AFP - Squid Business

UK PM urges nations to smash migrant smuggling gangs ‘once and for all’

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer urged dozens of countries to collaborate to dismantle migrant smuggling gangs “once and for all” when he opened an immigration crime summit on Monday.Starmer is seeking to crack down on would-be asylum seekers arriving in England on flimsy small boats and has brought together delegates from more than 40 nations for the two-day London meeting.The interior ministers of France and Germany were among those attending the Organised Immigration Crime Summit. China and the United States also sent representatives.The UK government is struggling to stop undocumented migrants embarking on dangerous boat journeys across the Channel from France. “This vile trade exploits the cracks between our institutions… and profits from our inability at the political level to come together,” Starmer said. He argued that resources and intelligence must be shared and that governments need to “tackle the problem upstream at every step of the people-smuggling routes”.”There’s nothing progressive or compassionate about turning a blind eye to this,” Starmer added.Britain’s Home Office (interior ministry) billed the gathering as “the first major international summit in the UK to tackle the global emergency of illegal migration”.Representatives from across Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, as well as North America were due to attend.In a video message played to delegates, Italy’s far-right prime minister Giorgia Meloni hailed her country’s agreement with Albania to process asylum claims at detention centres in the non-European Union country.She claimed that countries “criticised (it) at first but that then has gained increasing consensus”.Italian judges have repeatedly refused to sign off on the detention in Albania of migrants intercepted by Italian authorities at sea, ordering them to be transferred to Italy instead, and the European Court of Justice is reviewing Rome’s policy.- Online recruitment -The summit is designed to build on talks interior minister Yvette Cooper held in December with her counterparts from Belgium, Germany, France and the Netherlands.The five countries signed a joint action plan designed to boost cooperation to dismantle migrant smuggling gangs.Also attending were delegates from countries from where would-be asylum seekers set out, such as Vietnam and Iraq, and countries they transit, such as those in the Balkans.It also brings together the heads of UK law enforcement agencies and their counterparts from Interpol, Europol and Afripol.The Home Office said the summit would discuss the equipment, infrastructure and fraudulent documents that organised criminal gangs use to smuggle people.They would also look at how supply routes work and discuss how to tackle the online recruitment of migrants, including with representatives from social media platforms Meta, X and TikTok.The UK announced on Sunday it was launching adverts on Zalo, the Vietnamese instant messaging system, to warn people of the dangers of people smugglers.Vietnamese nationals are among the top nationalities making the perilous sea voyage across the Channel to Britain.Similar UK campaigns have already been launched in Albania and Iraqi Kurdistan.UK officials are also keen to speak to China about how it can stop exporting engines and other small boats parts used in crossings.According to the Home Office, the UK’s National Crime Agency and global law enforcement partners have seized 600 boats and engines since July.- Domestic pressure -Starmer told the meeting that since his Labour government took power in July, more than 24,000 people with “no right to be here” had been returned.But the number of would-be asylum seekers arriving across the Channel set a new record last week for the first three months of the year — at more than 6,600.At least 10 people are dead or missing after attempting the treacherous crossing so far this year, according to the International Organisation for Migration.More than 157,770 people have been detected trying to enter Britain in dinghies since successive governments began collecting data in 2018.In February, Starmer’s government announced it was toughening immigration rules to make it almost impossible for undocumented migrants who arrive on small boats to later receive citizenship.On Sunday, it said it would tighten rules to legally require UK gig economy employers to carry out right-to-work checks.Starmer is under pressure, in part from rising support for Nigel Farage’s anti-immigration Reform UK party, which won roughly four million votes at July’s general election — an unprecedented haul for a hard-right party.Rights group Amnesty International stresses: “Seeking asylum is a human right. This means everyone should be allowed to enter another country to seek asylum.””The people are not the problem,” it says on its website. “Rather, the causes that drive families and individuals to cross borders and the short-sighted and unrealistic ways that politicians respond to them are the problem.”

Chinese tech giant Huawei says profits fell 28% last year

Chinese smartphone maker giant Huawei said Monday that profits fell 28 percent last year as it faced international economic uncertainty and weak consumption at home.The Shenzhen-based company has been at the centre of an intense standoff between China and the United States after Washington warned its equipment could be used for espionage by the Chinese government, an allegation Huawei denies.Sanctions since 2019 have cut the firm’s access to US-made components and technologies, forcing it to diversify its growth strategy.The company announced Monday that it made a net profit of 62.6 billion yuan ($8.6 billion) last year, down from 87 billion yuan in 2023.In a statement, a Huawei spokesperson said profits slipped last year because it “continued to increase… future-oriented investment and there were no gains from the sale of businesses”.Revenue rose 22 percent on-year — marking a third successive increase after a sharp drop in 2021 during the pandemic.Its 862.1 billion yuan in revenue was the highest since the figure surpassed 890 billion yuan in 2020.Most of that came from its ICT infrastructure business and consumer products, followed by cloud computing.The results were “in line with forecast”, the company’s rotating chairwoman Sabrina Meng said in a statement.Employees “banded together to tackle a wide range of external challenges”, Meng said, adding that the company was “firmly committed to its quality goals and will keep honing quality as a competitive edge”.US sanctions have since 2019 cut Huawei off from global supply chains for technology and US-made components, a move that initially hammered its production of smartphones.Last year, the company unveiled its first smartphone equipped with a fully homegrown operating system, a test of its ability to challenge the dominance of Western juggernauts.It also released the world’s first triple-folding phone, launched hours after its US rival Apple lifted the curtain on its newest iPhone.Apple remains popular among Chinese consumers but has ceded ground to domestic players such as Huawei in recent years.Huawei remains one of the world’s leading equipment manufacturers for 5G, the fifth generation of mobile internet, and has been involved in infrastructure projects in numerous countries.The United States has sought to convince its allies to ban Huawei from their 5G networks, arguing that Beijing could use the group’s products to monitor communications and data traffic.The firm is also facing heightened scrutiny in Europe over a new cash-for-influence probe in the EU parliament.Offices were sealed and five people were charged this month over suspicions that members of parliament were bribed to sway sensitive EU policies in favour of the tech giant.Lawmakers are to confront the Huawei allegations at a debate Monday on “transparency and anticorruption policies in the EU”, which is expected to see calls for tougher action.

Jusqu’à huit ans de prison au procès de vastes arnaques “Carton rouge”

Le tribunal de Nancy a prononcé lundi des peines allant jusqu’à huit ans de prison à l’encontre de 20 personnes, et en a relaxé deux, dans l'”exceptionnelle” affaire dite “Carton rouge” de vastes escroqueries ayant fait plus d’un millier de victimes, dont plusieurs clubs de football, pour un préjudice total de 28 millions d’euros.L’homme dont l’enquête a établi qu’il était “le chef” de l’organisation de malfaiteurs, Mickaël Ibgui, en fuite et sous le coup d’un mandat d’arrêt, a été condamné à huit ans de prison, une peine conforme aux réquisitions du procureur Vincent Legaut.Dans ses réquisitions en novembre, le procureur avait réclamé une peine “suffisamment significative pour qu’elle soit prise en compte dans le calcul coût/avantages” pour les personnes qui réfléchiraient à se lancer dans des escroqueries depuis Israël, avec le soutien opérationnel de main d’oeuvre en France, comme c’est le cas de ce réseau.Les faits s’étaient déroulés entre 2016 et 2018: les victimes, des centaines de particuliers, avaient laissé leurs coordonnées sur des sites internet de vente de diamants ou de cryptomonnaies. Rapidement rappelées par des escrocs opérant depuis Marseille ou Israël, elles ont été arnaquées de sommes allant jusqu’à plusieurs centaines de milliers d’euros.Seuls quatre hommes, sur les 22 prévenus étaient présents lundi matin – dont un en visioconférence – pour écouter le jugement.Youval Timsit, lui aussi sous le coup d’un mandat d’arrêt et avec une “large implication” dans l’organisation selon le procureur, a été condamné à sept ans de prison.Le “chef de bureau de Marseille”, où l’organisation créait notamment des sites internet servant de support aux escroqueries, Fabrice Houta, a écopé de cinq ans d’emprisonnement. Ce dernier était présent à l’annonce du délibéré. Fabrice Journo, dit Yoni, présenté comme “l’associé” de Mickaël Ibgui, a été condamné à la même peine.- “Signe fort” -Ils étaient poursuivis pour “association de malfaiteurs”, “escroqueries” et certains pour blanchiment.Deux personnes ont été relaxées, dont l’un, présent à l’énoncé du délibéré, a poussé un discret soupir de soulagement.Les autres prévenus, “informaticiens” ayant créé les sites internet servant de support aux escroqueries, ou “prête-noms” ayant permis l’ouverture de comptes bancaires où ont circulé les sommes flouées, ont été condamnés à des peines souvent assorties de sursis.Une majorité des personnes condamnées ont aussi écopé d’une interdiction d’exercer une profession commerciale ou industrielle, et de diriger une entreprise, pour 10 ans, 15 ans ou définitivement, selon les cas. Ils devront aussi indemniser les victimes.”Les condamnations sont rendues au niveau que l’on espérait, et c’est un signe fort pour (les malfaiteurs) qui continuent”, a réagi auprès de l’AFP Guy Grandgirard, président de l’association de défense des consommateurs ADC France. Celui-ci a de “grosses préoccupations” pour la situation actuelle, avec un nombre croissant d’escroqueries.L’enquête avait débuté en 2017 par les plaintes de clubs de foot professionnel (Sochaux, Angers et Toulouse) qui avaient versé aux escrocs entre 10.000 et 35.000 euros, dupés par des appels téléphoniques d’hommes se faisant passer pour agents d’un joueur.- Remboursement -Mais l’escroquerie a essentiellement visé des particuliers. Au total, 1.046 personnes se sont constituées parties civiles dans ce dossier, a précisé le président du tribunal, Stanislas Massonie.Trois d’entre elles, victimes d’une arnaque aux diamants, étaient présentes et ont entendu le président ordonner le remboursement, par les prévenus concernés par l’escroquerie, des sommes flouées et de 3.000 euros au titre du préjudice moral.”On n’est pas venus pour rien”, s’est félicité un couple venu du Jura et qui a requis l’anonymat.Pour la fédération France Victimes, qui a accompagné ces dernières tout au long de la procédure, il faut désormais déterminer la capacité des mis en cause “à indemniser les victimes” et “l’éligibilité de celles-ci aux fonds de garantie”.Au-delà de ce dossier extraordinaire par son nombre de parties civiles, il pourrait “y avoir un avant et un après le procès +Carton Rouge+”, selon la fédération: “Les solutions proposées aux victimes feront montre de la capacité à les accompagner face à un phénomène d’ampleur, en croissance constante”.La justice a saisi durant la procédure 2,8 millions d’euros, soit un dixième seulement du préjudice financier total.

Jusqu’à huit ans de prison au procès de vastes arnaques “Carton rouge”

Clock ticks on Trump’s reciprocal tariffs as countries seek reprieve

The clock is ticking down to Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” when the US president has threatened to unleash a wide range of tariffs against countries running persistent trade imbalances with the United States.The move — which comes as Trump has been making unprecedented use of presidential powers — is driven by his insistence that the world’s biggest economy has been “ripped off by every country in the world” and his conviction that reciprocal tariffs are needed to restore parity.But critics warn that the strategy risks a global trade war, provoking further retaliation by major trading partners like China, Canada and the European Union.The size of the levies to be announced on Wednesday will vary from country to country and the precise plans remain murky.”Expect the unexpected,” said Ryan Sweet, chief US economist at Oxford Economics.He expects the Trump administration to “take aim at some of the largest offenders.”But what matters ultimately is how broad-based the tariffs are and whether the tool is merely a negotiating tactic or part of a regime shift, he said.Trump on Sunday dashed hopes he might scale back, saying his tariffs would include “all countries.””You’d start with all countries, so let’s see what happens,” the president told reporters onboard Air Force One.”We’ve been talking about all countries, not a cutoff,” he said, insisting however that his tariffs would be “far more generous” than those levied against the United States.US trade partners have been rushing to minimize their exposure ahead of Trump’s deadline, with reports suggesting India might lower some duties.Besides the reciprocal country tariffs, Trump could also unveil additional sector-specific levies on the likes of pharmaceuticals and semiconductors.These would come on top of new auto levies due to take effect Thursday.Already, China and Canada have imposed counter-tariffs on US goods in response to Trump’s earlier actions, while the EU unveiled its own measures due to start in mid-April.European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said Monday that Europe was facing an “existential moment.””He calls it ‘Liberation Day’ in the United States. I see it as a moment when we must collectively decide to take greater control of our destiny and I think it is a step towards independence,” she told France Inter radio.Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney told Trump his government would impose retaliatory tariffs after Washington’s action Wednesday.- ‘Dirty 15’ -Before Trump’s comments on Sunday, the upcoming salvo had been expected to target the 15 percent of partners that have persistent trade imbalances with the United States, a group that US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called a “Dirty 15.”The United States has its biggest goods deficits with parties including China, the EU, Mexico, Vietnam, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Canada and India.With countries seeking compromise, it is “entirely possible” for fresh tariffs to be swiftly reduced or put on hold, said Greta Peisch, partner at law firm Wiley Rein.In February, she noted, steep levies on Mexican and Canadian imports were paused for a month as the North American neighbors furthered negotiations.”There are many different scenarios: delays while talks continue, potential reductions or tariffs being put in place immediately,” said Peisch, a former official at the US Trade Representative’s office.- ‘Dark cloud’ -Sweet of Oxford Economics warned that a “dark cloud of uncertainty” hangs over the economy.Some domestic steel manufacturers and union leaders have welcomed Trump’s recent tariff hikes on metals and autos.But while his proposals are meant to revitalize US industry, they have alarmed many other industries.The American Automotive Policy Council, which represents carmakers Ford, General Motors and Stellantis, cited a report Friday by economist Arthur Laffer, which noted that 25-percent auto tariffs stand to raise US vehicle costs and disrupt supply chains.While stressing its commitment to Trump’s economic vision, the council urged for “a fair and predictable trade environment.”In a letter Thursday, the International Fresh Produce Association cautioned that proposed US tariffs and other countries’ retaliation threaten the stability of farmers and businesses.And the National Retail Federation warned in February that reciprocal tariffs could prove “extremely disruptive,” warning of higher costs to households and an erosion of their spending power.More broadly, companies tend to hold off on investments when rules are unclear and this could weigh on hiring, Sweet said.Economists also warn that sweeping tariffs could cause a spike in inflation if companies fail to absorb additional costs, passing them on to consumers.

Trump says confident of TikTok deal before deadline

President Donald Trump said Sunday he was confident of reaching a deal on TikTok ahead of the April 5 deadline for its Chinese owner ByteDance to sell the popular short video app or see it banned in the United States.”We have a lot of potential buyers. There’s tremendous interest in TikTok,” Trump told reporters onboard Air Force One.”We have a lot of people that want to buy TikTok. We’re dealing with China also on it, because they may have something to do with it,” he said, adding “I’d like to see TikTok remain alive.”China on Thursday had rebuffed a suggestion from Trump that he might offer to reduce tariffs to get Beijing’s approval for the sale of TikTok to a non-Chinese firm.Trump said this month the United States was in talks with four groups interested in acquiring the platform, which has 170 million American users.A US law has ordered TikTok to divest from ByteDance or be banned in the United States, enacted over concerns that Beijing could exploit the app to spy on Americans or covertly influence US public opinion.The law took effect on January 19, a day before Trump’s inauguration, but he quickly announced a delay that has allowed it to continue to operate.That delay is set to expire on April 5.”There’ll be a deal with TikTok, I’m pretty certain,” Trump said when asked if he would extend the deadline if there was no deal.Trump attempted to ban TikTok in the United States because of national security concerns during his first stint in the White House but has warmed up to it.”Selfishly speaking, I won the young vote by 36 points. Republicans generally don’t do very well with the young crowd, and I think a lot of it could have been TikTok,” he said.

Trump says confident of TikTok deal before deadline

Trump affirme qu’un accord va être trouvé pour la vente de TikTok aux Etats-Unis

Donald Trump a affirmé qu’un accord allait être trouvé pour la vente des activités américaines du réseau social chinois TikTok, que le président des Etats-Unis souhaite voir “rester en vie” dans son pays.”Il y aura un accord pour TikTok”, a déclaré dimanche Donald Trump, lors d’un échange avec des journalistes à bord de l’avion présidentiel Air Force One.”Nous avons beaucoup d’acheteurs potentiels. Il y a énormément d’intérêt pour TikTok”, a-t-il également dit.Dès son retour à la Maison Blanche, le 20 janvier, le dirigeant républicain a accordé à ByteDance, maison mère chinoise de TikTok, un délai de 75 jours, soit jusqu’au 5 avril, pour vendre ses activités américaines. Faute de cession à cette date, la très populaire plateforme est censée être interdite aux Etats-Unis, selon les termes d’une loi votée l’année dernière au nom de la protection de la sécurité nationale.Plusieurs prétendants américains sont sur les rangs pour acquérir TikTok, dont la start-up d’intelligence artificielle Perplexity AI ou le Project Liberty porté par le propriétaire de l’Olympique de Marseille Frank McCourt, même si ByteDance n’a pas fait part de son intention de vendre.”On traite également avec la Chine à ce sujet, car ils pourraient être impliqués”, a indiqué Donald Trump dimanche. “Et on verra ce qui se passera. Mais je pense qu’il y aura quelque chose”.En 2020, à la fin de son premier mandat, l’ancien magnat de l’immobilier avait lui-même cherché, en vain, à interdire TikTok aux Etats-Unis.Il a changé d’avis pendant sa dernière campagne, prenant la défense de l’application, très populaire auprès des jeunes, qui revendique 170 millions d’utilisateurs dans le pays.”J’aimerais que TikTok reste en vie”, a avancé Donald Trump. “Egoïstement parlant, j’ai gagné le vote des jeunes de 36 points. Les républicains ne font généralement pas aussi bien auprès des jeunes et je pense que ça pourrait en grande partie être dû à TikTok”.