Largest protests in year pose threat to Rajoelina rule
Antananarivo — Madagascar President Andry Rajoelina said on Monday he was dissolving the government following youth-led protests over water and power cuts in which the UN says at least 22 people have been killed and more than 100 injured.
Inspired by the “Gen Z” protests in Kenya and Nepal, the three days of demonstrations are the largest the Indian Ocean island has seen in years and the most serious challenge Rajoelina has faced since his re-election in 2023.
"We acknowledge and apologise if members of the government have not carried out the tasks assigned to them,” Rajoelina said in a televised speech.
The UN high commissioner for human rights said the casualties include protesters and bystanders killed by members of the security forces, but also others killed in subsequent widespread violence and looting by individuals and gangs not associated with the protesters. Reuters
Warning over looming US government shutdown
Washington —The US labour department said on Monday its statistics agency would suspend economic data releases, including the closely watched monthly employment report for September, in the event of a partial government shutdown.
The employment report, crucial for decision-making by officials at the Federal Reserve, businesses and households, is scheduled for Friday. Government funding will expire at midnight on Tuesday unless Republicans and Democrats in Congress can agree to a last-minute temporary spending deal.
The department identified the Bureau of Labor Statistics among the key agencies whose activities would cease during a lapse in funding. President Donald Trump was due to meet with Republican and Democratic leaders on Monday. Reuters
Trump administration scraps Biden gun export bars
Washington — The administration of US President Donald Trump on Monday rescinded Biden-era restrictions on civilian firearms exports, eliminating rules against sales to 36 countries deemed high-risk for the weapons being diverted to criminals and terrorists.
The commerce department’s bureau of industry and security said the move would restore export rules that existed under Trump’s first term and create “hundreds of millions of dollars per year in export opportunities” for US gun manufacturers.
The move aligns with Trump’s views on guns and ownership. He has been adamantly against reforming America’s gun laws, including raising the legal age to buy a gun, strengthening background checks or limiting assault-style rifles similar to the one the gunman used in his attack on a Michigan church on Sunday. Reuters
Ferrari chair in new legal battle over inheritance
Milan — Ferrari and Stellantis chair John Elkann faces a new legal battle with his mother after her lawyers on Monday presented what they said was a previously undisclosed handwritten amendment to the will of her father, the late Gianni Agnelli.
The note, produced during a court hearing in Turin, could raise questions over the ownership of the holding company at the top of Exor, the Agnelli family investment firm led by Elkann that controls sports car maker Ferrari and is the top investor in Fiat-to-Jeep maker Stellantis.
The holding company, called Dicembre, is owned by Margherita Agnelli’s three children from her first marriage: Elkann and his siblings Lapo and Ginevra. Reuters
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