AFP - Squid Business

Tunics & turbans: Afghan students don Taliban-imposed uniforms

China’s manufacturing shrinks in April as trade war bites

China’s factory activity shrank this month, official data showed Wednesday, with Beijing blaming a “sharp shift” in the global economy as it fights a mounting trade war with the United States.Punishing US tariffs that have reached 145 percent on many Chinese products came into force in April, while Beijing has responded with fresh 125 percent duties on imports from the United States.And the impact of the measures began to show through in April, with the Purchasing Managers’ Index — a key measure of industrial output — falling to 49 in April, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), below the 50-point mark that separates growth and contraction.The reading for April was down from March’s 50.5, which was the highest in 12 months, and represented a steeper decline than the 49.7 forecast in a Bloomberg survey.”In April, affected by factors such as a high base from earlier rapid manufacturing growth and a sharp shift in the external environment, the manufacturing PMI fell,” NBS statistician Zhao Qinghe said in a statement.The non-manufacturing PMI, which measures activity in the services sector, came in at 50.4, down from 50.8 in March.Economists have warned that the disruption in trade between the tightly integrated US and Chinese economies could threaten businesses, increase prices for consumers and cause a global recession.Chinese exports soared more than 12 percent last month as businesses rushed to get ahead of the swingeing tariffs.”The weak manufacturing PMI in April is driven by the trade war,” Zhiwei Zhang, president and chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management, wrote in a note.”The macro data in China and the US will weaken further… as the trade policy uncertainty delays business decisions,” he added.China’s economy, the world’s second-largest, has struggled to fully recover since the Covid-19 pandemic and is also grappling with sluggish domestic demand and a protracted property sector crisis.”China’s economy is coming under pressure as external demand cools,” said Zichun Huang, China Economist at Capital Economics, in a note.”Although the government is stepping up fiscal support, this is unlikely to fully offset the drag, and we expect the economy to expand just 3.5 percent this year,” Huang added.Authorities last year announced a slew of aggressive stimulus measures aimed at boosting growth including rate cuts and the easing of some home purchasing restrictions.And in March, leaders at a key political meeting vowed to create 12 million new urban jobs in 2025.They also said they would aim for growth this year of five percent — the same as 2024 and a goal considered ambitious by many economists.

Asian markets struggle as trade war hits China factory activity

Stocks started limply Wednesday as investors struggled to match Wall Street’s rally, with data showing Chinese factory activity contracted this month at its fastest pace for nearly two years as Donald Trump’s trade war kicked in.While markets have recovered some of the losses suffered after the US president’s “Liberation Day” tariffs announcement on April 2, uncertainty still rules as countries look to cut deals to avert the worst of Washington’s ire.China has pointedly not flown to the United States in a bid to pare back the levies of up to 145 percent imposed on its goods, instead hitting back with 125 percent tolls of its own.But the effect of the measures began to shine through in April, with data Wednesday showing manufacturing activity contracted at its fastest pace since July 2023 — a month after expanding at its quickest rate for 12 months.That came after Chinese exports soared more than 12 percent last month as businesses rushed to get ahead of the swingeing tariffs.And observers fear things will only worsen.”The weak manufacturing PMI in April is driven by the trade war,” Zhiwei Zhang, president and chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management, wrote in a note.”The macro data in China and the US will weaken further… as the trade policy uncertainty delays business decisions,” he added.Shares fell in Hong Kong and Shanghai, while they were also off in Seoul, Wellington and Jakarta.Tokyo rose thanks to a surge in Sony fuelled by a report that it is considering spinning off its chip unit, raising expectations that such a move would unlock value in the Japanese entertainment and electronics company.Sydney, Singapore, Taipei and Manila also edged up.Equities have clawed back a lot of the huge losses suffered at the start of the month as Trump has shown a little more flexibility on some issues and as governments hold talks with Washington.US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said he had reached a deal with a country but did not name it, while Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said progress had been made with India, South Korea and Japan.But Saxo chief investment strategist Charu Chanana warned economic data will likely worsen.”We’ve probably seen peak tariff rates, but not peak tariff uncertainty,” she said in a commentary. “The hard data still reflects the impact of front-loaded demand, as companies and consumers rushed to buy goods ahead of expected tariff increases. “We haven’t yet seen the real data showing the drag from sustained uncertainty and elevated tariff costs. As that uncertainty filters through business decisions, we expect a more meaningful slowdown in real economic activity — in production, hiring, and investment.”In short, the rate shock may be behind us, but the real growth damage is just starting to unfold.”Investors are awaiting the release of key US inflation and economic growth data due later in the day, while jobs figures are lined up for Friday.This week also sees the release of earnings from Wall Street titans including Microsoft, Apple, Meta and Amazon, which observers hope will provide an insight into how corporate America is dealing with the tariffs crisis, and how they expect to fare.- Key figures at 0230 GMT -Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.2 percent at 35,902.51 (break)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.4 percent at 21,919.30Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.1 percent at 3,283.97Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1371 from $1.1390 on TuesdayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3394 from $1.3399 Dollar/yen: UP at 142.39 yen from 142.22 yenEuro/pound: DOWN at 84.91 pence from 85.08 penceWest Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.2 percent at $60.31 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: FLAT at $64.25 per barrelNew York – Dow: UP 0.8 percent at 40,527.62 (close)London – FTSE 100: UP 0.6 percent at 8,463.46 (close)

Au moins 15 morts dans l’incendie d’un hôtel en Inde

S. Korea prosecutors raid ex-president’s house over shaman probe: Yonhap

Filipino cardinal, the ‘Asian Francis’, is papal contender

Pakistan says India planning strike as tensions soar over Kashmir attack

Pakistan’s information minister said Wednesday that Islamabad had “credible intelligence” that India was planning an imminent military strike and he vowed a “decisive response”, as worries of spiralling conflict grew over a deadly attack in Kashmir.The statement by Attaullah Tarar came after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a closed-door meeting the previous day with army and security chiefs, at which he gave the military “complete operational freedom” to respond to the attack, a senior government source told AFP.”Pakistan has credible intelligence that India intends to launch a military strike within the next 24 to 36 hours using the Pahalgam incident as a false pretext,” Tarar said in a statement.Pahalgam is a tourist hub in Indian-administered Kashmir where 26 men were killed on April 22, the deadliest attack on civilians in the contested region in years.India has accused Pakistan of supporting the attack, a claim Islamabad has rejected.”Any act of aggression will be met with a decisive response,” said Tarar. “India will be fully responsible for any serious consequences in the region!”The development comes as nations around the world, from neighbouring China to the United States, express deep concerns and urge restraint by the nuclear-armed neighbours.India’s army on Wednesday said it had repeatedly traded gunfire with Pakistani troops for a sixth night in a row across the Line of Control (LoC), the de facto Kashmir border, a heavily fortified zone of high-altitude Himalayan outposts.The army reported “small arms firing” in multiple sites, but with no reported casualties. Pakistan’s military did not confirm the shooting, but state radio in Islamabad reported on Tuesday it had shot down an Indian drone, calling it a violation of its airspace.It did not say when the incident happened, and there was no comment from New Delhi.- ‘Ends of the Earth’ -Tensions have been rapidly mounting in the week since the Pahalgam attack, with tit-for-tat diplomatic barbs, expulsion of citizens and land border crossings shut.Last week, Modi vowed to pursue those who carried out the attack, and those who had supported it.”I say to the whole world: India will identify, track and punish every terrorist and their backer,” he said on Thursday.”We will pursue them to the ends of the Earth”.The bellicose statements have prompted worries of a spiral into military action, with calls from several nations for restraint.The US State Department said top diplomat Marco Rubio would call his Pakistani and Indian counterparts soon to urge them “to not escalate the situation”.UN chief Antonio Guterres meanwhile held calls Tuesday with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar in which he “offered his Good Offices to support de-escalation”, his spokesman said.Sharif’s office later said he had urged Guterres to “counsel India” to exercise restraint, while pledging to defend Pakistan’s “sovereignty and territorial integrity with full force in case of any misadventure by India”.Muslim-majority Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since their independence from British rule in 1947. Both claim the territory in full.Rebels in the Indian-run area have waged an insurgency since 1989, seeking independence or a merger with Pakistan.Indian police have issued wanted posters for three men accused of carrying out the Kashmir attack — two Pakistanis and an Indian — who they say are members of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba group, a UN-designated terrorist organisation.They have announced a two million rupee ($23,500) bounty for information leading to each man’s arrest and carried out sweeping detentions seeking anyone suspected of links to the alleged killers.The worst attack in recent years in Indian-run Kashmir was at Pulwama in 2019, when a suicide bomber rammed a car packed with explosives into a security forces convoy, killing 40 and wounding 35.Indian fighter jets carried out air strikes on Pakistani territory 12 days later.Iran has already offered to mediate and Saudi Arabia has said Riyadh was trying to “prevent an escalation”.US President Donald Trump downplayed tensions, saying on Friday the dispute will get “figured out, one way or another”.burs-pjm/mtp

Pakistan says India planning strike as tensions soar over Kashmir attack

Washington menace de jeter l’éponge face à Moscou et Kiev

Se montrant de plus en plus agacés, les Etats-Unis ont exhorté mardi la Russie et l’Ukraine à faire des “propositions concrètes” en vue de mettre fin à la guerre, faute de quoi ils cesseront leur médiation.Le président ukrainien Volodymyr Zelensky a lui appelé à ne faire “cadeau” d’aucun territoire à son homologue russe Vladimir Poutine, alors que la reconnaissance de régions occupées par Moscou semble être envisagée par Washington.”Nous sommes arrivés à un moment où les deux parties doivent faire des propositions concrètes pour mettre fin à ce conflit”, a affirmé à la presse la porte-parole du département d’Etat, Tammy Bruce, disant lire un message de son patron Marco Rubio.”S’il n’y a pas de progrès, nous nous retirerons en tant que médiateurs dans ce processus”, a-t-elle ajouté.Le président Donald Trump a quant à lui estimé mardi que le président russe Vladimir Poutine voulait la paix. “Je pense que son rêve était de s’emparer de tout le pays”, mais “à cause de moi, il ne va pas le faire”, a déclaré le républicain sur la chaîne ABC.”Je pense qu’il le veut”, a répondu M. Trump à un journaliste d’ABC qui lui demandait s’il pensait que M. Poutine souhaitait mettre un terme au conflit.Le secrétaire d’Etat américain avait jugé dimanche que les négociations sur l’Ukraine entraient dans une “semaine cruciale”.Il a déjà, à plusieurs reprises, suggéré que les Etats-Unis pourraient se désengager faute d’accord, mais en parlant explicitement de la fin de la médiation américaine, le message se durcit très visiblement.Donald Trump appelle Kiev et Moscou à conclure un cessez-le-feu et un accord de paix, trois ans après le début de l’offensive russe ayant fait des dizaines de milliers de morts civils et militaires.Depuis son retour au pouvoir, il s’est rapproché de Vladimir Poutine, a initié des négociations séparées avec les Russes et les Ukrainiens, rencontré en tête-à-tête samedi au Vatican le président ukrainien et dépêché plusieurs fois son émissaire Steve Witkoff en Russie.Le président russe a annoncé lundi une trêve sur le front en Ukraine durant trois jours du 8 au 10 mai, à l’occasion de la commémoration de la victoire sur l’Allemagne nazie, mais M. Zelensky a dénoncé une “tentative de manipulation”.Les Etats-Unis ne veulent “pas d’un cessez-le-feu de trois jours pour pouvoir célébrer autre chose, mais un cessez-le-feu complet et durable et la fin du conflit”, a martelé Mme Bruce.- “Pas de cadeau” -L’ambassadeur russe aux Nations unies, Vassili Nebenzia, a cherché à blâmer M. Zelensky et a déclaré que la Russie continuerait à parler avec les Etats-Unis.M. Zelensky “est déterminé à intensifier le conflit. Il rejette imprudemment les propositions de paix équilibrées des Etats-Unis”, a-t-il déclaré lors d’une réunion du Conseil de sécurité de l’ONU.Le représentant américain John Kelley a lui affirmé que les Etats-Unis avaient présenté aux deux parties un cadre pour un accord de paix, et il a condamné les frappes russes en Ukraine. “En ce moment, la Russie a une grande opportunité de parvenir à une paix durable”, a déclaré M. Kelley.Au moins une personne est morte et 39 autres ont été blessées dans des frappes russes sur les villes ukrainiennes de Dnipro (centre-est) et Kharkiv (nord-est), ont indiqué les autorités locales dans la nuit de mardi à mercredi.Pour la sénatrice Jeanne Shaheen, principale démocrate de la commission des Affaires étrangères du Sénat, “le président Trump et son équipe ont terriblement mal géré ces négociations”.”Nous voulons tous que cette guerre se termine de manière équitable, sans cadeau pour Poutine, et surtout pas des terres”, a dit M. Zelensky lors d’un sommet régional.La Russie occupe partiellement quatre régions du sud et de l’est de l’Ukraine, dont elle a revendiqué l’annexion en 2022 : celles de Donetsk, Lougansk, Zaporijjia et Kherson.Elle a aussi annexé en 2014 la péninsule ukrainienne de Crimée.Le chef de la diplomatie russe, Sergueï Lavrov, a déclaré lundi que la reconnaissance internationale de ces annexions était une condition “impérative” pour la fin de la guerre en Ukraine, déclenchée par l’invasion russe de février 2022.L’administration de Donald Trump envisage de reconnaître la Crimée comme russe.Volodymyr Zelensky a répété ces derniers jours qu’une telle éventualité serait inacceptable pour Kiev.M. Trump avait estimé dimanche que la position du dirigeant ukrainien à ce sujet pourrait changer.Dans son adresse quotidienne mardi, M. Zelensky a aussi appelé une nouvelle fois la Russie à accepter un cessez-le-feu “inconditionnel et global” de 30 jours.