US to revoke Colombian president’s visa over ‘incendiary actions’

The US State Department said it would revoke the visa of Colombia’s leftist President Gustavo Petro, who returned to Bogota on Saturday after being accused of “incendiary actions” during a pro-Palestinian street protest in New York.Petro was in New York for the UN General Assembly, where he fiercely rebuked US President Donald Trump’s administration and called for a criminal inquiry into recent US strikes on alleged drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean in his Tuesday address.The Colombian leader shared video on social media of himself speaking through megaphone to a large crowd on Friday, calling on “nations of the world” to contribute soldiers for an army “larger than that of the United States.””That is why, from here in New York, I ask all soldiers in the United States Army not to point their rifles at humanity. Disobey Trump’s order! Obey the order of humanity!” Petro said.The State Department said on social media that Petro had “stood on a NYC street and urged US soldiers to disobey orders and incite violence.””We will revoke Petro’s visa due to his reckless and incendiary actions,” it said.Petro struck a defiant note after leaving New York for Bogota, saying that he considered himself a “free person in the world.””I arrived in Bogota. I no longer have a visa to travel to the USA. I don’t care,” he wrote on social media early Saturday.He added that he was “not only a Colombian citizen but also a European citizen” which meant he would not require a visa but instead use the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) for entry into the United States.Petro said unarmed “poor young people” died in the strikes — more than a dozen in total — but Washington contends the actions are part of a US anti-drug operation off the coast of Venezuela, whose president Washington accuses of running a cartel.Trump has dispatched eight warships and a submarine to the southern Caribbean, and the biggest US deployment in years has raised fears in Venezuela of an invasion.Petro, whose country is the world’s biggest cocaine producer, has said he suspects some of those killed in the US boat strikes were Colombian.Last week, the Trump administration decertified Colombia as an ally in the fight against drugs, but stopped short of economic sanctions.The countries are historical allies, but ties have soured under Petro — Colombia’s first leftist leader.The South American country’s Interior Minister Armando Benedetti wrote on social media Friday night that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visa should have been revoked rather than Petro’s.”But since the empire protects him, it’s taking it out on the only president who was capable enough to tell him the truth to his face,” Benedetti said.

Philippines: le bilan passe à 11 morts après le passage de la tempête Bualoi

Les autorités des Philippines ont annoncé samedi un nouveau bilan de 11 morts après le passage de la violente tempête Bualoi, qui se dirige vers le Vietnam.Bualoi a balayé vendredi plusieurs îles du centre des Philippines, renversant des arbres et des pylônes électriques, arrachant les toits des maisons et provoquant des inondations qui ont contraint 400.000 personnes à évacuer leur domicile. La petite île de Biliran a été l’une des plus touchées, avec huit morts et deux disparus, a déclaré à l’AFP Noel Lungay, responsable provincial de la gestion des catastrophes naturelles, joint par téléphone. “Il y a eu des inondations massives et certaines routes étaient encore sous les eaux tôt ce matin”, a-t-il décrit, ajoutant que “les personnes évacuées commencent à regagner leurs domiciles à mesure que le temps s’améliore”.Les autorités avaient précédemment annoncé la mort de trois autres personnes sur les îles de Masbate et Ticao, proches de Biliran. Quatorze personnes restent portées disparues dans le centre des Philippines, ont indiqué les autorités, sans plus de détails. Plus de 200.000 personnes se trouvent toujours dans des centres d’évacuation, situés sur la trajectoire de la tempête. Bualoi est arrivée dans la foulée du super typhon Ragasa, qui a fait 14 morts dans le nord des Philippines. Après avoir balayé l’archipel, Bualoi poursuit sa route samedi dans la mer de Chine méridionale et doit atteindre la côte centrale du Vietnam dimanche après-midi, selon le service météorologique des Philippines.Ces tempêtes surviennent alors que parmi la population philippine la colère grandit au sujet d’un scandale de corruption impliquant de faux projets d’infrastructures anti-inondations qui auraient coûté des milliards de dollars au contribuable. Chaque année, au moins 20 tempêtes ou typhons frappent les Philippines ou s’en approchent, les régions les plus pauvres du pays étant généralement les plus durement touchées.Selon les scientifiques, le changement climatique provoque des phénomènes météorologiques extrêmes plus fréquents et plus intenses partout dans le monde.

UN sanctions on Iran set to return as nuclear diplomacy fades

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Saturday slammed as “unacceptable” what he described as US demands that Tehran hand over its enriched uranium, as sweeping UN sanctions loomed after nuclear talks collapsed.Earlier this month, the UN nuclear watchdog reported that Iran’s stockpile of uranium enriched up to 60 percent had risen to an estimated 440.9 kilogrammes as of June 13, an increase of 32.3 kilogrammes since May 17.Though Iran allowed inspectors back into its sites, Western powers said they saw insufficient progress to justify delaying sanctions, after a week of top-level diplomacy at the UN General Assembly.European powers triggered the “snapback” mechanism a month ago, accusing Tehran of failing to comply with requirements over its nuclear program — including through countermeasures it launched in response to Israeli and US strikes in June.Pezeshkian on Saturday told reporters in New York that Washington had asked Tehran to relinquish all of its enriched uranium in exchange for a three-month reprieve from sanctions.The United States “wants us to hand over all our enriched uranium to them, and in return they would give us three months” exemption from sanctions, Pezeshkian told reporters in New York before leaving for Tehran.”This is by no means acceptable,” he said.He previously said France had made a similar proposal, offering only a one-month delay.”Why would we put ourselves in such a trap and have a noose around our neck each month?” he asked, accusing the United States of pressuring Europeans not to compromise.- ‘Null and void’ -Pezeshkian reiterated that Iran had no intention of developing nuclear weapons, charging that Washington and Israel were instead using pressure to try to topple the Islamic republic.Talks over Iran’s nuclear program had also involved Steve Witkoff — Special Envoy of US president Donald Trump — who said Washington did not want to harm Iran and was open to further discussions.But Pezeshkian dismissed him as unserious, saying he backtracked on earlier understandings that collapsed after Israel launched its latest military campaign on Iran in June.Meanwhile, Iran recalled its envoys from Britain, France and Germany for consultations after the three countries triggered the sanctions mechanism, state television reported.The measures, due to take effect at 0000 GMT Sunday (8:00 pm Saturday in New York), will reinstate a global ban on dealings with companies, people and organisations accused of involvement in Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs.The sanctions are aimed at imposing new economic pain to pressure Iran, but it remains to be seen if all countries will enforce them.Russian deputy ambassador Dmitry Polyansky said Friday that Moscow, a top partner of Iran, considered the reimposition of sanctions “null and void.”Russia and China sought at the Security Council Friday to delay the reimposition of sanctions until April but failed to muster enough votes.- ‘Maximum pressure’ -The United States already has unilateral sanctions on Iran and has tried to force all other countries to stop buying Iranian oil, although companies from China have defied the pressure.Trump imposed a “maximum pressure” campaign during his first term when he withdrew from a landmark 2015 nuclear agreement negotiated under former president Barack Obama, which had offered sanctions relief in return for drastic curbs on Iran’s nuclear program.The new sanctions mark a “snapback” of the UN measures that were suspended under the 2015 deal, which had been strongly supported by Britain, France and Germany after Trump’s withdrawal.The International Crisis Group, which studies conflict resolution, said in a report that Iran seemed dismissive of the snapback as it had already learned to cope with the US sanctions.But it noted that the snapback was not easy to reverse as it would require consensus at the Security Council.”It is also likely to compound the malaise around an economy already struggling with high inflation, currency woes and deepening infrastructure problems,” the report said.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a defiant UN address Friday urged no delay in the snapback and hinted that Israel was willing to again strike Iran’s nuclear program, after the 12 days of bombing in June that Iranian authorities say killed more than 1,000 people.Pezeshkian said that Iran would not retaliate against the sanctions by leaving the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, warning that unnamed powers were seeking a “superficial pretext to set the region ablaze.”

Présidente ou rien, Le Pen laisse Bardella à l’arrière-plan

“Le Pen, ça veut dire le chef”: omniprésente depuis la rentrée, la patronne du Rassemblement national affirme de plus en plus sa primauté sur son jeune dauphin Jordan Bardella, en dépit du risque judiciaire qui la guette, plus prégnant encore avec la condamnation de Nicolas Sarkozy.Jouer les seconds rôles, très peu pour elle. Marine Le Pen vise l’Elysée et rien d’autre. Quant à Jordan Bardella, “il va être Premier ministre” et “croyez-moi, c’est un poste éminemment important”, a affirmé la triple candidate à la fonction suprême, jeudi soir sur LCI.Son cadet, âgé de 30 ans, a donc vocation à n’être président que du parti à la flamme, qu’elle lui a légué voici quatre automnes. Tel est “le duo exécutif que nous proposons”, insiste-t-elle, et “ça tombe bien, il souhaite que je sois présidente de la République”.Mais si elle devait être empêchée de se présenter ? Si son inéligibilité – dans l’affaire des assistants d’eurodéputés – était confirmée en appel, voire en cassation ? Alors elle serait “aux côtés de Jordan pour l’aider au maximum” à conquérir le pouvoir. Mais elle n’irait pas à Matignon: “Je n’ai pas besoin de lot de consolation.”Pour l’heure, elle dit “conserver un tout petit espoir” que sa peine soit annulée, ou au moins réduite. Et s’engouffre de toutes ses forces dans la brèche.En l’espace d’un mois, Marine Le Pen s’est démultipliée: quatre médias, deux meetings et une tendance manifeste à préempter la parole. Comme lors de ce “bureau de campagne” convoqué à la hâte début septembre, sous l’oeil des chaînes info, pour remobiliser ses troupes avant la censure de François Bayrou.Ou comme lors de ces deux rendez-vous à Matignon, avec le maire de Pau puis son successeur Sébastien Lecornu. Sur le perron ou rue de Varenne, c’est à chaque fois elle qui s’exprime la première et donne le ton.- Le “plan B” attendra -Souvent, elle se distingue de son poulain. Quand Jordan Bardella rend hommage à “l’influent militant de droite américain” Charlie Kirk et dénonce “la rhétorique déshumanisante de la gauche”, Marine Le Pen se contente de dire “l’horreur” que lui inspire “l’assassinat d’un jeune père de famille au seul motif de son engagement politique”.Inversement, lui est resté mutique après la condamnation jeudi de Nicolas Sarkozy, qui l’avait pourtant reçu début juillet, quand elle s’est précipitée pour critiquer “la généralisation de l’exécution provisoire”, qui doit envoyer bientôt l’ancien chef de l’Etat en prison – dans l’affaire du financement libyen de sa campagne de 2007.Un parallèle à double tranchant avec son propre cas, les juges ayant été sur ce point aussi sévères avec celui qui a occupé la fonction qu’avec celle qui y prétend. Mais aussi un signal clair envoyé à ceux qui voudraient réactiver le “plan B” comme Bardella, sujet de friction au printemps, après le jugement en première instance.”A l’époque il y a eu trop de communication indirecte” via leurs entourages et “ça les a défavorisés tous les deux”, admet après coup un cadre mariniste. Désormais les équipes des deux dirigeants “travaillent beaucoup mieux ensemble”, avec des réunions hebdomadaires et une boucle de messagerie, là où “avant il n’y avait rien”.De l’huile dans les rouages, au service de celle qui se dit “déterminée”, “optimiste” et surtout “combative”. Et aussi “fière” de son nom: “Je vous signale que Le Pen, ça veut dire le chef en breton”.Même si “mille fois” elle a pensé jeter l’éponge, la cheffe de file de l’extrême droite française est plus que jamais aux commandes. “Si on ne le fait pas, je pense que personne d’autre le fera”, se justifie-t-elle, ajoutant: “Dommage pour mes adversaires”. Peut-être, aussi, pour son successeur.

Protesters demand answers 11 years after Mexican students vanished

Eleven years after her son vanished, Delfina de la Cruz vented frustration at the unsolved disappearances of 43 Mexican students who were allegedly kidnapped by drug traffickers while authorities turned a blind eye.The students from the Ayotzinapa teacher training college — whose members have a history of political activism — had commandeered buses to travel to a demonstration in Mexico City when they went missing on September 26, 2014.The case is considered one of the worst human rights atrocities in Mexico, where a spiral of drug-related violence has left more than 120,000 people unaccounted for.In the rain, de la Cruz and the mothers of other victims led a massive protest march in Mexico City on Friday to mark the anniversary.”We are back where we started,” she said. “I want to see my son, (know) what happened, where he is, if he is no longer there.” So far the remains of only three of the missing students have been found and identified, while the whereabouts of the rest are unknown.Investigators believe they were kidnapped by a drug cartel in collusion with corrupt police, although exactly what happened to them is unclear.At Friday’s march, retired university professor Jesus Gumaro held a banner criticizing former president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and his successor, Claudia Sheinbaum, for not “clearing up the crime.””We had hoped that it would be solved, but nothing has happened,” said Gumaro, 66.No one has been convicted despite the prosecution of dozens of people, including a former attorney general and several military personnel.The missing students’ relatives have accused the army of withholding information.On Thursday, protesters rammed a truck into the gates of a military barracks in Mexico City during a demonstration over the student disappearances.No injuries were reported in the truck ramming and the barracks remained secure.The students’ disappearance drew international condemnation and has become emblematic of a missing persons crisis in Mexico, with criminal violence claiming more than 450,000 lives since 2006.The so-called “historical truth” — an official version of the case presented in 2015 under then-president Enrique Pena Nieto — was widely discredited, notably the theory that the remains were incinerated and thrown into a river in the southern state of Guerrero.In 2022, a truth commission set up by Lopez Obrado’s government branded the case a “state crime” and said the military shared responsibility, either directly or through negligence.The commission found that the army was aware of what was happening and had real-time information about the kidnapping and disappearance.