SPAIN
Anti-trade pacts rally held
Several hundred people have protested in Madrid against the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, a major free trade deal between the US and the EU. The protesters on Saturday also urged officials not to approve the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, a smaller trade agreement between Canada and the EU, and the Trade in Services Agreement, which involves the EU. Protesters carried signs claiming the deals would impoverish locals, chanting “They are not treaties, they are coups d’etat” and “We are people, not merchandise.” Some wore huge yellow foam chains around their necks to signify enslavement, while others dressed up as tycoons.
UNITED STATES
Trump wants drug tests
Escalating his criticism of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton’s debate performances, Republican rival Donald Trump came to a state battling a drug epidemic and on Saturday suggested without any evidence that his opponent had been on drugs during their second debate. “I think we should take a drug test prior to the debate,” Trump told a crowd of thousands gathered in the parking lot of a Toyota dealership on a chilly afternoon. “We should take a drug test prior, because I don’t know what’s going on with her. But at the beginning of her last debate — she was all pumped up at the beginning, and at the end it was like, ‘Oh, take me down.’ She could barely reach her car,” he said. The Clinton campaign referred reporters to a statement by campaign manager Robby Mook that was put out earlier in the day in response to Trump’s allegations of a “rigged” election. “Campaigns should be hard fought and elections hard won, but what is fundamental about the American electoral system is that it is free, fair and open to the people,” Mook wrote.
GERMANY
Suspect spoke to IS contact
A Syrian refugee arrested on suspicion of planning a major attack in Berlin spoke to a member of the Islamic State (IS) group in Syria by telephone about a possible target a day before police discovered explosives in his apartment, Welt am Sonntag reported on Saturday. Jaber Albakr was detained on Monday last week, two days after police discovered about 1.5kg of explosives in his apartment. He was found dead in prison two days later. Authorities said he had committed suicide. The paper cited investigation sources as saying US intelligence had provided a tip-off about Albakr after tapping several phone calls between him and the IS member. During the calls, 22-year-old Albakr spoke about his attack plans, the paper said. In a call on Oct. 7, Albakr told his contact that 2kg of explosives were ready and he named a possible target, saying a “big airport in Berlin” was “better than trains,” the paper said. It said prosecutors investigating the case assumed that Albakr wanted to make a suicide-bomb vest.
SYRIA
Rebels claim Dabiq
Turkish-backed opposition forces captured the town of Dabiq from IS fighters yesterday morning. A commander of the opposition Hamza Brigade said IS fighters put up “minimal” resistance before withdrawing in the direction of al-Bab to the south. About 2,000 opposition fighters pushed into Dabiq with tank and artillery support from the Turkish Army, he said. IS propaganda had boasted of the fight for the town, citing Islamic lore that it would be the scene of a major battle between crusaders and army of the Muslim caliphate that would herald Doomsday.
DIALOGUE: US president-elect Donald Trump on his Truth Social platform confirmed that he had spoken with Xi, saying ‘the call was a very good one’ for the US and China US president-elect Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) discussed Taiwan, trade, fentanyl and TikTok in a phone call on Friday, just days before Trump heads back to the White House with vows to impose tariffs and other measures on the US’ biggest rival. Despite that, Xi congratulated Trump on his second term and pushed for improved ties, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The call came the same day that the US Supreme Court backed a law banning TikTok unless it is sold by its China-based parent company. “We both attach great importance to interaction, hope for
‘GREAT OPPRTUNITY’: The Paraguayan president made the remarks following Donald Trump’s tapping of several figures with deep Latin America expertise for his Cabinet Paraguay President Santiago Pena called US president-elect Donald Trump’s incoming foreign policy team a “dream come true” as his nation stands to become more relevant in the next US administration. “It’s a great opportunity for us to advance very, very fast in the bilateral agenda on trade, security, rule of law and make Paraguay a much closer ally” to the US, Pena said in an interview in Washington ahead of Trump’s inauguration today. “One of the biggest challenges for Paraguay was that image of an island surrounded by land, a country that was isolated and not many people know about it,”
‘FIGHT TO THE END’: Attacking a court is ‘unprecedented’ in South Korea and those involved would likely face jail time, a South Korean political pundit said Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol yesterday stormed a Seoul court after a judge extended the impeached leader’s detention over his ill-fated attempt to impose martial law. Tens of thousands of people had gathered outside the Seoul Western District Court on Saturday in a show of support for Yoon, who became South Korea’s first sitting head of state to be arrested in a dawn raid last week. After the court extended his detention on Saturday, the president’s supporters smashed windows and doors as they rushed inside the building. Hundreds of police officers charged into the court, arresting dozens and denouncing an
CYBERSCAM: Anne, an interior decorator with mental health problems, spent a year and a half believing she was communicating with Brad Pitt and lost US$855,259 A French woman who revealed on TV how she had lost her life savings to scammers posing as Brad Pitt has faced a wave of online harassment and mockery, leading the interview to be withdrawn on Tuesday. The woman, named as Anne, told the Seven to Eight program on the TF1 channel how she had believed she was in a romantic relationship with the Hollywood star, leading her to divorce her husband and transfer 830,000 euros (US$855,259). The scammers used fake social media and WhatsApp accounts, as well as artificial intelligence image-creating technology to send Anne selfies and other messages
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