International
Arizona to remove shipping container wall on US-Mexico border
| By AFP | Paula Ramon |
Arizona agreed Wednesday to dismantle a wall of shipping containers at the Mexican border that critics said was an expensive, ecologically damaging political stunt that did nothing to keep migrants out of the United States.
The state’s Republican Governor Doug Ducey spent $90 million of taxpayers’ money lining up rusting boxes in what he said was a bid to stem the flow of people crossing into the country.
The corrugated containers, which snake for four miles (seven kilometers) through federal lands like a huge stationary cargo train, divide an important conservation area that is home to vulnerable species, but which is so difficult to traverse that people traffickers routinely avoid it.
Now Ducey, who leaves office early next year, will have to get rid of the 915 containers from the Coronado National Forest.
In an agreement reached Wednesday with the federal government, Ducey’s administration said it will “remove all previously installed shipping containers and associated equipment, materials, vehicles, and other objects from the United States’ properties on National Forest System lands within the Coronado National Forest.”
Biodiversity
From close up, the double-stacked container wall looks like the clumsy handiwork of a giant playing with building blocks.
Its presence is so jarring that, in addition to the federal court case, it was also the subject of two lawsuits by the Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental organization that has been active in the area for three decades.
“The biodiversity of this region is off the charts,” Russ McSpadden, a member of the organization, told AFP.
“It’s one of the most important conservation areas in the entire United States.”
Arizona shares around 370 miles (600 kilometers) of border with Mexico, including environmental preservation areas, national parks, military zones, and indigenous reservations.
Until the 2017 arrival in the White House of Donald Trump — who was propelled to power on his pledge to “Build That Wall” — there was very little in the way of a physical barrier separating it from Mexico.
Now vast stretches of the border have a fence that towers up to nine meters high.
Before the containers arrived in the Coronado National Forest — an area that can only be reached by dirt roads — the border here was demarcated by a wire fence.
That meager barrier was more than equal to the task of keeping people at bay, says McSpadden, whose cameras have picked up jaguars, and who has worked with teams collecting data on ocelots.
“I’ve never captured migrant traffic on any of the remote cameras,” he said.
“It’s an incredibly wild valley. There’s no real urban population anywhere nearby. It’s a very difficult part of the border for migrants to cross.”
And even if this were a heavily trafficked route, a casual observer can see that the shipping containers would not be very effective.
In several places that AFP visited, the boxes do not line up because of the uneven terrain, leaving gaps easily large enough for a person to walk through.
Others have holes rusted in them, and in some spots, it appears to have been impossible for workers to find a place stable enough to put a container.
A viral video shows a determined climber scaling the six-meter-high barrier in a matter of seconds, gaining easy purchase on the textured box walls.
But what the shipping containers do block is a waterway and the migration routes of the animals McSpadden studies.
“Jaguars know no borders,” he says.
“Southern Arizona, northern Mexico, it’s the same for them.”
With males known to range hundreds of miles, it’s easy for animals that came north to hunt to get trapped away from breeding populations south of the border.
“Jaguars want to move back and forth freely,” he says.
“This is their range, and the border wall bisects the jaguars’ home.”
International
Trump floats Vance-Rubio potential Republican ticket for 2028 election
U.S. President Donald Trump suggested on Monday that Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubiocould potentially form a Republican presidential ticket for the 2028 elections.
Speaking during a dinner with law enforcement officials as part of National Police Week, Trump publicly praised both officials and said they could make “an ideal team” for the next presidential race.
“Who likes JD Vance? Who likes Marco Rubio?” Trump asked attendees before adding that the pair “sound like a good combination.”
The president highlighted his vice president’s performance in office, stating that their current partnership has been highly effective. “JD is perfect, that has been a perfect formula,” Trump told reporters later.
He further suggested that a Vance-Rubio pairing could represent a strong presidential and vice-presidential ticket, although he stopped short of offering any formal endorsement.
“I think it sounds like a presidential candidate and a vice-presidential candidate,” he said, while clarifying that his remarks should not be interpreted as an official backing of any future campaign.
So far, neither Vance nor Rubio has publicly confirmed any intention to run in the 2028 presidential election.
Rubio previously sought the Republican nomination in 2016 but withdrew after losing the primary race to Trump. Later, in a December 2025 interview with Vanity Fair, he said he would be among the first to support Vance if he decided to run for the White House.
Vance, meanwhile, has recently dismissed speculation of any political rivalry with Rubio amid growing discussion about potential future GOP leadership.
International
Russia Accuses Ukraine of Violating Victory Day Truce
Russia accused Ukraine on Saturday of violating a Victory Day truce that was reportedly agreed with mediation from the United States, claiming that Ukrainian forces carried out attacks on Russian territory as well as on the annexed Crimean peninsula.
Despite the declared ceasefire, the Russian Ministry of Defense said in a statement that Ukrainian forces attacked Russian military positions using attack drones and artillery.
According to the ministry, Ukrainian forces made twelve attempts to advance toward Russian-held positions across several sectors of the front line.
It also alleged that Ukrainian strikes targeted civilian infrastructure in Crimea, several border regions, the Caucasus, and other areas including Moscow and Perm in the Ural region.
The Defense Ministry estimated around 8,900 violations of the ceasefire in total, including more than 7,000 drone attacks and over 1,000 strikes involving tanks, artillery, multiple rocket launch systems, and mortars since the truce came into effect at midnight.
Russia said its forces responded “symmetrically” to what it described as violations by Ukrainian troops.
Earlier, the Kremlin denied claims that Ukraine attempted to sabotage a military parade in Red Square marking the 81st anniversary of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.
“No attempts were made. Everything went well,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told local media.
International
Trump Says U.S.-Iran Talks Progressing, Signals Possible Deal on Strait of Hormuz
U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Washington is holding “very good” talks with Iran and stated that there is a strong possibility of reaching an agreement to end the conflict and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
“We’ve had very good conversations over the last 44 hours, and it’s very possible that we’ll reach an agreement,” Trump said during an event held in the Oval Office at the White House.
The president’s remarks came just hours after he announced a temporary suspension of the military operation aimed at escorting vessels stranded in the Persian Gulf due to Iran’s blockade of the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
Trump explained that the pause in operations is intended to facilitate diplomatic negotiations between both sides and prevent further military escalation in the region.
“We’re in good shape, and right now things are going well. Now we have to achieve what we need to achieve. If we don’t, we’ll have to go much further,” the Republican president warned.
In a post published on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump reiterated that if Iran accepts Washington’s proposed conditions, military operations and the naval blockade affecting the Islamic republic would come to an end.
However, he also issued a new warning to the Iranian government, stating that the United States would respond with attacks “of greater intensity” if Tehran rejects the agreement promoted by the White House.
Panama confirms drug contamination of El Salvador coffee shipment occurred on its territory
Trump floats Vance-Rubio potential Republican ticket for 2028 election
Russia Accuses Ukraine of Violating Victory Day Truce
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