AFP USA

President Donald Trump’s nominee to head the US Environmental Protection Agency was confirmed by the Senate on Wednesday, drawing cheers from the fossil fuel industry and sparking alarm among green groups.Lee Zeldin, a former US congressman from New York, has committed to Trump’s campaign pledges of boosting US energy dominance and rolling back environmental regulations enacted under former president Joe Biden.The 44-year-old’s nomination was confirmed by a 56-42 vote, with Democrats John Fetterman of Pennsylvania as well as Ruben Gallego and Mark Kelly of Arizona crossing the aisle to vote with their Republican colleagues. Senators Cory Booker of New Jersey and Jon Ossoff of Georgia did not vote. “Administrator Lee Zeldin has a proven track record of finding solutions to the nation’s most pressing energy challenges,” said American Petroleum Institute president and CEO Mike Sommers.”We look forward to working with him to advance American energy leadership, from developing smart, effective regulations to ensuring consumers — not the government — can choose the vehicles they drive.” Faced with hostile Democratic questioning during his confirmation hearing, Zeldin acknowledged human-caused climate change is real, in contrast with Trump, who has derided it as a hoax. But he repeatedly emphasized his commitment to “clean air” and “clean water,” echoing rhetoric commonly used by conservatives who champion fossil fuels while resisting efforts to combat the worsening climate crisis, which is disrupting ecosystems and intensifying extreme weather events.”With today’s vote, Senate Republicans have installed yet another Trump loyalist to advance his agenda of environmental destruction,” said Evergreen Action’s Executive Director Lena Moffitt.”Despite Lee Zeldin’s repeated assurances to ‘fully’ follow the law, his blind loyalty to President Trump in the face of illegal, destructive executive actions makes it clear that his EPA will put polluters over people.”Brett Hartl, government affairs director at the Center for Biological Diversity, warned that Zeldin’s leadership should be scrutinized closely.”Let’s be clear-eyed that every other person Trump has already deployed to the EPA’s pesticide, water and air divisions has a long track record of putting industry profits and polluters above our health and the environment,” he said.Zeldin’s confirmation comes amid sweeping moves by Trump to reshape US environmental policy.On his very first day in office, Trump announced he was removing the United States from the Paris climate accord for a second time, declared a “national energy emergency” to expand drilling, and signed executive orders to slow the transition to electric vehicles and halt offshore windshore farms.

Donald Trump’s commerce secretary nominee told his US Senate confirmation hearing Wednesday he favors “across-the-board” tariffs targeting countries rather than products, while signaling a hawkish China stance.”We can use tariffs to create reciprocity, fairness and respect,” said Howard Lutnick, a close Trump ally and billionaire CEO of Wall Street firm Cantor Fitzgerald.Lutnick’s appearance comes as Trump threatens sweeping duties on imports from allies and adversaries alike — with levies on major trading partners Canada and Mexico potentially to be unveiled this weekend.On Wednesday, Lutnick said the president’s February 1 deadline for 25 percent tariffs were aimed at getting both neighbors to do more on illegal migration and particularly the flow of deadly fentanyl.”This is a separate tariff to create action from Mexico and action from Canada,” he said, differentiating between uses of duties.”As far as I know they are acting swiftly, and if they execute it, there will be no tariff.”But Lutnick stressed that duties on China — and “adversaries” — should be higher than those on other countries.In announcing his nomination last year, Trump said Lutnick would lead the world’s biggest economy’s tariff and trade agenda, with additional direct responsibility for the US Trade Representative’s office.Asked about the impact of duties on prices, Lutnick conceded certain products’ costs may rise. He charged that “it is nonsense” however that they would cause widespread inflation.Lutnick vowed to work to understand the impact of retaliatory tariffs on US agriculture and manufacturing.- ‘Strong’ export curbs -Lutnick also signaled he would take a firm stance on export controls involving China, after the recent emergence of the DeepSeek chatbot and its lower cost breakthrough threatened US-based artificial intelligence leaders.”Let them compete, but stop using our tools to compete with us,” he said of rivalry with Beijing. “I’m going to be very strong on that.”If confirmed, Lutnick will helm a department overseeing export controls to competitors, aimed at ensuring the United States’ lead in sensitive technology with military uses.”Our export controls, not backed by tariffs, are like a whack-a-mole model,” he told the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee.”I do not believe that DeepSeek was done all above board,” he added, pledging rigorous enforcement of restrictions to help the United States stay ahead.On the CHIPS and Science Act, a major law passed during former president Joe Biden’s term aimed at strengthening the US semiconductor industry, Lutnick called investments towards it “an excellent downpayment.”But he added that “we need to review them and get it right.”Vice President JD Vance, in remarks introducing Lutnick to the panel, said the billionaire ally would help convince businesses that America is thriving, bringing US commerce “back on track.”The commerce secretary nominee was co-chair of Trump’s 2024 transition team, identifying new hires for the administration.In the past, he has criticized electric vehicles and blamed China for being the source of fentanyl into the United States.He has also lamented the loss of US manufacturing jobs and off-shoring to China.On Wednesday, he said: “Tariffs will encourage companies to come back and build in America.”The Commerce Department under Biden ramped up export controls on critical technologies like quantum computing and semiconductor manufacturing goods, taking aim at access by countries such as China.Trump’s administration could harden this stance.

A judge sentenced a powerful former US senator to 11 years in prison Wednesday, after he was convicted of corruption following the discovery of gold bars and hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash at his home.Robert Menendez, a 71-year-old Democrat from New Jersey, was convicted of federal charges of extortion, obstruction of justice and accepting bribes to perform favors for businessmen with connections to Egypt and Qatar. He said he would appeal.”Somewhere along the way… you lost your way,” District Judge Sidney Stein said in announcing the sentence. “Working for the public good became working for your good.”Menendez, who had served as chairman of the influential Senate Foreign Relations Committee, had vowed to appeal the verdict handed down in July 2024, and on Wednesday he asked for leniency from the judge ahead of his sentencing.”I am going to ask you for mercy — not for me, but for Anthony,” a crying Menendez said, referring to his son who has autism.Ahead of the sentencing, the court received letters from acquaintances of Menendez testifying to his character.”Bob inspired many people, including me, with hope that it is possible to change the world,” said one, from author Donald Scarinci.Menendez’s attorney Adam Fee said that “despite his decades of service, he is now known more widely as ‘gold bar Bob.'”The counts on which Menendez was convicted after less than three days of jury deliberations included conspiracy to commit bribery and acting as a foreign agent while a public official.- ‘Egregious abuse’ -Menendez said outside court following his conviction last year: “I have never been anything but a patriot of my country and for my country. I have never, ever been a foreign agent.”On Wednesday he vowed to appeal and called his prosecution a “witch hunt.””President (Donald) Trump is right. This process is political and it’s corrupted to the core. I hope President Trump cleans up the cesspool and restores integrity to the system,” he said.He was not immediately taken into custody following the hearing.In a raid on Menendez’s New Jersey home, FBI agents were said to have found nearly $500,000 in cash hidden around the house, as well as gold bars worth around $150,000 and a luxury Mercedes-Benz convertible.His wife Nadine Menendez, to whom defense lawyers sought to shift the blame, was charged but faces trial separately as she receives treatment for breast cancer.Menendez was convicted alongside two of the businessmen he helped — Egyptian-American Wael Hana and Fred Daibes, a real estate developer. They were both sentenced to jail terms Wednesday.A third businessman, insurance broker Jose Uribe, pleaded guilty to bribery charges in March and assisted investigators.Menendez is said to have interfered in the nomination of New Jersey’s prosecutor in a bid to ensure that proceedings were dropped against Daibes and Uribe.He is also accused of accepting bribes to use his power and influence to enrich his co-conspirators and benefit the government of Egypt, including by helping Hana protect his monopoly on US exports of halal food products to the country.Prosecutors had sought a jail term of 15 years while Menendez’s defense sought no more than eight years behind bars.Prosecutor Danielle Sassoon said in a statement “the sentences imposed today result from an egregious abuse of power at the highest levels.”

Social media giant Meta on Wednesday reported surging profits and revenue for 2024, announcing ambitious plans to expand its artificial intelligence infrastructure in the year ahead.The parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp saw its net income soar 59 percent to $62.36 billion for the full year, while fourth-quarter profits jumped 49 percent to $20.84 billion.Revenue reached $164.5 billion, up 22 percent from 2023, boosted by stronger advertising performance as ad prices rose 10 percent and impressions increased 11 percent across its platforms.”We continue to make good progress on AI, glasses, and the future of social media,” CEO Mark Zuckerberg said, expressing optimism about scaling these initiatives in 2025.The solid performance comes amid significant shifts in Meta’s content policies intended to endear the company to US President Donald Trump.The company recently announced the end of its US fact-checking program aimed at combating misinformation, a move that followed criticism from conservative voices who viewed such efforts as censorship.”We now have a US administration that is proud of our leading companies, prioritizes American technology winning, and that will defend our values and interests abroad,” Zuckerberg told anlayats.Meta has also scaled back diversity initiatives and relaxed content moderation rules on its platforms, particularly regarding certain forms of speech — changes that could potentially concern major advertisers who are wary of having their ads appear alongside divisive content.- User growth -The company’s user base continued to grow, reaching 3.35 billion daily active users across its platforms in December 2024, a 5 percent increase year-over-year.Looking ahead, Meta plans massive infrastructure investments, with expected capital expenditures of $60-65 billion for 2025, primarily supporting AI initiatives. Total expenses are projected to reach $114-119 billion.”In AI, I expect this is going to be the year when a highly intelligent and personalized AI assistant reaches more than 1 billion people, and I expect Meta AI to be that leading Assistant,” Zuckerberg said.The company expanded its workforce by 10 percent to 74,067 employees in 2024, with plans for further growth in technical roles focused on AI development and infrastructure.Meta last month said it will dismiss 3,600 employees (5 percent of its workforce) identified as low performers, with the intention to bring in new talent to strengthen the company.While Meta’s stock has performed strongly, the company faces both regulatory challenges and emerging competition.The rise of Chinese startup DeepSeek’s more economical AI model has reportedly prompted Meta to establish war rooms to study and potentially adapt the innovations for its own Llama AI models.The company projects first-quarter 2025 revenue between $39.5-41.8 billion, representing growth of 8-15 percent year-over-year.

US President Donald Trump unveiled a surprise plan Wednesday to detain thousands of undocumented migrants in Guantanamo Bay — distracting from spiraling confusion after the White House withdrew a shock order to freeze federal funds.Trump said he had ordered construction of a detention camp to hold up to 30,000 of what he called “criminal illegal aliens” at the notorious military facility on the eastern tip of Cuba, used for holding terrorism suspects since the 9/11 attacks.The plan intensifies the crackdown on illegal immigration that Trump has pledged in his second term, along with a parallel push to transform the US government itself in his right-wing image.That broader goal hit a road bump when the White House sparked confusion by withdrawing a memo ordering a halt on trillions of dollars in federal funds — only to insist minutes later that Trump’s plan remained in “full force.”Speaking as he signed a bill at the White House ordering the pre-trial detention of migrants charged with theft or violence, Trump said the Guantanamo plan would “bring us one step closer to eradicating the scourge of migrant crime.” “We have 30,000 beds in Guantanamo to detain the worst criminal illegal aliens threatening the American people,” said the Republican, adding that it would “double our capacity immediately” to hold undocumented migrants.- ‘Act of brutality’ -The Guantanamo Bay facility currently holds 15 detainees from the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and other operations triggered by the September 11, 2001, attacks. At its peak around 800 people were incarcerated there, drawing widespread condemnation from human rights campaigners.Newly sworn-in Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told Fox News that migrants would not be kept where the remaining 9/11 detainees are and that a golf course could be used to build facilities.Cuba slammed Trump’s plan as an “act of brutality.”Numbers of migrants held in US custody could rise dramatically due to the bipartisan bill that Trump signed on Wednesday, the first since his return to the White House.The Laken Riley Act is named after a 22-year-old US nursing student murdered by a Venezuelan undocumented migrant who was arrested twice before her killing but then released. “Her name will also live forever in the laws of our country,” Trump told the signing ceremony, which was attended by her parents.- Confusion -Trump’s headline-grabbing Guantanamo announcement came shortly after another White House plan descended into confusion.As part of his crusade to shrink government — and eliminate entire segments — Trump had ordered the freezing late Monday of potentially trillions of dollars in grants and loans for programs including health care for millions of low-income Americans.The move — made in an order from White House’s Office of Management and Budget — sparked instant alarm and confusion before a US judge issued a temporary injunction.Following the outcry, the White House’s Office of Management and Budget issued a terse notification Wednesday saying the freezing of aid order had been “rescinded.”Soon after, however, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced that only the memo from the budget office was rescinded — not Trump’s plan. Other orders signed last week for departments to root out “woke” spending remained operative, she said.”This is NOT a rescission of the federal funding freeze” which remains in “full force,” she said on X. She said in a separate statement that it had rescinded the memo to “end any confusion” the judge blocked it.Democrats accuse Trump of constitutional overreach by seeking to stop spending already approved by Congress, which has authority over the US budget.Trump’s attempt to purge the workforce of officials deemed unsupportive saw another radical move Tuesday when he offered most federal workers the option to leave their jobs in exchange for eight months’ severance.Trump doubled down Wednesday, announcing that any government employee who fails to end work-from-home and appear in the office by February 6 “will be terminated.”The administration is also continuing to strip Trump opponents of their security details.Former top US military officer Mark Milley became the latest, having his security detail and security clearance stripped by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, the Pentagon said.

US student test scores in reading and math remain below pre-pandemic levels as a worrying gap continues to widen between high and low performers, officials said Wednesday.The biennial tests of American fourth and eighth graders — correlating roughly to ages nine and 13, respectively — showed improvements in 2024 for some students, but a steady decline for the lowest 10 percent.”The most concerning pattern within our distribution is for our lowest performing students,” Peggy Carr, head of the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), told a press briefing.She said that while the gap between high and low performers had further split across subjects and ages, eighth grade math scores saw its widest difference since the assessment began.The tests were administered in early 2024 to some 235,000 fourth graders and 230,000 eighth graders.The last tests in 2022 sparked alarm, as they showed a significant across-the-board drop in scores from 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic forced most US classes to move online.The length of pandemic school closures quickly became a heated political debate, and ramifications on student performance continue to cause concern.Data released Wednesday showed average fourth grade math scores improved marginally in 2024, while the top 25 percent of performers had returned to 2019 levels.Eighth graders, who would have been in elementary school during the pandemic closures, saw average math scores hold steady below 2019-levels — but while top performers increased marginally, the bottom 10 percent dropped significantly.Reading scores fell for both eighth and fourth graders, the latter of whom would have begun school after the height of the pandemic.”The continued declines since the pandemic suggest we’re facing complex challenges that cannot be fully explained by the impact of COVID-19,” said NCES associate commissioner Daniel McGrath in a statement.The proportion of eighth graders failing a benchmark reading test was the highest since figures first were collected in 1992, while only one state out of 50, Louisiana, had better reading performance for primary school students than before the pandemic.”I think it obviously comes to mind that we should be looking at what social media and the rise of the screen-based childhood is doing for reading habits and reading skills,” Martin West, a member of the testing board and Harvard education professor, told the press briefing.The pandemic schools closures prompted fierce political debate in the United States, with Democrats generally more cautious in ending so-called remote learning, while Republicans sought to quickly return students to in-person classes.Bill Cassidy, the top Republican on the Senate education committee, blasted the former administration of Democratic president Joe Biden and vice president Kamala Harris for the falling scores.”The most vulnerable children were hurt the most. This will be the failed legacy of the Biden-Harris education policy,” he said in a statement.

Tesla reported lower than expected profits Wednesday, citing declining vehicle prices as a factor as it projected a return to volume growth in 2025.Elon Musk’s electric car company reported fourth-quarter profits of $2.3 billion, down 71 percent from the year-ago quarter, where profits were boosted by a one-time tax benefit.Revenues rose two percent to $25.7 billion, also missing analyst estimates. The results — the first since the return of Musk ally Donald Trump to the White House — capped a mixed year for Tesla in which Musk’s big bet on US electoral politics was countered by profit pressures as Tesla’s streak of annual car volume growth came to an end.Full-year auto sales fell one percent to just under 1.8 million vehicles.Tesla has been confronted by intensifying EV competition in leading markets, including China and the United States, where General Motors and Ford have introduced more models.Another factor has been lower than expected volumes from the Cybertruck, Musk’s futuristic auto giant that has won cheers from Tesla fans and jeers from critics.But Tesla expects growth in 2025.”With the advancements in vehicle autonomy and the introduction of new products, we expect the vehicle business to return to growth in 2025,” Tesla said. “The rate of growth will depend on a variety of factors, including the rate of acceleration of our autonomy efforts, production ramp at our factories and the broader macroeconomic environment.”The company also confirmed plans to unveil new, more affordable vehicles in 2025 and described as on track the launch this year of a new robotaxi venture in parts of the United States.Tesla watchers have been keen to hear more details from Musk on new vehicles and the latest projections on production. In October, Musk said he expected auto sales to increase 20 to 30 percent in 2025.There is also much curiosity about how Musk’s alliance with Trump — part of the billionaire’s increasingly assertive advocacy on behalf of far-right politicians worldwide — will affect Tesla.But among the deluge of opening-day White House executive orders, Trump last week took direct aim at EVs, vowing to undo policies that disadvantage gasoline-powered cars and signaling a potential rollback of US tax credits for EVs.Yet shares of Tesla have surged since the election. Market watchers believe Tesla could benefit from new policies from Washington to promote autonomous driving, which Musk has described as a potentially huge market for his company.- ‘Seminal’ year -Thus far, Tesla driver-assistance programs like “autopilot” and “full self-driving” (FSD) have lagged other companies, such as Waymo, in achieving driverless functionality without human supervision.On Wednesday, Tesla described 2025 as a “seminal” year for the company in terms of the venture.”FSD (Supervised) continues to rapidly improve with the aim of ultimately exceeding human levels of safety,” Tesla said. “This will eventually unlock an unsupervised FSD option for our customers and the Robotaxi business, which we expect to begin launching later this year in parts of the US.”Shares of Tesla rose 3.3 percent in after-hours trading.

Detectives in New York released video on Wednesday of a group suspected of stealing a parked subway train and taking it on a joyride.The grainy black-and-white footage shows several apparently young people moving through a parked, empty metro train.Police say the six suspects managed to board and operate the train that was parked in a siding in Queens, getting into the driver’s cab and moving it a short distance.The joyriders then posted video of their crime on social media, it was reported.The theft was uncovered on Saturday night and there were no injuries, police said, calling the incident “reckless endangerment.””New York City Transit is working with the NYPD on their investigation of this incident,” transit authority spokesman Eugene Resnick said.   The theft will leave police commanders red-faced as they flood the subway with officers in a deployment that will see authorities attempt to patrol every late-night train service to drive down crime. The weekend incident was not the first case of a New York train being taken, with a similar case reported in January 2024.

President Donald Trump has announced that the United States will hold migrants at the notorious Guantanamo military detention facility in Cuba as part of his administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration.While it is primarily known for holding suspects accused of terrorism-related offenses, Trump ordered the preparation of a 30,000-person “migrant facility” that he said will be used to “detain the worst criminal illegal aliens threatening the American people.”Below, AFP examines key facts about Guantanamo.- Decades of detention -The Guantanamo Bay military prison was opened in January 2002 on a US Naval base on a coastal spit of land in southeastern Cuba, leased from Havana under a treaty dating back to 1903.The detention facility was set up after the September 11, 2001 attacks under the administration of then-president George W. Bush to deal with prisoners who were termed “enemy combatants” and denied many US legal rights.Democratic presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden both sought to close the facility, but Congress has opposed efforts to shutter Guantanamo and it remains open to this day.- Past detention of migrants -The New York Times reported in September 2024 that the Guantanamo military base had also been used for decades by the United States to detain migrants intercepted at sea, but in an area separate from that used to hold those accused of terrorism.A relatively small number of migrants have been detained at the facility — the Times reported that just 37 migrants were held there from 2020 to 2023 — but that could increase dramatically following Trump’s announcement.Trump has launched what his second administration is casting as a major crackdown on illegal migration, trumpeting immigration raids and arrests and deportations on military aircraft.- 15 remaining inmates -Of the roughly 800 people detained on suspicion of militant activity or terrorism-related offenses who have been held at Guantanamo since early 2002, only 15 inmates currently remain, following the release of a number of detainees toward the end of Biden’s administration.Three of the 15 are eligible for transfer, three are eligible for a review for possible release, seven are facing charges and two have been convicted and sentenced, the Defense Department said earlier this month when it announced the release of 11 Yemenis who had been held there.- Notorious detainees -Guantanamo houses several accused plotters of the 9/11 attacks, among them self-proclaimed mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.Its inmates also include the man accused of masterminding the attack on the USS Cole in 2000, Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri. He was captured in 2002 and transferred to Guantanamo in 2006.- Human rights concerns -The conditions at Guantanamo Bay have prompted consistent outcry from rights groups, and UN experts have condemned it as a site of “unparalleled notoriety.”Among the controversies to emerge from Guantanamo was the practice of force-feeding inmates on hunger strike. The US military defended it as a necessary medical treatment, but critics likened it to torture.Dubbed “enteral feeding,” the process involves inserting a tube up an inmate’s nose and into his stomach, then pumping in liquid nutrient.

Microsoft on Wednesday reported profits of $24.1 billion in the recently ended quarter, but shares slid on worries over its vital cloud computing business.Microsoft revenue grew to $69.6 billion and the amount of money taken in by its “intelligence cloud” unit climbed to $25.5 billion but the market had expected more.Shares slipped slightly in after-market trades.Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella spotlighted the tech titan’s artificial intelligence investments in the earnings release, saying the company is “innovating across our tech stack” to unlock the ability for customers to make money from artificial intelligence offerings.Nadella said Microsoft’s AI business is on pace to bring in more than $13 billion annually in a near tripling of the rate a year earlier.The Redmond-based company has been at the forefront of the generative AI revolution, largely thanks to its partnership with OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT.The company has rolled out AI features at a furious pace, mainly under its Copilot brand, leaving investors hopeful for a return on investment from the expensive technology.The company is on track to pump about $80 billion into artificial intelligence (AI) this fiscal year, according to Microsoft president Brad Smith.Smith contended AI is poised to transform all aspects of life, and it is imperative that the United States be the global leader when it comes to the technology, he wrote in an online post.”In many ways, artificial intelligence is the electricity of our age, and the next four years can build a foundation for America’s economic success for the next quarter century,” Smith said.China and the United States are racing to spread their AI systems to other countries in an effort to become the de facto standard, according to Smith.”The Chinese wisely recognize that if a country standardizes on China’s AI platform, it likely will continue to rely on that platform in the future,” Smith said.The emergence of the DeepSeek chatbot has sent Silicon Valley into a frenzy, with calls to go faster on advancing artificial intelligence and beat communist-led China before it is too late. Despite US government efforts to maintain AI supremacy through export controls on advanced chips, DeepSeek has found ways to achieve comparable results using authorized, less sophisticated Nvidia semiconductors.For its part, Microsoft is on pace to invest about $80 billion this year to build out AI datacenters, train AI models and deploy cloud-based applications around the world, according to Smith.Microsoft’s 2025 fiscal year ends at the close of June.Microsoft rivals Amazon, Google and OpenAI have also been spending billions of dollars on AI even though it remains unclear how and when they expect to profit from those investments.