AFP - Squid Business

Pakistan shoots down 25 Indian drones near military installations

Pakistan’s army said Thursday it shot down 25 Indian drones, a day after the worst violence between the nuclear-armed rivals in two decades.Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif vowed to retaliate after India launched deadly missile strikes on Wednesday morning, escalating days of gunfire along their border.At least 45 deaths were reported from both sides following Wednesday’s violence, including children.Pakistan’s military said in a statement Thursday that it had “so far shot down 25 Israeli-made Harop drones” at multiple location across the country. “Last night, India showed another act of aggression by sending drones to multiple locations,” Pakistan’s military spokesman Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said from the army’s headquarters in Rawalpindi, where a drone was downed.”One managed to engage in a military target near Lahore,” he said, adding that four troops in the city were injured.He earlier said the operation was ongoing.One civilian was killed and another injured in Sindh as a result of the drone incidents. Crowds gathered at crash sites, some close to army installations, to gaze at the debris. Blasts could be heard across Lahore.The Civil Aviation Authority said Karachi airport was closed until 6 pm (1300 GMT), while Islamabad and Lahore were briefly shut “for operational reasons”.Pakistan and Indian have fought several wars over the Muslim-majority disputed region of Kashmir — divided between the two but claimed in full by both.”We will avenge each drop of the blood of these martyrs,” Sharif said, in an address to the nation.- ‘Right to respond’ -Speaking after the Wednesday missile strike, India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said New Delhi had a “right to respond” following an attack on tourists in Pahalgam in Kashmir last month, when gunmen killed 26 people, mainly Hindu men.New Delhi blamed the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba — a UN-designated terrorist organisation for the Pahalgam shooting, and the nations traded days of threats and diplomatic measures.Pakistan has denied any involvement and called for an independent investigation into the April 22 attack.India said on Wednesday it had destroyed nine “terrorist camps” in Pakistan in “focused, measured and non-escalatory” strikes.Islamabad said Wednesday that 31 civilians were killed by Indian strikes and firing along the border.New Delhi said 13 civilians and a soldier had been killed by Pakistani fire.Pakistan’s military also said five Indian jets had been downed across the border, but New Delhi has not responded to the claims.An Indian senior security source, who asked not to be named, said three of its fighter jets had crashed on home territory.- ‘Screamed’ -The largest Indian strike was on an Islamic seminary near the Punjabi city of Bahawalpur, killing 13 people according to the Pakistan military. Muhammad Riaz said he and his family had been made homeless after Indian strikes hit Muzaffarabad, the main city of Pakistan-administered Kashmir.”There is no place to live,” he said. “There is no space at the house of our relatives. We are very upset, we have nowhere to go.”On the Indian side of the frontier on Wednesday, Madasar Choudhary, 29, described how his sister saw two children killed in Poonch, where Pakistan military carried out shelling. “She saw two children running out of her neighbour’s house and screamed for them to get back inside,” Choudhary said, narrating her account because she was too shocked to speak.”But shrapnel hit the children — and they eventually died.”- ‘No pushover’ -India on Thursday braced for Pakistan’s threatened retaliation.In an editorial on Thursday, the Indian Express wrote “there is no reason to believe that the Pakistan Army has been chastened by the Indian airstrikes”, adding that Indian military experts were “aware that Pakistan’s armed forces are no pushover”.”Border districts on high alert,” The Hindu newspaper headline read, adding that “India must be prepared for escalatory action” by Pakistan.Diplomats and world leaders have pressured both countries to step back from the brink.”I want to see them stop,” US President Donald Trump said Wednesday.Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is slated to meet his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on Thursday in New Delhi, days after visiting Pakistan, as Tehran seeks to mediate.Analysts said they were fully expecting Pakistani military action to “save face” in a response to India.”India’s limited objectives are met,” said Happymon Jacob, director of the New Delhi-based think tank Council for Strategic and Defence Research.”Pakistan has a limited objective of ensuring that it carries out a retaliatory strike to save face domestically and internationally. So, that is likely to happen.”Based on past conflicts, he believed it would “likely end in a few iterations of exchange of long-range gunfire or missiles into each other’s territory”. burs-pjm/ecl/lb

La Bourse de Paris optimiste avec l’accord commercial annoncé par Trump

La Bourse de Paris évolue en petite hausse jeudi, poussée par le projet d’accord commercial majeur annoncé par Donald Trump, ravivant l’optimisme sur une avancée des négociations douanières entre Washington et le reste du monde.Vers 09H45 heure de Paris, l’indice vedette de la Bourse de Paris, le CAC 40, prenait 0,30%, soit un gain de 22,98 points, pour s’établir à 7.649,82 points. La veille, il avait cédé 0,91% pour s’établir à 7.626,84 points à la clôture.”Un vent d’optimisme souffle à nouveau (…) alors que les marchés réagissent aux dernières nouvelles sur le commerce”, commente Matt Britzman, analyste chez Hargreaves Lansdown.Le président américain Donald Trump a assuré mercredi qu’un “accord commercial majeur” avec “les représentants d’un grand pays très respecté” sera annoncé jeudi lors d’une conférence de presse à 14H00 GMT dans le Bureau ovale. Selon la presse américaine, il s’agirait du Royaume-Uni.Le Premier ministre britannique Keir Starmer “s’exprimera plus tard” jeudi au sujet des négociations commerciales entre Londres et Washington, a précisé Downing Street.Si cet accord est confirmé, il s’agira d’une première depuis que le milliardaire a imposé au monde entier des droits de douane massifs sur les biens importés aux Etats-Unis, avant de faire en grande partie marche arrière devant le bouleversement de l’ordre économique international qu’il a provoqué.”Cependant, la déception face au manque de détails conduit les investisseurs” à rester prudents pour le moment, note Patrick Munnelly, de Tickmill Group.Des discussions commerciales sont également prévues entre Washington et Pékin, et ces “pourparlers à venir en Suisse ce week-end seront très suivis”, poursuit-il. Par ailleurs, les marchés digèrent l’approche attentiste de la Fed, la banque centrale américaine ayant décidé mercredi à l’unanimité de laisser ses taux inchangés: elle se dit dans l’incapacité de prévoir où va l’économie américaine confrontée à l’onde de choc des nouveaux droits de douane de Donald Trump.La tech caracole en tête du CAC 40Les valeurs associées au secteur des semi-conducteurs profitent jeudi d’informations de presse selon lesquels “l’administration Trump envisage de revenir sur les restrictions imposées sous Biden sur les puces IA, dans le cadre d’une révision plus large des restrictions commerciales sur les semi-conducteurs”, explique Jim Reid.Donald Trump a ouvert depuis son retour à la Maison Blanche plusieurs enquêtes sur les “effets sur la sécurité nationale” de diverses importations, allant des semiconducteurs aux minerais cruciaux.Vers 09H45 heure de Paris, STMicroelectronics gagnait 2,73% à 20,71 euros et Capgemini prenait 2,34% à 146,60 euros, les plus fortes hausses du CAC 40 en début de séance jeudi.

Trump to announce ‘trade deal’ with UK

The United States and Britain were reportedly set to announce a trade agreement on Thursday that could have implications for President Donald Trump’s tariffs assault, but the scope of the deal could be limited.The New York Times and Politico reported that the agreement would be with the UK, citing multiple people familiar with the plans, while the Wall Street Journal said it would be a “framework” of a deal.It would be the first such trade agreement since Trump imposed sweeping tariffs on US trading partners on what he called “Liberation Day” on April 2.The president slapped 10 percent tariffs on imports from around the world, including Britain, but he temporarily froze higher duties on dozens of nations to give space for negotiations.Trump on Wednesday wrote that a “major trade deal” would be announced with a “big, and highly respected country”.However, media and analysts said it was unclear whether a US deal with Britain had been finalised or if the two countries would announce a framework for an agreement that would be subject to further negotiation.Trump is set to announce the “deal” at a 10:00 am (1400 GMT) news conference in the Oval Office at the White House, and touted it as the “first of many”.In London, Downing Street said British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will give an “update” on trade talks with the United States on Thursday.”Talks on a deal between our countries have been continuing at pace and the prime minister will update later today,” a spokeswoman said.Starmer, who like Trump won power last year, had pushed for a trade deal before the president unleashed his tariffs blitz on Britain and countries worldwide.Reaching a post-Brexit agreement with the United States has been the Holy Grail for Britain since it exited the European Union at the start of the decade.London is keen to get some kind of accord with Washington, ahead of a EU-UK summit on May 19 due to reset ties with the 27-nation bloc.A US-UK deal could prove problematic for the EU which is struggling to reach an acceptable trade deal of its own with the United States.Britain this week struck a free-trade agreement with India, its biggest such deal since leaving the EU, after negotiations relaunched in February following US tariff threats.The EU remains Britain’s biggest trading partner, while the United States is the UK’s single largest country trading partner.- Details of deal? -Trump has for weeks claimed that countries were lining up to strike trade agreements with the United States.Reports have suggested that Washington may reduce certain tariffs on British products in exchange for relief from the UK’s digital services tax paid by US tech giants. London had not retaliated against the Trump’s 10-percent tariff imposed on UK imports, nor to the higher 25-percent levies for steel, aluminium and the automotive sector.”Any deal with the US is likely to be damage limitation rather than an economic boost,” Jonathan Portes, professor of economics at King’s College London, told AFP.”That is, it is likely to limit the Trump tariffs, but … exporters will probably still be facing higher tariffs overall than they were last year.”Deutsche Bank analyst Jim Reid said “given that full trade deals take years to negotiate, this will likely be a framework and it will be interesting to see whether the 10-percent baseline tariff stays as that will provide an important template for negotiations with other countries”.The Bank of England is widely expected to cut its key interest rate by a quarter point Thursday as Trump’s planned tariffs threaten to weaken global economic growth.- Affinity for Britain – Starmer visited Washington at the end of February in part to discuss tariffs and came away hopeful that a long-awaited accord could be reached. Trump at the time held out the prospect of a “great” deal, hailing Starmer as a tough negotiator.Starmer during his visit handed Trump an invitation to meet King Charles III for an unprecedented second state visit that London hopes will boost transatlantic ties. The 78-year-old Republican has long been a vocal fan of the British royal family. He also has a close affinity to the UK as his mother was born in Scotland, where he owns a golf course.

Emirates airline group announces record $6.2 bn gross profit

Dubai’s Emirates Group, which includes the Middle East’s biggest airline, announced on Thursday gross annual profit of $6.2 billion, its third record in three years.The 18 percent rise in profit, based on strong customer demand, slimmed to $5.6 billion after the UAE’s recently introduced corporate tax, which was applied for a full financial year for the first time.”The Emirates Group has raised the bar to set new records for profit, revenue and cash assets,” chairman Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum said in a statement.The group invested $3.8 billion in new aircraft, infrastructure and technology “to support its growth plans”, the statement said.Its workforce grew by 9 percent to an unprecedented 121,223 employees.The group declared a $1.6 billion dividend to its owner, the Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD).Emirates airline, excluding the group’s other businesses, posted a record $5.8 billion pre-tax profit, up 20 percent from the year before.Its revenue grew by 6 percent, reaching $34.9 billion.Emirates’ ground services arm Dnata also boasted a record pre-tax profit of $430 million, up 2 percent from last year.State-owned Emirates Group operates the world’s largest long-haul carrier.As of March, it had 314 aircraft pending delivery, including 61 A350s and 205 Boeing 777x, the statement said.It said it was retrofitting 219 aircraft at a cost of $5 billion to make up for delayed aircraft orders.Sheikh Ahmed had previously said the group was retrofitting 90 percent of its fleet to make up for the delays.

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Droits de douane: accord aux contours flous attendu entre Washington et Londres

Un “accord commercial” sur les droits de douane est attendu jeudi entre les Etats-Unis et son allié historique, le Royaume-Uni, mais les contours et la portée de cet arrangement, le premier du genre depuis le lancement par Donald Trump de sa guerre commerciale, restent encore flous.Le Premier ministre britannique Keir Starmer doit “s’exprimer plus tard” jeudi au sujet des négociations commerciales entre les deux pays, a indiqué un porte-parole de Downing Street jeudi en début de matinée, quelques heures après l’annonce par Donald Trump qu’un “accord majeur” serait dévoilé –sans nommer le pays concerné.Sur son compte Truth Social, le locataire de la Maison Blanche, a annoncé mercredi une “grande conférence de presse (jeudi) matin à 10H00 (14H00 GMT), dans le Bureau ovale, concernant un important accord commercial avec les représentants d’un grand pays très respecté”.La presse américaine comme britannique avance qu’il s’agit du Royaume-Uni, mais souligne que l’ampleur de ce qui sera dévoilé jeudi pourrait être limitée, voire se réduire à l’annonce d’un cadre de négociations entre les deux pays.”Tout +accord+ avec les États-Unis s’apparente davantage à une opération de limitation des dégâts qu’à un véritable coup de pouce à l’économie” britannique, même si “il s’agira clairement d’un soulagement pour les entreprises”, relève ainsi Jonathan Portes, économiste au King’s College de Londres, interrogé par l’AFP.- “Relation spéciale” -Si cet accord est confirmé, il constituera une première depuis que le tempétueux milliardaire a imposé au monde entier des droits de douane massifs sur les biens importés par les Etats-Unis, avant de faire en grande partie marche arrière devant le bouleversement de l’ordre économique international.Donald Trump a toutefois maintenu des surtaxes prohibitives avec la Chine au taux de 145% — 245% pour certains secteurs — auquel Pékin a riposté avec un taux de 125%.Chine et Etats-Unis doivent se réunir ce week-end en Suisse pour jeter les fondements d’une négociation commerciale.Keir Starmer et Donald Trump avaient ces dernières semaines fait état de “négociations productives” entre leurs pays liés par 250 ans d’Histoire et qui ont forgé une “relation spéciale” diplomatique et économique jamais véritablement mise à mal.Le commerce de biens entre Londres et Washington est resté à l’équilibre en 2024, selon des statistiques officielles, le Royaume-Uni ayant importé pour 57,1 milliards de livres de biens américains et en a exporté pour 59,3 milliards de livres.Londres est ainsi relativement épargné par les droits de douane “réciproques” annoncés le 2 avril par le président Trump avec une taxe de seulement 10%, le niveau le plus bas.La puissance européenne reste toutefois taxée à 25% sur l’acier, l’aluminium et l’automobile, ce qui inquiète les constructeurs britanniques, les Etats-Unis représentant leur premier marché à l’exportation en 2024 (9 milliards de livres, 27,4% des exportations), hors Union européenne.La balance commerciale penche aussi largement en faveur du Royaume-Uni en matière de services, le pays ayant exporté pour 137 milliards de livres aux Etats-Unis l’an passé, contre 61,2 milliards d’importations.Mais ce secteur reste, pour l’instant, en marge de la guerre commerciale lancée par Donald Trump.- Taxe numérique -Londres et Washington négocient depuis des semaines, le Royaume-Uni espérant supprimer ou atténuer les surtaxes américaines contre des concessions.La ministre des Finances britannique Rachel Reeves s’était ainsi entretenue avec son homologue américain Scott Bessent, en marge des réunions de printemps du Fonds monétaire international (FMI) fin avril à Washington.Elle avait avancé quelques lignes rouges sur les normes en matière d’automobiles et d’alimentation, sur la sécurité en ligne et envisagé une concession possible sur sa taxe numérique, qui touche essentiellement les géants américains et rapporte 800 millions de livres par an.Dans le même temps, Mme Reeves avait rappelé la valeur de la relation avec l’UE, soulignant que “les relations commerciales avec l’Europe (étaient) sans doute encore plus importantes” qu’avec les Etats-Unis, malgré le divorce du Brexit effectif depuis le 31 janvier 2020.Londres accueillera le 19 mai les présidents des institutions de l’UE, premier sommet de ce type depuis le Brexit.Des discussions sont parallèlement en cours entre Washington et nombre de pays. burs-ode/zap/rl