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Donald Trump prévoit de rencontrer Lula lors de sa tournée en Asie

Vandalism and attacks: settler violence disrupts West Bank olive harvest

The scene shocked many and highlighted the violence of this year’s olive harvest in the Israeli-occupied West Bank: a young masked man clubs an older Palestinian woman picking olives, who then collapses on the ground.The incident during an attack by Israeli settlers, filmed by an American journalist, took place in the town of Turmus Ayya near Ramallah, a hotspot of violence this year.”Everybody was fleeing because the settlers attacked suddenly, maybe 100 of them,” witness Yasser Alkam told AFP, adding that one Swedish activist also had his arm and leg broken by settlers.Alkam, a Turmus Ayya city official, said that the woman, 55-year-old Um Saleh Abu Aliya, was struck as she was waiting for her son to drive her away from a mob of settlers.”Fighting back would only bring more violence, sometimes with the army’s backing,” lamented Nael al-Qouq, a Turmus Ayya farmer who was prevented from reaching his olive trees that same day.-Expanded settlements-Not far from the scene, an Israeli flag flapped in the wind at a settlement outpost, illegal even under Israeli law.The army eventually arrived in Turmus Ayya and dispersed the crowd with tear gas, an AFP journalist witnessed.But not before the youths who descended on the village burned at least two cars.The head of the West Bank’s Israeli police, Moshe Pinchi, told his district commanders to find the man who attacked Abu Aliya, according to a leaked WhatsApp message reported by Israeli media.The Israeli army told AFP that it “works in coordination with the Israel Police to enforce the law concerning Israelis involved in such incidents”.But Turmus Ayya is far from an isolated case, and AFP journalists have witnessed at least six different instances of Palestinians being denied access to their land, attacked by settlers, or being victims of vandalism during the 2025 olive harvest.Clashes in rural areas reached new heights this year, prompted by ever-expanding Israeli settlements and a growing number of settlers — not all of whom engage in violence against Palestinians.More than 500,000 Israelis live in settlements in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967.All settlements in the West Bank are illegal under international law.- ‘Uprooted’ -Near Turmus Ayya, in the village of Al-Mughayyir, one villager was prevented from harvesting altogether.”I own ten dunams (one hectare) of olives. All I have left are the olive trees in the garden of the house … They uprooted it all,” Abdul Latif Abu Aliya, 55, told AFP.Abu Aliya’s land borders a road on the other side of which three trailers make up a recently-installed settlement outpost.After a settler was injured during an altercation near Abu Aliya’s house, an army order called for the trees his father and grandfather planted to be uprooted. Bulldozers then pushed mounds of soil and roots halfway up the field and 100 metres from the family house, making a barrier that Abu Aliya and his family do not cross for fear of being attacked by settlers. Faced with unprecedented violence during this year’s olive season, the Palestinian Authority’s agriculture minister called for the international community to protect farmers and pickers.”It’s the worst season in the last 60 years,” Agriculture Minister Rizq Salimia told journalists, adding that this year’s crop was already bad due to poor climate.Ajith Sunghay, head of the UN’s Human Rights Office in the Palestinian territories, condemned “severe attacks” during this year’s harvest and deplored “dangerous levels of impunity” for perpetrators.The annual harvest, once a peaceful gathering for the occupied West Bank’s families, has in recent years turned into a series of increasingly violent confrontations involving Israeli settlers, troops, Palestinian harvesters and foreign activists.-Identity marker-The season began in October and will last until mid-November, as Palestinians across the West Bank harvest olives from trees they see as deeply connected to their national identity. The West Bank boasts over eight million olive trees for three million Palestinians, according to the agriculture ministry’s 2021 census.Every autumn, Palestinians farmers, but also city folk whose families own a few trees, head out into the fields to pick olives, mostly by hand.The UN’s humanitarian agency, OCHA, said that 27 West Bank villages were affected by harvest-related attacks in the week of October 7 to 13 alone.”The incidents included attacks on harvesters, theft of crops and harvesting equipment, and vandalism of olive trees, resulting in casualties, property damage, or both,” OCHA said.

Trump heads for Asia and Xi trade talks

US President Donald Trump left on Friday for Asia and high-stakes trade talks with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping — adding that he would also like to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on his trip.Trump is set to meet Xi in South Korea on the last day of his regional swing in a bid to seal a deal to end the bruising trade war between the world’s two biggest economies. He will also visit Malaysia and Japan on his first trip to Asia since he returned to the White House in January in a blaze of tariffs and international dealmaking.A senior US official said on Friday that Trump would “deliver for the American people in one of the most economically vibrant regions of the world, signing a series of economic agreements.”As he left Washington, Trump added to speculation that while on the Korean peninsula he could meet Kim Jong Un for the first time since 2019 during his first presidency.”I’d like to, he knows we’re going there,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “We let him know, he knows that I’m going.”Talk about a possible meeting with Kim while Trump is in South Korea for a regional summit grew after Seoul’s reunification minister said there was a “considerable” chance.The White House had said earlier that a meeting was “not on the schedule.”- Peace and trade deals -Trump’s first stop will be Malaysia, where he arrives on Sunday, for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit — a meeting Trump skipped several times in his first term.Trump is set to ink a trade deal with Malaysia, but more importantly he will oversee the signing of a peace accord between Thailand and Cambodia, as he continues his quest for a Nobel Peace Prize.Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva may also meet Trump on the sidelines of the summit to improve ties after months of bad blood, officials from both countries told AFP.Trump’s next stop will be Tokyo, where he arrives on Monday. He will meet conservative Sanae Takaichi, named this week as Japan’s first woman prime minister, on Tuesday.Japan has escaped the worst of the tariffs Trump slapped on countries around the world to end what he calls unfair trade balances that are “ripping off the United States.” – Trump and Xi -But the highlight of the trip is expected to be South Korea, with Trump due to land in the southern port city of Busan on Wednesday ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.Trump will meet South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, address an APEC lunch with business leaders and meet US tech bosses for dinner, on the sidelines of the APEC summit in the city of Gyeongju.On Thursday, Trump will meet Xi for the first time since his return to office.Global markets will be watching closely to see if the two men can halt the trade war sparked by Trump’s sweeping tariffs earlier this year, especially after a recent dispute over Beijing’s rare earth curbs.Trump initially threatened to cancel the meeting and imposed fresh tariffs over the critical minerals row, before saying he would go ahead after all.”The president is most interested in discussing the trade and economic relationship,” another senior US official said.Trump himself said on Thursday that the first topic on the agenda would be fentanyl, as he boosts pressure on Beijing to curb drug trafficking and cracks down on Latin American drug cartels.

Trump heads for Asia and Xi trade talks

Donald Trump dit qu’il “aimerait” rencontrer Kim Jong Un lors de sa tournée en Asie

Donald Trump décolle pour une tournée en Asie, où il rencontrera Xi Jinping (AFP)

Début des nouvelles négociations commerciales Chine-USA à Kuala Lumpur

‘Deeply disturbed’ – NBA chief Silver grapples with illegal betting scandal

NBA commissioner Adam Silver said Friday he was “deeply disturbed” after Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups were among those arrested in a far-ranging FBI probe into illegal gambling.”My initial reaction was I was deeply disturbed,” Silver said in an interview with Amazon Prime during their coverage of the New York Knicks’ home game against the Boston Celtics on Friday.”There’s nothing more important for the league and its fans than the integrity of the competition.”Heat guard Rozier and former NBA player and assistant Damon Jones were arrested for their alleged roles in a betting scheme that prosecutors say provided inside information on injuries and game absences to bettors between December 2022 and March 2024.Rozier, who has denied wrongdoing, was accused of advising co-conspirators that he would exit early with a supposed injury from a March 2023 game when he was with the Charlotte Hornets, allowing them to make bets on his performance accordingly.Portland Trail Blazers coach Billups, a former Detroit Pistons star and an NBA Hall of Famer, was arrested in connection with rigged illegal poker games tied to Mafia crime families, with Jones also indicted in that investigation.At a press conference in New York on Thursday, FBI director Kash Patel described “a criminal enterprise that envelops both the NBA and La Cosa Nostra.”Both Billups and Rozier were immediately suspended by the NBA, but the league’s fledgling season rolled on with 12 games scheduled for Friday.Silver expressed regret that the allegations had taken attention away from the start of the season.”I apologize to our fans that we are all dealing with, now, this situation,” Silver said.”But in terms of the competition on the floor, it has been spectacular.”Billups and Rozier were both arraigned on charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering on Thursday, Billups in Portland, Oregon, and Rozier in Orlando, Florida.Both have denied the accusations through their attorneys.Prosecutors said the 49-year-old Billups was one of more than 30 people indicted for alleged involvement in a nationwide scheme to rig illegal poker games.Billups’s celebrity helped lure players to high-stakes games that used “high-tech cheating technology” including shuffling machines that could read cards, hidden cameras and barcoded decks.Rozier and Jones allegedly took part in a scheme that featured illegal betting on the performance of players on the Charlotte Hornets, the Portland Trail Blazers, the Los Angeles Lakers and Toronto Raptors.- Aberrational betting -Rozier, 31, was part of the illegal gambling probe that led to the lifetime ban of former Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter last year.The NBA said in January they found no evidence Rozier violated league rules but were cooperating with an ongoing federal investigation.Silver said the league had been alerted to suspicious betting activity related to Rozier.”We then looked into that situation,” Silver said. “And while there was that aberrational betting, we couldn’t find anything.”Terry at the time cooperated. He gave the league office his phone. He sat down for an interview and we ultimately concluded there was insufficient evidence, despite that aberrational behavior, moving forward.”He noted that federal authorities have broader investigative powers, including the power to subpoena witnesses, and said the league had been cooperating with the ongoing investigations.Billups was not named in the sports betting indictment, but the description of one unnamed co-conspirator involved in alleged illegal betting on a Trail Blazers game includes a playing and coaching career that tallies with his.Since sports gambling was leagalized in most US states in 2018, American professional leagues have eagerly partnered with betting firms to garner a slice of a multi-billion-dollar industry.Therefore, the NBA wasn’t the only league chilled by the news of the indictments, with the NFL sending a memo to all 32 teams reiterating that players are prohibited from betting on NFL games and from any illegal gambling.They are reminded that players also must not throw or fix any NFL game or manipulate any particular plays, and they are barred from sharing confidential, non-public information regarding any NFL game, player or event, with a third party.

Thaïlande: décès de la reine mère Sirikit, figure puissante de la monarchie

L’ancienne reine Sirikit Kitiyakorn, épouse de Bhumibol Adulyadej qui a régné sur la Thaïlande pendant 70 ans et mère du monarque actuel, est décédée à l’âge de 93 ans, un changement d’ère pour la puissante royauté thaïlandaise.”L’état de santé de sa majesté s’est dégradé jusqu’à vendredi et elle est décédée à 21H21 (locales, 14H21 GMT) (…) à l’hôpital Chulalongkorn” à Bangkok, a indiqué le palais dans un communiqué, ajoutant que le roi Vajiralongkorn avait chargé l’ensemble des membres de la famille royale d’observer un an de deuil.Surnommée dans sa jeunesse la “Jackie Kennedy d’Asie”, Sirikit a formé avec Bhumibol Adulyadej, qui a régné sous le nom de Rama IX, un couple glamour et puissant ayant consolidé la place de la monarchie au coeur de la société thaïlandaise.Son décès ouvre sans aucun doute une période de vive émotion populaire et d’hommages en grande pompe. Car le roi de Thaïlande est largement considéré comme le père de la nation et un symbole de l’idéal bouddhiste. La ferveur que génère cette figure semi-divine a peu d’équivalent dans le monde moderne.Le pays a respecté une année de deuil officiel pour Bhumibol, décédé en octobre 2016, et incinéré un an plus tard au terme d’une cérémonie grandiose.Dès samedi matin, les présentateurs de journaux télévisés étaient habillés en noir, signe que le temps du deuil pour Sirikit a aussi commencé pour le public.Affaiblie depuis une attaque cérébrale, elle n’était plus apparue en public depuis des années, mais il n’est pas rare de croiser son portrait bordé d’or devant certains bâtiments publics, à l’intérieur de boutiques ou chez des particuliers.”J’avais entendu qu’elle n’allait pas bien, et comme elle avait plus de 90 ans, je savais que ce jour viendrait”, a réagi tôt samedi à Bangkok Sasis Putthasit, employée de maison de 53 ans.”Je me sens triste car elle était une figure maternelle pour le pays, et maintenant elle n’est plus là”, a-t-elle ajouté.L’anniversaire de Sirikit, le 12 août, marquait la fête des mères en Thaïlande. Sirikit a eu quatre enfants de son union avec Bhumibol, célébrée en 1950 alors qu’elle avait 17 ans, dont un seul fils, Maha Vajiralongkorn, qui a succédé à son père.Cette aristocrate, fille d’un diplomate ayant été ambassadeur à Paris, a grandi principalement en Europe, où elle a rencontré son futur mari, alors étudiant en Suisse.- Contestation -Dans les années 1960, ils ont donné à la monarchie thaïlandaise une image de modernité: toujours habillée au goût du jour, Sirikit fréquentait notamment les concerts de jazz, dont Bhumibol était friand, et posait dans les magazines féminins.Le couple a aussi rencontré Elvis Presley en 1960, au cours d’une tournée aux Etats-Unis.Restée depuis très respectée, la royauté a cependant été confrontée en 2020 à une vague de contestation mobilisant des dizaines de milliers de jeunes qui demandaient dans la rue des réformes politiques. Parmi leurs revendications figurait une refonte de la monarchie et de la loi de lèse-majesté très stricte la protégeant, avec pour conséquence une très forte autocensure.Ces dernières années, de nombreux Thaïlandais ont été condamnés à de lourdes peines de prison pour avoir diffamé le roi et sa famille.Bien que la famille royale soit considérée comme une figure dépassant les clivages idéologiques, et qu’elle se soit toujours abstenue de tout commentaire, Sirikit avait assisté en 2008 aux obsèques d’un manifestant des “chemises jaunes”, ces partisans du roi et de l’ordre traditionnel dont la rivalité avec les “chemises rouges” de l’ex-Premier ministre Thaksin Shinawatra a longtemps dominé la politique thaïlandaise.Aujourd’hui encore, ce clivage reste très présent en Thaïlande, qui a connu une douzaine de coups d’Etat réussis depuis l’établissement de la monarchie constitutionnelle en 1932.Le palais n’a pas encore confirmé la succession du roi actuel, qui a fêté en juillet ses 73 ans.Il a sept enfants, de trois femmes différentes, mais a renié quatre de ses fils.Il a un fils, Dipangkorn Rasmijoti, 20 ans, et deux filles, Sirivannavari Nariratana, 38 ans, et Bajrakitiyabha Mahidol, 46 ans, qui est toujours hospitalisée après un problème cardiaque qui lui a fait perdre connaissance en décembre 2022.