World Archives - Page 1090 of 1962

Arson suspected as huge French wildfire reignites

10 Aug 2022 10 Aug 2022

A wildfire that officials thought was under control in southwest France has reignited amid a record drought and extreme heat, possibly the result of arson, officials said Wednesday.

More than 6,000 hectares (15,000 acres) of tinder-dry forest have burned in just 24 hours in the so-called Landiras blaze, the largest of several that scorched the region last month.

It had been brought under control — but not fully extinguished — after burning nearly 14,000 hectares, before flaring up on Tuesday, forcing the evacuation of some 6,000 people.

The government said Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin would travel to the frontline of fire-fighting efforts in the southwestern French region of Gironde on Thursday.

No one has been injured but 16 homes were destroyed or damaged near the village of Belin-Beliet, and officials said six fire engines had been burned.

“The risks are very high” that parched conditions will allow the fire to spread further, said Martin Guespereau, prefect of the Gironde department.

“The weather is very unfavourable because of the heat, the dry air, the record drought and the fact that there is a lot of peat in the ground… the fire didn’t go out in July, it went underground,” he told journalists.

Darmanin said more than 1,000 firefighters were now battling the blaze, adding that investigators suspected arson may be involved.

“There were eight fires that erupted between 8:00 and 9:00 am (0600 and 0700 GMT) that erupted at intervals of a few hundred metres, which is extremely unusual,” he said in Mostuejouls, north of the Mediterranean city of Montpellier, where another fire was raging in the Grands Causses natural park.

He also told reporters that Sweden and Italy would send fire-fighting aircraft to France within 24 hours to help.

– ‘The sky was roaring’ –

“It’s a major fire… much more intense and fast-moving” than at the height of the Landiras blaze last month, Marc Vermeulen of the regional fire-fighting authority told journalists.

“I opened the door last night and there was (a) red wall in front of us, the sky was roaring like the ocean,” said Eliane, a 43-year-old at a temporary shelter for evacuees in Belin-Beliet.

For Christian Fostitchenko, 61, and his partner Monique, waiting at a martial arts dojo in nearby Salles, it was their second evacuation of the summer from their home in Saint-Magne.

“This time we were really scared — the flames were less than 100 metres (328 feet) from the house,” he said.

The fire was spreading toward the A63 motorway, a major artery linking Bordeaux to Spain, with thick smoke forcing the road’s closure between Bordeaux and Bayonne.

France has been buffeted this summer by a record drought that has forced water-use restrictions nationwide, as well as a series of heatwaves that many experts warn are being driven by climate change.

Wildfires have also ignited in the dry hills of the southeast and even in the normally lush areas of Brittany along the coast.

On Wednesday, officials in western France said a wildfire near Angers and Le Mans has burned 1,200 hectares since Monday as nearly 400 firefighters struggle to contain it.

Death toll from attack on Mali soldiers rises to 42: army

10 Aug 2022 10 Aug 2022

Forty-two Malian soldiers died in an attack at the weekend by suspected jihadists, the army said Wednesday in a document naming the fatalities, revising an earlier figure of 21 dead.

The toll is one of the bloodiest in Mali’s decade-long insurgency, which has spread from the north of the country to the centre and south and into neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger.

The document was authenticated to AFP by several senior military officials.

The attack occurred on Sunday in the town of Tessit, in the troubled “three-border” region where the frontiers of the three nations converge.

On Monday, the army had said 17 soldiers and four civilians had died. Relatives of the victims, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that some of the civilians had been elected officials.

Monday’s statement also said that seven attackers had died, “probably members of the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) and benefiting from drone and artillery support and using explosives and an explosives-laden vehicle”.

The last time Mali’s armed forces sustained such losses was in a string of attacks in the same region in late 2019 and early 2020.

Hundreds of soldiers were killed in assaults on nearly a dozen bases, typically carried out by highly mobile fighters on motorbikes.

The raids prompted the Malian, Nigerien and Burkinabe forces to fall back from forward bases and hunker down in better-defended locations.

In January 2020, France and its Sahel allies agreed on a push against the ISGS at a summit in Pau, southwestern France.

Several of its leaders were targeted and killed, including its founder, Abu Walid Al-Sahraoui, but local people say the group has continued to recruit and carry out its operations.

– Hotspot –

Tessit is one of the hotspots in the three-border area.

The ISGS is fighting for control of the strategic, gold-rich area against an Al-Qaeda-linked alliance, the Support Group for Islam and Muslims (GSIM).

In March 2021, 33 soldiers were killed in an ISGS-claimed ambush as units were being rotated, and in February this year, around 40 civilians — suspected by the ISGS of being in league with Al-Qaeda — were massacred.

Mobile phone connections to the area have been frequently cut over the last few years and physical access is hard, especially during the mid-year rainy season.

Thousands have fled Tessit to the nearest large town, Gao, which is located some 150 kilometres (90 miles) to the north.

Across the Sahel, the jihadist campaign has claimed thousands of lives and forced more than two million to flee their homes.

Sporadic cross-border attacks have also occurred in Ivory Coast, Togo and Benin to the south, amplifying fears of a jihadist push towards the Gulf of Guinea.

Chinese court rejects appeal in landmark #MeToo case

10 Aug 2022 10 Aug 2022

A Chinese court rejected an appeal in a landmark sexual harassment case on Wednesday, dealing a blow to the country’s fledgling #MeToo movement.

Zhou Xiaoxuan stepped forward in 2018 to accuse popular state TV host Zhu Jun of forcibly kissing and groping her during her 2014 internship at the broadcaster.

Her case inspired many others to share their experiences of sexual assault publicly and sparked a social media storm.

But a court ruled last year that there was not enough evidence to prove Zhou was sexually harassed by Zhu, and her appeal was rejected Wednesday on similar grounds.

In a statement, the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People’s Court said it “will uphold the previous judgment”.

Police cordoned off long stretches of pavement outside the court ahead of Zhou arrival in the afternoon, with officers logging the details of passers-by.

“The process of the first trial was a deep secondary injury,” she told AFP ahead of her hearing.

Zhou, 29, told AFP before returning to court that her legal team would focus on getting access to more evidence, such as police transcripts of interviews with her parents after she reported the incident — which were not included in the earlier trial — and surveillance footage.

Zhu was absent from earlier proceedings, she added, and while he had sued her for defamation, she was not aware of further developments in that case.

A small group of supporters came to wish Zhou luck on Wednesday, holding up signs that said “#MeToo” and balloons spelling out “All the best” in Chinese.

“Four years have passed, and the most important thing is that we have raised this question: When a woman encounters sexual harassment in a closed space, is her pain worth paying attention to?” Zhou said to supporters.

Speaking after the hearing, she said “victory is not that important to me… I accept this outcome.”

She added that it was meaningful that she could give her statement before the court, thanking supporters.

– ‘Too difficult’ –

Zhou, also known by the pseudonym Xianzi, originally sued for a public apology from Zhu and 50,000 yuan ($7,400) in damages.

Her first hearing in December 2020 drew a large crowd and a significant police presence in Beijing.

Reporters from foreign media outlets including AFP were dragged away by police while filming the scene.

“The process for my case has truly been too difficult,” Zhou told AFP.

“I worry that other victims fear standing up for their rights after seeing what I’ve experienced.”

But she added that with her case, “perhaps the next victim that walks into court can receive more trust”.

Her case against Zhu was originally filed under the “personality rights” law — covering rights relating to an individual’s health and body.

But her lawyers later asked for it to be considered under a new sexual harassment law that was passed in 2020.

Despite that law, many women in China are still reluctant to come forward with harassment charges, and it is rare for cases to make it to court in a legal system that places a heavy burden on the claimant.

The country’s #MeToo movement has stumbled since 2018, when a wave of women published allegations of sexual harassment against university professors.

Threatened at the time by the prospect of an uncontrolled mass movement, internet censors quickly began blocking social media hashtags and keywords.

Elon Musk sells nearly $7 bn in Tesla stock

10 Aug 2022 11 Aug 2022

Elon Musk has sold nearly $7 billion worth of Tesla shares, according to legal filings, amid a high-stakes court battle with Twitter over a $44 billion buyout deal.

The billionaire offloaded about 7.9 million shares in the electric carmaker between August 5 and 9, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday.

“In the (hopefully unlikely) event that Twitter forces this deal to close and some equity partners don’t come through, it is important to avoid an emergency sale of Tesla stock,” Musk, the world’s richest man, said on Twitter late Tuesday.

The social media network is locked in a legal battle with the mercurial Tesla boss over his effort to walk away from the April agreement to buy the company, and a judge has ordered the trial to begin in October.

Musk has filed a countersuit, accusing Twitter of fraud and alleging the platform misled him about key aspects of its business before he agreed to a $44 billion deal.

The latest move comes after Musk sold around $8.5 billion worth of Tesla shares in April as he was preparing to finance the Twitter deal. He tweeted at the time: “No further TSLA sales planned after today.”

Tesla had gained 2.2 percent to $868.34 by midday Wednesday, while Twitter jumped 3.4 percent to $44.28.

Musk has now sold about $32 billion worth of Tesla shares since November.

Dan Ives de Wedbush Securities said he thinks the Twitter purchase will go ahead in the end.

“Musk has now sold enough TSLA stock to fund the Twitter deal which looks more likely,” he told AFP. “This selling pressure has been an overhang on Tesla’s stock and for now the pressure is gone as the agita is gone.”

But he notes in an analysis that there are multiple options to the drama.

“We can also see Musk trying to resolve this powder keg situation before the Twitter deal officially heads to court in October,” Ives said.

Tesla share prices have been tied to the fate of the Twitter deal in recent weeks, first slumping over concerns that pursuing the purchase could distract Musk and lead to unnecessary financial risk, and then rebounding when he said he wanted to abandon the takeover.

The Twitter deal included a provision that if it fell apart, the party breaking the agreement would pay a termination fee of $1 billion under certain circumstances.

At a net worth of $250 billion, Musk tops the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, although he has lost $20.1 billion since the start of the year, mainly due to the decline in Tesla’s stock price.

Mexico says rescuers close to entering mine where workers trapped

10 Aug 2022 10 Aug 2022

Rescuers hope to enter a flooded coal mine in northern Mexico soon to search for 10 workers who have been trapped for a week, authorities said Wednesday.

“We are very close to being able to enter,” civil defense national coordinator Laura Velazquez said.

“All rescuers have the necessary equipment to be able to enter at any time, hopefully today,” she told reporters in Mexico City by video link.

Hundreds of soldiers and other rescuers using 25 pumps and two underwater drones are taking part in the operation in Agujita in the northern state of Coahuila.

The focus so far has been on pumping out water from the 60-meter (200-feet) deep mine, where desperate relatives have gathered waiting for news.

The water in the shafts has fallen significantly, from more than 30 meters initially, but needs to be reduced by several more meters before it is safe to enter, Velazquez said.

According to authorities, the miners were carrying out excavation work when they hit an adjoining area full of water.

Five workers managed to escape from the crudely constructed mine in the initial aftermath of the accident on August 3, but there has been no contact with the others.

Coahuila, Mexico’s main coal-producing region, has seen a series of fatal mining incidents over the years.

The worst accident was an explosion that claimed 65 lives at the Pasta de Conchos mine in 2006.

Last year, seven miners died when they were trapped in the region.

Stocks jump on easing US inflation

10 Aug 2022 10 Aug 2022

Stock markets bounced on Wednesday as better-than-expected US inflation data raised hopes that the US Federal Reserve will tone down its aggressive interest-rate policy.

With energy costs dropping in recent weeks, the US consumer price index eased to an annual rate of 8.5 percent in July from a 40-year high of 9.1 percent the previous month, the Labor Department reported.

Signs that inflation could be coming off the boil in the world’s biggest economy could persuade the US Fed to tighten monetary conditions much more gradually than first anticipated.

Investors had been worried that too steep an increase in borrowing costs could choke off economic recovery.

Wall Street soared on the news, while the dollar took a tumble.

European stock markets closed firmly in the black after falling earlier in the day.

“The slowdown in US inflation was anticipated, but was sharper than economists had expected,” said Asteres analyst Sylvain Bersinger.

“Softer US inflation will brake the interest rate hikes.”

Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare agreed.

“The key takeaway from the report is that it supports the peak inflation view, which in turn supports the market’s hope that the Fed will temper its aggressive rate-hike approach in coming months,” he wrote.

The data on Wednesday come at a sensitive time for world markets, which have been buffeted by the war in Ukraine, supply chain snarls and rising China-US tensions over Taiwan.

– Oil down –

While the latest earnings season has been less painful than feared, there are increasing signs that the economic slowdown is beginning to impact companies, with some major firms — including Apple and Amazon — providing downbeat outlooks.

Chip-maker Micron became the latest, saying revenue would likely come in at the low end of its forecasts in the fourth quarter owing to weak demand.

A day before, rival Nvidia unveiled disappointing results.

On the oil markets, crude prices remain stuck around six-month lows, as the prospect of lower demand caused by a possible recession has essentially wiped out all of the gains seen since Russia’s invasion of its neighbour in February.

But Edward Moya, analyst at OANDA trading group, said the market was unlikely to fall much further.

“Whatever crude demand destruction that occurs from a weakening global economy won’t be able to drag down oil prices much lower given how low the supply outlook remains,” he said.

– Key figures at around 1545 GMT –

New York – Dow: UP 1.6 percent at 33,287.33 points

London – FTSE 100: UP 0.3 percent at 7,507.11 (close)

Frankfurt – DAX: UP 1.2 percent at 13,700.93 (close)

Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.5 percent at 6,523.44 (close)

EURO STOXX 50: UP 0.2 percent at 3,657.09

Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.7 percent at 27,819.33 (close)

Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 2.0 percent at 19,610.84 (close)

Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.5 percent at 3,230.02 (close)

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0340 from $1.0213 Tuesday

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2244 from $1.2071

Euro/pound: DOWN at 84.43 pence from 84.57 pence

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 132.58 yen from 135.12 yen

West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.5 percent at $89.98 per barrel

Brent North Sea crude: DOWN 0.6 percent at $95.72 per barrel

burs-spm/kjm

Russia TV journalist faces jail for anti-Putin protest

10 Aug 2022 10 Aug 2022

Russian investigators on Wednesday launched a criminal probe against Marina Ovsyannikova, who denounced President Vladimir Putin’s attack on Ukraine on live TV, and detained the journalist, her lawyer said.

In mid-July, Ovsyannikova staged a one-woman protest near the Kremlin, holding a poster that read “Putin is a murderer, his soldiers are fascists.”

Three “blood-soaked” toy dolls were laid on the ground in front of her.

She now faces up to 10 years in prison, if convicted.

“A criminal case has been launched,” lawyer Dmitry Zakhvatov told AFP, adding they were waiting for investigators to decide on a pre-trial measure for the 44-year-old.

Ovsyannikova has been charged with spreading information about the Russian armed forces deemed false by the government and will spend the night in pre-trial detention, said Zakhvatov.

In an interview with AFP last week, Ovsyannikova had expressed hope that the authorities would not place her in pre-trial detention because she has two children.

Writing on messaging app Telegram earlier in the day, Ovsyannikova said that 10 members of law enforcement had raided her home at 6:00 am (0300 GMT).

“They scared my young daughter,” she added.

In March, Ovsyannikova, then an editor at Channel One television, shot to prominence when she barged onto the set of its flagship Vremya (Time) evening news, holding a poster reading “No War” in English.

Criticism of Putin’s decision to send troops to Ukraine has been virtually outlawed in Russia, and her protest made headlines around the world.

French President Emmanuel Macron has offered Ovsyannikova, who worked for Russian state TV for 19 years, asylum or other forms of consular protection.

Putin launched the attack on Ukraine after a historic crackdown on the opposition, with top Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny in prison and his political organisations outlawed.

Authorities are now seeking to snuff out the last vestiges of dissent, and nearly all well-known activists are now in jail or out of the country.

Earlier this year prominent Putin critics Ilya Yashin and Vladimir Kara-Murza were put in pre-trial jail for denouncing Moscow’s Ukraine offensive.

The criminal probe against Ovsyannikova was launched after two Moscow courts ordered the journalist to pay fines for discrediting the Russian army on various occasions.

Writing on Telegram on Wednesday, she said that more than 350 children had already died in Ukraine.

“How many children have to die before you stop?” she added.

– ‘Unenviable’ –

In the months following her TV protest, Ovsyannikova spent time abroad, working for Germany’s Die Welt for three months.

In early July, she announced that she was returning to Russia to settle a dispute over the custody of her two children.

Since her return, Ovsyannikova came out to support opposition politician Yashin in court and published anti-government posts online. She was briefly detained by police near her home in mid-July.

While many hailed Ovsyannikova, her TV protest in March has also drawn hostile reactions from many quarters.

Some members of the Russian opposition have blamed her for jumping ship in an opportunistic move and seeking fame.

Anti-Kremlin satirist and commentator Viktor Shenderovich said on Wednesday he was wrong about Ovsyannikova.

“I was sceptical about what Channel One editor Marina Ovsyannikova had done — and it turns out I was wrong,” he wrote on Facebook.

“Today Marina pays a serious price for this, and deserves both respect and support.”

Ovsyannikova had told AFP last week her fate was “unenviable” but that she would continue speaking up.

“I do not plan to stop, I am not afraid despite the constant intimidation from the authorities.”

Trump declines to answer questions in New York civil probe

10 Aug 2022 10 Aug 2022

Donald Trump on Wednesday declined to answer questions under oath in New York over alleged fraud at his family business, as legal pressures pile on the former president whose house was raided by the FBI just two days ago.

Trump said he had “no choice” but to invoke the fifth amendment — which allows individuals to remain silent under questioning to protect against self-incrimination — during a deposition at the New York attorney general’s office.

In a statement apparently issued after the deposition began, Trump said, “I declined to answer the questions under the rights and privileges afforded to every citizen under the United States Constitution,” adding he took the advice from his legal counsel.

“I once asked, ‘If you’re innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?’ Now I know the answer to that question,” he continued.

“When your family, your company, and all the people in your orbit have become the targets of an unfounded, politically motivated Witch Hunt supported by lawyers, prosecutors, and the Fake News Media, you have no choice.”

The deposition follows an extraordinary Federal Bureau of Investigation search earlier this week on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, signaling an escalation of legal probes into the 45th president.

Trump took aim at the search in his statement Wednesday, saying, “The current Administration and many prosecutors in this Country have lost all moral and ethical bounds of decency.”

He arrived early Wednesday in a convoy of cars guarded by the secret service at the offices of New York Attorney General Letitia James, whose investigation is one of several active probes into the brash billionaire’s business practices and other actions.

James suspects the Trump Organization of fraudulently overstated the value of real estate properties when applying for bank loans, while understating them with tax authorities to pay less in taxes.

If James, a Democrat, finds any evidence of financial misconduct, she can sue the Trump Organization for damages but can not file criminal charges, as it is a civil investigation.

The Manhattan district attorney’s office, meanwhile, is running a parallel probe into the Trump Organization that does have the potential for criminal charges. That investigation could be a reason Trump’s legal team advised him to remain silent, as his deposition could energize the case.

– Another White House run? –

The former president did not mince words in attacking James, calling her a “failed politician who has intentionally colluded with others to carry out this phony years-long crusade.”

“We cannot permit a renegade and out-of-control prosecutor to use this investigation as a means of advancing her political career,” Trump wrote in his statement.

The Trumps have denied any wrongdoing. Trump and his eldest children, Donald Jr and Ivanka, had been due to start testifying under oath in July, but the depositions were postponed due to the death of the former president’s first wife.

Trump’s son Eric hit out the state attorney general in a tweet Wednesday, calling her “corrupt.”

Trump’s myriad legal battles have the potential to complicate any bid for another run for the White House in 2024.

US authorities’ search of Donald Trump’s Florida residence drew renewed attention to the various investigations the former Republican leader is embroiled in.

The FBI — which is led by Christopher Wray, a Trump appointee — declined to provide a reason for the raid.

But US media outlets said agents were conducting a court-authorized search related to the potential mishandling of classified documents that had been sent to Mar-a-Lago after Trump left the White House in January 2021.

Trump voiced outrage over the search, dubbing it “weaponization of the justice system.”

At the White House, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said President Joe Biden did not have any advance notice about the raid and respected the independence of the Justice Department.

Since leaving office, Trump has remained the country’s most divisive figure, continuing to sow falsehoods that he won the 2020 presidential vote.

He also has faced intense legal scrutiny for his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election and over the January 6 attack on the US Capitol by his supporters.