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DUBLIN: Thousands of demonstrators marched through Dublin on Saturday to protest against US President Donald Trump’s visit to Ireland, with campaigners condemning his policies on foreign affairs, climate, immigration and social issues, according to The Irish Times.

The Dublin protest drew a broad mix of political parties, campaign groups, trade unions and unaffiliated demonstrators, The Irish Times reported. Organizers said about 25,000 people attended, although the newspaper said the actual number was likely lower.

Marchers walked from the Garden of Remembrance to the Dáil, carrying Palestinian flags and placards criticizing Trump over issues including Gaza, racism, misogyny, climate policy and US military activity.

One protester quoted by The Irish Times said the crowd was intended to send a message of opposition, adding: “With Trump, the only people on the streets are here to oppose him.”

Another protester, Holly Eustance, told the newspaper that Trump’s policies threatened vulnerable species and the planet, saying war and climate change caused widespread destruction while political and economic systems favored billionaires over people.

The march was largely peaceful, though The Irish Times reported that a masked breakaway group, Anti-Imperialist Action, burned a US flag near Molesworth Street, set off firecrackers and chanted against the presence of US troops at Shannon Airport.

Speakers outside the Dáil criticized the Irish government’s handling of Trump’s visit. Labour TD Ciarán Ahern accused officials of “sycophancy,” while Senator Alice Mary Higgins described the trip as a “grotesque pantomime,” according to The Irish Times.

Trump earlier appeared to dismiss questions about the protests, suggesting they were probably “friendly,” but demonstrators quoted in the Irish newspaper said their message was that he was not welcome in Ireland.

MAKKAH: More than 60 early Islamic inscriptions and two historic wells in Wadi Al-Usaylah, northeast of Makkah, are providing archaeologists with a record of early Arabic writing and the pilgrimage routes used by caravans traveling to the holy city.

The six-kilometer-long, two-kilometer-wide valley was historically an important passage for travelers and pilgrim caravans arriving from Iraq and surrounding regions, according to a report by the Saudi Press Agency, or SPA.

The inscriptions, carved into mountain rock faces, date to the seventh and eighth centuries — corresponding to the first and second centuries of the Islamic calendar. They include references to figures from the early Islamic period and offer scholars tangible evidence of changes in the form, structure and aesthetic development of early Arabic script.

Water was also essential to sustaining travelers crossing the arid landscape. Successive Islamic rulers established water infrastructure along the route, with two of the valley’s four original historic wells still surviving near the inscribed rock faces. Some of the wells are believed to date to the Abbasid Caliphate.

The Royal Commission for Makkah City and Holy Sites is carrying out a comprehensive preservation program along the corridor to protect the inscriptions and wells from erosion. The effort forms part of wider initiatives under Saudi Vision 2030 to preserve the Kingdom’s archaeological heritage while developing sustainable cultural destinations, SPA reported.

The Wadi Al-Usaylah findings add to a growing body of archaeological evidence documenting the development of writing and human settlement across Saudi Arabia.

In a July 2026 report, SPA said the King Salman bin Abdulaziz Royal Reserve contains thousands of archaeological inscriptions and rock carvings, including Thamudic and Nabataean writings as well as depictions of animals, hunting scenes and aspects of daily life. More than 400 archaeological and historical sites have been documented across the reserve, with some remains dating as far back as 8,000 BC.

Najran provides another extensive record of the evolution of writing in the Arabian Peninsula. In a September 2024 report, SPA described the UNESCO-listed Hima Cultural Area as a vast outdoor museum containing rock carvings and inscriptions in Ancient South Arabian, Thamudic and Islamic scripts.

Archaeological surveys in Najran have documented inscriptions from different periods, including tribal markings and writings in Thamudic, Sabaean, Himyarite and early Islamic scripts. The accompanying rock art depicts people, camels, horses, ibexes, hunting scenes and battles, offering clues to ancient communities and their material culture, SPA reported.

The continuity and development of Arabic writing are also illustrated by a bilingual inscription discovered and documented in 2024 in Alqan village in the Tabuk Region. According to an SPA report, the inscription dates to the fifth century AD and contains two lines in Thamudic script and one in early Arabic.

The Heritage Commission said the Tabuk discovery provided evidence that Thamudic writing continued to be used alongside early Arabic during the fifth century. It also offered new insights into the coexistence of the two writing traditions and the development of Arabic letter forms.

Together, such discoveries underscore the archaeological value of Saudi Arabia’s mountains, valleys and desert landscapes as repositories of written history. They also highlight the importance of systematic documentation and preservation to protect inscriptions and other remains from erosion and other threats while making them accessible for scientific research and cultural tourism.

For Wadi Al-Usaylah, the combination of early Islamic inscriptions and surviving water infrastructure provides a particularly important glimpse into the networks that connected travelers and pilgrims with Makkah during the formative centuries of Islam.

WASHINGTON: A federal judge has ruled that a plan by the Trump administration to slash staffing at the federal agency tasked with responding to disasters by 50% was unlawful.

The opinion issued late Friday marked a victory for labor groups who had sued the agency. The labor organization had argued that plans by the Department of Homeland Security violated congressional protections that were designed to safeguard the independence of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The issue of the FEMA staffing was part of a much larger lawsuit filed by the American Federation of Government Employees and other labor groups, pushing back on efforts by the Trump administration to slash the federal workforce.

U.S. District Judge Susan Illston wrote in her opinion that top Homeland Security officials late last year directed FEMA’s leadership to submit a staffing plan that included a 50% staffing cut even though the agency’s own supervisors objected.

“Frankly, the FEMA staffing plan number appears as if pulled from thin air,” wrote Illston.

The Department of Homeland Security and FEMA did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Illston wrote that it was clear that the government violated rules established after 2005’s Hurricane Katrina that put decisions on staffing levels squarely in the hands of FEMA, not the Department of Homeland Security and that prevented DHS from “substantially” reducing the “functions” of FEMA.

Illston didn’t order a specific remedy to carry out her opinion but directed the two sides to meet and decide on a course of relief.

Although FEMA has experienced terminations, the 50% staffing cuts ultimately were not carried out. In recent months, after top leadership changes at FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security, the agency has rehired some staffers who were let go.

FEMA was one of the agencies targeted in the federal government for staff reductions as part of a broad Trump administration plan to reduce the size of government. The embattled agency has been buffeted by mass staff departures, disruptions of grant programs, and delays of disaster aid.

In May, a Trump-appointed FEMA Review Council submitted a final report recommending sweeping changes to how the agency supports states, tribes and territories in disaster.

The final version backed away from the recommendation to cut the FEMA workforce by 50%, which was included in a December 2025 draft reviewed by The Associated Press.

The council instead recommended the agency conduct a “strategic review” to determine “appropriate staffing levels.”

In an August report, the Government Accountability Office said it found the departures of thousands of staff in 2025 resulted in a “loss of institutional knowledge and experienced personnel” and “exacerbated longstanding workforce challenges.”

More than 4,300 employees, or about 17% of FEMA’s workforce, separated from the agency in the 2025 budget year, with over 1,500 through voluntary reductions. The agency also made about 2,900 new hires.

The GAO recently recommended to Congress that it “consider requiring” FEMA to base “significant workforce decisions” on a more strategic planning process.

Without it, the GAO found, “FEMA cannot be assured that the agency is positioned to effectively meet its mission needs.”

VENICE, Italy: “Woman Unknown,” a drama about Denmark in the aftermath of the Nazi occupation directed by May el-Toukhy, won the prestigious Golden Lion at the 83rd Venice Film Festival on Saturday.

The Maggie Gyllenhaal -led jury announced the winners, which included a best actor prize for John Malkovich for his performance in the dark CIA comedy “Wild Horse Nine.”

Malkovich was not in attendance at the ceremony, but he sent a video message, explaining that he is shooting in Montreal.

“I am humbled to be chosen for this award which has been given to so many wonderful actors,” Malkovich said.

Only 8 women have won a Golden Lion

El-Toukhy, who was the only woman to have solely directed a film in the main competition this year, is the eighth woman to have won the festival’s top prize.

“To me personally, ‘Woman Unknown’ is about the female body as a battleground,” el-Toukhy said. “At the same time the film tells the tale of women who are unseen, invisible and voiceless.”

She thanked Gyllenhaal for using her voice to shine a light on unequal opportunities for women in moviemaking.

The film, which does not yet have distribution in North America, is centered on a young nanny and housemaid who is about to marry her wealthy employer in the immediate aftermath of the war. But she harbors a secret past intimate relationship with a German soldier that threatens to upend her reputation. The lead, Mathilde Arcel, won the festival’s best actress prize.

Arcel was visibly emotional as she accepted the award, which she placed on the floor as she spoke as she said it was very heavy.

“This is my first lead role in a movie and my first time at a film festival,” she said. “I’m extremely honored.”

South Korean auteur Lee Chang-dong’s poetic portrait of class and labor, “Possible Love,” won the Silver Lion grand jury prize. “Possible Love” is Lee’s first film in eight years, following his acclaimed “Burning.”

“We are living in an era where the meaning of labor is fading and human connections are increasingly becoming severed,” Lee said through a translator. “I made this film to ask what cinema can and should do in times like these. I take this award as a sign that you want me to keep asking these questions.”

Gaza documentary takes special jury prize

“NAZA,” a harrowing documentary about military strategies employed in the war in Gaza from Israeli filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, was awarded a special jury prize.

“It’s honestly not very easy to stand here, thinking of all the people, the Israeli politicians, the journalists back home who are attacking this film, denying it without even seeing it,” Abraham said. “It is really, really especially important to us that Israelis watch this film.”

The was added to the main competition late — at the request of the filmmakers — and debuted late in the schedule as well, but its impact was felt as it received a record-breaking standing ovation, lasting some 25 minutes, after its premiere.

Shot on the rooftops of Tel Aviv at night in extreme secrecy over three years, “NAZA” features testimony from 24 Israeli military insiders including intelligence officers and soldiers give who insight into the war in Gaza and what they say is the systemic killing of Palestinian civilians.

The jury gave the Silver Lion for directing to Ilya Krzhanovsky for his film “Dau,” a project about the Soviet physicists who built the atomic bomb that has taken over 20 years to make. Krzhanovsky, who renounced his Russian citizenship in protest of the war in Ukraine, dedicated the prize to Ukrainians, including his mother who was born there.

French director Stéphane Brizé’s won the screenplay prize for his corporate drama “A Good Little Soldier.” Malou Khebizi was given the Marcello Mastroianni award for emerging actor for her role in Cédric Kahn’s “A Place to Heal,” which is set in an adolescent psychiatric ward in a public hospital.

The jury this year included “The Voice of Hind Rajab” director Kaouther Ben Hania, English composer Daniel Blumberg, French filmmaker Xavier Giannoli, Afghan filmmaker Shahrbanoo Sadat and Hong Kong filmmaker Johnnie To.

Malkovich’s Oscar chances just went up

Aside from Malkovich’s win, the starrier, Hollywood films playing in competition were shut out of the awards, including “Primetime,” “Bunker” and “Ink.”

Some look to the Venice Film Festival awards for early indications of who might be in with a shot at Oscar nominations and wins. In recent years, Venice has launched winning best actor campaigns for people like Brendan Fraser and Adrien Brody.

Malkovich has yet to win an Oscar.

VATICAN CITY: Pope Leo XIV has named Father Mario Leon Dorado as a successor-in-waiting to the current archbishop of Rabat, Cardinal Cristobal Lopez Romero, who is being investigated over accusations of sexual assault revealed by AFP.

A statement from the Vatican on Saturday said Dorado was made the Moroccan archdiocese’s “coadjutor archbishop,” a title for a church official appointed to assist a sitting archbishop which also confers automatic succession in the event the incumbent retires or dies.

Dorado, a 52-year-old Spanish priest and member of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, had been serving in Western Sahara for nearly 25 years, ultimately becoming apostolic prefect there.

In August he was named Rabat’s apostolic administrator, an official tasked with provisionally governing a diocese whose sitting bishop is “impeded or suspended,” after the accusations against Romero came to light.

On July 8, AFP revealed that at least five women were accusing Romero — who was among the prominent cardinals considered in 2025 as potential successors to Pope Francis — of sexual violence and inappropriate behavior.

No complaint has yet been filed with the Moroccan judiciary, the prosecutor’s office and police told AFP recently.

In response to AFP inquiries, Romero has said he “committed neither assault nor violence nor sexual harassment,” while announcing that he was stepping aside pending a Vatican investigation.

Romero’s mandate as archbishop of Rabat is officially due to end in 2027.

After Dorado was named apostolic administrator, two Vatican investigators went to Rabat to speak to some of Romero’s alleged victims and members of the diocese.

DAMMAM: It was a day of contrasts for last season’s SPL champions and runners-up — Al-Nassr and Al-Hilal — on Matchday 7 of the 2026/27 Saudi Pro League. The title holders dropped two valuable points against a winless Al-Khaleej in their worst performance of the season, while Al-Hilal produced their best yet, hitting Al-Taawoun for six in Qassim.

Al-Nassr could not have asked for a worse start against Al-Khaleej. The stifling Dammam heat — reminiscent of their torturous evening against Al-Ettifaq a few weeks ago — combined with a surprisingly well-organised Al-Khaleej side to limit Al-Nassr’s possession, as they ended the first 45 minutes without a shot on target.

With an away fixture against Al-Ain in the AFC Champions League Elite on Tuesday, Ange Postecoglou knew that managing the team’s tempo throughout the game was vital. But after losing to Al-Ittihad last Saturday, Al-Nassr could not afford to drop further points in what promises to be one of the most competitive SPL title races in recent memory.

It did not help that their opponents were going through their roughest start in recent years. Under head coach Jose Gomes, Al-Khaleej had failed to win any of their first six fixtures, drawing four and losing two — including a 5-1 defeat to Al-Hilal and a 3-0 loss to NEOM.

The expectation, then, was that Al-Nassr’s attack would overrun the Al-Khaleej defense. What they got instead was Al-Khaleej’s most composed performance of the season.

The icing on the cake for Al-Khaleej came on the stroke of half-time, when an Angelo Fulgini corner delivered to the far post found the unmarked Omar Mascarell, who headed home for the opener — with Bento’s failure to claim the ball helping Mascarell on his way.

Al-Nassr reorganized in the second half with Mohamed Simakan replacing Abdullah Al-Khaibari. The full-backs pushed up high and wide, with Samu Costa sitting in front of the back three as Al-Nassr’s front four moved freely through Al-Khaleej’s lines. But it was not until Abdullah Al-Hamddan came on in the 70th minute that Al-Nassr registered their first shot on target.

Seconds after coming on, Al-Hamddan received the ball outside the box from Inigo Martinez, who dispossessed Al-Khaleej midfielder Miguel Crespo — who had initially played the ball away after what appeared to be a foul. In the ensuing confusion, Al-Hamddan unleashed a curling effort from outside the box to beat Anthony Moris and send the Al-Nassr fans into raptures.

But — unlike in the aforementioned Al-Ettifaq clash, where Al-Nassr came back from 2-0 down to win 3-2 with a man down — they could not build on the equalizer.

Their best chance came in the 86th minute, when — from the same position Al-Hamddan scored from — Joao Felix fired at Moris, only for his deflected effort to be tipped away.

A golden opportunity arose on the counter in the first minute of stoppage time, with Felix driving toward goal and Ronaldo and Mane on either side of him — but he opted not to pass, as the attack broke down, and Al-Khaleej cleared the danger.

The draw leaves Al-Nassr frustrated — they now sit third behind Al-Ittihad and Al-Hilal. Having just won the SPL Manager of the Month award, it may be that Ange Postecoglou’s honeymoon is coming to an end.

Elsewhere, Al-Hilal bounced back emphatically after a 2-0 defeat to NEOM that ended their 47-game unbeaten league streak. The Blues hit Al-Taawoun for six, dominating every aspect of the game — and all but sealing Zarko Lazetic’s fate at Al-Taawoun. Prior to the game, Asharq Al-Awsat reported that the Al-Taawoun board had taken a collective decision to part ways with the Serbian regardless of the Al-Hilal result — and the scoreline certainly did not help his case.

It was a night to remember for Ollie Watkins and Gabriel Martinelli, who finally hit the ground running at their new club.

In the ninth minute, Ruben Neves delivered one of his trademark long balls to Watkins, who latched on despite the challenge of Awn Al-Saluli to finish past Mailson for the opener.

Nine minutes later, Martinelli opened his Al-Hilal account. The Brazilian winger slipped between Al-Taawoun midfielders Ashraf El-Mahdioui and Oscar Dorley to collect a loose ball in the box before doubling the lead. Martinelli added his second before half-time, when Watkins slipped him through on goal with a threaded ball — the former Arsenal man cutting inside to finish coolly into the net.

Al-Hilal pushed for more in the second half, and in the 50th minute Martinelli completed his hat-trick from Crysencio Summerville’s run to the byline, which teed him up for an easy finish. Watkins secured his brace in the 53rd minute when he won possession from the Al-Taawoun midfield and drove toward goal, leaving Mailson with no chance to make it 5-0.

Sultan Mandash completed the rout with a goal against his former club in the 75th minute, choosing not to celebrate.

It was a statement performance from Al-Hilal, who had come under immense pressure after that defeat to NEOM — which had coincided with the first start of the former Premier League trio of Summerville, Watkins and Martinelli together. The victory moves Al-Hilal into first place on 18 points ahead of the international break.

SPL action returns on Sunday for its final day before the league takes a break for the Arabian Gulf Cup in Jeddah. NEOM face Al-Fateh at 7:20 p.m., before two matches kick off at 9 p.m.: Al-Riyadh against Al-Kholood and Diriyah against Abha.

Europe has long been the primary target for US President Donald Trump’s tirades against traditional allies. However, Asia got a taste of this treatment last month when he cut short, at very short notice, the annual “Ulchi Freedom Shield” US military drills with South Korea.

Seoul is still angry at this development, especially given Trump’s later confirmation that he would also try to arrange a meeting with North Korea’s supreme leader, Kim Jong Un, in coming months. Signs of this frustration included President Lee Jae Myung’s call to speed up the development of new nuclear-powered submarines and his push to regain presidential wartime operational control of South Korean forces from the US, insisting that enhanced domestic military capabilities were needed in parallel with the alliance with Washington.

As remarkable as Trump’s decision was, it only confirmed the degree to which US partnerships with traditional allies have changed during his presidencies, as Washington demands wider concessions in return for US collaboration. These White House expectations include not only huge investments in the US, but also support in a conflict with Iran that has failed to unseat the regime in Tehran, while causing the largest global energy shock in a generation.

Certainly, some agree that Trump has legitimate concerns about South Korea. However, the manner in which he expressed his disagreement, in such a publicly humiliating way, is self-defeating. The US president said he told his South Korean counterpart that “we have 39,000 soldiers over there, guarding you from Kim Jong Un, your next-door neighbor, and you’re not going to help us on a very easy military operation in Iran? That’s strange.”

As ever, Trump’s statement requires a fact check. Currently, Seoul is scheduled this year to pay Washington about $1.19 billion of the estimated $5.5 billion-$6 billion it costs to station approximately 28,500 US troops in South Korea.

Even though that $1.19 billion sum represents a significant increase, Trump claimed that during his first term, Seoul pledged to pay much more: $3 billion. He further contends that the Biden administration failed to follow up on this pledge.

Trump’s decision to end the latest US-South Korea military exercises on Aug. 21 rather than Aug. 27, as scheduled, was embarrassing enough for Seoul. To also confirm that he planned to try to arrange another meeting with Kim was rubbing salt in the wounds.

His tirade has set back recent and extensive efforts by his team to reassure Asian allies about the US commitment to the region. At a recent meeting of Association of Southeast Asian Nations foreign ministers in the Philippines, for instance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio pledged about $2.5 billion of strategic investments in Southeast Asia. During a speech at Singapore’s Shangri-La conference in May, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth emphasized the importance of the region to Washington.

White House expectations include not only huge investments in the US, but also support in a conflict with Iran.

Andrew Hammond

Asian allies also query the utility of reengaging with Kim, after Trump’s first three meetings with him, between 2017 and 2021, failed to deliver any diplomatic breakthroughs.

White House expectations include not only huge investments in the US, but also support in a conflict with Iran.

Andrew Hammond

The prospects appear slim for any sustained de-escalation of tensions in the world’s last Cold War-era frontier in the form of the prize of a verifiable, comprehensive denuclearization of North Korea. Pyongyang’s weapons program has only grown in size and sophistication since Trump’s first term. This potentially widens the negotiating divide between the two sides.

The central challenge in making any meaningful diplomatic process with Kim is, as it was during Trump’s first term, the differing US and Korean interpretations of what exactly would constitute “denuclearization” of the peninsula.

To Trump, this appears to mean unilateral North Korean disarmament. For Kim, it appears to be more about potentially lengthy negotiations in which Pyongyang should be treated as an equal to the US, providing him with the further potential for propaganda victories. In this context, Kim will continue to be wary of commitments on specific time frames, and will want to win further concessions from Trump before agreeing to any reduction in nuclear capabilities, let alone committing to full denuclearization.

As was the case during Trump’s first term, it is far from clear what, if any, sequencing is possible to move the process forward. After the last meeting between Trump and Kim, North Korea disputed the US assertion that the reason the talks collapsed was because Kim demanded a full roll-back of sanctions. Pyongyang said it asked only for partial sanctions relief, and that an offer had been made to permanently halt nuclear and long-range rocket testing.

One reason Pyongyang’s position will not shift far or fast is that it was Kim, not Trump, who emerged as the bigger beneficiary of their previous engagements. The North Korean leader made few concrete concessions while Trump called off US-South Korea military exercises, and held out the prospect of an easing of sanctions on Pyongyang if it did “something meaningful” on denuclearization.

Taking all of this together, the damage to US alliances in Asia from last month’s decisions therefore goes far beyond South Korea and might outlast Trump’s second term. The paradox is that the White House had spent much time in recent months reassuring allies of enduring US support for the region, efforts that have now been badly set back.

• Andrew Hammond is an associate at LSE IDEAS at the London School of Economics.

WASHINGTON: The US military said Saturday that it has pushed back 100 commercial vessels in the past 60 days under its blockade of Iranian ports.

“ZERO ships have passed through the blockade without US forces allowing. American service members remain laser focused on this mission,” US Central Command said on X.

Iran blocked the strategic Strait of Hormuz after the US and Israel launched attacks on Tehran in late February.

In response, the United States has sought to prevent ships from traveling to and from Iranian ports to deprive Tehran of revenue.

The oil “mega-deal” signed between the US and Venezuela has caused major repercussions on plenty of themes: from the legality and timeframe of the agreement to the economic and political implications and, last but not least, the controversial role of Alejandro Betancourt.

A couple of issues are also missing from recent discussions: the effects of these new deals on Venezuela’s environment and its implications for the global climate crisis.

One exception was the coverage made by the NPR’s “All Things Considered” program, where energy and climate correspondent Julia Simon interviewed Paasha Mahdavi, a political science professor at University of California, Santa Barbara, who has this to say about what the new Orinoco Belt developments by major oil company Chevron could do.

“This expansion is effectively a carbon bomb. And so if Chevron does produce this field, that’s roughly 52 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per year additional. That is a huge number.”

On September 2nd, the same day those deals were signed in Miraflores Palace, the United Nations Environmental Program released the report “Limiting Overshoot,” which indicates that the 1.5° threshold to limit global warming established in 2015 by the Paris Climate Accords was already crossed and therefore the world must prepare for the fallout.

But in the last few days, several Venezuelan environmental NGOs and other civil society groups are sounding the alarm about the negative consequences that those agreements could produce here. Mongabay published this map about the areas that are impacted by oil extraction in Venezuela.

Venezuelan NGOs Clima 21 and Provea made public a joint statement in which they say that “the economic recovery cannot be made at the expense of environmental human rights. No economic interest can prevail over the constitutional and international right to a healthy, safe and sustainable environment…”

They proposed five points of commitment for all involved, which include transparency and public information, effective enforcement of environmental obligations, urgent management of oil spills, protection of vulnerable communities and a transition to a sustainable model for the country.

Local NGO Azul Ambientalistas claimed that in recent months there have been visible signs of spills and gas leaks in the Lake Maracaibo area, which increased after the reactivation of activities there earlier this year.

Alejandro Alvarez, director of NGO Clima 21 told Caracas Chronicles about what this overall commitment could entail: “It must take into a medium-to-long term strategic plan of reducing the fiscal dependence of the oil rent through investment in areas not related to the extraction and use of fossil fuels. There are already forecasts that could define alternative economic areas to generate currency without the extraction of petroleum.”

In similar terms, Transparencia Venezuela mentioned the need to adjust any oil investment and development to what’s established in Article 129 of the Constitution, including “environmental and socio-cultural impact studies” and “the obligation to preserve the balance…”

But some went further and openly denounced the US-Nabep deal as the surrender of our national sovereignty and civic rights, as Venezuelan sociologist Emilianio Teran-Mantovani wrote in an article for the Venezuelan Observatory of Political Ecology, an organization that he co-founded. 

“The new Oil Agreement is the result of this process of political decomposition that has been unfolding in Venezuela for years; and it is the crowning achievement of the capitulation and dismantling of oil nationalism, which had already begun under Maduro and is now being fully unleashed through U.S. intervention…

“Ultimately, this means that Venezuelans themselves have no place. They hardly matter. Their decisions, expressed, for example, in the July 28, 2024 elections, do not matter. Neither do their social and labor rights. And the environment is even less relevant, an area that has been rendered completely invisible in this conflict.”

“There is no National Policy, National Strategy, nor a National Plan of Adaptation and Mitigation to Climate Change. There’s neither a Climate National Budget nor a National System for an Inventory of Greenhouse Gases…”

Besides these statements, the issue of how this oil deal will affect our surroundings has taken a backseat to other concerns while clouded by a lack of details and overall uncertainty around it, despite the promises of a prosperous recovery made by government officials in Caracas and Washington. 

In the meantime, the problem of incidents like oil spills continues to be present to this day, with the most recent one occurring on the coast of Lake Maracaibo near Cabimas, as local NGO Azul Ambientalistas claimed that in recent months there have been visible signs of spills and gas leaks in the lake, which increased after the reactivation of activities in the area earlier this year.

Oil spills have sadly become commonplace over time, but reliable data on the matter is hard to come by, with NGOs like Clima 21 and the Venezuelan Observatory of Political Ecology filling the gap that the State is not providing. 

“This possible impact (of the pollution produced by the projects of the oil deals) would add to the systemic chronic environmental crisis of the Venezuelan oil industry, which has a very high accident rate because of the abandonment of safety protocols and protections to the communities and ecosystems in the most affected areas. Our concern is the absence of guarantees in those agreements that these problems will be attended to and solved.”

And then there’s the concern of climate change and its already visible effects around the world. At the moment, the ongoing El Super Niño climate event is exacerbating temperatures, causing historical heatwaves like the recent one in Europe and creating serious worries about food crops and other essential natural resources in many nations, including here in Venezuela. 

Evidence of how climate change has directly affected Venezuela can be found in the second academic report on climate change (DRACC), which was formally presented last December by the Venezuelan Academy of Physics, Mathematics and Natural Sciences. In its findings is the acknowledgment that the average temperature in the country has risen 0,22 °C per decade between 1980 and 2015, while global warming is responsible for anomalies in rainfall.

But the most damning conclusion is the complete disregard coming from the Venezuelan State.

“This is an important theme in which the government has made failed or incomplete advances” Alvárez, mentioning two failed projects: wind farms in Paraguaná and solar panels for  an indigenous community in Amazonas state, which ended up abandoned.

“There is no National Policy, National Strategy, nor a National Plan of Adaptation and Mitigation to Climate Change. There’s neither a Climate National Budget nor a National System for an Inventory of Greenhouse Gases… …the climate institutional weakness accentuates the vulnerabilities of the national territory to the physical threats of the current climate change…”

“The climate change issue has completely disappeared from the Venezuelan political agenda. We have no information on the position of the government in the next international meetings on the matter,” Alvarez told us. He added that “in any case, we need a commitment of the State to fulfill the obligations of the Paris accords and the COP30 (the most recent UN’s climate change conference held in Brazil in November 2025) that promote an energy transition outside of fossil fuels.”

Given this assessment and the Trump administration’s doubling-down on the exploitation of fossil sources of energy, this oil deal could simply make those physical effects even worse. 

Parallel to this is the inclusion of how clean energy sources like solar or wind could not only assist in alleviating the electricity shortage but create new opportunities for our economy. Now, it seems like the only one considered is the hydroelectric power that we largely depend on.

“This is an important theme in which the government has made failed or incomplete advances” Alvárez, mentioning two failed projects: wind farms in Paraguaná and solar panels for  an indigenous community in Amazonas state, which ended up abandoned.

Overall, any discussion about the environmental consequences that this controversial oil deal could have for all Venezuelans is not at the forefront. It is not entirely erased from view, however. 

The short-term argument also brings a long-term one that our society has been dodging for many years: finding a suitable compromise between the needs of our economic apparatus that require immediate attention and that our hydrocarbon industry can provide, while keeping safe basic things like the air we breathe or the water we use and even trying to preserve the natural wonders that this beautiful country of ours offers.

CAPE TOWN: The head organizer of the 2010 World Cup was re-elected president of South Africa’s soccer federation on Saturday despite facing criminal charges over alleged fraud while in office.

Danny Jordaan, 75, beat challenger Sandile Zungu, a South African businessman and soccer club owner, by 157 votes to 82, according to an announcement by the South African Football Association. Jordaan has been head of SAFA since 2013 and will serve a fourth term.

Jordaan was a pivotal figure in bringing the World Cup to Africa for the first time in 2010 and his work was praised in helping make the tournament a success.

But he has been followed by controversy since then.

He came under scrutiny in 2015 over if he had knowledge of an alleged $10 million bribe made by South Africa to a FIFA official to help win the 2010 hosting rights. The allegation against unidentified South African bid officials was contained in an indictment by the US Department of Justice. South Africa denied the allegation.

Jordaan was accused in 2017 of rape by South African singer and political activist Jennifer Ferguson, who said the rape happened more than two decades earlier. Jordaan denied that allegation, and charges against him were dropped because of a lack of evidence.

Jordaan was arrested in 2024 and charged with fraud and theft for the alleged misuse of around $70,000 while SAFA president. He was accused alongside several others, including a former acting CEO of SAFA and the chief financial officer of SAFA.

The charges accuse Jordaan of using SAFA money to hire personal security and a PR company to enhance his public image in the wake of the Ferguson rape allegations.

The fraud case has been bogged down by delays and is yet to go to trial. Jordaan and his co-accused denied wrongdoing.

The buildup to Saturday’s SAFA election was also troubled, with the national association saying some voting officials had received death threats and others had been harassed and intimidated. SAFA said it would notify the police but didn’t say who was behind the threats.

RIYADH: The Hedayathon event — a hackathon organized by the Presidency of Religious Affairs in partnership with the University of Jeddah — recently concluded. Participants were asked to come up with ways to enhance services for visitors to the Grand Mosque and the Prophet’s Mosque.

The Hedayathon aimed to foster innovation and harness scientific and technological capabilities to develop solutions that enhance religious services and enrich visitors’ experiences, according to a report by the Saudi Press Agency.

The event brought together innovators, developers, students, academics, startups, entrepreneurs, and people interested in outreach (da’wah) and religious guidance.

There were three winning projects. First place went to the Madaar team for their Maqam Platform project, which won SR30,000 ($8,000). Second place — and SR20,000 — went to the Tala team for Every Signal is a Recited Verse, an idea aimed at serving people with special needs. Echo Tech’s Sanctuary Translator — a project designed to develop legal translation — took third place, winning SR10,000.

Sheikh Abdulrahman Al-Sudais, president of Religious Affairs at the Grand Mosque and the Prophet’s Mosque, stressed the importance of leveraging technology and innovation to develop religious services and make them accessible to visitors.

In remarks shared on the presidency’s X account, Al-Sudais said: “Serving pilgrims of the Grand Mosque and the Prophet’s Mosque is a tremendous responsibility. It requires intensified efforts and mobilized capabilities to facilitate their access to religious services, enabling them to perform their worship with ease and tranquility.”

Obaid Al-Mudhaff, the university’s president, said the partnership with the presidency represents a model of integration between field expertise, scientific research, and innovation, helping develop quality solutions to serve the Two Holy Mosques and their visitors.

Salem Areej, general supervisor of the Hedayathon event, said the initiative was launched not only as a tech competition, but also to use technology to better serve pilgrims.

The hackathon’s objectives included enriching visitors’ religious experience, developing religious translation solutions, maximizing communications and media impact, developing religious guidance tools, building platforms for teaching the Holy Qur’an and delivering scholarly lessons, answering worshippers’ questions, and facilitating access to religious services for people with disabilities.

Activities included panel discussions, an exhibition, workshops, and consultations.

The presidency also signed a memorandum of understanding with the Saudi Translation Association to enhance cooperation and develop multilingual religious content.

SOFIA: An explosion and fire have hit an ammunition storage site in Bulgaria, police said Saturday, weeks after a blaze at another munitions facility in the country.

The latest incident happened late Friday at a warehouse operated by Bulgarian arms maker EMCO, whose munitions are used in Ukraine, near the central village of Gorni Varpishta.

No casualties were reported and workers were evacuated from the site.

Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev said the blaze broke out at one warehouse at the facility, triggering explosions.

There was no danger of the fire spreading to other warehouses or beyond the storage complex, he told a press conference.

“All hypotheses are on the table and we are examining them carefully,” he said, adding the storage facilities had some shortcomings, including poor security.

The warehouse contained explosive materials, including around 100 munition rounds, the armaments company said.

The incident came about a month after a fire at an ammunition depot at another nearby EMCO plant in Bulgaria, a NATO member and supporter of Ukraine.

EMCO ruled out human error in that case, and prosecutors are investigating.

President Iliana Iotova said Saturday she was considering convening Bulgaria’s national security council, a presidential advisory body that brings together senior political, security and defense officials.

“Cases of explosions at ammunition depots have become more frequent,” she said.

EMCO is owned by Bulgarian defense executive Emilian Gebrev, who survived a poisoning attempt in 2015 together with his son and another company executive.

Bulgarian prosecutors have charged three Russian nationals over the poisoning.

Separately, six Russians have also been charged with terrorism over four explosions at arms facilities in the country between 2011 and 2020.

Prosecutors said the four blasts were remotely triggered and suspected the incidents were linked to efforts to disrupt arms supplies to Georgia and Ukraine.

Bulgaria has supported Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.

There have been a string of incidents at defense companies in European countries that support Ukraine in recent weeks.

Firebombs were thrown near defense company offices in the German city of Munich earlier this month and an ammunition factory near Rome operated by arms maker KNDS was hit by a blast in August.

No injuries were reported in either case.

JEDDAH: The first Syrian Industries Exhibition recently concluded in Jeddah, bringing together more than 160 Syrian companies and factories, and attracting business figures, importers and distributors seeking commercial and investment opportunities in the Saudi market.

Held over four days at the Jeddah Center for Exhibitions and Events under the patronage of the Jeddah Chamber, the expo focused on business-to-business opportunities in supply, distribution, investment and partnerships.

The event facilitated meetings between Syrian manufacturers and Saudi businesses to establish partnerships, sign supply and distribution contracts, and conclude memoranda of understanding to support the entry of Syrian products into the Saudi market.

Agreements covered four main sectors: food, textile, chemical and engineering industries. The expo also highlighted investment incentives, facilities and regulatory procedures for establishing joint ventures between the two countries.

A knowledge program featured seminars and panel discussions on legal procedures, trade incentives, partnership mechanisms, and the shift from traditional trade to industrial investment and joint production.

Pavilions showcased food, textile, engineering and chemical industries, along with agriculture, tourism, culture and labor, highlighting opportunities for economic cooperation between Saudi and Syrian businesses.

The expo provided a platform to strengthen economic and trade ties, explore investment opportunities and build partnerships supporting economic development and shared interests.

DUBAI: American singer Pink used a long Instagram statement this week to explain why she shared a message attacking rapper Macklemore over his support for Palestinians at an Ed Sheeran concert, after a week of criticism online.

Macklemore opened for Sheeran at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on Sept. 4 and 5. He appeared in a keffiyeh, said Gaza and the West Bank were not forgotten, and performed “Hind’s Hall,” his 2024 song about the war, while footage from Gaza ran across the stadium screens.

Addressing Jewish members of the audience, he said criticism of Israel “in no way is a criticism of you.”

The message Pink shared, from the group StopAntisemitism, called the set “anti-Israel propaganda” and said ticket holders were owed apologies and refunds. She posted a run of sarcastic memes as the criticism built, and was accused of prejudice.

“A repost isn’t a statement, and a meme isn’t a spine,” Pink wrote, adding that the post she shared used language she would not have picked herself. She said she was born Jewish, does not speak for Israel or any government, and repeated a position she took in October 2023 that Hamas is a terrorist organization.

Her objection, she wrote, was to Macklemore deciding on Jewish fans’ behalf that his remarks were not aimed at them. She described the week as a lonely one.

PARIS: Investigators suspect that a train derailment in northwest France which injured 44, one gravely, was the result of sabotage, a police source told AFP on Saturday.

A fragment of rail was found on the track, with the possibility of a malicious act being treated as the main line of inquiry as a result, the source said.

Carrying 186 passengers, the train was running between the Normandy cities of Rouen and Caen when it derailed around 7:45 pm (1745 GMT) Friday.

Authorities activated a mass-casualty response plan, with 130 firefighters, five medical teams and 80 vehicles drafted in.

Rouen prosecutor Sebastien Gallois said 44 people were injured including an 18-year-old woman evacuated “in a critical condition”, while tests for drugs and alcohol on the train driver had come back negative.

SNCF Reseau, which controls the French rail network, told AFP that traffic on the line has been suspended and power to the tracks cut to allow emergency services to operate.

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s consumer spending held steady at SR15.8 billion ($4.2 billion) in the week ending Sept. 5, even as education-related transactions pulled back following the previous week’s back-to-school surge, official data showed. 

The Kingdom’s point-of-sale transactions edged up 0.2 percent from the previous week, while the number of transactions rose 4.8 percent to 267.75 million, according to figures from the Saudi Central Bank, also known as SAMA.

The largely flat overall spending masked a sharp correction in education-related transactions, which fell 31 percent week on week to SR755.97 million, after climbing well above SR1 billion as the new academic year got underway. 

Talking to Arab News, economist Talat Hafiz said the pattern suggests that Saudi consumer demand is becoming broader, more normalized, and more resilient, rather than being driven mainly by seasonal spikes such as back-to-school spending. 

“The rise in transactions even as education spending normalizes indicates that households are continuing to spend across a wider range of goods and services,” he added.  

“Overall, this points to solid underlying household spending capacity heading into the last quarter of the year, particularly as inflation remains contained and employment and income conditions continue to support consumption,” said Hafiz. 

Sectoral spending 

According to SAMA, spending on food and beverages amounted to SR2.69 billion, representing a weekly increase of 3.9 percent. 

Transactions in restaurants and cafes stood at SR1.81 billion, up 1.9 percent, while spending on apparel, clothing and accessories totaled SR1.28 billion, down 9.6 percent. 

The transportation sector witnessed POS transactions worth SR1.15 billion, followed by spending at gas stations at SR1.1 billion. 

Across healthcare, the value of transactions stood at SR964.71 million, up 7.9 percent, while spending on professional businesses and services amounted to SR906.1 million, up 3.8 percent. 

Jewelry stood out as the week’s biggest gainer, with transactions surging 25.4 percent week on week to SR345.61 million, while books and stationery reversed course, falling 8.6 percent to SR182.49 million after the previous week’s back-to-school jump. 

Geographic breakdown 

Riyadh dominated POS transactions, with spending in the capital reaching SR5.53 billion, marking a 0.6 percent increase compared with the previous week, as the number of transactions climbed 5.6 percent to 88.2 million. 

Jeddah witnessed transactions amounting to SR2.14 billion, up 1.4 percent, while the total number of transactions stood at 29.68 million. 

In Dammam, consumer spending totaled SR762.42 million, roughly flat from the week before, followed by Makkah at SR614.20 million, down 1.9 percent, and Madinah at SR592.46 million, down 4.1 percent. 

Alkhobar recorded SR427.12 million in transactions, down 2.3 percent, while spending in Buraidah rose 2.9 percent to SR403.31 million.

Abha posted the sharpest citywide decline at 7.5 percent, with transactions falling to SR199.18 million. 

BRASILIA: Revelations that Brazilian presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro is under investigation for alleged corruption and money laundering rocked his right-wing campaign Friday, weeks before elections.

Bolsonaro, the son of former leader Jair Bolsonaro, is vying for the presidency against leftist incumbent Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in the October ballot.

A newly released court document revealed that police have been investigating Flavio Bolsonaro since July regarding possible crimes “in the context of financing the production” of a forthcoming film about his father.

Police conducted dozens of raids Thursday over the alleged embezzlement of public funds by the company that produced the flattering biopic.

“Dark Horse” — starring US actor Jim Caviezel as Jair Bolsonaro — has been under scrutiny as part of a widening corruption scandal that has loomed over the election.

“I have nothing to hide. The film is completely legal,” Flavio Bolsonaro said at a campaign event on Friday.

An investigation of this kind does not prevent someone from running for office in Brazil.

Voters in Latin America’s largest economy head to the polls on October 4, deeply polarized and with a weary sense of deja vu as Lula takes on Bolsonaro.

The 45-year-old senator Flavio Bolsonaro was thrust into the electoral race after his father was jailed for attempting a coup in 2022.

He has styled himself as a “more moderate” version of his firebrand father.

Neck and neck

The right-wing candidate has vowed to “rescue” Brazil from corruption, crime, high food prices and soaring public debt. His speeches are woven through with references to “God, country, family and freedom.”

He has also pledged a heavy hand on crime, which polls show is voters’ main concern.

While Lula has promised to prioritize the fight against organized crime, his challenger blames him for not taking violence seriously enough.

Bolsonaro’s campaign has been hit by disclosures that he approached notorious fraud-accused banker Daniel Vorcaro — head of the collapsed private bank Banco Master — for money, which Bolsonaro said was to finance “Dark Horse.”

According to court documents obtained by AFP, investigators believe Flavio Bolsonaro personally met with Vorcaro and discussed the film’s financing with him on several occasions.

The documents also point to the transfer of $12.3 million from a company indirectly linked to Vorcaro to another tied to an attorney for Eduardo Bolsonaro, Flavio’s younger brother.

A police source told AFP that the targets of Thursday’s raids included Karina Gama, head of the company that produced “Dark Horse,” and Mario Frias, a pro-Bolsonaro congressman listed as the film’s executive producer.

Both have been banned from leaving Brazil pending the investigation’s outcome. Frias has said he is innocent, denouncing the “smoke screen” probe.

Police officials said the money came from parliamentary funds available to lawmakers to finance special projects, usually in their electoral strongholds.

Vorcaro’s alleged interactions with Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes, whom he apparently asked for legal help days before his arrest, have meanwhile triggered a crisis in Brazil’s top court.

“The impact of corruption scandals is much greater for Lula’s campaign than for Flavio’s,” said political scientist Mayra Goulart from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.

However, new evidence against Bolsonaro closer to the election could influence “voters whose choice is less clearly defined,” she told AFP.

Lula was imprisoned for 580 days on corruption charges in 2018 and 2019, but his conviction was later overturned.

He and Flavio Bolsonaro are neck-and-neck in voting intentions ahead of the first round.

If, as expected, no one wins an outright majority, a runoff will be held on October 25.

BEIRUT: Lebanese President Joseph Aoun made a surprise visit to Nabatieh on Saturday, with videos showing his convoy entering the southern city.

The visit comes amid heightened tensions in southern Lebanon following renewed Israeli strikes and increased security deployments in the area.

Aoun said that Israel’s withdrawal, the return of displaced residents and the reconstruction of affected areas were non-negotiable priorities that Lebanon was committed to achieving.

The US military has forced 99 commercial vessels to change course in the Gulf region as it enforces its blockade of Iranian ports, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said Friday in a social media post.

Earlier the day, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said that foreign ministers from Gulf littoral states are scheduled to meet in Oman on Monday to exchange views on regional issues, including talks between Iran and Oman on designating safe routes in the Strait of Hormuz.

He said the meeting will be attended by Iran, Iraq and other Gulf littoral states, adding that he hoped it would prepare the ground for improving understanding among regional countries and contributing to joint regional security.

A day earlier, the US-led Joint Maritime Information Center (JMIC) said in a notice that maritime security conditions in the Middle East remained tense, with the maritime security threat level in the Strait of Hormuz still rated as “severe.”

The notice also warned of a high likelihood of attacks on vessels amid the current security situation.

Published on 07/03/2026 – 8:00 GMT+1•Updated
11/09/2026 – 22:42 GMT+2

France will push back against a European Commission plan to fast-track ratification of trade agreements by circulating only English-language versions during talks with EU governments and lawmakers, skipping translation into the bloc’s 24 official languages, according to several sources.

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The slow ratification of the contentious EU–Mercosur trade deal has frustrated the Commission, which wants to accelerate negotiations and bring deals into force more quickly as it seeks new markets amid rising geopolitical tensions.

Translating the agreements into every official EU language can take months due to the legal scrubbing required before the ratification process begins.

The EU executive has confirmed to Euronews that trade chief Maroš Šefčovič told EU trade ministers in February that the trade deal with India concluded on 27 January could serve as a test case for using English as the main language during ratification.

“We lost almost €300 billion by not having the Mercosur agreement in place since 2021, if it comes to the GDP, and more than €200 billion in export opportunities,” Šefčovič told journalists after meeting ministers on 20 February, adding that once negotiations end it can take up to 2.5 years before businesses can operate in partner countries.

“In today’s world, we cannot simply lose the time,” he said.

Šefčovič said the Commission would ensure the agreements are translated into all 24 official EU languages once published in the Official Journal, i.e. after ratification. He added the proposal was backed by at least seven member states at the meeting, though not all countries had time to speak.

French sources who spoke to Euronews were insistent that Paris would vigorously oppose the move to English-only agreements if necessary.

“As a matter of principle, we defend the use of all the languages of the Union, and in particular French, which is one of the EU’s working languages,” one official told Euronews.

‘Transparency, precision and understanding’

Language policy in the bloc’s institutions remains politically sensitive for countries such as France, whose language has declined sharply over the past decades as English massively dominates daily work in the European Union institutions – despite French, German and English being the three official working languages.

“Switching entirely to English raises a legal and democratic issue, and the Commission is well aware of it,” another French official told Euronews.

On its website, the European Commission says linguistic diversity is essential and that the EU promotes multilingualism in its institutional work.

The bloc once even had a commissioner dedicated to multilingualism, though the portfolio was gradually merged with others and eventually disappeared.

“I have the impression that in some cases the Commission seizes the opportunity to push the idea that English has a superior status, and that the other official languages are translation languages that can come later,” Michele Gazzola, expert in language policy, said.

He added that relying only on English during ratification could pose problems for members of the European Parliament, and even more so if national parliaments are involved.

“It’s a matter of transparency, precision and understanding.”