DEN HAAG (ANP) - Minister Tom Berendsen (Buitenlandse Zaken, CDA) noemt Rusland ook een vijand, maar deed dat pas na aandringen van de oppositie. Hij was vooraf niet op de hoogte gesteld dat defensieminister Dilan Yesilgöz deze term voor Rusland zou gebruiken bij de behandeling van haar begroting in de Tweede Kamer.
Yesilgöz spreekt namens het kabinet, benadrukte Berendsen. De nieuwe term heeft ook geen gevolgen. "Of we Rusland nu agressor of vijand noemen, dat heeft geen impact op ons beleid."
"Het is toch niet niks", vroeg Sarah Dobbe (SP) over de nieuwe kwalificatie. De minister wees erop dat Rusland door de EU en de NAVO als grootste dreiging wordt gezien. "We zien dat Rusland zich steeds vaker vijandig uitlaat, maar we zijn niet in oorlog."
Kati Piri (PRO) wilde weten of het niet aan de minister van Buitenlandse Zaken is om zo'n kwalificatie te bewaken. "Woorden doen er zeker toe bij het ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken." Het is een zaak van het gezamenlijke kabinet, reageerde de bewindsman. Vorige kabinetten hebben Rusland wellicht ook al vijand genoemd, zei hij.
KEULEN (ANP/RTR/BLOOMBERG) - Meerdere luchtvaartmaatschappijen hebben vluchten naar Riyad geschrapt na een aanval van de Jemenitische Houthi's op de luchthaven bij de Saudische hoofdstad. Het Duitse luchtvaartconcern Lufthansa schort tot zeker volgende week vrijdag vluchten naar Riyad op. Air India vliegt tot zaterdag niet naar de stad. Ook Philippine Airlines stopt voorlopig met vliegen naar Riyad.
Cirium, een analysebureau, berekende dat ongeveer driehonderd vluchten vanaf of naar de luchthaven van Riyad op donderdag zijn geannuleerd.
Houthi's zeiden eerder de internationale luchthaven van Riyad te hebben aangevallen met een ballistische raket. De Jemenitische rebellen, die steun krijgen van Iran, vechten een oorlog uit met door Saudi-Arabië gesteunde regeringstroepen in Jemen.
KLM vliegt op dit moment niet naar Riyad. De Nederlandse luchtvaartmaatschappij heeft wel het voornemen om vanaf 25 oktober weer naar de Saudische bestemming te vliegen, meldde het bedrijf vorige maand.
BEIROET (ANP) - EU-buitenlandchef Kaja Kallas verwacht dat de EU-ministers van Buitenlandse Zaken maandag formeel besluiten tot een nieuwe EU-missie in Libanon. Dat zei Kallas donderdag op een persconferentie in Beiroet. "Deze missie zal een cruciale bijdrage leveren aan de veiligheid in Libanon."
De EU-missie gaat de Libanese strijdkrachten en de interne veiligheidsdiensten adviseren en bijstaan bij het versterken van de territoriale controle, de grensbeveiliging en de interne veiligheid, zei de topdiplomaat.
Kallas benadrukte dat de nieuwe missie geen vervanging is van de VN-vredesmacht UNIFIL. De EU-missie richt zich ook niet alleen op Zuid-Libanon.
VeiligheidsvacuĂŒm
Het Nederlandse kabinet is voorstander van de oprichting van deze EU-missie in Libanon.
Het mandaat van UNIFIL loopt eind dit jaar af. Alle 7500 militairen moeten in 2027 Libanon verlaten. De Libanese premier Nawaf Salam heeft in september gewaarschuwd dat er een vacuĂŒm in de veiligheid van de regio kan ontstaan als er niets voor in de plaats komt. Dat deed hij tijdens zijn speech bij de Algemene Vergadering van de Verenigde Naties.
Controle bij Libanon
De UNIFIL-vredesmacht is sinds 1978 actief in Libanon om toe te zien op de Israëlische terugtrekking uit het zuiden van Libanon.
Kallas stelde donderdag dat er geen veiligheidsvacuĂŒm mag ontstaan ââwanneer UNIFIL vertrekt. "Libanon moet volledige controle hebben over zijn gehele grondgebied. Dat betekent ook dat er stappen moeten worden gezet richting de ontwapening van Hezbollah."
Momenteel wordt over volgens Kallas over een voortdurende VN-aanwezigheid in Zuid-Libanon besproken. "Wij blijven bereid om samen met Libanon, de VN en de leden van de Veiligheidsraad te werken aan de vervolgstappen."
PARIJS (ANP/RTR) - De Franse politie is in Parijs opnieuw slaags geraakt met scholieren die protesteren voor hervormingen in het onderwijs. De politie greep in bij de Place de la Bastille, waar duizenden jongeren naartoe waren gekomen.
Journalisten van persbureau Reuters zagen dat agenten met wapenstokken op een groep afstormden. Le Parisien schrijft dat de politie ook traangas heeft ingezet.
Demonstranten blokkeren al weken middelbare scholen in het hele land. Daarbij is het op sommige plekken ook tot confrontaties gekomen met de politie. Mensenrechtengroeperingen vinden dat de politie daarbij onnodig hard optreedt tegen minderjarigen.
De afgelopen dagen hebben ook steeds meer vakbonden, universiteitsstudenten en docenten zich aangesloten bij de protesten. Donderdag werden in meerdere grote steden marsen georganiseerd.
Government forcesâ attack raises risk of internal conflict in Ethiopia that could trigger regional war
Eritrean troops who crossed into Ethiopiaâs Tigray region have come under drone attack from government forces, raising the risk that renewed internal conflict in Ethiopia could trigger an all-out regional war between the neighbouring countries.
Military vehicles carrying soldiers drove across Eritreaâs southern border into the Tigray region on Wednesday, reaching the town of Adigrat 25 miles south, according to civilian witnesses, a militia commander and conflict monitoring group Acled.
Cadillac driver rode between Malaysia and Singapore
Bottas says four-day trip helped him acclimatise
Valtteri Bottas has revealed the details of an incident-packed 418km bike ride including encounters with snakes, being chased by dogs and the eerie atmosphere of riding through the jungle at night as the Cadillac driver cycled between Malaysia and Singapore this week.
The 37-year-old is a keen cyclist and after a suggestion from his girlfriend, the Australian Olympic cyclist Tiffany Cromwell, he decided to take on the challenge of riding from the last round in Sepang near Kuala Lumpur to this weekendâs grand prix on the street circuit in Singapore, under his own steam.
Parviz Sabeti denies allegations he led Savak intelligence agency under shah and directed torture of thousands
The alleged âchief torturerâ for the deposed Shah of Iran is a step closer to trial for human rights abuses after a Florida federal judge rejected his demand to halt a lawsuit brought by three former political prisoners.
Parviz Sabeti, who was reported last year to have lived in a quiet upscale central Florida community, is accused of being the former head of Savak, the shahâs secret police and intelligence agency. The plaintiffs say they discovered his whereabouts only after a photo of Sabeti at a 2023 protest against the Iranian government was posted on social media by his daughter.
Confederation president clarifies his intentions to staff
Canadian was eyed as potential rival to Gianni Infantino
Victor Montagliani has told Concacaf staff he intends to stand for re-election as the confederationâs presidentnext year, which will rule him out of going up against Gianni Infantino for the top job at Fifa.
The Canadian businessman is understood to have relayed the message to most of the 41 members of Concacaf, the North and Central American and Caribbean confederation.
We start this week with a story from our old friend Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai, about how cops can bypass the inactivity reboot on iPhones. After the break, Jason tells us how people are losing their minds over an LLM ‘torture’ prison. In the subscribers-only section, Sam explains what happened in a wild ChatGPT case in New Mexico.
Listen to the weekly podcast on Apple Podcasts,Spotify, or YouTube. Become a paid subscriber for access to this episode's bonus content and to power our journalism. If you become a paid subscriber, check your inbox for an email from our podcast host Transistor for a link to the subscribers-only version! You can also add that subscribers feed to your podcast app of choice and never miss an episode that way. The email should also contain the subscribers-only link for the extended video version too. It will also be in the show notes in your podcast player.
Cryptocurrency transactions lend credibility to parts of a purported leak from Russian extortion crew Silent Ransom Group (SRG), according to blockchain researchers. Chainalysis said some wallet addresses in the material match its existing intelligence, although it could not authenticate the entire collection. It posted: "While we cannot speak to the totality of claims documented in the leak, we can confirm that certain leaked SRG addresses sit downstream of millions of dollars in ransomware payments that SRG has extorted from victims." Despite its name, SRG is known for stealing data and demanding payment rather than deploying ransomware. Its methods include callback phishing and physical intrusions. The FBI warned in May that people posing as IT support staff were entering law offices and copying files onto USB drives. Chainalysis said the transaction histories of two SRG wallet addresses detailed hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of funds sent from the wallet of a known SRG member. The company believes the funds it observed flowing through the leaked addresses came from a large extortion payment made by a victim in mid-2026, and were used to pay for SRG's expenses, such as members' wages and IT infrastructure. "Our confidence stems from the leaked addresses' transaction history," said Chainalysis. "Several payment addresses contained within the leaks source their funds from confirmed SRG ransom payments. "For example, one of the Silent members' wallets specified in the leaked chats is funded entirely from a $10 million+ victim payment that SRG collected in mid-2026, and which we were tracking before the leak." Blockchain analytics company Crystal Intelligence separately examined the leaked chats and traced payments to wallets identified in them. The chats claim SRG received about $207 million from 27 firms between April and September 2026. Crystal could not verify that total, although it traced funds to an upstream collection wallet that received about 2,675 Bitcoin over its lifetime. Crystal identified a range of ways SRG spent this money. Sometimes the funds would be sent directly to affiliates, but the group had ways of swapping the crypto for cash they could actually use. According to Crystal's analysis, the group used instant exchangers, services that swap crypto for cash sent to Russian bank cards, and for larger deposits, a Moscow-based broker named "Zhenya" who provided the group with physical cash in exchange for crypto. The leaked chats suggest members suspected Zhenya of skimming money through the exchange rate, Crystal said. Crystal said the chats identified a Bitcoin-to-Zelle service advertised on Telegram as SAFU Exchange. Its database associates the same handle with a Georgia-based exchange it describes as unlicensed and sanctions-flagged. The riskiest of its payment methods was reserved for smaller sums paid directly to the likes of "field agents and document forgers," who received their payments directly into their exchange wallets. Crystal said these were regulated exchanges that verify customers' identities. "This is the network's weakest point, and the most direct route for law enforcement to identify the people behind the handles," it said. According to Crystal, the chats included advice to buy property in person and discussions of purchasing new-build homes and sports cars. They said to use mortgages for the homes and, if any banks asked questions about the source of the money, to tell them it was an inheritance or a gift, or to produce a fake loan agreement. The material appeared online this week under the title "The Luna Moth Files," a reference to another name researchers use for SRG. SRG has been active since around 2022 and has maintained a consistent focus on law firms, although it has branched out to other types of organizations too. The group's usual method is callback phishing. Presenting as IT support staff, they convince marks to return their calls and grant remote access to their desktop sessions, running various tools to steal data. The Luna Moth Files website claims the material contains nearly 5,700 internal messages identifying senior members and field agents. Those identities have not been independently verified. These "field agents" are the individuals who were recruited to walk into US law offices to steal data via a thumb drive. Crystal's analysis of the chat logs concluded that these "field agents" were recruited on Russian-language job boards. Job listings promised $300+ per night for "nightclub promoters," although respondents were instead pushed into the physical intrusion line of work. The FBI's May advisory renewed its warning about SRG following fresh reports of attacks that spring. It did not disclose how many incidents involved physical intrusions. Âź
Wanneer de Italianen volgend jaar opnieuw gaan stemmen, dan gebeurt dat volgens een nieuwe kieswet â de vijfde sinds de jaren negentig. De goedkeuring van de nieuwe wet door het parlement is een belangrijke overwinning voor premier Georgia Meloni. Ze zet ermee in op een strategie van alles of niets.
Stumbling upon a battered end table or lost mitten is an opportunity for magic in Woo Jin Jooâs mind. The Seoul-born artist is known to gather furniture, garments, and other objects that have been left behind while walking near her home in London or commuting to her studio in Deptford. “I am not actively looking for anything in particular, but I discover them by happenstance, and they become meaningful; they provoke my imagination,” she says. “This is how I feel like we conjure meaning in our lives.”
Combined with clay and shiny, viscose thread, these found items transform into uncanny sculptures that often meld animal bodies with domestic fixtures. Human-sized figures cloaked in costumes of white and beige fringe slump on the floor or stand calmly against the wall, as if waiting to be spoken to. Other works similarly merge body parts with unusual shapes and forms, including the black boot-wearing ochre arch of “For Those Who Wade” or the totemic leg topped with a carved wooden table in “Murmur.”
“A Long Long Time Ago” (2022), viscose thread embroidery, old socks, textiles, wadding, and stainless steel rod, 120 x 60 x 45 centimeters
Tapping into the strange and surreal is a way for Joo to transcend the limits of our perception and explore how mythology and folklore might provide different ways of gaining knowledge and wisdom. She believes that “even the most mundane interactions can harbour potential for meaning and transformation” and that her own experience living between cultures has allowed for a more fluid approach. “Iâm Korean-Chinese, and I have been raised between the two countries. The culture and stories from these East Asian countries form my memory and psyche. But equally, the physicality of my living in London, and the physical encounter with certain objects is what brings out certain imagery or ideas,” she shares.
Like many artists who gravitate toward found objects, part of the appeal of a forgotten or discarded material, Joo explains, is the lives they’ve lived before coming into her possession, adding: “I am left to imagine, build, and find meaning in objects that has its own history. Naturally, it is not always that I discover an object that draws me, but I still have other creative ideas that exist within my imagination that I can turn to.”
Scale is also important for Joo, and several works stand as tall as the artist. Height and heft have a presence that a smaller piece hung on the wall can’t match, prompting viewers to move around the sculptures and consider the size of the works in comparison to their own bodies. “The larger sculptures feel extra enchanting to me too as the artist, from the process of ideation to production, of how what once lived in my mind comes to inhabit a corner of my studio space as a fully animated being,” she says.
If you’re in London, stop by Ruup & Form before November 13 to see Joo’s solo exhibition Bodily Inbetweenness. In early 2027, she’ll also have work on view at the Harley Foundation in Nottinghamshire. Until then, keep up with her practice on Instagram.
“For Those Who Wade” (2025), viscose thread embroidery, suede boots, and stainless steel rod, 190 x 100 x 16 centimeters. Image courtesy ai. gallery, London“Dusk Dokkaebi” (2022), viscose thread embroidery, textiles, and wire, 23 x 32 x 23 cetimeters“Murmur” (2025), viscose thread embroidery, a wooden table, and ceramic, 160 x 35 x 27 centimeters. Image courtesy of ai. gallery, London“Oneiric Vessel” (2025), viscose thread embroidery and wood frame, 182 x 60 x 4 centimeters (each panel). Image courtesy of ai. gallery, London“Shivers, Quivers and Silence” (2026), viscose thread embroidery and ceramic, 17 x 21 centimeters. Image courtesy ai. gallery, LondonInstallation view of ‘Bodily Inbetweenness” (2026). Photo by Robert Chadwick, courtesy of Ruup & FormPortrait of the artist at ‘Bodily Inbetweenness’ (2026). Photo by Angus Cooke, courtesy of Ruup & Form
Mogen Rotterdamse ouderen ook volgend jaar gratis met het openbaar vervoer reizen? In een spoeddebat ging het over deze vraag. Aanleiding was een brief van wethouder Chantal Zeegers over gesprekken die ze voerde met vervoerder RET. Ondertussen is een nieuwe demonstratie tegen afschaffing van het gratis OV voor ouderen aangekondigd.
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