court

UK prosecutors appeal Kneecap rapper terror charge dismissal

politics

Trump threatens to invoke Insurrection Act over Minnesota protests

BY ROBERTO SCHMIDT

  • Noem told reporters at a White House press briefing Thursday that it's up to Trump if he decides to invoke the law. 
  • US President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to invoke an emergency law that allows the domestic deployment of the military, after federal agents killed one person and injured another in Minnesota, sparking mass protests.
  • Noem told reporters at a White House press briefing Thursday that it's up to Trump if he decides to invoke the law. 
US President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to invoke an emergency law that allows the domestic deployment of the military, after federal agents killed one person and injured another in Minnesota, sparking mass protests.
Protesters have denounced the aggressive tactics of Trump's broad-reaching immigration raids in rallies in the Midwestern city, which is a Democratic stronghold.
Federal agents fired their weapons in two separate incidents, wounding a man from Venezuela Wednesday and killing an American woman last week.
The Insurrection Act allows a president sidestep the Posse Comitatus Act to suppress "armed rebellion" or "domestic violence" and use the armed forces "as he considers necessary" to enforce the 19th century law.
"If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don't obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of ICE, who are only trying to do their job, I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT," Trump warned on Truth Social.
Democratic Minnesota Governor Tim Walz accused federal agents of waging "a campaign of organized brutality against the people of Minnesota," in a video posted to X Wednesday night. 
In the short clip, Walz noted a number of violent incidents, including "breaking windows, dragging pregnant women down the street," and the January 7 killing of 37-year-old Renee Good as examples.
"We must protest loudly, urgently, but also peacefully," Walz said, calling on Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to "end this occupation."
Walz also urged people to record any interaction they may have with ICE for future prosecution. 
Noem told reporters at a White House press briefing Thursday that it's up to Trump if he decides to invoke the law. 
Demonstrations against ICE in Minneapolis have stretched into the night in recent days and protesters have clashed with federal agents, who have deployed pepper spray and tear gas to disperse crowds.

Shots fired

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara said the shooting late Wednesday resulted from a struggle between an ICE agent and a man he was trying to apprehend.
"During the struggle, the federal agent discharged his weapon, striking one adult male," O'Hara told a press conference.
Amid the tussle, two people emerged from a nearby residence and attacked the federal agent with a snow shovel and a broom handle, the Department of Homeland Security said, identifying the wounded man as an illegal immigrant from Venezuela.
The man suffered a non-life-threatening gunshot wound to his leg and was taken to hospital, while the two others were taken into custody, officials said.
The Insurrection Act was last invoked in 1992 by President George H.W. Bush at the request of the Republican governor of California, who was facing unprecedented riots in Los Angeles following the acquittal of police officers who had beaten Rodney King, a Black motorist, the previous year.
Senior White House official Stephen Miller on Thursday accused Minnesota officials of "deliberately, willfully and purposefully" inciting a "violent insurrection."
White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt also lashed out at journalists, saying "media is absolutely complicit in this violence."
But concerns about the tactics used by ICE are not limited to incidents of violent street enforcement and have raised questions about inadequate training and oversight of agents.
Mexican authorities said Thursday they were also seeking details about the death of one of their citizens at an ICE facility in the southern state of Georgia this week.
ICE broke its record for people dying in detention in 2025 with 30 deaths, according to data released by the agency. 
The number of people detained in recent years has similarly increased.
dw/lga/ane/jm

unrest

South Korean ex-leader jailed for 5 years in first martial law verdict

BY CLAIRE LEE AND HIEUN SHIN

  • On Friday, Judge Baek Dae-hyun at Seoul's Central District Court said he found Yoon guilty of obstruction of justice by blocking investigators from detaining him.
  • A South Korean judge sentenced former President Yoon Suk Yeol on Friday to five years in prison for obstructing justice and other crimes linked to his disastrous martial law declaration and in its chaotic aftermath.
  • On Friday, Judge Baek Dae-hyun at Seoul's Central District Court said he found Yoon guilty of obstruction of justice by blocking investigators from detaining him.
A South Korean judge sentenced former President Yoon Suk Yeol on Friday to five years in prison for obstructing justice and other crimes linked to his disastrous martial law declaration and in its chaotic aftermath.
It is the first in a series of verdicts for the disgraced ex-leader, whose brief suspension of civilian rule in South Korea on December 3, 2024 prompted massive protests and a showdown in parliament.
Now ousted from power, he faces multiple trials for actions taken during that debacle and in the turmoil that followed.
On Friday, Judge Baek Dae-hyun at Seoul's Central District Court said he found Yoon guilty of obstruction of justice by blocking investigators from detaining him.
Baek said that Yoon abused his power by turning officials of the Presidential Security Service against the state and used them as his "personal guards" serving his "own safety and private interests".
Yoon was also found guilty of excluding cabinet members from a martial law planning meeting.
"Despite having a duty, above all others, to uphold the Constitution and observe the rule of law as president, the defendant instead displayed an attitude that disregarded the... Constitution," Baek said.
"The defendant's culpability is extremely grave," he said.
But Yoon was not guilty of forging official documents due to lack of evidence, the judge said.
Yoon has seven days to appeal, he added.
Prosecutors had called for a 10-year prison term, while Yoon had insisted no law was broken.
After the verdict was announced, his supporters outside the court fell silent for several minutes before breaking into chants of "Yoon again!"
Yoon's lawyers said the verdict "simplifies the boundary between the exercise of a president's constitutional authority and criminal liability".
"If this reasoning is allowed to stand, no future president will be able to act decisively in times of crisis," lawyer Yu Jeong-hwa told reporters.

Yoon defiant

It comes days after prosecutors in a separate case demanded Yoon be sentenced to death for his role as the "ringleader of an insurrection" in orchestrating the imposition of martial law.
They argued Yoon deserved the severest possible punishment as he had shown "no remorse" for actions that threatened "constitutional order and democracy".
If he is found guilty it is highly unlikely the sentence will actually be carried out, as South Korea has had an unofficial moratorium on executions since 1997.
Yoon was seen smiling in court as the prosecutors demanded the punishment.
And the former leader and top prosecutor has remained defiant, saying his martial law declaration was a lawful exercise of his presidential authority.
In closing remarks on Tuesday, he insisted the "exercise of a president's constitutional emergency powers to protect the nation and uphold the constitutional order cannot be deemed an act of insurrection".
He accused the then-opposition party of having imposed an "unconstitutional dictatorship" through their control of the legislature.
"There was no other option but to awaken the people, who are the sovereign."
The court is scheduled to rule on the insurrection charges on February 19.
Yoon also faces a separate trial on charges of aiding the enemy, over allegations he ordered drone flights over North Korea to bolster his case for declaring martial law.
hs-cdl/oho/mjw

music

Spanish singer Julio Iglesias says abuse allegations 'absolutely false'

  • Two women -- a domestic worker and a physiotherapist -- alleged they suffered sexual and other forms of abuse while working at Iglesias's properties in the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas in 2021.
  • Spain's veteran singer and cultural icon Julio Iglesias on Friday rejected allegations of abuse lodged against him by two women ex-employees, in a case that has dominated headlines.
  • Two women -- a domestic worker and a physiotherapist -- alleged they suffered sexual and other forms of abuse while working at Iglesias's properties in the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas in 2021.
Spain's veteran singer and cultural icon Julio Iglesias on Friday rejected allegations of abuse lodged against him by two women ex-employees, in a case that has dominated headlines.
"I deny having abused, coerced, or disrespected any woman. These accusations are absolutely false and deeply sadden me," the 82-year-old wrote on his Instagram account.
Iglesias, one of the most successful Latin artists of all time, is a Grammy winner with more than 300 million records sold in a career spanning decades.
Two women -- a domestic worker and a physiotherapist -- alleged they suffered sexual and other forms of abuse while working at Iglesias's properties in the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas in 2021.
Advocacy groups Women's Link Worldwide and Amnesty International said a complaint filed with Spanish prosecutors on January 5 outlined alleged acts that could be considered "a crime of human trafficking for the purpose of forced labour" and "crimes against sexual freedom".
Iglesias subjected them to "sexual harassment, regularly checked their mobile phones, restricted their ability to leave the home where they worked, and required them to work up to 16 hours a day without days off", according to testimony collected by the two groups.
In the message posted on Instagram, Iglesias wrote: "It is with profound sadness that I respond to the accusations made by two people who previously worked for me."
"I have never felt such malice, but I still have the strength to let people know the whole truth and to defend my dignity against such a serious accusation," he said, thanking the "so many dear people" who have sent him messages of support.
The allegations against the beloved crooner have sparked strong reactions in Spain, with members of the leftist government backing the complainants and demanding that an investigation establishes the truth.
The head of the conservative opposition Popular Party, Alberto Nunez Feijoo, who is friends with Iglesias, told Telecinco television on Wednesday he was "very, very, very surprised" but urged against "speculating".
Iglesias's former manager Fernan Martinez told Telecinco that he was "very affectionate" and enjoyed "physical contact" but stressed he never saw the music icon "behave aggressively".
mdm/yad/jm

cybercrime

Fraudsters flee Cambodia's 'scam city' after accused boss taken down

BY SALLY JENSEN

  • Cambodia's anti-scam commission says it has raided 118 scam locations and arrested around 5,000 people in the last six months.
  • Hundreds of people dragged away suitcases, computer monitors, pets and furniture as they fled a suspected Cambodian cyberfraud centre, after the country's most wanted alleged scam kingpin was arrested and deported.
  • Cambodia's anti-scam commission says it has raided 118 scam locations and arrested around 5,000 people in the last six months.
Hundreds of people dragged away suitcases, computer monitors, pets and furniture as they fled a suspected Cambodian cyberfraud centre, after the country's most wanted alleged scam kingpin was arrested and deported.
Boarding tuk-tuks, Lexus SUVs and tourist coaches, an exodus departed Amber Casino in the coastal city of Sihanoukville, one of the illicit trade's most notorious hubs.
"Cambodia is in upheaval," one Chinese man told AFP. "Nowhere is safe to work anymore," he said Thursday.
Similar scenes played out at alleged scam compounds across Cambodia this week as the government said it was cracking down on the multibillion-dollar industry.
But residents said many of the people working inside the tightly secured buildings moved out several days before the arrival of authorities, and an analyst dubbed it "anti-crime theatre".
From hubs across Southeast Asia, scammers lure internet users globally into fake romantic relationships and cryptocurrency investments.
Initially largely targeting Chinese speakers, transnational crime groups have expanded operations into multiple languages to steal tens of billions annually from victims around the world.
Those conducting the scams are sometimes willing con artists, sometimes trafficked foreign nationals who have been trapped and forced to work under threat of violence.
AFP journalists visited several alleged internet scam sites in Sihanoukville, in the wake of the high-profile arrest in Cambodia and extradition to China of internationally sanctioned accused scam boss Chen Zhi.
Few of those departing the casinos, hotels and other facilities were willing to speak with AFP, and none were willing to be identified due to concerns for their safety.
"Our Chinese company just told us to leave straight away," said a Bangladeshi man outside Amber Casino.
"But we'll be fine. There are plenty of other job offers," he added.
Studded with casinos and unfinished high-rises, the glitzy resort of Sihanoukville has become a cyberscam hotbed, where thousands of people involved in the black market are believed to operate cons from fortified compounds.
Before Chen was indicted last year by US authorities who said his firm Prince Group was a front for a transnational cybercrime network, the Chinese-born businessman ran multiple gambling hotels in Sihanoukville.
A 2025 Amnesty International report identified 22 scam locations in the coastal resort, out of a total of 53 in the country.
The UN Office on Drugs and Crime estimates global losses to online scams reached up to $37 billion in 2023, and that at least 100,000 people work in the industry in Cambodia alone. 

Tipped off

But the Cambodian government claims the lawless era has come to an end, with Prime Minister Hun Manet pledging on Facebook to "eliminate... all the problems related to the crime of cyber scams".
Cambodia's anti-scam commission says it has raided 118 scam locations and arrested around 5,000 people in the last six months.
Following Chen's deportation to China, the Cambodian government has tightened the screws on some Prince Group affiliates, ordering Prince Bank into liquidation and freezing home sales at several of its luxury properties.
In recent months, China has stepped up its pursuit of the scam industry, sweeping up Chen and other key figures from across Southeast Asia to try them on its own soil.
But while Cambodia says it is "cracking down", there are suspicions over the timing.
A tuk-tuk driver in Sihanoukville told AFP hundreds of Chinese people left one compound this week before police arrived.
"Looks like they were tipped off," said the 42-year-old, declining to give his name.
Mark Taylor, former head of a Cambodia-based anti-trafficking NGO, said the "preemptive shifting of scam centre resources", including workers, equipment and managers, had been seen ahead of law enforcement sweeps.
It was "seemingly the product of collusion", he added, in a strategy with "dual ends" of boosting the government's anti-crime credentials while preserving the scamming industry's ability to survive and adapt.
Amnesty has accused the Cambodian government of "deliberately ignoring" rights abuses by cybercrime gangs, which sometimes lure workers with offers of high-paying jobs before holding them against their will.
AFP journalists saw several coachloads of Mandarin speakers leaving Sihanoukville on the main highway to the capital Phnom Penh.
Multiple people said they "didn't know" where they were going or what their plans were, but appeared anxious as they anticipated law enforcement closing in.
Outside the Amber Casino, holding a fake designer hold-all, the Bangladeshi man fell in with the crowd, saying: "This is about survival now."
suy-sjc/sco/slb/abs

children

Afghan mothers seek hospital help for malnourished children

BY ISABELLE WESSELINGH AND QUBAD WALI

  • They are now "watching their children succumb to hunger in their arms", he said.
  • Najiba, 24, keeps a constant watch over her baby, Artiya, one of around four million children at risk of dying from malnutrition this year in Afghanistan.
  • They are now "watching their children succumb to hunger in their arms", he said.
Najiba, 24, keeps a constant watch over her baby, Artiya, one of around four million children at risk of dying from malnutrition this year in Afghanistan.
After suffering a bout of pneumonia at three months old, Artiya's condition deteriorated and his parents went from hospital to hospital trying to find help.
"I did not get proper rest or good food," affecting her ability to produce breast milk, Najiba said at Herat Regional Hospital in western Afghanistan.
"These days, I do not have enough milk for my baby."
The distressed mother, who chose not to give her surname for privacy reasons, said the family earns a living from an electric supplies store run by her husband.
Najiba and her husband spent their meagre savings trying to get care for Artiya, before learning that he has a congenital heart defect.
To her, "no one can understand what I'm going through. No one knows how I feel every day, here with my child in this condition."
"The only thing I have left is to pray that my child gets better," she said.
John Aylieff, Afghanistan director at the World Food Programme (WFP), said women are "sacrificing their own health and their own nutrition to feed their children".
Artiya has gained weight after several weeks at the therapeutic nutrition centre in the Herat hospital, where colourful drawings of balloons and flowers adorn the walls.
Mothers such as Najiba, who are grappling with the reality of not being able to feed their children, receive psychological support.
Meanwhile, Artiya's father is "knocking on every door just to borrow money" which could fund an expensive heart operation on another ward, Najiba said.

'Staggering' scale

On average, 315 to 320 malnourished children are admitted each month to the centre, which is supported by medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF).
The number of cases has steadily increased over the past five years, according to Hamayoun Hemat, MSF's deputy coordinator in Herat.
Since the Taliban regained power in 2021, low-income families have been hit hard by cuts to international aid, as well as drought and the economic fallout of five million Afghans forced across the border from Iran and Pakistan.
"In 2025, we'd already seen the highest surge in child malnutrition recorded in Afghanistan since the beginning of the 21st century," Aylieff said in Kabul.
The crisis is only set to worsen this year, he told AFP: "A staggering four million children in this country will be malnourished and will require treatment."
"These children will die if they're not treated."
WFP is seeking $390 million to feed six million Afghans over the next six months, but Aylieff said the chance of getting such funds is "so bleak".
Pledges of solidarity from around the globe, made after the Taliban government imposed its strict interpretation of Islamic law, have done little to help Afghan women, the WFP director said.
They are now "watching their children succumb to hunger in their arms", he said.

'No hope'

In the country of more than 40 million people, there are relatively few medical centres that can help treat malnutrition.
Some families travel hundreds of kilometres (miles) to reach Herat hospital as they lack healthcare facilities in their home provinces.
Wranga Niamaty, a nurse team supervisor, said they often receive patients in the "last stage" where there is "no hope" for their survival.
Still, she feels "proud" for those she can rescue from starvation.
In addition to treating the children, the nursing team advises women on breastfeeding, which is a key factor in combating malnutrition.
Single mothers who have to work as cleaners or in agriculture are sometimes unable to produce enough milk, often due to dehydration, nurse Fawzia Azizi said.
The clinic has been a lifesaver for Jamila, a 25-year-old mother who requested her surname not be used out of privacy concerns.
Jamila's eight-month-old daughter has Down's syndrome and is also suffering from malnutrition, despite her husband sending money back from Iran where he works.
Wrapped in a floral veil, Jamila said she fears for the future: "If my husband is expelled from Iran, we will die of hunger."
qb-iw/rsc/ami/abs

diplomacy

Canada's Carney hails 'strategic partnership' in talks with Xi

  • "It can be said that our meeting last year opened a new chapter in turning China–Canada relations toward improvement," Xi told the Canadian leader.
  • Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney hailed a "new strategic partnership" with Beijing as he held talks President Xi Jinping on Friday, the first visit by a Canadian leader to China in eight years.
  • "It can be said that our meeting last year opened a new chapter in turning China–Canada relations toward improvement," Xi told the Canadian leader.
Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney hailed a "new strategic partnership" with Beijing as he held talks President Xi Jinping on Friday, the first visit by a Canadian leader to China in eight years.
The two countries had been locked in years of diplomatic spats after the retaliatory arrests of each others' citizens and a series of tit-for-tat trade disputes.
But Carney has sought to turn the page on the testy relations, in a bid to reduce reliance on the United States, its key economic partner, as President Donald Trump aggressively raised tariffs on Canadian products.
Addressing Xi in the Great Hall of the People, Carney said that "together we can build on the best of what this relationship has been in the past to create a new one adapted to new global realities".
Engagement and cooperation would be "the foundation of our new strategic partnership", he said. 
"Agriculture, energy, finance, that's where we can make the most immediate progress."
Welcoming Carney, Xi said China-Canada relations reached a turning point at their last meeting on the sidelines of the APEC summit in October.
"It can be said that our meeting last year opened a new chapter in turning China–Canada relations toward improvement," Xi told the Canadian leader.
"The healthy and stable development of China–Canada relations serves the common interests of our two countries," he said, adding he was "glad" to see discussions over the last few months to restore cooperation.

'Right track'

Ties between the two nations withered in 2018 over Canada's arrest of the daughter of Huawei's founder on a US warrant, and China's retaliatory detention of two Canadians on espionage charges.
The two countries imposed tariffs on each other's exports in the years that ensued, with China also being accused of interfering in Canada's elections.
But Carney has sought a pivot, and Beijing has also said it is willing to get relations back on "the right track".
The Canadian leader, who on Thursday met with Premier Li Qiang, is also scheduled to hold talks with business leaders to discuss trade.
Canada, traditionally a staunch US ally, has been hit especially hard by Trump's steep tariffs on steel, aluminium, vehicles and lumber.
Washington's move has prompted Canada to seek business elsewhere.
In October, Carney said Canada should double its non-US exports by 2035 to reduce reliance on the United States.
But the United States remains far and away its largest market, buying around 75 percent of Canadian goods in 2024, according to Canadian government statistics.
While Ottawa has stressed that China is Canada's second-largest market, it lags far behind, buying less than four percent of Canadian exports in 2024.
Officials from both countries have been in talks to lower tariffs and boost bilateral trade, though an agreement has yet to be reached.
bur-dhw/je/hmn

diplomacy

Japan and US agree to expand cooperation on missiles, military drills

  • They agreed to further advance joint production of air-to-air missiles and surface-to-air interceptors.
  • Tokyo and Washington agreed Friday to boost joint production of defence equipment including missiles, and expand their military presence in waters southwest of mainland Japan, as China ramps up pressure on its Asian neighbour.
  • They agreed to further advance joint production of air-to-air missiles and surface-to-air interceptors.
Tokyo and Washington agreed Friday to boost joint production of defence equipment including missiles, and expand their military presence in waters southwest of mainland Japan, as China ramps up pressure on its Asian neighbour.
The agreement came after Japanese defence minister Shinjiro Koizumi met Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth in Washington, where they also pledged to further cooperation on supply chains including critical minerals.
Japan is embroiled in a heated diplomatic spat with China, triggered by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's suggestion in November that Japan could intervene militarily if China attacks Taiwan.
China, which regards Taiwan as its own territory, reacted angrily, blocking exports to Japan of "dual-use" items with potential military applications, fuelling worries in Tokyo that Beijing could choke supplies of much-needed rare earths.
As the "security environment is rapidly growing severe" in Asia, "the two ministers confirmed the Japan-US alliance remains absolutely unwavering", the statement released by Tokyo's defence ministry said. 
They agreed to further advance joint production of air-to-air missiles and surface-to-air interceptors.
The allies also agreed to work on the expansion of "more sophisticated and practical joint drills in various locations including the Southwest region", the statement said. 
Beefing up defence around the so-called "Southwest" region, which includes areas such as the subtropical island of Okinawa, is one of Japan's top priorities.
Okinawa, home to the vast majority of American military bases in Japan, serves as a key US outpost to monitor China, the Taiwan Strait and the Korean peninsula, with both Tokyo and Washington stressing its strategic importance.
Tokyo has also been steadily increasing its military budget, including in December when the right-leaning government of Takaichi approved a record nine trillion yen in defence spending for the upcoming fiscal year.
At the top of his meeting with Koizumi, Hegseth praised Japan for this effort, calling it "hard-nosed realism; practical, common-sense approach that puts both of our vital national interests together", according to the US Department of War, recently re-branded from the Department of Defense.
Their meeting was preceded by a joint morning workout session at a military gym. 
"The American military-style training was very tough," Koizumi wrote on X.
"But I did my best to labour my way through it, telling myself: 'this is all for the sake of strengthening the Japan-US alliance.'"  
tmo/aph/abs 

migration

Surveillance, harassment and bribes: everyday life for migrants in Russia

BY VICTORIA LOGUINOVA-YAKOVLEVA

  • "A migrant's life in Russia is difficult.
  • Facing digital surveillance, bribes, humiliation and street harassment, Kyrgyz taxi driver Alym never has an easy life in Russia.
  • "A migrant's life in Russia is difficult.
Facing digital surveillance, bribes, humiliation and street harassment, Kyrgyz taxi driver Alym never has an easy life in Russia.
"We have to pay, pay, pay for everything," the 38-year-old father of two told AFP near Moscow.
"The police are constantly demanding bribes for every document, every stamp: registration, a patent, a work permit," he said, adding some documents can cost as much as $300 off-the-books.
Pressure on the estimated 6.5 million foreign citizens in Russia -- mostly labour migrants from Central Asia who work in low-skilled jobs and send wages to family back home -- is ramping up from all sides.
Officials try to block their access to work and schools with tighter immigration rules, while xenophobia in the country -- always high -- is rising further still.
Every day Alym must send his location to authorities via the state-run Amina surveillance app, which he has to keep installed on his phone. 
"If you don't do it for three days in a row, you're put on a blacklist that's hard to get off," he explained. 
Being added to what is officially called the "register of monitored persons" means having bank accounts frozen and raises the risk of losing a job, being expelled from university or even deportation.

'Nuts'

The toughening of rules was codified last year when Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a new policy designed to "limit the presence of migrants' family members in Russia." 
According to the document, the new measures should "reduce the burden on the social and healthcare services."
Among some of the requirements rolled out are ultra-tough language tests for the children of migrants looking to enter Russian schools.
Anna Orlova, a Russian language teacher at the Migratory Children project, has criticised both the tests and the overall policy.
"We should, on the contrary, be glad that migrants come to us. It means the Russian economy is growing," she said.  
The complicated tests, combined with other bureaucratic hurdles, led to 87 percent of migrant children being blocked from entering school in 2025, according to a federal regulator. 
"The education ministry has set the goal of no longer accepting non-Russian pupils in schools. It's nuts," said Orlova. 
Alym's daughter, now in kindergarten, will soon have to take the test. 
There are signs that high levels of societal xenophobia are seeping into the classroom.
Alym's son, already in school, was recently beaten up by his Russian classmates.
In December, a teenager with neo-Nazi views stabbed a 10-year-old Tajik boy to death at a school near Moscow. 
"A migrant's life in Russia is difficult. The migrant becomes an enemy on whom the discontent in society is funnelled," said Svetlana Gannushkina from Civic Assistance, a migrant rights group, which has been labelled a "foreign agent" by the authorities. 
"We're being told that they steal our jobs and undercut wages," she added.
Those kinds of anti-immigration narratives -- prevalent in many countries -- have taken on an extra edge in Russia, where inflation is high and the Kremlin has hiked taxes to fund its military as the war in Ukraine enters its fifth year.
- Draft fears - 
Gannushkina said the policy response has been "full of fear," ushered in following a March 2024 massacre at a concert hall near Moscow, which killed 149 people.
The four alleged assailants, currently on trial, are from Tajikistan.
The anti-migrant sentiment has also boosted the popularity of some political groups, like the LDPR, an ultra-nationalist party allied with the Kremlin.  
"I'm constantly travelling around the regions, and illegal immigration is often the top issue raised by our fellow citizens. We're fed up with this situation," party leader Leonid Slutsky said in a YouTube broadcast. 
Slutsky accused migrants of "undermining the principles and traditions" of Russian society. 
He declined to comment when contacted by AFP. 
Alym wants to leave Russia by 2030, when he expects to have paid off his mortgage in Kyrgyzstan. 
"Many of my compatriots have already returned, because their children weren't admitted to school," he said. 
After four years in Russia, Alym no longer wants a Russian passport, as he once did, because of Moscow's offensive in Ukraine.
"I don't want to be drafted," he said. 
vvl/asy/jc/jh/ceg

cinema

Libyan filmmaker fights for cinema revival

BY MOHAMED RAHOMA

  • Before a 1969 coup that brought Moamer Kadhafi to power, Libya's capital Tripoli was home to more than 20 movie theatres.
  • Mouayed Zabtia shoots most scenes for his latest movie in a studio he built at his Tripoli home.
  • Before a 1969 coup that brought Moamer Kadhafi to power, Libya's capital Tripoli was home to more than 20 movie theatres.
Mouayed Zabtia shoots most scenes for his latest movie in a studio he built at his Tripoli home. For the filmmaker, it is one way to overcome the obstacles he faces in a country where cinema once nearly vanished.
Before a 1969 coup that brought Moamer Kadhafi to power, Libya's capital Tripoli was home to more than 20 movie theatres.
"Today we have none," Zabtia told AFP.
Kadhafi was overthrown and killed in 2011, and though the censorship of his era has declined, its effects are still deeply felt through underinvestment and public disinterest.
"You have to go abroad to see films in a movie theatre," said Mohammed Rizk, an actor in Zabtia's current project, which is set in 1980s Libya when a younger generation yearned for freedom under Kadhafi.
Under the longtime ruler, cinema was viewed as a tool of foreign cultural invasion, and only movies aligned with the state were funded and promoted.
Movie theatres were seen as spaces for gatherings that were difficult to control.

'Disinterest'

Many like 47-year-old Zabtia believed that after Kadhafi's fall, cinema would be resurrected, but the instability that ensued has delayed any revival.
"The problem is disinterest from all governments since 2011," Zabtia said. "We were expecting that they would help."
The filmmaker said he had funded all his productions from his own pocket, mainly with revenue from a production company he founded in 2001 to create television series and wedding videos.
It was only after the 2011 revolution that he decided to take on cinema, a goal since childhood.
In his dim-lit studio, Zabtia oversees everything -- from lighting and sound to costumes -- as a small crew bustles about making his latest picture, "1986".
Zabtia said the film is inspired by true events, including the estrangement from Libya of pioneering singer Ahmed Fakroun after Kadhafi cracked down on Western-influenced music.
Today, Zabtia said, it is no longer censorship that stifles filmmaking in Libya, but an array of other challenges compounded by a lack of public support.
Authorities have in recent years attempted to revive the artform through festivals and the creation of the Libyan Film Institute in 2021.

No story without women

Zabtia said most of his work is filmed in the studio as "filming outside in Libya is very tiring".
"We lack logistic support. You need big crews, food, drinks, help with the police for outdoor sets."
"We don't have that experience, and people are not used to seeing these kinds of cameras in the street."
Added to that, some Libyans feel cinema clashes with their moral values, he added.
Portraying women on screen is particularly difficult, Zabtia said, although he insisted it was "impossible to make a film without women when it comes to telling a story."
"We have many hidden female talents who are afraid to come forward."
Yet the director believes one solution to these social obstacles is cinema itself: "The role of cinema -- our role -- is to pinpoint issues and try to address them."
Despite the obstacles, a handful of Libyan films have crossed borders.
"Freedom Fields", a documentary by Libyan-British director Naziha Arebi about three women footballers, was screened at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2018.
In 2023, "Donga", a film by Muhannad Lamin about the 2011 uprising, was shown at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam.
While "cinema doesn't really have a market in Libya", Zabtia hopes the lack of interest will translate into an opportunity to stand out and establish a niche -- particularly with platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime. 
"We want to develop and highlight Libyan work, talent and skills," he said. 
"And we want to reach audiences overseas. It's important that they hear about Libyan stories and culture, and get to know us as a people."
bur-bou/axn/ceg

attack

Afghan man goes on trial over deadly Munich car-ramming

BY RALF ISERMANN

  • The Munich attack came a month after another Afghan man had carried out a knife attack on a kindergarten group that killed two people, including a two-year-old boy, in the city of Aschaffenburg.
  • An Afghan man goes on trial in Germany on Friday accused of ramming a car into a crowd in Munich last year, killing a two-year-old girl and her mother and injuring dozens.
  • The Munich attack came a month after another Afghan man had carried out a knife attack on a kindergarten group that killed two people, including a two-year-old boy, in the city of Aschaffenburg.
An Afghan man goes on trial in Germany on Friday accused of ramming a car into a crowd in Munich last year, killing a two-year-old girl and her mother and injuring dozens.
The suspect, partially identified as Farhad N., faces two charges of murder and 44 of attempted murder, with prosecutors saying he acted out of a "religious motivation" and expected to die in the attack.
The vehicle rampage in February 2025 was one of several deadly attacks linked to migrants which inflamed a heated debate on immigration ahead of a general election that month.
Farhad N., who was 24 at the time, is accused of deliberately steering his BMW Mini into a 1,400-strong trade union street rally in Munich on February 13.
The vehicle came to a halt after 23 metres (75 feet) "because its front wheels lost contact with the ground due to people lying in front of and underneath the car", according to the charge sheet.
A 37-year-old woman and her young daughter were both hurled through the air for 10 metres and sustained severe head injuries of which they died several days later.
Prosecutors have said Kabul-born Farhad N. "committed the act out of excessive religious motivation", and that he had uttered the words "Allahu Akbar", meaning "God is the greatest", after the car rampage.
"He believed he was obliged to attack and kill randomly selected people in Germany in response to the suffering of Muslims in Islamic countries," they said when he was charged in August.
However, he is not believed to have been part of any Islamist militant movement such as the Islamic State group.

Spate of attacks

Farhad N. arrived in Germany in 2016, at the height of the mass migrant influx to Europe. His asylum request was rejected but he was spared deportation, found work and was able to remain in the country.
Police said Farhad N. worked in security and was heavily engaged in fitness training and bodybuilding.
The Munich attack came a month after another Afghan man had carried out a knife attack on a kindergarten group that killed two people, including a two-year-old boy, in the city of Aschaffenburg.
The perpetrator was later ordered to enter psychiatric care after judges found he had acted during an acute psychotic episode.
In December 2024, six people were killed and hundreds wounded when a car ploughed into a Christmas market in the eastern city of Magdeburg. A Saudi man was arrested and is currently on trial.
Several Syrian nationals were also arrested and charged with attacks or plots at around the same time, including a knife attack that killed three people at a street festival in the city of Solingen.
Germany took in more than a million asylum seekers in 2015-2016 at the height of Europe's migrant crisis -- an influx that has proved deeply divisive and fuelled the rise of the far-right AfD. 
Conservative Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who took power last May, has vowed to crack down on criminal migrants and has ramped up deportations of convicts to Afghanistan.
Germany in December also deported a man to Syria for the first time since that country's civil war broke out in 2011.
fec/fz/jh/ceg

Greenland

NATO chief's tactic on Trump's Greenland threats? Change topic

BY MAX DELANY

  • The alliance chief insisted his energy was squarely on making sure NATO was doing enough to protect the Arctic -- a key justification in Trump's rationale for wanting Greenland.
  • US President Donald Trump's demands to take over NATO ally Denmark's territory Greenland have thrust alliance chief Mark Rutte into an uncomfortable position.
  • The alliance chief insisted his energy was squarely on making sure NATO was doing enough to protect the Arctic -- a key justification in Trump's rationale for wanting Greenland.
US President Donald Trump's demands to take over NATO ally Denmark's territory Greenland have thrust alliance chief Mark Rutte into an uncomfortable position.
His strategy for now: say as little as possible and try to change the subject. 
Facing warnings the crisis could tear the 76-year-old military alliance apart, the former Dutch premier has sought to keep himself and NATO out of the fray. 
Instead, he's tried to deflect Trump's desires by stubbornly focusing on joint efforts to boost Arctic security, dodged tricky questions and even kept on praising the US leader. 
That approach hasn't always gone down too well.
At a meeting with members of the European Parliament this week Rutte was repeatedly put on the spot.
"Allow me to address you as the guy who's looking after all of us," said agitated Danish lawmaker Stine Bosse.
"Please give us an indication of what this alliance can do if two countries within the alliance cannot agree?"
Rutte, however, remained unfazed. 
"My role as secretary general, I'm very clear -- I never ever comment when there are discussions within the alliance," he stonewalled. "You work behind the scenes."
The alliance chief insisted his energy was squarely on making sure NATO was doing enough to protect the Arctic -- a key justification in Trump's rationale for wanting Greenland.
"I believe there is a bigger issue at stake here, and that is the defence of the high north, the defence of the Arctic area," Rutte said. 
He then went even further and repeated his argument that Trump has in fact made NATO's alliance stronger by forcing others to spend more on defence. 
"I know you will all hate me now saying this, but this is what I believe," he said.

'Keep the Americans onboard'

That sangfroid is a large part of the reason why Rutte is in the job.
Billed as a "Trump-whisperer", he is one of a handful of European leaders who have been able to win the ear of the unpredictable US president.
The wily political operator converted the goodwill into a major success at NATO's summit this summer by securing a landmark spending deal that kept Trump happy.
Among diplomats at the alliance's headquarters, there is a general understanding of Rutte's low-key approach.
"It's difficult for Rutte to take the lead here as he has to keep the alliance together and keep the Americans onboard," said Jamie Shea, a former senior NATO official now with Chatham House think tank. 
"He can't take the European side against Washington." 
While some European leaders like Denmark's Mette Frederiksen and France's Emmanuel Macron have been more outspoken -- the concrete steps taken so far have focused on reinforcing NATO's position in Greenland and the Arctic.  
Copenhagen has sent more troops to the island and other European powers have dispatched personnel as a possible prelude to a bigger NATO deployment.  
Shea said Rutte needs to hammer out the details for a potential NATO mission in the Arctic and get Trump to agree to it as a possible part of the solution. 
"He needs to work behind the scenes quickly but quietly to sell the idea to the US," Shea said. 

'Silver bullet'

The furore over Greenland comes at a delicate time as Europe grapples with Trump's push to end Russia's war in Ukraine. 
After months of nudging, Washington finally seems to have drawn closer to Kyiv's position -- but any progress is fragile.
Meanwhile NATO itself is eyeing a potentially combustible summit with Trump in Turkey this summer where allies will have to show him they're making good on the vow to spend more.
"Rutte knows that if he fails now he could get burnt and lose his capital with Trump," a senior NATO diplomat told AFP.
"He wanted to save his silver bullet for Ukraine, but maybe now will have to try to manufacture another one for Greenland."
But if Trump does eventually press ahead with his threats against Greenland, possibly even resorting to force, the NATO chief may not have an option but to intervene more forcefully.
"Rutte still has a responsibility, which is to decide when he thinks it is most appropriate to chip in," said Camille Grand, another former senior NATO official.
"At the moment, he says he is not getting involved in disputes between member states. That may work for now, but at some point he risks being caught up in it".
The man himself appears to be unperturbed. 
"I'm thoroughly enjoying the role and the job," he said, when an EU lawmaker asked if he feared being the last NATO secretary general.
"I was not planning to quit already, but I'm sure there will be a successor someday".
del/ub/phz/ceg

conflict

Venezuela's Machado says she 'presented' Trump with Nobel medal

BY DANNY KEMP

  • "I presented the president of the United States the medal of the Nobel Peace Prize," Machado told reporters outside the US capitol, where she met with lawmakers after having lunch with Trump at the White House.
  • Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said Thursday she "presented" her Nobel Peace Prize medal to Donald Trump, in a bid to win over the US president who had sidelined her since overthrowing Nicolas Maduro.
  • "I presented the president of the United States the medal of the Nobel Peace Prize," Machado told reporters outside the US capitol, where she met with lawmakers after having lunch with Trump at the White House.
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said Thursday she "presented" her Nobel Peace Prize medal to Donald Trump, in a bid to win over the US president who had sidelined her since overthrowing Nicolas Maduro.
Her "wonderful gesture of mutual respect," as Trump called it Thursday, comes after the Republican said the award should have gone to him instead -- and after he refused to back Machado following the January 3 US military operation to capture Maduro.
"He deserves it, and it was a very emotional moment," Machado later told broadcaster Fox News in an interview.
Despite the gesture, Trump has backed Maduro's vice president Delcy Rodriguez over Machado -- so long as she toes Washington's line, particularly on access to Venezuela's vast oil reserves.
"I presented the president of the United States the medal of the Nobel Peace Prize," Machado told reporters outside the US capitol, where she met with lawmakers after having lunch with Trump at the White House.
Machado, 58, said it was "recognition for his unique commitment with our freedom."
It was not immediately clear if Trump actually kept the award following the closed-door meeting.
The Norwegian Nobel committee says its prizes cannot be transferred.
- 'Not afraid' - 
Trump had campaigned hard to win last year's Nobel Peace Prize for what he says are his efforts to stop eight wars.
Instead it went to Machado, who appeared in Oslo last month to collect her prize -- following a daring escape from Venezuela by boat -- and then dedicated it to Trump.
Venezuela's opposition has argued and presented evidence that Maduro stole the 2024 election from the candidate of Machado's party, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia -- claims supported by Washington.
But Trump has said that Machado does not have enough support among Venezuelans, and opted to stick with former Maduro loyalist Rodriguez.
Trump and Rodriguez had their first telephone call on Wednesday and the White House said Thursday he "likes what he's seeing" with Venezuela's interim leaders.
Rodriguez said however that Thursday her government was "not afraid" of a diplomatic clash with Washington.
"We know they are very powerful. We know they are a lethal nuclear power...we are not afraid to confront them diplomatically, through political dialogue," said Rodriguez.
Rodriguez was delivering Maduro's state of the nation address to parliament while the toppled Venezuelan leader is in a New York jail facing drug trafficking charges.
By contrast Machado, who campaigned for years to end leftist Maduro's rule, was greeted by jubilant supporters as she left the White House.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said as the lunch started that Machado was a "remarkable and brave voice for many of the people of Venezuela."
But while Leavitt said Trump was "committed to hopefully seeing elections in Venezuela one day," she would not give a timeline.

Sixth tanker seizure

Since Maduro's capture, Trump has said the United States will "run" Venezuela -- exerting pressure through a naval blockade and threats of further attacks -- but has appeared content to let Rodriguez remain in power so long as oil keeps flowing.
US forces on Thursday seized a sixth oil tanker in its campaign to control the South American country's critical fossil fuel sector.
Separately, the first US-brokered sale of Venezuelan oil, worth around $500 million, has been finalized, a US official told AFP on Thursday without identifying the buyer.
Rodriguez in her speech also announced plans for legal reforms to Venezuela's oil sector -- which currently limit the involvement of foreign entities -- but did not give specific details.
Washington has also hailed the release of dozens of political prisoners in the past week, though hundreds remain behind bars.
Meanwhile the shockwaves from the lightning US raid that toppled Maduro continue to reverberate.
Cuba paid tribute on Thursday to 32 soldiers killed in the operation, some of whom had been assigned to Maduro's protection team, in a ceremony attended by revolutionary leader Raul Castro.
burs-dk/sla/jgc

Global Edition

Vietnam leader seeks more power at party congress

BY TY MCCORMICK

  • An internal Communist party position was added as a fifth pillar last year.
  • Vietnam's leaders convene next week for a once-every-five-years congress, where General Secretary To Lam is looking to cement control over the Communist Party ruling one of Asia's fastest-growing economies.
  • An internal Communist party position was added as a fifth pillar last year.
Vietnam's leaders convene next week for a once-every-five-years congress, where General Secretary To Lam is looking to cement control over the Communist Party ruling one of Asia's fastest-growing economies.
The nation of 100 million people is both a repressive one-party state and a regional economic bright spot, with the party seeking to deliver rapid expansion to underpin its claim to legitimacy.
But its leaders face challenges from tensions between its main trading partners the United States and China, along with mounting environmental and social pressures domestically.
Since he ascended to the top role just 17 months ago, Lam has enthusiastically pursued an anti-corruption drive, thinned and streamlined bureaucracy, and accelerated infrastructure investment in reforms officials describe as a "revolution".
Lam 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 -- and experts say clinching it will signal the supremacy of his security-dominated faction.
"If he manages to claim both positions, Vietnam's leadership model will shift from consensus decision-making or collective leadership towards more authoritarian rule," said Le Hong Hiep, a senior fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore.
Lam's reach will depend on who else secures top posts and politburo positions during the January 19-25 conclave, particularly from the more conservative military faction that opposes Lam and his changes.
One source briefed on last month's party deliberations told AFP Lam's bid for expanded powers was provisionally approved.
But some reports suggest he had to shelve his presidential ambitions to secure support for his reform agenda.
- Ministries abolished - 
Lam rose rapidly to the pinnacle of Vietnamese power after a long career with the secretive public security ministry.
He was named president -- considered the second-most important job in Vietnamese politics -- in May 2024, after his predecessor was sacked for corruption.
Less than two months later the incumbent general secretary Nguyen Phu Trong died and Lam succeeded him in turn -- later relinquishing the post of president.
In his short tenure as party chief, he has eliminated whole layers of government -- abolishing eight ministries or agencies and cutting nearly 150,000 jobs from the state payroll, while pushing ambitious rail and power projects.
Experts say he will focus on spurring private sector, digital and technological growth as the manufacturing hub seeks to break into the club of upper middle-income countries by the end of the decade. 
That would mean raising GDP per capita by 70 percent from today's $5,000.
Vietnam has proved surprisingly resilient in the face of new 20 percent tariffs imposed by Donald Trump, clocking eight-percent growth last year.
But the balancing act between the United States and China has grown tougher, while the expectations of millions of young people are rising.
Housing affordability has become a major issue, as has pollution that blankets major cities in toxic smog.
"Buying a house has never really been part of my plan because I never thought it was something I could afford," said Kim, 23, a researcher in Ho Chi Minh City who still lives with her parents. 
She hoped the leadership "will pay more attention to inequality", asking to be identified only by her first name for fear of retribution. 

'More like China'

The ruling party tolerates little dissent and regularly jails its critics, more than 160 of whom are behind bars, according to Human Rights Watch.
But unlike in present-day China or the Kim dynasty's North Korea, political power in Vietnam has not traditionally been concentrated in one paramount leader.
Its collective system of government rests on four pillars: the party chief, president, prime minister and the chairman of the National Assembly. An internal Communist party position was added as a fifth pillar last year.
Lam would be the first person to be named to both the top two jobs simultaneously by a party congress, rather than stepping in following a holder's death.
If he is, said Derek Grossman of the University of Southern California, "Vietnam will become more like China and North Korea rather than maintaining a separation of powers".
bur-tym/slb/mjw/abs

Trump

As Trump turns screws, how long can Europe play nice?

BY EMMA CHARLTON AND CAMILLE CAMDESSUS

  • One headspinning year down, three more to go. 
One headspinning year down, three more to go. 
Buffeted by a US superpower turned hostile under Donald Trump, Europe is struggling to set red lines as its once-close ally attacks its laws, eggs on the far-right -- and threatens its sovereignty in Greenland.
Any lingering doubts over the shifting winds in Washington were laid to rest with the release of last month's US security strategy taking most virulent aim not at China or Russia, but at the European Union.
Europe had barely absorbed that shock when it was blindsided by the US president's vow to wrest mineral-rich Greenland from EU and NATO member Denmark -- by force if need be.
European nations scrambled a military mission to Greenland to try to defuse Trump's threat -- but pushing back at the US president is easier said than done.
"Telling Trump 'You can't do that,' is not language that he understands," summed up one EU diplomat, granted anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter.
"We must appease Trump, not poke the beast."
The bottom line is that Europe's hands are tied: the continent is surging defence spending to break its security reliance on the United States -- but for now, it still needs US help to end the Ukraine war, and deter the looming Russian threat to its east.
In that spirit leaders have stopped well short of calling out Trump's threats -- levied right as the Europeans held crunch talks with US envoys on locking in post-war security guarantees for Ukraine.  
Instead they have reached for their now-familiar Trump playbook: avoid escalation at all costs, and work to mollify the US president -- until the next time.
The half-dozen Europeans with a direct line to Trump, from France's Emmanuel Macron and Italy's Giorgia Meloni to NATO chief Mark Rutte, can claim some successes with this strategy, namely in clawing back a seat at the table of talks to end the Ukraine war.
But as Denmark's leader Mette Frederiksen warned this week, with three quarters of Trump's presidency left to run, there is reason to expect "the most challenging part" is yet to come.
And Europe may not be able to play nice forever.

Election tests loom

Trump's threats to Greenland are just one part of the picture.
Last year's trade standoff with Washington saw Europe strong-armed into what was widely seen as a lopsided deal.
Since then Team Trump has pressed an all-out assault branding Europe's civilisation moribund, imposing sanctions over digital rules it calls censorship, and vowing to boost political forces aligned with the president's MAGA ideology.
Strongman Viktor Orban can expect the weight of US foreign policy behind him in Hungary's April elections, with Elon Musk's X acting as a force multiplier for hard-right narratives.
And France's 2027 election looms as a key test.
Trump's camp has "formulated quite clearly" it would welcome a far-right win in the nuclear-armed EU heavyweight, said Tara Varma, European policy expert at the German Marshall Fund of the United States.
"We have to take them at their word," she warned, saying Europe needs to rethink tools designed to counter political meddling from regimes like Russia -- to meet the new US threat.

A 'bazooka' for Greenland?

The spectre of MAGA-fuelled interference feeds into the critical issue of whether the EU has the mettle to keep US tech giants in check.
So far the EU has stared down threats of US retaliation to keep enforcing its laws against online abuses and disinformation, with fines on X and others.
But even penalties in the hundreds of millions are seen as small fry for the likes of Musk -- who pours expletive-laden scorn on the EU and its rules.
So what more can Europe do to try to turn the tables?
Simple, say advocates of tougher action: play the economic card, as America's biggest bilateral trade partner.
When it comes to Greenland, European law professor Alberto Alemanno says the bloc's "most tangible threat" to deter Trump is freezing the US trade deal -- an idea gaining ground in the EU parliament.
The tough question is where to draw the line.
"Do we need the territorial integrity of the European Union to be breached? Do we need to see boots on the ground, to see the Americans entering into Greenland, in order to justify this?" asked Alemanno.
Beyond that, the bloc has a powerful weapon called the anti-coercion instrument -- never used before -- that allows for curbing imports of goods and services and has been invoked as a way to push back over tech and trade, and now Greenland.
Deploying the trade "bazooka," as it is dubbed, is one idea being brainstormed in Brussels but still seen as a long shot.
"Europe has a number of cards up its sleeve -- and it's chosen consciously or unconsciously not to use them," said the German Marshall Fund's Varma.
But at some point, she warned, "it might have to."
ec/del/st/ceg

Trump

One year on, it's all about Trump. But for how long?

BY DANNY KEMP

  • At times Trump has also cultivated what looks like a cult of personality, revamping the White House and building a $400 million ballroom, and adding his name to the famed Kennedy Center for the performing arts.
  • On a sunny January morning in Florida, Donald Trump went shopping for marble and onyx for his new White House ballroom.
  • At times Trump has also cultivated what looks like a cult of personality, revamping the White House and building a $400 million ballroom, and adding his name to the famed Kennedy Center for the performing arts.
On a sunny January morning in Florida, Donald Trump went shopping for marble and onyx for his new White House ballroom. A few hours later, he was bombing Venezuela.
It was just one day in an extraordinary year since his return to office, but it summed up how Trump has reshaped the US presidency through the sheer force of his own personality.
And as he enters his second year back in the White House, Trump is increasingly acting as if there are no checks on his power -- either at home or abroad.
"He has really personalized the presidency," Noah Rosenblum, professor of law at New York University, told AFP.
If the former reality TV star's first term dominated news cycles because of its chaos, Trump's second has done so because of a single-minded determination to stamp his mark on the world's most powerful job.
He began with a freewheeling Oval Office appearance on January 20, 2025, during which he pardoned hundreds of pro-Trump rioters who attacked the US Capitol four years earlier.
The Republican leader has kept up the pace ever since. 
An unprecedented blitz of executive orders, outrageous pronouncements and directives for the persecution of his political opponents came in the following days and months.
Trump has shaken the foundations of American democracy as the country prepares to mark its 250th anniversary, caused global turmoil with his tariffs and upended the global order.
"There is one thing. My own morality," Trump, who is the first convicted felon to be elected president, told The New York Times when asked if there were limits on his power.
At times Trump has also cultivated what looks like a cult of personality, revamping the White House and building a $400 million ballroom, and adding his name to the famed Kennedy Center for the performing arts.
And 2026 dawned with an unapologetic Trump Unbound: ordering the capture of Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro, threatening Greenland and sending immigration agents on a deadly operation into Minnesota.
Rosenbaum said the past year had "revealed that the old system had less legitimacy and was more fragile than I had understood, than was widely understood." 

'Expect trouble'

Trump has begun 2026 with a bang. Yet it could also finally show the limits of a presidency that revolves around the whims of one man who will turn 80 years old in June.
The biggest inflection point could come in November's midterm elections. 
While these votes for the control of Congress are always effectively a referendum on sitting presidents, this year's will more than ever be a verdict on Trump himself.
His approval numbers remain low, with the White House battling to show that his economic plans are working despite voter anger over affordability.
If Republicans take a hammering, there are questions about whether Trump could seek to overturn the results, like he tried when Democrat Joe Biden beat him to the presidency in 2020.
"I expect trouble," William Galston of the Brookings Institution told AFP.
"He is more actively involved in the management of the midterms than any president I've seen."
Galston said however that Trump was unlikely to be able to mount any meaningful challenge if Republicans lose control of the House, which would leave him a lame duck president for the remaining two years of his term.
Trump faces challenges on other fronts too. The Supreme Court could clip Trump's wings on tariffs, while his bypassing of Congress by the use of executive orders could also backfire, said Galston. 
"The problem with governing by fiat is that what you weave by day, your successor can unravel by night, which leads to far fewer permanent achievements," Galston said.
With Venezuela, Iran, Greenland, Ukraine and Gaza on Trump's agenda in 2026, the self-professed "America First" president also appears preoccupied by foreign policy.
"That's a problem politically because a lot of the people who voted for him didn't vote for that, they voted for them to focus on the economy. He's paid a significant price for that," added Galston.
dk/jgc/mlm

unrest

Key Colombia guerrilla group backs pact to fight US, commander tells AFP

BY DAVID SALAZAR

  • Ivan Mordisco, Colombia's most wanted rebel, who leads his own dissident group, has called for a unity pact to repel the United States. 
  • The commander of Colombia's largest guerrilla group on Thursday backed calls for warring leftist militias to unite to repel any US military operations in the country.
  • Ivan Mordisco, Colombia's most wanted rebel, who leads his own dissident group, has called for a unity pact to repel the United States. 
The commander of Colombia's largest guerrilla group on Thursday backed calls for warring leftist militias to unite to repel any US military operations in the country.
"If it's to defend the homeland against foreign aggression, we'll join the fight," ELN leader Antonio Garcia told AFP, responding to calls for factions to unite. 
President Donald Trump, after ousting Nicolas Maduro as president in neighboring Venezuela, has suggested US forces may train their guns on targets in Colombia next.
Trump has argued Colombia -- the world's largest producer of cocaine -- is not doing enough to stop drug trafficking to the United States.
Ostensibly a leftist insurgent force, the 6,000-person-strong ELN doubles as one of Latin America's most powerful drug-trafficking organizations.
It controls a swath of the Colombia-Venezuela border region and, before the ouster of Maduro, had close ties to Caracas. 
Colombian intelligence sources allege that Garcia himself lived in Venezuela until recently. 
After Maduro was toppled by US forces, many guerrilla leaders are believed to have returned to Colombia. 

United front

Other Colombian guerrilla groups have reacted angrily to Maduro's removal from power, claiming a US colonialist plot.
Ivan Mordisco, Colombia's most wanted rebel, who leads his own dissident group, has called for a unity pact to repel the United States. 
"We know we have had our differences in the past... but today we are facing a common enemy" in the United States, said Mordisco, leader of the remnants of the dissolved FARC armed movement, also thought to have rear bases in Venezuela. 
"We summon you urgently to a summit of insurgent commanders from Colombia and all over our America," he said, in a video sent to media. 
"Let us forge a great insurgent front to drive back our enemies." 
In a message from hiding, Garcia told AFP that his group would be willing to fight US forces. 
The ELN "does what it must at each stage of the struggle," he said. 
Colombia's Defense Minister Pedro Sanchez has said guerrillas seek unity because "the threat of lethal action" against them is now greater. 
Under intense pressure from Washington and after a series of personal spats with Trump, Colombia's president Gustavo Petro has agreed to "joint action" against the ELN and other drug smugglers. 
Trump had once told Petro -- himself a former guerrilla -- to "watch his ass" and hit the Colombian president and his family with sanctions.
But after an ice-breaking phone call, Trump will host him at the White House in February.
Colombia accuses the ELN of launching attacks and kidnappings of Colombian soldiers and retreating to rear-base locations in Venezuela. 
Attacks on ground targets in Colombia would signal a broadening of Trump's military operations against alleged drug traffickers.
Since September, US forces are believed to have killed more than 100 people in strikes on alleged trafficking boats in the Caribbean and Pacific. 
Colombia and Venezuela share a porous 2,200-kilometer (1,400-mile) border where various armed groups vie for control of the profits from drug trafficking, illegal mining, and smuggling. 
Washington and Bogota have enjoyed security cooperation for decades, but ties have deteriorated since Trump began his second term last January. 
das-arb/md

conflict

Venezuelan interim leader vows oil sector reform after Maduro ouster

  • Without providing details, interim president Delcy Rodriguez told parliament Thursday there would be reforms to Venezuela's Hydrocarbons Law, which limits the involvement of foreign entities in exploiting the nationalized resources.
  • Venezuela's interim president on Thursday announced pending legal reforms to the country's critical fossil fuel sector, as she seeks to recalibrate ties with Washington following the US military ouster of her predecessor, Nicolas Maduro.
  • Without providing details, interim president Delcy Rodriguez told parliament Thursday there would be reforms to Venezuela's Hydrocarbons Law, which limits the involvement of foreign entities in exploiting the nationalized resources.
Venezuela's interim president on Thursday announced pending legal reforms to the country's critical fossil fuel sector, as she seeks to recalibrate ties with Washington following the US military ouster of her predecessor, Nicolas Maduro.
Since the January 3 capture of Maduro, US President Donald Trump has asserted that the United States essentially controls Venezuela, while making clear that accessing its vast oil reserves is a key goal of the intervention.
Sanctioned by Washington since 2019, Venezuela sits on about a fifth of the world's oil reserves and was once a major crude supplier to the United States.
But it produced only around one percent of the world's total crude output in 2024, according to OPEC, having been hampered by years of underinvestment, sanctions and embargoes.
Without providing details, interim president Delcy Rodriguez told parliament Thursday there would be reforms to Venezuela's Hydrocarbons Law, which limits the involvement of foreign entities in exploiting the nationalized resources.
The changes would also touch on so-called anti-blockade provisions which give the government tools to counteract US sanctions in place since 2019.
Trump has recently pressed top oil executives to invest in Venezuela.
Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips exited in 2007 after refusing demands by then-president Hugo Chavez to cede majority control to the state. They have been fighting to recoup billions of dollars they say Venezuela owes them.
Chevron is the only US firm operating in Venezuela, under a special sanctions exemption license.
The US Department of Energy has unveiled a plan to develop Venezuela's oil industry and has begun marketing Venezuelan crude.
US Energy Secretary Chris Wright has said Washington will control the sales of Venezuelan oil "indefinitely."
Rodriguez said the envisioned legal reform would result in money for "new fields, to fields where there has never been investment, and to fields where there is no infrastructure."
The South American country produced over one million barrels of oil per day (bpd) in 2025 -- up from a historic low of about 360,000 -- but still far from the three million bpd it was pumping 25 years ago.
Oil exports are Venezuela's main source of revenue.
afc-bc/jt/dg/mlr/des

children

Social media sites block 4.7 million underage accounts in Australia

  • "Given the vast number of online services and the fast-evolving nature of the tech industry, it's impossible to list all of the services which meet the conditions and are obliged to comply with the social media minimum age obligation," she said.
  • Tech giants have blocked 4.7 million accounts under Australia's world-first social media ban for under-16s, the country's online safety watchdog said Friday.
  • "Given the vast number of online services and the fast-evolving nature of the tech industry, it's impossible to list all of the services which meet the conditions and are obliged to comply with the social media minimum age obligation," she said.
Tech giants have blocked 4.7 million accounts under Australia's world-first social media ban for under-16s, the country's online safety watchdog said Friday.
Initial figures showed platforms were taking meaningful action to remove underage users, Australia's eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said.
"It is clear that eSafety's regulatory guidance and engagement with platforms is already delivering significant outcomes," she said in a statement.
Australia has required big platforms including Meta, TikTok and YouTube to stop underage users from holding accounts since the legislation came into force on December 10 last year.
Companies face fines of Aus$49.5 million (US$33 million) if they fail to take "reasonable steps" to comply.
Billionaire Mark Zuckerberg's Meta said last week it had removed 331,000 underage accounts from Instagram, 173,000 from Facebook, and 40,000 from Threads in the week to December 11.
But Meta repeated its call for app stores to be required to verify people's ages and get parental approval before under-16s can download an app.

Fighting circumvention

This was the only way to avoid a "whack-a-mole" race to stop teens migrating to new apps to avoid the ban, the company said.
Australia's eSafety Commissioner said it takes time to verify ages accurately, but it expects platforms to improve their performance.
"It is also the responsibility of industry to prevent circumvention, as outlined in eSafety's industry guidance," the regulator said.
Inman Grant said it was too early to say whether platforms were complying completely but early signs were encouraging.
"While some kids may find creative ways to stay on social media, it's important to remember that just like other safety laws we have in society, success is measured by reduction in harm and in resetting cultural norms," she said.
Downloads of lesser known platforms such as BlueSky and Lemon8 surged ahead of the implementation of the teen social media ban.
But both social media sites recognised that they were covered by the legislation, and they were cooperating with the Australian regulator, Inman Grant said.
"Given the vast number of online services and the fast-evolving nature of the tech industry, it's impossible to list all of the services which meet the conditions and are obliged to comply with the social media minimum age obligation," she said.
"As I have said for some time now, our compliance focus will remain on platforms with the highest number of Australian users."
djw/msp

UN

Threats to Iran spike 'volatility': UN official

  • Until Wednesday, the United States was threatening military action against Iran should it carry out the death penalty against people arrested over the protests -- and Washington's envoy to the UN said Thursday all options were still "on the table."
  • A senior UN official warned on Thursday that threats of military action against Iran, like those made by US President Donald Trump, increased "volatility" in the protest-torn country.
  • Until Wednesday, the United States was threatening military action against Iran should it carry out the death penalty against people arrested over the protests -- and Washington's envoy to the UN said Thursday all options were still "on the table."
A senior UN official warned on Thursday that threats of military action against Iran, like those made by US President Donald Trump, increased "volatility" in the protest-torn country.
Iran was shaken over the last week by some of the biggest anti-government protests in the history of the Islamic republic, although the demonstrations appear to have diminished in the face of repression and a week-long internet blackout. 
Until Wednesday, the United States was threatening military action against Iran should it carry out the death penalty against people arrested over the protests -- and Washington's envoy to the UN said Thursday all options were still "on the table."
"We note with alarm various public statements suggesting possible military strikes on Iran. This external dimension adds volatility to an already combustible situation," UN Assistant Secretary-General Martha Pobee told the UN Security Council.
"All efforts must be undertaken to prevent any further deterioration."
Iran's representative at the meeting Gholamhossein Darzi accused Washington of "exploitation of peaceful protests for geopolitical purposes."
Trump's statements were "aimed at reigniting unrest," he said.
Iranian-American journalist Masih Alinejad, invited to address the Council by Washington, said "all Iranians are united" against the clerical system in Iran. 
"Millions of Iranians flooded into the streets demanding that their money stop being stolen and sending to Hamas, to Hezbollah, to Houthi" fighters, she said referring to Tehran-backed armed groups.
In October a US judge jailed two men for 25 years each Wednesday for a plot to murder Alinejad allegedly hatched by Tehran.
Iranians "welcomed when President Trump offered to rescue unarmed people being shot in their heart, in their chest by the security forces inside Iran," said Alinejad who was become a prominent face of criticism of the Iranian government in the United States.
US ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz said the United States "stands by the brave people of Iran period."
"The level of repression that the Iranian regime has unleashed on its own citizens, its own people, has repercussions for international peace and security," he added.
gw/sla

Global Edition

Oil prices slump after Trump eases concerns over Iran

  • But later in the day there was "kind of a roll-back in the megacap stock and semiconductors," said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare.
  • Oil prices tumbled Thursday after US President Donald Trump moderated his rhetoric on Iran, while US stocks bounced back after two down days.
  • But later in the day there was "kind of a roll-back in the megacap stock and semiconductors," said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare.
Oil prices tumbled Thursday after US President Donald Trump moderated his rhetoric on Iran, while US stocks bounced back after two down days.
International oil benchmarks Brent North Sea crude and West Texas Intermediate slumped more than four percent after Trump on Wednesday said he would "watch it and see" on possible intervention in the Islamic republic.
Trump added that he had been told that the killings of protesters there had stopped.
Crude prices had surged over recent days as Trump talked about coming to the aid of the Iranian people over the crackdown on demonstrations, sparking concerns over possible disruption to global supplies.
"As tensions are dialed down between Iran and the US, the political risk premium is rapidly getting priced out of the oil price," said XTB research director Kathleen Brooks.
In stock market trading, a forecast-busting fourth-quarter net profit by Taiwanese chipmaking titan TSMC helped turn around investor sentiment.
The tech-rich Nasdaq piled on more than one percent early in the session behind large gains among leading chip companies. 
But later in the day there was "kind of a roll-back in the megacap stock and semiconductors," said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare.
The weakening of US equities followed remarks from US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick indicating that semiconductor companies that don't build in the United States could face 100 percent tariffs.
All three US indices finished moderately higher, with the broad-based S&P 500 up 0.3 percent.
Investment banks Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs surged 5.8 percent and 4.6 percent after reporting strong profits on surging revenues tied to mergers and acquisitions.
In European trading, London's top-tier FTSE 100 index hit a fresh record high after official data showed that Britain's economy rebounded in November.
Frankfurt rose as traders reacted to news that Germany's economy eked out meager growth in 2025, dodging a third straight year of recession.
The Paris stock market fell slightly, dragged down in part by a drop in the share price of TotalEnergies in the wake of oil's retreat.
In Asia, Tokyo closed down 0.4 percent, cooling off after gains fueled by speculation that Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi would call an election to capitalize on strong public approval ratings.
Silver prices, which have surged to records in recent weeks, moved 0.3 percent lower after tumbling more than seven percent at one point. Gold prices also retreated modestly.

Key figures at around 2115 GMT

Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 4.2 percent at $63.76 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 4.6 percent at $59.19 per barrel
New York - Dow: UP 0.6 percent at 49,442.44 (close) 
New York - S&P 500: UP 0.3 percent at 6,944.47 (close)
New York - Nasdaq Composite: UP 0.3 percent at 23,530.02 (close)
London - FTSE 100: UP 0.5 percent at 10,238.94 (close)
Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 0.2 percent at 8,313.12 (close)
Frankfurt - DAX: UP 0.3 percent at 25,352.39 (close)
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.4 percent at 54,110.50 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.3 percent at 26,923.62 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.3 percent at 4,112.60 (close)
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1605 from $1.1644 on Wednesday
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3377 from $1.3443
Dollar/yen: UP at 158.63 yen from 158.46 yen
Euro/pound: UP at 86.75 pence from 86.61 pence
burs-jmb/iv