AFP - Squid Business

Aux Etats-Unis, Donald Trump parade, ses opposants manifestent

Cinq mois après son retour au pouvoir, Donald Trump s’offre une rare parade militaire à Washington samedi, le jour même de ses 79 ans, quand ses opposants sont appelés à manifester en nombre à travers le pays contre son début de mandat “autoritariste”.La journée de samedi pourrait en dire long sur les divisions qui fracturent l’Amérique d’aujourd’hui.Dans les rues de la capitale américaine, dont le coeur monumental, Maison Blanche en tête, se barricade de kilomètres de hautes clôtures de sécurité, une démonstration de force et de faste comme Donald Trump les affectionne et dont il rêvait depuis des années. En prime, le jour de son anniversaire.A New York, Los Angeles, Chicago et à travers les 50 Etats du pays en parallèle, une journée de mobilisation nationale baptisée “No Kings”, pour protester contre son “autoritarisme” et “la militarisation de notre démocratie”, avec près de 2.000 rassemblements identifiés.A Washington, sous la vigie de son obélisque, c’est le long de monuments emblématiques, du Lincoln Memorial à la Maison Blanche, que défileront à partir de 18h30 (22h30 GMT) près de 7.000 soldats, certains à cheval, beaucoup en uniformes de différentes guerres, et quelque 150 véhicules militaires, survolés par une cinquantaine d’avions. Des parachutistes doivent eux remettre un drapeau américain à Donald Trump, le commandant en chef.- “Célébrer pour changer” -Un étalage de force inhabituel aux Etats-Unis – le dernier défilé militaire d’envergure y remonte à plus de 30 ans, en 1991, après la Guerre du Golfe -, particulièrement significatif au début d’un mandat où le milliardaire new-yorkais repousse au maximum les limites du pouvoir présidentiel.”Une affreuse idée”, déplore Scott Konopasek, qui a servi 15 ans dans l’armée américaine.”Nous allons célébrer notre pays pour changer”, plastronne Donald Trump.Même la météo, qui risque d’être orageuse, ne le préoccupe pas: “Ca n’a pas d’importance, ça ne dérange pas du tout les chars, ça ne dérange pas les soldats, ils ont l’habitude, ils sont costauds”.”Les conditions météo sont étroitement surveillées mais rien ne change à ce stade”, a indiqué l’armée vendredi.”Qui n’aime pas une grande fête d’anniversaire pour ses 250 ans ?”, lance à l’AFP le colonel Kamil Sztalkoper, en référence à l’anniversaire de l’armée de terre américaine célébré samedi, en anticipant un “accueil très chaleureux”.Si des centaines de milliers de spectateurs sont attendus à la parade militaire, au budget chiffré à 45 millions de dollars, le mouvement de constatation “No Kings” ambitionne d’être “le plus important depuis le retour au pouvoir de Donald Trump”.Le mot d’ordre avait été lancé avant que les manifestations contre les arrestations brutales d’immigrés naissent à Los Angeles et essaiment à travers le pays ces derniers jours. Celles-ci pourraient faire grossir les rangs samedi.- Trump en uniforme russe -Dans la mégapole californienne, les organisateurs espèrent rassembler plus de 25.000 personnes et prévoient de hisser dans les airs un ballon géant représentant Donald Trump habillé d’un uniforme militaire russe pour protester “contre ses méthodes paramilitaires et ses tendances dictatoriales”.A New York, une “parade revisitée” devant la Trump Tower, à Manhattan, en appelle à une “armée de l’activisme créatif”.De Philadelphie à Phoenix, des rassemblements sont prévus dans des centaines d’autres villes de toute taille.Aux manifestants, Donald Trump a promis de répondre “avec une très grande force”, en les qualifiant de “gens qui détestent notre pays”. “Le président est bien sûr favorable aux manifestations pacifiques”, a précisé la Maison Blanche.En première ligne de l’opposition au président républicain depuis que ce dernier a décidé de mobiliser des milliers de militaires à Los Angeles, le gouverneur démocrate de Californie Gavin Newsom a appelé les Américains à “résister” et à “ne pas s’incliner”, dans un discours offensif en début de semaine.De la parade militaire, “c’est le genre de choses que vous voyez avec Kim Jong Un, avec Poutine, avec des dictateurs du monde entier”, se désole-t-il. “L’honorer le jour de son anniversaire ? C’est mortifiant”.L’idée trottait de longue date dans la tête de Donald Trump, inspiré par le défilé parisien du 14 Juillet sur les Champs-Elysées auquel il avait assisté en 2017.

Aux Etats-Unis, Donald Trump parade, ses opposants manifestent

Brève alertes anti-aériennes en Israël à la suite de tirs de missiles par l’Iran

Iran fires back at Israel after onslaught targets nuclear facilities

Iran struck Israel early Saturday with barrages of missiles after a massive onslaught targeted the Islamic republic’s nuclear and military facilities, and killed several top generals.Air raid sirens and explosions rang out across Israel overnight, with its military calling on residents to take refuge in bomb shelters Saturday morning.The Israeli military said dozens of missiles — some intercepted — had been fired in the latest salvos from Iran.Smoke was billowing above skyscrapers in downtown Tel Aviv, an AFP journalist reported, as Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said it had attacked dozens of targets in Israel.Israel’s firefighting service said its teams were responding to the aftermath of Iranian missile strikes, including working to rescue people trapped in a high-rise building.Rescuers said 34 people had been wounded in the Gush Dan area, including a woman who later died of her injuries, according to Israeli media reports.Resident Chen Gabizon told AFP he ran to an underground shelter after receiving an alert notification.”After a few minutes, we just heard a very big explosion, everything was shaking, smoke, dust, everything was all over the place,” he said.In Iran’s capital Tehran early Saturday, fire and heavy smoke billowed from Mehrabad airport, an AFP journalist said, as local media reported a blast in the area.Iran said earlier it had activated its air-defence system and explosions could be heard across the capital.Dozens of people took to the streets of Tehran overnight to cheer their country’s military response, with some waving national flags and chanting anti-Israel slogans.Iran’s ambassador to the UN said Friday that 78 people had been killed and 320 wounded in the first wave of strikes by Israel.After a day of back-and-forth bombardments, UN chief Antonio Guterres called for the two nations to cease fire.”Enough escalation. Time to stop. Peace and diplomacy must prevail,” he wrote on X late Friday.- Calls for dialogue -US officials said they were helping Israel defend against the missile attacks, even as Washington insisted it had nothing to do with Israel’s strikes on Iran.US President Donald Trump agreed on a call with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer that “dialogue and diplomacy” were needed to calm the crisis, Starmer’s office said.Trump also spoke with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Friday, US officials said, without elaborating.Iran’s missile salvo came hours after Israel said its widespread air raids had killed several top Iranian generals, including most of the senior leadership of the Revolutionary Guards’ air force.It had launched several rounds of strikes that hit about 200 targets including nuclear facilities and air bases.Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed to bring Israel “to ruin” during a televised address.In Israel, Netanyahu issued a statement calling on the Iranian public to unite against their own government. But he also warned more attacks were coming. “In the past 24 hours, we have taken out top military commanders, senior nuclear scientists, the Islamic regime’s most significant enrichment facility and a large portion of its ballistic missile arsenal,” Netanyahu said.While stressing that it was not involved in the Israeli attacks, the United States warned Iran not to attack its personnel or interests.Tehran nevertheless said Washington would be “responsible for consequences”.- Commanders killed -The strikes killed Iran’s highest-ranking military officer, armed forces chief of staff Mohammad Bagheri, and the head of the Revolutionary Guards, Hossein Salami, Iranian media reported.Khamenei swiftly appointed new commanders to replace those killed.”The senior chain of command of the air force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps had assembled in an underground command centre to prepare for an attack on the State of Israel,” the Israeli military said, adding that its attacks had killed most of them.Iran confirmed that the Guards’ aerospace commander had been killed, along with “a group of brave and dedicated fighters”.AFP images showed a gaping hole in the side of a Tehran residential building that appeared to have sustained a targeted strike.Tasnim news agency said six nuclear scientists were among the dead.Oil prices surged while stocks sank on the Israeli strikes.- Radiation ‘unchanged’ in Natanz area -The conflict raised questions as to whether Sunday’s sixth round of talks planned between the United States and Iran to seek a deal on Iran’s nuclear programme would go ahead in Oman.After the first wave of strikes on Friday, Trump urged Iran to “make a deal”, adding that Washington was “hoping to get back to the negotiating table”.Iran confirmed that above-ground sections of the Natanz enrichment plant had been destroyed, but the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said radiation levels outside the site “remained unchanged”.”Most of the damage is on the surface level,” said the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran’s spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi.Iran said there was only limited damage to the Fordo and Isfahan nuclear sites.The United States and other Western governments have repeatedly accused Iran of seeking a nuclear weapon, an ambition it has consistently denied.Netanyahu said Israeli intelligence had concluded that Iran was approaching the “point of no return” on its nuclear programme.Israel had called for global action after the IAEA accused Iran on Thursday of non-compliance with its obligations.Iran currently enriches uranium to 60 percent, far above the 3.67-percent limit set by a largely moribund 2015 agreement with major powers, but still short of the 90 percent threshold needed for a nuclear warhead.

US courts now a high-risk venue for immigrants

Minutes after an immigration judge rejected his asylum case earlier this week, Oscar Gato Sanchez was arrested as he exited a federal courthouse in Houston.”I’m a Cuban citizen unjustly arrested,” he told AFP as plainclothes officers led him away on Monday. His aunt Olaidys Sanchez, a 54-year-old legal resident of the United States, sobbed against a nearby wall. Her nephew was placed in an unmarked gray vehicle that took off with sirens blaring, heading towards an immigrant detention center in Conroe, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of Houston, according to official documents.Gato Sanchez is now among dozens of migrants detained there, awaiting deportation. In recent weeks, there has been an uptick of immigration enforcement operations at courthouses, as thousands of migrants pursue the asylum process by attending hearings. Agents from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) enter the court facilities unidentified, migrant advocates say, and those who do wear badges often cover their faces. Since President Donald Trump returned to power in January, ICE has been authorized to conduct enforcement activities in courts. AFP journalists have also witnessed arrests at courthouses in New York. In late May, US media published footage from a court in San Antonio, Texas, where a woman who had just been arrested cried out to ask anyone in earshot to pick up her children from school. Meanwhile, a young boy tried to comfort his mother as they were loaded into a vehicle to be taken away. Gato Sanchez entered the United States in December 2023. Like many other migrants, he turned himself in to authorities after arriving and was freed on condition that he appear in court at a later date. He filed an aslyum petition in May 2024 and went on Monday to the Houston court, where a date was to be set for a hearing on his case.Instead, a judge rejected the petition, after a public prosecutor said it was “no longer in the best interest of the government,” said Bianca Santorini, a lawyer who began representing Sanchez immediately after his arrest. “If you’re here without legal status, as soon as your case gets dismissed, the case doesn’t exist anymore, the asylum application doesn’t exist anymore,” she told AFP. “So as soon as he walks out, he’s here with nothing pending,” and it’s at that vulnerable moment that the arrest occurs, she added. – Respecting rules – Santorini believes ICE now has informants inside the courtroom. “They’re not walking to every person who walks out of court and saying ‘let me see your paperwork, let me see what happened.’ They already know when people walk out of court what happened,” she said. Even though he had an aslum applicaiton pending, Gato Sanchez will not get his day in court, despite the Constitution guaranteeing such a right, she added. “It doesn’t guarantee you’ll win. It doesn’t guarantee you get to stay, but it guarantees you have a day in court. Give me the day in court,” she said.The majority of immigrants present themselves in court in good faith, said Cesar Espinosa, executive director of the immigrant-rights organization FIEL.”Most of these people are following some sort of law, whether it’s asylum law or even showing up to court. They’re here trying to do the right thing, to try to see if they can fight their case,” he said. In Los Angeles, an ICE operation targeting undocumented workers outside a home improvement store set off demonstrations and clashes that resulted in Trump’s controversial decision to send in the US National Guard and Marines. Espinosa said some Americans had welcomed the anti-immigrant raids and complained about the people being detained. “But when they’re serving us, when they are being the backbone of our economy, nobody complains,” he said.

Trump approves US Steel, Nippon Steel partnership

Iran-Israël: “Assez de l’escalade, il est temps que ça cesse”, dénonce le chef de l’ONU

Iran: une épaisse fumée et des flammes à l’aéroport Mehrabad de Téhéran (journalistes AFP)

Convicted murderer put to death in fourth US execution this week

A South Carolina man convicted of a 2005 double murder was put to death by lethal injection on Friday, the fourth execution in the United States this week.Stephen Stanko, 57, was pronounced dead at 6:34 pm (2234 GMT) at the state prison in Columbia, the South Carolina Department of Corrections said in a statement. Stanko had a choice between his method of execution — firing squad, electric chair or lethal injection.He chose lethal injection. Stanko was convicted of the 2005 murders of his girlfriend, Laura Ling, 43, and Henry Turner, a 74-year-old friend.He also raped Ling’s teenage daughter and slit her throat but she survived and testified against him at trial.In a final statement read by his attorney, Stanko said he was “truly sorry for the pain and loss that I caused.”Sorry is never enough but that does not mean it should not be said.”Stanko was the fourth Death Row inmate executed in the United States this week.President Donald Trump is a proponent of capital punishment and called on his first day in office for an expansion of its use “for the vilest crimes.”John Hanson, 61, was executed by lethal injection in Oklahoma on Thursday for carjacking and kidnapping Mary Bowles, 77, from a mall in the city of Tulsa and then shooting her to death along with a witness, Jerald Thurman.Hanson had been serving a life sentence for bank robbery in a federal prison in the state of Louisiana but the Trump administration approved his transfer to Oklahoma so he could face the death penalty.Anthony Wainwright, 54, convicted of the 1994 murder of Carmen Gayheart, 23, a nursing student and mother of two young children, was put to death by lethal injection in Florida on Tuesday.Gregory Hunt, 65, convicted of the 1988 rape and murder of his girlfriend, Karen Lane, 32, was executed by nitrogen gas in Alabama that same day.There have been 23 executions in the United States this year: 18 by lethal injection, two by firing squad and three by nitrogen hypoxia, which involves pumping nitrogen gas into a facemask, causing the prisoner to suffocate.The use of nitrogen gas as an execution method has been denounced by UN experts as cruel and inhumane.The death penalty has been abolished in 23 of the 50 US states, while three others — California, Oregon and Pennsylvania — have moratoriums in place.

US judge extends detention of pro-Palestinian protest leader

Pro-Palestinian student protest leader Mahmoud Khalil remained in US detention Friday despite an expected release, his lawyer said, following reported accusations of inaccuracies in his permanent residency application.US District Judge Michael Fabiarz had issued an order Wednesday that the government could not detain or deport Khalil, a legal permanent resident, based on Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s assertions that his presence on US soil posed a national security threat.The order gave the government until Friday to release Khalil. But by Friday afternoon, the Trump administration “represented that the Petitioner is being detained on another, second charge,” the judge wrote.The Department of Homeland Security has provided the court with press clippings from various American tabloids suggesting Khalil, who is married to a US citizen, had failed to disclose certain information about his work or involvement in a campaign to boycott Israel when applying for his permanent resident green card, ABC News reported.”The government is now using cruel, transparent delay tactics to keep him away from his wife and newborn son ahead of their first Father’s Day as a family,” Khalil attorney Amy Greer said in a statement, referring to the US holiday observed on Sunday.”Instead of celebrating together, he is languishing in ICE detention as punishment for his advocacy on behalf of his fellow Palestinians. It is unjust, it is shocking, and it is disgraceful.”Since his March 8 arrest by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, Khalil has become a symbol of President Donald Trump’s willingness to stifle pro-Palestinian student activism against the Gaza war, in the name of curbing anti-Semitism.At the time a graduate student at New York’s Columbia University, Khalil was one of the most visible leaders of nationwide campus protests against Israel’s war in Gaza.Authorities transferred Khalil, who was born in Syria to Palestinian parents, nearly 2,000 kilometers (1,242 miles) from his home in New York to a detention center in Louisiana, pending deportation.His wife Noor Abdalla, a Michigan-born dentist, gave birth to their son while Khalil was in detention.