diplomacy

UK to deploy aircraft carrier group to Arctic this year: PM 

conflict

Zelensky labels Putin a 'slave to war'

  • "There is not a single power plant left in Ukraine that has not been damaged by Russian attacks," Zelensky said.
  • Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky denounced Russia's Vladimir Putin as a "slave to war" in a speech to the Munich Security Conference Saturday, adding that Russia's attacks had damaged every power plant in the country.
  • "There is not a single power plant left in Ukraine that has not been damaged by Russian attacks," Zelensky said.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky denounced Russia's Vladimir Putin as a "slave to war" in a speech to the Munich Security Conference Saturday, adding that Russia's attacks had damaged every power plant in the country.
Zelensky also drew parallels between the current Russia-Ukraine talks over territorial concessions and the 1938 Munich Agreement, when Hitler forced territorial concessions from the European powers -- a year before World War II.
Zelensky was speaking days before the fourth anniversary of Moscow's invasion, which has killed hundreds of thousands, decimated eastern Ukraine and forced millions to flee.
Kyiv and its Western allies have accused Moscow of deliberately freezing Ukraine's population with its attacks on the energy grid. 
"There is not a single power plant left in Ukraine that has not been damaged by Russian attacks," Zelensky said. "Not one."
"But we still generate electricity," he added, praising the thousands of workers repairing the plants. 
Once again, he appealed to the West to deliver air-defence systems to Ukraine more quickly.
Of Putin, who launched the war in February 2022, Zelensky said: "He may see himself as a tsar, but in reality he is a slave to war." 
Russia and Ukraine will hold US-brokered talks next week, and Zelensky said Kyiv was doing "everything" to end the war. 

Security guarantees

Zelensky also met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the sidelines of the Munich conference. 
Russia has demanded that Ukraine withdraw from its Donetsk region and wants Kyiv to recognise its claim to the swathes of Ukraine that it occupies. Ukraine has ruled out surrendering its eastern regions.
Of the talks so far, Zelensky said: "The Americans often return to the topic of concessions, and too often those concessions are discussed in the context only of Ukraine."
He also drew parallels between the current talks and the 1938 Munich Agreement, when European powers let Hitler take part of Czechoslovakia only for the Second World War to break out the following year.
"It would be an illusion to believe that this war can now be reliably ended by dividing Ukraine -- just as it was an illusion to believe that sacrificing Czechoslovakia would save Europe from a great war," he warned.
Kyiv was doing "everything" to end the war, he said, insisting that viable security guarantees were the only way to get to a deal and prevent future Russian aggression. 
"With Russia, you cannot leave a single loophole Russians can use to start a war," he said.
Zelensky again argued that there would be more chance of ending the war if European countries had a seat at the negotiating table -- something Russia has opposed.
Next week's talks in Geneva between the two sides will come after two rounds of US-Russia-Ukraine negotiations in Abu Dhabi.
In a social media post Zelensky said he had spoken by phone to US envoy Steve Witkoff and Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner ahead of the talks.
"We count on the meetings being truly productive," he added.
But with no diplomatic breakthrough so far, the Ukrainian leader has called on his Western allies to make faster political decisions.
"Weapons evolve faster than political decisions meant to stop them," Zelensky said. The Iranian-designed Shahed drones that Russia was using had become much more deadly, he noted.
Returning to the question of elections in Ukraine, Zelensky said they would be held once Kyiv received security guarantees and a ceasefire had been agreed.
bur-oc/jj/db

law

Relatives of Venezuela political prisoners begin hunger strike

BY ANDREA TOSTA

  • "We've already been waiting a very long time," she said, calling the hunger strike "a drastic measure that we believe is necessary to finish this once and for all."
  • Relatives of political prisoners in Venezuela launched a hunger strike Saturday outside a prison in Caracas, as talks drag on over the adoption of a promised amnesty law.
  • "We've already been waiting a very long time," she said, calling the hunger strike "a drastic measure that we believe is necessary to finish this once and for all."
Relatives of political prisoners in Venezuela launched a hunger strike Saturday outside a prison in Caracas, as talks drag on over the adoption of a promised amnesty law.
The historic amnesty is the centerpiece of  reforms undertaken by acting President Delcy Rodriguez since US special forces captured the country's longtime leader Nicolas Maduro in a deadly January 3 raid on Caracas.
It aims to turn the page on nearly three decades of state repression, and is expected to cover all charges brought against dissidents who opposed the rule of Maduro and his predecessor Hugo Chavez over the past 27 years.
A mass liberation of prisoners promised on January 8 did not materialize, with authorities instead freeing detainees little by little -- leaving dozens of families camped outside prison facilities waiting for answers.
In Caracas, a group of about 10 women wearing medical face masks lay down in a line at the entrance to a national police facility known as Zone 7.
Many of them were sleeping, with one telling AFP, on condition of anonymity: "Sleeping eases the hunger."
"We hope to stay here until everyone is released," Evelin Quiaro, 46, an immigration official and the mother of a political prisoner, told AFP.
Quiaro, whose son has been in detention since November on terror-related charges, said she had eaten her last meal at about 1 am.
"We've already been waiting a very long time," she said, calling the hunger strike "a drastic measure that we believe is necessary to finish this once and for all."

'Democratic coexistence'

Hours earlier, National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez announced the release of 17 prisoners in a post on social media, without naming them.
He called for Venezuelans to "continue this path of peace for the construction of democratic coexistence."
One of those freed was union leader Jose Elias Torres, who had been held since November, an advocacy group said. 
The amnesty legislation covers charges of "treason," "terrorism" and spreading "hate" that were used to lock up dissidents, according to the bill text.
But on Thursday, after backing the amnesty bill on a first reading, lawmakers postponed its adoption after failing to reach an agreement on how to apply it. 
Pro-government and opposition lawmakers clashed over an article requiring would-be beneficiaries to appear in court to request amnesty.
They agreed to continue the debate on Thursday.
According to the non-governmental organization Foro Penal, 431 political prisoners have been offered conditional release so far, and 644 are still behind bars.
Emil Brandt, regional coordinator for the political party of opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, arrived in his hometown of Barinas on Saturday, after two years in detention.
"It's important to highlight that our work continues. We still have people behind bars, and we will not rest until justice is served and they regain their freedom," Brandt said.
"The people (of Venezuela) deserve to live better, and that will be the case when our leader Maria Corina Machado comes home."
Speaking to a security conference in Munich, Machado did not say when that return might come.

US pressure

Rodriguez, Maduro's vice president, took over as the South American country's leader with the consent of US President Donald Trump -- provided that she toes Washington's line.
The United States has taken control of Venezuela's oil sales, with Trump vowing a share for Washington in the profits.
The Trump administration has also pressured Rodriguez to release political prisoners.
As the post-Maduro transition takes hold, the fear once instilled by the state is beginning to dissipate.
Thousands of opposition supporters poured into the streets of Caracas ahead of the debate over the amnesty bill to demand the release of all remaining political prisoners.
bur-atm/sst/acb

US

Trump's 'desire' to own Greenland persists: Danish PM

  • Asked at a security conference in Munich if Trump still wanted to own the Arctic island, Frederiksen said: "Unfortunately, I think the desire is the same."
  • Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Saturday she believed US President Donald Trump still desires to own Greenland despite dialling back his recent threats to seize it by force.
  • Asked at a security conference in Munich if Trump still wanted to own the Arctic island, Frederiksen said: "Unfortunately, I think the desire is the same."
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Saturday she believed US President Donald Trump still desires to own Greenland despite dialling back his recent threats to seize it by force.
Asked at a security conference in Munich if Trump still wanted to own the Arctic island, Frederiksen said: "Unfortunately, I think the desire is the same."
Trump's designs on Greenland have caused tension to soar between the United States and Europe.
Last month, he backed down from his threats to seize the island, an autonomous territory of ally Denmark, after striking what he called a "framework" deal with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.
But relations have remained strained.
"Everybody asks us, do we think it's over? I mean, no, we don't think it's over," Frederiksen said, participating in a panel discussion on Arctic security.
Trump insists mineral-rich Greenland is vital for US and NATO security against Russia and China as a melting Arctic opens up and the superpowers jostle for strategic advantage.
Frederiksen and her Greenlandic counterpart, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, said the pressure on the island's people was "unacceptable".
But Nielsen said "some steps" had been taken "in the right direction".
A US-Denmark-Greenland working group has been established to discuss Washington's security concerns in the Arctic, but details have not been made public.
"We now have a working group, it's good. We will try to see if we can find a solution... But of course, there are red lines that will not be crossed. And we will stick to our strategy," Frederiksen said.
The remarks came after Frederiksen and Nielsen had a 15-minute meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday on the sidelines of the security conference, which Frederiksen afterwards described as "constructive".
ank/jj/jhb

nuclear

European debate over nuclear weapons gains pace

BY FABIEN ZAMORRA AND BRYN STOLE IN BERLIN

  • Experts nevertheless welcomed the increasingly serious political debate on an issue that has long worried military planners.
  • European leaders, worried about threats from a nuclear-armed Russia and doubts about the future of US security commitments, are increasingly debating whether to bolster nuclear arsenals on the continent.
  • Experts nevertheless welcomed the increasingly serious political debate on an issue that has long worried military planners.
European leaders, worried about threats from a nuclear-armed Russia and doubts about the future of US security commitments, are increasingly debating whether to bolster nuclear arsenals on the continent.
While the United States and Russia have thousands of nuclear warheads each, in Europe only France and Britain have atomic weapons, with the combined total in the hundreds.
US President Donald Trump's disdainful comments about NATO and his transactional approach to foreign relations have European allies questioning whether they can risk relying on US protection.
"Europeans can no longer outsource their thinking about nuclear deterrence to the United States," an expert group warned in a report published for the Munich Security Conference.
It called on Europe to "urgently confront a new nuclear reality" in the face of "Russia's nuclear-backed revisionism".
Speaking at the MSC, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he was already holding "confidential talks with the French president about European nuclear deterrence".
Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the UK's nuclear deterrent already protected fellow NATO members but stressed he was "enhancing our nuclear cooperation with France".
Starmer said "any adversary must know that in a crisis they could be confronted by our combined strength" alongside France.

US 'ultimate guarantor'

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte insisted that "nobody" was considering fully replacing the American nuclear umbrella, which has shielded Europe's NATO countries for decades.
"I think every discussion in Europe making sure that collectively the nuclear deterrence is even stronger, fine," Rutte, a former Dutch prime minister, told journalists. 
"But nobody is arguing in Europe to do this as a sort of replacement of the nuclear umbrella of the United States.
"Everybody realises that is the ultimate guarantor -- and all these other discussions are in addition."
US Under Secretary of Defense Elbridge Colby said that Trump "has made clear the US extended nuclear deterrent continues to apply here" in Europe.
He said there is US "receptivity to a greater European contribution to ... the NATO deterrent" -- but that conversations need to be "very sober" and "deliberate" because of concerns about nuclear proliferation and instability.

No good options

Discussion of nuclear armament has long been viewed as taboo in many other European countries -- but Russian aggression and worries about US commitment have forced the issue into mainstream European politics.
Many European officials are convinced that Moscow's territorial ambitions will not be confined to Ukraine, and that other European countries -- including even NATO members -- could face some sort of attack.
The MSC report laid out five nuclear options for Europe, while cautioning that none were good. There was "no low-cost or risk-free way out of Europe's nuclear predicament", they warned.
"The era in which Europe could afford strategic complacency has ended," wrote the authors, calling on European policymakers "to confront the role of nuclear weapons in the defence of the continent directly and without delay -- and to invest the resources needed to do so competently".
It listed five options: Continue to rely on American deterrence; strengthen the role of British and French nuclear weapons in a European deterrent; jointly develop European nuclear weapons as a deterrent; increase the number of European countries with their own nuclear arsenals; or expand European conventional military power to present a more intimidating non-nuclear deterrent.
Sticking with the status quo, and relying on America's unmatched military might, remained "the most credible and feasible option" in the short term, they argued.

'We need action'

Very few currently believe Europeans can assume full responsibility for deterrence in the short term.
"If there's going to be some kind of bigger European investments in France or the UK's nuclear deterrence, that's only a good thing," Finnish Defence Minister Antti Hakkanen recently told AFP.
But he quickly added: "If you're talking about to compensate US nuclear deterrence, that's not realistic at this point."
Experts nevertheless welcomed the increasingly serious political debate on an issue that has long worried military planners.
"That's very positive, but now we need action," Heloise Fayet of the French Institute of International Relations (Ifri), a contributor to the MSC report, told AFP.
The report noted that both France and Britain would face a range of challenges in growing their arsenals and extending nuclear protection across Europe -- from hefty costs to tricky questions about who holds final authority to launch the warheads.
French President Emmanuel Macron, who has previously raised the possibility of extending France's nuclear umbrella across Europe, is scheduled to deliver a major speech on French nuclear doctrine at the end of February.
Macron said in Munich he was considering a doctrine that could include "special cooperation, joint exercises, and shared security interests with certain key countries".
bst/fz/del/jj

US

French prosecutors announce special team for Epstein files

BY CéLINE CORNU

  • The new team will work closely with prosecutors from the national financial crimes unit and police with a view to opening investigations into any suspected crimes involving French nationals, the Paris prosecutor's office told AFP. The aim is "to be able to extract any piece that could be usefully reused in a new investigative framework", it said.
  • The Paris prosecutor's office on Saturday announced it was setting up a special team of magistrates to analyse evidence that could implicate French nationals in the crimes of the convicted US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
  • The new team will work closely with prosecutors from the national financial crimes unit and police with a view to opening investigations into any suspected crimes involving French nationals, the Paris prosecutor's office told AFP. The aim is "to be able to extract any piece that could be usefully reused in a new investigative framework", it said.
The Paris prosecutor's office on Saturday announced it was setting up a special team of magistrates to analyse evidence that could implicate French nationals in the crimes of the convicted US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
With Epstein's known circle now extending to prominent French figures after the release of documents by the US authorities, the prosecutor's office said it would also thoroughly re-examine the case a former French modelling agency executive Jean-Luc Brunel, a close associate of the American financier, who died in custody in 2022.
The new team will work closely with prosecutors from the national financial crimes unit and police with a view to opening investigations into any suspected crimes involving French nationals, the Paris prosecutor's office told AFP.
The aim is "to be able to extract any piece that could be usefully reused in a new investigative framework", it said.
Brunel was found dead in his cell in a Paris prison in 2022 after having been charged with raping minors. The case against him was dropped in 2023 in the wake of his death, with no other person charged.
Prosecutors said an investigation had showed Brunel was "a close friend of Jeffrey Epstein" who had offered modelling jobs to young girls from poor backgrounds.
He had engaged in sexual acts with underage girls in the United States, the US Virgin Islands, Paris and the south of France, they said.
Ten women had made accusations against Brunel, several describing how they had been led to drink alcohol and had been subjected to forced sexual penetration, according to the prosecutor's office.

New cases

Several French public figures feature in the latest US Department of Justice release of material from the Epstein files, though being mentioned there does not in itself mean any offence has been committed.
The prosecutor's office said it had been asked to look into three new specific cases involving a French diplomat, a modelling agent and a musician.
At the request of the French foreign ministry it was looking into the reported appearance of senior diplomat Fabrice Aidan in the cache of Epstein-related documents published by the US authorities.
"An investigation is underway to gather various pieces of evidence that could substantiate this report," the prosecutor's office stated.
The prosecutor's office has also received a complaint filed by a Swedish woman against Daniel Siad, a model recruiter with close ties to Epstein. She accused him of "sexual acts that she describes as rape and that may have been committed in France in 1990".
The office has also received a complaint filed against French conductor Frederic Chaslin alleging acts of sexual harassment allegedly committed in 2016, it said.
The latest release of Epstein files has led to French former minister Jack Lang resigning from his position as the head of a top cultural body, the Arab World Institute.
Lang has however denied any wrongdoing, saying he was "shocked" that his name appeared in the statutes of an offshore company Epstein founded in 2016.
The office of the national financial prosecutor said it had opened a preliminary investigation for "aggravated tax fraud and money laundering" against Lang and his daughter Caroline Lang.
Following this announcement, Lang resigned from the presidency of the Arab World Institute (IMA).
Epstein died in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial for trafficking children, in what the US authorities ruled was a suicide.
cco-sjw/jj

opposition

Son of Iran's last shah urges US action as supporters rally in Munich

  • "I am here to guarantee a transition to a secular democratic future," he said. 
  • The exiled son of Iran's last shah said he was ready to lead the country to a "secular democratic future" at a rally in Munich on Saturday, after US President Donald Trump said a change of power would be the "best thing".
  • "I am here to guarantee a transition to a secular democratic future," he said. 
The exiled son of Iran's last shah said he was ready to lead the country to a "secular democratic future" at a rally in Munich on Saturday, after US President Donald Trump said a change of power would be the "best thing".
It came as Washington continued to engage diplomatically with Tehran's government, with Switzerland on Saturday confirming that mediator Oman would host a fresh round of talks in Geneva next week. 
US-based Reza Pahlavi, who has not returned to Iran since before the 1979 Islamic revolution that ousted the monarchy told the crowd of around 200,000 people of his supporters that he could lead a transition.
"I am here to guarantee a transition to a secular democratic future," he said. 
"I am committed to be the leader of transition for you so we can one day have the final opportunity to decide the fate of our country through a democratic, transparent process to the ballot box."
"Javid shah" (long live the shah)," the crowd chanted as they waved green-white-and-red flags with a lion and a sun -- the emblem of the toppled monarchy. 
"The Iranian regime is a dead regime," a 62-year-old protester originally from Iran who gave his name only as Said told AFP. "It must be game over."
Pahlavi has urged Iranians at home and abroad to continue demonstrations against the authorities, calling on them to chant slogans from their homes and rooftops at 8:00 pm (1630 GMT) Saturday and Sunday, to coincide with protests in Germany and elsewhere.
Trump had said on Friday that a change of government in Iran would be the "best thing that could happen", as he sent a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East to ratchet up military pressure on Tehran. 
He had earlier threatened military intervention to support a wave of street protests in Iran that peaked in January and were met by a violent crackdown that rights groups say killed thousands.
"To President Trump... The Iranian people heard you say help is on the way, and they have faith in you. Help them," Pahlavi had earlier told reporters gathered at the Munich Security Conference. 
"It is time to end the Islamic republic," he said.
- Iranian opposition divided - 
When Iran began its crackdown on protests, Trump initially said the United States was "locked and loaded" to help demonstrators.
But he has recently focused his military threats on Tehran's nuclear programme, which US forces struck last June during Israel's unprecedented 12-day war with Iran.
Representatives of Iran and the United States, who have had no diplomatic relations since shortly after the 1979 revolution, held talks on the nuclear programme last week in Oman.
On Sunday, a Swiss foreign ministry spokesman told AFP that Oman would host a new round of talks in Geneva next week, without providing further details.
Videos verified by AFP showed people in Iran this week chanting anti-government slogans despite the ongoing crackdown, as the clerical leadership celebrated the anniversary of the Islamic revolution.
According to US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, at least 7,008 people, mostly protesters, were killed in the crackdown, though they and other rights groups warn the toll is likely far higher.
More than 53,000 people have been arrested, it added.
Pahlavi had encouraged Iranians to join the wave of protests, which Iranian authorities have said were hijacked by "terrorists" fuelled by their sworn enemies, the United States and Israel. 
Many protest chants had called for the monarchy's return, and Pahlavi, 65, has said he is ready to lead a democratic transition.
The Iranian opposition remains divided and Pahlavi has faced criticism for his support for Israel, making a highly publicised visit in 2023 that fractured an attempt to unify opposition camps. He has also never distanced himself from his father's autocratic rule.
Trump declined on Friday to say who he would want to take over in Iran from supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, but he added that "there are people".
bur/amj/rh/dcp

nuclear

Swiss say Oman to host US-Iran talks in Geneva next week

  • The United States will be holding separate talks, also in Geneva next week, between Russia and Ukraine.
  • Switzerland said Saturday that Oman would host talks between the United States and Iran in Geneva next week, with Washington pushing Tehran to make a deal to limit its nuclear programme.
  • The United States will be holding separate talks, also in Geneva next week, between Russia and Ukraine.
Switzerland said Saturday that Oman would host talks between the United States and Iran in Geneva next week, with Washington pushing Tehran to make a deal to limit its nuclear programme.
"Switzerland stands ready at all times to offer its good offices to facilitate dialogue between the United States and Iran," a Swiss foreign ministry spokesman told AFP.
On February 6, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi held talks in Oman with US envoy Steve Witkoff and US President Donald Trump's influential son-in-law Jared Kushner.
The talks were indirect, with the Omanis acting as mediators.
Trump has recently focused his military threats on Tehran's nuclear programme, which US forces struck last June during Israel's unprecedented 12-day war with Iran.
Trump said Friday that a change of government in Iran would be the "best thing that could happen", as he sent a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East, ratcheting up military pressure on the Islamic republic.

Go-between

Switzerland has played a key role in diplomatic relations between Iran and the United States for decades.
Renowned for its neutrality, Switzerland has been representing US interests in Iran since Washington broke off relations with Tehran after the 1980 hostage crisis, a year after the Iranian revolution.
In its role as the so-called protecting power, Switzerland has for decades allowed the two feuding nations to maintain a minimum of diplomatic and consular relations.
The Swiss embassy in Tehran handles all consular affairs between the United States and Iran, including passport requests, altering civil status and consular protection for US citizens in Iran.
Under the protecting power mandate, "Switzerland can either offer to act as a go-between on its own initiative or can fulfil this function at the request of the parties concerned, provided that all those involved agree," the foreign ministry says on its website.
The United States will be holding separate talks, also in Geneva next week, between Russia and Ukraine.
Moscow and Kyiv will hold US-brokered talks on Tuesday and Wednesday in the Swiss city, both countries have said, announcing the next leg in fraught negotiations seeking to end the four-year war.
Trump is pushing to halt the conflict, but two previous rounds of US-mediated talks in Abu Dhabi have not yielded signs of a breakthrough.
rjm/jhb/db

politics

Russia's Navalny poisoned with dart frog toxin: European states

  • According to the European states, a toxin found in the skin of South American dart frogs known as epibatidine was found on laboratory analyses of samples from his body.
  • Five European countries, including Britain, France and Germany, said Saturday that Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was killed by a "rare toxin" from a dart frog and that the Russian state was the prime suspect.
  • According to the European states, a toxin found in the skin of South American dart frogs known as epibatidine was found on laboratory analyses of samples from his body.
Five European countries, including Britain, France and Germany, said Saturday that Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was killed by a "rare toxin" from a dart frog and that the Russian state was the prime suspect.
Navalny, a staunch critic of President Vladimir Putin, died in a Russian prison on February 16, 2024, while serving a 19-year sentence.
"The UK, Sweden, France, Germany and The Netherlands are confident that Alexei Navalny was poisoned with a lethal toxin," the countries said in a joint statement released at the Munich Security Conference.
According to the European states, a toxin found in the skin of South American dart frogs known as epibatidine was found on laboratory analyses of samples from his body.
"Russia claimed that Navalny died of natural causes. But given the toxicity of epibatidine and reported symptoms, poisoning was highly likely the cause of his death," said the statement.
"Navalny died while held in prison, meaning Russia had the means, motive and opportunity to administer this poison to him," the countries said.
Britain's foreign office said separately that "only the Russian state had the means, motive and opportunity to deploy this lethal toxin". It added: "We hold it (Russia) responsible for his death."
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer hailed Navalny's "courage in the face of tyranny" in a social media post, slamming "Putin's murderous intent".
The Kremlin has not yet commented on the allegations. Russia's foreign ministry spokeswoman and Moscow's embassy in London dismissed the Western report.
Putin said in 2024 that Navalny had "passed away". The opposition leader died shortly before a presidential election in Russia.

'Science-proven facts'

Navalny's widow, Yulia Navalnya, said it was now "science-proven" that the Kremlin opponent had been murdered.
"Two years ago, I came on stage here and said that it was Vladimir Putin who killed my husband," Navalnaya said on the sidelines of the conference in Germany.
"I was of course certain that it was a murder... but back then it was just words. But today, these words have become science-proven facts," Navalnaya added.
Navalnaya last September said that laboratory analysis of smuggled biological samples found her husband was killed by poisoning.
"Today, beside his widow, the UK is shining a light on the Kremlin's barbaric plot to silence his voice," UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper, who met Navalnaya while attending the Munich conference, said in a statement.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot paid "tribute" to Navalny after the findings.
"We now know that Vladimir Putin is prepared to use biological weapons against his own people to remain in power," Barrot said in a post on X.
Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard said: "I am proud that together we have been able to contribute to the truth coming out and that the evidence is now available to hold Russia accountable."

Chemical weapons watchdog

Moscow has never fully explained Navalny's death, saying only that he fell ill and collapsed during a walk in his Arctic prison colony. Navalny and his foundation were considered "extremist" by the Russian authorities.
The European countries said they had reported Russia to the world's chemical weapons watchdog -- the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons -- over the finding.
"We are further concerned that Russia did not destroy all of its chemical weapons," the countries said, accusing Moscow of breaching the Chemical Weapons Convention.
Navalny was previously poisoned with the Soviet-era nerve agent Novichok in 2020 while campaigning in Siberia and was flown to Germany on an emergency evacuation flight, where he spent months recovering.
Jailed upon his return to Russia in January 2021, he was convicted on a series of charges, including "extremism", but continued to campaign against Putin and Russia's invasion of Ukraine from behind bars.
The charismatic anti-corruption campaigner had rallied hundreds of thousands across Russia in anti-Kremlin protests as he exposed the alleged ill-gotten gains of Putin's inner circle.
Putin's main political opponent, Navalny was the only opposition leader who was able to galvanise big protests in Russia.
Public displays of opposition to Putin inside Russia have become exceptionally rare since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and clamped down on dissenters and critics of the war.
burs/jhb

demonstration

250,000 at rally in Germany demand 'game over' for Iran's leaders

BY ELIZABETH STRIY AND RALF ISERMANN

  • Braving a cold drizzle, the protesters cheered loudly when Pahlavi took the stage and told the crowd: "I am here to guarantee a transition to a secular democratic future".
  • Cheered by a massive crowd under a sea of flags, the son of Iran's toppled monarch told a mass rally in Munich on Saturday he wants to lead the country into a democratic future.
  • Braving a cold drizzle, the protesters cheered loudly when Pahlavi took the stage and told the crowd: "I am here to guarantee a transition to a secular democratic future".
Cheered by a massive crowd under a sea of flags, the son of Iran's toppled monarch told a mass rally in Munich on Saturday he wants to lead the country into a democratic future.
Police said some 250,000 pro-monarchist opponents of the Islamic republic's leadership travelled from across Europe to take part in the demonstration held while world leaders met nearby at the Munich Security Conference.
Anger has grown at Tehran's leaders after the bloody crackdown on protesters last month, while US President Donald Trump has been massing warships in the Middle East and declared Friday that a change of government in Iran would be the "best thing that could happen".
"We are here today to support the people in Iran that were murdered by the mullah regime," one protester, 40-year-old Ali Farzad, told AFP. 
"And we are here to support Reza Pahlavi as our leader through the transition for a period."
Braving a cold drizzle, the protesters cheered loudly when Pahlavi took the stage and told the crowd: "I am here to guarantee a transition to a secular democratic future".
"I am committed to be the leader of transition for you so we can one day have the final opportunity to decide the fate of our country through a democratic, transparent process to the ballot box."
Many waved flags with a lion and a sun against horizontal green, white and red stripes, the emblem of the monarchy overthrown in 1979.
Speakers chanted slogans including "Javid shah" (long live the shah), "Pahlavi bar migarde" (Pahlavi is coming back) and "Reza II", in a call for Pahlavi to become the successor to the founder of the Pahlavi dynasty, his grandfather Reza Shah.
"The Iranian regime is a dead regime," said a 62-year-old protester originally from Iran who gave his name only as Said. 
"It must be game over."

'Iranians will have their freedom'

US Senator Lindsey Graham also addressed the rally, pumping his fist in the air as he told the protesters: "The Iranian people are going to have their freedom". 
"It is a matter of time, help is on the way -- make Iran great again," added the Republican senator.
Rallies calling for international action against Tehran were also planned in Toronto and Los Angeles on Saturday.
Pahlavi earlier spoke at the Munich Security Conference and called on Trump to "help" the Iranian people.
Pahlavi, who has lived in exile since his father was overthrown and replaced by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, urged an outside "humanitarian intervention to prevent more innocent lives" being lost in Iran.
Several demonstrators who spoke with AFP denounced US-led international negotiations with Iran, saying that Iran's leaders do not have legitimacy.
"They shouldn't talk to them because they are not actually a government. We don't like them, we don't accept them," said Riana, a 40-year-old doctor in Germany who declined to give her last name out of concern for her family's safety.
"When a government kills their people on the street, they are not (trustworthy)," she said, adding that the world should know that "too many people have been killed and too many people have been injured".
"The people that you are negotiating with are not representative of the Iranian people," Farzad said.
The rally was held at the Theresienwiese, which hosts the huge annual Oktoberfest folk gathering, located less than three kilometres (1.8 miles) from the security conference venue.
Last week, an estimated 10,000 people rallied in Berlin in response to a call from the MEK, an exiled Iranian opposition group considered "terrorist" by Tehran.
bst-sr/fz/tw

diplomacy

UK to deploy aircraft carrier group to Arctic this year: PM 

  • "I can announce today that the UK will deploy our carrier strike group to the North Atlantic and the High North this year, led by HMS Prince of Wales, operating alongside the US, Canada and other NATO allies in a powerful show of our commitment to Euro-Atlantic security," Starmer told the Munich security conference.
  • Britain will deploy its aircraft carrier group to the North Atlantic this year in a "powerful show of force" against Russian threats in the Arctic, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Saturday.
  • "I can announce today that the UK will deploy our carrier strike group to the North Atlantic and the High North this year, led by HMS Prince of Wales, operating alongside the US, Canada and other NATO allies in a powerful show of our commitment to Euro-Atlantic security," Starmer told the Munich security conference.
Britain will deploy its aircraft carrier group to the North Atlantic this year in a "powerful show of force" against Russian threats in the Arctic, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Saturday.
"I can announce today that the UK will deploy our carrier strike group to the North Atlantic and the High North this year, led by HMS Prince of Wales, operating alongside the US, Canada and other NATO allies in a powerful show of our commitment to Euro-Atlantic security," Starmer told the Munich security conference.
The group will include warships, F-35 jets and helicopters in what has been dubbed "Operation Firecrest," the ministry of defence said in a statement.
It will be a "powerful show of force ... to deter Russian aggression and protect vital undersea infrastructure".
HMS Prince of Wales is the Royal Navy's largest warship and US aircraft are also expected to operate from its deck.
The operation will involve thousands of personnel from the army, navy and air force, the ministry statement added.
"The deployment will include activity under NATO's Arctic Sentry mission, launched this week, strengthening the Alliance's security in a region where melting sea ice is opening new routes and increasing threat from hostile state activity," the ministry said.
France has also announced that it will deploy its aircraft carrier group in the region in 2026.
Starmer told the Munich conference that Britain must be "ready to fight".
Leaders must not dither as "Russia has proved its appetite for aggression," he said.
"The road ahead is straight and it is clear. We must build our hard power, because that is the currency of the age," he added.
"We must be able to deter aggression , and, yes, if necessary, we must be ready to fight."

'Second front'

The defence ministry said the deployment would reinforce "NATO's deterrence at a time of rising Russian threats in the region".
It added that "over the past two years, there has been a 30 percent increase in Russian navy vessels threatening UK waters".
German defence minister Boris Pistorius also warned that Russia and China were "getting ready to project military and economic power" in the Arctic.
"In the event of an escalation in Europe, Russia would most likely use its Northern Fleet to open a second front, cut transatlantic supply lines, and threaten both sides of the Atlantic with nuclear submarines," Pistorius told the Munich conference.
On Wednesday, the German minister announced that Berlin would send an initial four Eurofighter jets to take part in NATO's Arctic mission.
US President Donald Trump has unnerved European countries by saying Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory in the Arctic, should come under US control.
Trump said last month however that an understanding had been reached with NATO secretary general Mark Rutte that would give the United States greater influence in the mineral-rich and strategically placed territory.
adm-jkb-aks/tw

diplomacy

Rubio tells Europe to join Trump's fight, says it belongs with US

BY LEON BRUNEAU AND FRANK ZELLER

  • "We want Europe to be strong," Rubio said, adding that the continent and the United States "belong together."
  • US Secretary of State Marco Rubio sought to reassure a nervous Europe on Saturday, saying Washington wanted to recharge the transatlantic alliance so a strong Europe could help the United States on its mission of global "renewal".
  • "We want Europe to be strong," Rubio said, adding that the continent and the United States "belong together."
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio sought to reassure a nervous Europe on Saturday, saying Washington wanted to recharge the transatlantic alliance so a strong Europe could help the United States on its mission of global "renewal".
Speaking at a security conference in Munich after months of turmoil in US-European relations sparked by President Donald Trump's vows to seize Greenland and his often derisive remarks about allies, Washington's top diplomat struck a markedly soothing tone.
"We do not seek to separate, but to revitalise an old friendship and renew the greatest civilisation in human history," Rubio said, calling for "a reinvigorated alliance".
"We want Europe to be strong," Rubio said, adding that the continent and the United States "belong together."
He echoed the Trump administration's oft-stated assertion that immigration poses a threat, saying that "mass migration" is "a crisis which is transforming and destabilising societies all across the West".
He said Europe and the United States were "heirs to the same great and noble civilisation" and that he hoped Europe "together with us are willing and able to defend it".

Change in tone

Aside from immigration, Rubio otherwise largely avoided the MAGA flashpoint and culture-war issues that German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Friday had deepened a "rift" between US and Europe.
Rubio's speech marked a sharp contrast to that of US Vice President JD Vance a year ago, when he used the same stage to attack European policies on a range of issues including free speech, shocking European allies.
The Trump administration has also charged that Europe faces a "civilisational decline", and has courted far-right parties on the continent.
Ties plunged last month when Trump stepped up threats to annex Greenland, an autonomous territory of NATO member Denmark, forcing European nations to stand firm in protest.
Rubio was on Sunday due to travel to Slovakia and Hungary, European countries run by nationalist leaders endorsed by Trump.
Some breathed a sigh of relief after Rubio's speech, with Estonia's Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur telling AFP: "It was needed to show that we are still allies and partners."
But others said they did not mark a shift in the US stance, with former Lithuanian foreign minister Gabrielius Landsbergis saying: "It was simply delivered in more polite terms. I am not sure the white paint will hold."

European security

European leaders at the Munich Security Conference have pledged to shoulder more of the burden of shared NATO defences, saying this was essential for Europe to counter a hostile Russia.
European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen told the gathering that "Europe needs to step up and has to take on its responsibility" for its security, including closer ties with Britain 10 years after Brexit.
British leader Keir Starmer echoed the sentiment, saying, "We must build our hard power, because that is the currency of the age," and calling to build "a shared industrial base across Europe which can turbocharge our defence production".
NATO chief Mark Rutte told reporters that although France and Britain, Europe's only nuclear powers, have discussed greater cooperation to make their nuclear deterrence stronger, "nobody is arguing in Europe to do this as a sort of replacement of the nuclear umbrella of the United States."

Ukraine war

The high-powered Munich meeting of government leaders, diplomats, defence and intelligence chiefs comes shortly before Russia's full-scale war on Ukraine is set to enter its fifth gruelling year.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky decried that political efforts to end the war have not worked.
"Weapons evolve faster than political decisions meant to stop them," he said, calling for speedier arms deliveries for Ukraine's Western-supplied air defence systems.
He said that "there is not a single power plant in Ukraine that is not damaged by Russian strikes," after Russia stepped up its attacks on infrastructure over the past few months, as the coldest snap since the war started in February 2022 hit the country.
"No one in Ukraine believes (Russian President Vladimir Putin) will ever let our people go, but he will not let other European nations go either, because he cannot let go of the very idea of war," Zelensky warned.
At the White House on Friday, Trump urged Kyiv to "get moving" to end the war. "Russia wants to make a deal... (Zelensky) has to move," he said.
But Rubio -- who met Zelensky on the sidelines in Munich -- said on Saturday: "We don't know if the Russians are serious about ending the war."
burs/yad/del/jhb

oil

Cuba cancels cigar festival amid economic crisis

  • The "Festival del Habano" draws cigar enthusiasts, traders, and specialized journalists from around the world and features an auction of luxury cigars and humidors.  
  • Cuba on Saturday announced the cancellation of its iconic cigar festival, amid a major energy crisis sparked by US pressure on the cash-strapped island.
  • The "Festival del Habano" draws cigar enthusiasts, traders, and specialized journalists from around the world and features an auction of luxury cigars and humidors.  
Cuba on Saturday announced the cancellation of its iconic cigar festival, amid a major energy crisis sparked by US pressure on the cash-strapped island.
In a message to participants seen by AFP, organizers said they were postponing the annual event, scheduled to take place from February 24-27, but did not give a new date.
The decision was taken "with the aim of preserving the highest standards of quality, excellence and experience that characterize this international event," organizer Habanos SA said.
The "Festival del Habano" draws cigar enthusiasts, traders, and specialized journalists from around the world and features an auction of luxury cigars and humidors.  
The auction generates several million dollars annually -- last year, about $19.5 million -- that are then funneled into the country's health care system. 
International sales of Cuban cigars, the island nation's most emblematic export, bring much needed income to its struggling economy, with Europe the main market for the luxury smokes.
The United States cut off oil deliveries to Cuba from Havana's key ally Venezuela following the ouster of longtime president Nicolas Maduro in early January. 
US President Donald Trump also signed an executive order allowing his country to impose tariffs on countries selling oil to Havana. 
International airlines including Air Canada have halted Cuba flights due to a lack of fuel on the island, and several governments have urged citizens to reconsider travel there, warning they could be stranded.
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel has accused Trump of wanting to "suffocate" the island's economy, which has been under American embargo since 1962.
jb/ksb/sst

demonstration

About 200,000 join Iran demonstration in Munich: police

BY ELIZABETH STRIY AND RALF ISERMANN

  • Pahlavi earlier spoke at the Munich Security Conference and called on US President Donald Trump to "help" the Iranian people.
  • About 200,000 people joined a demonstration against the Iranian government in Munich on Saturday, police said, as world leaders gathered nearby for a security conference.
  • Pahlavi earlier spoke at the Munich Security Conference and called on US President Donald Trump to "help" the Iranian people.
About 200,000 people joined a demonstration against the Iranian government in Munich on Saturday, police said, as world leaders gathered nearby for a security conference.
The pro-monarchist protesters rallied on the German city's Theresienwiese fairgrounds, denouncing the leadership of Iran's Islamic Republic following the deadly repression of nationwide protests in January.
Human rights groups have reported that thousands of protesters were killed in Iran.
The crowd joined in chants supporting Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of the former shah of Iran, with many waving flags with a lion and a sun against horizontal green, white and red stripes, the emblem of the monarchy overthrown in 1979.
"We are here today to support the people in Iran that were murdered by the mullah regime," one of the protesters, 40-year-old Ali Farzad, told AFP. "And we are here to support Reza Pahlavi as our leader through the transition for a period."
"The Iranian regime is a dead regime," a 62-year-old protester originally from Iran who gave his name only as Said told AFP. "It must be game over."
Speakers chanted slogans including "Javid shah" (long live the shah), "Pahlavi bar migarde" (Pahlavi is coming back) and "Reza II", in a call for Pahlavi to become the successor to the founder of the Pahlavi dynasty, his grandfather Reza Shah.
Rallies calling for international action against Tehran are also planned in Toronto and Los Angeles on Saturday.
Pahlavi earlier spoke at the Munich Security Conference and called on US President Donald Trump to "help" the Iranian people.
Pahlavi, who has lived in exile since his father was overthrown in the 1979 revolution, urged an outside "humanitarian intervention to prevent more innocent lives" being lost in Iran.
Razieh Shahverdi, a 34-year-old Iranian who lives in Paris and works in marketing, said she came to Munich to demonstrate following Pahlavi's appeal to the diaspora to show support for those protesting in Iran.
"So that is why we are here, to amplify their voices and to show our support," she told AFP.
"We are here to ask the world to support the leader of Iranians in the transition phase, to have a transitional government and then to have a referendum," she added.
"And also we need intervention from the foreign powers."

'Too many killed'

Several demonstrators in Munich who spoke with AFP denounced US-led international negotiations with Iran, saying that Iran's leaders do not have legitimacy.
"They shouldn't talk to them because they are not actually a government. We don't like them, we don't accept them," said Riana, a 40-year-old doctor in Germany who declined to give her last name out of concern for her family's safety.
"When a government kills their people on the street, they are not (trustworthy)," she said, adding that the world should know that "too many people have been killed and too many people have been injured".
"The people that you are negotiating with are not representative of the Iranian people," Farzad said.
The Theresienwiese, which hosts the huge annual Oktoberfest folk gathering, is located less than three kilometres (1.8 miles) from the security conference venue.
Last week, an estimated 10,000 people rallied in Berlin in response to a call from the MEK, an exiled Iranian opposition group considered "terrorist" by Tehran.
bst-sr/fz/jhb

Global Edition

Bangladesh PM-to-be Rahman thanks those who 'sacrificed for democracy'

BY SHEIKH SABIHA ALAM WITH RASHEEK MUJIB, EYAMIN SAJID AND MOHAMMAD MAZED

  • China and Pakistan, which both grew closer to Bangladesh since the 2024 uprising and the souring of ties with India, where Hasina has sheltered since her ouster, also congratulated the BNP. International election observers said the polls had been a success, with the European Union saying Saturday they had been "credible".   
  • Bangladesh's prime minister-in-waiting Tarique Rahman on Saturday dedicated his landslide election win to those who "sacrificed for democracy", calling for unity after the first polls since a deadly 2024 uprising.
  • China and Pakistan, which both grew closer to Bangladesh since the 2024 uprising and the souring of ties with India, where Hasina has sheltered since her ouster, also congratulated the BNP. International election observers said the polls had been a success, with the European Union saying Saturday they had been "credible".   
Bangladesh's prime minister-in-waiting Tarique Rahman on Saturday dedicated his landslide election win to those who "sacrificed for democracy", calling for unity after the first polls since a deadly 2024 uprising.
Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chief Rahman, 60, the scion of one of the most powerful political dynasties, is set to lead the South Asian nation of 170 million people after sweeping elections on Thursday.
"This victory belongs to Bangladesh, belongs to democracy," he said, in his first speech since the vote. "This victory belongs to people who aspire to and have sacrificed for democracy."
He will take over from an interim government that has steered Bangladesh since the student-led uprising ended the iron-fisted rule of Sheikh Hasina in August 2024.
The success of BNP chief Rahman marks a remarkable turnaround for a man who only returned to Bangladesh in December after 17 years in exile in Britain, far from Dhaka's political storms.
The BNP alliance won 212 seats, compared with 77 for the Jamaat-e-Islami-led alliance, according to the Electoral Commission.

'Remain united'

Jamaat chief Shafiqur Rahman, 67, had initially alleged "inconsistencies and fabrications" in the vote, but earlier on Saturday, he conceded.
He said he would "serve as a vigilant, principled, and peaceful opposition".
He noted that his Islamist party -- which had been crushed under Hasina -- had quadrupled its seats in parliament from its previous best, calling it "a foundation" for the future.
Hasina's Awami League party was barred from taking part. Hasina, 78, who was sentenced to death in absentia for crimes against humanity, issued a statement from hiding in India decrying an "illegal and unconstitutional election".
BNP chief Rahman called for all to work together after a tumultuous political period.
"Our paths and opinions may differ, but in the interest of the country, we must remain united," Rahman said.

'Freedom-loving'

His father, president Ziaur Rahman, was assassinated in 1981, while his mother, Khaleda Zia, served three terms as prime minister and dominated national politics for decades.
"The freedom-loving, pro-democracy people of the country have once again brought victory to the Bangladesh Nationalist Party," he added, in an initial speech in English, before switching to Bangla.
Retiring interim leader, Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, earlier on Saturday said Rahman "would help guide the country toward stability, inclusiveness, and development".
The US embassy congratulated Rahman and the BNP for a "historic victory", while neighbouring India praised his "decisive win", a notable shift after deeply strained ties.
China and Pakistan, which both grew closer to Bangladesh since the 2024 uprising and the souring of ties with India, where Hasina has sheltered since her ouster, also congratulated the BNP.
International election observers said the polls had been a success, with the European Union saying Saturday they had been "credible".   
The Election Commission said turnout was 59 percent across 299 constituencies out of 300 in which voting took place.
Only seven women were elected, although a further 50 seats in parliament reserved for women will be named from party lists.
Voters on Thursday also endorsed proposals in a referendum for a sweeping democratic reform charter backed by Yunus, to overhaul what he called a "completely broken" system of government and to prevent a return to one-party rule.
Those include prime ministerial term limits, a new upper house of parliament, stronger presidential powers and greater judicial independence.
But Rahman said the new government he will lead faces daunting challenges.
"We are about to begin our journey in a situation marked by a fragile economy left behind by an authoritarian regime, weakening constitutional and structural institutions, and destroying law and order," he said.
bur-pjm/mtp

television

Eurovision 70th anniversary live tour postponed

  • "We regret to announce that we've made the difficult decision to postpone the Eurovision Song Contest Live Tour 2026," Eurovision director Martin Green said Friday in a statement.
  • The Eurovision Song Contest's first-ever tour, planned to celebrate its 70th anniversary, has been postponed, organisers said, citing "unforeseen challenges".
  • "We regret to announce that we've made the difficult decision to postpone the Eurovision Song Contest Live Tour 2026," Eurovision director Martin Green said Friday in a statement.
The Eurovision Song Contest's first-ever tour, planned to celebrate its 70th anniversary, has been postponed, organisers said, citing "unforeseen challenges".
It is another setback for the world's biggest live televised music event, after five countries pulled out of this year's contest over Israel's participation, amid tensions surrounding the Gaza war.
"We regret to announce that we've made the difficult decision to postpone the Eurovision Song Contest Live Tour 2026," Eurovision director Martin Green said Friday in a statement.
"We have encountered unforeseen challenges that despite the best efforts of our team, the producers, and promoters we have been unable to resolve."
He said the thousands of fans who had already bought tickets would be refunded in full as soon as possible.
"We look forward to relaunching the Live Tour when we can ensure the world class experience that our fans expect," Green added.
The indoor arena tour was due to visit 10 European cities: London, Hamburg, Milan, Zurich, Antwerp, Cologne, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Paris and Stockholm.
The tour, scheduled for June and July, was due to feature artists both the 2026 contest and past editions, doing their own Eurovision songs plus covers of others from the competition's history.
On the bill were Ireland's multiple winner Johnny Logan, Katrina, who won for Britain in 1997, and Finnish monster rock band Lordi, who won in 2006.

Boycott

This year's edition of Eurovision will take place in Vienna, with the grand final on May 16.
Only 35 countries will take part in the glitzy extravaganza -- the fewest since entry was expanded in 2004 -- following the withdrawal of public broadcasters from Spain, Ireland, Iceland, the Netherlands and Slovenia.
Matters came to a head over widespread concerns about the conduct of Israel's war in the Gaza Strip.
There were suspicions too that the televoting system was being manipulated to boost Israel at Eurovision 2025 in Basel, while some broadcasters also raised concerns about media freedom, with Israel preventing their journalists from accessing Gaza.
"The 70th anniversary shows will be celebrated with 35 amazing artists performing to record sell-out audiences in Vienna and hundreds of millions watching around the world," said Green.
First held in 1956, Eurovision is run by the Geneva-based European Broadcasting Union, the world's biggest alliance of public-service media.
rjm/jhb

ISS

International crew set to dock at space station

  • The travelers are replacing Crew-11, which returned to Earth in January a month earlier than planned in the first medical evacuation in the space station's history.
  • Four astronauts are set to dock at the International Space Station on Saturday for a months-long research mission, replacing a crew forced to return to Earth early over a medical issue.
  • The travelers are replacing Crew-11, which returned to Earth in January a month earlier than planned in the first medical evacuation in the space station's history.
Four astronauts are set to dock at the International Space Station on Saturday for a months-long research mission, replacing a crew forced to return to Earth early over a medical issue.
The US space agency's international Crew-12 blasted off early Friday aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Cape Canaveral launch site in Florida.
After more than 30 hours in flight, the astronauts are expected to arrive at the ISS and dock by about 3:15 pm Eastern (2015 GMT).
Crew-12 is composed of Americans Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, along with French astronaut Sophie Adenot and Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev.
"We have left the Earth, but the Earth has not left us," Meir said as the astronauts ventured into space. "When we gaze on our planet from above, it is immediately clear that everything is interconnected."
"We are one humankind."
The travelers are replacing Crew-11, which returned to Earth in January a month earlier than planned in the first medical evacuation in the space station's history.
The ISS, which orbits 250 miles (400 kilometers) above Earth, has since been staffed by a skeleton crew of three.
NASA declined to disclose any details about the health issue that cut the previous mission short. 
Once the astronauts arrive, they will be one of the last crews to live aboard the football field-sized space station.
Continuously inhabited for the last quarter-century, the aging ISS is scheduled to be pushed into Earth's orbit before crashing into an isolated spot in the Pacific Ocean in 2030.

Microgravity and the human body

During their eight months on the outpost, the astronauts will conduct many experiments, including research into the effects of microgravity on their bodies.
Meir, who previously worked as a marine biologist studying animals in extreme environments, will serve as the crew's commander.
Adenot has become the second French woman to fly into space, following in the footsteps of Claudie Haignere, who spent time on the Mir space station. 
Among other research, she will test a system that uses artificial intelligence and augmented reality to allow astronauts to carry out their own medical ultrasounds.
The ISS, once a symbol of warming post-Cold War relations, has been a rare area of continued cooperation between the West and Russia since Moscow invaded Ukraine in 2022.
However, the space station has not entirely avoided the tensions back on Earth. 
In November, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev -- who had long been planned to be a member of Crew-12 -- was suddenly taken off the mission. 
Reports from independent media in Russia suggested he had been photographing and sending classified information with his phone while training at a SpaceX facility. Russian space agency Roscosmos merely said he had been transferred to a different job. 
His replacement, Fedyaev, has already spent some time on the ISS as part of Crew-6 in 2023.
bur-sst/ksb

conflict

Palestinian leader urges removal of all Israeli 'obstacles' on Gaza ceasefire

  • "We emphasise the need to lift all obstacles imposed by the Israeli occupation on the implementation of the provisions related to the second phase of the agreement," Abbas said, in a speech read by his prime minister Mohammed Mustafa at an African Union summit in Ethiopia.
  • Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas called on Saturday for the removal of "all obstacles" he said Israel has imposed on implementing phase two of the Gaza ceasefire.
  • "We emphasise the need to lift all obstacles imposed by the Israeli occupation on the implementation of the provisions related to the second phase of the agreement," Abbas said, in a speech read by his prime minister Mohammed Mustafa at an African Union summit in Ethiopia.
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas called on Saturday for the removal of "all obstacles" he said Israel has imposed on implementing phase two of the Gaza ceasefire.
"We emphasise the need to lift all obstacles imposed by the Israeli occupation on the implementation of the provisions related to the second phase of the agreement," Abbas said, in a speech read by his prime minister Mohammed Mustafa at an African Union summit in Ethiopia.
This included the work of a technocratic committee established to oversee the daily governance of Gaza, he added.
Removal of the obstacles was needed to "ensure continuity of services, coordinate humanitarian efforts and enable a swift recovery", the president said.
Abbas accused Israel of "continuing to violate" the ceasefire agreement with Palestinian militant group Hamas that took effect in October and was backed by the United States.
"From the announcement of the ceasefire until today, more than 500 Palestinians have been killed (in Gaza), which threatens the durability of the truce and the full implementation of its second phase," he added. 
Even though the US-brokered truce entered its second phase last month, violence has continued in the Palestinian territory, with Israel and Hamas trading blame. 
The deal is aimed at permanently ending the Gaza war and was endorsed in November by the United Nations. 
The second phase stipulates that Israeli forces gradually withdraw from Gaza and Hamas should disarm, with an international stabilisation force deployed to ensure security.
Hamas has repeatedly said that disarmament is a red line, although it has indicated it could consider handing over its weapons to a future Palestinian governing authority.

'A number of conditions'

The Israeli army still controls more than half of the Gaza Strip, while Hamas and Israel accuse each other daily of ceasefire violations. 
Fifteen Palestinian experts on the technocratic committee, which is being overseen by a "Board of Peace" set up by US President Donald Trump, are currently based in Egypt, despite a partial reopening on February 2 of the Rafah border crossing, Gaza's only gateway to the outside world that does not lead to Israel.
Nickolay Mladenov, a Bulgarian diplomat whom Trump named high representative for Gaza, said on Friday that "a number of conditions need to be met" before technocratic committee members can enter the Palestinian territory.
"One, Hamas needs to transfer the civilian control of the institutions in Gaza," he told a discussion on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.
"This is not a government coming in after an election. This is far much more complicated," he said. 
"Because Hamas has been governing Gaza for 20 years and... implementing policies that are not in line with Palestinian legislation," he added.
Other conditions he mentioned included ending Gaza ceasefire violations and "a radical increase in the assistance to people, aid going into Gaza".
"And finally, we need to make sure that we have the framework agreed in place on the decommissioning of weapons in Gaza," Mladenov said, emphasising the importance of the future role of a Palestinian security force.
He said the International Stabilisation Force (ISF) for the territory -- set out under the Trump plan to end the war -- "is extremely important". 
"But far more important than the ISF is the new Palestinian security force that should be deployed in Gaza, that should be able to secure the ground with the assistance of the ISF," he added. 
bur-sg/mj/axn/amj/tw

technology

China top court says drivers responsible despite autonomous technology

  • Drivers are still responsible for ensuring road safety after activating assisted driving functions, China's top court said in a "guiding case" issued on Friday.
  • China's top court has issued a ruling confirming humans in cars with assisted driving technology are responsible for their vehicle, setting a nationwide benchmark as Beijing positions itself as a standards-setter in the auto market.
  • Drivers are still responsible for ensuring road safety after activating assisted driving functions, China's top court said in a "guiding case" issued on Friday.
China's top court has issued a ruling confirming humans in cars with assisted driving technology are responsible for their vehicle, setting a nationwide benchmark as Beijing positions itself as a standards-setter in the auto market.
In its ruling the court referred to a case in which a man relied on the technology while drunk and asleep at the wheel.
Chinese tech companies and carmakers have poured billions of dollars into autonomous driving technology in the race to outperform each other, as well as rivals in the United States and Europe.
However, Beijing has moved to tighten safety rules after a high-profile crash last March.
Drivers are still responsible for ensuring road safety after activating assisted driving functions, China's top court said in a "guiding case" issued on Friday.
The reference case is a September ruling in southern Zhejiang province, in which a driver surnamed Wang was jailed and fined for fully relying on the assisted driving system while drunk.
Wang installed a device to mimic hand grip on the steering wheel, set the car to drive then fell asleep in the passenger seat, the court said.
Police found Wang after the car stopped in the middle of a road.
"The on-board assisted driving system cannot replace the driver as the primary driving subject," the Supreme People's Court said in the Friday ruling.
The driver "is still the one who actually performs the driving tasks and bears the responsibility to ensure driving safety", it added.
While most such systems currently used on the road specify that the driver is ultimately in control of the car, the court's ruling now makes that a legal standard nationwide.
Lower courts are to reference the judgement when deciding on similar cases. 
Beijing had already warned leading automakers that safety rules would be more tightly enforced after a crash that killed three college students last March raised concerns over the advertising of cars as being capable of autonomous driving.
Friday's guidance comes after China announced it will ban hidden door handles on cars, a minimalist design popularised by Tesla, from next year -- also over safety concerns.
Folding into the body of the car, such door handles help reduce drag while in motion but are prone to losing operability in the event of a crash.
One high-profile incident occurred in October, when rescuers were shown failing to open the doors of a burning electric vehicle in the southwestern city of Chengdu.
mya/reb/mtp

Global Edition

Carney offers support of united Canada to town devastated by mass shooting

BY BEN SIMON

  • Friday's vigil included people who came from other British Columbia towns to show support. 
  • Prime Minister Mark Carney on Friday pledged Canada's enduring support to the grief-stricken town of Tumbler Ridge, as he led a candlelight vigil for the eight victims of a mass shooting.
  • Friday's vigil included people who came from other British Columbia towns to show support. 
Prime Minister Mark Carney on Friday pledged Canada's enduring support to the grief-stricken town of Tumbler Ridge, as he led a candlelight vigil for the eight victims of a mass shooting.
Carney arrived in the remote British Columbia mining town with the heads of opposition parties, a show of national solidarity after one of the deadliest outbursts of violence in Canadian history. 
"I know that nothing I can say will bring your children home. I know that no words from me or anyone can fill the silence in your homes tonight, and I won't pretend otherwise," Carney told the crowd gathered outside the town hall on a frigid night. 
"We wanted you to hear that Canadians are with you, and we will always be with you," the prime minister said. 
Opposition leader Pierre Poilievre, who also spoke, told AFP before the vigil that Canada "was in tears."
"But we are united like never before."
"As a father, I'm thinking about those wonderful, precious children that were lost and the parents that are now left with a gaping and unfillable hole," the Conservative Party leader said. 

Shooter was 'hunting'

In the days since Tuesday's killings at the Tumbler Ridge Secondary School, more information has emerged about both the victims and the shooter, an 18-year-old transgender woman named Jesse Van Rootselaar.
Van Rootselaar was "hunting," and "there was no specific targeting of any individuals," the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said.
An RCMP officer remained stationed outside Van Rootselaar's home on Friday. 
The modest brown house on a quiet, unassuming street was cordoned-off with police tape. Two overturned bicycles rested against the snow in the front yard. 
Van Rootselaar killed her 39-year-old mother and 11-year-old brother in the house before heading to the school, where she shot dead six more people -- five students and a teacher -- then killed herself. 
The shooter's estranged father, Justin Van Rootselaar, sent a statement to the public broadcaster CBC offering condolences for a "senseless and unforgivable act of violence."
Officers released a photo of the shooter -- who was known to have mental health issues. She is shown wearing a hoodie with an expressionless face. 

'Unheard-of cruelty' 

Tumbler Ridge is an isolated community built four decades ago, 1,180 kilometers (733 miles) north of Vancouver.
Friday's vigil included people who came from other British Columbia towns to show support. 
Christine James, who drove 120 kilometres from Dawson Creek, fought back tears, saying: "I just needed to be here." 
Tumbler Ridge community leaders have stressed the grieving process is indefinite, but inside the community center on Thursday, there were hints of life inching back towards normal, including an ice rink packed with children playing hockey or working on their skating. 
On Thursday evening, the mother of one victim, Sarah Lampert, addressed the media at the center, saying she wanted to speak for her 12-year-old daughter Ticaria who had "a beautiful, strong voice that was silenced."
"She is forever my baby, because that's what she was. She was a baby," Lampert said, fighting back tears as she addressed a room full of cameras. 
Also killed at school was 12-year-old Zoey Benoit.
"She was so resilient, vibrant, smart, caring and the strongest little girl you could meet," a statement from her family said. 
Peter Schofield's 13-year-old grandson Ezekiel was another of the murdered students. 
"Everything feels so surreal. The tears just keep flowing," he posted on Facebook. 
Residents have repeatedly stressed the community's closeness in the days following the shootings, saying tight relationships in the town of 2,400 would help people get through the nightmare. 
"This will not break us," pastor George Rowe said. "I think we're going to be OK."
Carney met privately before the vigil with various community groups, including first-responders and health workers and said he came away understanding "what has always defined this community: people caring for each other."
bs/msp
 

president

Peru Congress to debate impeachment of interim president on Tuesday

  • Prosecutors said Friday they were opening an investigation into "whether the head of state exercised undue influence" in the government appointments of nine women on his watch.
  • Peru's Congress will next week debate whether to impeach interim president Jose Jeri, the country's seventh head of state in 10 years, who stands accused of the irregular hiring of several women in his government.
  • Prosecutors said Friday they were opening an investigation into "whether the head of state exercised undue influence" in the government appointments of nine women on his watch.
Peru's Congress will next week debate whether to impeach interim president Jose Jeri, the country's seventh head of state in 10 years, who stands accused of the irregular hiring of several women in his government.
A motion to oust Jeri, 39, received the backing of dozens of lawmakers on claims of influence peddling, the latest of a series of impeachment bids against him.
Jeri, in office since October, took over from unpopular leader Dina Boluarte who was ousted by lawmakers amid a wave of protests against corruption and a wave of violence linked to organized crime he has vowed to roll back.
Prosecutors said Friday they were opening an investigation into "whether the head of state exercised undue influence" in the government appointments of nine women on his watch.
The impeachment motion will be debated on Tuesday, interim congressional leader Fernando Rospigliosi said.
Jeri, a onetime leader of Congress himself, was appointed to serve out the remainder of Boluarte's term, which runs until July, when a new president will take over following elections on April 12.
Jeri is constitutionally barred from seeking election in April.
The alleged improper appointments were revealed by investigative TV program Cuarto Poder, which said five women were given jobs in the president's office and the environment ministry after visiting with Jeri.
Prosecutors spoke of a total of nine women.
Jeri is also under investigation for alleged "illegal sponsorship of interests" following a secret meeting with a Chinese businessman with commercial ties with the government. 
If successfully impeached, Jeri would cease to exercise his functions and be replaced by a new interim president.
He claims to be the victim of a plot to force him to resign.
Peru is experiencing a prolonged political crisis, which has seen it burn through six presidents since 2016, several of them impeached or under investigation for wrongdoing.
It is also gripped by a wave of extortion that has claimed dozens of lives, particularly of bus drivers -- some shot at the wheel if their companies refuse to pay protection money.
In two years, the number of extortion cases reported in Peru jumped more than tenfold -- from 2,396 to over 25,000 in 2025.
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