Sydney (AFP) – Australia's Prime Minister said Tuesday he was "devastated" by scenes of clashes at a Sydney rally against a visit by Israeli President Isaac Herzog, but defended the police's actions against protesters.

Herzog's tightly secured, four-day trip aims to console Australia's Jewish community after the December shooting at Sydney's Bondi Beach that killed 15 people at a Hanukkah festival.

But chaos erupted on Monday evening in the heart of Australia's largest city as police tried to prevent a rally from marching into an area designated off-limits.

Law enforcement hit protesters and members of the media, including AFP, with pepper spray in rarely-seen violent scuffles in Sydney's central business district.

Asked about the scenes, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told local radio he was "devastated" to see the violence.

"These are really scenes that I think shouldn't be taking place," he said.

"People should be able to express their views peacefully, but the police were very clear about the routes that were required if people wanted to march," he added.

New South Wales Premier Chris Minns said the police had been placed in "incredibly difficult circumstances".

Not far from the protests, he noted, Herzog had been taking part in an event for the victims of the December 14 killings alongside thousands of mourners.

Minns said it would have been a "disaster" if protesters had been allowed to march near that event.

New South Wales police have said they arrested 27 people at the rallies, including 10 for assaulting law enforcement, and have confirmed they deployed pepper spray against the crowd.

But they have sparked outrage with a video circulating on social media showing Muslim men praying near Sydney's Town Hall being pushed and shoved by the police.

Local Greens lawmaker Abigail Boyd told local broadcaster ABC she had been hurt by police at the march and posted a selfie to social media wearing a neck brace.

"I didn't know that this was what police could do in our state. I feel just absolutely shocked," she said.

Herzog's visit is expected to last until Thursday.

On Tuesday he is expected to meet with the families of victims of the Bondi attack -- the deadliest against Jews since Hamas's assault on Israel on October 7, 2023.

Many Jewish Australians have welcomed Herzog's trip.

"His visit will lift the spirits of a pained community," said Alex Ryvchin, co-chief executive of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, the community's peak body.

But some in the community disagreed, with the progressive Jewish Council of Australia saying he was not welcome because of his alleged role in the "ongoing destruction of Gaza".

The UN's Independent International Commission of Inquiry found last year that Herzog was liable for prosecution for inciting genocide after he said all Palestinians -- "an entire nation" -- were responsible for the Hamas attack on Israel.

Israel has "categorically" rejected the inquiry's report, describing it as "distorted and false" and calling for the body's abolition.

In almost three years of civil war in Sudan, the country's museums have been ravaged, with thousands of its archaeological treasures looted and feared trafficked. Researchers in Sudan and beyond are racing to catalogue and recover the losses, estimated at $110 million.

The Sudan National Museum in Khartoum bears battle scars. Beneath holes left in its facade by rocket fire, a large bay window lies shattered. The gardens are littered with explosives.

Home to a vast collection tracing thousands of years of human history in the Nile Valley, the building was ransacked when paramilitaries fighting the armed forces overran the capital, soon after the war began in April 2023.

The army recaptured the city from its opponents, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), last March – finally allowing the museum's employees to assess the damage.

"Inside, all the locks had been broken and all the doors left wide open," said Jamal Mohammed Zein, the first member of staff to return.

"I headed straight for the main store room, which houses more than 100,000 archaeological artefacts. Objects were strewn all over the floor. The crates had been opened and looted. Many artefacts had been broken or chipped," he told RFI.

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Across Africa, a third of children under the age of five suffer from chronic malnutrition, according to Unicef, while in recent years the baby food industry has been rocked by a series of scandals, many involving major multinationals. But a growing number of local agri-food companies are moving into the baby food market.

Ivorian Marie-Ange Ehounou is a nutritionist, a state-certified early childhood educator and a mother of young children.

In 2018, she fed her baby boy Kylian with commercially available foods. She thought she was doing the right thing, and could never have imagined what was to come next.

"He suffered from infant malnutrition and nearly died," she told RFI.

It was then that she decided to train as a nutritionist, and – finding there was high demand for information, as well as quality products – started a blog on the subject, and a company producing flour.

Pooyou now has 10 employees and works with almost 100 Ivorian female farmers producing more than 40,000 tonnes of flour locally per year.

But despite the growth of her business, challenges remain.

"Especially when it comes to finding funding," she explains. "Because for a start-up like mine, where the market is already established – it's reliable, viable and growing rapidly – you need money right away to be able to boost the business."

Last September in Cotonou, Benin, Unicef launched the First Foods Africa initiative – with one of its objectives to support a local agro-industry dedicated to high-quality baby food.

"We want to engage local companies that are seeking to improve nutrition for young children. Once we have identified this type of company, we facilitate investment," explains Mauro Brero, a Unicef nutrition specialist.

He cites the example of medium-sized companies “that do not have easy access to financing because they cannot access microcredit, as they are too large for microcredit”.

They also don't have access to "traditional financing from banks, because they cannot provide sufficient guarantees – that's what we're targeting too,” he adds.

This sector also cannot move forward without significant political support.

"We are working with governments to improve standards and regulatory policies, because it is important to have a political environment that is favourable to local production and business and, at the same time, complies with the highest standards," explains Brero.

"Sometimes it's not easy because we face very strong lobbying from certain multinational companies, but governments can move in this direction. We have evidence that in some countries, it's working."

Purchasing power and consumer awareness are driving an increasingly strong demand, with the market, valued at €600 million in 2022, expected to exceed €1 billion this year.

This article has been adapted from the original version in French by Charlotte Cosset.

Riyadh (Saudi Arabia) (AFP) – A Saudi Arabian media campaign targeting the UAE has deepened the Gulf's worst row in years, stoking fears of a damaging fall-out in the financial heart of the Middle East.

Fiery accusations of rights abuses and betrayal have circulated for weeks in state-run and social media after a brief conflict in Yemen, where Saudi air strikes quelled an offensive by UAE-backed separatists.

The United Arab Emirates is "investing in chaos and supporting secessionists" from Libya to Yemen and the Horn of Africa, Saudi Arabia's Al-Ekhbariya TV charged in a report this week.

Such invective has been unheard of in the Gulf since Saudi Arabia and the UAE led a more than three-year diplomatic and trade blockade of Qatar over political differences beginning in 2017.

Under normal circumstances, the Gulf monarchies are at pains to project an image of peace and stability, but now longstanding points of friction "are out in the open in an unprecedented way", Gulf security analyst Anna Jacobs told AFP.

"The mudslinging on social media reminds many of us of the last Gulf rift... Now Riyadh is casting a very bright light on its problems with Abu Dhabi's regional policies, and is showing no signs of easing up."

So far, however, Abu Dhabi has largely remained silent, with Emirati professor of political science Abdulkhaleq Abdulla saying the UAE is "not in the habit of provoking our big brother".

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Sydney (AFP) – Australia's parliament will reopen two weeks early to crack down on hate crimes and gun ownership following the mass shooting at Bondi Beach, the government said Monday.

Australia has flagged a suite of reforms to hate crime and gun laws since the December 14 attack on a Jewish festival that killed 15 people -- the country's deadliest mass shooting in nearly three decades.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he would recall both houses of parliament for a sitting from January 19-20 to pass the new legislation and offer condolences to the victims.

Members of parliament had been scheduled to return from their summer break on February 3.

"The terrorists at Bondi Beach had hatred in their minds but guns in their hands -- this law will deal with both," Albanese told a news conference.

The legislation would create new offences for "hate preachers", stiffen hate crime penalties, expand a ban on prohibited symbols, and set the framework for a new list of banned hate groups.

It would allow the home affairs minister to reject or cancel visas for people intending to spread hatred, the prime minister said.

The laws would enable the launch of a national guns buyback scheme, the largest since Australia last targeted firearms following a mass shooting in 1996 that killed 35 people at Port Arthur, Tasmania.

Stricter checks would also be imposed for gun licences, the government said.

Details of the draft laws are to be released publicly on Tuesday.

Last week, the government announced a royal commission inquiry into the Bondi Beach shooting.

The federal royal commission -- the highest level of government inquiry -- will probe everything from intelligence failures to the prevalence of antisemitism in Australia.

Sajid Akram and his son Naveed allegedly targeted Jews attending a Hannukah celebration at Bondi Beach.

Sajid, 50, was shot and killed by police during the assault. An Indian national, he entered Australia on a visa in 1998.

His 24-year-old son Naveed, an Australian-born citizen who remains in prison, has been charged with terrorism and 15 murders.

The Hague (AFP) – Did Myanmar commit genocide against its Rohingya Muslim minority? That's what judges at the International Court of Justice will weigh during three weeks of hearings starting Monday.

The Gambia brought the case accusing Myanmar of breaching the 1948 Genocide Convention during a crackdown in 2017.

Legal experts are watching closely as it could give clues for how the court will handle similar accusations against Israel over its military campaign in Gaza, a case brought to the ICJ by South Africa.

Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims fled violence by the Myanmar army and Buddhist militias, escaping to neighbouring Bangladesh and bringing harrowing accounts of mass rape, arson and murder.

Today, 1.17 million Rohingya live crammed into dilapidated camps spread over 8,000 acres in Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh.

From there, mother-of-two Janifa Begum told AFP: "I want to see whether the suffering we endured is reflected during the hearing."

"We want justice and peace," said the 37-year-old.

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Washington (United States) (AFP) – Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Sunday that US prosecutors have opened a probe into his comments to lawmakers and threatened an indictment, a move he said is part of President Donald Trump's pressure campaign on monetary policy decisions.

Powell added in a statement that the bank received grand jury subpoenas on Friday, "threatening a criminal indictment" related to his Senate testimony in June, which concerned a major renovation project of Federal Reserve office buildings.

He dismissed the possible threat of indictment over his testimony or the renovation project as "pretexts."

"The threat of criminal charges is a consequence of the Federal Reserve setting interest rates based on our best assessment of what will serve the public, rather than following the preferences of the President," Powell said.

He branded the "unprecedented action" part of the "administration's threats and ongoing pressure."

The Fed, which makes independent monetary policy decisions, has a dual mandate to keep prices stable and unemployment low.

Its main tool in doing so is by setting a key interest rate that influences the cost of borrowing across the economy, while its board members typically serve under both Republican and Democratic presidents.

Trump has consistently pressured Powell and the central bank to move faster in lowering interest rates, in a breach of the long-standing independence of the institution.

Trump on Sunday denied any knowledge of the Justice Department's investigation into the Federal Reserve.

"I don't know anything about it, but he's certainly not very good at the Fed, and he's not very good at building buildings," NBC quoted Trump saying.

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Buenos Aires (Argentina) (AFP) – Forest fires in southern Argentina have scorched more than 15,000 hectares (37,000 acres) this week, authorities said, though rain began falling in parts of Patagonia on Sunday to the relief of residents.

The largest blaze, burning since Monday near the small town of Epuyen in the Andes, has charred some 11,980 hectares, the Chubut provincial fire service said in a statement.

Another fire of unspecified size is burning nearby in the Los Alerces National Park.

Firefighters are also battling to contain another two fires in Chubut and neighboring Santa Cruz provinces that have burned some 3,800 hectares, Argentina's emergency management agency said.

On Sunday afternoon, rain fell in some parts of the region, to the relief of residents like Atilla Missura, a 59-year-old who leads horseback tours.

"We are very happy; hopefully it will stay this way," Missura told AFP by telephone from Rincon de Lobos, one of the most affected areas.

More than 500 firefighters, rescuers, police officers, and support personnel were combating the blazes, while dozens of local people supported operations on the front lines.

The governor of Chubut, Ignacio Torres, said in a radio interview that the situation in the area was "calmer" on Sunday morning but it "remains very critical."

Torres urged people "never again to downplay the implications of climate change" and emphasized that the province is experiencing "the worst drought since 1965."

A volunteer firefighter working near Epuyen was in intensive care due to severe burns, health authorities told local media.

Approximately 3,000 tourists have been evacuated from the area in recent days, and at least 10 homes have been destroyed by the fire, Torres said.

The region lost 32,000 hectares to wildfires in early 2025.

Epuyén (Argentina) (AFP) – Argentine authorities have evacuated some 3,000 tourists from a sparsely populated Patagonian district ravaged by wildfires for days, officials said Wednesday.

Thousands of hectares of forest have been devoured since Monday in a part of Argentina still recovering a year on from its worst wildfires in three decades.

Hundreds of firefighters with backup from helicopters and six water-bombing planes were working to contain the flames whipped up by high temperatures, strong winds and severe drought conditions.

"We evacuated more than 3,000 tourists" from the Puerto Patriada lake resort, along with a few dozen permanent residents, Ignacio Torres, the governor of Chubut province, said on Wednesday.

He did not say where the visitors were from.

Torres said at least one of the fires was the result of arson, and announced a reward of 50 million pesos (about $33,000) for information on the culprits.

Besides Chubut, fires are also raging in the provinces of Neuquen, Santa Cruz and Rio Negro as well as southern Buenos Aires province, according to the Federal Emergency Agency.

Nearly 32,000 hectares -- an area twice the size of Brussels -- was burnt in Argentine Patagonia in January and February last year, the peak of the Southern Hemisphere summer.

Phnom Penh (AFP) – Chinese-born tycoon Chen Zhi, who was indicted by the United States on fraud and money-laundering charges for running a multibillion-dollar cyberscam network from Cambodia, has been arrested there and extradited to China, Phnom Penh said Wednesday.

Chen allegedly directed operations of forced labour compounds across Cambodia, where trafficked workers were held in prison-like facilities surrounded by high walls and barbed wire, according to US prosecutors.

Since the US indictment and sanctions by Washington and London in October, authorities in Europe, the United States and Asia have targeted Chen's firm, Prince Holding Group, with a frenzy of asset confiscations.

Chen founded Prince Group, a multinational conglomerate that authorities say served as a front for "one of Asia's largest transnational criminal organizations," according to the US Justice Department.

Cambodian authorities "have arrested three Chinese nationals namely Chen Zhi, Xu Ji Liang, and Shao Ji Hui and extradited (them) to the People's Republic of China," Cambodia's interior ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

The operation was carried out on Tuesday "within the scope of cooperation in combating transnational crime" and according to a request from Chinese authorities "following several months of joint investigative cooperation," it said.

Chen's Cambodian nationality was "revoked by a Royal Decree" in December, the interior ministry added.

Chinese authorities did not immediately comment late Wednesday on Chen's arrest and extradition.

The US Justice Department also declined to comment Wednesday.

US authorities in October unsealed an indictment against Chen, a businessman accused of presiding over compounds in Cambodia where trafficked workers carried out cryptocurrency fraud schemes that have netted billions of dollars.

He faces up to 40 years in prison if convicted in the United States on wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy charges involving approximately 127,271 bitcoin seized by Washington, worth more than $11 billion at current prices.

Prince Group has denied the allegations.

According to the US charges, scam workers were forced -- under threat of violence -- to execute so-called "pig butchering" scams, cryptocurrency investment schemes that build trust with victims over time before stealing their funds.

The schemes target victims worldwide, causing billions in losses.

Scam centers across Cambodia, Myanmar and the region use fake job ads to attract foreign nationals -- many of them Chinese -- to purpose-built compounds, where they are forced to carry out online fraud.

Since around 2015, Prince Group has operated across more than 30 countries under the guise of legitimate real estate, financial services and consumer businesses, US prosecutors said.

Chen and top executives allegedly used political influence and bribed officials in multiple countries to protect their illicit operations.

In Cambodia, Chen has served as an adviser to Prime Minister Hun Manet and his father, former leader Hun Sen.

The Southeast Asian nation hosts dozens of scam centres with tens of thousands of people perpetrating online scams -- some willingly and others trafficked -- in the multibillion-dollar industry, experts say.

New York (AFP) – The lawyer defending deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro is a veteran trial attorney who previously represented WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

Barry Pollack, 61, appeared beside Maduro during his arraignment in a New York courtroom on Monday on drug trafficking and other charges.

Maduro pleaded not guilty and it will be up to Pollack to try to convince a federal jury to render that verdict when the case eventually goes to trial.

The next hearing has been set for March 17.

A graduate of Georgetown University law school, Pollack is a partner in Harris St. Laurent & Wechsler LLP, a boutique New York law firm, and a former president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

Law firm research guide Chambers USA describes him as a "thorough and deep-thinking lawyer" who "lives, breathes and sleeps trials, and has such a natural way in front of juries."

In 2024, Pollack secured the release of Assange from a British prison after negotiating a plea deal with the US Justice Department that saw the Australian plead guilty to violating the Espionage Act by unlawfully disclosing national defense material.

In another high-profile case, Pollack obtained the acquittal of a former Enron accountant who was facing criminal fraud charges stemming from the collapse of the energy giant.

Another prominent case involved a New York man who was wrongfully convicted of murdering his parents when he was a teenager and spent 17 years in prison.

Pollack managed to get the charges dismissed and secured his freedom.

Pollack gave a hint of his defense strategy during Monday's brief arraignment of Maduro before District Judge Alvin Hellerstein, questioning the "legality of his abduction" by the US military.

Paris (France) (AFP) – Iranian security forces fired tear gas on Tuesday to disperse demonstrators at the Tehran bazaar, as an NGO said more than two dozen people had been killed in a crackdown on the most significant protests to hit the Islamic republic in three years.

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In social media footage verified by AFP, protesters at the scene could also be heard shouting slogans including "Pahlavi will return" and "Seyyed Ali will be overthrown" -- references to the monarchy ousted by the 1979 Islamic revolution and to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Dozens of people are seen shouting "freedom" and "shameless" in footage posted by IHR and the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRNA).

Security forces then fire tear gas at the protesters, who rush to disperse as acrid smoke rises from the ground.

The official IRNA news agency said "some" people were arrested, without giving numbers.

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According to official announcements in Iranian media, at least 12 people have been killed since the protests began, including members of the security forces.

But IHR said: "At least 27 protesters have been killed by gunfire or other forms of violence carried out by security forces in eight provinces. Five of those killed have been verified to have been children."

It added that more than 1,000 people had been arrested nationwide.

IHR said security forces killed at least six people in a single incident alone on Saturday when they opened fire on protesters in the Malekshahi district of the western Ilam province.

It also accused authorities of raiding the main hospital in Ilam the day after to detain injured protesters.

Amnesty International said on Tuesday that the "attack" on the hospital "exposes yet again how far the Iranian authorities are willing to go to crush dissent".

There have been reports of a significant number of arrests in the city of Yasuj in western Iran which has seen several protest actions in the last days, according to social media footage.

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