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Trump threatens to take back control of Panama Canal

Incoming US president Donald Trump on Saturday slammed what he called unfair fees for US ships passing through the Panama Canal and threatened to demand control of the waterway be returned to Washington.semore

He also hinted at China's growing influence around the canal, a worrying trend for American interests as US businesses depend on the channel to move goods between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

"Our Navy and Commerce have been treated in a very unfair and injudicious way. The fees being charged by Panama are ridiculous," he said in a post on his Truth Social platform.

"This complete 'rip-off' of our Country will immediately stop."

The Panama Canal, which was completed by the United States in 1914, was returned to the Central American country under a 1977 deal signed by Democratic president Jimmy Carter. Panama took full control in 1999.

"It was solely for Panama to manage, not China, or anyone else," Trump said. "We would and will NEVER let it fall into the wrong hands!"

He continued that if Panama could not ensure "the secure, efficient and reliable operation" of the channel, "then we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us, in full, and without question."

Authorities in Panama did not immediately react to Trump's post. Although he does not officially take office until next month, Trump has nevertheless been flexing his political influence in the waning days of President Joe Biden's administration.

The real estate mogul boasted on the campaign trail that as an entrepreneur, he was uniquely positioned to fight for US business interests.

An estimated five percent of global maritime traffic passes through the Panama Canal, which allows ships traveling between Asia and the US East Coast to avoid the long, hazardous route around the southern tip of South America.

The main users of the passage are the United States, China, Japan and South Korea. The Panama Canal Authority reported in October that the waterway had earned record revenues of nearly USD 5 billion in the last fiscal year.

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Israel hits ports, energy sites in Yemen after missile intercepted

Israel said Thursday it struck ports and energy infrastructure it alleges are used by Huthi rebels, after intercepting a missile fired by the group.semore

Israel’s military said it “conducted precise strikes on Huthi military targets in Yemen—including ports and energy infrastructure in Sanaa, which the Huthis have been using in ways that effectively contributed to their military actions.”

The announcement came shortly after Israel said it had intercepted a missile fired from Yemen.

Al-Masira, a media channel belonging to the Huthis, said a series of “aggressive raids” were launched in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa and the port city of Hodeidah.

It reported raids that “targeted two central power plants” in Yemen’s capital Sanaa, while in Hodeidah it said “the enemy launched four aggressive raids targeting the port... and two raids targeting” an oil facility.

The strikes were the second time this week that Israel’s military has intercepted a missile from Yemen.

On Monday, the Huthis claimed a missile launch they said was aimed at “a military target of the Israeli enemy in the occupied area of Yaffa”—a reference to Israel’s Tel Aviv area.

Also Monday, an Israeli navy missile boat intercepted a drone in the Mediterranean after it was launched from Yemen, the military said.

The Huthi rebels have said they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians and pledged Monday to continue operations “until the aggression on Gaza stops and the siege is lifted”.

On 9 December, a drone claimed by Huthis exploded on the top floor of a residential building in the central Israel city of Yavne, causing no casualties.

In July, a Huthi drone attack in Tel Aviv killed an Israeli civilian, prompting retaliatory strikes on the Yemeni port of Hodeidah.

The Huthis have also regularly targeted shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, leading to retaliatory strikes on Huthi targets by United States and sometimes British forces.

Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said the group had become a “global threat,” pointing to Iran’s support for the rebels.

“We will continue to act against anyone, anyone in the Middle East, that threatens the state of Israel,” he said

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Myanmar ethnic rebels say captured junta western command

A Myanmar ethnic rebel group has captured a military regional command in Rakhine state, it said, in what would be a major blow to the junta.semore

The Arakan Army (AA) had "completely captured" the western regional command at Ann on Friday after weeks of fighting, the group said in a statement on its Telegram channel.

Ann would be the second regional military command to fall to ethnic rebels in five months, and a huge blow to the military.

Myanmar's military has 14 regional commands across the country with many of them currently fighting established ethnic rebel groups or newer "People's Defence Forces" that have sprung up to battle the military's 2021 coup.

Fighting has rocked Rakhine state since the AA attacked security forces in November last year, ending a ceasefire that had largely held since the putsch.

AA fighters have seized swathes of territory in the state that is home to China and India-backed port projects and all but cut off state capital Sittwe.

The AA posted photos of a man whom it said was the Ann deputy regional commander, in the custody of its fighters.

AFP was unable to confirm that information and has contacted the AA's spokesman for comment.

AFP was unable to reach people on the ground around Ann where internet and phone services are patchy.

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কেন গ্রেফতার হয়নি ওবায়দুল কাদের? জানতে চেয়েছেন ট্রাইব্যুনাল | Obaidul Quader | Jamuna TV

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তাদের কেন ঢু/ক/তে/ই দি/চ্ছে না দু/বা/ই?

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Gaza civil defence says Israeli strikes kill 17 including mayor

Gaza’s civil defence agency said Israeli strikes on the territory killed 17 people on Saturday, including seven at a UN school housing displaced people that the Israeli military said was used as a Hamas command centre.

Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP there were seven people killed, including women and children, and at least 10 wounded “when Israeli warplanes targeted the Al-Majida Wasila school west of Gaza City”.

The school was run by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees but like many such facilities it has been turned into a makeshift shelter for those displaced by the war in Gaza.

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G7 to meet on Syria, government pledges ‘rule of law’

G7 leaders will attempt Friday to forge a common approach to the new government of Syria, which has pledged to protect the rule of law after years of abuses under ousted president Bashar al-Assad.

Assad fled Syria after a lightning offensive spearheaded by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group and its allies, which brought a sudden end to five decades of repressive rule by his clan.

The collapse of Assad’s administration closes an era in which suspected dissidents were jailed or killed, and caps nearly 14 years of war that killed more than 500,000 people and displaced millions.

It has allowed Syrians to flood to prisons, hospitals and morgues in search of long-disappeared loved ones, hoping for a miracle, or at least closure.

“I turned the world upside down looking,” Abu Mohammed told AFP as he searched for news of three missing relatives at the Mezzeh Air Base in Damascus.

“But I didn’t find anything at all. We just want a hint of where they were, one percent.”

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Saudi Arabia to host 2034 World Cup: FIFA

FIFA on Wednesday confirmed that Saudi Arabia will host the 2034 World Cup, underlining the Gulf kingdom’s growing influence in world sport despite criticism of the country’s human rights record.

At the same time, a virtual Congress of world football’s governing body confirmed that Morocco, Spain and Portugal will be joint hosts of the 2030 World Cup, in which three games will also be played in South America.

The Saudi bid was waved through by acclamation during the meeting of FIFA’s 211 national member associations, with no rivals standing in its way.

“It is a proud day, a day of celebration, a day that we invite the entire world to Saudi Arabia,” said Abdulaziz bin Turki bin Faisal al Saud, the Saudi Minister of