Trump trip to Scotland combines diplomacy and golf

US President Donald Trump travels to Scotland on Friday for a mix of diplomacy, business and leisure, as he stays at family-owned golf resorts. The president is expected to split his time between two seaside golf courses bearing his name, Turnberry and Aberdeen.Trump is due to arrive in Scotland Friday at 8:20 pm local time (1920 GMT) and has no public events scheduled for Saturday or Sunday, the White House said.An avid golfer, Trump is expected to tear himself away from the greens to meet with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at some point, but details of that meeting have not been released.Starmer is not reputed to be as passionate about golf as the 79-year-old Republican, and may have other concerns to tee off on.The US and the UK announced a trade agreement in May, but London is worried about Trump’s stated intention to “refine” the deal.The British leader, who has dodged the exorbitant tariffs other countries have been saddled with, will aim to stay in the good graces of the unpredictable American leader.Trump is also expected to return to the UK in September for a state visit — his second — at the invitation of King Charles III, which promises to be lavish.- Trumpist discontent -The trip to Scotland puts physical distance between Trump and the latest twists in the case of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the wealthy financier accused of sex trafficking who died in prison in 2019 before facing trial.In his heyday, Epstein was friends with Trump and others in the New York jet-set, but the president is now facing backlash from his own MAGA supporters who demand access to the Epstein case files.Many support a conspiracy theory under which “deep state” elites protected rich and famous people who took part in an Epstein sex ring. But Trump is urging his supporters to move on and drop the case.The Wall Street Journal, which published an article detailing longstanding links between Trump and the sex offender, is being punished by the White House.Its reporting staff plans to travel to Scotland on its own and join the White House press pool. But it has now been denied a seat on Air Force One for the flight back home.- Protests -During a previous visit in 2023, Trump said he felt at home in Scotland, where his mother Mary Anne MacLeod grew up before emigrating to the United States at age 18.The affection is not necessarily mutual in Scotland, where protests are planned Saturday in Edinburgh and Aberdeen to oppose his visit. A significant police presence will be deployed.Residents, environmentalists and elected officials have also voiced discontent over the Trump family’s construction of a golf course in Balmedie, a village in Aberdeenshire.While Trump’s family has undertaken many development projects worldwide, the president no longer legally controls the family holdings.But opponents and watchdog groups have accused him of many conflicts of interest and using his position as US president to promote private family investments, especially abroad.The American NGO Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington said in May that 21 development projects were already underway abroad during Trump’s second term.The group also noted that the Trump Organization revised its own ethical charter in January to remove any prohibition from launching new international ventures with private actors, departing from the moratorium it had imposed during Trump’s first term. 

White House lashes out at ‘South Park’ Trump parody

The White House lashed out at the creators of “South Park” Thursday after the bawdy satire skewered Donald Trump in an episode featuring an AI-generated version of the US president crawling naked through a desert.In a no-holds-barred season premiere, the animated Trump character is also seen begging Satan for sex, only to be rebuffed — in part because his penis is too small.The White House was not amused.”This show hasn’t been relevant for over 20 years and is hanging on by a thread with uninspired ideas in a desperate attempt for attention,” spokesperson Taylor Rogers said.”President Trump has delivered on more promises in just six months than any other president in our country’s history — and no fourth-rate show can derail President Trump’s hot streak.”The adult animated series, which frequently touches on hot-button issues in American life, is now in its 27th season and remains one of the world’s most valuable TV shows.The season premiere begins with the foul-mouthed Cartman appalled that NPR has been taken off the air by the president, while Randy, a parent, is disturbed by the presence of Jesus in public elementary school.Complaints to the fictional White House receive only a threat from Trump to sue the mountain town of South Park for billions of dollars.Meanwhile, animated Trump is threatening to bomb Canada “like I did Iraq.””I thought you just bombed Iran,” the Canadian prime minister replies.”Iran, Iraq, what the hell’s the difference?” replies Trump.The episode, which sees the fictional Trump ride rough-shod over many aspects of American life, ends after the town of South Park makes a financial deal with the president that includes an agreement to make public service announcements.The AI generated short that follows — ostensibly one of those announcements — shows an overweight Trump staggering through a desert as a narrator casts him as a latter-day Jesus.The short ends with a naked Trump as the narrator says: “Trump. His penis is teeny-tiny, but his love for us is large.”At a Thursday panel at pop culture event Comic-Con in San Diego, “South Park” creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker revealed internal discussions over depicting a fake presidential phallus.”They’re like, ‘Okay, but we’re gonna blur the penis.’ And I’m like, ‘No, you’re not going to blur the penis’,” Parker told the audience. After “a whole conversation with a lot of grown up people for about four … days,” Parker said they decided to add eyes to it to avoid it being blurred. – Merger -The episode aired days after creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone reportedly penned a $1.5 billion streaming deal with Paramount that gives the company global rights.The deal comes at a sensitive time for Paramount, which is trying to secure government approval for a multi-billion-dollar merger with entertainment company Skydance.The CBS parent caused a furor this month when it agreed to pay $16 million to settle a lawsuit Trump had brought over an interview the storied “60 Minutes” current affairs program aired with Kamala Harris ahead of last November’s election.The payment was criticized by Democrats as little more than a bribe to help smooth the merger, with Paramount initially dismissing Trump’s lawsuit as meritless.Last week CBS sparked fury after it cancelled “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” whose host is a pointed critic of the president.The network insisted it was a financial decision, but opponents have painted the move as the latest example of American institutions bowing to Trump.

China’s premier tells EU leaders ‘we can’t afford’ massive industrial subsidies

Chinese Premier Li Qiang dismissed EU fears over Beijing’s allegedly excessive subsidies to its industry, telling the bloc’s leaders “we can’t afford it” in markedly candid remarks during a tense summit.Speaking during a roundtable with EU chief Ursula von der Leyen on Thursday, Li insisted that “China is by no means doing what some call a subsidies policy or fiscal subsidies”.”China is not as rich as Europe, and we can’t afford it,” he said.”We would not be stupid enough to use the fiscal funds accumulated through the government and the hard work of our people to sell our products to foreign consumers,” Li added.Von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa were in Beijing on Thursday for a summit dominated by tensions between the EU and China over trade and Russia’s war in Ukraine.Chief among the bloc’s concerns was its yawning trade deficit with China, which stood at around $360 billion last year.The EU has also raised fears that Beijing’s vast subsidies to its industry could help it undercut European competitors with a flood of cheap exports to the continent.Li, China’s number two official, rejected those claims in a roundtable with the EU’s leadership. “Some enterprises, especially manufacturing enterprises, feel more deeply that China’s manufacturing capabilities are too strong, and Chinese people are too hardworking,” the Chinese premier said.”Factories run 24 hours a day,” he said.”Some people think this will cause some new problems in the balance of supply and demand in world production,” the Chinese premier said, admitting: “We see this problem too.”Li also rejected claims the Chinese economy — plagued by sluggish growth for years now — was in dire straits.”Of course, there are difficulties and challenges, but it is difficult for us to say that China’s economy is in a downturn,” he said.”Our GDP growth rate is always above five percent,” he insisted.

French court to rule on Assad immunity in chemical attack case

France’s highest court is to decide Friday whether to uphold an arrest warrant against Syria’s ex-president Bashar al-Assad as part of a probe into deadly 2013 chemical attacks during the country’s civil war.Rights activists say that if the Court of Cassation confirms Assad does not enjoy immunity due to the severity of the accusations, it could set a major precedent in international law towards holding war criminals to account.But if the reasoning is that the warrant is valid because France did not consider Assad to be a legitimate ruler at the time of the alleged crimes, it would not have the same impact.French authorities issued the warrant against Assad in November 2023 over his alleged role in the chain of command for a sarin gas attack that killed more than 1,000 people, according to US intelligence, on August 4 and 5, 2013 in Adra and Douma outside Damascus.Assad is accused of complicity in war crimes and crimes against humanity in the case, though Syrian authorities at the time denied involvement and blamed rebels.The French judiciary tackled the case under the principle of universal jurisdiction, whereby a court may prosecute individuals for serious crimes committed in other countries.An investigation — based on testimonies of survivors and military defectors, as well as photos and video footage — led to warrants for the arrest of Assad, his brother Maher who headed an elite army unit, and two generals.Public prosecutors approved three of the warrants, but issued an appeal against the one targeting Assad, arguing he should have immunity as a head of state.The Paris Court of Appeal in June last year however upheld it, and prosecutors again appealed.Assad’s circumstances have since changed.He and his family fled to Russia, according to Russian authorities, after Islamist-led rebels toppled him in December last year.- Assad immunity issue -Agnes Callamard, a French human rights activist and the secretary general of Amnesty International, said the court’s decision could “pave the way for a major precedent in international law” if it decided immunity should be lifted in certain cases.”A ruling lifting Bashar al-Assad’s immunity would help strengthen the founding principles of international law in its fight against the impunity of war criminals,” she wrote in the newspaper Liberation on Thursday.Callamard however noted that it was unlikely any arrest warrant would lead to Assad being detained as he was protected by Russia.The high court’s prosecutor has recommended the arrest warrant be upheld, but on the grounds that France had not recognised Assad as the legitimate ruler of Syria since 2012.Mazen Darwish, a prominent Syrian lawyer who heads the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression, a civil party to the case, said the prosecutor’s argument was “very clever”.But it “undermines the moral foundation” according to which “immunity should not apply” in cases of war crimes and crimes against humanity, he said.The reasoning “also grants a single foreign government the power to decide who is or is not a legitimate head of state, which sets an extremely dangerous precedent”, he said.French investigating magistrates in January issued a second arrest warrant against Assad for suspected complicity in war crimes for a bombing in the Syrian city of Deraa in 2017 that killed a French-Syrian civilian.Friday’s hearing is scheduled to start at 1300 GMT.

Balancing act for pro-Trump influencers as Epstein furor spirals

Far-right MAGA influencers are treading a tightrope as outrage escalates over the case of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein: they are caught between a fired-up base demanding more information and President Donald Trump, who is eager to turn the page.Trump’s core Make America Great Again base has erupted in anger over the White House’s handling of the so-called “Epstein files,” viewing it as a betrayal by the Republican and his allies who have long championed the unfounded theory that powerful elites orchestrated a massive child sex trafficking cover-up.Calls for the release of those files could intensify after a US media report on Wednesday said Trump’s name was among hundreds found during an official review of documents on Epstein, a claim the White House has denied.Faced with a choice between alienating a base fervently demanding answers or defying Trump — who has implored them to move on — MAGA-aligned influencers and podcasters find themselves in a political bind.MAGA media are “definitely walking a fine line with the Epstein debacle,” Mike Rothschild, an expert on conspiracy theories, told AFP.”Trump demanding that nobody talk about Epstein should be a betrayal for them. But they’re so invested in supporting Trump, and have built their financial support around it, that they really can’t do anything but make excuses and tie themselves in knots.”Some MAGA influencers, however, turned sharply critical in recent weeks.Among them is Rogan O’Handley, who was invited to the White House in February alongside a handful of influencers and presented with binders labeled “The Epstein Files: Phase 1,” only to find they offered little new information.”This is a shameful coverup to protect the most heinous elites,” O’Handley told his 2.2 million followers on X earlier this month.”We were told multiple times the files would be released and now it looks like backroom deals have been made to keep them hidden.”- ‘Fanatically loyal’ -Charlie Kirk, a Trump loyalist and podcaster, faced an avalanche of criticism from the MAGA base after he initially said he was “done talking” about Epstein, and added he was going to trust “my friends in the administration.””Trump’s base has been fanatically loyal, and influencers are hesitant about opposing Trump directly if that threatens the size of their audiences,” Matt Gertz, senior fellow at the watchdog Media Matters for America, told AFP.Fueling the MAGA base’s anger were conclusions from the Justice Department and FBI that Epstein — a disgraced financier who died in jail in 2019 — did not maintain a “client list” as conspiracy theorists have contended. Attorney General Pam Bondi emerged as their key target for criticism after announcing no more information would be forthcoming. But Trump has defended Bondi, while claiming without evidence on Truth Social that the Epstein files were written by his political rivals “Obama, Crooked Hillary, Comey, Brennan, and the losers and criminals of the Biden administration.”That response prompted disbelief from Benny Johnson, a longtime Trump supporter and right-wing podcaster.” By admitting that the Epstein Files are real, and that you’ve read them, and you don’t like their contents, and they were written by your enemies, it doesn’t make the most compelling case as far as I’m concerned. Holy moly,” Johnson said.- ‘Moving target’ -Seeking to redirect attention within the MAGA base — an echo chamber fueled by constant grievance and outrage — Trump has launched attacks on familiar enemies: former president Barack Obama and the media.The White House has promoted the unfounded claim that Obama led a “years-long coup” against Trump around his victorious 2016 election. The former president has rejected the claim.The White House has also barred The Wall Street Journal from traveling with Trump during his upcoming visit to Scotland, after the newspaper reported that he wrote a bawdy birthday message to Epstein.Trump on Friday sued the WSJ and its media magnate owner Rupert Murdoch for at least $10 billion over the allegation in the article, which Trump denies.Following those moves, Stephen Bannon, host of the influential “War Room” podcast, sought to rally influencers behind Trump, telling US media that the MAGA base was “completely unified because now we’re on offense.””The MAGA media’s take on the Epstein case is both fractured and very much a moving target,” said Gertz.”Trump’s recent attacks on The Wall Street Journal and new conspiracy theories about Obama seem to be refocusing their attention away from Epstein — though it’s unclear for how long, particularly given the new revelation that Trump himself is named in the files.”

Lebanese militant to be released after 40 years in French jail

One of France’s longest-held inmates, the pro-Palestinian Lebanese militant Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, will be released and deported on Friday, after more than 40 years behind bars for the killings of two diplomats.At around 3:40 am (01:30 GMT), a convoy of six vehicles left the Lannemezan penitentiary with lights flashing, AFP journalists saw, though they were unable to catch a glimpse of the 74-year-old grey-bearded prisoner.Abdallah was detained in 1984 and sentenced to life in prison in 1987 for his involvement in the murders of US military attache Charles Robert Ray and Israeli diplomat Yacov Barsimantov in Paris.The Paris Court of Appeal had ordered his release “effective July 25” on the condition that he leave French territory and never return.He had been eligible for release since 1999, but his previous requests were denied as the United States — a civil party to the case — consistently opposed him leaving prison.Inmates serving life sentences in France are typically freed after fewer than 30 years.Once out of prison, Abdallah is set to be transported to the Tarbes airport where a police plane will take him to Roissy for a flight to Beirut, according to a source close to the case.Abdallah’s lawyer, Jean-Louis Chalanset, visited for a final time on Thursday. “He seemed very happy about his upcoming release, even though he knows he is returning to the Middle East in an extremely tough context for Lebanese and Palestinian populations,” Chalanset told AFP.AFP visited Abdallah last week after the court’s release decision, accompanying a lawmaker to the detention centre.The founder of the Lebanese Revolutionary Armed Factions (FARL) — a long-disbanded Marxist anti-Israel group — said for more than four decades he had continued to be a “militant with a struggle”.After his arrest in 1984, French police discovered submachine guns and transceiver stations in one of his Paris apartments.The appeals court in February noted that the FARL “had not committed a violent action since 1984” and that Abdallah “today represented a past symbol of the Palestinian struggle”.The appeals judges also found the length of his detention “disproportionate” to the crimes and given his age.Abdallah’s family said they plan to meet him at Beirut airport’s “honour lounge” before heading to their hometown of Kobayat in northern Lebanon where a reception is planned. 

RD Congo: l’ex-président Kabila jugé pour “crimes contre la paix”

L’ex-président de la République démocratique du Congo Joseph Kabila, opposant déclaré au gouvernement actuel, est jugé par la Haute cour militaire du pays à partir de vendredi pour “crime contre la paix”, accusé de complicité avec le groupe armé M23 soutenu par le Rwanda.Joseph Kabila, qui vit à l’étranger depuis plus de deux ans même s’il a récemment été vu dans l’est du pays, ne devrait pas être présent à l’ouverture de son procès. Il est poursuivi pour “participation à un mouvement insurrectionnel, crime contre la paix et la sécurité de l’humanité, homicide intentionnel par balles, trahison, apologie, viol, torture et déportation, occupation à force ouverte de la ville de Goma”, selon l’acte d’accusation.Ces faits sont passibles de la peine de mort en RDC, où un moratoire sur l’exécution de la peine capitale en vigueur depuis 2003 a été levé en 2024 (aucune exécution n’a cependant eu lieu depuis).Fils de Laurent-Désiré Kabila, rebelle ayant fait tomber le dictateur Mobutu Sese Seko, Joseph Kabila, 54 ans, avait hérité du pouvoir en 2001 après l’assassinat de son père. Il a dirigé la RDC jusqu’en 2019, et est resté très discret après son départ du pouvoir. La coalition politique qu’il formait avec son successeur Félix Tshisekedi avait éclaté au bout de deux ans.En avril, l’ex-ministre de la Justice Constant Mutamba avait saisi la justice militaire afin d’engager des poursuites contre M. Kabila “pour sa participation directe” au M23.Le procureur général de l’armée avait déposé une requête en levée de son immunité auprès du Sénat, qui l’avait approuvée par 88 voix contre cinq et avait autorisé les poursuites. M. Kabila bénéficiait de cette immunité en tant qu’ancien chef de l’Etat et sénateur à vie.Un des principaux éléments exposés par le procureur est un témoignage qui attesterait que Joseph Kabila a tenu une conversation téléphonique avec un haut responsable du M23 au sujet d’un plan orchestré par le Rwanda visant à assassiner le président Tshisekedi.D’après ce témoignage, M. Kabila aurait déconseillé la mise en œuvre d’une telle machination qui aboutirait à ériger M. Tshisekedi en “martyr”, et aurait affirmé qu’un coup d’Etat militaire est préférable.Dans une rare allocution transmise en ligne le 23 mai, après la levée de son immunité, l’ancien dirigeant avait dénoncé la “dictature” du gouvernement Tshisekedi, et fustigé une justice n’étant plus selon lui “qu’un instrument d’oppression d’une dictature qui tente désespérément de survivre”.- Aucune alliance formelle -Joseph Kabila, qui avait quitté le pays fin 2023, a regagné en mai Goma, grande ville de l’est du pays contrôlée par le groupe armé M23 et des milices congolaises.L’est congolais, région riche en ressources naturelles frontalière du Rwanda, est déchiré par des conflits depuis 30 ans. Les violences se sont intensifiées ces derniers mois avec la prise de contrôle par le M23 de Goma et Bukavu, capitales des provinces du Nord-Kivu et du Sud-Kivu. Le 19 juillet au Qatar, le M23 et le gouvernement de Kinshasa ont signé une déclaration de principes pour un “cessez-le-feu” permanent dans cette partie du pays. Mais jeudi, au moins onze personnes ont été tuées dans des combats entre le M23 et des milices pro-Kinshasa dans le territoire de Masisi, au Nord-Kivu, selon des sources locales.L’accord signé à Doha a été salué par la communauté internationale comme une “avancée” vers un accord de paix global dans l’est de la RDC. De précédents accords de paix et cessez-le-feu ont été violés ces dernières années.Le Rwanda nie soutenir militairement le M23 qui a repris dans ces opérations dans l’est de la RDC. Mais début juillet, des experts de l’ONU ont pointé le “rôle déterminant” joué par son armée dans l’offensive du M23 de janvier et février.Selon un proche de M. Kabila à l’AFP, aucune alliance formelle n’a été conclue entre l’ancien président Kabila et le M23, mais ils partagent un “même objectif”: mettre fin au régime de Félix Tshisekedi.