas blues should spare a thought for the Swedes. The capital Stockholm did not get a single hour of sunshine for the first 15 days of the month.
The sun was only seen for 30 minutes, putting it on track to be the darkest December since 1934 when there was so little light meteorologists "rounded it down to zero hours".
Famously stoic Scandinavians have cultivated concepts like "hygge" -- or coziness -- to get them through the long winter nights.
But even that is being tested by the gloom, with meteorologist Viktor Bergman "very pessimistic" about snow for a white Christmas and New Year to cheer everyone up.
burs-fg/jj

Global Edition

Japan govt approves record budget, including for defence

BY HIROSHI HIYAMA AND TOMOHIRO OSAKI

  • The 122.3-trillion-yen ($782 billion) budget for the fiscal year from April 2026 will include a record nine trillion yen for defence spending, as Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi aims to accelerate Tokyo's sweeping upgrade of its military in the face of worsening relations with China.
  • The Japanese government approved a record budget for the upcoming fiscal year on Friday, to pay for everything from bigger defence spending to ballooning social security costs as inflation persists.
  • The 122.3-trillion-yen ($782 billion) budget for the fiscal year from April 2026 will include a record nine trillion yen for defence spending, as Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi aims to accelerate Tokyo's sweeping upgrade of its military in the face of worsening relations with China.
The Japanese government approved a record budget for the upcoming fiscal year on Friday, to pay for everything from bigger defence spending to ballooning social security costs as inflation persists.
The 122.3-trillion-yen ($782 billion) budget for the fiscal year from April 2026 will include a record nine trillion yen for defence spending, as Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi aims to accelerate Tokyo's sweeping upgrade of its military in the face of worsening relations with China.
"This budget is the least we need to fulfil our defence responsibilities as Japan faces its most severe and complex security environment since the end of the war," Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi told a news conference.
Japan has been shedding its strict pacifist stance in recent years, moving to obtain "counterstrike" capabilities and doubling military spending to two percent of GDP.
At the core of its request is 100 billion yen for the so-called SHIELD coastal defence system, which would marshal drones to block any invasion by foreign troops. 
Japan is hoping that SHIELD -- Synchronised, Hybrid, Integrated and Enhanced Littoral Defence -- will be completed by March 2028, with no details yet about to which part of Japan's coastline it will be linked.
The budget plan comes as China and Japan are enmeshed in a spat over Takaichi's suggestion in November that Tokyo could intervene militarily in any attack on Taiwan. 
Beijing claims self-ruled, democratic Taiwan as part of its territory and has threatened to use force to bring it under its control.

Market worries

The expanding budget also arrives as the market worries about Takaichi's big spending policies adding to Japan's public debts.
The 122-trillion-yen figure compares with the 115 trillion yen sought for the current fiscal year to March, which was also a record. 
Japan already has the biggest ratio of debt to gross domestic product (GDP) among major economies, projected to reach 232.7 percent this year, according to the International Monetary Fund.
Parliament approved a massive extra budget this month to pay for a 21.3-trillion-yen stimulus announced in November.
The market has reacted by driving down the value of the yen, while the benchmark yield rose for Japanese government bonds. 
Some observers have drawn comparisons to the United Kingdom's 2022 bond market turmoil under then-premier Liz Truss.
Takaichi has advocated big government spending to spur economic growth.
The budget "is designed to make people live safely, receive necessary medicine, welfare and high-quality education and have jobs, no matter where they are in Japan," she told a news conference on Friday.
Takaichi stressed her commitment to Tokyo's fiscal health in an interview with the influential Nikkei business daily on Tuesday, rejecting any "irresponsible bond issuance or tax cuts".
The current size of the budget is unlikely to shock the bond market, Takahide Kiuchi, executive economist at Nomura Research Institute, wrote in a note before Friday.
But an increase to around 125 trillion yen or more, he said, would cause the "turmoil in the bond market, already in crisis mode, to deepen further". 
Kiuchi noted that, under Takaichi, the extra budget quickly ballooned, reaching $18 trillion yen.
"Financial markets are likely on high alert for a similar occurrence," he said.
"Should the fall of the yen and bond prices further accelerate due to the size of the budget, it would increase worries about adverse effects on the economy and people's lives."
A weaker yen raises prices of imports for resource-poor Japan, which relies heavily on foreign food, energy and raw materials to power its economy.
Takaichi came to power in October with a pledge to fight inflation after anger over rising prices.
Another challenge is Japan's ageing population, caused by chronically low birth rates and a cautious approach to immigration.
The draft budget needs to be approved by parliament.
hih-tmo-aph/pbt

election

'No winner': Kosovo snap poll unlikely to end damaging deadlock

BY ISMET HAJDARI

  • Two national polls and a local election have cost one of Europe's poorest nations at least 30 million euros ($35 million) this year.
  • Before the first vote is even cast in Kosovo's snap election on Sunday, experts predict it is unlikely to end the political crisis that has been gripping Europe's youngest country for almost a year. 
  • Two national polls and a local election have cost one of Europe's poorest nations at least 30 million euros ($35 million) this year.
Before the first vote is even cast in Kosovo's snap election on Sunday, experts predict it is unlikely to end the political crisis that has been gripping Europe's youngest country for almost a year. 
The Balkan nation has been politically deadlocked since the inconclusive vote in February, which outgoing premier Albin Kurti's Vetevendosje (VV) party won but without enough seats to form a government.
After months of wrangling in a stalled parliament, the caretaker prime minister is going back to the electorate in a vote that analysts say will change very little.
"I think that the December 28 elections will not bring any clarity," economist Mehmet Gjata told AFP as he predicted Kurti's party would come out on top again.
Political analyst Fatime Hajdari agreed that "chances were high" that VV would secure the most votes, but said little else was clear.

Charismatic Kurti

If anyone can secure a majority, Kurti, once dubbed Kosovo's Che Guevara for his radical past, has a rare record.
His party swept to power in 2021 in the largest electoral victory since the country's independence from Serbia in 2008, taking over 50 percent of the vote.
From a student radical to a political prisoner, Kurti's long path to the prime ministership has made him one of the most recognisable and influential politicians in Kosovo.
His blend of nationalism and a reform agenda has proven popular in a country whose sovereignty is still contested by Serbia, more than two decades after its war for independence ended.
But Gjata says things may have changed since Kurti's last term.
"I'm afraid that the current political crisis will repeat itself, because VV will not get more than 50 percent of the votes," the economist said.
"We will have no winner again."
The largest opposition parties have refused to join a Kurti coalition, all but assuring a fragmented parliament.
The only realistic challenge to VV would be "cooperation" between the three major opposition parties, former foreign minister and opposition candidate Enver Hoxhaj said.
"I think that only they can offer stability," Hoxhaj said.

Popular Serb policy blamed for 'instability'

For Kurti and his party, countering Serbian influence in Kosovo has long been a focus, drawing support at home but criticism abroad.
When Serbian forces withdrew under NATO bombardment in 1999, it left many of its state structures in place for ethnic Serbs who live mainly in the north.
Kurti has labelled these services "instruments of intimidation, threat and control" and spent nearly his entire second term uprooting the system -- and angering Belgrade in the process.
The resulting tensions in the north, which last flared into violence in 2023, have drawn sanctions from the European Union and caused Washington to accuse Kurti's government of increasing "instability".
But among his voters, the removal of Serbian influence remains popular, Hajdari said.
"The extension of sovereignty there is perceived by the citizens as a major success," Hajdari said.
Most opposition parties avoid the issue, but the Serb List -- which contests and retains most of the ten reserved Serb seats in parliament -- regularly clashes with Kurti's agenda in the north.
The minor party, with close ties to Belgrade, has previously called the government's moves in the north "ethnic cleansing" and has said they are willing to work with other parties to keep Kurti out of power.

A year of 'colossal damage'

Without a parliament, key international agreements have not been ratified, putting hundreds of millions of euros in assistance funds at risk.
Two national polls and a local election have cost one of Europe's poorest nations at least 30 million euros ($35 million) this year.
Over a dozen government institutions and agencies have also been left leaderless, as the mandates of their managers expired without new ones being appointed.
Gjata said "colossal damage" had been done to the economy by divided lawmakers over the past months.
"They have put Kosovo in a state of anarchy," he said.
While lawmakers bickered, the cost of the crisis would be felt by the Balkan nation's citizens, Hajdari warned.
"That is precisely why Kosovo needs a stable and functional government that would focus on development and welfare."
ih/al/fg

election

Main contenders in Kosovo's snap election

BY ISMET HAJDARI

  • However, in February's election, his party fell short of the numbers needed to govern alone and failed to secure a coalition partner, triggering months of deadlock that ultimately led to Sunday's snap vote.
  • Kosovo is heading for early elections Sunday after months of political deadlock and failure to form a government -- the only solution its deeply divided parties could agree on to break the stalemate.
  • However, in February's election, his party fell short of the numbers needed to govern alone and failed to secure a coalition partner, triggering months of deadlock that ultimately led to Sunday's snap vote.
Kosovo is heading for early elections Sunday after months of political deadlock and failure to form a government -- the only solution its deeply divided parties could agree on to break the stalemate.
Here are the main contenders to be the Balkan nation's next prime minister:

Albin Kurti: eyeing fourth win

Kosovo's caretaker prime minister, Albin Kurti, is widely seen as the unbeatable frontrunner in the race—even after a year of political paralysis during which he failed to form a coalition.
If he wins, it will mark the fourth consecutive time the 50-year-old left-wing leader has crossed the finish line first, securing his position at the helm of the small, landlocked country.
Kurti has left nothing to chance, pouring enormous energy into a two-week snap election campaign, travelling extensively and lobbying across the country.
Once nicknamed "Che Guevara" for his youthful radicalism, Kurti boasts long political experience rooted in Kosovo's independence movement during the war-torn 1990s and later in parliament.
After a brief first term as prime minister from February to June 2020, Kurti's party, Vetevendosje (VV) -- which blends a leftist agenda with fervent nationalism -- won the 2021 snap elections with over half the vote.
He then became the first prime minister to complete a full term since Kosovo's independence. However, in February's election, his party fell short of the numbers needed to govern alone and failed to secure a coalition partner, triggering months of deadlock that ultimately led to Sunday's snap vote.
Kurti and VV still enjoy strong voter support, thanks largely to their reformist and anti-corruption platform. But if Kurti wins on Sunday, he will face intense international pressure to revive dialogue with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic on normalizing relations between the two neighbours.

Bedri Hamza: the challenger

Bedri Hamza, a former central bank governor and newly elected president of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), is seen as Kurti's strongest challenger.
Born out of a guerrilla movement during the war against rule from Belgrade, the PDK dominated Kosovo's political scene for years, riding the wave of wartime popularity. But its influence gradually waned as the country moved beyond the conflict.
The party has since reinvented itself with figures like Hamza, who blends national values with liberal economic policies championing free markets, economic growth, a stronger private sector and social protection.
The 62-year-old graduated from the Faculty of Economics at the University of Pristina and began his career in the late 1980s as head of accounting and finance at a lead metallurgy plant in Mitrovica.
More than three decades later, Hamza returned to the ethnically divided city as mayor of its Albanian-majority south. His tenure is remembered for successfully implementing multi-ethnic projects with the Serb-majority north, including regulating the Ibar River. If elected prime minister, this experience could prove invaluable in building trust with Kosovo's Serb minority, which remains loyal to Belgrade.
A prominent economist, Hamza has served as finance minister, central bank governor and has been a three-term MP.
Knowing that in pro-American Kosovo, political ambitions often hinge on US support, Hamza's first major move after announcing his candidacy was a trip to Washington, where he met senior US officials.
Generally regarded as a man of integrity, Hamza declared after his election as PDK leader that the party "is ready for victory".

Lumir Abdixhiku: young pretender 

Lumir Abdixhiku is the youngest candidate for prime minister but leads the country's oldest political party, the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK).
The 42-year-old economist was an academic focusing on tax evasion in transition economies before entering politics and served as Kosovo's infrastructure minister.
Abdixhiku also spent several years as a newspaper columnist, penning the well-known "Letters from Limbo" column in the daily Koha Ditore.
He became LDK leader in 2021, just a month after the party suffered a crushing parliamentary defeat. Abdixhiku pledged reform and delivered, replacing much of its leadership with younger activists. Now the third-largest party in parliament, the LDK could play kingmaker in these elections, as both left and right seek its support for a coalition.
Abdixhiku declared that LDK aims to "take the leadership of Kosovo" and offer "a dignified and European government" if it wins.
ih/fg

attacks

US launches Christmas Day strikes on IS targets in Nigeria

BY ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS, WITH MICHAEL MATHES IN WASHINGTON

  • The Department of Defense's US Africa Command said "multiple ISIS terrorists" were killed in an attack in Sokoto state conducted at the request of Nigerian authorities, using an acronym for the Islamic State group.
  • President Donald Trump said US forces conducted "powerful and deadly" strikes Thursday against Islamic State group militants in northwestern Nigeria, weeks after he warned against any systemic assault on Christians in the country.
  • The Department of Defense's US Africa Command said "multiple ISIS terrorists" were killed in an attack in Sokoto state conducted at the request of Nigerian authorities, using an acronym for the Islamic State group.
President Donald Trump said US forces conducted "powerful and deadly" strikes Thursday against Islamic State group militants in northwestern Nigeria, weeks after he warned against any systemic assault on Christians in the country.
The Nigerian foreign ministry early Friday confirmed the air strikes, describing them as "precision hits on terrorist targets" in the country.
The Department of Defense's US Africa Command said "multiple ISIS terrorists" were killed in an attack in Sokoto state conducted at the request of Nigerian authorities, using an acronym for the Islamic State group.
Few details were provided and it was not clear how many people were killed. 
Trump said he had "previously warned these Terrorists that if they did not stop the slaughtering of Christians, there would be hell to pay, and tonight, there was." 
"MERRY CHRISTMAS to all, including the dead Terrorists, of which there will be many more if their slaughter of Christians continues," he wrote on his Truth Social platform.
US defense officials later posted video of what appeared to be the nighttime launch of a missile from the deck of a battleship flying the US flag.
The attack is the first by US forces in Nigeria under Trump, and comes after the Republican leader unexpectedly berated the west African nation in October and November, saying Christians there faced an "existential threat" that amounted to "genocide" amid Nigeria's myriad armed conflicts.
That diplomatic offensive was welcomed by some but interpreted by others as inflaming religious tensions in Africa's most populous country, which has seen bouts of sectarian violence in the past.
Nigeria's government and independent analysts reject framing the country's violence in terms of religious persecution -- a narrative long used by the Christian right in the United States and Europe. 
But Trump, spotlighting what his administration says is global persecution of Christians, stressed last month that Washington was ready to take military action in Nigeria to counter such killings.

'Grateful' for cooperation

The Nigerian foreign ministry said the country was engaged with international partners.
"Nigerian authorities remain engaged in structured security cooperation with international partners, including the United States of America, in addressing the persistent threat of terrorism and violent extremism," the ministry said.
Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said he was "grateful for Nigerian government support & cooperation" in an X post. 
The United States this year placed Nigeria back on the list of countries of "particular concern" regarding religious freedom, and has restricted the issuance of visas to Nigerians. 
Trump last month also threatened to stop all aid to Abuja if it "continues to allow the killing of Christians." 
Nigeria is almost evenly divided between a Muslim-majority north and a largely Christian south.
Its northeast has been in the grip of jihadist violence for more than 15 years by the Islamist Boko Haram group, which has claimed more than 40,000 lives and displaced two million people.
At the same time, large parts of the country's northwest, north and center have been hit by criminal gangs known as "bandits" who attack villages, killing and kidnapping residents.
On Wednesday an explosion ripped through a mosque in the northeastern city of Maiduguri, killing at least seven worshippers. No armed groups immediately claimed responsibility.
mlm/abs/rsc

rights

Boys recount 'torment' at hands of armed rebels in DR Congo

BY CAMILLE LAFFONT

  • New recruits are swiftly forced to convert to Islam and learn Arabic, but also English and Swahili, Edouard said. 
  • Forcibly recruited into a rebel militia affiliated with the Islamic State group, two boys revealed the "torment" of living in its camps as members committed massacres in the Democratic Republic of Congo's northeast. 
  • New recruits are swiftly forced to convert to Islam and learn Arabic, but also English and Swahili, Edouard said. 
Forcibly recruited into a rebel militia affiliated with the Islamic State group, two boys revealed the "torment" of living in its camps as members committed massacres in the Democratic Republic of Congo's northeast. 
The two minors freed from the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) gave AFP an unprecedented account of the shadowy group, notorious for its extreme brutality. 
Paluku, a frail 12-year-old, spent two months with the ADF after rebels killed his mother during an attack on his village in eastern North Kivu province. His brother and sister were also captured. 
Edouard, 17, spent a gruelling four years with the ADF -- formed by Ugandan rebels who took refuge in DRC -- after he was kidnapped at age 12.  
The two boys, using pseudonyms, spoke on condition of anonymity at a centre specialising in the care of minors recruited by armed groups in the region, whose location AFP has chosen not to disclose to avoid potential reprisals. 
Their accounts were confirmed by health and security sources. 
Round-faced Edouard, a fast-talker, did not mince his words in describing his years of "torment" within the ADF. 
"We suffered terribly," he said. 
After their capture, Edouard and Paluku were sent to ADF bases hidden in the dense forest of northeast DRC where the elusive rebels avoid patrols by the Congolese army and Ugandan forces deployed there since 2021. 
The bases consist of simple tents and tarps, easy to move in the event of an attack. 
Most occupants are women and children, according to security sources, contributing to the group's operations -- but also serving as human shields. 
New recruits are swiftly forced to convert to Islam and learn Arabic, but also English and Swahili, Edouard said. 
"I was also trained in medicine to treat the wounded, and we learned how to handle weapons and clean them," he said.
Paluku said he underwent similar training, as well as learning how to "steal food, clothing and medicine to bring back to the ADF camp". 

Floggings

Children play a central role in supplying the group, security sources said. Those who fail to bring back loot face severe punishment. 
The wives of the ADF commanders, some of whom are particularly influential, also exercise power over the young recruits. 
When the fighters go out on "operations", the youngest among them like Paluku, were "supposed to bring something back for the chief's wife," he said, like soap, cooking oil or fabric.
"To get it we have to loot people's belongings, and if a chief's wife accuses you to her husband of not bringing back what she asked for, she can demand that you be killed," he said. 
Edouard and Paluku said they were subjected to incessant corporal punishment. 
Girls and boys were whipped or thrown into pits for several weeks over the slightest misbehaviour. 
"I was punished with lashes because I refused to go kill people," Paluku said with a long stare. 
Edouard took part in combat with the group at least three times against the Congolese army or local militias. 
"They beat us mostly when we lost our weapons and ammunition, claiming we had wasted them for nothing or lost them on the front," he explained. 
Faced with such an accusation, Edouard said a chief ordered that he be whipped. 
"I fell ill because of those lashes. I told the chief outright I was no longer able to go fight on the front, I begged him to send others who were capable, but that made him even more angry, and I was whipped once again," he said. 

Trauma

About 10 children freed from the ADF arrive on average each month at the reception centre in the troubled northeast Ituri province. 
"These children have suffered psychological trauma and torture, and when they arrive here, most are aggressive," said Madeleine, a psychologist at the centre. 
After a few weeks spent around other children and staff, their aggression fades, she said. 
But there are other scars to contend with. 
Edouard became addicted to drugs administered by the rebels after he was wounded in combat. 
Suffering from speech disorders, he talks constantly and sometimes incoherently, disturbing other residents, Madeleine said. 
After a year at the centre receiving ongoing treatment, Edouard recounted the horrors of his experience with a shy smile and a lively, excitable gaze. 
Paluku meanwhile had a darker expression, recalling his sister who remains a hostage. 
"She has become the wife of one of the ADF chiefs," he said.
clt/giv/rh/ceg

conflict

Inside Chernobyl, Ukraine scrambles to repair radiation shield

BY SERGII VOLSKYI AND TETIANA DZHAFAROVA

  • Ukraine has repeatedly accused Moscow of targeting Chernobyl and its other nuclear power plants, saying Moscow's strikes risk triggering a potentially catastrophic disaster.
  • Inside an abandoned control room at Ukraine's Chernobyl nuclear power plant, a worker in an orange hardhat gazed at a grey wall of seemingly endless dials, screens and gauges that were supposed to prevent disaster.
  • Ukraine has repeatedly accused Moscow of targeting Chernobyl and its other nuclear power plants, saying Moscow's strikes risk triggering a potentially catastrophic disaster.
Inside an abandoned control room at Ukraine's Chernobyl nuclear power plant, a worker in an orange hardhat gazed at a grey wall of seemingly endless dials, screens and gauges that were supposed to prevent disaster.
The 1986 meltdown at the site was the world's worst ever nuclear incident. Since Russia invaded in 2022, Kyiv fears another disaster could be just a matter of time.
In February, a Russian drone hit and left a large hole in the New Safe Confinement (NSC), the outer of two radiation shells covering the remnants of the nuclear power plant.
It functions as a modern high-tech replacement for an inner steel-and-concrete structure -- known as the Sarcophagus, a defensive layer built hastily after the 1986 incident.
Ten months later, repair work is still ongoing, and it could take another three to four years before the outer dome regains its primary safety functions, plant director Sergiy Tarakanov told AFP in an interview from Kyiv.
"It does not perform the function of retaining radioactive substances inside," Tarakanov said, echoing concerns raised by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
The strike had also left it unclear if the shell would last the 100 years it was designed to.
The gaping crater in the structure, which AFP journalists saw this summer, has been covered over with a protective screen, but 300 smaller holes made by firefighters when battling the blaze still need to be filled in.
Scaffolding engulfs the inside of the giant multi-billion-dollar structure, rising all the way up to the 100-metre-high ceiling.
Charred debris from the drone strike that hit the NSC still lay on the floor of the plant, AFP journalists saw on a visit to the site in December.

'Main threat'

Russia's army captured the plant on the first day of its 2022 invasion, before withdrawing a few weeks later.
Ukraine has repeatedly accused Moscow of targeting Chernobyl and its other nuclear power plants, saying Moscow's strikes risk triggering a potentially catastrophic disaster.
Ukraine regularly reduces power at its nuclear plants following Russian strikes on its energy grid.
In October, a Russian strike on a substation near Chernobyl cut power flowing to the confinement structure.
Tarakanov told AFP that radiation levels at the site had remained "stable and within normal limits".
Inside a modern control room, engineer Ivan Tykhonenko was keeping track of 19 sensors and detection units, constantly monitoring the state of the site.
Part of the 190 tonnes of uranium that were on site in 1986 "melted, sank down into the reactor unit, the sub-reactor room, and still exists," he told AFP.
Worries over the fate of the site -- and what could happen -- run high.
Another Russian hit -- or even a powerful nearby strike -- could see the inner radiation shell collapse, director Tarakanov told AFP.
"If a missile or drone hits it directly, or even falls somewhere nearby ... it will cause a mini-earthquake in the area," he said.
"No one can guarantee that the shelter facility will remain standing after that. That is the main threat," he added.
sv-brw/jc/rh/ceg

Kim

North Korea's Kim orders factories to make more missiles in 2026

BY CLAIRE LEE

  • In a visit to munitions factories accompanied by top officials, the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Kim had ordered the factories to prepare for a busy year ahead.
  • North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has ordered officials to step up production of missiles and construct more factories to meet his military's growing need for the projectiles, state media said Friday.
  • In a visit to munitions factories accompanied by top officials, the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Kim had ordered the factories to prepare for a busy year ahead.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has ordered officials to step up production of missiles and construct more factories to meet his military's growing need for the projectiles, state media said Friday.
Pyongyang has significantly increased missile testing in recent years -- aimed, analysts say, at improving precision strike capabilities, challenging the United States as well as South Korea, and testing weapons before exporting them to key ally Russia.
In a visit to munitions factories accompanied by top officials, the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Kim had ordered the factories to prepare for a busy year ahead.
The North Korean leader said they needed "to further expand the overall production capacity" to keep pace with demand from Pyongyang's armed forces and ordered the building of new munitions plants, KCNA reported.
"The missile and shell production sector is of paramount importance in bolstering up the war deterrent," Kim said.
North Korea and Russia have drawn closer since Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine nearly four years ago, and Pyongyang has sent troops to fight for Russia, along with artillery shells, missiles and long-range rocket systems.
In return, Russia is sending North Korea financial aid, military technology and food and energy supplies, analysts say.
Washington has also pointed to evidence that Russia is stepping up support for North Korea, including providing help on advanced space and satellite technology, in return for its assistance in fighting Ukraine.
Analysts say satellite launchers and intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) share much of the same underlying technology.
"With its ICBM program already at a stage widely seen as having achieved core objectives, Pyongyang is likely to further accelerate development next year," said Ahn Chan-il, a researcher originally from North Korea.
The country is likely to shift "focus toward testing and producing systems linked to potential exports to Russia -- including medium- and intermediate-range missiles," he added.

Nuclear-powered sub

Kim's visit was reported a day after state media said he had toured a nuclear submarine factory and vowed to counter the "threat" of South Korea producing its own such vessels with Washington's backing.
The North Korean leader also learned about research into "new underwater secret weapons", KCNA said.
North Korea is expected to "seek advanced military technologies from Russia, including nuclear-powered submarine capabilities and fighter jets, as it looks to address its air force's relative weakness," analyst Ahn told AFP.
Kim was reported Thursday to have overseen the test launch of new-type high-altitude long-range anti-air missiles over the Sea of Japan.
And he said that "new modernisation and production plans" would be unveiled at his ruling Korean Workers Party's first congress in half a decade, expected in early 2026.
cdl/oho/abs

opposition

Guinea's presidential candidates hold final rallies before Sunday's vote

  • In the capital Conakry, the junta leader appeared in public on Thursday evening to cheers from several hundred of his supporters.
  • Presidential candidates in Guinea, including junta leader General Mamady Doumbouya, held their final political rallies Thursday ahead of this weekend's elections. 
  • In the capital Conakry, the junta leader appeared in public on Thursday evening to cheers from several hundred of his supporters.
Presidential candidates in Guinea, including junta leader General Mamady Doumbouya, held their final political rallies Thursday ahead of this weekend's elections. 
A total of 6.8 million people in the west African nation are eligible to vote Sunday between 7:00 am and 6:00 pm (0700 and 1800 GMT), choosing between nine candidates, including 41-year-old Doumbouya, who is running as an independent.
Despite his initial promise to return power to civilians when he took over in 2021, Doumbouya is running for president -- in an election with all the main opposition barred.
In the capital Conakry, the junta leader appeared in public on Thursday evening to cheers from several hundred of his supporters.
Dressed in sportswear, he danced to music, accompanied by tight security provided by the Special Forces, his former unit.
Earlier, Amadou Oury Bah, his campaign manager and the country's prime minister, addressed the crowd, asking them to vote overwhelmingly for Doumbouya to allow him to "fulfill a constitutional mandate that will meet your expectations and needs".
Guinea's opposition is calling for a boycott of the vote, which follows a tenure marked by repression, imprisonment, and disappearances of vocal opponents.
Doumbouya's election rivals are relative unknowns since all the main opposition figures were excluded.
One of the opposition candidates running from the Democratic Front of Guinea (FRONDEG), Abdoulaye Yero Balde, also held a rally in the capital where he called on voters to support him so "the future that lies before us will be the best we have had after 67 years of independence".
Doumbouya has cracked down on civil liberties, and the junta has banned protests since 2022. Many opponents have been arrested, put on trial or driven to exile. 
Since its independence in 1958, Guinea has had a complex history of military and authoritarian rule, including multiple military interventions.
Guinea is rich in minerals, but more than half of its inhabitants live below the poverty line, according to World Bank figures for 2024.
mrb/sjd/ceg/abs

tech

UK tech campaigner sues Trump administration over US sanctions

  • Ahmed faces the "imminent prospect of unconstitutional arrest, punitive detention, and expulsion" from the United States, the court filing said.
  • The chief of a prominent anti-disinformation watchdog has sued President Donald Trump's administration over a US visa ban, calling it an "unconstitutional" attempt to expel the permanent American resident, court filings show.
  • Ahmed faces the "imminent prospect of unconstitutional arrest, punitive detention, and expulsion" from the United States, the court filing said.
The chief of a prominent anti-disinformation watchdog has sued President Donald Trump's administration over a US visa ban, calling it an "unconstitutional" attempt to expel the permanent American resident, court filings show.
Imran Ahmed, a British national who heads the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), was among five European figures involved in tech regulation whom the US State Department said this week would be denied visas.
The department accused them of attempting to "coerce" US-based social media platforms into censoring viewpoints they oppose. The European Union and several member states strongly condemned the move and vowed to defend Europe's regulatory autonomy.
The campaigner filed his complaint Wednesday in a New York district court against Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy Sarah Rogers, US Attorney General Pam Bondi, and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem.
Ahmed, a critic of billionaire Elon Musk, holds US permanent residency, commonly known as a "green card."
"I am proud to call the United States my home," he said in a statement. "My wife and daughter are American, and instead of spending Christmas with them, I am fighting to prevent my unlawful deportation from my home country."
Ahmed faces the "imminent prospect of unconstitutional arrest, punitive detention, and expulsion" from the United States, the court filing said.
However, a district judge granted a temporary restraining order barring Ahmed's arrest or detention, with a further hearing scheduled for Monday.
When reached for comment Thursday, the State Department expressed defiance.
"The Supreme Court and Congress have repeatedly made clear: the United States is under no obligation to allow foreign aliens to come to our country or reside here," a spokesperson said.
Rogers said earlier that Ahmed was sanctioned because he was a "key collaborator" in efforts by former president Joe Biden's administration to "weaponize the government" against US citizens.

'Not be bullied'

"My life's work is to protect children from the dangers of unregulated social media and AI and fight the spread of antisemitism online. That mission has pitted me against big tech executives -- and Elon Musk in particular -- multiple times," Ahmed said.
"I will not be bullied away from my life's work."
The crackdown also targeted former European commissioner Thierry Breton, Anna-Lena von Hodenberg and Josephine Ballon of the German nonprofit HateAid, and Clare Melford, who leads the UK-based Global Disinformation Index.
Condemning the move, the European Commission said it was seeking clarification from Washington, and if needed "will respond swiftly and decisively to defend our regulatory autonomy against unjustified measures."
Breton, the EC's former top tech regulator, often clashed with tycoons including Musk -- a Trump ally -- over their obligations to follow EU rules.
The State Department has described him as the "mastermind" of the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA), which imposes content moderation and other standards on major social media platforms operating in Europe.
The DSA stipulates that major platforms must explain content-moderation decisions, provide transparency for users and ensure researchers can carry out essential work, such as understanding how much children are exposed to dangerous content.
But the act has become a bitter rallying point for US conservatives who see it as a weapon of censorship against right-wing thought in Europe and beyond, an accusation the EU furiously denies.
Ahmed's CCDH also frequently clashed with Musk, reporting a spike in misinformation and hate speech on X since the billionaire's 2022 takeover.
bur-ac/mlm