La Syrie rejoint la coalition antijihadiste après une visite historique à Washington
De la liste noire du FBI à la Maison Blanche: Donald Trump a reçu lundi Ahmad al-Chareh, une première pour un chef d’Etat syrien et une consécration pour l’ancien jihadiste, dont le pays va rejoindre la coalition internationale contre le groupe Etat islamique (EI).”Je l’aime bien”, a réagi le président américain après la rencontre, qui …
La Syrie rejoint la coalition antijihadiste après une visite historique à Washington Read More »
Perturbations dans le ciel américain: Trump s’en prend aux contrôleurs aériens
Plus de 2.000 vols ont encore été annulés lundi aux Etats-Unis et Donald Trump a menacé les contrôleurs aériens ne se présentant pas à leur poste de sabrer dans les salaires qui doivent leur être versés après la levée du blocage budgétaire.Si une issue semble se dessiner après un accord au Sénat, le “shutdown” dure …
Perturbations dans le ciel américain: Trump s’en prend aux contrôleurs aériens Read More »
Asian stocks rise as record US shutdown nears end
Most Asian markets rose for the second day in a row Tuesday as US lawmakers edged towards ending a record government shutdown.The prospect of an end to the Washington standoff, which moved into its 41st day Monday, came amid a revival of demand for tech giants despite growing fears of an AI-fuelled bubble.Senators on Capitol Hill passed the compromise budget measure on Monday night after a group of Democrats broke with their party to side with Republicans on a bill to fund departments through January.It is hoped the bill will then pass the Republican-held House of Representatives and head to Donald Trump’s desk, with some suggesting the government could reopen Friday.”It appears to us this morning that our long national nightmare is finally coming to an end, and we’re grateful for that,” House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters Monday. And the US president told reporters in the Oval Office that “we’ll be opening up our country very quickly”, adding that “the deal is very good”.Investors have welcomed the developments, having grown increasingly concerned about the impact of severe disruptions of food benefits to low-income households, and of air travel heading into the Thanksgiving holiday.It has also meant key official data on a range of things, including inflation and jobs, has not been released, leaving traders to focus on private reports for an idea about the economy.The lack of crucial data has also meant the Federal Reserve has been unable to gauge properly whether or not to cut interest rates at its next meeting in December, keeping investors guessing.”Reopening would not only boost sentiment, but also open the way for data releases, which could provide more insight into the health of the US jobs market and, more broadly, the US economy ahead of next month’s Federal Reserve interest-rate decision,” Fiona Cincotta, senior market analyst at City Index wrote in a commentary.Michael Brown at Pepperstone said: “It has typically been the ‘rule of thumb’ that every week of a shutdown subtracts around 0.1 percentage point from US GDP growth in the quarter in question, with the sum total of that lost output then recouped the following month.”Arguably, the economic hit from the current shutdown, in the last week or so at least, could be somewhat larger, given factors like the mounting number of air traffic delays.”He added that a reopening would allow markets “to re-focus on what remains a solid bull case of the underlying economy remaining robust, earnings growth proving resilient, the monetary backdrop continuing to loosen and a calmer tone being taken on trade”.But, he warned, “the assumptions underpinning that bull case will now come under the microscope”Most Asian markets built on Monday’s gains, with Tokyo, Hong Kong, Seoul, Singapore and Taipei all up, though there were losses in Shanghai, Sydney, Manila and Wellington.The positive start to the day came after a rally on Wall Street fanned by another surge in tech giants including Amazon and Nvidia.The sector has come under pressure in recent weeks amid worries that valuations could be in for a drop from their stratospheric highs, having been stoked by hundreds of billions of dollars of AI investment this year.- Key figures at 0230 GMT -Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.4 percent at 51,131.28 (break)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 0.1 percent at 26,680.73Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.3 percent at 4,008.61Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1556 from $1.1563 on MondayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3168 from $1.3182Dollar/yen: UP at 154.33 yen from 154.03 yenEuro/pound: DOWN at 87.76 pence from 88.00 penceWest Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.4 percent at $59.90 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.4 percent at $63.83 per barrelNew York – Dow: UP 0.8 percent at 47,368.63 (close)London – FTSE 100: UP 1.1 percent at 9,787.15 (close)
Indian forensic teams scour deadly Delhi car explosion
Indian crime scene investigators scoured through the wreckage of a car on Tuesday that exploded hours earlier in the heart of the capital, killing at least eight people.Police have not given details on the cause of the explosion, which also left at least 19 people injured, when intense flames ripped through other vehicles near the landmark Red Fort in the crowded Old Delhi quarter of the city.Home Minister Amit Shah told reporters late Monday that the security forces were “keeping all angles open”, adding it was “very difficult to say what caused the incident” until forensic samples had been analysed.At dawn on Tuesday, AFP reporters at the site of the explosion said police white sheets had been erected around the charred remains of vehicles overnight.Both forensic and anti-terrorism agencies were searching for evidence, while security was increased across New Delhi.Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered his condolences to the families of those killed, and said he had “reviewed the situation” with Shah.”Condolences to those who have lost their loved ones in the blast in Delhi… may the injured recover at the earliest,” Modi said in a statement.The 17th century Red Fort is one of India’s most well-known landmarks.Prime ministers address the nation from its ramparts on Independence Day, and it features on the largest banknote.- ‘People were burning’ -Both forensic and anti-terrorism agencies were deployed at the site.Citing hospital authorities, New Delhi’s deputy chief fire officer AK Malik told AFP that “eight people have died so far and 19 are injured”.The Press Trust of India news agency on Tuesday reported that the toll had risen to nine dead.Eyewitnesses described to AFP how the car exploded in traffic and how people caught up in the surge of flames were set on fire.”I saw the car explode while it was moving,” said Dharmindra Dhaga, 27.”People were on fire and we tried to save them… Cars and people were burning — people inside the cars were burning,” he added. “I was telling the public to save them, rescue them, and get them out. The public was busy making videos and taking photos.”After the explosion, at the city’s LNJP hospital, the emergency ward was chaotic as injured people streamed in and doctors rushed to attend to them.A woman broke down outside the ward where her husband was being treated. “I can’t bear to see him like that,” she said, as her brother tried to console her.Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi said in a statement that the deaths from the explosion were “heartbreaking”.The US State Department said its “hearts are with those affected by the terrible explosion”, and that it would “continue to closely monitor the situation”.
Trump says firebrand ally Greene has ‘lost her way’ after criticism
It used to be a political match made in MAGA heaven.But US President Donald Trump fell out with hard-right lawmaker Marjorie Taylor Greene on Monday, saying she had “lost her way” after a series of critical comments.The firebrand Republican congresswoman from Georgia was previously a diehard pro-Trump supporter but has emerged as an unlikely — and rare — dissenting voice on a host of issues.In recent months Greene, 51, has broken ranks with the 79-year-old president on issues ranging from Gaza to the affordability crisis.The final straw came when she urged him to focus on domestic issues instead of foreign policy, as Trump hosted Syria’s former jihadist president at the White House on Monday.”I don’t know what happened to Marjorie. She’s a nice woman, but I don’t know what happened. She’s lost her way, I think,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office when asked about her comments.Trump said Greene was “now catering to the other side” and said she had “got some kind of an act going.””I’m surprised at her. But when somebody like Marjorie goes over and starts making statements like that, it shows she doesn’t know.”Greene’s sudden shift has prompted speculation that she is lining up for her own presidential bid in 2028, although she has dismissed it as “baseless gossip.” The change is especially jarring as she made her name as a fierce defender of Trump’s policies — particularly to foreign media, whom she lashed out at in a number of clips that went viral.She also embraced QAnon conspiracy theories and in 2018 asserted that California wildfires were ignited by a space laser controlled by the Jewish Rothschild family.- ‘Affordability is a problem’ -But Greene has increasingly taken a softer tone, and one that is at odds with Trump on a growing number of issues.The first signs came when she split with other Republicans over the summer when she called Israel’s war in Gaza a “genocide.”Then she became a leading voice calling for justice for victims of notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, despite Trump trying to dampen the reignited furor over the case.More recently, Greene has been critical on healthcare and particularly the cost of living crisis, telling CNN that “affordability is a problem” — just hours after Trump said that “I don’t want to hear about the affordability.” She even appeared on the ABC television program “The View”, a morning show widely viewed as left-leaning that previously hosted Democratic then-president Joe Biden and vice president Kamala Harris.Then ahead of the visit of Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, whom she branded a “former Al-Qaeda terrorist”, Greene said that “I would really like to see nonstop meetings at the WH on domestic policy not foreign policy.”Her comments, while more direct, in fact echoed Vice President JD Vance’s remark last week that Republicans need to focus on the “home front” after heavy losses to Democrats in elections in New York, New Jersey and Virginia.Trump defended his focus on foreign policy on Monday. “It’s easy to say, ‘Oh don’t worry about the world,’ but the world is turning out to be our biggest customer,” he said.
La Syrie rejoint la coalition antijihadiste après une visite historique à Washington
De la liste noire du FBI à la Maison Blanche: Donald Trump a reçu lundi Ahmad al-Chareh, une première pour un chef d’Etat syrien et une consécration pour l’ancien jihadiste, dont le pays va rejoindre la coalition internationale contre le groupe Etat islamique (EI).”Je l’aime bien”, a réagi le président américain après la rencontre, qui s’est déroulée loin des caméras, en ajoutant: “Nous ferons tout ce que nous pouvons pour que la Syrie réussisse.””Il a un passé brutal, et je pense, franchement, que sans passé brutal, vous n’avez aucune chance”, a encore dit Donald Trump.Il avait déjà exprimé sa sympathie pour le président intérimaire, dont la coalition islamiste a renversé le dirigeant de longue date Bachar al-Assad en décembre 2024, pendant leur toute première rencontre, en mai dans le Golfe.Comme largement attendu, cette visite a été l’occasion d’annoncer l’entrée de la Syrie dans la coalition internationale antijihadiste menée par les Etats-Unis, visant l’EI.”La Syrie deviendra ainsi le 90e membre de la coalition contre Daech”, a déclaré un responsable américain ayant requis l’anonymat, utilisant l’acronyme arabe de l’EI. Selon lui, Damas va désormais “s’associer aux Etats-Unis pour éliminer les derniers foyers de Daech et mettre un terme à l’afflux de combattants étrangers”.Dans une interview à Fox News, le président syrien avait peu avant assuré que ce sujet devait encore être discuté.Historique, la visite d’Ahmad al-Chareh est toutefois restée relativement discrète: il est passé par une entrée latérale, sans le protocole habituellement réservé aux chefs d’Etat et de gouvernement étrangers, que le président américain vient presque toujours accueillir sur le perron.Les journalistes n’ont pas non plus été conviés dans le Bureau ovale en présence des deux dirigeants.Après près de deux heures à la Maison Blanche, Ahmad al-Chareh a salué des partisans qui l’acclamaient.- “Observer les développements” -Le département d’Etat a par ailleurs annoncé une nouvelle pause des sanctions américaines de la loi César, en attendant que le Congrès ne les lève éventuellement pour de bon.Il s’agit d’une pause pour 180 jours de cette loi adoptée en 2019 qui imposait des sanctions américaines drastiques contre le gouvernement de Bachar al-Assad, bannissant le pays du système bancaire international et des transactions financières en dollars. Elle avait déjà été suspendue en mai.Les Etats-Unis ont aussi autorisé à la Syrie de reprendre les activités de son ambassade à Washington, a fait savoir le même responsable ayant requis l’anonymat.Les Etats-Unis, eux, prévoient d’établir une base militaire près de Damas, “pour coordonner l’aide humanitaire et observer les développements entre la Syrie et Israël”, selon une source diplomatique en Syrie.Vendredi, Washington avait déjà retiré le dirigeant syrien de la liste noire des terroristes. Depuis 2017 et jusqu’à décembre dernier, le FBI offrait une récompense de 10 millions de dollars pour toute information menant à l’arrestation du leader de l’ancienne branche locale d’Al-Qaïda, le groupe Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).Jeudi, le Conseil de sécurité de l’ONU avait aussi levé les sanctions contre Ahmad al-Chareh, à l’initiative des Etats-Unis.- “Très important” -Dès sa prise de pouvoir, le dirigeant syrien a rompu avec son passé, multipliant les ouvertures vers l’Occident et les Etats de la région, dont Israël avec lequel son pays est théoriquement en guerre.Il a toutefois aussi promis de “redéfinir” la relation de son pays avec la Russie de Vladimir Poutine, allié clé de Bachar al-Assad, qu’il a rencontré à Moscou il y a moins d’un mois. “Trump amène Chareh à la Maison Blanche pour dire qu’il n’est plus un terroriste (…) mais un dirigeant pragmatique et, surtout, flexible qui, sous la direction américaine et saoudienne, fera de la Syrie un pilier régional stratégique”, explique l’analyste Nick Heras.”Avoir une Syrie stable et prospère est très important pour tous les pays de la région”, a en effet affirmé Donald Trump sur son réseau Truth Social.En mai, Donald Trump avait pressé son homologue syrien de rejoindre les accords d’Abraham, qui ont vu plusieurs pays arabes reconnaître Israël en 2020. Sur Fox News, Ahmad al-Chareh a déclaré qu’il n’entrerait pas tout de suite dans des négociations directes avec Israël.
What next after Iraq’s general election?
Iraqis head to the polls on Tuesday to elect a new parliament for a four-year term in a vote that will be closely watched in Washington and Tehran. Here is a look at what could come next and what the regional impact could be.- What happens after the vote? -Iraq’s Supreme Court must first ratify the election results.Two weeks later, the newly elected members of parliament should convene for a swearing-in ceremony and to choose their speaker, who by convention should be a member from the Sunni community.Within 30 days of their first meeting, lawmakers should elect the country’s president, who must be a Kurd and receive a two-thirds majority vote.The president then has to appoint within 15 days a prime minister, who will be named by the largest Shiite bloc, formed through post-election alliances.Once the prime minister is chosen, he has one month to form a government and present it to parliament for a vote of confidence.But these processes are often challenging, with deadlines frequently missed due to political bickering among rival factions.Parties tend to delay votes, opting instead for intensive talks, which can impact not only parliamentary proceedings but also cause unrest.- How is the government formed? -Naming a PM and forming a government has proven to be the most taxing post-election process.In previous parliaments, parties from the Shiite majority have struck compromise deals to work together and form a government.With an outright majority almost impossible to achieve by any single list, the next leader will be voted in by whichever coalition can attract allies and become the biggest bloc.In 2021, influential Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr’s bloc emerged as the biggest winner in parliament but still fell far short of an outright majority.He withdrew from parliament following a dispute with Shiite parties that did not support his bid to form a majority government.Instead, influential parties came together under the umbrella of the Coordination Framework and formed a larger bloc of pro-Iran groups and factions that brought PM Mohammed Shia al-Sudani to power. – What is the regional impact? – Like his predecessor, the next prime minister will have to maintain the delicate balance between Iraq’s allies, Iran and the US. Since the US-led invasion, Iran has seen its Shiite allies installed in Baghdad’s halls of power.For more than two decades, Tehran has held a major sway in Iraqi politics. It does not only back influential politicians but also supports armed groups.But the “Iranians are the weakest they’ve been” since 2003, said political analyst Hamzeh Hadad.The past two years have seen Israel inflict heavy losses on Iran-backed groups including Palestinian militants Hamas, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Huthis in Yemen.Iran itself was on the receiving end of an unprecedented Israeli bombing campaign in June.Tehran has several interests in Iraq ahead of the vote: retaining its influence, challenging the US with powerful Tehran-backed armed groups, and keeping the Iraqi market open to products from its crippled economy.But the Iranians “know it is not in their best interest to show much public interference” in Iraq, their only close regional ally that stayed out of Israel’s crosshairs, said Hadad.”Even when Iran is weak, it’s not necessary that it has to flex. It has just become a natural response of Iraqi leaders to give Iran more precedence,” he said.Washington on the other hand wants the opposite: to cripple Iran’s influence.It has long pressured Iraq to disarm Iran-backed groups.By sanctioning Iraqi entities and banks, it has sought to undermine Iran’s ability to evade sanctions — a strategy it is expected to maintain after Tuesday’s vote.