France issues third arrest warrant against Syria’s ex-leader Assad
French magistrates this summer issued a new arrest warrant against ousted Syrian president Bashar al-Assad over deadly chemical attacks in 2013, a judicial source said on Thursday.This means France has now put out three separate arrest warrants against the former dictator exiled in Russia, who ruled Syria from 2000 until he was toppled last year after more than 14 years of devastating civil war.French investigators have since 2021 been looking into suspected Syrian government chemical attacks on Adra and Douma outside Damascus on August 4-5, 2013, and in Eastern Ghouta on August 21.Around 450 people were hurt in the first attack, while American intelligence says over 1,000 were killed with sarin nerve gas in East Ghouta, a suburb of Syrian capital Damascus.Magistrates had in 2023 issued an arrest warrant in the chemical attacks case while Assad was still president, but the country’s highest court in July annulled it over it being ordered while his presidential immunity still applied.This new arrest warrant issued after his fall from power replaces the previous one. It accuses him of complicity in crimes against humanity and complicity in war crimes in the chemical attack case.Also in the same case, magistrates issued a warrant against Talal Makhlouf, the former commander of the Syrian Republican Guard’s 105th Brigade, the judicial source said.Assad and his family fled to Russia, according to Russian authorities, after Islamist-led fighters seized power on December 8.Two other French warrants are already out for Assad’s arrest.One was issued in January for suspected complicity in war crimes for a bombing in the Syrian city of Deraa in 2017 whose victims included a French-Syrian civilian.And another was issued in August over the bombardment of a press centre in the rebel-held city in 2012 that killed two journalists.Marie Colvin, 56, an American working for The Sunday Times of Britain, and French photographer Remi Ochlik, 28, were killed on February 22, 2012 by the explosion in the eastern city of Homs, which is being investigated by the French judiciary as a potential crime against humanity as well as a war crime.Ahead of Syria’s new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa visiting Russia last week, a Syrian government official told AFP that the new president would ask President Vladimir Putin to hand over Assad.But after the meeting neither Sharaa nor Putin publicly mentioned extraditing Assad, who Russia says it is protecting on “humanitarian grounds”.Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov confirmed early last week that the ousted Syrian leader was still living in Moscow.The Syrian civil war, which erupted in 2011 with Assad’s brutal repression of anti-government protests, killed over half a million people.
NBA coach, player arrested in illegal gambling probe: US media
Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier have been arrested in connection with a probe into illegal gambling, US media reported Thursday.ABC News, citing law enforcement sources, said the arrest of the 49-year-old Billups was linked to an illegal poker operation tied to the Mafia.Rozier was arrested in a separate but related betting case, the television network said.CBS News said FBI Director Kash Patel was scheduled to make an announcement concerning the arrests in New York at 10:00 am (1400 GMT).A former star player for the Detroit Pistons, Billups retired from the league in 2014 and has been the coach of the Trailblazers for five years.ABC said Billups would make a first court appearance in Oregon later Thursday.Rozier, 31, has been in the NBA for 11 years and was the 16th overall pick by the Boston Celtics in the 2015 draft.He did not play in the Heat’s opening game of the NBA season on Wednesday.An NBA player, Jontay Porter of the Toronto Raptors, was banned from the league for life last year for his role in a betting scandal.
Vance rejects any West Bank annexation as Rubio heads to Israel
US Vice President JD Vance said Thursday that Israel would not move to annex the occupied West Bank, after Washington warned that such a step could jeopardise a fragile US-brokered truce in Gaza.Israeli lawmakers on Wednesday advanced two bills paving the way for West Bank annexation, days after President Donald Trump secured a ceasefire deal aimed at ending Israel’s two-year offensive in Gaza, launched after Hamas’s October 2023 attacks.”If it was a political stunt it was a very stupid political stunt and I personally take some insult to it,” Vance said, as he wrapped up his three-day visit to Israel.”The West Bank is not going to be annexed by Israel, the policy of the Trump administration is that the West Bank will not be annexed by Israel, that will continue to be our policy.”The vote was boycotted and criticised by Likud, the right-wing party of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, although far-right members of his ruling coalition support annexation.Ahead of his arrival later on Thursday, Washington’s top diplomat, Marco Rubio, warned that annexation moves risked undermining the fragile ceasefire in Gaza.He said they were “threatening for the peace deal,” as he boarded a plane for Israel.”At this time, it’s something that we… think might be counterproductive,” Rubio said.Asked about increased violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank, Rubio said: “We’re concerned about anything that threatens to destabilise what we’ve worked on.”- Red line -Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967, and violence there has surged since the start of the war in Gaza.According to the Ramallah-based Palestinian health ministry, Israeli troops and settlers have killed nearly 1,000 Palestinians, including militants and civilians, since October 2023.Over the same period, at least 43 Israelis, including members of the security forces, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or Israeli operations, official figures show.The United States remains Israel’s primary military and diplomatic supporter, and Rubio until recently had steered clear of criticising annexation moves championed by Netanyahu’s far-right allies.But a number of Arab and Muslim countries, which Washington has been courting in a bid to provide troops and money for a stabilisation force in Gaza, have warned that the West Bank’s annexation was a red line.Hamas’s moderate rivals in the Palestinian Authority exercise limited self-rule in parts of the West Bank.- Daily threats to truce -Rubio is the latest in a string of top US officials to visit Israel to shore up the ceasefire, which he said would face challenges.”Every day there’ll be threats to it, but I actually think we’re ahead of schedule in terms of bringing it together, and the fact that we made it through this weekend is a good sign,” Rubio said.He continued, “now we have to make sure that it continues and that we continue to build upon it.”The truce faced its toughest test on Sunday, when Israeli forces launched strikes in Gaza after two soldiers were killed. The strikes killed at least 45 Palestinians, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.Gaza’s Nasser Hospital said that one person was killed in an Israeli drone strike on Thursday in the Khan Yunis area.The Israeli military told AFP that it conducted a strike that killed a “terrorist who was approaching troops” after crossing the yellow line — where troops are stationed.During his visit, Vance warned that disarming Hamas while rebuilding Gaza would be a challenge.”We have a very, very tough task ahead of us, which is to disarm Hamas but rebuild Gaza, to make life better for the people of Gaza, but also to ensure that Hamas is no longer a threat to our friends in Israel,” Vance said Wednesday.Under Trump’s 20-point peace plan, an international security force drawn from Arab and Muslim allies would oversee Gaza’s transition as Israeli troops withdraw.US troops would not be deployed inside Gaza.- ‘Children’s future slipping away’ -In a briefing, Foreign Minister Gideon Saar accused Hamas of delaying the return of remaining hostage bodies “in order to delay the second phase of laying down its arms”.The group says it needs time to recover them from under the rubble of the Gaza Strip.In the Palestinian territory, civilians displaced by two years of war continued to struggle.”We were afraid of dying during the war, and now we’re afraid of living after it,” said Maher Abu Wafah, 42.”Our lives and our children’s future are slipping away before our eyes. We just want a stable life.”A senior UN official warned Wednesday of “generational” impacts in Gaza from malnutrition among pregnant women and babies, urging a surge of aid to help prevent potential lifelong health issues.Andrew Saberton, deputy executive director of the UN Population Fund, said 11,500 pregnant women face “catastrophic” conditions, with starvation posing severe risks to both mothers and newborns.
Budget: le RN propose 36 milliards d’économies, principalement via des baisses de dépenses
Le RN a présenté jeudi son contre-budget pour 2026, proposant de réaliser 36 milliards d’euros d’économies pour réduire le déficit, avec dans le détail 50 milliards de baisse des dépenses et 14 milliards de baisses des recettes.”Remettre l’Etat à la bonne place, arrêter les dépenses inutiles, inefficaces, voire toxiques et surtout répondre aux préoccupations des Français”, tel est l’objectif du Rassemblement national, dont le contre-budget doit servir de “ligne directrice” durant les discussions budgétaires, a résumé la présidente du groupe des députés RN, Marine Le Pen.Le projet de budget du gouvernement propose un effort global d’une trentaine de milliards d’euros pour 2026, entre hausse des prélèvements (14 milliards) et économies de dépenses (17 milliards). Les députés discuteront à partir de vendredi en séance de la partie recettes du budget de l’Etat, qu’ils ont rejetée en commission dans la nuit de mercredi à jeudi.Le contre-budget RN liste 32,4 milliards de “dépenses inefficaces”. Parmi elles, la baisse de la contribution française à l’Union européenne (8,7), la baisse des moyens dévolus aux “agences et opérateurs” de l’Etat (7,7) et la baisse de l’Aide publique au développement (2,3).Le parti pousse le curseur plus loin que l’an dernier pour les deux premiers postes, où il envisageait des baisses de 5 milliards et 3,4 milliards d’euros.Autre poste d’économies (11,9 milliards): l’immigration, avec notamment l’obligation de cinq ans de travail à temps plein pour les étrangers qui souhaitent bénéficier d’un certain nombre de prestations de solidarité, ou la transformation de l’aide médicale d’État en aide médicale d’urgence.Côté recettes, le budget prévoit 45 milliards de baisses ou de suppressions d’impôts (baisse de la TVA sur les énergies, suppression de la TVA sur 100 produits de première nécessité…) et 31 milliards de recettes nouvelles (avec notamment un impôt sur la fortune financière, une taxe sur les superdividendes, ou encore un plan de lutte contre les fraudes). Il envisage 7 milliards de nouvelles dépenses, notamment avec le dégel des prestations sociales, mais aussi le financement de la réforme des retraites du RN (1,5 milliard). Sur la suspension de la réforme des retraites prévue par le gouvernement dans le projet de budget de la Sécurité sociale, “nous sommes pour”, a rappelé Mme Le Pen. Mais il y a dans les textes budgétaires du gouvernement “des choix que l’on ne peut pas soutenir”, a-t-elle aussi ajouté, sans préciser si le Rassemblement national pourrait s’abstenir sur le projet de budget de la Sécurité sociale pour laisser passer cette mesure.
“Comment je fais, moi, pour manger?”: des fonctionnaires américains asphyxiés par la paralysie budgétaire
“Faut bien que je vive”, lance d’un ton amer Diane Miller, 74 ans, au milieu d’un parking en banlieue de Washington. A ses côtés, des centaines d’employés fédéraux, étranglés économiquement par la paralysie budgétaire aux Etats-Unis, font la queue devant une distribution d’aide alimentaire.Son tour arrive, elle montre sa carte de fonctionnaire de l’Etat fédéral et reçoit deux cartons: un de fruits et légumes frais, un de denrées non périssables. Une aide “nécessaire” depuis que sa fiche de paie affiche le chiffre “0”.La grande majorité des employés fédéraux ont été placés au chômage technique depuis le 1er octobre et ne touchent plus leur salaire à cause du fameux “shutdown”, faute d’accord entre les républicains de Donald Trump et l’opposition démocrate sur le budget américain.”C’est horrible, on en souffre tous. J’ai travaillé plus de 50 ans pour l’Etat et je me retrouve ici, dans cette file, à venir chercher de la nourriture. Sans ça, comment je fais, moi, pour manger?”, lance, les yeux brillants de colère, Diane Miller.Pour accompagner les fonctionnaires, des distributions de nourriture sont organisées à travers le pays. Mercredi près de Washington, les plus de 310 cartons, contenant chacun l’équivalent de 75 dollars de course, ont été distribués en moins d’une heure.”Ces gens, il y a encore deux semaines, recevaient un salaire régulier et menaient une vie normale. Soudain, ils se sont retrouvés sans rien et font la queue pour recevoir de la nourriture”, soupire Dave Silbert, à la tête de la banque alimentaire qui co-organise la distribution.”Personne ne mérite d’être traité comme nous le sommes actuellement”, fustige Diane Miller, qui travaille pour la Fema, l’agence gouvernementale mobilisée en cas de catastrophe naturelle, qui a vu ses effectifs fondre sous les assauts de Donald Trump.Pour elle, il n’est plus question de faire des dépenses “inutiles”, et encore moins d’aller au restaurant.- “Triste d’être Américaine” -Dans la file d’attente, Adrian, qui préfère taire son nom de famille par crainte de représailles, lâche dans un flot de parole: “On peut à peine payer nos emprunts bancaires et avec les factures du quotidien, comme le téléphone et tout, ça fait effet domino. J’ai besoin d’aide. Ça ne devrait pas être le cas après 33 ans au service de mon pays.””Tout le monde est payé: les députés, les sénateurs. Alors que nous, non. Si on n’est pas payés, ils ne devraient pas l’être non plus.”Cette experte en droit fiscal pointe du doigt la politique de Donald Trump, et notamment les drastiques coupes dans les emplois fédéraux effectuées en début d’année via sa commission à l’efficacité gouvernementale, Doge, chapeautée par Elon Musk: “Tout le monde nous voit maintenant comme un ennemi, alors qu’on fait juste notre travail.””Combien de temps ça va durer?” La paralysie budgétaire, qui s’étire depuis 22 jours, est d’ores et déjà la deuxième plus longue de l’histoire du pays.La question angoisse Amber, employée des ressources humaines de l’armée américaine qui n’a pas souhaité être identifiée: “J’ai très peur que ça dure encore longtemps. Je suis dans une situation très précaire, en plein divorce, et maintenant, sans salaire, j’ai du mal à joindre les deux bouts.”Elle dit qu’elle vient d’emprunter 20.000 dollars pour payer des loyers. “Je suis ici aujourd’hui parce que je dois bien nourrir mes deux enfants…”, glisse-t-elle.”Si ça dure jusqu’aux vacances de Thanksgiving (fin novembre, ndlr), puis jusqu’à l’hiver, ce sera la +cata+!”, renchérit Diane Miller.D’un sourire crispé, la septuagénaire soupire: “Aujourd’hui, je suis triste d’être Américaine.”