WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump’s executive order to establish a nationwide “Iron Dome” missile defense system has sparked debate over its feasibility, funding, and strategic implications. Unlike Israel’s Iron Dome, which intercepts short-range rockets, Trump’s plan aims to defend against intercontinental ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and hypersonic weapons.
Click here for the full story in Mandarin.
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STATE DEPARTMENT — Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday pledged U.S. support to bolster Costa Rica’s cybersecurity defenses, 5G telecommunications infrastructure, and its battle against narcotics.
Rubio made the statement at a joint press conference with Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves, whose Central American nation faces more than 100 million cyberattacks annually.
“It’s very serious — 110 million cyberattacks a year for a country of this size — it’s extraordinary, and they have faced it very bravely,” Rubio told reporters in San Jose, Costa Rica’s capital.
In late 2024, local media reported that Costa Rican officials, in collaboration with the U.S. Embassy, identified cyber intrusions by criminal groups in China targeting the country’s telecommunications and technology system, an allegation the Chinese Embassy in Costa Rica denied.
In August 2023, Chaves issued a decree regulating 5G mobile network development, limiting involvement to companies based in signatory-states to the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime — an international treaty addressing cybercrime.
San Jose should be lauded for being “very firm,” Rubio said, against companies “backed by governments like the government of China that likes to threaten, that likes to sabotage, that likes to use economic coercion to punish you.”
VOA has reached out to the Chinese Embassy in Washington for comment but has not yet received a response.
US aid waiver
Rubio also vowed that Washington wouldn’t “eliminate foreign aid” but prioritize assistance for trusted partners and allies. He pledged continued cooperation with Costa Rica, offering FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration support to investigate drug trafficking to the U.S.
“We issued a waiver today because Costa Rica” has used U.S. aid effectively to fix problems that also benefit the United States, Rubio said. “They’re stopping drugs, they’re stopping criminals, they’re identifying terrorists.”
The State Department’s Office of Foreign Assistance has not responded to VOA’s inquiry for further details on the waiver.
Rubio’s five-nation tour across Central America and the Caribbean marks his first major diplomatic mission as secretary of state, with key priorities including curbing illegal immigration into the U.S. and combating drug trafficking.
On Tuesday afternoon, the secretary arrived in Guatemala following discussions with leaders from Panama, El Salvador and Costa Rica. He is scheduled to travel to the Dominican Republic on Wednesday.
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U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping are set soon to hold a high-stakes phone call on the tit-for-tat tariffs each has imposed on the other country’s exports.
Trump’s new 10% tariff on Chinese goods took effect at midnight Monday, with China quickly announcing it would impose 15% tariffs on U.S. coal and liquified natural gas, as well as 10% tariffs on crude oil, agricultural machinery and some automobiles.
Trump on Monday retreated for a month from imposing 25% tariffs on most exports from the United States’ other top-three trading partners, Mexico and Canada. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau agreed to increase efforts to curb the flow of fentanyl, the deadly opioid that has killed several hundred thousand Americans over recent years.
Trump said he imposed the tariff on Chinese exports to pressure China to take action to prevent fentanyl smuggling into the U.S., which identified China as a major source of the precursor chemicals used by Mexican drug cartels to manufacture fentanyl.
China said it has taken steps to crack down on the industry and other illicit drug trade.
“China hopefully is going to stop sending us fentanyl, and if they’re not, the tariffs are going to go substantially higher,” Trump said.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump’s call with Xi “is being scheduled and will happen very soon.”
The U.S. and China, the world’s two biggest economies, engaged in an escalating trade war in 2018 during Trump’s first term in office when he repeatedly raised tariffs on Chinese goods, and Beijing responded each time.
This time, China is much better prepared, analysts say. The country announced numerous measures that go beyond tariffs and cut across different sectors of the U.S. economy. China is also more wary of upsetting its own fragile and heavily trade-dependent economy.
China’s tariffs and other moves
China’s State Council Tariff Commission said in a statement announcing its levy on U.S. products, “The U.S.’s unilateral tariff increase seriously violates the rules of the World Trade Organization. It is not only unhelpful in solving its own problems, but also damages normal economic and trade cooperation between China and the U.S.”
But the impact on U.S. exports could be limited. Although the U.S. worldwide is the biggest exporter of liquid natural gas, it does not export much to China. In 2023, the U.S. exported 173,247 million cubic feet of LNG to China, about 2.3% of its total natural gas exports, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
China imported fewer than 110,000 vehicles from the U.S. last year, although auto market analyst Lei Xing told The Associated Press that the tariffs could be painful for General Motors, which is adding the Chevrolet Tahoe and GMC Yukon to its China lineup, and for Ford, which exports the Mustang and F-150 Raptor pickup.
In addition to the tariff hike, China announced export controls on several elements critical to the production of modern high-tech products.
They include tungsten, tellurium, bismuth, molybdenum and indium, many of which are designated as critical minerals by the U.S. Geological Survey, meaning they are essential to U.S. economic or national security that have supply chains vulnerable to disruption. The export controls are in addition to ones China placed in December on such key elements as gallium.
The Commerce Ministry also placed two American companies on an unreliable entities list: PVH Group, which owns clothing companies Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, and Illumina, which is a biotechnology company with offices in China.
The listing could bar them from engaging in China-related import or export activities and from making new investments in the country. The ministry said its investigations show the two U.S. companies have “disrupted normal business with Chinese companies, taken discriminatory measures against Chinese companies and severely harmed the legitimate rights of Chinese companies.”
Beijing began investigating PVH Group in September 2024 over what it described as “improper Xinjiang-related behavior” after the company allegedly boycotted the use of Xinjiang cotton.
Illumina competes with the Chinese biotech firm BGI in gene-sequencing.
In a statement, Illumina said it complies with regulations wherever it operates.
“We are assessing this announcement with the goal of finding a positive resolution,” the company said.
Mexico and Canada tariffs
On Monday, Sheinbaum said she would dispatch 10,000 National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border to try to curb the flow of drugs into the United States.
“Mexico will reinforce the northern border … to stop drug trafficking from Mexico to the United States, in particular fentanyl,” she posted on X after talking with Trump. “The United States commits to work to stop the trafficking of high-powered weapons to Mexico.”
Trudeau said Canada would deploy new technology and personnel along its southern border with the United States to stop the flow of fentanyl.
“I just had a good call with President Trump,” Trudeau said on X. “Proposed tariffs will be paused for at least 30 days while we work together.”
Effects on US consumers
Trump acknowledged Sunday that the new tariffs on the three biggest U.S. trading partners could hit inflation-weary Americans with higher prices for groceries, gasoline, cars and other consumer goods but said the higher tariffs would be “worth the price” to bolster U.S. interests.
U.S. consumers could face higher prices because companies that pay the tariffs to the federal government to import goods from other countries often pass on at least part, if not all, of their higher costs to consumers, rather than absorb the extra expenses themselves.
Some material in this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
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«Відчуття, що вони знову взялися показувати свою владу та затримують велику кількість дівчат, жінок»
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Washington — Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the controversial environmental lawyer turned public health critic, cleared his first hurdle on Tuesday to become the nation’s top health official when the senate finance committee voted to advance his nomination for a floor vote.
Republicans voted together to advance his nomination, while Democrats all opposed.
His nomination now will face a full senate vote, despite concerns about the work he’s done to sow doubts around vaccine safety and his potential to profit off lawsuits over drugmakers.
To gain control of the $1.7 trillion Health and Human Services agency, Kennedy will need support from all but three Republicans if Democrats uniformly oppose him.
Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who is also a physician and sits on the finance committee, voted to advance Kennedy’s confirmation. Last week, during Kennedy’s hearings, Cassidy repeatedly implored Kennedy to reject a disproven theory that vaccines cause autism, to no avail. He ended the hearing by saying he was “struggling” with the vote.
“Your past, undermining confidence in vaccines with unfounded or misleading arguments, concerns me,” Cassidy told Kennedy.
Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky are all seen as potential no votes, too, because they voted against President Donald Trump’s defense secretary nominee and have expressed concerns about Kennedy’s anti-vaccine work.
In a CBS “60 Minutes” interview that aired Sunday, McConnell declined to say how he would vote on Kennedy’s nomination but reiterated “vaccines are critically important.”
Democrats, meanwhile, continue to raise alarms about Kennedy’s potential to financially benefit from changing vaccine guidelines or weakening federal lawsuit protections against vaccine makers if confirmed as health secretary.
“It seems possible that many different types of vaccine-related decisions and communications — which you would be empowered to make and influence as Secretary — could result in significant financial compensation for your family,” Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Ron Wyden of Oregon wrote in a letter sent over the weekend to Kennedy.
Kennedy said he’ll give his son all of the referral fees in legal cases against vaccine makers, including the fees he gets from referring clients in a case against Merck. Kennedy told the committee he’s referred hundreds of clients to a law firm that’s suing Merck’s Gardasil, the human papillomavirus vaccine that prevents cervical cancer. He’s earned $2.5 million from the deal over the past three years.
As secretary, Kennedy will oversee vaccine recommendations and public health campaigns for the $1.7 trillion agency, which is also responsible for food and hospital inspections, providing health insurance for millions of Americans and researching deadly diseases.
Kennedy, a longtime Democrat, ran for president but withdrew last year to throw his support to Trump in exchange for an influential job in his Republican administration. Together, they have forged a new and unusual coalition made up of conservatives who oppose vaccines and liberals who want to see the government promote healthier foods. Trump and Kennedy have branded the movement as “Make America Healthy Again.”
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WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate on Tuesday confirmed Doug Collins as secretary of veterans affairs, putting the former congressman and Iraq War veteran at the helm of a department that provides crucial care to America’s veterans.
Collins, a former Air Force chaplain, was confirmed on a 77-23 vote, becoming the latest addition to President Donald Trump’s Cabinet.
“We must take care of our brave men and women in uniform, and Doug will be a great advocate for our active duty service members, veterans, and military families to ensure they have the support they need,” Trump said in a November statement announcing Collins’ nomination.
The Department of Veterans Affairs manages a more than $350 billion budget and oversees nearly 200 medical centers and hospitals nationwide. It also manages national cemeteries and works closely with the Defense Department on personnel matters.
Collins has promised to cut regulations across the department and elevate the quality of care for veterans.
The challenges facing the department have evolved in recent years, with a younger generation of veterans bringing new health challenges from their service in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
“I’m an Iraq War veteran. I understand burn pits because I slept next to one for many months,” Collins said in his opening remarks during his January confirmation hearing. Collins said that he understands the challenges facing veterans today who “went time and time again, deployment after deployment” to conflict zones.
Collins served in the House of Representatives from 2013 to 2021. He has been an outspoken conservative since his time in the Georgia state legislature and was a close Trump ally during the president’s first term. He ran unsuccessfully for Senate in 2020 but lost the Republican primary to Kelly Loeffler, a major GOP donor who Trump has tapped to lead the U.S. Small Business Association.
Senator Kevin Cramer, a Republican from North Dakota, called Collins a “friend” who has “an engaging personality that attracts people to what he’s working on.”
“It’s not that they’re better doctors or better psychiatrists or better nurses or technicians. It’s that they’re empathetic,” Cramer said. “While they appreciate access to community care, they appreciate the empathy of a fellow veteran, and Doug brings that. But, guys, he’s a chaplain. I mean, come on, how perfect is that?”
Collins’ nomination sailed through the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee in a 18-1 vote. The lone dissenter, Senator Mazie Hirono, a Democrat from Hawaii, said she was concerned that Collins would limit access to reproductive care like IVF or abortion for veterans.
Senator Tammy Duckworth, an Illinois Democrat, said she had a productive conversation with Collins during his confirmation hearing but pressed him on whether he’d commit to working with Congress to “strengthen and refine” the department “rather than resorting to privatization.”
Collins said he would be focused on addressing wait times and increasing preventative care.
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«Свіжі фрукти щодня їдять лише 55,3% дітей, а овочі – 41,4%. Натомість опитування батьків показало, що діти споживають забагато цукру»
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«Загинули 44-річний чоловік, 69-річний чоловік та дві жінки і один чоловік – їх дані встановлюють»
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ISLAMABAD — The Taliban have warned that the military weapons left behind by the United States in Afghanistan now belong to them as “spoils of war” and will be utilized to defend against any attempts to reclaim them.
The statement marks the first official response from the internationally unrecognized government in Kabul to President Donald Trump’s pledge on the eve of his Jan. 20 inauguration to retrieve U.S. arms from the de facto Islamist Afghan leaders.
“The weapons that America abandoned in Afghanistan, as well as those provided to the former Afghan regime, are now in the possession of the Mujahideen [or Taliban forces] as spoils of war,” claimed Zabihullah Mujahid, the chief Taliban spokesperson, while participating in an X space session late on Monday.
“The Afghan people now own these weapons and are utilizing them to defend their independence, sovereignty, and Islamic system. No external force can compel us to surrender these weapons, nor will we accept any demands for their surrender,” Mujahid stated. “We will use these weapons to repel invaders who dare to seize them.”
U.S.-led Western troops were stationed in Afghanistan for nearly two decades to counter terrorist groups and protect the internationally backed government in Kabul at the time. They hastily and chaotically withdrew in August 2021, just days after the then-insurgent Taliban stormed back to power.
A U.S. Department of Defense report in 2022 found that about $7 billion worth of military hardware was left behind in Afghanistan after the military withdrawal was completed. The equipment, including aircraft, air-to-ground munitions, military vehicles, weapons, communications equipment, and other materials, was subsequently seized by the Taliban.
Trump stated in his pre-inauguration remarks at a rally in Washington last month that his predecessor, Joe Biden, “gave our military equipment, a big chunk of it, to the enemy.” He went on to warn that future financial assistance to Taliban-ruled Afghanistan would be contingent upon the return of U.S. military arms.
“If we’re going to pay billions of dollars a year, tell them we’re not going to give them the money unless they give back our military equipment,” Trump said then, without elaborating.
Mujahid, while speaking on Monday, rejected Trump’s assertions, saying the Taliban have not received “a single penny” from the U.S. in financial aid since regaining control of the country. He stated that Kabul has neither anticipated nor sought any assistance from Washington.
The Taliban have displayed U.S. military gear in their so-called victory day celebrations since returning to power in Afghanistan.
The U.S. troop exit from Afghanistan stemmed from the February 2020 Doha Agreement that the first Trump administration negotiated with the then-insurgent Taliban. Biden completed and defended the military withdrawal, saying the choice he had was either to follow through on that agreement or be prepared to go back to fighting the Taliban.
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Спеціалізована антикорупційна прокуратура заявила позов про визнання необґрунтованими активів на понад 3,4 мільйона гривень
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New U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods went into effect Tuesday, with China quickly announcing tariffs on U.S. imports in response.
China said it would impose 15% tariffs on U.S. coal and liquified natural gas, as well as 10% tariffs on crude oil, agricultural machinery and some automobiles.
The U.S. measures involve a 10% tariff on all Chinese goods, which Trump announced in an effort to pressure China to take action to prevent fentanyl smuggling into the United States.
The U.S. government has identified China as a major source of the precursor chemicals used by Mexican drug cartels to manufacture fentanyl.
China has said it has taken steps to crack down on the industry and illicit drug trade.
“China hopefully is going to stop sending us fentanyl, and if they’re not, the tariffs are going to go substantially higher,” Trump said.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday that Trump would speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping in the coming days.
Trump on Monday announced a one-month pause for the 25% tariffs on Mexican and Canadian goods after he spoke with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Sheinbaum said she would dispatch 10,000 National Guard troops to try to curb the flow of fentanyl into the United States.
“Mexico will reinforce the northern border … to stop drug trafficking from Mexico to the United States, in particular fentanyl,” Sheinbaum posted on X after talking with Trump. “The United States commits to work to stop the trafficking of high-powered weapons to Mexico.”
The Mexican leader added that the two countries would continue talks on security and trade and that “the tariffs are put on pause for a month from now.”
Trudeau said Canada would deploy new technology and personnel along its border with the United States to stop the flow of fentanyl.
“I just had a good call with President Trump,” Trudeau said on X. “Proposed tariffs will be paused for at least 30 days while we work together.”
Both Sheinbaum and Trudeau, representing two of the three biggest U.S. trading partners along with China, protested Trump’s tariff plans and vowed to retaliate.
Kevin Hassett, director of the White House National Economic Council, said Monday that it was misleading to characterize the showdown over tariffs as a trade war, despite the planned retaliations from Mexico, Canada and China and the risk of escalation.
“Read the executive order where President Trump was absolutely, 100% clear that this is not a trade war,” Hassett said. “This is a drug war.”
Trump acknowledged Sunday that the new tariffs on the three biggest U.S. trading partners could hit inflation-weary Americans with higher prices for groceries, gasoline, cars and other consumer goods, but said the higher tariffs would be “worth the price” to bolster U.S. interests.
U.S. consumers could face higher prices because companies that pay the tariffs to the federal government to import goods from other countries then often pass on at least part, if not all, of their higher costs to consumers, rather than absorb their extra expenses themselves.
Tensions ramped up Monday with the leader of Canada’s most populous province of Ontario announcing that he is ending a contract with Elon Musk’s Starlink internet services in response to Trump’s new tariff on Canada. Musk, possibly the world’s richest man, is a key Trump adviser seeking to sharply cut U.S. government spending and trim the ranks of 2.3 million federal civilian workforce through buyouts.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who said he is also banning American companies from provincial contracts, signed a $68 million deal with Musk’s company in November to deliver high-speed internet to remote residents in rural and northern Ontario.
“We’ll be ripping up the province’s contract with Starlink. Ontario won’t do business with people hellbent on destroying our economy,” Ford said in a post on X.
Some material in this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
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«73-річний місцевий житель дістав вибухову травму та уламкові поранення ніг»
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U.S. President Donald Trump is set to host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for talks Tuesday at the White House with Israel’s ceasefire with Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip at the top of the agenda.
The talks come at a key phase in the ceasefire. Israel and Hamas have less than four weeks to agree on the terms of the second phase, which would include the release of all remaining hostages held in Gaza, a permanent halt in fighting and Israel’s withdrawal from the territory.
“I have no guarantees that the peace is going to hold,” Trump told reporters Monday.
Ahead of the White House visit, Netanyahu met Monday with U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, who was part of the push to secure the ceasefire deal.
Netanyahu’s office said in a statement that the meeting was “positive and friendly,” and that he would meet with his Security Cabinet upon returning from the U.S. in order to “discus Israel’s overall positions regarding the second stage of the deal.”
Witkoff is expected to hold talks with Qatari and Egyptian officials as the three countries continue in their role of mediating the halt in fighting.
In addition to the ceasefire, Netanyahu said he and Trump would discuss countering Iranian aggression and expanding diplomatic relations with Arab countries.
Trump brokered normalization agreements between Israel and four Arab countries in his first term. He now is seeking a wider agreement in which Israel would forge ties with Saudi Arabia.
But Saudi Arabia has said it would only agree to such a deal if the war in Gaza ends and there is a credible pathway to a Palestinian state in Gaza, the West Bank and east Jerusalem, territories Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war.
The U.S. supports Palestinian statehood, but Netanyahu’s government is opposed.
Hamas, a U.S.-designated terror group, has released 18 hostages so far, while Israel has freed hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
The war in Gaza began with the Oct. 7, 2023, attack in which Hamas militants killed 1,200 people and took about 250 people hostage.
Israel’s counteroffensive during 15 months of warfare has killed more than 47,500 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children. Israel’s military says the death toll includes 17,000 militants it has killed.
Some material in this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
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За словами Рубіо, президент Наїб Букеле «погодився на найбільш безпрецедентну, надзвичайну, екстраординарну міграційну угоду в світі»
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STATE DEPARTMENT — The United States and El Salvador have reached what U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called “the most unprecedented and extraordinary” deal to further curb illegal immigration.
After about three hours of meetings with Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele at his residence in Lake Coatepeque, San Salvador, Rubio said that Bukele has offered to house dangerous American criminals in Salvadoran jails, including U.S. citizens and legal residents.
Bukele has also “agreed to accept for deportation any illegal aliens in the United States” who are criminals, regardless of nationality, in addition to fully cooperating on the repatriation of Salvadorans who are in the United States illegally, Rubio told reporters.
Rubio visited El Salvador on Monday to address illegal migration and other strategic issues.
The State Department said Rubio also raised strategies to counter the influence of the Chinese Communist Party in the Western Hemisphere to safeguard the sovereignty and interests of both nations and the region.
His visit comes amid the restructuring of a U.S. agency overseeing foreign aid, which has sparked a showdown between congressional Democrats and President Donald Trump’s administration.
Rubio announced that he is now the acting administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development but has delegated his authority to another official. He stressed that the agency must align U.S. foreign aid with national interests and comply with State Department policy directives.
Late Monday, the United States and El Salvador also signed a memorandum of understanding, or MOU, on civil nuclear cooperation, expanding strategic relations between the two nations.
The State Department said the MOU marks an initial step toward building a robust civil nuclear partnership, aiming to enhance energy security and foster economic cooperation.
Curtailing illegal immigration
Bukele is regarded as a key ally of the United States in its regional efforts to address the migration crisis.
On Oct. 7, 2024, the United States and El Salvador signed a Customs Mutual Assistance Agreement, further strengthening border security and facilitating trade between the two countries.
El Salvador was once the third-largest source of nationals captured at the U.S. southwest border. Today, it no longer ranks among the top 10.
Chinese influence
U.S. President Trump has maintained warm relations with Salvadoran President Bukele, who also strengthened ties with Chinese President Xi Jinping following his state visit to Beijing in December 2019.
During Bukele’s visit, China promised millions in development projects for the Central American country through a series of agreements. Among them were a soccer stadium, a national library, a tourist pier, and funding for water treatment improvements.
In April 2024, China and El Salvador began negotiations on a free trade agreement, though the United States remains El Salvador’s primary trading partner.
El Salvador formally recognized the People’s Republic of China on Aug. 21, 2018, severing diplomatic ties with Taiwan.
Panama
Earlier Monday, Rubio observed a U.S.-funded deportation flight departing from Albrook International Airport in Panama, returning dozens of undocumented Colombians to their home country. A total of 32 men and 11 women were repatriated, including seven individuals with criminal records.
The top U.S. diplomat said it sent “a clear message” that people who sought to enter the U.S. border irregularly would be stopped and sent back to their countries of origin.
On July 1, 2024, the first day of Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino’s term, the U.S. and Panama signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at jointly reducing the number of migrants illegally crossing through Panama’s Darién region en route to the United States.
The program is funded by the U.S. State Department and implemented by the Department of Homeland Security. Monday’s deportation was carried out under the MOU and following a State Department waiver that lifted a previous pause on U.S. foreign aid.
“This is an effective way to stem the flow of illegal migration, of mass migration, which is destructive and destabilizing,” Rubio told reporters at the Albrook International Airport.
“This flight today was possible due to a waiver that we’ve issued,” he added. “We’re going to issue a broader one to continue this cooperation.”
Under the 2024 MOU, the United States has provided nearly $2.7 million to fund flights and tickets to repatriate migrants to their countries of origin.
Since the first repatriation flight on August 20, 2024, over 40 charter flights have been conducted from Panama to more than 14 countries, returning more than 1,700 undocumented migrants. Destinations have included Colombia, Ecuador, India, and Vietnam.
Panama recently reported a 90% decrease in migrants crossing the Darién region compared to the same period last year.
Canal controversy
On Sunday, Rubio warned Panama that Washington will “take necessary measures” if Panama does not take immediate steps to end what U.S. President Donald Trump described as China’s “influence and control” over the Panama Canal.
“Secretary Rubio made clear that this status quo is unacceptable,” State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said in a statement after Rubio’s talks with Mulino.
Mulino also announced that Panama has decided not to renew a 2017 memorandum with China on Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative and will seek to void agreements with the Chinese government before their official expiration dates.
“We’ll study the possibility of terminating it early,” Mulino added on Sunday.
The Belt and Road Initiative, or BRI, is a massive infrastructure project launched by China in 2013 under President Xi Jinping, aiming to connect multiple continents through land and maritime routes. The United States has cautioned that the BRI “is fueled by China’s mission to manipulate and undermine the global rules-based trading system for its own benefit.”
At the United Nations, Chinese Ambassador Fu Cong dismissed the accusations against China as “totally false” and “pointless.” He said that China has never participated in the management or operation of the Panama Canal nor interfered in its affairs. He also reaffirmed respect for Panama’s sovereignty and the canal’s status as a neutral international gateway.
The Chinese ambassador further called Panama’s decision not to renew the BRI agreement “regrettable.”
After visiting Panama and El Salvador, Rubio will travel to Costa Rica on Tuesday, followed by stops in Guatemala and the Dominican Republic.
Margaret Besheer contributed to this report.
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U.S. President Donald Trump said he would possibly be interested in continuing U.S. aid to Ukraine in exchange for access to Ukraine’s rare earth minerals.
“We’re looking to do a deal with Ukraine where they’re going to secure what we’re giving them with their rare earth and other things,” Trump said Monday in the Oval Office.
Trump has indicated Ukraine is open to the possibility of an agreement of delivering rare earth minerals to the U.S. in exchange for the continuation of U.S. aid to Ukraine for its war against Russia, according to an Associated Press report.
“We’re putting in hundreds of billions of dollars. They have great rare earth. And I want security of the rare earth, and they’re willing to do it,” the U.S. president said.
Rare earth minerals like those in Ukraine, include lithium and titanium. They are essential for an array of modern high-tech products.
In his daily address Monday, before Trump’s announcement, Ukraine’s president reiterated the country’s need to defend itself against Russia’s ongoing attacks. He said Russia is “focusing primarily” on Ukraine’s energy sector.
“They continue their attacks, constantly adjusting their strikes to the capabilities of our defense, making them more difficult to repel,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
“There is a constant rapid evolution of electronic warfare,” the president said and urged Ukraine to “be much faster” in adjusting to the continuous changes.
The supply of air defense systems for Ukraine is another issue for the Eastern European country. Zelenskyy said that the supplies are “critical and must not stop.”
“We must constantly search worldwide for ways to strengthen defense, increase production of necessary equipment in Ukraine, expand localization of production and obtain licenses from our partners,” the president said. “This is a huge undertaking, and much of Ukraine’s future depends on it.”
Zelenskyy also said in his daily address that he talked Monday with Ukraine’s military Commander in Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi about modernizing the country’s armed forces.
As part of that discussion, the two men also talked about appointing corps commanders who “must be the most prepared, most promising officers, with combat experience and [a] modern mindset.”
While the president said, “The army must be modern,” he also said, “most importantly, it must value its people.”
Earlier Monday, Russian officials said that Ukrainian drone attacks targeted energy facilities in two regions in southwestern Russia.
Volgograd Governor Andrei Bocharov said falling debris from drones destroyed by Russian air defenses sparked fires at an oil refinery.
Astrakhan Governor Igor Babushkin said the Ukrainian attacks focused on fuel and energy facilities, starting a fire in his region but causing no casualties.
The officials did not give details about the sites involved in the attacks.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said Monday it shot down 70 Ukrainian drones overnight, including over the Rostov, Volgograd, Astrakhan, Voronezh, Belgorod and Kursk regions.
Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Telegram the attacks damaged three houses and an agricultural business.
Ukraine’s military said Monday it destroyed 38 of the 71 drones that Russian forces launched in overnight attacks.
The intercepts took place over the Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Khmelnytskyi, Kyiv, Poltava, Sumy, Vinnytsia and Zaporizhzhia regions.
Cherkasy Governor Ihor Taburets said on Telegram that falling drone debris damaged four residential buildings.
Kharkiv Governor Oleh Syniehubov reported the Russian attack damaged a school.
Some information for this story was provided by The Associated Press and Reuters.
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MADISON, WISCONSIN — The number of monarch butterflies spending the winter in the western United States has dropped to its second-lowest mark in nearly three decades as pesticides, diminishing habitat and climate change take their toll on the beloved pollinator.
Here’s what to know:
The survey began in 1997
Monarch butterflies, known for their distinctive orange-and-black wings, are found across North America. Monarchs in the eastern United States spend their winters in Mexico and are counted by the World Wildlife Fund, which has yet to release data for this year. Monarchs west of the Rocky Mountains typically overwinter along the California coast.
The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation has been counting western overwinter populations along the California coast, northern Baja California and inland sites in California and Arizona for the last 28 years. The highest number recorded was 1.2 million in 1997. The organization announced Friday that it counted just 9,119 monarchs in 2024, a decrease of 96% from 233,394 in 2023. The total was the second lowest since the survey began in 1997. The record-low was 1,901 monarchs in 2020.
The survey noted that a site owned by The Nature Conservancy in Santa Barbara that saw 33,200 monarchs last winter hosted only 198 butterflies this year.
Heat may have doomed western monarchs
Monarchs across the continent face mounting threats, chief among them vanishing milkweed, the host plant for the insect’s caterpillars. The plant has been disappearing before a combination of drought, wildfires, agriculture and urban development, according to Monarch Joint Venture, a group that works to protect monarchs. Pesticides have contaminated much of the remaining plants, according to the Xerces Society.
It’s unclear what caused such a sharp drop-off in the western population in just one year, said Emma Pelton, an endangered species biologist with the Xerces Society. The monarch population is already small, she said, and triple-digit heat in the western states last year may have slowed breeding.
Monarchs suffer when the mercury gets up to 37.7 degrees Celsius (100 degrees Fahrenheit) and any temperatures above 42.2 C (108 F) are lethal to the insects, Pelton said. The western states saw a heat wave in July that drove temperatures in some areas well past 37.7 C (100 F). Palm Springs, for example, hit a record 51.1 C (124 F) on July 5. Another heat wave cooked northern California in early October, with multiple cities breaking heat records.
Western monarchs’ future looks murky
Pelton said that it’s too early to tell what long-term impact the dramatic losses might have on the overall western monarch population. Insects do have the potential for exponential growth, Pelton said. After bottoming out at 1,901 butterflies in 2020, the population rebounded to 247,246 insects the following year, an increase of nearly 13,000%. The year after that the survey recorded 335,479 monarchs.
“This is bad news,” Pelton said of the 2024 population drop. “But we have seen incredible recovery. This doesn’t mean we’re not going to have western monarchs. It’s hopefully a wake-up call that a bad year can set them back pretty significantly.”
Federal officials working on protections
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced in December 2024 that it was working to list monarchs as threatened, a move that would prohibit anyone from killing them, transporting them or making changes that would render their property permanently unusable for the species, such as eradicating all milkweed from the land. The listing also would protect 1,779 hectares (4,395 acres) in seven coastal California counties that serve as overwinter sites for western monarchs.
A public comment period on the proposal is set to end in March. The agency has until December to officially list the monarch as threatened if officials decide to move forward.
Earthjustice, an environmental law firm, petitioned the Environmental Protection Agency in December 2024 to mandate testing pesticide effects on insects such as bees, moths and butterflies.
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