15 dead in India after stampede at Hindu mega-festival

A stampede at the world’s largest religious gathering in India killed at least 15 people with many more injured, a doctor at the Kumbh Mela festival in Prayagraj told AFP Wednesday.Deadly crowd crushes are a notorious feature of Indian religious festivals and the Kumbh Mela, with its unfathomable throngs of devotees, already had a grim track record of deadly crowd crushes before the latest incident overnight.The six-week festival is the single biggest milestone on the Hindu religious calendar, and millions of people were expected to be present on Wednesday for a sacred day of ritual bathing at the confluence of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers.”At least 15 people have died for now. Others are being treated,” said the doctor in Prayagraj city, speaking on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to talk to media.Rescue teams were seen working with pilgrims to carry victims away from the site of the accident.Local government official Akanksha Rana told the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency that the stampede began after crowd control barriers “broke”. Pilgrim Malti Pandey, 42, told AFP that he was on his way to bathe in the river along a barricaded walking route when the stampede began.”Suddenly a crowed started pushing and many people were crushed,” he said. The Kumbh Mela is rooted in Hindu mythology, a battle between deities and demons for control of a pitcher containing the nectar of immortality.Organisers have likened the scale of this year’s festival to that of a temporary country, forecasting up to 400 million pilgrims to visit before the final day on February 26. Mindful of the risk of deadly crowd accidents, police this year installed hundreds of cameras at the festival site and on roads leading to the sprawling encampment, mounted on poles and a fleet of overhead drones. The surveillance network is fed into a sophisticated command and control centre that is meant to alert staff if sections of the crowd get so concentrated that they pose a safety threat. More than 400 people died after being trampled or drowned at the Kumbh Mela on a single day of the festival in 1954, one of the largest tolls in a crowd-related disaster globally.Another 36 people were crushed to death in 2013, the last time the festival was staged in the northern city of Prayagraj. 

Loi narcotrafic: pour “changer de paradigme”, le Sénat approuve la création d’un parquet spécialisé

Un parquet national anticriminalité organisée pour “changer de paradigme” et “réarmer” la France face au narcotrafic: le Sénat a adopté mardi la mesure-phare d’une proposition de loi transpartisane vivement soutenue par le gouvernement, en quête d’un “sursaut national” face aux trafiquants de drogue.Érigé comme “priorité absolue” du gouvernement par Gérald Darmanin, et comme “menace existentielle” par Bruno Retailleau, le trafic de drogue est au cœur des discussions de la chambre haute jusqu’à mercredi, avec l’examen du texte des sénateurs Étienne Blanc (Les Républicains) et Jérôme Durain (Parti socialiste).Dans un climat consensuel rarissime sur les sujets régaliens au Parlement, les sénateurs ont approuvé très largement une refonte de l’architecture judiciaire et policière de la lutte contre la criminalité organisée, actant la création d’un parquet national anticriminalité organisée, dénommé Pnaco.”Un pas historique et décisif dans la lutte contre le narcotrafic a été accompli”, a réagi sur X le ministre de la Justice Gérald Darmanin, qui espère voir le Pnaco opérationnel en janvier 2026.Il a affirmé que ce futur parquet serait mis en place “par défaut à Paris”, mais qu’il “pourrait être ailleurs”, évoquant notamment Marseille, ville particulièrement ciblée par le trafic de stupéfiants. – “Blanchisseuses” -Ce parquet spécialisé, similaire aux parquets financier (PNF) ou antiterroriste (Pnat), serait chargé des crimes les plus graves – le “haut du spectre” – et constituerait une véritable “incarnation” de la lutte contre le narcotrafic, avec un rôle de coordination des parquets locaux. Il s’appuierait sur des services d’enquête renforcés: un “état-major criminalité organisée” (EMCO) défendu par le ministre de l’Intérieur Bruno Retailleau. Institué par voie réglementaire, cette structure aurait pour ambition de constituer le “bras armé” de la lutte contre la criminalité organisée.”Devant la submersion (du narcotrafic), un changement de paradigme complet est possible”, a plaidé Gérald Darmanin. À ses côtés, Bruno Retailleau a appelé à un “sursaut national” dans un “combat vital”, saluant également la “volonté transversale” perceptible au Parlement sur ce dossier.La proposition de loi du Sénat, au titre évocateur – “sortir la France du piège du narcotrafic” – sera soumise à un vote solennel mardi 4 février, puis l’Assemblée nationale s’en saisira, potentiellement durant la semaine du 17 mars.Les sénateurs ont approuvé de nombreuses mesures complémentaires: fermeture administrative de commerce soupçonnés d’agir comme des “blanchisseuses”, procédure “d’injonction pour richesse inexpliquée” pour obliger les suspects à s’expliquer sur leur train de vie…Pour frapper les trafiquants “au portefeuille”, un double mécanisme de gel judiciaire et administratif des avoirs en matière de trafic de stupéfiants a également été voté. Une refonte du statut des “repentis” qui aident la justice à démanteler des réseaux, pouvant aller jusqu’à des “immunités de poursuites”, a été entériné, malgré des craintes de Gérald Darmanin face à l’impact de cette mesure sur les victimes et leur famille.- Quelques irritants -Le gouvernement a émis les mêmes réserves sur une autre proposition du Sénat: la création d’un nouveau “délit d’appartenance à une organisation criminelle”, caractérisé par le simple fait de concourir au fonctionnement d’une organisation, sans forcément préparer d’infraction.Certaines mesures sont en effet irritantes, comme l’idée de créer un procès-verbal distinct – ou “dossier-coffre” – pour ne pas divulguer à la défense certaines techniques d’enquête sensibles ; ou la possibilité accordée aux préfets de prononcer des “interdictions de paraître” sur les points de deal. Ces deux points, qui font craindre à certains groupes politiques et associations des atteintes aux libertés publiques ou au droit de la défense, seront examinés mercredi.Quelques clivages sont déjà apparus mardi soir sur un amendement de la droite, relatif aux messageries chiffrées. Adoptée par le Sénat avec l’aval du gouvernement, la mesure visait à imposer à ces plateformes, comme Signal ou Whatsapp, de permettre aux services de renseignement d’accéder aux correspondances des trafiquants, sous conditions strictes.Plusieurs groupes parlementaires à gauche ont aussi regretté l’absence dans ce texte d’un volet sur la prévention, relançant brièvement la sensible question de la dépénalisation de l’usage de drogues.”Ce texte contient des mesures attendues, des avancées certaines. Mais seules et sans moyens, elles ne permettront pas de déjouer le piège du narcotrafic”, a regretté l’écologiste Guy Benarroche.

Starbucks profits fall but points to progress in turnaround

Starbucks reported lower profits Tuesday in results that still topped expectations as the company’s new CEO described various pilot program tests to reinvigorate the chain.Profits came in at $780.8 million, down 23.8 percent from the year-ago level. Revenues declined 0.3 percent to $9.4 billion, as comparable store sales fell in both North America and international markets.The chain, which has hit a rough patch of sagging sales, installed Brian Niccol as CEO last year, recruiting him from Chipotle after the short-lived tenure of Laxman Narasimhan.Niccol has reinstated self-service condiment bars for customers in US stores and shifted policies to permit bathroom use only to patrons.On Tuesday, prior to the earnings announcement, Starbucks announced the departure of two longtime executives, Sara Trilling and Arthur Valdez, whose roles will be reconfigured under a new operating model.Niccol’s goal is that Starbucks “gets back” to its identity as “a welcoming coffee house where people gather and where we serve the finest coffee handcrafted by our skilled baristas.”The chain is working to ensure that customers are moved through and served within four minutes with a “touch of humanity,” Niccol said on a conference call with analysts.To that end, the company has reintroduced ceramic mugs and handwritten notes to customers on coffee cups. Starbucks is also experimenting with algorithms that can improve efficiency in the production of drinks ordered through the company’s smartphone app, Niccol said. Customers have complained of lengthy wait times for online orders where they stand near rows of prepared drinks waiting for other customers.”Right now mobile ordering is just a first in, first out proposition and we’ve got to fix it,” he said, adding that fixing the issue will take “the brand right back where it needs to be, which is a premium experience.”Shares rose 0.6 percent in after-hours trading.

UN warns of ethnic attacks in eastern DR CongoTue, 28 Jan 2025 23:46:41 GMT

The UN peacekeeping force in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has warned of the risk of ethnically motivated attacks as conditions deteriorate in the region, haunted by the legacy of the 1994 Rwanda genocide and its aftermath.The warning came as the M23 armed group backed by Rwandan troops took control of the airport in the besieged …

UN warns of ethnic attacks in eastern DR CongoTue, 28 Jan 2025 23:46:41 GMT Read More »

Trump blitz leaves US government workers feeling ‘under siege’

Stunned American federal workers feel “under siege” after President Donald Trump issued a flurry of orders aimed at reforming the US government, some have told AFP, as they grapple with the Republican’s right-wing agenda.In the eight days since his return to the White House, Trump has launched a series of head-snapping moves dismantling programs to combat inequality and environmental injustice, firing workers carrying them out, and further slashing government spending at home and abroad.The ripple effects on the wider American population are yet to be seen — but for many of the three million federal workers tasked with carrying out US government policies, the effect has been swift and destabilizing.”People are crying in their supervisors’ offices, wondering what might happen to their jobs,” one employee at the Department of the Interior — a remote worker whose own future is now in question after Trump ordered all federal employees back to the office — told AFP. Employees were already anxious and fearful, she said, after Trump made repeated promises to target spending on the campaign trail last year.”And when the executive orders just kept coming, people go, ‘Wow, this is way worse than we envisioned.'”She, like others who spoke to AFP, agreed to do so only under the condition of anonymity. “Everyone is kind of somber, everyone’s kind of bracing for impact. There’s a lot of uncertainty,” said one remote worker from outside the capital, Washington, who has been employed by the federal government since 2014. “You kind of feel like you’re under siege,” he said.Another, a woman at the Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, said employees were grasping for information.”A lot of rumors are circulating in the corridors, everyone gets together to talk about what we’ve heard from our supervisors,” she said — though it was hard to tell what was true.”We’re worried about budget cuts,” she said.- ‘Rat out our colleagues’ -It’s not just the cuts.Several of the civil servants who spoke to AFP described an email which ordered employees to report if any federal workers were concealing efforts to continue with so-called diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs.The programs are meant to combat inequality, but Trump has complained that they discriminate against white people — white men in particular — and vowed to end them. “I’ve never seen like an email that just seems so kind of unprofessional and aggressive,” said the remote worker, who has been with the government since 2014.”It feels like the gloves are off … and he’s kind of just going more for his worst kind of initiatives,” he continued, referring to Trump. “We are being told to rat out our colleagues,” said the Interior Department employee. “People have taken to using their personal communications because they’re worried that we’re being surveilled somehow. That is crazy,” she said. “Everybody is looking over their shoulder. Everybody is so worried about trying to figure out how to navigate the cascade of implications … All this angst is actually preventing the work that people are paid to do,” added one long-term senior employee with the Commerce Department.  – ‘Can’t bully me’ -Before he even took office, Trump announced that he was tasking his backer Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, which steering a “Department of Government Efficiency” that would restructure the federal executive branch and gut public spending. Around two-thirds of federal spending goes towards programs that Trump would not be able to cut, or those he has pledged not to, including Social Security and Medicare.That has not stopped him from freezing large swathes of federal aid funding, throwing rafts of programs — and the employees who carry them out — into disarray at home and abroad.”It is literally, ‘I, as the leader of these agencies, am going to come into the home and burn it down,'” said the Interior Department employee. “Half the people are like, I need to hold my head up, because I know that’s what you’re trying to do, and I’m not going to let you to let you win. And then the rest are like, wow, this is just brutal,” she said.The goal is to “make the government as inefficient as they claim it is,” said the remote worker who had been with the government since 2014. “In a way, it’s making me more resolved,” he said.Trump “can’t bully me around.”ube-ia-hg-es/cyb/st/jgc

Le changement climatique a rendu plus probable la survenue des incendies de Los Angeles (experts)

Le changement climatique a rendu plus probable la survenue à Los Angeles des incendies majeurs qui ont fait au moins 29 morts en janvier, selon l’analyse d’un réseau scientifique de référence publiée mardi.La combinaison explosive de la sécheresse de la végétation et de vents puissants, propice à des incendies violents, a été rendue environ 35% plus probable par le changement climatique, estime le réseau d’experts du World Weather Attribution (WWA).”Le changement climatique d’origine humaine a aggravé les terribles incendies de Los Angeles en réduisant les précipitations pluvieuses, en asséchant la végétation et en augmentant le chevauchement entre les conditions de sècheresse propices aux incendies et les vents puissants de Santa Ana” qui soufflent en hiver, détaille le WWA dans un communiqué.En raison du réchauffement climatique, “les conditions de sécheresse s’étendent de plus en plus dans l’hiver, ce qui augmente le risque qu’un incendie se déclare au moment des vents forts de Santa Ana, qui peuvent transformer de petits départs de feu en brasiers mortels”, explique Clair Barnes de l’Imperial College London, l’une des expertes ayant participé à l’étude.Les vents chauds et secs de Santa Ana surviennent généralement en Californie entre l’automne et le printemps.L’origine des incendies de Los Angeles, les pires de l’histoire de la mégapole californienne, fait toujours l’objet d’investigations. Les enquêteurs se penchent notamment sur la possibilité d’un accident électrique dans l’incendie qui a ravagé Altadena (Eaton Fire), le deuxième plus destructeur de l’histoire de la Californie.Le World Weather Attribution, qui étudie les liens entre des phénomènes météorologiques extrêmes et le changement climatique, prévient par ailleurs que le risque d’incendies violents devrait continuer d’augmenter.”Ces conditions propices aux incendies augmenteront encore de 35% si le réchauffement atteint les +2,6 °C en 2100″ par rapport à l’ère pré-industrielle, préviennent ses experts. Le climat s’est actuellement réchauffé d’environ 1,3°C.