By NICOLAS VAUX-MONTAGNY and SYLVIE CORBET, Associated Press

PARIS (AP) — France’s former President Nicolas Sarkozy was freed from prison Monday after a Paris appeals court granted him release under judicial supervision, less than three weeks after he began serving a five-year sentence for criminal conspiracy in a scheme to finance his 2007 election campaign with funds from Libya.

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Sarkozy, 70, left La Santé prison by car and later quickly stepped into his home in western Paris. The brief scene was in contrast to his very public incarceration 20 days earlier, when he walked down the alley near his house hand-in-hand with his wife and former supermodel Carla Bruni-Sarkozy as he waved to supporters.

The former president, who denies wrongdoing, is banned from leaving the French territory and from being in touch with key people including co-defendants and witnesses in the case, the court said.

An appeals trial is expected to take place later, possibly in the spring.

Sarkozy became the first former French head of state in modern times to be sent behind bars after his conviction on Sept. 25. He was jailed on Oct. 21 pending appeal but immediately filed for early release.

Sarkozy describes prison as “a nightmare”

During Monday’s hearing examining his request, Sarkozy, speaking from the prison via video conference, argued he has always met all justice requirements.

“I had never imagined I would experience prison at 70. This ordeal was imposed on me, and I lived through it. It’s hard, very hard,” he said.

Sarkozy also paid tribute to prison staff who he said helped him through “this nightmare.” His wife and two of his sons attended the hearing at the Paris courthouse.

Monday’s proceedings didn’t involve the motives for the sentencing.

Still, Sarkozy told the court he never asked Libya’s longtime ruler Moammar Gadhafi for any financing. “I will never admit something I didn’t do,” he said.

French law provides that release should be the general rule pending appeal, while detention should be reserved for those considered dangerous or at risk of fleeing to another country, or to protect evidence or prevent pressure on witnesses.

Sarkozy’s lawyer, Christophe Ingrain, praised “normal implementation of law” in a brief statement. “The next step is the appeal trial and our work now … is to get prepared for that,” he said.

Banned from meeting justice minister

In a rare decision, the court specifically banned Sarkozy from being in touch with Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin.

Darmanin, a former conservative who once considered Sarkozy as his mentor before rejoining President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist party in 2017, paid him a visit in prison last month. Some French magistrates criticized the move as undermining the independence of judges.

Sarkozy, who governed from 2007 to 2012, faces separate proceedings, including a Nov. 26 ruling by France’s highest court over illegal financing of his failed 2012 reelection bid, and an ongoing investigation into alleged witness tampering in the Libya case.

In 2023, he was found guilty of corruption and influence peddling for trying to bribe a magistrate in exchange for information about a legal case in which he was implicated. France’s highest court, the Court of Cassation, later upheld the verdict.

By MICHELLE CHAPMAN, AP Business Writer

The executive leading Tesla’s Cybertruck business is leaving the Elon Musk-led automaker after eight years.

Siddhant Awasthi, the program manager for Tesla’s Cybertruck and Model 3, said on LinkedIn that it wasn’t an easy decision to depart the company. He did not provide details on what he will be doing next.

Awasthi said he began as an intern at Tesla and was involved in “ramping up Model 3, working on Giga Shanghai, developing new electronics and wireless architectures, and delivering the once-in-a-lifetime Cybertruck – all before hitting 30. The icing on the cake was getting to dive back into Model 3 work toward the end.”

Last month Tesla announced that it was recalling more than 63,000 Cybertrucks in the U.S. because the front lights are too bright, which may cause a distraction to other drivers and increase the risk of a collision.

In March U.S. safety regulators recalled virtually all Cybertrucks on the road. The NHTSA’s recall, which covered more than 46,000 Cybertrucks, warned that an exterior panel that runs along the left and right side of the windshield can detach while driving, creating a dangerous road hazard for other drivers, increasing the risk of a crash.

Tesla reported a fourth straight decline in quarterly profit in October, even as sales rose. The automaker reported third-quarter earnings plunged 37% to $1.4 billion, or 39 cents a share, from $2.2 billion, or 62 cents a share, a year earlier. That marked the fourth quarter in a row that profit dropped. And even the revenue rise, a welcome relief from a sales plunge earlier in the year due to anti-Musk boycotts, came with a significant caveat: Customers rushed to take advantage of a $7,500 federal EV tax credit before it expired on Oct. 1, possibly stealing sales from the current quarter.

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While Tesla continues to have difficulties, last week Musk won a shareholder vote that would give him stock worth $1 trillion if he hits certain performance targets over the next decade. More than 75% of voters approved the plan as shareholders gathered in Austin, Texas, for their annual meeting.

The vote was a resounding victory for Musk, showing investors still have faith in him as Tesla struggles with plunging sales, market share and profits in no small part due to Musk himself. Car buyers fled the company this year as he has ventured into politics both in the U.S. and Europe, and trafficked in conspiracy theories.

Tesla’s stock rose more than 2% before the market open on Monday.

By CHAN HO-HIM, AP Business Writer

HONG KONG (AP) — Vaishnavi Srinivasagopalan, a skilled Indian IT professional who has worked in both India and the U.S., has been looking for work in China. Beijing’s new K-visa program targeting science and technology workers could turn that dream into a reality.

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The K-visa rolled out by Beijing last month is part of China’s widening effort to catch up with the U.S. in the race for global talent and cutting edge technology. It coincides with uncertainties over the U.S.’s H-1B program under tightened immigrations policies implemented by President Donald Trump.

“(The) K-visa for China (is) an equivalent to the H-1B for the U.S.,” said Srinivasagopalan, who is intrigued by China’s working environment and culture after her father worked at a Chinese university a few years back. “It is a good option for people like me to work abroad.”

The K-visa supplements China’s existing visa schemes including the R-visa for foreign professionals, but with loosened requirements, such as not requiring an applicant to have a job offer before applying.

Stricter U.S. policies toward foreign students and scholars under Trump, including the raising of fees for the H-1B visa for foreign skilled workers to $100,000 for new applicants, are leading some non-American professionals and students to consider going elsewhere.

“Students studying in the U.S. hoped for an (H-1B) visa, but currently this is an issue,” said Bikash Kali Das, an Indian masters student of international relations at Sichuan University in China.

China wants more foreign tech professionals

China is striking while the iron is hot.

The ruling Communist Party has made global leadership in advanced technologies a top priority, paying massive government subsidies to support research and development of areas such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors and robotics.

“Beijing perceives the tightening of immigration policies in the U.S. as an opportunity to position itself globally as welcoming foreign talent and investment more broadly,” said Barbara Kelemen, associate director and head of Asia at security intelligence firm Dragonfly.

Unemployment among Chinese graduates remains high, and competition is intense for jobs in scientific and technical fields. But there is a skills gap China’s leadership is eager to fill. For decades, China has been losing top talent to developed countries as many stayed and worked in the U.S. and Europe after they finished studies there.

The brain drain has not fully reversed.

Many Chinese parents still see Western education as advanced and are eager to send their children abroad, said Alfred Wu, an associate professor at the National University of Singapore.

Still, in recent years, a growing number of professionals including AI experts, scientists and engineers have moved to China from the U.S., including Chinese-Americans. Fei Su, a chip architect at Intel, and Ming Zhou, a leading engineer at U.S.-based software firm Altair, were among those who have taken teaching jobs in China this year.

Many skilled workers in India and Southeast Asia have already expressed interest about the K-visa, said Edward Hu, a Shanghai-based immigration director at the consultancy Newland Chase.

Questions about extra competition from foreign workers

With the jobless rate for Chinese aged 16-24 excluding students at nearly 18%, the campaign to attract more foreign professionals is raising questions.

“The current job market is already under fierce competition,” said Zhou Xinying, a 24-year-old postgraduate student in behavioral science at eastern China’s Zhejiang University.

While foreign professionals could help “bring about new technologies” and different international perspectives, Zhou said, “some Chinese young job seekers may feel pressure due to the introduction of the K-visa policy.”

Kyle Huang, a 26-year-old software engineer based in the southern city of Guangzhou, said his peers in the science and technology fields fear the new visa scheme “might threaten local job opportunities”.

A recent commentary published by a state-backed news outlet, the Shanghai Observer, downplayed such concerns, saying that bringing in such foreign professionals will benefit the economy. As China advances in areas such as AI and cutting-edge semiconductors, there is a “gap and mismatch” between qualified jobseekers and the demand for skilled workers, it said.

“The more complex the global environment, the more China will open its arms,” it said.

“Beijing will need to emphasize how select foreign talent can create, not take, local jobs,” said Michael Feller, chief strategist at consultancy Geopolitical Strategy. “But even Washington has shown that this is politically a hard argument to make, despite decades of evidence.”

China’s disadvantages even with the new visas

Recruitment and immigration specialists say foreign workers face various hurdles in China. One is the language barrier. The ruling Communist Party’s internet censorship, known as the “Great Firewall,” is another drawback.

A country of about 1.4 billion, China had only an estimated 711,000 foreign workers residing in the country as of 2023.

The U.S. still leads in research and has the advantage of using English widely. There’s also still a relatively clearer pathway to residency for many, said David Stepat, country director for Singapore at the consultancy Dezan Shira & Associates.

Nikhil Swaminathan, an Indian H1-B visa holder working for a U.S. non-profit organization after finishing graduate school there, is interested in China’s K-visa but skeptical. “I would’ve considered it. China’s a great place to work in tech, if not for the difficult relationship between India and China,” he said.

Given a choice, many jobseekers still are likely to aim for jobs in leading global companies outside China.

“The U.S. is probably more at risk of losing would-be H-1B applicants to other Western economies, including the UK and European Union, than to China,” said Feller at Geopolitical Strategy.

“The U.S. may be sabotaging itself, but it’s doing so from a far more competitive position in terms of its attractiveness to talent,” Feller said. “China will need to do far more than offer convenient visa pathways to attract the best.”

AP writer Fu Ting in Washington and researchers Yu Bing and Shihuan Chen in Beijing contributed.

Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Veterans Day holiday began more than a century ago, albeit under a different name, as a celebration of the end of World War I. Over time its name and purpose evolved into a day of recognition for U.S. veterans of all wars as well as those currently serving in uniform.

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It’s also day off for U.S. postal workers and federal government employees, though most of them are not reporting to work right now during the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.

Many Veterans Day celebrations have been canceled due to the government shutdown.

Veterans Day began as Armistice Day to celebrate the agreement between the Allied nations and Germany to cease all fighting during World War I that took effect at 11 a.m. on Nov. 11, 1918.

The U.S. marked its first Armistice Day under President Woodrow Wilson in 1919. Congress made Nov. 11 an official federal holiday in 1938.

Here’s what is open and closed this year on Veterans Day:

GOVERNMENT

Government offices, post offices and courts are closed. Many public and private schools operate as usual. However, depending on location, some choose to close for the holiday.

BANKS AND MARKETS

U.S. stock markets are open for trading as usual, however the bond market and most banks are closed.

RETAILERS

The vast majority of major retailers — including Walmart, Home Depot and Target — will be open, with many trying to lure customers with promotional sales. Hours may vary by location.

TRAVEL

Veterans Day is not considered a major travel day, however this year air travelers could find their plans upended by the federal government shutdown.

U.S. airlines canceled more than 1,500 flights Saturday and more than 2,900 Sunday to comply with an FAA order to reduce traffic as some air traffic controllers, who have gone unpaid for nearly a month due to the shutdown, have stopped showing up for work.

As of early Monday, airlines had already canceled nearly 1,600 flights for Monday and nearly 1,000 for Tuesday.

The Senate took a first step toward ending the shutdown Sunday, but final passage could still be several days away and experts have said it will take time for flight schedules to return to normal even after the government reopens.