AFP USA

The United States, the world’s biggest donor, froze virtually all foreign aid on Friday, making exceptions only for emergency food, and military funding for Israel and Egypt.Secretary of State Marco Rubio sent an internal memo days after President Donald Trump took office vowing an “America First” policy of tightly restricting assistance overseas.”No new funds shall be obligated for new awards or extensions of existing awards until each proposed new award or extension has been reviewed and approved,” said the memo to staff seen by AFP.The sweeping order appears to affect everything from development assistance to military aid — including to Ukraine, which received billions of dollars in weapons under Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden as it tries to repel a Russian invasion.The directive also means a pause of at least several months of US funding for PEPFAR, the anti-HIV/AIDS initiative that buys anti-retroviral drugs to treat the disease in developing countries, largely in Africa.Launched under president George W. Bush in 2003, PEPFAR is credited with saving some 26 million lives and until recently enjoyed broad popular support along partisan lines in Washington.But the memo explicitly made exceptions for military assistance to Israel — whose longstanding major arms packages from the United States have expanded further since the Gaza war — and Egypt, which has received generous US defense funding since it signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1979.Rubio also made an exception for US contributions to emergency food assistance, which the United States ahs been contributing following crises around the world including in Sudan and Syria.The memo allows the State Department to make other case-by-case exceptions and temporarily to fund salaries to staff and other administrative expenses.The memo called for an internal review of all foreign assistance within 85 days.In justifying the freeze, Rubio — who as a senator was a supporter of development assistance — wrote that it was impossible for the new administration to assess whether existing foreign aid commitments “are not duplicated, are effective and are consistent with President Trump’s foreign policy.”- ‘Life or death consequences’ -The United States has long been the world’s top donor in dollar terms, although a number of European nations, especially in Scandinavia, give significantly more as a percent of their economies. The United States gave more than $64 billion in overseas development assistance in 2023, the last year for which records were available, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which advises industrialized countries. Washington has long leveraged aid as a tool of its foreign policy, saying it cares about development and drawing a contrast with China, which is primarily concerned about seeking natural resources.Trump had already on taking office Monday signed an executive order suspending foreign assistance for 90 days, but it was not immediately clear how it would be implemented. Anti-poverty group Oxfam said that Trump was abandoning a longstanding consensus in the United States for foreign assistance. “Humanitarian and development assistance accounts for only around one percent of the federal budget; it saves lives, fights diseases, educates millions of children and reduces poverty,” Oxfam America president Abby Maxman said in a statement. “Suspending and ultimately cutting many of these programs could have life or death consequences for countless children and families who are living through crisis,” she said.World Relief, a Christian-oriented humanitarian group, called on the Trump administration to ensure the flow of vital assistance including disaster relief.”We urge that the review of foreign development assistance be conducted swiftly and result in continued prioritization of investments that save lives and mitigate humanitarian crises,” said the group’s senior vice president of international programs, Lanre Williams-Ayedun.

Wall Street stocks retreated Friday as the market’s latest rally lost steam, while the yen pushed higher after the Bank of Japan lifted interest rates.After a flattish open, major US indices tumbled into the red. The S&P 500 finished down 0.3 percent after closing at a record high on Thursday.”This is normal consolidation or profit taking after a big 2-week rally,” said Adam Sarhan of 50 Park Investment.Wall Street stocks have gained in recent sessions following benign US inflation data, strong earnings from banks and the new presidency of Donald Trump in Washington.Markets have thus far welcomed his growth-oriented agenda and largely shrugged off his threats of tariffs.Sarhan said the market was poised for a pause given the heavy calendar next week, which includes a Federal Reserve monetary policy decision and earnings from tech giants and other big companies.In Europe, both London and Frankfurt stocks hit fresh record highs before turning lower. Paris ended the day with a gain, led by luxury stocks after British fashion house Burberry showed signs of recovery.In Japan, Tokyo’s stock market dropped and the yen rallied after the Bank of Japan lifted borrowing costs to their highest level since 2008 and flagged further increases in the pipeline. Even as other central banks have raised borrowing costs in recent years — and started cutting again in 2024 — the BoJ has remained an outlier.But it concluded last March that Japan’s “lost decades” of economic stagnation and static or falling prices were over, finally lifting rates above zero.In other Asian trading, Hong Kong gained nearly two percent and Shanghai also advanced following Trump’s latest comments with regard to China.In an interview broadcast Thursday night, Trump said he would “rather not” impose tariffs on China and signaled openness at negotiating a trade deal with Beijing. “We have one very big power over China, and that’s tariffs, and they don’t want them, and I’d rather not have to use it,” Trump told Fox News. “But it’s a tremendous power over China.””Clearly these are off-the-cuff remarks but it has left the overnight market feeling like there’s a scenario where China escapes the worst of the tariff regime,” said Jim Reid, managing director at Deutsche Bank.Trump’s remarks earlier Thursday before the World Economic Forum in Davos calling for lower interest rates added to pressure on the dollar. – Key figures around 2140 GMT -New York – Dow: DOWN 0.3 percent at 44,424.25 (close)New York – S&P 500: DOWN 0.3 percent at 6,101.24 (close)New York – Nasdaq Composite: DOWN 0.5 percent at 19,954.30 (close)London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.7 percent at 8,502.35 (close)Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.4 percent at 7,927.62 (close)Frankfurt – DAX: DOWN 0.1 percent at 21,394.93 (close)Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.1 percent at 39,931.98 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 1.9 percent at 20,066.19 (close)Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.7 percent at 3,252.63 (close)Dollar/yen: DOWN at 155.93 yen from 156.05 yen on ThursdayEuro/dollar: UP at $1.0500 from $1.0415Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2484 from $1.2353Euro/pound: DOWN at 84.06 pence from 84.31 penceWest Texas Intermediate: UP 0.1 percent at $74.66 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: UP 0.3 percent at $78.50 per barrelburs-jmb/st

Tens of thousands of anti-abortion activists, joined by masked neo-Nazis, converged in Washington on Friday to hear President Donald Trump address a rally.The self-described “pro-life” movement is on a roll as it staged the 52nd annual March for Life on the National Mall, invigorated by recent victories to restrict abortion and Trump’s return to the presidency.They scored a historic win in 2022 when the conservative-dominated Supreme Court overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling enshrining the right to abortion access everywhere in the United States.The march was something of a victory lap for the new Republican president, who claims credit for the ruling after appointing three of the conservative justices who were behind the decision during his first term.”In my second term, we will again stand proudly for families and for life,” Trump said in a pre-taped video message broadcast to the crowd.Trump, who was touring natural disaster zones in North Carolina and California, vowed to “protect the historic gains” made by the anti-abortion movement.At least 100 members of the Patriot Front, a white supremacist group, marched in military style to the sidelines of the rally and stood in columns holding US flags, Christian symbols and banners reading “Strong families make strong nations.”Their leader Thomas Rousseau — flanked by two men with white bandanas covering their faces — told AFP in front of the Washington Monument he believed in “patriotic principles,” including the “restitution of the American family unit.””We’re here to espouse our ideas in front of a lot of people who care about issues, morality, the state of the country,” said Rousseau, 26, though he noted Patriot Front was not supported by the March for Life organization. Some rally attendees were angered by the group’s presence. “Pro life isn’t pro white,” said 36-year-old Greg Stearns, a philosophy teacher from North Carolina, who added, “I can’t stand seeing them here. It sends all the wrong messages.”- ‘Most pro-life president’ -The “March for Life” started with a rally on the National Mall, featuring speeches from high-ranking Republicans including Vice President JD Vance and House Speaker Mike Johnson.Holding signs reading “Let’s love little lives” and “God will not be mocked,” protestors in winter clothes walked towards the Supreme Court and US Capitol.Some wore Donald Trump’s “Make American Great Again” hats but most people did not have political paraphernalia, with many attending as part of church and religious school groups.Organizers say the goal of their movement is to not only change laws, “but to change the culture to ultimately make abortion unthinkable.””This shows that the silent majority is here and loud. It’s huge that we can be here and unified,” said Reagan West, a 20-year-old business student at the evangelical Liberty University in Virginia.Many conservative states have acted since the Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling to introduce curbs, and 29 percent of women aged between 18 and 44 now live in an area where abortion is mostly or entirely banned, according to the website Politifact.Polls, however, repeatedly show a clear majority of Americans support continued access to safe abortion.Trump has touted himself as the “most pro-life president ever” and in 2020 became the first sitting commander-in-chief to attend the March for Life. But he has a spotty record on the issue and, worried that a strong anti-abortion stance could be a vote loser, Trump refused to back a federal ban during his election campaign.”Praise God for President Trump. He’s not our Savior, though,” said David Makovey, who flew from California for the march.Makovey, a 27-year-old construction worker, told AFP that he supported Trump’s recent decision to pardon 23 anti-abortion activists jailed for blockading abortion clinics.On Friday, the Washington Post reported the Justice Department will scale back prosecuting demonstrators who interfere with patient access to reproductive health clinics. “A lot of people question his faith… at least President Trump is doing something about it, right?” Makovey added.

Two US military planes carrying dozens of expelled migrants arrived in Guatemala on Friday, authorities said, without specifying whether they were part of the deportation operation launched by President Donald Trump.A total of 79 Guatemalans — 48 men and 31 women — were on a first flight that landed at around midnight, the Central American country’s migration institute said.The second, with an unspecified number of migrants on board, arrived Friday morning.The White House announced late Thursday that “538 illegal immigrant criminals” had been arrested and hundreds deported by military aircraft, saying that “the largest massive deportation operation in history is well underway.”The Guatemalan government did not confirm whether any of those migrants were among the deportees that arrived Friday.”These are flights that took place after Trump took office,” an official in the Guatemalan vice president’s office told AFP.A Pentagon source told AFP that “overnight, two DOD (Department of Defense) aircraft conducted repatriation flights from the US to Guatemala.”Early Friday the White House posted an image on X of men in shackles being marched into a military aircraft, with the caption: “Deportation flights have begun.”And Trump told reporters that the flights were to get “the bad, hard criminals out.””Murderers, people that have been as bad as you get. As bad as anybody you’ve seen,”  he said.Deportation flights were carried out regularly under Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden, whose administration removed some 270,000 people in fiscal year 2023 — more than any year of Trump’s first presidency.Friday’s deportees were taken to a reception center at an air force base in Guatemala’s capital, away from the media.Trump promised a crackdown on illegal immigration during the election campaign and began his second term with a flurry of executive actions aimed at overhauling entry to the United States. On his first day in office he signed orders declaring a “national emergency” at the southern border and announced the deployment of more troops to the area while vowing to deport “criminal aliens.”His administration said it would also reinstate a “Remain in Mexico” policy under which people who apply to enter the United States from Mexico must remain there until their application has been decided.The White House has also halted an asylum program for people fleeing authoritarian regimes in Central and South America, leaving thousands of people stranded on the Mexican side of the border.

The top prosecutor in Los Angeles said Friday that his office will not bring charges against goth rocker Marilyn Manson, who has been accused of sexual assault and domestic violence.Following “a comprehensive four-year investigation,” prosecutors determined that “allegations of domestic violence fall outside of the statute of limitations,” said a statement from Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman.”And we cannot prove charges of sexual assault beyond a reasonable doubt,” it added. Manson has faced allegations from multiple women, including his ex-fiancee, the actress Evan Rachel Wood, and Esme Bianco, who featured in “Game of Thrones.”Manson, whose real name is Brian Warner, has denied wrongdoing.He filed court proceedings in 2022 against Wood for conspiracy, fraud and defamation after she accused him of raping her, but later dropped the civil suit.The 56-year-old musician has long cultivated a controversial image with his ghostly make-up and stage name evoking serial killer Charles Manson, one of the most notorious criminals in US history. “While we are unable to bring charges in this matter, we recognize that the strong advocacy of the women involved has helped bring greater awareness to the challenges faced by survivors of domestic abuse and sexual assault,” Hochman’s office said in a statement. Manson is currently on a global tour. Hours after the prosecutor’s statement was released, he announced on Instagram that the tour would include shows in the United States.

US immigration officers swooped on a New Jersey seafood business, detaining undocumented migrants, officials said Friday, as President Donald Trump deployed troops to the Mexican border.Trump has pledged a crackdown on migrants with the White House reporting that agents arrested 538 undocumented people nationwide Thursday, with hundreds removed from the country on military aircraft.”The largest massive deportation operation in history is well underway,” White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt wrote on X.Newark Mayor Ras Baraka said that in a night-time operation in his city, a US Army veteran was among those detained at Ocean Seafood Depot, marking a resumption of workplace raids that were suspended under former president Joe Biden.”Some ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) agents raided a business in our city without a warrant,” Baraka told a briefing.”The problem with this is that none of these people were rapists or murderers or criminals — the problem is that ICE went in without a warrant.”Newark, New Jersey, like other major cities including New York, is a so-called “sanctuary city” meaning local officials and law enforcement do not typically cooperate with federal immigration agents.- ‘People are scared’ -Trump has threatened to curb federal funding for cities that uphold sanctuary policies.Immigration enforcement agents used raids on businesses and workplaces during Trump’s first term, and he has vowed to resume them, and to conduct operations at schools, churches and hospitals — also off-limits under Biden.”They caught three guys… everybody is afraid, I don’t know if this is normal. They were from Ecuador I think,” a witness to the Newark raid who declined to be named told NBC News.Baraka said he was “appalled, upset, angry that this would happen here, in this state, in this country — that this would be allowed.”Last year under Biden there were 270,000 deportations in total, which was a 10-year high alongside 113,400 arrests.On his first day in office, Trump signed orders declaring a “national emergency” at the southern border and announced the deployment of more troops to the area, vowing to deport “criminal aliens.”Active service troops began arriving on the US-Mexico border Friday, with soldiers working to build structures and barracks.There are an estimated 11 million undocumented migrants in the United States, according to the Department of Homeland Security statistics.Amy Torres, executive director of the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice, said “people are scared.””We knew this was going to happen, and what we learned from folks that stayed behind was that ICE walked in like it was their empire’s own conquered land,” she said.”They were heavily armed, there was no prior announcement. They were blocking off entrances and exits.”

Move over President Trump — the newest stars in Washington are two giant pandas who made their public debut on Friday in front of hundreds of adoring fans.Bao Li and Qing Bao rambled around their enclosure, played in the snow and munched on bamboo at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in the US capital.The pair, who arrived from China in October, have been in quarantine while their home was renovated with new climbing structures, water features and rock zones.Bao Li and Qing Bao — both three years old — are part of a 10-year agreement with China, after the previous pandas in Washington returned home in 2023.Their arrival is the latest chapter of so-called “panda diplomacy,” in which China’s black-and-white bears are sent across the globe as soft-power ambassadors.After Washington lost its last pandas, the lack of immediate replacements was viewed by many as a symbol of heightened tensions between Washington and Beijing.- ‘Won our hearts’ -Zoo officials said the two new residents have settled in well with Bao Li, a male, happy to eat anything, though female Qing Bao is pickier.”For over 50 years, giant pandas have been an integral part of the fabric and culture of Washington,” zoo director Brandie Smith said.”Bao Li and Qing Bao have won our hearts, and we’re excited to welcome panda fans back to the zoo.”Bao Li’s name translates as “active and vital power” while Qing Bao means “green” and “treasure.”They were flown from Chengdu to Dulles airport in Virginia aboard a FedEx cargo plane decorated with giant panda images.Under the zoo’s agreement with the China Wildlife Conservation Association, the pandas will remain in the United States for a decade for an annual fee of $1 million.The pandas are too young to breed, but will reach sexual maturity between ages four and seven. Any cub would leave for China when young to join in the country’s breeding program.Thanks to conservation efforts, the giant panda was downgraded last year from “endangered” to “vulnerable” on the global list of species at risk of extinction.The new pandas are among just a few that remain in the United States, including a pair that arrived at San Diego’s zoo last summer.The Washington zoo relaunched its popular giant panda cam, with 40 cameras streaming images throughout the day.It is also selling panda-themed merchandise ranging from M&M candy to hoodies, pillows and notepads under the slogan “Pandas Are Here.”The first pandas were sent to Washington as a gift in 1972, following US president Richard Nixon’s historic visit to the Communist nation.

The US Senate appeared poised Friday to narrowly confirm former Fox News host Peter Hegseth for defense secretary, with opponents saying Donald Trump’s pick has nowhere near the experience for the huge job and a disturbing history of heavy drinking and domestic abuse.Hegseth’s resume is so thin and his list of alleged personal issues so long that he makes an unusual pick to lead the world’s biggest nuclear-armed military with about 2.9 million employees and an $850 billion budget.He has never led a large organization. He served as a major in the National Guard but is better known for his work until recently as a host on Trump-friendly Fox News.After his nomination, a slew of damaging allegations emerged about past drinking excesses and accusations of abusive behavior toward his second wife and one case of sexual assault.His former sister-in-law Danielle Hegseth said in an affidavit received by lawmakers that she was subjected to emotional abuse by him, and was told by his second wife that she once hid from him in a closet because she “feared for her personal safety.”According to the affidavit, Hegseth also told his ex-sister-in-law that women should not work or have the right to vote, and said that “Christians needed to have more children so they can overtake the Muslim population.”Hegseth denies any wrongdoing and Trump has stood by him, telling reporters Friday: “Pete’s a very, very good man.”Hegseth has a combative media personality, fierce loyalty and telegenic looks — common hallmarks in Trump’s entourage.Supporters say his deployments in Afghanistan and Iraq give him the insight to run the Pentagon better than the top brass typically considered for the job.- Tricky Senate math -In his Senate hearings and media appearances, Hegseth has aggressively driven home the need to make the US military less “woke” and more “lethal.” He has also focused on ending what he says has been lowering of standards to help women enter the military.He calls the allegations of improper personal behavior against him “smears” but has said he will stop drinking alcohol if confirmed to head the Pentagon.Republicans hold only a thin majority in the Senate and two of the party’s 53 senators — Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski — are expected to vote against Hegseth, joining what is expected to be a unanimous “no” from Democrats.That would still allow Hegseth to squeak through. If one more Republican voted against, it would make 50-50 — with Trump’s vice president, JD Vance, coming to break the tie.On Thursday, the Senate confirmed John Ratcliffe to head the CIA, while a vote on Kristi Noem’s nomination to lead Homeland Security is expected Sunday morning.Focus then shifts to Treasury nominee Scott Bessent and Trump’s pick for Transport, Sean Duffy.Those votes are not expected to be difficult for the Republicans.However, the divisions exposed by Hegseth’s nomination will flare up again next week when three more of Trump’s most contentious nominees enter the spotlight.Kash Patel — Trump’s pick to lead the FBI — goes before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday, the same day as Tulsi Gabbard’s hearing in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Both are facing major questions over their character, judgement and previous positions — including Gabbard’s echoing of Kremlin talking points on Ukraine. They are not expected to get any Democratic support.Thursday is likely to be a day of drama as the Senate holds the first of two scheduled confirmation hearings for Trump’s Health Secretary nominee Robert F Kennedy Jr, who is likely to be grilled on his anti-vaccine statements and embrace of other conspiracy theories. 

Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg on Friday said the tech giant plans to invest at least $60 billion in artificial intelligence in 2025, aiming to lead in the technology.”This will be a defining year for AI,” Zuckerberg said in a post on his Facebook page.Zuckerberg expects Meta AI to be the top digital assistant, used by more than a billion people, and for the tech firm’s Llama 4 to be at the forefront of AI models, according to the post.Meta is creating an AI “engineer” to contribute computer coding to its research and development efforts, he explained.Meta will construct a massive new datacenter to power its AI ambitions and is planning $60 billion to $65 billion in capital expenditures this year related to the technology, according to Zuckerberg.”This is a massive effort, and over the coming years it will drive our core products and business, unlock historic innovation, and extend American technology leadership,” he said.The post comes just days after US President Donald Trump announced a major investment to build infrastructure for artificial intelligence led by Japanese giant SoftBank and ChatGPT-maker OpenAI.Trump said the venture, called Stargate, “will invest $500 billion, at least, in AI infrastructure in the United States.”But in a post on his social media platform X, Trump ally and tech tycoon Elon Musk said the main investors “don’t actually have the money.”The comment marked a rare instance of a split between the world’s richest man and Trump, with Musk playing a key role in the newly installed administration after spending $270 million on the election campaign.Microsoft president Brad Smith, meanwhile, has gone on record saying the company was on pace this fiscal year to invest about $80 billion to build out AI datacenters, train AI models and deploy cloud-based applications around the world.”The United States is poised to stand at the forefront of this new technology wave, especially if it doubles down on its strengths and effectively partners internationally,” Smith said in an online post.

US President Donald Trump visited disaster zones in North Carolina and California on Friday, using his first trip since his return to office to turn emergency aid into a political cudgel.Trump said he would sign an order that could scrap the federal disaster agency, stepping up his effort to exert presidential power over the levers of government, and to decide which states get money from Washington.The Republican billionaire also threatened to withhold funding for Democratic-led California — a long-term target of his ire — to deal with devastating wildfires if it does not follow his orders.The visit came as the White House said that Trump’s promised operation to expel millions of undocumented migrants had begun with the launch of deportation flights on military aircraft.Speaking in North Carolina, where floods caused by Hurricane Helene last year that killed more than 100 people in the state, Trump said the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) had “really let us down.”Trump said he would be “signing an executive order to begin the process of fundamentally reforming and overhauling FEMA, or maybe getting rid of FEMA.””We’re going to recommend that FEMA go away.”- ‘Greatest president’ -Trump met victims of the devastating floods, getting them to recount what they said were failings by federal agencies and insurance companies.Trump is separately trying to leverage disaster aid over rival Democrats in California, even as fresh wildfires add to the toll of blazes that have killed some two dozen people and caused billions of dollars in damage.He said he could withhold assistance if California does not change voting laws which he says allow undocumented migrants to vote — and linked that to a false claim that the state could solve its drought by simply opening a valve.”In California I have a condition,” he said. “I want two things, I want voter ID for the people of California… and I want to see the water be released and come down.””After that I will be the greatest president that California has ever seen.”Trump has previously slung insults at California’s Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom — branding him an “idiot” — and baselessly claimed that California authorities diverted water supplies to save a kind of small fish called a smelt.- Deportation flights -Trump’s administration is also keeping the focus on migration, one of the key issues that fueled the 78-year-old’s extraordinary political comeback in November’s US presidential election.The White House trumpeted the arrest of 538 undocumented migrants on Wednesday and said it had deported “hundreds” of migrants on military aircraft — a departure from the normal use of civilian planes.By comparison, under Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden there were a total of 270,000 deportations in 2024 — a 10-year record — and 113,400 arrests, making an average of 310 per day.Two US military flights carrying migrants arrived in Guatemala early Friday, a US defense official said. A total of 79 Guatemalans were aboard, according to the central American country’s migration institute.”We’re getting the bad, hard criminals out,” Trump said when asked about the flights. “Murderers, people that have been as bad as you get. As bad as anybody you’ve seen.” Trump repeatedly accused Biden of failing to crack down on an “invasion” of migrants illegally crossing the southern border with Mexico.And his turbocharged bid to reshape America in the first days of his administration was also continuing with a planned video address to a huge anti-abortion march in Washington on Friday.Tens of thousands of people attended the “March for Life” on the National Mall, waving US flags and carrying banners with slogans including “God’s choice.””I did a big clip for the March for Life, and we look forward to seeing it,” Trump told reporters.Trump recalled that he had signed a pardon for 23 anti-abortion protesters in the Oval Office on Thursday.