AFP - Squid Business

Trump to lay out vision to Congress amid Ukraine and trade tensions

President Donald Trump will tout radical plans to reshape the US government and end the Ukraine war Tuesday as he addresses Congress for the first time since his blistering return to power six weeks ago.Trump’s theme will be the “renewal of the American dream” but it promises to be a divisive evening, with the high-octane start to his second term causing huge upheaval at home and abroad.The Republican is expected to set out what he views as his key achievements, including a record blitz of executive orders and an assault on the federal bureaucracy led by Elon Musk, the world’s richest man.Space X and Tesla tycoon Musk will be at the US Capitol to watch the speech, which is to begin at 9.00pm (0200 GMT Wednesday).Trump will also set out his vision on the economy — even as the trade war he launched against Canada, China and Mexico roils world markets and threatens to raise prices at home.Despite a bitter row in the Oval Office with Ukraine’s leader just days ago and a pivot to Moscow that has stunned allies, Trump will then lay out his plans to end the grueling three-year conflict.”He’s going to dive into foreign policy, talk about his intention to end the war in Ukraine,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News on Tuesday.Trump had said on Monday that he would “let you know” during the speech about the fate of a minerals deal with Ukraine that remains unsigned after Volodymyr Zelensky’s disastrous visit.Leavitt said Trump would also discuss his “plan to bring all the hostages out of Gaza” — the Palestinian territory he has proposed that the United States should take over, sparking outrage across the Middle East.The US president will finally ask Congress for funds to support his plan for mass deportations of undocumented migrants, some of whom his administration has already dispatched to Guantanamo Bay.Trump said the address “will be big” and promised to “tell it like it is,” in a post on his Truth Social network on Monday.- ‘Big day’ -It will mark a triumphant comeback to the Capitol for Trump, just four years after he left office in disgrace after his supporters stormed the building in protest at his 2020 election loss.Trump returns as the most powerful Republican president in decades, with the popular vote behind him and a Republican-controlled House and Senate doing his bidding.The 78-year-old also appears to be determined to test the limits of presidential power — in the face of Congress and the courts if necessary — referring to himself on occasion as a “king” and musing about a constitutionally-barred third term.Aided by Musk, Trump has pushed through an unprecedented blitz on the federal bureaucracy that has led to thousands of job cuts, the closure of entire agencies and the decimation of foreign aid.Republicans have welcomed Trump’s rapid start to his new term and have thrown up few roadblocks. They rapidly confirmed a number of cabinet members including vaccine skeptic Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.Democrats have so far struggled to counter Trump’s “flood the zone” strategy and his hogging of the news cycle with constant press conferences.But the speech promises to be rowdy, with Democratic lawmakers bringing as guests a number of federal workers targeted by Musk’s Department for Government Efficiency (DOGE).The Democratic rebuttal to Trump’s address will be provided by new Michigan senator Elissa Slotkin, a 48-year-old former CIA analyst and rising star in the party.Republicans are expected to cheer Trump on loudly, while the president and First Lady Melania Trump will invite guests who reflect his speech’s priorities.”We’re so excited — it’s a big day and it’s a big night for President Trump and we know he’s going to give a fantastic speech,” Leavitt said.

US stocks fall again as more Trump tariffs take effect

Car bomb attack in northwest Pakistan kills 12, wounds dozens

At least 12 civilians were killed, including three children, and dozens injured Tuesday evening after two explosive-laden vehicles were detonated at an army compound in northwest Pakistan, officials said, with the attack quickly claimed by a militant group.The massive explosions and an ensuing gunfight occurred at sunset, as people were breaking their fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif denounced “cowardly terrorists who target innocent civilians during the holy month of Ramadan” and “deserve no mercy”.The attack took place in Bannu, a district in Pakistan’s turbulent Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province which lies adjacent to the country’s formerly self-governed tribal areas.A security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP late in the night that the death toll had risen to twelve, including three children and two women, with 32 wounded.An intelligence official earlier told AFP that 12 militants had attempted to storm the compound after the suicide bombings, and that six of the attackers had been shot dead.”The blasts created two four-foot craters, and due to their intensity, at least eight houses in the locality have been damaged,” a police official said.The attack was claimed by a faction of the Hafiz Gul Bahadur armed group, which actively supported the Afghan Taliban in its war against the US-led NATO coalition since 2001.”Our fighters got access to an important target and took control,” the group said in a statement, without providing further details.Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari condemned the attack in a statement as “heinous”, saying the “entire nation rejects such despicable acts.”- ‘Apocalyptic’ -Plumes of gray smoke rose into the air after the two explosions, while gunshots continued, with gunfire heard from a distance in the area.”The force of the explosion threw me several feet away… The explosion was so intense that it caused significant damage to the neighbourhood,” 40-year-old local Nadir Ali Shah told AFP in hospital, as he received treatment for head and leg injuries.”It was a scene of apocalyptic devastation,” he added.The attack comes days after a suicide bomber killed six people at an Islamic religious school in Pakistan, attended by key Taliban leaders in the same province.Similar attacks have increased in Pakistan since the Taliban authorities returned to power in Afghanistan in August 2021.Hafiz Gul Bahadur carried out another attack on the same compound last July, detonating an explosive-laden vehicle against the boundary wall, killing eight Pakistani soldiers.Last year was the deadliest in a decade for Pakistan, home to 250 million people, with a surge in attacks that killed more than 1,600 people, according to Islamabad-based analysis group the Center for Research and Security Studies.The violence is largely limited to the country’s border regions with Afghanistan.Islamabad accuses Kabul’s rulers of failing to root out militants sheltering on Afghan soil as they prepare to stage assaults on Pakistan, a charge the Taliban government denies.

Car bomb attack in northwest Pakistan kills 12, wounds dozens

‘We will endure’: Mexican truckers stoic in face of Trump tariffs

Stuck in a queue at the Mexican-US border, truck driver Juan Diego Mendoza said he was worried about the fallout of President Donald Trump’s tariffs, but believed Mexicans were resilient enough to cope.”We’re economically strong and self-sufficient. Unlike them, we’re not looking for the car of the year or the best cut of meat. We’re happy with a plate of beans and an egg,” the 31-year-old told AFP.Mendoza woke earlier than usual to hear Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum’s response to Trump’s 25-percent tariff.He supported her decision to wait until Sunday before laying out retaliatory measures, while leaving the door wide open for dialogue.”The president is handling it intelligently, without getting excited or letting herself be provoked by the arrogance of Trump, who thinks he owns the world,” Mendoza said, at a crossing between Tijuana and San Diego.The tariff “will have an impact, but we will endure,” he said, warming up the engine of the truck in which he brings meat from the United States to Mexico.Mendoza is already feeling the impact of the trade tensions, which Trump has linked to drug trafficking and illegal migration.Due to increased security ordered by Sheinbaum, he and thousands of other truck drivers take up to five hours to cross the border, where vehicles undergo X-rays for contraband.- Longer waiting times -Sheinbaum announced the deployment of 10,000 more troops to the frontier in February in exchange for Trump delaying tariffs.But the pause expired on Tuesday, and longer waiting times due to increased security at the border have led to fewer trips and reduced profits for some haulage companies.Even before tariffs took effect, 28-year-old truck driver Angel Cervantes said he was feeling the squeeze from duties Trump imposed on China.There was less work available because many companies in Tijuana export Chinese brand goods, he said, adding that his company lost one client who sold air conditioners.Cervantes said his income had dropped from about $800 a week to $600, making it harder to support his wife and two children.But he was confident that Mexico’s free trade agreement with the United States and Canada would survive.Truck driver Jonathan Figueroa, 26, said that he lost his previous job when a big client of his former employer decided to move its solar panel plant from Mexico to the United States.”My boss had told me that if Donald Trump won the presidency, the company we supplied would be taken to New Mexico. And so it was,” said the 26-year-old, who was unemployed for four months.As well as truckers, the tariffs have triggered unease among the many workers in the factories in Mexico’s industrial border zones.After finishing her 12-hour shift at a car speaker plant, Maria Virginia Gutierrez admitted that she was worried, especially since the factory passed from American hands to a Chinese investor at the start of the year. Although many in Tijuana fear tariffs will bring pain, there is also a sense that Mexico must maintain its pride and self-respect in the face of Trump’s threats. “We have to defend ourselves,” Mendoza said.

C1: Aston Villa s’impose à Bruges et entrevoit les quarts de finale

Aston Villa, bousculé mais efficace, a pris une sérieuse option pour les quarts de finale de la Ligue des champions après sa victoire 3 à 1 qui s’est dessinée en fin de rencontre face au Club Bruges, mardi au stade Jan Beydel.Les Villans se sont imposés grâce à deux buts dans les dix dernières minutes pour entrevoir avec optimisme le match retour programmé le 12 mars à domicile, avec l’objectif de rencontrer début avril le vainqueur de la rencontre entre le Paris Saint-Germain et Liverpool.Avant cette fin de match favorable aux hommes d’Unai Emery, les locaux se sont créé les meilleures occasions en manquant de réussite.”Des détails ont fait la différence. Dans les moments +chauds+, nos adversaires ont été meilleurs”, a constaté le défenseur belge Maxime De Cuyper, admettant que la tâche de son équipe s’annonce désormais “très compliquée”.Car si Bruges s’était imposé face à Villa en phase de ligue (1-0), les champions de Belgique sont apparus un cran en-dessous de leurs adversaires. Ils se déplaceront dans huit jours à Villa Park avec l’obligation de battre largement une équipe qui n’a plus perdu depuis quatorze matches toutes compétitions confondues.- Fin de match fatale à Bruges -Avec l’obligation de ne pas répéter le début de match de mardi quand ils ont été pris à froid par le club de Birmingham.Dès la 3e minute, le Jamaicain Leon Bailey a en effet ouvert la marque pour le club anglais d’une frappe en demi-volée à la réception d’un coup franc botté par Youi Tielemans.Les Blauw en Zwart (Bleus et Noirs) ont réagi dans la foulée, égalisant par Maxime De Cuyper et une frappe décroisée à ras de terre de l’international belge (12e) dans le petit filet d’Emiliano Martinez.Ce début de match un peu fou a-t-il refroidi les ardeurs ? Les deux équipes ont alors serré les lignes, concédant peu d’occasions avant la pause, sauf durant le dernier quart d’heure d’une première période globalement dominée par les locaux, avec une possibilité de but signée Chesmdine Talbi (31e) nécessitant un arrêt remarquable du gardien argentin.Les hommes d’Emery (extrêmement nerveux au point d’être sanctionné par un carton jaune) ont semblé se satisfaire d’un score favorable en vue du match retour le 12 mars à Villa Park. Tout en se faisant quelques frayeurs, notamment quand Hans Vanaken a failli tromper Matinez (69e). Avant une fin de match idéale: un but contre son camp de Brandon Mechele (8e) qui a tenté de détourner un envoi de Brandon Rogers, puis le coup de grâce, un penalty converti par Marco Asensio (88e).

Trade war brings fear, uncertainty to Canadian border city

In the Canadian city of Windsor, which survives on the cross-border auto industry, the start of a trade war with the United States has opened a period of fear and uncertainty.Windsor is separated from Detroit, Michigan by a river, and American automakers based in the US city have been an essential employer on the Canadian side for decades. “The value of what we have around us is based on the automotive industry. So if it were to collapse, that will collapse with it,” Robert Pikata, a 60-year-old who works for Windsor’s municipal government, told AFP.Like many Windsor residents, Pikata has been following the news closely in recent weeks. Many had hoped that President Donald Trump would ultimately back away from tariffs that Ford’s CEO Jim Farley warned would “blow a hole” in the auto industry. But Trump made good on his threat on Tuesday, imposing a 25 percent tariff on Canadian goods. Canada immediately retaliated, triggering a trade war between historically close allies and threatening future commerce across a border that sees billions of dollars in daily trade.Addressing Canadians on Tuesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau warned of “tough” days ahead. Pikata said economic conflict with the United States will see living standards in Windsor fall. He told AFP he was “disappointed and scared at the same time because of the unknown.” “How is it going to affect me personally and how is it going to affect my family?”Jessica Dame, a 33-year-old healthcare worker, said businesses across Windsor rely on the US.”You’re literally breaking relationships,” she said, addressing Trump. “I think we’re gonna see a huge decline in local economies.”- ‘Shocked, not surprised’ -Trump’s justifications for launching a trade war with Canada have shifted. His administration has said the levies are designed to force Canada to act on the flow of undocumented migrants and the drug fentanyl across the border. Trudeau has maintained that Canada is not a significant contributor to either problem in the United States, and on Tuesday called Trump’s fentanyl justification “completely false.”Trump has also mused about tariffs as a corrective to the US trade deficit with Canada and falsely claimed that Canada prevents American banks from operating in the country.The president said this week that auto companies that want to avoid the consequences of tariffs should open plants in the United States. “Every time I hear (Trump) say something, I always find it’s like 50-50 about whether it’s actually true or not,” university student Zach Puget told AFP in Windsor. Voicing concern that the trade war would force grocery prices higher, Puget said he was “shocked, but not surprised” that the measures had come into force. In his address to Canadians, Trudeau offered a stark warning about Trump’s motivation. He said the US president, who has spoken often of making Canada the 51st American state, “wants to see a collapse of the Canadian economy because that would make it easier to annex us.””That is never going to happen,” Trudeau asserted. “We will never be the 51st state.”

A l’Assemblée, les ministres plaident pour un arsenal contre le narcotrafic devant une gauche inquiète

Érigée en priorité par le gouvernement, la lutte contre le narcotrafic a commencé à être débattue en commission à l’Assemblée nationale mardi, avec une proposition de loi sur laquelle la gauche a émis de nombreuses réserves, notamment au regard des libertés individuelles.Ce texte transpartisan, adopté à l’unanimité au Sénat début février, entend compléter l’arsenal répressif contre le trafic de drogues et prévoit notamment la création d’un parquet spécialisé.Mais les débats promettent d’être plus mouvementés qu’à la chambre haute, avec quelque 500 amendements déposés par les députés. Tout en reconnaissant le “fléau” du narcotrafic, la députée socialiste Colette Capdevielle a alerté: “Attention aux atteintes aux droits de la défense (…), aux atteintes à la vie privée (…), aux droits fondamentaux.” L’examen en commission des Lois, qui devrait se poursuivre jusqu’à vendredi, a commencé mardi après-midi avec l’audition des ministres de la Justice Gérald Darmanin et de l’Intérieur Bruno Retailleau.Le narcotrafic “est à la fois la cause racine de l’hyper violence qu’on voit partout en France” et “une menace existentielle sur nos institutions”, a déclaré ce dernier. “Le moment est venu de reprendre le contrôle.”Il a mis en avant la nécessité de nouvelles techniques spéciales d’enquêtes. Si le texte “devait ressortir sans aucune mesure qui permettrait que nous puissions lutter à armes égales” en matière de nouvelles technologies, “il n’y aurait aucun texte”, a-t-il alerté.L’une des ces techniques, et l’un des principaux points de crispation, imposerait aux plateformes de messagerie chiffrée (Signal, WhatsApp…) d’autoriser l’accès aux correspondances des trafiquants par les services de renseignement.Plusieurs groupes politiques ont déposé des amendements pour supprimer l’article, dont des députés du groupe macroniste Ensemble pour la République (EPR), dénonçant une “porte dérobée” dangereuse.”Affaiblir le chiffrement ne pénaliserait pas seulement les criminels. Cela exposerait aussi nos citoyens, nos entreprises et nos infrastructures aux cyberattaques”, a mis en garde la ministre chargée de l’Intelligence artificielle et du Numérique, Clara Chappaz.- Nouveau régime carcéral -La proposition phare du texte, issu d’une commission d’enquête sénatoriale, consiste en la création d’un parquet national anticriminalité organisée (Pnaco). Sur le modèle des parquets financier (PNF) et antiterroriste (Pnat), il serait saisi des crimes les plus graves.Un rapport d’étape rendu mardi à Gérald Darmanin a préconisé qu’il soit implanté à Paris -et non Marseille-, avec une entrée en vigueur “pas avant début 2026”.Les prérogatives de ce parquet pourraient à l’avenir être étendues à la cybercriminalité, pour englober le blanchiment d’argent via cryptomonnaies, a déclaré M. Darmanin mardi.Le gouvernement a par ailleurs déposé un amendement visant à créer dans les prisons des quartiers de lutte contre la criminalité organisée, avec fouilles intégrales après tout contact avec l’extérieur, ou encore accès limité au téléphone. Des détenus pourraient y être placés sur décision du garde des Sceaux.Il s’agit “d’isoler les personnes les plus dangereuses”, entre 600 et 800 détenus, a dit le ministre de la Justice. Un tel régime serait “attentatoire aux droits fondamentaux”, a toutefois mis en garde l’Observatoire international des prisons (OIP).M. Darmanin a annoncé avoir saisi le Conseil d’Etat sur cette question, pour éventuellement modifier le texte en séance.- “Dossier-coffre” -Parmi les autres mesures du texte: la fermeture administrative de commerces soupçonnés d’agir comme “blanchisseuses”, la création d’une procédure “d’injonction pour richesse inexpliquée” pour obliger les suspects à s’expliquer sur leur train de vie, ou encore la possibilité pour les préfets de prononcer des “interdictions de paraître” sur les points de deal.Un article prévoit de rendre possible l’activation à distance d’un appareil électronique (micro, caméra…). Un dispositif censuré par le passé par le Conseil constitutionnel pour atteinte à la vie privée.Autre disposition décriée, la création d’un “procès-verbal distinct”, surnommé “dossier-coffre”, pour ne pas divulguer certaines techniques d’enquête sensibles. Une mesure faisant craindre des atteintes aux droits de la défense.Face à des “organisations professionnelles”, “il faut faire très attention de ne pas livrer des noms” d’informateurs ou d’enquêteurs, a plaidé le ministre de l’Intérieur. “Votre logique est celle d’un élargissement des moyens techniques au mépris du respect des droits”, a rétorqué le député La France insoumise Antoine Léaument.Le texte doit arriver dans l’hémicycle la semaine du 17 mars, avant un vote solennel prévu le 25 mars.