28/10/2025

TUESDAY | OCT 28, 2025

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10 on trial over harassment of French first lady

RAMALLAH: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday issued a new constitutional declaration outlining procedures for the temporary transfer of presidential powers in the event of a vacancy. Under the declaration, if the office of the President of the Palestinian Authority becomes vacant and the Palestinian Legislative Council remains inactive, the vice-president of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), who also serves as the vice-president of the State of Palestine, will assume the duties of the president for up to 90 days. During this period, free and direct elections will be held to elect a new president in accordance with the Palestinian Election Law. If elections cannot be held within that timeframe due to force majeure, the term may be extended once by a decision of the Palestinian Central Council. The declaration revokes Constitutional Declaration One of 2024 to safeguard the national interests of the Palestinian people. In a statement, Abbas said the move aims “to protect the Palestinian political system, safeguard our homeland, ensure its security, and preserve its constitutional institutions” in the event of a leadership vacancy. He said the dignity of the nation reflects the dignity of its people and that freedom, the rule of law, equality, democracy, pluralism, and social justice form the foundation of any legitimate governing system. “Based on the above, and in the supreme national interest of preserving stability, we have issued this constitutional declaration to affirm the principle of separation of powers and the peaceful transfer of authority through free and fair elections,” Abbas said. – Bernama Abbas readies vacancy plan

husband to “paedophilia”, according to prosecutors. The French first lady filed a complaint in August last year that led to an investigation into cyber harassment and arrests in last December and February 2025. Her lawyer did not respond to AFP queries, and it is not known if she will be present at the hearings. Among the defendants is Aurelien Poirson-Atlan, 41, a publicist known on social media as “Zoe Sagan”. The defendants also include a woman already the subject of a libel complaint filed by Brigitte in 2022:

Delphine J, 51, a self-proclaimed spiritual medium who goes by the pseudonym Amandine Roy. In 2021, she posted a four-hour interview with journalist Natacha Rey on her YouTube channel, alleging Brigitte, whose maiden name is Trogneux, had once been a man called Jean-Michel Trogneux – the name of her brother. The two women were ordered to pay damages to Brigitte and her brother last year before the conviction was overturned on appeal. The first lady has since taken the case to the country’s highest appeals court. – AFP

o Defendants claim Brigitte was male at birth

PARIS: Ten people went on trial in Paris yesterday for sexist cyber harassment of Brigitte Macron, in the latest case sparked by unsubstantiated gender claims thrown at the French first lady for years by some in France and beyond. The trial comes after she and President Emmanuel Macron filed a defamation lawsuit in the United States at the end of July, in connection with a rumour amplified and repeated online that Brigitte was TEL AVIV: The families of Israeli hostages yesterday demanded that the next steps in the US-brokered Gaza ceasefire be put on hold until Hamas returns the remaining bodies. “Hamas knows exactly where every one is held. Two weeks have passed since the deadline set for the return of all 48 hostages, yet 13 remain in captivity,” the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said. “The families urge the Government of Israel, the US administration and mediators not to advance to the next phase of the agreement until Hamas fulfils its obligations and returns every hostage.” The government said on Sunday it will maintain control of security inside Gaza despite signing up to a ceasefire that foresees the deployment of an international security force.

assigned male at birth. The unsupported claim has long targeted the couple, alongside criticism of their 24-year age gap. Ten defendants – eight men and two women, aged 41 to 60 – were accused of cyber-harassment. If convicted, they face up to two years in prison. They have been accused of making malicious comments about Brigitte’s gender and sexuality, even equating her age difference with her Prime Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would decide where and when to strike its foes and which countries would be allowed to send troops to police the truce. “Israel is an independent state. We will defend ourselves by our own means and we will continue to determine our fate,” Netanyahu said. “We do not seek anyone’s approval for this. We control our security.” AFP footage showed an Egyptian convoy in Gaza bringing rescuers and heavy machinery to speed up the search for the remains of deceased hostages. Low-loader lorries flying the Egyptian flag transported bulldozers and mechanical diggers into Gaza, accompanied by tipper trucks sounding horns, en route to an Egyptian aid committee based in Al-Zawayda. – AFP Minister

Families of missing hostages demand pause in truce plan

Evyatar David, who was discharged from the hospital after more than two years in Gaza captivity reacts as friends and neighbours welcome him home, in Kfar Saba, Israel, on Sunday. – REUTERSPIC

Jailed Istanbul mayor hit with new arrest order

ISTANBUL: A Turkish court issued a fresh arrest order for Istanbul’s jailed mayor Ekrem Imamoglu yesterday on suspicion of “political espionage”, marking a new stage in a crackdown on President Tayyip Erdogan’s opponents. It is not unusual for Turkish courts to issue formal arrest orders for people in custody when a new investigation is launched. Some analysts said the move against Imamoglu, Erdogan’s main rival, could lead to the state seizing control of the municipality of Istanbul. The investigation marks an escalation of a year-long legal crackdown on the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP). Imamoglu and his party are already facing an array of allegations that they deny. Imamoglu has been in jail since March pending trial on separate corruption charges, and also received a fresh jail sentence in July for insulting and threatening the chief Istanbul prosecutor. The latest court ruling accuses Imamoglu of engaging in graft to raise funds for his presidential candidacy and of “espionage” to

secure international support. Imamoglu rejected the new accusations in a statement from prison on Friday and again in court on Sunday. “Such slander, lies and conspiracy wouldn’t even cross the devil’s mind!” he said on X. “We are facing shameful immorality.” An indictment from the court could pave the way for Istanbul’s state-appointed governor to take control of the city. GlobalSource Partners analyst Atilla Yesilada said the Interior Ministry has the authority to sack Imamoglu and replace him with a trustee. Anadolu said an Istanbul court had issued the arrest order overnight for Imamoglu and two others, including Merdan Yanardag, editor-in-chief of television news channel Tele1. The channel, which is critical of the government, was seized by the state on Friday as part of the espionage accusations. The opposition won some respite from the pressure on Friday, after another court dismissed a bid to oust the CHP’s leader and annul its 2023 congress. – Reuters

A protester holds a poster of Imamoglu near the Justice Palace in Istanbul on Sunday. – REUTERSPIC