AFP USA

A massive winter storm was set to drop a mix of freezing rain and heavy snow on some 160 million Americans starting Friday, threatening to bring dangerously icy conditions.Multiple US states declared states of emergency as meteorologists said the storm would soon begin marching across much of the continental US, covering a wide swath of the country’s middle including the Rockies and Plains.It could bring “catastrophic ice accumulation,” the National Weather Service said, and could result in “long-duration power outages, extensive tree damage, and extremely dangerous or impassable travel conditions,” including in many states less accustomed to intense winter weather.The storm was expected to linger for days, shifting into the heavily populated mid-Atlantic and northeastern states while crippling daily life and ushering in a frigid air mass across the country.More than 1,800 weekend flights have already been cancelled, according to the tracker Flightaware, including many in Texas. State officials there vowed the grid that failed during a deadly winter storm five years ago and left millions without power was now better prepared.The southern state’s Republican Governor Greg Abbott told journalists Thursday the grid “has never been stronger, never been more prepared and is fully capable of handling this winter storm.”Civil and environmental engineering professor Daniel Cohan of Rice University told AFP the system was indeed better winterized than it was in 2021, and that the state also has added solar production and storage since then.The electricity authority “should have plenty of power to go around this time,” Cohan said.Warming centers were set to open in the Houston area Saturday afternoon.- Extreme cold -In New York state, Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul warned of extreme cold that could make even short trips outdoors dangerous.She emphasized risks ranging from hypothermia to heart attacks while shoveling, stressing precautions like protecting pipes, using heaters safely, and checking on vulnerable neighbors. “Five or six minutes outside could literally be dangerous for your health,” she said, adding that emergency crews were fully mobilized.New York’s Zohran Mamdani was meanwhile set to face his first major test as mayor — the city famously makes early judgments of newly elected leaders based on ability to keep congested streets clear.Speaking to local television Friday, Democrat Mamdani said he was not planning to close schools Monday and that remote learning was an option — even as one student emailed the mayor’s wife and spelled out a case for a snow day.”She thought it was a good argument,” an unconvinced Mamdani chuckled.The storm is set to usher in frigid temperatures and dangerous winds that could last a week in some areas. Parts of the Upper Midwest were already experiencing wind chills forecast to hit in the range of -55F (-48C), bitter temperatures that can cause frostbite within minutes.- Polar vortex -The brutal storm system is the result of a stretched polar vortex, an Arctic region of cold, low-pressure air that normally forms a relatively compact, circular system but sometimes morphs into a more oval shape, sending cold air spilling across North America.Scientists say the increasing frequency of such disruptions of the polar vortex may be linked to climate change, though the debate is not yet settled and natural variability also plays a role.But President Donald Trump — who scoffs at climate change science and has rolled back green energy policies — wasted no time in questioning how the cold front fit into broader climate shifts.”Could the Environmental Insurrectionists please explain — WHATEVER HAPPENED TO GLOBAL WARMING???,” the Republican leader posted on his platform Truth Social.State officials were more focused on the immediate threats the powerful storm posed to residents, with at least 14 states from the south to the northeast as well as Washington DC declaring states of emergency.Political leaders across the country were encouraging people to stock up on food and dry goods, prepare first aid and supply kits and keep their vehicle gas tanks full to prevent fuel lines from freezing.In Magnolia, a municipality north of Houston, one supermarket was close to running out of bottled water as Texans bought them out.Anne Schultz said she wasn’t particularly fearful, but that preparation was still important.”If the power stays on, we should all be fine,” the 68-year-old told AFP.

Donald Trump is shaping a new world order of empires and coercion, from Venezuela to Greenland and through his newly created “Board of Peace, shattering the post-war global consensus.As the old order crumbles, AFP sought the views of ministers, advisers, lawmakers and military from across the globe.Celso Amorim, chief adviser to Brazil’s President Lula Inacio Lula da Silva, described the situation as “a very difficult moment of transition to a new order”.”But these periods of transition sometimes lead to terrible consequences,” he added.One Filipino diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said no one felt able to speak out that “the emperor has no clothes”.Weng Hsiao-ling, a Taiwanese lawmaker from the main opposition Kuomintang party, said there had been a belief in “international rules”.”But Trump’s approach has broken those norms,” she said.- Geography -How the future could play out looks different from the Americas, Europe, Eurasia and South Asia.Brazil, for example, is an emerging power and member of the BRICS group of developing nations, but also located within Trump’s purported sphere of influence.Amorim said Brazil needed “to maintain and build on what’s being done”, pointing to the recent trade agreement between the European Union and the Mercosur bloc of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.It also needed to stay onside with the United States, as well as China, India and other BRICS countries, he added.”We are very much interested in maintaining good relations with the United States, let that be clear,” said Amorim. But he added: “Those relations must be based on mutual respect; they must be conducted through dialogue.”Many countries on the continent may find it difficult to find a balance and distance from American hegemony. Trump, for example, regularly threatens neighbouring Mexico.But Ricardo Monreal, parliamentary leader for the ruling Morena party, rejected the idea that Washington could make Mexico a “subordinate”.”The United States believes that Mexico’s alignment with the American empire is automatic. I don’t think it’s that simple,” he said.”The margin we have is very limited because our dependence is strong. Our proximity is unavoidable.”But I maintain that Mexico, with 110 or 120 million inhabitants, is a country that can shape the economic bloc — and that the way the United States treats Mexico is not as a partner, but as a subordinate. And I don’t think they’re going to pull that off.”- Protection -China and Russia may feel emboldened by US action under Trump but the countries threatened by their territorial ambitions still want to believe they are protected.In Taiwan, whose survival in its current political form depends largely on US support, lawmaker Wang Ting-yu, of the ruling DPP party, hopes the show of force to capture Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro will force authoritarian regimes to think twice about acts of aggression.That will be “a good thing” for Taiwan. But he added: “We need to be careful because China will learn from this kind of operation.”The Filipino diplomat said the Indo-Pacific, including the Philippines and the ASEAN bloc, was vital for the United States’ economic security, whatever happened in Greenland.”I’m not saying (Trump’s actions) don’t keep people awake at night. But there’s a level of comfort there, and we hope we’re proven right,” they added.On the South China Sea, where Beijing has designs, Filipino Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad also said he was reassured by “the surge and upscale of not only US but even allied forces in this part of the globe”.- ‘Darwinian’ -Europe enjoyed US protection from the Soviets for decades and according to some remains indispensable to Washington because of its geographical location as the gateway to Eurasia.Yet one high-ranking officer said the continent was “completely paralysed” and bogged down in debate rather than action.”The world has become very Darwinian again,” he warned. “It’s not intelligence that matters most, it’s the speed of adaptation” to the new reality.The chairman of the German parliament’s foreign affairs committee, Armin Laschet, said the US-Europe alliance needed to be maintained “for as long as possible” — even if that means calling Trump “daddy”, like NATO chief Mark Rutte.The current state of affairs has raised questions about the effectiveness of the traditional tools of multilateralism.Colombia’s deputy foreign minister, Mauricio Jaramillo, said he was “surprised” at the lack of weighty UN reaction after Maduro’s capture.But despite criticism about its limitations, Laschet said there was “no alternative” to the world body, which emerged from the failings of the post-World War I League of Nations, and the ashes of World War II in 1945.”But today the big difference is that countries have atomic weapons that can destroy everything. So, we need to act beforehand.”

Ryan Wedding, a Canadian former Olympic snowboarder turned alleged drug kingpin, has been arrested in Mexico and brought to the United States to face cocaine trafficking and murder charges, FBI chief Kash Patel announced Friday.Wedding, 44, has been on the FBI’s “Ten Most Wanted Fugitives” list, and the US State Department recently offered a $15 million reward for information leading to his capture.”Just to tell you how bad of a guy Ryan Wedding is, he went from an Olympic snowboarder to the largest narco trafficker in modern times,” Patel said at an airport tarmac press conference in Ontario, California. “He is a modern day El Chapo. He is a modern day Pablo Escobar.””This individual and his organization in the Sinaloa Cartel poured narcotics into the streets of North America and killed too many of our youth and corrupted too many of our citizens,” he said.Patel said Wedding — whose aliases include “El Jefe,” “Giant” and “Public Enemy” — was arrested in Mexico City on Thursday night.The FBI director declined to provide any details about Wedding’s capture other than to say it was an “inter-agency wide effort” that included law enforcement partners in Mexico.Patel said Wedding is believed to have been hiding in Mexico for over a decade and has been wanted on cocaine trafficking and murder charges since 2024.Akil Davis, the assistant director of the FBI’s Los Angeles field office, told reporters that Wedding is expected to have an initial US court appearance on Monday morning.Wedding is accused of smuggling some 60 metric tons of cocaine from Colombia through Mexico into the United States and Canada and of “orchestrating multiple murders of victims and government witnesses,” Davis said.Davis said 36 people connected to Wedding’s alleged drug trafficking ring have been arrested and assets worth tens of millions of dollars have been seized including luxury vehicles, valuable artwork and jewelry.Seven people allegedly connected to Wedding’s cocaine smuggling operation were arrested in Canada in November, including his lawyer, Deepak Paradkar, and the United States is seeking their extradition.According to US federal prosecutors, Paradkar allegedly told Wedding that if he killed a witness in a pending criminal case against him the case would go away.The witness was shot five times in the head and killed in January 2025 at a restaurant in Medellin, Colombia, they said.Wedding competed for Canada in snowboarding at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics, finishing 24th in the parallel giant slalom.

Global stocks were subdued and precious metals hit fresh highs Friday after a turbulent week that saw US President Donald Trump back down from threats to seize Greenland and hit European allies with fresh tariffs.Gold — a safe-haven asset — pushed closer to a record $5,000 an ounce despite “a calmer end to a chaotic week on the markets”, said Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell.Fellow safe haven silver also continued its rise, blasting through $101 an ounce amid worries over what Trump may say, or actually do, next.”Gold nudged ahead… as investors were reluctant to let go of their safety blanket, just in case Donald Trump woke up with another controversial idea,” said Coatsworth.Sentiment has calmed over the past two days after the US president pulled back from his threat to hit several European nations with levies because of their opposition to Washington taking over the Danish autonomous territory.European markets sought direction in vain, Frankfurt closing just in the green as London and Paris fell the red side of the line at the end of the week.Wall Street was a similar picture, with the Dow losing 0.6 percent around two hours into trading although the broader-based S&P and the tech-heavy Nasdaq were just in positive territory.Intel plunged 16 percent after lacklustre expectations on the chip maker’s earnings.Asian markets closed higher.- Powell under pressure -Trump’s latest salvo against allies revived trade war fears and uncertainty about US investment, putting downward pressure on the dollar this week.Analysts said there was no guarantee that Europe-US relations had improved durably.The US president’s willingness to threaten tariffs over any issue had rattled confidence on trading floors, boosting safe-haven metals, analysts said.Investors were also preparing for next week’s Federal Reserve meeting following economic data broadly in line with forecasts and after US prosecutors took aim at boss Jerome Powell, which has raised fears over the bank’s independence.The bank is tipped to hold interest rates, having cut them in the previous three meetings.The meeting also comes as Trump considers candidates to replace Powell when the Fed chair’s term comes to an end in May.The Bank of Japan left its key interest rate unchanged ahead of the country’s snap election next week, which could impact government spending plans.After sharp volatility in the wake of the announcement, the yen traded slightly higher.Next week’s US earnings calendar is packed with results from Apple, Microsoft, Boeing, Tesla, Meta and other corporate giants.- Key figures at around 1650 GMT -New York – Dow: DOWN 0.6 percent at 49,114.15 pointsNew York – S&P 500: UP 0.2 percent at 6,917.18New York – NASDAQ: UP 0.4 percent at 23,531.81London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.1 percent at 10,143.44 (close)Paris – CAC 40: DOWN 0.1 percent at 8,143.05 (close)Frankfurt – DAX: UP 0.2 percent at 24,900.71 (close)Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.3 percent at 53,846.87 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 0.5 percent at 26,749.51 (close)Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.3 percent at 4,136.16 (close)Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1774 from $1.1751 on ThursdayPound/dollar: UP at $1.3593 from $1.3500Dollar/yen: DOWN at 157.52 yen from 158.39 yenEuro/pound: DOWN at 86.63 pence from 87.05 penceWest Texas Intermediate: UP 2.8 percent at $61.02 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: UP 2.7 percent at $65.80 per barrel

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen on Friday visited Greenland’s capital for talks with the territory’s leader after a turbulent week that saw US President Donald Trump back down from threats to seize the Arctic island and agree to negotiations.Denmark has rejected Trump’s claims that the US must take control of Greenland because China and Russia are trying to gain a foothold in the region, with Copenhagen vowing to beef up its military presence on the island.Frederiksen’s visit comes after two fraught weeks for Denmark and Greenland, culminating in Trump claiming he had reached an agreement with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on Wednesday that saw the US leader withdraw his threats of military action and tariffs against European allies.”I’m here to show the strong support Danes have for Greenlanders,” Frederiksen told reporters.”It’s a very difficult time, everyone can see that,” she said, adding they were working on preparing a “diplomatic response”.Trump and Rutte agreed on what the US leader called a “framework”, the details of which have not been disclosed.Trump said only that the United States “gets everything we wanted” in the plan, which would be in force “forever”.A source familiar with the talks told AFP the US and Denmark would renegotiate a 1951 defence pact on Greenland.That agreement, updated in 2004, already allows Washington to ramp up troop deployments provided it informs Denmark and Greenland in advance.- Security talks with US -Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen stressed Friday there had been no detailed plan hammered out between Trump and Rutte, rather there was a “framework for a future agreement”.He said “instead of those drastic ideas about needing to own Greenland… (Trump) now wishes to negotiate a solution”.Frederiksen held talks with Rutte in Brussels on Friday. They agreed “to enhance deterrence and defence in the Arctic,” Rutte wrote on X after their meeting.Frederiksen meanwhile was greeted with a hug from Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen at Nuuk airport, then rushed into a car without speaking to journalists.Lokke said negotiations on the framework agreement would start soon, focussing on “security, security, and security”.”We will get those meetings started fairly quickly. We will not communicate when those meetings are, because what is needed now is to take the drama out of this.”- ‘Red line’ -Denmark and Greenland have stressed that sovereignty and territorial integrity would be a “red line” in the talks.Nielsen said on Thursday he was not aware of the contents of the Trump-Rutte talks but insisted no deal could be made without involving Nuuk.”Nobody else than Greenland and the Kingdom of Denmark have the mandate to make deals or agreements,” he told reporters.Frederiksen has repeatedly said the same thing.A Danish colony for three centuries, Greenland, which has around 57,000 inhabitants, gradually gained autonomy in the second half of the 20th century and obtained self-rule in 2009.But Denmark’s assimilation policies — including de facto bans on the Inuit language and forced sterilisations — have left Greenlanders bitter and angry.While an overwhelming majority of the island’s inhabitants support a decades-long drive for full independence, Trump’s threats over the past year have led to a warming of ties between Denmark and Greenland. “Greenlanders still have a lot of grievances concerning Denmark’s lack of ability to reconsider its colonial past,” Ulrik Pram Gad, a researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies, told AFP.”But Trump’s pressure has prompted the wide majority of the (Greenlandic) political spectrum… to put the independence preparations — always a long-term project — aside for now.”

Global stocks were subdued and precious metals hit fresh highs Friday after a turbulent week that saw US President Donald Trump back down from threats to seize Greenland and hit European allies with fresh tariffs.Gold — a safe haven asset — pushed towards a record $5,000 an ounce despite “a calmer end to a chaotic week on the markets”, said Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell.”Gold nudged ahead… as investors were reluctant to let go of their safety blanket, just in case Donald Trump woke up with another controversial idea,” he added.And silver jumped almost three percent to reach record highs to within 25 cents of $100 as a weakening dollar saw precious metals firm.Sentiment has calmed over the past two days after the US president pulled back from his warning to hit several European nations with levies because of their opposition to Washington taking over the Danish autonomous territory.After European stocks hesitated — London, Paris and Frankfurt all dipped — Wall Street saw a turgid opening as the Dow was down 0.6 percent some 30 minutes into the session. The broader S&P 500 and tech heavy Nasdaq just edged into the red.Intel plunged 16 percent after lacklustre expectations on the chip-maker’s earnings.Asian markets closed higher, tracking a successive advance on Wall Street.- Powell under pressure -Trump’s latest salvo against allies revived trade war fears and uncertainty about US investment, putting downward pressure on the dollar this week.Analysts said there was no guarantee that Europe-US relations had improved durably.The US president’s willingness to threaten tariffs over any issue had rattled confidence on trading floors, weighing on the dollar and boosting safe-haven metals, analysts said.Investors were also preparing for next week’s Federal Reserve meeting following economic data broadly in line with forecasts and after US prosecutors took aim at boss Jerome Powell, which has raised fears over the bank’s independence.The bank is tipped to hold interest rates, having cut them in the previous three meetings.The meeting also comes as Trump considers candidates to replace Powell when his term comes to an end in May.The Bank of Japan left its key interest rate unchanged ahead of the country’s snap election next week, which could impact government spending plans. After sharp volatility in the wake of the announcement, the yen traded slightly higher. In company news, the share price of Japanese giant Nintendo closed up 4.5 percent as industry data showed its Switch 2 console led the US hardware market in unit and dollar sales in 2025.Czech weapons manufacturer CSG debuted on the Amsterdam stock market Friday, raising 3.8 billion euros ($4.5 billion) — the world’s biggest initial public offering in the defence sector.Next week’s US earnings calendar is packed with results from Apple, Microsoft, Boeing, Tesla, Meta and other corporate giants. – Key figures at around 1445 GMT -New York – Dow: DOWN 0.6 percent at 49,063.07 pointsNew York – S&P 500: DOWN 0.2 percent at 6,902.68New York – NASDAQ: DOWN 0.1 percent at 23,417.71London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.1 percent at 10,145.00Paris – CAC 40: DOWN 0.4 percent at 8,115.47Frankfurt – DAX: DOWN 0.2 percent at 24,811.35Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.3 percent at 53,846.87 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 0.5 percent at 26,749.51 (close)Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.3 percent at 4,136.16 (close)Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1743 from $1.1751 on ThursdayPound/dollar: UP at $1.3529 from $1.3500Dollar/yen: DOWN at 158.30 yen from 158.39 yenEuro/pound: DOWN at 86.81 pence from 87.05 penceWest Texas Intermediate: UP 2.5 percent at $60.90 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: UP 2.5 percent at $65.65 per barrel

Britain said Donald Trump was “wrong to diminish” the role of NATO troops in Afghanistan, as a claim by the US president that they did not fight on the front line sparked outrage.In an interview with Fox News aired on Thursday, Trump appeared unaware that 457 British soldiers died during the conflict in the South Asian country following the September 11 attacks on the United States.”They’ll say they sent some troops to Afghanistan,” Trump told the US outlet, referring to NATO allies.”And they did, they stayed a little back, a little off the front lines,” he added.Trump also repeated his suggestion that NATO would not come to the aid of the United States if asked to do so.In fact, following the 9/11 attacks, the UK and a number of other allies joined the US from 2001 in Afghanistan after it invoked NATO’s collective security clause.As well as British forces, troops from other NATO ally countries including Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Denmark and others also died.”Their sacrifice and that of other NATO forces was made in the service of collective security and in response to an attack on our ally,” Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s official spokesman said.”We are incredibly proud of our armed forces and their service and sacrifice will never be forgotten,” he added.  – ‘Heroes’ -Care Minister Stephen Kinnock earlier said he expected Starmer would bring the issue up with Trump.”I think he will, I’m sure, be raising this issue with the president… He’s incredibly proud of our armed forces, and he will make that clear to the president,” he told LBC Radio.”It just doesn’t really add up what he said, because the fact of the matter is the only time that Article 5 has been invoked was to go to the aid of the United States after 9/11,” he added in an interview with Sky News.Defence Minister John Healey said NATO’s Article 5 has only been triggered once.”The UK and NATO allies answered the US call. And more than 450 British personnel lost their lives in Afghanistan,” he said.The troops who died were “heroes who gave their lives in service of our nation”, he added.Lucy Aldridge, whose son William died aged 18 in Afghanistan, told The Mirror newspaper that Trump’s remarks were “extremely upsetting”.Emily Thornberry, chair of parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, denounced them as “so much more than a mistake”.”It’s an absolute insult. It’s an insult to 457 families who lost someone in Afghanistan. How dare he say we weren’t on the front line?” the Labour Party politician said on the BBC’s Question Time programme on Thursday evening.According to official UK figures, 405 of the 457 British casualties who died in Afghanistan were killed in hostile military action.The US reportedly lost more than 2,400 soldiers.

Stocks were subdued and precious metals hit fresh highs Friday after a turbulent week that saw US President Donald Trump back down from threats to seize Greenland and to issue tariffs against European allies. Gold — a safe haven asset — pushed towards a record $5,000 an ounce despite “a calmer end to a chaotic week on the markets”, said Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell.”Gold nudged ahead… as investors were reluctant to let go of their safety blanket, just in case Donald Trump woke up with another controversial idea,” he added.Sentiment has calmed over the past two days after the US president pulled back from his warning to hit several European nations with levies because of their opposition to Washington taking over the Danish autonomous territory.European stocks hesitated Friday, with Paris dipping while Frankfurt and London were flat approaching the half-way stage. Asian markets closed higher tracking a successive advance on Wall Street.Trump’s latest salvo against allies revived trade war fears and uncertainty about US investment, putting downward pressure on the dollar this week.Analysts said there was no guarantee that Europe-US relations had improved durably.The Republican’s willingness to threaten tariffs over any issue had rattled confidence on trading floors, weighing on the dollar and boosting safe-haven metals, analysts said.Investors were also preparing for next week’s Federal Reserve meeting following economic data broadly in line with forecasts and after US prosecutors took aim at boss Jerome Powell, raising fears over the bank’s independence.The bank is tipped to hold interest rates, having cut them in the previous three meetings.The meeting also comes as Trump considers candidates to replace Powell when his term comes to an end in May.Elsewhere, the Bank of Japan left its key interest rate unchanged Friday ahead of the country’s snap election next week which could impact government spending plans. After sharp volatility in the wake of the announcement, the yen traded slightly higher. In company news, the share price of Japanese giant Nintendo closed up 4.5 percent as industry data showed that its Switch 2 console led the US hardware market in unit and dollar sales in 2025.Czech weapons manufacturer CSG debuted on the Amsterdam stock market Friday, raising 3.8 billion euros ($4.5 billion) in the world’s biggest initial public offering in the defence sector.Next week’s US earnings calendar is packed with results from Apple, Microsoft, Boeing, Tesla, Meta and other corporate giants. – Key figures at around 1100 GMT -London – FTSE 100: UP 0.1 percent at 10,159.13 pointsParis – CAC 40: DOWN 0.4 percent at 8,116.40Frankfurt – DAX: FLAT at 24,860.23Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.3 percent at 53,846.87 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 0.5 percent at 26,749.51 (close)Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.3 percent at 4,136.16 (close)New York – Dow: UP 0.6 percent at 49,384.01 (close)Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1735 from $1.1751 on ThursdayPound/dollar: UP at $1.3530 from $1.3500Dollar/yen: DOWN at 158.20 yen from 158.39 yenEuro/pound: DOWN at 86.73 pence from 87.05 penceWest Texas Intermediate: UP 1.4 percent at $60.19 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: UP 1.4 percent at $64.95 per barrel

Democrats and local officials in Minneapolis expressed outrage Thursday at the detention of a five-year-old boy in a massive immigration crackdown, as US Vice President JD Vance defended federal agents’ actions.Thousands of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have been deployed to the Democratic-led city, as the administration of President Donald Trump presses its campaign to deport what it says are millions of illegal immigrants across the country.Vance confirmed Thursday that the five-year-old boy, Liam Conejo Ramos, was among those detained, but argued that agents were protecting the boy after his father “ran” from an immigration sweep.”What are they supposed to do? Are they supposed to let a five-year-old child freeze to death?” he said.Democratic Texas congressman Joaquin Castro rejected that explanation, branding Homeland Security authorities “sick liars.”Castro said that he had not been able to locate the boy, who was reportedly being held with his father in San Antonio, Texas.”My staff and I have been working to figure out his whereabouts, make sure that he’s safe and also to demand his release by ICE,” he said in a video posted on X.But ICE “have not given us information,” he said.Former US vice president Kamala Harris said she was “outraged” by Ramos’s detention.”Liam Ramos is just a baby. He should be at home with his family, not used as bait by ICE and held in a Texas detention center,” she wrote on X.Harris shared a photo of the child wearing a blue knitted hat with dangling, white rabbit ears, while a person behind him appears to hold onto his backpack.Another photo circulating online shows Ramos escorted by a man wearing black clothes and a black face covering.Former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton accused law enforcement of “terrorizing a population” and “using children as pawns.”Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said the federal government was treating children “like criminals.”Frey said the influx of 3,000 federal agents felt like an “occupation,” the Minnesota Star Tribune newspaper reported.The Homeland Security department rejected claims that ICE agents targeted the child, saying he had been “abandoned” by his father during an operation to arrest the man.”For the child’s safety, one of our ICE officers remained with the child while the other officers apprehended (his father) Conejo Arias,” it posted on X.”Parents are asked if they want to be removed with their children, or ICE will place the children with a safe person the parent designates.”- ‘Taking a toll’ -Ramos is one of at least four children detained in the same Minneapolis school district this month, US media have reported citing local administrators.Zena Stenvik, the Columbia Heights Public Schools District superintendent, said the children were “apprehended and taken away by masked and armed ICE agents with no identifying badges.””The onslaught of ICE activity in our community is inducing trauma and is taking a toll on our children,” she told reporters.The children’s detention came as the US attorney general announced the arrests of three activists accused of disrupting a church service with a protest accusing a pastor of working for ICE.Videos of that protest showed dozens of demonstrators chanting “ICE out!” in the church.Minneapolis has been rocked by increasingly tense protests since federal agents shot and killed US citizen Renee Good on January 7.The officer who fired the shots that killed Good, Jonathan Ross, has neither been suspended nor charged with any crime. Trump and his officials quickly defended his actions as legitimate self-defense.The lawyer for Ramos and his father, Marc Prokosch, said the pair are not US citizens and followed the legal process in applying for asylum in Minneapolis, which is a sanctuary city, meaning police do not cooperate with federal immigration sweeps.Vance claimed such local efforts were hindering ICE efforts.”The lack of cooperation between state and local officials makes it harder for us to do our job and turns up the temperature,” Vance said.Minnesota has sought a temporary restraining order for the ICE operation in the state which, if granted by a federal judge, would pause the sweeps. There will be a hearing on the application Monday.

Asian markets extended their recovery on Friday after Donald Trump withdrew his tariff threats over Greenland, although lingering uncertainty about US policy weighed on the dollar and helped push precious metals to fresh records.Investors were also preparing for next week’s Federal Reserve meeting following data broadly in line with forecasts and after US prosecutors took aim at boss Jerome Powell, raising fears over the bank’s independence.Sentiment has picked up over the past two days after the US president pulled back from his warning to hit several European nations with levies because of their opposition to Washington taking over the Danish autonomous territory.Asian stocks extended Thursday’s gains in light of the row-back, with Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Taipei, Sydney, Seoul, Singapore and Bangkok in positive territory.London was flat at the open but Paris and Frankfurt fell.That followed a second successive advance on Wall Street.However, Trump’s latest salvo against allies — as well as his ouster of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro this month — revived trade war fears and uncertainty about US investment, putting downward pressure on the dollar this week.Analysts said there was no guarantee that Europe-US relations had improved durably.The Republican’s willingness to threaten tariffs over any issue had rattled confidence on trading floors, weighing on the dollar and boosting safe-haven metals, analysts said.In Asian trade, gold rallied to a fresh peak above $4,967 an ounce while silver touched more than $99.With the Greenland crisis over for now, investors turned their attention to the US economy, which grew slightly more than originally estimated in the third quarter thanks to a boost in exports and investment, according to data delayed by last year’s government shutdown.Separate figures showed jobless numbers dipped and inflation settled slightly lower to where it was before the shutdown.The bank is tipped to hold interest rates, having cut them in the previous three meetings.The gathering comes against the backdrop of a deepening row between Trump and Powell, who the president has lambasted for not cutting borrowing costs quickly enough.The pressure ramped up on Powell this month when the administration issued subpoenas hinting at a possible probe into a $2.5 billion renovation of the Fed headquarters. “The bar to a further cut is too high and (Trump appointee) Steve Miran notwithstanding the Federal Open Market Committee are likely to err on the side of a hold, which will inevitably incur the wrath of president Trump,” wrote MCH Market Insights’ Michael Hewson, referring to the Fed’s decision-makers.Fiona Cincotta at City Index added: “Sticky inflation and solid growth provide little incentive for the Fed to cut rates further for now. These data points support the Fed’s wait-and-see stance.”The meeting also comes as Trump considers candidates to replace Powell when his term comes to an end in May.The president told reporters on Thursday that “I have somebody that I think will be very good but I’m not going to reveal it”.”It’s someone very respected, very, very well known, and will do, I think, a very good job.”While the dollar has struggled against most currencies, it rose against the yen on Friday after the Bank of Japan decided to hold off hiking interest rates while it tries to ascertain the impact of recent increases on inflation, which data showed remains above its two percent target. In company news, Japanese giant Nintendo jumped as much as 6.9 percent after gaming data firm Circana said its Switch 2 console led the US hardware market in unit and dollar sales in 2025. The firm ended 4.5 percent higher.The “Switch 2 remains the fastest selling video game hardware platform in tracked history”, Circana’s Mat Piscatella wrote on BlueSky.Next week’s US earnings calendar is packed with results from Apple, Microsoft, Boeing, Tesla, Meta and other corporate giants. There will also be a Federal Reserve monetary policy decision.- Key figures at around 0815 GMT -Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.3 percent at 53,846.87 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 0.5 percent at 26,749.51 (close)Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.3 percent at 4,136.16 (close)London – FTSE 100: FLAT at 10,152.45Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1739 from $1.1751 on ThursdayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3496 from $1.3500Dollar/yen: UP at 158.50 yen from 158.39 yenEuro/pound: DOWN at 86.98 pence from 87.05 penceWest Texas Intermediate: UP 0.5 percent at $59.63 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: UP 0.4 percent at $64.34 per barrelNew York – Dow: UP 0.6 percent at 49,384.01 (close)