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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 “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 American government vessels through the canal for free after talks last weekend between Mulino and Trump’s 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.”Speaking Thursday in the Dominican Republic, Rubio argued that it was “absurd” for US naval vessels to have to pay “to transit a zone we are obligated to protect in time of conflict.”He stopped short however of claiming that an agreement had been reached. The Panama Canal Authority (PCA), an independent body that runs the waterway, said it had “not made any adjustments” to its tariffs but 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 50-mile (80-kilometer) long canal, which handles five 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.

Mexican armed troops guard the fence snaking along the US border as part of a deal with President Donald Trump, who delayed tariffs on Mexico in exchange for increased efforts against illegal migration and fentanyl smuggling.But locals are skeptical the soldiers will make a difference so far as drug trafficking is concerned.”It’s just a way of trying to look good so they don’t raise tariffs. They are political agreements,” said Armando Jauregui, a 35-year-old Mexican who works at a duty-free shop next to the Tijuana-San Diego border crossing, one of the world’s busiest.”It will be business as usual, even with more police here. If you catch one Chapo, tomorrow another Chapo will appear,” he told AFP, referring to infamous drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.Almost 2,000 extra troops were assigned to Tijuana, just south of California, as part of the 10,000-strong border reinforcement that President Claudia Sheinbaum pledged on Monday under the deal with Trump.Members of the National Guard were seen arriving by plane in Tijuana and other cities along the frontier.They quickly got to work guarding and patrolling the border, searching for clandestine tunnels used to smuggle migrants and drugs including the deadly opioid fentanyl.In return, Trump agreed to put 25-percent tariffs on Mexican goods on pause for a month.Mexico has pledged to successive US administrations to tackle illegal flows of drugs and migrants, and US border states already had a heavy security presence including thousands of troops.- ‘Pretty pointless’ -Tijuana is on the frontline of this high-profile effort to reduce the illegal flow of drugs and migrants across a border that stretches nearly 3,150 kilometers (2,000 miles).Equipped with assault rifles and with their faces covered, members of the National Guard stood watch near Tijuana’s beach — a popular spot for locals and tourists.Jose Luis Zuniga, an arts and crafts vendor, said there had been a noticeable increase in the security presence since Trump took office.”There’s a lot of National Guard around at the moment,” as well as members of other branches of the security forces, the 73-year-old said.Baja California, which is home to Tijuana, was Mexico’s second most violent state in 2024 with 2,368 murders — 7.9 percent of the national total, according to official figures. Several hundred thousand people have been killed since Mexico deployed the army to combat trafficking in 2006, according to official figures.Faced with the spiraling violence and power wielded by ultra-violent drug cartels, Zuniga said he thinks having extra troops on patrol in Tijuana “is pretty pointless.””They are just checking people don’t try to cross (the border). But you don’t see drugs going across here or anything like that… There must be another way to cross,” he said.US Marines have also been seen unrolling barbed wire to strengthen the border fence since Trump took office.The Republican ordered the deployment of 1,500 additional soldiers to the frontier, declaring a “national emergency.”Araceli Lopez, a restaurant worker, had a front-row view of the marines’ work, which took place in front of her home along the border fence.”They are here welding, putting up barbed wire. They have been here for four days now, and it’s so noisy,” the 35-year-old said, adding that she opposed Trump’s migration policies.”We Mexicans are hard-working. We go (to the United States) in search of a better life,” Lopez said.”They don’t see it that way. But the truth is we only go there to work.”

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.”

More than two million US federal workers were hours away from a deadline Thursday to quit with eight months’ pay or risk being fired on the spot in a plan by billionaire Elon Musk to gut the civil service.Musk, the world’s richest person and a top donor to President Donald Trump, is in charge of a free-ranging Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) that aims to radically downsize federal agencies.The most dramatic element so far has been a push to encourage employees to leave by midnight Thursday. According to US media, a small proportion of staffers — up to 40,000 — had so far accepted the deal.The initiative has caused consternation among government workers, who face daily verbal attacks by Trump administration officials.Unions and Democrats have challenged the legality of threats to fire civil servants.A federal judge in Massachusetts was to hold a hearing Thursday on a lawsuit by labor unions requesting an injunction against Musk’s midnight deadline. The unions backing the suit represent some 800,000 civil servants.But the campaign has already severely disrupted the huge departments and agencies that for decades have run everything from education to national intelligence.USAID, the government’s huge agency for distributing aid around the world, has been crippled, with foreign-based staff ordered home and the organization’s programs lambasted as wasteful by the White House and right-wing media.Trump has also repeatedly said he wants to shut down the Department of Education, while Musk aides have stoked controversy by accessing a tightly guarded Treasury Department payment system.The inducements to resign have even been extended to the CIA.According to a report in The New York Times, the agency sent a list of the most junior — and easiest to fire — officers to the White House.The Times reported that the list gave only their first names and initials of their surnames, but was sent in an unclassified email, sparking concerns that their identities could easily be discovered by foreign adversaries.In another sign of the scale of cuts intended by Musk’s team, an official with the agency that manages government property said the real estate portfolio, barring Department of Defense buildings, should be cut by “at least 50 percent.”- Buyout questions -Workers considering the buyout offer face considerable uncertainty, including over whether Trump has the legal right to make the offer and whether the conditions will be honored.The plan was first announced in an email sent across most of the vast government and titled “Fork in the road” — the same as one Musk sent to all employees at Twitter when he bought the social media platform in 2022 and renamed it X.Musk says the paid departures are a chance to “take the vacation you always wanted, or just watch movies and chill, while receiving your full government pay and benefits.”But unions warn that without Congress signing off on the use of federally budgeted money, the agreements may be worthless. “Federal employees shouldn’t be misled by slick talk from unelected billionaires and their lackeys,” Everett Kelley, president of the large American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), said in a swipe at Musk.”Despite claims made to the contrary, this deferred resignation scheme is unfunded, unlawful and comes with no guarantees. We won’t stand by and let our members become the victims of this con.”The Massachusetts lawsuit also casts doubt on assertions that workers would be free to look for other jobs during their deferment periods, citing ethics regulations. An employee in the US Office of Personnel Management, where Musk has put his own staff in key positions, said the plan was to encourage resignations through “panic.””It’s not like we’re pursuing some orderly measure to reduce the size of government,” the employee told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.”We’re trying to instill a panic so that people just walk out the door and leave government in a crippled state, which is partly their objective.”

US Democrats forced a delay Thursday in a key vote on Kash Patel’s nomination to lead the FBI amid a mushrooming scandal over Republican “enemies lists” allegedly drawn up to help US President Donald Trump take revenge on his perceived adversaries.The right-wing former lawyer has a long history of promoting misinformation about election fraud and public health, and published a list of 60 Trump critics in a recent book that Democrats say put a target on their backs.His nomination became even more contentious with the eruption of a second “enemies list” controversy this week, as the FBI was forced to identify agents who investigated the 2021 insurrection that led to Trump being impeached and indicted.The Judiciary Committee was set to advance Patel’s nomination to a full vote of the Senate floor but Democrats demanded a second hearing with the nominee, whom they claim withheld information about Trump’s FBI revenge plans.”These actions have political retribution written all over them, and it will get worse if Kash Patel is named FBI director,” said Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer as he slammed the FBI list and the nomination. “The Senate should not rubber-stamp a patently partisan nominee like Kash Patel to lead the FBI… Either Mr. Patel serves the interests of the American people or serves the interests of Donald Trump.”The minority party took advantage of a rule in the Republican-led committee allowing a single delay of a week in any nomination vote.Democrats accused Patel after the hearing of misleading members by downplaying his involvement in a song recorded by insurrectionists who stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021 — and noted that he reposted a social media video depicting him butchering Trump’s critics.”Setting aside how grotesque that is, the idea that a man with the kind of judgment — that he thinks it’s okay to repost imagery of himself chainsawing his political enemies — (it) is not appropriate for an FBI director,” said Rhode Island Senator Sheldon Whitehouse.- ‘Innuendo and misinformation’ -Patel is among a number of Trump intelligence and law enforcement nominees who have been assailed over character flaws, their lack of experience and poor judgment in a series of showstopping Senate confirmation hearings.Patel’s committee approval hearing will now likely take place next Thursday, with two Republican “no” votes enough to stop his nomination from making it to the Senate floor with a favorable report.But Trump has enormous sway over Republicans in Congress and the party’s senators have shown little appetite for objecting to the figures picked to staff the Republican leader’s national security team.There were fiery exchanges at Patel’s confirmation hearing on January 30 as Democrats brought up a list of 60 supposed “deep state” actors — all critics of Trump — he included in a 2022 book, whom he said should be investigated or “otherwise reviled.”Patel has denied that he has an “enemies list” and told the committee he was merely interested in bringing lawbreakers to book.Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz slammed what he termed “baseless attacks and political theater” targeting Patel as he accused the nominee’s critics of having “peddled innuendo and misinformation.””At the end of the day, what is really striking, is none of them made a serious argument that Kash Patel is not qualified,” he told Fox News.”His experience is extensive and what they are afraid of is that Kash Patel will do exactly what Donald Trump promised.”

US President Donald Trump announced Thursday the creation of a task force to “eradicate anti-Christian bias” in government, intensifying a right-wing crackdown since returning to power.The Republican billionaire said he was putting new Attorney General Pam Bondi at the head of the force to end “persecution” of the majority religion of the United States.Trump said its mission would be to “immediately halt all forms of anti-Christian targeting and discrimination” in the Department of Justice, the Internal Revenue Service, the FBI and other government agencies.He also said it would prosecute “anti-Christian violence and vandalism in our society.””We will protect Christians in our schools, in our military and our government, in our workplaces, hospitals and in our public squares,” Trump told a national prayer breakfast at a Washington hotel.He also announced the creation of a “White House faith office” led by his spiritual advisor, the televangelist Paula White. The announcements came amid a wider purge of the federal government at the start of Trump’s second term.Trump has unveiled a slew of orders backing a conservative agenda, including several targeting diversity programs and transgender people. Despite a criminal conviction for hush money payments in a porn star scandal and sexual assault allegations, Trump has long made himself a champion of right-wing Christians.Trump’s cabinet contains several members with links to Christian nationalists, including Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.And while Trump is not seen as particularly religious, he said he had become more so after surviving an assassination attempt at an election rally in June 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania.”It changed something in me, I feel even stronger. I believed in God, but I feel much more strongly about it,” Trump told a separate prayer breakfast at the US Capitol on Thursday.”We have to bring religion back.”Trump said in his inauguration speech on January 20, referring to the assassination attempt, that he had been “saved by God to Make America Great Again.”

Making his debut as the top US diplomat, Marco Rubio has conducted most business entirely in Spanish, forging quick bonds with Latin American leaders. After his first stop in Panama, Rubio described his meeting as “respectful” and suggested he quietly worked out solutions to address President Donald Trump’s demands on the Panama Canal.And how did he communicate his supposed diplomatic success? The State Department put out a brusque statement saying Rubio had laid down an ultimatum and later said Panama had agreed to give free passage to US government vessels — triggering a heated denial.So goes the paradox of Rubio. A personable former senator, he has embraced skills he honed over decades in politics, hashing out compromises and relying on friendships with his interlocutors. But he has also learned to speak the language of Trump, brashly trumpeting emerging deals and making threats on social media, sometimes blaring in capital letters.Rubio, the first Hispanic secretary of state, said it was no accident that he was paying his first trip to Latin America, where he visited five countries ending Thursday with the Dominican Republic.A Cuban-American who spoke Spanish before he learned English, Rubio has come to know key players across Latin America, particularly conservatives, over decades as a Miami politician. On taking the job, Rubio said he thought, “Where do you want to go on your first visit?” “I want to go to a place that’s warm,” Rubio said to laughter as he introduced himself to staff at the US embassy in Panama City, as another cold snap was approaching Washington.And, Rubio said: “I want to go to a place where they speak Spanish, because I’m bilingual so that was a great opportunity.”- Embracing Trump agenda -That “great opportunity” means serving an “America First” agenda at odds, at least in tone, with some of Rubio’s earlier beliefs.Early in his Senate career, Rubio told Time magazine that his mother — who made ends meet as a cashier and hotel maid — had pleaded with him, “Don’t mess with the immigrants,” telling him to remember that even undocumented people are humans seeking better lives.Rubio called for a more inclusive vision of the United States — and traded vulgar insults — when he ran against Trump for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016.Now serving at the pleasure of the mercurial Trump, Rubio watched from the tarmac in Panama City as authorities marched out dozens of undocumented migrants, most shabbily dressed and empty handed, being flown back to Colombia. Rubio has defended his push against migration, pointing to the role of human smugglers. “Mass migration is one of the great tragedies of the modern era,” Rubio said in Panama. “It’s not good for anyone. The only people who benefit from mass migration are traffickers.” – Cleaning up for Trump -Much as Trump’s aides did during his first term, Rubio has been forced to clean up some of the president’s more jaw-dropping remarks. After Trump spoke of sending US troops into the Gaza Strip and displacing its Palestinian population, Rubio said Trump was only making a “generous” offer to rebuild.Rubio also insisted he was seeking to reform rather than end US assistance. Hours later, as he was dining with Guatemala’s president, the US Agency for International Development, under pressure from Trump ally Elon Musk, said it was putting on leave virtually the entire staff.But Rubio advanced key Trump priorities, including on reducing the influence of adversary China. Panama, while publicly denying an agreement on vessel fees, said it would exit China’s signature infrastructure-building initiative.Each country he visited offered assistance on ending migration. In El Salvador, President Nayib Bukele made the extraordinary offer to imprison not just foreigners but US citizens, an idea certain to meet massive legal challenges. Rubio also sought to put a human face on Trump’s return. In Panama City, Rubio, a devout Catholic, attended Mass at a centuries-old church and greeted crowds outside. He also engaged with press far more spontaneously than his recent predecessors.”It’s hard to deny that his tough approach has achieved results,” said one diplomat who was observing the trip.”The question is — if you’re winning just because you’re pushing, what happens when another power can push harder?”

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Thursday left for the United States ahead of what will be President Donald Trump’s second summit with a foreign leader since his return to the White House.Japan is one of the closest allies of the United States in Asia with around 54,000 US military personnel stationed in the country.Ishiba will be pushing for reassurance on the importance of the US-Japan alliance, as Trump’s “America First” agenda risks encroaching on the nations’ trade and defence ties.”It would be wonderful if we could affirm that we will work together for the development this region and the world and for peace,” Ishiba told reporters in Tokyo before leaving for the trip.Japan’s Nikkei newspaper said Thursday the pair will issue a joint statement, which could vow to build a “golden age” of bilateral relations and bring the alliance to “new heights”.Ishiba is expected to tell Trump that Japan will increase defence purchases from the United States, the Nikkei said. Ishiba may also propose importing more US natural gas — chiming with Trump’s plan to “drill, baby, drill” while boosting energy security for resource-poor Japan.Since Japan has cut its liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports from Russia, it “desperately needs to open up new sources of LNG, and other energy more broadly”, Sheila Smith, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, told AFP.”The intention is to present a win-win value proposition from Ishiba to the president,” she said.Trump will meet Ishiba in Washington on Friday — just days after a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, where the US president sparked uproar with a proposal to take over the Gaza Strip.The Japan summit could be less startling, Smith said, as Trump “has a fairly strong commitment to the alliances in Asia”.- Taiwan threat -Ishiba has stressed the importance of US defence ties, pointing to threats on Japan’s doorstep such as China pressing its claims of sovereignty on the self-ruled island of Taiwan.Tokyo must “continue to secure the US commitment to the region, to avoid a power vacuum leading to regional instability”, Ishiba recently told parliament.Trump and Ishiba are expected to affirm the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, Japanese media said.That would echo joint statements made by the last US president Joe Biden with previous Japanese prime ministers.Focusing on this point is “extremely important” because Japan and the United States must work together to prevent a potential crisis, said Takashi Shiraishi, an international relations expert at the Prefectural University of Kumamoto.As Japan and the United States renegotiate how to share the burden of defence costs, however, there are concerns Trump could provide less cash and push Japan to do more, Smith said.”That’s where… the Ishiba-Trump relationship could get a bit sticky,” she said.- After Abe -Also causing jitters is Trump’s willingness to slap trade tariffs on major trading partners China, Canada, and Mexico — though he has delayed measures against the latter two countries pending talks. “I hope Ishiba will show him there are other ways to achieve economic security,” such as cooperating on technology, Shiraishi told AFP.One example is the Stargate drive, announced after Trump’s January inauguration, to invest up to $500 billion in AI infrastructure in the United States, led by Japanese tech investment behemoth SoftBank Group and US firm OpenAI.Reports said the leaders could also discuss Nippon Steel’s $14.9 billion bid to buy US Steel, which Biden blocked on national security grounds.Japan and the United States are each other’s top foreign investors, and the Nikkei reported that the leaders will agree on creating an investment-friendly environment.During his first term, Trump and Japan’s then-prime minister Shinzo Abe enjoyed warm relations.As president-elect in December, Trump also hosted Akie Abe, the widow of Japan’s assassinated ex-premier, for a dinner with Melania Trump at their Florida residence.Trump built a strong relationship with Abe, for whom Smith believes he had a “genuine fondness”.He will likely “see Ishiba through a different lens”, said Smith, and “it will be more the state-to-state relationship, not the personal”.Ishiba, 68, will not be the first Japanese VIP to meet the 78-year-old Trump in person since he took office — a distinction held by SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday he would skip Group of 20 talks this month in South Africa, accusing the host government of an “anti-American” agenda.Rubio’s announcement comes days after US President Donald Trump lashed out at South Africa over land reforms aimed at redressing inequalities perpetrated during the apartheid era.In a post on X that took on the tone of Trump, Rubio said he would boycott the G20 talks of foreign ministers in Johannesburg on February 20-21.”South Africa is doing very bad things. Expropriating private property. Using G20 to promote ‘solidarity, equality, & sustainability,'” Rubio wrote in his post.”In other words: DEI and climate change.” DEI, or diversity, equity and inclusion, has been attacked relentlessly by Trump since he returned to the White House last month.”My job is to advance America’s national interests, not waste taxpayer money or coddle anti-Americanism.”South African Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola on Thursday rejected Rubio’s claims, saying in a statement that “there is no arbitrary dispossession of land / private property” with the new land reform law. “This law is similar to the Eminent domain laws,” he said, referring to longtime US laws allowing the federal government to acquire property for public use.Lamola added that South Africa is “a sovereign and democratic country committed to human dignity, equality and rights.””Our G20 presidency, is not confined to just climate change but also equitable treatment for nations of the Global South, ensuring equal global system for all.” South African President Cyril Ramaphosa had dismissed Trump’s assertions earlier this week that South Africa was “confiscating” land and said he was ready to explain his government’s land reform policy to his US counterpart.On Tuesday, Ramaphosa raised concerns about “disinformation” being spread by the US president with top Trump ally Elon Musk, who was born in South Africa and the world’s richest man.Land ownership is a contentious issue in South Africa with most farmland still owned by white people three decades after the end of apartheid. The government is under pressure to implement reforms.The absence of the United States, the world’s largest economy, would mark a major blow to the G20, which is meant to represent the world’s largest economies.The meeting could have offered a first opportunity for Rubio to meet his Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, as Trump pushes for diplomacy on the Ukraine war.

US President Donald Trump’s administration appeared to backtrack Wednesday after his proposal to take over Gaza sparked uproar, with the United Nations warning against “ethnic cleansing” in the Palestinian territory.Facing a wave of criticism from Palestinians, Arab governments and world leaders, Trump’s Secretary of State Marco Rubio said any transfer of Gazans would be temporary, while the White House said there was no commitment to sending US troops.Trump, however, insisted “everybody loves” the plan, which he announced to audible gasps during a White House press conference with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.Offering few details on how the United States could remove more than two million Palestinians or control the war-battered territory, Trump declared Tuesday: “The US will take over the Gaza Strip and we will do a job with it, too. We’ll own it.”Rubio said the idea “was not meant as hostile,” describing it as a “generous move — the offer to rebuild and to be in charge of the rebuilding.”White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt later said Washington would not fund Gaza’s reconstruction after more than 15 months of war between US ally Israel and Palestinian group Hamas.US involvement “does not mean boots on the ground” or that “American taxpayers will be funding this effort,” Leavitt said.The United Nations warned against ethnic cleansing in Gaza.”At its essence, the exercise of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people is about the right of Palestinians to simply live as human beings in their own land,” Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a speech to a UN committee that deals with the rights of Palestinians.Guterres’s spokesman Stephane Dujarric, previewing the UN chief’s speech, told reporters: “Any forced displacement of people is tantamount to ethnic cleansing.”Presidents Emmanuel Macron of France and Abdel Fattah al-Sisi of Egypt said any forced displacement of the Palestinians would be unacceptable.”It would be a serious violation of international law, an obstacle to the two-state solution and a major destabilising force for Egypt and Jordan,” the two leaders said.Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei called it a “shocking” plan and “a continuation of the Zionist regime’s (Israel) targeted plan to completely annihilate the Palestinian nation.”Palestinian officials, Arab leaders and rights groups swiftly condemned Trump’s remarks.Hamas, which took control of Gaza in 2007, rejected the proposal, branding it “racist” and “aggressive”.Leavitt said Trump wanted Palestinians to be only “temporarily relocated” out of Gaza.”It’s not a liveable place for any human being,” she said.- ‘We will remain’ -Israel’s military offensive in response to Hamas’s October 2023 attack has left much of Gaza in ruins, including schools, hospitals and most civil infrastructure. Rights group Human Rights Watch said the destruction of Gaza “reflects a calculated Israeli policy to make parts of the strip unlivable.”  Trump’s proposed plan “would move the US from being complicit in war crimes to direct perpetration of atrocities,” said Lama Fakih, an HRW regional director.Trump, who also suggested he might visit Gaza, appeared to imply it would not be rebuilt for Palestinians.But Leavitt later said he had been “very clear” that he expected Egypt, Jordan and others “to accept Palestinian refugees, temporarily, so that we can rebuild their home.”Even before Tuesday’s explosive proposal, Trump had suggested residents of Gaza should move to Egypt and Jordan. Palestinians, however, have vowed to stay on.”They can do whatever they want, but we will remain steadfast in our homeland,” said 41-year-old Gaza resident Ahmed Halasa.- ‘Winning’ -In Washington, Netanyahu hailed Trump as Israel’s “greatest friend” and praised his “willingness to think outside the box.”Speaking to Fox News on Wednesday night, he called Trump’s proposal “remarkable” and “the first good idea that I’ve heard.” “I think it should be really pursued, examined, pursued and done, because I think it will create a different future for everyone.”But he also suggested it did not mean Palestinians leaving the territory forever.”They can leave, they can then come back, they can relocate and come back, but you have to rebuild Gaza.”The Gaza war began when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, resulting in the deaths of 1,210 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.Israel’s retaliatory response has killed at least 47,518 people in Gaza, the majority civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. The United Nations considers the figures reliable.burs-hg/aha/dhc/sn