World

ISTANBUL –At least 642 people fleeing violence in El-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state in western Sudan, have arrived in the country’s Northern State after a difficult and dangerous journey, Anadolu Ajansi reported, citing the Sudan Doctors Network.

The organisation said on social media platform X on Saturday that the displaced families escaped massacres carried out by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in El-Fasher and arrived in the Al-Dabba area.

It warned that the new arrivals are living in dire humanitarian conditions, with inadequate shelter, severe shortages of food and clean water, and a lack of basic health services, particularly affecting children, women, and the elderly.

“These families are now facing severe living challenges that exceed the capacity of the host communities to cope with,” it said.

The organisation warned that the number of displaced people is expected to rise sharply in the coming days as the situation in Darfur continues to deteriorate.

It appealed to local authorities and humanitarian groups inside and outside Sudan to urgently provide medical aid, food, shelter, and psychological support to prevent “a total collapse of the humanitarian situation.”

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said on Friday that more than 62,000 people had been displaced from El-Fasher within four days of the RSF taking control of the city.

El-Fasher fell under the control of the RSF earlier this week after a months-long siege. Rights groups have accused the paramilitary group of committing mass killings, detaining people, and attacking hospitals.

Sudan has been ravaged by a civil war between the army and the RSF since April 2023, causing thousands of deaths and the displacement of millions of people. — BERNAMA-ANADOLU

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US air travel is beginning to show signs of strain as the government shutdown drags on, with traffic controller shortages snarling thousands of flights into the weekend.

Flights into New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport were temporarily halted Friday afternoon due to staffing constraints. The US Federal Aviation Administration also paused flights from Washington-area airports into LaGuardia Airport beginning just after 4:30 p.m. local time.

Traffic was slowed at other airports throughout the day, including Newark Liberty International Airport, Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Boston Logan International Airport, and in Austin, Houston, Nashville and the Dallas-Fort Worth area. 

That follows disruptions at Newark and JFK on Thursday evening. Airports serving Dallas-Fort Worth and Washington experienced similar hiccups earlier on Thursday.

At one point, the FAA warned travelers on Thursday that there would likely be a stretch of time where no flights would be able to land in Orlando because no controllers were available. The agency later revised that assessment, after saying it had increased staffing.

The air travel problems come as officials, including US Vice President JD Vance and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, cautioned that a prolonged government shutdown could snarl air travel into the busy Thanksgiving travel season.

Flight disruptions have emerged as a flash point in the shutdown debate, with Vance and Duffy joining airline executives in calling on Congress to come together to reopen the government.

The latest data from aviation analytics company Cirium shows that overall on-time departures were slightly better so far Friday compared to Thursday. But New York area airports, including JFK and LaGuardia, as well as Boston Logan International Airport, experienced higher-than-normal cancellations and delays. 

On Thursday, departure performance at many major airports, including the main ones serving the New York area — JFK, LaGuardia and Newark — suffered. At all three, about 60% of flights departed on time, when the target is typically 80% or higher. There was also an increase in cancellations at many airports, according to the data. 

Thursday’s data was the first released since the shutdown began that shows significant signs of a widespread slowdown, though overall performance in October is relatively similar to last month. Bad weather also contributed to flight disruptions Thursday.  

Airlines delayed more than 7,300 US flights Thursday and canceled 1,200 more, according to data from flight-tracking website FlightAware.

Duffy had previously said that staffing issues normally account for about 5% of delays. But with the shutdown about to enter its second month, flight delays due to workforce constraints have fueled a higher percentage of disruptions — at times surpassing 50%. 

More than 13,000 air traffic controllers and 50,000 Transportation Security Administration agents have been forced to continue working without pay, prompting some to get second jobs. —BLOOMBERG

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GOLD hovered around $4,000 an ounce as traders weighed a US-China trade truce that failed to quash concerns about long-term competition between the world’s two largest economies.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping warned against “breaking supply chains” in his first public remarks after a landmark meeting with US President Donald Trump that secured a one-year trade truce between the nations.

Talks between the two leaders appeared to resolve – for now – months of brinkmanship, but a one-year pause is likely only to stabilize relations while buying each side time to reduce strategic dependence. The détente also underscored the rise in China’s economic clout since Trump’s first term as US president, a shift that is fueling interest in haven assets.

Bullion is headed for a second weekly drop and is down more than 8% from a record high above $4,380 on Oct. 20. The retreat has most recently been aided by reduced expectations of further Federal Reserve rate cuts. Chair Jerome Powell warned that investors should rein in hopes for a December reduction after a quarter-point cut on Wednesday.

Outflows from gold-backed exchange-traded funds have also removed some of the support that underpinned the scorching rally. Total gold ETF holdings fell for six days before recording net inflows on Thursday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

A “combination of a hawkish cut, a truce in the US-China trade war, plus heavy outflows from the gold ETFs are all adding to the corrective mood,” said Robert Rennie, a commodities analyst at Westpac Bank Corp. Bullion could drop back to around the $3,750 level, he said. 

Despite its recent pullback, gold has still advanced more than 50% this year, with support from a push by mainstream investors to safeguard their portfolios against risk as well as accelerated central-bank buying, the World Gold Council said in a report on Thursday. Central banks purchased 28% more gold in the third quarter than during the preceding three months, reversing a downward trend seen earlier this year.

Spot gold fell 0.7% to $3,997.79 an ounce as of 4:22 p.m. in New York. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.2%. Silver, platinum and palladium all fell.  —BLOOMBERG

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MOSCOW — Russia has imposed more extensive entry bans on representatives from European institutions and countries in response to the 19th package of anti-Russian sanctions by the European Union (EU), the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Friday, reported Xinhua.

In response to the approval of the 19th package of EU sanctions against Russia, Moscow has “significantly expanded” the entry ban list of representatives of European institutions, EU member states, and several other European countries that follow the EU’s anti-Russian policy, the ministry said in a statement on its official website.

The statement said that the measure applies to officials from law enforcement agencies, government and commercial organisations, and citizens of EU member states and other Western countries involved in providing military assistance to Ukraine, supplying dual-use goods, undermining Russia’s territorial integrity, and organising blockades of Russian ships and cargo.

The entry ban also targets representatives of European institutions, government bodies of EU countries, and other European states involved in efforts to establish an international “tribunal” against the Russian leadership, advocating the confiscation of Russian state assets or using their proceeds to benefit Ukraine, and responsible for drafting and enforcing sanctions against Russia.

The ministry said the restrictions also include civil activists and representatives of the scientific community known for their “Russophobic rhetoric,” as well as members of parliaments of EU member states and the European Parliament who voted for anti-Russian resolutions and bills.

Earlier this month, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas announced that the bloc had approved its 19th package of sanctions against Russia, which includes new restrictions on the movement of Russian diplomats within the EU. –BERNAMA-XINHUA

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ROME — The EU’s commissioner for trade on Friday said China’s one-year suspension on its restrictions of rare earth materials would apply to the bloc as well as the United States.

“My understanding is that the agreement, which was found between the US and China in this matter, is ‘erga omnes’, so we should apply it to all and, of course, including the European Union,” Maros Sefcovic told reporters during a visit to Rome.

Following discussions with the United States, China on Thursday said it would suspend certain export restrictions for one year, including on rare earth materials, that had been announced in October.

The controls on rare earths — which were a major sticking point in trade negotiations between US President Donald Trump and China’s President Xi Jinping this week — have rattled markets and snarled supply chains.

Sefcovic, who met with Italy’s agriculture minister, Francesco Lollobrigida, and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, said the EU was now having “high-level official talks on export controls” with China.

“I will speak again with my Chinese counterpart very, very soon,” he said.

China is the world’s leading producer of the minerals used to make magnets that are crucial to the auto, electronics and defence industries.

It has required licences for certain exports of the materials since April, but Sefcovic said that system was not working.

“We have not very positive experience with the issuing of export licenses for the rare earths,” he said, noting that only 50 percent of EU applications were “properly processed” so companies received the needed rare earth materials.

“It has direct implications on the production capacities of the companies in the EU,” he noted.

The Chinese restrictions that were put in place on October 9 required exporters to obtain permission for technologies used for rare-earth mining and smelting, among other processing steps. — AFP

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PARIS — Controversial online fast-fashion seller Shein will open its first bricks and mortar store in the world in Paris next week, its new landlord announced Friday.

The planned opening by the Asian clothing giant has been opposed by politicians, unions, top fashion brands and in a petition, but the storied BHV department store in central Paris insisted the move would go ahead next Wednesday.

Founded in China in 2012, but now with a headquarters in Singapore, Shein has faced criticism over working conditions in Chinese factories making clothes sold on the platform, its marketing tactics to tempt young people and its environmental impact.

But its value has skyrocketed in recent years and it has overtaken many traditional high street fashion brands.

Societe des Grands Magasins (SGM) president Frederic Merlin, whose group manages the BHV Maris department store, said in a social media post that next week’s opening would be a “world first” for Shein.

SGM, which has denounced “political pressure” against bringing in the Shein boutique, said that five more permanent Shein shops would be opened in Galeries Lafayette stores around France also managed by the group.

Since the Shein announcement was made Disneyland Paris has abandoned plans to open a pop-up store in BHV while workers at the Paris store have staged a strike over the plan. A French state-owned bank has pulled out of talks with SGM to purchase the Paris building.

Shein and other fast-fashion giants, such as Temu, have been targeted in a proposed new French law that would restrict its advertising and impose tighter environmental regulation.

It has already been ordered to pay fines totalling 191 million euros ($221 million) for breaching French laws on the use of internet cookies, false and misleading advertising and failing to declare the presence of microplastics in its products.

Italy’s competition watchdog has also fined Shein one million euros over its claims to be environmentally green. — AFP

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SINGAPORE — Singapore police said Friday they have seized more than $115 million in assets tied to Chen Zhi, a British-Cambodian tycoon accused of running forced labour camps in Cambodia used as multi-billion dollar scam centres.

The seizure came after the US Justice Department earlier this month unsealed an indictment against Chen, 37, founder of Prince Holding Group, a multinational conglomerate that Washington said served as a front for “one of Asia’s largest transnational criminal organizations”.

Singapore police on Thursday raided multiple locations across the island state “against Chen Zhi and his associates in relation to offences of money laundering and forgery,” the force said in a statement.

Officers “seized and issued prohibition of disposal orders against six properties and various financial assets, including bank accounts, securities accounts and cash, with a total estimated value of more than S$150 million ($115 million), police said.

Other assets, including a yacht, 11 cars and multiple bottles of liquor were also seized.

Chen allegedly directed operations of forced labour compounds across Cambodia, where hundreds of trafficked workers were held in prison-like facilities surrounded by high walls and barbed wire.

Under threat of violence, they were forced to execute so-called “pig butchering” scams — cryptocurrency investment schemes that build trust with victims over time before stealing their funds.

Since around 2015, Prince Group has operated across more than 30 countries under the guise of legitimate real estate, financial services and consumer businesses, US prosecutors said.

Proceeds were laundered in part through the Prince Group’s own gambling and cryptocurrency mining operations.

“This case involves a complex, large-scale transnational fraud network that exploits digital and financial infrastructures across multiple jurisdictions,” said David Chew, director of the Commercial Affairs Department, Singapore’s white-collar crime investigation agency.

“The crimes cross many borders, and witnesses, exhibits and assets have been secured in several jurisdictions,” Chew added in the statement.

Chen faces up to 40 years in prison if convicted on wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy charges.

In coordinated action, British authorities on Tuesday froze 19 London properties worth over 100 million pounds ($131 million) linked to Chen’s network, including a 12 million pound mansion. — AFP

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BRUSSELS — Eurozone inflation eased in October, official data showed Friday, thanks to a faster fall in energy costs and a slowdown in the rate of food and drink price rises.

Consumer price rises reached 2.1 percent this month, moving closer towards the European Central Bank’s two-percent target. The figure was in line with forecasts by analysts surveyed by Bloomberg and FactSet.

The data will reinforce the ECB’s view that inflation is in check after the bank decided to keep interest rates unchanged again Thursday.

Core inflation, which strips out volatile energy, food, alcohol and tobacco prices, was also unchanged at 2.4 percent in October from the previous month — disappointing expectations it would slow to 2.3 percent.

Energy costs, however, fell further by 1.0 percent in October — a significantly larger decline than the 0.4 percent recorded in September, Eurostat data showed.

Food, alcohol and tobacco price rises eased to 2.5 percent this month, from 3.0 percent the previous month.

Consumer price rises in Germany and France, the EU’s biggest economies, also slowed in October to 2.3 percent and 0.9 percent respectively, Eurostat said. — AFP

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TAIPEI — Taiwan sweltered through its hottest October on record, the weather agency said Friday, the latest in a string of global temperature records.

The main island endured its highest average temperature since 1950, Central Weather Administration forecaster Liu Pei-teng told AFP.

Temperatures the world over have soared in recent years as human-induced climate change contributes to ever more erratic weather patterns.

Taiwan’s average temperature was 27.381C as of October 30, Liu said.

Liu said the average could slip 0.1C by the end of Friday, but it would still be higher than the previous record of 27.009C in 2016.

“The temperature only started lowering around October 18 or 19 while in previous years it started cooling in mid-September or early October, which make the average temperature of this month a record high compared with the same period in previous years,” Liu said. — AFP

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GYEONGJU (South Korea) — The Japanese government said its Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi (picture) and Chinese President Xi Jinping held their first talks Friday afternoon in South Korea, Kyodo News Agency reported.

Their first meeting since Takaichi assumed office as prime minister last week took place on the sidelines of the two-day Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit, which began on Friday in Gyeongju.

The two leaders are expected to confirm their countries’ policy of promoting a “strategic and mutually beneficial relationship” and building “constructive and stable” ties.

Their meeting was held amid signs that Beijing is taking a cautious approach to Takaichi, who is known as a China hawk.

Earlier in the day, Takaichi posted a picture of herself and Xi exchanging greetings before the start of the APEC summit on her social media platform X.

The two countries have long been at odds over historical, territorial and other issues, including repeated intrusions by Chinese coast guard vessels into Japanese territorial waters near the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, which Beijing claims and calls it Diaoyu Islands.

In an apparent warning, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi during their phone call on Tuesday that the issues regarding history and Taiwan, a self-ruled democratic island that Beijing claims as part of its territory, concern “the foundation of bilateral relations and basic trust and faith” between the two countries.

Signalling wariness over her hard-line foreign policies, Xi has not sent a congratulatory message to Takaichi, despite having done so for her three predecessors, including Shigeru Ishiba, whom she succeeded as Japanese leader, according to a diplomatic source.

During their talks, Takaichi, known as a staunch conservative, is expected to raise concerns about Chinese vessels’ intensifying activities near the Senkakus, and emphasise the importance of peace and stability over the Taiwan Strait, according to Japanese government sources.

The new Japanese leader may also seek an early release of Japanese nationals detained in China over espionage allegations, the sources added.

Takaichi, who shares the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s conservative political views and is regarded as his protege, has been labelled a right-wing nationalist by Chinese media. Abe was fatally shot while making a campaign speech in 2022. — BERNAMA-KYODO

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