trade

Thousands of Irish, French farmers protest EU-Mercosur trade deal

conflict

Venezuelan prisoners smile to hear of Maduro's fall

BY PAULA RAMON

  • "I discreetly told him: 'The one who had to be jailed is now in jail,'" she said, referring to Maduro, who was captured in a deadly US raid a week ago and taken to New York to face trial on drug-trafficking and weapons charges.
  • The prisoner's face lit up when his wife visited and told him that the man responsible for his detention was himself behind bars: Venezuela's deposed leader Nicolas Maduro.
  • "I discreetly told him: 'The one who had to be jailed is now in jail,'" she said, referring to Maduro, who was captured in a deadly US raid a week ago and taken to New York to face trial on drug-trafficking and weapons charges.
The prisoner's face lit up when his wife visited and told him that the man responsible for his detention was himself behind bars: Venezuela's deposed leader Nicolas Maduro.
Like scores of other prisoners' relatives, the wife -- who asked to be identified only as M. out of fear for her husband's safety -- had slept on the ground near the Rodeo I prison, after the interim government promised to release jailed opponents following Maduro's capture by US forces.
Since that announcement on Thursday, fewer than 20 have been freed -- but Friday was a regular visiting day, so M. was able to get inside to see her husband.
"I discreetly told him: 'The one who had to be jailed is now in jail,'" she said, referring to Maduro, who was captured in a deadly US raid a week ago and taken to New York to face trial on drug-trafficking and weapons charges.
On the other side of the glass that separates inmates from visitors, M. said, her husband "smiled happily."
"Don't be afraid, my love, the worst is over," he dared to tell her, despite armed guards looking on.
M. was more cautious -- Venezuela's authoritarian leftist leadership has reneged on prisoner releases in the past.
"I told him to stay calm because you never know," she said.
"We're so close, yet so far."

Joy at Maduro's fall

For years, political detainees and their families avoided discussing the news during the brief weekly visits, strictly monitored by armed guards.
That code was broken this weekend after the government announced it would release "a large number" of prisoners in an apparent gesture to placate Washington.
On Friday, the first visiting day since Maduro's removal, families shared the news as best they could -- some using coded language and metaphors -- about the ousted leader's departure and the promise of prisoner releases.
Prisoners rejoiced upon hearing the news, but outside their relatives were tense on Saturday morning, fearing guards might punish inmates for celebrating.
"You never know if they were beaten or thrown into the time machine," said the sister of another detainee, referring to a punishment cell used in the jail.
"There they lock them up naked, handcuffed, hooded for days or weeks, with very little food, in darkness and without ventilation," she said.
Like other relatives outside the jail, she asked not to be identified out of fear.
A man whose brother-in-law has been jailed for more than five years cautioned: "You have to stay calm and patient" while waiting for the prisoners to be released.
"They will get out, but not like people think. It's not as if they're going to fling the doors open like a bull run."

Hostile reception 

On Saturday, family visits also proceeded as usual, but in smaller groups.
At 7:00 am, relatives brought packages: deodorant, toothpaste, soap and shampoo in labeled plastic bags, plus disinfectant and bleach -- provisions essential for maintaining hygiene in the latrines of tiny cells.
Visiting relatives, who are required to wear white, took turns to walk to the entrance of the prison complex in Guatire, some 50 kilometers (30 miles) east of Caracas.
"They hooded us as always and searched us," said the mother of two detainees.
"I felt they were more hostile today. They must be angry," added the wife of another prisoner.
Some inmates told visitors they could hear the national anthem and hymns sung by families who have held vigils nearby for the past two nights.
"We have to keep going. It gives them strength," said a young woman who arrived Thursday afternoon.
Another woman said her husband looked emaciated when she saw him inside. 
"He had diarrhea for two days. We think they're putting something in the food," she said.
"Who knows? They could poison them."
Another relative interrupted her. "You have to have faith," she said. "It is only a matter of hours."
pr/rlp/msp

trade

Thousands of Irish, French farmers protest EU-Mercosur trade deal

BY PETER MURPHY

  • Farmers on Friday also marched in Poland and blocked roads in France and Belgium as the EU gave the green light to the trade deal.
  • Thousands of farmers in Ireland and France protested Saturday against the European Union's trade deal with the South American bloc Mercosur, a day after EU states approved the treaty despite opposition from some members.
  • Farmers on Friday also marched in Poland and blocked roads in France and Belgium as the EU gave the green light to the trade deal.
Thousands of farmers in Ireland and France protested Saturday against the European Union's trade deal with the South American bloc Mercosur, a day after EU states approved the treaty despite opposition from some members.
In central Ireland, tractors streamed into the roads of Athlone for a demonstration, displaying signs including "Stop EU-Mercosur" and with the European Union flag emblazoned with the words "sell out".
"We have good quality Irish beef and and good standards here, and they don't have the same standards in South American countries," said Trisha Chatterton, a 50-year-old farmer. "There is not a lot of traceability on their beef."
The agreement is widely opposed by farmers for fear it will result in an influx of an extra 99,000 tonnes of cheap beef from South America, disrupting European agriculture.
The Irish Farmers' Association (IFA), Ireland's main farmers' lobby group, called the result "very disappointing".
It said it would "renew" focus on securing a majority against the deal in the European Parliament.
"We expect Irish MEPs to stand behind the farming community and reject the Mercosur deal," said IFA president Francie Gorman in a statement.

Roads blocked in France

In France, police on Saturday ejected farmers occupying a fuel depot near Bordeaux in the south-west.
Later in the day other farmers tried to block road traffic to the port of Le Havre in the north-west. 
Two highways remained blocked Saturday in the south-west of France, farmer unions said.
Farmers on Friday also marched in Poland and blocked roads in France and Belgium as the EU gave the green light to the trade deal.
While the accord has been welcomed by business groups, European farmers have bitterly criticised it.
The deal, more than 25 years in the making, would create one of the world's largest free-trade areas, boosting commerce between the 27-nation EU and the Mercosur bloc comprising Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina and Uruguay.
Major Mercosur exports to the EU include agricultural products and minerals, while the EU would export machinery, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals with lowered tariffs applied.
Many European farmers fear their livelihoods will be undercut by a flow of cheaper goods from agricultural giant Brazil and its neighbours.
Such concerns prompted Ireland, France, Poland, Hungary and Austria to vote against the accord.
Earlier this week Irish prime minister Micheal Martin expressed concern that Mercosur beef may not be produced to the EU's strict environmental standards. 
At the Saturday protest, farmers carried signs calling for an "Irexit" and accusing the Latin American bloc's beef exports of not following the same standards.
But wine makers across Europe are generally in favour of the accord, as it promises to enlarge their access to South American markets.
The Mercosur deal still has to be approved by a majority of MEPs in the European Parliament in the coming months, where voting coalitions have become more volatile and unpredictable.
burs-gv/jj

rights

Iran crackdown fears grow as protests persist

BY STUART WILLIAMS

  • The two weeks of demonstrations have posed one of the biggest challenges to the theocratic authorities who have ruled Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution, although supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has expressed defiance and blamed the United States.
  • Rights groups expressed alarm on Saturday that Iranian authorities were intensifying a deadly crackdown under cover of an internet blackout, after another night of mass protests in the biggest demonstrations to face the Islamic republic in years.
  • The two weeks of demonstrations have posed one of the biggest challenges to the theocratic authorities who have ruled Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution, although supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has expressed defiance and blamed the United States.
Rights groups expressed alarm on Saturday that Iranian authorities were intensifying a deadly crackdown under cover of an internet blackout, after another night of mass protests in the biggest demonstrations to face the Islamic republic in years.
The two weeks of demonstrations have posed one of the biggest challenges to the theocratic authorities who have ruled Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution, although supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has expressed defiance and blamed the United States.
Following the movement's largest protests yet on Thursday, new demonstrations took place late Friday, according to images verified by AFP and other videos published on social media.
This was despite an internet shutdown imposed by the authorities, with monitor Netblocks saying Saturday evening that "Iran has now been offline for 48 hours".
Amnesty International said it was analysing "distressing reports that security forces have intensified their unlawful use of lethal force against protesters" since Thursday in an escalation "that has led to further deaths and injuries".
Norway-based Iran Human Rights group has said at least 51 people have been killed in the crackdown so far, warning the actual toll could be higher.
It posted images it said were of bodies of people shot dead in the protests on the floor of Alghadir hospital in eastern Tehran. 
"These images provide further evidence of the excessive and lethal use of force against protesters," IHR said. 

'Seize city centres'

In Tehran's Saadatabad district, people banged pots and chanted anti-government slogans including "death to Khamenei" as cars honked in support, a video verified by AFP showed.
Other images disseminated on social media and by Persian-language television channels outside Iran showed similarly large protests elsewhere in the capital, as well as in the eastern city of Mashhad, Tabriz in the north and the holy city of Qom.
In the western city of Hamedan, a man was shown waving a shah-era Iranian flag featuring the lion and the sun amid fires and people dancing. 
The same flag briefly replaced the current Iranian flag over the country's embassy in London, when protesters managed to reach the building's balcony, witnesses told AFP. 
Reza Pahlavi, the US-based son of Iran's ousted shah, hailed the "magnificent" turnout on Friday and urged Iranians to stage more targeted protests on Saturday and Sunday.
"Our goal is no longer just to take to the streets. The goal is to prepare to seize and hold city centres," Pahlavi said in a video message on social media.

'Big trouble'

Pahlavi, whose father Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was ousted by the 1979 revolution and died in 1980, added he was also "preparing to return to my homeland" at a time that he believed was "very near".
Authorities say several members of the security forces have been killed, and Khamenei in a defiant speech on Friday lashed out at "vandals" and accused the United States of fuelling the protests.
On Thursday and Friday, an AFP journalist in Tehran saw streets deserted and plunged into darkness ahead of any protests. 
On Valiasr avenue, one of Tehran's main streets, businesses shuttered unusually early.
"The area is not safe," said a cafe manager as he prepared to close at around 4:00 pm. 
An AFP reporter saw shop windows broken, as well as security forces deploying.
State TV on Saturday broadcast images of funerals for several members of the security forces killed in the protests, including a large gathering in the southern city of Shiraz.
It also aired images of buildings, including a mosque, on fire.
Iran's army said in a statement that it would "vigorously protect and safeguard national interests" against an "enemy seeking to disrupt order and peace".
National security council chief Ali Larijani said in comments broadcast late Friday that "we are in the middle of a war", with "these incidents being directed from outside".
The Norway-based Hengaw rights group said it had confirmed five Kurdish men had been shot dead by security forces in the western city of Kermanshah on Thursday and another man, a former bodybuilding champion, killed in the northern city of Rasht on Friday. 
Global leaders have urged restraint from Iranian authorities, with European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen saying Europe backed Iranians' mass protests and condemned the "violent repression" against the demonstrators.
On Saturday, the start of the working week in Iran, one man in Tehran said he was unable to check his work email.
"This is the price to pay before the victory of the people," he said.
US President Donald Trump again refused on Friday to rule out new military action against Iran after Washington backed and joined Israel's 12-day war against the Islamic republic in June.
"Iran's in big trouble. It looks to me that the people are taking over certain cities that nobody thought were really possible just a few weeks ago," Trump said.
sjw-sw/jfx

Kurds

US urges fresh talks between Syria govt, Kurds after deadly clashes

BY OMAR HAJ KADOUR

  • On Saturday evening, state television reported that Kurdish fighters "who announced their surrender... were transported by bus to the city of Tabaqa" in the Kurdish-controlled northeast.
  • The United States on Saturday urged the Syrian government and Kurdish authorities to return to negotiations after days of deadly clashes in the northern city of Aleppo.
  • On Saturday evening, state television reported that Kurdish fighters "who announced their surrender... were transported by bus to the city of Tabaqa" in the Kurdish-controlled northeast.
The United States on Saturday urged the Syrian government and Kurdish authorities to return to negotiations after days of deadly clashes in the northern city of Aleppo.
Conflicting reports emerged from the city, as authorities announced a halt to the fighting and said they began transferring Kurdish fighters out of Aleppo, but Kurdish forces denied the claims shortly after.
An AFP correspondent saw at least five buses on Saturday carrying men leaving the Kurdish-majority Sheikh Maqsud district accompanied by security forces, with authorities saying they were fighters though Kurdish forces insisted they were "civilians who were forcibly displaced".
AFP could not independently verify the men's identities.
Another correspondent saw at least six buses entering the neighbourhood and leaving without anyone on board, with relative calm in the area.
It came as US envoy Tom Barrack on Saturday met with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, and afterwards issued a call for a "return to dialogue" with the Kurds in accordance with an integration agreement sealed last year.
The violence in Aleppo erupted after efforts to integrate the Kurds' de facto autonomous administration and military into the country's new government stalled.
Since the fighting began on Tuesday, at least 21 civilians have been killed, according to figures from both sides, while Aleppo's governor said 155,000 people have been displaced.
On Saturday evening, state television reported that Kurdish fighters "who announced their surrender... were transported by bus to the city of Tabaqa" in the Kurdish-controlled northeast.
In a statement to the official SANA news agency, the military announced earlier on Saturday "a halt to all military operations in the Sheikh Maqsud neighbourhood".
A Syrian security source had told AFP that the last Kurdish fighters had entrenched themselves in the area of al-Razi hospital in Sheikh Maqsud, before being evacuated by the authorities.
Kurdish forces said in a statement that news of fighters being transferred was "entirely false" and that the people taken included "young civilians who were abducted and transferred to an unknown location".

Residents waiting to return

On the outskirts of Sheikh Maqsud, families who were unable to flee the violence were leaving, accompanied by Syrian security forces, according to an AFP correspondent.
Men were carrying their children on their backs as women and children wept, before boarding buses taking them to shelters.
Dozens of young men in civilian clothing were separated from the rest, with security forces making them sit on the ground, heads down, before being taken by bus to an unknown destination, according to the correspondent.
At the entrance to the district, 60-year-old resident Imad al-Ahmad was waiting for permission from the security forces to return home.
"I left four days ago... I took refuge at my sister's house," he told AFP. "I don't know if we'll be able to return today."
Nahed Mohammad Qassab, a 40-year-old widow also waiting to return, said she left before the fighting to attend a funeral.
"My three children are still inside, at my neighbour's house. I want to get them out," she said. 
The clashes, some of the most intense since Syria's new Islamist authorities took power, present yet another challenge as the country struggles to forge a new path after the ousting of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.
Both sides have blamed the other for starting the violence in Aleppo.

'Fierce' resistance

In neighbouring Iraq's Kurdistan region, thousands of people had gathered on Saturday to protest against Damascus' campaign in Aleppo.
They chanted slogans including "one united Kurdistan," and "we are ready to extend a hand to the Kurds of Syria".
A flight suspension at Aleppo airport was extended until late Saturday.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) control swathes of the country's oil-rich north and northeast, much of which they captured during Syria's civil war and the fight against the Islamic State group. 
But Turkey, a close ally of neighbouring Syria's new leaders, views its main component as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which agreed last year to end its four-decade armed struggle against Ankara.
Turkey has launched successive offensives to push Kurdish forces from the frontier.
Elham Ahmad, a senior official in the Kurdish administration in Syria's northeast, accused Syrian authorities of "choosing the path of war" by attacking Kurdish districts and of "seeking to put an end to the agreements that have been reached".
"We are committed to them and we are seeking to implement them," she told AFP.
The March integration agreement was meant to be implemented last year, but differences, including Kurdish demands for decentralised rule, have stymied progress as Damascus repeatedly rejected the idea.
Nanar Hawach, senior Syria analyst at the International Crisis Group, said the renewed clashes cast doubt on the government's ability to unite the country after years of civil war.
Syria's authorities have committed to protecting minorities, but sectarian bloodshed rocked the Alawite and Druze communities last year.
bur-lk/nad/dcp

Iran

South Africa defends naval drills with Iran, Russia as 'essential'

  • South Africa drew criticism for hosting naval drills with Russia and China in 2023, coinciding with the first anniversary of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
  • South Africa on Saturday began naval drills with Russia, Iran and China, describing the manoeuvres off its coast as not merely a show of force but a vital response to rising maritime tensions. 
  • South Africa drew criticism for hosting naval drills with Russia and China in 2023, coinciding with the first anniversary of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
South Africa on Saturday began naval drills with Russia, Iran and China, describing the manoeuvres off its coast as not merely a show of force but a vital response to rising maritime tensions. 
The week‑long 'Will for Peace 2026' exercises come just days after the United States seized a Russian‑flagged oil tanker in the North Atlantic, saying it carried crude bound for Venezuela, Russia and Iran in violation of Western sanctions. 
The seizure followed an American raid that toppled Moscow's ally Nicolas Maduro in Caracas.
The drills -- led by China -- were more than a military exercise and a statement of intent among the BRICS group of emerging nations, Captain Nndwakhulu Thomas Thamaha, South Africa's joint taskforce commander, told the opening Ceremony.  
"It is a demonstration of our collective resolve to work together," he said.
BRICS, originally made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, has expanded to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and, more recently, Indonesia. 
China and Iran deployed destroyer warships, while Russia and the United Arab Emirates sent corvette vessels. Host South Africa dispatched a frigate.
Indonesia, Ethiopia and Brazil joined as observers.
"In an increasingly complex maritime environment, cooperation such as this is not an option, it is essential," said Thamaha. 
The exercises were to "ensure the safety of shipping lanes and maritime economic activities," he said. 
Previously known as Exercise Mosi, the drills were initially scheduled for last November but postponed due to a clash with the G20 summit in Johannesburg, boycotted by the United States. 
Washington has accused South Africa and the BRICS bloc of 'anti‑American' policies and warned members they could face an additional 10 percent tariff on top of existing duties already applied worldwide.
South Africa has also drawn US criticism for its close ties with Russia and a range of other policies, including its decision to bring a genocide case against Washington ally Israel at the International Court of Justice over the Gaza war.
South Africa drew criticism for hosting naval drills with Russia and China in 2023, coinciding with the first anniversary of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
The three nations first conducted joint naval drills in 2019.
ho/cw/cw

drones

North Korea accuses South of another drone incursion

BY HIEUN SHIN

  • Located northwest of Seoul, Ganghwa County is one of the closest South Korean territories to North Korea.
  • North Korea accused the South on Saturday of flying another spy drone over its territory this month, a claim that Seoul denied.
  • Located northwest of Seoul, Ganghwa County is one of the closest South Korean territories to North Korea.
North Korea accused the South on Saturday of flying another spy drone over its territory this month, a claim that Seoul denied.
The North Korean military tracked a drone "moving northwards" over the South Korean border county of Ganghwa in early January before shooting it down near the North Korean city of Kaesong, a spokesperson said in a statement carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
"Surveillance equipment was installed" on the drone and analysis of the wreckage showed it had stored footage of the North's "important targets" including border areas, the spokesperson said.
Photos of the alleged drone released by KCNA showed the wreckage of a winged craft lying on the ground next to a collection of grey and blue components it said included cameras.
South Korea said it had no record of the flight, and Defence Minister Ahn Gyu-back said the drone in the photos was "not a model operated by our military".
The office of South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said a national security meeting would be held on Saturday to discuss the matter.
Lee had ordered a "swift and rigorous investigation" by a joint military-police investigative team, his office said in a later statement. 
On the possibility that civilians operated the drone, Lee said: "if true, it is a serious crime that threatens peace on the Korean Peninsula and national security".
Located northwest of Seoul, Ganghwa County is one of the closest South Korean territories to North Korea.
KCNA also released aerial images of Kaesong that it said were taken by the drone.
They were "clear evidence" that the aircraft had "intruded into (our) airspace for the purpose of surveillance and reconnaissance", Pyongyang's military spokesperson said.
They added that the incursion was similar to one in September when the South flew drones near its border city of Paju.
Seoul would be forced to "pay a dear price for their unpardonable hysteria" if such flights continued, the spokesperson said.
South Korea is already investigating alleged drone flights over the North in late 2024 ordered by then-President Yoon Suk Yeol. Seoul's military has not confirmed those flights.
Prosecutors have indicted Yoon on charges that he acted illegally in ordering them, hoping to provoke a response from Pyongyang and use it as a pretext for his short-lived bid to impose martial law.

Cheap, commercial drone

Flight-path data showed the latest drone was flying in square patterns over Kaesong before it was shot down, KCNA said.
But experts said the cheap, commercially available model was unlikely to have come from Seoul's armed forces.
"The South Korean military already has drones capable of transmitting high-resolution live feeds," said Hong Min, an analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification.
"Using an outdated drone that requires physical retrieval of a memory card, simply to film factory rooftops clearly visible on satellite imagery, does not hold up from a military planning perspective."
hs/mjw/ceg

conflict

Venezuela says in talks with US to restore diplomatic ties

BY JAVIER TOVAR WITH SHAUN TANDON IN WASHINGTON

  • The US president had suggested he might use force again to get his way in Venezuela, which has the world's largest proven oil reserves.
  • Venezuela was set to hold talks on Saturday with US envoys in Caracas on restoring diplomatic ties, days after US forces deposed Nicolas Maduro as its president.
  • The US president had suggested he might use force again to get his way in Venezuela, which has the world's largest proven oil reserves.
Venezuela was set to hold talks on Saturday with US envoys in Caracas on restoring diplomatic ties, days after US forces deposed Nicolas Maduro as its president.
Venezuela said Friday it had launched discussions with US diplomats in the capital, the latest sign of cooperation following the leftist leader's capture and US President Donald Trump's claim to be "in charge" of the South American country.
Officials said the US envoys were in Caracas to discuss reopening the country's embassy, while in Washington Trump met with oil companies over his plans to access Venezuela's huge crude reserves.
The government of interim President Delcy Rodriguez "has decided to initiate an exploratory diplomatic process with the government of the United States of America, aimed at re-establishing diplomatic missions in both countries," Foreign Minister Yvan Gil said in a statement.
John McNamara, the top US diplomat in neighboring Colombia, and other personnel "traveled to Caracas to conduct an initial assessment for a potential phased resumption of operations," a US official said on customary condition of anonymity.
Venezuela said it would be reciprocating by sending a delegation to Washington.
Rodriguez in a statement condemned "the serious, criminal, illegal and illegitimate attack" by the United States and vowed: "Venezuela will continue to confront this aggression through the diplomatic route."

Trump vows oil investments 

Trump said earlier Friday that he had called off a second wave of attacks on Venezuela due in part to the release of political prisoners.
The US president had suggested he might use force again to get his way in Venezuela, which has the world's largest proven oil reserves.
At a White House meeting on Friday, he pressed top oil executives to invest in Venezuela's reserves, but was met with a cautious reception -- with ExxonMobil chief executive Darren Woods dismissing the country as "uninvestable" without sweeping reforms.
Trump said foreign firms had enjoyed no meaningful protections under Maduro, "but now you have total security. It's a whole different Venezuela".
He also stressed that the companies would deal only with Washington, not Caracas, when exploiting Venezuela's oil resources.
Trump earlier said that oil companies promised to invest $100 billion in Venezuela, whose oil infrastructure is creaky after years of mismanagement and sanctions.
He had earlier announced a plan for the United States to sell between 30 million and 50 million barrels of Venezuelan crude, with the money to be used at his discretion. 
He promised any funds sent to Caracas would be used to buy only US-made products.
In the meanwhile, Washington has maintained maritime pressure on oil tankers in the Caribbean, where it seized a fifth tanker carrying Venezuelan crude -- oil that would be sold, Trump said.
State-owned oil company PDVSA confirmed in a statement that one vessel was returning to Venezuelan waters, describing it as the "first successful joint operation" with Washington.

Prisoners' release

Anxious relatives waited outside Venezuelan jails for a glimpse of their loved ones as the authorities began releasing political prisoners -- a move Washington claimed credit for.
"When I heard the news, I broke down," said Dilsia Caro, 50, waiting for the release of her husband Noel Flores, who was jailed for criticizing Maduro.
Venezuela began releasing prisoners on Thursday in the first such gesture since US forces removed and detained Maduro in the deadly January 3 raid.
Some relatives still gathered outside the prison had waited more than 36 hours to see their family members.
"We've been living with this uncertainty for several days now... We are worried, we are very distressed, filled with anxiety," said one woman, awaiting the release of her brother.
In Nicaragua, meanwhile, authorities have arrested at least 60 people for reportedly expressing support for Maduro's capture, according to a local human rights group. 
Trump told Fox News he would meet next week with Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, whom he earlier brushed aside as lacking the "respect" to lead Venezuela.
Exiled Venezuelan opposition figurehead Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia said that any democratic transition in the country must recognize his claim to victory in 2024 presidential elections.
Maduro was proclaimed the winner of the vote, but his re-election was widely seen as fraudulent.
Gonzalez was hoping Friday for the release of his son-in-law, who was detained a year ago in Caracas.

Protests in Caracas 

Maduro was seized in a US special forces raid accompanied by airstrikes, operations that left 100 people dead, according to Caracas.
US forces took Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores to New York to face trial on drug-trafficking and other charges.
Rodriguez insisted Thursday her country was "not subordinate or subjugated" despite her pledge to cooperate with Trump.
Angry protesters rallied in the streets of Caracas on Friday demanding Maduro's release in the latest of a daily series of demonstrations.
"We don't have to give one little drop of oil to Trump after all that he has done to us," said one protester, Josefina Castro, 70, a member of a civil activists' group.
"Our Venezuelan brothers died (in the attack), and that hurts."
bur-rlp/sla/jgc/lga/ceg

landslide

'Racing against time': Death toll rises after Philippines trash site collapse

BY PAM CASTRO

  • "Every now and then, when it rains, there are landslides happening around the city of Cebu ... how much more (dangerous is that) for a landfill or a mountain that is made of garbage?"
  • Hard hat-wearing rescue workers and backhoes dug through rubble in search of survivors on Saturday in the shadow of a mountain of garbage that buried dozens of landfill employees in the central Philippines, killing at least six.
  • "Every now and then, when it rains, there are landslides happening around the city of Cebu ... how much more (dangerous is that) for a landfill or a mountain that is made of garbage?"
Hard hat-wearing rescue workers and backhoes dug through rubble in search of survivors on Saturday in the shadow of a mountain of garbage that buried dozens of landfill employees in the central Philippines, killing at least six.
About 50 sanitation workers were buried when refuse toppled onto them Thursday from what a city councillor estimated was a height of 20 storeys at the Binaliw Landfill, a privately operated facility in Cebu City.
Rescuers were now facing the danger of further collapse as they navigated the still-shifting wreckage, Cebu rescuer Jo Reyes told AFP on Saturday.
"Operations are ongoing as of the moment. It is continuous. (But) from time to time, the landfill is moving, and that will temporarily stop the operation," she said. 
Cebu City councillor Dave Tumulak, chairman of the city's disaster council, told AFP another two bodies had been uncovered Saturday by crews working in 24-hour shifts.
The discovery brings the death toll to six, while 32 people remain missing.
"We found another two bodies, but we cannot retrieve the bodies because of the heavy metal beam that fell on them, so we are trying to cut the metal," he said.
To assist in the rescue operation, 20 trucks equipped with hydraulic cranes and specialised cutting attachments were being sent to help rescuers forced to crawl to reach areas blocked by debris.
"Our rescuers are struggling because the metal beams are big," he said. "With (the trucks), the metal can be lifted and our rescuers can navigate the site more efficiently.
"We are just hoping that we can get someone alive ... We are racing against time, that's why our deployment is 24/7."
Twelve employees have so far been pulled alive from the garbage and hospitalised.

'Praying for miracles'

Numerous families were on site awaiting word on the fate of their relatives, Joel Garganera, another Cebu City council member, told AFP on Saturday.
"We are hoping against hope here and praying for miracles," he said.
The city councillor described the height from which the trash fell as "alarming", estimating the top of the pile had stood 20 storeys above the area struck.
"Every now and then, when it rains, there are landslides happening around the city of Cebu ... how much more (dangerous is that) for a landfill or a mountain that is made of garbage?" Garganera said.
"The garbage is like a sponge, they really absorb water. It doesn't (take) a rocket scientist to say that eventually, the incident will happen."
Drivers had long complained about the dangers of navigating the steep road to the top, he added.
Photos released by police on Friday showed a massive mound of trash atop a hill directly behind buildings that a city information officer had told AFP contained administrative offices.
The facility also included staff housing "where most people who were buried stayed", Garganera said.
He noted that the disaster was a "double whammy" for the city, as the facility was the "lone service provider" for Cebu and adjacent communities.
The landfill "processes 1,000 tons of municipal solid waste daily", according to the website of its operator, Prime Integrated Waste Solutions.
Calls and emails to the company have so far gone unreturned.
Rita Cogay, who operates a compactor at the site, told AFP on Friday she had stepped outside to get a drink of water just moments before the building she had been in was crushed.
"I thought a helicopter had crashed. But when I turned, it was the garbage and the building coming down," the 49-year-old said. 
pam-cwl/mtp

migration

Neighbors in Minneapolis protect each other from US immigration police

BY ELODIE SOINARD

  • Wednesday's shooting death of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good at the hands of masked ICE agents -- who are still conducting operations on Minneapolis streets -- has only inspired more volunteers.
  • When Jennifer Arnold learned one of her neighbors in the midwestern city of Minneapolis had been arrested by immigration authorities late last year, she reached out to lend a hand.
  • Wednesday's shooting death of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good at the hands of masked ICE agents -- who are still conducting operations on Minneapolis streets -- has only inspired more volunteers.
When Jennifer Arnold learned one of her neighbors in the midwestern city of Minneapolis had been arrested by immigration authorities late last year, she reached out to lend a hand.
"She answered the phone sobbing because she had gone to a work site with her husband, and he had been pulled out of their car and picked up," Arnold recalled.
Now, a month later, Arnold is connecting neighbors to help immigrants survive the sweeping crackdown by the administration of US President Donald Trump, which turned deadly this week when a federal agent opened fire on a woman driving an SUV.
Arnold said at first she helped her neighbors, who were terrified of leaving their homes "because it's not safe."
Then she noticed that the school bus stop nearby, which usually had 20 children waiting for a ride to school in the morning, only had 10 kids.
"Many of those families didn't feel safe sending their kids because they had to walk" a couple blocks to get to the stop, Arnold said.
She took action, asking neighbors "if I could get someone to walk with your kid to the bus stop, or take them, drive them to school, would you send them?"
Neighbors said yes.
With that, Arnold began helping a dozen children get to school beginning the second week of December.
"And then the next week, it was 18 kids. And now I have 30 on my list," Arnold said.

Adopting a family

Parents, neighbors and friends of friends signed up to take children to and from school -- walking them to a bus stop or driving them -- to help them avoid falling behind in class.
And when Christmas came and schools closed for the holiday, Arnold asked volunteers to adopt a family for the holiday and organized food deliveries. 
"They went shopping and brought bags of groceries to the family they adopted. We did one right before Christmas and one right before New Year's. And folks said to me 'my kids would have been hungry' if we hadn't done that," Arnold said.
Wednesday's shooting death of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good at the hands of masked ICE agents -- who are still conducting operations on Minneapolis streets -- has only inspired more volunteers.
"I went to pick up a four-year-old and introduce him to a neighbor who's gonna walk him home every day. And there were all these people out on the streets who were like, 'Can we do this too?' And since what happened on Wednesday, my list is growing," Arnold said. 
Now, schools are adapting to the families' fears: Minneapolis announced Friday that it is launching remote learning through mid-February for students who need it.
On the streets, neighbors have been vigilant in using whistles to alert each other about the presence of ICE agents. 
Education union leader Natasha Dockter says she wears her whistle "all the time now," adding: "I use it more often that I would like to."
She said it also becomes "an invitation to talk to other neighbors about what's going on," and she keeps extra whistles in her pocket to share with those who are interested in helping.
While neighbors in Minneapolis are trying to alert each other to potential suffering, there are also those who are coping in silence.
"There are kids who have lost a family member, who are completely traumatized, who are terrified every day, who can't leave their houses other than to go to school," Becca Dryden, 36, told AFP, adding that the duty of parents to inform kids about what was happening was a tough one.
"As parents, we keep having to explain these tragedies to them. Whether they are targeted themselves or watching their neighborhood and community be targeted, this is a trauma that's happening to all of our children."
es/sla/jgc

employment

US December hiring misses expectations, capping weak 2025

BY BEIYI SEOW

  • Economist Ryan Sweet of Oxford Economics told AFP that the United States is seeing slower labor force growth, with less immigration while the native population ages, alongside tepid demand with businesses hesitant to hire.
  • The United States added fewer jobs than expected in December, government data showed Friday, capping the labor market's weakest year since the Covid-19 pandemic amid growing concerns about hiring.
  • Economist Ryan Sweet of Oxford Economics told AFP that the United States is seeing slower labor force growth, with less immigration while the native population ages, alongside tepid demand with businesses hesitant to hire.
The United States added fewer jobs than expected in December, government data showed Friday, capping the labor market's weakest year since the Covid-19 pandemic amid growing concerns about hiring.
US employment rose by 50,000 last month, slowing from a revised 56,000 in November, the Department of Labor said.
The jobless rate -- measured by a different survey within the report -- inched down to 4.4 percent from 4.5 percent.
For 2025, payroll employment grew by 584,000, significantly lower than the increase of 2.0 million in 2024.
Investors will be digesting the data for its potential bearing on the Federal Reserve's interest rate decisions, as a sharp deterioration in the jobs market could nudge the US central bank to lower rates sooner to boost the world's biggest economy.
While December's figures were decent, job growth has slowed significantly over the past year while the unemployment rate crept up towards its highest level since 2021.
Economist Ryan Sweet of Oxford Economics told AFP that the United States is seeing slower labor force growth, with less immigration while the native population ages, alongside tepid demand with businesses hesitant to hire.
This is partially due to stronger productivity but also business uncertainty as firms grapple with President Donald Trump's fast-changing tariff policies.
"We're in a new normal, in a new equilibrium," said Sweet, adding that this is roughly the level of job growth one should expect going forward.
Friday's hiring number was lower than the 73,000 figure expected by economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
Among sectors, employment continued trending up in restaurants and bars, health care and social assistance, the Labor Department said.
But retail trade lost jobs, with employment dropping in areas like warehouse clubs, supercenters and other merchandise retailers.
"Since reaching a peak in January, federal government employment is down by 277,000, or 9.2 percent," the department said.

'Warning lights'

In a CNBC interview, White House National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett pointed to US productivity as an encouraging sign beyond job creation.
But "job growth in 2025 was the weakest in over a decade, outside of the pandemic," Senator Elizabeth Warren, the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, said in a statement.
Navy Federal Credit Union chief economist Heather Long added that 2025 marked the worst year for job gains outside of a recession since 2003.
While the overall report appears positive at first glance, Northlight Asset Management's chief investment officer Chris Zaccarelli expects skeptics to point out the "very meager increase of 50,000 in jobs."
"In essence, we are seeing validation of the idea that job creation is very weak and companies have been letting workers go at a slow pace," he said in a note.
"There aren't any red flashing lights indicating an imminent recession, but there are plenty of yellow warning lights flashing and there is the risk that we could approach stall speed."

Fed easing ahead

On Friday, the Trump administration also acknowledged that it inadvertently published some hiring data on social media a night before the full jobs report was due to be released Friday.
"Following the regular procedure of presidents being prebriefed on economic data releases, there was an inadvertent public disclosure of aggregate data that was partially derived from pre-released information," a White House official said.
"The White House is accordingly reviewing protocols regarding economic data releases," the official added.
For now, economist Samuel Tombs of Pantheon Macroeconomics expects December's figures are "weak enough" to keep a further interest rate reduction by the Fed in the cards.
The sluggish job growth figure was underpinned by a mere 37,000 increase in private payrolls, he said.
While the unemployment rate crept down, analysts have noted that this was no surprise as it could have resulted from an earlier pick-up in layoffs linked to a lengthy government shutdown.
"For many businesses, uncertainty about federal government policy and the impact of AI warrants an extended pause on new hiring. Accordingly, we look for only a small pick-up in employment growth ahead," Tombs said.
bys/iv

conflict

Kyiv mayor calls for temporary evacuation over heating outages

BY DARIA ANDRIIEVSKA

  • Klitschko said the situation was "very difficult" and called on "residents of the capital who have the opportunity to temporarily leave the city for places with alternative sources of power and heat to do so".
  • Mass heating outages caused by Russian strikes on Kyiv are set to last into the weekend, as the capital's mayor called on residents to temporarily leave the city with sub-zero temperatures expected to fall even lower.
  • Klitschko said the situation was "very difficult" and called on "residents of the capital who have the opportunity to temporarily leave the city for places with alternative sources of power and heat to do so".
Mass heating outages caused by Russian strikes on Kyiv are set to last into the weekend, as the capital's mayor called on residents to temporarily leave the city with sub-zero temperatures expected to fall even lower.
A massive missile and drone attack on Kyiv killed four and ripped open apartment blocks. Moscow also fired its feared Oreshnik ballistic missile at western Ukraine, drawing condemnation from Europe.
The barrage came hours after Moscow rejected a plan by Kyiv and its Western allies to deploy peacekeeping forces to Ukraine should a ceasefire be reached.
"Moscow is trying to use cold weather as a tool of terror," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said at a meeting in Kyiv with British Defence Secretary John Healey.
He said 20 residential buildings in Kyiv had been damaged, including the Qatari embassy, in one of the largest attacks on the capital for months.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the raid, saying attacks on civilian infrastructure are against international law and "unacceptable, unjustifiable, and must stop immediately," according to his spokesman. 
Qatar expressed "deep regret" over the embassy hit and said that none of its staff there had been harmed.
Russia denied targeting the area around the mission and claimed it was damaged by a Ukrainian air defence missile. 

'Very difficult' situation

The Russian barrage left around half of all apartment blocks in the capital, some 6,000 buildings, without heating, Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko said.
Temperatures are set to fall to -15C on Saturday.
Officials said they were hopeful some heating could be restored on Friday night.
"In some areas where the damage is more complex, additional time is needed," Ukraine's Restoration Minister Oleksiy Kuleba said. 
Klitschko said the situation was "very difficult" and called on "residents of the capital who have the opportunity to temporarily leave the city for places with alternative sources of power and heat to do so".
In his regular nightly address, Zelensky urged officials not to "run away from problems, but solve them, especially when there are resources for this, as in Kyiv".
City authorities said they had set up 1,200 warming centres. 
In one of the centres, AFP saw people warming up with tea and charging devices, while parts of the city were plunged into darkness. 
Lilia came to one of the centres to warm up and do some work after spending the whole night in a bomb shelter. 
The 60-year-old school musician was soon to return to her cold home, as there was still "no electricity, no heating, nothing yet has been restored", she told AFP. 

Russia fires rarely-used missile

A medic who died at a building that was struck in a repeat attack was among the four killed, officials said. Another 26 were wounded.
Nina, 70, who lives in one of the buildings hit, told AFP she was angry that the world was talking about a possible deal to end the conflict at a time when Russia was launching such deadly barrages.
"Where is Europe, where is America? It doesn't hurt them the same way," she said.
Russia has shown no sign of slowing down its ground offensive or aerial bombardments.
Moscow's defence ministry said it had fired the Oreshnik ballistic missile on "strategic targets" -- only the second time the new weapon, which the Kremlin says is impossible to stop, is known to have been used.
Ukrainian authorities said a ballistic missile travelling "at about 13,000 kilometres (8,000 miles) per hour" had struck an "infrastructure facility" near the western city of Lviv.
Residents of Rudno, on the outskirts of Lviv, told AFP they heard explosions at night, and some reported gas outages.
"We experienced such fear and uncertainty. Because the temperature is 18-20 degrees below zero, and there is no gas here. And people have small children, families... How can they live without heating?" said Slava, a 70-year-old woman.

'Escalatory and unacceptable'

The Oreshnik is an intermediate-range ballistic missile that can be equipped with both nuclear and conventional warheads. 
France, Germany and Britain condemned Moscow's "escalatory and unacceptable" use of Oreshnik, a UK government spokeswoman said after a call between leaders of the three countries.
Across the border in Russia's Belgorod, the governor said more than half a million people were without power or heating after a Ukrainian attack targeted the region's utilities. 
Despite intense diplomatic efforts led by US President Donald Trump, a deal to end the fighting remains elusive.
Moscow baulked this week after European leaders and US envoys announced post-war guarantees for Ukraine would include a US-led monitoring mechanism and a multinational force.
Key territorial issues are also unresolved as Russia insists on getting full control of Ukraine's Donbas region, part of which is still controlled by Kyiv.
Tens of thousands have been killed since it invaded in February 2022, millions forced to flee their homes and much of eastern and southern Ukraine decimated.
bur-asy/cc

tech

Brew, smell, and serve: AI steals the show at CES 2026

BY THOMAS URBAIN

  • - Game, set, AI - Several start-ups unveiled new-generation ball machines powered by artificial intelligence. 
  • AI took over CES 2026, powering coffee machines to brew the perfect espresso, a device to create your perfect scent, and ball-hitting tennis robots that make you forget it's human against machine.
  • - Game, set, AI - Several start-ups unveiled new-generation ball machines powered by artificial intelligence. 
AI took over CES 2026, powering coffee machines to brew the perfect espresso, a device to create your perfect scent, and ball-hitting tennis robots that make you forget it's human against machine.

Alexa, make me an espresso

German group Bosch presented a new feature for its fully automated 800 Series coffee machine (sold from $1,700) that can be synchronized with Amazon's Alexa voice assistant. 
After a short night's sleep, users can order a double espresso with voice commands only, and the coffee maker will deliver. Some 35 different espresso options are available.
"We're one of the first manufacturers to really lean in with AI," explained Andrew de Lara, spokesperson for Bosch. 
The century-old company, positioned at the high end of the market in the United States, wants to gradually bring AI into the kitchen, notably through its Home Connect mobile app, which already allows users to control several appliances remotely. 

Scent of AI

South Korean company DigitalScent has developed a machine, already available in some airports, that creates a personalized fragrance based on your mood and preferences. 
Once you have picked your preferences, it releases a scent that gives you an idea of the final result. You can then make adjustments before making your final decision. 
Once you have placed your order, the machine uses AI to produce a virtually unique fragrance in a matter of seconds, choosing from a range of over 1,150 combinations. 
The fragrance is contained in a small, portable vial, costing $3 to $4, according to a spokesperson.

Game, set, AI

Several start-ups unveiled new-generation ball machines powered by artificial intelligence. 
While Singapore-based Sharpa already offers a convincing humanoid table tennis robot with a reaction time of just two hundredths of a second, there is no equivalent on the market for tennis. 
A few days ago, China's UBTech posted a video online of its Walker S2 robot playing rallies with a human, but at a slow speed and without any real movement. 
UBTech's robots are designed for industrial use rather than tennis courts and, in all likelihood, the video was produced solely to demonstrate the agility of the Walker S2 to attract business customers.
While we wait for the humanoid robot that can volley at the net, another Chinese company, Tenniix, is marketing a robot that sends balls at speeds of up to 75 miles per hour (120.7 kilometers per hour). 
It has 10 different shots, some with spin, and even a lob that reaches eight meters high. 
The basic version, which can hold up to 100 balls, will set you back $699, but the most complete version, at $1,600, includes cameras and wheels that allow it to move around. 
The fast-moving machine uses AI to analyze the trajectory of your cross-court forehand and fires off a ball from about where a real-life return shot would most likely come, giving the player the impression of a real rally. 
"There's a real rhythm," says Run Kai Huang, spokesperson for Tenniix, "as if you were playing with a real person."
tu/arp/iv

conflict

'Unhappy' Putin sends message to West with Ukraine strike on EU border

BY FABIEN ZAMORA

  • While Moscow said the strike came in response to an alleged drone attack on a Putin residence in December, nearly four years after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, analysts said the move was designed to send a clear message to Western leaders and frighten ordinary Europeans.
  • Russia's Oreshnik missile attack in Ukraine near the EU border aims to intimidate Kyiv's Western allies and signals Vladimir Putin's displeasure at recent foreign policy setbacks including in Venezuela, analysts said Friday.
  • While Moscow said the strike came in response to an alleged drone attack on a Putin residence in December, nearly four years after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, analysts said the move was designed to send a clear message to Western leaders and frighten ordinary Europeans.
Russia's Oreshnik missile attack in Ukraine near the EU border aims to intimidate Kyiv's Western allies and signals Vladimir Putin's displeasure at recent foreign policy setbacks including in Venezuela, analysts said Friday.
Days after European and US negotiators unveiled a post-war peacekeeping plan for Ukraine, Russia overnight Thursday to Friday targeted an infrastructure facility in the country's western region of Lviv with the Oreshnik nuclear-capable intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM). 
It is thought to be only the second known combat use of the weapon.
While Moscow said the strike came in response to an alleged drone attack on a Putin residence in December, nearly four years after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, analysts said the move was designed to send a clear message to Western leaders and frighten ordinary Europeans.
"Vladimir Putin is using this to communicate with the West, because he could undoubtedly achieve the same operational effects without this missile," Cyrille Bret, a Russia expert at the Paris-based Montaigne Institute, told AFP.
"As Europeans are developing their air defence capabilities, this is a way of reminding them of their vulnerability," he added.
The Kremlin has touted the Oreshnik as a "state-of-the art" weapon, which travels at hypersonic speeds, can hit targets across Europe and cannot be intercepted.
In a call on Friday, the leaders of Britain, France and Germany said Russia's use of the missile was "escalatory and unacceptable", according to a UK government spokeswoman.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Russia was using "fabricated allegations to justify the attack", according to the spokeswoman. Ukraine has denied targeting Putin's residence.
Lviv mayor Andriy Sadovy said on Facebook the strike was "a new level of threat -- not only for Ukraine, but also for the security of Europe".
The missile, named after the Russian word for hazel tree, was first fired on the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro in 2024. 
- 'Psychological weapon' - 
The choice of a new target located around 70 kilometres (40 miles) from the border with the European Union was significant, observers said.
"It is much closer to the EU's borders," Etienne Marcuz, an associate fellow at the Foundation for Strategic Research, a French think tank, said on X.
"This should probably be seen as a message to European countries," he said, adding the result of the strike was "probably more psychological than operational".
Some observers saw the strike as Putin's attempt to reassert his authority following setbacks including Washington's capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, the seizure of a Russian-flagged vessel in the North Atlantic and fresh demonstrations in Iran challenging Moscow-allied authorities.
"It is a psychological weapon -- an instrument of Putin's cognitive war against Ukraine and the West -- rather than a weapon of mass physical destruction," wrote Mick Ryan, a retired major general from the Australian army and Ukraine war analyst.
He said the use of the Oreshnik was a "sign of a fearful, worried leader and not one that is confident and anticipating victory".
The move could not hide the fact that Russia had little power "to shape events or respond to military contingencies involving its allies and friends beyond its borders," he added.
Timothy Ash, an emerging market economist focused on Russia, struck a similar note, pointing to relatively limited damage on the ground after the missile strike.
"The Oreshnik is highly effective but also very high cost, and from a cost benefit analysis it makes zero sense for these to be deployed in Ukraine," he wrote.
"The deployment of the Oreshnik therefore seemed more a PR exercise, perhaps aimed at the Trump administration signalling that Russia is unhappy more broadly about the state of play in the world," he added.
While Russia calls the Oreshnik a hypersonic missile, Western defence analysts say it is not a revolutionary weapon.
"It is most likely NOT a hypersonic missile," said Marcuz, adding Europe has a means of intercepting IRBMs.
"The Oreshnik's multiple warheads could pose a problem, depending on when they are released," he added.
In December, Putin's ally, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, said the weapon had been deployed in his country, which borders NATO's eastern flank.
fz-dab-as/ah/cc

conflict

Families wait in anguish for prisoners' release in Venezuela

  • "When I heard the news, I broke down," Caro, 50, told AFP. But the hours passed, night turned to day, and there was still no news of her husband Noel Flores.
  • Dilsia Caro slept on the ground Thursday night outside the Venezuelan prison where her husband has been held since 2023 for posting a WhatsApp status update critical of the government.
  • "When I heard the news, I broke down," Caro, 50, told AFP. But the hours passed, night turned to day, and there was still no news of her husband Noel Flores.
Dilsia Caro slept on the ground Thursday night outside the Venezuelan prison where her husband has been held since 2023 for posting a WhatsApp status update critical of the government.
She rushed to the Rodeo 1 penitentiary after hearing the government on Thursday announce the release of a "large number" of political prisoners following the US ouster of authoritarian leader Nicolas Maduro.
"When I heard the news, I broke down," Caro, 50, told AFP.
But the hours passed, night turned to day, and there was still no news of her husband Noel Flores.
"I see this as mockery," said Caro, who took five buses up from her home in the north-central city of Maracay to Rodeo 1, in Guatire, east of Caracas.
The human rights group Foro Penal said it had confirmed the release of only eight prisoners.
Former presidential candidate Enrique Marquez and opposition leader Biagio Pilieri were among those confirmed freed.
Spain meanwhile confirmed the release of Venezuelan-Spanish lawyer activist Rocio San Miguel and four other Spaniards, who were immediately flown out of Venezuela to Madrid.
Another rights group reported that 11 prisoners were released.
On Friday, about 30 family members were gathered outside the prison.
Small groups also waited outside other prisons, including the notorious El Helicoide facility in Caracas, used by Venezuela's feared intelligence service to jail -- and in some cases reportedly torture -- political and other prisoners.
The releases are the first since former deputy president Delcy Rodriguez was sworn in as interim leader on Monday, two days after the US overthrow of Maduro.
The White House said they were proof of President Donald Trump's "leverage" over the South American country, which he claims Washington now effectively runs.
Outside Rodeo 1, some family members sang the national anthem, an ode to freedom, to keep up their spirits.

'I have hope'

Shakira Ibarreto, daughter of a police officer arrested in 2024, said that she had spoken with her father by phone and broken the news to him and other prisoners of the capture of Maduro, who was transferred to New York to face trial.
"He didn't know anything," she said.
"There were several prisoners nearby, they all started shouting with excitement, applauding and the guards weren't doing anything," she told AFP.
Outside El Helicoide, a futuristic-looking spiral structure that has long been a symbol of state repression, official vehicles came and went all morning.
As at Rodeo 1, some family members waited through the night to see prisoners emerge from the gates, without being sure their loved ones were inside.
A tearful Mireya Martinez said she had been without news of her son, Victor Jose Borges, for 43 days, after "hooded officials dressed in black" nabbed him at his workplace in Caracas.
Marili del Carmen Rodriguez was waiting for news about her 29-year-old son, Carlos, who was detained in September.
"I don't know if he's here, but I have hope," she said.
afc-atm-pr/jt/cb/rlp/iv

Iran

Russia joins Chinese, Iran warships for drills off South Africa

  • "The optics surrounding the upcoming naval exercise will likely be used by policymakers in Washington as another prime example of why its bilateral relations with South Africa should be reviewed," he said.
  • A Russian warship arrived off South Africa's main naval base Friday to join Chinese and Iranian vessels for military exercises that risk further damaging Pretoria's relations with Washington.
  • "The optics surrounding the upcoming naval exercise will likely be used by policymakers in Washington as another prime example of why its bilateral relations with South Africa should be reviewed," he said.
A Russian warship arrived off South Africa's main naval base Friday to join Chinese and Iranian vessels for military exercises that risk further damaging Pretoria's relations with Washington.
The exercises draw together several nations feuding with the US administration and come at a time of heightened tensions following Washington's raid on Venezuela.
A Chinese destroyer and replenishment ship, as well as an Iranian forward base vessel, sailed into South African waters earlier this week ahead of the week-long manoeuvres due to kick off at the weekend.
AFP journalists near the Simon's Town base saw the Russian-flagged corvette vessel pull into False Bay. 
The China-led "Will for Peace 2026" drill involves navies from the 11-nation BRICS group of emerging nations, which US President Donald Trump has labelled "anti-American".
The United Arab Emirates was also expected to send ships, South Africa's Deputy Defence Minister Bantu Holomisa told Newzroom Afrika television late Thursday.
Fellow BRICS nations Indonesia, Ethiopia and Brazil will send observers, he said. 
The remaining members of the grouping are India, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. 
The exercise will allow the navies "to exchange best practices and improve joint operational capabilities, which contributes to the safety of shipping routes and overall regional maritime stability", South Africa's defence force said.

Global tensions

Asked about the timing of the drill, Holomisa said: "This exercise was planned long before these tensions we are witnessing today." 
They were initially scheduled for November 2025 but postponed because they clashed with the G20 summit in Johannesburg.
At odds with South Africa over a range of international issues, the United States boycotted the summit. 
It also expelled the South African ambassador last year and imposed 30 percent trade tariffs. 
Washington this week seized a Russian-flagged oil tanker it said was part of a shadow fleet carrying oil for countries such as Venezuela, Russia and Iran. 
It has threatened action against Iran should protesters be killed in mounting demonstrations sparked by anger over the rising cost of living.
The joint drills have "nothing to do with Venezuela whatsoever", a South African defence ministry spokesman told AFP. 
"Let us not press panic buttons because the USA has got a problem with countries," Holomisa said. "Those are not our enemies." 
"Let's focus on cooperating with the BRICS countries and make sure that our seas, especially the Indian Ocean and Atlantic, they are safe," he said.  

Bad books

Priyal Singh, senior researcher at the Institute for Security Studies, told AFP that "Washington has clearly been attempting to put Pretoria in its bad book since the beginning of the current Trump administration". 
"The optics surrounding the upcoming naval exercise will likely be used by policymakers in Washington as another prime example of why its bilateral relations with South Africa should be reviewed," he said.
A handful of Ukrainians protested as the Russian vessel arrived, criticising South Africa -- which claims to be non-aligned in Russia's war on Ukraine -- for hosting the Russian navy.
"They destroyed my city, Kherson, they're wiping it out," said Kateryna Fedkina. 
"We're just asking South Africa to not cooperate militarily with Russia because Russia is an aggressive state," she said. 
Adding to the criticism, South Africa's Democratic Alliance party said it was misleading to claim the drills were part of BRICS cooperation as alliance heavyweights Brazil and India were absent.
The government was "choosing closer military ties with rogue and sanctioned states such as Russia and Iran", it said.
The exercise marks BRICS's increased emphasis on security issues, said Sarang Shidore, director of the Global South Programme at the US-based Quincy Institute.
That the four BRICS states taking part all have "serious diplomatic or security differences with the United States" also sent a "wider geopolitical signal", he said.
bur-br/ho/sbk

ceremony

40 white roses: shaken mourners remember Swiss fire victims

BY NINA LARSON

  • Entering the enclosed space, Mekrabech delicately placed the roses.
  • Carrying a bucket filled with white roses, Azeddine Mekrabech made his way to Crans-Montana on Friday as Switzerland remembered the dozens who died in the New Year fire tragedy.
  • Entering the enclosed space, Mekrabech delicately placed the roses.
Carrying a bucket filled with white roses, Azeddine Mekrabech made his way to Crans-Montana on Friday as Switzerland remembered the dozens who died in the New Year fire tragedy.
An igloo-like tarpaulin now covers the mound of flowers, teddy bears and lit candles outside Le Constellation bar in the ski resort, to protect the makeshift memorial from the falling snow.
Entering the enclosed space, Mekrabech delicately placed the roses.
"I brought 40. One for each of the victims," he told AFP.
Eight days on from the tragedy at Le Constellation in Crans-Montana, which left 40 dead and 116 injured, Switzerland was marking a national day of mourning for the mostly teenage victims.
Mekrabech, 30, had come from Lyon, in neighbouring France. He was one of many who travelled from afar to mark the occasion in the snow-blanketed ski resort where the tragedy occurred.
"I'm someone who likes to party quite a bit. It made me think of myself. I thought, I could have been at a party without paying attention and been trapped like that," he said.
"I saw myself... I felt I had to make the gesture."

'Impossible'

He and others said they would watch the national memorial ceremony, being live-streamed to giant screens in Crans-Montana from Martigny, down the Rhone valley.
At the Crans-Montana congress centre -- used in the days after the tragedy to accommodate family members desperately seeking information about their missing loved ones -- around 1,400 people gathered to view the ceremony, many quietly sobbing.
When first responders filed in, making their way to around 100 reserved seats, they were met with a standing ovation.
Nicolas Dobler, a 38-year-old volunteer fireman in the northwestern Swiss canton of Jura, said he had come with three colleagues to light candles at the memorial.
"We came specifically today for the national day of mourning and also to really support our fellow firefighters who have truly experienced something horrible," he told AFP.
"It's a situation you would never want to encounter. You can't prepare for this kind of thing, it's impossible. Even with all the training in the world."
Olena, a 61-year-old Ukrainian refugee living in the nearby city of Sion below, said she had also come up the mountainside to take part in the day of mourning.
"I come from Ukraine, where people are also dying. This was terrifying. I wanted to come and honour the victims."

'Unbelievable'

Outside Le Constellation, Federico Gelle, a 17-year-old from Italy's Tuscany region, lit a candle for so many teens his own age who had perished.
He knelt down and seemed to pray among the flowers, before straightening his glasses and re-emerging, his eyes filled with tears.
"This is a terrible thing, but it was avoidable," he told AFP.
"I haven’t lost anyone here... but it is just very sad," he said, his voice breaking.
Gelle said that if he had chosen to spend New Year's Eve in Crans-Montana, as he had in the past, he might very well have been among the victims.
"It’s a thought that sent shivers down my spine... I think I am very lucky."
Matthias Gerhardt, 61, had meanwhile made the trip from Geneva, visiting Crans-Montana for the first time.
"What happened is so serious, it's unbelievable. That's why I came all this way," he told AFP.
"We are in a state of national mourning. It is important that we can express our anger, speak with people," he said. 
"It is important to participate."
nl/rjm/jj

internet

German trial starts of 'White Tiger' online predator

BY EDOUARD MERLO

  • The 21-year-old German-Iranian defendant was attacked on Thursday by other detainees shouting "White Tiger" while he was being transferred for the trial, his lawyer Christiane Yueksel told reporters outside the courtroom in Hamburg.
  • A German juvenile court started the so-called "White Tiger" trial Friday in which a man is accused of multiple sadistic online crimes including coercing a 13-year-old to take his own life.
  • The 21-year-old German-Iranian defendant was attacked on Thursday by other detainees shouting "White Tiger" while he was being transferred for the trial, his lawyer Christiane Yueksel told reporters outside the courtroom in Hamburg.
A German juvenile court started the so-called "White Tiger" trial Friday in which a man is accused of multiple sadistic online crimes including coercing a 13-year-old to take his own life.
The 21-year-old German-Iranian defendant was attacked on Thursday by other detainees shouting "White Tiger" while he was being transferred for the trial, his lawyer Christiane Yueksel told reporters outside the courtroom in Hamburg.
The defendant has been only partially identified as Shahriar J., in line with German privacy rules.
The case shines a spotlight on the dark world of sadistic online exploitation, where predators seek out vulnerable youths and manipulate them to commit acts of self-harm, violence against themselves or animals, or to kill themselves.
Shahriar J. is accused of having driven a 13-year-old transgender youth living near the US city of Seattle to suicide in January 2022, which the youth live-streamed.
The accused, a student operating from his parental home in a wealthy Hamburg suburb, allegedly used the pseudonym "White Tiger" as part of an online network of abusers known as "764".
The US Federal Bureau of Investigation has labelled the group an international child exploitation enterprise and a "network of nihilistic violent extremists" and also made a number of arrests.

Grooming and coercion

Shahriar J. allegedly victimised more than 30 children in hundreds of cases from January 2021 onwards, when the suspect was 16 years old -- the reason he is being tried in a juvenile court behind closed doors.
The "764" network is named after the Texas zip code of its founder, a teenager who was arrested and jailed in 2023, news weekly Der Spiegel and other media have reported.
Users of the forum shared ultra-violent "gore" content and child sexual abuse material, as well as exchanging tips on luring victims into producing sexually explicit and degrading material and then using it to blackmail them.
Court spokeswoman Marayke Frantzen said that if found guilty Shahriar J. could face up anything from six months to 10 years in a young offenders' institution.
Other investigations against the same online network are ongoing, said Frantzen, adding that the current trial "could serve as a precedent".
Yueksel said the charges against her client were "experimental" and "not provable".
The user called "White Tiger" allegedly found vulnerable children and adolescents in online chats or gaming forums, then developed a bond to groom them.
He is accused of having encouraged them to produce pornographic content, then using that material to coerce and extort them, among other allegations.

Delayed reaction?

The suspect was arrested in a police raid on his parents' home on June 17, 2025 and he has been held in pre-trial detention since.
Authorities said at the time that they had identified eight victims aged between 11 and 15 from Britain, Canada, Germany and the United States.
Prosecutors have levelled 204 criminal charges against him, including one of murder and five of attempted murder.
The case has sparked horrified reactions and raised tough questions about whether the German authorities should have acted sooner.
Weekly newspaper Die Zeit reported that the US National Center for Missing and Exploited Children had alerted German authorities in 2021 to a Hamburg-based predator called "White Tiger".
Police reportedly questioned the suspect at the time, but dropped the case after he admitted to possessing pornographic material on minors.
An FBI investigator has told Der Spiegel that he had shared the identity of "White Tiger" with German law enforcement in February 2023, more than two years before the suspect's eventual arrest.
The city-state of Hamburg has blamed the time-consuming task of searching through the "large number of data storage devices" seized and the fact that the victims and other perpetrators "mostly live abroad and have sometimes concealed their identities".
The Hamburg regional court has scheduled an initial 82 days of hearings until December 17, 2026.
bur-fz/jsk/fec/jj

memorial

Switzerland 'devastated' by fire tragedy: president

  • In an emotional address, Wallis president Mathias Reynard told the families and loved ones of those killed: "We are with you.
  • Switzerland has been left "devastated" by the deadly Crans-Montana bar fire that killed 40 people celebrating the New Year, President Guy Parmelin told a national service of remembrance on Friday.
  • In an emotional address, Wallis president Mathias Reynard told the families and loved ones of those killed: "We are with you.
Switzerland has been left "devastated" by the deadly Crans-Montana bar fire that killed 40 people celebrating the New Year, President Guy Parmelin told a national service of remembrance on Friday.
"Our country is devastated by this tragedy. We honour the memory of those who were lost, and we stand beside those now facing a long journey of recovery," he said at the ceremony in Martigny, southwest Switzerland's Wallis canton.
The Alpine country held a nationwide minute of silence, after which church bells rang across the country for five minutes in honour of those killed in the inferno, which engulfed the basement of Le Constellation, a bar in the ski resort of Crans-Montana. 
"The start of 2026 should have brought the familiar hopes and promises -- a new year with a fresh start. For young people especially, such promises take flight on dreams and the rightful hopes of youth -- promises destined for the skies that fell too soon into the ashes of a night of horror," Parmelin said at the service in Martigny, attended by around 1,000 people.
"Hope... depends on our justice system's ability to bring failures to light and to impose consequences without delay or leniency. This is a moral responsibility as well as a duty of the state."
French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian President Sergio Mattarella, Belgium's Prime Minister Bart De Wever and Luxembourg's former grand duke Henri were among those in attendance.
In an emotional address, Wallis president Mathias Reynard told the families and loved ones of those killed: "We are with you.
"Our thoughts, our prayers, our hearts turn towards you.
"In this shared grief, we stand united."
rjm/ag/giv

trade

Polish farmers march against Mercosur trade deal

  • The Mercosur deal has been in the works for over 25 years, with the European Commission arguing that it will bolster EU exports while fostering diplomatic ties.
  • Polish farmers descended on Warsaw on Friday to protest a European trade deal with the South American Mercosur bloc, marching just moments after it was accepted by a majority of EU nations in Brussels. 
  • The Mercosur deal has been in the works for over 25 years, with the European Commission arguing that it will bolster EU exports while fostering diplomatic ties.
Polish farmers descended on Warsaw on Friday to protest a European trade deal with the South American Mercosur bloc, marching just moments after it was accepted by a majority of EU nations in Brussels. 
Over a thousand protestors gathered, some arriving on their tractors, to again denounce a deal many fear will lead to unfair competition in the bloc. 
"This will kill our agriculture in Poland," said Janusz Sampolski, a farmer who came from a village just south of Gdansk on the Baltic coast, some 340 kilometres (210 miles) away.
"We will be dependent on supply chains from other countries," he told AFP, saying it could threaten Poland's food security "in the event of the threat of war". 
Poland, along with France, Ireland, Austria, and Hungary, voted against the measure, but most of the 27 EU members approved it, diplomats told AFP. 
Carrying flags and wearing yellow vests, the demonstrators marched toward Parliament and the chancellery of Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
Some protestors set off fireworks and lit off flares. Tractors, which several drove into the city, were not let into its limits. 
Aside from economic concerns, farmers also warned of food quality and safety risks.
"Food will be coming to us... produced using pesticides that have been banned in the European Union," said Przemyslaw Zbroinski, another farmer from the Gdansk region. 
"Some of the substances [have been banned] for nearly 30 years," he added. 
The Mercosur deal has been in the works for over 25 years, with the European Commission arguing that it will bolster EU exports while fostering diplomatic ties.
But for Zbroinski, "It will definitely end with much harsher and larger strikes, and blockades of countries and capitals". 
ks/js

Grok

Grok limits AI image editing to paid users after nudes backlash

  • "That simply turns an AI feature that allows the creation of unlawful images into a premium service," a Downing Street spokesperson said.
  • Elon Musk's AI chatbot Grok has turned off its image creation feature for non-paying users following backlash over its use to create sexualized deepfakes of women and children.
  • "That simply turns an AI feature that allows the creation of unlawful images into a premium service," a Downing Street spokesperson said.
Elon Musk's AI chatbot Grok has turned off its image creation feature for non-paying users following backlash over its use to create sexualized deepfakes of women and children.
Musk has been threatened with fines, and several countries have pushed back publicly against the tool that allowed users to alter online images to remove the subjects' clothes.
Replying to users Friday on Musk's social media platform X, Grok posted: "Image generation and editing are currently limited to paying subscribers. You can subscribe to unlock these features."
The change means many of the tool's users can no longer generate or edit images using the AI. Paying customers must give the platform their credit card information and personal details.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's office called the move to limit access to paying subscribers "insulting" to victims and "not a solution."
"That simply turns an AI feature that allows the creation of unlawful images into a premium service," a Downing Street spokesperson said.
"It's insulting the victims of misogyny and sexual violence." 
The EU executive, which previously described the photos of undressed women and children as unlawful, said it had "taken note of the recent changes."
But EU digital affairs spokesman Thomas Regnier told reporters "this doesn't change our fundamental issue, paid subscription or non-paid subscription. We don't want to see such images. It's as simple as that."
"What we're asking platforms to do is to make sure that their design, that their systems do not allow the generation of such illegal content," he added.
The European Commission has ordered X to retain all internal documents and data related to Grok until the end of 2026 in response to the nudes uproar.
France, Malaysia and India have also criticized Musk's platform over the issue. 
"Anyone using Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content," Musk wrote on X last week in response to a post about the explicit images.
X's official "Safety" account subsequently said it addresses illegal content on X "by removing it, permanently suspending accounts, and working with local governments and law enforcement as necessary."
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