Top World News

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Wednesday recognized Venezuelan opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia as the president-elect of the country, a day after the United States officially did the same.Meloni spoke after a meeting with Argentina's President Javier Milei in Buenos Aires."Together with the European Union, we are working for a peaceful and democratic transition in Venezuela so that the preference expressed by the Venezuelan people for president-elect Gonzalez Urrutia, and their legitimate aspirations of freedom and democracy, can finally become reality," said Meloni.U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken prompted a furious reaction from Caracas Tuesday when he, too, used the term "president-elect" for the first time to refer to Gonzalez Urrutia.Venezuela's incumbent President Nicolas Maduro insists he had won July elections despite the opposition saying it can provide proof of its victory in the form of a vote breakdown.Election authorities have declined to release their own detailed vote count despite domestic and international pressure.Only a handful of countries, including Venezuela ally Russia, have recognized Maduro's victory claim.He is accused of leading a harshly repressive leftist regime, with a systematic crackdown on the opposition.Far-right Meloni has twice received Edmundo Gonzalez in Italy, and self-declared "anarcho-capitalist" Milei has also recognized him as the election victor.The Italian and Argentine leaders -- both fans of US President-elect Donald Trump -- met after this week's G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, and vowed to build "a special relationship."Milei, for his part, reiterated his call for the creation of an "alliance of free nations" including the United States, Argentina, Italy and Israel.Last week, he had said the members of such an alliance would be the "custodians of the Western legacy," threatened by "the cultural hegemony of the left."

Four foreign tourists have died after a suspected mass methanol poisoning from drinking tainted alcohol at a backpacker hotspot in Laos, Western government officials and media said Thursday.A young Australian woman was the latest confirmed death, and her friend was fighting for her life, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.Two Danish citizens and an American had also died, officials said, after what media said was a night out in Vang Vieng where they drank possibly tainted alcohol.The group of about a dozen tourists became ill after going out on November 12, according to British and Australian media."Tragically, Bianca Jones has lost her life. Our first thoughts at this moment are with her family and friends who are grieving a terrible and cruel loss," Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told parliament."We also take this moment to say that we are thinking of Bianca's friend Holly Bowles who is fighting for her life," he said, without giving further details.Holly was on "life support" in a hospital in Bangkok, her father Shaun Bowles told Australia's Nine News on Wednesday.At the Bangkok hospital where Bowles was reportedly receiving treatment, staff said they could not confirm her presence.Denmark's foreign ministry said in a statement Thursday that two Danish citizens had died in Laos, without providing further information.The Vietnamese manager of the Nana Backpackers Hostel in Vang Vieng where Australian media said the two Australian women were staying has been detained for questioning, the Laos tourist police told AFP.No charges have been made, however, as police are still "investigating," an official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.- 'Unimaginable time' -The U.S. State Department also confirmed the "death of a U.S. citizen in Vang Vieng, Laos," and said it was "closely monitoring the situation and providing consular assistance."It did not give details on the date or cause of death.New Zealand's embassy in Bangkok said it had been contacted by one of its citizens "who was unwell and may be a victim of methanol poisoning in Laos".The young Australian's bereaved family said in a statement to Australia's Herald Sun newspaper that they "are comforted by the knowledge that her incredible spirit touched so many lives during her time with us"."The kindness shown to our family during this unimaginable time has been truly humbling."Vang Vieng has been a fixture on the Southeast Asia backpacker trail since Laos' secretive communist rulers opened the country to tourism decades ago.The town was once notorious for backpackers behaving badly at jungle parties and has since re-branded as an eco-tourism destination.On their travel advice websites for Laos, UK and Australian authorities warn their citizens to beware of methanol poisoning while consuming alcohol in Laos.Methanol can be added to liquor to increase its potency, but can cause blindness, liver damage and death.In neighboring Thailand, at least six people died and more than 20 were hospitalized after drinking methanol-laced bootleg alcohol in August.- Backpacker hostel -Bowles and Jones, both aged 19 from Melbourne, became unwell while staying at the Nana Backpackers Hostel in Vang Vieng last week, Australian media reported.The women drank at the hostel's bar before they went out for the evening, the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper reported.They failed to check out on November 13, when hostel staff rushed the pair to the hospital.The Facebook and Instagram pages of the hostel had been deactivated as of Thursday and it was no longer taking bookings on websites.AFP was unable to reach the hostel for comment.UK media reported one British woman was also in hospital in Bangkok after drinking in Vang Vieng.AFP has contacted the UK's embassies in Thailand and Laos for comment.

A Philippine woman sentenced to death in Indonesia on drug charges said Thursday that she was "elated" to be returning home, after a deal brokered between the two nations.Mary Jane Veloso was arrested in Indonesia in 2010 carrying a suitcase lined with 2.6 kilograms (5.7 pounds) of heroin and later sentenced to death by firing squad.The mother-of-two's case sparked an uproar in the Philippines, with her family and supporters saying she was innocent and had been set up by an international drug syndicate.On Wednesday, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos said she would be handed over to Manila following years of "long and difficult" negotiations."I am very elated to hear there is an opening chance for my hope to return home and be with my family," Veloso said in a written statement read by the prison warden Evi Loliancy on Thursday."I'm grateful and would like to thank everybody who keeps making efforts so I can return to my country," she said.The 39-year-old said she would utilize skills she has learned in prison, including local cloth-dying techniques, to earn money for herself and her family.Veloso's family maintained that she was duped into signing up for a non-existent job abroad as a domestic worker and was not aware the suitcase given to her by the recruiter contained hidden drugs.The Philippine government won a last-minute reprieve for Veloso in 2015 after a woman suspected of recruiting her was arrested and put on trial for human trafficking in a case in which Veloso was named as a prosecution witness.Indonesia's law and human rights minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra said President Prabowo Subianto had "approved the transfer", which is expected to happen next month.Philippine leader Marcos on Wednesday posted a message thanking his Indonesian counterpart.He said Veloso's "story resonates with many: a mother trapped by the grip of poverty, who made one desperate choice that altered the course of her life".

Billionaire Indian industrialist Gautam Adani, whose business empire has been rocked by US bribery charges against him, is one of the corporate world's great survivors.The tycoon -- a close ally of Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi -- oversees a vast conglomerate encompassing coal, airports, cement and media operations.The US court charges that he paid hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes sent his companies' shares plunging. But Adani has seen off big threats before.On New Year's Day in 1998, Adani and an associate were reportedly kidnapped by gunmen demanding a $1.5 million ransom, before being later released at an unknown location.A decade later, he was dining at Mumbai's Taj Mahal Palace hotel when it was besieged by militants, who killed 160 people in one of India's worst terror attacks.Trapped with hundreds of others, Adani reportedly hid in the basement all night before he was rescued by security personnel early the next morning."I saw death at a distance of just 15 feet," he said of the experience after his private aircraft landed in his hometown Ahmedabad later that day.Adani, 62, differs from his peers among India's mega-rich, many of whom are known for throwing lavish birthday and wedding celebrations that are later splashed across newspaper gossip pages.A self-described introvert, he keeps a low profile and rarely speaks to the media, often sending lieutenants to front corporate events."I'm not a social person that wants to go to parties," he told the Financial Times in a 2013 interview.- 'Stop Adani' -Adani was born in Ahmedabad, Gujarat state, to a middle-class family but dropped out of school at 16 and moved to financial capital Mumbai to find work in the lucrative gems trade.After a short stint in his brother's plastics business, he launched the flagship family conglomerate that bears his name in 1988 by branching out into the export trade.His big break came seven years later with a contract to build and operate a commercial shipping port in Gujarat.It grew to become India's largest at a time when most ports were government-owned -- the legacy of a sclerotic economic planning system that impeded growth for decades and was in the process of being dismantled.Adani in 2009 expanded into coal, a lucrative sector for a country still almost totally dependent on fossil fuels to meet its energy needs, but a decision that brought greater international scrutiny as he rose rapidly up India's rich list.His purchase the following year of an untapped coal basin sparked years of "Stop Adani" protests in Australia after dismay at the project's monumental environmental impact.Similar controversies plagued his coal projects in central India, where forests home to tribal communities were cut down for mining operations.- 'Extraordinary growth' -Adani is considered to be close to Prime Minister Modi, a fellow Gujarat native, and offered the leader the use of a private company jet during the 2014 election campaign that swept him to power.The tycoon has invested in the government's strategic priorities, in recent years inaugurating a green energy business with ambitious targets.In 2022, he completed a hostile takeover of broadcaster NDTV, a television news service considered one of the few media outlets willing to outwardly criticize Modi.Adani batted away press freedom fears, but told the Financial Times that journalists should have the "courage" to say "when the government is doing the right thing every day".Last year a bombshell report from US investment firm Hindenburg Research claimed the conglomerate had engaged in a "brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud scheme over the course of decades".Hindenburg said a pattern of "government leniency towards the group" stretching back decades had left investors, journalists, citizens and politicians unwilling to challenge its conduct "for fear of reprisal".Adani Group denied wrongdoing and characterized the report as a "calculated attack on India" but lost $150 billion in market capitalisation in the weeks after the report's release.Its founder saw his own net worth plunge by $60 billion over the same period, and he is now ranked by Forbes as the 25th-richest person globally.US prosecutors on Wednesday charged the tycoon and two other board members with paying hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes and hiding the payments from investors.The indictment accuses Adani Group's leadership of bribing Indian government officials to secure lucrative government contracts.The conglomerate and its founder have yet to respond to the charges.

Peruvian authorities said Tuesday they have tightened security at the Inca citadel of Machu Picchu after tourists there were filmed dispersing what were believed to be human ashes.Last week, citizens in Peru were outraged by a non-dated video on Tiktok in which a woman at the tourist site took ashes from a plastic bag and threw them in the air, then hugged another woman.The video had a caption about "saying goodbye with much love at Machu Picchu" and hashtags with the words "ashes" and "spreading ashes."The 30-second video was first shown on the account @IncaGoExpeditions, belonging to a travel agency, before it was removed from TikTok.Cesar Medina, the head of Machu Picchu archeological park, told AFP that officials were going to hire more guards and install more surveillance cameras.He said there was nothing in local laws barring people from spreading human ashes in public.But this will now be barred at Machu Picchu for health reasons, Medina said.Classified as a UNESCO World Heritage site, the site welcomes an average of 5,600 visitors a day but until now had only four cameras and a small team of security guards.The ancient citadel, built in the 15th century by Incan emperor Pachacuti, sits at an altitude of 2,438 meters in the Peruvian Andes.

Checking imported books, removing texts from libraries and distributing lists of banned titles -- Taliban authorities are working to remove "un-Islamic" and anti-government literature from circulation.The efforts are led by a commission established under the Ministry of Information and Culture soon after the Taliban swept to power in 2021 and implemented their strict interpretation of Islamic law, or sharia.In October, the ministry announced the commission had identified 400 books "that conflicted with Islamic and Afghan values, most of which have been collected from the markets".The department in charge of publishing has distributed copies of the Koran and other Islamic texts to replace seized books, the ministry statement said.The ministry has not provided figures for the number of removed books, but two sources, a publisher in Kabul and a government employee, said texts had been collected in the first year of Taliban rule and again in recent months."There is a lot of censorship. It is very difficult to work, and fear has spread everywhere," the Kabul publisher told AFP.Books were also restricted under the previous foreign-backed government ousted by the Taliban, when there was "a lot of corruption, pressures and other issues", he said.But "there was no fear, one could say whatever he or she wanted to say", he added."Whether or not we could make any change, we could raise our voices."- 'Contradictory to religion' -AFP received a list of five of the banned titles from an information ministry official.It includes "Jesus the Son of Man" by renowned Lebanese-American author Khalil Gibran, for containing "blasphemous expressions", and the "counterculture" novel "Twilight of the Eastern Gods" by Albanian author Ismail Kadare."Afghanistan and the Region: A West Asian Perspective" by Mirwais Balkhi, an education minister under the former government, was also banned for "negative propaganda".During the Taliban's previous rule from 1996 to 2001, there were comparatively few publishing houses and booksellers in Kabul, the country having already been wracked by decades of war.Today, thousands of books are imported each week alone from neighboring Iran -- which shares the Persian language with Afghanistan -- through the Islam Qala border crossing in western Herat province.Taliban authorities rifled through boxes of a shipment at a customs warehouse in Herat city last week.One man flipped through a thick English-language title, as another, wearing a camouflage uniform with a man's image on the shoulder patch, searched for pictures of people and animals in the books."We have not banned books from any specific country or person, but we study the books and we block those that are contradictory to religion, sharia or the government, or if they have photos of living things," said Mohammad Sediq Khademi, an official with the Herat department for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (PVPV)."Any books that are against religion, faith, sect, sharia... we will not allow them," the 38-year-old told AFP, adding the evaluations of imported books started some three months ago.Images of living things -- barred under some interpretations of Islam -- are restricted according to a recent "vice and virtue" law that codifies rules imposed since the Taliban returned to power, but the regulations have been unevenly enforced.Importers have been advised of which books to avoid, and when books are deemed unsuitable, they are given the option of returning them and getting their money back, Khademi said."But if they can't, we don't have any other option but to seize them," he added."Once, we had 28 cartons of books that were rejected."- Clearing stock -Authorities have not gone from shop to shop checking for banned books, an official with the provincial information department and a Herat bookseller said, asking not to be named.However, some books have been removed from Herat libraries and Kabul bookstores, a bookseller told AFP, also asking for anonymity, including "The History of Jihadi Groups in Afghanistan" by Afghan author Yaqub Mashauf.Books bearing images of living things can still be found in Herat shops.In Kabul and Takhar -- a northern province where booksellers said they had received the list of 400 banned books -- disallowed titles remained on some shelves.Many non-Afghan works were banned, one seller said, "so they look at the author, whose name is there, and they are mostly banned" if they're foreign.His bookshop still carried translations of Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky's "The Gambler" and fantasy novel "Daughter of the Moon Goddess" by Sue Lynn Tan.But he was keen to sell them "very cheap" now, to clear them from his stock.

It was an unlucky day in the Burmese calendar, farmer Yar Swe Kyin warned her husband in July, begging him not to go out to check on their crops.Hours later he was dead, killed by one of the countless landmines laid by both sides in Myanmar's three brutal years of civil war.In the evening, "I heard an explosion from the field," she told AFP at her home in the hills of northern Shan state."I knew he had gone to that area and I was worried."She had urged her husband to stay home because the traditional Burmese calendar, which is guided by lunar cycles, planetary alignment and other factors, marked it out as inauspicious."He didn't listen to me," she said."Now, I only have a son and grandchild left."Decades of sporadic conflict between the military and ethnic rebel groups have left Myanmar littered with deadly landmines.That conflict has been turbocharged by the junta's 2021 coup, which birthed dozens of newer "People's Defence Forces" now battling to topple the military.Landmines and other remnants of war claimed more victims in Myanmar than in any other country last year, according to the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), with the Southeast Asian country overtaking war-ravaged Syria and Ukraine.- 'Trees were spinning' -At least 228 people -- more than four a week -- were killed by the devices and 770 more were wounded in Myanmar in 2023, it said in its latest report Wednesday.In eastern Kayah state, a short journey to collect rice to feed his wife and children left farmer Hla Han crippled by a landmine, unable to work and fearing for his family's future.He had returned home after junta troops had moved out from his village and stepped on a mine placed near the entrance to the local church."When I woke up I didn't know how I had fallen down and only got my senses back about a minute later," he told AFP."When I looked up, the sky and trees were spinning."Now an amputee, the 52-year-old worries how to support his family of six who are already living precariously amidst Myanmar's civil war."After I lost my leg to the land mine, I can't work anymore. I only eat and sleep and sometimes visit friends -- that's all I can do," he said."My body is not the same anymore, my thoughts are not the same and I can't do anything I want to... I can eat like others, but I can't work like them."His daughter Aye Mar said she had begged him not to go back into the village."When my father lost his leg, all of our family's hopes were gone," she said."I also don't have a job and I can't support him financially. I also feel I'm an irresponsible daughter."- 'Nothing is the same' -Myanmar is not a signatory to the United Nations convention that prohibits the use, stockpiling or development of anti-personnel mines.The ICBL campaign group said there had been a "significant increase" in anti-personnel mine use by the military in recent years, including around infrastructure such as mobile phone towers and energy pipelines.The church in Kayah state where Hla Han lost his leg is still standing but its facade is studded with bullet wounds.A green tape runs alongside a nearby rural road, a rudimentary warning that the forest beyond it may be contaminated.Some villagers had returned to their homes after the latest wave of fighting had moved on, said Aye Mar."But I don't dare to go and live in my house right now."She and her father are just two of the more than three million people the United Nations says have been forced from their homes by fighting since the coup."Sometimes I think that it would have been better if one side gave up in the early stage of the war," she said.But an end to the conflict looks far off, leaving Hla Han trying to come to terms with his fateful step."From that instant you are disabled and nothing is the same as before."

Gunshots, screams, eerie laughter: South Korea's border island Ganghwa is being bombarded nightly with blood-curdling sounds, part of a new campaign by the nuclear-armed North that is driving residents to despair.Before it started, 56-year-old Kim Yun-suk fell asleep to the hum of insects and woke to the chirping of birds. Now, she is kept awake every night by what sounds like the soundtrack of a low-budget horror movie at top volume."The peaceful sounds of nature... have now been drowned out," Kim told AFP."All we hear is this noise."The campaign is the latest manifestation of steadily-declining ties between the two Koreas this year, which have also seen Pyongyang test ever more powerful missiles and bombard the South with trash-carrying balloons.Since July, North Korea has been broadcasting the noises for huge chunks of almost every day from loudspeakers along the border.The northern point of Ganghwa -- an island in the Han river estuary on the Yellow Sea -- is only about two kilometres (a mile) from the North.When AFP visited, the nighttime broadcast included what sounded like the screams of people dying on the battlefield, the crack of gunfire, bombs exploding, along with chilling music that started at 11:00 pm.In the almost pitch-black fields, sinister noises echoed as the stars in the clear night sky shone beautifully alongside the coastal road lights, creating a stark and unsettling contrast.North Korea has done propaganda broadcasts before, said 66-year-old villager Ahn Hyo-cheol, but they used to focus on criticising the South's leaders, or idealizing the North.Now "there were sounds like a wolf howling, and ghostly sounds", he said."It feels unpleasant and gives me chills. It really feels bizarre."Ganghwa county councillor Park Heung-yeol said that the new broadcasts were "not just regime propaganda -- it's genuinely intended to torment people".- Torture -Experts said the new broadcasts almost meet the criteria for a torture campaign."Almost every regime has used noise torture and sleep deprivation," Rory Cox, a historian at University of St Andrews, told AFP."It is very common and leaves no physical scarring, therefore making it deniable."Exposure to noise levels above 60 decibels at night increases the risk of sleep disorders, experts said, but AFP tracked levels of up to 80 decibels late at night on Ganghwa during a recent trip."I find myself taking headache medicine almost all the time," An Mi-hee, 37, told AFP, adding that prolonged sleep deprivation due to the noise has also led to anxiety, eye pain, facial tremors and drowsiness."Our kids can't sleep either, so they've developed mouth sores and are dozing off at school."Distraught and desperate, An travelled to Seoul and got on her knees to beg lawmakers at the National Assembly to find a solution, breaking down in tears as she described the island's suffering."It would actually be better if there were a flood, a fire, or even an earthquake, because those events have a clear recovery timeline," An said."We have no idea if this will go on until the person in North Korea who gives the orders dies, or if it could be cut off at any moment. We just don't know."- '70s horror flick' -The noise tormenting Ganghwa island residents appeared to be a rudimentary mix of clips from a sound library, typically common at any TV or radio broadcasters, audio experts told AFP.The sound effects are "like something found in a South Korean horror film in the 70s and 80s," said sound engineer Hwang Kwon-ik.The two Koreas remain technically at war since the 1950 to 1953 conflict ended in an armistice not a peace treaty.North Korean leader Kim Jong Un this year declared Seoul his "principal enemy" and has ramped up weapons testing and built closer military ties with Russia.The isolated and impoverished North is known to be extremely sensitive about its citizens gaining access to South Korean pop culture.Some experts have suggested the latest broadcasts could be aimed at preventing North Korean soldiers from hearing the South's own propaganda broadcasts, which typically feature K-pop songs and international news.In August, just weeks after South Korea resumed K-pop broadcasts in response to Pyongyang floating trash-carrying balloons south, a North Korean soldier defected by crossing the heavily fortified border on foot.But Lee Su-yong, an audio production professor at the Dong-Ah Institute of Media and Arts, said "if there is sound coming towards the North that you want to mask, then the sound (you use to cover it) must also be directed toward the North.""It seems less about masking noise and more about inflicting pain on people in the South," he told AFP.Choi Hyoung-chan, a 60-year-old resident, said the South Korean government had failed to protect vulnerable civilians on the frontier."They should come here and try to live with these sounds for just ten days," he told AFP, referring to officials in Seoul."I doubt they could even endure a single day."