Accord UE-Mercosur: dernière ligne droite agitée, la France sème le trouble

Le bras de fer se tend entre Bruxelles et Paris: la Commission européenne a martelé lundi son intention de signer l’accord de libre-échange avec le Mercosur dans les prochains jours, en dépit de la mobilisation agricole et des appels de la France à reporter la décision.Ursula von der Leyen voudrait parapher ce traité commercial avec …

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L’automobiliste qui avait foncé dans la foule en mai à Liverpool bientôt fixé sur sa peine

L’automobiliste qui avait blessé plus de 100 personnes en fonçant, “dans un accès de rage”, dans la foule de supporteurs du club de foot de Liverpool rassemblés en mai dans cette ville anglaise, a assisté en larmes lundi à la première journée d’audience consacrée à fixer sa peine.Paul Doyle, 54 ans, “s’est servi de son …

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Attentat à Sydney: le Premier ministre australien veut “renforcer la législation sur les armes à feu”

Le Premier ministre australien Anthony Albanese a convoqué lundi une réunion des chefs des Etats et territoires du pays en deuil pour convenir du renforcement de la “législation sur les armes à feu”, au lendemain d’un attentat “antisémite” sur une plage de Sydney pour la fête juive de Hanouka, faisant au moins 15 morts, dont …

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Stock market optimism returns after tech sell-off

Stock markets on both sides of the Atlantic recovered upward momentum on the back of interest rate optimism Monday, following a brief correction affecting mostly the tech sector.The week is filled with economic data and central bank decisions.Gold climbed closer to its all-time high and the dollar dropped as traders bet on further cuts to US interest rates by the Federal Reserve next year. “The coming week is shaping up to be a significant one for global markets, with a dense calendar of economic releases and major central bank decisions,” said Jim Reid, managing director at Deutsche Bank.The European Central Bank is expected to hold interest rates on Thursday, when the Bank of England is forecast to trim borrowing costs, as policymakers react to cooler inflation in the eurozone and UK. However the Bank of Japan is expected to hike its main rate on Friday with the yen weak.Attention turns also to key US data, including reports on jobs for October and November, which were delayed by a government shutdown. Investors will also study a US inflation reading this week.The data will be pored over for an idea about the Fed’s plans for next month’s rate decision.The US central bank has lowered borrowing costs at the past three meetings, citing concerns about a struggling American labour market, though there has been some dissent among policymakers who are concerned about persistently high inflation.Also in view is the race to take the helm at the Fed after boss Jerome Powell steps down in May, with US President Donald Trump’s top economic aide Kevin Hassett and Fed governor Kevin Warsh said to be the front-runners.Concerns about the AI-fuelled tech rally returned to the spotlight late last week after poorly-received earnings from US giants Oracle and Broadcom revived questions about the vast sums invested in the sector.After hefty losses on Wall Street on Friday, where the S&P 500 and Nasdaq indices both shed more than one percent, Asia in turn suffered a tech-led retreat Monday.- Key figures at around 1440 GMT -New York – Dow: UP 0.2 percent at 48,557.21 pointsNew York – NASDAQ: UP 0.4 percent at 23,281.37 New York – S&P 500: UP 0.3 percent at 6,848.68London – FTSE 100: UP 1.0 percent at 9,741.91Paris – CAC 40: UP 1.0 percent at 8,148.61Frankfurt – DAX: UP 0.3 percent at 24,256.41Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.3 percent at 50,168.11 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.3 percent at 25,628.88 (close)Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.6 percent at 3,867.92 (close)New York – Dow: DOWN 0.5 percent at 48,458.05 (close)Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1753 from $1.1742 on FridayDollar/yen: DOWN at 155.05 yen from 155.83Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3392 from $1.3368Euro/pound: DOWN at 87.77 pence from 87.83West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.5 percent at $57.17 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.3 percent at $60.92 per barrelburs/jh/rlp

Iran Nobel winner unwell after ‘violent’ arrest: supporters

Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi was taken to hospital twice after being violently arrested last week, her supporters said Monday, following a telephone call with the campaigner that raised concerns about her physical condition.Mohammadi, who won the 2023 Nobel prize, was detained Friday after addressing a memorial ceremony in the eastern city of Mashhad for lawyer Khosrow Alikordi, who was found dead earlier this month.Iranian civil society activists including prize-winning filmmaker Jafar Panahi meanwhile called for the “immediate and unconditional release” of Mohammadi and other campaigners arrested at the ceremony.There had been no information about her whereabouts or communication with her until late Sunday when she made a “short and compressed” telephone call to her family, her foundation said in a statement.In the call, Mohammadi related how at the ceremony she “was attacked by plain clothed agents with severe and repeated baton blows to the head and neck and was then violently arrested”.”Narges Mohammadi said in the call that the intensity of the blows was so heavy, forceful, and repeated that she was taken to the hospital emergency room twice,” said the foundation, adding that in the call “her physical condition was not good, and she appeared unwell”.One of her brothers Hamid Mohammadi, who lives in Norway, told AFP in Oslo that Narges Mohammadi had called another brother inside Iran, telling him she was hit “brutally” on the head and her face and “as a result had been taken to be checked by a physician”.”She’s not hospitalised and is still in detention,” he said.- ‘Violent manner of arrest’ -According to Mashhad prosecutor Hassan Hemmatifar, 38 people were arrested at the ceremony including Mohammadi and fellow prominent activist Sepideh Gholian for inciting people to chant slogans that “violated the norms”. Alikordi’s brother Javad was arrested later the same day.Rights groups, including Mohammadi’s foundation, have described Alikordi’s death as “suspicious”, calling for an investigation. Iranian officials have said the lawyer, 45, died of a heart attack.The Nobel peace committee has described her arrest as “brutal” with chair Jorgen Watne Frydnes telling AFP on Saturday it “called on the Iranian authorities both to clarify where she is, how she is, but first and foremost, actually release her from prison”.Mohammadi, who has spent much of the last decade in and out of jail, had been allowed out of prison in December 2024 on medical leave. Over the last year, she has continued campaigning.Images of the ceremony showed Mohammadi — not wearing the headscarf that is obligatory for women in public in the Islamic republic — climbing atop a car to address crowds who chanted slogans against the authorities.- ‘Worrying state of freedom’ -During the call, Mohammadi asked her family to “immediately and without delay file a formal complaint against the detaining security body and the violent manner of her arrest”.It is unclear what she and the other activists detained are accused of, and the statement also said Mohammadi was unaware “which security authority is currently detaining her”.The foundation said that, according to Mohammadi, “during and after her arrest she was accused of ‘cooperating with the Israeli government'”. Iranian authorities are yet to confirm any charges.Activists say Iran remains in the throes of a deep crackdown more than five months after the end of the 12-day war against Israel, with over 1,400 people executed so far this year.Panahi, fellow director Mohammad Rasoulof and over a dozen other activists said what happened at Alikordi’s memorial ceremony “was a stark reflection of the worrying state of freedom and security, and, consequently, the inefficiency and lack of accountability of the authorities in today’s Iran”.”The deep political and social deadlock in the country can only be resolved through the restoration of sovereignty to the people,” the statement signatories said.Pahani, whose last film “It Was Just an Accident” won top prize at the Cannes Film Festival this year and has been nominated for an Oscar, has been sentenced to one year in prison over “propaganda activities” against the Islamic republic.Currently touring to promote the film, he has said he nonetheless plans to return to Iran.

Manhunt underway after shooting at elite US university

A manhunt was underway Monday after a mass shooting at elite Brown University left two dead and nine wounded and US authorities said they were releasing a man initially detained as a person of interest.The shooting took place Saturday in a building where exams were underway on the Ivy League campus in Providence, Rhode Island. A man with a rifle burst in and opened fire before fleeing.News that a person was being held indicated a breakthrough, with FBI Director Kash Patel announcing that local police had given federal investigations a lead.But authorities had to walk this back, saying late Sunday that there was not enough evidence to connect the person to the shooting.”I think it’s fair to say there’s no basis to consider him,” Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha said.A lockdown and shelter-in-place order went into effect immediately after the shooting, as heavily armed officers flooded the area. But the latest news meant renewed fears for the college town and state capital.”We know that this is likely to cause fresh anxiety for our community,” Providence Mayor Brett Smiley was quoted as saying by US media.All the victims were students. Of the nine wounded, one was in critical condition, seven were in stable condition and one has been discharged, Smiley said.Joseph Oduro, a teaching assistant at Brown, said he was in a campus auditorium when the gunman entered.”I was standing in the front of the auditorium, and he came through the back, so we pretty much directly made eye contact, and then as soon as that happened, I looked at my students and signaled them to come to the front, and then I just ducked,” Oduro told CNN.”He came in, pointed the gun and then screamed something… then he just started shooting right after that.”Police released 10 seconds of footage of the suspect, seen from behind, walking briskly down a deserted street after apparently opening fire inside a first-floor classroom.”It is shocking and so terribly sad. I know the students here, many of whom were sheltering for many, many hours last night,” Smiley said later on CNN. “They’re all incredibly shaken up.”Final exams scheduled for Sunday were postponed, university officials said.- Latest mass shooting -The attack is the latest incident of mass shooting in a country where attempts to restrict access to firearms face political deadlock.”This should not be normal,” Smiley said on CNN. “This should not be the case that every community needs to prepare for something like this to happen. And I certainly never thought that it would actually happen in Providence, although we were well prepared for it.”There have been more than 300 mass shootings in the United States so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which defines a mass shooting as four or more people shot.During a Christmas event Sunday at the White House, President Donald Trump spoke briefly about the shooting, saying “things can happen” and wishing the injured to “get well fast.”- Emergency alert -Brown, which has around 11,000 students, issued an emergency alert at 4:22 pm (2122 GMT) on Saturday reporting “an active shooter near Barus and Holley Engineering,” which is home to the engineering and physics departments. Two exams had been scheduled at the time.”Lock doors, silence phones and stay hidden until further notice,” the university said.Law enforcement and first responders swarmed the scene, with local news station WPRI reporting “clothing and blood on the sidewalk.”The deadliest school shooting in US history took place at Virginia Tech on April 16, 2007, when South Korean student Seung-Hui Cho killed 32 people and wounded 17 others before taking his own life.

Devant le Louvre, des touristes déçus mais compréhensifs

Portes closes, files de touristes éconduits et selfies devant les drapeaux de syndicalistes: entre déception et compréhension, les visiteurs du Louvre faisaient grise mine lundi en trouvant le musée fermé en raison d’une grève massive de ses agents.Dès 9H00, les visiteurs munis d’un billet sont priés de repartir, tandis qu’un panneau indique dès l’entrée : “l’ouverture du musée est actuellement retardée”.”Welcome in France”, lâche, sur un ton quelque peu ironique, l’un des agents d’accueil à la foule qui rit jaune.”Ça fait environ un mois qu’on préparait ce voyage et c’est fermé, c’est vraiment triste”, dit à l’AFP David Gove, 35 ans, un touriste originaire de Malte. “Ça a ruiné nos plans, mais on trouvera autre chose. Il y a beaucoup de choses à faire en France, et on est dans la ville de l’amour”, relativise-t-il.”Je suis vraiment déçu, le Louvre était la raison principale de notre venue à Paris, parce que nous voulions voir Mona Lisa”, le célèbre tableau de La Joconde de Léonard de Vinci, confie de son côté Minsoo Kim, 37, Coréen, en lune de miel avec sa femme.”La plupart des visiteurs étaient au courant” du risque de fermeture et ne sont donc pas surpris, pondère un agent.”Ce n’était pas clair du tout”, déplore pourtant Michel Maillard, venu de Dordogne avec sa femme pour passer quelques jours dans la capitale. “Sur le site, ils écrivent que ça sera peut-être ouvert et avec des salles peut-être fermées”, ajoute le quinquagénaire.”Nous avions entendu dire il y a cinq jours qu’ils allaient se mettre en grève, mais nous avons continué à vérifier et nous n’avons trouvé aucune information”, regrette Rachel Adams, 60 ans, originaire de l’Utah, aux États-Unis.- “On a gagné” -Deux mois après le vol spectaculaire de huit joyaux de la couronne, les personnels dénoncent leurs conditions de travail et d’accueil du public.”C’est normal qu’ils fassent grève s’ils ont besoin de meilleures conditions de travail. Bien sûr, en tant que touriste, ce n’est pas génial d’être ici et que le musée soit fermé, mais nous avons réussi à reporter notre visite, donc ça n’est pas un problème”, estime Patricia, une touriste brésilienne qui n’a pas souhaité donner son nom.À 10H30, les syndicalistes sortent sur le parvis ensoleillé pour annoncer qu’une grève reconductible a été votée “à l’unanimité”. Drapeaux à la main, plusieurs dizaines d’entre eux déploient des banderoles devant la pyramide, en scandant “tous ensemble, tous ensemble”, tandis que les représentants échangent avec la presse.En milieu de matinée, la direction du Louvre annonce que le musée sera fermé toute la journée.”On a gagné, on a gagné”, s’enthousiasment alors les grévistes sur une bande-son entraînante.Devant eux, des dizaines de curieux se pressent contre les barrières, désireux d’en savoir plus ou de profiter de l’ambiance. Certains se prennent en selfie devant les militants.”Attristée pour les gens qui viennent du monde entier”, Naïma, 63 ans, se dit néanmoins “tout à fait d’accord avec les grévistes”.Sur son site, le musée indique que les personnes “ayant réservé pour une visite dans la journée seront automatiquement remboursées”. Sur place, les agents invitent les visiteurs à revenir un autre jour. Ils ne pourront toutefois pas retenter leur chance mardi, jour hebdomadaire de fermeture du musée. Mercredi matin, des perturbations sont à prévoir en raison d’une nouvelle assemblée générale des syndicats.Naïma prend la chose avec philosophie : “On essayera de revenir dans les mois qui viennent”.

Spain fines Airbnb 64 mn euros for posting banned properties

Spain’s leftist government said Monday it had fined Airbnb more than 64 million euros ($75 million), notably for advertising banned rental properties, at a time the country faces a housing crisis.The fine is final, the consumer affairs ministry said in a statement, adding the US holiday-rental giant must “correct the violations by deleting illegal content”.The ministry said 65,122 adverts on Airbnb breached consumer rules, including the promotion of properties without a licence or those whose licence number did not match with data in registers.The fine is equivalent to six times the illegal profit made by Airbnb between the time the company was warned about the offending adverts and when they were taken down, the ministry added.A company spokesperson said Airbnb would challenge the fine in court, “confident that the ministry of consumer affairs’ actions are contrary to applicable regulations in Spain”.Airbnb was “closely collaborating” with the housing ministry to implement a new registration system, with more than 70,000 listings adding a registration number since January and remaining available for booking, the spokesperson added.A tourism boom has driven the buoyant Spanish economy, which is predicted to grow at more than double the eurozone average in 2025.The world’s second most-visited country hosted a record 94 million foreign tourists in 2024 and is on course to surpass that figure this year.But the bonanza has fuelled local concern in tourist hotspots such as Barcelona about increasingly scarce and unaffordable housing, a top priority for the minority coalition government.Residents complain that landlords convert residential properties into short-term rentals and say tourism is changing the fabric of their neighbourhoods.”There are thousands of families who are living on the edge due to housing, while a few get rich with business models that expel people from their homes,” far-left consumer rights minister Pablo Bustinduy said in the ministry statement.”We’ll prove it as many times as necessary: no company, no matter how big or powerful, is above the law. Even less so when it comes to housing,” he added on social network Bluesky.In June, the consumer rights ministry also ordered online accommodation giant Booking.com to take down more than 4,000 illegal adverts.

Iran Nobel winner Narges Mohammadi ‘unwell’ after violent arrest: supporters

Iranian Nobel winner Narges Mohammadi was taken to hospital twice after being violently arrested last week and appeared unwell in her first telephone contact since being detained, her supporters said Monday.Mohammadi suffered “severe and repeated baton blows to the head and neck” during her arrest and in the call “her physical condition was not good, and she appeared unwell”, her foundation said in a statement.Iranian civil society activists, including prize-winning filmmaker Jafar Panahi, called for the “immediate and unconditional release” of Mohammadi and other campaigners arrested on Friday.Mohammadi, who won the 2023 Nobel prize, was detained after addressing a memorial ceremony in the eastern city of Mashhad for lawyer Khosrow Alikordi, who was found dead earlier this month.The foundation said Mohammadi was “taken to the hospital emergency room twice” following her arrestHamid Mohammadi, one of her brothers who lives in Norway, told AFP in Oslo that Narges Mohammadi had called another brother inside Iran, telling him she was hit “brutally” on the head and her face and “as a result had been taken to be checked by a physician”.”She’s not hospitalised and is still in detention,” he said.Panahi, fellow director Mohammad Rasoulof and over a dozen other activists said what happened at Alikordi’s memorial ceremony “was a stark reflection of the worrying state of freedom and security, and, consequently, the inefficiency and lack of accountability of the authorities in today’s Iran.””The deep political and social deadlock in the country can only be resolved through the restoration of sovereignty to the people,” the signatories to the statement said.Pahani, whose last film “It Was Just an Accident” won top prize at the Cannes Film Festival this year and has been nominated for an Oscar, has been sentenced to one year in prison over “propaganda activities” against the Islamic republic.Currently touring to promote the film, he has said he nonetheless plans to return to Iran.