India eyes new markets with US trade deal limbo
India is aggressively seeking trade deals to open markets for exporters and soften the blow of steep US tariffs, as efforts to secure an agreement with Washington remain elusive.Relations between Washington and New Delhi plummeted in August after President Donald Trump raised tariffs to 50 percent, a blow that threatens job losses and hurts India’s ambition of becoming a manufacturing and export powerhouse.That pressure, experts say, has pushed New Delhi into a rapid diversification drive beyond its biggest market.India signed or operationalised four trade agreements last year, including a major pact with Britain — the fastest pace of dealmaking it has seen in years — and is now eyeing fresh deals.Negotiations are underway with the European Union, the Eurasian Economic Union, Mexico, Chile and the South American Mercosur trade bloc, either for new deals or to expand existing agreements.If successful, India would have trade arrangements with “almost every major economy”, said Ajay Srivastava, from the New Delhi-based Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI).Srivastava said 2025 was “one of the most active years” for trade agreements, which he said aimed to “spread risk” rather than to pivot from Washington.- ‘Expand its destinations’ -Washington’s punishing tariffs aimed at stopping India’s purchases of Russian oil — which it says finances Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine — have driven New Delhi’s desire to grow other markets.”The strategy was a reaction, as I read it, to what Trump did,” trade economist Biswajit Dhar told AFP. “This has now become an imperative for India to actually expand its destinations.”Major deals will help labour-intensive sectors hurt by tariffs.India’s apparel export promotion council projects that the UK trade deal could help double garment exports to Britain over the next three years.The gains from a potential EU agreement could be even bigger.European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, expected to visit New Delhi later in January, has said it would be the “largest deal of this kind anywhere in the world”.Although the two sides missed a deadline to conclude talks by the end of 2025 — reportedly over disputes related to steel and auto exports — Indian negotiators remain optimistic.German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will visit India and meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday, holding talks on “intensifying cooperation in trade and investment”, Modi’s office said in a statement.Smaller agreements also matter.Trade between Oman and India totalled less than $11 billion last financial year, but a December deal with Muscat offers “a gateway to the broader Middle East and Africa markets”, and a template for a wider “Gulf engagement strategy”, analysts at Nomura suggested.And while a free trade agreement (FTA) with New Zealand added little to Indian export growth, it secured $20 billion in foreign investment, increased visa access and showed Washington that New Delhi is willing to compromise.”The New Zealand FTA makes concessions on agricultural produce like apples, even though farmers here may have concerns,” said an Indian commerce ministry official, who declined to be identified. “Who says we can’t be flexible?” – ‘Eggs in one basket’ -India’s goods exports rose a surprising 19 percent in November 2025, reversing an October decline.While the surge was helped by electronics shipments — still exempt from US tariffs — marine product exports also posted gains.”Diversification has certainly happened,” KN Raghavan, of the Seafood Exporter Association of India said.”We have increased exports to the EU and China,” he said, adding they were the top markets after the United States.But exporters caution that alternative markets cannot fully replace the United States, with Raghavan saying a US deal is “paramount”.That remains in limbo.India’s imports of Russian oil fell sharply in December to 1.2 million barrels per day from 1.8 million per day in November, according to Kpler trade data.It is unclear if that will be enough for Trump.Pankaj Chadha, chairman of the Engineering Export Promotion Council, said diversification had become a necessity to lessen dependence on the “biggest and the most lucrative” market.”It’s better not to put all your eggs in one basket,” he said.
Week-end de protestations aux Etats-Unis contre la police de l’immigration
De nombreux rassemblements se sont tenus samedi à travers les Etats-Unis pour protester contre les méthodes de la police fédérale de l’immigration (ICE), après le tir mortel de l’un de ses agents contre une femme de 37 ans à Minneapolis.Dans cette ville du nord du pays, des milliers d’habitants ont bravé le froid (-7 degrés) …
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Syrie: les forces kurdes quittent Alep après des jours de combats meurtriers
Les forces kurdes en Syrie ont annoncé dimanche l’évacuation de leurs combattants des deux quartiers où ils étaient retranchés à Alep, après plusieurs jours de combats meurtriers contre les forces gouvernementales.”Nous sommes parvenus à un accord qui a conduit à un cessez-le-feu et permis l’évacuation des martyrs, des blessés, des civils pris au piège et …
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Novel concept: China’s spellbinding bookstores draw selfie snappers
Towering accordion steps and a fantastical spiral staircase greet visitors to a massive bookstore in northern China’s Tianjin, where its striking interior is a bigger draw for selfie snappers than scholars.Sales of hard-copy books across the country have failed to bounce back to pre-pandemic levels, data shows, despite authorities’ efforts to boost domestic consumption and an e-commerce boom.Yet in recent years the number of physical bookshops has “maintained steady growth”, the head of a publishing industry group said last January.”A wave of bookstores with unique characteristics” has emerged, Ai Limin said.Tianjin’s Zhongshuge, which opened in September 2024, on social media draws comparisons to Harry Potter’s gothic Hogwarts.”The photos come out looking really beautiful,” said graduate student Li Mengting, who stepped inside to snap some pictures when visiting the city with a friend.But the 24-year-old, wearing a fuzzy cropped parka and a matching shoulder bag, struggled to find the perfect spot because there were “truly a lot of people inside”, she said.Tourists wielding selfie sticks and tripods thronged the central cobalt-coloured stairs, which extend into massive three-storey columns that arch onto the ceiling.Faded prints that read “The Best Spot for Photos” were plastered on the ground.- Renewed shelf life -Some bookstores in China now invest in creating interiors meant to be photographed, said Beijing-based architect Zheng Shiwei.”This has become relatively mainstream,” Zheng, whose firm the China Architecture Design and Research Group is also involved in bookstore projects, said. But, he warned, “that might lead to a lot of people going not just for the purpose of reading, which may result in some unintended consequences”.Last June, a bookstore in the eastern city of Nanjing that had become a tourist hotspot posted a notice banning flash photography, tripods, loitering and photoshoots staged without permission.The nonstop pictures at Librairie Avant-Garde “interfered with reading,” said finance worker Yuan Jia, who is from Nanjing and an avid reader.But Zheng, the architect, said bookstores curating photo-taking spaces should be encouraged.”At least people are ‘punching in’ at bookstores, right? Instead of doing that elsewhere,” Zheng said.At a bookstore in the heart of Beijing converted from a former Taoist temple, dozens of tourists strolled in to browse tables of trinkets and order tea.”Books bring in relatively low profit,” said founder Juli Hu, who opened the store in 2024.She said she welcomes people who take photos to post online and frequently sets up new cultural displays.”Selling books definitely cannot be the core of what sustains an entire bookstore,” Hu said. “There must be other things.”
Syria’s Kurdish fighters agree to leave Aleppo after deadly clashes
Syria’s Kurdish fighters said Sunday that they agreed under a ceasefire to withdraw from Aleppo after days of fighting government forces in the city. Hours earlier, Syria’s military said it had finished operations in the Kurdish-held Sheikh Maqsud neighbourhood with state television reporting that Kurdish fighters who surrendered were being bused to the north. The military had already announced its seizure of Aleppo’s other Kurdish-held neighbourhood, Ashrafiyeh.Kurdish forces had controlled pockets of Syria’s second city Aleppo and operate a de facto autonomous administration across swathes of the north and northeast, much of it captured during the 14-year civil war.The latest clashes erupted after negotiations to integrate the Kurds into the country’s new government stalled.”We reached an understanding that led to a ceasefire and secured the evacuation of the martyrs, the wounded, the trapped civilians and the fighters from Ashrafiyeh and Sheikh Maqsud neighbourhoods to northern and eastern Syria,” the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) wrote in a statement.Syria’s official SANA news agency reported that “buses carrying the last batch of members of the SDF organisation have left the Sheikh Maqsud neighbourhood in Aleppo, heading towards northeastern Syria”.The SDF initially denied its fighters were leaving, describing the bus transfers as forced displacement of civilians. An AFP correspondent saw at least five buses on Saturday carrying men out of Sheikh Maqsud, but could not independently verify their identities.According to the SDF statement, the ceasefire was reached “through the mediation of international parties to stop the attacks and violations against our people in Aleppo”. The United States and European Union both called for the Syrian government and Kurdish authorities to return to political dialogue.The fighting, some of the most intense since the ousting of long-time ruler Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, has killed at least 21 civilians, according to figures from both sides, while Aleppo’s governor said 155,000 people fled their homes.Both sides blamed the other for starting the clashes on Tuesday.- Children ‘still inside’ -On the outskirts of Sheikh Maqsud, families who had been trapped by the fighting were leaving, accompanied by Syrian security forces.An AFP correspondent saw men carrying children on their backs board buses headed to shelters.Dozens of young men in civilian clothing were separated from the crowd, with security forces making them sit on the ground before transporting them to an unknown destination, according to the correspondent.A Syrian security official told AFP on condition of anonymity that the young men were “fighters” being “transferred to Syrian detention centres”.At the entrance to the district, 60-year-old Imad al-Ahmad was heading in the opposite direction, trying to seek permission to return home.”I left four days ago…I took refuge at my sister’s house,” he told AFP. “I don’t know if we’ll be able to return today.”Nahed Mohammad Qassab, a 40-year-old widow also waiting to return, said she left before the fighting to attend a funeral.”My three children are still inside, at my neighbour’s house. I want to get them out,” she said. A flight suspension at Aleppo airport was extended until further notice.- ‘Return to dialogue’ -US envoy Tom Barrack met Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Saturday, and afterwards called for a “return to dialogue” with the Kurds in accordance with the integration framework agreed in March. The deal was meant to be implemented last year, but differences, including Kurdish demands for decentralised rule, stymied progress as Damascus repeatedly rejected the idea.The fighting in Aleppo raised fears of a regional escalation, with neighbouring Turkey, a close ally of Syria’s new Islamist authorities, saying it was ready to intervene. Israel has sided with the Kurdish forces. The clashes have also tested the Syrian authorities’ ability to reunify the country after the brutal civil war and commitment to protecting minorities, after sectarian bloodshed rocked the country’s Alawite and Druze communities last year.
Maduro loyalists stage modest rally as Venezuelan govt courts US
Several hundred supporters of deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro staged protests in the capital Saturday, a week after his capture by US forces, as the interim government moved to revive ties with Washington and slowly released some prisoners.Waving flags and placards with the face of the mustachioed ex-leader and his wife Cilia, around 1,000 protesters rallied in the west of Caracas and a few hundred in the eastern Petare district — far smaller than demonstrations Maduro’s camp has mustered in the past.”I’ll march as often as I have to until Nicolas and Cilia come back,” demonstrator Soledad Rodriguez, 69, said of the presidential couple who were taken by US forces to New York to face trial on drug-trafficking charges.”I trust blindly that they will come back — they have been kidnapped.”Notably absent from the rallies were top figures from the government, which has said it is reviving diplomatic contact with Washington and discussing possible cooperation on US President Donald Trump’s oil demands.Interim president Delcy Rodriguez instead attended an agricultural fair, where she vowed in televised comments she would “not rest for a minute until we have our president back.”The other two hardline powers in the government, Interior Minister and street enforcer Diosdado Cabello, and Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez, were also not seen at the demos.- Diplomatic maneuvers -Maduro claimed he was “doing well” in jail, his son Nicolas Maduro Guerra said in a video released Saturday by his party.Despite the shock of his capture during deadly nighttime raids on January 3, signs emerged Friday of cooperation with Washington after Trump’s claim to be “in charge” of the South American country.Rodriguez said Venezuela would deal with the United States through “the diplomatic route,” and Washington said US envoys visited Caracas on Friday to discuss reopening their embassy.The Venezuelan government did not respond when asked by AFP whether the US officials had met with Rodriguez.She has pledged to cooperate with Trump over his demands for access to Venezuela’s huge oil reserves.But she also moved to placate the powerful pro-Maduro base by insisting Venezuela is not “subordinate” to Washington.The US embassy in Colombia warned Saturday that “the security situation in Venezuela remains fluid” and advised Americans to leave the country “immediately” as commercial flights become available.- Anxiety over prisoners -Anxious relatives meanwhile camped outside jails, awaiting the promised release of political prisoners.Rodriguez’s camp on Thursday began freeing prisoners jailed under Maduro, saying a “large” number would be released in a gesture of appeasement that Washington took credit for.”Venezuela has started the process, in a BIG WAY, of releasing their political prisoners. Thank you! I hope those prisoners will remember how lucky they got that the USA came along and did what had to be done,” Trump posted Saturday night on his Truth Social platform.However, prisoners’ rights groups and the opposition said only 21 people had been released by Saturday evening, including several prominent opposition figures. Rights groups estimate there are 800 to 1,200 political prisoners in Venezuela.Families held candlelight vigils outside El Rodeo prison east of Caracas, and El Helicoide, a notorious prison run by the intelligence services, displaying signs with the names of their imprisoned relatives.”I am tired and angry,” Nebraska Rivas, 57, told AFP, as she waited for her son to be released from El Rodeo.”But I have faith that they will hand him over to us soon,” she said, after sleeping on the pavement outside the prison for two nights.- Oil talks -Following Maduro’s capture, Trump vowed to secure US access to Venezuela’s vast oil reserves.The White House said Trump has signed an emergency order protecting US-held revenues derived from sales of Venezuelan oil, preventing them from being seized by courts or creditors.Chevron is currently the only US firm licensed to operate in Venezuela, through a sanctions exemption.At a White House meeting on Friday, he pressed top oil executives to invest in Venezuela’s reserves, but was met with a cautious reception.Experts say Venezuela’s oil infrastructure is creaky after years of mismanagement and sanctions.
New York’s Chrysler Building, an art deco jewel, seeks new owner
The future of the Chrysler Building, a unique monument to art deco architecture on the Manhattan skyline, remains in limbo as it awaits a possible sale.The building, affixed with gargoyles, stainless steel design nods to early Chrysler vehicles and a celebrated crown and needle top, has been put up for sale after a New York judge expropriated the property in September 2024 from prior leaseholders who were in arrears.The famed skyscraper, which began hosting tenants in April 1930 and was once the world’s tallest building, continues to draw tourists to its blue-chip address of 405 Lexington Avenue in the heart of Manhattan.But real estate insiders say the property is badly in need of remodeling, with aging office spaces, tiny windows, fickle elevators and a pesky rodent population among its ills.”The beautiful (Chrysler Building) has lots of technical issues but it’s unclear what the best use for the building is,” said Ruth Colp-Haber, a partner at Wharton Property Advisors, who believes costly investment will be needed to update the structure.”Everything’s on hold there until they figure out who’s the owner and what’s his game plan,” she said. “They are not showing spaces.”- Cooper Union connection -The Chrysler Building was first envisioned in the roaring 1920s, prior to the 1929 Wall Street crash, and completed in just two years.It opened with fanfare and hosted an observation deck until 1945. The building stood as the tallest structure in the world prior to the completion of the Empire State Building in 1931.The land on which the building sits has been owned since 1902 by the Cooper Union, a private college that specializes in art, architecture and engineering.The school’s most recent tenant, a consortium of real estate firm RFR and Austrian firm Signa, had reached an agreement in 2019 to buy the building for $151 million with a promise of $250 million in upgrades.But Signa filed for insolvency in 2023 and RFR stopped paying rent in May 2024, according to legal documents reviewed by AFP, with the latter owing $21 million when the property was expropriated. Cooper Union leaders have said the Chrysler Building’s travails will not result in higher tuition rates or fewer scholarships. “We have built important reserves and surpluses over the last seven years,” Cooper Union interim president Malcolm King said in a message to employees and students, adding that they had “planned for a range of scenarios, including this one.”Current tenants of the building include prestigious law firms, investment groups and creative agencies.New York’s commercial real estate industry has partially recovered from the pandemic and early post-pandemic period when companies were slow to return to the office. But the Chrysler Building faces tough competition from newer buildings, like the nearby One Vanderbilt Avenue or the gleaming Hudson Yards structures. Further complicating the situation is the structure’s 1978 designation as a New York City landmark, a distinction that means significant changes must be approved by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission.Exactly what will happen to the building remains clouded in mystery. AFP queries to the Cooper Union, the landmark commission and leading real estate brokers went unanswered.In any case, “it is extraordinarily rare for the commission to approve the demolition of an individual landmark,” said an expert who spoke on the condition of anonymity.