N’DJAMENA: Chad on Monday warned its traditional foe Sudan that it “reserves the legitimate right to respond” if attacked, following threats made by a senior Khartoum military official.
In a video broadcast Sunday on Al Jazeera, the deputy commander of the Sudanese forces, Yasser Al-Atta, warned that the airport in the Chadian capital N’Djamena and at Amdjarras in northeastern Chad “are legitimate targets for the Sudanese armed forces.”
The remarks “could be interpreted as a declaration of war if followed through,” Chadian foreign ministry spokesman Ibrahim Adam Mahamat said.
“Such rhetoric could lead to a dangerous escalation for the entire sub-region,” and “Chad reserves the legitimate right to respond vigorously to any attempted aggression,” he added.
“Sudan has just declared war on Chad,” declared former Chadian prime minister Saleh Kebzabo on his official Facebook page.
“We must take this very seriously, prepare for it militarily, and mobilize,” he added.
Chad has accused the Sudanese government for over six decades of doing everything it can to destabilize its neighbor, notably by “orchestrating rebellions” and supporting the Boko Haram militant group.
Since April 2023, Sudan has been torn apart by a conflict pitting General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, head of the army and de facto ruler of the country since a 2021 coup, against his former deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, the chief of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
At the end of October 2024, N’Djamena denied any involvement in the Sudanese conflict but Khartoum’s de facto rulers accused it of playing an active role in arms deliveries to the RSF.
The alleged support for the RSF has been highlighted in various reports — including one from the United Nations in January 2024 — but Chad has consistently denied involvement.
The presence in El Fasher in Sudan’s perennially restive Darfur region of a Zaghawa rebellion — an ethnic group also present in Chad — is N’Djamena’s main concern.
It is led by Ousman Dillo, the younger brother of Chadian opposition leader Yaya Dillo Djerou who was killed by the Chadian army.
In February 2008, a Zaghawa rebellion based in Sudan launched a lightning offensive in Chad alongside other groups, forcing former president Idriss Deby Itno to take refuge in his presidential palace, before successfully repelling the rebels with decisive support from former ruler France.
The war in Sudan since April 2023 has left tens of thousands dead, displaced more than 11 million people and created the risk of widespread famine, in what the UN considers the worst humanitarian crisis in recent times.
Two million people have also fled to neighboring countries, including 1.5 million to Chad.
Chad warns could retaliate if Sudan attacks
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Chad warns could retaliate if Sudan attacks
- Yasser Al-Atta warned that the airport in the Chadian capital N’Djamena and at Amdjarras in northeastern Chad ‘are legitimate targets for the Sudanese armed forces’
- Chad has accused the Sudanese government for over six decades of doing everything it can to destabilize its neighbor
Trump warns Zelensky not to back off minerals deal
WASHINGTON : US President Donald Trump warned on Sunday that his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky would have “big problems” if he goes cold on a deal to sign over mineral rights.
Trump is trying to broker a ceasefire between Ukraine and its Russian invader, and has been pushing Zelensky to sign an agreement to give US firms access to Ukrainian rare earth mineral.
Briefing reporters on his Air Force Once jet, Trump said: “I see he’s trying to back out of the rare earth deal. And if he does that he’s got some problems. Big, big problems.”
Trump says reciprocal tariffs will target all countries
- Trump says he will impose a suite of reciprocal tariffs against nations that charge fees on US exports, promising to match those countries’ duties
ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE: US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that reciprocal tariffs he is set to announce this week will include all nations, not just a smaller group of 10 to 15 countries with the biggest trade imbalances.
Trump has promised to unveil a massive tariff plan on Wednesday, which he has dubbed “Liberation Day.” He has already imposed tariffs on aluminum, steel and autos, along with increased tariffs on all goods from China.
“You’d start with all countries,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One. “Essentially all of the countries that we’re talking about.” White House economics adviser Kevin Hassett recently told Fox Business that the administration’s tariffs focus would be on 10 to 15 countries with the worst trade imbalances, though he did not list them.
Trump sees tariffs as a way of protecting the domestic economy from unfair global competition and a bargaining chip for better terms for the US.
However, concerns about a trade war are unsettling markets and creating fears of a recession in the US.
Trump has said he will impose a suite of reciprocal tariffs against nations that charge fees on US exports, promising to match those countries’ duties.
In February, Trump signed a memorandum that directed US trade officials to go country by country and put together a list of tailored counter-measures.
Last week, he suggested he might scale back his reciprocal plans, perhaps imposing tariffs in some cases at lower rates than countries charge the United States.
‘Pissed off’ at Putin, Trump threatens tariffs on Russian oil if Moscow blocks Ukraine deal
- “If Russia and I are unable to make a deal on stopping the bloodshed in Ukraine, and if I think it was Russia’s fault," he said on NBC News
- Putin on Friday suggested Ukraine could be placed under a form of temporary administration to allow for new elections that could push out Zelensky
WEST PALM BEACH, Florida: US President Donald Trump said on Sunday he was “pissed off” at Russian President Vladimir Putin and will impose secondary tariffs of 25 percent to 50 percent on buyers of Russian oil if he feels Moscow is blocking his efforts to end the war in Ukraine.
Trump told NBC News he was very angry after Putin last week criticized the credibility of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s leadership, the television network reported, citing a telephone interview early on Sunday.
Since taking office in January, Trump has adopted a more conciliatory stance toward Russia that has left Western allies wary as he tries to broker an end to Moscow’s three-year-old war in Ukraine.
His sharp comments about Putin on Sunday reflect his growing frustration about the lack of movement on a ceasefire.
“If Russia and I are unable to make a deal on stopping the bloodshed in Ukraine, and if I think it was Russia’s fault ... I am going to put secondary tariffs on oil, on all oil coming out of Russia,” Trump said.
“That would be, that if you buy oil from Russia, you can’t do business in the United States,” Trump said. “There will be a 25 percent tariff on all oil, a 25- to 50-point tariff on all oil.”
Trump said he could impose the new trade measures within a month.
There was no immediate reaction from Moscow. Russia has called numerous Western sanctions and restrictions “illegal” and designed for the West to take economic advantage in its rivalry with Russia.
Trump, who spent the weekend at his estate in Palm Beach, Florida, told NBC News he planned to speak with Putin this week. The two leaders have had two publicly announced telephone calls in recent months but may have had more contacts, the Kremlin said in video footage last week.
The White House had no immediate comment on when the call would take place, or if Trump would also speak with Zelensky.
Trump has focused heavily on ending what he calls a “ridiculous” war, which began when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, but has made little progress.
Putin on Friday suggested Ukraine could be placed under a form of temporary administration to allow for new elections that could push out Zelensky.
Trump, who himself has called for new elections in Ukraine and denounced Zelensky as a dictator, said Putin knows he is angry with him. But Trump added he had “a very good relationship with him” and “the anger dissipates quickly ... if he does the right thing.”
Growing pressure to end war
Trump’s comments followed a day of meetings and golf with Finnish President Alexander Stubb on Saturday, during Stubb’s surprise visit to Florida.
Stubb’s office on Sunday said he told Trump a deadline needs to be set for establishing a Russia-Ukraine ceasefire to make it happen and suggested April 20 since Trump would have been in office then for three months.
US officials have been separately pushing Kyiv to accept a critical minerals agreement, a summary of which suggested the US was demanding all Ukraine’s natural resources income for years. Zelensky has said Kyiv’s lawyers need to review the draft before he can say more about the US offer.
Trump’s latest tariff threats would add to the pain already facing China, India and other countries through trade measures imposed during his first two months in office, including duties on steel, aluminum and cars. More duties on imports from the countries with the largest trade surpluses are slated to be announced on Wednesday.
William Reinsch, a former senior Commerce Department official now at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the haphazard way Trump was announcing and threatening tariffs leaves many questions unanswered, including how US officials could trace and prove which countries were buying Russian oil.
Trump set the stage for Sunday’s news with a 25 percent secondary tariff imposed last week on US imports from any country buying oil or gas from Venezuela.
His remarks to NBC suggest he could take similar action against US imports from countries that buy oil from Russia, a move that could hit China and India particularly hard.
The US has not imported any Russian barrels of crude oil since April 2022, according to US government data. Before that, US refiners bought inconsistent volumes of Russian oil, with a high of 98.1 million barrels in 2010 and low of 6.6 million in 2014, according to a review of EIA data since 2000.
India has surpassed China to become the biggest buyer of seaborne Russian crude, which comprised about 35 percent of India’s total crude imports in 2024.
Trump on Sunday also said he could hit buyers of Iranian oil with secondary sanctions if Tehran did not reach an agreement to end their nuclear weapons program.
Russia, US start talks on rare earth metals projects in Russia, RIA agency reports
Moscow and Washington have started talks on joint rare earth metals and other projects in Russia, Russia’s special envoy on international economic and investment cooperation told the Izvestia media outlet in remarks published on Monday.
“Rare earth metals are an important area for cooperation, and, of course, we have begun discussions on various rare earth metals and (other) projects in Russia,” Kirill Dmitriev, who is also the CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, told Izvestia.
Putin, following negotiations between the US and Ukraine over a draft minerals deal, has offered the US, under a future economic deal, to jointly explore Russia’s rare earth metal deposits.
Dmitriev, who was part of Russia’s negotiating team at talks with US officials in Saudi Arabia in February, said some companies have already shown interest in the projects. He did not name any companies and did not reveal further details.
Izvestia reported the cooperation may be further discussed at the next round of Russia-US talks that may take place in mid-April in Saudi Arabia.
Rare earths and other critical metals, essential for high-tech industries, have gained global attention in recent months as US President Donald Trump spurred efforts to counter China’s dominance in the sector.
Tesla chargers torched in France arson attack
- There have been a number of anti-Telsa actions in the US and Europe since Elon Musk became Trump’s adviser and backed European far-right parties
SAINT-ÉTIENNE, France: Twelve Tesla electric superchargers were targeted in an arson attack in the carpark of a supermarket in central France, a police source told AFP on Sunday.
The fire broke out overnight Wednesday to Thursday in the town of St-Chamond in the Loire department, the source said, confirming a report in the regional newspaper Le Progres.
Two of the chargers, each worth tens of thousands of euros, were completely destroyed, while the others were damaged.
“Anti-Tesla campaign born to burn” was found painted in white on the car park floor.
The police source said it was “the first act targeting the business of billionaire American Elon Musk” in the Loire.
An investigation for “damage and destruction by fire” has been opened but no arrests had been made, the source added.
There have been a number of anti-Telsa actions in Europe since Musk became US President Donald Trump’s adviser and backed European far-right parties.
Earlier this month, a dozen Teslas were torched in an attack on a dealership near the southern city of Toulouse, leaving eight vehicles burnt out.
Another four cars were badly damaged.
A recent spate of attacks on Tesla property in the United States have been described by Attorney General Pam Bondi as “nothing short of domestic terrorism.”
