Etats-Unis: la Fed restera indépendante, selon un de ses gouverneurs

Les prochains banquiers centraux américains sauront rester étanches aux pressions politiques, a estimé mercredi l’un des gouverneurs de la Réserve fédérale américaine (Fed), en lice pour devenir président de l’institution.”L’indépendance de la Fed est essentielle (…). Il y a des choses en ce moment qui rendent inquiets les gens, mais je pense toujours que nous avons une Fed indépendante”, a déclaré Christopher Waller sur la chaîne américaine CNBC.Nommé gouverneur par Donald Trump sous son premier mandat, M. Waller est considéré comme un prétendant sérieux au poste de président de la banque centrale, quand le mandat de Jerome Powell prendra fin au printemps.Depuis son retour au pouvoir en janvier, Donald Trump multiplie les pressions sur la Fed qu’il exhorte à baisser les taux d’intérêt et à soutenir sa politique économique. Il tente désormais de révoquer une collègue de M. Waller, Lisa Cook, accusée par le camp présidentiel d’avoir menti pour obtenir des emprunts immobiliers à des taux plus favorables. L’affaire est devant la justice.Le départ de la responsable offrirait à M. Trump la possibilité de nommer une nouvelle personnalité partageant ses idées. Le chef d’Etat a déjà désigné un de ses conseillers économiques, Stephen Miran, pour remplacer une autre gouverneure, Adriana Kugler, qui a démissionné. La nomination doit être confirmée par le Sénat.”Les personnes nommées” travailleront “de manière non partisane”, a considéré Christopher Waller sur CNBC.”Donc je pense que quoi qu’il arrive, la Fed maintiendra son indépendance”, a-t-il ajouté, tout en refusant de commenter l’affaire Cook. Les responsables de la Réserve fédérale n’ont pas touché aux taux directeurs depuis décembre, de crainte que les droits de douane mis en place par Donald Trump ne fassent dérailler l’inflation. Christopher Waller a fait entendre sa différence à partir de juin: il pense que le risque inflationniste est surévalué et plaide pour une baisse de taux rapide, arguant que le marché du travail est sur une mauvaise pente.Il prend toutefois soin de montrer qu’il n’est pas totalement aligné avec l’exécutif américain. “Je prévois un ralentissement de la croissance cette année, principalement en raison de l’impact des droits de douane”, a-t-il affirmé mercredi, soulignant que “les droits de douane sont des taxes et que les taxes ne sont généralement pas favorables à la croissance”.

Indonesian islanders take on Swiss cement group in climate case

A Swiss court on Wednesday weighed up whether to hear a landmark climate case pitting residents of a tiny Indonesian island being swallowed by rising sea levels against cement giant Holcim.”It is like a David versus Goliath struggle,” one of the plaintiffs, Asmania, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, told AFP after the hearing.The case is part of a wider international movement seeking to assign to major companies responsibility for the climate damage hurting the livelihoods of millions of people, especially in developing countries.Oil companies have typically been the biggest targets, but climate activists are hoping the suit against Holcim will highlight the role of a lesser-known but highly polluting industry, which is responsible for around eight percent of carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted into the atmosphere each year.Four residents of Pari island filed a suit demanding compensation from the world’s largest cement firm for the damage wrought by climate change and help to fund protection measures on the island.Asmania and another plaintiff travelled to Switzerland to take part in Wednesday’s hearing at the court in Zug, where Holcim is headquartered, to determine whether or not it will consider the complaint.It was not clear when the court would give its decision.- ‘Climate justice’ -“I feel very moved,” Asmania, a 42-year-old mother-of-three, told AFP.”I believe the judges will stand for us, so we will win.” Before the hearing, Holcim maintained that “the question of who is allowed to emit how much CO2” should be “a matter for the legislature and not a question for a civil court”. But it said Wednesday that “we await the court’s decision”, insisting that it was “fully committed to reaching net zero by 2050 with sustainability at the core of our strategy”. The company has not owned any cement plants in Indonesia since 2019, but the plaintiffs maintain it “shares responsibility for rising temperatures and thus rising sea levels”, explained Yvan Maillard-Ardenti of the Swiss Church Aid (HEKS) NGO helping the islanders.  Environmentalists say Holcim ranks among the world’s 100 biggest corporate CO2 emitters, and so bears significant responsibility for climate-related loss and damage.The case illustrates the new face of the climate fight, as activists use the courts rather than rely on political action in the fight against global warming.If accepted, it could be a milestone for plaintiffs from developing countries who take on industrial giants.- ‘Inspirational’ -Environmentalists have said 11 percent of the 42-hectare (104-acre) island of Pari has already disappeared in recent years, and it could be completely under water by 2050 due to rising sea levels.The islanders say saltwater floods have surged in scale and frequency, battering homes and damaging livelihoods.Asmania has already lost her seaweed farm because of flooding, which has also blighted her fish farm.”We are the climate victims, but we are not contributing to big emissions,” she said.”It is our survival that is at stake.”The four plaintiffs are seeking 3,600 Swiss francs ($4,500) each from Holcim for damages and for protection measures such as planting mangroves and constructing breakwater barriers.HEKS stressed that the amount was only equivalent to 0.42 percent of the actual costs — in line with estimates that Holcim is responsible for 0.42 percent of global industrial CO2 emissions since 1750.In addition, the plaintiffs are demanding a 43 percent reduction in Holcim’s greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and a 69 percent reduction by 2040.”The contrast is enormous between this island, which is disappearing, and the wealth we have here in Zug,” Maillard-Ardenti said.”This wealth comes from large multinationals like Holcim, (which) have never paid a single franc in climate compensation,” he said, stressing that the total 14,000 francs requested by the plaintiffs was “less than an hour’s salary for the chairman of Holcim’s board”.

Rubio to meet Mexican leader as US ramps up cartel pressure

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will meet Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Wednesday, a day after the United States dramatically escalated pressure on cartels with what it said was a targeted strike near Venezuela.Rubio is scheduled to hold talks with Sheinbaum at 10:00 am local time (1600 GMT) before a joint news conference with Foreign Secretary Juan Ramon de la Fuente, according to the US State Department.Few expect the United States, even under the mercurial President Donald Trump, to carry out a strike similar to Tuesday’s in the Caribbean on the soil of Mexico, where Sheinbaum has focused on cooperation in her country’s complicated relationship with Washington.But Tuesday’s attack, and occasional heated rhetoric by Trump’s allies against the United States’ southern neighbor, have been enough to raise alarm bells in Mexico.Sheinbaum, addressing reporters on Tuesday before the strike, said that any US military “intervention” in Mexico was a red line.Mexico will not “accept violations of our territory,” she said.”We don’t accept subordination. Simply collaboration between nations on equal terms.”Trump said that the United States killed 11 people when it blew up a speedboat in the Caribbean that was leaving Venezuela and was allegedly affiliated with Tren de Aragua, a gang designated by Washington as a terrorist organization.AFP has not been able to verify the number of people in the boat and their identities.The attack marked a major escalation of US action after Trump signed an executive order authorizing military action against drug cartels.Trump has “been very clear that he’s going to use the full power of America, the full might of the United States, to take on and eradicate these drug cartels, no matter where they’re operating from,” Rubio said Tuesday.But Venezuela is a unique case, as the United States does not recognize the legitimacy of President Nicolas Maduro, a leftist firebrand whose last election in 2024 was widely seen internationally and by the opposition as riddled with irregularities.Sheinbaum, who also comes from the political left, has sought a pragmatic relationship with Trump, who has voiced respect for her despite his past harsh comments about Mexicans.Like her predecessor and fellow leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, Sheinbaum has largely cooperated with Trump in his key priority of curbing migration to the United States.Mexico has stepped up enforcement on its borders in recent years — including its own southern border, a gateway for Central American migrants to the United States.Sheinbaum has also taken steps to curb imports from China, whose manufacturers have eyed Mexico as a way into the US market.The Trump administration has already imposed a slew of new sanctions in hopes of weakening major cartels in Mexico.Trump blames the cartels for the flow of fentanyl, the powerful painkiller behind an overdose epidemic in the United States.Sheinbaum, in turn, has pursued legal action against US gunmakers over violence inside Mexico.Mexico, which has tighter controls on guns, says that between 200,000 and 750,000 weapons manufactured by US gunmakers are smuggled across the border from the United States every year, many of which are found at crime scenes.

Emmanuel Carrère dans la première sélection du prix Goncourt

Le roman d’Emmanuel Carrère, “Kolkhoze”, fait partie des 15 ouvrages présents dans la première sélection du prix Goncourt, qui sera décerné le 4 novembre, a annoncé mercredi l’Académie Goncourt.Cette sélection pour le plus illustre des prix littéraires français comporte aussi des romans d’écrivains accomplis, comme Nathacha Appanah (“La nuit au cœur”), David Diop (“Où s’adosse le ciel”) ou Laurent Mauvignier (“La maison vide”), qui figurent parmi les favoris. Ont également été sélectionnés des écrivains moins expérimentés comme Paul Gasnier (“La collision”), Maria Pourchet (“Tressaillir”) ou Hélène Laurain (“Tambora”).Les 10 membres de l’Académie Goncourt réduiront le nombre des finalistes de 15 à huit le 7 octobre, puis à quatre le 28 octobre. Avant de décerner le prix le 4 novembre au restaurant Drouant, en plein centre de Paris, selon une tradition bien établie.En 2024, le prix avait été accordé à Kamel Daoud pour son roman “Houris”.Considéré comme l’un des favoris pour lui succéder, “Kolkhoze” (POL) est l’un des nombreux romans de la rentrée littéraire dont la mère est le sujet. Il relate la vie d’Hélène Carrère d’Encausse qui, après son décès en 2023 à 94 ans, avait reçu un hommage national aux Invalides après une vie consacrée à l’étude de l’Union soviétique puis à l’Académie française, dont elle a été la secrétaire perpétuelle.  

La tech américaine américaine porte Wall Street à l’ouverture

La Bourse de New York a ouvert globalement en hausse mercredi, soutenue par de bonnes nouvelles pour le secteur technologique américain, les inquiétudes commerciales étant pour le moment reléguées au second plan.Dans les premiers échanges, l’indice Nasdaq – à forte coloration technologique – prenait 0,86% et l’indice élargi S&P 500 gagnait 0,42%. Le Dow Jones était proche de l’équilibre (-0,07%).