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President Donald Trump has had Europe in his crosshairs since beginning a second White House term earlier this year.But in his new National Security Strategy — published in the dead of night early Friday — the US president launched an all-out attack, lambasting Europe as an over-regulated, censorious continent lacking in “self-confidence” and facing “civilizational erasure” due to immigration.The highly anticipated document codifies in writing the offensive launched by Washington months ago against Europe, which it accuses of taking advantage of American generosity and of failing to take responsibility for its own destiny.The new strategy, which marks a radical departure from previous US policy, targets, among other things, European institutions that “undermine political liberty and sovereignty,” immigration policies, “censorship of free speech and suppression of political opposition,” the collapse of birth rates, and the loss of national identities.”Should present trends continue, the continent will be unrecognizable in 20 years or less,” the document says.Additionally, “a large European majority wants peace, yet that desire is not translated into policy, in large measure because of those governments’ subversion of democratic processes,” it says.The reaction in Europe was swift, with German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul saying the country does not need “outside advice.”The document is “unacceptable and dangerous,” France’s Valerie Hayer, the head of the Renew Europe centrist grouping in the European Parliament, said on X.For Evan Feigenbaum, a former advisor to two US secretaries of state and an expert on Asia, “the Europe section is by far the most striking – and far more so than the China/Asia sections.”It “feels inherently more confrontational and pits the U.S. as decisively opposed to the whole European project with this line: ‘cultivating resistance to Europe’s current trajectory within European nations,'” he said in a post on X.- Political attacks -Just weeks after taking office, US Vice President JD Vance dismayed Germans in particular and Europeans more generally with a speech in Munich claiming freedom of expression was receding on the continent, aligning himself with far-right parties such as Germany’s AfD.The new US National Security Strategy, which refers to the restoration of the primacy of nation-states, fits into this approach.”What the Trump administration is telegraphing through this national security strategy is that it wants to see an entirely different Europe,” said Kristine Berzina, a senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund think-tank.She said the questioning of European governments’ legitimacy amounts to “significant political attacks” against Washington’s allies, even as the Trump administration says it wants to strengthen European security amid the war in Ukraine.The section of the strategy on freedom of expression in Europe is emblematic, with the Trump administration denouncing “censorship of free speech and suppression of political opposition” on the continent, alluding to efforts in some countries to contain the rise of the far right.For months, US officials have been highlighting the alleged deterioration of human rights in Europe, including in Germany, the UK and France.The new National Security Strategy does not name specific movements or political parties, but clearly demonstrates the Trump administration’s desire to see its policies implemented in Europe, especially when it comes to immigration.In this regard, Trump has made no secret of his affinity for his “friend,” Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who is hostile to immigration and LGBTQ rights.

A Virginia man accused of planting pipe bombs near the Democratic and Republican Party headquarters on the eve of the January 6, 2021 US Capitol riot made his first court appearance on Friday.Brian Cole Jr of Woodbridge, Virginia, did not enter a plea at the hearing in district court in Washington.Magistrate Judge Moxila Upadhyaya ordered Cole, who was arrested at his home on Thursday, to remain in custody until a detention hearing on December 12.Cole, 30, has been charged with interstate transportation of an explosive device and attempted destruction using explosive materials.His arrest was the first breakthrough in a nearly five-year-old case that spawned numerous conspiracy theories among the far right.US Attorney General Pam Bondi, at a Thursday press conference, declined to speculate on whether the pipe-bombing was politically motivated, saying the investigation was ongoing.CNN and NBC News reported on Friday that Cole had told the FBI in interviews since his arrest that he believed the 2020 presidential election was “stolen” from President Donald Trump.Democrat Joe Biden won the 2020 vote but Trump continues to falsely claim that he was the rightful winner.The pipe bombs — placed outside the Democratic National Committee and Republican National Committee offices in Washington on the evening of January 5 — failed to detonate.The devices were discovered by authorities the next day as Trump supporters stormed the Capitol in a bid to prevent congressional certification of Biden’s election victory.The FBI released numerous photos and video clips of a masked and hooded suspect over the years and eventually increased the reward for information leading to an arrest to half a million dollars.The failure of law enforcement to swiftly solve the case birthed a number of conspiracy theories among the far right, including baseless accusations that the bomber may have been a US Capitol Police officer.After taking office for a second time in January, Trump pardoned more than 1,500 people charged or convicted of taking part in the assault on the Capitol.

A flagship study that declared the weedkiller Roundup posed no serious health risks has been retracted with little fanfare, ending a 25-year saga that exposed how corporate interests can distort scientific research and influence government decision-making.Published in Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology in 2000, the paper ranks in the top 0.1 percent of citations among studies on glyphosate — the key ingredient in Roundup, owned by agri-giant Monsanto and at the center of cancer lawsuits worth billions of dollars.In his retraction note last week, the journal’s editor-in-chief, Martin van den Berg, cited a litany of serious flaws from failing to include carcinogenicity studies available at the time to undisclosed contributions by Monsanto employees and even questions around financial compensation.Elsevier, the journal’s Dutch publisher, told AFP in a statement that it upholds the “highest standards of rigor and ethics” and that “as soon as the current editor became aware of concerns regarding this paper a matter of months ago, due process began.”But it did not address the fact that concerns date back to 2002, when critics wrote to Elsevier about “conflicts of interest, lack of transparency, and the absence of editorial independence” at the journal, including specific worries about Monsanto.The matter exploded into public view in 2017, when internal corporate documents released during litigation showed one of Monsanto’s own scientists admitting to “ghostwriting.”Harvard University science historian Naomi Oreskes, who co-authored a paper this September detailing the extent of the “fraud” in the 2000 study, told AFP that while she was “very gratified” at the “long overdue” action, but warned that “the scientific community needs better mechanisms to identify and retract fraudulent papers.””This is completely in alignment with what we were calling them out for at the time,” Lynn Goldman, a pediatrician and epidemiologist at GWU who co-signed the 2002 letter, added to AFP.- Polo shirts – Two of the paper’s three original authors have since died, while first author Gary Williams, a professor at New York Medical College, did not respond to AFP’s request for comment.Monsanto maintains it acted appropriately, and that its product is safe. “Monsanto’s involvement with the Williams et al paper did not rise to the level of authorship and was appropriately disclosed in the acknowledgments.”The company declined to comment on internal emails that suggested otherwise, including one in which a Monsanto scientist asked a colleague whether “the team of people” who worked on the Williams paper and another study “could receive Roundup polo shorts as a token of appreciation for a job well done.”Glyphosate was brought to market as a herbicide in the 1970s and initially welcomed as less toxic than DDT.But its soaring use — especially after Monsanto introduced glyphosate-tolerant seeds that allowed it to be sprayed widely over crops — drew increasing scrutiny in the 1990s, making the 2000 paper hugely influential. According to Oreskes’s research, it was cited as supporting evidence for glyphosate’s safety by groups ranging from the Canadian Forest Service to the International Court of Justice, the US Congress and the European Parliamentary Research Service.- Legal interest – In 2015, the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer classified glyphosate as “probably carcinogenic to humans.”Several countries have since moved to restrict or ban its use, including France, which has prohibited household applications. Bayer, which acquired Monsanto, said it would phase out Roundup for US residential use in 2023 in response to growing lawsuits.Nathan Donley, a scientist with the Center for Biological Diversity, told AFP he does not expect the retraction to sway the US Environmental Protection Agency, now under the pro-agricultural-industry Donald Trump administration, which has thrown its weight behind Bayer in an ongoing Supreme Court case.But “it could play a role in litigation that is moving forward in the US against the EPA’s proposed decision to renew glyphosate,” Donley told AFP, adding that European regulators might also take note.For Donley and others, the deeper concern is that the case may be far from unique. “I am sure there (are a) lot (of) such ghost-written and undeclared conflict papers in the literature, but they are very difficult to unearth unless one goes really deep in litigation cases,” John Ioannidis, a Stanford University professor who founded the field of meta-research told AFP.

President Donald Trump laid out a radical realignment of US foreign policy Friday, shifting the superpower’s focus from global to regional, criticizing Europe as facing “civilizational erasure” and putting a priority on eliminating mass migration.The national security strategy, meant to flesh out Trump’s norms-shattering worldview, elevates Latin America to the top of the US agenda in a sharp reorientation from longstanding US calls to focus on Asia to face a rising China.”In everything we do, we are putting America First,” Trump said in a preamble to the long-awaited paper.Breaking with decades of attempts to be the sole superpower, the strategy said that the “United States rejects the ill-fated concept of global domination for itself.”It said that the United States would also prevent other powers, namely China, from dominating but added: “This does not mean wasting blood and treasure to curtail the influence of all the world’s great and middle powers.”The strategy called for a “readjustment of our global military presence to address urgent threats in our Hemisphere,” starting with migration.”The era of mass migration must end,” the strategy paper said.The strategy made clear that the United States under Trump would aggressively pursue similar objectives in Europe, in line with far-right parties’ agendas.In extraordinary language for addressing close allies, the strategy said the administration would be “cultivating resistance to Europe’s current trajectory within European nations.”Germany quickly hit back, saying that it does not need “outside advice.”Democratic Congressman Gregory Meeks said the document “discards decades of values-based US leadership in favor of a craven, unprincipled worldview.”The strategy pointed to Europe’s slide in share of the global economy — which is the result largely of the rise of China and other emerging powers — and said the “decline is eclipsed by the real and more stark prospect of civilizational erasure.””Should present trends continue, the continent will be unrecognizable in 20 years or less.”As Trump seeks an end to the Ukraine war that would likely favor Russia gaining territory, the strategy accused Europeans of weakness and said the United States should focus on “ending the perception, and preventing the reality, of NATO as a perpetually expanding alliance.”- Updated ‘Monroe Doctrine’ -Trump since returning to office in January has ordered sweeping curbs on migration, after a political career built on fanning fears that America’s white majority is losing its status.The strategy speaks in bold terms of pressing US dominance in Latin America, where the Trump administration has been striking alleged drug traffickers at sea, intervening to bring down leftist leaders including in Venezuela, and seeking to take charge of key resources such as the Panama Canal.The strategy cast Trump as modernizing the two-century-old Monroe Doctrine, in which the then young United States declared Latin America off-limits to rival powers.The strategy paid comparatively little attention to the Middle East, which has long consumed Washington.Pointing to US efforts to increase energy supply at home and not in the oil-rich Gulf, the strategy said: “America’s historic reason for focusing on the Middle East will recede.”The paper said it was a US priority for Israel to be secure, but stopped short of the fulsome language on Israel used even in the first Trump administration.- China still competitor -On China, the strategy repeated calls for a “free and open” Asia-Pacific region but focused more on the nation as an economic competitor.After speculation on whether Trump would budge on Taiwan, the self-ruling democracy claimed by Beijing, the strategy made clear that the United States supports the decades-old status quo.But it called on allies Japan and South Korea to contribute more to ensure Taiwan’s defense.The strategy puts little focus on Africa, saying the United States should transition away from “liberal ideology” and aid, and instead secure critical minerals.US presidents usually release a National Security Strategy in each White House term. The last, released by Joe Biden in 2022, prioritized winning a competitive edge over China while constraining Russia.

The US Supreme Court agreed on Friday to weigh in on the constitutionality of President Donald Trump’s bid to end birthright citizenship.The conservative-dominated court did not set a date for oral arguments in the blockbuster case but it is likely to be early next year, with a ruling in June.Several lower courts have blocked as unconstitutional Trump’s attempt to put restrictions on the law that states that anyone born on US soil is automatically an American citizen.Trump signed an executive order on his first day in office in January decreeing that children born to parents in the United States illegally or on temporary visas would not automatically become US citizens.Lower courts have ruled the order to be a violation of the 14th Amendment, which states: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”Trump’s executive order was premised on the idea that anyone in the United States illegally, or on a visa, was not “subject to the jurisdiction” of the country, and therefore excluded from this category.The Supreme Court rejected such a narrow definition in a landmark 1898 case.The Trump administration has also argued that the 14th Amendment, passed in the wake of the Civil War, addresses the rights of former slaves and not the children of undocumented migrants or temporary US visitors.In a brief with the court, Trump’s solicitor general, John Sauer, argued that “the erroneous extension of birthright citizenship to the children of illegal aliens has caused substantial harm to the United States.””Most obviously, it has impaired the United States’ territorial integrity by creating a strong incentive for illegal immigration,” Sauer said.- ‘Blatantly unconstitutional’ -Trump’s executive order had been due to come into effect on February 19, but it was halted after federal judges ruled against the administration in multiple lawsuits.District Judge John Coughenour, who heard the case in Washington state, described the president’s executive order as “blatantly unconstitutional.””I’ve been on the bench for over four decades, I can’t remember another case where the question presented is as clear as this one is,” said Coughenour, who was appointed by a Republican president, Ronald Reagan.Conservatives hold a 6-3 majority on the Supreme Court and three of the justices were appointed by Trump.Cecillia Wang, national legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union, which has spearheaded the legal challenges to the attempt to end birthright citizenship, said she is hopeful the top court will “strike down this harmful order once and for all.””Federal courts around the country have consistently rejected President Trump’s attempts to strip away this core constitutional protection,” Wang said.”Depriving any US-born child of their citizenship would be devastating and profoundly cruel,” she said. “The president’s action goes against a core American right that has been a part of our Constitution for over 150 years.”

“Sinners” topped the slate of nominees for the Critics Choice Awards in Los Angeles on Friday, as the movie industry’s awards season starts to take shape.The acclaimed period horror drama, written and directed by Ryan Coogler, received a whopping 17 nods, including one for best picture, giving it early momentum as Hollywood gears up for the Oscars in March.Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another” also solidified its place as a firm awards favorite with 14 nominations, including five for actors, after well-received performances from Leonardo DiCaprio, Benicio del Toro and Sean Penn.Both top films are from Warner Bros., which streamer Netflix said Friday it would buy for $83 billion in the industry deal of the decade.Coming in a respectable third place in the tallies were “Frankenstein” and “Hamnet,” with 11 nods each.Musical juggernaut “Wicked: For Good” earned seven nominations, including best supporting actress for Ariana Grande, but Cynthia Erivo missed out in the best actress category, where Emma Stone secured a nod for her kidnap victim in Yorgos Lanthimos’s quirky “Bugonia.”Dissident Iranian director Jafar Panahi, who said this week that he would return to his home country despite being sentenced to a year in jail, will compete for best foreign language film with his “It Was Just An Accident.” However, the Cannes Palme D’Or winner was left out of the best picture race.Norwegian dramedy “Sentimental Value,” meanwhile, made the best picture list.Last season’s Critics Choice best picture winner “Anora” rode the award to victory at the Oscars, despite snubs at the Golden Globes and the SAG Awards.The annual Critics Choice Awards have a relatively small voting body, but offer an insight into how the industry is thinking.Winners will be announced on January 4.

A federal judge on Friday ordered the release of the grand jury transcripts from the investigation in Florida of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.The Justice Department requested the unsealing of the transcripts after President Donald Trump signed a bill last month requiring the public release of all government records regarding Epstein.Grand jury proceedings are generally kept secret and a previous Justice Department request to unseal the transcripts from Epstein’s Florida case had been rebuffed.But US District Judge Rodney Smith said Friday in a brief order that the Epstein Files Transparency Act mandates their release.Epstein pleaded guilty in Florida in 2008 to a state charge of soliciting a minor for prostitution.The wealthy financier was arrested again in New York in 2019 on charges of sex trafficking of minors. He died while in pre-trial detention and his death was ruled to be a suicide.The Justice Department is also seeking the release of the grand jury transcripts from the New York case and that of Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for recruiting underage girls for Epstein.Trump, a once close friend of Epstein, fought for months to prevent the release of the Epstein files held by the Justice Department.However, on November 19 he caved to pressure from Congress, including from his Republican Party, and signed a law compelling release of the materials.The Epstein Files Transparency Act calls for the release within 30 days of “all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials” in the possession of the Justice Department, the FBI and US attorneys’ offices related to Epstein and Maxwell.Trump and his allies spent years pushing theories about powerful Democrats being protected over involvement with Epstein, framing the case as a potent symbol of how rich men can hide behind lawyers, money and connections.The FBI and Justice Department triggered a political furor in July with the release of a memo stating that after an “exhaustive review” of the Epstein files no evidence had emerged that would warrant further investigation.

A day after a peace accord aimed at ending the conflict in DR Congo was signed, fresh fighting in the east on Friday forced hundreds of civilians to flee across the border into Rwanda for safety, AFP journalists witnessed.Saturday’s deal was meant to stabilise the east of the country, which is rich in resources but has been plagued by conflict for 30 years.In January, anti-government armed group M23, backed by Kigali and its army went on the offensive, capturing the major regional cities of Goma in North Kivu province and Bukavu, South Kivu.On Thursday in Washington, Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi and Rwandan President Paul Kagame signed an agreement that their host, US President Donald Trump, dubbed a “miracle.” But the deal has had little visible effect on the ground so far.Friday saw heavy fighting in South Kivu between M23 and the Congolese army, backed by thousands of Burundian soldiers deployed alongside it.Both sides are fighting for control of the border town of Kamanyola, where the DRC, Rwanda and Burundi meet. The town is currently controlled by M23.Loud detonations, which shook the inside of buildings, echoed throughout the morning near Kamanyola, reported an AFP journalist in Bugarama, a border post on the Rwandan side some two kilometres (1.3 miles) away.Around dawn, lines of civilians fleeing the fighting crossed the border watched by Rwandan police.”The bombs were exploding above the houses,” said one witness, Immaculee Antoinette, from Ruhumba, near Kamanyola.”We were asked to remain locked inside our houses, but that seemed impossible,” she said.”Schools, hospitals, and civilian homes” were all shelled said Hassan Shabani, an administrative official in Kamanyola, which is under M23 control.On Friday, the M23 accused the Burundian army of firing “without interruption” into the DRC.On the Rwandan side, some residents were “scouring the hills from where the shots are coming, in small groups”, said Farizi Bizimana, a resident.”The children and women are very scared and take refuge in houses when the gunfire becomes intense,” she added.

The deputy prosecutor of the International Criminal Court on Friday lashed out at US sanctions, arguing they effectively put top court officials on a par with “terrorists and drug traffickers”.In a wide-ranging interview with AFP, Mame Mandiaye Niang also said it would be “conceivable” to hold an in-absentia hearing against high-level ICC targets such as Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.Sixty-five-year-old Niang, along with top ICC judges, is subject to sanctions from the administration of US President Donald Trump, in retaliation at the court’s arrest warrants for Netanyahu over Israel’s campaign in Gaza.”You can disagree with what we’re doing. That happens all the time,” Niang told AFP in a one-to-one interview on the sixth floor of the ICC’s building in The Hague.”But even if we upset you, you should never put us on the same list as terrorists or drug traffickers. That is the message” to Trump.Niang said the sanctions affected several areas of his personal, family, and financial life.He found himself unable to charge up his hybrid car because it required a credit card that had been blocked due to the sanctions.”I have a subscription that has absolutely nothing to do with the United States, but I need a credit card. And my credit card was American Express,” he said.”So I found that all of a sudden, I couldn’t even charge up my car.”Niang said he was unable to transfer money to family members for fear their accounts would also be blocked.Sanctions have a place in international relations, the prosecutor told AFP, but attacking the ICC — the world’s only permanent court to try war crimes suspects — risks “de-legitimising” the instrument.- Putin, Netanyahu hearings ‘conceivable’ -Niang said it was frustrating that arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Putin has not resulted in a court appearance.The ICC has no police force and relies on countries to arrest suspects and transfer them to the court — extremely unlikely in the case of Putin or Netanyahu.However, he pointed to an unprecedented hearing against fugitive Ugandan rebel leader Joseph Kony earlier this year, held in absentia.Could such a “confirmation of charges” hearing take place for the leaders of Russia or Israel? “It’s conceivable,” said. “We tested it in the Kony case. It’s a cumbersome process. But we tried it and we realised it was possible and useful.”The advantages of such a hearing are to preserve evidence and also to give a voice to victims, said the prosecutor.But any request for such a hearing would require the consent of judges and would not be a trial, just a confirmation of the charges against the suspect.- ‘Poisoned the atmosphere’ -Niang is currently acting chief prosecutor of the ICC, in the absence of Karim Khan, on leave pending an investigation into sexual abuse allegations that he denies.”Even if they are only accusations, it disturbs us and it has poisoned the atmosphere of the court,” said Niang.”It is all the more unfortunate because it has been exploited to almost sabotage what we are doing, notably in the Palestine case,” added Niang.Israel has alleged Khan issued “baseless and outrageous” warrants against Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant to distract from the sexual abuse accusations.Niang welcomed the investigation into the Khan allegations but said the case was undoubtedly a hindrance.The accusations “are out there and that is enough to cast a veil of doubt over what we’re doing,” he said.- ‘Work to do’ -Despite the challenges facing the court, Niang was combative.”At this time when our existence is under threat, the world needs us more than ever,” he argued.He pointed to successes this year, such as the arrest of former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte and the conviction of a feared Sudanese militia chief.For many years, the ICC focused on African suspects but now had investigations running in Latin America, Asia, and even Europe with Ukraine, he noted.Mass crimes are being committed daily and the court is there to try those crimes, said the Senegalese jurist.”The court is here and we would love for it not to be needed. Unfortunately, the world is as it is and we still have work to do.”

US consumer pricing and sentiment reports released Friday pointed to lingering questions about affordability as the calendar moves towards the peak of the festive season.The personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index, the Federal Reserve’s preferred data point for measuring inflation, rose to 2.8 percent on an annual basis in September from 2.7 percent in August.When food and energy prices were excluded, prices also rose by 2.8 percent in September. However, that was below the 2.9 percent reading in August for the same benchmark.The mixed report, delayed due to the US federal government shutdown, is the last major inflation reading before the Fed’s rate decision next week.The figures were largely in line with expectations, but included notable increases in some categories that have strained consumers. Durable goods like automobiles, appliances and furniture rose 1.4 percent from a year ago.A separate report showed consumer sentiment rose in December to 53.3 from 51.0 in November, according to the University of Michigan.However, consumers today have a diminished outlook for their expected personal income compared with early in 2025 and labor market expectations “remained relatively dismal,” said survey director Joanne Hsu.”Consumers see modest improvements from November on a few dimensions, but the overall tenor of views is broadly somber, as consumers continue to cite the burden of high prices,” she said.The data did not significantly move the US stock market on Friday. Stocks are up modestly for the week, due partly to expectations the Fed will cut interest rates next week.The Fed has cut interest rates at its last two meetings following indications of a slowdown in the US employment market. But the Fed has also kept an eye on inflation due to the risk that President Donald Trump’s tariffs could reignite a major increase in prices.EY-Parthenon Chief Economist Gregory Daco predicted the US central bank would cut rates as expected next week, but could face multiple dissents.Fed Chair Jerome Powell will “persuade several hesitant policymakers to support a third consecutive ‘risk management’ rate cut, while signaling firmly that additional easing is unlikely before next spring absent a material weakening in economic conditions,” Daco said in a note.Friday’s pricing data revealed a “gradual and uneven” tariff pass-through on goods, “exacerbating the affordability crisis,” Daco said. “While many businesses have absorbed cost pressures using pre-tariff inventories and narrower margins, these buffers are slowly eroding,” said Daco, who expects rising inflation in late 2025 and early 2026, “further complicating the consumer outlook amid softening labor-market dynamics.”