conflict

Hezbollah vows to avenge Israel after deadly pager blasts

bankruptcy

End of the party? Tupperware files for bankruptcy

  • The company said it would seek court approval for a sale process for the business to protect its brand and "further advance Tupperware's transformation into a digital-first, technology-led company."
  • Tupperware Brands and some of its subsidiaries have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and are seeking a buyer, the food container firm said, after years of dwindling sales.
  • The company said it would seek court approval for a sale process for the business to protect its brand and "further advance Tupperware's transformation into a digital-first, technology-led company."
Tupperware Brands and some of its subsidiaries have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and are seeking a buyer, the food container firm said, after years of dwindling sales.
"Over the last several years, the Company's financial position has been severely impacted by the challenging macroeconomic environment," president and CEO Laurie Ann Goldman said in a statement Tuesday announcing the bankruptcy filing.
"As a result, we explored numerous strategic options and determined this is the best path forward," added Goldman.
The company said it would seek court approval for a sale process for the business to protect its brand and "further advance Tupperware's transformation into a digital-first, technology-led company."
The Orlando, Florida-based firm said it would also seek approval to continue operating during the bankruptcy proceedings and would continue to pay its employees and suppliers.
"We plan to continue serving our valued customers with the high-quality products they love and trust throughout this process," Goldman said.
The bankruptcy announcement had been in the pipeline for several weeks. In mid-August, the group said it continued to "face significant liquidity problems" and had doubts about its ability to continue its activity.
In its filing with the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, Tupperware listed assets of between $500 million and $1 billion and liabilities of between $1 billion and $10 billion.
The filing also said it had between 50,000 and 100,000 creditors.
Tupperware shares closed at $0.5099 Monday, well down from $2.55 in December last year. Trading in them was suspended on Tuesday.

'Out of fashion

The 78-year-old company became famous in the 1950s and 60s with its "Tupperware Parties," where friends would gather with food and drink as a company representative demonstrated the items.
Tupperware became synonymous with airtight plastic food containers but its business model failed to keep up with changing consumer demands.
It was severely hit by the emergence of online commerce, the rise of meal deliveries and has also been a victim of consumers turning to more environmentally friendly solutions.
"The party has been over for some time for Tupperware," said Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown.
"Shifts in buyer behavior pushed its containers out of fashion, as consumers have started to wean themselves off addictions to plastics and find more environmentally conscious ways of storing food," she said.
The company has tried to adapt to changes in consumption patterns by developing its online sales and entering into distribution agreements with chain stores, but has been unable to halt its slide.
Tupperware said it had implemented a strategic plan to modernize its operations and drive efficiencies to ignite growth following the appointment of a new management team last year.
"The Company has made significant progress and intends to continue this important transformation work."
The company's roots date to 1946, when chemist Earl Tupper "had a spark of inspiration while creating molds at a plastics factory shortly after the Great Depression," according to Tupperware's website.
Tupperware enjoyed a boom period during the Covid-19 pandemic before seeing its sales slide. In 2022, in the last annual results published by the group, Tupperware reported a turnover of $1.3 billion, down 42 percent on five years earlier.
"Its attempts to appeal to younger shoppers by selling in the US chain Target haven't been as successful as hoped," said Streeter.
"There is still a chance a buyer for the business can be found, but with plastic seen as far from fantastic, among eco-aware consumers, revitalising the brand will be an uphill struggle."
bur-mtp-lem/dhw

conflict

Hezbollah vows to avenge Israel after deadly pager blasts

BY LISA GOLDEN

  • Only hours before the attack, Israel said it was broadening the aims of the war sparked by Hamas's October 7 attacks to include its fight against the Palestinian militant group's ally Hezbollah.
  • Hezbollah vowed on Wednesday to retaliate against Israel after hundreds of paging devices used by the militant group's members exploded in a deadly wave across Lebanon.
  • Only hours before the attack, Israel said it was broadening the aims of the war sparked by Hamas's October 7 attacks to include its fight against the Palestinian militant group's ally Hezbollah.
Hezbollah vowed on Wednesday to retaliate against Israel after hundreds of paging devices used by the militant group's members exploded in a deadly wave across Lebanon.
There was no immediate comment from Israel on the explosions that killed 12 people, including two children, and wounded up to 2,800 others.
Only hours before the attack, Israel said it was broadening the aims of the war sparked by Hamas's October 7 attacks to include its fight against the Palestinian militant group's ally Hezbollah.
"We hold the Israeli enemy fully responsible for this criminal aggression," the group said, adding Israel would "certainly receive its just punishment for this sinful aggression".
Hezbollah, which is backed by Israel's regional arch-foe Iran, vowed Wednesday to continue its fight against Israel in support of Hamas-ruled Gaza, while reiterating it would avenge the attack.
"This path is ongoing and separate from the difficult reckoning that the criminal enemy must await for its massacre on Tuesday," it said on Telegram.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah is due to give a televised address at 5:00 pm (1400 GMT) on Thursday.
The wave of blasts killed 12 people including two children, Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad said, putting the number of wounded at between 2,750 and 2,800.
Some cases in the Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley "were transferred to Syria", while "other cases will be evacuated to Iran", Abiad added.
"This was more than lithium batteries being forced into override," said Charles Lister of the Middle East Institute.
"A small plastic explosive was almost certainly concealed alongside the battery, for remote detonation via a call or page," the analyst said, adding Israel's spy agency "Mossad infiltrated the supply chain".

Hospitals overwhelmed

The influx of so many casualties all at once overwhelmed hospitals in Hezbollah strongholds. 
At one hospital in Beirut's southern suburbs, an AFP correspondent saw people being treated in a car park on thin mattresses, with medical gloves on the ground and ambulance stretchers covered in blood.
"In all my life I've never seen someone walking on the street... and then explode," said Musa, requesting to be identified only by his first name.
Among the dead was the 10-year-old daughter of a Hezbollah member. 
She was killed in east Lebanon's Bekaa Valley when her father's pager exploded, the family and a source close to the group said.
A son of Hezbollah lawmaker Ali Ammar was also among the dead, a source close to the group told AFP, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.
Tehran's ambassador in Beirut was hurt but his injuries were not serious, Iranian state media reported.
Iran accused Israel of "mass murder", with foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani condemning what he branded a "terrorist act" by Israel.
The attack dealt a heavy blow to the militant group, which already had concerns about the security of its communications after losing several key commanders to targeted air strikes in recent months.
A source close to Hezbollah, asking not to be identified, told AFP that "the pagers that exploded concern a shipment recently imported by Hezbollah of 1,000 devices" which appear to have been "sabotaged at source".
After The New York Times reported the pagers had been ordered from Taiwanese manufacturer Gold Apollo, the company said they had been produced by its Hungarian partner BAC Consulting KFT.
Lufthansa and Air France announced the suspension of flights to Tel Aviv, Tehran and Beirut until Thursday.

Israel expands war aims

Hours before the attack, Israel said it was broadening the aims of the Gaza war to include its fight against Hezbollah along its border with Lebanon.
To date, Israel's objectives had been to crush Hamas and bring home the hostages seized by Palestinian militants during the October 7 attacks.
Since October, the unabating exchanges of fire between Israeli troops and Hezbollah have killed hundreds of mostly fighters in Lebanon, and dozens including soldiers on the Israeli side.
They have also forced tens of thousands of people on both sides of the border to flee their homes.
On Monday, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant warned that failing a political solution, "military action" would be "the only way left to ensure the return" of displaced residents to the border area.

Blinken in Cairo

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in Cairo on Wednesday to try to salvage ceasefire talks for the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
In a meeting with the US envoy, Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi vowed to intensify peace talks.
He also called for "decisive intervention to remove obstacles to the entry of huge amounts of aid" to Gaza and "ending Israeli violations in the West Bank", his office said.
US officials have expressed increasing frustration with Israel, which has rejected US assessments that a deal is nearly complete and insisted on an Israeli military presence on the Egypt-Gaza border.
The October 7 attack on southern Israel that sparked the war resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Militants also seized 251 hostages, 97 of whom are still held in Gaza, including 33 the Israeli military says are dead.
Israel's retaliatory military offensive has killed at least 41,252 people in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry, which does not provide a breakdown of civilian and militant deaths.
On Wednesday, UN member states were set to vote on a push to demand an end to the Israeli occupation of all Palestinian territories within 12 months.
General Assembly votes are not binding, but Israel has already firmly rejected the resolution.
burs/ser/dv

budget

France's new PM warns of 'very serious' financial situation

BY JURGEN HECKER

  • "I am discovering that the country's budgetary situation is very serious," Barnier said in a statement to AFP. "This situation requires more than just pretty statements.
  • France's budgetary situation is "very serious", Prime Minister Michel Barnier told AFP on Wednesday, saying more information was needed to gauge the "precise reality" of French public finances.
  • "I am discovering that the country's budgetary situation is very serious," Barnier said in a statement to AFP. "This situation requires more than just pretty statements.
France's budgetary situation is "very serious", Prime Minister Michel Barnier told AFP on Wednesday, saying more information was needed to gauge the "precise reality" of French public finances.
France was placed on a formal procedure for violating European Union budgetary rules before Barnier was picked as head of government this month by President Emmanuel Macron.
And the Bank of France warned this week that a projected return to EU deficit rules by 2027 was "not realistic".
France's public-sector deficit is projected to reach around 5.6 percent of GDP this year and go over six percent in 2025, which compares with EU rules calling for a three-percent ceiling on deficits.
"I am discovering that the country's budgetary situation is very serious," Barnier said in a statement to AFP.
"This situation requires more than just pretty statements. It requires responsible action," he said.
The new prime minister, who has yet to appoint a cabinet, is scheduled to submit a 2025 budget to parliament next month, in what is expected to be the first major test for the incoming administration.

'Out of the question'

Within days of taking office in early September, Barnier said in an interview that "French people want more justice" in terms of fiscal policy, while several politicians have reported the prime minister mentioning possible tax increases in private conversations.
Such a move would be a red rag to allies of Macron, who oversaw cuts in the corporate tax rate from 33.3 percent to 25 percent as well as tax reductions for households, including the wealthiest taxpayers.
Macron has claimed a reduction in the overall tax burden by 50 billion euros ($56 billion) since he became president in 2017.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, a staunch Macron ally, said Wednesday that it was "out of the question" to join, or even back, a government that raised taxes. 
But years of extra spending during the Covid pandemic combined with sluggish growth have caused the French deficit to balloon, sparking the "excessive deficit procedure" by the EU, which is designed to force a country to negotiate a plan with Brussels to get their deficit or debt levels back on track.
Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, who is to be replaced soon, promised to bring the deficit back below three percent by 2027 but many analysts have dismissed the plan as implausible.
France's central bank governor, Francois Villeroy de Galhau, said this week that the objective was "not realistic" unless the government was willing to risk "stopping growth in its tracks".
Apparently backing Barnier's approach, Villeroy de Galhau called for an "exceptional and reasonable effort asked of some major companies and wealthy taxpayers" to help a recovery in finances. France, he said, could no longer afford "unfunded" tax cuts. 
But tighter fiscal policies could put Barnier on a collision course with Macron, who appointed the experienced politician -- best known internationally as the EU's former chief Brexit negotiator -- in the hope that he can survive an early no-confidence vote in parliament.

'Dreadful error to go back'

"We want a stable fiscal policy that does not undermine policies that caused unemployment to fall and our country's attractiveness to rise," said Jean-Rene Cazeneuve, a National Assembly deputy and Macron ally. "It would be a dreadful error to go back on this."
Laurent Wauquiez, head of the conservative Les Republican (LR) parliamentary group on whom Barnier will depend for support, said last week that "our conviction is that in a certain number of areas we need rightist policies". This, he said, meant "no tax rises".
The tax question is likely to deepen budding tensions between Macron and Barnier, who is said to have been irritated that the president did not consult him about nominating Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne to the EU Commission.
"Knowing where Michel Barnier stands on Europe and the loss of French influence, I think he's just suffered his first humiliation," said one LR deputy on condition of anonymity.
burs-jh/sjw/js

immigration

Dutch government seeks opt-out from EU asylum rules

  • - 'Asylum crisis' - Prime Minister Dick Schoof unveiled the country's new immigration policy on Friday, which he said was in response to an "asylum crisis".
  • The Netherlands announced Wednesday that it had requested from Brussels an opt-out from the European Union's rules on asylum, days after the coalition government unveiled the country's toughest-ever immigration policy.
  • - 'Asylum crisis' - Prime Minister Dick Schoof unveiled the country's new immigration policy on Friday, which he said was in response to an "asylum crisis".
The Netherlands announced Wednesday that it had requested from Brussels an opt-out from the European Union's rules on asylum, days after the coalition government unveiled the country's toughest-ever immigration policy.
"I have just informed the European Commission that I want a migration 'opt-out' on migration matters in Europe for the Netherlands," Asylum and Migration Minister Marjolein Faber posted on X. 
"We have to handle our own asylum policy once more!" said Faber, a member of the far-right Freedom Party (PVV) led by Geert Wilders.
Denmark has already managed to negotiate an agreement to keep it outside the EU's common asylum policy.
The Dutch coalition government, which took power in July, has been promising this move for several months, but Wilders himself told AFP in May that getting such an opt-out could take years.
Some experts have also expressed reservations.
"A Dutch opt-out can only be realised by amending the treaty," the Dutch Advisory Council on Migration said, pointing out that all 27 EU member states had to agree to the move.
"This is not very likely because the number of asylum seekers must then be distributed among fewer other member states," council members Mark Klaassen and Laura Kok wrote on its website.
"Not every member state will be enthusiastic about this," they said.

'Asylum crisis'

Prime Minister Dick Schoof unveiled the country's new immigration policy on Friday, which he said was in response to an "asylum crisis".
"We cannot continue to bear the large influx of migrants into our country," he said.
King Willem-Alexander, in his speech setting out the government's priorities at the opening of parliament on Tuesday, described it as a "faster, stricter and more modest" asylum.
Cracks are already emerging in the coalition, which includes Wilders's PVV, the farmers' party BBB, the right-wing liberal VVD and the anti-corruption NSC.
NSC acting parliamentary leader Nicolien van Vroonhoven said Monday that her party would vote for tough immigration measures only if the Council of State advisory body approved it.
That sparked a furious reaction from Wilders, who posted on X: "The Netherlands has a huge asylum crisis and it will not be solved by running away in advance and threatening... to vote no."
Wilders was the surprise winner of elections in November but gave up his prime minister ambitions after at least one coalition party threatened to quit the talks.
jcp/jj/js

defense

Chinese navy sails between Japanese islands near Taiwan

BY NATSUKO FUKUE

  • Japan's government said it was the first time that a Chinese aircraft carrier, which was accompanied by two destroyers, entered its contiguous zone, an area up to 24 nautical miles from the Japanese coast.
  • A Chinese aircraft carrier sailed between two Japanese islands near Taiwan for the first time, Japan's military said on Wednesday, in the latest move by Beijing to anger the close US ally.
  • Japan's government said it was the first time that a Chinese aircraft carrier, which was accompanied by two destroyers, entered its contiguous zone, an area up to 24 nautical miles from the Japanese coast.
A Chinese aircraft carrier sailed between two Japanese islands near Taiwan for the first time, Japan's military said on Wednesday, in the latest move by Beijing to anger the close US ally.
Japan's government said it was the first time that a Chinese aircraft carrier, which was accompanied by two destroyers, entered its contiguous zone, an area up to 24 nautical miles from the Japanese coast.
"This incident is totally unacceptable from the perspective of the security environment of Japan and the region, and we have expressed our serious concerns to the Chinese side through diplomatic channels," Japanese government spokesman Hiroshi Moriya said.
China said the passage, which came less than a month after the first confirmed incursion into Japanese airspace by a Chinese surveillance aircraft, complied with international law.
The Liaoning carrier and two Luyang III-class missile destroyers were seen sailing southwards between the islands of Yonaguni and Iriomote on Tuesday and Wednesday, the Japanese defence ministry's joint staff said.
Yonaguni and Iriomote are near the uninhabited and disputed Senkaku islands in the East China Sea, known by Beijing as the Diaoyus, which have long been a source of friction between the two countries.
Taipei's government said earlier a Chinese naval formation led by the Liaoning sailed through waters northeast of self-ruled Taiwan on Wednesday and continued towards Yonaguni.
Contiguous waters are a 12-nautical-mile band that extends beyond territorial waters where a country can exert some control, according to international maritime law.

Rattled

China's growing economic and military clout in the region and its assertiveness in territorial disputes -- most recently with the Philippines -- have rattled the United States and its allies.
Analyst Yee Kuang Heng, of the University of Tokyo's Graduate School of Public Policy, said China "definitely expected this massive carrier to be detected" by Japan. 
The ships may form part of a "strike group practising how they might deploy during a Taiwan contingency, and also pushing the envelope how far they can go needling Japan", Heng told AFP.
"Diplomatically, it may be a form of 'gunboat diplomacy' signalling to Japan to stay out of any potential Taiwan contingency, and a reminder that Yonaguni, which hosts important (Japanese military) bases, could find itself right on the frontlines," he said.
Tokyo has reported the presence of Chinese coastguard vessels, a naval ship, and a nuclear-powered submarine around the remote Senkaku islands.
Japan scrambled fighter jets in August after the first confirmed incursion by a Chinese military aircraft into its airspace, with Tokyo calling it a "serious violation" of its sovereignty.
It is ramping up its defence spending with US encouragement, moving to acquire counter-strike capabilities and easing rules on arms exports.
Tokyo is also providing funding and equipment such as patrol vessels to other countries in the region.
In July, Japan agreed on a deal with the Philippines allowing troop deployments on each other's soil.
Japan also scrambled fighter jets last week when Russian aircraft flew around the archipelago for the first time in five years.
The Tu-142 planes did not enter Japanese airspace but flew over an area subject to a territorial dispute between Japan and Russia, Tokyo said.
Russian and Chinese warships held joint drills in the Sea of Japan this month, part of a major naval exercise that President Vladimir Putin said was the largest of its kind for three decades.
The Japanese defence ministry said it had observed five Chinese naval ships entering the Sea of Japan and likely on their way to the joint manoeuvres.
nf-kaf-burs-stu/pbt

justice

Fury as India quashes charges for botched army ambush

  • The Supreme Court in New Delhi ruled on Tuesday that charges against soldiers have to be quashed because there had been no government approval for prosecution.
  • Relatives of civilians killed in a botched ambush by the Indian army said Wednesday they were "disgusted" the Supreme Court had quashed criminal proceedings against the soldiers.
  • The Supreme Court in New Delhi ruled on Tuesday that charges against soldiers have to be quashed because there had been no government approval for prosecution.
Relatives of civilians killed in a botched ambush by the Indian army said Wednesday they were "disgusted" the Supreme Court had quashed criminal proceedings against the soldiers.
"I am greatly hurt that the court has not been able to deliver justice," Chemwang Konyak, whose 32-year-old son was among those killed, told AFP.
Konyak, 60, said the ruling appeared as if "only the lives of uniformed men matter".
Indian commandos in the northeastern state of Nagaland killed six miners in December 2021 when they fired on a truck, mistaking them for insurgents operating near the frontier with war-torn Myanmar.
Nagaland has seen decades of unrest among ethnic and separatist groups, and the army said after the killings that its troops had acted on "credible intelligence".
Later, officers fired on protesters angry at the deaths, taking the toll to 13 civilians.
In addition, a soldier was killed in the violence.
At the time, Home Minister Amit Shah vowed a probe would provide "justice to the bereaved families", and state police pressed charges of attempted murder against 30 soldiers.
But the federal government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi refused to endorse the process.
New Delhi's green light is required to prosecute soldiers operating in hostile areas covered by special laws granting commanders the discretion to prosecute officers.
The Supreme Court in New Delhi ruled on Tuesday that charges against soldiers have to be quashed because there had been no government approval for prosecution.
"I am disgusted," Konyak said. "Thirteen people have been killed, and several have been maimed for life, but there is no accountability."
Survivors say they were shot at despite it being clear that they were unarmed civilians.
Tingshen Konyak, 37, was among a group bringing the bodies of those killed in the initial shooting back to their families when he said soldiers shot him in the hand, removing his thumb.
"We feel bad, but we can do nothing," Tingshen said, adding that he felt "helpless".
sai/pjm/dhw

conflict

Taiwan company says exploding Hezbollah pagers made by Hungary partner

  • There was no immediate comment from Israel on the explosions that killed nine people, including the 10-year-old daughter of a Hezbollah member, and wounded around 2,800 others. aw/fox-ros/jza/fg
  • Taiwanese company Gold Apollo said Wednesday that the pagers used by Hezbollah members that simultaneously exploded and killed at least nine people were made by a Hungarian partner.
  • There was no immediate comment from Israel on the explosions that killed nine people, including the 10-year-old daughter of a Hezbollah member, and wounded around 2,800 others. aw/fox-ros/jza/fg
Taiwanese company Gold Apollo said Wednesday that the pagers used by Hezbollah members that simultaneously exploded and killed at least nine people were made by a Hungarian partner.
About 2,800 people were wounded, including the Iranian ambassador to Lebanon, when the pagers exploded across the country in blasts that Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah blamed on Israel.
The New York Times, citing anonymous American "and other" officials, reported that the pagers had been ordered from Gold Apollo, with explosives packed inside sometime before they arrived in Lebanon.
They were tampered with by Israel before arriving in Lebanon, some of the officials told the US newspaper.
Gold Apollo head Hsu Ching-kuang denied the report, saying the pagers were "100 percent not" made in Taiwan, and not from his company.
"They are not our products from beginning to end. How can we produce products that are not ours?" Hsu told reporters in Taipei.
The company said in a statement that it has established a "long-term partnership" with Budapest-based BAC Consulting KFT to use its trademark and the model mentioned in media reports "is produced and sold by BAC".
At BAC Consulting's registered postal address in a Budapest suburb, a woman there told reporters that the two-storey semi-detached building belongs to a company providing virtual business addresses.
BAC Consulting CEO Cristiana Barsony-Arcidiacono did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment.
She appears to be the only employee of the company founded in 2022, according to legal documents consulted by AFP, which also report an annual revenue of 210 million forints ($590,000, 530,000 euros) and profit of around 45,000 euros.
The Times reported about 3,000 pagers were ordered from Gold Apollo, mostly its AR924 model.
"Our company only provides the brand trademark authorisation and is not involved in the design or manufacturing of this product," Gold Apollo added.
Taiwan's economic affairs ministry said Gold Apollo's pagers made in Taiwan only have "a receiving function" and the capacity of their built-in battery "is about that of an ordinary AA battery that is not possible to explode to cause death or injury".
"After reviewing media reports and pictures, we think it's very questionable that (the model used) is the company's product," the ministry said, adding that there is no record of the company directly exporting to Lebanon.  
A source close to Hezbollah, asking not to be identified, previously told AFP that "the pagers that exploded concern a shipment recently imported by Hezbollah of 1,000 devices" which appear to have been "sabotaged at source".
There was no immediate comment from Israel on the explosions that killed nine people, including the 10-year-old daughter of a Hezbollah member, and wounded around 2,800 others.
aw/fox-ros/jza/fg

tech

Global police sting targets users of organised crime app

BY LAURA CHUNG

  • The "computer geek" was driven by profit and was "slightly surprised" when police arrested him Tuesday, McCartney said.
  • A 32-year-old Australian "computer geek" has been arrested on suspicion of building an encrypted messaging app used by hundreds of criminals worldwide to arrange drug deals and order killings, police said Wednesday.
  • The "computer geek" was driven by profit and was "slightly surprised" when police arrested him Tuesday, McCartney said.
A 32-year-old Australian "computer geek" has been arrested on suspicion of building an encrypted messaging app used by hundreds of criminals worldwide to arrange drug deals and order killings, police said Wednesday.
Australian Federal Police said the Ghost app was marketed to underworld figures as "unhackable" and was used by hundreds of suspected criminals from Europe, the Middle East and Asia. 
But, unbeknownst to users, global policing authorities had hacked the network and were watching as the criminals discussed illicit drug trafficking, money laundering, homicides and serious violence.
Authorities made their move on Tuesday and Wednesday, arresting criminals from Italy, Ireland, Sweden, Canada and Australia -- including Jay Je Yoon Jung, the alleged "mastermind" of the app.
Europol executive director Catherine De Bolle said law enforcement from nine countries had been involved in the international sting.
"Today we have made it clear that no matter how hidden criminal networks think they are, they can't evade our collective effort," she said.
Authorities dismantled an Australian drug lab while weapons, drugs and more than one million euros ($1.1 million) in cash have been seized globally, the EU policing agency added.
Ghost, a kind of WhatsApp for criminals, was created nine years ago and could only be accessed via modified smartphones that sold for about Aus$2,350 (US$1,590). 
The hefty price tag included a six-month subscription to the Ghost app and tech support, Australian police said Wednesday, and users were required to purchase an ongoing subscription.
French police traced the creator's location to Australia and joined forces with local police to target the platform.
The app's creator regularly pushed out software updates but in 2022, Australian police were able to hijack those updates to access encrypted content.
For two years, authorities watched as Ghost became more popular and criminals exchanged messages -- including 50 death threats that Australian police said they were able to thwart.
Several thousand people worldwide use Ghost and around 1,000 messages are exchanged on it every day, according to Europol.
There were 376 phones with the Ghost app installed in Australia alone.
In one case, police intercepted an image of a gun to someone's head and were able to save that person within the hour, Australian Federal Police assistant commissioner Kirsty Schofield said.

Breaking the unbreakable

Hacking into encrypted apps on phones has become increasingly challenging for authorities, but not impossible. 
Three years ago, a similar network -- called ANOM -- led to 800 arrests worldwide. 
Little did they know, ANOM was produced and distributed by the FBI, allowing US and other nations' law enforcement to decrypt 27 million messages, many of which related to criminal activity.
Australian Federal Police deputy commissioner Ian McCartney said after the ANOM network unravelled, Ghost started to "fill that space". 
He added that law enforcement was aware of other similar encrypted apps and that he hoped some of these would be shut down within 12 months.
Europol said encrypted communications had become "increasingly fragmented" after other services were disrupted or shut down, leading criminals to diversify their methods.

Element of 'surprise'

McCartney said the Ghost app creator from New South Wales lived at home with his parents and did not have a criminal history. 
The "computer geek" was driven by profit and was "slightly surprised" when police arrested him Tuesday, McCartney said.
Schofield added that police had to act quickly given the man had the ability to "wipe the communications on the system". 
"Our tactical teams were able to secure him and the devices within 30 seconds of entry," she said.
The 32-year-old was charged with five offences, including supporting a criminal organisation, which carries a sentence of up to three years' imprisonment.
He appeared in a Sydney court on Wednesday and was denied bail, with no future court date set.
Another 38 people have been arrested across Australia.
lec/arb/imm/js

US

EU court scraps 1.5-bn euro fine against Google

BY RAZIYE AKKOC

  • The ruling is especially welcome for Google after the EU's highest court last week upheld a 2017 fine worth 2.42 billion euros, imposed for abusing its dominance by favouring its own comparison shopping service.
  • An EU court on Wednesday scrapped a 1.49-billion euro ($1.65 billion) fine imposed by Brussels against Google over abuse of dominance in online advertising.
  • The ruling is especially welcome for Google after the EU's highest court last week upheld a 2017 fine worth 2.42 billion euros, imposed for abusing its dominance by favouring its own comparison shopping service.
An EU court on Wednesday scrapped a 1.49-billion euro ($1.65 billion) fine imposed by Brussels against Google over abuse of dominance in online advertising.
"The General Court annuls the (European) Commission's decision in its entirety," the Luxembourg-based court said in a statement, adding that the "institution committed errors in its assessment".
Brussels "failed to take into consideration all the relevant circumstances in its assessment of the duration of the contract clauses that the commission had deemed abusive", the court said.
The commission, the EU's influential competition regulator, said it "takes note" and would "carefully study the judgment and reflect on possible next steps" -- which could include an appeal.
A Google spokesperson said the company welcomed the ruling, noting it had "made changes" to its ad services in 2016, before the EU decision.
"We are pleased that the court has recognised errors in the original decision and annulled the fine," a Google spokesperson added.
The ruling is especially welcome for Google after the EU's highest court last week upheld a 2017 fine worth 2.42 billion euros, imposed for abusing its dominance by favouring its own comparison shopping service.
As part of a major push to target big tech abuses, the EU slapped Google with fines worth a total of 8.2 billion euros between 2017 and 2019 over antitrust violations.
The 1.49-billion euro fine is the third of those penalties, focused on Google's AdSense service.
But the long-running legal battles between Google and the EU do not end there.

EU's greater powers

Google is also challenging a 4.3-billion-euro penalty Brussels levied on it for putting restrictions on Android smartphones to boost its internet search business.
The 2018 fine remains the EU's largest-ever antitrust penalty.
The General Court in 2022 slightly reduced the fine to 4.1 billion euros, but mainly supported the commission's argument that Google had imposed illegal restrictions.
The legal saga continues in that case after Google appealed the latest decision before the higher European Court of Justice.
The EU has since armed itself with a more powerful legal weapon known as the Digital Markets Act (DMA), to rein in tech giants including Google.
Rather than regulators discovering egregious antitrust violations after probes lasting many years, the DMA gives businesses a list of what they can and cannot do online.
The aim is that tech titans change their ways before the need for deterrent fines.
Google is already the subject of one investigation under the DMA alongside Facebook owner Meta and Apple.

Mounting problems

Google is in the US regulators' crosshairs as well.
Last week, the tech titan faced its second major antitrust trial in less than a year with the US government accusing Google of a monopoly in ad technology -- the complex system determining which online ads people see and their cost.
It comes after a US judge in August found Google's search business to be an illegal monopoly, a ruling which threatens a possible break-up for the tech behemoth.
Ad tech is at the centre of multiple probes by regulators around the world.
British and EU competition watchdogs have said in preliminary findings that Google abused its dominance in the market. Google has the right to respond in both cases before the regulators reach final conclusions.
Parent company Alphabet in July said revenue from online ad searches climbed to $48.5 billion in the second quarter of this year.
raz/ec/jm

ship

Japan company chief arrested for deadly 2022 boat accident

  • But on Wednesday, Seiichi Katsurada, president of the Kazu I's operating company, was arrested on charges including professional negligence resulting in death, a coastguard official told reporters.
  • The head of a Japanese sightseeing boat company whose vessel capsized in frigid waters in 2022 killing at least 20 tourists and crew has been arrested, the coastguard announced Wednesday.
  • But on Wednesday, Seiichi Katsurada, president of the Kazu I's operating company, was arrested on charges including professional negligence resulting in death, a coastguard official told reporters.
The head of a Japanese sightseeing boat company whose vessel capsized in frigid waters in 2022 killing at least 20 tourists and crew has been arrested, the coastguard announced Wednesday.
The accident happened off Japan's northern Hokkaido island, and an additional six people are still listed officially as missing.
The Kazu I was carrying 24 passengers and two crew when it sent a distress signal off the coast of the Shiretoko Peninsula, prompting a search-and-rescue operation.
Authorities say the absence of any survivors made for an "extremely difficult, painstaking" investigation that took more than two years to complete.
But on Wednesday, Seiichi Katsurada, president of the Kazu I's operating company, was arrested on charges including professional negligence resulting in death, a coastguard official told reporters.
"Despite his responsibility in overseeing the cruise, the suspect was remiss in his duty to ensure the safety of passengers and crew, which caused this accident," the official said.
The boat set out on a sightseeing cruise to Shiretoko Peninsula, a designated UNESCO World Heritage site for its pristine natural environment and diverse wildlife.
A report by a government transport committee concluded last year that the Kazu I set sail without a deck hatch properly fastened, causing water to seep in.
The report also cited poor maintenance and oversight of the worn-out hatch, adding that the operator's lack of personnel with "sufficient expertise and experience in safe cruising" contributed to the disaster.
tmo/fox/dhw

synthetics

How single-use plastic still rules the world

BY AFP BUREAUX

  • Thailand produces two million tons of plastic waste a year, according to the country's Pollution Control Department. 
  • Each year the world produces around 400 million tonnes of plastic waste, much of it discarded after just a few minutes of use.
  • Thailand produces two million tons of plastic waste a year, according to the country's Pollution Control Department. 
Each year the world produces around 400 million tonnes of plastic waste, much of it discarded after just a few minutes of use.
Negotiators hope to reach the world's first treaty on plastic pollution this year, but across five very different countries, AFP found single-use plastic remains hugely popular as a cheap and convenient choice, illustrating the challenges ahead:
Bangkok
On a Bangkok street lined with food vendors, customers line up for Maliwan's famed traditional sweets.
Steamed layer cakes -- green with pandan leaf or blue with butterfly pea -- sit in clear plastic bags alongside rows of taro pudding in plastic boxes.
Each day, the 40-year-old business uses at least two kilos of single-use plastic.
"Plastic is easy, convenient and cheap," said 44-year-old owner Watchararas Tamrongpattarakit.
Banana leaves used to be standard, but they are increasingly expensive and hard to source.
They are also onerous to use because each one must be cleaned and checked for tears.
It "isn't practical for our pace of sales", said Watchararas.
Thailand started limiting single-use plastic before the pandemic, asking major retailers to stop handing out bags for free.
But the policy has largely fallen by the wayside, with little uptake among the country's street food vendors.
Thailand produces two million tons of plastic waste a year, according to the country's Pollution Control Department. 
The World Bank estimates 11 percent goes uncollected, and is burned, disposed of on land or leaks into rivers and the ocean.
Watchararas tries to consolidate purchases into fewer bags and said some customers bring their own reusable containers and totes.
But Radeerut Sakulpongpaisal, a Maliwan customer for 30 years, said she finds plastic "convenient".
"I also understand the environmental impact," the bank worker said.
But "it's probably easier for both the shop and the customers".
Lagos
In the Obalende market at the heart of Nigeria's economic capital Lagos, emptied water sachets litter the ground.
Each day, Lisebeth Ajayi watches dozens of customers use their teeth to tear open the bags of "pure water" and drink.
"They don't have the money to buy the bottle water, that's why they do the pure water," said the 58-year-old, who sells bottles and bags of water, soap and sponges.
Two 500-millilitre sachets sell for between 50 to 250 naira (3-15 US cents), compared to 250-300 naira for a 750-ml bottle.
Since they appeared in the 1990s, water sachets have become a major pollutant across much of Africa, but they remain popular for drinking, cooking and even washing.
Around 200 firms produce the sachets in Lagos, and several hundred more recycle plastic, but supply vastly outstrips capacity in a country with few public wastebins and little environmental education.
Lagos banned single-use plastic in January, but with little impact so far.
The United Nations estimates up to 60 million water sachets are discarded across Nigeria every day.
Rio
Each day, vendors walk the sands of some of Rio de Janeiro's most beautiful beaches, lugging metal containers filled with the tea-like drink mate.
The iced beverage, infused with fruit juice, is dispensed into plastic cups for eager sun worshippers dotted along the seafront.
"Drinking mate is part of Rio de Janeiro's culture," explained Arthur Jorge da Silva, 47, as he scouted for customers.
He acknowledged the environmental impacts of his towers of plastic cups, in a country ranked the fourth-biggest producer of plastic waste in 2019.
But "it's complicated" to find affordable alternatives, he told AFP.
The tanned salesman said mate vendors on the beach had used plastic for as long as he could remember.
He pays a dollar for a tower of 20 cups and charges customers $1.80 for each drink.
Bins along Rio's beaches receive about 130 tons of waste a day, but plastic is not separated, and just three percent of Brazil's waste is recycled annually.
Evelyn Talavera, 24, said she does her best to clean up when leaving the beach.
"We have to take care of our planet, throw the garbage away, keep the environment clean."
Plastic straws have been banned in Rio's restaurants and bars since 2018, and shops are no longer required to offer free plastic bags -- though many still do.
Congress is also considering legislation that would ban all single-use plastic.
Paris
In France, single-use plastic has been banned since 2016, but while items like straws and plastic cutlery have disappeared, plastic bags remain stubbornly common.
At Paris' Aligre market, stalls are piled with fruit, vegetables and stacks of bags ready to be handed out.
Most are stamped "reusable and 100-percent recyclable", and some are described as compostable or produced from natural materials.
But experts have cast doubt on the environmental relevance of some of these claims.
Vendor Laurent Benacer gets through a 24-euro ($26) box of 2,000 bags each week.
"In Paris, everyone asks for a bag," he told AFP.
"I'd stopped, but my neighbours continued, so I had to restart."
There are alternatives like paper bags, but some customers are simply not convinced.
"Plastic bags remain practical, so everything doesn't spill everywhere," insisted 80-year-old customer Catherine Sale.
Dubai
At the Allo Beirut restaurant in Dubai, plastic containers are piled high, waiting to be filled and delivered across the city.
"We receive more than 1,200 orders a day," said delivery manager Mohammed Chanane.
"We use plastic boxes because they are more airtight, and better preserve the food," he said.
With few pedestrians and an often-scorching climate, many of Dubai's 3.7 million residents rely on delivery for everything from petrol to coffee.
Residents of the United Arab Emirates have one of the highest volumes of waste per capita in the world.
And single-use plastic accounts for 40 percent of all plastic used in the country.
Since June, single-use plastic bags and several similar items have been banned. Polystyrene containers will follow next year.
Allo Beirut is considering using cardboard containers, a move customer Youmna Asmar would welcome.
She admitted horror at the build-up of plastic in her bins after a weekend of family orders. 
"I say to myself, if all of us are doing this, it's a lot."
burs/sah/sco/fg

Thailand

Six million children in SE Asia affected by Yagi disaster: UNICEF

  • Thailand reported three more deaths on Wednesday, taking the toll in the kingdom to 18, with a total of 537 fatalities now confirmed across the region.
  • Deadly floods and landslides triggered by Typhoon Yagi have affected nearly six million children across Southeast Asia, the UN said Wednesday, as the death toll from the disaster rose.
  • Thailand reported three more deaths on Wednesday, taking the toll in the kingdom to 18, with a total of 537 fatalities now confirmed across the region.
Deadly floods and landslides triggered by Typhoon Yagi have affected nearly six million children across Southeast Asia, the UN said Wednesday, as the death toll from the disaster rose.
Typhoon Yagi brought powerful winds and torrential rainfall to Vietnam, Thailand, Laos and Myanmar when it swept across the region almost two weeks ago.
Thailand reported three more deaths on Wednesday, taking the toll in the kingdom to 18, with a total of 537 fatalities now confirmed across the region.
Six million children have been affected by Yagi, United Nations children's agency UNICEF said in a statement, with access to clean water, education, healthcare, food and shelter all compromised. 
"The most vulnerable children and families are facing the most devastating consequences of the destruction left behind by Typhoon Yagi," said June Kunugi, UNICEF regional director for East Asia and Pacific.
In Vietnam, about three million people are facing the risk of disease due to a lack of safe drinking water and sanitation, UNICEF said. 
Almost 400,000 people have been forced from their homes by floods in Myanmar, piling misery on a population already struggling with more than three years of war between the military and armed groups opposed to its rule.
Yagi worsened an "already dire humanitarian situation" in Myanmar, said UNICEF, and "pushed... already marginalised communities into deeper crisis".
More than 100 flood victims near the capital Naypyidaw needed hospital treatment for food poisoning after eating donated meals on Tuesday, the junta said.
The UN's World Food Programme said Wednesday it would launch an emergency response in Myanmar this week, distributing a one-month ration of emergency food to up to half a million people.
Climate change and warming oceans, driven by human activities, are making extreme weather events like Typhoon Yagi more frequent and severe.
Overlapping climate and humanitarian hazards disproportionately affect children in East Asia and the Pacific, where they are six times more likely than their grandparents to be affected, according to UNICEF.
burs-pdw/sco

Global Edition

Japan to formally elect new prime minister on October 1

  • Yasukazu Hamada, a LDP lawmaker in charge of parliament affairs, told his opposition counterpart that the party "plans to convene a parliament session on October 1" to elect the new prime minister, a LDP official told AFP. The opposition party accepted the date, which will be formally announced by the government on Monday, media reports said.
  • Japan's new prime minister will be formally elected by parliament on October 1 following next week's leadership contest, a ruling party official said Wednesday.
  • Yasukazu Hamada, a LDP lawmaker in charge of parliament affairs, told his opposition counterpart that the party "plans to convene a parliament session on October 1" to elect the new prime minister, a LDP official told AFP. The opposition party accepted the date, which will be formally announced by the government on Monday, media reports said.
Japan's new prime minister will be formally elected by parliament on October 1 following next week's leadership contest, a ruling party official said Wednesday.
Polls indicate that three frontrunners are emerging among the nine candidates to succeed Fumio Kishida as head of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in the September 27 internal vote.
They are conservative economic security minister Sanae Takaichi, 63, former LDP secretary general Shigeru Ishiba, 67, and Shinjiro Koizumi, 43, son of former premier Junichiro Koizumi.
The conservative LDP -- which has governed almost uninterrupted for decades -- holds a majority in parliament, meaning the winner of the party election is essentially guaranteed to become premier.
Yasukazu Hamada, a LDP lawmaker in charge of parliament affairs, told his opposition counterpart that the party "plans to convene a parliament session on October 1" to elect the new prime minister, a LDP official told AFP.
The opposition party accepted the date, which will be formally announced by the government on Monday, media reports said.
Kishida, 67, whose three-year term was tarnished by scandals, voter anger over rising prices and sliding poll ratings, announced last month that he was stepping down.
In the leadership election, each of the LDP's 367 parliament members cast a vote, and another 367 votes will be determined based on the preferences of rank-and-file party members and supporters.
Polls by different Japanese media have put Takaichi, Ishiba and Koizumi in the lead, although this is no guarantee any of them will emerge as the eventual winner.
Koizumi would be Japan's youngest-ever premier while Takaichi, a vocal nationalist popular with the LDP's conservative wing, would be the country's first woman leader.
As a regular visitor to the Yasukuni shrine to Japan's war dead, which includes convicted war criminals -- her nomination would likely rile victims of Japan's wartime aggression such as China and South and North Korea.
kh/stu/fox

environment

'End of an era': UK to shut last coal-fired power plant

BY CLéMENT ZAMPA

  • - 'End of an era' - In recent years, Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station, which had the potential to power two million homes, has been used only when big spikes in electricity use were expected, such as during a cold snap in 2022 or the 2023 heatwave.
  • Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station has dominated the landscape of the English East Midlands for nearly 60 years, looming over the small town of the same name and a landmark on the M1 motorway bisecting Derby and Nottingham.
  • - 'End of an era' - In recent years, Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station, which had the potential to power two million homes, has been used only when big spikes in electricity use were expected, such as during a cold snap in 2022 or the 2023 heatwave.
Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station has dominated the landscape of the English East Midlands for nearly 60 years, looming over the small town of the same name and a landmark on the M1 motorway bisecting Derby and Nottingham.
At the mainline railway station serving the nearby East Midlands Airport, its giant cooling towers rise up seemingly within touching distance of the track and platform.
But at the end of this month, the site in central England will close its doors, signalling the end to polluting coal-powered electricity in the UK, in a landmark first for any G7 nation.
"It'll seem very strange because it has always been there," said David Reynolds, a 74-year-old retiree who saw the site being built as a child before it began operations in 1967.
"When I was younger you could go down certain parts and you saw nothing but coal pits," he told AFP.

Energy transition

Coal has played a vital part in British economic history, powering the Industrial Revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries that made the country a global superpower, and creating London's infamous choking smog.
Even into the 1980s, it still represented 70 percent of the country's electricity mix before its share declined in the 1990s. 
In the last decade the fall has been even sharper, slumping to 38 percent in 2013, 5.0 percent in 2018 then just 1.0 percent last year.
In 2015, the then Conservative government said that it intended to shut all coal-fired power stations by 2025 to reduce carbon emissions.
Jess Ralston, head of energy at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit think-tank, said the UK's 2030 clean-energy target was "very ambitious".
But she added: "It sends a very strong message that the UK is taking climate change as a matter of great importance and also that this is only the first step."
By last year, natural gas represented a third of the UK's electricity production, while a quarter came from wind power and 13 percent from nuclear power, according to electricity operator National Grid ESO.
"The UK managed to phase coal out so quickly largely through a combination of economics and then regulations," Ralston said. 
"So larger power plants like coal plants had regulations put on them because of all the sulphur dioxide, nitrous oxides, all the emissions coming from the plant and that meant that it was no longer economically attractive to invest in those sorts of plants."
The new Labour government launched its flagship green energy plan after its election win in July, with the creation of a publicly owned body to invest in offshore wind, tidal power and nuclear power.
The aim is to make Britain a superpower once more, this time in "clean energy".
As such, Ratcliffe-on-Soar's closure on September 30 is a symbolic step in the UK's ambition to decarbonise electricity by 2030, and become carbon neutral by 2050. 
It will make the country the first in the G7 of rich nations to do away entirely with coal power electricity.
Italy plans to do so by next year, France in 2027, Canada in 2030 and Germany in 2038. Japan and the United States have no set dates. 

'End of an era'

In recent years, Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station, which had the potential to power two million homes, has been used only when big spikes in electricity use were expected, such as during a cold snap in 2022 or the 2023 heatwave.
Its last delivery of 1,650 tonnes of coal at the start of this summer barely supplied 500,000 homes for eight hours. 
"It's like the end of a era," said Becky, 25, serving £4 pints behind the bar of the Red Lion pub in nearby Kegworth.
Her father works at the power station and will be out of a job. September 30 is likely to stir up strong emotions for him and the other 350 remaining employees. 
"It's their life," she said.
Nothing remains of the world's first coal-fired power station, which was built by Thomas Edison in central London in 1882, three years after his invention of the electric light bulb.
The same fate is slated for Ratcliffe-on-Soar: the site's German owner, Uniper, said it will be completely dismantled "by the end of the decade".
In its place will be a new development -- a "carbon-free technology and energy hub", the company said.
zap/ajb/phz/gv

Wurm

The absurd helps us 'see more' says Austrian artist Wurm

BY ANNE BEADE

  • If we look at "our world from another perspective, from the perspective of the absurd, we might see more", Wurm told AFP as a retrospective of his work opened in Vienna's Albertina Museum to mark his 70th birthday.
  • A fat Ferrari, pickles on pedestals and two sausages in an intimate embrace -- welcome to the weird world of Erwin Wurm, one of Austria's most famous contemporary artists, who wants us to embrace the absurd.
  • If we look at "our world from another perspective, from the perspective of the absurd, we might see more", Wurm told AFP as a retrospective of his work opened in Vienna's Albertina Museum to mark his 70th birthday.
A fat Ferrari, pickles on pedestals and two sausages in an intimate embrace -- welcome to the weird world of Erwin Wurm, one of Austria's most famous contemporary artists, who wants us to embrace the absurd.
If we look at "our world from another perspective, from the perspective of the absurd, we might see more", Wurm told AFP as a retrospective of his work opened in Vienna's Albertina Museum to mark his 70th birthday.
"Everything seems normal to us," he said, but if we took another look "we might see different things, and that might be interesting for us to understand things differently".
The show is a reflection on social norms, consumerist society and the diktats of appearance and even identity, with his quirky take on quintessentially Austrian staples such as sausages and pickled cucumbers alongside luxury bags on giant legs, miniature houses and stacks of clothing.
"He likes to take everyday things... and present them as abstract elements, to make artworks out of them," said curator Antonia Hoerschelmann.

Playful

Born in the central city of Bruck an der Mur, Wurm wanted to become a painter, but after a university entrance exam found himself in a sculpture class instead.
"It was a big shock... I was frustrated and sad, but then after some time I thought that maybe it's a challenge. And from then on I started to think about the notion of sculpture," Wurm recalled.
His walk-in rural school allows visitors to squeeze inside through a small entrance, recalling Wurm's 2010 work "Narrow House" based on his parental home.
Wurm said he was trying to recreate the "claustrophobic" and  "quite rigid" post-World War II Austria where he grew up.
But he also offers more playful approaches.
In his famous "One Minute Sculptures", the public is invited to lie down for a minute on tennis balls or slip into sweaters to "connect them much more to a piece".
There is a darker undercurrent to some of his most recent creations, such as a sculpture of what seems like someone wearing a shirt and pants but with no head.
"Instead of the people I have the clothes. It's like a shadow of something... We still can recognise something, a human being, but not a person. So the personality is cut out," he said, evoking a "dystopian future".
"I'm not happy with our world. How it's progressing and how we treat each other. It's just unbelievable, terrible," he said.
The idea of having a retrospective of his works did not appeal to him right away.
"I'm not interested in looking back but in looking forward," he said. "I like to work, it's the centre of my life and I would like to go on and develop new ideas and develop the old ones."
anb/jza/fg

kidnapping

Ethiopia plagued by abductions 'epidemic'

BY DYLAN GAMBA

  • That conflict largely ended with a peace agreement in November 2022, but armed rebellions have worsened in two other regions, Oromia and Amhara. 
  • One day in August, Aynalem was on her way to university in the Amhara region of northern Ethiopia when armed men suddenly stopped the bus and climbed aboard. 
  • That conflict largely ended with a peace agreement in November 2022, but armed rebellions have worsened in two other regions, Oromia and Amhara. 
One day in August, Aynalem was on her way to university in the Amhara region of northern Ethiopia when armed men suddenly stopped the bus and climbed aboard. 
"They were all very young and threatened us with assault rifles. I was terrified," recalled the 21-year-old biomedical engineering student. 
The kidnappers blindfolded Aynalem and the other passengers. After several hours on the road, they forced her to call her family to demand a ransom payment.
They wanted 500,000 birr (about $4,400), a huge sum in a country where more than a third of the population lives below the poverty line.
Then began a harrowing days-long wait in a forest.
"They made us sleep on the grass, we only had dirty water and a loaf of bread," Aynalem said. 
"I experienced horrific things," she continued, collapsing into sobs. "I was sexually assaulted."
After several days, Aynalem's family managed to get the money together "by getting into a lot of debt and borrowing from several people", said her mother, and she was released.
Aynalem's name has been changed for security reasons, along with those of other victims and relatives who spoke to AFP.
Not everyone on the bus escaped the ordeal alive.
"While I was held, several people died because their families could not pay the ransom. I could hear them begging our kidnappers before their deaths," she said.

'Security vacuum'

Many regions of Ethiopia, Africa's second most populous country, with around 120 million inhabitants, are plagued by kidnappings.
Observers say the menace has grown since the end of the brutal two-year war between the government and rebel forces in the northern region of Tigray, which resulted in the deaths of several hundred thousand people.
That conflict largely ended with a peace agreement in November 2022, but armed rebellions have worsened in two other regions, Oromia and Amhara. 
Armed groups are exploiting the security vacuum in areas beyond the government's control, said Mebrihi Brhane of the Human Rights First Ethiopia NGO. 
"The capital city is the only safe place in the country," Mebrihi told AFP, saying that kidnappings have become an "epidemic". 
"They are a way for unemployed young people to earn money," he said.
The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission, a state-affiliated but independent body, warned in a report this month of a "proliferation and aggravation" of abductions both by organised criminal gangs and "members of the government security forces". 
The authorities rarely comment on such incidents and the government spokesman did not respond to AFP requests.
- 'Too poor to pay' - 
The EHRC accuses the Oromo Liberation Army, which has been fighting federal forces in Oromia since 2018, of carrying out numerous abductions, including the seizure of more than 160 students travelling through the region in July.
One man told AFP the kidnappers demanded 700,000 birr (around $6,100) in return for his sister's release. 
"But we are too poor to pay," he said.
"I've received no proof that my sister is alive. It has left my family and I anxious and desperate."
In another kidnapping in March in Adwa in the Tigray region, a family said they were asked for three million birr (around $26,000) for the release of 16-year-old Mahlet Teklay.
Her sister Millen told AFP that the kidnappers refused to let her speak on the phone. 
Without proof of life, and lacking the money, the family did not pay.
Three months later, after geolocating Mahlet's phone, police arrested three suspects. 
"They led police to the place where they killed and buried my sister," said Millen, her voice shaking.
"They had lost their nerve and strangled her with her own shoelaces."
The family are pushing to have the murder trial in the Tigrayan capital Mekele rather than Adwa, where they fear the suspects will have friends in official positions. 
Mebrihi, the rights activist, said impunity was rife. 
"So long as the government does not control certain regions, criminals will go unpunished," he said.
dyg/sva/txw/er/sbk

military

Chinese carrier sails through northeast Taiwan waters

  • The Chinese aircraft carriers Liaoning and Shandong have sailed through the Taiwan Strait several times in recent years as Beijing intensified military and political pressure on the island.
  • A Chinese naval formation led by the Liaoning aircraft carrier sailed through waters northeast of Taiwan on Wednesday and continued towards the southeast of Japan's Yonaguni Island, Taipei's government said.
  • The Chinese aircraft carriers Liaoning and Shandong have sailed through the Taiwan Strait several times in recent years as Beijing intensified military and political pressure on the island.
A Chinese naval formation led by the Liaoning aircraft carrier sailed through waters northeast of Taiwan on Wednesday and continued towards the southeast of Japan's Yonaguni Island, Taipei's government said.
"During this period, the armed forces have monitored the situation and responded accordingly," Taiwan's defence ministry said in a statement.
The voyage came after the Chinese military tailed a US aircraft that flew through the politically sensitive Taiwan Strait on Tuesday, Beijing's army said, vowing to "resolutely defend national sovereignty".
"On September 17, a US P-8A anti-submarine patrol aircraft flew through the Taiwan Strait," Li Xi, a senior captain and spokesperson for the Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA), said in a statement.
"Theater troops are on constant high alert to resolutely defend national sovereignty and security and regional peace and stability."
Beijing views self-ruled Taiwan as its own territory and claims jurisdiction over the waterway that separates the island from the Chinese mainland.
The Chinese aircraft carriers Liaoning and Shandong have sailed through the Taiwan Strait several times in recent years as Beijing intensified military and political pressure on the island.
Taiwan's military has reported near daily sightings of Chinese warplanes, drones and naval vessels around the island.
On Wednesday, the defence ministry said nine Chinese military aircraft, 13 naval vessels and one official ship were detected in a 24-hour window ending at 6:00 am (2200 GMT Tuesday).
It said in a second statement that a further 15 Chinese warplanes were detected on Wednesday, of which 12 crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait "in conducting air-sea joint training" with Chinese naval vessels. 
"The People's Liberation Army also fired multiple launched rockets in the inland Gansu area," it added.
aw/fox

conflict

Wave of exploding Hezbollah pagers kills nine, wounds thousands in Lebanon

BY AYA ISKANDARANI

  • The 10-year-old daughter of a Hezbollah member was killed in east Lebanon's Bekaa Valley when his pager exploded, the family and a source close to the group said.
  • Hundreds of pagers used by Hezbollah members exploded across Lebanon Tuesday, killing at least nine people and wounding around 2,800 in blasts the Iran-backed militant group blamed on Israel.
  • The 10-year-old daughter of a Hezbollah member was killed in east Lebanon's Bekaa Valley when his pager exploded, the family and a source close to the group said.
Hundreds of pagers used by Hezbollah members exploded across Lebanon Tuesday, killing at least nine people and wounding around 2,800 in blasts the Iran-backed militant group blamed on Israel.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the wave of explosions, which came just hours after Israel announced it was broadening the aims of the war sparked by Hamas's October 7 attacks to include its fight against Hezbollah along the country's border with Lebanon.
The blasts "killed nine people, including a girl", Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad said.
He added that about "2,800 people were injured, about 200 of them critically".
"This was more than lithium batteries being forced into override," said Charles Lister of the Middle East Institute.
"A small plastic explosive was almost certainly concealed alongside the battery, for remote detonation via a call or page."
Israel's spy agency "Mossad infiltrated the supply chain", he said.
The influx of so many casualties all at once overwhelmed hospitals in Hezbollah strongholds. 
At one hospital in Beirut's southern suburbs, an AFP correspondent saw people being treated in a car park on thin mattresses, with medical gloves on the ground and ambulance stretchers covered in blood.
"In all my life I've never seen someone walking on the street... and then explode," said Musa, a resident of the southern suburbs, requesting to be identified only by his first name.
The 10-year-old daughter of a Hezbollah member was killed in east Lebanon's Bekaa Valley when his pager exploded, the family and a source close to the group said.
A son of Hezbollah lawmaker Ali Ammar was also among the dead, a source close to the group told AFP, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.
Tehran's ambassador in Beirut was wounded but his injuries were not serious, Iranian state media reported.

'Remote detonation'

Hezbollah blamed Israel for the blasts.
"We hold the Israeli enemy fully responsible for this criminal aggression," the group said in a statement, adding that Israel "will certainly receive its just punishment for this sinful aggression".
On Wednesday, the group vowed it "will continue" its fight in support of Gaza.
The United States, Israel's main backer, was "not involved" and "not aware of this incident in advance", said State Department spokesman Matthew Miller.
The afternoon blasts hit Hezbollah strongholds across Lebanon and dealt a heavy blow to the militant group, which already had concerns about the security of its communications after losing several key commanders to targeted air strikes in recent months.
A source close to Hezbollah, asking not to be identified, told AFP that "the pagers that exploded concern a shipment recently imported by Hezbollah of 1,000 devices" which appear to have been "sabotaged at source".
After The New York Times reported the pagers had been ordered from Taiwanese manufacturer Gold Apollo, the company denied any link to the products.

Israel expands war aims

Early Tuesday, Israel announced it was broadening the aims of the Gaza war to include its fight against Hezbollah along its border with Lebanon.
To date, Israel's objectives have been to crush Hamas and bring home the hostages seized by Palestinian militants during the October 7 attacks.
"The political-security cabinet updated the goals of the war" to include "the safe return of the residents of the north to their homes", Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in a statement.
Since October, the unabating exchanges of fire between Israeli troops and Hamas ally Hezbollah in Lebanon have forced tens of thousands of people on both sides of the border to flee their homes.
Not formally declared a war by Israel, the exchanges of fire have killed hundreds of mostly fighters in Lebanon, and dozens including soldiers on the Israeli side.
On Monday, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant warned that failing a political solution, "military action" would be "the only way left to ensure the return" of displaced residents to the border area.
Hezbollah deputy chief Naim Qassem said at the weekend that his group had "no intention of going to war", but that "there will be large losses on both sides" in the event of all-out conflict.
Major airlines Lufthansa and Air France on Tuesday announced suspensions of flights to Tel Aviv, Tehran and Beirut until Thursday as tensions in the region soared.

Blinken arrives

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived back in the region at dawn on Wednesday to try to revive stalled ceasefire talks for the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
After months of mediated negotiations failed to pin down a ceasefire, Washington said it was still working with mediators Qatar and Egypt to finalise an agreement.
US officials have expressed increasing frustration with Israel as Netanyahu has publicly rejected US assessments that a deal is nearly complete and has insisted on an Israeli military presence on the Egypt-Gaza border.
The October 7 attack on southern Israel that sparked the war resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Militants also seized 251 hostages, 97 of whom are still held in Gaza, including 33 the Israeli military says are dead.
Israel's retaliatory military offensive has killed at least 41,252 people in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry, which does not provide a breakdown of civilian and militant deaths.
On Tuesday, UN member states were debating a draft resolution demanding an end to the Israeli occupation of all Palestinian territories within 12 months.
General Assembly resolutions are not binding, but Israel has already denounced the new text as "disgraceful".
burs-kir/lb/fox

women

Afghan women continue medical studies in Scotland after Taliban ban

BY JESSICA HOWARD-JOHNSTON

  • The foundation, formed by her parents in her name, said that the students had often been confined to their homes since the Taliban issued its ban on women studying at universities in December 2022.
  • When the Taliban banned women from attending university in Afghanistan, Zahra Hussaini thought her dream of becoming a doctor was over.
  • The foundation, formed by her parents in her name, said that the students had often been confined to their homes since the Taliban issued its ban on women studying at universities in December 2022.
When the Taliban banned women from attending university in Afghanistan, Zahra Hussaini thought her dream of becoming a doctor was over. Now, she is continuing her medical degree in Britain.
"Coming to Scotland, it changed everything. It has given me hope for a better future," the 20-year-old told AFP in Glasgow, where she arrived last month to resume her studies.
"I can become a doctor, I can become independent financially and I can serve my family, my community to the best of my ability," she added.
Hussaini is one of 19 female medical students from Afghanistan who landed in Scotland on August 21 following a three-year campaign by the Linda Norgrove Foundation.
Norgrove was a 36-year-old Scottish aid worker who was kidnapped by Islamist militants in Afghanistan and killed during a failed rescue attempt by US special forces in 2010.
The foundation, formed by her parents in her name, said that the students had often been confined to their homes since the Taliban issued its ban on women studying at universities in December 2022.
The Taliban authorities have implemented an austere interpretation of Islamic law since returning to power in Afghanistan in August 2021 following the withdrawal of US forces.
Women have borne the brunt of restrictions that the United Nations has labelled "gender apartheid".
"They didn't allow me to get my specialisation in Afghanistan," said 25-year-old medical student Fariba Asifi, who is also now studying at Glasgow University.
"Now I consider I am the luckiest person that I am here and I can continue my education and I achieve this opportunity to continue my education and follow my dream. I'm so excited and I'm really happy."
The woman arrived in Scotland after the devolved Scottish government in Edinburgh amended funding legislation to ensure that they would be treated like Scottish students and be eligible for free tuition.
Some are studying at St Andrews, Dundee and Aberdeen.
The foundation said it had to clear a number of hurdles for the women to make it to Scotland, including negotiating travel to Pakistan to apply for UK visas, organising English language tests and university interviews over Skype.
It also secured accommodation and UK bank accounts and said it had spent £60,000 ($79,000) in all. 
"Finally, these 19 incredibly talented young women get their future back with the opportunity of a tremendous education and a career. The alternative for them in Afghanistan wasn't good," Linda's father John Norgove said in a statement.
Asifi said she hoped to be able to return to Afghanistan to work as a doctor one day.
"It's not a permanent situation, it's temporary, it will change and one day we will have a bright Afghanistan, a peaceful country.
"And one day, I'm pretty sure we will see all girls, all ladies can do, can get education, get working and getting their fun. And we should be optimistic we will have a bright Afghanistan. It's near."
video-pdh/phz/yad

Colombia

Three activists risking their lives for the planet

BY HERVé BAR IN BOGOTA

  • It helped win him the Goldman Environmental Prize -- the Nobel of environmental defenders -- two years ago.
  • Almost 200 environmental activists were murdered last year, with the toll especially heavy in South America, according to rights group Global Witness.
  • It helped win him the Goldman Environmental Prize -- the Nobel of environmental defenders -- two years ago.
Almost 200 environmental activists were murdered last year, with the toll especially heavy in South America, according to rights group Global Witness.
Here are the stories of three campaigners who have faced violence and repression trying to stop wildcat gold mining in Ecuador, illegal shrimp farming in Indonesia and a controversial oil project in Uganda.
- 'We have a responsibility' - 
Daniel Frits Maurits Tangkilisan has been assaulted, arrested and prosecuted for his activism to protect a national park, but he is unbowed.
"Why be afraid? Why back down? Your home should be defended," the 51-year-old told AFP in Jakarta, where is awaiting a new ruling in legal proceedings against him. 
Born and raised in the Indonesian capital, he "fell in love at first sight" with the remote Karimunjawa Islands National Park off Java on his first visit in 2011 and settled there.
Daniel began to notice the growing impact of illegal shrimp farms, which began to proliferate around 2017.
Run-off from the farms killed off seaweed and forced marine life to move further from shore, impacting the livelihoods of fishing communities, he said.
In 2022, Daniel helped start the #SaveKarimunjawa movement, which pushed for a local zoning law banning the shrimp farms.
But his activism made him a target -- he was threatened, assaulted and put in a chokehold, and fellow environmentalists received death threats.
He was arrested in December 2023 over allegations of hate speech stemming from a Facebook post criticising illegal shrimp farming.
A local court sentenced him in April to seven months behind bars.
The conviction was overturned on appeal but prosecutors took the case to the Supreme Court, insisting he should not be recognised as an environmental activist.
"This is a price that must be paid," Daniel said of the threats and legal battles.
And his activism has had some success, with recent government inspections forcing many illegal operations to shut.
"We have a responsibility to our children, grandchildren and future generations," he said.
"If you give up... you say goodbye to your future."
- 'Hell on Earth' - 
Abdulaziz Bweete grew up in Kawempe, a shanty town in the Ugandan capital Kampala, and saw first-hand the devastating impact of environmental change in poorer communities.
"I have grown up seeing floods around but I had not interested myself in what is causing floods," he told AFP.
It took two things to galvanise the 26-year-old -- going to university, and seeing the Uganda government's response to climate protests. 
Bweete was among a group of student organisers who marched on parliament in July with a petition opposing a multi-billion-dollar oil project that campaigners say will badly affect a delicate environment.
He and several other young activists were arrested, charged with illegal assembly, and held in Kampala's maximum-security Luzira prison until August. 
He told AFP he and fellow protesters were beaten by police.
The activist was previously imprisoned and arrested following rallies in the capital.
"All I can say is prison is a hell on Earth," he said.
"We don't have freedom of protest in this country," he said, glancing around nervously in Kyambogo University's lush campus setting. 
Demonstrations in Uganda -- ruled with an iron fist by President Yoweri Museveni for four decades -- are often met with a heavy-handed police response.
Bweete said politics and climate change go hand in hand.
"If we have good leaders, we can have good climate policies. This is a long struggle, but we are determined to win," he insisted. 

'Defend life'

Alex Lucitante, a leader of the Cofan Indigenous people on the border between Ecuador and Colombia, won a historic legal victory in 2018 over mining companies in the Amazon, striking out 52 gold mine concessions.
It helped win him the Goldman Environmental Prize -- the Nobel of environmental defenders -- two years ago.
But despite setting up a system of patrols and even drone surveillance, it has not stopped gold prospectors violating their territory.
"The destruction is still going on all around our land, and the threat is stronger," he told AFP, telling of illegal mining, deforestation and threats from armed groups. 
"Today, the situation is particularly critical in our territories," said Lucitante.
"It all happens in plain sight and with the knowledge of the authorities," which are "sometimes linked to illegal actors operating in the area", he added. 
The environmentalist has urged global leaders to listen to the "voice of Indigenous communities" and hear their plea to "defend life".
mrc-gm-hba/ico/de/ju/fg