Venezuela warns US is dangerous anyway in Trump travel ban retort
Venezuela has hit back over the Trump administration's travel ban by warning that the US itself is a dangerous place, while Somalia immediately pledged to work with Washington on security issues.
The mixed responses came after Donald Trump signed a ban targeting 12 countries also including Afghanistan, Iran and Yemen in a revival of one of the most controversial measures from his first term.
'Being in the United States is a great risk for anyone, not just for Venezuelans,' Diosdado Cabello, the interior minister in Caracas, said after the announcement, warning citizens against travel there and describing the US government as fascist. 'They persecute our countrymen, our people for no reason.'
Dahir Hassan Abdi, the Somali ambassador to the US, said in a statement: 'Somalia values its longstanding relationship with the United States and stands ready to engage in dialogue to address the concerns raised.'
Calls early on Thursday to the spokesperson of Myanmar's military government were not answered. The foreign ministry of Laos did not immediately respond to a request for comment, Reuters reported.
There was no immediate response from Iran, but Jamal Abdi, the president of the National Iranian American Council, said: 'The impact of the ban will once again be felt by Americans who were denied the ability to see their loved ones at weddings, funerals, or the birth of a child.'
The move bans all travel to the US by nationals of Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.
Trump imposed a partial ban on travellers from seven more countries: Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela. Some temporary work visas from these countries would be allowed, his administration said. The bans would go into effect on Monday 9 June, the White House said.
Trump said the bans were spurred by a makeshift flamethrower attack on a Jewish protest in Colorado that US authorities blamed on a man they said was in the country illegally.
Reuters and Agence France-Presse contributed to this story
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BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
What is Aukus, the submarine deal between Australia, UK and US?
A multi-billion dollar submarine deal between long-standing allies - Australia, the UK and the US - has come under the spotlight after the Trump administration said it was reviewing how the deal fits in with its heavily-touted "America First" agenda. The Aukus security pact, Australia's biggest ever defence project, is set to play a key part in the country's ability to replace its ageing Collins-class submarine fleet - and, crucially, its military standing in the region. The 30-day review will be led by Elbridge Colby, who has previously been critical of Aukus. In a speech last year, he questioned why the US would give away "this crown jewel asset when we most need it". A US defence spokesperson said the review is about ensuring "this initiative of the previous administration is aligned with the President's America First agenda".Fears the review may torpedo the deal have been downplayed by the UK and Australia, with both saying the review is a normal process when a new government takes power. What is Aukus? Billed as a trilateral security partnership, the Aukus deal - worth £176bn ($239bn; A$368bn) over 30 years - involves two so-called pillars. Pillar 1 is about the supply and delivery of nuclear-powered attack submarines. Australia will buy three second-hand Virginia-class submarines from the US from 2032 with options to purchase two that, the plan is to design and build an entirely new nuclear-powered submarine model for the UK and Australian attack craft will be built in Britain and Australia to a British design, but use technology from all three 2 is about the allies collaborating on their "advanced capabilities". This involves sharing military expertise in areas such as long-range hypersonic missiles, undersea robotics and AI. What's the purpose of the deal? At its core, the deal is believed to be about countering China's growing presence in the Indo-Pacific region, and its role in rising tensions in disputed territories such as the South China none of the allies have directly pointed at China as a reason for the deal, the three countries have spoken about how regional security concerns have "grown significantly" in recent condemned the agreement as "extremely irresponsible" when it was first ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said it "seriously undermines regional peace and stability and intensifies the arms race". Who negotiated it? The deal was unveiled in September 2021 by three former leaders: Australia's Scott Morrison, the UK's Boris Johnson and the US's Joe Biden. The UK reviewed the security pact last year after Sir Keir Starmer's Labour government won the general election. What does Australia get out of it? For Australia, the deal represents a major upgrade to its military capabilities. The country is set to become just the second to receive Washington's elite nuclear propulsion technology, after the submarines will be able to operate further and faster than the country's existing diesel-engine fleet. They would also mean Australia would be able to carry out long-range strikes against enemies for the first the deal, sailors from the Royal Australian Navy are due to be sent to US and UK submarine bases to learn how to use the nuclear-powered submarines. What do the UK and US get out of it? From 2027, the pact will allow both the US and UK to base a small number of nuclear submarines in Perth, Western will also create about 7,000 jobs in Britain, with the design and construction of the new fleet of nuclear-powered submarines set to take place in the UK. The benefits for the US are less obvious - but sharing its defence technology could give the nation an opportunity to grow its presence in Asia-Pacific. Arming Australia has historically been viewed by Washington and Downing Street as essential to preserving peace in a region that is far from their own.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Trump ally to spearhead review that could torpedo Australia's defence plans
Long-time Donald Trump ally and China hawk Elbridge 'Bridge' Colby will spearhead a US government review of the AUKUS submarine deal, as speculation mounts that the arrangement will be scrapped. The appointment, confirmed by a US defence official on Thursday, heightened expectations that the Trump administration will end or at least alter the deal under which Australia was to acquire nuclear-powered submarines to replace its current ageing fleet. Defence Minister Richard Marles downplayed the significance of a review, describing it as 'natural' given the policy was introduced by the Biden administration. But Shadow Defence Minister Angus Taylor has expressed serious reservations in the face of threatened abandonment. 'If AUKUS falls over, it is Australia that pays the price,' he said. 'We would face a dangerous gap in capability at a time when we lack the capacity to go it alone.' Australia jettisoned a deal to acquire French-made submarines - despite having spent almost $2.5billion - to instead join the deal with the US and UK governments. A collapse of the AUKUS deal would leave Australia to start from scratch in finding its next generation of submarines, with such deals taking many years between commissioning and completion. US Under Secretary of Defence Policy, Mr Colby will be at the helm during the period of review, as first reported by British publication the Financial Times. He has publicly spoken of his doubts about the strategic and cost value of the AUJUS deal. 'AUKUS, in principle, it is a great idea, but I have been very skeptical in practice,' Mr Colby posted on X in August last year. 'I remain skeptical, agnostic, as I put it, but more inclined based on new information I have gleaned. 'It would be crazy to have fewer SSNs Virginia class in the right place and time.' Asked to address this during a Senate hearing in March this year, prior to being approved as under secretary, he doubled down. Mr Colby said repeated that it was a 'great idea' but that the hope for an 'Australian capacity' for US military could not be dragged out over a lengthy time period. However he also referred to Australia as 'perhaps our closest ally in the world', noting that the Australian government has supported the US 'even in our less advisable wars'. 'It is a great idea for (Australia) to have attack submarines,' he told the committee. 'I think it should be the policy of the United States Government to do everything we can to make (AUKUS) work. 'This is getting back to restoring our defense industrial capacity so that we don't have to face these awful choices but rather can be in a position where we can produce not only for ourselves, but for our allies.' As of Thursday, he has not commented on his role overseeing the review of AUKUS but took to X to back the messaging of US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. '(Mr Hegseth's) Shangri-La Dialogue speech highlighted the Department of Defense's commonsense approach in the Indo-Pacific to achieve President Trump's Peace Through Strength and America First agenda.' He also fulfilled the label of 'China hawk' which media companies have given him, highlighting his concerns for the country's expanding influence in the Indo-Pacific region - an issue AUKUS was set up to counter. 'China's actions undermine peace and stability in the region,' he said, referencing its military build up and operations in the South China Sea and near Taiwan. 'These are the reasons driving the United States assessment that China is the most serious and pressing military threat,' he said. But, as a caveat, Mr Colby then quoted Mr Hegseth's recent statement that the US does not seek war or to 'dominate or strangle China'. The messaging is similar to that of the American defence official who confirmed to Daily Mail Australia that there would be a review of the AUKUS pact - and why. 'This review will ensure the initiative meets these common sense, America First criteria,' they said. 'This means ensuring the highest readiness of our service members, that allies step up fully to do their part for collective defence, and that the defence industrial base is meeting our needs,' the official said. In the seven-part thread, Mr Colby identified the US as an Indo-Pacific nation, commenting that prosperity and security of Americans is 'vitally linked with those of our allies and partners in the region'. Whatever his view on AUKUS, Mr Colby is not enthusiastic about formalising defence ties with a 'NATO-like' alliance in the region. 'I am not theologically opposed to it, Senator, but I have been skeptical,' he told the March hearing. 'Something may be building up to have more multilateralization in the region, but not the huge ambition of an Asia NATO,' he added. 'Especially because you have got Japan over here, India over here, Australia down here. Their circumstances are quite distinct.' Mr Colby is a long-time loyalist to Donald Trump and the US President's view of the world which is strongly critical of American involvement in overseas conflicts that do not serve US interests. During Trump's first term, he served from 2017 to 2018 as a deputy assistant secretary of defense. The key aim of his role was the reorientation of the defence department to prioritise the threat posed by China towards the US. Between Trump's terms, Mr Colby co-founded think tank The Marathon Initiative in 2019, which focused on preparing the US for an 'era of sustained great power competition'. A statement from the organisation when he was appointed back into the defense department praised Mr Colby's work shifting foreign policy away from the Middle East and Europe, towards China. 'He has worked persistently, persuasively, and intelligently to keep China at the forefront of the U.S. national security debate,' it said in April. 'His consistent message has been that America must prioritize the top threat facing the country—and that doing so will require tradeoffs. 'Bridge has sought to equip the United States with a coherent framework for ensuring its safety and prosperity against the most formidable rival in our history.'
The Guardian
2 hours ago
- The Guardian
Chemtrails: why is RFK Jr battling a debunked conspiracy theory?
The Trump administration appears sceptical about the climate crisis but is deeply concerned about another weather phenomenon: chemtrails. To conspiracists, chemtrails are visible trails left by commercial airliners, lasting longer than the usual condensation trails from jets and containing unknown, sinister chemicals. To weather scientists, chemtrails are a myth based on misidentification and a lack of understanding about how different humidity levels cause contrails to disappear quickly or linger and grow. The US health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, is determined to take action on chemtrails. During a recent TV discussion, when an audience member said chemtrails were her biggest health worry, Kennedy affirmed that material was being added to jet fuel. 'I'm going to do everything in my power to stop it,' he said. 'Find out who's doing it and holding them accountable.' Kennedy said he was trying to discover which government department was responsible. He suggested the culprits might be Darpa, the Pentagon's advanced research arm. While there really has been military research into contrails, this was aimed at reducing them to make planes harder to spot. Sign up to Down to Earth The planet's most important stories. Get all the week's environment news - the good, the bad and the essential after newsletter promotion Despite many claims, there is no evidence of nefarious substances being covertly added to commercial jet fuel. But to conspiracists, this only proves there must be a cover-up.
