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US President Donald Trump geared up to unveil sweeping new “Liberation Day” tariffs on Wednesday in a move that threatens to ignite a devastating global trade war.Key US trading partners including the European Union and Britain said they were preparing their responses to Trump’s escalation, as nervous markets fell in Europe and America.Trump will unveil the levies in a grand ceremony with his cabinet members in the White House Rose Garden — just as Wall Street stocks close at 4:00 pm (2000 GMT).”IT’S LIBERATION DAY IN AMERICA!” Trump posted a one-liner on his Truth Social platform early Wednesday.The 78-year-old has promised so-called reciprocal tariffs on friends and foes alike if they target the world’s largest economy, saying the levies will stop the United States being “ripped off.”But Trump has kept the world guessing until the last minute about the scale and scope, with the White House saying he was still “perfecting” them with just hours to go.Reports say he could either hit countries with tit-for-tat tariffs, impose blanket 20 percent tariffs — or, more probably, give some countries preferential treatment depending on their deficits.The Republican president said in his last public appearance Monday that he would be “very kind” but gave little away.- ‘Tug-of-war’ -Critics say US businesses and consumers could bear the burden if importers pass on the cost, adding that the policy could increase risks of a recession.”If this trade war continues through Labor Day (on September 1), the US economy will likely suffer a recession this year,” Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics, told AFP.Trump’s long-awaited announcement is also causing global turmoil, with stock markets jittery for days and countries in the crosshairs scrambling to decide how to react.European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde warned Wednesday that whatever steps other countries take “it will be negative anyway the world over.”America’s neighbors Mexico and Canada, whose economies are closely linked with the United States, are those that could suffer the most from a bruising trade war.”I understand that it’s a game of tug-of-war,” truck driver Alejandro Espinoza told AFP as he waited in a queue to cross the Mexican-US border. “But unfortunately, we’re the ones who pay in the end.” Major economies have however vowed retribution The European Union will react to new Trump tariffs “before the end of April,” said a French government spokeswoman.The 27-nation bloc’s initial salvo would counter US actions on steel and aluminum, followed by sector-by-sector measures.British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who has made intense but so far fruitless efforts to win a carve-out from Trump, said a “trade war is in nobody’s interests.” “We have prepared for all eventualities — and we will rule nothing out,” he told parliament.- ‘Rebirth’ -Germany warned Wednesday that trade wars hurt “both sides.”Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney, who goes into elections later this month dominated by tensions with Trump, said his country would be “very deliberate” in its response.The White House said Trump’s tariffs would come into effect “immediately” after Wednesday’s announcement, effectively ruling out delays for negotiations.Sweeping auto tariffs of 25 percent are due to take effect April 3, after Trump earlier imposed duties on steel and aluminum imports and goods from China.But Trump has wobbled on several other tariff announcements since returning to office in January, blinking at the last minute with allies such as Canada and Mexico.The billionaire has had a long love affair with tariffs, insisting in the face of experts that they are a cure-all for America’s trade imbalances and economic ills.Trump insists the levies will bring a “rebirth” of America’s hollowed-out manufacturing capacity, and says companies can avoid tariffs by moving to the United States.The tariffs meanwhile underscore the growing and profound gulf between Trump’s America and many of its closest allies, not only on trade but on security, defense and almost everything else.burs-dk/gv

A California man who flew across the country with a plan to assassinate a conservative US Supreme Court judge will plead guilty to the attempted killing, lawyers said Wednesday in a court filing.Nicholas Roske, 29, was arrested in June 2022 outside Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s house in a Maryland suburb of the US capital carrying a semi-automatic Glock 17 pistol, a knife and tactical vest, according to documents filed earlier in federal court.He told officials at the time he was upset about mass shootings and looming Supreme Court rulings on abortion and gun rights.In a letter to a federal judge in Maryland filed on Wednesday, public defenders for Roske said he has agreed to plead guilty to the charge of attempting to a assassinate a justice of the United States.An attached letter said Roske intended to kill Kavanaugh and “took a substantial step” toward actually doing it.Roske faces a maximum punishment of life in prison and a $250,000 fine, the letter said.He had been scheduled to go on trial in June.Roske was spotted outside Kavanaugh’s house by two US Marshals standing guard.He walked away and called emergency services, telling them he was feeling suicidal and had come from California to kill Kavanaugh, according to court documents. Roske was arrested without incident by local police while he was still on the phone.He later told police “that he was upset about the leak of a recent Supreme Court draft decision regarding the right to abortion, as well as the recent school shooting in Uvalde, Texas,” an FBI affidavit said at the time.In a landmark ruling, the high court went on to overturn the long-standing federal right to abortion in America.”Roske indicated that he believed the justice that he intended to kill would side with Second Amendment decisions that would loosen gun control laws,” the affidavit added.Appointed by Donald Trump during his first term as president, Kavanaugh is one of six justices in the court’s conservative wing, against three progressives.

Tesla reported a 13 percent drop in first quarter auto sales Wednesday amid lower production during factory upgrades and blowback over CEO Elon Musk’s work for President Donald Trump’s administration.Musk’s electric vehicle company delivered 336,681 autos in the quarter ending March 31, missing analyst expectations, as it pointed to the “loss of several weeks of production” while it ramps up upgrades for its Model Y output.Tesla shares fell more than six percent in early trading but later partially rebounded.The weak car sales add to questions about Musk’s continued stewardship at the automaker, which has been targeted for consumer boycotts and vandalism as the billionaire has helped engineer thousands of job cuts across the US government.Wedbush’s Dan Ives, a prominent technology analyst who has been a longtime believer in Tesla’s growth potential, called the figures “a disaster on every metric,” according to a note.”It’s a fork in the road moment,” said Ives, who has called for Musk to publicly outline how he is balancing his Tesla commitments with his work for Trump.”The more political he gets… the more the brand suffers, there is no debate. This quarter was an example of the damage Musk is causing Tesla,” he added.”This continues to be a moment of truth for Musk to navigate this brand tornado crisis moment and get onto the other side of this dark chapter for Tesla.”Ives and other long-term Tesla bulls have viewed the company as poised for potentially massive growth, viewing Musk as a guru in state-of-the-art autonomous driving and artificial intelligence technology expected to play a growing role for the foreseeable future.While Tesla’s release Wednesday did not break out sales for the Cybertruck, the figures suggest anemic sales for the futuristic vehicle, which Musk has passionately embraced. In March, Tesla announced it was recalling essentially all of the Cybertrucks because of a defect that can lead an exterior panel to detach, posing a crash risk.Tesla also did not specify deliveries by country, but figures from national auto authorities have shown big drops across Europe, where Musk’s association with Trump has sparked criticism.In March alone, Tesla sales fell by more than one-third in France, and almost two-thirds in Sweden. Sales fell 56 percent in Denmark in the first quarter.Tesla shareholder Ross Gerber of Gerber Kawasaki Wealth and Investment Management, who has previously called for the board to remove Musk as CEO, slammed the figure on X, the former Twitter platform now owned by Musk.”These numbers suck,” Gerber posted. “The Cybertruck is basically not selling. The brand is broken and may not be fixable. The board of directors is 100 percent responsible.”Near 1440 GMT, Tesla shares were down 2.7 percent. 

US President Donald Trump is poised to unveil sweeping new “Liberation Day” tariffs on Wednesday, but kept the world guessing until the last minute about the scope of an onslaught that could spark a global trade war.Trump will unveil the measures flanked by cabinet members in the Rose Garden of the White House at 4:00 pm (2000 GMT) — after Wall Street markets close — promising that they will stop America being “ripped off” and will deliver a new “golden age” of US industry.While Trump insisted he had decided on the reciprocal tariffs hitting countries that have targeted the world’s biggest economy, the White House admitted he was still ironing out details hours before the announcement.Early Wednesday, Trump posted a one-liner on his Truth Social platform: “It’s Liberation Day in America!”The Republican billionaire has had a long love affair with tariffs, insisting in the face of economic experts that they are a cure-all that will tackle America’s trade imbalances with friends and foes alike.Critics say US businesses and consumers could bear the burden if importers pass on the cost, adding that the policy could increase risks of a recession.”If this trade war continues through Labor Day (on September 1), the US economy will likely suffer a recession this year,” Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics, told AFP.Global markets have been jittery for days ahead of Trump’s announcement, while the countries most likely in the crosshairs have called for talks — even as they ready retaliatory measures.- ‘Immediately’ -The move also underscores the growing and profound gulf between Trump’s America and many of its closest allies, not only on trade but on security, defense and almost everything else.The 78-year-old US president has trailed the measures for weeks, initially suggesting that the tariffs would simply match whatever levies other countries impose.He said Monday that he would be “very kind” but gave little away.As the deadline approached, US media reported that he had been considering blanket 20 percent tariffs — and then that he was looking at a third option where some countries would get preferential treatment.A broad 20 percent tariff on imports could cost the average US household at least $3,400, according to the Budget Lab at Yale University.White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump was meeting top advisors on the eve of his announcement, “to make sure this is a perfect deal.”The tariffs would come into effect “immediately” after Wednesday’s roll-out, she said, effectively ruling out delays for negotiations with other countries.Trump has wobbled on several other tariff announcements since returning to office in January, blinking at the last minute with allies such as Canada and Mexico.His plans have however sparked growing fears of a painful global trade war that could drive up prices and cause widespread disruption.European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde warned Wednesday the impacts will “unsettle the trade world as we know it,” speaking with Irish radio station Newstalk.- Hurting both sides -Major economies including the European Union and Canada have vowed retaliation.The EU will react to new tariffs “before the end of April,” said the French government spokeswoman.An initial response planned for mid-April counters US action on steel and aluminum, and this will be followed by a sector-by-sector study.The spokeswoman said: “A European decision should be announced before the end of April.”Germany warned Wednesday that trade wars hurt “both sides.””We are going to be very deliberate in terms of the measures we take,” Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Tuesday.Elsewhere, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke with Trump on talks towards a trade deal, while Vietnam said it would slash duties on various goods.Other top exporters are seeking to build up alliances to counter Washington, with China, Japan and South Korea speeding up talks on a free trade agreement.The former property tycoon insists the levies will bring a “rebirth” of America’s hollowed-out manufacturing capacity, and says companies can avoid tariffs by moving to the United States.Sweeping auto tariffs of 25 percent are due to take effect April 3, after Trump earlier imposed duties on steel and aluminum imports and goods from China.

The United States is increasing the number of aircraft carriers deployed in the Middle East to two, keeping one that is already there and sending another from the Indo-Pacific, the Pentagon said Tuesday.The announcement comes as US forces hammer Yemen’s Huthi rebels with near-daily air strikes in a campaign aimed at ending the threat they pose to civilian shipping and military vessels in the region.The Carl Vinson will join the Harry S. Truman in the Middle East “to continue promoting regional stability, deter aggression, and protect the free flow of commerce in the region,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement.”To complement the CENTCOM maritime posture, the secretary also ordered the deployment of additional squadrons and other air assets that will further reinforce our defensive air-support capabilities,” Parnell said, referring to the US military command responsible for the region.”The United States and its partners remain committed to regional security in the CENTCOM (area of responsibility) and are prepared to respond to any state or non-state actor seeking to broaden or escalate conflict in the region,” he added.The Huthis began targeting shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden after the start of the Gaza war in 2023, claiming solidarity with Palestinians.Huthi attacks have prevented ships from passing through the Suez Canal, a vital route that normally carries about 12 percent of world shipping traffic. Ongoing attacks are forcing many companies into a costly detour around the tip of southern Africa.- ‘Real pain’ -A day before the carrier announcement, US President Donald Trump vowed that strikes on Yemen’s Huthis would continue until they are no longer a threat to shipping.”The choice for the Huthis is clear: Stop shooting at US ships, and we will stop shooting at you. Otherwise, we have only just begun, and the real pain is yet to come, for both the Huthis and their sponsors in Iran,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform.Trump added that the Huthis had been “decimated” by “relentless” strikes since March 15, saying that US forces “hit them every day and night — Harder and harder.”On Wednesday, the Huthis accused the United States of killing four people in fresh air strikes on Hodeida province.The US president has also ramped up rhetoric towards Tehran, threatening that “there will be bombing” if Iran does not reach a deal on its nuclear program.Satellite images seen by AFP showed that Washington had between March 26 and Wednesday doubled the number of B-2 bombers at a US-UK military base in the Indian Ocean, from three to six.The photos from imaging company Planet Labs PBC also showed the presence of six Stratotanker in-flight refuelling aircraft at the Diego Garcia base, within range of Iran.Trump’s threats come as his administration battles a scandal over the accidental leak of a secret group chat by senior security officials on the Yemen strikes.The Atlantic magazine revealed last week that its editor — a well-known US journalist — was inadvertently included in a chat on the commercially available Signal app where top officials were discussing the strikes.The officials, including Trump’s National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, discussed details of air strike timings and intelligence — unaware that the highly sensitive information was being simultaneously read by a member of the media.

Donald Trump’s second presidency was dealt a spinning blow by voters in Wisconsin Tuesday as they elected a liberal judge to the state’s Supreme Court, despite his billionaire advisor Elon Musk pouring millions into the race to sway the polls.Liberal judge Susan Crawford soundly defeated Trump-backed Brad Schimel with more than 95 percent of the vote tallied, according to US media.”Wisconsin stood up and said loudly that justice does not have a price,” Crawford said in her victory speech after the most expensive judicial contest in US history. Republicans had pursued an all-out effort to flip the Wisconsin state Supreme Court — which rules on things like voting district boundaries — with Musk pouring $25 million into the race and traveling to Wisconsin.”The long con of the left is corruption of the judiciary,” Musk posted on his social media platform as results poured in. Trump appeared to ignore the outcome on social media, highlighting a separate Wisconsin ballot initiative requiring voters to present photo identification to cast a ballot.”Voter I.D. just approved in Wisconsin election…this is a big win for Republicans, maybe the biggest win of the night,” he posted on TruthSocial late Tuesday.And he celebrated a pair of House races in Florida on the same day, where two deeply conservative districts stayed in Republican hands, even if the margins were narrower than in 2024.- ‘Fate of civilization’ -Musk, who has spearheaded Trump’s attempts to gut much of the US government in a right-wing cost-cutting drive, had personally campaigned for Schimel.The highlight of his weekend visit to the upper Midwestern state reprised a tactic seen during his efforts to help Trump defeat Democrat Kamala Harris in November — handing out money to anyone who signed a petition against so-called “activist judges.”Progressive Senator Bernie Sanders told voters on X they had “the power to REJECT Musk and the oligarchy buying our elections.”After Crawford’s win, he said Wisconsin “defeated the wealthiest person on earth.”In Florida, two seats in the US House of Representatives were up for grabs to fill vacancies in Republican strongholds, left by Trump’s National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and failed nominee for attorney general, Matt Gaetz.On Tuesday evening, US media called the race for Florida’s sixth district in favor of Republican Randy Fine, with Trump tweeting: “Congratulations Randy, a great WIN against a massive CASH AVALANCHE.”Shortly after, media outlets also called the special election in Florida’s first district for Trump-backed Republican Jimmy Patronis.Democrats, adrift since losing the presidency to Trump and both chambers of Congress in November, had hoped a decent showing in Florida and a win in Wisconsin could spark a comeback.But in Florida, they were defeated by double-digit percentage margins in both special elections.Trump took credit for his party’s victory in both deep red districts, posting on social media that “the Trump endorsement, as always, proved far greater than the Democrats forces of evil.”But House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries offered an optimistic view, telling broadcaster MSNBC that the smaller margins in districts won handily by Trump “should have my Republican colleagues quaking in their boots.”- Big stakes, bigger money -Illustrating the stakes of the contest in Wisconsin, the race set a spending record — much of that in advertising and attempts, particularly by Musk, to drive turnout.Musk, who spent roughly $277 million on Trump’s 2024 election campaign, presented checks of $1 million to two voters and $100 each to other voters who signed his petition.According to the Brennan Center for Justice, more than $53.3 million has been spent by Schimel and his backers, including $12.2 million from Musk’s America PAC.Crawford’s campaign and those backing her have spent an estimated $45.1 million.The spending has made the Wisconsin race the most expensive in US judicial history, the center said.”Wisconsin beat the billionaire,” said Minnesota Governor and former vice presidential candidate Tim Walz.Billionaire Musk’s Green Bay rally on the weekend drew an enthusiastic crowd, but the South African-born oligarch’s role in Wisconsin elections provoked as much resistance as support.At a pro-Crawford rally, 65-year-old retired electrical engineer Rob Patterson held up a sign showing Musk giving a straight-armed salute.”Our Supreme Court is not for sale,” the sign read.

Val Kilmer, one of the biggest Hollywood actors of the 1990s who shot to fame playing Iceman in the original “Top Gun”, has died aged 65 after a career of memorable hits and on-set bust ups.The cause of death was pneumonia, his daughter Mercedes Kilmer told the New York Times on Tuesday, which was the first publication to announce the news. He battled throat cancer after being diagnosed in 2014 and appeared in the “Top Gun” sequel and a 2021 documentary appearing physically diminished and with a raspy voice. His film credits include blockbusters such as Oliver Stone’s “The Doors,” in which he played Jim Morrison, as well as a short-lived stint as Batman in “Batman Forever” in 1995 opposite Jim Carrey and Tommy Lee Jones.”Once you’re a star, you’re always a star. It’s just ‘what level?'” he told the Hollywood Reporter in an interview in 2012.”And I was in some big, wonderful movies and enjoyed a lot of success, but I didn’t sort of secure that position.”- Tributes-A versatile character actor who also cultivated a theatre career, he toggled between big-budget successes, commercial flops and smaller independent films after his breakout role in “Top Gun” opposite Tom Cruise. Kilmer was superbly cast playing the cocky, square-jawed and mostly silent fighter pilot-in-training Tom “Iceman” Kazansky in the 1986 box office smash hit. After a cameo in Quentin Tarantino-written “True Romance,” Kilmer also went on to star alongside Al Pacino and Robert De Niro in “Heat”.But he developed a reputation as a difficult actor who sometimes clashed with directors and co-stars. A 1996 Entertainment Weekly cover story dubbed Kilmer “The Man Hollywood Loves to Hate,” depicting him as a sometimes surly eccentric with exasperating work habits.”Hollywood and our business, it’s a very social business, and I never tried to be involved in the community of it,” he conceded in a 2012 interview with The Hollywood Reporter. Tributes flowed in on Tuesday from some of his past directors, however.Francis Ford Coppola, who worked with him for “Twixt”, wrote that Kilmer “was a wonderful person to work with and a joy to know”, while “Heat” director Michael Mann also praised his range and “brilliant variability.””After so many years of Val battling disease and maintaining his spirit, this is tremendously sad news,” Mann wrote on Instagram.The official “Top Gun” account on X posted a picture of Kilmer as Iceman, saying he had left an “indelible cinematic mark”. – ‘ Magical life’ -Born Val Edward Kilmer on New Year’s Eve 1959, he began acting in commercials as a child.Kilmer was the youngest person ever accepted to the drama department at New York’s fabled Juilliard school, and made his Broadway debut in 1983 alongside Sean Penn and Kevin Bacon.Having fallen out of favor after the turn of the century, he was mounting a comeback in the 2010s with a successful stage show about Mark Twain that he hoped to turn into a film when he was struck by cancer. “Val,” an intimate documentary about Kilmer’s stratospheric rise and later fall in Hollywood, premiered at the Cannes film festival in 2021 and showed him struggling for air after a tracheotomy. It also hinted at his frustration at signing autographs at conventions which, as he put it, was like “selling his old self.” Kilmer “has the aura of a man who was dealt his cosmic comeuppance and came through it,” US publication Variety wrote of the film. “He fell from stardom, maybe from grace, but he did it his way.”When he reprised his role as “Iceman” in the long-awaited sequel “Top Gun: Maverick,” Kilmer’s real-life health issues, and rasp of voice, were written into the character.”Instead of treating Kilmer — and, indeed, the entire notion of Top Gun — as a throwaway nostalgia object, he’s given a celluloid swan song that’ll stand the test of time,” GQ wrote.On his website, Kilmer had described himself as leading a “magical life.””For more than half a century, I have been honing my art, no matter the medium. Be it literature, movies, poetry, painting, music, or tracking exotic and beautiful wildlife,” he wrote.According to the Times, he is survived by two children, Mercedes and Jack Kilmer. 

Virginia Giuffre, who accused disgraced US financier Jeffrey Epstein and Britain’s Prince Andrew of sexual abuse, is in a stable condition after a reported car crash in Australia, the hospital treating her said Wednesday.Giuffre, a US and Australian citizen, was injured on March 24 in a crash between her car and a school bus in Western Australia, according to her agent Dini von Mueffling.She is now “stable” and being treated at the Charles Gairdner Hospital in Perth, a hospital spokesperson told AFP, declining to give further details.Her agent earlier said Giuffre was “banged up and bruised” after a school bus hit her car but that police were unavailable to attend and she initially went home.An Instagram post in Giuffre’s name this week included a photo of her apparently lying in a hospital bed with bruises and grazing around her left eye, forehead and nose.”I think it important to note that when a school bus driver comes at you driving 110 km (70 miles per hour) as we were slowing for a turn that no matter what your car is made of it might as well be a tin can,” she wrote.”I’ve gone into kidney renal failure, they’ve given me four days to live, transferring me to a specialist hospital in urology. I’m ready to go, just not until I see my babies one last time.”Addressing the comments, Giuffre’s agent said only that “Virginia thought that she had posted on her private Facebook page.”Western Australia police said there was a “minor crash” between a school bus carrying 29 children and another vehicle in the farming area of Neergabby north of Perth on March 24.”There were no injuries reported to us,” the state’s road police commander Mike Bell told reporters Wednesday.Police could not confirm they had received any calls about the collision, he said, adding that they were not required to go to road accidents without injuries.- Police investigating -“We did not attend that crash, which does not surprise me because it was reported the following day by the bus driver. So we did not know about it at the time,” Bell said.Police had called people involved in the “low-level crash” and were investigating further, he said.The accident caused no damage to the bus and about Aus$2,000 (US$1,300) to the car, “which is not a lot these days because of the cost of repairing cars,” the police commander said.Asked if the bus was travelling 110 kilometres per hour, he said the damage was “minor” and “the report that has been filed has no suggestion of travelling anywhere near that speed”.Giuffre accused the late US billionaire Epstein of using her as a sex slave. Prince Andrew repeatedly denied her allegation of sexual assault when she was 17 and avoided trial by paying a multimillion-dollar settlement.

The United States said Tuesday it has approved the possible sale of $5.58 billion in F-16 fighter jets to the Philippines, as Washington backs its ally in rising tensions over China.The State Department said it was green-lighting a sale that includes 20 F-16 jets and related equipment to the Philippines, a treaty-bound ally of the United States.The sale would “improve the security of a strategic partner that continues to be an important force for political stability, peace and economic progress in Southeast Asia,” a State Department statement said.It would also boost “the Philippine Air Force’s ability to conduct maritime domain awareness” and “enhance its suppression of enemy air defenses,” the statement said.The news follows months of increasing confrontations between the Philippines and China in the South China Sea, which Beijing claims almost in its entirety despite an international ruling that its assertion has no merit.A State Department spokesperson said Wednesday that the deal would be final only after “a signed Letter of Offer and Acceptance” was received from the “purchasing partner”. Philippine defense department spokesman Arsenio Andolong told AFP he had “not received any official notice of such a decision.”But China warned Manila against the purchase, saying the Philippines was “threatening” regional peace.”The Philippines’ defense and security cooperation with other countries should not target any third party or harm the interests of a third party. Nor should it threaten regional peace and security or exacerbate regional tensions,” foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said.Manila and Washington have deepened their defense cooperation since President Ferdinand Marcos took office in 2022 and began pushing back on Beijing’s sweeping South China Sea claims.In December, the Philippines angered China when it said it planned to acquire the US mid-range Typhon missile system in a push to secure its maritime interests.Beijing warned such a purchase could spark a regional “arms race”.- ‘Inevitably’ involved -President Donald Trump’s administration has sought to redirect US military efforts to Asia to face a rising China, especially as tensions rise over Taiwan, and to lessen involvement in Europe despite Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.On Tuesday, as Chinese ships and warplanes surrounded Taiwan in a simulated blockade, Philippines military chief General Romeo Brawner said his country would “inevitably” be involved should the self-ruled island be invaded.”Start planning for actions in case there is an invasion of Taiwan,” he told troops in northern Luzon island, without naming the potential invader.”Because if something happens to Taiwan, inevitably we will be involved.”He also said that the bulk of this month’s joint military exercises would be conducted in northern Luzon, the part of the Philippines nearest Taiwan. “These are the areas where we perceive the possibility of an attack. I do not want to sound alarmist, but we have to prepare,” he added.Asked about Brawner’s comments, Beijing foreign ministry spokesman Guo said resolving “the Taiwan issue is a matter for the Chinese people.” “We advise certain individuals in the Philippines not to play with fire or make provocations on the Taiwan issue — those who play with fire will only get burned,” he said.On a visit to Manila last week, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth vowed to “reestablish deterrence in the Indo-Pacific region” in light of “threats from the Communist Chinese.”Secretary of State Marco Rubio has also reiterated US defense commitments to the Philippines, a contrast to the Trump administration’s frequent talk of “freeloading” off the United States by allies in Europe.

El Salvador’s pugilistic president has become a key partner for US President Donald Trump’s in-your-face campaign to deport migrants, with both men hoping to reap the political benefits.Through a rollout of slickly produced videos featuring chained and tattooed men roughly escorted off planes, Nayib Bukele has won the US president’s attention and admiration.”Thank you President Bukele, of El Salvador, for taking the criminals that were so stupidly allowed, by the Crooked Joe Biden Administration, to enter our country, and giving them such a wonderful place to live!” Trump posted on Monday on his TruthSocial platform.His comments were accompanied by the latest video posted by Bukele featuring heavily staged, militaristic and confrontational clips of migrants arriving in the Central American nation. Trump’s appreciation was quickly reciprocated: “Grateful for your words, President Trump. Onward together!” Bukele posted. To cement the relationship, the pair will meet at the White House this month, with Bukele promising to bring “several cans of Diet Coke” for his famously soda-thirsty host. But behind the hardman camaraderie lies raw politics.For Bukele, accepting hundreds of deportees from the United States “consolidates his image as the leader who transformed security in El Salvador” said Migration Policy Institute analyst Diego Chaves-Gonzalez. – Gang crackdown -Since coming to power in 2019, Bukele has subdued his once gang-plagued nation of about six million people. Dispensing with warrants and due process, he jailed almost two percent of the population and brought the murder rate down from more than 6,500 a year to just 114, according to official figures. Security remains central to the “iron fist” political brand that makes Bukele one of the most popular politicians on the planet — with a domestic approval rating hovering above 85 percent.  Welcoming Trump deportees to El Salvador’s mega jail CECOT has not just made Bukele a friend in the White House, but also allowed the 43-year-old president to put the signature 40,000-prisoner jail on full display. The sprawling facility’s austere concrete walls and army of masked guards have featured prominently in videos produced by Bukele’s government.  Trump’s Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem even visited CECOT, posing in front of a cell overflowing with seemingly dead-eyed and heavily tattooed men. – ‘Propaganda’ -Both Bukele and Trump have enthusiastically shared pictures of prisoners shackled, shorn and manhandled while simultaneously highlighting and rejecting objections from judges and opponents.In that sense, Trump appears to be echoing Bukele’s political imagery to appeal to his own base of US voters. “It is a sign that Trump is interested in ‘iron fist’ propaganda and disobeying judicial rulings,” said Salvadoran political analyst Napoleon Campos.That heavy-handed approach has its risks. The White House was forced into an embarrassing admission on Tuesday that an “administrative error” had seen a Salvadoran man living in the United States under protected legal status swept up in the hurried deportation process and sent to Bukele’s prison.Even so, a recent CBS poll showed 53 percent of voters, and an overwhelming majority of Republicans, approve of Trump’s handling of immigration — a higher approval rating than he receives on the economy. Aside from political benefits for both men, there is a potential security and economic boon for Bukele.His government received six million dollars for taking deportees, a fee that Bukele described as “a very low fee for them, but a high one for us.” He also received more than 20 allegedly high-ranking members of El Salvador’s most notorious gang MS-13, who were being held in the United States. Bukele claimed that would help “finalize intelligence gathering and go after the last remnants of MS-13, including its former and new members, money, weapons, drugs, hideouts, collaborators, and sponsors.” And there is the promise of US investment in El Salvador, a country which still has a per capita income comparable to Iraq or war-ravaged Ukraine.When he heads to the White House this month, Bukele will be hoping for more than warm words and a few cans of Diet Coke as payback for his support.