US Business

French President Emmanuel Macron was set to meet President Joe Biden on Wednesday, at the start of a state visit highlighting the countries’ strategic ties but also fears of a transatlantic trade war.

Macron and his wife Brigitte arrived late Tuesday for a two-day stay in Washington, before finishing up Friday with a trip to the once-French city of New Orleans in Louisiana.

Largely due to Covid disruptions, this is the first formal state visit to the White House during the Biden presidency. US officials said the choice of France for the honor reflects their historic links and also the crucial role played by Paris, within the European Union, in the alliance confronting Russia over Ukraine.

All the stops are being pulled out for Macron, starting Wednesday with him visiting Arlington National Cemetery, then discussing space cooperation with Vice President Kamala Harris at NASA headquarters in Washington. The first day will round off with a private dinner for Biden, Macron and their wives.

The core of the visit will be Thursday, including a White House military honor guard, Oval Office talks, a joint press conference and a banquet where Grammy-award-winning American musician Jon Batiste will perform.

Compared to Macron’s edgy experience as the guest of Donald Trump in 2018, this trip will be a carefully choreographed display of transatlantic friendship.

The diplomatic furor that erupted last year when Australia canceled a deal for French submarines and instead signed up for US nuclear submarines is now buried.

– Trade war? –

But tensions are rising over trade as Europeans nervously watch the rollout of Biden’s signature green industry policy — the Inflation Reduction Act, or IRA.

This is set to pump billions of dollars into climate-friendly technologies, with strong backing for American-made products. A similar effort is being put into microchip manufacturing.

Europeans fear an unfair US advantage in the sectors just as they are reeling from the economic consequences of the Ukraine war and Western attempts to end reliance on Russian energy supplies.

Talk in Europe is now increasingly on whether the bloc should respond with its own subsidies and championing of homegrown products, effectively starting a trade war.

Another gripe in Europe is the high cost of US liquid natural gas exports — which have surged to try and replace canceled Russian deliveries.

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby struck a cautious note, telling French reporters that “right now we’re in the mode of listening and making sure we understand concerns by our European partners.”

Kirby went out of his way to praise Macron, referring to his “experience and wisdom.”

– Strategizing on China, Ukraine –

The breadth of Macron’s entourage — including the foreign, defense and finance ministers, as well as business leaders and astronauts — illustrates the importance Paris has put on the visit.

At the White House, however, a senior official said the main goal is to nurture the “personal relationship, the alliance relationship” with France — and between Biden and Macron.

That more modest-sounding goal will include improving coordination on helping Ukraine to repel Russia and the even more vexing question of how to manage the rise of the Chinese superpower.

“We are not allies on the same page,” one adviser to Macron told AFP, forecasting “challenging” talks with Biden.

Despite his strong support for Kyiv, Macron’s insistence on continuing to maintain dialogue with Russian President Vladimir Putin has irked American diplomats.

The China question — with Washington pursuing a more hawkish tone and EU powers trying to find a middle ground — is unlikely to see much progress.

“Europe has since 2018 its own, unique strategy for relations with China,” tweeted French embassy spokesman Pascal Confavreux in Washington.

A senior US official said even if their approaches to China were “not identical,” they should be at least “speaking from a common script.”

Ukraine urged NATO members Tuesday to speed up weapons deliveries and help restore its shattered power grid, as Western allies vowed to bolster support to aid Kyiv through winter in the face of Russia’s attacks.

Moscow has unleashed waves of strikes against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure as its troops are pushed back on the ground, plunging millions of people into darkness. 

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called for supplies of weapons, especially advanced air defence systems, to come “faster, faster, faster” as he joined a two-day meeting of NATO foreign ministers in the Romanian capital Bucharest.

“When we have transformers and generators, we can restore our system, our energy grid, and provide people with decent living conditions,” Kuleba said.

“When we have air defence systems, we will be able to protect this infrastructure from the next Russian missile strikes.”

“In a nutshell, Patriots and transformers is what Ukraine needs the most”, he said, referring to the US-made Patriot missile defence system. 

The appeal came as NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of targeting infrastructure in a bid to use the winter as “a weapon of war” against Ukraine.

Stoltenberg said NATO allies had pledged more support for Ukraine to fix its infrastructure and would keep on sending arms and air defences to help it better protect itself.

He said there was an “ongoing discussion” on supplying the Patriot systems that Washington and others have so far refused to give to Kyiv.

“NATO is not a party to the war. But we will continue to support Ukraine. For as long as it takes, we will not back down,” Stoltenberg said. 

He said he expected Russia to carry out more attacks on Ukraine’s grid as the Kremlin suffers defeats on the ground and warned Europe should “be prepared for more refugees”.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has announced a package worth $53 million “to support acquisition of critical electricity grid equipment” by Kyiv.

A senior US official said the assistance would not be the last and pointed out that the Biden administration had budgeted $1.1 billion for energy spending in Ukraine and neighbouring Moldova.

– ‘Keep calm, give tanks’ –

Allies have given arms worth billions of dollars to Ukraine, but Kyiv is pleading for more air defence, tanks and longer-range missiles to push the Kremlin’s forces back.

But there are growing concerns that weapon stores in some NATO countries are running low as stockpiles have been diverted to Ukraine.

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said his request to fellow NATO ministers was simple: “Keep calm and give tanks”. 

Germany, which currently chairs the G7, convened a meeting on the sidelines of the NATO gathering to discuss the energy crisis caused by the war in Ukraine.

Germany’s foreign minister Annalena Baerbock said the participants had looked to “better understand and prioritise the most urgent needs” ahead of an international conference in Paris on December 13.

Separately, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and said Germany would dispatch 350 generators and provide financial assistance to repair energy infrastructure worth 56 million euros ($57 million).

Zelensky said they had discussed cooperation, both bilateral and in international institutions.

“The priorities are clear — protection against missile terror, energy restoration, food security,” Zelensky said in his daily video address late Tuesday, noting that “the situation at the front is difficult”.

“Despite extremely big Russian losses, the occupiers are still trying to advance in the Donetsk region, gain a foothold in the Luhansk region, move in the Kharkiv region, they are planning something in the south,” he said.

“But we are holding out.”

– ‘Door is open’ –

NATO said the meeting in Bucharest has showcased its unity on continuing to support Ukraine as Moscow’s war against its neighbour drags into its 10th month.

The alliance did not, however, make any progress on Ukraine’s request to join, despite reiterating it remained committed to its pledge made some 14 years ago that Kyiv would one day become a member.

Stoltenberg insisted the “door is open” to new members but said the focus now was on assisting Ukraine in its fight with Moscow.

Oleksiy Arestovych, an aide to the Ukrainian president, said “several concrete and important announcements were made” at the summit.

“Ukraine can become a member of the alliance after the end of hostilities” and “support to Ukraine will be expanded in terms of energy and military,” he noted in a statement.

Besides the war in Ukraine, the ministers will take stock of progress in the accession of NATO candidates Finland and Sweden, already ratified by 28 of the 30 member countries but which remains suspended awaiting a green light from Hungary and Turkey.

The Finnish, Swedish and Turkish foreign ministers met on the sidelines of the meeting, but Ankara did not signal that there had been any progress. 

Fountains of lava up to 200 feet (60 meters) high have been fired into the air from Hawaii’s Mauna Loa, geologists say, generating rivers of molten rock from the world’s largest active volcano.

Four fissures have now opened up on the mammoth mountain, which burst into life on Sunday for the first time in almost 40 years.

Vast clouds of steam and smoke were billowing into the sky from the volcano, which makes up half of Hawaii’s Big Island.

“Estimates of the tallest fountain heights are between 100–200 feet” but most are much smaller, the United States Geological Survey said in an update Monday.

“There is a visible gas plume from the erupting fissure fountains and lava flows, with the plume primarily being blown to the Northwest.”

Geologists say there is currently no risk to people and property below the eruption.

“The longest and largest lava flow is issuing from fissure three,” the USGS said Tuesday.

“This lava flow crossed the Mauna Loa Weather Observatory Road… and the flow front was located approximately six miles (10 kilometers) from Saddle Road (the main road at the foot of the northern flank).”

The lava fountain from the newest fissure was up to 33 feet high, the agency said.

Everything is currently contained in the Northeast Rift Zone, the USGS said, but warned Mauna Loa is a dynamic volcano.

“Additional fissures could open along the Northeast Rift Zone below the current location, and lava flows can continue to travel downslope.”

Pressure has been building at Mauna Loa for years, the USGS said, and the eruption — which lit up the night sky — could be seen 45 miles (72 kilometers) away, in the west coast town of Kona.

While lava is not presently a risk to populations, scientists have said winds could carry volcanic gas and fine ash downslope, as well as Pele’s Hair — fine strands of volcanic glass formed when lava skeins cool quickly in the air.

Named after Pele, the Hawaiian goddess of volcanoes, the strands can be very sharp and pose potential danger to skin and eyes.

– ‘Long Mountain’ –

Authorities in Hawaii have not issued any evacuation orders, although the summit area and several roads in the region were closed, and two shelters have been opened as a precaution.

The largest volcano on Earth by volume, Mauna Loa, whose name means “Long Mountain,” is larger than the rest of the Hawaiian islands combined.

The volcano’s submarine flanks stretch for miles to an ocean floor that is in turn depressed by Mauna Loa’s great mass — making its summit some 11 miles above its base, according to the USGS. 

One of six active volcanoes on the Hawaiian islands, Mauna Loa has erupted 33 times since 1843.

Its most recent eruption, in 1984, lasted 22 days and produced lava flows reached to within about four miles of Hilo.

Kilauea, a volcano on the southeastern flank of Mauna Loa, erupted almost continuously between 1983 and 2019, and a minor eruption there has been ongoing for months.

Ukraine urged NATO members Tuesday to speed up weapons deliveries and help restore its shattered power grid, as Western allies vowed to bolster support to aid Kyiv through winter in the face of Russia’s attacks.

Moscow has unleashed waves of strikes against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure as its troops are pushed back on the ground, plunging millions of people into darkness. 

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called for supplies of weapons, especially advanced air defence systems, to come “faster, faster, faster” as he joined a two-day meeting of NATO foreign ministers in the Romanian capital Bucharest.

“When we have transformers and generators, we can restore our system, our energy grid, and provide people with decent living conditions,” Kuleba said.

“When we have air defence systems, we will be able to protect this infrastructure from the next Russian missile strikes.”

“In a nutshell, Patriots and transformers is what Ukraine needs the most”, he said, referring to the US-made Patriot missile defence system. 

The appeal came as NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of targeting infrastructure in a bid to use the winter as “a weapon of war” against Ukraine.

Stoltenberg said NATO allies had pledged more support for Ukraine to fix its infrastructure and would keep on sending arms and air defences to help it better protect itself.

He said there was an “ongoing discussion” on supplying the Patriot systems that Washington and others have so far refused to give to Kyiv.

“NATO is not a party to the war. But we will continue to support Ukraine. For as long as it takes, we will not back down,” Stoltenberg said. 

He said he expected Russia to carry out more attacks on Ukraine’s grid as the Kremlin suffers defeats on the ground and warned Europe should “be prepared for more refugees”.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has announced a package worth $53 million “to support acquisition of critical electricity grid equipment” by Kyiv.

A senior US official said the assistance would not be the last and pointed out that the Biden administration had budgeted $1.1 billion for energy spending in Ukraine and neighbouring Moldova.

– ‘Keep calm, give tanks’ –

Allies have given arms worth billions of dollars to Ukraine, but Kyiv is pleading for more air defence, tanks and longer-range missiles to push the Kremlin’s forces back.

But there are growing concerns that weapon stores in some NATO countries are running low as stockpiles have been diverted to Ukraine.

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said his request to fellow NATO ministers was simple: “Keep calm and give tanks”. 

Germany, which currently chairs the G7, convened a meeting on the sidelines of the NATO gathering to discuss the energy crisis caused by the war in Ukraine.

Germany’s foreign minister Annalena Baerbock said the participants had looked to “better understand and prioritise the most urgent needs” ahead of an international conference in Paris on December 13.

Separately, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and said Germany would dispatch 350 generators and provide financial assistance to repair energy infrastructure worth 56 million euros ($57 million).

Zelensky said they had discussed cooperation, both bilateral and in international institutions.

“The priorities are clear — protection against missile terror, energy restoration, food security,” Zelensky said in his daily video address late Tuesday, noting that “the situation at the front is difficult”.

“Despite extremely big Russian losses, the occupiers are still trying to advance in the Donetsk region, gain a foothold in the Luhansk region, move in the Kharkiv region, they are planning something in the south,” he said.

“But we are holding out.”

– ‘Door is open’ –

NATO said the meeting in Bucharest has showcased its unity on continuing to support Ukraine as Moscow’s war against its neighbour drags into its 10th month.

The alliance did not, however, make any progress on Ukraine’s request to join, despite reiterating it remained committed to its pledge made some 14 years ago that Kyiv would one day become a member.

Stoltenberg insisted the “door is open” to new members but said the focus now was on assisting Ukraine in its fight with Moscow.

Oleksiy Arestovych, an aide to the Ukrainian president, said “several concrete and important announcements were made” at the summit.

“Ukraine can become a member of the alliance after the end of hostilities” and “support to Ukraine will be expanded in terms of energy and military,” he noted in a statement.

Besides the war in Ukraine, the ministers will take stock of progress in the accession of NATO candidates Finland and Sweden, already ratified by 28 of the 30 member countries but which remains suspended awaiting a green light from Hungary and Turkey.

The Finnish, Swedish and Turkish foreign ministers met on the sidelines of the meeting, but Ankara did not signal that there had been any progress. 

A man convicted of murder was put to death in the midwestern US state of Missouri on Tuesday in an execution that his 19-year-old daughter was barred from witnessing.

Kevin Johnson, a 37-year-old African American man, was sentenced to death for the 2005 murder of a white policeman in a suburb of St Louis.

Johnson was executed by lethal injection in a prison in the town of Bonne Terre, the Missouri Department of Corrections said. It said he was pronounced dead at 7:40 pm local time (0040 GMT).

Johnson was the 17th inmate put to death in the United States this year.

Johnson’s daughter, Corionsa “Khorry” Ramey, sued to be allowed to witness her father’s execution but a federal court turned down her request because she is below the minimum state age of 21.

“I’m heartbroken that I won’t be able to be with my dad in his last moments,” Ramey said in a statement following the court decision.

“My dad is the most important person in my life,” she said. “He has been there for me my whole life, even though he’s been incarcerated.”

Johnson was convicted of shooting and killing a white police sergeant on July 5, 2005, two hours after the death of Johnson’s 12-year-old brother from a seizure.

Police officers were at the family home at the time to serve an arrest warrant for Johnson and he blamed the police for his brother’s death.

Johnson’s lawyers filed last-minute appeals in a bid to save his life, arguing that his 2007 conviction was tainted by racial discrimination.

A special prosecutor appointed to look into the case asked for a stay of execution, citing evidence of racial discrimination on the part of the state prosecutor.

But the Missouri Supreme Court rejected the request late Monday.

Two leaders of the far-right Oath Keepers militia, including founder Stewart Rhodes, were found guilty of sedition on Tuesday in the most high-profile case yet stemming from the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol by supporters of then-president Donald Trump.

A federal jury convicted Rhodes, 57, and Kelly Meggs, 53, leader of the militia’s Florida chapter, of the rarely pursued charge of seditious conspiracy, which carries up to 20 years in prison.

The 12-person jury acquitted three other members of the Oath Keepers — Kenneth Harrelson, Jessica Watkins and Thomas Caldwell — who faced the sedition charge, but it convicted them of lesser offenses such as obstructing an official proceeding.

Rhodes, an eyepatch-wearing former soldier and Yale law school graduate, and the four other group members were accused of plotting to keep Trump in power and overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election won by Democrat Joe Biden.

During the nearly two-week trial in Washington, prosecutors said the Oath Keepers “concocted a plan for an armed rebellion… plotting to oppose by force the government of the United States.”

Hundreds of Trump supporters have been arrested for their roles in the assault on Congress but they have faced less serious charges than those lodged against Rhodes and the other Oath Keepers.

The jury deliberated for three days before reaching a verdict in the case, which the defendants characterized as a political trial carried out by the Biden administration against supporters of Trump, who has announced plans to run for the White House again in 2024.

US Attorney General Merrick Garland named a special counsel this month to oversee the investigation into Trump’s own efforts to overturn the election result and the attack on Congress by his supporters.

The special counsel will also take over the Justice Department’s probe into a cache of classified government documents seized in an FBI raid on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida in August.

– ‘Off-mission’ –

A not-guilty verdict on the sedition counts for all five defendants would have been a setback for the Department of Justice, which plans to try members of the Proud Boys, another right-wing extremist group, on the same charges.

The verdict was hailed by the congressional committee investigating the Capitol assault.

“Today’s convictions are a victory for the rule of law and reinforce the fact that the violence of January 6th included a deliberate attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election and block the transfer of presidential power,” a statement from the committee’s chairs, Democratic Congressman Bennie Thompson and Republican Liz Cheney, said.

Edward Tarpley, an attorney for Rhodes, said he was “disappointed.”

“There was no evidence introduced indicating that there was a plan to attack the Capitol,” Tarpley told reporters.

During the trial, prosecutors accused the Oath Keepers of stocking weapons at a hotel near Washington and joining the crowd that stormed the Capitol in a bid to block the certification by Congress of Biden’s election victory.

Prosecutors showed videos of the attack by dozens of group members dressed in military-style combat gear.

Prosecutors also showed the jury text messages between Rhodes and his followers that called for action if Trump himself failed to act to prevent certification of Biden as the next president.

Rhodes did not personally enter the Capitol but directed his followers like a battlefield general, prosecutors said.

Rhodes took the witness stand during the trial and denied his group planned to assault the congressional complex, saying they were in Washington only to provide security at rallies.

“It was not part of our mission for that day to enter the Capitol for any reason,” Rhodes said.

Speaking in military jargon, he admitted that a number of Oath Keepers went “off-mission” and entered the building. 

He said Meggs, the Florida chapter head, was “an idiot” for taking his people inside.

“I think it was stupid to go into the Capitol. It opened the door for the political persecution of us. And that’s where we are,” Rhodes told the court.