protests

France announces curfews as government grapples with unrest

oceans

South Korea's celebrity shark back in canal, prompting new rescue bid

  • Workers used nets fixed to floating pontoons late Wednesday to guide the animal gradually, but it dived beneath a net and returned to the canal overnight, authorities said.
  • A shark that became a viral sensation after getting stuck in a South Korean canal returned hours after being coaxed out, authorities said on Thursday, prompting another attempt to guide it back to the sea.
  • Workers used nets fixed to floating pontoons late Wednesday to guide the animal gradually, but it dived beneath a net and returned to the canal overnight, authorities said.
A shark that became a viral sensation after getting stuck in a South Korean canal returned hours after being coaxed out, authorities said on Thursday, prompting another attempt to guide it back to the sea.
The shark -- nicknamed "Bukhangi" by fans -- was first spotted in the artificial waterway in the southeastern port city of Busan last month, with environmental activists linking its appearance to climate change.
Officials initially opted to wait for the shark to leave on its own, but took a more proactive approach amid growing concerns for its well-being.
Workers used nets fixed to floating pontoons late Wednesday to guide the animal gradually, but it dived beneath a net and returned to the canal overnight, authorities said.
"The shark is now between the outer net and an inner net installed 30 to 40 metres ... further inside the canal," an oceans ministry official told AFP.
She said a fresh attempt began Thursday morning, with authorities raising the outer net to allow Bukhangi to move from the canal.
Before Wednesday, authorities had twice tried and failed to steer Bukhangi back to sea, using water jets and then nets.
The three-metre "dusky" shark, a species typically found in tropical climates, amassed a huge following, drawing more than 1.6 million people to the Busan canal for a glimpse.
It has been celebrated for its unexpected boost to the local economy, with Busan Mayor Chun Jae-soo thanking it for generating publicity he said would otherwise have cost "trillions".
But environmental groups link its initial appearance in the canal to warming seas, saying rising temperatures are pushing warm-water fish northwards, with subtropical sharks following in pursuit.
cdl/cwl/hol

defense

What's holding up Washington's $14 bn arms sale to Taiwan?

  • - Taiwan is developing a multi-layered air defence system, known as the T-Dome, that it hopes could counter a potential Chinese attack.
  • Taiwan has been waiting months for US President Donald Trump to approve a $14 billion sale of weapons and equipment, which the island democracy would use to fend off a potential Chinese attack.
  • - Taiwan is developing a multi-layered air defence system, known as the T-Dome, that it hopes could counter a potential Chinese attack.
Taiwan has been waiting months for US President Donald Trump to approve a $14 billion sale of weapons and equipment, which the island democracy would use to fend off a potential Chinese attack.
Washington -- Taipei's most important security backer -- has sold many billions of dollars' worth of arms to Taiwan, most recently in December when it approved a record $11.1 billion package.
China opposes American military support for Taiwan, which Beijing claims is part of its territory and has threatened to seize with force.
Trump, who last month hailed his "great friendship" with Chinese President Xi Jinping, has resisted US political pressure, including from Republican lawmakers, to give the green light for the current arms package.
AFP takes a look at what's in it and why it's being held up:

Why is Taiwan buying US arms?

Taiwan is spending huge sums upgrading its defence capabilities and expanding its domestic weapons production capacity, but it still needs US arms to deter China.
Since Washington switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979, the United States has stuck to its commitments under the Taiwan Relations Act to provide weapons to Taiwan for its defence.
But Trump said in May that US arms sales to Taiwan could be a bargaining chip with China, setting off alarm bells across the world.
Taipei has reminded Trump of US commitments, and US officials including Secretary of State Marco Rubio have insisted American policy on Taiwan has not changed.
The sale would signal US support for Taiwan and send a message to Beijing that if it launched an attack, it would not face "Taiwan alone", said Wang Ting-yu, a senior lawmaker in President Lai Ching-te's Democratic Progressive Party.

What's in the package?

Taiwan is developing a multi-layered air defence system, known as the T-Dome, that it hopes could counter a potential Chinese attack.
Patriot missiles, an automated command and control system and a 360-degree air defence radar system are seen as critical components of this system and are among the items in the $14 billion package.
"Together these systems can strengthen the resilience of Taiwan's strategic air defences," said Su Tzu-yun, a military expert at the Taipei-based Institute for National Defense and Security Research.
Money for the weapons system is expected to come from a $25 billion defence spending bill passed by Taiwan's parliament in May after months of political wrangling.

Why has it been delayed?

Trump and Xi met in Beijing in May -- the first of four expected meetings for 2026 -- as the rival leaders sought to ease trade tensions between their countries.
Xi issued a blunt warning to Trump that missteps on Taiwan could push the US and China into "conflict".
A record $14 billion arms sale to Taiwan could threaten the US-China trade truce.
"I'm going to make a determination. I'm going to see," Trump said after the summit in response to a question about whether he would go ahead with arms sales to Taiwan.
Rubio said in June that the proposed package was "under review", while officials said in May they were assessing whether American weapons stockpiles were sufficient for its Iran operations.
A US official said recently that the chances of the package being split into smaller chunks "have gone way up".
Some Taiwanese officials have said they do not care if the US bundles the arms into a single package or multiple -- they just want the weapons.
"Militarily... Taiwan is racing against time," said the analyst Su.
"Acquiring weapons is not like ordering at a drive-through. Production, delivery and training all take time before the systems can enter service and become effective."
joy-amj/lga/hol

conflict

Missiles strike Ukraine's capital after US envoy visits Russia

  • Ukraine's Airforce posted a warning in the early hours of "more ballistic missiles towards Kyiv" and instructed residents to stay in shelters. 
  • Missiles struck Kyiv throughout the night, authorities said early on Thursday, sending residents into shelters and wounding six shortly after Russia signaled it was ready to resume trilateral talks with Ukraine and the United States.
  • Ukraine's Airforce posted a warning in the early hours of "more ballistic missiles towards Kyiv" and instructed residents to stay in shelters. 
Missiles struck Kyiv throughout the night, authorities said early on Thursday, sending residents into shelters and wounding six shortly after Russia signaled it was ready to resume trilateral talks with Ukraine and the United States.
US President Donald Trump said after his envoy Steve Witkoff's meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday that it was "the closest we've been" to ending the war. 
Witkoff praised Putin as a "humanitarian" for freeing US citizen Stephen Hubbard, but the Kremlin warned after the meeting in Saint Petersburg that while Moscow was "in principle" willing to restart talks there was little "substance" in Ukrainian and European peace proposals the US diplomat had delivered.
Attacks did not let up overnight, with Kyiv's mayor Vitali Klitschko posting on social media that missile strikes had wounded six people in the capital, four of whom needed hospitalisation.
Ukraine's Airforce posted a warning in the early hours of "more ballistic missiles towards Kyiv" and instructed residents to stay in shelters. 
Russian authorities also said they had intercepted drones during the night, including more than 160 flying towards Moscow.
Witkoff had flown to Russia from a meeting with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky in Oslo on Tuesday, which was aimed at smoothing over a bitter rift between Trump and the Ukrainian leader.
Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner also took part in the talks with Putin remotely.
Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters that Russia was "in principle, ready to resume" trilateral talks in mid-November -- after crucial US midterm elections -- and that the Kremlin wanted them to focus on post-war security. 
Putin, who ordered the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, has consistently rejected face-to-face talks with Zelensky and insisted Moscow intends to seize the rest of east Ukraine.
 

'Work left to do'

 
Ushakov said Witkoff briefed Putin on "some new aspects in the approaches of the Europeans and Kyiv" from the Oslo meeting, adding though that "there wasn't really much substance in them".
A summit between Putin, Trump and China's Xi Jinping was also being prepared in China's Shenzhen for next month, Ushakov said, calling it "the first such meeting in history."
During their three-hour meeting, Witkoff praised Putin for granting Trump's request to free Hubbard, a retired English teacher in his 70s who had always denied the charges he was a "mercenary" fighting for Ukraine.
"You talk so much about my president, President Trump, being a humanitarian -- you are a humanitarian also, sir, and I salute that," Witkoff said.
Witkoff said on social media that the talks with Putin were "constructive" but that "there is still important work left to do". Discussions would continue between the US, Ukraine and Russia at the technical level, he added.
Trump returned to power in January 2025 promising to end the  war in 24 hours -- but more than a year of US-led talks have failed to produce a breakthrough, with tens of thousands killed.
In recent days, a frustrated Trump has once again pivoted away from Ukraine and back to Putin, trumpeting what he said was a deal for Russia to sell diesel and reduce prices sent soaring by his Iran war.
Trump also delayed the imposition of sanctions on Russia's war machine -- a decision he defended on Wednesday as necessary to secure Hubbard's release.
"If you would've put those sanctions on... you could forget about him. You'd never see him again," Trump told reporters at the White House.
 

Russian strikes kill four

 
In Ukraine, Zelensky said that Kyiv also backed resuming trilateral talks. 
"The American side is proposing to organize this meeting as soon as possible. We are in favour of it," he told journalists.
Witkoff's ninth meeting with Putin came as Russia continued to strike Ukrainian cities ahead of winter. 
Kyiv said Russian attacks killed at least four people on Wednesday -- including two in the capital and an elderly couple in the eastern Kharkiv region.  
Russian occupation authorities in the Lugansk region, meanwhile, said a Ukrainian drone strike on a phone company had killed two people.  
The Witkoff-Zelensky meeting on Tuesday followed days of friction between Washington and Kyiv, and calls from Trump for the Ukrainian leader to be replaced.
Witkoff told Putin he saw "some degree of momentum" in the US-led talks.  
The US envoy also told Putin that Washington was "grateful" for the diesel deal, which sparked outrage in Kyiv and across Europe. 
The deal has been seen as a way to try to lower fuel prices for American consumers ahead of the US midterms, in which Trump's Republicans could lose control of Congress.
burs-dk/ceg/tc

US

Washington orders US embassy staff, families to leave Saudi Arabia

  • A diplomatic source in the Middle East told AFP that some families of US embassy personnel were also being withdrawn in the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Qatar and Bahrain, but Pigott stressed that Wednesday's order was for the departure of non-emergency embassy staff and their families in Saudi Arabia only.
  • The United States has ordered non-essential US embassy staff and their families to leave Saudi Arabia, the State Department said on Wednesday, as the kingdom comes under sustained deadly attacks by Yemen's Houthis.
  • A diplomatic source in the Middle East told AFP that some families of US embassy personnel were also being withdrawn in the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Qatar and Bahrain, but Pigott stressed that Wednesday's order was for the departure of non-emergency embassy staff and their families in Saudi Arabia only.
The United States has ordered non-essential US embassy staff and their families to leave Saudi Arabia, the State Department said on Wednesday, as the kingdom comes under sustained deadly attacks by Yemen's Houthis.
"Iranian-supported Houthis have increasingly engaged in hostilities against Saudi Arabia, including attacks on civilian airports and other critical infrastructure resulting in civilian casualties and severe travel disruptions," State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said in a social media post explaining the measure.
"The safety and security of Department personnel and their families remain our highest priority," he added.
A diplomatic source in the Middle East told AFP that some families of US embassy personnel were also being withdrawn in the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Qatar and Bahrain, but Pigott stressed that Wednesday's order was for the departure of non-emergency embassy staff and their families in Saudi Arabia only.
Saudi Arabia has this month come under near-daily attacks from the Iran-backed Houthis, including a strike on Riyadh's international airport that was the kingdom's deadliest in years, as the war with the group escalates.
On Wednesday, the Saudi energy ministry said that falling debris from the successful interception of a drone targeting an oil facility killed two people and injured a further two.
"The attempted attack resulted in the deaths of two individuals, a Filipino and a Nepali, and injuries to two others," the ministry said in a statement.
It did not say who launched the drone aimed at Shaybah oil field near the UAE border. Earlier on Wednesday, the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen reported intercepting six drones.
One person was killed and eight others wounded in an attack on Dammam airport in eastern Saudi Arabia, aviation officials said.
In June, a four-year-old truce in Yemen's civil war collapsed, reviving the conflict that dates back to 2014. The Saudi-led coalition has backed the internationally recognized government since 2015.

Iran explosions

The US previously ordered non-essential staff to leave the Gulf ahead of the start of its war against Iran in late February and again in July before US President Donald Trump called off a new wave of strikes.
Late on Wednesday, Iranian state media reported the sound of explosions in the southern Hormozgan province overlooking the Strait of Hormuz, breaking a spell of relative calm.
"A few minutes ago, the sound of several explosions was heard in the Karpan area of Sirik, in Hormozgan Province," the official IRNA news agency said.
It added that "local sources have not yet disclosed the nature of these explosions."
In late February, the United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran, killing the country's supreme leader, along with senior military commanders.
Iran has attempted to blockade the Strait of Hormuz, demanding all ships seek its authorization to cross. In peacetime, the strategic waterway carried around a fifth of the world's oil supplies.
In retaliation, the United States has imposed a counterblockade on Iranian ports and ships.
bur/gh/sst

culture

In the Mexican town that makes emblematic Day of the Dead garlands

BY ANNA CUENCA

  • But orders skyrocket in the lead-up to the Day of the Dead, when hundreds of thousands of sheets of paper are used to deck out towns and cities.
  • In a workshop in the Mexican town of San Salvador Huixcolotla, three men use small hammers and chisels to punch holes in thick sheets of tissue paper ahead of the Dia de Muertos (Day of the Dead) festival.
  • But orders skyrocket in the lead-up to the Day of the Dead, when hundreds of thousands of sheets of paper are used to deck out towns and cities.
In a workshop in the Mexican town of San Salvador Huixcolotla, three men use small hammers and chisels to punch holes in thick sheets of tissue paper ahead of the Dia de Muertos (Day of the Dead) festival.
The multicolored paper perforated with intricate folk art designs is known as "papel picado" (pecked paper).
It is a central element in the lavish altars erected to the deceased on November 1-2 and is also used to festoon homes and streets.
Papel picado originated in this small central Mexican town in the late 19th century.
More than a century later, three-quarters of the town's 17,000 inhabitants are employed in producing the paper, which is exported worldwide.
Despite the advent of AI and 3D printing, many people here continue making the paper by hand.
"We get satisfaction from the idea that our craftsmanship is recognized in other countries and that people see value in handmade things," Miguel Reynoso, a 58-year-old papel picado producer, told AFP.
Reynoso has been in the business for 40 years. 
He and his wife employ over a dozen people, including their four daughters, making decorative banners for clients as far away as South Korea and Japan.
The garlands are in demand year-round for events such as baptisms and "quinceaneras" (girls' 15th birthdays, a major milestone in Latin America).
But orders skyrocket in the lead-up to the Day of the Dead, when hundreds of thousands of sheets of paper are used to deck out towns and cities.
 
- 'My tradition' - 
 
The art of making papel picado was born on ranches outside Huixcolotla.
Following a Mesoamerican tradition, farm workers used to etch simple geometric designs into thick paper made from tree bark.
The arrival of fine tissue paper from China in the mid-19th century revolutionized the process, allowing for greater sophistication.
Nowadays, the paper too is manufactured in Huixcolotla, which prides itself on controlling the entire process.
Even the chisels -- straight, curved or zigzag, depending on the motif -- are made here.
The palette of colors used in the paper has evolved over time to include shades associated with Mexican design, such as lime and Mexican pink (fuchsia).
Roberto Carlos carefully carves a skull adorned with an elegant hat into a wad of deep purple paper 50 sheets deep.
If the paper tears, he has to discard the lot, which is why you have to "be very delicate," the 34-year-old artisan explained.
Mari Reynoso, Miguel's 26-year-old daughter, acknowledged that "industrialization" threatened her town's bread and butter.
The disappearance of handicrafts, "a symbol of Mexico," would be a blow to the country's heritage, she argued.
"Just seeing them makes people say: 'This is culture, this is my tradition.'"
acc/jt/cb/pnb

Musk

Musk threatens Democrats teeing up congressional probes

  • Musk, the United States' first trillionaire, is a top financial contributor to Trump's Republican Party, a frequent advisor to the president and a major recipient of government contracts through his SpaceX empire.
  • Elon Musk, President Donald Trump's multi-billionaire ally, on Wednesday threatened Democrats who want to investigate alleged corruption and his role in the US government if they win control of Congress next month.
  • Musk, the United States' first trillionaire, is a top financial contributor to Trump's Republican Party, a frequent advisor to the president and a major recipient of government contracts through his SpaceX empire.
Elon Musk, President Donald Trump's multi-billionaire ally, on Wednesday threatened Democrats who want to investigate alleged corruption and his role in the US government if they win control of Congress next month.
"Live by the sword, die by the sword," Musk wrote on X, the social media platform he owns, in response to a Politico news article about Democrats' plans to probe his activities if they win the midterm elections.
"Those who pick fights with me should understand that I will find out who is really pulling the strings and come for them, not just their puppets," Musk added on the platform, which he regularly uses to promote conspiracy theories.
Musk, the United States' first trillionaire, is a top financial contributor to Trump's Republican Party, a frequent advisor to the president and a major recipient of government contracts through his SpaceX empire. He also controls the pioneering electric car company Tesla.
After helping to bankroll Trump's return to power in the 2024 election, Musk ran a controversial project to slash US government spending and push nearly 300,000 employees out of work.
Republicans currently control the Senate and House of Representatives. However, Democrats are forecasted to win the lower chamber at least on November 3.
This would put Democrats in charge of powerful investigative committees, with power to compel testimony -- and make Musk a prime target.
"The sheer number of conflicts of interest are astounding," influential Democrat Zoe Lofgren was quoted as saying in Politico's report.
sms/mjf

internet

Judge orders Meta to pay $25 bn to New Mexico in Cambridge Analytica case

BY SARA BLOOMBERG

  • The penalty comes a couple of months after Meta agreed to pay $18 billion to settle claims brought by 48 other states, including allegations tied to Cambridge Analytica.
  • A New Mexico judge ruled Wednesday that Meta must pay $25 billion to the state after a jury found last month that the social media giant had deceived users in a case related to the Cambridge Analytica scandal, according to media reports.
  • The penalty comes a couple of months after Meta agreed to pay $18 billion to settle claims brought by 48 other states, including allegations tied to Cambridge Analytica.
A New Mexico judge ruled Wednesday that Meta must pay $25 billion to the state after a jury found last month that the social media giant had deceived users in a case related to the Cambridge Analytica scandal, according to media reports.
The penalty comes a couple of months after Meta agreed to pay $18 billion to settle claims brought by 48 other states, including allegations tied to Cambridge Analytica.
Meta slammed the case as "a tax on speech."
"This ruling... makes it all but impossible to do business in the state of New Mexico," Meta said in a statement. "We are confident we will prevail on appeal."
Cambridge Analytica was a political consulting firm found to have improperly harvested personal data from millions of Facebook users for targeted political advertising, notably during the 2016 US presidential election.
Revelations at the time showed that the firm had obtained data gathered through a personality quiz app called "thisisyourdigitallife," which was installed by about 270,000 users but also collected information on their friends.
In total, the app reached roughly 87 million Facebook users worldwide.
Facebook learned in December 2015 that Cambridge Analytica had acquired the data but did not disclose it publicly until 2018, after a whistleblower came forward, sparking a major political scandal.
Jurors in the New Mexico trial found that the misconduct affected all of the state’s more than 2.1 million residents.
"We disagree with the verdict and will continue to defend ourselves against efforts to distort our record," a Meta spokesperson said in a statement in September.
New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez hailed the ruling as a "historic" win.
This case was "about whether corporations can mislead consumers about what happens to their personal information without facing meaningful consequences. New Mexico stood its ground," Torrez said in a statement.

Penalties pile up

Meta has faced a slew of lawsuits in recent months. 
Earlier this year, New Mexico won nearly $1 billion in combined penalties against Meta in a separate case over harms to children.
In March, a jury in that case ordered Meta to pay $375 million after finding the company liable for endangering children by making them vulnerable to predators on its platforms, among other harms.
In August, a judge ordered Meta to implement product changes and pay an additional $567 million to the state to fund the treatment and prevention of harms caused by Facebook and Instagram.
That same month, Meta agreed to pay up to $17.7 billion to 52 US states, plus Washington, DC, to settle claims that it deliberately engineered its platforms to hook young users, misled the public about the risks and unlawfully collected data from children under 13.
As part of that settlement, Meta agreed to make significant changes to Facebook and Instagram accounts used by teenagers, and portions of the settlement hinge on other major social media companies agreeing to similar changes.
In September, TikTok agreed to pay Alabama at least $100 million and enact limits for teen users, avoiding a trial over claims related to child safety on the platform.
TikTok previously settled other cases that were headed for trial, including a Los Angeles lawsuit brought by a young woman and a suit from a Kentucky school district.
In a landmark trial that concluded in March, Meta and YouTube were convicted by a Los Angeles jury, which found both companies were responsible for a teenager's social media addiction.
That jury awarded the teenager $6 million.  
smb/pnb

computers

Websites go dark as AI exposes critical security flaws

BY ALEX PIGMAN

  • Many large platforms are built on other programming languages or use operators that could install the fix quickly and were able to stay online.
  • Government agencies and companies around the world shut down websites Wednesday after two critical flaws came to light involving PHP, a programming language that is the basis for a large share of the internet.
  • Many large platforms are built on other programming languages or use operators that could install the fix quickly and were able to stay online.
Government agencies and companies around the world shut down websites Wednesday after two critical flaws came to light involving PHP, a programming language that is the basis for a large share of the internet.
PHP sits underneath popular web design platforms, so the weaknesses potentially affect a vast range of websites, from online stores and news outlets to government services.
Wiz, one of the security firms that found the flaws, estimated that PHP runs about 70 percent of the world's websites and said they rank "among the most severe vulnerabilities discovered in PHP, and arguably in software history."
The US National Security Agency told organizations to patch immediately or pull vulnerable systems offline.
Only sites that run PHP on their own servers are exposed.
Many large platforms are built on other programming languages or use operators that could install the fix quickly and were able to stay online.
The flaws "often provide a direct path to the server's file system or database," the NSA said in a statement on X.
Attackers could use them to take over web servers without needing a password.
Volker Dusch, a security engineer at the PHP Foundation, told the Wall Street Journal it was the most serious problem PHP had faced in more than a decade, comparing it to Heartbleed, a 2014 flaw that set off a worldwide rush to patch.
The discovery came amid a surge in software security disclosures driven by increasingly powerful AI models, with the number of vulnerabilities found in 2026 on track to roughly double last year's record total.
PHP programmers released a fix on Wednesday.
"If you run PHP, it is imperative that you update now," the PHP Foundation, which funds developers working on the language, said in a blog post.
Security firm Calif found the flaws in August using OpenAI's GPT-5.6 Sol model, as part of an OpenAI-funded audit of PHP’s code.
Wiz, which is owned by Google, said it found them independently weeks later with help from AI models including Google's Gemini 4 Argon and GPT-5.6 Sol.
OpenAI said on X that it considered the flaws "one of the most impactful vulnerabilities in recent memory," adding that the discovery "marks a new phase, where AI can find security bugs with internet-scale impact."

'Often and fast'

Ethan Mollick, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School who studies AI, said companies he talks to are struggling to keep up with the pace of patches needed to guard against AI-driven cyberattacks.
"Now consumers are going to have the same experience of getting everything updated often and fast," he wrote on X.
The flaws had been reported privately to PHP's developers and kept confidential while a fix was prepared.
Details leaked online Tuesday, a day before the planned release of the fix, prompting the rush to take sites offline before hackers could exploit them.
In France, local government websites, including one for the Paris police, were made inaccessible at the request of the French National Cybersecurity Agency, the interior ministry said.
In the Netherlands, the national digital identity service DigiD, the website of the House of Representatives and the site of the national cybersecurity center went offline as a precaution, according to Dutch public broadcaster NOS.
In Australia, the Australian Signals Directorate said its own cyber.gov.au site was among government websites affected by the flaws, according to Australian public broadcaster ABC.
The Wikimedia Foundation, which runs Wikipedia, warned users they could see outages on its sites while it addressed the flaws, and said it had deliberately taken many of its supporting services offline until they could be safely patched.
Several Pokemon apps, including Pokemon HOME, Pokemon Champions and Pokemon Sleep, also went offline Wednesday for emergency maintenance, with Pokemon Sleep citing security measures, according to gaming news site Kotaku.
The operator of the hit Japanese game Umamusume said it was carrying out maintenance to fix a PHP vulnerability found in its servers.
arp/sst

protests

Protests banned in parts of Paris as Macron swipes at Trump

  • Those rallies followed four weeks of student protests that have closed many schools across France.
  • Police banned protests in parts of Paris on Thursday, as France braced for more demonstrations just days after student and other rallies degenerated into some of the worst street unrest in years.
  • Those rallies followed four weeks of student protests that have closed many schools across France.
Police banned protests in parts of Paris on Thursday, as France braced for more demonstrations just days after student and other rallies degenerated into some of the worst street unrest in years.
Wednesday's announcement came after President Emmanuel Macron took an apparent swipe at his US counterpart Donald Trump for exploiting the riots for political advantage in the US midterm election battle.
The Paris ban will last from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm (0600 to 1800 GMT) and apply to key landmarks in the French capital, including the Elysee presidential palace, both houses of parliament, as well as tourist havens such as the Louvre museum and the Champs-Elysees.
Other areas where rallies will be prohibited include the Bastille and Republique squares, and the Chatelet-Les Halles shopping area which was heavily targeted by looters over the weekend. 
France has admitted it "lost control" in the frenzy of street violence that erupted last weekend, when masked youths clashed with police, looted shops and vandalised public buildings.
As his government struggled to contain a crisis that has damaged France's image abroad and rattled financial markets six months before presidential elections, Macron implied that Trump, and possibly Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is also fighting an election campaign, made "stupid comments" on the unrest for political gain.
"There are people who campaign at France's expense -- leaders who are in campaign mode, whether here in the region or on the other side of the Atlantic," he told reporters in Doha.
Trump has sought to link the unrest to "migrants, jihadists, and communists" as he campaigned for his Republican party in the United States on his anti-immigration messaging.
He also on Tuesday hailed French far-right leader Marine Le Pen, who shares his ideologies.
Le Pen late Wednesday branded Macron's remarks as "conspiratorial" in a post on X.
"The images we saw last Saturday are not generated by artificial intelligence: they show the sad reality of what France has become after 10 years of Macronist rule," added the far-right candidate, who is leading in the polls for the 2027 presidential election.
Several analysts have dismissed the claims that migrants were driving France's protests.
 

'New phase' upcoming

 
The unrest overshadowed demonstrations held Saturday in which more than half a million people marched nationwide against the cost of living. Those rallies followed four weeks of student protests that have closed many schools across France.
Since the rioting -- the worst France has seen in years -- and ahead of fresh cost-of-living demonstrations planned for Saturday, Macron's government has warned it will brook no further violence.
Fresh demonstrations planned by high school pupils and university students were similarly struck down in both Paris and the southeastern city of Lyon.
Following a meeting on Wednesday with Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu, the leader of France's hardline CGT union, Sophie Binet, called for a "new phase" of protests, with strikes early next month.
Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin said Wednesday that, of the 2,500 people taken into custody during and after the protests, 174 had been jailed. Another 917 had been formally prosecuted, he added.
The convulsion in the EU's second-biggest economy has rattled financial markets already nervous about the country's growing debt pile and deficit.
The yield on France's benchmark 10-year bond passed five percent on Wednesday as investors demanded a higher return amid fiscal concerns.
On Friday, the Moody's ratings agency is expected to lower its grade on France's public debt.
 

'Quite disconcerting'

 
France's neighbours Italy and Belgium were also experiencing similar unrest, on a smaller scale. Italy's government has ordered 500 troops to Milan to stem street violence there.
While the curfews imposed in several cities have helped calm the situation, they have disrupted some access to late-night public transport.
"It's quite disconcerting," said one Paris commuter who gave only his first name, Louis, when he found his line closed. But "if it can prevent further acts of vandalism... then yes, I think it's a good thing", he said.
The Yellow Vest movement behind last weekend's demonstrations announced Wednesday it plans a march on Saturday from Bastille square in Paris, and follow-up nationwide demonstrations on November 5.
bur/ach/sbk

virus

Nigeria Ebola case matches DR Congo strain

BY SUSAN NJANJI AND TONYE BAKARE

  • The case detected in a woman diplomat in Nigeria -- the first there since the current outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo -- raised memories of a widespread outbreak in 2014 that struck several countries in the region.
  • The Ebola case detected in Nigeria is the Bundibugyo strain behind a major DR Congo outbreak, officials said Wednesday, marking the spread of the deadly disease to points across Africa.
  • The case detected in a woman diplomat in Nigeria -- the first there since the current outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo -- raised memories of a widespread outbreak in 2014 that struck several countries in the region.
The Ebola case detected in Nigeria is the Bundibugyo strain behind a major DR Congo outbreak, officials said Wednesday, marking the spread of the deadly disease to points across Africa.
The case detected in a woman diplomat in Nigeria -- the first there since the current outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo -- raised memories of a widespread outbreak in 2014 that struck several countries in the region.
Nigeria is the fourth African country affected by the outbreak, which this week came to span the continent, with Kenya in the east reporting nine cases since October 6.
The DRC's Ebola epidemic has become the deadliest in the country's history, killing 4,381 people out of more than 9,000 confirmed cases since mid-May, according to the health authorities.
The patient in Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, travelled from Uganda to the capital, Abuja, on October 3, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) said.
"We did three levels of tests, but all molecular. The strain was Bundibugyo," said Olajumoke Babatunde, director of the public health laboratory service at the NCDC.
The World Health Organization (WHO) also confirmed that it was the Bundibugyo strain, for which there is still neither a vaccine nor a specific treatment.
"This person is actually a diplomat," another official said, adding the patient has deteriorated into "multi-organ failure". The official did not disclose the nationality of the diplomat.
In August, Uganda was declared officially Ebola-free by the WHO after recording 20 cases -- almost all of them in people who had travelled from the DRC.
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention's Director General Jean Kaseya warned on Tuesday of "an extremely serious threat", with fatality rates fast edging towards 50 percent in the DRC.
The Africa CDC has called a high-level meeting of health ministers for next Wednesday to assess the outbreak, coordinate cross-border efforts, support affected countries and strengthen continental preparedness.

'Geographically widespread'

"This Ebola Bundibugyo outbreak has already become the most geographically widespread Ebola outbreak in history, affecting multiple countries across three regions of Africa," said CDC's Kaseya, calling for urgent international action.
Nigeria has identified 44 contacts that are being monitored, while intensifying efforts to find other people who may have been exposed. 
The WHO said in a statement that infection prevention and control were being "ramped up" at the private hospital where the patient sought care.
Nigeria's experience in successfully containing an Ebola outbreak in 2014 raised confidence that the country can respond effectively to new public health threats.
That epidemic killed more than 11,000 people across west Africa between late 2013 and 2016.
In an interview with AFP, former NCDC director Abdulsalami Nasidi expressed confidence Nigeria could contain the outbreak as it did 12 years ago, but said success would depend on funding and commitment from the presidency.
"Nigeria was able to rapidly control 2014 Ebola outbreak because they took the right actions at the right time, had good command structures on the ground," Nasidi said.
The response to the latest outbreak could test President Bola Tinubu's re-election bid as Nigeria prepares for presidential polls in January. 
In a statement Wednesday by Tinubu's media adviser, Bayo Onanuga, a presidential task force on Ebola said it was confident Nigeria would be "able to dent this outbreak".

2014 outbreak

In 2014, the first Nigerian case, detected in Lagos, the country's commercial hub of over 20 million people, raised fears the highly contagious virus would spread rapidly.
However, a swift response by Nigerian authorities, supported by international organisations, helped bring the epidemic under control within 21 days, resulting in only 19 infections and seven deaths.
"It was so shocking when we got the news yesterday," Anthony Ojogho, a 42-year-old civil servant, told AFP on the streets of Abuja on Wednesday morning.
But he was confident in the authorities' ability to contain the spread of the virus, citing Nigeria's previous experience.
Governments "have always been equal to the task. We contained Ebola, we contained coronavirus," he said.
"If the right steps are being taken, I'm very sure that we're going to contain to a large extent the spread of Ebola virus in Nigeria."
sn-tba-vid/rlp/ach 

books

Canadian publisher says novelist Orelien used AI to write novel

BY MATHIEU GORSE

  • "New information, confirmed over the past few days, indicates that artificial intelligence was used in the writing process" of the novel, a Boreal statement said.
  • The publisher of top-selling Haitian-Canadian writer Thelyson Orelien said Wednesday it had confirmed that he used artificial intelligence to help write his novel "It Was Either That or Die."
  • "New information, confirmed over the past few days, indicates that artificial intelligence was used in the writing process" of the novel, a Boreal statement said.
The publisher of top-selling Haitian-Canadian writer Thelyson Orelien said Wednesday it had confirmed that he used artificial intelligence to help write his novel "It Was Either That or Die."
Orelien has denied allegations that he used AI on his breakthrough novel and, last week, Canadian publisher Boreal said it was standing by the 38-year-old writer.
But on Wednesday, Boreal said it had conducted a further investigation into the allegations.
"New information, confirmed over the past few days, indicates that artificial intelligence was used in the writing process" of the novel, a Boreal statement said.
The publisher announced it was "ending its professional relationship" with Orelien.
Boreal said it did not know the extent of AI's use in the writing process "and we will likely never have a definitive answer."
It said it gathered all the working versions of the novel and hired an outside party to analyze the various drafts.
"The results obtained this week revealed traces of AI tags in the metadata of certain documents," Boreal said.
Before conducting this analysis, the publisher said it had tried to work with Orelien to gather the evidence necessary to prove his innocence.
That effort was inconclusive, and Orelien "subsequently announced that he would not provide any further information," the publisher said.
The novel about migration, known by its original French title "C'etait ca ou mourir," had been scheduled for translation in more than 20 countries.

'Slander and heresy'

The book was shrouded in suspicion and withdrawn from the shortlist for France's top book prize, the Goncourt, after tests with AI detector Pangram indicated a 100-percent probability it contained computer-generated text.
In a statement to AFP earlier this month, Orelien called the allegations "slander and heresy."
"Here and there I did use tools for research, particularly for foreign idioms," he said in a statement sent exclusively to AFP.
"But not a single sentence in this book was created by a machine, nor the meaning or the structure of a story that comes from my gut."
He stood firm on Wednesday, telling the French newspaper Liberation he used AI "in the creative process" for "historical research."
"I've explained everything to those close to me, but at the moment I don't think my words count for anything," he said, adding that what he is currently experiencing has "gone way too far."
Orelien said he started writing the book in late 2017 "on the corner of a table" and completed a first draft in 2019 of more than 300 pages, several years before the advent of AI services such as ChatGPT.
The author fled his native Haiti following a 2010 earthquake that struck the Caribbean island, already ravaged by poverty and unrest.
In response to separate allegations of plagiarism, Orelien admitted to making "unacceptable mistakes" in the past in his writing, without mentioning specifics.
"I was just over 20, I was probably a little too impatient, without really understanding how much I still had to learn. I wanted to write, I was reading a lot," he wrote. 
"But admiring someone does not give you the right to take, to claim as mine texts that are not my own."
mg-bs/sst/bgs/pnb

Quebec

Quebec separatist premier sworn in without royal presence

  • At PSPP's request, Quebec Lieutenant Governor Manon Jeannotte did not attend the ceremony but watched from her office and formally confirmed provincial cabinet appointments, as required by Canadian law.
  • Quebec's new separatist leader took office Wednesday after being sworn in without pledging an oath to King Charles III, while the monarch's official representative in the Canadian province stayed away from the ceremony.
  • At PSPP's request, Quebec Lieutenant Governor Manon Jeannotte did not attend the ceremony but watched from her office and formally confirmed provincial cabinet appointments, as required by Canadian law.
Quebec's new separatist leader took office Wednesday after being sworn in without pledging an oath to King Charles III, while the monarch's official representative in the Canadian province stayed away from the ceremony.
The new premier, Paul Saint-Pierre Plamondon, heads the Parti Quebecois (PQ), which is committed to independence for the majority French-speaking province.
Known widely by his initials, PSPP, the new premier has condemned the British monarchy's enduring presence in Quebec as an "archaic symbol of British colonial domination."
At PSPP's request, Quebec Lieutenant Governor Manon Jeannotte did not attend the ceremony but watched from her office and formally confirmed provincial cabinet appointments, as required by Canadian law.
It marked the first time a Quebec premier was sworn in without a representative of the British monarchy present.
Canada remains a member of the British Commonwealth, and King Charles is the country's head of state. He is represented in Ottawa by a governor general and in the provinces by lieutenant governors.
PSPP has said he wants to defund the lieutenant governor's office and allocate the resources to confronting homelessness.
Polls indicate that only about 30 percent of Quebecers support independence, but PSPP maintains his government will hold a referendum.
It just won't happen while President Donald Trump is in office, he has said, arguing he does not want the debate over the issue to be hijacked by a volatile US leader.
The new premier was sworn in just two days after the western province of Alberta chose overwhelmingly to remain part of Canada in a non-binding vote that dealt a blow to Alberta separatists.
PSPP argued in an X post that even though Alberta separatists won only 24 percent of the vote, that amounts to proof that "Canada as it is doesn't work" and that "the status quo is no longer acceptable."
fa/mg/bs/mjf

UAE

UAE nominates official to lead UN

  • Lana Nusseibeh is a well-regarded minister of state at the United Arab Emirates foreign ministry, having previously represented Abu Dhabi at the UN. "I am standing to be Secretary-General because I believe this is a moment to act with greater urgency: to act earlier, bring people together across difference, and drive the work forward until it produces concrete results," she said in a statement.
  • The UAE nominated Wednesday its foreign ministry official Lana Nusseibeh to run in the contest to lead the UN as none of the six existing candidates has emerged as a clear front-runner.
  • Lana Nusseibeh is a well-regarded minister of state at the United Arab Emirates foreign ministry, having previously represented Abu Dhabi at the UN. "I am standing to be Secretary-General because I believe this is a moment to act with greater urgency: to act earlier, bring people together across difference, and drive the work forward until it produces concrete results," she said in a statement.
The UAE nominated Wednesday its foreign ministry official Lana Nusseibeh to run in the contest to lead the UN as none of the six existing candidates has emerged as a clear front-runner.
Lana Nusseibeh is a well-regarded minister of state at the United Arab Emirates foreign ministry, having previously represented Abu Dhabi at the UN.
"I am standing to be Secretary-General because I believe this is a moment to act with greater urgency: to act earlier, bring people together across difference, and drive the work forward until it produces concrete results," she said in a statement.
In the latest informal straw poll held last week to gauge which candidates have a shot of becoming the next UN Secretary General, every contender received an effective veto.
Five of the 15 members of the UN Security Council wield veto power and can shut down any candidate that is unacceptable to them, which happened Friday when all seven candidates received at least two vetoes. 
One candidate, Macky Sall of Senegal, subsequently dropped out.
That left the frontrunner Costa Rica's Rebeca Grynspan -- who has been among the frontrunners in the five previous polls -- running alongside Guyanese ex-foreign minister Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett.
Also in the race are Argentina's Rafael Grossi, the current head of the UN nuclear watchdog, Ecuador's Ivonne A-Baki and Maria Fernanda Espinosa, and Uganda's Olara Otunnu.
The outgoing secretary-general, Antonio Guterres of Portugal, ends his second five-year term on December 31, 2026.
Even if a candidate earns the required nine votes from the 15 available in the Security Council, they must also avoid a veto by the five major powers, which are deeply divided.
Once a candidate clears those bars, their name will go to the General Assembly of all UN members for confirmation.
The Security Council straw poll was devised in the early 1980s in an attempt to break a deadlock between two candidates shut down by vetoes.
The informal mechanism has persisted, in various forms, despite criticism from countries opposed to the opaque process.
Each of the 15 Security Council members must anonymously assign each candidate one of three labels: "encourage," "discourage," or "no opinion." 
It is tradition that the UN's top job should rotate between different regions.
Under that premise, the role should go to a candidate from Latin America this time.
gw/sla

trial

Maradona doctor was made 'scapegoat' for his death, Argentine court told

  • "Leopoldo Luque has been the scapegoat." 
  • A lawyer for Leopoldo Luque, a doctor charged in the 2020 death of Argentine football legend Diego Maradona, said in closing arguments Wednesday that his client was innocent and had been made a "scapegoat."
  • "Leopoldo Luque has been the scapegoat." 
A lawyer for Leopoldo Luque, a doctor charged in the 2020 death of Argentine football legend Diego Maradona, said in closing arguments Wednesday that his client was innocent and had been made a "scapegoat."
Attorney Roberto Rallin rejected the prosecution's argument that Maradona's November 2020 death was foreseeable, while another defense attorney, Francisco Oneto, maintained that his death resulted from an "acute and unpredictable" heart attack.
"There was absolutely no possibility of predicting this fatal outcome," Oneto insisted.
Prosecutors have requested a 12-year prison sentence for Luque, a neurosurgeon considered a key decision-maker for Maradona at the time of his death.
"We are here to proclaim Luque's innocence, not with television slogans, but with the evidence that supports it," Rallin said. "Leopoldo Luque has been the scapegoat." 
Maradona died at age 60 from a cardiorespiratory crisis coupled with pulmonary edema.
He was found dead in his bed at a residence in Tigre, north of Buenos Aires, rented for his convalescence, following surgery for a subdural hematoma.
The death of Argentina's favorite son plunged the country into mourning in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Tens of thousands of people defied social distancing rules to bid farewell to him as he lay in state at the presidential palace.
A total of seven health-care professionals have been on trial since April for potential negligence leading to the star's death during his two weeks of convalescence.
Prosecutors have requested sentences ranging from four to 12 years for six of the seven defendants.
In its closing arguments, the prosecution condemned Luque's "inaction," saying his attitude "was always to do nothing" in the face of the warning signs that Maradona was exhibiting.

Contested medical history

Luque's lawyers particularly attacked the conclusions of the interdisciplinary medical commission, which had been established by the court in 2021 to provide an opinion on the star's death.
The commission, which based its findings on the autopsy and other things, said Maradona had a history of heart problems that should have been taken into account, a conclusion the prosecution emphasized.
But Luque's defense lawyers said that clinical tests done prior to Maradona's surgery just before his death didn't reveal any heart issues.
"It's so clear that Maradona didn't have any heart problems in 2020," Oneto said during closing arguments.
Throughout the trial, Luque was by far the most combative defendant, speaking several times when he felt he was being implicated. 
His legal team played audio recordings, presented scientific articles and even a video of Maradona's autopsy, provoking the anger of the footballer's daughters.
"It's easy to attack me because I'm the one who had the most contact with Maradona," Luque said in court, asserting that "the only one who would defend me would be Diego."
"I cared deeply for him, I loved him, he was my idol and my friend," he said.
The defense's closing arguments are expected to continue until Thursday.
mry-pbl/mjf/cb/sst

trial

Defense in Maradona death trial seeks acquittal of doctor

  • "Leopoldo Luque has been the scapegoat." 
  • A lawyer for Leopoldo Luque, a doctor charged in the 2020 death of Argentine football legend Diego Maradona, declared in closing arguments Wednesday that his client was innocent and had been made a "scapegoat."
  • "Leopoldo Luque has been the scapegoat." 
A lawyer for Leopoldo Luque, a doctor charged in the 2020 death of Argentine football legend Diego Maradona, declared in closing arguments Wednesday that his client was innocent and had been made a "scapegoat."
Attorney Roberto Rallin rejected the prosecution's argument that Maradona's November 2020 death was foreseeable, while another defense attorney, Francisco Oneto, maintained that his death resulted from an "acute and unpredictable" heart attack.
Oneto insisted that "there was absolutely no possibility of predicting this fatal outcome."
Prosecutors have requested a 12-year prison sentence for Luque, a neurosurgeon considered a key decision-maker for Maradona at the time of his death.
"We are here to proclaim Luque's innocence, not with television slogans, but with the evidence that supports it," Rallin said. "Leopoldo Luque has been the scapegoat." 
Maradona died at age 60 from a cardiorespiratory crisis coupled with pulmonary edema.
He was found dead in his bed at a residence in Tigre, north of Buenos Aires, rented for his convalescence, following surgery for a subdural hematoma.
A total of seven healthcare professionals have been on trial since April for potential negligence that led to the star's death during those two weeks of convalescence.
Prosecutors have requested sentences ranging from four to 12 years for six of the seven defendants.
In its closing arguments, the prosecution condemned Luque's "inaction," saying his attitude "was always to do nothing" in the face of the warning signs that Maradona was exhibiting.
The defense's closing arguments are expected to continue until Thursday.
mry-pbl/mjf/sms

conflict

Trump faces fresh questions over ties to 'humanitarian' Putin

BY DANNY KEMP, AURELIA END AND W.G. DUNLOP

  • In Saint Petersburg on Wednesday, Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff told Putin: "You talk so much about my president, President Trump, being a humanitarian -- you are a humanitarian also, sir, and I salute that."
  • US President Donald Trump's pivot away from Ukraine has triggered fresh questions about his attachment to Russian leader Vladimir Putin, the man a top American envoy flattered on Wednesday as a "humanitarian."
  • In Saint Petersburg on Wednesday, Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff told Putin: "You talk so much about my president, President Trump, being a humanitarian -- you are a humanitarian also, sir, and I salute that."
US President Donald Trump's pivot away from Ukraine has triggered fresh questions about his attachment to Russian leader Vladimir Putin, the man a top American envoy flattered on Wednesday as a "humanitarian."
Trump has cast his dealings with Putin as part of a mega-deal that has secured the release of American detainee Stephen Hubbard -- and which Trump says will end Russia's war on Ukraine.
At the same time, he has repeatedly berated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and called for him to be replaced.
"I do things that nobody else can do," Trump told an AFP reporter in the Oval Office on Tuesday when asked about Hubbard.
But for Trump's critics, it is the latest example of his willingness to sell Ukraine down the river, especially as he seeks a deal before difficult US midterm elections in November.
His ties to Putin have long been under scrutiny. 
Trump still complains of what he calls the "Russia hoax" following an investigation in his first term into whether his 2016 election campaign colluded with Moscow.
Last week, Trump announced a huge agreement under which he said Russia would release diesel to ease prices sent soaring by the Iran war -- and temporarily eased sanctions on Moscow.
Trump insisted on his Truth Social network that there was "no 'swap' necessary" for Hubbard's release. 
Yet in another post minutes later, he admitted that if he had not paused the sanctions targeting Russia, "those negotiations would have come to a complete and total halt."

'WTF, Steve?'

The US president has also appeared to give diplomatic rewards to Putin -- who masterminded the Ukraine war and has pushed his maximalist goals for more than four years of grinding conflict.
In Saint Petersburg on Wednesday, Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff told Putin: "You talk so much about my president, President Trump, being a humanitarian -- you are a humanitarian also, sir, and I salute that."
Republican Senator Thom Tillis, a frequent Trump critic in recent months, reacted with astonishment.
"WTF, Steve? Look up the definition of 'humanitarian'," he said in a post on X.
Trump earlier this week confirmed that he was ready to hold a three-way summit with the Russian leader and Chinese President Xi Jinping during which Ukraine could be discussed.
Moscow then announced Wednesday it would restart three-way talks with Kyiv and Washington. 
Yet previous rounds of talks, including a Trump-Putin summit in Alaska in August 2025, have produced no breakthroughs.
Ukraine insists it must be included in any talks. But Trump's response was to again blame Zelensky -- whom he berated in the Oval Office in February 2025 -- for not accepting a deal.
"Since Donald Trump has come into office, we have seen some gravitational pull towards the arguments of the Russian president," Liana Fix of the Council for Foreign Relations told AFP. 
Many of the voices that once pulled Trump back towards Ukraine are also now silent, said Fix. Staunchly pro-Kyiv US senator Lindsey Graham died earlier this year, and European leaders are dealing with their own problems at home.

'Exploiting Trump's nervousness'

Putin is "exploiting Trump's nervousness ahead of the midterm elections, and he's playing that very well," added Fix.
Trump has been desperately seeking ways to bring down oil prices, as voters angered by the cost of living look set to punish his Republican Party in the November 3 midterms.
Fears have also mounted that Trump is looking to punish Ukraine. He has blamed Ukraine's attacks on Russian oil refineries -- and not his own war with Iran -- for high oil prices.
Kyiv complained that Washington had briefly halted the sending of intelligence to help counter Russia's missile attacks and reduced speeds in the military version of Elon Musk's Starlink satellite system.
"Sometimes I wonder if folks here in the US understand, truly understand, that Kyiv is fighting an existential war against the Russian aggressor," Gian Gentile, a retired US Army colonel and former director of the military history program at West Point, told AFP.
Ukraine has also complained of hold-ups in the supply of vital interceptor missiles.
"There's no question that these actions are intended to hurt Ukraine," Mark Cancian, a retired US Marine colonel and senior advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told AFP.
dk-aue-wd/sst

diplomacy

France's Macron lands in Riyadh on surprise 'solidarity' visit

BY VALéRIE LEROUX AND SOFIANE ALSAAR

  • Earlier the presidency said the visit would "demonstrate France's solidarity with the kingdom in the face of the attacks carried out by the Houthis against its territory".
  • French President Emmanuel Macron visited Riyadh on Wednesday for a surprise "solidarity" visit, making him the first Western leader to touch down in the kingdom since Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis intensified their attacks this month.
  • Earlier the presidency said the visit would "demonstrate France's solidarity with the kingdom in the face of the attacks carried out by the Houthis against its territory".
French President Emmanuel Macron visited Riyadh on Wednesday for a surprise "solidarity" visit, making him the first Western leader to touch down in the kingdom since Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis intensified their attacks this month.
The unannounced trip sent a strong signal to his oil-rich Saudi ally as Riyadh comes under near-daily attack.
It was part of a Gulf tour to secure oil and diesel and bring down prices in France, following a weekend of violent protests over soaring living costs.
Faced with criticism of his Gulf tour in France, Macron told reporters he was just "doing his job" in a bid to "ease tensions" over gas prices, one of the causes of social unrest in France.
"There must be no sign of febrility," he said. "I am fulfilling my role. I am at my post."
Macron met de facto Saudi leader Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Elysee Palace said. An AFP journalist on the scene said the French president spent less than three hours on the ground.
The pair agreed that Saudi Arabia would supply additional diesel to France "for as many months as necessary", and to consult on expanded security cooperation and infrastructure projects to bypass the blockaded Strait of Hormuz, the palace added.
Earlier the presidency said the visit would "demonstrate France's solidarity with the kingdom in the face of the attacks carried out by the Houthis against its territory".
In recent weeks, Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia have reached an unprecedented scale, forcing Riyadh to shut its main airport and postpone a major investment conference.
A Houthi maritime blockade is also threatening oil exports from the kingdom.
Macron's visit comes as Saudi Arabia seeks to rally Western support in the face of Houthi attacks.

'Personnel deployed'

Earlier on Wednesday, Macron said France had sent troops to help shield the key Saudi oil terminal of Yanbu on the Red Sea from Houthi attacks, while insisting it was important that "discussions resume" with the group.
"For the past eight days, we've had personnel and capabilities deployed (in Yanbu); we're working with Saudi Arabia in this direction, and so we have a defensive role to play," he told reporters in the Qatari capital.
The world's biggest crude exporter had been relying on Yanbu to export its oil, after Iran blockaded the Strait of Hormuz at the start of the Middle East war.
Last month, Macron said in a televised interview that France would send "military means" to help shield the Yanbu terminal from Houthi attacks.
On Tuesday, the UK government announced it would deploy British fighter jets to help Saudi Arabia defend itself against increasing attacks.
As part of his tour, Macron secured the delivery of an additional 200,000 tonnes of diesel per month from the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, as well as two terawatt-hours per month of LNG from Qatar.
In July, a truce in Yemen dating back to 2022 fell apart after the Houthis allowed an Iranian plane to land in the capital Sanaa in defiance of Riyadh's control over Yemeni airspace, setting off a spate of attacks.
Later, the Houthis declared a maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia and began hitting its ships, territory and oil facilities, before launching a major offensive in September in which they seized government-held territory along the Red Sea coast.
In response, the Saudi air force has frequently targeted the group in support of pro-government forces.
vl-sar/aya/dcp/jsa

Arab

Top Arab-Israeli election candidate tells AFP Netanyahu win would be 'catastrophe'

BY ANOUK RIONDET AND HIBA ASLAN

  • In a move to woo greater support, Abbas has included on the Raam list its first-ever Jewish candidate, Yoav Segalovitz, who won popularity within Arab communities for his police work combating high crime.
  • A leading Arab candidate who could emerge as a kingmaker in next week's Israeli elections warned on Wednesday of disaster if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu won again, voicing hope for high Arab turnout.
  • In a move to woo greater support, Abbas has included on the Raam list its first-ever Jewish candidate, Yoav Segalovitz, who won popularity within Arab communities for his police work combating high crime.
A leading Arab candidate who could emerge as a kingmaker in next week's Israeli elections warned on Wednesday of disaster if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu won again, voicing hope for high Arab turnout.
If Netanyahu and his far-right allies return to power, "that would, first and foremost, be a catastrophe for the State of Israel", Raam party leader Mansour Abbas told AFP in an interview. 
"There is no doubt that the consequences would be extremely serious for us as an Arab community."
He said he hoped that Raam, a Hebrew acronym for "United Arab List", would win eight seats, up from the current five -- a potentially crucial number in the 120-seat parliament, or Knesset, in which no party is expected to achieve a majority on its own.
"At the moment, we are optimistic. The trend is positive and moving upward," Abbas said during a campaign stop in Nazareth, the biblical childhood home of Jesus Christ and a stronghold of the Israeli Arab community.
"We will make every effort to ensure that the election results lead to the replacement of this racist, fascist right-wing government with a government of change," Abbas said.
Abbas has played a key role in the recent political history of Israel, where around 20 percent of the population is Arab -- descendants of Palestinians who stayed after the creation of the state of Israel in 1948.
A former dentist whose ideology is moderate Islamism, Abbas agreed to join a short-lived 2021-2022 government of Netanyahu's opponents, making Raam the first Arab party to join an Israeli government.
 

'Kingmaker' sees only one choice

 
Abbas said that the term "kingmaker" -- in the sense that its lawmakers could crown either side -- was not technically accurate for next Tuesday's election, because there was no chance he would sit with Netanyahu.
"The term 'kingmaker' was something we used when we believed it was possible for us to form an alliance with either of the two blocs, the right or the left," Abbas said.
"Today, our only option is to ally ourselves with the change bloc."
But Netanyahu's chief rival, former military chief Gadi Eisenkot, has demurred on whether he would form a coalition with Arab lawmakers, mindful that some Jewish Israeli voters would see a government backed by Arabs as illegitimate.
Netanyahu has nonetheless hammered home the message that a vote for the opposition would mean Arab parties in power, putting posters up across the country that read, "Either the Right or Palestine."
In a move to woo greater support, Abbas has included on the Raam list its first-ever Jewish candidate, Yoav Segalovitz, who won popularity within Arab communities for his police work combating high crime.
The Netanyahu government launched a massive offensive in Gaza, displacing virtually the whole population, in response to the unprecedented October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas. His government has also approved a record number of Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
Netanyahu's far-right ally Bezalel Smotrich, the finance minister, has laid out a plan modelled on the West Bank to change the demographics of largely Arab parts of Israel by bringing in Jewish settlers.
Another far-right minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, unsuccessfully sought to ban Raam from the election.
anr-ha/sct/smw/dcp

climate

UN issues call to arms to combat off-the-charts El Nino

BY ROBIN MILLARD

  • "The current El Nino event could be unprecedented in strength: literally off the monitoring charts that we have used for the past four decades," said Celeste Saulo, head of the UN's weather and climate agency.
  • The El Nino weather phenomenon gripping the planet is heading off the charts, the United Nations warned Wednesday, saying countries should take urgent action to prepare for the worst.
  • "The current El Nino event could be unprecedented in strength: literally off the monitoring charts that we have used for the past four decades," said Celeste Saulo, head of the UN's weather and climate agency.
The El Nino weather phenomenon gripping the planet is heading off the charts, the United Nations warned Wednesday, saying countries should take urgent action to prepare for the worst.
El Nino is set to peak in December, but the human impact of its associated extreme temperatures, floods and droughts is set to last into 2027 and beyond.
The UN called for international preventative measures to protect the millions of people most exposed -- before disaster strikes.
"The current El Nino event could be unprecedented in strength: literally off the monitoring charts that we have used for the past four decades," said Celeste Saulo, head of the UN's weather and climate agency.
"We are already witnessing extreme weather events and expect this to multiply and cascade as El Nino intensifies," the World Meteorological Organization chief told a press conference in Geneva, alongside the UN aid chief Tom Fletcher.
They issued a joint call for "urgent and coordinated anticipatory action" to protect the most vulnerable communities already living on the edge.
"We cannot stop El Nino, but we can prevent many of its worst human consequences," said Saulo.
 

'Wrecking ball'

 
Fletcher said El Nino was a "wrecking ball" that would bring havoc to Latin America, eastern and southern Africa, Asia and the Pacific.
He said the long-term impact "will be felt for months and potentially years to come... because it's this overlaying of crisis on crisis and crisis".
He cited widespread conflict and displacement, soaring fuel and fertiliser and food prices, and swingeing aid cuts.
"The risk is you have tens of millions of people pushed into humanitarian need," he explained, warning that 50 million people could face increased hunger.
Fletcher said the next two weeks were "the critical window to act".
Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya need supplies ahead of heavy rains; southern Africa needs seeds and livestock; Central America needs livelihood assistance, while Asia and the Pacific must prepare for droughts, floods and cyclones, he said.
However, Fletcher warned that the damage from El Nino would not be limited to countries on the front line.
"It will create economic shocks for the global economy and drive further conflict, displacement, migration," he said.
"I am sounding the alarm that the humanitarian system... cannot alone cope with a threat on this scale."
He called on countries, development banks and international financial institutions to get money moving "before that damage is done".
Fletcher said he had released $50 million to help 11 countries on the frontline, including Chad, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Somalia and South Sudan.
 

'Far-reaching consequences'

 
El Nino warms surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean, bringing worldwide changes in winds, pressure and rainfall patterns.
It typically takes place every two to seven years and lasts around nine to 12 months.
Conditions oscillate between El Nino and its opposite La Nina, with neutral conditions in between.
The naturally occurring weather phenomenon is set to bring higher temperatures to much of the planet, with its impact compounding the effects of man-made climate change.
The WMO's latest global seasonal climate update out Wednesday forecasted that sea surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific Ocean -- the epicentre of El Nino -- may rise to 3.8C above average during November to January: way above typical El Nino figures.
This would be the highest three-month measurement since observations began, eclipsing the previous record of 2.6C set in 2015-2016.
"This will have far-reaching consequences for weather patterns across the world," said Saulo.
While El Nino usually peaks between November and February, the resulting spike in temperatures typically comes later.
The last El Nino contributed to making 2023 the second-hottest year on record and 2024 the all-time high.
This El Nino is already hitting some regions hard, including in Central America, where animals and crops are dying from drought.
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UN

World falling 'dangerously short' on climate action: UN chief

BY NICK PERRY

  • And national climate plans and current policies fall dangerously short".
  • Global commitments to cut planet-heating emissions are falling far short of the Paris climate goals and put the world on course for 2.6C warming this century, the UN warned Wednesday.
  • And national climate plans and current policies fall dangerously short".
Global commitments to cut planet-heating emissions are falling far short of the Paris climate goals and put the world on course for 2.6C warming this century, the UN warned Wednesday.
The report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) lays bare the chasm between rhetoric and action when it comes to tackling global warming, and the challenges faced by political leaders at November's COP31 climate summit.
Even if countries deliver their latest climate pledges in full, global temperatures could still rise 2.6C above pre-industrial levels by 2100, said the annual Emissions Gap Report.
That would blow past the historic goal agreed in 2015 in Paris: keeping warming well below 2C while striving for a safer 1.5C. Any chance of keeping to 1.5C had been "lost" due to decades of insufficient action, the report said.
"The world can no longer avoid overshooting the 1.5 degree limit, and the consequences are already devastating," said UN chief Antonio Guterres in a statement to launch the closely watched report.
"Deadly floods, brutal heatwaves, raging wildfires, lost lives, crippled economies, deepening inequalities, and those least responsible are suffering first and worst."
Overall, global greenhouse gas emissions in 2025 were broadly on a par with record levels in 2024, with the difference between the two years too small to call, the report said.
Carbon emissions just from burning coal, oil and gas -- the main driver of climate change -- rose slightly in 2025 compared to the previous year.
Guterres said deep and immediate cuts were needed to protect humanity from worsening impacts, but instead "emissions remain at record levels. And national climate plans and current policies fall dangerously short".
Sticking just with current policies would see warming hit 2.8C by the end of the century, the report said.
 

No country immune

 
Scientists warn that every additional fraction of a degree above 1.5C increases extreme weather events and the likelihood of irreversible changes to the planet, from dying coral reefs to melting permafrost.
The world has already warmed roughly 1.4C relative to pre-industrial times, and crossing 1.5C is expected in a matter of years.
This latest UNEP warming outlook is worse than last year's because of the formal withdrawal of the United States from the Paris accord and upward revisions of historical emissions, said report co-author Anne Olhoff.
Emissions growth slowed among the G20, but the United States was a "major exception", it added.
The Group of 20 major economies accounts for three-quarters of global emissions.
Among the world's top six emitters, preliminary data for 2025 showed emissions increases in the United States, Indonesia and China, and decreases in India, Russia and the European Union.
But the US increase of 133 megatons of CO2 equivalent "far exceeded" that of any other country, driven by higher electricity demand and a rebound of coal power generation.
The next-largest increase was recorded in Turkey, which is hosting the UN climate summit in Antalya from November 9 to 20.
The US is the world's second-largest polluter, behind China. US President Donald Trump has called climate change a hoax and rolled back clean energy policies while boosting fossil fuel production.
UNEP executive secretary Inger Andersen told AFP she would not put the blame "squarely on one nation", saying every country, especially the G20, has "a specific duty to find a way to phase down their carbon emissions".
To limit the overshoot beyond 1.5C, Andersen said the world has an "urgent to-do item": adding another 5,000 gigawatts of renewable energy over the next five years.
But on the same day the report came out, Britain's Labour government approved drilling in a new North Sea gas field to boost energy security amid the Iran war, angering environmentalists.
Andersen said such projects are "not in accord" with the 1.5C goal.
 

'Historic failure'

 
The report details a scenario with a 50-percent chance of bringing global warming back down to 1.5C by 2100.
To get there, warming must peak around 1.8C by 2050, and vast amounts of carbon dioxide would have to be removed from the atmosphere to bring temperatures down further.
But this scenario assumes immediate emissions cuts of six percent per year, every year, until 2035 -- nowhere near current projections.
Some climate-vulnerable developing nations have accused bigger emitters of abandoning the Paris goals, and a showdown over the 1.5C target is expected at COP31.
"This is a historic failure of political leadership," said Mohamed Adow, director of Kenya-based think tank Power Shift Africa.
"The science has been clear for decades, but governments have chosen delay over action. The consequences will be measured in lives lost, not just degrees of warming."
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