politics

Clashes break out as hundreds of thousands protest in France

Bitcoin

Binance says resuming withdrawals after major hack

  • "First batch network now opened in phase one of withdrawals is $BTC bitcoin network," Binance said on X.  The company said in an earlier update that it was preparing to resume the first phase of withdrawals between 0600 and 0900 GMT on Sunday. 
  • Binance said Sunday that it had resumed withdrawals after a major hack that affected more than $6 billion in funds.
  • "First batch network now opened in phase one of withdrawals is $BTC bitcoin network," Binance said on X.  The company said in an earlier update that it was preparing to resume the first phase of withdrawals between 0600 and 0900 GMT on Sunday. 
Binance said Sunday that it had resumed withdrawals after a major hack that affected more than $6 billion in funds.
Binance, which is the world's largest crypto exchange by daily trading volumes, had suspended user withdrawals after the attack.
"First batch network now opened in phase one of withdrawals is $BTC bitcoin network," Binance said on X. 
The company said in an earlier update that it was preparing to resume the first phase of withdrawals between 0600 and 0900 GMT on Sunday. 
"We are taking a phased approach by prioritizing tokens based on the past week data of user demand, so that each network and asset pair can be restored carefully, with stability and security checks completed before access is reopened," it said. 
Binance said Saturday that it has set aside more than $6.34 billion in company funds to cover losses in the hack, which is thought to be the biggest-ever crypto heist.
"User funds remain safe. Binance will absorb the financial impact of the stolen funds, not our users," it said on X.
The FBI accused North Korea of being behind the attack on Saturday, confirming earlier suspicions from private investigators and analysts that a Pyongyang-affiliated group called TraderTraitor was behind the hack.
The hack is the latest in a string of high-profile cyber thefts linked to North Korea, which has built a formidable hacking operation, generating funds believed to help finance its weapons program.
News of the cyberattack caused the prices of most major cryptocurrencies to fall sharply on Friday.
bur-lkd/fox

Global Edition

Divided Bulgaria votes in tense presidential runoff

BY DOROTEYA DACHKOVA

  • Radev has also argued that "a ceasefire in Ukraine and peace negotiations are the only sure guarantee of stopping attacks against commercial ships in the Black Sea".
  • Bulgarians started voting Sunday in a presidential runoff between two candidates with contrasting visions on the war in Ukraine, following a series of drone attacks on commercial vessels in the Black Sea.
  • Radev has also argued that "a ceasefire in Ukraine and peace negotiations are the only sure guarantee of stopping attacks against commercial ships in the Black Sea".
Bulgarians started voting Sunday in a presidential runoff between two candidates with contrasting visions on the war in Ukraine, following a series of drone attacks on commercial vessels in the Black Sea.
President Iliana Iotova, who favours dialogue with Moscow and opposes military aid to Ukraine, will face Andrey Gyurov, a banker and former caretaker prime minister backed by the pro-Western opposition.
Polls opened at 7 am (0500 GMT) and will close at 8 pm, with voting able to continue until 9 pm at polling stations where voters are still waiting in line.
Iotova won 35 percent of the vote in the first round last week, with Gyurov on 32 percent -- a much narrower gap than the 20-point lead for Iotova predicted by opinion polls.
The first round in the European Union and NATO member state was marked by record-low turnout of just 23 per cent. 
Political analyst Teodor Slavev told AFP that voters were giving their verdict on "Iotova's unconvincing response regarding Russian threats in the Black Sea".
Several vessels were struck in the Black Sea off Bulgaria in October, leaving 21 people missing, in suspected spillover from the Russia-Ukraine war.
While centre-left Prime Minister Rumen Radev has said the attacks appeared to serve Russian interests and summoned the Russian ambassador, his government insists there is so far no evidence directly linking them to Moscow.
 

'Safe hands'

 
Iotova, a longtime Radev ally, supports Bulgaria's membership of the EU and NATO but has presented herself as a "president of peace" and strongly advocated negotiations with Russia.
During a TV debate ahead of the runoff, Gyurov criticised Iotova for failing to directly blame Russia for the Black Sea attacks.
"Russia must stop its aggression so that the next steps can be taken. Let us name the country from which the threats are coming," he said.
Iotova meanwhile insisted that "peace can come only through negotiations".
"Pouring more money into Ukraine, supplying new and more sophisticated weapons, leads only to more destruction and the deaths of many people on both sides," she said.
Radev has also argued that "a ceasefire in Ukraine and peace negotiations are the only sure guarantee of stopping attacks against commercial ships in the Black Sea".
After the first round of voting, he said the presidential election represented a choice between "peace and war".
"Let us vote for Iliana Iotova, so that Bulgaria can be in safe hands," he said.
A former journalist and member of the European Parliament, Iotova, 62, was elected vice-president alongside Radev in 2016 and 2021.
She took over as president this year when Radev stepped down to run in parliamentary elections.
 

'Two personalities, two directions'

 
If successful in the runoff, she would become the first woman ever elected president in the country of 6.4 million people.
Iotova has also promised to address "the terrible issue of poverty" in the EU's poorest member state.
Historically close to Russia, Bulgaria remains deeply divided over its relationship with Moscow.
Gyurov, 50, a former deputy governor of the Bulgarian National Bank, has sharply criticised Radev's foreign policy and strongly supports Bulgaria's Euro-Atlantic ties.
After the first round, Gyurov said Bulgaria faced a choice "between two personalities, two directions, and two ways of exercising presidential powers".
Sociologist Boriana Dimitrova told AFP the low first-round turnout may have been down to some voters assuming "Iotova's victory was a done deal" as well as disappointment with Radev's coalition.
However, Dimitrova expects higher turnout for the runoff because "the difference (between the candidates) is extremely small, and when there is a contested race, interest also rises".
The campaign was also marked by accusations from the opposition that Radev had used state resources and his office to campaign for Iotova, in breach of electoral law.
The Central Election Commission rejected the allegations, but Gyurov's campaign team is appealing the decision in court.
str-fec/giv/ane/tc

espionage

Trump says US looking 'closely' at report Nvidia CEO target of China spy plot

  • I didn't know about the specific thing, but I hope he's going to be OK. He's a great, brilliant person, and we want to protect our brilliant people," Trump told reporters at his Florida residence.
  • President Donald Trump voiced on Saturday his support for the "brilliant" head of US chip giant Nvidia, Jensen Huang after a report he was targeted by a Chinese spy plot.
  • I didn't know about the specific thing, but I hope he's going to be OK. He's a great, brilliant person, and we want to protect our brilliant people," Trump told reporters at his Florida residence.
President Donald Trump voiced on Saturday his support for the "brilliant" head of US chip giant Nvidia, Jensen Huang after a report he was targeted by a Chinese spy plot.
Trump said the United States was looking "very closely" at the issue.
The New York Times reported Thursday that US intelligence officials concluded that a Chinese executive linked to a Singapore-based data center company, who had interacted with Huang, had been funneling information to Beijing.
China has dismissed the report as "groundless speculation."
"I have a lot of respect for Jensen. I didn't know about the specific thing, but I hope he's going to be OK. He's a great, brilliant person, and we want to protect our brilliant people," Trump told reporters at his Florida residence.
"We're going to check it out very closely," the president added.
Asked if he would retain Huang as an advisor, Trump said: "I would like to say yes. I mean, unless we find out something to the contrary, I've always found Jensen Huang to be very above board."
"But you know, you're dealing in a very complex issue," Trump added.
Huang has advised Trump on AI policy and was among tech CEOs who joined the US leader on his visit to Beijing to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in May.
The Taiwan-born businessman has advocated for the use of his company's chips in China, where Beijing has been accelerating development of its own semiconductors.
 
msp/tc

pope

'Seen and heard': Uruguay neighborhood places hopes in pope

BY GIOVANNA FLEITAS

  • The two clergy agree that many locals view their respective communities as "a refuge" against life in an area with poverty rates far above the national average.
  • In one impoverished neighborhood of Uruguay's capital, Catholics and evangelical Christians are unusually harmonious ahead of Pope Leo XIV's visit, with both communities viewing it as an opportunity to shed light on local suffering.
  • The two clergy agree that many locals view their respective communities as "a refuge" against life in an area with poverty rates far above the national average.
In one impoverished neighborhood of Uruguay's capital, Catholics and evangelical Christians are unusually harmonious ahead of Pope Leo XIV's visit, with both communities viewing it as an opportunity to shed light on local suffering.
On November 7, Pope Leo XIV will head to Montevideo, the capital of Latin America's most secular country and the launchpad for his tour of the region.
The Casavalle neighborhood is plagued with rampant drug use and violent clashes between rival trafficking gangs.
Local Catholics say they are eagerly awaiting the pope's arrival.
"We're going to be seen and heard thanks to the pope's visit," Janet De Leon told AFP after attending mass at the Our Lady of Guadalupe parish.
"A person who has always felt marginalized, whatever their religion or lack of religion, feels important, feels acknowledged in this moment," said parish leader Father Pablo Coimbra.

'Forgotten corner of the world'

Leo will come right up to the doors of Our Lady of Guadalupe, a neat brick church where workers are racing against the clock to build a stage for his arrival.
For Coimbra, it is difficult to grasp that the pontiff is coming to "a neighborhood as humble as this one, in a forgotten corner of the world."
The area's growing evangelical population meanwhile is reserving judgment on the visit.
A few streets away from the Catholic church, pastor Javier Roque highlighted the neighborhood's challenges.
While he was out visiting members of his congregation, Roque voiced hope that all the fuss would bring people closer to God.
The two clergy agree that many locals view their respective communities as "a refuge" against life in an area with poverty rates far above the national average.
Uruguay is considered one of Latin America's most stable countries.
Of its 3.5 million inhabitants, 14.8 percent live below the poverty line, official figures from the first half of the year show.

'The same God'

Laura Lemos says joining Roque's El Camino church gave her hope when crime threatened to destroy her family.
The 41-year-old has three sons aged 24, 21, and 19.
She recalls the anguish she felt when the youngest landed in prison.
My children "are alive today thanks to God and thanks to the support we also received from the church," Lemos told AFP.
She does not believe any rivalry between her faith and Catholicism exists.
"It's the same God in a different place, isn't it?"
Her neighbor, known as "The Pole" Rodriguez, says faith pulled him out of a life of crime, although he doesn't see the need to attend church regularly.
The papal trip "will serve as a reminder that we're not as forgotten as we think," said the 29-year-old father of six, who works informal jobs.
- 'No hostility' - 
A recent religious survey shows that 35 percent of Uruguayans identify as Catholic.
"Other Christians" including evangelicals account for 13 percent, while other religions make up seven percent.
Agnostics and atheists account for 29 percent, and 15 percent did not respond to the pollster Equipos Consultores.
Coimbra believes that this religious mix coexists well in Uruguay.
"I am part of this culture, of secular culture, and I feel very connected to my country and don't feel uncomfortable at all," he said, adding that "there is no hostility" toward his church.
Aide Carrasco, 51, practices the Umbanda faith, a tradition with Afro-Brazilian roots.
She believes that Leo's arrival "helps the neighborhood... whether it's for marketing or out of devotion."
"Anything that means progress, let it come from wherever it may, but let it come," Carrasco said.
gfe/mar/cc/sst

politics

Spewing US election falsehoods, AI chatbots face scrutiny

BY ANUJ CHOPRA

  • The November 3 vote marks the first federal election in which millions of voters are actively relying on AI tools for political information, a trend that experts say is playing a key role in shaping the information ecosystem ahead of the polls.
  • Dispensing misleading voter information, misidentifying candidates, and regurgitating Russian propaganda, AI chatbots are sowing information chaos ahead of the US midterm elections, researchers say.
  • The November 3 vote marks the first federal election in which millions of voters are actively relying on AI tools for political information, a trend that experts say is playing a key role in shaping the information ecosystem ahead of the polls.
Dispensing misleading voter information, misidentifying candidates, and regurgitating Russian propaganda, AI chatbots are sowing information chaos ahead of the US midterm elections, researchers say.
The November 3 vote marks the first federal election in which millions of voters are actively relying on AI tools for political information, a trend that experts say is playing a key role in shaping the information ecosystem ahead of the polls.
But while chatbots can help debunk conspiracies and educate voters, multiple studies show they frequently draw on unreliable sources on the open web, eroding public trust and further polluting an internet already plagued by election misinformation.
One recent study by Forum AI, a start-up that evaluates AI models, found that almost 40 percent of chatbots' answers to election-related queries contained at least one factual error.
When its researchers asked Anthropic's Claude why voters should elect Representative Don Davis from North Carolina, the chatbot listed "former school superintendent" among his credentials, confusing him with a different person.
The study, which examined eight models, also found that chatbots answered questions about voting logistics incorrectly more often than questions about candidates.
When Google's Gemini 3.6 Flash was asked about voting in Pennsylvania, the chatbot gave November 3 as the deadline to request a mail-in ballot. The actual deadline was a week earlier.
"A voter who followed the answer would have asked for a ballot too late to use it," the study said.
 

 'Risk of being fooled'

 
Chatbots also "put the wrong words in the mouths of candidates, officials, and observers hundreds of times" and frequently cited "poor quality" sources, such as Reddit threads, Forum AI said.
Anthropic did not respond to AFP's request for comment.
"We're focused on helping voters find reliable information across our platforms," Google said in a statement, adding that it had "strict quality and policy protections" across its AI products on election topics.
Another concern among researchers was that chatbots were susceptible to foreign influence operations, sometimes repeating falsehoods that were widely debunked.
In late October, AFP's fact-checkers debunked a likely AI-altered clip that purported to show a former student of Texas Senate candidate James Talarico accusing him of sexual misconduct.
The unfounded allegation bore the hallmarks of a Russian disinformation campaign.
Google's AI Overview regurgitated the allegation when it was prompted by the disinformation watchdog NewsGuard. 
Two other leading AI tools it prompted, Google's Gemini and Microsoft's Copilot, also repeated the false claim.
"AI chatbot users are at risk of being fooled by foreign influence operations and other bad actors," NewsGuard said in a separate study of 10 AI tools.
A subsequent test by AFP, conducted after the claim had been widely debunked, found the AI tools cited professional fact-checkers, reflecting how chatbot responses can be inconsistent.
Referring to NewsGuard's study, Google said "this issue was addressed as our systems quickly updated to surface the latest reporting on this topic."
Responding to the study, Microsoft said "this was a rapidly developing situation with limited reliable information available at the time of the initial query." It told AFP that as more information became available, "Copilot reflected the updated context and identified the claim as fabricated."
 

  'Constructive role'

 
The November 3 vote also marks what the London-based Institute for Strategic Dialogue called the first US election with AI tools built into every major tech platform.
In a recent survey by the nonpartisan National Conference on Citizenship, two in five Americans said they had used AI tools to search for election information, including candidates or ballot measures.
Only 40 percent trust the tools with logistical information, such as when, where and how to vote, and 60 percent said they "trust it only a little or not at all" to be unbiased about candidates, according to the survey.
But the picture was not entirely bleak. 
Research by the nonpartisan Brennan Center for Justice found that leading chatbots pushed back against common election conspiracy theories, including claims that voting machines were rigged, even when repeatedly challenged.
"Though the chatbots often made mistakes, they also behaved as sympathetic listeners to skeptical users -- while still refusing to endorse conspiracy theories," the center said.
"This suggests they could play a constructive role in fighting election disinformation."
bur-ac/mjf/dw
 

pope

Pope Leo readies for 'intense' South America homecoming

BY ELLA IDE

  • The pontiff will then travel to Argentina, the homeland of his predecessor Pope Francis, who disappointed many Argentinians by not returning to visit during his papacy.
  • Pope Leo XIV is about to embark on one of the most ambitious papal foreign trips in decades, touring Uruguay, Argentina and his adopted homeland Peru, despite recent lung cancer surgery.
  • The pontiff will then travel to Argentina, the homeland of his predecessor Pope Francis, who disappointed many Argentinians by not returning to visit during his papacy.
Pope Leo XIV is about to embark on one of the most ambitious papal foreign trips in decades, touring Uruguay, Argentina and his adopted homeland Peru, despite recent lung cancer surgery.
The 71-year-old head of the Catholic Church underwent an operation fewer than three weeks ago to remove a cancerous tumour, but doctors say he requires no further treatment and have given him the all-clear for the 11-day South America trip.
Leo has said he is "looking forward to returning to the continent where I've experienced so many moments of my life" with the November 6 to 17 tour, which includes 12 flights, two helicopter trips, and a high-altitude prayer in the Andes.
Millions of faithful are expected to flock to see the pope, who will mix pastoral encounters with speeches to leaders including Argentine President Javier Milei, a close ally of US President Donald Trump whose relationship with the Church is strained.
Though the Vatican has said Leo is still in recovery, the pope will lead over 50 events, from open-air masses to meetings with Indigenous peoples in the Amazon, clerical abuse victims, and the elderly, poor and disabled.
 

Closely watched

 
"This will be the most closely watched trip of Leo's papacy to date," Christopher White of Georgetown University in Washington and author of a book on Pope Leo, told AFP.
"This was already going to be an intense trip... a feat even without his surgery. Now, it will be even more scrutinised," he said.
The head of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics will start his trip in Uruguay, Latin America's most secular country, where he will be welcomed by left-wing President Yamandu Orsi.
The liberal nation is at odds with the Catholic Church on same-sex marriage, abortion and euthanasia -- which was legalised last year -- and Leo is expected to appeal to protect life.
The pontiff will then travel to Argentina, the homeland of his predecessor Pope Francis, who disappointed many Argentinians by not returning to visit during his papacy.
Officials expect seven million pilgrims to turn out for Leo. In Buenos Aires, the pope will sit down with Milei, a right-wing libertarian who had a tense relationship with Francis.
Though Milei's exchanges with Leo have proved less turbulent, local Church leaders have been vocal about the high human cost of the president's efforts to revive the ailing economy, with millions of vulnerable citizens left on the breadline.
 

Homecoming

 
The South America trip will culminate with an emotional homecoming in Peru.
"I know he's very much looking forward to his return to Peru. It means a lot to him personally... he has been very determined to go," US Vatican expert Elise Ann Allen, who has written a biography of the pope, told AFP.
Before becoming Leo XIV, Robert Francis Prevost served for nearly two decades in the Andean country, including as bishop in the coastal city of Chiclayo from 2015 to 2023.
The world's first US-born pontiff, who holds Peruvian citizenship, will celebrate mass on a desert plain near the Pacific Ocean, before visiting Cusco, the former Inca capital, and Pucallpa, a city in the Amazon rainforest.
In Lima, he will meet Peru's right-wing President Keiko Fujimori, daughter of late former leader Alberto Fujimori, who was jailed for corruption and crimes against humanity, and on whose legacy she leans.
Leo will likely discuss the ills plaguing Peru, from a major crime wave driven by contract killings and rampant extortion, to the cocaine industry -- one of the world's largest -- and its impact on Indigenous peoples.
He is also expected to address Peru's political instability -- Fujimori is the country's ninth leader in a decade -- and the importance of protecting the dignity of migrants in a country home to some 1.6 million Venezuelans.
Leo's visit to Cusco, at an altitude of 3,400 metres, will be brief -- under three hours -- but highly scrutinised, amid questions over whether the pontiff has underestimated his cancer, or beaten it with apparent ease.
"If the pope is able to pull this off, it will only bolster the image that much of the world has had of Leo since his election -- of a youthful, strong, vigorous pope," White said.
ide/dt/ams/rh

politics

Clashes break out as hundreds of thousands protest in France

BY DANIEL HOFFMAN, MAXENCE D'AVERSA AND ANNA SMOLCHENKO WITH AFP BUREAUS

  • In the southern city of Toulouse, police used water cannon against an unauthorised protest that drew several thousand people.
  • Clashes erupted in Paris and other French cities on Saturday after hundreds of thousands of people staged a third weekend of protests at soaring living costs.
  • In the southern city of Toulouse, police used water cannon against an unauthorised protest that drew several thousand people.
Clashes erupted in Paris and other French cities on Saturday after hundreds of thousands of people staged a third weekend of protests at soaring living costs.
More than 500 people were arrested as police fired water cannon and tear gas to disperse rioters on the sidelines of the demonstrations, where regular protesters marched in Halloween costumes.
While Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said the marches had been largely orderly, he denounced the disorder, including an incident in Paris when a police officer was struck by a Molotov cocktail.
The interior ministry said late Saturday that police had arrested 565 people across the country. Four police officers and one gendarme had been injured in Paris, three of them burned by Molotov cocktails.
After a march on the outskirts of Paris in bright sunshine, clashes broke out between police and some demonstrators as the procession reached its final destination.
Dozens of masked people dressed in black used hammers to pry up paving stones and hurl them at police, AFP journalists saw. Police responded with tear gas and several baton charges.
The Paris police prefecture said that several hundred rioters had attacked security forces with projectiles.
Nunez pointed to an "extraordinary" level of violence from some protesters, blaming far-left extremist groups for attacks on security forces.
He described the throwing of a Molotov cocktail at a riot police officer in Paris as an "attempted murder", adding that the officer had escaped with minor injuries.
"We are fully prepared for those looking for confrontation tonight," he warned.
 

Officer in flames

 
Far-right leader Marine Le Pen said those responsible for the firebomb attack must be "punished with the utmost severity", in a post on X, describing images of the officer in flames as "unbearable".
A night-time curfew was to be imposed in the central Paris neighbourhoods of Republique and Chatelet-Les Halles from 11:00 pm to 6:00 am on Saturday and Sunday.
The interior ministry said that "radical elements" in cities including Bordeaux, Toulouse and Marseille had attempted to enter city centres "with the aim of carrying out vandalism and looting".
In Lyon, France's third-largest city, people threw projectiles at police, prompting officers to fire tear gas.
In the southern city of Toulouse, police used water cannon against an unauthorised protest that drew several thousand people.
 

'Attack on freedom'

 
Earlier Saturday, thousands of people, some wearing costumes ranging from Spider-Man to Frankenstein, marched through eastern Paris as a helicopter circled overhead.
Placards read: "No need for tear gas to make our future look bleak" and "Dressed up as an angry citizen for Halloween."
"The fact that demonstrations are being pushed outside city centres, and that so many protests are being banned, is really an attack on freedom," said one demonstrator, Alice Hien, a video game developer.
Authorities said some 320,000 people rallied across France, including 70,000 in Paris.
Youth organisations said nearly half a million people demonstrated, including 200,000 in the capital.
Jean-Luc Melenchon, leader of the far-left France Unbowed party, took part in the Paris march and hailed the strong turnout.
 

Elections looming

 
The demonstrations come in a febrile political climate, with presidential elections less than six months away and Le Pen topping opinion polls.
The protest movement, bringing together Yellow Vest activists, trade unions, and high school and university students, initially focused on the rising cost of living, inequality, and deteriorating learning conditions.
Following a security clampdown and serious injuries to some protesters, the movement broadened its demands to include greater protection of civil liberties and the right to protest.
In the northern French city of Lille, 47-year-old Aurelie Herrmann danced at the protest.
"I dance because on television they only show damage and destruction, whereas you can perfectly well demonstrate in good spirits," she said. 
Student protesters complained the police had not authorised a march through the centre of the French capital and vowed to stage new blockades of high schools and universities next week, including on November 5 when unions have called a demonstration.
With the eurozone's second-largest economy on the brink of recession and under pressure to rein in its debt, the government has limited scope to appease protesters through additional spending.
bur-as/jj/msp

protests

German rioters loot shops as 'Gen Z' demos turn ugly

BY SAM REEVES

  • Police also used water cannon in the cities of Hamburg and Cologne after they said demonstrators targeted emergency service workers with fireworks, stones and bottles.
  • Masked rioters looted shops in the German city of Frankfurt on Saturday as massive demonstrations turned violent across the country, with police also firing water cannons at youths hurling Molotov cocktails.  
  • Police also used water cannon in the cities of Hamburg and Cologne after they said demonstrators targeted emergency service workers with fireworks, stones and bottles.
Masked rioters looted shops in the German city of Frankfurt on Saturday as massive demonstrations turned violent across the country, with police also firing water cannons at youths hurling Molotov cocktails.  
Several police officers were injured in the violence after tens of thousands joined youth-led protests across the country organised by the group "GenZ regelt!" (Gen Z has got this!).
The demonstrations, inspired by similar movements in France and Italy calling for political elites to heed the concerns of the younger generation, were largely peaceful during the day.
But tensions peaked in the evening as some groups of young people refused to disperse, with violence breaking out in major cities including Berlin, Cologne and Hamburg.
It was especially bad in the financial hub of Frankfurt, where police faced protesters hurling stones, fireworks and petrol bombs, and responded with water cannon and pepper spray.
"Violent riots" were taking place, police said in a statement. "Windows have been smashed at several shops. Molotov cocktails are also being thrown at emergency personnel."
A gun store was among the shops looted, with its windows smashed. Police said they arrested a suspect and seized two weapons.
A trainer shop and a perfume store were also targeted, the Bild daily reported. 
A large section of Frankfurt's main shopping street was closed off as authorities sought to quell the unrest, with police vans and riot police stopping anyone from entering, according to an AFP journalist.
A police helicopter hovered overhead as sporadic blasts were heard on the street.
At least one police officer was injured there and was receiving medical treatment.
 

'Shameful'

 
Roman Poseck, interior minister of Hesse state, said that "around 100 clearly identified left-wing extremists" had infiltrated the protest in Frankfurt. 
"It is shameful how this event here in Frankfurt has ended."
Police also used water cannon in the cities of Hamburg and Cologne after they said demonstrators targeted emergency service workers with fireworks, stones and bottles.
In Berlin, a protest not organised by the "GenZ regelt!" movement took place in the evening, with police reporting they were pelted with eggs and bottles.
A police officer in Bonn suffered minor injuries during a confrontation with a group.
Police were reported to have arrested large numbers of rioters.
The youth-led protests earlier in the day took place in a mostly peaceful and festive atmosphere.
Some people were dressed in outfits ranging from dinosaurs to Batman as the demonstrations coincided with Halloween.
They waved signs that read "Time for resistance", and "Merz must go", in reference to conservative Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
"I think it's really important to show solidarity with all the other protests currently happening across Europe, including in France," Milla, a 20-year-old student who only gave her first name, told AFP in Berlin.
"I've been waiting for a long time for something to finally really happen, and for people to tackle this with a bit more force. I believe that today here is the first step."
The movement's complaints range from the high cost of living to poorly maintained schools and government spending cuts.
More broadly it objects to what it sees as politicians making decisions with apparently little regard for the younger generation.
They are also unhappy with sharply increased military spending and a new voluntary service model aimed at boosting troop numbers, fearing it is a step towards bringing back conscription.
 

Europe-wide protests

 
"GenZ regelt!" said some 120,000 people took part in the demonstrations, below around 180,000 they had been expecting.
Protests also took place in France Saturday for a third straight weekend, with clashes erupting in Paris and elsewhere.
Nationwide demonstrations there on October 17 degenerated into some of the country's worst rioting in years.
Berlin has been in contact with officials in France and Italy amid fears that radicals from overseas could seek to join the German protests.
The "GenZ regelt!" movement explicitly rejected violence.
"Extremist groups, anti-constitutional symbols, racism and hate speech have no place with us -- no matter from which side," it said.
sr/jj

slavery

UK king to address Commonwealth with 'unflinching honesty' amid slavery focus

BY JESSICA HOWARD-JOHNSTON, WITH JOE JACKSON IN LONDON

  • "The King will not shy away from confronting the most shameful aspects of the past during this visit," a palace spokesperson said.
  • King Charles III will confront "shameful aspects" of UK history with "unflinching honesty" when he addresses Commonwealth leaders next week, Buckingham Palace said Saturday, amid renewed scrutiny of Britain's role in historical transatlantic slavery.
  • "The King will not shy away from confronting the most shameful aspects of the past during this visit," a palace spokesperson said.
King Charles III will confront "shameful aspects" of UK history with "unflinching honesty" when he addresses Commonwealth leaders next week, Buckingham Palace said Saturday, amid renewed scrutiny of Britain's role in historical transatlantic slavery.
The comments come after Prime Minister Andy Burnham revealed he was open to the UK formally apologising for its role in the trade, but ruling out paying the financial reparations demanded by some Caribbean countries.
The issues have resurfaced as Charles tours the Caribbean before delivering a speech Tuesday at the Commonwealth heads of government meeting there, which Burnham is also set to attend.
"The King will not shy away from confronting the most shameful aspects of the past during this visit," a palace spokesperson said.
"You may therefore expect him to address them in his speech with unflinching honesty, sincere sorrow, and respect for the wider discussions that will be taking place between relevant governments on this issue." 
The palace noted the monarch, who arrived in Antigua and Barbuda late Friday ahead of the summit there, will be speaking in his role as head of the 56-member Commonwealth, composed mainly of former British colonies. 
"It would not be appropriate for him to address matters of particular policy relating to the UK government's position," the spokesperson said.
They added that the king will "primarily focus on encouraging practical solutions and united efforts to address global challenges and opportunities".
 

Slavery pressure

 
Under pressure from Commonwealth countries over Britain's pivotal part in transatlantic slavery, Burnham penned a newspaper op-ed published earlier Saturday that argued: "We need to face up to the past."
Writing in The Guardian, he pledged to have "difficult conversations" to safeguard the Commonwealth's future, offering a "structured dialogue with those affected". 
"Listening to calls for a formal apology on behalf of the British state will form an important part of this process and I am open to them," Burnham wrote.
Expressing "sorrow and regret for the pain and suffering of so many millions" resulting from the trade and its links to the present day, he insisted reparations were not "the right answer".
"I do not think that British people today can be held liable for historical wrongs, however heinous, that happened in a different age under different laws and in which they played no personal part," he wrote.
The centre-left British leader also announced he would launch a new debt restructuring drive for the poorest Commonwealth countries, led by former Labour prime minister Gordon Brown.
He vowed to work with "global partners" to help those countries repay "over a longer time period and with better rates".
 

Reparation calls

 
The issues have loomed large over 77-year-old Charles's ongoing nine-day visit to three Caribbean countries.
"I do believe there should be an apology," receptionist Daliesha Murray told AFP as the king arrived Tuesday in The Bahamas, where small groups of protesters waved placards reading: "Pay what you owe us."
The monarch acknowledged "the great suffering of the past" during that stop.
In Guyana on Friday, he visited a site of execution of local people during British colonial rule, pausing to reflect in a gesture seen as indicating his awareness of that past injustice.
Ahead of a meeting with Charles during that leg, Guyana's President Irfaan Ali told ITV News that recognising historical wrongs was just a "first step".
"Now, moving to the apology is the next step," he said.
Britain has never formally apologised for slavery or agreed to pay reparations. 
The country profited for centuries from colonialism and slavery, but argues it also led the way in the latter's abolition.
In 1833, the UK parliament passed a law to abolish slavery in most of the British Empire. 
In a sign of the domestic political opposition Burnham could face in issuing a formal apology, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said Saturday there was "no need" while reiterating her opposition to reparations.
She urged the Commonwealth to "look forward" and "not endlessly backwards".
"Slavery was an evil in which people from every continent and region participated," she wrote on X.
"We should be honest about the whole history, not select the parts that are politically convenient today."
bur-jj/rlp

court

Polish president holds crisis talks in court standoff

BY GAEL BRANCHEREAU AND BERNARD OSSER

  • Responding to the peak in tension, Nawrocki -- a right-wing independent -- cut short a trip to Senegal and returned to Warsaw where he summoned party leaders for talks at his office on "the threat to internal security".
  • Poland's president Karol Nawrocki held crisis talks with political leaders on Saturday after a dramatic showdown at the constitutional court in an escalating dispute over judicial independence.
  • Responding to the peak in tension, Nawrocki -- a right-wing independent -- cut short a trip to Senegal and returned to Warsaw where he summoned party leaders for talks at his office on "the threat to internal security".
Poland's president Karol Nawrocki held crisis talks with political leaders on Saturday after a dramatic showdown at the constitutional court in an escalating dispute over judicial independence.
The row over appointing the court's judges has spawned a constitutional crisis in the EU country, where a centrist government is vying with a nationalist head of state and opposition.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk's government has been trying for weeks to force out the court's judges, arguing they are not politically neutral.
He faces fierce resistance from the right-wing PiS party, whose former government appointed them.
Followers of the opposition right-wing Law and Justice party (PiS) gathered outside the court on Saturday, extending protests that have been running for weeks in support of its judges.
Riot police had surrounded the court on Friday when protesters rallied there following the suspension of its president Bogdan Swieczkowski.
Demonstrators chanted: "Tusk traitor" and tried to push through security barricades. Police said three people were arrested.
Responding to the peak in tension, Nawrocki -- a right-wing independent -- cut short a trip to Senegal and returned to Warsaw where he summoned party leaders for talks at his office on "the threat to internal security".
 

No breakthrough

 
Representatives of nationalist, far-right and some ruling coalition parties attended the talks at the presidential palace, while Tusk's Civic Coalition party stayed away, according to Polish media.
The Left, a coalition member, said it had not been invited and would not have attended because it considered Nawrocki a party to the dispute.
No breakthrough had emerged by Saturday afternoon.
Demonstrators outside the court accused Tusk's government of trying to seize control of the institution.
"This is Donald Tusk destroying democracy," protester Iwona Dudek, 62, who had travelled from a German border town with her husband, told AFP. "It's a tragedy."
But she added: "Donald Tusk has done the impossible. He has united the entire right wing."
The court's official X account described the government move as a "coup d'etat".
But Tusk, in his speech Saturday evening, said: "Let's call things by their name. For years in Poland there exist organisations and politicians who wish to destroy democracy and rule of law."
He called Friday's unrest "horrifying".
"I very much wish that we would never have to witness similar scenes in Poland again," he added.
 

'No other way'

 
Tusk's government has been trying to force out the judges, who were appointed by the PiS government that ruled from 2015 to 2023.
The court frequently ruled in favour of Polish legislation over EU law.
The European Union accused Poland's highest court of being too close to the nationalist leadership of the time.
Tusk, a strongly pro-EU figure, vowed to end the dispute with Brussels after winning the election in 2023.
But the country's president, a right-wing independent, has blocked nominations to the court under his administration.
Swieczkowski's suspension was announced  on Friday by another judge, Anna Korwin-Piotrowska, who said the move was needed to restore the rule of law.
"After years of PiS-led lawlessness, this is a difficult process, sometimes painful, and it requires decisive action," Tusk said on X.
"There is no other way."
The European Commission on Saturday urged Nawrocki to approve the new judges who were nominated by parliament, so the court could function in line with the constitution and EU law.
The European Commission on Saturday urged Nawrocki to approve the new judges who were nominated by parliament in line with the constitution and EU law, a spokesman told AFP.
The US ambassador to Poland, Tom Rose, warned all sides: "Don't take any action that could provoke violence or further escalation." 
bo-gab-ks/rlp-jj

accident

Spanish village holds memorial mass for train crash victims

BY THOMAS COEX

  • Authorities overseeing the process have completed autopsies on all 69 people killed in the crash, with 56 identified so far, according to their latest update.
  • Residents and local officials gathered on Saturday in a Spanish village near the site of a high-speed train collision that killed at least 69 people for a memorial Mass honouring the victims.
  • Authorities overseeing the process have completed autopsies on all 69 people killed in the crash, with 56 identified so far, according to their latest update.
Residents and local officials gathered on Saturday in a Spanish village near the site of a high-speed train collision that killed at least 69 people for a memorial Mass honouring the victims.
The pews inside the San Juan Bautista church in Urda, in the central province of Toledo, were packed, while dozens more people gathered outside to listen to the service. Some wiped away tears.
Investigators are looking into the cause of one of Europe's deadliest rail disasters this century, which occurred when a train travelling from Madrid to Seville crashed into a stationary train on Wednesday.
Archbishop of Toledo Francisco Cerro acknowledged that "there are no words that can offer comfort" to those who had lost loved ones.
But he added: "Dear families affected by the train accident, you are not alone. Society is with you, the best of society is with you."
He urged the public not to forget the tragedy, calling for such disasters never to happen again.
He also paid tribute to emergency service workers and volunteers, praising what he described as "a genuine wave of solidarity".
The president of the Castilla-La Mancha region, Emiliano Garcia-Page, and Urda mayor Manuel Galan were among those attending the service.
 

'In great pain'

 
Residents of Urda, which has a population of around 2,500, "are very badly affected, in great pain and with a great need for support", Galan told Spanish public television ahead of the mass.
Village pharmacist, 78-year-old Antonio Garcia Colina, said he had rushed to the scene of the crash in his car shortly after it happened to try to help the injured and witnessed several people dying.
"As I walked toward the scene of the disaster, toward ground zero, I started seeing that the passengers were in bad shape as they were being pulled out of the train cars,"  he told AFPTV, describing the scene as "hellish".
Relatives of the victims, who have been providing DNA samples to help identify the dead, face an agonising wait for news as rescue teams continue to sift through the wreckage and forensic experts work to identify the bodies.
Authorities overseeing the process have completed autopsies on all 69 people killed in the crash, with 56 identified so far, according to their latest update.
Of those identified, 54 were Spanish nationals and two were foreign nationals -- one French and the other Portuguese.
Wednesday's crash was Spain's second major train disaster this year.
In January, 46 people were killed when one train derailed and slammed into the side of another travelling in the opposite direction on the same route, near the southern village of Adamuz.
vid-pho-ds/rlp

politics

Israeli protesters demand opposition ally with Arab parties to oust Netanyahu

BY STUART WHITE WITH GIANLUCA PACCHIANI AND MARIE DHUMIERES IN JERUSALEM

  • "It's the last chance for real change," the 60-year-old psychologist said, warning that Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving prime minister, was a "great manipulator".
  • Hundreds of Israelis took to the streets on Saturday to urge the opposition to ally with Arab parties to oust Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has gone on the offensive against the minority group's leaders.
  • "It's the last chance for real change," the 60-year-old psychologist said, warning that Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving prime minister, was a "great manipulator".
Hundreds of Israelis took to the streets on Saturday to urge the opposition to ally with Arab parties to oust Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has gone on the offensive against the minority group's leaders.
Arab-majority parties made major gains in Tuesday's election, fuelled by anger over rhetoric targeting the community from Netanyahu's hard-right government, but opposition chief Gadi Eisenkot has not decided whether to seek a coalition with them.
Joining a rally in Tel Aviv, Ayelet Raz said that the Arab community, which accounts for around 20 percent of Israel's population, had a right to political participation.
"It's the last chance for real change," the 60-year-old psychologist said, warning that Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving prime minister, was a "great manipulator".
"We need to give peace a chance," she said. "Otherwise we'll have this bloodshed forever."
Tuesday's election was inconclusive, with neither bloc reaching a majority in Israel's 120-seat parliament.
Jewish-majority parties opposed to Netanyahu, known by his nickname Bibi, won 48 seats, while two Arab-majority parties, Raam and the Joint List, secured a combined 19 seats.
An alliance between the two camps would potentially give the anti-Netanyahu bloc a comfortable majority of 67 seats, but the idea is opposed by some parties in the opposition bloc.
"Arabs and Jews will only win together" and "There is a majority for change" read some of the signs held by around 500 protesters in Tel Aviv.
"67 -- United we stand, divided we get Bibi" and "Why not, really -- unless we are racist?" read some of the placards at the 100-strong rally in Jerusalem.
Arab parties have only once formally sat in an Israeli government, when Raam leader Mansour Abbas joined a short-lived coalition that lasted from 2021 to 2022.
He has voiced a willingness to do so again.
The Joint List's Yousef Jabareen, meanwhile, has told AFP he is willing to support Eisenkot in parliament without joining his government, citing, among other concerns, the war in Gaza.
 

Opposition division

 
Eisenkot, 66, a former military chief and political novice, largely shares Netanyahu's views on security issues including Gaza, which Israel has reduced to rubble since the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023.
Eisenkot reiterated on Saturday that he would only form a "Zionist government" whose members commit to the "recognition of Israel as a Jewish, democratic and liberal state" and to the "recognition of Hamas as a terrorist organisation", conditions that Arab leaders have previously refused to accept.
While he has said he does not want a government dependent on Arab lists, Eisenkot has not explicitly rejected their external support.
"I want them (the opposition bloc) to go ahead to be brave and do the right thing," said demonstrator Sharon Balaban, 55, a video artist in Jerusalem. 
Yair Golan, leader of the left-wing Democrats has enthusiastically supported the prospect of a government backed by Arab parties, saying it would be racist to exclude them, and on Thursday met Abbas.
But Avigdor Liberman, leader of the right-wing anti-Netanyahu Yisrael Beitenu party, has said he will not enter a coalition that relies on Arab parties, even for external support.
"Whoever wants to rely on supporters of terrorism, let them. Yisrael Beiteinu will not be there," he wrote on Facebook on Friday.
 

Arabs 'are for Hamas'

 
On the sidelines of the demonstration in Tel Aviv, more than 100 Netanyahu supporters staged a counter-protest.
"It's the Right, or Palestine," they chanted, repeating a slogan from Netanyahu's campaign.
"The two Arab parties are for Hamas", said Rebecca Schindler, 60. "They want to make Israel an Arab country."
Nava Rehavia, 70, called on Eisenkot and Liberman to join a Netanyahu-led coalition and said: "The Arabs did not win, because they stole the election."
Netanyahu sought to raise allegations of electoral fraud during voting day, saying Arab parties had been caught with envelopes of cash.
Police said they had arrested three suspects, but the election commission described the incident as an isolated local case.
Netanyahu later raised allegations that Arab politicians improperly received support from Qatar.
Collaboration with Arab parties would be "a disaster for Israel", Netanyahu posted on social media on Saturday.
President Isaac Herzog is expected  to grant a party leader a mandate to form a government within 28 days by Thursday, with a possible 14-day extension.
The negotiations come as Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump have hinted at a new attack on Iran, which could help Netanyahu run out the clock until new elections.
glp-mdh-smw/dcp

politics

Rubio flags challenges in finding consensus as G20 talks wrap

BY BEIYI SEOW AND LEON BRUNEAU

  • "It is important the global community agree that trade in food and agricultural products should not be used as a tool for economic or political coercion," said a chair statement released Saturday by the US G20 presidency.
  • The United States on Saturday urged against using food trade as a tool for "economic or political coercion," while acknowledging the difficulty of reaching a G20 consensus as foreign ministers wrapped talks.
  • "It is important the global community agree that trade in food and agricultural products should not be used as a tool for economic or political coercion," said a chair statement released Saturday by the US G20 presidency.
The United States on Saturday urged against using food trade as a tool for "economic or political coercion," while acknowledging the difficulty of reaching a G20 consensus as foreign ministers wrapped talks.
The US comments sum up a two-day meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, that has been complicated by wars in Iran and Ukraine.
"We are aligned at least in our goal and our understanding that it's a serious problem, although I cannot say we are aligned on how to solve it," said US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who hosted the gathering.
He referred to the rise of food security problems as a result of energy, fertilizer and agricultural products being unable to reach their destinations as sea lanes come under attack.
This comes against the backdrop of the Russia-Ukraine war and follows Iran's retaliation for US and Israeli strikes earlier this year.
"It is important the global community agree that trade in food and agricultural products should not be used as a tool for economic or political coercion," said a chair statement released Saturday by the US G20 presidency.
The talks among the Group of 20 major economies -- which includes China, France, Germany, India, Japan and Russia -- also took place days before US midterm elections, in which high energy prices are a key voter concern.
It is the last high-level meeting before a G20 leaders' summit in Miami at President Donald Trump's Doral resort in mid-December.
G20 partners now have "some universal acknowledgement" that issues like freedom of navigation matter, alongside supply chains for critical minerals and food security, Rubio told reporters on Saturday.
But he conceded that solving these problems will require much work, with the situation challenged by the Iran and Ukraine wars.
The US chair statement also stressed the need for "secure, resilient, and uninterrupted energy flows, including safe navigation" through waterways.
World energy prices have rocketed since Tehran blocked the Strait of Hormuz -- a key waterway for oil transit -- in retaliation against US-Israel strikes.
While the potential for further escalation in the Middle East continues to loom, Rubio told a press conference that Trump "hasn't made a decision" on fresh strikes.
At the G20 meeting, European officials also sought to put more pressure on Moscow, particularly to secure a ceasefire in the Black Sea, a key agricultural export corridor.
Asked about the possibility of a ceasefire, Rubio told reporters that there was growing interest internationally to work towards an agreement.
"We'd like to achieve it. It doesn't solve the war, but at least it solves a unique aspect of it," he added.
The US-hosted foreign ministers' meetings closed Saturday with some "sports diplomacy" away from the press.
Ministers were invited to attend an American football game between the University of Georgia and the University of Florida -- for which Rubio's son plays.
lb-bys/pnb

conflict

UK police arrest Palestine Action supporters ahead of Supreme Court hearing

  • The Supreme Court is set to hold a two-day hearing on the high-profile case from Wednesday, after the Court of Appeal in June ruled in the government's favour.
  • British police on Saturday arrested at least 139 Palestine Action supporters, who protested in London and Edinburgh days ahead of a court appeal over the government's contentious ban of the group.
  • The Supreme Court is set to hold a two-day hearing on the high-profile case from Wednesday, after the Court of Appeal in June ruled in the government's favour.
British police on Saturday arrested at least 139 Palestine Action supporters, who protested in London and Edinburgh days ahead of a court appeal over the government's contentious ban of the group.
London's Metropolitan Police began detaining people shortly after hundreds started a lunchtime "mass action" outside the US Embassy, an AFP reporter witnessed.
The force said in an evening update that officers were "continuing to make arrests" as they confirmed that 139 had already been detained.
Police have arrested more than 4,000 people on suspicion of showing support for Palestine Action, according to campaigners, after the British government outlawed it under anti-terror laws in July 2025.
Many of those arrested, including senior citizens and Holocaust survivors, have displayed signs at rallies reading: "I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action."
In July, hearings related to more than 2,000 of those cases were postponed until later this year.
"It is truly dystopian that there have now been over 4,000 arrests under terror laws for peaceful vigils," Protest organisers Defend Our Juries said in a statement.
The ban puts the group on a blacklist that also includes Palestinian militants Hamas and the Lebanese Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah.
It made membership of, or support for, Palestine Action a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
The group's co-founder Huda Ammori has legally challenged the ban, arguing it was "disproportionate" and infringed human rights.
The Supreme Court is set to hold a two-day hearing on the high-profile case from Wednesday, after the Court of Appeal in June ruled in the government's favour.
 

'Losing faith'

 
Saturday's London protesters held banners bearing slogans such as "How is trying to stop a genocide a crime?" and "We are protesters, not terrorists."
Attendee Angie Zelter, 75, told AFP she had already been charged at least eight times at previous rallies but wanted to protest again ahead of the Supreme Court hearing.
"I am hoping they will come to their senses and agree PA (Palestine Action) should not have been proscribed," she said.
Marji Mansfield, 70, a retired financial adviser, said she had previously been arrested about 10 times.
"I am losing faith in the judicial system," she told AFP.
"If they lift the ban, it would be a way out for the government," Mansfield added, while noting there was currently "no sign" of the ban's reversal.
A bestselling Irish author, Sally Rooney, has entered the controversy, with her publisher Faber revealing this month it can no longer sell her books in the UK because of her support for the group.
Set up in 2020, Palestine Action's stated goal on its website -- blocked to UK internet users -- is to end "global participation in Israel's genocidal and apartheid regime".
It gained visibility after Israel began bombarding Gaza following the October 7, 2023, attack by fighters from Palestinian group Hamas in southern Israel.
Palestine Action has mainly targeted weapons factories in Britain, especially those belonging to the Israel-based defence group Elbit.
ctx-jj/rlp

protests

German police fire water cannon during tense 'Gen Z' protests

BY SAM REEVES

  • In the western city of Cologne, where one of the biggest demonstrations took place, police fired water cannon to disperse a crowd after saying protesters had targeted officers with fireworks. 
  • German police fired water cannon to disperse firework-hurling protesters Saturday and were also pelted with other projectiles, as tensions rose at the end of massive youth-led protests. 
  • In the western city of Cologne, where one of the biggest demonstrations took place, police fired water cannon to disperse a crowd after saying protesters had targeted officers with fireworks. 
German police fired water cannon to disperse firework-hurling protesters Saturday and were also pelted with other projectiles, as tensions rose at the end of massive youth-led protests. 
In Berlin, Frankfurt, Cologne and dozens of other cities, demonstrators turned out for the protests organised by the group "GenZ regelt!" (GenZ has got this), the latest by disillusioned youth in Europe.
Thousands of police were deployed across the country and, after mostly peaceful demonstrations, tensions rose in the evening in some places.
In the western city of Cologne, where one of the biggest demonstrations took place, police fired water cannon to disperse a crowd after saying protesters had targeted officers with fireworks. 
"We will not tolerate violence against emergency workers," said a police statement.
Earlier, a march through the city was halted after demonstrators started setting off fireworks. A march was also temporarily halted in Frankfurt after protesters set off fireworks. 
In Berlin protesters hurled bottles and eggs while protesters set barricades ablaze in Hamburg, and police were using pepper spray on demonstrators in some places, Germany's daily Bild reported. 
Demonstrators had earlier taken to the streets waving signs that read "Time for resistance", and "Merz must go", in reference to conservative Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
They have been inspired by similar movements across Europe, including in France and Italy.
 

Europe-wide protests

 
"We're taking to the streets for a life that everyone can afford," said Veronika Dinter, a spokeswoman for the "GenZ regelt!" movement. 
"Hardly anyone still believes in a better future if everything just continues as it is."
The movement's complaints range from the high cost of living to poorly maintained schools, government spending cuts and, more broadly, what it sees as politicians making decisions with apparently little regard for the younger generation.
They are also unhappy with sharply increased military spending and a new voluntary service model aimed at boosting troop numbers, fearing it is a step towards bringing back conscription.
Several thousand demonstrators turned out in Cologne while the figure was around 5,000 in Berlin and 8,000 in Frankfurt, according to police. 
There were also sizeable gatherings in other parts of the country, although the numbers were below the 170,000 nationwide that organisers had hoped for. 
Authorities have been worried the protests, coinciding with Halloween, could be marred by the same kind of violence seen elsewhere in Europe.
Protests were also taking place in France for a third straight weekend. Nationwide demonstrations there on October 17 degenerated into some of the country's worst rioting in years.
Berlin is in contact with officials in France and Italy amid fears that radicals from overseas could seek to join the German protests. 
But, prior to the protests, authorities said that they had not seen evidence of concrete plans for violence.
The "GenZ regelt!" movement explicitly rejects violence. 
It stresses that "extremist groups, anti-constitutional symbols, racism and hate speech have no place with us -- no matter from which side".
Christian Volk, an expert in protest movements, said there was the potential to see a major movement emerge in Germany.
But Volk, from Berlin's Humboldt University, told AFP there were key differences with France, which has a "completely different tradition when it comes to confrontational forms of protest".
sr/rmb
 
 

conflict

Erdogan takes Russia, Ukraine to task over Black Sea attacks

BY FULYA OZERKAN

  • Despite its ties with both Russia and Ukraine, Turkey has been infuriated by the attacks on commercial vessels in the Black Sea.
  • Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday attacks aimed at civilian vessels in the Black Sea were unacceptable, urging Russia and Ukraine to "act responsibly".
  • Despite its ties with both Russia and Ukraine, Turkey has been infuriated by the attacks on commercial vessels in the Black Sea.
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday attacks aimed at civilian vessels in the Black Sea were unacceptable, urging Russia and Ukraine to "act responsibly".
Despite its ties with both Russia and Ukraine, Turkey has been infuriated by the attacks on commercial vessels in the Black Sea.
"It is clear that attacks against civilian vessels and actions that further escalate tensions in the Black Sea serve no one's interests," Erdogan told a news conference with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky in Istanbul.
"We cannot accept these attacks under any circumstances, regardless of who carries them out or what justification is offered. We call on all parties to act responsibly on this matter," he said.
Ankara has sent a proposal to Russia and Ukraine to end strikes on civilian ships, but says the two foes have failed to act on it.
Zelensky accused Russia of making the situation in the Black Sea difficult and said a significant part of the conversation with Erdogan was devoted precisely to such issues that concerned the security there. 
"We discussed with President Erdogan some ideas and proposals that can help. And I thank Mr. President personally for this dialogue," he said. 
Erdogan said the talks aimed at restoring the safety of navigation in the Black Sea would continue. 
"I believe that reaching an agreement on this issue would also give fresh impetus to efforts to secure lasting peace in Ukraine," he added.
Turkey has hosted several rounds of talks between Russia and Ukraine aiming for a lasting ceasefire and peace deal.
In a phone call with US President Donald Trump on Wednesday, Erdogan said Turkey was ready to support efforts to revive the diplomatic process between Ukraine and Russia and bring the war to an end, said the Turkish leader's office.
 

'Possibility to meet in Turkey'

 
On Saturday, Erdogan also welcomed renewed momentum behind efforts to bring the Russia-Ukraine war to an end through "diplomatic means", referring in particular to Trump's initiative.
"At this point, we maintain that there can be no losers in a just peace," he said. 
"I would like to emphasise that we stand ready to make every possible effort to pave the way for peace," he said.
Turkey-hosted negotiations between the two warring parties demonstrated that "tangible results can be achieved through diplomacy", he added.
Last week, Kremlin said the next round of talks between Russia, Ukraine and the United States were planned to resume in November in the United Arab Emirates.
Zelensky said he had discussed with Erdogan this format of talks and other possibilities, "in particular the possibilities of involving Turkey, involving Europe, involving all partners. The possibilities of a meeting here, in Turkey.
"Strong decisions are needed for there to be peace," he added.
"And it is necessary at all levels to send signals to Russia that there is no alternative to peace and that support for Ukraine will continue."
After talks with Erdogan, Zelensky was due to meet Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew.  
bur-fo/jj

conflict

Forced to eat grass, Oleshky evacuees say truce was a 'blessing'

BY GENYA SAVILOV

  • He added that some residents were forced to shoot and cook dogs to survive.
  • Evacuees from Oleshky, a bombed-out city in Russian-occupied Ukraine, told AFP that residents had to eat grass and dogs to survive and that their rescue following a humanitarian truce was a "blessing".
  • He added that some residents were forced to shoot and cook dogs to survive.
Evacuees from Oleshky, a bombed-out city in Russian-occupied Ukraine, told AFP that residents had to eat grass and dogs to survive and that their rescue following a humanitarian truce was a "blessing".
US First Lady Melania Trump announced the truce on October 23, saying the city was "on the brink of disaster".
Ukrainian and Russian officials visited the city together on Friday, delivering aid and evacuating those who wanted to leave in a rare show of cooperation between the warring sides.
Arriving in Ukraine on Saturday by bus, residents whom AFP interviewed painted a dire picture of life in the city.
"People were cooking grass," said Valera, a 29-year-old former resident who did not give his last name.
"They'd grow it, as there was nothing to eat."
He added that some residents were forced to shoot and cook dogs to survive.
"Lots of people were blown up. There were piles of bodies on the roads, loads of cars. In short, it was brutal... Terrifying," he said.
An AFP journalist saw the residents, some draped in Ukrainian flags, disembark from buses and tearfully embrace their loved ones.
The city in Ukraine's southern Kherson region was captured by the Russian military in 2022, and had been caught in intense fighting between the two sides that left residents starving and unable to escape.
 

'They got blown up'

 
Yelyzaveta Paliy, who was waiting for her father to return, said she never expected him to be gone so long. 
"We last saw him at the end of January 2024, when my sister, mum and I left, and he stayed behind," the 19-year-old said. 
AFP saw Paliy, her mother and sister embracing Paliy's father in a circle.
"This is a blessing. I've been waiting a long time," her father said. "There's no life there anymore," he said of Oleshky.
Ivan, a 70-year-old resident, said life in Oleshky had been "really bad" over the past month.
"We've got a vegetable garden. We grew everything we needed there. Everything ourselves, so we managed more or less. We shared with the neighbours," he said. 
"We had these specialist lads who cleared the mines themselves and set off. They drove in their cars, and they got blown up," he said.
He said one of his relatives had lost four vehicles driving out of Oleshky.
"What else could we do? Starve to death?"
Around 2,000 residents -- compared with 24,000 before Russia's 2022 invasion -- were still in Oleshky ahead of the humanitarian operation, according to Kyiv's estimates.
Neither Moscow nor Kyiv has specified the number of people evacuated, and authorities in both countries previously indicated that many residents wished to remain in the city, even in the event of renewed fighting.
mz-cad/rmb

attack

Russia says responding to US report of planned attack on Moscow

  • Russia's FSB security service said earlier it had received information from the United States "regarding the preparation of a terrorist attack".
  • Russia's FSB security service said on Saturday it was carrying out "appropriate" measures after the US embassy in Moscow warned of a planned "terrorist" attack in the capital.
  • Russia's FSB security service said earlier it had received information from the United States "regarding the preparation of a terrorist attack".
Russia's FSB security service said on Saturday it was carrying out "appropriate" measures after the US embassy in Moscow warned of a planned "terrorist" attack in the capital.
The US embassy said earlier it was "aware of a credible threat of a mass casualty event TODAY October 31, at the Tsaritsyno Museum Reserve in Moscow".
The US government was "coordinating with appropriate Russian authorities on a response," it said, advising people: "Avoid the area, stay alert, and avoid crowds."
The US embassy did not give details on who was plotting the attack.
The Tsaritsyno museum is an imperial palace and park complex in southern Moscow that is a popular place to visit, especially on weekends.
Russian Telegram channel Baza, which reportedly has links to law enforcement, said the park was now closed and "open only for exits".
"Law enforcement officers are on the premises," it reported.
Russia's FSB security service said earlier it had received information from the United States "regarding the preparation of a terrorist attack".
"Appropriate work is underway," it was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies.
The US has provided Russia with warnings of planned attacks before, including in March 2024, weeks before an ISIS-K attack on a Moscow concert hall that killed over 100 people.
bur/rmb

advertising

China state TV does not air first La Liga games since Mbappe furore

  • Asked by AFP before the weekend, La Liga said that Chinese television had previously shown all games live, without specifying which platforms hosted the broadcasts.
  • Chinese state television did not air on Saturday the first La Liga games since Real Madrid star Kylian Mbappe caused anger with a joke about the country's former leader Mao Zedong.
  • Asked by AFP before the weekend, La Liga said that Chinese television had previously shown all games live, without specifying which platforms hosted the broadcasts.
Chinese state television did not air on Saturday the first La Liga games since Real Madrid star Kylian Mbappe caused anger with a joke about the country's former leader Mao Zedong.
It was not immediately clear whether state broadcaster CCTV had scheduled screenings of the matches and then cancelled them, or whether they were not scheduled in the first place.
A viral video in recent days showed Mbappe referring to Mao as a "dictator", prompting the body overseeing CCTV to say it would halt broadcasts of the top Spanish league.
Mbappe, Real and La Liga later all said sorry for his remarks, and China's foreign ministry said it took the player's apology "seriously".
But state broadcaster CCTV's sport channels still chose not to show Villarreal's 1-0 defeat to Espanyol, nor Atletico Madrid's win against Levante, on Saturday.
Three more games are due to take place overnight in China, with Barcelona, who have a strong following there, also in action.
Asked by AFP before the weekend, La Liga said that Chinese television had previously shown all games live, without specifying which platforms hosted the broadcasts.
AFP journalists did find live broadcasts of the first two matches on Migu, a digital streaming service owned by the state-owned China Mobile telecom network.
China Media Group (CMG), which oversees CCTV, had said it had moved on Monday to suspend La Liga broadcasts, adding that apologies from La Liga, Mbappe and Real Madrid were "an absolute prerequisite" for moving past the furore.
The viral video showed Mbappe saying that the funniest internet meme about him he had seen was of his face photo-shopped onto that of "some guy -- I think he's a Chinese dictator". 
This was an apparent reference to a meme of Mbappe superimposed on an image of Mao.
Mbappe later apologised for his "ill-judged" comments, La Liga said it "deeply" regretted them, and Real followed suit.
CCTV's sports website later reported that CMG had acknowledged the apologies, but it remains unclear whether talks to defuse the situation have begun.
China is a huge market for European football, with CCTV also carrying matches from the Premier League as well as the German, French and Italian top flights.
Real, who are hugely popular in the country, are due to play Racing Santander on Sunday.
Real coach Jose Mourinho said on Saturday that the club had "done our part" to put the controversy behind them.
It is taboo in China to crack jokes about Mao, who died in 1976 and whose drastic policies are blamed by historians for mass starvation and millions of deaths.
Major Chinese brands cancelled sponsorship deals with Mbappe after his comments.
Various overseas sports leagues and players have found themselves in hot water for comments on topics that are politically sensitive to China.
China effectively cut ties with the NBA for several years from 2019 after then-Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey tweeted his support for Hong Kong protesters.
mya/mjw

conflict

Evacuees from Russian-occupied Oleshky arrive in Ukraine

BY MYKOLA ZAVGORODNIY

  • Announcing the ceasefire on October 23, First Lady Melania Trump described the city as being "on the brink of disaster" and said that without her intervention, bringing aid to its beleaguered residents would have been "impossible".
  • Residents of the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky, ravaged by years of war, arrived in Ukraine on Saturday after being evacuated via Belarus during a rare truce brokered by US First Lady Melania Trump.
  • Announcing the ceasefire on October 23, First Lady Melania Trump described the city as being "on the brink of disaster" and said that without her intervention, bringing aid to its beleaguered residents would have been "impossible".
Residents of the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky, ravaged by years of war, arrived in Ukraine on Saturday after being evacuated via Belarus during a rare truce brokered by US First Lady Melania Trump.
An AFP journalist saw the residents, some draped in Ukrainian flags, disembark from buses and tearfully embrace their loved ones in emotional scenes.
Oleshky, in Ukraine's southern Kherson region, was captured by the Russian military in 2022, and had been caught in intense fighting between the two sides that left residents starving and unable to escape.
Announcing the ceasefire on October 23, First Lady Melania Trump described the city as being "on the brink of disaster" and said that without her intervention, bringing aid to its beleaguered residents would have been "impossible".
The evacuees whom AFP met in northern Ukraine on Saturday said that they had to eat grass to survive, and that some had hunted dogs.
"There was no bread. Nothing. The shops weren't open," Valera, who did not give his last name, told AFP.
"Lots of people planted vegetable gardens. We ate whatever was available. Well, thank God, we're here now," the 29-year-old added.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on X that the residents would "receive the assistance they need."
"I thank the American side and US First Lady Melania Trump for their mediation," he added.
Ukrainian and Russian officials visited the city together on Friday, delivering aid and marshalling those who wanted to leave in a rare show of cooperation between the warring sides.
The truce, which covers the Kherson region only and began early Tuesday, marks the longest pause in fighting between Russia and Ukraine anywhere on the front line since Russia invaded its neighbour in February 2022.
The conflict, now in its fifth year, has left hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians dead and forced millions to flee their homes.
 

'No life there'

 
AFP reporters saw jubilant scenes as the evacuees disembarked buses in Ukraine's northern Chernigiv region, having been evacuated via Belarus.
Yelyzaveta Paliy, who was waiting for her father to return, said she never expected him to be gone so long.
"We last saw him at the end of January 2024, when my sister, mum and I left, and he stayed behind," the 19-year-old said.
AFP saw the pair smiling and embracing after being reunited.
"This is a blessing. I've been waiting a long time," her father said.
"There's no life there anymore," he said of Oleshky.
Captured by Russia in 2022, locals in the city had faced food, water and medicine shortages for months, while some were forced to hunt and eat pigeons, former residents told AFP.
Around 2,000 residents, compared with 24,000 before the Russian invasion, were still in Oleshky ahead of the humanitarian operation, according to Kyiv's estimates.
The Ukrainian military had released drone footage of the town showing rows of empty apartment blocks, some charred by fire or partially destroyed by fighting.
Neither Moscow nor Kyiv has specified the number of people evacuated, and authorities in both countries previously indicated that many residents wished to remain in the city, even in the event of renewed fighting.
The truce is scheduled to end on Sunday evening.
Russia, which denies targeting civilians, now occupies around a fifth of its neighbour: the Crimean peninsula, which it annexed in 2014, most of the eastern regions of Donetsk and Lugansk -- collectively referred to as the Donbas -- and large parts of the southern Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions. 
US-mediated talks between Russia and Ukraine are set to resume in November, having been effectively frozen since the United States and Israel launched joint strikes on Iran in February.
Elsewhere in Ukraine, the capital Kyiv was suffering electricity shortages on Saturday following Russian strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure the day before, private Ukrainian energy provider DTEK said.
bur-cad/rmb