WASHINGTON: Marco Rubio heads Saturday to Panama on his debut trip abroad as US secretary of state as he looks for how to follow up on President Donald Trump’s extraordinary threat to seize the Panama Canal.
Rubio’s travel comes the same day that Trump’s promised tariffs on the three largest US trading partners – Canada, Mexico and China – are set to come into effect, another step showing a far more aggressive US foreign policy.
Rubio will travel later to four other small Latin American countries for an agenda focused on migration, a highly unusual first trip for the top US diplomat, whose predecessors were more likely to start the job with language of cooperation with major allies.
Trump has refused to rule out military force to seize the Panama Canal, which the United States handed over at the end of 1999, saying that China has exerted too much control through its investment in surrounding ports.
In his inaugural address, Trump said that the United States will be “taking it back” – and he refused to back down Friday.
“They’ve already offered to do many things,” Trump said of Panama, “but we think it’s appropriate that we take it back.”
He alleged that Panama was taking down Chinese-language signs to cover up how “they’ve totally violated the agreement” on the canal.
“Marco Rubio is going over this talk to the gentleman that’s in charge,” Trump told reporters.
Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino, generally considered an ally of the United States, has ruled out opening negotiations after complaining to the United Nations about Trump’s threat.
“I cannot negotiate, much less open a process of negotiations on the canal,” Mulino said Thursday.
The issue “is sealed. The canal is Panama’s,” Mulino said.
Mulino’s government, however, has ordered an audit of CK Hutchison Holdings, the Hong Kong company that operates ports on both sides of the canal.
It remains to be seen if or how Rubio carries out the threat. Some experts believe that Trump was simply applying pressure and could declare a win by the United States ramping up investment in the canal – an outcome that most Panamanians would welcome.
Rubio has played down the military option but also not contradicted his boss.
“I think the president’s been pretty clear he wants to administer the canal again. Obviously, the Panamanians are not big fans of that idea,” Rubio told SiriusXM radio in an interview before the trip.
He acknowledged that Panama’s government “generally is pro-American” but said that the Panama Canal is a “core national interest for us.”
“We cannot allow any foreign power – particularly China – to hold that kind of potential control over it that they do. That just can’t continue,” Rubio said.
The canal remains the crucial link between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and coasts, with 40 percent of US container traffic going through it.
Trump administration officials said they were blaming not Mulino but previous Panamanian president Juan Carlos Varela who in 2017 – during Trump’s first term as president – moved to sever ties with Taiwan in favor of China.
“It wasn’t just a diplomatic recognition. He literally opened the floodgates and gave strategic assets throughout the Canal Zone to China,” said Mauricio Claver-Carone, the US special envoy on Latin America.
He charged that Panama unfairly raised costs for US ships while also seeking assistance from the United States for canal upkeep. Panama attributes rising costs to the effects of a drought, exacerbated by climate change.
Trump has quickly made clear he will exercise swift pressure to bend other countries to his will, especially on his signature issue of deporting undocumented immigrants.
On Sunday, he threatened major tariffs against Colombia to force its president to back down after he insisted that repatriated migrants be treated in a more dignified way.
Rubio to make debut in Panama as Trump threatens to take canal
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Rubio to make debut in Panama as Trump threatens to take canal
- Marco Rubio’s travel comes the same day that Trump’s promised tariffs on the three largest US trading partners – Canada, Mexico and China – are set to come into effect
- Rubio will travel later to four other small Latin American countries for an agenda focused on migration, a highly unusual first trip for the top US diplomat
Pakistan hails renewed cooperation with US after Sharifullah arrest
- “We will continue to partner closely with the United States in securing regional peace and stability,” Sharif said
- The 2021 bombing at Kabul airport killed at least 170 Afghans and 13 US troops
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan highlighted its counterterrorism cooperation with Washington after the arrest of Mohammad Sharifullah, whom it blames for a 2021 attack on US troops at Kabul airport, in a military operation along the border with Afghanistan.
“We will continue to partner closely with the United States in securing regional peace and stability,” Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Wednesday, hours after US President Donald Trump thanked the country for the arrest, adding Sharifullah was on his way to the United States.
The United States has charged Sharifullah with helping to plan the attack and a hearing was scheduled for him in a federal court in Virginia on Wednesday, the US Department of Justice said.
The 2021 bombing at Kabul airport killed at least 170 Afghans and 13 US troops as they sought to help Americans and Afghans flee in the chaotic aftermath of the Taliban takeover.
The attack was claimed by Daesh-K, the Afghan branch of the Daesh group.
The US Justice Department has charged Sharifullah with “providing and conspiring to provide material support and resources” to the group.
“He confessed. This was the planner of that bombing,” White House national security adviser Mike Waltz said in an interview with Fox News.
FBI Director Kash Patel said Sharifullah was in US custody, in a post on X alongside a picture of agents standing in front of the plane that he was due to arrive on.
Pakistan had launched an operation along its Afghan border to capture Sharifullah, whom Sharif described as an Afghan national and top commander for militant group Daesh Khorasan.
“We thank US President Donald Trump for acknowledging and appreciating Pakistan’s role and support in counterterrorism efforts,” Sharif added in another statement.
Afghanistan’s Taliban government did not respond to a request for comment.
Pakistan’s deputy prime minister and foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, had spoken with US national security adviser Mike Walsh on Tuesday, according to a Pakistani foreign office statement.
Dar “reiterated that Pakistan looked forward to building on its longstanding and broad-based relationship with the United States under President Trump and his Administration,” it said.
SHIFTING TIES
Perennially shifting ties between Islamabad and Washington had been soured by concerns about Pakistan’s alleged support of Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers.
Although Pakistan denies such support, its links with Washington have frayed, while arch-rival India has gained greater influence.
“This is a significant development in that US-Pakistan ties have been in an unsettled state in the nearly four years since the US exit from Afghanistan,” said Michael Kugelman, Director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Center in Washington D.C.
A Pakistani security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Sharifullah’s arrest was part of wide-ranging joint counterterrorism efforts.
“Excellent cooperation has been established between Pakistan and President Trump’s new government,” the official added.
In a statement, the US Justice Department said it had caught Sharifullah with the help of the CIA and FBI agencies, without naming Pakistan.
Islamabad is making use of concerns about regional security and counterterrorism “to engage with Trump, who otherwise has no interest in Pakistan,” said defense analyst Ayesha Siddiqa.
“For now (the arrest) is just to signal to the United States that Pakistan is there and can be relied upon as a partner,” she added.
New Philippine degree recognition to boost job prospects for Filipinos in UAE
- UPOU recognized for equivalency by the UAE’s Ministry of Higher Education
- New degree recognition expected to help overseas Filipinos get higher-income jobs
MANILA: The Philippine government on Wednesday welcomed the UAE’s recognition of University of the Philippines Open University degrees as paving the way for better job opportunities and career advancement for Filipinos in the Gulf state.
UPOU, a public research university located south of Metro Manila, has been recognized for equivalency by the UAE’s Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research.
“Equivalency is a big help for Filipino professionals working abroad. That allows them to practice their trade and get the same recognition that they enjoy here in the Philippines,” Dante Francis Ang II, secretary of the Commission on Filipinos Overseas, said in an interview with the Philippine News Agency.
His office will be reaching out to Filipinos based in the UAE and encouraging them to get a degree or take further studies, he said.
UPOU operates as part of the Philippines’ national university, the University of the Philippines.
It said that the “landmark accreditation” is expected to pave the way for overseas Filipino workers, or OFWs, in the UAE to leverage their UPOU degrees for career advancement and employment opportunities.
“Prior to the said accreditation, OFWs with UPOU degrees reportedly faced challenges in career advancement since their graduate programs were not recognized by the UAE,” UPOU said.
UP President Angelo Jimenez said that the recognition will likely strengthen the Philippines’ macroeconomic stability “by increasing overseas remittances and reducing the final strain on welfare services extended to OFWs,” as it would enable them to earn higher salaries.
“This development will have a profound impact on the professional and economic mobility of our OFWs, enabling them to transition from high-risk, low-paying jobs to safer, more stable and higher-income positions,” Jimenez said.
Out of more than 2 million overseas Filipino workers, whose remittance inflows account for about 9 percent of their country’s gross domestic product, about 700,000 live in the UAE — the second-largest employer of Philippine expats after Saudi Arabia.
US Supreme Court won’t let Trump withhold payment to foreign aid groups
WASHINGTON: A divided US Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to let President Donald Trump’s administration withhold payment to foreign aid organizations for work they already performed for the government as the Republican president moves to pull the plug on American humanitarian projects around the world.
Handing a setback to Trump, the court in a 5-4 decision upheld Washington-based US District Judge Amir Ali’s order that had called on the administration to promptly release funding to contractors and recipients of grants from the US Agency for International Development and the State Department for their past work.
Conservative Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh dissented from the decision.
The order by Ali, who is presiding over an ongoing legal challenge to Trump’s policy, had originally given the administration until February 26 to disburse the funding, which it has said totaled nearly $2 billion that could take weeks to pay in full.
Chief Justice John Roberts paused that order hours before the midnight deadline to give the Supreme Court additional time to consider the administration’s more formal request to block Ali’s ruling. The Supreme Court’s 6-3 conservative majority includes three justices Trump appointed during his first presidential term.
Acting Solicitor General Sarah Harris said in a Supreme Court filing on March 3 that blocking Ali’s order “is warranted to prevent reinstatement of a new, short-fused deadline that would unlawfully commandeer federal payment processes anew.”
Harris argued that the judge’s order amounted to judicial overreach and had given the administration too little time to scrutinize the invoices “to ensure the legitimacy of all payments.” Lawyers representing the administration said in a separate February 26 filing that full payments could take weeks.
The Republican president, pursuing what he has called an “America First” agenda, ordered a 90-day pause on all foreign aid on his first day back in office on January 20. That order, and ensuing stop-work orders halting USAID operations around the world, have jeopardized delivery of life-saving food and medical aid, throwing global humanitarian relief efforts into chaos.
Aid organizations accused Trump in lawsuits of exceeding his authority under federal law and the US Constitution by effectively dismantling an independent federal agency and canceling spending authorized by Congress.
Aid organizations said in a Supreme Court filing on February 28 that they “would face extraordinary and irreversible harm if the funding freeze continues,” as would their employees and those who depend on their work.
The organizations’ “work advances US interests abroad and improves — and, in many cases, literally saves — the lives of millions of people across the globe. In doing so, it helps stop problems like disease and instability overseas before they reach our shores,” lawyers for the foreign aid groups wrote.
“The government’s actions have largely brought this work to a halt,” the lawyers wrote, adding that the Trump administration “comes to this court with an emergency of its own making.”
Among the plaintiffs in the litigation are the AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition, Journalism Development Network, international development company DAI Global and refugee assistance organization HIAS.
The Trump administration had kept the disputed payments largely frozen despite a temporary restraining order from Ali that they be released, and multiple subsequent orders that the administration comply. Ali’s February 25 enforcement order at issue before the Supreme Court applied to payment for work done by foreign aid groups before February 13, when the judge issued his temporary restraining order.
Ali, who was appointed by Democratic former President Joe Biden, issued his temporary restraining order to prevent irreparable harm to the plaintiffs while he considers their claims.
Trump and his adviser Elon Musk, the world’s wealthiest person, have taken dramatic steps to reshape and shrink the federal government. They have dismantled some agencies, fired thousands of workers, dismissed or reassigned hundreds of officials and removed the heads of independent agencies, among other actions.
As he moves to end American-backed humanitarian efforts in numerous countries, Trump’s administration has sent funding termination notices to key organizations in the global aid community. Global aid groups have said the US retreat endangers the lives of millions of the world’s most vulnerable people including those facing deadly diseases and those living in conflict zones.
Starmer praises sacrifice of British troops in Afghanistan, Iraq in oblique rebuke to Vance
LONDON: UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Wednesday praised the hundreds of British troops who died fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq “alongside our allies,” in an oblique rebuke of US Vice President JD Vance, who has questioned the merits of a potential European peacekeeping force in Ukraine following the signing of any peace agreement between the country and Russia.
In his opening remarks before the start of a weekly parliamentary question session, Starmer specifically paid tribute to six British soldiers who died on patrol in Afghanistan when their vehicle was struck by an explosive. Thursday marks the 13-year anniversary of their deaths.
“These men fought and died for their country, our country,” Starmer told the House of Commons. “And across the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, 642 individuals died fighting for Britain alongside our allies, many more were wounded.”
Without directly referencing Vance, the prime minister said he and all lawmakers will “never forget their bravery and their sacrifice.”
Vance said in an interview with Fox News this week that an economic pact with Kyiv sought by President Donald Trump “is a way better security guarantee than 20,000 troops from some random country that hasn’t fought a war in 30 or 40 years.”
Though Vance has subsequently sought to head off criticism by noting that he did not specifically name any countries, his “random country” comment prompted anger, particularly in the UK and France.
Peacekeeping mission
British troops fought alongside the US in Afghanistan and Iraq in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the US, while French troops were deployed to Afghanistan though not during the 2003 US-led war in Iraq.
Both Starmer, who has been careful not to criticize Trump over the past few days of frantic diplomacy, and French President Emmanuel Macron, have said that they are ready to deploy troops in a peacekeeping capacity in Ukraine after any peace deal, but have said that they would require further support from the US
No other countries have yet indicated they will be sending troops to any peacekeeping mission.
Trump has offered no US security guarantee and has, like Vance, indicated that an economic deal with Ukraine, that sees American money and people in the country but no forces, would be enough to fend off any future attack by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Minerals deal
In his overnight address to Congress, Trump appeared to soften his tone with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky following last Friday’s fractious meeting in the Oval Office.
Trump and Zelensky had been expected to sign off on a minerals deal, intended in part to pay back the US for aid it has sent Kyiv since the start of the war. But that plan was scrapped as the visit was ended abruptly after their meeting.
Starmer said he is doing “everything he can” to ensure the US and Europe are “working together on lasting peace” for Ukraine.
Vance’s interview with Fox News was recorded hours before a White House official confirmed on Monday evening that Trump had directed a pause of US assistance to Ukraine as he seeks to Zelensky to engage in negotiations to end the war which Russia launched in Feb. 2022.
EU states agree to roll out automated border system
BRUSSELS: EU member states agreed Wednesday on a phased rollout of a new border check system for non-EU nationals which will do away with passport stamps.
The so-called Entry/Exit System (EES), was initially supposed to kick in last November but was delayed at the last minute as several states were not ready.
First agreed on in 2017, the automated system will record visitors’ date of entry and exit and keep track of overstays and refused entries.
But its introduction has raised fears of queues and longer waiting times for people traveling to Europe on trains, ferries and planes.
London’s mayor Sadiq Khan warned last year it could trigger “chaos” at the British capital’s Eurostar cross-Channel rail hub, St. Pancras station.
The UK, which left the EU in 2020, on Wednesday opened up applications for its own digital travel permit, which will be mandatory for European visitors from April.
Under the EU agreement reached Wednesday — subject to approval by the European Parliament — the scheme will be implemented over a six-month period.
“We are aiming for October” to begin the rollout, said Polish interior minister Tomasz Siemoniak, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency.
Member states would ramp up toward operating the EES system at half of border crossing points after three months and by six months countries should be registering all individuals using the system.
Under the EES, travelers to the bloc will have details and biometric data — facial images and fingerprints — collected at ports of entry.
