AFP USA

US President Donald Trump’s plane was forced to return to an air base late Tuesday due to a “minor electrical issue” shortly after departing for Switzerland, the White House said.Air Force One returned to Joint Base Andrews out of an abundance of caution, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said. It landed shortly after 11:00 pm (0400 GMT).Journalists traveling with Trump reported that lights in the cabin went out briefly after takeoff.Trump and his entourage will switch to another plane and continue the trip to the World Economic Forum in Davos, where the US president was expected to face off with European leaders over his bid to seize Greenland.With its classic blue and white livery, Air Force One is arguably the world’s most iconic plane and an instantly recognizable symbol of the US presidency.Trump has long been unhappy with the current Air Force One jets — two highly customized Boeing 747-200B series aircraft that entered service in 1990 under president George H.W. Bush.Last year, Trump said his administration was “looking at alternatives” to Boeing following delays in the delivery of two new 747-8 aircraft.In May, Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth accepted a Boeing 747 that the Gulf emirate of Qatar offered to Trump for use as Air Force One.The jet — worth hundreds of millions of dollars — has raised huge constitutional and ethical questions, as well as security concerns about using an aircraft donated by a foreign power for use as the ultra-sensitive presidential plane.

The US Supreme Court hears arguments on Wednesday over President Donald Trump’s attempt to fire a Federal Reserve governor, a case which could have far-reaching consequences for the independence of the central bank.Trump sought in August to dismiss Fed governor Lisa Cook, a key official serving on the Fed’s interest rate-setting committee, accusing her of mortgage fraud. She denies the charges.The conservative-dominated Supreme Court barred Trump from immediately removing Cook, allowing her to remain in her post until it could hear the case contesting her dismissal.In a sign of the significance of the case and public support for Cook, Fed Chair Jerome Powell plans to personally attend Wednesday’s Supreme Court hearing, a source familiar with the matter told AFP.Powell’s expected appearance comes as the Trump administration intensifies its pressure campaign targeting the central bank, including the opening of a criminal investigation into the Fed chief.Earlier this month, Powell revealed that US prosecutors had launched an inquiry into him over an ongoing renovation of the Fed’s headquarters.Powell has dismissed the investigation as a politically motivated attempt to influence the central bank’s interest rate setting, and the heads of major central banks have thrown their support behind him.Trump’s bid to fire Cook, the first Black woman to serve on the central bank’s board of governors, and the probe into Powell are a dramatic escalation of the president’s efforts to control the Fed.Trump has repeatedly criticized the Fed for spurning his demands to slash interest rates more aggressively.By ousting Cook, the Republican president could potentially add another voice to the Fed’s board to try and shift interest rates in his favored direction.The case’s outcome could also determine if legal protections for the Fed — against political pressure — hold up, or if the president can take aim at members of the Fed’s leadership.Former Fed chiefs have recently warned that undermining central bank independence risks “highly negative consequences for inflation” and the functioning of economies.- ‘No cause exists’ -The Supreme Court has overwhelmingly sided with Trump since he returned to office, allowing mass firing of federal workers, the withholding of funds appropriated by Congress and racial profiling in his sweeping immigration crackdown.The court recently allowed Trump to fire members of other independent government boards, but created a carveout for the Fed in its ruling.Federal law says that Fed officials can only be removed for “cause,” which could be interpreted to mean malfeasance or dereliction of duty.”President Trump purported to fire me ‘for cause’ when no cause exists under the law, and he has no authority to do so,” Cook previously said in a statement.In his announcement that Cook would be removed, Trump pointed to a criminal referral from the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s director — a staunch ally of Trump — to the attorney general.The referral, Trump said, provided “sufficient reason” to believe that Cook might have made “false statements” on one or more mortgage agreements, allegedly claiming two primary residences, one in Michigan and another in Georgia.Cook has not been charged with a crime and the alleged false statements occurred before she was in her current position.Cook took office as a Fed governor in 2022 and was reappointed to the board in 2023.

The world is entering an era of “global water bankruptcy” with rivers, lakes and aquifers depleting faster than nature can replenish them, a United Nations research institute said on Tuesday.It argues that decades of overuse, pollution, environmental destruction and climate pressure had pushed many water systems so beyond the point of recovery that a new classification was required.”Water stress and water crisis are no longer sufficient descriptions of the world’s new water realities,” read a new report by the UN University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH).These terms were “framed as alerts about a future that could still be avoided” when the world had already moved into a “new phase”, it said.The report proposes the alternative term “water bankruptcy” — a state in which long-term water use exceeds resupply and damages nature so severely that previous levels cannot realistically be restored.This was reflected in the shrinking of the world’s large lakes, the report said, and the growing number of major rivers failing to reach the sea for parts of the year. The world has lost enormous proportions of wetlands, with roughly 410 million hectares — nearly the size of the European Union — disappearing over the past five decades.Groundwater depletion is another sign of this bankruptcy.Around 70 percent of major aquifers used for drinking water and irrigation show long-term declines with rising “day zero” crises — when demand exceeds supply — the “urban face” of this new reality.Climate change was compounding the problem, spurring the loss of more than 30 percent of the world’s glacier mass since 1970 and the seasonal meltwater relied upon by hundreds of millions of people.- ‘Be honest’ -The consequences were visible on every inhabited continent, but not every country individually was water bankrupt, UNU-INWEH director and report author Kaveh Madani told AFP.Madani said the phenomenon was a “warning” that a policy rethink was essential.Instead of approaching water scarcity as something temporary, governments must “be honest” and “file for bankruptcy today rather than delaying this decision”, he said.”Let’s adopt this framework. Let’s understand this. Let us recognise this bitter reality today before we cause more irreversible damages,” Madani added.The report draws on existing data and statistics and does not provide an exhaustive record of all water problems, but attempts instead to redefine the situation.It is based on a peer-reviewed report, soon to be published in the journal Water Resources Management, that will formally propose a definition of “water bankruptcy”.The report “captures a hard truth: the world’s water crisis has crossed a point of no return”, Tim Wainwright, chief executive of the WaterAid charity, wrote in a statement.Some scientists not involved in the report welcomed the spotlight on water but warned that the global picture varied considerably and a blanket declaration might overlook progress being made at a local level.

Russia’s interior minister began a visit to ally Cuba on Tuesday, a show of solidarity after US President Donald Trump warned that the island’s longtime communist government “is ready to fall.”Trump this month warned Havana to “make a deal,” the nature of which he did not divulge, or pay a price similar to Venezuela, whose leader Nicolas Maduro was ousted by US forces in a January 3 bombing raid that killed dozens of people.Venezuela was a key ally of Cuba and a critical supplier of oil and money, which Trump has vowed to cut off. “We in Russia regard this as an act of unprovoked armed aggression against Venezuela,” Russia’s Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev told Russian state TV Rossiya-1 of the US actions after landing in Cuba.”This act cannot be justified in any way and once again proves the need to increase vigilance and consolidate all efforts to counter external factors,” he added.The Russian embassy in Havana said the minister would “hold a series of bilateral meetings” while in Cuba.Russia and Cuba, both under Western sanctions, have intensified their relations since 2022, with an isolated Moscow seeking new friends and trading partners since its invasion of Ukraine.Cuba needs all the help it can get as it grapples with its worst economic crisis in decades and now added pressure from Washington.Trump has warned that acting President Delcy Rodriguez will pay “a very big price” if she does not toe Washington’s line — specifically on access to Venezuela’s oil and loosening ties with US foes Cuba, Russia, China and Iran.On Tuesday, Russia’s ambassador to Havana, Victor Koronelli, wrote on X that Kolokoltsev was in Cuba “to strengthen bilateral cooperation and the fight against crime.”The US chief of mission in Cuba, Mike Hammer, meanwhile, met the head of the US Southern Command in Miami on Tuesday “to discuss the situation in Cuba and the Caribbean,” the embassy said on X.The command is responsible for American forces operating in Central and South America that have carried out seizures of tankers transporting Venezuelan oil and strikes on alleged drug-trafficking boats.- Soldiers killed -Cuba has been a thorn in the side of the United States since the revolution that swept communist Fidel Castro to power in 1959.Havana and Moscow were close communist allies during the Cold War, but that cooperation was abruptly halted in 1991 with the dissolution of the Soviet bloc.The deployment of Soviet nuclear missile sites on the island triggered the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, when Washington and Moscow came close to war.During his first presidential term, Trump walked back a detente with Cuba launched by his predecessor Barack Obama.Thirty-two Cuban soldiers, some of them assigned to Maduro’s security detail, were killed in the US strikes that saw the Venezuelan strongman whisked away in cuffs to stand trial in New York.Kolokoltsev attended a memorial for the fallen men on Tuesday.

Netflix shares fell more than five percent on Tuesday as the streaming entertainment giant said it expected revenue to be essentially flat in the current quarter after years of growth.Netflix posted profit of $2.4 billion on revenue of $12 billion in the final three months of last year, and forecast taking in $12.1 billion in revenue this quarter.Shares were down more than 4 percent to $83.07 in after-market trades.Netflix is focused on improving its core business by increasing the variety and quality of shows and films and also strengthening its ad business, co-chief executive Ted Sarandos said during a streamed earnings interview.The streaming giant aims to double revenue from its ad business to $3 billion this year, according to Netflix chief financial officer Spencer Neumann.”The top line numbers generally look pretty healthy,” Gabelli Funds portfolio manager John Belton said of Netflix earnings report, noting that an updated subscriber number topping 325 million showed solid membership growth last year.Sarandos touted a strong lineup of shows, including upcoming new seasons of “Bridgerton” and “One Piece,” as well as a deal to stream the coming World Baseball Classic to viewers in Japan.- Warner Brothers saga -The earnings report came as Netflix presses a bid to buy television and film titan Warner Brothers Discovery (WBD).”Big picture, we just saw a tremendous and achievable opportunity in bringing these two businesses together,” Netflix co-chief executive Greg Peters said on the earnings call.Netflix on Tuesday revised the terms of the proffered deal to make it all-cash and to provide WBD shareholders with more certainty about the transaction, the company said in a release.The revision is expected to enable a shareholder vote on the deal, backed by WBD’s board, by April of this year. “The WBD board continues to support and unanimously recommend our transaction, and we are confident that it will deliver the best outcome for stockholders, consumers, creators and the broader entertainment community,” Sarandos said in a release.”The acquisition will also significantly expand US production capacity and investment in original programming, driving job creation and long-term industry growth.”Paramount Skydance said earlier this month that it has filed a lawsuit against WBD as it presses an unwelcome bid to buy the CNN-parent company.Paramount’s suit seeks to compel the WBD board to provide certain information to shareholders that it argues will cast its offer in a more favorable light.The suit, and a letter to WBD shareholders by Paramount Skydance chief executive David Ellison, are moves in a saga spanning several months.Television and film titan WBD put out word in late October that it was open to acquisition offers, with its board subsequently accepting a bid by streaming giant Netflix.WBD formally rejected an offer from Paramount Skydance for the entire company.The Netflix offer favored by the board does not include buying WBD television properties such as CNN and Discovery, which would belong to a newly created and publicly traded company called Global Networks if the deal is sealed.”We are committed to seeing our tender offer through,” Ellison said in the letter to WBD shareholders.”If WBD calls a special meeting ahead of its annual meeting to vote on the Netflix Agreement, Paramount will solicit proxies against such approval.”

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Tuesday that the US‑led global system of governance is enduring “a rupture,” defined by great power competition and a “fading” rules‑based order.Carney delivered his stirring speech to political and financial elites at the World Economic Forum, a day before US President Donald Trump was set to address the gathering in Davos, Switzerland.Since entering Canadian politics last year, Carney has repeatedly warned that the world was not going to return to a pre‑Trump normal.He re‑affirmed that message on Tuesday, in a speech that did not name Trump but offered an analysis of the president’s impact on global affairs.”We are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition,” Carney said.He noted that Canada had benefited from the old “rules‑based international order,” including from “American hegemony” that “helped provide public goods: open sea lanes, a stable financial system, collective security, and support for frameworks for resolving disputes.”A new reality has set in, Carney said.”Call it what it is: a system of intensifying great power rivalry where the most powerful pursue their interests using economic integration as coercion.”– ‘On the menu’ –In an apparent warning against efforts to appease major powers, Carney said countries like Canada can no longer hope that “compliance will buy safety.””It won’t,” he said.”The question for middle powers, like Canada, is not whether to adapt to this new reality. We must. The question is whether we adapt by simply building higher walls — or whether we can do something more ambitious.””Middle powers must act together, because if we’re not at the table, we’re on the menu,” Carney said.”Great powers can afford for now to go it alone. They have the market size, the military capacity, and the leverage to dictate terms. Middle powers do not.”Carney delivered his Davos speech after Canada’s Globe and Mail newspaper reported that the Canadian military has developed a model response to a US invasion.Citing two unnamed senior government officials, the paper said the Canadian response model centers on insurgency‑style tactics, like those used in Afghanistan by fighters who resisted Soviet and later US forces.After Trump’s 2024 election and in the early months of his new term, he repeatedly referred to the US’s northern neighbour as the 51st state and said a merger would benefit Canada.Trump’s annexation talk has eased in recent months, but overnight he posted an image on his social media platform of a map showing Canada and Venezuela covered in the US flag, implying a full American takeover of both countries.The Davos meeting has been overshadowed by Trump’s threats to enforce US control over Greenland, with the president vowing that his plan for the autonomous Danish territory was irreversible.”Canada stands firmly with Greenland and Denmark and fully supports their unique right to determine Greenland’s future,” Carney said.

US President Donald Trump marked the first anniversary of his return to the White House on Tuesday with a rambling, often downbeat news conference that leaned heavily on familiar grievances rather than celebration.The 79-year-old brandished a folder in front of reporters that he said listed 365 achievements since he was sworn in on January 20 last year.”God is very proud of the work I have done,” he declared.However, in a monologue that went on for more than hour before he took questions from reporters, Trump complained that he wasn’t getting credit. He insulted and swore at opponents, and continued to spread conspiracy theories — including his false claim that he won the 2020 election that he lost to Democrat Joe Biden.Amid dire ratings — averaging at about 55 percent disapproval, 42 percent approval — and deep discontent over high prices, Trump said he deserved more appreciation.”Maybe I have bad public relations people, but we’re not getting it,” he said, also blaming “fake news.”Trump was headed hours later to Davos to join world political and business leaders. He signaled that his speech there Wednesday will defend his aggressive moves on Greenland, which is part of US ally Denmark.”We need it for national security,” he said. “Things are going to work out pretty well.”But when asked how far he was willing to go to act on his threats to take over the vast island, he retorted: “You’ll find out.”He rejected an idea floated by French President Emmanuel Macron for an emergency meeting of the G7 powers. “No,” he said about attending. “I wouldn’t do that.”- Hardly a victory lap -Delivered in a subdued tone, the address opened with Trump praising his crackdown by military-style agents on illegal immigration. Trump showed off mugshots of criminals he said had been apprehended in Minnesota, where a protester was shot dead this month by one of the agents.He touted the US military raid to seize Venezuela’s socialist president Nicolas Maduro and was unapologetic about his insistence that Washington will somehow take control of Greenland.But as Trump lurched from subject to subject, the address felt less like a victory lap than a reprise of last year’s campaign to defeat then vice president Kamala Harris and win his second term.The president repeated a series of claims long disputed or debunked, including that his 2020 election loss was “rigged,” that prescription drug prices had fallen by 600 percent — a mathematical impossibility — and that the United States had attracted $18 trillion in inward investment.On foreign affairs, the Republican signaled an interest in working with Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado on the country’s future, following Washington’s January 3 military operation that removed Nicolás Maduro from power.”We’re talking to her,” Trump said. “Maybe we can get her involved in some way. I’d love to be able to do that.”He praised Machado for giving him her Nobel Peace Prize medal, complaining again that the Norwegian committee should have honored him instead.He also gave support to Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who launched an offensive against Washington’s erstwhile Kurdish allies.Trump said the Syrian leader was “working very, very hard” and a “choir boy” could not handle the situation in that country.Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer reacted scathingly to Trump’s anniversary performance. “He only grows more crazy and more unpopular.”

US President Donald Trump marked the first anniversary of his return to the White House on Tuesday with a rambling, often downbeat news conference that leaned heavily on familiar grievances rather than celebration.Opening with a lengthy critique of illegal immigration, Trump launched into a monologue covering a wide range of subjects — from US military action in Venezuela and welfare fraud by Somali immigrants in Minnesota to repeated attacks on his predecessor, Joe Biden.As Trump lurched from subject to subject, the address felt less like a victory lap than a reprise of the campaign that preceded his return to office. This included his false claim — unprecedented for US presidents — to have won the election which he lost to Biden in 2020.”We’ve done more than any other administration has done, by far, in terms of military, in terms of ending wars, in terms of completing wars,” said Trump, who returned to office on January 20 last year after defeating Democratic then-vice president Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election.”Nobody’s really seen very much like it.”White House aides circulated a 31-page document listing 365 claimed “wins” across immigration, the economy and foreign policy, as reporters packed the briefing room.The president repeated a series of claims long disputed or debunked, including that his 2020 election loss was “rigged,” that prescription drug prices had fallen by 600 percent — a mathematical impossibility — and that the United States had attracted $18 trillion in inward investment.Trump said high stock markets make Americans feel like they are a “financial genius,” but faulted his staff for failing to adequately communicate what he portrayed as major successes in bringing down inflation.On foreign affairs, the Republican signaled an interest in working with Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado on the country’s future, following Washington’s January 3 military operation that removed Nicolás Maduro from power.”We’re talking to her,” Trump said. “Maybe we can get her involved in some way. I’d love to be able to do that.”He praised Machado for giving him her Nobel Peace Prize medal, complaining again that the Norwegian committee should have honored him instead.

World stock markets lost ground on Tuesday and precious metals hit fresh peaks as rising US-EU tension stoked volatility following President Donald Trump’s threat to impose tariffs in his drive to acquire Greenland.Major US indices spent the entire day in the red, with the broad-based S&P 500 finishing down more than two percent. The pullback on Wall Street and the reverberations across other financial markets reminded some observers of last April when Trump’s dramatic “Liberation Day” trade announcement sparked market turmoil that relented once Trump backed off his most draconian threats.The US president is expected to make more waves at Wednesday’s World Economic Forum.Trump’s posture towards Europe is “making ties with our biggest ally look fragile,” said Art Hogan of B. Riley Wealth Management. “Unless he retracts some of the rhetoric he’s had, I think it only gets worse.”Europe’s main markets also suffered, with London closing off 0.7 percent and Frankfurt ending down 1.0 percent.Earlier, Tokyo suffered a similar fate even though Asia overall closed mixed.Gold, seen as a safe-haven investment, notched yet another record high, surpassing $4,750 an ounce. Silver also peaked, surging above $95.50 an ounce.Key bond yields jumped on the heightened trade fears with the US 10-year Treasury note jumping to above 4.29 percent while Japanese long-dated bond yields reached record highs.Large tech names including Apple, Amazon and Nvidia fell more than three percent, while industrial giant 3M slumped 7.0 percent on concerns about its outlook. “Overall, this is a manmade crisis, and the continued sell off on Tuesday suggests that US threats to Greenland and their effects on financial markets could have further to go if the situation does not deescalate soon,” said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB.After a bright start to the year fueled by fresh hopes for the artificial intelligence sector, investors have taken fright since Trump ramped up his Greenland demands, on grounds of US national security.After European capitals pushed back, Trump on Saturday said he would impose 10 percent levies on eight countries — including Denmark, France, Germany and Britain — from February 1, lifting them to 25 percent on June 1.- ‘Mistake’ -The move has raised questions about the outlook for last year’s US-EU trade deal, the ratification of which was frozen on Tuesday by the European Union parliament.Speaking at the Davos gathering in Switzerland, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen warned the United States that hitting allied European nations with punitive tariffs over Greenland would be a “mistake.””The European Union and the United States have agreed to a trade deal last July. And in politics as in business — a deal is a deal. And when friends shake hands, it must mean something,” she said.US Treasury chief Scott Bessent on Monday said that any retaliatory EU tariffs would be “unwise.”Trump on Tuesday ramped up his rhetoric against France, warning he would impose 200-percent tariffs on French wine and champagne because it was declining his invitation to join a “Board of Peace”. That body was originally conceived to oversee the rebuilding of Gaza but its charter gives it a much broader, global remit, with Trump in charge.- Key figures at around 2115 GMT -New York – Dow: DOWN 1.8 percent at 48,488.59 (close)New York – S&P 500: DOWN 2.1 percent at 6,796.86 (close)New York – Nasdaq Composite: DOWN 2.4 percent at 22,954.32 (close)London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.7 percent at 10,126.78 points (close)Frankfurt – DAX: DOWN 1.0 percent at 24,703.12 (close)Paris – CAC 40: DOWN 0.6 percent at 8,062.58 (close)Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.1 percent at 52,991.10 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.3 percent at 26,487.51 (close)Shanghai – Composite: FLAT at 4,113.65 (close)Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1719 from $1.1646 on MondayPound/dollar: UP at $1.3433 from $1.3425Dollar/yen: UP at 158.21 yen from 158.11 yenEuro/pound: UP at 87.23 pence from 86.74 penceBrent North Sea Crude: UP 1.5 percent at $64.92 per barrelWest Texas Intermediate: UP 1.5 percent at $60.34 per barrelburs-jmb/dw