The UK government on Friday announced plans to dismantle the remains of London’s Grenfell Tower, almost eight years after the deadliest fire in Britain since World War II swept through the high-rise apartment building, killing 72 people.

Some of those who lost loved ones in the fire that broke out in the early morning hours of June 14, 2017, have criticized the decision because they wanted to preserve the building’s charred skeleton as a monument to those who died.

But the government said that redeveloping the site would help the community heal by removing the remains of the 24-story building, which looms over the North Kensington neighborhood in west London, providing a constant reminder of the tragedy.

“Grenfell Tower will be carefully taken down to the ground,″ the government said in a statement.

A public inquiry into the disaster concluded that decades of failures by government, regulators and industry turned the building into a “death trap.”

The investigation found no “single cause” of the tragedy, but said a combination of dishonest companies, weak regulation and complacent government authorities resulted in the building being remodeled with combustible exterior cladding that that allowed a small refrigerator fire to spread rapidly, trapping dozens of residents in their homes.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro has said that “cocaine is no worse than whiskey” as he suggested the global cocaine industry could be “easily dismantled” if the drug was legalized worldwide.

Colombia is the world’s top producer and exporter of cocaine, mainly to the United States and Europe, and the government has spent decades fighting drug trafficking.

“Cocaine is illegal because it is made in Latin America, not because it is worse than whisky,” the president said on Tuesday during a six-hour ministerial meeting that was broadcasted live.

“Scientists have analyzed this,” he claimed.

The leftist leader, who assumed office in 2022, has vowed to tackle drug trafficking and regulate the use of illegal substances. However, since he came to power, Colombia’s cocaine production has surged.

Cultivation of coca leaves in Colombia increased 10% in 2023 from the previous year, while potential cocaine production reached a record of more than 2,600 metric tons, a 53% increase, the United Nations’ Office on Drugs and Crime said in October.

In his remarks at the meeting, Petro suggested that cocaine should be legalized like alcohol to combat trafficking.

“If you want peace, you have to dismantle the business (of drug trafficking),” he said. “It could easily be dismantled if they legalize cocaine in the world. It would be sold like wine.”

Petro highlighted fentanyl, a synthetic drug at the heart of the opioid crisis in the US, in contrast, saying “(it) is killing Americans, but it’s not made in Colombia.”

“Fentanyl was created as a pharmacy drug by North American multinationals” and those who used it “became addicted,” he said.

His comments come nearly two weeks after a diplomatic standoff with President Donald Trump after he blocked the landing of two US military flights of deported migrants, accusing the US of treating Colombian migrants like criminals.

Colombia later agreed to accept the deportees and deployed its own planes to assist in their return, after a flurry of threats that included steep tariffs, a travel ban for Colombian nationals and the revocation of visas for Colombian officials in the US.

Colombia has been a major non-NATO ally of the US, and for decades has been its closest partner in South America, working closely on anti-drug trafficking efforts.

Cocaine is the fourth most consumed drug globally, according to the UN, and illegal in most countries. However, some governments have decriminalized possession of the drug in small amounts.

Serious medical complications can occur with its use, including cocaine use disorder – compulsive use of the addictive stimulant – and overdose, according to the US National Institute on Drug Abuse. Adulteration of the drug with synthetic opioids such as fentanyl has also contributed to a rise in overdose deaths, according to the NIH.

Meanwhile, the NIH warns alcohol use can lead to injuries, violence, alcohol poisoning or overdose, with side effects of excessive use such as liver disease and cancer.

Donald Trump has begun his second term as president by ramping up pressure on Panama – threatening to “take back” the Panama Canal and accusing the country of ceding control of the critical waterway to a US rival: China.

“Above all, China is operating the Panama Canal. And we didn’t give it to China. We gave it to Panama, and we’re taking it back,” Trump claimed in his inaugural speech last month.

There’s no evidence that China controls the canal, which is run by an independent authority appointed by Panama’s government. Beijing has repeatedly denied that it has interfered in canal operations.

But the US concern comes as the Trump White House seeks to shore up national security, especially in its own neighborhood, and win an economic competition with China.

At the heart of Trump’s contentions are a Hong Kong-based company that operates two key ports at either end of the 50-mile long waterway – and broader concerns about Beijing’s expanding influence in a region of the world where the US has long been the dominant power.

Panama’s President José Raúl Mulino has said Panama’s sovereignty over the canal was not up for debate, but the country has made other concessions to US pressure.

Following a meeting with top US diplomat Marco Rubio last Sunday, Mulino said Panama would exit China’s Belt and Road infrastructure drive – a blow for Beijing, which had celebrated Panama as the first country in Latin America to join the program.

Panamanian officials last month also launched an audit of the Hong Kong-owned firm that operates two ports at either end the canal.

Chinese companies have become increasingly caught in the crosshairs of Washington’s national security concerns. Chinese-owned app TikTok and telecoms giant Huawei have been among private firms facing intense scrutiny in Washington over concerns that they are ultimately beholden to Beijing, despite their denials.

Here’s what to know about China’s involvement in the strategic channel.

Does China have a presence in the Panama Canal?

The Trump administration’s key concern is found at either end of the waterway, where two of the five ports that service the canal are operated by Panama Ports Company (PPC), part of a port operator owned by Hong Kong-based conglomerate CK Hutchison Holdings.

Based in a gleaming skyscraper in downtown Hong Kong, CK Hutchison is a publicly listed company and one of the world’s largest port operators, overseeing 53 ports in 24 countries, according to the company. It was first granted the concession over the two Panama Canal ports in 1997 when Panama and the US jointly administered the canal. That concession was renewed in 2021 for another 25 years.

Rubio ahead of his visit to Panama said Hong Kong-based companies “having control over the entry and exit points” of the canal is “completely unacceptable.”

Hong Kong, which came under Chinese control in 1997, is meant to have a high level of autonomy from mainland China, but Beijing has dramatically tightened its grip on the city in recent years following widespread pro-democracy protests.

“If there’s a conflict and China tells them, do everything you can to obstruct the canal so that the US can’t engage in trade and commerce, so that the US military and naval fleet cannot get to the Indo-Pacific fast enough, they would have to do it,” Rubio said in an interview with journalist Megyn Kelly, without directly naming the company.

The Hong Kong-owned operator PPC, however, does not control access to the Panama Canal.

The Hutchison ports are not the only China-linked firms involved in canal infrastructure.

A consortium comprised of state-backed China Harbour Engineering Company and China Communications Construction Company was awarded the contract to build a $1.4 billion highway bridge over the canal to ease traffic in Panama City.

Meanwhile, state-owned COSCO Shipping is a major canal client, with nearly 300 of its cargo ships navigating the waterway each year, including container ships, dry bulk carriers, and oil tankers, according to company data from 2018.

Does that give China ‘control’ over the canal?

There’s no evidence that the Chinese government controls the canal or of Chinese military activity in Panama, experts say.

But US officials’ concerns come amid a global scrutiny of Beijing’s efforts to build or secure access to commercial ports around the world – which could also benefit China’s expanding navy.

When it comes to the Panama Canal, some observers say that Chinese firms’ involvement in the canal and its infrastructure could give Beijing leverage – both in terms of commercial advantage and in the event of a potential future conflict with the US.

Rubio referenced this concern during a confirmation hearing for his post in January, saying that a “foreign power” possesses the ability, through their companies, “to turn the canal into a choke point in a moment of conflict.”

The strategic risk from a military perspective is that the more commercial assets that are linked to China around the canal, the more options Beijing has to block the US from moving military equipment through the waterway in the event of a conflict between them, according to R. Evan Ellis, a research professor of Latin American Studies at the U.S. Army War College Strategic Studies Institute.

“All of these operations, and the relationships with Panama Canal Authority … plus the technical knowledge that you get as a regular operator of the canal basically multiplies the possibilities that if you are (China) and you want to shut down the canal at a time of conflict, there are a thousand ways to do it,” he said, pointing to actions like attacking lock control systems or physically blocking the waterway. “Their physical presence, influence and technical knowledge … would make it harder for us to defend against.”

Federal Maritime Commission Chairman Louis Sola last week told Congress the US must also guard against “any effort by other interests in Panama to diminish the independence or professionalism of the (Panama Canal) Authority.”

A 1977 treaty laying out the return of the canal from the US to Panama requires the canal to remain neutral and allows for the US to intervene militarily if the waterway’s operations are disrupted by internal conflict or a foreign power.

However, some observers see little or limited sway from China at present.

The US is so firmly established as a the “pre-eminent” partner for Panama that any leverage over goods passing through the canal that China could hope for by enhancing its ties in the country is “capped and limited at best,” according to Brian Wong, a fellow at the University of Hong Kong’s Centre on Contemporary China and the World.

What kind of relationship does China have with Panama?

A 2018 state visit from Chinese leader Xi Jinping to the country of roughly 5 million underscored just how much emphasis Beijing – a major global exporter – has placed on building its ties with the strategically vital country.

Then, the countries inked some 19 agreements to collaborate on trade, infrastructure, banking, and tourism, while Xi declared their relations had “turned over a new chapter.”

That certainly was the case then. China and Panama only established diplomatic ties a year prior, after Panama stopped recognizing Taiwan as the government of China. That same year Panama became the first country in Latin America to join Xi’s flagship Belt and Road global infrastructure development initiative.

Those changes were accompanied by a flurry of bids from Chinese companies to build and invest – projects ranging from a $1 billion container terminal to a high-speed rail. Both those projects ultimately fizzled, as a change in Panama’s leadership brought greater scrutiny over such plans and US concerns drove more caution.

But Chinese firms have also had successes.

A China-built cruise ship terminal was inaugurated last year, while Chinese companies also have a significant presence in special trade zones near Colon and Panama Pacifico, experts say. Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei in 2015 opened a large distribution facility for its electronic systems from one of those zones.

Mulino’s decision not to stay involved in the Belt and Road initiative may signal a new stage of scrutiny on China’s presence in the country. But some observers say Beijing may not be phased.

“China will continue to make investment in Panama if the Central American nation needs the money, and China will continue to trade with Panama,” said Jiang Shixue, director of the Center for Latin American Studies at Shanghai University. Panama’s decision will merely signal to Beijing that “American pressure is so huge,” he added.

Meanwhile, there are signs that while China has an interest in expanding its footprint in the country, it may have other goals, in places with less potential resistance.

“Control of strategic chokepoints like the Panama Canal is probably among China’s goals,” said Will Freeman, Fellow for Latin America studies at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.

“But it’s dwarfed in importance by a project like Chancay, the new Peruvian mega-port which will accelerate South America-China trade.”

US officials kept around 100 deported Indian migrants in shackles for their 40-hour flight home, including during bathroom breaks, in the latest incident to spark anger overseas at President Donald Trump’s migration crackdown.

Indian lawmakers demonstrated outside parliament on Thursday, some wearing shackles and others mocking the much-touted friendship between Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Elsewhere in New Delhi, members of the youth wing of India’s main opposition party burned an effigy of Trump.

Last month, the spectacle of Colombian deportees being shackled as they boarded a US deportation flight sparked a bitter dispute between the two countries, with Colombian president Gustavo Petro initially refusing the military plane permission to land.

The anger in India comes days ahead of an expected visit by Modi to meet Trump – whom he has called a “true friend” – at the White House.

S. Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, a government minister in the western state of Punjab, where the deportation flight landed, urged Modi to “now use his friendship to resolve the issue.”

Dhaliwal also questioned “the usefulness of this friendship if it cannot help Indian citizens in need,” his office said in a statement.

The flight to India was the longest in distance since the Trump administration began deploying military aircraft for migrant deportations, according to a US official.

“Our hands were cuffed and ankles tied with chains before we took the flight,” said 23-year-old Akashdeep Singh, who arrived in Punjab on Wednesday with 103 other deportees.

“We requested the military officials to take it off to eat or go to the bathroom but they treated us horribly and without any regard whatsoever,” Singh added.

“The way they looked at us, I’ll never forget it… We went to the bathroom with the shackles on. Right before landing, they removed (the shackles) for the women. We saw it. For us, they were removed after we landed by the local police officials.”

US Border Patrol Chief Michael W. Banks posted a video of the Indian deportees being put onto a plane on X. In the video, shackles are seen on the wrists and ankles of several men who shuffle slowly up the ramp.

‘Better life, better future’

Deportee Sukhpal Singh, 35, also said the shackles were kept on throughout the flight, including during a refueling stopover on the Pacific island of Guam.

“They treated us like criminals,” he said. “If we would try to stand because our legs were swelling due to the handcuffs they would yell at us to sit down.”

Young Indians looking for work opportunities have made up a sizeable portion of undocumented migrants in the US, many after making the dangerous trek through Latin America to reach the US southern border.

Many say they see no future at home where a jobs crisis is stifling young hopes in the world’s most populous country.

In just four years, the number of Indian citizens entering the US illegally has surged dramatically — from 8,027 in the 2018-19 fiscal year to 96,917 during 2022-23, government data showed.

“I had gone for work, for better life, for a better future,” said Sukhpal Singh, who has a son and daughter and hoped to better provide for them by getting a job in the US.

“You see it in movies and you hear from people around you that there’s work there and people are successful there so that’s why I also wanted to go.”

Ukraine’s air force got a boost in its fight against Russia on Thursday with the arrival of Mirage 2000-5 fighter jets from France, along with F-16s from the Netherlands.

French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu confirmed the transfer of the Mirage jets in a post on X, adding the fighters were flown by Ukrainian pilots who have been training for months in France. French President Emmanuel Macron had promised the Mirage jets to Ukraine last summer.

“The Ukrainian sky is becoming more secure!” Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said in a post on Facebook.

Welcoming the arrival of “the first French Mirage 2000 fighter jets and F-16s from the Kingdom of the Netherlands,” Umerov said: “These modern combat aircraft have already arrived in Ukraine and will soon begin carrying out combat missions, strengthening our defense and enhancing our ability to effectively counter Russian aggression.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked Macron on Thursday for “his leadership and support.”

“France’s president keeps his word, and we appreciate it,” Zelensky said in a post on X.

The new fighters are expected to boost Ukrainian forces’ ability to provide air cover for troops, attack ground targets, take on enemy planes, and intercept missiles.

The latter role could be vital. Russia has stepped up missile attacks on Ukrainian cities, often sending dozens in one night, taxing Ukraine’s air defense batteries.

Last weekend, a Russian strike on a residential building in central Ukraine killed at least 14 people, emergency services said.

In January, the Ukrainian Air Force reported in a Facebook post that one of its F-16 pilots had destroyed six Russian missiles in one night in December.

Military aviation analyst Peter Layton at the Griffith Asia Institute said the Mirages might be best suited for the air defense role, freeing up the F-16s for other missions.

Mirages can get airborne more quickly than an F-16, Layton said.

“I would have the (Mirages) standing ground alert and able to take off within a few minutes to intercept incoming cruise missiles (primary targets) and Shahed drones (secondary targets),” Layton said.

Mirages could also be used to launch longer-range missiles such as the SCALP, also known as the Storm Shadow, at targets well inside Russia, said Layton, a former Royal Australian Air Force officer.

Ukraine’s air fleet

Ukraine needs all the help it can get in its nearly three-year long war, triggered by Russia’s 2022 invasion of its neighbor.

There has been no let-up in the fighting, even with US President Donald Trump having promised to reach a ceasefire quickly with his return to the White House last month.

Ukraine’s army continues to be pushed back on the eastern front lines, in the face of superior Russian manpower and resources.

Thursday’s announcements did not specify the number of fighter jets transferred from the two NATO allies to Ukraine, but the country has to date had few Western warplanes in its fleet.

Ukraine received its first F-16s last summer, with Zelensky at the time thanking the Netherlands, Denmark and the United States – where the F-16s are built – for the aircraft, without saying how many were delivered.

Reports since indicate two F-16s have been lost. A list of the world’s combat aircraft from Flight Global shows two F-16s in Ukraine’s fleet as of the beginning of this year, with 58 on order.

France had 26 Mirage 2000-5s active in its air force at the beginning of 2025, according to Flight Global. The aircraft are the oldest jets in France’s fleet and are slated to be replaced by Rafale jets in the coming years. It is not known how many will be transferred to Ukraine.

Leighton said current estimates show Ukraine getting a total of 95 F-16s and around two dozen Mirages.

“Neither airframe will be made available to Ukraine in sufficient numbers to provide the air combat capabilities Ukraine needs at this stage in its war with Russia,” he added. “In ideal circumstances, the Ukrainian Air Force should have around 200 – 220 fighter jets at its disposal.”