politics

South Korea, Italy agree to deepen AI, defence cooperation

  • Speaking alongside the far-right leader following their meeting, Lee said the two countries would "further expand the horizons of cooperation into advanced industries such as artificial intelligence, space, and aviation".
  • South Korea and Italy agreed Monday to expand cooperation in artificial intelligence, space and the defence industry, pledging to confront "global challenges" at a bilateral summit in Seoul.
  • Speaking alongside the far-right leader following their meeting, Lee said the two countries would "further expand the horizons of cooperation into advanced industries such as artificial intelligence, space, and aviation".
South Korea and Italy agreed Monday to expand cooperation in artificial intelligence, space and the defence industry, pledging to confront "global challenges" at a bilateral summit in Seoul.
President Lee Jae Myung hosted Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni for the summit at his office in the first visit by an Italian leader to South Korea in almost two decades.
Speaking alongside the far-right leader following their meeting, Lee said the two countries would "further expand the horizons of cooperation into advanced industries such as artificial intelligence, space, and aviation".
"In addition, we will pursue complementary cooperation in the defence industry based on each side's strengths," Lee added.
South Korea has emerged as a major arms exporter in recent years as Central and Eastern European countries -- including Poland -- have signed deals with South Korean manufacturers in the face of Russia's protracted war in Ukraine.
The South has remained combat-ready since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce and has been quick to export arms to countries in need.
But it has not supplied weapons to Ukraine due to a domestic policy preventing the provision of arms to countries at war.
"The war in Ukraine also poses an extremely serious risk to Europe's security in every respect," Meloni said.
"For that reason, we will continue to pursue new forms of cooperation at the global level," she added, describing Seoul as "one of the G7's most important partners". 
Lee also vowed to "work closely together to contribute to global peace" and "safeguard the universal value of peace, extending our efforts ... to the wider world".
kjk-hs/oho/mtp

Global Edition

Vietnam begins Communist Party congress to pick leaders

  • Lam would be the first person to be named to the top two jobs simultaneously by a party congress, rather than stepping in following a death. bur-tym/sco/fox
  • Vietnam's ruling Communist Party convened Monday to begin their twice-a-decade congress, where leader To Lam is looking to tighten his grip on power less than two years after assuming the top role.
  • Lam would be the first person to be named to the top two jobs simultaneously by a party congress, rather than stepping in following a death. bur-tym/sco/fox
Vietnam's ruling Communist Party convened Monday to begin their twice-a-decade congress, where leader To Lam is looking to tighten his grip on power less than two years after assuming the top role.
The Southeast Asian nation of 100 million people is both a repressive one-party state and a regional economic bright spot, where the Communist Party has sought to deliver rapid growth to bolster its legitimacy.
Nearly 1,600 delegates representing the party's more than five million members gathered Monday for a sombre tribute to national hero Ho Chi Minh at his mausoleum in Hanoi, before attending a closed-door preparatory session of the party congress.
The official opening ceremony will be broadcast live Tuesday morning, state media said, with the party's general secretary, Lam, widely expected to deliver a speech.
Since he ascended to the role just 17 months ago, Lam has pursued an anti-corruption drive, thinned and streamlined bureaucracy, and accelerated infrastructure investment in reforms officials describe as a "revolution".

Dual role

He will remain the party's top leader, according to sources briefed on key internal deliberations.
But he is seeking the presidency as well -- a dual role similar to Xi Jinping in neighbouring China.
Analysts say Lam's reach will depend on who else secures top posts and politburo positions during the week-long conclave, particularly from the more conservative military faction that opposes him.
One source briefed on party deliberations told AFP that Lam's bid for expanded powers had been provisionally approved.
But some reports suggest he had to shelve his presidential ambitions in order to secure support for his reform agenda.
The top posts in Vietnam's collective leadership system must be approved by the incoming politburo, and experts say nothing is certain yet.  
Lam would be the first person to be named to the top two jobs simultaneously by a party congress, rather than stepping in following a death.
bur-tym/sco/fox

US

Thousands march in US to back Iranian anti-government protesters

BY ROMAIN FONSEGRIVES

  • "But if they find themselves in danger, they can't even find refuge in the United States." rfo/tmt/aha/ane
  • Thousands in the United States staged large demonstrations Sunday denouncing the Iranian government's deadly crackdown on anti-government protesters in the Islamic Republic.
  • "But if they find themselves in danger, they can't even find refuge in the United States." rfo/tmt/aha/ane
Thousands in the United States staged large demonstrations Sunday denouncing the Iranian government's deadly crackdown on anti-government protesters in the Islamic Republic.
Several thousand people marched in Los Angeles, home to the world's largest Iranian diaspora, while several hundred others gathered in New York, AFP journalist's in both cities reported. 
US protesters could be seen carrying signs  condemning a "New Holocaust," a "genocide in the making," and the "terror" of the Iranian government.
"My heart is heavy and my soul is crushed, I'm at loss for words to describe how angry I am," said Perry Faraz at the demonstration in Los Angeles, the second-largest city in the US.
The 62-year-old payroll manager, who fled Iran in 2006, learned this week that one of her young cousins had been killed during the overseas rallies held in her native country.
"He wasn't even 10 years old, that's horrible," she said.
Demonstrations sparked by anger over economic hardship exploded into protests late December in what has been widely seen as the biggest challenge to the Iranian leadership in recent years.
The rallies subsided after a government crackdown in Iran that rights groups have called a "massacre" carried out by security forces under the cover of a communications blackout that started on January 8.
Norway-based Iran Human Rights says it has verified the deaths of 3,428 protesters killed by security forces, confirming cases through sources within the Islamic Republic's health and medical system, witnesses and independent sources.
The NGO warned that the true toll is likely to be far higher. Media cannot independently confirm the figure and Iranian officials have not given an exact death toll.

Calls for US intervention

"This mass murdering of the population is terribly upsetting," Ali Parvaneh, a 65-year-old lawyer protesting in LA said. 
Like many protesters, Parvaneh carried a "Make Iran Great Again" sign and said he wanted US President Donald Trump to intervene by targeting the country's powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Some in the crowd in LA went as far as to call for the assassination of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who has been in power for more than 25 years. 
After having attacked Iranian nuclear sites in June, Trump sent mixed signals on possible US intervention this week. 
The Republican first threatened to intervene if Iranian protesters were killed, but then said he was satisfied by Iranian assurances that demonstrators would not be executed.
"I really hope that Trump will go one step beyond just voicing support," Parvaneh said.
Many protesting in the Californian city chanted slogans in support of the US president and Reza Pahlavi, the son of the former Shah of Iran who was deposed by the popular uprising in 1979.
- 'Don't need a puppet' - 
Parvaneh echoed Pahlavi's popularity among some segments of Iran's exiled and expatriate population.
"Had the monarchy stayed in place, it would be much different and Iran would be in a much better situation," he said.
Pahlavi's support base is concentrated abroad while his political sway within Iran is limited.
The former Shah's son, who lives in exile near Washington, said this week he would be ready to return to Iran -- but it is unclear if most Iranians want this.
The Iranian opposition remains divided, and memories of the Shah's brutal repression of his left-wing opponents remain vivid. 
Last week, a man caused minor injuries when he drove a truck into a demonstration held by Iranians in Los Angeles, carrying a sign that read: "No Shah. No Regime. USA: Don't Repeat 1953. No Mullah." 
The sign was referring to the 1953 coup that saw Iran's government overthrown in a US- and UK-backed operation that had seen Pahlavi installed as the country's leader.
In Los Angeles's Westwood neighborhood, nicknamed "Tehrangeles," Roozbeh Farahanipour believes the diaspora must support Iranians without infringing on their "right to decide their own future."
"They don't need a puppet implanted by the West," said the 54-year-old restaurant owner.
Others in California also share that view.
"Trump is playing the Iranian people," said poet Karim Farsis, a resident of the San Francisco Bay area. 
Farsis, an academic, stresses that it is US sanctions -- including those imposed by Trump -- and the Republican's ripping up of a nuclear deal that have contributed in large part to the suffering of the Iranian people.
She also criticized the almost complete ban on Iranians entering the US since June.
"We're living in a really twisted moment," she said. "Trump is saying to Iranians: 'Keep protesting, take over your institutions.'
"But if they find themselves in danger, they can't even find refuge in the United States."
rfo/tmt/aha/ane

environment

Chile declares emergency as wildfires kill at least 19

  • - 'Very difficult' - President Gabriel Boric declared a state of emergency in Nuble and Biobio as nearly 4,000 firefighters battled the wildfires -- raging during the high temperatures of the southern hemisphere summer. 
  • Uncontrolled wildfires tore through communities in southern Chile, leaving charred ruins in their wake and at least 19 dead, authorities said, announcing the latest toll on Sunday.
  • - 'Very difficult' - President Gabriel Boric declared a state of emergency in Nuble and Biobio as nearly 4,000 firefighters battled the wildfires -- raging during the high temperatures of the southern hemisphere summer. 
Uncontrolled wildfires tore through communities in southern Chile, leaving charred ruins in their wake and at least 19 dead, authorities said, announcing the latest toll on Sunday.
More than 50,000 people have been displaced by blazes burning for two days now in the Nuble and Biobio regions about 500 kilometers (300 miles) south of Santiago, fanned by strong winds and hot weather.
"At 2:30 in the morning, the fire was out of control. There was a whirlwind of fire that consumed the houses in the town below," Matias Cid, a 25-year-old student in Penco, told AFP.
"We had to leave with the shirts on our back. If we had stayed another 20 minutes we would have burned to death," he said.
Video of the aftermath shows a bleak, empty cityscape of charred homes and burned-out pick-up trucks and cars.
Most of the fatalities from the wildfires in the region have so far been in Penco, Mayor Rodrigo Vera said.
In neighboring Lirquen, a small port town of about 20,000, the scene was equally devastating, with residents describing how the fire advanced "in seconds." 
Many of the residents "were saved from the fire because they ran to the beach," Alejandro Arredondo, 57, told AFP. "Nothing was left standing."   
In the town of Lirquen, soldiers were patrolling the streets as night fell on Sunday. 
Despite a curfew, some residents armed with flashlights continued working to clear debris or put out fires.

'Very difficult'

President Gabriel Boric declared a state of emergency in Nuble and Biobio as nearly 4,000 firefighters battled the wildfires -- raging during the high temperatures of the southern hemisphere summer. 
The order allows for the deployment of the armed forces to assist.
The president traveled to the badly impacted city of Concepcion to oversee the firefighting efforts.
Boric announced a nighttime curfew in the most affected towns, warning, "conditions are very difficult."
He returned to Santiago in the evening, pledging to meet with president-elect Jose Antonio Kast on Monday to share information about the forest fires.
"In difficult times, Chile is united. Our government and the president-elect will work together," he said.

More heat and wind

Alicia Cebrian, the director of the National Service for Disaster Prevention and Response, said most of the evacuations were in the Biobio towns of Penco and Lirquen, which have a combined population of around 60,000 people.
The weather forecast Sunday was bad for firefighters -- high temperatures and strong winds, said Esteban Krause, the head of a forest preservation agency in Biobio.
Wildfires have severely impacted south-central Chile in recent years amid growing signs of the impact of climate change in the South American country, including extreme weather, droughts and floods.
In February 2024, several fires broke out simultaneously near the city of Vina del Mar, northwest of Santiago, resulting in 138 deaths, according to the public prosecutor's office.
About 16,000 people were affected by those fires, authorities said.
pa/mr/msp-ksb/aha

Harry

Harry set for final courtroom battle against UK media

BY HELEN ROWE AND JOE JACKSON

  • - 'Blagging' claim - The new trial follows earlier cases brought against Rupert Murdoch's News Group Newspapers (NGN) and Mirror Group.
  • Prince Harry is to return to London this week for the trial into his claims that a UK newspaper group unlawfully gathered information, in the royal's last case in his long-running crusade against the media.
  • - 'Blagging' claim - The new trial follows earlier cases brought against Rupert Murdoch's News Group Newspapers (NGN) and Mirror Group.
Prince Harry is to return to London this week for the trial into his claims that a UK newspaper group unlawfully gathered information, in the royal's last case in his long-running crusade against the media.
The trial, expected to last up to nine weeks, is scheduled to start at London's High Court on Monday.
It is the third and final case brought by the prince, who is said to see holding the media to account as a personal mission.
Harry has long blamed the media for the death of his mother Princess Diana, who was killed in a Paris car crash in 1997 while trying to shake off the paparazzi.
King Charles III's younger son is bringing the case along with six other high-profile complainants including pop icon Elton John and John's husband David Furnish.
The seven accuse Associated Newspapers, publishers of the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday, of allegedly carrying out or commissioning unlawful activities such as hiring private investigators to place listening devices inside cars.
They also allegedly impersonated individuals to obtain medical information -- a practice known as blagging -- and accessed private phone conversations.
The media group has firmly denied the allegations, calling them "lurid" and "preposterous".

Rare UK trip

Harry is expected to attend for some of the first three days of opening statements.
He is then due to take the stand for a full day of testimony on Thursday, according to a draft trial schedule shared with reporters by lawyers.
Actor Elizabeth Hurley is set to give evidence the following week, followed by John and Furnish in early February. Actor Sadie Frost is also among the complainants.
In 2023, Harry made history by becoming the first senior British royal to give evidence in court for more than a century, when he testified as part of his claim against Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN).
It will be a rare trip back to Britain for the prince, also known as the Duke of Sussex, who stepped back from royal duties in 2020 and relocated eventually to California with wife Meghan, where they live with their two children.
During his last UK visit in September, Harry met with the king, seeking to start to repair a bitter rift with his immediate family.
But UK media have said there are no plans for Harry to see Charles during next week's visit.

'Blagging' claim

The new trial follows earlier cases brought against Rupert Murdoch's News Group Newspapers (NGN) and Mirror Group.
Last year Prince Harry settled out of court in his action against Murdoch's UK tabloid publisher.
NGN -- publisher of tabloids The Sun and the now defunct News of the World -- agreed to pay him "substantial damages" in January 2025 after admitting intruding into his private life, including by hacking his phone.
In a statement, NGN offered a "full and unequivocal apology" to the prince for "serious intrusion" into the private lives of Harry and his mother Princess Diana by The Sun and also "phone hacking, surveillance and misuse of private information by journalists and private investigators instructed by them at the News of the World".
In his other case against Mirror Group, a High Court ruling in December 2023 said Harry had been a victim of phone hacking by journalists working for the group and awarded him £140,600 ($179,600) in damages.
Media lawyer Mark Stephens told AFP much had changed in the British media in recent years, but that this final case would primarily be about "press freedom".
"Press freedom is essential but so is freedom from being illegally spied on," he said.
"I think we're not going to be looking so much at yesterday's gossip. I think this case is going to be more about tomorrow's accountability for the media more generally," he added.
vid-har/jkb/cc/abs

theft

Louvre heist probe: What we know

BY FRANCOIS BECKER, CELINE CORNU AND MURIELLE KASPRZAK

  • - DNA samples - During the escape, "you can sense a certain amount of stress -- no doubt because they are actually doing it -- which means they end up dropping the jewellery and also leaving behind DNA traces," Beccuau said.
  • Thieves in October broke into the French capital's world-famous Louvre museum in broad daylight, escaping in under eight minutes with jewellery worth $102 million.
  • - DNA samples - During the escape, "you can sense a certain amount of stress -- no doubt because they are actually doing it -- which means they end up dropping the jewellery and also leaving behind DNA traces," Beccuau said.
Thieves in October broke into the French capital's world-famous Louvre museum in broad daylight, escaping in under eight minutes with jewellery worth $102 million.
Three months on from the brazen heist, four suspects are in police custody but the jewels are still nowhere to be found.
Here is what we know -- and don't.

Four detained

Four men in their thirties, arrested in October and November, are suspected of being the team who conducted the theft on October 19, 2025.
The pair suspected of having broken in include Abdoulaye N., an unlicensed taxi driver turning 40 this month, who previously showed off his motorbike stunts on social media.
The other is a 35-year-old Algerian, who was detained in October as he was preparing to fly out of Paris.
A third suspect, aged 37, was involved in a previous theft with Abdoulaye N., while a fourth -- who is 38 -- hails from the same Paris suburb as the other three.
Investigating magistrates started questioning them this month, but have no significant leads so far, top Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau has said.
A fifth suspect -- a 38-year-old woman who is the partner of the third suspect -- has been charged with being an accomplice, but released under judicial supervision pending a trial.

'Genuine preparation'

There was "genuine preparation" before the heist, said Beccuau.
The robbers struck early on a Sunday morning, "when everything was slowly getting going at the museum", after locating and stealing a mover's truck with an extendable ladder to reach the first-floor gallery housing the French crown jewels.
After parking the truck below, two of the thieves hoisted themselves up the ladder in a furniture lift, the investigation has shown.
They broke a window and used angle grinders to cut glass cases containing the treasures, while the other two waited below.
They then lowered themselves down with their loot, and the four fled on high-powered motor scooters, dropping a diamond-and-emerald crown in their hurry.
But eight other items -- including an emerald-and-diamond necklace that Napoleon I gave his second wife, Empress Marie-Louise -- remain at large.

DNA samples

During the escape, "you can sense a certain amount of stress -- no doubt because they are actually doing it -- which means they end up dropping the jewellery and also leaving behind DNA traces," Beccuau said.
The first suspect -- the motorbike stuntman -- was identified after his DNA was found on broken glass and objects abandoned on site, while the second left genetic clues on a scooter as he fled.
The third -- and his female partner -- had left DNA on the furniture lift.
Further investigations and cross-checks led to the arrest of a fourth, suspected of having parked the truck under the museum gallery, said Beccuau.

'Not bunglers'

Some observers may have called the burglars amateurs, but a source with knowledge of the probe said they were "not such bunglers after all".
"They had put their scooters and equipment in storage units and had disabled the video surveillance" nearby before the heist,
he source said, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to reveal details of the investigation.
Dressed as workmen in high-visibility jackets, they completed the whole burglary in just eight minutes.
After they abandoned their scooters for a van, it headed for the suburbs "to throw off the investigators by entering an area not covered by cameras", the source added.
"They then didn't call each other again and went back to their lives as if nothing had happened," the source said.
Contacted by AFP, lawyers of the suspects did not immediately respond or declined to comment.

Poor security

Poor security at the Louvre made the robber's getaway easier, a culture ministry probe found last month, even if they evaded security forces with just 30 seconds to spare.
Only one of two security cameras was working near the site where the intruders broke in, and agents in the security control room did not have enough screens to follow the images in real time.

Missing jewellery

Beccuau said it was still unclear if a third party ordered the heist -- or indeed where the jewellery might be.
Beccuau said there was no sign the spoils had crossed the French border, but investigators were relying on contacts abroad to signal if something suspicious showed up.
fbe-cco-jt-sm-mk-mca/ah/cw/abs

Global Edition

Limited internet briefly returns in Iran after protest blackout

  • The rallies subsided after the crackdown that rights groups have called a "massacre" carried out by security forces under the cover of a communications blackout that started on January 8.
  • Limited internet access briefly returned in Iran before dropping again, a monitor said Sunday, 10 days into a communications blackout that rights groups said aimed to mask a protest crackdown that killed thousands.
  • The rallies subsided after the crackdown that rights groups have called a "massacre" carried out by security forces under the cover of a communications blackout that started on January 8.
Limited internet access briefly returned in Iran before dropping again, a monitor said Sunday, 10 days into a communications blackout that rights groups said aimed to mask a protest crackdown that killed thousands.
Iran's president warned that an attack on the country's supreme leader would be a declaration of war -- an apparent response to US counterpart Donald Trump saying it was time to look for new leadership in Iran.
Demonstrations sparked in late December by anger over economic hardship exploded into protests widely seen as the biggest challenge to the Iranian leadership in years.
The rallies subsided after the crackdown that rights groups have called a "massacre" carried out by security forces under the cover of a communications blackout that started on January 8.
Monitor Netblocks said late Sunday that "traffic levels have fallen after a brief, heavily filtered restoration of select Google and messaging services in Iran".
Iranian officials have said the demonstrations were peaceful before turning into "riots" and blamed foreign influence from Iran's arch-foes the United States and Israel. 
Trump, who joined Israel's 12-day war against Iran in June, had repeatedly threatened new military action against Tehran if protesters were killed.
While Washington appeared to have stepped back, Trump hit out at supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in an interview with Politico on Saturday, saying it was "time to look for new leadership in Iran". 
"The man is a sick man who should run his country properly and stop killing people," Trump said.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Sunday warned on X: "An attack on the great leader of our country is tantamount to a full-scale war with the Iranian nation."
As leaders in Washington and Tehran have exchanged barbs, Iranian officials have said calm has been restored in the streets. 
Security forces with armoured vehicles and motorcycles were seen in central Tehran, according to AFP correspondents.

'Cannot just stay silent'

Schools reopened on Sunday after a week of closure.
Pezeshkian meanwhile told a cabinet meeting that he "recommended to the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council that internet restrictions be lifted as soon as possible".
Some users reported access to WhatsApp, while outgoing international calls had resumed since Tuesday, and text messaging was restored Saturday. 
Fars news agency on Sunday reported that the chief executive of Irancell, Iran's second-largest mobile phone operator, was dismissed for failing to comply with the government's decision to shut down the internet.
Solidarity demonstrations have continued in multiple cities in recent days, including in Berlin, London and Paris.
Despite the restrictions, information had still filtered out, with reports of atrocities emerging, according to rights groups.
Amnesty International said it had verified dozens of videos and accounts in recent days showing a "massacre of protesters" by security forces.
Norway-based Iran Human Rights says it has verified the deaths of 3,428 protesters killed by security forces, confirming cases through sources within the Islamic republic's health and medical system, witnesses and independent sources.
However, the NGO warns the true toll is likely far higher. Media cannot independently confirm the figure and Iranian officials have not given an exact death toll for the protests.
Other estimates place the death toll at more than 5,000 -- and possibly as high as 20,000 -- though the internet blackout has severely hampered independent verification, IHR says.
The overseas-based opposition Iran International channel has said at least 12,000 people were killed during the protests, citing senior government and security sources.
Iran's judiciary has rejected that figure.

'Not be spared'

On Saturday, Khamenei said "a few thousand" people had been killed by what he called "agents" of the United States and Israel, and Iranian local media has reported multiple deaths among security forces.
Khamenei said authorities "must break the back of the seditionists", as local media have reported thousands of arrests and rights groups have estimated up to 20,000 people have been detained. 
On Sunday, judiciary spokesman Asghar Jahangir reiterated that swift trials would be held, warning that some acts warranted the capital offence of "moharebeh", or "waging war against God". 
"All those who played a decisive role in these calls for violence, which led to bloodshed and significant damage to public finances, will not be spared," he said.
Alarm has grown over the threat of capital punishment against arrested protesters, even as Trump said Iran had called off hundreds of executions.
Analyst Arif Keskin cast doubt on Trump's claim, saying "the Iranian leadership sees executions... as an effective tool to end protests, prevent them and suppress them".
burs-sw/jsa/jxb

wealth

Surging billionaire wealth a political threat, Oxfam warns as Davos opens

BY ELODIE LE MAOU WITH MARTINE PAUWELS IN PARIS

  • "The widening gap between the rich and the rest is at the same time creating a political deficit that is highly dangerous and unsustainable," Oxfam's executive director Amitabh Behar said.
  • The collective wealth of the planet's billionaires soared to a record level in 2025, charity Oxfam reported Monday, warning of "highly dangerous" political consequences as the global elite gathers for the World Economic Forum.
  • "The widening gap between the rich and the rest is at the same time creating a political deficit that is highly dangerous and unsustainable," Oxfam's executive director Amitabh Behar said.
The collective wealth of the planet's billionaires soared to a record level in 2025, charity Oxfam reported Monday, warning of "highly dangerous" political consequences as the global elite gathers for the World Economic Forum.
US President Donald Trump's policies in particular spurred the fortunes of the ultra-rich, which jumped 16.2 percent in the first year of his second term to $18.3 trillion, the NGO said in a report released each year ahead of the Davos forum.
"Actions of the Trump presidency including the championing of deregulation and undermining agreements to increase corporate taxation have benefited the richest around the world," Oxfam said. 
The world now has more than 3,000 billionaires for the first time, it added, with the top 12 -- led by Tesla and SpaceX chief Elon Musk -- having "more wealth than the poorest half of humanity, or more than four billion people".
Increasingly this money is buying political power, Oxfam said, pointing in particular to tycoons' buying newspapers and other media, such as Musk's takeover of X or the purchase of The Washington Post by Amazon's Jeff Bezos.
"The widening gap between the rich and the rest is at the same time creating a political deficit that is highly dangerous and unsustainable," Oxfam's executive director Amitabh Behar said.
Trump will arrive with one of the biggest US delegations ever for the Davos conference, where he is expected to dominate an agenda officially billed as "A Spirit of Dialogue".

Davos protests  

Trump's participation galvanised around 300 protesters who arrived in Davos on Sunday, many wearing masks of Musk or US Vice President JD Vance and holding fistfuls of euros.
Nathalie Ruoss of the Swiss Young Socialists told AFP the most powerful people in the world make decisions at Davos that impact everyone. 
"And they do it with no democratic legitimacy," she said, calling it "unacceptable" that the WEF welcomed "fascists like Donald Trump".
For Oxfam, Washington's decision to exempt US multinationals from an internationally agreed minimum tax rate of 15 percent was a stark example of ignoring growing inequality.
"In country after country, the super-rich have not only accumulated more wealth than could ever be spent, but have also used this wealth to secure the political power to shape the rules that define our economies and govern nations," it said.
"Such power gives billionaires a grasp over all our futures, undermining political freedom and eroding the rights of the many."
mpa/js/jxb

accident

Train collision in Spain kills 21, injures dozens

BY DIEGO URDANETA

  • - 'Night of deep pain' - "Today is a night of deep pain for our country owing to the tragic rail accident in Adamuz," Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez wrote on X. "No words can alleviate such great suffering, but I want them to know that the whole country is by their side in this tough moment," he added.
  • Spain on Monday reeled from a collision between two high-speed trains in the southern region of Andalusia that killed 21 people and injured more than 70, with the prime minister lamenting a "night of deep pain".
  • - 'Night of deep pain' - "Today is a night of deep pain for our country owing to the tragic rail accident in Adamuz," Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez wrote on X. "No words can alleviate such great suffering, but I want them to know that the whole country is by their side in this tough moment," he added.
Spain on Monday reeled from a collision between two high-speed trains in the southern region of Andalusia that killed 21 people and injured more than 70, with the prime minister lamenting a "night of deep pain".
The disaster struck on Sunday evening when a service travelling from Malaga to Madrid derailed near Adamuz, crossing onto the other track where it crashed into an oncoming train, which also derailed, Spain's Adif rail network operator posted on X.
A police spokesperson told AFP 21 people had died. Antonio Sanz, the top emergencies official in Andalusia, told a press conference that at least 73 people had been injured.
"The situation is likely to see the death toll increase," he said, adding that "a very complicated night awaits us".
Transport Minister Oscar Puente told reporters that 30 people were rushed to hospital in serious condition, adding that all the injured had been evacuated to receive care.
The disaster took place on a straight part of the track, which was completely renovated, Puente said, adding that the first train to derail was "practically new", making the accident "extremely strange".
Rail operator Iryo said around 300 people were on board its Malaga-Madrid service.
The hundreds of passengers left in the wreckage hampered the frantic work of emergency services.
"The problem is that the carriages are twisted, so the metal is twisted with the people inside," Francisco Carmona, head of firefighters in Cordoba, told public broadcaster RTVE.
"We have even had to remove a dead person to be able to reach someone alive. It is hard, tricky work," he added.
Some of the carriages had tumbled down an embankment of four metres, Sanz said at his press conference.

'A horror movie'

A passenger on the second train, bound for the city of Huelva, who gave only her first name Montse, told Spanish public television the train, "with a jolt, came to a complete stop, and everything went dark".
She described being thrown around in the last carriage and seeing luggage tumble on other passengers. 
"The attendant behind me hit her head and was bleeding. There were children crying," she added. "Luckily, I was in the last car. I feel like I was given a second chance at life."
Survivor Lucas Meriako, who was travelling on the first train that derailed, told La Sexta television that "this looks like a horror movie".
"We felt a very strong hit from behind and the feeling that the whole train was about to collapse, break... there were many injured due to the glass," he said.
High-speed services between Madrid and the Andalusian cities of Cordoba, Seville, Malaga and Huelva would be suspended for the entirety of Monday at least, Adif announced.
Adif said spaces had been set up at stations in Madrid, Seville, Cordoba, Malaga and Huelva to assist the relatives of victims.
The defence ministry said it was sending around 40 members of its emergencies military unit and some 15 vehicles to the site of the accident.

'Night of deep pain'

"Today is a night of deep pain for our country owing to the tragic rail accident in Adamuz," Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez wrote on X.
"No words can alleviate such great suffering, but I want them to know that the whole country is by their side in this tough moment," he added.
The royal palace said on X that Spain's King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia were following the news "with great concern", offering "our most heartfelt condolences to the relatives and loved ones of the dead, as well as our love and wishes for a swift recovery to the injured".
French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen were among the world leaders offering condolences.
Spain boasts Europe's largest high-speed rail network, with more than 3,000 kilometres (1,800 miles) of dedicated tracks connecting major cities including Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, Valencia, and Malaga.
In 2013, a high-speed train derailment outside the northwestern city of Santiago de Compostela killed 80 people and injured more than 140 -- Spain's deadliest such tragedy since 1944.
bur-imm/ds/abs

Global Edition

Socialist to face far-right candidate for Portugal's presidency

BY THOMAS CABRAL

  • This will nevertheless be the first time a far-right candidate has made it to the second round of the presidential race.
  • Portugal's socialist candidate won the first round of the presidential election and will face the far-right candidate in the second round, near-complete results showed Sunday.
  • This will nevertheless be the first time a far-right candidate has made it to the second round of the presidential race.
Portugal's socialist candidate won the first round of the presidential election and will face the far-right candidate in the second round, near-complete results showed Sunday.
With votes from 95 percent of  constituencies counted, Socialist Antonio Jose Seguro was leading with 30.6 percent of the vote, while far-right contender Andre Ventura came in second with 24.2 percent.
The liberal candidate Joao Cotrim Figueiredo was in third place with 15.5 percent.
Ventura and Seguro will face off on February 8 to decide who succeeds conservative incumbent Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.
Opinion polls in the run-up to the election had suggested that Ventura was the favourite for the first round.
This will nevertheless be the first time a far-right candidate has made it to the second round of the presidential race.
During the campaign, Seguro had argued that he was the only one capable of defeating Ventura's "extremism" and had called on "all democrats" to unite behind him.
While the role of president is largely ceremonial, in times of crisis the incumbent can dissolve parliament, call elections or dismiss a prime minister.
Portugal's prime minister, right-winger Luis Montenegro, said he would not be giving any advice on who to vote for in the second round.
His minority government already relies on Ventura's Chega party for support to implement some of its policies.

Ventura 'confident'

This is the first time in four decades that no candidate has won outright in the first round by securing more than 50 percent of the vote.
Ventura said he felt "very confident" after casting his vote in the sunny capital.
"We cannot spend our time criticising things and then sit on the couch on the day we are called to make a decision," he said.
"I believe in the good sense of the Portuguese," said Ventura after voting in his home city of Caldas da Rainha.
As he finished his first-round campaign, he called on other parties on the right not to stand in his way if he makes it to the second round.
And in his final election rally he toughened his tone, saying he would refuse to try to please everyone and promising to "put some order" into the country.
Voting in Lisbon, Alexandre Leitao, a 50-year-old biologist, said he had voted left wing to stave off the "very negative shift toward the far right".
"We young people are not happy with the country we have," said 33-year-old Irina Ferestreoaru.
She said public approval of Ventura was "a warning sign for the country, because people are desperate to see change".

Far right shift

Analysts say Ventura has his sights set on eventually running the country as prime minister.
"Andre Ventura is running to keep his voter base," said Antonio Costa Pinto, a political scientist at Lisbon University.
Chega's party emerged as the biggest opposition party in parliament after a general election last May, overtaking the Socialists.
"Another solid result for the far right would confirm its domination over the political landscape," consulting firm Teneo said in a note.
EU and eurozone member Portugal accounts for around 1.6 percent of the bloc's economic output.
tsc/jj/ksb

Kurds

Syria's leader agrees truce with Kurds after govt troops advance

BY MAHER AL-MOUNES WITH BAKR ALKASEM IN RAQA

  • The SDF suddenly withdrew "from all areas under its control in the eastern Deir Ezzor countryside, including the Al-Omar and Tanak oil fields", Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP. He said the movements in Deir Ezzor and Raqa provinces came as "fighters from local tribes, including Arab fighters who are part of the SDF, advanced in coordination with government troops".
  • Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Sunday announced a deal with the chief of Kurdish-led forces that includes a ceasefire, after government troops advanced across Kurdish-held areas of the country's north and east.
  • The SDF suddenly withdrew "from all areas under its control in the eastern Deir Ezzor countryside, including the Al-Omar and Tanak oil fields", Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP. He said the movements in Deir Ezzor and Raqa provinces came as "fighters from local tribes, including Arab fighters who are part of the SDF, advanced in coordination with government troops".
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Sunday announced a deal with the chief of Kurdish-led forces that includes a ceasefire, after government troops advanced across Kurdish-held areas of the country's north and east.
Syrian Kurdish leader Mazloum Abdi said he agreed to the deal to avoid a broader war.
He made the decision after deadly clashes in the Syrian city of Raqa Sunday between Kurdish-led forces and local fighters loyal to Damascus, and fighting this month between the Kurds and government forces.
The agreement will also see the Kurdish administration and forces integrate into the state after months of stalled negotiations on the issue.
But it marks a blow for the minority, which has long held ambitions of preserving the de facto autonomy they had exercised over areas they held for over a decade.
Sharaa announced the agreement to reporters on Sunday.
He said had had been scheduled to meet Abdi, who heads the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), but that it had been postponed until Monday due to poor weather.
"In order to calm the situation, we decided to sign the agreement," Sharaa said.
Abdi said in a statement broadcast by Kurdish television channel Ronahi that "in order for this war not to turn into civil war... we accepted to withdraw from the Deir Ezzor and Raqa regions to Hasakeh".
He said he would explain the deal's details to Syria's Kurds after returning from Damascus.

'Pivotal'

Government forces this weekend captured the strategic city of Tabqa in the Raqa region as well as the Euphrates Dam. They also advanced into parts of Deir Ezzor province, including the Al-Omar oil field, the country's largest, having earlier made advances in Aleppo province.
Syrian state media reported celebrations in some areas after the deal's announcement, including in Raqa city where state media had earlier said SDF gunfire had killed two civilians.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor had reported fighting between the SDF and "local Arab tribal fighters" in the city.
Sharaa on Sunday met US envoy Tom Barrack, who called the deal with the Kurds a "pivotal inflection point".
The envoy, whose country has long supported the Kurdish forces but also backs Syria's new Islamist authorities, had met Abdi in Erbil on Saturday.
The Syrian presidency published the text of the 14-point agreement, which includes integrating the SDF and Kurdish security forces into the state and the immediate handover of Kurdish-run Deir Ezzor and Raqa provinces.
It will also see Damascus take responsibility for Islamic State group prisoners and their families held in Kurdish-run jails and camps. 
Alexander McKeever, researcher and author of the This Week in Northern Syria newsletter, said the deal "falls significantly short of what the SDF had established over the years in the northeast, as well as the decentralised scenario it had been pushing for in negotiations".
Sharaa had on Friday issued a decree granting the Kurds official recognition, but the Kurds said the announcement fell short of their expectations.
Earlier Sunday, an AFP correspondent on Raqa's outskirts reported hearing gunfire and said government forces had brought reinforcements and were combing parts of the city.
The SDF suddenly withdrew "from all areas under its control in the eastern Deir Ezzor countryside, including the Al-Omar and Tanak oil fields", Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.
He said the movements in Deir Ezzor and Raqa provinces came as "fighters from local tribes, including Arab fighters who are part of the SDF, advanced in coordination with government troops".
Deir Ezzor province said all public institutions were closed Sunday and urged people to stay home.

'Opening door wide'

The government push captured Arab-majority areas that came under Kurdish control during the fight against IS.
Damascus also said it retook the Safyan and Al-Tharwa oil fields in Raqa province.
Energy Minister Mohammad al-Bashir said the return of the area's resources to state control "means opening the door wide for reconstruction, revitalising agriculture, energy and trade". 
The army also announced its control of the Euphrates Dam near Tabqa, a key water and energy facility that includes one of Syria's largest hydroelectric power stations.
An AFP correspondent had seen armoured vehicles and tanks around Tabqa, with security personnel patrolling the streets.
Shops were closed, but some residents milled outside their homes, lighting fires to keep warm.
Resident Ahmad Hussein told AFP: "We have suffered a lot, and I hope that the situation will improve with the arrival of the Syrian army."
Near the dam, an AFP photographer saw residents destroying a statue honouring a woman who fought with Kurdish forces and who was killed by IS during the battle for Raqa city.
burs-lar/lg/jj

US

Europe hits back at Trump tariff threat over Greenland

  • "Tariff threats undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral," Britain, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden warned in a joint statement.
  • European leaders on Sunday slammed US President Donald Trump's threat of tariffs over their opposition to his designs on Greenland, warning transatlantic ties were at risk.
  • "Tariff threats undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral," Britain, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden warned in a joint statement.
European leaders on Sunday slammed US President Donald Trump's threat of tariffs over their opposition to his designs on Greenland, warning transatlantic ties were at risk.
European countries including Denmark, of which Greenland is an autonomous territory, said they "stand united" against Trump's vow on Saturday to hit them with tariffs of up to 25 percent unless Greenland is ceded to the United States.
"Tariff threats undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral," Britain, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden warned in a joint statement.
Denmark's Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said Trump's ultimatum threatened the world order "as we know it" and the future of the NATO military alliance.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said he had spoken to Trump about "the security situation in Greenland and the Arctic" and hoped to talk again at this week's Davos summit. He did not elaborate on their conversation.
The European Council said it was calling a summit of EU leaders in the coming days, following a meeting of EU ambassadors in Brussels on Sunday.

Trade deal threatened

The bloc clinched a deal with Washington in July for most EU exports to face a 15-percent US levy. It was unclear how Trump's threatened tariffs would work against that deal.
"I don't believe that this agreement is possible in the current situation," German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul told ARD television.
Aides to French President Emmanuel Macron said he would ask the EU to activate a never-before-used "anti-coercion instrument" against Washington if Trump makes good on his additional tariffs.
This measure allows for curbing imports of goods and services into the EU, a market of 27 countries with a combined population of 450 million.
Trump has repeatedly expressed his desire to seize Greenland since returning to the White House for a second term.
His rhetoric towards that goal has hardened since he ordered a military operation against Venezuela early this month to capture its leader, Nicolas Maduro.

'Blackmail'

Trump and his administration have argued that Greenland coming under US rule would serve American "national security". 
He and his aides have also argued that Denmark, a fellow NATO member, would be unable to defend Greenland should Russia or China ever seek to invade.
Denmark and several of its European NATO allies responded by recently sending small numbers of military personnel to Greenland for an exercise, to which the US was also invited.
And on Saturday, thousands of people in Greenland and Denmark protested against the US push to control the Arctic island.
"Make America Go Away" read the wording on caps worn by many demonstrators, riffing on Trump's "Make America Great Again" slogan.
Trump responded Saturday with his threat to slap goods coming into the US from Britain, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Finland with 10-percent tariffs starting February 1.
They would rise to 25 percent from June 1 "until such time as a Deal is reached for the Complete and Total purchase of Greenland", Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social.
Even Italy's far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, one of Trump's closest European allies, baulked at the threat.
"I believe that imposing new sanctions today would be a mistake," she told journalists during a trip to Seoul.
"I spoke to Donald Trump a few hours ago and told him what I think," she added.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called it "completely wrong", and said he planned to discuss the situation with Trump "at the earliest opportunity". 
Dutch Foreign Minister David van Weel denounced Trump's threat as an "inexplicable" form of "blackmail".

Trade war fear

France's Agricultural Minister Annie Genevard warned that tariffs would hurt Washington too.
"In this escalation of tariffs, (Trump) has a lot to lose as well, as do his own farmers and industrialists," she told broadcasters Europe 1 and CNews.
Norway, also targeted by Trump's tariffs threat but like Britain not an EU member, said it was not currently looking at retaliation against US goods.
"I think one needs to stop and think so that a trade war can be averted that would lead to a downward spiral," Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store told NRK television. "Nobody would win."
burs/jxb/jj

Global Edition

South Africa declares national disaster as floods batter region

  • "I classify the disaster as a national disaster," the head of South Africa's National Disaster Management Centre Elias Sithole said in a statement Sunday.
  • South Africa on Sunday declared a national disaster after widespread flooding that destroyed homes and killed dozens, while thousands sought shelter in neighbouring Mozambique.
  • "I classify the disaster as a national disaster," the head of South Africa's National Disaster Management Centre Elias Sithole said in a statement Sunday.
South Africa on Sunday declared a national disaster after widespread flooding that destroyed homes and killed dozens, while thousands sought shelter in neighbouring Mozambique.
Heavy rains and storms have battered the two southern African countries for weeks, claiming more than 30 lives in South Africa's northeastern Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces.
Rivers burst their banks and swallowed entire neighbourhoods in several regions of Mozambique, displacing thousands including a woman who was forced to give birth on a roof as she sheltered from flood waters.
"I classify the disaster as a national disaster," the head of South Africa's National Disaster Management Centre Elias Sithole said in a statement Sunday.
Authorities continued to search for survivors and recover bodies at the weekend, but flooding had started receding in some areas, including the famed Kruger National Park, which had been forced to close and evacuate guests Thursday.
"Day visitation to the park will resume as of tomorrow," South African National Parks announced on social media, still urging visitors to "exercise caution".

Baby born on a roof

In Mozambique, rescue efforts were slow to reach survivors who sheltered on roofs and in trees.
At least eight people had died in the country since December 21, according to official data, but numbers were expected to rise as more people were declared missing.
A resident of Gaza province north of Maputo, Chauna Macuacua, told AFP that her sister-in-law had given birth on a roof where the family was waiting to be rescued since Thursday.
"We've been here for 4 days. My nephew was born yesterday around 11 PM (2100 GMT), and we still haven't had any rescue or assistance for the baby and mother," she said.
Wilker Dias, the director of a civil society group called Plataforma Decide, said he had received reports of several people missing.
"I think the numbers of dead will increase in the next hours," he told AFP.
South Africa also dispatched rescue teams to southern Mozambique Sunday after a car carrying five members of a South African mayoral delegation was swept away by floodwaters in Chokwe, 200 kilometres (124 miles) north of Maputo.
According to the latest figures released by the Mozambican government on Friday, more than 173,000 people had been affected by the floods across the country.
str-jcb/cc

prison

Gang members in Guatemala kill seven police after prison crackdown: minister

  • Since Saturday morning, the inmates had been holding 45 guards and a psychiatrist hostage to protest the transfer of gang leaders to a maximum-security prison. 
  • Guatemala's interior minister accused gangs of killing seven police on Sunday in retaliation for the government's refusal to transfer gang leaders to a lower-security prison. 
  • Since Saturday morning, the inmates had been holding 45 guards and a psychiatrist hostage to protest the transfer of gang leaders to a maximum-security prison. 
Guatemala's interior minister accused gangs of killing seven police on Sunday in retaliation for the government's refusal to transfer gang leaders to a lower-security prison. 
The killings occurred a day after gang-affiliated inmates took 46 people hostage in three prisons across the country. Police regained control of one of the prisons on Sunday.
"I am deeply saddened by the deaths of seven National Civil Police officers who were cowardly attacked by these terrorists in response to the actions the Guatemalan state is taking against them," Interior Minister Marco Antonio Villeda told a press conference.
Ten other police officers were wounded in the retaliatory attacks, and one suspected gang member was killed, he said.
At dawn on Sunday, police supported by the army entered the Renovacion I maximum-security prison in Escuintla, about 75 kilometers (45 miles) south of Guatemala City, using armored vehicles and tear gas.
After 15 minutes, they managed to regain control of the prison and free guards being held hostage, an AFP photographer witnessed.
"It was an operation that unfolded without casualties on either side, and we managed to rescue the nine hostages that these terrorists had in their power," Villeda said. 
Earlier, the prison posted on X that the leader of the Mara 18 gang, alias 'Lobo,' or wolf, has been "neutralized" in the operation.
The Barrio 18 gang, also known as Mara 18, and the rival Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) gang are blamed for much of the drug trafficking and criminal violence that plagues the Central American country. Washington has declared both groups to be terrorist organizations.
Since Saturday morning, the inmates had been holding 45 guards and a psychiatrist hostage to protest the transfer of gang leaders to a maximum-security prison. 
The gang members are still holding hostages at the two other prisons: 28 at Fraijanes II located east of the Guatemalan capital, and nine at the Preventivo prison on the outskirts of city.
"I am not willing to negotiate, nor to restore their privileges, nor to grant any kind of concession to stop this situation from continuing," Villeda said.
Since mid-2025, gang members have staged uprisings at prisons to demand their leaders be held in less-restricted conditions. 
In October, Guatemalan authorities reported that 20 leaders of the Barrio 18 gang had escaped from a prison. Only six have been recaptured, while another was shot and killed.
Guatemala ended last year with a homicide rate of 16.1 per 100,000 inhabitants, more than double the global average.
jjr/mr/msp/dw 

Global Edition

Uganda president says opposition 'terrorists' in victory speech

  • Official results showed Museveni winning a landslide with 72 percent from Thursday's election, but the poll was criticised by African election observers and rights groups due to the heavy repression of the opposition and an internet blackout. 
  • Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni, fresh from winning a seventh term at age 81, said Sunday that the opposition were "terrorists" who had tried to use violence to overturn results.
  • Official results showed Museveni winning a landslide with 72 percent from Thursday's election, but the poll was criticised by African election observers and rights groups due to the heavy repression of the opposition and an internet blackout. 
Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni, fresh from winning a seventh term at age 81, said Sunday that the opposition were "terrorists" who had tried to use violence to overturn results.
Official results showed Museveni winning a landslide with 72 percent from Thursday's election, but the poll was criticised by African election observers and rights groups due to the heavy repression of the opposition and an internet blackout. 
The whereabouts of opposition leader Bobi Wine, real name Robert Kyagulanyi, who won 25 percent, were still uncertain after he said on Saturday that he had escaped a police raid on his home and was in hiding. 
Police denied the raid and said Wine was still at home, but blocked journalists from approaching the residence. 
Wine has not posted on X since Saturday when he denounced the "blatant theft of the presidential election".

'We know what you are doing'

In his victory speech on Sunday, Museveni said Wine's party, the National Unity Platform (NUP), had planned to attack polling stations in areas where they were losing. 
"Some of the opposition are wrong and also terrorists," said Museveni, who has ruled the east African country since 1986, when he seized power at the head of an rebel army. 
"They are working with some foreigners and some homosexual groups," he said.
He added: "All the traitors -- this is free advice from me -- stop everything, because we know what you are doing and you will not do it."
Although some internet was restored late Saturday, the government said it would maintain a ban on social media platforms until further notice.
The government blocked the internet two days before the vote, saying it was necessary to prevent "misinformation" and "incitement to violence". 
Uganda has remained largely peaceful since the results, though there were small-scale protests late Saturday, with AFP journalists saying tear gas was fired in parts of the capital Kampala.
The security presence was significantly reduced on Sunday, with people out on the streets and shops open. 

Attacks planned 'everywhere'

Analysts say the election was a formality, given Museveni's total control over the state and security apparatus, though many Ugandans still praise him for bring relative peace and prosperity.
He has taken no chances in trying to prevent the violent unrest that rocked neighbouring Tanzania during polls in October.
The most serious reports of violence on election day came from the Butambala area of central Uganda, where an opposition lawmaker told AFP that security forces had killed at least 10 people at his home.  
Museveni echoed the police account, that the deaths resulted from a planned attack on a ballot-tallying centre and police station in the area. 
He claimed the NUP had planned similar attacks "everywhere". 
Human Rights Watch accused the government of "brutal repression" of the opposition ahead of the vote. 
Another key opposition leader, Kizza Besigye, who ran four times against Museveni, was abducted in Kenya in 2024 and brought back to a military court in Uganda for a treason trial that is ongoing.
African election observers, including a team from the African Union, said Saturday that "reports of intimidation, arrest and abductions" had "instilled fear and eroded public trust in the electoral process".
rbu-er/rmb

environment

Chile declares emergency as wildfires kill at least 15

  • Wildfires have severely impacted south-central Chile in recent years.
  • Wildfires raging in southern Chile have killed at least 15 people and forced more than 50,000 to evacuate, the government said Sunday.
  • Wildfires have severely impacted south-central Chile in recent years.
Wildfires raging in southern Chile have killed at least 15 people and forced more than 50,000 to evacuate, the government said Sunday.
Security Minister Luis Cordero gave the tolls for the blazes burning for two days now in the Nuble and Biobio regions about 500 kilometers (300 miles) south of Santiago.
President Gabriel Boric earlier declared a state of emergency as crews battled flames fueled by gusting winds and hot weather in the southern hemisphere summer.
Nearly two dozen blazes are burning across the country, many of them in Nuble and Biobio.
"We face a complicated situation," Interior Minister Alvaro Elizalde said.
The president announced the state of emergency in Nuble and Biobio in a post on the social media platform X. 
"All resources are available," Boric wrote. Among other things the declaration means the armed forces will now get involved.
Alicia Cebrian, the director of the National Service for Disaster Prevention and Response, said most of the evacuations were in the Biobio cities of Penco and Lirquen, which have a combined population of around 60,000 people.
Images broadcast by local television showed the flames in both cities, with charred cars in the streets.
Wildfires have severely impacted south-central Chile in recent years.
In February 2024, several fires broke out simultaneously near the city of Vina del Mar, northwest of Santiago, resulting in 138 deaths, according to the public prosecutor's office.
About 16,000 people were affected by those fires, authorities said.
pa/mr/dw/msp

aviation

Indonesia rescuers find body from plane crash

  • Among the debris, the joint search and rescue team found what is believed to be "the fuselage, the tail section, and the windows", local official Muhammad Arif Anwar told a press briefing.
  • Rescuers found debris and one body on Sunday from a small plane that crashed in eastern Indonesia with 10 people on board, officials said.
  • Among the debris, the joint search and rescue team found what is believed to be "the fuselage, the tail section, and the windows", local official Muhammad Arif Anwar told a press briefing.
Rescuers found debris and one body on Sunday from a small plane that crashed in eastern Indonesia with 10 people on board, officials said.
The Indonesian Air Transport turboprop plane lost contact with the air traffic controller on Saturday afternoon while en route from Yogyakarta to the city of Makassar on Sulawesi island.
Among the debris, the joint search and rescue team found what is believed to be "the fuselage, the tail section, and the windows", local official Muhammad Arif Anwar told a press briefing.
The body of one victim was found on a steep mountain slope in the same area, said Arif, head of the Makassar search and rescue agency.
"One male victim was found... at a depth of roughly 200 meters (656 feet) in the ravine and near aircraft debris," he said.
Another local rescue official, Andi Sultan, confirmed a body had been recovered, saying the remains would be evacuated on Monday due to poor weather conditions.
A unit was also deployed by air to search for the missing passengers, according to Arif.
The plane crashed into Mount Bulusaraung in Bantimurung-Bulusaraung National Park, which borders the city of Makassar, Arif said.
Three government workers from the ministry of marine affairs and fisheries were on board the plane along with seven crew members.
Minister Sakti Wahyu Trenggono said the employees were on a mission to conduct aerial monitoring of resources in the area.
The search on land and by air involved more than 1,000 people including members of the air force, police and volunteers. 
Local military chief Bangun Nawoko told reporters that the search was hindered by harsh terrain and fog.
Indonesia, a vast archipelago in Southeast Asia, relies heavily on air transport to connect its thousands of islands. The country has a poor aviation safety record, with several fatal crashes in recent years.
In September, a helicopter carrying six passengers and two crew members crashed shortly after taking off from South Kalimantan province, killing everybody on board.
Less than two weeks after the September crash, four people were killed when their helicopter crashed in the remote Papua district of Ilaga.
str-dsa/ami

politics

'Bring it on': UK's Labour readies for EU reset fight

BY PETER HUTCHISON AND MARIE HEUCLIN

  • Three years of bitter parliamentary wrangling about what Britain's relationship with the EU should look like post-departure followed the vote, ultimately leading to the resignation of Theresa May as prime minister.
  • Britain's so-called Brexit wars dominated parliament for years.
  • Three years of bitter parliamentary wrangling about what Britain's relationship with the EU should look like post-departure followed the vote, ultimately leading to the resignation of Theresa May as prime minister.
Britain's so-called Brexit wars dominated parliament for years. Now the Labour government is bracing for new battles as it eyes legislation to move closer to the European Union.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer immediately set about repairing and rebuilding relations with the 27-member bloc after winning the July 2024 election that ousted the Conservatives after 14 years in power.
He hopes a deeper relationship with European neighbours can help fire up Britain's insipid economy and inject life into a premiership that has so far been deeply unpopular with the public.
His Labour government is preparing to introduce a bill that would provide a legal framework for his much-touted "reset" of relations with the EU.
Despite Labour's crushing majority in parliament, the move is expected to be fiercely opposed by the right-wing opposition parties -- the Conservatives, who took Britain out of the EU, and hard-right Reform UK, which leads opinion polls.
"Bring it on," a UK government official told AFP, referring to likely "Brexit betrayal" claims from the Tories and Reform's leader, arch-Eurosceptic Nigel Farage.
The move also risks splitting open divisions within Labour, including over whether the party should breach a manifesto promise not to rejoin the EU customs union.
Last year, Starmer struck an economic agreement with EU leaders that aims to boost trade by easing red tape on food and plant exports.
They also agreed to work on a new electricity deal that would integrate the UK into the EU's internal electricity market, with the intention of lowering energy costs.

 'Brexit damage'

The agreements form part of Britain aligning itself with EU rules in certain areas.
The bill has not been published yet but the government official, who asked not to be named, said it would provide a "mechanism" for an alignment.
"The bill will provide the powers to adopt the rules and set out the role parliament will play in that," the official said.
The government hopes to introduce the legislation in the spring or summer, meaning it could coincide with the 10th anniversary of the Brexit referendum, which was held in June 2016.
Three years of bitter parliamentary wrangling about what Britain's relationship with the EU should look like post-departure followed the vote, ultimately leading to the resignation of Theresa May as prime minister.
The deadlock was broken when her successor, Boris Johnson, won a landslide general election victory in December 2019 to force through the exit.
Opinion polls regularly now show that most Britons regret the razor-thin vote to leave the EU and view the Brexit project as a failure, something Starmer hopes can work in his favour.
"Labour members are almost wholly united in wanting to see some of the damage done by the Tory-Farage Brexit exposed and fixed," said one supportive Labour MP.
"Closer alignment helps our economic message, has the backing of members and most MPs, and will provide a boost to British business," the lawmaker, who asked not to be named, told AFP.
But not all Labour MPs are in agreement.
Thirteen of them recently voted in favour of a bill by the pro-EU centrist Liberal Democrat party that called for the UK to begin negotiations to rejoin a customs union with the EU.

 'Do more'

Health Secretary Wes Streeting, widely seen as the favourite to succeed Starmer as Labour's next leader, has indicated his support for such an agreement.
Starmer has come out against a customs union, however, insisting that he favours closer realignment with the EU's single market.
"I want us to do more," one Labour MP who feels Starmer is not being bold enough told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Other Labour lawmakers would rather he left the issue alone.
"We said we wouldn't re-open the Brexit debate and now we are doing exactly that," MP Jonathan Hinder told AFP.
"We can create a fairer, socialist Britain while outside the EU and that is what we should be focused on doing."
A UK government spokesperson said in a statement that the reset was "improving our diplomatic, economic and security cooperation and will be worth £9.0 billion ($12 billion) to the UK economy by 2040".
"We will legislate to deliver on this and further details of the bill will be announced in due course."
The deputy director for the Centre for European Reform think tank, Ian Bond, said that whether the bill is "a game changer will depend on exactly how much latitude the British government gives itself".
"If it holds its nerve, it really doesn't need to pay any attention to these noises," he said.
But he added he felt ministers were "all terrified that if they do anything too bold, Reform will criticise them for it".
pdh-mhc/jkb/gil/jhb

Kurds

Syrian army extends hold over north Syria, Kurds report clashes

BY BAKR ALKASEM AND OMAR HAJ KADOUR

  • The SDF controls swathes of Syria's oil‑rich north and northeast, areas captured during the civil war and the fight against the Islamic State group over the past decade. 
  • Syria's army has seized swathes of the country's north, dislodging Kurdish forces from territory over which they held effective autonomy for more than a decade.
  • The SDF controls swathes of Syria's oil‑rich north and northeast, areas captured during the civil war and the fight against the Islamic State group over the past decade. 
Syria's army has seized swathes of the country's north, dislodging Kurdish forces from territory over which they held effective autonomy for more than a decade.
The government appeared to be extending its grip on Kurdish-run areas after President Ahmed al-Sharaa issued a decree declaring Kurdish a "national language" and granting the minority group official recognition.
The Kurds have said Friday's announcement fell short of their aspirations, while the implementation of a March deal -- intended to see Kurdish forces integrated into the state -- has stalled.
Government troops drove Kurdish forces from two Aleppo neighbourhoods last week and on Saturday took control of an area east of the city.
On Sunday, the government announced the capture of Tabqa, about 55 kilometres (34 miles) west of Raqa.
"The Syrian army controls the strategic city of Tabqa in the Raqqa countryside, including the Euphrates Dam, which is the largest dam in Syria," said Information Minister Hamza Almustafa, according to the official SANA news agency.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), however, said they had "taken the necessary measures to restore security and stability" in Tabqa.
In Deir Hafer, some 50 kilometres east of Aleppo city, an AFP correspondent saw several SDF fighters leaving the town and residents returning under heavy army presence.
Syria's army said four soldiers had been killed, while Kurdish forces reported several fighters dead. Both sides traded blame for violating a withdrawal deal.
Kurdish authorities ordered a curfew in the Raqa region after the army designated a swathe of territory southwest of the Euphrates River a "closed military zone", warning it would target what it said were several military sites.
The SANA news agency reported Sunday that the SDF destroyed two bridges over the Euphrates in Raqa city, which lies on the eastern bank of the river.
Raqa's media directorate separately accused the SDF of cutting off Raqa city's water supply by blowing up the main water pipes.
Deir Ezzor governor Ghassan Alsayed Ahmed said on social media that the SDF fired "rocket projectiles" at neighbourhoods in government-controlled territories in the city centre of Deir Ezzor, Al-Mayadin, and other areas.
The SDF said "factions affiliated with the Damascus government attacked our forces' positions" and caused clashes in several towns on the east bank of the Euphrates, opposite Al-Mayadin and which lie between Deir Ezzor and the Iraqi border.

'Betrayed'

On Friday, Syrian Kurdish leader and SDF chief Mazloum Abdi had committed to redeploying his forces from outside Aleppo to east of the Euphrates. 
But the SDF said Saturday that Damascus had "violated the recent agreements and betrayed our forces", with clashes erupting with troops south of Tabqa. 
The army urged the SDF to "immediately fulfil its announced commitments and fully withdraw" east of the river.
The SDF controls swathes of Syria's oil‑rich north and northeast, areas captured during the civil war and the fight against the Islamic State group over the past decade. 
US envoy Tom Barrack met Abdi in Erbil on Saturday, the presidency of Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region said.
While Washington has long supported Kurdish forces, it has also backed Syria's new authorities. 
US Central Command on Saturday urged Syrian government forces "to cease any offensive actions in the areas between Aleppo and al‑Tabqa".
France's President Emmanuel Macron and the president of Iraqi Kurdistan, Nechirvan Barzani, also called for de-escalation and a ceasefire.

Presidential decree

Sharaa's announcement on Friday marked the first formal recognition of Kurdish rights since Syria's independence in 1946.
The decree stated that Kurds are "an essential and integral part" of Syria, where they have suffered decades of marginalisation. 
It made Kurdish a "national language" and granted nationality to all Kurds -- around 20 percent of whom were stripped of it under a controversial 1962 census.
The Kurdish administration in Syria's northeast said the decree was "a first step" but "does not satisfy the aspirations and hopes of the Syrian people.
In Qamishli, the main Kurdish city in the country's northeast, Shebal Ali, 35, told AFP that "we want constitutional recognition of the Kurdish people's rights". 
Nanar Hawach, senior Syria analyst at the International Crisis Group, said the decree "offers cultural concessions while consolidating military control". 
"It does not address the northeast's calls for self-governance," he said. 
Also Saturday, the US military said a strike in northwest Syria had killed a militant linked to a deadly attack on three Americans last month.
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Denmark

Trump threatens Europe with tariffs over Greenland as protesters rally

BY ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS WITH PIERRE-HENRY DESHAYES IN NUUK

  • It was not immediately clear what authority the US president would invoke to impose the threatened tariffs of up to 25 percent. 
  • US President Donald Trump on Saturday escalated his quest to acquire Greenland, threatening multiple European nations with tariffs of up to 25 percent until he achieves his goal of controlling the Danish territory.
  • It was not immediately clear what authority the US president would invoke to impose the threatened tariffs of up to 25 percent. 
US President Donald Trump on Saturday escalated his quest to acquire Greenland, threatening multiple European nations with tariffs of up to 25 percent until he achieves his goal of controlling the Danish territory.
Trump's threats came as thousands of people protested in the capital of Greenland against his wish to acquire the mineral-rich island at the gateway to the Arctic.
Thousands more protested in Copenhagen and other Danish cities.
The US president aimed his ire at Denmark, a fellow NATO member, as well as several other European countries that have deployed troops in recent days to the vast autonomous territory with a population of 57,000.
If realized, Trump's threats against Washington's NATO partners would create unprecedented tension within the alliance.
From February 1, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Finland would be subject to a 10-percent tariff on all goods sent to the United States, Trump said on his Truth Social platform.
"On June 1st, 2026, the Tariff will be increased to 25%. This Tariff will be due and payable until such time as a Deal is reached for the Complete and Total purchase of Greenland," he wrote.
"These Countries, who are playing this very dangerous game, have put a level of risk in play that is not tenable or sustainable," Trump said.
"Therefore, it is imperative that, in order to protect Global Peace and Security, strong measures be taken so that this potentially perilous situation end quickly, and without question."
Trump added that he was "immediately open to negotiation with Denmark and/or any of these Countries."
Denmark called Trump's announcement a "surprise," British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said it was "completely wrong," and French President Emmanuel Macron added: "Tariff threats are unacceptable and have no place in this context."
"We won't let ourselves be intimidated," Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson told AFP, adding that the governments involved were working on a joint response.
In a statement, European Union leaders said the bloc "stands in full solidarity with Denmark and the people of Greenland." 
An extraordinary meeting of EU ambassadors has been called in Brussels for Sunday afternoon.
Greenlandic minister Naaja Nathanielsen on Saturday praised the reaction of European countries, saying she was "thankful and hopeful for diplomacy and allieship (sic) to prevail."

'Make America Go Away'

In Nuuk, thousands of people, including the territory's prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, waved Greenlandic flags, chanted slogans and sang traditional Inuit songs under light rain. 
Many wore caps with the words "Make America Go Away" -- a riff on Trump's "Make America Great Again" slogan.
"We don't want Trump invading Greenland, that is the message," 44-year-old nurse Paarniq Larsen Strum said at the Nuuk rally, calling the situation "nerve-wracking."
"We demand respect for our country's right to self-determination and for us as a people," added protest organizer Avijaja Rosing-Olsen. 
In Copenhagen, charity worker Kirsten Hjoernholm, 52, said it was important to show unity with Greenlanders.
"You cannot be bullied by an ally. It's about international law," she said.
Around her, demonstrators waved the flags of Denmark and Greenland while chanting "Kalaallit Nunaat!" -- the vast Arctic island's name in Greenlandic.
Some also held placards saying "USA already has too much ICE," referring to Trump's deployment of federal immigration officers in US cities, while others chanted "Greenland is not for sale."

US 'security' claims

Trump has repeatedly claimed that the United States needs Greenland for US "national security," while alleging without evidence that China and Russia are trying to control it.
Those two countries have increased their security presence in the Arctic, but have not made any claims over its sovereignty.
France said the European military exercise in Greenland was designed to show the world that it will defend the territory.
Denmark said the US had been invited to join the drill.
It was not immediately clear what authority the US president would invoke to impose the threatened tariffs of up to 25 percent. 
Since returning to the presidency, Trump has unleashed sweeping tariffs on goods from virtually all trading partners, to address what Washington says are unfair trade practices and as a tool to press governments.
Washington and the European Union struck a deal last summer to lower US tariffs on key European goods, with the deal currently being implemented.
Also on Saturday, US lawmakers were wrapping up a visit to Copenhagen for talks with Greenlandic and Danish politicians.
The group, led by Democratic Senator Chris Coons, told reporters that Trump's stance was not backed by the majority of Americans.
It is also roundly rejected by Greenlanders, 85 percent of whom -- according to the latest poll published in January 2025 -- oppose the territory joining the United States. Only six percent were in favor.
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