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European and Asian stock markets retreated Friday after a slide on Wall Street following weak US jobs data and signals that the Federal Reserve will not cut interest rates this year.Growing worries that valuations, particularly among tech companies, are far too high following this year’s blockbuster rally added to the sense of unease on trading floors.Pressuring markets heading into the weekend pause was also weak Chinese exports data, the ongoing US government shutdown and some poorly-received earnings news, according to analysts.”Global stock indices are heading towards a weekly loss after pockets of volatility have knocked market sentiment,” noted Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB trading group.”November is seasonally a strong month for stocks… The question now is, can seasonality outweigh valuation concerns and fears about the US economy to deliver more stock market gains this month?”A rollercoaster week looked set to end on a negative note after a report by outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas showed US layoffs hit the highest level in 22 years last month.The report found that this year has been the worst for layoffs since 2020, when the labour market was decimated by the pandemic.The Nasdaq shed 1.9 percent and S&P 500 more than one percent Thursday, with losses extending to Asia on Friday as Tokyo and Seoul closed down more than one percent.Losses among Europe’s main markets were about half-a-percent around midday.Investors have been forced to use private data as a guide to the state of the world’s biggest economy owing to the longest-running US government shutdown that has closed numerous departments.While the latest jobs figures came a day after news that private hiring had increased, it sparked fresh concerns about the labour market and put pressure on the Fed to cut borrowing costs for a third successive meeting in December.However, comments from central bank officials suggested another reduction was not certain, echoing boss Jerome Powell’s warning last week.Fed Cleveland chief Beth Hammack said she remained “concerned about high inflation”.And Chicago Fed boss Austan Goolsbee told CNBC he was concerned about making decisions during the shutdown without full data.Markets were pressured Friday also by official data showing China’s exports fell in October for the first time in eight months as trade tensions flared in the weeks before Chinese President Xi Jinping and US counterpart Donald Trump reached a detente.London’s top-tier FTSE 100 index was dragged down by heavy losses to share prices of online property business Rightmove and British Airways owner IAG, which dropped 13 and eight percent respectively following earnings updates that undershot market expectations.On the upside, British broadcaster ITV surged 15 percent after announcing it was in preliminary talks to sell its television and streaming business to US-owned rival Sky for £1.6 billion ($2.1 billion).- Key figures at around 1115 GMT -London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.6 percent at 9,681.94 pointsParis – CAC 40: DOWN 0.4 percent at 7,934.59Frankfurt – DAX: DOWN 0.6 percent at 23,590.60Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.2 percent at 50,276.37 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.9 percent at 26,241.83 (close)Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.3 percent at 3,997.56 (close)New York – Dow: DOWN 0.8 percent at 46,912.30 (close)Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1549 from $1.1548 on ThursdayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3108 from $1.3135Dollar/yen: UP at 153.30 yen from 153.04 yenEuro/pound: UP at 88.12 pence from 87.91 penceBrent North Sea Crude: UP 1.0 percent at $64.02 per barrelWest Texas Intermediate: UP 1.1 percent at $60.11 per barrelburs-bcp/ajb/lth

US officials and rights defenders gathered at the United Nations in Geneva on Friday to voice concerns over human rights under President Donald Trump’s administration, and denounce Washington’s decision to snub a review of its record.The US mission in Geneva confirmed this week that the country would skip its so-called Universal Periodic Review (UPR), after first announcing the decision in August, becoming only the second country to ever boycott the process.All 193 United Nations member states are required to undergo the standard review of their rights situation every four to five years.The decision “is deeply disappointing,” Uzra Zeya, head of Human Rights First, said in an email.”It sends the wrong message and weakens a process that has helped drive progress on human rights worldwide — including in the United States.”Zeya was to host one of several events at the UN in Geneva featuring activists and elected US officials voicing concerns around rights in the United States, in particular since Trump returned to power in January.The US decision to snub its review was linked to Trump’s order in February withdrawing the country from a number of UN bodies, including participation in the Human Rights Council.But dropping the UPR was not a given. Trump also withdrew from the council during his first term, but his administration still opted to take part in its 2020 review. The US under Trump especially has repeatedly slammed the council for being biased against Israel, and has cited that alleged bias as prompting its withdrawal from the review.- ‘Tragic’ -The move “really, really undermines … the notion that international human rights law is inalienable and applies equally to all,” warned Phil Lynch, head of the International Service for Human Rights.He was speaking at an event in a room of the UN’s European headquarters where former US first lady Eleanor Roosevelt helped draft the Universal Declaration of Human Rights before its adoption in 1948.”It’s tragic and deeply ironic that we helped to create the norms as well as this (UPR) process that we are now backing out of,” a former senior US official told AFP, asking not to be named.Another former US official who worked on the country’s previous UPR engagements warned the move was a “dangerous” signal.”We’re losing our legitimacy globally on human rights leadership… It’s a hard pill to swallow.”The US absence sparked outrage among civil society, which typically participates in reviews, providing analysis and recommendations.Denied the UPR platform, numerous groups, academics and local US officials were nonetheless intent on making their concerns known.They listed a string of alarming developments, including repression of dissent, militarised immigration crackdowns, national guards sent into US cities, crackdowns on universities and art institutions, and lethal strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean and Pacific.- Need for ‘sunlight’ -Many urged the international community to speak out and support their work to hold the US government in check.”It’s the Human Rights Council, the United Nations system and a community of nations committed to human rights and democracy who can bring necessary sunlight to these abuses,” said Chandra Bhatnagar, head of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)’s southern California branch.Robert Saleem Holbrook, head of the Abolitionist Law Center agreed, insisting that as “we see our civil liberties being decimated, these forums are going to take on increasing importance in the future”.The United States is set to become one of the only two countries to fail to show up for their own review since the inception of the UPR system in 2008.While some countries have requested postponements, only Israel has previously been a no-show, in early 2013, although it eventually underwent a postponed review 10 months later.Observers warned the US absence could serve as a bad example.”We hope this doesn’t risk normalising withdrawal from the council,” Sanjay Sethi, co-head of the Artistic Freedom Initiative, told AFP.

Stocks on Friday tracked Wall Street losses propelled by investors weighing weak US jobs data against signals the Federal Reserve won’t again cut interest rates this year.Growing worries that valuations, particularly among tech companies, are far too high following this year’s blockbuster rally added to the sense of unease on trading floors.A rollercoaster week looked set to end on a negative note after a report by outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas showed layoff US announcements hit the highest level in 22 years last month.The report found that this year has been the worst for layoffs since 2020, when the labour market was decimated by the pandemic.Investors have been forced to use private data as a guide to the state of the world’s biggest economy owing to the longest-running government shutdown that has closed numerous departments.While the latest jobs figures came a day after news that private hiring had increased, it sparked fresh concerns about the labour market and put pressure on the Fed to cut borrowing costs for a third successive meeting in December.However, comments from central bank officials suggested another reduction was not certain, echoing boss Jerome Powell’s warning last week.While stabilising the jobs market is one half of the Fed’s dual mandate, some decision-makers said they were more concerned about the other: keeping a cap on inflation.Fed Cleveland chief Beth Hammack said she remained “concerned about high inflation and believe policy should be leaning against it”.”To me, comparing the size and persistence of our mandate misses and the risks, inflation is the more pressing concern,” she said Thursday in prepared remarks for an event in New York. She called the current setting “barely restrictive”.Chicago Fed boss Austan Goolsbee told CNBC he was concerned about making decisions during the shutdown without the full data, adding that such a move made him “even more uneasy.And their St Louis counterpart said cutting rates would take away the downward pressure that was still needed on inflation.All three main indexes on Wall Street ended down as tech firms, which have been at the forefront of the surge to record highs this year, took the brunt of the selling.The Nasdaq shed 1.9 percent and S&P 500 more than one percentAsia fared barely any better, with Tokyo and Seoul off more than one percent, having recently hit all-time highs.Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, Singapore, Taipei, Mumbai, Bangkok and Manila were also down, though Wellington and Jakarta rose.London opened lower but there were gains in Paris and Frankfurt.Traders have in recent weeks been taking stock of this year’s rally, which has sent several markets to all-time highs and valuations soaring — chip giant Nvidia last week became the first $5 trillion company.The gains have been fanned by a mind-boggling flood of investment into all things artificial intelligence as well as hopes for US rate cuts and an easing of trade tensions.But there is growing talk — even among some top CEOs — that a bubble has formed and stocks could be in for a pullback or even a correction in which they lose about 10 percent from their recent peaks.”Sentiment remains very fragile indeed, be that as a result of continued jitters over the AI frenzy, those warnings about a pullback from bank CEOs… or potentially just a reflection of the market at large having come a very long way, in a very short space of time,” wrote Pepperstone’s Michael Brown.But he added: “My belief remains that the fundamental bull case is a strong one, with the policy backdrop becoming increasingly loose, earnings growth robust, and the underlying economy resilient.”- Key figures at around 0815 GMT -Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.2 percent at 50,276.37 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.9 percent at 26,241.83 (close)Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.3 percent at 3,997.56 (close)London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.1 percent at 9,724.94 Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1533 from $1.1548 on ThursdayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3124 from $1.3135Dollar/yen: UP at 153.42 yen from 153.04 yenEuro/pound: DOWN at 87.88 pence from 87.91 penceWest Texas Intermediate: UP 1.1 percent at $60.07 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: UP 1.0 percent at $64.02 per barrelNew York – Dow: DOWN 0.8 percent at 46,912.30 (close)

World leaders will meet for a second day of climate talks in the Brazilian Amazon on Friday after fiery speeches and renewed criticism of Big Oil marked the opening session.Dozens of ministers and several heads of state and government, including those of Spain, Germany and Namibia, will meet in Belem just before the United Nations’ (UN) annual two-week conference, COP30, which starts on Monday.Evidence of the climate crisis, driven largely by the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation, has never been clearer: the past 11 years have been the hottest on record and marked by intensifying hurricanes, heat waves and wildfires.UN chief Antonio Guterres and a series of national leaders said on Thursday that the world will fail to keep global warming below 1.5C, the Paris Agreement’s primary target set a decade ago, but said they have not yet given up on its fallback goal of 2C.The absence of leaders from the world’s biggest polluters, including the United States, where President Donald Trump has dismissed climate science as a “con job,” cast a shadow over talks, but also catalyzed calls for greater mobilization.Countries made an unprecedented pledge to “transition away” from oil, gas and coal at COP28 in Dubai two years ago.However, the issue has since slipped down the agenda as nations grapple with economic pressures, trade disputes and wars, and the Trump administration aggressively pushing for more fossil fuels.- ‘Roadmap’ calls praised -Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s call in his opening address for a “roadmap” to halt deforestation, reduce dependence on fossil fuels, and mobilize the financial resources needed to achieve those goals was met with applause.The coalition backing Lula’s call includes European nations and numerous small island states whose very survival is threatened by stronger cyclones and rising sea levels.Gaston Browne, the prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda, railed against the “large polluters (who) continue to deliberately destroy our marine and terrestrial environments with their poisonous fossil fuel gases.”The idea of phasing out hydrocarbons is also gaining traction in Europe. Despite their divisions, EU countries noted that they have reduced greenhouse gas emissions for more than three decades and are aiming for a 90 percent cut by 2040.”COP30 must send a clear message that the green transition is here to stay, and that fossil fuels have no future,” said Finnish President Alexander Stubb.Marta Salomon of the Brazilian think tank Politicas Climaticas do Instituto Talanoa told AFP: “When the president talks about a roadmap to reduce dependence on fossil fuels, we understand it as a favorable sign for this discussion to take place during COP.”Lula had already hinted at his plan in an interview this week with AFP and other outlets, though he cautioned “it’s not easy” to reduce fossil fuels.Indeed, Brazil has just authorized its state oil company to begin offshore exploration in the Amazon.A formal anti-fossil fuel decision in Belem is seen as highly unlikely, given the requirement for consensus among nearly 200 countries attending the conference.Still, COP30 will put a spotlight on countries’ voluntary pledges and their implementation, which could lead to fresh announcements on methane — a “super pollutant” and the main component of natural gas, prone to leaking from pipelines and installations.”The world must pull the methane brake,” said Mia Mottley, prime minister of Barbados and a highly respected voice in global climate diplomacy.

Travelers faced mounting uncertainty over air travel in the United States after a directive to decrease flights at dozens of major airports went into effect on Friday.The reduction has been touted as a solution to overcome air traffic safety concerns related to staff shortages linked to the record-length government shutdown that has dragged on for six-weeks.The Trump administration ordered airlines to decrease flights at 40 airports, including several major hubs, beginning Friday morning with a four percent reduction that is set to gradually increase to 10 percent next week.Flight reductions are set to hit some of the country’s busiest airports, including in Atlanta, Newark, Denver, Chicago, Houston and Los Angeles.”This isn’t about politics, it’s about assessing the data and alleviating building risk in the system,” said US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, pushing back against criticism that the order aims to increase pressure on Democrats to end the shutdown.The government shutdown, which began on October 1 and is now the longest in history, has left tens of thousands of air traffic controllers, airport security staff and others without pay.More than 800 flights scheduled for Friday were canceled, according to tracking website FlightAware, while major carrier American Airlines said in a statement that its scheduled reduction amounts to 220 flight cancellations each day.Delta Airlines said it was axing about 170 flights scheduled for Friday, while broadcaster CNN reported Southwest Airlines nixed around 100 flights set for that day.More than 6,800 US flights were delayed on Thursday with some 200 cancellations, FlightAware data showed, with passengers facing long lines at security checkpoints.Travelers at Boston and Newark airports also faced average delays of more than two hours, and those at Chicago’s O’Hare and Washington’s Reagan National more than an hour.Authorities said they wanted to act before an accident occurred.”We’re not going to wait for a safety problem to truly manifest itself, when the early indicators are telling us we can take action today to prevent things from deteriorating,” said FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford.- Peak travel season -The reduction measures come as the country enters its busiest travel time of the year, with the Thanksgiving holiday just weeks away.Millions of Americans are likely to face travel chaos amid a shortage of air traffic control personnel, although President Donald Trump’s administration sought to reassure people that flying remains safe.”It’s safe to fly today, tomorrow, and the day after because of the proactive actions we are taking,” Duffy said on social media late Thursday.Implementing the order on short notice will be a challenge for airlines.United Airlines and Delta, two of the country’s largest carriers, said they are complying with the order adding that it would not affect their international routes.United added earlier in the week that “hub-to-hub” flying would also not be affected, indicating cancellations might hit more local routes.Federal agencies across the United States have been grinding to a halt since Congress failed to approve funding past September 30, with some 1.4 million federal workers, from air traffic controllers to national park rangers, still on enforced leave or working without pay.Many in high-stress aviation-related jobs are now calling in sick and potentially working second jobs in order to pay their bills, Duffy said Wednesday.FAA Administrator Bedford said the situation was unprecedented.”I am not aware in my 35-year history in the aviation market where we’ve had a situation where we’re taking these kinds of measures,” he said Wednesday.Bedford added: “Then again, we’re in new territory in terms of government shutdowns.”

Leading Eswatini human rights lawyer Sibusiso Nhlabatsi likens the shadowy US expulsions of 15 men to his country, a tiny kingdom in southern Africa, to kidnappings.Since the first five deportees were flown from the United States on a military plane in July, authorities have blocked the lawyer from visiting them at the high-security prison where they are held.Another 10 arrived in October and had also reached out, via their relatives, for assistance, the lawyer told AFP in an interview.The expulsions are part of the Trump administration’s crackdown on migrants which has seen scores removed to countries in Africa and Central America. “Eswatini finds itself participating in what I can call human trafficking or kidnapping because you cannot have these third-party state deportees being housed (here) while denying them access to lawyers,” Nhlabatsi said.”They are far from their families, so their relatives cannot come here, yet they are being denied a basic right,” he said.Authorities have released few details about the deportees in Eswatini, who are from diverse countries including Vietnam, Laos and Cuba. One — a Jamaican — was repatriated in September.After being refused access by prison authorities, Nhlabatsi turned to the High Court which in early October agreed that local lawyers should be allowed to visit the detainees. But the government appealed the ruling and “that access has not yet been facilitated,” said Nhlabatsi, who is in his mid-40s.Lawyers have also asked the courts to oblige the government to make public the details of its deal with Washington. A text revealed by Human Rights Watch and some media, and seen by AFP, says Eswatini agreed to take 160 deportees in exchange for $5.1 million to “build its border and migration management capacity”.”I believe the country concentrated on financial gain and overlooked every aspect of international law,” Nhlabatsi said. – ‘Weaponisation’ -Poverty and unemployment are high among Eswatini’s 1.2 million population, with 58 percent of the youth without jobs, according to the International Monetary Fund.The autocratic ruler, King Mswati III, has held power for 39 years, openly flaunting his wealth with a lavish lifestyle.Political parties have been banned since 1973 and calling for democratic reforms risks terrorism or sedition charges.An example of the “weaponisation of the judiciary” in the deteriorating human rights environment was the jailing in 2021 of two opposition MPs accused of inciting unrest during pro-democracy protests, the lawyer said.One of them — Mthandeni Dube, sentenced to 18 years in prison — was freed on Tuesday after apologising to the king and agreeing not to make public speeches or join protests. “Even though one of them has since apologised, that does not change the fact that they should not have been convicted in the first place,” Nhlabatsi said.Since the 2021 protests, when at least 37 people were killed, “civic space has shrunk, the independence of the judiciary is questionable, and the rule of law remains under threat,” Nhlabatsi said.- Ticking time bomb -In 2023, human rights lawyer and fierce critic of the authorities Thulani Maseko was gunned down in a killing that shocked many beyond the borders of Eswatini. There have still been no arrests for the murder. “I began to truly fear for my safety after the assassination of Thulani Maseko because I had worked closely with him,” Nhlabatsi said.”What shocked and terrified me was that he was a man of peace. And I know for a fact that the state also knew that he never advocated violence in any form,” said the formal but friendly lawyer.  Eswatini needs change, including a move away from its system of royal favouritism and patronage that is eating into government finances, he said. “It is not sustainable,” Nhlabatsi said, describing the desperation for jobs in particular as a “cry for help, a ticking time bomb.”

US forces on Thursday struck another alleged drug trafficking boat in the Caribbean, killing three people, Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said, bringing the death toll from Washington’s controversial anti-narcotics campaign to at least 70.The United States began carrying out such strikes — which experts say amount to extrajudicial killings even if they target known traffickers — in early September, taking aim at vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific.The US strikes have destroyed at least 18 vessels so far — 17 boats and a semi-submersible — but Washington has yet to make public any concrete evidence that its targets were smuggling narcotics or posed a threat to the United States.Hegseth released aerial footage on X of the latest strike, which he said took place in international waters like the previous strikes and targeted “a vessel operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization.”The video showed a boat traveling through the water before exploding into flames.”Three male narco-terrorists — who were aboard the vessel — were killed,” Hegseth said, without any further identifying information.”To all narco-terrorists who threaten our homeland: if you want to stay alive, stop trafficking drugs. If you keep trafficking deadly drugs — we will kill you,” he wrote.Like some previous videos released by the US government, a section of the boat is obfuscated for unspecified reasons.President Donald Trump’s administration has built up significant forces in Latin America, in what it says is its campaign to stamp out drug trafficking.So far it has deployed six Navy ships in the Caribbean, sent F-35 stealth warplanes to Puerto Rico, and ordered the USS Gerald R Ford carrier strike group to the region.The governments and families of those killed in the US strikes have said many of the dead were civilians — primarily fishermen. Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro has repeatedly accused Trump of seeking to oust him.US bombers have also conducted shows of force near Venezuela, flying over the Caribbean Sea off the country’s coast on at least four occasions since mid-October.Maduro — who has been indicted on drug charges in the United States — insists there is no drug cultivation in his country, which he says is used as a trafficking route for Colombian cocaine against its will.The Trump administration has said in a notice to Congress that the United States is engaged in “armed conflict” with Latin American drug cartels, describing them as terrorist groups as part of its justification for the strikes.The United Nations has asked the United States to cease its campaign, with rights chief Volker Turk saying the killings have taken place “in circumstances that find no justification in international law.”

US President Donald Trump hosted all five Central Asian leaders on Thursday for the first time, a few months after they held separate summits with Russia’s Vladimir Putin and China’s Xi Jinping. The West has upped its interest with the resource-rich region, where Moscow’s traditional influence has been questioned since the Kremlin’s Ukraine invasion and where China is also a major player.- ‘Incredible importance’ of rare earths -“We’re strengthening our economic partnerships, improving our security cooperation, and expanding our overall bonds,” Trump said before a dinner with the leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.”One of the key items on our agenda is critical minerals,” Trump said at the so-called “C5+1” meeting.He hailed the countries’ “incredible importance and unbelievable potential.”On social media afterward, Trump announced “an incredible Trade and Economic Deal” with Uzbekistan, which he said included Tashkent investing nearly $35 billion over three years — and more than $100 billion in a decade — in key US sectors such as aviation, critical minerals, agriculture and IT.The United States and European Union are drawn by the region’s huge — but still mostly unexploited — natural resources as they try to diversify their rare earths supplies and reduce dependence on Beijing. Kazakhstan is the world’s largest uranium producer, Uzbekistan has giant gold reserves and Turkmenistan is rich in gas. Mountainous Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are also opening up new mineral deposits.  But exploiting these giant reserves remains complicated in the impoverished states with harsh and remote terrains. Almost as large as the EU, but home to only about 75 million people, Central Asia is landlocked and covered by deserts and mountains.It is sandwiched between countries that have strained ties with the West: Russia to the north, China to the east and Iran and Afghanistan to the south.- ‘Sent by heaven’ -Trump’s counterparts did not hesitate in offering praise to their host.”You are the great leader, statesman, sent by heaven to bring (back) common sense and traditions that we all share and value,” gushed Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev was no less effusive.”Before that, none of the presidents of the United States of America ever treated Central Asia as you do,” he said.”In Uzbekistan, we call you the president of the world.”The five landlocked countries, which gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, have put on a united front for diplomacy.China — which shares borders with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan — has presented itself as a main commercial partner for the region, investing in huge infrastructure projects.The ex-Soviet republics still see Moscow as a strategic partner but have been spooked by its invasion of Ukraine. – Abraham Accords -The biggest announcement of the day was that Kazakhstan will join the Abraham Accords between Israel and mainly Muslim nations, in a largely symbolic move aimed at boosting Trump’s push for Middle East peace.Kazakhstan will be the first country to join since the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan signed up to normalize ties with Israel in 2020.The central Asian republic has already had diplomatic ties with Israel for decades, but US Vice President JD Vance said Kazakhstan’s decision would nevertheless boost the initiative’s “momentum.”Several states in the Middle East have refused to join the accords so far, most notably Saudi Arabia.- Muffled human rights -For Trump, who has expressed admiration for hardline regimes, economic cooperation with Central Asia has taken precedence over promoting democratic values. While the region has opened up to tourism and foreign investment, rights groups have sounded the alarm over the further deterioration of civil freedoms. “The summit is taking place while all participating governments have increased efforts to stifle dissent, silence the media, and retaliate against critics at home and abroad,” Human Rights Watch said in a statement ahead of the talks. 

US right-wing influencers falsely linked New York’s mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani to the Islamic State group, amplifying a fabricated statement that garnered millions of views on social media, researchers said Thursday.Mamdani — the first Muslim and South Asian elected to lead America’s largest city — secured a decisive victory this week in the face of fierce attacks on his policy proposals and religious background.A slew of anti-Mamdani accounts on the Elon Musk-owned platform X have circulated a statement purportedly from IS titled “Operation Manhattan Project,” which alluded to an attack in New York City on Election Day against what it called “American aggression.”Among the influencers who linked the fake communique to Mamdani was Laura Loomer, a conservative influencer who has Trump’s ear.”The Muslims can’t think of a better way for the Muslims to celebrate the victory of a Muslim mayoral candidate today than by committing an ISIS (Islamic State) attack in NYC,” Loomer wrote in a post on X that racked up more than 200,000 views.Other conservative accounts cited the purported statement to falsely claim that the extremist group had endorsed Mamdani as mayor.The posts collectively amassed millions of views across the platform.The purported letter, which displayed the logo of the jihadists’ Amaq News Agency, was fabricated, according to multiple researchers including the disinformation watchdog NewsGuard.Meili Criezis, an American University academic, told the watchdog that the supposed communique did not bear the hallmarks of other statements that emanated from Amaq.”Amaq is used [by the Islamic State] to share news and claim responsibility for attacks,” Criezis said.”It doesn’t make threats like what is stated in the screenshot.”The Information Epidemiology Lab, another research group, also said the circulated communique “sharply” diverged from established IS “media practices in language, style, formatting, and distribution.”The fabricated statement appeared to first surface on the far-right message board 4chan, a known haven for conspiracy theories.In recent months, Mamdani, a long-standing supporter of the Palestinian cause, has vocally denounced antisemitism as well as the Islamophobia he himself suffered following the September 11, 2001 attacks.The 34-year-old state lawmaker — who appealed to voters by pledging to tackle the soaring cost of living — has repeatedly been targeted by racist tropes and misinformation.In the weeks leading up to the highly anticipated election, AFP’s fact-checkers debunked several false internet claims targeting Mamdani, including that a noncitizen illegally voted for him and that one of his campaign staffers posed beside graffiti of Nazi swastika.

Travelers across the United States were left scrambling to rebook flights as the government shutdown heaps pressure on the country’s air traffic control system, prompting hundreds of Friday flight cancellations at major American airports.Airlines starting Friday will begin implementing up to a 10-percent reduction in flights for 40 high-traffic areas of the country, complying with a Federal Aviation Administration order made on safety grounds.More than 750 US flights scheduled for Friday have been preemptively canceled Thursday, according to tracking website FlightAware.American Airlines said in a statement it was reducing its flight schedules “amounting to 220 flights cancelled each day.”Delta Airlines was axing about 170 flights scheduled for Friday, the carrier said, while broadcaster CNN reported Southwest Airlines nixed around 100 flights set for that day.The shutdown has left tens of thousands of air traffic controllers, airport security staff and others without pay, causing personnel shortages.On Thursday, more than 6,400 US flights were delayed, with some 200 cancellations, FlightAware data showed, as passengers faced long lines at security checkpoints.Major airports were impacted, with travelers at Boston and Newark airports facing average delays of more than two hours, and those at Chicago’s O’Hare and Washington’s Reagan National more than an hour.Authorities said they wanted to act before an accident occurred.”We’re not going to wait for a safety problem to truly manifest itself, when the early indicators are telling us we can take action today to prevent things from deteriorating,” said FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford.- Peak travel season -The reduction measures come as the country enters its busiest travel time of the year, with the Thanksgiving holiday just weeks away.As millions of Americans face likely travel chaos amid a shortage of air traffic control personnel, President Donald Trump’s administration sought to reassure people that flying remained safe.”It’s safe to fly today, tomorrow, and the day after because of the proactive actions we are taking,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said late Thursday on X.The new cancellations could affect thousands of flights every day. Flight reductions will begin at four percent on Friday and rise to 10 percent, media outlets reported.Flight reductions are set to hit some of the country’s busiest airports, including in Atlanta, Newark, Denver, Chicago, Houston and Los Angeles.Implementing the order on short notice will be a challenge for airlines, which operate complex networks that rely on many moving parts and personnel.United Airlines and Delta, two of the country’s largest carriers, have said they are complying with the order but that it would not affect their international routes.United added that “hub-to-hub” flying would also not be affected, indicating cancellations might hit more local routes.Federal agencies across the United States have been grinding to a halt since Congress failed to approve funding past September 30, with some 1.4 million federal workers, from air traffic controllers to national park rangers, still on enforced leave or working without pay.Many in high-stress aviation-related jobs are now calling in sick and potentially working second jobs in order to pay their bills, Duffy said Wednesday.FAA Administrator Bedford said the situation was unprecedented.”I am not aware in my 35-year history in the aviation market where we’ve had a situation where we’re taking these kinds of measures,” he said Wednesday.”Then again, we’re in new territory in terms of government shutdowns.”