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On a bright September morning, employees stream through the turnstiles and vast lobby of Goldman Sachs’ headquarters in the sunlit Battery Park City neighborhood of Manhattan.More than 9,000 people work at the investment bank’s New York head office.And hundreds of them depend on the H-1B skilled worker visa, recently targeted by the Trump administration for a dramatic overhaul.A September 19 order by President Donald Trump mandates $100,000 payments from companies for every new hire through the program.Though the major impact will be on the tech sector — the largest source of H-1B hiring — financial companies like Goldman Sachs will also be forced to re-evaluate their practice of hiring from abroad.- Concentration in New YorkIn the first two quarters of 2025, Goldman Sachs was the biggest recipient of H-1B visas in New York City. The Big Apple was, in turn, the single location with the most H-1B recipients in all of the United States.Aggregated at the state level, California and Texas both attract more H-1B visa holders than the state of New York; but there is no one city or town in either of these states that boasts a higher number of H-1B holders than the east coast metropolis.This concentration of H-1B visas in New York is driven by hiring at Wall Street’s financial giants.Data from US Citizenship and Immigration Services analyzed by AFP shows that four of the top five H-1B visa recipients in New York City are financial services companies: the investment banks Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Citigroup, and financial data company Bloomberg. The other company in the top five is the consulting and professional services firm McKinsey.Further down the list, and outside of the finance sector, universities such as Columbia and NYU and medical institutions like the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Weil Cornell Medical College also brought a number of H-1B hires to the city.- Negative impactsAccording to 2025 data, H-1B positions filled by the banks skewed towards the more technical side of the finance industry, with many visa holders working in software engineering, quantitative analytics, and data science.Goldman Sachs did not respond to emailed questions asking how a $100,000 price tag would impact their ability to hire for such roles in the future. Contacted by AFP with similar questions, Bloomberg and Citigroup declined to comment.In general, experts believe the fee will lead to a large reduction in applications for the visa scheme, which could have further negative impacts on the economy.”A visa fee of this scale is likely to drastically curtail the use of H-1B visas,” Ethan G. Lewis, Professor of Economics at Dartmouth College, told AFP.”It will lead to reduced hires of US workers and slower productivity growth, and, longer term, discourage people [from other countries] from going to college and beyond in the US, because many tend to rely on H-1B visas for their first job out of studies.”In the tech industry the announcement of the visa fee has caused consternation, with many entrepreneurs — among them Trump’s ally Elon Musk — warning that the US will not be able to fill highly skilled roles with only homegrown talent.Others have speculated that, rather than being offered to American workers, some jobs will simply be outsourced overseas.

The fires that tore through Los Angeles nine months ago didn’t destroy Karen Girard’s home. But the smokeleft her walls, floors and furniture infused with a toxic cocktail.Tests have found heavy metals like lead, arsenic, and zinc, as well as volatile organic compounds like cyanide and furfural that have left her home uninhabitable.When the flames razed neighboring houses in January during a terrifying firestorm in Altadena, Girard was astonished to learn her property was spared.”I thought I should go out and buy lottery tickets, because I never thought I would be this lucky again,” she told AFP.But even after only short visits Girard finds herself suffering from increasing asthma attacks.Tests revealed problems she couldn’t see — things she says mean the house is no longer safe.”I realized that even though the home was still standing, it might be lost to me,” the 58-year-old designer said.- Unseen disaster – The wildfires that ravaged the Los Angeles area in January killed 31 people directly, and razed more than 16,000 buildings, tearing a swathe through the working- and middle-class neighborhood of Altadena and the upmarket enclave of Pacific Palisades.Horrifying pictures of a burned out landscape were broadcast around the world, showing acres (hectares) of almost unimaginable devastation, in one of the most expensive natural disasters the world has ever seen.But among the embers smoldered another, less-visible disaster: the pollution released when homes, cars, televisions, household goods and batteries burned.Driven by gusts reaching 100 miles (160 kilometers) and hour, this poisonous soup seeped under neighbors’ doors and through vents. “The potential toxicity of the mixture that came off these fires is probably much greater than what we saw in other major fires we’ve experienced in the US, because those fires did not affect as many urban structures,” explained Michael Jerrett, a professor of environmental science at the University of California Los Angeles. His team tested the atmosphere in affected communities this spring and found abnormal levels of hexavalent chromium, a carcinogen.Nanoparticles could have been transported up to six miles, potentially affecting tens of thousands of people, he says.”They are so small that they’re capable of penetrating the indoor environment with high efficiency.””It’s really important that people trying to move back into their homes have them properly remediated.”But getting insurance companies to pay up has proven complicated.Girard says she is stuck in a battle between experts, with the damage restoration company she hired recommending replacing all her furniture, and even treating the frame of her house.The firm hired by her insurance company, however, insists that a vacuum cleaner equipped with a filter to capture fine particles will be enough to make the place habitable. – Insurers – To Girard it seems like the company is prioritizing profit over her wellbeing.”While it feels like business to them, it doesn’t feel like business to me,” she said.”This is my home. This is a place that I’ve lived for a couple of decades, and it is a place I desperately want to come home to.”Girard’s insurer, Farmers, told AFP: “We continue to work with our customer to resolve this claim and remain willing to review any additional information they may wish to provide.”The problem when dealing with insurance companies — a frequent topic of complaint in high-cost California, even without a major disaster — is that they appear to be a law unto themselves, says Jane Lawton, founder of the Eaton Fire Residents United association.”There are no clear standards on (smoke claims), so insurance companies can deny what they want,” she said.Her organization has mapped more than 200 tests conducted on homes in Altadena. All show varying degrees of contamination. “This is going to be like 9/11,” said Lawton, referencing the 2001 attack in New York where people in a wide area around the World Trade Center suffered from chronic respiratory illnesses and elevated rates of some cancers after the twin towers collapsed, releasing clouds of dust and debris. California’s largest insurer, State Farm, which has so far paid out $4.5 billion in relation to the fires, said it “evaluates each claim, including smoke claims, on a case-by-case basis.”But for Priscilla Munoz, they are dragging their feet.Munoz, who lives a mile from the disaster area, spent $10,000 on a study that found lead in her home and still doesn’t know if the insurer will pay to clean it up.”Lead… goes into things,” she says, worrying about her two young children and their plush toys. “I don’t want them snuggling up to a toxic stuffy.”

Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night talk show will be back on the air in the United States Tuesday after a week-long hiatus following government pressure on broadcasters that critics said amounted to a chill on free speech.But two powerful companies that own dozens of ABC affiliates have said they will continue their boycott, giving viewers “other programming relevant to their respective markets.”All eyes will be on the show’s popular opening monologue, in which the comedian is expected to address his suspension, which came after comments he made in the wake of the killing of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk.”I don’t want him to apologize as soon as he comes in,” 18-year-old Paul Dorner told AFP as he waited for a seat in the show’s audience.”I would love for him to just put up a fight and stand up for what he thinks.”Rogelio Nunez, 38, said he had traveled from San Diego for the taping in the heart of Hollywood.”We need to make sure that we’re not being censored,” he said.”So besides just coming for entertainment, I think it’s important to protect our rights.”- ‘The MAGA gang’ -Kimmel, who frequently skewers President Donald Trump and his inner circle, raised the ire of conservatives last week when he said “the MAGA gang” was trying to exploit Kirk’s college campus murder for their own political gain.Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr appeared to threaten the licenses of ABC affiliates broadcasting the show unless they demanded Kimmel’s removal — something Trump himself has frequently called for.Two companies that own dozens of those affiliates — Nexstar and Sinclair — then announced they would be removing the show from their stations’ schedules, prompting Disney to suspend the show nationwide.Sinclair — which last week demanded Kimmel apologize to Kirk’s family and make a donation to his right-wing activist group Turning Point USA — said Monday its affiliates would not be broadcasting the show when it resumed.On Tuesday, Nexstar followed suit.”We made a decision last week to preempt ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’… We stand by that decision pending assurance that all parties are committed to fostering an environment of respectful, constructive dialogue in the markets we serve,” the company said.Kimmel’s abrupt disappearance from the airwaves sparked fury in liberal circles, with opponents saying he had been targeted because he is critical of Trump.Opponents saw it as the latest step in creeping government control of free speech, which is an article of faith for many Americans, as well as a right enshrined in the country’s constitution.Some on the political right were also uneasy, including those who regularly count themselves as Trump allies, like conservative senator Ted Cruz, and firebrand broadcaster Tucker Carlson.Trump often complains about negative coverage of him, going so far last week as to call it “illegal,” and has sued several media organizations.Disney’s ABC has already settled a lawsuit filed by the president, pledging a multi-million dollar sum in a move that observers said appeared to be an attempt to get the often-vengeful 79-year-old off its back.The company faced backlash after suspending Kimmel, with a rash of consumer cancellations and a wave of reproach from creators and Hollywood insiders over what many saw as a spineless response to government bullying.By Monday Disney had backtracked, saying the suspension had been an effort to “avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country” and calling Kimmel’s comments “ill-timed and thus insensitive.”But it said it was bringing the show back after days of “thoughtful conversations with Jimmy.”Actor Glen Powell and singer Sarah McLachlan were expected to appear on Tuesday night’s show.Kimmel has made no public comment about the episode, but on Tuesday posted a photo on Instagram of himself with late producer Norman Lear — who was known for his advocacy of free speech — with the caption: “Missing this guy today.”

YouTube is set to reinstate creators previously banned for promoting Covid-19 misinformation and false election-related content, according to a letter sent Tuesday by parent company Alphabet to a Republican lawmaker.The policy reversal marks a victory for the conservative allies of US President Donald Trump, who have long accused tech platforms and professional fact-checkers of a liberal bias and of using anti-misinformation policies as a pretext for censorship.”Reflecting the company’s commitment to free expression, YouTube will provide an opportunity for all creators to rejoin the platform if the company terminated their channels for repeated violations of Covid-19 and elections integrity policies that are no longer in effect,” Alphabet’s legal counsel said in the five-page letter to Jim Jordan, the Republican chair of the House Judiciary Committee.”YouTube values conservative voices on its platform and recognizes that these creators have extensive reach and play an important role in civic discourse.”The full impact of the policy reversal was yet to be determined, and it was not immediately clear which creators would be reinstated and when.In recent years, figures such as FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino, White House counterterrorism chief Sebastian Gorka and podcast host Steve Bannon were among those previously banned from the platform, according to US media.Alphabet accused former president Joe Biden’s administration of pressuring the company to impose the bans.”Senior Biden Administration officials, including White House officials, conducted repeated and sustained outreach to Alphabet and pressed the company regarding certain user-generated content related to the COVID-19 pandemic that did not violate its policies,” the letter said. “While the company continued to develop and enforce its policies independently, Biden administration officials continued to press the Company to remove non-violative user-generated content,” it added.- Policy rollback -After Biden took office in 2021, his administration urged platforms to purge what it identified as harmful misinformation –- including content that encouraged people to inject bleach and other disinfectants to cure Covid-19, a suggestion once echoed by Trump.Jordan, who has spent years probing what Republicans have blasted as a coordinated effort by Biden’s administration to suppress conservative voices online, celebrated Alphabet’s announcement as a “victory in the fight against censorship” and a “massive win” for the American people.”To make amends to the American people, and because of our work, YouTube is rolling back its censorship policies on political speech, including topics such as Covid and elections,” Jordan wrote on X.”No more telling Americans what to believe and not believe,” he added.Alphabet’s letter stressed that “YouTube has not and will not empower fact-checkers to take action on or label content across the company’s services.”Instead, it allows users to add notes of context to user content, adopting a community-driven approach to combating online misinformation that was popularized by Elon Musk’s platform, X.The decision to reinstate previously banned users also mirrors Musk’s move to welcome back prominent purveyors of misinformation on Twitter, which he rebranded as X after acquiring it in 2022.

US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that Ukraine could win back all of its territory from Russia, in an astonishing turnaround on the war after meeting President Volodymyr Zelensky.Trump’s suggestion that Kyiv could win, with financial support from EU and NATO, marks an extraordinary shift after months of saying Ukraine would likely have to cede land to its larger neighbor.Zelensky hailed Trump’s comments as a “big shift.”In a further jibe at Moscow, he also called for NATO countries to shoot down any Russian fighter jets violating their airspace, following a series of incidents that have rattled US allies in Eastern Europe.”I think Ukraine, with the support of the European Union, is in a position to fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form,” Trump said in a Truth Social Post after meeting Zelensky at the United Nations.Trump added that on top of being able to take back the country in its original form, Kyiv could “maybe even go further than that!” — although he did not elaborate on what he meant.- ‘BIG economic trouble’ -The US leader’s comments mark the latest in a series of reversals on Ukraine, including a sudden pivot to peace talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin early this year that stunned allies.Trump had also shown lukewarm support for Ukraine, telling Zelensky during a televised Oval Office bust-up in February that “you don’t have the cards” to beat Russia.But his new shift reflected his growing frustration with Putin since a summit in Alaska on August 15 failed to produce a breakthrough, and was instead followed by increased Russian attacks. Trump told reporters on Tuesday that he had counted on a bond with Putin to bring an end to the three-and-a-half-year-old war — but “unfortunately, that relationship didn’t mean anything.”In his post, Trump said he had changed his view on the war “after getting to know and fully understand the Ukraine/Russia Military and Economic situation and, after seeing the Economic trouble it is causing Russia.””Putin and Russia are in BIG Economic trouble, and this is the time for Ukraine to act,” Trump said.He added that Russia was “fighting aimlessly” after more than three years of war and was now a “paper tiger” instead of a serious nuclear force.- ‘Good luck to all!’ -Amid astonishment in Europe about Trump’s sudden shift, there were concerns in some capitals that the US president’s message may not have been quite what it seemed.The references to EU and NATO, combined with his closing comment “Good luck to all!”, led to fears that he may be trying to wash his hands of a conflict that he blames on his predecessor Joe Biden.Trump, who has repeatedly pushed NATO to take more of the burden for supporting Ukraine, insisted Washington would continue to give NATO weapons “to do what they want with them.”Trump’s announcement came shortly after Zelensky briefed him on what he said were Ukraine’s recent military successes against Russia, despite Moscow’s grinding advances in the east of the country.”This post of Trump is a big shift,” Zelensky said in a press conference.Zelensky meanwhile, raised the alarm over Russia’s recent drone intrusions into NATO nations, saying Putin was probing the “weak places” in the alliance’s defenses.Trump said NATO forces would be within their rights to act.”Yes I do,” Trump said when a reporter asked if NATO countries should shoot down Russian aircraft if they enter their airspace.Recent incidents include NATO scrambling jets after three Russian fighters on Friday breached Estonian airspace, and Poland saying earlier this month that Russian drones had repeatedly crossed into its territory during an attack on Ukraine.

Wall Street’s bull run showed signs of fatigue Tuesday as major indices retreated from records on drops by Amazon, Nvidia and other tech giants.The pullback followed comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell warning that cutting interest rates “too aggressively” could stoke inflation, while the central bank boss also emphasized the need to try to prevent the labor market from softening “unnecessarily.”All three major US indices have finished at records the last three days.”Today’s pullback after fresh record highs could reflect market participants giving credence to valuation concerns amid a historic run, particularly in the mega-cap space, though investors have repeatedly shown a willingness to buy dips throughout this rally,” said Briefing.com.The tech-rich Nasdaq led US indices lower, dropping one percent. Nvidia, which rallied on Monday after announcing a $100 billion investment in OpenAI to build infrastructure for next-generation artificial intelligence, retreated on Tuesday, losing 2.8 percent. While “leading tech companies are investing hundreds of billions in generative AI… some investors continue to question if this is money well spent,” said David Morrison, senior market analyst at Trade Nation.Earlier, London ended the day flat and Paris and Frankfurt added barely half of one percent as investors digested purchasing managers’ index (PMI) data — a closely watched gauge of economic health. The index showed eurozone business activity hit a 16-month high in September, partly driven by solid growth in Germany, while France weighed on performance.Britain’s reading came in below expectations, suggesting the economy is losing momentum, analysts noted, as inflation fears linger.With trade subdued by a holiday in Japan and an approaching typhoon in Hong Kong, Asian markets mostly drifted as Hong Kong and Shanghai both closed lower. Taipei jumped more than one percent, with chip titan TSMC soaring over three percent as it tracked US counterpart Nvidia, which announced a $100-billion investment in OpenAI for next-generation artificial intelligence.Oil prices rose after President Donald Trump called on Europe to completely halt oil imports from the country over the Ukraine war. The US president also threatened sanctions on Russia in a speech that tilted more heavily in support of Ukraine than earlier Trump stances.- Key figures at around 2050 GMT -New York – Dow: DOWN 0.2 percent at 46,292.78 (close)New York – S&P 500: DOWN 0.6 percent at 6,656.92 (close)New York – Nasdaq Composite: DOWN 1.0 percent at 22,573.47 (close)London – FTSE 100: FLAT at 9,223.32 (close)Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.5 percent at 7,872.02 (close)Frankfurt – DAX: UP 0.4 percent at 23,611.33 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.7 percent at 26,159.12 (close)Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.2 percent at 3,821.83 (close)Tokyo – Nikkei 225: Closed for a holidayEuro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1816 from $1.1803 on MondayPound/dollar: UP at $1.3524 from $1.3514Dollar/yen: DOWN at 147.66 yen from 147.72 yenEuro/pound: UP at 87.37 pence from 87.34 penceWest Texas Intermediate: UP 1.8 percent at $63.41 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: UP 1.6 percent at $67.63 per barrel

US President Donald Trump blasted the United Nations and Europe on his return to the world body Tuesday, warning that migration is sending Western nations “to hell” and dismissing climate change as a “con job.”In a blistering speech during his first UN General Assembly appearance since his White House comeback, Trump also accused the world body of failing to help him as he tried to broker peace deals including in Gaza and Ukraine.”What is the purpose of the United Nations?” asked Trump in a wide-ranging speech lasting nearly an hour. “It has such tremendous potential, but it’s not even coming close to living up to that.”Trump’s first speech to the UN back in 2018 saw fellow leaders laughing at the Republican, but this time his full-frontal attack on the global organization and US allies was received in near total silence.The 79-year-old’s litany of complaints even extended to a broken escalator and teleprompter at the New York headquarters of the UN.After the speech, he met with Ukraine’s wartime leader Volodymyr Zelensky and caused surprise by announcing a short while later that he now thought Kyiv could regain all its territory invaded by Russia — a complete shift from his previous statements.- ‘Going to hell’ -Trump’s fieriest words of the speech were on migration, as he advised the world to follow his lead on one of the core political messages that drove his two US election victories.Trump lambasted the UN for “funding an assault” on Western nations that he described as an “invasion,” before turning his fire on his supposed allies in Europe.”Your countries are going to hell,” he told European leaders. Trump also criticized the UN for failing to get involved in what he claims are seven wars that he has ended, or in his failed attempts to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Israel’s war in Gaza.”All they seem to do is write a really strongly worded letter,” he said. “It’s empty words, and empty words don’t solve war.”But the US leader later dramatically escalated his rhetoric on Ukraine, saying that NATO nations should shoot down Russian planes violating their territory.And after talks with Zelensky on the sidelines of the summit, he posted on Truth Social that he thinks “Ukraine, with the support of the European Union, is in a position to fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form.”- ‘Con job’ -On Gaza, a subject that has dominated the UN summit, Trump called recognition of a Palestinian state by US allies including France and Britain a “reward” to Hamas for “horrible atrocities ” in the armed group’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.French President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday, however, that Trump could only achieve his long-held goal of a Nobel Peace Prize if he stopped the Gaza war.The US president meanwhile took a typically strident stance on climate change too, saying he was “right about everything” as he pushes for oil drilling and the rolling back of green policies.”Climate change — it’s the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world,” said the billionaire property tycoon. Trump’s second term has opened with a blaze of nationalist policies curbing cooperation with the rest of the world.He has moved to pull the United States out of the World Health Organization and the UN climate pact, severely curtailed US development assistance and wielded sanctions against foreign judges over rulings he sees as violating US sovereignty.Opening the annual summit, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that aid cuts led by the United States were “wreaking havoc” in the world.After meeting Guterres, Trump appeared to call for a change in leadership, telling reporters: “The UN could be unbelievable with certain people running it.”Trump’s other meetings included his Argentinian counterpart and close ally Javier Milei, with the US president saying he did not believe the struggling South American country needed a bailout. Security was tight for the summit, with New York’s UN district swarming with heavily armed police.The US Secret Service said they had disrupted a plot to potentially disrupt telecommunications around the UN that involved “nation-state threat actors.”

A man charged with attempting to assassinate Donald Trump at his Florida golf course during last year’s presidential campaign was convicted by a federal jury on all counts Tuesday.Ryan Routh, 59, of Hawaii, appeared to try to stab himself in the neck with a pen after the guilty verdict was read in court but was restrained by marshals, US media said.Routh was handcuffed and removed from the courtroom. He did not appear to be injured when he was brought back in a short time later.Routh was convicted of attempted assassination of a presidential candidate, assaulting a federal officer and firearms offenses after a 12-day trial during which he represented himself.He faces a possible sentence of life in prison for attempting to kill Trump. Sentencing was set for December 18.Trump congratulated Attorney General Pam Bondi and Justice Department prosecutors for securing the conviction.”This was an evil man with an evil intention, and they caught him,” the US president said in a post on Truth Social.Bondi said the guilty verdict “illustrates the Department of Justice’s commitment to punishing those who engage in political violence.””This attempted assassination was not only an attack on our president, but an affront to our very nation itself,” Bondi said in a statement.- ‘I am so sorry I failed you’ -Routh was arrested on September 15, 2024 after a Secret Service agent saw the barrel of a rifle poking from bushes on the perimeter of the West Palm Beach golf course where Trump was playing a round.The agent opened fire and Routh, who fled in a vehicle, was arrested shortly after.A loaded AK-style rifle, equipped with a scope and a magazine containing additional rounds of ammunition, was recovered from his hiding place.During the trial, a witness testified that Routh had dropped off a box at his residence that included a handwritten letter which stated: “Dear World. This was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump, but I am so sorry I failed you.”Acting as his own lawyer at his trial in Fort Pierce, Florida, Routh made rambling remarks which tried the patience of District Judge Aileen Cannon, who cut short his opening statement.Routh has a fixation on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and reportedly traveled to Kyiv in an effort to join foreign volunteer units before being rejected due to his age and lack of experience.Trump was also the target of an assassination attempt on July 13, 2024, when Thomas Matthew Crooks fired several shots during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. One of them grazed Trump’s right ear.Crooks was shot dead by a Secret Service sniper.

US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that Ukraine could win back all of its territory from Russia — and even go further — in a major pivot after meeting President Volodymyr Zelensky.The astonishing turnaround came shortly after Trump also called for NATO countries to shoot down any Russian jets that violate their airspace. “I think Ukraine, with the support of the European Union, is in a position to fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form,” Trump said on his Truth Social network after his talks with Zelensky.Trump also said Russia was “fighting aimlessly” after three years of war, in an apparent change of heart just over a month after he met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska.The US president has previously shown lukewarm support for Zelensky, with whom he had a huge televised Oval Office bust-up in February during which he told the Ukrainian “you don’t have the cards” to win.But in his social media post on Tuesday, Trump dismissed Russia as a “paper tiger,” saying that “Putin and Russia are in BIG Economic trouble, and this is the time for Ukraine to act.””With time, patience, and the financial support of Europe and, in particular, NATO, the original Borders from where this War started, is very much an option. Why not?” Trump wrote.He added that as Russia’s economy gets worse “Ukraine would be able to take back their Country in its original form and, who knows, maybe even go further than that!”- ‘Escalation trap’ -During his meeting at with Zelensky on the margins of the UN General Assembly, Trump said he had “great respect for the fight that Ukraine is putting up. It’s pretty amazing actually.”Zelensky thanked Trump for his “personal efforts to stop this war” and echoed Trump’s call for European countries to stop buying Russian oil.And after a series of recent incursions by Russian fighter jets and drones that have rattled Washington’s NATO allies in Europe, Trump said they would be within their rights to act.”Yes I do,” Trump said when a reporter asked if NATO countries should shoot down Russian aircraft if they enter their airspace.Trump however deflected questions about whether he believed Russian leader Vladimir Putin was still a reliable negotiating partner despite Moscow’s continued attacks on Ukraine.”I’ll let you know in about a month from now, okay?” Trump said when asked if he still trusted Putin.The 79-year-old Republican has previously, and repeatedly, given deadlines of two weeks to make a decision on whether to take steps including fresh sanctions against Russia.Tensions between Russia and Europe over Ukraine have escalated with the recent spate of aerial violations. NATO scrambled jets after three Russian MiG-31 fighters on Friday breached Estonian airspace for some 12 minutes, prompting Estonia to call for a meeting of the UN Security Council and talks with NATO allies.Fellow NATO member Poland said earlier this month that Russian drones had repeatedly violated its airspace during an attack on Ukraine, in what Warsaw called an “act of aggression.”Germany reacted cautiously to Trump’s comments on shooting down Russian planes, highlighting the need to avoid an “escalation trap.””Level-headedness is not cowardice and not fear, but a responsibility towards your own country and towards peace in Europe,” German defence minister Boris Pistorius said Tuesday.EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said Tuesday she discussed Russia’s airspace violations with Trump at the UN, and agreed on the need to cut Moscow’s energy revenues.

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly said he ended seven wars since returning to the White House earlier this year, making the inaccurate claim again during a Tuesday speech at the UN General Assembly.”In a period of just seven months, I have ended seven unendable wars,” Trump said.Below, AFP examines the US president’s mixed record on the conflicts between the seven pairs of countries he named in his UN speech.- Cambodia and Thailand -Five days of hostilities between Cambodia and Thailand left dozens dead in July after a territorial dispute boiled over into cross-border combat.A truce began after phone calls from Trump, as well as mediation from Malaysia’s prime minister — chair of the ASEAN regional bloc — and a delegation of Chinese negotiators.Cambodia’s prime minister subsequently said he nominated Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize, crediting the US president with “visionary and innovative diplomacy.”- Kosovo and Serbia -Serbia and Kosovo have not signed a final peace treaty, and NATO-led peacekeeping forces have been stationed in the latter area since the end of the 1998-1999 war between ethnic Albanian guerillas and Serbian forces.Kosovo declared independence in 2008 — a move that Belgrade has not recognized.While Trump did not forge a peace between Kosovo and Serbia, his administration did broker an economic normalization agreement between them during his first term.- Congo and Rwanda -Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo signed a peace accord in late June, but intense clashes between Rwandan-backed anti-government M23 fighters and Congolese forces have taken place in the eastern part of the country despite the agreement, which Trump took credit for at the time.The M23 and the Congolese army accused each other in weekend statements of “trampling” on peace efforts or “violating” the accord’s principles.- Pakistan and India -India and Pakistan fought an intense four-day conflict in May that left more than 70 people dead on both sides before Trump announced a ceasefire between the nuclear-armed neighbors.But Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in late July that no world leader had pushed his country to stop fighting Pakistan, without specifically naming Trump.The government of Pakistan, however, has said it would recommend Trump for the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize “in recognition of his decisive diplomatic intervention and pivotal leadership” during the conflict.- Israel and Iran -Israel launched an unprecedented 12-day air campaign targeting Iranian nuclear sites, scientists and top military brass in June in a bid to end the country’s nuclear program — an effort later joined by Washington’s forces, which carried out strikes on three nuclear sites as well.Trump announced a ceasefire between Israel and Iran — which he later accused both countries of violating.He worked to maintain it, seeking to turn around Israeli planes that were in the air, while the Israeli premier’s office said the country had “refrained from further strikes” after a call from Trump.- Egypt and Ethiopia -Tensions between Ethiopia and its downstream neighbor Egypt are heightened over the former country’s inauguration of a massive dam earlier this month.Egypt, dependent on the Nile for 97 percent of its water, has long decried the project, with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi calling it an “existential threat” to the country’s water security.During his first term in office, Trump publicly mused that Egypt could bomb the dam — leading Ethiopia to accuse the then US leader of trying to provoke a war.Trump has demanded credit for “keeping peace” between Egypt and Ethiopia, but he has not ended a war between them.- Armenia and Azerbaijan -Armenia and Azerbaijan have feuded for decades over their border and the status of ethnic enclaves within each other’s territories, and went to war twice over the disputed Karabakh region, which Azerbaijan recaptured from Armenian forces in 2023.Both Armenia and Azerbaijan have praised US efforts to settle the conflict, and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has said he would back Trump’s nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize.- Other conflicts -Trump’s efforts to broker a peace in Gaza have been unsuccessful and he has singularly failed to end the conflict in Ukraine — a war he had boasted he could resolve in a single day once he became president.