‘Lottery ticket’: Crypto investors brace for bumpy ride under Trump


ByAFP
February 6, 2025


Crypto investors are in for a bumpy ride under Donald Trump, despite the US president's vow to make the US the 'crypto capital of the planet' - Copyright AFP HENRY NICHOLLS

Lucie LEQUIER

Nick was enjoying his Saturday off work in Pennsylvania when he received an unexpected and alarming message: cryptocurrencies, buoyed since Donald Trump’s November 5 election win, were in freefall.

The crash immediately wiped out tens of thousands of dollars from his savings.

“I clicked on it and watched it for like a minute just drop straight down,” the 28-year-old American construction worker, who asked for anonymity because of sensitivities around investing in crypto assets, told AFP.

“I was like, ‘Well, I guess I should stop looking at it now’,” he added with a laugh.

Crypto investors like Nick are being buffeted by Trump’s vow to make the United States the “crypto capital of the planet” while at the same time upending trade and other policy areas with a raft of executive orders and announcements.

Digital currencies are now seeing sudden fluctuations that are impacting legions of both small and large investors.

Last weekend, cryptos suffered a meltdown after Trump announced impending trade tariffs on US imports from Canada, China and Mexico, prompting investors to turn to safer assets.

The value of Bitcoin, by far the most important crypto which has broken record after record and gained around 50 percent since Trump’s election, dropped six percent at the height of the crash.

Ether, another blockchain currency considered credible, fell around a quarter.

The falls have been more dramatic for so-called “meme coins” — cheap and highly volatile cryptos with little or no economic use, themed around a celebrity or viral internet phenomenon.

In the space of a few hours, Nick lost around $60,000 from the $150,000 he had accumulated over five years in his virtual wallets.

Most of his holdings were in Dogecoin — a meme coin backed by billionaire Trump ally Elon Musk.

But Nick remains undeterred and convinced that these highly volatile assets will rebound, just as they did in 2021 when their popularity surged.

“I try to talk about it with my co-workers, but they don’t believe in it like I do,” he confided.

– ‘Rollercoaster ride’ –

Larisa Yarovaya of the Southampton Business School in southern England said Bitcoin’s record rises were “definitely driven by investment optimism surrounding political endorsements”.

She warned that could be “characterised as a bubble”, at risk of bursting and spreading beyond crypto, given they are “increasingly interconnected with traditional assets in today’s financial landscape”.

Yarovaya also called the growing influence of “political personalities” on the sector “significant and highly concerning”.

“Powerful individuals can easily exploit the trust of their followers for personal gain, leading to serious conflicts of interest,” she warned.

The day before his inauguration, Trump launched his own meme coin — the “Trump” — posing serious ethical questions given his administration will undoubtedly exert a big influence on crypto during his four-year term.

“When Musk speaks or tweets, immediately the price of crypto can jump, because people are afraid of missing the opportunity,” explained Stan, a 28-year-old Paris-based public affairs consultant and crypto investor. He also asked for anonymity.

For Stan, investing in meme coins is like “buying a lottery ticket”.

Savva, a 26-year-old research assistant in London, has personal experience of crypto’s rollercoaster ride, recalling how his first foray into meme coin investing made him $700 within minutes.

“That’s kind of what hooked me,” he told AFP, also declining to give his last name.

The tech enthusiast, who developed his own short-lived meme coin-trading robot, found his experience with crypto highly stressful.

“A lot of the times I couldn’t hold conversations because I was worried that my assets were doing poorly or that I was going to lose all my money,” he noted.

Although Savva still believes in the philosophy of cryptos, which allow investing outside of traditional financial institutions’ controls, he has retreated after losing the $5,000 he invested.

“It took a huge toll on me physically and mentally and I was just like ‘I need to stop’,” he said, adding: “It’s always too late when you realise.”

UK says satellite system key to Chagos US base deal


By AFP
February 6, 2025


Britain's Labour government is coming under political pressure for a deal handing the Indian Ocean Chagos Islands to Mauritius - Copyright DoD/AFP/File -

Britain’s government insisted Wednesday that it must hand back the Chagos Islands to Mauritius to secure continued access to satellite communications at a key US-UK military base.

The Labour administration is facing domestic political criticism for announcing in October that it would return the isles to Britain’s former colony and pay to lease the facility on Diego Garcia, the largest island.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer says international legal rulings have put Britain’s ownership of the Chagos in doubt and only a deal with Mauritius can guarantee that the base remains functional.

His official spokesman said losing access to the facility “would be bad for our national security, and a gift for our adversaries”.

“For example, the electromagnetic spectrum at the Diego Garcia base would not be able to continue to operate without a deal. This system enables secure communications in the region,” he told reporters.

“It’s something that the UK and the US have currently got unique access to, and it is the case that without legal certainty over the base (it) is something we would lose access to.”

The system is guaranteed and governed by the International Telecommunication Union, a United Nations body based in Geneva, and “various companies will be involved in supplying the technology and systems”, the spokesman added.

Britain kept control of the Chagos Islands after Mauritius gained independence in the 1960s.

The base is leased to the United States and has become one of its key military facilities in the Asia-Pacific.

Washington has used it as a hub for long-range bombers and ships, notably during the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Britain evicted thousands of Chagos islanders who have since mounted a series of legal claims for compensation in British courts.

In 2019, the International Court of Justice recommended that Britain hand the archipelago to Mauritius after decades of legal battles.

The deal, which Mauritius has since renegotiated under a new prime minister, would give Britain a 99-year lease of the base, with the option to extend.

The UK government has not denied that the lease would cost the UK £90 million ($111 million) a year.

Both Mauritius and the UK have said US President Donald Trump’s administration will have a say on the final terms of the agreement.

Mauritian Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam has said his country would pursue its fight for full sovereignty over the islands if Washington refuses to support the deal.

Shein, Temu face cost of adapting to new US customs rules


By AFP
February 6, 2025


Boasting an enormous selection of ultra-cheap items at a time when inflation has shrunk household spending power almost everywhere, Shein and Temu have become a global phenomenon

 - Copyright AFP/File MANAN VATSYAYANA

Rebecca BAILEY

US tariffs on Chinese imports and the closing of a customs loophole will wreak disruption on the business models of e-commerce giants Shein and Temu, with consumers potentially bearing the brunt of the cost, analysts say.

Boasting an enormous selection of ultra-cheap items at a time when inflation has shrunk household spending power almost everywhere, Shein and Temu have become a global phenomenon.

The companies send out tens of billions of dollars worth of clothes, gadgets and other items from their vast network of factories in China annually — with the United States a crucial market.

But over the weekend US President Donald Trump introduced additional levies of 10 percent on all Chinese imports, and scrapped a customs exemption for goods valued under $800.

Before Trump’s announcement, the system allowed “Chinese exporters to deliver small parcels at low costs, a benefit that has translated directly into lower prices for US consumers,” Peking University’s Mingzhi Jimmy Xu told AFP.

“Disrupting this system would impose higher shipping costs, leading to either higher retail prices or lower profit margins — both of which could fundamentally alter the business models of these platforms.”

On Tuesday it seemed the damage could worsen when the US Postal Service announced it would suspend all parcels from China and Hong Kong in light of the tariffs — only to backtrack the next day.

But losing the $800 “de minimis” exemption means e-commerce firms now face import duties, potentially more frequent inspections, and the need to meet regulations on issues like food safety and national security.

Some items previously imported under the exemption might never have been allowed to enter the United States at all if they had had to follow these standards, Nomura analysts said.

Trouble could be ahead elsewhere, too — on Wednesday the European Commission announced it would seek to impose new fees on e-commerce imports, though it said its actions were not coordinated with Washington.

– ‘Not many other alternatives’ –

In 2024, $46 billion dollars worth of small parcels were shipped to the United States under the de minimis exemption, according to Nomura.

Between 20-30 percent of Temu’s sales come from the United States, and Shein relies on the country for 30-40 percent of its revenue, e-commerce expert Laetitia Lamari told AFP.

It is such an important market that the closing of the loophole “would more likely mean continuing selling at a higher cost in the US rather than stopping”, Allison Malmsten from Beijing-based Daxue Consulting told AFP.

That cost is likely to eventually pass on to the customer.

“The American consumer doesn’t have many other alternatives: even Amazon Haul, Amazon’s low-cost offering of products under $20, gets its supplies… from China,” said Lamari.

The closing of the loophole has been expected, Nomura analysts said, as scrutiny of the e-commerce sector’s quality control, workforce practice and environmental impact has increased.

But the crackdown came earlier than expected, they wrote.

– Adapting ‘not without risks’ –

The effect will be “devastating for hundreds of thousands of small and medium-sized (SME) e-commerce businesses” in China and the United States, said the University of Delaware’s Sheng Lu.

Bloomberg reported on Thursday that Chinese retailers selling on Shein and Temu have been asked to start paying an additional 30 percent levy to their logistics agents.

The larger companies have other options for adaptation too.

Rui Ma, founder of the Tech Buzz China newsletter, told AFP that Temu, Shein and others have already begun restructuring their operations in anticipation of the change.

“Temu, for example, is rapidly expanding its semi-managed model, where goods are shipped in bulk to overseas warehouses instead of directly to customers,” she said.

“The de minimis rule helped Temu break into international markets, but to truly dominate them, it was not a foundation they could rely on exclusively long-term.”

Other options might include partnerships with American distributors, or trans-shipment — sending items via a third country that remains qualified for the de minimis exemption.

But adapting “is not without risks”, said Peking University’s Xu, as the investment in warehouses and inventory management could hurt flexibility.

“In the long run, platforms like Shein and Temu are likely to adapt,” he said.

“But this adaptation may come at the expense of the very affordability and product diversity that have defined their success.”


EU quizzes Shein over ‘illegal’ products


By AFP
February 6, 2025


Shein was founded in China in 2012 and is now headquartered in Singapore

 - Copyright AFP JOEL SAGET

The EU on Thursday told online fashion giant Shein to hand over information on risks linked to illegal products on its site, paving the way for a second probe into the Chinese-founded firm.

The European Commission announced the request a day after confirming it was investigating the low-cost e-commerce platform for not abiding by the bloc’s consumer protection rules.

“The Commission is requesting Shein to provide internal documents and more detailed information on risks linked to the presence of illegal content and goods on its marketplace,” it said.

The EU’s regulator also asked for information on other issues, including the “transparency of its recommender systems” and protection of users’ personal data.

“Shein must provide the necessary information by 27 February,” the commission said.

“Based on the assessment of the replies, the Commission will determine the next steps”.

The request could lead to a probe under the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), a mammoth law that forces the world’s largest tech firms to do more to protect European consumers online.

“Shein shares the Commission’s objective of ensuring that EU consumers can shop online with peace of mind, we have received the request for information and are working to respond promptly,” the company said.

Brussels has already launched a separate investigation into the popular fast-fashion site, which was founded in China in 2012 and is now headquartered in Singapore, for not doing enough to prevent the sale of products that do not meet European standards.

After the probe was announced, the company said it would “engage” its partners at EU and national government-level.

Shein is not the only online retailer originally from China in the crosshairs of Brussels over similar issues.

The commission in October opened an investigation against Temu, which sells a vast array of goods at low costs.

A commission spokesman explained many products tested were not compliant with EU rules and safety standards.

This could have serious consequences, the spokesman added, citing as examples a baby’s pacifier that could come apart and choke the child, or a light fitting that could cause an electric shock.

Decathlon on back foot over China forced labour accusations


By AFP
February 6, 2025


Beijing residents they were keeping expectations low for US-China ties, 

ahead of Donald Trump's inauguration - Copyright AFP JADE GAO

French company Decathlon, the world’s biggest sports equipment retailer, on Thursday defended its human rights record after reports it had benefited from forced labour in China.

Decathlon, regularly cited as among French people’s favourite brands, employs around 100,000 people in 1,700 stores in more than 70 countries.

Two French media outlets, Disclose and France 2, said in reports released Thursday that Decathlon had benefited from forced labour by China’s Uyghur minority, which rights groups say is the target of grave human rights abuses by the Beijing government.

Specifically, Decathlon has sourced textiles from the Qingdao Jifa Group, a garment manufacturer that, according to Disclose, “relies on a forced labour network in China”.

In a France 2 documentary to be broadcast Thursday evening, a local manager says that cotton stored at a company producing for Decathlon could well be from Xinjiang, home to the mostly Muslim Uyghur community.

AFP has been unable to verify allegations made by NGOs and western experts that Uyghurs have been coerced into forced labour.

Decathlon said it ‘condemns all forms of forced labour’ 

– Copyright AFP SAUL LOEB

Decathlon confirmed Thursday that it works with Qingdao Jifa Group, but told AFP that it is “committed every day to guaranteeing the integrity and the respect of fundamental rights within our businesses and our value chain”.

The company said it “firmly condemns all forms of forced labour” and “will not hesitate to take action and all necessary measures should these claims turn out to be correct”.

The company added that “100 percent of the cotton” used by Decathlon was being supplied by sources “committed to the most responsible practices, which guarantees the absence of all forms of forced labour”.

Founded in 1976 in Lille, northern France, Decathlon steadily grew its model of big-box stores first across Europe, and then into Asia, Africa and the Americas.

Decathlon generated a net profit of 931 million euros ($965 million) in 2023, on turnover of 15.6 billion euros.

‘Intolerable’ US claim sparks new row over Panama Canal


By AFP
February 6, 2025


Panama's Jose Raul Mulino has called US claims to have obtained free passage for government vessels through the Panama Canal an "absolute falsehood" - Copyright PANAMA'S PRESIDENCY PRESS OFFICE/AFP Handout

Juan José Rodríguez, María Isabel Sánchez

Panama on Thursday rejected the United States’ claim of securing free passage for its government vessels through the Panama Canal, while bowing to US pressure to quit a key Chinese project.

Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino told reporters the US assertion about the waterway was “simply and plainly intolerable,” adding that he rejected “bilateral relations based on lies and falsehoods.”

Since winning the US election in November, President Donald Trump has refused to rule out the use of force to seize the canal built by Washington over a century ago and later handed over to Panama.

Around 40 percent of US container traffic passes through the narrow body of water linking the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean.

The new row between Panama and Washington erupted after the US State Department claimed that Panama had agreed to let US government vessels through the canal for free after talks last weekend between Mulino and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

In a post on the social media platform X, the State Department claimed the decision would save the US government “millions of dollars a year.”

The Panama Canal Authority (PCA), an independent body that runs the waterway, quickly rejected the claim, saying it had “not made any adjustments” to its tariffs.

The authority added however that it was open to dialogue on the matter.



– ‘Not breaking the US’ –



US government vessels — primarily from the navy — make up a small portion of the ships that pass through the canal.

Trump has loudly complained that US vessels are being overcharged to use the shipping route.

Mulino said that US government vessels, including navy vessels, paid “$6-7 million a year” for the right of passage.

“It’s not as if the canal toll is breaking the economy of the United States,” he remarked.

Beyond the tolls, Washington has appeared chiefly concerned about Chinese investment in the 80-kilometer-long canal, which handles 5 percent of global maritime trade.

CK Hutchison Holdings — owned by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing — has a concession to manage two of the canal’s five ports.

Trump, who is scheduled to hold telephone talks on Friday with Mulino, has claimed that Beijing could close the canal to the United States in a crisis — a claim Panama strenuously denies.

But in a key concession to Washington, Mulino on Thursday confirmed that Panama had pulled out of China’s massive Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) infrastructure program.



– Chinese project torpedoed –



Mulino said that the Panamanian Embassy in Beijing had given China the required 90-day notice of its decision not to renew its involvement in the program, which it joined in 2017.

Panama is the first Latin American country to announce its withdrawal from President Xi Jinping’s signature, trillion-dollar program, which operates in over 100 countries.

On Wednesday, China’s Foreign Affairs spokesman, Lin Jian, had argued that the partnership was yielding “fruitful results” and urged Panama to “resist external interferences.”

The latest controversy over the Panama Canal comes at the end of Rubio’s week-long visit to Central America, his first as the US top diplomat.

He had threatened action against Panama unless it made immediate changes to reduce Chinese influence on the canal but later appeared more conciliatory, hailing Mulino’s pledge to quit China’s infrastructure program as a “great step forward” for bilateral relations.

Following Trump’s canal takeover threat, Mulino last month ordered an audit of Hutchison Holdings.

“If they violate the terms of the concession or cause imminent economic harm to the country, we will act accordingly, but for now the audit is ongoing,” he said Thursday.

Fighting global warming in nations’ self-interest: UN climate chief


By AFP
February 6, 2025


UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell delivers a statement at Rio Branco Institute in Brasilia - Copyright AFP EVARISTO SA

The UN’s climate chief, seeking to shore up solidarity on combating global warming as the United States retreats from its leadership role, appealed to nations’ self-interest in a speech Thursday.

Speaking at a university in Brazil’s capital, Simon Stiell said global heating was “dangerously high,” but that real progress had been made since the landmark Paris Agreement.

He conceded many countries would miss a February 10 deadline to submit their next round of climate plans — giving them until September to deliver “first-rate” emissions roadmaps.

Brazil is set to host the next global climate conference, COP30, in November.

“We are already headed in the right direction. We just have to implement, and implement more and faster,” said the former Grenadan environment minister.

Quickly after his White House return, President Donald Trump announced the US withdrawal from the Paris deal for the second time.

“A country may step back –- but others are already stepping into their place to seize the opportunity, and to reap the massive rewards: stronger economic growth, more jobs, less pollution and far lower health costs, more secure and affordable energy,” said Stiell.

He said economic reality would drive action, with climate investment now at $2 trillion.

Self-interest, he said, “above all other factors, is why the clean energy shift is now unstoppable: because of the colossal scale of economic opportunity it presents.”



– Climate costs –



Only a handful of countries have so far submitted their climate plans, including Brazil and Britain, with big emitters China and the European Union expected to follow later in the year.

A UN official said that over 170 countries had indicated they were working on their new emissions goals and planned to submit them this year, most of them before COP30.

When the Paris deal was signed ten years ago, the world was heading for 5 degrees Celsius of warming above pre-industrial levels.

That was “a death sentence for humanity as we know it,” said Stiell, noting that the current trajectory of 3C was still catastrophic.

The safer limit under the Paris deal is 1.5C, but scientists say that is slipping out of reach.

Last year was the hottest on record, and the combined average temperature of 2023 and 2024 exceeded the 1.5C threshold for the first time.

On Thursday, Europe’s climate monitor said last month was the hottest January on record.

Last year’s contentious COP29 meeting in Baku ended with richer countries agreeing to provide at least $300 billion annually by 2035 to help poorer nations progress their green transition and build resilience.

The actual need has been estimated at $1.3 trillion in developing countries — many of whom are facing crushing debts.

Stiell said the focus this year would be to find other sources of money to plug the gap.

He stressed the funding was “not charity” but a way to curb inflation caused by climate disasters.

“Just take rising food prices, which have the fingerprints of climate-driven droughts, floods, and wildfires all over them,” he said.

‘Irresponsible’ or ‘antiwar’: US fighters in Ukraine grapple with Trump


By AFP
February 7, 2025


'You don't end the war by supporting a war,' said Ishman Martino

 - Copyright AFP Jack GUEZ

Barbara WOJAZER

Tracey, an American fighting in Ukraine, got angry at social media posts from his friends back home calling for Washington to cut its support to Kyiv.

US President Donald Trump has repeated money should be spent at home rather than abroad, part of his “America First” programme that has invigorated many, including Tracey’s friends.

“Being on the ground in Ukraine and seeing that angers me. It really pisses me off because it’s just irresponsible,” he told AFP, asking for his surname to be withheld.

“We have many issues in the US. The war in Ukraine is not the reason those things are happening,” he said, a message he hoped would be heard in his home state, the Republican-led South Carolina.

The United States has been Ukraine’s biggest military backer since Russia invaded in February 2022, and President Volodymyr Zelensky said it would have lost the war without that support.

But in the US, 67 percent of Republicans believe Washington is doing too much to assist Kyiv –- compared to 11 percent of Democrats and 35 percent of independents –- according to a December 2024 Gallup poll.

One of Trump’s first acts in power was to freeze international aid, with his allies hinting he should make support to Ukraine conditional on Kyiv entering peace talks.



– Small-town bubble –



Tracey once held such views.

He said podcasters like Lex Fridman had convinced him that Russia invaded out of self-defence, and he believed the Kremlin’s narrative that Kyiv was threatening Moscow by moving closer to the West.

That rationale crumbled in January when Tracey watched “20 Days in Mariupol”, a documentary about Russia’s ruthless siege on the southern Ukrainian city.

“Seeing women and children suffer and just hearing those screams. It sticks with you. And that is stronger than any narrative,” he said.

The next day he got a bus to Ukraine from Poland, where he was travelling, and joined the International Legion of Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence, a unit for foreigners.

Tracey did not vote in 2024 but he understood why people were drawn to Republican messages.

“These are people I love, people I grew up with. They are small-town people that grew up in villages like the ones we’re fighting in down here,” he told AFP.

“I understand that if I was inside that bubble, I would believe it as well.”



– ‘Hit home’ –



Trump supporter Ishman Martino, a former firefighter trained as a US army machine gunner, has been in the Ukrainian military for the last six months.

He once supported Joe Biden’s policy of “feeding Ukraine with artillery shells, cannons and mortars and guns and money.”

But now the 26-year-old — sporting a tattoo of a Ukrainian trident on his neck and one of an Uncle Sam skeleton on his bicep — said he backed Trump’s approach.

“You don’t end the war by supporting a war. Believe it or not, Trump is antiwar,” he told AFP in an interview in the southern city of Zaporizhzhia.

“He said that other countries need to start picking up their slack with taking care of Ukraine, which is very true,” he added.

Martino enlisted after he saw Russian missiles rip through a children’s hospital in Kyiv, where he had travelled to try to repatriate the body of a friend killed fighting for Ukraine.

The patients reminded Martino of his little brother, who suffered from cancer as a child.

“It hit home, seeing the kids come out, still hooked up to an IV, getting chemo. That’s when I was like — alright I’m here to fight,” he said.



– ‘Country comes first’ –



As he was fighting, hurricane Helene destroyed Martino’s hometown.

He shared local anger at Biden’s government, which was accused of abandoning the area, and felt guilty for failing to help, which motivated him to fight harder.

“Better send me to the trenches… so that I can feel decent about myself for not being at home,” he said, describing his thoughts at the time.

Martino is now preparing to return to the US after hearing that his little brother has once again been diagnosed with cancer.

“My family does come first. In all honesty my country comes first too. But I did my time honourably,” he said.

He was confident about Ukraine’s future, despite Trump’s threats.

“Ukrainian people are very smart. I truly do believe that they will figure it out, even if we stopped aid now.”

Tracey, on the other hand, does not think the US will cut support to Ukraine and plans to return to the front as soon as he heals from wounds he suffered in a drone attack.

“I’ve spilt blood in that black Donbas soil. Brothers have died on that soil,” he said.

“Even though we’re not Ukrainian by blood, we feel Ukrainian.”

‘Existential threat’: What next for the ICC after US sanctions?


By AFP
February 7, 2025


ICC prosecutor Karim Khan has several US citizens in his top team - Copyright AFP Raul ARBOLEDA

Richard CARTER, Charlotte VAN OUWERKERK

US President Donald Trump’s decision to slap sanctions on the International Criminal Court, set up to rule on humanity’s worst crimes, sent shock waves around the world.

Experts tell AFP the sanctions announced by Trump, angered by the ICC investigation into alleged Israeli war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, will have a wide-reaching impact on the court.



– What impact will the sanctions have? –



Neither the United States nor Israel are among the 125 members of the ICC but sanctions could still have a crippling impact on the court’s operations.

The measures include a travel ban to the US for ICC officials, complicating their work. Financial institutions may decline to work with the court, fearing US reprisals.

The sanctions could impact the court’s technical and IT operations, including evidence gathering. There are fears victims of alleged atrocities may hesitate to come forward.

“Companies and organisations might just stop doing business with the ICC because it’s too much of a risk,” said James Patrick Sexton, PhD Researcher at the TMC Asser Instituut and University of Amsterdam.

“Big suppliers such as Microsoft might just proactively pull out,” added Sexton, who is working on a thesis examining the interaction between sanctions and international criminal justice.

Thijs Bouwknegt of the NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies, said the sanctions constituted an “internal crisis” for the ICC.

Bouwknegt noted that current chief prosecutor Karim Khan has several US citizens in his top team — “they can no longer work together”.

He also noted reports that staff members have been paid in advance due to fears of banking difficulties.

“The ICC is an international organisation, so there is a lot of international banking,” he told AFP.



– What can the court do in response? –



“Nothing at all,” said Bouwknegt.

“You can come up with moral arguments that this goes against international law. But that would only have an effect on US partners, who are always very cautious in condemning the US.”

Sexton said the court would likely engage in a diplomatic drive to drum up support for the ICC and international justice generally.

Technically, the court’s founding statute allows the ICC to take action against anyone “retaliating against an official of the court” or “impeding, intimidating or corruptly influencing” an ICC member.

Legally, this means the ICC could hit back at Trump. While this is a possibility, Sexton noted “it wouldn’t exactly de-escalate the situation.”



– What are the consequences? –



Experts fear that weakening the ICC, which investigates war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, and the crime of aggression, could give carte blanche to dictators worldwide.

The sanctions “seek to undermine and destroy what the international community has painstakingly constructed over decades, if not centuries,” said Agnes Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General.

“Global rules that are applicable to everyone and aim to deliver justice for all.”

If the sanctions target the prosecutor, as is likely, it means that investigations into alleged crimes in hotspots such as Afghanistan, Ukraine, and Sudan would also be affected.

“Victims will be deprived of proceedings even in cases that the US is not unhappy with,” Sexton told AFP.

“This will undermine all investigations, not only the investigation into the situation in Palestine.”

He noted that the sanctions come at an already difficult time for the court.

The ICC has become embroiled in a row with Italy, which released a Libyan war crimes suspect wanted in The Hague after receiving what it described as a badly drafted warrant.

Several countries also voiced reservations about arresting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he visited, undermining the court’s credibility.

“I think this is an existential threat for the ICC. It’s a real make-or-break moment,” said Sexton.



– Has this happened before? –



Yes. In 2020, Trump’s then Secretary of State Mike Pompeo hit Fatou Bensouda, the ICC prosecutor at the time, with sanctions over the court’s war crimes probe into US military personnel in Afghanistan.

Pompeo at the time referred to the ICC as a “kangaroo court”.

Trump’s successor Joe Biden revoked these sanctions a year later, with Washington pledging “engagement with all stakeholders in the ICC process”.

The US also has drastic means at its disposal that could theoretically involve an American invasion of the Netherlands.

In 2002, the US Congress passed the so-called “Hague Invasion Act” allowing the US president to authorise military force to free any US personnel held by the ICC.

PATRIARCHY IS RAPE

Third Al-Fayed brother accused of sexual abuse: BBC


By AFP
February 7, 2025


Copyright AFP Mladen ANTONOV

Three former employees at London’s Harrods store have accused another brother of its late boss Mohamed Al-Fayed of sexual assault, after hundreds of similar claims were made against the tycoon, the BBC reported Thursday.

They accuse Ali Fayed, the last surviving one of the three brothers, of assaulting them while they were working for the luxury department store in the 1990s.

More than 400 women have come forward with accusations of sexual assault, including rape, against the Egyptian former Harrods and Fulham Football Club owner Mohamed Al-Fayed in the wake of a BBC documentary released in September.

In November, three women accused another brother, the late Salah Fayed, of assaulting them during the period when he jointly owned the department store with Mohamed.

The same week, the New York Times published the claims of a victim accusing Mohamed’s younger brother, Ali, of knowing about the “trafficking” of women.

Now, three former employees say they were assaulted by Ali Fayed in London, Scotland, Switzerland and the US when the department store was owned by the brothers and where Ali was a director, according to the BBC.

One woman, known as Amy, said she “endured” abuse by Mohamed Al-Fayed during three years as his personal assistant, and was also “groped” by Ali at a Fayed family chalet in Switzerland.

She told the BBC she wanted an “explanation” from Ali Fayed, 81, the only surviving brother after Salah died in 2010 and Mohamed in 2023.

– ‘Other individuals’ 

A former Harrods interior designer, named only as Frances, said she was serially abused by Mohamed Al-Fayed before being “molested” by his younger brother in a private apartment in central London and then at his family home in the US state of Connecticut.

Laura, the third alleged victim, was subjected to a “serious sexual assault” by Ali Fayed, according to the BBC.

A spokesperson for Ali Fayed told the BBC he denied all accusations.

Justice for Harrods Survivors, which represents hundreds of women alleging abuse by Mohamed Al-Fayed, said it was representing all three women in this case.

“It was clear from the very first days of our work on this case that other individuals beyond Mohamed Al Fayed were alleged to have been involved in the abuse of women and the concealment of their experiences,” Justice for Harrods Survivors said in a statement.

“We applaud the bravery of the women who have spoken out on their allegations against Ali Fayed and reiterate our commitment to securing justice and accountability for all survivors.”

According to the New York Times, a former Harrods employee alleging abuse by Mohamed Al-Fayed says Ali may have “unique and critical evidence” of “a more than two-decade long trafficking scheme”.

London’s Metropolitan police has opened a new investigation into sexual assault claims against Mohamed Al-Fayed, which has identified at least 90 victims.

UK to quicken rollout of mini-nuclear reactors

Labour presents “as fact things which are merely optimistic conjecture on small nuclear reactor cost, speed of delivery and safety, which is courageous — or stupid — given that not a single one has been built”, Greenpeace

By AFP
February 6, 2025


Copyright AFP Richard A. Brooks

Britain’s Labour government on Thursday said changes to planning laws will speed up the country’s rollout of mini-nuclear reactors aimed at providing cheaper and cleaner energy.

“Reforms to planning rules will clear a path for smaller, safer, and easier to build nuclear reactors — known as Small Modular Reactors (SMR) — to be built for the first time ever in the UK,” a statement said.

“This will create thousands of new highly skilled jobs while delivering clean, secure and more affordable energy for working people.”

The government led by Prime Minister Keir Starmer noted that China is constructing 29 reactors and the European Union has 12 at planning stage.

“My government was elected to deliver change,” said Starmer, whose party came to power in July following 14 years of Conservative rule.

“I’ll take the radical decisions needed to wrestle Britain from its status quo slumber, to turbocharge our plan for change.”

The current plans restrict nuclear development to just eight UK sites.

Greenpeace voiced scepticism at the changes, while urging the government to focus on renewable energy which includes wind and solar.

Labour presents “as fact things which are merely optimistic conjecture on small nuclear reactor cost, speed of delivery and safety, which is courageous — or stupid — given that not a single one has been built”, Greenpeace policy director Doug Parr said in a statement.

While scrapping the limit on site numbers, the government on Thursday stressed there will “continue to be robust criteria for nuclear reactor locations, including restrictions near densely populated areas and military activity”, adding it would take into account environmental impacts.

Labour believes easing regulations across various sectors will help to grow a stagnant UK economy. It argues that for the nuclear industry it should help to speed up net zero carbon emissions and improve energy security.

“The British people have been left vulnerable to global energy markets for too long — and the only way out is to build our way to a new era of clean electricity,” Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said in the joint statement.

Britain has five nuclear power plants in operation of which four will have their lifetime extended according to an announcement in December by their French operator EDF, as the UK aims to fully decarbonise its energy grid by 2030.

EDF, which is building the new nuclear power plant Hinkley Point C in southwest England, decided last year to withdraw its interest to construct Britain’s SMRs.