conflict

Two Russian drones hit major bridge in Kyiv

internet

A saintly spat and debate snub: Brazil enters final campaign stretch

  • In a decision late Wednesday, the electoral court upheld a Supreme Court order to remove "notoriously untrue" online posts claiming that Flavio Bolsonaro intends to strip the patron saint of her role.
  • Brazil's electoral court has ordered the takedown of "untrue" social media posts about the country's patron saint, the latest row at the end of a deeply divisive election campaign that will see President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva snub the main debate on Thursday.
  • In a decision late Wednesday, the electoral court upheld a Supreme Court order to remove "notoriously untrue" online posts claiming that Flavio Bolsonaro intends to strip the patron saint of her role.
Brazil's electoral court has ordered the takedown of "untrue" social media posts about the country's patron saint, the latest row at the end of a deeply divisive election campaign that will see President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva snub the main debate on Thursday.
US President Donald Trump said he was keeping a close eye on the bitterly fought election between leftist Lula and right-wing Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, 45, who face off in a vote on Sunday.
The pair have not yet thrashed it out in person, however, and 80-year-old Lula has refused to attend a televised debate with Bolsonaro and three other candidates, opting instead to appear on a popular podcast at the same time.
The latest squabble erupted after media reports that figures in the Catholic Church were concerned about the future status of Our Lady of Aparecida.
This collided with the unearthing of an abandoned 2007 bill, initially proposed by a conservative lawmaker, to demote the patron saint.
Flavio Bolsonaro fiercely denied such plans as "fake news," but the issue struck a nerve in a country where the majority Catholic population, which reveres the saint, tends to back Lula.
A booming evangelical population is a key electoral base for far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro, and now his son.
On the campaign trail, Lula clutched a figure of Our Lady of Aparecida, Brazil's beloved Black Madonna, declaring that "messing" with her was "unacceptable."
In a decision late Wednesday, the electoral court upheld a Supreme Court order to remove "notoriously untrue" online posts claiming that Flavio Bolsonaro intends to strip the patron saint of her role.
Police meanwhile opened an investigation into the destruction of statues of saints in churches in Salvador and the defacement of a statue of Our Lady of Aparecida with an axe in a chapel in the state of Mato Grosso.
Brazil has the second-largest Christian population in the world, after the United States, according to the Pew Research Center.

Debate vs podcast

Some commentators have framed Lula's decision to skip the final debate as a bid to sidestep a pile-on from the other participants, none of whom are on the left.
Instead, he will appear on the Flow podcast -- which has 10 million followers on YouTube -- starting half an hour before the debate.
Lula has a slight lead over Bolsonaro in polls ahead of the first round, while the pair are in a dead heat in a potential runoff.
The president has campaigned on a promise to preserve Brazilian sovereignty, warning against "meddling" by the Trump administration.
The US leader on Thursday told reporters he was watching Brazilian elections "very closely."
"The people of Brazil are fantastic people. Very important election," he said.
Attorney General Jorge Messias on Thursday called for an investigation of allegations that the White House was using government funds to promote a "far-right agenda" in Brazil.
The request came after Britain's The Guardian newspaper published an article alleging that Washington planned to award $1 million to fund civil society groups opposing the Brazilian Supreme Court -- an institution hated by the political right.
ll-fb-cc/pnb

execution

Female US inmate in critical condition after botched execution

BY ANITA CHANG BEATTIE

  • "What we have been told is that she is in critical condition, receiving life-saving care," Randy Spivey said in a virtual news conference Thursday afternoon, declining to provide further details.
  • A condemned female murderer who survived two lethal injections during a botched execution by the US state of Tennessee was in critical condition and receiving "life-saving care," her lawyer said Thursday.
  • "What we have been told is that she is in critical condition, receiving life-saving care," Randy Spivey said in a virtual news conference Thursday afternoon, declining to provide further details.
A condemned female murderer who survived two lethal injections during a botched execution by the US state of Tennessee was in critical condition and receiving "life-saving care," her lawyer said Thursday.
In an extraordinary chain of events, Christa Pike, 50, was whisked from a prison execution chamber to a hospital Wednesday night, still alive despite two deadly doses of pentobarbital.
"What we have been told is that she is in critical condition, receiving life-saving care," Randy Spivey said in a virtual news conference Thursday afternoon, declining to provide further details.
He urged Governor Bill Lee, who had denied a clemency request earlier in the week, to scrap Pike's death sentence.
"After having endured solitary confinement for more than 20 years and a full attempt to kill her by lethal injection, Christa has endured punishment greater than any other person in the history of the American death penalty. The governor must commute Christa's sentence now."
Experts on the US death penalty said the case was unprecedented.
"This failed attempt is the worst we've ever seen and unlike any other botched execution in the modern era," said Robin Maher, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center.
The center counts seven inmates whose executions could not be carried out because medical staff were unable to establish IV lines, but "Pike is the first person to survive after being injected with lethal doses of execution drugs."
Late Thursday, US President Donald Trump questioned how an execution like Pike's could fail, telling reporters that it "shouldn't be very difficult."

'Loudly snoring'

The case had already attracted scrutiny as Pike would have been the first woman put to death in Tennessee in more than 200 years.
Kim Chandler, a media witness with The Associated Press, told CBS News that "Pike appeared notably awake as the execution began" at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville.
"A couple of times she looked around the room. At one point she looked towards prison officials and asked if it was supposed to feel that way," Chandler said.
Pike later began snoring and witnesses listened from the viewing area for about an hour before being ushered out.
The condemned woman was "loudly snoring, clearly very alive" as journalists left, Chandler told CBS.
Pike's legal team had previously objected to the execution IV protocol, saying it would have caused needless suffering due to her small veins and a blood condition.
"I counted at least seven needles used in her left arm alone, one of which appeared to be bent when it was pulled from her arm after an unsuccessful attempt" to start an IV line, Spivey said.
Lawyer Stephen Ferrell said medical experts had warned of needles becoming dislodged or piercing through the vein, causing lethal drugs to flow into Pike's arm instead of the bloodstream.
"It sounds like that is likely to have occurred," he said. 
Media witnesses said Pike told execution staff her arm felt like it would "burst open," and Spivey said he saw her right arm turn purple, especially after the second lethal injection.
Pike had not been scared to die, Ferrell said.
"It was a fear of a prolonged, painful, traumatic death, and that's what happened, minus the death."

'A mess'

The Tennessee Department of Correction said it "followed every step of the state's lawful, established execution protocol," adding that Pike was subsequently taken to an "off-site medical facility."
Governor Lee called for a "comprehensive, third-party review" of the failed execution.
The state's remaining scheduled execution -- convicted killer Gary Wayne Sutton is scheduled to die on December 3 -- would not be carried out this year, Lee added.
Pike's case had sparked debate over capital punishment for young criminals. She was 18 when she and her boyfriend beat and killed Colleen Slemmer, 19, at a job training camp.
The killing gained national attention after Slemmer's body was found with a pentagram, often seen as a satanic symbol, carved in her chest.
Slemmer's mother, May Martinez, told NBC News the botched execution was "a mess."
Pike's lawyers had argued she should be granted clemency due to her young age and mental health issues at the time of Slemmer's killing. They also cited her history of childhood sexual assault and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Following a flurry of legal filings that delayed the execution by several hours, the US Supreme Court on Wednesday night cleared the way for the punishment to go ahead.
In the United States, only 18 women have been executed since 1976, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
UN rights chief Volker Turk urged Tennessee not to make a new attempt to execute Pike.
"The case of Christa Pike lays bare multiple reasons why the death penalty should be abolished," his office said on X.
bur-acb/pnb

politics

US tells European allies to act 'immediately' to lower diesel prices

BY BEIYI SEOW

  • EU member states will meet with the European Commission Friday to discuss a coordinated response to soaring fuel prices, a Commission spokesman said.
  • The United States on Thursday told its European allies to help lower global diesel prices by releasing strategic reserves "immediately," with EU member states due to discuss the crisis on Friday.
  • EU member states will meet with the European Commission Friday to discuss a coordinated response to soaring fuel prices, a Commission spokesman said.
The United States on Thursday told its European allies to help lower global diesel prices by releasing strategic reserves "immediately," with EU member states due to discuss the crisis on Friday.
Reports said the Trump administration wants France and Germany in particular to tap their stockpiles of diesel to try to curb prices sent soaring by the US war on Iran.
"Our European partners should accelerate delivery on their existing commitments and make additional supplies immediately available to address ongoing disruptions," US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a post on social media.
EU member states will meet with the European Commission Friday to discuss a coordinated response to soaring fuel prices, a Commission spokesman said.
Washington is piling on pressure to get European help with fuel costs, with US President Donald Trump on Wednesday floating the possibility of banning diesel exports. 
High energy costs loom as a threat to Trump's Republican party in next month's midterm elections.
"It is in Europe's best interest to work with the United States as we pursue multiple pathways to boost the supply of refined products and lower costs for consumers," a US official told AFP.
At G20 trade talks in Milwaukee, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer struck a conciliatory tone, saying there was an "eagerness on both sides to work together" on the diesel issue. 
And Trump told reporters in Texas on Thursday that he "may" ask European countries to release diesel reserves.

'Unexpected'

Still, EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic told reporters Thursday that any move by the US to ban diesel exports would be "unexpected for Europeans."
He spoke on the sidelines of the two-day G20 trade ministers' gathering in Milwaukee, after meeting with Greer.
Sefcovic told reporters that he did not go into details with Greer on energy exports.
But the transatlantic partners "decided to stay in close touch to avoid any surprises here," he said.
"It would have very dramatic consequences for our economic performance," Sefcovic said of any potential diesel export ban.
France's minister delegate for international trade, Nicolas Forissier, told AFP in Milwaukee: "I can't imagine that there will be a ban."
He stressed the importance of diesel to the United States and European countries, adding both sides will "try to find solutions."
"In France, we'll try to find balanced solutions all over the world," Forissier added. "If not with the Americans, it will be with other countries."
Trump on Wednesday said he was still considering a possible ban on US diesel exports, while adding that he thought it could ultimately cause gasoline prices to rise.
"I'm thinking about it," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
Speaking alongside Trump, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Wednesday that the world would "hear announcements from our friends in Europe" to push diesel prices down.
Asked about a release from strategic reserves, the French presidency said no such demand had been made when Emmanuel Macron and Trump met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly last week.
Macron would also soon convene a video meeting of G7 leaders "to make progress on the various levers that can be used to address the rising fuel prices... including coordination on releasing reserves."
Macron announced on September 18 a plan for such a meeting. The G7 gathering is expected in mid-October, according to Macron's press office.
Average US diesel prices have surged more than 70 percent to $6.39 a gallon since the start of the Iran war, according to AAA motor club data. 
Fuel prices have caused living costs to soar, leaving Trump's Republican Party fearing it could lose control of Congress in November's midterm elections.
aue-fff-jmb-bys-aha/bgs

trade

G20 trade ministers fail to see consensus against overproduction

BY BEIYI SEOW

  • France's minister delegate for international trade, Nicolas Forissier, told AFP on Thursday that European officials including himself and German and British representatives to the G20 criticized Russia over the matter.
  • G20 trade ministers are at an impasse on countering excess industrial capacity, top US trade official Jamieson Greer said Thursday, an accusation often levied at China which rejects the criticism.
  • France's minister delegate for international trade, Nicolas Forissier, told AFP on Thursday that European officials including himself and German and British representatives to the G20 criticized Russia over the matter.
G20 trade ministers are at an impasse on countering excess industrial capacity, top US trade official Jamieson Greer said Thursday, an accusation often levied at China which rejects the criticism.
His comments came as trade ministers from the Group of 20 major economies met for a second day in the Midwestern US city of Milwaukee. The United States holds the G20's rotating presidency this year.
Ministers failed to find agreement across the grouping on overcapacity, seen as driving down prices unfairly, and on eliminating forced labor in supply chains, Greer said.
"Nearly all countries agreed that this is an issue that requires action," Greer told a press conference, referring to excess capacity. He did not respond to questions on whether this was due to China's objection.
"And nearly all countries agreed that our current system of trade remedies or responses is inadequate to solve this problem," he said. He added that this justified unilateral US action.
There are US investigations into 16 economies on overcapacity, targeting China, the European Union, Japan, India and others.
Greer warned that countries which overproduce risk "creating an economy that rests on a house of cards."
Trump also recently slapped tariffs on 60 trading partners over alleged forced labor concerns -- another issue the G20 failed to reach agreement on.

'Not acceptable'

But G20 countries did find consensus against "the weaponization of food through coercive trade actions," Greer said.
Temperatures rose over the issue at the two-day gathering as European officials criticized Russia's attacks impacting Ukraine's grain exports.
Moscow and Kyiv have been locked in war since Russia's 2022 invasion of its neighbor.
Russian and Ukrainian strikes targeting Black Sea ports have been wrecking and idling agricultural export capacity more quickly than trade flows can recover.
France's minister delegate for international trade, Nicolas Forissier, told AFP on Thursday that European officials including himself and German and British representatives to the G20 criticized Russia over the matter.
"We have to say what we think, especially on the weaponization of food," he said.
He added that European leaders' comments against "the aggression of Russia in Ukraine" on food exports merely constitute "the truth."
This did not mean the mood at G20 talks were bad, Forissier said: "On the contrary, I think the discussions are quite constructive."
"There is a consensus on the fact that it's not acceptable to weaponize food and agriculture," he added.
Russia is represented at the gathering this week by minister for economic development Maxim Reshetnikov. 
He criticized European leaders Wednesday for speaking in political slogans, state-controlled network Russia Today reported.

Widening trade ties

Trade ministers from several G20 economies are also seeking to widen trade talks beyond their US host this week.
Canada for example is seeking bilateral trade deals with India, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and with the European Union on digital trade, Ottawa's minister for international trade Maninder Sidhu told reporters Thursday.
He said Canada and India look forward to concluding negotiations "in the coming months."
Sidhu also met Greer on the G20 sidelines, telling AFP that both sides discussed further Canada-US cooperation among other issues.
Countries are seeking cooperation with Washington to lower tariffs.
A Mexican official said Thursday that the country is making "steady progress" towards a US tariff deal.
"We would expect to have some reductions in steel and cars and aluminum," the official added, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Mexico is not looking to rush negotiations, the official said when asked if a deal would be struck before key US midterm elections.
bys/mlm

drugs

Bolivia's attorney general arrested on drugs, money laundering charges

BY VALENTíN DÌAZ

  • Oviedo said that in the early hours of Thursday, four people were caught trying to remove $300,000 in a mix of local bolivianos and dollars from Mariaca's house in an ambulance.
  • Bolivia's US-sanctioned Attorney General Roger Mariaca was arrested on suspicion of money laundering and drug trafficking, with police finding $300,000 in cash smuggled out of his house in an ambulance, the government said Thursday.
  • Oviedo said that in the early hours of Thursday, four people were caught trying to remove $300,000 in a mix of local bolivianos and dollars from Mariaca's house in an ambulance.
Bolivia's US-sanctioned Attorney General Roger Mariaca was arrested on suspicion of money laundering and drug trafficking, with police finding $300,000 in cash smuggled out of his house in an ambulance, the government said Thursday.
Mariaca was arrested on Wednesday night in the eastern city of Santa Cruz, two days after the United States blacklisted him for allegedly taking bribes to facilitate narcotrafficking.
"A criminal organization entrenched in the justice system has been dismantled," Interior Minister Marco Antonio Oviedo told a press conference.
Oviedo said that in the early hours of Thursday, four people were caught trying to remove $300,000 in a mix of local bolivianos and dollars from Mariaca's house in an ambulance.
A video released by the interior ministry showed police removing wads of cash from the vehicle's panels.
Oviedo said that the Attorney General's Office, "headed by Roger Mariaca, became a criminal organization dedicated to protecting, encouraging, and safeguarding narco-terrorism."
Washington this week barred Mariaca and his family from the United States, claiming he "abused his public positions by soliciting and accepting bribes to facilitate narcotrafficking and helped violent criminals evade justice."
Mariaca denied the accusations on Monday and said the decision to revoke his visa stemmed from "political pressure" related to his investigations.
Oviedo said that Mariaca's arrest took place with the "cooperation of the US government" as part of the "fight against terrorism."
Writing on X, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio praised the Bolivian government's "bold and decisive actions to combat narco-trafficking, systemic corruption, and transnational organized crime in Bolivia."
In total, four prosecutors, six employees of the public prosecutor's office and the four people found aboard the ambulance were arrested.
The raids come as Bolivia's center-right President Rodrigo Paz, who took office in November 2025, seeks to strengthen ties with the United States after two decades of socialist rule marked by mutual enmity.
Bolivia has joined "Shield of the Americas," a US-led alliance of right-wing Latin American governments set up to fight organized crimes and cement US power in a region Washington sees as its exclusive sphere of influence.
Apart from Mariaca, the United States this week imposed visa bans on 12 other Bolivians, including several senior prosecutors and a police colonel, for "corruption or narcotrafficking activities."

'Mariaca is my friend'

Mariaca was appointed Attorney General by Congress in October 2024.
At the time Congress was dominated by the Movement for Socialism (MAS) party of Indigenous ex-president Evo Morales and his successor Luis Arce.
Morales, a staunch anti-imperialist who sought in vain to run for a fourth term in office last year, said Mariaca's arrest was proof that "here in Bolivia, the United States governs."
The Attorney General's Office stated in a press release that, given Mariaca's "definitive absence," the next most senior public prosecutor, Luis Montano Morales, would replace him on an interim basis.
Congress will hold an emergency session on Friday to discuss appointing his successor.
Mariaca's lawyer Romel Ipamo told local media that his client would "cooperate fully" with the investigation but asked that "due process be guaranteed."
During Mariaca's tenure, Bolivian police captured Uruguayan drug trafficker Sebastian Marset, one of South America's most-wanted men, who was later deported to the United States.
Local media on Wednesday broadcast a video purporting to show Marset on the day of his arrest declaring: "Mariaca is my friend." 
AFP has been unable to verify the authenticity of the video. 
Police also raided the headquarters of the public prosecutor's office in the southern city of Sucre as well as local offices in Santa Cruz and the administrative capital La Paz.
jac/mel/cb/bgs

Tigray

Ethiopia and Eritrea break diplomatic ties over conflict

  •   - Clashes ongoing -   On the frontlines of the internal fighting in northern Ethiopia, there were signs that the Tigrayan rebels were being pushed back on Thursday. 
  • Ethiopia and Eritrea broke diplomatic ties on Thursday, accusing each other of stoking internal conflicts as fighting continued in northern Ethiopia. 
  •   - Clashes ongoing -   On the frontlines of the internal fighting in northern Ethiopia, there were signs that the Tigrayan rebels were being pushed back on Thursday. 
Ethiopia and Eritrea broke diplomatic ties on Thursday, accusing each other of stoking internal conflicts as fighting continued in northern Ethiopia. 
Ethiopia accuses Eritrea of backing a rebel group, the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), which launched a major assault against government forces last week, raising fears of a return to the devastating 2020-2022 civil war that killed an estimated 600,000 people.
Addis Ababa said it was expelling 10 Eritrean diplomats who "pose a direct threat to Ethiopia's national security" and would shut its embassy in Asmara. 
Eritrea's foreign ministry responded shortly after that it "has no option but to reciprocate in kind and sever all diplomatic ties with Ethiopia". 
Hundreds have been killed and wounded since heavy fighting resumed in northern Ethiopia last week.
The TPLF, which dominates the state of Tigray, launched attacks into neighbouring Afar and Amhara states, fighting alongside local militias. 
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who has yet to comment on the crisis, is due to be sworn in for a new term on Monday after winning elections in June.
But he faces conflict on multiple fronts as several armed groups have formed an alliance against him.
 
- Regional tensions -  
 
Ethiopia also expelled an Egyptian diplomat, without giving a reason. 
The two countries have also been at odds -- particularly over a mega dam being built by Ethiopia on the River Nile -- and Egypt has built closer ties with Eritrea in recent months.
Eritrea gained independence from Ethiopia in 1993 and they fought a brutal border war from 1998 to 2000. 
Ties improved when Abiy came to power in 2018, and the two countries even fought together against the Tigrayans during the last civil war. 
But relations then deteriorated sharply, with Eritrea voicing fears that landlocked Ethiopia intended to invade and seize access to the Red Sea.
Ethiopia "has been pursuing an agenda of incessant hostility... against Eritrea for three years in pursuit of 'the imperative of acquiring sovereign access to the sea' through the invasion of sovereign Eritrean ports and coastal areas," the Eritrean foreign ministry said on Thursday. 
 

Explosion

 
Meanwhile, an overnight explosion at the Ethiopian National Defence Force (ENDF) headquarters in Addis Ababa raised fears that the army's conflict with rebel groups had reached the capital for the first time.
Diplomatic and security sources confirmed the blast but could not say its cause or who was responsible, nor give any casualty figures.
"The explosion took place at the HQ and was powerful. It shook the surrounding area and triggered significant panic among people in the vicinity," a worker at a nearby bar told AFP, relaying what he said was information from colleagues there working at the time.
Neither the prime minister's office nor the army spokesperson responded to AFP requests for comment. 
On Wednesday, the National Intelligence and Security Services ordered a ban on all drone flights around the capital.
Conflict monitor ACLED said drones suspected to be linked to the anti-government alliance targeted army and civilian airports in Oromia and Amhara states on Sunday.
 

Clashes ongoing

 
On the frontlines of the internal fighting in northern Ethiopia, there were signs that the Tigrayan rebels were being pushed back on Thursday. 
A humanitarian source told AFP the TPLF had been dislodged from the town of Erebti in Afar, which it seized earlier this week, and was now fighting near the mountainous border between Afar and Tigray. 
A pro-government militia said on X it had retaken Erebti, as well as Maychew town in southern Tigray.
Locals interviewed by AFP earlier this week said Maychew had endured heavy shelling. 
Verification is difficult as media are prevented from travelling to affected areas and there are significant communications disruptions. 
Medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said it had registered more than 420 wounded at Korem and Alamata hospitals in Tigray by September 25, and more than 300 at Shire in western Tigray.
The humanitarian source estimated that tens of thousands have fled their homes in Afar.
tfg-er-rbu/gil/jj

Israel

Trump vows to hit Iran 'very hard' if linked to flydubai attack

  • On whether the United States would retaliate against Iran if it was responsible for the attack, Trump replied: "Oh, they'll be hit very hard, don't worry."
  • US President Donald Trump said Thursday that Tehran was likely involved in an attack by a pilot on a flydubai flight to Israel and that Iran would be "hit very hard" if it was.
  • On whether the United States would retaliate against Iran if it was responsible for the attack, Trump replied: "Oh, they'll be hit very hard, don't worry."
US President Donald Trump said Thursday that Tehran was likely involved in an attack by a pilot on a flydubai flight to Israel and that Iran would be "hit very hard" if it was.
The co-pilot allegedly assaulted the captain before passengers managed to save the plane from crashing. Israel's prime minister said the man had undergone "Islamist radical indoctrination."
"I would say the answer, based on what I'm hearing, is yes but we're working on it right now," Trump said when asked by reporters at the White House whether Iran was involved in the incident on the flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv.
On whether the United States would retaliate against Iran if it was responsible for the attack, Trump replied: "Oh, they'll be hit very hard, don't worry."
The US leader's threat of retaliation came as he took a harsher tone on the stalled Iran war overall.
Trump was quoted as saying in a Time magazine interview published Thursday that it was "possible" he may resume bombing Iran after US midterm elections next month.
Republicans fear they could lose control of Congress in the November 3 election, with Trump's approval ratings at near-record lows over the Iran war and a surge in the cost of living fueled by high oil prices.
He also reiterated the threat to "annihilate" Iran that he made in his speech to the UN General Assembly last week, despite having previously cast himself as the "president of peace."
"Yeah, I would do that. It's possible," Trump told Time. "Because by annihilating Iran, we've created peace in the world. With Iran, I don't think you could ever have peace."
Iran continues to exert control over the strategic Strait of Hormuz more than seven months after the initial US and Israeli attacks on the Islamic Republic. Trump says the war is about preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.
The United States was meanwhile set to send a third US aircraft carrier and up to 10,000 extra service members to the Middle East by the end of November, the Wall Street Journal reported.
It was not immediately clear if the new carrier, the USS Theodore Roosevelt, would replace one of the two carriers already in the region.
Trump had told aides he expected to resume bombing by late November, the Journal quoted him as saying.
dk/mlm

Israel

Netanyahu says flydubai co-pilot indoctrinated as UAE probes 'terror' link

BY SABINE EL HAJJ WITH AFP TEAMS IN ISRAEL AND SAUDI ARABIA

  • - 'Heroes' - Netanyahu said he expected the United Arab Emirates to take the lead in the investigation, but that Israel would join the probe.
  • Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday the co-pilot behind an attack on a flight to Israel had undergone "Islamist radical indoctrination" as the United Arab Emirates said it was probing a possible terror link.
  • - 'Heroes' - Netanyahu said he expected the United Arab Emirates to take the lead in the investigation, but that Israel would join the probe.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday the co-pilot behind an attack on a flight to Israel had undergone "Islamist radical indoctrination" as the United Arab Emirates said it was probing a possible terror link.
The dramatic events on Wednesday saw passengers reroute the flydubai plane to stop it from crashing, making an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia before the flight's mostly Israeli passengers were flown home to a hero's welcome.
"We know that he underwent Islamist radical indoctrination," Netanyahu told the "Fox & Friends" TV show without elaborating, adding that the co-pilot was being interrogated.
The Israeli premier said "the attacker, he calls out to the aircrew, 'Kill me, kill me'", making it "clear he was suicidal".
His comments about the alleged attacker, whom the captain and passengers managed to overpower, came as the UAE chief prosecutor announced Thursday that an investigation had been launched, including the possibility of "terrorist activity or intent".
Netanyahu earlier credited the flydubai pilot, Indian national Smit Machchhar, as well as passengers, with averting catastrophe, after a co-pilot allegedly stabbed him and tried to crash the plane.
Saudi Arabia's interior ministry said the co-pilot had been transferred from the kingdom to the United Arab Emirates on Thursday morning accompanied by an "Emirati security team", adding that their initial investigation showed he had attacked the plane's captain.
Passengers described rushing the cockpit and a fight for control after the plane suddenly plummeted, losing around 17,000 feet of altitude in the span of a minute, according to the Flightradar24 website.
Israeli officials have called the incident "an attempted terrorist attack", though in an earlier interview with CBS News, Netanyahu had not ruled out the possibility that mental health was to blame.
Netanyahu told Fox News that a disaster similar to the September 11, 2001 attacks "with bodies scattered in the desert" had been averted.

'Heroes'

Netanyahu said he expected the United Arab Emirates to take the lead in the investigation, but that Israel would join the probe.
He said the co-pilot was an Omani national and that Israel would look at how he was able to work on a flight to the country.
"We have constraints that say that you can't have pilots from countries that don't have diplomatic relations with Israel. Obviously he was able to go through that. How do we make sure that we screen pilots in advance?" Netanyahu told Fox News.
He said the pilots who collected passengers from Saudi Arabia after the incident had undergone background checks.
Israel's far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, called it a "jihadist" attack, while Defence Minister Israel Katz also described the incident as "an attempted jihadist terror attack".
Airline flydubai has said all the passengers -- of whom 166 out of 174 were Israeli, according to media reports -- were safe, but that the reasons for the altercation were unknown.
"During the flight, as they approached the country, one of the pilots stabbed the other pilot, and apparently tried to crash the plane with everyone on board," Netanyahu said in a video message.
He later hailed the wounded pilot, Machchhar, "for his extraordinary bravery".
The Indian ambassador to the United Arab Emirates met with the wounded captain, with the embassy saying he was in "good health and recovering well".
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi described him as a "HERO", saying his valour helped save lives.

'Out of control'

AFPTV images showed another flydubai plane carrying the passengers touch down at Tel Aviv airport, hours after their initial flight was diverted to Saudi Arabia's Tabuk.
Passenger Miryam Shira Ohayon described the plane as being "pretty much out of control" as the incident unfolded over Jordan.
"The co-pilot tried to murder the pilot and basically carry out a suicide attack on the plane," she told reporters.
"It was really on the way to crashing, and it was simply the resourcefulness of many people who took control of the co-pilot and neutralised him."
The airline said it was another "on-duty flydubai crew travelling on the flight who diverted and landed the aircraft safely" and that it was suspending flights to Israel while an investigation took place.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog said Thursday he would present "heroism" awards to five Israelis who helped overpower the co-pilot and prevented him from crashing the plane.
US President Donald Trump, after discussing the incident with Netanyahu, said: "It seems as though the co-pilot was perhaps a terrorist or perhaps a whack job."
bur/jfx/amj

politics

US says 'in Europe's best interest' to cooperate on fuel supply

  • Still, EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic told reporters Thursday that any move by the US to ban diesel exports would be "unexpected for Europeans."
  • The United States told Europe on Thursday to cooperate with Washington's efforts to lower diesel prices, while a top EU official said a US export ban of the fuel would be "unexpected."
  • Still, EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic told reporters Thursday that any move by the US to ban diesel exports would be "unexpected for Europeans."
The United States told Europe on Thursday to cooperate with Washington's efforts to lower diesel prices, while a top EU official said a US export ban of the fuel would be "unexpected."
"It is in Europe's best interest to work with the United States as we pursue multiple pathways to boost the supply of refined products and lower costs for consumers," a US official told AFP.
Reports said the Trump administration wanted France and Germany in particular to tap their strategic reserves of diesel to try to curb prices sent soaring by the US war on Iran.
The US is piling on pressure to get European help with fuel costs, with US President Donald Trump on Wednesday floating the possibility of banning diesel exports. 
High energy costs loom as a threat to Trump's Republican party in next month's midterm elections.
Still, EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic told reporters Thursday that any move by the US to ban diesel exports would be "unexpected for Europeans."
He spoke on the sidelines of a two-day G20 trade ministers' gathering in Milwaukee, after meeting with Trump's top trade official Jamieson Greer.
Sefcovic told reporters that he did not go into details with Greer on energy exports.
But the transatlantic partners "decided to stay in close touch to avoid any surprises here," he said.
"It would have very dramatic consequences for our economic performance," Sefcovic said of any potential diesel export ban.

'Can't imagine'

France's minister delegate for international trade, Nicolas Forissier, told AFP in Milwaukee: "I can't imagine that there will be a ban."
He stressed the importance of diesel to the United States and European countries, adding both sides will "try to find solutions."
"In France, we'll try to find balanced solutions all over the world," Forissier added. "If not with the Americans, it will be with other countries."
Trump on Wednesday said he was still considering a possible ban on US diesel exports, while adding that he thought it could ultimately cause gasoline prices to rise.
"I'm thinking about it," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
Speaking alongside Trump, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Wednesday that the world would "hear announcements from our friends in Europe" to push diesel prices down.
Asked about a release from strategic reserves, the French presidency said no such demand had been made when Emmanuel Macron and Trump met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly last week.
Macron would also soon convene a video meeting of G7 leaders "to make progress on the various levers that can be used to address the rising fuel prices... including coordination on releasing reserves."
Macron announced on September 18 a plan for such a meeting. The G7 gathering is expected in mid-October, according to Macron's press office.
Average US diesel prices have surged to $6.39 a gallon from $3.70 a gallon a year ago. 
Fuel prices have caused living costs to soar, leaving Trump's Republican Party fearing it could lose control of Congress in November's midterm elections.
aue-fff-jmb-bys/ksb

strike

Libya's pay strike rallies teachers across divided nation

BY RIM BISHTI

  • Classes for some 1.6 million public-school students were due to start in early September but have been postponed indefinitely, as teachers regularly take to the streets to protest over unmet demands.
  • In Libya, a teachers' strike over pay has shut schools and delayed the start of the school year, rallying educators across the oil-rich but politically divided country.
  • Classes for some 1.6 million public-school students were due to start in early September but have been postponed indefinitely, as teachers regularly take to the streets to protest over unmet demands.
In Libya, a teachers' strike over pay has shut schools and delayed the start of the school year, rallying educators across the oil-rich but politically divided country.
Their demands include higher salaries, health insurance and compensation for overtime.
Classes for some 1.6 million public-school students were due to start in early September but have been postponed indefinitely, as teachers regularly take to the streets to protest over unmet demands.
"Libyan teachers are suffering," one Tripoli teacher, Fatima Ali, told AFP.
The 37-year-old was protesting on Tuesday to "demand our rights" and to have a wage raise "just like other public-sector employees whose salaries were increased".
The so-called "teachers' movement", now backed by the Libya teachers' union, held a large protest outside the government headquarters in the capital Tripoli.
Last week, it had already brought together thousands of protesters and threatened a general strike.

'Unfulfilled promises'

Libya has been beset by violence and instability since the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.
It remains divided between the UN-recognised government in Tripoli led by Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah, and a rival administration in the east backed by military commander Khalifa Haftar.
Thousands of teachers have protested regularly since mid-September as the movement against "unfulfilled promises" spread from Tripoli to Benghazi, in the east.
The teachers want fair pay in accordance with the salary scale for all state workers, to ensure "social justice and decent living conditions in the face of inflation", said Achraf Abou Raoui, spokesman for the Libyan general teachers' union.
Public sector salaries vary by sector, but the union says the wage differences for educators are too wide and disadvantageous.
A public school teacher's monthly salary varies between 1,000 and 2,500 Libyan dinars (around $155 and $390) at the most, Abou Raoui said.
The teachers are also demanding medical coverage, which they have sought for years.

Grassroots movement

"The profession now demands tangible action and concrete measures," Abou Raoui, himself a teacher, added.
He said the strike has now been "100 percent" followed by teachers in the public sector. Schools in the private sector, however, have not taken part in the action.
Abou Raoui said the education sector employs nearly half a million teachers and administrative staff, adding that it was the first time a strike of this kind had attracted such broad support.
"Usually, it is the unions that mobilise teachers, but this time the movement came from the grassroots," he said.
The Tripoli-based education ministry has held several meetings to address the teachers' healthcare insurance demands.
But it has yet to comment on their request regarding wages.
The ministry also said it would bring changes to the school calendar, including cancelling holidays, to make up for classes missed because of the strike.
rb/iba/bou/amj

Russia

Four-member crew blasts off for International Space Station

  • Canadian Kutryk will have an extra reason to look forward to his return in six months' time -- his wife is due to give birth during his stay in space.
  • Four new crew members for the International Space Station blasted off Thursday for the orbital laboratory where they will stay for approximately six months.
  • Canadian Kutryk will have an extra reason to look forward to his return in six months' time -- his wife is due to give birth during his stay in space.
Four new crew members for the International Space Station blasted off Thursday for the orbital laboratory where they will stay for approximately six months.
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Crew-13 mission team lifted off at 11:10 am local time (1510 pm GMT) from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Americans Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney, Canadian Joshua Kutryk, and Russian Sergey Teteryatnikov were expected to reach the ISS aboard their Dragon spacecraft in about eight hours, according to NASA, which would make it the shortest such trip for a US vessel.
The duration of the journey depends greatly on the distance between the ISS and the spacecraft at the time of launch.
It took more than 30 hours for the last crew that launched from American soil to reach the station.
The new ISS crew was initially meant to arrive in mid-September, but its launch was postponed due to a leak aboard the Dragon.
Crew-13 will take over from Americans Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, Frenchwoman Sophie Adenot and Russian Andrey Fedyaev.
Crew-12 is set to return to Earth as early as Monday, though the schedule depends on weather conditions.
Canadian Kutryk will have an extra reason to look forward to his return in six months' time -- his wife is due to give birth during his stay in space.
Continuously inhabited for the last quarter-century, the aging ISS is scheduled to be pushed out of Earth's orbit before crashing into one of Earth's oceans sometime around 2030.
Despite many international cooperation agreements falling apart after Moscow invaded Ukraine in 2022, the United States and other ISS partners have continued working with Russia on the space station.
bur-cha/acb/ksb

politics

Thousands rally as EU chief urges respect for Kosovo war crimes court

  • Later, as von der Leyen met behind closed doors with students at the University of Pristina, thousands of protesters also gathered in the city centre as part of ongoing rallies against the court.
  • Thousands rallied in Kosovo on Thursday against the war crimes convictions of former president Hashim Thaci, as EU chief Ursula von der Leyen urged respect for the court during a visit to Pristina.
  • Later, as von der Leyen met behind closed doors with students at the University of Pristina, thousands of protesters also gathered in the city centre as part of ongoing rallies against the court.
Thousands rallied in Kosovo on Thursday against the war crimes convictions of former president Hashim Thaci, as EU chief Ursula von der Leyen urged respect for the court during a visit to Pristina.
A series of rallies have been held in Kosovo since Thaci was sentenced last month to 25 years for crimes committed during the struggle for independence from Serbia in the 1990s.
The Kosovo Specialist Chambers, based in the Netherlands, ruled that the ex-president and three other former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) leaders were criminally responsible for murders, illegal arrests, torture and cruel treatment committed by KLA fighters during the conflict.
The lengthy sentences for the men, still largely viewed as heroes in the country, sparked outrage in the Balkan nation.
Speaking after a meeting with the country's prime minister Albin Kurti, von der Leyen said the court's "mandate must be fully respected".
"The defendants now have the right to appeal," she told reporters.
"But one thing is clear. This judgement is about the individual responsibility of the defendants. Kosovo's resistance is not on trial."
Kurti has previously said the court's decision contained "factual, legal and historical errors" and he would consider opposition proposals to change the court.
Earlier, as von der Leyen arrived, local broadcasters showed footage of a small group of protesters attempting to block her exit from the airport with a truck and a tanker.
Carrying banners emblazoned with "EU, you have betrayed us" and "Today Thaci, tomorrow Zelensky", they chanted the acronym of the KLA.
But the EU chief's motorcade was escorted under heavy police presence through a different exit.
Later, as von der Leyen met behind closed doors with students at the University of Pristina, thousands of protesters also gathered in the city centre as part of ongoing rallies against the court.
Demonstrators accuse the court of political bias for using evidence supplied by Serbia, which has never recognised its former province's independence.
Thaci was sentenced alongside former senior Kosovo Liberation Army figures Jakup Krasniqi, Rexhep Selimi and Kadri Veseli. They received sentences of 13 to 25 years in jail.
ih/al/pdw

fire

Algeria adopts law imposing death penalty on forest arsonists

  • - 'Foreign parties' - Under the new law, anyone convicted of deliberately setting fire to "forests, woods or planted or unplanted fields" could face execution. 
  • Algerian lawmakers adopted on Thursday a law imposing the death penalty on convicted forest arsonists, after deadly wildfires ripped through swathes of the country in recent weeks.
  • - 'Foreign parties' - Under the new law, anyone convicted of deliberately setting fire to "forests, woods or planted or unplanted fields" could face execution. 
Algerian lawmakers adopted on Thursday a law imposing the death penalty on convicted forest arsonists, after deadly wildfires ripped through swathes of the country in recent weeks.
The official death toll from the blazes, which swept through the country's northeast during the summer, was 12 people, but witnesses have reported the deaths of dozens.
Algeria had upheld a moratorium on the death penalty since 1993, but in August, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune ordered the justice minister to amend the penal code to broaden the list of crimes for which capital punishment is allowed.
Lawmakers on Thursday also voted to extend capital punishment to child kidnappings involving torture, sexual assault or mutilation.
"The adoption of the death penalty for these acts is the appropriate legal response to curb these crimes," Justice Minister Lotfi Boudjemaa told parliament after the vote.
Despite the moratorium, some death sentences have been handed out, including in terror-related cases, though no executions have been carried out so far.
Tebboune had said that those sentenced to death would be executed once their appeals were exhausted.
The bill received the support of the ruling coalition, while a segment of the opposition objected to it.
"We voted in favor of this bill, given its importance not only legally but also politically and socially for Algerian society," Fatma Zahra Bensafi, an MP for the National Rally for Democracy party, told AFP.
The secular Rally for Culture and Democracy (RCD) party, however, voted against.
"We are opposed to the death penalty, and this is nothing new for the RCD," said MP Rachid Hassani. "Since its inception, the party has campaigned against capital punishment."
"We believe that the state does not exact revenge or kill," he added. "The state protects citizens."

'Foreign parties'

Under the new law, anyone convicted of deliberately setting fire to "forests, woods or planted or unplanted fields" could face execution. 
The same penalty could apply to anyone who "kidnaps a child by any means, tortures them, sexually assaults them and/or mutilates them".
Amnesty International last month urged Algeria not to adopt the law and to refrain from resuming executions.
The rights group described the move as "a deeply retrograde response", adding that authorities should instead "focus on protecting lives, strengthening prevention and emergency response" in the face of reoccurring wildfires.
The justice minister said the Algerian judicial system still provided safeguards for those facing the death penalty, including avenues for appeal or seeking a presidential pardon.
Yet Boudjemaa told parliament the tougher penalties were justified because arson had reached "the level of organised crime", adding that investigations had uncovered links to "foreign parties".
"Targeting the country's environmental and economic assets by deliberately setting fires, at times at the instigation of foreign actors, constitutes a clear form of treason and an attack on the integrity of the national territory," the minister said.
The law is now set to be reviewed by the Senate before being officially ratified by Tebboune.
Forest fires regularly erupt in northern Algeria during the summer, with climate change intensifying their impact due to increasingly frequent droughts and intense heat.
Tebboune has alleged "something criminal" as a cause of the latest summer blazes.
ad-abh/bou/amj

politics

France unveils cost-cutting 2027 budget as borrowing costs rise

  • Lecornu now faces the challenge of getting one approved for 2027 amid growing discontent over the rising cost of living as the US-Iran war sends global fuel prices soaring.
  • The French government defended on Thursday its plans to cut spending and raise taxes as it tries to thread the needle between jittery debt markets and public discontent over the rising cost of living.
  • Lecornu now faces the challenge of getting one approved for 2027 amid growing discontent over the rising cost of living as the US-Iran war sends global fuel prices soaring.
The French government defended on Thursday its plans to cut spending and raise taxes as it tries to thread the needle between jittery debt markets and public discontent over the rising cost of living.
The 2027 budget bill -- to be examined in a divided parliament in coming weeks -- comes ahead of the April-May polls to replace centrist President Emmanuel Macron, with the far right eyeing its best chance so far at seizing power.
France has been struggling to contain its debt, with the budget deficit still well above the eurozone's three-percent ceiling.
In recent weeks, yields on French government bonds have risen to levels last seen during the global financial crisis as investors demand more money to hold its debt as the government has struggled to rein in deficit spending.
"I hear, here and there, the prophets of doom predicting the worst," said Finance Minister Roland Lescure regarding France's ability to service its debt.
"Let me reiterate it here: France's signature is solid."
According to the draft budget bill seen by AFP, France's government hopes to reduce the deficit to five percent of GDP with 43 billion euros in spending cuts and other measures.
France, the eurozone's second-largest economy, sank into political crisis in 2024 after Macron called a snap election that resulted in a hung parliament.
Since then, two successive prime ministers have been toppled over cost-cutting measures. 
Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu only managed to pass the 2026 budget through the lower chamber after agreeing to scrap Macron's flagship pensions overhaul.
Lecornu now faces the challenge of getting one approved for 2027 amid growing discontent over the rising cost of living as the US-Iran war sends global fuel prices soaring.
It is currently facing a wave of protests by students over poor conditions that has seen riot police deployed and more than 160 schools closed Thursday.
 

Retirees asked to contribute

 
Under the budget plan, revenue from value-added tax (VAT) would increase by more than seven billion euros compared to this year, while income tax receipts would rise by 5.7 billion euros.
But corporate tax revenue would fall by 1.8 billion euros, the bill showed, a reflection of Macron's pro-business agenda.
In total, net tax revenue in the state budget would increase by 18 billion euros compared to this year to reach 375 billion euros.
The government is also planning to "almost halve" its social security deficit in 2027, bringing it down to 12 to 13 billion euros, Labour Minister Jean-Pierre Farandou said.
It is hoping to save 5.1 billion euros in the health sector, including through a reduction in reimbursements.
Retirees will be asked to contribute to the tune of 5.5 billion euros, according to the plan.
The government is proposing that pensions above 1,260 euros a month no longer be fully indexed to inflation, and wants to lower tax allowances for pensioners.
The 2023 pensions reform to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 sparked months of protests before Lecornu scrapped it last year to win the support of the Socialists, a swing group in parliament, for the 2026 budget.
 

'Out of step'

 
"France's fiscal package would prevent the deficit from reaching 6.5 percent of GDP next year, but it would not stabilise public debt," analysts at ING said.
"With a difficult political process ahead, French bonds are likely to remain under pressure."
A ministry source has told reporters that the public debt would reach 121.7 percent in 2027 -- more than double the 60 percent limit EU member countries are required to aim for.
Those figures are unprecedented since 1978, according to France's statistics institute INSEE.
France's public deficit -- the annual shortfall of revenue to spending -- came in at 5.1 percent of GDP last year and, instead of reducing that level as originally planned, the government now forecasts it will hit 5.4 percent this year.
The Socialists were unimpressed.
"In this budget, there is no outstretched hand. There is absolutely nothing that would allow us to reach a compromise," said Socialist lawmaker Estelle Mercier.
The Greens said the budget was "completely out of step with the country's economic, social, and environmental situation".
"Instead of making very large inheritances contribute and taxing the windfall profits of oil companies, the government prefers to hit harder and harder the wallets of those who most need help."
burs-ah/as/rl

justice

Family of woman killed by US immigration agent sues Trump administration

  • The second lawsuit alleges a conspiracy to violate civil rights under provisions of the 1871 Ku Klux Klan Act, arguing that the immigration operation deliberately targeted Somali and Hispanic communities and sought to intimidate people who protested or monitored federal agents.
  • The family of Renee Good, an unarmed US citizen shot dead by an immigration agent during a sweeping federal crackdown, sued President Donald Trump's administration on Thursday, alleging wrongful death and civil rights violations.
  • The second lawsuit alleges a conspiracy to violate civil rights under provisions of the 1871 Ku Klux Klan Act, arguing that the immigration operation deliberately targeted Somali and Hispanic communities and sought to intimidate people who protested or monitored federal agents.
The family of Renee Good, an unarmed US citizen shot dead by an immigration agent during a sweeping federal crackdown, sued President Donald Trump's administration on Thursday, alleging wrongful death and civil rights violations.
Good, 37, was killed in Minneapolis on January 7 when an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent fired three shots into her car during Operation Metro Surge, the administration's mass deployment in Minnesota.
Her family filed two lawsuits in federal court.
One names the United States and seeks damages under the Federal Tort Claims Act, alleging wrongful death, negligence and other misconduct.
The second names the killer, Jonathan Ross, along with senior Trump administration officials including then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller.
Both Trump officials baselessly accused Good of terrorism, with Noem falsely claiming in a press conference that the victim had "attempted to run a law enforcement officer over."
The second lawsuit alleges a conspiracy to violate civil rights under provisions of the 1871 Ku Klux Klan Act, arguing that the immigration operation deliberately targeted Somali and Hispanic communities and sought to intimidate people who protested or monitored federal agents.
"Renee's death was not an accident," lawyers for the family said, calling it the "predictable result" of policies that encouraged aggressive confrontations.
The Trump administration has defended its immigration crackdown and the conduct of its officers, maintaining that Ross's use of deadly force was justified.
Video of the shooting showed Good calmly speaking to officers from inside her vehicle shortly before she tried to drive away.
The family's lawsuit says she was unarmed, suspected of no crime and steering away from Ross when he fired.
Good's killing triggered protests in Minneapolis and intensified scrutiny of the administration's deportation campaign.
Two weeks later, federal immigration agents fatally shot another US citizen, intensive-care nurse Alex Pretti, during a confrontation in the city.
Good's death also prompted turmoil inside the Justice Department after federal prosecutors in Minneapolis were prevented from investigating the agents involved, with several resigning in protest.
It has not charged any agent in connection with either killing, although Minnesota authorities are investigating both for possible violations of state law.
"What happened to us should never happen to any family. No child should grow up without a parent because of it. No one should lose their sister or their daughter. No one should have to live without their soulmate," Good's wife Becca Good said.
"Accountability -- real accountability -- is the only way to make sure that no other family has to go through what we have."
ft/mjf/bgs

internet

Brazil court orders removal of fake posts amid patron saint election row

  • Supreme Court justice Andre Mendonca on Friday ordered the removal of posts saying Flavio Bolsonaro intends to strip the patron saint of her role, which were "notoriously untrue." 
  • Brazil's electoral court has ordered the takedown of social media posts accusing presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro of planning to strip the country's patron saint of her title if elected.
  • Supreme Court justice Andre Mendonca on Friday ordered the removal of posts saying Flavio Bolsonaro intends to strip the patron saint of her role, which were "notoriously untrue." 
Brazil's electoral court has ordered the takedown of social media posts accusing presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro of planning to strip the country's patron saint of her title if elected.
Rumors, accusations and fierce denials about the fate of the saint have dominated the final stretch of campaigning before Sunday's election, laying bare divisions between Catholics and Evangelicals in the deeply religious nation. 
Leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is facing a too-close-to-call election race against senator Bolsonaro, and both sides have clung to last-minute controversies in a bid to win over crucial undecided voters.
The furore erupted after media reports that figures in the Catholic Church were concerned about the future status of the saint, Our Lady of Aparecida.
This collided with the unearthing of an abandoned 2007 bill, initially proposed by a Bolsonaro-aligned lawmaker, to demote the patron saint.
Flavio Bolsonaro fiercely denied such plans as "fake news", but the issue struck a nerve in a country where the majority Catholic population which reveres the saint, tends to back Lula.
A booming Evangelical population became a key electoral base for far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro, and now his son.
On the campaign trail, Lula clutched a figure of Our Lady of Aparecida, Brazil's beloved Black Madonna, declaring that "messing" with her was "unacceptable."
Supreme Court justice Andre Mendonca on Friday ordered the removal of posts saying Flavio Bolsonaro intends to strip the patron saint of her role, which were "notoriously untrue." 
The decision was upheld late Wednesday by the electoral court.
Meanwhile, the police opened an investigation Wednesday into what Supreme Court Justice Flavio Dino described as an "apparent wave of attacks" against religious images in some parts of the country.
These attacks included the destruction of statues of saints in churches in Salvador and the defacement of a statue of Our Lady of Aparecida with an axe in a chapel in the state of Mato Grosso.
Brazil has the second-largest Christian population in the world, after the United States, according to the Pew Research Center.
While Lula holds a slight lead in the polls ahead of the first round election on Sunday, with he and Bolsonaro far ahead of the other 10 candidates.
To win in the first round a candidate needs more than 50 percent of valid votes. 
Polls show Lula and Bolsonaro in a dead heat in a potential run-off on October 25.
ll/app/fb/bgs

charity

UK tribunal overturns ban on Naomi Campbell leading charities

  • Instead, Campbell had been the victim of deception perpetrated by her co-trustee, Bianka Hellmich, who was disqualified from being a charity trustee for nine years.
  • Former supermodel Naomi Campbell won a legal challenge on Thursday to overturn a five-year ban on being a charity trustee after a panel accepted she had been the victim of deception.
  • Instead, Campbell had been the victim of deception perpetrated by her co-trustee, Bianka Hellmich, who was disqualified from being a charity trustee for nine years.
Former supermodel Naomi Campbell won a legal challenge on Thursday to overturn a five-year ban on being a charity trustee after a panel accepted she had been the victim of deception.
The Charity Commission watchdog had banned Campbell in 2024 after identifying "multiple instances of misconduct" at her charity, Fashion for Relief.
The tribunal ruled on Thursday that there had been mismanagement but Campbell was "not involved" and "did not know" about it.
Instead, Campbell had been the victim of deception perpetrated by her co-trustee, Bianka Hellmich, who was disqualified from being a charity trustee for nine years.
Hellmich had "used forged documents and a false email address" purporting to belong to Campbell, the tribunal ruled.
She had received unauthorised payments and had hidden the misuse of funds and mismanagement of the charity from Campbell.
The 56-year-old model said in a statement afterwards she had been "hurt deeply".
But she said the ruling meant she could "get back to what matters most to me: being there for the people and communities I've always wanted to serve".
After the ruling, the Charity Commission said its disqualification of Campbell had been made on the "evidence available to us at the time".
It said the ruling recognised that the commission, Campbell and others had been "subject to sophisticated deception".
Campbell founded the charity in 2005, aiming to harness the fashion industry to relieve poverty and advance health and education, by making grants to other organisations and giving resources towards global disasters.
It was dissolved and removed from the register of charities in 2024.
har/am/jxb

transport

How airlines try to make sure pilots are safe to fly

  • "During the flight, as they approached the country, one of the pilots stabbed the other pilot, and apparently tried to crash the plane with everyone on board," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video message.
  • The apparent attack by the co-pilot on a flight to Israel, in which he stabbed his captain and tried to crash the plane, is a reminder that the cockpit is an extremely sensitive place in terms of aviation safety. 
  • "During the flight, as they approached the country, one of the pilots stabbed the other pilot, and apparently tried to crash the plane with everyone on board," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video message.
The apparent attack by the co-pilot on a flight to Israel, in which he stabbed his captain and tried to crash the plane, is a reminder that the cockpit is an extremely sensitive place in terms of aviation safety. 
What can be done to stop an airline pilot from deliberately crashing a plane? 
 

What happened?

 
As the flydubai Boeing 737 flew over northwestern Saudi Arabia en route from Dubai to Tel Aviv, the co-pilot suddenly attacked his captain, according to Israeli officials.
"During the flight, as they approached the country, one of the pilots stabbed the other pilot, and apparently tried to crash the plane with everyone on board," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video message.
Officials have not said what was used as a weapon in the attack.
Some reports have suggested the plane's "crash axe" could have been used. This is a small axe kept in every plane cockpit for emergency situations. 
Whatever the weapon and method used, the captain and passengers were able to subdue the attacker and the plane made an emergency landing at the Saudi airport of Tabuk.
The captain, Indian national Smit Machchhar, was taken to hospital and is now out of danger. 
The UAE has launched an investigation into a possible "terrorist" link, while Netanyahu said "another 9/11-style crash" had been prevented.
 

Do pilots have to pass airport security?

 
The security checks designed to stop passengers bringing anything on board that could threaten flight safety also apply to the crew, and pilots cannot get around them.
Depending on the size of the departure airport, they either go through the same security checkpoints as passengers, or through dedicated lanes. 
This step is meant to detect any anomaly, such as a pilot who appears unusually nervous or intoxicated. 
Carry-on luggage destined for the aircraft cabin is also X-rayed, and pilots pass through metal detectors. 
Israel has been a high-risk destination since a spate of hijackings and attacks in the 1970s, which has led to heightened vigilance, something an airport as big and high-profile as Dubai is well used to. 
 

How secure is the cockpit?

 
Access to the cockpit was tightened after the September 11 atrocities in the United States, where attackers were able to gain access and crash the planes.
If warned of a threat, pilots can now lock the door, which is always reinforced. 
This time, however, the threat came from inside the cockpit itself, an extremely rare occurrence. 
Early accounts suggest the captain managed to maintain control of access to the cockpit and alert his colleagues.
He was hailed as a “hero” by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 
 

How do airlines ensure their pilots are not dangerous?

 
This is the most delicate issue, because it involves detecting a threat that may show no obvious warning signs.
The most emblematic case is the crash of a Germanwings plane in the French Alps in 2015, deliberately caused by a pilot. 
The investigation revealed that the pilot, a 27-year-old German, suffered from depression and suicidal tendencies that his employer was not aware of.
The crash killed 150 people and raised awareness among airlines worldwide about the need for close monitoring of the mental health of crew members. 
However, they communicate little about what they do on this front, for various reasons, including confidentiality. 
In the flydubai case, many questions remain unanswered at this stage.
Israeli PM Netanyahu on Thursday told Fox News the pilot, reportedly an Omani national, had undergone "Islamist radical indoctrination", without elaborating.
hh/ved/pdw/rl

arrest

Malawi ex-army chief arrested following allegations over Sudan arms

  • "The charges arise from allegations concerning his role in facilitating illegal arms trafficking in June and July 2025," the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) said in a statement announcing Phiri's arrest.
  • Malawi's anti-corruption agency said it arrested the previous army chief on Thursday on allegations including dealing in property linked to "terrorism".
  • "The charges arise from allegations concerning his role in facilitating illegal arms trafficking in June and July 2025," the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) said in a statement announcing Phiri's arrest.
Malawi's anti-corruption agency said it arrested the previous army chief on Thursday on allegations including dealing in property linked to "terrorism".
General Paul Valentino Phiri's arrest comes months after the Platform for Investigative Journalism (PIJ) reported unverified allegations, based on purported US intelligence, that Malawi military personnel may have helped Sudanese rebels acquire heavy weaponry.
"The charges arise from allegations concerning his role in facilitating illegal arms trafficking in June and July 2025," the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) said in a statement announcing Phiri's arrest.
The retired general was facing five counts "relating to abuse of office and dealing in terrorist property", it said, giving no other details.
Phiri, 54, was head of the Malawi Defence Force from July 2023 until October 2025, the month after former president Lazarus Chakwera lost the general election.
Phiri's lawyer, Powell Nkutabasa, told AFP the main allegations were misuse of office, contravening procurement procedures and dealing in "terrorist" property.
"He was asked to report to the ACB today and he was arrested when he got there," Nkutabasa said.

War in Sudan

In a report in July, the PIJ claimed the bureau had received a complaint alleging US intelligence believed top Malawi military personnel may have helped to secretly funnel heavy weaponry to Sudan. 
It reported that multiple sources said the CIA had tracked an operation in which weapons were allegedly briefly offloaded from a cargo aircraft that landed at Lilongwe's Kamuzu International Airport and reloaded onto a flight to Sudan via Chad.
The weapons were said to include heavy military equipment and missiles, with documents allegedly identifying the Malawi Defence Force as the end-user, it said.
PIJ said it was not clear who had flagged the matter to the ACB and it had not seen the complaint or the alleged intelligence itself.
The Malawi Defence Force confirmed at the time it was aware of the matter and had been approached by the ACB but could not comment further.
Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been locked in war with Sudan's regular army since April 2023. 
The army has accused the UAE of supporting the RSF with weapons and mercenaries sent via Chad, Libya, Kenya and Somalia, by land and air, which it denies.
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