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A catastrophic collapse of healthcare services in Malawi a year after US funding cuts is undoing a decade of progress against HIV/AIDS, providers warn, leaving some of the most vulnerable feeling like “living dead”.In the impoverished southern Africa country, the US government’s decision to slash foreign aid in January 2025 has led to significant cuts in HIV treatments, a spike in pregnancies and a return to discrimination.Chisomo Nkwanga, an HIV-positive man who lives in the northern town of Mzuzu, told AFP that the end of US-funded specialised care was like a death sentence.After his normal provider of life-saving antiretroviral therapy (ART) vanished due to budget cuts, he turned to a public hospital.”The healthcare worker shouted at me in front of others,” Nkwanga recalled. “They said, ‘You gay, you are now starting to patronise our hospitals because the whites who supported your evil behaviour have stopped?'””I gave up,” he said, trembling. “I am a living dead.”More than one million of aid-dependent Malawi’s roughly 22 million people live with HIV and the United States previously provided 60 percent of its HIV treatment budget.Globally, researchers estimate that hundreds of thousands of preventable deaths have been caused by the Trump administration’s dismantling of US foreign aid, which has upended humanitarian efforts to fight HIV, malaria and tuberculosis in some of the world’s poorest regions.- Lay offs, panic -In Malawi, the drying up of support from USAID and the flagship US anti-HIV programme, PEPFAR, has left a “system in panic”, said Gift Trapence, executive director of the Centre for the Development of People (CEDEP).”The funding cut came on such short notice that we couldn’t prepare or engage existing service providers,” Trapence told AFP.”We had to lay off staff… we closed two drop-in centres and maintained two on skeleton staff,” he said. “We did this because we knew that if we closed completely, we would be closing everything for the LGBTI community.”The Family Planning Association of Malawi (FPAM) non-government organisation, a cornerstone of rural healthcare, has been forced to ground the mobile clinics that served as the only medical link for remote villages.”We had two big grants that were supporting our work, particularly in areas where there were no other service providers,” said executive director Donald Makwakwa.”We are likely to lose out on all the successes that we have registered over the years,” he said.A resident of a village once served by FPAM told AFP there had been an explosion in unplanned pregnancies when the family planning provider stopped work.”I know of nearly 25 girls in my village who got pregnant when FPAM suspended its services here last year,” said Maureen Maseko at a clinic on the brink of collapse.- Progress undone -For over a decade, Malawi’s fight against AIDS relied on “peer navigators” and drop-in centres that supported people with HIV and ensured they followed treatment.With the funding for these services gone, the default rate for people taking the HIV preventative drug PrEP hit 80 percent in districts like Blantyre, according to a report by the CEDEP.”This is a crisis waiting to happen,” the report quoted former district healthcare coordinator Fyness Jere as saying. “When people stop taking PrEP, we increase the chances of new HIV infections… we are undoing a decade of progress in months,” she said.Trapence noted that without specialised support, thousands of patients had simply disappeared from the medical grid.”We lost everything, including the structures that were supporting access… treatment and care,” he said.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Tuesday rejected the idea that European governments could aggressively sell American debt to counter Washington’s threats over Greenland, saying such a move would “defy logic”.President Donald Trump said at the weekend that, from February 1, Britain, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden would be subject to a 10-percent tariff on all goods sent to the United States until Denmark agrees to cede Greenland. The announcement has drawn angry charges from the US allies who are pondering countermeasures.These could include retaliatory tariffs but also possibly a concerted strategy to offload US Treasury bonds.About a third of traded American government bonds, estimated at a total of some $30 trillion, is held by foreigners, led by Japan.Other major holders of US sovereign bonds include the UK, Belgium, Canada and France.Aggressive selling of bonds would cause long-term interest rates to spike, make the re-financing of the US debt hugely more expensive for Trump’s administration and weigh heavily on corporate financing and the economy as a whole.”Europeans hold roughly $10 trillion in US assets: around $6 trillion in US equities and roughly $4 trillion in Treasuries and other bonds,” observed Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote. “Selling those assets would pull the rug from under US markets.”But asked by reporters at the Davos World Economic Forum whether the US was preparing for such a scenario, Bessent said that it “defies any logic”.Calling the US Treasury market “the best-performing market in the world” and the “most liquid” debt market, he said he expected Europeans to hold on to their exposure, not offload it.”There’s a completely false narrative there,” he said.”I think everyone needs to take a deep breath. Do not listen to the media who are hysterical.”European Union leaders will hold an emergency summit in Brussels on Thursday to discuss their response to the Greenland crisis, and Trump said he had agreed to a meeting with “various parties” on the standoff while he is in Davos this week.There were signs, meanwhile, in global markets that a “Sell America” movement was underway, said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB, a trading firm.US markets were closed on Monday for a public holiday, but “Treasury yields are rising sharply” in anticipation of Tuesday’s reopening, she said.The dollar fell and “Japan leads a global bond sell-off”, the analyst observed, adding that American equities were also marked lower ahead of Wall Street’s session Tuesday.Concerns have mounted “over the Trump administration’s confrontational stance toward global counterparts, which could potentially dampen appetite for US assets”, with longer-term bonds bearing “the brunt of the decline”, said Patrick Munnelly, a money manager at the Tickmill group.Analysts said global investors were intently focused on Davos, where Trump is expected Wednesday, for fresh insights into the US-Europe standoff. 

US President Donald Trump’s latest tariff threat against Europe over Greenland has hit its top economy Germany just as hopes are growing for a modest recovery after years of stagnation.Germany’s government and its export-reliant businesses were blindsided when Trump again wielded the tariffs axe at the weekend — this time sparked by his anger over a geopolitical rather than an economic dispute.”For Germany, these new tariffs would be absolute poison,” ING economist Carsten Brzeski told AFP, adding that the heightened uncertainties “clearly jeopardise the fragile recovery underway”.Germany — long ailing from high energy prices, falling demand in China and stiff competition from the Asian giant, and last year’s US tariffs blitz — achieved just 0.2 percent GDP growth in 2025 after two years of recession.Huge public spending to rebuild Germany’s armed forces and ageing infrastructure have boosted hopes for a stronger rebound this year, and the government has predicted GDP will expand by 1.3 percent in 2026.That was before Trump — angered by pushback against his desire to seize Denmark’s autonomous territory of Greenland — threatened additional tariffs of up to 25 percent on products from eight European countries, including Germany.The news — which drove down stocks and saw safe-haven assets like gold rise — rattled German companies and provoked a mix of puzzlement and anger.”Greenland is taking this madness to extremes,” Thorsten Bauer, co-head of laser maker Xiton Photonics, told AFP, expressing a sentiment shared by many business leaders. The Federation of German Industries denounced “an inappropriate and damaging escalation for all parties,” which it said “is putting enormous pressure on transatlantic relations”.And the German Association of Wholesalers, Exporters and Service Providers slammed Trump’s latest threat as “grotesque” and stressed defiantly that “we continue to stand by Denmark: democracy and freedom cannot be wiped out by punitive tariffs”.- ‘Out of the blue’ -Trump’s latest salvo comes after the EU and the United States in July agreed to cap tariffs on most EU exports at 15 percent, with most goods in the other direction being tariff-free.Though some criticised the deal as one-sided, many German businesses cautiously welcomed the deal for the certainty it seemed to bring.”Our members largely kept a cool head during last summer’s tariffs debate and waited patiently. But waiting patiently cannot go on forever,” the German Association of Small and Medium-sized Businesses told AFP. “Donald Trump’s erratic policies are poison for the global economy and free trade -– and they damage trust that has been built up over years in rules-based systems.”The group said new tariffs would particularly hurt German SMEs but nonetheless insisted that “Europe must not allow itself to be blackmailed. If the US does indeed impose tariffs, Europe needs to respond quickly and decisively”.European diplomats have promised a firm response if Trump makes good on his threat and powerful conservative German Member of the European Parliament, Manfred Weber, said final ratification of the July deal was now “on ice”.Some experts have voiced hope that all sides will step back from an escalation of a dispute that would hurt everyone involved, and threaten US-German trade worth over 250 billion euros ($290 billion).US tariffs have already exacted a heavy toll on Germany. From January to November, German exports to the United States fell 9.4 percent from a year earlier and the country’s trade surplus with the world’s biggest economy dropped to its lowest level since 2021, statistics agency Destatis said Tuesday.If implemented and sustained for a long period, the new tariffs “could cost the eurozone economy something between 0.2 percent and 0.5 percent of GDP, with a bigger hit for Germany,” wrote Andrew Kenningham of Capital Economics.”In practice though, we doubt that they will be implemented as advertised. We also think the EU will be cautious in any retaliation in an effort to avoid further escalation.”The new uncertainty comes at a tough time for Germany’s crucial auto sector, which is now bracing for resurgent transatlantic trade tensions it had hoped had been put to bed.Automotive analyst Pal Skirta of Metzler Bank told AFP that Trump’s latest threat is worse news than last year’s.”The Liberation Day tariffs were maybe not very reasonable, but you could justify them,” he said. “With Greenland, it comes out of the blue, you can’t justify it by macroeconomic logic.”

Asian markets extended losses Tuesday, while precious metals hit fresh peaks on fears of a US-EU trade war fuelled by Donald Trump’s tariff threat over opposition to his grab for Greenland.After a bright start to the year fuelled by fresh hopes for the artificial intelligence sector, investors have taken fright since the US president ramped up his demands for the Danish autonomous territory, citing national security.With Copenhagen and other European capitals pushing back, Trump on Saturday said he would impose 10 percent levies on eight countries — including Denmark, France, Germany and Britain — from February 1, lifting them to 25 percent on June 1.The move has raised questions about the outlook for last year’s US-EU trade deal, while French President Emmanuel Macron has called for the deployment of a powerful, unused instrument aimed at deterring economic coercion.In response, US Treasury chief Scott Bessent said Monday that any retaliatory EU tariffs would be “unwise”.Trump ramped up his rhetoric against France on Tuesday, warning he would impose 200 percent tariffs on French wine and champagne over its intentions to decline his invitation to join his “Board of Peace” set up to oversee the rebuilding of Gaza.The prospect of another trade standoff between two of the world’s biggest economic powers has fuelled a rush to safety and dealt a blow to risk assets.Asia equities extended Monday’s losses.Tokyo, Hong Kong, Sydney, Seoul, Singapore, Mumbai, Manila and Wellington were all down, while Shanghai was flat. Taipei, Bangkok and Jakarta edged up.London, Paris and Frankfurt were also sharply lower for a second successive day.Gold hit a fresh record of $4,722.76 and silver also peaked, touching $94.73.Meanwhile, Treasury yields rose amid a move out of US assets fuelled by the uncertainty sparked by Trump’s latest volley.Japanese government bonds yields also rose — with that on the 40-year note hitting the highest since it was launched in 2007 — after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi called snap elections Monday and pledged to cut a tax on food for a two-year period.The announcement fuelled fresh worries the government will borrow more cash at a time when questions are already being asked about the country’s finances.Her cabinet approved a record 122.3-trillion-yen ($768 billion) budget for the fiscal year from April 2026, and she has vowed to get parliamentary approval as soon as possible to address rising prices and shore up the world’s fourth-largest economy.Eyes are now on Davos, Switzerland, where the US president is expected to give a speech to the World Economic Forum.”Davos now becomes the theatre that matters. Not for soundbites, but for whether the adults step back into the room,” wrote Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management.”If this turns sour, volatility will not stay bottled. What would normally be a Ukraine-focused week risks being hijacked by a far more destabilising question, namely, whether the transatlantic alliance is being stress-tested in public. “A NATO fracture, even a rhetorical one, is not something markets are trained to shrug off.”- Key figures at around 0815 GMT -Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.1 percent at 52,991.10 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.3 percent at 26,487.51 (close)Shanghai – Composite: FLAT at 4,113.65 (close)London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.8 percent at 10,116.01 Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1691 from $1.1641 on MondayPound/dollar: UP at $1.3477 from $1.3428Dollar/yen: UP at 158.39 yen from 158.09 yenEuro/pound: UP at 86.75 pence from 86.71 penceWest Texas Intermediate: UP 0.2 percent at $59.58 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.3 percent at $63.76 per barrelNew York – Dow: Closed for a holiday

Since the US captured Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro in early January, pictures and videos chronicling the events have been crowded out by those generated with artificial intelligence, blurring the lines between fiction and reality.The endless stream of content ranges from comedic memes to dramatic retellings.In one, a courtroom illustration of Maduro in a New York courthouse springs to life and announces: “I consider myself a prisoner of war.”In another, an AI-generated Maduro attempts to escape a US prison through an air duct, only to find himself in a courtroom with US President Donald Trump, where they dance with a judge and an FBI agent to a song by American rapper Ice Spice.Maduro was captured alongside his wife Cilia Flores during US strikes in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas on January 3.They have since been taken to a prison in New York where they are being held on drug trafficking charges.While some have celebrated Maduro’s ouster, the “Chavismo” movement he leads — named after his predecessor Hugo Chavez — has worked to reframe what his fall means for Venezuela’s future.- ‘ Confuse, combat, and silence’ -Leon Hernandez, a researcher at Andres Bello Catholic University, told AFP that with AI’s rapid creation of content, we see development of “disinformation labs” that flood social media platforms.”There were things that circulated that were not real during the capture (of Maduro), and things that circulated which were real that generated doubt,” Hernandez said.”That was the idea: to create confusion and generate skepticism at the base level by distorting certain elements of real things.”The goal, he added, is for the content to overwhelm audiences so they cannot follow it.Even legacy media such as the Venezuelan VTV television channel are in on it, with the broadcaster playing an AI-animated video narrated by a child recounting Maduro’s capture.”AI has become the new instrument of power for autocrats to confuse, combat, and silence dissent,” said Elena Block, a professor of political communication and strategy at the University of Queensland in Australia.- ‘Greatest threat to democracy’ -Block pointed out the use of cartoons, specifically, had been a medium of propaganda used in both authoritarian and democratic states.Long before his arrest, Maduro was depicted as the illustrated superhero “Super Bigote” or “Super Mustache,” donning a Superman-like suit and fighting monsters like “extremists” and the “North American empire.”The cartoon’s popularity spawned toys that have been carried by Maduro’s supporters during rallies advocating for his return.And much like his predecessor, Maduro continued a practice of “media domination” to stave off traditional media outlets from airing criticism of Chavismo.”With censorship and the disappearance or weakening of news media, social media has emerged as one of the only spaces for information,” Block said.Maduro is not the only leader to use AI propaganda — Trump has frequently posted AI-generated pictures and videos of himself with “antagonistic, aggressive, and divisive language.””These digital and AI tools end up trivializing politics: you don’t explain it, you diminish it,” Block said. “AI today is the greatest threat to democracy.”

Warner Bros may be for sale, but the studio’s acclaimed hits “Sinners” and “One Battle After Another” are expected to dominate the Oscar nominations when the Academy announces its final contenders Thursday.Both are tipped to rack up a dozen or more nods for Hollywood’s grandest awards ceremony — from best picture and best actor to the new best casting prize.The rare and enviable position of a single Hollywood studio boasting the two clear Oscars frontrunners ironically comes in what could be Warner Bros’ swansong year as an independent distributor.Warner Bros is the target of a fierce bidding war between Paramount Skydance and Netflix.Yet despite the struggles of its parent company Warner Bros Discovery, the storied movie studio has enjoyed a banner year, bucking Tinseltown’s obsession with sequels and backing original fare from auteur filmmakers.”Sinners,” a blues-inflected period horror film about the segregated US South, comes from “Black Panther” director Ryan Coogler.It is expected to land a best actor nomination for Michael B. Jordan, who plays two twins battling vampires and racists in 1930s Mississippi, plus everything from screenplay to score.According to Variety awards expert Clayton Davis, “Sinners” could break the all-time record for most nominations by a single film — currently 14, by “All About Eve,” “Titanic” and “La La Land.”Coogler is “rewriting the math entirely,” and could enter “a statistical stratosphere no filmmaker has ever touched,” Davis wrote.But so far this awards season, Paul Thomas Anderson — whose formidable, eclectic filmography runs from “Boogie Nights” to “There Will Be Blood” — has won almost every prize going for “One Battle After Another.”A zany thriller about a retired revolutionary looking for his teen daughter against a wild backdrop of radical violence, immigration raids and white supremacists, it broke the all-time record for nominations by Hollywood’s actors guild.Former best actor Oscar winner Leonardo DiCaprio is all but certain to secure his seventh acting nomination from the Academy.Netflix has its own hopefuls in Guillermo del Toro’s monster horror flick “Frankenstein,” tragic Western pioneer drama “Train Dreams” and animated musical sensation “KPop Demon Hunters.”By contrast, rival Paramount’s awards hopefuls shelf is noticeably bare.- Best casting -“Hamnet,” a tragic literary adaptation that imagines William Shakespeare coping with the death of his son, is likely to land a bagful of nominations.Jessie Buckley, who plays the Bard’s long-suffering wife Agnes, appears a lock for a best actress nomination.She is likely to be joined by Emma Stone playing an alien — or is she? — in conspiracy theorist drama “Bugonia,” and Norwegian actress Renate Reinsve in arthouse darling “Sentimental Value.”With the Academy’s overseas voter base rapidly expanding, “Sentimental Value” is one of a trio of non-English-language films that could contend for best picture.Along with Persian-language Palme d’Or winner “It Was Just An Accident,” there is also Brazil’s “The Secret Agent,” though “space feels limited” for all three to make the list, wrote Davis.”The Secret Agent” star Wagner Moura, playing a scientist on the run from Brazil’s 1970s dictatorship, is expected to vie with DiCaprio and Jordan for best actor.But that category’s frontrunner is Timothee Chalamet, whose turn as a bratty, talented and fiercely ambitious ping pong player in 1950s New York in “Marty Supreme,” has already won a Golden Globe, a Critics Choice Award and more.This year sees the introduction of a new Oscar for best casting, honoring the experts who attach actors to projects long before future blockbusters or indie hits begin production.With no precedent, it is unclear what exactly voters will be looking for. “Is it star power? Ensemble cohesion? Finding a discovery?” asked Davis.The nominations will be unveiled Thursday at 5:30am (1330 GMT) in Los Angeles, with the 98th Oscars ceremony to follow on March 15.

Key allies reacted coolly Monday to US President Donald Trump’s invite to pay $1 billion for a permanent spot on his “Board of Peace” for resolving international conflicts, with analysts likening it to a pay-to-play version of the UN Security Council.The White House has asked various world leaders to sit on the board, chaired by Trump himself, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, Hungarian premier Viktor Orban and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.The board’s charter, seen by AFP, says that member countries will serve no longer than three years, subject to renewal by the chairman. That is unless they “contribute more than USD $1,000,000,000 in cash funds to the Board of Peace within the first year of the Charter’s entry into force.”The initial reaction from two key allies, France and Canada, was lukewarm.”At this stage, France cannot accept,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said Monday during a debate with French lawmakers, noting that the board’s charter goes beyond the scope of rebuilding and running post-war Gaza endorsed by the United Nations. He added that it is “incompatible with France’s international commitments and in particular its membership in the United Nations, which obviously cannot be called into question under any circumstances.”France is one of the five veto-wielding, permanent members of the UN Security Council, along with the United States, China, Russia and Britain.A Canadian government source said Ottawa will not pay to be on the board, and hasn’t gotten a request to pay, after Prime Minister Mark Carney indicated he would accept an invitation to join. Paul Williams, professor of international affairs at George Washington University, told AFP that the offer of permanent membership for $1 billion showed Trump is “trying to turn it into a pay-to-play alternative to the UN Security Council but where Trump alone exercises veto power.”The charter, which in fact does not mention Gaza, describes the board as “an international organization that seeks to promote stability, restore dependable and lawful governance, and secure enduring peace in areas affected or threatened by conflict.”- ‘Failed institutions’ -The charter appears to take a swipe at the United Nations, saying that the new board should have “the courage to depart from approaches and institutions that have too often failed.”Trump has regularly criticized the United Nations and announced this month that his country will withdraw from 66 global organizations and treaties — roughly half affiliated with the UN.The world body — which suffers chronic funding shortfalls and political deadlock in the Security Council — pushed back Monday.La Neice Collins, spokesperson for the president of the UN General Assembly, told reporters “there is one universal, multilateral organization to deal with peace and security issues, and that is the United Nations.”Daniel Forti at the International Crisis Group, a think tank, said at least 60 countries have reportedly been invited to the Board of Peace. He said some may view it as a way to curry favor with Trump, but many member states would see it as power grab.”Actively buying permanent seats in an exclusive club sends a very worrying signal about what transactional and deals-based international diplomacy may mean in the future,” he told AFP.Trump would have the power to remove member states from the board, subject to a veto by two-third of members, and to choose his replacement should he leave his role as chairman.Ian Lesser at the German Marshall Fund think tank told AFP he would be surprised if many countries are willing to sign up “at a time when most are focused on preserving the existing multilateral institutions.”  The White House said there would be a main board, a Palestinian committee of technocrats meant to govern devastated Gaza, and a second “executive board” that appears designed to have a more advisory role.Trump has named as board members Secretary of State Marco Rubio, former British prime minister Tony Blair, senior negotiator Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner.Israel has objected to the line-up of a “Gaza executive board” to operate under the body, which includes Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Qatari diplomat Ali Al-Thawadi.

Key allies reacted coolly Monday to US President Donald Trump’s invite to pay $1.0 billion for a permanent spot on his “Board of Peace” for resolving international conflicts, with analysts likening it to a pay-to-play version of the UN Security Council.The White House has asked various world leaders to sit on the board, chaired by Trump himself, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, Hungarian premier Viktor Orban and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.The board’s charter, seen by AFP, says that member countries will serve no longer than three years, subject to renewal by the chairman. That is unless they “contribute more than USD $1,000,000,000 in cash funds to the Board of Peace within the first year of the Charter’s entry into force.”The initial reaction from two key allies, France and Canada, was lukewarm.France “does not intend to answer favorably,” a source close to President Emmanuel Macron told AFP on Monday, noting that the board’s charter goes beyond its initial purpose of rebuilding and running post-war Gaza. In fact, the charter does not mention Gaza. “It raises major questions, particularly regarding respect for the principles and structure of the United Nations, which under no circumstances can be called into question,” the source, speaking on condition of anonymity, added.France is one of the five veto-wielding, permanent members of the UN Security Council, along with the United States, China, Russia and Britain.A Canadian government source said Ottawa will not pay to be on the board, and hasn’t gotten a request to pay, after Prime Minister Mark Carney indicated he would accept an invitation to join. Paul Williams, professor of international affairs at George Washington University, told AFP that the Security Council resolution approved in October endorsing Trump’s Gaza peace plan only granted the Board of Peace authority related to Gaza.  He added that the offer of permanent membership for $1 billion showed Trump is “trying to turn it into a pay-to-play alternative to the UN Security Council but where Trump alone exercises veto power.”The board’s charter describes it as “an international organization that seeks to promote stability, restore dependable and lawful governance, and secure enduring peace in areas affected or threatened by conflict.”- ‘Failed institutions’ -The charter appears to take a swipe at the United Nations, saying that the new board should have “the courage to depart from approaches and institutions that have too often failed.”Trump has regularly criticized the United Nations and announced this month that his country will withdraw from 66 global organizations and treaties — roughly half affiliated with the UN.The world body — which suffers chronic funding shortfalls and political deadlock in the Security Council — pushed back Monday.La Neice Collins, spokesperson for the president of the UN General Assembly, told reporters “there is one universal, multilateral organization to deal with peace and security issues, and that is the United Nations.”Daniel Forti at the International Crisis Group, a think tank, said at least 60 countries have reportedly been invited to the Board of Peace. He said some may view it as a way to curry favor with Trump, but many member states would see it as power grab.”Actively buying permanent seats in an exclusive club sends a very worrying signal about what transactional and deals-based international diplomacy may mean in the future,” he told AFP.Trump would have the power to remove member states from the board, subject to a veto by two-third of members, and to choose his replacement should he leave his role as chairman.Ian Lesser at the German Marshall Fund think tank told AFP he would be surprised if many countries are willing to sign up “at a time when most are focused on preserving the existing multilateral institutions.”  The White House said there would be a main board, a Palestinian committee of technocrats meant to govern devastated Gaza, and a second “executive board” that appears designed to have a more advisory role.Trump has named as board members Secretary of State Marco Rubio, former British prime minister Tony Blair, senior negotiator Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner.Israel has objected to the line-up of a “Gaza executive board” to operate under the body, which includes Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Qatari diplomat Ali Al-Thawadi.

The leader of global rights group Amnesty International urged European countries Monday to stop “appeasing” US President Donald Trump and resist him and other “bullies” who she said were intent on destroying the rules-based order in place since World War II.”We need much more resistance,” Amnesty secretary general Agnes Callamard told AFP in an interview on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.”Europe’s credibility is at stake.”Her comments came as Trump doubled down on his threats to take over Greenland “one way or the other”, insisting such a move is necessary for world security, prompting European countries to close ranks against his designs on the vast Danish territory.German and French leaders denounced as “blackmail” Trump’s weekend threats to wield new tariffs against countries which oppose his plans for the Arctic island, suggesting Europe was preparing trade countermeasures.But German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who was due to meet Trump in Davos on Wednesday, also stressed that Europe was eager to “avoid any escalation” in the dispute.- ‘Say no’ -Callamard urged governments to show more “courage” and to “say no”.”Stop thinking you can make deals with bullies, stop thinking you can agree to the rules of the predators and not become yourself a victim of them.”The Amnesty chief highlighted that the US bid to seize Greenland was only the latest indication that the world is facing the “destruction of the rules-based order”.She lamented that global and regional “superpowers” seemed “intent on destroying what has been established after World War II, dedicated to finding common rules to our common problems”.Since Trump’s return to the White House a year ago, he has taken “a range of decisions that have led to the demise of many rules around the world”, while Russia was destroying the system “through its aggression in Ukraine”, she said.European powers have been treading a thin line over Ukraine in recent months, relying on Washington to try to help settle the conflict but resisting terms too favourable to Moscow.The post-WWII order “is also being destroyed by Israel that has completely ignored international law in its genocide of Palestinians in Gaza,” she added.Amnesty and other rights groups have repeatedly accused Israel of carrying out a genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, a term vehemently rejected by the Israeli government. Callamard stressed that the rules-based order was established in response to “a global war that had killed millions of people, as a response to extermination camps that had killed six million Jews, as a response to authoritarianism that had led to the most daunting global repression the world over”.- ‘Abyss’ -“The fact that it is now being destroyed without any plan B, just for the sake of destroying the rules, should send shivers to all of us,” she said, warning that the only alternative to the rules-based system was “falling down into an abyss”.”That’s what we need to prevent.”The Davos gathering this year is taking place under the tagline “A Spirit of Dialogue”, but Callamard warned “there is no evidence of dialogue” currently among the world’s decision-makers.”There is evidence of bullying. There is evidence of destruction. There is evidence of countries using their military power, their economic power, to force others into agreeing to their one-sided deals.”Such tactics had for the past 12 months been met with European “appeasement”.”We have sought to appease the bully, the predator living in Washington,” she said.”Where has this led us? To more and more attacks, to more and more threats.”Callamard, who is French, recalled that the European project was not just about economics, but also about values, humanity and the rule of law.”I’m hoping that our leaders will recall that… history and see in the current challenges a way of re-insisting on the European project and demanding human rights protection for the sake of humanity,” she said.”That demands stopping the appeasement politics, (which) simply is not working”. “Please stop it. Resist. Resist.”

Donald Trump no longer needs to think “purely of peace” after being snubbed for a Nobel, the US president said in comments published Monday, adding the world will not be safe until Washington controls Greenland.Trump has put the transatlantic alliance to the test with threats to take over Greenland “one way or the other”, as European countries close ranks against Washington’s designs on the vast Danish autonomous territory.German and French leaders denounced as “blackmail” weekend threats by Trump to wield new tariffs against countries which oppose his plans for the Arctic island.They said Monday that Europe was preparing trade countermeasures — though US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, asked by AFP about potential retaliatory tariffs, warned: “I think it would be very unwise”.The European Union said it was holding an emergency summit on Thursday to weigh its response, and that while its priority is to “engage not escalate” it is ready to act if needed. Greenland, for its part, said the tariffs threat does not change its desire to assert its own sovereignty. “We will not be pressured,” Greenlandic prime minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said in a Facebook post, adding that the autonomous territory “is a democratic society with the right to make its own decisions”.But Trump had earlier doubled down, announcing in a message to Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store that the world “is not secure unless we have Complete and Total Control of Greenland”.The message — published Monday and whose authenticity was confirmed to AFP by Store’s office — also saw Trump brush aside peace as a primary goal.”I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace,” he said, citing his failure to win the last year’s Nobel Peace Prize, despite openly coveting it.He said although peace would still be “predominant,” he could “now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America.” Store said the statement had been received in response to a message from him and Finnish President Alexander Stubb, where they had “conveyed our opposition” to Trump’s tariff threats.Store also underlined that the Nobel Peace Prize was not awarded by the Norwegian government.”I have clearly explained, including to President Trump what is well known — the prize is awarded by an independent Nobel Committee,” he said in a written statement.Bessent, speaking in response to a question from AFP at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, dismissed any link between the Prize and Trump’s plans for Greenland. “I think it’s a complete canard that the president will be doing this because of the Nobel Prize,” he said.- ‘Blackmail’ -Trump has repeatedly said his country needs vast, mineral-rich Greenland for “national security”, despite the United States already having a base on the island and security agreements with fellow NATO ally Denmark. “Denmark cannot protect that land from Russia or China,” Trump said in his message to the Norwegian premier, doubling down on that sentiment in a post to Truth Social on Monday.”Why do they have a ‘right of ownership’ anyway? There are no written documents, it’s only that a boat landed there hundreds of years ago, but we had boats landing there, also,” he said in his message to Store.Denmark’s defence minister Troels Lund Poulsen said Monday steps had already been taken along with NATO allies to increase its military presence in the region.This weekend, Trump said that from February 1, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Finland would be subject to a 10-percent tariff on all goods sent to the United States — a duty which could go higher.Germany’s vice chancellor Lars Klingbeil slammed the move as blackmail, and said Monday that Europe was preparing countermeasures.French finance minister Roland Lescure, speaking at a press conference alongside Kingbeil, agreed.”Blackmail between allies of 250 years, blackmail between friends, is obviously unacceptable,” Lecurse said.Europe’s stock markets fell as the week’s trading began Monday, with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer warning that a “trade war is in no one’s interest”.Greenland — whose tiny population of 57,000 has voiced disquiet at Trump’s threats — continued to make its preferences clear.Greenland’s dogsled federation said that the new US special envoy to the island had been disinvited to its annual race. Jeff Landry had been invited to attend the race by a private Greenlandic tour operator, an invite the KNQK federation has previously called “totally inappropriate”.burs-jll/st