China woos trade war 'circle of friends' as Kenya, Azerbaijan leaders visit
Kenyan President William Ruto and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev were both due to arrive in China on Tuesday for separate visits that, observers say, reflect Beijing's strategic shift to sustain growth. "Whenever China encounters tension, pushback and isolation from Western countries, it pivots harder -- and with much greater focus and intensity -- toward the developing world," said Paul Nantulya, a research associate at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies in Washington. He cited precedents during the 1989 Tiananmen Square pro-democracy movement and the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Yomiuri Shimbun
5 minutes ago
- Yomiuri Shimbun
DC Residents Protest as White House Says Federal Agents Will Be on Patrol 24/7
WASHINGTON (AP) — Residents in one Washington, D.C., neighborhood lined up Wednesday to protest the increased police presence after the White House said the number of National Guard troops in the nation's capital would ramp up and federal officers would be the streets around the clock. After law enforcement set up a vehicle checkpoint along the busy 14th Street Northwest corridor, hecklers shouted, 'Go home, fascists' and other insults. Some protesters stood at the intersection before the checkpoint and urged drivers to turn away from it. The action intensified a few days after President Donald Trump's unprecedented announcement that his administration would take over the city's police department for at least a month. The city's Democratic mayor walked a political tightrope, referring to the takeover as an 'authoritarian push' at one point and later framing the infusion of officers as boost to public safety, though one with few specific barometers for success. The Republican president has said crime in the city was at emergency levels that only such federal intervention could fix — even as District of Columbia leaders pointed to statistics showing violent crime at a 30-year low after a sharp rise two years ago. For two days, small groups of federal officers have been visible in scattered areas of the city. But a significant increase was expected Wednesday at the Guard's armory and troops were expected to start doing more missions in Washington on Thursday, according to a Guard spokesman who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the planning process. On Wednesday, agents from Homeland Security Investigations patrolled the popular U Street corridor. Drug Enforcement Administration officers were seen on the National Mall, while National Guard members were parked nearby. DEA agents also joined Metropolitan Police Department officers on patrol in the Navy Yard neighborhood, while FBI agents stood along the heavily trafficked Massachusetts Avenue. Hundreds of federal law enforcement and city police officers who patrolled the streets Tuesday night made 43 arrests, compared with about two dozen the night before. D.C. Councilmember Christina Henderson downplayed the arrest reports as 'a bunch of traffic stops' and said the administration was seeking to disguise how unnecessary this federal intervention is. 'I'm looking at this list of arrests and they sound like a normal Saturday night in any big city,' said Henderson. Unlike in other U.S. states and cities, the law gives Trump the power to take over Washington's police for up to 30 days. Extending his power over the city for longer would require approval from Congress, and that could be tough in the face of Democratic resistance. Trump suggested that he could seek a longer period of control or decide to call on Congress to exercise authority over city laws his administration sees as lax on crime. 'We're gonna do this very quickly. But we're gonna want extensions. I don't want to call a national emergency. If I have to, I will,' he said. Later, on his Truth Social site, Trump reiterated his claims about the city, writing, 'D.C. has been under siege from thugs and killers, but now, D.C. is back under Federal Control where it belongs.' Henderson, who worked for Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York before running for the D.C. Council, said she was already in touch with 'friends on the Hill' to rally opposition for any Trump extension request. She added, 'It's Day Three and he's already saying he's going to need more time?' Targeting a variety of infractions The arrests made by 1,450 federal and local officers across the city included those for suspicion of driving under the influence and unlawful entry, as well as a warrant for assault with a deadly weapon, according to the White House. Seven illegal firearms were seized. There have now been more than 100 arrests since Trump began beefing up the federal law enforcement presence in Washington last week, White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said. 'President Trump is delivering on his campaign promise to clean up this city and restore American Greatness to our cherished capital,' she said. The president has full command of the National Guard and has activated up to 800 troops to support law enforcement, though exactly what form remains to be determined. Neither Army nor District of Columbia National Guard officials have been able to describe the training backgrounds of the troops who have so far reported for duty. While some members are military police, others likely hold jobs that would have offered them little training in dealing with civilians or law enforcement. The federalization push also includes clearing out encampments for people who are homeless, Trump has said. U.S. Park Police have removed dozens of tents since March, and plan to take out two more this week, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has said. People are offered the chance to go to shelters and get addiction treatment, if needed, but those who refuse could be fined or jailed, she said. City officials said they are making more shelter space available and increasing their outreach. Violent crime has dropped in the district The federal effort comes even after a drop in violent crime in the nation's capital, a trend that experts have seen in cities across the U.S. since an increase during the coronavirus pandemic. On average, the level of violence Washington remains mostly higher than averages in three dozen cities analyzed by the nonprofit Council on Criminal Justice, said the group's president and CEO, Adam Gelb. Police Chief Pamela Smith said during an interview with the local Fox affiliate that the city's Metro Police Department has been down nearly 800 officers. She said the increased number of federal agents on the streets would help fill that gap, at least for now. Mayor Muriel Bowser said city officials did not get any specific goals for the surge during a meeting with Trump's attorney general, Pam Bondi, and other top federal law enforcement officials Tuesday. But, she said, 'I think they regard it as a success to have more presence and take more guns off the street, and we do too.' She had previously called Trump's moves 'unsettling and unprecedented' while pointing out he was within a president's legal rights regarding the district, which is the seat of American government but is not a state. For some residents, the increased presence of law enforcement and National Guard troops is nerve-racking. 'I've seen them right here at the subway … they had my street where I live at blocked off yesterday, actually,' Washington native Sheina Taylor said. 'It's more fearful now because even though you're a law-abiding citizen, here in D.C., you don't know, especially because I'm African American.'
Yomiuri Shimbun
5 minutes ago
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Environmental Concerns Could Halt Construction at Florida's ‘Alligator Alcatraz' Immigration Jail
MIAMI (AP) — The fate of a makeshift immigrant detention center in the Florida Everglades dubbed ' Alligator Alcatraz ' hung in the balance on Wednesday as a federal judge considered whether building on sensitive wetlands violated environmental laws. Last week, U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams ordered a 14-day halt on additional construction at the site while witnesses testified at a hearing, part of a lawsuit seeking to halt operations and further construction. The temporary order doesn't include any restrictions on law enforcement or immigration enforcement activity. The judge concluded a multi-day hearing on Wednesday without making an immediate decision on whether to issue a preliminary injunction. President Donald Trump toured the facility last month and suggested it could be a model for future lockups nationwide as his administration races to expand the infrastructure necessary for increasing deportations. Environmental groups and a Native American tribe have sued over the facility, saying it was hastily set up without the environmental impact considerations needed for all federal projects, even though it deals with immigration, a federal matter. 'It just flies in the face of what NEPA requires,' said Paul Schwiep, an attorney for the environmental groups, referring to the National Environmental Policy Act. Florida and the Trump administration argue that the state is building and operating the detention center, so those rules about an environmental review don't apply. Adam Gustafson, an attorney for the federal government, said during the hearing's closing arguments Wednesday that the federal government only plays an advisory role at the facility. The judge last week said the center was, at a minimum, a joint partnership between the state and federal government. The first phase of 'Alligator Alcatraz' opened in July atop a lightly used, single-runway training airport. Less than 1,000 detainees were being held there as of last week, and it's designed to eventually hold up to 3,000 people. Inside the compound's large white tents, rows of bunkbeds are surrounded by chain-link cages. People held there say worms turn up in the food, toilets don't flush and flood floors with fecal waste, while mosquitoes and other insects are everywhere. At times the air conditioners abruptly shut off in the sweltering heat. Detainees are said to go days without showering or getting prescription medicine, and can only speak to lawyers and loved ones by phone. Gov. Ron DeSantis has said the location in the rugged and remote Everglades was meant as a deterrent against escape, much like the island prison in California that Republicans named it after. The detention center has an estimated annual cost of $450 million, according to a public database. When asked by the judge why a detention facility needed to be located in the middle of the Everglades, Jesse Panuccio, an attorney representing the state of Florida, referred to government officials' statements that the remote location and existing runway made it ideal for immigration detention. Williams pointed out many other detention centers were operated safely and effectively in urban areas. 'Florida is lousy with airports,' the judge said. 'Why in the middle of the Everglades?' Witnesses for the environmental groups have testified that at least 20 acres (8 hectares) of asphalt have been added to the site since the Florida Division of Emergency Management began construction. They said additional paving could lead to an increase in water runoff to the adjacent wetlands, spread harmful chemicals into the Everglades and reduce the habitat for endangered Florida panthers. Chris Ajizian, an attorney for the Miccosukee Tribe, said that neither the state nor federal government gave the tribe any notice of their plans for a detention facility, despite legal obligations and the tribe's incontrovertible connection to the Everglades. 'It is the life blood of their community, their history and their identity,' Ajizian said during the hearing's closing. The lawsuit was being heard as DeSantis′ administration was apparently preparing to build a second immigration detention center at a Florida National Guard training center in the state's north. A second lawsuit claims detainees' constitutional rights are being violated because they are barred from meeting lawyers, are being held without any charges, and a federal immigration court has canceled bond hearings. Over the weekend, a federal judge gave the state until late September to prepare arguments against an effort to get the civil rights litigation certified as a class action.
Japan Times
5 minutes ago
- Japan Times
Trump and Putin: A strained relationship
U.S. President Donald Trump styles himself as a strongman. And that's exactly what he sees in Russian President Vladimir Putin. Their complicated relationship will be put to the test at a summit in the U.S. state of Alaska on Friday, where the two leaders who claim to admire each other will seek to outmaneuver one another over how to end Russia's invasion of Ukraine. While the two were close to a bromance during Trump's first term (2017-21), their relationship has grown strained during his second term. The U.S. president has expressed anger with Putin for pressing on with his brutal 3-year-old war in Ukraine, which Trump calls "ridiculous." Trump describes the summit as "really a feel-out meeting" to evaluate Putin's readiness to negotiate an end to the war. "I'm going to be telling him, 'You've got to end this war,'" Trump said. The two leaders notably have radically different negotiating strategies: The Republican real estate magnate usually banks on making a deal, while the Russian president tends to take the long view, confident that time is on his side. Referring to Trump's meeting with Putin, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday that Trump needs "to see him face-to-face ... to make an assessment by looking at him." Trump praised Putin for accepting his invitation to come to Alaska, which was once a Russian colony. "I thought it was very respectful that the president of Russia is coming to our country, as opposed to us going to his country or even a third place," Trump said Monday. It will be only the second one-on-one meeting between the men since a 2018 Helsinki summit. Trump calls Putin smart and insists he's always "had a very good relationship" with the Kremlin leader. Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin during a joint news conference in Helsinki, Finland in 2018. The two leaders are set to meet face-to-face this week in Alaska. | Doug Mills / The New York Times But when Russian missiles pounded Kyiv earlier this year, Trump accused him of "needlessly killing a lot of people," adding in a social media post: "He has gone absolutely CRAZY!" For his part, Putin has praised the Republican billionaire's push to end the Ukraine war. "I have no doubt that he means it sincerely," Putin said last year when Trump was running for president. Since returning to the White House in January, the American president has forged a rapprochement with Putin, who has been sidelined by the international community since the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Trump and Putin, 79 and 72, respectively, spoke for 90 minutes by phone in February, both expressing hope for a reset of relations. But after a series of fruitless talks and continued deadly Russian bombing of Ukrainian cities, Trump has appeared increasingly frustrated. "I am very disappointed with President Putin," Trump told reporters last month. "I thought he was somebody that meant what he said. And he'll talk so beautifully and then he'll bomb people at night. We don't like that." Trump and Putin have met six times, mostly on the sidelines of international events during Trump's first term. In his recent book "War," Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward wrote that Trump spoke to Putin seven times between leaving the White House in 2021 and returning there earlier this year. The Kremlin denies this. But the defining moment in their relationship remains the July 2018 summit in the Finnish capital Helsinki. After a two-hour one-on-one meeting, Trump and Putin expressed a desire to mend relations between Washington and Moscow. But Trump caused an uproar during a joint press conference by appearing to take at face value the Russian president's assurances that Moscow did not attempt to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election — even though US intelligence agencies had unanimously confirmed that it did. "I have great confidence in my intelligence people, but I will tell you that President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today," Trump said. "He just said it's not Russia. I will say this: I don't see any reason why it would be." Given this history, Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen is worried about what could happen at the Trump-Putin summit. "I am very concerned that President Putin will view this as a reward and another opportunity to further prolong the war instead of finally seeking peace," she said.
