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

conflict

Venezuela releases more political prisoners as pressure builds

BY AHIANA FIGUEROA AND PATRICK FORT

  • Venezuela on Monday said 116 political prisoners had been released in recent hours, though opposition and rights groups report lower figures.
  • Venezuela said Monday it had freed dozens more political prisoners as rights groups questioned the numbers and family members clamored for speedier releases after the US military ouster of long-term autocrat Nicolas Maduro.
  • Venezuela on Monday said 116 political prisoners had been released in recent hours, though opposition and rights groups report lower figures.
Venezuela said Monday it had freed dozens more political prisoners as rights groups questioned the numbers and family members clamored for speedier releases after the US military ouster of long-term autocrat Nicolas Maduro.
Under pressure from Washington, the government in Caracas last week said it would free people jailed under Maduro -- many of them for taking part in protests after his disputed 2024 reelection.
Relatives have been camped out at prisons ever since and have grown increasingly restless as their loved ones have failed to appear.
Venezuela's interim president Delcy Rodriguez, despite being a staunch Maduro ally, is negotiating on several fronts with Washington, which is looking to take advantage of Venezuela's vast oil reserves.   
On Sunday, Trump said he was open to a meeting with Rodriguez and that his administration was working "really well" with hers.   
US envoys visited Caracas on Friday to discuss reopening Washington's embassy there seven years after diplomatic ties were severed. 
Venezuela on Monday said 116 political prisoners had been released in recent hours, though opposition and rights groups report lower figures.
About 50 people have been freed since last Thursday, according to an AFP tally based on figures from NGOs and the opposition.
Human rights groups estimate there are between 800 and 1,200 political prisoners in Venezuela.
Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado on Monday urged Pope Leo XIV to "intercede" on behalf of political prisoners.
"I asked him to intercede for all Venezuelans who remain kidnapped and disappeared," Machado said after an audience with the pontiff at the Vatican.
"With the accompaniment of the Church and the unprecedented pressure from the United States Government, the defeat of evil in the country is closer," she added in a statement posted to X by her team.
Over the weekend, Trump celebrated the initial releases and said he hoped the freed prisoners "will remember how lucky they got that the USA came along and did what had to be done."
However, experts mandated to a UN fact-finding mission said in a statement the number of people freed so far, about 50 by its own count, "falls far short of Venezuela's international human rights obligations."
The government in Caracas said a review of prisoner files was ongoing.

A long wait

Frustration was growing among about 40 relatives still camped out Monday outside El Rodeo prison, about 30 kilometers (19 miles) from Caracas. 
Rights NGO Foro Penal said 15 people had been released from the facility, but family members told AFP they were whisked away through a back exit without seeing the loved ones waiting for them.
"Other families are telling us that they're taken to a place near El Rodeo, asked to remove their uniforms, given civilian clothes, and even sprayed with perfume," said Daniela Camacho, who was waiting for her jailed husband Jose Daniel Mendoza.
Mendoza's father, Manuel, had driven six hours to be at the prison for his son's release, and said his patience was running low.
"We simply ask that they keep their word," he said of the authorities.
"It's already been four nights waiting out in the open air, suffering."

'Transition to democracy'

Machado said she had underscored opposition figure Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia's "legitimacy" in her talks with Leo, and sought the pope's backing for "the prompt advancement of the transition to democracy in Venezuela."
The opposition and much of the international community consider Gonzalez Urrutia the legitimate victor of 2024 presidential elections that institutions loyal to Maduro had prevented Machado from taking part in.
Since Maduro's ouster, many were left astounded by Trump's rejection of Machado as interim leader.
She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last year and dedicated it to Trump, who has made no secret of his frustration at being passed over for the award.
Machado is to travel to Washington this week, where she is to meet the Republican president.
Chicago-born Leo called for Venezuela's sovereignty to be respected in a speech to diplomats last week.
pgf/am/mlr/mlm

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

Global Edition

Iran government stages mass rallies as alarm grows over protest toll

BY STUART WILLIAMS

  • Seeking to regain the initiative, the government called for rallies nationwide backing the Islamic republic on Monday. 
  • Iranian authorities on Monday sought to regain control of the streets with mass nationwide rallies in the wake of protests on a scale unprecedented in recent years, as alarm grew over a deadly crackdown.
  • Seeking to regain the initiative, the government called for rallies nationwide backing the Islamic republic on Monday. 
Iranian authorities on Monday sought to regain control of the streets with mass nationwide rallies in the wake of protests on a scale unprecedented in recent years, as alarm grew over a deadly crackdown.
The foreign minister said Iran was ready for both war and talks after repeated threats from Washington to intervene militarily over the crackdown on protests, which activists fear has left at least hundreds dead.
Over 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.
In a sign of the severity of the crisis, the authorities have imposed an internet blackout lasting more than three-and-a-half days that activists say is aimed at masking the extent of the crackdown.
Seeking to regain the initiative, the government called for rallies nationwide backing the Islamic republic on Monday. 
Thousands of people filled the capital's Enghelab (Revolution) Square brandishing the national flag as prayers were read for victims of what the government has termed "riots", state TV showed.
Addressing the crowds, parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Iran is fighting a "four-front war", listing economic war, psychological war, "military war" with the United States and Israel and "today a war against terrorists", referring to the protests. 
Flanked by the slogans "Death to Israel, Death to America" in Persian, he vowed the Iranian military would teach US President Donald Trump "an unforgettable lesson" if Iran were attacked. 
Trump said Sunday that Iran's leadership under Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in power since 1989 and now 86, had called him seeking "to negotiate" after he repeatedly threatened to intervene militarily if Tehran killed protesters.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran is not seeking war but is fully prepared for war," Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told a conference of foreign ambassadors in Tehran broadcast by state television. 
"We are also ready for negotiations but these negotiations should be fair, with equal rights and based on mutual respect."
Foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said a channel of communication is open between Araghchi and Trump's special envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff despite the lack of diplomatic relations. 
Meanwhile, the foreign minister of Oman, which has on occasion acted as a mediator, met Araghchi in Tehran on Saturday. 

Soaring toll

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. 
Iran's shutdown of the internet has now lasted more than 84 hours, said monitor Netblocks. The blackout has severely affected the ability of Iranians to post videos of the protests that have rocked big cities since Thursday.
A video circulating on Sunday showed dozens of bodies outside a morgue south of Tehran.
The footage, geolocated by AFP to the district of Kahrizak, showed bodies wrapped in black bags, with what appeared to be grieving relatives searching for loved ones.
The Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights (IHR) said it confirmed the killing of at least 192 protesters but that the actual toll could be much higher.
"Unverified reports indicate that at least several hundreds, and according to some sources, more than 2,000 people, may have been killed," said IHR.
More than 2,600 protesters have been arrested, IHR estimated.
The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency said it had confirmed the deaths of 544 people.
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. 
State outlets were at pains to present a picture of calm returning, broadcasting images of smooth-flowing traffic. 
Tehran Governor Mohammad-Sadegh Motamedian insisted in televised comments that "the number of protests is decreasing".

'Stand with the people'

Reza Pahlavi, the US-based son of Iran's ousted shah, urged Iran's security forces and government workers to join the protests against the authorities.
"Employees of state institutions, as well as members of the armed and security forces, have a choice: stand with the people and become allies of the nation, or choose complicity with the murderers of the people," he said in a social media post.
He also urged protesters to replace the flags outside Iranian embassies. 
"The time has come for them to be adorned with Iran's national flag," he said.
The ceremonial, pre-revolution flag has become an emblem of the global rallies that have mushroomed in support of Iran's demonstrators. 
bur-sjw-sw/axn

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

Kenya

'I know the pain': ex-refugee takes over as UNHCR chief

BY JULIE CAPELLE

  • Salih has "real experience of exile...
  • Barham Salih has known torture and the wrenching loss of exile.
  • Salih has "real experience of exile...
Barham Salih has known torture and the wrenching loss of exile. Four decades after his own ordeal, he has taken the helm of the UN refugee agency as it grapples with a funding shortfall and ever-rising needs.
A former Iraqi president, Salih, 65, became the first former head of state to run the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) at the start of the year. 
"It is a profound moral and legal responsibility," Salih told AFP during his first trip in the new role -- to Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya.
"I know the pain of losing a home, losing your friends," he said.
The Kakuma refugee camp, which Salih visited on Sunday, is east Africa's second largest, hosting roughly 300,000 people from South Sudan, Somalia, Uganda and Burundi. It has been in place since 1992. 
The world "should not allow this to continue", Salih said, praising a new initiative by Kenya to turn its camps into economic hubs. 
"We should not only protect refugees... but also enable them to have more durable solutions," he said, while adding: "The better way is to have peace established in their own countries... nowhere is nicer than home."

'Electric shocks, beating'

The son of a judge and a women's rights activist, Salih was born in 1960 in Sulaymaniyah, a stronghold of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), which sought self-determination for Iraq's Kurds.
He went into exile in Iran in 1974, spending a year at a school for refugees. As a teenager in 1979, back in Iraq and already a member of the PUK, he was arrested twice by former dictator Saddam Hussein's regime.
"I was released after 43 days after having suffered torture, electric shocks, beating," he said.
Upon release, he still managed to rank among Iraq's top three high school students, according to a former colleague, before fleeing with his family to Britain where he earned a degree in computer engineering and a doctorate.
Salih has "real experience of exile... He brings a personal perspective of displacement, which is very important," Filippo Grandi, his predecessor at UNHCR, told AFP last month.
Salih went on to a successful career in Iraqi Kurdistan and Iraq's federal government after Hussein's overthrow in 2003, holding the largely ceremonial role of president from 2018 to 2022. 

'Serious budget cuts'

Refugee numbers have doubled to 117 million in the past decade, the UNHCR said in June, but funding has dropped sharply, especially since Donald Trump returned to the White House.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres recently praised Salih's experience as a "crisis negotiator and architect of national reforms" at a time when the agency faces "very serious challenges".
"We have had very serious budget cuts last year. A lot of staff have been reduced," Salih told AFP. 
"But we have to understand, we have to adapt," he said, calling for "more efficiency and accountability" while also insisting the international community meets its "legal and moral obligations to help". 
burs-jcp/mnk/er/kjm

politics

Hong Kong court hears sentencing arguments for Jimmy Lai

BY HOLMES CHAN

  • Lai was found guilty on two counts of conspiracy to commit collusion last month under a sweeping national security law that was imposed by Beijing in 2020 after huge and sometimes violent pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.
  • A Hong Kong court heard sentencing arguments on Monday for pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai, who was convicted of national security crimes that could land him in prison for life.
  • Lai was found guilty on two counts of conspiracy to commit collusion last month under a sweeping national security law that was imposed by Beijing in 2020 after huge and sometimes violent pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.
A Hong Kong court heard sentencing arguments on Monday for pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai, who was convicted of national security crimes that could land him in prison for life.
Lai was found guilty on two counts of conspiracy to commit collusion last month under a sweeping national security law that was imposed by Beijing in 2020 after huge and sometimes violent pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.
The 78-year-old business mogul was also convicted of publishing seditious articles through his now-closed Apple Daily newspaper.
Lai smiled and nodded to supporters in the public gallery on Monday as prison guards led him into the dock, where he was seated beside eight co-defendants who had pleaded guilty as part of the same case.
His defence lawyer Robert Pang told the court that a lengthy jail term would be "harsher" for someone of Lai's age and physical condition.
"Every day (Lai) spends in prison will bring him that much closer to the end of his life," Pang said.
Lai is a British citizen and the UK government has condemned his "politically motivated prosecution" and called for his release.
US President Donald Trump also said he had asked Chinese leader Xi Jinping to consider releasing Lai.
The judges wrote in their 856-page verdict that Lai "harboured his resentment and hatred of (China) for many of his adult years" and sought the "downfall of the Chinese Communist Party".
Hong Kong's national security law states that collusion offences "of a grave nature" will result in a prison term of between 10 years and life.
The colonial-era crime of sedition carries a maximum penalty of two years in jail.
Dozens queued up outside the West Kowloon court building over the weekend, with some telling AFP they hoped to get a seat in the public gallery to support Lai.

Health concerns

Lai has been behind bars since 2020, and the state of his health was hotly contested at Monday's hearing.
Prosecutor Anthony Chau cited a prison medical report that said Lai's "general health condition remains stable", and that he had no complaints after being treated for problems with his heart, teeth and nails.
Chau said Lai was kept in solitary confinement at his own request to avoid harassment, with the arrangement reviewed monthly.
Lai's weight only declined by 0.8 kilograms (1.7 pounds) between December 2020 and this month, and his body mass index (BMI) reflected the "obesity status of an Asian adult", Chau said.
However, Pang argued that "there actually has been a significant weight loss", pointing to medical records that show Lai had lost more than 10 kilograms in a year.
Lai's medical conditions -- including hypertension, diabetes, and problems with his eyes and lower limbs -- were not life-threatening but made prison life more "burdensome", he said.
Amnesty International said last month Lai's conviction "feels like the death knell for press freedom in Hong Kong", while the Committee to Protect Journalists called it a "sham".
A government spokesperson said last month that Lai's case "has nothing to do with freedom of speech and of the press" and that he was using journalism as a front to commit crimes.
Judges also heard sentencing arguments for Cheung Kim-hung, the former CEO of Apple Daily's parent company, as well as two men who were found to be Lai's co-conspirators in foreign lobbying.
The court will hear more arguments on Tuesday, with sentencing expected at a later date.
hol/dhw/pbt

Greenland

Trump says US will take Greenland 'one way or the other'

  • "Greenland should make the deal, because Greenland does not want to see Russia or China take over," Trump warned, as he mocked its defenses.
  • President Donald Trump said Sunday the United States would take Greenland "one way or the other," warning that Russia and China would "take over" if Washington didn't act.
  • "Greenland should make the deal, because Greenland does not want to see Russia or China take over," Trump warned, as he mocked its defenses.
President Donald Trump said Sunday the United States would take Greenland "one way or the other," warning that Russia and China would "take over" if Washington didn't act.
Trump says controlling the mineral-rich Danish territory is crucial for US national security given increased Russian and Chinese military activity in the Arctic.
"If we don't take Greenland, Russia or China will, and I'm not letting that happen," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, despite neither country laying claim to the vast island.
Trump said he would be open to making a deal with the Danish self-governing territory "but one way or the other, we're going to have Greenland."
Denmark and other European allies have voiced shock at Trump's threats over the island, which plays a strategic role between North America and the Arctic, and where the United States has had a military base since World War II.
A Danish colony until 1953, Greenland gained home rule 26 years later and is contemplating eventually loosening its ties with Denmark.
The vast majority of its population and political parties have said they do not want to be under US control and insist Greenlanders must decide their own future -- a viewpoint continuously challenged by Trump.
"Greenland should make the deal, because Greenland does not want to see Russia or China take over," Trump warned, as he mocked its defenses.
"You know what their defense is, two dog sleds," he said, while Russia and China have "destroyers and submarines all over the place."
Denmark's prime minister warned last week that any US move to take Greenland by force would destroy 80 years of transatlantic security links.
Trump waved off the comment saying: "If it affects NATO, it affects NATO. But you know, (Greenland) need us much more than we need them."
bur-ane/mtp

Global Edition

Myanmar pro-military party claims Suu Kyi's seat in junta-run poll

  • But the military snatched back power with a 2021 coup, deposing and detaining Suu Kyi after claiming she won a landslide election win over pro-military party by means of massive voter fraud.
  • Myanmar's main pro-military party on Monday claimed victory in the parliamentary seat of sidelined democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi in elections being derided as a ploy to prolong junta rule.
  • But the military snatched back power with a 2021 coup, deposing and detaining Suu Kyi after claiming she won a landslide election win over pro-military party by means of massive voter fraud.
Myanmar's main pro-military party on Monday claimed victory in the parliamentary seat of sidelined democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi in elections being derided as a ploy to prolong junta rule.
The armed forces have ruled Myanmar for most of the nation's post-independence history before a decade-long democratic thaw saw civilians assume control. 
But the military snatched back power with a 2021 coup, deposing and detaining Suu Kyi after claiming she won a landslide election win over pro-military party by means of massive voter fraud.
The junta says the current month-long vote -- which has its final phase scheduled for January 25 -- will return power to the people.
With Suu Kyi still held in seclusion and her hugely popular party dissolved, democracy advocates say the vote has been rigged by a crackdown on dissent and a ballot stacked with military allies.
An official from the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), speaking anonymously because they were unauthorised to share results, said they "won in Kawhmu" -- Suu Kyi's former seat in Yangon region.
"We won 15 lower house seats out of 16 places in Yangon region," they added, after Kawhmu and dozens of other constituencies voted in the election's second stage on Sunday.
The official did not say by what margin the party claimed its win and official results of the second round have yet to be posted by the junta-stacked election commission.
But the USDP -- described by many analysts as the military's prime proxy -- won nearly 90 percent of lower house seats in the first phase, official results say.
"It should surprise no one that the military-backed party has claimed a landslide victory," UN rights expert Tom Andrews said in a statement last week.
"The junta engineered the polls to ensure victory for its proxy, entrench military domination, and manufacture a facade of legitimacy while violence and repression continue unabated."
Regardless of the vote, a quarter of parliamentary seats will be reserved for the armed forces under a constitution drafted during a previous period of military rule.
The coup plunged Myanmar into civil war and voting is not taking place in huge territories controlled by rebel factions running parallel administrations in defiance of military rule.
There is no official toll for Myanmar's civil war but monitoring group ACLED, which tallies media reports of violence, estimates that 90,000 people have been killed on all sides.
The day of the election's first phase, December 28, saw 52 incidents -- more than any other day for eight months -- with a total of 68 people killed, according to its figures.
Meanwhile more than 330 people are being pursued under new junta-enacted laws, including clauses that punish protest or criticism of the poll with up to 10 years in prison.
There are more than 22,000 political prisoners languishing alongside Suu Kyi in junta detention, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners advocacy group.
hla-jts/slb/mtp

Meta

Meta urges Australia to change teen social media ban

  • The government said it was holding social media companies to account for the harm they cause young Australians.
  • Tech giant Meta urged Australia on Monday to rethink its world-first social media ban for under-16s, while reporting that it has blocked more than 544,000 accounts under the new law.
  • The government said it was holding social media companies to account for the harm they cause young Australians.
Tech giant Meta urged Australia on Monday to rethink its world-first social media ban for under-16s, while reporting that it has blocked more than 544,000 accounts under the new law.
Australia has required big platforms including Meta, TikTok and YouTube to stop underage users from holding accounts since the legislation came into force on December 10 last year.
Companies face fines of Aus$49.5 million (US$33 million) if they fail to take "reasonable steps" to comply.
Billionaire Mark Zuckerberg's Meta said it had removed 331,000 underage accounts from Instagram, 173,000 from Facebook, and 40,000 from Threads in the week to December 11.
The company said it was committed to complying with the law.
"That said, we call on the Australian government to engage with industry constructively to find a better way forward, such as incentivising all of industry to raise the standard in providing safe, privacy-preserving, age appropriate experiences online, instead of blanket bans," it said in statement.

'Whack-a-mole'

Meta renewed an earlier call for app stores to be required to verify people's ages and get parental approval before under-16s can download an app.
This was the only way to avoid a "whack-a-mole" race to stop teens migrating to new apps to avoid the ban, the company said.
The government said it was holding social media companies to account for the harm they cause young Australians.
"Platforms like Meta collect a huge amount of data on their users for commercial purposes. They can and must use that information to comply with Australian law and ensure people under 16 are not on their platforms," a government spokesperson said.
Meta said parents and experts were worried about the ban isolating young people from online communities, and driving some to less regulated apps and darker corners of the internet.
Initial impacts of the legislation "suggest it is not meeting its objectives of increasing the safety and well-being of young Australians", it said.
While raising concern over the lack of an industry standard for determining age online, Meta said its compliance with the Australian law would be a "multilayered process".
Since the ban, the California-based firm said it had helped found the OpenAge Initiative, a non-profit group that has launched age-verification tools called AgeKeys to be used with participating platforms.
djw/mtp

Bondi

Australia recalls parliament early to pass hate speech, gun laws

  • Last week, the government announced a royal commission inquiry into the Bondi Beach shooting.
  • Australia's parliament will reopen two weeks early to crack down on hate crimes and gun ownership following the mass shooting at Bondi Beach, the government said Monday.
  • Last week, the government announced a royal commission inquiry into the Bondi Beach shooting.
Australia's parliament will reopen two weeks early to crack down on hate crimes and gun ownership following the mass shooting at Bondi Beach, the government said Monday.
Australia has flagged a suite of reforms to hate crime and gun laws since the December 14 attack on a Jewish festival that killed 15 people -- the country's deadliest mass shooting in nearly three decades.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he would recall both houses of parliament for a sitting from January 19-20 to pass the new legislation and offer condolences to the victims.
Members of parliament had been scheduled to return from their summer break on February 3.
"The terrorists at Bondi Beach had hatred in their minds but guns in their hands -- this law will deal with both," Albanese told a news conference.
The legislation would create new offences for "hate preachers", stiffen hate crime penalties, expand a ban on prohibited symbols, and set the framework for a new list of banned hate groups.
It would allow the home affairs minister to reject or cancel visas for people intending to spread hatred, the prime minister said.
The laws would enable the launch of a national guns buyback scheme, the largest since Australia last targeted firearms following a mass shooting in 1996 that killed 35 people at Port Arthur, Tasmania.
Stricter checks would also be imposed for gun licences, the government said.
Details of the draft laws are to be released publicly on Tuesday.
Last week, the government announced a royal commission inquiry into the Bondi Beach shooting.
The federal royal commission -- the highest level of government inquiry -- will probe everything from intelligence failures to the prevalence of antisemitism in Australia.
Sajid Akram and his son Naveed allegedly targeted Jews attending a Hannukah celebration at Bondi Beach.
Sajid, 50, was shot and killed by police during the assault. An Indian national, he entered Australia on a visa in 1998.
His 24-year-old son Naveed, an Australian-born citizen who remains in prison, has been charged with terrorism and 15 murders.
djw/mtp

Global Edition

Trump says Iran 'want to negotiate' after reports of hundreds killed in protests

  • "The leaders of Iran called" yesterday, Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, adding that "a meeting is being set up...
  • US President Donald Trump said Sunday that Iran's leadership had called him seeking "to negotiate" after he repeatedly threatened to intervene militarily if Tehran killed protesters.
  • "The leaders of Iran called" yesterday, Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, adding that "a meeting is being set up...
US President Donald Trump said Sunday that Iran's leadership had called him seeking "to negotiate" after he repeatedly threatened to intervene militarily if Tehran killed protesters.
For two weeks, Iran has been rocked by a protest movement that has swelled in spite of a crackdown rights groups warn has become a "massacre".
Initially sparked by anger over the rising cost of living, the demonstrations have evolved into a serious challenge of the theocratic system in place since the 1979 revolution.
Information has continued to trickle out of Iran despite a days-long internet shutdown, with videos filtering out of capital Tehran and other cities over the past three nights showing large demonstrations.
As reports emerge of a growing protest death toll, and images show bodies piled outside a morgue, Trump said Tehran indicated its willingness to talk. 
"The leaders of Iran called" yesterday, Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, adding that "a meeting is being set up... They want to negotiate."
He added, however, that "we may have to act before a meeting".
The US-based Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) said it had received "eyewitness accounts and credible reports indicating that hundreds of protesters have been killed across Iran during the current internet shutdown". 
"A massacre is unfolding," it said. 
The Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights (IHR) said it confirmed the killing of at least 192 protesters but that the actual toll could be much higher.
"Unverified reports indicate that at least several hundreds, and according to some sources, more than 2,000 people may have been killed," said IHR.
More than 2,600 protesters have been arrested, IHR estimates.
A video circulating on Sunday showed dozens of bodies accumulating outside a morgue south of Tehran.
The footage, geolocated by AFP to Kahrizak, showed bodies wrapped in black bags, with what appeared to be grieving relatives searching for loved ones.

Near paralysis

In Tehran, an AFP journalist described a city in a state of near paralysis. 
The price of meat has nearly doubled since the start of the protests, and many shops are closed. Those that do open must close at around 4:00 or 5:00 pm, when security forces deploy en masse.
There were fewer videos showing protests on social media Sunday, but it was not clear to what extent that was due to the internet shutdown.
One widely shared video showed protesters again gathering in the Pounak district of Tehran shouting slogans in favour of the ousted monarchy.
The protests have become one of the biggest challenges to the rule of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 86, coming in the wake of Israel's 12-day war against the Islamic republic in June, which was backed by the United States.
State TV has aired images of burning buildings, including a mosque, as well as funeral processions for security personnel. 
But after three days of mass actions, state outlets were at pains to present a picture of calm returning, broadcasting images of smooth-flowing traffic on Sunday. Tehran Governor Mohammad-Sadegh Motamedian insisted in televised comments that "the number of protests is decreasing". 
The Iranian government on Sunday declared three days of national mourning for "martyrs" including members of the security forces killed.
President Masoud Pezeshkian also urged Iranians to join a "national resistance march" Monday to denounce the violence.
In response to Trump's repeated threats to intervene, Iran's parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Iran would hit back, calling US military and shipping "legitimate targets" in comments broadcast by state TV. 

'Stand with the people'

Reza Pahlavi, the US-based son of Iran's ousted shah, who has emerged as an anti-government figurehead, said he was prepared to return to the country and lead a democratic transition. 
"I'm already planning on that," he told Fox News on Sunday. 
He later urged Iran's security forces and government workers to join the demonstrators.
"Employees of state institutions, as well as members of the armed and security forces, have a choice: stand with the people and become allies of the nation, or choose complicity with the murderers of the people," he said in a social media post.
He also urged protesters to replace the flags outside of Iranian embassies. 
"The time has come for them to be adorned with Iran's national flag," he said. 
The ceremonial, pre-revolution flag has become an emblem of the global rallies that have mushroomed in support of Iran's demonstrators. 
In London, protesters managed over the weekend to swap out the Iranian embassy flag, hoisting in its place the tri-colored banner used under the last shah.  
burs/lb/tc

Venezuela

Trump vows to cut off Cuba's oil after toppling Venezuelan ally Maduro

BY MICHAEL MATHES

  • "I strongly suggest they make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE." He said "Cuba lived, for many years, on large amounts of OIL and MONEY from Venezuela.
  • US President Donald Trump urged Cuba on Sunday to "make a deal" soon, pledging to cut off all oil and money flowing to the communist-run island after the toppling of Havana's key ally, Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro.
  • "I strongly suggest they make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE." He said "Cuba lived, for many years, on large amounts of OIL and MONEY from Venezuela.
US President Donald Trump urged Cuba on Sunday to "make a deal" soon, pledging to cut off all oil and money flowing to the communist-run island after the toppling of Havana's key ally, Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro.
The threatening social media post drew an angry retort from Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel, who said "no one" would tell his country what to do.
Washington has imposed economy-crippling sanctions on its island neighbor for decades, but Trump has ramped up the pressure in recent days.
US special forces seized Maduro and his wife this month in a lightning raid that left dozens of the ousted Venezuelan president's security personnel dead -- many of whom were Cuban.
Though Maduro's allies have become interim leaders, Trump has claimed the United States now actually controls Venezuela, through a US naval blockade of its vital oil sector.
"THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA - ZERO!" Trump said Sunday morning on his Truth Social platform. "I strongly suggest they make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE."
He said "Cuba lived, for many years, on large amounts of OIL and MONEY from Venezuela. In return, Cuba provided 'Security Services' for the last two Venezuelan dictators, BUT NOT ANYMORE!"
"Most of those Cubans are DEAD from last week's U.S.A. attack, and Venezuela doesn't need protection anymore from the thugs and extortionists who held them hostage for so many years."
Trump provided almost no details about what potential deal he referred to, or what such an arrangement would achieve.
Asked about it later Sunday, Trump told reporters traveling with him on Air Force One that he wanted people forced out of Cuba or who "left under duress" to be taken care of. 
"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 clarifying how this would be achieved under a deal with Havana.

'Ready to fall'

A week ago, Trump stated that "Cuba is ready to fall," noting that the island's economic crisis was worsening and it would be difficult for Havana to "hold out" without receiving heavily subsidized Venezuelan oil.
Earlier on Sunday, the president reposted a message that jokingly suggested US Secretary of State Marco Rubio -- a child of Cuban immigrants who concurrently holds the posts of national security advisor, acting head of the US archives, and acting international aid administrator -- could also become the president of Cuba.
Trump shared that post with the comment: "Sounds good to me!"
Cuba's president rebuffed Trump's threatening language, saying the Caribbean island's residents were "ready to defend the homeland to the last drop of blood."
"Cuba is a free, independent and sovereign nation. No one tells us what to do," Diaz-Canel wrote on X.
Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez also weighed in to stress that Cuba is within its rights to import fuel from any willing exporter, "without interference or subordination to the unilateral coercive measures of the United States."

'Talk, talk, talk'

A Cold War-era US trade embargo has cinched Cuba's economy beginning in 1962, and since 2000 Havana increasingly has relied on Venezuelan oil provided as part of a deal struck with Maduro's predecessor, the firebrand leftist Hugo Chavez.
On Sunday in the streets of Havana, retiree Mercedes Simon seemed to dismiss the US leader's latest bluster.
"Trump is not going to touch Cuba," the 65-year-old told AFP. "All the presidents talk, talk, talk" about Cuba, for decades, "but they don't act."
Marcos Sanchez, a 21-year-old working in the restaurant business, said the two countries should find common ground, "without resorting to violence."
Trump's provocative language on Cuba comes as the emboldened American leader has hinted he has other countries in his sights after capturing Maduro.
Trump, who had openly sought last year's Nobel Peace Prize, has recently threatened Colombia, Mexico, Iran and Greenland.
Some Republican US lawmakers on Sunday lauded Trump for his aggressive comments on Cuba, including congressman Mario Diaz-Balart from Florida.
"The tyranny in Cuba will not survive the second term of President Trump," Diaz-Balart posted in Spanish on X, "and Cuba will finally be free after decades of misery, tragedy, and pain."
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