The discovery of the bacteria that cause paratyphoid fever and louse-borne relapsing fever showed, alongside previous work, that several infections had circulated among soldiers

International News via Reuters:

The retreat from Russia by Napoleon Bonaparte and the French Grande Armée in 1812 was a cataclysmic event that marked the beginning of the end for his empire and personal dominance in Europe, with about 300,000 soldiers perishing in a force that originally numbered roughly a half million.

A new study involving DNA extracted from the teeth of 13 French soldiers who were buried in a mass grave in Lithuania’s capital Vilnius along the route of the retreat is offering a deeper understanding of the misery the Grande Armée experienced, detecting two pathogens not previously documented in this event.

The discovery of the bacteria that cause paratyphoid fever and louse-borne relapsing fever showed, alongside previous work, that several infections had circulated among soldiers already enfeebled by cold, hunger and exhaustion.

The Vilnius site, discovered in 2001, contains the remains of approximately 2,000 to 3,000 soldiers from Napoleon’s army.

“Vilnius was a key waypoint on the 1812 retreat route. Many soldiers arrived exhausted, starving and ill. A substantial number died there and were interred rapidly in mass graves,” said molecular biologist and geneticist Nicolás Rascovan, head of the microbial paleogenomics unit at the Institut Pasteur in Paris and senior author of the study published in the journal Current Biology.

“While cold, starvation and typhus have long been emphasized, our results show that paratyphoid fever and louse-borne relapsing fever were also present and may have contributed to debilitation and mortality,” Rascovan added.

Paratyphoid fever typically is food- or water-borne, with symptoms including fever, headache, abdominal pain, diarrhea or constipation, weakness and sometimes a rash. The form of relapsing fever detected is transmitted by body lice and causes episodes of recurring high fever, with headache, muscle pain and weakness.

In the study, four of the 13 soldiers tested positive for the paratyphoid fever bacterium and two for the relapsing fever bacterium. The symptoms of the two ailments match those described in historical accounts of the retreat.

A 2006 study involving DNA from 35 other soldiers from the same cemetery detected the pathogens behind typhus and trench fever, diseases that cause symptoms similar to those of paratyphoid fever and relapsing fever. The new study did not detect typhus and trench fever.

Napoleon led the Grande Armée on an invasion of Russia in 1812 and marched into Moscow, but the campaign unraveled and he was forced to retreat thanks to factors including dwindling supplies, counter-attacks and the onset of the brutal Russian winter.

The new findings add nuance to the story of the plight of the French emperor’s soldiers, pointing to a scenario not of a single or a couple of ailments in circulation but rather a high prevalence of various infectious diseases. The study does not quantify the overall impact of the newly identified pathogens or establish them as widespread across the entire army but helps explain the medical complexity of the retreat.

“Ancient DNA lets us put names to infections that symptom-based accounts alone cannot resolve. The co-occurrence of pathogens with different transmission routes underscores how dire sanitary conditions were,” Rascovan said. “Future work across more sites and individuals will refine the disease landscape of 1812.”

The study illustrates how the steadily improving science of ancient DNA analysis can provide new insight into historical events.

“Ancient DNA allows us to test historical hypotheses directly, adding evidence that can confirm or complicate narratives built from chronicles and symptoms,” Rascovan said. “With careful authentication, genomics reveals which pathogens were present, how they evolved and persisted, and how they spread – helping historians and scientists reconstruct complex crises with greater resolution.”

Reporting by Will Dunham in Washington; Editing by Daniel Wallis

Biya, 92, won 53.66% of the vote, against 35.19% for his former ally, Issa Tchiroma Bakary, the Constitutional Council said

International News via Reuters:

Cameroon’s President Paul Biya, the world’s oldest serving ruler, secured an eighth term in office on Monday, vote results showed, as the main opposition challenger who has also claimed victory reported gunfire near his home.

Biya, 92, won 53.66% of the vote, against 35.19% for his former ally, Issa Tchiroma Bakary, the Constitutional Council said. A new seven-year term could keep the veteran leader in power until he is nearly 100.

Opposition protesters have clashed with security forces repeatedly over the past week after partial results suggested Biya was on course to win the October 12 vote.

There was no immediate comment on the result from the government, which has rejected opposition accusations of irregularities.

After the results were announced, Tchiroma wrote on Facebook that two people were killed after shots were fired at civilians outside his home in the northern city of Garoua.

ANTI-RIOT POLICE DEPLOY IN YAOUNDE, STREETS MOSTLY EMPTY

He did not say who had fired the shots or comment directly on the election result. Reuters could not confirm his account independently. Last week he said he had won the election and would not accept any other result.

Sporadic protests erupted in several towns across the country after the result was announced.

In Garoua, angry protesters guarding Tchiroma’s home said they targeted a house sheltering snipers firing at supporters, bursting a water tank.

Streets were largely deserted in the capital Yaounde and most businesses closed, with anti-riot police deployed across the city.

Reuters reporters witnessed clashes between opposition supporters and security forces in Douala, where police fired tear gas as protesters protected their faces with masks or clothing. Tchiroma supporters erected barricades, piled debris on the road and burned tires, darkening the sky.

“We all know that the majority of Cameroon’s people voted for Issa Tchiroma Bakary,” said one protester in Douala. “It is inadmissible that President Paul Biya won in certain war zones.”

The result raised the prospect of more confrontations between opposition supporters and security forces, a day after at least four people died in clashes in Cameroon’s commercial capital Douala.

“We expect unrest to escalate as Cameroonians widely reject the official result, and we cannot see the Biya government lasting much longer,” said Francois Conradie, lead political economist at Oxford Economics.

“Biya now has a notably shaky mandate given many of his own citizens don’t believe he won the election,” Murithi Mutiga, Africa Program Director at the International Crisis Group, told Reuters.

“We call on Biya to urgently initiate a national mediation to prevent further escalation,” Mutiga added.

Biya, 92, took office in 1982 and has held a tight grip on power ever since, doing away with the presidential term limit in 2008 and winning reelection by comfortable margins.

“Hereby declared elected President of the Republic, having obtained the majority of the votes cast, the candidate, Biya, Paul,” Clement Atangana, president of the Constitutional Council, said.

Tchiroma is a former government spokesperson and employment minister in his late 70s who broke ranks with Biya earlier this year.

He mounted a campaign that drew large crowds and endorsements from a coalition of opposition parties and civic groups.

Reporting by Bate Felix and Amindeh Blaise Atabong; Writing by Anait Miridzhanian; Editing by Ayen Deng Bior, Andrew Heavens, William Maclean

Several legacy automakers face potential fines as the transition to EVs in Europe has proved slower than expected in recent years

International News via Reuters:

Automakers have formed alliances to help them avoid hefty European Union fines on carbon emissions by purchasing credits from electric vehicle companies.

Several legacy automakers face potential fines as the transition to EVs in Europe has proved slower than expected in recent years.

Here are details about the regulation and alliances for 2025, as of Monday:

FINES

EU fines – which automakers have said could reach up to 15 billion euros ($17.5 billion) – were initially envisaged on 2025 carbon emission levels. In March, however, the European Commission yielded to pressure from automakers and allowed compliance based on their average emissions over 2025-2027.

SCOPE

All current alliance agreements, identified by the names of their ‘pool managers’, will expire at the end of this year. They are expected to be renewed in coming years.

MAZDA

Japan’s Mazda teamed up in October with Changan Mazda Automobile, its 50/50 joint venture with Chinese automaker Changan. Mazda is also part of a different pool set up at the beginning of this year around Tesla.

NISSAN

Japan’s Nissan earlier in October pooled with Chinese EV giant BYD.

KG MOBILITY

Another pool was formed at the end of September by South Korea’s KG Mobility and Chinese EV maker Xpeng.

TESLA

In January, Tesla formed a pool with Stellantis, Toyota, Ford, Chinese EV maker Leapmotor, Mazda and Subaru. Japan’s Honda and Suzuki joined the pool in March.

MERCEDES

This pool was also formed in January to include Mercedes, Volvo Car, EV maker Polestar and Smart Automobile. Volvo Car and Polestar are both backed by China’s Geely. Geely’s Chairman Li Shufu holds a 9.69% stake in Mercedes, making him the group’s second-largest shareholder after China’s BAIC Group. Smart Automobile is a joint venture between Mercedes and Geely.

EV FORECASTS

EVs made up 12% of total European light vehicle sales last year, according to consultant AlixPartners, and are expected to reach 15% this year. Their market share is forecast to increase to 24% in 2027 and to 40% by the end of the decade, according to AlixPartners.

($1 = 0.8575 euros)

Reporting by Giulio Piovaccari and Alessandro Parodi; Editing by Tomasz Janowski and Mark Potter

Leo, the first U.S. pope, will visit Turkey from November 27 to 30 and then will be in Lebanon from November 30 to December 2

International News via Reuters:

Pope Leo will visit eight towns and cities in Turkey and Lebanon later this year, the Vatican said on Monday, his first trip outside Italy as pontiff, and he is expected to make appeals for peace across the region.

Leo, the first U.S. pope, will visit Turkey from November 27 to 30 and then will be in Lebanon from November 30 to December 2.

Leo’s predecessor Pope Francis had planned to visit both countries but was unable to go because of his worsening health. Francis died on April 21 and Leo was elected as the new pope on May 8 by the world’s cardinals.

A central part of the visit to Turkey will be several joint events with Patriarch Bartholomew, spiritual leader of the world’s 260 million Orthodox Christians, who is based in Istanbul.

They will celebrate the 1,700th anniversary of a major early Church council, which took place in Nicaea, now called Iznik.

“It is profoundly symbolical that Pope Leo … will visit (the patriarch) on his first official journey,” Rev. John Chryssavgis, an adviser to Bartholomew, told Reuters.

Leo will also meet Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan in the capital Ankara, visit the Blue Mosque in Istanbul, and will celebrate a Catholic Mass at Istanbul’s Volkswagen Arena.

In Lebanon, the pope will meet President Joseph Aoun in Beirut, will host an inter-religious meeting and will lead an outdoor Mass on the Beirut waterfront.

The pope will also pray at the site of the 2020 chemical explosion at the Beirut port that killed 200 people and caused billions of dollars worth of damage.

Travelling abroad has become a major part of the modern papacy, with popes seeking to meet local Catholics, spread the faith, and conduct international diplomacy.

A new pope’s first travels are usually seen as an indication of the issues the pontiff wants to highlight during his reign.

Both Turkey and Lebanon are majority Muslim countries, and Francis put a strong focus on Muslim-Catholic dialogue during a 12-year reign that included 47 trips abroad.

The official motto of Leo’s Lebanon trip is “Blessed are the peacemakers”.

Reporting by Joshua McElweeEditing by Gareth Jones