Category: International

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump has taken down a portrait of Barack Obama at the White House and replaced it with a painting of himself after surviving an assassination attempt.

The 78-year-old Republican on Friday moved the picture of the Democrat — the only Black US president — to the opposite side of the grand entrance hallway of the famous residence.

The move is highly unusual for a sitting president, as most must wait until leaving office before having their portrait displayed in the historic 200-year-old building.

“Some new artwork at the White House,” the White House said on X, alongside a video of people walking past Trump’s new picture in the space by the main stairwell where Obama’s had previously hung.

The new painting captures the dramatic moment when a bloodied Trump raised his fist and shouted “fight” after being shot in the ear by a gunman in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July 2024.

A White House official said they did not immediately have information about the artist behind the painting. It closely resembles a photograph of the same moment taken by the Associated Press (AP) news agency.

Several White House officials later posted images of Trump’s painting, also showing Obama’s portrait nearby.

“The Obama portrait was just moved a few feet away,” said White House Communications Director Steven Cheung on X — while telling a critic of the move to “Pipe down, moron.”

It is common for US presidents to shift portraits of their predecessors, often keeping those of the most recent officeholders in the main entrance hall.

Obama’s portrait was unveiled in 2022 by then-president Joe Biden. It depicts the 44th president in a black suit and grey tie against a plain white background.

However, the White House’s fanfare surrounding the switch reflects Trump’s long-standing and bitter rivalry with Obama, who served from 2009 to 2017.

Trump launched his political career by pushing the racist and false “birther” conspiracy theory, which falsely claimed that Obama was not a natural-born American.

In return, Obama repeatedly mocked Trump — most famously during a roast at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in 2011.

The move also highlights how the former reality TV star has never shied away from honouring himself in his various residences.

He recently hung, just outside the Oval Office, a gold-framed version of his mugshot from a case concerning alleged attempts to interfere with the 2020 election.

At his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, he has a large bronze sculpture capturing his defiant reaction to the Butler assassination attempt.

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump remains optimistic about his trade strategy despite China’s retaliatory 125% tariffs on US goods, and expressed confidence in reaching an agreement with the country after his recent steps deepened the tensions between the two economic giants.

Investors dumped US government bonds, the dollar tumbled and stocks seesawed after Beijing’s retaliation against Trump deepened concerns on already traumatized global markets.

Trump sent financial markets into a tailspin by announcing sweeping import taxes on dozens of trade partners last week, only to abruptly roll them back to 10 percent on Wednesday for 90 days — while raising levies on goods from China.

“We are doing really well on our tariff policy,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social network after China announced its latest hike.

“Very exciting for America, and the World!!! It is moving along quickly,” he wrote.

The White House said later that Trump remained “optimistic” about a deal with China, and added that 15 other countries have offers “on the table” during his 90-day pause in their tariffs.

But Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt added that “the president made it very clear, when the United States is punched he will punch back harder.”

The US and Beijing have been trading salvos of increasingly harsh tariffs since last week.

Chinese President Xi Jinping gave his first major comments on the tensions on Friday, with state media quoting him as saying his country was “not afraid.”

Xi also said the European Union and China should “jointly resist unilateral bullying practices” during talks with Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.

– ‘Numbers game’ –

Beijing announced after Xi’s comments that new tariffs of 125 percent on US goods would take effect Saturday — almost matching the staggering 145 percent level imposed on Chinese goods coming into America.

A Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesperson said the United States bore full responsibility, deriding Trump’s tariffs as a “numbers game” that “will become a joke.”

But China’s finance ministry said tariffs would not go any higher in an acknowledgement that almost no imports are possible at the new level.

Trump had reiterated on Thursday that he was looking to do a deal with Xi despite the mounting tensions.

“He’s been a friend of mine for a long period of time. I think that we’ll end up working out something that’s very good for both countries,” he told reporters.

But US officials have made it clear they expect Xi to reach out first.

Pressure was growing on Trump, however, as markets continued to fret.

Yields on crucial US government bonds, which are normally seen as a safe haven, were up again Friday, indicating weaker demand as investors take fright.

The White House said however that it had no evidence to support speculation by traders that China was offloading some of its vast holdings — which increase the cost of borrowing for the US government — in retaliation.

Policymakers at the US Federal Reserve meanwhile warned of higher inflation and slower growth ahead due to Trump’s tariff policy.

– ‘Countermeasures’ –

Economists warn that the disruption in trade between the tightly integrated US and Chinese economies will increase prices for consumers and could spark a global recession.

Ipek Ozkardeskaya, an analyst at Swissquote bank, told AFP the tariff figures were “so high that they don’t make sense anymore,” but said China was “now ready to go as far as needed.”

The rest of the world is still calibrating its response.

Trump on Thursday described the European Union — which was originally hit with 20 percent tariffs by Trump — as “very smart” for refraining from retaliatory levies.

Top EU officials and Chinese leaders are set to hold their next summit marking 50 years of ties in China in July, Brussels announced. EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic will meanwhile hold talks in Washington on Monday.

But the 27-nation bloc’s chief Ursula von der Leyen told the Financial Times on Friday that it remained armed with a “wide range of countermeasures” including a possible hit on digital services that would strike US tech firms.

Four men were publicly executed in Afghanistan on Friday, the Supreme Court said, the highest number of executions to be carried out in one day since the Taliban’s return to power.

The executions at sports stadiums in three provinces brought the total number of men publicly put to death since 2021 to 10, according to an AFP tally.

Public executions were common during the Taliban’s first rule from 1996 to 2001, with most carried out publicly in sports stadiums.

Two men were shot around six or seven times by a male relative of the victims in front of spectators in Qala-i-Naw, the centre of Badghis province, witnesses told an AFP journalist in the city.

“They were made to sit and turn their backs to us. Relatives from the victims’ families stood behind and shot them with a gun,” Mohammad Iqbal Rahimyar, a 48-year-old spectator, told AFP.

The men had been “sentenced to retaliatory punishment” for shooting other men after their cases were “examined very precisely and repeatedly”, the Supreme Court said in a statement.

The families of the victims turned down the opportunity to offer the men amnesty, it said.

“If the family of the victim had forgiven the men it would be better, otherwise it’s God’s order, and should be implemented,” a 35-year-old man who gave his name as Zabihullah told AFP outside the stadium.

Afghans had been invited to “attend the event” in official notices shared widely on Thursday.

A third man was executed in Zaranj in Nimroz province, and the fourth was in Farah city in the western province of the same name, the Supreme Court said.

“It’s good that the Islamic Emirate shows its politics and force. I am very happy with that,” said another 30-year-old spectator named Javid, referring to the Taliban government’s official name.

Amnesty International called on the Taliban authorities to halt public executions, which it called a “gross affront to human dignity”.

Eye for an eye

The previous execution was in November 2024, when a convicted murderer was shot three times in the chest by a member of the victim’s family in front of thousands of spectators, including high-ranking Taliban officials, at a stadium in Gardez, the capital of eastern Paktia province.

Corporal punishment – mainly flogging – has been common under the Taliban authorities and employed for crimes including theft, adultery, and alcohol consumption.

However, all execution orders are signed by the Taliban’s reclusive Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada, who lives in the movement’s heartland of Kandahar.

Akhundzada ordered judges in 2022 to fully implement all aspects of the Taliban government’s interpretation of Islamic law – including “eye-for-an-eye” punishments known as qisas, allowing for the death penalty in retribution for the crime of murder.

Law and order is central to the severe ideology of the Taliban, which emerged from the chaos of a civil war following the withdrawal of Soviet forces from Afghanistan in 1989.

One of the most infamous images from their first rule depicted the 1999 execution of a woman wearing an all-covering burqa in a Kabul stadium. She had been accused of killing her husband.

The United Nations and rights groups such as Amnesty have condemned the Taliban government’s use of corporal punishment and the death penalty.

Amnesty included Afghanistan in countries where “death sentences were known to have been imposed after proceedings that did not meet international fair trial standards”, the non-governmental organisation said in its annual report on death sentences published in April.

The 1,518 executions recorded worldwide in 2024 did not include thousands of people believed to have been executed in China – the world’s leading exponent of capital punishment, Amnesty said.

In a surprising turn of events, the sub-Antarctic Heard and McDonald Islands have become an unlikely focal point in the realm of international trade due to sweeping tariffs imposed by United States President Donald Trump.

These remote, uninhabited islands, located 4,000 kilometres (2,500 miles) southwest of Australia, are known primarily for their king penguins, which have become viral sensations on social media.

However, the territory boasts much more, including active volcanoes and a rich diversity of wildlife, such as elephant seals and various seabirds.

Despite their ecological significance, the islands present harsh conditions that deter trade and re-exporting activities for the United States in search of a tariff loophole.

No human is known to have set foot there since 2016, and access is allowed only with permission from the Australian government.

By boat or helicopter

“There is no infrastructure or commercial industry of any sort on land,” said Justine Shaw, a researcher who camped on Heard Island for two months in 2003. There is no port, no runway.

To get there, scientists approach in inflatable boats or fly in by helicopter from a research ship docked offshore, said Shaw, a conservation scientist with Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future.

The only signs of human occupation are the wood-and-metal remnants of a research station abandoned in 1955 and battered ever since by the freezing rain and wind.

“It’s a true wilderness,” said Shaw.

But also the “most amazing place”, with sweeping cliffs and glaciers groaning as they melt, populated by thousands of king penguins, elephant seals and sea birds.

On the ground, there are 70 types of lichen, huge leafy plants, and cushion plants that resemble lush green carpets.

Fierce storm

Marine ecologist Andrew Constable oversaw a 40-day research expedition to Heard Island in 2004. For days, a fierce storm stopped them from landing.

“At one point, we had to point the ship into the sea for nine days as storms raged, and we couldn’t do anything,” said Constable. “The waves were pretty big: they were 10 metres (32 feet) tall.”

But Constable said scientists were able to study its melting glaciers, seal and penguin behaviour and how human activity impacted its pristine ecosystem.

One of the key aims for future research trips will be to find out how much more of Heard Island’s icy terrain has turned green, he said.

Researchers will also need to probe changing food webs and document marine debris and fishing gear washing up on the coast, said Constable.

With so little human activity, it is one of the few places “where you see the world in action”.

China said Friday that it would implement a staggering 125% tariff on goods from the United States as Chinese officials contended that buying American products no longer makes economic sense for importers amid the ongoing trade conflict.

This move follows a tumultuous week in which both nations exchanged a series of trade barriers, leading to heightened market volatility.

Beijing dismissed US President Donald Trump’s increasingly aggressive approach as a “joke” and a “numbers game” and said the United States “should bear full responsibility” for the chaos.

Trump has deployed sweeping tariffs, including painfully higher levies for dozens of major economies, as a stick to force manufacturers to base themselves in the United States and for countries to lower barriers to US goods.

But following market turmoil this week, he blinked first in his push to remodel the post-war system of global commerce and froze many tariffs for 90 days, although he raised them for China to a staggering total of 145%.

Beijing’s latest round of retaliation brings its levies to 125%, effective Saturday.

But the Chinese finance ministry said further action by the US will be ignored because “at the current tariff level, there is no possibility of market acceptance for US goods exported to China”.

“The United States’ imposition of round upon round of abnormally high tariffs on China has become a numbers game with no practical significance in economics,” Beijing’s commerce ministry said.

“If the US continues to play the tariff numbers game, China will ignore it,” a spokesperson said.

Beijing also said it would file a lawsuit with the World Trade Organisation over the latest round of levies.

‘Transition problems’

Trump has acknowledged “a transition cost and transition problems” arising from his tariff strategy, but he has dismissed global market turmoil.

“In the end it’s going to be a beautiful thing,” he said.

He described the European Union as “very smart” to refrain from retaliatory levies.

“(The EU) were ready to announce retaliation. And then they heard about what we did with respect to China,” Trump said.

But the 27-nation bloc’s chief, Ursula von der Leye,n told the Financial Times that it remained armed with a “wide range of countermeasures” if negotiations with Trump hit the skids.

“An example is you could put a levy on the advertising revenues of digital services” applying across the bloc, she said.

French President Emmanuel Macron also urged the EU to keep preparing action to counter the tariffs, which are only paused but not scrapped.

“With the European Commission, we must show ourselves as strong: Europe must continue to work on all the necessary counter-measures,” he said on X.

At talks with Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Friday, state media quoted Xi as saying that China and the EU should simply team up on the issue.

“China and Europe should fulfil their international responsibilities… and jointly resist unilateral bullying practices,” Xi said.

This, he stressed, would not only “safeguard their own legitimate rights and interests, but also… safeguard international fairness and justice.”

‘No winners’

After new falls on Wall Street, Asian markets were under pressure again on Friday.

Tokyo sank more than four per cent — a day after surging more than nine per cent — while Sydney, Seoul, Singapore and others also sagged.

European markets also retreated on China’s latest salvo.

Oil and the dollar slid on fears of a global slowdown while gold hit a new record above $3,200, as investors spooked by Trump’s erratic policies dumped normally rock-solid US Treasuries.

“The sugar high from Trump’s tariff pause is fading fast,” said Stephen Innes at SPI Asset Management.

“Bottom line: the world’s two largest economies are in a full-blown trade war — and there are no winners.”

‘Golden Age’

Critics of Trump’s policies say they are causing chaos for companies that rely on complex supply chains, alienating close allies and making goods more expensive for US consumers.

But Howard Lutnick, his commerce secretary, posted on social media Thursday that “the Golden Age is coming. We are committed to protecting our interests, engaging in global negotiations and exploding our economy.”

Trump has meanwhile warned that the tariffs could come back after the 90 days.

“If we can’t make the deal we want to make… then we’d go back to where we were,” he said.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney called Trump’s reversal a “welcome reprieve” and said Ottawa would begin negotiations with Washington on a new economic deal after the elections on April 28.

Vietnam said it had agreed with the United States to start trade talks, while Pakistan is sending a delegation to Washington.

As China battles to find allies against Trump’s trade war, Xi will travel next week to Vietnam, Malaysia and Cambodia, where the tariff drama is expected to feature high on the agenda.

DUBAI: Iran is giving talks with its arch foe the United States this weekend “a genuine chance”, the Iranian foreign ministry’s spokesperson posted on X on Friday.

US President Donald Trump made a surprise announcement on Monday that Washington and Tehran were poised to begin direct talks in Oman on Saturday over Iran’s nuclear program, warning that the Islamic Republic would be in “great danger” if the talks were unsuccessful.

The announcement caused some confusion because Iran had said the talks would be indirect with the Omanis acting as mediators.

Iran, previously stating it wouldn’t be bullied into negotiations, said that the US should value this decision despite “their prevailing confrontational hoopla.”

“We intend to assess the other side’s intent and resolve this Saturday,” Esmaeil Baqaei added.

Iran’s state media said the talks would be led by Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and US Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff, with the intermediation of Oman’s foreign minister, Badr al-Busaidi.

Dubai, which is famous for its skyscrapers and opulent way of life, is currently becoming a major global hub for wealth as the number of millionaires deciding to live in the city has increased dramatically during the last ten years.

A recent report by a global wealth research firm New World Wealth has revealed a significant surge in the number of high-net-worth individuals residing in Dubai.

The report reveals that the number of millionaires in Dubai has grown by an impressive 102% in the last decade.

In 2024, the city was home to 81,200 millionaires, 237 centimillionaires, and 20 billionaires, compared to 2014 when these numbers were significantly lower at 40,000 millionaires, 212 centimillionaires, and 15 billionaires.

The report defines a centimillionaire as someone whose net worth is at least $100 million. New World Wealth’s analysis states: “Dubai’s low-tax policies, safe environment, and strong economy are attracting wealthy individuals from around the globe. It has become an ideal place for starting businesses and making investments.”

The report also points out that Dubai’s modern infrastructure, high-quality healthcare, top-notch education, and leisure facilities make it an appealing destination for the wealthy.

In contrast, London has seen a decline in the number of millionaires. In 2024, 11,300 millionaires left the city, with the UK’s new tax policies cited as a major reason.

New World Wealth noted: “While London and the UK are driving wealth away with higher taxes, Dubai is taking the opposite approach.”

Experts predict that more British individuals and businesses will move to Dubai in the coming years, further cementing its position as a global wealth hub.

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump, after complaining about it for years, signed an order to lift restrictions on water pressure in showers on Wednesday, saying he wanted to “take care of my beautiful hair.”

Trump’s executive order is aimed at reversing efficiency and water conservation steps taken by the last two Democratic presidents, Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

According to a White House fact sheet, Trump will “end the Obama-Biden war on water pressure and make America’s showers great again.”

“Overregulation chokes the American economy, entrenches bureaucrats, and stifles personal freedom,” the fact sheet said.

Trump directed the Energy Department to rescind a rule begun by Obama and brought back by Biden that limited the flow from each showerhead on the market to 2.5 gallons (9.5 litres) of water per minute.

The order lifts water restrictions on basically any appliance that uses water, such as toilets and dishwashers.

“In my case, I like to take a nice shower, take care of my beautiful hair,” Trump said during a signing ceremony in the Oval Office. He said he has to stand under the showerhead for 15 minutes under the current regulations, which he called ridiculous.

“We’re going to open it up so that people can live,” he said.

PANAMA CITY: Panama has signed a scaled-back security deal with the United States that allows American troops to use local military facilities but rules out the establishment of permanent US bases, following concerns over national sovereignty and public backlash.

The development is being seen as a major concession to President Donald Trump as he seeks to re-establish influence over the vital waterway.

The agreement, signed by top security officials from both countries, allows US military personnel to deploy to Panama-controlled facilities for training, exercises and “other activities”.

The deal stops short of allowing the United States to build its own permanent bases on the isthmus, a move that would be deeply unpopular with Panamanians and legally fraught.

However, it gives the United States broad authority to deploy an unspecified number of personnel to bases — some of which Washington built when it occupied the canal zone decades ago.

Since returning to power in January, Trump has repeatedly claimed that China wields too much influence over the canal, which handles around 40 percent of US container traffic and five percent of global trade.

His administration has pledged to “take back” control of the strategic waterway that the United States funded, built, and controlled until 1999.

The United States has long taken part in military exercises in Panama.

However, a longer-term rotational force — similar to the one the United States maintains in Darwin, Australia — could prove politically toxic for Panama’s centre-right leader, José Raúl Mulino.

‘Country on fire’

Mulino was in Peru on Thursday, where he revealed that the United States had asked to have its own bases.

Mulino said he told visiting Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth that US bases, allowed under an earlier draft, would be “unacceptable”.

He warned Hegseth: “Do you want to create a mess? What we’ve put in place here would set the country on fire.”

In the watered-down “Memorandum of Understanding”, signed by Hegseth and Panama’s security chief Frank Ábrego on Wednesday, Panama secured its own concessions.

The United States recognised Panama’s sovereignty — not a given following Trump’s refusal to rule out an invasion — and Panama will retain control over any installations.

Panama will also need to approve any deployments.

But given Trump’s willingness to tear up or rewrite trade deals, treaties and agreements, that might offer little comfort to worried Panamanians.

The country has a long and complicated relationship with the United States.

They share close cultural and economic ties, despite the decades-long US occupation of the canal zone and the US invasion 35 years ago to overthrow dictator Manuel Noriega.

That invasion killed more than 500 Panamanians and razed parts of the capital.

Trump’s vow to reclaim the canal, and his claim of Chinese influence, have sparked mass demonstrations.

By law, Panama operates the canal with open access to all nations.

However, the US president has zeroed in on the role of a Hong Kong company that has operated ports at either end of the canal — linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans — for decades.

Under pressure from the White House, Panama has accused the Panama Ports Company of failing to meet its contractual obligations and pushed for the firm to withdraw from the country.

The ports’ parent company, CK Hutchison, announced last month a deal to offload 43 ports in 23 countries — including its two on the Panama Canal — to a consortium led by US asset manager BlackRock for $19 billion in cash.

An enraged Beijing has since announced an antitrust review of the deal.

WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday the United States will hold direct talks with Iran this weekend to discuss Iran’s nuclear programme.

The talks between US special envoy Steve Witkoff and a senior Iranian leader are scheduled for Saturday in Oman.

“We hope that’ll lead to peace. We’ve been very clear what Iran is never going to have a nuclear weapon, and I think that’s what led to this meeting,” Rubio said during a Cabinet meeting chaired by President Donald Trump.

Trump on Monday made a surprise announcement that the United States and Iran were poised to begin direct talks on Tehran’s nuclear programme on Saturday, warning that Iran would be in “great danger” if the talks were unsuccessful.

The announcement caused some confusion because Iran had said the talks would be indirect with the Omanis acting as mediators.

A US official familiar with the planning said the two delegations would be in the same room for the talks.

Trump on Wednesday repeated his threat to use military force if Iran did not agree to end its nuclear programme.

Trump said Iran could not be allowed to have a nuclear weapon and if it declined to stop development efforts, military action could follow.