AFP USA

Powerful winds forecast for late Tuesday night threatened to whip up massive fires that are still burning around Los Angeles in a tragedy that has killed at least 24 people and badly shaken the city.A week after blazes erupted and spread uncontained, forecasters predicted “particularly dangerous” Santa Ana winds would spike the wildfire threat anew for already exhausted firefighters.”Stay aware of your surroundings. Be ready to evacuate. Avoid anything that can spark a fire,” the National Weather Service warned.A large part of Southern California was under a Red Flag warning, indicating that intense dryness and furious winds gusting up to 70 miles (110 kilometers) an hour would make conditions ripe for wildfire.Part of Los Angeles County and much of neighboring Ventura County were in a “Particularly Dangerous Situation,” according to the NWS, its highest warning designation that was also declared before last week’s deadly blazes. “All the plants and vegetation is really dry and ready to burn so… fires can grow pretty fast,” meteorologist Ryan Kittell told AFP.Forecasters said peak winds were now expected between 3am (1100 GMT) and 3pm (2300 GMT) on Wednesday. The Palisades and Eaton fires — both of which are still burning in places — could flare up, and new ignitions could quickly turn problematic, Kittell said.Officials insisted they were poised for any renewed threats, particularly around the existing burn sites, after hydrants ran dry in the initial firefight.”Please be assured that the Los Angeles County region is prepared,” fire chief Anthony Marrone said.”We have checked the water system in the Eaton fire area, and it is operational, meaning that we have water and we have pressure.”The renewed danger comes with 24,000 acres (9,700 hectares) of the upmarket Pacific Palisades in ruins and 14,000 acres (5,700 hectares) of the community of Altadena badly charred.Gusting winds were also whipping up toxic ash, with health officials urging everyone to wear a mask.”Ash is not just dirt,” said Anish Mahajan of the LA County Public Health Department. “It’s hazardous fine dust that can irritate or harm your respiratory system and other parts of your body where it lands.”California Governor Gavin Newsom on Tuesday ordered debris removal teams to be on standby, as emergency managers look ahead to possible winter rainstorms that could provoke mudlsides.- ‘It was just a war’ -Around 88,000 people remain displaced. For those whose homes survived, there is frustration about not being able to return.For others, there is nothing left.”We all left with the clothes on our back,” Sonja Jackson told the Los Angeles Times as she waited in line for government help.”We thought we’d be able to come back in the morning. We didn’t think the fires were gonna do what they did.”Among the desperation, there were stories of fortitude.Jeff Ridgway told AFP how he had refused to abandon the apartment complex he manages, defending it against the fires by hauling buckets of water from the pool.”It was just a war,” the 67-year-old said, pointing to a charred eucalyptus tree he extinguished when it threatened the building last week.”But I was just stubborn. I was like: ‘I’m not going to be defeated by you. I’m sorry, this is just not gonna happen.'”- ‘Terrible’ -Search teams using cadaver dogs have been scouring the rubble for days in the hunt for dozens of people still unaccounted for, with Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna saying 1,800 homes were searched on Monday.”The good news was that no other remains were found yesterday. Hopefully that happens again today,” he said.”We don’t want the death toll to continue to go up.”Late night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel was back on the air Monday night after having to evacuate his studio last week when a blaze erupted in the Hollywood Hills, just a few hundred meters (yards) away.”It’s been a very scary, very stressful, very strange week here in LA, where we work, where we live, where our kids go to school,” an emotional Kimmel told his audience.”It’s been terrible. Everyone who lives in this city knows someone… whose house has burned down. And the truth is we don’t even know if it’s over.”With so many in dire straits, the city was clutching for any sliver of good news, with some taking refuge in local sports teams who were back in action.The Los Angeles Rams dominated the Minnesota Vikings in an NFL play-off game to take them one step closer to the Super Bowl, cheered on by fans brandishing flags and signs thanking firefighters.”We knew what we were playing for,” Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford said. “It’s a tough time. We’re just happy that we came out and played like this tonight to get (fans) something to be happy about.”

Stock markets moved in different directions Tuesday with traders’ attention fixed on President-elect Donald Trump’s tariff plans, earnings updates and inflation data.A report suggesting Trump could impose import tariffs more slowly than initially feared provided support and put a cap on the dollar’s latest surge.However, traders remain concerned that his pledges to cut taxes, regulations and immigration will revive inflation.Market watchers have slashed their expectations on how many times the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates through 2025 to one.But some fear the Fed’s next move could even be a rate hike owing to still-sticky inflation and concerns over Trump’s policies.Data on Tuesday showed US wholesale inflation for December was lower than expected, with no change in the Producer Price Index over the month when volatile food and energy prices are excluded. Wall Street’s three main indexes opened higher, but moved in a choppy fashion thereafter. The Dow and S&P 500 finished with modest gains, while the Nasdaq retreated.Investors will be paying more attention to US and UK consumer price inflation data due on Wednesday, while American bank earnings will also be in focus.Investors are especially keen to  hear the companies’ expectations for the incoming Trump administration in Washington. JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs are among the companies reporting results.”There’s a lot of interest … in how they see the future,” Art Hogan of B. Riley Wealth Management said of expectations that Trump could ease bank regulation.In Europe, Frankfurt and Paris finished the day with gains but London slipped.In Asia, Hong Kong and Shanghai rallied as China’s securities regulator said it was looking at ways to provide more stability to markets.This followed another run of poor performances sparked by worries over the world-number-two economy and Trump’s threatened tariffs.The dollar traded mixed against major peers after Bloomberg reported that members of Trump’s team were looking at an initially limited increase in tariffs to boost their negotiating hand and tamper inflationary pressures.Oil prices pulled back following a series of gains.Among individual companies, Boeing fell 2.1 percent as the planemaker disclosed it had delivered just 348 commercial planes in 2024 following a labor strike and safety setbacks.Eli Lilly dropped 6.6 percent after it said 2024 revenues would be lower than previously thought.- Key figures around 2130 GMT -New York – Dow: UP 0.5 percent at 42,518.28 (close)New York – S&P: UP 0.1 percent at 5,842.91 (close)New York – Nasdaq Composite: DOWN 0.2 percent at 19,044.39 (close)London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.3 percent at 8,201.54 (close)Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.2 percent at 7,423.67 (close)Frankfurt – DAX: UP 0.7 percent at 20,271.33 (close)Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.8 percent at 38,474.30 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 1.8 percent at 19,219.78 (close)Shanghai – Composite: UP 2.5 percent at 3,240.94 (close)Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0310 from $1.0245 on MondayPound/dollar: UP at $1.2211 from $1.2202Dollar/yen: UP at 157.98 yen from 157.48 yenEuro/pound: UP at 84.40 pence from 83.96 penceWest Texas Intermediate: DOWN 1.7 percent at $77.50 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 1.4 percent at $79.92 per barrelburs-jmb/des

Meta plans to dismiss approximately 3,600 employees identified as low performers and replace them with new hires, according to an internal memo reported by Bloomberg on Tuesday.The company, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, confirmed to AFP that CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s decision will affect five percent of its workforce. Meta had approximately 72,400 employees as of September.”I’ve decided to raise the bar on performance management and move out low-performers faster,” Zuckerberg said.The CEO said the performance-based cuts are intended to ensure that the company has the “strongest talent” and is able to “bring new people in.”Performance-based dismissals are a common practice among major US corporations. Microsoft announced similar cuts last week affecting less than one percent of its workforce, Business Insider reported.The layoffs come amid broader changes at Meta, in advance of Donald Trump returning to the White House on January 20.Zuckerberg has recently aligned more closely with conservative ideas and political figures, including having dinner meetings with Trump and nominating a Republican as Meta’s head of public affairs.Last week, Zuckerberg announced the end of the company’s US fact-checking program that aimed to combat misinformation on its platforms. The program had faced criticism from conservative voices who viewed it as censorship.Under the new system, users will be able to add context to posts, similar to features on X, formerly Twitter, and championed by Elon Musk, the platform’s owner.The company has also scaled back its diversity initiatives and relaxed content moderation rules on Facebook and Instagram, particularly regarding certain forms of hostile speech.

The head of the left-leaning US news channel MSNBC has quit, a source at the network told AFP Tuesday, just days before Donald Trump returns to the White House threatening to silence critical coverage.Major US media groups are watching Trump’s return with mounting concern as the Republican has called for networks broadcasting unfavorable material to be taken off the air or have their licenses stripped.A source briefed on the departure insisted that the exit of Rashida Jones, the first Black woman to run a major US cable news operation, was not linked to an expected post-election ratings dip. And Jones was not pushed, the source added.”(Jones) has made the decision to step down as president of MSNBC after an extraordinary tenure leading the network,” Mark Lazarus, chairman of NBCUniversal Media Group, MSNBC’s parent, wrote in a memo to staff seen by AFP.Jones, in the post since February 2021, said in her own memo to colleagues that she would stay on for the next few months to support her successor Rebecca Kutler, previously the channel’s content strategy supremo.MSNBC has defined itself in recent years with a highly critical line on Trump, overtaking cable news stalwart CNN to become the second most-watched US channel — but trailing conservative favorite Fox News, a gap that widened in the final weeks of the 2024 presidential campaign.Jones’s exit comes as MSNBC’s overall parent company Comcast seeks to spin off its cable channels into a company separate from its entertainment division, the jewel in the crown of which is DreamWorks Pictures.- Media pressure -As well as threatening action against the media companies themselves, Trump has said he wants to go after journalists personally.He has also suggested that journalists who refuse to give up the sources of stories damaging to the president-elect and his incoming administration could be jailed, along with their editors and publishers.His most aggressive threats could be difficult to pursue given constitutionally enshrined media protections, but costly lawsuits could prove a drain on some news organizations. Some companies have already appeared to take on a deferential posture toward the incoming administration.In mid-December, the ABC News network, owned by Disney Group, agreed to pay $15 million in damages to resolve defamation lawsuits brought by Trump, linked to its reporting on litigation against the incoming president.Days later, Trump sued a local newspaper, the Des Moines Register, and a pollster who had predicted ahead of the election that he would lose the state of Iowa.In a surprise move that drew criticism from viewers and pundits, former Republican Joe Scarborough and his wife Mika Brzezinski, hosts of MSNBC’s flagship “Morning Joe” program, visited the president-elect at his luxurious Mar-a-Lago residence the day after his win.

Donald Trump would have been convicted for his “criminal efforts” to retain power after the 2020 election if the case had not been dropped because of his November White House victory, special counsel Jack Smith said Tuesday.In a 137-page final report on the results of his historic prosecution of the former and future president, Smith laid out the evidence amassed against the 78-year-old Trump.”But for Mr Trump’s election and imminent return to the Presidency, the (Special Counsel’s) Office assessed that the admissible evidence was sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction at trial,” he said.Smith, who was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland, brought two federal cases against Trump — for seeking to overturn the results of the election he lost to Joe Biden and mishandling top secret documents after leaving the White House.Neither case came to trial and Smith dropped the charges in line with a Justice Department policy of not prosecuting a sitting president.This new stinging rebuke from Smith means Trump will have something of a cloud hanging over him as he takes the oath of office Monday at the Capitol, ground zero of the insurrection he inspired after losing the 2020 election.But it falls far short of the punishment which Trump critics had hoped for from at least one of four indictments against him.In the end, after years of legal wrangling that Trump survived first by delaying tactics and ultimately by winning re-election, this is about all Trump critics can point to as justice — the special prosecutor’s assertion that, had Trump gone to trial in the election subversion case, he would have been found guilty.Specifically, Trump was charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States and conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding — the session of Congress held to certify Biden’s win that was violently attacked on January 6, 2021 by a mob of Trump supporters.In his report, Smith accused Trump of using “fraud and deceit” to overturn the election results.”When it became clear that Mr Trump had lost the election and that lawful means of challenging the election results had failed, he resorted to a series of criminal efforts to retain power,” the special counsel said.”This included attempts to induce state officials to ignore true vote counts (and) to manufacture fraudulent slates of presidential electors in seven states that he had lost,” Smith said.”Trump engaged in these efforts even though trusted state and party officials had told him from the outset that there was no evidence of fraud in the election.”Trump unsuccessfully pressured vice president Mike Pence not to certify the election results, Smith said, and on January 6 he directed “an angry mob to the United States Capitol.”Trump’s untruths included dozens of demonstrably false claims that large numbers of ineligible voters, such as non-citizens, had cast ballots, and that voting machines had changed votes, the special counsel said.- ‘Laughable’ -Trump lashed out at Smith following the release of the report, calling him “deranged” and claiming his prosecution was politically motivated.”Jack is a lamebrain prosecutor who was unable to get his case tried before the Election, which I won in a landslide. THE VOTERS HAVE SPOKEN!!!” Trump said.Smith flatly rejected the allegations of political bias in a letter to Garland that accompanied his final report.”The claim from Mr Trump that my decisions as a prosecutor were influenced or directed by the Biden administration or other political actors is, in a word, laughable,” he said.Trump’s lawyers tried but failed to block the report’s release, calling it “undertaken in bad faith, and contrary to the public interest.”Smith has also prepared a report into Trump’s mishandling of classified documents but it is being withheld because charges are pending against two of his former co-defendants.Smith, a former war crimes prosecutor in the Hague, resigned from the Justice Department last week after submitting his final reports.Trump faces separate racketeering charges in Georgia over his efforts to subvert the election results in the southern state but the case will likely be frozen while he is in office.Trump was convicted in New York in May of falsifying business records to cover up hush money payments to a porn star. The judge who presided over the case gave him an “unconditional discharge” last week which carries no jail time, fine or probation.

Stock markets moved in different directions on Tuesday with traders’ attention fixed on President-elect Donald Trump’s tariff plans, earnings updates and inflation data.A report suggesting Trump could impose import tariffs more slowly than initially feared provided support and put a cap on the dollar’s latest surge.However, traders remain concerned that his pledges to cut taxes, regulations and immigration will revive inflation.Traders have slashed their expectations on how many times the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates through 2025 to one.But some fear the Fed’s next move could even be a rate hike owing to still-sticky inflation and concerns over Trump’s policies.Data on Tuesday showed US wholesale inflation for December was lower than expected, with no change in the Producer Price Index over the month when volatile food and energy prices are excluded. Wall Street’s three main indexes all opened higher, but failed to hold onto their early gains, with a rise in US bond yields dragging on sentiment.Investors will be paying more attention to US and UK consumer price inflation data due on Wednesday.”With rate expectations now the driving force behind market moves, key inflation data midweek will continue to shape the narrative for the early parts of 2025,” noted Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.In Europe, Frankfurt and Paris finished the day with gains but London slipped.In Asia, Hong Kong and Shanghai rallied as China’s securities regulator said it was looking at ways to provide more stability to markets.This followed another run of poor performances sparked by worries over the world number two economy and Trump’s threatened tariffs.- Dollar mixed -The dollar traded mixed against major peers Tuesday after Bloomberg reported that members of Trump’s team were looking at an initially limited increase in tariffs to boost their negotiating hand and tamper inflationary pressures.Traders had been spooked when he said soon after his re-election that he would impose huge levies on China, Canada and Mexico as soon as he took office.The pound remained stuck close to lows not seen since the end of 2023. The euro was near its weakest since late 2022, with fears it could return to parity with the dollar.The yen edged up against the greenback as the yield of Japan’s 40-year government bond hit its highest since being launched in 2007, with debate returning to whether the country’s central bank will hike interest rates at next week’s policy meeting.Eyes were also on earnings. In London, shares in retailer JD Sports slumped 6.4 percent after it warned on profits. Energy giant BP shed 2.5 percent on a weak trading update, capping gains on the benchmark FTSE 100 index.On the upside, Paris was lifted by rising share prices of French banks. “This earnings season will set the tone for financial stocks in 2025, but the stakes are high,” said Charu Chanana, chief investment strategist at Saxo Markets.”Even with solid fourth-quarter results, the macro backdrop — characterised by lingering inflation concerns, steeper yields, and recalibrated Fed expectations — may weigh on sentiment.”- Key figures around 1630 GMT -New York – Dow: UP less than 0.1 percent at 42,335.87 pointsNew York – S&P: DOWN less than 0.1 percent at 5,834.16New York – Nasdaq Composite: DOWN less than 0.1 percent at 19,070.14London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.3 percent at 8,201.54 (close)Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.2 percent at 7,423.67 (close)Frankfurt – DAX: UP 0.7 percent at 20,271.33 (close)Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.8 percent at 38,474.30 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 1.8 percent at 19,219.78 (close)Shanghai – Composite: UP 2.5 percent at 3,240.94 (close)Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0289 from $1.0224 on MondayPound/dollar: UP at $1.2195 from $1.2180Dollar/yen: UP at 158.05 yen from 157.65 yenEuro/pound: UP at 84.36 pence from 83.90 penceWest Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.6 percent at $76.81 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.6 percent at $80.51 per barrelburs-rl/gv

US flags will fly at full-staff at the Capitol during Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration, the leader of the House of Representatives announced Tuesday, after he complained about having them lowered to honor late president Jimmy Carter.The flags were ordered to be at half-staff for the 30 days following Carter’s death on December 29 but Trump took to his social media to accuse Democrats of being “giddy” about the solemn tribute because “they don’t love our country.”President Joe Biden’s press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre responded by insisting the White House would not reverse the plan but Mike Johnson, who leads the ultra-loyal Republican majority as speaker of the House, relented. “On January 20, the flags at the Capitol will fly at full-staff to celebrate our country coming together behind the inauguration of our 47th President, Donald Trump,” Johnson said in a statement.”The flags will be lowered back to half-staff the following day to continue honoring President Jimmy Carter,” he added.Pictures shared on social media and purported to have been taken Monday showed a US flag flying at full-staff at Trump’s oceanfront Mar-a-Lago estate in southern Florida.Carter, the 39th president, was 100 when he died, making him the longest-lived president in the nation’s history. A 1950s presidential proclamation states that, for a sitting or former president, flags will be lowered on all federal buildings for 30 days. 

Confirmation hearings for Donald Trump’s cabinet nominees kicked off Tuesday with his controversial Pentagon pick, Pete Hegseth, a former Fox News host dogged by sexual assault allegations and no experience leading large organizations.Senate Republicans are keen for Trump’s national security nominees to be confirmed quickly and Democrats may agree to fast-track some. But they are determined to throw up roadblocks in front of candidates they see as unfit.Hegseth, a former Army National Guard officer, has argued that US military effectiveness has been undermined by efforts aimed at promoting diversity in the ranks, and has said that women should not serve in combat.”When President Trump chose me for this position, the primary charge he gave me was to bring the warrior culture back to the Department of Defense,” Hegseth said at the opening of his confirmation hearing.”He, like me, wants a Pentagon laser-focused on lethality, meritocracy, warfighting, accountability, and readiness,” he said in remarks interrupted by pro-Palestinian protesters.Democrats on the committee have highlighted major concerns about Hegseth, from his personal conduct to his ability to lead the Pentagon, a massive bureaucracy that employs more than three million people.Senator Jack Reed — the committee’s ranking Democrat — put it bluntly in his opening statement: “Mr Hegseth, I do not believe that you are qualified to meet the overwhelming demands of this job.””We must acknowledge the concerning public reports against you. A variety of sources — including your own writings — implicate you with disregarding the laws of war, financial mismanagement, racist and sexist remarks about men and women in uniform, alcohol abuse, sexual assault, sexual harassment, and other troubling issues,” Reed said.- More fiery hearings -Asked by Republican Senator Roger Wicker, the committee chair, about allegations Hegseth has faced, he claimed there was a “coordinated smear campaign” against him.”I’m not a perfect person, but redemption is real,” Hegseth said.He can only afford three Republican rejections and still be confirmed, should every Democrat and independent vote against him.But he has maintained Trump’s support while the excoriating headlines have multiplied, and Senate Republicans appear open to hearing him out.Former Democratic congresswoman turned Trumpist Tulsi Gabbard, who was tapped for director of national intelligence, is another candidate whose lack of qualifications and experience have raised alarm bells, as well as her attitudes toward US adversaries.Gabbard met then Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in 2017 and declared him “not the enemy.” She has also voiced sympathy for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.Opposition appears to be softening however after she flipped her stance to support a controversial government intelligence-gathering program that she tried to repeal in 2020. Some pressure on the nominees is expected from both sides of the aisle, especially for Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump’s nominee for secretary of health and human services and an anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist.But former Florida senator and foreign policy hawk Marco Rubio, Trump’s pick for secretary of state, is a sure bet with bipartisan support, and will likely be confirmed before Trump takes office on January 20.Rubio gets his hearing Wednesday, along with homeland security secretary nominee Kristi Noem, attorney general nominee Pam Bondi and CIA pick John Ratcliffe, who has been confirmed by the Senate before as director of national intelligence.Bondi was Trump’s second choice after his initial pick, former Florida congressman Matt Gaetz, withdrew from consideration after facing sexual misconduct and drug allegations.Some of the most potentially fiery hearings are yet to be scheduled, including for Kennedy and Kash Patel, Trump’s nominee to run the FBI.Patel — a conspiracy theorist who vowed in a podcast that Trump would “come after” journalists, lawyers and judges he believes haven’t treated him fairly — is not expected to get his confirmation hearing until February.

The United States finalized a rule Tuesday effectively barring Chinese technology from cars in the American market, taking aim at software and hardware from the world’s second biggest economy over national security risks.The announcement, which also pertains to Russian technology, comes as outgoing President Joe Biden wraps up efforts to step up curbs on China, and after a months-long regulatory process.The rule follows an announcement this month that Washington is mulling new restrictions to address risks posed by drones with tech from adversaries like China and Russia.”Cars today aren’t just steel on wheels — they’re computers,” said Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.She noted that modern vehicles contain cameras, microphones, GPS tracking and other technologies connected to the internet.”This is a targeted approach to ensure we keep PRC and Russian-manufactured technologies off American roads,” she added, referring to the People’s Republic of China.The final rule currently applies just to passenger vehicles under 10,001 pounds, said the US Commerce Department.It plans, however, to issue separate rulemaking aimed at tech in commercial vehicles like trucks and buses “in the near future.”For now, Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer BYD, for example, has a facility in California producing buses and other vehicles.National Economic Advisor Lael Brainard added that “China is trying to dominate the future of the auto industry.”But she said connected vehicles containing software and hardware systems linked to foreign rivals could result in misuse of sensitive data or interference.- ‘Nexus’ to China -Under the latest rule, even if a passenger car were US-made, manufacturers with “a sufficient nexus” to China or Russia will not be allowed to sell such new vehicles incorporating hardware and software for external connectivity and autonomous driving.This prohibition on sales takes effect for model year 2027.The restriction also bans the import of the hardware and software if they are linked to Beijing or Moscow.The software curbs take effect for model year 2027 while the hardware controls come into play for model year 2030.Just a day earlier, Washington announced fresh export rules on chips used for AI, furthering efforts to make it hard for China and other rivals to access the technology.The restrictions also tightened rules surrounding the sharing of cutting-edge AI models.Washington has expanded efforts in recent years to curb exports of state-of-the-art chips to China, which can be used in AI and weapons systems, as Beijing’s tech advancements spark concern among US policymakers.But the rollout of many plans will fall to incoming President-elect Donald Trump, whose return to the White House early next week promises a raft of changes to government policies.On Monday, Biden urged the Trump administration not to cede AI dominance to China.”We must not offshore artificial intelligence, as we once did with computer chips and other critical technologies,” Biden said in an address at the State Department.”We are in the lead, and we must stay in the lead,” he added, saying it should be Washington and its closest allies at the frontier of this technology.US efforts to restrict Chinese tech come as American officials work to boost its domestic industries as well.On Tuesday, Biden issued an executive order to accelerate the pace at which infrastructure for artificial intelligence development can be built in the country.”We will not let America be out-built when it comes to the technology that will define the future,” said Biden in a statement.But the US actions could attract Beijing’s retaliation, with the Chinese Commerce Ministry already calling Monday’s AI-related export curbs “a flagrant violation” of international trade rules.”China will take necessary measures to firmly safeguard its legitimate rights and interests,” the ministry said.

Stock markets mostly rose Tuesday with traders’ attention fixed on President-elect Donald Trump’s tariff plans, earnings updates and upcoming inflation data.A report suggesting Trump could slowly hike import tariffs provided support and put a cap on the dollar’s latest surge.However, traders remain concerned that his pledges to cut taxes, regulations and immigration continue to dampen sentiment with warnings that the measures will revive inflation.Traders have slashed their expectations on how many times the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates through 2025 to one.But some fear the Fed’s next move could even be a rate hike owing to still-sticky inflation and concerns over Trump’s policies.Data on Tuesday showed US wholesale inflation for December was lower than expected, with no change in the Producer Price Index over the month when volatile food and energy prices are excluded. Wall Street’s three main indexes all opened higher.Investors will be paying more attention to US and UK consumer price inflation data due on Wednesday.”With rate expectations now the driving force behind market moves, key inflation data midweek will continue to shape the narrative for the early parts of 2025,” noted Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.European stock markets were mostly higher in afternoon trading.In Asia, Hong Kong and Shanghai rallied as China’s securities regulator said it was looking at ways to provide more stability to markets.This followed another run of poor performances sparked by worries over the world number two economy and Trump’s threatened tariffs.- Dollar mixed -The dollar traded mixed against major peers Tuesday after Bloomberg reported that members of Trump’s team were looking at a gradual increase in tariffs to boost their negotiating hand and tamper inflationary pressures.Traders were spooked when he said soon after his re-election that he would impose huge levies on China, Canada and Mexico as soon as he took office.The pound remained stuck close to levels not seen since the end of 2023. The euro was near its weakest since late 2022, with fears it could return to parity with the dollar.The yen edged up against the greenback as the yield of Japan’s 40-year government bond hit its highest since being launched in 2007, with debate returning to whether the country’s central bank will hike interest rates at next week’s policy meeting.Eyes were also on earnings. In London, shares in retailer JD Sports slumped 7.3 percent after it warned on profits. Energy giant BP shed 2.1 percent on a weak trading update, capping gains on the benchmark FTSE 100 index.On the upside, Paris was lifted by rising share prices of French banks. “This earnings season will set the tone for financial stocks in 2025, but the stakes are high,” said Charu Chanana, chief investment strategist at Saxo Markets.”Even with solid fourth-quarter results, the macro backdrop — characterised by lingering inflation concerns, steeper yields, and recalibrated Fed expectations — may weigh on sentiment.”- Key figures around 1430 GMT -New York – Dow: UP 0.4 percent at 42,473.55 pointsNew York – S&P: UP 0.5 percent at 5,863.70New York – Nasdaq Composite: UP 0.7 percent at 19,212.80London – FTSE 100: UP less than 0.1 percent at 8,218.15Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.7 percent at 7,463.15Frankfurt – DAX: UP 0.8 percent at 20,297.87Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.8 percent at 38,474.30 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 1.8 percent at 19,219.78 (close)Shanghai – Composite: UP 2.5 percent at 3,240.94 (close)Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0267 from $1.0224 on MondayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2158 from $1.2180Dollar/yen: UP at 157.79 yen from 157.65 yenEuro/pound: UP at 84.44 pence from 83.90 penceWest Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.7 percent at $76.78 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.7 percent at $80.42 per barrelburs-rl/lth