Trump says may go to Middle East as peace deal ‘very close’
US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he may go to the Middle East at the end of this week as a peace deal between Israel and Hamas in Gaza is “very close.”Trump said during an event at the White House that he would “go to Egypt most likely” but that he would also consider going to war-torn Gaza.”I may go there sometime toward the end of the week, maybe on Sunday, actually. And we’ll see, but there is a very good chance. Negotiations are going along very well,” Trump told reporters at the start of the event.”Our final negotiation, as you know, is with Hamas, and it seems to be going well. So we’ll let you know, if that’s the case, we’ll be leaving probably on Sunday, maybe on Saturday.”Near the end of the meeting, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio unexpectedly entered the room and handed Trump a note. The US president told reporters the note said that “we’re very close to a deal” and that his presence was needed. “I have to go now to try and solve some problems in the Middle East,” he added.Hamas and Israeli officials are having indirect talks in Egypt on a 20-point peace proposal unveiled by Trump to end the two-year-old war.- ‘Very close’ -Trump said as he began the event that he had come off the phone with officials in the Middle East, where his special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner had just joined discussions in Egypt.”‘Peace for the Middle East,’ that’s a beautiful phrase, and we hope it’s going to come true, but it’s very close, and they’re doing very well,” Trump added.”We have a great team over there, great negotiators, and they’re, unfortunately, great negotiators on the other side also. But it’s something I think that will happen.”Asked if he would consider going to Gaza if a deal happens, Trump replied: “I would, yeah. I would. I might do that. I may do that. We haven’t decided exactly.”Trump said he would insist on the release of hostages held by Hamas before traveling to the region.Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said earlier that he had received “encouraging” signs and hailed the support of Trump. Hamas too expressed “optimism” over the indirect discussions with its foe Israel.Trump’s plan calls for a ceasefire, the release of all the hostages held in Gaza, Hamas’s disarmament and a gradual Israeli withdrawal from the territory.
Ligue des champions féminine: le PSG corrigé à Wolfsburg (4-0)
Les joueuses du Paris SG se sont lourdement inclinées mercredi soir sur la pelouse de Wolfsburg (4-0) pour la première journée de la phase de groupe de la Ligue des champions.A domicile, Wolfsburg a ouvert le score dès la 7e minute. Sur le premier corner de la rencontre tiré par Janou Levels, l’attaquante Alexandra Popp a repris de la tête et la défenseuse centrale parisienne Jackie Groenen, sous pression de Caitlin Dijkstra a dévié dans son propre but.Juste avant la pause, les “Louves” ont doublé la mise par Ella Peddemors. En fin de rencontre, Wolfsburg a salé l’addition pour les Parisiennes par Popp (90e) et Janina Minge (90e+5 sur penalty).Offensivement, le PSG s’est affaibli cet été avec les départs de Grace Geyoro aux Lionesses de Londres et de Marie-Antoinette Katoto à Lyon. Les deux internationales françaises n’ont pas été remplacées et Merveille Kanjinga a manqué plusieurs occasions mercredi à Wolfsburg.Éliminées dès le tour de qualification par la Juventus Turin la saison passée, les Parisiennes manquent leurs retrouvailles avec la Ligue des champions.Cette saison, la première phase de la C1 se déroule lors d’un groupe unique de 18 équipes, chaque équipe jouant six matches face à six adversaires différents.Le programme des joueuses de Paulo César, arrivé cet été sur le banc après une saison 2024/25 compliquée, s’annonce très relevé avec le Real Madrid au Campus PSG à Poissy dans huit jours (16 octobre), avant de se rendre à Manchester pour y affronter United le 12 novembre, puis de recevoir le Bayern au Parc le 20 novembre.
Wall Street poursuit son ascension sans crainte
La Bourse de New York a terminé dans le vert mercredi, continuant d’évoluer à des sommets malgré la paralysie budgétaire aux Etats-Unis et l’absence de nouvelles économiques, les investisseurs attendant avec impatience la publication des résultats d’entreprises.Les indices Nasdaq (+1,12% à 23.043,38 points) et S&P 500 (+0,58% à 6.753,72 dollars) ont tous deux atteint un nouveau record. Le Dow Jones est lui resté à l’équilibre (0,00%).”Nous sommes dans un marché haussier” et dans ce contexte, “les surprises aboutissent à des progressions, pas à des baisses”, a commenté auprès de l’AFP Adam Sarhan, analyste de 50 Park Investments.En raison de l’arrêt d’une partie des activités de l’Etat fédéral américain (“shutdown”) depuis une semaine, “nous n’avons déjà pas reçu le rapport sur l’emploi de septembre, et il est possible que nous ne recevions pas les rapports sur l’inflation” prévus la semaine prochaine, a relevé M. Sarhan.De quoi “plonger la Réserve fédérale (Fed) dans le noir avant sa prochaine réunion”, selon l’analyste. Mais “pour l’instant le marché s’en moque”, a-t-il assuré.La très vaste majorité des acteurs de marché s’attendent à ce que la banque centrale américaine (Fed) procède à deux nouvelles baisses de taux dans l’année d’un quart de point de pourcentage, une en octobre et une en décembre, selon l’outil de veille CME FedWatch.Et, d’après le compte-rendu de la dernière réunion de politique monétaire de la Fed, “la plupart des participants” à cette réunion “ont estimé qu’il serait probablement opportun” de baisser davantage les taux d’ici la fin de l’année.Les politiques de détente monétaire sont généralement accueillies positivement par Wall Street car elles redonnent un coup de fouet à l’économie et peuvent contribuer à plus de bénéfices pour les entreprises.En attendant la décision de la Fed, les acteurs de marchés ont le regard tourné vers “les résultats d’entreprises, qui, heureusement, ne sont pas affectés par le +shutdown+”, a souligné M. Sarhan.”Avec moins d’incertitudes autour des droits de douane”, une croissance économique toujours importante et “la poursuite des investissements dans l’intelligence artificielle (IA)”, Jeff Buchbinder, analyste de LPL Financial, s’attend à un “taux de croissance (moyen) des bénéfices à deux chiffres” pour les entreprises du S&P 500.Sur le marché obligataire, le rendement des emprunts d’Etat américains à échéance dix ans se tendait légèrement à 4,13%, contre 4,12% à la clôture mardi.Côté entreprises, la majorité des “Sept Magnifiques” – surnom donné aux grandes valeurs américaines du secteur technologique -, a terminé en hausse à l’instar de Nvidia (+2,20%), Amazon (+1,55%) ou Tesla (+1,29%).L’entreprise de satellites AST Space Mobile (+8,63% à 81,20 dollars), concurrente de Starlink, a bondi à l’annonce d’un partenariat avec l’opérateur américain Verizon afin de fournir une connexion mobile aux utilisateurs dans des zones mal couvertes.La plateforme américaine de design collaboratif Figma (+16,83% à 71,08 dollars) a poursuivi son envolée, portée par la nouvelle fonctionnalité du modèle de langage ChatGPT (OpenAI) qui pourra désormais interagir avec certains applications.Depuis le début de la semaine, l’action de Figma a pris 34%.
Gold tops $4,000 for first time on political, economic worries
Gold topped $4,000 an ounce for the first time Wednesday as investors flocked to the safe haven metal on worries over the US government shutdown, France’s political crisis and other global economic uncertainties.US and European stock markets rose while Asian equities fell as investors also kept tabs on the AI investment boom and the prospect of further US interest rate cuts this year.Gold, considered a safe investment in times of uncertainty, reached an all-time high of nearly $4,060 an ounce Wednesday. Silver also rose close to a record high.”Gold is continuing to glitter, and it is a gift that keeps on giving,” said Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst at City Index and Forex.com.”Markets hate uncertainty, and right now, it’s in no short supply –- although stocks haven’t exactly sold off,” he added.”Instead, it is gold that continues to benefit from haven flows while stock markets continue to find buyers on the dips too,” he added.- US political deadlock -Parts of the US government began to close last week after Democrats and President Donald Trump failed to break a deadlock over spending.Steve Clayton, head of equity funds at Hargreaves Lansdown, noted that the price of gold had doubled over the last two years.While France’s political upheaval has contributed to the gold rush, the Paris stock market rose on Wednesday.President Emmanuel Macron is facing the worst domestic crisis of his mandate following the departure of his latest prime minister over a deadlocked debate on an austerity budget.Frankfurt’s DAX was also higher following mixed economic news.The German government raised its growth forecast for 2025 from zero to 0.2 percent growth, and its 2026 projection from one to 1.3 percent.Earlier, however, official data showed a sharp decline in industrial production in August, particularly in the automotive sector.Back in New York, investors have largely shrugged off the shutdown, viewing the negative impacts as likely to be reversed once the government reopens.But Art Hogan of B. Riley Wealth Management said lingering worries about the shutdown could become more consequential once earnings season gets underway in earnest if companies express caution over their outlook.There “could be a self-fulfilling slowdown in economic growth,” Hogan said.For now, US stocks continue to drift higher. Both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq ended at records.”Traders seem to consider the shutdown no more than a mild inconvenience due to the postponement of certain economic data releases,” said David Morrison, analyst at Trade Nation.”Instead, investors continue to expect more upside in US equities, supported by ongoing investment in artificial intelligence, along with the prospect of 50 basis-points-worth of rate cuts before the year-end,” he said.Futures markets expect the Fed to cut interest rates later this month.Among individual companies, chip company Advanced Micro Devices piled on 11.4 percent, extending a rally following an announcement of a big deal with OpenAI earlier this week. Fellow semiconductor companies Nvidia and Micron also rose.- Key figures at around 2020 GMT -New York – Dow: FLAT at 46,601.78 New York – S&P 500: UP 0.6 percent to 6,753.72New York – Nasdaq Composite: UP 1.1 percent to 23,043.38 London – FTSE 100: UP 0.7 percent at 9,548.87 (close)Paris – CAC 40: UP 1.1 percent at 8,060.13 (close)Frankfurt – DAX: UP 0.9 percent at 24,497.13 (close)Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.5 percent at 47,734.99 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.5 percent at 26,829.46 (close)Shanghai – Composite: Closed for a holidayEuro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1628 from $1.1657 on TuesdayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3401 from $1.3426Dollar/yen: UP at 152.64 yen from 152.70 yenEuro/pound: DOWN at 86.78 pence from 86.93 penceBrent North Sea Crude: UP 1.2 percent at $66.25 per barrelWest Texas Intermediate: UP 1.3 percent at $62.55 per barrel
Country music star clashes with Trump govt over immigration raids
A US country music star and military veteran became the latest — and possibly least likely — target of the Trump administration after it took issue with his lyrics about brazen immigration raids.Zach Bryan, a Grammy winner who packs out stadiums with fans of a musical genre that usually appeals to conservatives, sparked the ire of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) with an as-yet unreleased track in which he sings about ICE agents and police who “come bust down your door.””I hope he understands how completely disrespectful that song is, not just to law enforcement but to this country,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem told a right-wing podcaster after hearing a snippet.DHS assistant secretary of public affairs Tricia McLaughlin said Bryan should “stick to Pink Skies, dude,” in a reference to a previous hit by the songmaker.The department, which has adopted an aggressive social media strategy that revels in the often-violent raids carried out by its Immigration and Customs Enforcment (ICE) officers, put out a montage video of arrests overlaid with another Bryan song, “Revival.”The lyrics in question come from “Bad News,” part of which Bryan posted on Instagram.”My friends are all degenerates, but they’re all I got, the generational story of dropping the plot. I heard the cops came, Cocky motherfuckers, ain’t they? And ICE is gonna come bust down your door,” he sings.”The middle finger’s rising, and it won’t stop showing. Got some bad news, the fading of the red, white, and blue.”On Tuesday, Bryan hit out at the backlash, insisting the song is about his love for his country.Anyone who uses it “as a weapon is only proving how devastatingly divided we all are,” he said on Instagram.”When you hear the rest of the song, you will understand the full context that hits on both sides of the aisle.” Bryan, who served in the US Navy, and whose parents are both veterans, said he was not taking an extreme stance.”Left wing or right wing we’re all one bird and American. To be clear I’m on neither of these radical sides,” he said. The fracas is the latest between the Trump administration and pop culture figures.Last week officials lashed out over NFL plans for Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny to headline the Super Bowl halftime show, with Noem insisting ICE agents would be present at an event where even the cheapest tickets are well out of reach for most undocumented migrants.Thousands of immigration enforcement officers have fanned out across the United States in recent months as part of Trump’s election pledge to carry out the largest deportation in US history.While their raids are popular among some Trump supporters, the operations have been criticised as unnecessarily violent and apparently unfocused, seemingly targeting people solely on the basis of their skin color or the language they speak.