Rubio in Panama for canal, migration talks as he begins Latin America trip

The top diplomat in President Donald Trump's administration, Marco Rubio, began his first foreign visit on Sunday, meeting Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino to discuss U.S. concerns about Chinese companies potentially affecting American shipping access around the Panama Canal and regional migration issues

The U.S. secretary of state is touring Central America and the Caribbean on his first foray in the post as he seeks to refocus U.S. diplomacy on the Western Hemisphere - in part to recruit help in stemming migration toward the U.S. southern border. Trump began his second term as president on Jan. 20.

The visit also reflects a U.S. desire to counter China's growing diplomatic influence in Latin America. Trump upon returning to office threatened to take control of Panama Canal, built by the United States in the early 20th century and handed over to Panama under a 1977 Treaty, claiming the canal is being operated by China. The comments were followed by a public backlash, and Panama rebuked Trump's threats.

China has said it plays no part in operating the canal and that it respects Panama's sovereignty and independence over the waterway.

The canal is operated by the Panama Canal Authority, an autonomous agency overseen by the Panamanian government.

Following Trump's threat's to take back the canal, Panama launched an audit of publicly listed Hong Kong company CK Hutchison Holdings, which operates two ports at the canal's Atlantic and Pacific entrances.

Rubio, a longtime China hawk during his Senate career, said last week that China could use the ports to shut down the canal, a vital route for U.S. shipping, in the event of a conflict between Beijing and Washington.

Rubio met with Mulino at the president's residence in Panama City. Rubio and his delegation then held talks with Mulino, Foreign Minister Javier Martínez-Acha Vásquez and other Panamanian officials. Neither side made remarks to the press ahead of the meeting.

Mulino has said the ownership of the canal is not on the table in the talks with Rubio.

Rubio also plans to discuss migration issues in Panama, which cooperates with the United States on preventing migration across the Darien gap, the route across Panama's rugged southern border with Colombia used by human traffickers and drug smugglers.

Rubio has ordered the State Department to put migration issues at the center of its diplomacy with countries in the region. Officials have said Rubio will use the trip to smooth the acceptance of U.S. deportation flights to the region.

https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2025-02-02/rubio-in-panama-for-canal-migration-talks-as-he-begins-latin-america-trip

'Ukraine says US push for truce, elections is 'failed plan' unless it consists of more'

 An aide to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday a U.S. call for Ukraine to hold an election after agreeing a ceasefire with Russia looked like a "failed plan" if that is all it consists of, though more details were needed.

President Donald Trump's top Ukraine official Keith Kellogg told Reuters the U.S. wants Ukraine to hold elections, potentially by the end of the year, especially if Kyiv can agree a truce with Russia in the coming months.

"We haven't seen Mr. Kellogg's full interview, only a few quotes about the elections, so it's hard to fully assess his position," said Dmytro Lytvyn, Zelenskiy's communications adviser.

"But if his plan is just a ceasefire and elections, it is a failed plan – Putin won't be intimidated by just those two things," he told Reuters in a written statement.

Kyiv has repeatedly said it does not want a ceasefire without obtaining security guarantees that would stop Moscow regenerating its forces and launching another invasion in the future. Elections are currently prohibited under martial law, which Ukraine imposed after Russia's 2022 invasion.

Lytvyn said Ukraine would prefer to see what he described as a more in-depth approach by officials in key partners.

"But we remember that President Trump, in his meetings with President Zelenskiy, spoke deeply and wisely about the situation and what could actually pressure Putin," he said.

Ukraine has praised Trump and his "peace through strength" approach as Kyiv tries to win the backing it needs to create the conditions for a lasting and robust peace.

Lytvyn said it was important to move quickly to "real work between teams on a concrete plan to end the war and ensure lasting peace".

Nearly three years since Russia's full-scale invasion, Moscow's troops are advancing in eastern Ukraine, while Kyiv's forces are holding a chunk of a western Russian region. Both sides are conducting regular long-range drone strikes far behind the front lines.

https://www.aol.com/news/ukraine-says-us-push-truce-180509719.html

US FAA pilot safety messaging system resumes operations

 A key system that provides safety messages to pilots resumed operating on Sunday morning after an outage that began the previous night, the Federal Aviation Administration said, in the latest difficulty for the U.S. aviation system in the past week.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said on Sunday the FAA's "Notice to Air Mission," or NOTAM, system is old and needs an upgrade. The system went down late on Saturday, prompting the agency to set up a hotline to send notices every 30 minutes with updates to airlines. 

"We are investigating the root cause of the outage," the FAA said in a statement on Sunday.

The NOTAM system provides pilots, flight crews and other users of U.S. airspace with critical safety notices. It could include items such as taxiway lights being out at an airport, nearby parachute activity or a specific runway being closed for construction.

"There was minimal disruption," Duffy told CNN's "State of the Union" program. "There's a process in place right now to get this system fixed. We want to expedite that and get this new system in place. This is an old system that needs to be upgraded."

Duffy had said late on Saturday that the issue could have led to some flight delays on Sunday. FlightAware, a company that tracks flights, said there were 1,133 delays of U.S. flights on Sunday. It is not clear how many were related to the NOTAM outage.

A NOTAM outage in January 2023 led to the first nationwide U.S. ground stop since 2001, disrupting more than 11,000 flights. The FAA said in 2023 it planned to discontinue an older NOTAM system by mid-2025.

According to agency officials, an FAA contractor unintentionally deleted files in the NOTAM system, causing the 2023 outage.

The U.S. aviation system has faced a difficult week.

On Wednesday, an American Airlines passenger jet and a military helicopter collided near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, killing 67 people, the first fatal U.S. passenger airline crash since 2009 and the deadliest U.S. air disaster since 2001.

On Friday, a medical evacuation plane crashed soon after takeoff in Philadelphia with a child and five others on board. All died as did a person on the ground.

https://www.usnews.com/news/top-news/articles/2025-02-02/us-faa-pilot-safety-messaging-system-resumes-operations

US Army Identifies Female Black Hawk Pilot In DC Jet Crash

 Late Saturday, the US Army's Public Affairs office confirmed that 28-year-old Capt. Rebecca M. Lobach was the pilot of the Black Hawk helicopter that collided with a regional American Airlines passenger jet near Ronald Reagan National Airport on Wednesday night. The crash claimed the lives of all 64 passengers and crew aboard the plane, as well as three individuals (including Lobach) in the helicopter.

After Wednesday's mid-air crash - the deadliest in the US since Nov. 12, 2001 - the Army identified two other soldiers aboard the Black Hawk helicopter as Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Eaves, 39, of Great Mills, Maryland, and  Staff. Sgt. Ryan Austin O'Hara, 28, of Lilburn, Georgia, was the chopper's crew chief. 

However, the female pilot was not identified because, according to the service: "At the request of the family, the name of the third soldier will not be released at this time." 

On Saturday, CBS News stated that two of the three soldiers have so far been recovered from the wreckage of the Black Hawk in the Potomac River.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth disclosed that the helicopter departed from Fort Belvoir in Virginia and was on a routine training mission on Wednesday night.

On Friday, President Trump commented on the mid-air accident, confirming that the helicopter was flying at an altitude much greater than the 200-foot ceiling as the regional jet was on final to land at Ronald Reagan National Airport. 

CBS' James LaPorta and Faris Tanyos quoted Lobach's friend, 1st Lt. Samantha Brown, who said her friend also served as a White House social aide during the Biden-Harris administration's first term.

Social media sleuths on X found:

The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration are investigating why the helicopter collided with the commercial jet. 

https://www.zerohedge.com/military/us-army-identifies-female-black-hawk-pilot-dc-jet-crash

Schumer Under Investigation While Trump Reshapes Washington

 by Roger Kimball via American Greatness,

Senator Chuck Schumer is a lawyer, so presumably he is familiar with the provisions of 18 U.S. Code § 115.

In case he has forgotten—after all, there are a lot of statutes to keep track of—Edward R. Martin, Jr., the Interim D.C. U.S. Attorney, is in the process of reminding him.

Among other things, that statute holds that anyone who threatens a federal government official or their family with the “intent to impede, intimidate, or interfere with such official, judge, or law enforcement officer while engaged in the performance of official duties, or with intent to retaliate against such official, judge, or law enforcement officer on account of the performance of official duties,” shall be punished with a term in the slammer, the length of the sentence being dependent on the actual harm caused.

When the Supreme Court was hearing an abortion case in March 2020, Schumer showed up at a protest rally in front of the Court and shouted, “I want to tell you, Gorsuch, I want to tell you, Kavanaugh: You have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price.”

Perhaps Nicholas John Roske had that speech in mind in June 2022. It was then that he traveled from California to Maryland to pay the Kavanaughs a visit. It was not intended to be a friendly visit. In the dead of night, he took a taxi to their home. According to the court filing, he carried a suitcase in which was a “black tactical chest rig and tactical knife, a Glock 17 pistol with two magazines and ammunition, pepper spray, zip ties, a hammer, screwdriver, nail punch, crowbar, pistol light, duct tape, hiking boots with padding on the outside of the soles, and other items.”

When apprehended, Roske admitted that he had come to kill Brett Kavanaugh. I wonder what Chuck Schumer thought of that. It looks like Edward Martin is going to find out. On Friday, Martin announced not only that he was firing more than two dozen federal prosecutors; he also announced that he was opening an investigation into Schumer for his threats against two U.S. Supreme Court justices. For most mortals, issuing such threats would earn one a visit from the authorities.

As a paid-up member of the Washington elite, Senator Schumer doubtless thought he was exempt from all such rules. Until January 20, he probably was.

A lot of things began to change that day.

If you visit the personal data hoovering site known as Google, you will be informed that, beginning yesterday, February 1, we are in the midst of a month-long feria denominated “Black History Month.” The Pentagon used to celebrate such racially informed pseudo-celebrations as well. But our new Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, put a stop to that right speedily. On Friday, he issued a “Guidance” memorandum titled Identity Months Dead at DoD. Since singling out certain groups for celebration is bad for unity and morale, Hegseth reasoned, the cornucopia of “diversity” months that has covered public calendars like fungi is at an end. “Going forward,” we read,

DoD Components and Military Departments will not use official resources, to include man-hours, to host celebrations or events related to cultural awareness months, including National African American/Black History Month, Women’s History Month, Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month [! who knew?], Pride Month, National Hispanic Heritage Month, National Disability Employment Awareness Month, and National American Indian Heritage Month.

Is the page on all that woke insanity really turning? I think it might be. Within hours of taking office,  Donald Trump pounded a stake into the heart of federal DEI initiatives with an executive order prohibiting them. Among other things, that means no more putting your preferred pronouns in your official correspondence. Thank God for that. As Senator John Kennedy put it, “They/them are now was/were.” The mask having been ripped off all these absurdities, they will shrivel and waste away in the cold light of day of what Trump hailed as the “revolution of common sense.” The nonsense will not be easy to revive.

Elsewhere, Trump is repatriating illegal migrants, freeing hostages, and bringing water back to Southern California, “putting people above fish” (in this case, the tiny Delta Smelt). It also looks like the market in caves in Somalia has taken a serious hit. Yesterday, Trump ordered air strikes against “the Senior Isis attack planner and other terrorists” who were hiding in caves in that ravaged country. The troglodytes, Trump said, threatened the United States. Ergo, he destroyed the caves they live in, and killed many terrorists without, in any way, harming civilians.

Our Military has targeted this ISIS Attack Planner for years, but Biden and his cronies wouldn’t act quickly enough to get the job done. I did! The message to ISIS and all others who would attack Americans is that “WE WILL FIND YOU, AND WE WILL KILL YOU!”

The ancien régime just hates it when Trump talks like that. The aspersions cast upon his political opponents, the braggadocio, the typographic bravado—it’s just not the way official Washington is supposed to sound.

Not, that was, until January 20. Expect a lot more where that came from. I for one, am deeply grateful for it.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/schumer-under-investigation-while-trump-reshapes-washington

Dems Shielding Illegal Migrant Criminals Should Help ICE Round Them Up Instead: Fetterman

 Democratic Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman said on Fox News Sunday that local Democrats attempting to push back against President Donald Trump’s deportation of criminal illegal migrants should be aiding the administration.

Since Trump’s crackdown on the southern border and illegal migrants within the U.S., Democratic local officials — specifically those in sanctuary cities — have warned they will not aid U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in their investigations. On “Fox News Sunday,” host Shannon Bream asked Fetterman for his thoughts on the pushback, questioning whether local officials have an obligation to the federal government in helping with deportations.

“I hope every local official would agree that anyone here — that any of the migrants that are here with criminal backgrounds are engaging in criminal behavior. I think they should support that. Now if ICE comes to round them up I hope they would provide that kind of support,” Fetterman said.

During his first week in office, Trump signed a slew of executive orders addressing the border crisis, including declaring a national emergency at the border and designating the cartels as terrorist organizations. Additionally, the president reversed former President Joe Biden’s policies, which allowed ICE agents to arrest “criminal aliens,” including rapists and murderers.

“I certainly would never support terrorizing otherwise innocent migrants in those kinds of situations or kicking in a door at a school,” Fetterman continued. “But I think we can all agree that every migrant here with a criminal background or engaging in criminal behavior all needs to go.”

Democrats like Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, Tucson Mayor Regina Romero and Denver Mayor Mike Johnston have vocalized their disapproval of Trump’s deportation plan since November, with Johnson recently stating that his city would continue “to protect civil and human rights and welcome all individuals and families who want to work, live and thrive” in Chicago, despite the astronomical cost to taxpayers.

Despite the pushback, however, both border czar Tom Homan and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem have warned about the repercussions for those willing to go against the federal government. In a recent appearance on Fox, Noem stated that agents will still be going into cities to conduct raids, regardless of the pushback.

“The reality is, these sanctuary cities, their laws have caused us problems. They are limiting some of our tools that we want in our toolbox, but we’re going to continue to go in and use our operations and then show in other cities how it’s working and tell our story to the American people,” Noem said.

https://dailycaller.com/2025/02/02/john-fetterman-local-democrats-illegal-migrants-deportations-fox-news/

Noem Flips Script On Corporate Media After NBC Host Asks Her If Legal Immigrants Should Worry

 Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem turned the tables on corporate media in an exchange with NBC’s Kristen Welker Sunday, slamming outlets for wrongly perpetuating a “fear” of deportation among legal immigrants.

Since his inauguration, President Donald Trump has followed through on his campaign vow to shut down the southern border and lead a mass deportation of criminal illegal migrants amid a deadly fentanyl surge, signing a slew of executive orders addressing the issue on day one. On “Meet the Press,” Welker asked the DHS secretary if legal migrants should be worried about potentially being “wrongfully detained,” stating she had talked to some people who have “expressed concerns” and are carrying their documents with them.

“I would say that if I’ve heard that expressed by people that are legal citizens of the United States, it’s because the media has perpetuated that fear. The media has said that that’s a possibility,” Noem said. “There’s nothing from this administration, from President Trump or from any of the law enforcement individuals in these communities that has said that they need to walk around and be concerned about that at all.”

Just six days into the Trump administration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents announced their largest arrest day, with 956 arrests on Jan. 26 — significantly outpacing the Biden-Harris administration, which had an estimated average of 310 daily arrests in fiscal year 2024.

Noem went on to state that not only were Americans supportive of the Trump administration’s deportation plan, but she also added that she’s seen people thank agents for their service.

“The citizens of the United States are confident that finally, after four long years of having a president in the White House that ignored federal law and endangered their communities, that there’s a different man in charge now. There’s a man in charge who loves this country, is going to help make their communities safer,” Noem added. “These citizens that live here are thrilled.”

“In fact, when I was in New York City earlier this week and in several cities since then, the people walking by us on the streets were thanking our officers,” Noem continued. “They were thanking these investigators and those that were taking these dangerous criminals out for being there, for making sure that they could walk their kids to school with a new confidence that they could get there safely and that they could do business and have their community back.”

Prior to heading to the polls in November, voters had consistently polled that immigration was one of their top concerns amid record high illegal migrant encounters during the Biden-Harris administration.

Meanwhile, public support for deporting illegal immigrants has increased in recent years.

In September 2024 a Scripps News/Ipsos poll showed that a policy of mass deportations had 54% of support. A recent poll conducted by Axios/Ipsos shows that 66% of Americans support “deporting immigrants who are in the country illegally,” with 93% of Republicans, 43% of Democrats and 67% of Independents in favor.

https://dailycaller.com/2025/02/02/kristi-noem-nbc-kristen-welker-legal-migrants-deportations-worries/