AFP USA

Elon Musk’s SpaceX on Thursday once again lost the upper stage of its massive Starship rocket in a fiery explosion, even as the booster was successfully caught in its latest orbital test — a near replay of the previous attempt.Minutes after liftoff and booster separation, a live video feed showed the upper stage tumbling uncontrollably before the signal abruptly cut out. Dramatic footage circulating online captured red-hot debris raining down over the Bahamas.”Can confirm we did lose contact with the ship. Unfortunately, this happened last time, too,” SpaceX spokesman Dan Huot said, referring to January’s flight, which also ended with the upper stage disintegrating over the Caribbean.The fallout was felt immediately in US airspace. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) briefly activated a “debris response area,” delaying flights from airports stretching from Newark and Philadelphia to Miami. The agency confirmed SpaceX will be required to conduct a mishap investigation before it can fly again.Despite the setback, SpaceX’s “fail fast, learn fast” approach has helped it become the world’s dominant launch services provider. But Musk’s status as one of President Donald Trump’s closest advisors and his influence over federal regulators are raising concerns about potential conflicts of interest.- Eighth Starship Test – Starship — the world’s largest and most powerful rocket — lifted off from SpaceX’s Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas, shortly after 5:30 pm (2330 GMT). It marked its eighth uncrewed orbital test, after earlier launch attempts were scrubbed on Monday and Wednesday.While the upper stage was lost for a second consecutive flight, SpaceX successfully recovered the Super Heavy booster, catching it with the launch tower’s mechanical “chopstick” arms for the third time — an impressive feat of engineering.About 40 minutes after launch, SpaceX ended its livestream without providing further details.Standing 403 feet (123 meters) tall — about 100 feet taller than the Statue of Liberty — Starship is designed to eventually be fully reusable and is key to Musk’s long-term vision of colonizing Mars.NASA is also awaiting a modified version of Starship as a lunar lander for its Artemis program, which aims to return astronauts to the Moon this decade. But before SpaceX can carry out those missions, it must prove the vehicle is reliable, safe for crew, and capable of complex in-orbit refueling — critical for deep space missions.The FAA previously grounded Starship after its January 16 flight ended in an upper-stage explosion. Last Friday, the agency allowed SpaceX to proceed with this latest test before finalizing its investigation into that mishap.- Conflicts -During Joe Biden’s presidency, Musk frequently clashed with the FAA, accusing it of over-regulating SpaceX over safety and environmental concerns.Now, as Trump’s chief advisor on cost-cutting initiatives, Musk faces scrutiny over his influence on federal agencies overseeing his companies.According to Bloomberg News, a SpaceX engineer recently visited FAA headquarters, warning employees their jobs were at risk if they did not begin work on a program to deploy thousands of the company’s Starlink satellite terminals in support of the national airspace system.Telecom giant Verizon currently holds a contract to upgrade the FAA’s infrastructure, but that deal could be in jeopardy, Bloomberg reported. SpaceX has denied the allegations, stating “recent media reports about SpaceX and the FAA are false.”

US President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday establishing a “Strategic Bitcoin Reserve,” forcefully endorsing a currency once shunned as a tool for money launderers.The government stockpile, which backers liken to a “digital Fort Knox,” will be composed of digital currency seized in US criminal proceedings, said David Sacks, the White House’s crypto “czar,” emphasizing in a social media post that Thursday’s move made good on a Trump campaign promise.The use of these assets “means it will not cost taxpayers a dime,” Sacks said in a post on X. “The purpose of the Stockpile is responsible stewardship of the government’s digital assets under the Treasury Department.”The policy also allows the secretaries of Commerce and Treasury to develop “budget-neutral strategies” for adding to the reserve, he said.Bitcoin prices fell as much as five percent following the announcement, apparently out of disappointment the program involves no immediate bitcoin purchases.The move comes on the eve of a White House summit Friday with major crypto figures, who were significant donors to Trump’s successful campaign to regain the presidency. Cryptocurrency supporters organized heavily in the 2024 election in response to the skepticism of Joe Biden’s administration to digital currency, also helping to propel Republicans to victory in key Senate races.For believers, cryptocurrencies represent a financial revolution that reduces dependence on centralized authorities while offering individuals freedom from traditional banking systems.Trump has waded into the space personally, partnering with exchange platform World Liberty Financial and launching his own “Trump” memecoin in January as his wife Melania did the same — moves that have prompted conflict of interest accusations.Trump critics such as Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut have characterized Trump’s cryptocurrency venture as a conduit to potential corruption on a massive scale. “It’s as if Trump is posting his Venmo or his Cash App handle and inviting corporations and foreign governments to just send him cash in secret,” said Murphy in a video posted to X in which he called Trump’s crypto venture “a pure grift.”

Ricardo Scofidio, an architect in New York City whose firm designed some of the city’s most iconic structures such as the High Line elevated park in Manhattan, died on Thursday at age 89, according to US media.Together with his wife, Elizabeth Diller, Scofidio founded the design firm now called Diller Scofidio + Renfro, known for its conceptual building designs.Among their most prominent projects is the High Line, a 1.5-mile (2.3-kilometer) park and scenic pedestrian route built along a former railway on the west side of Manhattan.The project, a collaboration with architects James Corner and Piet Oudolf, has become one of New York’s signature destinations since its opening in 2009.Scofidio and Diller — who met when he was her teacher at the Cooper Union School of Architecture — opened their architecture firm in 1979. They married in 1989.Other major projects designed by the firm include Alice Tully Hall at New York’s Lincoln Center, The Broad art museum in downtown Los Angeles, and Zaryadye Park, a landscape urban park next to Moscow’s Red Square.Charles Renfro, who in 2004 became a partner at Diller and Scofidio’s firm, told the New York Times that Scofidio’s “voice is in all of” their projects, “both as a conceptual thinker and as someone who helped solve deep technical problems.” In 1999, the MacArthur Foundation awarded one of its famous “genius” grants to Scofidio and Diller, the first architects to receive the prestigious prize.Scofidio is survived by Diller, as well as four children from a previous marriage, six grandchildren and and three great-grandchildren, according to the New York Times.

On one side of the border, US soldiers unfurled barbed wire. On the other, Mexican soldiers monitored a gap in the border wall. Both had the same objective: to curb irregular migration.Mexico and the United States have deployed thousands of troops to their 3,100-kilometer (1,900-mile) frontier since President Donald Trump returned to office in January, when he immediately declared a border “emergency.”The efforts appear to be paying off: the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reported a 65-percent drop in migrant interceptions in January compared with the same month of 2024.”If before there were a hundred daily crossings, now there are no more than five. Yesterday there were none,” a Mexican National Guard officer told AFP during a patrol on the edge of the border city of Tijuana.The officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, attributed the fall to coordination between US and Mexican border patrols, including a WhatsApp chat in which they share data, photos and videos of their operations.Mexico has stepped up efforts to contain fentanyl trafficking and illegal migration to the United States, seeking to address two issues that Trump used to justify the 25-percent tariffs that he imposed on Mexican goods.After a call Thursday with Mexican counterpart Claudia Sheinbaum, Trump agreed to suspend most of the duties until April 2.The two countries were “working hard, together, on the Border, both in terms of stopping Illegal Aliens from entering the United States and, likewise, stopping Fentanyl,” he wrote on his Truth Social platform.- Military camp -Armed Mexican troops patrolled the steep slopes of an area on the edge of Tijuana known as Eagle’s Nest, a well-known crossing point for migrants who are often guided by traffickers.On the other side of the border, to the west, was the US city of San Diego, about 15 hours away on foot.Since February 20, about 30 soldiers have set up camp next to the border, on a hill surrounded by ramshackle homes, dirt roads, chicken coops and garbage.Due to the rocky terrain, there is no wall along this part of the border, making it a key crossing point, the National Guard officer said.Despite the increased military presence, some migrants still risk trying to cross, like a Pakistani couple intercepted on February 26 with a child in their arms.They were handed over to the Mexican immigration authority, after the National Guard had the CBP check whether the adults had criminal records.”From the wall here, they are ours; from the wall there, they are theirs,” the officer said about the demarcation of the border for intercepting migrants.Meanwhile, his troops filmed CBP helicopter overflights to share in the group chat.One of them has stuck a CBP patch on his helmet, a common gesture among law enforcement officers who exchange emblems as a symbol of friendship.On the US side of the fence, meanwhile, soldiers pushed a large roll of barbed wire uphill to use to reinforce the barrier, while others surveyed Mexican territory with binoculars.

President Donald Trump on Thursday renewed doubts over his commitment to the NATO alliance, saying countries that are not spending adequately on their militaries do not deserve defense.”If they don’t pay, I’m not going to defend them,” he told reporters in the Oval Office.Trump has frequently questioned whether the United States — by far the biggest military in the transatlantic alliance and ultimate guarantor of Europe’s security since World War II — should continue its central role in NATO.The Republican, who began his second term in January, doubled down on his criticism that some NATO members do not spend enough on their defense budgets and overly rely on the United States.”They should be paying more,” he said.Trump was responding to reporters after NBC News reported earlier Thursday that he is considering a plan to calibrate US military support in a way that favors member countries which spend a higher proportion of more of their GDP on defense.The president has previously called for allies to lift annual defense spending to five percent of GDP from the current two-percent target, which NATO expected only 23 of 32 members to meet last year.Countries deemed to be underspending might not be defended if attacked, according to the reported plan.The move would weaken NATO’s core Article 5 which stipulates that any member attacked will be defended by all the others.Trump also questioned whether allies, including France, would defend the United States.”If the United States was in trouble and we called them. We said, ‘We got a problem, France. We got a problem. A couple of others, I won’t mention. Do you think they’re gonna come and protect us? Hmm. They’re supposed to. I’m not so sure,” Trump said.French President Emmanuel Macron, however, said France was a “loyal and steadfast ally.””We have always been there for each other,” Macron told reporters in Brussels after a meeting of EU leaders, where they agreed to strengthen Europe’s defense.Macron said France had shown “respect and friendship” to the United States, and “we are entitled to ask for the same thing.”burs-sms/dc/raz/ub/des

Second time unlucky: A US company’s lunar lander appears to have touched down at a wonky angle on Thursday, an embarrassing repeat of its previous mission’s less-than-perfect landing last year.Houston-based Intuitive Machines made history in February 2024 as the first private firm to place a spaceship on Earth’s nearest neighbor, though the moment was marred by Odysseus toppling over upon touchdown.For its second attempt, the company sent the hexagonal Athena lander to the Mons Mouton plateau, closer to the lunar south pole than any mission before it.The team targeted a 12:32 pm ET (1732 GMT) touchdown, but as time passed with confirmation, mission control grew visibly tense.Twenty minutes after the scheduled landing, company spokesman Josh Marshall announced on a webcast: “Athena is on the surface of the Moon.” However, teams were still analyzing data to determine the lander’s exact status, he said.Later, CEO Steve Altemus acknowledged to reporters: “We don’t believe we’re in the correct attitude,” an aeronautical term for orientation. He added that the lander’s position could limit power generation and communication, impacting the mission’s success.Intuitive Machines’ share price tumbled 20 percent in afternoon trading. The company suggested that, as in its previous mission, issues with Athena’s laser altimeters, which provide altitude and velocity readings, may have played a role in the suboptimal landing.Athena, like its predecessor Odysseus, has a tall, slender build. At 15.6 feet (4.8 meters) — the height of a giraffe — it had raised stability concerns. However, Altemus emphasized that the lander’s weight distribution kept the center of gravity low, and Intuitive Machines remains confident in its design.Expectations were high after Texas rival Firefly Aerospace successfully landed its Blue Ghost lander on the Moon on Sunday on its first attempt.- Cutting-edge technologies at stake -Both missions are part of NASA’s $2.6 billion Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program, which seeks to leverage private industry to reduce costs and support Artemis, NASA’s effort to return astronauts to the Moon and eventually to reach Mars.Athena carries an ice-drilling experiment, a 4G cellular network test, three rovers, and a unique hopping drone named Grace, designed to descend into a permanently shadowed crater—where sunlight has never reached—a first for humanity.However, whether any of these objectives can be met depends on Athena’s final resting angle, which is yet to be determined.”Any time humanity puts a lander on the moon, it’s a good day,” said Tim Crain, the Intuitive Machines chief technology officer, striking a positive tone.The team hopes to use imagery from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter to determine Athena’s exact location and orientation, though this could take a day or two, Crain added.Despite the non-optimal orientation, NASA’s Nicky Fox, associate administrator for the science mission directorate, said the agency remains “excited” and will prioritize gathering as much scientific and technology data as possible before the mission ends.  – Sticking the landing -Lunar landings are notoriously difficult. The Moon’s lack of atmosphere rules out parachutes, forcing spacecraft to rely on precise thrusts and navigation over hazardous terrain.Until Intuitive Machines’ first mission, only national space agencies had achieved the feat, with NASA’s last landing dating back to Apollo 17 in 1972.The company’s first lander, Odysseus, came in too fast, caught a foot on the surface and toppled over, cutting the mission short when its solar panels could not generate enough power.Athena launched last Wednesday aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, which also carried NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer probe, a spacecraft designed to map the Moon’s water distribution.However, ground controllers have been struggling to re-establish contact with Trailblazer, adding to NASA’s challenges.These missions come at a delicate time for NASA, amid speculation that the agency may scale back or even cancel the crewed Moon missions in favor of prioritizing Mars, a goal championed by President Donald Trump and his billionaire advisor and SpaceX owner Elon Musk.

Wall Street stocks resumed their downward slide on Thursday amid uncertainty over US President Donald Trump’s shifting trade policy, while European bourses advanced following an ECB interest rate cut.Major US indices spent the entire day in the red, shrugging off Trump’s moves to soften tariff actions.Trump on Thursday unveiled a temporary rollback to steep tariffs targeting Canada and Mexico, broadening a step announced Wednesday that gave relief to the auto sector. Stocks had rallied after the auto reprieve, but this time all three major indices dropped one percent or more.Art Hogan of B. Riley Wealth Management said the uncertainty around trade policy is “affecting the real economy,” dragging down consumer sentiment and business investment.”The longer that goes on, the more the economy slows,” he said.In Europe, Frankfurt’s DAX index hit a new record as plans for a massive German defense and infrastructure investment program stoked optimism for pulling the eurozone’s largest economy out of recession.France and other eurozone markets ended the day higher as the European Central Bank followed through with an expected quarter-point cut in interest rates.But ECB President Christine Lagarde said that rising trade tensions could knock eurozone economic growth.”We have risks all over and uncertainty all over,” Lagarde added.The ECB cut its growth forecasts for this year and the next while raising its 2025 inflation estimate.Meanwhile, bond yields continued to climb, and the rise extended to Asia, with Japanese 10-year yields hitting 1.5 percent for the first time in more than a decade.The increase signals expectations of higher inflation and that governments, companies and consumers will need to pay more to borrow.- Asia rises -Wednesday’s announcement of the tariff delay buoyed Asian stock markets, in particular lifting the auto sector.The move “helped reinforce hopes there may be some flexibility in the new administration’s trade policy,” said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.Chinese stocks responded well to Beijing announcing its 2025 growth target of around five percent, at the start of its annual meeting of the National People’s Congress on Wednesday.The meeting has heightened investors’ expectations that a huge fiscal stimulus package could be coming. China has vowed to make domestic demand its main economic driver despite facing persistent economic headwinds, and as an escalating trade war with the US hit exports.- Key figures around 2150 GMT -New York – Dow: DOWN 1.0 percent at 42,579.08 (close)New York – S&P 500: DOWN 1.8 percent at 5,738.52 (close)New York – Nasdaq Composite: DOWN 2.6 percent at 18,069.26 (close)London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.8 percent at 8,682.84 (close)Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.3 percent at 8,197.67 (close)Frankfurt – DAX: UP 1.5 percent at 23,419.48 (close)Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.8 percent at 37,704.93 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 3.3 percent at 24,369.71 (close)Shanghai – Composite: UP 1.2 percent at 3,381.10 (close)Euro/dollar: DOWN at 1.0787 from 1.0789 on WednesdayPound/dollar: UP at $1.2882 from $1.2895Dollar/yen: DOWN 147.97 from 148.88 yenEuro/pound: UP at 83.72 pence from 83.67 penceBrent North Sea Crude: UP 0.2 percent at 69.46 per barrelWest Texas Intermediate: FLAT at $66.31 per barrelburs-jmb/des

After an outcry from Detroit, President Donald Trump has granted one-month tariff exemptions on most auto imports from Canada and Mexico, underscoring the continued clout of US carmakers.The “Big Three” automakers — Ford, General Motors and Chrysler-owner Stellantis — operate their businesses on an integrated basis throughout North America, leaving them badly exposed to the proposed tariffs.Trump, who won hotly-contested Michigan during the 2024 presidential campaign, halted the auto tariffs on Wednesday, just a day after they took effect. The announcement represents relief “but not a cure” since the same tariffs could kick in next month, said Bank of America.- Diminished ‘Big 3’ still a force -While much diminished from their heyday, General Motors, Ford and Stellantis remain giant players in the United States in terms of jobs and economic impact.Automakers in the United States employ 436,000 workers, with the Big Three accounting for about 55 percent of that number.The trio also accounts for half of the US assembly plants and nearly half of the 10 million vehicles assembled annually in the United States, according to a report by the American Automotive Policy Council (AAPC).By comparison, foreign automakers like Honda, BMW and Nissan each account for five percent or less of total US auto jobs, while electric vehicle maker Tesla — led by close Trump ally Elon Musk — accounts for 14 percent, according to the AAPC.- Integrated throughout North America -The Big Three also produce cars in overseas factories, but most of their imports come from Mexico and Canada under the terms of a free trade pact inked during Trump’s first term, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).Popular vehicles imported from Mexico in 2024 included the Chevrolet Silverado and the Ford Maverick, while the Chrysler Pacifica and the Lincoln Nautilus were imported from Canada, according to figures from GlobalData.Foreign automakers like Toyota and Honda also make use of the USMCA to produce cars in Canada and Mexico sold in the United States, and in organizing sophisticated supply chains in which parts and technology move seamlessly throughout the region.The auto supply industry employs 932,000 people across the 50 US states, according to MEMA, the Vehicle Suppliers Association. The US auto supply industry procures about 27 percent of its manufacturing sourcing from Mexico and 10 percent from Canada, according to MEMA.- Other car tariffs coming -The auto industry’s regional integration has made it among the sectors most exposed to Trump’s hefty 25 percent tariffs on Mexico and Canada.Ford CEO Jim Farley warned in February that enactment of the tariffs “would blow a hole in the US industry that we have never seen.”While greeting Trump’s tariff reprieve for USMCA-covered auto imports, automakers recognized the pause is only for one month.The Trump administration has depicted the tariffs as a tool to encourage more manufacturing capacity in the United States, but such decisions are not taken overnight.”The reality is that a month is nowhere near enough time for automakers to relocate factories or reconfigure supply chains,” said Jessica Caldwell, head of insights at Edmunds.”In the short term, manufacturers may need to ramp up production and stockpile inventory as a hedge against potential tariffs —- an expensive and risky move that could lead to bloated inventories if the tariffs don’t take effect.”Trump has broadly discussed a desire for 25 percent tariffs on imported cars but has offered few details.If the administration maintains protection for USMCA imports, automakers from Germany, Japan and South Korea that import to the United States would seem to be the most exposed to such a policy.About 50 percent of the cars sold in the United States are manufactured within the country. Among imports, about half come from Mexico and Canada, with Japan, South Korea and Germany, also major suppliers.

The United States offered a $10-million reward on Thursday for information leading to the arrest of a Canadian former Olympic snowboarder wanted on drug and murder charges.Ryan Wedding, 43, who is believed to be in Mexico or another Latin American country, was also placed on the FBI’s list of the “Ten Most Wanted Fugitives.””Wedding went from shredding powder on the slopes at the Olympics to distributing powder cocaine on the streets of US cities and in his native Canada,” said Akil Davis, assistant director of the FBI’s Los Angeles field office.”The alleged murders of his competitors make Wedding a very dangerous man,” Davis said.Wedding, whose aliases include “El Jefe,” “Giant” and “Public Enemy,” may possibly be living under the protection of the Sinaloa drug cartel, Davis said at a press conference.Acting US Attorney Joseph McNally said Wedding had allegedly shipped hundreds of millions of dollars of cocaine from Colombia through Mexico to the United States and Canada.Alan Hamilton, chief of detectives for the Los Angeles Police Department, said Wedding used the southern California city as the hub for the drug smuggling operation.”An estimated 60 metric tons of cocaine per year and five metric tons of fentanyl per month moved through Los Angeles on its way to US and Canadian cities,” Hamilton said.Wedding, who competed for Canada in snowboarding at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics, finishing 24th in the parallel giant slalom, is one of 16 defendants facing US charges for their roles in the drug operation.”The organization is violent, responsible for deaths as part of its criminal operations,” McNally said.These include the November 2023 murders of two members of a family in Ontario, Canada, in retaliation for a stolen drug shipment and a May 2024 murder in Niagara Falls, Ontario, over a drug debt.The State Department is offering a $10-million reward for information leading to the arrest or conviction of Wedding.Wedding’s second-in-command, fellow Canadian Andrew Clark, 34, known as “El Dictador,” was among 29 alleged or convicted narcotics traffickers extradited to the United States from Mexico last week.