US tightens controls on advanced chips to curb flow to China

The United States unveiled further export controls Wednesday on advanced computing semiconductors, increasing due diligence requirements for businesses as it seeks to prevent diversion of tech to China despite existing restrictions.The move — part of a series of actions before President Joe Biden leaves office — comes days after US officials announced fresh curbs on AI chip exports, seeking to make it harder for Beijing to access the advanced technology.”These rules will further target and strengthen our controls to help ensure that the PRC and others who seek to circumvent our laws and undermine US national security fail in their efforts,” Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said, referring to the People’s Republic of China.Washington has expanded its efforts in recent years to curb exports of state-of-the-art chips to China, concerned that these can be used to advance Beijing’s military systems and other tech capabilities.But there have been worries about circumvention.The latest controls aim to hold back China from getting high-end computing semiconductors needed to develop advanced artificial intelligence capabilities, the US commerce department said.”By enhancing due diligence requirements, we are holding foundries accountable for verifying that their chips are not being diverted to restricted entities,” said Alan Estevez, Commerce Department under-secretary for industry and security.The outgoing Biden administration’s moves have drawn ire, with China’s commerce ministry saying Beijing was “strongly dissatisfied and firmly opposed” to them.The ministry vowed in a statement Wednesday that China would take measures to safeguard its interests.With the new rules, foundries and packaging companies that want to export certain advanced chips face broader license requirements unless they meet several conditions.The rules also aim to enhance reporting for transactions involving newer customers “who may pose a heightened risk of diversion,” said the US commerce department.- Blacklist -The department on Wednesday placed 25 China-based entities, alongside two Singapore ones, on a trade blacklist as well.Companies added to the so-called Entity List are restricted from obtaining US items and technologies without a license.Among those impacted was Sophgo Technologies, which was said to have been involved in Huawei accessing chips from Taiwanese chip giant TSMC.Some of the Entity List additions were made because the businesses helped advance China’s military modernization through the development of AI research, a government posting said.Others were accused of aiding the development of advanced computing integrated circuits that further China’s progress in weapons systems, or posing a risk of diversion to Huawei — which has itself been blacklisted.Such activities, according to the postings, were contrary to US national security and foreign policy interests.Apart from chip export controls, Washington finalized a rule this week effectively barring Chinese technology from cars in the American market.The announcement took aim at software and hardware from the world’s second-largest economy over national security risks.US officials are also mulling new restrictions to address risks posed by drones containing tech from adversaries like China and Russia.Beijing said Wednesday that the Biden administration’s measures have “seriously infringed upon” Chinese companies’ rights and interests.But the rollout of many plans will fall to US President-elect Donald Trump, who returns to the White House next week.

Cuba starts freeing prisoners after US terror list deal

Cuba began releasing people Wednesday who were jailed for protesting against the regime under a deal that saw the United States remove the communist island from a list of terrorism sponsors, causing relatives of detainees to rejoice.About a dozen had been freed as of midday, according to social media posts by family members and friends, a day after Havana said it would free 553 prisoners under the agreement with departing US President Joe Biden.”We received a call yesterday evening to go to the prison today,” Rosabel Loreto — daughter-in-law of prisoner Donaida Perez Paseiro, 53 — told AFP. “We got there at 7:00 am, and by 7:30 am she was freed” from a prison in the central province of Villa Clara.Perez Paseiro had been sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment for participating with thousands of others in rare anti-government protests that broke out on July 11, 2021 as Cubans vented years of frustration over power blackouts, food shortages and soaring prices.One person was killed and dozens injured in the protests, which Havana accused Washington of orchestrating.According to official Cuban figures, some 500 protesters were given sentences of up to 25 years in prison, but rights groups and the US Embassy say the figure is closer to 1,000.”For Cuba to be removed from the terrorist list, we were the bargaining chip,” Perez Paseiro said in a video posted on social media, as she vowed to continue to “fight for Cuba’s freedom.”In Havana, a woman who asked to remain anonymous said her daughter, similarly jailed for demonstrating against the government, had also been freed.- ‘Detained unjustly’ -In his final days in office, Biden has rushed through a series of actions designed to cement his legacy both on the domestic and foreign fronts, before handing power next week to Donald Trump.On Tuesday, he removed Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism to which it was added by Trump at the end of his first presidential term.Cuba in return announced it would release 553 prisoners, which a senior administration official said included “political prisoners” and others “detained unjustly.”The deal is widely expected to be overturned by Trump’s incoming administration.Some of the people arrested for taking part in the anti-government rallies of 2021 have already been freed after serving their sentences. Cuban authorities have not released a list of the prisoners to be freed under the deal with Biden, or confirmed that they have begun releasing them.- ‘Long night’ -Many families were anxiously awaiting news. “Last night was a long night. It’s been many long nights… much nervousness, waiting for the phone to ring,” Liset Fonseca, mother of 41-year-old Roberto Perez, told AFP at her home in the city of San Jose de las Lajas, southeast of Havana.Perez was sentenced 10 years in prison for taking part in the 2021 demonstrations.”I am still waiting… Concretely, we still have nothing,” said Fonseca.Havana does not recognize the existence of political prisoners on its soil, and accuses opponents of being “mercenaries” of the United States.It welcomed Washington’s announcement Tuesday as a step in the “right direction,” but lamented it was still under a US trade embargo in place since 1962.Cuba blames the blockade for its worst economic crisis in decades, which has seen hundreds of thousands of people emigrate to the United States in the last two years, either legally or illegally, according to US figures.Trump’s first presidential term from 2017 to 2021 saw a tightening of sanctions against Cuba that had been loosened during a period of detente under his predecessor Barack Obama.Before assuming office, Biden had promised changes in US policy towards the island, but postponed these after Havana’s 2021 crackdown.

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More than 19.5 mn Yemenis in need as crisis worsens: UN

More than 19.5 million people in Yemen will need assistance in 2025, a senior UN official said Wednesday, expressing concern over a worsening humanitarian crisis and for children suffering from malnutrition.”People in Yemen continue to face a severe humanitarian and protection crisis,” said Joyce Msuya, interim chief of the United Nations’ humanitarian agency (OCHA).And the crisis will only get worse, she added, citing the organization’s forthcoming consolidated humanitarian appeal for 2025.Around 17 million people — nearly half the country’s population — cannot meet their basic food needs, Msuya said.”At least 19.5 million people in Yemen need humanitarian assistance and protection this year — 1.3 million more than in 2024,” she said.On top of this, an estimated 4.8 million people remain internally displaced, the majority of whom are women and children.Nearly half of children under five years old suffer from moderate to severe stunting caused by malnutrition, while the country’s stressed health system is overburdened by “appalling levels” of cholera.Hans Grundberg, the United Nations special envoy for Yemen, who just visited the capital Sanaa that is controlled by the Iran-backed Huthi rebels, stressed the need for “immediate de-escalation and genuine engagement for peace.””The need to address Yemen’s crisis becomes ever more urgent as regional stability requires, in part, achieving peace in Yemen,” he said.Yemen has been at war since 2014, when the Huthis forced the internationally recognized government out of Sanaa. The rebels have also seized population centers in the north.In March 2015, a Saudi-led coalition intervened to prop up the beleaguered government.A UN-brokered ceasefire in April 2022 calmed fighting and in December 2023 the warring parties committed to a peace process.But tensions have surged during the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, as the Huthis struck Israeli targets and international shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, in a campaign the rebels say is in solidarity with Palestinians.

Le sort incertain des 60 otages du Hamas présumés vivants à Gaza

Alors qu’un accord de trêve a été trouvé mercredi entre Israël et le Hamas, le sort des 60 otages présumés vivants, captifs depuis plus de 15 mois dans la bande de Gaza, est incertain, assombri par la litanie des décès confirmés et des corps rapatriés.Le Premier ministre qatari, Mohammed ben Abdelrahmane Al-Thani, et le président américain, Joe Biden, ont détaillé l’accord, qui prévoit dans une première phase un cessez-le-feu permettant la libération d’otages vivants, 33 selon M. Al-Thani, en échange de prisonniers palestiniens.Les autres otages vivants doivent être libérés dans une hypothétique deuxième phase, avant le rapatriement des restes des otages morts dans une troisième phase, a précisé M. Biden.- 48 hommes, 10 femmes et 2 enfants -Le 7 octobre 2023, au cours d’une attaque sans précédent du Hamas sur le sud d’Israël, les commandos du mouvement islamiste palestinien ont emmené à Gaza 251 personnes et dépouilles. Sur ce total, 117 personnes, essentiellement des femmes, des enfants et des travailleurs étrangers, ont retrouvé la liberté, principalement pendant l’unique trêve du conflit, qui a duré une semaine fin novembre 2023. Quarante corps ont également été rapatriés, dont les derniers, ceux de Youssef al-Zayadna, 53 ans, et de son fils Hamza, 22 ans, deux bédouins enlevés au kibboutz Holit où ils participaient à la récolte des olives.Au 15 janvier, 94 personnes sont toujours en captivité, dont 60 présumées vivantes, 34 ayant été déclarées mortes par l’armée israélienne.Parmi les otages encore présumés vivants, 53 sont des Israéliens, dont au moins 22 binationaux, six sont Thaïlandais et un Népalais.Parmi eux, 48 sont des hommes et 10 des femmes, dont cinq soldates. En ajoutant les hommes, dix soldats présumés vivants sont toujours captifs.Deux enfants, les frères Kfir et Ariel, enlevés respectivement à huit mois et quatre ans, restent présumés vivants, ainsi que leurs parents, Shiri et Yarden Bibas.- Litanie des morts -Depuis la fin de la trêve le 1er décembre 2023, seuls sept otages ont retrouvé la liberté, à l’occasion d’opérations de sauvetage de l’armée israélienne. Le dernier en date est Kaid Farhan Alkadi, libéré le 27 août dans le sud de la bande de Gaza.Faute de preuve de vie, il n’est pas certain que tous les 60 otages présumés vivants le soient toujours.Le Hamas et le Jihad islamique, son allié, ont régulièrement annoncé des décès d’otages, qu’Israël n’a pas confirmés, notamment ceux des enfants Bibas et de leur mère.Parmi les rares preuves de vie, des vidéos publiées récemment par le Hamas et le Jihad islamique des otages Matan Zangauker (25 ans), Edan Alexander (20 ans), Sacha Trupanov (29 ans) et Liri Albag (19 ans).- Nombreux corps emmenés à Gaza -Une partie des otages décédés étaient déjà morts lorsqu’ils ont été emmenés à Gaza le 7 octobre 2023, tués lors de l’attaque du Hamas. C’est notamment le cas de 11 soldats.Au moins 30 autres otages capturés vivants sont morts à Gaza. Trois d’entre eux – Yotam Haïm (28 ans), Samer al-Talalqa (25 ans) et Alon Lulu Shamriz (26 ans) – ont été abattus par erreur par l’armée israélienne le 15 décembre 2023.L’armée israélienne accuse le Hamas d’en avoir exécuté froidement six fin août: Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Alexander Lobanov, Almog Sarusi et Ori Danino, retrouvés morts par des soldats dans un tunnel de Rafah (sud de la bande de Gaza).- Nir Oz et Nova -La plupart des otages présumés vivants encore à Gaza ont été enlevés au kibboutz Nir Oz (20) ou au festival de musique Nova (16).Nir Oz était déjà le kibboutz comptant le plus d’otages le 7 octobre 2023. Ce fut la seule communauté recensant davantage d’otages (76) que de morts (plus de 40), y compris des travailleurs étrangers. La rave party Nova, à laquelle participaient plus de 3.000 personnes, se tenait entre les kibboutz Réïm et Beeri, à la lisière de la bande de Gaza. Au total, au moins 370 personnes y ont été massacrées et 43 enlevées, dont seulement neuf sont rentrées vivantes à ce jour.- Familles séparées par des libérations -Le 7 octobre 2023, des familles entières avaient été emmenées à Gaza. Pour les otages libérés en leur sein, la trêve de novembre 2023 a mêlé soulagement et déchirement de laisser des parents derrière eux.C’est notamment le cas des adolescents franco-israéliens de Nir Oz, Eitan Yahalomi, dont le père Ohad est toujours captif, et Erez et Sahar Kalderon, dont le père Ofer reste retenu en otage à Gaza.

Coupe de France: Troyes surprend Rennes (1-0) et s’offre une parenthèse enchantée

Troyes (Ligue 2) a créé la surprise mercredi en écartant Rennes (1-0) de la Coupe de France au Stade de l’Aube pour accéder aux huitièmes de finale et s’octroyer une bouffée de bonheur dans ses années noires.Un joueur a symbolisé ce succès plein d’abnégation: Rafiki Saïd, qui a d’abord provoqué, puis raté complètement un pénalty (27e) face à l’international français Brice Samba, avant d’inscrire le seul but du match, en force et à bout portant (56e).L’ailier comorien a ainsi redonné le sourire à un club qui ne cesse de sombrer depuis quatre ans et demi, moment de son rachat par le richissime City football group, qui détient également Manchester City.Depuis, le club qui évoluait alors en Ligue 1 a connu deux descentes, dont une en fin de saison dernière en National finalement annulée par la Ligue de football professionnel (LFP) après la relégation administrative de Bordeaux.Actuellement quinzième de Ligue 2, l’Estac pourrait bien descendre pour de bon en troisième division en fin de saison. Mais le club de l’Aube est au moins assuré de poursuivre son parcours en Coupe de France pour vibrer de nouveau.En face, les Bretons de Jorge Sampaoli n’en ont pas fait assez. Seul Amine Gouiri a su se montrer dangereux, trouvant notamment le poteau droit des cages gardées par Nicolas Lemaître (41e). Le gardien troyen est ensuite rapidement sorti devant l’attaquant rennais pour détourner sa tentative (76e).Au contraire, ce sont même les Troyens qui ont eu plusieurs occasions de creuser l’écart par Ibrahim Traoré (82e, 90e+1), en vain. Qu’importe, ils verront les huitièmes.