'A Disgrace': Trump Admin Targets Multiple Environmental Justice Offices

"Donald Trump has decided that we do not deserve clean air or water, and our right to a livable and safe planet comes second to further enriching his fossil fuel friends and donors," said one environmentalist.

The Environmental Protection Agency flag flies outside the EPA headquarters in Washington on Thursday, February 6, 2025.
(Photo: Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Eloise Goldsmith
Feb 06, 2025
COMMON DREAMS

The Trump administration plans to place over 100 workers who are employed with the Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights on administrative leave, according to Wednesday reporting from The Wall Street Journal, which cited unnamed sources.

Other outlets have since reported on the development, including The Washington Post, which wrote Thursday that Trump appointees at the EPA told staff that they plan to close the office.

This move targeting the EPA, one the latest efforts by the Trump administration to drastically reshape federal agencies, was panned by multiple environmental organizations, who accused the White House of turning its back on vulnerable communities.

"The EPA's environmental justice office was created to challenge the historic pattern of pollution disproportionately affecting low-income communities and communities of color," said Chitra Kumar, managing director of the Climate and Energy Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists. Kumar was also formerly an official with the EPA Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights.

"Once again, the Trump administration is sidelining both science and the nation's most overburdened people," she added.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration is also reportedly working to "remake" the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division, which defends the U.S. government's environmental actions in court and brings cases against individuals who violate federal environmental law. The Washington Post reported that Trump appointees at the Department of Justice said they plan to fire roughly 20 workers at the division, "among other actions that have sent morale there plummeting."

The Office of Environmental Justice within the division has already "been eliminated," and the five people working in that office have already been put on administrative leave, according to the outlet.

And in one of her first acts as U.S. Attorney General, Pam Bondi undid a Biden-era directive ordering the Department of Justice to emphasize enforcement of environmental laws in disadvantaged and low-income communities.

Trump administration attacks on what the White House deems "diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility" (DEIA) initiatives were expected. On his first day in office, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order mandating the end of all federal DEI programs, goals, mandates, and plans. The order also specifically called for the termination, "to the maximum extent allowed by law, all DEI, DEIA, and 'environmental justice' offices and positions."

"By shuttering these offices, Donald Trump has decided that we do not deserve clean air or water, and our right to a livable and safe planet comes second to further enriching his fossil fuel friends and donors," said Sierra Club executive director Ben Jealous in a Thursday statement. "Trump has been on the job for less than a month, but every single day he is making our communities less safe."

Like Kumar at the Union of Concerned Scientists, senior VP of environmental health at the Natural Resources Defense Council Matthew Tejada (also an alum of the EPA's environmental justice office) said that the country's most vulnerable communities would lose out.

"Shuttering the environmental justice office [at the EPA] will mean more toxic contaminants, dangerous air, and unsafe water in communities across the nation that have been most harmed by pollution in the past," said Tejada. "Trump EPA is turning its back on those who need a cleaner environment more than anyone. This is a disgrace."

'This isn't it': FEC head thumbs nose at Trump after letter informs her of ouster

Daniel Hampton
February 6, 2025 

RAW STORY

Federal Election Commission logo on smartphone screen against the background of the USA flag. (Photo credit: PalSand / Shutterstock)

The Democratic chair of the Federal Election Commission appeared to scoff at President Donald Trump on social media after receiving a letter from him informing her she was fired.

Ellen Weintraub, who has served as a commissioner on the panel for more than 20 years and was elected chair for the fourth time this year, took to X to share Trump's letter — and her response.

The two-sentence letter dated Jan. 31 and addressed to Weintraub said, "You are hereby removed as a member of the Federal Election Commission, effectively immediately. Thank you for your service on the Commission."

Weintraub shared the letter Thursday evening on her X account.

"Received a letter from POTUS today purporting to remove me as Commissioner & Chair of @FEC. There’s a legal way to replace FEC commissioners-this isn’t it. I’ve been lucky to serve the American people & stir up some good trouble along the way. That’s not changing anytime soon," she retorted.

Weintraub has consistently advocated for significant campaign finance law enforcement and disclosure of political spending.

"She believes that strong and fair regulation of money in politics is important to prevent corruption and maintain the faith of the American people in their democracy," Weintraub's biography states.

Additionally, she "sounded the alarm early–and continues to do so–regarding the potential for corporate and 'dark-money' spending to become a vehicle for foreign influence in our elections."

The FEC is an independent regulatory agency with more than 300 employees and is led by six commissioners who are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. Commissioners serve in staggered six-year terms and two seats are subject to appointment every two years. The chair changes every year.

Campaigning ends as violence-weary Ecuadorans eye Sunday vote


By AFP
February 7, 2025


A supporter carries a human size cardboard of Ecuadoran President Daniel Noboa - Copyright AFP NELSON ALMEIDA

Andrew BEATTY

Ecuador’s dueling presidential campaigns fell silent Friday, as a ban entered into force ahead of Sunday’s keenly fought election.

Ahead of a midnight campaign cutoff, President Daniel Noboa and his leftist rival Luisa Gonzalez held razzle-dazzle closing rallies Thursday, promising to tackle soaring narco violence, a lackluster economy and crumbling public services.

Incumbent Naboa, the 37-year-old telegenic tattooed scion of a banana empire, told supporters in Quito that his 14 months in power had changed the country.

Victory, he claimed, was all but assured.

“We are no longer a promise, we are a reality” he told about 13,000 fans in Quito’s Bull Ring. “This country has already made up its mind. Now let’s protect the votes, let’s protect the will of the people.”

Most polls have shown him with a sizable lead. But they have been wrong before, and he may struggle to gain enough votes to avoid an April runoff.

To win in the first round a candidate needs over 50 percent of the vote, or 40 percent with a ten-point lead over their nearest rival.

Noboa’s brief term in office has been anything but smooth. The once-peaceful country of almost 18 million is in the crosshairs of international drug traffickers.

Organized crime groups from around the world are locked in a murderous battle for control of Ecuador’s ports, a key launching point to send cocaine to Europe, the United States and Australia.

Noboa has staked his political fortunes on a hardline “mano dura” policy of tackling the powerful criminal gangs head on, and on his youthful “Action Man” image.

In affluent parts of Quito, shop owners peppered window fronts with life-sized cardboard cutouts of the youthful president in a tank top and shorts, or dressed-down with arms crossed.

On the campaign trail, he has strode shirt-unbuttoned shoulder-to-shoulder with heavily armed soldiers, and donned a bulletproof vest while leading spectacular ready-for-TV security operations.

The impact has been a surge in cocaine seizures, arrests — and bloodshed, with the country witnessing its highest ever murder rates.

Tourist numbers have dropped, tens of thousands of Ecuadorans have fled overseas and investors are jittery.

“We are surviving, not living,” said 56-year-old Quito street vendor Jesus Chavez, summing up widespread discontent over insecurity and the country’s anemic post-pandemic economic recovery.

“There are cruel deaths, assassinations, crimes, it is a daily reality,” said Chavez, who has been robbed multiple times during his hour-long commute to and from Quito’s picturesque colonial heart.



– ‘Declarations of war’ –



Almost 14 million Ecuadorans are obliged to vote in Sunday’s election.

From Friday midday, a total alcohol ban will enter into force, allowing fun-loving Ecuadorans a period of sober — if slightly grumpy — reflection.

Noboa’s main rival is Luisa Gonzalez, a similarly telegenic tattooed single mother and heir to Ecuador’s powerful leftist movement.

Gonzalez’s campaign has focused on her coastal strongholds, and on mopping up votes in poorer neighborhoods where her political mentor, exiled ex-president Rafael Correa made his name.

During a final rally in the country’s largest city Guayaquil she ripped Noboa as out-of-touch and vain, a “cardboard man” whose cash-strapped administration has neglected public services while issuing “declarations of war.”

“There can be no peace without social justice, no peace without medicines in hospitals,” she told supporters while flanked on stage by rifle-wielding special forces in full combat armor.

Baghdad’s first skatepark offers boarders rare respite


By AFP
February 6, 2025


The Baghdad skatepark provides a welcome means of escape for young Iraqis in a country that has endured decades of conflict and crisis - Copyright AFP AHMAD AL-RUBAYE

Christy-Belle Geha

Rukaya al-Zubaidi placed a cautious foot on a skateboard and then struggled to find her balance as others glided back and forth at Baghdad’s first park dedicated to the sport.

“It’s only my second time skating, but I want to keep going, especially now we have the space for it here in Baghdad,” the 22-year-old said as loud music mixed with laughter from fellow boarders.

After negotiating with authorities for five years, three organisations from Italy, Iraq and Belgium have now opened Baghdad’s first skatepark.

It is not the first in the country, however: that honour went to the northern city of Sulaimaniyah.

The new skatepark at the sports ministry in a Baghdad suburb provides a welcome means of escape for young people in a country that has endured decades of conflict and crisis.

It also offers a rare respite from the often scrutinising gaze of conservative Iraqi society.

Zubaidi, wearing a pink sweater, watched fellow enthusiasts, both professional and amateur, as they rolled on colourful boards in the open-air park.

“When my friends first told me about skateboarding, I was scared,” she said — not just of falling but also because of what people might say and because her parents might not approve.

“But when I tried it, it just filled me with a beautiful energy,” she added.

The skatepark project “is about inclusivity and community, about having a place for everyone”, said Ishtar Obaid of Iraq’s “Forsah” association.

Forsah, which means “opportunity”, was one of the three organisations that spearheaded the project.



– ‘A new chapter’ –



It provides a space “where people from different backgrounds” come together, and “that’s the beauty of sport”, said Obaid, who also advises Iraq’s Olympic committee.

Her organisation plans to run skateboarding classes for children and trainers.

“It is a new chapter for sports in Iraq,” Obaid said.

When the authorities approved the project in late 2024, the associations including Make Life Skate Life, a Belgian-US charity that has set up skateparks in northern Iraq, Libya and India, built the new facility in just one month.

Kjell Van Hansewyck of Make Life Skate Life said it was a “real struggle” to find a location for the skatepark.

He described Baghdad as “a crowded city with a lot of pollution and traffic jams”, and lacking “public land and facilities for children”.

The Iraqi capital is bustling with dozens of infrastructure and construction projects. Towering cranes and machinery dominate its streets, as new tunnels and bridges are being built.

“It is like one big job site,” Van Hansewyck said.

When authorities said they could provide space at the sports ministry, the groups could hardly turn down the offer, despite this meaning skaters would have to pass through security checkpoints.

Van Hansewyck said the skatepark is “not visible from the streets”, which makes it difficult for people who want to check it out.

But he is confident that passionate skaters will still promote the park and do everything possible to make it a major attraction.



– ‘You become friends’ –



Mohammad al-Qadi, 19, bought his first skateboard in 2019, the year he also joined a wave of nationwide anti-government protests.

Baghdad was the vibrant epicentre of the movement. Protesters also organised cultural and sports events before the demonstrations were crushed in a brutal crackdown that saw more than 600 people killed.

Since then, Qadi had only been able to skate on Baghdad’s busy streets.

“When we took to the streets with our skateboards, people would call us bad boys,” he said.

In conservative Iraq, skateboarding is widely viewed as an alternative sport adopted by rebellious youths — forcing many to shun it for fear of ruining their reputations.

Qadi said this perception may have slightly improved, but until now local skaters still had nowhere to go.

“When I feel pressured by my studies or in my personal life, I turn to skateboarding, which has never let me down,” he said.

The new skatepark offers an “opportunity” for a break and a rethink, Qadi added.

Hussein Ali, 18, has been skating for five years and said he hoped Iraq will eventually have a “national team” to compete in championships.

Skateboarding was one of five sports that made an Olympic debut at the Tokyo 2020 games.

For some in Iraq, skateboarding provides a sense of normality in a country where violence had long been a fact of life.

For Ali, it is also a way to meet new people.

“When you see someone else skating you simply reach out, and just like that, you become friends.”

‘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.