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Houthis claim attack on Riyadh airport as airlines suspend flights to Saudi capital

Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis say they have struck Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh ⁠airport with a ballistic missile, badly damaging a plane and leading some airlines to suspend flights to the capital. The group provided no evidence, and Saudi Arabia did not immediately comment on the claim. However, three people briefed on the matter told Reuters that shrapnel from an interception or another projectile left a Saudia Airlines commercial plane heavily damaged after catching fire while parked at a terminal on Thursday. They said no passengers were believed to have been on the plane at the ⁠time but they could not rule out any injuries. Witnesses heard explosions in Riyadh, including a large blast at the King Khalid international airport. One witness told the Associated Press that fire and ambulance crews were deployed. A thick black column of smoke and flames were shown rising from the airport in a video verified by Reuters. The witness, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that outgoing flights were halted, and that passengers were instructed to evacuate the airport. Lufthansa and Air India confirmed they were ⁠suspending flights to Riyadh. According to data compiled by aviation analytics company Cirium, almost half of departures from the airport had been cancelled by 1500 GMT on Thursday, with 31 more cancellations expected for Friday in all Saudi airports. It comes after Saudi authorities said on Wednesday that three people had been killed this week in strikes on Riyadh airport and Abha airport, in the country’s southwest. The Houthis escalated their campaign of strikes against Saudi Arabia on Thursday, attempting to shut down the kingdom’s airspace and warning workers to stay away from ⁠energy plants, which would be targeted. Separately, Saudi officials said debris from an intercepted missile had hit a kindergarten and medical complex in Riyadh. The Houthis say they are targeting the kingdom over its support for government forces in Yemen’s reignited civil war. Saudi Arabia says it is backing an offensive by Yemen’s UN-recognised government to ‌take back territory from the Houthis. The Houthis have made a lightning advance across Yemen’s coastal plain over the last month, appearing to gain ground in the country’s south-west on Wednesday as the group approached the city of Taiz. Independent observers said earlier this week there was danger the group was on course to capture Taiz, with some signs that forces linked to the Saudi Arabian-backed government were pulling back to secure the major port city of Aden. Riyadh is due to host a major meeting of energy policymakers, the WPC Energy Congress, this week.

India’s ‘Cockroach’ party accuses government of mass detention of members ahead of weekend protest

India’s Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), which began as a satirical movement but is now emerging as a political force among gen Z’s, says authorities have begun detaining its members en masse days before a major anti-government protest in Delhi. Opposition parties, their student units, and the “Cockroach” youth movement have been holding almost daily demonstrations seeking the resignation of chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over a controversial revision of ⁠voter lists. Thousands are expected to march to Jantar Mantar, the designated protest site in the capital, New Delhi, on Saturday, amid mounting anger in the world’s largest democracy. A spokesperson for the CJP, Ashutosh Ranka, said in a post on X on Thursday that “at least 10,000” people from CJP demonstrations, student organisations, affiliated grassroots groups and political parties had been detained across the country. Police authorities ⁠didn’t immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comments. Videos posted on social media platform X showed activists being taken away in vans. The CJP said that ‌among those detained was a group ‌of students from the western city of Pune who were headed for the 10 October protest in Delhi. It said they were being ‌taken away in a bus to an unknown location. The nationwide voter list review, known as the special intensive revision, has been carried out in most of India’s states and federally administered territories. More than 130 million names have been removed so far, a number larger than the populations of countries like Japan and Mexico. Millions of people have appealed against the deletions. The opposition says the removals disproportionately affect voters who support them, while voters more likely to back prime minister Narendra Modi’s party have been preserved or added to the lists. The election commission and the government reject the allegations, saying the revision is aimed at removing duplicate and ineligible entries. The campaign has been led in part by the “Cockroach” movement, which began as an online youth campaign in May and has since organised street protests across the country. The protests present a new political challenge to Modi midway into his third term, just months after similar demonstrations led by the CJP forced the resignation of his education minister over exam paper leaks. In the lead up to Saturday’s planned demonstration, hundreds of supporters of the CJP youth movement protested in tech hub Bengaluru on Thursday. Many of the protesters held posters that said, “Every name counts, Every vote matters” and “Stop the Murder of Democracy”. “I think voting right is the most basic point of democracy … People who actually want to vote, who ⁠actually care about the future of India, they are just being (denied) voting rights,” said Khushi Shrivastava, a 22-year-old architecture student who attended the Bengaluru protest. There were also protests over police action against congress party leaders and the voter lists revisions. On Wednesday, the opposition Congress party accused police of using “brute force” to briefly detain ‌party leader Rahul Gandhi, his sister Priyanka Vadra, and other lawmakers as they tried to reach the Jantar Mantar protest site in New Delhi. Delhi Police said the allegations were being used to “defame” the force. BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said the allegations were “being levelled by an irresponsible, anarchist opposition”. The claims had “no base, not an iota of evidence”, he told reporters at a media briefing on Thursday. Police have barricaded the area in Delhi ahead of Saturday’s planned demonstrations.

Running out of royals: why calls are growing to let Japan’s princess Aiko take the throne

Her face is splashed across magazine covers. Fans flock to online stores to snap up her outfits. At official engagements, huge crowds wait in the crushing heat to catch a glimpse of a woman revered for her ‘regal dignity, beauty and aura’. Princess Aiko, 24, is the most popular member of Japan’s imperial family, but according to law she will never be empress and, as the country runs out of royals, more and more Japanese people are asking why. The debate has gathered momentum in the years since Aiko, the only child of Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako, has transformed from a shy primary school pupil into a young woman at ease with public and media attention. Under a law established almost 140 years ago, women are forbidden from ascending to Japan’s Chrysanthemum throne. But the regulation defies public support for changes that would allow a woman to become empress regnant and avert a looming succession crisis. The imperial family is facing the same demographic winds buffeting the rest of the country: three decades ago it had 30 members; now there are just 16, only five of them men. Japanese citizens support a change, irrespective of their political loyalties. In a poll conducted in April by the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper, 72% favoured the idea of a woman becoming emperor, while just 10% opposed it. Pressure to change the male-only succession law, passed in 1947 but based on legislation introduced during the Meiji era in 1889, is intensifying, forcing the conservative government of Sanae Takaichi to address the dearth of male heirs to the 1,500-year-old imperial throne. Just three men comprise the current line of succession – Emperor Naruhito’s younger brother, Crown Prince Akishino; his son, Prince Hisahito; and the emperor’s uncle, Prince Hitachi, who is 90. If Prince Hisahito, a 20-year-old university student, and the first male born into the imperial family for four decades, does not have a son, the line of succession will come to an end within a generation. Previous governments have tried to solve the succession question by considering legislation that would finally bring gender equality to the rarefied corridors of the imperial palace in Tokyo. But pressure from conservative MPs – and Hisahito’s birth in 2006 – brought the debate to an abrupt end. Takaichi triggered anger this summer when her party and its conservative allies pushed through amendments that will safeguard the male-only succession for generations. The changes, which go into effect later this month, allow women to retain their royal status after marrying non-royals, and resurrects male-line descendants belonging to 11 “collateral branches” of the family that left the imperial fold after the end of the second world war. In theory, that means a distant male relative could be “adopted” into the heart of the family provided he is single and aged over 15. If he marries and his wife gives birth to a son, that child would then join the line of succession. The fate of Japan’s imperial family has attracted international attention. In 2024, the UN women’s rights committee urged the Japanese government to allow a female emperor. Tokyo dismissed the intervention as “regrettable” and “inappropriate,” saying the imperial succession was a matter of “fundamental national identity”. The UN and Japanese public opinion have crashed against the hard rock of conservative ideology espoused by Takaichi – Japan’s first female prime minister. During the succession revision debate, she told lawmakers: “The unparalleled historic fact that the imperial line has been maintained through the male line for 126 generations is the foundation of the emperor’s authority and legitimacy.” Takaichi has also said that the revisions were intended only to ease the succession crisis, not to settle the debate over female emperors. But Prof Makoto Okawa, an expert on imperial lineage and succession at Chuo University in Tokyo, said the recent amendment “clearly points towards maintaining the male-line succession”. Aiko’s popularity could force a rethink, however, given the “growing sense of unease among members of the public about excluding someone from the possibility of succeeding to the throne solely because she is a woman”. “Many people in Japan have watched Princess Aiko grow up. The composure, dignity and grace she has displayed in recent diplomatic and other official engagements have contributed to the strong public support she enjoys. Many people see her as embodying and carrying forward Emperor Naruhito’s understanding of the role of the emperor as a symbol of the nation who remains close to the people.” Jin, an Aiko fan who manages an Instagram account devoted to the princess, said the government had ignored the overwhelming consensus behind a change to the male-only succession law. In her eyes, Aiko is more than qualified to succeed her father. “She is the emperor’s only direct descendant, and her character and dignity are of the highest caliber. Aiko is someone who is clearly worthy of serving as a symbol of Japan.” Aiko – or another future female member of the imperial family – would not be the first female to ascend the throne. Japan has had eight female monarchs, although their role was to sustain the imperial line until a male heir was born. Go-Sakuramachi, who ruled from 1762 to 1770, was the most recent. Japan’s royals, who are forbidden from commenting on politics, have employed typically nuanced language to communicate their unease with the status quo. At a press conference in June, the emperor said of the succession debate in parliament: “I hope discussions on how to secure the number of imperial family members … gain the understanding of the people.” His younger brother, Akishino, went further, telling reporters: “It is important for society to keep progressing … I believe the duty of the imperial family is to act in response to the requests of society … I do not think there are any differences between women and men.”

Ukraine war briefing: Zelenskyy criticises US, calls for more Starlink access, amid deadly Russian assault

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused the US of being unwilling to help Ukraine after a Russian bomb attack on Thursday killed at least 35 people in the east, sending the two-day death ⁠toll from Russian strikes to more than 70. Hours ⁠after the strike on the embattled city of Kramatorsk tore through two buses, Zelenskyy criticised Washington’s effort to pursue economic ties with Russia while also seeking to mediate the more than four-year war. Speaking to reporters in ‌Pryluky, the Ukrainian leader urged the US to accede ‌to his requests to expand Ukraine’s access to the Starlink satellite service to help it target Russian ballistic-missile launchers. “Open Starlink for Ukraine. You did open it when you ‌were responding to Iran ... I’ve said quite openly – give it to us, help us defend our skies and dominate there. And then Putin will sit down at the negotiating table,” he said. UN rights chief Volker Turk said he was appalled by Thursday’s “horrifying strike”. “I am appalled by the wave of attacks killing civilians across Ukraine over the past four days, including today’s horrifying strike hitting two public buses,” he said in a statement. “The scale and manner of these attacks – killing and injuring people on buses, at their homes and work in different areas of the country – is reprehensible. In the last two days, 78 people were killed and 215 wounded by strikes across Ukraine, Zelenskyy said. Ukrainian negotiators will travel to the US on Friday and Saturday for talks, Zelenskyy said, urging US president Donald Trump to increase sanction pressure on Russia. Ukraine’s president told reporters that he expected Kyiv’s European partners to join the talks with the US. Zelenskyy said his chief of staff, Kyrylo Budanov, as well as Ukraine’s top officials: Rustem Umerov, Sergiy Kyslytsya and David Arakhamia will take part in the talks in Florida. The US-led peace efforts to end the Ukraine war have largely stalled, with Washington focused on its conflict with Iran. But US officials said they were making a fresh effort in an enlarged format, following visits to Moscow and Kyiv last month by Witkoff, Trump’s business friend-turned-roving envoy, and the president’s son-in-law Kushner. US officials said the envoys would discuss “security guarantees for Ukraine, a postwar prosperity plan, and other aspects of the conflict”. Witkoff and Kushner “will discuss new ideas and proposals that American negotiators began developing with the Russians and Ukrainians during their recent visit to the region,” a source familiar with the talks said. Nato said it would start its annual ‘nuclear deterrence’ exercises in Italy from Tuesday amid mounting concerns about Russia. The drills will run from 13-23 October and involve 17 nations. “The exercise is a long-planned, routine training activity that is part of Nato’s efforts to maintain readiness and test procedures that contribute to the alliance’s deterrence and defence,” said a Nato statement. South Korea will ⁠recall its ambassador to Ukraine, the foreign minister said on Thursday, following a dispute over ⁠Zelenskyy’s announcement that two ⁠North Korean prisoners of war were being transferred to Seoul. The two sides have been locked in a dispute ⁠after Seoul accused Kyiv of breaching a confidentiality agreement over the transfer of the captured soldiers.

French ministers scramble to appease students after 10 days of protests

High school students have again blockaded schools and marched through cities across France, promising to continue their campaign against the poor state of the national education system in the 10th day of protests that have left hundreds injured. Large crowds took to the streets on Thursday for mainly peaceful demonstrations in cities including Lille, Rennes, Nantes, Lyon, Toulon and Marseille, while in Paris a large procession marched through the city centre to the Place de la Bastille. An estimated 25,000 students thronged the square in the east of the capital, with some climbing the monument at its centre, which commemorates France’s 1830 July revolution, while waving the tricolour flag and singing the Marseillaise. As the evening drew in, riot police fired teargas and crowd-dispersal rounds and carried out repeated baton charges to clear the protesters, some of whom hurled bottles, paving stones and other projectiles at the heavily armoured squads. Eliane, 16, a pupil on the Paris march, said she had come to “defend and encourage high schools in an even worse state than mine”, calling the march “magnificent”. She said she planned to continue protesting until concrete progress was achieved. The education minister, Édouard Geffray, told TF1 television on Thursday night that 3,000 substitute teachers would be deployed to about 100 high schools identified as having particularly acute teacher shortages “between tomorrow and Tuesday”. Geffray said he would also authorise the recruitment of “several hundred” new teachers. The prime minister, Sébastien Lecornu, said the government would propose amendments to the 2027 budget to “translate some of the students’ demands into concrete measures, particularly regarding teacher replacements”. Students earlier said the government’s reaction was not sufficient. Ryad Rani, the president of one high school students’ union, said the protesters had heard “no concrete measures whatsoever, no response to our demands”. The movement “will continue”, he said. Sabrine Kharbach, from another students’ association, said the protest, over teacher shortages, long school hours and dilapidated buildings, would last “for as long as €10bn hasn’t been put on the table”, the amount students and some leftwing politicians have said needs to be urgently invested in France’s schools. According to an Elabe poll for BFM TV, 72% of French people think the students’ demands are legitimate but 55% of them think the protests should stop. Unions called for another national day of action in support of the students next Tuesday. The education ministry said fewer high schools had been forced to close than in recent days, with 224 shut on Thursday morning and 157 by lunchtime, meaning that about 95% of the country’s high schools were at least partly open. But more than 71,000 protesters took to the streets on Thursday, the interior ministry said. The demonstrations, backed by many teachers, parents and unions, involved further clashes with police around some school barricades in Paris. In Rennes riot officers used water cannon to disperse protesters. A prominent complaint on student banners and placards was the heavy-handed police response to the wave of protests. “Too young to be listened to, but old enough to be teargassed,” read one banner on the Paris march. Over the past two weeks, some demonstrators have set dustbins on fire outside their schools, destroyed bus shelters and hurled projectiles at riot police, who have responded using batons, teargas and riot-control rounds. At least 215 teenagers, 89 school staff and 761 police officers have been injured since the start of the protests, which were triggered by chronic teacher shortages, crowded classes, dilapidated buildings and long school days. The government on Wednesday suspended the use of stun grenades by police after a teenager’s hand was blown off, while saying it was “excessive” to speak of “police repression” and denying that officers had “orders to confront” the young protesters. The protests have rocked a government caught between popular demands for investment in deteriorating public services and pressure from markets to reduce France’s ballooning budget deficit and debt mountain, among the highest in the EU. The economy minister, Roland Lescure, said this week there was room to address demands for more school resources in the 2027 budget. In the current draft, schools have the second-largest funding increase after defence, with a 1.4% hike to €90.9bn. Six months away from a crucial presidential election to replace Emmanuel Macron, politicians are jockeying to exploit the protests, with the far-right frontrunner, Marine Le Pen, highlighting the damage to schools and calling for parents ⁠to foot repair bills. Her hard-left opponent, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, has praised the protesters as “incredible” and denounced police brutality.

Thousands march in Madrid after death of evicted pensioner Maricarmen

About 20,000 people took part in a march through the centre of Madrid on Thursday evening in memory of María del Carmen Abascal, the 87-year-old woman whose eviction from her flat in the capital a fortnight before her death triggered mass protests over Spain’s housing crisis. The pensioner, whose flat had been bought by an investment firm that sought to increase her rent by 230%, had become the public face of the crisis before her death in hospital on Wednesday night. Abascal’s eviction unleashed waves of demonstrations across Spain, led to the setting up of a protest camp in the centre of the capital, and prompted the socialist-led government to propose emergency measures to try to make the rental market more equitable. When those measures were voted down by rightwing and far-right parties last week, the prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, announced a snap general election, to be held on 29 November. Anger over the plight of the woman who had become known around the country as Maricarmen remained undimmed a few hours after her death. On the pavement across from the apartment building where she had lived for seven decades, a steady stream of people visited a small, steadily growing memorial. Some came to light candles or leave flowers, while others left handwritten messages such as, “You made history Maricarmen,” and “Thank you for changing Spain”. Sara, 41, who had come with her young son and a sign that read, “Maricarmen, we’ll fight for you”, said: “We’re here because I think Maricarmen’s death shows how institutions can kill a person by failing to care for them.” For many, the site was a reminder of all that Maricarmen had gone through as she tried to stay in her home, fending off three eviction attempts before the investment firm succeeded in forcing her out. “When people are protected less than investors, that leads to these kinds of things happening,” Sara added. “This woman could have died – if she had died of natural causes – she could have died peacefully in her home.” Jaime, 34, pointed to all that Maricarmen had come to represent, particularly in a country like Spain, where social rights are supposedly guaranteed. “She had become a symbol, albeit one she never wanted to be, of the fight for decent housing,” he said. “So I came here because I think it’s important to restore some of the respect that Spanish society took away from Maricarmen.” Visitors included some of the housing campaigners who had helped Maricarmen fight off previous eviction attempts. “This is really hard to take,” said Miguel, 59, fighting back tears as he added a red rose to the memorial. “When money is more powerful than people’s lives, it’s unbelievable.” He said he hoped Maricarmen’s death would mark a turning point in Spain. “At least now we’re talking about this and putting names to those who are being evicted,” he said. “Because until now, there were 44 people a day being forced out of their homes. To the people in power, those are just numbers – now at least we’ve started putting names to those going through this.” The Madrid tenants’ union announced a commemorative march at 8pm on Wednesday from the camp in the Puerta del Sol square to Abascal’s flat. “Farewell, Maricarmen!” the union said in a post on social media. “Tonight we’ll honour you with a march … to the place that was your home for 70 years, and where you just wanted to stay until the end.” Abascal’s ordeal has made housing a key issue in the forthcoming election, with Sánchez’s government seeking to push a redrafted package of measures through the council that operates when parliament has been dissolved. Meanwhile, the rightwing and far-right parties that opposed the legislation in congress last week have accused the prime minister of failing to act to address the housing crisis over the course of his eight years in office. Sánchez offered his condolences to Abascal’s family and friends on Wednesday night. “A hug also to everyone who’s feeling this loss today as their own,” he wrote on social media. “Rest in peace.” Alberto Núñez Feijóo, the leader of the conservative People’s party (PP), which voted against last week’s emergency measures, also offered his condolences. “No campaigning, no political parties, no partisan ends, no more bricks in the wall,” he wrote on social media. “When a person dies, there should be nothing but respect.” The following day, however, Feijóo accused the government of trying to “manipulate the emotions of the Spanish people” by focusing on one particular eviction when there had been countless others during Sánchez’s time in office. PP politicians also joined forces with the far right on Thursday to veto attempts to hold a minute’s silence for Maricarmen in Madrid’s regional parliament and the country’s senate. In Madrid’s municipal council, meanwhile, a rightwing attempt to block a minute’s silence was thwarted by opposition parties. Abascal’s death has prompted reflection on how she had been treated by politicians and the media. The far-right Vox party, which also voted down the new decrees, had falsely suggested that Maricarmen would have had a home had she been an immigrant from North Africa, while one commentator had opined that “Maricarmen was chosen during a casting call for people facing eviction” to become a leftwing saint. At least two far-right figures, including one of Vox’s MEPs, sought to sow doubt over the cause of Abascal’s death, with one even suggesting an autopsy should be carried out to determine whether the government had been involved. Another wrote: “Maricarmen was probably already made to send in her postal vote before they did her in. I expect anything from this scum.”

A teen tried to navigate Canadian mountains with Claude. His trek ended in an emergency rescue

The route up the Widowmaker Arete, a 1,700-foot wall in British Columbia, is deceptively described as “mostly easy slab climbing”, interspersed with “short steep sections that can include finger cracks, blocky face climbing”. It requires careful planning, and the right equipment. When 16-year-old Bryce Vincent Gowryluk found himself facing its sheer headwall last week, he had neither. He did, however, ask the AI chatbot Claude for directions. Last week, Gowryluk had to be rescued after those directions proved wildly incorrect, in the latest incident to raise questions about the growing reliance on digital maps for wilderness navigation. On Saturday morning, Gowryluk took a gondola up to the top of Grouse Mountain and, while ascending, asked Claude to plan a route to nearby Crown Mountain and back. After navigating scree and more than 2,000ft of elevation gain, the summit promises 360-degree panoramic views of Greater Vancouver, the Fraser valley and the Capilano watershed. Typically, the trek takes eight hours and hiking guides warn it is not for beginners. As Gowryluk, a keen indoor climber, navigated down the Crown Pass and up through Crater Slabs and into a boulder-strewn valley, the directions from Claude took him away from the planned course. He found himself at the final headwall of the Widowmaker Arete – a climb that requires ropes, cams and a clear plan for ascent. As he climbed, Gowryluk soon realized the terrain was far too steep and that he was stuck at the base of a cliff. He phoned his mother, then called emergency services for help. Police notified North Shore Rescue, which sent a helicopter, but Gowryluk was too close to the rock face for the rotors, so two members of the rescue team were hoisted down to lift him up. He was flown to the rescue base near the Cleveland Dam. In their debrief the rescue crew said Gowryluk was “far off” his intended route. While the incident is believed to be the first time a hiker has been lost because of AI, it is the latest in a string of mishaps in the mountainous region of south-western British Columbia, where hikers increasingly rely on imprecise mapping directions. In July, three people were rescued after they planned a route on the Howe Sound Crest Trail using Google Maps, which gave them wildly inaccurate time estimates, suggesting a route that often takes as long as 14 hours could be done in just over five. Search manager Paul Markey warned that mountaineers should not rely on the directions of artificial intelligence, and that proper prepartion was key. “In this particular case, the boy had a headlamp. He had good clothing. He had he had a good pair of boots, spare battery and spare food. He was was pretty well equipped for hiking and scrambling. But he was certainly not prepared or equipped for rock climbing,” Markey said. “Claude in this particular situation, has never been in the area that this 16-year-old boy found himself in. Claude can only go so far with regard to describing what the area may be like. “There’s definitely a trend towards using electronic applications as opposed to map and compass skills. But is really no substitute for the good map and compass training and education.” He noted that in some cases apps give too much information. “We have found that some of the apps have identified trails in areas where, really, our preference as a rescue team would be that those trails or routes are not actually identified,” he said, adding that people see routes they think are good trails only to get into difficulty. “The main thing is: do not blindly rely on a on AI as as a route planning tool. It can never substitute for good education, good training, a good experience, good decision making in the field.”

Nicolás Maduro and his wife indicted for alleged torture of US citizens

The deposed Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, have been indicted for alleged conspiracy to commit torture, according to Manhattan federal court papers unsealed on Thursday. The superseding indictment was unsealed shortly before Flores appeared at court in her ongoing push for pretrial release – which was denied by Judge Alvin Hellerstein. Maduro and Flores have been jailed in New York City since early January. They were captured by US special forces during a shocking predawn assault on Caracas and transported to New York to face “narcoterrorism”-related charges in a move that sparked widespread international outrage. Charging documents at the time alleged that Maduro spearheaded a “corrupt, illegitimate government that, for decades, has leveraged government power to protect and promote illegal activity, including drug trafficking”. Maduro and Flores have previously pleaded not guilty in the criminal case against them. CNN on Wednesday first reported that a new indictment was expected. The new charging document described how Maduro and his wife allegedly wielded untold horrors to suppress opposition and maintain their control. Maduro, Flores and other Venezuelan leaders “presided over a system of repression that relied on violence against political opposition, arbitrary detention, and the torture of detainees, including United States citizens”, the just-released charging document said. Maduro and Flores, the superseding indictment alleged, “sat atop that violent power structure”. They allegedly “developed and facilitated the systems which they and their co-conspirators used corruptly to amass immense wealth and power, rewarding allies with ill-gotten funds and terrorizing perceived opponents through persecution and violence”. Flores was integral to this effort, authorities claimed, saying she “helped develop this system of repression and ordered that individuals be tortured to protect her family members’ illegal activities”. The victims of their torture included US citizens “who were believed to pose a threat” to Maduro’s power. “One particular United States citizen was detained in Venezuela and subjected to, among other things, deprivation of food and water, simulated drowning, repeated beatings, electric shock to his testicles, and forced injections.” Maduro and Flores also put pressure on Venezuela’s judiciary to make legal decisions that supported their efforts to thwart opposition, charging papers alleged. When one official resisted, Venezuelan intelligence agents arrested and tortured their family members, charging papers stated. “For example, one family member … was forced to drink latrine water; assaulted with tear gas in Victim-1’s cell; threatened that Victim-1 would be killed at gunpoint; and placed in a cold room known as the ‘Freezer’ in which a bright light was left on at all times of day and night and music was blared on repeat,” the superseding indictment said. This official “ultimately … relented and blocked the opposition figures from running for political office”. During another alleged torture incident, authorities allegedly abused the friend of a suspected opponent by “asphyxiating him with a bag, applying electric shocks to his testicles and knees, and kicking and beating him with a blunt object”, court papers said. One torture victim, who was repeatedly interrogated, endured numerous threats “including that his daughter would be kidnapped and raped if he did not confess and name his supposed confederates”, court papers state. “On one occasion, interrogators produced women’s underwear, claiming it belonged to his daughter.” Shortly after this indictment surfaced, Flores’s attorneys argued for her release in an already scheduled proceeding, pitching house arrest guarded by 24-hour private security. In doing so, they invoked chronic health issues, including cardiac infirmities. Hellerstein pushed back on this claim, noting that Flores was refusing to have catheterization while detained in general population. “I’ve undergone it, so I know what it is,” Hellerstein said, noting that it was generally an outpatient procedure. “There’s no pain. There’s no general anesthesia.” Flores’s attorney then pointed to her high blood pressure. “It’s controllable by pills,” Hellerstein said. Her team also said in court that Flores dropped more than 25lbs and lost two teeth since her detention. “For whatever it’s worth, her appearance today is no worse than, and perhaps a little better, than when I first met with her [at] her arraignment,” Hellerstein said. Flores’s lawyer said that during her arraignment she was “still bandaged up” from her rough arrest. Flores wore dark jail scrubs during her court appearance. She listened to the proceedings with headphones through a Spanish-language interpreter. The US attorney’s office for the southern district of New York, which is prosecuting this case, opposed Flores’s now-failed bail request. Prosecutors have argued that Flores was a flight risk. Prosecutors also maintained that she had received appropriate medical care. Donald Trump has defended the controversial raid on Maduro, insisting it was a “surgical law enforcement operation”. At Maduro’s first US court appearance, he said: “I’m a kidnapped president – a prisoner of war!” After Maduro’s forced ouster, Trump worked swiftly to gain access to Venezuela’s expansive oil reserves. In August, Trump announced a new oil agreement with Venezuela – claiming that the US would have “majority” control over 65bn barrels of proven reserves. Venezuela boasts approximately 303bn barrels of proven oil reserves – the largest in the world. The White House has tried establishing a consistent flow of Venezuelan crude oil to US refineries while boosting US investment into the country’s flagging petroleum industry. Trump has faced mounting pressure over skyrocketing gas prices in advance of November’s midterm elections. Greater access to cheaper oil and broadened output could help lower costs. A Guardian investigation found, however, that Trump’s proclaimed “biggest oil deal in world history” is likely to fail due to legal and logistical problems.