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I'm VOA's Joe Ramsey with this worldwide news update.
Egypt announced Sunday an emergency Arab summit in response to U.S. President Donald Trump's Gaza plan. AP correspondent Donna Warder reports. Egypt says it's hosting an emergency summit on February 27 to discuss what it calls "new and dangerous developments" after President Trump proposed resettling Palestinians from the Gaza Strip and rebuilding it into the, quote, "Riviera of the Middle East," unquote. Trump made the suggestion at a White House meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week, and it not only infuriated the Arab world, but stunned American allies and other global powers. Netanyahu called Trump's suggestion "remarkable" and "the first good idea" that he had heard. Egypt's Foreign Ministry says it's hosting the Arab League summit in Cairo, following talks at the highest level in Arab countries in recent days. I'm Donna Warder. Top Trump administration officials are openly questioning the judiciary's authority to serve as a check on executive power as the new president's sweeping agenda faces growing pushback from the courts. Officials ranging from billionaire Elon Musk to Vice President J.D. Vance have criticized a federal judge's decision early Saturday that blocks Musk's Department of Government Efficiency from accessing Treasury Department records that contain sensitive personal data. Judges have also blocked Trump, at least temporarily, from moving forward with mass federal buyouts, from placing thousands of USAID workers on leave, and from implementing an executive order that seeks to end birthright citizenship for anyone born in the U.S. This is VOA News. The presidents of Ukraine and the United States are looking to make a deal. VOA's Arash Arabasadi has more. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy shows reporters a once classified map pinpointing the location of his country's rare earth and other critical minerals. "These deposits are priceless. Huge amounts of money. Huge. That's why we need to protect them. So if we're talking about a deal, that's what the Americans want, then let's do a deal." President Trump says he is open to negotiations. "So we're looking to do a deal with Ukraine where they're going to secure what we're giving them with their rare earth and other things." Rare earth minerals are important for the manufacture of electric motors and consumer electronics. World leaders will meet this week at the Munich Security Conference in Germany to discuss, among other subjects, support for Ukraine. The talks run from February 14 through the 16. Arash Arabasadi, VOA News. President Trump's offer to take in white South Africans as refugees fleeing persecution may not spur quite the rush he anticipated. Reuters correspondent Zachary Goelman reports. An executive order Trump signed on Friday provided for resettlement in the U.S. of, quote, "Afrikaners in South Africa who are victims of unjust racial discrimination" as refugees. Afrikaners are mostly white South African descendants of Dutch and French settlers, some tracing back their roots in the country to the 17th century. But it's not clear they want to flee the place they've called home for hundreds of years. "... why would you want to go? There hasn't been any really bad taking over of land, the people are carrying on like normal, and you know, what are you going to do over there?" That was the response from Neville van der Merwe, a white 78-year-old pensioner living in Cape Town. And he had this to say about Trump cutting off aid to his country. "We all know how Mr. Trump behaves. You know, so why should they do that? It has been spiteful." Trump is pushing back against a law signed last month by President Cyril Ramaphosa aimed at addressing the country's unequal land ownership. The new law makes it easier for the state to expropriate land for what it says is the public interest. Ramaphosa's governing African National Congress, or ANC, has defended the measure and accused Trump of amplifying misinformation propagated by AfriForum, an Afrikaner-led group. And even that group, which lobbied Trump's previous administration on their cause, said it was not taking up his offer. Reuters correspondent Zachary Goelman. That wraps up this update, but the world and news never stop. For additional updates, visit our website, voanews.com. I'm Joe Ramsey, VOA News. |