accident

Spain train drivers call strike after deadly accidents

conflict

Israeli strike kills three Gaza journalists including AFP freelancer

  • In a statement, the Israeli military said troops had "identified several suspects who operated a drone affiliated with Hamas in the central Gaza Strip". 
  • An Israeli air strike killed an AFP freelancer and two other journalists in Gaza on Wednesday, the territory's civil defence agency said, while the military said it struck "suspects" operating a drone.
  • In a statement, the Israeli military said troops had "identified several suspects who operated a drone affiliated with Hamas in the central Gaza Strip". 
An Israeli air strike killed an AFP freelancer and two other journalists in Gaza on Wednesday, the territory's civil defence agency said, while the military said it struck "suspects" operating a drone.
Since October 10, a fragile US-sponsored ceasefire in Gaza has largely halted the fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas, but both sides have alleged frequent violations.
In a statement, the civil defence said three journalists were killed in an Israeli air strike in the Al-Zahra area southwest of Gaza City, naming the dead as Mohammed Salah Qashta, Abdul Raouf Shaat and Anas Ghneim. 
Shaat had contributed regularly to AFP as a photo and video journalist, but at the time of the strike he was not on assignment for the agency.
In a statement, AFP said it was mourning the loss of Shaat, who would be remembered as a "kind-hearted colleague, with a gentle sense of humour, and as a deeply committed journalist".
"AFP demands a full and transparent investigation into his death," it said.
"Far too many local journalists have been killed in Gaza over the past two years while foreign journalists remain unable to enter the territory freely," the agency added.
In a statement, the Israeli military said troops had "identified several suspects who operated a drone affiliated with Hamas in the central Gaza Strip". 
The military did not elaborate on what it meant by a "drone affiliated with Hamas".
"Due to the threat that the drone posed to the troops, the (Israeli military) precisely struck the suspects who activated the drone," it said, adding that the details were under review.

Vehicle 'criminally targeted'

According to an eyewitness, the journalists were using a drone to take images of aid distribution by the Egyptian Relief Committee in the Gaza Strip when a strike targeted a vehicle accompanying them.
The Egyptian aid group confirmed one of its vehicles was targeted by Israel in a strike that killed three people.
"A vehicle belonging to the Egyptian Committee was targeted during a humanitarian mission, resulting in the martyrdom of three individuals," said Mohammed Mansour, a spokesman for the Egyptian Relief Committee in the Gaza Strip, adding that all vehicles belonging to the group "bear the committee's logo".
"The Israeli army criminally targeted this vehicle" when the individuals were filming the Netzarim camp, Mansour said.
AFP footage showed the vehicle charred, with mangled remains lying in an open area.
Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas called the strike "a dangerous escalation of the flagrant violations of the ceasefire agreement."
The Palestinian Journalists' Syndicate condemned it as part of a "systematic and deliberate policy pursued by the Israeli occupation to intentionally target Palestinian journalists".
Israeli forces have killed at least 466 Palestinians in Gaza since the ceasefire took effect, according to the territory's health ministry, which operates under Hamas authority.
The Israeli military said militants have killed three of its soldiers during the same period.
Gaza's health ministry said another eight Palestinians were also killed in Israeli attacks in the territory on Wednesday.

Journalists under fire

Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) expressed "deep anger" at the strike that killed Shaat and his colleagues, while the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said it was "appalled".
"This isolated strike on journalists who were identifiable by their reporting equipment could indicate targeting and constitute a war crime," Martin Roux, head of RSF's crisis desk was quoted as saying in a statement.
Israel's advanced surveillance and targeting technology renders "any claims of misidentification implausible," Sara Qudah, the CPJ's Middle East and North Africa programme coordinator was quoted in an X post as saying.
RSF said that Israeli forces killed at least 29 Palestinian journalists in Gaza between December 2024 and December 2025.
The deadliest single attack was a so-called "double-tap" strike on a hospital in south Gaza on August 25, which killed five journalists, including two contributors to international news agencies Reuters and the Associated Press.
Since Hamas's attack on Israel in October 2023 sparked the war in Gaza, nearly 220 journalists have been killed by Israel, making the Palestinian territory by far the deadliest place for journalists, RSF data says.
The Israeli military claims that several journalists it targeted in Gaza had been "terrorists" affiliated with Palestinian militant groups.
Last week, US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff announced the start of phase two of the Gaza ceasefire.
The strike on Wednesday came hours after the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced he had accepted an invitation to join US President Donald Trump's "Board of Peace" aimed at resolving conflicts.
bur-az-my-acc/jd/jfx

Denmark

Greenlanders doubtful over Trump resolution

  • But the island's inhabitants remained unconvinced.
  • Greenlanders were sceptical on Wednesday following US President Donald Trump's announcement that he had settled the question of the Arctic island's future. 
  • But the island's inhabitants remained unconvinced.
Greenlanders were sceptical on Wednesday following US President Donald Trump's announcement that he had settled the question of the Arctic island's future. 
Following weeks of increasingly bellicose rhetoric surrounding his desire to seize the autonomous Danish territory, Trump said at Davos that he had reached a framework of a deal that satisfies him, without providing details.
Several Greenlanders interviewed by AFP in the capital Nuuk voiced doubt when they heard the news -- or refused to believe it.
"Quite simply a lie. He's lying," said 47-year-old technician Mickel Nielsen.
"I don't believe a word he says, and I don't think I'm the only one," he added.
Trump said he had reached an agreement during talks with NATO chief Mark Rutte, but offered few details and was conspicuously silent on whether the deal would mean US control over the Arctic island, which he has repeatedly demanded.
The head of the transatlantic military alliance for his part said the conversation had been "very productive", according to NATO spokesperson Allison Hart.
Allies would discuss the framework which addresses Trump's claims that the island is not protected from Russia or China, she said.
"Negotiations between Denmark, Greenland, and the United States will go forward aimed at ensuring that Russia and China never gain a foothold -- economically or militarily -- in Greenland," she said.
But the island's inhabitants remained unconvinced.
"Trump? I don't believe him," said care worker Anak, 64. "Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders."
Miki, using a fake name, said the US leader's declaration was "hard to believe".
"He can say something and two minutes later he says completely the opposite."
“NATO has absolutely no right to negotiate anything without us, Greenland. Nothing about us without us,” reacted Greenlandic MP Aaja Chenmitz, one of the two elected representatives of Greenland in the Danish parliament. “And for NATO to have a say in our country and our minerals is completely insane,” she added.
According to a January 2025 poll, 85 percent of Greenlanders oppose joining the United States, with only six percent in favour.
cbw-phy/cc/yad

film

'One Battle After Another,' 'Sinners' tipped to top Oscar noms

BY ANDREW MARSZAL

  • Former best actor Oscar winner Leonardo DiCaprio is all but certain to secure his seventh acting nomination from the Academy.
  • The votes are in and the moment is here: the Academy is set to reveal the nominations for this year's Oscars, with "One Battle After Another" and "Sinners" expected to top the list. 
  • Former best actor Oscar winner Leonardo DiCaprio is all but certain to secure his seventh acting nomination from the Academy.
The votes are in and the moment is here: the Academy is set to reveal the nominations for this year's Oscars, with "One Battle After Another" and "Sinners" expected to top the list. 
Experts predict that the acclaimed hits, both from Warner Bros, could each rack up a dozen or more nods for Hollywood's grandest awards ceremony -- from best picture and best actor to the new best casting prize.
Some even suggest that the films could tie -- or even break -- the all-time record of nominations for a single film, jointly held by "All About Eve," "Titanic" and "La La Land" at 14.
It is rare for a single Hollywood studio to have the two clear Oscar frontrunners, and it ironically comes in what could be Warner Bros' swansong year as an independent distributor.
Warner Bros is the target of a fierce bidding war between Paramount Skydance and Netflix.
"Sinners," a blues-inflected period horror film about the segregated US South, comes from "Black Panther" director Ryan Coogler.
It is expected to land a best actor nomination for Michael B. Jordan, who plays two twins battling vampires and racists in 1930s Mississippi, plus everything from screenplay to score.
For Variety awards expert Clayton Davis, the nominations record is within reach for "Sinners." 
Coogler is "rewriting the math entirely," and could enter "a statistical stratosphere no filmmaker has ever touched," Davis wrote.
But so far this awards season, Paul Thomas Anderson -- whose formidable, eclectic filmography runs from "Boogie Nights" to "There Will Be Blood" -- has won almost every prize going for "One Battle After Another."
A zany thriller about a retired revolutionary looking for his teen daughter against a wild backdrop of radical violence, immigration raids and white supremacists, it broke the all-time record for nominations by Hollywood's actors guild.
Former best actor Oscar winner Leonardo DiCaprio is all but certain to secure his seventh acting nomination from the Academy.
Netflix has its own hopefuls in Guillermo del Toro's monster horror flick "Frankenstein," tragic Western pioneer drama "Train Dreams" and animated musical sensation "KPop Demon Hunters."

Best casting

"Hamnet," a tragic literary adaptation that imagines William Shakespeare coping with the death of his son, is likely to land a bagful of nominations.
Jessie Buckley, who plays the Bard's long-suffering wife Agnes, appears a lock for a best actress nomination.
She is likely to be joined by Emma Stone playing an alien -- or is she? -- in conspiracy theorist drama "Bugonia," and Norwegian actress Renate Reinsve in arthouse darling "Sentimental Value."
With the Academy's overseas voter base rapidly expanding, "Sentimental Value" is one of a trio of non-English-language films that could contend for best picture.
Along with Persian-language Palme d'Or winner "It Was Just An Accident," there is also Brazil's "The Secret Agent," though "space feels limited" for all three to make the list, wrote Davis.
"The Secret Agent" star Wagner Moura, playing a scientist on the run from Brazil's 1970s dictatorship, is expected to vie with DiCaprio and Jordan for best actor.
But that category's frontrunner is Timothee Chalamet, whose turn in "Marty Supreme" as a bratty, talented and fiercely ambitious ping pong player in 1950s New York has already won a Golden Globe, a Critics Choice Award and more.
This year sees the introduction of a new Oscar for best casting, honoring the experts who attach actors to projects long before future blockbusters or indie hits begin production.
With no precedent, it is unclear what exactly voters will be looking for. 
"Is it star power? Ensemble cohesion? Finding a discovery?" asked Davis.
The nominations will be unveiled Thursday at 5:30 am (1330 GMT) in Los Angeles, with the 98th Oscars ceremony to follow on March 15.
amz-sst/ksb

Greenland

Trump announces Greenland 'framework', backing off force and tariffs

BY DANNY KEMP, LAURENT THOMET AND ELODIE LE MAOU WITH PIERRE-HENRY DESHAYES IN NUUK, GREENLAND

  • "I think it puts everybody in a really good position, especially as it pertains to security, and minerals and everything else," Trump said, hours after a speech in which he appeared to remove the threat of force to seize Greenland.
  • US President Donald Trump backed down Wednesday on threats to seize Greenland by force from ally Denmark, announcing a vague deal aimed at ensuring security of the Arctic territory.
  • "I think it puts everybody in a really good position, especially as it pertains to security, and minerals and everything else," Trump said, hours after a speech in which he appeared to remove the threat of force to seize Greenland.
US President Donald Trump backed down Wednesday on threats to seize Greenland by force from ally Denmark, announcing a vague deal aimed at ensuring security of the Arctic territory.
Trump cast his retreat -- also lifting the promise of sanctions against European nations that spoke out against the threats to Denmark -- as a win, saying the deal gives Washington "everything we wanted".
The agreement, he told reporters at the World Economic Forum in Davos, was negotiated with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte and would last "forever".
"I think it puts everybody in a really good position, especially as it pertains to security, and minerals and everything else," Trump said, hours after a speech in which he appeared to remove the threat of force to seize Greenland.
However, there was no sign that Trump had succeeded in his repeated vow to make Greenland part of the United States.
When asked if Denmark would continue to control the territory, Rutte said the subject of Greenland's sovereignty "did not come up" in his talks with Trump.
Speaking to Fox News' "Special Report with Bret Baier," Rutte gave few details of what the new status for Greenland might be, only saying that NATO would continue to work for securing the Arctic region from adversaries such as Russia or China.
The NATO chief meanwhile told AFP that "there's still a lot of work to be done".
Trump said in a social media post that he would be scrapping tariffs of up to 25 percent threatened against Denmark and other European allies that have sent troops to Greenland in solidarity, including Britain, France and Germany.
NATO spokesperson Allison Hart said that Denmark, Greenland, and the United States will negotiate on "ensuring that Russia and China never gain a foothold -- economically or militarily -- in Greenland" -- a key stated concern of Trump.

Some relief in Europe, markets

Global markets that had been rattled by the rift and the threat of tariffs saw relief, with Wall Street's key indices climbing.
Trump's threats had triggered one of the biggest transatlantic crises in decades, with warnings that he could single-handedly destroy NATO through aggression against a fellow member.
His apparent turnaround brought guarded relief in Denmark, long a steadfast US ally, where Trump's bellicose language has triggered shock and feelings of betrayal.
"Trump said that he will pause the trade war, he says, 'I will not attack Greenland'. These are positive messages," Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen told Danish public television DR.
Lokke had flown last week to Washington and met Vice President JD Vance, only to say afterward that the United States had not budged on seeking to control Greenland.
But Aaja Chenmitz, one of two Greenlandic lawmakers in the Danish parliament, questioned why NATO would have a voice on the island's mineral wealth.
"NATO in no case has the right to negotiate on anything without us, Greenland. Nothing about us without us," she posted.
In Nuuk, where authorities started handing out brochures on how to live through a crisis, 65-year-old pensioner Lis Steenholdt said that Greenland and Denmark had been firm that the island is not for sale.
"You have to believe the system. That's the only option we have right now," Steenholdt said.

Facing down Trump

Trump has repeatedly said that the United States, the key force in NATO, deserves Greenland as it would be forced to defend the island against Russia or China, although neither country holds any claim to the island.
Addressing Davos for the first time in six years, Trump called Denmark "ungrateful" but appeared to take the threat of military action off the table.
"I don't want to use force. I won't use force. All the United States is asking for is a place called Greenland," Trump said.
Trump, 79, repeatedly referred to Greenland as Iceland in his speech.
Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney won a standing ovation at Davos on Tuesday when he warned of a "rupture" in the global order long championed by Washington. French President Emmanuel Macron for his part said Europe would not be bullied.
Trump attacked both leaders, mocking Macron for wearing sunglasses at Davos, which the French president said was because of an eye condition.
burs-dk-sct-des/iv

conflict

Interim Venezuela leader to visit US

BY PATRICK FORT WITH DANNY KEMP IN DAVOS, SWITZERLAND

  • A senior White House official said Rodriguez would visit soon, but no date has been set. 
  • Venezuela's interim president will soon visit the United States, a senior US official said Wednesday, further signaling President Donald Trump's willingness to embrace the oil-rich country's new leader. 
  • A senior White House official said Rodriguez would visit soon, but no date has been set. 
Venezuela's interim president will soon visit the United States, a senior US official said Wednesday, further signaling President Donald Trump's willingness to embrace the oil-rich country's new leader. 
Delcy Rodriguez would be the first sitting Venezuelan president to visit the United States in more than a quarter century -- aside from presidents attending United Nations meetings in New York. 
She said Wednesday that she approached any dialogue with the United States "without fear."
"We are in a process of dialogue, of working with the United States, without any fear, to confront our differences and difficulties... and to address them through diplomacy," said Rodriguez.
The invitation reflects a head-snapping shift in relations between Washington and Caracas since US Delta Force operatives swooped into Caracas, seized president Nicolas Maduro and spirited him to a US jail to face narcotrafficking charges. 
Rodriguez was a former vice president and long-time insider in Venezuela's authoritarian and anti-American government, before changing tack as interim president. 
She is still the subject of US sanctions, including an asset freeze. 
But with a flotilla of US warships still amassed off the Venezuelan coast, she has allowed the United States to broker the sale of Venezuelan oil, facilitated foreign investment and released dozens of political prisoners. 
A senior White House official said Rodriguez would visit soon, but no date has been set. 

All for oil

The last bilateral visit by a sitting Venezuelan president came in the 1990s -- before populist leader Hugo Chavez took power. 
Since then, successive Venezuelan governments have made a point of thumbing their nose at Washington and building close ties with US foes in China, Cuba, Iran and Russia.
The US trip, which has yet to be confirmed by Venezuelan authorities, could pose problems for Rodriguez inside the government -- where some hardliners still detest what they see as Washington's hemispheric imperialism.
Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello and Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez remain powerful forces in the country, and analysts say their support for Rodriguez is not a given. 
Trump has so far appeared happy to allow Rodriguez and much of the repressive government to remain in power, so long as the United States has access to Venezuelan oil -- the largest proven reserves in the world. 
Trump hosted Venezuela's exiled opposition leader and Nobel peace laureate Maria Corina Machado at the White House earlier this month. 
After initially dismissing Machado and her ability to control the country's powerful armed forces and intelligence services, he said Tuesday that he would "love" to have her "involved in some way." 
Machado's party is widely considered to have won 2024 elections that Washington said were stolen by Maduro. 
Analysts say Trump's embrace of Rodriguez and avoidance of wholesale regime change can be explained by an unwillingness to repeat mistakes made in the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in Iraq. 
"Those kinds of intervention operations -- and the deployment of troops for stabilization -- have always ended very badly," said Benigno Alarcon, a politics expert at the Andres Bello Catholic University in Caracas. 
Trump's stance has however angered democracy activists who argue that all political prisoners must be freed and granted amnesty, and Venezuela must hold fresh elections.
arb/mlr/iv

Bondi

Australia holds day of mourning for Bondi Beach shooting victims

  • Gunman Sajid Akram, 50, was shot and killed by police during the Bondi Beach attack.
  • Australians will fall quiet in candlelight Thursday on a national day of mourning for the 15 people killed by gunmen who opened fire at a Jewish festival at Bondi Beach.
  • Gunman Sajid Akram, 50, was shot and killed by police during the Bondi Beach attack.
Australians will fall quiet in candlelight Thursday on a national day of mourning for the 15 people killed by gunmen who opened fire at a Jewish festival at Bondi Beach.
As flags fly at half mast, millions are being asked to observe a minute's silence at 7:01 pm east coast time (0801 GMT) for victims of the December 14 mass shooting, Australia's deadliest in three decades.
Candles will be lit in windows and on doorsteps around the country.
Survivors, families and emergency responders are to join with political and community leaders in an evening of mourning at Sydney Opera House, with the theme "Light Will Win".
Sajid Akram and his son Naveed allegedly shot into crowds at a Jewish Hanukkah celebration on the famous Sydney beach, inspired by Islamic State ideology. 
"When we look to Bondi, we don't just see a beach," Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.
"We see it as part of our promise to the world. It's a welcoming embrace, a famous crescent of sand and water where there's room for everyone," he told reporters.
"This is a place where nothing should break except for the waves. But a lot broke that night."

Antisemitism

Among the victims were an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor, a couple who confronted one of the gunmen, and a 10-year-old girl, Matilda, described at her funeral as a "ray of sunshine".
Despite the dangers of that day, first responders raced to treat the wounded; strangers sheltered each other from gunfire and shop owner Ahmed al Ahmed famously wrested a gun from one of the attackers.
Albanese, who is to address the Opera House event, has faced criticism for alleged foot-dragging in combating antisemitism ahead of the attack.
Since the shooting, he has agreed to establish a high-level royal commission inquiry, which is to include examinations of the security services' actions, and rising reports of antisemitism.
This week, his left-leaning Labor government ushered through parliament new laws that seek to tighten gun control and crack down on crimes of hate speech and radicalisation.
On hate speech and radicalisation, the legislation stiffens sentences, sets up a framework for listing prohibited hate groups and makes it easier to reject or cancel visas for suspects.

Security questions

On firearms, Australia will set up a national gun buyback scheme, tighten rules on imports of the weapons and expand background checks for gun permits to allow input from the intelligence services.
"What we need is more kindness in the world, less conflict in the world, not just here, but right around the globe," Albanese said.
"In a time of turbulence, I really want this nation to be a light for the world."
Gunman Sajid Akram, 50, was shot and killed by police during the Bondi Beach attack. An Indian national, he entered Australia on a visa in 1998.
His 24-year-old son Naveed, an Australian-born citizen who remains in prison, has been charged with terrorism and 15 murders.
Police and intelligence agencies face difficult questions about whether they could have acted earlier to prevent the shooting.
Naveed Akram was flagged by Australia's intelligence agency in 2019, but he slipped off the radar after it was decided that he posed no imminent threat.
The Akram duo travelled to the southern Philippines in the weeks before the shooting, fuelling suspicions they may be linked to Islamist extremists.
But Australian police say the evidence so far suggests they acted alone.
djw/lb

Greenland

In Davos speech, Trump repeatedly refers to Greenland as 'Iceland'

  • After the speech, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt pushed back against a post on X by a journalist, Libbey Dean, who wrote that "President Trump appeared to mix up Greenland and Iceland around three times."  
  • US President Donald Trump repeatedly made an apparent gaffe in a speech Wednesday to world leaders assembled in Switzerland by referring to "Iceland" several times instead of his much coveted "Greenland," with the White House furiously denying any confusion on his part.
  • After the speech, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt pushed back against a post on X by a journalist, Libbey Dean, who wrote that "President Trump appeared to mix up Greenland and Iceland around three times."  
US President Donald Trump repeatedly made an apparent gaffe in a speech Wednesday to world leaders assembled in Switzerland by referring to "Iceland" several times instead of his much coveted "Greenland," with the White House furiously denying any confusion on his part.
The 79-year-old Republican has been clamoring for the United States to acquire Greenland, a large island territory of Denmark, citing what he called security threats from Russia and China in the Arctic Circle.
On Wednesday he announced a "framework" for a future deal on Greenland and the cancellation of planned tariffs on European countries that had opposed his moves to control the island -- but not before ruffling NATO allies and straining transatlantic relations.
"I'm helping NATO, and until the last few days, when I told them about Iceland, they loved me," Trump said during his remarks to the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos. 
"They're not there for us on Iceland -- that I can tell you. I mean, our stock market took the first dip yesterday because of Iceland. So Iceland's already cost us a lot of money."
It seemed obvious he was referring to Greenland and not the smaller neighbouring Iceland, an island in the North Atlantic famous for its breathtaking volcanic landscapes. 
After the speech, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt pushed back against a post on X by a journalist, Libbey Dean, who wrote that "President Trump appeared to mix up Greenland and Iceland around three times."  
"No he didn't, Libby. His written remarks referred to Greenland as a 'piece of ice' because that's what it is. You're the only one mixing anything up here," Leavitt fired back on X, misspelling the journalist's name.
During his speech at Davos, Trump, as he often does, frequently strayed from the written script scrolling on the teleprompters.
Asked about the events in Davos, Gavin Newsom, California's Democratic governor and a leading opposition figure in the United States who is considered a potential presidential candidate in 2028, seized on the moment.
"None of this is normal," Newsom said. "There's a normalisation, a deviancy of consciousness."

Sensitive subject

The issue of mental acuity is a sensitive one for Trump.
During the 2024 presidential campaign, he attacked incumbent Joe Biden, claiming the Democrat suffered from dementia.
In recent days, some Democratic lawmakers have called for invoking the US Constitution's 25th Amendment, which allows for removing a president who no longer has the physical or intellectual capacity to carry out the duties of office. 
The politicians justified their calls by citing a message that Trump had sent to Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store.
In the message, made public on Monday, Trump expressed his displeasure with not being awarded last year's Nobel Peace Prize.
Trump also reiterated his desire for the US to take control of Greenland.
"Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace," Trump wrote.
However, an independent committee -- not the Norwegian government -- is the body that awards the peace prize and other Nobel prizes at an annual ceremony in Oslo. 
aue/iv/acb

toll

Iran says 3,117 killed in protests, activists fear 'far higher' toll

BY STUART WILLIAMS

  • In the first official toll from the authorities, a statement by Iran's foundation for veterans and martyrs, cited by state television, said a total of 3,117 people were killed during protests.
  • Iranian authorities on Wednesday said 3,117 people were killed during protests that first erupted in late December, but activists said the actual toll risked being many times higher due to a crackdown that suppressed the demonstrations.
  • In the first official toll from the authorities, a statement by Iran's foundation for veterans and martyrs, cited by state television, said a total of 3,117 people were killed during protests.
Iranian authorities on Wednesday said 3,117 people were killed during protests that first erupted in late December, but activists said the actual toll risked being many times higher due to a crackdown that suppressed the demonstrations.
Demonstrations and strikes initially sparked by economic grievances turned into a mass movement against the clerical leadership that has ruled Iran since the 1979 revolution, with people pouring into the streets in mass protests for several days from January 8.
However the protests appear for now to have petered out in the face of what activists describe as a crackdown under the cover of a blanket internet shutdown.
The clerical authorities have condemned the protest wave as a "terrorist" incident characterised by violent "riots" fuelled by the United States. Rights groups however say thousands of protesters demanding change were killed by direct fire from the security forces.
In the first official toll from the authorities, a statement by Iran's foundation for veterans and martyrs, cited by state television, said a total of 3,117 people were killed during protests.
Of these, 2,427 people in that toll including members of the security forces were considered under Islam to be "martyrs", with the statement calling them "innocent" victims.
"The 690 people who are not among the martyrs are terrorists, rioters, and those who attacked military sites," Ali Akbar Pourjamshidian, secretary of Iran's National Security Council, told state TV.
He said the high number of "martyrs" showed the "restraint and tolerance of the security forces" during protests.
But Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, director of Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) NGO, said "all available evidence emerging from Iran indicates that the real number of people killed during the protests is far higher." 
"The Islamic republic has a well-documented pattern of systematic underreporting of lethal state violence," he told AFP, warning that if the same pattern of Iran's underreporting of executions is applied here "the actual number of people killed could be in the range of 25,000".
He said while the authorities attempt to "deflect responsibility... the evidence we have consistently points to state responsibility -- protesters were shot by security forces and their proxies, using live ammunition, including heavy machine guns".

'World is watching'

All organisations monitoring the toll have said that efforts to give a precise figure are being severely impeded by the ongoing Internet blackout imposed by authorities in the Islamic republic, which according to monitor Netblocks has now lasted over 300 hours.
The statement by the foundation for veterans and martyrs, quoted by state television, said "many of the martyrs were bystanders" shot dead during the protests.
It also claimed that "some were protesters who were shot by organised terrorist elements in the crowd", without providing evidence or details.
Rights groups, including Amnesty International, have accused security forces of deliberately targeting protesters from rooftops and also seeking to shoot protesters in the eyes.
Rights group Hengaw, also based in Norway, said it had verified the killing of eight more women by security forces in the protests and said it could now confirm a total of 42 women had been killed.
The veterans and martyrs foundation condemned the "treacherous hand of Iran's enemies", accusing the "criminal leaders" of the United States of "supporting, equipping and arming" those who carried out the violence.

'No turning back'

In a bid to show the damage caused by the protests, Tehran municipality on Wednesday showed journalists on an escorted official tour roughly a dozen charred buses lined up in the parking lot of a bus depot in the capital.  
A key protagonist in the protest movement was Reza Pahlavi, the son of the ousted shah. The US-based Pahlavi called for nightly protests and said he was ready to return to Iran.
In a rare interview, his mother, the former empress Farah Pahlavi told AFP from her home in Paris in written answers to questions there was "no turning back" after the wave of protests.
US President Donald Trump has never ruled out military action over the crackdown, although expectations of a swift American response have now receded.
Iranian General Abolfazl Shekarchi, the spokesman of the Iranian armed forces, warned Trump that Tehran would attack him if supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was targeted. 
In a News Nation interview that aired Tuesday, Trump responded: "I have very firm instructions. Anything happens, they're going to wipe them off the face of this earth." 
sjw/jfx/yad

conflict

Israel says struck Syria-Lebanon border crossings used by Hezbollah

  • "A short while ago, the (Israeli military) struck four border crossings on the Syria-Lebanon border used by Hezbollah to smuggle weapons in the area of Hermel," the military said in a statement, without providing further details.
  • The Israeli military said it struck four crossings along the Syria-Lebanon border on Wednesday that were used by Hezbollah to smuggle weapons, after earlier launching fresh strikes on the militant group in Lebanon.
  • "A short while ago, the (Israeli military) struck four border crossings on the Syria-Lebanon border used by Hezbollah to smuggle weapons in the area of Hermel," the military said in a statement, without providing further details.
The Israeli military said it struck four crossings along the Syria-Lebanon border on Wednesday that were used by Hezbollah to smuggle weapons, after earlier launching fresh strikes on the militant group in Lebanon.
"A short while ago, the (Israeli military) struck four border crossings on the Syria-Lebanon border used by Hezbollah to smuggle weapons in the area of Hermel," the military said in a statement, without providing further details.
It came after Israel launched new strikes on what it said were Hezbollah targets in south Lebanon after raids earlier Wednesday killed two people, the latest violence despite a year-old ceasefire with the group.
The state-run National News Agency said Israeli warplanes launched raids on buildings in several south Lebanon towns including Qanarit and Kfour, after the Israeli army issued evacuation warnings to residents identifying sites it intended to strike there.
An AFP photographer was slightly wounded along with two other journalists who were working near the site of a heavy strike in Qanarit.
According to Lebanon's health ministry, 19 people were wounded in the strike in Qanarit, five of whom were taken to hospital.
The Israeli army said it was striking Hezbollah targets in response to the group's "repeated violations of the ceasefire understandings".
Under heavy US pressure and fears of expanded Israeli strikes, Lebanon has committed to disarming Hezbollah.
But Israel has criticised the Lebanese army's progress as insufficient and has kept up regular strikes, usually saying it is targeting members of the Iran-backed group or its infrastructure.
Earlier Wednesday, the health ministry said an Israeli strike on a vehicle in the town of Zahrani, in the Sidon district, killed one person.
An AFP correspondent saw a charred car on a main road with debris strewn across the area and emergency workers in attendance.
Later, the ministry said another strike targeting a vehicle in the town of Bazuriyeh in the Tyre district killed one person.
Israel said it struck Hezbollah operatives in both areas.
A Lebanese army statement decried the Israeli targeting of "civilian buildings and homes" in a "blatant violation of Lebanon's sovereignty" and the ceasefire deal.
It also said such attacks "hinder the army's efforts" to complete the disarmament plan.
This month, the army said it had completed the first phase of its plan to disarm Hezbollah, covering the area south of the Litani river, around 30 kilometres (20 miles) from the Israeli border.
Most of Wednesday's strikes were north of the river.
More than 350 people have been killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon since the ceasefire, according to an AFP tally of health ministry reports.
The November 2024 truce sought to end more than a year of hostilities, but Israel accuses Hezbollah of rearming, while the militant group has rejected calls to surrender its weapons.
burs-str/lg-acc/jd/jfx

US

Huge lines, laughs and gasps as Trump lectures Davos elite

BY MARTINE PAUWELS, LAURENT THOMET AND JOSEPH SCHMID

  • But during the two-hour wait to get in, the excitement to hear the leader of the world's most powerful nation in person was palpable -- "It's like a rock festival," one attendee said.  
  • To muted applause and not a few stony faces, US President Donald Trump took the stage before hundreds of the world's rich and powerful Wednesday for the most anticipated speech of this year's Davos forum.
  • But during the two-hour wait to get in, the excitement to hear the leader of the world's most powerful nation in person was palpable -- "It's like a rock festival," one attendee said.  
To muted applause and not a few stony faces, US President Donald Trump took the stage before hundreds of the world's rich and powerful Wednesday for the most anticipated speech of this year's Davos forum.
But during the two-hour wait to get in, the excitement to hear the leader of the world's most powerful nation in person was palpable -- "It's like a rock festival," one attendee said.  
Quickly the doors to the World Economic Forum's packed congress hall closed, forcing hundreds to scramble for spots in overflow rooms to watch him on screens.
Even the president of Latvia, Edgars Rinkevics, was stuck in line at one point before an aide guided him elsewhere.
"It's interesting that people were lining up to hear President Trump, like they were not lining to hear any other speaker -- none has got such kind of interest," Rinkevics told AFP afterwards.
Many were apprehensive about the escalating tensions between Trump and Europe over his bid to seize Greenland, a crisis that has overshadowed the annual schmoozefest's agenda.
"I expect the worst. From what we know from Trump, he always needs to have all the attention and he needs to have a shocker message," Julia Binder, of the Swiss-based IMD Business School, told AFP.
And shock he did.

'Neo-imperial'

In one overflow room, attendees mockingly laughed and gasped throughout his speech.
Guffaws when Trump talked about wind farms killing birds. Nervous laughs when he said he was asking for "a piece of ice", meaning Greenland. 
Stunned and turning to each other for confirmation when Trump abruptly started referring to Greenland as "Iceland".
Others said "oh no" when he alleged that "Canada lives because of the United States" after accusing its Prime Minister Mark Carney of being ungrateful in his own widely praised speech on Tuesday. 
Unbelieving laughs broke out when he made fun of French President Emmanuel Macron for wearing sunglasses -- due to a burst blood vessel -- during his own speech on Tuesday.
And howls when he again insisted: "All the US is asking for is a place called Greenland."
"I would say he's gone from neocon to neo-imperial," one attendee whispered.
An hour into Trump's rambling speech, people started to leave the overflow rooms. "He's a nutcase," one said on the way out. 

'Piece of rock'

Many said Trump was the ideal guest at a forum for hearing provocative voices.
"Davos is a platform for and exchange of ideas, of views. So we are here to listen to all views, whether we like them or not," said Daniel Marokane, chief executive of a South African power company.
But others took umbrage at his trademark abrasiveness and attacks, including an insistence that the US deserves Greenland as payback for its massive NATO financing.
"We're in the business of democracy, we're not in the business of merger and acquisitions," Sweden's Energy Minister Ebba Busch said afterwards. "We will not be blackmailed".
"Trump got elected because he knows how to read a room, but I'm not sure he read the room this time," said an American medical technology executive, who like others requested anonymity to protect his company's identity.
"One guy I saw get up and leave, he was visibly shaking with anger."
For Polish President Karol Nawrocki, it was a "very important speech", not least because Trump claimed he would not use force to acquire Greenland.
"We're looking for the diplomatic solution of this, and I'm sure that it will be solved," he told AFP.
Vocal Trump critic Gavin Newsom, governor of California, called Trump's speech "jaw dropping" for an international audience, saying he had harmed US-European ties despite backing off his implicit threat of using force to seize Greenland. 
"The damage is extraordinary. And that's what made this speech so pathetic. What was the point of all this?" he said.
For Philippe Aghion, co-winner of the 2025 Nobel prize in economics, "His speech confirms my feeling that Europe needs to rise up, wake up".
"You have to negotiate from a position of strength, and it's important for Europe to make itself respected," he told AFP.
mpa-js-lth/yad

Global Edition

Pakistan rescuers scour blaze site for dozens missing

BY SAMEER MANDHRO

  • At the Civil Hospital Karachi, provincial health official Summaiya Syed said DNA samples from 51 families had been taken so far. 
  • Pakistani rescuers scoured the charred remains of a Karachi mall Wednesday for dozens missing after a huge blaze destroyed the complex, while relatives gave DNA samples to aid the search.
  • At the Civil Hospital Karachi, provincial health official Summaiya Syed said DNA samples from 51 families had been taken so far. 
Pakistani rescuers scoured the charred remains of a Karachi mall Wednesday for dozens missing after a huge blaze destroyed the complex, while relatives gave DNA samples to aid the search.
Four days after the fire ripped through the three-storey Gul Plaza, police in the coastal city have confirmed at least 29 people were killed. But the toll is expected to rise considerably. 
"With the help of the police, we have verified 39 missing persons as yet," Karachi south's deputy commissioner, Javed Nabi Khoso, told AFP.
Nearly 50 others listed as missing are yet to be verified.
Families have criticised authorities for the slow recovery operation at the mall, where AFP journalists saw at least five human remains recovered on Wednesday. 
At the Civil Hospital Karachi, provincial health official Summaiya Syed said DNA samples from 51 families had been taken so far. 
"We will hand over the bodies (remains) to the family, once DNA samples are matched," she told journalists outside the hospital mortuary.
-'Some comfort, some peace' - 
Muhammad Saleem, 50, said his family had decided not to take the remains home if his three missing relatives are identified. 
"They are bringing only remains wrapped inside clothes," he told AFP.
"Our family members still believe that they are alive. They will go mad, if they see these remains. We will not show them to anyone and will bury them," he said at the hospital.
Faraz Ali, whose father and 26-year-old brother were inside the mall, said he wants "the bodies to be recovered and handed over to their rightful families".
"That is all so that the families may receive something, some comfort, some peace. At least let us see them one last time, in whatever condition they are, so that we may say our final goodbye," the 28-year-old told AFP.
Out of the 29 victims transferred from the hospital to the Edhi Foundation morgue for identification, only seven have been DNA-matched and handed over to the families. 
Fires are common in Karachi's markets and factories, which are known for their poor infrastructure, but a blaze on such a scale is rare.
A government committee has launched an investigation, but the cause of the inferno was not immediately clear.
The mall housed at least 1,200 shops and was famous for wedding stores and home decor.
sma/rsc/msp

Harry

Prince Harry accuses tabloids of making wife's life 'absolute misery'

BY HELEN ROWE

  • They've made my wife's life an absolute misery."
  • An emotional Prince Harry on Wednesday blasted the publisher of two UK newspapers, accusing them of making his wife Meghan's life "an absolute misery" as he finished testifying at London's High Court.
  • They've made my wife's life an absolute misery."
An emotional Prince Harry on Wednesday blasted the publisher of two UK newspapers, accusing them of making his wife Meghan's life "an absolute misery" as he finished testifying at London's High Court.
Holding back tears, the prince said pursuing the years-long joint legal action against Associated Newspapers Ltd (ANL), the publisher of the Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday, had been "a horrible experience".
He and six others, including pop icon Elton John, accuse the two tabloids of privacy invasions and unlawful information gathering, in the prince's last active legal case in his long-running crusade against some UK media.
"Having to sit here and go through this all over again and have them in their own defence claim that I don't have any right to any privacy is disgusting," Harry said as he concluded several hours in the witness box.
"It's a horrible experience, and the worst of it is that by sitting up here and taking a stand against them, like they have done through this litigation they continue to come after me. They've made my wife's life an absolute misery."
Harry, 41, in court on the third day of the highly anticipated nine-week trial, stepped back from royal duties in 2020 and relocated eventually to California with Meghan amid a bitter family rift.
But the couple, who have two children, have long complained about media intrusion and Meghan's treatment by Britain's newspapers after years of negative stories about her.

'Mission'

King Charles III's younger son has also blamed the media for the death of his mother Princess Diana, killed in a Paris car crash in 1997 while trying to shake off paparazzi.
The ANL joint lawsuit is the third and final case brought against a British newspaper publisher by Harry, who has called it his "mission" to take on the tabloids "for the greater good".
He made history in 2023 by becoming the first senior British royal to enter the witness box in more than a century, when he testified in his successful hacking claim against Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN).
Last year, on the eve of another scheduled trial, Rupert Murdoch's UK tabloid publisher NGN agreed to pay him "substantial damages" for privacy breaches, including phone hacking.
Six other high-profile figures -- including actors Liz Hurley and Sadie Frost -- have joined Harry in suing ANL, accusing the publisher of illegally intercepting voicemail messages, listening in on phone calls and deceptively obtaining private information. 
They allege it paid private investigators implicated in other phone-hacking lawsuits for some of the unlawful information used to generate dozens of stories.
The accusations cover a period from at least 1993 to 2018 in some instances.
ANL has consistently denied the claims, calling them "lurid" and "preposterous".

'Greed'

Dressed in a dark suit and striped tie, Harry took the stand late morning Wednesday, swearing an oath on the bible before facing questions from ANL's legal team.
He insisted in a witness statement unveiled that the trial was not "not just about me".
"There is obviously a personal element to bringing this claim, motivated by truth, justice and accountability, but it is not just about me," he said in the statement.
"There is also a social element concerning all the thousands of people whose lives were invaded because of greed," the prince argued.
He described press coverage of his ex-girlfriend Chelsy Davy as like "full blown stalking", while noting suspicion that people close to him were leaking stories to the press created an atmosphere of "distrust".
"This sort of intrusion was terrifying for Chelsy," he added.
While on the stand, Harry described the tabloid's coverage as "a recurring traumatic experience".
"I've never believed that my life is open season to be commercialised by these people," he added.
The seven claimants' legal team opened the trial Monday by vowing to show "there was clear and systematic use of unlawful gathering of information" at ANL.
But ANL's lead lawyer has countered that evidence will prove it sourced its stories legitimately and that claims around the use of private investigators were "clutching at straws in the wind".
jj-har/mp/jj

Global Edition

Iran protest crackdown latest developments

  • Here are the latest developments:  - 'Set their world on fire' - Trump reiterated his warning that Iran would be destroyed in an interview aired Tuesday in response to a question on the Islamic republic's threats on the 79-year-old's life. 
  • President Donald Trump has warned that Iran would be wiped "off the face of this earth" if Tehran ever succeeded in assassinating the US leader.
  • Here are the latest developments:  - 'Set their world on fire' - Trump reiterated his warning that Iran would be destroyed in an interview aired Tuesday in response to a question on the Islamic republic's threats on the 79-year-old's life. 
President Donald Trump has warned that Iran would be wiped "off the face of this earth" if Tehran ever succeeded in assassinating the US leader.
Arch foes Iran and the United States in recent days have threatened broadscale wars if the leaders of either country are killed. 
It came as both nations traded barbs over a protest wave Tehran blames on Washington, after Trump threatened military action if more protesters were killed in a deadly crackdown by Iranian authorities. 
Here are the latest developments: 

'Set their world on fire'

Trump reiterated his warning that Iran would be destroyed in an interview aired Tuesday in response to a question on the Islamic republic's threats on the 79-year-old's life. 
Earlier Tuesday, Iranian General Abolfazl Shekarchi was quoted as saying Trump already knew Tehran would not hold back if the tables were turned. 
"Trump knows that if a hand of aggression is extended toward our leader, we will not only sever that hand," Shekarchi was quoted as telling Iranian state media.
"But we will set their world on fire and leave them no safe haven in the region." 
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in an opinion piece published on Tuesday in the Wall Street Journal said Iran would not hold back if attacked, but called for diplomacy and "respect" for his country. 
"Unlike the restraint Iran showed in June 2025" -- during a 12-day war with Israel backed and joined by Trump -- "our powerful armed forces have no qualms about firing back with everything we have if we come under renewed attack," he said. 

'Decisive' action

Triggered on December 28 by smaller protests over economic hardship, nationwide rallies surged in Iran on January 8, challenging the Islamic republic in power for over four decades.
Rights groups have said several thousand people were killed in the ensuing crackdown, but authorities -- who deem the demonstrations "riots" instigated by "terrorists", have not issued an overall official toll.  
The judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei on Wednesday said the figures circulating were "far from reality".  
The national police chief said "decisive" action against those authorities hold responsible for the violence continued, as accessing information from inside Iran remains challenging due to an ongoing internet clampdown. 
The Norway-based Iran Human Rights NGO says it has verified the deaths of 3,428 protesters killed by security forces, confirming cases through sources within the Islamic Republic's health and medical system, witnesses and independent sources.

Kurd opposition party attacked

An Iranian Kurdish opposition party headquartered in Iraq accused Iran on Wednesday of conducting a rocket and drone attack on its premises, killing one of its members and wounding two others. 
"We believe the reason we were targeted is because of our activities, particularly our calls for people in Iran to protest against the regime, and especially because we also have an organised and trained military force," a party official told AFP.
The Kurdistan Freedom Party, founded in 1991 in Iran, includes fighters who took part in battles in Iraq against the Islamic State group.
Since the 1980s, when Iraq was under the rule of Saddam Hussein, several Iranian Kurdish opposition parties have built up a presence in Iraq.
Iran classifies the groups as "terrorists" and separatist groups, and regularly accuses them of carrying out attacks against Iranian forces.
In 2022, during another wave of protests sparked by the death in custody of an Iranian Kurdish woman named Mahsa Amini, Iran also struck the headquarters of Iranian opposition groups in Iraqi Kurdistan. 

'Completely charred'

Tasnim news agency reported on Wednesday that "rioters" attacked and burned hundreds of private and public buildings, including attacking 314 governmental buildings and burning 155 more, as well as damaging hundreds of banks, shops and mosques. 
The Tehran municipality on Wednesday showed journalists roughly a dozen charred buses lined up in the parking lot of a bus depot in the capital.  
Iraj Lotfizadeh, head of the bus operations in district 3 of Tehran, said "22 buses were completely charred across all of Tehran" on January 8, when demonstrations exploded in size and intensity, with more vehicles damaged the following day. 
Nearby, soot covered parts of the blue tiled ceramic entrance of a mosque where walls were also blackened and doors damaged. 
Banners that once hung printed with prayers and quranic verses were torn down and strewn about the floor alongside several burnt motorcycles.
burs-sw/jfx

cybercrime

Over 1,400 Indonesians leave Cambodian scam groups in five days: embassy

  • Between January 16 and 20, 1,440 Indonesians left sites operated by online scam syndicates and went to the Indonesian embassy in the capital Phnom Penh for help, the mission said in a statement.
  • More than 1,400 Indonesians have left cyberscam networks in Cambodia in the last five days, Jakarta said on Wednesday, after Phnom Penh pledged a fresh crackdown on the illicit trade.
  • Between January 16 and 20, 1,440 Indonesians left sites operated by online scam syndicates and went to the Indonesian embassy in the capital Phnom Penh for help, the mission said in a statement.
More than 1,400 Indonesians have left cyberscam networks in Cambodia in the last five days, Jakarta said on Wednesday, after Phnom Penh pledged a fresh crackdown on the illicit trade.
Scammers working from hubs across Southeast Asia, some willingly and others trafficked, lure internet users around the world into fake romances and cryptocurrency investments, netting tens of billions of dollars each year.
Some foreign nationals have evacuated suspected scam compounds across Cambodia this month as the government has pledged to "eliminate" problems related to the online fraud industry, which the United Nations says employs around 100,000 people in the country.
Between January 16 and 20, 1,440 Indonesians left sites operated by online scam syndicates and went to the Indonesian embassy in the capital Phnom Penh for help, the mission said in a statement.
The "largest wave of arrivals" occurred on Monday when 520 Indonesians turned up, the embassy said.
Indonesian Ambassador Santo Darmosumarto said law enforcement agencies in both nations would be tasked with determining whether the arrivals had been perpetrating fraud willingly or had been forced to do so under the threat of violence.
However, he told AFP, "we haven't identified any clear indications that, at the moment, any of them (were)... victims of human trafficking," adding they showed no visible evidence of physical abuse.
Asked whether any could face criminal charges, he said the embassy was working to ensure "at least a sample" of the repatriated Indonesians would undergo a process to "find out how they were involved" in scam activities.
Many of those arriving at the embassy did not have passports and were staying in Cambodia without valid immigration documents, the embassy has said.

'Something of a change'

According to Santo, Indonesia was "optimistic" about recent measures by Cambodian authorities against scam operators.
"It's an effort that is real because I think you are seeing the results. And the result is that a lot of these compounds are closing up their shop," he said.
"The fact that there are so many people in front of our embassy is a clear indication that this is something of a change."
"We are seeing that more Indonesians are saying that they want to go back to Indonesia now."
But a scam industry expert this week noted alleged links between Cambodian officials and cyberscam networks, and said previous crackdowns had amounted to "performative acts".
The latest measures were likely part of a strategy to relocate scam equipment, managers and workers, Mark Taylor told AFP, adding that the industry would undoubtedly carry on.
Indonesia said this week that more than 80 percent of all the consular service cases it handled for its citizens in Cambodia last year concerned people who "admitted to being involved with online scam syndicates".
From January 1 to 20, at least 1,576 Indonesians left scam sites in Cambodia, the embassy said in a statement to AFP.
Cambodia arrested and deported Chinese-born tycoon Chen Zhi, accused of directing multibillion-dollar internet scam operations from Cambodia, to China this month.
Chen, a former adviser to Cambodia's leaders, was indicted by US authorities in October.
mrc-suy/sco/mjw

court

EU parliament refers Mercosur trade deal to bloc's top court

BY PAULINE FROISSART WITH UMBERTO BACCHI IN BRUSSELS

  • The deal favours European exports of cars, wine and cheese, while making it easier for South American beef, poultry, sugar, rice, honey and soybeans to enter Europe.
  • The European Union's parliament voted on Wednesday to refer a freshly signed trade deal with South American bloc Mercosur to the EU's top court, casting the hard-fought accord into legal limbo.
  • The deal favours European exports of cars, wine and cheese, while making it easier for South American beef, poultry, sugar, rice, honey and soybeans to enter Europe.
The European Union's parliament voted on Wednesday to refer a freshly signed trade deal with South American bloc Mercosur to the EU's top court, casting the hard-fought accord into legal limbo.
Signed on Saturday with Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, the pact to create one of the world's largest free trade areas has been fiercely opposed by farmers' groups backed by France and others.
Lawmakers in Strasbourg voted 334 to 324 in favour of asking the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) to determine whether the deal is compatible with the bloc's rules.
Hundreds of farmers had gathered with tractors outside the parliament building ahead of Wednesday's vote -- and erupted in celebration as the result came in.
"We've been on this for months and months, for years," a euphoric Quentin Le Guillous, head of a French young farmers group, told AFP outside the EU parliament.
"Tonight, I'm going home, I'm going to kiss everyone, and I'm going to tell my kids, 'I got it, we got it, we can be proud.'"
The court will now have to assess the legal challenge, a process that could delay and even derail a deal seen as a cornerstone of a Brussels push to open up new markets.

Decision 'not justified'

The vote deals a blow to the European Commission, whose president Ursula von der Leyen had given a speech to parliament just hours earlier touting the "historic deal".
More than 25 years in the making, the EU-Mercosur deal was given fresh impetus amid the sweeping use of tariffs and trade threats by US President Donald Trump's administration, which has sent countries scrambling for new partnerships.
The commission, which championed and negotiated the pact that eliminates tariffs on more than 90 percent of bilateral trade, said it "regrets" the lawmakers' decision.
"According to our analysis, the questions raised in the motion by the parliament are not justified because the commission has already addressed those questions and issues in a very detailed way," European Commission trade spokesman Olof Gill told reporters in Brussels.
The court challenge centres on whether the deal can be partially applied before full ratification from member states, as envisaged by the commission, and if it unlawfully restricts Brussels' powers on some environmental and food safety matters.
The head of German auto industry group VDA decried the EU parliament's decision, saying it sent a "devastating sign" and risked irking Mercosur countries.  
"Europe is weakening itself with the EU Parliament's decision at a time when geopolitical stability and reliable international partnerships are more urgent than ever," Hildegard Mueller said.

'The fight continues'

Parliament will now wait for the court's opinion before holding a vote on whether to approve the Mercosur deal -- a necessary step for it to fully come into force.
But the commission could push ahead and apply it provisionally, also pending judgement, a potentially politically explosive move.
Key power Germany, as well as Spain and the Nordic countries, strongly support the pact, eager to boost exports as Europe grapples with Chinese competition and a tariff-happy administration in the White House.
"We are convinced of the legality of the agreement. No more delays. The agreement must now be provisionally applied," German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said after the vote. 
But France, Poland, Austria Ireland and Hungary oppose it over concerns for their agricultural sectors.
"The fight continues to protect our agriculture and guarantee our food sovereignty," said French foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot. 
The deal favours European exports of cars, wine and cheese, while making it easier for South American beef, poultry, sugar, rice, honey and soybeans to enter Europe.
This has angered many European farmers, who have rolled tractors into Paris, Brussels and Warsaw to protest a feared influx of cheaper goods produced with lower standards and banned pesticides.
"It feels good, finally a victory," French farmer Alice Avisse, 52, said of the vote, cautioning however that it was "only a small battle in a larger war".
Together, the EU and Mercosur account for 30 percent of global GDP and more than 700 million consumers.
ub/ec/jj

environment

Balkan wild rivers in steady decline: study

  • But in recent years, the entire Balkan region has seen a boom in small hydropower plants, generously subsidised, as investors seek to exploit a reliable and renewable energy source.
  • Thousands of kilometres of Balkan rivers have been damaged in recent years, a study published Wednesday found, as hydropower development, dams and sediment extraction drive a "steady erosion" of some of Europe's last pristine waterways.
  • But in recent years, the entire Balkan region has seen a boom in small hydropower plants, generously subsidised, as investors seek to exploit a reliable and renewable energy source.
Thousands of kilometres of Balkan rivers have been damaged in recent years, a study published Wednesday found, as hydropower development, dams and sediment extraction drive a "steady erosion" of some of Europe's last pristine waterways.
The Balkans are home to some of Europe's cleanest and wildest rivers, crucial to the continent's biodiversity. But a surge in infrastructure projects increasingly threatens them, said the study published by NGOs Riverwatch and EuroNatur.
A wild river is one untouched by industry or dams. But in recent years, the entire Balkan region has seen a boom in small hydropower plants, generously subsidised, as investors seek to exploit a reliable and renewable energy source.
According to a 2024 report by the same NGOs, there are around 1,800 such plants in the Balkans, with more than 3,000 additional construction projects planned.
The new research focused on "near-natural" rivers -- waterways where flow remains intact or nearly so, with natural floodplains.
In 2012, these largely unaltered rivers accounted for 30 per cent of the region's waterways. By 2025 however, they represented only 23 per cent -- a loss of nearly 2,500 kilometres (almost 1,600 miles).
These rivers, which are essential to environmental preservation, are particularly threatened in Albania and Bosnia.
For Bosnia, the proportion of intact rivers decreased by 23 per cent between 2012 and 2025.
Albania recorded a "massive reduction" in "near-natural river sections", falling from 68 per cent in 2012 to just 40 per cent in 2025, the report said.
But it also noted that Albania's 2023 decision to designate the Vjosa -- one of Europe's last wild rivers -- as a national park had helped block dozens of planned dams there.
Across the region nearly 900 kilometres (560 miles) of rivers had been successfully preserved thanks to legal victories.
cbo/al/jj

court

EU parliament refers Mercosur trade deal to bloc's top court

  • The deal favours European exports of cars, wine and cheese, while making it easier for South American beef, poultry, sugar, rice, honey and soybeans to enter Europe.
  • The European Union's parliament voted on Wednesday to refer a freshly signed trade deal with South American bloc Mercosur to the EU's top court, casting a veil of legal uncertainty over the accord.
  • The deal favours European exports of cars, wine and cheese, while making it easier for South American beef, poultry, sugar, rice, honey and soybeans to enter Europe.
The European Union's parliament voted on Wednesday to refer a freshly signed trade deal with South American bloc Mercosur to the EU's top court, casting a veil of legal uncertainty over the accord.
Signed on Saturday with Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, the pact to create one of the world's largest free trade areas has been fiercely opposed by farmers' groups backed by France and others. 
Lawmakers in Strasbourg voted 334 to 324 in favour of asking the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) to determine whether the deal is compatible with the bloc's policy.
Hundreds of farmers had gathered with tractors outside the parliament building ahead of Wednesday's vote -- and the demonstrators erupted in celebration as the result came in.
The court will now have to assess the legal challenge, a process that could delay and even derail a deal seen as a cornerstone of a Brussels push to open up new markets. 
The European Commission, which championed and negotiated the pact, opposed the lawmakers' decision.
"According to our analysis, the questions raised in the motion by the parliament are not justified because the commission has already addressed those questions and issues in a very detailed way," European Commission trade spokesman Olof Gill told reporters in Brussels.
The deal favours European exports of cars, wine and cheese, while making it easier for South American beef, poultry, sugar, rice, honey and soybeans to enter Europe.
This has angered many European farmers, who have rolled tractors into Paris, Brussels and Warsaw to protest a feared influx of cheaper goods produced with lower standards and banned pesticides.
"We've been on this for months and months, for years," a euphoric Quentin Le Guillous, head of a French young farmers group, told AFP outside the EU parliament.
"Tonight, I'm going home, I'm going to kiss everyone, and I'm going to tell my kids, 'I got it, we got it, we can be proud,'" he said.
ub/ec/jxb

plant

Japan restarts world's biggest nuclear plant

BY MATHIAS CENA WITH KYOKO HASEGAWA IN TOKYO

  • Kashiwazaki-Kariwa is the world's biggest nuclear power plant by potential capacity, although just one reactor of seven was restarted.
  • The world's biggest nuclear power plant was restarted Wednesday for the first time since the 2011 Fukushima disaster, its Japanese operator said, despite persistent safety concerns among residents.
  • Kashiwazaki-Kariwa is the world's biggest nuclear power plant by potential capacity, although just one reactor of seven was restarted.
The world's biggest nuclear power plant was restarted Wednesday for the first time since the 2011 Fukushima disaster, its Japanese operator said, despite persistent safety concerns among residents.
The plant was "started at 19:02" (1002 GMT), Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) spokesman Tatsuya Matoba told AFP of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant in Niigata prefecture.
The regional governor approved the resumption last month, although public opinion remains sharply divided.
On Tuesday, a few dozen protesters -- mostly elderly -- braved freezing temperatures to demonstrate in the snow near the plant's entrance, whose buildings line the Sea of Japan coast.
"It's Tokyo's electricity that is produced in Kashiwazaki, so why should the people here be put at risk? That makes no sense," Yumiko Abe, a 73-year-old resident, told AFP.
Around 60 percent of residents oppose the restart, while 37 percent support it, according to a survey conducted in September.
TEPCO said Wednesday it would "proceed with careful verification of each plant facility's integrity" and address any issues appropriately and transparently.
Kashiwazaki-Kariwa is the world's biggest nuclear power plant by potential capacity, although just one reactor of seven was restarted.
The facility was taken offline when Japan pulled the plug on nuclear power after a colossal earthquake and tsunami sent three reactors at the Fukushima atomic plant into meltdown in 2011.
However, resource-poor Japan now wants to revive atomic energy to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels, achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and meet growing energy needs from artificial intelligence.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has voiced support for the energy source.
Fourteen reactors, mostly in western and southern Japan, have resumed operation since the post-Fukushima shutdown under strict safety rules, with 13 running as of mid January.
Kashiwazaki-Kariwa is the first TEPCO-run unit to restart since 2011. The company also operates the stricken Fukushima Daiichi plant, now being decommissioned.
Nearly 15 years after the disaster, "the situation is still not under control in Fukushima, and TEPCO wants to revive a plant? For me, that's absolutely unacceptable", said Keisuke Abe, an 81-year-old demonstrator.

'Anxious and fearful'

The vast Kashiwazaki-Kariwa complex has been fitted with a 15-metre-high (50-foot) tsunami wall, elevated emergency power systems and other safety upgrades.
However, residents raised concerns about the risk of a serious accident, citing frequent cover-up scandals, minor accidents and evacuation plans they say are inadequate.
"I think it's impossible to evacuate in an emergency," Chie Takakuwa, a 79-year-old resident of Kariwa, told AFP. 
On January 8, seven groups opposing the restart submitted a petition signed by nearly 40,000 people to TEPCO and Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority.
The petition said the plant sits on an active seismic fault zone and noted it was struck by a strong quake in 2007.
"We can't remove the fear of being hit by another unforeseen earthquake," it said.
"Making many people anxious and fearful so as to send electricity to Tokyo... is intolerable."
Before the 2011 disaster -- which killed around 18,000 people -- nuclear power generated about a third of Japan's electricity.

String of scandals

Japan's nuclear industry has also faced a string of scandals and incidents in recent weeks, including data falsification by Chubu Electric Power to underestimate seismic risks. 
At Kashiwazaki-Kariwa, TEPCO said Saturday that an alarm system failed during a test.
"Safety is an ongoing process, which means operators involved in nuclear power must never be arrogant or overconfident," TEPCO President Tomoaki Kobayakawa said in an interview with the Asahi daily newspaper.
Japan is the world's fifth-largest single-country emitter of carbon dioxide after China, the United States, India and Russia, and is heavily dependent on imported fossil fuels.
Nearly 70 percent of its electricity in 2023 came from coal, gas and oil -- a share Tokyo wants to slash to 30-40 percent over the next 15 years as it expands renewable energy and nuclear power.
Under a plan approved by the government in February, nuclear power will account for around a fifth of Japan's energy supply by 2040 -- up from around 8.5 percent in the fiscal year 2023-24.
Meanwhile Japan still faces the daunting task of decommissioning the Fukushima plant, a project expected to take decades.
kh-hih/mjw

Greenland

NATO chief says 'thoughtful diplomacy' only way to deal with Greenland crisis

  • Again, I'm not going to comment on that, but I can assure you, the only way to deal with that is, in the end, thoughtful diplomacy," Rutte said at the World Economic Forum.
  • NATO chief Mark Rutte said Wednesday "thoughtful diplomacy" was needed to deal with tensions over Greenland, as President Donald Trump headed to Davos pushing US claims on the territory.
  • Again, I'm not going to comment on that, but I can assure you, the only way to deal with that is, in the end, thoughtful diplomacy," Rutte said at the World Economic Forum.
NATO chief Mark Rutte said Wednesday "thoughtful diplomacy" was needed to deal with tensions over Greenland, as President Donald Trump headed to Davos pushing US claims on the territory.
"I see that there are these tensions at the moment, there's no doubt. Again, I'm not going to comment on that, but I can assure you, the only way to deal with that is, in the end, thoughtful diplomacy," Rutte said at the World Economic Forum.
"You can be assured that I'm working on this issue behind the scenes, but I cannot do it in public."
The alliance head is set to meet Trump in the Swiss ski resort as the president's push to take over Greenland from Denmark has rocked NATO.
Rutte has sought to deflect Trump's interest in the Danish autonomous territory into a broader discussion at NATO on bolstering Arctic security.
"When it comes to the Arctic, I think President Trump is right. Other leaders in NATO are right. We need to defend the Arctic," he said.
Rutte dismissed fears that the crisis over Greenland could cause to the collapse of the 76-year-old alliance.
"NATO is crucial, not only for the defence of Europe, but also for the defence of the United States," he said.
"For the United States to stay safe, you need a safe Arctic, a safe Atlantic and a safe Europe."
The NATO secretary general pushed back at repeated comments from Trump casting doubt on whether Europe would help defend the United States if asked.
"I tell him, yes they will," Rutte said.
"I have no doubt the US will come to the rescue here, and we will come to the rescue of the US."
Speaking alongside Rutte in Davos, Finnish President Alexander Stubb said he believed a diplomatic solution could be found on Greenland.
"You have two schools of thought here on Greenland. One is to de-escalate, and the other one is to escalate, to de-escalate. And I think at the end of the day, we'll find an off ramp," he said.
Trump has threatened to slap tariffs on European allies who oppose his designs on Greenland -- leading the European Union to mull hitting back against Washington with trade countermeasures.
del/raz/jhb

monarchy

Widow of Iran's last shah says 'no turning back' after protests

BY FREDERIC DUMOULIN

  • One thing is now certain: there is no turning back.
  • The widow of Iran's last shah has told AFP there is "no turning back" after a wave of protests against the country's clerical authorities, saying she is convinced the Iranian people will emerge victorious. 
  • One thing is now certain: there is no turning back.
The widow of Iran's last shah has told AFP there is "no turning back" after a wave of protests against the country's clerical authorities, saying she is convinced the Iranian people will emerge victorious. 
Driven into exile with her husband in January 1979 during a popular revolution that brought the Islamic republic to power, Farah Pahlavi said her "desire" and "need today are to return to Iran", in an exclusive interview with AFP.  
Posing in front of Iran's former flag, emblazoned with a lion and a sun, the 87-year-old former empress, welcomed AFP to her Paris apartment for a photo session after agreeing to answer questions in writing in French about the situation in her homeland.
Triggered on December 28 by smaller protests over economic hardship, nationwide rallies surged in Iran on January 8, challenging the Islamic republic in power for over four decades. The protests were met with a crackdown that rights groups say has left thousands dead.
Question: What message would you like to send to the Iranian people after the recent nationwide protests?  
Answer: I want to say to young Iranians: today you are writing, with immense courage, a new chapter of history... for Iran and for the world.
Maintain hope and determination, you will be the victors of this unequal confrontation with the Islamic republic. 
To my children, daughters and sons of Iran, to my sisters and brothers -- mothers and fathers of Iran's noble youth -- I extend my admiration.
Q: Do you still have hope despite the suppression of the protests?
A: To date, thousands of these dignified and courageous young people have sacrificed their lives for the freedom of their country. And God alone knows how many more will still fall at the hands of this criminal regime before our Iran once again becomes a free land.
One thing is now certain: there is no turning back. This path is one‑way -- it leads to freedom -- and every day, tragically, it is drenched in the blood of the daughters and sons of this land. Such a sacrifice demands victory.
This victory will not only be that of my country, it will also be that of peace, security and stability in the world.
Q: What is now the role of the opposition, of which you are a part? 
A: Opponents of the regime outside Iran today have two essential duties: to ensure a strong link between Iranians inside the country and the peoples and governments of the free world, and to organise ever larger demonstrations to express solidarity with their compatriots, while reminding international opinion of what is really unfolding in a country that is a cradle of civilisation.
Q: Do you want external military intervention in Iran, particularly by the United States? 
A: I appeal to the conscience of the entire world, in solidarity with this people, to continue supporting them. Thousands of Iranians must not lose their lives amid general indifference. Strengthening their chances in this profoundly unequal struggle means understanding that with their victory and the advent of a democratic Iran, the region will move towards a more peaceful Middle East. 
Q: If the clerical leadership were to fall, what role do you see for your son Reza Pahlavi? 
A: His role will be exactly the one with which the Iranian people decide to entrust to him. My son, whose name is chanted at every demonstration, has always stated throughout his public life that it is the Iranian people who will freely decide the future of their country. He himself sees his role solely as the mouthpiece of young Iranians until the day of freedom.
Q: In that case, would you return to Iran? 
A: For 47 years I have wished for, and waited for, Iran's freedom. The Iranian people, with deep affection, call me the mother of Iran. In times of trial, every mother and every child need to be together. My desire and my need today are to return to Iran and to hold these exceptional children in my arms.
Like any mother separated from her children, I feel, deep within me, that this journey and this reunion will take place soon. 
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