KABUL: Afghanistan and the United States signed a long-awaited security pact on Tuesday that will allow US forces to remain in the country past the end of year.
At a ceremony held at the presidential palace in the capital, Kabul, newly appointed national security adviser Mohmmad Hanif Atmar signed the document along with US Ambassador James Cunningham.
The deal will allow about 10,000 American troops to stay in the country after the international combat mission ends Dec. 31. Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai had refused to sign it despite US threats of a full withdrawal in the absence of legal protections for American forces. US officials have said that the delay in the deal’s signing does not affect plans for next year.
A second agreement allowing NATO troops to stay in the country was also signed between Afghanistan and NATO during the same ceremony.
President Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai, who was sworn into office a day earlier, told the assembled crowd that the agreement signaled a fundamental shift in the country’s relations with the world.
“This agreement is only for Afghan security and stability,” he said. “These agreements are in our national interest. The Bilateral Security Agreement will pave the ground for Afghanistan to take control, “he added.
Government Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah also welcomed the agreement as beneficial to the country.
“It has been signed after very careful considerations,” he said, adding that “the BSA is not a threat to our neighbors. It will help strengthen peace and stability in the region.”
Afghanistan, US sign long-awaited security pact
Afghanistan, US sign long-awaited security pact
Trump to cut off all future funding to South Africa, Elon Musk's original country
- He alleged that “South Africa is confiscating land, and treating certain classes of people VERY BADLY”
- Trump pledged during his first administration to investigate claims of large-scale killings of white farmers in South Africa and violent takeovers of land
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that he would cut off all future funding to South Africa because he claimed, without evidence, that “certain classes of people” were being treated “very badly.”
“South Africa is confiscating land, and treating certain classes of people VERY BADLY,” Trump said in a Truth Social post.
“The United States won’t stand for it, we will act. Also, I will be cutting off all future funding to South Africa until a full investigation of this situation has been completed!” he added.
In 2023, the United States obligated nearly $440 million in assistance to South Africa, according to US government statistics.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said last month that he was not worried about the country’s relationship with Trump.
Ramaphosa said at the end of January that he had spoken to Trump after his election victory and looked forward to working with his administration.
During his first administration, Trump had pledged to investigate the unproven large-scale killings of white farmers in South Africa and violent takeovers of land.
Rubio says Panama must reduce Chinese influence around the canal or face possible US action
- China’s presence in the canal area may violate a treaty that led the US to turn the waterway over to Panama in 1999, Rubio tells Panama President Mulino
- After his meeting with Rubio, Mulino said Panama would not be renewing its agreement with China’s Belt and Road Initiative when it expires
PANAMA CITY: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio brought a warning to Panamanian leader José Raúl Mulino on Sunday: Immediately reduce what President Donald Trump says is Chinese influence over the Panama Canal area or face potential retaliation from the United States.
Rubio, traveling to the Central American country and touring the Panama Canal on his first foreign trip as top US diplomat, held face-to-face talks with Mulino, who has resisted pressure from the new US government over management of a waterway that is vital to global trade.
Mulino told reporters after the meeting that Rubio made “no real threat of retaking the canal or the use of force.”
Speaking on behalf of Trump, who has demanded that the canal be returned to US control, Rubio told Mulino that Trump believed that China’s presence in the canal area may violate a treaty that led the United States to turn the waterway over to Panama in 1999. That treaty calls for the permanent neutrality of the American-built canal.
“Secretary Rubio made clear that this status quo is unacceptable and that absent immediate changes, it would require the United States to take measures necessary to protect its rights under the treaty,” the State Department said in a summary of the meeting.
The statement was unusually blunt in diplomatic terms, but in keeping with the tenor and tone Trump has set for foreign policy. Trump has been increasing pressure on Washington’s neighbors and allies, including the canal demand and announcing Saturday that he was imposing major tariffs on Canada and Mexico. That launched a trade war by prompting retaliation from those close allies.
Mulino, meanwhile, called his talks with Rubio “respectful” and “positive” and said he did not “feel like there’s a real threat against the treaty and its validity.”
The president did say Panama would not be renewing its agreement with China’s Belt and Road Initiative when it expires. Panama joined the initiative, which promotes and funds infrastructure and development projects that critics say leave poor member countries heavily indebted to China, after dropping diplomatic recognition of Taiwan and recognizing Beijing.
Rubio later toured the canal at sunset with its administrator, Ricaurte Vásquez, who has said the waterway will remain in Panama’s hands and open to all countries. Rubio crossed the lock and visited the control tower, looking down over the water below, where a red tanker was passing through.
Earlier, about 200 people marched in the capital, carrying Panamanian flags and shouting “Marco Rubio out of Panama,” “Long live national sovereignty” and “One territory, one flag” while the meeting was going on. Some burned a banner with images of Trump and Rubio after being stopped short of the presidential palace by riot police.
Rubio also pressed Trump’s top focus — curbing illegal immigration — telling Panama’s president that it was important to collaborate on the work and thanked him for taking back migrants. Rubio’s trip, however, comes as a US foreign aid funding freeze and stop-work orders have shut down US-funded programs targeting illegal migration and crime in Central American countries.
In a Wall Street Journal opinion piece on Friday, Rubio said mass migration, drugs and hostile policies pursued by Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela have wreaked havoc, and port facilities at either end of the canal are run by a China-based company, leaving the waterway vulnerable to pressure from the Beijing government.
“The president’s been pretty clear he wants to administer the canal again,” Rubio said Thursday. “Obviously, the Panamanians are not big fans of that idea. That message has been brought very clear.”
Despite Mulino’s rejection of any negotiation over ownership, some believe Panama may be open to a compromise under which canal operations on both sides are taken away from the Hong Kong-based Hutchison Ports company, which was given a 25-year no-bid extension to run them. An audit into the suitability of that extension is already underway and could lead to a rebidding process.
What is unclear is whether Trump would accept the transfer of the concession to an American or European company as meeting his demands, which appear to cover more than just operations.
Rubio’s trip, which will also take him to El Salvador, Costa Rica, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic, comes amid a freeze in US foreign assistance. The State Department said Sunday that Rubio had approved waivers for certain critical programs in countries he is visiting but details of those were not immediately available.
Elon Musk brands USAID as ‘criminal organization’ in growing row
- More USAID officials removed from posts as Trump’s team moves to abolish the agency’s independence
- Trump has ordered a freeze on almost all US foreign aid oending a review of its spending to ensure money is distributed in line with his “America First” foreign policy
WASHINGTON: US billionaire Elon Musk attacked the US Agency for International Development on Sunday, calling it a “criminal organization” after President Donald Trump moved to freeze the bulk of Washington’s foreign assistance for three months.
USAID, an independent agency established by an act of Congress, manages a budget of $42.8 billion meant for humanitarian relief and development assistance around the world.
But it is one of the targets of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) headed by Musk, whom Trump has tasked with cutting the government workforce and slashing what the Republican calls waste and unnecessary spending.
Trump ordered a freeze on almost all US foreign aid, saying his administration will review spending to ensure money is distributed in line with his “America First” foreign policy.
The Trump administration has since issued waivers for food and other humanitarian aid. But aid workers say uncertainty reigns — and that the impact is already being felt by some of the world’s most vulnerable.
USAID is a criminal organization,“ Musk wrote on his X platform, replying to a video alleging USAID involvement in ”rogue CIA work“ and ”internet censorship.“
In a subsequent post, Musk doubled down and, without giving evidence, asked his 215 million X followers, ”Did you know that USAID, using YOUR tax dollars, funded bioweapon research, including Covid-19, that killed millions of people?“
He did not elaborate on the allegations, which officials in the previous administration linked to a Russian disinformation campaign.
Mayhem
Two top USAID security officials were reportedly removed during the weekend after they tried to stop DOGE representatives from gaining access to restricted parts of the building, three sources said on Sunday.
The action added to the dozens of staff at USAID being removed from their positions, as Trump’s team moves to abolish the agency’s independence and possibly bring it under the control of the State Department.
USAID’s account on X had been disabled, and the agency’s website was still offline.
Nearly 30 career staff in the agency’s Legislative and Public Affairs bureau lost access overnight to their emails, at least five sources said, bringing the total number of senior USAID career staff who have been put on leave over the past week close to 100.
“DOGE did access the building yesterday,” a senior Senate Democratic aide said, requesting anonymity to discuss the incident. USAID security officers tried to turn away DOGE personnel without security clearances.
“They (security personnel) were threatened with action by the federal Marshals Service,” the aide said. Following the incident, the director of USAID security John Voorhees and his deputy were removed from their positions and put on leave, sources said.
Members of the group from DOGE were allowed to access several secure spaces, including the office of security and the agency’s executive secretariat.
There was no record of what information DOGE officials were able to obtain in those areas, but the offices they accessed included classified files and personal information about Americans who work at USAID, the sources said.
Katie Miller, a DOGE spokesperson, said on social media platform X that no classified material was accessed without proper security clearances.
Matt Hopson, who was appointed as chief of staff by the Trump administration, has resigned, five sources familiar with the matter said. A congressional source said his resignation followed the incident with DOGE officials. USAID did not respond to a request about Hopson.
Legal battle looms
Congressional Democrats said the changes appeared to violate US laws establishing USAID and funding it as a separate agency. Two senior Senate Democratic aides said lawmakers and staff had been meeting on Sunday and would meet again on Monday to consider further steps, including legal action.
Senior Democratic members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee including its chair Jeanne Shaheen on Sunday sent a letter to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio seeking an explanation over the incident. Shaheen said that she was working to gather Democrats and Republicans to ask for answers.
The global freeze on most of US foreign aid is already sending shockwaves around the world. Field hospitals in Thai refugee camps, land mine clearance in war zones, and drugs to treat millions suffering from diseases such as HIV are among the programs at risk of elimination.
US House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Brian Mast on Sunday said that he would support moving USAID under the State Department and that there needs to be “more command and control.’
Asked on CBS’ “Face the Nation” if congressional approval was needed or whether Trump could act unilaterally, Mast did not answer. The “purging of people throughout the State Department, other agencies” and freezing aid were “all very important and necessary steps to make sure that we secure America,” he said.
The State Department and USAID did not respond to requests for comment.
UK’s Starmer seeks strong trade relations with the US in the wake of Trump’s tariffs
- The UK left the EU in 2020, following a referendum in 2016. Trump, who supported the Leave side in the Brexit vote, has not yet said whether he plans to target the UK with tariffs
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Sunday that he would seek a strong trade relationship with the US after President Donald Trump suggested he would slap Europe with tariffs after he hit America’s biggest trading partners — Canada, Mexico and China — with import taxes.
Starmer spoke to reporters while hosting German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at his country estate on the eve of a mission to improve relations with the European Union.
“In the discussions that I have had with President Trump, that is what we have centered on, a strong trading relationship,” he said. “So it is very early days.”
Canada and Mexico ordered retaliatory tariffs in response to Trump’s announcement that the US on Tuesday will stick a 25 percent levy on imports from Canada and Mexico and 10 percent on goods from China. Trump said he “absolutely” plans to impose tariffs on the EU.
The UK left the EU in 2020, following a referendum in 2016. Trump, who supported the Leave side in the Brexit vote, has not yet said whether he plans to target the UK with tariffs.
The tit-for-tat tariffs have triggered fears of a global trade war.
“Tariff increases really right across the world can have a really damaging impact on global growth and trade, so I don’t think it’s what anybody wants to see,” British Home Secretary Yvette Cooper told the BBC.
Starmer is heading to Belgium to meet with EU chiefs Monday, where the UK leader is aiming for a relationship “reset”.
While ruling out rejoining the EU trade bloc five years after Brexit, Starmer said he wants to forge a closer relationship on defense, energy and trade.
“I think that is certainly in the UK’s best interest, I do believe it’s in the EU’s best interest, and already I hope that in the last seven months there’s been a manifest difference in approach, tone and relationship,” he said.
Starmer hosted Scholz at Chequers, the prime minister’s country residence in Buckinghamshire 30 miles (50 kilometers) northwest of London, where the two leaders discussed Ukraine and the Middle East, according to a Starmer spokesperson.
The prime minister spoke of their common approach to “key issues and challenges,” including their shared commitment to Kyiv as the war with Russia enters its fourth year this month.
The two agreed that Russia’s invasion had emphasized the need to beef up and coordinate defense production across Ukraine, according to a readout of the meeting from a Starmer spokesperson. The UK and Germany signed a defense pact in October, described by officials as the first of its kind between two NATO member countries, to boost European security amid rising Russian aggression.
The British government’s strategic defense review later this year will include lessons learned in Ukraine and the need to outmaneuver Russian President Vladimir Putin’s hostile acts across the continent, Starmer said.
Starmer thanked Scholz for visiting in the middle of a difficult re-election campaign. Scholz’s center-left Social Democrats are lagging in the polls behind the center-right Christian Democratic Union and the far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD, with three weeks to go before the Feb. 23 vote.
“When I started as prime minister seven months ago now, I was determined to strengthen the relationship between our two countries — already very good, but I thought it could be stronger on a number of fronts,” said Starmer, leader of the center-left Labour Party. “And thanks to your leadership, I think we’ve made real progress.”
Scholz said the visit that included a walk around the grounds of the estate and a lunch was a “good sign of the very good relations between our two countries, and indeed between the two of us.”
Tens of thousands protest in Berlin against proposed German immigration crackdown
- The draft law would have restricted family reunifications for some refugees and called for more people to be refused at the border
BERLIN: Thousands of people protested in Berlin on Sunday against plans to limit immigration proposed by opposition conservatives and supported by the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).
Friedrich Merz, the conservatives’ leader who is tipped to become Germany’s next chancellor after a national election set for Feb. 23, sponsored a draft bill with AfD support, breaking a taboo against cooperating with the far-right party.
Around 160,000 gathered at Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate, next to the Bundestag lower house, according to the Berlin police. The protesters held banners reading “We are the firewall, no cooperation with the AfD” and “Merz, go home, shame on you!.”
Merz, the CDU/CSU’s candidate for chancellor, on Friday tried to push the immigration bill in the lower house but failed to secure a majority as some of the deputies from his own party refused to support it.
Their failure to endorse his draft dealt a blow to the authority of Merz, who had pushed for the law despite warnings from party colleagues that he risked being tarnished with the charge of voting alongside the far-right.
Mainstream German parties had previously joined forces to prevent the AfD, which is under surveillance by Germany’s security services, from achieving legislative power, something they call a firewall against the far-right.
The draft law would have restricted family reunifications for some refugees and called for more people to be refused at the border. Two-thirds of the public support stronger immigration rules, according to a recent poll.
Merz had argued that the bill was a necessary response to a series of high-profile killings in public spaces by people with an immigrant background. But Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD) and Greens said the proposals would not have stopped the attacks and violated European law.
On Saturday, tens of thousands took to the streets across many other German cities, including Hamburg, Stuttgart and Leipzig, in similar protests against the CDU/CSU and the AfD.
