AFP - Squid Business

Mexico moves troops to US border after Trump delays tariffs

Mexico on Tuesday began moving troops to its northern border as part of a 10,000-member deployment that President Claudia Sheinbaum promised US counterpart Donald Trump in exchange for a delay of his tariffs.”The deployment has already started,” Sheinbaum told reporters a day after announcing a last-minute deal with Trump to tighten measures against illegal migration and cross-border smuggling of the drug fentanyl.Several hundred members of the National Guard were seen boarding a military airplane in the southeastern city of Merida, heading for the Mexican-US border.Troops were seen arriving in Tijuana, just south of California, and Ciudad Juarez, bordering Texas.”There will be patrols along the entire US-Mexico border,” said Jose Luis Santos, National Guard coordinator in Ciudad Juarez.”Patrols will be conducted on foot and by vehicle, as well as patrols on various roads leading to the border,” he told reporters.Mexico also repeatedly pledged to Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden that it would tackle illegal flows of drugs and migrants, and border states already have a heavy security presence including thousands of troops.Trump on Saturday announced sweeping measures against the United States’ three biggest trading partners: Canada, China and Mexico.Its immediate neighbors were to face a tariff of 25 percent, the president announced, and China an additional 10 percent on top of existing duties.Canada and Mexico announced plans for reciprocal levies before both countries’ presidents managed to strike a deal with Trump Monday that saw him delay the tariffs by a month.Markets had slumped Monday after the weekend threats sparked fears of a global trade war.Sheinbaum said troops had been taken from parts of the country that “do not have as much of a security problem.”Several hundred thousand people have been killed since Mexico deployed the army to combat trafficking in 2006, according to official figures.The US border deployment “does not leave the rest of the country without security,” the president insisted.

All 67 bodies from Washington air disaster now recovered

Salvage crews have recovered the bodies of all 67 people killed when a passenger plane and a US Army helicopter collided near Washington and plunged into the Potomac River, officials said Tuesday.All but one of the bodies have been identified, said a statement from a variety of government agencies involved in the recovery effort after the deadliest US air crash in 20 years.The statement called the completion of the search for remains a “significant step” toward bringing closure to the families of the people who died in the accident last week.”Our hearts are with the victims’ families as they navigate this tragic loss,” the statement said. “We extend our deepest condolences and remain committed to supporting them through this difficult time.”Crews continue working to recover the wreckage of the passenger plane — a Bombardier CRJ-700 operated by American Eagle airlines — from the frigid waters of the Potomac.So far crews have retrieved pieces including the right wing, a center section of the fuselage, part of the left wing, the tail cone and rudder, the National Transportation Safety Board said.Work to recover the chopper will begin when the plane work is done, the city agencies said.Sixty passengers on the plane and four crew members were killed in Wednesday’s accident along with three soldiers aboard the US Army Black Hawk helicopter.There were no survivors.The plane was on a flight from Wichita, Kansas, to Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington when the collision occurred.President Donald Trump was quick to blame diversity hiring policies for the accident although no evidence has emerged that they were responsible.Trump also said the helicopter, which was on a routine training mission, appeared to be flying too high.According to US media reports, the control tower at the busy airport may have been understaffed at the time of the accident.The National Transportation Safety Board is expected to compile a preliminary report within 30 days, although a full investigation could take a year.

Pour Trump, les Palestiniens “adoreraient” quitter Gaza

Donald Trump persiste et signe: les Palestiniens “adoreraient quitter” la bande de Gaza dévastée, a-t-il dit mardi en recevant le Premier ministre israélien, Benjamin Netanyahu, au moment où reprennent de délicates négociations sur la poursuite du cessez-le-feu entre Israël et le Hamas.Le président américain, qui a parlé de faire “le ménage” dans le territoire palestinien ravagé par quinze mois de guerre, a estimé que les Palestiniens vivaient “en enfer” et seraient “ravis” d’aller ailleurs s’ils en avaient la possibilité, évoquant un “chantier de démolition”.”On peut pas y vivre”, a-t-il lancé depuis le Bureau ovale aux côtés de M. Netanyahu.”J’espère que nous pourrons faire quelque chose de vraiment bien, de vraiment bon, où ils ne voudront pas revenir”, a encore déclaré M. Trump. “Pourquoi voudraient-ils revenir? Cet endroit a été un véritable enfer”.Un dirigeant du Hamas, Sami Abu Zuhri, a fustigé les déclarations de Donald Trump, estimant qu’elles étaient une “recette pour créer le chaos” au Proche-Orient.Son émissaire pour le Moyen-Orient, Steve Witkoff, avait jugé auparavant que le territoire palestinien serait inhabitable pendant des années, semblant mettre en doute la faisabilité de la troisième phase de l’accord de trêve, celle de la reconstruction de Gaza en cinq ans.Après avoir vanté son rôle dans l’accord, Donald Trump devait presser son allié de respecter le cessez-le-feu en vigueur depuis le 19 janvier pour une première phase de six semaines, mais dont les prochaines étapes restent incertaines.Le Hamas a annoncé mardi que “les contacts et négociations pour la deuxième phase” du cessez-le-feu avaient “commencé”.Israël avait annoncé plus tôt qu’il enverrait “en fin de semaine” une délégation au Qatar, l’un des trois pays médiateurs avec les Etats-Unis et l’Egypte, pour discuter de la poursuite de la trêve.Interrogé par l’AFP sur son optimisme quant au passage à cette deuxième phase, M. Netanyahu a déclaré : “Nous allons essayer”.”C’est l’une des choses dont nous allons parler. Quand Israël et les Etats-Unis travaillent ensemble, et que le président Trump et moi travaillons ensemble, les chances augmentent beaucoup”, a-t-il dit.Donald Trump a suscité récemment une vague d’indignation internationale en proposant de faire “tout simplement le ménage” dans la bande de Gaza et de transférer ses habitants dans des lieux “plus sûrs” comme l’Egypte ou la Jordanie. Ces deux pays se sont opposés à ce plan.- “Enraciné dans sa terre” -“Lorsque le président parle de ‘faire le ménage’, il parle de rendre (Gaza) habitable”, a déclaré mardi Steve Witkoff, ajoutant qu’il “est injuste d’avoir expliqué aux Palestiniens qu’ils pourraient revenir dans cinq ans. C’est tout simplement grotesque”.La “phase trois, la reconstruction, ne pourra pas se dérouler comme le prévoit l’accord, c’est-à-dire un programme de cinq ans. C’est physiquement impossible”, a-t-il dit.L’émissaire de Trump a aussi déclaré qu’il rencontrerait jeudi en Floride, le Premier ministre qatari, Mohammed ben Abdelrahmane Al-Thani.Mais dans la bande de Gaza, de nombreux Palestiniens déplacés par la guerre ont profité de la trêve pour retrouver leur terre, déterminés à reconstruire. Plus d’un demi-million d’entre eux ont déjà regagné le nord du territoire, particulièrement détruit par les combats.”Trump et Netanyahu doivent comprendre la réalité du peuple palestinien. C’est un peuple profondément enraciné dans sa terre, nous ne la quitterons pas”, a affirmé Hatem Azzam, un habitant de Rafah, dans le sud de Gaza. M. Netanyahu est le premier dirigeant étranger invité à la Maison Blanche depuis le retour au pouvoir de Donald Trump le 20 janvier, symbole de l’alliance indéfectible entre Israël et les Etats-Unis.Outre Gaza, le président américain devrait aussi aborder avec son invité la question d’une normalisation des relations entre Israël et l’Arabie saoudite, à laquelle il avait déjà oeuvré pendant son premier mandat, ainsi que la menace iranienne.- “Pression maximale” -Donald Trump a d’ailleurs promis mardi d’exercer une “pression maximale” sur l’Iran, visant notamment son programme nucléaire.La première phase de la trêve a permis jusqu’à présent la libération de 18 otages retenus à Gaza et d’environ 600 Palestiniens détenus par Israël, ainsi qu’un afflux de l’aide humanitaire dans le territoire assiégé.La deuxième phase doit permettre la libération des derniers otages et la fin définitive de la guerre, déclenchée par l’attaque du Hamas sur le sol israélien le 7 octobre 2023.Une fois libérés les otages durant la première phase, le mouvement islamiste palestinien détiendra encore une cinquantaine d’otages, morts ou vivants.Au total, 251 personnes avaient été enlevées lors de l’attaque du Hamas, qui a entraîné la mort de 1.210 personnes côté israélien, en majorité des civils, selon un décompte de l’AFP basé sur des données officielles israéliennes.L’offensive israélienne menée en représailles dans la bande de Gaza a fait au moins 47.487 morts, en majorité des civils, selon les données du ministère de la Santé du Hamas, jugées fiables par l’ONU.

Pour Trump, les Palestiniens “adoreraient” quitter Gaza

Coupe de France: le PSG, remanié et tranquille, file en quart

Le PSG, largement remanié au début d’un mois de février intense, a éliminé Le Mans mardi (2-0) sur un rythme tranquille, sans forcer son talent tout au long du match, marqué par la rentrée de Presnel Kimpembe après deux ans d’absence.Dans une excellente passe depuis qu’il a assuré sa présence en barrages d’accession aux huitièmes de finale de la Ligue des champions, le PSG, solide leader de Ligue 1, a validé son billet en quart de finale de Coupe de France, en laissant ses cadres au repos et notamment Ousmane Dembélé, auteur de deux triplés en une semaine.Privé de Zaïre-Emery (blessé à une cheville), avec Marquinhos, Donnarumma, Neves menagés et Barcola, Hakimi, Mendes et Vitinha sur le banc au coup d’envoi, Luis Enrique a voulu préserver des forces et ne pas gâcher de l’énergie alors que son équipe joue les barrages de Ligue des champions face à Brest la semaine prochaine après Monaco en Ligue 1 vendredi soir.En revanche, le technicien espagnol a aligné la recrue hivernale Khvicha Kvaratskhelia sur le côté gauche, encore un peu timide face au 6e de National, et qui a encore un peu besoin de temps pour s’adapter au jeu de Luis Enrique, qui demande beaucoup de permutations.Cela a été aussi le cas de l’attaquant Gonçalo Ramos, qui joue le rôle de “super-sub” depuis quelques semaines mais titulaire mardi soir: le Portugais a été transparent quasiment la totalité du match, hormis quand il est allé chercher le ballon dans le coeur du jeu. Si efficace quand il est remplaçant, ce match a encore confirmé qu’il est plus tranchant dans ce rôle.- Kimpembe après deux ans d’absence -A l’inverse, Désiré Doué poursuit sa bonne forme: il a profité d’une erreur de relance courte du gardien et d’un défenseur adverses pour ouvrir le score d’une frappe croisée, juste après avoir manqué une grosse occasion (1-0, 25e).Sur leur première erreur, les Sarthois ont été sanctionnés par les Parisiens, qui avaient eu du mal à se sortir d’Espaly au tour précédent (4-2) notamment à cause d’approximations du gardien Arnau Tenas.Mardi soir, le coach espagnol lui a préféré le Russe Matveï Safonov, qui n’a eu à s’employer qu’en fin de match, même si la défense a encore laissé trop d’espaces et a eu des sautes de concentration.”Le collectif est toujours plus fort que n’importe quel autre individu. La Coupe de France a été faite pour créer des exploits”, avait lancé à ses joueurs le coach du Mans, Patrick Videira, dans le vestiaire avant le début de la rencontre.Sérieux et appliqués, les Sarthois ont fait du mal en contre aux Parisiens, qui s’en sont sortis à chaque fois et ont été aidés par l’efficacité de Bradley Barcola.A peine rentré (68e) et idéalement servi par Nuno Mendes, l’ailier a fait parler sa vitesse et son sens du timing en armant parfaitement sa frappe (2-0, 71e).La rencontre a été marquée par l’entrée de Presnel Kimpembe, qui n’avait pas joué depuis deux ans et sa blessure au tendon d’Achille. Avec le brassard – donné pour le symbole -, il a provoqué un coup franc dangereux et a écopé d’un carton jaune dans la foulée (84e). La folle période parisienne continue. Cette saison, Paris ne perd pas même quand les joueurs de la capitale jouent avec le frein. Tenant du titre, le PSG poursuit donc sa route dans la compétition, remportée 7 fois sur les 10 dernières éditions (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021 et 2024).

Trump hosts Netanyahu for pivotal Gaza ceasefire talks

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met Donald Trump at the White House Tuesday for crucial talks on the truce with Hamas, as the US president suggested permanently resettling Palestinians from war-battered Gaza.”It would be my hope that we could do something really nice, really good, where they wouldn’t want to return,” Trump said as he met Netanyahu in the Oval Office. “Why would they want to return? The place has been hell.”Trump earlier said Palestinians would “love” his plan to move them out of Gaza and into other Middle Eastern countries including Egypt and Jordan.Trump has claimed credit for securing the Israel-Hamas truce after more than 15 months of fighting and bombing, and he was likely to urge Netanyahu to move to the next phase of the ceasefire deal, aimed at a more lasting peace.Netanyahu said “we’re going to try” when asked by AFP how optimistic he was about moving on to phase two.”That’s one of the things we’re going to talk about. When Israel and the United States work together, and President Trump and I work together, the chances go up a lot,” Netanyahu said.The pair were later due to hold a joint press conference.Egypt and Jordan have flatly rejected Trump’s suggestion of moving Palestinians from Gaza. Gazans have also denounced Trump’s idea. “Trump thinks Gaza is a pile of garbage — absolutely not,” said 34-year-old Hatem Azzam, a resident of the southern city of Rafah.- ‘Beautiful piece of land’ -But in a break with previous US policy. Trump doubled down on his suggestion that Palestinians should get a “fresh, beautiful piece of land” in Egypt, Jordan, or other countries.”I think they’d love to leave Gaza if they had an option,” Trump said in the Oval Office ahead of his meeting with Netanyahu.Israel said hours ahead of the White House talks it was sending a team to mediator Qatar to discuss the second phase of the agreement.Palestinian group Hamas said Tuesday negotiations for the second phase had begun, with spokesman Abdel Latif al-Qanou saying the focus was on “shelter, relief and reconstruction”.Under the first six-week phase of the ceasefire, Palestinian militants and Israel have begun exchanging hostages held in Gaza for prisoners in Israeli custody.The war began when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, taking into Gaza 251 hostages, 76 of whom are still held in the Palestinian territory including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.Families of the Israeli hostages have been urging all sides to ensure the agreement is maintained so their loved ones can be freed.- ‘Maximum pressure’ -Trump said he would be pushing efforts towards a normalization deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia which froze with the Gaza war.But they will also be discussing Iran, which backs Hamas and Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement.Ahead of the meeting Trump signed an order reinstating what he called the “maximum pressure” policy against Iran over allegations that the country is trying to develop nuclear weapons.Since the Gaza ceasefire took effect on January 19, Israel has launched a deadly operation against militants in the occupied West Bank’s north.UN aid agency UNRWA — which is now banned in Israel — warned that the heavily impacted refugee camp of Jenin was “going into a catastrophic direction”.On Tuesday, the Israeli army said a gunman killed two soldiers before being shot dead in an attack south of Jenin.Under the truce’s first phase, 18 hostages have been freed so far in exchange for some 600 mostly Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails.The truce has also led to a surge of food, fuel, medical and other aid into Gaza, and allowed people displaced by the war to return to the north of the Palestinian territory.Hamas’s October 7 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,210 people on Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.Israel’s retaliatory response has killed at least 47,518 people in Gaza, the majority civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. The UN considers these figures as reliable.burs-dk/st

Trump hosts Netanyahu for pivotal Gaza ceasefire talks

Stocks recover but tariff uncertainty lingers over market

Stock markets managed to push higher on Tuesday but investors braced for volatility as President Donald Trump pressed on with tariffs against China after delaying duties on Mexican and Canadian imports.Beijing said it was imposing levies on imports of US energy, vehicles and equipment after Trump’s 10 percent tariffs came into effect.But Art Hogan of B. Riley Wealth said markets were taking a wait and see view of Trump’s trade policy given the pullback on Mexico and Canada, while regarding earnings as “a positive tailwind.All three US indices finished higher after a sluggish start.The hesitant trading came after heavy selling Monday following Trump’s weekend announcement of the tariffs, before later offering a reprieve for the United States’ closest neighbors.Investors also tracked mixed earnings from major companies — including alcoholic drinks giant Diageo, which scrapped a key performance target as it predicted sales of tequila and Canadian whisky in the key US market would be hit by the tariffs.In the United States, PepsiCo slumped after it reported flat quarterly sales while the soda and snacks giant worked to address “subdued” demand in North America and faced “business disruptions due to geopolitical tensions in certain international markets.”But Palantir Technologies piled on more than 20 percent after reporting a 36 percent increase in revenues based on artificial intelligence growth as its CEO described Palantir as a “software juggernaut.”Indexes from Japan to New York were sent tumbling Monday after news at the weekend that Trump had signed off 25 percent duties against Mexico and Canada, fanning concerns for the stuttering global economy.Hours before the tariffs were due to kick in, Trump said he would postpone the measures until March.”A risk is that this is the beginning of a tit-for-tat trade war, which could result in lower GDP growth everywhere, higher US inflation, a stronger dollar and upside pressure on US interest rates,” said Stephen Dover, chief market strategist and head of Franklin Templeton Institute.”The uncertainty surrounding the permanence of these tariffs makes it challenging for companies to make informed capital investment decisions,” he added.Trump has warned that the European Union would be next in the firing line and has not ruled out tariffs against Britain.The volatile start to February on markets follows their roller-coaster ride last week after China’s DeepSeek unveiled a cheaper artificial intelligence model rivalling those of US tech giants, sparking questions over the vast sums invested in the sector in recent years.”One thing we can say for sure. Markets are going to remain subject to massive headline risk in coming hours… days… and years,” forecast Ray Attrill, foreign currency strategist at National Australia Bank.- Key figures around 2140 GMT -New York – Dow: UP 0.3 percent at 44,556.04 (close)New York – S&P 500: UP 0.5 percent at 6,037.88 (close)New York – Nasdaq: UP 1.4 percent at 19,654.02 (close)London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.2 percent at 8,570.77 (close)Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.7 percent at 7,906.40 (close)Frankfurt – DAX: UP 0.4 percent at 21,505.70 (close)Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.7 percent at 38,798.37 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 2.8 percent at 20,789.96 (close)Shanghai – Composite: Closed for a holidayEuro/dollar: UP at $1.0383 from $1.0344 on MondayPound/dollar: UP at $1.2480 from $1.2450Dollar/yen: DOWN at 154.32 yen from 154.73 yenEuro/pound: UP at 83.16 pence from 83.08 penceWest Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.6 percent at $72.70 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: UP 0.3 percent at $76.20 per barrel

Trump taps ‘Sharpiegate’ meteorologist to lead top science agency

A meteorologist who caved to political pressure during Donald Trump’s first administration to mislead the public about a hurricane forecast was nominated by the president Tuesday to once more lead the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).Neil Jacobs, who previously helmed the renowned science agency from 2018 to 2021, was officially censured for his role in the infamous “Sharpiegate” scandal — one of the more bizarre episodes of Trump’s first term.Despite this, he has now been tapped to return to NOAA, which right-wing ideologues accuse of fueling the “climate change alarm industry.”The controversy erupted in September 2019 when Trump, relying on outdated information, wrongly claimed that Hurricane Dorian was set to strike Alabama. The National Weather Service’s local office in Birmingham swiftly corrected him to prevent unnecessary panic. But Trump refused to back down, lashing out with angry tweets and even displaying a doctored forecast map — apparently amended with one of the black Sharpie pens he favors using — to bolster his false claim.NOAA later issued an unsigned statement backing Trump’s erroneous assertion, sparking widespread backlash from meteorologists. Subsequent official investigations castigated Jacobs and another official for their roles in the drama.A report from the National Academy of Public Administration stated that NOAA’s defense of Trump’s claim “was not based on science but appears to be largely driven by external influences.” It also warned that such actions corrode public trust in scientific institutions.Jacobs’s new nomination has already drawn sharp criticism.”If the data used to help protect people and the economy becomes less reliable, the result will be very real harm to everyone, especially those on the frontlines of the climate crisis,” said Rachel Cleetus of the Union of Concerned Scientists.She added that if Jacobs is confirmed, he must “commit to upholding NOAA’s scientific integrity policy and standing up to any attempt to dismantle NOAA or commercialize its forecasting work, which proponents of Project 2025 have called for.”Developed by the Heritage Foundation, Project 2025 calls for breaking up NOAA, which it says is one of the “main drivers of the climate change alarm industry.”It also seeks to fully privatize the functions of the National Weather Service so that forecasts are only provided by companies like AccuWeather.Although Trump distanced himself from the plan during his 2024 campaign, it appears to be gathering momentum now that he is back in office.