Global Edition

Iran protest toll mounts as government stages mass rallies

US

Trump has options on Iran, but first must define goal

BY SHAUN TANDON

  • He said the impact would also be high if Trump finally decides not to strike.
  • US President Donald Trump has options to intervene in protest-hit Iran that range from low to high risk, but choosing his course depends on him deciding his ultimate goal.
  • He said the impact would also be high if Trump finally decides not to strike.
US President Donald Trump has options to intervene in protest-hit Iran that range from low to high risk, but choosing his course depends on him deciding his ultimate goal.
It has been 10 days since Trump said the United States was "locked and loaded" and ready to "come to the rescue" if Iran's clerical state kills demonstrators who have taken to the streets in major numbers.
Since then, Trump has kept threatening a military option, even as hundreds of people have died, according to rights groups.
Iran has been a sworn foe of the United States since the 1979 Islamic revolution toppled the pro-Western shah. The downfall of the Islamic republic in power since then would transform the Middle East.
But Trump has previously lashed out against "regime change" as a goal, especially pointing to lessons from US involvement in Iraq, a smaller country.
Trump on Monday exercised economic leverage, announcing 25 percent tariffs on Iran's trading partners, and he has spoken of ways to forcibly restore internet access shut by Tehran.
The two governments have also revealed that they have been in communication, coordinated by Trump's friend and roving envoy Steve Witkoff.

Momentum on streets

In a message likely designed to galvanize Trump, Reza Pahlavi, the US-exiled son of the late shah, has publicly encouraged Trump not to be like Democratic predecessor Barack Obama, who hesitated at supporting 2009 protests for fear of co-opting a homegrown movement.
Some experts say that Obama's fears nearly a generation ago may no longer be as relevant, with demonstrations having spread well beyond educated, urban circles that always opposed the religious state.
Ray Takeyh, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations who wrote a book about the fall of the late shah, said that Trump could target forces including the elite Revolutionary Guards that have taken the lead in repressing the protests.
Intervention could ease Iranians' fears and "affect the fence-sitters in thinking about joining the protests or not," Takeyh said.
Sanam Vakil, director of the Middle East and North Africa program at the Chatham House think tank, agreed that intervention by Trump could bring momentum on the streets.
But she said: "It could equally play further into the hands of a regime that is paranoid and this would build further unity and propel them to crack down further."

How much action needed?

Trump in June ordered strikes on Iranian nuclear sites in support of an Israeli campaign.
While Trump had previously spoken of a diplomatic resolution, the attack was in line with his inclination, as seen again recently in Venezuela, for one-off military operations he quickly claims as successes.
Vali Nasr, a professor at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, noted 130 to 150 Iranian cities have seen protests.
"Trying to hit security forces in all of these, or even major cities of Iran, is more than just a few airstrikes," Nasr said.
As Trump likely "doesn't want to get his hands dirty, a performative strike may be more where he wants to go," Nasr said.
Behnam Ben Taleblu, a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said the risk from intervention was less that Iranians rally around the flag than that they become afraid to go out.
"The challenge of the strikes is how to make sure they don't lead to the disbursement of protesters rather than the amplification of protests, if the strikes go off the rails -- if targeting is poor, if intelligence is poor," he said.
He said the impact would also be high if Trump finally decides not to strike.
Inaction would "play into the regime's narrative of painting America as not able to actually come through," Ben Taleblu said.
Pahlavi and a number of Republican hawks have voiced opposition to diplomacy, warning it would only give the Islamic republic a lifeline.  
But Mohammad Ali Shabani, editor of the Amwaj.media site that closely follows Iran, believed many Iranians would welcome a deal that eases sanctions and "lifts the shadow of war."
"I think this would supersede any kind of short-term survival for the Islamic republic because the way things are structured, I think most Iranians at this point accept that the Islamic republic is not going to be there forever."
sct/msp

diplomacy

Australia's ambassador to US leaving post, marked by Trump rift

  • "We thank Dr Rudd for his exceptional service as Ambassador and as a former Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Australia."
  • Australia said Tuesday its ambassador to the United States is leaving after a three-year tenure overshadowed by President Donald Trump's verdict on him: "I don't like you either." 
  • "We thank Dr Rudd for his exceptional service as Ambassador and as a former Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Australia."
Australia said Tuesday its ambassador to the United States is leaving after a three-year tenure overshadowed by President Donald Trump's verdict on him: "I don't like you either." 
Former prime minister Kevin Rudd, who departs his post on March 31 to become president of the Asia Society think tank in New York, had sharply criticised Trump while he was out of office.
Trump expressed disdain for Rudd during a televised US-Australia meeting at the White House in October last year, prompting some Australian opposition calls for his posting to be ended.
"Rudd has delivered concrete outcomes for Australia -- during both Democrat and Republican Administrations -- in collaboration with our closest security ally and principal strategic partner," Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a joint statement with his foreign minister.
"We thank Dr Rudd for his exceptional service as Ambassador and as a former Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Australia."
Before taking up his post in Washington, Rudd had described Trump as the "most destructive president in history" and a "traitor to the West" who "drags America and democracy through the mud."
Rudd deleted the comments after Trump won back the White House in November 2024.
At the White House meeting in October, the US president suggested Rudd might want to apologize for his earlier remarks.
Turning to Albanese at his side, Trump said, "Where is he? Is he still working for you?"
Albanese smiled awkwardly before gesturing to Rudd, who was sitting directly in front of them.
Rudd began to explain, "That was before I took this position, Mr. President."
Trump cut him off, saying, "I don't like you either. I don't. And I probably never will."
Rudd, a Mandarin-speaking former career diplomat, had been tapped as ambassador during Joe Biden's presidency, with Australia hoping his expertise on China would gain him influence in Washington.
djw/sft/des

Global Edition

Iran protest toll mounts as government stages mass rallies

BY STUART WILLIAMS

  • The Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights (IHR) said it had confirmed 648 people killed during the protests, including nine minors, and thousands more injuries, but warned the death toll was likely much higher -- "according to some estimates more than 6,000".
  • A violent crackdown on a wave of protests in Iran has killed at least 648 people, a rights group said on Monday, as Iranian authorities sought to regain control of the streets with mass nationwide rallies. 
  • The Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights (IHR) said it had confirmed 648 people killed during the protests, including nine minors, and thousands more injuries, but warned the death toll was likely much higher -- "according to some estimates more than 6,000".
A violent crackdown on a wave of protests in Iran has killed at least 648 people, a rights group said on Monday, as Iranian authorities sought to regain control of the streets with mass nationwide rallies. 
The government's call for rallies in support of the Islamic republic drew thousands on Monday, a turnout supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei hailed as proof that the protests -- which the authorities attribute to foreign interference -- had been defeated. 
Rights groups have warned an internet blackout that monitor Netblocks says has lasted four days was aimed at masking a deadly crackdown on the protests.
The Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights (IHR) said it had confirmed 648 people killed during the protests, including nine minors, and thousands more injuries, but warned the death toll was likely much higher -- "according to some estimates more than 6,000".
IHR added that the internet shutdown made it "extremely difficult to independently verify these reports", saying an estimated 10,000 people had been arrested. 
"The international community has a duty to protect civilian protesters against mass killing by the Islamic republic," said IHR director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam. 
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to intervene militarily if Tehran killed protesters, with Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt saying on Monday that military options including air strikes were still "on the table", but "diplomacy is always the first option for the president". 
More than two weeks of demonstrations initially sparked by economic grievances have turned into one of the biggest challenges yet to the theocratic system that has ruled Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution ousted the shah.
Khamenei, in power since 1989 and now 86, said in a statement that Monday's pro-government rallies were a "warning" to the United States. 
"These massive rallies, full of determination, have thwarted the plan of foreign enemies that were supposed to be carried out by domestic mercenaries," he said, according to state TV. 

'Four-front war'

In the capital Tehran, state TV showed people brandishing the national flag and prayers read for victims of what the government has termed "riots". 
At Enghelab (Revolution) Square, parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf told the crowd that Iran was fighting a "four-front war", listing economic war, psychological war, "military war" with the United States and Israel, and "today a war against terrorists" -- a reference to the protests. 
Flanked by the slogans "Death to Israel, Death to America" in Persian, he vowed the Iranian military would teach Trump "an unforgettable lesson" if Iran were attacked. 
But Trump said Sunday that Iran's leadership had called him seeking "to negotiate", and Leavitt noted public messages from Iranian authorities were "quite different from the messages the administration is receiving privately".
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told a conference of foreign ambassadors in Tehran that Iran was "not seeking war but is fully prepared for war", while calling for "fair" negotiations.
Foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said a channel of communication was open between Araghchi and Trump's special envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff despite the lack of diplomatic relations. 
Reza Pahlavi, the US-based son of Iran's ousted shah who has been vocal in calling for protests, told CBS news the government was "trying to trick the world into thinking that (it) is ready to negotiate once again". 
He said Trump was "a man that means what he says and says what he means" and who "knows what's at stake".
"The red line that was drawn has been definitely surpassed by this regime." 

'Respect for their rights'

State outlets were at pains to present a picture of calm returning in Tehran, broadcasting images of smooth-flowing traffic. 
Tehran Governor Mohammad-Sadegh Motamedian insisted in televised comments that "the number of protests is decreasing". 
Iranian state media has said dozens of members of the security forces have been killed, with their funerals turning into large pro-government rallies. The government has declared three days of national mourning for those killed.
The European Union has voiced support for the protesters and on Monday said it was "looking into" imposing additional sanctions on Iran over the repression of demonstrations. 
The European Parliament also announced it had banned all Iranian diplomats and representatives from the assembly's premises. 
The Iranian foreign ministry said it had summoned diplomats in Tehran representing France, Germany, Italy and the UK, demanding they "withdraw official statements supporting the protesters". 
French President Emmanuel Macron, however, issued a statement later Monday condemning "the state violence that indiscriminately targets Iranian women and men who courageously demand respect for their rights". 
Non-essential French embassy staff left Iran on Sunday and Monday, two sources with knowledge of the matter told AFP.
Tehran ally Russia, for its part, slammed what it called attempts by "foreign powers" to interfere in Iran, state media reported, in Moscow's first reaction to the protests.
bur-sjw-sw/smw

tech

AI helps fuel new era of medical self-testing

BY THOMAS URBAIN

  • It can also detect signs of depression and early development of Alzheimer's disease.
  • Beyond smart watches and rings, artificial intelligence is being used to make self-testing for major diseases more readily available -- from headsets that detect early signs of Alzheimer's to an iris-scanning app that helps spot cancer.
  • It can also detect signs of depression and early development of Alzheimer's disease.
Beyond smart watches and rings, artificial intelligence is being used to make self-testing for major diseases more readily available -- from headsets that detect early signs of Alzheimer's to an iris-scanning app that helps spot cancer.
"The reason preventive medicine doesn't work right now is because you don't want to go to the doctor all the time to get things tested," says Ramses Alcaide, co-founder and CEO of startup Neurable.
"But what about if you knew when you needed to go to the doctor?"
Connected rings, bracelets and watches -- which were everywhere at last week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas -- can already monitor heart rate, blood pressure and glucose levels, with varying degrees of accuracy.
These gadgets are in high demand from consumers. A recent study published by OpenAI showed that more than 200 million internet users check ChatGPT every week for information on health topics.
On Wednesday, OpenAI even launched a chatbot that can draw on a user's medical records and other data collected by wearable devices, with their consent, to inform its responses.
Using electroencephalogram (EEG) technology, Neurable has developed a headset that records and deciphers brain activity.
The linked app compares data with the user's medical history to check for any deviation, a possible sign of a problem, said Alcaide.
"Apple Watch can pick up Parkinson's, but it can only pick it up once you have a tremor," Alcaide said. "Your brain has been fighting that Parkinson's for over 10 years."
With EEG technology, "you can pick these things up before you actually see physical symptoms of them. And this is just one example."

Detection before symptoms

Some people have reservations about the capabilities of such devices. 
"I don't think that wearable EEG devices are reliable enough," said Anna Wexler, a University of Pennsylvania professor who studies consumer detection products, although she acknowledges that "AI has expanded the possibilities of these devices."
While Neurable's product cannot provide an actual diagnosis, it does offer a warning. It can also detect signs of depression and early development of Alzheimer's disease.
Neurable is working with the Ukrainian military to evaluate the mental health of soldiers on the front lines of the war with Russia, as well as former prisoners of war, in order to detect post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
French startup NAOX meanwhile has developed EEG earbuds linked to a small box that can help patients with epilepsy.
Rather than detect seizures, which are "very rare," the device recognizes "spikes" -- quick, abnormal electrical shocks in the brain that are "much more difficult to see," said NAOX's chief of innovation Marc Vaillaud, a doctor by training.
NAOX's device -- which has been cleared by the US Food and Drug Administration -- is designed to be worn at night, to track several hours of data at a time.
The company is working with the Rothschild and Lariboisiere hospitals in Paris to try to better understand the links between these brain "spikes" and Alzheimer's disease, which have been raised in scientific papers.
Advances in AI and technology in general have paved the way for the miniaturization of cheaper detection devices -- a far cry from the heavy machinery once seen in medical offices and hospitals.
IriHealth is preparing to launch, for only about $50, a small smartphone extension that would scan a user's iris.
The gadget relies on iridology, a technique by which iris colors and markings are believed to reveal information about a person's health, but which is generally considered scientifically unreliable.
But the founders of IriHealth -- a spin-off of biometrics specialist IriTech -- are convinced that their device can be effective in detecting anomalies in the colon, and potentially the lungs or the liver.
Company spokesman Tommy Phan said IriHealth had found its device to be 81 percent accurate among patients who already have been diagnosed with colon cancer.
tu/sst/arp/iv

politics

Leaders of Japan and South Korea meet as China flexes muscles

BY HIROSHI HIYAMA

  • - Bitter memories - Hardy-Chartrand said he believed "the South Korean government felt that it was necessary for President Lee to visit Japan not too long after going to China, in order to demonstrate that Seoul is not favouring one side over the other".
  • Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi will host South Korea's President Lee Jae Myung for talks on Tuesday aimed at demonstrating their cordial ties as Beijing pressures Tokyo over its stance on Taiwan.
  • - Bitter memories - Hardy-Chartrand said he believed "the South Korean government felt that it was necessary for President Lee to visit Japan not too long after going to China, in order to demonstrate that Seoul is not favouring one side over the other".
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi will host South Korea's President Lee Jae Myung for talks on Tuesday aimed at demonstrating their cordial ties as Beijing pressures Tokyo over its stance on Taiwan.
The two leaders will meet in Takaichi's home region of Nara in western Japan, days after Lee visited Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing. 
Looming in the background is Japan's heated diplomatic spat with China, triggered by Takaichi's suggestion in November that Japan could intervene militarily if China attacks Taiwan.
China, which regards Taiwan as its own territory, reacted angrily, blocking exports to Japan of "dual-use" items with potential military applications, fuelling worries in Japan that Beijing could choke supplies of much-needed rare earths.
The two US allies are also expected to compare notes on Washington after President Donald Trump's unpredictable tariffs and "America First" approach, analysts said. 
Tense regional geopolitics could provide Takaichi and Lee "further impetus for wanting to build stronger relations", said Benoit Hardy-Chartrand, an East Asian geopolitics expert at Temple University's Tokyo campus.
Lee and Takaichi, who both took office in 2025, last met in October on the sidelines of the APEC regional summit in Gyeongju in South Korea.
It will be Lee's second visit to Japan since August, when he met Takaichi's predecessor Shigeru Ishiba.
Lee and Takaichi will hold a summit meeting and have dinner on Tuesday to discuss regional and global issues.
In public, they are expected to stress warming ties, cooperation in various fields and their desire to continue their "shuttle diplomacy" of regular meetings.
"Behind closed doors, the leaders will certainly discuss the current Japan-China crisis, as Beijing's retaliatory measures, including export controls, will have an impact on Korea as well," Hardy-Chartrand told AFP, with the supply chains of the three nations deeply intertwined.
Lee said in an interview with Japanese public broadcaster NHK aired on Monday that it was not his place to "intervene or get involved" in the Japan-China row. 
"From the standpoint of peace and stability in Northeast Asia, confrontation between China and Japan is undesirable," he said. "We can only wait for China and Japan to resolve matters amicably through dialogue."

Bitter memories

Hardy-Chartrand said he believed "the South Korean government felt that it was necessary for President Lee to visit Japan not too long after going to China, in order to demonstrate that Seoul is not favouring one side over the other".
Lee and Takaichi are also expected to discuss their relations with the United States because the unpredictable Trump "has put in doubt old certainties and highlighted the importance of strengthening their ties", he said.
Yee Kuang Heng, a professor in international security at the University of Tokyo, did not expect Lee to bring any particular message from Xi to Takaichi.
"However, the two leaders may discuss the fallout from China's economic coercion that both ROK (South Korea) and Japan have experienced over the years," Heng told AFP.
"Takaichi will be wary of China's wedge strategy designed to drive divisions between ROK and Japan and will want to re-emphasise common ground shared between Seoul and Tokyo."
On the bilateral front, bitter memories of Japan's brutal occupation of the Korean peninsula from 1910 to 1945 have cast a long shadow over Tokyo-Seoul ties. 
Lee's conservative predecessor Yoon Suk Yeol, who declared martial law in December 2024 and was removed from office, had sought to improve relations with Japan.
Lee is also relatively more dovish towards North Korea than was Yoon, and has said that South Korea and Japan are like "neighbours sharing a front yard".
hih/aph/pbt

Greenland

NATO, Greenland vow to boost Arctic security after Trump threats

BY PIERRE-HENRY DESHAYES

  • Trump has insisted that Greenland needs to be brought under US control, arguing that the Danish autonomous territory is crucial for national security.
  • NATO and Greenland's government on Monday said they intended to work on strengthening the defence of the Danish autonomous territory, hoping to dissuade US President Donald Trump from trying to seize the island.
  • Trump has insisted that Greenland needs to be brought under US control, arguing that the Danish autonomous territory is crucial for national security.
NATO and Greenland's government on Monday said they intended to work on strengthening the defence of the Danish autonomous territory, hoping to dissuade US President Donald Trump from trying to seize the island.
Trump has been talking up the idea of buying or annexing the Arctic territory for years, and further stoked tensions on Sunday by saying that the United States would take the territory "one way or the other".
Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said on Monday that the island's security and defence "belong in NATO", the 32-member military alliance dominated by the US. 
He said his government would "therefore work to ensure that the development of defence in and around Greenland takes place in close cooperation with NATO, in dialogue with our allies, including the United States, and in cooperation with Denmark".
NATO chief Mark Rutte also said Monday that the alliance was working on "the next steps" to bolster Arctic security.
Diplomats at NATO say some alliance members have floated the idea of launching a new mission in the region, though no concrete proposals are yet on the table.
Trump has insisted that Greenland needs to be brought under US control, arguing that the Danish autonomous territory is crucial for national security.
The island is also rich in largely untapped resources, including rare earth minerals coveted by the tech industry.
On the streets of Nuuk, Greenland's capital, locals told AFP they were increasingly worried.
"We laughed at Trump first when he tried to buy us but now the second time he's more aggressive," said 35-year-old theology student Nuunu Binzer.
Mininnguaq Fontain, 19, also a student, added: "I would rather see our country doesn't have any soldiers but of course if we get attacked then I would feel more safe if soldiers are here."

'Unease'

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has warned that a US armed attack on Greenland would spell the end of NATO. 
In a bid to appease Washington, Copenhagen has invested heavily in security in the region, allocating some 90 billion kroner ($14 billion) in 2025.
Greenland, which is home to some 57,000 people, also houses a US military base.
According to Rutte, Denmark would have no problem with a larger US military presence on the island.
Under a 1951 treaty, updated in 2004, the United States could simply notify Denmark if it wanted to send more troops.
Denmark is also working on the diplomatic front, with a meeting between Danish and Greenlandic representatives and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio expected this week.
According to US and Danish media reports, the meeting is set to take place on Wednesday in Washington.
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen on Monday posted a photo from a meeting with his Greenlandic counterpart Vivian Motzfeldt.
Denmark reportedly wants to present a united front with the leaders of the autonomous territory before the meeting with US representatives.
The Danish media reported last week on a tense videoconference between Danish lawmakers and their Greenlandic counterparts over how to negotiate with Washington.
Facing Trump's repeated threats, Nielsen said in his message on Monday: "I fully understand if there is unease."
His government said in a statement that it could not accept "under any circumstance" a US takeover of Greenland.
A Danish colony until 1953, Greenland gained home rule 26 years later and is contemplating eventually loosening its ties with Denmark. 
Polls show that Greenland's people strongly oppose a US takeover. 
bur/jxb/sbk

corruption

Former Panama leader on trial over mega Latin America corruption scandal

  • Martinelli sought asylum in Colombia last year to avoid arrest in a separate money laundering case over which he was sentenced to nearly 11 years imprisonment. jjr/mis/cb/ksb
  • Former Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli went on trial on Monday for money laundering in a sprawling corruption case that has drawn in several South American leaders. 
  • Martinelli sought asylum in Colombia last year to avoid arrest in a separate money laundering case over which he was sentenced to nearly 11 years imprisonment. jjr/mis/cb/ksb
Former Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli went on trial on Monday for money laundering in a sprawling corruption case that has drawn in several South American leaders. 
Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht, which has since changed its name to Novonor, has admitted to paying hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes throughout Latin America to secure huge public works contracts between 2001 and 2016.
The so-called "Car Wash" scandal, which erupted in 2014, has landed dozens of top politicians and business figures behind bars.
Former Peruvian presidents Alejandro Toledo and Ollanta Humala are serving lengthy sentences in their country after being convicted of being on the take from Odebrecht.
Politicians in Argentina, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama and Venezuela have also been convicted over their roles in the scandal.
Martinelli, who faces a 12-year prison sentence if convicted in absentia, appeared in a Panama City court via video conference from Colombia, where he sought asylum last year. 
"I am innocent, I am not responsible" the 73-year-old, who was president from 2009 to 2014, pleaded.
Odebrecht has admitted to paying $59 million (50 million euros) in bribes during Martinelli's tenure to win the tender for  construction of Panama City's metro, the modern coastal highway in the capital, and for the expansion of Panama's international airport.
The prosecution argues that, although there is no evidence of payments being paid directly into Martinelli's personal accounts, he was the final recipient of the funds and had "full knowledge of the illicit origin" of the money. 
"This case is entirely political," Carlos Carrillo, the former president's lawyer, told AFP. 
Another former president, Juan Carlos Varela, and two of Martinelli's sons are also accused in the case but will be tried at a later date by the Supreme Court.
Martinelli sought asylum in Colombia last year to avoid arrest in a separate money laundering case over which he was sentenced to nearly 11 years imprisonment.
jjr/mis/cb/ksb

US

Trump keeping Iran air strikes on the table: White House

  • "He certainly doesn't want to see people being killed in the streets of Tehran, and unfortunately that's something we're seeing right now," Leavitt said. dk/ksb
  • US President Donald Trump is considering air strikes on Iran to stop a crackdown on protesters, the White House said Monday, adding that people were being "killed on the streets." 
  • "He certainly doesn't want to see people being killed in the streets of Tehran, and unfortunately that's something we're seeing right now," Leavitt said. dk/ksb
US President Donald Trump is considering air strikes on Iran to stop a crackdown on protesters, the White House said Monday, adding that people were being "killed on the streets." 
But a channel for diplomacy remains open, with Iran taking a "far different tone" in private discussions with Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff, said Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
"One thing President Trump is very good at is always keeping all of his options on the table. And air strikes would be one of the many, many options that are on the table for the commander in chief," Leavitt told reporters outside the West Wing.
Leavitt added that "diplomacy is always the first option for the president." 
"What you're hearing publicly from the Iranian regime is quite different from the messages the administration is receiving privately, and I think the president has an interest in exploring those messages," Leavitt added.
Iran's foreign ministry said earlier Monday that a channel of communication was open between its top diplomat Abbas Araghchi and Trump's special envoy, despite a lack of diplomatic relations.
Trump said on Sunday that the US military was considering "very strong options" against Iran, saying it "looks like" Tehran had crossed his previously stated red line of protesters being killed.
He said Iran's leaders had reached out for a meeting but "we may have to act before a meeting."
Rights groups have reported a growing death toll, with information continuing to trickle out of Iran despite a days-long internet shutdown.
Leavitt appeared to confirm there had been deaths.
"He certainly doesn't want to see people being killed in the streets of Tehran, and unfortunately that's something we're seeing right now," Leavitt said.
dk/ksb

rights

Ugandan opposition leader Bobi Wine warns of protests if polls rigged

BY ROSE TROUP BUCHANAN

  • "If General Museveni rigs the election, we shall call for protests," Wine told AFP at his home in the capital Kampala.
  • Uganda's opposition leader told AFP on Monday that he would call for protests if President Yoweri Museveni rigs this week's election and said he would welcome an intervention by the United States.
  • "If General Museveni rigs the election, we shall call for protests," Wine told AFP at his home in the capital Kampala.
Uganda's opposition leader told AFP on Monday that he would call for protests if President Yoweri Museveni rigs this week's election and said he would welcome an intervention by the United States.
More than 20 million people are registered to vote in the east African country on Thursday, with 81-year-old Museveni widely expected to continue his four-decade rule thanks to his near-total control of the state and security apparatus.
His main opponent is singer-turned-politician Bobi Wine, 43 -- real name Robert Kyagulanyi -- who is taking a second run at the presidency after his 2021 campaign was met with violent repression and alleged rigging.
"If General Museveni rigs the election, we shall call for protests," Wine told AFP at his home in the capital Kampala.
"We've told the people not to wait for our instruction," he added.
The United Nations and Amnesty International are among the watchdogs accusing Uganda's government of repression ahead of the polls, including hundreds of arrests of Wine's supporters.
There has been increasing political unrest across east Africa as the region's youthful population protests the erosion of democracy and lack of jobs in Kenya, Tanzania and beyond. 
Wine acknowledged that protests were likely to provoke more crackdown.
"I know that General Museveni's government responds to everything with violence... But I also know that even violent regimes get thrown out by protests," he told AFP.
"We did not promise comfort. We did not promise that they will not unleash violence upon us. But we have insisted that our people must be non-violent because we know non-violence defeats violence."
Asked if he would welcome a direct intervention by the US, such as seizure of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Wine said: "Yeah. I would."
"I believe that any assistance that comes our way is helpful. However, that assistance should not be to take over our country," he said.
"I firmly believe that the responsibility to liberate our country, to govern our country, and to move it forward, lies entirely with the people of Uganda."

'Bobi is our Jesus'

Rapturous crowds greeted Wine's convoy as it passed through Kampala to one of his final rallies, people lining the streets, hoisting children onto shoulders, and screaming their support. 
"Bobi is our Jesus Christ," two men on a motorbike shouted as they drove alongside his car.
Thousands gathered off Gadafi road in central Kampala. The crowd, mostly young men packed incredibly tightly, boisterously waited for his speech despite a sudden torrential rainfall.
"We need a new Uganda which functions with no corruption, freedom and employment for everyone," supporter Ssalongo Adam Mwanje told AFP.
"I want to vote for Bobi Wine so he can bring a new Uganda," said Marsha Madinah.
To huge cheers, Wine told the crowd: "If the parliament refuses to come to the ghetto, the ghetto will come to the parliament."
A large police and security presence deterred crowds from staying as the sun went down, but there was no violence as people dispersed.
"Museveni is not one of you, I am you and you are me," Wine said as he wrapped up.
str-rbu/ach 

attacks

UK pays 'substantial' compensation to Guantanamo inmate: lawyer

  • In 2023, lawyers for two other Guantanamo detainees -- Mustafa al-Hawsawi and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri -- accused Britain of being "complicit" with the CIA in their torture after 9/11.
  • The UK government has paid "substantial" compensation to a Guantanamo detainee who was tortured by the CIA and has been held there without charge for two decades, his lawyer said Monday.
  • In 2023, lawyers for two other Guantanamo detainees -- Mustafa al-Hawsawi and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri -- accused Britain of being "complicit" with the CIA in their torture after 9/11.
The UK government has paid "substantial" compensation to a Guantanamo detainee who was tortured by the CIA and has been held there without charge for two decades, his lawyer said Monday.
Abu Zubaydah, 54, was the first of a number of prisoners to be subjected to CIA "enhanced interrogation" techniques following the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
The Saudi-born Palestinian -- whose full name is Zayn al-Abidin Muhammad Husayn -- was captured in Pakistan in 2002 and has been held without trial at the US Guantanamo Bay military camp in Cuba since 2006.
He was waterboarded 83 times and suffered other physical abuse, according to a US Senate report, which said the CIA conceded he was never a member of Al-Qaeda and not involved in planning the 9/11 attacks.
Britain's Supreme Court ruled in 2023 that he could use English law in a legal claim against the UK government over alleged complicity in the torture.
Helen Duffy, his international legal counsel, said in a statement sent to AFP that the case had now reached a financial settlement.
"The payment is significant, but clearly insufficient to meet the UK's obligations. More must be done to bring this chapter to an end," said Duffy. 
"Critically, the UK should seek to facilitate the immediate release of Abu Zubaydah, and other prisoners held without charge or trial at Guantanamo," she said.
She added that, among other tactics, Zubaydah was also locked into a coffin-sized box for 11 days and two hours, "left to marinate in his own urine and faeces".
Zubaydah alleged that London was "vicariously liable" for multiple wrongs against him, including conspiracy to injure, false imprisonment and negligence.
He sought personal damages for injuries which he says were sustained during interrogation at CIA "black site" facilities in Thailand, Poland, Morocco, Lithuania and Afghanistan, as well as Guantanamo.
He has not argued that UK forces were involved in his capture, rendition to the facilities or were present during his mistreatment.
But he accused Britain's intelligence agencies -- MI5 and MI6 -- of being aware of his torture, and even "sent numerous questions" to the CIA for the purpose of eliciting information from him.

Two other cases

The UK government declined to comment.
It has neither admitted nor denied that officials knew where Zubaydah was being held at any given time, or that they were aware of his treatment, arguing they cannot do so for national security reasons.
It has argued that the laws of the six countries where Zubaydah was held should apply to the case.
But in 2023 the UK Supreme Court upheld an earlier Court of Appeal ruling that the laws of England and Wales applied.
For years, calls have multiplied in the UK, to no avail, for full disclosure about the actions of British secret services in the US "war on terror" alongside their American allies.
In 2023, lawyers for two other Guantanamo detainees -- Mustafa al-Hawsawi and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri -- accused Britain of being "complicit" with the CIA in their torture after 9/11.
Both brought civil complaints to the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) -- a specialist UK court that investigates complaints about UK intelligence agencies.
In October the body ruled that, in Hawsawi's case, the intelligence services did not act unlawfully.
Nashiri's case is still ongoing.
jj-pmu/jkb/rmb

Venezuela

Cuba denies being in talks with Trump on potential deal

  • Cuba, which is struggling through its worst economic crisis in decades, has reacted defiantly to the US threats even as it reels from the loss of a key source of economic support from Caracas.
  • Cuba's leader on Monday reacted defiantly to President Donald Trump's threats to "make a deal" or pay the price in the aftermath of key ally Nicolas Maduro's ouster in a US military raid.
  • Cuba, which is struggling through its worst economic crisis in decades, has reacted defiantly to the US threats even as it reels from the loss of a key source of economic support from Caracas.
Cuba's leader on Monday reacted defiantly to President Donald Trump's threats to "make a deal" or pay the price in the aftermath of key ally Nicolas Maduro's ouster in a US military raid.
Trump has been ramping up pressure on Cuba, one of the few Latin American countries still run by an authoritarian leftist administration after Venezuelan leader Maduro's capture on January 3.
"We're talking with Cuba," Trump said aboard Air Force One on Sunday, hours after urging Havana to do a deal to head off unspecified US actions.
The Republican president, who says Washington is now effectively running Venezuela, earlier vowed to cut off all oil and money Caracas had been providing to ailing Cuba.
"THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA - ZERO!" Trump said on his Truth Social platform. 
"I strongly suggest they make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE," he said, without specifying what kind of deal he was promoting or what would happen if Cuba refused to negotiate.
Cuba, which is struggling through its worst economic crisis in decades, has reacted defiantly to the US threats even as it reels from the loss of a key source of economic support from Caracas.
President Miguel Diaz-Canel denied Monday being in talks with Washington, saying there are "no conversations with the US government except for technical contacts in the area of migration."

'To the last drop'

On Sunday, Diaz-Canel vowed that the Caribbean island's residents were "ready to defend the homeland to the last drop of blood."
Cuba has been a thorn in the side of the United States since the revolution that swept communist Fidel Castro to power in 1959.
The deployment of Soviet nuclear missile sites on the island triggered the Cuban missile crisis of 1962, when Washington and Moscow took the world to the brink of nuclear war.
During his first presidential term, Trump walked back a detente with Cuba launched by his predecessor Barack Obama.
Immediately after the US capture of Maduro in a dramatic raid in Caracas, Trump stated that Cuba was "ready to fall."
He noted that the island, which has been plagued by blackouts due to crippling fuel shortages, would find it hard to "hold out" without heavily subsidized Venezuelan oil.
The Financial Times last week reported that Mexican oil exports to Cuba had surpassed those of Venezuela last year.

Role for Rubio?

Trump's Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a child of Cuban immigrants who is a sworn foe of the communist government, has long had Havana in his sights.
"If I lived in Havana and I was in the government, I'd be concerned at least a little bit," he told reporters on January 3, after Maduro's capture and transfer to the United States on drug trafficking and weapons charges.
Aboard Air Force One on Sunday, Trump referred to the generations of Cubans, like Rubio's parents, who had fled the island to the United States.
"Most importantly, right now, we're going to take care of the people that came from Cuba, that are American citizens, or in our country," Trump said, without saying how he would achieve that.
He also reposted a message that jokingly suggested Rubio could serve as president of Cuba.
burs-cb/msp

labor

15,000 NY nurses stage largest-ever strike over conditions

  • Picket lines were set up at several private hospitals across New York including facilities of New York-Presbyterian, Montefiore Bronx, and Mount Sinai.
  • Some 15,000 nurses went on strike Monday in New York city at three large private hospital groups over pay and conditions.
  • Picket lines were set up at several private hospitals across New York including facilities of New York-Presbyterian, Montefiore Bronx, and Mount Sinai.
Some 15,000 nurses went on strike Monday in New York city at three large private hospital groups over pay and conditions.
Officials declared a state of emergency over the work stoppage which the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) said on its website came after months of bargaining for a new contract reached a deadlock.
The association says it is the largest strike by nurses in the city's history.
Picket lines were set up at several private hospitals across New York including facilities of New York-Presbyterian, Montefiore Bronx, and Mount Sinai.
"Unfortunately, greedy hospital executives have decided to put profits above safe patient care and force nurses out on strike when we would rather be at the bedsides of our patients," Nancy Hagans, NYSNA's president, said. 
"Hospital management refuses to address our most important issues -- patient and nurse safety."
New York's Democratic socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani rallied in support of the nurses Monday, saying "we know that during 9/11 it was nurses that tended to the wounded." 
"We know that during the global pandemic, it was nurses that came into work, even at the expense of their own health," he said, wearing a red NYSNA scarf.
Mamdani called on all sides to "return immediately to the negotiating table and not leave. They must bargain in good faith."
The hospital groups involved discharged or transferred a number patients, canceled some surgeries and drafted in temporary staff.
A Mount Sinai spokesperson told CBS News that "unfortunately, NYSNA decided to move forward with its strike while refusing to move on from its extreme economic demands, which we cannot agree to, but we are ready with 1,400 qualified and specialized nurses -- and prepared to continue to provide safe patient care for as long as this strike lasts."
gw/msp

Meta

Zuckerberg names banker, ex-Trump advisor as Meta president

  • Trump congratulated Powell McCormick on the appointment in a social media post, calling her "a fantastic, and very talented, person, who served the Trump Administration with strength and distinction."
  • Meta on Monday appointed banker Dina Powell McCormick as president and vice chairman, tapping a former member of the Trump administration to help steer the technology giant's massive AI infrastructure expansion.
  • Trump congratulated Powell McCormick on the appointment in a social media post, calling her "a fantastic, and very talented, person, who served the Trump Administration with strength and distinction."
Meta on Monday appointed banker Dina Powell McCormick as president and vice chairman, tapping a former member of the Trump administration to help steer the technology giant's massive AI infrastructure expansion.
Powell McCormick, who served on Meta's board, will join the company's management team as it scales what founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg described as "the massive physical and financial model that will power the next decade of computing."
"Dina's experience at the highest levels of global finance, combined with her deep relationships around the world, makes her uniquely suited to help Meta manage this next phase of growth," Zuckerberg said.
In a separate post, Zuckerberg said Powell McCormick "will be involved in all of Meta's work, with a particular focus on partnering with governments and sovereigns to build, deploy, invest in, and finance Meta's AI and infrastructure."
The appointment comes as Meta accelerates investments in artificial intelligence infrastructure, including data centers and energy supply.
In her new role at Meta, Powell McCormick's banking experience will be key. She will help guide the company's overall AI infrastructure strategy and oversee its multi-billion-dollar investments.
She will also focus on building partnerships to expand the company's investment capacity, the company said, as Meta seeks to keep up with its big tech rivals in spending massively on AI.
An Egyptian-American, Powell McCormick spent 16 years as a partner at Goldman Sachs, serving on the firm's management committee and leading its global sovereign investment banking business.
Sovereign wealth funds from the Middle East have become major investors in the AI infrastructure build-out and could play a role in Meta achieving its AI spending goals.
Her last job was at BDT & MSD Partners, a bank and advisory firm that has been involved in finding US investors for TikTok, according to news outlet Axios.
Her hiring continues Zuckerberg's political pivot to the right, with Republican Powell McCormick one of the company's most visible arrivals since Sheryl Sandberg, the former chief operating officer and member of the Clinton administration who left in 2022.
Zuckerberg has recently made a visible shift toward President Donald Trump and conservative positions, doing away with third-party fact-checking, reversing company diversity initiatives and embracing a more traditionally masculine image.
Trump congratulated Powell McCormick on the appointment in a social media post, calling her "a fantastic, and very talented, person, who served the Trump Administration with strength and distinction."
Powell McCormick served as deputy national security advisor during Trump's first term, a role in which she helped shape US foreign policy. 
She is married to the Republican senator from Pennsylvania, Dave McCormick.
arp/msp

Pahlavi

Reza Pahlavi: Iran's ex-crown prince dreaming of homecoming

BY STUART WILLIAMS

  • Pahlavi has long called for a secular Iran that offers greater social freedoms, especially for women, as well as space for supporters of the Islamic republic, but his own approach contrasts with that of some around him who have advocated retribution against opponents. 
  • Reza Pahlavi, who as a boy was groomed to be the next shah of imperial Iran but has spent nearly five decades in exile, has emerged as a rallying figure in the protests shaking the Islamic republic.
  • Pahlavi has long called for a secular Iran that offers greater social freedoms, especially for women, as well as space for supporters of the Islamic republic, but his own approach contrasts with that of some around him who have advocated retribution against opponents. 
Reza Pahlavi, who as a boy was groomed to be the next shah of imperial Iran but has spent nearly five decades in exile, has emerged as a rallying figure in the protests shaking the Islamic republic.
The chant of "Pahlavi will come back!" has become a mantra for many of the protesters, while the US-based 65-year-old has urged nightly actions in video messages.
Pahlavi's prominence in the protest movement has surprised some observers.
Pahlavi has during the latest protest wave shown an "ability to turn out Iranians in the streets," said Jason Brodsky, policy director at the US-based group United Against Nuclear Iran.
"There have been clear pro-Pahlavi chants at the protests. Does that mean every Iranian protesting wants a return of the monarchy? No, but there is a nostalgia for the Pahlavi era that has been building for some time," he added.
In an interview with Fox News on Sunday, Pahlavi said he was "prepared to return to Iran at the first possible opportunity".
He has not set foot in his home country since before the Islamic revolution that ousted his father Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in 1979 and ended thousands of years of monarchy dating back to Cyrus the Great, the founder of the Achaemenid empire, and beyond.

'Seems a nice person'

Reza Pahlavi was outside Iran at the time of the revolution, after leaving in the summer of 1978, aged 17, for military pilot training in the United States. 
His father died in Egypt in 1980, although his mother -- former empress and the shah's third wife Farah, now 87 -- is still alive.
Clement Therme, a non-resident fellow at the International Institute for Iranian Studies, said Pahlavi had not been tainted by the excesses of the imperial rule because he left in his late teens.
"He is a symbol. His name is well-known," Therme said, describing Pahlavi as the "main popular opposition figure" within and outside of Iran.
Pahlavi has always insisted he does not intend to be crowned king of Iran but is ready to lead a transition towards a free and democratic country.
But he remains a polarising figure -- even within Iran's divided opposition. 
While swift to condemn the repression that has marked the history of the Islamic republic, he has never distanced himself from his father's autocratic rule, which was harshly enforced by the dreaded SAVAK secret police.
An attempt to unify the fractious opposition during previous protests in 2023 immediately triggered tensions and ended in acrimony when Pahlavi made a highly publicised visit to Israel that wasn't coordinated with allied groups.
Pro-Pahlavi accounts on social media have for years energetically attacked other opposition figures, with monarchists sparring with supporters of Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi, who is currently in prison in Iran.
Pahlavi has long called for a secular Iran that offers greater social freedoms, especially for women, as well as space for supporters of the Islamic republic, but his own approach contrasts with that of some around him who have advocated retribution against opponents. 
"Pahlavi has many supporters in Iran and his popularity has increased in recent days as he is seen as the only nationally known opposition leader with something of a plan to confront the regime," said Arash Azizi, a lecturer at Yale University.
"But his supporters are still a minority in a highly divided country and a highly divided opposition scene. Instead of working to unify the opposition, most of his camp in recent years have helped alienate others and actively oppose them."
He has also yet to win international recognition as an alternative leader for Iran -- even in the current situation.
"I've watched him, and he seems like a nice person, but I'm not sure it would be appropriate at this point to do that (meet him) as president," US President Donald Trump said last week.

'Galvanise a nation'

As well as witnessing the downfall of his father, Reza Pahlavi has endured family tragedy. 
In June 2001, his younger sister Leila was found dead in a London hotel room. An inquest later found that the former princess, who for years had reportedly suffered from depression and an eating disorder, had taken a fatal cocktail of prescription drugs and cocaine.
And in January 2011, his younger brother Ali Reza shot himself dead at his home in Boston in a suicide the family said came after he had "struggled for years to overcome his sorrow" over the loss of his homeland, father and sister.
He has one surviving full sibling, his sister Farahnaz, who also lives in the United States but keeps a far lower profile, as does his half-sister Shahnaz whose mother was the shah's first wife Fawzia.
"The end of the regime is near... this is our Berlin Wall moment," he told AFP in June while on a visit to Paris.
"I am stepping in to lead this transition. I don't believe I need a title to play that role. The important thing is to be someone who can galvanise a nation."
sjw/ah/dcp

investigation

Swiss inferno bar owner detained for three months

BY AGNèS PEDRERO

  • - 'Procedural' - The Wallis Cantonal Court of Compulsory Measures (TMC) said in a statement Monday it had "ordered the preventive detention of (Jacques Moretti), the bar's manager, for an initial period of three months, due to the existence of a flight risk".
  • The co-owner of a Swiss bar which went up in flames during New Year celebrations has been placed in preventive detention for three months, a regional court said on Monday.
  • - 'Procedural' - The Wallis Cantonal Court of Compulsory Measures (TMC) said in a statement Monday it had "ordered the preventive detention of (Jacques Moretti), the bar's manager, for an initial period of three months, due to the existence of a flight risk".
The co-owner of a Swiss bar which went up in flames during New Year celebrations has been placed in preventive detention for three months, a regional court said on Monday.
Jacques Moretti was taken into custody after he and his wife Jessica, who co-owned Le Constellation bar in the ski resort of Crans-Montana, were interviewed by prosecutors in Switzerland's southwestern Wallis canton on Friday.
The fire broke out at the bar early on New Year's Day when it was filled with partygoers, killing 40 people and injuring 116. Most of the dead were teenagers.
Two days after the blaze, public prosecutors announced that the Morettis were under criminal investigation, facing charges of manslaughter by negligence, bodily harm by negligence and arson by negligence.
At the conclusion of the ongoing investigation, the Wallis public prosecutor's office will decide whether to issue an indictment for a possible trial, or to close the case. 
In the meantime, the presumption of innocence prevails.

'Procedural'

The Wallis Cantonal Court of Compulsory Measures (TMC) said in a statement Monday it had "ordered the preventive detention of (Jacques Moretti), the bar's manager, for an initial period of three months, due to the existence of a flight risk".
The court added though that it had "informed the defendant that it would be willing to lift the preventive detention subject to various alternative measures requested by the public prosecutor's office, including providing a security deposit". 
The French couple's lawyers said in a statement that "Jessica Moretti was informed of the decision... which will allow her husband, once the conditions are met, to return to liberty".
Initial findings suggest that the New Year fire was caused by sparklers igniting soundproofing foam installed on the ceiling of the establishment's basement.
Questions are also being raised regarding the presence and accessibility of fire extinguishers, and whether the bar's exits were in compliance with regulations.  

Locked door

During initial questioning in the hours after the tragedy, Jacques Moretti told investigators that he had discovered shortly after the blaze that a service door had been locked from the inside.
When he arrived at the scene, he forced open the door, according to excerpts from police reports published by several French and Swiss media outlets confirmed to AFP by a source close to the case. 
Moretti said he had found several people lying behind the door after opening it.
Last week, Crans-Montana authorities acknowledged that no fire safety inspections had been conducted at Le Constellation since 2019, prompting outrage.
Lawyers representing victims' families have been harshly critical of the proceedings, and have been demanding from the start that the bar owners be detained.
While Jacques Moretti is now in custody, his wife remains free, with the public prosecutor's office stating Friday that "given her background and personal ties, a request for alternative measures would mitigate the risk of flight".

'It's war'

Sebastien Fanti, a lawyer representing four families of victims, told AFP on Monday that his clients could "only be very imperfectly satisfied with the preventive detention of just one manager".
"The father of a child burned alive told me: 'He died as if in a war, so now it's war'," he said, adding: "Everyone will have to live with their own conscience."
Romain Jordan, who also represents several families, declined to comment on the pre-trial detention, but noted that his clients were "very concerned about the risk of evidence being destroyed or altered, and testimonies being influenced or tainted".
"What measures are being taken to mitigate this?" he asked.
Wallis president Mathias Reynard told public broadcaster RTS on Sunday that 80 people were still in various hospitals in Switzerland and abroad.
apo/nl/rjm/giv

PM

Georgia jails ex-PM for five years amid ruling party oustings

  • The prosecutor's office said it "signed a plea agreement with former Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, under which he was sentenced to five years in prison." 
  • Georgia's former prime minister Irakli Garibashvili was jailed for five years Monday on money laundering charges, the prosecutor's office said, the latest in a sweeping shake-up of the country's ruling party as critics accuse it of drifting into Moscow's orbit. 
  • The prosecutor's office said it "signed a plea agreement with former Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, under which he was sentenced to five years in prison." 
Georgia's former prime minister Irakli Garibashvili was jailed for five years Monday on money laundering charges, the prosecutor's office said, the latest in a sweeping shake-up of the country's ruling party as critics accuse it of drifting into Moscow's orbit. 
The mountainous Caucasus country bordering Russia has been mired in political crisis since October, when Georgian Dream claimed victory in parliamentary elections the opposition said had been stolen.
Garibashvili, who served two stints as a prime minister between 2021 and 2024 and 2013 and 2015, was a key figure in ushering in a crackdown on civil society and critics of the ruling Georgian Dream party.
Prosecutors say they found and seized $6.5 million during a search in his apartment.  
He admitted receiving illegal income for years after anti-corruption raids on homes and offices of several former officials in October, and struck a deal to cap his jail time.   
The prosecutor's office said it "signed a plea agreement with former Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, under which he was sentenced to five years in prison." 
He was accused of laundering income between 2019 and 2024. 
Garibashvili was widely seen as one of the closest allies of powerful oligarch and Georgian Dream party chief Bidzina Ivanishvili.
Other high-ranking officials from the party have also been imprisoned in what the authorities describe as an anti-corruption crackdown.  
Analysts say this may indicate infighting within Georgian Dream's leadership, some of whom have been hit by Western sanctions.
Authorities in the Black Sea nation have over recent years pursued a crackdown on the opposition, jailing prominent pro-EU figures.
The government has faced accusations of democratic backsliding, drifting towards Russia and derailing Georgia's EU-membership bid -- allegations it rejects.
gz-asy/jc/fg

conflict

Kyiv buries medic killed in Russian drone strike

BY JONATHAN BROWN

  • Moscow said the attack was retribution for an alleged drone strike on a residence of Vladimir Putin, something Kyiv has denied and that the United States has suggested did not happen.
  • Three days after Sergiy Smolyak was ripped apart in a Russian drone attack, his granddaughter -- wearing a pink winter snowsuit -- sat in silence before his open coffin in a golden-domed cathedral in Kyiv.
  • Moscow said the attack was retribution for an alleged drone strike on a residence of Vladimir Putin, something Kyiv has denied and that the United States has suggested did not happen.
Three days after Sergiy Smolyak was ripped apart in a Russian drone attack, his granddaughter -- wearing a pink winter snowsuit -- sat in silence before his open coffin in a golden-domed cathedral in Kyiv.
The 56-year-old medic was cut down in the early hours of last Friday, as he rushed to rescue residents from a housing bloc Russia struck minutes earlier in a massive drone-and-missile attack on the Ukrainian capital.
"There is hardly a more noble profession than that of a medic, someone who, in one way or another, saves people's lives," the priest told hundreds of mourners, weeping, wearing black or clutching flowers at his funeral
Smolyak, who worked as a medic for more than 25 years, fled his home in the southern Kherson region when Russia invaded nearly four years ago.
"He was very kind, always calm and even-tempered. He saved so many people," Ryta Dorosh, a nurse who worked with Smolyak before the war, said at his funeral on Monday.
"It's a very great loss," she told AFP.
Four other medics were wounded in the barrage of 242 drones and 36 missiles, which left half the capital without heating in freezing temperatures and spurred calls from the mayor for residents to leave temporarily.
Moscow said the attack was retribution for an alleged drone strike on a residence of Vladimir Putin, something Kyiv has denied and that the United States has suggested did not happen.
Apart from Smolyak, Kyiv says more than 500 Ukrainian medical workers have been killed since Russia invaded in February 2022.
Ukraine has repeatedly accused Russia of launching so-called "double-tap" strikes -- a repeat attack on the same site shortly after a hit, specifically targeting first responders. It is a tactic experts say could constitute a war crime.
With incense hanging in the air, and sunlight illuminating gold-painted biblical murals on the cathedral walls, the priest urged mourners to help others, too.
"Above all, we must take it upon ourselves to join in the cause for which Sergiy suffered and gave his life," the priest added, tears filling his eyes.
bur-mk-jbr/jc/giv

conflict

Israel revokes French researcher's travel permit

  • His ban comes after Israel at the start of the month banned 37 foreign humanitarian organisations from accessing the Gaza Strip after they refused to share lists of their Palestinian employees with government officials. 
  • A French historian has been banned from travelling to Israel after he criticised Israeli military operations in the besieged Gaza Strip, he said on Monday.
  • His ban comes after Israel at the start of the month banned 37 foreign humanitarian organisations from accessing the Gaza Strip after they refused to share lists of their Palestinian employees with government officials. 
A French historian has been banned from travelling to Israel after he criticised Israeli military operations in the besieged Gaza Strip, he said on Monday.
Vincent Lemire was head of the French Research Centre in Jerusalem from 2019 to August 2023, before Palestinian militant group Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, triggering an Israeli military response that has ravaged Gaza.
The academic, who specialises in the history of Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, has since publicly spoken out about the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza and called for France to sanction Israel over the conflict's mounting death toll. He has also called for the release of Israeli hostages.
He was due to travel to Israel on Sunday with a two-year electronic travel authorisation for the country (ETA-IL) that he had previously obtained, but four days earlier, he received an email.
"Due to a change in circumstances in your case, the ETA-IL approval... which was granted to you as of 27/02/2025 is revoked," it read, according to a screenshot Lemire sent AFP.
Contacted by AFP, the Israeli authorities did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
"My positions are not new, but I have never boycotted Israel. I have regularly issued invitations to Israeli academics and I have been going to Israel for 25 years, so I am very surprised," Lemire told AFP.
"In terms of academic freedom, it's very problematic," said the researcher, who had planned some 20 meetings and seminars with Israeli and Palestinian researchers and students during his trip.
His ban comes after Israel at the start of the month banned 37 foreign humanitarian organisations from accessing the Gaza Strip after they refused to share lists of their Palestinian employees with government officials. 
"As with the 37 NGOs banned from working in Gaza, it feels like we're in a dynamic of settling scores," said Lemire, who is trying to have the ban revoked.
Lemire and former Israeli ambassador to France Elie Barnavi in August urged President Emmanuel Macron in French daily newspaper Le Monde to slap sanctions on Israel to avoid having to recognise a "graveyard" as a Palestinian state.
Macron recognised Palestinian statehood in September, before a fragile ceasefire took hold in Gaza the following month.
cl/ah/cc

computers

UK regulator opens probe into X over sexualised AI imagery

  • It is also illegal for media sites to create or share non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material, including sexual deepfakes created with AI. Ofcom has the power to impose fines of 10 percent of worldwide revenue for breaches of these rules.
  • UK media regulator Ofcom on Monday launched a formal investigation into Elon Musk's X over its AI chatbot Grok's image creation feature that has been used to produce sexualised deepfakes.
  • It is also illegal for media sites to create or share non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material, including sexual deepfakes created with AI. Ofcom has the power to impose fines of 10 percent of worldwide revenue for breaches of these rules.
UK media regulator Ofcom on Monday launched a formal investigation into Elon Musk's X over its AI chatbot Grok's image creation feature that has been used to produce sexualised deepfakes.
Grok is facing growing international backlash for allowing users to create and share sexualised pictures of women and children using simple text prompts.
Ofcom described the reports as "deeply concerning".
It said in a statement that the undressed images of people "may amount to intimate image abuse or pornography -- and sexualised images of children... may amount to child sexual abuse material".
Contacted by AFP, X did not immediately respond.
Ofcom said it had contacted X on January 5 asking it to explain the steps it has taken to protect UK users. 
Without sharing details of the exchange, the regulator said that X did respond within the given timeframe.
The formal investigation will determine whether X "failed to comply with its legal obligations".
Under Britain's Online Safety Act, which came into force in July, websites, social media and video-sharing platforms hosting potentially harmful content are required to implement strict age verification through tools such as facial imagery or credit card checks.
It is also illegal for media sites to create or share non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material, including sexual deepfakes created with AI.
Ofcom has the power to impose fines of 10 percent of worldwide revenue for breaches of these rules.
Grok appeared to deflect the international criticism with a new monetisation policy at the end of last week, posting on X that the tool was now "limited to paying subscribers", alongside a link to a premium subscription.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has condemned the move as an affront to victims and "not a solution".
On Saturday, Indonesia became the first country to deny all access to the tool, with Malaysia following suit on Sunday.
The European Commission has said it is reviewing complaints about Grok.
ajb/bcp/rl

court

Rohingya 'targeted for destruction' by Myanmar, ICJ hears

BY RICHARD CARTER WITH SHEIKH SABIHA ALAM IN COX'S BAZAR, BANGLADESH

  • "What's happening to the Rohingya is genocide, intentionally destroying our community.
  • Myanmar deliberately targeted the Rohingya minority with "horrific violence" in a bid to destroy the community, Gambia's justice minister told the International Court of Justice Monday at the start of a genocide hearing.
  • "What's happening to the Rohingya is genocide, intentionally destroying our community.
Myanmar deliberately targeted the Rohingya minority with "horrific violence" in a bid to destroy the community, Gambia's justice minister told the International Court of Justice Monday at the start of a genocide hearing.
"It is not about esoteric issues of international law. It is about real people, real stories and a real group of human beings. The Rohingya of Myanmar. They have been targeted for destruction," Dawda Jallow told ICJ judges.
The Gambia brought the case accusing Myanmar of breaching the 1948 Genocide Convention during a crackdown in 2017.
Legal experts are watching closely as it could give clues for how the court will handle similar accusations against Israel over its military campaign in Gaza, in a case brought to the ICJ by South Africa.
Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims fled violence by the Myanmar army and Buddhist militias, escaping to neighbouring Bangladesh and bringing harrowing accounts of mass rape, arson and murder.
They were subjected to "the most horrific violence and destruction one could imagine", said Jallow.
Paul Reichler, a lawyer representing The Gambia, laid out searing allegations from witnesses, including gang rapes, sexual mutilation, and infants being burned alive.
Today, 1.17 million Rohingya live crammed into dilapidated camps spread over 8,000 acres in Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh.
From there, mother-of-two Janifa Begum, 37, told AFP: "I want to see whether the suffering we endured is reflected during the hearing."
"We want justice and peace," she said.
A final decision could take months or even years, and while the ICJ has no means of enforcing its decisions, a ruling in favour of The Gambia would heap more political pressure on Myanmar.
"We did not bring this case lightly," said Jallow.
"We brought this case after reviewing credible reports of the most brutal and vicious violations imaginable inflicted upon a vulnerable group that had been dehumanised and persecuted for many years," added the minister.

'Senseless killings'

The Gambia, a Muslim-majority country in west Africa, brought the case in 2019 to the ICJ, which rules in disputes between states.
Under the Genocide Convention, any country can file a case at the ICJ against any other it believes is in breach of the treaty.
In a landmark moment at the Peace Palace courthouse in The Hague, Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi appeared herself in 2019 to defend her country.
She dismissed Banjul's argument as a "misleading and incomplete factual picture" of what she said was an "internal armed conflict".
Myanmar has always maintained the crackdown by its armed forces, known as the Tatmadaw, was justified to root out Rohingya insurgents after a series of attacks left a dozen security personnel dead.
Suu Kyi will not be revisiting the Peace Palace. She has been detained since a 2021 coup, on charges rights groups say were politically motivated.
Myanmar's junta spokesman could not be reached for comment by AFP on Monday.

'Physical destruction'

In 2020, the ICJ said Myanmar must take "all measures within its power" to halt any acts prohibited in the 1948 UN Genocide Convention.
These acts included "killing members of the group" and "deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part".
The United States officially declared that the violence amounted to genocide in 2022, three years after a UN team said Myanmar harboured "genocidal intent" towards the Rohingya.
The ICJ hearings wrap up on January 29.
"When the court considers... all of the evidence taken together, the only reasonable conclusion to reach is that a genocidal intent permeated and informed Myanmar's myriad of state-led actions against the Rohingya," said Philippe Sands, arguing for The Gambia.
The ICJ is not the only court looking into possible genocide against the Rohingya -- other cases are underway at the International Criminal Court and in Argentina under the principle of universal jurisdiction.
Outside the court, Tun Khin, president of the Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK, told AFP: "We have been waiting for justice for many years."
"What's happening to the Rohingya is genocide, intentionally destroying our community. And we want to get justice. And when justice is done, we want to go back to our homeland with all our rights. And we want compensation," he added.
ric/yad