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Panama hopes to maintain a “respectful” relationship with the United States, even as President Donald Trump has repeated threats to retake the Panama Canal, Foreign Minister Javier Martinez-Acha said Saturday.His comments came ahead of a visit next week by US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, a trip made more urgent against the backdrop of Trump’s threats and his allegations of Chinese interference in the canal. “We discussed illegal migration, organized crime, drug trafficking and (other issues),” Martinez-Acha wrote on X of a call Friday with US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau. “It was a cordial and constructive exchange.””I reiterated that all cooperation from Panama will take place under the framework of our constitution, our laws, and the Canal Neutrality Treaty,” he wrote. “Relations with the US must remain respectful, transparent and mutually beneficial.”The US State Department said Landau had “expressed gratitude for Panama’s cooperation in halting illegal immigration and working with the United States to secure a nearly 98 percent decrease in illegal immigration through the Darien jungle,” an arduous path northward followed by many migrants.The two officials also discussed the sale last month by the Hong Kong company CK Hutchison to giant US asset manager BlackRock of its concession in ports at either end of the Panama Canal, Martinez-Acha added. Panama’s comptroller has been conducting an audit of Hutchison since January.Landau “recognized Panama’s actions in curbing malign Chinese Communist Party influence,” the State Department said.The deal was set to close on April 2 but has been held up as Chinese regulators pursue an investigation.The United States and China are the two biggest users of the Panama Canal, which handles five percent of global maritime trade, giving it vital economic and geostrategic importance. It was inaugurated by the United States in 1914 and has been in Panamanian hands since 1999.

Thousands of people descended Saturday on Washington’s National Mall and rallied in other cities across the United States and abroad in opposition to the policies of Donald Trump, in the largest protests since he returned to the presidency.A big “HANDS OFF!” banner stretched across the stage of an outdoor theater just a few blocks from the White House, with protesters holding signs that read “Not My President!”, “Fascism has Arrived,”  “Hands Off Our Social Security” and “Wake Up and Smell the Coup.”Jane Ellen Saums, 66, said she was dismayed to see the Trump administration dismantling America’s long-standing democratic institutions.”It’s extremely concerning to see what is happening to our government, and all of the checks and balances that have been put in place that are being totally run over — everything from the environment to personal rights,” said the real estate worker who came dressed as Mother Nature, wrapped in ivy and holding a globe.At a time of spreading global resentment against the Republican president — heightened by his announcement Wednesday of sweeping tariffs against scores of countries — demonstrators also marched in several European capitals.”What’s happening in America is everyone’s problem,” Liz Chamberlin, a dual US-British citizen living in England told AFP at a London rally. “It’s economic lunacy… He is going to push us into a global recession.”And in Berlin, 70-year-old retiree Susanne Fest said Trump had created “a constitutional crisis,” adding, “The guy is a lunatic.”In the US, a loose coalition of dozens of left-leaning groups like MoveOn and Women’s March organized “Hands Off” events in more than 1,000 cities and in every congressional district, the groups said. The unifying theme: the growing resentment of what another organizing group, Indivisible, has called “the most brazen power grab in modern history,” led by Trump and his close advisor Elon Musk.Trump has angered many Americans by moving aggressively to downsize the government, unilaterally impose his conservative values and sharply pressure even friendly countries over borders and trade terms — causing stock markets to tank.”People here in the United States are really not cool with what’s going on in DC right now,” protester Rachael Nevins told AFP at a rally in New York.Many Democrats are irate that their party, in the minority in both houses of Congress, has seemed so helpless to resist Trump’s aggressive moves.”The Democrat Party is kind of wimping out… and not actually standing up for our rights,” said Abbott Sherwin, 19, a college student from Raleigh, North Carolina who was marching in Washington, adding that “the Republican Party is a cult around Trump.” – Sleeping giant awakened? –  Thousands of people convened on the National Mall, just blocks from the White House, to hear speakers including Representative Jamie Raskin, a Democrat who served as impeachment manager during Trump’s second impeachment. “They’ve woken up a sleeping giant, and they haven’t seen nothing yet,” activist Graylan Hagler, 71, told the crowd. “We will not sit down, we will not be quiet, and we will not go away.”Saturday’s demonstrations were largely peaceful. A festive atmosphere prevailed on a mild day in Washington, with protesters ranging from the elderly to young couples with infants in strollers.A Women’s March protest shortly after Trump’s first election in 2016 drew an estimated half-million people to Washington. Organizers for the latest Washington rally had predicted a turnout of 20,000 but by Saturday afternoon said the number appeared considerably larger. As Trump continues aggressively shaking things up in Washington and beyond, his approval rating has fallen to its lowest since taking office, according to recent polling.But despite pushback around the globe to his sweeping imposition of tariffs, and bubbling resentment from many Americans, the White House has dismissed the protests.The Republican president, still popular with his base, has given no sign of relenting.”My policies will never change,” Trump said Friday.

US President Donald Trump doubled down Saturday on sweeping tariffs he unleashed on countries around the world, warning Americans of pain ahead, but promising historic investment and prosperity.The comments came as Trump’s widest-ranging trade measures took effect in a move that could trigger retaliation and escalating economic tensions, with the British and French leaders saying “nothing should be off the table” in response.Trump, acknowledging global turbulence, urged Americans to be patient.”We have been the dumb and helpless ‘whipping post,’ but not any longer. We are bringing back jobs and businesses like never before,” he wrote on Truth Social.”This is an economic revolution, and we will win,” the Republican president added. “Hang tough, it won’t be easy, but the end result will be historic.”A 10 percent “baseline” tariff came into place just after midnight, hitting most US imports except goods from Mexico and Canada, as Trump invoked emergency economic powers.But in a potential sign of disagreement between Trump and close advisor Elon Musk, the tech billionaire on Saturday said he hoped the US and Europe could move eventually toward a “zero-tariff situation.” That could effectively create “a free-trade zone between Europe and North America,” Musk said in talks in Rome with Italy’s far-right deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini.The EU, Japan and China are among around 60 trading partners set to face even higher rates on April 9.Trump’s steep 34 percent tariff on Chinese goods, set to kick in next week, triggered Beijing’s announcement of a 34 percent tariff on US products from April 10.Beijing also said it would sue Washington at the World Trade Organization and restrict exports of rare earth elements used in medical and electronics technology.”China has been hit much harder than the USA, not even close,” Trump said in his post. “They, and many other nations, have treated us unsustainably badly.”As other major trading partners eyed possible recession, the French and British leaders said “nothing should be off the table.”At the same time, “a trade war was in nobody’s interests,” French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer agreed in a call, Starmer’s office said.- Markets collapse -Wall Street went into free fall Friday, following similar plunges in Asia and Europe as economists warn tariffs could dampen growth and fuel inflation.Trump’s latest tariffs have notable exclusions, however.They do not stack onto recently imposed 25 percent tariffs hitting imports of steel, aluminum and automobiles.Also temporarily spared are copper, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors and lumber, alongside “certain critical minerals” and energy products, the White House said.But Trump has ordered investigations into copper and lumber, which could soon lead to further levies.He has threatened to hit other industries like pharmaceuticals and semiconductors as well, meaning any reprieve might be short lived.Canada and Mexico are unaffected by the latest move as they already face separate duties of up to 25 percent on goods entering the United States outside a North America trade agreement.- Retaliation risk -While Trump’s staggered deadlines allow space for countries to negotiate, “if they can’t get a reprieve, they are likely to retaliate, as China already has,” Oxford Economics warned this week.EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic said the bloc, which faces a 20 percent tariff, will act in “a calm, carefully phased, unified way” and allow time for talks.But he said it “won’t stand idly by.”France and Germany have said the EU could respond by imposing a tax on US technology companies.Japan’s prime minister called for a “calm-headed” approach after Trump unveiled 24 percent tariffs on Japanese-made goods.Since returning to the presidency, Trump has hit imports from Canada and Mexico with tariffs over illegal immigration and fentanyl smuggling claims, and imposed an additional 20 percent rate on goods from China.Come April 9, the added levy on Chinese products this year will reach 54 percent.Trump’s 25 percent auto tariffs also took effect this week, and Jeep-owner Stellantis has paused production at some Canadian and Mexican plants.Trump’s new global levies mark “the most sweeping tariff hike since the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, the 1930 law best remembered for triggering a global trade war and deepening the Great Depression,” said the Center for Strategic and International Studies.Oxford Economics estimates the action will push the average effective US tariff rate to 24 percent, “higher even than those seen in the 1930s.”

US senators on Saturday approved a budget blueprint unlocking trillions of dollars for sweeping tax cuts promised by President Donald Trump, despite bitter infighting among the majority Republicans over the savings that will be needed to fund them.Working deep into the night, lawmakers voted 51-48, mostly along party lines, to approve the resolution, with two prominent Republicans opposing the measure. It now moves to the House of Representatives, where Republicans hold a slim majority, and where hard-liners and fiscal hawks have criticized the Senate version. The Senate vote came at a time when Trump’s sweeping tariffs imposed on dozens of trading partners sent global stocks plummeting, with Democrats arguing that now is not the time to be entertaining significantly reduced government spending.”President Trump’s tariff tax is one of the dumbest things he has ever done as president, and that’s saying something,” CNN quoted Democratic minority leader Chuck Schumer as saying.Schumer submitted an amendment targeting Trump’s tariffs, but it did not receive enough support for adoption.Republican senators Susan Collins of Maine and Rand Paul of Kentucky joined the Democrats in opposing the budget resolution.But nearly every Republican stood by the president, with Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana saying in a brief statement: “President Trump wants to balance the budget and decrease our debt. I agree.”- Depth of cuts -Senate and House Republicans have been at loggerheads over how deeply to wield the knife, with lawmakers already wary of public anger over an unprecedented downsizing of the federal bureaucracy led by Trump’s tech billionaire advisor Elon Musk.Both chambers need to adopt identical versions of the budget blueprint — a task that has proven beyond them during months of fraught talks — before they can draft Trump’s giant bill to extend his first-term tax cuts and boost border security and energy production.”This bill lays the groundwork to provide additional funding to keep the border secure, grow our energy dominance, build a strong national defense, cut wasteful spending and prevent a tax increase on families and small businesses,” Republican Senator James Lankford said after the vote.Senators spent much of the all-night session voting on dozens of proposed tweaks to the plan — in a so-called “vote-a-rama” —  with some proposals aimed at forcing Republicans onto the record over Trump’s tariffs on imports from countries around the world.Having made it through the Senate, the spending plan still needs approval by the House, with Republican leaders desperate to get it to Trump’s desk before Congress begins a two-week Easter break next Friday.Democrats have slammed the framework, claiming it will trigger further major cuts to essential services.- ‘Dead on arrival’ -The proposal would raise the country’s borrowing limit by $5 trillion to avoid a debt default this summer, staving off the need for a further hike until after the 2026 midterm elections.Experts say the tax cuts — which would greatly expand the relief agreed in 2017 — could add in excess of $5 trillion to the national debt over the next decade.The libertarian Cato Institute called the resolution a “fiscal train wreck” that “actively worsens our nation’s debt trajectory.”Trump, who has talked up the plan on social media, offered his “complete and total support” for the text at a White House event earlier in the week.But Senate and House Republicans have been oceans apart on spending cuts, with the upper chamber looking for modest savings of $4 billion, while House leadership is demanding a reduction of $1.5 trillion. Republican Congressman Ralph Norman of South Carolina, a hard-line conservative, was asked about supporting the Senate resolution and told reporters: “To me, it’s dead on arrival.”

US senators were set to vote Saturday on unlocking trillions of dollars for sweeping tax cuts promised by President Donald Trump, despite bitter infighting among the majority Republicans over the savings that will be needed to fund them.The row comes with Wall Street leading a global markets bloodbath as countries around the world reel from Trump’s trade war, and Democrats argue that now is not the time to be entertaining significantly reduced government spending.But the Senate’s Republican leadership was just as concerned with friendly fire from its own disgruntled rank and file as it prepared for the make-or-break vote on a Trump-backed “budget resolution” that kick-starts negotiations on how to usher the president’s domestic agenda into law.Senate and House Republicans have been at loggerheads over how deeply to wield the knife, with lawmakers already wary of public anger over an unprecedented downsizing of the federal bureaucracy led by Trump’s tech billionaire advisor Elon Musk.Both chambers need to adopt identical versions of the budget blueprint — a task that has proven beyond them during months of fraught talks — before they can draft Trump’s giant bill to extend his first-term tax cuts and boost border security and energy production.”This resolution is the first step toward a final bill to make permanent the tax relief we implemented in 2017 and deliver a transformational investment in our border, national, and energy security – all accompanied by substantial savings,” Republican Senate leader John Thune said. Senators were locked in an all-night session to vote on dozens of proposed tweaks to the plan — some of which were aimed at forcing Republicans onto the record over Trump’s tariffs on imports from countries around the world.- ‘Vote-a-rama’ -They hoped to move to a vote on final passage later Saturday morning, although the timetable depends on how quickly the upper chamber of Congress can get through its marathon so-called “vote-a-rama” on the amendments.If the plan gets through the Senate, it will still need approval by the House, with Republican leaders desperate to get it to Trump’s desk before Congress begins a two-week Easter break next Friday.Democrats have slammed the framework, claiming it will trigger further major cuts to essential services.The proposal would raise the country’s borrowing limit by $5 trillion to avoid a debt default this summer, staving off the need for a further hike until after the 2026 midterm elections.Experts say the tax cuts — which would greatly expand the relief agreed in 2017 — could add in excess of $5 trillion to national debt over the next decade.The libertarian Cato Institute called the resolution a “fiscal train wreck” that “actively worsens our nation’s debt trajectory.”Trump, who has been talking up the plan on social media, offered his “complete and total support” for the text at a White House event on Wednesday.But Senate and House Republicans are oceans apart on spending cuts, with the upper chamber looking for modest savings of $4 billion, while House leadership is demanding a reduction of $1.5 trillion. Republican Congressman Ralph Norman of South Carolina was asked about supporting the Senate resolution and told reporters: “To me, it’s dead on arrival.”

Long before Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” announcement, the United States had toyed with imposing high tariffs throughout its history, with inconclusive — and sometimes catastrophic — results.”We have a 20th century president in a 21st century economy who wants to take us back to the 19th century,” Dartmouth College economics professor Douglas Irwin posted on X.The 19th century marked the golden age of tariffs in the United States, with an average rate regularly flirting with 50 percent.The century extended a doctrine adopted since the country’s founding, which advocated for the protection of the American economy as it underwent a period of industrialization.”Careful studies of that period suggest that the tariffs did help protect domestic development of industry to some degree,” said Keith Maskus, a professor at the University of Colorado.”But the two more important factors were access to international labor, and capital… which was flowing in the United States during that period,” he added.Christopher Meissner, a professor at the University of California, Davis, told AFP that in addition to these factors, “the reason we had a thriving industrial sector in the United States was we had great access to natural resources.”These resources included coal, oil, iron ore, copper and timber — all of which were crucial to industry. “The industrial sector wouldn’t have been much smaller if we had much lower tariffs,” Meissner added. Shortly after taking office in January, Trump said: “We were at our richest from 1870 to 1913.”The 78-year-old Republican often references former US president William McKinley, who was behind one of the country’s most restrictive tariff laws, which passed in 1890.These tariffs did not prevent imports from continuing to grow in the years that followed, although once customs duties were lowered in 1894, the amount of goods the US purchased abroad remained below previous peaks.- Great Depression -In 1929, Harvard professor George Roorbach wrote: “Since the end of the Civil War (1865), during which the United States has been under a protective system almost, if not quite, without interruption, our import trade has enormously expanded.””Fluctuations that have occurred seem to be related chiefly to factors other than the ups and downs of tariff rates,” he added.A year later, the young nation tightened the screws with tariffs again, this time under Republican president Herbert Hoover.The Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930 is best remembered “for triggering a global trade war and deepening the Great Depression,” according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies.”What generated the depression… was a lot of complicated factors, but the tariff increase is one of them,” said Maskus from the University of Colorado.The end of the Second World War marked the start of a new era in trade, defined by the ratification in 1947 by 23 countries — including the United States — of the GATT free trade agreement. The agreement created the conditions for the development of international trade by imposing more moderate customs duties.The momentum was maintained by the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) between the United States, Mexico and Canada, which took effect in 1994.Alongside NAFTA, free trade in the United States was further expanded by the creation of the World Trade Organization in 1995, and a 2004 free trade agreement between the United States and several Central American countries. During his first term in office, Donald Trump reopened the tariff ledger and decided on new measures against China, many of which were maintained under his successor, Joe Biden.But despite these levies, the US trade deficit with China continued to grow until 2022, when China was hit by a brutal economic slowdown unrelated to the tariffs.For Keith Maskus, the tariffs on Beijing did not do much to prevent the growth of imports from China.

US President Donald Trump’s widest-ranging tariffs to date took effect Saturday, in a move which could trigger retaliation and escalating trade tensions that could upset the global economy.A 10 percent “baseline” tariff came into place past midnight, hitting most US imports except goods from Mexico and Canada as Trump invoked emergency economic powers to address perceived problems with the country’s trade deficits.The trade gaps, said the White House, were driven by an “absence of reciprocity” in relationships and other policies like “exorbitant value-added taxes.”Come April 9, around 60 trading partners — including the European Union, Japan and China — are set to face even higher rates tailored to each economy.Already, Trump’s sharp 34-percent tariff on Chinese goods, set to kick in next week, triggered Beijing’s announcement of its own 34-percent tariff on US products from April 10.Beijing also said it would sue the United States at the World Trade Organization and restrict export of rare earth elements used in high-end medical and electronics technology.But other major trading partners held back as they digested the unfolding international standoff and fears of a recession.Trump warned Friday on social media that “China played it wrong,” saying this was something “they cannot afford to do.”- Markets collapse -Wall Street went into freefall Friday, following similar collapses in Asia and Europe.Economists have also warned that the tariffs could dampen growth and fuel inflation.But Trump said on his Truth Social platform that his “policies will never change.”Trump’s latest tariffs have notable exclusions, however.They do not stack on recently-imposed 25-percent tariffs hitting imports of steel, aluminum and automobiles.Also temporarily spared are copper, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors and lumber, alongside “certain critical minerals” and energy products, the White House said.But Trump has ordered investigations into copper and lumber, which could lead to further duties soon.He has threatened to hit other industries like pharmaceuticals and semiconductors as well, meaning any reprieve might be limited.Canada and Mexico are unaffected as they face separate duties of up to 25 percent on goods entering the United States outside a North America trade agreement.- Retaliation risk -While Trump’s staggered deadlines allow space for countries to negotiate, “if they can’t get a reprieve, they are likely to retaliate, as China already has,” Oxford Economics warned this week.EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic said the bloc, which faces a 20-percent tariff, will act in “a calm, carefully phased, unified way” and allow time for talks.But he said it “won’t stand idly by.”France and Germany have said the EU could respond by imposing a tax on US tech companies.Japan’s prime minister called for a “calm-headed” approach after Trump unveiled 24-percent tariffs on Japanese-made goods.Meanwhile, Trump said he held a “very productive” call with Vietnam’s top leader, with imports from the Southeast Asian manufacturing hub facing extraordinary 46-percent US duties.Since returning to the presidency, Trump has hit Canada and Mexico imports with tariffs over illegal immigration and fentanyl, and imposed an additional 20-percent rate on goods from China. Come April 9, the added levy on Chinese products this year reaches 54 percent.Trump’s 25-percent auto tariffs also took effect this week, and Jeep-owner Stellantis paused production at some Canadian and Mexican assembly plants.Trump’s new global levies mark “the most sweeping tariff hike since the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, the 1930 law best remembered for triggering a global trade war and deepening the Great Depression,” said the Center for Strategic and International Studies.Oxford Economics estimates the action will push the average effective US tariff rate to 24 percent, “higher even than those seen in the 1930s.”

Los Angeles County has agreed to pay $4 billion to settle thousands of sex abuse claims dating back decades, it said Friday, in what looks set to be the largest-ever such settlement.The agreement, which must still be approved by the board of supervisors, is intended to compensate almost 7,000 people who were subjected to abuse while in juvenile facilities and children’s homes in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s.”On behalf of the county, I apologize wholeheartedly to everyone who was harmed by these reprehensible acts,” County Chief Executive Officer Fesia Davenport said. “The historic scope of this settlement makes clear that we are committed to helping the survivors recover and rebuild their lives —- and to making and enforcing the systemic changes needed to keep young people safe.”A 2020 state law gave victims of childhood sexual abuse an extended window to take legal action, long after the usual statute of limitation had lapsed.Thousands of adults came forward with horrifying stories of systematic sexual abuse they had suffered in juvenile detention facilities.Many more claimed they were the victims of predatory staff at the now-shuttered MacLaren Children’s Center, a home for foster children.Attorneys for the victims called it a “house of horrors” and an investigation found no background checks had been carried out on staff there for decades.News of the proposed settlement was bittersweet for victims.”I’m in total shock,” Shirley Bodkin, 58, who recalled being drugged, beaten and sexually abused in bathtubs and closets at MacLaren, told the Los Angeles Times.”I’ve been waiting all these years for this outcome.”MaryAlice Ashbrook, 65, who was abused at MacLaren in the 1960s, said hearing the news “felt like my heart had a door and it slammed shut.””I’ve gone to great lengths to block this out, and still, I deal with reoccurring nightmares.”The enormous sum dwarfs previous agreements for victims of abuse, including the $2.46 billion that the Boy Scouts of America agreed to pay to youngsters molested while in their care.Officials warned that the payout would have “a significant impact” for years to come on the finances of the county — America’s largest by population, with almost 10 million residents and an annual budget of around $49 billion.”The County’s plan to pay for the settlement includes cash from reserve funds, issuance of judgment obligation bonds and proposed cuts in departmental budgets,” a statement said.”The financing will require annual payments totaling hundreds of millions of dollars through 2030 and substantial continuing annual payments through fiscal year 2050-51.”

The first cardinal to be defrocked by the Pope over allegations of sexual abuse has died in the United States, a senior US churchman said Friday.Theodore McCarrick, the former archbishop of Washington and the most senior American prelate in the Catholic Church to face claims of abuse, died in the state of Missouri at age 94, the New York Times reported, citing a Vatican statement.His death was also confirmed by the current Archbishop of Washington, Cardinal Robert McElroy.”Today I learned of the death of Theodore McCarrick, former Archbishop of Washington,” a statement said.”At this moment I am especially mindful of those who he harmed during the course of his priestly ministry. Through their enduring pain, may we remain steadfast in our prayers for them and for all victims of sexual abuse.”McCarrick’s career in the Catholic Church had been long and distinguished, having served as an emissary on human rights for former pope John Paul II, a role that took him to conflict zones and brought him into contact with world leaders like Cuba’s Fidel Castro.A former archbishop of New York, he was made archbishop in the US capital in 2000 where he rubbed shoulders with US presidents including Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.He also was made a cardinal — one of the most senior members of the clergy and part of a slate of electors tasked with selecting a new pope.But after allegations of historical misconduct emerged in 2018, a Vatican probe found he had assaulted a teenager five decades earlier. He was also suspected of other sexual assaults against minors and young men. Pope Francis, under fire for a growing abuse scandal in the Catholic Church, expelled him from the priesthood in 2019, stripping him of his right to say Mass, even in private.The Catholic Church has struggled for decades to root out abusers within its ranks, with frequent accusations of cover-ups extending to its highest levels.The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), which campaigns for sexual predators to be held accountable, on Friday called McCarrick “one of the most notorious and powerful abusers in the modern history of the Catholic Church.”McCarrick “was never held accountable for his crimes,” a statement said.”While he was eventually removed from public ministry, defrocked, and stripped of his red hat, he never stood trial for the vast harm he inflicted on children, young adults, seminarians, and others under his power. “His death marks the end of his life — but it does not mark justice for his survivors.”