JAKARTA, Indonesia — Air pollution from smoke emitted by months of wildfires across Indonesia caused an estimated 3,560 deaths in the vast Southeast Asian archipelago in September alone, according to a scientific study. The same month, about 57.8 million people were inhaling unhealthy to hazardous air, said the report by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), a Helsinki-based think tank. "Worsening air quality due to forest and land fires in Indonesia pushed the estimated death toll to 3,560 cases in September 2026, a twofold increase from the August estimate," said a CREA statement. The study estimated the number of deaths brought about by short-term exposure to PM2.5 pollution, which are deaths occurring within days of exposure. Most occurred on Indonesia's part of Borneo island as well as on Java and Sumatra islands and the country's east. The researchers also looked at non-fire pollution from urban and industrial emissions, and found it had caused a further 1,750 deaths in September for a total of 5,310 in the country of around 278 million people.

WASHINGTON — The United States posted strong economic growth in the third quarter, but the Fed's preferred inflation gauge also accelerated, the Commerce Department said on Thursday, in a mixed economic bag for U.S. President Donald Trump ahead of key midterm polls next week. Real GDP increased at an annual rate of 3.4 percent in the third quarter, the department's Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) said in a statement, beating market expectations. "The contributors to the increase in real GDP in the third quarter were increases in investment, consumer spending, and government spending that were partly offset by a decrease in exports," the BEA said in a statement. The U.S. Federal Reserve's preferred gauge for inflation — the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index — rose by 3.6 percent year-on-year in September, an increase from the previous month. Trump's handling of the economy is a key issue for voters heading into midterm elections on Tuesday, where Democrats are seeking to wrest control of both houses of Congress from the president's Republican Party. The U.S.-Israe

WASHINGTON — Senior Democrats demanded Thursday that U.S. President Donald Trump preserve records of any official exchanges with artificial intelligence chatbots, raising questions about whether Elon Musk's Grok influenced sensitive military decisions. In a letter dated Wednesday and first obtained by Politico, congressmen Jamie Raskin and Robert Garcia said questions submitted by Trump and White House aides — and the chatbots' answers — constituted presidential records that must be preserved under federal law. They requested a closed-door briefing by November 11 covering the president's use of AI, security safeguards and whether outside companies could access sensitive conversations. "If the American President is relying on the policy advice of a Musk-designed, Hitler-friendly chatbot with a predilection for child pornography in order to carry out his official duties, Americans have a right to know," they wrote. The language alludes to past controversies over Grok generating antisemitic statements and sexualized images of children. The letter follows reports that Trump spent hours

BRUSSELS, Belgium — The European Union said Thursday it does not want any more national-level bans on social media before a pan-European law is approved, as it blocked draft rules put forward by Austria. Under EU law, member states must notify the European Commission to ensure their bills do not break the bloc's rules. Austria wanted to ban children under 14 from social media, but the EU said no. "The commission has decided to postpone for 12 months any draft national laws overlapping with the future harmonized rules," EU spokesman Thomas Regnier said. The European Commission last month proposed to ban children under 13 from social media, and permit only limited, supervised access until the age of 15. The EU believes allowing countries to move ahead with national laws would divide the bloc, creating varying age-limits among member states. Brussels also fears EU countries will not rush to pass the bloc-wide law if they have their own country-level rules in place. "We need to now focus on the negotiations of the EU Kids Act and to ensure an effective enforcement of our rules," Regnier said

HONG KONG — Hong Kong leader John Lee apologised on Thursday for a deadly fire that killed 168 people, and the city's housing minister resigned after a report found the government partially responsible for the disaster. The November 26 fire at Wang Fuk Court was the world's deadliest residential building blaze since 1980 and engulfed several residential tower blocks. Public pressure for government accountability has grown since then, with calls for Lee and top officials to resign. Lee and seven other top city officials bowed and apologised at a news conference on the report concluding a months-long inquiry into the fire. "I am deeply saddened. I would like to apologise to the affected residents and the general public," Lee said. The city's housing minister, Winnie Ho, who resigned from her post, should "bear political responsibility," Lee added. Four government bodies, including the fire services department, "should bear part of the responsibility for the high casualties caused by this tragic fire," the report released by authorities on Thursday said. The Housing Bureau's Independent Chec

DHAKA — A Bangladesh court sentenced a senior leader of the former ruling party to death in absentia on Thursday for his role in the killings of six people during the 2024 uprising, while three other party leaders were sentenced to life imprisonment. The four men, members of ousted leader Sheikh Hasina's Awami League, were convicted of the murders of six people in western Kushtia district during the unrest, which led to the former premier's ouster. The leader sentenced to death by the three-member tribunal was Md Mahbubul Alam Hanif, the party's joint general secretary, who also served as a minister during Hasina's iron-fisted rule. "The charges against the convicts were undoubtedly proved," chief prosecutor Md Aminul Islam told reporters. The tribunal also ordered the confiscation of half of their immovable properties to be distributed as compensation to the families of people killed or injured during the uprising, Islam said. State-appointed defence lawyer Md Amir Hossain called the verdict "unacceptable." As many as 1,400 people were killed between July and August 2024, according to t

MIAMI — Brazil's defeated right-wing presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro insisted Wednesday he is his country's rightful leader, after fleeing to the United States to start a self-imposed exile. Bolsonaro's defiance on arrival in Florida signaled continued upheaval for Brazil, where leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva won a dramatic runoff election Sunday. "I am the elected president, and the criminals who stole Brazil's election are part of a criminal organization that has established a tyranny," Bolsonaro said in the statement published on his X account, slamming "electoral fraud." "I will lead the opposition from here," he said. In a subsequent statement, he revised his claim, saying he is the "leader," rather than "president." Bolsonaro, 45, touched down earlier Wednesday in a private jet at Opa-Locka Executive Airport near Miami. Rogerio Marinho, the leader of Bolsonaro's Liberal Party in the Senate, told reporters in Brasilia that he was in "solidarity" with the former candidate, describing him as a "political exile." However, he distanced himself from Bolsonaro's stat

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Defeated right-wing presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro was on his way to Ecuador after fleeing Brazil, Argentina's government said on Wednesday. Bolsonaro, who lost Brazil's runoff election to incumbent Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Sunday, entered Argentina on Tuesday night before boarding a flight to Ecuador, the country's National Directorate of Migration said on X. The 45-year-old entered Argentina "with valid travel documents and no legal impediment," it added, despite a court order banning his exit. Bolsonaro, his wife and two daughters boarded "a private flight operated by the company Baires Fly S.A. bound for the city of Guayaquil, Ecuador," the government agency said. According to data from the Flightradar24 website, the flight took off just after midnight (0300 GMT) on Wednesday from the Argentine town of Puerto Iguazu in the country's northeast. Baires Fly did not immediately respond to AFP's request for comment. U.S. media citing anonymous sources had earlier reported that Bolsonaro had arrived in the United States on Tuesday. The U.S. State Depar

KINSHASA — Africa's latest outbreak of Ebola has passed 10,000 confirmed cases, the vast majority of them in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Congolese health authorities said on Tuesday, with almost 5,000 fatalities. According to the DRC's figures, 10,060 people have been infected and 4,887 have died since the virus was first detected in May in the vast central African country's deadliest outbreak in its history. Cases have likewise been detected in Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda, with the World Health Organization warning that Africa faces a "complex" task to contain an outbreak spanning the east, west and center of the continent. While some 2,684 have recovered from the virus in the DRC, the epidemic's fatality rate appears to be close to 50 percent, according to the Congolese National Institute of Public Health. Among the many challenges facing the response is the lack of any approved vaccines or treatments for the rare Bundibugyo species of Ebola behind the epidemic. After spreading under the radar for weeks, the virus was first detected in the northeastern Congolese province of It

BRASILIA — Defeated right-wing presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro left Brazil and is traveling to the United States despite a court order banning him from exiting the country, U.S. media reported Tuesday. The son of jailed ex-leader Jair Bolsonaro lost the presidential election Sunday to incumbent Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and refused to concede defeat. The right-wing senator on Monday said a Supreme Court justice had ordered him to hand over his passports. Bolsonaro is under investigation for alleged corruption and money laundering, and with his election loss is also set to lose parliamentary immunity. The 45-year-old was traveling to Florida, CNN reported, citing an anonymous official source. Other U.S. media confirmed he was heading to the country. The U.S. State Department said Tuesday it would issue visas to Bolsonaro and his family, without confirming his travel plans. A police source told AFP that the senator's Brazilian and diplomatic passports had been canceled, adding that "there is no formal record of Flavio Bolsonaro leaving the country." But he has held Italian national

MOSCOW — Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Tuesday that the Middle East can solve its problems without the involvement of the United States. "I believe we are capable of resolving our problems in the region without relying on the United States," Pezeshkian said at a meeting with Putin on the sidelines of a summit of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum in Moscow. "Our trade is expanding and growing day by day. U.S. actions in the region make it easier for U.S. to move towards greater multilateralism and strengthen our cooperation with you and other countries subject to unilateral U.S. sanctions," he told Putin. Putin said he discussed the war with Pezeshkian, expressing hope that the situation would improve. "We spoke earlier, one-on-one, about the situation in the region -- a situation that, undoubtedly, cannot help but cause concern," he said, adding that he hoped it would "evolve in a positive direction." Pezeshkian said he was confident the will existed on both sides to expand cooperation in science, industry, culture, security and milit

JOINT BASE ANDREWS — President Donald Trump said Tuesday he would respect the results of the U.S. midterm elections "if they're honest," in what appeared to be a fresh bid to sow doubt ahead of next week's crucial vote. Trump has ramped up his baseless, years-old claims of mass voter fraud as polls show Republicans could lose control of Congress in Tuesday's elections. "I will, if they're honest elections," Trump told reporters when asked if he would respect the results of the midterms, as he headed on a campaign trip to Texas. The 80-year-old president also gave a guarded pledge to work with the rival Democrats if Republicans lose their grip on the House of Representatives and Senate. "We'll figure a way. Look, I have strong veto. I hope that that won't be the case, but if it is, that's happened before with many presidents," Trump said at Joint Base Andrews near Washington. "You have strong veto, and you end up working on deals." Republicans fear a Democrat "blue wave" in the midterms as voters punish them over inflation stoked by oil prices that have soared since Trump launched his war

WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday announced a $1 million reward for information about voter fraud, in a fresh bid to sow doubt ahead of the U.S. midterms and push his false claim about winning the 2020 election. "Anybody reporting Voter Fraud in the past Elections, or the upcoming 2026 Midterm Election, will be paid $1,000,000 upon the arrest and conviction of those that created the Fraud!" Trump wrote on his Truth Social network. The president gave no details of how the reward would be funded or administered. With the November 3 elections just eight days away, polls show Democrats pulling ahead as Republicans fight to retain control of both chambers of Congress. A Democratic victory would threaten to stall Trump's agenda and expose his administration to congressional investigations during his final two years in office. Trump has repeatedly made baseless allegations about election fraud, including his claim that he won the 2020 presidential election. Studies have consistently found voter fraud exceptionally rare, particularly voting by non-citizens, which is already ille

SAO PAULO — Flavio Bolsonaro's Liberal Party on Monday recognized the outcome of Brazil's presidential runoff, despite the candidate's objections to the poll won by leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Lula, who turns 81 on Tuesday, pulled off a dramatic comeback after trailing Bolsonaro in a first-round vote, a defeat which fired up the left on the streets and social media to secure him a fourth term in office. In the end, Lula pulled around 4.4 million more votes than his rival on Sunday. Bolsonaro, a right-wing senator and 45-year-old son of far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro, cried foul after polling was extended nationwide for two hours, at Lula's request, due to transport problems in some cities. Though Bolsonaro maintained that he will seek annulment of the presidential election, his party later distanced itself from that position and opted to accept the official vote. "We recognize the presidential election results, as proclaimed by the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), but we believe that the concerns raised need to be sufficiently addressed within a balanced and d

RIO DE JANEIRO — Flavio Bolsonaro on Monday said a Supreme Court justice had banned him from leaving Brazil, one day after he lost the country's presidential election and refused to concede defeat. The right-wing senator received 48.2 percent of the vote compared to 51.8 percent for incumbent Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. "I was served with an order to hand over my passports and I am also banned from leaving the country," he said in a video posted to Instagram. Bolsonaro, the son of jailed ex-leader Jair Bolsonaro, denounced "a clear attempt to intimidate me." The senator is under investigation for alleged corruption and money laundering during the financing of a biopic about his father. He denies any wrongdoing. The 45-year-old said the decision to seize his passport stems from a statement made by his brother, US-based former lawmaker Eduardo Bolsonaro, that Flavio would have to leave Brazil if he lost the election. "I never said that," the defeated candidate insisted in the Instagram video. Bolsonaro reiterated that he would seek to annul the election, arguing that an extension of voting h

WASHINGTON — Democratic lawmakers called on Monday, eight days before crucial midterm elections, for the appointment of a special counsel to probe Republican US President Donald Trump's ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. In a 53-page report, Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee revived allegations of sexual misconduct made against Trump, a one-time close friend of the disgraced financier. Epstein died in federal custody in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges involving minors in what was determined to be a suicide. Trump fought for months to prevent release by the Department of Justice (DOJ) of the so-called "Epstein Files" but eventually signed a law passed by Congress requiring their publication. The 80-year-old president's name appears repeatedly in the documents but he denies any wrongdoing and has not been charged with any criminal offenses connected to the affair. Representative Jamie Raskin, the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, accused the Justice Department of covering up "crimes to protect the president." "Five women have dire