A record 46,843 migrants reached Spain’s Canary Islands illegally in 2024 via the increasingly deadly Atlantic route, the second consecutive year of unprecedented arrival numbers, official data showed on Thursday.The landmark came as the European country received 63,970 irregular migrants last year, the vast majority in the Atlantic archipelago, up from 56,852 in 2023, the …
Wall Street made a positive start to the year Monday, shrugging off falls in Asia as investors await planned tariffs from US president-elect Donald Trump, adding to China’s economic struggles.Midway through 2025’s first session, while the Dow was just 0.2 percent in the green the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index had added around 0.6 percent.That was despite EV maker Tesla, facing rising electric vehicle competition in China and other major markets, slipping around five percent after posting its first annual drop in electric vehicle deliveries.”The stock market ended 2024 with a whimper, but it is poised to begin 2025 with a bang,” Briefing.com’s Patrick O’Hare wrote in a note before markets opened on Wall Street. Axel Rudolph, senior analyst with IG, saw European indices as “being dragged higher by their US counterparts”, helping lift Paris, currently mired in political uncertainty, to a positive finnish.London, bolstered by rising commodity shares to offset banks going in the opposite direction, closed with a one percent gain, while Frankfurt ended 0.6 up.The euro fell to its lowest level against the dollar since November 2022 while sterling lost similar ground to an eight-month low on weak UK factory data.Oil prices jumped on hopes of rebounding demand.”January can be a testing time for markets and that’s already proved the case as investors fret about the impact of Donald Trump’s trade policies,” said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.”Technology and industrial stocks were among the areas worst hit, dragged down by weak Chinese manufacturing data and the fact Trump will be back in power in just over a fortnight. “Tariffs are expected to be at the top of the new president’s agenda and China is expected to be the biggest loser,” Mould added.The Hong Kong and Shanghai stock markets had set a negative tone earlier, slumping more than two percent by day end.Tokyo was closed.While the US Federal Reserve is seen cutting interest rates less than forecast this year, the European Central Bank is expected to keep reducing amid weakness for Europe’s biggest economy Germany.”Optimism about the strength of the mighty US economy remains buoyant for 2025,” Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, said Thursday. “Already growth has kept outpacing forecasts as consumers and companies have shrugged off the impact of high interest rates.”Following a largely successful 2024 for equity markets, as inflation reduced further and investors scooped up technology stocks, sentiment soured towards the end of the year.Nevertheless, Wall Street’s Dow index ended the year up around 13 percent, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq — which have more tech stocks — climbed more than 23 percent and around 29 percent respectively on the artificial intelligence boom.Frankfurt’s DAX added almost 20 percent, as did Japan’s Nikkei. The FTSE 100 gained nearly six percent, but France’s CAC 40 was the outlier with a drop of 2.2 percent.- Key figures around 1650 GMT -New York – Dow: UP 0.2 percent at 42,617.28 pointsNew York – S&P 500: UP 0.4 percent at 5,902.14New York – Nasdaq Composite: UP 0.6 percent at 19,406.76London – FTSE 100: UP 1.0 percent at 8,260.09 (close)Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.2 percent at 7,393.76 (close)Frankfurt – DAX: UP 0.6 percent at 20,024.66 (close)Tokyo – Nikkei 225: closedHong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 2.2 percent at 19,623.32 (close)Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 2.7 percent at 3,262.56 (close)Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0247 from $1.0360 on TuesdayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2368 from $1.2520Dollar/yen: UP at 157.63 yen from 157.32 yenEuro/pound: UP at 82.87 at 82.74 penceBrent North Sea Crude: UP 2.4 percent at $76.40 per barrelWest Texas Intermediate: UP 2.6 percent at $73.58 per barrelburs-bcp/cw/jj
Le ministre de la Justice Gérald Darmanin, en visite à Marseille, a dit jeudi vouloir “taper au portefeuille” les narcotrafiquants qui ont désormais assez de moyens pour “corrompre” les agents ou les menacer, assurant vouloir mettre “les moyens contre le blanchiment d’argent”.”Il faut taper au portefeuille”, a déclaré le ministre aux journalistes, à l’issue d’entretiens au tribunal judiciaire de Marseille, soulignant que “les peines de prison ne sont pas totalement dissuasives pour les plus grands délinquants (…), parfois condamnés à des dizaines d’années de prison sans pour autant arrêter leur trafic”.Le ministre a en particulier évoqué “la confiscation des biens mal acquis, l’argent, les voitures, les biens immobiliers”, en France comme à l’étranger. Il a ainsi annoncé qu’il se rendrait “autour du 20 janvier” aux Emirats arabes unis, où prospèrent certains narcotrafiquants identifiés, afin d'”améliorer la coopération judiciaire”.”Cette question du blanchiment doit être la plus importante, car on peut faire mal aux trafiquants avant même leur condamnation”, a-t-il insisté, rappelant qu'”une loi existe qui permet des saisies avant un jugement”.”Quand la criminalité organisée a assez de moyens pour avoir des réseaux téléphoniques parallèles, pour avoir des circuits de financement à l’étranger, pour pouvoir mettre de l’argent dans (…) l’immobilier, la restauration, (…) et pour pouvoir corrompre des agents ou les menacer, (…) nous sommes dans un point de bascule pour la République et nous devons collectivement nous réveiller”.Le ministre a ainsi dit souhaiter “qu’on alourdisse les peines de ceux qui corrompent et/ou menacent ces agents de l’Etat”.Il a dit son intention de donner “des instructions dans la circulaire de politique pénale aux procureurs pour que les atteintes, les menaces, les corruptions envers les agents publics soient poursuivies avec la plus grande fermeté” et “particulièrement condamnées”.Revenant sur sa proposition polémique de renforcer l’isolement en détention “des 100 plus grands narcotrafiquants”, M. Darmanin a expliqué vouloir faire “une sorte de programme +starter+”, d'”appartement-témoin”, comme dans l’immobilier. “Je constate que lorsque ces narcobandits sont mis à l’isolement, un certain nombre d’assassinats ciblés se sont arrêtés”, a-t-il dit, expliquant avoir demandé à l’administration pénitentiaire de “lui remonter les 100 profils demandés”, pour qu’ensuite “nous puissions montrer cet appartement-témoin, que j’espère nous généraliserons à l’ensemble de ceux qui continuent leur trafic de prison”.Mercredi après-midi, le ministre de la Justice devait visiter un centre éducatif fermé avant de se rendre à la maison d’arrêt marseillaise des Baumettes, dont la directrice et le chef de la détention ont dû être temporairement relevés et placés sous protection début décembre après avoir été menacés par un narcotrafiquant. alc/ol/rhl
L’ancien ministre de la Santé Frédéric Valletoux a estimé jeudi que la santé “n’est pas à sa juste place” dans le gouvernement Bayrou.La structure du gouvernement “ne met pas à sa juste place le sujet majeur de la santé et de l’accès aux soins”, a déclaré M. Valletoux sur TF1. “L’avoir mis à un niveau si bas dans la hiérarchie ministérielle gouvernementale, c’est assez étonnant”.”On ne considère pas assez les sujets de santé, c’est même presque du mépris”, a fustigé le député Horizons.Dans le gouvernement Bayrou, le ministre de la Santé Yannick Neuder est effectivement placé au 21e rang protocolaire, sous la tutelle de Catherine Vautrin qui se trouve à la tête d’un grand portefeuille regroupant aussi le Travail, les Solidarités et les Familles.L’ancien ministre de la Santé a également déploré la “valse des ministres”  – le septième depuis le début du deuxième quinquennat d’Emmanuel Macron – et a souligné “l’incompréhension” de la part du gouvernement quant à l’importance de la santé et de l’accès aux soins pour les Français.Interrogé sur la loi spéciale pour Mayotte qui sera présentée la semaine prochaine en Conseil des ministres, M. Valletoux s’est dit “étonné” de ne pas avoir vu de mesures qui concernent l’accès aux soins à Mayotte. “Ceux qui soignent à Mayotte sont à bout de souffle (…) parce que le système est insuffisant. Il faut absolument aider à rendre plus attractif l’exercice médical à Mayotte”.
Wall Street made a positive start to the year Monday, shrugging off falls on Asian markets as investors await planned tariffs from US president-elect Donald Trump, adding to China’s economic struggles.Around half an hour into trading, the Dow and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index had added around three quarters of one percent, in 2025’s first session — though EV maker Tesla slipped after posting its first annual drop in electric vehicle deliveries.Tesla lost 6.9 percent in early trading after missing a company forecast, a sign of rising electric vehicle competition in China and other major markets.”The stock market ended 2024 with a whimper, but it is poised to begin 2025 with a bang,” Briefing.com’s Patrick O’Hare wrote in a note before markets opened on Wall Street. Main European indices were seeking direction some two hours out from the close, Frankfurt and London just in the green.The euro fell to its lowest level against the dollar since November 2022 while sterling lost similar ground to an eight-month low on weak UK factory data.Oil prices jumped on hopes of rebounding demand.”January can be a testing time for markets and that’s already proved the case as investors fret about the impact of Donald Trump’s trade policies,” said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.”Technology and industrial stocks were among the areas worst hit, dragged down by weak Chinese manufacturing data and the fact Trump will be back in power in just over a fortnight. “Tariffs are expected to be at the top of the new president’s agenda and China is expected to be the biggest loser,” Mould added.The Hong Kong and Shanghai stock markets had set a negative tone earlier, slumping more than two percent by their close.While the US Federal Reserve is seen cutting interest rates less than forecast this year, the European Central Bank is expected to keep reducing amid weakness for Europe’s biggest economy Germany.”Optimism about the strength of the mighty US economy remains buoyant for 2025,” Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, said Thursday. “Already growth has kept outpacing forecasts as consumers and companies have shrugged off the impact of high interest rates.”Following a largely successful 2024 for equity markets as inflation reduced further and investors scooped up technology stocks, sentiment soured towards the end of the year.Nevertheless, Wall Street’s Dow index ended the year up around 13 percent, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq — which have more tech stocks — climbed more than 23 percent and around 29 percent respectively on the artificial intelligence boom.Frankfurt’s DAX added almost 20 percent, as did Japan’s Nikkei. The FTSE 100 gained nearly six percent, while France’s CAC 40 was the outlier with a drop of 2.2 percent.- Key figures around 1350 GMT -New York – Dow: UP 0.7 percent at 42,829.28 pointsNew York – S&P 500: UP 0.4percent at 5,907.00New York – Nasdaq Composite: UP 0.8 percent at 19,473.63London – FTSE 100: UP 0.7 percent at 8,237.08 points Paris – CAC 40: DOWN 0.3 percent at 7,389.83 Frankfurt – DAX: UP 0.1 percent at 19,926.09Tokyo – Nikkei 225: closedHong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 2.2 percent at 19,623.32 (close)Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 2.7 percent at 3,262.56 (close)Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0316 from $1.0360 on TuesdayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2401 from $1.2520Dollar/yen: DOWN at 156.72 yen from 157.32 yenEuro/pound: UP at 83.19 at 82.74 penceBrent North Sea Crude: UP 1.6 percent at $75.84 per barrelWest Texas Intermediate: UP 1.7 percent at $72.97 per barrelburs-bcp/cw/jj
Twenty-seven migrants, including women and children, died after two boats capsized off central Tunisia, with 83 people rescued, a civil defence official told AFP on Thursday.The rescued and dead passengers, who were found off the Kerkennah Islands, aimed to reach Europe and were all from sub-Saharan African countries, said Zied Sdiri, head of civil defence …
Leading Chinese electric car maker BYD’s vehicle sales surged in 2024, the company said in a statement, as the firm grows its overseas presence.The EV and battery giant is the most prominent of Chinese automotive firms expanding abroad — plans that are increasingly threatened by thorny trade disputes between Beijing and the West.BYD sold 4,272,145 vehicles last year, up 41.3 percent from 2023’s 3,024,417 units, the company said Wednesday.In December alone, BYD sold 57,154 vehicles outside of China — a 58.3 percent jump from the same period in 2023But BYD still sold almost 90 percent of its cars in its home market in December 2024.The majority of the company’s 2024 sales were for plug-in hybrid models — 58 percent of total units sold.BYD — which adopts the English slogan “Build Your Dreams” — is the biggest EV manufacturer in China, the world’s largest automotive market.The company’s quarterly revenue surpassed global rival Tesla’s for the first time during the third quarter last year.The initial rapid sales growth of BYD and its industry peers in their home market was facilitated in part by generous subsidies from Beijing.The European Union has said that extensive state support has led to unfair competition, with an investigation by the bloc finding that Beijing’s subsidies were undercutting local competitors.The EU announced in October that it would levy extra tariffs of up to 35.3 percent on Chinese EVs, prompting Beijing to say it would “take all necessary measures” to protect firms’ interests. Earlier in 2024, the United States and Canada raised customs duties on Chinese EVs to 100 percent.BYD’s figures come after global EV sales hit a record 1.8 million units in November, according to industry research company Rho Motion.”This quarter has picked up significantly for EV sales globally as we see record-breaking month after record-breaking month,” Rho Motion expert Charles Lester said in a press release last month.”However, the regional picture is somewhat uneven with Europe shrinking three percent this year so far and once more China accounts for over two thirds of the electric vehicles sold in November.”
