Once-dying Mexican river delta slowly nursed back to life


By AFP
April 8, 2025


Conservationists have cleared invasive shrubs and planted thousands of native trees in the Colorado River Delta, part of a Mexican region bordering the United States - Copyright AFP Guillermo Arias

Daniel Rook

In a drought-hit Mexican border region at the center of growing competition with the United States for water, conservationists are working to bring a once-dying river delta back to life.

On a stretch of the Colorado River, which on the Mexican side of the frontier is mostly a dry riverbed, native cottonwood and willow trees have been planted in place of invasive shrubs.

It is the fruit of two decades of work by environmentalists along the lower part of the river from the US-Mexican border to the upper estuary of the Gulf of California, also known as the Sea of Cortez.

“If we give a little water and care to certain sections of the river, we can recover environments that had already been completely lost,” said Enrique Villegas, director of the Colorado River Delta program at the Sonoran Institute, a US-Mexican civil society group.

The Colorado starts in the Rocky Mountains and winds its way through the southwestern United States, feeding cities and farmland along the way.

By the time it crosses into Mexico most of its water has already been consumed.

What is left is diverted to supply border cities like Tijuana and to irrigate agricultural land.

It means Tijuana and nearby areas are at the mercy of how much snow falls in the Rockies, said Marco Antonio Samaniego, an expert at the Autonomous University of Baja California.

“We don’t live off what rains in Tijuana. We live off what snows in those mountains,” he said, adding that several years of below-average precipitation had reduced reservoir levels in the United States.

Growing competition for resources sparked a recent diplomatic row when the United States refused Mexico’s request for water due to shortfalls in sharing by its southern neighbor under a decades-old treaty.

“The basis of all the problems,” Villegas said, is that “there is more water distributed among all the users of the Colorado River than actually exists.”



– Wildlife returns –



Over the years, dams and diversions reduced the river to a trickle and turned a delta that once teemed with birds and other wildlife into a dying ecosystem.

So conservationists secured land as well as irrigation permits, cleared invasive shrubs and planted thousands of native trees.

In 2014, water was allowed to surge down the Colorado River through a dam at the border for the first time in years to encourage the natural germination of native species.

“After years of this type of work, we now have a forest of poplars and willows on 260 hectares (642 acres) on a stretch of the Colorado River. Fauna has returned. Many birds have returned,” Villegas said.

The rejuvenation has also brought back another native — the beaver — a species that had largely disappeared from sight in the area, Villegas said.

“On the one hand, it’s a biological indicator that if you give nature a habitat then it returns and begins to reproduce. But they’re also knocking down trees that we planted,” he said.

At Laguna Grande, a lush oasis surrounded by dusty fields that is a centerpiece of the restoration project, coots and other birds swim contentedly in wetlands while herons startled by visitors clumsily take flight.

Nearby, on land, underground hoses feed water to trees sprouting from the dusty ground.

The Colorado River Delta is an important rest point for migratory birds including the yellow-breasted chat, vermilion flycatcher and endangered yellow-billed cuckoo, according to conservationists.

The wetlands and forest of Laguna Grande contrast starkly with parched agricultural land nearby where farmers such as Cayetano Cisneros are facing increasingly tough conditions.

“Years ago, we sowed maize, we sowed cotton, we sowed everything, and we didn’t suffer because of water,” the 72-year-old said on his dusty ranch.

These days, “the Colorado River no longer carries water,” he said. “The environment is changing a lot.”

If more of the delta and other such areas are to be nursed back to health, people must change their use of water, conservationists note.

“We can all improve our awareness of water consumption,” Villegas said.

“This drought is just a warning.”

WWIII

Philippines adds speedy warship to maritime arsenal

By AFP
April 8, 2025


The Philippine navy's BRP Miguel Malvar, a newly-acquired frigate from South Korea - Copyright Department National Defense Philippines (DND)/AFP Handout

The Philippines took possession of the first of two corvette-class warships with “advanced weapons and radar systems” on Tuesday as it faces growing pressure from Beijing in the disputed South China Sea.

The arrival of the 3,200-ton BRP Miguel Malvar is part of a two-ship deal with South Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries in 2021.

Its sister ship, the BRP Diego Silang, was formally launched in Ulsan, South Korea, last month but has yet to begin the journey to the Philippines.

Corvettes are small, fast warships mainly used to protect other vessels from attack.

The arrival of the ship marked “a critical step toward developing a self-reliant and credible defense posture”, the Philippine defence department said in a statement.

It follows months of confrontations between Philippine and Chinese vessels in the South China Sea, which Beijing claims almost in its entirety despite an international ruling its assertion has no merit.

“(The) Miguel Malvar is here today not only to serve as a deterrent and protector of our waters but also as an important component in joint and combined operations” with allies, Philippine defence chief Gilberto Teodoro said at a Subic Bay naval base ceremony.

The deal for the two ships was first unveiled in 2021, five years after Hyundai Heavy Industries had won a contract to build two new frigates for the Philippine Navy.

The military said last month that the two corvettes would “significantly enhance the country’s naval capabilities amid growing security challenges in the West Philippine Sea”.

On Tuesday, the Philippine Coast Guard separately welcomed the donation of 20 Australian surveillance drones its commander said could extend its vessels’ coverage area by a “significant distance”.

Using drones will “save fuel and it will be less risky for our people”, Commandant Ronnie Gil Gavan said at a ceremony in coastal Bataan province.

The Philippines has been deepening ties with allies and more aggressively pushing back on Beijing’s sweeping South China Sea claims since President Ferdinand Marcos took office in 2022.

In December, Manila said it planned to acquire the US mid-range Typhon missile system in a push to secure its maritime interests.

Beijing warned such a purchase could spark a regional “arms race”.

Last week, the United States said it had approved the possible sale of $5.58 billion in F-16 fighter jets to the Philippines, though Manila said the deal was “still in the negotiation phase”.

ANTI-DEI IS SEXISM,RACISM AND CHAUVINISM

Pentagon chief fires US military representative to NATO

HEGSETH WAS NEVER IN COMBAT HE WAS A PR FLACK

By AFP
  April 8, 2025


A logo of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization at NATO headquarters in Brussels on February 15, 2024 - Copyright AFP/File JOHN THYS

W.G. DUNLOP

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has fired a senior US officer assigned to NATO, the Pentagon announced Tuesday, saying her removal was due to a loss of confidence in her ability to lead.

Vice Admiral Shoshana Chatfield is the latest in a string of top officers to be dismissed by Donald Trump’s administration, part of a rare major shakeup of senior US military leadership since the president returned to office in January.

Hegseth removed Chatfield “from her position as US representative to NATO’s military committee due to a loss of confidence in her ability to lead,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement, without providing further details.

Chatfield is a helicopter pilot by training who has previous deployments to the Pacific and Gulf in support of carrier strike group and amphibious ready group operations, according to her NATO biography.

She was also a senior military assistant to the supreme allied commander for Europe, served as the deputy US military representative to NATO’s military committee, and taught political science at the US Air Force Academy, among other positions.

Democratic lawmakers slammed her removal, with Representative Adam Smith saying “our country is less safe because of President Trump’s actions,” while Senator Jack Reed said the move was “unjustified” and “disgraceful.”



– Other top officers sacked –


“The silence from my Republican colleagues is deeply troubling. In less than three months, President Trump has fired 10 generals and admirals without explanation, including our most experienced combat leaders,” Reed said.

Chatfield’s dismissal comes after Trump fired General Timothy Haugh, the head of the highly sensitive US National Security Agency, and his deputy Wendy Noble at the apparent urging of far-right conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer.

He also dismissed officials from the National Security Council (NSC) last week.

The New York Times reported Thursday that six people from the NSC were fired after Trump met with Loomer the previous day, including three senior officials on the body that advises the president on top foreign policy matters from Ukraine to Gaza.

In February, Trump abruptly fired the top US military officer, general Charles “CQ” Brown, without explanation, less than two years into his four-year term as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Hegseth also announced the removal of admiral Lisa Franchetti — the first woman to lead the Navy — as well as the vice chief of staff of the Air Force and three top military lawyers.

And in January, admiral Linda Fagan, the first woman to lead one of the six US military services, was removed as the head of the Coast Guard, with an official citing alleged “leadership deficiencies.”

Trump has had a contradictory relationship with America’s armed forces, at times lauding their power but also claiming they were depleted and in need of rebuilding by his administration.

Myanmar garment manufacturers warn US tariffs imperil quake recovery


By AFP
April 8, 2025


At least 3,600 people were killed in an earthquake that struck Myanmar on March 28, with thousands more injured - Copyright AFP/File Sai Aung MAIN

Myanmar’s garment manufacturers have warned US tariffs threaten to hobble the country’s recovery from a devastating earthquake, as the death toll rose to 3,600.

President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs will see the Southeast Asian country hit with a 44 percent tax on US imports as it reels from last month’s tremor which razed thousands of homes, schools and monasteries in its central belt.

Junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun said 160 people remained missing from the March 28 quake as fatalities hit 3,600 on Monday evening, with 5,017 people injured.

The Myanmar Garment Manufacturers Association (MGMA) said the tariffs due to take effect from Wednesday were causing “considerable concern” in an industry employing more than 500,000 people, mostly young women.

“Amid Myanmar’s current challenging context, the new tariffs will increase the vulnerability of Myanmar businesses that have been struggling to stay afloat,” the group said in a statement on Monday evening.

“The recent devastating earthquake… will only exacerbate the many challenges confronting Myanmar businesses and communities,” it added.

According to the Office of the US Trade Representative, bilateral trade was worth an estimated $734 million last year, with Myanmar exports worth $656.5 million — down 23.5 percent from a year earlier.

The earthquake has compounded the economic woes of a country gripped by a civil war since the military seized power in a 2021 coup.

With the junta at the helm, Myanmar has become internationally isolated and sanctioned while its territory has split into areas controlled by the military, anti-coup guerillas and ethnic armed factions.

Half the population of 51 million live in poverty while more than 3.5 million people are displaced.

The MGMA asked the United States to consider “a more lenient rate in light of the country’s multiple crises”.

Myanmar has already been hit hard by Trump’s overhaul of Washington’s foreign policy.

In one of his first acts back in office, he paused a refugee scheme through which Myanmar citizens fleeing the war-torn country ranked among the largest number of beneficiaries in recent years.

Trump’s decision to eviscerate Washington’s humanitarian budget — spearheaded by his top donor and the world’s richest man Elon Musk — has also battered the nation.

The World Food Programme said it was forced to slash vital aid to one million people in Myanmar starting this month after the cuts contributed to “critical funding shortfalls”.

S Korea opposition leader frontrunner in snap presidential election


By AFP
April 8, 2025


South Korea's main opposition leader Lee Jae-myung is the front runner in snap elections - Copyright AFP/File Yasuyoshi CHIBA

Claire LEE

He lost the last presidential election by the narrowest margin in South Korean history, but now Lee Jae-myung is the front-runner in snap polls triggered by the ex-leader’s impeachment over martial law.

The opposition leader is likely to step down this week so he can secure the Democratic Party’s nomination. A charismatic former child factory worker turned lawyer, Lee is as popular as he is divisive.

In the polls, Lee sits well ahead of any rivals, with 34 percent supporting him.

After an industrial accident left him with a disability, the former school dropout rose to political stardom partly by highlighting his rags-to-riches tale.

But his bid for the top office in 2022 was overshadowed by a string of scandals, and he ended up losing to Yoon by just 0.73 percentage points.

He currently faces five criminal trials on charges including bribery in connection with a firm that is suspected of illicitly transferring $8 million to North Korea.

Five individuals connected to Lee’s various scandals have been found dead, many in what appeared to be suicides.

Lee “is seen as a politician’s politician — willing to play dirty to beat the (conservative) People Power Party,” Karl Friedhoff at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs told AFP.

“Even then, he couldn’t beat Yoon — someone with literally no political experience — in the previous election.”



– ‘Loyal fan base’ –



South Korea has been in leadership limbo since lawmakers suspended Yoon Suk Yeol for sending armed troops into parliament in a botched attempt to suspend civilian rule. He was stripped of office by a court last week, triggering fresh elections on June 3.

Lee, 61, live-streamed his frantic drive to parliament and scramble over the perimeter fence as he and other MPs voted down the martial law declaration. Since then, Lee has consistently been regarded as the leading contender for the presidency.

He is also widely recognised for his extensive political experience. He served as mayor of Seongnam, near Seoul, for eight years and as governor of Gyeonggi Province, the most populous province surrounding the capital, for more than three years.

“It is fair to say Lee exhibited strong political leadership during his tenure as both mayor and governor, which helped him build a loyal fan base — which is not something every politician can achieve,” Park Sang-byung, a political commentator, told AFP.

Last year, a man stabbed Lee in the neck to prevent him from “becoming president”, with the politician suffering a wound to his jugular vein and undergoing emergency surgery.



– ‘Flexible person’ –



Yoon and PPP’s extreme support base, including far-right YouTubers and religious figures, brand Lee a dangerous and corrupt North Korean sympathiser.

Lee has also faced calls from within his party to resign over his scandals.

But a landslide victory for the Democratic Party in last year’s parliamentary elections helped Lee consolidate power.

“Since the Democratic Party will control both the administration and legislature if Lee Jae-myung gets elected, the country’s political diversity might be limited,” Shin Yul, a political science professor at Myongji University, told AFP.

But he added that Lee would be well-equipped to tackle the various challenges facing the country, including North Korean aggression and the volatile Trump administration, which recently imposed a 25 percent tariff on South Korean exports.

“Based on Lee Jae-myung’s track record, it is evident that he is a flexible person. He also has not always been predictable,” Shin said.

“This adaptability suggests he is likely to handle various situations pragmatically, which could be a significant advantage when dealing or negotiating with people like Trump.”

UN urged to probe sonic weapon allegedly used on Serbian protesters


By AFP
April 8, 2025


A device resembling a sonic cannon on a police vehicle in Belgrade on the day of the protests - Copyright AFP STRINGER

Serbian activists delivered a petition with more than half a million signatures to the UN in Belgrade Tuesday demanding an international investigation into the alleged use of sonic weapons against protesters during last month’s massive anti-corruption demonstrations.

Serbia’s largest protest in decades descended into panic, triggered by an unexplained noise. Social media footage showed crowds fleeing, prompting claims that a sonic weapon or “sound cannon” was used on the protesters — something authorities have strongly denied.

Several Serbian civil society groups say they collected over 3,000 testimonies, with some protesters reporting lasting health issues.

Some protesters said they heard a noise resembling that of a plane about to crash, while others said it sounded like a car rushing toward them.

The petition was launched by the KreniPromeni (Go for Change) movement calling for an independent international investigation into the incident.

It also urges that those who ordered, enabled or used such a weapon be held accountable.

“The nearly 600,000 people who signed this petition reflect a high level of civic awareness,”movement president Savo Manojlovic told reporters.

Photos published after the protest show a police vehicle with a large device mounted on its bonnet.

Military analyst Aleksandar Radic told AFP it resembled a US-made LRAD 450 acoustic device.

Interior Minister Ivica Dacic confirmed police possess such equipment but denied its use on protesters, while president Aleksandar Vucic dismissed the claims as “lies”.

An official investigation was announced, with assistance requested from both the FBI and Russia’s FSB security service.

FSB experts later reportedly arrived in Belgrade, though details remain unclear.

The controversy hit the headlines again this week after former deputy premier Cedomir Jovanovic referred to a sonic weapon by accident on television, unaware a live broadcast had begun.

“Someone played it, like music — a thunderous sound,” he said. “It wasn’t to injure, just to scare — like a car charging at you,” he added.

He said he was later questioned by police.

Serbia’s student-led protest movement began in November after the newly renovated concrete roof of Novi Sad train station collapsed, killing 16 people.

Anger over the incident, which some Serbs see as evidence of pervasive corruption, has exploded into the Balkan nation’s biggest upheaval since the 1990s.

Frail David Hockney celebrated in vast Paris retrospective


By AFP
April 8, 2025


The show opens at the Louis Vuitton Foundation on Wednesday

 - Copyright AFP JUSTIN TALLIS

Adam PLOWRIGHT

Increasingly frail but with undimmed passion, Britain’s David Hockney has put aside his health worries to shape what he describes as the biggest exhibition of his vast career.

With around 400 works assembled over four floors, the Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris has put on a stunning tribute to one of the world’s best-selling living artists.

Although titled “David Hockney, 25” and mostly focused on the last quarter-century of his life, it contains paintings from the very start of his career, as well as his blockbuster time in California in the 1960s.

In the last of 11 rooms, there are several unseen creations from the last two years, including a self-portrait in acrylic and a striking meditation on the afterlife inspired by Dante’s Divine Comedy.

“It’s enabled him to look back in a positive way,” Norman Rosenthal, guest curator and a long-time friend of Hockney, told AFP ahead of the opening to the public on Wednesday.

“He’s very, very happy with the exhibition.”

Hockney, 87, insisted on overseeing the show, even taking an interest in the colour of the walls and sending back corrections for the texts written to inform visitors.

“He says it is the biggest exhibition of his career,” Louis Vuitton Foundation curator Suzanne Page told AFP. “He’s been very involved.”

– Twilight years –

Born in 1937 to working-class parents in the northern English town of Bradford, Hockney has painted everything from the fields of his native Yorkshire to the sun-soaked private homes of California.

The Paris show includes an entire room of portraits, as well as vivid landscapes and memorable moonlight scenes that he produced while living in Normandy, northern France, from 2019 to 2023.

There are also touches of his trademark humour.

In his most recent self portrait he is smoking a cigarette and wearing a yellow badge that reads “End Bossiness Soon”.

The subtitle for the exhibition reprises a line he wrote to friends during the Covid-19 lockdowns when sending them pictures from Normandy: “Do remember they can’t cancel the spring.”

But there are also hints of a man in his twilight years contemplating his mortality — and perhaps his last major show.

An evolving digital creation of a sunrise in Normandy, which he produced like many others on his iPad, concludes with a quotation from French writer Francois de La Rochefoucauld.

“Remember you cannot look at the sun or death for very long,” it reads.

Now in a wheelchair and with 24-hour care at his home in London, Hockney told The New York Times in a recent interview that he was grateful to be alive.

“Even last year, I thought I wouldn’t be here,” he said. “But I still am.”

He travelled to Paris ahead of the opening this week and was spotted around the elaborate Frank Gehry-designed Louis Vuitton Foundation wearing one of his classic colourful tweed suits.

Having steadily lost his hearing in recent decades, he stayed in a private room during the opening party on Monday, which was attended by French first lady Brigitte Macron among other VIPs.

– Smoking ban –

Some of his more recent work, including the iPad renderings from Normandy, have drawn mixed reviews but the exhibition also contains some of the classics from his portfolio that are usually in private hands.

These include the enigmatic “Portrait of An Artist (Pool with Two Figures)”, which depicts Hockey’s former lover staring into a Californian pool.

It sold for $90.3 million at auction in New York in 2018, briefly setting a record for a living artist.

Last year, six paintings by Hockney appeared in the top 100 most valuable works acquired at auction, according to data from the art market consultancy Artprice.

Rosenthal, one of Britain’s most respected art figures, speaks of Hockney in the same breath as Picasso or Monet.

“I think this exhibition proves that his work over 60 years has a level that never changes,” he explained. “There’s incredible variety and yet amazing consistency.”

And Hockney continues to produce.

“He’s reached a certain age and he’s aware of it. He’s a great smoker but I think he wants to go on,” Rosenthal continued. “He paints every day.”

A photo of Hockney holding one of his beloved Camel cigarettes featured on posters advertising the show, which have been banned from the Paris metro for contravening anti-smoking laws.

He described the decision as “complete madness”.

“David Hockney, 25” runs until September 1, 2025.

Major  trade wars since the 19th century


By AFP

April 8, 2025


The 25th US president, William McKinley, seen here on a 1956 US Treasury note, is an inspiration for Trump's protectionist policies - Copyright AFP Hector RETAMAL

As the world reels from US President Donald Trump’s tariffs onslaught, here is a look back at some major trade wars since the 19th century:


– 19th century Opium Wars –



In the mid-19th century, two conflicts over the opium trade, which became known as the Opium Wars, pitted China against the British Empire.

The first began in 1839, when Britain launched a military expedition to force China to open its market to Indian opium sold by British merchants.

Britain won the clash in 1842, with success going beyond opium as China was forced to give up the region of Hong Kong, open five ports to world trade, and limit its customs tariffs to five percent.

In the second Opium War, from 1856-1860, Britain allied with France, and again the imperial power came out on top, forcing China to open up eleven additional ports to foreign trade and maintain diplomatic relations with the West.



– 1890: McKinley offensive –



In 1890, William McKinley — then a Republican lawmaker, later a US president — saw through a new law that slapped an average tariff of nearly 50 percent on imports into America.

While the tax hike boosted the development of tinplate production in the US, for example, it also caused prices to soar.

In elections that same year for the US House of Representatives, Republicans suffered big losses, losing their majority to the Democrats. Two years later, the incumbent Republic president was dumped by voters in favour of a Democrat.

McKinley’s unpopular law was repealed in 1894.

He nevertheless went on to become US president in 1897. He was assassinated in 1901, months after winning a second term.

Trump often mentions as McKinley as inspiration his protectionist policies.



– 1930: Smoot–Hawley Act –



The Smoot-Hawley Act, named after the two US politicians behind it, imposed tariffs of nearly 60 percent on over 20,000 imported agricultural and industrial products.

Trade partners, led by Canada, retaliated with taxes on US exports, which fell by more than 61 percent between 1929 and 1933.



– 1960s: Chicken war –



In the early 1960s, France and Germany jointly decided to tax the import of US chicken, produced at industrial scale.

The United States retaliated with taxes on a series of products, particularly on certain utility vehicles, which remain taxed to this day.

The so-called Chicken War ran from 1961 to 1964.



– 1985: Pasta war –



This dispute began in 1985 when president Ronald Reagan, in a bid to protect US industry, raised tariffs on pasta imports from Europe .

Europe responded with taxes on US imports of nuts and lemons.

The standoff lasted nine months before the United States and the European Economic Community (EEC) — as the EU was then known — reached an agreement.



– 1989-2009: Beef hormone dispute –



In 1989, the EEC banned imports of beef treated with growth hormones.

After challenging the measure at the World Trade Organization (WTO), which ruled in their favour, the United States and Canada, the countries most affected, imposed 100-percent tariffs in 1999 on a range of European goods, from French Roquefort cheese to Italian truffles.

In a compromise deal inked in 2009, these taxes were eventually suspended, and European import quotas for high-quality, hormone-free beef were gradually increased, leading to a final agreement in 2019.



– 1993–2012: Banana war –



In 1993, the EU granted preferential customs regimes to the former European colonies in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific, to the detriment of bananas produced by US multinationals in Latin American countries.

These countries filed a complaint with the WTO, which condemned the EU several times, and Latin American countries were authorised to apply retaliatory measures.

An agreement was signed in 2012, allowing for a reduction in import tariffs on bananas from 11 Latin American countries and the end of actions taken by these countries against the EU.



– 2002: Bush vs. EU –



In 2002, US President George W. Bush imposed three-year surcharges of up to 30 percent on 10 categories of products including flat-rolled steel, machine wires and welded tubes.

These measures, intended to boost the US steel industry, affected nearly 29 percent of imports.

The EU filed a complaint with the WTO and published a list of US products it threatened to tax by up to 100 percent.

At the end of 2003, Bush opted to lift the tariffs.

bur-paj-lc-eab/rmb

PAPER TIGER SABRE RATTLING

US will not let China disrupt Panama Canal: Pentagon chief

By AFP
April 8, 2025


US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth warned in Panama on Tuesday that the United States would "not allow" China to "jeopardize" the functioning of the Panama Canal 

- Copyright Panamanian Presidency/AFP Handout

María Isabel Sánchez, with Juan Jose Rodriguez

The United States will not allow China to jeopardize the operations of the Panama Canal, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned during a visit to the Central American nation on Tuesday.

Hegseth is the second senior US official to visit Panama since President Donald Trump took office in January vowing to “take back” the US-built canal to counter what he sees as China’s disproportionate influence over the waterway.

“Today, the Panama Canal faces ongoing threats,” Hegseth said in a speech at a police station located at the entry to the shipping route.

“The United States of America will not allow communist China or any other country to threaten the canal’s operation or integrity,” he added.

The United States built the more than century-old canal and handed it over to Panama in 1999.

A Hong Kong company called Panama Ports operates two ports at either end of the canal connecting the Atlantic and Pacific, through which five percent of all global shipping passes.



– ‘Wonder of the world’ –



The Trump administration has put immense pressure on Panama to reduce Chinese influence on the canal, which Washington sees as a threat to US national security.

“I want to be very clear. China did not build this canal. China does not operate this canal. And China will not weaponize this canal,” Hegseth said, calling it a “wonder of the world.”

Speaking alongside Panama’s President Jose Raul Mulino, Hegseth said the US and Panama together would “take back the Panama Canal from China’s influence” and keep it open to all nations, using the “deterrent power of the strongest, most effective and most lethal fighting force in the world.”

He claimed that China’s control of critical infrastructure in the canal area gave Beijing the power to conduct spying activities across Panama, making Panama and the United States “less secure, less prosperous and less sovereign.”

The Chinese Embassy in Panama issued a statement refuting Hegseth’s claim that Beijing interferes in the operations of the canal.

“China has never taken part in the management or operation of the Panama Canal, nor has it interfered in issues” concerning the waterway, the statement said, calling on Washington to halt “blackmail” and “plundering” of Panama and other countries of the region.

It labeled Hegseth’s comments “not at all responsible or founded” and said the United States “has orchestrated a sensationalist campaign based on the ‘China threat theory’ so as to undermine cooperation between China and Panama.

“China has always respected Panama’s sovereignty with regard to the canal,” the embassy said.

The Panama Ports concession to operate Balboa port on the Pacific side of the canal and Cristobal port on the Atlantic side was first granted in 1997 and renewed for another 25 years in 2021.

But faced with Trump’s repeated threats to seize the canal, Panama has put pressure on CK Hutchison, the parent company of Panama Ports, to pull out of the country.

In January, it began an audit of Panama Ports to determine if it was honoring its concession contract.

On the eve of Hegseth’s visit Panama’s comptroller announced that the audit had revealed “many breaches” of the contract and said Panama did not receive $1.2 billion it was owed from the operator.

In March, CK Hutchison announced an agreement to sell 43 ports in 23 countries — including its two on canal — to a group led by giant US asset manager BlackRock for $19 billion in cash.

A furious Beijing has since announced an antitrust review of the deal, which likely prevented the parties from signing an agreement on April 2 as had been planned.

Hegseth’s visit to Panama comes two months after that of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Shortly after that visit Panama announced it was pulling out of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s landmark global infrastructure program, the Belt and Road Initiative.

Hong Kong firm did not uphold Panama Canal ports contract: Panama audit

By AFP
April 7, 2025


Panama Ports, a subsidiary of logistics giant CK Hutchison, won the concession to operate Balboa port on the Pacific side of the canal and Cristobal port on the Atlantic side in 1997 - Copyright AFP/File MARTIN BERNETTI

The Hong Kong firm in charge of two ports at either end of the Panama Canal — which sparked US President Donald Trump’s threats to seize the waterway — has flouted the terms of its contract, according to Panamanian audit results released Monday.

The audit found “many breaches” of the concession awarded to a subsidiary of logistics giant CK Hutchison to operate the two ports, and concluded that Panama did not receive $1.2 billion it was owed under the contract.

The subsidiary, called Panama Ports, benefited from many tax exemptions and also had irregularities in a previous audit that was used to justify an extension of the concession first awarded in 1997, said state comptroller Anel Flores.

“This is a very delicate issue,” Flores told reporters, adding that he would file a complaint with prosecutors in the coming days over the unpaid concession fees.

The release of the audit results came hours before US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was set to arrive in Panama, which has come under strong pressure from Trump to reduce Chinese influence on the US-built canal.

The United States has said it is a threat to its national security — and the region as a whole — for a Hong Kong company to operate ports at either end of the canal connecting the Atlantic and Pacific, through which five percent of all global shipping passes.

But Flores denied that the announcement of Panama Ports failing to honor the concession contract had anything to do with the Hegseth visit.

“This is an autonomous act by Panama,” Flores said.

However, some analysts had predicted that this audit would in fact purport to show irregularities, so that Panama could strip the Chinese company of the contract and thus appease the Trump administration.

“It comes as a surprise to no one that the audit turns up alleged irregularities, since the idea was to have some kind of legal justification strong enough to cancel the concession,” Euclides Tapia, a professor of international relations, told AFP.

The state comptroller’s office is an autonomous body that examines how government money is spent.

It began the audit of Panama Ports in late January to determine if it was honoring the concession contract, after Trump threatened to take over the canal, by force if necessary.

Faced with Trump’s repeated threats, the Central American country in turn has put pressure on CK Hutchison to relinquish its control of the ports.

In March, the firm announced an agreement to sell 43 ports in 23 countries — including its two on the interoceanic Panama Canal — to a group led by giant asset manager BlackRock for $19 billion in cash.

A furious Beijing has since announced an antitrust review of the deal, likely preventing the parties from signing an agreement on April 2 as planned.

Panama Ports, a subsidiary of CK Hutchison, won the concession to operate Balboa port on the Pacific side of the canal and Cristobal port on the Atlantic side in 1997.

The concession was renewed for another 25 years in 2021.

Inside Europe’s last ‘open-outcry’ trading floor


By AFP
April 8, 2025


The near 150-year old tradition takes place in a circle of red-leather benches 

- Copyright AFP SAUL LOEB

Pol-Malo LE BRIS

In an era where computer algorithms automate trading at breakneck speeds, a dwindling number of London’s metal traders still conduct business in-person by shouting orders across Europe’s last so-called open-outcry trading floor.

The near 150-year old tradition takes place in a circle, or pit, of red-leather benches — called the “Ring” — where the daily global prices of copper, nickel, aluminium and other metals are set at the London Metal Exchange (LME).

Seconds before the frantic trading begins, a trader rushes in, puts on a tie as per the obligatory dress code, and heads towards one of the booths circling the Ring.

Then, sheets of pencilled figures and stock market orders are handed out.

Once the bell rings, signalling the start of trading, no-one is allowed to trade online or use mobile phones. They can only communicate with the outside world via landline phones.

The five minutes of trading per metal is “a bit like playing poker”, said Giles Plumb, a trader at financial services firm StoneX, who has run its copper portfolio for 21 years.



– ‘Flurry of activity’ –



It starts off calm, with seemingly unbothered traders sitting quietly.

As the minutes tick by, “you try not to look at your watch, to make it look like you don’t have an order to place”, Plumb told AFP.

But as the final seconds of the allotted time approach, the Ring erupts.

“There’s this big flurry of activity,” Plumb said, as traders jump up from benches and begin shouting.

They stand up and lean towards the person — almost exclusively a man — they’re making a deal with, making sure to keep one heel glued to the seat — another rule of the Ring.

“To be good, you’ve got to be aware of who’s doing what around you, you need to quickly process information and you have to be clear and audible,” Plumb said.

“By now, I can tell people’s voices and I know who’s doing what even without looking at them.”

Behind them, brokers speak to clients on landlines, some holding one phone to each ear, repeating orders while taking new ones.

Despite the tumult, Plumb says the sessions are “less aggressive, less competitive” than when he began his career.

At its peak, he explained, the “pit would be full of 22 brokers, 300 people, huge wall of noise. So you could barely hear yourself think”.



– ‘The battle is lost’ –



Now, only eight companies and a few dozen people still participate in these age-old sessions, as online trading killed off most of the world’s open-outcry markets.

The London Metal Exchange and its open-outcry tradition began towards the end of the 19th century, pausing only during World War I and again during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The LME wanted to shift entirely to electronic trading in 2021, but faced pressure from its remaining traders to keep the tradition alive.

The exchange compromised by keeping one of its two daily in-person sessions, as long as more than six members are willing to participate.

“Those wanting to trade in the Ring continue to do so, but these days most of the LME’s trading takes place electronically,” the exchange said in a statement.

There is no longer any reason to continue open-outcry trading, explained Thierry Foucault, professor of finance at HEC Paris business school.

Electronic trading is “technically superior and allows for greater market liquidity, as well as lower intermediation costs”, he told AFP.

In some cases it has persisted for good reason, he said, “particularly in highly specialised markets”, like metals, where the number of expert operators is very limited.

However, “over time, the battle is lost”.