AFP - Squid Business

Musk ‘disappointed’ by Trump bill, in rare break with US president

Billionaire Elon Musk has criticized Donald Trump’s signature spending bill, in his first major break with the US president since he stepped back from his role taking a chainsaw to government spending.The South African-born tech tycoon said Trump’s bill would increase the deficit and undermine the work of Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which has fired tens of thousands of people.Musk — who was a constant presence at Trump’s side before pulling back to focus on his Space X and Tesla businesses — also complained that DOGE had become a “whipping boy” for dissatisfaction with the administration.”I was disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly, which increases the budget deficit, not just decreases it, and undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing,” Musk said in an interview with CBS News, an excerpt of which aired late Tuesday.Trump’s “One Big, Beautiful Bill Act” — which passed the US House last week and now moves to the Senate — offers sprawling tax relief and spending cuts and is the centerpiece of his domestic agenda.But critics warn it will decimate health care and balloon the national deficit by as much as $4 trillion over a decade.”A bill can be big, or it can be beautiful. But I don’t know if it can be both. My personal opinion,” Musk said in the interview, which will be aired in full on Sunday.The White House sought to play down any differences over US government spending, without directly naming Musk.”The Big Beautiful Bill is NOT an annual budget bill,” Trump’s Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller said on Musk’s social network, X, after the tech titan’s comments aired.All DOGE cuts would have to be carried out through a separate bill targeting the federal bureaucracy, according to US Senate rules, Miller added.But Musk’s comments represented a rare split with the Republican president whom he helped propel back to power, as the largest donor to his 2024 election campaign.- ‘Whipping boy’ -Trump tasked Musk with cutting government spending as head of DOGE, but after a feverish start Musk announced in late April he was mostly stepping back to run his companies again.Musk complained in a separate interview with the Washington Post that DOGE, which operated out of the White House with a staff of young technicians, had become a lightning rod for criticism.”DOGE is just becoming the whipping boy for everything,” Musk told the newspaper at the Starbase launch site in Texas ahead of Space X’s latest launch on Tuesday.”Something bad would happen anywhere, and we would get blamed for it even if we had nothing to do with it.”Musk blamed entrenched US bureaucracy for DOGE’s failure to achieve all of its goals — although reports say his domineering style and lack of familiarity with the currents of Washington politics were also major factors.”The federal bureaucracy situation is much worse than I realized,” he said. “I thought there were problems, but it sure is an uphill battle trying to improve things in DC, to say the least.”Musk has previously admitted that he did not achieve all his goals with DOGE even though tens of thousands of people were removed from government payrolls and several departments were gutted or shut down.Musk’s own businesses suffered in the meantime.Protesters against the cost-cutting targeted Tesla dealerships while arsonists even torched a few of the electric vehicles, and the firm’s profits slumped.”People were burning Teslas. Why would you do that? That’s really uncool,” Musk told the Post.Musk has also been focusing on Space X after a series of fiery setbacks to his dreams of colonizing Mars — the latest of which came on Tuesday when its prototype Starship exploded over the Indian Ocean.The tycoon last week also said he would pull back from spending his fortune on politics, having spent around a quarter of a billion dollars to support Trump.

Stocks sink as rally over eased trade tensions fades

Stock markets sank Wednesday on evaporating cheer over eased tariff tensions, and oil prices climbed as Washington appeared closer to possibly putting fresh sanctions on Moscow over Ukraine.London, Paris and Frankfurt all closed lower, following Asia down.New York was trading in similar red territory.Much of the focus on Wall Street was on Nvidia, the US chipmaker, whose earnings report — to be released after New York’s close — was being viewed as a bellwether for tech stocks generally.”This is expected to be another quarter of monster revenue for Nvidia, however it may lead to the familiar question, can these results continue?” asked Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB.She and others pointed to uncertainty over US restrictions on semiconductor exports, against a backdrop of effervescent chip demand as artificial intelligence development accelerates.Crude prices surged more than two percent, ahead of an OPEC meeting to discuss output and hiked tensions over Russia and Iran.President Donald Trump’s rare rebuke Tuesday of Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin over stepped-up attacks on Ukraine — saying he was “playing with fire” — raised the prospect of tougher US sanctions on Russian energy and banking sectors.US-Iran talks on curbing Tehran’s nuclear programme have also yielded no breakthrough so far, additionally fuelling speculation of tightened sanctions.The US dollar picked up against major currencies, but analysts said that masked a fundamental weakness in the greenback, and in the US debt market, evident in recent weeks.”It’s the creeping realisation that US assets no longer provide the same refuge” they used to, said Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management. “Dollar strength is no longer reflexive — it’s contested.”Europe and Asia were down after a rally over the previous two days triggered by Trump’s announcement he was pausing threatened 50-percent tariffs on the European Union to give space to trade negotiations.”The market no longer takes Trump at his word when he delivers swathing tariff hikes seemingly at random,” said Brooks.David Morrison, senior market analyst at Trade Nation, said: “It looks as if investors are looking past tariffs, assuming that all will be for the best, in the best of all worlds. This Panglossian view could be severely tested, and a US-EU deal could prove hard to achieve.”In Europe, auto giant Stellantis, which makes Jeep, Peugeot, Chrysler and Fiat vehicles, named a new CEO — its North America chief Antonio Filosa — to succeed Carlos Tavares, who was sacked in December.”To give him full authority and ensure an efficient transition, the Board has granted him CEO powers effective June 23,” the company said.Stellantis shares closed more than two percent down.A Financial Times report that European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde had discussed leaving her post early to take the helm of the World Economic Forum had little impact on the euro.”It is trading in a relatively tight range, suggesting that reports Christine Lagarde may not fulfill her full term at the ECB is not having an impact on European markets,” said XTB’s Brooks.- Key figures at around 1545 GMT -New York – Dow: DOWN 0.3 percent at 42,198.20 pointsNew York – S&P 500: DOWN 0.3 percent at 5,905.81New York – Nasdaq Composite: DOWN 0.1 percent at 19,173.59London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.6 percent at 8,726.01 (close) Paris – CAC 40: DOWN 0.5 percent at 7,788.10 (close)Frankfurt – DAX: DOWN 0.8 percent at 24,038.19 (close)Tokyo – Nikkei 225: FLAT at 37,722.40 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.5 percent at 23,258.31 (close)Shanghai – Composite: FLAT at 3,339.93 (close)Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1288 from $1.1329 on TuesdayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3460 from $1.3504Dollar/yen: UP at 145.01 yen from 144.34 yenEuro/pound: DOWN at 83.85 pence from 83.88 penceBrent North Sea Crude: UP 2.3 percent at $64.99 per barrelWest Texas Intermediate: UP 2.6 percent at $62.44 per barrel

Telegram to get $300 mn in partnership with Musk’s xAI

Telegram established a partnership with Elon Musk’s xAI to provide the Grok generative artificial intelligence program on the messaging service for one year, Telegram’s CEO announced Wednesday.In exchange for implementing Grok across its platforms, Telegram will receive $300 million in cash and equity, plus 50 percent of the revenue from xAI subscriptions sold via Telegram, Telegram’s chief Pavel Durov announced on X, the former Twitter.Grok will be accessible on Telegram this summer, Durov said.The terms of the deal may appear unbalanced, but the transaction allows xAI, which in late March acquired Musk’s X platform, to have access to Telegram’s customers, which Durov estimated has more than one billion users.Generative AI businesses have been aiming to grow their user base in order to recover revenues after huge investments in the state-of-the-art technology.xAI in February released the latest version of its chatbot, Grok 3, which the billionaire hopes will find traction in a highly competitive sector contested by the likes of ChatGPT and China’s DeepSeek.Grok 3 is also going up against OpenAI’s chatbot, ChatGPT — pitting Musk against collaborator-turned-arch rival Sam Altman.Grok is accessible on the X platform, but with limitations on non-paying users. The premium service costs $40 per month, or $395 per year.Durov has faced judicial action in France after clashing with French authorities over illegal content on his popular messaging service, including claims that France interfered in Romanian elections.Earlier this month, French authorities denied a request for Durov, who holds French and Russian passports, to travel to the United States for talks with investment funds.

Musk “déçu” par Trump

Le multimilliardaire Elon Musk a pour la première fois mercredi critiqué son allié, le président Donald Trump, en lui reprochant de creuser le déficit budgétaire, à rebours de la mission d’austérité confiée à l’homme le plus riche du monde.”J’ai été déçu de voir ce projet de loi de dépenses massives – franchement – qui augmente le déficit budgétaire”, a déclaré Elon Musk dans une interview à la chaîne CBS News, dont un extrait a été diffusé mardi soir, en référence à une grande loi économique voulue par le président républicain.Le patron de Tesla et SpaceX, chargé depuis quatre mois d’une entreprise de réforme inédite dans l’histoire gouvernementale américaine, a aussi déploré auprès du Washington Post que sa Commission pour l’efficacité gouvernementale, le Doge, soit “en passe de devenir le bouc émissaire pour tout”.”Quand quelque chose de mal se produit quelque part, on nous fait porter le chapeau pour ça, même si on n’a rien à voir avec”, a-t-il regretté.La “grande et belle loi”, telle que l’a baptisée Donald Trump, est en cours d’examen au Congrès et a pour objectif de mettre en application certaines promesses de campagne emblématiques, comme la prolongation de gigantesques crédits d’impôt adoptés lors de son premier mandat.Selon une analyse d’une agence parlementaire sans affiliation politique, le texte en l’état entraînerait une hausse du déficit fédéral de 3.800 milliards de dollars au cours de la prochaine décennie.- “Grande” ou “belle” -La Maison Blanche, sans nommer Elon Musk, a estimé que ce texte et la mission d’austérité budgétaire du Doge étaient deux choses différentes.”La +grande et belle loi+ n’est pas un texte budgétaire”, a écrit sur X l’un des principaux conseillers de Donald Trump, Stephen Miller, en notant que les coupes préconisées par l’équipe de l’homme le plus riche du monde devraient, elles, passer par un autre texte de loi.Stephen Miller a aussi assuré – contre l’avis de nombreux experts à gauche comme à droite – que les projets de Donald Trump allaient au bout du compte “réduire le déficit.””Je pense qu’une loi peut être grande ou qu’elle peut être belle. Mais je ne sais pas si elle peut être les deux”, a déclaré Elon Musk, dont la mission doit officiellement bientôt s’achever, dans son interview à CBS News, laquelle sera diffusée en intégralité dimanche.”La bureaucratie fédérale est bien pire que ce que je pensais”, juge aussi le multimilliardaire, qui avait abondamment financé la campagne de Donald Trump, dans son entretien au Washington Post paru mardi. L’entrepreneur d’origine sud-africaine a été une figure omniprésente de la fin de campagne et du début de la deuxième présidence du républicain de 78 ans, apparaissant auprès de lui le jour de la cérémonie d’investiture, dans le Bureau ovale ou au conseil des ministres, généralement tout de noir vêtu et avec une casquette vissée sur la tête.- Frictions -Sa mission était depuis le début conçue comme temporaire, son statut d'”employé spécial du gouvernement” étant limité à 130 jours.Plusieurs articles de presse ont par ailleurs fait état de frictions récurrentes avec des ministres de Donald Trump.Elon Musk avait annoncé fin avril se mettre en retrait pour s’occuper davantage de ses entreprises, notamment Tesla.Samedi, après une brève panne du réseau X, dont il est aussi propriétaire, il a écrit: “De retour à passer 24 heures sur 24 et 7 jours sur 7 au travail et à dormir dans des salles de conférence/serveur/usine”.Il avait reconnu début mai que le Doge n’avait pas atteint ses objectifs initiaux, malgré des annonces plus fracassantes les unes que les autres, en particulier le limogeage de milliers de fonctionnaires et la dissolution ou réduction au minimum de plusieurs agences publiques.Elon Musk a déclaré qu’il continuerait son travail avec le Doge, mais qu’il se concentrerait sur l’amélioration des systèmes informatiques de l’administration plutôt que sur la réduction du personnel.Son immixtion dans les affaires de l’Etat fédéral a soulevé de nombreuses questions sur de potentiels conflits d’intérêt, en raison des importants contrats conclus entre l’administration et ses entreprises, ainsi que d’éventuelles régulations qui toucheraient ses secteurs d’activité.

Palestinians in Gaza ‘deserve more than survival,’ says UN envoy

Palestinians living in Gaza “deserve more than survival,” the United Nations envoy for the Middle East told the Security Council on Wednesday, as Israel’s war there enters its 600th day. Israel stepped up its military offensive in Gaza, ignited by an attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas on October 7, 2023, earlier this month, while mediators push for a ceasefire that remains elusive.The issue of aid has come sharply into focus amid a hunger crisis after Israel imposed a full blockade on Gaza for over two months, before allowing supplies in at a trickle last week.”Since the resumption of hostilities in Gaza, the already horrific existence of civilians has only sunk further into the abyss. This is manmade,” Sigrid Kaag, the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, told the Council.”Death is their companion,” she continued. “It’s not life, it’s not hope. The people of Gaza deserve more than survival. They deserve a future.”The aid that is now coming in “is comparable to a lifeboat after the ship has sunk,” she said.Kaag warned that there could be no “sustainable peace” in the Middle East without a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, adding that the West Bank also is on a “dangerous trajectory.”And she called for collective action to revive a two-state solution, saying that a high-level international conference in June presents a “critical opportunity.””It must launch a concrete path towards ending the occupation and realizing the two-state solution,” she said. When speaking of people in Gaza, “the words empathy, solidarity and support have lost their meaning,” Kaag said.”We should not become accustomed to the number of people killed or injured. These are daughters, mothers, and young children whose lives have been shattered. All have a name, all had a future, all had dreams and aspirations.”- ‘Why didn’t I die?’ -The UN Security Council also heard the harrowing testimony of an American surgeon on Wednesday, a few weeks after his return from Gaza. “I am here because I have witnessed what is happening in Gaza with my own eyes, especially to children, and I cannot pretend not to have seen it. You too, cannot claim ignorance,” said Dr Feroze Sidhwa. The medical system in Gaza has not failed, he said. “It has been systematically dismantled through a sustained military campaign that has willfully violated international humanitarian law.”Children are “supposed to be protected,” he said, but “in Gaza, those protections are simply gone.””Most of my patients were pre-teen children, their bodies shattered by explosions and torn by flying metal. Many died. Those who lived often awoke to find their entire families gone,” he said.”According to the War Child Alliance, nearly half of Gaza’s children are suicidal,” he said.”They ask, why didn’t I die with my sister, my mother, my father? Not out of extremism, but out of unbearable grief. I wonder if any member of this Council has ever met a five-year-old child who no longer wants to live.”The Israeli ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, blamed Hamas for the situation in Gaza. “There is suffering in Gaza, but the blame is on the shoulders of Hamas … so they will continue to be suffering until Hamas will understand that they will not stay in Gaza,” he told reporters.

Senegal president opens dialogue on political reformWed, 28 May 2025 15:50:54 GMT

Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye on Wednesday formally opened a national dialogue aimed at steering the west African country through political reform and “consolidating democracy” after a series of violent crises.The move, which the head of state launched along with his prime minister, Ousmane Sonko, comes against a backdrop of tension between Faye’s administration and …

Senegal president opens dialogue on political reformWed, 28 May 2025 15:50:54 GMT Read More »

Les Bourses européennes terminent en recul avant Nvidia

Les marchés boursiers européens ont fini la séance en baisse mercredi, dans l’attente des résultats du géant américain des puces électroniques Nvidia, deuxième capitalisation mondiale.Paris a perdu 0,49%, Francfort 0,78% et Londres 0,59%. Milan est restée à l’équilibre (+0,01%).

At 50, West African bloc teeters amid shifting alliances, security woesWed, 28 May 2025 15:46:32 GMT

Leaders of ECOWAS on Wednesday celebrated 50 years since its formation, reflecting on regional security challenges and internal fractures as Africa as a whole also seeks answers in the face of US trade tariffs and aid cuts.The anniversary comes at one of the worst of moments in recent years for the Economic Community of West …

At 50, West African bloc teeters amid shifting alliances, security woesWed, 28 May 2025 15:46:32 GMT Read More »

“Chantage” sur Karine Le Marchand: un an de prison avec sursis requis contre Mimi Marchand

Un système “malhonnête” et “peu glorieux” pour se créer “des obligés” parmi les célèbres: l’accusation a requis mercredi une peine d’un an de prison avec sursis pour extorsion à l’encontre de la papesse de la presse people Mimi Marchand, accusée de chantage sur l’animatrice Karine Le Marchand.La procureure a aussi demandé 20.000 euros d’amende contre celle qui ne s’est pas “remise en cause” à l’audience devant le tribunal correctionnel de Paris, ne faisant que se “traiter d’idiote et d’abrutie” sans donner plus d’explication.En février 2020, Mimi Marchand, aujourd’hui 78 ans, avait alerté l’animatrice de “L’amour est dans le pré” qu’un “jeune” photographe inconnu avait tenté de lui vendre des photos de sa fille mineure sortant de garde à vue. Elle l’avait rassurée, disant avoir “bloqué” les photos en donnant 3.000 euros au photographe.A la barre la veille, Mimi Marchand a reconnu avoir “menti” – les images avaient été faites par l’un de ses habituels paparazzi, Sébastien Valiela. “Merci Mimi, je te le revaudrai”, avait répondu soulagée Karine Le Marchand, avant de “rembourser” une première partie de l’argent avancé, 1.600 euros.”Elle cherche à la mettre à son service en la +tenant+ avec les photos de sa fille”, accuse la procureure Marion Adam. Et Karine Le Marchand se retrouve “sous une contrainte morale insidieuse”, “obligée”, ajoute la magistrate, rappelant que Mimi Marchand avait après ce “service” multiplié les demandes auprès de l’animatrice, maintenant une “pression” constante. Dans son travail et avec un sentiment de “toute-puissance”, la patronne de la première agence photos de France Bestimage “a mis en place une stratégie pour se créer des obligés”, poursuit-elle. C’est “malhonnête, peu glorieux, absolument amoral et à mon sens un délit”, cingle-t-elle encore.Blazer bleu marine, courts cheveux cendrés, la reine de la presse people et communicante de l’ombre de puissants écoute courbée, sans ciller. Au sujet du “pouvoir de nuisance” qu’on lui prête, elle avait dit au tribunal: “le manteau est un peu large pour moi”. Sa défense plaidera lundi.- “Une morale” -Avant le parquet, l’avocat de Karine Le Marchand a dénoncé le fonctionnement de “mafia” de Mimi Marchand, tout sauf la “vieille dame pas maligne qui gagne pas beaucoup d’argent et qui regrette” qu’on a vue à la barre.Quand elle “rachète des photos” pour qu’elle ne soient pas publiées – ou fait semblant -, elle “va offrir sa protection” à des célèbres qui deviennent redevables, soutient Me Jean Ennochi. Il lui réclame 10.000 euros en réparation du préjudice à l’animatrice, la même somme pour sa fille, ainsi que le remboursement des fameux 1.600 euros.La veille devant le tribunal, Karine Le Marchand avait poussé un coup de gueule contre le “système” de la presse people qu’elle “déteste”. Amère, elle a décrit les “boîtiers aimantés” posés sous sa voiture pour la traquer, les “sept paparazzis en bas” de chez elle “avec leur petites chaises” quand elle se sépare d’un ex-compagnon, les coups montés où on lui livre des ballons en forme de coeur à la sortie d’un restaurant le jour de la Saint-Valentin pour la photographier et titrer sur la “surprise de son amoureux”…Alors, a-t-elle grincé, entendre Mimi Marchand jurer devant les magistrats qu’elle a “une morale”, que “l’adultère sur papier glacé, moi je l’ai jamais fait”, Karine Le Marchand en “pleure de rire”.La procureure a aussi réclamé deux ans de prison avec sursis notamment pour violation du secret professionnel contre le policier qui avait donné l’information de la garde à vue au paparazzo Sébastien Valiela et un an avec sursis contre ce dernier pour recel.Ils étaient tous deux aussi jugés pour les mêmes infractions dans un dossier annexe, également en février 2020: le premier avait alerté le second de la possible arrestation de l’artiste russe Piotr Pavlenski dans l’affaire des vidéos à caractère sexuel de Benjamin Griveaux. A l’ouverture du procès lundi, Piotr Pavlenski s’était fait expulsé de la salle après avoir réclamé la relaxe de Mimi Marchand (qui a pourtant bénéficié d’un non-lieu sur ce volet), estimant que la diffusion des images de son interpellation participaient à son oeuvre de “pornopolitique”.