conflict

Russian ambassador slams EU frozen assets plan for Ukraine

climate

Sri Lanka unveils cyclone aid plan as rains persist

BY AMAL JAYASINGHE

  • The DMC said nearly 75,000 homes were damaged, including close to 5,000 that were completely destroyed by last week's disasters.
  • Disaster-hit Sri Lanka has unveiled a major compensation package to rebuild homes damaged by a deadly cyclone, even as the island prepared on Saturday for further landslides and flooding.
  • The DMC said nearly 75,000 homes were damaged, including close to 5,000 that were completely destroyed by last week's disasters.
Disaster-hit Sri Lanka has unveiled a major compensation package to rebuild homes damaged by a deadly cyclone, even as the island prepared on Saturday for further landslides and flooding.
The government has confirmed 611 deaths, with another 213 unaccounted for and feared dead, in what President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has called the country's most challenging natural disaster.
The Disaster Management Centre (DMC) issued fresh landslide warnings in several areas of the worst-affected Central Province, with the northeast monsoon gathering over the island and bringing more rain.
More than two million people -- nearly 10 percent of the population -- have been affected by last week's floods and landslides, the worst this century.
Survivors will be offered up to 10 million rupees ($33,000) to buy land in a safer location and build a new house, the finance ministry said in a statement late on Friday.
They will also receive livelihood support, including cash to pay for children's school books, kitchen appliances, bedding and rent if they are not given accommodation by the state.
The government did not say how much the bold package would cost, a concern given the country's recent economic turbulence. 
A senior official earlier said recovery and reconstruction might cost up to $7 billion.
The central bank has ordered commercial banks, both state-owned and private, to reschedule loans of affected people and not to impose penalties on defaulting borrowers.
The government is also offering one million rupees in compensation for each person killed or left permanently disabled.
The DMC said nearly 75,000 homes were damaged, including close to 5,000 that were completely destroyed by last week's disasters.
Around 150,000 people remain in state-run shelters, down from a peak of 225,000.
The air force said it was still using helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft on Saturday to supply communities cut off by landslides in the centre of the country.

IMF request

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Friday it was considering Sri Lanka's request for an additional $200 million, on top of the $347 million tranche the country was already due to receive this month.
"The IMF remains closely engaged with the Sri Lankan authorities... and is committed to supporting the country," the Washington-based lender said.
Cyclone Ditwah devastated swathes of Sri Lanka as it was emerging from its severe 2022 economic crisis, following a four-year, $2.9 billion bailout loan agreed with the IMF in early 2023.
Dissanayake told parliament on Friday that Sri Lanka's economy had made a significant recovery, but was not strong enough to withstand the latest shock alone.
Despite assistance from the military and volunteers in flooded communities, fresh rains have hampered clean-up operations.
Residents evacuated from the landslide-prone central hills have been told not to return immediately, even if their homes were unaffected by the slips.
aj/mjw

Nobel

Venezuela's Machado vows to make Nobel Peace Prize ceremony

BY PIERRE-HENRY DESHAYES

  • Venezuela's attorney general, Tarek William Saab, told AFP last month that Machado, 58, would be considered a "fugitive" if she travelled to Norway to accept the peace prize, which she was awarded on October 10.
  • Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado has vowed to go to Norway to pick up her Nobel Peace Prize, defying a warning from Caracas that she would be a fugitive if she did so.
  • Venezuela's attorney general, Tarek William Saab, told AFP last month that Machado, 58, would be considered a "fugitive" if she travelled to Norway to accept the peace prize, which she was awarded on October 10.
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado has vowed to go to Norway to pick up her Nobel Peace Prize, defying a warning from Caracas that she would be a fugitive if she did so.
The head of the Nobel Institute, Kristian Berg Harpviken, told AFP on Saturday that Machado -- who lives in hiding in her country -- promised him she would make the ceremony, which is to take place in Oslo on Wednesday.
"I was in contact with Machado last night (Friday) and she confirms that she will be in Oslo for the ceremony," Kristian Berg Harpviken said.
"Given the security situation, we cannot say more about the date or how she will arrive," he said.
He added, on NRK radio, that "nothing is ever 100-percent sure, but this is as certain as it can possibly be".
Venezuela's attorney general, Tarek William Saab, told AFP last month that Machado, 58, would be considered a "fugitive" if she travelled to Norway to accept the peace prize, which she was awarded on October 10.
The December 10 date of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony coincides with the anniversary of the death of Alfred Nobel, the Swedish inventor of dynamite who left most of his fortune to be used for prizes for people who have brought "the greatest benefit" to humanity.
Opposition activism in Venezuela has been muted since the arrest of some 2,400 people during protests that followed the most recent reelection of President Nicolas Maduro in July 2024.
Machado has accused Maduro of stealing the election which she was banned from standing in, a claim backed by much of the international community.
Machado, in hiding since August 2024, is a supporter of US President Donald Trump who himself has long coveted the prestigious Nobel peace award. 
Trump and so far been unsuccessful, despite intense lobbying on his behalf.
Since returning to the White House for his second term in January, Trump has insisted that he deserved the Nobel for his role in resolving numerous conflicts.

'Decisive support'

The White House even lashed out at the Norwegian Nobel Committee after it gave the award to Machado, claiming it had placed "politics over peace".
However, Machado swiftly dedicated her award not only to the "suffering people of Venezuela", but also to the US president who, she said, had lent "decisive support of our cause".
"More than ever we count on President Trump," she wrote on X.
Trump has since became the recipient of a different peace prize: one created by the world football association FIFA and handed to him at the 2026 World Cup draw Friday.
A smiling Trump called the award "truly one of the great honours of my life", and claimed again that "we saved millions and millions of lives".
Machado agrees with Washington's assessment that Maduro heads a drug cartel, and has welcomed a beefed-up US military presence in the region, which has seen strikes on alleged drug boats.
Trump's administration insists it is effectively at war with alleged "narco-terrorists". But Maduro has accused Washington of using drug trafficking as a pretext for "imposing regime change" in Caracas.
Maduro has rejected a "slave's peace" for the region, amid mounting fears of US military action against his country.
The months-long US military campaign has so far killed at least 87 people dead in more than 20 strikes, including a "double-tap" strike in which two men clinging to the wreckage of their vessel were killed.
phy-jh/rmb

family

Kidnapping fears strain family bonds in Nigeria

BY AMINU ABUBAKAR

  • Abdullahi's dilemma is not peculiar to him, but shared by many residents of Minna, now separated from their families and friends in the countryside over kidnapping fears. 
  • Abubakar Abdullahi has not seen his wife and five children in almost three months because he is too afraid to visit his home town for fear of being kidnapped by criminal gangs roaming Nigeria's countryside.
  • Abdullahi's dilemma is not peculiar to him, but shared by many residents of Minna, now separated from their families and friends in the countryside over kidnapping fears. 
Abubakar Abdullahi has not seen his wife and five children in almost three months because he is too afraid to visit his home town for fear of being kidnapped by criminal gangs roaming Nigeria's countryside.
He has remained in Minna, the capital of the central Nigerian state of Niger where he works as a civil servant. He has resorted to only calling his family living in the town of Kontagora, 200 kilometres (125 miles) away. 
Kontagora is located halfway from Papiri where more than 300 school children were abducted from their dormitories two weeks ago in one of Nigeria's worst mass kidnappings.
"I'm too scared to visit my family because of kidnappers," the 45-year-old Abdullahi told AFP at a restaurant in the city. 
"I only communicate with them on phone and send them upkeep money electronically at the end of each month," said Abdullahi as he waited for his order. 
He is yet to overcome the trauma of the kidnap of his elder brother in 2022 from his Kontagora home and held for three months before he was freed after the family was forced to raise 50 million naira ($35,000) ransom.
Abdullahi's dilemma is not peculiar to him, but shared by many residents of Minna, now separated from their families and friends in the countryside over kidnapping fears. 
Mamman Alassan has not visited his village in Shiroro district since he moved to Minna three years ago.  
"We cannot go home to visit our people because nobody will risk his life," said Alassan outside a jewelry shop. "Social interactions between us have become less"
Niger is a predominantly Muslim state with significant Christian population and religiously mixed communities live side-by-side. 
"We are a culturally and religiously mixed society with close kinship ties but the current security situation has made people stop going to see their people in the villages," James David Gaza, a Catholic priest said after mass outside his church. 
"This is pulling us apart and destroying our social bonds," Gaza said. 
With families getting together for Christmas lunches and exchanging wrapped gifts in a few weeks, in parts of Nigeria these will be through phone calls and electronic money transfers.
"All social interactions with people in rural areas such as weddings, naming ceremonies, funerals have considerably reduced due to the prevailing situation," said Isyaku Ibrahim Gada, a perfumer at the bustling Minna market. 

'Network of informants'

Niger is one of several states in northwest and central Nigeria that have for years been terrorised by criminal gangs called bandits who raid villages, abduct residents and burn homes after looting them. 
Although they live in the forest, bandits keep track of people in communities through networks of local informants who spy on people and inform them about potential targets. 
"They believe everyone from the city has money which is why we are always their target," Abdullahi said. 
Niger is the largest of Nigeria's 36 states in terms of landmass, which is more than twice the size of Belgium. 
Its vast forests provide sanctuary for bandits. Once a victim is seized escape is rare. 
Victims are only released after ransom payment, and those whose families fail to pay are killed. 
Isah Usman, 52, skipped his brother-in-law's wedding in Kontagora two weeks ago. 
"We no longer visit home, we only call and send whatever financial help we can offer to your relatives over there," said Usman, a civil servant. 
Even the recent arrest of eight suspected bandit informants in Kontagora will not make Usman change his mind.

'Dull' festive season

Two weeks to Christmas business is "slow" and "dull" for Ifeoma Onyejekwe, a second-hand clothes trader. 
Hailing from the eastern Nigeria, she has over the years built a strong bond with her customers from rural communities who she considers "relations".
But these customers have stopped coming, and she can't take her business to them either, fearing highway kidnapping. 
"They are afraid to come in and we are afraid to go and meet them," said Onyejekwe. 
"The relationship now is not that close." 
abu/sn/giv   

conflict

Russian strikes on Ukraine trigger heating, water cuts

  • Russia launched 653 drones and 51 missiles at Ukraine, Kyiv's air force said on Saturday.
  • Russian drone and missile strikes on Ukraine have targeted critical infrastructure, including energy sites and railways, triggering heating and water outages for thousands of households, Kyiv said on Saturday.
  • Russia launched 653 drones and 51 missiles at Ukraine, Kyiv's air force said on Saturday.
Russian drone and missile strikes on Ukraine have targeted critical infrastructure, including energy sites and railways, triggering heating and water outages for thousands of households, Kyiv said on Saturday.
The latest wave of aerial strikes, through Friday night into Saturday, came as Ukrainian negotiators were to meet in Florida with American envoys for a third straight day of talks on the US-drafted plan on how to end the almost four-year war.
Russia launched 653 drones and 51 missiles at Ukraine, Kyiv's air force said on Saturday.
"The main targets of these strikes, once again, were energy facilities," President Volodymyr Zelensky said on social media.
"Russia's aim is to inflict suffering on millions of Ukrainians," he said.
The drones and missiles had also targeted energy facilities in the Chernigiv, Zaporizhzhia, Lviv, and Dnipropetrovsk regions, Kyiv officials said.
In the Odesa region, "9,500 subscribers remain without heat supply and 34,000 subscribers remain without water supply due to damage," Restoration Minister Oleksiy Kuleba said.
A Russian drone strike also hit and "burned down the main railway station building in Fastiv," a city around 70 kilometres (45 miles) southwest of Kyiv, Zelensky said. 
There were no casualties, but "suburban train traffic has been disrupted," Ukraine's state rail operator Ukrzaliznytsya added.
An emergency coordination meeting of Ukrainian ministers was convened in the wake of the strikes, Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said on X.  
Additional "rolling power outages will be required across the country" to stabilise the system while repairs continued, she added.
Neighbouring Moldova's national energy provider said it was also affected by the strikes.
"Following attacks on Ukraine's energy system... an important energy group has been disconnected and the interconnection lines are close to their limit," Moldelectrica said on social media.
It said it had "requested emergency assistance from Romania as a preventive measure for the next few hours," and urged citizens to "consume electricity rationally".
Despite the US-led push to end the conflict, Russia has routinely targeted Ukraine's power and heating grid, destroying a large part of the key civilian infrastructure.
As with previous waves of attacks, the Russian defence ministry said its strikes had targeted "Ukrainian military-industrial complex enterprises and the energy facilities that support them," and added that "all designated targets were hit".
bur-mmp/rmb

conflict

Mediators Qatar, Egypt call for next steps in Gaza truce

BY CALLUM PATON

  • Under a second phase of the deal, which has yet to begin, Israel is to withdraw from its positions in the territory, an interim authority is to take over governance, and an international stabilisation force is to be deployed. 
  • Qatar and Egypt, guarantors of the Gaza ceasefire, on Saturday called for the withdrawal of Israeli troops and the deployment of an international stabilisation force as the necessary next steps in fully implementing the fragile agreement.
  • Under a second phase of the deal, which has yet to begin, Israel is to withdraw from its positions in the territory, an interim authority is to take over governance, and an international stabilisation force is to be deployed. 
Qatar and Egypt, guarantors of the Gaza ceasefire, on Saturday called for the withdrawal of Israeli troops and the deployment of an international stabilisation force as the necessary next steps in fully implementing the fragile agreement.
The measures were spelled out in the US- and UN-backed peace plan that has largely halted the fighting in the Palestinian territory, though the warring parties have yet to agree on how to move forward from the deal's first phase. 
Its initial steps saw Israeli troops pull back behind a so-called "yellow line" within Gaza's borders, while Palestinian militant group Hamas released the living hostages it still held and handed over the remains of all but one of the deceased.
"Now we are at the critical moment... A ceasefire cannot be completed unless there is a full withdrawal of the Israeli forces, (and) there is stability back in Gaza," Qatari premier Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani told the Doha Forum, an annual diplomatic conference.
Qatar, alongside Egypt and the United States, helped secure the long-elusive truce in Gaza, which came into effect on October 10 and has mostly halted two years of fighting between Israel and Hamas. 
Under a second phase of the deal, which has yet to begin, Israel is to withdraw from its positions in the territory, an interim authority is to take over governance, and an international stabilisation force is to be deployed. 
"We need to deploy this force as soon as possible on the ground because one party, which is Israel, is every day violating the ceasefire," said Egypt's Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, also speaking at the Doha Forum. 
Arab and Muslim nations, however, have been hesitant to participate in the new force, which could end up fighting Palestinian militants.

'Main objective'

Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told the forum that talks on the force were ongoing and critical questions remained as to its command structure and which countries would contribute. 
But its first goal, Fidan said, "should be to separate Palestinians from the Israelis". 
"This should be our main objective. Then we can address the other remaining issues," he added.
Abdelatty seconded the idea, calling for the force to be deployed along "the yellow line in order to verify and to monitor" the truce.
There have been multiple deadly incidents of Israeli forces firing on Palestinians in the vicinity of the yellow line since the ceasefire went into effect.
Hamas is supposed to disarm under the 20-point plan first outlined by US President Donald Trump, with members who decommission their weapons allowed to leave Gaza. The militant group has repeatedly rejected the proposition.
Turkey, which is also a guarantor of the truce, has indicated it wants to take part in the stabilisation force, but its efforts are viewed unfavourably in Israel, which considers Ankara too close to Hamas.

Rafah crossing

Sheikh Mohammed said Qatar and the other truce guarantors were "getting together in order to force the way forward for the next phase" of the deal. 
"And this next phase is just also temporary from our perspective," he said, calling for a "lasting solution that provides justice for both people".
The ceasefire plan calls for Gaza's vital Rafah crossing on the border with Egypt to be reopened to allow in aid -- a goal shared by humanitarian actors.
Israel this week said it would open the checkpoint, but "exclusively for the exit of residents from the Gaza Strip to Egypt".
Egypt swiftly denied that it had agreed to such a move, insisting the crossing be opened in both directions.
Israel's announcement drew expressions of concern from several Muslim-majority nations, who said they opposed "any attempts to expel the Palestinian people from their land".
Abdelatty insisted on Saturday that Rafah "is not going to be a gateway for displacement. It's only for flooding Gaza with humanitarian and medical care".
csp/smw/dc

award

Venezuela's Machado to receive peace prize in Oslo: Nobel Institute

  • Venezuela's attorney general, Tarek William Saab, told AFP last month that Machado would be considered a "fugitive" if she travelled to Norway to accept the peace prize, which she was awarded on October 10.
  • Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who lives in hiding in her country, has confirmed she will travel to Oslo to receive her Nobel Peace Prize, the head of the Nobel Institute told AFP on Saturday.
  • Venezuela's attorney general, Tarek William Saab, told AFP last month that Machado would be considered a "fugitive" if she travelled to Norway to accept the peace prize, which she was awarded on October 10.
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who lives in hiding in her country, has confirmed she will travel to Oslo to receive her Nobel Peace Prize, the head of the Nobel Institute told AFP on Saturday.
"I was in contact with Machado last night (Friday) and she confirms that she will be in Oslo for the ceremony," Kristian Berg Harpviken said.
"Given the security situation, we cannot say more about the date or how she will arrive," he added.
Venezuela's attorney general, Tarek William Saab, told AFP last month that Machado would be considered a "fugitive" if she travelled to Norway to accept the peace prize, which she was awarded on October 10.
The Nobel Peace Prize ceremony formally handing over the award is to take place on Wednesday in Oslo.
Opposition activism in Venezuela has been muted since the arrest of some 2,400 people during protests that followed the most recent reelection of President Nicolas Maduro in July 2024.
Machado has accused Maduro of stealing the election, a claim backed by much of the international community.
Machado, in hiding since August 2024, is a supporter of US President Donald Trump and agrees with Washington's assessment that Maduro heads a drug cartel. 
The Nobel Peace laureate has welcomed a beefed-up US military presence in the region, which has seen strikes on alleged drug boats.
phy/jh/rmb

film

Egyptian actor faces challenge in iconic role of singer Umm Kulthum

BY KAOUTHAR OUDRHIRI

  • - Power, vulnerability - Listeners beyond the Arab world have also been mesmerised by Umm Kulthum, with Bob Dylan once calling her "one of my favourite singers of all time".
  • It took Egyptian actor Mona Zaki more than a year's preparation to take on the hardest role of her career -- the iconic singer Umm Kulthum, a legend in the Arab world.
  • - Power, vulnerability - Listeners beyond the Arab world have also been mesmerised by Umm Kulthum, with Bob Dylan once calling her "one of my favourite singers of all time".
It took Egyptian actor Mona Zaki more than a year's preparation to take on the hardest role of her career -- the iconic singer Umm Kulthum, a legend in the Arab world.
Marwan Hamed's "El Sett" ("The Lady") premiered this week at the Marrakech International Film Festival, where Zaki told AFP about the daunting task she faced.
"I was very scared at the beginning," she said. "I didn't know where to start."
Zaki is one of Egypt's more recognisable actors but her fears were not unfounded.
Half a century after her death, Umm Kulthum remains a towering cultural figure across the region, distinguished by her unmistakable voice, marathon-length performances, and signature scarf and sunglasses.
So telling the story of a woman in a small Nile Delta village in 1898 who grew up to enrapture millions of listeners proved difficult for Zaki.
The 49-year-old actor said she spent 15 months studying the singer's physicality, posture and vocal timbre, even though she does not sing in her own voice in the film.

'Alive among us'

The film does not open in Egypt but in Paris, where Umm Kulthum took to the stage in 1967 before a sold-out, frenzied Olympia.
She begins "Enta Omri", her most celebrated ballad, as a euphoric fan rushes towards her and collapses before her feet.
The singer donated profits from that show to the Egyptian army for its war against Israel, which was then occupying the Sinai Peninsula.
The movie then rewinds to her childhood in the Nile Delta, where her imam father would disguise her as a boy to perform religious chants in public.
Her father recognised her talent early on, but still feared the ire of an early 20th-century conservative society.
"There's something unbelievable about her journey," said director Hamed, who like many Arabs grew up mesmerised by Umm Kulthum's singing.
"She has all the elements of a unique story."
Hamed told AFP the singer remains "quite alive among us" half a century after her death.
"Not only because of her voice, but also because of what her voice carried for the people," he said.

Power, vulnerability

Listeners beyond the Arab world have also been mesmerised by Umm Kulthum, with Bob Dylan once calling her "one of my favourite singers of all time".
Her music revolutionised Arabic music, blending classical poetry with grand orchestral arrangements.
But her hours-long live performances further set her apart from her peers.
"When you watch her on stage, you see a lot of power, but actually behind that was a lot of vulnerability," Hamed said.
"The struggles and the obstacles that she had to go through, her power and her strength were really phenomenal."
After her covert performances in her Egyptian village, Umm Kulthum moved to Cairo in the 1920s and within a decade she rose to fame beyond Egypt.
"She is the voice of the Arab people and embodies hope, strength, and resistance," said Zaki.
Hamed lauded Umm Kulthum for forcing "her choices on the audience, whether in Egypt, the Arab world, or beyond".
He said the film would be a celebration of "her legacy and how she created that legacy" for decades beyond her life.
"Her journey of transformation is not a simple journey," he said.
kao/iba/bou/jfx/dc

weather

Starvation fears as flood toll passes 900 in Indonesia

BY ALFATH ASMUNDA

  • Indonesia's death toll rose to 908 on Saturday, according to the disaster management agency, with 410 people missing. 
  • Ruinous floods and landslides have killed more than 900 people on Indonesia's island of Sumatra, the country's disaster management agency said Saturday, with fears that starvation could send the toll even higher. 
  • Indonesia's death toll rose to 908 on Saturday, according to the disaster management agency, with 410 people missing. 
Ruinous floods and landslides have killed more than 900 people on Indonesia's island of Sumatra, the country's disaster management agency said Saturday, with fears that starvation could send the toll even higher. 
A chain of tropical storms and monsoonal rains has pummelled Southeast and South Asia, triggering landslides and flash floods from the Sumatran rainforest to the highland plantations of Sri Lanka.
More than 1,790 people have been killed in natural disasters unfolding across Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam over the past week.
In Indonesia's provinces of Aceh and North Sumatra, floods have swept away roads, smothered houses in silt, and cut off supplies. 
Aceh governor Muzakir Manaf said response teams were still searching for bodies in "waist-deep" mud.
However, starvation was one of the gravest threats now hanging over remote and inaccessible villages.
"Many people need basic necessities. Many areas remain untouched in the remote areas of Aceh," he told reporters.
"People are not dying from the flood, but from starvation. That's how it is." 
Entire villages had been washed away in the rainforest-cloaked Aceh Tamiang region, Muzakir said. 
"The Aceh Tamiang region is completely destroyed, from the top to the bottom, down to the roads and down to the sea. 
"Many villages and sub-districts are now just names," he said. 
Aceh Tamiang flood victim Fachrul Rozi said he had spent the past week crammed into an old shop building with others who had fled the rising waters.
"We ate whatever was available, helping each other with the little supplies each resident had brought," he told AFP.  
"We slept crammed together."
Aceh resident Munawar Liza Zainal said he felt "betrayed" by the Indonesian government, which has so far shrugged off pressure to declare a national disaster. 
"This is an extraordinary disaster that must be faced with extraordinary measures," he told AFP, echoing frustrations voiced by other flood victims.
"If national disaster status is only declared later, what's the point?"
Declaring a national disaster would free up resources and help government agencies coordinate their response. 
Analysts have suggested Indonesia could be reluctant to declare a disaster -- and seek additional foreign aid -- because it would show it was not up to the task.
Indonesia's government this week insisted it could handle the fallout. 

Climate calamity

The scale of devastation has only just become clear in other parts of Sumatra as engorged rivers shrink and floodwaters recede. 
AFP photos showed muddy villagers salvaging silt-encrusted furniture from flooded houses in Aek Ngadol, North Sumatra.
Humanitarian groups worry that the scale of the calamity could be unprecedented, even for a nation prone to natural disasters. 
Indonesia's death toll rose to 908 on Saturday, according to the disaster management agency, with 410 people missing. 
Sri Lanka's death toll jumped on Friday to 607, as the government warned that fresh rains raised the risk of new landslides. 
Thailand has reported 276 deaths and Malaysia two, while at least two people were killed in Vietnam after heavy rains triggered a series of landslides. 
Seasonal monsoon rains are a feature of life in Southeast Asia, flooding rice fields and nourishing the growth of other key crops. 
However, climate change is making the phenomenon more erratic, unpredictable and deadly throughout the region.
Environmentalists and Indonesia's government have also suggested that logging and deforestation exacerbated landslides and flooding in Sumatra. 
bur-sft/rsc

Thailand

Myanmar citizens head to early polls in Bangkok

BY LAPYAE KO

  • Meanwhile early voting abroad has begun at a few Myanmar embassies, including in Hong Kong, Singapore, Chiang Mai and Bangkok.
  • A few dozen early voters in Myanmar's widely criticised elections cast their ballots at the country's embassy in Bangkok on Saturday as polls opened for citizens abroad.
  • Meanwhile early voting abroad has begun at a few Myanmar embassies, including in Hong Kong, Singapore, Chiang Mai and Bangkok.
A few dozen early voters in Myanmar's widely criticised elections cast their ballots at the country's embassy in Bangkok on Saturday as polls opened for citizens abroad.
Myanmar's junta snatched power in a 2021 coup which plunged the country into a many-sided civil war, but it promises that phased polls -- slated to begin in certain areas in late December -- will move the country towards peace and democracy.
But its election commission on Saturday called off vote-holding in almost 1,600 village areas, a major cancellation of already-limited polls. 
Meanwhile early voting abroad has begun at a few Myanmar embassies, including in Hong Kong, Singapore, Chiang Mai and Bangkok.
There was a heavy police presence on Saturday at the Bangkok embassy, where AFP journalists saw around 25 people sign up in the first two hours of polling. 
Several voters declined to offer comment, but Moe Moe Lwin, 42, said she believed peace would follow the election.
"I came to vote as I want peace and I want to live with love and kindness," she told AFP. "I want to see unity between Myanmar citizens."
Construction worker and first-time voter Khun Kyaw Swe said he hoped to see educational and regional development after the election.
There are around half a million documented Myanmar nationals in the capital, according to Thailand's labour ministry.
The International Organization for Migration estimates there are 4.1 million Myanmar nationals residing in Thailand, many of whom have fled the war and are undocumented. 
Officials at the embassy told AFP they did not know how many people had filled the required voting registration form, which had an October 15 deadline. 

Vote limited in scope

Deposed lawmakers excluded from the vote, human rights monitors and rebel groups opposing the junta have dismissed the election as a charade to disguise continuing military rule.
A Master's student at Thailand's Chulalongkorn University said Saturday he refused to take part in an election he described as a "fake showcase".
The 29-year-old, who requested anonymity for security reasons, said there is "no hope" for an election held "while civilians are oppressed, displaced, and denied basic rights of citizens".
"There will be a few individuals who may feel pressured or forced to vote," he said, but the majority of Myanmar people living in Thailand "don't accept" the election.
On Saturday, the junta-stacked Union Election Commission (UEC) announced that voting in 1,585 village areas had been called off.
The territories "have been deemed not conducive to holding free and fair elections", it said in a statement published in Burmese-language newspapers.
In September, the junta said its long-promised election would not be held in about one in seven national parliament constituencies.
The military government introduced broad new legislation ahead of the polls, including clauses punishing protesting or criticising the election with up to a decade in prison.
There have been other signs that the poll will be limited in scope.
A census held last year in preparation for the election estimated it failed to collect data from 19 million of the country's 51 million people, according to provisional findings.
bur-sjc/rsc

conflict

Ukraine, US to meet for third day, agree 'real progress' depends on Russia

  • "Both parties agreed that real progress toward any agreement depends on Russia's readiness to show serious commitment to long-term peace, including steps toward de-escalation and cessation of killings," said a readout of the Miami talks posted on X by Witkoff on Friday.
  • Ukrainian and US officials will hold a third straight day of talks in Miami on Saturday, with Washington saying the two sides agreed that "real progress" would depend on Russia's willingness to end the war.
  • "Both parties agreed that real progress toward any agreement depends on Russia's readiness to show serious commitment to long-term peace, including steps toward de-escalation and cessation of killings," said a readout of the Miami talks posted on X by Witkoff on Friday.
Ukrainian and US officials will hold a third straight day of talks in Miami on Saturday, with Washington saying the two sides agreed that "real progress" would depend on Russia's willingness to end the war.
President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner have been meeting top Ukrainian negotiator Rustem Umerov and Andrii Hnatov, the chief of staff of Kyiv's armed forces.
The talks come after Witkoff and Kushner met Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin on Tuesday to discuss a US plan to end the conflict, but Moscow rejected parts of the proposal.
"Both parties agreed that real progress toward any agreement depends on Russia's readiness to show serious commitment to long-term peace, including steps toward de-escalation and cessation of killings," said a readout of the Miami talks posted on X by Witkoff on Friday.
The US and Ukrainian officials "also agreed on the framework of security arrangements and discussed necessary deterrence capabilities to sustain a lasting peace."
Washington's plan involves Ukraine surrendering land that Russia has not been able to win on the battlefield in return for security promises that fall short of Kyiv's aspirations to join NATO.
But the nature of the security guarantees that Ukraine could get have so far been shrouded in uncertainty, beyond an initial plan saying that jets to defend Kyiv could be based in Poland.
The US plan has been through several drafts since it first emerged late last month, amid initial criticisms that it was too soft on Russia, which invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
Witkoff, Trump's former business partner-turned-roving global ambassador, and investor Kushner had hoped to persuade Putin to play ball but came away from Moscow without a deal.

'Genuinely friendly'

Still, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said the five-hour late-night Moscow meeting on Tuesday was cordial and he praised Kushner joining the talks, which have been going on since spring.
Putin and Witkoff "had a genuinely friendly conversation and they understand each other perfectly," Ushakov said on Russian state TV on Friday.
"A new person has joined us, and I would say that he has turned out to be very useful," he said of Kushner.
On the Ukrainian side, Mykhailo Podolyak, an advisor to President Volodymyr Zelensky, wrote on social media Friday that "the diplomatic process takes place mostly behind the scenes."
"Ukraine seeks to end the war and is ready for talks," Podolyak said, adding: "The United States wants a pragmatic process and a quick end to the war, expecting compromises from both sides."
Trump said Wednesday that the envoys had a "reasonably good meeting" with Putin, insisting that they had the "strong impression" that he would like to end the war. 
Trump has blown hot and cold on Ukraine since returning to office in January, initially embracing Putin and chastising Zelensky for not being grateful for US support.
But he has also grown frustrated that his efforts to persuade Putin to end the war, including a summit in Alaska, have failed to produce results and recently slapped sanctions on Russian oil firms.
Putin, who was in India this week meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said the talks were "complex" but that he wanted to engage with Trump's plan "rather than obstruct it."
Russian troops have been grinding forward across the front line against outgunned and outnumbered Ukrainian forces.
Moscow was "massively attacking" the Kyiv region with drones and missiles early on Saturday, regional governor Mykola Kalashnyk said on Telegram, adding that three people were wounded in the attack.
For its part, Russia's defense ministry said it intercepted and destroyed 116 Ukrainian drones overnight.
dk/sst/tc/mtp

Thailand

Myanmar citizens head to early polls in Bangkok

  • The phased election is slated to begin in certain parts of the country in late December, but early voting abroad has begun at a few Myanmar embassies, including in Hong Kong, Singapore, Chiang Mai and Bangkok.
  • A few dozen early voters in Myanmar's widely criticised elections cast their ballots at the country's embassy in Bangkok on Saturday as polls opened for citizens abroad.
  • The phased election is slated to begin in certain parts of the country in late December, but early voting abroad has begun at a few Myanmar embassies, including in Hong Kong, Singapore, Chiang Mai and Bangkok.
A few dozen early voters in Myanmar's widely criticised elections cast their ballots at the country's embassy in Bangkok on Saturday as polls opened for citizens abroad.
Myanmar's junta snatched power in a 2021 coup which plunged the country into a many-sided civil war, but it promises that polls will move the country towards peace and democracy.
The phased election is slated to begin in certain parts of the country in late December, but early voting abroad has begun at a few Myanmar embassies, including in Hong Kong, Singapore, Chiang Mai and Bangkok.
There was a heavy police presence on Saturday morning at the Bangkok embassy, where AFP journalists saw around 25 people sign up in the first two hours of polling. 
Several voters declined to offer comment.
There are around half a million documented Myanmar nationals in the capital, according to Thailand's labour ministry.
The International Organization for Migration estimates there are 4.1 million Myanmar nationals residing in Thailand, many of whom have fled the war and are undocumented. 
Officials at the embassy told AFP they did not know how many people had filled the required voting registration form, which had an October 15 deadline. 
Deposed lawmakers excluded from the vote, human rights monitors and rebel groups opposing the junta have dismissed the election as a charade to disguise continuing military rule.
The military government introduced broad new legislation ahead of the polls, including clauses punishing protesting or criticising the election with up to a decade in prison.
bur-sjc/rsc

Avatar

Avatar 3 aims to become end-of-year blockbuster

BY ANTOINE GUY

  • – Artificial intelligence - Filming for the second and third Avatar films took place between 2017 and 2018 over 18 months, well before the rise of generative artificial intelligence.
  • The third film in the Avatar series, which will hit cinemas this month, is hoping to extend the success of one of the highest-grossing franchises in history with another environment-themed visual thriller.
  • – Artificial intelligence - Filming for the second and third Avatar films took place between 2017 and 2018 over 18 months, well before the rise of generative artificial intelligence.
The third film in the Avatar series, which will hit cinemas this month, is hoping to extend the success of one of the highest-grossing franchises in history with another environment-themed visual thriller.
"Avatar: Fire and Ash", directed by James Cameron 16 years after he first enthralled fans with his blue-coloured Na'vi people, will release in major markets from December 17 ahead of the holiday season.
The first Avatar made a record $2.9 billion at the global box office, while 2022's follow up "The Way of Water" scored around $2.3 billion despite the post-Covid slump in cinemas, according to figures from The Hollywood Reporter.
Here is what you need to know about the new film which premiered in Hollywood and Paris this week:
– Family and immigration -
Viewers find the hero Jake (Sam Worthington), who has since become Toruk Makto, a warrior with legendary status, and his wife Neytiri (Zoe Saldana), mourning the death of their eldest son Neteyam on their planet Pandora.
They are attempting to rebuild with their three children, including Kiri, an adopted Na'vi teenager played by Sigourney Weaver, and a human, Spider (Jack Champion), considered part of the family by all except Neytiri.
"We're seeing the children coming up and trying to find their place in a world when they're mixed-race children - mom is 100-percent Na'vi, dyed-in-the-wool, traditionalist. Dad is from another star system," Cameron told a Paris press conference on Friday.
"We're dealing with a refugee family, essentially immigrants displaced. People can relate to that," the 71-year-old Canadian added.
– A new antagonist -
On their travels, the heroes encounter the Mangkwan, the Ash People, a Na’vi community whose territory was destroyed by a volcano and who now survive through pillaging.
The Mangkwan are led by Varang, played by Oona Chaplin, granddaughter of Charlie Chaplin. 
She reveals a darker side of the Na’vi, until now portrayed as virtuous and living in total harmony with nature, in contrast to money-obsessed humans who are intent on looting their resources.
– An ecological fable - 
Once again, the inhabitants of Pandora must resist the "sky people", the humans of the Resources Development Administration, who are preparing a new offensive.
The RDA wants to hunt the Tulkuns, gigantic and sentient marine creatures, to extract amrita from their brains -- a substance of immense commercial value.
The original Avatar story was written by Cameron in 1995 and "was very environmental in its messaging, much more nakedly so than the more subsequent stories," said the director.
Cameron "really rips off the veil of any mystery about the way this corporation is going about killing" the Tulkuns, Weaver told the press conference.
She draws a parallel with our own world, where we "feel the emergency rising in our world because the ocean is really suffering, and we won't be able to live without the ocean," she added.
– Artificial intelligence -
Filming for the second and third Avatar films took place between 2017 and 2018 over 18 months, well before the rise of generative artificial intelligence.
Another two installments are in production to be released later this decade. 
"I'm not negative about generative AI. I just wanted to point out we don't use it on the Avatar films. We don't replace actors," Cameron told US website ComicBook.com. 
The director has defended his "performance capture" technique, which he devised and which sees actors movements captured and then transferred on to the features of the Na’vi on screen.
– Critical reaction -
Reaction has been limited but broadly positive so far, with critics unable to publish full reviews until closer to the release.
Some US reviewers have been allowed to publish short opinions on social media, with most of them agreeing Cameron had delivered another gut-wrenching visual feast.
The main criticism has been about the script and reprising of familiar themes from the first two films. 
"I've only ever had about five good ideas in my life. I just keep repackaging them," Cameron joked.
agu-adp/tw-jj/tc/mtp

acquisition

Netflix's Warner Bros. acquisition sparks backlash

BY ALEX PIGMAN

  • The deal's biggest loser may be Warner Bros. competitor Paramount Skydance, the Hollywood studio owned by Larry Ellison, one of the world's richest people and a close ally of US President Donald Trump. 
  • Netflix faced fierce criticism on Friday over its blockbuster deal to acquire Warner Bros., the storied Hollywood studio.
  • The deal's biggest loser may be Warner Bros. competitor Paramount Skydance, the Hollywood studio owned by Larry Ellison, one of the world's richest people and a close ally of US President Donald Trump. 
Netflix faced fierce criticism on Friday over its blockbuster deal to acquire Warner Bros., the storied Hollywood studio.
The streaming giant is already viewed as a pariah in some Hollywood circles, largely due to its reluctance to release content in theaters and its disruption of traditional industry practices.
As Netflix emerged as the likely winning bidder for Warner Bros. -- the studio behind "Casablanca," the "Harry Potter" movies and "Friends" -- Hollywood's elite launched an aggressive campaign against the acquisition. 
"Titanic" director James Cameron called the buyout a "disaster," while a group of prominent producers are lobbying Congress to oppose the deal, according to trade magazine Variety.
In a letter to lawmakers, the anonymous filmmakers warned that Netflix would "effectively hold a noose around the theatrical marketplace," further damaging a Hollywood ecosystem already strained by audiences' shift from theaters and TV to streaming.
"I could not think of a more effective way to reduce competition in Hollywood than selling WBD to Netflix," Warner's former CEO Jason Kilar wrote on X.
At the center of Hollywood's ire is Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos, who has declared that the era of moviegoers flocking to theaters is over. 
During an analyst call Friday, Sarandos acknowledged surprise over the acquisition but pledged to maintain Warner Bros.' theatrical releases and preserve the HBO Max brand.
Many industry veterans consider theatrical releases essential to cinema's appeal and prestige -- a stark contrast to streaming content consumed on home sofas or on mobile devices.
Variety captured the industry's alarm with a front-page headline asking: "Is Netflix Trying to Buy Warner Bros. or Kill It?"
Michael O'Leary, CEO of Cinema United, the world's largest exhibition trade association, warned: "Netflix's success is television, not movies on the big screen. Theaters will close, communities will suffer, jobs will be lost."

'Blunder'

The backlash extended beyond Hollywood. 
Netflix shares plunged more than three percent following the announcement, while The Information, influential among tech industry readers, branded the deal an "$82.7 Billion Blunder" by a management team that "has rarely put a foot wrong."
Antitrust concerns loom large, with Netflix poised to control an even greater share of an entertainment industry it already dominates.
Bipartisan opposition has emerged in Washington. 
US Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat, warned the deal "could force you into higher prices, fewer choices over what and how you watch, and may put American workers at risk." 
Before the deal was announced, Republican Senator Mike Lee said Netflix's acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery's streaming assets "should send alarms to antitrust enforcers around the world."
The deal's biggest loser may be Warner Bros. competitor Paramount Skydance, the Hollywood studio owned by Larry Ellison, one of the world's richest people and a close ally of US President Donald Trump. 
Ellison's son David runs Paramount and may lobby the White House directly to block the Netflix-Warner Bros. merger.
Unlike Netflix's targeted acquisition, Paramount had sought to buy Warner Bros. in its entirety, including cable networks CNN, TNT, and TBS, which are being spun off separately.
In a letter to Warner's board on Thursday, presumably after it surmised the game was lost, Paramount accused Warner Bros. Discovery of running an unfair process that favored Netflix.
arp/msp/aha

conflict

Ukraine, US to meet for third day, agree 'real progress' depends on Russia

  • "Both parties agreed that real progress toward any agreement depends on Russia's readiness to show serious commitment to long-term peace, including steps toward de-escalation and cessation of killings," said a readout of the Miami talks posted on X by Witkoff on Friday.
  • Ukrainian and US officials will hold a third straight day of talks in Miami on Saturday, with Washington saying the two sides agreed that "real progress" would depend on Russia's willingness to end the war.
  • "Both parties agreed that real progress toward any agreement depends on Russia's readiness to show serious commitment to long-term peace, including steps toward de-escalation and cessation of killings," said a readout of the Miami talks posted on X by Witkoff on Friday.
Ukrainian and US officials will hold a third straight day of talks in Miami on Saturday, with Washington saying the two sides agreed that "real progress" would depend on Russia's willingness to end the war.
President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner have been meeting top Ukrainian negotiator Rustem Umerov and Andrii Hnatov, the chief of staff of Kyiv's armed forces.
The talks come after Witkoff and Kushner met Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin on Tuesday to discuss a US plan to end the conflict, but Moscow rejected parts of the proposal.
"Both parties agreed that real progress toward any agreement depends on Russia's readiness to show serious commitment to long-term peace, including steps toward de-escalation and cessation of killings," said a readout of the Miami talks posted on X by Witkoff on Friday.
The US and Ukrainian officials "also agreed on the framework of security arrangements and discussed necessary deterrence capabilities to sustain a lasting peace."
Washington's plan involves Ukraine surrendering land that Russia has not been able to win on the battlefield in return for security promises that fall short of Kyiv's aspirations to join NATO.
But the nature of the security guarantees that Ukraine could get have so far been shrouded in uncertainty, beyond an initial plan saying that jets to defend Kyiv could be based in Poland.
The US plan has been through several drafts since it first emerged late last month, amid initial criticisms that it was too soft on Russia, which invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
Witkoff, Trump's former business partner-turned-roving global ambassador, and investor Kushner had hoped to persuade Putin to play ball but came away from Moscow without a deal.

'Genuinely friendly'

Still, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said the five-hour late-night Moscow meeting on Tuesday was cordial and he praised Kushner joining the talks, which have been going on since spring. 
Putin and Witkoff "had a genuinely friendly conversation and they understand each other perfectly," Ushakov said on Russian state TV on Friday. 
"A new person has joined us, and I would say that he has turned out to be very useful," he said of Kushner.
On the Ukrainian side, Mykhailo Podolyak, an advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, wrote on social media Friday that "the diplomatic process takes place mostly behind the scenes."
"Ukraine seeks to end the war and is ready for talks," Podolyak said, adding: "The United States wants a pragmatic process and a quick end to the war, expecting compromises from both sides."
Trump said Wednesday that the envoys had a "reasonably good meeting" with Putin, insisting that they had the "strong impression" that he would like to end the war. 
Trump has blown hot and cold on Ukraine since returning to office in January, initially embracing Putin and chastising Zelensky for not being grateful for US support.
But he has also grown frustrated that his efforts to persuade Putin to end the war, including a summit in Alaska, have failed to produce results and recently slapped sanctions on Russian oil firms.
Putin, who was in India this week meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said the talks were "complex" but that he wanted to engage with Trump's plan "rather than obstruct it."
dk/sst

architecture

Frank Gehry, master architect with a flair for drama, dead at 96

  • Emboldened, Gehry would take even greater risks in his next projects, which included the Walt Disney Concert Hall (2003), the Beekman Tower in New York (2011), and the Fondation Louis Vuitton (2014).
  • Canada-born US architect Frank Gehry, whose daring and whimsical designs from the Guggenheim Bilbao to the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles captivated fans and critics, died on Friday.
  • Emboldened, Gehry would take even greater risks in his next projects, which included the Walt Disney Concert Hall (2003), the Beekman Tower in New York (2011), and the Fondation Louis Vuitton (2014).
Canada-born US architect Frank Gehry, whose daring and whimsical designs from the Guggenheim Bilbao to the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles captivated fans and critics, died on Friday. He was 96.
Gehry was perhaps the biggest of the so-called "starchitects" -- an elite group that includes Renzo Piano, Rem Koolhaas, Norman Foster, Zaha Hadid and others -- and enjoyed his fame, but absolutely hated the label.
"There are people who design buildings that are not technically and financially good, and there are those who do," he told The Independent in 2009. "Two categories, simple."
His artistic genius and boldness shone through in his complex designs -- such as the glass "sails" of the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris.
He popularized contemporary architecture, and became such a sensation that he was featured on "The Simpsons" -- all while insisting he was a simple maker of buildings. 
"I work with clients who respect the art of architecture," he said in 2014, according to his biographer Paul Goldberger.
Gehry's representative Meaghan Lloyd told AFP that he died early Friday at his home in Santa Monica following a brief respiratory illness.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney hailed Gehry's "unmistakable vision."

From Canada to Los Angeles

Born Frank Owen Goldberg in Toronto on February 28, 1929, to a Jewish family that would move to the United States in the late 1940s, he later changed his name to Gehry to avoid becoming the target of antisemitism.
He studied architecture at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, graduating in 1954 before enlisting in the US Army and later continuing his studies in city planning at Harvard University, though he did not finish the program.
Gehry eventually returned to Los Angeles to start his career working for Victor Gruen, a pioneer in the design of shopping malls. 
He went on to work in Paris with Andrew Remondet in 1961 before returning to Los Angeles, establishing his own architectural practice the following year.
The '70s and '80s would mark the rollout of a long series of his most audacious and innovative architectural achievements, many of them in southern California. 
Close to the avant-garde "funk" art scene in California, Gehry's deconstructionist and experimental style -- sometimes derided as crude -- is hard to categorize. 
Many of his buildings -- irregularly-shaped metal facades that can look like crumpled paper -- could only be realized with the help of computer design tools, which he fully embraced.
This is maybe best reflected in his seminal reworking in 1978 of his own home in Santa Monica, where he long resided -- it features corrugated metal wrapped around the original 1920s building.
Gehry received the highest architectural honor, the Pritzker Prize, in 1989.

'Bilbao effect'

Almost a decade later, he would unveil arguably his most iconic design: the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, which earned him international acclaim and notice.
The limestone and glass building with curvy walls clad in titanium scales is instantly recognizable as a Gehry design, and was once described by his American colleague Philip Johnson as "the greatest building of our time." 
The building helped revitalize the ancient industrial heart of the Spanish city, attracting visitors from around the world and leading to the coining of the term "Bilbao effect" to explain how beautiful architecture can transform an area.
"We will be forever grateful, and his spirit and legacy will always remain connected to Bilbao," the museum said on social media.
Emboldened, Gehry would take even greater risks in his next projects, which included the Walt Disney Concert Hall (2003), the Beekman Tower in New York (2011), and the Fondation Louis Vuitton (2014).
LVMH chairman and CEO Bernard Arnault said he was "profoundly saddened" by Gehry's death, calling him a "genius of lightness, transparency and grace."
Facebook tapped Gehry for a major expansion of its Menlo Park campus in California, which opened in 2018.

'I love working'

Many of Gehry's designs require complex computations -- which he pushed to the limits.
For a period, architects avoided the use of rounded or curved shapes as they caused headaches for engineers and led to spiralling construction costs.
Gehry pushed back, using 3D modelling software similar to that used by aerospace firms to create unique building shapes while keeping costs in line with what developers would pay for a more conventional building of similar dimensions.
The Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas -- its walls and windows appearing to have melted under the hot desert sun -- is a classic example of Gehry's groundbreaking vision.
"I love working. I love working things out," he told The Guardian in 2019. 
abe-jl/amc/des/sst

Trump

Trump takes aim at Europe in new security strategy

BY LéON BRUNEAU

  • "Should present trends continue, the continent will be unrecognizable in 20 years or less," the document says.
  • President Donald Trump has had Europe in his crosshairs since beginning a second White House term earlier this year.
  • "Should present trends continue, the continent will be unrecognizable in 20 years or less," the document says.
President Donald Trump has had Europe in his crosshairs since beginning a second White House term earlier this year.
But in his new National Security Strategy -- published in the dead of night early Friday -- the US president launched an all-out attack, lambasting Europe as an over-regulated, censorious continent lacking in "self-confidence" and facing "civilizational erasure" due to immigration.
The highly anticipated document codifies in writing the offensive launched by Washington months ago against Europe, which it accuses of taking advantage of American generosity and of failing to take responsibility for its own destiny.
The new strategy, which marks a radical departure from previous US policy, targets, among other things, European institutions that "undermine political liberty and sovereignty," immigration policies, "censorship of free speech and suppression of political opposition," the collapse of birth rates, and the loss of national identities.
"Should present trends continue, the continent will be unrecognizable in 20 years or less," the document says.
Additionally, "a large European majority wants peace, yet that desire is not translated into policy, in large measure because of those governments' subversion of democratic processes," it says.
The reaction in Europe was swift, with German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul saying the country does not need "outside advice."
The document is "unacceptable and dangerous," France's Valerie Hayer, the head of the Renew Europe centrist grouping in the European Parliament, said on X.
For Evan Feigenbaum, a former advisor to two US secretaries of state and an expert on Asia, "the Europe section is by far the most striking - and far more so than the China/Asia sections."
It "feels inherently more confrontational and pits the U.S. as decisively opposed to the whole European project with this line: 'cultivating resistance to Europe's current trajectory within European nations,'" he said in a post on X.

Political attacks

Just weeks after taking office, US Vice President JD Vance dismayed Germans in particular and Europeans more generally with a speech in Munich claiming freedom of expression was receding on the continent, aligning himself with far-right parties such as Germany's AfD.
The new US National Security Strategy, which refers to the restoration of the primacy of nation-states, fits into this approach.
"What the Trump administration is telegraphing through this national security strategy is that it wants to see an entirely different Europe," said Kristine Berzina, a senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund think-tank.
She said the questioning of European governments' legitimacy amounts to "significant political attacks" against Washington's allies, even as the Trump administration says it wants to strengthen European security amid the war in Ukraine.
The section of the strategy on freedom of expression in Europe is emblematic, with the Trump administration denouncing "censorship of free speech and suppression of political opposition" on the continent, alluding to efforts in some countries to contain the rise of the far right.
For months, US officials have been highlighting the alleged deterioration of human rights in Europe, including in Germany, the UK and France.
The new National Security Strategy does not name specific movements or political parties, but clearly demonstrates the Trump administration's desire to see its policies implemented in Europe, especially when it comes to immigration.
In this regard, Trump has made no secret of his affinity for his "friend," Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who is hostile to immigration and LGBTQ rights.
lb/wd/des

police

Witness in South Africa justice-system crimes probe shot dead

  • South Africa, the continent's most industrialised nation, is grappling with entrenched crime and corruption driven by organised networks. 
  • A witness in a high-profile inquiry into crime and corruption in South Africa's justice system was gunned down late on Friday, just weeks after implicating a municipal police chief, investigators said. 
  • South Africa, the continent's most industrialised nation, is grappling with entrenched crime and corruption driven by organised networks. 
A witness in a high-profile inquiry into crime and corruption in South Africa's justice system was gunned down late on Friday, just weeks after implicating a municipal police chief, investigators said. 
The judicial commission -- led by former Constitutional Court judge Mbuyiseli Madlanga -- was set up by President Cyril Ramaphosa to probe explosive allegations by a senior police officer linking politicians to criminal gangs. 
The identify of the witness killed on Friday had been a closely guarded secret.
The panel began public hearings in mid-September, and the witness had delivered his evidence behind closed doors last month.
Codenamed Witness D, he had just arrived at his home in a suburb east of Johannesburg at about 8:30 pm (1830 GMT) Friday when he was shot, acting Gauteng police commissioner Fred Kekana told reporters.
"He was about to open the gate when he was shot. The wife was not hurt," Kekana said, adding that the gunmen fled after firing two rounds. 
No arrests have been made, but nearby CCTV cameras captured the suspected getaway vehicle, he added.
Witness D testified in November that suspended Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department (EMPD) deputy chief, Julius Mkhwanazi, had ordered him to dispose of the body of a suspect who died in police custody in 2022.
Fearing for his life, the former EMPD officer and private security firm owner said he complied with the order and dumped the body in a dam.
The Madlanga commission was set up in July after a provincial police chief accused Police Minister Senzo Mchunu and other senior officials of obstructing investigations, including into politically motivated killings. 
The allegations prompted Ramaphosa to suspend Mchunu, who was accused of having helped to dismantle a team probing the murders in order to protect politically connected figures.
Both Mchunu and Mkhwanazi have appeared before the commission and deny wrongdoing.
South Africa, the continent's most industrialised nation, is grappling with entrenched crime and corruption driven by organised networks. 
Some 63 people were killed each day between April and September, according to police data.
ho/jj

conflict

Russian ambassador slams EU frozen assets plan for Ukraine

  • The EU on Wednesday laid out a plan to use frozen Russian assets to help fund Ukraine with 90 billion euros over the next two years, despite opposition from Belgium, where the bulk of the assets are held. 
  • A European Union plan to use frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine's fight against Russia would have "far-reaching consequences" for the EU, Moscow's ambassador to Germany warned on Friday.
  • The EU on Wednesday laid out a plan to use frozen Russian assets to help fund Ukraine with 90 billion euros over the next two years, despite opposition from Belgium, where the bulk of the assets are held. 
A European Union plan to use frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine's fight against Russia would have "far-reaching consequences" for the EU, Moscow's ambassador to Germany warned on Friday.
His statement came as EU leaders seek more ways to keep Ukraine afloat as it faces increasing pressure on the battlefield.
"Any operation with sovereign Russian assets without Russia's consent constitutes theft," Sergey Nechaev said in a statement sent to AFP.
"It is also clear that the theft of Russian state funds will have far-reaching consequences," the statement added.
The EU on Wednesday laid out a plan to use frozen Russian assets to help fund Ukraine with 90 billion euros over the next two years, despite opposition from Belgium, where the bulk of the assets are held. 
But Nechaev said the "unprecedented step" could "destroy the business reputation of the European Union and plunge European governments into endless lawsuits". 
"In reality, it is a path to legal anarchy and the destruction of the foundations of the global financial system, which will primarily strike the European Union," he said.
"We are confident that this is understood in Brussels and Berlin."

'Constructive exchange': Merz

European leaders are looking for fresh options as US President Donald Trump looks to end the war on terms they see as unfavourable to Kyiv.
They are seeking ways to fund a loan to Kyiv which, under the proposal, would be paid back by any eventual Russian reparations to Ukraine.
But Belgium, home to international deposit organisation Euroclear -- which holds most of the Russian assets -- has so far rejected the proposal because of potential legal repercussions.
Nechaev said the plan showed that Europe did not have the "considerable resources" required to keep supporting Ukraine.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz met Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Brussels on Friday to discuss the proposal.
In a statement after the meeting, Merz said it had been a "very constructive exchange".
"Belgium's particular concern about the question of utilising frozen Russian assets is undeniable and must be addressed in any conceivable solution in such a way that all European states bear the same risk," he said.
The leaders agreed "to continue their discussions with the aim of finding a common solution" by their next summit on December 18 and 19, said Merz's spokesman Stefan Kornelius.
alf-fec/jj

treaty

WHO chief upbeat on missing piece of pandemic treaty

  • "As we get ready to close out this year, we are in a strong position to forge consensus, finalise the draft, and prepare for adoption at next year's World Health Assembly.
  • The World Health Organization chief said Friday that countries were in a strong position to finalise the vital missing piece of the pandemic treaty, which will determine how vaccines are shared.
  • "As we get ready to close out this year, we are in a strong position to forge consensus, finalise the draft, and prepare for adoption at next year's World Health Assembly.
The World Health Organization chief said Friday that countries were in a strong position to finalise the vital missing piece of the pandemic treaty, which will determine how vaccines are shared.
In April, WHO member states concluded a landmark Pandemic Agreement on tackling future health crises, after more than three years of negotiations sparked by the shock of Covid-19.
The accord aims to prevent the disjointed responses and international disarray that surrounded the Covid-19 pandemic by improving global coordination and surveillance, and access to vaccines, in any future pandemics.
But the heartbeat of the treaty, the Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing (PABS) system, was left aside in order to get the deal over the line.
Countries were given another year to thrash out the details of how it will work.
The PABS mechanism deals with sharing access to pathogens with pandemic potential, then sharing the benefits derived from them: vaccines, tests and treatments.
Countries are tasked with getting the PABS system finalised by the next World Health Assembly in mid-May. The annual gathering of member states is the WHO's decision-making body.
"This is both a generational opportunity and a generational responsibility," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, after countries wrapped up a week of talks.
"As we get ready to close out this year, we are in a strong position to forge consensus, finalise the draft, and prepare for adoption at next year's World Health Assembly.
"Together, we are moving toward a world that is better prepared for future pandemics."
Countries will resume their fourth round of talks on January 20-22.
Once the PABS system is finalised, the entire agreement can then be ratified by members, with 60 ratifications required for the treaty to enter into force.
"As we cross the half-way mark in negotiations on the PABS system, I am encouraged by the progress we've made towards enabling a faster and more equitable global response to future pandemics," said Matthew Harpur, co-chair of the talks.
Co-chair Ambassador Tovar da Silva Nunes of Brazil added: "We are confident we can build a strong and balanced PABS system that will benefit all people."
rjm/jj

Global Edition

Trump strategy shifts from global role and vows 'resistance' in Europe

BY SHAUN TANDON

  • The strategy puts little focus on Africa, saying the United States should transition away from "liberal ideology" and aid, and instead secure critical minerals.
  • President Donald Trump laid out a radical realignment of US foreign policy Friday, shifting the superpower's focus from global to regional, criticizing Europe as facing "civilizational erasure" and putting a priority on eliminating mass migration.
  • The strategy puts little focus on Africa, saying the United States should transition away from "liberal ideology" and aid, and instead secure critical minerals.
President Donald Trump laid out a radical realignment of US foreign policy Friday, shifting the superpower's focus from global to regional, criticizing Europe as facing "civilizational erasure" and putting a priority on eliminating mass migration.
The national security strategy, meant to flesh out Trump's norms-shattering worldview, elevates Latin America to the top of the US agenda in a sharp reorientation from longstanding US calls to focus on Asia to face a rising China.
"In everything we do, we are putting America First," Trump said in a preamble to the long-awaited paper.
Breaking with decades of attempts to be the sole superpower, the strategy said that the "United States rejects the ill-fated concept of global domination for itself."
It said that the United States would also prevent other powers, namely China, from dominating but added: "This does not mean wasting blood and treasure to curtail the influence of all the world's great and middle powers."
The strategy called for a "readjustment of our global military presence to address urgent threats in our Hemisphere," starting with migration.
"The era of mass migration must end," the strategy paper said.
The strategy made clear that the United States under Trump would aggressively pursue similar objectives in Europe, in line with far-right parties' agendas.
In extraordinary language for addressing close allies, the strategy said the administration would be "cultivating resistance to Europe's current trajectory within European nations."
Germany quickly hit back, saying that it does not need "outside advice."
Democratic Congressman Gregory Meeks said the document "discards decades of values-based US leadership in favor of a craven, unprincipled worldview."
The strategy pointed to Europe's slide in share of the global economy -- which is the result largely of the rise of China and other emerging powers -- and said the "decline is eclipsed by the real and more stark prospect of civilizational erasure."
"Should present trends continue, the continent will be unrecognizable in 20 years or less."
As Trump seeks an end to the Ukraine war that would likely favor Russia gaining territory, the strategy accused Europeans of weakness and said the United States should focus on "ending the perception, and preventing the reality, of NATO as a perpetually expanding alliance."

Updated 'Monroe Doctrine'

Trump since returning to office in January has ordered sweeping curbs on migration, after a political career built on fanning fears that America's white majority is losing its status.
The strategy speaks in bold terms of pressing US dominance in Latin America, where the Trump administration has been striking alleged drug traffickers at sea, intervening to bring down leftist leaders including in Venezuela, and seeking to take charge of key resources such as the Panama Canal.
The strategy cast Trump as modernizing the two-century-old Monroe Doctrine, in which the then young United States declared Latin America off-limits to rival powers.
The strategy paid comparatively little attention to the Middle East, which has long consumed Washington.
Pointing to US efforts to increase energy supply at home and not in the oil-rich Gulf, the strategy said: "America's historic reason for focusing on the Middle East will recede."
The paper said it was a US priority for Israel to be secure, but stopped short of the fulsome language on Israel used even in the first Trump administration.

China still competitor

On China, the strategy repeated calls for a "free and open" Asia-Pacific region but focused more on the nation as an economic competitor.
After speculation on whether Trump would budge on Taiwan, the self-ruling democracy claimed by Beijing, the strategy made clear that the United States supports the decades-old status quo.
But it called on allies Japan and South Korea to contribute more to ensure Taiwan's defense.
The strategy puts little focus on Africa, saying the United States should transition away from "liberal ideology" and aid, and instead secure critical minerals.
US presidents usually release a National Security Strategy in each White House term. The last, released by Joe Biden in 2022, prioritized winning a competitive edge over China while constraining Russia.
sct/ane/mjw/iv