AFP USA

The White House has fired all six members of an independent federal agency that reviews construction work in Washington, US media reported Tuesday, as President Donald Trump pushes to remodel the capital in his style.The Commission of Fine Arts was expected to review some of Trump’s current projects, including a new ballroom at the White House and a triumphal arch, according to the Washington Post. Tuesday’s firing of the panel members, also reported by the New York Times and CNN, removes a potential barrier to the president’s ambitions which architectural historians and political opponents have heavily criticized.Trump, 79, has enthusiastically embarked on a series of renovation and building projects since returning to power in January.The Commission of Fine Arts was established by Congress in 1910 and is formed of architects and urban planners. It gives advice on design and preservation in Washington — focusing on government buildings and monuments in the strictly managed area.White House officials have traditionally sought the agency’s approval, the Washington Post reported, but Trump has ignored such formalities. Last week, construction crews tore down part of the White House to build a new ballroom. The Republican has also mulled building an arch resembling the famed Arc de Triomphe in Paris across from the Lincoln Memorial. Calling the White House “one of the most important historic buildings in the United States,” the Society of Architectural Historians issued a statement October 16 expressing “great concern,” adding Trump’s plans for the White House “should follow a rigorous and deliberate design and review process.”His plans have also drawn backlash from Democrats, including former presidential secretary of state and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, who has accused Trump of “destroying” the White House. Then-president Joe Biden, a Democrat, had appointed all the now-purged members of the Commission of Fine Arts — having himself removed members appointed by Trump in his first term. The New York Times reported that the White House would now appoint a new panel aligned with Trump’s policies.In July, the White House also fired Biden appointees from the National Capital Planning Commission, another urban planning agency. Biden similarly axed Trump nominees in 2021 in an apparent effort to diversify the panel.

US President Donald Trump headed Wednesday for South Korea, where a key meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping could produce a truce in the blistering trade war between the world’s two largest economies.Trump’s two-day visit to key US ally South Korea is the third leg of a trip to Asia that has seen him lauded at a regional summit in Malaysia and flattered as a “peacemaker” by Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.But the eyes of the world — and of global markets — will be on a meeting set for Thursday, the first time in six years Trump sits down with Xi.It could determine whether the United States and China can halt a trade war that has sent international supply chains into panic.Negotiators from Beijing and Washington have both confirmed a “framework” has been agreed.It is now up to Trump and Xi, who will meet on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in the city of Gyeongju, to nail it down.William Yang, an analyst at the International Crisis Group, said however that there appeared to be a “mismatch” in expectations.The United States “is eager to reach any trade deal that Trump could declare as a victory”, while China is focused on “building more mutual trust, managing longstanding differences, and steadying the bilateral trade relationship”, he added.- ‘Complicated’ -Trump’s trip to South Korea follows two days in Japan, where new conservative premier Takaichi hailed a “golden age” in bilateral ties.Takaichi lavished Trump with praise, saying she would nominate Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize and giving him a golf club owned by assassinated former premier Shinzo Abe, a close friend of Trump. In Korea, Trump was expected to receive a replica of a gold crown from the ancient Silla era.Just hours before Trump’s arrival, North Korea announced it had test launched sea-to-surface cruise missiles off its western coast in a show of strength against Pyongyang’s “enemies”.Trump has extended an invitation to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to meet while he is on the peninsula.Kim was not reported to have attended Tuesday’s launch.The US president will head to Gyeongju for a summit with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung — their second in-person talks just two months after a meeting in Washington.Discussion will likely be focused on trade, with the two sides still deadlocked over a deal between the major economic partners.In July, Trump said Washington had agreed to cut tariffs on South Korean imports to 15 percent in exchange for a $350 billion investment pledge by Seoul.Steep auto tariffs, however, remain in place, and the two governments remain divided over the structure of the investment pledge.US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent admitted Monday there was still “a lot of details to work out” in what he said was a “complicated” deal, while Trump has denied that there was a “snag” in the talks.Activists plan to welcome the US leader, whose sweeping tariffs triggered the trade war, with anti-Trump demonstrations in Gyeongju condemning his “predatory investment demands”.- DMZ meeting? -Adding to the diplomatic high drama, Trump has said that he would “love to meet” the North Korean leader during his visit and even suggested sanctions could be a topic for conversation.They last met in 2019 at the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ), the fraught Cold War frontier that has separated North and South Korea for decades.But North Korea is yet to respond publicly to the invitation. Officials in Seoul appear divided as to whether it will go ahead.Kim said last month he had “fond memories” of his meetings with Trump.He also expressed openness to talks if the United States dropped its “delusional” demand that Pyongyang give up its nuclear weapons.”Trump’s made it clear he wants to meet,” Chad O’Carroll, founder of the specialist website NK News, told AFP.”The ball is in Kim Jong Un’s court.”But the US leader now faces a different Kim than in 2019 — one emboldened with crucial backing from Russia after sending thousands of North Korean troops to fight alongside Moscow’s forces.”North Korea has time on its side and isn’t as isolated as before,” said Hong Min, a senior analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification.burs-oho/stu/tc

Hurricane Melissa ripped a path of destruction through Jamaica after making landfall as one of the most powerful hurricanes on record Tuesday, lashing the island nation with brutal winds and torrential rain before heading towards Cuba.Prime Minister Andrew Holness declared the island a “disaster area” and authorities warned residents to remain sheltered over continued flooding and landslide risk, as dangerous weather persisted even as the hurricane’s worst moved on. The scale of Melissa’s damage in Jamaica wasn’t yet clear, as a comprehensive assessment could take days and much of the island was still without power, with communications networks badly disrupted.At its peak, the storm packed ferocious sustained winds of 185 miles (300 kilometers) per hour. Immediate details regarding casualty figures were not available.Government minister Desmond McKenzie said several hospitals had been damaged, including in the hard-hit southwestern district of Saint Elizabeth, a coastal area he said was “underwater.””The damage to Saint Elizabeth is extensive, based on what we have seen,” he told a briefing.”Saint Elizabeth is the bread basket of the country, and that has taken a beating. The entire Jamaica has felt the brunt of Melissa.”The hurricane was the worst to ever strike Jamaica, hitting land with maximum wind speeds even more potent than most of recent history’s most brutal storms, including 2005’s Katrina, which ravaged the US city of New Orleans.The storm took hours to cross over the Caribbean nation, a passage over land that diminished its winds, dropping by Tuesday evening down to a Category 3 storm from the top-level of 5.But the still-powerful Melissa was set to hit Cuba as soon as Tuesday night and later the Bahamas.- ‘Severely damaged infrastructure’ -Even before Melissa slammed into Jamaica, seven deaths — three in Jamaica, three in Haiti and one in the Dominican Republic — had been blamed on the deteriorating conditions.Jamaica’s climate change minister told CNN that Hurricane Melissa’s effect was “catastrophic,” citing flooded homes and “severely damaged public infrastructure” and hospitals.And as if that weren’t enough: health authorities were urging vigilance against crocodiles displaced by the torrential rains.”Rising water levels in rivers, gullies, and swamps could cause crocodiles to move into residential areas,” the South East Regional Health Authority (SERHA) posted in a public service announcement on Instagram.Mathue Tapper, 31, told AFP from Kingston that those in the capital were “lucky” but feared for fellow Jamaicans in the island’s more rural areas.”My heart goes out to the folks living on the Western end of the island,” he said.The mammoth storm could leave devastation on the scale of some of the worst hurricanes in recent memory like Katrina, Maria or Harvey.- Climate change impact -Broad scientific consensus says human-driven climate change is responsible for intensified storms like Melissa that are occurring with increased frequency and higher potential for destruction and deadly flooding.Melissa lingered over Jamaica long enough that the rains were particularly dire.”Human-caused climate change is making all of the worst aspects of Hurricane Melissa even worse,” said climate scientist Daniel Gilford.The Jamaican Red Cross, which was distributing drinking water and hygiene kits ahead of infrastructure disruptions, said Melissa’s “slow nature” exacerbated the anxiety.The UN is planning an airlift of some 2,000 relief kits to Jamaica from a relief supply station in Barbados once air travel is possible. Assistance is also planned to other impacted countries including Cuba and Haiti, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told journalits.Jamaican officials said some 25,000 tourists were in the country famed for its normally crystalline waters.Olympian sprinter Usain Bolt, one of Jamaica’s most famous figures, meanwhile was posting regularly on social media with messages for his home country: “Pray for Jamaica.”

A 65-year-old man convicted of raping and murdering his neighbor was executed by lethal injection in Florida on Tuesday.Norman Grim had dropped appeals against his death sentence and was put to death at 6:14 pm (2214 GMT) at the Florida State Prison in Raiford, the Florida Department of Corrections said.Grim was convicted of the 1998 murder and sexual battery of Cynthia Campbell, a 41-year-old lawyer who lived next door to him. He was sentenced to death in 2000.There have now been 41 executions in the United States this year, the most since 2012, when 43 inmates died this way.Florida has carried out the most executions, with 15 including Grim’s. There have been five each in Alabama and Texas.Thirty-four of this year’s executions have been carried out by lethal injection, two by firing squad and five by nitrogen hypoxia, which involves pumping nitrogen gas into a face mask, causing the prisoner to suffocate.The use of nitrogen gas as a method of capital punishment has been denounced by United Nations experts as cruel and inhumane.The death penalty has been abolished in 23 of the 50 US states, while three others — California, Oregon and Pennsylvania — have moratoriums in place.President Donald Trump is a proponent of capital punishment and, on his first day in office, called for an expansion of its use “for the vilest crimes.”

Microsoft and OpenAI announced Tuesday a sweeping overhaul of their landmark artificial intelligence (AI) partnership, giving both companies greater independence while maintaining their close collaboration.Microsoft will hold approximately 27 percent of the restructured OpenAI, an investment valued at roughly $135 billion, as the ChatGPT maker transitions to a public benefit corporation structure, according to a blog post on the OpenAI website.OpenAI has also committed to purchasing $250 billion in Azure cloud services from the tech giant, though Microsoft no longer holds first refusal rights as OpenAI’s compute provider.In the deal, Microsoft’s intellectual rights for both OpenAI’s models and products are extended through 2032.”As we enter the next phase of this partnership, we’ve signed a new definitive agreement that builds on our foundation, strengthens our partnership, and sets the stage for long-term success for both organizations,” the companies said in a joint statement.Regulators have signed off on the arrangement, according to the companies.Microsoft has been a key investor in the ChatGPT-maker as OpenAI became the major player in the spending frenzy around generative AI, the technology that Silicon Valley believes will soon take over important aspects of everyday life.But OpenAI, under the leadership of CEO Sam Altman, has increasingly looked to expand its partnerships with other companies, raising questions as to whether its deal with Microsoft was still tenable.The partnership began in 2019 when Microsoft invested $1 billion in what was then a small AI research organization founded in 2015 by tech luminaries including Elon Musk.Microsoft deepened its commitment in 2021 with additional funding, and again in January 2023 with a reported $10 billion investment following the explosive popularity of OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot, which launched in November 2022.The partnership transformed both companies.OpenAI evolved from a research lab into one of the world’s most valuable startups, while Microsoft initially gained a commanding position in the AI race, integrating OpenAI’s technology — rebranded as Copilot — across its product lineup from Bing search to Office applications.The relationship faced turbulence in November 2023 when OpenAI’s board abruptly fired Altman, only to reinstate him days later following an employee revolt and pressure from Microsoft.The episode exposed tensions over OpenAI’s governance and direction as it balanced its nonprofit origins with commercial ambitions. The new deal with Microsoft is part of OpenAI’s revamp of its company structure to prevent further instability and attract new investors.- Curing ills? -The arrangement will see OpenAI given more flexibility in its future including the ability to develop products with third parties and serve some of its products on competing cloud platforms.”We really think we can now take this technology — this sort of framework we built — and get the whole world to build amazing new companies and services and applications on top of it,” Altman said in a streamed chat.The initial focus of the OpenAI nonprofit that controls the public benefit coporation part of the startup is a $25 billion commitment to helping cure disease and maximizing benefits of generative AI while minimizing its risks, according to Altman.Microsoft, meanwhile, can independently pursue AGI development alone or with other partners.This refers to the pursuit of artificial general intelligence, a level of AI development that matches or exceeds human capability and was a crucial aspect in the company’s previous agreements.

Hurricane Melissa ripped up trees and knocked out power after making landfall in Jamaica on Tuesday as one of the most powerful hurricanes on record, inundating the island nation with rains that threaten flash floods and landslides.The destructive storm struck Jamaica with ferocious sustained winds clocking 185 miles (300 kilometers) per hour on its deadly march across the Caribbean.”This is an extremely dangerous and life-threatening situation!” warned the US National Hurricane Center, urging residents to stay sheltered and as far from windows as possible, including during the brief calm offered by the storm’s eye.Even as wind speeds dipped to 150 miles per hour, Melissa drenched communities and wreaked damage that may take days to assess as communication links remained largely down.Surges in seawater combined with rainfall — which will likely be measured in feet, not inches — could trigger massive floods and landslides on the island with a population of 2.8 million.The hurricane was the worst to ever strike Jamaica and hit land with maximum wind speeds even more potent than most of recent history’s most brutal storms, including 2005’s Katrina, which ravaged the US city of New Orleans.- ‘Severely damaged infrastructure’ -Even before Melissa slammed into Jamaica, seven deaths — three in Jamaica, three in Haiti and one in the Dominican Republic — had been blamed on the deteriorating conditions.Melissa, now downgraded from Category 4 to 5 as its center moved off Jamaica, was set to hit Cuba on Tuesday evening and then the Bahamas.Jamaica’s climate change minister told CNN that Hurricane Melissa’s effect was “catastrophic,” citing flooded homes and “severely damaged public infrastructure” and hospitals.And as if that weren’t enough: health authorities were urging vigilance against crocodiles displaced by the torrential storm.”Rising water levels in rivers, gullies, and swamps could cause crocodiles to move into residential areas,” posted the South East Regional Health Authority (SERHA) in a public service announcement on Instagram.Mathue Tapper, 31, told AFP from Kingston that those in the capital were “lucky” but feared for fellow Jamaicans in the island’s more rural areas.”My heart goes out to the folks living on the Western end of the island,” he said.The mammoth storm could leave devastation on the scale of some of the worst hurricanes in recent memory like Katrina, Maria or Harvey.- Climate change impact -Broad scientific consensus says human-driven climate change is responsible for intensified storms like Melissa that are occurring with increased frequency and higher potential for destruction and deadly flooding.Melissa had quickened slightly, but still lingered over the island enough that the rains were particularly dire.”Human-caused climate change is making all of the worst aspects of Hurricane Melissa even worse,” said climate scientist Daniel Gilford.The Jamaican Red Cross, which was distributing drinking water and hygiene kits ahead of infrastructure disruptions, said Melissa’s “slow nature” exacerbated the anxiety.The UN is planning an airlift of some 2,000 relief kits to Jamaica from a relief supply station in Barbados once air travel is possible. Assistance is also planned to countries including Cuba and Haiti, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a briefing.Jamaican officials said some 25,000 tourists were in the country famed for its normally crystalline waters.Olympian sprinter Usain Bolt, one of Jamaica’s most famous figures, was posting regularly on social media with messages for his home country: “Pray for Jamaica.”

Uber and Nvidia on Tuesday announced an alliance to deploy 100,000 robotaxis starting in 2027.”Together with Uber, we’re creating a framework for the entire industry to deploy autonomous fleets at scale, powered by Nvidia AI infrastructure,” Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang said in a release.Nvidia also said it was working with car makers Stellantis, Lucid, and Mercedes-Benz to “bridge today’s human-driven mobility with the autonomous fleets of tomorrow.”The partnerships come as AI chip star Nvidia works to put itself at the core of self-driving vehicle systems.”Robotaxis mark the beginning of a global transformation in mobility — making transportation safer, cleaner and more efficient,” Huang said.”What was once science fiction is fast becoming an everyday reality.”Artificial intelligence, along with super-fast, reliable internet connectivity, promises to be essential to cars reacting safely and smartly on the road.”Nvidia is the backbone of the AI era and is now fully harnessing that innovation to unleash L4 (Level-4) autonomy at enormous scale,” said Uber chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi.Level-4 autonomous vehicles can handle driving demands independently.It was unclear whether Uber planned to have human drivers in robotaxis as a safety measure in areas where such precaution is not mandated by regulations.The companies did not provide details of how quickly robotaxis would roll out or who would make them.”Ride-hailing platforms such as Uber are the ideal channels to deploy robotaxis at scale,” Marc Amblard, managing director of Orsay Consulting, told AFP.”Nvidia is the natural compute tech partner, working side by side with carmakers.”Uber currently lets users in a few US cities hail robotaxis operating by Google-owned Waymo.Uber may turn to Waymo or Chinese autonomous car companies for some of the technology needed, according to Amblard.Waymo recently announced plans to launch its robotaxis in London next year.London would mark the first foray into Europe for Waymo, already present in a growing number of US cities.Chinese internet giant Baidu earlier this year announced plans to launch robotaxis on the rideshare app Lyft in Germany and Britain in 2026, pending regulatory approval.Baidu had announced a similar agreement with Uber in Asia and the Middle East as it seeks to take pole position in the competitive autonomous driving field both at home and abroad.China’s tech companies and automakers have poured billions of dollars into self-driving technology in recent years, with intelligent driving the new battleground in the country’s cutthroat domestic car market.Baidu is not alone among Chinese companies in searching to expand its foothold abroad.

A 65-year-old man convicted of raping and murdering his neighbor is to be executed by lethal injection in the southern US state of Florida on Tuesday.Norman Grim has dropped appeals against his death sentence and is to be executed at 6:00 pm local time (2200 GMT) at the Florida State Prison in Raiford.Grim was convicted of the 1998 murder and sexual battery of Cynthia Campbell, a 41-year-old lawyer who lived next door to him.There have been 40 executions in the United States this year, the most since 2012, when 43 inmates were put to death.Florida has carried out the most executions with 14. There have been five each in Alabama and Texas.Thirty-three of this year’s executions have been carried out by lethal injection, two by firing squad and five by nitrogen hypoxia, which involves pumping nitrogen gas into a face mask, causing the prisoner to suffocate.The use of nitrogen gas as a method of capital punishment has been denounced by United Nations experts as cruel and inhumane.The death penalty has been abolished in 23 of the 50 US states, while three others — California, Oregon and Pennsylvania — have moratoriums in place.President Donald Trump is a proponent of capital punishment and, on his first day in office, called for an expansion of its use “for the vilest crimes.”

Around two dozen US states run by Democrats sued President Donald Trump’s administration Tuesday over its refusal to tap emergency funds to preserve vital food aid threatened by the government shutdown.Now on its 28th day, the standoff in Congress over spending is increasingly piling pain on the public sector, with the largest federal employees’ union pressuring Senate Democrats to reopen the government.Food stamps are rapidly becoming one of the most pressing pain points in the shutdown, with 42 million low-income Americans set to lose access to vital help with grocery bills from Saturday.The government has indicated that it won’t put a $5 billion “contingency” fund towards the estimated $8 billion required to ensure the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program pays out November’s benefits.Officials in the Agriculture Department (USDA) have argued that the rainy-day fund is for natural disasters and other unforeseeable events rather than shutdowns.”Nearly 600,000 children in our state could be without food in a few days because USDA is playing an illegal game of shutdown politics,” North Carolina attorney general Jeff Jackson, one of the plaintiffs, said in a statement.”They have emergency money to help feed children during this shutdown, and they’re refusing to spend it. I warned them last week that I would take them to court if they tried to hurt our kids, and today that’s what we’re doing.”Around 18 million SNAP recipients live in states and districts that Democrat Kamala Harris won in the 2024 presidential election, according to an AFP analysis of federal data, while a much larger 23.7 million live in states that voted for Trump.Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins placed the blame for the crisis squarely with Democrats, arguing that their repeated blocking of a Republican-backed funding bill to reopen the government had driven the country to “the cliff.””I’ve been warning about this for almost a month now — that we have enough money to get us through the end of October, but after that, the government has to reopen,” she told Fox News.”And… that’s where we are right now. It is stunning to me. I don’t understand what they’re thinking.”Legislation has been introduced in Congress to keep SNAP benefits funded throughout the shutdown but it is nowhere near being signed into law.States have meanwhile been encouraging residents reliant on help to go to food banks if their benefits pause.The SNAP cliff, along with federal workers and military service members going without pay, is piling pressure on lawmakers to end the shutdown, which has been grinding government functions to a halt since October 1.The Democratic governors of 23 states and Democratic attorneys general of two further states — along with the capital Washington — are asking a federal judge in Massachusetts to overturn government directives for states to withhold benefits and to rule that officials must use all available funds to keep the food aid flowing.