Au détour d’une pierre tombale apparaît la bicoque en bois de Laileah Cuetara. Comme beaucoup de Manillais démunis, sa famille n’a d’autre choix que de vivre chez les morts.Quelque 6.000 personnes peuplent les 54 hectares du cimetière Nord de la capitale philippine, qui a vu passer au moins un million de dépouilles.Un matelas en mousse, …
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“Il n’est jamais trop tard pour se lancer dans un nouveau passe-temps” : c’est la philosophie de Noel Anderson, un Irlandais devenu à 80 ans passés fabricant de harpes, un instrument emblématique de la musique traditionnelle de son pays. Autrefois enseignant de menuiserie et de métallurgie, cet homme, qui fêtera ses 90 ans en novembre, ne …
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US President Donald Trump said Thursday he had ordered the Pentagon to start nuclear weapons testing “on an equal basis” to China and Russia — an announcement made just minutes before he held a high-stakes summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.The move came after Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Moscow had successfully tested a nuclear-capable, nuclear-powered underwater drone, in defiance of Washington’s warnings.”Because of other countries testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis,” Trump wrote in a social media post.Following that announcement, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday that the weapon tests announced by Putin did not constitute a direct test of an atomic weapon.Both countries observe a de facto moratorium on testing nuclear warheads, though Russia regularly runs military drills involving systems that are capable of carrying such weapons.The United States has been a signatory since 1996 to the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, which bans all atomic test explosions, whether for military or civilian purposes.It was not immediately clear whether Trump was referring to testing nuclear warheads, which the United States last did in 1992, or testing weapons systems capable of carrying atomic warheads.Trump also claimed that the United States has more nuclear weapons than any other country, praising his own efforts to do “a complete update and renovation of existing weapons.””Russia is second, and China is a distant third, but will be even within five years,” he said.- Thousands of warheads -The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said in its latest annual report that Russia possesses 5,489 nuclear warheads, compared to 5,177 for the United States and 600 for China. In total, SIPRI estimates that the nine nuclear-armed countries — Russia, the United States, China, France, the United Kingdom, Pakistan, India, Israel, and North Korea — possess more than 12,200 warheads.Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that it had been “many years” since the United States had conducted nuclear tests.”We don’t do testing… we’ve halted it years, many years ago,” he said, adding that it was “appropriate” to start again because others are testing.”I’d like to see denuclearization… denuclearization would be a tremendous thing,” he said.He claimed “it’s something we are actually talking to Russia about, and China would be added to that if we do something.”Trump kept the location and dates for testing vague during the news conference, but said earlier it would “begin immediately.”- China defends nuclear ban -The Republican president was in South Korea to meet with Xi, with the leaders of the world’s top two economies coming face-to-face for the first time in Trump’s second term.Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun later urged the United States to “earnestly abide” by a global nuclear testing ban “and take concrete actions to safeguard the global nuclear disarmament.”The United States conducted 1,054 nuclear tests between July 16, 1945, when the first test was conducted in New Mexico, and 1992, as well as two nuclear attacks on Japan during World War II.It is the only country to have used nuclear weapons in combat.The last US nuclear test explosion was in September 1992, with a 20-kiloton underground detonation at the Nevada Nuclear Security Site.Then-president George H.W. Bush imposed a moratorium on further tests in October 1992 that has been continued by successive administrations.Nuclear testing was replaced by non-nuclear and subcritical experiments using advanced computer simulations.- Russia’s ‘Poseidon’ drone -Putin announced on Wednesday the successful testing of a nuclear-capable, nuclear-powered underwater drone, the second weapons test in days after that of the Burevestnik cruise missile.In televised remarks broadcast from a military hospital treating Russian soldiers wounded in Ukraine, Putin said there was “no way to intercept” the torpedo drone dubbed “Poseidon.””Regarding the tests of Poseidon and Burevestnik, we hope that the information was conveyed correctly to President Trump,” Kremlin spokesman Peskov told journalists, including AFP, during a daily briefing on Thursday.”This cannot in any way be interpreted as a nuclear test.”He implied that Russia would also test nuclear warheads if Trump ordered a live test of an atomic weapon.”If someone departs from the moratorium, Russia will act accordingly,” Peskov said.
Le ministre de la Justice, Gérald Darmanin, a rendu visite mercredi soir à Nicolas Sarkozy à la prison parisienne de la Santé, a indiqué jeudi à l’AFP une source proche du dossier qui confirmait une information du Figaro.L’entrevue, qui s’est déroulée en présence du directeur de l’établissement, a eu lieu entre 19H00 et 19H45, a poursuivi cette même source, avant un échange entre le garde des Sceaux et les agents pénitentiaires sur la sécurité de l’ex-chef de l’Etat.Condamné le 25 septembre à cinq ans d’emprisonnement dans le dossier libyen pour association de malfaiteurs, Nicolas Sarkozy a été incarcéré le 21 octobre à la Santé. Cette détention d’un ancien président est une première dans l’histoire de la République.Nicolas Sarkozy, qui se dit innocent et a fait appel, a déposé une demande de remise en liberté, que la justice doit examiner prochainement.Le tribunal correctionnel de Paris avait notamment reconnu coupable Nicolas Sarkozy, alors ministre de l’Intérieur, d’avoir sciemment laissé son plus proche collaborateur, Claude Guéant, et son ami Brice Hortefeux, rencontrer en 2005 à Tripoli, de manière occulte, un haut dignitaire libyen, en vue d’organiser un financement de sa campagne présidentielle de 2007 par le régime de Mouammar Kadhafi. Ce dignitaire, Abdallah Senoussi, était alors sous le coup d’une condamnation à perpétuité pour l’attentat contre le DC-10 d’UTA en 1989, qui avait fait 170 morts, et souhaitait obtenir une levée de son mandat d’arrêt, selon le jugement. En détention, l’ancien président de la République bénéficie de la protection de deux officiers de sécurité, une mesure exceptionnelle prise “eu égard à son statut et aux menaces qui pèsent sur lui”, avait expliqué le ministre de l’Intérieur, Laurent Nuñez.Gérald Darmanin avait dit avant l’incarcération de l’ex-président son intention d’aller le visiter, afin de “s’assurer que les conditions de sécurité sont bonnes pour ce détenu au statut hors du commun”, avait expliqué son entourage.Cette annonce avait suscité des critiques, notamment de magistrats. Dans une rare prise de position, le plus haut procureur de France, Rémy Heitz, y avait vu un “risque d’obstacle à la sérénité” et donc “d’atteinte à l’indépendance des magistrats” avant le procès en appel, qui doit s’ouvrir en mars.Outre Nicolas Sarkozy, deux autres condamnés du procès libyen ont été incarcérés après le jugement: l’ex-banquier Wahib Nacer et l’intermédiaire Alexandre Djouhri.La cour d’appel de Paris a ordonné mardi la libération de Wahid Nacer, le plaçant sous contrôle judiciaire, avec obligation de pointer au commissariat et de remettre son passeport. La demande de mise en liberté d’Alexandre Djouhri doit être examinée lundi.Prévenu le plus lourdement condamné avec Alexandre Djouhri (six ans de prison), l’ancien secrétaire général de l’Elysée et ministre Claude Guéant avait échappé à une incarcération en raison de son état de santé.
Le ministre de la Justice, Gérald Darmanin, a rendu visite mercredi soir à Nicolas Sarkozy à la prison parisienne de la Santé, a indiqué jeudi à l’AFP une source proche du dossier qui confirmait une information du Figaro.L’entrevue, qui s’est déroulée en présence du directeur de l’établissement, a eu lieu entre 19H00 et 19H45, a poursuivi cette même source, avant un échange entre le garde des Sceaux et les agents pénitentiaires sur la sécurité de l’ex-chef de l’Etat.Condamné le 25 septembre à cinq ans d’emprisonnement dans le dossier libyen pour association de malfaiteurs, Nicolas Sarkozy a été incarcéré le 21 octobre à la Santé. Cette détention d’un ancien président est une première dans l’histoire de la République.Nicolas Sarkozy, qui se dit innocent et a fait appel, a déposé une demande de remise en liberté, que la justice doit examiner prochainement.Le tribunal correctionnel de Paris avait notamment reconnu coupable Nicolas Sarkozy, alors ministre de l’Intérieur, d’avoir sciemment laissé son plus proche collaborateur, Claude Guéant, et son ami Brice Hortefeux, rencontrer en 2005 à Tripoli, de manière occulte, un haut dignitaire libyen, en vue d’organiser un financement de sa campagne présidentielle de 2007 par le régime de Mouammar Kadhafi. Ce dignitaire, Abdallah Senoussi, était alors sous le coup d’une condamnation à perpétuité pour l’attentat contre le DC-10 d’UTA en 1989, qui avait fait 170 morts, et souhaitait obtenir une levée de son mandat d’arrêt, selon le jugement. En détention, l’ancien président de la République bénéficie de la protection de deux officiers de sécurité, une mesure exceptionnelle prise “eu égard à son statut et aux menaces qui pèsent sur lui”, avait expliqué le ministre de l’Intérieur, Laurent Nuñez.Gérald Darmanin avait dit avant l’incarcération de l’ex-président son intention d’aller le visiter, afin de “s’assurer que les conditions de sécurité sont bonnes pour ce détenu au statut hors du commun”, avait expliqué son entourage.Cette annonce avait suscité des critiques, notamment de magistrats. Dans une rare prise de position, le plus haut procureur de France, Rémy Heitz, y avait vu un “risque d’obstacle à la sérénité” et donc “d’atteinte à l’indépendance des magistrats” avant le procès en appel, qui doit s’ouvrir en mars.Outre Nicolas Sarkozy, deux autres condamnés du procès libyen ont été incarcérés après le jugement: l’ex-banquier Wahib Nacer et l’intermédiaire Alexandre Djouhri.La cour d’appel de Paris a ordonné mardi la libération de Wahid Nacer, le plaçant sous contrôle judiciaire, avec obligation de pointer au commissariat et de remettre son passeport. La demande de mise en liberté d’Alexandre Djouhri doit être examinée lundi.Prévenu le plus lourdement condamné avec Alexandre Djouhri (six ans de prison), l’ancien secrétaire général de l’Elysée et ministre Claude Guéant avait échappé à une incarcération en raison de son état de santé.
A rare meeting between leaders Donald Trump and Xi Jinping has succeeded in temporarily stabilising US-China relations, analysts said on Thursday, with the talks drawing cautious optimism on the streets of Beijing.A beaming Trump hailed the talks as a “great success”, while Xi said China had reached a “consensus” with the United States on trade and economic issues. Beijing and Washington have been locked in a blistering trade war, encompassing everything from rare earths to soybeans and port fees, which has rocked markets for months.”Although there hasn’t been a complete agreement, at least in the short term, there’s been a suspension of tariff increases,” 35-year-old media worker Yan told AFP outside a shopping mall in China’s capital. Dylan Loh from Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University said the meeting was “significant” because it tackled a range of both longstanding and newly emerged roadblocks in the trade relationship.”The conciliatory words used by both leaders are important, as they signal that there is room to steer the relationship back toward a more normal footing,” Loh told AFP.Both sides appear to have moved on key sticking points.A decision by China to suspend certain export restrictions on rare earths “did a lot of magic”, and Washington easing fentanyl-related tariffs “helps plenty too”, said Lim Tai Wei, professor and East Asia expert at Japan’s Soka University.Xi’s language with Trump struck a “notably constructive” tone, said Yue Su of the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).”While structural competition remains evident… both leaders appear willing to find common ground and stabilise the relationship,” Su told AFP.- Long-term concerns? -Beijing residents told AFP on Thursday they hoped to see a knock-on effect from the talks.Gym owner Ma Ning said she thought the meeting improved “very tense” relations between the two countries.”Good relations between the two sides are good for China,” the 30-year-old said, adding she hoped the meeting would improve China’s “sluggish economy”.Media worker Yan hoped to see the price of regular goods go down after the tariff reductions.But he worried Trump’s “unstable” personality might undermine longer-term solutions.While the outcomes from Thursday’s meeting were positive, analysts said there were “no surprises”, especially with the two leaders avoiding more sensitive topics.Trump said Taiwan, the self-ruled island that China claims as its territory, was not discussed.”By the time the two sides meet again, US-China negotiations will likely enter truly deep waters,” the EIU’s Su said.”Issues such as Taiwan, market access, and national security will test how much genuine willingness both sides have to pressure the other into making concessions on their own priorities.” Either country could also decide, at some point, to walk back on the specific decisions announced on Thursday.”There is the issue of one or both sides changing their minds or accusing the other side of not acting in good faith,” said Chong Ja Ian from the National University of Singapore.”We’ve seen this before… in recent years,” Chong told AFP. “Trump also appears to prefer negotiating and renegotiating to keep interlocutors on the back foot,” he said.
Families hid in trenches, bodies lay in the streets and children were killed in front of their parents as Sudanese paramilitaries advanced into the western city of El-Fasher, survivors told AFP.More than 36,000 civilians have fled the city since Sunday, when the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) captured the army’s last stronghold in the Darfur …
Families hid in trenches, bodies lay in the streets and children were killed in front of their parents as Sudanese paramilitaries advanced into the western city of El-Fasher, survivors told AFP.More than 36,000 civilians have fled the city since Sunday, when the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) captured the army’s last stronghold in the Darfur region, triggering warnings from the UN and humanitarian groups of possible mass killings and ethnic cleansing.Some have sought refuge in Tawila, a town around 70 kilometres (43 miles) to the west that is already sheltering some 650,000 displaced people.In satellite phone interviews with AFP, three survivors who reached Tawila described scenes of terror and loss during their escape from a city besieged by the RSF for 18 months, cut off from food, medicine and other aid.Their accounts echoed those of survivors of the mass killings in Darfur in the early 2000s, when Janjaweed militias — the forces accused of genocide there which later became the RSF — burned villages, killed some 300,000 people and displaced 2.7 million more. Emtithal Mahmoud, a survivor of the earlier Darfur killings now based in the United States, recounted to AFP a harrowing moment when she recognised her cousin, Nadifa, in a video shared by RSF accounts, lying dead on the ground.The survivors’ full names have been withheld for their safety.- Hayat, mother of five: ‘They killed my 16-year-old son’ -“On Saturday at 6 am, the shelling was extremely heavy. I took my children and hid with them in a trench. We haven’t heard from my husband for six months. “After about an hour, seven RSF fighters entered our house. They took my phone, searched even my undergarments, and killed my 16-year-old son. We fled with many people from our neighborhood. “On the road between El-Fasher and Garni (a village northwest of the city), we saw many dead bodies lying on the ground and wounded people left behind in the open because their families couldn’t carry them. Along the way, we were robbed again and the young men travelling with us were stopped. We don’t know what happened to them.”- Hussein, survivor wounded by shelling: ‘Bodies in the streets’ -“We left El-Fasher early Saturday morning. The road was exhausting — hunger, thirst and constant checkpoints. Before Garni, we were stopped for three hours. They said I must have been fighting because I was injured. If it wasn’t for a family passing by with a donkey cart carrying their mother, I wouldn’t have reached Garni. They helped me get there. “The situation in El-Fasher is so terrible — dead bodies in the streets, and no one to bury them. We’re grateful we made it here, even if we only have the clothes we were wearing. Here, we finally feel some safety. I went to the clinic and they checked my leg.”- Mohamed, father of four: Corpses ‘turned to bones’ -“I used to live in the Zamzam camp (for displaced people). When the RSF entered the camp, I fled to El-Fasher and stayed in the Abu Shouk neighborhood. The fighting on Saturday was extremely heavy — my four daughters, their mother and I spent the entire day hiding in a trench until dawn on Sunday. “We left before sunrise and walked toward Garni. On the way, they robbed me of my money and stopped the young men to take them. I saw dead bodies, some already turned to bones. “They beat me on my back with sticks, and I already had shrapnel in my leg from a shell that fell near our home in Zamzam. “We reached Tawila at sunset on Tuesday. Now, we have nowhere to stay. My daughters, their mother and I are sleeping in the open without any covers. Aid workers gave us some food, but no tents or blankets. “We just want the war to end so we can go back to our homes.”- US-based Emtithal Mahmoud, 32: ‘Recognised my cousin from a video’ -“It is almost impossible to describe the feeling that we’re feeling right now as people from Darfur. A lot of our family members are still trapped in the city. We don’t know who’s dead or alive. “We have videos and reports of people being killed. It’s so terrible because even in the videos that the RSF is sharing, gloating as they commit a continuation of the genocide since the early 2000s, we’re recognising our family members and friends. We found out that one of our cousins was killed because of a video that was circulating.”In the video circulated by her killers, the RSF, you can see her corpse on the ground. And you can hear the RSF person saying, ‘Get up if you can.’ And so they’re taunting her corpse and it’s another form of torture. “She was a volunteer for quite some time and when the siege happened she joined the resistance. She’s one of the women warriors.”
