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President Joe Biden warned Thursday against the dangerous erosion of the fundamental guardrails protecting an increasingly “fragile” American democracy.A day after urging Americans to stand firm against an “oligarchy” forming under Donald Trump, Biden highlighted the specific threat posed by a cowed Supreme Court and Congress unable to keep an autocratic presidency in check.Biden, in a recorded interview with MSNBC — his last before leaving office on Monday — also revealed details of his conversations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and discussed the situation in Ukraine.”I really am concerned about how fragile democracy is,” Biden said. “I really think we’re in an inflection point in history here where, unrelated to any particular leader, things are going to change drastically.””So I guess what I’m worried about is that the thing that keeps it on track are the guardrails, that there’s a Supreme Court that’s independent,” Biden said, and a Congress where you “speak your mind but you’re held accountable to basic standards.”He said the president may be the “top dog” but “you can’t dictate everything.”Biden said he did not have any recent discussions with Trump about the negotiations that led to the Gaza ceasefire deal, for which the incoming president has sought to take credit.As for Netanyahu, Biden said he still considers him a “friend” although “we don’t agree on a whole lot lately.”Biden recounted one of his early conversations with Netanyahu after the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas.”I told them we were going to help, but Bibi, I said, you can’t be carpet-bombing in these communities.”And he said to me: ‘Well you did it… You carpet-bombed Berlin. You dropped a nuclear weapon. You killed thousands of people because you had to in order to win a war,'” Biden recounted.Biden said he also kept reminding Netanyahu “that he has to find a way to accomodate the legitimate concerns of a large group of people called Palestinians who have no place to live independently.”Touching on the conflict in Ukraine, Biden said Russia has suffered more than 670,000 wounded or dead since the invasion.”They’re losing big time too,” he said. “It doesn’t mean they’re going to lose everything but it means they’re not going to be able to have the kind of win (Russian leader Vladimir Putin) thought,” he said.- ‘Too much time on the policy’ -Putin wants to “reestablish the old Warsaw Pact,” Biden said. “I can’t let that happen.”Biden also said he was not concerned about his safety when he made his visit to Ukraine.The Secret Service were “very unhappy,” he said, “but I didn’t think that Putin would dare to take out an American president.”Biden, who dropped his reelection bid after a disastrous debate performance against Trump, also reflected briefly on his political failings.”Ironically, I almost spent too much time on the policy and not enough time on the politics,” he said.The hour-long sit-down interview with MSNBC was one of just a handful Biden gave to the media during his four years as president.He also rarely held full-fledged news conferences, and his White House had an occasionally tense relationship with the press, which it accused of unfairly focusing on the 82-year-old president’s age and cognitive abilities.

US President-elect Donald Trump said Thursday the ceasefire and hostage release agreement between Israel and Hamas would have never been reached without pressure from him and his incoming administration. The agreement, which would exchange Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners, awaits approval by Israel’s security cabinet before taking effect, after which the terms of a permanent end to the war would be negotiated.Four days away from being inaugurated for a second term, Trump told the Dan Bongino Show that negotiations would have never finalized without pressure from his team, including Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff.”If we weren’t involved in this deal, the deal would’ve never happened,” Trump said.”We changed the course of it, and we changed it fast, and frankly, it better be done before I take the oath of office,” he added. Israel’s security cabinet was set to meet Friday to discuss the terms of the ceasefire, which would go into effect Sunday at the earliest, just before Trump’s presidential inauguration on Monday.Trump also blasted outgoing President Joe Biden for taking credit for the ceasefire agreement, calling him “ungracious” and saying: “He didn’t do anything! If I didn’t do this, if we didn’t get involved, the hostages would never be out.” Biden had proposed a ceasefire agreement last May with terms that mirrored the deal reached this week.The ceasefire agreement under discussion proposes an initial 42-day ceasefire that would see the release of 33 hostages and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza’s populations centers.The second phase of the agreement could bring a “peramanent end to the war,” Biden said.In an interview with MSNBC on Thursday, Biden said that he had not had any recent discussions with Trump about the ceasefire negotiations.

Hours after Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin nailed its first-ever orbital mission, SpaceX seized back the spotlight on Thursday as its latest test of Starship, its gargantuan next-generation megarocket, ended with the upper stage dramatically disintegrating over the Atlantic. In terms of sheer excitement, Elon Musk’s company didn’t disappoint, underscoring its technical prowess by catching the first stage booster in the “chopstick” arms of its launch tower for a second time. But the triumph was short-lived when teams lost contact with the upper stage vehicle. SpaceX later confirmed it had undergone “rapid unscheduled disassembly,” the company’s euphemism for an explosion.A taller, improved version of the biggest and most powerful launch vehicle ever built blasted off from the company’s Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, at 4:37 pm (2237 GMT) for its seventh test.The gleaming prototype rocket is key to Musk’s ambitions of colonizing Mars, while NASA hopes to use a modified version as a human lunar lander.Around seven minutes after liftoff, the Super Heavy booster decelerated from supersonic speeds — generating sonic booms — before descending gracefully into the launch tower’s waiting arms, prompting an eruption of applause from ground control teams.The maneuver was first successfully executed in October, but not November, when Super Heavy made a controlled splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico instead.Soon after the latest booster catch, however, announcers on a live webcast confirmed the upper stage vehicle had been lost following a propulsion anomaly.The FlightAware tracker showed several planes in the Atlantic altering course near the Turks and Caicos Islands, while users on X shared dramatic footage purportedly capturing the spaceship breaking apart in a fiery cascade during atmospheric re-entry.”Success is uncertain, but entertainment is guaranteed!” Musk wrote on X, sharing one of the clips. He added the cause of the explosion appeared to be an “oxygen/fuel leak” and that the company would take corrective steps.A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) spokesperson said the agency “briefly slowed and diverted aircraft around the area where space vehicle debris was falling.” – Well wishes -Ahead of the SpaceX launch, Blue Origin’s massive New Glenn rocket reached orbital space for the first time, marking a potential turning point in the commercial space race.SpaceX has long dominated orbital launches with its Falcon 9 rocket, securing contracts from private companies, the Pentagon and NASA. In contrast, Blue Origin had been limited to short hop suborbital flights with its smaller New Shepard rocket — but could now look to erode SpaceX’s market share.Although the two tech titans have had a contentious past, Musk congratulated Bezos “on reaching orbit on the first attempt,” and Bezos returned the goodwill a few hours later. “Good luck today @elonmusk and the whole spacex team!!” the Amazon founder wrote on X.NASA’s outgoing chief Bill Nelson meanwhile offered his congratulations to SpaceX for the booster catch, adding: “Spaceflight is not easy.”For this flight, SpaceX announced it had made numerous upgrades, and increased Starship’s size by a few feet to 403 feet (123 meters) tall. New Glenn stands 320 feet (98 meters) tall.While its Falcon rockets remain steadfast workhorses, SpaceX has made clear it sees Starship as its future.The first three test flights ended in dramatic explosions, resulting in the loss of vehicles. However, SpaceX has rapidly iterated on its design, reflecting its “fail fast, learn fast” philosophy.Musk is now aiming to drastically ramp up the frequency of tests, requesting permission from the FAA to carry out 25 in 2025, compared to just four in 2024.The agency is holding public meetings on potential environmental and regulatory concerns, amid accusations that SpaceX has harmed ecologically sensitive areas and violated wastewater regulations.But with Musk now part of Trump’s inner circle, the billionaire may find a smoother path under the incoming administration. Meanwhile, Bezos and fellow tech mogul Mark Zuckerberg are set to attend the president-elect’s inauguration on Monday, signaling warming ties.

Tens of thousands of people ordered to flee their homes as wildfires tore through Los Angeles were told Thursday they would not be allowed back for at least a week, with fears over electrocution, landslides and exposure to toxic materials. Frustration is mounting among evacuees, who are angry over rules that prevent them from returning — even to homes that survived the deadly blazes.”There was a group chat where everyone was complaining, getting mad, saying, ‘why do they keep on locking us out of our homes?'” Ronnen Miz told local broadcaster KTLA.But with 40,000 acres (16,000 hectares) burned in two ferocious fires, the situation is just too dangerous, officials said.Electricity, gas and sewage lines are wrecked, there is toxic waste everywhere, and there is a growing threat of hazardous mudslides or landslips, officials said at a news conference.”It’s going to be a while,” said Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna. “I’m going to say at minimum, at least another week, and that’s an estimate, but I believe it’s going to be longer than that.”According to the latest coroner’s tally, at least 27 people have died in wind-driven fires that ripped through the upmarket enclave of Pacific Palisades and the more mixed community of Altadena.Luna said search teams were continuing to comb the rubble looking for victims, with the number of dead expected to rise.Authorities were also holding people back from some areas “because we believe there may be deceased victims” he said. – Destabilized hillsides -Teams from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) began inspections Thursday as they work to remove pesticides, fuel and lithium batteries from the wreckage before any debris clean-up can take place.Los Angeles County Director of Public Works Mark Pestrella said apparently unaffected structures could be hit by landslides, and any substantial rain could be dangerous.”In the event that we have major rain, we do expect that all of the street areas and all the communities will be impacted by debris flows that could be hazardous to human health.”Hillsides have been destabilized by the fires, and by the huge volumes of water that firefighters used in a bid to tame them.Photographs from the Pacific Palisades area showed one home — undamaged by the fire — that appeared to have broken in two after the flames were extinguished when part of a hillside collapsed.- Pam Shriver -US tennis great Pam Shriver revealed on Thursday a cache of major trophies from her illustrious career were stolen after she evacuated from the fire.Shriver, 62, packed five US Open trophies, five French Open plates, five Wimbledon trophies and one Australian Open trophy into her car as she fled her Brentwood home and headed to a hotel on Friday.Some time later, she found the car — and its irreplaceable contents — had been stolen.”It’s really sad on so many levels that when people are at their lowest and in their most difficult times, people are doing things like this,” Shriver told ESPN.- Hotspots -Gusting winds that have rattled the region for more than a week, spreading the fire over a wide area, had subsided Thursday, giving firefighters a much-needed boost as they mopped up hotspots.The work of battalions from all over the United States was being bolstered by crews of inmates, who toil alongside regular firefighters to cut containment lines and clear brush.Jacob Castro, who has served 29 years for his crimes, said he was grateful for the chance to help out in the fire effort and repay his debt to society.”It’s the first thing I’ve done in my life that I’m proud of,” he told AFP.”I love doing this, helping the community by making up for the bad decisions I made in life,” said Castro, who has a coveted spot in one of the fire training camps operated by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.”It’s a chance to redeem myself.”

Her voice tinged with anger, an American mother worried about what the future holds for her teenage daughter, just one of dozens of girls targeted in yet another AI-enabled pornography scandal that has rocked a US school.The controversy that engulfed the Lancaster Country Day School in Pennsylvania last year highlights a new normal for pupils and educators struggling to keep up with a boom in cheap, easily available artificial intelligence tools that have facilitated hyperrealistic deepfakes. One parent, who spoke to AFP on the condition of anonymity, said her 14-year-old daughter came to her “hysterically crying” last summer after finding AI-generated nude pictures of her circulating among her peers.”What are the ramifications to her long term?” the mother said, voicing fears that the manipulated images could resurface when her daughter applies to college, starts dating, or enters the job market.”You can’t tell that they are fake.”Multiple charges — including sexual abuse of children and possession of child pornography — were filed last month against two teenage boys who authorities allege created the images.Investigators uncovered 347 images and videos affecting a total of 60 victims, most of them female students at the private school, on the messaging app Discord.All but one was younger than 18.- ‘Troubling’ -The scandal is the latest in a wave of similar incidents in schools across US states — from California to New Jersey — leading to a warning from the FBI last year that such child sexual abuse material, including realistic AI-generated images, was illegal.”The rise of generative AI has collided with a long-standing problem in schools: the act of sharing non-consensual intimate imagery,” said Alexandra Reeve Givens, chief executive of the nonprofit Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT).”In the digital age, kids desperately need support to navigate tech-enabled harassment.”A CDT survey of public schools last September found that 15 percent of students and 11 percent of teachers knew of at least one “deepfake that depicts an individual associated with their school in a sexually explicit or intimate manner.”Such non-consensual imagery can lead to harassment, bullying or blackmail, sometimes causing devastating mental health consequences.The mother who spoke to AFP said she knows of victims who had avoided school, had trouble eating or required medical attention and counseling to cope with the ordeal.She said she and other parents brought into a detective’s office to scrutinize the deepfakes were shocked to find printed out images stacked a “foot and a half” high.”I had to see pictures of my daughter,” she said.”If someone looked, they would think it’s real, so that’s even more damaging.”- ‘Exploitation’ -The alleged perpetrators, whose names have not been released, are accused of lifting pictures from social media, altering them using an AI application and sharing them on Discord.The mother told AFP the fakes of her daughter were primarily altered from public photos on the school’s Instagram page as well as a screenshot of a FaceTime call.A simple online search throws up dozens of apps and websites that allow users to create “deepnudes,” digitally removing clothing, or superimpose selected faces onto pornographic images.”Although results may not be as realistic or compelling as a professional rendition, these services mean that no technical skills are needed to produce deepfake content,” Roberta Duffield, director of intelligence at Blackbird.AI, told AFP.Only a handful of US states have passed laws to deal with sexually explicit deepfakes, including Pennsylvania at the end of last year. The top leadership at the Pennsylvania school stepped aside after parents of the victims filed a lawsuit accusing the administration of failing to report the activity when they were first alerted to it in late 2023.Researchers say schools are ill-equipped to tackle the threat of AI technology evolving at a rapid pace, in part because the law is still playing catchup.”Underage girls are increasingly subject to deepfake exploitation from their friends, colleagues, school classmates,” said Duffield.”Education authorities must urgently develop clear, comprehensive policies regarding the use of AI and digital technologies.”

On one side of the street lie the ashes of ruined houses, lost to the huge blazes that defeated Los Angeles firefighters when hydrants ran dry.On the other side, a small village of shops is still intact, watched over by tanker trucks and an army of private firemen.More than a week after enormous blazes spread unchecked through swathes of America’s second largest metropolis, questions are being asked about how some of the city’s super-rich seem to have survived almost unscathed.”All I can say is that we got hired and we have been ordered to stay here. I’m not allowed to tell you more than that.” a man in a yellow and green uniform told AFP in front of the commercial development.The men, along with their pick-up trucks with Oregon license plates, were stationed at property owned by billionaire developer Rick Caruso.Their presence — protecting stores hawking luxury brands like Yves Saint-Laurent, Isabel Marant and Erewhon — jars in a city where more than two dozen people have died and thousands of people have lost their homes.”It sucks that there’s a lot of politics involved,” says another of the men. “We just want to do the job and help however we can.”Caruso, who ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Los Angeles in 2022, did not respond to AFP requests for comment. But in Pacific Palisades, a haunt of Hollywood celebrities and the ultra-rich, he is not the only one apparently using his wealth to protect his property.Other private firefighters stand guard in front of some of the untouched princely villas that dot the hillsides.- ‘Will pay any amount’ -The sector made headlines in 2018 when Kim Kardashian and her then-husband Kanye West hired private firefighters to protect their lavish pad in the affluent community of Hidden Hills, north of the city.The profiles of the two distinct areas that were hit by last week’s blazes — wealthy Pacific Palisades and the more mixed Altadena — have already served to put a spotlight on economic divisions in the United States.The disparity was further highlighted in the immediate aftermath of the fires when real estate developer Keith Wasserman attracted an avalanche of criticism after a social media post.”Does anyone have access to private firefighters to protect our home?” he wrote in the now-deleted post.”Need to act fast here. All neighbors houses burning. Will pay any amount.”Such services can cost between $2,000 and $15,000 per day, US media has reported, citing local companies.But even for those with the means, calling on private firefighters is not always simple — most firms are contracted by cities, government departments or insurance companies.In California, a law passed in 2018 limits how they can operate.They are not allowed to use flashing lights or badges similar to those of public firefighters, and are required to coordinate with them.Since this legislation came into force some companies have refused to serve individuals.- Whose water? -Private or public, firefighters all have the same mission: “protecting our community,” said Jake Heflin, a firefighter from the publicly funded Long Beach Fire Department.”If it’s done correctly and done in partnership and in concert together, it can be very effective,” Heflin said.But it can also create problems.Taxpayer-funded services should not have to focus “resources on taking care of them, because either they’re ill-equipped or ill-prepared and they’ve gotten themselves into a difficult situation,” he said.Firefighters “want to have those conversations well ahead of the event.”How much coordination there was before the catastrophe in Pacific Palisades, where hydrants ran dry and some houses were effectively left to burn, is unclear.For Jeff Ridgway, a 67-year-old Pacific Palisades resident who resorted to scooping buckets out of a swimming pool when the mains supply petered out, that is a key question.”It will be very interesting to know if they used these fire hydrants,” Ridgway told AFP.”I really hope they brought their own water.”

Joe Biden wanted to go down in history as the man who saved America from Donald Trump. Instead he may be remembered for handing Trump a second term in the White House.In years to come Biden, 82, may be judged more kindly. The Democrat steered a divided country out of the Covid-19 pandemic and the chaos of Trump’s first four years, before pushing through an impressive raft of legislation.But Biden’s single term will now be bookended by his rival’s presidencies. And it will be defined by a single fateful decision — to defy mounting concerns about his age and run for reelection in 2024.For many the defining image of the 46th US president will be a haunted-looking Biden lost for words in the disastrous debate against Trump that eventually forced him out of the race.His replacement as Democratic candidate, his Vice President Kamala Harris, was left with an almost impossible task to prevent Trump’s return.If Biden insisted until the end that he could have beaten his Republican nemesis, he still admitted that it may take a while to restore his reputation.”It will take time to feel the full impact of all we have done together, but the seeds are planted,” he said in his farewell address.- Historic challenges -Biden’s inauguration in January 2021 was a remarkable comeback for an often underestimated politician who spent a lifetime battling both political odds and personal tragedy.But he was an unlikely savior.Biden was America’s oldest elected president at the time — until Trump’s election in 2024 — and arguably more famous for his gaffes and for being Barack Obama’s vice president.And he faced historic challenges. The country was reeling from the January 6, 2021 Capitol assault by Trump supporters protesting his election defeat, while the US economy was shattered by Covid.But Biden quickly forced a massive pandemic recovery scheme and a huge green investment plan through Congress as he sought to rebuild American industry and infrastructure.In Harris he appointed the first Black, South Asian and female vice president.Western allies welcomed his commitment to the alliances Trump had trashed.Perhaps Biden’s proudest achievement was supporting Ukraine against Russia’s 2022 invasion — and his top secret trip to Kyiv in 2023.- ‘Get back up’ -But Biden’s popularity suffered an early blow with the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 — and never really recovered. His approval rating was just 36 percent in a final CNN poll.His pandemic stimulus sent inflation soaring, part of the reason Americans punished Harris at the polls. His lax border policies led to a record crossings of illegal immigrants, which Trump pounced on.While he claimed a late boost to his legacy with a Gaza ceasefire deal, he angered many with his unstinting support for Israel’s war on Hamas despite a soaring death toll.Despite it all, Biden believed he was the only person who could beat Trump again.Fond of folksy tales about his upbringing as a child with a stutter from a blue-collar, Irish Catholic background in Pennsylvania, he would often quote his father’s mantra: “When you get knocked down, you get back up.” He had battled through the tragedy of a car crash that killed his wife and baby daughter in 1972, just days after he’d been elected a US senator at the age of 29 — then rebuilt his life with the help of his second wife, First Lady Jill Biden.Then there was the death of his older son Beau from brain cancer in 2015, and the drug and legal problems of his younger son Hunter, to whom he controversially issued a pardon.- ‘Magic of America’ -But age was a battle he couldn’t win. Trump dubbed Biden “Sleepy Joe” and every stumble — on the stairs of Air Force One, off his bike — was relentlessly replayed on social media. Republican attacks — and Democratic doubts — mounted after Biden reneged on his promise to be a bridge to a new generation and announced in 2023 that he’d seek reelection.The White House insisted there was no problem and increasingly shielded Biden from unscripted public appearances — until it was too late.In his final days in office, Biden provided the smooth transition that Trump denied him. He invited Trump to the White House and the two rivals engaged in unprecedented cooperation on the Gaza deal.Yet he also had a parting shot for Trump, warning in his farewell speech of a dangerous “oligarchy taking shape in America.”And if Biden’s 50-year-political career ended in disappointment, he saw a bright side.”Only in America do we believe anything is possible, like a kid with a stutter from modest beginnings… sitting behind this desk in the Oval Office as president,” he said.”That’s the magic of America.”

Donald Trump will complete an extraordinary comeback on Monday when he is inaugurated for a second term as US president, apparently stronger and more unpredictable than ever.The 78-year-old Republican will be sworn in at the US Capitol in Washington amid high pomp and ceremony before making a triumphant return to the White House that he left in disgrace four years earlier.The day before he will host a star-studded “Make America Great Victory Rally,” reportedly featuring the world’s richest man Elon Musk, and a performance by the Village People, the band behind his signature song “Y.M.C.A.”For billionaire Trump it will cap a remarkable journey that saw him defy two assassination attempts and a historic criminal conviction to seize back the presidency from Joe Biden.Trump’s official photo as the 47th US president — and the first to be a felon — even bears a striking resemblance to a viral 2023 mugshot taken in another criminal case.The only thing that could spoil Trump’s party is the weather, with a potentially lethal “polar vortex” threatening to make his inauguration the coldest in 40 years.Extreme weather could force the ceremony indoors.- ‘Golden age’ -America and the world will be watching Trump’s inaugural speech at the Capitol where he will set the tone for a presidency that many expect to be even more volatile than his first. Since the election that tone has veered between promises of a “golden age” and vows of vengeance against his enemies — coupled with outlandish territorial threats against Greenland and Panama and promises of sweeping tariffs.He is also expected to quickly issue executive orders on key topics including migration, and to pardon some of the pro-Trump rioters who attacked the Capitol on January 6, 2021.But the guest list for Trump’s inauguration underscores how the man whose 2016 victory shocked the world has now become the new normal for American politics.Musk and fellow billionaires Jeff Bezos of Amazon and Mark Zuckerberg of Meta will all reportedly attend, highlighting the tech moguls’ efforts to court Trump.Outgoing president Biden, 82, warned of a dangerous “oligarchy” around the top of Trump’s government in a dark farewell speech from the Oval Office on Wednesday.On his final full day in office on Sunday, the Democrat is set to visit a Black church and museum in Charleston in South Carolina while Trump is rallying in Washington.- Star guests -But much of the US business and entertainment worlds are also aligning behind Trump, following his commanding election win over Kamala Harris and a general rightward shift in politics.Where many celebrities shunned Trump’s inauguration in 2017, this time country star Carrie Underwood will sing “America the Beautiful” during the inauguration. The Village People, who once admonished Trump for playing their music, will perform at the MAGA rally on Sunday and one of the official presidential balls on Monday night.The rally will see Trump return to arguably his favorite part of politics — the campaigning where he fired up huge crowds with grievance-filled speeches.Overall the contrast could not be bigger with Trump’s first swearing-in, which was largely overshadowed when his spokesman picked a row over the size of the crowd.Things were very different four years ago too.Trump left the White House in disgrace after the Capitol riots by protesters supporting his false claims to have beaten Biden in the 2020 election, while Biden pledged to heal post-Trump America.Written off by many, Trump nevertheless succeeded in capitalizing on voter frustration with Biden’s age, the state of the economy and record numbers of illegal migrants to secure his comeback.The challenge now is for Trump, who will be the oldest person in US history to be sworn in as president, to deliver.He will enter the White House with higher ratings than his last term, according to a CNN poll, but must hope the US economy stays positive.

Donald Trump’s nominee for Treasury chief defended potential tax cuts and tariffs Thursday, telling lawmakers at his confirmation hearing that the president-elect could usher in “a new economic golden age.”Scott Bessent’s appearance before the Senate Finance Committee, days before Trump returns to the White House, saw him fielding questions on issues that ranged from sanctions to central bank independence and competition with China.Bessent, a hedge fund manager, faced grilling by policymakers but is expected to see smooth confirmation to the top economic post, where he would play a crucial role implementing Trump’s economic vision.Already, the president-elect has vowed tax cuts, higher tariffs and a slash in federal spending.Bessent said Thursday that Trump has a “generational opportunity to unleash a new economic golden age that will create more jobs, wealth and prosperity for all Americans.””We can usher in a new, more balanced era of prosperity that will lift up all Americans and rebuild communities and families across the country,” he added.He took aim at government spending and high budget deficits while stressing the need to secure vulnerable supply chains and deploy sanctions carefully.Bessent, 62, also raised the need to make permanent Trump’s 2017 tax law — of which some provisions are set to expire at the end of the year.”If Congress fails to act, Americans will face the largest tax increase in history, a crushing $4 trillion tax hike,” Bessent said.”If we do not renew and extend, then we will be facing an economic calamity,” he cautioned, noting the middle and working classes would be hard-hit.- Tougher sanctions -If confirmed, Bessent said he would support strengthening sanctions, “especially on the Russian oil majors,” as a means to end war in Ukraine.He suggested that constraints in American energy supplies were a reason the world’s biggest economy was reluctant to apply “muscular sanctions” on Moscow or Tehran — adding that boosting production could squeeze both countries.On other policies, he disagreed that Trump’s pledges for sweeping tariffs on imports would be paid for domestically. The president-elect sees levies as a means to raise government revenue.While the Treasury has a less direct hand in tariff policy than other agencies, Bessent is anticipated to help shape the administration’s international trade stance.He said tariffs can be used to remedy unfair trade practices or in negotiations on issues like the fentanyl crisis.- China concerns -Bessent signaled a hawkish approach on China, emphasizing that Washington should ensure its lead in areas like chips and artificial intelligence.He indicated that he would push China to boost its US agriculture purchases too, enforcing the terms of a deal struck under the first Trump administration.Bessent also took aim at trade imbalances, saying Beijing was trying to export its way out of a downturn: “We cannot allow a player like this to flood our markets.”Domestically, Bessent clarified that he backs the US central bank’s autonomy on monetary policy, telling lawmakers that the Federal Reserve’s policymaking committee “should be independent” of the president.He emphasized as well that “we must ensure that the US dollar remains the world’s reserve currency.”In November, Trump threatened a 100 percent tariff on the BRICS grouping — which includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — if they undercut the US dollar.- No debt default -On federal spending, Bessent said: “We do not have a revenue problem in the United States of America, we have a spending problem.”But he stressed that Washington would not default on its debt if he took office.He likened removing the country’s debt ceiling — a limit on government borrowing to pay for bills already incurred — to taking out a car’s handbrake.However, he committed to working with Trump to eliminate the limit if the president wanted to do so.Trump’s selection of Bessent, who is chief executive officer of investment firm Key Square Group, has been seen as a credible and safe choice.Outgoing Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned Wednesday that plans to extend Trump’s earlier tax cuts, which remained in place under President Joe Biden, could worsen the country’s unsustainable fiscal path.

Cuban opposition leader Jose Daniel Ferrer was among a group of prisoners released Thursday in a landmark deal with departing US President Joe Biden that has led to emotional reunions across the communist island.Ferrer, 54, is the most high-profile of the prisoners that Cuba began freeing Wednesday after Biden agreed to remove the country from Washington’s list of terrorism sponsors — part of an eleventh-hour bid to cement his legacy before handing power Monday to Donald Trump.”Thank God we have him home,” Nelva Ortega told AFP of her husband Ferrer, who has been in and out of prison for the past two decades. His latest stint lasted three-and-a-half years.A short while later, Ferrer urged Cubans on a Miami-based radio program to “not be afraid” to stand up to a government he said was “increasingly scared” and “increasingly weak.”In return for being removed from the US terror list that includes North Korea, Iran and Syria, cash-strapped Cuba promised to release 553 people — many of whom the Biden administration said were “political prisoners.”By Thursday, Havana had freed about three dozen people, according to rights groups.Most were arrested for taking part in mass July 2021 anti-government demonstrations over recurring power outages, food shortages and price hikes.AFP saw four prisoners emerge from the San Miguel del Padron prison on the outskirts of the capital Havana on Thursday morning. Marlon Brando Diaz, who was serving an 18-year sentence for his participation in the 2021 protests, said tearfully that he was thankful for “a new chance in life.””It’s a new start,” he said, as he hugged emotional family members.- ‘Risky move’ -The deal with Washington paves the way for increased US investment in the Caribbean island, which has been under a trade embargo for over six decades.In a sign that the thaw may be short-lived, however, Trump’s pick for secretary of state, Florida Senator Marco Rubio, suggested Biden’s decision could be reversed.The son of Cuban immigrants, Rubio is vociferously critical of that country’s government and said Trump’s incoming administration was not bound by Biden’s policies.”There is zero doubt in my mind that they (the Cuban government) meet all the qualifications for being a state sponsor of terrorism,” he said at his US Senate confirmation hearing Wednesday.The trickle of prisoner releases caused anguish for families still waiting for news of their loved ones.Authorities have not released a list or a timetable of those to be freed.Analysts said Cuba could be stalling to ensure Trump upholds the deal when he returns to the White House next week, with the remaining prisoners serving as a bargaining chip.If so, “it’s a pretty risky move,” Michael Bustamante, chair of Cuban studies at the University of Miami, told AFP. “The Trump administration might not take kindly to this game at all.”- ‘Stayed the course’ -Ferrer, from the eastern province of Santiago, has been in and out of prison for the past 20 years.A fisherman and father of six, he was one of 75 political prisoners sentenced to 25 years imprisonment in 2003 as part of the so-called Black Spring wave of repression unleashed by authorities.He was released in 2011, along with 130 other political prisoners following mediation by the Catholic Church, but resisted pressure to go into exile.Later that year, he founded the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU), one of the most active opposition organizations in a one-party state that bans rival political formations.He was re-arrested on July 11, 2021, trying to join one of the biggest protests since the revolution that brought Fidel Castro to power in 1959.Authorities say about 500 people were given sentences of up to 25 years over the unrest, but rights groups and the US embassy in Havana say the figure is closer to 1,000.Declared a “prisoner of conscience” by Amnesty International, Ferrer’s imprisonment has been a point of global contention.Bustamante described his release as “pretty big” news.”He is someone who has stayed the course,” Bustamante said, noting his “long history of political activism.”