World News

PARIS — Eleven people, including two aides to a French far-left lawmaker, were arrested in France overnight and early on Wednesday on suspicion of involvement in the killing of a far-right activist last weekend in Lyon, according to the Lyon prosecutor’s office, which has opened a murder investigation.

Among those arrested were at least one aide and two other people connected to Raphael Arnault, a lawmaker from far-left party France Unbowed (LFI), who said on Tuesday that the aide, Jacques-Elie Favrot, had “stopped all parliamentary work”.

“It is now up to the investigation to determine responsibility,” Mr. Arnault said on X.

Another of Mr. Arnault’s assistants and one of his former interns were also among the detained, French media outlets reported. The prosecutor did not immediately confirm the report and Mr. Arnault did not respond to emailed requests for comment.

Far-right activist Quentin Deranque, 23, died on Saturday after being beaten by hard-left activists outside a conference center in Lyon where Rima Hassan, a member of the European Parliament, was speaking.

Mr. Favrot’s lawyer Bertrand Sayn said his client has acknowledged committing violence and being present at the site, but said he was not “the author of the blows that caused the death of Mr. Deranque.”

Videos of the confrontation were widely shared on social media. Ms. Hassan and other members of the LFI have condemned the killing.

Seven of the suspects detained were investigated for possible murder while the other four were investigated for helping others escape police searches, the prosecutor’s office said.

The suspects detained on Tuesday evening will remain in police custody for at least 48 hours.

Both the hard left and hard right have been capitalizing on frustration with the minority centrist government ahead of local elections next month and a presidential vote next year, set to take place in a highly polarized environment.

Jordan Bardella, party president of the far-right National Rally, has called for Mr. Arnault’s resignation.

“The left and the far-left have crossed an unacceptable red line in our democracy: respect for the opinions and physical integrity of their opponents,” he told reporters on Wednesday.

The death of Mr. Deranque has echoed in neighboring countries such as Italy, where Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said it was “a wound for the whole of Europe”, where “a climate of ideological hatred” is spreading.

The LFI’s national coordinator Manuel Bompard said his party was in no way responsible for Mr. Deranque’s death, and that it now felt threatened itself.

Shortly after the announcement of the arrests on Wednesday morning, the Paris headquarters of LFI received a bomb threat and had to be evacuated after police secured the scene and found no explosives. — Reuters

MOSCOW — A group of weary-looking Indian men carrying sports bags queued at passport control at a busy Moscow airport one recent evening after flying over 2,700 miles — and via Uzbekistan — to get work.

“I have a contract for one year. In the rubbish disposal business. The money is good,” said Ajit, one of the men, speaking in English.

Faced with what the authorities say is an immediate shortage of at least 2.3 million workers, a shortfall exacerbated by the strain of Russia’s war in Ukraine and one that Russia’s traditional source of foreign labor — Central Asians — is not able to fill, Moscow is turning to a new supplier: India.

INDIAN INFLUX HELPS RUSSIA MAKE UP LABOR SHORTFALL
In 2021, a year before Russia sent its troops into Ukraine, some 5,000 work permits were approved for Indian nationals. Last year, almost 72,000 permits were okayed for Indians — nearly a third of the total annual quota for migrant workers on visas.

“Currently, expatriate employees from India are the most popular,” said Alexei Filipenkov, director of a company that brings in Indian workers.

He said workers from ex-Soviet Central Asia, who do not need visas, had stopped coming in sufficient numbers. Official figures show they still made up the majority of some 2.3 million legal foreign workers not requiring a visa last year, however.

But a weaker ruble, tougher migration laws, and increasingly sharp anti-immigrant rhetoric from Russian politicians have eroded their numbers and encouraged Moscow to boost visa quotas for workers from elsewhere.

The choice of India for unskilled labor reflects strong defense and economic ties between Moscow and New Delhi.

India has been buying discounted Russian oil that Moscow — due to Western sanctions — cannot easily sell elsewhere, although that may now be in question.

President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi signed a deal in December to make it easier for Indians to work in Russia. Denis Manturov, Russia’s first deputy prime minister, said at the time that Russia could accept an “unlimited number” of Indian workers.

At least 800,000 people were needed in manufacturing, and another 1.5 million in the service and construction sectors, he said.

INDIANS WORKING IN RUSSIAN FACTORIES AND FARMS
Brera Intex, a Moscow textiles company, has hired around 10 workers from South Asia, including Indians, to make curtains and bed linen.

Sat at a sewing machine, 23-year-old Gaurav from India said he had been working in Russia for three months.

“I was told to come (over) to this side, that the work and money are good,” he said. “Russian life is very good.”

Married with two children, he said he spoke to his family back in India by phone every day and told them he missed them.

Olga Lugovskaya, the company’s owner, said the workers — with the help of samples and supervision — had picked up the work in time and were highly motivated.

“Some of the guys who came in didn’t even know how to switch on a sewing machine,” she said. “(But) after two or three months, you could already trust them to sew a proper finished item.”

Outside Moscow, the Sergiyevsky farm relies on Indian workers too, using them to process and pack vegetables for an average salary of about 50,000 rubles ($660) per month, a salary for which the farm says locals will not work.

“I have been working here, at Sergiyevsky, for one year,” said Sahil, 23, who said he was from India’s Punjab region.

“In India there is little money, but here there is a lot of money. The work is here.”

US pressure on India to halt its purchases of Russian oil — something President Donald J. Trump has linked to a trade deal between the United States and India announced this month — could yet dampen Moscow’s appetite for Indian workers.

But for now, it’s unclear how New Delhi will recalibrate its oil purchases, and Moscow has played down any suggestion of tensions. — Reuters

SYDNEY — Australia’s national parliament will cut short its summer break to pass laws tackling hate speech after the Bondi Beach mass shooting, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Monday, as concerns were also expressed over free speech.

The December 14 shooting in Sydney that killed 15 people at a Jewish Hanukkah celebration sparked nationwide calls to tackle antisemitism. Police say the alleged gunmen were inspired by the Islamic State militant group.

The federal parliament will return next Monday, and Mr. Albanese said he wanted legislation to step up penalties for hate speech and authorize a gun buyback to pass the following day.

Australians were entitled to express different views about the Middle East, he told reporters in Canberra.

“What they are not entitled to do, is to hold someone to account for the actions of others because they are a young boy wearing a school uniform going to a Jewish school or a young woman wearing a hijab,” he said.

The proposed laws will also ease visa denials on the ground of racial bigotry, and lower the threshold for banning hate organizations including neo-Nazi groups, officials said.

ALBANESE FACED CRITICISM FROM JEWISH GROUPS, ISRAEL
In the days after the Bondi Beach attack, Jewish community groups and the Israeli government criticized Mr. Albanese for failing to act on a rise in antisemitic attacks and criticized protest marches against Israel’s war in Gaza held since 2023.

Last week, Mr. Albanese said a Royal Commission would consider the events of the shooting as well as antisemitism and social cohesion in Australia.

A top Australian arts festival has seen the withdrawal of dozens of writers in a backlash against its decision to bar an Australian Palestinian author.

The Adelaide Festival board said last Thursday it would disinvite Randa Abdel-Fattah from February’s Writers Week in the state of South Australia because “it would not be culturally sensitive to continue her program at this unprecedented time, so soon after Bondi”.

A Macquarie University academic who researches Islamophobia and Palestine, Ms. Abdel-Fattah responded criticizing the move as “a blatant and shameless act of anti-Palestinian racism and censorship”.

Around 100 authors have since withdrawn from the festival in protest, local media reported.

The festival’s executive director, Julian Hobba, said the arts body was “navigating a complex and unprecedented moment” after the “significant community response” to the board decision. Three board members and the chairperson had resigned.

MOST POPULOUS STATE ADOPTS TOUGHER RULES
New South Wales state premier Chris Minns unveiled new rules on Monday that allow local councils to cut off power and water to illegally operating prayer halls and impose bigger fines, as part of measures to curb “hate preachers”.

Mr. Minns said the move was prompted by the difficulty in closing a Muslim prayer hall in Sydney linked to a cleric found by a court to have made statements intimidating Jewish Australians.

The mayor of the western Sydney suburb of Fairfield, which has a large Muslim community, said councils should not be responsible for determining hate speech.

“Freedom of speech is something that should always be allowed, as long as it is done in a peaceful way,” Mayor Frank Carbone told Reuters.— Reuters

BEIJING — China has banned exports of dual-use items to Japan that can be used for military purposes, according to a commerce ministry statement on Tuesday, Beijing’s latest move in reaction to an early November remark by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi about Taiwan.

Dual-use items are goods, software or technologies that have both civilian and military applications, including certain rare earth elements that are essential for making drones and chips.

Exports of such items to military users or for any purposes that contribute to Japan’s military strength are banned, effective immediately, the statement said, adding that organizations or individuals from any country or region that violated the ban would be held legally liable.

Japan’s foreign ministry said it strongly protested the measures and demanded that China withdraw them. It called the move “absolutely unacceptable and deeply regrettable.” It said the measures targeted only Japan and that they “deviate significantly from international practice.”

‘PROVOCATIVE’ REMARKS
Ties between Beijing and Tokyo have deteriorated since Ms. Takaichi said a Chinese attack on the democratically governed island of Taiwan could be deemed an existential threat to Japan, in a remark that Beijing said was “provocative.” China regards Taiwan as part of its territory, a claim that Taipei rejects.

The Chinese foreign ministry later questioned Japan’s motives around Taiwan, saying its “provocations” could be a pretext for building up its military forces and overseas missions.

In late December, the Japanese cabinet approved a record spending package for the fiscal year starting in April, including a 3.8% increase in the annual military budget to 9 trillion yen ($58 billion).

In a commentary in December, China’s state-run Xinhua news agency said it had been “alarming” in recent years that Japan had “drastically” readjusted its security policy, increased its defense spending year after year, relaxed restrictions on arms exports, sought to develop offensive weapons and planned to abandon its three non-nuclear principles. China’s own annual defense budget has more than doubled over the last decade. Japan reaffirmed its non-nuclear pledge in mid-December.

Beijing’s statement on Tuesday did not specify which items fall under its new curbs. Around 1,100 items are on China’s export control list for dual-use goods and technologies, covering at least seven categories of medium and heavy rare earths such as samarium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, and lutetium.

Despite Japan’s efforts to diversify, China still supplies around 60% of its imports of rare earths, macroeconomic research firm Capital Economics estimates.

“China has not provided a list of restricted items so at this stage it is impossible to say what impact the export curbs will have,” an official at the Japan External Trade Organization told Reuters, asking not to be identified because they are not authorized to talk to the media.

A Japanese government source who spoke on condition that they were not identified called the move “symbolic,” adding: “Until now, China has avoided doing things that would seriously hurt Japan’s business community. By taking this step and causing trouble for Japanese industry, they may be aiming to fuel domestic criticism of Takaichi.”

China throttled exports of rare earths to Japan during a previous diplomatic dispute more than a decade ago. So far, China Customs data has shown no sign of a decline in rare earth exports to Japan, though the data is released with some delay. In November, the latest month for which there was data, exports grew 35% to 305 metric tons, the highest tally last year.

FEARS OF RETALIATION
A Chinese state-affiliated social media blog wrote earlier on Tuesday that China was considering tightening approvals of rare earth export licenses to Japan due to Tokyo’s “recent egregious behavior”, citing sources with knowledge of the matter.

Some analysts and Japanese firms had feared that China would retaliate by restricting exports of rare earths, essential for Japan’s automotive sector, soon after the diplomatic dispute broke out in November.

One Japanese private sector source in Beijing told Reuters on condition of anonymity that it still took a “considerable amount of time” to obtain rare earth export license approvals as of late November, and that many other Japanese firms were in similar positions. But it was unclear whether that was a direct consequence of the diplomatic dispute, they cautioned.— Reuters

SEOUL — North Korea test-fired hypersonic missiles on Sunday, state media KCNA reported on Monday, to assess its military operational capability regarding war deterrence.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who oversaw the missile launch, said: “It’s a very important strategy to maintain or expand the strong and reliable nuclear deterrent,” because of “the recent geopolitical crisis and various international circumstances,” according to KCNA.

The missiles hit targets about 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) away, over the sea east of North Korea, KCNA said.

The South Korean military said on Sunday that North Korea fired ballistic missiles towards the sea to its east as South Korean President Lee Jae Myung started a state visit to China.

The missile launch followed a North Korean statement on Sunday that denounced the US strikes on Venezuela as a violation of that country’s sovereignty.

North Korea fired hypersonic missiles in October 2025, which analysts assumed were unveiled at a military parade along with a long-range intercontinental missile.

The test was apparently a response to US strikes on Venezuela, Hong Min, an expert on North Korea at the Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul, wrote in a note on Monday.

The missile appears to be the Hwasong-11, which was showcased at the October parade, Mr. Hong said, citing his analysis of images published in state media reports.

Mr. Hong added that the regime is emphasizing its ability to launch such missiles at any time, an effort to complicate US-South Korea’s missile defense system and prevent its preemptive interception.— Reuters

Multisectoral groups on Monday raised their recommendations on the P6.793-trillion national budget approved by the bicameral for 2026, following their concerns on the P633 billion worth of projects at risk for corruption and patronage.

“We recommend that the President take action on more than P633 billion worth of projects at risk of corruption and patronage in the bicam version of the budget,” the Roundtable for Inclusive Development (RFID) and People’s Budget Coalition (PBC) said in a joint statement.

Both chambers of Congress separately ratified the bicameral conference committee report on the proposed national budget for 2026 on Monday.

The first recommendation filed by the groups highlights vetoing unprogrammed appropriations, also known as “shadow pork,” worth P243 billion, in addition to removing the P43 billion SAGIP program, which was said to previously used to fund anomalous flood control projects.

The groups defined shadow pork as funds that “sit outside the regular budget framework” and are often used in the previous years in “risky” infrastructure projects due to their minimal transparency or legislative scrutiny upon release.

“Special provisions on unprogrammed appropriations had violated specific provisions in the PDAF ruling of the Supreme Court,” the civil groups said.

“The constitutionality of unprogrammed appropriations itself is an issue, as Congress artificially increases the budget ceiling set by the President, required under the Constitution; it also violates separation of powers and non-delegability of the legislative power of the purse,” they added.

The groups also promoted transforming the patronage-driven assistance or ayuda worth P210 billion into “rights-based and rules-based programs”, in consultation with allied health professionals and social protection experts, along with the P11 billion worth of confidential and intelligence funds (CIF).

According to the groups, soft pork is composed of aid programs at risk of political patronage because it leads citizens to “beg” politicians for assistance.

“Politicians must be excluded from the process of selecting beneficiaries, prevalent under the inhumane and unconstitutional guarantee letter system that encourages post-enactment intervention by legislators in the budget,” they said.

“We are alarmed that the bicameral conference committee nearly tripled soft pork to P210 billion compared to the President’s proposed budget,” they added.

The last recommendation mentioned involved placing the P600 billion-worth of infrastructure projects under a multisectoral citizen monitoring initiative funded by the government or internationally funded independent research programs.

The 2025 national budget faced heightened public scrutiny after several budget allocations and congressional insertions had been discovered, sparking multiple rallies nationwide for transparency and accountability.

“As citizens, we remain committed to working with you to monitor the budget process so that every taxpayer peso benefits our nation,” they said.  “Buwis natin ito, budget natin ito [This is our taxes, this is our budget].”— Almira Louise S. Martinez

KUALA LUMPUR – The ASEAN bloc of Southeast Asian nations and China on Tuesday signed an upgrade to their free trade agreement, which includes sections on digital, the green economy and other new industries, Beijing’s Commerce Ministry said.

The 11-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations is China’s largest trading partner, with bilateral trade totalling $771 billion last year, according to ASEAN statistics.

China is seeking to intensify its engagement with ASEAN, a region with a collective gross domestic product of $3.8 trillion, to counter hefty import tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump’s administration on countries around the world.

The upgraded agreement “fully reflects the solemn commitment of the two sides to jointly support multilateralism and free trade”, China’s Ministry of Commerce said in a statement.

Beijing has been seeking to position itself as a more open economy, despite criticism from other major powers of its expanding export restrictions on rare earths and other critical minerals.

IMPROVED MARKET ACCESS
The so-called 3.0 version of the free trade agreement between ASEAN and China was signed into effect at a summit of the bloc’s leaders in Malaysia, which Trump attended on Sunday at the start of a trip through Asia.

Negotiations on the upgraded ASEAN-China deal began in November 2022 and concluded in May this year, just after Trump’s tariff offensive kicked into gear. The first FTA came into force in 2010.

China has previously said the agreement would pave the way for improved market access in sectors such as agriculture, the digital economy and pharmaceuticals between China and ASEAN.

Both China and ASEAN are part of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, the world’s largest trading bloc, which covers nearly a third of the global population and about 30% of global gross domestic product. Malaysia hosted an RCEP summit in Kuala Lumpur on Monday, the first in five years.

The bloc is seen by some analysts as a potential buffer against tariffs imposed by the United States, though its provisions are considered weaker than some other regional trade deals due to competing interests among its members.

TRADE WAR TRUCE
China has been engaged in an escalating trade war with the United States since Trump took office in January and imposed steep tariffs on Chinese goods.

Beijing has labelled Trump’s tariffs, which have hit most countries, as protectionism, while expanding its controls over the flow of its critical minerals and magnets. China processes more than 90% of the world’s rare earths.

The world’s two largest economies extended a trade truce when negotiators met in Kuala Lumpur on the weekend, hashing out an agreement for Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping to decide later this week when they meet in Seoul.

Since Trump departed Malaysia on Monday morning, China has pressed for increased economic cooperation in the region, stressing the importance of open trade.

“The world must not slip back to the law of the jungle where the strong prey on the weak,” Chinese Premier Li Qiang said on Monday at the East Asia Summit regional forum.

“We should more firmly uphold the free trade regime, create a high-standard regional free trade network, and vigorously and effectively advance regional integration.” — Reuters

TAIPEI/WASHINGTON – Unable to just pick up the telephone to US President Donald Trump due to its unusual diplomatic predicament, Taiwan has hit upon a different way to bend his ear – an outreach to the MAGA world that has been backed by the White House.

Since taking office earlier this year, Trump has vacillated on his position towards China-claimed Taiwan as he seeks to strike a trade deal with Beijing. Trump says Chinese President Xi Jinping has told him he won’t invade while the Republican leader is in office, but is also yet to approve any new US arms sales to Taipei.

The fear in Taipei, which has long enjoyed strong unofficial support from Washington, is that a Trump-Xi meeting next week in South Korea could see some sort of “selling out” of Taiwan’s interests by Trump to Xi.

Four senior Taiwan officials described ongoing jitters over those talks and feeding into a “US skepticism” theory on the island that questions Washington’s security support.

In turn, they said, Taipei is reaching out through all possible channels to make clear its determination to defend itself is heard, especially by “Make America Great Again” supporters.

“Everyone in Taiwan is worried and it is the government’s job to make sure that it will not happen,” a senior Taiwan official told Reuters, referring to fears Trump could sacrifice Taiwan’s interests in talks with Xi.

Locked out of the White House given lack of formal diplomatic ties, Lai and his team have been courting conservative US media, including podcaster and radio host Buck Sexton, who interviewed Lai this month.

“We cannot simply call up Trump, so we have had to find other ways to talk to him,” said a second Taiwan official, who like the others spoke on condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the matter.

One US administration official told Reuters that members of the Trump administration had encouraged Taiwan to engage with “new media” so it can engage with “real Americans instead of liberal elites”.

The US and Taiwan have a deep partnership on security, technology and manufacturing, and the government is in “close and continuous contact” with Taiwan at many levels, the official added.

COURTING MAGA
Lai told Sexton, from The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show, that Trump should get a Nobel Peace Prize – an award Trump has lobbied for – if he can convince China to abandon the use of force over Taiwan.

Sexton, whose show airs on hundreds of US radio stations, did a separate segment lauding the island.

“Highly recommend any Americans visit. They’re big fans of USA here,” Sexton, who has described US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth as “our friend”, wrote from Taipei on X, where the post on the interview itself got more than 150,000 views.

A third Taiwanese official told Reuters the interview was “very positive” for Taiwan.

In June, Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim, a fluent English speaker and formerly Taiwan’s de facto ambassador to the United States, gave an interview to the Shawn Ryan Show, while in May, then Presidential Office spokesperson Lii Wen wrote an op-ed in the conservative Washington Times.

Taiwan’s presidential office told Reuters that communication with the United States was “smooth” and that Taiwan will continue to seek bipartisan and consistent US support.

“As for building broad, cross-party pro-Taiwan networks among our international friends and allies, including the United States, this has always been an important task of the governing team,” it said.

A US State Department spokesperson said the administration has been very clear that the “enduring US commitment to Taiwan continues, as it has for over four decades”.

KEY ALLIES GONE
Still, Taiwan has lost some key allies in the US national security system, including former Trump adviser John Bolton, charged this month with sharing classified information, charges he disputes. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, however, remains a strong supporter of Taipei.

In an effort to keep the Trump administration onside, Taiwan has been keen to underscore its commitment to spending more on defence.

“Ensuring peace through strength and boosting security through cooperation is our goal,” Lai this month told visiting foreign guests, including Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union, who were in Taipei for a security forum.

Schlapp himself told the forum, organised by a Taiwan military-funded think-tank, that Taiwan and the US had a security partnership “that should not be diminished: that President Trump understands – he’s an ally in that fight”.

The State Department spokesperson said the US strongly supports Taiwan’s own efforts to bolster defence and deterrence through reforms and a commitment to increasing defence spending.

The administration has continued to give succour to Taiwan in other ways.

That includes allowing Taiwan’s foreign minister to visit New York last month while the U.N. General Assembly was taking place, and condemning China for “mischaracterising” World War Two-era documents to put pressure on, and isolate, Taiwan.

“The United States cannot abandon Taiwan. America’s greatness stems from its vital strategic importance, which is intrinsically linked to Taiwan,” the first Taiwan official said.– Reuters

WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump said on Thursday all trade talks with Canada were terminated following what he called a fraudulent advertisement in which former and late President Ronald Reagan spoke negatively about tariffs.

Trump imposed tariffs on Canadian steel, aluminum and autos earlier this year, prompting Ottawa to respond in kind. The two sides have been in talks for weeks on a potential deal for the steel and aluminum sectors.

“Based on their egregious behavior, ALL TRADE NEGOTIATIONS WITH CANADA ARE HEREBY TERMINATED,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford said earlier this week the ad from his province with anti-tariff messaging had caught Trump’s attention. The ad showed Reagan, a Republican, criticizing tariffs on foreign goods while saying they caused job losses and trade wars.

“I heard that the president heard our ad. I’m sure he wasn’t too happy,” Ford said on Tuesday.

The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation issued a statement late on Thursday saying the ad by the government of Ontario was “using selective audio and video” of Reagan and that the foundation was reviewing its legal options.

“The ad misrepresents the Presidential Radio Address (by Reagan in 1987), and the Government of Ontario did not seek nor receive permission to use and edit the remarks,” the foundation said in its statement.

The Canadian government had no immediate comment.

Trump has used tariffs as leverage on many countries around the world.

Trump’s trade war has increased US tariffs to their highest levels since the 1930s and he has regularly threatened more duties, sparking concerns among businesses and economists.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney told reporters on Thursday that Canada will not allow unfair US access to its markets if talks on various trade deals with Washington fail.

Next year, the US, Canada and Mexico are due to review their 2020 continental free-trade agreement. — Reuters

PARIS — Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy will be put behind bars on Tuesday, starting a five-year sentence for conspiring to raise campaign funds from Libya, in a stunning downfall for a leader once known for his swagger and taste for the global spotlight.

Sarkozy, who was the conservative president of France between 2007 and 2012, will become the first former French leader to be jailed since Nazi collaborator Marshal Philippe Petain after World War Two.

“I’m not afraid of prison. I’ll keep my head held high, including at the prison gates,” Sarkozy told La Tribune Dimanche newspaper ahead of his incarceration.

ACCESS TO TV, LANDLINE AND PRIVATE SHOWER
The conviction caps years of legal battles over allegations that his 2007 campaign took millions in cash from Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, who was later overthrown and killed during the Arab Spring uprisings.

While Sarkozy was found guilty of conspiring with close aides to orchestrate the scheme, he was acquitted of personally receiving or using the funds.

He has consistently denied wrongdoing and called the case politically motivated, saying judges were seeking to humiliate him. He has appealed, but the nature of his sentence means he must go to jail as his appeal process plays out.

The former president has already been convicted in a separate corruption case, in which he was found guilty of trying to obtain confidential information from a judge in return for career favors, serving that sentence by wearing an electronic tag around the ankle.

At La Santé prison in Paris, which in the past has housed leftist militant Carlos the Jackal and Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega, Sarkozy will likely be held in the isolation unit, where inmates are housed in single cells and kept apart during outdoor activities for security reasons.

Conditions are similar to the rest of the prison: cells measure 9 to 12 square meters and, following renovations, now include private showers.

Sarkozy will have access to a television – for a monthly fee of 14 euros ($16) – and a landline telephone.

“THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO” ON READING LIST
Sarkozy told Le Figaro he would take three books for his first week behind bars, including Alexandre Dumas’ “The Count of Monte Cristo” – the story of a man unjustly imprisoned who plots his revenge against those who betrayed him.

The decision to jail a former president has sparked outrage among Sarkozy’s political allies and the far right.

However, the ruling reflects a shift in France’s approach to white-collar crime, following reforms introduced under a previous Socialist government. In the 1990s and 2000s, many convicted politicians avoided prison altogether.

To counter perceptions of impunity, French judges are increasingly issuing “provisional execution” orders – requiring sentences to begin immediately, even as appeals are pending – legal experts and politicians told Reuters.

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen has been banned from running for office under the same “provisional execution” provision, pending an appeal early next year.

According to an October 1 Elabe poll for BFM TV, 58% of French respondents believe the verdict was impartial, and 61% support the decision to send Sarkozy to jail without waiting for the appeal.

President Emmanuel Macron, who had warm relations with Sarkozy and his wife Carla Bruni, said on Monday he had met Sarkozy ahead of his incarceration.— Reuters