AFP USA

Flash flood warnings were in effect in Los Angeles and most of southern California on Wednesday as one of the worst Christmas storms in recent memory brought heavy rain and fears of deadly mudslides.Driven by an atmospheric river known as “the Pineapple Express,” which moves heavy moisture from the tropical climes of Hawaii to rain on the West Coast, the storm is expected to deliver months’ worth of rain over the next few days.California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in several counties, including Los Angeles, to facilitate the rapid mobilization and allocation of resources if needed.”Life-threatening flash flooding continues over Southern California today and tomorrow; heavy mountain snow and high winds also ongoing,” the National Weather Service (NWS) said, adding that “lives and property are in great danger.”The first burst of heavy rain hit the region Tuesday night, leaving Los Angeles with fallen trees and some debris in the streets, as well as minor flooding that hampered traffic.The rainfall intensified early Wednesday, leaving thousands of people in southern California without power due to downed lines caused by the fury of the Christmas storm. Late Wednesday the first storm moved out of the Los Angeles area, “but another storm is expected to move in later tonight into Christmas Day,” weather officials warned.Some communities already received 10 inches (25.4 centimeters) of rain in the first storm, forecasters said.Across the state, some 80,000 homes and businesses had no electricity heading into Christmas Eve, according to tracking site Poweroutage.us.Fire burn scars and the communities near them across the state are under special alert, including the coastal areas of Pacific Palisades and Malibu, as they are still recovering from the devastating wildfires in January. Due to fire damage, the terrain is susceptible to mudslides from heavy rain.While many were still hoping to drive to spend the holidays with family, transportation officials were busy announcing road and freeway closures due to flooding, fallen trees and mud flows across Southern California. The Red Cross opened shelters in several communities as some residents in Southern California received immediate evacuation orders.Authorities were responding to a series of accidents Wednesday, and several major roads were closed due to flash flood warnings.Ariel Cohen, an NWS meteorologist, warned that from Wednesday afternoon through Friday, “many areas will likely experience significant flooding, along with rockslides and mudslides, especially in the higher elevations.” “If you were planning to travel on the roads during Christmas, please reconsider your plans,” he added.- ‘Doesn’t feel safe’ -However, many Angelenos were still out and about Wednesday, buying last-minute gifts, grocery shopping, even jogging.For some though, Christmas travel was upended.”We decided to stay home,” said Jim Lewis, who opted against going to his cousins in nearby Pasadena and was doing last-minute shopping in the city instead.”We’ve been receiving all these alerts, it doesn’t feel safe, I don’t feel like driving there at dark,” he told AFP.Larissa Peet, who was planning a party, said her celebration was still on.”Nothing that we’re doing differently. Just hanging out, eating, drinking and having a good time,” she said.In addition to the threat of flooding, meteorologists are forecasting wind gusts up to 80 miles per hour (nearly 130 kilometers per hour) in the mountains and deserts of Los Angeles County.Some Californian communities are still reeling from thousands of wildfires that killed 31 people across the state during 2025, including residential neighborhoods of Los Angeles.In the Sierra Nevada range along the eastern border of California, more than a foot (30 centimeters) of snow had already fallen this week, with up to five feet forecast before the storm is through.

Nasry Asfura, a conservative businessman backed by US President Donald Trump, was declared winner of the Honduran presidential vote Wednesday, weeks after a razor-thin election marred by delays and allegations of fraud.Asfura, a 67-year-old son of Palestinian immigrants, defeated fellow conservative TV personality Salvador Nasralla, who had demanded a full recount due to alleged irregularities.The plenary session of the national electoral council CNE “declares Nasry Juan Asfura Zablah elected for a four-year term,” the council’s president Ana Paola Hall said.”Honduras: I’m ready to govern, I won’t let you down,” Asfura posted to X after the win was declared, thanking election officials for validating his victory.Asfura prevailed with just 40.1 percent of the vote, narrowly beating Nasralla at 39.5 percent, according to the official results.Rixi Moncada, a lawyer from the leftist Libre Party, which currently runs the government, trailed in third with 19.2 percent.Within minutes of the result declaration, the United States welcomed the election of Asfura, saying it would help stop illegal immigration.”We look forward to working with his incoming administration to advance our bilateral and regional security cooperation, end illegal immigration to the United States, and strengthen the economic ties between our two countries,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement.Following the lengthy counting process in the Central American country’s election, Rubio called on all sides to “respect the confirmed results so that Honduran authorities may swiftly ensure a peaceful transition of authority.”Asfura’s new term begins on January 27.- Tensions -The result was announced more than three weeks after the November 30 vote. The wait for the results has caused tensions among Hondurans, and the sluggish count has been accompanied by claims of irregularities and voter fraud.The recount of nearly 2,800 tally sheets with suspected inconsistencies was pored over by hundreds of electoral staff and political delegates to determine the winner.The CNE had had until December 30 to declare a winner. Last week, thousands of supporters of the leftist Libre Party of outgoing President Xiomara Castro staged a demonstration in the capital Tegucigalpa to protest what they consider “fraud” in the vote.On the eve of the election, Trump in a surprise move pardoned former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernandez, a member of Asfura’s party who was serving a 45-year prison sentence in the United States for drug trafficking.Extradited by Honduras to face justice in the United States, Hernandez insists he had been set up by the previous administration of US president Joe Biden because of his conservative policies.The pardon was widely seen as contradicting Trump’s crackdown on alleged drug traffickers in Latin America.Trump also endorsed Asfura, saying they could “work together to fight the narcocommunists,” and warned “there will be hell to pay” if the conservative candidate’s razor-thin lead was overturned in the count.

Flash flood warnings were in effect in Los Angeles and most of southern California on Wednesday as one of the worst Christmas storms in recent memory brought heavy rain and fears of deadly mudslides.Driven by an atmospheric river known as “the Pineapple Express,” which moves heavy moisture from the tropical climes of Hawaii to rain on the West Coast, the storm is expected to deliver months’ worth of rain over the next few days.California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in several counties, including Los Angeles, to facilitate the rapid mobilization and allocation of resources if needed.”Life-threatening flash flooding continues over Southern California today and tomorrow; heavy mountain snow and high winds also ongoing,” the National Weather Service (NWS) said, adding that “lives and property are in great danger.”The first burst of heavy rain hit the region Tuesday night, leaving Los Angeles with fallen trees and some debris in the streets, as well as minor flooding that hampered traffic.The rainfall intensified early Wednesday, leaving thousands of people in southern California without power due to downed lines caused by the fury of the Christmas storm. Across the state, some 101,000 homes and businesses had no electricity, according to tracking site Poweroutage.us.Some communities could receive up to 10 inches (25.4 centimeters) of rain this week, forecasters say.The coastal areas of Pacific Palisades and Malibu are under a special alert, as they are still recovering from the devastating wildfires in January. Due to the damage from the fires, the terrain is susceptible to mudslides from heavy rain.The Red Cross opened shelters in several communities as some residents in southern California received immediate evacuation orders.Authorities were responding to a series of accidents Wednesday, and several major roads were closed due to flash flood warnings, worsening already congested local traffic.Ariel Cohen, an NWS meteorologist, warned that from Wednesday afternoon through Friday, “many areas will likely experience significant flooding, along with rockslides and mudslides, especially in the higher elevations.” “If you were planning to travel on the roads during Christmas, please reconsider your plans,” he added.- ‘Doesn’t feel safe’ -However, many Angelenos were still out and about Wednesday, buying last-minute gifts, grocery shopping, and even jogging.For some though, Christmas travel was upended.”We decided to stay home,” said Jim Lewis, who opted against going to his cousins in nearby Pasadena and was doing last-minute shopping in the city instead.”We’ve been receiving all these alerts, it doesn’t feel safe, I don’t feel like driving there at dark,” he told AFP.Larissa Peet, who was planning a party, said her celebration was still on.”Nothing that we’re doing differently. Just hanging out, eating, drinking and having a good time,” she said.In addition to the threat of flooding, meteorologists are forecasting wind gusts up to 80 miles per hour (nearly 130 kilometers per hour) in the mountains and deserts of Los Angeles County.Some Californian communities are still reeling from thousands of wildfires that killed 31 people across the state during 2025, including residential neighborhoods of Los Angeles at the start of the year.In the Sierra Nevada range along the eastern border of California, more than a foot (30 centimeters) of snow had already fallen this week, with up to five feet forecast before the storm is through.

It took longer than expected, but Nasry Asfura has gone from businessman to mayor to president-elect of Honduras, carrying the blessing of US President Donald Trump who has described him as a “friend of freedom.”Capping a career shadowed by corruption claims, but never prosecuted, the 67-year-old conservative ascended to the Central American country’s top job on his second attempt, having lost out to leftist Xiomara Castro in 2021.More than three weeks after the election, Asfura held his razor-thin edge and was declared the winner Wednesday over fellow conservative Salvador Nasralla, a 72-year-old TV star, by the plenary session of the national electoral council.Asfura rose to the top as the head of the right-wing National Party (PN), which was tainted by the US imprisonment of a former leader, Juan Orlando Hernandez, for drug trafficking.Hernandez, however, walked out of prison a free man in early December after receiving a pardon from Trump, who embraced Asfura as an ally in the fight against “narcocommunists.” “The only real friend of freedom in Honduras is Tito Asfura,” Trump had written on Truth Social, referring to the politician by his nickname. He added: “Tito and I can work together to fight the Narcocommunists, and bring needed aid to the people of Honduras” — one of Latin America’s most impoverished and violent countries.Asfura returned the PN to power, leaving the ruling leftist party out in the cold in a region where voters tired of hardship and crime have been punishing incumbent parties.- ‘Nothing to hide’ -Asfura, a former two-time mayor of the capital Tegucigalpa, ran a campaign with promises to “save democracy” from the left, which the Latin American right associates with authoritarian regimes in Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela.He claims to lead a “renewed” party and has denied links to Hernandez, though after Trump’s pardon, he expressed hope it would “bring hope and peace of mind to the family” of the former president.The son of Palestinian immigrants, Asfura was born on June 8, 1958, in Tegucigalpa.He studied civil engineering at the National University but dropped out to start what would become one of the country’s largest construction companies. Later, as mayor, he was credited with building bridges, tunnels, and other infrastructure to ease congestion in the city of over a million inhabitants.He was also accused of embezzling municipal funds, but the Supreme Court decided not to send the case to trial. Asfura was later mentioned in the 2021 “Pandora Papers” list of offshore companies used to evade taxes, but was never charged.”I owe nothing, I fear nothing. I have nothing to hide,” he once asserted.- ‘Work and more work’ -Grey-haired and mustachioed, Asfura is reputed to be a hard worker. He usually wears a light blue shirt, jeans, and dusty boots. In his speeches, he promises “work and more work” for Hondurans, to develop infrastructure, and to attract investments to generate employment. Those who know him say he is passionate about music and a man of few words but much action. He greets supporters who approach him with his trademark phrase: “At your service!”Asfura has described himself as “allergic” to smartphones, preferring to use a landline, and has not embraced social media campaigning.He is married to Lissette del Cid, with whom he has three daughters and three grandchildren.

The US Department of Justice said Wednesday that more than a million more documents potentially related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein have been discovered and are being reviewed for release.The DOJ began releasing records last week from the investigation into Epstein, a wealthy financier who died in a New York jail in 2019 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking underage girls.The Epstein Files Transparency Act passed nearly unanimously by Congress last month and signed into law by President Donald Trump mandated the release of all of the Epstein files by December 19.The Justice Department failed to meet that deadline, however, with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche blaming the delay on the need to painstakingly redact the identities of Epstein’s victims from the files.The DOJ said Wednesday it would need a “few more weeks” to sort and redact the new material.It said the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York and the FBI had “uncovered over a million more documents potentially related to the Jeffrey Epstein case.””We have lawyers working around the clock to review and make the legally required redactions to protect victims, and we will release the documents as soon as possible,” the DOJ said on X.”Due to the mass volume of material, this process may take a few more weeks.”

Major US stock indices finished at fresh records Wednesday following a shortened pre-holiday session while gold and silver prices also struck fresh highs.Both the Dow and S&P 500 closed at all-time highs, drifting higher consistent with typical holiday season patterns.”It’s a continuation of a market that’s trading at a record high, and I think there’s a little bit of a seasonality bias that’s kicking in here without any upsetting news to alter the trend at the moment,” said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare.”You have a bullish bias in this market, which is being helped along by the idea that 2026 has the potential to be another good year.”Earlier, in a holiday-shortened trading session, London finished lower, Paris ended the day flat and Frankfurt was closed. Asian markets swung between gains and losses.Gold climbed above $4,500 for the first time and silver topped $72, as investors looked for safe havens amid US military and economic pressure on Venezuela.Geopolitical worries have grown as Washington continues to put pressure on Caracas with a blockade of sanctioned oil vessels sailing to and from Venezuela.Market watchers are hoping for a “Santa Claus” rally in the sleepy period that comprises the last five trading sessions of one year and the first two in the next. The stretch between Christmas and New Year’s Day usually sees markets drift higher amid a dearth of major economic news.”What’s happening right now is we have a very strong setup and then we just need a bullish catalyst and it’ll take off and go,” said Adam Sarhan of 50 Park Investments.The S&P 500’s fresh all-time high on Tuesday came after figures showed the world’s top economy expanded 4.3 percent in the third quarter, the fastest pace in two years and much quicker than expected.The report provided some reassurance to investors about the economic outlook after a string of increasingly weakening jobs data.However, other figures were less upbeat, with a gauge of consumer spending falling for a fifth successive month to its lowest level since February 2021 owing to worries about jobs.- Key figures at around 1830 GMT – New York – Dow: UP 0.6 percent at 48,731.16 (close)New York – S&P 500:  UP 0.3 percent at 6,932.05 (close)New York – Nasdaq Composite: UP 0.2 percent at 23,613.31 (close)London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.2 percent at 9,870.68 (close)Paris – CAC 40: FLAT at 8,103.58 (close)Frankfurt – DAX: Closed Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.1 percent at 50,344.10 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 0.2 percent at 25,818.93 (close)Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.5 percent at 3,940.95 (close)Dollar/yen: DOWN at 155.98 yen from 156.23 yen on TuesdayEuro/dollar: DOWN $1.1781 from $1.1795Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3501 from $1.3518Euro/pound: FLAT at 87.25 penceWest Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.1 percent at $58.35 per barrel (close)Brent North Sea Crude: UP 0.2 percent at $62.00 per barrelburs-jmb/md

Ukraine won some limited concessions in the latest version of a US-led draft plan to end the Russian invasion, President Volodymyr Zelensky has revealed, though key questions remain over territory and whether Moscow could accept the new terms.The 20-point plan, agreed on by US and Ukrainian negotiators, was being reviewed by Moscow. The Kremlin has previously not shown a willingness to abandon its hardline territorial demands for full Ukrainian withdrawal from the east.Zelensky conceded there were some points in the document that he did not like, but that Kyiv had succeeded in removing immediate requirements for Ukraine to withdraw from the Donetsk region or that land seized by Moscow’s army would be recognised as Russian.Nevertheless, the Ukrainian leader still indicated the proposal would pave the way for Kyiv to pull some troops back, including from the 20 percent of the Donetsk region that it controls, where demilitarised zones would be established.It also got rid of demands that Kyiv must legally renounce its bid for NATO membership.Zelensky presented the plan during a two-hour briefing with journalists, reading from a highlighted and annotated version.”In the Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions, the line of troop deployment as of the date of this agreement is de facto recognised as the line of contact,” Zelensky said of the latest version.”A working group will convene to determine the redeployment of forces necessary to end the conflict, as well as to define the parameters of potential future special economic zones,” he added.This appears to suggest the plan opens the way for, but delays, options that Ukraine was previously reluctant to consider — a withdrawal of troops and the creation of demilitarised zones.”We are in a situation where the Russians want us to withdraw from the Donetsk region, while the Americans are trying to find a way,” Zelensky said.”They are looking for a demilitarised zone or a free economic zone, meaning a format that could satisfy both sides,” he continued.- ‘Let him croak’ -US President Trump is trying to broker an to end the four-year war, triggered by Russia’s 2022 invasion.Tens of thousands have been killed, eastern Ukraine decimated and millions forced to flee their homes.Russian troops are advancing on the front and hammering cities and Ukraine’s energy grid with nightly missile and drone barrages. Moscow’s defence ministry on Wednesday said it had captured another Ukrainian settlement in the southern Zaporizhzhia region.Russia in 2022 claimed to have annexed four Ukrainian regions — Donetsk, Kherson, Lugansk and Zaporizhzhia — in addition to the Crimean peninsula which it seized in 2014.President Vladimir Putin has shown no willingness to compromise, doubling down on his hardline demands for a sweeping Ukrainian withdrawal and a string of political concessions that Kyiv and its European backers have previously cast as capitulation.In a Christmas Eve address to the nation later on Wednesday, Zelensky appeared to wish death upon the Russian leader.”Today we all have one dream. And we make one wish for everyone: Let him croak,” he said, a reference widely understood to be about Putin.- NATO, nuclear plant, elections -Any plan that involves Ukraine pulling back its troops would need to pass a referendum in Ukraine, Zelensky said.”A free economic zone. If we are discussing this, then we need to go to a referendum,” Zelensky said, referring to plans to designate areas Ukraine pulls out from as a demilitarised free trade zone.On NATO, Zelensky said: “It is the choice of NATO members whether to have Ukraine or not. Our choice has been made. We moved away from the proposed changes to the Constitution of Ukraine that would have prohibited Ukraine from joining NATO.”Nevertheless, the prospects of Ukraine being admitted to the bloc appear slim-to-none, as it has been ruled out by Washington.Moscow has repeatedly said NATO membership for Ukraine is unacceptable, presenting it as one of the reasons it invaded in the first place.The plan sees joint US-Ukrainian-Russian management of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, occupied by Russian troops. Zelensky said he does not want any Russian oversight of the facility.He also said Ukraine would hold presidential elections only after an agreement is signed — something both Putin and Trump have been pushing for.Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Moscow was “formulating its position” and declined to comment on the specifics of the latest plan. 

On the eve of Christmas, President Donald Trump has unleashed a fresh blast of vitriol at late-night comedy talk shows, saying comedian Stephen Colbert is a “pathetic trainwreck” who should be “put to sleep.”Colbert’s “The Late Show” is scheduled to end in May 2026, a decision his fans say smacks of censorship.In a late night Truth Social post, Trump wrote that Colbert “has actually gotten worse” since being “terminated by CBS, but left out to dry.” “Stephen is running on hatred and fumes ~ A dead man walking! CBS should, ‘put him to sleep,’ NOW,” Trump wrote.Colbert has hosted the “The Late Show” since 2015 and it has been the highest-rated late night talk show on US television. His opening monologues often take aim at the Republican president.There was no immediate public response from Colbert or CBS to Trump’s post. CBS announced the sunsetting of Colbert’s show after one more season in July, the same month its parent company reached a $16 million settlement with Trump. CBS called the cancellation “a purely financial decision.”Trump had sued Paramount, alleging that CBS News’ “60 Minutes” program deceptively edited an interview with his 2024 election rival, Kamala Harris, in her favor.In another overnight post, Trump repeated threats to yank the broadcast licenses of networks whose content he deemed overly critical. “If Network NEWSCASTS, and their Late Night Shows, are almost 100% Negative to President Donald J. Trump, MAGA, and the Republican Party, shouldn’t their very valuable Broadcast Licenses be terminated? I say, YES!” On Sunday, CBS’s new editor-in-chief, Bari Weiss, pulled a “60 Minutes” segment on alleged torture at El Salvador’s CECOT prison — where Trump sent hundreds of deported Venezuelans — saying it needed more reporting. In August, Disney-owned ABC briefly suspended its late-night star, Jimmy Kimmel, before bringing him back on a one-year contract.Kimmel had annoyed conservatives with comments in the wake of the murder of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk.Trump appears to be aiming to reshape the US media landscape, which he says is biased against conservatives.His appointee to head the Federal Communications Commission, Brendan Carr, turned heads when he told a Congressional hearing that “the FCC is not formally an independent agency,” implying that his actions could justifiably be aligned with the political priorities of the White House.

From a total Washington novice, Silicon Valley investor David Sacks has against expectations emerged as one of the most successful members of the second Trump administration.He is officially chair of President Donald Trump’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. However, in the White House he is referred to as the AI and crypto tsar, there to guide the president through the technology revolutions in which the United States play a central role.”I am grateful we have him,” OpenAI boss Sam Altman said in a post on X.”While Americans bicker, our rivals are studying David’s every move,” billionaire Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff chimed in.Those supportive posts responded to a New York Times investigation highlighting Sacks’s investments in technology companies benefiting from White House AI support.Sacks dismissed the report as an “anti-truth” hit job by liberal media.But the episode confirmed that this South African-born outsider has become a force in Trump’s Washington, outlasting his friend Elon Musk, whose White House career ended in acrimony after less than six months.”Even among Silicon Valley allies, he has outperformed expectations,” said a former close associate, speaking anonymously to discuss the matter candidly.- ‘Mafia’ member -Unlike many Silicon Valley figures, the South African-born Sacks has been staunchly conservative since his Stanford University days in the 1990s.There he met Peter Thiel, the self-styled philosopher king of the right-wing tech community.In the early 1990s, the two men wrote for a campus publication, attacking what they saw as political correctness destroying American higher education.After earning degrees from Stanford and the University of Chicago, Sacks initially took a conventional path as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company.But Thiel lured his friend to his startup Confinity, which would eventually become PayPal, the legendary breeding ground for the “PayPal mafia” — a group of entrepreneurs including Musk and LinkedIn billionaire Reid Hoffman — whose influence now extends throughout the tech world.After PayPal, Sacks founded a social media company, sold it to Microsoft, then made his fortune in venture capital.A major turning point came during the COVID pandemic when Sacks and some right-wing friends launched the All-In podcast as a way to pass time, talk business and vent about Democrats in government.The podcast rapidly gained influence, and the brand has since expanded to include major conferences and even a tequila line.Sacks began his way to Trump’s inner circle through campaign contributions ahead of last year’s presidential election.With Musk’s blessing, he was appointed as pointman for AI and cryptocurrency policy.Before diving into AI, Sacks shepherded an ambitious cryptocurrency bill providing legal clarity for digital assets.It’s a sector Trump has enthusiastically embraced, with his family now heavily invested in crypto companies and the president himself issuing a meme coin — activity that critics say amounts to an open door for potential corruption.But AI has become the central focus of Trump’s second presidency with Sacks there to steer Trump toward industry-friendly policies.However, Sacks faces mounting criticism for potential overreach.According to his former associate, Sacks pursues his objectives with an obsessiveness that serves him well in Silicon Valley’s company-building culture. But that same intensity can create friction in Washington.The main controversy centers on his push to prevent individual states from creating their own AI regulations. His vision calls for AI rules to originate exclusively from Washington.When Congress twice failed to ban state regulations, Sacks took his case directly to the president, who signed an executive order threatening to cut federal funding to states passing AI laws.- ‘Out of control’ -Tech lobbyists worry that by going solo, Sacks torpedoed any chance of effective national regulation.More troubling for Sacks is the growing public opposition to AI’s rapid deployment. Concerns about job losses, proliferating data centers, and rising electricity costs may become a major issue in the 2026 midterm elections.”The tech bros are out of control,” warned Steve Bannon, the right-wing Trump movement’s strategic mastermind, worried about political fallout.Rather than seeking common ground, Sacks calls criticism “a red herring” from AI doomers “who want all progress to stop.”

The European Union and some member states reacted sharply Wednesday to US sanctions imposed on five European figures involved in regulating tech companies, including former European commissioner Thierry Breton.They were responding after the US state department announced Tuesday it would deny visas to the five, accusing them of seeking to “coerce” American social media platforms into censoring viewpoints they oppose.France, Germany and Spain also condemned the news from Washington.A statement from the Commission said: “We have requested clarifications from the US authorities and remain engaged. If needed, we will respond swiftly and decisively to defend our regulatory autonomy against unjustified measures.”Our digital rules ensure a safe, fair, and level playing field for all companies, applied fairly and without discrimination.” Breton, the former top tech regulator at the European Commission, often clashed with tycoons including Elon Musk over their obligations to follow EU rules.The state department has described him as the “mastermind” of the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA), which imposes content moderation and other standards on major social media platforms operating in Europe.The DSA stipulates that major platforms must explain content-moderation decisions, provide transparency for users and ensure researchers can carry out essential work, such as understanding how much children are exposed to dangerous content.But the act has become a bitter rallying point for US conservatives who see it as a weapon of censorship against right-wing thought in Europe and beyond, an accusation the EU furiously denies.”The Trump Administration will no longer tolerate these egregious acts of extraterritorial censorship,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a post on X Tuesday.- ‘Intimidation and coercion’ -French President Emmanuel Macron said on X: “France condemns the visa restriction measures taken by the United States against Thierry Breton and four other European figures.””These measures amount to intimidation and coercion aimed at undermining European digital sovereignty,” he added, saying Europe would defend its “regulatory autonomy”.German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul wrote in a post on X Wednesday: “The DSA was democratically adopted by the EU for the EU –- it does not have extraterritorial effect.The visa bans, he added, “are not acceptable”.Spain’s foreign ministry also condemned the US measures, saying in a statement: “A safe digital space, free from illegal content and disinformation, is a fundamental value for democracy in Europe and a responsibility for everyone.” Breton himself described the latest measures as a political “witch hunt” in a post on X: “To our American friends: ‘Censorship isn’t where you think it is’.”Breton left the commission in 2024 and Stephane Sejourne, his successor in charge of the EU’s internal market, said on X that “no sanction will silence the sovereignty of the European peoples”.The visa ban also targeted Imran Ahmed of the Center for Countering Digital Hate, a nonprofit that fights online misinformation; and Anna-Lena von Hodenberg and Josephine Ballon of HateAid, a German organisation that the state department said functions as a trusted flagger for enforcing the DSA.Clare Melford, who leads the UK-based Global Disinformation Index (GDI), was also on the list.A statement from HateAid called the US government decision an “act of repression by an administration that increasingly disregards the rule of law and tries to silence its critics with all its might”.A GDI spokesperson said the measures were “an egregious act of government censorship” as well as “immoral, unlawful, and un-American”.