China, EU stand firm on shipping emission deal despite US threats
China, the European Union and several other members of the International Maritime Organization reaffirmed their support on Tuesday for ambitious plans to cut shipping emissions, despite US threats.Initially approved in April, the London-based IMO are set to vote on Friday on formally adopting the Net Zero Framework (NZF), the first global carbon-pricing system.However, Washington’s threat to impose sanctions on those supporting it had cast doubt on the future of the framework, just as the summit where it is due to be adopted got under way.The summit’s first day on Tuesday was marked by friction between members supporting the NZF and those opposing it.The framework would require ships to progressively reduce carbon emissions from 2028, or face financial penalties.Last week, the United States threatened countries who vote in favour of the framework with sanctions, visa restrictions and port levies, calling the proposal a “global carbon tax on the world”.But several countries, including Britain, Brazil, China and the European Union, reaffirmed their commitment during Tuesday’s meeting of the 176-nation IMO.”We believe that reaching a consensus on global implementation (of the framework) is essential,” a representative from China told members.- Oil producers’ opposition -To be adopted, the framework needs the backing of two-thirds of the present and voting IMO members that are parties to the so-called MARPOL anti-pollution convention.The convention has 108 members.A majority of members — 63 states — that voted in favour of the NZF in April are expected to maintain their support on Friday.The plan would charge ships for emissions exceeding a certain threshold, with proceeds used to reward low-emission vessels and support countries vulnerable to climate change.Several major oil producers — Saudi Arabia, Russia and the United Arab Emirates — voted against the measure, and are expected to do so again this week, arguing it would harm the economy and food security.Pacific Island states, which abstained in the initial vote over concerns the proposal was not ambitious enough, are now expected to support it.The United States withdrew from IMO negotiations in April and did not comment on the proposal until last week.US threats could affect “countries more sensitive to US influence and vulnerable to these retaliations”, a European source told AFP.”We remain optimistic about the outcome, but it will probably be tighter than before, with a higher risk of abstention,” the source added.Countries highly dependent on the maritime industry, such as the Philippines and Caribbean islands, would be particularly impacted by US visa restrictions and sanctions.Contacted by AFP, IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez declined to respond directly to the US statement, maintaining he was “very confident” about the NZF vote.If the global emissions pricing system was adopted, it would become difficult to evade, even for the United States.IMO conventions allow signatories to inspect foreign ships during stopovers and even detain non-compliant vessels.Since returning to power in January, US President Donald Trump has reversed Washington’s course on climate change, denouncing it as a “scam” and encouraging fossil fuel use by deregulation.
Madagascar: les militaires prennent le pouvoir après un vote de destitution du président
Le scénario se répète à Madagascar: les militaires ont affirmé mardi “prendre le pouvoir” et ont acté de fait la fin de la présidence du contesté Andry Rajoelina, qui avait accédé une première fois au pouvoir par un coup d’Etat en 2009 dans des circonstances similaires.L’unité militaire qui s’est ralliée au mouvement de contestation généralisée dans cette île particulièrement pauvre de l’océan Indien a fait cette déclaration devant le palais présidentiel du centre d’Antananarivo, juste après un vote de l’Assemblée nationale destituant le chef de l’Etat, présumé avoir quitté le pays.”On va prendre le pouvoir à partir d’aujourd’hui et on dissout le Sénat et la Haute cour constitutionnelle. L’Assemblée nationale, on la laisse continuer à travailler”, a indiqué au micro de l’AFPTV le colonel Michael Randrianirina devant le palais présidentiel, au centre de la capitale malgache.Scènes de fête et concerts ont suivi cette annonce sur la place du 13-mai. Drapeaux malgaches et chants de célébration ont envahi ce lieu symbolique, baptisé en hommage aux personnes tuées lors d’un soulèvement populaire en 1972 qui a conduit au départ du premier président.La Haute cour constitutionnelle, ayant constaté la “vacance” du poste de président, “invite” dans un communiqué “l’autorité militaire compétente incarnée par le colonel Randrianirina Michaël, à exercer les fonctions de chef de l’Etat”.Contesté dans la rue et retranché dans un lieu inconnu, Andry Rajoelina, qui avait dissous un peu plus tôt mardi l’Assemblée, a dénoncé à propos du vote le destituant une “réunion (…) dépourvue de toute base légale” puis une “tentative de coup d’Etat” des militaires. “Le président demeure pleinement en fonction”, assure-t-il.Exfiltré par un avion militaire français dimanche d’après la radio française RFI, Andry Rajoelina avait été désigné président de transition par les militaires après un soulèvement populaire en 2009.Après s’être mis en retrait en 2014, il avait été élu président en 2018, puis réélu en 2023 pour un mandat de cinq ans lors d’un scrutin boycotté par l’opposition.”On va mettre en place un comité composé d’officiers venant de l’armée, de la gendarmerie, de la police nationale. Peut-être qu’il y aura des hauts conseillers civils là-dedans. C’est ce comité qui va assurer le travail de la présidence. En même temps, après quelques jours, on va mettre en place un gouvernement civil”, a assuré le colonel Randrianirina.En attendant, Jouannah Rasoarimanana, 24 ans savoure une “victoire” pour la jeunesse éduquée de Madagascar ayant allumé l’étincelle de la contestation. “Je suis vraiment très heureuse, en tant que jeune, ici, à Madagascar, on est libre maintenant. On a obtenu la victoire”, se réjouit cette comptable.Comme très souvent depuis le 25 septembre, des milliers de manifestants sont encore descendus dans les rues d’Antananarivo. Des jeunes mobilisés par le collectif Gen Z, rejoints par des fonctionnaires appelés à la grève par plusieurs syndicats et des protestataires de toutes générations.- Constitution suspendue -La Constitution est aussi suspendue, a annoncé le colonel Randrianirina, à la tête de la Capsat. Cette unité militaire, qui avait joué un rôle majeur dans le coup d’État de 2009, a renversé le rapport de force en se joignant samedi aux manifestations qui ont commencé le 25 septembre.Ses officiers ont appelé les forces de sécurité à “refuser de tirer” sur les manifestants, avant de les rejoindre dans le centre de la capitale.La plupart des forces armées leur ont emboîté le pas depuis et ont changé de commandement, y compris la gendarmerie, auparavant en première ligne de la répression des manifestations. Au moins 22 personnes ont été tuées au début de celles-ci et plus d’une centaine blessées, d’après un bilan des Nations unies.Au total, 130 des 163 députés, soit plus de la majorité des deux tiers requise, ont voté mardi en faveur de la destitution d’Andry Rajoelina. Elle a été avalisée par la Haute cour constitutionnelle, dont la dissolution a été annoncée mardi par le colonel Randrianirina.Madagascar, île à la population très pauvre, a une longue histoire de soulèvements populaires suivis par la mise en place de gouvernements militaires de transition.”On essaie de voir exactement ce qui va se passer une fois la poussière retombée. Évidemment, s’il y a un coup d’État en cours, on s’y opposera”, a réagi Farhan Haq, porte-parole du secrétaire général de l’ONU.Le président en fuite a par ailleurs dit mardi enchaîner “plusieurs visites officielles prévues chez les pays amis, membres de la SADC”, l’organisation de coopération d’Afrique australe.Au moins 80% des 32 millions d’habitants de Madagascar vivent avec moins de 15.000 ariary par jour (2,80 euros), le seuil de pauvreté fixé par la Banque mondiale.
Theatrics trumped all at Trump’s Gaza summit
US President Donald Trump’s lightning summit in Egypt, meant to cement a ceasefire in Gaza, was more a celebration of one man’s newfound peacemaker persona than a high-level political negotiation, according to diplomats.Trump and the leaders of Egypt, Qatar and Turkey — guarantors to the Israel-Hamas deal — signed a document on Monday that one diplomat called “more of a vision statement than anything”.In devastated Gaza, the ceasefire is mostly holding, but most of the details of Trump’s 20-point peace plan have yet to be thrashed out.These include significant possible stumbling blocks, like Hamas’s disarmament, the Palestinian territory’s future governance and the role of a supervisory so-called “Board of Peace”.While Trump held what amounted to a victory rally in the Israeli Knesset on Monday, more than two dozen world leaders — including UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron and UN chief Antonio Guterres — were kept waiting all day in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh.- Red carpet shuffle -In a meeting held ahead of his arrival, they intended to press him on aid and governance, according to a participant.But when he arrived, four hours behind schedule, they lined up in a queue that snaked all the way around the room to greet the man who claims he can “bring peace to the Middle East”.One after the other, they stepped onto a red carpet to shake hands with a beaming Trump, over a giant sign that read “PEACE 2025″.”It was a very bizarre day… Just the show, the speech with all these leaders lined up, it was crazy,” one diplomat told AFP, requesting anonymity in order to speak freely about diplomatic events.”I’ve never seen anything like it, and I don’t think many people have.”As Trump and Sisi delivered addresses, most of the leaders stood dutifully behind them in an unorthodox configuration that even Trump questioned.Some refused to take part, with France’s Macron, Jordan’s King Abdullah II and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas remaining seated.”He’s not going to stand behind a leader as he speaks,” said a French diplomat travelling with Macron, who also accompanied Abbas on stage for a reportedly unplanned handshake, which ended up being one of Trump’s longest.- The chosen one -Egypt — whose leaders have taken every opportunity to praise Trump as the “only one in the world capable of achieving peace” — pulled out all the stops.Sharm el-Sheikh was covered in billboards featuring Trump and Sisi’s smiling faces alongside slogans of peace.As Air Force One entered Egyptian airspace, it was accompanied by Egypt’s US-made F16 fighter jets, which Trump then quipped that Cairo had “paid a lot of money for” but “got a good deal”.Sisi announced Trump had been awarded the Order of the Nile, Egypt’s highest civilian honour, hours after he received the equivalent medal in Israel.One Egyptian source said Monday’s document was meant to “simply commemorate peace efforts”, for which Cairo credits Trump.But the former reality TV star’s penchant for theatrics nearly derailed even that.In a surprise three-way call while he was in Israel, Trump pushed Sisi into inviting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the summit — sandbagging the leaders waiting in Egypt, some of whose governments have no relations with Israel.According to a diplomatic source, Sisi only agreed to the call in order to “be the star pupil”.Diplomats said several states bristled at the idea of rubbing shoulders with the Israeli leader, who is wanted by the ICC on suspicion of war crimes.AFP journalists witnessed Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s plane circle Sharm el-Sheikh twice before it landed. Turkish media reported Erdogan refused to land after he learnt of the invite.By the time Netanyahu had rushed out a statement saying he would not attend because of a Jewish religious holiday and Trump had landed, several leaders had run out of time.Faced with the risk of having to rush to their planes without a single soundbite, the leaders of Germany, Italy and the Netherlands were forced to walk out of their closed-off meeting area to meet the sequestered press.”It was a ridiculous day,” another diplomat said in the aftermath, echoing an incredulity that was shared by every diplomat to whom AFP spoke.”But ultimately we’re better off today than where we were yesterday. The question is if he’s going to keep this up going forward, and keep that firm line with Netanyahu.”
US Fed chair flags concern about sharp slowdown in job creation
US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell warned Tuesday that risks to employment had risen in recent months, noting there had been a sharp slowdown of job creation in the world’s leading economy.”While the unemployment rate remained low through August, payroll gains have slowed sharply, likely in part due to a decline in labor force growth due to lower immigration and labor force participation,” he told a conference in Philadelphia. Economic growth appears to be holding up well, he added. No official jobs data has been published for September due to the ongoing US government shutdown, but private sector figures point to a marked slowdown in hiring last month. In mid-September, Fed officials moved to cut interest rates for the first time this year, voting overwhelmingly for a quarter-point rate reduction to help support the flagging labor market. At the September meeting, Fed policymakers penciled in an additional 50 basis points of cuts this year, which suggests additional action at the bank’s two remaining rate decisions this year, in October and December.”In this less dynamic and somewhat softer labor market, the downside risks to employment appear to have risen,” Powell said, noting that longer-term inflation expectations remained aligned with the Fed’s target of two percent. “Rising downside risks to employment have shifted our assessment of the balance of risks,” he said, adding there was “no risk-free path for policy as we navigate the tension between our employment and inflation goals.”The bank has a dual mandate from Congress to act independently to tackle both inflation and employment. “Both supply and demand in the labor market have come down so sharply, so quickly,” Powell said.”The fact that the unemployment rate has barely moved is kind of remarkable in and of itself, and suggests that they’re moving at roughly the same pace, although, of course, the unemployment rate has ticked up, which suggests that demand is moving a little faster than supply,” he added. Futures traders currently see a more than 95-percent chance that the Fed will cut rates by an additional half percentage point this year, according to data from CME Group. Powell also hinted Tuesday that the Fed could soon stop reducing the size of its balance sheet, which ballooned in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic as the US central bank piled into Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities (MBS) to support the economy. “Our long-stated plan is to stop balance sheet runoff when reserves are somewhat above the level we judge consistent with ample reserve conditions,” he said. “We may approach that point in coming months.”
Reunited hostage describes stark differences in couple’s Gaza captivity
Former Israeli hostage Noa Argamani spoke out Tuesday after her partner was released under the Gaza ceasefire deal, to describe the differences in their treatment in captivity in the Palestinian territory. “Two years passed since the last moment I saw Avinatan, the love of my life,” Argamani, who was freed during an Israeli military operation in June 2024, said in a post on X.Argamani, 28, described being separated from Avinatan Or from the moment they were abducted at the Nova music festival, in Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack, until Or’s release on Monday.Like several other hostages, Argamani was taken from the festival grounds in southern Israel to the Gaza Strip on the back of a motorcycle, she described in her post.A widely circulated video at the time showed her being forcibly taken by armed men on a motorcycle, crying out for help as her boyfriend was led away separately on foot.That footage became one of the most recognised images of the hostage-taking during the attack.It was only after Or was released that he learnt Argamani had been freed over a year earlier.According to Israel’s Channel 12 television, Or lost 30 to 40 percent of his body weight and was kept in total isolation for two years. “I was held captive with children, women, and the elderly, while Avinatan was held alone,” Argamani said of her partner, who was 32 at the time of the abduction.- ‘Against all odds’ -“I was mostly kept inside houses, while Avinatan was only in the tunnels,” Argamani wrote.”I was held captive by Hamas for 246 days, while Avinatan was held for 738 days. I came back in a heroic rescue operation, and Avinatan returned in a deal,” she said.In her post, Argamani praised both the Israeli military for its efforts in Gaza and US President Donald Trump for securing a ceasefire deal.”But both of us, against all odds, came home and were reunited!” she said.”At last, we can begin our healing together. The recovery will be long; we still haven’t truly processed what has happened here over these past two years. But we won,” Argamani said.”And now, the time has come to begin our shared journey together.”Hamas is still holding the bodies of 24 hostages, which are expected to be returned under the terms of the ceasefire agreement.”We will never forget the fallen and the murdered, and we will not stop fighting until every fallen soldier and hostage is brought home for a proper burial in Israel,” Argamani said.As Israelis awaited the return of the remaining bodies, the hostages released on Monday were gradually recovering.Noa Eliakim Raz, director at Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva, where some of the surviving hostages are being treated, explained that being underground, as the hostages had been, “affects all the body’s systems”.
US Treasury chief accuses China of wanting to hurt world economy
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent slammed Beijing in an interview this week, accusing it of seeking to harm the global economy after China slapped sweeping new export controls in the strategic field of rare earths.”This is a sign of how weak their economy is, and they want to pull everybody else down with them,” Bessent told the Financial Times in an interview on Monday.His comments came days after Beijing imposed fresh controls on the export of rare earth technologies and items. China is the world’s leading producer of the minerals used to make magnets crucial to the auto, electronic and defense industries.Trade tensions between Washington and Beijing have reignited in US President Donald Trump’s second presidency, with tit-for-tat duties reaching triple-digit levels at one point.For now, both countries have de-escalated tensions but the truce remains shaky.The US Treasury chief claimed China’s new controls signaled problems in its own economy: “They are in the middle of a recession/depression, and they are trying to export their way out of it.”China has in recent years battled slowing economic growth and high youth unemployment, with growth hitting 5.2 percent in the second quarter.Beijing’s new measures sparked a fiery response from Trump, who on Friday said he would roll out an additional 100-percent tariff on the country’s goods from November 1.On Tuesday, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told CNBC that timeline could be accelerated.”A lot depends on what the Chinese do,” Greer said in the interview, adding that Beijing had “chosen to make this major escalation.”Last week, Trump also threatened to scrap a planned meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit starting later this month.China over the weekend accused the United States of “double standards” after Trump’s threat of further tariffs. The US leader later insisted that he wanted to “help China, not hurt it.”On Tuesday, China said it was ready to “fight to the end” in a trade war with the United States, shortly before a new wave of US tariffs on wood products took effect.A senior US official told the FT that China International Trade Representative Li Chenggang had previewed many of China’s current lines of attack that recently played out.The official said Li was aggressive in stating that the United States would face “hellfire” if things did not go his way.
Chicago Catholics agonize over raids in Pope Leo’s hometown
Father Brendan Curran knows many Chicago Catholics who supported Donald Trump’s return to the presidency. But now they’re watching immigration raids across their city in horror — and have Pope Leo XIV sharing their alarm.”Almost to a person, they’re in shock,” Curran told AFP. “This isn’t what they signed up for.”Trump’s claim that Chicago is a virtual war zone, requiring him to deploy armed soldiers, is demonstrably false. But opposition to his hardline immigration crackdown is growing from a more peaceful source: the Catholic Church.Pope Leo, who was born in Chicago and is the first American ever to head the global Church, has been outspoken in rejecting Trump’s policies.Referring to the Church’s opposition to abortion — something Trump’s Republicans share with many Catholics — he cited the “inhuman treatment of migrants in the United States” and asked if that was “pro-life.”Chicago is the nation’s third largest city, where 30 percent of the population is Latino or Hispanic, many of them Catholic.For Ariella Santoyo, a dress shop owner in the heavily Latino Little Village neighborhood west of Chicago, the reality of Trump’s presidency versus the hope has been brutal.Trump’s conservative promises, especially on abortion, “appeal to a lot of people” in her community, she said.But the immigration arrests — often conducted violently by masked, plainclothes men — were not what they wanted.”We get that sense a lot from… friends that voted for Trump — family members that I know of that voted who said, ‘Oh I never thought that this would happen.'”- Acts of defiance -Images of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) personnel chasing down migrants, bundling them into vans, and spraying protesters with tear gas play well to many of Trump’s supporters.He won election last year in part on his apocalyptic, falsehood-filled rhetoric about violent migrants invading the United States.But in faith communities, and particularly among Catholics, there are increasingly visible rifts with the White House.”We as a church, and church leaders and faithful, have every right to say… our opinion on immigration policy in the United States. And right now we’re in absolute opposition with the federal policy of the White House,” Father Curran said.In one symbolic act of defiance, pastor Gary Graf has started from outside Pope Leo’s boyhood home on an 800-mile (1,300-kilometer) walk to New York’s Statue of Liberty to protest Trump’s policies.And last weekend, hundreds of faithful joined a Eucharistic march from a Catholic church to the immigration authorities’ facility in Broadview, west of Chicago, to try — unsuccessfully — to share communion with detained migrants.”Our mission as a church is under threat,” Curran, a Dominican friar, said. “When we are talking about feed the hungry, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, and that is considered a federal crime, we’re in trouble as a country.”- ‘We pray for President Trump’ -Curran attended a recent prayer service outside Broadview’s ICE facility. As a helicopter buzzed overhead, two dozen Catholics gathered to recite the rosary.”We pray for President Trump” and other US officials “to continue opening their minds and hearts” to enacting compassionate immigration policies, one of them said.Among the group’s facilitators was Royal Berg, an immigration lawyer who branded Trump’s mass deportation efforts “un-American.””The pope is calling for compassion. What I see from Washington is cruelty,” Berg told AFP.Trump loyalists — including prominent Catholics Vice President JD Vance and White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt — are defiant. And some of Trump’s influential far-right supporters brand Leo a “woke” liberal.”He is anti-Trump, anti-MAGA, pro-open Borders, and a total Marxist,” influencer Laura Loomer, who has the president’s ear, said on X.