Ex-prince Andrew dogged again by Epstein scandal

Britain’s former prince Andrew was again engulfed Saturday by the Epstein scandal, after newly released files included photographs of him kneeling on all fours over a woman lying on the floor.The images were among millions of new documents disclosed Friday by the US Justice Department from the Jeffrey Epstein files, which also featured the late sex offender proposing in 2010 that the then-prince meet a Russian woman.That was two years after the disgraced US financier had pleaded guilty in Florida to soliciting a minor for prostitution. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, as the ex-prince he is now known, has long been dogged by his links to Epstein, who died in 2019 by suicide in jail as he awaited trial for sex crimes against minors.The 65-year-old Briton has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, but stepped back from royal duties that year over their links. Then last October, King Charles III stripped him of all his royal titles and honours after the late Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre recounted in a posthumous memoir shocking claims against the disgraced royal.Giuffre, a US and Australian citizen who took her own life last year, has alleged she was trafficked to have sex with Andrew three times, including twice when she was 17.After she launched a lawsuit against him, he paid her a multi-million-pound settlement in 2022 without making any admission of guilt.- ‘Beautiful, trustworthy’ -The latest disclosures in Washington come with Andrew reportedly set to leave his 30-room mansion on the royal estate at Windsor imminently after Charles ousted him, and are likely to fuel further criticism.He will also face fresh pressure to testify in the US over what he knew about Epstein’s conduct.One of the undated pictures of Andrew and the unidentified female, both of them clothed, appears to show the former duke touching her abdomen. In another he stares, crouching over her, directly into the camera.No context is provided for the images and it is unclear where and when they were taken.Meanwhile, in the August 2010 email, Epstein told Andrew — addressed as “The Duke” — that he had “a friend who I think you might enjoy having dinner with” in London later that month.In the exchanges, Epstein said the woman was “26, Russian, clevere [clever] beautiful, trustworthy”, noting that he had given her the prince’s email.Andrew eventually replied he “would be delighted to see her”.It is unclear if any meeting subsequently took place.- ‘Private time’ -Weeks later, he and Epstein appeared to discuss having dinner at Buckingham Palace after the American contacted Andrew while in London saying they needed to have some “private time”.Andrew replied they could “have dinner at Buckingham Palace and lots of privacy”.Two days later the ex-duke emailed again that he was “delighted for you to come here to BP (Buckingham Palace)”. “Come with whomever…” he added.It was not clear whether any dinner at the palace — then the official London residence of the late Queen Elizabeth II — ever took place.In a 2019 BBC interview, Andrew claimed he had cut ties with Epstein after December 2010, but court documents revealed later showed he continued to communicate with him.Other documents made public last year and Giuffre’s memoir have reignited UK anger over their ties and the claims against Andrew.The new files also again spotlight the relationship between Epstein and former British ambassador to Washington and UK minister Peter Mandelson.Mandelson resigned from the US post last year after emails emerged showing he had also maintained friendly contact with him after the American’s 2008 conviction. The latest disclosures show Epstein in 2009 wired thousands of pounds to Mandelson’s husband after he had asked the American to pay for the fees for an osteopathy course.

Pakistan: près de 90 morts après des attaques séparatistes au Baloutchistan

Onze civils et 10 membres des forces de sécurité ont trouvé la mort samedi dans des attaques menées par des séparatistes dans la province pakistanaise du Baloutchistan, où 67 rebelles ont été tués dans des affrontements consécutifs avec les forces pakistanaises.Les attaques commises samedi interviennent un jour après que l’armée pakistanaise a affirmé avoir tué des dizaines de rebelles séparatistes au Baloutchistan, province pauvre proche de l’Iran et de l’Afghanistan, régulièrement en proie à des troubles.Le Premier ministre pakistanais Shehbaz Sharif a apporté son soutien aux forces armées “dans leur lutte déterminée pour défendre le pays” et accusé l’Inde de soutenir les séparatistes.”Les terroristes (…) ont lancé des attaques coordonnées ce matin dans plus de 12 endroits”, a déclaré à l’AFP un haut responsable sécuritaire en faisant référence aux séparatistes.”Dix membres des forces de sécurité” ont trouvé la mort et plusieurs autres ont été blessés”, a ajouté ce responsable, sous couvert d’anonymat.Les attaques ont aussi coûté la vie à 11 civils dont trois femmes et trois enfants d’une même famille, selon la même source.Les forces pakistanaises ont fait état de 67 rebelles séparatistes tués dans les affrontements qui ont suivi les attaques.L’Armée de libération du Baloutchistan, principal mouvement séparatiste dans cette province frontalière de l’Iran et du Pakistan, a revendiqué ces attaques dans un communiqué transmis à l’AFP.Elle a affirmé avoir visé des installations militaires et policières, mais aussi avoir bloqué des autoroutes pour ralentir la réponse de l’armée. Plusieurs femmes ont pris part aux attaques, selon le mouvement.- “Une explosion après l’autre” -A Quetta, le chef-lieu provincial, un journaliste de l’AFP a entendu plusieurs explosions. Un important dispositif de sécurité a été déployé dans la ville. Les rues étaient désertes et les commerces ont fermé.”Depuis ce matin, il y a une explosion après l’autre”, a confié à l’AFP Abdul Wali, un habitant âgé de 38 ans. “La police pointe ses armes et nous dit de rentrer chez nous”, ajoute cet homme qui devait traverser la ville pour aller voir sa mère hospitalisée.Les liaisons ferroviaires ont été suspendues dans les zones visées et les services de téléphonie mobile ainsi que le trafic routier sont perturbés.Dans le district de Mastung, des séparatistes ont libéré 30 prisonniers, attaqué un commissariat et se sont emparés d’armes et de munitions, selon un responsable gouvernemental. Un responsable local a aussi été enlevé dans le district de Nushki, selon une source officielle de cette ville.Un haut responsable militaire à Islamabad a confirmé ces attaques “coordonnées”, mais a affirmé qu’elles avaient “échoué (…) grâce à une réponse efficace des forces de sécurité”.Les séparatistes attaquent régulièrement les représentants de l’Etat et les Pakistanais venus d’autres provinces.Le Baloutchistan a notamment été le théâtre d’une spectaculaire prise d’otages par des séparatistes dans un train en mars qui s’était soldée par des dizaines de morts.Depuis des décennies, les Baloutches se disent lésés dans leur province: officiellement, 70% des habitants y sont pauvres alors que le sous-sol regorge de minerais et d’hydrocarbures, exploités notamment par des entreprises chinoises.L’année 2024 avait été particulièrement meurtrière avec plus de 1.600 morts, pour près de la moitié des soldats et policiers, selon le Centre pour la recherche et les études sur la sécurité d’Islamabad.

Separatist attacks in Pakistan kill 21, dozens of militants dead

Separatists launched “coordinated” attacks across Pakistan’s Balochistan province on Saturday, killing at least 10 security personnel and 11 civilians, an official said, the latest violence in the insurgency-hit southwestern region.Officials said dozens of militants were also killed in clashes triggered by the attacks, a day after the military said its forces had killed dozens of ethnic Baloch insurgents.Pakistan has been battling a separatist insurgency in Balochistan for decades, with frequent attacks on security forces, foreign nationals and non-locals in the mineral-rich province bordering Afghanistan and Iran.The senior security official, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media, said “terrorists… launched coordinated attacks this morning at more than 12 locations”.”Ten security personnel were martyred while a few others were injured,” the official said, adding that 67 militants were killed in clashes.He said 11 Baloch civilians, including three women and three children, were also killed by militants.The circumstances surrounding the deaths of the civilians were not immediately clear. Baloch separatists have previously targeted civilians believed to have collaborated with state agencies.A senior military official in Islamabad said the attacks were “coordinated but poorly executed”, adding that they had “failed due to poor planning and rapid collapse under effective security response”.- ‘Explosions one after another’ -Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif praised security forces for “foiling” the attacks.”We will continue the war against terrorism until its complete eradication,” he said in a statement in which he accused India of backing the separatists.Police officials in four districts told AFP that the attacks were not yet completely under control.In Quetta, Balochistan’s provincial capital, an AFP journalist heard several explosions as heavy security was deployed across the city, with major roads deserted and businesses shut.”Since morning, there have been explosions one after another,” Abdul Wali, a 38-year-old private employee, told AFP as he struggled to find blood for his hospitalised mother.”The police point guns at us and say ‘go back’, otherwise they beat us. What should we do?”A senior official in Quetta told AFP that militants had abducted a deputy district commissioner.A senior government official in another district said militants had “freed at least 30 inmates from a district jail, seizing firearms and ammunition. They also attacked a police station and took ammunition with them”.Mobile phone services have been jammed and traffic disrupted in the affected districts, while train services have been suspended across the province.The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), the most active militant separatist group in the province, claimed responsibility for the attacks in a statement sent to AFP.- Suicide bombings -The group said it had targeted military installations and police and civil administration officials in gun attacks and suicide bombings.It said major highways were blocked to disrupt military operations.Several women were involved in the attacks, according to statements and videos released by the BLA.Saturday’s attacks came a day after the military said it had killed 41 insurgents in two separate operations in the province.”Over the past 12 months, security forces in Balochistan have sent more than 700 terrorists to hell, with around 70 terrorists eliminated in just the last two days alone,” said Sarfraz Bugti, the chief minister of Balochistan province.”These attacks cannot weaken our resolve against terrorism.”Balochistan is Pakistan’s poorest province, despite an abundance of untapped natural resources, and lags behind the rest of the country in education, employment and economic development.Baloch separatists have intensified attacks on Pakistanis from other provinces working in the region in recent years, as well as foreign energy firms that they believe are exploiting its riches.The separatists attacked a train with 450 passengers on board last year, sparking a two-day siege during which dozens of people were killed.In August 2024, militants blew up bridges, stormed hotels and targeted security installations in assaults across the province that killed dozens.

Gaza civil defence says Israeli strikes kill 28

Israeli air strikes killed 28 people in Gaza Saturday, including children, according to the civil defence agency, as the military said it attacked in response to a Hamas ceasefire violation.Despite a US-brokered ceasefire entering its second phase earlier this month, violence in the Palestinian territory has continued, with both Israel and Hamas accusing each other of violating the truce agreement.The latest bloodshed comes after Israel announced it would reopen the crucial Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt on Sunday for the “limited movement of people”.”Twenty-eight martyrs have been recovered, a quarter of whom are children, a third of whom are women, and one elderly man,” the civil defence agency, a rescue force operating under the Hamas authority, said in a statement, adding that people were still missing under the rubble.”Residential apartments, tents, shelters and a police station were targeted, resulting in this humanitarian catastrophe,” agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal said.One strike hit the police station in the Sheikh Radwan district of Gaza City, the territory’s largest urban centre.Gaza’s general police directorate said seven people were killed in that attack, while Bassal said the dead included four women police officers.”The killed included police officers and personnel as well as civilians who were present at the station at the time,” the directorate said.About a dozen first responders rushed to the devastated building and pulled bodies from the rubble, an AFP journalist reported.Another Israeli attack hit a shelter in Al-Mawasi, an area of south Gaza where tens of thousands of displaced Gazans live in tents and makeshift shelters, an AFP journalist reported.Large plumes of smoke rose above the thousands of densely pitched tents.The number of casualties from this strike was still not known.Although people have been killed almost daily in Gaza since the start of the ceasefire on October 10, Saturday’s toll was particularly high.- Ceasefire violations -Israel’s military said in a statement that the air strikes were retaliation for an incident on Friday in which eight Palestinian fighters exited a tunnel in the south Gaza city of Rafah, which it said violated the fragile ceasefire.It said forces “struck four commanders and additional terrorists from the Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorist organisations across the Gaza Strip”.Gaza health ministry general director Munir al-Barsh told AFP that Israel “continues its serious violations of the ceasefire agreement amid a severe shortage of medical supplies, medicines and medical equipment”.Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in a statement condemned Saturday’s strikes as “a brutal crime”.The health ministry, which operates under the Hamas authority, has said Israeli attacks have killed at least 509 people in Gaza since the ceasefire came into effect.Israel’s military says four soldiers have been killed in the same period in Gaza in suspected militant attacks.Media restrictions and limited access in Gaza have meant that AFP has been unable to independently verify casualty figures or freely cover the violence.Meanwhile, Israel has said Sunday’s reopening of the Rafah crossing will be only for the “limited movement of people”.The reopening, a major demand of humanitarian organisations, is a key element in the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement.Israel had previously expressed its unwillingness to reopen the gateway until it received the remains of Ran Gvili, the last hostage to be held in Gaza, who was recovered earlier this week and laid to rest in Israel on Wednesday.The Gaza war was sparked by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,221 people, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.Israel’s retaliation flattened much of Gaza, which was already suffering from previous rounds of fighting and from an Israeli blockade imposed since 2007.The two-year war has left at least 71,769 people dead in Gaza, according to the health ministry, whose figures are considered reliable by the United Nations.bur-az-lba-jd/srm

France tightens infant formula rules after toxin scare

France has said it will impose stricter limits on the acceptable level of a toxin called cereulide in infant formula after potentially contaminated products were recalled in over 60 countries.The infant formula industry has been rocked by several firms recalling batches that could be contaminated with cereulide, which can cause nausea, vomiting, and diarrhoea. French authorities launched an investigation into the deaths in December and January of two babies who were thought to have drunk possibly contaminated powdered milk.At this stage investigators have not established a direct link between the symptoms and the milk consumed.The recalls have raised fresh questions about food safety challenges in the global supply chain.There is no established safety limit for cereulide in infant formula.”Protecting the health of infants is the top priority for health authorities,” the French agriculture ministry said late Friday.The new threshold will be 0.014 micrograms of cereulide per kilogram of body weight, compared to 0.03 micrograms currently, it said.This is the second lowering of a threshold in France in less than two weeks.The recall of potentially contaminated infant formula has heaped scrutiny on Chinese firm Cabio Biotech, the supplier of an ingredient used in infant formula which is suspected of being tainted. Headquartered in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, Cabio Biotech is one of the world’s largest producers of ARA, a fatty acid used primarily in baby formula and food products.The French authorities have referred to a single “Chinese supplier” without naming it.This week the European Commission asked the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) to establish a standard for cereulide in children’s products. It will issue an opinion on February 2.The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said it had received reports of diarrhoea cases in infants following consumption of the products in question, but “no severe cases have been reported”.- Lawsuit -Several manufacturers, including European giants like Nestle, Danone, and Lactalis, have issued recalls of infant formula in France and dozens of countries since December. The toxin is rare and difficult to detect, and some recalls have been carried out as a precaution, some manufacturers said.On Thursday, Nestle provided a detailed timeline of its recalls, acknowledging that around 10 days had passed between the first detection of cereulide in late November and the first recalls on December 10.The Swiss food conglomerate argued that, in the absence of “European regulations on the presence of cereulide in food”, it had followed standard procedures.The detection led to the precautionary recall of all products in contact with the production line where cereulide had been detected.The group stressed that it was the first company to detect the problem.Foodwatch, a European consumer association, has filed a lawsuit accusing manufacturers and the government of acting too slowly.Eight French families, who said their babies suffered severe digestive problems after drinking formula named in the recall, have joined the lawsuit.On Friday, Nestle refuted the accusations made by the watchdog, saying it reserved the right to respond in court “if Foodwatch continues to disseminate misleading information”.”Testing for bacteria of the Bacillus cereus family is routinely offered,” Francois Vigneau of lab testing firm Eurofins said last week. He added however that tests for cereulide were “not part of standard checks”.”In the current context of milk recalls, this test is currently being requested because all stakeholders in dairy products in general, and infant formula in particular, are concerned about the situation,” added Vigneau.According to World Health Organisation estimates from 2019, 23 million people in Europe fall sick from eating contaminated food every year, and an estimated 4,700 people die.

Accablés par la crise, les Cubains prônent le dialogue face aux menaces de Trump

Les Cubains, déjà accablés par la crise économique, ne cachent pas leur inquiétude face aux menaces de Donald Trump sur l’approvisionnement de leur pays en pétrole, et certains soutiennent la voie du dialogue pour éviter une aggravation de la situation.”Le mieux est qu’ils négocient, qu’on parvienne à un accord, que tout le monde s’en sorte du mieux possible et que nous ne soyons pas davantage pénalisés que nous ne le sommes déjà”, confie à l’AFP Vivian Valdés dans une rue de La Havane. “Si on ne négocie pas, ce sera encore pire, et le peuple ne vit pas bien”, se lamente cette pharmacienne de 60 ans qui raconte, les larmes aux yeux, ses difficultés pour acheter des médicaments pour sa mère, atteinte d’Alzheimer.Donald Trump, qui a déjà tari les livraisons de pétrole vénézuélien à Cuba depuis la capture de Nicolas Maduro début janvier, a signé jeudi un décret stipulant que les Etats-Unis pourraient frapper de droits de douane les pays vendant du pétrole à La Havane. Washington invoque une “menace exceptionnelle” que ferait peser Cuba sur la sécurité nationale américaine. Le montant de ces éventuels droits de douane et les pays concernés ne sont pas précisés, même si le Mexique, qui livre encore du pétrole à l’île communiste, est dans la ligne de mire.Une pression supplémentaire sur Cuba, déjà enferrée depuis six ans dans une grave crise économique qui a provoqué une émigration massive et soumet les habitants à des pénuries de nourriture, de médicaments, de transports. Jorge Grosso, étudiant de 23 ans, est lui aussi partisan du dialogue avec Washington. Il faut “négocier et voir quelles sont les conditions posées (par Donald Trump), parce qu’au final ils sont en train de nous asphyxier”, dit-il, dans une file d’attente non loin d’une station-service.En troisième année de comptabilité, il attend depuis “presque 24 heures” pour acheter de l’essence pour sa Lada blanche. Si l’approvisionnement en pétrole est coupé “ça va être dur, très dur”, craint-il.- Files d’attente -Ces derniers jours, les files d’attente devant les stations-service à La Havane n’ont cessé de s’allonger et les délestages électriques peuvent désormais atteindre une dizaine d’heures dans la capitale. Depuis son coup de force au Venezuela, principal allié de Cuba, Donald Trump a multiplié les menaces contre le gouvernement de l’île.Le magnat républicain a exhorté La Havane à accepter “un accord avant qu’il ne soit trop tard”, sans préciser lequel. “Il n’y aura plus de pétrole ou d’argent à destination de Cuba – zéro!”, a-t-il menacé.Il a également assuré que des discussions étaient en cours entre son pays et Cuba, ce qu’a démenti le président cubain, Miguel Diaz-Canel, qui réitéré sa disposition à dialoguer avec Washington, mais sans faire “aucune concession politique”.Au cours de plus de soixante ans d’affrontement idéologique avec son grand voisin, Cuba n’a connu un rapprochement avec Washington que lors du second mandat de Barack Obama (2013-2017).Ce bref dégel diplomatique a pris fin sous le premier mandat de Donald Trump (2017-2021), qui a renforcé, plus que tout autre président américain, l’embargo que Washington impose à l’île depuis 1962. Mais tous les Cubains ne soutiennent pas un dialogue avec les Etats-Unis.Rolando Gonzalez, 81 ans, estime que Donald Trump “a des problèmes mentaux” et qu’il “ment”. “Dire que Cuba est une menace pour les Etats-Unis, personne ne le croit”, lance-t-il.D’autres se demandent si Cuba pourra compter sur ses alliés traditionnels, la Chine et la Russie. “Ils soutiennent Cuba diplomatiquement, mais les mots ne résolvent pas les problèmes”, estime Jorge Martinez, ingénieur informatique de 60 ans, qui juge “très prudentes” les prises de position de Pékin et de Moscou: “Ils ne veulent pas avoir des problèmes avec Trump.”