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The USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier collided with a merchant vessel in the Mediterranean Sea, the US Navy said Thursday.The warship’s collision with the Besiktas-M took place late the previous day while the carrier was operating near Port Said in Egypt, US Sixth Fleet spokesperson Commander Timothy Gorman said in a statement.”The collision did not endanger the Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) as there are no reports of flooding or injuries. The propulsion plants are unaffected and in a safe and stable condition,” Gorman said, adding that the incident was under investigation.The statement did not mention the condition of the Besiktas-M after the collision.Shipping websites listed the merchant ship as being a bulk carrier that flies the Panamanian flag.The United States deploys aircraft carriers — massive warships that are crewed by thousands of sailors and which carry dozens of planes — in areas around the world.In December, two US Navy pilots safely ejected after the F/A-18 warplane they were flying off the Truman was mistakenly shot down over the Red Sea by a US guided missile cruiser.

Honda and Nissan on Thursday announced the scrapping of merger talks that would have created the world’s third-biggest auto company by unit sales behind Toyota and Volkswagen.Here are some key points about why the Japanese companies explored a tie-up, the reasons for their failure, and where this leaves them in a difficult global auto industry.- What …

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US President Donald Trump said that he would announce “reciprocal tariffs” on trading partners Thursday, opening new fronts in a trade war economists warn could fuel inflation at home.Trump has announced a broad range of tariffs targeting some of the biggest US trading partners since taking office, arguing that they would help tackle unfair practices — and in some cases using the threats to influence policy.He has referred to tariffs as a way to raise revenue, remedy trade imbalances and pressure countries to act on US concerns.On Thursday, the president said he would hold a news conference on reciprocal tariffs at the White House at 1:00 pm local time (1800 GMT).”Three great weeks, perhaps the best ever, but today is the big one: reciprocal tariffs!!! Make America great again!!!” Trump wrote in all capital letters on his Truth Social platform.The move is expected to match the United States’ tariff rates on imports to levels that other countries impose on US goods.Trump’s announcement came hours before he was due to meet Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Washington.But it was unclear when the tariffs would take effect, if imposed.Analysts have warned that reciprocal duties could bring a broad tariff hike to emerging market economies such as India and Thailand, which tend to have higher effective tariff rates on US products.Countries such as South Korea that have trade deals with Washington are less at risk from this move, analysts believe.- Inflation concerns -Cost-of-living pressures were a key issue in the November election that saw Trump sweep to power, and the Republican has promised to swiftly reduce prices.But economists caution that sweeping tariffs on US imports would likely boost inflation, not reduce it, in the near term and could weigh on growth eventually.Trump’s nominee for commerce secretary Howard Lutnick, however, has pushed back on the idea that duties would cause widespread inflation, even as certain costs might rise.Another lingering question is whether the Trump administration would take aim at issues like value-added taxes (VATs) using reciprocal tariffs.Trump’s deputy chief of staff for policy Stephen Miller previously said countries use the VAT to get an unfair trade advantage, although analysts have challenged this characterization.During election campaigning, Trump promised: “An eye for an eye, a tariff for a tariff, same exact amount.”For example, if India imposes a 25-percent tariff on US autos, Washington will have a 25-percent tariff as well on imports of autos from India, explained a Nomura report this week.Modi will hold talks with Trump on Thursday and New Delhi offered some quick tariff concessions ahead of his visit, including on high-end motorcycles.”Trump’s objective of implementing reciprocal tariffs is to ensure fair treatment for US exports, which could indirectly also address US trade imbalances with partner countries,” analysts at Nomura said.Among Asian economies, India has a 9.5-percent weighted average effective tariff on US exports, while there is a three-percent rate on India’s exports to the United States.Thailand has a 6.2-percent rate and China a 7.1-percent rate on US products, Nomura noted.Higher tariffs are often imposed by poorer countries, who use them as a tool for revenue and protection because they have fewer resources to impose non-tariff barriers, Cato Institute’s Scott Lincicome earlier told AFP.It is unclear if Trump views reciprocal tariffs as an alternative to a universal tariff of at least 10 percent, which he floated in the lead-up to last year’s presidential election, or as a separate policy.

Japanese auto giants Honda and Nissan confirmed on Thursday they had scrapped merger talks that would have created the world’s third-largest automaker by unit sales.The bid to join forces had been seen as an effort to catch up with US titan Tesla and Chinese firms in the electric vehicle market, as well as providing a …

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France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said Thursday that the European Union was working toward swiftly easing Syria sanctions as Paris hosted a conference on the transition in the war-torn country after president Bashar al-Assad’s fall.Islamist-led rebels toppled Assad in December after a lightning offensive.The new authorities, headed by interim leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, have sought to reassure the international community that they have broken with their jihadist past and will respect the rights of minorities.They have been lobbying the West to ease sanctions imposed against Assad to allow the country to rebuild its economy after five decades of his family’s rule and almost 14 years of civil war.”We are working with my European counterparts towards a rapid lifting of sectorial economic sanctions,” Barrot said, after EU foreign ministers agreed last month to ease them, starting with key sectors such as energy.Syria’s Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani is in Paris for the conference, in his first such official visit to Europe for talks after he attended the World Economic Forum in Davos last month.The French presidency said earlier that the United States, Germany, Britain, the European Union and the United Nations were also to be represented, as were several Gulf nations and Syria’s northern neighbour Turkey.French President Emmanuel Macron is due to address attendees.- ‘Essential women be represented’ -There has been concern among Western governments over the direction the new Syrian leadership will take in particular on religious freedom, women’s rights and the status of the Kurdish minority in the northeast of Syria.Shaibani on Wednesday said a new government would take over next month from the interim cabinet, vowing that it would represent all Syrians in their diversity. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, ahead of the Paris meeting, emphasised the need for “all actors” in Syria to be included.”It is essential that women be represented,” she said.Several diplomatic sources had said the conference also aimed to focus on protecting Syria from destabilising foreign interference and coordinating aid efforts.Turkish-backed factions launched attacks against Kurdish-held areas in northern Syria at around the same time as the offensive that overthrew Assad, and have since seized strategic areas.Barrot called for “a global ceasefire in all Syrian territory, including the north and northeast”.- More sanctions relief? -Britain plans to ease sanctions on Syria under a new plan announced by the government on Thursday.Foreign Office minister Stephen Doughty said they would “include the relaxation of restrictions that apply to the energy, transport and finance sectors”, but members of parliament still need to debate the proposals.After EU foreign ministers agreed on January 27 to ease sanctions on Syria, Shaibani welcomed the European Union’s move “to suspend sanctions on Syria for one year”.That decision came after the United States eased its own sanctions, allowing fuel and electricity donations to Syria for six months.Sharaa has received a flurry of dignitaries since the start of the year, including Barrot and Baerbock.Syria’s war has killed more than half a million people and displaced millions from their homes inside the country and abroad since it started in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government protests.

Tens of thousands of Jordanians gathered at Amman’s Marka airport on Thursday to express support for King Abdullah II’s position on Gaza on his return from Washington where he met US President Donald Trump.King Abdullah met with Trump at the White House on Tuesday in a seemingly tense exchange in which the United States president doubled down on a plan to “take over” the Gaza Strip and send its more than two million Palestinian residents to Jordan and Egypt.The king later released a statement in which he “reiterated Jordan’s steadfast position against the displacement of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank”.Despite the cold and rain, crowds of men, women and children gathered on the airport road all the way to Raghadan Palace stretching for seven kilometres (four miles), with police and royal guards deployed heavily, AFP photographers said.Many raised placards with messages expressing support for the monarch, including one reading “We are with you”, alongside pictures of Crown Prince Hussein, who had accompanied his father on the trip, in military uniform.Trump’s proposed plan for Gaza has sparked widespread backlash across the region and beyond, with several Arab countries strongly condemning the prospect of displacing Gaza’s Palestinian residents.In Amman on Thursday, Jordanians echoed their sovereign’s position, raising signs reading “Jordan is for the Jordanians and Palestine is for the Palestinians” and “No to the displacement of our brothers”.About half of Jordan’s population of 11 million people is of Palestinian origin, the majority of whom were displaced during the 1948 war that coincided with the creation of Israel and the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.Both the king and the crown prince could be seen waving at the crowds from inside their car.Majed al-Faoury, who was standing in the crowd, said “we came from across Jordan to stand behind” the king’s position, “which is non-negotiable”.”No to settlement, no to displacement, no to an alternative homeland,” added the man in his 50s.

Hamas said Thursday it was committed to honouring a truce with Israel that has come under severe strain in recent days, adding that it planned to proceed with the next hostage-prisoner swap this weekend as planned.Palestinian sources reported progress in efforts to salvage the ceasefire, which was plunged into crisis after Hamas warned it would not release hostages on Saturday, citing Israeli violations.Israel hit back, saying that if Hamas failed to free captives on schedule, it would resume its war in Gaza.”We are keen to implement it (the ceasefire) and oblige the occupation to fully abide by it,” Hamas spokesman Abdel Latif al-Qanou said, adding that mediators were pushing for Israel “to resume the exchange process on Saturday”.The group later said in a statement that it was committed to carrying out the next exchange “according to the specified timetable”.A Palestinian source said mediators had obtained from Israel a “promise… to put in place a humanitarian protocol starting from this morning”, which would allow construction equipment and temporary housing into the devastated territory. Egyptian state-linked media said heavy equipment and trucks carrying mobile homes were ready to enter Gaza from Egypt on Thursday, with AFP images showing a row of bulldozers on the Egyptian side of the border.However, Israel later said they would not be allowed to enter through the crossing.”There is no entry of caravans (mobile homes) or heavy equipment into the Gaza Strip, and there is no coordination for this,” Omer Dostri, a spokesman for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, wrote on X, saying “no goods are allowed to enter the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing”.Hamas has previously accused Israel of holding up the delivery of heavy machinery needed to clear the vast amount of rubble littering the territory.- ‘Power games’ -US President Donald Trump had warned earlier this week that “hell” would break loose if the Palestinian militant group failed to release “all” the remaining hostages by noon on Saturday.If fighting resumes, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said, “the new Gaza war… will not end without the defeat of Hamas and the release of all the hostages”.”It will also allow the realisation of US President Trump’s vision for Gaza,” he added.Trump, whose return to the White House has emboldened the Israeli far right, sparked global outcry with a proposal for the United States to take over the Gaza Strip and to move its 2.4 million residents to Egypt or Jordan.The Gaza truce, currently in its first phase, has seen Israeli captives released in small groups in exchange for Palestinians in Israeli custody.The warring sides, which have yet to agree on the next phases of the truce, have traded accusations of violations, spurring concern that the violence could resume.Last week’s hostage release sparked anger in Israel and beyond after Hamas paraded three emaciated hostages before a crowd and forced them to speak. Hamas, meanwhile, has accused Israel of failing to meet its aid commitments under the agreement.But analyst Mairav Zonszein of International Crisis Group said despite their public disputes, Israel and Hamas were still interested in maintaining the truce and have not “given up on anything yet”.”They’re just playing power games,” she told AFP.In Israel, dozens of relatives of hostages held in Gaza blocked a highway near commercial hub Tel Aviv, waving banners and demanding the terms of the ceasefire be respected, an AFP photographer said.The International Committee of the Red Cross, which has facilitated the hostage-prisoner swaps, urged the parties to maintain the truce.”Hundreds of thousands of lives depend on it,” the ICRC said.- Trump’s plan – Trump’s proposal for Gaza and for moving its more than two million residents to Jordan or Egypt would, according to experts, violate international law, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called it “revolutionary”.Hamas called for worldwide “solidarity marches” over the weekend to denounce “the plans to displace our Palestinian people from their land”.Defence Minister Katz last week ordered the Israeli army to prepare for “voluntary” departures from Gaza. The military said it had already begun reinforcing its troops around Gaza.Trump reaffirmed his Saturday deadline for the hostage release while hosting Jordan’s King Abdullah II on Tuesday.In a phone call Wednesday, Abdullah and Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said they were united in supporting the “full implementation” of the ceasefire, and in their opposition to the displacement of Palestinians.Many Palestinians have also voiced opposition to the plan.”Who is Trump? Is he God almighty? The land of Jordan is for Jordanians, and the land of Egypt belongs to Egyptians,” said Gaza City resident Abu Mohamed al-Husari.”We are here, deeply rooted in Gaza — the resilient, besieged, and unbreakable Gaza.”Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,211 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures.Militants also took 251 hostages, of whom 73 remain in Gaza, including 35 the Israeli military says are dead.Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed at least 48,222 people in Gaza, the majority of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry that the UN considers reliable.burs-smw/jsa

French judicial authorities have charged the president of Paris Saint-Germain football club, Nasser Al-Khelaifi, with complicity in abuse of power concerning shareholder voting at a company, a source close to the case said Thursday.Al-Khelaifi was charged on February 5 with complicity in the alleged buying of a vote and harming of freedom to vote over a switch in the voting of a Qatari investment fund on the board of the Lagardere Group in 2018, a judicial source added, with both sources asking not to be named.The PSG chief, who has led the record 12-times French Ligue 1 champions since its 2011 takeover by Qatar Sports Investments with the dream of making the team Europe’s best, has faced several legal cases in recent years but always denied any wrongdoing.”This file has absolutely and emphatically nothing to do with Nasser Al-Khelaifi, but as usual he will get dragged through a completely spurious process as a famous name, who is apparently responsible for anything and everything, until everything quietly disappears without any grounds whatsoever in a few years,” said a source close to the Qatari, also asking not to be named.Lagardere Group chief Arnaud Lagardere is suspected of having fraudulently used some 125 million euros ($129 million at today’s rates) of funds from the group for several years to fund his personal expenses.The case against Al-Khelaifi, who is known in France as “NAK”, concerns a time in 2018 when there was a power struggle on the board between billionaire right-wing tycoon Vincent Bollore, who was allied to the Amber Capital investment fund, and France’s richest man Bernard Arnault the boss of the LVMH luxury goods firm who supported Arnaud Lagardere.On April 24, 2018, Qatar Holding LLC, a subsidiary of the sovereign wealth fund Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) and the main shareholder of Lagardere Group, had positioned itself in favour of the resolutions of Amber Capital.Arnaud Lagardere and his aides are accused of calling their contacts, including Al-Khelaifi in his capacity as a director of the QIA.Five days after the first vote, the QIA changed its position and voted in favour of the resolutions put forward by Arnaud Lagardere.The Lagardere Group was bought after a bitter battle at the end of November 2023 by media and publishing giant Vivendi, controlled by the family of Bollore.A previous indictment against Al-Khelaifi for alleged corruption over Qatar’s bids for the 2017 and 2019 World Athletics Championships was definitively annulled in mid-February 2023 by France’s Court of Cassation, which ruled that the French justice system was incompetent to prosecute him. Parisian investigating magistrates are also probing Al-Khelaifi over accusations of the alleged kidnapping and sequestration in Qatar of Franco-Algerian lobbyist Tayeb Benabderrahmane.Al-Khelaifi denies the accusations and has himself filed a complaint.