MAPUTO: Mozambique’s capital Maputo was deserted early Thursday ahead of the announcement of results of the October 9 elections that an opposition candidate has rejected while calling for fresh protests against the ruling party which is expected to be declared winner.
In an announcement due at 2:30 p.m. (1230 GMT), the Mozambican National Electoral Commission (CNE) is widely expected to declare that Frelimo will remain in power, which it has held since independence from Portugal in 1975.
Emerging opposition presidential candidate Venancio Mondlane, backed by the Podemos party, has already claimed he won the vote, alleging electoral fraud and manipulation in favor of Frelimo and its candidate, Daniel Chapo.
Since voting day Mondlane has issued calls on social media for protests. In a new message on Facebook late Wednesday, he encouraged a “great national demonstration” against Frelimo’s half-a-century in power.
“The time has come for the people to take power and say that we now want to change the history of this country,” he said.
“In all the neighborhoods, all the districts, we are going to be on the streets, there won’t be enough bullets for everyone, there won’t be tear gas for everyone, there won’t be enough armored vehicles.”
Tensions in a country that has already seen bouts of post-election violence were exacerbated by the assassination on Saturday of a lawyer and political ally of Mondlane who were preparing a legal case to contest the vote on behalf of the opposition leader.
Thousands of people gathered outside Maputo Wednesday to bury the lawyer, Elvino Dias, who was killed in an ambush on a car alongside opposition activist, Paulo Guambe.
Mondlane, 50, has accused the security forces of the attack and claimed he could be next. Police said they have launched an investigation into the killings, which Frelimo “vehemently” condemned as a “macabre act.”
Outgoing president Filipe Nyusi, 65, warned Wednesday that calls for violent protests could be considered criminal acts.
“Inciting the population to revolt, misinforming the world and creating chaos for political purposes can be considered criminal acts,” said Nyusi, who has served a maximum two-term limit.
Police also called for calm on Wednesday, saying people should not allow themselves to be manipulated by “incendiary speeches and misinformation.”
Mondlane, a former radio presenter who has been able to attract younger voters in the destitute coastal country, was among a group of protesters tear gassed by police in a demonstration in the capital on Monday.
He has also accused security forces of wounding three people when they opened fire to disperse hundreds of his supporters in a protest in the northern city of Nampula on October 17.
Last year, several people were killed in clashes after Frelimo won municipal elections.
Election observers from the EU have raised concerns about the legitimacy of this month’s polls, noting “irregularities during counting and unjustified alteration of election results at polling station and district level.”
Initial indications of a low turnout in the country of some 33 million people could further erode the vote’s credibility.
Expected to be declared winner of the presidential polls, Daniel Chapo, 47, would be Mozambique’s first president born after independence from Portugal.
A former provincial governor with no experience in national government, he would also be the first leader not to have fought in the 1975-1992 civil war between Frelimo and Renamo, which claimed around a million lives.
Renamo’s leader Ossufo Momade, 63, also stood for election on October 9, as did Lutero Simango, 64, of the Mozambique Democratic Movement.
Mozambique tense ahead of election results
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Mozambique tense ahead of election results
- It is widely expected to declare that ruling party Frelimo to be declared winner
- Frelimo has been in power since Mozambique’s independence from Portugal in 1975
Google’s unleashes ‘AI Mode’ in the next phase of its journey to change search
- Google is also feeding its latest AI model, Gemini 2.5, into its search algorithms and will soon begin testing other AI features
Google on Tuesday unleashed another wave of artificial intelligence technology to accelerate a year-long makeover of its search engine that is changing the way people get information and curtailing the flow of Internet traffic to websites.
The next phase outlined at Google’s annual developers conference includes releasing a new “AI mode” option in the United States. The feature makes interacting with Google’s search engine more like having a conversation with an expert capable of answering questions on just about any topic imaginable.
AI mode is being offered to all comers in the US just two-and-a-half-months after the company began testing with a limited Labs division audience.
Google is also feeding its latest AI model, Gemini 2.5, into its search algorithms and will soon begin testing other AI features, such as the ability to automatically buy concert tickets and conduct searches through live video feeds.
In another example of Google’s all-in approach to AI, the company revealed it is planning to leverage the technology to re-enter the smart glasses market with a new pair of Android XR-powered spectacles. The preview of the forthcoming device, which includes a hands-free camera and a voice-powered AI assistant, comes 13 years after the debut of “Google Glass,” a product that the company scrapped after a public backlash over privacy concerns.
Google didn’t say when its Android XR glasses will be available or how much they will cost, but disclosed they will be designed in partnership with Gentle Monster and Warby Parker. The glasses will compete against a similar product already on the market from Facebook parent Meta Platforms and Ray-Ban.
AI’s big role in Google search
The expansion builds upon a transformation that Google began a year ago with the introduction of conversational summaries called “AI overviews” that have been increasingly appearing at the top of its results page and eclipsing its traditional rankings of web links.
About 1.5 billion people now regularly engage with “AI overviews,” according to Google, and most users are now entering longer and more complex queries.
“What all this progress means is that we are in a new phase of the AI platform shift, where decades of research are now becoming reality for people all over the world,” Google CEO Sundar Pichai said before a packed crowd in an amphitheater near the company’s Mountain View, California, headquarters.
AI ripples across the Internet
Although Pichai and other Google executives predicted AI overviews would trigger more searches and ultimately more clicks to other sites, it hasn’t worked out that way so far, according to the findings of search optimization firm BrightEdge.
Clickthrough rates from Google’s search results have declined by nearly 30 percent during the past year, according to BrightEdge’s recently released study, which attributed the decrease to people becoming increasingly satisfied with AI overviews.
The decision to make AI mode broadly available after a relatively short test period reflects Google’s confidence that the technology won’t habitually spew misinformation that tarnishes its brand’s reputation, and acknowledges the growing competition from other AI-powered search options from the likes of ChatGPT and Perplexity.
Will AI undercut or empower Google?
The rapid rise of AI alternatives emerged as a recurring theme in legal proceedings that could force Google to dismantle parts of its Internet empire after a federal judge last year declared its search engine to be an illegal monopoly.
In testimony during a trial earlier this month, longtime Apple executive Eddy Cue said Google searches done through the iPhone maker’s Safari browser have been declining because more people are leaning on AI-powered alternatives.
And Google has cited the upheaval being caused by AI’s rise as one of the main reasons that it should only be required to make relatively minor changes to the way it operates its search engine because technology already is changing the competitive landscape.
But Google’s reliance on more AI so far appears to be enabling its search engine to maintain its mantle as the Internet’s main gateway — a position that’s main reason its corporate parent, Alphabet Inc., boasts a market value of $2 trillion.
During the year ending in March, Google received 136 billion monthly visits, 34 times more than ChatGPT’s average of 4 billion monthly visits, according to data compiled by onelittleweb.com.
Even Google’s own AI mode acknowledged that the company’s search engine seems unlikely to be significantly hurt by the shift to AI technology when a reporter from The Associated Press asked whether its introduction would make the company even more powerful.
“Yes, it is highly likely that Google’s AI mode will make Google more powerful, particularly in the realm of information access and online influence,” the AI mode responded. The feature also warns that web publishers should be concerned about AI mode reducing the traffic they get from search results.
Even more AI waiting in the wings
Google’s upcoming tests in its Labs division foreshadow the next wave of AI technology likely to be made available to the masses.
Besides using its Project Mariner technology to test the ability of an AI agent to buy tickets and book restaurant reservations, Google will also experiment with searches done through live video and an opt-in option to give its AI technology access to people’s Gmail and other Google apps so it can learn more about a user’s tastes and habits. Other features on this summer’s test list include a “Deep Search” option that will use AI to dig even deeper into complex topics and another tool that will produce graphical presentations of sports and finance data.
Google is also introducing its equivalent of a VIP pass to all its AI technology with an “Ultra” subscription package that will cost $250 per month and include 30 terabytes of storage, too. That’s a big step beyond Google’s previous top-of-the-line package, which is now called “AI “Pro,” that costs $20 per month and includes two terabytes of storage.
‘Serious problem’: Afghan capital losing race against water shortages
- The Taliban authorities have launched projects ranging from recycling water to building hundreds of small dams across the country, but larger interventions remain hampered by financing and technical capacity
KABUL: Every week, Bibi Jan scrapes together some of her husband’s meagre daily wage to buy precious water from rickshaw-drawn tankers that supply residents of Afghanistan’s increasingly parched capital.
Kabul faces a looming water crisis, driven by unruly and rapid urbanization, mismanagement over years of conflict, and climate change, meaning people like Bibi Jan are sometimes forced to choose between food and water.
“When my children have only tea for a few days, they say, ‘You bought water and nothing for us’,” the 45-year-old housewife told AFP, describing reusing her supplies for bathing, dishes and laundry.
Experts have long sounded the alarm over Kabul’s water problems, which are worsening even as many international players have backed off big infrastructure projects and slashed funding to Afghanistan since the Taliban government took power in 2021.
“There could be no ground water in Kabul by 2030” without urgent action, the UN children’s agency UNICEF warned last year.
Other experts are more cautious, citing limited consistent and reliable data, but say the situation is clearly deteriorating.
A 2030 cliff is a “worst-case scenario,” said water resources management expert Assem Mayar.
But even if slated development projects are completed in a few years, it “doesn’t mean the situation would become better than now,” Mayar said.
“As time goes on, the problems are only increasing,” he added, as population growth outstrips urban planning and climate change drives below-average precipitation.
The Taliban authorities have launched projects ranging from recycling water to building hundreds of small dams across the country, but larger interventions remain hampered by financing and technical capacity.
They remain unrecognized by any country since they ousted the Western-backed government and imposed their severe interpretation of Islamic law, with restrictions on women a major sticking point.
They have repeatedly called for non-governmental groups to reboot stalled projects on water and climate change, as Afghanistan faces “some of the harshest effects” in the region, according to the United Nations.
The water and energy ministry wants to divert water from the Panjshir river to the capital, but needs $300 million to $400 million. A dam project near Kabul would ease pressures but was delayed after the Taliban takeover.
For now, Kabul’s primary drinking water source is groundwater, as much as 80 percent of which is contaminated, according to a May report by Mercy Corps.
It is tapped by more than 100,000 unregulated wells across the city that are regularly deepened or run dry, the NGO said.
Groundwater can be recharged, but more is drawn each year than is replenished in Kabul, with an estimated annual 76-million-cubic-meter (20-billion-gallon) deficit, experts say.
“It’s a very serious problem... Water is decreasing day by day in the city,” said Shafiullah Zahidi, who heads central Kabul operations for the state-owned water company UWASS.
Water systems designed decades ago serve just 20 percent of the city’s population, which has exploded to around six million over the past 20 years, said Zahidi.
At one of Kabul’s 15 pumping stations, maintenance manager Mohammad Ehsan said the seven-year-old well is already producing less water. Two others nearby sit dry.
“The places with shallower water levels are dried out now,” said 53-year-old Ehsan, who has worked in water management for two decades, as he stood over an old well.
It once produced water from a depth of 70 meters (230 feet), but a newer well had to be bored more than twice as deep to reach groundwater.
At one of the two large stations in the city, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) recently procured four new pumps where only one had been functioning.
“If that pump collapsed for any reason, that means stopping the service for 25,000 beneficiary households,” which now have uninterrupted water, said Baraa Afeh, ICRC’s deputy water and habitat coordinator.
Everyone in Kabul “should have 24-hour service,” said Zahidi, from the state water company.
But in reality, Bibi Jan and many other Kabulis are forced to lug water in heavy jugs from wells or buy it from tankers.
These suppliers charge at least twice as much as the state-owned utility, with potable water even more pricy in a country where 85 percent of the population lives on less than a dollar a day.
Bibi Jan said she has to police her family’s water use carefully.
“I tell them, ‘I’m not a miser but use less water.’ Because if the water runs out then what would we do?”
G7 finance chiefs gather with Trump tariffs, Ukraine war in focus
- The talks take place amid an uncertain approach among the G7 democracies toward Ukraine following Trump’s return to power.
BANFF, Canada: Top finance leaders from the G7 group of nations gathered in Canada for talks beginning Tuesday, with the war in Ukraine and economic turmoil unleashed by US President Donald Trump’s tariffs at the top of minds.
In meetings through Thursday, leaders will discuss global economic conditions and seek a common position on Ukraine, whose representatives have been invited to attend.
Ukraine’s presence “sends a strong message to the world” that members are recommitting to support the country against Russia’s invasion, Canadian Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne told reporters Tuesday.
“We’re also going to talk about what we’re going to be doing in terms of reconstruction,” he said in a joint press conference with Ukrainian counterpart Sergii Marchenko.
The talks in Canada’s western province of Alberta come amid an uncertain approach among the G7 democracies toward Ukraine following Trump’s return to power.
Once broadly unified, the G7 — Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States — has been rattled by Trump, who reached out to Russia and slapped tariffs on both allies and competitors.
Marchenko said he would seek during the meetings to reiterate Ukraine’s position on the need for more pressure on Russia.
While Trump’s levies are not formally on the agenda, a Canadian official told reporters that “trade and tariffs will be embedded in the discussion on the global economy.”
Economists warn tariffs could fuel inflation and weigh on growth, and the effects of US trade policy loom over Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s engagements.
Asked about talks with Bessent, Champagne said Tuesday that despite tension around tariffs, both sides are looking to coordinate actions and tackle concerns including excess industrial capacity, non-market practices and financial crimes.
“The spirit around the table is constructive,” he said.
A source briefed on US participation expects China’s excess industrial capacity to be discussed, with members sharing concerns on the issue.
A Japanese official told AFP its finance minister plans for a meeting with Bessent, seeking to address topics like foreign exchange.
While the grouping discusses policies and solutions to issues like trade, security and climate change, analysts warned of unpredictability this time amid internal tensions.
The gathering in picturesque Banff will be “a test or signal” of the G7’s ability to agree on a final statement,” a French finance ministry official told reporters Tuesday.
Although Canada’s presidency hopes to issue a communique, this outcome must reflect “a shared understanding of the global economic situation and common goals in addressing the challenges,” the official said.
“We will not be able to accept language that is completely watered down.”
The source briefed on US participation said Washington is not inclined to “do a communique just for the sake of doing a communique,” noting a consensus should align with Trump administration priorities too.
German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil warned Tuesday that trade disputes with the United States should be resolved as soon as possible.
In comments before meeting his counterparts, Klingbeil said tariffs and uncertainties are a burden on the economy and job security.
Trump has slapped a blanket 10 percent tariff on most US trading partners, threatening higher rates on economies including the European Union and sending jitters through the world economy.
Officials told AFP they are not expecting trade agreements this week, but said the gathering is another chance to find common ground.
But the issue of sanctions on Russia remains uncertain.
Trump said Russia and Ukraine would start peace talks after he spoke Monday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, while the EU formally adopted a new round of Russia sanctions Tuesday.
A source briefed on US participation maintained that all options remain regarding sanctions, but these should be aimed at outcomes like the peace process
US veteran freed from detention in Venezuela: envoy
- The family expressed gratitude to US President Donald Trump, and to Grenell
WASHINGTON: A US military veteran detained in Venezuela since last year was freed and returned to the United States on Tuesday, a senior White House official said.
“Joe St. Clair is back in America,” special presidential envoy Richard Grenell posted on X, adding photos of himself and the freed veteran.
“I met Venezuelan officials in a neutral country today to negotiate an America First strategy. This is only possible because Donald Trump puts Americans first,” Grenell added, echoing Trump’s slogan.
A US Air Force veteran, St. Clair “had been wrongfully detained in Venezuela since November 2024,” according to his family, which also said he has been safely released.
“This news came suddenly, and we are still processing it — but we are overwhelmed with joy and gratitude,” the former detainee’s parents, Scott and Patti St. Clair, said in a statement.
The family expressed gratitude to US President Donald Trump, and to Grenell.
They also thanked advocacy organizations for their help in the case, and said they remained in “solidarity with the families of those who are still being held.”
The statement did not provide details on the conditions under which St. Clair had been detained.
The release comes nearly four months after Caracas freed six Americans detained in the country, in what was presented as a diplomatic breakthrough of sorts with a government that Washington views as hostile.
At the time Grenell, who serves in a broad role as envoy for special missions, flew to Caracas and met with President Nicolas Maduro, who had called for a “new beginning” in ties with Washington.
Maduro is accused by Washington of stealing Venezuela’s 2024 presidential election.
Last week a two-year-old Venezuelan girl, whose parents were deported from the United States without her, was flown home to Caracas, earning Trump rare praise from Venezuela’s government.
This week, the US Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to end the temporary protected status that has legally shielded some 350,000 Venezuelans from potential deportation, while an appeal proceeds in a lower court.
US immigration authorities appear to have begun deporting migrants to South Sudan, attorneys say
- South Sudan has suffered repeated waves of violence since gaining independence from Sudan in 2011
WASHINGTON: The Trump administration appears to have begun deporting people from Myanmar and Vietnam to South Sudan despite a court order restricting removals to other countries, attorneys for the migrants said in court documents.
Immigration authorities may have sent up to a dozen people from several countries to Africa, they told a judge.
Those removals would violate a court order saying people must get a “meaningful opportunity” to argue that sending them to a country outside their homeland would threaten their safety, attorneys said.
The apparent removal of one man from Myanmar was confirmed in an email from an immigration official in Texas, according to court documents. He was informed only in English, a language he does not speak well, and his attorneys learned of the plan hours before his deportation flight, they said.
A woman also reported that her husband from Vietnam and up to 10 other people were flown to Africa Tuesday morning, attorneys from the National Immigration Litigation Alliance wrote.
They asked Judge Brian E. Murphy for an emergency court order to prevent the deportations. Murphy, who was appointed by President Joe Biden, previously found that any plans to deport people to Libya without notice would “clearly” violate his ruling, which also applies to people who have otherwise exhausted their legal appeals. A hearing in the case is set for Wednesday.
The Department of Homeland Security and the White House did not immediately return messages seeking comment.
Some countries do not accept deportations from the United States, which has led the Trump administration to strike agreements with other countries, including Panama, to house them. The Trump administration has sent Venezuelans to a notorious prison in El Salvador under an 18th-century wartime law hotly contested in the courts.
South Sudan has suffered repeated waves of violence since gaining independence from Sudan in 2011 amid hopes it could use its large oil reserves to bring prosperity to a region long battered by poverty. Just weeks ago, the country’s top UN official warned that fighting between forces loyal to the president and a vice president threatened to spiral again into full-scale civil war.
The situation is “darkly reminiscent of the 2013 and 2016 conflicts, which took over 400,000 lives,” Nicholas Haysom, head of the almost 20,000-strong UN peacekeeping mission.
The US State Department’s annual report on South Sudan, published in April 2024, says “significant human rights issues” include arbitrary killings, disappearances, torture or inhumane treatment by security forces and extensive violence based on gender and sexual identity.
The US Homeland Security Department has given Temporary Protected Status to a small number of South Sudanese already living in the United States since the country was founded in 2011, shielding them from deportation because conditions were deemed unsafe for return. Secretary Kristi Noem recently extended those protections to November to allow for a more thorough review.
