security

Ireland suspects 'co-ordinated' campaign as Europe bomb hoaxes widen

justice

Paraguay ex-president under questioning in banking scandal

BY TOMáS VIOLA

  • Senators voted unanimously on Friday to remove Paraguay's youngest-ever president from office, three days after the implosion of Ueno bank, one of the country's biggest lenders.
  • Paraguayan prosecutors on Saturday began questioning former president Santiago Pena over his alleged involvement in a banking crisis over which he was impeached a day earlier, a police source confirmed to AFP. Pena, who is being investigated for breach of trust, influence peddling and embezzlement, entered the attorney general's office in the capital Asuncion through a side door shortly after 11:00 am (1400 GMT).
  • Senators voted unanimously on Friday to remove Paraguay's youngest-ever president from office, three days after the implosion of Ueno bank, one of the country's biggest lenders.
Paraguayan prosecutors on Saturday began questioning former president Santiago Pena over his alleged involvement in a banking crisis over which he was impeached a day earlier, a police source confirmed to AFP.
Pena, who is being investigated for breach of trust, influence peddling and embezzlement, entered the attorney general's office in the capital Asuncion through a side door shortly after 11:00 am (1400 GMT).
The prosecutor in charge of the probe, Christian Benitez, said that Pena could be formally charged as early as Saturday afternoon.
Senators voted unanimously on Friday to remove Paraguay's youngest-ever president from office, three days after the implosion of Ueno bank, one of the country's biggest lenders.
Pena, a conservative former finance minister, was placed under house arrest minutes after his impeachment.
Pena was succeeded by former vice president Pedro Alliana, who promised not to abandon the almost three million depositors, including pensioners, affected by Ueno's demise.
On the streets of Asuncion there was rejoicing at Pena's ouster.
"Justice has been done. Now we want him to give us back our money and go to jail," Jessica Aquino, 32, told AFP.
But the news that Alliana, who is from the same right-wing Colorado Party, would take over angered some demonstrators.
"He's from the same team, he knew about it (the trouble at Ueno)," Edson Vazquez complained to AFP.
 

US ally

 
The collapse of Ueno, which started out as a digital-first fintech company and grew into a major bank that handled the accounts of several state entities, rocked the usually stable South American nation.
US-backed Pena, who sold his stake in the group that controlled the bank last year, had offered his resignation.
But lawmakers pressed ahead with impeachment proceedings in order to strip him of the political immunity he would have enjoyed had he stepped down.
Thousands of people had taken to the streets furiously demanding their money back after the Central Bank took control of Ueno, citing fears for its solvency.
Advance payments to an unspecified number of depositors began on Thursday afternoon, a Central Bank official told AFP.
Pena's removal is a further blow for US President Donald Trump's network of allies in South America.
Trump's favorite for Brazilian president, Flavio Bolsonaro, was defeated by left-wing incumbent Lula Inacio Lula da Silva last month.
Alliana will serve out the remainder of Pena's term, which ends in 2028.
Writing on X Saturday, Juan Pablo Segura, US assistant secretary of state for Western hemisphere affairs, called Paraguay a "strategic partner, friend and ally of the United States" and said Washington looked forward to working with Alliana. 
Lula, also reacting on X to events in Paraguay, said he looked forward to welcoming Alliana to Brazil soon.
str-tev/sa/cb/msp

protests

New mass protests in France as police thwart banned rally

BY SHAHZAD ABDUL AND STUART WILLIAMS

  • In the southeastern city of Lyon, police fired tear gas to disperse several hundred people in the city centre blocking a road during an unauthorised gathering.
  • Thousands of people protested across France on Saturday in a new show of anger against the government with Paris police moving to prevent an unauthorised gathering near the president's Elysee Palace office and residence.
  • In the southeastern city of Lyon, police fired tear gas to disperse several hundred people in the city centre blocking a road during an unauthorised gathering.
Thousands of people protested across France on Saturday in a new show of anger against the government with Paris police moving to prevent an unauthorised gathering near the president's Elysee Palace office and residence.
The protests mark the fourth weekend in a row of demonstrations, which have erupted as the country tilts towards presidential elections in five months' time in which the far right sees its best chance yet to win power.
Authorities expected up to 170,000 people to protest nationwide, including 60,000 in Paris. But the interior ministry counted 7,000 people protesting early afternoon nationwide, down on the same time last week and indicating a downward trend in participation, an official told AFP.
The demonstrations come after mass protests by unions on Thursday accompanied by strikes, with teaching unions vowing more walk-outs next week.
Some 70,000 members of the security forces were deployed Saturday, ready to move in quickly after mass protests on October 17 degenerated into the worst riots seen in France in years.
Unions staged a march along a traditional route, from the Place de la Republique in central Paris to Place de la Nation in the east of the city.
But the Yellow Vests movement -- a group whose protests shook Emmanuel Macron in the early years of his presidency almost a decade ago -- called for a rival demonstration at the Place de la Concorde in central Paris, a stone's throw from the president's Elysee Palace and the lower house of parliament.
This action has been banned by the authorities, and on Saturday a large police presence prevented protesters from getting close. Some 100 people who arrived were surrounded by police and one of the movement's coordinators, Benjamin Ball, and its spokeswoman, Azelma Sigaux, were apprehended by police, an AFP reporter said.
In the southeastern city of Lyon, police fired tear gas to disperse several hundred people in the city centre blocking a road during an unauthorised gathering.
"The risk is exactly the same as on previous Saturdays," said Interior Minister Laurent Nunez, calling on authorities "not to lower their guard". 
 

'This can't go on'

 
The wave of demonstrations was sparked by a movement in late September by high school students angered by conditions at their establishments. These teens, joined by university students, remain at the heart of the protests.
"Today is a date that helps keep the pressure on," said Sabine Kharbach, spokeswoman of the Student Union. "Many young people are mobilising because the government's responses remain unsatisfactory."
The police response has faced criticism for being heavy-handed, with dozens of internal investigations launched into allegations of brutality against demonstrators.
After several instances of apparent police brutality against AFP reporters covering the protests, the international news agency on Friday urged protection for its journalists.
Local businesses are also feeling the pain. "So this can't go on, otherwise I think it will be a disaster before long," said Paris shop manager Jean Emile Moulinier, whose store is around the main protest route and says hardly any customers brave security barricades on protest weekends.
Shop windows of stores in Paris and other cities were again barricaded with wooden shutters and often closed for the day to prevent potential ransacking.
The government is grappling with ways to find solutions but is constrained by France's gigantic debt pile which is already spooking markets.
Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu is due to meet unions and employer federation representatives on Monday to discuss wages and purchasing power.
But student and teacher groups in France have called for a new strike on Tuesday to keep pressure on the government for more education spending, saying they were "in a position of strength (and) the government in a position of weakness and starting to yield".
Polls meanwhile show that far-right candidate Marine Le Pen is the favourite to win the Elysee in 2027 with her main rival currently not one of Macron's centrist former allies but hard-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon.
Melenchon was due to address a rally later Saturday.
bur-sjw/phz

conflict

Ukraine says Russia ramps up strikes to pressure Kyiv at talks

  • "By intensifying its attacks on Ukraine and our infrastructure at this very moment, Russia is trying to additionally lay the groundwork for putting pressure on Ukraine's position and that of its partners," Zelensky said.
  • Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday accused Russia of intensifying strikes across the country to put pressure on Kyiv at upcoming talks after an overnight barrage triggered power cuts as temperatures drop.
  • "By intensifying its attacks on Ukraine and our infrastructure at this very moment, Russia is trying to additionally lay the groundwork for putting pressure on Ukraine's position and that of its partners," Zelensky said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday accused Russia of intensifying strikes across the country to put pressure on Kyiv at upcoming talks after an overnight barrage triggered power cuts as temperatures drop.
The latest strikes on Ukraine's energy infrastructure came days before the trilateral US-brokered meeting in Abu Dhabi scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday aimed at reviving stalled diplomatic efforts towards peace.
Ukraine's energy ministry said "a massive attack on a number of energy facilities" had plunged five regions into darkness and significantly hampered electricity transmission in Kyiv and surrounding region.
Zelensky said the timing of the aerial barrage showed that Russia had a "very particular view of diplomacy" as it struck ahead of "another joint effort with our partners to reinvigorate negotiations".
"By intensifying its attacks on Ukraine and our infrastructure at this very moment, Russia is trying to additionally lay the groundwork for putting pressure on Ukraine's position and that of its partners," Zelensky said.
Moscow has battered Ukraine's energy grid and infrastructure throughout its four-and-a-half-year invasion and Kyiv was now bracing for another harsh winter as temperatures begin to hover around freezing.
Zelensky also said Russia had throughout the night launched 172 drones and 36 ballistic missiles, among which, according to him, were KN-23 missiles manufactured and supplied by North Korea.
They hit "one of the key energy facilities that was damaged", Zelensky said.
Russia has turned to North Korea for support throughout invasion.
Earlier in the war, Pyongyang dispatched thousands of troops to help Russia fight back a Ukrainian counterattack in its western Kursk region.
The Russian defence ministry in a statement Saturday said it had struck "facilities belonging to the military-industrial complex, the energy sector, and transport infrastructure" in Kyiv and its surrounding region.
 

'Shortage' of interceptors

 
Zelensky urged the United States to increase its flagging aid to Ukraine.
"Unfortunately, there is still a significant shortage of interceptors for Patriot systems, and the United States is in the best position to help address it," Zelensky said.
The overnight strikes damaged energy facilities and a key bridge in Kyiv, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said earlier on Saturday, warning that the energy supply situation was "extremely difficult". 
Consumers in the Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Kyiv, Zhytomyr and Kharkiv regions were left without power, the energy ministry said. 
It did not say how many homes were affected.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, Ukrainian officials are expected to sit down with Russian negotiators and US envoys for the first such direct talks in months.
The diplomatic track has been stalled since February when Washington shifted attention to its war with Iran.
US President Donald Trump's repeated attempts to broker an end to the war have foundered over Moscow's sweeping territorial demands, particularly its insistence on controlling all of Ukraine's eastern Donbas region, including areas still held by Kyiv.
Zelensky has rejected surrendering Ukrainian-held territory, warning that Russia could use it as a springboard for another attack.
Russia, which launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, now occupies roughly one-fifth of Ukrainian territory.
bur-mmp/rmb

pope

Pope Leo urges Uruguay's Catholics to be 'bridge builders'

  • In the northwestern city of Paysandu, Leo urged Uruguayans to be "bridge builders" and "share the joy" of their faith.
  • Pope Leo urged Catholics in Uruguay, Latin America's most secular country, to be "bridge builders" for the faith on Saturday and praised the favorite local brew, mate, on the second day of his South American tour.
  • In the northwestern city of Paysandu, Leo urged Uruguayans to be "bridge builders" and "share the joy" of their faith.
Pope Leo urged Catholics in Uruguay, Latin America's most secular country, to be "bridge builders" for the faith on Saturday and praised the favorite local brew, mate, on the second day of his South American tour.
Just three weeks after undergoing surgery for lung cancer, the 71-year-old pontiff has embarked on a 12-day tour of the continent where he served nearly two decades as a missionary.
Latin America is the world's most Catholic continent but the number of people who define themselves as Catholic has plummeted in the past 30 years, from 80 percent to 55 percent, a Latinobarometro poll showed.
In the northwestern city of Paysandu, Leo urged Uruguayans to be "bridge builders" and "share the joy" of their faith.
He drew applause as he paid homage to the local tradition of sharing a herbal infusion called mate (pronounced ma-tay), sipped from a gourd with a metal straw.
Mate "teaches us to share and be together," the pope told thousands of faithful who braved early morning drizzle for the mass in a park, many clutching one of the hot drinks.
"Mate has even made its way to Rome," Leo joked.
Gladys Soria, 81, travelled to the mass with her daughter Adela from a small town around 50 kilometers (30 miles) away. 
Soria told AFP she had recently undergone surgery and could barely walk but "found the strength to come."
 

'Live with dignity'

 
US-born Leo's tour will take him to Argentina, home of the late Pope Francis, on Sunday and then to Peru, where he served as bishop and which claims the pope as one of its own.
Leo took Peruvian citizenship during his many years in the Andean country.
On Friday, in the first speech of his tour, delivered in a half-empty square in Montevideo, he advocated for universal healthcare.
His own lung cancer diagnosis made him think of the "many men and women" who do not receive a timely diagnosis or treatment, he said.
Leo's speech also stressed the importance of supporting those whose physical or mental suffering cannot be eased.
Without referring specifically to euthanasia, which was legalized in Uruguay last year, he said each person should be supported to "live with dignity, receive the care they need, and be accompanied until the natural end of his or her life."
Liberal Uruguay's decision to make assisted suicide legal has been fiercely contested by the Catholic Church. 
The pope said the Church wanted to "alleviate suffering whenever possible" and impress upon the sick that "their lives always retain meaning."
Leo's visit to Uruguay is the first to the country by a pope in the nearly four decades.
He will return to Montevideo on Saturday afternoon to visit Casavalle, the neighborhood with the highest homicide rate in the capital, as well as the Catholic University and the Centenario Stadium, where he will preside over a prayer vigil for 60,000 people.
aic-ide-cb/msp
 

US

Iran says forces 'stronger' than at beginning of war

BY AFP TEAMS IN TEHRAN AND WASHINGTON

  • Trump said Iran -- which he stressed has had its economy and military severely damaged over eight months of war -- is eager to end the conflict.
  • Iran said on Saturday its military had grown "stronger" since the outset of its war with the United States, as mediators including Qatar worked to prevent any return to fighting after months of deadlock in the conflict.
  • Trump said Iran -- which he stressed has had its economy and military severely damaged over eight months of war -- is eager to end the conflict.
Iran said on Saturday its military had grown "stronger" since the outset of its war with the United States, as mediators including Qatar worked to prevent any return to fighting after months of deadlock in the conflict.
Washington also offered a $20 million reward for information about Tehran's nuclear programme.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Instagram on Saturday that over the past 48 hours he held phone calls with ministers from 12 countries.
US President Donald Trump, meanwhile, called Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on Friday to discuss efforts to end the war.
Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani applauded colleagues in the US administration for "genuine intentions to find a way to contain the situation and to de-escalate it".
"Thanks also to some wise voices in Tehran, we have prevented that from getting out of control," he said in Oxford on Friday.
Trump said Iran -- which he stressed has had its economy and military severely damaged over eight months of war -- is eager to end the conflict.
"We're dealing with them now. They want to make a deal very badly," he said.
The Middle East conflict began when the US and Israel attacked Iran in late February.
Tehran has since sought to limit traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, which normally carries about one-fifth of global oil consumption.
Iranian army spokesman Mohammad Akraminia said the strategic waterway would remain closed until Tehran's demands were met by Washington.
- No 'perfect deal' - 
He also said Iran's forces "are on higher alert and are stronger than they were at the beginning of the war".
"They now possess greater motivation, commitment and self-confidence," he added, state news agency IRNA reported on Saturday.
"Under the order of the Supreme Leader, the response of the armed forces will be immediate, effective and without geographical limitations."
Revolutionary Guards spokesman Hossein Mohebbi told Fars news agency on Saturday that "the increase in the range of Iran's missiles continues steadily".
"There is no pause in this regard."
He spoke days after Trump's Republican Party suffered heavy losses in midterm elections widely viewed as a referendum on the US leader's turbulent second term.
Ali Vaez, of the International Crisis Group, told AFP that "having suffered electoral defeat and failed to secure military victory, Trump is unlikely to tolerate the trifecta of diplomatic humiliation".
"The midterms have raised the political cost of war, but a lame duck Trump could become a flame duck if Iran denies him a face-saving exit," he added.
"Both sides may be mistaking the other's weakness for a reason to hold out rather than compromise."
Qatar's prime minister said "we cannot... just wait for this moment of a perfect deal" as there would never be one.
He added that priority should be given to addressing the nuclear issue and ensuring freedom of navigation and the security of the Gulf.

Reward offered

Iran's army said in a statement carried by state TV on Saturday that a tanker in the Strait of Hormuz "caught fire and came to a halt after striking a naval mine".
The US had recently said all mines had been cleared from the waterway.
On Saturday, Iran's Tasnim news agency reported that two missiles had struck Qeshm Island in the strait, adding there was no official information about any damage.
Iranian state television reported two explosions on the island.
The Iranian army said early Saturday that its air defences had "struck and destroyed" a US drone that was flying over the island, according to state media. It did not say whether the island was attacked.
On Friday, the US military said it was offering a $20 million reward "and possible relocation" for information about Iran's nuclear programme.
Rewards for Justice, a State Department programme, was seeking information on topics including "facilities, equipment, and associated personnel, such as those in the scientific community," US Central Command said on X.
Trump has repeatedly said US forces have effectively obliterated Iran's nuclear programme.
"If we didn't hit Iran, you wouldn't have Israel today," he said on Friday.
"If they had nuclear, they would have used nuclear. They would have obliterated the Middle East."
bur-amj/rh

politics

New Zealand PM sees path back to office but vote 'too close to call'

BY OLIVER HOTHAM WITH BEN STRANG IN AUCKLAND

  • "But right now it is too close to call."
  • New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said Sunday his right-wing coalition had a path back to office, while conceding the vote was too close to call definitively and compromise would be needed after a hard-fought campaign dominated by cost of living issues.
  • "But right now it is too close to call."
New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said Sunday his right-wing coalition had a path back to office, while conceding the vote was too close to call definitively and compromise would be needed after a hard-fought campaign dominated by cost of living issues.
Neither Luxon's National Party nor the centre-left Labour won enough seats in parliament to form a government without minor parties in an election that put the two main parties neck and neck at 29 percent -- just a few thousand votes separating them.
Preliminary results had National winning the most seats, which would give them a very slim majority of just two if combined with their coalition partners -- the populist NZ First and the libertarian ACT.
"National is once again the largest party in parliament, and we have a pathway to forming the next government," Luxon said in Auckland to chants of "three more years" from supporters. 
"But right now it is too close to call."
He said he would run a caretaker government until the final votes were tallied on November 27.
Those hundreds of thousands of "special votes" -- which include those from New Zealanders living abroad -- could tip the balance of the poll.
"With those final results there can then be meaningful negotiations," Luxon said.
At an event with supporters in Upper Hutt, near Wellington, Labour leader Chris Hipkins arrived late to cheers of his nickname "Chippy" -- greeted with adulation even as he accepted that his party may not play a role in the next government.
"New Zealand has spoken. It may take us a little bit longer to figure out exactly what it is that you've said," he told supporters.
"Our next parliament is going to require all of us to compromise, to work together, and to find common ground," he said.
"If we have the privilege of forming the government after this election, when the results are finally known, we will get straight to work," he added.
"But if we don't, we will continue to stand up for the people who need a strong voice in parliament and work every day to earn the confidence of New Zealanders."

Centrist upstart

This week's knife-edge poll drew intense attention to the country's minor parties, in particular the upstart centrist Opportunity Party.
Under the country's mixed-member proportional representation (MMP) system, voters must tick two options -- a general party list as well as an individual member to represent their electorate.
Results put Opportunity winning over five percent -- the threshold needed to gain seats in parliament without an electorate candidate win, which could give the party a kingmaker role in the next government.
Leader Qiulae Wong has vowed a kinder, gentler politics and said she could work with whichever party wins the most seats.
"You guys have voted for unity over division," she said as votes rolled in.
"You have voted to change New Zealand politics for good."
She told state broadcaster 1News that she had both Luxon's and Hipkins' phone numbers ready.

Cost of living

Kiwis are struggling to make ends meet -- the price of basic goods remains stubbornly elevated, and unemployment at its highest in more than a decade.
The war in the Middle East and the subsequent global fuel shock have been widely blamed for the hit to New Zealand's economy.
Luxon had hoped his right-wing coalition could cling to power with promises of "no new taxes", after three fractious years in office, two failed bids by his own party to oust him as leader and an economy in the doldrums.
And while National have a path to power, they would do so without several of their most senior and highest-performing members.
Deputy leader and Finance Minister Nicola Willis will not return to parliament due to her party's poor performance in the party vote.
And Chris Bishop, the minister for housing, infrastructure and transport, looks set to lose his Hutt South seat.
bes-oho/ceg

pope

Pope Leo begins South America tour in 'fairly good shape'

BY CLARE BYRNE

  • Leo will celebrate Mass on Saturday in a park in Paysandu, a city in western Uruguay, where 30,000 pilgrims are expected.
  • Pope Leo XIV arrived in Uruguay, where he will celebrate a Mass on Saturday, as he began a 12-day tour of South America in "fairly good shape."
  • Leo will celebrate Mass on Saturday in a park in Paysandu, a city in western Uruguay, where 30,000 pilgrims are expected.
Pope Leo XIV arrived in Uruguay, where he will celebrate a Mass on Saturday, as he began a 12-day tour of South America in "fairly good shape."
Leo's sixth international tour takes him to the continent that helped shape his priesthood, just three weeks after surgery for a tumor on his right lung.
The 71-year-old pontiff will visit Uruguay, Argentina and Peru on one of the most intense papal trips in decades, meeting political leaders, prisoners and the poor, as well as old friends.
Thousands of people, some waving yellow-and-white Vatican flags, lined the seafront of Uruguay's capital Montevideo to greet him as he waved from a custom-made popemobile.
But the crowds were relatively sparse in Latin America's most secular country compared with Leo's recent visits to France and Spain.
Speaking in a half-empty Plaza Independencia, after being welcomed by left-wing President Yamandu Orsi, the pope lamented Uruguay's high suicide rates -- among the highest in the world -- and appealed for healthcare to be "accessible to everyone."
He said the care he received after his lung cancer diagnosis made him think of the "many men and women who lack the means to obtain a timely diagnosis" or receive treatment.
Leo will celebrate Mass on Saturday in a park in Paysandu, a city in western Uruguay, where 30,000 pilgrims are expected.
He will then return to Montevideo to visit Casavalle, the neighborhood with the highest homicide rate in the capital, as well as the Catholic University and the Centenario Stadium, where he will preside over a prayer vigil for 60,000 people.
Leo's visit to Uruguay is the first to the country by a pope in nearly four decades.

In 'fairly good shape'

He told reporters on the plane carrying him across the Atlantic he was "in fairly good shape" following his surgery, and his advice for others facing their own cancer diagnosis was "not to be afraid."
The pontiff said he was bringing a message of "hope" to the world's most Catholic continent.
Liberal Uruguay is at odds with the Catholic Church -- as well as Latin America's new crop of conservative leaders -- on issues such as same-sex marriage, abortion and euthanasia, which was legalized there last year.
Leo issued a call for the "protection of the unborn" but also spoke about issues specific to Uruguay, such as its high suicide rates, which he called "painful."
A committed environmentalist, he had praise for the small country's "remarkable" achievement in greening its economy, which runs mainly on renewables.

'One of my many homes'

The highlight of his tour will be Peru, where he spent nearly two decades as a missionary and which he has referred to as "one of my many homes."
The Church's first US-born pope, who has repeatedly clashed with President Donald Trump over the Middle East war, spoke on his plane about voting in this week's US midterm elections.
His mail-in ballot made history because he was the first pope known to have voted in a political election.
"I'm proud to be an American and to exercise the right" to vote, he said.
He will travel on Sunday to Argentina, the homeland of his predecessor Pope Francis, who disappointed many Argentines by not returning to visit during his papacy.
His trip is seen as a double homecoming of sorts, US-based Vatican expert Christopher White told AFP.
"History's first Latin American pope, Francis, never returned to his homeland. Leo, a Peruvian citizen, now carries forward that mantle and legacy," said White, who wrote a book on Pope Leo.
Peru has been gripped by pope fever in the run-up to his arrival. 
Vendors in Lima are selling T-shirts and rosaries with his image on them, while Leo bread is on sale in bakeries.
A towering, 14-meter (46-foot) statue of Leo has also been erected in the port city of Callao, which he is set to visit.
The trip will take him to the former Inca capital of Cusco and the Amazon rainforest, but the pope will also revisit his former life as Robert Francis Prevost, with a supper among priests from his old diocese of Chiclayo and a private visit to a chapel he helped rebuild.
bur-ide/lkd/pbt

politics

Crisis-hit Paraguay impeaches Pena, replaces him with VP Alliana

BY MARTA ESCURRA

  • The US Embassy in Paraguay expressed "its solidarity with the Paraguayan people" on Friday, without mentioning the president.
  • Pedro Alliana became president of Paraguay on Friday following the impeachment of his predecessor over a massive banking crisis that locked almost half the country out of their accounts.
  • The US Embassy in Paraguay expressed "its solidarity with the Paraguayan people" on Friday, without mentioning the president.
Pedro Alliana became president of Paraguay on Friday following the impeachment of his predecessor over a massive banking crisis that locked almost half the country out of their accounts.
Senators appointed Alliana, the former vice president, shortly after voting to remove Santiago Pena over the chaotic collapse of a bank to which he had links.
Senate President Basilio Nunez declared Pena "guilty of poor performance in his duties" after 44 out of 45 senators voted in favor of impeachment, with one lawmaker absent.
Hundreds of people waiting outside Congress raucously celebrated his impeachment.
"Justice has been done. Now we want him to give us back our money and go to jail," Jessica Aquino, 32, told AFP.
Paraguayan authorities placed the ex-leader under house arrest minutes after his removal, prosecutor Silvia Margarita Gonzalez Vester told reporters.
Alliana promised not to abandon the almost three million depositors, including pensioners, affected by Ueno Bank's takeover amid insolvency concerns.
"Compatriots who are now going through a difficult time as a result of the financial collapse will be fully compensated," said Alliana, who will serve as president until 2028.
Opposition lawmakers had also filed a motion to impeach Alliana over the crisis, but the request failed to gain congressional approval.

Money trickles back

The bank's demise brought thousands of people onto the streets demanding repercussions for US-backed Pena, who until last year had a stake in Grupo Vazquez, which controlled Ueno.
Advance payments to an unspecified number of impacted depositors began on Thursday afternoon, a Central Bank official told AFP.
The first phase of aid deposits, up to around $1,600, will go to clients who don't have loans and have an account at another bank or institution in Paraguay to receive the funds, said Jose Maciel of the Central Bank's Deposit Guarantee Fund.
The next beneficiaries "will be announced progressively over the course of the payment process," he added.
Pena had offered his resignation over the disaster, but lawmakers pressed ahead with impeachment proceedings that have stripped him of political immunity.
The opposition accused the US-backed politician of a conflict of interest, which he denied.
The Attorney General said it was investigating him for "acts related to the supervision and resolution of Ueno Bank S.A. and the placement of public funds in said entity."
He will be questioned over alleged crimes of breach of trust, influence peddling, and misappropriation of funds on Saturday, prosecutor Gonzalez Vester said.
Pena urged reconciliation in an X post shortly before his removal.
"Today, we must come together as Paraguayans to rebuild our institutions and restore trust," he said.
The US Embassy in Paraguay expressed "its solidarity with the Paraguayan people" on Friday, without mentioning the president.

'Pena in prison'

"Pena in prison," read one of the protest signs outside Congress on Friday.
On Thursday, thousands demonstrated for a third consecutive night in Asuncion and other cities to demand the return of their money.
"Santiago Pena has hurt so many Paraguayans, so many families, business owners and small business people, including my own son, who had savings in Ueno Bank," Cynthia Farina told AFP at a protest in the capital that police dispersed with tear gas and water cannons.
Ueno began as a small fintech company with a digital-first model that attracted low-income customers, rapidly becoming a major bank that handled state pensions and the accounts of several state entities.
The scandal has claimed the heads of Central Bank President Carlos Carvallo and Interior Minister Enrique Riera, while eight Ueno executives have been arrested.
Police conducted raids on various locations linked to Grupo Vazquez on Wednesday and Thursday.
Nearby Argentina felt the impact of the crisis as some 1,000 employees of technology company ITTI, which is part of Grupo Vazquez, were suspended for 30 days without pay. 
Football also took a hit.
Ueno Bank sponsors several first division teams as well as the national team. 
"We were also victims of this situation," members of the national team said in a statement on X. 
bur-cc/jgc

sport

Washington state voters approve transgender athlete ban

BY MAGGY DONALDSON

  • "To all trans girls participating in school sports in Washington, we want you to know that you belong: on the field, on the court, on the team," the advocate continued.
  • Voters in Washington state approved a measure barring transgender athletes from playing on girls sports teams, a major US midterms loss for LGBTQ advocates in the normally blue state.
  • "To all trans girls participating in school sports in Washington, we want you to know that you belong: on the field, on the court, on the team," the advocate continued.
Voters in Washington state approved a measure barring transgender athletes from playing on girls sports teams, a major US midterms loss for LGBTQ advocates in the normally blue state.
With about 80 percent of ballots counted Friday, approximately 57 percent of voters approved the measure while 43 percent opted against it, and opponents conceded defeat.
The initiative will require the prohibition of transgender girls from "competing with and against female students."
Approval of the conservative measure in a state that normally votes Democratic stands in stark contrast to the otherwise disappointing November 3 midterm vote for Republicans.
Opponents of the measure included doctors who said that it is "not backed by clinical guidelines, and would create unwarranted stress and harm for young girls."
Under the initiative girls who want to play sports must undergo a physical reproductive organ exam, or genetic and hormone testing.
More than half of states have enacted laws in recent years restricting the participation of transgender students in sports.
The US Supreme Court upheld state bans in June.
The measure in Washington state was considered among the most extreme of four total similar measures that passed in this week's election.
The others were in Arizona, Nebraska and Colorado.

'Fight is not over'

Trans athletes have been the target of Republican lawmakers and anti-LGBTQ groups who argue that their participation in girls and women's sports is unfair.
The political action committee behind the measure, Let's Go Washington -- which is bankrolled by conservative hedge fund manager Brian Heywood -- called its passage "a huge win for girls in Washington state."
"Girls will compete without boys in their sports!" the group said on social media.
Civil rights advocates have countered that such efforts scapegoat a very small group of people, most of them children, who already face discrimination and bullying.
Over half of transgender youth have had suicidal thoughts in their lifetime and 31 percent have made at least one suicide attempt, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.
The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association, which governs school-linked youth sports in the northwestern state, said earlier this year it is aware of just 10 transgender middle and high schoolers who play sports, out of some 200,000 students competing statewide.
Libby Watson -- campaign manager of the group No Hate WA State, which advocated against the Washington measure -- cast the initiative as "deceptive" and a bid "by MAGA forces to target trans kids for their own political gain."
The results are a "disappointment," Watson said in a statement, but "the fight is not over."
"To all trans girls participating in school sports in Washington, we want you to know that you belong: on the field, on the court, on the team," the advocate continued.
"We stand with you and will continue to fight for a day when you can play sports without controversy."
mdo/mlm

polar

Polar vortex faltering weeks earlier than ever recorded

BY ISSAM AHMED WITH PETER HUTCHISON IN LONDON AND LAURENT THOMET IN PARIS

  • How severe any cold snaps will be is far from clear.
  • Meteorologists said Friday they were observing an unprecedented early disruption of the polar vortex, raising the risk of cold snaps across the Northern Hemisphere, though there remains significant uncertainty.
  • How severe any cold snaps will be is far from clear.
Meteorologists said Friday they were observing an unprecedented early disruption of the polar vortex, raising the risk of cold snaps across the Northern Hemisphere, though there remains significant uncertainty.
The polar vortex is a vast region of cold, low-pressure air that normally circulates from west to east high above the Arctic.
It generally strengthens through autumn and peaks around January. It can weaken in the second half of winter, typically between January and March, sending bitterly cold air spilling south into Europe, North America and Asia.
But scientists say the vortex is already weakening in early November.
- El Nino effects - 
"As far as we know, this is the earliest stratospheric vortex disruption that has been observed,"  European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecast (ECMWF) principal scientists Tim Stockdale and Frederic Vitart told AFP.
Judah Cohen, a climatologist at MIT, explained that the vortex is disrupted from below. Large atmospheric waves in the lower layer of the atmosphere, the troposphere, known as Rossby waves, can surge upward, and a big enough surge into the polar stratosphere triggers a rapid warming known as sudden stratospheric warming (SSW).
This weakens or even reverses the vortex's west-to-east winds, which can split it apart and cause it to spill southward.
"That really increases the chance of cold air outbreaks across the latitudes where most of the densely populated population centers are across the northern hemisphere, US, Europe and East Asia," Cohen told AFP.
Grahame Madge, a spokesperson for Britain's Met Office, told AFP: "This is very early, and possibly that earliness is triggered by the amplitude of the El Nino event in the Pacific." 
This year's El Nino, a pattern of warmer-than-normal sea surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific that has ripple effects through the atmosphere, is exceptionally strong and could be amplifying those waves.
Stockdale and Vitart said they did not know why the disruption came so early, but agreed the El Nino "could have been a factor in making it more likely."
But Cohen was more circumspect, explaining the current disruption appeared more linked to a record-breaking high-pressure system over Scandinavia and northwestern Russia, which are more favored in La Nina years.
The polarvortex.earth dashboard, which visualizes ECMWF modeling, currently shows a full breakdown of the vortex -- when the westerly winds turn easterly -- by November 20.
A november SSW has happened only three times in records dating back to the 1950s -- 1958, 1968 and 2025 -- all on November 28.
France's Meteo-France agency told AFP the current disruption is "an unprecedented event."
How severe any cold snaps will be is far from clear.
- Climate change link? - 
Because the disruption is coming so early, air temperatures in "places like Siberia or over the Arctic are not as cold yet as they will be" which could make outbreaks less "severe," said Madge, who called the event "exceptional" but "not necessarily worrying."
El Nino, which tends to bring milder winters, could also help. Cohen said it could "moderate or modify" the impacts, but said this remained uncertain.
"At this stage, the potential consequences for France remain highly uncertain," said Meteo-France. "They will depend on how the disruption evolves, its positioning, and whether or not it propagates down to the lower layers of the atmosphere."
Cohen said climate change could be playing a role, though he stressed this was speculation and no research has yet confirmed the link.
Rapid sea ice loss around Scandinavia is warming that region, while more snow in East Asia is cooling it, he said. That could be sharpening the temperature contrast across Eurasia, which in turn would amplify Rossby waves and making the polar vortex more likely to be disrupted.
burs-ia/sms

court

Prince Harry seeks to appeal after losing case against UK tabloid

  • The case is the third and final one brought by the Duke of Sussex in his acrimonious legal battle with British tabloids.
  • Prince Harry on Friday launched a legal challenge after losing a privacy case against the publisher of the British tabloid the Daily Mail.
  • The case is the third and final one brought by the Duke of Sussex in his acrimonious legal battle with British tabloids.
Prince Harry on Friday launched a legal challenge after losing a privacy case against the publisher of the British tabloid the Daily Mail.
The case is the third and final one brought by the Duke of Sussex in his acrimonious legal battle with British tabloids.
The High Court in August ordered Harry and six others, including pop legend Elton John, to make an initial payment of £9.5 million ($13 million) to Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) after finding against them a month earlier.
Harry, the 42-year-old younger son of King Charles III, and the other claimants were seeking to appeal on grounds that the judgement and costs ruling were "legally and factually flawed", a statement sent to AFP by law firm Sheridans said
The group had "today filed applications with the Court of Appeal for permission to appeal," the statement addded.
The claimants in the case -- who also incude John's husband David Furnish and actors Elizabeth Hurley and Sadie Frost -- had accused the Mail of bugging their cars and homes, listening into calls and other privacy breaches. ANL had denied all the allegations.
The appeal bid comes after Harry, known fomally as the Duke of Sussex, and his wife Meghan, 45, moved back to the UK in August with their two young children Archie, seven, and Lilibet, five.
The couple left Britain and quit royal duties in 2020 amid a bitter royal family feud.
After an emotional 11-week trial -- during which Harry gave in-person evidence -- judge Matthew Nicklin in July sided with the newspaper publisher, concluding the claimants failed to prove their allegations.
After a further two-day hearing over costs, he made the initial costs decision, while again criticising the claimant's case as "speculative".

Huge costs

The court noted ANL estimated its total costs defending itself had reached about £34.5 million by July 9.
However, the ruling noted the High Court had not determined how much of those costs the claimants must ultimately pay.
The matter is set to be determined at a separate hearing.
Nicklin rejected requests by Harry and the others to pay on a standard basis, instead favouring arguments by ANL that its costs should be repaid on a stricter so-called indemnity basis.
"The Court concluded that the litigation had been pursued in a way that took it 'well outside the norm'," the summary of the ruling said, noting "the gravity of the allegations" among other factors.
The court had previously been told there was a shortfall between ANL's total costs and the claimant's insurance cover of a combined £16.2 million.
In a joint statement after losing the case Harry and campaigner Doreen Lawrence called it "a complete and obvious whitewash".
An ANL spokesperson called the decision "another overwhelming victory for the Mail and its journalism".
"His judgment is a devastating critique of an attempt to destroy a newspaper and the reputations of its journalists, editors and executives," the statement added.
Harry has long blamed the media for the death of his mother Princess Diana, who was killed in a Paris car crash in 1997 while trying to shake off the paparazzi.
har/ach 

rights

AFP denounces police 'violence' against its reporters in France protests

  • "AFP management condemns the violence committed by law enforcement against its journalists during demonstrations," said the international news agency, which has been covering high-school student and cost-of-living protests for a global audience.
  • AFP on Friday urged protection for its journalists covering demonstrations in France after several instances of apparent police brutality against its reporters.
  • "AFP management condemns the violence committed by law enforcement against its journalists during demonstrations," said the international news agency, which has been covering high-school student and cost-of-living protests for a global audience.
AFP on Friday urged protection for its journalists covering demonstrations in France after several instances of apparent police brutality against its reporters.
"AFP management condemns the violence committed by law enforcement against its journalists during demonstrations," said the international news agency, which has been covering high-school student and cost-of-living protests for a global audience.
"It is aware of the difficult conditions in which law enforcement officers sometimes operate, but it considers it essential that the status of journalist be taken into account during interventions," it added.
On Thursday, in the city of Lyon, an AFP photographer wearing his press armband was injured during a police charge against the front of a procession of demonstrators. He received five baton blows, three to his helmet and two to the lower part of one leg, suffering a fractured fibula.
On October 17, in the northern city of Lille, a text journalist was hit in the thigh by a rubber-coated projectile ball while he was wearing an armband marked "press".
A video journalist in Paris the same day was targeted by a water cannon while standing with other members of the press.
On October 18, a police officer struck her on the shoulder and collarbone with a baton, while hitting protesters who had their hands in the air right next to her.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) told AFP it has recorded 58 cases of journalists being obstructed in their coverage of the ongoing protests, not including Thursday.
They were stopped from working by members of the security forces in 40 cases, and by demonstrators or third parties in 18 cases, the media watchdog said.
In the 58 cases of obstruction, 35 involved physical violence, 21 of which were perpetrated by the security forces.
"The ability of journalists to observe, photograph and film demonstrations and law and order operations is a vital aspect of their role in providing information. It must be guaranteed, including when the situation on the ground is tense," AFP said.
AFP called "for every precaution to be taken to safeguard their physical integrity and enable them to carry out their mission".
arb/ah/jj

protests

French lawyers to sue interior minister over protester 'mutilations'

BY ANNE-SOPHIE LABADIE

  • Earlier cases of alleged police brutality included a 14-year-old who in September lost most of his teeth when a police officer appeared to fire a grenade at him at very close range.
  • Lawyers said Friday they would sue the interior minister over alleged police brutality during France's ongoing protests, which they say has led to severe injuries, including several demonstrators hit in the eye.
  • Earlier cases of alleged police brutality included a 14-year-old who in September lost most of his teeth when a police officer appeared to fire a grenade at him at very close range.
Lawyers said Friday they would sue the interior minister over alleged police brutality during France's ongoing protests, which they say has led to severe injuries, including several demonstrators hit in the eye.
France has been rocked by high-school student blockades and cost-of-living protests in recent weeks, less than six months before elections to replace centrist President Emmanuel Macron after his maximum two terms, with the far right leading in the polls.
Rights activists have accused law enforcement of using disproportionate force, following several incidents including a 15-year-old losing a hand to a crowd-control grenade.
"We now believe it is imperative to target the person responsible for these mutilations and massive damage, namely Interior Minister Laurent Nunez," attorney Arie Alimi said at a press conference of lawyers representing at least 18 victims.
He said the lawyers would lodge a complaint with the Court of Justice of the Republic (CJR), the only court able to deal with cases against sitting members of government "for the orders he gave to use weapons which he knows to be mutilating".
Around 10 of their clients have given their consent to sign this collective complaint before the CJR, the lawyers said.
Alimi said the chances were slim it would lead to the opening of an investigation.
But "we have to do something to prevent more people from being mutilated, especially children," he said.

'Greatest proportionality'

Nunez has said that police have acted with "the greatest proportionality" since the beginning of the high-school protest movement.
On Friday evening, he said he sincerely regretted the injuries but every time police officers used force, it was "within a legal and reglementary framework".
He said "intermediate" crowd-control means, such as grenades and tear gas, were essential for police to carry out their job.
Police's rubber-coated projectile balls or grenades have caused at least 20 people -- including teenagers -- to be seriously injured during protests since mid-September, according to an AFP count.
As of October 30, police had opened 105 internal investigations into allegations of police brutality, according to a source close to the case. 
Of those, 52 were linked to the high school student movement, 48 to violence during mass protests on October 17 and 18, and five to incidents on October 24.
Earlier cases of alleged police brutality included a 14-year-old who in September lost most of his teeth when a police officer appeared to fire a grenade at him at very close range.
A 15-year-old in October lost his hand at a protest when a grenade exploded. A police union source said he picked it up, but a witness said the grenade landed on him.

Three hit in the eye

Alimi said more cases were still being discovered, with a particularly "horrifying" toll for October 17, a day when arson and looting broke out in several cities on the sidelines of peaceful protests.
"It feels like being in a wartime infirmary," he said.
Among those wounded on October 17 was his client Ahmed Benmezroua, a 27-year-old independent photographer who had been attending his first protest in Paris. He almost died after a grenade ruptured an artery in his leg, he said.
A young engineer was "on the verge of losing his foot" after a grenade exploded underneath it, the lawyer said.
A 19-year-old nursing student was hit in the eye with a sting-ball grenade, resulting in a fractured nose and possible loss of the use of an eye, Alimi added.
In the eastern city of Strasbourg, a 27-year-old lost an eye after police fired a sting-ball grenade on October 17, the lawyer said.
At a protest the same day in the eastern city of Mulhouse, a student called Maissa lost the use of an eye just before her 18th birthday, her attorney Pierre Brunisso said.
Several demonstrators were wounded in the eye during the Yellow Vest protest movement that shook Macron's first term.
al-ah/ach 

Global Edition

Funny old world: the week's offbeat news

  •   - We'll toss for it -   They do elections a little differently in Peru.
  • From Donald Trump leaving America a monument to his good taste to the land where elections can really be a toss-up.
  •   - We'll toss for it -   They do elections a little differently in Peru.
From Donald Trump leaving America a monument to his good taste to the land where elections can really be a toss-up. Your weekly roundup of offbeat stories from around the world:
 

Trump's golden legacy

 
Spare a thought for Donald Trump. A week which began with the US president taking the blowback from a tussle over toilets with Norway ended with him at the wrong end of an almighty dumping from voters in the midterm elections.
Irked at being passed over again for the Nobel Peace Prize, Trump called Norway a "shithouse country" at a campaign rally.
But Oslo leaned into the insult, with its tourist board declaring that "we do have some of the most spectacular toilets in the world", posting pictures of architecturally amazing public WCs set against breathtaking natural backdrops.
"Norway makes s**thouses great again!" it added, turning the Trump slogan on its head. "These toilets are worth a visit, both when you really have to go -- and when you don't," Visit Norway said.
But worse was to come for the US leader smarting from defeat in the midterms, with a judge blocking the start of work on his pet project for a triumphal "Arch de Trump" in Washington, topped with an enormous gold statue of Lady Liberty.
Clearly rattled that his legacy was being threatened, Trump officially declared his "gaudy" golden makeover of the White House's Oval Office a national monument.
He said this would "make it impossible for anybody ever to destroy this incredible space", which rock star Jack White accused him of turning into a "wrestler's dressing room".
And to show he is ready to fight to the last for his fixtures and fittings, Trump signed the order next to one of his trademark red baseball caps emblazoned with the word "VETO".
 

We'll toss for it

 
They do elections a little differently in Peru. When the two candidates to be mayor of a village high in the Andes got the same number of votes, there was no question of interminable recounts of "hanging chads".
The rivals simply tossed a coin to decide who had won.
Ruben Quispe, the newly sworn-in mayor of Conima, near Lake Titicaca, said he felt blessed. "I always wanted to win, and God decided it."
Peruvian law allows for such tie-breakers if both candidates agree to trust in their luck.
 

Watch this space

 
In the most Japanese story of the year so far, a Swiss watch worth $290,000 was returned to the Tokyo store it was stolen from with an apology note from the thief.
A customer who tried on an Audemars Piguet timepiece made a swift exit from the shop with the watch still on his wrist.
Days later the contrite crook sent it back with a handwritten note saying how sorry he was.
But police are not ready to forgive and forget, as four luxury watches worth $1.3 million were stolen from a jewellers in the same complex in August.
burs-fg/jhb

UN

COP31 faces tough test as climate threats mount

BY LAURENT THOMET AND JULIEN MIVIELLE

  • A senior EU official, speaking on condition of anonymity, also tempered expectations, saying: "We cannot expect a revolution in terms of climate action from the Antalya COP." The talks follow deadly floods in Nepal, searing heatwaves in Europe and major wildfires in Indonesia.
  • Nearly 200 nations gather for the COP31 summit in Turkey on Monday but tensions over geopolitics, finance and fossil fuels are tempering expectations of a major breakthrough in tackling the climate crisis.
  • A senior EU official, speaking on condition of anonymity, also tempered expectations, saying: "We cannot expect a revolution in terms of climate action from the Antalya COP." The talks follow deadly floods in Nepal, searing heatwaves in Europe and major wildfires in Indonesia.
Nearly 200 nations gather for the COP31 summit in Turkey on Monday but tensions over geopolitics, finance and fossil fuels are tempering expectations of a major breakthrough in tackling the climate crisis.
More than 100,000 people are expected at the UN's two-week climate negotiations in the Mediterranean resort city of Antalya.
Tougher action on fossil fuels, the main driver of climate change, appears unlikely and budget-strapped developed countries are reluctant to commit more money to help developing nations cope with climate impacts.
An energy crisis and cost-of-living pressures, fuelled by the war in the Middle East, are also looming over the gathering.
"This is not going to be the COP that changes the world," said Paul Watkinson, France's former chief negotiator at climate summits.
"It's an intermediate COP in many ways. But it is an important conference and it does need to make sure it makes progress," he said.
A senior EU official, speaking on condition of anonymity, also tempered expectations, saying: "We cannot expect a revolution in terms of climate action from the Antalya COP."
The talks follow deadly floods in Nepal, searing heatwaves in Europe and major wildfires in Indonesia.
An exceptionally strong El Nino climate phenomenon is forecast to peak later this year, adding to extreme weather and possibly helping to make 2026 or 2027 the hottest year on record.
The outlook is increasingly bleak: the United Nations warned in September that global temperatures were on course to exceed 1.5C above preindustrial levels, breaching the most ambitious threshold set by the Paris Agreement.
 

'Implementation COP'

 
Turkey is presiding over COP31, with Australia leading negotiations under an unusual arrangement that settled a dispute over who would host the conference.
"COP31 comes at a difficult time for the world," said Australian climate minister Chris Bowen. "Reaching consensus among nearly 200 countries will not be easy but cooperation remains essential."
COP31 president Murat Kurum, Turkey's environment minister, said the conference would strive "to turn the commitments of past COPs into real results".
Turkey is promoting an "action agenda" alongside the formal negotiations that encourages countries to support non-binding pledges on issues from artificial intelligence to waste management.
Its centrepiece is an "electrification" drive to raise the share of global energy demand met by electricity from around 20 percent today to 35 percent by 2035.
"This year's energy crisis has shocked us out of our complacency," Kurum said. "Electrification is the answer. It protects communities from volatile global markets and cuts emissions."
Turkey and Australia also want electrification to appear in a "cover decision" -- an overarching political statement negotiated by consensus.
The European Union has called for "clean" electrification -- a term that could spark debate over the role of fossil fuels in the Turkish initiative.
The EU official suggested the bloc might be willing to find a compromise.
"The word 'clean' may be difficult for some. There may be other ways of formulating this without having it so explicit," the official said.
Cosima Cassel, a climate diplomacy expert at think tank E3G, said the Turkish COP31 presidency's proposal was "carefully worded".
It is "quite an open pledge that I think is going to enable quite a few countries to come on board", Cassel said.
 

Money fight

 
Countries committed to transition away from fossil fuels in a landmark pact at COP28 in 2023 but have struggled to agree on how to turn that pledge into action.
COP30 ended with a deal that made no explicit mention of fossil fuels after oil-producing countries opposed the language.
Instead, Brazil produced a voluntary "roadmap" with proposals for phasing out fossil fuels that each country can tailor to their circumstances.
Observers say Turkey and Australia are keen to avoid a repeat of last year's fossil fuel fight. 
But a feud looms over wealthy nations' unfulfilled financial commitments to help developing countries deal with climate change.
The group of African negotiators is demanding that a pledge to triple adaptation finance -- money to cope with the worsening impacts of climate change -- be added to the negotiation agenda.
Recent elections, meanwhile, have given climate campaigners a boost, with Democrats seizing control of the US Congress in a setback to President Donald Trump, who calls global warming a hoax.
A US congressional delegation will attend COP31, but the Trump administration is not taking part in the negotiations.
Fresh from his re-election win over conservative challenger Flavio Bolsonaro, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will travel to Antalya next week. 
bur-jmi-lt/rlp

security

Ireland suspects 'co-ordinated' campaign as Europe bomb hoaxes widen

BY PETER MURPHY WITH ERIN FLANAGAN IN PARIS AFP EUROPEAN BUREAUS

  • "These threats come on the heels of the ongoing disruption to aviation around Europe caused by similar threats, and it seems likely that this is a co-ordinated campaign of disruption," it added.
  • Ireland's government said Friday that hoax bomb claims sent to Irish media outlets amid a spate of threats against Europe-wide flights were "likely" part of a "co-ordinated campaign of disruption".
  • "These threats come on the heels of the ongoing disruption to aviation around Europe caused by similar threats, and it seems likely that this is a co-ordinated campaign of disruption," it added.
Ireland's government said Friday that hoax bomb claims sent to Irish media outlets amid a spate of threats against Europe-wide flights were "likely" part of a "co-ordinated campaign of disruption".
Dozens of commercial flights in Europe have been targeted by false bomb threats this week, forcing authorities to reroute some planes or escort civilian aircraft with fighter jets.
No explosives have been found in any of the incidents so far, and those responsible have not been identified.
Some of the messages have come in emails signed by "fighters of the Male State", which matches the name of a radical misogynist group in Russia -- though AFP has not confirmed any link to the messages.
The group's founder, Vladislav Pozdniakov, denied any involvement, saying on social media Friday that the "movement does not exist since 2021".
The threats spread to a new target, with staff at several Irish media organisations evacuated after bomb threats were emailed to newsrooms, said the Irish government.
"These threats come on the heels of the ongoing disruption to aviation around Europe caused by similar threats, and it seems likely that this is a co-ordinated campaign of disruption," it added.
British broadcaster Sky News told AFP it had also received a "security threat" on Friday, but gave no further details.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said it was unclear whether the hoaxes and recent cyberattacks targeting refrigeration systems at French blood banks and European supermarkets were "all connected".
"But they definitely all tell us the same thing: today, what is under attack are civilian infrastructures."
The NATO alliance continued to monitor the situation and was working "closely with allies", according to a senior NATO military official. 
 
-'Costs nothing' - 
 
Hungarian Defence Minister Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi said NATO had ordered fighter jets to be scrambled "three times within a few hours" in response to "bomb threats involving three civilian passenger aircraft".
Bulgaria's defence ministry said its fighter jets had escorted commercial aircraft through Bulgarian airspace following alerts about explosives on board.
This series of false alarms, which are difficult to trace, forces security services to respond and spreads fear at virtually no cost to those responsible, experts told AFP.
"This must be viewed in the context of hybrid operations against European states," Jean-Marc Rickli, director of global and emerging risks at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy, told AFP, without speculating about who might be responsible.
"It costs the perpetrator nothing, but it has a significant impact logistically and, of course, on public perception," he said.
Mark Rowley, chief of London's Metropolitan Police, urged a measured response, saying past experience with the paramilitary Irish Republican Army offered valuable lessons.
He recalled the phrase "10-p (pence) terrorism", when a hoax bomb call could disrupt an entire city, forcing authorities to distinguish between genuine and false threats.
The authorities would need to adapt to an evolving threat landscape involving actors around the world, some backed by hostile states, he said.
"We are going to have to adapt to that same methodology to make sure that we don't overreact to every message we get online," he told BBC Radio 4.
 

Dozens of threats

 
Four flights bound for Madrid-Barajas Airport on Friday were targeted by bomb threats that turned out to be false, Spanish airport operator AENA told AFP.
Another four aircraft flying over France were targeted the same day, the prime minister's office said, adding they had landed "without incident".
Other bomb threats targeted multiple flights to and from Lisbon, Rome, Prague and Sofia on Friday, authorities said.
At least 11 flights were targeted in the Czech Republic and Bulgaria: four flights arriving at Prague airport and five flights leaving Prague were threatened, as well as two flights to Sofia.
The threat comes after nearly 30 passenger flights were targeted across Europe on Thursday, including planes bound for London, Madrid and Copenhagen.
 

'Skies will turn red'

 
Some previous hoax messages seen by AFP have contained misogynistic messages.
"We, fighters of the Male State, with our actions today will leave a mark in history. Your feminist regime will remember it forever," said one sent to multiple email addresses for Sofia airport. "The explosion will occur in 60 minutes. Today your skies will turn red."
In 2021, Russia designated the Male State group, which used to harass feminists, minorities and LGBTQ people, an "extremist" organisation.
Despite this, the group supported Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. 
Experts say it is unclear whether it is connected to the Russian authorities.
bur-jhb-ekf/jj

court

Malaysian ex-PM Najib's bid to serve prison term at home delayed

BY FARAH SOLHI

  • But the attorney general's office said in a statement that it had sought a "temporary suspension of the execution of the house arrest" pending further investigation into the terms of his pardon, adding Najib would remain in prison.
  • Malaysia's attorney general blocked on Friday the transfer of former prime minister Najib Razak to house arrest for the remainder of his graft sentence, saying it needed more clarification on his royal pardon.
  • But the attorney general's office said in a statement that it had sought a "temporary suspension of the execution of the house arrest" pending further investigation into the terms of his pardon, adding Najib would remain in prison.
Malaysia's attorney general blocked on Friday the transfer of former prime minister Najib Razak to house arrest for the remainder of his graft sentence, saying it needed more clarification on his royal pardon.
The 73-year-old former leader was jailed for his role in one of the largest-ever global plunders of a sovereign wealth fund, the now-defunct 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
King Sultan Ibrahim granted him a conditional pardon in September, allowing him to serve out the rest of his sentence at home provided he pay a $12 million fine.
Najib's party said on Friday it paid the fine.
But the attorney general's office said in a statement that it had sought a "temporary suspension of the execution of the house arrest" pending further investigation into the terms of his pardon, adding Najib would remain in prison.
"During this period, his detention status shall be maintained in his existing place of detention, subject to the powers and instructions of the relevant authorities," it said.
Najib's legal team rejected the attorney general's decision late Friday.
"The process of releasing him into house arrest was underway when the AGC statement was issued," the team said, confirming Najib remained in detention.
"We view the AGC statement as a disregard of His Majesty's order."

Brief trip out

Earlier on Friday, the United Malays National Organisation said it had "completed all payment processes to the Kuala Lumpur High Court this morning", referring to the 50 million ringgit ($12 million) penalty.
Najib's aide, Ahmad Lutfi Azhar, confirmed the payment, and the former leader's lawyer Farhan Shafee said they had already obtained papers to transfer the former leader out of jail.
Shortly afterwards, an AFP reporter saw Najib leave the Kajang Prison compound in a silver car, followed by a convoy of vehicles.
Najib did not appear at his house, according to reporters, and a government minister said he was just out for a previously scheduled dental appointment.
The same convoy that whisked Najib out of the prison compound returned more than four hours later under police escort, an AFP reporter saw.

Money siphoned

A Malaysian judge late last year rejected an original request to allow Najib to serve the rest of his time at home.
Najib was sentenced to 12 years in prison in July 2020 in a first trial over vast sums of money siphoned from a former 1MDB subsidiary called SRC International Sdn Bhd.
But a pardons board later halved the term, and his fine was reduced to 50 million ringgit.
His sentence in this case is scheduled to be completed by August 2028.
Days after Najib's December bid for house arrest was turned down, the ex-PM was sentenced to another 15 years behind bars in a separate trial, also linked to the 1MDB scandal.
Najib has also been fined 11.4 billion ringgit for his role in the corruption scandal, which took place more than a decade ago.
He is currently appealing the 15-year sentence, which is only set to start once the six-year sentence is completed.
The son of one of Malaysia's founding fathers, Najib was groomed for leadership from a young age but fell from power spectacularly as public anger mounted over the corruption scandal. 
Investigations under successive governments have ensnared him and his wife, Rosmah Mansor, in graft allegations since his loss in 2018 elections.
Prosecutors said Najib abused his positions as prime minister, finance minister and 1MDB advisory board chairman to move vast sums from the fund into his personal accounts.
According to investigators, proceeds from the fund were used to bankroll high-end real estate, a luxury yacht and precious artworks, including a Monet and a Van Gogh.
Fugitive financier Jho Low, who is seen as the mastermind behind one of the biggest financial heists in modern history from 1MDB, is still on the run.
Set up in 2009 under Najib, the fund was supposed to serve as an investment vehicle for major infrastructure and urban development.
But Low, through his proximity to Najib and other top officials, soon became a pivotal figure in schemes that diverted around $4.5 billion from 1MDB via shell companies and complex financial transactions, US and Malaysian prosecutors have said.
bur-mba/lga

US

An AI reckoning? Investors brace for potential fallout

BY FLORIAN CAZERES

  •   - IPO anxiety -   The tech-heavy Nasdaq index had already wobbled before this week and now is officially in a correction, having fallen around 12 percent over the past month.
  • "Correction" is not the word investors want to hear, but the stampede out of AI and technology stocks this week has heightened doubts about the sustainability of the four-year bull run for markets.
  •   - IPO anxiety -   The tech-heavy Nasdaq index had already wobbled before this week and now is officially in a correction, having fallen around 12 percent over the past month.
"Correction" is not the word investors want to hear, but the stampede out of AI and technology stocks this week has heightened doubts about the sustainability of the four-year bull run for markets.
Further declines would have wide-ranging financial and economic consequences amid the massive AI spending, much of it fuelled by companies taking on huge amounts of debt.
AFP takes a look at how tech sector weakness could impact governments and households.
 

The AI motor

 
Outlays on data centres to train and power artificial intelligence models have become one of the main growth engines for the US economy, the world's largest.
"That contributed to 30 percent of growth in the United States in 2025 and 2026," said Bruno Cavalier, economist at the bank Oddo BHF, with spending on data centres surging by 150 percent.
The resulting demand for cutting-edge chips and other high-tech equipment has boosted share price gains across the technology sector.
But the centres also need power sources, intensive cooling systems, and old-fashioned construction, plumbing and electrical work, all providing money and jobs for local communities and beyond.
Opposition has been building over worries about the environmental and human costs of the huge server farms, including air pollution, higher energy costs, water use and noise.
The Democratic wave in this week's midterm elections in the United States raised investor fears of a regulatory crackdown -- prompting the heavy selling on Wall Street on Thursday.
Markets are pricing in the risk that "Democratic victories in the states with the most projects will make construction more expensive and longer to complete", said Kevin Thozet at the asset management firm Carmignac in Paris.
 

American households

 
Share ownership is widespread in the United States, where individual retirement funds invested in stocks and bonds are much more prevalent than government-funded pensions.
"Forty-three percent of household wealth is now exposed to the stock market, an increase of 10 percentage points from 2000," said Cavalier.
A sustained market downturn would directly impact their spending power, especially for retirees, creating a wider economic risk.
And "the richest 10 percent of Americans now account for half of consumer spending", said Alexandre Baradez, an analyst at the brokerage IG France.
"They're the ones who own the most stocks and have benefited the most from the tech stock gains," he said.
A market crisis could crimp their spending as well, meaning it would no longer compensate for the spending pullback among average Americans since the inflation spike provoked by the US war against Iran.
 

Capital access?

 
Rising interest rates complicate the picture, since they lift borrowing costs for the billions of dollars in debt AI firms have taken on to finance the data centre rollout.
"This is not an easy time, with shares falling and high rates on debt markets -- and little chance of any easing moves soon by central banks," Baradez said.
Tighter financial conditions and higher cash needs could make investors wary of putting up more money, or lead them to reduce exposure to the sector.
For Jacques-Aurelien Marcireau at Stilgar, an asset management firm in Paris, American politicians are aware of the risks.
"The truth is that Democrats will be pragmatic: there won't be any general halt to data centre construction," he told AFP.
But a slowdown "could even be healthy, by halting the most vulnerable projects", he said.
 

IPO anxiety

 
The tech-heavy Nasdaq index had already wobbled before this week and now is officially in a correction, having fallen around 12 percent over the past month.
That wiped off $2.5 trillion in market valuation for Nasdaq companies alone.
Investors now question the prospects for the imminent initial public share offering from Claude-maker Anthropic, which had been tipped to surpass SpaceX's earlier this year as the biggest ever.
It has reportedly been looking to raise a whopping $100 billion this month to buy the chips and other equipment for its computing needs, which could have valued the start-up at up to $2 trillion.
Now it may have to settle for less, potentially complicating its race to dominate the market.
Its rival OpenAI has already pushed back its IPO plans to sometime next year.
"Anthropic will be the big test," Baradez said.
fcz/tq/js/jhb

Global Edition

Israel opposition touts progress ousting Netanyahu after U-turn on ultra-Orthodox

BY SHAUN TANDON AND MICHAEL BLUM

  • Neither Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving prime minister, nor opposition chief Gadi Eisenkot reached a majority in the October 27 election, with Israeli society highly polarised over Netanyahu and worn down by three years of war.
  • Israel's opposition said Friday it was making headway in its bid to oust Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as one of its leaders lifted his veto on demands that ultra-Orthodox Jews serve in the military, opening the door to a once improbable alliance with the community.
  • Neither Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving prime minister, nor opposition chief Gadi Eisenkot reached a majority in the October 27 election, with Israeli society highly polarised over Netanyahu and worn down by three years of war.
Israel's opposition said Friday it was making headway in its bid to oust Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as one of its leaders lifted his veto on demands that ultra-Orthodox Jews serve in the military, opening the door to a once improbable alliance with the community.
Neither Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving prime minister, nor opposition chief Gadi Eisenkot reached a majority in the October 27 election, with Israeli society highly polarised over Netanyahu and worn down by three years of war.
Eisenkot said he expected President Isaac Herzog, who met party leaders this week, to present him with the mandate to form a government when he makes his announcement Sunday.
"We have made significant progress and achieved breakthroughs, quietly and modestly, with much still happening behind the scenes," Eisenkot wrote in an X post moments before much of Israel shut down for the weekly Sabbath.
Yair Golan, Israel's main left-wing leader and part of the opposition bloc, also pointed to progress, saying: "I'm more optimistic than I was on the Wednesday morning after the election results."
Eisenkot, a former military commander whose campaign sought to appeal to secular and liberal Israelis, could form a government with Israeli-Arabs, whose seat count soared on anger towards Netanyahu's far-right government.
But an alliance with Israeli-Arabs faces strong disagreement from opposition partner Avigdor Liberman, a onetime aide to Netanyahu who now sharply criticises the prime minister but shares his hawkish views on the Palestinians.
Liberman said Friday he would not back down on refusing to work with Israeli-Arabs but called for talks with ultra-Orthodox Jews, even though he ran on promises to end their exemption from Israel's mandatory military service.
Liberman said it was time to "understand that trying to have everything risks getting nothing". 
"This pains me, and I know it pains many others as well. But given the full range of challenges we face today, the national interest of the State of Israel and the Jewish people must take precedence over all other considerations," Liberman said.

Ultra-Orthodox wield power again

Ultra-Orthodox Jews' exemption from military service has fuelled widespread resentment among other Israelis, with reservists serving multiple tours in the wars Israel has been fighting since the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas.
Netanyahu, while personally secular, has long relied on the ultra-Orthodox, accepting that the community -- which accounts for around 14 percent of the population and has a much higher birth rate than the Israeli average -- can send children to religious schools rather than the army.
But he stopped short of enshrining the military exemption into law, angering the two main ultra-Orthodox parties which left his government, although they did not seek to remove him.
One of the parties, United Torah Judaism, declined Thursday to recommend Netanyahu to form the next government during consultations with Herzog, but without supporting Eisenkot.
Yaakov Asher, a lawmaker from the party, welcomed Liberman's U-turn and said its rabbis would assess any formal proposal of an alliance.
"It is encouraging to learn of the flexibility of all political actors on the subject of conscription," Asher said.
"It is painful to think how much incitement and hatred between brothers could have been avoided had that same flexibility been demonstrated in recent years."
His party and the other ultra-Orthodox formation, Shas, together have 13 seats, enough to bring Eisenkot to power.
Liberman put up posters during the campaign vowing to crack down on the "draft-dodgers". During an appearance earlier this year, he described ultra-Orthodox Jews as "anti-Jewish" for their demands.
His Yisrael Beiteinu party won seven seats, the fewest among the five core opposition parties. Naftali Bennett, a former prime minister, also ran heavily on promises to end the military exemption and has not commented on Liberman's about-face.

War clouds

Eisenkot in his pre-sabbath statement said he remained committed to "mandatory service for all" but that it could be civilian work, offering a path to integrate the ultra-Orthodox.
He called on parties to join him "now or at a later stage" -- hinting he could first form a minority government that is backed by lawmakers who do not initially join it.
Eisenkot said change was urgent, alluding to speculation Netanyahu could soon resume war against Iran alongside US President Donald Trump, despite both leaders' election losses.
"The current government poses a fundamental threat to the very existence of Israeli democracy. This is no exaggeration. All this is happening while warfronts remain open and subject to political and personal whims," he said.
mib-sct/ris

furniture

Ikea banks on price cuts, more city centre stores after lacklustre year: CEO to AFP

BY CAMILLE BAS-WOHLERT

  • The two executives said they were optimistic about a return to growth after two lacklustre years. 
  • Ikea, the world's biggest furniture retailer, saw profits fall in its latest financial year but is counting on price cuts and more stores in city centres to revive growth, its chief executive told AFP on Friday.
  • The two executives said they were optimistic about a return to growth after two lacklustre years. 
Ikea, the world's biggest furniture retailer, saw profits fall in its latest financial year but is counting on price cuts and more stores in city centres to revive growth, its chief executive told AFP on Friday.
"I think we are finding the formula, that Ikea is back to our vision about being affordable for the many people who don't have money," Jakub Jankowski, chief executive of the Inter Ikea holding company, said in an interview.
"I think it will work... There are more and more people in the world who do not have money," he said.
In September, the group announced price cuts of up to 28 percent on around 1,500 products in Europe, lowering its prices for the second time in two years.
From a financial perspective, "we are ready to grow without having to invest in more infrastructure necessarily, because we already have capacity in production, we have capacity in our distribution units," Inter Ikea's chief financial officer, Henrik Elm, said during the interview.
"We can continue to invest in lower prices, because we utilise our assets better," he said.
The two executives said they were optimistic about a return to growth after two lacklustre years. 
For Ikea's financial year that ended in August, retail sales fell by 1.8 percent to 43.8 billion euros ($48.9 billion) as a result of price reductions, Inter Ikea said in its annual report, without providing details on sales volumes. 
Operating profit shrank by 12 percent to 1.5 billion euros due to cost pressures and inflation.
 

Boost visits

 
To attract customers, the furniture giant plans to increase its presence in city centres at a time when car travel is becoming less common for environmental and financial reasons.
The goal is to increase store visits, which rose to 913 million in the latest fiscal year.
According to Jankowski, customers want to go to Ikea every four to six weeks, rather than two or three times a year, to buy more everyday items.
The retailer wants to "combine the home furnishing experience in the big stores with also being very close to the people when they need us every day", Jankowski said. "This will be the winning formula as well."
Small-format stores also allow Ikea to enter cities where a large store nearby would not be viable, said Elm. 
Thirty small Ikea stores were opened in the 2025–2026 financial year, compared with the closure of eight large stores, seven of them in China. 
The Chinese market is facing a slowdown in consumption and growing competition from online retailers.
"We are constantly adapting our footprint," Jankowski said. 
"On China, we are deliberately saying, 'OK, maybe we don't need such big stores'. It's better to adapt to the retail environment as it is in China," he said.
Present in 64 markets, Ikea has 519 stores, including 88 small-format outlets, as well as 265 planning and sales points.
Founded in 1943 in southern Sweden by Ingvar Kamprad, the flat-pack furniture giant is not listed on the stock exchange and therefore has no obligation to report its financial data.
The group began partially publishing its results in 2010. 
After cutting 850 jobs in May, Ikea now has 217,000 employees worldwide.
cbw/po/js