Reporting by Andrew Osborn
Editing by Giles Elgood
World
Hamas is seeking eight Gaza hostages at Russia’s request, RIA reports
Oct 28 (Reuters) – Hamas is looking for eight people identified by Russia as possibly being among the hostages in Gaza and is ready to free them, Hamas Politburo member Abu Marzouk told Russian state news agency RIA on Saturday.
RIA cited Marzouk, who has been visiting Moscow, as saying that the Russian foreign ministry had handed over a list of eight names, all of whom had dual citizenship.
“We are very attentive to this list and we will handle it carefully because we look at Russia as our closest friend,” Marzouk was cited as saying.
“Now we are looking for those people. It’s difficult, but we are looking. And as soon as we find them, we will release them. Despite the difficulties due to the current situation.”
Russia on Friday defended its decision to invite a Hamas delegation to Moscow against strong Israeli criticism, saying it was necessary to maintain contacts with all sides in the conflict.
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
World
Who is Pierre Poilievre? Canada's Conservative leader seeking to become next prime minister after Trudeau exit
OTTAWA, Canada— With Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s announcement on Monday morning that he will step down as Liberal Party leader, whoever succeeds him will face Official Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre, whose Conservative Party has nearly three times the support of committed voters (47% compared to 18% for the Liberals) in this year’s general election.
First elected to the House of Commons in 2004, 45-year-old, Calgary-born Poilievre, 45, became leader of the Canadian Conservatives in 2022 and has seen his party grow in popularity as Canadians have grown tired of 53-year-old Trudeau, whose Liberals formed government in 2015.
“Bring home the Canadian dream” has been one of the Conservatives’ major themes, and Poilievre has cast the Liberals as governing with ‘an extremely radical ideology,’ which he described as “basically authoritarian socialism,” in a recent 90-minute interview with popular podcast host Jordan Peterson.
CANADA’S TRUDEAU ANNOUNCES RESIGNATION FOLLOWING PARTY PRESSURE AMID CRITICISMS OF TRUMP, BUDGET HANDLING
“People are sick and tired of grandiosity,” said Poilievre. “Horrendous, utopian wokeism” serves, he said, “egotistical personalities on top,” rather than “common people.”
Trudeau has said that Poilievre wants to “make Canada great again,” comparing the Tory leader to incoming U.S. President Donald Trump and his “Make America Great Again” mantra.
But while Poilievre’s populist messaging has generated comparisons to Trump’s political approach, the Canadian Conservative leader has pushed back the president-elect’s recent comments about making Canada the 51st state.
“I have the strength and the smarts to stand up for this country and my message to incoming President Trump is that first and foremost, Canada will never be the 51st state of the U.S.,” Poilievre said in an interview with Canadian broadcaster, CTV News, before Christmas.
The incoming Trump administration will almost assuredly deal with a Poilievre government as the Conservatives are poised to win the next Canadian election, which could come as early as this spring. When the House of Commons resumes sitting on March 24, the opposition parties are likely to defeat the minority Liberal government in a vote of no-confidence, which would trigger a national vote.
In his Peterson interview, Poilievre acknowledged that Trump — who has proposed a 25% tariff against Canadian exports — “negotiates very aggressively, and he likes to win.” But as prime minister, the Conservative leader said that he would seek “a great deal that will make both countries safer, richer and stronger.”
TRUMP SAYS US SUBSIDIES TO CANADA MAKE ‘NO SENSE,’ SUGGESTS CANADIANS WANT ‘TO BECOME THE 51ST STATE’
Poilievre said that he would accelerate approvals to build oil refineries, liquefied natural gas plants and nuclear facilities, and increase its electricity surplus with the U.S.
He also told Peterson that Canada sells its oil and gas to the U.S. at “enormous discounts,” which he characterized as a “ripoff,” in which “Canada is ripping itself off.”
A Poilievre-led government would also embark on “the biggest crackdown on crime in Canadian history” and that “habitual offenders will not get out of jail anymore,” the Conservative leader said.
On foreign affairs, the Canadian Conservatives’ 2023 policy document states that it would, as government, “take the required steps to renegotiate the Safe Third Country Agreement with the U.S. to close the gaps relating to illegal entries in Canada,” and that the Conservative Party recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Canada’s embassy in Israel is currently in Tel Aviv.
In a statement released in response to Trudeau’s resignation on Monday, Poilievre said that “this changes nothing” and that a Conservative Canadian government would “take back control of our border, take back control of immigration, take back control of spending, deficits and inflation. Take back control of our streets by locking up criminals, banning drugs, treating addiction and stopping gun smugglers.”
The Conservatives, added Poilievre, “would secure borders, rearm our forces, restore our freedom and put Canada First.”
World
US Congress certifies Donald Trump’s victory in 2024 presidential election
The quiet proceeding contrasts with efforts by Trump’s own supporters to overturn his 2020 loss by storming the US Capitol.
The United States Congress has certified Donald Trump’s victory in November’s presidential election, clearing a final hurdle for his return to the White House later this month.
Monday’s ceremony in Congress officially validated the 2024 Electoral College results.
Overseen by Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump’s main rival in the election, the event passed quickly and with little fanfare.
“Today was obviously a very important day,” Harris, who also serves as the president of the Senate, said in remarks afterwards.
“It was about what should be the norm and what the American people should be able to take for granted, which is that one of the most important pillars of our democracy is that there will be a peaceful transfer of power.”
The largely procedural affair marked a stark contrast with the last time Congress convened to certify Electoral College votes, on January 6, 2021.
During that ceremony, thousands of Trump’s supporters stormed the US Capitol in an effort to overturn then-President Trump’s defeat in the 2020 election.
Lawmakers were forced to evacuate as doors were smashed, police officers were attacked and one protester was shot to death while trying to enter a chamber through a broken window.
The attack took place after Trump held a rally nearby on the Ellipse, a park south of the White House, where he reiterated false claims that the election had been stolen through massive fraud.
Critics roundly condemned the attack as an assault on democracy, and the US Department of Justice has since charged 1,583 participants with federal crimes.
As of Monday, approximately 1,009 have pleaded guilty, with 327 offering guilty pleas to felony charges.
Trump himself faced two criminal indictments for his role in trying to overturn the 2020 election results: A federal case in Washington, DC, was recently dismissed, while a state-level case in Georgia is stalled but ongoing.
Nevertheless, four years later, Trump is set to return to power on the heels of his most successful presidential campaign to date.
In November, Trump won 312 Electoral College votes to Harris’s 226 and became the first Republican candidate to win the popular vote since 2004.
Trump’s Republican Party will also take control of Congress after winning majorities in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Many in the party have since embraced the Republican leader’s false claims about the 2020 election.
“Congress certifies our great election victory today – a big moment in history. MAGA!” Trump wrote on his platform Truth Social on Monday, using an acronym for his slogan, “Make America Great Again”.
Harris, meanwhile, urged respect for the tenets of US democracy. She cited Monday’s peaceful certification as an example of the right way forward.
“I do believe very strongly that America’s democracy is only as strong as our willingness to fight for it,” she said. “Otherwise it is very fragile, and it will not be able to withstand moments of crisis.”
World
Trial Starts for Nicolas Sarkozy in Libya Election Case
Former President Nicolas Sarkozy of France on Monday went on trial in Paris over accusations that his 2007 campaign received illegal financing from the Libyan government of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi.
The trial, which is scheduled to last three months, is far from the first for Mr. Sarkozy, 69, a conservative politician who led France from 2007 to 2012, but it represents one of the most serious legal threats to the French politician since he left office.
Just last month, Mr. Sarkozy exhausted his final appeal in a separate corruption and influence peddling case, making him the first former French president sentenced to actual detention, though he will serve his time under house arrest with an electronic bracelet.
But of all the legal cases against Mr. Sarkozy, the Libya one is among the most sprawling, convoluted and explosive. It involves accusations that his campaign illegally accepted vast sums of money from Colonel Qaddafi, the former Libyan strongman who was killed by opposition fighters in 2011.
Mr. Sarkozy, who arrived in court without making any comments, has denied wrongdoing. He could face up to 10 years in prison and be fined nearly $400,000.
Here is what you need to know about the case.
What is the trial about?
Mr. Sarkozy is facing charges of illegal campaign financing, criminal conspiracy, concealing the misappropriation of public funds and passive corruption (a charge that applies to people suspected of receiving money or favors).
The case against him involves a complex web of political and financial ties between Mr. Sarkozy’s advisers, officials who were part of Colonel Qaddafi’s government, and businessmen or bankers who acted as intermediaries.
Twelve other people were also ordered to stand trial on similar corruption, embezzlement or illegal campaign financing charges.
“Our thesis is that of a corruption pact,” Jean-François Bohnert, France’s top financial prosecutor, told RMC radio on Monday.
Prosecutors say that Mr. Sarkozy and his allies sought financing from Libya, in violation of election funding rules, and that the Libyan government promised to provide it. In return, they said, it wanted economic deals, diplomatic recognition and possibly assistance from France in rescinding an arrest warrant against a top Libyan official.
Mr. Sarkozy visited Libya shortly after he was elected, then welcomed Colonel Qaddafi for a widely-criticized state visit in Paris, where the Libyan strongman memorably pitched his Bedouin-style tent.
How did the case start?
In 2011, as Libya was roiled by fighting between the army and rebels, Colonel Qaddafi and his son said in media interviews that Mr. Sarkozy’s 2007 presidential campaign had taken Libyan money.
Then, in 2012, the investigative news website Mediapart published a document, presented as a note by Libya’s secret services, that mentioned a deal to fund Mr. Sarkozy’s campaign with up to 50 million euros, or about $52 million. That same year, as part of a separate investigation, Ziad Takieddine, a French-Lebanese businessman, made a similar allegation.
In 2013, prosecutors opened an investigation. It lasted a decade and involvedover 20 countries, 50 police raids and 70 volumes of case files.
How has Mr. Sarkozy responded?
Mr. Sarkozy has repeatedly and strenuously denied the accusations, which he argues were driven mostly by allies of Colonel Qaddafi seeking revenge.
Under Mr. Sarkozy’s leadership, France played a prominent role in the NATO-led campaign of airstrikes that ultimately led to the toppling of Colonel Qaddafi and his death at the hands of Libyan rebels.
There have been conflicting accounts about the sequence of events and the amounts of money involved, and some of the defendants have shifted their versions of what happened.
Some Libyan officials have even denied that Mr. Sarkozy’s campaign received any funding, and Mr. Sarkozy’s legal team has seized on the vagaries of the case.
“We don’t even have the amount of this alleged illegal financing,” Christophe Ingrain, Mr. Sarkozy’s lawyer, told RTL radio on Sunday. “Sometimes it’s in euros, sometimes in dollars, sometimes in dinars, sometimes 2 million, 3 million, 50 million, 400 million. This isn’t serious.”
Mr. Sarkozy’s official records for the 2007 campaign indicated that he spent over €21 million, and any illicit financing from Libya would have enabled him to skirt France’s strict spending cap for presidential campaigns. Prosecutors have not clearly laid out how much Libya actually sent or how much they believe was actually spent on the campaign. But under French law, prosecutors do not have to prove that a corrupt deal was carried out to secure a conviction — only that one was agreed upon.
Mr. Sarkozy no longer holds public office. But his memoirs are best-sellers, he is still popular with the base of his conservative party and he retains some political influence.
Has Mr. Sarkozy been convicted before?
Yes, twice. Mr. Sarkozy has faced multiple accusations of financial impropriety since he left office.
In 2021, he became the first former president in France’s recent history to be sentenced to actual detention after he was convicted of trying to obtain information from a judge about a court case against him.
Mr. Sarkozy has exhausted his appeal options in that case, but he will not be incarcerated. Instead, he will serve one year under house arrest with an electronic bracelet, although a judge has not yet ruled on the practical details.
Mr. Sarkozy was also convicted in 2021 to a year of house arrest for illegally financing his unsuccessful 2012 re-election campaign, which wildly exceeded France’s spending limits. An appeals court last year upheld the conviction but halved his sentence, and that case is still going through the appeals process.
Other cases against Mr. Sarkozy have been dropped, including one in which we was accused of manipulating the heiress to the L’Oréal fortune into financing his 2007 campaign.
And some cases are still being investigated, including an offshoot of the Libya case. In 2023, Mr. Sarkozy was placed under formal investigation on charges of witness tampering, after allegations that his allies pressured Mr. Takieddine, the French-Lebanese businessman, into retracting his accusations.
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