July was slightly cooler than the last 2 years, but extreme weather impacts continue, scientists say
by Associated Press on August 8, 2025 at 2:44 AM
ROME — The world experienced its third-warmest July on record this year, the European Union agency that tracks global warming said Thursday, with temperatures easing slightly for the month as compared with the record high two years ago.Despite the slightly lower global average temperature, scientists said extreme heat and deadly flooding persisted in July.”Two years after the hottest July on record, the recent streak of global temperature records is over — for now. But this doesn’t mean climate change has stopped,” said Carlo Buontempo, director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service. “We continued to witness the effects of a warming world.”The EU monitoring agency said new temperature records and more climate extremes are to be expected unless greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere are brought down. On July 25, Turkey recorded its highest-ever temperature of 50.5 C (122.9 F) as it battled wildfires.While not as hot as July 2023 or July 2024, the hottest and second-hottest on record, the Copernicus report said that the planet’s average surface temperature last month was still 1.25 C (2.25 F) above the 1850-1900 pre-industrial period, before humans began the widespread burning of fossil fuels like oil, gas and coal.Greenhouse gases released from the burning of fossil fuels are the main driver of climate change. Deforestation, wildfires and many kinds of factories also release heat-trapping gasses into the atmosphere.Despite a somewhat cooler July, the 12-month period between August 2024 and July 2025 was 1.53 C above pre-industrial levels, exceeding the threshold set in 2015 to limit human-caused warming to 1.5 C (2.7 F).Globally, 2024 was the hottest year in recorded history. Europe is warming faster than any other continent, with temperatures increasing twice as fast as the global average since the 1980s, according to Copernicus.The planet last year temporarily surpassed the warming target set at the 2015 Paris climate pact. But that target, of limiting warming within 1.5 C (2.7 F) of pre-industrial levels, is defined as a 20-year average and the world has not yet breached that threshold.Copernicus is the European Union’s earth observation system based on satellite and on-the-ground data collection. Britain rejoined the climate agency in 2023.Julien Nicolas, a senior Copernicus scientist, said it was important to view last month’s decrease in the context of two anomalous years of warming.”We are really coming out from a streak of global temperature records that lasted almost two years,” Nicolas said. “It was a very exceptional streak.”He added that as long as the long-term warming trend persists, extreme weather events will continue to happen.
Trump orders US colleges to reveal race data to prove fairness
by Agence France-Presse on August 8, 2025 at 2:39 AM
NEW YORK, United States — President Donald Trump issued an order Thursday demanding that US universities supply enrollment data as evidence they are not considering an applicant’s race when awarding admission.The Supreme Court ruled in 2023 that affirmative action by universities on the basis of race was unlawful, but said that they could use statements about the racial experiences of candidates when deciding on places.”The persistent lack of available data — paired with the rampant use of ‘diversity statements’ and other overt and hidden racial proxies — continues to raise concerns about whether race is actually used in practice,” Trump wrote in a memorandum.Since returning to the presidency, Trump has waged a campaign against US universities, accusing them of being hotbeds of anti-conservative ideology, anti-Semitism and “wokery.”He has also issued executive actions curtailing diversity, equity and inclusion programs in government, which had been intended to redress historic injustices.He accused the so-called “DEI” policies of discriminating against white people.”Greater transparency is essential to exposing unlawful practices and ultimately ridding society of shameful, dangerous racial hierarchies,” Trump wrote.The order requires that universities expand their reporting into the National Center for Education Statistics to “provide adequate transparency into admissions.”The details of the enhanced requirements would follow at a later date, the memorandum said.As part of his wider push to bring higher education to heel, Trump has wielded federal funds as a negotiating tool for universities that he says are too liberal, insisting that they submit to curriculum, enrollment and other changes.The Republican’s administration has also decreased or placed holds on spending for university research as part of wider budget cuts since taking office in January.Columbia University was the first to be targeted in Trump’s war against elite universities, for what the US president claimed was its failure to tackle anti-Semitism on campus in the wake of pro-Palestinian protests.It was stripped of hundreds of millions of dollars of federal funding and lost its ability to apply for new research grants. Labs saw vital funding frozen, and dozens of researchers were laid off.But Columbia last month agreed to pay the government $200 million, and an additional $21 million to settle an investigation into anti-Semitism.Columbia, along with Brown, reportedly already agreed to disclose admissions data including race and test scores to the government as part of their settlements with the administration over alleged breaches of anti-discrimination laws.
Israel announces plan to retake Gaza City in another escalation of the war
by Associated Press on August 8, 2025 at 2:35 AM
TEL AVIV, Israel — Israel’s Security Cabinet has approved a plan to take over Gaza City, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said. The decision taken early Friday marks another escalation of Israel’s 22-month offensive launched in response to Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack.The war has already killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, destroyed much of Gaza and pushed the territory of some 2 million Palestinians toward famine.Ahead of the Security Cabinet meeting, which began Thursday and ran through the night, Netanyahu said Israel planned to retake control over the entire territory and eventually hand it off to friendly Arab forces opposed to Hamas.The announced plans stop short of that, perhaps reflecting the reservations of Israel’s top general, who reportedly warned that it would endanger the remaining 20 or so living hostages held by Hamas and further strain Israel’s army after nearly two years of regional wars. Many families of hostages are also opposed, fearing further escalation will doom their loved ones.Israel has repeatedly bombarded Gaza City and carried out numerous raids there, only to return to different neighborhoods again and again as militants regrouped. Today it is one of the few areas of Gaza that hasn’t been turned into an Israeli buffer zone or placed under evacuation orders.A major ground operation there could displace tens of thousands of people and further disrupt efforts to deliver food to the territory.It’s unclear how many people reside in the city, which was Gaza’s largest before the war. Hundreds of thousands fled Gaza City under evacuation orders in the opening weeks of the war but many returned during a ceasefire at the start of this year.Expanding war risks countless lives and could further isolate IsraelExpanding military operations in Gaza would put the lives of countless Palestinians and the roughly 20 remaining Israeli hostages at risk while further isolating Israel internationally. Israel already controls around three quarters of the devastated territory.Families of hostages held in Gaza fear an escalation could doom their loved ones, and some protested outside the Security Cabinet meeting in Jerusalem. Former top Israeli security officials have also come out against the plan, warning of a quagmire with little added military benefit.An Israeli official had earlier said the Security Cabinet would discuss plans to conquer all or parts of Gaza not yet under Israeli control. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity pending a formal decision, said that whatever is approved would be implemented gradually to increase pressure on Hamas.Israel’s air and ground war has killed tens of thousands of people in Gaza, displaced most of the population, destroyed vast areas and caused severe and widespread hunger. Palestinians are braced for further misery.”There is nothing left to occupy,” said Maysaa al-Heila, who is living in a displacement camp. “There is no Gaza left.”At least 42 Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes and shootings across southern Gaza on Thursday, according to local hospitals.’We don’t want to keep it’Asked in an interview with Fox News ahead of the Security Cabinet meeting if Israel would “take control of all of Gaza,” Netanyahu replied: “We intend to, in order to assure our security, remove Hamas there, enable the population to be free of Gaza.””We don’t want to keep it. We want to have a security perimeter,” Netanyahu said in the interview. “We want to hand it over to Arab forces that will govern it properly without threatening us and giving Gazans a good life.”The Security Cabinet, which would need to approve such a decision, began meeting Thursday evening, according to Israeli media, and it was expected to stretch into the night.Israel’s military chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, warned against occupying Gaza, saying it would endanger the hostages and put further strain on the military after nearly two years of war, according to Israeli media reports.Hamas-led militants abducted 251 people and killed around 1,200 in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that triggered the war. Most of the hostages have been released in ceasefires or other deals but 50 remain inside Gaza, around 20 of them believed by Israel to be alive.Almost two dozen relatives of hostages set sail from southern Israel towards the maritime border with Gaza on Thursday, where they broadcast messages from loudspeakers.Yehuda Cohen, the father of Nimrod Cohen, an Israeli soldier held in Gaza, said from the boat that Netanyahu is prolonging the war to satisfy extremists in his governing coalition. Netanyahu’s far-right allies want to escalate the war, relocate most of Gaza’s population to other countries and reestablish Jewish settlements that were dismantled in 2005.”Netanyahu is working only for himself,” Cohen said.Palestinians killed and wounded as they seek foodIsrael’s military offensive has killed over 61,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many were fighters or civilians. The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals who keep and share detailed records.The United Nations and independent experts view the ministry’s figures as the most reliable estimate of casualties. Israel has disputed them without offering a toll of its own.Of the 42 people killed on Thursday, at least 13 were seeking aid in an Israeli military zone in southern Gaza where UN aid convoys are regularly overwhelmed by looters and desperate crowds. Another two were killed on roads leading to nearby sites run by the Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an American contractor, according to Nasser Hospital, which received the bodies.GHF said there were no violent incidents at or near its sites on Thursday. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military. The military zone, known as the Morag Corridor, is off limits to independent media.Hundreds of people have been killed in recent weeks while heading to GHF sites and in chaotic scenes around UN convoys, most of which are overwhelmed by looters and crowds of hungry people. The UN human rights office, witnesses and health officials say Israeli forces have regularly opened fire toward the crowds going back to May, when Israel lifted a complete 2 1/2 month blockade.The military says it has only fired warning shots when crowds approach its forces. GHF says its armed contractors have only used pepper spray or fired into the air on some occasions to prevent deadly stampedes.Israel and GHF face mounting criticismDoctors Without Borders, a medical charity known by its French acronym MSF, published a blistering report denouncing the GHF distribution system. “This is not aid. It is orchestrated killing, ” it said.MSF runs two health centers very close to GHF sites in southern Gaza and said it had treated 1,380 people injured near the sites between June 7 and July 20, including 28 people who were dead upon arrival. Of those, at least 147 had suffered gunshot wounds — including at least 41 children.MSF said hundreds more suffered physical assault injuries from chaotic scrambles for food at the sites, including head injuries, suffocation, and multiple patients with severely aggravated eyes after being sprayed at close range with pepper spray. It said the cases it saw were only a fraction of the overall casualties connected to GHF sites; a nearby Red Cross field hospital has independently reported receiving thousands of people wounded by gunshots as they sought aid.”The level of mismanagement, chaos and violence at GHF distribution sites amounts to either reckless negligence or a deliberately designed death trap,” the report said.GHF said the “accusations are both false and disgraceful” and accused MSF of “amplifying a disinformation campaign” orchestrated by Hamas.The US and Israel helped set up the GHF system as an alternative to the UN-run aid delivery system that has sustained Gaza for decades, accusing Hamas of siphoning off assistance. The UN denies any mass diversion by Hamas. It accuses GHF of forcing Palestinians to risk their lives to get food and say it advances Israel’s plans for further mass displacement.
Trump says would meet Putin without Zelenskyy sit-down
by Agence France-Presse on August 8, 2025 at 2:15 AM
WASHINGTON, D.C. — US President Donald Trump said Thursday he would meet with Vladimir Putin for upcoming talks on the Ukraine war even if the Russian leader had not sat down with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.The statement, which contradicted earlier reports that a Putin-Zelenskyy meeting was a prerequisite for the summit, came after Trump gave Moscow until Friday to reach a ceasefire or face fresh sanctions.But asked by reporters in the Oval Office if that deadline still held, Trump did not answer clearly.”It’s going to be up to (Putin),” Trump said. “We’re going to see what he has to say.”Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has been pressuring Moscow to end Russia’s military assault on Ukraine.The Kremlin said Thursday that Putin was set to attend a summit with Trump in the “coming days,” but the Russian leader essentially ruled out including Zelenskyy.Zelenskyy meanwhile insisted that he had to be involved in any talks.When Trump was asked if Putin was required to meet Zelenskyy before a summit, the US president said simply: “No, he doesn’t.”Putin has named the United Arab Emirates as a potential location for the summit, but this was not confirmed by Washington.Next week? The summit would be the first between sitting US and Russian presidents since Joe Biden met Putin in Geneva in June 2021.Three rounds of direct Russia-Ukraine talks in Istanbul have failed to yield any progress towards a ceasefire. The two sides remain far apart on the conditions they have set to end the more than three-year-long conflict.Trump and Putin last sat together in 2019 at a G20 summit meeting in Japan during Trump’s first term. They have spoken by telephone several times since January.Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said that “next week has been set as a target date,” adding that both sides have agreed the venue “in principle,” without naming it.However, Washington later denied that a venue or date had been set.”No location has been determined,” a White House official said, while agreeing that the meeting “could occur as early as next week.”Tens of thousands of people have been killed since Russia launched its military offensive on Ukraine in February 2022.Russian bombardments have forced millions of people to flee their homes and have destroyed swathes of eastern and southern Ukraine.Putin has resisted multiple calls from the United States, Europe and Kyiv for a ceasefire.At talks in Istanbul, Russian negotiators outlined hardline territorial demands for halting its advance — calling for Kyiv to withdraw from some territory it still controls and to renounce Western military support.Senator Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, urged Trump to “finally get tough on the Kremlin” and use his leverage to end the war.”Face-to-face dialogue is important, but Putin cannot be allowed yet another opportunity to delay or water down President Trump’s promise of harsh sanctions taking effect tomorrow,” she said in a statement late Thursday.’Only fair’ Ukraine involved Reports of the possible summit came after US special envoy Steve Witkoff met Putin in Moscow on Wednesday.Witkoff proposed a trilateral meeting with Zelenskyy, but Putin appeared to rule out direct talks with the Ukrainian leader.”Certain conditions must be created for this,” Putin told reporters. “Unfortunately, we are still far from creating such conditions.”The former KGB agent, who has ruled Russia for over 25 years, said in June that he was ready to meet Zelenskyy, but only during a “final phase” of negotiations on ending the conflict.In his regular evening address on Thursday, Zelenskyy said “it is only fair that Ukraine should be a participant in the negotiations.”The Ukrainian leader spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen as he called for the continent to be included in any potential peace talks.”Ukraine is an integral part of Europe — we are already in negotiations on EU accession. Therefore, Europe must be a participant in the relevant processes,” Zelenskyy said on social media.
France’s huge wildfire will burn for days — authorities
by Agence France-Presse on August 8, 2025 at 1:45 AM
SAINT-LAURENT-DE-LA-CABRERISSE, France — France’s biggest wildfire in decades will burn for several more days even though it has been brought under control, authorities said Friday as hundreds of firefighters kept up a battle against the flames.The giant blaze in the southern department of Aude has burned through more than 17,000 hectares (42,000 acres) of land — an area bigger than Paris, killing one person, injuring 13 and destroying dozens of homes.About 2,000 firefighters are still on duty around the blaze which was declared under control on Thursday night.The fire will not be “declared extinguished for several days,” said Christian Pouget, the prefect for Aude. “There is still a lot of work to be done.”Authorities have banned access to the forests that were devastated by the fire until at least Sunday.They said that roads in the zone were too dangerous because of fallen electricity lines and other hazards.Pouget said that about 2,000 people forced to flee the flames had still not been allowed back to their homes.Hundreds of people are sleeping in school gyms and village halls across the region.The fire is the biggest in France’s Mediterranean region for at least 50 years, according to government monitors. The southern region suffers more than others from wildfires.At its most intense, the flames were going through around 1,000 hectares of land per hour, according to authorities in the nearby city of Narbonne.Two days of strong and changing winds made the blaze difficult to predict.A 65-year-old woman, who had refused to evacuate, was found dead in her scorched house, while 13 people were injured, 11 of them firefighters.’Unprecedented catastrophe’ The wildfire is a “catastrophe on an unprecedented scale”, Prime Minister Francois Bayrou said Wednesday during a visit to the affected region.”What is happening today is linked to global warming and linked to drought,” Bayrou said.Environment minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher wrote on X Thursday that the fire was the largest in France since 1949.The country has already seen around 9,000 wildfires this summer, mainly close to its Mediterranean coast.The Aude department in particular has recorded an increase in areas burned in recent years, aggravated by low rainfall and the uprooting of vineyards, which used to help slow down the advance of fires.In Saint-Laurent-de-la-Cabrerisse, the village hardest hit by the fire, thick smoke rose Thursday from the pine hills overlooking the vineyards where dry grass was still burning.Spanish blaze under control With Europe facing new August heatwaves, many areas are on alert for wildfires. Portugal on Thursday extended emergency measures because of the heightened risk of fires.Near the Spanish town of Tarifa, fire crews secured areas near hotels and other tourist accommodations after controlling a major blaze that also destroyed hundreds of hectares.Antonio Sanz, interior minister for Andalusia’s regional government, said on X that “the return of all evacuated people” had been authorised after the fire was “stabilised”.Spanish broadcaster TVE reported that the fire started in a camper van at a beach campsite, and spread quickly in strong winds.About 1,550 people and 5,500 vehicles were evacuated from camps, hotels and homes, Sanz said.Spain is experiencing a heatwave with temperatures nearing 40C in many regions, and officials reported 1,060 excess deaths in July that could be attributed to intense heat.Climate experts say that global warming is driving longer, more intense and more frequent heatwaves around the world, making for more favourable forest fire conditions.
US partners seek relief as Trump tariffs upend global trade
by Agence France-Presse on August 8, 2025 at 1:39 AM
WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Donald Trump’s steeper global tariffs came into effect Thursday, leaving dozens of US partners scrambling to secure relief from soaring levies that are rewriting global trade practice.Shortly before the new rates kicked in, Washington also announced it would double India tariffs to 50 percent and hit many semiconductor imports with a 100-percent duty.Trump’s trade policy is a demonstration of economic power that he hopes will revive domestic manufacturing, but many economists fear it could fuel inflation and lower growth.In his latest move, the president raised import duties from 10 percent to levels between 15 percent and 41 percent for various trading partners.Many products from the European Union, Japan and South Korea now face a 15-percent tariff, even with deals struck with Washington to avert steeper threatened levies.But questions remain surrounding the implementation of these agreements.Others like India face a 25-percent duty — to be doubled in three weeks — while Syria, Myanmar and Laos face levels of 40 or 41 percent.Switzerland’s government, which failed to convince Trump not to impose a 39-percent tariff, said after an extraordinary meeting Thursday that it remains committed to talks aimed at lowering levies.Trump’s latest wave of “reciprocal” duties — a response to trade practices Washington deems unfair — broadens measures imposed since he returned to the presidency.Wall Street’s major indexes mostly dipped, while global markets largely shrugged off the higher tariffs Thursday.’No charge’ The steeper duties maintain exemptions on sectors that Trump separately targeted, like steel and autos.Categories that could be hit later, like pharmaceuticals and semiconductors, are also spared for now.Trump said Wednesday that he plans an “approximately 100-percent tariff” on semiconductor imports, but with no charge for companies investing in his country or committed to doing so.Companies and industry groups warn Trump’s new levies will severely hurt smaller American businesses.But providing some reprieve from the “reciprocal” tariff hike is a clause saying that goods already en route to the United States before Thursday — and arriving before October 5 — will not face the new rates.With the dust settling, at least temporarily, Georgetown University professor Marc Busch expects US businesses to “pass along more of the tariff bill” to consumers.Inventories are depleting and it is unlikely firms will absorb costs indefinitely, he told Agence France-Presse.Trump is using tariffs to pursue a variety of goals — such as doubling planned duties on India due to its purchase of Russian oil, a key revenue source in Moscow’s war in Ukraine.The order threatened penalties on countries that “directly or indirectly” import Russian oil too.The Federation of Indian Export Organisations called the move a “severe setback” impacting nearly 55 percent of shipments to the United States.Discrepancies Lingering questions remain for partners who have negotiated deals with Trump.Tokyo and Washington appear at odds over the terms of their pact, such as when levies on Japanese cars will be lowered from an existing 25 percent on US auto imports.Both countries also seem to differ on whether the new 15-percent toll on Japanese goods would be added to existing levies or — like the EU — be capped at that level for many products.Japan’s tariffs envoy Ryosei Akazawa told reporters Thursday that Washington is expected to revise its order such that the new toll does not stack uniformly on existing ones. It would also lower vehicle tariffs on Japanese autos.Washington and Beijing meanwhile have a temporary truce in their tariff standoff expiring August 12. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told Fox Business it is likely this will be extended another 90 days.Trump has separately targeted Brazil over the trial of his right-wing ally, former president Jair Bolsonaro, who is accused of planning a coup.US tariffs on various Brazilian goods surged to 50 percent Wednesday with broad exemptions.Lutnick expects Trump’s duties could bring in $50 billion in monthly revenue.
India’s Modi vows no compromise on farmers interests amid Trump’s tariff salvo
by Reuters on August 7, 2025 at 4:14 PM
NEW DELHI — India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday he would not compromise the interests of his country’s farmers, even if he has to pay a heavy price, in his first comments after United States President Donald Trump’s salvo of a 50-percent tariff on Indian goods.“For us, our farmers’ welfare is supreme,” Modi said at an event in the capital New Delhi. “India will never compromise on the wellbeing of its farmers, dairy [sector] and fishermen. And I know personally I will have to pay a heavy price for it.”Trump announced an additional 25-percent tariff on Indian goods on Wednesday, raising the total duty to 50 percent — among the highest imposed on any US trading partner. The new tariff, effective Aug. 28, is meant to penalize India for continuing to buy Russian oil, the president said.While Modi did not explicitly mention the US or the collapsed trade talks, his comments marked a clear defense of India’s position.Trade talks between India and the US broke down after five rounds of negotiations over disagreement on opening India’s vast farm and dairy sectors and stopping Russian oil purchases.India’s foreign ministry has called the US decision “extremely unfortunate” and said it would “take all necessary steps to protect its national interests.”The US is yet to impose similar tariffs for China, the biggest buyer of Russian oil. Experts say Beijing’s dominance in rare earth minerals — critical to high-tech industries — gives it leverage that India currently lacks.“The US tariff hike lacks logic,” Dammu Ravi, secretary of economic relations in India’s foreign ministry, told reporters.“This is a temporary aberration, a temporary problem that the country will face, but in [due course], we are confident that the world will find solutions,” he said.India is already signaling it may seek to rebalance its global partnerships. Modi is preparing for his first visit to China in over seven years, suggesting a potential diplomatic realignment amid growing tensions with Washington.Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Wednesday he would initiate a conversation among the Brics group of developing nations about how to tackle Trump’s tariffs.He said he planned to call Modi and China’s Xi Jinping. Brics also includes Russia and South Africa.India’s Ravi said “like-minded countries will look for cooperation and economic engagement that will be mutually beneficial to all sides.”Mounting pressureBoth supporters of Modi and the Indian National Congress opposition party have called on him to respond firmly to the US tariffs, urging action “with self-respect and dignity.”“India’s national interest is supreme. Any nation that arbitrarily penalizes India for its time-tested policy of strategic autonomy, rooted in the ideology of nonalignment, does not understand the steel frame India is made of,” Congress party president Mallikarjun Kharge said.Indian industry, already struggling with global headwinds, has expressed alarm.Sudhir Sekhri, chairman of the Apparel Export Promotion Council, said: “There is no way the industry can absorb such a steep hike.” He demanded fiscal support from the government.Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries, in its annual report, said continuing geopolitical and tariff-related uncertainties might affect trade flows and demand-supply balance.
Arrest warrant sought for South Korea’s former first lady
by Agence France-Presse on August 7, 2025 at 4:13 PM
SEOUL — South Korean prosecutors on Thursday requested an arrest warrant for former first lady Kim Keon Hee, a day after questioning her over a litany of allegations, including bribery and stock manipulation.The move comes as her husband, former president Yoon Suk Yeol, remains in detention over his declaration of martial law in December, which briefly suspended civilian rule before being overturned by parliament.“We requested an arrest warrant for Kim at 1:21 p.m. (local time),” special prosecutor Oh Jung-hee said at a press briefing.The charges include violations of capital market and financial investment laws, as well as political funds laws, she added.If granted, the warrant would mark the first time in South Korean history that a former president and first lady were both arrested.An attempt to bring Yoon in for questioning on Thursday over the allegations against his wife failed due to “the suspect’s fierce resistance and concerns about potential injury,” Oh said without elaborating.A similarly unsuccessful attempt last week saw Yoon resist by lying on his cell floor in his underwear.The request came swiftly after the 52-year-old underwent hours-long questioning the day before.“I sincerely apologize for causing trouble despite being a person of no importance,” Kim said as she arrived at the prosecutors’ office on Wednesday.She denied the allegations during questioning, local media reports say.Controversy has long surrounded Kim, with lingering questions about her alleged role in stock manipulation.A video filmed in 2022 showing her accepting a Dior handbag from a self-proclaimed fan reignited public criticism.She is also accused of interfering in the nomination process for members of parliament in Yoon’s People Power Party, which is a violation of election laws.As president, Yoon vetoed three special investigation bills passed by the opposition-controlled parliament that sought to probe the allegations against Kim, with the last veto issued in late November.A week later, Yoon declared martial law.A former top prosecutor, Yoon was impeached and removed from office in April over his martial law declaration, prompting the country to hold a snap election in June.