Israel says committed to Trump plan for Gaza displacement

Israel expressed commitment on Monday to a US proposal to take over Gaza and displace its Palestinian residents, as Washington’s top diplomat held talks in Saudi Arabia where he was expected to push the plan opposed by Arab states.Arriving in the kingdom after talks in Israel, Secretary of State Marco Rubio — on his first visit to the Middle East — met de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the State Department said.A Saudi source earlier told AFP that Riyadh would host a regional summit later this week “to discuss Arab alternatives” to President Donald Trump’s widely criticised plan for Gaza.Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait will be represented at the Friday summit, the source said.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was “committed to US President Trump’s plan for the creation of a different Gaza”, also promising that after the war, “there will be neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority” ruling the territory.The United States, Israel’s top ally and weapons supplier, says it is open to alternative proposals from Arab governments, but Rubio has said for now, “the only plan is the Trump plan”.The proposal lacked detail but Trump said the Palestinians in Gaza — who number more than two million — would be resettled in other countries and the US would “take over” the territory.The United States has also been pushing for a historic deal in which Saudi Arabia would recognise Israel. In return, Riyadh demands the establishment of a Palestinian state — long opposed by Israeli leaders and potentially in contradiction to Trump’s Gaza plan.On Monday, Egypt hosted the latest meeting of the Global Alliance for the Implementation of the Two-State Solution, which initially gathered in Saudi Arabia last year.Egypt’s foreign ministry stressed Cairo’s “full commitment to implementing the two-state solution” to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and “the necessity of establishing an independent Palestinian state”.In Riyadh, Rubio was accompanied by National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and special Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff.Witkoff had teamed up with an outgoing envoy from former president Joe Biden to push the ceasefire deal between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas which took effect on January 19 — a day before Trump assumed office.Trump’s Gaza proposal has strained that truce, the first phase of which would expire in early March.According to Israeli media, the security cabinet convened on Monday evening to discuss phase two of the fragile ceasefire. The second phase has yet to be negotiated.- Hoping truce holds -Netanyahu said he spoke with Rubio about “Trump’s bold vision for Gaza’s future” — which experts have warned would violate international law — and about ways to “ensure that vision becomes a reality”.On Monday evening, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said a special agency would be established for the “voluntary departure” of Gazans.A vocal opponent of stopping the war, far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, said he “will demand a vote” by ministers on Trump’s plan and that Israel must “issue a clear ultimatum to Hamas -– immediately release all hostages, leave Gaza for other countries, and lay down your arms”.Since the truce took effect on January 19, a total of 19 Israeli hostages have been released in exchange for more than 1,100 Palestinian prisoners.Out of 251 people seized in Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which sparked the war, 70 remain in Gaza, including 35 the Israeli military says are dead.The families of the hostages still in Gaza on Monday marked 500 days of their captivity, holding pictures of their loved ones and banners reading “Home Now”.Dozens marched towards Netanyahu’s residence in Jerusalem before they met lawmakers in parliament.- 500 days -“My eyes burn from the tears I have shed for the past 500 days,” said Einav Tzangauker, whose son Matan is among those held in Gaza.Five foreign hostages are among those still held captive. They include Nepali agriculture student Bipin Joshi, 24, who risked his life to save friends, including Himanchal Kattel, at the farm where they worked.”People should talk more about him,” Kattel said.In Gaza, over the 500 days since Hamas’s attack sparked the war, Mohammed Abu Mursa said he has known only “humiliation, suffering and bloodshed”.Abu Mursa and his family have been displaced more than a dozen times trying to survive.”I just hope the ceasefire holds and that the exchange of prisoners continues,” he said.The Gaza war has rippled across the Middle East, triggering violence in Yemen and Lebanon, where Iran backs militant groups.An Israeli strike Monday in the southern Lebanese city of Sidon killed a Hamas commander, Mohammed Shahine, whom the Israeli military accused of planning attacks.Hamas’s attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,211 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed at least 48,271 people in Gaza, the majority of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory that the United Nations considers reliable.burs/jsa/it/ysm

Airbags Takata: Citroën finit par immobiliser 236.000 voitures dans le nord de la France

Quelque 236.900 propriétaires de Citroën C3 et DS 3 dans le nord de la France ont été appelés lundi à ne plus rouler le temps que soient changés leurs airbags, dans le cadre d’une nouvelle vague d’immobilisation liée au scandale Takata.Ces airbags sont susceptibles de causer de graves blessures et ont déjà provoqué au moins un décès en métropole et onze en Outre-mer, où le climat dégrade plus vite un de leurs composants, selon le ministère des Transports.Volkswagen, Nissan, BMW ou Toyota, entre autres, ont rappelé des millions de véhicules équipés de ces airbags dangereux, avec des campagnes de rappels encore en cours aujourd’hui.Suite à plusieurs accidents mortels, une première campagne d’immobilisation — appelée “stop drive” — avait déjà été lancée par Citroën et DS début 2024 dans le sud de l’Europe et au Maghreb, immobilisant des milliers d’automobilistes pendant des semaines. En France, elle concernait le sud du pays et surtout l’Outre-mer. La décision de commencer les rappels par ces régions avait été prise “sur la base de critères de chaleur et d’humidité des climats sur le long terme”, soit les deux facteurs qui endommagent ces airbags, selon Stellantis, la maison-mère de Citroën et DS.Toyota et Volkswagen ont d’ailleurs demandé en janvier à des milliers de clients d’outremer de ne plus conduire non plus.Les véhicules concernés par le rappel de lundi sont situés au nord d’une ligne Lyon-Clermont-Ferrand et ont été immatriculés entre 2008 et 2013. Citroën les avait déjà appelés à passer au garage depuis janvier 2025 mais sans les immobiliser. De nouveaux tests effectués sur une voiture en Loire-Atlantique, au nord de cette ligne donc, ont montré une “dégradation des propriétés” du nitrate d’ammonium, le produit qui sert à gonfler le coussin en cas d’accident, selon un porte-parole du groupe Stellantis à l’AFP. Le groupe Stellantis a donc décidé d’étendre “par précaution” la mesure d’immobilisation au reste de la France, a-t-il indiqué.Sollicité lundi, le ministère des Transports a précisé cependant qu’il avait demandé dès le mois de décembre 2024 à Stellantis de lancer cette campagne “stop drive” pour les C3 et DS 3 dont “la durée de vie sûre” était “inférieure à l’âge du véhicule”.Les propriétaires de ces véhicules sont appelés à prendre rendez-vous sur le site internet de Citroën.Lors du premier rappel en 2024, Stellantis a dû mobiliser en urgence son réseau de concessionnaires, assailli de demandes d’automobilistes redoutant un accident, prêter des milliers de voitures en remplacement et doper la production de nouveaux airbags adaptés.Mais le constructeur a maintenant des stocks d’airbags de remplacement et les concessionnaires peuvent les installer “tout de suite”, a souligné le porte-parole.Le groupe a aussi mobilisé huit de ses usines en France (Rennes, Poissy, Sochaux, Mulhouse, Trémery, Charleville-Meizières, Hordain, Douvrin) pour accueillir des clients. – Autres rappels -Avec ses courriers et ses campagnes d’affichage, Stellantis ne touche pas immédiatement tous les clients: sur 73.800 personnes prévenues en janvier dans le nord de la France, 42.400 se sont inscrits pour une réparation, et 17.600 voitures ont été révisées, selon Stellantis. Depuis avril 2024, dans le cadre de la première vague de rappel lancée dans le sud de l’Europe et au Maghreb, plus de 400.000 voitures ont été réparées, sur les 530.000 Citroën C3 et DS3 vendues entre 2009 et 2019 dans les zones concernées.Le ministère des Transports a également lancé en janvier des campagnes d’information dans les stations-service en Outre-mer, et les centres de contrôle technique doivent prévenir les clients concernés dans toute la France lors du passage de leur véhicule.Les véhicules vendus entre 2014 et 2019 dans le nord de la France et d’autres pays d’Europe (Allemagne, Autriche, Suisse… pour un total de 869.000 véhicules) feront l’objet de prochaines vagues de rappel, mais sans immobilisation, a précisé Stellantis.Parallèlement, plusieurs propriétaires de C3 ont déposé des plaintes contre Stellantis pour “mise en danger de la vie d’autrui” et “pratiques commerciales trompeuses”, demandant notamment des compensations financières.

Mexico says to sue Google if it insists on using ‘Gulf of America’

Mexico will take Google to court if it insists on changing the Gulf of Mexico’s name to “Gulf of America” for Maps users in the United States, President Claudia Sheinbaum said Monday.She said her government had written again to the US company arguing that President Donald Trump’s executive order on the subject only applies to the part of the continental shelf belonging to the United States.”Google has no right to rename Mexico’s continental shelf, nor does it have any right to rename Cuba’s continental shelf, because the Gulf of Mexico is divided among the three countries,” Sheinbaum said at her daily news conference.The letter informs Google that “under no circumstances does Mexico accept the renaming of any geographic area that includes part of its national territory and that is under its jurisdiction,” she said.”We will wait for Google’s response and, if not, we will proceed in court,” Sheinbaum added.Sheinbaum had announced on Friday that her government was considering legal action against Google, saying: “If necessary, we will file a civil suit.”Trump signed an executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico soon after his January 20 inauguration.In response, Sheinbaum cheekily suggested calling the United States “Mexican America,” pointing to a map dating back to before 1848, when one-third of her country was seized by the United States.Google, which is part of tech giant Alphabet, said that users of its Maps app in Mexico would continue to see the name “Gulf of Mexico” while those in third countries would see both names.Sheinbaum presented a letter she said Google had sent to her Foreign Minister Juan Ramon de la Fuente explaining its position and offering to pursue a “constructive dialogue” about the issue, including through a potential face-to-face meeting.It said the name change was “consistent with our normal operating procedure to reflect on our platforms geographic names prescribed by different authoritative, government sources, including reflecting where authoritative sources may differ.”Apple has also renamed the body of water the “Gulf of America” for US users of its mapping application to comply with Trump’s order.

Paris promeut la création d’une “Banque européenne de la décarbonation et de l’électrification”

La France souhaite la création d’une “Banque européenne de la décarbonation et de l’électrification” pour aider les entreprises industrielles européennes à abandonner les énergies fossiles et à investir dans leur transition énergétique, a indiqué Bercy lundi.Le gouvernement français a envoyé “il y a un mois” une proposition en ce sens à la Commission européenne et “soutiendra” cette idée lors des prochains conseils européens de la Compétitivité le 6 mars, et de l’Energie le 12 mars, a précisé le ministère de l’Industrie et de l’Energie.A quelques jours de la présentation prévue le 26 février par la Commission de ses propositions pour aider à une transition verte de l’industrie et alléger le fardeau réglementaire des entreprises, Paris souhaite que le dispositif français de subventions aux entreprises qui investissent pour s’électrifier ou réduire leurs émissions de CO2 soit répliqué et étendu à tous les pays de l’UE.Le mécanisme français a été lancé pour les 50 sites industriels les plus émetteurs de CO2 (ciment, engrais, pétro-chimie, métaux..). Prévoyant 1,6 milliard d’euros pour 2025, il a été adopté formellement par un amendement lors du vote du budget de la France pour 2025.”C’est un mécanisme de paiement à la tonne de CO2 évitée” qui fonctionne par appels d’offres sur une période de 10 à 15 ans, explique-t-on à Bercy.Les fonds de la nouvelle banque viendraient du fonds européen d’innovation. Celui-ci accorde jusqu’à présent des subventions en se basant uniquement sur le coût de l’investissement nécessaire à la construction d’une nouvelle chaudière ou d’un nouvel équipement qui permettra à l’industriel de réduire ses émissions de CO2. Or les entreprises freinent leurs dépenses de décarbonation en ce moment car leurs investissements ne seraient pas rentables, ou alors ne seraient rentables que si la tonne de CO2 était plus chère sur le marché européen ETS d’échange de quotas d’émissions, fait valoir Bercy.”Le marché carbone aujourd’hui est à 60, 70 voire 80 euros la tonne de CO2. Et quand on est dans l’industrie, le procédé de décarbonation choisi n’est peut-être rentable qu’à 100, 120 ou 150 euros la tonne de CO2 émis. L’idée est donc de payer le complément”, indique le ministère français.”Ce que nous proposons, c’est que le fonds d’innovation devienne une banque de la décarbonation, et qu’il fonctionne sur des appels d’offres pour des versements sur dix ou quinze ans, à la tonne de CO2 effectivement evitée. C’est plus vertueux que ce qui se fait aujourd’hui”, précise-t-on.Le système de Banque de la décarbonation promu par la France permettrait en plus de “payer la décarbonation d’aujourd’hui avec les futures recettes du système d’échange de quotas d’émission de l’Union européenne”, fait valoir Bercy.”Toutes les technologies de décarbonation seraient admises”, du solaire thermique au nucléaire, en passant par le captage de CO2, ajoute le ministère français.La France estime “entre 50 et 80 milliards d’euros” les besoins d’investissement public et privé nécessaires à la décarbonation de sa propre industrie lourde. De son côté, la Commission européenne a calculé un besoin total de “600 ou 700 milliards d’euros” pour financer la décarbonation industrielle de l’ensemble des 27 pays, rappelle Bercy.

Top Russia, US officials to meet in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday

Top US and Russian diplomats will meet in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday for talks on resetting the countries’ fractured relations and making a tentative start on trying to end the Ukraine war.Both sides played down the chances that the first high-level meeting between the countries since Moscow invaded Ukraine in 2022 would result in a breakthrough.Nevertheless, the very fact of the talks has triggered concern in Kyiv and Europe — left reeling by Washington’s dramatic diplomatic moves towards the Kremlin.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday accused Washington of wanting “to please” Russian President Valdimir Putin by “now saying things that are very favourable” to him.He previously revealed that Kyiv had not been invited to the discussions in Riyadh.Meanwhile, European leaders were gathering in Paris for emergency talks on how to respond to the radical pivot by the new US administration.Preparations for a possible summit between presidents Donald Trump and Putin are also set to be on the agenda.Trump is pushing for a swift resolution to the three-year conflict in Ukraine, while Moscow sees his outreach as a chance to gain concessions on some of its long-standing gripes about Washington’s military presence in Europe.Zelensky said Kyiv “did not know anything about” the talks in Riyadh, according to Ukrainian news agencies, and that it “cannot recognise any things or any agreements about us without us”.Moscow said ahead of the meeting that Putin and Trump wanted to move on from “abnormal relations” and that it saw no place for Europeans to be at any negotiating table.Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and senior Putin aide Yuri Ushakov, who arrived in Riyadh late on Monday according to images shown by the Rossiya 24 news channel, will meet with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff.- Possible Trump-Putin summit -Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that the talks would be “primarily devoted to restoring the whole complex of Russian-American relations”, alongside discussions on “possible negotiations on a Ukrainian resolution, and organising a meeting between the two presidents”.Moscow, which for years has sought to roll back NATO’s presence in Europe, has made clear it wants to hold bilateral talks with the United States on a plethora of broad security issues, not just a possible Ukraine ceasefire.Before invading in February 2022, Putin was demanding the military alliance pull its troops, equipment and bases out of several eastern members that were under Moscow’s sphere of influence during the Cold War.The prospects of any talks leading to an agreement to halt the Ukraine fighting are unclear.Both Moscow and Washington have cast the meeting as the beginning of a potentially lengthy process.”I don’t think that people should view this as something that is about details or moving forward in some kind of a negotiation,” US State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said.Russia’s Ushakov told state media that the talks would discuss “how to start negotiations on Ukraine.””The tasks are more or less clear to us,” he added.Both Kyiv and Moscow have ruled out territorial concessions and Putin last year demanded Ukraine withdraw its troops from even more territory.Zelensky will travel to Turkey on Tuesday to discuss the conflict with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and then Saudi Arabia a day later.He does not plan to hold talks with either the US or Russian delegations, his spokesman said on Monday.Zelensky said last week he was prepared to meet Putin, but only after Kyiv and its allies had a common position on ending the war.- Europe is ‘weak’ -As European leaders gathered in Paris for an emergency security summit, Russia’s Lavrov on Monday said he saw no point in them taking part in any Ukraine talks.”I don’t know what they would do at the negotiating table… if they are going to sit at the negotiating table with the aim of continuing war, then why invite them there?,” he told a press conference in Moscow.  Germany on Monday said “direct contact between the Americans and the Russians is not a bad thing if it is about finding a way to a durable and lasting peace.”Moscow heads into the Saudi talks boosted by recent gains on the battlefield.Its better resourced troops are pushing Ukraine back across the 1,000-kilometre (620-mile) front line.Kyiv also faces the prospect of losing vital US military aid, long criticised by Trump, and being forced to rely on European backing.On Monday, Zelensky said that Europe’s military capabilities were “weak”.Russia’s army on Monday said its forces had captured a small settlement in northeastern Ukraine and also retaken control of a village in its western Kursk region, where Ukraine launched a shock counter-offensive last August. burs-jc/cad/yad/bc/giv