Gold surges further, oil jumps on Trump’s Iran threat

Gold soared to a fresh record near $5,600 on Thursday and oil prices climbed after US President Donald Trump ramped up geopolitical tensions with threats of a military strike on Iran.”With the Middle East tinder box looking set to ignite again, oil prices have moved sharply higher, lifting shares in listed energy giants,” said Susannah Streeter, chief investment strategist at Wealth Club.Stock markets mostly rose in Asia and Europe as investors also pored over company earnings and the US Federal Reserve’s latest policy update. Frankfurt slid almost one percent in midday deals, however, dragged down by German software giant SAP.Its share price tumbled nearly 14 percent after the company warned it would see a slowdown in new cloud computing contracts this year after missing targets last year.Gold hit a new record at $5,595.47 an ounce as investors rush to assets deemed safe, including silver, which reached its own record of $120.44 an ounce.The precious metals are being helped by a softer dollar, sparked by speculation that Trump is happy to see the world’s reserve currency weaken despite the potential risk of pushing up US inflation.An uneventful policy announcement by the Fed on Wednesday did little to inspire buying, though observers said traders were optimistic that US interest rates will come down as Trump prepares to name his pick as the next governor of the central bank.Trump has meanwhile warned that Tehran needed to negotiate a deal over its nuclear programme, which the West believes is aimed at making an atomic bomb.”Hopefully Iran will quickly ‘Come to the Table’ and negotiate a fair and equitable deal — NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS — one that is good for all parties. Time is running out, it is truly of the essence!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.”The next attack will be far worse! Don’t make that happen again,” he added, referring to US strikes against Iranian targets in June.International benchmark Brent crude oil briefly topped $70 a barrel Thursday for the first time since September with a gain of more than two percent.On stock markets, Meta jumped in after-hours trade after the US parent of Facebook and Instagram published quarterly earnings that topped expectations, as revenue grew along with investments in artificial intelligence.South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics posted record quarterly profits Thursday, riding massive market demand for the memory chips that power AI. Ahead of the Wall Street open, US chemicals group Dow said it would slash 4,500 jobs and use artificial intelligence and automation to improve productivity and boost profitability by at least $2 billion.- Key figures at around 1145 GMT -Brent North Sea Crude: UP 2.2 percent at $6.03 per barrelWest Texas Intermediate: UP 2.6 percent at $64.88 per barrelLondon – FTSE 100: UP 0.6 percent at 10,217.82 pointsParis – CAC 40: UP 0.5 percent at 8,110.53Frankfurt – DAX: DOWN 0.9 percent at 24,597.26Tokyo – Nikkei 225: FLAT at 53,375.60 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 0.5 percent at 27,968.09 (close)Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.2 percent at 4,157.98 (close)New York – Dow: FLAT at 49,015.60 (close)Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1952 from $1.1944 on WednesdayPound/dollar: UP at $1.3798 from $1.3797Dollar/yen: UP at 153.49 yen from 153.38 yenEuro/pound: UP at 86.62 pence from 86.56 pence

Ligue des champions: OM, la grande désillusion

La “honte” de Roberto De Zerbi, la “soirée de merde” de Medhi Benatia et la colère de tous les supporters de l’OM: Marseille est tombé de très haut mercredi à Bruges, où le club olympien a laissé échapper une qualification immanquable pour les barrages de la Ligue des champions.La cruauté du scenario qui a laissé l’OM aux portes des barrages a été parfaitement illustrée par les écrans géants du stade Jan Breydel de Bruges, qui ont affiché après le coup de sifflet final ce sympathique message: “Félicitations pour la qualification, Olympique de Marseille !” Mais il restait encore quelques secondes à jouer à des centaines de kilomètres de là, à Lisbonne. Et au bout du temps additionnel, le gardien du Benfica Anatolii Troubine a inscrit de la tête le quatrième but de la victoire des Portugais face au Real Madrid (4-2), celui qui élimine l’OM. Il y en a eu d’autres avant celui-ci, bien sûr, et l’OM regrettera d’autres fins de matchs impitoyables, avec les défaites concédées dans les derniers instants face au Real Madrid ou à l’Atalanta Bergame, notamment. Mais il reste jeudi ce terrible constat: Corrigé à Bruges (3-0), l’OM est le premier club français à ne pas atteindre la phase à élimination directe de la nouvelle Ligue des champions. Le Paris SG et Monaco y sont parvenus cette saison comme la précédente, quand Lille et même Brest avaient également réussi. – “Sans excuse” -Pour les supporters marseillais, on frôle donc l’humiliation, comme l’illustre la Une du quotidien régional La Provence jeudi: “Ridicules”. L’OM était pourtant très bien engagé avec neuf points au bout de six matches. Mais l’équipe de Roberto De Zerbi a conclu sa campagne par deux revers 3-0 face à Liverpool et Bruges pour un bilan de cinq défaites en huit matches, beaucoup trop pour un effectif de ce calibre. “C’est une défaite terrible, sans excuse. Il faut faire un examen de conscience et se taire, tous. Quand tu perds un match comme ça, il y a de la honte”, a lâché le technicien italien mercredi. Sa responsabilité est engagée, forcément, car il ne parvient toujours pas à donner de la constance à son équipe, qui alterne matches maîtrisés comme contre Lens samedi (3-1) et fiascos spectaculaires, comme mercredi ou début janvier contre Nantes (défaite 2-0). Mais Medhi Benatia, directeur du football et architecte de l’effectif marseillais, semblait surtout remonté contre les joueurs mercredi. “En fait, il faut être sérieux. Le foot c’est un amusement, mais c’est sérieux. Et ce soir, on n’a pas été sérieux. Cette saison, parfois, trop souvent, on n’a pas été sérieux. Et ça me dérange au plus haut point”, a-t-il lancé, tout en colère froide. “C’est une soirée de merde, même un peu honteuse. Quand tu es dans un club comme celui-ci, tu peux perdre des matches. Tu as perdu à Madrid, tu as perdu à Lisbonne… Mais tu ne peux pas perdre comme ce soir”, a-t-il ajouté. – Au vert à Clairefontaine -Pour lui comme pour le président Pablo Longoria, l’échec est cuisant, même si les dirigeants assurent depuis le début de saison qu’une accession à la phase suivante n’était pas budgetée et que le véritable objectif est une nouvelle qualification en fin de saison.Mais les visages baissés et les regards abattus racontaient autre chose mercredi soir dans les couloirs blafards du stade Jan Breydel et c’est tout l’OM, un club habitué à entrer en crise pour moins que ça, qui doit désormais se relever. Car le calendrier reste exigeant: déplacement sur la pelouse du Paris FC samedi, réception de Rennes en Coupe de France mardi au Vélodrome – où l’accueil s’annonce glacial -, puis nouveau déplacement dans la capitale pour y affronter le Paris SG dans dix jours. “Comment veux-tu que ça n’ait pas de conséquences sur la suite de la saison ? J’espère que ça aura des conséquences. J’espère qu’entre eux, ils vont se poser les bonnes questions. C’est ce que j’attends”, a encore lancé Benatia. L’introspection se fera loin de Marseille, à Clairefontaine, où les Marseillais vont se mettre au vert jusqu’au match de samedi face au PFC. La saison dernière, ces “ritiri” à Mallemort puis Rome avaient fait beaucoup de bien à l’OM. L’ambiance à Clairefontaine sera sans doute un peu moins joyeuse, mais il y a de l’espoir. 

Iran’s IRGC: the feared ‘Pasdaran’ set for EU terror listing

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is the ideological army of the Islamic republic tasked with protecting the revolution from external and domestic threats but is accused by the West of militant activity abroad and serial rights violations at home.The EU is expected on Thursday to agree to list the IRGC as a terrorist organisation, which would match similar classification enacted by the United States, Canada and AustraliaRights groups have accused the Guards of taking a lead role in the deadly crackdown on protests against Iran’s clerical leadership under Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that has left thousands dead.”The intolerable repression of the peaceful uprising of the Iranian people cannot go unanswered,” said French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot as he announced late on Wednesday that Paris would back the terror designation in a hardening of French policy.Amnesty International said this week that its evidence showed that, alongside regular police and plain clothes agents, the IRGC and its volunteer paramilitary force known as the Basij, were “involved in the deadly crackdown”.Known in Iran as the “Pasdaran” (“The Guards”) or simply as “Sepah” (“The Corps”), the IRGC is a vast and complex organisation whose branches reach into many aspects of Iranian politics and society as well as the military.Its international unit, the Quds Force, whose then-chief Qasem Soleimani was killed by the United States in 2020, has been accused by the West of carrying out attacks in the Middle East, while analysts say it is a key economic player, benefitting from illicit transactions that circumvent sanctions.- ‘Control the economy’ -The Guards’ mission is “to propagate the ideas of the Islamic revolution”, said Clement Therme, a researcher at the International Institute of Iranian Studies. “It’s an army of 150,000 to 180,000 people in service of an ideology.”A Western diplomat, who requested anonymity to speak, said its membership was thought to be around 200,000.”It’s an armed force that functions like an elite military with terrestrial, maritime and aerospace capabilities, while it is better trained, better equipped and better paid than the regular military,” the diplomat said.The IRGC also serves as Tehran’s link to its regional allies, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon and pro-Iran militias in Iraq.”It’s an empire within an empire,” said David Khalfa, a researcher at the France-based Jean-Jaures Foundation.The Guards control or own companies across the Iranian economy, including major strategic sectors.Their annual military budget is estimated at around $6-9 billion, or 40 percent of Iran’s official military budget, according to data collated by Khalfa.”They effectively control the Iranian economy,” he added.For enforcement on the ground, the Guards rely on the Basij paramilitary, which is recruited mainly from young Iranians and acts as an ideological organisation embedded in all institutions and levels of society.There are thought to be around 600,000 to 900,000 Basij members, Khalfa said, pointing to cross-referenced data from several US think tanks.- Leader ‘dearer than our lives’ -A research paper published this month by Saeid Golkar and Kasra Aarabi of the US-based think tank United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) said a shadowy IRGC unit known as the Tharallah Headquarters, responsible for security in Tehran, was the “most critical cog in the IRGC’s security and suppressive apparatus”.”It coordinates intelligence, policing, Basij militia, IRGC units, and psychological operations, ensuring that repression is not improvised but calibrated,” said Golkar and Aarabi, adding that it “functions as the regime’s operational brain during moments of unrest”.The Guards are led by General Mohammad Pakpour, who was appointed by Khamenei after his predecessor Hossein Salami was one of several key military figures killed in an Israeli strike during the 12-day war in June 2025.These losses revealed Israel’s deep intelligence penetration of the Islamic republic, including within the IRGC.On January 22, when the Islamic republic marks an annual day celebrating the Guards, Pakpour warned Israel and the United States “to avoid any miscalculations, by learning from historical experiences and what they learned in the 12-day imposed war, so that they do not face a more painful and regrettable fate”.In a show of bravado, given the fate of his predecessor, Pakpour that day also attended a public gathering with other generals from the IRGC and the regular army to show the unity within the Iranian armed forces.”The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and dear Iran have their finger on the trigger, more prepared than ever, ready to carry out the orders and measures of the supreme commander-in-chief — a leader dearer than their own lives,” he said, referring to Khamenei.

L’émissaire de Trump à Minneapolis présente son plan anti-immigration

Durcissement ou apaisement ? L’envoyé spécial de Donald Trump à Minneapolis doit présenter publiquement son plan jeudi, pour rétablir le calme dans une ville qui tient tête à l’administration après la mort d’un infirmier tué par des agents fédéraux.Tom Homan doit intervenir à 7H00 locales (13H00 GMT) alors que le bras de fer entre agences fédérales et autorités locales d’une part, administration républicaine et opposition démocrate d’autre part, ne faiblit pas.La métropole du nord des Etats-Unis, devenue l’emblème de la politique anti-immigration de Donald Trump, reste sous le choc du décès de deux Américains abattus par des agents fédéraux: Alex Pretti, infirmier de 37 ans, tué samedi par des membres de la police aux frontières (CBP), et Renee Good, mère de famille du même âge, le 7 janvier, par la police de l’immigration (ICE).L’émissaire présidentiel a été dépêché à Minneapolis en urgence cette semaine pour reprendre le contrôle d’une situation inflammable. Mais Donald Trump alterne signes d’accalmie et propos vindicatifs. Mercredi, la police aux frontières a annoncé avoir suspendu dès samedi deux agents impliqués dans la mort d’Alex Pretti. Une procédure “standard”, a affirmé un porte-parole à l’AFP.Le président américain, après avoir promis une “petite désescalade” et un retrait partiel des hommes masqués qui traumatisent la cité du Midwest, a renoué avec sa rhétorique incendiaire contre le maire démocrate de Minneapolis.Jacob Frey avait déclaré qu’il “n’appliquerait pas les lois fédérales” sur l’immigration.”Est-ce que quelqu’un (…) pourrait lui expliquer que cette déclaration constitue une violation très grave de la loi et qu’il JOUE AVEC LE FEU”, a lancé M. Trump sur sa plateforme Truth Social.La chasse aux sans-papiers “n’a rien à voir avec la sécurité ni (…) avec l’immigration. Il s’agit de représailles politiques et cela devrait inquiéter (…) tout le monde en Amérique”, a insisté l’édile.- “Plus jamais les mêmes” -A Washington, ce déploiement pourrait déclencher en fin de semaine une paralysie budgétaire fédérale. Le camp démocrate veut empêcher Donald Trump de financer sa lutte contre l’immigration, quitte à aller jusqu’à un nouveau blocage complet (“shutdown”). Le bras de fer se poursuit aussi dans les arcanes de la justice. Un juge fédéral du Minnesota a interdit la détention des réfugiés encore dépourvus du statut de résident permanent, mais qui vivent légalement dans cet Etat américain.Dans son ordonnance publiée mercredi, le juge John Tunheim a considéré que l’administration pouvait poursuivre “l’application légale des lois sur l’immigration” mais devait le faire “sans arrêter ni détenir” ces personnes légalement admises sur le sol américain. Il a demandé la libération des réfugiés actuellement dans cette situation.Et dans un autre dossier, un magistrat fédéral a jugé “probable que l’ICE ait violé davantage d’ordonnances judiciaires en janvier 2026 que certaines agences fédérales durant toute leur existence”.A Washington, la ministre de la Justice Pam Bondi a pour sa part déclaré mercredi sur X que 16 “émeutiers” suspectés d’avoir “agressé des agents fédéraux des forces de l’ordre” avaient été arrêtés. Sur place, la peur des raids mobilise des citoyens qui tournent dans les rues pour débusquer les policiers fédéraux.- “Enlevés dans la rue” -“J’ai l’impression que les crimes commis contre les habitants de Minneapolis ont atteint un tel niveau que nous ne serons plus jamais les mêmes”, a assuré à l’AFP Dylan Alverson, propriétaire d’un café solidaire.”On ne voit rien qui change sur le terrain, les gens se font toujours enlever dans la rue”, regrette pour sa part Jennifer Arnold, 39 ans, qui a créé un réseau d’entraide à Minneapolis pour emmener les enfants de migrants à l’école.Mardi, la députée démocrate du Minnesota Ilhan Omar, une des cibles favorites de Donald Trump, avait été agressée par un homme muni d’une seringue remplie d’un liquide nauséabond non identifié. Le FBI s’est saisi de l’enquête. La chaîne CNN, citant des sources policières, affirme qu’il s’agissait probablement de vinaigre de cidre.Des vidéos analysées par l’AFP et d’autres médias décrédibilisent la thèse défendue au départ par l’administration américaine, selon laquelle Alex Pretti, qui portait légalement une arme, menaçait les forces de l’ordre.Dans une nouvelle vidéo diffusée par plusieurs chaînes américaines et qui ne pouvait être authentifiée dans l’immédiat par l’AFP, on le voit lors d’une violente altercation avec des agents fédéraux dont il dégrade notamment un véhicule à coups de pied, plus d’une semaine avant sa mort. burs-dla/aje/cbr/ph

Northern Mozambique: massive gas potential in an insurgency zoneThu, 29 Jan 2026 12:14:50 GMT

Construction on a stalled $20-billion gas project by TotalEnergies in Mozambique officially resumed Thursday, nearly five years after it was suspended due to a deadly jihadist attack.The French oil giant announced the restart of construction at a ceremony attended by President Daniel Chapo and TotalEnergies chief executive Patrick Pouyanne near the site of the project …

Northern Mozambique: massive gas potential in an insurgency zoneThu, 29 Jan 2026 12:14:50 GMT Read More »

Gold demand hits record high on Trump policy doubts: industry

Gold demand surged to a record high in 2025 as investors and central banks flocked to the safe-haven asset as protection against US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable policies and their potential economic impact, industry data showed Thursday.The price of gold has surged in response, pushing on with a meteoric rise this year that saw it near $5,600 a troy ounce (31.1 grams) on Thursday. Purchases hit all-time highs in both volume and value last year, the World Gold Council said in its annual report, with demand exceeding 5,000 tonnes and value reaching $555 billion — a 45 percent increase year on year. “Uncertainty” has been the key driver of gold’s strong performance, said WGC analyst Krishan Gopaul.”On a geopolitical front, there were obviously concerns about the actions of the new Trump administration,” he said.The year was marked by Trump’s tariff onslaught against major trading partners including China, the European Union and India, upending longstanding global free trade tenets. Adding to that, Trump’s criticism of US monetary policy has fuelled concerns about the Federal Reserve’s independence and contributed to a weakening dollar.Those fears have led other central banks to significantly increase their gold reserves.Although central bank purchases of gold fell slightly in volume from the previous year, their total value increased by 13 percent in 2025.Gold now makes up more than 20 percent of central bank reserves, a level not seen since the early 1990s, the WGC said.Demand was also boosted by enthusiasm for exchange-traded funds linked to the gold price.”Gold ETFs have made gold more accessible to many investors” by making it as easy to buy as a company stock, Gopaul said.A fresh surge in gold’s price this week was driven by “safe-haven demand, geopolitical tensions and… as investors shift to hard assets from traditional currencies and bonds”, Liam Fitzpatrick, head of metals and mining research at Deutsche Bank, said Thursday.

Trump’s border chief to speak in Minneapolis as shooting fallout grows

US President Donald Trump’s border czar Tom Homan was set to present his plans on Thursday as the new face of the immigration crackdown in Minneapolis, after two federal agents involved in the fatal shooting of an American citizen were placed on leave.The agents were placed on leave on Saturday, which Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said is “standard protocol,” after 37-year-old Alex Pretti was shot multiple times and forced to the ground in a scuffle captured on video.Trump has scrambled to stem outrage across the political aisle over the killing, saying Tuesday he wanted to “de-escalate a little bit” in Minneapolis.But the president backpedaled his conciliatory note Wednesday, accusing the city’s mayor Jacob Frey of “PLAYING WITH FIRE” for refusing to rally local police to enforce the federal immigration sweeps.The political battle could soon move to Congress, where Democrats are threatening to hold up authorization for swathes of US government funding if reforms are not made to rein in the sprawling military-style immigration agencies.Frey responded Wednesday to Trump ramping up his rhetoric, writing on X: “The job of our police is to keep people safe, not enforce fed immigration laws.”In another blow to Trump’s immigration crackdown, a federal judge ruled Wednesday to halt the detention of refugees in Minnesota awaiting permanent resident status and ordered the release of those in detention.Meanwhile, another federal judge slammed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) chief Todd Lyons, claiming he “has likely violated more court orders in January 2026 than some federal agencies have violated in their entire existence.”The White House initially justified Saturday’s fatal shooting of Pretti, an intensive care nurse, whom Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem described as a “domestic terrorist.”But widespread backlash forced Trump to shuffle leadership of immigration operations in Minneapolis, replacing Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino with policy-focused Homan.Homan is expected to hold a press conference at 7 am (1300 GMT) Thursday in Minneapolis, the White House said.- Fury -While the White House insists it is targeting hardened criminals, the use of masked, heavily armed men to snatch people from streets, homes and workplaces has caused widespread shock.That turned to fury this month after immigration agents shot dead two Minneapolis protesters at point-blank range in separate incidents — Pretti and Renee Good, who are both US citizens.Top Trump aide Stephen Miller initially justified Pretti’s killing by branding him a “would-be assassin” — despite video evidence clearly showing the nurse posed no threat as he was shot in the back while pinned down on the ground.Miller later said the federal agents who killed Pretti “may not have been following that protocol.”Clashes between protesters and federal immigration officers who are deployed to Democratic cities have become increasingly common. In Minneapolis, 39-year-old community activist Jennifer Arnold said little has changed since Trump’s promise to ease tensions in the city.”The Trump administration is saying that they’re going to change tactics…but we are not experiencing anything different,” Arnold told AFP.- Omar attacked -Trump’s focus on Minnesota is linked to a probe into alleged corruption by Somali immigrants in the state, which he and right-wing allies have amplified as an example of what they say is a fight against alleged criminal immigrants.The president has persistently targeted Somali-born congresswoman Ilhan Omar, saying she should be sent back to Somalia.In the latest sign of a deteriorating political climate, a man sprayed Omar with an unknown liquid while she was giving a speech late Tuesday, before being tackled by security.The suspect, 55-year-old Anthony Kazmierczak, was arrested on suspicion of assault.